Chaos Tea with Loli-Beets the Beetle-17/03/21
Apr 11, 2022 18:37:33 GMT
Tayz Dale, Varga, and 3 more like this
Post by Beets The Beetle (Feenix) on Apr 11, 2022 18:37:33 GMT
Set after:
Croak and Dagger-Beets the Beetle-16/03/22
(Temporary rough sketch)
“You decide Lolli, I’m not sure what sort of thing you’d enjoy..and I still don’t know my way around here that much, this town is so much bigger than my village.” Beets hovers casually beside Lolli as they wander through the packed streets of Daring Heights on a gloriously sunny morning.
Lolli hops alongside her friend thinking about where to go. She ponders for a few minutes thinking and then she has an idea. “Oh I know, how about that new place… what’s the name of it…Ohhh yeah it’s called CHAOS. They have chinchillas you can pet. It could be fun and we can get tea there as well. Would that suit you?”
“With a name like that can you also fight these ‘chinchillas’? Are they vicious?” Beets responds, her eyes cast thoughtfully skyward as she imagines what these mighty beasts may look like.
“I don’t think so… I haven’t heard they are anyway. Sure let’s go find out!”. Lolli smiles at Beets and guides her towards where she has been told is CHAOS.
As Beets and Lolli turn around the last corner, they both spot a small parlour with dark windows. Looking briefly through the windows they could make out weird shadows on the inside, they work out it’s from all the chinchillas flying around. Across the window, ‘CHAOS’ is written in what seems to be a splatter of paint from an axe.
Lolli and Beets smile and nod to each other, then head inside. When they go in they stop, as suddenly many sets of beady little eyes turn towards them, giving them both immediately a strange feeling. As if all the chinchillas in the place are sizing each of them up as if they are ready for a fight. Groups of them stare down from their perches high up near the ceiling. There is a huge misshapen tower of thin wooden blocks in the middle of the room. All the simple wooden tables and chairs, which appear to have been refixed multiple times, are huddled near the walls and windows. As if they had tried and failed to escape this madness. There’s very little to no decoration in the place. An adult chinchilla, about one foot tall and very fluffy approaches Beets and Lolli. He introduces himself as Cleaver. He mentions he’s the co-owner of this place and explains the rules. A tall dark ashen skin coloured half-orc woman walks over as she hears Cleaver, and tells them that she is in fact the other owner of the place. She gives a brief smile and introduces herself as Varga. She tells them Cleaver will do a good job looking after them. Cleaver continues to explain the rules and tells them both to expect to be ambushed by fellow chinchillas, that it’s all part of the experience. Then he guides both of them to a table.
As Beets and Lolli are walking to the table, as expected they are both ambushed by an appropriate number of chinchillas each. All of the chinchillas launch themselves from their perches atop the tower, like a volley of little furry cannonballs. Lolli gets a brood of chinchilla cubs. She giggles and tries to pet all of them around her. She quickly gives in to all the cuddles they give her and she tries to match them back. Beets on the other hand is bombarded by Cleaver’s nephew Keg (of Smokepowder). He is the biggest floof around, as is rumoured to have a preference for ambushing barbarians and paladins. Thus resulting in the following encounter between the pair resembling a more of fighting pit match, than a cuddly interaction between the two!
After some time playing with the chinchillas, everyone gets tired. Even the chinchillas. The baby cubs try to stay awake near Lolli but they end up sleeping in piles on top of each other. Whilst after multiple smackdown pins on both sides, Keg squirms out of Beets arms and goes to take a sand bath.
Lolli and Beets head back over to their table and a moment later a waiter cautiously comes out from the back and over to their table to take their order. Despite their tiredness, the two can’t help but notice the waiter looks absolutely terrified. A fact even more prominent when they make their return with the order, the tray in their hands shaking nervously, causing the drinks to sway and the china to jiggle loudly. It seems the days of narrowly avoiding multiple assaults by flying furry assailants were starting to grate on them.
