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originalwinnercheesecake · 1 year ago

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Who from the ghosts pasts would it be fun to meet

We get some good episodes of ghosts (Metaphorical or literal) from the main 8's past coming back. We have met some... interesting characters, and there are some more it would still be cool to meet. So I thought I would make a list of the ghosts and who from their pasts it would be fun meet. Note I do not necessarily know how this person/ghost would come back, I just think it would be fun to see them.

Thorfinn: I do not want anybody else from Thor's past. The arc with Bjorn was sweet, and I do want it revisited in season four. But seriously Thor's old crew were jerks who left him behind. Thor hasn't once mentioned Bjorn's mother (Thor's wife???) and given that he has canonically had at least three serious relationships since becoming a ghost, it is pretty clear he has moved on from her. if hey had to they could maybe do an episode where Bjorn is able to bring his deceased wife back for a day, and introduce her to Thor. That would maybe be fun since it forces Thor to be pleasant to a danish person.... But I also think it is pretty fun that Bjorn is with Judy (50's Hetty) now, and she has expressed that she is not cool with poly life... Hopefully one day would not upset her enough to break up with Bjorn.

Sasappis: Okay anyone who we meet from Sass's life needs to be in a situation like him and Shiki, i.e. haunting some part of the Hutson sally for 500 and something years. Because otherwise 1.) It has been pointed out to me that Lenape Native Americans of their time did not speak English, so we would not be able to understand them. 2.) Dragging one of his people back from the afterlife to show them how completely settlers paved over their homes and wiped out their culture would be to cruel a thing to do.

Oh bonus because I thought of it after making my Season 4 wish list. If travel based ghost powers can be extended to other ghosts, then I would like Pete to take Sass to see Shiki again, and for afterwards Sass to return the favor by taking Pete inside of Jay's dreams and all three of them to shoot some hoops together.

Issac: I really really want to meet someone from when Issac was a living. He also curently has the most options of the ghosts. Beatrice, of course. We see in the season 2 Christmas special how great a person she was and how much she and Issac meant to each other, regardless of their less than ideal circumstances. Also given that in season 4 Issac will have to once again come to terms with a failed romantic relationship (Nigel), and a female friend whom he wronged/hurt (Patience). Well Beatrice is implied to view him with no ill will, so it could be really therapeutic for him to reconnect and further reconcile with her. If she told him she did not view Issac as a bad man, then that would help him not see himself as a bad man

In addition to Beatrice, I would also like to meet Issac's best friend Edmund. The unnamed brother Issac mentioned who had a wife and at least 5 sons, at least 2 of which died as children. We do not know if Issac was ever a father, but I imagine he was a really caring uncle. Hamilton! Please, please, can we get an episode where Hamilton's ghost shows up for a night and Issac is once again faced with his more successful rival. Bonus points if Hamilton does not know who Issac is, or have any recollection of ever meeting him.

Hetty: So far every time a new ghost has shown up for 1 episode it has been one Hetty knew. Which I guess is understandable since the house is her families, and a lot of the old junk in it belong to people she knew. But honestly episodes of them are hit or miss. The two episodes we got of Elias were one to many, and he does not need another episode. I know some fans really liked the episode with the maid; but I did not like her trying to blame Hetty for things that went down between her and Elias. It is clearly implied that she and her husband were Elias's employees and that they were hooking up before Elias and Hetty's marriage. Also it seems like the pair where hooking up many years, so why wasn't her son grown up?

For People from Hetty's life that we haven't met yet, but could meet in the future: I would really like to meet her sister, Margret. Show me what their relationship was like. How did Margret's life turn out? How did she react to Hetty's death? It also would be really cool to meet that stable boy that she and Issac both found hot. In that case though he has to be bisexual, or maybe just gay. I said in another post I wanted Thomas to have become a ghost after dying at a neighbors. But that I also wanted him to turn out to be as dumb and childlike as Lenny from "oMaM". Basically please only introduce Thomas if their is going to be a distinct difference between him and Elias. If he is just a gay version of his Hellish father, than there is no point.

Alberta: Well if Thomas is a ghost she deserves to get to rip into him for poisoning her. On that note please bring Earl back for one day so she can do the same to him. Forgetting the fact that he cheated on her with the guy that went on to murder her. It is cannon that Earl cheated on Alberta multiple times and she knew it. But he was her manager, and she could not break up with him without being dropped, so she felt she had to keep looking the other way and forgiving him. But that is not true now, and Alberta deserves a chance to tell him off like Hetty did to Elias in his debut episode. On a nicer note it would be sweet if they could resurrect Alberta's father. She could tell him about how people are still listening to her songs to this day, and he could maybe recite some recipes for Sam to write down, and Jay to start cooking for visitors. As far as Alberta's sister, well the only thing I have ever wondered about her was if Thomas ever did anything to hurt her too, since she was Earl's next girlfriend. If we see Alberta's x-times great niece again she had better be a successful web singer, taking a trip to where she first got the inspiration to follow in Alberta's foot steps.

Flower: I do want to see her brother Robby, and her ex Ira, who are still livings. If Robby has children/grand children they should come too. For ghosts she has other brothers who we do not knows current status, also if possible it would be cool to meet someone else whom she maybe knew during her time in the cult and the commune. It'd be weird to bring Michael back, since she is trying to move on from him with Thor. I have considered the ghost of the bear that killed her. The issues with a apex predator would be wild, but also I am not sure how you would wrap that up, and it would need to be wrapped up. Where do you go with a ghost bear guys?

Pete: Please no more people from Pete's past. Carol sucked. Jerry sucked. Pete's dad sucked. He is implied to have been an only child. I do not know why Laura and little Pete would ever want to again visit the place where both her parents/ his grandparents died. Lastly I found it cruel and disgusting that Sam and Jay brought over one of Pete's former scouts and made her recount watching a trusted adult die the way Pete did. All because Pete wasn't willing to suck it up and help Sam&Jay the way he told Flower to. No more people Pete used to know. He can visit Laura and Petey himself off screen.

Trevor: So it seems like everyone from Trevor's life is still alive. Okay He died young, and has only been dead for 20 years. We have met Arty and learned about their Friend group: except for Pinkus they all sucked. I want to to hold off on meeting Pinkus again though, because I largely suspect Trevor will be sucked off after that and I am not ready to lose him. In season 1 Trevor mentioned a Nicki Fisher, a friend with benefits he had then , who he kinda wanted to be in an actual exclusive relationship with (Like he wanted with Hetty). But, later in that same episode, we learned she had a baby with another guy she had been hooking up with at the same time, so he likely would not have gotten what he wanted with her. No need for us to meet Nicki. I have seen some people suggest that Jeremy could come back and work on the lightening at Woodstone/Jays restaurant. One person even suggested he could meet Bela. I have no objections to either of those. One final thing I was thinking is that maybe one of Trevor's parents got engaged again, and want to have their wedding at the B&B. Then we could explore Trevor going through his feelings on one of his parents finding love again, and trying to come to terms with it to support them at their wedding... Maybe we could even have Hetty offer to attend with him as friends. If it is Trevor's mom I want both her boys to walk her down the isle.

Crash, Nigel, Nancy, Stephanie: If a secondary ghost has someone from their past show up it will almost certainly end in them being sucked off. Crash is more a seasonal gag than a character, and while the show can certainly get by without him, it would be really cheep to tease a character getting sucked off again and for it to just be Crash. Especially after pulling the same stint with Ralph in the season 2 finale-season three. With Nigel I have admitted in other posts that he is my least favorite character. He is a cheater, a gas-lighter, and an asshole. But I also know he and Issac are endgame. This split between them is temporary: they need to grow as people, and will eventually (season 5 hopefully) get back together and (again hopefully) have a healthier, more equal, and caring relationship the next time around. That's what is being set up. So give Nigel the improvement he needs and do not touch him otherwise. For Nancy 1.) I would hate to lose her. She is the best secondary ghost on the show. 2.) before we get into people from her past we need to learn more about her relationships with the other basement ghosts.

Stephanie is different though. She was just a teenager when she died. The fact that she needs to sleep most of the year means she can rarely take part in house shenanigans. All the other ghosts are way older than her, and largely ignore her when she is awake. While most of the other ghosts are revealed to have had really depressing lives as livings and it could be argued ghost-hood is their second chance; Stephanie potentially had a fun life and has a lonely and really depressing afterlife. If her boyfriend from when she was alive, or maybe somehow her mom, came back and took her with them to the afterlife... well that sounds like one of the more heartwarming stories of the show

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kittyplushy · 21 days ago

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sunburnt skin, bones laid bare

A BTTWNS/House Guest fanfic fanfic by @sigmas-lover! Holy shit, I WOKE UP to this, and I've had all luchtime cooking to let this simmer (hehehe), so if you would allow me to steal your format of fic reviewing and rambling, here we go!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read this fic! I'd situate it in after the bed fic, around summer 1988, when they begin to be a lot more loose with each other.

As far as first impressions had gone, the family was fairly odd at first to say the least. While Sam wouldn’t exactly categorize them binarily—a father, a mother; eldest, middle and youngest child—but she could pinpoint that the short fox leading the family and telling them what they’ll be doing and where they’ll be going was, what most would consider, the head of the family.

Like a tourist on foreign soil, one recognizes his own kind, maybe not at a first glance but upon further inspection. So much so Hua later on- but even outside Woodbrook is it rare to see this kind of family arrangement. They pass and they can slip among the crowd, but in Woodbrook where everything is visible, they stand out even as strangers.

She chalked it up as a personal issue, yet another problem stemming from her inability to understand human connections. Maybe his overwhelming personality had left her a little lost and frustrated. Maybe she just didn’t like how he seemed intent on prying her open without making it obvious, leaving her paranoid if that was his motive all along.

That and the cultural shift Woodbrook is silently in the transitionary phase in. Colder. Yes, Sam has always been dethatched but she's warm and almost welcoming in it, and she has her own complex system of expressing her emotions...but normally she'd be okay holding these conversations (Nigel may have been like this, so curious and so prying when he was younger), but that paranoia of being followed and observed under a microscope again...she's closing in like everybody else.

“Don’t they, you know,” her kitty had said, her lips an awkward mix of a smile and a frown, “sort of remind you of those mean girls in high school…?” [...] And true it was. What Sam had thought were playful schoolgirl giggles after bumping into one of the residents of Woodbrook—young or old—turned out to seem more and more malicious the longer she took notice of their mannerisms. She didn’t like deploying extra attention onto people of no interest, but she had wanted to confirm or deny her girlfriend’s claims, and found herself noticing the way the hare and fox would exchange snideful remarks behind people’s backs. But not in ways that are superficial or shallow. They took great pleasure in dissecting the people they meet, took great pleasure making fun of their personality based on truth or presumptions. Sam was roughly reminded of their chattier father. Felt a little sour afterwards, then stopped paying attention to them as a whole after that.

Thank you so much for this added bit. I am very familiar with the characters Mei and Gui are based on (especially Asuka), and fictional mean little girls will sometimes have the grace of making them people and not just caricatures but. In real life, bullies are just going to be faces and not people with written goals and arcs in mind. Maybe you yourself can hold that grace, oh they're people too, but memory is stronger than imagination. Julianne is kind but she's not very patient. She's especially cautious of girls like her because of her own experiences. If it weren't for her guilt killing Eres, her instability would have led her to seriously hurting people who act in such a way; but she's a part time teacher now. And the person she used to be before "Julianne Lucky" is gone.

When Julianne points something out to Sam, she begins to unconsciously notice. Like Julianne has the magic to make her suddenly remember things: the pinks of a sunset, the name of the stars, Filipino phrases and words, etc. Something like this would go unnoticed normally since Sam's primary problem here is Min. Then again, it worries Julianne, and that's a good enough reason to care.

There’s not much the bear can do with this sort of information except use it in passing conversation to show that she had been paying attention, a secret code that regular people use to show they care. But considering the family will only be here for a singular summer—Minru mentioned it earlier—Sam sees no point in remembering it. However, she retains the information anyway, and ends up relaying it back to her girlfriend, whom Sam knows will definitely love hearing about this. And love she did. Sam finds herself amused by how Julianne giggles about it.

