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Why’s It Always Crystals? - Part 2 (ST:D x The Inhumans crossover)

Chris’ breath forcefully left his body as he slammed into the crevice wall with a loud crack, he had only been falling for a few seconds but he had already resigned himself to the world of pain he just knew he’d find himself in when he hit the bottom. At least he hoped that was what awaited him. The only other alternative he could imagine is dying on impact and, after everything he’d managed to live through, he really didn’t want the thing that killed him to be him losing his damn footing. He could still hear Burnham’s panicked voice echoing all around him, following him down into the darkness, yet he couldn’t quite process exactly what it was she was saying. The adrenaline coursing through his veins had forced his brain to filter out any extraneous sounds and, apparently, Michael fell under that remit. Not that it mattered anyway, he hadn’t yet been able to get his breath back and it felt like he wouldn’t for a while, so he wouldn’t have had a chance in hell of answering her. 

The crack he had fallen down was narrow enough that once he had hit the wall he stayed against it, his back scraping along the jagged surface of the wall taking the skin off as he fell. After a few more moments of free fall he, strangely enough, felt himself slowing down. Don’t get him wrong, he still felt like he had left his stomach up at the top with Burnham and saw no sign of the bottom of this pit, but he was definitely not falling as fast as he had been. The reason for this was not immediately clear if anything it had only become more baffling, as the wall he was sliding down appeared to smooth out the further down he went. It was only when he reached the bottom that he figured it out. The wall, which had been completely vertical when he first started falling, in fact, started sloping out near the bottom and continued to do so until it had become perfectly horizontal. It reminded him of an old playground ride he had only ever seen pictures of - a drop slide, he believed it was called. Affectionately nicknamed a ‘death slide’, and after what he had just experienced he could definitely see why. However, unlike those rides, this version did not have a long flat section for him to decelerate and, instead, stopped rather abruptly. He catapulted off the end and was sent skipping like a stone across the lake of water that had caused this natural phenomenon, before plunging into its icy depths.

With his lungs begging for the oxygen that they had been deprived of, he kicked towards the surface and found that the water was only a few feet deeper than he was tall. He swam over to the opening that he was shot out of, as he moved closer the water became shallower, allowing him to stand with his shoulders above the water as he called up to Michael, who was still shouting down after him.

 “I’m OK. Nothing broken at least.” He added with a chuckle.

“Sir?” A sigh of relief. “What’s down there? Can you see a way back up?”

Miraculously, the lights on his EV suit still worked. He observed the new cave that surrounded him, it didn’t look too different from the others he had just left. All he could see was a narrow tunnel branching off, carrying a ravine further into the rock, but nothing that indicated a way of returning to Burnham. He relayed this information back to her, hoping she’d be able to come up with a solution but also fully prepared to order her to carry on with the mission without him as he tried to make his own way to the surface.

“Captain, I have rappelling gear in my pack but the only anchor point up here doesn’t seem to be strong enough to support your weight, it will just crumble.”

“It’s ok Burnham, you carry on along the path. I’ll stay down here and- “

“With all due respect Captain,” Burnham interrupted showing no said respect, “I believe it best we stick together. We still don’t know anything about this energy source and these tunnels are treacherous, if we split up and one of us gets in danger then it could be lethal.”

Knowing she had a point, but not seeing another way Pike could only respond, “Well then, what would you suggest Commander?”

“The anchor is strong enough to support me, so I’ll make my way down to you-”

“No, Michael-”, Pike tried to interrupt when he realised what she was saying.

“-and we’ll carry on through the tunnel down there.”

“Michael, if you stay up there we know you can get out, you come down here and that is no longer the case. I wish there was another way but you have to leave me, that’s an order.”

There was a pause before Burnham’s voice echoed down to him again, “...I’m already on my way down sir.”

Pike could only sigh and contemplate how he really needed to start being less lenient with his officers, as it seemed to be a running theme that few of them listened to him in situations like this. He hopes that Burnham and Number One never meet, if they did he might as well resign his commission straight away, they would be unstoppable.

As he waited for Michael to reach him, he decided to try and scope out the tunnel that was now their only hope for escape. It was located at the point in the cave where the water was shallowest, only reaching his ankles, and was smaller than it seemed at first glance, just wider than himself and as tall as his waist, he could only cringe at the incoming pain that his back will inevitably feel. There was a scrape of boots over rock followed by a quiet splash as Burnham exited the crag and slipped into the water, she waded towards him and peered over his shoulder. Not even her years of living on Vulcan could help her hide the disgruntled sigh upon seeing the confined space they’d spend the next who knows how long making their way through. They shared a look before Chris, hopefully for the last time on this seemingly endless expedition, got down on his hands and knees and made his way into the tunnel with Michael joining him soon after. Only the sound of their breathing and the sloshing of the water, which wasn’t getting any shallower, could be heard - they both just wanted to get out and were too focused to try and attempt a meaningless conversation. For the first time since entering the caves they seemed to have caught a break, the tunnel seemed to be on a slightly upward trajectory and was hopefully taking them towards the surface. 

They’d been in the water for long enough that the cold had started to permeate through the suits thermal regulation system when they finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. He crawled with a renewed vigour, Michael following close behind, both eager to get back to Discovery or out of the caves at the very least. As he got closer the sound of running water began to echo around them, getting louder as they got closer until they finally reached the end. 

Pike once again found himself short of breath as he reached forward to continue to crawl and instead found that the ground was no longer where he expected and instead rapidly steepened to form another pool that he promptly, and rather ungracefully, fell into. Except this time the water was shallower than he was tall, it was only by sheer dumb luck that he didn’t whack his head on the rock below and instead landed flat on his back, adding to the already long list of reasons he isn’t going to be able to move tomorrow. He sat up, spluttering as he broke the surface only to be greeted with Michael chuckling as she contorted herself so she could enter feet first, having learnt from his mistake. Chris could only self-deprecatingly smile at her as she offered her hand to help him up, which he gratefully accepted. 

Having recovered from his unexpected swim, he was finally able to take in their new surroundings and he very quickly found the source of the light. His heart sank. A beam of light from the surface entered yet another cave through a gap in the ceiling, after which it bounced off the multitude of crystals that lined the edge of the pool, illuminating the darkness. Both Pike and Burnham looked around in awe, so distracted that they both startled when Tilly’s voice disturbed the quiet they had been in for what must have been hours.