Lolli thanks the waiter and gives them a gracious smile. As they leave, Lolli reaches for the tea, she pours herself and Beets a cup and then takes a sip. She lets out a happy sigh and then she smiles and turns to Beets “Wow these little guys are so cute and so soft. I wonder how I can get my fur that soft…. That would be really interesting. Do they use a special brush perhaps… Ha never mind… We have other things to talk about. By the way, wow that was an adventure this week. How are you after everything? Those toad creatures… I thought one of them was going to eat me…That was really scary. Is adventuring usually like that? Of course, you were there fighting everything. Your eyes were all… different. Have they always been that way fighting? Also, how are you finding your new outfit?”
Beets is a little caught off guard as Kegs barges over and hops up onto her lap. The Chinchilla looked happy after their encounter and appears to have warmed up to Beets. ”Oh hey again... Um.,” Beets instinctively takes one hand, and as if telepathically driven by Keg, begins to stroke him.. “Oh um..t-the outfits great thanks. Really comfy and easy to move about it. Had to have Jenna fix up a couple times though, especially if I tur-I mean um…” There’s an awkward silence for a moment before Beets suddenly exclaims loud. “OOh biscuits!” Flushing red and looking suddenly panicked, Beets she reaches out and grabs a thick round biscuit from a large bowl on the table, cramming it into her mouth before stroking her lap chinchilla vigorously, causing its fur to start to crackle with static. “Mhm..so..Rgh!!” She suddenly pulls a face mid-chew, somewhere between a look of shock and disgust.
Lolli looks at Beets and sees her wings twitch, her toes tighten and notice she is avoiding eye contact with her. Lolli immediately calms herself. She straightens herself up and looks at Beets. She says concerned, “Hey… Beets…, everything ok? You are usually so happy after fighting because you’re really good. This is the first I've seen you… sad after a fight. You know if there's anything you want to talk about, I am happy to listen”.
Lolli reaches out to hold Beets’s hand in comfort.
“Oh..Uhm…” Beets looks up and Lolli shyly. She struggles to eventually gulp down her mouthful of the bitter-tasting chilla treat, before then replying, “Well…no...I um..I went on a job for the King and s-something broke…Something..got loose…inside..me…” Her hand shivers suddenly under Lolli’s warm soft paw.
“Oh no… what got loose? Did the King do something to you? Aww Beets…”, Lolli exclaims, before decidingly hopping over and embracing Beets, the rather dishevelled chinchilla seizing its chance to leap off Beets Lap. Loli holds Beets, waiting there for as long as she needs.
“AGH! Lo-Lolli..mgh…” Beets’ voice is shrill, almost frightened at first and she at first worriedly tries to pull Lolli off as she clings onto her. But with the feeling the warmth emanating from friend's embrace, Beets finds herself stopping her efforts to resist. No stranger one had ever hugged her like this, except Marto that day. She slowly finds herself responding, “No it wasn’t the King…Lolli…You know you asked about my eyes going all different…W-well.. They’ve not always done that…T-that’s not me…I-I mean…i-it is me…I’ve gotten b-better at keeping my mind when it happens but…mgh…” Beets stops the nervous flow of words from her mouth, unsure of what to say, worried if she’s said too much already.
Lolli lets go of Beets. She looks to her friend with more concern “So something has changed within you that’s not you? And you’re finding it hard to control? Do you know why this might be happening or when it started exactly? Oh my gumdrop, that must be scary. I’m sorry Beets. So how long has this been happening?”
“A couple months now…I-I’ve gotten b-better at controlling it…I don’t have to sleep with restraints now heh..he..gh…” The forced smile on her face drops. “Marto was the first person to see me like it, I-I nearly attacked him…It was…Terrifying…I had barely eaten or slept for two weeks, I was so scared of waking up and I had k-..hurt someone…” Her hands shake as she talks. “I hadn’t been so scared since…My village was attacked…”
“Beets, I’m so sorry. That’s awful. I can’t imagine what that must be like. Marto is he…Ok though right? What happened to the village?”.
“H-he’s fine..H-he actually helped me…He could've just ran, he could've gotten help…But he didn’t… He stayed…People really are different here…So different than home”
“That sounds like Marto… he seems like a good person. And yeah there’s been so many wonderful people here. I’m getting to know lots of people. Anyway sorry, I am rambling. Please continue?” Lolli ends and goes to take a sip of her tea.
