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Once upon a time, in the magical kingdom of Computary, there was a large mechanical beast settled beside the shore of Star Lake. It was a behemoth, with armour that consisted of scrap metal and broken pieces of machinery, weaponry, whole sections of houses, among other things. The main face with a mouth large enough to comfortably crush a van faced the water; while a number of smaller, half-dome heads were positioned at different angles like they were each performing sentry duty to keep itself safe. It wasn't unusual to see this monstrosity exploring the countryside and scrapyards of both Computary and Pointfort, the neighbouring kingdom that had waged war on Computary. Yet despite its immense size, no one had been able to successfully track the beast and see what it was truly capable of in combat.
However, to a few individuals, the creature's role was something else entirely - a home.
Positioned neatly at the back of the resting beast was a small, one-step porch leading to a door made from a heavy wood that had been painted dark brown. The slow creaking of the opening door broke the silence by the lake. A little ventriloquist's puppet dressed in a simple outfit of a white round-necked shirt, black trousers and shoes, and a dark grey sleeveless vest stepped out and closed the door behind it. The puppet stood at two feet tall and was meticulously crafted out of a type of pine wood that was so pale, it was almost off-white in colour. The white hair that reached the chin was brushed back, with all but a tiny segment off its face. Pale pink eyes darted around as it crept around the creature and sat near the shore with a small book clutched to its chest.
This was Spamton, a human clone who had worked as a servant in the Queen's palace. An encounter with a being of great magical strength cursed it into the form of a wooden puppet. When it was abandoned and left for dead, it was instead rescued. The puppet had been brought inside the beast - which was actually a moving 'castle' in disguise - and welcomed into the family of the eccentric wizard Tenna Dreemurr, his young child named Angel, and a fire demon who called himself 'Mike'. In the time since then, life had settled into a new normal unlike anything Spamton had ever known.
After that fateful day, the Castle had travelled past Computary's capital city and settled on the shores of Star Lake. This was a remote location with a large lake surrounded by rolling grassy slopes bursting with floral life. Snow-topped mountains helped mark out the horizon on the opposite side. Even as the lazy, warm glow of the sunset painted everything in a soft shade of orange, the lake itself sparkled with water so pristine one would swear there really were stars mixed in somewhere.
It was a view Spamton still couldn't believe it was allowed to see. It had spent its whole existence inside the Queen's palace, bar small events that allowed it to deliver letters. It never would have guessed somewhere like this existed beyond Cybra City. A servant who should be grateful for the privilege of living was never meant for something as special as this… And yet, here Spamton was, allowed the luxury of sitting and enjoying the beautiful view while borrowing a special book from Tenna.
Spamton had learned that before this unusual nomadic life began, Tenna had been an actor who wrote stories. The puppet's curiosity had rewarded it with a chance to read such stories for itself. It was a good incentive to help Spamton remember that it was allowed to relax at the end of the day and do something it enjoyed. Tenna's penmanship had a little flair to it, but it was still fully legible; allowing the puppet to rest the notebook against its lap and start quietly reading.
Some time passed before the Castle's front door opened once more. This time, a tall, human-like figure with a lilac CRT for a head emerged. His choice of outfit today was surprisingly casual: a loose white shirt with the top two buttons undone, a deep purple corset, black trousers and boots with gold trimmings that stopped just below the knee. Tenna was certainly an unusual individual, but the long antennae with blue baubles were a telltale reminder of crossing paths with a vagabond wizard.
He turned his attention to the shore of the lake, taking in the sight of the puppet reading in the sunset. As he slowly approached, all Tenna could think about was how utterly perfect Spamton looked bathed in the warm glow of the sunset.
"It's a beautiful evening, isn't it?" Tenna asked, slowing to a halt just to Spamton's left. The puppet put a hand underneath the word it had last read so it could look up and nod. "Spamton? Do you mind if I join you for a little while? I've put Angel to bed."
"Of course." The puppet's voice had been getting stronger as it adjusted to its new form. Now, there was only the faintest hint of a wooden creak when it spoke. It continued as the wizard sat down and crossed his legs, "I'm reading the story about the bird finding a place to build a nest."
"And what do you think?"
"I like it… But I don't know what a nest looks like. Sticks are straight. I don't understand how this works."
"It is hard to visualise at first. Sticks are usually pretty straight. A bird can use other sticks and things like mud to help curve the sticks into a better shape." Tenna put out his right hand, palm facing the sky. His left hand hovered above this and began to draw a circle in an anticlockwise direction. A glimmer of red sparked to life on the right palm as the illusion of a nest materialised. "It's almost like a bowl in shape, large enough for the parents and the babies to all live in together."
Spamton shuffled closer to Tenna to examine the nest. "How do they all fit? It looks cramped." Even Addisons were allowed individual beds rather than being forced to share!
"The parents have a lot of feathers. They can sit on top of the babies to keep them warm, like if I was to cover Angel in a big blanket. When the spring comes, we must find a woodland so you can see it all for yourself."
"I'd like that."
The reading resumed shortly after that. When it did, Tenna scooped up the notebook and rested it on his lap to allow him to narrate it while also letting Spamton quietly follow along. They paused frequently, allowing the puppet to ask questions about the world that it was never permitted to know about. Tenna answered as best as he could, making sure he admitted when something was beyond his level of expertise. He was adamant that the puppet learned that it was okay to not know things. Life should be about learning and experiencing new things. Whatever Spamton’s life was like before this didn’t matter anymore. It was here, and here was where it would find its own place in the world. Tenna was certain that this was the first step to helping Spamton break its curse.