  “Captain, Michael? I don’t know what you just did but the readings we’re getting have just got even larger and I didn’t think that was even possible. Is there anything new around you that looks like it could be the source?”

“We’ve ended up in a cavern full of crystals, Ensign, we’ll take a sample and bring it back to Discovery for further analysis. Can you get a transporter lock on us?”

“Affirmative Captain, we can be ready to beam you out at a moment's notice.” A pause. “Well, maybe a bit more than a moment, we are getting some slight interference - nothing to worry about but it’ll take a bit longer to actually get you out of there.”

“Thank you, Ensign, I’ll let you know when we need to beam out.” Pike replied, “With more than a moment's notice.” He added with a smile.

Burnham started to take some readings from the cave, to look for any sign as to what these crystals were and where they came from. As she did this Pike pulled out a laser cutter and knelt to take a sample, the moment he started cutting through the crystal is when things started going wrong. A white mist started to hiss out from the crystal, quickly beginning to fill the cave. As Pike staggered backwards trying to get away from the mist, Burnham’s scanner started going crazy.

“Captain, the readings I'm getting are showing that this gas is potentially toxic,” Burnham reported as she hit the button to activate her helmet. Pike went to follow suit, only to find that at some point during one of his numerous falls the mechanism had malfunctioned. By this point the mist had already filled over half the cave, it was being emitted faster than it could escape. Pike knew immediately he only had seconds, a minute maximum before there would be no clean air left to breathe.

Shaking his head at Burnham to try and convey his predicament he commed up to Discovery, “Ensign, I know I promised a moment’s notice but we need to beam out of here now.” He tried to keep his voice level but inside he was panicking. He had gotten out of so many sticky situations, come back after being hurt so many times but right now he couldn’t see a way out.

“We’re trying Captain but the interference has dramatically increased, we need more time.”

Pike didn’t reply.

The mist had filled the cave. Pike was holding his breath for as long as possible trying to give the Discovery crew as long as possible to get them out of there. But his lungs were burning. He couldn’t hold on much longer. Distantly he could hear a panicked Burnham communicating with Tilly, trying to get them out of here.

“Beam us up! We need to get out of here now, beam us - “

Pike breathed in.

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Pike x Aurora for @virtu-s

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Me, a writer: *has an good idea for a story/fanfic*

Also me: “I wish somebody would write that.”

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Why’s It Always Crystals? - Part 1 (ST:D x The Inhumans crossover)

When a red signal had appeared above a small, uninhabited planet in the Greater Magellanic Cloud it was imperative Discovery got there as soon as possible. The dwarf galaxy did, after all, orbit the Milky Way, and a signal that close to Earth understandably had the higher-ups on guard. The problem with that was, they were constantly pushing for answers that Discovery didn’t yet have. The rock that made up the planet interfered with their instruments, the only data they had been able to collect was the composition of the atmosphere - a slightly higher concentration of nitrogen than Earth but still able to support life. The most recent breakthrough had come through cameras showing caves and shafts that appeared to be part of an underground tunnel system.

Engineering had rigged up a sensor that could take the readings they needed and, hopefully, transmit them up to Discovery. The only issue was that an away team had to go down into the miles of unmapped tunnels in order to get said readings. Captain Pike had, of course, immediately volunteered and, despite Saru voicing concerns, insisted that if he could navigate his way through Death Valley without a map then underground tunnels were nothing. As usual, when dropping little snippets of his past, he didn’t elaborate any further but the bridge didn’t need him to, to see that he wasn’t changing his mind. As for Michael, with the mission being of a scientific nature, it was only logical that she be the other half of the away team, the fact that she was one of the people immune to Pike’s charm and was the least likely to let him get away with his typical self-sacrificing heroics was just a bonus.

With packs full of non-perishable food, they had beamed down near one of the many caves, it had been picked at random - the lack of data about the planet had meant they had no idea where to start. Upon first glance, the cave seemed to be nothing more than a huge chamber and not, in fact, part of the wider system. However, upon closer inspection, they found a narrow crack in the back wall that was just wide enough for them to squeeze through. On the other side, all they found was a nondescript corridor that extended off in blackness and little indication as to why the signal had appeared here. It seemed that the only way to get the answers they were looking for, was to venture deeper into the maze, which was easier said than done. The earlier crevice was just the start, multiple times they had to get down on their hands and knees and crawl through impossibly small spaces or climb up a rocky slope. It was slow going and very few words were exchanged, only an occasional check with the other to see how they were doing. Talking only served to make the claustrophobic space seem even more unnerving than it already was, as whatever was said got repeated back at you ten different times from ten different directions. They hadn’t been in the tunnel long before the sensor suddenly started going wild, when they examined their surroundings they saw nothing different about the section they were in, compared to the one they had just left. Nothing to explain this sudden change.

“Sir, the energy readings we’re getting are off the charts.” Tilly’s disembodied voice rang out, echoing off the tunnel walls.

“Any chance of pinpointing the source, Ensign?”

“No, sir. It seems to be coming from all around you, I’ve never seen anything like it.” A pause. “Well, that’s not entirely true. There was this one time, back in the academy, when a few of us were messing around in a lab and one of the experiments went wrong. Like, not a little bit wrong, I mean really wrong. I have no idea how the Admiralty never found out,” Tilly trailed off, realising who she was talking to. “Not that anyone got hurt, no one at all. The lab was just out of action for a few weeks, but it was barely used anyway and... I’ll just stop talking now.”

Burnham and Pike shared a fond look, the corners of their mouths slightly upturned. “Keep us updated, Ensign.”

“Yes, sir.”

They continued on, phasers drawn and set to stun, only putting them away when they came across yet another obstacle they had to clamber over. The tunnel was only illuminated by the small lights attached to the shoulders of their EV suits, the focused beams left shadows in their periphery, causing the pair to grip their phasers that little bit tighter. With Discovery also unable to come up with an explanation as to what was happening, they had little choice but to continue on and hope that they stumble upon whatever was causing these unprecedented readings.

