#snails tales

[snailsandpuppy-dogtails]

Crocoideae Eros

Garvez smut (Sex Pollen!) 7840 words on ao3 For you @bacchicly

She never would have thought she’d end up here with him. She could have dreamed it, sure, but she would have assumed she’d lost her mind upon waking up and immediately given herself a very stern talking to. He was her teammate after all, her…friend, sort of, on bad days.

And yet, today must have been a very bad day because here they were. 

She and Alvez in a broom closet in a secure government lab hooking up like a scene from some bad Skinemax movie. 

Fuck.

Yes

no-

Scifi, really, given the catalyst.

————

“I’ll go check in with Penelope, see how the backgrounds are going,” Luke volunteered, after everyone convened to bounce ideas off one another from initial investigations. He didn’t need to, they could call, but what was the benefit of having her with them if not getting to see her face to face real-time updates? 

The director of the facility had called Prentiss personally to have the team look into the multiple "accidental" poisonings on site that their own investigators hadn't been able to pinpoint. While normally, Garcia would have stayed back at Quantico and assisted virtually, the nature of the materials the lab possessed and the things they were working on required that all feet be on-site. 

After hearing glass break and a shriek following his knock, Luke swiftly pulled his weapon, stealthy twisted the knob, and peered around the door. Was the unsub after her? That would be completely out of character given the other four victims, but maybe their presence had escalated things. 

From his location what he found was Penelope, alone, enveloped in a cloud of sparkling yellow dust, sneezing.

“ahHH-CHOO! Oh Fudge.” He watched as she looked on miserably at the shattered jar surrounding her feet. Luke holstered the gun and walked in, closing the door behind him.

“We leave you alone for half an hour and you’re already back to your old ways, dismantling labs, Garcia?” 

“Ha. Ha.” she said dryly, “Very funny. If somebody hadn’t scared me half to death knocking without warning- This place gives me the heebie jeebies. It’s cold and sterile and there are a bunch of things in jars around me with labels— thank god not animals- and now I broke one! You know, this- this is why I don’t come! I’m much better in my own space, with my own things!”

Luke was holding back his laughter at her distress, mouth covered, shoulders shaking. Penelope, cute even when worked up. No, especially when worked up.

“Would you just- Stop that! Make yourself useful! Get me a broom or something. What’s protocol in this situation? Luke! Stop! Help me clean this up!” 

She thought about all the forms they’d signed, there must have been some mention of procedure in them.

“Okay, okay, calm down hotshot, just stay where you are, don’t move. I’ll get a broom, but we should let someone know… It could be some one-off sample…Tell me what it is and I’ll radio it in.”

Penelope, vigorously rubbing at her now tickling face, glasses removed, replied somewhat frustrated, “You’re going to have to read it yourself, apparently,I’m allergic.”

Cautiously covering his mouth and nose with his forearm, Luke walked over and crouched at her feet pulling a glove out of his pocket to pick up the labeled piece of broken jar, then looked up at her with wide eyes, “Crocoideae Eros, this? This is what broke?” 

Penelope looked down at him nervously and stepped back, instinctively putting space between her and the concerning pile of shimmering gold dust, “Evidently…Is it bad? Oh god, are you going to call hazmat? Because let me tell you, I am NOT going to strip naked in front of a bunch of strangers and get washed down in some horrid tent like Reid I- I…”

Luke dropped the piece back into the pile and stood, laughing internally at both Penelope being allergic to it, and the predicament he found himself in with her. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it also wasn’t ideal. Certainly not given his certain feelings. 

Penelope watched the red tip of his tongue swiping across his lower lip, leaving it full and shining now that his arm wasn’t hiding half his face, and his dimple pulling in hard on his cheek, and thought about what it would be to fill the divot with her own tongue… just… there…

Stop it- blinking rapidly, she pulled herself back to focus.

“You’re definitely going to feel like stripping down…but thankfully it’s not actually poisonous or deadly…I, um.” He faltered, frowning, suddenly becoming very warm at the subject and proximity, “I heard one of the researchers talking about it, it’s caused some very interesting reactions and interactions in the mice population.”

“Interesting?!” she shrieked in a panic, “What do you mean by interesting? Luke Alvez if I leave here with three legs-“

The loud laugh was startling, he certainly seemed to think this was more funny than concerning. 

And he was so sexy when he laughed, head tossed back… 

Try as she might, her focus seemed glued to that bit of exposed chest between his open collar, his long taut neck, Alvez talking about stripping…

She felt her breath getting heavier and a familiar vibrating warmth spark between her thighs.

“No, nothing like that, it’s…Cupid’s Crocus… it’s like nature’s super aphrodisiac.” 

He catches her eye as those words, what he’s saying, settle in her head through the forming fog.

”You’ll start to feel warm, feel like stri-“ he clears his throat, she watches the tight movements of muscle under rough, tan skin, “feel uncomfortable in your clothes, you’ll feel, ah, desire, and desired…” The way he says it is dark and smooth chasing a chill down her spine. 

A shiver he can’t help but notice. 

“You won’t be able to resist it, you’ll seek relief… multiple times…It’s been the only way they’ve found it clears from the system.” 

And then he sneezes.

“Oh” it isn’t clever, it isn’t enlightening, but it’s the thought she’s capable of voicing right then.   

Somehow they’d drifted closer, very close. She can feel the heat radiating from him, every bit of her pulling towards him, wanting to reach out, screaming to reach out. 

And then, “But what about you? You keep saying me, but you’re in here too, shouldn’t you be feeling it-”

No 

“No-” It was meant to be a firm answer, but it sounded more like a weak protest.

He isn’t. He couldn’t be. He hadn’t even considered it because…

Because he always feels like this in some way around her. Always fighting the feelings he had, knowing she wouldn’t reciprocate, the feelings she conjured in him despite his trying to let them go. 

But,

He feels it in his nose, just the slightest tickle. His heartbeat getting faster, internal temperature spiking as his pulse races.

Fuck.

“Maybe.” Luke swallows, pulling himself to the neighboring lab station, putting distance between them.  

“but I wasn’t…”

Penelope, regaining some faculty, interrupts his denial. “We need to leave. We need to go back to our respective hotel rooms. And handle this. Separately. So we can…And come back when…When..”  They’d be abandoning their team, their friends… someone was sure to notice and there was very possibly a murderer on the premises.

She watches Luke nod in agreement, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide, staring at his own hands. His cheeks are tinted with a flush she’s never seen on him, the slight pinky-red shining through tan, and he swallows, but Penelope gets hung up tracking the bob of his Adam’s apple, the hum of his pulse…and loses her train of thought.   

The sound of indecision is like ice cracking, a tiny strip of air, trapped, escaping her throat. 

Luke grips the counter between them, but tears his eyes from his whiting fingertips, pulling them to the woman he’s willing himself not to look at like that. Like he’s the big bad wolf and she’s a particularly scrumptious and delectably plump pig. There are people who have died. People who are counting on them, but neither of them are any use like this and if they told anyone, if they told Emily, they’d be forced to-  and yet increasingly all he’s able to think about is…

Clearing his throat, Luke agrees, they definitely need to get out of here. 

Soon. 

He’s wanted her for so long he’s not sure he can walk out of here with her. Beside her. Like this, knowing what he knows, and hold it together. Not act on it. Not lean into it. “Penelope-”

The sound is rough and dark, fresh asphalt, a shot of espresso straight to her bloodstream. Straight to his. 

It jolts and wakes her, pupils dilating. She tries to focus, to ground herself, she’s gripping the pen in her hands so hard it might snap and her fingers ache. “…We should leave a note- A warn-“ she tries, a warning, to others, of the mess she’s made and left, but her voice is all breathy and velvety and feminine and fuck he looks good. She may only be using her very trusty personal items when she gets back to the hotel, but she won’t be able think about anyone but him.

And yes, if she were really able to feel anything besides absolute arousal right now, she’d feel awful about abandoning the case, but this would be like taking a lunch break, breaking for sleep, she reasoned. She knows neither of them will be of any use to the team, won’t be able to continue, if Luke’s lab rumors are true, until this is taken care of. The sooner the better.

Luke blinks, restraint. Patience. Restraint. “Whatever you need to do, do it quick.”

Penelope snags a turquoise Post-It and hurriedly scrawls “Sorry! -P” and bends down to leave it on the glittering mess before exiting the door Luke is impatiently holding open, head jerked to the ceiling after catching a fuller view of her very full chest with the provocative help of gravity and her maddening need to bend from the waist. Penelope bent over…he’d like to bend her over a lab table and…NO.

They start off at a brisk walk, his hand hovering on her lower back, each hurrying but trying not to draw attention to themselves, corner after corner they turn, feet moving quicker and quicker until giddy giggles burst forth from mouths straining for impassivity, the unexplainable excitement that’s been filling them with every foot fall. 

They rush down the sleek, white hall, echos chasing, stop and start, stop and start, walk, scurry, walk, and suddenly Penelope’s heeled feet can’t keep up with Luke’s long strides and it feels like a joyful bubbling teeter, on a ledge falling or being pulled, rushing towards freedom, rushing towards the exit when Luke hears footsteps and suddenly grasps Penelope’s hand pulling her down a dark corridor in a sharp right, opening a door, immediately tugging her quickly after himself and jerking it tightly shut. 

They’re each panting in the darkness, the room is small, a maintenance closet. 

His actions were instinct more than anything. He knows what will happen if they’re found out, that it’ll derail the whole investigation, that he and Penelope will be taken off the case, either short term, or indefinitely. And that they’d become unwilling human case-studies in a government lab. 

There was no way he was allowing that to happen to her. 

They stay quiet for a moment, listening, and then Penelope’s the first to talk. “Luke, this wasn’t the plan-“ the remindercoming out as a whine. They were leaving here and going their separate ways, but now he’s super close, crowding her, and she can feel her chest, swollen and tender, her clothes, tight, conforming, her whole being warm, warm, warm. There’s a strong pulsing throb between her thighs when her nipples rise and fall, scraping against his chest, and she shifts her legs trying to stave off the feeling, for some slight release, but finds it only intensifies things…and that Luke seems to notice.