“Um…” Beets bites her lips, a pained expression playing on her face. “Well…There’s a reason I left home…The a-attack on my village..It...It was a horde of…Giant…Beetles…” She trails off quietly, looking up at Lol with a shameful expression, waiting for her face to change to one of the villagers from that day…Faces of fear, anger and loathing.
Lolli notices Beets get more uncomfortable. She reaches out to grab her friend's hand again. She pauses for a moment before continuing “Aww Beets. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to share this with me. All of that must have been scary. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I was wondering…Are you part Beetle? Are Giant Beetles..like..an enemy to you?”
Beets’ ears droop as she pulls her legs up and tucks her knees under her chin, one arm wrapping almost instinctively defensively around them, the plates of her dark blank legs shimmering in the soft afternoon light of the teashop. “I don’t know what I am really…I..I’m not a true fairy like other fairies....I’m really bad at fairy magic and well..I’m not pretty or elegant like other fairy girls…” She flicks her beetle-like wings as if in response, stirring a light droning noise unlike the soft elegant butterfly fluttering other fairy wings she grew up almost tauntingly surrounded by.
“Pa and Gramps always called me their ‘Little bug’...But the other villagers…They called me..other things.” A shaft of sunlight catches a waving glimmer beginning to form in her eyes.
“It got much worse when the beetle attacks started. They never used to stray close to the village or cause us any trouble. But one year they just started getting increasingly aggressive and confident. And after they attacked the village…”
She falls silent for a moment, a tear rolling from her cheek across her arm and down the plates of one leg to the sharp point of one of her taloned toes, hanging in large a drip, like a drop of blood from a dagger. Before falling down to the cafe floor with an echoingly loud splash in her mind.
“...I couldn’t stay.”
Lolli puts her tea down immediately and hops over again to Beets. “Would you like another hug? I apologise I should have asked the first time. I will do that in future. But..would you like one?”
Beets looks up at Loli, her sweet furred face held untwitchingly with soft concern. She trembles slightly, her breathing deepening as she fights the fear inside before she breaks, her face creasing as the tears she's held back for so long start flowing, her head nodding as she reaches out desperately towards her friend.
Lolli takes out her lollipop wand and casts it to make her biscuit step ladder appear. Lolli then hops up, so she’s at the same heights as Beets this time. Staring at Beets, she’s never seen her quite so vulnerable before. It’s heartbreaking. Lolli immediately goes to comfort her. She gives Beets a very long hug, which she could tell she could really use.
She also pulls out a clean tissue she has in her pocket and hands it to Beets.
“Firstly, I want to add, you are you. And by that I mean you should be unapologetically you! You are amazing! I’m so sorry other people haven’t been very nice to you. They clearly don’t have any manners”. Lolli looks Beets in her eyes and adds “Please believe me when I say there’s nothing… absolutely nothing wrong with you being who you are. I think you’re fantastic and unique. Don’t let anyone squash that. So what, you aren’t like the other fairies. It’s way more fun when you’re different. I don’t know many fairy barbarians and that’s an even better combination”. Lolli gives a grin at the end of that sentence.
“Secondly, so people in your village associate you with the giant beetles because you…Look similar? But that’s ridiculous. You didn’t do anything… right? Well, I’m not scared of you. If you think there’s something changed within you though I am happy to help, in whatever way I can. I can research some stuff. I do like reading. And oh, have you tried going to one of the temples there? If you haven’t I could go with you if you want?”
Lolli slows down after hurling lots of information at Beets.
“You’ve been nothing but kind and helpful on adventures with me Beets. I’ve got your back and will be your friend, always!”
Beets at Loli, her face unable to hold back a smile as she watches her sprouting ideas, her whiskers bouncing excitedly as she talks. She was so sweet, so unjudging. Beets had never met anybody…Any bunny, like her before.
“You..you don’t know…How much that means Lolli.” she says as Lolli finishes, wiping her nose with her bracer, smeary black tear streaks running down her cheeks from her warpaint.
