shadows – vvardenfellcat

How (some) of my characters hug, totally @brielleroux‘s fault.

J’hasi’s hugs vary in intensity, from the cautious ‘oh, okay I think we’re friends (???) and they want to hug and that’s ok’ to ‘I missed/care/etc you, I-would-die-for-you’ sort of hugs. The former is easy to get out of, almost as if he thinks you’re made of glass: overly cautious and gentle. His hands rest on your upper back while his chin just barely touches at your shoulder, typically on your right side. It’s brief unless the other person doesn’t seem to want it to end just yet, but eventually he’ll get fidgety and pull away.

The ride-or-die hugs are firmer, not suffocatingly tight, but firm enough as if to say ‘I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere’. His face usually ends up buried in your shoulder or rubbing against it or your face (or chest, if the recipient is taller than him), his eyes are shut and his hands, rather than resting almost timidly on your back feel more like he’s actually holding you rather than 2 seconds from pulling away. His tail even curls around both of your legs, either brushing or hovering. Purring may happen. It happens a lot.

—

Maarzi hugs you like you’re her best friend and lover all in one, always. A big hug, oftentimes picking you up and spinning you around before setting you down again, arms going around the back of your neck as she starts talking to you, usually not letting go for a while unless requested. She puts her forehead to those she’s especially close with, gently rocking side to side. The hug usually parts with a smack on the ass if she’s feeling playful. Family or those who request more platonic forms of departure get a hair/mane ruffle instead. J’hasi usually gets both, with a steady dose of grump in reply. She thinks it’s cute.

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Jeer-rah hugs like they haven’t seen you in ages, and usually just with one arm, though it’s more of a squeeze than a hug. They’ll jostle you a little bit and keep their arm around your shoulders when they chat with you for a bit, eventually slipping off and the hug is over. They only hug with both arms when they’re comforting someone. Comfort hugs are firm, their head pressing against the side of yours, moving to pressing against your forehead if they’re talking to you, their arms around your shoulders initially and moving to around your ribs when more at rest. The hug doesn’t so much as end as drifts apart, Jeer letting you pull away at your own pace.

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Stalks-In-Shadows’ hugs are death. If he’s hugging you it means you’re about to get stabbed in the back, strangled, or your neck snapped. DO. NOT. HUG.*

*J’hasi is rare exception, but his hugs are possessive ‘this is mine’ hugs rather than ‘I care about you’ hugs.

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Baht is an awkward hugger. He doesn’t know where to put his hands, so he ends up curling his hands into fists and holding you around the shoulders or middle, depending on height. Tends to pick people up when he’s excited. Also doesn’t know his own strength, and apologizes when he squeezes too hard.

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Sees-In-Mist has only been seen hugging one person, ever. They still hug ‘their little Ei’ as they did when he was a wee hatchling, almost like they’re trying to gather him up and carry him. One hand is on his lower back, the other at the back of his neck, guiding him to rest his head over their shoulder, oftentimes stroking J’hasi’s fur. Their tail curls around both of their legs, but doesn’t touch. Protective and safe vibes on the inside, the outside has a firm warning of ‘you fuck with my kid and you’re dead’.

nordicdragonborn replied to your photo: [Something seems wrong here.]

(( The door’s still there, Jhasi just has to push really really hard to open it! ))

€

€ for a bad memory that still haunts them

Their whispers, quiet hums and tormented screams, pleas for words, attention, answers, guidance from the demented god residing in the center of this hell of ash and Blight. Their chanting he found himself muttering in his sleep, awake, making those at the Ghostgate look at him with suspicion, like they were waiting for an animal to turn rabid, to put it out of its misery before harm came to others. Infection. Disease. Curse.

“<He Knows the Names and the Naming, He knows the Wait and the Waiting, He Enters into every Star and Moon, He Shines through their…>”

“<J’hasi.>” The Khajiit paused, blinking and eyes focusing on the Argonian looking at him.

“<Shadows.>”

“<…they’re still in your head.>”

“<…y…yeah…>” His brother sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, pinching it near his eyes before the Saxhleel returned the eye contact.