After what seemed like an hour of clambering, squeezing and grazed palms and knees they finally came across the first rays of non-artificial light they had seen since first entering the underground. It came from further down the tunnel and filled them with the hope that they had finally found something. As they neared the light, they quickly deflated. The tunnel opened out into a much larger chamber, the light filtering in through the great crevices in the ceiling. To the left the narrow path continued on, hugging the wall, they could see it entering, by way of yet another tunnel, into the wall on the far side. However, the rest of the ground was marred with fissures that spanned the length of the chamber that, when they peered down into the nearest one, they couldn’t see the bottom of. Luckily for them, the path ahead of them was flat and the next 30 minutes of their trek, for that would be how long it would take to reach the other side, would be absent of any clambering or crawling. For that Pike was thankful, his age was showing in the form of a backache caused by the repeated hunching over and, loath to admit it, he was almost ready to suggest to Burnham that they take a short break.

Wanting to find one of the other openings they had seen on the surface sooner rather than later, Pike took point, he was beginning to think that they wouldn’t find the answers they were looking for any time soon. After reaching what seemed to be the halfway point, Michael began to voice these same thoughts. “Sir, the next exit we come across, I believe we should leave. This doesn’t seem to be the best use of time, we’re only ending up with more questions and no answers.”

“I was just thinking the same thing, but I was just hoping we’d find something first, something to make this worthwhile. Stop high command breathing down our necks for a bit.” He glanced back at Michael, a resigned smile on his face.

“So was I, sir, but the logical course of action would be to return to Discovery and get the data we’ve collected analysed so we’ll have more information for when we come down next time, instead of just wandering aimlessly, hoping to stumble across something. We can just enter the caves at the same point that we leave.”

“You’re absolutely right Commander, I’ll comm up and- “

It was at that moment that the ground crumbled away under his feet. The spot he had placed his foot near the edge slid sideways into the chasm, taking him with it.  Everything happened so quickly, neither Chris nor Michael could do anything to stop it. The last thing he heard as he fell down was Michael’s desperate “CAPTAIN!” echoing after him.

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Shore Leave

The rain was making tracks down the window, the constant pitter patter and the occasional distant roll of thunder only served to relax Aurora. She was curled up on a window seat, PADD in one hand and a steaming cup of hot chocolate in the other. It wasn’t just any hot chocolate either, it was Louisa Pike’s famous hot chocolate (which she refused to share the recipe for). They had stopped off in Mojave for the first few days of shore leave, and Louisa had shoved a huge flask of it into her hands before they left. She loved visiting his family, all his little nieces and nephews running around. In a way it was bittersweet, seeing how they all loved him and how great he was with them, knowing that she could never provide him with a child of his own. However, she knew that for him, having this was enough.

She had expected to spend the whole two weeks of leave there, but then Chris had surprised her with an old rustic log cabin out in the middle of nowhere. It was the perfect way to unwind, being the only two people for miles. No alerts to go running off for, no shifts to get up for and no knowing looks from the crew. Just them and the trees, and rest be assured they had taken advantage of their time alone. They had planned to go hiking and explore the surrounding area, but the weather had been against them from the start.  It had been a week since they had arrived, and all of that had been spent trapped indoors by the constant downpour. Aurora and Chris had no problem curling up with a good book and not moving for hours, but the inability to explore their picturesque surroundings had left them both feeling a bit restless.

It was now mid-afternoon on the eighth day of their trip, though the grey skies made it feel much later, and Aurora hadn’t seen Chris since they had finished lunch earlier and he had disappeared with a mischievous glint in his eye. She had no idea what he was up to, but the cabin had been quiet for the past few hours and, no matter how tempted she was, she hadn’t gone to investigate. Instead, she nested in the reading nook at the top of the stairs, with the last of Mama Pike’s hot chocolate, and switched her attention between her book and the rain hitting the glass.

The sound of soft footsteps on the stairs shook Aurora from her reverie and she turned her head to see Chris making his way towards her, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“There you are.” She rose to her feet, hands cradling her mug as his arms gently wrapped around her waist. “I’ve been wondering where you’d got to.”

His smirk grew even wider. “Well Cinderella,” he said leaning in, “If I told you, it would ruin the surprise.” His lips finally found hers, quick but no less meaningful. As he pulled away he plucked the mug from her grasp and settled his hand loosely in hers. He then turned on his heel and lead her down the stairs, however, when they reached the bottom he stopped and faced her again. “Close your eyes.”

She smiled at him. “Chris….” But he only replied with a raised eye brow. Amused she complied, and her smile grew even wider as he pressed featherlight kisses to each eyelid in response. 

He led her further through the house, his hand never leaving hers until he stopped yet again. “Stay here.”

She felt him move away and temporarily lamented the loss of his warmth. All she could hear was rustling and the occasional knock of a limb against furniture, soon followed by a muttered curse. Aurora couldn’t help but giggle, having no idea what was going on. It was only minutes, though it felt like hours before she heard him speak.

“And, open.”

The furniture in the room had been rearranged and artfully draped with blankets, pillows from around the cabin had been re-purposed as walls. All combined together to form a maze of corridors and, at the centre of it all, Chris’ head poked out, a dorky grin on his face.

She couldn’t believe it. Christopher Pike, esteemed Captain of the USS Enterprise, had spent the past few hours building a pillow fort. A laugh bubbled out her chest before she could stop it, the idea was just so absurd.

“Come and find me.” His head ducked back down, out of sight.

Shaking her head, she made her way to the obvious entrance and began crawling. The fort, which had seemed so big on the outside, felt all the more vast when she was in it. As she made her way through, heading in the general direction of where she saw him last, she grew even more amazed that he had only put this together in a few hours.

It didn’t take her long to reach him, though she’s certain that he didn’t try to make it particularly difficult. But that didn’t prepare her for what she saw when she found him. The corridor opened up into the largest section of the fort by far, and, in the centre, a blanket was spread out laden with her favourite foods. Fairy lights were strung up around the den, the only source of light, and, perched cross-legged on the corner of the blanket, there was Christopher Pike, a soft smile on his face.

“So, what do you think?”

Aurora crawled over to him and brought their lips together in a passionate embrace.

“Perfect.”

(She wasn’t just talking about the fort.)