“When I left home, I was so afraid of what folk would do when they saw me! Afraid they would...Also think me some kind of freak or monster…I’d never left home before, what if the rest of the world was just the same?”
She feels a tight knot in her chest, like a fist clenched too hard begin to slacken ever so slightly, so she continues.
“ A couple weeks after leaving home I ventured into a town. My food was almost gone and I was so hungry. All of the plants and trees on the path had just changed suddenly so I was afraid to forage. What if I ate something poisonous and killed myself?
So I had to risk going into a town, going near people again. When I went it was heaving like ants' nests, more people than I’ve ever seen before. Folk of all shapes and sizes. Some with scales, some had tails, one was even on fire! Gramps used to tell me about all sorts of amazing creatures in his stories when I was growing up. Great warriors, beautiful elves, friendly humans folk with round ears. I couldn’t believe they were real, and stranger yet, they weren’t scared of each other. They…actually even seemed to like one another, even admire their differences.”
She stares un-focusedly ahead, a small smile on her lips, replaying the memory in her mind, recounting the feeling of awe and wonder she felt that day.
Lolli lets go of her hug once she sees Beets with a small smile. She smiles towards Beets. “Yeah there are lots of types of people here, I know what you mean. So many tall people. I grew up in the Summer Courts and there are lots of people there. But here in Daring Heights… in the Dawnlands… there’s even more. It’s amazing! And yeah everyone seems so welcoming. I know I’m not really cut out to be an adventurer myself…But if I’m honest that’s more why I want to do it. I want to prove that I can and also to help make nice outfits for people. I already have lots of ideas from the last few adventures I’ve been on”.
Lolli dismisses her step ladder with her wand and hops down to the ground. She looks up to Beets “I’m sorry your journey before now has been so tough. But hopefully being here… things will change for the better. And on that note, I am going to help with what’s happening with you. Oh, maybe it’s a curse… I remember reading them in school. They can be nasty. But maybe it’s not that… Oh, I have too many ideas… I need to look up stuff. But I can’t do anything here…Ok why don’t we finish our tea and then I can do some research later. I think we could do with a par-tea now with the chinchillas”.
Lolli finishes with a beaming smile on her face.
“Are you kidding Lolli, you’re a BUGGIN’ amazing adventurer!” Beets exclaims, grasping her friend's shoulders. “If you hadn't used your magic to talk to those gargoyles we’d have all been mashed into ‘adventurer jam’ like those tarts Auber the feeder smooshed into his fat gob! And as for your outfits…” She adds, affectionately stroking to soft material of her leotard, “I’ve been telling anyone I meet about my ‘Lolli Cottontail Original’, you just wait, you’re gonna have adventurers clamming at your door for you to make them their own buggin’amazing adventurer gear, you just wait and see!”
Lolli giggles and smiles wider “Ha, thank you Beets. That’s nice of you. I’m glad my magic is of use. Also, I am really glad you like your outfit. Your outfit was my first official commission piece here in Daring Heights. It would be amazing if I could make more. I really like making outfits and fixing garments. It’s fun. Oh speaking of, if there are any issues with your outfit let me know… I can fix it”.
“Hmm, we’ll now mention it, I’ve had Jenna do a few magical fixes on it a couple times when it’s gotten roughed up a bit. Maybe you could find some way to strengthen it, oh and I do have a few ideas too maybe for a new version you interested to chat about’em?” She says, patting the space on the sofa next to her, “And heck it! Yeah, let’s get some more tea and oh and cake! Anything that tastes better than those horrid cookies!” She ends, gesturing to the bowl on the table.
Lolli giggles “Beets, those weren’t for you. They were for the chinchillas. No wonder they didn’t taste nice”. Lolli laughs and points to a different cookie on the plate that looks far more appetising. “These are the ones you should have tried”. Lolli breaks the cookie in half and hands one half to Beets. She smiles and eats the half in her hand.
Beets smiles as holds her half of the cookie for a while, before looking over at her friend. “You’re a sweet girl Lolli,”she says, raising it to her mouth, “... in more ways than one.”
