#and Basil would never say anything because he wants his grandmother to feel like her daughter was there for her

[dannybobany]

Its become a life goal of mine to make an omori mod one day all about Basil- I have so many ideas about him that I want to make a reality

:( but I literally don’t have access to a computer so while I’d love to write for a mod and draw art for a mod, making it playable would be impossible for me to do

But if I ever had the chance I would do it so so fast man, I think Basil deserves a backstory and I have a really good idea of what I would want it to be- listen if anyone out there is thinking of making an omori mod about Basil I want to help so bad you don’t even get it i want there to be more content about him so bad :(

I think about my hypothetical Basil mod all the time I want it to be real so bad

I might go draw some portraits…

[mrskyler]

hellooo!! may i request headcannons for sunny with a reader whos very affectionate? thank youu!

✮⋆˙ Your own Sun˙⋆✮

Versão Português

「 Sunny x Affectionate! Male reader 」

[ English is not my first language, sorry for any writing mistakes ]

⌗ a/n: OMG MY FIRST REQUEST, I'M SO HAPPY! Thank you Anon for the request, I hope you like it! ‹𝟹 ( You didn't say if you wanted romantic or platonic, so I decided to do romantic. )

୭🧷✧˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀

⌗ Sunny HC's in public:

When you hug Sunny out of nowhere, especially if it's from behind, you feel him stiffen under your touch. He simply freezes in place and doesn't respond when you call his name, much less when you wave your hand in front of his eyes – trying to wake him from his trance.

Sunny's cheeks and ears turn red when you decide to show everyone that you love him; holding hands, clinging to him like a koala or calling him cute nicknames.

When this happens, Sunny immediately becomes a walking tomato and right away he can do three things:

1st - Pick up anything close to him and hide his face with it.

2nd - Hide behind something like a mailbox or a tree.

3rd - Run.

If you kiss Sunny on the cheek in public or in front of your friends, be prepared to hold him, because he will definitely faint.

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

Since Mari's death 4 years ago, your friends had become separated and it was painful to even have a simple picnic together. Knowing this, you were very surprised when they just showed up at your door one day and dragged you away for one.

When you arrived at the church door, you finally understood. They didn't want to leave Mari out, so they decided to have a picnic right next to her grave.

-

It's a sunny day and there's a slight breeze in the air. Eating a cake, you see Hero rummaging through the picnic basket looking for something. But you notice that his eyes are far away.

Maybe he's thinking about Mari.

Seeing this, you try to get his attention. "Hey Hero! Did you make this cake?" He jumps a little when his train of thought is cut off.

"H-Huh?" He looks in your direction confused, he didn't hear what you said.

You laugh a little at his reaction. "I asked if you made this cake." You say pointing with your fork at the cake in front of everyone.

He responds with a smile: "Ah yes, I made it (M/n). I used my grandmother's recipe."

"Really? It's really good Hero! You really are a great cook!" You congratulate him on the delicious cake.

He is a little surprised and gives an embarrassed smile with his eyes closed while rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you (M/n), I'm glad you liked my cake." You return his thanks with a gentle smile.

Hero turns towards the basket and takes what he was looking for. Meanwhile, Basil tries to calm Aubrey who is cursing Kel while trying to stop him from eating his 4th piece of cake; and your boyfriend, Sunny, is sitting next to you.

You look at Sunny, who is basically leaning into your arm and has his head slightly resting on your shoulder. Which leaves you quite surprised, since he is normally very shy when it comes to showing any kind of affection in public – especially in the presence of his friends.

You close your eyes slightly, worried. Maybe he's just uncomfortable being at his dead sister's grave and is trying to look to you for some kind of comfort.

That would make sense, since earlier today when you guys put the picnic blanket down, Sunny didn't sit next to Mari like Hero. When this happened, you were surprised, but you didn't say anything and just sat next to her. You don't judge Sunny and you never could, after all, everyone goes through grief differently.

Turning your attention to your plate, you pick up the strawberry on top of the cake and with a big smile on your face, put it in your mouth. You fidget and make happy noises as you chew on it.

You didn't notice, but Sunny saw your reaction out of the corner of his eye. Looking down at his own plate, he sees the strawberry on top of his cake. With an idea in his head, his cheeks and ears turn slightly red. Then he picks up the strawberry with his fork and puts it on your plate.

"Sunny?" He jumps, almost knocking the plate off his lap.

Lifting his head slightly, Sunny sees your eyes looking at him.

He starts to get up ready to run.

"Sunny!! Sit down right now!" Comically screams your chibi version, while holding a chibi version of Sunny by the shoulders and forcing him to sit on the floor again. "The last time you ran after getting caught doing something for me, you almost got hit by a car!"

Returning to your normal forms, Sunny couldn't say anything in his defense because he knew very well that it was true. So he hid his embarrassed face with his hands, while he still had you holding him by the shoulders.

You let out a defeated sigh and turn your body towards him. "You don't need to be embarrassed Sunny. No one is going to make fun of you just because you're showing some kind of affection." You try to calm him down and reassure him that nothing bad will happen just because he gave you the strawberry from his cake.

You pet his head trying to comfort him, but you still had your other hand on his shoulder in case he freaks out again and decides to run.

Feeling his shoulder relax a little and seeing his head lower at your touch, you give him a gentle smile. "There, there, Sunny. There's no need to worry, nothing bad will happen to you. Not when I'm here." You laugh a little as you pretend to calm a little child or a puppy. But if you were to compare, Sunny always looked more like a cat than a dog.

After a few seconds of calming him down, he lowers his hands a little from his face – slightly showing his eyes. But even so, you can see his cheeks as red as a tomato.

Seeing this, you smile. "But thank you very much for the strawberry, dear!" You say without thinking much. Before Sunny understands what you said, you lift his bangs and plant a kiss on it, purposely making a loud, "Mwah!" noise.

You pull away a little and give a big smile with your eyes closed, until you feel Sunny falling on top of you.

You don't understand and think he's just leaning towards you like before, so you hug him and feel his warm face on your neck.

Meanwhile, your friends are in shock at what they just witnessed.

"(M/n)...I think Sunny passed out-"

"WHAT?!"

⌗ Sunny HC's in private:

When you stay at each other's houses, Sunny will follow you everywhere like a duckling.

When you leave the bathroom, you will trip over him – who has been sitting next to the door this whole time.

The moment you sit down on the bed or sofa, Sunny will already have his head in your lap or hugging you like a koala.

If you stroke his hair, he will somehow start to purr (?) and in a few seconds, he will be asleep.

Since Sunny spent years without having any contact with anyone other than his mother, he's not sure how to ask for affection from you. Then he will simply stand in front of you looking at your eyes, until you understand that he wants a hug or pat on the head.

If you kiss him anywhere on his face, he will still have that expressionless face, but you can see that his eyes soften a little and his cheeks and ears turn slightly red.

Sunny is a great listener. So when you're talking about something you like or just venting about something that happened to you, he will nod his head every now and then to reassure you that he's listening and understanding what you're saying.

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

You go down the stairs of Sunny's house and go towards the kitchen to get something to drink.

Opening the fridge, you look for something you like – but only find water. Shrugging your shoulders, you pick up the water pitcher and fill a glass cup.

You put it in your mouth and turn around. Just to run into your boyfriend.

You spit out the water and start coughing nonstop.

Sunny is startled by your reaction, but becomes concerned when you start coughing uncontrollably.

He's been following you since the moment you got out of bed and walked out the bedroom door. But the problem was that you didn't hear his footsteps behind you when you were walking down the stairs.

Didn't even feel his presence in the kitchen – since he didn't say a word.

You put your hands on your knees trying to catch your breath. Seeing this, Sunny approaches worriedly, but you extend your arm and stop him.

You stand up and wipe the water running down your chin. "I'm fine Sunny, don't worry..." You say shakily and finished.

Sunny is freaking out inside.

୭🧷✧˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀

[stxrry-dxys]

alright i wanted to elaborate a little bit on this post i made here. i’ve been dying to do a proper analysis on hero’s character, but before we start i would like to make some things clear: i do not hate any of the kids, and i do not think any of them are bad or irredeemable people. while i do not think all of their actions were good or justified, i do believe that they had every right o feel upset, hurt, or overwhelmed in the scenarios i am about to analyze. i just want to clarify because i don’t want it to sound like i’m here to dogpile on hero, aubrey, or kel specifically. they’re kids, they’re going to be bad at handling things, and while i am going to criticize some of their actions i do NOT think that they are horrible people by any means. now let’s get into why i think hero is not the perfect responsible boy sunny or the fandom has built him up to be.

hero and mari are the oldest children in a group of friends with not many solid parental figures. kel is a glass child, something hero is shown to be aware of when he runs to kel after their argument when he sees he’s being ignored. as well, their mom is shown to be slightly manipulative and guilt trippy in the game. and while i don’t think this necessarily means she’s abusive i do think saying things like “your mean old brothers don’t want anything to do with us” can create a lot of guilt and stress within a household, especially when their dad just kind of sighs and lightly tries to talk with her. aubrey is in an abusive and neglectful household with her mom, and her dad is implied to be a bit controlling (“my dad would never let me dye my hair”). basil lives alone with an ailing grandmother and parents who are never around. sunny’s only solo memories of his father are the tree chopping incident and him yelling about lost remotes so much that everytime you even click on a remote sunny says not to touch it because “it might get lost”. (im going to exclude sunny’s mom from this section as i feel there’s lots of different ways to interpret her dynamic with the kids and i swing back and forth on these myself).

but all this to say, hero and mari are sort of forced into this parental role for all these kids, while they’re only teenagers themselves. and while the younger ones obviously look up to and admire them, there’s only so much they can do, and both of them are subject to bias as well. this is where i think the idea of them being “so responsible!” kind of fails, though it’s more obvious with hero than with mari.

in headspace, pretty much the first thing hero does is scold kel and aubrey for fighting, a very, very consistent theme for his character. and yes, i am aware that headspace is not 1:1 with the real world, but i do think a lot of the character moments between the main four are based off real events that may have happened. so yeah, hero scolds kel and aubrey a lot, but he also fails at scolding them a lot. often he plays the mediator (“cut it out you two” or “you two are in trouble now”) and while it gets kel and aubrey to drop their current fight, it doesn’t stop another one from coming in the next five minutes. and this failure to prevent their fights and getting more and more annoyed with them throughout headspace’s run culminates in hero’s biggest mistake in how he handles the two of them, that if we’re to believe is based off events that did likely happen, bleeds into the current day fight between kel and aubrey as well.

during the humphrey section of two day’s left, the main four find a lone flower crown lying on the ground. they forgot don’t know who it belongs to, but it’s crumpled and dirty. aubrey debates taking it to return to its owner, and hero says it may not be in a condition where they even want it anymore. and then kel kicks it off the edge, sparking aubrey to yell at him. now kel is slightly in the wrong here, as the best thing to do would be to just not touch it instead of kicking it into the void. and aubrey being frustrated is understandable, but ultimately it’s not a super big deal as it’s not any of their property, so she’s not really in the right for picking a fight here either. however when kel goes to defend himself and say “well hero said no one would even want it any more anyways!” hero snaps. (“that’s enough! kel, apologize to aubrey.”) and this is the biggest issue with hero playing parent for the group, he’s biased.

hero grew up with kel, he’s his brother so he gets to be a little mean or snappy at him and have it all be fine later, and the inverse is true as well. but as much as hero may see aubrey as a little sister, he is not related to her, and he will not feel as comfortable scolding her as harshly as he does kel. so when he reaches his limit with their fighting and snaps, he doesn’t snap at aubrey, he snaps at kel and demands he put a stop to it, even if kel doesn’t really need to. see, kel is in the wrong in this situation, but not with aubrey. the flower crown belonged to someone else, not her. he owes an apology to the person who’s property he just destroyed, not her. and while she is allowed to be frustrated that he did that, she has no right to be completely upset with him (she goes on to pout and ignore him after he apologizes which is absolutely unjustified as it was not her crown, and to her knowledge she does not know who it belonged to). but hero is a teenager, he’s about 15 here and he’s so tired of these 12 year olds fighting, and he just wants it to stop, so he tells kel to apologize to aubrey, even if she’s not the one owed an apology. he’s scolding kel, yes, but not in the right way. and this is a mistake that i think sticks around.

and while no, we do not have proof that this definitively happened in the real world, it’s such a specific scenario for sunny to include, and one i’ve seen happen among my own siblings and my friends siblings, i absolutely believe something similar happened. and i do think this is where mari gets a slight advantage playing neutral in kel and aubrey’s fights, as she’d only really have the familiarity to snap that way at sunny (like she’s implied to do during concert rehearsals) so she gets to play middle ground with the other two more than hero does. but i did mention that i think this had an impact on the real world as well.

kel and aubrey’s biggest issue in the real world is this: aubrey feels abandoned by kel and kel feels betrayed by aubrey. and i want to clarify, i think they’re both a little right and a little wrong. aubrey is absolutely right to be upset that kel never reached out to her (especially when we know he reached out to sunny and hero), but she is not right to be upset with how he handled his grieving process after mari’s death (she notes that she was upset at how quickly he moved on, and to her credit she does acknowledge that this was wrong of her). kel is absolutely right to feel betrayed by aubrey picking fights with him, sunny and basil and being upset that she’s just kind of a bully towards them now (she and the hooligans are noted by kel to be trouble before you properly meet them, they write kel smells outside his house, she refuses to give basil’s photo album back after four years of begging and says herself that she calls him a freak and lets others do it too, she tries to kick them out of a public area in a public park oh my god this part really annoys me about the hooligans wtf was this plotline) (also side note: yes kel is allowed to be upset about her holding basil’s property hostage as he both knows who it belongs to, and has been asked to retrieve it by said person while he was on the brink of tears) but he is not right to keep throwing mari in her face as a moral one-up card, nor is he right to blame her for basil almost drowning when she accidentally pushed him in (she IMMEDIATELY declares it was an accident and is visibly worried about him even though she’s upset with him).

i think ultimately this fight spawns from two things, aubrey has been taught that she is owed an apology when she feels she’s been wronged, without looking at both sides. and kel is tired of always having to be the one to apologize first when he feels he’s not in the wrong, without looking at both sides. again, they’re both a little right and a little wrong for these perceptions. after all, it’s what hero taught them when he broke up their old fights. and even when he finds out about this one, his solution is still ineffective even all these years later. because instead of suggesting they talk it out, which is what would really help them reach an understanding of the other’s feelings, he calls it “another classic kel and aubrey fight” and says they “just need to hug it out”. and while i think he’s trying his best, this is absolutely not what they need. there is a lot of deep seated anger here and it even shows on their faces after he suggests this (kel looks away awkwardly and aubrey is on the brink of tears).

in fact, they don’t even really make up until after kel tells her they dug through the trash in order to save the photo album and they all look through it together. it’s through aubrey realizing that kel does in fact care about their memories together, and kel remembering that even after all this time aubrey still is the same sweet girl he knew, that they finally understand each other’s perspective a bit more. kel can see how hurt aubrey is and aubrey starts to understand that kel had his own way of processing mari’s death.

but even though hero was brought over to fix the situation, he ultimately ends up failing to help the two reconcile, they do it all on their own. because at the end of the day, hero is not a parent. he is a brother, a friend, and a teenager. kel and aubrey don’t know how to process their emotions or fights any more than he does, and he makes a lot of mistakes in the process. and i think this is where a lot of his guilt over mari’s death comes from, and basil’s too in the neutral ending. he was supposed to be the responsible one, the parental one, the perfect balance. but he couldn’t be there for mari and basil, he couldn’t even be there for kel and aubrey. and while that is not his fault, and should never have been his responsibility, he is always going to hold that against himself, he is always going to see himself as a failure.

truth be told, he shouldn’t have been put in a position to believe that in the first place. he should have just been allowed to be a dumb teenager who makes mistakes and doesn’t have to take care of everyone around him. and that’s what i find so fascinating about hero’s character. he is a dumb teenager who makes mistakes, just one that was put on a pedestal and parentified, expected to take care of everyone and everything, when for a whole year he couldn’t even take care of himself. he’s bad at being responsible, and i wish he would’ve been told that’s okay, because it is.

tagging the person who asked to be notified about this post ( @skyisepic ) i’d also love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this analysis, if you have anything to add or if you feel i went too harsh on anyone throughout this please let me know!!

[delinquentduoofficial]

So this isn’t a ask, and more of series of headcanons or ideas that I want to share with you 🙂, feel free to make any changes that you think fit better with your AU

Because Basil is the one that spends the night at Sunny’s with Hero, when everyone is reminiscing there is a more unsettling atmosphere as Hero goes around talking about the Piano, Sunny and Basil feeling uncomfortable at the bottom of the stairs where Mari died, in fact there is a moment when Hero kind of see them space out for a second before he awkwardly laughs and asks if they are ok. When it’s time for them to sleep and Hero finally nods off, Basil quietly asks Sunny why he is leaving him after all this time, to doesn’t respond and Basil cries himself to sleep. When Sunny awakes in the middle of the night to see Hero crying at the piano, he also finds Basil in the bathroom saying “everything is okay”, presumably after a nightmare, though Sunny doesn’t remember everything yet and he feels uncomfortable around Basil, he does try to comfort him by patting him on the back, even if that only makes him a bit manic about needing some comfort, soon both head back to sleep, this time Sunny let’s Basil on the bed with him in case either have nightmares (maybe it’s a bad idea, but you know)

Kel tries to sneak out after he is put in his bed to rest, until his mother caught him trying to leave through the window, she tells him to rest and leaves Sally in the room with him (like you said), he can’t leave, he’s been outplayed. Eventually the hooligans get to checking on him, he’s easier to contact than Aubrey in general and they all are happy to see Sally playing on the bed with Kel laying down. They ask what happened, Kel let’s them know about the accident after the hooligans left, and that Kel was too weak at the time from almost drowning to try to let Aubrey know it was ok (he also leaves the whole Hero had a breakdown thing and that Basil was panicking and apologizing for Kel getting hurt). He doesn’t remember much but he does remember Aubrey’s horrified face as he was being carried away. Kel looks Kim dead in the eye, and asks her to make sure Aubrey knows he isn’t mad or sad, and that it was a accident, he knows Aubrey too well to know she will somehow blame herself or will think Kel hates her now. Hooligans go check on Aubrey but it was unsuccessful.

When morning hits for everyone, Basil and Hero woke up and helped around Sunny’s home, it was out of being helpful for Hero, for Basil it was guilt, that it was the least he could do for the trouble he caused. Polly ends up interrupting the breakfast and tells Basil his grandmother is in the hospital, he panics, says his goodbyes to them before rushing out with Polly. At the same time Kel’s dad wakes him up and gives him breakfast, only after eating can he finally leave, which Kel is half happy with (he didn’t eat dinner because he fell asleep), and half annoyed by (he wants to make sure Aubrey isn’t isolating herself). Hero and Sunny make it to Aubrey’s before Kel’s breakfast is even finished, and it’s here when some confused feelings about Sunny finally stepping out happens, Aubrey confronting the guilt and anger that Kel has towards what that fight with Hero, and how much she hates that they see just how bad the home life is for her. Hero tries his best to be that mature older brother figure, he owns up to what happened with that fight and how he regrets it everyday, that he would do anything to undo that day. This is also where’s Aubrey hears Hero’s half of the story, though Kel certainly told her about how Hero ended up just giving up, Aubrey hears or directly from him just how he had given up living, how that grief never being handled ended up slowly becoming a build up as his family, especially Kel kept trying to get him to do ANYTHING, and that eventually he just explodes at Kel because he wasn’t ready to happy, he knew it wasn’t healthy but he couldn’t help how broken he felt, but that it never excuses what happened that night, the things he shouted and the broken look on Kel’s face as his parents comforted Hero instead of his scared brother. Aubrey hearing this, doesn’t know if she is quite okay with Hero yet, but she admits she also missed having Hero as a reliable brother figure in her life, and even admits she really looked up to him and Mari as the role models in life, and how betrayed she felt when everyone besides Kel never went to check on each other, maybe she could over look a year or two, but Hero never went to talk to her even after she began hanging with Kel again. When Kel finally leaves he rushes to Aubrey’s only to find the unlocked house empty, she isn’t home. Kel goes all over the town kind of missing Aubrey as she, Hero, and Sunny are doing things. It isn’t until the group is all visiting Mari’s grave that he finally catches up.

It’s a very tense and emotional moment as they lock eyes, Kel looks like shit from looking for most of the day, and Aubrey looks like she had been crying earlier. After that they both run into a hug and start apologizing and getting a bit emotional, it’s messy and there is a lot of ��I’m not mad” “your my best friend” “we are in this together”, and Hero smiles as the two friends are making up. This is also where Hero is about to give them some privacy until Kel walks up to him and pulls him into a hug, he tells him how much he misses hanging with him, and Hero ends up breaking down as well, trying his best to comfort his brother and apologizing for that fight all those years ago. This all ends with that picnic by Mari’s grave, things aren’t all better, there is a lot of built up hurt between the brothers, a lot of guilt between the delinquent dou, and just general bittersweet feelings about finally seeing Mari together, though they all wish Basil was here, this is also where Aubrey hears about Basil’s grandma is in the hospital. Eventually this becomes the night at Basil, and the story line goes the same from there.

Okay so i absolutely adore all of this it’s just so perfect so I’m just gonna go down the list of ideas you came up with and gush about them for maybe two paragraphs if I’m lucky lol.

Okay about the basil and sunny being so uncomfortable the entire time is absolutely canon. Basil is just on the brink of having a meltdown the entire time, he hasn’t really been inside of Sunny’s house since the accident and seeing it again is just so horrible for him. I can imagine it starts the sleep looking around the room cutscene normally and then at the end it has basil staring at him, saying the dialogue you suggested before it just abruptly cuts to white space. Also yeah I can imagine that sunny just doesn’t understand what’s happening with basil, and so even though he feels sort of uncomfortable he wants to make sure he’s okay. Also them both sleeping in the same bed together even though it might be a bad idea is honestly adorable. 

 Yeah like we talked about before, kel was really desperate to see Aubrey and make sure she wasn’t just guilting herself. I can imagine all of the hooligans in his room, wondering oh hey why is Aubrey upset about what happened and a lot of them are really shocked about it. Also kel for a minute being like incredibly serious, like he’s dead serious he looks fucking terrifying, go tell Aubrey that its not her fault and that I don’t blame her at all is such a good scene. Kel deserves to be a little intense sometimes lol. More on that moment with Kim staying behind the longest to see if Aubrey will let them in, besides the fact that Aubrey is one of her best friends, she also did it for kel. Because honestly she hasn’t seen him be that serious about something and she knows that Aubrey also means a lot to him.