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 3, 2220: Aurora Desruisseaux is born in Bordeaux, France, to Jacques Desruisseaux and Cora Nomikos.

it’s aurora’s birthday! i’ll be celebrating all weekend with some fic—feel free to join me! :) if you have any ideas/requests (or even if you want to write something Aurora yourself) leave them below!

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The Future

WARNING: Quite graphic and a bit gory

After Talos IV he thought he knew the pain of being burned alive, how the flames felt licking his skin. From a childhood fable they had said, but they were wrong because he hadn’t burned in hell that day, no matter how hard they had tried to make it so. He can’t have. He could only describe his current situation as a living hell, and it was far worse than anything they had inflicted upon him.

His skin felt like it was melting from his bones. The explosion had ripped apart the right side of his face and the was radiation seeping into his body. The air was thinning out, the flames eating away at the oxygen that was left, his lungs left screaming for breath. The body of the cadet he couldn’t save lay next to him, mangled beyond recognition, while the horrified faces of those who had got out were pressed against the protective glass. Dazed, he dragged his weakening body towards them, reaching his hand out in the hope that there was still a way out. There wasn’t. The safety protocols had kicked in and the room had locked down, sealing in the radiation, and him along with it.

He could see the cadets' mouths moving, but all he heard was the ringing in his ears. He could smell his flesh burning, but now all he felt was a slight sting, his nerve endings having finally burnt away. Darkness was beginning to creep into his vision as the last of his strength slipped away. His hand slipped from the glass and his head hit the floor, as he finally slipped into a deep sleep.

Part of him wished he’d never wake up, he knew what came next, just as he knew this would happen. There were so many times he could attempt to divert his fate and disregard every word Tenavik said, but he resisted. After all, if he refused to go on this training exercise he would only be condemning another CO to this fate. Or, if his replacement had a greater sense of self-preservation than himself, he would be condemning the cadets to death. He’d like to think that any officer of Starfleet would save others before themselves, but he knew this wasn’t necessarily the case. Whichever way, he refused to pass off his fate to another, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. So now he found himself facing his future, a future where he can only communicate through beeps. A future where he will never again command a starship. A future where he will never again play with his nieces and nephews. A future where he will never again ride Tango. A future where everything he cared about doing was taken from him.

A future that didn’t seem much like one at all.

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Astonishing, no? Original art by http://ilnere.diary.ru

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OMG I love your additions to Enterprise Shenanigans, I love them, especially the Snatch one. Not sure I've seen that film. I'll have to come up with a few more as well.

Awww, thank you so much! And definitely do, I look forward to seeing them 😉

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• The crew rig holograms around the ship to see who can make Pike scream the loudest. Spock currently holds the title.

• Alpha shift once went to breakfast, only to find the mess hall walls covered in Pike's baby photos. The cameras had mysteriously been turned off and Aurora maintains she has no idea where the photos came from.

• A video of Aurora spinning in Pike's chair when she thinks no one is looking.

• Boyce has a blog where he posts third wheel photos with Pike and Aurora. The crew even start submitting their own.

• Aurora loves how Pike looks in glasses, so she sometimes hides his contacts so he has to wear them.

• Wednesday night is bridge movie night. Once they watched Snatch and for a week after they'd call Pike over to their stations, pretending they had something important to tell him, then just whisper 'Dags' and nothing else.

• The reason Number One started putting habanero sauce on her food was because Pike has a habit of stealing other people's food but he can't handle the HEAT.

• There was a sweepstake on how long it would take Boyce to drag Pike into sickbay after he got back from Discovery. One won.

ENTERPRISE SHENANIGANS RUNNING LIST

there’s a video of Pike replicating a piece of cheese and throwing it on Aurora’s face while she sleeps

Boyce is the proud owner of a video of Spock hyped up on painkillers talking about “space balls”

Number One once put a tarantula on Pike’s arm while he was distracted; he threw himself out of the chair screaming and crying

Boyce juggling hyposprays, only to grab one, turn around and stab it into Spock’s neck as he passes innocently

a video of Pike laughing like a madman in complete darkness on the bridge…and then Spock walks in and flicks on the lights with the most confused face

Pike and Una once made a music video together

audio capture of Pike yelling “YEEEEHAW” over his comm and Una saying: “all due respect, shut the hell up, sir”

Spock trying a ghost pepper

“So. About to leave for Discovery. Need to shave my beard.” *camera flips to show Pike standing in the mirror, with Aurora latched around his torso* “I’ve discovered a new species of koala in the process.”

entire crew singing happy birthday to Boyce and him promptly leaving the room

TONS of Halloween pictures. Pike once replicated those plastic vampire teeth and took a video (“VARP SFPEED”). Aurora, unimpressed, starts rambling in Romanian, then unexpectedly leans in and bites his neck. Pike screams.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES.

a million little snippets from virtually every crew member of Pike singing/humming, all recorded without his knowing

assorted videos of people tripping

stupid 1 AM shit Pike and Aurora do—Una dubbed the series “The Captain’s Quarters”. the most memorable one is Aurora and Pike dying laughing on each other and then Pike has to shove himself away because there’s whiskey that he forgot to swallow coming out of his nose

feel free to add your own! just a list of funny things that went down during the five-year mission…YES you can add stuff with OCs

REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG!

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Errrm, well this is going to be difficult....

1. I don’t really give into the pressure to adhere to societal ‘norms’, like I barely ever wear make-up or dress up, never for school and everyday stuff. I’d rather have the extra time in bed than worry about getting make-up on. It also means when I do dress up for birthday parties and so on, it means a lot more to the person we’re gathering for.

2. I actually really like my eyes, I still don’t know the best way to describe their colour. Little bit of everything really.

3. I can be really dry and sarcastic but I know when to tone it down and be a nice person when one of friends needs support.

Thanks for the tag @virtu-s!!

Human moment

When you see this, reblog it with three things that make you (unconventionally) beautiful— or just something you LIKE about yourself. We have a lot of negative self-talk and self-deprecating humor in this community, and it’s time to take it back.

Mine:

1. How I loose myself into every story I find.

2. The fact that I cannot have a pen in my hand without doodle anywhere.

3. I don’t use the shit that had happened to me as an excuse to be a shitty person.

And you’re going to see this and be like, “Oh, but this isn’t for me,” but it IS and it’s time to own YOU.