Thank you Lolli (Jennifur Cottontail) for doing this wonderfully sweet and fun writeup together and DM_Youki for the sweet setting of CHAOS Chinchilla cafe and descriptions! x
Croak and Dagger-Beets the Beetle-16/03/22
(Temporary rough sketch)
“You decide Lolli, I’m not sure what sort of thing you’d enjoy..and I still don’t know my way around here that much, this town is so much bigger than my village.” Beets hovers casually beside Lolli as they wander through the packed streets of Daring Heights on a gloriously sunny morning.
Lolli hops alongside her friend thinking about where to go. She ponders for a few minutes thinking and then she has an idea. “Oh I know, how about that new place… what’s the name of it…Ohhh yeah it’s called CHAOS. They have chinchillas you can pet. It could be fun and we can get tea there as well. Would that suit you?”
“With a name like that can you also fight these ‘chinchillas’? Are they vicious?” Beets responds, her eyes cast thoughtfully skyward as she imagines what these mighty beasts may look like.
“I don’t think so… I haven’t heard they are anyway. Sure let’s go find out!”. Lolli smiles at Beets and guides her towards where she has been told is CHAOS.
As Beets and Lolli turn around the last corner, they both spot a small parlour with dark windows. Looking briefly through the windows they could make out weird shadows on the inside, they work out it’s from all the chinchillas flying around. Across the window, ‘CHAOS’ is written in what seems to be a splatter of paint from an axe.
Lolli and Beets smile and nod to each other, then head inside. When they go in they stop, as suddenly many sets of beady little eyes turn towards them, giving them both immediately a strange feeling. As if all the chinchillas in the place are sizing each of them up as if they are ready for a fight. Groups of them stare down from their perches high up near the ceiling. There is a huge misshapen tower of thin wooden blocks in the middle of the room. All the simple wooden tables and chairs, which appear to have been refixed multiple times, are huddled near the walls and windows. As if they had tried and failed to escape this madness. There’s very little to no decoration in the place. An adult chinchilla, about one foot tall and very fluffy approaches Beets and Lolli. He introduces himself as Cleaver. He mentions he’s the co-owner of this place and explains the rules. A tall dark ashen skin coloured half-orc woman walks over as she hears Cleaver, and tells them that she is in fact the other owner of the place. She gives a brief smile and introduces herself as Varga. She tells them Cleaver will do a good job looking after them. Cleaver continues to explain the rules and tells them both to expect to be ambushed by fellow chinchillas, that it’s all part of the experience. Then he guides both of them to a table.
As Beets and Lolli are walking to the table, as expected they are both ambushed by an appropriate number of chinchillas each. All of the chinchillas launch themselves from their perches atop the tower, like a volley of little furry cannonballs. Lolli gets a brood of chinchilla cubs. She giggles and tries to pet all of them around her. She quickly gives in to all the cuddles they give her and she tries to match them back. Beets on the other hand is bombarded by Cleaver’s nephew Keg (of Smokepowder). He is the biggest floof around, as is rumoured to have a preference for ambushing barbarians and paladins. Thus resulting in the following encounter between the pair resembling a more of fighting pit match, than a cuddly interaction between the two!
After some time playing with the chinchillas, everyone gets tired. Even the chinchillas. The baby cubs try to stay awake near Lolli but they end up sleeping in piles on top of each other. Whilst after multiple smackdown pins on both sides, Keg squirms out of Beets arms and goes to take a sand bath.
Lolli and Beets head back over to their table and a moment later a waiter cautiously comes out from the back and over to their table to take their order. Despite their tiredness, the two can’t help but notice the waiter looks absolutely terrified. A fact even more prominent when they make their return with the order, the tray in their hands shaking nervously, causing the drinks to sway and the china to jiggle loudly. It seems the days of narrowly avoiding multiple assaults by flying furry assailants were starting to grate on them.
