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finelythreadedsky · 2 months

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wait i think actually madeline miller's circe is the heir to margaret atwood's penelopiad, unintentionally, in the way it thematizes the impossibility of real solidarity among women.

bc it's such a major part of the penelopiad how penelope creates what she thinks is a real community, a sort of family, with these young women in her household only be to reminded and continue to reinforce that they are slaves over whom she (among others) holds the power of life and death. and penelope ultimately does not or cannot hold a lasting grudge against odysseus on their behalf. she aligns herself, or circumstances force her to align herself, with odysseus instead of with other women whose positions are even more dangerous than hers. the world they live in does not allow solidarity between women across lines of class and enslavement, and penelope is also complicit in maintaining that world and her place in it.

and then the thing i found so frustrating about circe was that at every turn miller forecloses the possibility of real connections between women-- but the thing in this world that prevents that is just, like, jealousy over men. and totally needlessly. the other nymphs are prettier. glaucus loves scylla and not circe. her mom never liked her. hermes doesn't really think she's hot. athena is a rival for odysseus' attention. and the book doesn't do anything with this, it's not due to structural power imbalances or a society built on enslavement or even how patriarchy pits women against each other (circe lives alone on an island outside of society that could be another writer's lesbian separatist utopia!), it's just that circe doesn't like other women and they don't like her. end of story.

much as i don't love what atwood does with helen, it does make sense in the context of the penelopiad! thematically and in terms of characterization. atwood's penelope has internalized this idea of what it means to be a good woman and, willingly or not, she's staked everything on being seen by men as a good woman. it makes sense that she's desperately trying to pull herself up or even just cling to what little she has by dragging other women down. she does to helen what she ultimately does to the maids. she's with and for odysseus, always, not helen, and not the maids. that's the kind of world she lives in, and while she likes to think that she's resisting it with a sort of radical female community, in the end she is its agent. even if she feels bad about it. she's here to tell a story about odysseus, not about the girls he killed.

#makes me think of how emily wilson translates φιλη Ευρυκλεια as 'the slave who loved her master' or something similiar #which is the same sort of characterization atwood gives eurycleia. an enslaved woman who puts her master above other slaves and other women #and on the one hand of course she does! that's how she survives! can you blame her?#she lives in a society that pushes her at every turn to betray her fellow enslaved women!#but on the other hand it's still sad and somehow you can blame her #mine #reception #retellings #i think i finally get the penelopiad now. after reading the novel twice and seeing the play three times.#long post

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flashbang-througthe-door · 2 years

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Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin - Russell Adler - Agent Hermes/Hermes

Based on my other current wip

Stitch and Hermes are hunting Adler, throughout an abandoned factory, with canisters of Nova 6 that could fall into play

#vikhor stitch kuzmin #russell adler #hermes #agent hermes #otp: nova 6 scars

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thornnii · 2 months

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Saw that you request open so: show!percy jackson x daughter of Eris!reader set just after battle of the labyrinth?

⎯ ☆ chaos in the rain

genre: brief angst to fluff wordcount: 1.1k pairing: percy jackson x fem!reader tags: daughter of eris!reader (she/her pronouns), reader hiding out to avoid doing work to rebuild/repair camp after the battle against luke/kronos' army, set after the events of botl, established relationship, probably some inaccuracies summary: what started off as hiding from chores turns into a conversation about oranges notes: I AM SO SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!! I hope really hope you like this anon ♡♡

↳ return to masterlist

camp was alive with activity after the battle between camp half-blood and luke, or rather kronos's, army. there was a fair amount of damage done to the camp and mr d and chiron had delegated jobs to fix the camp to the different cabins. [reader] sat with her feet dangling off the edge of the cliff by the netball court. technically she was meant to be helping the rest of the hermes cabin and the other unclaimed kids that she bunked with- not that she was unclaimed, she was claimed by her mother a while ago, but there was no cabin for eris at camp half-blood.