I love the idea of in the morning hero is wearing his pink apron, he’s finished all of sunnys chores and there’s like birds singing around him (sunny has said wow so many times) and then basils like uh “ i-i helped too sunny” and he hands him like burnt bacon while he mouths I am so sorry. But like on a less lighter Note, Aubrey and hero venting to each other at Aubrey’s house, trying to explain how they both felt at that time, I feel like it’s a lot more emotional than the original. Like it’s a lot of crying, because honestly even though hero thinks about everything he said right now all the time. He’s never actually said any of it out loud to anyone and it makes him really upset. They’re still tense with each other, but now that’s it out in the open they can start to fix their relationship.

But like kel searching everywhere for Aubrey not being able to find her until he gets to Mari’s grave must be so stressful, like he has no idea what Aubrey’s feeling, he’s scared about if she’s like beating herself up over it. But I can feel how relieved he would be when he finally finds her.

And the way you describe the makeup scene between hero and kel, just makes me so sad and happy at the same time. It's all so bittersweet with all of them together. I’m an emotional person and sometimes my own imagination can make me feel so sad, and imagining that scene makes me churn <333 you are so cool istg.

Also I love how you transition between au scenes into the rest of the game, you are so good at that!

Thank you for all of this, it was so fun to read and I loved this <3

[sunnysviolin]

Omotober Day Five- Photograph

“That's the thing about trust. It's like broken glass. You can put it back together, but the cracks are always visible--like scars that never fully heal.” ― Hope Collier,

Aubrey was almost out the door when her mother dropped the bombshell on her. Usually her mom wasn’t even awake when she was leaving for school, she was still sleeping off whatever bender she had gone on the night before. She was up today, in a stained robe with unkempt hair, but she was up.

“We’re going to visit Flora for dinner tonight. Go home on Basil’s bus, I don’t want you trying to skip out on this,” Past Aubrey would have been elated. Not only was her mom up, but they were going to see her best friend for dinner. Now she growled in irritation and rolled her eyes.

“Mom-”

“Aubrey, don’t even think about starting up,” Her mother cut her off with a warning look. Aubrey shut her mouth but hot anger lit up in her veins. She bit her tongue to stop from screaming as her mother continued her lecturing, “That woman is old and her time is coming soon. Respect thy elders, it’s the godly thing to do,”

The hypocrisy of it filled Aubrey’s mouth with poison, and she balled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking. Her mom loved to spout religious crap like this all the time, acting like saying scripture somehow equated to being a good person. Aubrey would have loved to ask her what part of her oh so precious book told her that getting drunk every night was godly, but if she started that fight again she would never make it to school on time.

“Whatever,” Aubrey muttered in lieu of her actual thoughts, pushing past her mother and out the front door. Her mother’s little lecture had taken long enough that the bus stop was completely empty, and that only made Aubrey’s mood even worse. She seized her scooter and whipped it around, putting all of her mental frustration into the physical act of riding to school and away from her house as fast as possible.

The ride did nothing to alleviate Aubrey’s anger and a dark storm cloud hung around her through every period. Students gave her a wide berth and teachers looked at her with distrustful eyes. They were all expecting something to happen, and she hated them for it. They always expected the worst of her. Kel had tried approaching her during their shared study hall, and she ignored him till he left. He wasn’t a true friend, he didn’t really care about her. Aubrey had to remember that, or she would fall for his tricks again.

By the end of the day, Aubrey was exhausted. To the rest of the world, she seemed just as bitter and angry as she was when she got to school, but it was just an easy front that she put out to keep them all away. Truthfully, she just wanted to go home, climb the stairs to her room, and curl up with her bunny (). She wanted to block out the world and all of the fake people in it, forget about false friends and the never ending loneliness that threatened to crush her at any point.

She couldn’t. She had to go to Basil’s.

She found Basil waiting outside, off in a corner. He was standing slightly hunched over, like he was trying to disappear right where he stood. Absolutely pathetic, but that was Basil. A weakling who had used Aubrey. Kel was with him, clearly talking at Basil and not to him. Basil wasn’t even paying attention, just staring off at the trees and playing with his fingers the way Aubrey hated. She walked over in long purposeful strides, putting herself in the middle between the two boys.

“Get lost,” Aubrey snapped, hoping that Kel would argue right back with her. It would be a good outlet, something that would get rid of the storm cloud. Basil was no fun to fight with, he just cried and apologized. At least Kel would do it properly.

But luck was not on her side. Kel didn’t fire back with a harsh retort or even give her a glare. He just sighed and rolled his eyes, something that instantly set alarm bells of resentment ringing in her head. She hated when he acted higher and mightier, rising above her like he was too good to fight with her. It was the same as her mother’s religious rambling, just another hypocrite who thought they were better than they were and judged Aubrey for not playing their game.

“I’ll see you later, Basil ,” Kel said, deliberately putting emphasis on ignoring that Aubrey even existed. The urge to kick out his legs and pound him into the dirt was overwhelming, but the sound of the buses starting to rumble cut off that train before it left the station. She growled and yanked Basil along with her by the wrist, walking over to his bus and climbing the high steps. Aubrey practically threw him into an open three seater and launched her bag in after, sitting as close to the aisle as she could and as far away from him as possible.

She didn’t want them, but as she sat on the bus with her former oldest friend, memories of all the times they had done this before came to her one by one. They had always chosen a two seater before, they hadn’t needed the room of three. They would cram close together and read the same book, or chat about all the things they could do when they got to his house. They had almost missed their stop multiple times because they were so lost in their conversation, and oftentimes they had to shout for the bus driver to hold on so they could get off. It was funny, sweet to the point of saccharine.

The thoughts made Aubrey sick now. She tried to pretend it was just the righteous fury she obviously should have felt at their betrayal, but there was something else in there. A thing with dark claws that dug into her chest and made itself known with pain. The word for it sat heavy in her mind, there but unspoken, pushed to some long forgotten corner that she never looked at and never wanted to. Aubrey had enough trouble grieving the dead, she had no need for grieving the living too. The bus reached their stop and she hopped off without looking back. Basil would follow or he wouldn’t, she didn’t care either way.

“Aubrey!” Flora tottered towards them down the sidewalk, her cane clutched firmly in her right hand. Her white hair was pulled up in her signature bun, and her dress was a pretty floral blue that matched her eyes.

She pulled Aubrey into a hug once the young girl was close enough, holding her in a tight squeeze. Aubrey put her hands around Flora, but she didn’t hug her back. Flora was fragile, her bones easily felt through paper dry skin. Aubrey hoped she never got old enough to feel this breakable, but the hug was still warm and comforting. Flora smelled like old lady soap and dried flowers and clean laundry, a smell that Aubrey loved for how safe it made her feel, and hated for how fleetingly often she got to experience it.

When Flora pulled back she kept her hands on Aubrey’s upper arms, looking the girl up and down. Aubrey resisted the urge to squirm, holding her breath as the old woman appraised her. She hadn’t seen Basil’s grandmother since the funeral almost two years ago, and she knew Flora hadn’t seen her shocking pink hair yet, or the new styles she liked to wear. Aubrey began to steel herself for a long winded speech about respecting her body like a temple, the kind her mom liked to preach after her second bottle of wine.

“You got taller,” Flora commented, turning around and leading the way back to the house, “Come inside, I made some snacks for you two,”

Aubrey slowly let out the breath she had been keeping, letting Basil walk in front of her and towards his house. Flora had never been a mean spirited woman or purposefully judgemental, but Aubrey’s threshold for trust was a lot lower than it used to be. Her anger began to bleed out and shame took its place. Aubrey usually thought the worst of people, and that didn’t bother her because she was usually proven right in the end, but there were exceptions. Flora had never done anything to earn her ire, even if her grandson had.

Aubrey followed them into their home, taking her shoes off at the entrance and looking around. Nothing had changed really, flowers and plants still hung in pots all around and the bookshelf was still packed to the brim. There was a pot bubbling on the stove and vegetables half cut on a board next to it. Flora gestured towards the table and slowly made her way to the fridge, pulling out a carton of strawberries and two oranges. She made quick work of the fruits and was soon putting a platter of cut up pieces of fruit between the two children.

“You two can finish your homework here while I finish up the grub. Dinner is going to be in an hour and a half. I know five o’clock is a little early for you youngins, but I like to be in bed by six!” The old woman laughed at her own nonexistent joke, the sound creaky and roughened with age. She had to stop to cough halfway through, but she waved away Basil’s worried gaze and reaching arms, “Please dear I’m fine. Aubrey you have to teach my grandbaby here how to relax more and just enjoy life,”

Aubrey didn’t respond, using digging through her backpack as an excuse to not have to acknowledge what Basil’s grandmother had said. It was less of a hassle to pretend that she hadn’t heard then to lie and act like she cared if Basil was uptight or not. Basil also didn’t say anything, he just started his work in silence. Flora’s genial mood faltered ever so slightly, but she took their dampened mood in stride.

“Okay then, while you two mope, I’ll keep working on dinner,”

Flora went over to the kitchen proper and turned on the radio, listening to some talk show that Aubrey’s mom also liked. The girl settled into her seat and began to flip through her work, picking and choosing which assignments she would do and which ones she would blow off. There was no point to doing some of them, the teacher was going to fail her anyway, so why should she try? At least if she put all her efforts into one or two classes with cool teachers, she might pass. It was almost dinner time when her peace was broken without her permission

“Did you understand the earth science homework?”

Aubrey looked up, shooting Basil a derisive look for even bothering to speak. He flinched away from her, but held firm, waiting for an answer. She didn’t even want to bother, but she knew Flora was nearby and probably listening, and she would have questions if Aubrey ignored her grandson, or worse, told him to shut up.

“It was easy,” Aubrey tersely replied, putting her anger into her pen. Her words started to come out jagged and uneven, but she didn’t care. It felt good, “It’s just identifying minerals,”

“I don’t get it,” Basil murmured, more to himself than to her. He scratched something out on his worksheet and fisted a hand in his hair, “She explained this over and over, I don’t understand why I don’t get it,”

Aubrey watched the display of his anxiety for a few moments before letting out an exaggerated sigh, letting her head flop back against the chair. It wasn’t even fun to watch him get upset, it just made her feel bad, which only made her angrier. She pushed her chair away from the table, enjoying the loud screech it gave and how uncomfortable it made Basil. Then she stood and walked around the table, leaning over him and getting in his space.

“Which one are you confused on?” She demanded, and he pointed to the question with a shaking finger. She looked at the problem and rolled her eyes. It wasn’t even one of the difficult ones. Their teacher had given them a table of potential minerals and then a series of questions with specific properties. They had to correctly pick which mineral went to which list of properties.

“Okay so you already got half of them, so you just have diamond, muscovite, talc, and gypsum left,” Aubrey stated, going over the options, “The mineral cleaves into thin sheets, has a white streak, and a pearly luster. Which out of those ones has those traits?”

Basil didn’t respond, still shaking from their proximity. He stammered out some unintelligible words, his hands clasping together around his middle. Before he could devolve into an entire anxiety attack, and more importantly before Flora noticed what was going on, Aubrey would have to deal with this

“Would you quit that? I’m not gonna bite,” She barked, and he flinched further away. Great. Aubrey forced herself to take a breath and count to ten, the thing that the annoying school counselor had showed her that almost never worked. Aubrey tried again.

“Okay instead of thinking about it that way. Let’s go with which ones don’t have those features. Does diamond have a streak?”

“No it’s harder than the streak plate,” Basil responded, which was what their teacher had said word for word. Aubrey had started off with a question she knew he would know the answer to, because Mrs. Tommen had made Basil repeat her when she thought he wasn’t paying attention earlier that day.

“So then obviously it can’t be diamond.” Aubrey said, unable to take all of the snottiness in her tone. It had to be good enough, besides he should know it was stupid that he needed help with this.

“The rest have a white streak though,” Basil said after a quick check of his notes, “It could be any of them,”

Aubrey briefly considered banging her head against the wall. Anything to get her away from rocks and this idiot. She walked around to her side of the table and went back to her own work, putting her head close to the paper.

“Look at the rest of the traits. They don’t all have the same traits. Just do it that way, and quit bugging me,” She hissed. Basil wilted, but he focused back on his work.

“Thanks for the help,” It came out quiet and timid, but it was there. Aubrey jerked her head in a nod, and the two of them lapsed back into silent solo work until Aubrey’s mother knocked on the door. She was dressed in a purple dress that had seen better days and came bearing store bought cookies that still had a sale sticker on them. Her hair was done, but flyaways surrounded her head like a dust cloud, and her smile was entirely fake.

Flora came over and greeted Aubrey’s mom with enthusiasm, thanking her for  her generosity and guiding her to the table. They made small talk as Basil and Aubrey gathered their things and Basil set the table. How her mom’s job was going, how was Flora’s health, all the usual things Aubrey couldn’t care less about.

The conversation only got more boring when dinner started. When they had done this in the past, Basil and Aubrey easily entertained one another with jokes and teasing jabs and barely noticed the time passing. Now each minute was an hour and Aubrey had achieved levels of boredom previously never reached. Aubrey caught Basil’s eye and nodded towards the doorway to the bedrooms, hoping he caught her hint.

“Um G-Granny?” Basil stuttered, grabbing her attention, “May Aubrey and I be excused?”

Flora looked at both of their plates and nodded, patting Basil on the arm. They gathered up their plates and put them in the sink. As she was about to finally escape, Aubrey’s mother crooked a finger in her direction. She walked to her mom and was pulled down roughly by the arm. It was nothing like the gentle pats that Flora gave Basil, but a clear warning.

“Behave,” Her mother said in a harsh whisper, and Aubrey gritted her teeth.

She hated that word. She hated her mother. She hated this whole stupid dinner. Aubrey didn’t bother to answer as she pulled away from her mom. Her mom didn’t want an answer, she wanted a doll for a daughter. A pretty perfect doll that made small talk and smiled at jokes that weren’t funny and did whatever she asked. Aubrey stole away from the kitchen table, walking into Basil’s room and shutting the door. She didn’t like spending time with him anymore, and she certainly didn’t want to talk to him, but anything was better than being reminded just how much her own mother didn’t like her.

Basil’s room was also in a stasis, unchanged and unevolved from when she last saw it. The only difference was a blooming white orchid, the petals spread around the stem like angel wings. An orchid that was cared for meticulously, surrounded in the dying light of the day with a golden halo. An orchid that stopped Aubrey in her tracks when her eyes landed on it.

Aubrey had only seen orchids like this in one place. She had assumed that the Pastor did it, or some of the church ladies. She knew that the auxiliary had a circulating list of volunteers that went to tend to the graveyard. Aubrey had even considered that the strange man who always seemed to be in the cemetery might put them there next to her.

She knew Hero didn’t visit. He never went anywhere near the church, hadn’t in years. She didn’t know or care what Kel did, and Sunny didn’t even leave the house anymore. Aubrey had thought she was the only one that visited, the last person that even cared. For some reason her brain had completely blocked out the logical idea that Basil, who loved flowers more than anything, would be the one to carefully tend to a difficult to grow bloom.

“You put these by her?” Aubrey asked quietly, tracing a finger over the delicate petals. Neither of them needed Aubrey to say who “her” was, there was only one person left that connected them. Basil nodded, keeping his eyes down and away from his former friend. Aubrey continued to stare down at the flower, her mind racing faster than she could catch up.

“It’s a white egret,” Basil said, sitting on his bed near her and looking at the flower, “It means my thoughts will follow you into your dreams. I thought it was...I thought she might like it,”

She would have. Mari would have thought it was incredibly sweet, and she would have been able to tell Basil so. She wasn’t like Aubrey who spewed hate without a care in the world but who could never manage to say something kind without stuttering. She would have been able to bring them all together so effortlessly, there would have been no issue. None of this would have ever happened in the first place.

Aubrey was adrift, alone in a sea of confusion that sent wave after wave to try and drown her. She wanted to sit on the bed next to Basil, wanted to finally crack open and let everything out. She could trust him to listen, trust him to care. He was the only one besides her who still cared enough to visit. She should do that. That would be good. But she couldn’t get her feet to move.

“Aubrey?” Basil said, hesitant but still reaching out. She pulled away from the orchid, stumbling back and looking around. A thick leather bound book in the middle of his bookshelf caught her eye, and she wandered over to it. She knew this book.

“Aubrey, don’t.” Basil ordered, his words meaning nothing to her. She could hear him say it, she could even be mildly shocked that he even dared to talk to her like that, when he had been so timid before, but none of it really reached her. Aubrey pulled his photo album out from the shelf, holding it in her hands and opening it.

Instead of the soft faded colors of their childhood, there was black. There was black over Sunny’s birthday, black over her pink raincoat. She could barely make out Hero and Kel arm wrestling, and she only knew which pictures were from the beach based on the small bits of yellow that peaked through the marker staining the memory.

He had scribbled over Mari’s picture.

Aubrey had never had an out of body experience like this. She was always solid, always grounded. Even when she had heard what Mari did, there was no part of her that was able to check out of the situation. Now she was high in the sky, somewhere distant and far where she could only watch as her heart was broken all over again.

A rough tug jerked her back into her body. Basil had snatched the album back from her, his eyes wild and blown wide open. She couldn’t even respond, she had no idea what to do first- steal the album back, or kill him.

“Get out!” Basil shrieked, holding the book against his chest and falling to his knees. She didn’t want to. She wanted to hit him, to feel his bones breaking under her fists and hear him crying out in pain. She could hurt him worse than he hurt her, make it so she wasn’t the only one suffering. He did this. He was the one who did this, and she wouldn’t be to blame for that. She wanted to wring his neck, to break down and start sobbing.

She wanted to run.

Aubrey shouted in rage, beyond words and beyond any outward expression of the emotions roiling within. She bodily threw the door open, running past the table and out the door. She heard her mother and Flora calling for her, but she ignored them, slamming the door and continuing to sprint away. She got back to her house in record time, not bothering to close the front door as she climbed up the ladder to her room as quickly as possible.

Aubrey locked the trap door to her room, finally letting out the scream that had been building up within her. No one was there to hear it but her bunny, and she was currently hiding in her hut from Aubrey’s meltdown. Aubrey flung herself onto her bed and buried her face in her pillows, screaming again. She could hear her mother coming into the house now, screeching in rage at Aubrey’s dramatic exit, catapulting insults left and right about Aubrey. The girl wasn’t listening and didn’t care. Her mind was focused on one thing and one thing only. She would get that album back from Basil, whatever it took to do so, and she would never, never, trust him again.

[curls-cat]

Who we Grew to Be

HAPPY HOLIDAYS @vertdegrece!!!! You asked for grown up Daphne/Pinocchio, so you got a lot of vaguely purple prose leading up to adult Daphnocchio! I haven’t written for this ship in a while, I forgot that I like it!

also posted on AO3

--

Daphne and Pinocchio do not grow up together. That would be too easy. Daphne stalls out for a little bit at eleven, when she gets her first zit, but besides that, she grows like any human child: straight through. 

Pinocchio, on the other hand, grows in fits and starts. He’s been cursed that way, because the Blue Fairy, his absent mother, takes as much as she gives. All her blessings have a little bit of the monkey’s paw about them, so he only grows as old as he acts, forever cursed to act his own age.

The upshot of this is that they don’t spend much time together in childhood. Daphne is much closer to Red, who grows at the same pace she does. Pinocchio, too, is closer to Red. They live in the same house, after all. And Red may be aging at the same pace as her best friend, but she’s got a sort of ageless quality about her that makes it easy for Pinocchio to spend time with her no matter how different their ages are, physically.

Oh, they see each other nearly all of every summer, when Henry and Veronica pack up their rarely-used car to make the drive up from NYC to Ferryport Landing, towing their children with them. Summers are nice. Daphne likes summer, when she has her whole family together in Granny’s newly-renovated ramble of a house for two entire months. Even Puck and Uncle Jake are nearly always there.

But they don’t hang out. Daphne out-ages Pinocchio for the first two years, the growing difference between seven and nine not nearly as much of an impediment as Pinocchio’s snobby brattishness. Then he makes a leap forward, catching up and almost outstripping her to ten. They leapfrog their way through childhood, only matching up briefly every few years. Then he makes a final jump from sixteen and moody to somewhere much closer to twenty, and he’s off to university while Daphne is still sixteen herself, and he throws himself into the kind of universities that he now looks old enough to be a student at.

Sixteen is a weird time. They’re the same age, for once, and they’re together in Granny’s house, for the last time, it’ll later turn out. Pinocchio spends a lot more time with her than usual, but he’s grumpier than he’s been since he was ten, demanding her attention one minute and then scoffing at her the next. Sabrina rolls her eyes and tells him to get his act together, but she’s mostly too busy hate-flirting with Puck to explain what she means, even though she gives Daphne knowing looks whenever pressed.

Then Granny dies, and Daphne’s family shatters.

Puck and Uncle Jake disappear to opposite corners of the globe. Sabrina and Pinocchio go back to school and if Daphne didn’t drag her sister home over the weekends, she’d never see her. Her parents start fighting, both of them either at work or at home but not present. Mr. Canis is so heartbroken that Red is spending all her time, nearly, with him, trying to make him eat or sleep or smile. Basil is furious and heartbroken by turns, begging Daphne for hugs one moment and screaming at her the next. Daphne feels like she’s alone, pulling at a dozen different strings that are all tied to people running as hard as they can in opposite directions. Like she’s being drawn and quartered by her own grief, by her own desire to keep her family together.

It doesn’t come to a head at any one point. It’s several smaller heads, a million little breaks, separate scenes where Daphne begs each of her family members to come back to her one by one. Most of them do. Puck and Pinocchio don’t.

And she gets it. She knows, from the way Mr. Canis and her dad look at her sometimes, that she’s the most like Granny out of all of them. She’s got her grandmother’s righteous indignation and need to help everyone, her rigid moral compass that even she knows is a little shy of true north, her big, enormous heart. Of course it’ll hurt to come back to her. Of course it’ll be like looking at the little imperfect shadow of the woman they’ve lost, the woman who loved them when nobody else would.

It doesn’t make her any less furious at them. And, for a year or two, she’s almost glad they’ve stayed away, her hurt turning into anger.

