bookworms and other pests | Glowfic Constellation

"Oh, what a sacrifice."

Feral Orphan

no-return

Leonardo Cristobal Sangre de Dios Rojas Moreno de la Corazón

"Ooh, I like you. My room's over there, we've got time before the cake's done."

needle-in-echo-groove

Leo grins. "Lay on, Macduff."

Feral Orphan

no-return

Off to Buttercup's room they go!

first-and-final

...Milo is pretty sure he understood the subtext of that conversation better than he understood the conversation itself.

He feels mildly awkward.

He sits down on Harry's couch and pets Cath.

fortheliving

Harry surfaces. "Milo! Hi! Where's... either of the vampires? Did Buttercup let you in?"

first-and-final

"Yes. Um. They're," he gestures to the closed door of Buttercup's room, from which faint sounds are emerging.

fortheliving

"In my guest bed. Excellent."

first-and-final

"I don't think they've even introduced themselves yet. Is that usual in this universe? From your reaction I'm guessing no."

fortheliving

"Supernatural beings sometimes have... looser social norms. Plus, Buttercup uses sex as food, and... ech, that's probably reciprocal. At least neither of them's going to get addicted."

first-and-final

"Well. I see."

fortheliving

Harry hauls the rest of himself through the trapdoor and rearranges the square of carpet over it. He sits near Milo.

"So. How's Earth treating you?"

first-and-final

"Reasonably well, I suppose. Apparently I'm staggeringly lucky not to have been eaten by any of several thousand things yet. So, you know, on the one hand I have wandered into a world where thousands of things probably want to eat me, and on the other hand I have so far been eaten by none of them."

fortheliving

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've thought that."

first-and-final

He giggles. "Well, at least I'm in good company."

fortheliving

"Very good company! Not only do I feel the same way, I can help you continue to not be eaten by setting fire to things that want to eat you."

first-and-final

"Well. Thank you for that. Is setting fire to things usually an appropriate response?"

fortheliving

"In the case of soulless monsters, yes. Your range of options is limited in that case. Things that want to eat you but have souls, such as White Court vampires, should not be set on fire except as a last resort."

first-and-final

"Well, my range of options in the face of soulless beings seems to extend in unexpected directions. Actually, for that matter, do pixies have souls? Should I stay away from them while they're meeting Cath in case I accidentally give them some?"

fortheliving

"They do not. What are you talking about."

first-and-final

"Leo mentioned this to you, I'm sure of it. Nearly the first thing I did on wandering in this world was meet Leo, engage him in debate about his eating habits, and somehow argue him into spontaneously developing a soul. I have no idea how I did it, apparently it's supposed to be impossible, and I'm somewhat nervous about accidentally doing it again to someone who won't take it so well."

fortheliving

"Holy shit."

first-and-final

"You're surprised, I'm surprised, Leo is surprised. Everyone is surprised," says Milo.

Cath meows.

"Except Cath."

fortheliving

"I... this changes a lot of things. About the universe. And... about my love life, theoretically, if I could convince Susan I hadn't just gone mad with grief. Which isn't happening."

He shakes his head vigorously. "Anyway. Not important right now. You might give the pixies souls, but that wouldn't be a major problem; in the first place, they're not doing anything particularly angst-worthy, and in the second, they don't really have the brainpower to do much with souls. In fact, it might be a good way to test your whatever-the-hell-this-is."

first-and-final