'it was like staring out over a beehive' [reader] concluded as she watched the rest of camp from her perch. she pulled her feet up to sit cross-legged before tugging her small satchel bag, filled with snacks she'd been storing up throughout the year, into her lap. it was odd, usually the girl would revel in chaos and destruction, but this time all she could feel was this weird hollowness that seemed to weigh her down as she munched on her stolen goodies. maybe it was because it wasn’t chaos by her hand, or that it had affected the people and the things she had grown to cherish. oh well, it wasn’t going to come to her now, maybe in hindsight whatever she was experiencing would be more obvious.

as [reader] ate and watched the activity of the camp below her a soft mist began to envelop camp half-blood. [reader]’s fellow campers stopped to look up at the sky, embracing the cold patter of rain compared to the humid air that still permeated the area post the violence it had just experienced. [reader] couldn’t imagine the immeasurable pain some campers may be feeling, losing a sibling in such a brutal way. with the negative thoughts swimming around her head, she reached for the golden apple keychain on her bag. a golden apple was one of eris's symbols and it always helped to calm [reader], to make her feel connected to her mother.

[reader] stiffened slightly at the almost indiscernible sound of light footsteps against the wet grass of the volleyball courts. almost as soon as her ears caught the sound, the rain that had been splashing down on her stopped. a small smile graced [reader]’s features. “hi percy.”

“how’d you know it was me?” she could hear the pout on his lips without even needing to turn around and see it.

“percy,” she finally turned around to face him, “there are only two children of poseidon at camp, and only you have been training to try and stop the rain. ever since you saw katara do it in avatar.” [reader] mumbled the last part. percy gave a laugh and landed a playful slap to [reader]’s shoulder as he sat down beside her. she just smiled.

[reader] pulled her hoodie closer around her. even though percy had created a small rainless bubble for them, the wind was still cold as it swept through camp. percy must’ve seen the chill run through [reader] as he pulled her closer to him, resting her head on top of his shoulder. “some agent of chaos you are.”

the two sat there for a while just watching their fellow demigods flitter about. the dark sky of the early morning began to be tinted with dusty pinks and vibrant oranges as the sun made its first peak over the horizon. it was a stupidly peaceful moment considering all that had just passed, but, nevertheless, it was welcomed.

the relationship between [reader] and percy had many raising their eyebrows, wondering how anyone could possibly feel stable with a child of eris. but percy accepted [reader]’s chaotic nature with open arms. and while [reader] encouraged percy to be more impulsive and reckless (than he already was), percy helped to ground [reader]. yin and yang.

“orange slice?” [reader] offered.

“got a blue one?” percy joked as he took the slice presented to him.

“if I find a blue orange, I promise I will get it for you.” [reader] grinned, placing a chaste kiss to the blond’s cheek.

“do think it’s actually possible to turn and orange blue?” percy’s eyebrows were now scrunched in thought as he genuinely considered his question. yet it fell on deaf ears. the sun was continuing to rise as it washed camp half-blood in its soft glow, but all [reader] could focus on was the way it illuminated percy’s features, how it made his eyes sparkle. it wasn’t until percy turned to face [reader] properly that she realised he was waiting for her to reply.

“sorry, what’d you say?” she blushed.

“I was wondering if a blue orange was actually possible.” percy repeated.

“I doubt it. besides you wouldn’t really be able to call it an orange anymore if it wasn’t orange.” [reader] grinned toothily at the absurdity of the question. “also I’d be kinda concerned about the taste.”

“what d’you mean ‘the taste’?”

“well aren’t you putting, like, food colouring or whatever in it to change the colour?”

percy shook his head, “no, I’m talking about a naturally occurring blue orange.”

[reader]’s eyebrows creased in further confusion. “I think naturally occurring is impossible, perc. it’s gonna have had to been changed magically or artificially or something, y’know. and even if you did find this infamous blue orange anyway, what would you call it?”

“a blue.” it was said with such confidence that it caught [reader] off-guard for a second. not that she was really sure why she should’ve been expecting anything else.

“a blurange.” she countered.

“blurange?” percy repeated, his previous confidence replaced with confusion.

“sure. if we are setting this in a world where blue oranges aren’t the norm then it makes sense to brand it as something that people already know, so you take ‘blue’ and ‘orange’ and smash ‘em together: ‘blurange’.” as [reader] explained her side of it percy couldn’t help but nod along. what she said made sense, but…

“but ‘blue’ is funny, cause it’s, like, ironic and shit.” percy crossed his arms and pouted like a toddler that had just been told ‘no’ to a new toy. it made [reader] smile at her boyfriend’s silliness. she gave him another quick kiss to the cheek which only seemed to cause his pout to deepen and her smile to widen.