Fast forward again, to Sabrina’s wedding. By this point, Pinocchio has sort of been back in her life, by virtue of being back in Red’s life. He’s halfway through a doctorate in history, and Daphne’s learned through Red that he wants to get more, in anthropology and archaeology, among other things. He wants to get all the doctorates, from the sound of it.

Sabrina’s wedding goes strangely. Daphne may have meddled a little bit. Just a tiny, tiny bit. But it’s not her fault Sabrina kept moping about Puck. It was super obvious. And Bradley’s a nice guy and all, and Daphne knows Sabrina loves him, but it’s not gonna be a happy marriage if they don’t at least get all the Puck baggage out in the open. So she meddles. Finds Puck, pulls him out of his five-year mope, and throws him at the wedding.

It’s a mess, obviously. There’s a huge scene at the wedding, it sort of falls apart, a lot of forgetful dust has to be spread around. At the end of it, Daphne’s left standing, exhausted, with an empty bag of forgetful dust, watching the last of the guests leave. Or, at least, she thought it was all the guests.

“Are you cleaning up as penance?” someone says behind her, in an absolutely gorgeous voice.

“Come again?” She turns, and there’s Pinocchio, in all his dark academia glory. He’s grown into his nose, though it’s still a striking centerpiece to his face.

“For turning your sister’s wedding into a fiasco,” he clarifies. “I assume that was you.”

“Maybe,” she says, trying for teasing. It comes out a little more flirtatious than she meant it. What? He’s cute, okay?

“How—how have you been?” Pinocchio asks.

He could’ve asked her that any time in the past five years. Any time. She’s honestly kind of surprised he came to the wedding. She will not give him the cold shoulder, though. She won’t. She’s better than that now.

“I’m all right,” she says. “In college. You?”

“Also in college,” Pinocchio says. He gives her a small smile.

She smiles back. It’s all very awkward. She starts gathering up wedding decorations.

“I, uh,” Pinocchio says after a minute. “I think I owe you an apology.”

Damn right he does. She doesn’t say that, though. She does look at him expectantly.

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, not making eye contact. “After—Well. You know. I shouldn’t have run away like that. I was hurting, and spending time around anyone who knew your grandma just made me think about how much I hurt. So I ran away. And that wasn’t fair. Because you were all hurting, too, and I know you, especially, wanted everyone to stay close.”

“Very nicely said,” Daphne approves. “Did Red coach you on it?”

“Only a little,” Pinocchio admits. “But I mean it. All of it.”

“All right,” Daphne says. And she takes a deep breath, the way she’s been practicing with Cindy, and she lets the anger go. “I forgive you. But only if you’re done hiding.”

“I am,” he says, and he smiles at her.

They keep in contact after the wedding. Pinocchio still has a tendency to bury himself in books and forget about other humans, but if she texts him, he’ll text back the same day. Usually. She tells him about the weird things going on between Puck, Sabrina, and Bradley. Occasionally he’ll send her an unprompted message ranting about something she has only the vaguest understanding of. She’ll patch it together across the pages her phone’s divided it into and have wikipedia open for reference as she reads. They go out for coffee at least once a month, sometimes with Red, sometimes without her.

Daphne refuses to ask him for help with her homework. Getting a degree in social work requires a lot more of the hard sciences than she’d anticipated. It’s frustrating, but it’s worth it. She’s gonna be able to help people, when she’s done with this. Everafters and humans alike. Oh, Sabrina’s got her child advocacy law thing going on, and that’s great, but Daphne’s determined to help people before they get to the point where the courts have to get involved. And she’s not going to do it by depending on Pinocchio for help. She can do this on her own.

But as she moves from her bachelor’s to the postgrad degree it’s apparent she’s going to need if she wants to actually get a, y’know, job in her field, she does start complaining to Pinocchio more. They’re at the same university, Pinocchio now well into an anthropology degree, so they hang out at the library pretty often, their noses buried in separate books or laptops.

Pinocchio’s funny. She’d forgotten about that, or never really learned it. He’s got a dry sense of humor, and he’s sarcastic like you wouldn’t believe. He’s fun to be around.

“I had a crush on you, you know,” he tells her one day, apropos of nothing, as he stretches in his chair, taking a break from whatever he’s working on right now.

“What?” Daphne pauses, not sure she’s heard him right. She’s been pretty intent on putting together a case study review.

“When we were, oh, sixteen or so,” Pinocchio says. It’s too casual to be anything but feigned. He knows exactly how old they were. “G-d, you were so—friendly. Overwhelmingly so.”

“Am I not friendly anymore?” Daphne asks, but she’s teasing. Friendly. What a reason to get a crush on someone!

“Nope,” Pinocchio teases right back. “Downright unpersonable. I must be rubbing off on you.”

“If Sabrina couldn’t turn me into a grouch, you’re definitely not gonna manage it,” Daphne says with an easy grin. “This new ‘unpersonable’ thing is all me, baby.”

“The world has worn on you,” Pinocchio says with a melodramatic sigh. “You’ve finally lost your childlike joy.”

“Only took twenty-three years,” Daphne says with a grin. The conversation dies for a minute, then Daphne brings it back. “Why bring it up now?”

Pinocchio shrugs. “I was just thinking about it. Thinking about back then. It was nice. I miss it.”

“You barely talked to me!” Daphne says with a laugh.

Someone two tables over glares at her, and she gives them an apologetic wave and a smile.

“I was shy!” Pinocchio protests. “I didn’t know how to talk to someone I liked! Let alone someone who was in my house the whole summer!”

“Fair enough,” Daphne agrees. “I hope you know this is teasing fodder for forever, though.”

“Oh no,” Pinocchio says, deadpan again. “What will I ever do. You’ve never teased me before in my life. I don’t think I can handle it.” He pauses, then says, “You don’t seem surprised. That I liked you.”

“What can I say?” Daphne winks at him. “Nobody can resist my charms.”

“Fair enough,” Pinocchio says, giving her a shrug. Then he goes back to studying.

Time passes. Daphne graduates, can’t get a job through normal channels, but gets herself employed working for Faerie. Pinocchio teases her about nepotism, but listen. If there were anyone else qualified, she wouldn’t need to do this job. She and Pinocchio don’t spend all their time together in the library anymore, but they do meet up for lunch, and dinner, and sometimes breakfast. Someone has to make sure he remembers to eat, after all.

Several months into seeing each other nearly every day, by choice rather than by ease, something occurs to Daphne. 

“Are we dating?” she asks.

Pinocchio chokes a little. “What?”

“Are we dating?” she repeats, emphasizing each word a little more clearly.

“How would we be dating?”

“We see each other almost every day,” Daphne starts, ticking her points off on her fingers as she goes. “We go out to dinner together, just the two of us. We watch movies together. We hang out in each other’s apartments. I text you almost as much as I text my brother and sister, and more than I text Red. When I have news, you’re the first person I want to tell. You leave your little nerd fort to hang out with me.”

“I mean—” Pinocchio splutters. “You’re— Dating usually involves a certain amount of intent, doesn’t it?”

Well, yeah, okay, there’s that. But Daphne’s stumbled into relationships before, only realized what they were partway through. Love is messy like that. But, well. Pinocchio likes things to be clearly labeled. People don’t come naturally to him the way they do to her.

“Would you like this to be dating?” she asks.

“Would you?” he counters, still spluttering and blushing.

Would she?

She thinks about all the things she listed, about how she wants to spend time with him, about the way he’s comfortable. About his dry sense of humor, about his stupid handsome face, about the way, every time she sees him she’s struck, a little, by the sight. About how it makes her heart beat faster. She’d put it down to his being one of the hottest men she’s ever seen, but that should probably have worn off sometime in the past few years, right?

“Yes,” she decides. She would like to date him.

“Oh,” Pinocchio says. His blush deepens.

He says nothing else for a long minute, and Daphne starts blushing too. “If you don’t—I mean, I—listen. It doesn’t. I’ve gotten crushes on friends before. If you don’t want to date me, that’s fine. It doesn’t have to change anything. We can forget this whole conversation!” Because she’d rather keep his friendship than anything else.

“No!” Pinocchio rushes in. “No, that’s not—I just—I mean—” he’s stumbling over her words, now, the two of them talking over each other to explain themselves, when he says, “I like you too!”

“Oh,” Daphne says, stopping abruptly. “You do?” She smiles at him.

“Yeah,” Pinocchio says. “I think I never really stopped.”

“That,” Daphne says, reaching a hand forward to grab at Pinocchio’s, “was downright romantic, you handsome sweetie.”

Pinocchio gives her a dopey, lovestruck smile. Then, after a long moment, he says, “So are we dating then?”

Daphne laughs, twines their fingers together. “Yes,” she says. “Yes, we are.”

[pineappledols]

Garden princess

Credit to gif owner!

Summary- y/n and Grayson head back to their hometown and enjoy some time in the garden with their unborn princess.

Tags- @blindedbythelightt @babey-gray @persistence-ofmemories @bubsdolan

Warnings- pregnancy, family things and gardens also a little Grey’s anatomy spoiler sorry!

A/n- hey loves, this is just a cute little thing I thought of and decided to write about it. Also very much inspired by Grayson’s snap. Feedback would be really helpful. If you would like to be on my taglist please feel free to let me know and if you have any questions or anything please let me know. Thank you so much again!

Grayson and y/n thought that they needed a break from the big city of LA and to visit their family they miss so much. Y/n was still pregnant with her and Grayson’s third baby. Xavier and Elijah were very excited for this trip mainly because they haven’t seen both sets of grandparents since forever. Y/n was excited as well but not for the 6 hour plane ride they have to take to get there. She’s just grateful that she not only had Grayson’s hand to hold but also Ethan’s if she needed it. After the plane landed successfully Mrs. Dolan picked them up from the airport and drove them back home where y/n went next door and greeted her family emotionally as always. Y/n slept over at Ethan and Grayson’s last night like they did when they were kids after the tiring plane ride she thought would never end. Y/n isn’t a fan of plans, ever since she saw that one episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ where the cheap plane crashed. The thought alone made she quiver.. After that she walked through the small path that connected the two houses and gently smiled when she saw Grayson waiting for her in the window by the front door. Y/n knocked on the door jokingly and Grayson opened it with a smile. “Did someone order a pizza?” Y/n joked as Grayson opened the door and moved out of the way to let her in.

“I didn’t order pizza but I’ll order you off the menu.” Grayson joked causing y/n to giggle and slap his chest softly. “Hold your horses lover boy” “oh so there is a chance “ before y/n could answer her sons came running in from the living room and yelled “ MOMMYYY” Y/n scooped her boys up as much as her pregnant belly could let her. Y/n kissed her boy’s heads when she looked back up her boyfriend had a small frown on his face y/n giggled again and kissed that little frown off his face. “My back is killing me!” Y/n complained to the house finding somewhere to sit in the living room where Xavier and Elijah guided her to go. “My poor angel. I’m sorry , I wish I could take away that pain for you.” Grayson told y/n starting to massage her back. Y/n moaned into his touch “you’re so good with your hands” y/n moaned softly causing Grayson to joke “ there’s more where that came from.” The couple chuckled watching their sons play nicely together with their grandmother. “Get a room!” Ethan joked as he came over to the couch to side hug y/n, rub his niece and kissed her temple. Y/n looked out at the window and gasped.

“The garden looks so yummy!” I mean she was right in a way the plants looking bright green with some raindrops dipping off them. Grayson looked up to see what she was seeing a smiled at the garden Ethan and him made with the help of his sons. “Oh yes in deed!” Lisa agreed. “That reminds me! I have to go collect some of the vegetables for cooking supper this evening.” “Yum” said the room. “If you need any help please let me know.” Y/n asked her family friend now cuddling into Grayson’s side with his hand on her belly gently pushing in so he could feel his daughter’s kick. And did little princess kick indeed. Y/n winced in pain when she felt her daughter kick her abruptly. “We have a little soccer player in there.” Grayson said softly into y/n neck. “Well let’s sign her up in the fall.” Y/n joked as she sat up holding Grayson’s hand trying to stand up. Xavier and Elijah noticed that she was trying to stand up and wanted to help their mother so they grabbed her hand and pulled with all their little bodies could pull which ended up working.

Lisa stood up and went to the kitchen to get a basket to put the vegetables they pick in. Y/n follow her sons and boyfriend outside with a waddle. Whenever Xavier and Elijah see their mom waddle they giggle and call her a penguin which always brings a smile on her face. Once outside Grayson opens the gate to the garden and steps aside. “Ladies first” y/n thanks him and enters the garden with Grayson’s hand on the small of her back and Xavier and Elijah walking to the tomatoes. Lisa was close behind them with the basket and going to her family. Grayson gently puts his hand on his girlfriend’s belly where is daughter is kept safe and rubs softly. Grayson then picks up two basil leaves from the garden and eats one bending down to his daughter’s level and giving her a kiss muffled by y/n’s shirt. He stands up swallowing the basil leaf and gently putting the second one against y/n’s mouth. “Open” Grayson says giggling y/n takes a bite out of the basil and letting her cravings pick up the vegetable from her boyfriend’s hand and eats the whole veggie.

Grayson smiles leaning in to kiss her lips. She accepted the kiss smiled gently again. Grayson pulls away to talk to his daughter again. Xavier and Elijah run over to see what their father is doing with their sister. Smiling Xavier and Elijah join in on the kissing fest making y/n smile brighter thank her lucky star for giving her the best family she could ever ask for. Not knowing that Lisa was taking in this moment through her phone promising that she will keep that video forever.

A/n- hi! Sorry this was so short I was writing it during class haha! I hope you enjoyed it thank you again for reading it!

[serahdreamy]

Three Great Loves

Excerpt: Sometimes the two of them didn’t talk at all, but just sat together. Marie would write, and Elly would read.

Synopsis: When Elly develops feelings for one of the townspeople, it prompts her grandmother to talk about her three great loves in life.

(An Elly story, but actually an Ellen story)

It was a beautiful Spring morning. Elly opened the window to let in some air for her grandmother, and was just about to leave for work. Most days at work are monotonous, with not very many people coming to visit. Elly tried to think of it as a good thing, that it meant no one was sick, and used the extra time to study the Doctor’s medical books.

She turned to Ellen to say goodbye but stopped. Her grandmother was sitting in her chair staring out the window with an unfamiliar expression on her face.

“What’s wrong, grandma?”, Elly asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing dear. I was just thinking about the pond. The one on the mountain”

Elly took her grandmother’s hand, and Ellen peered up at her, smiling.

“One Spring when I was about your age, I went there every day,” Ellen continued.

“Did you really?”

“Oh, yes! It’s too bad I can’t go there now.”.

Her tone was calm and gentle as always, but she had the same faraway look that had drawn Elly’s attention.

“How do your legs feel, grandma?”

“Oh, I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, dear!”

Elly didn’t press further and left for work, but she puzzled over grandmother’s expression. It seemed wistful. Did she miss going to the pond very much? How many things were there that Ellen could no longer do? The list seemed endless, and it broke Elly’s heart to think of her grandmother stuck in her rocking chair, deprived of something as simple as going to a pond. It broke Elly, but also made her determined to find some way to help. She would have to study harder. Read more. She decided firmly that she would go to the library first thing after work.

——————

Marie looked up in surprise from her book.

“Elly! How can I help you?” she asked.

“I was hoping you had some medical books or maybe journals? Perhaps something on degenerative illnesses,” Elly said.

“Oh, oh! Yes. Well, what I mean is, that is, yes, we have medical journals and books,” Marie started. Her words rushed out too quickly, and her face flushed red when she realized this.

“And some might have what you’re looking for, and, well, I’m sure that once you look at them, I mean, um. I’m sorry! Let me show you,” Marie finished. She ran her hands nervously over one of her braids.

They walked together up the stairs, and Marie led her to a shelf in the corner.

“I’m sorry, Elly. I’m not normally- I don’t normally ramble like that. I’m just not used to visitors and you caught me during an exciting chapter in my book.”

Elly stifled a laugh and said, “I might have to read it when you’re done.”

But then she turned to the rows of books in front of her and her face fell. Would any of them really hold the answer? Marie shuffled in close behind her. Neither said anything at first until-

“I’m sorry, Elly. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

They stood there for a while, Elly staring at the books but not really seeing them, absorbing the peaceful quiet of the library. Marie felt very warm beside her.

——————

Elly visited the library every day. She would pull up a chair on the second floor and work her way through stacks of books that Marie placed in front of her. Sometimes they talked. Marie talked about her parents, about Basil, mostly. She admired him, but worried that she’ll never be able to write as well as him. Elly talked about Yu, and how he frustrated her with his pranks, but always with a tenderness in her voice. She talked about her work, and the doctor. She talked about her grandmother. She talked of her parents briefly, once. She didn’t like to talk about them often, because she hated the anger she felt at them. Hated how selfish she felt when she thought of their deaths as them leaving her behind.

Sometimes the two of them didn’t talk at all, but just sat together. Marie would write, and Elly would read. Sometimes Elly looked up from her book just to watch Marie. She watched how Marie bit her lip when she wrote. She watched how Marie furrowed her eyes. She watched until her face and chest felt warm, and her stomach jumped, and she had to look away.

It was a dangerous feeling, but Elly was able to ignore it, until she wasn’t.

——————

“I feel strange when I’m around you, Elly. My face gets hot, and a strange feeling wells up in my chest,” Marie said one afternoon.

And suddenly Elly knew she couldn’t ignore it anymore. But she also couldn’t tell Marie what the diagnosis was. She stopped going to the library.

——————

It was hard. Elly cried every night for a week. But to accept how she felt would mean having to tell others. Not just Marie, which although that thought made her heart lurch in equal parts happiness and terror, but her grandmother as well. Her grandmother who never had a harsh word about anyone. Her grandmother who loved and cared for her after the death of her parents. Elly could not bear to see her look of disappointment. And that was the only outcome, because how could her grandmother understand?

And so it was the end of Spring, and the morning was beautiful, and Elly opened the window. She leaned against the windowsill and stared out into nothing.

“Elly, dear, is everything alright?”

“Yes, grandma. I just think we can use some fresh air.”

“My darling Elly, always looking after others. Come have a seat.”

Elly sat down on the couch.

“Anna came to visit me yesterday. She says you haven’t been to the library in a week.”

“I’ve been busy with work. And Yu, of course.”

“Oh, you sweet thing,” Ellen said.

“Grandma?”

“There is something strange about being old. People look at you and think you were always that way. But I lived a full life before this chair. When I was a child my mother taught me to bake. The kitchen was our way of loving each other. We made cookies so sweet you could taste the love in them.”

Ellen leaned back in her rocking chair and smiled. Her eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

“Yes, I've had a life full of love," she continued. "And when I was your age, I was blessed. I had three great loves in my life,”

“Three loves?” Elly asked.

“Oh, yes. Well, you know one was your grandfather. We had a full life together. He was there for me when I opened my bakery, and I’ve never seen any man dote on his wife the way he did to me when I was pregnant. He was so nervous! We truly completed each other. He was the third of my great loves, and I thank the Goddess for putting us in each other’s lives.”

“Who were the other two, grandma?”

“Surely you can guess one? Saibara and I were best friends. We went everywhere together. We told each other things we were afraid to tell anyone else. I told him my dream of opening a bakery, and he told me his dream of becoming a blacksmith. Then one day I looked over at him, and I realized that somewhere along the way, I had fallen in love with my best friend.”

Elly didn’t know what to say. She knew Saibara had been her grandmother’s friend, that she could tell from his visits, but she never guessed it had been anything more.

“It was so hard, when we had to say goodbye. It was Winter. Saibara had an apprenticeship over in the big city, and I couldn’t hold him back from his dream. But I cried myself to sleep every night. Then one day the snow melted into spring, and I realized I needed to live my life. I started to take long walks around town. I must have walked every inch of the town twice over!”

Ellen paused to look out the window, and the same wistful expression snuck its way back on her face.

“One day I tired of walking around the town, so I walked through the woods, and sat down next to a pond. It was beautiful and it reminded me of Basho’s poem. I must have muttered it under my breath because something amazing happened.”

Elly sat on the edge of her seat, hanging on to her grandmother’s words.

“I saw a woman in the pond, staring back at me. And she said she knew the poem! That she was there when Basho wrote it.”

“There was a woman in the pond?” Elly asked.

“Oh, yes. She was a beautiful lady, with long green hair, and a gold crown on her head. And although she was standing in the pond, her dress was as dry as could be. She saw the shocked expression on my face and laughed, and her laugh was like bells.”

“I went to visit her every day that Spring. We sat next to the edge of the pond, on the soft grass, and she would stare at me with emerald green eyes. I read her poems, and she would finish them before I could. I would trail my hands along the surface of the pond, and sometimes our hands would meet, and I would feel her touch on me the rest of the day.”

“I would go back home, so happy I could burst, but then the words would stick in my mouth like honey. I didn’t know how to tell my parents. I never did.”

“I think she knew. On the last of Spring she took my hands in hers, and she kissed my cheek, and she told me not to worry. That soon I would meet the love of my life. And I met your grandfather shortly after. She was right, he was the love of my life, and I never regretted marrying him. But I did regret not admitting to myself how I felt about her. We live such short lives to lie to ourselves, darling.”

Elly was surprised when she realized she was crying. The tears dropped down off her face and onto her hands. She took shaky breaths, trying to find the words she wanted to say.

She ran a sleeve along her eyes, and she thought she must look like Yu, who was always wiping a sleeve on a runny nose and weepy eyes.

“I was so scared. I thought you would be ashamed of me,” Elly finally choked out.

“Oh, sweetheart. I could never. I’ve always been proud of you. And I’ll always love you,” Ellen said.

Ellen held out her arms, and Elly found her way in them, and they stayed that way until the tears passed. It reminded Elly of when she was a child, and she sat at her grandmother’s feet while Ellen knit. It felt like love then as it did now.

“I love you too.”

[clownsgobeepbeep]

Underland

And now...part 12 of my story! Gosh, everything is taking me too long but I’m at least halfway-ish done ^^’ Warning...this is long...as always

And if anything seems off...sorry but I read through it fast because I wanted to post this asap

Tagging @grotesquegabby and @post-itpenny because some of your characters are here uwu

“Is it Halloween?

“Nope.”

“Halloween II?”

“No.”

“Halloween III?”

“No!”

“Tell me what movie it is then.”

“IT!”

“IT? But how? You must have cheated.”

