Descent Snippet
Wrote this in chapter 2 from Rini's POV. To show you Nat from the outside (to psychics, anyway).
Hey @hunter-kole I think you'll like this. It's not just Nicki that gives people the weebie-jeebies.
Below the cut, as always.
There’s a third person in the car, Rini can tell because Ms. Elion and Liesel know. But she can’t feel them. There’s no mind for her to poke at. No thoughts for her to read. She can’t even sense Nat on her own. Without Ms. Elion and Liesel, Rini wouldn’t feel them at all.
Rini swallows against a growing lump in her throat. She tastes acid.
The car stops in the drive, caught up while Rini was dwelling in her thoughts. The door opens.
Liesel from the passenger’s side. Ms. Elion from the driver side. The door behind the driver’s opens and Nat Carter steps out.
They’re taller than Liesel, broader shouldered than Ms. Elion, and when they lift their head, Rini is struck by the intensity of their gaze even at this distance.
She can feel Nat looking at her. Even if she closes her eyes, she can feel their gaze on her.
But not their mind.
Her heart thunders in her chest. She tries again, but there’s nothing to read. Like Nat isn’t there at all.
Clenching her hands into fists, Rini forces herself to take a deep breath. She’s being ridiculous. Everyone has a mind to read. Everyone has thoughts to find. The professor can hide them, so maybe other people can too.
Maybe that’s why the professor is so interested in Nat.
Rini squints down at Nat and focuses. There has to be something. She drifts a little lower, then lower still, trying to find something in the midst of the silence. The emptiness.
Then, static.
It starts low, a background fuzziness that Rini barely notices. But the longer she stares at Nat and the closer she gets, the louder and more insistent the static gets. Not a noise, but a sensation inside her mind. Like bees are eating her brain.
Her feet touch down on the ground. She stands just past arms’ reach of Nat. She stares at them. But all she perceives is the static. It grows and grows, consuming everything around her, until she can’t feel Rini or Ms. Elion or anyone in the Institute. Until all she knows is that sensation, that sound.
“Rini?” A hand on her shoulder. Rini jolts. The world returns. Ms. Elion stands behind Rini, her hand on Rini’s shoulder providing the lifeline that Rini clings to. The static is gone, vanished so abruptly it’s as if it were never there.
Once more, there is only empty space in Rini’s mind where Nat should be. Only two minds besides her own around this car, instead of three.
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Rose's Kiss Week Day 5: Lonely
OCs: Marcus Asalun (aka Anchesh Pabat) and Gren Orech-Pabat
Words: 1335
Content warnings: mentions of family health issues
Notes: this takes place six months after Anchesh married his last spouse, human himbo Gren.
At the other end of the sofa, Gren sighed for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was staring off at the other end of the room, chin propped up in one big hand, and more than likely didn’t even realize he sounded so despondent.
“How are you doing?” Anchesh asked.
“I’m fine. It’s just lonely without Yera.”
Probably it was best not to talk too much about Yera, because Gren would only get sadder if he started thinking about why Yera was out of town and how stressed she must be. Instead Anchesh put aside his knitting.
“I’m probably not as good at cuddling as Yera,” he said, moving to the cushion next to Gren, “but I’m here.”
Gren instantly pivoted and deflated into his lap, settling one cheek against his thigh and a hand over his knee. Today Gren’s hair was held in a bunlike fold with just an alligator clip, which Anchesh gently pulled out and set on the open cushion beside him. Then he combed his fingers back through Gren’s loose locks.
“I feel bad being lonely,” Gren murmured. “Her family needs her way more than I do, and I’m not alone here.”
“You’re her family too,” Anchesh answered in the same low tone. “And it doesn’t feel the same, not having her here.”
“Yeah.” Gren squeezed his leg a little, like he needed something to cling to.
Anchesh let Gren’s hair slip through his fingers over and over, massaging Gren’s scalp with each draw. Truth be told, he was worried about Yera too. She would be fine, unless her father got worse. He probably wouldn’t die, not yet, but the wondering and waiting felt unsettling enough for him at home—it must be awful for her. She was right to have the rest of them stay behind, except Hossan, because sooner or later they’d all be at loose ends and end up making her feel worse. But he still wished he could be there to hold her and talk to her, probably just the same as Gren.
“Maybe I don’t spend enough time with the rest of you,” Gren said suddenly. “Especially you.”
“I don’t mind how much time you spend with Yera and Hossan,” Anchesh answered.
“Yeah, but—” Gren rose from his lap, slowly enough that he didn’t pull his own hair in Anchesh’s hands. With his hair pushed behind his ears, he said, “I’m your husband too. And you don’t get tired of me like Pali does. I would leave you alone if you wanted me to but you’ve never told me to do that.”
Anchesh handed him the alligator clip. “I mean, I’m happy to spend more time with you. I just don’t want you to worry too much about it.”