“agree to disagree?” she held the final slice of orange out towards him like a peace offering.

percy took the slice, stuffing it in his mouth in one and muttering a muffled ‘agreed’.

#thornnii’s fics #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo series #percy jackson and the olympians x reader #pjo x reader #percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #x reader #x fem!reader #daughter of eris!reader #fluff #angst to fluff

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hamletshoeratio · 5 months

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"I want x spinoff, I want a book about y"

I want to meet the woman who had not one but TWO kids with Hermes. Two kids so close in age and are so alike people just assume that they're twins, two kids who are chaos personified, who singlehandedly run the camp shop, who are in charge of the biggest cabin at camp and look after their equally chaotic gremlin siblings plus every unclaimed kid at camp like Lou Ellen a daughter of Hecate and another being of chaos who learnt it all from them, and who take every opportunity to fuck shit up, to prank their camp mates or to steal shit. Their last name, which they get from their mama? Stoll by the way. Neither child notices the pun.

I want to meet Mama Stoll, who saw the chaos, who saw the bullshit Hermes brought into her life the first go around and said tonight's the night let's do it again. She is either the world's greatest cat burglar who enticed the god of Thieves or the messenger god was enchanted by the best god dam delivery woman on the planet. There's no in-between. It was just a bonus that her surname was the perfect pun. Her and Hermes laugh about it. In my head, it's all canon. Regardless, she unleashed two agents of unlimited chaos onto an unsuspecting world, and I love her for it. I take my hat off to her, I kneel before her.

Oh, and the oldest kid, Travis? He's dating a girl called Katie, who is the daughter of Demeter. Her last name? Gardner. Fucking Gardner. She has a sister called Miranda Gardiner, by the way. Mama Stoll finds it hilarious. Her sons still don't get the pun, but at least she gets on with her future daughter in law like a house on fire.

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natalinaofficial · 2 years

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www.instagram.com/officialnatalina

#hermes #loropiana #agent provocateur

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talonabraxas · 20 days

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The Caduceus

Hermes, personifying the dual powers of the Secret Wisdom, carries in his right hand a powerful symbol which represents the breathing in and breathing out of the cosmos and unites all the dual aspects of manifested existence. The caduceus of Hermes was said to have been given him by Apollo. It is a wand with two serpents twined round it, surmounted by two wings. The ancient Greeks believed it to exercise influence over the living and the dead, bestow wealth and prosperity, and turn everything it touched into gold. They called it Kerykeion, 'herald's wand' – it was the emblem of heralds and ambassadors, giving them power and inviolability. While the rod represents power, the serpents symbolize wisdom.

The wings of the caduceus symbolize the 'winged radiance' of those who have achieved the dynamic equilibrium of the two lobes of the medulla, the petals of the third-eye chakra, as well as the lightning speed of Hermes as Messenger of the Gods. Like the twining serpents, Hermes is known as the equilibrator, balancing the pairs of opposites, inspiring the alchemist's belief that without him neither Isis nor Osiris could accomplish the Great Work. The caduceus also symbolizes the fall of spirit into matter from the archetypal world to the creative and formative worlds and finally to the material world. Thus it essentially represents the astral light, the means through which Hermes wields his great power of transformation. The astral light is variously described as an "ambient and all-penetrating fluid . . . a ray detached from the (Spiritual) Sun's splendour," – the girdle of Isis that twines around two poles, and the winged dragon of Medea as well as the double serpent of the caduceus. It is the vehicle of life, representing time and eternity: the tempter and the redeemer. The wings of the caduceus signify the spiritual transcendence of time and temptation.

The rod of the caduceus is called a 'laya rod,' a central staff surrounded by the positive and negative energy of the serpents. It is the neutral Sushumna, the channel of the Sun's One Ray. All wands and staffs of power derive from this idea, just as the guiding power of Hermes is reflected in the prayer to the Christos which promises, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." The magician's wand, the 'baton de commandement' of ancient cave-paintings, and the lightning rod, are all aspects symbolic of a principle of controlled power.

On the western pediment of the Temple of Artemis at Corfu is a gorgon figure flanked by two lions. She stands in a 'pinwheel stance' which conveys movement without locomotion. Around her waist are coiled two serpents, entwined at the front, their heads arching back to face one another at her bodice. She is a guardian warding off evil and protecting the goddess within. As such, this stone figure represents protection through balanced duality. For the Great Serpent in the Garden of Eden and the 'Lord God' are one. Or, as the ancients taught, "Demon est Deus Inversus."

