[BROWTOBER] Browtober Batch 1

DAY 1 - INK (PT 1)

Lance wasn’t quite sure what to make of his current predicament. Honestly, even before his day fully began things had been kind of… off, somehow- waking up in a perplexing position, a weird wind in the air, and even what felt like strange dirt shifting beneath his shoed feet as he made his way to his favourite writing spot for the day. There was even a moment where he thought he might have caught someone looking at him from the corner of his eye, only to have his swift head turn be met with loneliness and an uneasy silence.

Maybe his senses were playing tricks on him… it was that time of year, after all. Halloween and the veil weakening and all that.

… Or it could be the neighbourhood brats again. He’s had a few moments where they’ve attempted to pick on him like this before… he really didn’t understand what about him was so bullyable- he’s a vampire, damnit! Be afraid!

He couldn’t believe the gall of kids these days. But… all seemed pretty quiet, and he felt very much alone in the moment, so… he sat down and took his writing notebook and favourite fountain pen out of his rucksack in order to flex his penmanship muscles.

Though, in a strange turn of events, he found his pen unable to write upon the page… and when ink did flow through the nib, it just… stayed beaded and wet, almost trying to roll right off the page as he wrote.

DAY 1 - INK (PT 2)

That was it, Lance was sure of it- some otherworldly thing was involved in this mess, and he was going to get to the bottom of it! After all, ink wasn’t cheap, and he wasn’t exactly rolling in stargold… Thankfully, he knew exactly where to start… it seemed that the ink was being willed in the direction of whatever was pulling it, so if he could just keep the ink on his notebook’s page, perhaps he could have it take him directly to it! An ingenious plan, if he said so himself- which he did.

Lance packed his pen and inkwell back up into his bag- worried that he might lose more precious abyssal ink to this thing (Again, expensive stuff!), though he kind of felt that if it really wanted them, it might have no trouble getting the void-like fluid to bust through their rather fragile containers… Nonetheless, he tried to stay positive about it as he got up to his feet, book held in front of him to see where the ink splotch would lead him.

After a few hours, it really started to feel like it wasn’t going to take him anywhere… he felt like it had just taken him in a damn circle! And even though the ink did in fact refuse to fully wet the page, it still left a little trail with each movement around it, meaning Lance would have to eventually put another on his book, thus wasting MORE ink. He’d never felt so defeated…

DAY 1 - INK (PT 3)

Lance had had it up to here with the current strange events that had been happening to him lately. Here he was, slightly lost in the outskirts of the little humble village he and his boyfriend and his friends were currently living within, wasting ink trying to get to the bottom of a magical ink thief! There wasn’t an ink aspect, was there? If it wasn’t some weird magic creature, he would be giving them an earful… and making them pay for replacement ink.

And… besides it being expensive, it was a gift to him from Cori… He didn’t want to waste even a drop of something so precious as a gift from someone he held dear. Yet here he was, having to waste said drop on a stupid goose chase to tell someone to quit messing with his stuff! 

“Should be illegal…” He grumbled under his breath as he stomped through grass and bushes  and even a few small brambles- thank fucking god for boots was all he could say about those.

Eventually, the ink ball led him to a small clearing surrounded by the spiky bushes- what an absolute nightmare! But within he saw something odd… a ring of mushrooms…. Within the clearing? He stepped out of the brambles and into the seemingly empty space, in the grass before the mushroom ring.

It gave him pause. What could it be? He’d heard things about mushrooms… but he couldn’t quite remember them now… but the ink was insistent that whatever it was, was in that circle.

DAY 21 - MUSHROOMS

The mushrooms were another thing that didn’t seem quite right to Lance- in fact, they REALLY set off his danger alarm. While he didn’t fully remember the stories he’d been told about rings of them, he knew it wasn’t right to just mess around with them. And yet…

He couldn’t help being strangely drawn to them… as if they might hold the key to what he’s been looking for, or something like that. He took one step forward, and then another…

Then, out of nowhere, he smacked himself hard on the cheek! He didn’t know what was going on, but it had some kind of power of suggestion over the careless, and he was not about to let it get a hold on him. After all, a capital-V Vampire wouldn’t fall for this kind of magic trick, and neither would he! Or maybe they would- he didn’t know… but he’d never let anyone know that.

You could find out…

A voice that felt like it was both inside his head and outside in the near vicinity rolled around in his eardrums, soft and sweet like honey. He looked around for the owner, but the entire clearing was empty. Who…?

You could find out, if only you stepped inside…

“Who’s there? Are you the one who made this?” Lance yelled out, loudly to mask any fear or uncertainty that might pepper itself into a meeker tone, “Come out and show yourself, before I make you!”

But in response, all he heard was giggles.

DAY 1 - INK (PT 4)

Lance knew better than to stay in that clearing for too long, listening to those way too saccharine words that threatened to pull him into their trap. The mushrooms could keep his small drops of ink- he knew this place was bad news even if he didn’t exactly know why.

