[network] @curiouschloride | Day 360 | Video | There'll be peace when you are done [open]

[motherserpent]

[CW: references to religious violence; disrespectful discussion of both Abrahamic and Nahuatl religions fairly likely in comments.]


[OTA]
[The Tess who appears on the screen is a rather tired-looking Tess.]

I, uh.

[She glances down; clears her throat awkwardly.]

If anyone actually, uh. Actually took the blood sacrifice thing seriously? I need you to just not. Please. Offer's rescinded, no blessings for blood. Even if it worked--and it's not going to work; I was just being--I was being stupid. Even if it worked I don't...I don't want that. And I'm sorry, I'm sorry I said all that stuff. I'm sorry for the things I called everyone.

[Her face contorts in guilt, but she forces it neutral again.]

And...if anyone's seen my snake? I know you don't owe me anything, but if you could let me know if he's okay, I'd just...I'd really appreciate that.



[Private to Flynn]

Flynn, I...I'm really sorry. That wasn't okay; none of that was okay. I shouldn't have put you in that position. I'd get it if you didn't want to talk to me again.

Comments

perma-video

[fuckingwolverine]

[She's tempted to be a little sulky for a while and just hang up, but curiosity wins out.]

Why'd you wannit?

[motherserpent]

You mean the blood?

[She hadn't thought Lilly paid that close of attention to things...or understood the network posts that well. She feels worse now.]

[fuckingwolverine]

[Lilly nods. To be fair, she wouldn't have brought it up if Tess hadn't mentioned it in this post; she'd seen the blood sacrifice request in passing when it had first gone up, but it hadn't exactly stuck in her mind.]

[motherserpent]

Because I thought it would help me and I didn't care about hurting anyone else.

[fuckingwolverine]

[But it's... blood. How can blood help anybody? Her brow furrows, and she makes a confused sound.]

[motherserpent]

[Tess's brow furrows, too; she's not sure how to explain this when she's pretty sure Lilly doesn't have a frame of reference for things like gods.]

I'm not really a human like you. I'm something big that looks like a human right now, and sometimes...sometimes I do things that humans don't do.

[fuckingwolverine]

Eat blood?

[Are you a bloodeater Tess y/n]

[motherserpent]

Nnnnot exactly? Like, not the blood itself. It's...kind of hard to explain.

[fuckingwolverine]

[No kidding. She wrinkles her nose, shakes her head, and changes the subject.]

Snake's dead?

[motherserpent]

[Tess laughs. Earlier today that question would have hurt; now it's funny.]

No. No, some people found him and they've been taking care of him. He's safe. And he won't bite you if he meets you; I'll tell him not to.

[fuckingwolverine]

No.

[She sounds so, so skeptical here.]

Snakes can't talk.

[And if they can't talk, they can't understand, right?

... Says the kid who can barely talk but can still understand. Clearly she's never thought through this logic before.]

[motherserpent]

Not to most people, no. But they talk to me.

[Feathered snakes talk to her, but details, details.]

[fuckingwolverine]

Do not.

[But she's intrigued in spite of herself.]

Wanna see!

[motherserpent]

Gonna have to wait until he's with me again. I made a deal with him when I found him, you know that? I told him if he'd listen to what I said I'd always feed him.

[fuckingwolverine]

Feed what?

[Uh-oh, she's suspicious. Not people, right?]

A mouse?

[motherserpent]

Chickens, mostly. He eats a lot of chickens. He'd have to eat a lot of mice to get full because he's so big.

[fuckingwolverine]

You geddit here?

[She has no idea what a chicken is, but if it's edible, she's curious to learn.]

[motherserpent]

Chicken? Yeah, down at the grocery store. You can get all kinds of food down there.

[fuckingwolverine]

[A little cautiously:]

Good?

[motherserpent]

When I cook it, yeah, it's good. But when I feed it to Roy, I give him the whole chicken raw.

[That's meant to gross Lilly out.]

[fuckingwolverine]

[It's hard to gross her out with food; sorry, Tess.]

Wanna try it. Can I have it? Raw?

[motherserpent]

...Jesus, kid.

No, you'll get salmonella if you eat it raw. Snakes can do that, but little girls get sick if they eat raw chickens.

[fuckingwolverine]

[She shakes her head firmly.]

Don't.

[Let's ignore the fact that five seconds ago she had no idea what a chicken was. Clearly she's the expert here.]

Ate a squirrel, an' a fish.

[motherserpent]

...And what did your mama have to say about that?

[fuckingwolverine]

[Lilly frowns, not understanding where this line of reasoning is going.]

'S from Mama.

[Who do you think caught all those squirrels when she was too small to do it herself? Duh.]