“<For all the trouble we’re going through for this, I’d hope those greyskin bastards pay you more than just empty praise.>”

“<There’s more at stake than payment.>” J’hasi snapped, pupils slits. His grip tightened on his spear, ears flattened before he strode forward, Shadows taking an involuntary step, two back until he was pressed against the wall of the Dwemer ruin they were in. Whichever one. They’d been in and out of these for far too long. He swallowed at the low, cutting tone of his brother’s voice.

“<You seem to forget exactly what is at stake here. This is more than hearing cultists in my head, some mad god with a one-way access to my dreams. If I don’t stop this, we and everyone else in Morrowind is fucked. Maybe I should’ve let you in when I talked with Vivec, because maybe you’d get the implications of what this fucked up shit means.>” Shadows shivered a little at the chilling tone he’d never heard from this Khajiit in front of him. It didn’t even sound like his brother. Though he’d be lying if he said he never wanted to hear it again. Just not…in this situation. J’hasi’s ears flicked back, teeth bared as he continued.

“<And who knows if this shit would stop at the mountains. All of Tamriel? The whole continent, overrun by corprus beasts and Sixth House cultists? Dagoth fucking Ur could take over the entire godsdamned Empire because he has the power of the heart of a dead god!>” The Argonian stiffened a little when his brother grabbed onto the collar of his armor, shoving him against the wall, muzzle wrinkled with rage.

“<So shut your fucking mouth about payment. Because all you’ve dealt with? Is nothing compared with the shit inside my head.>” he hissed, Shadows’ legs feeling a little weak before he let go, turning to walk down the empty hall of the ruin, voice sliding back to the flat, monotone muttering of before.

“<…On rivers of fire he comes forth, Through storms of dreams he rides, With slivers of steel he pierces the Heart…>” Shadows rubbed at his throat, swallowing again before following, pulling his hood up in preparation to go back outside. He wasn’t looking forward to the dead-eyed look he’d likely find on his brother’s face now even more than the howls of Blighted winds outside the ruins.

1

1. (childhood) A great day turns terrible in a matter of moments.

Marsh tried to keep a gentle hold on the squirming lizard in their hands, claws scrabbling over their knuckles while the tail slapped against their belly and legs. They pouted at the reptile while trotting through the patch of slick mud that always lingered near the water’s edge.

“<I tol’ you buhfore! Y’gotta sit still! I gotta show you t’ Shadows!>” they hissed at the creature, the brightly-colored dewlap (the reason they wanted to show, it was so colorful) flaring. Marsh-Eyes puffed their cheeks in response.

“<Don’ get huffy wiff me, it’ll only be a lil bit.>” they grumbled. At the sound of water rippling they froze, ears alert, eyes darting to the shore. They turned around to spot Jeer-rah, still and halfway out of the water. Marsh scowled.

“<Jeer, go back. I’ll only be a lil bit.>” Jeer-rah’s fans flattened.

“<How come you can sneak off but I can’t?>”

“<Shadows don’ like you, an’ he’ll get mad at me if I let you come wiff.>” Jeer scowled.

“<Shadows is mean, all the time! Why go back?>” Marsh paused, ears lowering a little.

“<I…I just wanna show them ff…this.>” Jeer’s eyes lit up a little at the bright dewlap, puffing their own a little in response before giggling. Marsh looked back towards the village Shadows lived in, the one with the name they couldn’t pronounce. Their tail wiggled.

“<I’ll show ‘em, fen I’ll come back, kay?>” Jeer sighed.

“<Fast, kay?>”

“<’Kay.>” Jeer bumped their forehead against Marsh’s, then they both grinned before the one carrying the grumpy lizard hurried up the slight incline, to the weird white-shelled huts that the village had. Marsh squeezed between a muddy cart wheel and a hut, looking around for the familiar flash of red feathers, or dark red scales. When the hatchling spotted him, they trotted out, tail arched high in the air as they reached their friend with their prize.

“<Shadows, lookit! Look what I caught!>” Marsh chirped, thrusting the squirming lizard out to show. The Argonian looked at the bright green eyes of his friend, down to the grumpy lizard who kept flashing their dewlap. He frowned.

“<That’s poisonous.>” Marsh yelped, dropping the reptile for it to land on the ground and skitter away, the hatchling looking panicked at their hands. Shadows smirked.

“<It’s not.>” Marsh huffed, annoyed.

“<Don’t DO that! Sees says I’m not s’posed’ta touch poisonous stuff! I told you ‘bout that b’fore!>” Maybe Jeer was right. The Saxhleel looked at his friend carefully.