Lolli thanks the waiter and gives them a gracious smile. As they leave, Lolli reaches for the tea, she pours herself and Beets a cup and then takes a sip. She lets out a happy sigh and then she smiles and turns to Beets “Wow these little guys are so cute and so soft. I wonder how I can get my fur that soft…. That would be really interesting. Do they use a special brush perhaps… Ha never mind… We have other things to talk about. By the way, wow that was an adventure this week. How are you after everything? Those toad creatures… I thought one of them was going to eat me…That was really scary. Is adventuring usually like that? Of course, you were there fighting everything. Your eyes were all… different. Have they always been that way fighting? Also, how are you finding your new outfit?”
Beets is a little caught off guard as Kegs barges over and hops up onto her lap. The Chinchilla looked happy after their encounter and appears to have warmed up to Beets. ”Oh hey again... Um.,” Beets instinctively takes one hand, and as if telepathically driven by Keg, begins to stroke him.. “Oh um..t-the outfits great thanks. Really comfy and easy to move about it. Had to have Jenna fix up a couple times though, especially if I tur-I mean um…” There’s an awkward silence for a moment before Beets suddenly exclaims loud. “OOh biscuits!” Flushing red and looking suddenly panicked, Beets she reaches out and grabs a thick round biscuit from a large bowl on the table, cramming it into her mouth before stroking her lap chinchilla vigorously, causing its fur to start to crackle with static. “Mhm..so..Rgh!!” She suddenly pulls a face mid-chew, somewhere between a look of shock and disgust.
Lolli looks at Beets and sees her wings twitch, her toes tighten and notice she is avoiding eye contact with her. Lolli immediately calms herself. She straightens herself up and looks at Beets. She says concerned, “Hey… Beets…, everything ok? You are usually so happy after fighting because you’re really good. This is the first I've seen you… sad after a fight. You know if there's anything you want to talk about, I am happy to listen”.
Lolli reaches out to hold Beets’s hand in comfort.
“Oh..Uhm…” Beets looks up and Lolli shyly. She struggles to eventually gulp down her mouthful of the bitter-tasting chilla treat, before then replying, “Well…no...I um..I went on a job for the King and s-something broke…Something..got loose…inside..me…” Her hand shivers suddenly under Lolli’s warm soft paw.
“Oh no… what got loose? Did the King do something to you? Aww Beets…”, Lolli exclaims, before decidingly hopping over and embracing Beets, the rather dishevelled chinchilla seizing its chance to leap off Beets Lap. Loli holds Beets, waiting there for as long as she needs.
“AGH! Lo-Lolli..mgh…” Beets’ voice is shrill, almost frightened at first and she at first worriedly tries to pull Lolli off as she clings onto her. But with the feeling the warmth emanating from friend's embrace, Beets finds herself stopping her efforts to resist. No stranger one had ever hugged her like this, except Marto that day. She slowly finds herself responding, “No it wasn’t the King…Lolli…You know you asked about my eyes going all different…W-well.. They’ve not always done that…T-that’s not me…I-I mean…i-it is me…I’ve gotten b-better at keeping my mind when it happens but…mgh…” Beets stops the nervous flow of words from her mouth, unsure of what to say, worried if she’s said too much already.
Lolli lets go of Beets. She looks to her friend with more concern “So something has changed within you that’s not you? And you’re finding it hard to control? Do you know why this might be happening or when it started exactly? Oh my gumdrop, that must be scary. I’m sorry Beets. So how long has this been happening?”
“A couple months now…I-I’ve gotten b-better at controlling it…I don’t have to sleep with restraints now heh..he..gh…” The forced smile on her face drops. “Marto was the first person to see me like it, I-I nearly attacked him…It was…Terrifying…I had barely eaten or slept for two weeks, I was so scared of waking up and I had k-..hurt someone…” Her hands shake as she talks. “I hadn’t been so scared since…My village was attacked…”
“Beets, I’m so sorry. That’s awful. I can’t imagine what that must be like. Marto is he…Ok though right? What happened to the village?”.
“H-he’s fine..H-he actually helped me…He could've just ran, he could've gotten help…But he didn’t… He stayed…People really are different here…So different than home”
“That sounds like Marto… he seems like a good person. And yeah there’s been so many wonderful people here. I’m getting to know lots of people. Anyway sorry, I am rambling. Please continue?” Lolli ends and goes to take a sip of her tea.
