one hundred moments || a challenge

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30. equilibrium
featuring;; kaneki
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Business, regrettably, was business. Didn't matter how little Kaneki liked it, didn't matter how against it he was. Whatever work found it's way into his place of employment, he was bound by the cost of living to complete it.
So when he was approached by the same businessman who had called for the closure of a community park, Kaneki had to bite his tongue about the seedy hotel that had been built in its place. He took the order for several decorative floral displays in tense silence. They were to commemorate the opening of the hotel. Kaneki wordlessly wished it would burn.
Once the businessman left, Kaneki looked at the flowers in his shop and he schemed. He had enough in his criminal record that he couldn't do anything blatantly malicious. Perhaps he could be more subtle? He gently took the tendrils of one of his plants into his hand and thought for a while.
His ivy was propagating. Kaneki had watched it reach its stems down to the floor of the shop, searching fruitlessly for bare ground to spread roots. He had trimmed the plant back on several occasions, but the plant was voracious. Kaneki was equally unstoppable. A thought dawned on him. Under his mask, he managed a smile.
Kaneki couldn't deviate too far from what had been ordered, but there was nothing to say that he couldn't base each display in a bed of ivy. It would live like this long enough to propagate, Kaneki was certain. He arranged the ivy just as beautifully as the rest of the display, then closed up shop. If this worked...
-----
Kaneki rolled down the window of his delivery van, grinning from ear to ear. It had been months since he had delivered the ordered displays, and the hotel staff were still unable to keep the ivy under control. It had grown up much of the walls and support beams. It covered huge swaths of ground around the parking lot. It looked terrible, and Kaneki reveled in it.
Business was, and would always be, business. Kaneki knew that. But that didn't mean he couldn't do things his own way.

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31. the eye of the beholder
featuring;; bali and anodyne
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Until now, Anodyne had never come to see Bali to have a direct conversation. Bali watched the ruler of the Grey curiously, hoping that they hadn't noticed the wild flowers that Bali had been secretly raising. If Anodyne did, they didn't mention it.
"You haven't tried to leave yet," Anodyne said flatly, settling into a garden seat.
"I have no way to get out," Bali replied calmly, turning to face the other deity. "Not without your help."
Anodyne hummed.
"I see my brother hasn't made an attempt to come and get you, either," Anodyne continued.
"I'm sure he is on his way," Bali replied in the same gentle tone.
"What do you see in that big brute, anyway? He's the ruler of the Hells, and you're the deity of nature. I don't get it," Anodyne asked bluntly, slouching in the chair. It caught Bali a little off guard, and she couldn't stop herself from raising an eyebrow.
"Well... he's honest," Bali started. "He won't let me stand by and be taken advantage of. I have more confidence to stand up for myself now. And he's deeply caring, not just for himself."
Anodyne hummed again, their face blank. They were impossible to read, and Bali stifled a sigh. She turned back to her flowers, and when she faced the garden seat once more, Anodyne was gone.

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32. surface
featuring;; moa
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There weren't a lot of things that put Moa in a bad mood. Usually an unapologetic optimist, the only thing that really ground the sea deity's metaphorical gears was finding some kind of trash in the water. Mortals could be wonderful additions to the ocean seascape, but they were also careless. They'd discard their things wherever they wanted and then completely forget about them!
At first, Moa had tried to return these things to the surface land one by one. But the mortals were many, and their things piled up. Moa couldn't return everything by themself. So they hatched a plan.
Moa set themself up in a reef and gathered all of their strength. Above them, the sky began to turn dark and the ocean began to swell. Moa flicked their tail, and a huge wave formed just before the pile of mortal trash that had accumulated at the surface. A flick of their tail, and Moa manipulated the storm to push all the trash back to the nearest beach. The mortals could take their stuff back from there. It wasn't Moa's problem anymore, and they were relieved.
By the time the other deities realized what had happened, Moa had disappeared into the depths. They still had things to do, after all.

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33. too many ticks, not enough tocks
featuring;; kiev
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Finals week was the worst week. Kiev found himself alternating between staring at his unstarted paper and hiding his face in his hands. He had twenty four hours to finish this project, and he had yet to write a single word. Somewhere behind him a clock ticked loudly, breaking his haze.
Right. Time to focus.
Kiev started to write. His roommate had kicked him into doing the research part earlier in the week. It was a topic that wouldn't interest Kiev normally, adding to his frustration and unwillingness to write. The history of ethics just wasn't fun to learn. He paused, feeling himself getting overwhelmed again. His hands left the keyboard.
"Tick," said the clock.
Kiev grappled for focus again. He had finished the introductory paragraph. He turned to the outline he had written a few weeks prior. There was so much to get to, it made his head spin. He texted a friend. When they didn't respond immediately, he forced himself to focus on the paper. Slowly, the body paragraphs started to come together.
The clock ticked again, more threatening this time.
Kiev glanced down at the clock on the corner of his screen. He had fifteen hours left to finish this paper and turn it in. He breathed heavily, his body shuddering. Would it be enough time? Losing focus, he found himself re-writing a paragraph over and over. Something about it just didn't seem right.
The clock ticked once more.
Kiev finished the paper. He friend finally replied to the text.
'Yeah, just leave it as is. If you keep rewriting it you're just gonna hate it.'
The clock ticked. Kiev submitted his paper.