“I didn’t cheat.”

Far away from the world, yet ever so close to it, was a hole. A hole that was so very dark, yet it seemed that there was a light shining on those who resided in it against their will.

“Maybe you’re just not good at this game.”

“Flora, that hurts.”

There was a group of five in the hole; a single one stood with her back turned to the rest who sat on what was the ground of this hole, one of these laying on the lap of another.

“Sorry.” the youngest of the group slightly shrugged. “But what made you think that my hints were about Halloween?”

“Well, you mentioned a clown. So I remembered when he dressed as a clown.”

“But he uses a kitchen knife, not a balloon.” the girl continued. “Pennywise has balloons. Colorful ones in the 1980’s series and red ones in the 2017 movie.”

“Oh, I see. And the 2017 version is where it has teeth like Alex, right?”

“Yup.” she nodded, then looking down at her brother who’s eyes were shut as his breathing was finally steady.

“Jelly.” called out the one who was standing. “How is he?”

“His breathing’s fine for now; he’s finally resting.” Jelly ran a hand through the boy’s hair, then adjusting her and his positions so that he was closer to her chest. “I’m just…”

The woman looked over at Flora, looking at her face that slowly lost the comfort Jelly had worked so hard on building. It made her chest hurt, especially as the boy on her lap squeezed one of Jelly’s hands as tightly as he could, which was not tight at all.

“I can tell he’s going to get better.” Jelly then reached up to stroke Flora’s hair, feeling as the girl leaned into her touch. “Flora, make me guess another movie. But don’t cheat this time.”

“I wasn’t cheating!” Flora exclaimed in a whisper before scooting closer towards Jelly, leaning her head against her. “You’re the one cheating Mama Jelly.”

“I am n…” Jelly’s smile faltered before she looked at Flora who realized her mistake, then turning up to look at Jelly as neither noticed the others also stare.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“I guess I was right.” Jelly interrupted before bringing Flora into a hug. “You act just like a D’Vitt and have both of your parents’ looks. Mostly your father’s.”

“Mommy says me and Basil have his scowl.” Flora quietly giggled. “And my manager said it was perfect for my next movie. Did I tell you that I’ll be starring in the Orphan remake?”

“You didn’t.” Jelly smiled warmly before planting a kiss on Flora’s hair. “I’m proud of you, and Basil. Proud to call you my grandchildren, even though I made Ula promise to not make me a grandmother! I need to have a serious conversation with that girl.”

“I mean,” Flora started before her smile fell into a saddened expression. “It doesn’t really matter. At least not with us, with our father.”

“What do you mean?”

“The mime killed him.”

In that moment, there was a dead silence as everybody stared at Flora in total disbelief. 

She turned to the side where the mime’s sister sat, her back facing the group but her head now turned to them as she heard the latest of her sister’s doings. 

Arabella could only stare in silence, then turning away from the others again in total shame.

“That...he can’t be. The both of you are still here-”

“Basil’s withering first because he’s the first born.” Flora brought her knees up to her chest before she wrapped her arms around them and placed her head on top. “Once he’s done, I’m next. And then that universe which died the moment my daddy did. Cantarella and Ryder just made sure to make it painfully slow in this pocket dimension.”

“Um...Flora?”

“Yes?”

“How about you tell me how Schrader proposed to my little oyster, hm?”

“Oh. Okay.”

From afar, Velvet gave a sigh at those words before placing a finger on her temple. This dimension took away everybody’s powers, but that was not going to stop her from attempting to do something.

_____________

“Where in the world could that stupid bitch be?” 

Cantarella cursed to herself as she stormed through the woods. She was angry at herself for not having caught that stupid crow. But was it really her fault? It was her stupid father’s fault the crow got away and no doubt talked to Sionis. That was why she visited the house.

“Fucking hell!” she yelled out before kicking her heel into a tree and injuring it rather deeply. “Where the fuck is Evie…”

Finally, the girl found herself in the outskirts just outside of Cuckoo’s circus where she knew her ‘sister’ or whatever was found. So Cantarella carefully made her way into the circus, making sure that nobody saw her slip in and sneak around.

“E-Ella?”

Or not.

Cantarella turned on her heel to look at the owner of the familiar voice, her eyes landing on Bubbles.

“Bubs,” she approached the red head before taking hold of her hands. “What are you doing here?”

“I...I’ve been worried about you.” Bubbles replied before returning to squeeze Cantarella gave her, but Bubbles pulled herself away in the moment. “Um...I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Cantarella shrugged before letting go of Bubbles. “It’s not every day your girlfriend is inside your cousin’s body. Speaking of, I still am not used to Ula’s height. It’s actually annoying being this short.”

“Well, it’s not her fault.” Bubbles turned away. “It was that Ryder guy’s. I don’t think you would have liked him.”

“And why not?” Cantarella raised an eyebrow at Bubbles who gave a shrug of her own. “Well, anyways. You haven’t told anyone about this, right?”

“Of course not.” Bubbles rapidly shook her head. “I swear nobody knows, n-not even Jeff!”

“Good.” Cantarella nodded. “Because if you tell anybody, they’ll go back to paying attention to Ula, and you wouldn’t want that, right?”

“R-right…” Bubbles whispered with a small nod. “But...when is all of this going to end? Because…Ama’s suspecting something.”

“What?”

“I haven’t spoken to her, but she came to me. She knows something’s not right. You need to be careful if she comes around.”

“Don’t worry, I will be.” Cantarella stated before placing a hand on Bubbles’ cheek. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s some business I must attend to.”

“Oh. O-Okay.”

“I’ll make sure to talk to you later, got it?”

“Got it.” Bubbles nodded before walking by Cantarella who stood in place.

“You can come out now.” Cantarella rolled her eyes to the side, watching as her father walked out of the shadows whilst still keeping a close eye on Bubbles who never noticed him. “What are you doing here?”

“Check up, darling.” Ryder picked something from under his nails before glancing over at his daughter. “What have you been up to lately?”

“Fucking shit up of course.” she rolled her eyes again. “Right now, deer boy’s bound to be moping because I told him to his face that Schrader was a better boyfriend.”

“Hm, not bad. Should have mentioned something about the s-”

“I’m saving that for another blow. I’m not done pulling his antlers out just yet.” Cantarella interrupted. “I know what I’m doing, do you?”

“Do not speak to me in such a way.” Ryder furrowed his eyebrows angrily at Cantarella who scoffed with a cross of her arms. “You’re good at what you do thanks to me. I showed you all you needed to know before you were taken out of that dimension! I’m the reason you and your sister weren’t killed!”

“Well I don’t give a shit, Ryder!”

“Keep it down!” Ryder waved a hand at Cantarella who felt her lips be sealed shut, so she reached up to attempt to pry them open but only fail. “The others are going to hear us!”

Ryder brought a hand up to his forehead, massaging it before giving a sigh.

“Look,” he waved his hand back at Cantarella who was finally able to open her mouth. “What of the crow? Or just anybody else.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re screwed.” Cantarella muttered out. “Zeta went looking for me at your girlfriend’s place.”

“So she knows.” Ryder nodded before bringing both of his hands to his head. “It doesn’t matter, Risus can deal with her. In the meantime, I need you to keep....doing as you do.  I need to go visit Jelly, and that green thing.”

“What about their offspring?”

“I’ll find them, but won’t kill them yet.” Ryder started to walk away.”If anything happens with Jelly or the green thing, we’ll always have a way to make them do as we want.”

“If I remember correctly, that didn’t work last time.” Cantarella commented with a laugh. “Didn’t you get your ass beat after Jelly cried to you and said she’d leave Lennie for you? And then, oh I don’t know, you got locked in that dimension that you just got out of after about ten years?”

“You really know how to talk.” Ryder snarled at Cantarella before finally leaving, especially after she gave him a sweet smile. 

“So! Where exactly is it that you’ll be going to?”

“Must check on the other Cundolilli. Can’t have them taking that or the other position.”

What neither of them knew, however, was that a pair of green eyes watched and heard every word exchanged by the two.

_____________

It was obvious that something was wrong.

Ula would have never cursed at him in such a way, no matter how angry she was at him or anyone.

It really did hurt when she said those final words to him, but something inside Atlas knew that Ula would have never thought or said such a thing.

“She really said that to you?”

“...yeah.” Atlas sighed before taking the cup of soda he had been offered, his eyes looking down as he took a sip from the cup. “I don’t know what got into her, but I’m just really confused after everything.”

“What else did she say about Schrader?” asked his cousin who sat on one of the bar seats next to Atlas, Cosmos standing on the opposite side as the couple attempted to comfort Atlas.

“That he left. Yet another thing I still don’t understand.” Atlas removed his glasses for a moment, setting them down to rub his eyes. “Like, he left without a word after the party.”

“How was Ula feeling about that?” Cosmos leaned on the counter in uncertainty.

“She’s the one who told me about it, and she didn’t seem torn up or anything.”

“That’s just weird.” Vespers slightly shook his head. “Wouldn’t he have at least said goodbye?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Atlas nodded before giving a shrug. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Did you try calling her band friends?” Vespers suggested.

“Dante’s still pretty pissed at me. Robyn and Rayden...they seemed off.” Atlas groaned. “I even have Schrader’s number, tried checking up on him. He didn’t answer. What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, talking to Ula again is the obvious option.” Cosmos placed a hand on Atlas’ shoulder. “But, just let yourself relax for a bit. Things have been tough for the both of you lately; you guys are still young and will work it out. I swear.”

“Yeah.” Vespers nodded as he also placed a hand on Atlas’ other shoulder. “You guys are best friends. Not even distance broke the two of you apart, and I don’t want to believe that an old flame or any other problem will do that.”

“Exactly.” Cosmos attempted to give Atlas a comforting smile. “You two’ll end up having little baby deers in the future when you finally have the chance of relaxation.”

“Cosmos!”

“What?” Cosmos quietly chuckled to himself, glancing at Atlas who felt his face heat up despite his troubles. “Jelly’s gonna be pissed because she’s gonna be a grandma some day. Says it’ll make her feel old.”

“Alright, enough with that kind of talk.” Vespers motioned to his husband, the two continuing to talk among each other as Atlas only stared at the bubbles inside his drink before he gave another sigh.

“Atlas?”

Cosmos and Vespers soon stopped talking before they looked behind Atlas where they found Ama with a look of concern.

“Hey Ama.” the couple waved at her before she waved back.

“Could I steal Atlas for a bit?” Ama gave a small smile before the men nodded.

“Sure.”

“In fact, I need to go check the bowling alley.” Cosmos hopped over the counter. “You coming Moth Man?”

“Yeah.” Vespers followed behind Cosmos, leaving the friends alone.

“How have you been?” Ama sat next to Atlas who turned to her with a long face. “Have you talked to Ula or Schrader recently?”

“To Ula I have.” he replied before taking another sip of his soda.”Schrader. Haven’t you heard?”

“That he’s gone? Yeah. My uncle Lennie got a call from aunt Jelly.” Ama released a deep breath. “Have you also been feeling the bad vibes lately?”

“Bad vibes?”

“Like something’s off.” Ama claimed before leaning in closer towards Atlas. “Ula’s off, Schrader’s off, and so is Bubbles.”

“Ula I knew that after the ‘date’ we had earlier today. But Bubbles?” Atlas lifted his head to squint at Ama. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I can’t tell yet.” Ama clenched her fists on the counter. “But I just know something’s not right. She was acting strangely when I went to go talk to her today, even knew before me that Schrader left.”

“I thought she didn’t care about Schrader?”

“Same here.” Ama nodded before turning to the side, looking around the area as she felt as they were being watched. “Haven’t even heard anything from the band guys, or the twin sisters. None of them answer to any of my texts or calls.”

“That’s weird. Dante answered to one of my calls, but he answered pretty angrily.” Atlas added before looking back at his soda. “And as of right now, I have no idea where Ula is.”

“Great.” Ama spun in her seat before leaning back and placing her arms on the counter, her body slouching while she scanned the building belonging to Cosmos. “I’m gonna try to call her later again.”

“Don’t bother, she seemed mad when she left me.”

“Why’d she get mad?”

“Because...I...it doesn’t matter.”

“Well, how mad was she?”

“Cursed a lot at me. Said some things I’d rather not remember.”

“Oh, wow. Sorry about that.” Ama’s eyes darted to the booths in front of the bar, then spotting a man who sat alone in one. At first it didn’t really matter to Ama, until the man turned to her and motioned that she go over to him.

“Weird.”

“What?”

“The guy over there is telling me to go with him. Do I know him?” Ama blinked as Atlas turned to look at the booth Ama had been eyeing.

“What guy?”

“The one sitting alone.”

“I don’t know which one you’re talking about. I don’t see anybody sitting alone, save for that guy who I’m pretty sure came in with his girlfriend and is not telling you to go over.”

“Not that one.” Ama shook her head before motioning to the man who gave a sigh. “That one.”

“Ama, I seriously don’t see anyone!”

“The guy with the blue eyes and really nice black hair!” Ama exclaimed at Atlas who blinked at her.

“You wouldn’t be talking about Schrader, would you?” Atlas now squinted his eyes at Ama, the latter soon coming to two realizations.

“Wait.” she hopped down from her seat as she now considered that this was a deceased person. “That guy...strangely does look a lot like Schrader.”

_____________

Evie couldn’t remember the last time she was treated this majestically. Oh wait, she could.

The clown snickered to herself at the memory of James. He was nice, so polite and charming, a great husband. Well, Evie didn’t care about all of that. James was an idiot who couldn’t think straight. Even now he couldn’t.

“But not my Cuckoo.”

“Did you call, love?” 

“Oh, no.” Evie shook her head, slightly waving her hand at Cuckoo who was beside a table serving glasses of wine. “I was only thinking to myself.”

“About what?” Cuckoo smiled before approaching Evie, sitting on the bed she already sat on before handing her a glass of wine.

“You.” Evie shrugged before scooting closer towards Cuckoo, her face quite near their own as she sniffed the air. That was when Evie scrunched up her nose once she got a full scent of the tent the pair currently resided in.

“Cuckoo?”

“Yes?”

“It smells awful in here.” Evie commented before she handed her glass back to Cuckoo, the latter taking it before standing up to place the glasses elsewhere.

“I shall attempt to fix-”

“Oh no, no, no.” Evie motioned for Cuckoo to come back, so they did just that before feeling Evie hold their hands. “I think, I have a way the two of us could fix it.~”

“How so?” Cuckoo perked up before slightly gasping once Evie pulled them on top of her figure that lay on the bed, Cuckoo holding themselves up as they stared down at her with blue cheeks. 

“I’m not interrupting anything,” came a voice which made Evie and Cuckoo turn to the open path where they saw Ula casually walk in with a bit of a smirk “Right?”

“You bitch.” Evie murmured under her breath as Cuckoo brought themselves off of her and the bed, fixing their outfit once standing.

“Ula, hello! I was not expecting to see you here.” Cuckoo greeted warmly as Evie presented her middle finger to ‘Ula’ behind their back.

“Cuckoo, hi. Could I steal Evie for a bit?” Cantarella innocently fluttered her eyelashes at Cuckoo who nodded.

“Of course, I shall leave the two of you to discuss as you wish.” Cuckoo then excused themselves out of the tent, leaving the girls alone.

“What are you doing here?” Evie spat out as she got off the bed, walking towards Cantarella who stretched her arms out with a yawn.

“Just came to check on you, but also warn you.”

“Warn me? About what, the mate?”

“No, just that you’re such a whore.” Cantarella rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course about the mate! But also damn Zeta!”

“You’re really going to stand there and call me a whore?” Evie scoffed with a twirl of her hair. “Speak for yourself.”

“Unlike you,I’ve only ever had one beau.” 

“And how’s that going for you?”Evie continued before laughing to herself. “Not like you care about her.”

At this, Cantarella kept quiet for a moment before shaking her head and punching Evie’s arm.

“What was-”

“I’m serious about Zeta. She knows who I am; she literally went to Jelly’s house to find me.”

“So run bitch.” Evie now was the one to roll her eyes. “She knows what’s the deal with me but won’t do shit. No matter what she or Calli-ho do, Cuckoo’s bound to be against them.”

“Running’s not an option.” Cantarella hissed with a stomp of her heel. “Besides, I need to-”

Cantarella was immediately stopped once she turned on her heel, not being able to speak due to the new choking sensation she felt. In fact, it was not a sensation but instead an actual feeling, a very strong feeling as a hand tightly grasped Cantarella’s neck.

“E-vie!” she gasped out before realizing what the new situation was, eyes widening upon the sight of Zeta who squeezed her hand even tighter.

“Cuc-!”Evie began, then feeling as something pushed her back rather roughly. She fell to the ground with such impact that she was forced to stay there a while, eventually lifting her head to see Zeta keeping her hold on the shorter clown.

“I-I’ll call Cuckoo!”

“No, you won’t, nor will you go near them.” Zeta stated before waving her hand at Evie who then felt as her lips were shut. “Now run off before I beat you.”

With a shaky nod, Evie scrambled up onto her feet before making her way out in a rush.

Zeta then turned her attention to Cantarella who’s eyes widened once she looked into Zeta’s furious eyes.

_____________

At first, things had felt like they were perfectly fine.

His daughter looked cheery despite the strange yet saddening news concerning her former steady. His wife called him and she seemed like she was alright. 

But according to the phone call he received from Zeta, things were not perfectly fine, let alone okay.

Lennie gave a bit of a sigh as he made through the path leading to the circus, which was where Zeta had told him to meet her. He was told they needed to have a serious talk, that there were dangers lurking around and very near his family.

“A dead guy told you to come here?”

The clown eyed the area in front of him, hearing a conversation between the pair that eventually appeared in his line of sight.

“Yeah; he said it was urgent.”

“And this guy...looked a lot like Schrader?”

“Yup. A very lot.”

“What else did he say?”

“He did mention Schrader.”

“Ama?” Lennie called out to the pair who stopped to turn and look at him. “Atlas? What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh! Well…” Ama attempted to come up with some kind of answer.

“You guys mentioned Schrader?” Lennie finally reached the two who stared down at him, both still trying to come up with something as to not worry Lennie.

“Kind of.” Atlas nodded a bit. “Ama suggested we come to the circus.”

“What was this talk about a dead guy?” Lennie blinked, Ama finally gaining the courage to tell him the reason for them being there.

“Look, uncle-” Ama stopped herself once an ear piercing scream sounded loud enough to make birds fly out of the trees.

“Oh shit.” Lennie marveled, stepping away from the friends to look over at the circus that was just a few yards away. “That...that sounds like…

“Ula.” Atlas realized before immediately making his way out of the scene and towards the location of where another scream was heard.

“Atlas,wait!” Ama ran after him, leaving Lennie to once again try to catch up. 

“St-!” they heard Ula choke out, right before Atlas skidded to a stop once he found himself in front of the tent belonging to the ringleader. 

Atlas heard Ula continue to choke sounds and words, right until he witnessed Ula be tossed onto the ground before Zeta stepped out of the tent with a deeper glare than usual. His eyes widening as Ula attempted to drag herself away from Zeta in a state of distress.

“A-anyone! Help!” Ula cried out as she dug her nails into the ground, continuing to drag herself before her ankle was grabbed and she was forcibly rolled over. “Stop!”

“Keep crying, nobody’s going to do anything about it.” Zeta fumed as she set one of her heels on Ula’s chest, digging in deep which made the girl yelp with pain while trying to remove Zeta.

“Zeta!” Atlas yelled at the woman who turned to him, heel digging deeper into Ula who reached a hand above her head towards Atlas.

“What the hell are you doing?” now came Lennie who frowned at the sight, stepping towards Zeta who lifted a finger up to him. “Zeta!”

“D...Dad!” Ula begged as Zeta reached down to grab her by the collar. “Dad, please!”

“Zeta, put her down dammit!” Lennie demanded as he clenched his fists, attempting to contain himself in that moment.

“I will not.” Zeta replied as she gripped onto Ula’s collar before she looked at Lennie. “Where is your wife?”

“What does-”

“Where is your wife?”

“She’s on a business trip.” Lennie gave in.

“Does she have her phone?”

“Of course she does.”

“Are you sure?” Zeta gave Lennie a look, making him and the friends watch Zeta strangely as she reached into Ula’s pocket. “Call her right now.”

“Why-” Lennie began, but Zeta’s look was enough to have him pulling out his phone before he called Jelly’s phone. Right then, his eyes widened once he heard Jelly’s ringtone come from Zeta’s hand.

“Answer.” Zeta commanded Ula to do before the blonde turned to Lennie with a pleading look in her eyes. “Now.”

“Hi Sharky,” Ula started as she spoke in Jelly’s voice. “How are you Lennie?”

“What…?” Lennie blinked in confusion. “What’s-”

“I don’t want to be giving anymore bad news and I wouldn’t want to waste your time with Billy.” Ula continued which made Lennie’s eyes widen. “I know, but I also need some nap time Sharky. I have another meeting in the morning and I want to go buy some souvenirs for all of you once I’m done.”

“Ula...why…” Lennie shook his head upon the realization that these were words he heard in his phone call with Jelly...or who he thought was Jelly.

“Lennie.” Zeta grabbed his attention. “Jelly is not on a business trip.”

“Where is she?” Lennie now glared at Ula, though his glare softened when he looked at his daughter. “Ula...where’s your mom?”

“And this is not Ula.” Zeta added before bringing the girl closer to her face. “Right Cantarella?”

“Cantarella?” Ama now spoke as she blinked with a shake of her head.

“Wait, you mean...Bubbles’ girlfriend?That can’t be.” Atlas took a step forward. “How is-”

“I am pretty sure you all remember Ryder.” Zeta interrupted before everybody’s eyes widened.

“What does this have to do with….” Ama soon witnessed the ghost from before, seeing as he tapped the corner of his eye. “Ula…?”

Ama then approached Ula who had no way of reacting due to Zeta’s hold, so Ama looked into Ula’s hazel eyes, a detail she was surprised to have never noticed.

“Show me your real eyes.”

Ula stared at Ama before her eyes darted over to Zeta; when she finally looked at Ama again, Ula blinked her eyes a few times before they turned into a pink color. 

Memories of the younger years came to Ama once she remembered where she had seen that exact pink in somebody’s eyes, then seeing as Ula gave a laugh.

“I have my father’s eyes, don’t I?” she cackled out before a punch was thrown her way.

“Where the fuck is Ula!?” Ama shouted at the girl who blinked away the pain.