Her plead tickles his neck. He can feel her chest brushing against his and his hand that had been holding hers quickly climbs to her waist, fingers spreading to curl around, thumb sweeping. He knows he has feelings for her…doesn't want to cross a line…but each pollen invader is working over time in the war inside himself leaving little option and little room for rational thought; they march and sweep, a dust storm of override snapping and breaking each ‘right’ behavior, each redirection his chivalry tries to take, pushing onward in their own mission. 

His tongue peaks out, licking his lip, his breath blowing heavy as he tries to speak through the fog that’s formed around him in the closet, but he’s looking at her through the darkness and he can’t really think of anything, anything beyond kissing swollen cherry lips. All he knows is they’re trapped and he can’t move and he’d do anything…anything but open the door and leave.

Neither says anything, speech seemingly shutdown, but there’s an exchange in looks, an understanding, an agreement. They can’t. They can’t. They need to get out. Penelope takes half a step back, all she can manage in the tight confines, but with the fall of her heel, snaps forward, and just as quickly Luke’s hands are catching her, down, gripping the soft flesh of her ass and lifting her leg, fingers digging in, kneading, spreading, holding her closer. Her lips are on his, and she can’t help the little cry that breaks from them as he spreads her legs around his thighs, the skirt of her dress slipping up, a large hand bracing firmly on her ass, grinding her soaked underwear against his bulging shaft, Penelope’s hips chasing sweet relief as shockwaves of pleasure pulse through her.

Her hands run up his forearms and her nails streak down, head rolling back as her body shudders with the feeling of his. Every point of contact an electrifying spark. 

It’s the pollen, it’s just the pollen, she tells herself. For him, for her, as she cums just like that, breath pitching, legs shaking in his hold, quivering. Embarrassingly fast.

“Fuck,” is whispered into her hair, his eyes slamming shut as he bites down the coming confession. He hasn’t let an inch slip between them. In fact he gets closer, letting his forehead slip to her shoulder and she feels him, still just as hard, harder if possible, between them. 

“How-“ he’s trying with all his strength to hold off, to hold back, to not roll them right now and pin her against the wall, to regain control, but the cloud of pollen rolls in, thickening at the sound and feel of her. 

Deep inside he knows they need to leave, need to separate before it goes further, but his body takes action, the private pleasure of nuzzling her neck, the feel of her soft skin, “-D-Did it help?” He asks, covering. As if what he’d just done wasn’t driven by selfish and weak desire, as if he hadn’t dreamed of what she sounded like when she came, of her calling his name…but she hadn’t done that. And no. No, this was just because one of them needed a clear head…and she’d been infected first. And this was how they fixed it. It was that. He was just helping her. Them. 

Her cheeks are flush and warm from the rush of climax and she’s sucking down air like a man drowning, but she feels the tingles that had taken over subsiding, the fog rolling away. She also feels his breath, warm and damp on her chillin, sweahsteened skin, fingertips drifting in circles and the faint tickle of eyelashes, the tip of his nose trailing, Penelope closes her eyes, biting her lip and nods, not trusting her own voice just yet. 

Luke was still clearly under the effects of the pollen, besides the obvious, his hands haven’t quit roaming, gliding over the bodice of her dress, down her back, over her ass, bunching her skirt as they move back up, his heart thundering, and his lips at her collar starting to join. 

He’s intoxicated, drunk- he wants to stop, to control himself, but he barely registers he’s doing anything at all, Luke trapped below the surface. 

The clarity would be for nothing if she didn’t use it to help get them out of there, but she knows there’s no getting out unseen with Luke in his current state. Luke in his current state is doing his level best to work her back up and- blame the pollen- it’s working incredibly well. His hips writhe against her as his hands swirl and rub, lips sucking and teeth nipping and “-Luke” Penelope pants, hands landing on his shoulders.  

“Chica,” he barely lifts his head in response, mouth a breath above skin. 

“I’m gonna help you, alright? Then we can get out of here.” 

There’s something he feels like he should be remembering, something about…something…what she means…but then hot hands are slipping between them and he feels the tight pinch as the button on his waistband is brought together then freed, feels the stress of the zipper and release around his straining cock, hot, damp, soft flesh grasping, wrapping. His jaw opens and glides, mouth sinking wider around the crook of her neck with an appreciative moaning sigh, teeth sensuously dragging up with the firm pull of her fist, full lips suckling up the column of her throat, hands feeling every part of her, hands like dutiful explorers traversing every inch. Hips rock and sway with the acton, thrusting and moaning, the friction of twisting pumps, faster and faster, the clink of plastic bangles dampened between bodies, his kisses becoming more and more insistent against her neck, her jaw, until she gives in, mouth finding his, Luke’s hips jerking, Penelope’s grip tightening- base to tip, base to tip, base to ti- base to- base- base- bay- A grunting whimper releases with hot cum, and then again as abs constrict and he thrusts up, Penelope’s hand slowing but not stopping, her other pressed into his chest forcing him back against the door, watching as his face contorts helplessly in pleasure and his body slumps, free of the first wave of invaders.

Clarity was a world of difference, a world of guilt, now that he was able to think straight. What had transpired, in normal circumstances, would certainly be considered actionable offenses of sexual assault on a coworker. He’d just assaulted Penelope; isolating her, trapping her, not following through with their plan, groping her, forcing her on him- “Pen-“

But she cuts him off immediately,  “No. No talking. Talking later, now, we go. Before it hits again and we best case end up in another closet.” 

Luke looks at her, hard concern, and she would swear there was a trace of hurt, but he jerks a nod, tucking himself away before rolling to listen at the door, cautiously opening it, and grasps her hand, leading them back out of the broom closet and down the last series of corridors before the exit. 

“How convenient that this end of the lab’s been evacuated while we conduct our investigation” She whispers, thankful for the escape rout. 

Glancing down at the obvious cum drying on his shirt, he huffs his agreement, “We need to tell the team something, they know I was coming to check in with you” 

“You worry about getting us back to the hotel in time, I’ll handle the team.” The conversation ping ponged through the last remaining door, the pair making their way to the garage, serendipitously undetected.

Garcia: Famished-  Alvez and I are grabbing lunch. Systems are running. Be back in 40! 

She doesn’t send the text until Luke’s put the SUV in drive. 

Thankfully, they didn’t have that long to go; just three lights and a highway separated dangerous exposure from solitary safety. 

Penelope, flipping down the mirror, thumbs along her lip adjusting smudged- ok, nearly gone, lipstick. Rubbing her lips to spread it more evenly, Luke’s vision drifts, caught on the sight; fingers and lips, pucker and pout, the SUV drifting in kind, wheels riding heavy over the shoulder rumble strip. 

“Hay!” snaps out, surprised eyes turning on him at the inadvertent turn-on, a combination of the vibration of the seat hitting, and her current heightened sensitivity. He jerks the car back to the lane, but just as shortly, her cheeks flushing and mouth dropping open, panting lightly, a little devious thought- a tiny little devil- whispershe do it again…and so he does. This time heavy lidded eyes watching intentionally. 

Penelope jumps and gasps as they ride the strip longer, then pull off. 

Back again: Three. Short. Bursts 

His eyes flicker to the road and to her face, to her thighs falling open, wheels hitting the road studs, the vehicle thunking, her pelvis canting back, “Luke- stop- ple“ it’s a high and soft and beautiful kind of plead, she licks her lips and her shoulders roll back. He can feel his arousal spiking, erection growing, but doesn’t care, eyes darting to her chest, the redding pink exposed skin. Brushing back over the grooves, her hands grip either side of the seat, thighs squeezing tight together, eyes squeezing just as tightly, Luke so caught up in watching her, thinking what it would be to be in her, he almost misses their exit. 

Neither devil nor angle, but something in between, forces him back to attention, back to their goal. The hotel. Right. With no further instigation he drives them there, Penelope adjusting her clothing and posture for the remainder of the trip. 

She’s antsy, and bothered, and halfway there no thanks to him. She can feel herself dipping in and out, willing herself to remain, to not fall into to it, not lose grip and let those dastardly little antigens take over. 

As soon as he pulls into the parking lot she’s unbuckling her seatbelt, hand on the door handle, but images crowed her mind, of him, the looks he’d given her, how he looked when he came…what the rest of him might look like…feel like, her body shivering at the prospect.

The door tugs from her grasp, snapping her out of it, and there he stands, all six feet of his broad, muscled toughness and it doesn’t help things. Hand in his again, he pulls her, pushes her, guides her to the building, no time to loose…for either of them.    

The elevator to the third floor is fraught with stubborn and eroding self-control, every little spore riffling through his memory for every dirty, sexy, flirty, inappropriate thought and interaction they’ve had in spaces like this egging him on, building their case. He looks at her then, Penelope glancing over at the same time. 

shit

she gets caught in the heat 

Gaze locked on gaze for one beat, two- a second too long, she should have looked away…her mouth drops open, his eyebrows raising, and he pulls her into his arms, Penelope taking a seven story swan dive into the haze, the pulse and throb of his touch-

 but then-

 he stops.

Forehead on forehead, breath on breath, she can feel the pinch of his brow, and slowly, so slowly, they meet in the scant middle, her lips dancing on his, molasses, honey, sweet and languid, indulgent, a shared shuddering breath before it all comes crashing down, grip tightening, arms locking, Penelope on her toes, catching every deep and ravenous kiss befalling her, frantic, and lustful and desperate she clings to his hold, every atom in her shattering the reminding voice getting more and more distant, every atom in her needing to get closer and closer- no space between them until-

 a ding, an involuntary whimper when the shrill sound pierces through, she stops.

The rattle of doors, a short gruff grunt at her absence as his hands flinch to release her. 

The elevator opens, and Penelope, catching her breath, stares directly at the floor, knowing what will happen if she looks up again. 

Her room. Alone. That was the plan. Despite whatever she thinks she’s feeling, despite whatever he maybe thinks is a good idea, it’s the pollen, nothing more. 

She doesn’t say anything, no excuse, no apology, no goodbye, using all of her will, she quickly scurries from the pull of his gravity, but his legs propel him just as far, step for step Luke is trailing Penelope, heavy breath and fixed energy stretching between them, and their rooms, one right next to the other.

She stops short, fumbling with her bag to find the keycard, Luke bumping into her as he passes, jolting to a stop, his hand shooting out instinctually to keep her from falling, the brush of his fingertips, the pressure and warmth of his hand around her hip, she lets herself fall just a bit into him, Luke groaning, her ass cradling into his groin, his hand drifting lower, fingers lengthening, spreading, bracing her against him, signaling she come closer, her body following direction, soft and heavy into firm and hard. A breath escapes, her head rolls back, digits sliding over fabric finding the slope between her thighs, Penelope quietly moaning at the indescribable pleasure two thick fingers are capable of drawing on tense nerves.

