The OC above is looking lonely...

(Gotta go with da baby   )

     For the third time within the hour, Ennette's sword flew out of her hand, spinning in the air before plunging the blade into the ground several feet away from her. She looked over at it with a shameful look and avoided looking at Nerine as she went to get it, like a dog that had been yelled at in the middle of a game of fetch. She contemplated using this as an excuse to run away, but if their pre-exercise were any indication of anything, it's that Nerine would catch up to her without even breaking a sweat. That only made the princess all the gloomier.

     "Maybe I'm not meant to be a swordsman," she mumbled, defeated, when she reached the soldier. "I've been training for weeks and there hasn't been any improvement! My stamina and my strength haven't budge a single inch. I've seen my father been able to work off his McDonald's in that amount of time, so why can't I get any stronger?" She was frustrated and bitter, and ashamed and embarrassed. None of these were right for a princess to act, but right now she wasn't concerned about that. Besides, it was only her and Nerine, and Nerine never seemed the type to care about titles.
     Ennette pondered something while gazing at the sword, then finally looked up at the other woman. "I learned something about my lyre," she explained. "It happened when I tried to stop an assassin from getting into the castle. I was able to use my music to strengthen my friend and stop the intruder. I want to explore that but," she squeezed the sword. "I feel like I'd be abandoning this and all the hard work you've put into training me."

Eveline shifted her grip on her small basket of pink-frosted cupcakes, letting out a small yet long sigh. The soft breeze felt pleasant against her arms, although it blew strands of her light blonde hair into her face. The sun above her sent warmth through the black, shining feathers of her wings on her back, and she took a moment to close her eyes and soak it in. It was days like this which she enjoyed the most, although… 

It was lonely outside, especially being away from the ones she loved for so long. Her grip tightened around the handle of her basket and she glanced around, a feeling of yearning growing inside of her chest as she thought of her partners at home. As she did so, a woman with pale white hair caught her eye in the distance, and Eveline’s wings stiffened slightly in surprise. 

Now her heart began to thump nervously inside of her chest, and she bit her lip in thought. Glancing down at the cupcakes resting inside of her basket, she rubbed her thumb against the handle and let out a small breath. She’d made the cupcakes specifically for someone else, but she knew that there was no way that they’d be able to eat them all. Even so, she knew it was rather odd to simply approach someone and offer food to them, at least here. And yet perhaps it would be welcomed, though she couldn’t be so sure. Against her better judgment, she began to approach the woman slowly yet surely, growing more unsure of herself with every step that she took. The closer that she got the more she could see of her, and with that she could see her hunched shoulders and almost lonely expression that rested on her face. Eveline’s mind began to battle itself, but she forced herself next to the woman with a grip as tight as iron around the handle of her basket. 

“Hi!” Her friendly voice shook a bit with nerves, and she cleared her throat a bit and licked her lips. Forcing her anxious thoughts to the back of her head and attempting to appear calm, Eveline forced her lips into a large smile. “I - I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but I saw you and I thought you looked a little… lonely. I’m sorry if that isn’t the case, but I wanted to offer you some cupcakes either way.” She held up the basket a little, pulling her wings a bit closer to herself as she did. 

“I… don’t know how you feel about cupcakes, but if you don’t like them I can also offer some company!” Her smile became a bit more natural, and her shoulders relaxed a bit. The woman didn’t look angry with her, at the very least, which was more than reassuring to her. “Of course I can also leave alone if that’s what you prefer. I just figured I’d offer you some cupcakes and some company, I’m not trying to bother you.”

Kjaya had recently been frequently pestering the talking car with stupid questions, sometime realizing she went a little too far on certain things with her playfullness, other times things being fine. And generally, Humphrey was pretty responsive and by his voice, even if he didn't necessarily have facial expressions, she could easily figure when he was annoyed or played along. To her, it was honestly something she found very amusing to have a usual conversation with a car and keeping it a secret, she didn't even seek to tell his secret, in all honesty.  But today, something felt off about him.

But how could you tell something feels off about a talking car? It was honestly hard to say, but for Kjaya, it was the tone of his voice. She didn't know him that much, actually, but he did look a little... Sad? Lonely maybe? She couldn't tell.

At this moment, Kjaya showed a slightly more gentle, less energetic side of her "Humphrey?" she mumbled as she sat down close to his hood "I know this might sound a little weird, but are you ok?" she asked, tilting her head to the side "A part of me feels like theirs something off about you, and I know it might feel a little uncomfortable and I'm this weird stupid idiot who keeps messing around and stuff, but if you need to talk or something, you can feel free to talk to me. I don't judge." she said with a gentle smile on her face.

Maribelle had a difficult time relating to other people, sure, but she wasn't so apathetic. Not that... that made matters any better. There was some sort of negativity that rolled off of Kjaya at first, and then that spark of delight at the simplest presence. Maribelle wasn't stupid. She knew what it was. But, what was she supposed to do?

