meme || tale as old as time

[constellates]

fairy tale au meme welcome ; one. come up with an au for your character of choice and leave a top-level. royalty, paupers, villains, enchanters and enchanted all welcome! two. tag a friend and come up with a vague storyline and pre-existing cr if you so choose three. pick a prompt and let your story unfold! prompts ; one ♫ once upon a time... do you believe in love at first sight or do you need to walk by again? how does it happen? in a small provincial town, in a land far far away, in a castle's quarters? what does a normal day look like? are you taking care of the horses in a stable when one runs off or do you have an urgent message for the king? is there where a curse is woven or even when one is lifted? what does happen to the frog prince after he gets his legs back? every storybook needs a beginning. two ♫ a winter's ball... or a summer's ball! or a spring's ball! really, there always seems to be a good enough reason for a ball, don't you think? the violins are gently playing, the floor is filled with delight partygoers, and the chandeliers shine bright above you. the classical magic is in there air. are you the royal putting on the ball? a pauper invited and waiting for your chance to meet the monarch in charge? or are you more preoccupied with scavenging what's left of the dessert table? oh these people don't know what they've got until it's gone! three ♫ true love's kiss... or if you'd rather, true love's first hand holding, true love's first admittance, or even the confession? but there can be no confession without a proper setting. is it festival day? is it time for all the lanterns to fill the sky? where's the sweet acoustics and flowers blossoming? don't be afraid to take this step. four ♫ daring swordfights... there has to be something else in there that manages to get your heart pounding. where have your adventures taken you? at the very top of a castle, swords drawn against each other? on a pirate ship with nowhere but the ocean to run? in a chase across the tops of tiled rooftops as you chase after a treasure you've been looking for? are you facing down the stare of an angry dragon, who may or may not be your cursed friend? either way, welcome to the action scene option. en garde!

Comments

[doublesmall]

[the scritches are cheating. one hundred percent cheating. chuuya would complain, but he's already gone still, far more pliant now that he's being given attention.

a part of him quietly complains that he's a few hundred years old and still very much not a pet, he shouldn't enjoy this, should demand to be treated with more dignity because nobody else dared to do this to him--

except the rest of him thinks it's pretty nice and doesn't really want it to stop.]

... you're unfair...

[not a very effective complaint when chuuya's leaning into the scritches.]

[crudest]

That's true.

[what's a dignity

Baren's laughing faintly at that though, happily giving Chuuya all the scritches that he could want even as he kicks off the blankets on the bed with his foot instead. his hands are apparently super occupied.

then it's just comfortable and natural to climb into bed and let chuuya's weight fall on his chest. he yawns.]

Huh - s'later than I thought.

[doublesmall]

That's why I tried to get you to go to bed earlier, idiot.

[chuuya settles right into place on his chest, not bothering to wiggle his way free... normally he'll sleep a bit apart from baren but end up close in the morning, but this time he just accepts the closeness right from the start.

it's warm and comfortable, this is fine. he goes ahead and nudges at baren with his nose, muttering-]

Now shush and let me sleep.

[crudest]

[winter is coming maybe, it's cold, or baren just doesn't care anymore if there are animals crawling all over him. he yawns right into chuuya's ear to retaliate for that, but give him one last scratch before he reaches into his hair to remove all the bells, feathers, and then his eyepatch]

Night, Chuu.

[doublesmall]

[he doesn't even get a goodnight back... sleepy fox is already snoozing on him.

and he'll still be dead asleep right on top of him in the morning, still a fox, all curled up with his tails gathered around him for extra warmth. baren's gonna have to wake him up to go anywhere, so enjoy the impending Grump, baren.]

[crudest]

[he'll enjoy the impending Grump

in the sense that baren is just automatically going to try to get up at the first crack of dawn with a monstrous yawn, nothing's going to stop him

sorry if you tumble off chuuya]

[doublesmall]

[chuuya definitely tumbles off with a yelp, landing on the floor-- he manages to land on his feet, at least, but he's going down.

and then he pokes his head back up, shifting as he moves; he's not fully human, though. the ears and tails stay. he's comfier that way.

he's also giving baren the MOST disgruntled look...]

You owe me extra breakfast.

[crudest]

[meanwhile Baren's still on the bed but he's streeeeetching out before he reaches over to scratch behind Chuuya's ears]

For what?

Don't be greedy.

[doublesmall]

You threw me off the bed, that's what!

[well. off baren, more accurately, but- details.

he's still giving baren a huffy look even with the scratching, though one ear twitches, a telltale little sign that he's enjoying it even if he's busy being moody.]

[crudest]

I was waking up, quit playing up a victim complex. It isn't cute.

[moody moody.... but the ear twitching is cute and that's why baren is going to reach over with both hands now to give chuuya those morning scritches

stop complaining!!]

[doublesmall]

It's not supposed to be cute.

[it's supposed to get him extra food... and attention, he guesses, because he can't really complain about the scritches. his eyes are already sliding closed, with a contented little sound.]

Maybe be more careful when you're waking up.