He kisses and sucks her neck, feet shuffling forward, Penelope’s hands falling flat on the door, hips, cock, pressing into her ass, all he can hear is her helplessly breathy moans and pants as he strokes her wet clit over and over again through fabric, his free hand finding hers, feeling the key, slipping it from her grip and opening the door, each of them tumbling in. 

They barely detach before he’s bolted them back together, the force of their bodies colliding sending him backward, slamming the door shut. “Alvez- Lu-“ she’s panting and babbling, trying, but she doesn’t remember what to say, what she was going to say, just his name fills her, knocks her, sending her over. And his reaction to her calling him- hands and lips and legs and cock. He turns her, pinning her against the door, a muscled thigh and straining bulge pushing between legs, persuading passage, mouth drifting down her throat, she can hear him breathing heavy- or maybe it’s her, his thigh lifting and pressing and hips rolling, hands on her waist, hands framed around her as he steals another deep kiss. 

He’s entirely lost at the wheel, no longer Luke making decisions, but pollen. Penelope, hot and wanting, the way her body reacts to his, fuck, the sounds she’s making, all drive him further and further into the haze. Her blunt nails scratching down his back and dragging over his scalp, the sharp tug to his roots when he presses his thigh further into her and how she sinks onto it whimpering, legs trembling. “Yes- yes-“ drifts past his ear. His tongue and his mouth pause briefly over the delicate skin they’ve been worshiping, moving up, lips tracing ear as he suggests just as lightly, “more?” 

“Yes-“ 

It’s all he needs before his hands fly to his jeans, briefs and pants pulling down, and shirt flinging off in one rushed move, quick hands moving under her skirt as he jostles, toeing off his shoes and stepping out of each pant leg, his fingers curling and pulling her underwear down, bunching her skirt up, guiding her leg around his. Rapidly he swoops and bucks, Penelope shrieks, startled, fingers braced on his shoulders digging in as the ready begging tightness of her suddenly fills and protests- a shriek that turns into panting mewls as he gently kisses, sucks and nuzzles her full tits. He’s humming and murmuring, lips skipping across skin, stubble scratching as he sips away and she isn’t even aware of how her top has suddenly been removed but she’s glad he’s found a way. 

He’s taken by her plushness, how soft and smooth, creamy and warm her skin is, her perfume and oil, the musk he can smell, directing every lush lick and sensuous rub to her nipples. Her hands slide over his neck and down his back, move to his hips, his ass, fingers tightening, squeezing him closer, Luke growls at the prompt, bucking harshly, Penelope moaning, a throaty filthy thing, and his hands reach for hers, slamming them against the door, palms kissing palms, arms pinning arms, her leg wrapping tighter. He thrusts again, hips snapping, and she cries out, fingers curling, fresh wetness flooding his cock, he does it again and again, each door-rattling thrust garnering him a warbling moan or wailed sob. He kisses her, her lips, her cheek, her jaw, her throat, across her shoulder and over her bouncing tits, leaving little bites and nips, sucking skin between his lips and soothing with his tongue, all the while his cock pounding up into her, her leg climbing ever higher on his hips, calf and foot draped powerlessly around him in his single minded pursuit of claiming her, of streaking her with pleasure. His hips dip and rise, in and out, deep and far, thick and fast and rough, over and over, a brutal pace. The swollen muscle of his V pressing and rubbing relentlessly, the base of his cock, the sharp burst of air and slip of skin, fluids adding to the sting, pleasure, pain, frantic, urgent, he can feel her tightening around him, her velvet walls sucking his shaft, clenching, her thigh trying to hold him, and then the most beautiful thing, her moans and wails morph. 

“Yes, yes, oh- fudge, yeah, yeh- Lu-, please, ye-rig-LuUke!” Tight spasms grip his shaft, Penelope thrashing, head turning left and right, legs quaking, the door slamming around them, body and palms pressing into hers, her fingers curling around, nails digging into the backs of his hands as he brings himself to finish, ruthlessly pushing her through her constricting orgasm and right into another as cum and lube spread slick down his cock, Luke gasping a breathless moan. 

Spent, he slows, grip and full-body pin relaxing but still there for support, Penelope unsteady. They’re breathing hard, his forehead resting against the cool door as he slips out of her. She clears her throat, her leg dragging down his thigh, and just like that he’s snapped back again, blood rushing, fully erect, sunk beneath the ice. 

There is no clarity, no lust subsided this time, only the immediate need to be joined with her. Buried. Fully. Feeling the hot, wet, tremor of her massaging him, sucking him. Endlessly. His cock aches, throbs, feels like bursting- this time is worse than the first, this is awful, the demand, the pull, the burn of surging arousal, nerve endings on fire, Luke flinches curling forward in a cramping wave of pain that quickly washes into a roaring aphrodisia. 

He takes her hands, thumbs brushing palms, and brings each to his lips, pressing a tender, seductive kiss to the backs that had faced such force. “Please, I need to-“ it’s desperate, and wanting, he guides her hand to his firm, saluting cock, eyes connected with hers, pleading, hand over hand guiding hers in pumping up and down his veiny shaft, lids sinking, timber changing, deep and velvet, “Chica, I want you to straddle me, I want you above me, riding me, and milking me, and using me, I wanna see your face, your head tossed back and your chest thrust out as ecstasy rains through your body. I want to see you shake and quiver from my touch- I need to feel it, I need to see it. Penelope-” 

Her thoughts war, struggling between what she should do and what she’s already done; the lack of complication in solitude, the plan to separate which they’d already broken, the want to help, needing to get it out of their systems, all the while pollen invaders sending her body lighting from their shared movement. Dangerously, she looks to him, his eyes filled with sincere longing -and lust- It sweeps through her, a warm blossom low in her belly, the feeling erotic, all thought beyond reason, all urgency gone as the same fog washes over her, and all she can do is nod. 

Drifting, floating they’ve unknowingly been making their way from the door to the bed. Luke collapses as the backs of his legs hit the edge. Looking up at her through hooded lids, hands playing with the fabric of her dress still gathered around her waist, Penelope pushes his chest. Complying, Luke falls easily backward, a knee settling between his legs. His breath becomes heavy and he drags himself back further on the bed, Penelope crawling over him, the hem of her skirt tickling knees, thighs. She leans down, kissing him, Luke lifting to meet her, his hands searching for the zipper, for her bra clasp, finding them, tugging and unhooking. Feeling the items loosen Penelope breaks away, pleased at the whine she hears as she settles back on his quads. Not what he wanted. She grabs the skirt, arms crossed, and lifts, pulling it over her head, bra coming with it, Penelope free of her fabric confines, Luke now treated to the glorious sight of her bare, on top of him. 

His eyes roam from lustrous dark curls to heavy hanging, plump tits flecked red, raising them up further he scans her face, mouth slightly parted, cheeks flush, little blonde buns a fuzzy mess, and her eyes, those sweet brown candies, he sees are watching him, too.  

Her tongue peeks out, starting at his slack sharp jaw, glossy plump lips, drifting down to muscular, tan skin scattered with scars, his firm chest and cut abs…lower she follows the trail of hair that starts at his belly, down to the valley between his peaking hipbones, the meaty curves that frame them…lower still to his blushing cock, Penelope licking her lips. She clenches as devious thoughts fill her head. Bending forward, hands on the bed next to his thighs, she places a gentle kiss to the hot, shining tip, Luke hissing, his dick jumping, Penelope, grinning to herself and leaning further up his body. 

“Chica-“ Luke gasps, pleading for the only relief he knows.

Warm lips fall on his neck, tongue swirling, and then cascade further, tasting him. Down she sinks slowly over his chest, capturing nipples between wet lips, tongue lapping across the edges, the feel of it making him shiver, the feel of it on her tongue making her throb, she slips down further, lips skating between abs, tongue dipping into belly, he’s soapy, and salty, and tastes just a little like he smells- earthy and divine. Further, skin hot on her slick mouth, Penelope tongues around the curly base of his shaft, Luke’s hips jumping under her, hands gripping the blanket. She peeks up, hair falling in her eyes, catching him watching her with a gaze so hot, so intense, she feels like she’s being set ablaze, she blinks, her skin rushing with heat and straightens, shivering. Crawling back up his body, gaze unbroken, hips hovering above hips, she grasps his shaft, guiding the tip to her slick lips. Stoping momentarily, Penelope rubs him from clit through split vulva, over her entrance and back again, twitching and moaning at the light feel of his soft, spongy head on her stimulated nerves, then, realigning, presses him into her, gradually sinking down, down, head tilting back, eyes closing, mouth dropped open to release a shaky sigh, Luke, a perfectly delicious fit. 

Luke watches as his not-so-secret fantasy comes to life, how gratified she looks at just the fill of him, her chest glistening, heaving with light breath, blossoming pink and red. Flat palms reverently ghost up bare thighs and her eyes flutter open, his vision shifts from his own drifting hands to her watching him and back. His palms climb further, smoothing up thick, spread, hips and over her belly, he feels her body squeeze around his cock so snug inside her, fingertips trail up her sides as hands slip under heavy chest, cradling, thumbs brushing and swirling her nipples, she shudders, her hips canting forward and back, Penelope rocking herself to the movement, a sigh trapped behind her bitten lip. 

She hates how stupid it is, generic, cliché, and maybe it’s the pollen, it’s definitely the pollen, because everything about this is like a lazy romance novel; the way she moulds perfectly around his cock, how very Goldilocks or Arthurian it is, how his hands are forming around her breasts and his fingers are rolling her nipples just right and he’s strong and beautiful and looking at her full of love and wonder and she feels that bubbling warmth spreading as she slowly rides him back and forth, back and forth, grateful, pleasured, little mewls slipping out, the tickle of his velvety cock rubbing against her slick walls, her movements deepening, an exaggerated roll from pelvis to spine, her breath coming faster, going higher and higher with every undulating rock, the feel of his fingers sending signals shooting through her, Luke’s full mouth sucking on her tits, her hips swooping and swooping, thrusting and rolling, coming faster and faster, her hands on the balls of his shoulders as he disengages, laying back, watching as she takes selfishly from him. 