WELL THERE HAS TO AT LEAST BE ONE REASON, RIGHT? giggles

If Sam could, she’d compile together a manual, a step-by-step guide, on how to love someone. She’d write down all the ��right” behaviors, all the “right” actions, all the things she could do to show her girlfriend how much she loves her—even if, to some capacity, she can’t. But she wants to, that’s why if she could, she would. She doesn’t. (Because that would be strange, wouldn’t it? Her girlfriend is not an experiment to be analyzed in such a way. Documented, studied.) Still, Sam has a general guideline on how relationships should work, all up in her head like muscle memory, no different from the methodical drag of her tools across various materials—soft and hard. This is how you show you love, this is how you show you care. Play nice, play gentle, play sweet and play...

She dismisses it as nothing important and instead focuses on the fact the act between the couple seemed extremely odd. Sam wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing to Julianne, and it isn’t in her kitty’s nature to be like that either. Perhaps they were more prone to playful quarrels, shallow and for the sake of fun, but that had been neither playful nor fun of Ida to do. So she concludes that they probably don’t love each other.

Again on the topic of love and how Sam views it in general...the thing is she knows what it is intellectually, but never really experienced it in the capacity to know what is healthy and what is good enough or if she even experienced it at all. She had her two families- her blood family then Nigel and Lola. In a town like Woodbrook, love is only defined by strict appearances and guidelines in which to express it, you see it on the streets, you read it in books, watch it in the movies, and maybe that appearance had become so bland and uneventful or uninteresting to her but it's the only expression of love she knows and struggles to show convincingly to Julianne. Then here's an odd couple who do things so differently that Sam immediately comes to the conclusion they don't love each other- how can you do that to the person you love? is a question she asks others (and herself) after Lola's death. The memory of her mother glides over her and she needs to project it on others before she can answer the question herself.

...but when her eyes gloss over the two adults, she catches the way Minru has one of his hand over Ida’s, thumb rubbing slow circles over her knuckles. There’s a smile on her lips she hides behind her burger, but he knows it’s there because he smiles back. She recognizes this softness because she’s seen it before—pattern recognition—and she finds herself a little confused. How could they act that way when not long ago they had been so rough? This story, she holds it a little closer to her heart—for further studying—and doesn’t tell Julianne when she gets home.

But they do, Sam.

“No, I mean really ask.” Minru leans a bit closer with a fanged smile, and Sam is starting to understand why Ida had been so stern with him that day. “Your history with him. Why did he frame you of all people? From what I understand, you were his mother’s friend? He frames you then kills his own mother, really? Then kills himself out of guilt?” Sam’s mouth hangs open, then clicks shut, and this time she musters the energy to be actually mad, “I don’t appreciate these invasive questions. I don’t appreciate you prying into my life like this.” “Is that a ‘no comment’ then?” he smiles, coy and knowing, and before Sam can try anything, someone else enters her store.

DON'T ASK HER THAT MIN, SHE'S FINE NOW, AND LOLA IS STILL ALIVE AND LIVING WITH HER.👍👍👍👍👍

Ida stands with her arms folded and foot tapping, all three of her children behind her back like a line of ducklings. Her eyes have narrowed into slits at her husband, before softening them at Sam, “Sorry for his behavior.”

The imagery of this is so funny. I liked picturing this a lot.

“He asked me what it’s like moving here far from home,” she hums with a smile. “Then we had a nice conversation about you. You know, I’ve always wanted to gush about us… But I could never find the right people, and I’m really glad he was super interested!”

Hahahaha maybe this is a Filipino thing but we just can't help but overshare to people we just feel...safer with. Julianne is aware it isn't safe to be so loud about her relationship in this climate but she just has nothing but good things to say about Sam. It's just in her nature.

He’s pretending to be normal, just like her. It’s a weird feeling, seeing it from an outsider’s perspective—more than just a mirror’s gaze—and being able to pinpoint just what part of his response seemed artificial enough to satisfy her and which were sugarcoated truth. She catches herself calling him out for it, because that’s just an odd thing to point out about someone. And neither does she feel confident telling his parents either. Unless she wants them coming out of this thinking she’s insane. Well, the rabbit might be more willing to listen, but that fox… No, she would rather sit and watch a killer in the making than to be viciously interrogated again.

Patterns such as these always find their way back to her, seeing the same kind of people vaguely similar to her but with a more emotional rationale than her. Nigel, then Julianne, then M. Brewer. Maybe they come like tests of will, like a hand reaching out to pull her into her senses and do the right thing.

Maybe this is the only time she'll ever do the "right thing"

“Oh, that sounds…” Julianne starts, concerned at first, then a little unnerved, before calming herself. She’s focusing. “Should I bring this up with Minru…?” “I might be betraying his trust that way,” Sam admits, and Julianne softens a little when she realizes she’s an exception to that. She’s trustworthy enough for Sam to tell her this. Sam sighs, burying his cheek aaginst the top of Julianne’s hair. “I’m not equipped to help children like this, though.” “I’m sure he, you know,” she fiddles with her own fingers in thought. “Doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’ll probably outgrow it…?” Sam resists the urge to laugh. If only. “I’ll probably try to get him to talk to his parents about this. I don’t understand what made him think I could help.” Julianne lifts her head, smiling up at her girlfriend, and cuddles in closer, “Well, you are a comforting presence.” As much as Sam finds that hard to believe for a multitude of reasons, she lets her girlfriend pretend, and squeezes her tighter too.

she trusts Julianne's judgement and opinions to open up to her, layer by layer, but doubts her ability to be a comforting presence. someone loving or lovable enough to trust like that. people have trusted her to this degree before like Lola and now Pauline, but not like Julianne. And it always comes as a surprise. :( I love the way this is written. Maybe she and Lola had this conversation too when Nigel was a kid, except Sam nor Julianne will get to see how this ends.

“And they live really far,” Julianne adds, rubbing her head against Sam before snuggling in next to her. “But Minru promised to write.” Sam looks over at her, then runs her hand over her kitty’s shoulder, down to her elbow soothingly, and smiles, “That’s nice.” She’ll remember to check the mailbox before her for the next few months then. There will be no post cards for her girlfriend, she’ll make sure of that.

Take note of those last two sentences. This will be a cause of death later down the line. Don't worry about it now though. Giggle.

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH AGAIN PHILIAH I LOVE YOU AAAHHHHHHH THIS MADE MY DAY HAPPY PRIDE EVERYNYAAA

#house guest 🐈🐻#self shipping #self ship #yumejoshi #oc x canon #safe ship #safe shipping #self insert #selfshipper

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islandtarochips · 1 year ago

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Shark & Ghost

*when 141 and WTF were having a debrief meeting* Ghost, glaring at Tiala: Shark been a PRICK for way too LONG. Tiala, looking at Ghost: Shark got a GUN with no safety ON. Soap/Nigel: *sweat a bit* Agnes/Gaz: (Oh boy...) Price: *rubbing his face* Kanoa: *smiled nervously at Price* Ghost: Shark needs to LISTEN when I fucking TALK! Tiala: Shark thinks Ghost is about to get SHOT. *smiling at him* Ghost: *getting pissed off* Kanoa: .........I'm gonna call Jade. Price: Please do and GAZ! Get your GIRLFRIEND! Gaz, was too scared to interrupt: U-Uuuuuuuuum-

Arthur's Note: Don't worry. Ghost and Tiala doesn't EXACTLY hate each other! Just hate each other's GUTS! (But Tiala still respect Ghost of his rank-)

Inspo Vid/Audio:

The vid on the left side will be Tiala's expression during the WHOLE argument between her and Ghost.

...yeah.-

Characters (Left -> Right)

Tiala "Shark" Toa -> Me

Kanoa Toa -> Me

Nigel "Squirrel" Harrison -> Me

Agnes "Blast" Falagi -> Me

Charlotte "Jade" Le Jardin -> @sleepyconfusedpotato

#captain kanoa toa #sergeant agnes blast falagi #sergeant nigel squirrel harrison #charlotte jade le jardin #call of duty #call of duty oc #call of duty modern warfare #cod oc #cod mw2 #call of duty original character #call of duty mw2 #first sergeant tiala malie toa

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mrsfrecklesmarauders · 1 year ago

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"Hey little dude"

"Hey Sirius"

Sirius made a hand shake with the kid. Nigel. This second year was the next prankster progity according to James. It had been last term than Nigel and his friends began making pranks that impressed the Marauders. They were kind of jealous of the new counter pranksters and worried of losing their touch. Then they discovered it was Nigel and his group.

James became friends with Nigel for whatever reason. And now they were very close. James said they might need to consider leaving their legacy to younger kids, since they were graduating this year. But Sirius didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to grow up and stop doing pranks.

Today, Nigel look sad and lost. He reminded Sirius of himself back in the summer after he left Grimmauld Place.

"Hey, have you seen James?" Nigel asked, hugging himself.

"He is probably snogging his girlfriend somewhere" Sirius rolled his eyes without thinking about it. Not even him, James's best friend, had seen much of him. Ever he became a Head Boy, Rugby Captain and The Ginger's boyfriend, he barely have time anymore. That was why Sirius had been spending more and more time with Remus. He loved Moony, perhaps he had been developing feelings for him. Feelings that scared him. But he missed James. His Prongsie. His best friend. His soulmate.

Sirius didn't know how to tell him everything that had been happening lately. All the negative thoughts about himself and his life. He was too embarrassed.

And apparently Sirius wasn't the only one who needed James. Nigel looked sad.

"Are you okay, mate?" Sirius asked

"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to him about something" Nigel scratched his head.

James had become the confident of lots of Gryffindor students since he became Head Boy. Sirius wasn’t the only one James could help. He needed to stop being selfish and a jealous wanker.

"Do you want to talk to me? Maybe I can help you"

Nigel looked at Sirius considering it. Even though Nigel spent lots of time in the Marauders' dorm, playing with James's video games, and Sirius was impressed with the kid, he wasn't good with these things. James was the perfect shoulder to cry on. Sirius knew that first hand. There were so many things he wanted to tell his best friend and didn't know how.

"Nah, it's okay. I rather talk with him..." As soon as he said this, his eyes glowed seeing something behind Sirius. "James!"

Sirius turned to see the man of the hour and Lily behind him climbing through the Portrait Hole.

"Nigy... Nigy..." James beamed, hitting the boy's palm. "What's up, man?"

"Hey" Nigel was smiling now "Hey Lily"

"Hello, darling" Lily smiled.

"Prongs! Nigel here wanted to speak with you" Sirius said, crossing his arms. When did they break apart? Sirius and James used to be inseparable. Sirius felt he was losing him. They were distant and cold. James was holding Lily's hand. Not even looking at Sirius. Sirius felt that girl was taking his best friend away. And that pissed him off.

"Yeah?" James ruffled Nigel's hair "Is it about another prank?"

"A prank?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did I say prank?" James asked innocently "I meant... Frank... Do you like Frank?"

Lily pursed her lips. But it was obvious she wanted to laugh.

"Who is Frank?" Nigel asked.

"Frank! Frank Longbottom? Our mate..." James sighed "Never mind"

"I actually wanted to talk about something else" Nigel said nervously "Alone please?"

James immediately adopted his worried expression of a father. The one that had used with Sirius many times. He nodded.

"Dorm is empty, Pads?" James asked, making Sirius blink in surprise.

"Yeah"

"Okay, let's talk there" James said and Nigel nodded. But James stopped on his tracks to say something else.

"Wait... Wait... Before we go... Who is this hot stuff??" James asked grabbing Lily's head and kissing her lips "Oh yes, my girlfriend..." he grinned.

Lily giggled with her cheeks flustered. Nigel tutted with a smile and Sirius pursed his lips.

"And wait... Wait... Who is this other hot stuff?" James said now kissing Sirius’s cheek, taking him by surprise. "My best friend!" he added squeezing his chin. "All good, handsome?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow "Yeah, brilliant"

Then he smiled because he was so happy that James was treating him like before. He missed how he joked flirted with each other.

"Okay, now let's go, Nigy" James said taking Nigel's shoulders and leading him to the stairs.

Sirius and Lily watched them go with similar smiles on their faces.

"Should we get beer for our chat?" Nigel asked as they climbed up.

"Nice try, mate"

Sirius realized that Evans had a foolish lover look on her face. She was looking at James as she could have melted right there.