Agathodaemon and Kakodaemon are offshoots from the same tree of being, and evil is a force which is antagonistic but essential to good, giving it vitality and existence. These two entwined serpents, symbolizing the astral light which is not only the vehicle of life but the auxiliary of good and evil, reflect that matrix which ever seeks equilibrium. As long as nature remains 'untamed,' the opposition of the two forces (quicksilver and sulphur) manifests in a destructive mode. Hermes (Mercury) introduces the equilibrating element. The Hebrews called the astral light OD-OB-AOUR or 'Great Agent of Life.' The magnetism directed by the active will represented the right-hand serpent of the caduceus or OD. The left-hand serpent symbolized the passive OB. The golden globe at the summit of the rod was AOUR or 'equilibrating light,' the neutral point. The secret of magnetism could be mastered through ruling the fatality of OB with the intelligent power of OD, thereby gaining the perfect equilibrium of AOUR.

The solar and lunar spirals describe forces unfolding outward and simultaneously turning inward. They represent the expanding and contracting forces of nature, the alternating yin and yang, the two halves of the world egg as well as of the brain. A continuous oscillation between the two serpents accompanies the involution and evolution of spirit. The involution of spirit into matter is a progressive downward cycling, the 'sliding down of Aeons' of the Alexandrian Gnostics. The 'Downfall of Pleroma' (Gods and Devas) is allegorized as 'the desire to learn and acquire knowledge.' The seven 'rectors' break through the 'seven circles of fire.' These are the seven Devas who were born to act in space and time, to break through the seven circles of the super-spiritual planes into the phenomenal world. Allegorically, they rebelled against God.

In the nineteenth century 'primitive matter' was thought to have been formed by the act of a 'generative force' throwing off atoms endowed with varying forms of energy. It was believed by some that lowering temperatures and electricity within the 'original protyle' conferred upon newly-born elements their particular atomicity. Sir William Crookes, an intuitive chemist, pointed out that double spirals describe the process by which the elements originate. Such a figure would comprise three simultaneous oscillating motions, each at right angles to the other. Projecting this figure in space, curves describe loci where various chemical elements form within one cycle of oscillation. In the next cycle, conditions of temperature and time would have changed and the atomic groupings would be lineal descendants of the first group; and so the process would continue. Projected in space, the curve shows a central neutral line relating to electrical and chemical properties, with a positive spiral on the north, a negative on the south. This strongly echoes the metaphysics embodied in the caduceus. Though limited to material genesis, scientists have suggested that eventually matter would be reabsorbed into 'the point neutral as to electricity' or the 'zero point' analogous to the neutral globe at the summit of the caduceus rod – what The Secret Doctrine terms the "Inter-etheric point" upon which the universe revolves, a laya point, "which hiding place can be traced in the world of matter." Rotating neutral centers fixed by Fohat carry the full load of accumulated atoms from the start, and remain balanced.

The Divine Pyrnander teaches that "the Gods distinguished the Nature full of Seeds. And when all things were interminated and unmade up, the light things were divided on high and the heavy things were founded upon the moist Sand." When things were formed, they were sustained by Spirit and "Heaven was seen in Seven Circles . . . The Gods were seen in their Ideas of the Stars . . . and the Sphere was lined with air, carried about in a circular motion by the Spirit of God." Similarly, in modern astronomy, scientists speak of whirling gases made up of light hydrogen atoms evolving into heavier elements by 'spontaneous synthesis.' This cosmo-chemical process is described as unfolding in the same oscillating, caduceus-like pattern. Hydrogen atoms, the first of the series, are able to bind and to release a second electron, and in the absorption and emission of the necessary small amount of energy, all the wavelengths of the hydrogen spectrum are evolved. Since all further color distinctions are due to similar atomic and electro-magnetic variants, it would seem to follow that the potential for subsequent evolution exists at the earliest point. The unfolding spectrum can be related to the serpentine oscillation producing the original elements. In the language of the ancients, the Seven Devas break through spiritual planes into the phenomenal realms. Spirit involves into matter, its manifested spectrums circling down in series through the astral matrix.