He’s mesmerized by the woman, the goddess atop him, the sight of her, Penelope in the throws, quickening, watching him, connected to him, until her eyes slip shut, mouth dropped, head tilting, tits thrusting out, her own hands twisting and pinching rosey nipples, shoulders rolling back, Penelope glowing, euphoric. His thumbs sweep the tender skin of her inner thighs, “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,“ aches in his murmur.

She realizes it’s just like he said, she’s high above him chasing her pleasure, moaning and sighing, his large, calloused hands caressing her shaking thighs, his timber, her hips rolling, she can’t stop, spine straightening, head tossing back, her disheveled buns finally falling, long hair cascading, legs convulsing at his touch, her body milking him tightly, he feels so good, he feels so good, he feels- so good, he feels- so good, he feels- he feels- he fEELS- HE-  Her breath climbs and with it he’s pulled along, more, more, more, harder, stronger, firmer, Luke dizzying from what he’s sure has to be every blood cell in his body now in his cock, standing proud for her, being sucked and pulled and choked by her desperate cunt, encouraging through breathless pants, “that’s right- keep going- just like that- Gorgeous-” it’s a whispered chant that doesn’t let up, becomes more and more strained, more and more airy.

A catching stroke has her eyes fluttering open, immediately finding his own transfixed on her, the second they connect he tightens like a kick, cock jumping, swelling, hitting her just right, pushing her over, Penelope cumming and Luke  just as suddenly, eyes glossing and pupils dilating, a grunting moan mixing with her throaty pitching one, Penelope calling his name again, warbling, her thighs clenching him like a riding horse, his hips thrusting, hands holding fast to her as rough hot spurts of cum fill her again.

Catching her breath, coming down, she suddenly feels a skin-crawling urge to climb off him, to escape this embarrassing situation and hide it in a box on a shelf in a dark closet. 

She will not play the fool

which is how she knows

Shamefully her arms move to cross, covering some part of herself, “Right…I think…I’m…Are you…good?” Looking at him she isn’t sure she can tell, his eyes still shining and dark, a dreamy grin on his face, and he hasn’t stopped petting her legs, drawing circles. 

“You mean free of glittering gold Cupid’s arrows?” He briefly takes stock, “I can say with wavering confidence that I believe they’ve run their course.” 

“Well. Good. We should get back then,” she states matter of factly, and, grabbing her dress and underwear, she dismounts him, disappearing into the bathroom to dress and fix herself up. 

Luke lays on the bed for a moment longer watching her leave. 

Loving her is hard. Will be even harder now.

Penelope’s always been easy to read, that’s never been the problem, the problem is her words, her actions, don’t often match what he believes to be true. A hand rests over his heart as he thinks about what just happened and wonders where they go from here. He knows where he’d like to go, he’d like to not have to go back to the lab, he’d like for her to have stayed here next to him, lazy fingers playing on his skin, he’d like…for her to just open herself up to trying…be brave…He’d like that most of all. But he can guess where she’d have them go.

Each redressed, looking less ravaged, they make their way in silence out of the hotel and into the SUV, Luke opening her door, driving them, Penelope uncharacteristically giving no lip. The ride is quiet, so quiet he can’t stand it, so quiet he’s decided to hell with it. At least this might get some reaction. “So,“ he lets out a light, nervous, chuckle “Uh, Garcia-Pen… “ 

”Luke,” she huffs exasperated. Great he’s going to apologize, or- worse yet- remind her it was nothing. Just what she needs. “it’s fine, we can be adults about this. It was hitting you faster, and a lot stronger than it was me, maybe because you’re a guy and you know, testosterone, and virility, and sex drive and all that,- not that I don’t have a fantastic sex drive, I do- that’s not what I meant, that’s not the point… Ah- whatever, but it’s fine. Adults. We’re capable.” So what if they’d just had fantastic, mind-blowing sex? Multiple times. It doesn’t matter that no one has looked at her like he did. Does. He is Luke and she is Penelope, and they are just two members of the BAU who now share this weird secret they can never tell anyone…

Fluff She gets side tracked thinking about not telling, then starts bargaining with herself about who she really can tell. 

NO ONE. 

Because they are coworkers! That’s all. All the heightened emotions, the feelings, the feeling- it means nothing, because it was the pollen. Eros. Cupid. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…they both did. 

“Yeah…” Luke nods distractedly, entertaining the thought of lying, brushing it off, and just agreeing with her, but realizes he can’t anymore. “Actually,” and then he shakes his head, “no. Whatever that means, no. I don’t want it. I don’t want to- I’m pretty sure it hit me as strong and fast as it did because…I have feelings for you. So, if that means forgetting this, that this was meaningless or forgettable, that you are forgettable- you want me to forget…No. It wouldn’t be possible for me. This is not forgettable to me. And, I don’t want it to be.”

“Well…” she sputters, completely thrown, “tough crackers, mister. We work together, you can’t- you have to forget-“ She isn’t sure why she says it, it’s not like the whole working together thing has ever really stopped anyone and she’s pretty sure she does like him a whole lot…a whole lot.

Luke laughs glancing over, “Why? Rossi and Strauss worked together, you and that tech guy-” and then he stops, a creeping horrible thought dawning on him. Suddenly he wants to pull over, wants to never have brought it up, wants to fold into himself. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him and he feels like such an ass. 

The words seep out, Luke helpless to stop the slow crawl from brain to tongue, “… If it worked fast on me because of my feelings…it didn’t work as fast on you because…you don’t.” 

She could lie…she could tell him that was right, she doesn’t have feelings for him, feelings that, despite her best efforts in resistance, he’s only managed to force into growing. She’s staring at her lap, at her fidgeting fingertips, but she sees his head turned toward her, vision bouncing from road to her. She looks up at him, pleading he not make her say it, pleading he let it go…and watches as his expression turns from hope, to disappointment, to resignation.

“Right. Right.” He turns back, defeated, crushed. A hand lets go of the wheel rubbing his face. He can see it in her eyes, but it’s not his place to force her. 

“You know what? No-“ quickly he pulls over to the side of the highway

“Luke! The lab!”

“No one’s texted either of us, just. Let me say this. I want to give this a chance. Penelope, I’ve liked you for…so long. I know you feel the same, I know you’re scared-“ 

“You don’t know anything-” 

He grips the steering wheel tightly out of frustration, growling, “Then tell me. Tell me honestly, and I’ll stop. Tell me honestly, and I’ll never bring it up again.”

Looking at him, she frowns, her voice growing small “I….I can’t-“ 

“Then let’s try. We’ve already got the hard part out of the way, we know how to be around each other… Let me take you to dinner, let me try to make you happy.”

“Ha! Being with you is the opposite of happy-” her face breaks, the jab is familiar footing, teasing.

“Penelope, I’m serious! You already know I’m here for you, you know… that I love you. If there’s some part of you…that thinks you love me too, let me try to make that part happy…”

The smile melts, her eyes turning sad and watery, and he knows what comes next, ”…Luke, we need to get back.” It’s not an answer, but it is. 

He can’t recall the last time he’s felt this way, but right now isn’t the time. He shuts his eyes stuffing it all back into a box and pulls the gear shift, glancing over his shoulder before pulling back onto the highway. Some gambles don’t pay off. 

They’re minutes from the lab, trees passing, neither saying a word, his eyes carefully trained on the road, on the cars around them, Luke set on simply getting them back when her voice breaks through the white noise of tires on asphalt.

His head jerks as he glances, not really hearing her, “What was that?”  

Penelope clears her throat, speaking louder, “I said, but I’d like to try…”

Slowly, a small smile spreads in reaction, a warm and happy kind of smile she’s never seen, free of cheek and mischief “Yeah?”

Penelope nods rapidly, sucking down a steadying breath, “yeah.” 

#garvez #criminal minds #penelope garcia #luke alvez #smut #sex pollen #fan fiction #criminal minds fan fiction #fluff #snails tales #ao3

[sagebetweenthepages]

#cottagecore #fairycore #naturecore #forestcore #mushroomcore #cottage aesthetic #fairy tale aesthetic #fairy aesthetic #nature aesthetic #forest aesthetic #mushroom aesthetic #hedgehog #animals #snail #woodland #woodland creatures

[alrauna]

Annie Stegg Gerard (@anniestegg)

#Annie Stegg Gerard #painting #fairy tale #forest creature #animal #forest #cat #opposum #frog #snail #bat #moth #mushroom #fly agaric #animals

[mothfables]

Snail Ch. 3: Doctors Knew Before I Did

The Chain has their first monster battle with little Legend. Also, Wind joins Sky in Legend’s list of trusted people.

Wind is staring.

He knows it’s rude, but he can’t help it! Seeing the Veteran, usually so confident and self-assured, now so quiet, frightened even, is strange.

...Though, he supposes he’d be scared too if he was suddenly small and surrounded by strangers.

But they’re not strangers to him, not really! Which is good, because he’s not sure what they’d do if little Legend didn’t remember them at all. Try really really hard to prove they’re not going to hurt him, probably, going off of his reaction when he first saw them.

—————————

Wind hadn’t known what to think when it happened — only that one moment their Veteran was there and the next he wasn’t. Seeing him so small had set off his protective instincts something fierce, though, and he’d torn into the monsters going after his suddenly-defenseless brother. He wasn’t alone in that, either; Twilight, Wars, and even Hyrule were especially vicious in their efforts to reach him.

And then the monsters were gone and they’d barely gotten a glimpse of him before he disappeared into the trees faster than Wind could blink.

When Sky brings him back Wind finds himself shocked. Legend is tiny and timid and shy, clinging to the older hero in a way older Legend wouldn’t be caught dead doing. He’s even smaller than Four, somehow.

At least he seems to trust Sky. The Chosen is hard not to, honestly, with his kind face and soft demeanor. If it were to be anyone out of their group to gain little Legend’s trust, it would be him.

They all introduce themselves at Sky’s prompting and Wind watches his newly-little brother closely. He’s worried about what’s going through that ever-busy mind, violet eyes flicking between them with a wariness he’s only ever seen when facing dangerous enemies. The boy spooks badly when Warriors and Time speak up, little ears pressing flat against his head and eyes going wide-wide-wide. When it’s his turn, Wind makes sure to keep his body language loose and unthreatening, despite how much he feels like vibrating out of his own skin; it seems to help because Legend untenses just the slightest bit. Wind takes it as a victory.