"Isn't he great?" she asked with a sigh. Perhaps the ginger fancied James more than Sirius thought. But still there was something about her that Sirius couldn't stand.

"Watch it, Ginger. You're drooling"

Lily pursed her lips but she was red as a tomato.

"Moony?"

"Try the Library" Lily crossed her arms.

Sirius gave her one nod, before walking away. When Lily spoke.

"Maybe you should try opening up to James. Like Nigel does"

Then Sirius remembered why he didn't stand this girl. She was too nosy. And God knows what James had told her about him. It was none of her business.

"He is your best friend, Sirius. Maybe he can help"

Sirius was so scared of losing James. So scared of James judging him or seeing him differently. Sirius loved him. Perhaps more than anyone in this world.

So Sirius walked away without responding. He'd find a way to talk to James.

#platonic prongsfoot #marauders #maraudersera #muggleau #sirius black #james potter #lily evans #jily #remus lupin #wolfstar #platonic besties #james & sirius

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randomnameless · 10 months ago

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Land 5 aka before the final boss done !

Albion...

Well, it has a city named Bordeaux !

Ça fait un bail que Bordeaux et l'Aquitaine ne sont plus aux mains de la perfide Albion !

What else can I say...

The final stage bgm was kickass, I loved the architecture and the "subquests" with goats and the character who turns ennemies green was... A thing lol. Still Nigel isn't a deadweight so that's something nice.

Plot wise...

Ugh.

If anyone got it better than I do then please help me lol, because from what I understood, the pope (hereditary title in this verse) got only one child (tfw your line is super special magical plot related but you only get one kid) and told both of his right arms, Nigel and Sanatio, that they should never speak of her to anyone, including themselves.

So... Nigel secured Scarlett far away (uh...) 6 years ago and didn't tell Sanatio, per the pope's orders, Sanatio knew Scarlett existed but since her existence must remain secret, per the pope's orders, he... Uh... Never knew where she was ?

So when the pope decided to fold against the evil empire, and subsequently later died (something Gharnef is pissed about, because the pope's line is the only one able to destroy mc guffins) Sanatio thought that he had to pretend the pope was still alive to make sure Albion and the Orthodoxy would not descend into chaos ?? Like, Nigel couldn't tell him that "I shipped Scarlett to parevia aka an island that is as far from Albion as the UK is from France, under her dad's orders some years ago, let's find her to both protect and mount a resistance against the empire ?"

I knew Albion was scrapped because bankruptcy and all, but damn if in a game where Gilbert, Virginia, hell Alain and to an extent Yunifi and Morad exist, this felt contrived as fuck.

Besides, I know you are technically able to go to Albion before doing bastorias, Drakengard or Elheim (Bastorias or Elheim must be done though) but damn if doing things in order paints Scarlett in a crap light, after Erigor and witnessing the elves zombies and learning about the occupation in both Cornia and Drakengard with mysterious plagues around, and we open Albion with Scarlett worrying about her dad (while she was there when Galerius told us he was dead !) and wanting to show Alain the place where she picked up flowers when she was younger.

Special mention to her former childhood friend Raelys (?) with whom she reunites and wants to go to their special flower field again... Only to be ambushed by Raelys because while childhood memories are nice and all, Raelys' younger brother was taken hostage and she wants to save him.

Then we have Fodoquia's backstory... And Scarlett looks like an ass, especially for someone who was basically supposed to inherit Albion, who never cared about her country and her people.

Still in the few subsequent chapters she expresses her desire to help the people of Albion and her care for them (with still the memetic "I always thought about you" to get childhood friend when a majority of her rapports so far where about Alain, her feelings for him and jealousy at the other female leads or fluff) so there's that.

Ultimately I believe this discrepency is both due to the game being short on money but also the writers having wrote Scarlett as the "ojou" archetype, when the elf twins, even with their 5 lines about the plot of their land, and to some extent, Virginia and Yunifi/Ramona are concerned about their homes and people and written as such.

Plot happens and it's revealed, the empire is actually full of body surfers who were banned to the shadow realm for having sacrificed an unicorn and their big plan is to transmigrate everyone in living bodies, Scarlett's line is special because her magical powers are the result of experiments on humans with blood/parts/powers (?) of an unicorn, the failed results were duds and gave birth to the feathered people (angels) but Scarlett's ancestor was a success, the Cornian royal line is also special because it was founded by a young woman who was the only one granted immortality and not banished to the shadow realm eons ago, so she got some magic powers but gave up her immortality, and the laguz were originally elves who decided to become laguz so their bodies couldn't be snatched, but they forgot how to turn back.

Anyhow, for all of the unicorn imagery Alain got, I found it cool that the "our line was founded by the Maiden in the Unicorn and Maiden duo" thing is/was referenced in Ilenia/Virginia's skillset, it sort of helped to lessen the "uwu Alain is the saviour and chosen one" thingie that hits especially hard after Drakengard and Gilbert's last convo where he confesses he and Drakengard in general have always been jealous of cornia, so learning only Cornia's king can be the "chosen one" to get rid of the evil ghost empire...

Also, since you can skip Drakengard to reach that point and ignore her existence, I guess the "Alain saviour bcs he descends from the Maiden and has the magic ring" feels even weirder when Virginia is also in the party, but she can't equip the magic ring (granted if Alain were to die, would Virginia be able to equip it plot wise ?)

Fwiw, even if Gerard's infinity +1 sword can be used by Alain, I gave his magic ring to Virginia, his other grandkid by beating his ass with the Tricorns, plot be damned.

I mean, I usually dgaf about chosen ones plots, but when the second arc was all about a potential claimant/heir accepting to stand down and let their sib/cousin run the show, the game saying "only sib/cousin can save the world" feels a bit like a slap lol

Alain gave the "totally not-engagement ring" to Joseph, his dad in all but blood, and I rounded up several rapport conversations (wtf was Fodoquia and Bryce's lol) and mini quests.

Units wise... Ramona works well with the angels who have their discharge skill lol, and Bertrand spinning with his hammer will never cease to be hilarious.

I'm sure I'm not using Berengeria well though, because now she keeps on dying (ffs you have a giant shield can you just use it for once ??)... But Bruno makes up by hitting like a truck.

#Unicorn overlord stuff #Otherwise it's a solid game #The plot is standard but it's well told #Leah tried to take her revenge in the arena with a Drakengard team ft Virginia bcs why not #Virginia was the only one standing after Amalia's ssj transformation #Lol #Morad is a big softy I love him #He's upset bcs Ramona sew a cute lion patch in his armor #He does theater for the kids #We Stan a king lol #I'm still not over the 2k sandwiches in Albion

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sithwitch13 · 2 months ago

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AEW Dynamite 4/23/25

Make 'em say UHHHHHH

Aww everyone's so sparkly and happy

Oops here come the Death Riders to ruin the party

Oops Mox got choked out

Bucks! Okada!

Swerve! KENNY!

I'm so hyped for Mox vs Joe.

Nick you must murder your father (with Luchasaurus and Jack Perry's help.)

Oh hey, Mr. Professor Nick guy in front!

I'm dead of both the match antics and commentary antics

SLAP HIS BALD HEAD

I'm so intrigued by Ricochet going back to the legs-on-ropes trick even though it only actually worked the one time.

Oh hey, Rock and Roll Express! ...didn't FTR murder them one time?

Nigel please come protect Tony

STOKELY. Working with FTR? Oh no, I like this.

Oh my god Schiavone is the master of looking disgruntled

Old man murder hours

BUCK TITS

My spouse just thought that Speedball's name was Meatball

Absolute bounty of tag team shenanigans. I'm so happy.

CHICKEN FIGHT

Rude, Ricochet. Very rude.

Toni! Queen Aminata!

Oh dear, I'm nervous. Please no using women as currency this week, I beg.

"Say you're sorry!" "shut up I'm doing it shut up"

HANGMAN

Ooh MJF lashing out after being rejected

Ospreay and Brody vs Takeshita and Alexander time!

Dying at Ospreay selling Brody tagging him like he's dying

Jesus this is great. I could watch Ospreay and Takeshita especially forever.

KYLE. HANGMAN. TRENT. ROCKY.

WOMEN MAIN EVENT!

I think Kris is slightly edging Jamie out in terms of who I'm going for, but I'm good either way.

(This is both because I've loved Kris longer and also I'm so normal for Toni seeming to move her affection to Kris.)

That ruled. I can't wait for Jamie vs Mercedes.

What a good-ass episode.

#aew dynamite

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trainalt22 · 1 year ago

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A dictation of the National Rail Museum curator orientation of the class of 2015

The speaker is Doctor Ashton Collins, lead mechologist for the N.R.M.

[Recording start]

"The first of May 1925, Solario came to me today asking for a once-over. I found this odd because I had just finished maintenance on him not a week ago, but I'm not foolish enough to ignore my engines when they say something is wrong. He asked to speak with me in private. I eyed him warily but had my workshop cleared regardless. He said he was visited by a small purple tank engine the night before. From how he described this engine, it didn't match any I knew about, but I let him continue. He said that she had chosen him to be her guardian, that his kind heart and brave soul would be of great use, and then he paused, a look of contemplation on his face. I pressed for more, and he said she disappeared in a flash of golden light.

My expression must have been one of unamusement because Solario asked for a chance to prove what he saw was real. I was unsure of what he meant but allowed him to, and before I could object, a golden dust enshrouded him. I could see him start to fade. I must admit it gave me a shock. I fell from my stool, but something most peculiar happened. When the dust settled, before me where Solario was, a man stood, dressed in a green jacket with 'LNER' embroidered across the left breast pocket, while the right had '4473' across it, and his trousers matched the same green with black and white lining down the sides.

His hair was a blinding blonde, and he had eyes as green as his coat. I called out to him, worried about what had happened to my engine, but he proved his identity by reciting the conversation we had when he first awoke two years ago, and we talked at lengths about how he came to be like this. All I can say for now is this is most interesting."

An excerpt from Sir Nigel Gresley's journal taken from the LNER Archives

"I know what you all are thinking: Gresley must have had something stronger than tobacco in his pipe."

[Dispersed laughter is heard in the crowd]

"But you'll learn that stranger things happen here than just the errant railfan trying to get themselves locked in overnight, and it may shock you to find out that Gresley wasn't off his rocker when he wrote that entry in 1925. You ten have been selected because you have shown the most aptitude and drive to be curators to help look after these places of history. But a curator's job isn't just planning maintenance and events; sometimes this job can be more than what we signed up for.

Gold Dust is the lifeblood and souls of sentiences everywhere. Now before you write me off, allow me to demonstrate."

[Dr. Collins produces a small wooden box from the desk he's standing at and takes out a weathered conductor whistle]

"This is a conductor whistle. It was entrusted to the NRM after its owner passed. Now, while gold dust can be volatile if misused, it can be a useful tool for those who wield it."

[Dr. Collins wipes the mouthpiece with his sleeve before blowing into it. The whistle bathes him in a cloud of golden dust, and he disappears, causing the group to panic before he reappears in the back of the room]

"Pretty neat, right?"

[Dr. Collins's sudden reappearance startles the class]

"Sorry for the scare, everyone, but I'm guessing you're going to take what I say a little more seriously. Sure, every machine you have needs its fuel to run, but this is what keeps them alive; it's their soul. But while I am the Lead Mechologist, I think it more prudent for you to hear from someone who doesn't just use gold dust for cheap tricks. So please welcome Mrs. Morgan Merlin, or as you would know her, LNER 4468 Mallard."

[A tall, tanned woman in a dark blue suit and matching skirt with bright red heels walks into the room with a look of unamusement on her face]

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use gold dust for cheap tricks?"

"Ducky, I was just using it so they'd take me seriously."

"Get out and stop calling me Ducky."

[Dr. Collins leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Mallard clears her throat before continuing]

"Now, a few things before we continue. 1. Yes, I'm the real Mallard; the one downstairs is a replica. 2. Yes, I can still use my engine form; I just haven't in a while. 3. Do NOT call me Ducky. Understood?"

[The group either nods or responds in the affirmative]

"Now, it is part of your job as curators to help us guardians complete our duties. As such, most of the UK's guardians and all remaining former guardians that survived scrap are stationed here. Myself, Evening Star, Lode Star, and Sterling Number One are all guardians, and I have been given their permission to talk about their status with you.