“Um…” Beets bites her lips, a pained expression playing on her face. “Well…There’s a reason I left home…The a-attack on my village..It...It was a horde of…Giant…Beetles…” She trails off quietly, looking up at Lol with a shameful expression, waiting for her face to change to one of the villagers from that day…Faces of fear, anger and loathing.
Lolli notices Beets get more uncomfortable. She reaches out to grab her friend's hand again. She pauses for a moment before continuing “Aww Beets. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to share this with me. All of that must have been scary. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I was wondering…Are you part Beetle? Are Giant Beetles..like..an enemy to you?”
Beets’ ears droop as she pulls her legs up and tucks her knees under her chin, one arm wrapping almost instinctively defensively around them, the plates of her dark blank legs shimmering in the soft afternoon light of the teashop. “I don’t know what I am really…I..I’m not a true fairy like other fairies....I’m really bad at fairy magic and well..I’m not pretty or elegant like other fairy girls…” She flicks her beetle-like wings as if in response, stirring a light droning noise unlike the soft elegant butterfly fluttering other fairy wings she grew up almost tauntingly surrounded by.
“Pa and Gramps always called me their ‘Little bug’...But the other villagers…They called me..other things.” A shaft of sunlight catches a waving glimmer beginning to form in her eyes.
“It got much worse when the beetle attacks started. They never used to stray close to the village or cause us any trouble. But one year they just started getting increasingly aggressive and confident. And after they attacked the village…”
She falls silent for a moment, a tear rolling from her cheek across her arm and down the plates of one leg to the sharp point of one of her taloned toes, hanging in large a drip, like a drop of blood from a dagger. Before falling down to the cafe floor with an echoingly loud splash in her mind.
“...I couldn’t stay.”
Lolli puts her tea down immediately and hops over again to Beets. “Would you like another hug? I apologise I should have asked the first time. I will do that in future. But..would you like one?”
Beets looks up at Loli, her sweet furred face held untwitchingly with soft concern. She trembles slightly, her breathing deepening as she fights the fear inside before she breaks, her face creasing as the tears she's held back for so long start flowing, her head nodding as she reaches out desperately towards her friend.
Lolli takes out her lollipop wand and casts it to make her biscuit step ladder appear. Lolli then hops up, so she’s at the same heights as Beets this time. Staring at Beets, she’s never seen her quite so vulnerable before. It’s heartbreaking. Lolli immediately goes to comfort her. She gives Beets a very long hug, which she could tell she could really use.
She also pulls out a clean tissue she has in her pocket and hands it to Beets.
“Firstly, I want to add, you are you. And by that I mean you should be unapologetically you! You are amazing! I’m so sorry other people haven’t been very nice to you. They clearly don’t have any manners”. Lolli looks Beets in her eyes and adds “Please believe me when I say there’s nothing… absolutely nothing wrong with you being who you are. I think you’re fantastic and unique. Don’t let anyone squash that. So what, you aren’t like the other fairies. It’s way more fun when you’re different. I don’t know many fairy barbarians and that’s an even better combination”. Lolli gives a grin at the end of that sentence.
“Secondly, so people in your village associate you with the giant beetles because you…Look similar? But that’s ridiculous. You didn’t do anything… right? Well, I’m not scared of you. If you think there’s something changed within you though I am happy to help, in whatever way I can. I can research some stuff. I do like reading. And oh, have you tried going to one of the temples there? If you haven’t I could go with you if you want?”
Lolli slows down after hurling lots of information at Beets.
“You’ve been nothing but kind and helpful on adventures with me Beets. I’ve got your back and will be your friend, always!”
Beets at Loli, her face unable to hold back a smile as she watches her sprouting ideas, her whiskers bouncing excitedly as she talks. She was so sweet, so unjudging. Beets had never met anybody…Any bunny, like her before.
“You..you don’t know…How much that means Lolli.” she says as Lolli finishes, wiping her nose with her bracer, smeary black tear streaks running down her cheeks from her warpaint.
“When I left home, I was so afraid of what folk would do when they saw me! Afraid they would...Also think me some kind of freak or monster…I’d never left home before, what if the rest of the world was just the same?”