[crudest]

[yeah he's not getting extra food because baren's a stickler for rationing what they've got

and he's laughing at the way that chuuya's eyes slide shut, snickering even as he keeps teasing]

Or you could not sleep on top of me. You're heavy anyway. It'd solve both of our problems, you know?

[doublesmall]

[fine he'll just have to go hunting later and he'll eat all of it instead of bringing it home!!

... he'll end up bringing it home anyway but whatever

right now he's cracking one eye open again and letting out a huff.]

You're warm and I know I'm not that heavy.

[crudest]

Hmmm, yeah, I guess a human would just be a space heater to you.

[And he'll punctuate that sentence with pressing a kiss to the top of Chuuya's head before letting go of him entirely and finally getting up properly.

Enough of the day spent on pets, that meets his whole quota on being sweet for the day.]

Keep resting up or do whatever you need to, we're on the move starting today.

[doublesmall]

Yeah, you are.

[...of course baren is more than that to him, but- good luck getting chuuya to say it.

he follows when baren gets up, stretching and yawning as he pushes himself to his feet-- and that last bit of information makes both ears perk right up, eyes lit with excitement.]

Where are we going, huh?

[he may have gotten used to this place, attached to its comforts, but there'll always be a part of him that's still somewhat wild. that wants to roam, explore, without the need to return to the exact same place every night.]

[crudest]

North.

[ . . . and that's it, that's all the direction he's got!

But given the fact that Chuuya is up now, Baren makes a gesture with his hands to start weaving magic together. Their place is simple, small, has nothing more than what they need, but for the sake of packing everything up neatly and condensed enough to fit into a travel pack, Baren isn't against using magic to cheat to make them more compact. Spellbooks get shrunken down and he heads over to grab what food he can pack.]

Don't wear yourself out.

[doublesmall]

North, huh... it'll get colder, won't it? You'd better pack plenty of warm things.

[chuuya you have fur you'll be FINE

he follows after baren, though, keeping his form so he can help gather things up. having hands is pretty helpful, after all.]

Just tell me what you need done, I'm not going to wear myself out doing it. How weak do you think I am?

[crudest]

[It sure is helpful and that's when Baren points out a rucksack that he keeps - ]

Put that all in there. I'm only packing what we need.

[Since he has no interest in being tied down too much. Necessary spellbooks, blankets, the absolute bare necessities for a tent if they don't find shelter some nights, spare clothes for them both, and food to start with. The rest he can bargain and trade as they go along.]

If there's anything here left that you want, speak now or it's getting left behind.

[doublesmall]

[well. this sounds like a more serious trip than usual, and chuuya hums quietly under his breath as he packs things into the rucksack, an ear twitching as he thinks. sure, there are things here he might miss, but-]

Mm... nothing physical, I guess.

[chuuya doesn't really attach to things. he'll miss smaller luxuries that they won't have on the road, sure, but the only thing he's truly attached to here is baren.

not that he'll say it.

if baren doesn't pack it first, though, chuuya will end up slipping in whatever comb he uses for chuuya's fur and hair. better keep taking care of him wherever they end up.]

[crudest]

[the comb would've been an afterthought - so it's fortunate that chuuya got to it first. it catches baren's eye when he peeks into the rucksack to check what they have.... and he pauses. he wasn't going to bring all of the accessories that he's gathered but.

he goes to grab some pins and hair ornaments, some staples for himself but mostly whatever he puts in chuuya's hair. those silently go into the pack too.

and he hums softly as he runs a hand through his hair.]

... should be it.

[doublesmall]

[the addition of the accessories perks him up a bit, his tails swishing happily behind him even as he tries to look like he's All Business. it was a good effort, chuuya.]

That's it for me, too.

[though as he glances around the place he's come to think of as home, he can't help but ask-]

...how long do you think we'll be gone?

[crudest]

[He sure did try.

Regardless Baren rubs the back of his neck. Ideally, not that long - because it'll mean that they've found his sister and returned with her safely. But he's realistic and so...]

... probably not a year.

[But he won't rule it out.]

[doublesmall]

[that's a long time to be gone.

so long as he's not alone, though-- it'll be fine. they'll come back. he knows he'll enjoy being away for a while, and if he does end up missing the place? it'll make returning all the better.]

Do we need to do anything else to make sure it stays safe for that long? I'm not gonna run low for a while, so.

[crudest]

We can make it hard to find.

[Self-sustaining misdirection spells should be fine. That's what Baren thinks, what he decided on before even asking Chuuya because he's not used to asking for anything even now. Since they're all packed and ready to go, he moves to head out, scratching behind one of Chuuya's ears idly as he goes.]

At least there's nothing left here worth taking anyway.

[doublesmall]

I know, but it's still ours-

[he catches himself there with a flustered little huff, quickly correcting it.]

-yours. I don't like thinking of coming back and finding out someone's touched things, it'll smell all wrong and it'll take forever to smell right again--

[he's just casually shifting into a fox as he complains and moves to follow baren; if they're going out, he prefers to travel with a more sensitive nose and ears.]