“Where is my wife?” Lennie now questioned as he walked towards the three, Atlas following behind as he also felt an anger boil in him. “Where’s Jelly!?”

“I don’t know.” Cantarella smirked at Lennie. “Perhaps you should ask Ryder.”

“Ryder!?” Lennie stomped.

“I let him out.” Ula giggled to herself. “Pretty sure you can tell just who it is he went to first.”

“You…!” Lennie further clenched his fists before he immediately shifted into his monstrous self, grabbing and snatching Cantarella away from Zeta before bringing her close to his face.

“Oh my fuck!” Ula burst out with laughter. “Even in your true form are you short! My father is taller than you as a shadow, even in James’ body!”

“Wait, Lennie wait!” Atlas placed a hand on Lennie who snarled in response. “If this is a situation like Ryder and James…”

“So, you actually are smart.” Cantarella nodded quite impressed. “You know you can’t kill or exactly hurt me.”

Atlas nodded at the girl before stepping closer towards her, glaring deeply at her malevolent grin.

“Ula’s been here the entire time.” Atlas told. 

“She sure has; I’m just the little voice inside her head, lulling her to sleep into Wonderland.” Cantarella fluttered Ula’s eyelashes at Atlas who grit his teeth. “Wouldn’t want to hurt your tiny girlfriend.~”

“Don’t worry, he won’t.” Zeta grabbed Cantarella’s chin, forcing her to look at her. “But I will.”

Cantarella’s eyes widened right at that moment, her vision becoming nothing but darkness once Zeta delivered a powerful punch.

_____________

The sound of a scream pierced the air, startling all of those who were around.

“Are you alright?”

“Who, me?”

The young blonde known as Cordelia lay on the ground of her aunt Tilde’s home, giving a shrug before replying again.

“I’m fine.” she smiled before picking up the crayon she had been previously using to color with, then resuming her activity while her legs swung in the air. “Are there any more cookies?”

“Just a few more. I have another batch in the oven.” Tilde leaned down to pet Cordelia’s head, then turning to the side where the sound of continuous footsteps was heard. “Davey, do you need anything?”

Cordelia also looked to the side where she found her brother pacing back and forth, the axolotl family who was also brought with them watching Davey as well. Maybe he was a little more stressed due to the fact that Schrader’s crow friend flew away to an unknown location.

“Davey?” Cordelia called out to him, her eyes landing on his arm that he unknowingly scratched.

All kinds of thoughts raced through Davey’s mind, his pacing never ending as he was oblivious to everybody’s stares. He mumbled some things to himself, anxiety getting the best of him until he finally stopped walking.

Looking down at his arm, Davey felt a pain in it due to his scratching that made him snap out of his thoughts.

“Davey?” Tilde attempted to grab his attention again, finally having the boy turn to her.

“Does Ula actually hate me?” Davey blurted out, feeling as if he had still been talking to himself in his mind. “The not real Ula said she did, but does-”

“Davey.” Tilde interrupted as she approached the little clown, bringing him into a comforting hug that Davey did not return just yet. “Your sister doesn’t hate you.”

Davey blinked to himself before being released by Tilde, so he made his way over to the couch behind his sister. Behind him came Mana and Kala, the latter hopping onto the couch before placing her head on Davey’s lap while Mana lay at his feet.

“When is she gonna come back?” Davey muttered to himself, then feeling Kala nudge his hand with her head which he promptly petted.

But then, there was the sound of knocking at the front door which made all of the axolotls lift their head in alert almost instantly, the puppies barking loudly before running around as Mana attempted to put them at ease.

“Stay there kids.” Tilde told the siblings as she made her way over to the door, making sure to follow as Zeta asked and keep the children safe. Not like she needed to be told of course.

“I wonder who it is.” Cordelia bit into one of her cookies while keeping her eyes on her paper. “Maybe it’s Zeta.”

“Maybe.” Davey continued to pet Kala’s head after she grunted to the puppies so that they would calm down, all cuddling with Cordelia while Mana went back to his original spot.

“Oh, James! Hi!” Tilde was heard greeting the new guest, right before Davey and Cordelia turned to look as footsteps were once again heard.

“How have things been, Miss Tilde?” James questioned as he was now in the line of sight of the siblings, looking down at them with a soft smile. “Oh, hello there children. I never expected you to be here.”

“Hi James!” Cordelia eagerly waved at James who waved back, then glancing over at Davey who felt as Kala pressed further into him.

“Hello, Davey.” James slightly bowed. “How do you do?”

“I’m fine I guess.” Davey shrugged before Tilde interrupted the small chat.

“So, what brings you around these parts?” Tilde asked before James turned to her.

“Jelly did not answer any of my phone calls today.” James replied. “I wanted to see if you perhaps had heard of her? Lennie spoke to her earlier today, but other than that, I have had no word of her.”

“She’s at a business thing far away.” Cordelia looked up from her paper. “She’s got meetings and stuff with important guys.”

“I understand that.” James chuckled to himself, then eyeing Mana who smiled at him with his tongue lolling out. However, James then took a step back he heard a growl come from Kala, the axolotl baring her teeth at him which made him place his hands behind his back.

“Is she alright?” James blinked at Kala before bringing a hand up to his hair, slicking it back for a moment which made Mana stand and growl as well.

“They’re probably tense because of what’s happening.” Tilde stepped in between James and the axolotls, neither noticing that Davey squinted his eyes at James.

“What has been going on?”

“Something with Ula.” Tilde whispered to James who gave her a look of concern.

“Is she alright?”

“I honestly don’t know the details.”

“I see.” James nodded before looking back at Davey and Cordelia, particularly Davey. “I will be making my way out now. I would like to no longer disturb you all.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Tilde offered, watching as James stepped closer towards Davey whilst ignoring the axolotls.

“And Davey,” he started before giving a smile, Davey blinking when he felt a shiver run down his spine...this smile was creepily odd. “I can not believe I never realized,”

“Realized what?” Davey then felt as James touch a lock of Davey’s hair.

“How awfully similar you look like your father.” James chuckled before backing away. “I will make my way out now, no need to come with Miss Tilde.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you be then.” Tilde nodded before feeling Mana and Kala stand at each of her sides, both frowning at James who finally left. “Well, kids-”

“We need to help.” Davey stood up before having Cordelia and Tilde look over at him.

“Excuse me?” Tilde raised an eyebrow.

“We need to help Ula.” Davey fixed his shirt before Cordelia followed and also stood up. “There was something wrong with James.”

“Yeah!” Cordelia nodded eagerly before Tilde shook her head.

“Whoa, kids. Wait.” Tilde lifted her hands as she walked towards the kids. “We’re not going anywhere. I promised Zeta-”

“Then we’ll go.” Davey stated which made Tilde shake her head again.

“I’m sorry, but no. Going out there is dangerous-”

“That wasn’t James who walked in here!” Davey pointed to the door. “That was Ryder, and he’s really bad!”

“Yeah!” Cordelia nodded again, not knowing exactly what was meant but she trusted him and needed to aid her older sister.

“Look, even if it was-” Tilde started, then seeing as Davey slammed a hand on the cookie plate which caused it to fall and spill cookies everywhere; this made the axolotls pups lift their heads in curiosity then jumping onto their feet before rushing over to the sweet treats. “Davey!”

“Sorry!” Davey exclaimed before grabbing Cordelia’s hand, then rushing away as their aunt attempted to keep the axolotls away from the cookies.

Meanwhile, Mana and Kala briefly motioned to each other before Mana rushed away and after the kids, Kala staying behind.

_____________

“How do we bring her back?”

Cantarella blinked her eyes open, squinting once a bright light hit her face.

“W...what?”

“How do we bring Ula back??”

She finally lifted her head up, being able to make out the shape belonging to Atlas who she was able to sense was more than just upset.

“Tell me.”

The girl furrowed her eyebrows before she tried to pull her arm in attempt to punch Atlas, yet she discovered that she could not. Cantarella glanced down at her arms, shaking herself as she realized that she was completely restricted and forced on a chair.

“Get me out of here.” she demanded before turning back to Atlas who had now leaned down and closer to Cantarella’s face. “Get me out of here you asshole!”

“I can’t believe I never saw this coming.” sounded another voice, so Cantarella turned to see that Atlas was not alone. With him were not only Zeta, Lennie, and Ama, but Maggie, Vespers, and Bubbles were now in the room.

“What an elder you are.” Cantarella commented to Maggie who in turn gave her a frown. “I was right under your nose the entire time.You didn’t expect me or the parents, huh?”

Maggie continued to glare at the girl before turning away as a feeling of disgust came to her, Atlas once again coming into Cantarella’s vision.

“Tell me how to bring Ula back.” Atlas grit his teeth in front of Cantarella who stuck her tongue out at him.

“Say the magic word and I’ll consider it.” she grinned innocently, right before receiving a punch that caught her off guard and off balance.

Cantarella fell sideways to the ground, quite forcefully as she realized that Ama was the one who had punched her.

“How do we get Ula back!?” Ama yelled at her before Zeta picked up the chair and set it straight.

“Let me go...and I’ll tell you.” Cantarella blinked away her throbbing pain before looking up at everybody who glared at  her.

“You know we’re not doing that until you bring my daughter back.” Lennie stormed over to Cantarella who scoffed.

“I already told you...she’s here.”

“The real Ula!” Atlas growled at her. “Get out of her!”

“Make me.” Cantarella then felt another punch from Ama, this time only causing her to spit out before clearing her throat. “What I meant to say was, you’re not getting your tiny clown back.”

“And why is that?” now Vespers spoke as he stepped towards Cantarella, making her give a laugh.

“Oh, the moth speaks. Better be careful not to have your wings ripped off.” she grinned at him. “Especially if there’s a fire beneath you.”

“You…” Vespers huffed, knowing very well just what she was referring to.

“Ula’s off in dreamland.” Cantarella cleared her throat. “Unlike James who was in the passenger seat as my father took over his body, Ula’s sound asleep. She doesn’t know her mind is somewhere else; she’s convinced she’s wide awake and in the reality of her dreams.”

She then glanced over at Atlas, giving him one of her best smirks.

“And you know what she thinks the best part of that other reality is, Atlas? That Schrader’s her boyfriend.”

“Shut up!” Atlas fumed before a hand was placed on his chest, then seeing as Maggie placed herself between Cantarella and Atlas.

“Speaking of Schrader.” Maggie started before leaning close to Cantarella. “Where is he?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Rumor has it that you spread the news, and that you were the one to last talk to him.”

“Sure I may have spread the news, but I wasn’t exactly the last one who saw Schrader.” Cantarella shrugged. “But you can believe me when I say that the ‘real’ Ula did talk to him, and that he did say he was leaving back to Australia because he’s got nothing to do here. Other than that, it’s none of my business.”

“So you’re saying that Schrader really did leave?” Maggie squinted at Cantarella who gave a nod. “As if I’m going to believe that.”

“Alright, alright. Ya got me.” the girl shrugged once again. “But the first parts are true. I just did him a favor.”

“What did you do to him?” Zeta was the one who now pressed, nobody noticing that Bubbles took a step back into the shadows.

“What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?” Cantarella fluttered her eyelashes. “And can I just say that the sight of a head exploding is thrilling?”

“Lennie.” Zeta whispered to the short clown who turned to her. “I need to go somewhere.”

“Okay.” Lennie nodded, knowing that there was no need to be asking questions, especially with the current situation. He watched as Zeta slipped away and made her way out, so Lennie turned back to watch everybody else.

“Hey Atlas.”

“If it’s not about bringing the other’s back, don’t say another damn word.” Atlas hissed before turning along with Ama, both attempting to start a conversation.

“Well, it includes Ula.” Cantarella ignored his words. “And her dear loverboy Schrader.~”

“Whatever.”

“Did you know that after the party, they left together? Then he took her to the garage, gave her her fancy-smancy car before they drove to their favorite cliff.” Cantarella continued. “And you know what they did?”

Atlas also ignored Cantarella, shutting his eyes for a moment until she spoke up again.

“They kissed.” Cantarella grinned, easily able to tell that Atlas’ eyes shot open as Ama turned to Cantarella. “Makes sense, huh? They drive to their makeout cliff and decide to repeat history.”

“Atlas, don’t listen to her.” Ama attempted to help her friend, but Atlas turned around to once again glare at Cantarella.

“What do they call it, necking?” Cantarella laughed out as Atlas approached her. “But wait, wait, wait! You haven’t heard the best part! You could obviously never forget the infamous Basil and Flora, right?”

“You’re looking for a mind flaying.” Atlas threatened.

“Isn’t it weird that they appeared out of the blue, and then left after a certain school dance?” Cantarella snickered as Atlas leaned in closer. “But then, all of a sudden both they and Schrader appear?”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“Basil and Flora,” Cantarella gave a giggle. “Are Ula and Schrader’s future kids.”

Atlas’ glare soon turned into the look of a deer in headlights one, but he furrowed his eyebrows once again whilst those behind him stared with wide eyes.

“Atlas-” Maggie reached out to Atlas who did not know how to react at that moment.

“Wonder why they’re still existing, huh? I mean, I don’t know either to be honest. But let’s say Schrader was around and Ula back-”

“Be quiet!” Vespers now stepped forwards.

“Ula dumps your miserable ass, goes back to her bubble butt musician. They get married,and-”

“Be quiet!” Vespers repeated before Cantarella laughed.

“No, wait! They get married, have a shit ton of kids, and Atlas...Atlas hooks up with some other pretty girl, right?” Cantarella eagerly nodded before turning to Maggie. “Right, Mrs. Blueblood?”

“What are you talking about?” Maggie blinked in anger.

“Oh, oh! You didn’t really think I wouldn’t know about that conversation you had with Atlas while he and Ula took a break, huh?” Cantarella giggled. “Because of that conversation, little ol’ deer boy thinks to himself that if Ula dumps him, he’ll always have some other bitch to run off to.”

“That is not true-”

“No need to worry when there’s a backup, right Atlas?” Cantarella fluttered her eyelashes at the boy. “I wonder how Ula would feel about that, knowing she could easily be replaced. Do you even care about her at all, Atlas? Are you just keeping her around-”

Cantarella was once again interrupted, but this time with a smack from Maggie.

“Shut the fuck up already.” Maggie leaned in dangerously close to Cantarella’s face. “You really know how to run your mouth, just like your disgusting parents. I don’t know how you know about those things, or how you’re talking, but-”

“She has Arabella’s voice.”

Everybody turned around and looked into the shadows, remembering that Bubbles was also in the room.

“She told me that this thing called Risus took out Arabella’s voice and gave it to her.” Bubbles cleared her throat.

“Risus?” Maggie’s eyes widened before she mentally hit herself. “Damn...dammit! How did I not see this coming!?”

“Oooooh.” Cantarella nodded as her smile now disappeared while she stared at Bubbles. “Switching sides now, are we Bubbles?”

“Wait, what?” Ama squinted at each of the girls before stopping at Bubbles. “Bubbles!”

“What’s Bubbles got to do with this?”Vespers’ frown deepened before Cantarella leaned to the side to get a closer look at Bubbles

“Bubbles loves to watch. Just watch and do nothing.” Cantarella huffed with a roll of her eyes. “How about you tell them Bubbles?”

“Tell us what?”

“Say it Bubbles.” Cantarella now was the one to grit her teeth. “Say it or I will.”

“Bubbles?”

“Look...i-it’s just that…” Bubbles gulped before she brought a nail to her mouth, chewing on it for a bit. “Y-you see…”

“Bubbles.” Ama urged on before Bubbles cleared her throat again.

“I...I may have...seen when Cantarella..um...she…”

“Hurt Schrader?”

“Hurt Ula?” now Atlas was the one who pressed. “And what exactly did you do about it?”

“That’s...that’s the thing.” Bubbles played with her thumbs. “I...um...I did...no...not…”

“Get out.” 

Bubbles timidly glanced over at Atlas who had to swallow his emotions.

“Bubbles, get out of here.”

The girl did as she was told, turning to dash away before she stopped in her tracks to prevent herself from bumping into the new guests. Bubbles gasped once she realized who these were, clasping a hand over her mouth when looking into the judgemental eyes belonging to Davey.

He stood next to his younger sister as well as Mana, all three staring up at Bubbles whilst Davey shook his head in disapproval.

Bubbles ran past all three of them and out of the room, right before Lennie approached his kids.

“What are you guys doing here?” he exclaimed in a whisper. “You were supposed to stay with your aunt Tilde!”

“We came to help.” Davey stated before Cordelia nodded.

“And if any danger comes, we’ll kick butt!” she grinned. “Plus, we have Mana.~”

Mana barked in response before looking over at Cantarella still tied up in her chair.

Cantarella looked at him, baring her teeth with a growl that made him react in the same way before furiously barking at her.

“You guys shouldn’t have come here.” Lennie settled down Mana.

“Aww, little Davey’s back.~” Cantarella cooed before her eyes met with Davey’s. “Ready for some more loving from big sister?~”

“Leave him alone.” Lennie stepped in front of the kids.

“No, dad.” Davey placed a hand on his father’s shoulder.

“Aw, you think you’re a brave one, huh?” Cantarella watched as Davey came towards her, Mana making sure to stay right by Davey as Cordelia hugged Lennie. “Gonna hug big sister?”

“You’re not my sister.”

“Ah, right. And what are you gonna do about it?”

“Nothing.” Davey replied, making Cantarella burst out with a laugh. “I don’t have to do anything.”

“What are you-” Cantarella then stopped herself, her smile faltering as she heard something.

But this is not my life.

Cantarella’s eyes widened as she looked at Davey, seeing as he crossed his arms in front of her.

This is just some illusion. It’s not real and I realize that now.

“I’m not afraid of you,” he posited. “And my sister’s smart.”

You are...you are not my dad...you...you’re just a bunch of pure imagination.

“She’ll kick you out.”

Fuck you Cantarella, you useless piece of shit.

“No…” Cantarella shook her head, the shaking then becoming quick before she tugged her arms rather harshly. “No!”

Davey took a step back once he saw Cantarella rip her arms out of her restraints, raising them over her head as she was ready to attack Davey. However, that never came.

Davey opened his eyes once he heard a blood curdling scream, glancing down at his feet where he saw Cantarella violently convulsing. He gasped and stepped even further back until crashing into Ama who held him, everybody staring in shock as the girl continued to scream.

Dark blue spikes protruded all over her, always coming in and out of her but especially her back.

Atlas’ eyes widened once he was able to make out a shape that wasn’t a spike, almost like a second body that was being pushed out through the girl’s back as the stitches now opened. He stepped forwards despite Vespers’ protests, then seeing as a body did appear, right before falling onto the ground.

Now there were two bodies on the ground, Ula’s and Cantarella’s.

“Ula!” Atlas rushed over to Ula, picking up her limp and bloodied body before turning to see Cantarella blink her eyes open.

“How...how did she…” Cantarella blinked several times before eyeing the crowd around her, eyes now wide before she shifted into her shadow self. Before anybody could react, the shadow vanished away which no doubt frustrated the others and Atlas but he was honestly quite focused on something else.

“Ula?” he moved her hair out of her face, right before seeing as hazel eyes opened to tiredly look up at Atlas.

“A...Atlas.” Ula breathed out before coughing, then snuggling her head into Atlas’ chest as he held her close.

_____________

“When’s she gonna wake up?”

“I don’t know, but let’s hope it’s soon.”

“Is she dead?”

“Of course not.”

At the sound of voices softly speaking, save for one who was louder than the rest, Ula released a sigh as she shut her eyes tighter than they already were. She could tell that she was laying on her side, not exactly the most comfortable position at the moment, so she attempted to roll onto her back.

“Ula, Ula! Wait!”

“Not on your back!”

“Hm?” Ula finally fluttered her eyes open, her vision somewhat blurred before she blinked that away and was able to make out a few shapes. Once she could properly see, Ula gave a bit of a smile when she recognized the figures before her, especially as one of them tightly held her hand.

“Hi guys.” Ula breathed out. “Why can’t I lay on my back?”

“Your stitches.” she heard her dad say, just as he held her cheek in one of his hands.

“Dad...Where are we?”

“Cuckoo’s circus, inside one of the backstage tents.” Lennie rubbed her cheek, right before he was forced away due to the jumping girl now in between him and Ula.

“Can I hug her now!? Can I, can I, can I!?”

“Cordie, now’s not the best time.” Lennie lightly chuckled before Ula shrugged.

“I don’t mind.” she also chuckled. “Just be careful with the stitches.”

Ula gave a quiet ‘oof’ once she felt her little sister immediately hug her, still making sure to be gentle.

“I missed you so, so, much!” Cordelia exclaimed while hiding her face into the crook of Ula’s neck.

“I missed you too.” Ula giggled before glancing behind Lennie, finding her little brother standing right behind him. “Aren’t you gonna come and hug me too?”

“Can I?” Davey whispered before seeing his sister nod, then immediately rushing over to hug Ula along with Cordelia.

“I love you guys so much.” Ula attempted to embrace her siblings no matter how uncomfortable she felt still laying on her side.

“Is she awake?”

Lennie turned around as Ula looked behind her siblings, then seeing Ama walk into the tent with a smile.

“She sure is.” Lennie nodded before allowing his niece to approach Ula. “Just be careful guys.”

“I know.” Ama smiled as Davey and Cordelia parted away from Ula, now Ama hugging her friend as best as possible. “How are you doing?”

“Well, I’m me again and there’s nobody controlling my body.” Ula let out a breathy laugh. “So, I’d say I’m doing pretty good right now.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Ama pulled away from her hug before moving out of the way. “There are others here who want to see you.”

“Ugh, attention on me again.” Ula groaned before shutting her eyes, but she was quite startled when she felt saliva all over her face. “Mana!?”

Ula laughed as her axolotl licked all over her face, whimpering as he attempted to climb onto the bed with her for her knew that this time it was his little one.

“Mana! I’m so happy to see you too.” Ula giggled before wrapping her arms around the axolotl, finally settling him down as he nuzzled into her and lay quite comfortably.

“There’s someone else who I think you’ll be willing to see.” Lennie walked over to pet Mana’s head, Ula looking up before seeing another figure standing at the entrance of the tent.

“Atlas?” Ula’s eyes landed on Atlas’ face, a sense of warmth filling her as she saw him smile back at her.

“Come on kiddos.”

“Aw, dad! We wanna stay here with Ula!” Cordelia whined before feeling Lennie kiss her forehead.

