Author Games Compilation [Cycle 1]

Task 3 ☀ Arachne's Web [AP]

BLOODBOUND - 3

Of ancient lore, Hypnos was the personification of sleep; it was he Auda begged forth silently, for once the stars had aligned and scattered away from noses and cheekbones, he thought it dangerous to stay awake. It was a rule back home that one was to go to bed at the same time every night. Papa wouldn't like seeing him up, and was likely to bring out the yelling if he stayed awake much longer.

Much longer, however, was left up to interpretation, and one couldn't blame him for lacking a watch.

I found a loophole, he thought, curving a palm over his knee the same way his mouth might've curved into a grin. His shoulder shimmied, and his feet knocked playfully against one another. Nevermind the fact that he sat in a damp clump that soaked cold to his rear; he'd bested the rules, so a little mistake meant nothing. Clever me.

The others around him, however, seemed to be unconcerned about his cleverness. Some seemed unconcerned in general, Quill with his steady chewing and Justine with her steady prodding of the fire they all perched around. Auda couldn't help the lilt in his smile for being at the receiving end of ignorance. They'd see him soon, though. They'd see him soon.

"Olympia, I said I didn't like the fishtail. But you did the fishtail. The fishtail feels lum-py." A bit of stomping sounded from a ways off, and Auda watched. See, it sounded a lot like a kid was throwing a fit, and from what he knew, you git what you git and you don't throw a fit. Sure enough, the kid was throwing a fit, a kid who'd already gone to tugging her fingers through auburn strands, pulling them apart with a childish gentleness. She mumbled a bit of something, too, but Auda didn't quite catch it.

He did catch her elbow when she passed, though. Now, she looked a bit like she was going to start kicking at him if he didn't let go, so he said, nice and easy, "I can braid it." She paused a minute, loosened down. He took this as a sign to keep the shake out of his voice (because he tended to tremble in the throat when other people looked all scared-like). "I used to braid Isla's all the time, 'afore she chopped it. I can help. Can I help?"

Flo fell to her rump in a flourish, straightening her back out and wriggling her shoulders in preparation for one of the best hairstyles of her life. Auda felt the squint of laughter at his eyes and took up the strands, weaving them into three separate locks with ease. As he did this, Flo made swift conversation. How adorable.

"I can't believe CapCap's out already. There's not even a lotta kids. Just me and Joel and the other one." Flo paused, tilting her head to the side. Auda worked as heartily as he could've, given he was trying to help a restless bulb on a neck.

Quill piped up from atop his slanted boulder, where he lounged contentedly. "Don't forget the psycho one. She's still running amok. Probably terrorizing the Seven's or something."

Flo merely crossed her arms over her chest and said, assuredly, "She's scary. She doesn't count."

From his rock, Quill leaned forward intently, clasping his hands between his knees as he stared at Flo with the greatest level of honesty in the world. "Nothing is scarier than a wild Justine in her natural habitat. Just remember that."

His comment was matched by a predictable punch landed to his arm, and a collection of chuckles rose up from the lot of the group, Auda included, soft giggles and all. There was a warmth stuck in him, then, one that made real words rise up to his tongue, and as he finished up the very end of Flo's braid, he let pride ooze between the little gaps in his teeth. "I hope my daughter gets just as tough as Justine. She'll be knocking even the meanest dudes down."

Flo turned to him, then, and Auda visibly blanched at the sight of his flawless handiwork coming undone before it could've been tied off. His pallor grew worse with that swift glance of confusion she sent him. "You have a kid? You don't seem like a dad. How old is she?"