“<You came alone, yeah?>” Marsh fidgeted.

“<Jeer followed me again, but I told ‘em not t’ follow me in.>” Shadows’ eyes narrowed, crest rising, the hatchling fidgeting more, nervous.

“<Fff…they kept back, f…they promised!>” The Saxhleel didn’t seem convinced, but his crest lowered from the threatening flare, satisfied enough for now. Marsh paused, ears at attention.

“<Why’s fff…there yellin’?>” Shadows frowned.

“<Dunno.>” It was getting louder, the hatchling’s tail twitching faster, nervous by their ankles when they could make out both Jel and some…other sounds. They were like broken words, strange. It was when there was a loud bang and a plume of flame that Marsh yelped, hiding behind their friend. Shadows was stuck in place, tail curling before the two jumped at the sound of Shadows’ parents shouting for him.

“<…M-Marsh! Run! Now!>” he snapped, darting towards the sound of his parents. The hatchling followed, tail puffed, alarm and panic making their breath short and tight in their lungs. They could hear screaming now, but could also see Shadows’ parents up ahead, wide-eyed and terrified until they caught the sight of their kid. His mom crouched down and stroked Shadows’ crest, surprised at Marsh’s presence.

“<I didn’t even know you were here, Ei.>” Shadows looked back towards the area where some Argonians were rushing with weapons at the ready, others running away.

“<What’s going on, Mom?>” Shadows asked, gripping the hem of her shirt. She looked up.

“<I’m not sure. But we need to get inside, now.>” Another explosion and Marsh squeaked, startled when a fireball crashed into one of the white huts, alarmed when the structure caught fire. They squirmed, legs twitching.

“<Fff…th-the swamp. We can hide from the fire-f-ff-throwers.>” Shadows’ parents looked at each other, then nodded.

“<Good idea. Hurry, go.>” Another explosion and there was a chorus of screeches and screams, Marsh yelping in surprise and slipping on the damp ground with their muddy feet in their haste to move, Shadows pulling them up with a sharp tug. The four of them started to run, more fireballs starting to sail over the small village. It was when another house exploded that Shadows and Marsh were knocked to the ground, coughing from the smoke. Marsh scrambled up, only to hear Shadows calling for his parents, then it was lost to the screaming.

“<Shadows! SHADOWS!>” Marsh yelled, starting to get really scared. The screaming was getting louder, the smoke was filling their lungs and making them cough, panic and fear making them dizzy as they spun around, trying to listen for the sound of their friend. But they were alone in the chaos.

“<SHADO-MMPH!>” They were cut off by a pair of rough hands grabbing them, one covering their mouth and the other grabbing by the scruff of their neck. Marsh squirmed, wriggling free enough to bite. They were dropped with a loud cry of pain, allowing them to scramble away to hide under a cart, and see what had grabbed them in the first place.

Their faces were smooth and scaleless, flat, and their ears were like flatter versions of their own, but without feathers. Their skins and feathers on their heads were close to the same colors, mostly greys and blacks. Their eyes were red, red like the blood that stained the hatchling’s teeth and dripped from one of their hands.

Marsh drew back, afraid before others came after them.

€

€ for a bad memory that still haunts them

He knew even before he opened his eyes that it was a dream.

That background buzz, like the droning lights in Dwemer ruins, or the static prickle left behind from a shock spell acted as a filter, containing him within the dream rather than allowing him to simply wake up. The whispers were quieter here, though he knew it was only because he was the center of Dagoth Ur’s attention. This dream was for him alone, not the collective.

In the dream-place, he wasn’t in his bed for the night at the Ghostgate, nor was Shadows curled protectively around him, sometimes twitching in his sleep. He was standing in the scarlet ashstorms of Red Mountain Region, breathing easily in the suffocating breath of Red Mountain, eyes unstung by the hiss of biting sand. The howling winds were quieter, without losing the storm’s fury, still raging on, that constant stream of ash and Blight spewing from the mountain’s maw. Quiet enough that, when Ur showed his face, materializing from the storm, he was easily heard without raising his voice.

“<Welcome, Moon-And-Star.>” It was a tone meant to soothe, though it had quite the opposite effect. J’hasi’s fur prickled at the attempt to touch him, drawing away from the reaching hand, that terror rising up inside of him from the last time, every time he tried to touch him. Dagoth Ur lowered his hand.