“We can come back later, okay? Ula’s nor we are going anywhere.”

“Fiiine.” Cordelia pouted before holding Lennie’s hand, being led out by him, Davey following behind after he and Ula shared some waving.

“I’ll also leave you guys alone.” Ama whispered to Ula before squeezing her hand, Ula nodding and watching everybody but Atlas and Mana leave.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Ula continued to pet her concerned axolotl. “How you been?”

“I should be asking you that.” Atlas pulled a chair to sit beside Ula, reaching out to hold her hand that she had on top of Mana. 

“I’m fine I think.” Ula chuckled before her smile faltered. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know what you and everybody else had to go through when...Cantarella was-”

“That’s not your fault.” Atlas shook his head. “Don’t blame yourself for the things she did.”

“Or is doing next?” Ula shut her eyes. “You’re all here paying attention to me when you should be taking care of yourselves.”

“You’re a little more important right now. You literally had somebody inside your body, and…” Atlas cringed at the thought. “Literally ripped out of your body.”

“But I’m fine now. I could get up if I wanted to.” Ula then attempted to stand up, but she bit her lip when a pain shot down from her neck to her back. “Maybe not now, but later I could.”

“You need to rest.” 

“I was already asleep for too long.” Ula shook her head. “I’m scared of going back to sleep.”

“I see.” Atlas nodded before squeezing Ula’s hand. 

“It’s not like it was necessarily scary or anything. It was your typical Ryder nightmare.” Ula squeezed back. “In fact...it was a different reality where everything was supposedly...nice.”

“How so?”

“My mom and that side of the family was all...the same, except for...James was my father. And I had brothers who were triplets.” Ula explained as she made a weird face. “Cosmos was married to some deadlight name...Karina? Pepper was single, as was Ace. Ferry wasn’t around, nor Belinda-”

“Wait, Vespers and Cosmos weren’t together?” Atlas raised an eyebrow as Ula shook her head again. “So...there were no Phoebe or twins? Pepper and Belinda’s kids? Cuckoo and Calliope?”

“None of that. Not even Davey or Cordelia, since my mother and Lennie didn’t even know each other. Hell, Maggie and Billy weren’t together and I saw an adult version of Ama.”

“What? I understand Cantarella didn’t want you waking up...but what?”

“That’s not the entire deal. When I had my first...accident with Ryder...my dead uncle Lucky talked to me and told me about this timeline.” Ula released a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure this was that timeline he was referring to, because my mother and James never broke up.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that James…” Atlas looked Ula all over, connecting the dots: the latest streaks of dark brown in her hair, the hazel eyes, and the blood that was no longer green but red.

“I wouldn’t say that exactly, especially because I don’t exactly understand everything yet. But I was their biological child in that timeline which no longer exists.” Ula pinched the bridge of her nose with her free arm. “ And...Schrader was there.”

“I imagine he was.”

“You weren’t there.” Ula peered up at Atlas. “So...even if I didn’t know...that place couldn’t have been real.”

The pair share a moment of silence, initially staring at each other before their gazing was interrupted by a grumble from Mana.

“Um...what else…”

“Atlas?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you remind me of the day we met?” Ula warmly smiled at him. “Please?”

“Why would you wanna hear that?” Atlas scoot closer towards Ula, then feeling as she unclasped her hand from Atlas’, instead holding his cheek now.

“I need a reminder of one of the best days of my life.”

Atlas leaned his cheek into Ula’s palm, smiling before he closed his eyes.

“Well, for starters you didn’t say anything to me. You only communicated with sign language.” Atlas started. “You had your ‘small but knowing’ theme before getting really into Alice in Wonderland.”

“It was an autumn afternoon, right?”

“Yeah, kind of chilly.” Atlas nodded. “You were quiet and calm, just sat next to me while I read a book in the garden.”

“I liked you at that moment.” Ula was the one who now added on. “I could tell we were going to be friends.”

“You were my reading buddy.” Atlas placed his hand over Ula’s.

“And I always will be.” Ula rubbed his cheek, particularly focusing on his freckles; her smile, however, soon faltered once she thought of something. “Atlas…there’s something we need to talk about.”

“What is it?”

“The night of the party...after the party,” Ula cleared her throat, Atlas now pulling his face away from her palm when those words seemed familiar. “I left with Schrader.”

“Yeah, to get your gift. I remember.”

“But...something happened. No, something was going to happen.” Ula bit the inside of her cheek. “I told myself I would tell you as soon as possible but...that was obviously delayed.”

“I understand.”

“You see, me and Schrader were talking and there was a moment where…” Ula shut her eyes for a moment, but she opened them right back when she realized that she had to look Atlas in the eye. “We leaned in close...I swear Atlas, nothing happened. I left after that. I really swear, it just felt like those days back when we were…”

Ula then stopped herself before a feeling came over her, and she knew it was coming from Atlas. She could tell the hurt in him; she knew just what he was thinking, and he knew this.

“Thank you for your honesty.” Atlas mumbled out as his eyes looked down at his feet. 

“That’s...that’s not all.” Ula coughed. “I didn’t nor could believe at first...but Basil and Flora...are apparently mine and his kids.”

“Huh.”

“I…”

“Didn’t you, uh…” Atlas forced a chuckle. “Didn’t you have a crush on Basil when we were younger?

“Atlas-”

“Like, like in Back To The Future.” Atlas continued, still not looking at Ula. “That’s kinda funny. Basil’s Marty and you Lorraine, making Schrader George…”

“Atlas-”

“Maybe this means you’re meant to be with Schrader.”

“W...what?” Ula blinked at Atlas. “What do you mean?”

“You and I are together, yet Basil and Flora exist.” Atlas answered. 

“But...I want to be with you.” Ula whispered. 

“But...what about Schrader?” Atlas whispered back. “What’ll happen if...their parents aren’t together?”

“What if our kids’ parents aren’t together?”

Atlas finally turned to Ula, seeing as her cheeks flushed as she closed her eyes.

“Hey, Atlas?”

He turned around once he heard Ama’s voice, spotting just the girl who cleared her throat. 

“Vespers wanted to talk to you.” Ama pointed to the outside of the tent. 

“I-”

“Just go.” Ula told him, Atlas turning to her before she pulled her hands to herself and the sleeping Mana. “I’ll survive.”

Atlas gave a bit of a nod before standing and walking out, Ama soon sitting on the chair he had been using.

“Did Vespers really call Atlas?”

“Of course not.” Ama replied before holding her friend’s hand. “Something just told me you needed Atlas away.”

“He wants to break up with me.”

Now Ama’s eyes widened at the sound of this, Ula speaking before she could.

“He obviously doesn’t want to be with me.” Ula bit her now quivering lip. “He doesn’t believe me when I say I want to be with him. I’m sure he’s wanting to break up, but can’t. Maybe he feels like he’s forced to stay with me, like he’ll feel bad when I’m sad. Maybe he just can’t find a way to break up and is trying to convince me to do it.”

“Ula.” Ama shook her head. “You shouldn’t be thinking those things.”

“Ama.”

“You and Atlas really need to have a talk.” Ama interrupted with a shake of her head. “All three of us are best friends, and he hasn’t told me anything about this. I’m sure-”

“He’d never tell you anything like that.” Ula laughed with a small head shake. 

“Ula, look.” Ama fixed Ula’s hair. “I’m serious when I say that you and Atlas need to talk.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You’ll know when the moment comes.” Ama softly smiled at her. “And no matter what it is happens, I know you guys are gonna be there for each other. I just know it.”

Ula stared at Ama for a moment before sighing with a smile and nod.

“I just…” Ula felt as her cheeks heat up once again, never realizing that there was a third presence just outside the tent. “I want that idiot to propose to me some day.”

“Is that so?” Ama felt her smile widen.

“I wanna get married to him, with you by my side as my maid of honor.” Ula crinkled her nose with eyes closed again. “My mom would be sobbing her eyes out, my dad would walk me down…I sound just like a hopeless school girl. I basically told him that I wanted kids with him.”

“It’s nice.” Ama shrugged, then leaning over to hug both Mana and Ula. “I hope the both of you come to your freaking senses.”

“Me too.”

Just outside the tent was Atlas, having listened to the conversation inside. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Atlas?”

He then turned around, right before his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face.

[bewaretheundead91]

The Devil’s Son Part 2

A/N Again this is hot garbage, but it’s fun hot garbage to write. I hope someone enjoys reading this. I’m changing up the “tenses” because this is a mess. So hopefully the next part will flow better. I’m just too tired to fix the “tenses” right now. 

Michael X OC (vague description for self insert). Will be tagging this a Michael Langdon X Reader 

this might also turn into a Michael X Y/N, I’m just not 100 percent the biggest fan of writing (Y/N) in fics anymore.

(Edited 10/27/19)

I will being making a playlist.

The Devil’s Son Part 2: Tomato and Basil 

Michael stands with his arms crossed, staring at the fire blazing in his bed chamber. He was watching the organic shapes of the flames and starts to mentally drift. He remembers a time during his short growth period when the dreams about Leo were occurring. He remembers the first dreams that occurred. That day he began to develop the urge to skin rabbits alive, to feel the warm blood coat his hands. He remembers when he would hang them around the house to show off as gifts to his grandmother. He remembers straying off the property of his home and wandering out into the woods, he would wish for rabbits and they would hop over toward him. He remembers pouncing on them they would not move. He also remembers the blood  splatters, painting the grass red. 

That night he was scolded by his grandmother, she had shouted at him and told him what he had done was incorrect. His gifts were not seen as gifts. His grandmother sent him to his room and he fell asleep. She was asleep, lying in the grass with a warm breeze gently moving her hair. He could smell spring flowers and freshly cut grass. She opened her eyes and he felt connected to her some how. His anger slowly dissipated. The next morning he had waken up aged a decade older.

Knocks at the wooden door of his room clears his head and breaks his stare from the dancing fire. He quickly adjusts his blazer, smoothing out the arms and then takes a deep breath. The knocks come again and he groans annoyed.

“You may enter,” He says calmly. He finds his seat in front of his computer and sits down. Once the guest enters the room he shuts the screen. Before him, was an older woman who wore a black frock with a long pentagram necklace around her neck. “How can I help you this evening?”

“The girl’s meal is prepared,” The older woman informs sternly. “When would you like us to serve her?”

“I will bring it to her,” Michael says crossing his legs. He shifts his body to where his head was leaning comfortably against his left hand. A warm smile brushes his lips. “Do not trouble yourself with such a mundane task. We will be leaving for outpost 3 soon and must be prepared for the journey. You have plenty to do.”

“But sir,” The woman begins. Her face contours into a frown. “You have more important matters that need to be dealt with than serving soup to an…an…angel. Lowest and the foulest of the creatures. Satan spits on such a child.”

“Is serving soup beneath me?” He asks, his voice going high in pitch sounding condescending. His back goes straight and he purses his lips. “Can I not do such a small task? Is it not important for the girl to eat and to survive until I do what I want with her?”

“Yes, sir,” The woman nods. “I was just saying, I can do it. Or if not me the others can. You already have enough to do.”

“No one is to enter that room, but me,” He stands up and walks over to the woman. His face flashes white and eyes turn black. He towers over her. “Am I making myself clear? I do not trust anyone to enter that room, but myself unless I give them permission.”

“Yes sir. I did not mean to make offense.”

“And isn’t it offensive to assume that I am offended?” He asks. The flames in his fireplace grow tall and restless. 

“Yes, sir.” She nods.

“Now take me to this meal that you’ve prepared for my guest so I can inspect it and deliver it. The poor, vile, creature has not eaten in quite a while.”

The woman nods and opens the door, she steps out into the dimly lit hallway and Michael follows behind. The kitchen staff steps aside and forms a line when Michael enters the open space. He walks past each of the five members inspecting them. Quickly he turns his gaze to the kitchen counter.

On the counter was a tray, in the center was a bowl of soup and chunk of freshly made bread. The horrible idea of feeding the girl just enough to keep her alive, but not enough to gain all of her strength back puts a smirk on his face. Michael likes her sluggish. Soup will do fine.

“Is it sufficient?” A man asks, popping out of line.

“It will do.” Michael’s fingers grasp the tray and he walks out of the kitchen.

The walk to Leo’s room was a long one, passing empty dark hallways and rooms. It was also a quite walk. Her room was in the farthest wing in the basement that say beneath the large modern mansion above. Michael and his cooperative partners would have had the rooms, but many of the wealthy people did not survive the blast let along cooperate with the agreement.

Michael grasps the handle of the door and opens it. The fire had gone out and the room was pitch black and cold. He smiles, the darkness was inviting to him. He snaps his fingers and a fire appears instantly coating the room with an orange glow. He glances at the bed where Leo was last seen. It was empty and the sheets were in a clump on the floor. He enters the room cautiously looking around the shadowy crevices of the space. 

“I have brought you something to eat,” His voice purrs against the cackling of the flames. His voice was soothing, something in contrast with how he speaks to his satan worshipping staff. “You have not eaten in days, angel.”

Fabric rustles softly and a smile form on his lips.

“I do not trust you,” She says from the left of him. Her words have more strength in them. Michael slowly turns his head and smiles wickedly toward his guest. She locks eyes with him, but his gaze trails to the blanket around her shoulders, the blanket from her bed. She was cold. The blanket makes Leo appear to look intimate, with her wild hair. Michael takes a breath. “Poison? A potion? Shards of glass? Spiders? Rusty nails?”

Michael walks over towards a small table that sat to the left of the bed. He places the tray down and picks the spoon up. Before placing it to his lips he blows on the liquid. He slurps the liquid down.

“I believe it’s tomato and basil,” He says amusingly, tilting his head. His smile beams across his face. His face appears childlike for a brief second. “It’s quite delicious.”

“You could be immune to your own tricks, devil.” Leo says.

she takes a few steps backwards. The fire flickers again illuminating her figure. Her wings were still gone beneath the blanket. Perhaps the blanket was armer to her.

“You are quite right,” He says sitting down in a chair. “But I would not poison a guest that I have plans for. This soup could warm you up, better than that down comforter. There are other ways to warm the skin and body.”

Leo’s eyes furrow and narrow.

“My arms could warm you right up? Or perhaps I could catch you on fire?” He cackles exposing his teeth. “Or the lesser dangerous approach, a hot bath?”

“You’re disgusting,” Leo hisses. “Your arms might burn the flesh from my bones.”

“I’ve been called worse, but I am the anti christ,” He opens his arms in gesture. “Would you like to try and see?”

“These plans, do you plan on eating me?” Leo asks. Michael begins to chuckles.

“That’s gross,” He says appearing childlike again. He appears less dangerous. “Can you imagine me picking the feathers from my teeth.”

“Then do you plan on drinking my blood?” Leo asks curious. 

“Do you want me to?” He asks, his eyes light up and widen as he places the spoon back into the bowl. “It would make for an interesting evening.”

“Then it is evening?” Leo asks. “I have no way of knowing what time it is or what day it is.”

“So you do want me to drink from you?” Michael flashes a toothy grin. 

“I don’t want you to do anything.” She says swallowing.

“Come eat,” He says pushing the tray closer toward the direction Leo was. Her stomach begins to growl. “I might tell you the day, the time, and the date.”

“Okay,” Leo says walking over, her eyes cut to the side.

Michael rest his head on his hand and watches as she makes her way. She approaches the table and grabs the spoon. Taking some of the liquid in the silverware she brings it up toward her mouth. It did smell of tomato. As she was about to slurp up the liquid she flings the spoon at Michael hitting him right in the forehead, he jumps. She tosses the bowl in his direction. The liquid splashes onto his trousers and blazer. She makes a run for the door. Michael mumbles a few words and Leo grasps the door knob. It burns her palms and she instantly lets it go shrieking.

“I guess you can starve,” Michael stands up from his seat. “I was trying to be nice.”

Leo grabs a fist full of the material of her dress and tries the doorknob again. It rips at her skin.

“It will always burn your palms.” Michael says behind her. 

“Let me out of here!” Leo says turning around. Michael was covered in the hot liquid, that looks of blood. “Please let me out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” He says. He snaps his fingers and the soup is gone from his clothes and face. He looks clean. The bowl floats back to the tray and something is making a boiling sound. The room fills with the scent of tomatoes and basil. With a cling of a spoon against the porcelain dish, the bubbling sound ceases. “You are going to eat your meal and behave yourself.”

“No! You can’t tell me what to do, I will find a way out and when my strength is back I swear the first thing I do to do you is rip your long, blond hair from your head,” Leo shouts tears in her eyes. “You cannot keep me here and your plan will never work. I know you will fail. I know you will never win.”

“Is that so?” Michael approaches Leo and shoots out his hand and grabs the girl by the throat. Gentle at first he thumbs her delicate skin. His skin was hot, but again soothing on her feverishly cold neck. He takes several steps forward until her back was against the very door she was trying to escape out of. His fingers tighten and he takes another step forward. His face closes in toward Leo’s. “I’m already winning, I have kept in my house the one thing meant to harm me, to end me. I have her neck against my very palm. If I so desired, you would be dead.”

“I don’t believe you. You couldn’t kill me.” Leo shouts struggling poorly against his strength. 

“You don’t have to believe anything,” He says trailing his free hand down Leo’s arm, down to her wrist. He grabs her wrist and slams it against the door. The light of the fire exposes the damage the hot doorknob left on Leo’s palm. He lifts a lip in reaction. “Shouldn’t that heal on it’s own? Shouldn’t your strength be back by now Angel? Shouldn’t your knees not be weak around me?”

Michael’s grasp around Leo’s neck loosens and she turns her head scared of what he might do. Michael closes in on her palm. He blows cool air against the wound soothing it. Then presses his lips against the broken skin. Daringly he darts his tongue out and tastes the girl’s blood. His eyes go black.

“You’re not just an angel,” He says releasing his hand from Leo’s neck. She collapses to the ground. “You’re something else. Something is off about you.”

Michael watches as Leo stares down at her healing palm. She shakes her head and trails a finger down her palm.

“It’s all magic,” She says eye streaming down her face. “Why did you heal me?”

“You’re already a miserable creature,” Michael says eyes reverting back to normal. He extends a hand out in front of the confused girl. “Not all evil being are truly evil. Even the Satanists wanted to help those who were lost.”

“I’m not lost, I know my purpose.” Leo looks up at the hand in front of her view. Long slender fingers with well manicured nails.

“Take my hand angel,” He says, his eyes fall sympathetically and then cut to the side playfully. “I will not attempt to bite you tonight.”

“Then you will tell me what day it is?” She asks quietly looking up.

“If that is what you desire,” he says. “Anything else?”

Leo slowly slips her hand into his. He instantly trails the his thumb across the back of her hand then yanks her off the ground fluidly. His skin was smooth against the girl’s. He leads her to the table his hand still clasping her’s. 

Leo sits in a chair at the table and Michael releases her hand. She picks the spoon up and tastes the soup expecting Michael to leave. Michael sits at the table watching as she eats.

“How is it?” He asks.

“If you tell me the day, I’ll let you know.”

“It’s a Tuesday,” He leans back in his seat. “And it’s 9pm.”

“Have I slept that long?” Leo asked feeling confused.

“The spell I cast on you made you sleep, you needed to rest. The stress alone was enough. You don’t remember me ripping your wings off, but your body still feels the stress.”

“You didn’t rip my wings off.” Leo says pulling a chunk of bread out and stuffing it in her mouth. “They are gone, but don’t feel gone. And the stress is from being held captive against my will.”

“Hmmm.” His voice purred.

“I woke up and for a split second I could feel them.” Leo says. “I could.”

[dimpled-gukkie]

Nights Like This

Gif by @i-am-today-we-will-survive ❤️

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Fluff w a bit of angst, college au if you squint 

Warning: none 

Word Count: 3.8k 

Summary: Rain washes everything away. But can it really wash away the feelings you’ve harbored for your best friend? 

The rain patters on the roof, the sounds echoing around your apartment. The wind picks up speed outside, shaking the leaves from the trees lining the sidewalk. You can see students scurrying from their lectures back towards their dorms, probably hoping to spend the rest of the day bundled in blankets. Looking at your phone you bite your lip in contemplation, wondering if you should really bother Taehyung. Just last week you and him were stranded after you got a flat tire, and he had to spend more than an hour sitting on the side of the road with you. You really don’t want to bother him, but he is the person you always call first when inviting someone on an adventure. 

You must look at the black screen of your phone for at least five minutes before deciding the worst he can do is say no. Ringing his number, you place the phone to your ear, before pacing around your apartment. Maybe this was a bad idea. You didn’t want to face your best friend rejecting the idea of hanging out. Before you can hang up though, he answers the call, his baritone voice crackling through the speaker. “Y/N?” 

“Hey Tae. I have to go pick up some stuff from the store and I wanted to know if you would come with me?” Even though he’s not in the room with you, you focus your gaze on the ground while waiting for his answer. 

“Yeah sure. I’ll be there in ten.” When he ends the call, you head over to your closet, the urge to change your clothes strong. There is nothing wrong with your hoodie and sweatpants, it is comfortable and practicable for this weather, but you still choose to change into jeans and a fresh sweatshirt. Brushing through your hair again, you detangle it the best you can, disregarding the fact that it’ll get messed up by the storm outside anyways. You know he won’t really care about what you’re wearing, probably won’t even notice you put in effort. Knowing him for four years has erased any sort of self-consciousness, but you’re still trying to look good around him. It’s probably due to the fact you’re probably, most likely, in love with him.

The sound of a key fiddling with a lock alerts you that Taehyung is here and you spray on a few spritzes of perfume before meeting him at the door. When his frame is fully inside, you pull him into a hug and he nuzzles his head into the crook of your neck. You and Taehyung have always had a more touchy friendship but something about this feels more intimate. It’s almost like he’s holding you tighter than normal, like he doesn’t want to let go. Shaking your head you pull away, assuming he must just be cold. Walking back into your kitchen, you grab the two travel mugs off the counter and hand one to him. He looks at you skeptically with one eyebrow raised before opening the lid to peer inside. “Why are you acting like I’m trying to drug you?” You roll your eyes as you’re locking your apartment. 

“Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t coffee.” He pouts and you smile to yourself. He’s too cute for his own good. 

“I’ve known you for years now Tae, I know you don’t like coffee. Besides why would I give you it anyways? So you could spit it all over me like you did freshman year?” His pout intensifies and you brush off the urge to kiss it away.