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34. breach
featuring;; shirley and dion
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It had become something of a game between the two of them. Both foster children in an already large family, Shirley and Dion had quickly formed a friendship. They had each been given their own room in the house, and when Shirley had first moved in, Dion had shown her something that she had found very important.
The three biological siblings had been given strict instructions to give their new foster siblings their own space. For the most part, Dion didn't mind the company, but there were some days that she just wanted to be left alone. On these days it was often hard for Dion to voice her concerns. Instead she had found that building a secure blanket fort in her room was very effective. Over the months she had stayed there, Dion had perfected it. And she was more than happy to share these skills with Shirley.
In the beginning they simply used these forts to get some needed alone time. As the months went by, they started allowing each other into their spaces. Each developed their own style of fort. Dion's forts usually took up the whole room, and consisted of an elaborate weave of blankets and sheets. Shirley's were often built using high stacks of pillows, or the cushions pulled off of the small couch in her room.
Eventually it became a competition. They started building their forts to be as reinforced as they could be. The game became whether the other young Kalon could breach these defenses and find her foster sister inside the fort.
There was never really a winner, and a tally was never kept. But it gave Dion and Shirley a sense of bonding and control.

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35. thanatophobia
featuring;; rose and ren
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"Aren't you afraid?" Ren asked, frowning.
Rose raised an eyebrow as she shrugged on her jacket.
"Afraid of what, exactly?"
"Y'know; getting hurt and stuff," Ren replied, worry written all over his face. "What if you get killed or something?"
It was a legitimate concern, Rose knew that. Paramedics worked to help people, but in a crisis these people could get confused or belligerent. Rose had even been made to take safety courses before she was allowed to go out on calls.
And yet, Rose had never really been scared to go out there. She had been yelled at countless times. She'd been pushed by a patient before. There was even a time when she was threatened with a knife. But none of it stopped Rose from getting out there and doing her job.
"Nah," Rose said with a smile. "I'll be fine, don't worry."
Ren still didn't look convinced.
"How about I take you to ride along with me one day?" Rose offered, relieved when Ren's face relaxed a little.

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36. turning pages
featuring;; ness and keone
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Thunder raged overhead. Ness shuddered as she steadied her flashlight; the sea storm had long since knocked out the power to the house. The shuffling of footsteps didn't surprise her at all. She set aside her book and lifted the blanket in a practiced way. The bedroom door swung open, then closed much more slowly. Footsteps approached, and then a familiar figure slipped into the blanket fort beside Ness.
"What are you reading?" Keone asked, very clearly struggling to stay quiet.
"Bird book," Ness replied bluntly. "You want me to read it?"
"Please?"
Ness' murmurs filled the blanket fort, dulling the rumbles of thunder. With each flash of lightning, Keone wrapped himself a little tighter in the blanket he was borrowing. Ness just kept reading. She kept her voice just a little louder than the sound of the rain, so they both jumped when there was a tapping sound against the glass of her bedroom window.
"What's that?!" Keone hissed, shaking.
"I'll go check," Ness replied, putting the book down. Keone grabbed her wrist.
"Wait! Don't go outside. You'll get swept away out there."
"I'll be fine," Ness promised, trying to be reassuring.
"I'll come with you," Keone said suddenly, pushing himself to his feet. Ness raised an eyebrow but allowed him to follow.
The storm only seemed to be getting worse. Perhaps the blanket fort had dulled the sound, but now Ness found it deafening. She climbed up onto the bed and leaned against the glass, straining to see through the darkness. Was there really something out there?
"A bird!" Keone cried before lowering his voice. "There's a bird out there. See it?"
Ness did indeed see it. A small bird sat outside on the windowsill, looking disheveled and terrified against the lightning. Before she could stop him, Keone was pushing open the window. He leaned out almost to his waist, struggling to balance as he grasped for the small creature. Ness watched in stunned silence as Keone successfully got a hold of the bird and brought it inside.
"Got him," Keone grunted as he retreated back inside.
"Are you alright?" Ness asked, but Keone just shrugged.
"Don't worry about me," he huffed. "We need to get him dry."
"Right," Ness replied, pulling apart a piece of the blanket fort that was made of towels.
She noticed now that Keone was shaking quite violently. Whether it was from the cold of the rain that covered his body, or from the fear of being out in the storm, Ness couldn't say. She handed Keone a towel then put her hand on his shoulder.
"You sure showed the storm who's boss," Ness said with a grin. Keone grumbled under his breath.
"Storms still suck," Keone mumbled back.