She hesitated, standing there in the woman's apartment and looking so, so lost. Maybe more like a deer in headlights. Maybe more like a cat who just heard the vacuum coming out. Did it really matter? Uhhh, Maribelle just looked like she expected either one of them to start physically suffering at any moment, but remained frozen by that sudden crash of nervousness. For a while, she didn't say anything to Kjaya, no matter how well Maribelle's stupid, reptilian ass picked up on the fact that the other woman just was not at her greatest.

When she did speak, she sounded strained. "I can..." She stopped to look around. This place was a mess. Kjaya had a brother, didn't she? Where was he to clean up all of this? Whatever. "..Clean your kitchen for you." Would that make Kjaya feel better? Maybe? Maybe it was all the mess that made it difficult for her.

..Really, Maribelle had no idea. Still, she kept offering in a desperate attempt to make... Kjaya... less depressing? And depressed. Obviously.

"And then we can... do something else, if you want to." she said, "I am still not very good at your... glowy square games... and your glowy... square... plays." She hated the 'plays' in particular, honestly. She had the strange primal urge to smash Kjaya's television sometimes, but it was wise not to mention it. "Or do whatever else. Or we can go see people. I think. If you're okay with that. I don't know."

follow-up in which maribelle reads to blou some fake stephen king

Tipple-tapple. Blou made her usual round through Xander's house. She always had to inspect all her nesting places around 11 pm. Just after Xander had dozed off to sleep so she could wake him with her little claws tapping on the wood. He loved that!

Tipple-tapple. The dodo's footsteps halted as she detected that one of the guest rooms had still its light on. It was a small light. Like a reading light. Curiously the dodo made her way over, her feathers slightly puffed out to intimidate the light.
"Blou," she announced as she walked into Maribelle's room. "Blou is a pretty bird." She angled her head as she inspected Maribelle on the bed and the puffiness of her feathers slowly degraded. Blou knew her! It was the girl that smelled of horse and armor oil. The one that fed her snacks. Boy. Blou loved snacks.

"Blou, Blou," she chatted on as she walked further into the room. Unasked and ready to party. The bird looked around. There was some new gear laying around here, a dark cloak, a pin that shimmered in the little light, and books. Oh! Books. Xander always read Blou a story when it was storming outside (as the rumbling of thunder uneased her) and she associated books with Xander. With comfort. She didn't know what was on Maribelle's TBR list, maybe some land maps, maybe those anatomy books Xander gave her a while back… Maybe something about bugs? Blou angled her head. Her brain was too small to even care. She had cold feet. Blou wanted to hear a story and this girl, snack girl, was here. Sitting all alone. Perfect. Maribelle would do. She had to. Blou waddled over to Maribelle's bed and lifted her feet high with every step. Dramatizing the cold she was feeling. The dodo jumped on the bed and directly flopped down on the warm comfy blankets. "Hello, hello," Blou said. Before nudging her head underneath Maribelle's arm and craning her face towards the books. She made a bell sound. "Blou wants to read."

--

OMG that's so cute 😭♥!? I can imagine her waddling straight into Aiken's arm for a good hug

(Given Blou is a tab on Xander’s page I guess that means I was meant to write about him, but I didn’t connect those dots until I was already half done so I wrote about the bird. Anyway, I love Blou <3)

Aiken sat bowed over a thick and weathered book, his head propped up by his hand to keep himself from falling asleep. It was very late at night, or early in the morning now dependant on your perspective, but Aiken had decided to stay behind at the potion store and catch up on some work - besides, a recent storm had swept a tree branch right through the roof of the treehouse he’d been living in for the past month of two and the rain hadn’t stopped since, and so the store was a safer, warmer alternative. He peered up absent-minded through the foggy front window and caught a glimpse of something moving outside. Thought certainly out of the ordinary, the unusual as of late, ironically, had become quite usual. 

Eager to take a break from reading he stepped outside to identify what is was wandering about. He’d expected a stray cat, maybe even a fox, but to his surprise it was a sturdy, bright blue bird. Upon closer inspection, it was a very strange bird indeed. Not one Aiken had ever seen before. The little frilly collar and bow that it wore around its neck indicated such a creature was a pet but at this hour there would be no use in trying to identify an owner. Well then, the bird would have to stay in the potion store for the night. 

Gingerly he lowered to his knees, expecting to have scared the creature, but instead it hurriedly waddled towards him, decisively leaping up into his arms. 

Aiken pushed open the door with his shoulder, the little bell above it ringing with a familiar sound at which the bird ruffled its feathers in delight. It squawked happily, responding with a plethora of perfectly imitated bell noises, ringing clear from its throat. Fascinating. Mimicry had to be quite an advanced avian trait, maybe Aiken would have to stop by the library tomorrow and read up on it. In the meantime, he delicately removed the tablecloth from the round display table adjacent to the front counter of the store, which would serve as a makeshift blanket. The bird was pleased by this, and immediately began to arrange the cloth into a sort of nest. 

