Rocky Road ~ House of Diyem, Eien, Mellow, and Toast

[Namohysip]

The evil baked bread smashed into Puddle before chomping at its body with its sharp, yeasty teeth. Diyem flared out his wings and leapt, reaching for the bread, which broke through Puddle's ill-defined body. Diyem ended up grabbing Puddle and getting his body caught in the window. "Ngh--!" He tried to push through, but no luck. This was a particularly small window, perhaps meant only for ventilation. "Why are you in the way?" Diyem hissed at Puddle.

Down below, the bread was rolling into the streets, growling rhythmically with each rotation.

 

[Fusion]

Puddle pouted, crossing its arms. "Who the hell told you to jump into the goddamn window in the first place?! You have hips wide enough to make a Wailord blush, and you honestly thought this would work?"

It didn't seem intelligence ran in the family. Fortunately, Puddle would make up for it. It eyed the bread roll and grinned, it wasn't too far yet! They could still catch it! "But, since you're here, throw me at the bread! Before it gets too far away!"

 

[Disco]

Raven was walking their way, perhaps with the intention of waiting for Mellow, but was instead witness to something...unusual. She made an attempt to grab the thing, but as she was made out of ectoplasm, it rolled through her instead.

"What is that!?", she asked as the two giving chase ran by. By the time they were answering, they had already run past her...

 

[Namohysip]

"Nothing to concern yourself with!" Diyem shouted. He had tossed Puddle down and managed to squeeze himself through the rest of the window with some effort, but the bread was already rolling far down the street.

Owen had been sitting on his front yard with Cal, chatting about something while enjoying the incoming spring weather. "Diyem?" Owen called. "What's, uhh..."

"Rrrragh! Ragh!"

Owen wasn't sure what to call that, but it was getting close. His feet turned a leafy green and he made a subtle gesture with his hands; tree roots burst from the ground just ahead of the darkened bread, which made a yelping noise before becoming ensnared. It writhed and bit at some of the vines, but more replaced the ones destroyed.

"...Is that a living baked bun?" Cal pointed at it.

"Rrrragh!"

"...How?" Owen asked Diyem.

 

[Fusion]

Puddle, to its own surprise, bounced instead of going splat when it was tossed. Of coursed, it splattered the next time it hit the ground, and oozed over to Cal before reforming. "Uh... trial and error?" Puddle shrugged. "Pops over here thought usin' shadowfire would be alright to bake bread with, you know, like a cheater."

It walked over to the ensnared bread, poking at it. "It's... kinda cute, in the same way we are when you think about it."

 

[Disco]

Raven landed, and stared at the thing with a mild amount of concern. It...was bread, wasn't it? But how could bread even begin to come alive? Unless...

"Is it another wayward soul...? You do have a habit of bringing them out in the most, er... unconventional ways...", she asked, as she tried to pat the now alive thing. "Hello there... Are you able to talk...?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Rah!"

"...I think it is a Void Shadow," said Diyem with a low growl, sighing. "I must have channeled too much darkness into my baking supplies, and now we only have..."He frowned. "...Apiece of bread, animated by a corrupted soul. Hm." He reached toward the bread, and it snapped at him. "...This is awkward."

 

[Disco]

"Well...does that mean your powers are getting stronger...? Perhaps it's a good thing.", the Shade replied, while staring at the Void Shadow.

 

[Fusion]

"Vix would love this thing, then, hehe..." It was an attempt at a joke at least. Puddle looked the shadow bread in... what might've been the face, leaning close to it. It stared for a moment, then growled to the bread, trying to imitate it. "...Can we keep 'im?"

 

[Disco]

"... Would it want to be kept...?"

Raven stared at it until she decided her feelings about the living bread could be summarized as "weirded out". The Shade figured that she could check on it later, but she had other important things to attend too...

 

[Namohysip]

Diyem sighed, picking the bread up as it wriggled and squirmed. "Another lost soul, but this one a long-time inhabitant of my Voidlands. Have you chosen here to revive yourself?"

It growled at him, biting ineffectually at his fingers.

"...Mm. This is a defiant one, but he also does not wish to return. My therapy told me that when this happens, I should let them see for themselves if they are ready to persist without me."

"I guess he's... uh... gonna be your houseguest?" Owen asked. "What's his name?"