This brings us to another point. Knowledge about guardians is hush-hush. You tell no one other than those above you or your fellow curators this information. If fallen into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster for sentient machines everywhere.

Now..."

[Morgan writes on the chalkboard]

"Application of gold dust. Gold Dust has many uses, one being teleportation like you saw Dr. Collins demonstrate. However, it is not just for travel; it can be used for offense and defense as well."

[Golden dust envelopes Morgan's hand and condenses into a golden blade. She holds it up for the entire class to see]

"There are many dangers guardians face, many of them being supernatural in nature. Gold dust not only allows us to battle these threats if necessary, but it also defends us from them as well."

[Her "blade" disperses into a cloud of dust again, reshaping into a shield]

"As you may have already guessed, gold dust allows guardians to shed their mechanical forms and become human with an appearance based on both the physical attributes of whatever machine they are and their perception of themselves."

[Morgan disperses her shield, the dust seeps into her skin, then she gestures to herself]

"As you can see, my engine is in perfect condition, and I'm very confident in myself and my abilities. That's not to say that heavier-set guardians aren't confident with their forms; much like you humans, our forms still have a bit of an unknown factor when we transform into them for the first time. Things like skin tone, hair color, and eye color vary.

Some of you may have noticed I mentioned that guardians face off with the supernatural. One of our most common foes are wraiths. They are spirits of machines that have died and chosen not to travel on to the Grand Terminus, and instead choose to roam and seek out humans. I can assure you, you do not want to find yourself cornered by a wraith. There are not very many things in this world that will bring you a more painful demise.

The other type of enemy we face is called the Blighted. They range vastly from machine to machine, but they are the poor souls that have been unfortunate to have been infected with Crimson Rot. Their minds are subsumed by it; they become a husk of their former selves, attacking any machine to siphon their victim's gold dust, feeding the parasitic infection.

Make sure to check your machine carefully for unusual rust or rotting of wood or other such materials, especially if they work in or around a scrapyard. Crimson Rust likes to fester in scrapyards to drain what little gold dust dying machines have left."

[Morgan's watch beeps twice, causing her to sigh]

"We will explain the rest of a guardian's duties in the next class, so do be there. Class dismissed."

[End of recording]

#ttte #ttte au #vivamus machinis #dr collins wants to smooch that train #dont we all?#she is kinda #you know #...#ttte Solario #ttte lady #ttte lode star #ttte mallard #ttte evening star #ttte sterling number one #sir nigel gresley #lner a4 #lner a1

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sarcasticsciencefictionwriter · 8 months ago

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Trick or treat!! ❤️

Another trick or treater? You're coming out in droves this year. ;) Please accept my offer of most of chapter 2 of my "Sanctuary Clans and Marriages" fic, in which Princess Helen meets her suitors.

*this bit picks up where a previous chunk from as ask game left off, if you want to read it completely, just search #chartreuseian on my blog and scroll

🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬🍭🍫🍬

She didn't have to wait long for the doors top open and people to start coming in. Helen was dimly aware of someone announcing each clan and the displays of their crests, but her heart was suddenly pounding in her ears as all four entered one-by-one and arranged themselves before the dais in a line, but separate from each other.

Gregory rose and Helen was glad that as her father and regent, he had to do the bulk of the talking during this…ceremony. There would be the presentation of the suitors, time to allow them to be settled, and then a feast to welcome them to their home and table.

"Clan Bancroft welcomes you all." Gregory said, calm voice carrying throughout the large room. "We are honored that you have all agreed to be here under peaceful terms to be presented to our Princess before she takes up the mantle of our leader."

Helen felt a little disgruntled at the wording, but she knew that she wasn't letting it show. She was letting her gaze travel across all four groups as Gregory spoke of how important this was and how they had finally come to an agreement after so many generations.

She was trying to pick out the princes, none of whom she had ever met, but she honestly could not tell who was who from her position. None of the men at the front looked particularly princely and she was annoyed at the fact that apparently they had not needed to be dressed up for this presentation when she sat there with jewels around her neck and a dress she normally wouldn't have been wearing.

Gregory reached the end of his speech and turned to her.

Helen stood, crossing the small gap to him, standing beside him as Gregory gestured for each group to present their prince.

They went, Helen noted, in alphabetical order, which was probably so the order wouldn't be considered a slight against one clan or another.

Clan Druitt was the first, a young man, his age on par with Helen's own, stepping forward.

"Prince John, middle son of Clan Druitt." one of his men announced.

Helen wondered at why they had sent their middle son. She hadn't bothered to ask prior to this. Was the heir married? Did they not have faith in him? Did they not want to risk their heir here?

Whatever the reason, it served to make him more of a mystery than anything else.

John stepped forward, face schooled in a calm expression, dark hair drawn back neatly away from his face, his clothes plain but clearly expensive. Which seemed odd, considering that everyone knew Clan Druitt's wealth primarily came from gemstones. The stones Helen wore may have even come from there.

He locked gazes with her for a split second before adverting his, bowing low to her.

Helen inclined her head to him as he rose.

She outranked him here and since this was a presentation, she was not required to curtsy.

Technically, she had all the power here, which was a laughable thought.

John stepped back and Clan Griffin was quick to fill the silence.

"We present Prince Nigel, heir to Clan Griffin."

Nigel wasn't a particularly princely name, in Helen's opinion, but it certainly suited the man that came forward. There was nothing particularly striking about him--Helen thought she may have stood taller than him barefoot. His brown hair and eyes were plain, but there was humor in this expression, even as he came forward and bowed.

"Your highness." he said cheerfully, as if they had known each other for years.

Helen was a little surprised by this, but she nodded to him all the same, even as others in the hall murmured.

He stepped back with a smile, arms folded behind his back as he did so.

"Prince Nikola, surviving son of Clan Tesla."

Now that was an odd way to put it, Helen mused. He was the heir but his clan reminded him of how he was only that because he had survived?

Prince Nikola was clad all in black, clothing neat and almost strangely clean. There was no speck of lint on his clothes, not one wrinkle that wasn't created by the fold of a limb. He was also very neatly groomed, down to a small mustache that Helen wasn't very impressed with.

He looked up at her, expression different than the other two, just staring at her longer than was really polite, then bowed a little too deeply before backing off.

His own people were quiet, dark clothed, and Helen remembered how little any of them actually knew about Clan Tesla.

Lastly, it was Clan Watson's turn.

"Prince James, heir apparent of Clan Watson."

The tone this was spoken in said: yes, this our prince, the only son of his house. We are proud to present him and expect you to be grateful he's here.

The man that stepped forward was older than the other three and bowed low, but properly to Helen, maintaining eye contact with her the entire time.

He had facial hair that looked careless enough he had obviously spent a good amount of time grooming it and his clothes were neat, tailored, and fashionable in a way that suggested it was only because he liked the style, not because it was the way to dress.

Helen nodded to him as she had the others, noting the small smile on his lips as he retreated to join his men.

The pounding in Helen's ears had subsided at this point and for some reason, faced with the reality of the men before her, she felt calmer. Now that she had seen their faces, now that they were human, it was easier to accept what she had to do and what she planned to do.

Gregory said a few more words and then stepped back to allow her to say a few words. It didn't need to be much, which Helen was immensely grateful for. All she truly needed to do was express acknowledgement and gratitude.

"As my father said, our clan welcomes you into our halls and thanks you for agreeing to our proposal. I hope that through this, we may build relations between all five clans, regardless of which suitor I choose as my consort. I wish you a pleasant stay and look forward to getting to know all of you."

Now, Helen smiled as she had been taught, curtsied so shallowly it was barely detectable.

Seeing her father's face out the corner of her eye told her that she had said the right things and Helen stared out over all the people gathered, retreating to resume her seat, not listening as Gregory made a few words about the princes being shown to their quarters if they wished to rest, the feast, and inviting the people of all five clans to mingle beforehand, though everyone in the hall would be welcome.

Helen would have no contact with her suitors until the feast, where they would formally meet. All of this was according to customs and traditions that she had vaguely learned about but had never given much thought to.

She remained calm and poised, knowing that she must present the best version of herself possible until the suitors left the hall. Though Helen did wonder what the point was when during the courting process they would get to know the real her, as much as she would allow. She certainly wouldn't be her best self at all times.

#chartreuseian #the whole chapter is at least three times this length sorry XD #but i hope you like this snippet #trick or treat!#helen magnus #clans and marriages au #sanctuary #my fanfiction #my writing #my fanfic

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stories-of-the-nrm · 2 years ago

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The LNER's Tea Express

AN: This takes place in the 1930s before Scott reached 100 mph when he had an amicable brotherly relationship with Gordon. Thank you for requesting this @jayde-jots.

Narrator: It was a hot summers day in England as the LNER’s business booms. Despite the depression impacting the United Kingdom, London seemed to be thriving as many businessmen require their services.

(We see the sheds where the passenger engines are resting.)

Scott: How was your train today, Gordon?

Gordon: On time as usual. And your train, Scott?

Scott: Oh it was excellent. My passengers would be all over the platform talking about how they really loved the changes made to our travel services. Especially the food.

Gordon: Ah yes. My crew was raving about it as well. I quite frankly fail to understand it as we engines of course only need coal and water.

Scott: Yes yes that’s true, but it’s quite fascinating to hear humans get so excited. I would love to see what the fuss is all about.

Gordon: You are not going to leave your engine just to consume human food meant to be for our passengers. It would be a disgrace to the LNER if you were to cost them money just to prepare more.

(Scott sighs knowing Gordon is right.)

Scott: I understand that, Gordon. But I was just thinking that if there was food to spare and would otherwise be thrown out, then sampling it wouldn’t hurt would it?

Gordon (groaning): I better not get a tongue lashing from Sir Nigel Gresley because you took some of the passengers food!

(Scott smiles sheepishly.)

Scott: Of course not, brother. I know we have our reputation to uphold. I won't let you or Sir Nigel Gresley down.

Gordon (sighing): This railway still has difficulties navigating this "depression". I just worry that the slightest slip up by any of us could cost them money. Money they use to maintain us. The last thing I would want is to see any of us scrapped because of it.

(Scott takes a breath.)

Scott: Please don't worry, Gordon. I know better than to steal food from the dining car. I won't even bring it up to my crew.

(Gordon closes his eyes.)

Gordon: Well I believe we should stop talking about this now. I can see the moon is getting high which tells me we need to get some sleep.

Scott (yawning): You're right brother. Good night.

Gordon: Good night, Scott.

(They fall asleep for the night.)

Time Skip

Narrator: One evening after he pushes the coaches back into their shed a group of women who work in the dining car approach Scott.

Scott: Yes? What do you need?

(They all look young and seem to be attracted to Scott as they try to explain their need to finish all of the left over food.)

Scott: I see. I'll need to get my brother. This is a lovely opportunity he just can't miss.

(Scott leaves his engine and practically runs to look for Gordon who's still in his engine form.)

Gordon: Scott what are you doing here?

(He stops to catch his breath.)

Scott: Gordon. These lovely ladies gave me a brilliant opportunity that I just. Have to share.

Gordon: And what is that?

Scott: They work in the dining car and-

(Gordon groans.)

Gordon: I thought I told you not to bother the staff about this food nonsense?

Scott: But I didn't Gordon. These lovely ladies came to me and wanted me to help them.

Gordon: And what on earth would they need you for?

Scott: They have a lot of food left over and can't store it over night. If no one eats it, it'll all have to be thrown out. Didn't you say you don't want the LNER to waste money and food?

(Gordon sighs.)

Gordon: So you mean to say that you want me to help you eat human food that would otherwise spoil and be discarded?

Scott: Why yes. I don't want these ladies to possibly lose their jobs because food was wasted and all.

Gordon: In that case, I have no choice but to help you. If this is for the benefit of the railway, then I will do it.

(Scott smiles.)

Scott: Splendid! Why don't you leave your engine form and follow us to the dining car. Who knows maybe you might like what humans eat.

(Gordon rolls his eyes leaves his engine.)

Gordon: I highly doubt that human food would hold any meaning for me. We are machines, Scott. All we need is coal and water. If we were designed to eat human food our railway would save a lot of money on coal.

Scott: Oh Gordon we aren't just machines. Look at us! We can take on a human form so we have to have some ability to eat. Don't think of it as a chore but as an adventure!