Vernon strolled through a small village, looking around. He spotted a young boy sitting on a bench while others talked on another bench beside him. He had noticed that the young boy seemed to be somewhat down. Vernon had tried to think of a reason as to why for a few minutes before it finally clicked. Aiken looked lonely.

He wasn't completely sure what to do. Vernon himself was a rather lonely person in general who pushed others away who offered help. But he knew that not others weren't like him. So he mustered up the courage to approach the boy.

"Hello. Are you alright? You seem a little lonely. Perhaps I could help with that?", he spoke softly. Noticing that the boy seemed a little too nervous to talk, he continued in the hopes that would convince the boy to speak. "Ever heard of Lactarius indigo? It's a type of mushroom also known as Indigo Milk Caps. They are an appealing indigo colour and are rather pretty. Perhaps I could show you if you are interested?"

Ken grumbled something under his breath as he trudged down the forest path. Stupid, dumb rival band and their stupid, dumb lead singer. That guy pissed him off, always acting so lovey-dovey with his stupid, dumb bandmate. He was doing it on purpose, too! Ken felt his face turn red both with jealousy and anger, and he poured it all into his foot as he kicked a rock and watched it bounce off from tree trunk to tree trunk, landing ways away from a figure.

Seeing that he wasn't alone, Ken bristled and quickly hid behind the nearest tree. It didn't look like he was noticed. Huh? What was that sound? Humming?
He peered out to see the figure more clearly. It looked like a man with long, green hair and antlers? He was dancing while humming, it reminded him a little of how the birds chirped. Normally Ken would have taken this as his cue to leave, but that dance was mesmerizing to watch. It was so fluid, every step told a story. Could he do something like that with his band?

Suddenly, Vernon looked at Ken, either finally noticing him or finally acknowledging him. He stiffened. What should he do? Hightail it out of there? Apologize?
He did what he always did: get angry.

Jumping out into the open, the pop star pointed accusingly at the god. "I wasn't watching you!" he blurted. "I was just getting some fresh air and saw you out here like a lonely loser! Quit being lonely and go grab your own patch of forest to be weird in!"

    The cafe her owner brought her to was quiet. Her ears flicked around to listen to customers chatter. Her eyes fought a glimpse of Kenshin sitting by himself. She hopped off her perch on Tarus’s piano. Usually humans by themselves were often busy with something. But Kenshin didn’t have a drink or a donut. He didn’t even have a device out in front of him. She calmly walked over to his table and purred. Her wings were neatly folded as she rubbed against his head. Maxi could sense something was wrong. She meowed again and hopped into his lap. It was nice and warm. Maxi purred and started making some soft biscuits in Kenshins lap.  

     En had been walking around when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He'd thought it was a cat at first, but looking closer he saw that while yes, she resembled a cat, she also had wings and colors of... a dragon? A cat dragon. He'd never even heard of anything like that.

     She seemed alone, but also groomed and clean. Was she someone's pet? More interesting, he noticed her curled up around some kind of plushie. The way she held it gave him the impression that was more than just her favorite toy.
     En watched for a second longer then looked away. An interesting sight, but there was nothing else for him to do. Although after seeing all that, maybe he should go pick up some plushies for his pets.

You can reply to any of his versions!

     This concert hall was grand and magnificent. It would be the first time Ennette would perform in it. Despite countless performances, she was still nervous and wanted to examine the area, to get a feel for it and possibly practice before her dress rehearsal. She gazed up at the decorative windows while fingers absently trailed over the brick walls. Beautiful. Each footstep echoed and gave her a feel for some of the acoustics.

     A new sound reached her. Slowly, Ennette stopped, perking and straining her ears. Was that right? Had she heard-- Yes, there it was again. What was it?
     Curiosity trumpet concern and she got closer until recognition made her gasp quietly. A piano? Someone was already here? That couldn't be. Ennette followed the sound. The closer she got the more she could hear. It was a highly technical piece, but so quiet, not from a lack of dynamics but by what sounded like the musician's choice. She couldn't tell what exactly the music was trying to convey, but it made her feel heavy; sad. 

     Before she knew it, Ennette was at the first floor audience section of the hall, walking down the aisle as her eyes stayed glued on the lonely pianist. Being the only one here in a place meant to house thousands seemed lonely, yet as she stared at him and how focused he was on his music she couldn't help but think he was more comfortable like this than with others. In a sense, she understood. Without others there was no one to judge the mistakes or the choices. Perhaps there was even more reason for this young man.
     Suddenly, Ennette realized the music had stopped and attention had been turned to her. She flinched and turned as white as both of their hairs. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you!" she squeaked. "I came here to get a layout of the hall, I didn't expect someone else to be here, let alone such a talented player. Please, would you mind continuing? I'd like to listen."

(She will punch him in the face... with her own face   )