“I said I was sorry!” Reaching down you give his hand a squeeze, a silent way of telling him you’re just teasing. You forgave him the second you saw his big brown eyes staring back at you, regret laced in his gaze. That was actually the first time the two of you had ever interacted. Ever since that day, he brought you a coffee to your shared class as an apology even though you told him it was really not a big deal. You could barely see the stains anyway. It wasn’t until a month’s worth of coffee later you finally got him to stop, but only with the promise that you had truly forgiven him and that you were friends. From there it snowballed into spending every free moment by his side, usually tucked under his arm, until you are where you are today. Pining after your best friend who definitely only sees you as just that, suffering silently as he holds you in a platonic manner. If only life wasn’t so cruel. 

You aren’t aware that you’re standing in the middle of the hallway, staring blankly at the staircase, until Taehyung tugs on your hand with a concerned gaze. “Sorry, just zoned out for a minute. Let’s go!” Grinning at him as best as you can you hurry out of the building and into the rain, taking refuge in the gloomy atmosphere. At least if you started crying you could feign that they’re raindrops. You’re walking in silence, hoods up and hands still clasped when Taehyung turns to you.  

“I think we should jump in a puddle.” You just blink at him a few times. “I mean, come on. When was the last time it rained? Besides, it’s customary to jump in a puddle when it’s raining.” 

It’s also customary to kiss in the rain, you think. “When we’re walking back we can. I don’t want to have squeaky shoes in the store.” He smiles in agreement before continuing on down the sidewalk.  

The store is practically empty when you arrive, only a few other patrons loitering about. The storm picks up intensity outside as thunder sounds from above and the cashiers shudder. “It’s a shame isn’t it?” Taehyung ponders when you both are safely tucked between the back aisles. You look at him quizzically but stay silent, waiting for him to continue. “People can’t see the beauty behind the rain. All they see is some inconvenience. They don’t notice how the world almost seems to regain its breath as the rain washes away the haze.” Tae has always been like this, hitting you with something really insightful when you least expect it, but this time you’re so caught off guard that you can’t respond. It takes you a few minutes to formulate an acceptable reply. 

“Yeah, sometimes people can’t see what’s right in front of them.” If he picks up on the underlying message, both from your words and your vulnerable eyes, he doesn’t say anything. Instead he bends down to pick up a cereal box and throws it into your basket. 

“We should’ve got a cart so I could push you around in it.” He grumbles before heading down towards the dairy to get milk. Just like that the atmosphere is broken and your heart gets put back on lockdown. At least you can say you tried, even if you weren’t exactly explicit. Surely someone who can create a whole monologue about rain can pick up on hidden cues? 

The rest of your shopping experience is silent, the only sounds being the scuffling of shoes and the rain hitting the pavement outside. You can’t help but be a little upset that he didn’t say anything. That he didn’t confess right then and there with a box of cereal in hand. But then you scold yourself because why were you expecting that? You’re his best friend. A friend. You’ll never mean more to him than that. That thought alone is more of a slap in the face than the cold rain that whips at you through the wind. 

With both of your heads down, Taehyung engulfs your hand in his own and pulls you into his side as you shuffle through the storm. Part of you wonders if you should’ve just stayed in the store. You’re only halfway back to your apartment, grip slipping on the bags from the rain, when Taehyung tugs you into a nearby building. A bell above you rings, the sound barely loud enough to be heard over the wind. He turns to you once the door is closed and places his palms on your cheeks, gently brushing away the rain. “You okay?” His voice is soft, his gaze tender, and you begin to melt despite the frigid temperature outside. 

“I’m fine. You?” He only nods, thumbs still rubbing against your cheekbones before a voice breaks you both from the bubble you’d created. 

“Can I help you?” The woman who approaches you is stout, her hair a soft grey tone, glasses hanging on the bridge of her nose. She looks like a stock photo of a grandmother suddenly came to life in front of you. Glancing around you finally take in your surroundings. The place appears to be a quaint Italian restaurant if the aroma of basil, oregano, and garlic is anything to go by. Taehyung’s stomach growls loudly next to you, your cheeks reddening in secondhand embarrassment. “Oh dear, you must be hungry. Here, have a seat.” Directing you towards a booth she sits you down in the near empty restaurant before leaving, only to return with a basket of breadsticks and two menus. “Let me know when you two are ready to order.” She smiles before heading over to another table. With her back turned, Taehyung promptly sticks nearly an entire breadstick in his mouth. 

“Tae!” You scold. In response he turns to give you his best puppy dog eyes and when paired with his bread cheeks your face softens. “Just be careful okay. I don’t want you to choke or anything.” Your voice is quiet and you wonder if he even hears you over his chewing. 

“Aww would you not be able to live without me?” He teases pulling you into his chest after he swallows his mouthful of bread. You gulp and give a small nod, trying to distract yourself from going through the rabbit hole of imagining life without Taehyung. Who would bring you coffees in the morning with a foam heart etched into them? Who would you be able to call in the middle of the night when you have a nightmare? Who would- you stop yourself mid-thought, eyes already getting teary. Pushing your face further into his chest you focus on the warmth he emits and the feeling of his arms around you to slow your breathing. “You alright?” He asks, rubbing up and down your back. Squeezing your eyes shut quickly, you pull away busying yourself by grabbing a breadstick from the basket. 

“Yeah I’m fine. Just tired.” If he suspects that you’re lying he doesn’t say anything. The woman from before returns back to your table. 

“You two ready?” Truthfully you haven’t even glanced at the menu.

“Yeah, I’ll just have um…spaghetti. Please.” You say.

“Make that with meatballs.” Glancing over, Taehyung just shrugs. “What? I wanted to try some.” You roll your eyes and look away to hide your small smile. “Then I’ll have Minestrone soup with rice please?” 

“Tae are you sure that’ll be enough?” You ask once the woman has walked away. He says it’ll be fine but something about the glint in his eye tells you differently. When the food arrives, you notice Taehyung eyeing your plate more than his own and already begin setting a portion aside. You both knew this would happen, that he’d steal some of yours, and yet he still chose to get something light instead of filling. You’re a quarter of the way through yours when you catch him picking up his fork out of the corner of your eye. “You’re already done?” Only ten minutes have seemed to pass and yet the bowl is scraped clean. 

“I was hungry. Speaking of which, can I have some of yours?” 

“Here, I already set some aside.” You gesture towards the large pile of noodles near the corner of the plate. Hungrily he digs in, haphazardly twisting noodles around his fork, most of which are not from the pile you created for him. 

“If you keep grabbing noodles from my side we’re going to end up like Lady and the Tramp.” You laugh while severing off the noodle that’s dangling out of Taehyung’s mouth onto your plate. He looks at you with stuffed cheeks and wide eyes before a shy smile graces his features. 

“Do you- do you want to recreate it?” Your cheeks burn bright but you can’t deny that your heart is begging for you to say yes. It may destroy you in the process, but this might be the only time you’ll be able to do something somewhat romantic with him. 

“Yeah sure.” Fiddling with your fork, you separate the pasta making sure to leave a strand that Taehyung can also loop around his own utensil. “Tae how is-“ He stops you mid sentence by gently placing his fork in your mouth, before stealing your own. 

“Figured you’d overthink it.” He mumbles, ears tinted red. Frozen, you watch as the fateful noodle ties you and Taehyung together, internally freaking out about what to do next. You want to kiss him, no you need to kiss him. You can feel yourself begin to lean in, your heart overpowering your mind, and his eyes dart down to your lips. Only a few more inches until your mouth presses against his, that is until the woman returns and you hastily bite the noodle, severing the link to Taehyung entirely. Anxiously you rub your palms against your jeans as they’ve suddenly turned clammy and push your plate towards Taehyung. 

“Here, you can have the rest.” You refuse to raise your eyes from your lap, missing Taehyung’s pout and the elder woman’s wink. 

“Are you two finished?” You nod and Taehyung sighs. 

“Yeah I guess so.” 

“Would you two be interested in dessert? They’re all homemade.” Biting your lip in contemplation, you glance out of the corner of your eye towards Taehyung, still too embarrassed to turn towards him. When he catches you looking he smirks and winks, seemingly unfazed by the fact that you two almost kissed. 

“Yeah, can we have the chocolate dessert salami to go? I remember seeing it advertised by the door.” You choke on your spit, surprised that such a thing even exists. 

“Oh! I’ll bring that with the check then, not that you two need to rush.” 

As soon as she’s out of earshot you turn back to Taehyung and whisper shout, “Why did you even get that?!” 

“I thought you would like meat covered in chocolate.” 

“Tae why would anyone-“ 

“Besides it got you to pay attention to me again.” Your mouth clamps shut. 

“Sorry I wasn’t ignoring you I was-“ 

“Here you go lovelies!” What is it with everyone and cutting you off suddenly? Smiling graciously at the woman, you take the packaged salami as well as the check before taking cash out of your purse. 

“What are you doing?” Taehyung’s brows are furrowed and he reaches out towards you. 

“I’m paying.” You say. 

“No. It was my idea to come so I’ll pay.” 

“I mean it’s not like this was a date or anything. It’s fine.” Shoving cash with the bill you abruptly stand up, the bitter feeling from the market coming back up. You’re not really sure what about Taehyung is irking you today, he’s acting the same as always. The weather must be making you irritable. Or maybe it’s the fact that if you close your eyes this almost feels like it could be a date but it’s not. Taehyung follows you out the door like a sad puppy, gripping your hand hesitantly when you step outside. The rain is softer now, a quiet drizzle, and you stick your free hand out to catch the droplets, your bags slipping down to your wrist. 

“Are you mad at me?” Taehyung’s voice is small and a part of you breaks. You didn’t mean for him to feel bad. Squeezing his hand tightly, you rub your thumb along his knuckles in a soothing motion. 

“No, I’m not. I’m sorry if I made it seem that way. I think the weather just made me grouchy.” 

“Do you know what would make you feel better?” A boxy smile is back on his face and you grin. “Jumping in a puddle.” Without warning, his large hands wrap around your waist, his laughter ringing through the air, as he tosses you in a large puddle a few feet away. You screech and try to latch onto him, to take him down with you, but he swerves out of your grasp leaving you to stand in the center of a deep puddle. Your shoes and socks are soaked but it’s worth it to watch him crouch down in laughter.  

“You know what, you’re right.” You smile deviously. “I do feel better. But do you know what will make me feel great? You jumping in too.” Before Taehyung can react you step forward and grab his arm, yanking him towards you. The only problem is that you pull a little too hard which sends Taehyung crashing into you, both of you toppling over ungraciously into the puddle. Taehyung hovers above you, his clothes barely wet, meanwhile your whole backside is drenched. Scrunching your face in annoyance you flop your arms down causing the water to splash up. “This isn’t fair. You were supposed to get wet not me.” You groan. Taehyung has yet to say anything and peering one eye open, he’s staring intensely down at you. “I know I look like a wet rat, you can stop staring.” Shoving his chest lightly he stands up, pulling you along with him. 

“Here.” He shrugs off his jacket before handing it to you, but you push it away. 

“You’ll get a cold Tae. Put your jacket back on.” 

“But if you don’t put it on you’ll get a cold.” 

“I think I’m already well on my way.” You gesture with your hand to the water dripping off you. “I don’t need you getting sick as well.”

“But we can be sick together.” He pouts. 

“No.” He looks at you with pursed lips before turning around and heading down the street towards your apartment. You rush to catch up with him, your groceries and chocolate salami long forgotten. “Why haven’t you put your jacket back on?” 

“I gave it to you to wear, but you won’t wear it, so neither will I.” You can only glare. 

“Kim. Taehyung. Put the jacket back on.” 

“No.” 

“Fine. I’ll wear the jacket. Happy?” 

“Yes. Especially because I can do this.” His grin is wide as he latches onto you from behind, making you both waddle awkwardly as you struggle to walk. “See? Much better.” He squeezes you again like you’re a teddy bear, laying his head down on your shoulder. 

“This is very conducive to walking.” You snicker but hold his hands in your own to keep him in place. 

“Hey do you remember that park we used to go to that’s a few blocks away?” He mumbles in your ear. His deep voice sends shivers down your spine, but you hide it by blaming it on the bite of the cold. 

“Yeah, what about it?” 

“We should go.” 

Just like that you’re both standing in the empty park, greeted by the sounds of rain hitting plastic. Taehyung lets go of you to run towards the swings, beckoning you to join him. You’re apprehensive to sit on the wet seat until you remember that your jeans are more water than material at this point. Once seated, Taehyung latches onto your hand and pulls you to join him in swinging as high as possible. The chains creak and groan, making you grip his hand tighter in fear that the swings will break and you’ll both fall off. “Tae, maybe we need to stop. I don’t think the swing can handle this right now.” Almost like they’re agreeing, the chains makes an awful sound and it feels like your seat has dropped a few inches. Panicking you plant your feet into the ground, successfully stopping yourself but nearly getting your arm ripped off in the process as it gets caught up in Taehyung’s momentum. The thunder rumbles back to life as the rain pounds down again, making you and Taehyung run into the tunnel on the playground for cover. This may not be the best idea as thunder typically brings lightening in tow but you’re too far away from your apartment to make it there without getting soaked to the bone. You’ll just have to wait until the weather lightens up to make a break for it. 

You can barely hear yourself think over the sounds of the harsh pings of the rain smacking the tunnel and the wind whipping through the trees, instinctively moving closer to Taehyung. He wraps his arms around you sensing your uneasiness, pulling you as far into him as possible. Taehyung attempts to hum to you in means of comfort, but the sound gets drowned out by the raging storm outside so he stops. You both sit in silence for a long while before he finally decides to try speaking when the wind seems to die down. “Do you want to hear a secret?” You begin to twist around to face him but he tightens his hold on you so you’ll remain facing forward. “I’m in love with you.” He whispers. The world seems to stop, the storm calmed by his confession, but you barely take notice over your mind and heart going into overdrive. Suddenly claustrophobic, you scurry out of the tunnel and into the rain. It’s merely a light drizzle now, but it mixes in well with your tears. Taehyung clambers out after you, almost like he’s tripping over his heart that he just gave to you. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” He stammers, his voice trembling as his own tears surface. 

“No-It’s not. It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting that. I’ve loved you for years now so for you to just suddenly say it.” The words die in your throat as Taehyung moves closer, trembling hands holding your cheeks. 

“I fell in love with you here. I thought it was only right to say it in the place I first realized.” His thumbs gently rub along your cheekbones and you smile a watery smile. 

“You’re quite the romantic huh? Professing your love in the rain.” You tease. 

“Purely coincidental. But you know what would make this even better?”

“I swear Tae, if you’re about to throw me in another puddle-“ Before you can truly ruin the moment, he stops you by gently placing his mouth on yours. The kiss is soft and slow, warm despite the fact that you’re both shivering from being outside for too long. You sigh into his mouth, happy now that the weight of a confession is lifted off your shoulders. 

[littleindigochildx]

t a s k ♡ 2 1

1. Talk about your character’s name. What is it, and how is it pronounced? What does it mean? Does your character have any nicknames?

Name: SAVANNA

Pronounced: Sa-van-na

Meaning: It is of Spanish origin, and its meaning is "treeless plain” or “from an open plain.”

2. Post a picture of your character or describe what they look like in detail. Note any distinguishing facial features.

Her most distinguishing feature is her blue eyes. They seem to change with her mood. Sometimes they appear so light they almost look grey, sometimes they look green, but for the most party they’re a beautiful shade of crystal blue.

3. Describe your character’s personality.

Savvy is a free spirit with a big imagination. She loves all animals and being one with nature. Victoria and Declan often have a difficult time getting the seven year old to come inside, especially when the weather is nice. She is a compassionate child who loves to help people any way she can. She enjoys baking with her mom and her aunt or spending any free time she has with family. She inherited her creative abilities from her mother and grandmother so she loves any project that involves coloring, painting, drawing, or sculpting. Savanna also loves to read.

4. What is your character like in relationships? Are they clingy? Faithful or unfaithful? Do they jump from one relationship to the other?

She is single. Her father said she’s not allowed to date until she’s 30. (Vic agrees with this).

She’s fiercely independent, but faithful to any commitments she makes.

5. What kind of things does your character like? What do they dislike?

Likes: Dogs are her favorite but she loves all animals, especially the ones they have at their house. She also loves flowers (like her mom) and gardening with her grandmother. She also enjoys movie nights at the home, baking with her family, riding her bike with her brother Timmy, Disneyland, and going to the beach.

Dislikes: The dark, people saying negative things about her family, math, scary movies (but she watches them because Timmy and Clara love them), and brussel sprouts.

6. How does your character treat their friends and family? How about strangers? Enemies?

Savanna loves her family more than anything else. While they don’t always see eye to eye on everything, she would kill for them in a heartbeat. Nothing matters more than family.

She is the same way towards strangers. Her mother always tells her, “treat people how you want to be treated.” If there’s one thing the seven year old has learned in life it’s that everyone has a past and sometimes that come with baggage, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be treated with kindness and respect.

She doesn’t have enemies. Savvy genuinely likes everyone.

7. What kind of people does your character surround themselves with? Why?

She surrounds herself with inspirational people. Most of them are family. Savanna idolizes her mom and dad, her big brothers, and her big sister. They are the most supportive, positive people in her life.

8. Where was your character born? Where have they lived since then? Where is the place that they call home?

Limbo, NV (born and raised).

Savvy is a little girl who loves adventure, but at the end of the day nothing makes her happier than being home on the farm. She loves being able to help her parents (Vic mostly) take care of their animals. It's one chore she never complains about.

9. Where does your character go when they are angry?

The barn. She finds it therapeutic to be around her animals. They’re the best listeners and she knows they’ll never share her secrets.

10. What is your character’s biggest fear? Who have they told this to? Who would they never tell this to? Why?

At this point in her life, her biggest fear is Declan going back to prison. She knows how devastating that would be for Victoria and she doesn't want him to miss out on anymore milestones in her life or Timothy's life.

She hadn't told this to anyone.

She would never tell her parents because she knows they don't like when she worries about "grown up" things. Especially when it's something that is out of her control. They want their youngest children to enjoy being kids.

11. Does your character have a secret? If so, what is it?

She does.

She and Timmy like to pretend they’re spies, so she knows more secrets than she’d care to admit. Savvy knows she’s not supposed to be spying on adult conversations, but curiosity always gets the best of her. She can’t help herself. Because of this, she knows there is something wrong with Declan, but she had yet to figure out what it is.

12. What makes your character laugh out loud? What makes them angry?

Libby always makes Savanna laugh, no matter what kind of mood she’s in. The two just get each other. Her parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings make her laugh too...just not like Libby.

When she’s told she’s ”too young.” She always wants to do what the older kids are doing, but she often hears that she can’t because she’s too young or too small.

13. Has your character ever been in love? Have they ever had a broken heart?

She has not been in love yet, but she does have a crush on Junior. He gives her comic books and has been teaching her about the superhero universe. He also shares his arcade tokens with her.

14. Does your character have any flaws? What are they?

Everybody has flaws. Savanna's is that she trusts too easily and she doesn't always have filter. She can be brutally honest at times which can get her in trouble. Especially at school. Trusting too easily often leaves her open to heartbreak.

15. What is in your character's refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? On their nightstand?

Refrigerator: milk, juice, eggs, yogurt, veggies, fruit, lunch meat, cheese, spring mix, leftovers, half & half, and water. Victoria likes to keep the house stocked with healthy snacks for her kids and various lunch meat to make the kids school lunches.

Bedroom floor: slippers, coloring supplies, books, and dirty clothes that didn’t quite make it to the hamper. Usually Savanna’s floor is clean. She and Timmy get paid a weekly allowance to keep their rooms clean and their beds made. They also help with other household chores.

Nightstand: a book, tissues, a glass of water, and a butterfly night light.

16. Your character is walking home in the dark when they hear some noises around the corner. What do they do? How would they react if they heard someone crying out for help?

Savanna is afraid of the dark, but it’s not because she gets the sense that she’s alone. She’s afraid of the dark because she’s worried that she’s not alone. Anything could be lurking in the shadows.

If she heard a noise walking home, her immediate reaction would be to run and hide.

If Savanna heard someone crying for help, she would do whatever she could to get them help. She’s seven, so there’s not much she could do to carry out a rescue mission on her own. She definitely wouldn't leave someone in a life threatening situation. It's not in her nature.

17. When your character thinks of their childhood kitchen, what smell do they associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant?

She still is a child and it isn’t uncommon for their kitchen to smell like fresh baked cookies or Victoria’s delicious homemade dinners. Whenever Savanna comes home from school there’s a snack on the table for her and Timothy with the scent of fresh basil or herbs from their garden lingering in the air. Usually the aroma is from dinner on the stove or in the oven. It’s enough to make her mouth water.

18. Your character is doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for them to throw out? What is difficult for them to part with? Why?

Clothes and old toys are easy for Savanna to part with. There are only a few pieces she insists on keeping because of sentimental value.

Pictures and old art work are difficult for her to get rid of. Each piece is tied to a memory she doesn’t want to forget. She gets this from her parents. Victoria and Declan also have a tough time throwing away the artwork their children give to them. Both of them still have some of the scribble drawings Savvy made when she was a toddlers. They're safely tucked away in a box in Vic's studio.

19. It is Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. If they’re eating breakfast, what exactly do they eat? If they’re stretching out in the backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel do they lie on?

When the weather cooperates, she and Timmy like to take their lunch outside. Victoria will spread out a camping blanket, pack lunches in their school lunch boxes, and the three {four if Declan isn't at DRMC} of them will have a picnic outside.

When the weather is poor, they move their picnics to the hayloft (that’s where the kids like to play) or their living room floor. It's Savvy's favorite thing to do on the weekend.

20. While driving down the road, your character hits a dog and swerves off the road into a tree. Do they get out to see to the car first, or the animal?

Savanna loves all animals, but dogs especially.  While crying hysterically, and without hesitation, she would check on the dog before worrying about her car.  She would do everything in her power to make sure the animal was okay because cars could be replaced... Pets can't be.

21. Your character is in a relationship and they come home to find their partner in bed with another person. How do they react? How do they feel?

She would walk out to give herself time to process things. She would probably end up at Victoria's house. Savvy is very close with her mom and tells her almost everything. She would want her mom's opinion on the matter.

Savanna would feel betrayed, but she’s a reasonable person so she’d definitely give her significant other a chance to explain before kicking them to the curb. Trust is earned, and once it’s lost...it’s very hard to get back.