And then: “‘m Legend. I know you.”

Things get very loud very fast. Wind doesn’t look away from Legend and so he sees the way he cowers into Sky, little shoulders hiking up to his ears and hands clenching the older hero’s pants in tiny fists as he trembles and hides his face. Wind is struck by how much he looks like Aryll when she’s scared or overwhelmed, clinging to Granny or himself for comfort.

He watches as Sky murmurs to Legend, trying to figure out what’s wrong. He’s about to step forward and see if he can help when Sky straightens, snapping his fingers to gain everyone’s attention before signing ‘QUIET!!!’

Amazingly, it works. They all promptly shut up and turn to the Chosen Hero and the child plastered to his side. Sky is glaring fiercely, one hand petting soft pink hair and the other resting protectively against a small back.

Time steps forward, kneeling so as to be closer to Legend’s current eye level. The boy peeks out at him for a moment before hiding his face again. Wind catches a glimpse of teary eyes and pale cheeks and feels that surge of protectiveness again. Legend shouldn’t ever have to look like that; he’ll do whatever it takes to keep that look away from his brother’s face in the future.

Time asks Legend about what he remembers and- oh, yeah, that’s probably a good thing to know. His stuttered answer has more than one of them wincing. Wind sneaks a glance around and sees Four muttering ‘...jumbly?’ with a confused expression. Wild looks especially distressed and Wind recalls suddenly the Champion’s own memory issues.

Right.

This would be uncomfortably familiar to Wild, wouldn’t it. Wind makes a note to check on him later, or at least point Twilight in his direction if he can’t do it himself.

And then Sky is kneeling down and drawing Legend into a hug. He leans into it without complaint, still obviously overwhelmed and confused and upset. Sky rocks side to side, and to Wind’s amazement Legend calms almost instantly, tucking his face into Sky’s neck with a sigh.

Sky remains there for a few more moments, humming softly and petting his hair. Then he stands and hoists Legend onto her hip with a grunt. Legend doesn’t react beyond a small sound and nestling closer.

“Oof, he’s- really light, actually.” Sky blinks in surprise.

Twilight chuckles, though it sounds a little strained. “Kids’re either lighter or heavier than ya expect. Don’t worry too much ‘bout it.”

“If you say so.” Sky looks doubtful but doesn’t argue. She glances at Time where he still kneels on the ground. “We should probably get moving. I don’t want anything else coming along and taking us by surprise.”

Their leader nods and pushes himself to his feet, groaning. Wind has to bite his lip to muffle a snicker. Old Man indeed.

“Let’s find a place off the road to settle down for the night. We can figure what out to do from there. Does everyone have everything?” There’s a chorus of assent.

“Wait!” Sky gasps. “Does anyone have Legend’s things? I don’t remember seeing them when he ran off.”

There’s a moment where they all scramble to look around for them before Wild speaks up. “I grabbed them after you went after him. His weapons and jewelry and everything are all in the Slate.”

Sky sighs in relief.

“Alright, that’s good to hear. Thank you for doing that, Wild.” With a nod, Time sets off down the road in the direction they were going before everything went to shit and the rest of them follow after. Sky stays in the middle of the group, Legend secure in his arms. Everyone else sticks close, keeping an eye out for more danger.

Wind walks next to Sky, sneaking glances every so often, so he’s able to see how Legend clings tight to the older hero, how he keeps his face hidden. Over time he relaxes and seems to fall into a doze, only to startle awake when someone starts to speak. His ears - which are so small! but still very long, which is something Wind’s noticed to be unique to him - flicker uneasily, listening intently to everything around him. Nothing happens for a few minutes and he relaxes again. Then someone else opens their mouth and the cycle repeats.

Eventually they find a place to stop for the night. Camp is set and dinner is eaten without much conversation. Legend doesn’t once let go of Sky.

It’s only once the boy has fallen into an uneasy sleep that someone speaks up.

“...So, what do we do about this?” Four is the one to break the silence. “Do we let it run it’s course? Or do we try to break or reverse it somehow?”

“Do we even have anything that could undo something like this?” Warriors asks.

“Well, I have my moon pearl, but it’s meant to protect you while in the Dark World or from dark magic. Like Twilight’s shadow chrystal,” they explain at Wars’ questioning look. “I know for a fact Legend always keeps his on him, so it should have protected him if it was that sort of magic.”

Twilight’s guilty wince goes unnoticed by all except Sky and Wind. He watches as she narrows her eyes, glancing between the Rancher and the child in her lap before they go wide in realization. Wind frowns; there’s definitely a story there.

Meanwhile, Hyrule is looking closely at Legend from their place beside Sky, brows furrowed. Their head tilts as they mutter under their breath. Wind, sitting on their other side, can barely make out the words spell, curse, natural magic, and twist, maybe? When they pause to take a breath Wind nudges them with his shoulder.

“Got anythin’ ya want ta share, Traveler?”

Hyrule startles before stammering, “O-oh! Uh, I was just- trying to figure out what exactly, um- caused this?” His voice rises in uncertainty.

“That would be good to know,” Wars says, nodding. “What have you got so far?”

Hyrule hums. “It’s- Well, I think it was originally supposed to be a dark spell? Or some sort of curse, maybe.”

Four narrows his eyes at the phrasing. “‘Supposed to be’? So you’re saying it... changed somehow? How would that happen?”

“I’m not sure, but...” Hyrule bites his lip. “His natural magic might have- I dunno, caught it and... twisted it, is the closest thing I can think of. Or maybe some of his items; they’re filled with enough magic to cause a pretty significant rebound.”

“Perhaps it was a mix of both,” Time muses. “The Veteran does carry a large array of powerful items. It’s possible that something in his inventory had some sort of reaction to whatever it was that was intended to hit him.”

It’s quiet for a moment as everyone takes that in. Then Legend snuffles against Sky’s shoulder and Wind has to bite back a coo.

“You must admit, he’s pretty cute like this,” Wars mutters, like he doesn’t intend for anyone to hear. Wind can hear him just fine, and makes it clear by agreeing loudly enough that Wars gives him the stink-eye from across the fire.

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he? Reminds me o’ Aryll when she was little.”

Wars coughs. “So... Do we have anything that could reverse this?”

Twilight hums for a moment before snapping his fingers. “When I got changed t’ the wolf fer the first time, I had ta use the Master Sword ta reverse it. Think tha’ would work here, Sky?”

Sky chews her lip, absentmindedly running a hand through Legend’s hair as she stares at the fire. “It... might,” she says finally, though it sounds unsure. “If- Fi is made to dispel dark... If what Hyrule said is true and Legend’s magic changed it... It might do nothing. Or it might make it worse.” Time flinches imperceptibly. “Since his memory was so affected by the initial change, I’m worried what trying to undo it might do.”

It’s silent for a while after that. Everyone wants Legend to be okay, of course, but if it’s at the cost of his memories...

“I think...” Hyrule starts quietly, like they’re thinking through the words as he says them, “it might be best if we let this run its course. Or at least wait and see how things go before trying to change him back.”

“I agree. Memories are- delicate.” Wild speaks up. “If we can keep him from losing any or messing them up any more than they are, we should do our best to do that.”

No one objects. After a moment Time clears his throat.

“I suppose we are all in agreement, then? We’ll see how things go and use the Master Sword only if necessary?” There’s various sounds of agreement around the fire. Time lets out a breath before slapping his knees and pushing to his feet.

“I suggest we all get some rest, then. Today was... eventful, to say the least. There’s no telling what tomorrow will bring, and we would do well to be prepared. Captain, would you mind taking first watch?”

With that, they all set about their normal nightly routine. Well... almost normal. It’s oddly quiet without Legend’s standard sarcastic quips and snark, even if he doesn’t always say anything. Just his presence is enough to fill the space.

Now that space is occupied by a tiny, shy shadow of the Veteran’s usual self.

—————————

The night passes without any more incidents. Wind wakes the next morning having almost forgotten the events of yesterday, and thus does a double take at the sight of Sky curled around a tiny body, the only part visible a tuft of soft pink hair.

Everyone else is in various stages of awake and gathered around the fire pit. They’re doing a good job of more-or-less minding their own business, though every so often someone will glance over at the lump of blankets containing the Chosen Hero and his charge.

Wild finishes breakfast and is in the process of handing it out when there’s a quiet snuffling sound from the direction of the bedrolls. Everyone looks over in time to witness little Legend sneeze himself awake. It’s nothing like the Vet’s usual muffled sneezes- these are tiny and squeaky and altogether the cutest sound Wind has ever heard.

(Can a sound be cute? ...Y’know what, who cares? This one definitely is.)

The sudden sneezing fit has the bonus effect of waking Sky, who bolts upright with a snort, freeing Legend from the cuddly trap of his arms. The boy tumbles out of the blankets, blinks, and sneezes again.

“Bless you,” Time says mildly.

Wind can’t help himself and coos. “Is it weird ta say that that’s my new favourite sound in any world ever?”

“I wuz gunna say yeah but tha’ is pretty cute,” Twilight agrees.

Sky stumbles to his feet with a yawn. Wild waves at her and she makes her way over to join the rest of them around the fire. Legend quickly follows, latching on to her shirt with little hands. She pauses for a moment at the action, blinking down at him in surprise before shaking it off.

She plops down between Wind and Twilight, giving them a sleepy nod in greeting that they return. Legend hesitates to follow; when she tries to encourage him to sit he takes one look at the Rancher and shies away.

Twilight immediately looks as if his heart has been torn out of his chest and stomped on in front of him. He watches forlornly as Legend inches around behind Sky to her other side.

“Here, I got you.” As if it’s second nature, Sky reaches over and lifts the boy up to set him in her lap. Legend squeaks and goes still, eyes wide with surprise.

It takes a moment for the realization of what she just did to set in, and then Sky is stammering apologies. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-!”

His frantic rambling is brought to a halt as Legend curls up against him with a little hum. His hands hover uncertainly before he lets out a breath and wraps them around the small body in his lap. Legend nestles closer with a content sound.

Quiet footsteps have the older hero glancing up to see Wild coming over, a bowl in each hand. He holds them out with a small smile. “I made oatmeal. I didn’t know if you or Legend wanted anything in yours, so I left it plain. There’s stuff to add to it if you want.”

