Outside the Radio Station, Friday Morning
Apr. 26th, 2024 05:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afraid_of_marshmallowsArden and Graham left the radio station deep in discussion about their plan for the day. "Okay so I'm gonna spend a few hours in the Library on research duty today and otherwise pretty much stay at Midnight the rest of the time," she said. And paused. Had she heard something? She glanced around the streets but couldn't spot anything. With a shrug, she turned back to Graham. "But I know you wanna get a few hours in with Triumph, especially if he's feeling nervy from all the crazy, right?"
"HONK."
"Yeah, that's what I--" Again she paused and looked around. She'd sworn she'd heard some kind of...high, trilling...laugh, maybe? "...You hear that, Graham?"
"Honk?"
"Yeah," she said, turning in a slow circle, keeping a wary eye out, "I'm pretty sure I did. What do you say we take this conversation to go?"
"Honk." Graham's own posture had shifted, matching hers. Tense, watchful, hands at the ready.
There was a change in the way the air hit her face, something had moved off to their left. "Please let this just be paranoia," she groaned. "I really don't want this to be a dragon..."
And this was when Arden learned a very important lesson about being careful what you asked for. Because across Minotaur Lane from the park were three child-sized versions of Professor Vess made of what looked like seafood and some kind of whipped dessert thing. Where before they had been giggly and sweet, their entire demeanor had changed. Now their smiles were malicious, and their eyes glowed with an eerie purple glow. They drifted towards her, not moving very fast as all, but somehow every motion seemed malevolent in a way Arden could not describe but actively felt. The middle one, the one made out of a dessert giggled again, the sound echoing in the early morning stillness.
"Oh, okay," Arden said, nodding as if this all made perfect sense. "Yeah. This is some fucked up shit right now. And I'm not into it. Whaddaya say, Graham? Time to go?"
"HONK!"
The three miniature Professor Vesses began to hum in unison, purple spilling down their bodies, outlining each grain of rice, each whorl of meringue, with light. And even though Arden knew that she should be running, her body suddenly felt so heavy. The muscles in her limbs burned and quivered like she'd been rock climbing in Professor Amicitia's class for hours, her heartbeat got slow and weak and weird erratic, and it got harder to breathe, like something huge was sitting on her chest, stopping her lungs from fully inflating. "W-Wha...?" she panted holding herself up against the wall of the radio station. "Th'fuck...?"
Still humming, the Professor Vesses drifted closer, and as they did, it got harder for Arden to stay on her feet. She slid down the wall, urging herself to get up, get out of there, but her whole body was filled with pins and needles now--
"Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk!" Arden had lost track of Graham once the horrible humming started and so, it seemed, had the leftover golems. From somewhere off to her left, Graham flung himself forward at the trio, slamming into them with his wings spread, beak snapping at them. He managed to bowl all three of them over, tiny bodies tumbling around, their humming replaced by squeals of alarm.
Graham didn't stick around to see what they'd do next, he was waddling over to Arden as fast as he could, trying to help her up to her feet. With that dreadful humming stopped, feeling and strength began to return to her - an unpleasant sensation as the pins and needles feelings intensified, rather that lessened, but she felt like she could move again. Breathe again.
Run the fuck away again.
"You totally saved my ass, Graham," she said as she took off sprinting down Black Swan Drive.
"HONK!" he agreed from where he'd launched himself into the air.
"Seriously, you're totally gonna win the Knight's Tournament! Who else can say they bested three sorceresses at once, and as a goose!"
"HONKHONK!"
Graham Cracker: Knight Hopeful, Hero of the Hour, Goose.
[Establishy, but I'd promised to let Graham get some knightly heroics in!pun_king modded with permission.]
"HONK."
"Yeah, that's what I--" Again she paused and looked around. She'd sworn she'd heard some kind of...high, trilling...laugh, maybe? "...You hear that, Graham?"
"Honk?"
"Yeah," she said, turning in a slow circle, keeping a wary eye out, "I'm pretty sure I did. What do you say we take this conversation to go?"
"Honk." Graham's own posture had shifted, matching hers. Tense, watchful, hands at the ready.
There was a change in the way the air hit her face, something had moved off to their left. "Please let this just be paranoia," she groaned. "I really don't want this to be a dragon..."
And this was when Arden learned a very important lesson about being careful what you asked for. Because across Minotaur Lane from the park were three child-sized versions of Professor Vess made of what looked like seafood and some kind of whipped dessert thing. Where before they had been giggly and sweet, their entire demeanor had changed. Now their smiles were malicious, and their eyes glowed with an eerie purple glow. They drifted towards her, not moving very fast as all, but somehow every motion seemed malevolent in a way Arden could not describe but actively felt. The middle one, the one made out of a dessert giggled again, the sound echoing in the early morning stillness.
"Oh, okay," Arden said, nodding as if this all made perfect sense. "Yeah. This is some fucked up shit right now. And I'm not into it. Whaddaya say, Graham? Time to go?"
"HONK!"
The three miniature Professor Vesses began to hum in unison, purple spilling down their bodies, outlining each grain of rice, each whorl of meringue, with light. And even though Arden knew that she should be running, her body suddenly felt so heavy. The muscles in her limbs burned and quivered like she'd been rock climbing in Professor Amicitia's class for hours, her heartbeat got slow and weak and weird erratic, and it got harder to breathe, like something huge was sitting on her chest, stopping her lungs from fully inflating. "W-Wha...?" she panted holding herself up against the wall of the radio station. "Th'fuck...?"
Still humming, the Professor Vesses drifted closer, and as they did, it got harder for Arden to stay on her feet. She slid down the wall, urging herself to get up, get out of there, but her whole body was filled with pins and needles now--
"Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk!" Arden had lost track of Graham once the horrible humming started and so, it seemed, had the leftover golems. From somewhere off to her left, Graham flung himself forward at the trio, slamming into them with his wings spread, beak snapping at them. He managed to bowl all three of them over, tiny bodies tumbling around, their humming replaced by squeals of alarm.
Graham didn't stick around to see what they'd do next, he was waddling over to Arden as fast as he could, trying to help her up to her feet. With that dreadful humming stopped, feeling and strength began to return to her - an unpleasant sensation as the pins and needles feelings intensified, rather that lessened, but she felt like she could move again. Breathe again.
Run the fuck away again.
"You totally saved my ass, Graham," she said as she took off sprinting down Black Swan Drive.
"HONK!" he agreed from where he'd launched himself into the air.
"Seriously, you're totally gonna win the Knight's Tournament! Who else can say they bested three sorceresses at once, and as a goose!"
"HONKHONK!"
Graham Cracker: Knight Hopeful, Hero of the Hour, Goose.
[Establishy, but I'd promised to let Graham get some knightly heroics in!
pun_king modded with permission.]
