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ginger-canary · 10 months

Text

The Waters of NYC

Words: 2499

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City, A Starstruck Odyssey

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Riva & Sundry Sidney & Big Barry Syx, Riva/Em | Angel of the Waters, Sofia Lee/Margaret Encino (background)

Characters: Riva (Dimension 20), Sundry Sidney, Em | Angel of the Waters, Big Barry Syx, Sofia Lee, Margaret Encino

Additional Tags: When I say crossover I mean it, it's what they deserve, I took some liberties with Riva's powers let it go, Neurotypicals? In this economy?, Zine: D20 Zine Jam (Dimension 20)

Series: Part 2 of Like the Stars are City Lights

Summary: Part two to my crossover, sometimes love is between a sentient statue and a water-breathing alien. Riva, Sidney, and Barry go sightseeing while their ship is docked in NYC. They go to central park. We all know who lives in central park.

For the @d20zinejam 2023: D20 rarepair compilation zine. Follow the link to AO3 here or read under the cut!

Out of all the places to explore, Riva had to admit they were a little nervous about NYC. They’d looked up some facts and interesting places to visit while Maddie would be working on the tech upgrades. Sid and Barry had agreed to join them on their explorations, mainly because neither of them really felt like doing research.

Since this was an Earthly city, Riva had been concerned that they wouldn’t be able to explore at all but then Maddie told them about this Umbral Arcana that kept the not-so-standard creatures safe. With that information, and miss Margaret’s distracted blessing, the three of them had set off on their way. There were many places listed on the internet as “Must Sees” but Riva had picked some out that showed up on every list. Central Park was their first stop, and with some effort they took the subway there.

“Alright,” Riva said as they took their first steps onto the grass, moving to a less crowded area of the park. “Over there we have the Arsenal, which was a munitions supply depot for the NY state national guard. It’s supposed to look like a fortress.”

The three of them looked up at the building.

“They sure do fortresses differently here.” Barry squinted and lowered his sunglasses.

“It’s got the battlements?” Sid offered.

They moved along, skipping the central park zoo for obvious reasons and pausing to look at the sheep meadow. Sheep grazed lazily or lay down, napping in the grass- utterly ignorant of the people watching them.

“They look so cozy. Like grass is the best place to lay.”

Barry grinned and patted Riva’s drone’s shoulder. “Not to worry, you’re not missing out that much. Plus you’ll find pieces of grass everywhere afterwards. Now these sheep are really soft.” He reached out, brushing the back of a fluffy brown sheep.

Sid reached out and scratched the sheep behind its ears, who craned its neck, pressing against Sid’s hand.

Riva sighed. “Give it some extra pets from me.”

After the sheep had (to Barry and Sid’s opinion) had enough pets, they moved along to the strawberry fields, utterly free of strawberries.

“This is false advertising, it’s just a field,” Barry sighed.

Sidney shrugged. “Maybe they were going to do real strawberry fields but people kept eating all of them?”

“It’s in memory of mister John Lennon who sang the song Strawberry Fields forever,” Riva recalled from their research.

Barry crossed his arms. “Still could’ve used strawberries.”

As they walked to the Bethesda fountain, they took a moment to watch kids play on the ancient playground. It was strangely grey and brown for something inspired by ancient Egypt, with the play structures pyramid-shaped and bricks stuck out at several levels so they were easy to climb.

“This seems… grim. I thought it’d seem more fun.” Sid tried readjusting her perception of colour but it had no effect.

Barry shrugged. “Not every playground can be a win. At least there’s slides.” He turned, moving to the Bethesda fountain with the others in tow.

“Woah. Now this is impressive.” He leaned over the edge of the fountain, skimming the water with his fingers.

Sid focused on the angel. “I like her wings, she seems rad.”

“Thank you.” The angel unfroze and sat down on her pedestal. “I’m Em. You guys must be from the Würst.”

Riva moved their drone to between Sid and Barry and slowly pushed both their raised guns down. “How did you know?”

Em focused on Riva. “I can see through the Umbral Arcana. While this is the United States, people don’t usually carry guns that big here.” She gestured to Barry. “Or have a gun for an arm, for that matter.” She smiled at Sid.

The gunners sheepishly lowered their weapons.

Sid smiled politely. “So you know about our ship?”

“Yes, Sofia told me. At least- she told me about a hot dog spaceship so I asked Ricky for more information. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Riva informed the other two that Ricky was the jacked guy they had met when the ship landed via a mind message. “So you’re… um.”