Sky takes them with a quiet ‘thank you’. He nudges Legend until he looks up and hands him a bowl. “Wild wants to know if you want anything in yours,” he tells him.

Legend stares down at his bowl for a few moments, biting his lip, before he looks up with a shy expression. “Um, I like- I like apples. With cinnamon,” he says quietly.

Wild smiles. “I can do that.”

It’s short work for the Champion to produce and slice an apple from his slate and sprinkle it with cinnamon. He arranges the slices on a small plate and hands it to Legend with another smile.

It’s received with an answering smile and a brightening of violet eyes at the first bite. Legend gives a happy little hum, swaying side to side as he eats. Within minutes both the plate and bowl are picked clean.

The rest of them finish their own breakfast soon after and move to get ready for the day ahead. Legend does his best to help; it’s clear he’s having trouble adjusting to being small again while his brain tells him he should be bigger. Still, he’s stubborn.

Eventually camp is packed up and the Chain sets out. Legend clings to Sky’s hand, trotting alongside him as they walk.

Wind stays close like he did yesterday, chattering up a storm. Legend doesn’t respond much, but that’s okay. He just wants to keep his brother from getting lost in his own head. It seems to work as the boy perks up and doesn’t stick quite so close to Sky.

By the time lunchtime nears, however, Legend is flagging. He refuses all offers to carry him, though, no matter who asks. Over time, he drifts to the back of the group, stumbling tiredly but still stubbornly staying on his own two feet. His hand is still tight in Sky’s.

He stumbles again and Sky makes a worried noise. “Are you sure you don’t want a break? No one would mind-”

“I can do it on my own,” Legend growls. Or, well, Wind is pretty sure that’s what he’s aiming for but it comes out as a tired, mumbled whine. “I managed fine on all my other adventures.” He pulls his hand out of Sky’s.

The older hero looks saddened by the action and Wind feels the same. Legend is so little, like this, and he’s claiming he doesn’t need any help, even though he’s so clearly exhausted. Still, if he doesn’t want help they can’t force it on him. They know from experience it would only end badly.

Up ahead, Twilight pauses, ears flicking as he glances around. “Ah’m hearin’ monsters in th’ woods,” he warns. “Dunno where ‘xactly, but we best be careful.”

“You heard the man, keeps your eyes out for anything that could signal an attack,” Wars calls back to the rest of them.

A few minutes pass and the road stays quiet. Legend falls further and further behind. Wind hears him stumble again and exchanges a worried glance with Sky.

“If he falls I don’t care if he doesn’t want to be carried. I’m picking him up.”

“I’ll help,” Wind offers.

Another stumble and a gasp sound from behind them.

“Okay, that’s it.” Sky turns around. “Lege, I know you don’t want-” He cuts off with a horrified sound.

“Legend!”

Wind whips around to see Legend high off the ground in the grip of a huge moblin. The boy kicks and struggles but he may as well be fighting a rock for all the good it does; the monster, completely unfazed, gives him a hearty shake. Legend yelps as his head snaps back at the force of it and Wind feels his heart stop.

Suddenly an arrow whizzes overhead to embed itself in the monster’s eye. It howls with pain and drops Legend who falls to the ground with a sharp crack!

Sky is there in the next moment, scooping Legend off the ground and slicing the moblin in half in a single movement. He bolts back to the safety of the group with Legend clutched tightly to his chest.

The boy is clutching his left wrist in a vice grip, face pale.

Monsters pour from the trees on either side of the path, blades and teeth glinting and sharp. Wind notes moblins and bokoblins mostly, with a few lizalfos for good measure. They don’t even have the good grace to be from the same era.

Fun.

There’s too many to fight as a group so they split, Warriors barking orders and the rest of them hurrying to follow. Wind blinks and finds himself backed against the treeline with little Legend trembling next to him. Biting his lip, Wind glances around.

The monsters are all in front of him. Now that they’ve launched their attack they don’t seem to care about using the trees to their advantage anymore.

He can work with that.

“Lege, can you climb?” A shaky nod. “Okay, climb one o’ the trees behind us an’ stay there til the fight’s over, ‘kay?”

Legend looks like he wants to protest but a sudden snarl sends him scurrying for the closest trunk. Wind ducks a blow and watches him clamber up surprisingly quickly to crouch on a large branch with his uninjured hand over his mouth and the other tucked to his chest.

The sailor takes that as his cue to start slashing at the monsters surrounding him. He dodges one and stabs another before rolling to avoid a spear jabbing into the ground where his leg was a moment before.

He jumps and slashes, stabs and rolls, all the while doing his best to keep the monsters away from the tree where his little brother is hiding.

A lizalfos keeps him busy for a few minutes before he manages to cut its tail off, making it shriek and flail. Wind finishes it off with a stab through the chest.

Then it’s just a few more bokoblins, thankfully none of which are black-blooded. He manages to take them down relatively quickly while avoiding serious injury himself before turning to check on the rest of his brothers and catch his breath.

Time is engaged with a moblin from Wild’s time on the other side of the path. He seems to be doing fine- with a swing of his sword he lops off one of its arms then bisects it as it howls.

Twilight and Warriors are tag-teaming a pack of bokoblins. One darts in to distract while the other strikes from the side or behind. Together they make quick work of the monsters before turning to find more opponents.

Similarly, Four and Wild are wreaking havoc nearby - Wind winces as he hears the by-now-familiar sound of a sword shattering and Four yelling.

He can’t find Hyrule but he does see Sky, slicing through monster after monster with deadly efficiency.

Soon all the monsters are nothing but dust and the heroes move to regather in the center of the path. Injuries are made note of to take care of once they make camp unless they’re urgent; Wind himself only has a few minor scrapes and bruises, thanks to that darn lizalfos.

He turns back to the tree where Legend is still hiding, holding out his arms with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “All th’ monsters are gone. D’ya want help gettin’ down?”

A nod. Legend shuffles to the edge of the branch and lets his legs dangle over the side, looking apprehensively between the ground and where Wind stands waiting, biting his lip. The sailor is patient and waits for him to make up his mind, knowing the other boy never does well when pushed. After a minute Legend shoves himself off the branch, making Wind yelp and nearly dive to catch him before he hits the ground. He holds his little brother close to his chest as he tries to catch his breath, feeling him cling back just as tightly.

“Let’s um- l-let’s not do tha’ again... yeah?”

Wind feels him nod shakily, pressing closer and gripping at his shirt as he trembles.

Wars calls over from where he’s doing after-battle checks. “Wind, you okay over there?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, all good!” He hefts the small body in his arms only to freeze at a sudden pained yelp. “Woah woah, what’s wrong?!”

Legend whimpers and tries to push away, forcing Wind to hold him tighter so he doesn’t drop him. He lets out another pained noise and Wind suddenly remembers the sound he made when the moblin dropped him. He curses and hurries back to where their brothers wait, looking worried.

“Wars, can ya take a look at ‘is arm? He hurt it real bad when th’ moblin dropped ‘im.”

The Captain is already hurrying over, medical bag in hand.

“Set him down, let me see,” he demands as he gets closer. Wind goes to obey but Legend won’t let go. Instead, he presses closer despite his earlier attempts to get down. The nearer Wars draws the more Legend tries his best to meld into Wind’s torso.

The sailor eventually elects to just sit down and hold him in his lap. He wraps his arms around the smaller boy, tight enough to keep him from wriggling away but loose enough he’s not squishing him.

Legend quiets but continues to watch Warriors warily. As the older hero kneels down before them Wind feels him press back against his chest as though trying to hide.

Wars moves slowly and gently, obviously trying not to upset him any further. He doesn’t touch Legend; instead he says softly, “Hey there, bud. Wind told me you hurt your arm when you fell. Is it alright if I take a look at it?”

Legend takes a shaky breath and hesitantly nods. He doesn’t move, though. Wars stays where he is, waiting for him to decide what he wants to do.

It takes another minute before Legend slowly, slowly extends his left arm towards Warriors. The captain gently takes his wrist to inspect it, politely ignoring the flinch it causes. He pushes Legend’s sleeve back and moves his wrist back and forth a few times, pressing lightly to test the bones. Wind can see it beginning to swell already and suppresses a wince.

“It’s broken, alright,” is the diagnosis.

Wars reaches into his bag and pulls out a roll of bandages to wrap Legend’s wrist with, telling him what he’s doing the whole time in a soft voice. He pauses to grab a sturdy stick, breaks it in half, and uses that to hold the limb in place. Then he finishes wrapping it, taking care to keep his movements slow.

For his part, Wind does his best to keep his little brother calm - keeping his arms around him in a hug, rubbing his uninjured arm, even pressing a kiss to his hair when he lets out a muffled whimper at the pain. He thinks it helps.

When he finishes wrapping Legend’s wrist Wars pulls out a red potion and instructs him to sip it slowly. When it’s about halfway empty he takes it back and hands it to Wind, who downs it without complaint. “We’ll leave your wrist wrapped for now, let the potion do it’s job. I’ll check on it again tomorrow, okay?”

He waits for Legend to nod before standing and making his way back to the others. Sky immediately takes his place, looking over first Legend and then Wind worriedly. She doesn’t crowd, though, well aware of Legend’s dislike of it.

“We’re alright, Sky,” Wind reassures. “Wars took care of it.”

“I know,” she sighs, moving to sit next to them. “I’m just worried. That was scary.”

Wind nods. It was really scary; seeing Legend in the hands of that moblin, watching him fall, the crack! as his wrist broke... the fact he’d hardly made a noise the entire time...

It’s a relief when the call to get moving comes. Wind stumbles to his feet and moves to hand Legend over to Sky only for the boy to cling to his shirt with a whine. Exchanging a glance with Sky, he tries again but Legend only clings tighter, burying his head against his collarbone.

“Come on, let’s go!” Twilight calls. “We’re gunna try ta get as far as we can afore it gets dark!”

With Legend clinging to Wind like a limpet he shares one last look with Sky before following after the rest of their brothers.

Thankfully it seems the fight will be the only excitement for the day. The rest of the walk is quiet- well, as quiet as it gets with a group like theirs, anyway.

More than once Wind is asked, mostly jokingly, if he’d rather let someone else carry Legend. He just huffs and continues walking.