“You’d be stupid to think I’d step in that!” He yelled, trying to straighten his back and look as confident as he could, even if it was all show. “I’m out of here, you can enjoy your drops of ink- but the rest is mine!”

He flapped his notebook, doing his best to get the ink off the page and onto the grass. Maybe that would appease whatever was here with him. After that, he booked it out- he cared little for staying much longer.

However, to his horror he could hear something crushing itself from within his bag as he ran- Damnit! The awful magic beings really did know how to break the inkwell and pen open! He really hoped the pen would be spared, but he’d have to suck it up about the pot… if it cracks, there’s no saving it if he didn’t have duct tape with him.

He feared for what he was going to have to tell Cori… though, he was sure the other browbird would understand.

Once Lance was out of the “danger zone,” as he would put it- the area in which said being might have domain over- he peered inside his bag…

Yup, inkpot was definitely broken. What a bummer…

DAY 22 - SHATTERED

This whole mishap left Lance in a bit of a grumpy mood. Ink lost, bag soaked in watery black ink… he didn’t think Cori would be mad at least, but he felt pretty upset about losing such a meaningful gift. Cori was the only one he felt comfortable enough to share his writing with, and now he’d up and gotten the gift shattered by some stupid entity.

Sure, he couldn’t have known it would do that, but… he still couldn’t shake the thought that he was partially to blame.

He could barely think of ways to break the news and apologize…

Lance dreaded returning to the village with each step he took. His nerves felt like a loud buzzing in his ears that made it hard to think, maybe even breathe. Maybe he needed a long, heavy nap.

He trudged his way back to their shared lodging, barely able to muster the attention needed to force a smile and wave at the villagers that saw him go out and wanted to welcome him back from his outing.

“Oh, welcome back, Lance,” Cori greeted the exhausted browbird as he opened the door and walked inside, his expression going from welcoming to concerned. “You good?”

“No, I…” Lance could feel a little lump in his throat forming, a feeling he hated. “I’m sorry, Cori… I broke the ink you gifted me. It shattered when I got into something stupid and dangerous.” 

At first, Coriander’s expression was the picture of surprise, but then it softened.

It certainly wasn’t what Lance was expecting, that’s for sure.

DAY 16 - HOMEMADE

Lance explained everything to Coriander- the ink droplets, the clearing, the circle… and the voices. The darker browbird listened and nodded along with a serious look on his face that told Lance he really had just narrowly escaped something dangerous.

“Sounds like a fae circle,” Cori said, words tinged with thought, “I’m glad you didn’t give in to the voice, may have been the last we saw of you.”

“What makes you say that?” Lance cocked his head slightly to the side in confusion.

“They’re portals to another realm, dangerous stuff. They would have tried to trap you in there.” 

“I knew I remembered something freaky about them like that…”

Coriander put the book he was reading down on the counter, which Lance now realized was an autumn cookbook.

“Making something?” The white-haired browbird asked, suddenly curious- he was getting kind of hungry…

“Yeah, chicken pot pie.” Coriander responded, as quick and practical as ever. “Down to help?”

“Absolutely…” A warm meal like pot pie was perfect for the kind of weather outside: cold and dreary. Lance was pretty keen on warming up with some homemade food…

So, their joint cooking adventure began. Lance was a little clumsy in the kitchen, but it didn’t seem that it messed up the recipe too badly. Before they knew it, they had a certified amazing smelling kitchen on their claws, with only a FEW cuts and bandaids from trying to cut the potato slices just right.

Pretty soon, they were at the table eating a delicious home cooked meal.

Lance couldn’t ask for a better end to his day.

DAY 4 - WARMTH

Running warm water splashed down onto Lance’s body as he took a late-evening shower, washing off the dirt and nicks he had received during his day of running around looking for an irritating ink thief. He was still upset that they broke his inkpot, but he felt a little better knowing that Cori wasn’t also upset by it.

He let his muscles ease up, not like he had many to begin with. Not like a vampire would have… maybe. He wasn’t quite sure. He hoped no one else thought musculature was a prerequisite to being one.

Eventually, once he figured he was all cleaned up with soap and shampoo, he turned off the water and stepped out to dry himself off. Toweling down, he was thankful for the steam in the air of the small bathroom- he liked being enveloped in its warmth. Hell, he enjoyed any warmth he could get his hands on.

Especially Coriander’s warmth.

He opened the door and stepped outside, dressed in more comfortable sleep clothes. The sound of the TV could be heard from the living room, and Lance would be lying if he didn’t want to see what was up.

“Oh, Lance.” Cori said when he noticed his partner coming into the room. He wasted no time in patting the cushions in the free spot next to him, and who was Lance to say no to a spot next to his boyfriend?

The second he sat down with him though, Cori pulled him close for snuggles.

And Lance truly felt warm.