Tagging: @sungoddessra @unforgivablecurse-breaker @plasticdodecagon @pokebronyii @mrv888 and literally EVERYONE who sees this. Really. Do it. It’s important.

And, @batgirl-87 , thanks A LOT for tagging me in this one! I really needed to give me a positive look this week. Srsly, you don’t know how much.

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Tag 9 people you’d like to know better: I don’t actually know anyone else I could tag 😢

favorite color: blue probably, but pretty much all my clothes are black

top 3 ships: they change all the time so I’m just gonna put the ones atm, Bucky/Darcy (MCU), Jaime/Sansa (I’m such a bad person) and Pike/One (unless Aurora's around @virtu-s 😉)

lipstick or chapstick: chapstick

last song: Black Cloud by Heartist (I like obscure music) and even though nobody asked, the song I’ve had in my head all day is American Oxygen by X Ambassadors

last movie: Ocean’s Eleven

currently reading: The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden

Tag!!

Tag 9 people you’d like to know better: @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond, @doomhamster, @virtu-s, @anchanted-one, @aspyforthethrone (I still need to do your tag but it is so hard!), anyone else who wants to participate

favorite color: Purple or blue. Depends on my mood that day. 

top 3 ships: Eh, Darth Marr/OC, Malgus/Eleena ( @i-declare-a-kaggath :P) and Miraak/OC

lipstick or chapstick: Lipstick

last song: “New Rules” - Dua Lipa

last movie: “Into the Spiderverse”

currently reading: on top of all the Ao3? Re-reading the newly introduced Radiation Protection laws :/

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Sooooo, a thing happened.

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Discovery season 1: Overly intense yet trusted mentor is actually a criminal impersonating the real Captain Lorca, manipulating the heroes into unwittingly participating in his evil scheme

Discovery season 2: Michael and her loved ones are saved by a glowing being she mistakes for her mom, but it’s actually her rescuing herself using time travel

If a new character shows up in season 3 wearing a big-ass turban, I’m gonna lose my shit

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Alex Kurtzman on the chance of a Pike spin-off

YOU HEAR THAT GUYS???? THEY HEARD US! THEY KNOW!

AND THEY’RE SAYING ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

THEY’RE SAYING THEY’D LOVE TO BRING THAT CREW BACK MORE THAN ANYTHING!

THEY’RE SAYING IT WOULD DELIGHT THEM TO TELL MORE STORIES!!!

THIS IS THE MOST DIRECT CONFIRMATION THAT CHANCES OF A PIKE SPIN OFF SHOW HAPPENING ARE VERY HIGH!!!!

OUR DREAM HAS NEVER BEEN MORE LIKELY TO COME TRUE!!!!

KEEP WRITING!!!

KEEP TWEETING!!!!

KEEP SIGNING THE PETITION!!!!

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[lxaah11]

I know you probably have a lot of requests with the gods and monsters - but would you ever do an Ares based one?

Zeus’smistress Io remains in her form of a cow, guarded by Hera’s servant Argus, and Herais content.

Shewill remain in that form until her death. Hera hopes that lying with herhusband was worth the sacrifice.

Zeus won’tspeak to her, unwilling to admit the cow is actually his lover and ensure herdeath, and equally unwilling to stand against his wife to try and rescue her.Hera has him just where she wants him, and it can’t last, it never does, butshe intends to enjoy it while it does.  

ThenArtemis comes to her, gold and fierce. She never flinches away from her queen,staring her in the face as if she is nothing more than another of herhuntresses. If Hera did not hate her for being her husband’s daughter, shethinks she might actually like the girl. “Io has a destiny,” she says, “youmust let her go.”

“I don’tcare for her destiny,” Hera says idly, “especially when that destiny involvesgetting with my husband’s child.”

“She isto give birth to a new line of kings,” Artemis hisses, “to be the wife of adeath god, to be mother goddess of a whole new people. She is not meant for us.You must let her go.”

“I amHera,” she says, “I am Queen. I must do nothing.”

Artemisgrowls, hand twitching for her bow, but Hera only raises an eyebrow. Let thegirl try. There are few that can stand against her, and the huntress is notamong them. Artemis lets out a low breath and says, “Do it, my queen, and Iwill grant you what it is you most desire.”

“Somepeace and quiet?” Hera asks.

“Achild,” she answers. “Let Io go, let her fulfill her destiny as a goddess ofthe Black Land of the Nile. If you do that, I, the patron goddess ofchildbirth, will personally use every ounce of power I possess to ensure youconceive and deliver a child of Zeus.”

Hera’seyes narrow, “Neither my power nor his has ever been able to achieve this. Whatmakes you think you are any different?”

“We allhave our domains,” she says, “just as you cannot command the sea, just as yourhusband has no power over the art of weaving, so can I ensure a healthy childwhen you could not.”

Shetaps her fingers against her throne. They call her a mother goddess, thoughshe’s raised no children. Hephaestus may be her precious son, but he doesn’tknow that it was not her that threw him from Olympus. Very few people knowthat. And she didn’t raise him regardless, that honor belongs to Hecate.

Achild, of her and Zeus. A child she can raise.

“Iaccept,” she announces. “You may take her, and Zeus may fulfill her destiny.”She leans forward, brings the oppressive weight of her power to the fore andlowers the pressure of the air until Artemis is left shivering. “Know this,Patron Goddess of Childbirth. If Io births a son of Zeus before I do, I willtravel to the Black Land of the Nile and slay her and her children with my owntwo hands. Not even Hades will be able to put her back together again.”

“Yes,my Queen,” Artemis says, unable to keep her teeth from chattering.

~

Hera istrue to her word. She allows Hermes to think he’s tricked Argus and to steal Ioaway. She pretends to be outraged at the audacity, at the pure white cowtraveling to the sands of the Nile.

Artemisis true to her word. Hera lies with Zeus, like she has so many times before,and a child grows inside of her. One day she stands before her husband andbrings his hand to the swell of her stomach, “This is your child.”

Somethingalmost like happiness steals across his face. She forgets, sometimes, that theyhate each other only as much as they love each other. After so much timetogether, many would think it would be one or the other. They simply opted forboth.