Gren stared at nothing while he smoothed his hair back into a ponytail and clipped it there. Then he continued looking at some spot further down the sofa. “Anchesh...do you love me?”
It was a serious question that deserved a serious answer, but Anchesh was distracted by the plaintiveness of Gren’s voice. Had this been worrying him for the last six months?
Gren waited two seconds before adding, “Not like you love Yera or Umedes, but...”
He took Gren’s hand from his lap, and Gren looked up. “I do love you, Gren. You’re my friend. And my husband. And I’m glad I married you.”
“Really?” He didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“Really. I would have married you just for Yera and Hossan, but I like having you around too. You’re so bright, and lovely, and you always make sure we have what we need. And—”
“I think Pali does that.”
“Pali doesn’t keep everyone upbeat,” Anchesh said. “And she’s definitely not good at making sure we all rest, especially not herself. I think she’s gotten more sleep in the six months you’ve been here than she has since I married her.” Gren didn’t say anything, so he kept going. “We need someone who’s as thoughtful as you are. I need someone who is.” An almost melancholy gratitude welled up in him, and he tried to figure out how to put words to it. He wasn’t sure that Gren understood how much he made life more bearable. He wasn’t sure any of his spouses did, even though he didn’t know where he’d be without them. He loved all of them, and he needed all of them, and on some level he needed Gren, the only one who wasn’t at least a little wrapped up in politics and particularities, most of all. He put his other hand over Gren’s. “You mean a lot to me, Gren.”
“Do you think you could say that more? Not that, but like, ‘I love you’?”
When was the last time he’d told Gren he loved him? Even if he didn’t remember exactly, he had a feeling it had been days, or weeks. He’d decided without thinking about it that Gren didn’t really need to hear it, and he definitely didn’t need to hear it from him, arguably Gren’s least favorite spouse aside from Pali.
“Of course I can,” he said, rubbing his thumb over the back of Gren’s hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t said it very much.”
“It’s okay.” Gren put his other hand on top of Anchesh’s. Then he dropped his cheek against Anchesh’s shoulder.
“You know you can always tell me about your feelings,” Anchesh said.
“You don’t tell me about yours,” Gren said. “Except in bed, kinda.”
“Do you want to know about my feelings?”
“Yes!” Gren lifted his head and his face was all exasperation. “I know I don’t understand all of the things you do but I can understand how you feel!”
“Most of my feelings aren’t good.” And it would be cruel to burden someone like Gren with them.
“I still want to know,” Gren said. “I just want to be there for you, but I never know what’s going on with you.”
He’d given up on being there for Gren because it was obvious Gren didn’t need him, and he couldn’t keep track of the constantly shifting world he lived in with Yera and Hossan. “While Yera and Hossan are gone, maybe we should focus on that. Being there for each other.”
“I’d like that.” Gren’s eyes fell to their hands, and Anchesh thought he could see a blush rising in his cheeks. “I’d also like to kiss you more.”
“You can kiss me whenever you want.” He felt like he meant that the most of anything he’d said so far. Gren raised his head and went straight to softly touching his lips to Anchesh’s, his mustache tickling at Anchesh’s smooth-shaven upper lip.
On the next kiss his hand caressed the curve of Anchesh’s neck, and then he untangled his other hand from Anchesh’s and threw both arms around his neck, and when that apparently wasn’t enough he broke the kiss and fully straddled Anchesh’s thighs, hunching a little to reach his lips. Anchesh tilted his head further back in turn, feeling the pleasant tension of his horns pressing against the back of the sofa. Despite his position, Gren didn’t seem like he was trying to be seductive. He kissed Anchesh to savor him, like he was fresh water on Gren’s parched tongue, a tongue carefully exploring the contours of Anchesh’s. He was in no rush, and his skin was warm against Anchesh’s where they touched, Gren’s feet pressed against his knees, hands along the edge of his neckline, soft lips drinking him in. Anchesh let his hands run back over Gren’s thighs, his hips, to the bare, fuzzy skin at his midriff, and held on there.
When Gren pulled back at long last, his breath was edged with gasps, and so was Anchesh’s.
“I love you, Anchesh. I love you so much.”
Without a word, they pulled each other close, Anchesh wrapping his arms around Gren’s back as he leaned forward to press his cheek against Gren’s shoulder.
“I love you too, Gren.”
RKW taglist: @vacantgodling @jezifster @kk7-rbs
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Indulging my most self-indulgent scene ideas has given me some of my best character details for Descent.
Why yes, there is a scene where a character stops a runaway subway.
And another one where two characters go to space to repair the space station. In nothing but the suits. No ship required.
And another one where a character catches a plane.
And another one where a character purposely falls off a skyscraper.
And another one where one character convinces the other to let go of them a good 8,000 feet above the ground.
And all of it shows off character and develops character and relationships and builds theme and setting.
Self-indulgence is key, y'all.
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