(Gordon sighs and just follows Scott as the group of ladies lead them to the dining car.)

Scott: Watch your step brother! I know you're not used to being able to walk.

Gordon: Yes, yes I know how to walk just fine Scott.

(They're lead to a table in the dining car that's covered in food.)

Narrator: There was a bottle of champagne, bread rolls and curled butter on the table. The ladies also gave them left overs from the 1st class menu which included various types of meats, halibut and numerous pastries often served during Afternoon Tea.

(Scott's eyes widen and takes a seat.)

Scott: Why thank you ladies. I'm sure this will all taste lovely. Don't you think brother?

Gordon (scoffing as he sits down): I still think this is all a waste of time. We are not humans, Scott. Their food will do nothing to sustain us.

Scott: And how would you know that if you never even tried? None of us know for sure how these human forms work. Times are changing Gordon. We no longer have to hide away in our engines for our entire existence. The depression's ending and the LNER is as successful as ever. Why if we keep growing we might even buy out the LMS.

(Gordon shakes his head.)

Gordon: Do not make such extreme sentiments. The driver told me that some parts of the kingdom are suffering in poverty and are dealing with higher levels of unemployment.

Scott (sighing): You're right. But I want to have hope that things will get better.

(Gordon tries to change the subject.)

Gordon: Well we better get started on eating all this food. We simply can not allow food waste.

(They start to dig into the food as the women watch and giggle.)

Narrator: As Scott and Gordon begin to eat and drink the champagne, Gordon quickly realizes he was wrong about human food being nonsense.

Gordon: My goodness! This lamb is delicious.

Scott (stuffing his face with cold cuts): See! I told you, brother. Human food's the best thing there is. It's little wonder they value it so much.

(Gordon is a little disgusted by Scott's lack of table manners.)

Narrator: The two of them slowly start to feel the effects of the champagne.

Scott (hiccuping): Let's get into these... pastries.

(They start eating the pastries that can be picked up with their hands.)

Gordon: These are not... better than... that lamb.

(Scott looks like he's in heaven.)

Scott: You're wrong! These.. are the best! How can you not appreciate these.... creamy pillows?!

(Gordon shushes him.)

Gordon: We need to keep it… down. Sir Nigel Gresley will punish us if we’re… not at our best for our morning… trains.

Scott (huffing): More creamy pillows for me then.

(Gordon gets up from the table.)

Gordon: I… must go back... to my engine. Goodnight… Scott.

(Scott’s now red faced and tipsy.)

Scott: Night Gordon!

Narrator: As Gordon leaves, Scott finishes eating his cream puffs and pastries.

(It’s really late at night and Scott’s belly is now bulging out of his suit jacket.)

Scott: What a meal! I just… want to sleep here. (A pause.) No. Sir Nigel Gresley would scrap me if Gordon doesn’t… yell at me first.

(He sighs and tries to get up. Some of the ladies in the dining car are still there watching.)

Scott (smiling a little flirtatiously): Hey? Care to help... a poor ol' engine... like me?

(They all practically jump out of their seats to help Scott.)

Narrator: After getting some help, Scott stumbles his way out of the dining car.

Scott (winking): Thanks ladies! See you all… in the morning!

(They blush despite themselves as Scott tries to control his laughter on the way back to his engine.)

Scott (trying to whisper): I need to do that again soon.

Narrator: As soon as he gets to his engine, Scott shifts back into it and falls asleep. He starts to dream about what it be like to live as a human.

Time Skip

Gordon: Scotsman wake up!

Scott (snorting awake): Huh? Oh Gordon I had such a wonderful dream last night!

(Gordon rolls his eyes.)

Gordon: You need to get it together fast. Sir Nigel Gresley is going to be very cross if he finds out you’re “hungover” and late!

(Scott temporarily shifts out of his engine form to wash his face before going back.)

Scott: It was such a lovely meal Gordon. You have to at least admit that can't you?

(Gordon sighs in defeat.)

Gordon: I suppose the lamb was delicious enough to reconsider.

Scott: Excellent! Don't you want to hear about my dream last night?

Gordon: But we can not continue this habit. I have no time to hear about your dream now.

(Gordon's crew starts to drive him away to the station.)

Scott: I understand and I won’t be late. I’ll tell you all about it later, Gordon!

Narrator: As Scott’s crew starts to drive him to the station he tries to prepare himself to work. But deep down he wishes to eat human food again and hopes the dining car has leftovers again.

THE END

Tagging: @bluy1206, @klein-sodor-bahn, and @nlliah. To those who have been loving my content, I thank you all so much. I can't wait to see what future requests will look like.

#nrm fanfiction #ttte fandom #flying scotsman #lner a3 #ttte gordon #fan requests

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salieri27 · 10 months ago

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an Arthur spy au fic for @chocolatecak3

Patty and Nigel were sitting in a Cafe discussing their last mission

"You really need to stop it with the overseas missions that's twice I had to save you from a booby trap" said Nigel

"That's twice Dr Boxlitner escaped well we won't go over there no more let Mr Ronsen handle it so What do you think our next mission should be" said Patty

"Anywhere but there Dr Boxlitner need to stop escaping from jail oh and could I lead a mission next time, said Nigel

"You lead a mission please you couldn't even crawl through a vent" said Patty

"It wasn't my fault Dr Boxlitner had such a small vent" said Nigel

"So our next mission would be New Eden City again" said Patty

"Not there Dr Boxlitner almost turned us into goop anywhere but there plus you just wanna show off" said Nigel

"I AM NOT A SHOW OFF" yelled patty

"Are too" said Nigel

"Am not" said patty

"Are too fine if you won't respect me then I will become a villain I quit" said Nigel

"You can't just quit" said patty

"I just did what part of I quit don't you understand" said Nigel

Nigel stormed off he arrived at his house and called Patrick his boyfriend

"I've quit the agency I'm starting my own organization together we can defeat my show off of a sister and take over the world"

"I'm in" said Patrick

Patty was left at the Cafe with a shocked expression on her face

2 notes · View notes

silver-rings-and-rabbits · 1 year ago

Text

Open Heart - Chapter 16

The Oath

Chief Emery was sat directly facing Matthew but she didn’t look up as she scanned her notes. Matthew’s eyes flicked around and he grimaced when he spotted Declan Nash sitting a few seats away, looking as smug as ever.

“You’re finished, Valentine,” he hissed. “Once you’re booted out of residency, I’ll make sure the state board revokes your licence.”

“I’ll answer to my colleagues, not you,” Matthew growled. Nash sniggered.

“Fun fact, your colleagues are my colleagues too. I’d even call us friends. For example, Dr Cyrus and Dr Wen were having dinner at my penthouse last night and, boy, did we ever talk about you…”

He sat back in his chair with a vindictive glimmer in his eye. Matthew glanced down at the podium. He didn’t want to admit that Nash was getting to him…but he was. He glanced back at his friends, who sat in the third row, and they gave him big smiles. Furthermore, a number of his previous patients were along the front row with their prepared statements.

“Good morning, Dr Valentine,” Harper announced, finally looking up. Her voice carried to the back of the hall. The hum of chatter fell silent as she banged her gavel. “Let us begin.”

Matthew took a deep breath and lifted his chin slightly. He lightly held on to the edges of the podium as the board members looked back at him, expressions ranging from professional neutrality (Dr Tanaka and Chief Emery) to outright disgust (Dr Cyrus and Dr Wen).

Cyrus took over the speech.

“A patient is dead. Teresa Martinez. By your own admission, you stole a sample of a drug and administered it without hospital approval.” He glared at Matthew over the rim of his glasses.

“I had Mrs Martinez’s approval and she understood the risks.” A little too late, Matthew wondered if he should have had Mrs Martinez sign kind of agreement.

“Before we vote on whether to rescind your privileges and terminate your residency,” Tanaka said. “You have the opportunity to defend your actions.”

“I understand you brought witnesses to testify on your behalf, including former patients,” Harper said. She had a long list in front of her, and called them up one by one.

Willow was called up first. She looked much healthier and stronger than when she came in for Hep C treatment, and despite her nerves, she told the panel about how much of a burden had been lifted off her and her brothers shoulders since Matthew had found their insurance loophole. Matthew felt a small rush of pride when she named Matthew as the reason Edenbrook was her favourite hospital. Of course, Cyrus preferred to focus on the insurance loophole, but Rosario’s eyebrows had gone up and he was nodding along with Willow.

Mrs Turner appreciated the justice system within the hospital as she took her place, cheerfully regaling the time Matthew had panicked when she was unconscious.

“A little heart-to-heart was all it took, and when further complications sprung up, he was much better prepared. Dr Valentine’s the reason I’m still breathing.” Then she frowned at the panel. “If anything, it made me think that you lot aren’t doing a very good job at the ‘teaching’ part of this teaching hospital, but fortunately I’m very good at suing for—”

“That won’t be necessary, Mrs Turner, but thank you for your time!”

Matthew pressed his lips together, hiding a smile. Mrs Turner winked at him as she took her seat.

Remy had made the journey from Southern California to Boston to tell the panel that he had a new perspective and appreciated every single minute on the waves. Not even Wen and Cyrus had a response for that. But even better was the PITA himself: Mr Nigel Platt claimed that Matthew was “the only doctor with half a brain” and admitted that he had been a jerk but Matthew still took good care of him. Most of the panel seemed pleased to hear that.

Tommy’s mom, Sharon, also talked about how Matthew had cured Tommy despite the distractions he was dealing with at the time. She was then overshadowed by none other than Jake Sandberg. As soon as he stood up, a stream of excited gasps filled the room. Even Dr Tanaka struggled to stay calm.

“Mr Sandberg! You…you know Dr Valentine?”

Jake grinned.

“He only saved my life. He and some others figured out my medications were interacting after I collapsed in the middle of the game. In fact, without Dr Valentine, we wouldn’t be on track to win the World Series. He’s welcome anytime as honorary captain.”

“Thanks Jake!” Matthew said suddenly. There was some kind of smothered moan from behind him: Elijah was fanboying.

The crowd broke into applause as Jake Sandberg returned to his seat. Harper turned towards Dr Tanaka and said something that sounded like: “Am I supposed to know who this guy is? Is it a sports thing?”

It took a few minutes for the buzz to die down again before Alma – Dolores’s sister – stood up to speak, and Matthew had a pang of sadness as he remembered the long night in the NICU. Alma spoke about it now: she had since adopted her nephew and she still strongly believed that Matthew rescuing the frog toy and keeping vigil that night had kept him alive. The frog still brought the baby so much comfort. Matthew discretely wiped away a tear. Dr Chandra beamed at him.

“That’s remarkable dedication, Dr Valentine,” she said. Even Dr Lozoya looked moved.

On the other hand, Cyrus and Wen were whispering furiously to each other: everything had been far too complimentary for their liking. For the first time in this debacle, Matthew felt like he may just have a chance.

The last person to give testimony was Annie – Matthew’s first patient. She hadn’t realised she was the first patient until now and it seemed exciting to her. She was equally pleased that Matthew had emailed her a few times to check on her recovery, and that she was settling in, which was all well and good until Cyrus jumped in again.

“Dr Valentine administered the antibiotics that nearly killed you. Dr Varma had to rescue you.”

“Hey, keep my name out of your mouth, pal—”

“Jackie, ssh! You’ll make it worse!”

“That may be,” Annie said, firmly to Cyrus, “But I didn’t know I was allergic, and it was still Dr Valentine who realised what was happening and stabilised me. How many of you could have done that on your first day?”

She eyed the panel. Dr Lozoya had to quietly admit that she made a good point.

“Enough of this!” Cyrus cried out. Nash had been making a slashing motion at his neck. “These patients can’t possibly know enough about Dr Valentine to make a decision!”

“Agreed,” Wen said. “The panel should be asking doctors who are familiar with the profession.”

Nash, Cyrus and Wen freaking out had to have been a good sign, and when Matthew sneaked a glance at his friends, they were all grinning.

Calling the doctors forward didn’t seem to have the effect Nash hoped. Dr Mirani didn’t look at Matthew as he was called forward, confirmed Matthew was a colossal pain in the ass, but he wouldn’t hear a bad word about Matthew after the day of the triage. Triaging three dozen desperate, pleading crash victims would have been tough for any doctor, let alone an intern, but Matthew had been stellar and had saved many lives. Even better was Chief Emery’s addition that Matthew had stepped up to assist on an emergency surgery with no training. Nash looked like he might be sick.