“A statue, technically.” Em gestured down at her body. “I’m a living statue. I was created to guard this fountain and I’ve been living here ever since.” She hopped down, wading through the water towards them. “How about y’all?”

Barry scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I’m a clone. But also a human, I guess?”

“I’m an android.” Sid waved her regular arm. “Built to do anything- except walk on grass with ease.” She raised one of her skates to show the blades of grass stuck between the wheels.

“I’m Aguatunisian,” Riva said. “But what you see is not me- it’s my drone. I can’t go out as easily as the others since I have to stay submerged in water.” They tried to keep the tone of loneliness out of their voice but as they floated in their tank, no one else in sight, it was a struggle.

“Ah, I understand.” The words sounded baffling. Em was a statue in a metropolitan, someone who never left their home and existed in one place for over 200 years. Riva had seen tens of planets, a nearly infinite amount of stars and creatures Em could not fathom. RIva was not made for a purpose, like Em. But Em still understood.

“I like your fountain, though.” Riva took inventory of the large basin.

“Thanks. I’d invite you to hang out here but it would probably take a lot of effort to get you here, huh?”

The group agreed.

“So I think you’re rad as hell, but I expected the strawberry fields to have strawberries and now I’m hungry. Riv, what’s the best place to get some food?” Barry patted his belly.

“Oh, I don’t recommend grabbing food around here- everything’s a bit of a tourist trap.” Em gave Barry directions to the nearest bagel place that had been Dream Team approved.

Barry and Sid set off but Riva considered their options. “Why don’t you guys go ahead? I’ll stick with Em. I don’t eat in this form anyway.”

Sid opened her mouth to protest but seemed to catch Riva’s gist. “Okay. If you need anything you’ll talk, right?”

“Of course. Don’t get into trouble, okay?”

“No promises!” Barry yelled over his shoulder as they left.

Riva turned back to Em, happy that their drone could not blush. “I, um. I’m just curious.”

Em smiled. “Well, so am I. What’s your tank like?”

On the ship, Riva looked around trying to figure out how to describe their home. “It’s, well. It’s made especially for me. I have tubes running throughout the ship so I can explore which is nice.” They paused. “Sometimes I wish I could hug my friends more often.”

“None of your friends can breathe underwater?” Em tilted her head.

“No. Sid doesn’t need to breathe so I can hug her but she’s kind of a people pleaser and I don’t want to pressure her.”

Em stepped over the ledge of her fountain, towering over Riva’s drone. “I know we just met, but I don’t have to breathe and I have no tech that could break. Would you like a hug?”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Riva’s mouth fell open. “Um. Yes. But can you leave your place? Won’t there be consequences?” Somewhere in the back of their mind they wondered if they had to ask Margaret before having Em over.

“I know I can leave for some periods of time. Like I said- the Umbral Arcana takes care of me.”

“Oh okay. Cool.” Riva piloted their drone to hold out their makeshift hand. “I can walk you to the ship.”

“Actually, I have a faster idea.” Em flexed her shoulders. “I can fly. Let me carry your drone?” She tentatively held out her arms.

Riva laughed. “Okay. First I’ll check in with Miss Margaret just so she knows someone will be coming by.” Their mind reached out to Margaret, just a little further away in the monastery. “Hey Marge, I’m having someone over in the ship!”

In the middle of the dojo, Marge gained a blank stare. Sofia raised her eyebrows then flipped her onto the ground again. “You really should focus on me.”

Marge groaned. “I was sending mind messages.”

Riva received a loud “Yeah, sure. Just don’t make a mess.” They grinned and piloted their drone into Em’s arms. “It’s all good!”

For someone purely made of stone, Em flew swiftly and soon landed in front of the monastery. She decided landing directly in the garden would be a great way to get killed so they’d take the normal route. On their way in, Sofia greeted them.

“Hey, Em- wait a second.” She stopped walking and squinted at Riva’s drone in Em’s arms. “Did you break that?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m fine miss Sofia,” Riva responded, making Sof jump.

“I just fly faster than they can walk,” Em added.

Sofia looked back and forth at their faces for a moment but decided to move onto her shower.

Em shrugged and walked to the backyard where Riva’s drone took the lead, helping Em navigate the hallways of the Würst. They deposited the drone at its usual station and Em walked onto the bridge.

“Hi.” Riva waved from their tank, circling around to avoid the nervous energy growing in their gut. “It’s nice to see you.”

Em stood stock still with their mouth open, watching the ease with which Riva moved through water. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You are so cool.” She moved closer to the tank, gently pressing her fingers against the glass.