Artemisis there during the birth, her easy confidence more comforting then Hera willever admit. Delivering Hephaestus was easy compared to this. She screams andcries and Hestia’s hands on her shoulders are all that keeps her fromcollapsing and begging someone to just cut the child from her. She doesn’t thinkshe can die in childbirth, not with Artemis between her legs. She wishes she’dthought to ask before this began.

But shedoes not die. Her son is born, just as healthy and beautiful as Hephaestus was.“Well done,” Artemis says softly, placing the squirming child into her arms.

Zeustouches her hair and kisses his son’s forehead. “We shall call him Ares.”

“Verywell,” she agrees, so tired her eyes struggle to stay open.

Shehands her son to Hestia, and finally allows sleep to take her.

~

Aresgrows into the spitting image of his father. Same copper-red skin, same silkyblack hair. Her husband keeps it short, but her son lets his grow long. Theminutes Hera spends every morning brushing his hair are among her favorite.

He hasan eager smile and a soft heart. Hera doesn’t know where he got it, since it’scertainly not from her or Zeus. Demeter tolerates his bumbling after her,though any time Kore attempts to meet her cousin Demeter’s temper frays.Poseidon allows Ares to explore the depths of the sea with a minor sea godacting as his guide. Apollo plays for him, and Artemis teaches him to hunt.Zeus’s lightning doesn’t burn his son, and when storms rage he takes Ares tothe top of Olympus and teaches him to throw lightning bolts.

Heraselfishly does not allow Ares to go to the underworld. She knows he would besafe there, that Hades would protect him as he protected Hephaestus, but that’sprecisely why she won’t allow it. They got to raise one of her sons already. Itpains her to share Ares with them now.

He ishappy, and kind, kinder than anyone would expect a child of her womb to be.

“Hemust choose a domain,” Zeus rumbles, watching Ares shoot arrows with perfectaccuracy.

“He isa child still,” Hera says, “let him remain so for a little longer.”

“If hedoes not choose a domain,” Zeus warns, “one will choose him. We are gods. Wemust be gods of something.”

Sheflickers her gaze at him, and he scoots an inch away from her. “He is a child,and for now a child he will remain. We are not Demeter. We shall not thrust theresponsibilities and power of a deity on a child who is not prepared for it.”

Zeusdisapproves, but says nothing more.

Her sonwill be the god of something patient, something soft. The god of lost children,of heartbroken suitors, of forgiveness. Something where his gentle heart willaid him instead of hurt him.

Shetraded her happiness for power. She doesn’t regret it. But Ares doesn’t need todo the same – she’s the most powerful goddess that still walks the earth. He’sher son, and he’ll want for nothing she can provide.

~

Ares isalmost fully grown, long hair reaching his hips even braided, and the strengthof his limbs is such that he can keep up with Artemis on her most vigorous ofhunts, that he can throw his father’s lightning bolts halfway across the world.

He’sbeen to every place, and met every god of the earth, sea, and sky.

Exceptfor one.

 It’snot hard to find the volcano. He’s strong enough and old enough to take care ofhimself, and his mother does not worry when he says he’s going to the earth.But he did not tell her where, precisely, on the earth he was going.

He hasstrong legs.  It’s easy for him to climb to the top of the volcano. He’salmost made it there when something grabs his shoulders, stilling him. Heturns, and stares into a single large eye. “What are you doing?” the cyclopesgrowls.

“I’mlooking for Hephaestus,” he says, “He’s my brother.”

“Mymaster has many brothers,” the cyclopes says.

Aresshakes his head. He is not the product of his father’s fling with a sprite ormortal. “I am Ares, son of Zeus and Hera. Just as Hephaestus is. I came here tomeet my brother.” The cyclopes hesitates. He asks, “What’s your name?”

“Brontes,”he answers, surprised.

“Brontes,”he smiles, “I just want to meet him. I’ve never met him before. I won’tlinger.”

There’sa moment where Brontes looks conflicted, and Ares tries to look as unassumingas possible. “Fine,” he huffs, “but don’t get angry at me if he dips you inlava.”

“Thatwould be fun,” he says brightly. Lightning doesn’t burn him. So far the onlything hot enough to cause him pain is Hestia’s fire. He probably couldgo swimming in lava.

Bronteslooks at him as if he’s slightly unhinged. He just keeps smiling.

~

Thereare more cyclopes underneath, and bright glittering machines that Ares can’teven begin to wrap his mind around. “Who are you?” someone demands, and a handgrabs his wrist and yanks him away from a boiling vat of lava that he’d beenpeering into.

Helooks up at a man taller and broader than he is. He has skin almost as dark asthe obsidian of his volcano, but lighter eyes. They are the color of darkamber, of molasses. “We have the same eyes,” he says happily.

Hephaestusreleases him instantly. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Whynot?” he asks, “The mortals talk of you. No one else will. But you’re mybrother, right?”

“Youshouldn’t be here,” he repeats, “Does Zeus know where you are?”

Heshrugs, taking a step closer. His brother takes a step back. He wonders ifhe’ll have to treat Hephaestus like a spooked horse.  “Father doesn’t keeptrack of where I am. Mom know I’m on earth.” Hephaestus flinches, small enoughthat he almost doesn’t notice. “We have her eyes, you know.”

Hecan’t stop starring at Hephaestus’s skin. They do not work like mortals –Demeter, Hestia, Zeus, and Hera are all different shades despite coming fromthe same parents. But – Ares looks so much like his father. Kore looks likeDemeter. Yet Hephaestus looks nothing like their father. He can see theirmother in him, in the eyes and shape of his jaw, even in how angry he is right now. He looks likeHera does when she’s about to lose her temper, lips pressed into a thin lineand the careful stillness of his shoulders.

“I wasn’ttrying to make you angry,” he says plaintively, “I only wanted to say hello.”

Unliketheir mother, Hephaestus lets out a deep breath and seemingly all of his angeralong with it. “I’ve been avoiding you.”

“Why?You don’t even know me.”

Hephaestuskicks him lightly in the shin, the pretty gold and copper of his metal legs catchinghis eye. “You have legs, and I do not. Hera did not throw you from MountOlympus as she threw me.”