They got their revenge by tearing into Ines as soon as she described Matthew as a friend, pointing out that someone going behind her back to deliver an illegal treatment was probably not something a friend would do. Ines didn’t have a good response to that. Matthew felt incredibly guilty. He’d never dream of taking advantage of Ines…but perhaps, despite the best intentions, he had.

The hearing was beginning to wear on him and he suddenly wanted to shout at the panel to hurry up and make a decision. The odds seemed evenly stacked at this point: he’d had good testimony from his patients, but there was still too many negatives for his liking.

He perked up a little when he received glowing testimonies from the senior physicians. Dr Myles gave a strong report on how well Matthew had handled the challenges of his intern year. Dr Yannick confirmed that Matthew had put plenty of research behind the cure, and this mistake shouldn’t be considered statistically significant in a sample size this small. Dr Calais, for some reason, suggested that golf was a good judge of character and Matthew’s swing was very promising. Matthew didn’t understand, but was willing to take whatever he could get.

“Alright,” Harper called. “This hearing will take a short recess and then—”

“Don’t I get to speak?”

Matthew jumped in surprise and turned to see a man walking down the steps. He was looking at Matthew, but Matthew had never seen her before.

“That’s Luis Martinez, the son of the woman you killed,” Nash chortled. “You’re so toast, it’s making me crave breakfast.”

Matthew resisted the urge to push his hair back as he watched Mr Martinez approach. Somehow, facing the panel had been less scary than this. But he didn’t have time to regret any of it now, and was going to stand his ground until the end.

Mr Martinez paused at Matthew’s podium. His expression was troubled.

“You…are you the one who did it?”

Matthew braced himself.

“I am.”

Mr Martinez bit his lip…and then his eyes filled with tears and he hugged Matthew tightly. Sounds of surprise erupted around the room. The panel certainly didn’t know what to say, and Matthew didn’t know what to do except awkwardly pat him on the back as Mr Martinez whispered his thanks.

“But…what in the…” Nash spluttered.

“Mr Martinez, this doctor is the reason your mother is dead!” Cyrus cried. Mr Martinez pulled away from Matthew, wiping his eyes.

“He’s why my mother lived. Don’t get me wrong, I was so upset, furious even, but then someone showed me the photo of her in Paris.” He smiled at Matthew. “I hadn’t seen that look on her face since I was a boy. And I knew why Dr Valentine did it.”

“I’m just glad I could help a patient,” Matthew said, returning Mr Martinez’s smile. A small part of his guilt was dissolving at the validation.

Mr Martinez chuckled. “You helped her in ways that no doctor ever could. That’s why I’m dropping my lawsuit,” he added, and the hall erupted. Matthew could hear his friends voices in particular sounding hopeful…but he wouldn’t let himself get excited. He was in too deep for the panel to just let him off.

Meanwhile, Mr Martinez took his seat…next to Dr Ramsey. His comment about not being out of tricks suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Yes, yes, this is all wonderful but it has no bearing on the matter at hand,” Cyrus barked, shutting the hall up.

“Dr Cyrus is right. As much as this is good news, Dr Valentine still breached hospital ethics,” Harper said. “We will take a short recess, and then Dr Valentine will make one last statement before we vote.”

She banged the gavel and the atmosphere relaxed a tiny bit as spectators started chatting to each other. A number of people were catching up with Jake Sandberg in the hope of getting a selfie. Feeling slightly light-headed, Matthew made for the door. His friends followed.

He couldn’t even relax outside the room. Somehow he felt worse than he had before he went in.

“One last chance to save my skin. What do I even say?!” he gasped, pacing around.

Bryce said he would have voted for him and Jackie said she would tell everyone to kiss her ass, which she knew wouldn’t go over great. Matthew glared at them both.

“Anyone got any real suggestions?”

Elijah quickly rolled forward, making Bryce and Jackie step back. “Stick to your guns and say what you mean.”

Rafael gently touched the small of Matthew’s back. “You confessed so you could have the truth on your side. Let it fight for you.”

It helped Matthew a little bit, and then Aurora’s voice rose up, distracting them.

“Everyone else is watching the hearing, why can’t I?”

“Because, Aurora, this is the perfect chance for you to pick up some extra cases.” Harper had an excited smile, but if she had paused for a second she might have realised she was the only one. “Report to Dr Alondra, then Dr Mirrielees. Tell them I sent you—”

“God, Aunt Harper, would you just STOP?!”

Matthew glanced at his friends, who all looked shocked, but after he had seen Aurora in the supply closet, he wasn’t surprised. However, Harper looked stunned. The argument had drawn the attention of literally everyone in the atrium.

“You don’t listen to me! Ever since I got here, you’ve used me to feel like you’re still practising!” There was something in her fast-paced speech that was eerily similar to how Sienna broke up with Wayne.

“That-that’s not true…”

“No? Then tell me how much you love being chief. Tell me that you don’t miss being a surgeon and that you love paperwork and kissing up to scumbags like Nash. Tell me how much you didn’t care about getting back into the OR the other day!”

Harper spluttered, trying to regain her composure.

“Aurora, you can’t talk to me that way!”

“You know what the hilarious thing is?” Aurora groaned, ignoring her. “Of all people, Valentine is the kind of doctor that you’ve always wanted me to be…and you’re letting Nash railroad him out of a fair hearing.”

Aurora stormed off with the final word, leaving Harper completely shell-shocked. No one had ever seen the Chief of Medicine so lost for words and as such, no one knew how to react. People watching the hearing awkwardly shuffled past to get back into the conference room, people not watching the hearing scurried down the halls.

Aurora was making a beeline for the stairs. Matthew hastily caught up with her and she whipped round to glare at him.

“What?”

“It’s about damn time.” Matthew couldn’t help smiling a little as he wondered how long Aurora had dreamed of saying all that.

Aurora jutted out her chin.

“Yeah. It was.”

She nodded at Matthew, then continued to march up the stairs but rather than going to chase up cases, she entered through the upstairs doors to the conference room.

Matthew returned to his friends who were, of course, asking questions, but the hearing was about to start again; Harper had already gone marching back inside. They didn’t have much more time to do anything more than give encouraging hugs before returning to their seats. Matthew didn’t know what was about to happen. But Aurora Emery had made an argument for him which he wasn’t sure he deserved, Ethan Ramsey had come through and brought Mrs Martinez’s son onto his side, and as much as he was trying not to get too confident, he believed it would all mean something.

And now it was crunch time. He took a deep breath, like Mrs Turner had taught him, as he returned to the podium and stood tall. Dr Wen glared at him. He held her gaze.

“Dr Valentine, you stand accused of not just breaking Edenbrook policies, but the Hippocratic Oath.”

“First, do no harm,” Cyrus quoted. “You broke your vow as a doctor.”

“I don’t believe I did.”

“I see.” Tanaka frowned. “Might I ask what you think it means to be a doctor then?”

Matthew had had ample time to think about this.

“It means fighting the inevitable. They say that, as doctors, we are just buying time. We all die eventually. But time isn’t what we need.” He remembered Mrs Martinez picking up her suitcase, her face alight with joy. “Mrs Martinez would have rather spent ten days doing what she loved than ten years cooped up here. Since we all lose the fight eventually, I’m going to make sure my patients fight on their own terms.”

His statement was met with a burst of applause from behind him. He suddenly felt like he was leading a revolution…maybe, in some small way, he was.

Cyrus and Wen, however shared a panicked look before Cyrus hissed at Harper to do something. It took her a second to bang the gavel; she seemed distracted. And when Dr Chandra asked if he regretted his actions, he didn’t. He regretted the pain caused to the Martinez family, and he regretted the time wasted on the investigation, but what he was able to do for Mrs Martinez was worth everything.

With everything said and done, he gripped the edge of the podium, trying not to shake, as Chief Emery called the vote.

“You weren’t going to start without me, were you?”

Matthew jumped and whipped around to see none other than Dr Banerji, leaning heavily on a walking stick and being assisted down the stairs by Landry. He still looked weak and pale, but very pleased to have turned up for the most pivotal moment of the hearing. He did love the drama, after all.

Landry looked pleased too. “As soon as he woke up, I drove us here as fast as I could,” he explained as Naveen shook hands with Ethan, who suddenly looked the happiest Matthew had ever seen. The panel were all speechless, and the crowd was gawking and murmuring in confusion…except for Matthew’s friends who were exchanging subtle high-fives and fist-bumps.

“I…Naveen, what are you doing here?” Chief Emery stuttered. “You said you were retiring.”

“I should have said I was expiring,” Naveen chuckled, slightly raspy. “Until yesterday, I was on the verge of death by sepsis of unknown origin. Unknown, that is, until Dr Valentine gave up his last day of preparation for this hearing to solve my case.” He winked at Matthew, who smiled warmly. “Now then, I believe that seat still has my name on it.”

Nash made some kind of signal as Naveen made his way to the eighth seat and Cyrus jumped up.

“Uhh, that’s fantastic news, Dr Banerji, but…er…protocol dictates…”

“You were never a good liar, Cyrus,” Dr Banerji said, coldly. His smile returned when he looked back at Matthew. “Now, given the circumstances of my resurrection, I think we all know what I’m about to say. And when it comes to revoking your licence, that’s going to be a ‘nay’ from me.”

“Nay,” Dr Lozoya agreed.

“Nay for me as well,” Dr Tanaka nodded. Dr Chandra also voted ‘nay’ and turned to Chief Emery. Silence suddenly fell. She had the casting vote. Matthew gripped the podium again, his nerves rushing back ten-fold. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead and time seemed to stop as Chief Emery gave him a long, measured look. Her eyes flicked once to the back of the room, where Aurora stood.

“Think about this, Harper…” Declan Nash growled.

“Dr Valentine,” Chief Emery said, calmly. “You’ve proven you’re someone who focuses on what a patient wants as much as what their body needs…but we’re not here to save bodies, we’re here to save lives. I vote nay.”

Her voice rang out, clear and decisive, as Matthew’s breath came out in a rush as his knees went weak and he hung onto his podium to keep from collapsing.

“Ohmygod I get to stay!”

Dr Rosario reluctantly voted nay, as did Cyrus and Wen, realising there was no use arguing now, and then the cheers went up.

“Hell yeah! Unanimous MVP!” Bryce cried from somewhere behind him, a scalpel jockey through and through. The crowd continued to applaud as Matthew went down to shake the hands of each of them, even Cyrus and Wen who barely looked at him. Harper politely told him to keep the ethics hearings to a minimum in the future, and Naveen held his hand tightly and said that he should be thanking him.

“This hearing is officially adjourned,” Harper announced with a victorious bang on the gavel.

“Emery!” Nash stormed over and placed both hands on the desk in front of Harper. “This is unacceptable. Valentine will be punished, or my company will—”

“Your company won’t do a damned thing,” Harper snapped. “Or I’ll make my next keynote speech about why you buried research on a cure for Rhodes. Speaking of which, you’d better get that R&D back up and running.”

She swept away as Ethan joined Matthew at the bottom of the stairs.

“Good job, Valentine,” he said, casually. Nash whipped round to glare at them.

“This isn’t over,” he cried, sounding ridiculously comical. “I still have that deal you signed, Ramsey. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me around here.”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it, Nash. Go home.”

“And if I don’t?” Nash attempted to square up to Ramsey. “What are you gonna do, punch me again?”

“I think you’ve been embarrassed enough for one day,” Matthew said, patting Nash’s cheek condescendingly, as he and Ethan walked towards the exit. Nash was so incensed that he shouted after them that he could take way more embarrassment, and they both started laughing. Jake Sandberg was nearby, taking more selfies with fans under the watchful eye of a bodyguard, and gave Matthew a smile and a wave.

“Ramsey!”

Harper was calling Ethan over, with a steely expression. Ethan sighed.

“Looks like I have some explaining to do.” He was smirking. “Enjoy the rest of your day, Matthew.”