She feels a tight knot in her chest, like a fist clenched too hard begin to slacken ever so slightly, so she continues.
“ A couple weeks after leaving home I ventured into a town. My food was almost gone and I was so hungry. All of the plants and trees on the path had just changed suddenly so I was afraid to forage. What if I ate something poisonous and killed myself?
So I had to risk going into a town, going near people again. When I went it was heaving like ants' nests, more people than I’ve ever seen before. Folk of all shapes and sizes. Some with scales, some had tails, one was even on fire! Gramps used to tell me about all sorts of amazing creatures in his stories when I was growing up. Great warriors, beautiful elves, friendly humans folk with round ears. I couldn’t believe they were real, and stranger yet, they weren’t scared of each other. They…actually even seemed to like one another, even admire their differences.”
She stares un-focusedly ahead, a small smile on her lips, replaying the memory in her mind, recounting the feeling of awe and wonder she felt that day.
Lolli lets go of her hug once she sees Beets with a small smile. She smiles towards Beets. “Yeah there are lots of types of people here, I know what you mean. So many tall people. I grew up in the Summer Courts and there are lots of people there. But here in Daring Heights… in the Dawnlands… there’s even more. It’s amazing! And yeah everyone seems so welcoming. I know I’m not really cut out to be an adventurer myself…But if I’m honest that’s more why I want to do it. I want to prove that I can and also to help make nice outfits for people. I already have lots of ideas from the last few adventures I’ve been on”.
Lolli dismisses her step ladder with her wand and hops down to the ground. She looks up to Beets “I’m sorry your journey before now has been so tough. But hopefully being here… things will change for the better. And on that note, I am going to help with what’s happening with you. Oh, maybe it’s a curse… I remember reading them in school. They can be nasty. But maybe it’s not that… Oh, I have too many ideas… I need to look up stuff. But I can’t do anything here…Ok why don’t we finish our tea and then I can do some research later. I think we could do with a par-tea now with the chinchillas”.
Lolli finishes with a beaming smile on her face.
“Are you kidding Lolli, you’re a BUGGIN’ amazing adventurer!” Beets exclaims, grasping her friend's shoulders. “If you hadn't used your magic to talk to those gargoyles we’d have all been mashed into ‘adventurer jam’ like those tarts Auber the feeder smooshed into his fat gob! And as for your outfits…” She adds, affectionately stroking to soft material of her leotard, “I’ve been telling anyone I meet about my ‘Lolli Cottontail Original’, you just wait, you’re gonna have adventurers clamming at your door for you to make them their own buggin’amazing adventurer gear, you just wait and see!”
Lolli giggles and smiles wider “Ha, thank you Beets. That’s nice of you. I’m glad my magic is of use. Also, I am really glad you like your outfit. Your outfit was my first official commission piece here in Daring Heights. It would be amazing if I could make more. I really like making outfits and fixing garments. It’s fun. Oh speaking of, if there are any issues with your outfit let me know… I can fix it”.
“Hmm, we’ll now mention it, I’ve had Jenna do a few magical fixes on it a couple times when it’s gotten roughed up a bit. Maybe you could find some way to strengthen it, oh and I do have a few ideas too maybe for a new version you interested to chat about’em?” She says, patting the space on the sofa next to her, “And heck it! Yeah, let’s get some more tea and oh and cake! Anything that tastes better than those horrid cookies!” She ends, gesturing to the bowl on the table.
Lolli giggles “Beets, those weren’t for you. They were for the chinchillas. No wonder they didn’t taste nice”. Lolli laughs and points to a different cookie on the plate that looks far more appetising. “These are the ones you should have tried”. Lolli breaks the cookie in half and hands one half to Beets. She smiles and eats the half in her hand.
Beets smiles as holds her half of the cookie for a while, before looking over at her friend. “You’re a sweet girl Lolli,”she says, raising it to her mouth, “... in more ways than one.”
Thank you Lolli (Jennifur Cottontail) for doing this wonderfully sweet and fun writeup together and DM_Youki for the sweet setting of CHAOS Chinchilla cafe and descriptions! x