These dual forces conjoin at the center of the seven-fold nature of man. The full force of the conjunction of the lunar and the solar serpents is uniquely experienced in human nature, and the perfected man who has balanced these universal forces is, like Hermes, a God of the Crossroads and a Mediator between Two Worlds. At the point of intersection between the macrocosm and the microcosm stands man. This is 'the cave of the heart,' the battleground of the dual forces of life. The vertical axis is the road of descending and ascending power. The horizontal axis is the manifestation of this in the world. Strong interaction of the contrasting forces along the two axes produces a spiralling motion that is the basis for identifying the aspiring disciple with the uncoiling serpent, and the perfected men of all ages as Nagas or Dragons of Wisdom.

Through his sacrifice the Serpent-Saviour initiates a new winding on the spiral of the next dimension, marking the beginning of a New Age. He is like The Redeemer on the cross. Through him man pulls himself up at the moment of death into the lunar foundations of the next world. The Adept who touches the earth like the serpent's tail sacrifices his life to lift up the whole in his journey back to his Spiritual Seat. He is the Spiralled Serpent of the Tree of Life.

The trunk of the Asvatta tree grows from heaven and descends at every Beginning from the two dark wings of the Swan of Life. The two Serpents, the ever-living and its illusion (spirit and matter) whose two heads grow from the one head between the wings, descend along the trunk, interlacing in close embrace. The two tails join on earth (the manifested universe) into one, and this is the great illusion.

Ophios and Ophiomorphos, Apollo and Python, Osiris and Typhon, Christos and the Serpent, are all convertible terms, all Logoi. "One is unintelligible without the other." They are spiritual saviours and physical regenerators; the former ensure immortality for the Divine Spirit and the latter give it through regeneration of the seed. The serpent or saviour has to die because he reveals the secret of the Immortal Ego.

Human consciousness is related to the balancing and flow of subtle energy currents. The Sakti of Siva actively revolves around the Siva lingham, the neutral rod of the caduceus. The lotus centers in the body are pierced by the Sakti energy passing into progressively finer vibrations. The Buddha termed this 'the untying of all the knots in the inverse order.' Man approaches the Divine through spiral stages of initiation. Apollonius of Tyana spoke of the Second Hour when "by the duad, the zodiacal fish chant the praises of God; the fiery serpents entwine about the caduceus and the thunder becomes harmonious." This is one of twelve zodiacal steps of successive initiation, another being to study the balanced forces in nature and learn how harmony results from the analogy of contraries, "to know the Great Magical Agent and two-fold polarization of universal light."

The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus bears the following inscription "The power is vigorous if it be changed into earth . . . Ascend with the greatest sagacity from earth to heaven, and then again descend to earth, and unite together the power of things superior with things inferior." Such is the practice of theurgy which involves communication with, and bringing down to earth, planetary spirits and angels. Total purity of mind, heart and body is needed to perform this sublime magic. In the school of Iamblichus, priests who evoked gods during the Mysteries were Hierophants. Like the Brahman Grihasta, the Theurgist liberated his own astral body, which then took on the form of the God and served as a medium through which the "special current preserving ideas and knowledge of that God could be reached and manifested." Through theurgy, the initiated disciple ascends the spiral to communicate with the Augoeides rendered visible through the medium of his astral body.

The magic of theurgy and the art of healing are alike based upon the principle of establishing an equilibrium of forces. Because human nature denotes the polarity of spirit and matter, a struggle between the two manifests. Since the centripetal and centrifugal forces are interdependent, if the action of one is obstructed, the action of the other will immediately become self-destructive. There must be a restoration of equilibrium so that the currents of life can perform their proper function in the body. The Navajo medicine man carefully delineates a design in colored sand which precisely combines the correct elements of color, symbol, direction and balance. In the center of this mandala the patient will remain seated throughout the lengthy chanting which, together with the sand-painting, will evoke the contrasting forces in nature necessary to re-establish the proper equilibrium in the patient.

The knowledge needed to heal oneself is the same as that needed to ascend the spiral of initiation into the still center of the Higher Self. The great shadow of the astral light ever deludes man and the shadow-serpent entwined around him obscures his vision. Let man mark that serpent well and understand its essential force while turning his mind ever upward toward the Spiritual Sun. The ardent disciple strives to realize Siva through the balanced forces of his whole nature, thus embodying every aspect of the golden caduceus. This is the natural potential of man. The perfect balance achieved, the soul soars upward on radiant wings.