As Ethan strolled over to where Harper was standing, Matthew scanned the atrium and spotted his friends lurking by the corridor. He rushed over to them, barrelling straight into Rafael but pulling back immediately, remembering his injuries. But Rafael pulled him straight back into a hug, laughing joyously, then Bryce was hugging both of them, Sienna’s arms were round Matthew’s waist, and then Kyra joined in, and Elijah joined in, and Jackie stood off to one side, rolling her eyes, and all of them were laughing.

“I can’t believe all of that just happened,” Matthew said, when they broke apart. He was buzzing with adrenaline, and felt so good he could lift a car.

“Never doubted you for a second,” Bryce said, ruffling Matthew’s hair.

Sienna was still squeezing Matthew like she didn’t want to let go. He squeezed her in return.

“Hey, you OK?” he asked her. She smiled at him and nodded, though she was a little teary.

“So, um, not to break up the party,” Elijah said. “But we should probably start work before the attendings come looking.”

“Oh, I guess I should confirm when I start again too,” Matthew remembered.

“Donahue’s tonight?” Bryce eyeballed the rest of the group, including Rafael and Kyra, and was met with a cheer.

Rafael and Matthew got something to eat together at Edenbrook cafeteria where they recounted the trial. Matthew thought he was doomed when the panel asked Annie about the antibiotics she was allergic to, and when Ines had been questioned, but Rafael insisted he never gave up.

“I heard people talking beforehand as well, and they all hoped you would win,” Rafael said. “Guess people weren’t judging you as much as you thought.” He reached for Matthew’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Matthew blushed and squeezed his hand back. “That means a lot…more than you know.” He finished up his coffee. “Will you come with us to Donahue’s later?”

Rafael kissed his hand.

“If you want me there, I’ll be there.”

Matthew caught Chief Emery in the hallway—still looking a little dazed—and she told him to be in the next morning at 8AM and to report to the reception desk first thing for his badge and his charts. Matthew had never been happier at the prospect of waking up early.

He made the most of his remaining afternoon off by lounging in bed, wearing pyjamas, watching Netflix, and having a long call home where Holly screamed in delight that he was keeping his job. She repeated what Chief Emery had told him: keep the ethics hearings to a minimum in the future.

That evening, Matthew arrived at Donahue’s to a deafening cheer. It was even more packed than usual, stuffed with interns, residents and attendings.

“Someone buy that man a drink!” Someone – probably Bryce – shouted.

“Way ahead of you!” Someone – probably Jackie – replied.

“Speeeech!” Someone completely unknown called.

“Oh gosh, er…” Matthew gulped as he realised every eye in the room was on him. He wasn’t keen on the spotlight, and decided to keep it short and sweet.

“Well…I wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you, so genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

This got him an ‘aaaaw’ followed by a loud cheer as the patrons returned to their drinking. Matthew sidled up to Sienna and Jackie.

“Such a sap,” Jackie smirked. “Here.”

She passed Matthew a large, frosty glass of beer, and Matthew downed half of it immediately.

“That’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” he gasped. “Besides Sienna’s cooking, obviously.”

“Right answer,” she giggled. She looked much happier now that the shock of the hearing was wearing off, and she ordered a vodka raspberry from the bartender. “Do you think the rest of our residency will be this crazy?”

“I sincerely hope not. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone prematurely grey.” He leaned a little closer. “Are you sure you’re OK?”

“I’m fine. I was just so worried about what might happen if you lost your job, and then I was so relieved I couldn’t speak!”

Meanwhile, Jackie had been ordering a cosmopolitan from the bartender, and she turned back to the other two with the drink in hand.

“Do you think Banerji will return to work?” She asked. “Ramsey too…maybe there’s still hope for the diagnostics team.”

“All that drama for nothing, huh?” Matthew sighed, though he was still riding a high to be disappointed. If nothing else, the competition had shown who his true friends were.

“For what it’s worth, Matthew, you’d have won the competition…probably,” Jackie said, dragging out the last word. Sienna started laughing again as Matthew put his hands on her shoulders.

“That must have been really painful for you to say,” he teased. There would truly never be another day like this. He couldn’t help feeling smug as Jackie made a face and washed her mouth out with cosmo. Sienna patted Jackie’s back in mock sympathy as Rafael joined them.

“How are you doing?” Matthew asked, hugging him around the waist. “Do you want to sit down?”

“No, I’m fine,” Rafael said, putting his arm around Matthew’s shoulders as Bryce, Kyra and Elijah rolled over.

“Hey, big guy, you’re looking better,” Bryce said, with a mock punch to Rafael’s shoulder.

“I’m feeling better. I actually saw my supervisor this afternoon and asked about returning to work, but she said I should take another month off.”

“You’ve got to enjoy your free time while you can!” Matthew said, as the others laughed. Still, he was relieved that Rafael wasn’t diving straight back into the fray.

“You’re welcome to come hang out with me if you ever need company,” Kyra said to Rafael. “Chemo is super boring.”

“How’s that going, by the way?”

“It absolutely sucks…but I’m not quitting yet!”

Matthew smiled to himself when he heard that, and had to turn away for a few mouthfuls of beer.

“Matthew!”

Ines hurried through the crowd to give him a big hug whilst Zaid rolled his eyes.

“I’m so, so glad you get to stay!” she said, squeezing him so tightly that he could barely breathe. He didn’t even care; he was just glad they were still friends.

“I must admit,” Zaid said. “It would be very sad if you didn’t make it to your second year of residency—”

“Aw, thanks Zaid!”

“—And never had your own interns annoying the crap out of you and finally understanding my pain.”

It was too much to expect a tender moment with Zaid.

“Thanks for believing in me…I suppose we’ll be equals soon.”

“We most certainly will not!”

“I dunno…I’m pretty sure Valentine’s right,” Jackie grinned, as the others stifled giggles.

“You know, as equals, we’ll be able to hang out more often!” Ines said cheerfully, hugely enjoying Zaid’s discomfort. It was the last straw for the interns, who started howling with laughter as Zaid groaned dramatically. Ines winked at them and then pulled Zaid away, saving him from further torment.

The group started peeling off, with the boys going to play pool and Sienna wanting to dance. Matthew was just losing to Elijah when he felt a light touch at his elbow and turned to see Kyra.

“I’m calling it a night,” she said.

“Oh, OK. Are you feeling alright?”

“Just a bit tired and bleh. Probably fine, but best not to push it. And I start treatment again tomorrow, so…”

“See you tomorrow?” Matthew smiled. “As a doctor, not a visitor.”

“Damn straight!”

They laughed and hugged each other tightly before Matthew turned back to the game.

“Another round?” Elijah grinned, but then his face fell. “Scratch that, the traitor just came in and he looked this way.”

Matthew sneaked a glance over his shoulder to see Landry standing awkwardly at the bar, pretending he hadn’t noticed them. Whatever he had to say, Matthew didn’t need to hear it. His trust in Landry had broken beyond repair and, despite working together for Dr Banerji, there were plenty of people who really mattered standing beside him. There was no reason to let Landry back in. He had saved his job without Landry’s help.

“Just keep him away if you can,” he said to Elijah, who nodded.

More interesting than Landry was Aurora, sitting alone in a booth, sipping a beer and scrolling on her phone.

“Hey,” Matthew said, sliding into the booth opposite her. She blinked in surprise, dropping her phone on the table. Matthew spotted apartment listings on the screen.

“You don’t have to check up on me. I’m used to being alone,” she said, a little too casually to be believable. He nodded at the phone on the table.

“Moving?”

“I’ve been living at my aunt’s place since I finished med school but I think it might be good to have some space.”

Matthew sat in thought for a minute.

“You know, we have a room opening up.”

Aurora looked at him sharply, extremely suspicious, and then disbelieving as she read Matthew’s face.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I am,” Matthew said. “I mean, I’d have to ask the rest of my roommates, but we can’t have an empty room. So…think about it?”

A smile was pricking the corners of Aurora’s mouth.

“I will.” Matthew could tell she meant it.

Matthew left her to her thoughts and spotted Sienna, still tearing up the dance floor. She waved him over eagerly and they started dancing together wildly, no cares in the world.

“You seem happy,” Matthew said in her ear. “I mean, compared to, y’know…”

“Than when I wanted to quit?” Sienna supplied. “Yeah, I am. I know it’ll be hard sometimes, but we’ll help each other through it, right?”

“You know I will,” Matthew said, lifting her off her feet and spinning her round to make her squeal.

“You know, I didn’t think I could do it without Wayne!” Sienna gasped when Matthew put her down again. “We’d been together so long, it was almost like he became the default!”

“Look at you now!!”

“I know, right!” Sienna’s eyes darted to one side and then back to Matthew. “It’s quite nice to have a crush again, though.”

Matthew’s eyes followed hers to where Danny was hanging out at the edge of the dance floor, stealing glances at Sienna when he thought she wasn’t looking.

“Ooooh.” Matthew raised his eyebrows. “Should I leave you to it?”

“Only if you want to,” Sienna grinned. “I’m not rushing into anything. I like the idea of some quality time to myself first.”

The two of them moved off the dance floor and rejoined Jackie at the bar.

“The snake was looking for you,” she said to Matthew. “He’s lucky I didn’t knock his brains out.”

“I didn’t want to talk to him,” Matthew shrugged. “What did he want?”

“Said he’s transferring to Mass Kenmore, or whatever. Good riddance.”

“Damn.” Sienna bit her lip, looking slightly disheartened. Maybe she was remembering how they had once been a united group, but before he could ask, Jackie gave a wicked grin.

“What the hell are you still doing here, Matthew? I think if I’d just survived an existential threat to my livelihood, I’ll be going home with the hottest person I could find.”

Sienna brightened instantly as Matthew blushed.

“I’m with Jackie on this one. I hope you’re not sticking around to keep me company.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for that…”

Matthew glanced around the bar. Jackie nudged him.

“If you’re looking for Rafael, I think he’s leaving.”

“Wait, what?”

Matthew spotted him, at last. He was pulling on his coat and did indeed look like he was about to leave. Matthew jumped to his feet, told the girls not to wait up, and left them giggling behind him as he made his way through the crowded bar, catching up to Rafael just as he walked through the door.

“Hey, you’re not leaving without saying goodbye?”

“You looked like you were having fun. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Rafael looked extremely pleased that Matthew had stopped him. Matthew smirked and stepped closer, close enough for his breath to tickle Rafael’s lips.

“Maybe I wanted you to interrupt.”

“Oh? And what did you have in mind?”

Ten minutes later, the two of them stumbled through the door of Matthew’s apartment, passionately kissing. Their hands were roaming over their clothes, and their hair was equally messed up where the other had been running their fingers through it.

“Raf…” Matthew gasped, trying to regain an inch of sensibility. “You’re still hurt…you should…mmmm…you should be careful.”

Rafael was thrilled that Matthew had picked up on his nickname. It seemed to turn him on even more as he captured Matthew’s lips with his own.

“I’m tired of being careful, Matthew,” he moaned. “And I know what I want.”

“And what do you want exactly?” Matthew’s eyes were twinkling.

“Right now?” Rafael leaned in to whisper in Matthew’s ear. “I really, really want to see your bedroom.”

For a split second, Matthew looked like all his dreams were coming true before he was kissing Rafael again, and they were stumbling down the hallway together, into his bedroom and collapsing onto the bed.

“Well, here it is, in all it’s glory. What do you think?”

Rafael made a big show of ignoring his surroundings and only looking at Matthew.

“Amazing.”

Matthew’s cheeks warmed as he looked back at Rafael. He was so beautiful, his curly hair ruffled and fluffy, his eyes that were always so warm were eager and full of desire, without losing a touch of their tenderness. It was about time they had sex, and Matthew was sure he was in for a good time. He shivered pleasantly as Rafael peeled off his suit, his hands caressing his bare skin, his lips brushing his neck made Matthew dizzy with anticipation. He felt so loved, it was the perfect medicine for the last several weeks.

His breath caught when he saw Rafael pulling off his own t-shirt. His eyes lingered on his strong arms and washboard abs as he wondered what took them so long to get here.

Matthew traced his fingers along Rafael’s skin, but hesitated when he got to the surgical scar down the middle of his chest. The stitches had been removed but it was still fresh and red.

“Does it hurt?” he asked.

“Right now I can’t even feel it.”

That was all Matthew needed to pull Rafael close to him, touching him everywhere he could. Rafael responded in kind, and soon they were both gasping with delight, moaning in pleasure, and when they came, they came together.