"Grrr..."

"Hmm..."

There was a little glint in Owen's eyes.

"Dad, no--"

"How about Toast?" Owen asked.

 

[Fusion]

"Sure, and how about we name you 'Charred Dragon Tail'?" Puddle rolled its eyes. That... honestly didn't sound too bad. "How about Tandir instead? Or Brioche?"

It poked the bread again, growling. It just felt natural to it.

 

[Namohysip]

"Toast." Diyem growled, a sudden wave of rage overtaking him, but he quelled it, perhaps remembering his therapy. "What do you think, until you decide you are safe to recall your true name one day?"

"Grrr..."

"Well, it wasn't as strong a protest as before," Owen said.

"Oh, God, are we seriously gonna call the living baked bread Toast?"

"It's native to Cibus?" Owen justified hesitantly.

"...I'm leaving for a nap." And without another word, Diyem returned to his home.

 

[Fusion]

Well, there was some good to this, now Puddle wasn't the only one named after what they are. And technically, Toast was shorter than Puddle two! And it was another Void Shadow! They could be brothers! Well... they actually already are brothers. And Diyem was their pops.

"I might go for a nap too, or hit up that soda place for some soda," Puddle grinned. "Today's been fun so far! We got another brother!"

One who wasn't Joule's kid!

"Oh, and Vix and a few others are tryin' to go to the moon... I should probably meet up with 'em." The Scraggy familiar waddled down the street, waving a pleased goodbye to Cal and Owen. It made a mental note to find some way to break the Void Shadow news to Vix... but it'd cross that bridge when it came to it. There was too much good going on; Puddle had a new brother, Puddle had a dad, Puddle had a family... and all of those felt right.

Everything would be alright.

<><><><><>

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian arrived at the doorsteps of the house Mellow lived in. She held a basket in hand and had it filled with several colorful flowers as well as seeds of plant varieties that caught her eye. Mellow might like them perhaps, and it was always nice to bring gifts when paying someone a visit.

She straightened out the aquamarine bow around her neck. It seemed appropriate for the occasion, though in reality she'd made it the night before and just wanted to try it out at least once.

The bell rang a jingle with a press of a button beside the door. Cynthian withdrew her vine and stood prim and proper with a friendly smile.

 

[Disco]

There were the sounds of growls and yelling inside, then footsteps as someone hurried through the house. Finally the person on the other side reached the door and opened it.

"Huh- Cynthian? I wasn't expecting you. Um... Give me a second."

Mellow turned back and seemed to look farther inside. A door slamming shut followed by muffled howls could be heard, but the Florizard ignored them and turned back to Cynthian with a smile. "It's great to see you! How have you been?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I thought I'd drop by as a surprise," Cynthian said with a sheepish grin. "Maybe I should've given you a heads up I guess."

Cynthian tried peeking past Mellow to glimpse as the commotion happening, but the door got shut too closely for that. Before she could worry about that, Mellow had already begun speaking to her again.

"I've been alright. What about you? It's been a hot minute since we've spent some time together." A pause. "May I come in?"

 

[Disco]

"Ah- yes, sorry-"

She moved and opened the door to let Cynthian in. The inside of the house was a bit disorganized at a glance. There was racks of jars and equipment that was shoved into a corner as far from the stove as possible, yet still seemed to be used. More jars were stacked along the walls as if put there in a hurry. Yet, farther inside, it didn't seem as bad as the kitchen and living room...

"I...well...", Mellow started, then paused. "I guess I've been busy. There's a lot of things I've been trying to keep up with. You know, with the infirmary and making medicines." She looked away sheepishly. "I guess time got away from me. Sorry..."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Your place... has personality," Cynthian said, casting a quick glance at the kitchen and the living room area as they walked in.

"I picked up some flowers and seeds for you." Cynthian held the basket towards Mellow. There were roses, daffodils, lilies and other colorful flowers all tucked in one bouquet in it.

 

[Disco]

Mellow blinked, and then her face lit up as she took the basket.

"...Thank you...this means a lot. I'll take good care of them! Would you like to stay a bit? I can make tea, and order desserts from one of the shops nearby. Raven always shares the best places to go, so they'll certainly be good!", she rambled. "I can show you my garden too!"