“I do have a little sister, y’know,” he reminds them. “I can carry a kid for a while.” Besides, Legend chose him, he’s his responsibility!

He catches Twilight pouting at that but gracefully decides not to mention it. The Rancher will get his turn when he gets his turn, no need to whine about it.

Everyone is still a little wound up from the fight, so instead of stopping for lunch like they’d planned Wild hands out skewers to eat as they walk. Wind eats his fish skewer in record time so he can hold the fruit skewer Wild pulled out for Legend.

It’s eaten slowly, interrupted by the occasional sniffle. Wind doesn’t judge him for it; a broken wrist is nothing to laugh at, especially at his age.

—————————

By the time they call it a day Wind’s arms and shoulders are sore. Carrying a kid for so long is no easy feat, but he’d refused to give in and hand Legend over to someone else, only shifting him to his other hip to give his arm a break. The kid in question had fallen asleep sometime after lunch, resting his head on Wind’s shoulder and his hair tickling his cheek.

Camp is made in a clearing a little ways off the path. Wind drops down on a log with a sigh, ready to rest after such a long day. Sky joins him with a yawn and Wind muffles a laugh.

“How is he?” the older hero asks quietly, glancing at Legend where he’s curled into the sailor’s shoulder.

“I think th’ fight an’ everythin’ wore ‘im out,” he murmurs back. “Breakin’ his wrist didn’t help either.” A though occurs to him then and he straightens to look at his brother.

“Sky, earlier when Wars came over an’ set his wrist...” he begins slowly. “Lege got all scared. I-I know he doesn’t like knights- um, big Lege that is. Do you... d’you think it’s somethin’ he remembers from when he was bigger, or-?”

He doesn’t want to finish, doesn’t want to consider what the alternative might mean.

Sky pales as the implication of Wind’s words hit him. “I- I don’t know-”

He’s interrupted by the subject of their conversation stirring awake, blinking open bleary violet eyes. There’s a moment before those eyes settle on Sky. Legend stares for a heartbeat before lifting his hand and giving a small wave.

Sky returns it then clears his throat. “Hey, chick, can I... can I ask you something?”

Legend blinks but nods. Sky gives a wan smile.

“Alright. This... this is a hard question, so don’t force yourself to answer it, okay?” Another nod, this one less sure. “Okay. Wind told me you got scared when Warriors fixed up your wrist earlier. Can you- could you tell me why?”

Legend takes a sharp intake of breath, opening and closing his mouth a few times before biting his lip and shoving his face against Wind’s chest.

“Hey, hey, you don’t have to answer that if it’s too hard. It’s okay-”

“I don’t like knights,” comes the answer, quiet but capturing everyone’s attention nonetheless. “They chase me. They’re bad.” A sniffle. “They used t’ be good but then A-Agahnim cast a spell that made them think I ki-kidnapped th’ pr’ncess even though I didn’t. Th-they didn’t listen when I told them I didn’t do it. Zelda an’ me fixed it after I beat Ganon bu’ then Yuga came an’ made ‘em bad again.”

Wind feels like he’s going to be sick. He knew his brother held a strong distaste for knights, but to know this was why... He swallows and looks away only to see his own horror reflected back at him on his brothers’ faces.

Warriors especially looks stricken.

“This... Agahnim... is he still-? What happened to him?” Time asks. His face has that pinched look it gets when he’s trying not to let his anger get the better of him.

Legend’s voice is numbed and dull when he replies. “He’s dead. I killed him.”

There’s a choking sound. “I- I’m sorry, you what? How old were you?!” Wars sounds almost desperate, like he’s begging the answer won’t be what he thinks it is.

Any hope he has is dashed to pieces when Legend answers, face unnervingly empty.

“Nine.”

#moth’s tales #linked universe #lu legend #snail #fanfiction #linked universe fanfiction #linked universe au #lu wind #autistic legend #lu the chain #lu sky #lu warriors

[taski-guru]

Blotchy the snail © Nak

Snail pack and accessories were designed by me

Image description: art showing a giant snail approching an anthromorphic racoon, two anthromorphic mice and an anthromorphic squirrel waiting at a "snail stop". A mouse sits on the shell of the snail, the snail carries large bags. end Image description

description by @waitingforthecat

#traditional art #fantasy #snail #courier #anthro #fairy tale #animals #raccoon #mice #mouse #squirrel #pack #bag #apple #grape #herbs #plants #crystal #mushrooms #mountain #field #meadow

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Smallpox Tale (Shūji Terayama, 1975)

#Smallpox Tale #Shūji Terayama #Terayama #Shuji Terayama #short film #1975 #experimental film #surrealism #experimental cinema #colour #blue #faces #animal #animals #snail #Hôsô-tan #Hoso tan #Hôsô tan #Keiko Niitaka #Yoko Ran #Takeshi Wakamatsu

[boomershroomer]

Here is the time-lapse of the inflatable monotub. I think it turned out pretty good. 🍄😍

#cottagecore #fairycore #naturecore #forestcore #mushroomcore #cottage aesthetic #fairy tale aesthetic #fairy aesthetic #nature aesthetic #forest aesthetic #mushroom aesthetic #hedgehog #animals #snail #woodland #woodland creatures

[argentavis]

space is vast, you are small, its black and bitter cold. the book is lying open. there are snails to behold

#the mechanisms #tales to be told #snails #do you know how long. there are snails to behold has been in my head. 2020.

[beannary]

They are drawing self portraits

Based off that one steve universe scene where they are drawing aquamarine and then this post i made a bit ago

#my art #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #toa wizards #jim lake jr #toa jim #claire nunez #toa claire #toby domzalski #toa toby #toa archie #hisirdoux casperan #toa douxie #fun fact the drawing douxie is showing is of a snail i think? #i basically just googled medieval drawings and selected one i found funny #also you can see me slowly get more fed up with this whole comic thing in each panel #as the effort i put into it slowly decreases aklsjdhf #also yes i did just copy paste my own drawing of archie for his thank you for asking

[snailsreblogmaybe]

Thinking about the Triassic Cuddle and not so much about the fossil itself, but about what our reaction to it says about us - how a bunch of us spun a story about how they came together in their final moments for company even though that's likely not what happened.

I love that humanity looked at the two fossilised creatures and some people went "there was comfort here". At the end of the day, we look for love and we hope a creature's last moments 200+ million years ago were not spent alone.

#im not saying ''spin tales about anything and don't listen to the truth'' it's just this harmless example that made me think a bit yknow? #moodboard #love #triassic cuddle #snail rambles

[snailsandpuppy-dogtails]

Beep Beep

@flufftober day 23 Trinket Garvez WC: 655 Ao3

“What is this?” Luke asks with interest picking the small gold bag that’s just been placed on his desk up by the straps, “A gift? For moi?”

“Oh, don’t- don’t let it go to your head. I get everyone gifts, I’m very giving, as you may remember. And it’s just a little thing. Just a- you know, a trinket. A token of good faith that I’m on the right track again and I’ve got my head in the game and, and… and I’m sorry…for being a jerk” she adds slowly, knowing he doesn’t want to re-live the cringe-inducing moment of manic oversharing any more than she does. 

Things between them since then had been weird in a he-should-have-been-weird-any-normal-person-would-have-been-weird-but-he-wasn’t sort of way and she hadn’t said sorry and it was sitting in her stomach growing every day since that she hadn’t acknowledged what she’d done was…not good. 

Especially to do to him…given… 

The bag has some weight to it but it’s not large, making Luke all the more curious about its contents. Now holding it by the base, he tips it, the item sliding easily into his palm. He brings the small rectangular object up, squinting as he turns it left and right in a faux display of inspection. He then looks at her, a queer questioning look on his face, but smiling. Always smiling. 

“Penelope, this a pager. Where did you find this? Does it even work? I don’t think the Bureau’s used pagers in 30 years- actually, I don’t think they ever used them. I’m not even sure Rossi-”

“Zuuuzzhh!” she buzzed, covering his lips with her finger, “I KNOW. YES it works. Look. There’s only one number that will ever be on it, and,” she paused, fumbling in her skirt pocket, then triumphantly pulling something out, “there will only ever be one on mine. Ok?” 

Luke regards her for a moment and for that moment she can’t breathe, the weight and meaning of what she’s said pressing on both of them, the understanding in the look he’s giving her. This was a terrible idea. The worst idea.

Carefully, quietly, he treads, “Penelope, are you saying this is just for you and I?” 

And then she does it though she doesn’t want to, she turns and retreats. “Oh, my go- can’t you ever- just. Not think too deep? It’s not that deep.”

 “But, Like, obviously, if it’s an emergency, call” she turns back to add, before nearly stumbling at Luke rising to follow her. 

It’s just for them. A simple, complicated, impractical, long ago thing. A way to stay in touch but not connected to everyone else. Just them. But she looks like….he hates what she looks like. Hates needing to give her that levity and space after so long, but he does, he couldn’t not give her what she needs, “You know we need a secret code now-“

“Ugh.” she shakes her head. -Thank you-

“I mean, how are you going to know what-“ he continues, making a joke out of it.

Whipping around, she finds him face to face and juts her hand palm-up at waist level, “I change my mind- give it back I’m going to chuck it into the-” 

“Noo,” Luke laughs, pushing the hand down and pulling away, making a show of keeping it high out of her reach, “this is mine now, no take backs, Chica. Possession is nine-tenths of the law”

“I hate you.” Penelope glares before spinning back to march off. 

“I don’t think you do.” Luke teases, jogging after a second to catch up to her quickly escaping form.

“Well you’re wrong, like always, and I do.” she says over her shoulder. 

“This pager says otherwise” he sings, letting her go, watching her go.

“That pager will never say anything, so have fun carrying it around,” are the final words in the discussion, but a secret smile fixes itself to two sets of lips, smiles that would stay the rest of the day.

#flufftober 2023 #day 23 trinket #criminal minds #garvez #luke alvez #penelope garcia #post cm:e #fluff #light hearted #esoteric technology #snails tales #ao3

[sagebetweenthepages]

#cottagecore #frogcore #naturecore #forestcore #fairycore #cottage aesthetic #fairy tale aesthetic #fairy aesthetic #frog aesthetic #snail

[alrauna]

Annie Stegg Gerard (@anniestegg)

#Annie Stegg Gerard #painting #fantasy #animal #frog #snail #animals #fairy tale #forest

[mothfables]

Snail Ch. 2: Four Peculiar Limbs and a Head That Doesn’t Fit

There is a very lost, confused little boy in the woods. Can he trust these strangers, who he doesn’t know but a part of him says he should?