Ares lookshard at his brother’s face. The stories say his mother threw her son away forbeing ugly, but he seems just as handsome as any other god Ares has seen. Hisfeatures are strong and chiseled, and he supposes that could have looked unattractiveon a baby, but –

– his motherloves him. Hera loves him with a ferocity only matched by her temper, she loveshim at his most mischievous and irritable, loves him when a stray thunderboltsets Demeter’s hair on end, loves him when even Artemis and Apollo have growntired of his antics, loves him when Athena can tolerate no more of hisquestions. He is her son, and so her love comes without conditions.

Hedoesn’t think Hera would have loved his brother any less just because of how helooked.

He alsoknows that if he tries to say that, it’s likely Hephaestus will push him into a lava pit.

“Well,that’s not my fault,” he says, “If you don’t want us to be brothers, can’t weat least be friends?”

Hephaestus’sface softens. He looks like their mother then too.  He crosses his arms, “You can’t tell yourparents.”

Our parents, he thinks but doesn’t say. “Obviously.Where did you get so many cyclopes?”

Thelast remnants of his brother’s stern façade shatters as he throws back his headand laughs.

~

Ares isvery near maturity, more adult than child, and his father constantly pressureshim to choose a domain. He usually quiets with one sharp glance from his wife,but the fact remains that it is time for Ares to take his place among the godsof the pantheon, to have temples in his name and worshipers like a properdeity.

Hedoesn’t really want any of that.  Hewants to continue hunting with Artemis, learning with Athena, building withHephaestus.

His brotherlets him help out in his workshop sometimes, if he’s very careful and doesexactly as he’s told. Otherwise he sits on a table, legs swinging, and watcheshis brother work and tells him about what he does in the time in-betweenvisits. He talks about their mother enough that Hephaestus doesn’t flinch ather every mention, which Ares can only consider an improvement. SometimesBrontes will stand beside him and they’ll eat sweet buns together.

Unfortunately,all things, good and bad, must come to an end.

~

Thereare two giants, Otus and Ephialtes, who grow tired of hearing of the golden boyof Olympus, who grow jealous of his kindness and his beauty.

Thesetwo giants sneak onto Mount Olympus in the middle of the night, sneak into Ares’sroom, and kidnap him. They’re not stupid enough to attempt to kill him.Instead, they stuff him into an urn, and seal him inside. Ares rages andfights, uses every trick he can think of to break out his prison, but none ofthem work.

Stuckat the bottom of the urn and seething, he can’t help but think that if he’dlistened to his father and chosen a dominion he might be strong enough to freehimself. But he didn’t, so he can’t, and instead he waits.

Andwaits.

Andwaits.

Daysturn to weeks turn to months. He knows they’re looking for him. He knows hismother will tear apart the whole universe attempting to find him if nothingelse. But – what if they can’t? What if he’s stuck in this urn for the rest ofeternity?

In hisdarkest moments, his sorrow turns to rage. He is a god, son of Hera and Zeus,how dare they do this to him?

Then,one day, the urn opens.

Hermespeers down into it, then his face splits into a grin. “We’ve been looking foryou!” He reaches down and hauls Ares out, and for a moment all he can do isblink at the glaring sun. Then his vision clears, and he sees they’re in themidst of a battle. The giants are fighting against the gods, against hisparents, against the twins, against his brother. It’s bloody carnage, but – he can’thelp but feel touched that all these people came looking for him. “Almost everyoneoffered to help find you,” he says, “but Hera didn’t want to draw too muchattention to ourselves trying to sneak into their territory.”

Nosooner has Hermes finished speaking than a giant barrels into his mother withsickening snap. Her shoulder slopes at a grotesque angle, but it hardly evenslows her down.

“I haveto help,” he says, a desperate urgency filling him. They came to help him, andnow they’re getting hurt. That’s never something he’d wanted.

“Ares,wait!” Hermes calls out as he goes hurtling toward the battle. He doesn’t wait.Fighting on the ground can only do so much good, they’re strong but they’reoutnumbered one hundred to one. He darts to Artemis, twisting around the bodiesshe’s throwing over her shoulder. “I need your bow!”

“Ares!”she says joyously, then, “What?”

“Trustme,” he says, “give me your bow.” A giant comes running towards them. Artemisflips him over her shoulder while continuing to stare at him in confusion. He’dbe impressed if he wasn’t so worried. “Artemis, please!”

Shehands over her bow. She moves to give him her quiver of arrows as well, but he’salready moving away from her. Next it’s to his father, who’s hurtling lightningbolts towards the swarm of giants crowding him. They’re deadly, but only soeffective at close-range. He grabs a sizzling lightning bolt right from Zeus’shand, the only being on the planet who could do that and survive, and keepsrunning. “Get clear!” he calls out over his shoulder. “Everyone move!”

He runsup past Hermes, needing to get to high ground for this to work. “Get everyoneoff the battlefield,” he says to Hermes. “Now.”

Hermespulls a face, but by the time he makes it to the top of the mountain, the godshave shaken off most of the giants, are far enough away that he doesn’t have toworry.

He cando this. He’s Ares, the son of Hera and Zeus. He’s been trained in archery bythe great huntress herself. He breaths in, and strings his father’s lightningbolt like an arrow. He pulls it back, breaths out, and lets the lightning boltfly.

Itlands in the middle of the battlefield full of confused giants. With a greatclap of thunder and a burst of light, they’re all gone.

Allthat remains of the traitorous giants is a crater.

Thegods are approaching him, his mother at a limping gait that makes his chestache. Zeus gets to him first, grin stretched wide as he grabs him by both hisshoulders. “My boy! That was magnificent!”

“Thanks,”he says. The smell of charred flesh is in the air, and it makes his stomachroll.

Theykidnapped him. They stuffed him in an urn for over a year. They hurt his mom.

Thatdoesn’t mean he enjoyed it. He never wants to do anything like that ever again.

“Thiswas destiny,” his father says enthusiastically, and Ares has no idea what he’stalking about. “This is what you’re meant to do, son.”

Hestares. He hopes it’s not.

Theother gods are still at the bottom of the mountain. Artemis and Apollo each have one of his mother’sarms slung over their shoulders and are helping her up the mountain. Hermes andHephaestus aren’t far behind.

He’snever seen his father look so proud of him. There’s a leaden pit in his stomachhe can’t explain.