Tree of Life as the Caduceus of Mercury. Each number corresponds to a planet/god e.g. 8 is Mercury, 7 is Venus etc.

The serpents represent the Ida and Pingala nadis, while the shaft/wand is Sushumna.

Image from “The Book of Thoth” by Aleister Crowley (1944).

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zer05trange · 4 months

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Roaring Sea

I. Hermes

⋆｡°✩ (childe x fem!reader)✩°｡⋆

⋆｡°✩ chapter summary: After an inexplicable rush, your second favorite customer comes in for the second day in a row.

⋆｡°✩wc: 1.6k

⋆｡°✩content warnings: none

⋆｡°✩ series masterlist (there is a prologue before this part!!)

Your day began as most did. After waking and freshening up, you begin baking bright and early for the weekday ahead of you. For a relatively new business, you have a decent amount of customers each day, and with little to no negative feedback. It feels nice, especially since starting a business in the service industry was known to be very difficult.

However, today, you are slammed.

Everyone and their mother is visiting your bakery, the small building space was packed for what seemed like hours. You had to get your one employee, Ivan, in early to help out, because this sort of rush was not something you could tackle alone. People were lined up at the back of the door, and each booth and table were full. And when a table isn’t occupied, it's being cleaned for the next customer to take.

The room surrounds itself with a bright and warm ambiance with many conversations filling the air, and it's enjoyable, though it may be overwhelming as all hell. Ultimately, watching people enjoy your food and your space never fails to cap your heart with fulfillment, regardless of how stress-inducing it could get.

The oddest part of the rush is that you're having loads of Fatui agents visit your shop. You've served your fair share of Fatui before, but never at this caliber. Usually, they were aloof and curt. But today, you could almost say they were polite to you, most even tipped a few extra mora with their order. You were mulling over the phenomenon as the fifth pyro agent of the morning walked up to your counter.

“What can I get for you?” You smile up at a agent with his hood and mask covering his face.

“I need a slice of praga cake. Oh and a slice of apple cake, both to go?” He asks, his voice almost... timid.

“Of course, is that all you want?” You ask as you pack up his two slices of cake.

“No,” He exchanges his money for your goods, “Thank you ma’am.”

Once placing a generous tip on your counter, he briskly leaves the shop. That, much like many other interactions that day, left you in a stunned state. Not only had a Fatui agent called you ‘ma’am’ and left a large tip, but he seemed more nervous than their usual stoic demeanor.

After a while, the rush slowed, with fewer Fatui agents making their stay in your bakery. Must be time to do shady government business in the Tsaritsa’s name, you think. You begin cleaning up the dining area, picking up plates and glasses, as well as sweeping up excess crumbs on the ground.

“Ivan, could you please ice that cake?” You ask your employee as you return behind the counter, “I’ll let you off early when you’re done.”

“Yes ma’am,” The boy responds attentively as he turns around toward the baking counter. You observe him for a moment, observing how his talent surrounding baking has improved since he began working for you. Ivan came in begging for a job just a few short months ago as a way to make an extra buck during the weekend, and you remember not necessarily needing an extra hand at the bakery. But the teenage boy seemed like he needed the funds, promised to work hard, and hasn't let you down.

It's days like these where find that nothing else brings you more peace than crafting for others, serving them something that you are proud of and that they love almost as much as you do. The tranquility that you found within your bakery was like no other, and besides the stress that came with the rush, you were truly grateful for it.

What you couldn’t pinpoint was how the rush started. You ponder over how it could be possible, you didn’t boost your advertising recently, and it wasn’t a holiday nor was it a weekend. Though thankful, you can’t get over your confusion.

Hours passed by, Ivan finished his shift a while ago, so you were left alone to fend for yourself. By now, the rush had long passed and you only had a few customers coming in at a time, so you weren’t too concerned about working alone. You're finishing refilling the shelves when you hear the doorbell of your bakery, signifying someone entering your shop.

You look up before greeting the customer, only to be met with the same unforgettably cold eyes that you served last night.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Tartaglia,” You quickly flash a smile before getting back to work placing pastries into the display case.

“Mister? Do I seem that old to you?” He asks, a friendly smile back on his lips.

