Mother stands for comfort

[imaglyphwitch]

Who: Luz and you (and specifically with Luca)
What: Luz tries to resist the hex, and not mutate herself until she finally falls to beast hood
When: Middle of February (sorry Luz, no birthday for you)
Where: All around Trench

She'd read the sermon and was sure that was when the trouble began. Luz had thought, after getting others who'd been sympathetic and lent an ear to her troubles, that she might be able to ride out the crazy of this month, that she'd get to her birthday in relative peace. Unfortunately, things didn't get better: instead, Luz found herself plagues by the past: her father leaving, the scorn of being that "weird" kid in her class, and the things that came with her Deerington and new Trench memories.

After Varian, Luz had been meticulous about trying to keep such thoughts from consuming her, trying to talk to others when she could, listening to advice and meditating more than she probably had any month. But the thoughts kept coming, and no matter what Luz did, she found she was feeling more depressed by the day, even though she interacted with people and did her best to keep her smile up.

And then one day, she found it was starting to feel worse than usual, enough that she even resorted to turning to her bird form if only to escape those memories. Now they were starting to compound, and images of the cave men and the Blood Cultists and their attacks on her began to plague her nightmares. It got so bad that she woke up feeling the cuts in her skin as clearly as she had back then, and she would be breathing hard and be so anxious she stayed in bed.

She had no idea how to stop this, and moments where she started to consider self-harm surfaced, shocking her so badly she took a cold bath, shivering and in tears, wondering what would happen next.

Comments

[onerthes]

Haha. Yes. Exactly like that. It's endearing how much energy you manage to have in the worst of times. It helps to keep the rest of us going.

[Yup, Vira-Lorr was a fan]

[imaglyphwitch]

Aw, you think so? That's so sweet! Thanks!

[Luz was always just trying to keep the peace. It was hard enough to get everyone on the same page, so why not work to keep things together]?

You guys make it easy by being so great!

[onerthes]

[She ruffled her hair and grinned at her.]

So, it's kind of a symbiotic thing, where we can all feed off of each other's good vibes, right? That's how I'm going to think of it either way.

[imaglyphwitch]

[Luz didn't mind the ruffling: it reminded her of Eda, actually].

Maybe less about feeding off since it makes us sound like parasites, but sure!

[onerthes]

mmm, symbiotic does have a nicer ring to it, doesn't it? Can't have use behaving like a bunch of lamprey now can we?

[imaglyphwitch]

Yeah, exactly!

Uh, nope. Those stay in my nightmares, where they belong!

[onerthes]

Oh, they aren't that bad. Grill them up and they aren't nearly as scary!

[... Vira-Lorr would have been at home in Gensokyo. Mystia had a stand of that crap.]

[imaglyphwitch]

Grilled lamprey? Oh, I don't know about that.

[Luz had made the mistake of looking them up once and saw someone's creepypasta with a lamprey made of someone's eyeball. She couldn't really look at a picture of them afterward].

How do they taste?

[That didn't mean Luz wasn't curious].

[onerthes]

A bit like grilled eel, really. Just slightly oily and with this prickly element from the edible parts of the spiny bits. They grill up just fine, but it's kind of an acquired taste.

(OOC: Totally guessing here. I'd assume they're like eel and I've had eel, ahah.)

[imaglyphwitch]

Ooh, eel! I actually like eel, although I'm still not sure about eating lamprey. Maybe one day though!

[Luz wouldn't completely rule it out, even if the idea of a lamprey still slightly terrified her].

(OOC: Now I want to try Lamprey, since I like eel).

[onerthes]

Well well, so you have an idea what to expect. make sure to have the good sauce for it when you have it. The same sauces go with it, so something sweet.

(OOC: Apparently people do actually grill it up, which shouldn't surprise me.)

[imaglyphwitch]

Oh trust me, I have plenty of that! Considering how much fish we wind up dealing with in the house, we have more than enough sauce for that!

[That's what happened when you had a fishboy(?) for a house mate. Luz would have killed for a lemon though].

[onerthes]

Even better. I've been getting used to mushrooms myself, though a little fish does help. It takes a lot of mushrooms to make up for real meat in the diet after all.

[imaglyphwitch]

Oh, I agree! I tend to stick with the Portobello ones, they tend to have the most flavor!

How much would you want?

[onerthes]

Oh, what you can spare. I'm not going to worry too much about the exact quantities. A little bit of fish will help make sure my meals aren't always mushrooms after all. Portobellos are lovely, but a girl does crave more.

[imaglyphwitch]

I hear you there, woof! And if you're not a fan of mushrooms, you better be a good hunter, or have things to trade. It helps that Fern gets us our grains and Reaper cooks, to be honest.

[onerthes]

The old man has his uses. He's actually quite a good cook, when he really wants to be. [She laughed.] But it sounds like you have quite a good system there. I'll have to take advantage.

[imaglyphwitch]

He is! Who knew? He even knows Spanish dishes, which is a plus for me!

I won't try to milk it, but I am pretty happy with our current set up!

[onerthes]

Oh... he absolutely knows those. I'd even say that was a specialty of his.

[Then again, she'd met his younger self, so she was well aware of his roots.]

Honestly, he'd probably forgive a tiny bit of milking, just because he appreciates the attention.

[imaglyphwitch]

I am glad I know that. I'm sure it'll come up again!

[Look, as much as Luz loved to cook, she also liked to be cooked FOR, and anything that reminded her of her mom back home was well worth it].

Does he? Maybe I'll give him that attention.

[She was definitely going to now]!

[onerthes]

Best way to know that you're getting the attention he wants to have to him? He'll get more surly, but never really threatening and he won't actually leave. It's amazing how consistent the man can be at times.

[You're enabling the girl to torment him, you know.]

[imaglyphwitch]

I'll keep that in mind!

[Luz, being the girl that she is, wouldn't want to actually do that to him, but it would be helpful to know that since Reaper did seem like an enigma to her at times].

[onerthes]

I think it's good for him to have things like this happen. It helps him remember his humanity and that helps him stay grounded. Sometimes he needs it.

[imaglyphwitch]

He's more protective of the house than I expected. It's kind of nice.

[onerthes]

Hahaha, oh gods. No, he's as territorial as a wolf. That one will guard it and prowl around whenever he has free time. You'll get used to it. He likes to be the surly parental figure from time to time.