“Inhonor of my son’s great feat,” Zeus booms, his voice carrying across air,speaking with the voice of the king of the gods so his words become law, sothey spread to every corner of the world, “I declare him Ares, God of War.”

Arescan’t breathe.

This isn’t what he wanted.

gods and monsters series, part xvii

read more of the gods and monsters series here

[lxaah11]

friendly reminder that Ares was the patron god of the Amazons and that he is canonically super duper feminist

bonus:

[lxaah11]

Omg, this is amazing, I love it!! It's perfect, thank you so much!! 

Kissing Prompt #63 - Routine Kisses

This is a prompt requested by @lxaah11 and @alj4890. I hope it works for the prompt and you like it 😊 Word count is around 1,100

Tags: @alleksa16 @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @choicesfactor @choicesmakemychoices @pb-boeboe @marycarrillo21 @kuladekiwi @ajayismybae @zeniamiii @choices-dan

I sit in my chair, which I placed purposefully next to Thomas’ director’s chair, and poured over my lines.

“Steph! You want some breakfast? These bagels are amazing!” Matt proceeded to take a bite of his cream cheese covered bagel, smiling as he chews.

“I’m good, thank you though.”

I focus back on my script, attempting to make sure I’m fully prepared for the day when Addison calls my name.

“You’re crazy! I’m even eating one and you know that I avoid carbs like the plague.”

I clench my hands around the script tighter.

Holly rolls her eyes, “You two need to leave Stephanie alone, she’s actually being a professional and you two are acting like children.”

“Thank you Holly.” I clear my throat and shift in my seat.

My gaze focuses back on the script sitting in my lap.

“Someone’s been spending too much time with our director.” Addison smirks, causing me to roll my eyes.

I feel a presence to my left, opposite of Thomas’ chair, and I see Chris settling in his chair with a script and two binders.

“Morning,” his voice is full of exhaustion. His hair is mussed, and does not even have an attempt at a style.

“Morning, you uh, got a little baby throw up on your shirt.” I point out a spot on his shoulder and he groans.

“Damn, I thought I actually stayed clean.” He rubs his hands over his face. “Our baby hasn’t slept through the night in weeks, meaning my wife and I haven’t slept well in weeks and it’s really starting to take it’s toll on us.”

“Sorry.” I really had no words for him.

What am I supposed to say?

That sucks, maybe you should wear earplugs at night.

Don’t have kids.

I turn my focus back to my script as Chris and I fall into a comfortable silence. Or maybe he just fell asleep. Either way, I can focus on my lines again.

“Get the green screens set up over there.” Thomas sounded snippy as he waltzed onto the set, looking as handsome as always. And dressed to a tee as always.

Great. Snippy Thomas is even grumpier Thomas.

“Morning Thomas. Can we go over something real quick?” I see Holly out of the corner of my eye holding out a binder, but Thomas just brushes her off.

I think he’s in a worse mood than I am. I read through a few more lines when I feel strong hands on my shoulders massaging them gently.

I tilt my head slightly, relaxing under his touch. Out of the corner of my eye I see his lips nearing my face, so subtly, I present my cheek to him. I keep my eyes trained on the script, but my focus was all on Thomas.

Is he really doing what I think he’s going to do? He’s never affectionate in public.

His lips land on my cheek first, then move to my temple, pressing a sweet, lingering kiss before pulling back.

“I missed you yesterday.” His voice is hushed enough that only I can hear.

Addi and Holly have lovestruck looks on their faces as Thomas presses another kiss to my cheek.

Matt coughs, repeatedly, before he takes a drink of water. His eyes are wide as he looks back at my direction.

“Well, maybe we should spend more time apart. I like you being clingy in front of other people.”

He chuckles quietly. “Being away from you for a day feels like an eternity.”

He leaves my shoulders and sits in his chair on my right. His left hand finds my right, interlacing his fingers with mine.

My heart races as he continues his public display of affection.

I lean over to his ear, “I missed you too.”

I smile at the sight of his neck breaking out in goosebumps and the slight shiver that runs through his body as my breath touches his skin.

“Good.” He smirks at me before turning to the staring faces.

I see him scowl and his hand tightens its grip slightly.

“What? Go on with yourselves.” He makes a shooing motion with his free hand, waving them away.

They quickly look away, pretending to be going over something in Holly’s binder.

“We are going to dinner. Tonight.” He pulls out his phone, opening the reminder app. “At six thirty.”

I smile, “Oh, I actually already have plans. A date actually.”

He scowls at me.

“Yeah. He’s this grumpy, rough-around-the-edges guy, but he’s got a soft side. Plus, he’s probably the most attractive man that I’ve ever seen.” I poke Thomas’ side, “For some reason, even though he scowls all the time, I am still crazy about him.”

His scowl drops and he smirks.

“I had you going huh?” I giggle.

He shakes his head and chuckles. “You are incorrigible.”

Before I can react he presses a gentle kiss to my lips.

He pulls back, but I’m still frozen in place.

What just happened?

Did he just?

No way.

I open my eyes, feeling a blush on my cheeks, I look down and away from everyone.

“Wow, I think this is the most awkward I have ever felt in my entire life.” I forgot Chris was sitting right next to me. “I feel like a teenager who just walked in on his parents making out on the couch.”

I break out laughing, as do the rest of the cast gathered in the studio.

I double over into Thomas’ lap, crying from laughing so hard.

“I believe he just insulted us, why are you laughing?” Thomas’ voice was stern, as if he were scolding me.

I can’t say anything. My sides hurt so bad, but I can’t stop laughing.

“Why was that so funny?”

I finally collect myself and look up to see Thomas looking down at me. His face has it’s usual serious lines, but his eyes are full of amusement.

“You should just laugh, Thomas.” I poke his cheek and let out a few more giggles before I completely compose myself.

He smiles, but contains his laughter. “I absolutely will not. I have already shown too much emotion in front of these people.”

I lean over to him. “I don’t think you have.” I press my lips to his again, smiling into the kiss.

“That’s it, I’m out of here.” Chris stands up, “I can’t take you two anymore. I’m way too tired for this.”

Thomas and I pull apart, both laughing.

“I love you.” I whisper quietly in his ear before brushing a soft kiss on his cheek.

He smirks as Chris walks away, “I love you too.”