“No, I’m just being formal with my customer,” You push yourself up to meet his eyes.

“Is that all I am to you? A customer?” He puts a hand over his heart and displays some sort of mocking tone, “ I thought I made a better impression than that, Ms. Y/N.”

You lean in over the counter to the man, close enough to be able to whisper, “Do you talk to everyone like that?”

Tartaglia swallows, stiffening up ever so slightly.

“No, just the ones who make Snezhnaya’s best apple cake,” He answers back, just as quiet as you were.

You scoff yet again as you push away from him, “Is this your way of getting food from me? Like the little stunt you pulled last night?”

Before you can humor him any longer, you find yourself cutting a slice of cake for him, and ignoring his existence otherwise.

“Speaking of, I have something else for you,” You say before taking off upstairs. His face molds into one of confusion, holding a plate of warm cake while you disappear.

You come back down a few moments later, and his eyes fall on the pouch of mora he gave you. Before he can object, you place the pouch into his free hand and return back to the counter.

“Did you not like my peace offering, Y/N?” He asks, and the way his name rolls off your tongue makes you feel a little flushed.

“Peace offering?” You cross your arms and snap back at the man.

“You’re snarky, лисичка. I thought a little tip may extinguish your unbridled hatred for me, though it seems I’ve failed,” He says back, taking a seat facing the counter. You giggle at his last statement, his dramatization of your feelings pulls a chuckle out of you.

“Giving me nicknames already? After like… 24 hours?” You ask him, “You’ve got stones.”

It was his turn to laugh before taking a forkful of cake to his mouth, and then making an ‘mm’ sound out of satisfaction. He continues scarfing down his dessert, though his eyes keep watch on you. Specifically, where your vision sat on your hip.

“Do you put that to use?” He asks, his hand pointing to your vision.

“Sometimes,” You brush off the question, “I take commissions occasionally, usually when traveling.”

He smirks at that, and you don’t miss it.

“Do you use yours?” You ask back and watch him nod in pride, you hum at his nonverbal response, “We should spar sometime, though I’d probably smoke you.”

You notice how his demeanor perks up even more, his sudden excitable emotion is slightly scary. His happiness in response to your offer was frightening, to say the least.

He already carries an almost mischievous aura with him, and you begin to think that play-fighting with him would be a mistake on your part. Or it could have come off as flirting to him, which you definitely do not want to take any part in.

“I have to get going,” Tartaglia says as he begins to stand, “Tonya wanted me to hang out with her for a bit tonight.”

He makes his way toward the front counter, closer to you.

“Oh no!” You respond in a dryly sarcastic tone, “What a shame.”

He scoffs at you as he places his elbow on the counter, with his head in his hand. He looks up at you with an over-exaggerated frown and a puppy-dog demeanor. “Sooo…” He taps his other hand on the counter, “When are you going to teach me how to make that cake?”

You cock an eyebrow at him with a hand on your hip, not having it with him, “I’m not giving you my recipe for free.”

You turn away to begin cleaning your miniature oven, and expect him to leave. Yet you don’t hear any sort of movement behind you. You quickly turn back around with an exasperated sigh and look straight at the man, who’s position didn’t change.

“I’m not leaving,” He says in a sing song tone.

“Let me think," You snap back.

Teaching him how to bake something would have to be after the bakery closes. So it would just be the two of you. And he’d be so annoyingly him that you’d probably have to recharge your social battery for the next three days following that. Also, you don’t want your kitchen secrets unveiled to anyone. And, ultimately, you’re smart enough to know that this whole thing has nothing to do with an apple cake. But, it would get him to stop pestering you at the moment.

You look up from the desert case and straight into his cold, cerulean eyes, “I'm free two nights from now.”

You see the edge of Tartaglia’s faux frown sprout up into a small smile as he stands up with his hands held onto the edge of the counter. He remains hunched down enough to where his face is in line with yours. And as if he was accepting a challenge, he begins to part ways with you for the day.

“I’ll see you then.”

⋆｡°✩translation: Лисичка- it’s a term like “fox” or “little-fox”

⋆｡°✩a/n: hiiiii!!! I want to get the next chapter out soon, and i hope y'all enjoy this one! i hope you are all doing well <333 thank you for reading

⋆｡°✩tag list: @inlovewithlondonn @zamorazz @ay4tou @kur0melon @boomie-123

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