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37. she has a wild look in her eyes
featuring;; venidiumpaw and smolderpaw
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The sound of fierce rustling broke through the camp. Venidiumpaw furrowed her brow as she watched the last of Smolderpaw's tail disappear into the undergrowth. She heard the murmurs of other cats outside of her den.
"Why does she always have to be so defiant? Can't she just let things be?"
"She's just strong-willed, that's all. You know they always think they know best."
Venidiumpaw couldn't help but sigh. Where other apprentices would respond to refusal with a growl and a stomp, Smolderpaw could be quite self-destructive when she didn't get her way. She was covered in more scars than a lot of MoorClan's senior warriors. Venidiumpaw silently started setting aside some herbs, anticipating Smolderpaw's return.
Sure enough, Smolderpaw came strolling in to the medicine cat den some time later. She was sporting a new wound above her eyebrow and a satisfied look on her face. Venidiumpaw sighed as she watched the blood roll down her friend's face.
"Are you alright?" Venidiumpaw asked, kneading some herbs against a rock she had to make a pulp.
"I'm fine," Smolderpaw huffed in reply. "Got the rabbit."
"It almost took your eye out," Venidiumpaw scolded. Smolderpaw only grunted in response.
A small stream of clear water ran right by the medicine cat den. Venidiumpaw took Smolderpaw out to it and used the water to wash off the cat's face. It bothered Venidiumpaw that her friend didn't ever flinch.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Venidiumpaw pressed.
"I'm fine," Smolderpaw snapped. "Can we please just get this over with?"
With that, Smolderpaw stormed back into the den. Venidiumpaw could only frown.

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38. from riches to rags
featuring;; au
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Grass under their feet was something that Au would never get used to. They sometimes missed the comfort of the lab, especially on days like this. It had been climate controlled and cozy. Food and water had been available at all times. And Au had almost constant company, even if it was mostly just the scientists that were studying them. The saber wouldn't give up their freedom now that they had it, of course. But on days like this where the food was scarce and the journey was lonely, Au missed all of the lab's comforts.
Still, they had proved to be a successful specimen. Au had managed to claim and defend their own territory, gaining some scars in the process. They secured enough food to function, and found a safe place to spend their nights. All this was to say that they hadn't died yet, something that apparently couldn't be said for all of the lab-grown sabers. Au recalled quite a few murmured conversations that the scientists had about other sabers being killed in the wilds.
The rumbling of their stomach broke Au out of their thoughts. They still had to find food for the day. With bigger things to worry about than returning to the lab, Au continued in silence across the plains.

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39. fever
featuring;; valor and sota
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The forest was sick. Sota was shocked at how quickly it had come on. His favorite nature trail had become withered and bare over the course of just a week. It worried him deeply, so between his work shifts he decided to investigate.
He stopped at the first sick tree he found, gently placing a hand against the trunk to feel what was wrong. He jumped back in horror when the bark underneath his hand simply fell away and turned to dust. This was really bad. Sota continued into the forest, making sure not to touch any of the other plants for fear of hurting them.
The deeper into the forest he got, the worse things seemed to be. The undergrowth crunched sadly beneath his feet. Several trees had grown too weak to stay standing, and now fell across the forest floor. The sight of it all made Sota want to cry, but he kept pushing onward. He needed to find out what happened to this place at all costs. By this point, the forest growth was so thick that Sota could hardly keep track of where the sun was in the sky.
He eventually found what he believed to be the deepest part of the forest. He now had to make a strenuous effort to not touch any of the plant life, as they were all grown so close together. There seemed to be something just a little further up ahead, something that seemed rather out of place the more Sota looked at it. When he reached it, he found that it was a large tree stump, with a diameter much thicker than any of the other trees. The stump was making an eerie groaning noise, as though it were alive. Shaking, Sota decided to touch it.
The stump moved. Sota screamed. The top of the stump rolled over and hissed, covering its ears with two paws.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Sota was quick to apologize in a much quieter voice.
Now that he was close, Sota realized that the 'stump' was actually a fox. The fox covered its head tightly with its paws and groaned again. As it did so, a dead branch fell from a nearby, sickly tree. It took Sota a second to make the connection, but he was quick to realize what the fox's behavior meant.
Sota carried a backpack with him wherever he went. It was filled with a variety of things that Sota needed to have on him, but most important was his prescription migraine medication. Having suffered from migraines for years, Sota knew immediately that the fox was stricken with the same thing. He put his backpack down and dug out the pills, offering one and a bottle of water. Could foxes even take pills? Sota didn't dwell on it.
The fox eyed the pill for a moment, then groaned again and took it without a sound. Sota put everything back in his bag and stood up. He suddenly didn't recognize where he was. Sota frowned.
"What in the hell...?"
A touch of green caught his attention. A small shoot, newly sprouted from the ground, led the way back to the nature trail. Sota hummed to himself.
Strange.