They lay intwined, basking in the afterglow, still sweating and breathing hard. Matthew gazed at Rafael, sharing a smile when Rafael caught his eye.

Matthew didn’t have much romantic history. He started having casual dates in college, hooking up occasionally, but he told himself his job was the most important thing in his future which had made him think he shouldn’t be pursuing relationships.

It was different with Rafael. Talking with him had always been so easy, and always left Matthew wanting to know more. Going into work knowing Rafael would be nearby put a spring in his step. If they ran into each other, no matter how briefly, it rejuvenated him when he returned to work. And now he realised – after the best sex he had ever had – lying in Rafael’s arms was his favourite place to be in the whole world.

He propped himself up and smoothed Rafael’s hair off his forehead and kissed him tenderly.

“Do you want a cup of coffee or anything?” he asked.

“Tea would be great if you have it?”

Matthew grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the floor before he went to the kitchen. His roommates weren’t back yet and he enjoyed a rare moment of stillness as he boiled the kettle. He found the teabags hidden at the back of the cupboard and, after a moment’s consideration, decided he would join Raf. He dropped a tea bag into both mugs. It was a drink for relaxation, and he had definitely earned that.

He hummed to himself as he brought the mugs into his room, where Raf was sitting with his back against the pillows, gazing around with interest. Matthew couldn’t help wishing he’d had the foresight to tidy up at some point as he handed Raf his tea.

“Thanks,” Rafael smiled. “By the way, I do really like your room.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s nice to see this side of you.”

Matthew smiled, taking a sip of tea to hide his blush, when Rafael nodded to a photo on the bedside table.

“Is that Casey?”

The small double-photo frame held a photo of his twin on their tenth birthday – before she got sick – on the right side of the frame. The left side was his drawing of her. Matthew’s expression softened as he picked up the frame; he realised he had forgotten that she’d had a dimple. It was captured on her cheek as she laughed at something off-camera, her eyes bright and her curly hair bouncy and strong. That particular genetic coding had bypassed Matthew. He handed the picture to Rafael, who examined it closely.

“I wish you could have met her,” Matthew said. “Although she probably would have tried to embarrass me.” He rested his head against Raf’s shoulder.

“I wish I could have met her too, and that you could have met my uncle and my grandfather.” He leaned into Matthew. “But they definitely would have tried to embarrass me, too.”

They both chuckled at that, washing the room with peace. As Rafael passed the picture back, there was a scratching at the door; Spooky had been dozing in someone’s room, but now she sensed their presence and wanted in.

“Raf, have you ever met a chinchilla?”

“No.”

“Would you like to?”

“Yeah!”

Matthew laughed as he climbed out of bed.

“Just make sure your chest is covered, you don’t want her claws in your scar.”

Rafael covered his chest with the duvet and Matthew opened the door a crack and scooped up the chinchilla. Rafael gasped when he saw her.

“Oh my god…she’s like a fluffy cloud!”

“Right?! OK, I’m gonna put her on the bed. Just let her come to you.”

Matthew placed Spooky on the bed and slipped back in beside Rafael. Spooky enjoyed roaming free, hopping back and fourth several times, before she finally hopped over to his face and gave him a delicate sniff. Rafael laughed as her whiskers tickled him. Matthew’s heart practically exploded with adoration, especially when Spooky decided to nestle in Raf’s shoulder. She liked him, though it wass hardly surprising.

Raf loved her fur. He constantly petted her as he and Matthew finished their tea and fussed over the chinchilla. Raf talked more of his old cat, Coco. Matthew admitted he had never had a pet before, and was now a fully-converted chinchilla lover.

Good things came to an end, and sure enough Matthew’s roommates returned home and Spooky rushed out to greet them. Matthew quietly closed the door after her; just because his roomies knew he had taken Raf home didn’t mean they needed to see.

They cuddled again as soon as he was back in bed. Rafael’s fingers lazily traced patterns along his arm.

“You look tired, Matthew.”

“Cut me some slack. I almost lost my job today.”

“I know. But you don’t have to worry anymore.” He smiled. “So when are they letting you back in the hospital?”

“8AM tomorrow.”

“Just a few hours of freedom left. How do you want to spend it?”

Matthew cuddled closer, feeling safe and warm.

“This. Exactly this.”

Of course, it was exactly what Rafael wanted to hear. He lifted Matthew’s chin just to kiss him.

“It’s so good to see you smiling again.”

Matthew had never dreamed he would meet someone like Rafael, but he had. And so soon after arriving in Boston. It seemed too good to be true that Rafael would like him as much as he liked Raf. He ran a hand over Raf’s chest, making sure he was there. He was…and he was still there when Matthew woke up the next morning.

It was always going to be a good day when you woke up next to someone so beautiful. Rafael smirked as he traced his fingers along Matthew’s cheek.

“Excited to return to work?”

“I am…although I wouldn’t say no to one more day…”

“Maybe your next day off,” Rafael teased as Matthew kissed his fingers.

Matthew grinned and pulled himself out of bed and over to his closet, satisfied at the prospects of more nights like the last one…but he was instantly distracted by the sudden cry of pain as Rafael tried to sit up and fell back against the pillows, rubbing his scar cautiously.

“What’s wrong?” Matthew asked in alarm, rushing to his side. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah.” Rafael let out a slow breath and glanced guiltily at Matthew. “But maybe I pushed a bit too much last night.”

Matthew tried and failed to hide a smile.

“See, as a doctor, I should probably feel bad about that. But as the person who took you to bed, I can’t bring myself to.”

Raf laughed. “Good. Me neither.”

He sat up much more slowly, and dressed cautiously, under Matthew’s wary eye.

“Raf? In all seriousness, please take it easy today.”

“I will.” Raf kissed his cheek. “I’ll go visit my avo later. She won’t let me lift a finger.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Once fully dressed, Matthew took Raf by the hand and led him into the kitchen where some of his roommates were already sitting down for breakfast. They seemed completely unfazed at the sight of Rafael in their living room.

“Hey guys!” Sienna said, cheerfully. “I’m scrambling some eggs if you want some?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

Rafael settled carefully into the chair opposite Elijah, who gave him an easy smile. Meanwhile, Matthew helped Sienna dish up the food and put on a pot of coffee. She looked over, questioningly.

“Good night last night?”

“Yep.”

Matthew glanced automatically at Rafael, who was in animated conversation with Elijah, and his expression told Sienna everything she needed to know. She gave him a happy squeeze before they took plates of eggs and sausages to the table.

The four of them ate companionably. When he was done, Raf leaned back and rested an arm on the back of Matthew’s chair in a gesture that felt completely natural and set off fireworks in Matthew’s stomach. He always knew that Rafael would fit in effortlessly.

Jackie came in a few minutes later, her hair still slightly damp from her morning shower. She greeted the other four with a slightly mumbled ‘morning’ before pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a seat.

“What are we going to do about the fifth bedroom now?” she asked at the next break in conversation.

“Bryce?” Elijah suggested.

“Hard pass.”

“We can put an ad out, I’m sure we’ll be able to find someone willing to take it,” Sienna said, trying to be helpful. Matthew cleared his throat.

“Actually I mentioned it to Aurora last night. She said she would think about it.”

There was a sudden silence as the group took this in. Sienna broke it first.

“You know…that doesn’t sound so bad. It would be great to start again with her,” she said. “I feel really bad that we judged her the way we did.”

“Agreed,” Elijah said. “And she stuck up for Matthew during the hearing.”

“She probably actually did me a major help,” Matthew muttered as Rafael leaned forward.

“I don’t know if this will help, but I’ve spoken to Aurora a few times. She’s quite reserved but she doesn’t strike me as a nasty person. I think she just takes a while to come out of her shell.”

He had ended up being right about Landry. Matthew didn’t need any more convincing. He looked over at Jackie.

“I’ve got nothing against it,” she shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to say to her though.”

“How about ‘hi, how are you?’” Matthew suggested. Jackie narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’ve gotten real cocky since yesterday, Valentine.”

The atmosphere relaxed again as Jackie finished her coffee and they piled onto the T. Raf seemed completely at ease with his roommates now and agreed to come over again soon when they said goodbye at the hospital, promising Matthew he would text when he got home safely.

As his friends peeled off to the staff entrance, Matthew went straight to the main entrance to retrieve his staff ID. Ines was already behind the desk and she gave him another big, welcoming smile.

“Welcome back, Dr Valentine!”

She dug his badge out of the box and handed it to him proudly. No sooner had Matthew put it on when there was a sudden thud from behind them. They jumped around to see someone had passed out.

“I’ve got this,” Matthew said calmy, as he strode over to the patient.

When he made it to the atrium, fifteen minutes later, Bryce and Jackie were already there, waiting for him with raised eyebrows.

“Are you seriously late on your first day back?”

“Sorry. Had to resuscitate a guy in the waiting room.”

“You get to have all the fun.”

Meanwhile, Harper was marching towards the group. Matthew was surprised to see Ethan several paces behind, keeping up with Naveen who walked with a stick. They were both wearing white coats.

“Thank you for meeting here, interns,” Harper said. “There will be several changes to staff over the next few months for you to be aware of. First of all, though I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Chief of Medicine, I will soon be returning to my previous post as head of neurosurgery.”

“I get to do surgeries with Dr Emery all the time now?” Bryce gasped, looking like his dreams were coming true. “I am blessed.” He practically sang the last word. Across the room, Aurora was looking genuinely pleased.

“Following completion of his recovery,” Harper continued. “I will be handing the reins over to none other than our own Dr Banerji.”

“No way,” Matthew gasped, applauding loudly with everyone else. Naveen looked very touched at the interns reaction, but Ethan could barely contain his shock. He hadn’t been completely filled in.

“Thank you all,” Dr Banerji said. “I am eager to recover and get back to work. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering about the diagnostics team, and I will be leaving it in the very capable hands of Dr Ramsey.”

The interns applauded again, sniggering at Ethan’s poorly concealed shock, and then Harper dismissed them to their rounds. Ethan instantly rounded on Naveen.

“Administration, really, Naveen?” he growled. “You hate administrators.”

“No, my friend, you do. But now that I am one, I’m sure you and I could strike a balance.”

“Good luck with that one, Naveen!” Harper called over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

Matthew was about to leave and start his rounds when Naveen called him over.

“As there will be an empty slot on the diagnostics team after all, I’ve decided who I want to fill it.”

Matthew blinked.

“You mean…me?”

Naveen nodded once, offering a handshake with a smile. Matthew’s heart started beating fast as he took it, trying not to tremble.

“I…wow…thank you, it’s such an honour!”

“It’s not an honour, Dr Valentine, it’s an opportunity. One that I think you’ll shine in, don’t you agree, Dr Ramsey?”

“Of course, but the competition was cancelled…”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ll be top dog and can make new rules!” Naveen declared. “So, Dr Valentine will spend his second year of residency on the diagnostics team under your supervision. Congratulations Matthew,” he added, with a wink as he walked away.

Matthew’s head was spinning and he half-expected to wake up and find the whole morning had been a dream as he looked up at Dr Ramsey.

“Well.” Dr Ramsey scratched the back of his neck, then turned to Matthew resolutely. “Better get to work then, Rookie.”

“Yes, Dr Ramsey.”

Matthew was practically bouncing as he walked towards his first patient of the day. Dr Ramsey working again, Dr Banerji coming back, Dr Emery doing what she did best, Aurora considering their spare room. And now he had the spot on the diagnostics team. Who knew that real life could take such a good turn?

He couldn’t wait to tell Rafael and his friends, even Jackie, who he was sure would take it in good stride. If anything, it would motivate her to work even harder than she did now. Matthew firmly believed that she would soon be recognised as the talented doctor she was. Nothing but good things were ahead of them now. Suddenly he couldn’t wait to start his second year, which was over seven months away.

Matthew approached the patient’s room, fondly remembering the nervous, awkward doctor who had walked through the doors on his first day. If only he had known what was to come. That young man wouldn’t have believed that, in just a few months, he would be strolling down the corridors, holding his head high and greeting everyone he met.

He quickly scanned the details on the patient chart before he opened the door.

“Hi there! I’m Dr Valentine, and I’ll be your doctor for today.”

#playchoices #open heart #rafael aveiro #mc x rafael aveiro

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