Everything is weird. Too bright, too loud, too big.

There are people here, people he doesn’t know but has a strange nagging feeling that he should. But that can’t be right, he’s never seen them before in his life... has he?

They’re loud, though, and some of them are very big, and they’re all carrying weapons and he doesn’t know what’s happening or how he got here and suddenly they’re reaching for him and he bolts.

The trees provide cover to dart between and shadows to hide in and he runs and runs and runs until he can’t hear the strange-familiar-strangers anymore. Then he’s crawling under a clump of bushes with leaves so thick he can’t see through them because even if he lost them when he hit the trees it doesn’t mean they won’t be looking.

He trembles in his hiding place, heart beating rabbit-quick and doing his best to stifle frightened, confused tears. He didn’t see any dogs when they killed those monsters but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any, and dogs are very good at tracking him no matter how good he hides and oh why did he run in a straight line?

Suddenly there are footsteps in the woods. He claps a hand over his mouth and hopes against hope they go away.

They don’t.

Instead, the stranger settles against one of the trees and begins... humming? Why are they humming? Do they not know he’s here?

He waits, but they don’t do anything else but sit there and hum. The sound is nice, calming, and he can feel his heart begin to slow from it’s frantic pounding. Slowly, keeping an eye on the stranger to make sure they don’t make any sudden movements, he creeps out of the safety of the bushes. Any time the other so much as shifts he freezes, heart in his throat. Nothing happens, though, so he cautiously settles nearby to listen, far enough they won’t be able to grab him but ready to run if they try.

It’s not long before the last note is fading, and the strange man turns to look at him. He stares back, waiting to see what he’ll do.

The answer, apparently, is smile and speak softly. “Hey there, I’m Sky. You must’ve been pretty spooked earlier, huh? I’m sorry about that. Are you alright?”

He doesn’t answer, instead continuing to stare and trying to figure out if this is a trick or if the man, who is quickly becoming more familiar than strange, really means his words. After about a minute of silent staring, Sky heaves a deep breath and stands. He flinches, not expecting the movement; Sky doesn’t seem to notice and brushes himself off before holding out a hand.

“Do you want to come back with me? It can’t be very nice staying out here in the woods all by yourself.”

He’s not wrong; ever since Uncle- ever since Agahnim first sent the knights after him and made everyone hate him for something he didn’t even do, he’s been stuck sleeping alone in the woods more often than he does a bed. He’d learned quickly, though, and can usually get at least a few hours of rest hidden away in a hollow or small cave somewhere before inevitably being woken by one thing or another. Still, this man — Sky — hasn’t done anything to hurt him so far. Even if he was part of the group back there, on the road, with all the weapons and armor. Most of him wants to stay away, stay wary, make sure Sky won’t grab him or go for the sword he can see clearly on his back.

...But there’s a part of him, getting louder every minute, whispering ‘you can trust him’.

He nearly gives in and takes Sky’s hand before catching himself. Even if Sky really is as kind as he seems, there’s no way to know if he’s going to turn on him like the knights and villagers did. There have been kind people before. Kind and welcoming and who said they believed him when he told them about his adventure.

They didn’t always stay kind.

Instead, he pushes the memories thoughts away and agrees to follow behind Sky when the man suggests it- that way he can keep an eye on him and get away if he decides to stop being so kind after all. Pushing himself to his feet, he waits for Sky to start moving, keeping his hands close to his chest. (It’s only to make sure Sky doesn’t try to grab him. That’s all. Not because it’s soothing and makes him feel a tiny bit safer. He grew out of that a long time ago.)

(That’s a lie. It wasn’t that long ago that he had to stop or else worry about being caught.)

The two of them make their way back through the woods, Sky ahead and him behind. Not once does Sky turn back to grab him or reach for his weapon.

The closer they get to the edge of the trees the more his anxiety grows, and he finds himself drawing closer to Sky despite his earlier fear of him. When they leave the safety of the woods he latches on to the man’s leg and clings. He hasn’t done anything yet, and he’s beginning to think it will stay that way.

The group from before is still there, talking amongst themselves with worried expressions. They must be missing Sky, he thinks, wondering at the pang in his chest.

He starts when Sky lays a hand on his back and calls out, “I thought I told you guys to make camp! I’m gone, what, an hour? And I come back to find you all wandering about like headless cuckoos!”

He can’t help but snort at the mental image that conjures. Perhaps these people aren’t quite so dangerous after all if they can’t even make a camp.

He quails a bit when they notice him, but Sky keeps him steady and levels them with a look that makes them stop in their tracks. Then the man nudges him, gently, prompting him to look up and meet sky-blue eyes.

“Do you want to go say hi? They won’t hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He had forgotten about that for a moment, and the sudden rush of fear makes his chest squeeze tight. Sky must see it, because he adds, “And if anyone does something you don’t like, they’ll have to deal with me.”

That brings him up short. Sky would defend him? Against all of his companions? His chest feels warm suddenly, the fear loosening enough that he nods, earning him a smile.

Sky leads him over to where the rest of them stand waiting, his hand a firm and steady pressure on his back. The moment they get too close, he’s tugging on Sky’s pants to make him stop, and to his surprise he actually listens, keeping plenty of space between the two of them and the rest.

They form a circle before them and he can see them trying not to stare. He does the same from the safety of Sky’s leg.

“Okay,” Sky says. “Time for some introductions, I think. I already told you my name, I’m Sky.” He nods. Looking around, the feeling that he knows these people begins creeping up his spine, making it tingle uncomfortably.

They all introduce themselves at Sky’s urging. Most of them seem alright, but the knights make him startle badly, making Sky press his hand more firmly against his back. It doesn’t make him feel trapped, though, only supported.

Each name only exacerbates the feeling that he should- does- know these people. He presses closer to Sky, the names pressing into his mind as if to remind him ‘hey! you should remember us!’ It only makes his head hurt.

He swallows, gathering his courage, and glances up at Sky before looking back at the others. He opens his mouth.

“‘m Legend. I know you.”

.

.

.

There’s a moment of shocked silence before it erupts into noise. Quickly feeling overwhelmed by it all, he buries his face back into Sky’s leg. It helps, but only a little.

“What does he mean by ‘he knows us’? Shouldn’t he already know us?”

“Does it have to do with why he ran earlier?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s because he was overwhelmed and scared, probably due to the fact that he was surrounded by monsters and multiple people with weapons.”

Their voices overlap in a deafening cacophony, loud and painful and all-too familiar and his head hurts. His hands curl into fists, creasing the fabric in his grasp and he squeezes his eyes shut as he desperately tries to block it out.

Memories suddenly overlap each other in a jumble of confusion. He’s nine- no, nineteen, and on a quest through time- but hadn’t he done that already? There’s no Oracles or- or princesses or bad guys taking over kingdoms or- He winces as flashes of horribly strong monsters, ones that bleed black blood, lance through his mind. They’re chasing- or being chased?- by a Shadow, and he shudders as he recalls glowing red eyes, an ominous aura, sickening magic, it hurt Tw-

Legend whimpers, pressing against Sky’s leg as he mentally begs for the pain to go away. The man is comforting, in a way he can’t explain, and he needs that comfort right now. He feels a hand run through his hair, soothing and kind, and he wants to cry.

“Hey, bud, what’s wrong? Come on, talk to me.” Even his voice is soothing, which only makes Legend want to cry more.

“Mm-my he-head hurts...” He sniffles. Everything is still too much.

Sky must do something, then, because it suddenly gets quiet again. Footsteps approach, heavy and clanking, which makes him flinch. Sky doesn’t stop petting his hair.

“Legend?” More clanking and groaning of metal as whoever it is kneels down. The voice is strange-familiar like all of them are. He squints an eye open: tall, older, golden armor, strange markings on his face, one eye. Time. “Can I ask what you remember?”

Another wave of new-old memories makes him whine and press his face further into soft fabric. “U-um, ev’ryth’n’s all m’xed up...” He feels Sky rub his shoulder encouragingly. “I ‘member my fff-first ‘venture clearest. Ev’rythin’ else’s all... jumbly an’ muddled.”

“But you do remember us?” He nods.

Legend knows if he were older — his actual age, his mind reminds him — then he would be reacting very differently. He’d snipe and snarl and push them all away to deal with the pain alone.

He’s not nineteen right now, though, he’s nine. His clearest memories are waking in the night to a voice in his head and his only family gone, going to the castle only to stumble across his Uncle’s body in the sewers. He remembers cold steel pressed into his hands, finding the princess locked away and leading her to safety only to be accused of kidnapping her. He remembers how no one believed him, and how people he grew up knowing called the guards on him without a second thought. He remembers the Dark World, being tiny and helpless until he taught himself not to be. He remembers facing Ganon, not yet ten years old, and terrified out of his mind as he faced a monster unlike any other.

So he does not bare his teeth and storm away. Instead, he allows Sky to kneel down and draw him into a hug, burrowing into the man’s warm chest as he tries to make sense of all the memories and emotions crowding his mind. He’s rocked gently from side to side and something in his brain latches on to the motion, making his heart calm from it’s frantic pace and his chest loosen. Legend tucks his face into the crook of Sky’s neck, sighing as he finally relaxes for the first time since he found himself on the road surrounded by monsters and familiar strangers.

He feels safe.

#snail #linked universe #linked universe fanfiction #linked universe au #moth’s tales #fanfiction #lu legend #lu sky #lu the chain #autistic legend #legend’s not having a good time right now #:(

[feluka]

ANISE TATLIN IS A FRIEND TO SNAILS

#🌻 #it took me too long to see that it's a snail i was like what is that weird flower #anyway i love my daughter. have you seen my daughter? now you have! #she's drawn so sweet here i love this art she looks so happy!!!! #anise tatlin #tales of the abyss

[boomershroomer]

Here is a transfer I did a few weeks ago. I took this from a live culture. One of my best plates yet!

#cottagecore #fairycore #naturecore #forestcore #mushroomcore #cottage aesthetic #fairy tale aesthetic #fairy aesthetic #nature aesthetic #forest aesthetic #mushroom aesthetic #hedgehog #animals #snail #woodland #woodland creatures