The sun’s hazy glow began to dip beneath the distant mountains, signalling the time to finish the story for today. Even so, neither of them were ready to return inside to start their night routines. Spamton didn’t want to. For reasons it literally was unable to explain, it enjoyed the time spent alone with Tenna and wished there was a way to make the moment last longer.
Suddenly, Tenna closed the book, stood up and stretched. Spamton realised that the decision had been made for it. The idea of the wizard leaving it alone made something inside its little wooden body sink. It was a bad feeling, even if it didn't know the name. However…
“Do you mind if I shift? I can feel a cold breeze, and I’m too lazy to walk back inside to fetch my jacket.”
Spamton blinked. Tenna wasn’t leaving? He was staying? “I-I… Yes?”
The wizard smiled, stretched his arms out once more, then crouched down to rest both palms on the grass. The clothes on his body began to ripple and morph. What had been an open-collared shirt blossomed into a dark brown mane with matching wings sprouting effortlessly out of a spot just below his shoulder blades. The structure of his body contorted painlessly from humanoid to leonine, completed with a long tail with a tuft of dark fur. The body’s fur was short and sandy, yet soft to the touch. Two bright blue ‘Q’ shapes were nestled in the mane, along with numerous bead-like protrusions poking out through the long fur. Finally, the screen shifted to a faint yellow, with only a mouth with two fangs poking out. The antennae curled forward to create the silhouette of cat ears, complete with the blue baubles resting just at the top of the lilac frame.
The lion-sized sphinx stretched one more time, this time to allow the large wings to flutter and tuck back in, before he settled back down. Like this, Tenna was able to curl around Spamton, with his tail flicking against the puppet's right side and his head position to its left. Tenna's right wing moved and adjusted itself to loosely wrap around Spamton.
“I know you can’t actually feel the cold, but I still want to keep you sheltered from the breeze.” The voice was unchanged as the corners of Tenna’s muzzle curled into a smile. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Spamton didn’t answer. It knew it wouldn’t have had the words. Instead, it reached up and gently tugged the wing closer, giving silent permission to allow everything to stay as it was. It closed its eyes for a moment, wondering what the warmth must feel like against the wood that it was now made from. It knew its own memories of the sensation of ‘being warm’ would pale in comparison to this. This wing didn't just protect Spamton from the cold air. Cocooned safely between that and Tenna's body, it was as though the entire world didn’t matter and Spamton could simply exist in the here and now. It felt… Safe.
The only passage of time was with the sun’s slow descent - and Spamton couldn’t help but wonder whether the sun itself was stalling to not rush the only two who sat by the shore.
Tenna’s head lowered to rest on his forepaws. Spamton waited to hear what the wizard had to say, but nothing happened. Instead, the body rose and lowered in shallow, yet even, beats. In the quiet setting of Star Lake, he had dozed off.
This made the puppet’s eyebrows furrow in thought. Tenna chose to fall asleep. That was something you did when you felt relaxed - assuming it wasn’t due to working yourself to exhaustion like what Spamton was used to - so did that mean Tenna was relaxed in the company of Spamton?
That was a good thing, wasn't it? This meant that Tenna really didn't mind having a doomed puppet that was a walking symbol of misfortune in his home. That thought made something twist in Spamton's chest, bringing forward an emotion that was the opposite of the sinking sensation earlier. It liked this feeling that made its hollow chest flutter. Even if it didn't understand why it was having these sensations, they encouraged Spamton to nestle in closer to let itself be surrounded by this safety.
A change of direction in the breeze stirred Tenna. The screen quietly clicked on as he took in the surroundings to gauge the time. The sun had almost completely disappeared behind the mountains, and the stars were sparkling overhead.
It was beautiful. And yet, it was all worthless compared to the discovery on Tenna's right. After Tenna had fallen asleep, Spamton had moved closer and rested its head against Tenna's mane. One wooden hand still kept the wing close, as though making sure Tenna wouldn’t disappear. Then, it too had fallen asleep once it knew it was buried under heavy fur and warm feathers.
The sight warmed Tenna's screen, while also slamming him hard with something he had been trying to keep to himself: he was in love with Spamton, and had been for quite some time. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt such a strong connection with someone and the need to keep them close. He wanted Spamton to stay. He didn't care whether it was a human or a puppet, he just wanted it in his life.
But he couldn't do anything about this yearning that consumed him once he let himself think about it. Spamton had proven several times that it would simply agree to a request on the belief that it was the 'correct' thing to do. Making a request for a romantic relationship that way would run the risk of Spamton feeling an obligation rather than reciprocating feelings.
No. If there was to be a development in their relationship, it needed to be Spamton's decision first and foremost. Tenna would gladly wait, content to have moments like this where he could be selfish and admire his closest companion.
But that didn’t stop him from lowering his head just enough to leave the smallest lick to smooth back some loose strands of hair. He could indulge in that one small act of selfishness and settle back down, accompanied by the dreams of what life might be like if they could live each day together, just like this, as a romantic couple.
Only the stars would know about this action of affection, and Tenna knew they could keep a secret.