“<You still act much like I mean to harm you.>” The Khajiit glared at the Sharmat.

“<You’re not doing a very good job of convincing me otherwise.>” Dagoth smiled, though it didn’t show past the mask. J’hasi could feel it in the dream, a comforting feeling that only incited a rise of ‘get away’ inside of his chest.

“<We are at war, Nerevar. Until I know your motivations, I cannot trust you until you submit to me. It is you, here, that needs to earn trust back.>” Dagoth Ur turned to look up the slopes of the Red Mountain, seeming at ease.

“<You’ve been hard at work, proving yourself by slaying my kinsmen. Are you hoping to show how strong you are to me, that I won’t betray you? You cringe away from my touch as if I harmed the trust between us, when it was you who struck that shattering blow so long ago.>” The Khajiit’s ears flicked back, knowing the plan, but wanting to react as any sane person would. It took more effort than he cared to admit to back down.

“<I am told many different stories, ones where I am betrayed, and others where I am the sole betrayer. And still others where I betrayed, then was betrayed in turn. Whose story do I trust? Those who seem maddened by the power of the Heart? Or those who stood beside me back then, who never tasted of it?>” The chuckle from the god made him shiver a little.

“<Maddened? The only mad ones are those who betrayed you, who took the Heart for themselves in their greed. They were mad before they bathed in the Heart’s power, and even the Heart cannot cure them of that. Azura cursed us all due to their broken oath. They are the ones not to be trusted.>”

“<Vivec was the one who gave me Wraithguard, told me everything.>”

“<Vivec fabricated lies to get you to fight his battle for him because he and the others were merely postponing the inevitable loss. He wanted you to fight me, to take me down so the Tribunal could take the Heart back for their own selfish needs. But you’re not fool enough to fall for that, are you, my sweet Nerevar?>” When the god turned to look back at J’hasi, he flinched a little at the movement. He sighed.

“<You test me. But I understand. You’re afraid of us gods. Afraid to see old friends with unfamiliar faces. I can relate.>” This time, when he turned fully, his visage rippled, morphing into a Chimer man in scarlet robes, a gentle smile on his face.

“<Is this better for you? You never took much stock in appearances, but…maybe the times have changed you as they have me.>” The Khajiit swallowed. It was the young mer from those flickers of…memory? Knowing who that mer was made his stomach turn. Dagoth Ur smiled, coming closer.

“<Of course, I was but Voryn Dagoth then… We were friends, brothers-in-arms… We trusted one another more than anything else.>” When he reached out to touch him, there was only a bare flinch, Dagoth Ur’s… Voryn’s…expression softening.

“<If only the same could be done for you… But you’re not a god. I’m not sure you even remember your own face.>” He drew away.

“<If you bring me the Tools, and you submit to me… I can free you. We can stand together again, like old times, and take revenge on those who betrayed you and cursed our people, then free them from the greedy clutches of the Empire. I’ll be waiting for you, my old friend.>” Voryn walked into the ashstorm, almost looking like his form was ripped into shreds of cloth and carried into the wind, vanishing into the blighted skies.

J’hasi sat upright in his bed, trembling and still feeling the phantom touch of Vor…Dagoth Ur’s touch on his skin. Shadows was snoring quietly, tail curled over his legs and keeping him in place. The Khajiit carefully touched the side of his jaw, almost expecting to feel the rising lumps of bubbled flesh, corprus overtaking his body once more, but it was smooth, the fur rumpled a little from his fitful sleep. He drew his legs up as well as he was able, hugging them and resting his forehead against his knees, curled tail twitching by his ankles.

((Morrowind ID’s for the nerds :3c))

ツ = Does the character steal the covers or has the covers stolen off them?

When he used to get sick he would, but usually J’hasi’s the one getting covers stolen from. Shadows and Maarzi were both notorious blanket-hoggers, and sometimes Maarzi would even pull J’hasi closer because he makes an excellent heated pillow to snuggle into. Jeer would use him as a blanket rather than using an actual blanket.

Only in really cold climes when J’hasi’s sleeping outside does he get a bit more possessive of his blankets, but considering he’s only briefly traveled with others in such climates, it’s rare for a battle for the bedding to occur.