Riva pressed their hand to the glass on the other side. “You are literally a stone angel.” Then, as an afterthought, “and so tall.”

“I love your colours.” Em started looking for a ladder, some way into the tank when Riva used their psychic push to press a button on the wall.

A ladder came down from the ceiling as the entire tank lowered slightly, leaving enough room for Em to enter the tank.

She started climbing without hesitation, hopping over the edge and slowly sinking down. “Hey,” she mouthed, reaching out.

Riva placed their hands in hers. They smiled and told Em “hi.”

With her feet now settled on the floor, Em pulled Riva into her arms, curling her wings around them too. To anyone walking in it must’ve seemed like a strange event. A stone angel at the bottom of a large tank with her arms and wings around Riva. But it didn’t matter.

“Thank you for coming all the way here just to see me.” Riva wrapped their arms around Em’s neck and connected their mind to hers.

“Testing… Can you hear my thoughts?”

“Yeah, it’s a part of my magic.”

“Cool. It was absolutely worth coming here.” Em pulled back but kept hold of Riva’s hands. “In hundreds of years you are definitely one of the coolest people I have ever seen.”

Riva laughed. “Will you tell me about the other cool people you’ve seen?”

And thus Em told tale upon tale about the world of The Unsleeping City, weaving wonders for Riva they could not have dreamed of. In turn, Riva told Em about some of the planets masquerading as stars in the night sky above the skyscrapers. The many people that they had met, and the way things went back home.

Sometimes, messages from the crew would come in but they were never urgent and Riva could reply to them without taking their focus off Em. Time passed as the stars in their worlds grew closer, similarities shining in their eyes.

Riva took the time to admire Em’s wings- every detailed carving done with care and effort. “You came into being like this?” They asked, hands pressed against the beginnings of Em’s wings, feeling the movements of her body.

“Yes. As far as I know I have always been this shape and size. No growing or changing.” She flexed her wings, sending small waves round the tank.

Riva twirled around Em. “You could still change mentally, though. Physical growth isn’t the only kind of growth.”

“That’s true. I think everyone I’ve met in my time as a defender of the city has taught me something in some way. That growth is something that happens when you come in contact with new people and experiences.” She pushed off from the floor of the tank, temporarily joining Riva in their spinning suspension.

“What have you learnt from me?”

Em reached out as she sank back down, her fingers brushing the scales on Riva’s back. “That the universe is so much bigger than what I can perceive of it. And that I like you.”

Riva grinned, taking a moment to look at Em. “I like you too.”

Smiling, Em shook her head. “You misunderstand me.” She curled her wings around herself, suddenly looking much smaller. “I would like to kiss you.”

“Oh.” Riva curled around Em, moving between the wings. “What a coincidence. I would like to kiss you too.” They wrapped their arms around Em’s neck and pressed their nose to Em’s. “So can I?”

Em laughed and kissed Riva, wrapping her arms around their waist.

“Well this has got to be the most normal thing we’ve walked into.” Sid and Barry had appeared on the bridge, each sporting a large bag of what Riva could only assume was NYC merchandise.

“Hey!’ Riva and Em smiled at them.

“Oh, don’t let us interrupt.” Sid elbowed Barry. “You owe me some credits- I told you it would happen.”

“And I told you it was just too weird.” Barry slapped a palm to his forehead. “I should’ve known never to bet against weird.”

The two walked off, bickering about whether or not this event could be defined as weird.

Riva shrugged. “Normal is not a concept I grew up on.”

“I don’t think something being weird matters. What matters is whether or not it’s right for you.” She pulled Riva closer. “Besides, both our worlds are super weird according to most people- isn’t it kind of inevitable for them to come crashing together?”

Riva kissed her. “While I do agree you should know these worlds have crashed together at more points than one.” They grinned. “Sofia and Margaret are out on a date.”

Em laughed. “Of course they are.” She brought up a hand to cup Riva’s chin. “If it’s okay, I want to spend the rest of the day just thinking about you. I’ve learnt enough about the world to know how to appreciate the good things.”

Riva felt the blood rush to their cheeks. “Cool.” They pressed their lips to Em’s again.

Hundreds of years ago, Em was named the angel of the waters in and around New York City. Right now, that included Riva’s tank- and Em had never been happier that her domain had grown.

#Riva #d20 zine jam #d20 #dimension 20 #a starstruck odyssey #aso #the unsleeping city #tuc #big barry syx #sundry sidney #em angel of the bethesda fountain #sofia lee #margaret encino #freckles writes things #queue can be your own boss too

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