22. What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

The most powerful memory was Declan being released from prison. It flipped her world upside down, but in a good way. She got her father back. She and Timmy no longer had to wait for visitation day to spend time with him. They had a lot of lost time to make up for now that he was home.

23. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with?

A night out for a seven year old usually consists of a trip to the arcade or the roller rink.

Savanna loves sparkles so she would likely put on a sparkly dress or skirt. Accessories are a must. She never leaves the house without a necklace or two, bracelets, rings, and a purse to complete her outfit.

She isn’t old enough to hang out with her friends without supervision, so Victoria is usually there. Declan has been spending more time with the family so he tags along a lot of the time which she loves. When Savvy is lucky...her big brothers and big sister are there too.

24. Your character gets into a discussion about death and dying. How would they describe the perfect death? Do they believe in life after? Are they afraid of death?

Savanna is still young, so she’s not that familiar with the dying process. She knows there is a Heaven and a Hell.

If she had to describe her perfect death it would be peacefully, in her sleep, when she is very old.

Savvy isn’t really afraid of dying, but she is terrified to lose a loved one. The only deaths she has experienced are with the animals she’s tried to rescue. She has never lost a family member...at least not that she can remember.

25. A friend of your character calls, they want to hang out. What do they do? If they stay home, what will your character suggest they do? If they go out, where will they go?

Savvy doesn’t have many friends, but she does hang out with her cousin Libby pretty often. If someone called to hang out, it would most likely be Liberty Deschaine. The girls love going to the roller rink and the arcade, but Vic always comes up with fun activities for them when Libby comes over to play instead.

Both children love making forts and they’ve gotten really good at it. Sometimes, if Timmy is lucky, they’ll let him come play with them too.

[encomiium]

Broken Bottles

21 August 2018

Liam

It always starts the same way.

The world is dark and monochrome, high contrast and desaturated. But he is a peach peeking up over the horizon, he is gentle apricot.

It’s screaming. It’s always screaming, someone screaming at Liam, shrapnel flying, guns drawn and pointed, the eyes of their barrels staring him down like the judgment of God. He hears the ultimatum behind his eyes, surrender to a life behind bars, be remembered as the man who was taken prisoner twice, or let the angels sing in a litany of gunpowder and bullets and let the devil have his way.

Somehow it feels like this has happened before, like he’s lived through this moment over and over again; only he can hear himself begging, I’m done. I’m done, please. Take me before I hurt someone.

But the men in grey keep shouting. Get on the ground!

Everything inside of him wants to, he prays for his knees to hit the ground, but his arms move without him and the gravel beneath them rises up into the air in long chains. In the sunlight, the rocks sparkle in repeating patterns, the dirt and cement clinging to the raw crystals dancing at Liam’s fingertips. He hears the gunshots in a vacuum, the sound of it so far away from the deafening echo of his breath in his ears. The crystalline chains rush towards the sirens and smoking guns and Liam runs.

It happens so fast.

He cuts around a corner, he hops over a fence. He could trace his footsteps a thousand times over. He’ll never forgive himself.

When someone rips into his path, he doesn’t see a human. He sees an obstacle, another corner to cut, another fence to hop. His heart leaps into his throat when he opens his hand and the cold diamond laying against his chest shoots out from under his shirt, the leather cord snapping around his neck. The diamond grows as it flies through the air, shrieking towards a body that may as well have been a straw target on an Afghan mountain.

He hears him before he sees the sunrise.

“Liam!”

The sound of his name explodes. His black and white world bursts into color and the first thing he sees is scarlet, deep cocoa, red velvet. It smells like oak and lillies. Like death. He can’t feel himself pulling the diamond an inch to the left, he can’t feel anything. His ears ring.

Oliver has soft lips and eyes that glisten, a heart of gold and a halo made from spun sugar. The diamond pins his shoulder to a brick wall that doesn’t deserve to embrace him. No one deserves to embrace him. In a world of bombshells and scarlet letters, he is the snowfall on the first of December, the sweet smell of fresh pine and basil.

He is the light constantly trapped inside of Liam’s rotting, stenching maw.

This aching--this is aching. He can feel it finally, the wrath of brambles snaking around his sinner’s heart. Oliver’s blood runs in a thin stream along the longest edge of Liam’s diamond. His long, kind fingers, meant to sneak tastes of buttercream icing or run through his curly raven hair, grasped at the sharp corners of the rock in his shoulder. His tender mouth full of laughter and love spilled over with decaying rose petals.

Liam has nothing but silence. His hands shake. This. What comes next. He can’t remember.

.

And then the world was dark. He shot up from under the covers shouting something he couldn’t hear, the cold sweat running down his body biting in the frigid room. The breath had been shredded out of him, the air clawing its way in and out of his throat with their rusty nails as he looked around the room, wild and unsure. In place of a fragile apricot, screaming red in his fist, was the inky darkness of the night, the house silent, save for an echo of a scream and his own haggard breathing.

“Liam?” came a small voice from the corner of the room. His name, then, was not an explosion, but the last raindrop in a storm, echoing softly through the leaves scared still. Liam looked up and saw Oliver cowering in the corner, his arms wrapped around the comforter, holding it close to his chest.

Liam scrambled up from the bed, tearing himself away from the sheets and backing away from the edge, everything a dizzying jumble of ache and regret and anger. So much fucking anger, a bloody need to be absolutely nowhere, to be dead. Gone.

In a quick, graceful move, so fast and clear Liam couldn’t have possibly perceived it, Oliver crossed the room and pushed the comforter to the end of the bed, crawling across the mattress to reach out and press a warm hand to Liam’s sweat-soaked jaw. “No, no, hey,” he whispered, “Stay here. Stay with me.”

Liam leaned into Oliver’s touch, his cheek pressed into his soft, beautiful hands. Everything about Liam’s hands were hard, covered in scars, stained with blood. His hands were gnarled and feral, beyond saving, where Oliver’s hands were downy-feathers and mezzo-piano, his thumbs singing soft sonatas as he ran his fingers along Liam’s cheekbones. He could do nothing but follow those beautiful hands back into the howling mouth of the bed.

“You’re okay,” Oliver breathed, pressing a kiss to the corner of Liam’s lips before pressing their foreheads together. His lips were soft like flower petals and the nectar of his kiss flowed down Liam’s throat, spreading a soft heat through his body.

If he closed his eyes and listened only to the sound of Oliver’s breathing, Liam could fall asleep just like this, could pretend his entire life had been this easy. But he didn’t deserve that. He needed to reach up, to run his hand over Oliver’s arm, along the long lines in his muscle until his baby-soft skin was interrupted by a long, keloid scar strangling his left shoulder. Two inches to the right, two seconds too late, and Liam would have pierced his heart--his precious heart that has never been able to do anything but love.

“Don’t do that,” Oliver warned gently, tangling his fingers with Liam’s to take him away from tracing the long scar where they sewed Oliver back together when Liam ripped him apart. “Don’t torture yourself like that.”

“I killed you.” The words burned like cigarettes along his spine, his stomach roiling at the acrid burn of rotten tobacco filling his nose.

“I’m right here,” Oliver pleaded, trying to pull Liam’s gaze away from the scar on his shoulder, snaking over his collarbone like an angry flash of lightning, a hidden verse about murder tangled in its lines, navy blue in the moonlight.

“Almost doesn’t matter,” Liam choked out, his throat closing around the mourner’s wake calling out from inside his chest, “I killed you, I didn’t miss, I killed you.”

Oliver reached up and wiped the tears from Liam’s cheeks, but his eyes were gone. He had a thousand yard stare, past the slithering scar on his chest, past the bed, into the gaping hole in the earth that waited to swallow him up. He pressed Liam back into the bed. “Don’t say that.”

“I don’t deserve this life,” Liam confessed in this holy place. This time, there was no struggle. Nothing hurt when he told the truth. The boy he loved, in a way no one and nothing could ever comprehend--stronger than the fabric of time or the grip of a grandmother on her first born grandchild--laid down beside him and looked for his soul behind his dark eyes.

Where Oliver could not see, Liam felt a cold point at the base of his skull. An amethyst shard sitting on the dresser as a decorative piece, a gift to Oliver from some grateful mother or another, floated languidly to the back of his neck, stiff and ready and pressing against his skin. It could be over so quickly, all of it could go away. Maybe once, when he closed his eyes, he could see darkness. Not the scarlet of Oliver’s blood spraying onto his cheeks when he coughed for air, not the millions of stars made by Afghan soil exploding into the night sky.

When he closed his eyes, he saw flashes of Oliver in a hospital bed, his big brown eyes terrified, his breath punctuated with whimpers of pain. The crystal pressed closer into his spine. He took in a breath.

When his lungs were full and he parted his lips to whisper good-bye, Liam felt Oliver’s lips on his, a soft, sweet kiss. It was a kiss like lavender in June, the kiss of the wind running in a wheat field. Liam opened his eyes to Oliver looking at him like he could matter. Like he was worth more than he was, more than the broken bottles, like touching him wouldn’t split his skin open like an envelope, make him bleed like a love letter.

“I love you,” Oliver sighed, his thumb tracing the line from Liam’s cheek to his chin, his nail quietly scratching his stubble.

“Why?” Liam begged, shaking his head.

“Because I do. When will that be enough for you?”

Liam blinked. He’d never been in love. Not before Oliver. He always imagined love left you like a wreckage, left you in pieces like a shattered window scattered over a gravel road. But this love wrapped him in a warm white duvet, tangled their legs together and swaddled him in an embrace that made everything else fall away. In that bed, where he felt the angel-soft touch of a boy who should only hate and despise him, dressed only in incredible compassion and care, ghosting over the curve on his waist between his lowest rib and his hip, he knew peace. He could never forgive himself, but he could unclench his fist, relax his bone-white knuckles and let the amethyst roll away from his skull and under the bed.

His life has been mangled fingers reaching between the bars of warped metal cages.

For one night, the forgiveness of a saint might coax him away from the edge.

[sunnysviolin]

Broken Melodies Pt 3

This part....yeahhhhhh. It doesn’t exactly push the plot forward at all but....yeahhhhhh. I figured a little look into Basil’s thoughts might be a good idea. TW: What happens to Mari. 

Basil was born on a frigid February day. The sky was cloudless, empty and pale. Basil was born like the sky. He stared up at his parents expressionless, his eyes held the same bright blue color, and his skin was just as empty and pale. 

85% of people were born with a soulmark. Only about 70% actually ever end up meeting their soulmate. Thirty percent of the world never has that special connection. These are statistics Basil knows by heart. They are facts, they are safe, and they make sense. They give him comfort when he sits up in his bed at night and feels a pulsing ache in his chest. 

Basil is one of that 30%. In fact, he is one of the 15% that are born with no mark on their skin- nothing. Not grey, colored, or even black. Sometimes he wonders if he would have been better off being born with a black mark than nothing. At least he would have someone to mourn instead of selfishly wishing for something he never had. 

After Mari died he never again wished for a black mark.  

Seeing the rest of their community shun Hero was...it was a lot. He had been one of the “good” kids- well liked and popular. One of those special people that almost everyone liked. After Mari, people avoided him like the plague. They stared at him, they judged him because of something Basil and Sunny had done he hadn’t helped Mari.

Basil didn’t blame him though. Basil knew that Hero had loved Mari more than anything. It wasn’t his fault Mari killed herself. He knew how deep that love between them was. He knew because he had Sunny. 

Sunny was the first other Unmarked that Basil had ever met. Normally when people found out Basil was an Unmarked, they stopped wanting to get to know him. When Aubrey found out he was an Unmarked, she just gasped happily and told him he had to meet her friend Sunny. 

Seeing Sunny for that first time made Basil’s lonely existence make sense. He had spent so much time around people who couldn’t understand him. Finally there was someone out there who was just like him. 

Sunny quickly became more than his best friend. Sunny was his sole confidant, his favorite person. They spent every moment they could together, and he relied on Sunny for just about everything. Sunny was his, and Basil was Sunny’s. One night when they were cuddled up together in Sunny’s bed, it all finally clicked for Basil. 

The universe, god, fate, whatever was out there had just made a mistake. Basil knew Sunny was his soulmate. He had to be. It made sense. He saw how Hero and Mari were, and he and Sunny were the same, so they had to be soulmates.

From that day forward, Basil did everything he could to be a good soulmate. He didn’t tell any of their friends, he didn’t even tell Sunny. It was his secret, not bad, not wrong, just something that was supposed to be kept close to his chest. He wished he could tell the whole world, but they might not understand. 

He had tried to tell his parents once, but they didn’t get it. They had just. Not understood. They would never be able to understand, but that was okay. It was fine. Everything was okay. He had Sunny. Basil was attentive to whatever Sunny might need, he was eager to keep Sunny as happy as he could. 

That’s why he had been there that night. That’s why he had carried Mari outside. That’s why he had gotten that jumprope. Soulmates protect one another against anything right? He was just protecting Sunny from the people who would blame him for something he didn’t even do. Sunny hadn’t hurt Mari, whatever had been behind him had pushed her. Basil was just doing his duty as a good soulmate and guarding their secrets. 

That’s why he didn’t say anything to the police, or his grandmother, or Sunny’s parents. That’s why he stayed silent during the funeral. That’s why he never told Hero the truth. That’s why he let Aubrey think he was the one who ruined the photo album. That’s why he kept Kel at arms length. That’s why he was holding the garden shears and walking towards Sunny now. 

He had to protect Sunny from Something. He had to keep Sunny safe. Everything was going to be okay, Basil would get rid of the Something that was trying to kill them, and then they could be happy. He would kill it just like they had killed Mari and then Sunny would stop hiding in his house. Sunny wouldn’t move away then, Sunny wouldn’t abandon him to be alone again. He would realize that they were meant to stay together. Basil just had to take care of this first.

That’s what a good soulmate would do right?

He had done what was necessary, and Sunny had screamed. Basil had screamed too. He felt bad, but he had to hurt Sunny to get rid of Something. He had thrown the shears away from him and fallen against the wall staring at Sunny who was still screaming. He was staring, because the Something was finally gone, but there was still something Wrong. 

Basil knew everything about Sunny. Basil knew every freckle, every scar, every misplaced hair. Basil knew that Sunny had no marks, if he did it would be Basil’s mark. It would be a sunflower, a bright yellow symbol that caught the eye of anyone who saw it. It would be perfect if it existed. 

So what was the violin marking etching itself onto Sunny’s arm? 

[allthingsberena]

An interview with the Independent 2013

The last time Jemma Redgrave gave a proper, full-on newspaper interview was in July 2010, just a couple of months after the deaths of her aunt Lynn Redgrave and her father Corin Redgrave and just over a year after the skiing accident that killed her cousin, Natasha Richardson – an awful succession of loss that the interviewer described as giving her face "the look that grief gives, as if a layer has been washed away". Three years later, and Redgrave appears outwardly restored – friendly, warm and unpretentious, with an unexpectedly hearty laugh that wouldn't disgrace Basil Brush. If she remains huddled under her coat in the well-heated bowels of the Soho Hotel in London, then it's because today she is sniffing her way through a cold. "It was a couple of months after he [Corin] died, so I was quite raw," she says of that 2010 interview. "I still feel the same now, just not with the same intensity." We talk more about her father and other relatives later, and not altogether mellifluously when I reveal that some of my research came by way of a biography of the Redgraves despised by her family. First and more happily, however, we discuss her work. Since leaving drama school, Redgrave has been a regular on television, most prominently as the titular Victorian doctor in ITV's Bramwell. Thanks to its huge global fanbase, however, her role in Doctor Who, in which she debuted last year as Kate Stewart (the daughter of the much-loved Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, played by the late Nicholas Courtney from 1968 to 1989) is set to eclipse all that has gone before, when she returns in the 50th- anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor". So far we know that this "love letter to the fans" has been filmed in both 2D and 3D, and will see the return of David Tennant and Billie Piper alongside Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman, as well as John Hurt as a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor, plus Daleks, Zygons and a visit to Elizabethan England. Otherwise, a strict omerta prevails around the 75-minute episode that will be shown simultaneously around the world as well as in cinemas. That's next Saturday – quite the event. "What can I tell you about the 50th anniversary? Practically nothing," she says, giving me a first taste of her pleasingly full-throttle laugh. "When the job offer came in my agent said, 'You mustn't tell anybody about this,' and I thought, 'What am I going to tell the kids?' It's like joining M15." The cat finally exited the bag when scenes were filmed in Trafalgar Square. "The news hit the Twittersphere and within half-an-hour of our being there, there were people with Tom Baker scarves on… people with Tardis safety covers on their iPhones," she says. "It was a huge relief to be able to tell people." Redgrave's peak Doctor Who-viewing years were the early 1970s, when, classically, she'd watch from behind the sofa. "I would then have terrible nightmares," she says. "My dad said he would take me to the BBC studios so I could see the Daleks – and that frightened me even more." Does she meet one in the anniversary special? "Can I tell?" she asks the publicist sitting in on the interview, who signals her assent. "In that case, yes, I come across a Dalek. There was no acting required. It was a scarifying moment." Anything else she can tell? "I work with more than one Doctor… oh, and I worked with more than one Tardis as well." Intriguing, or at least it will be to Whovians. "The community of Who fans have been very kind to me," she says. "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was such a loved character and I think people were very open to his daughter making an appearance and, hopefully, touch wood, making more appearances in the future." So, she'll be back? "I think Peter Capaldi is a very exciting prospect as the new Doctor, so that would be wonderful." Born in January 1965, Redgrave is five days younger than her cousin Joely Richardson, whose parents are Vanessa Redgrave and the film and play director Tony Richardson; Joely's sister, Natasha Richardson, was born two years earlier. In the flesh, she bears a far more striking resemblance to her late cousin than she does when photographed – or, at least, I'd never noticed such similarity before. Her paternal grandparents were the actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, an acting dynasty, if you like… although Aunt Vanessa doesn't like, insisting that "dynasty implies power – we're a family of professional actors. It's like coming from a family of carpenters or plumbers." "I think that's about right," agrees Jemma (née Jemima). "I associate dynasties with huge corporations… the Murdochs… it feels like a family and quite a few of us are actors." When did she first become aware that she belonged to this extraordinary clan? "I remember one of my teachers at primary school used to call me Vanessa by mistake, and I couldn't understand why and then, of course, later it became clear," she says. "It just seemed very normal to me – like everybody's family seems normal until you realise no one else's family is like that." Was it inevitable that she would follow in the family profession? "No, not at all. None of my brothers are actors – I've got three brothers – Luke is a cameraman, Harvey is a civil servant and Arden is training to be a primary-school teacher. A mixed bag. "I remember once on my grandmother's birthday, my dad was filming In the Name of the Father (the 1993 Daniel Day-Lewis film about the Guildford Four) in Ireland and my aunt and my brothers… a big lot of family… were driving round from here to there in a minibus, having a lovely time and breaking into songs, and my brother Luke heard Harvey mutter to himself, 'I was born into the wrong family.'" Her own sons with barrister husband Tim Owen, Gabriel and Alfie, are aged 19 and 13; Gabriel has just started an English degree at Sussex University. Are there any signs of a new generation of thespians? "There are going to be one or two more… possibly… but I think it's important that they speak for themselves," she says – a statement in stark contrast to Laurence's Olivier's very public announcement of the birth of Vanessa Redgrave, after a performance of Hamlet at the Old Vic, that "Laertes [played by Michael Redgrave] has a daughter." Vanessa could hardly grow up to be an accountant after that. It was Jemma Redgrave's grandmother, Rachel Kempson, who took her – aged five – to her first play, Peter Brook's RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, followed by more Shakespeare, watching her father in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. "Complicated theatre really… not Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I took my children to see." Her parents, Corin and former fashion model Deidre Hamilton-Hill, divorced when Redgrave was nine, by which time her father, like her aunt Vanessa, was deeply involved in far-left politics in the shape of the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP). "We'd been taken to demonstrations when I was very young," she recalls. "This was the late 1960s, early 1970s, and everybody was demonstrating about something. "It's difficult to explain it now… you know the whole Ed Miliband thing with the Daily Mail and 'it's very important to know where he comes from… very, very left-wing views were expressed round his breakfast table'… well, they were discussed round the breakfast tables of a lot of people who grew up at that time. The children of those people weren't brainwashed." Certainly this child isn't without her own political causes: Redgrave was a prominent member of the Stop the War movement protesting at Blair and Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq. ("There's no joy in being proved right.") She also helps at a Red Cross refugee centre in Islington, north London. What she can't stand is that any political movement would espouse a cause to the detriment of family life. "I resented the WRP, because my dad was unavailable to me and to my brother because there were such extreme demands made on everybody who became a member of that party," she says. In her book, To Be a Redgrave, her mother recalls Jemma and her cousins Natasha and Joely sitting round the kitchen table discussing how much they hated the WRP. "Vanessa was involved in the WRP for a while so we did have a similar experience, yeah," she says. I add that I'm surprised that she has stated that she has never read her mother's autobiography. "My mum was very angry with my dad for a very long time and I didn't really want to divide my loyalty," she explains. "The least complicated path through that particular difficulty was not to read it." Another contentious book is one that I had blithely borrowed from my local library, The House of Redgrave by Tim Adler, unaware that it had been lambasted by the family for an outrageous false claim that Vanessa Redgrave had once come home to find her husband, Tony Richardson (director of the original Royal Court production of Look Back in Anger and Oscar-winning British New Wave film-maker), in bed with her father, Sir Michael Redgrave. "You can't libel the dead so [Adler] can make up what he likes… I don't even want to comment on it," she says, before adding: "That book was written by a man who got in touch with my cousin Tasha and said that he wanted to write a book about her dad and that he was a huge fan. She did a bit of investigating and she said that she wasn't going to help him. He wasn't a huge fan of Tony's. This is a man whose work was groundbreaking and changed the landscape of theatrical and cinematic culture in this country. And to reduce him to his sexuality… it's… yeah." A long silence follows and we talk about other things to get the conversation flowing again – of her recent house move across north London, her cottage in Wales and her pet Labrador. And then our time is up and she is whisked off for a photo-session with the marvellous Dan, who soon has her booming with laughter again. After the shoot, I tell her that I will return the despised book to the library forthwith. "Or burn it," she says. "No we can't start burning books. Oh, all right – perhaps just this once."

[fableweaver]

Arc of the Errant Knight

The morning of the solstice was like any other fine summer morning, golden and new. Birds sang and the trees reveled at the touch of sunlight from He Who Burns. Pepper sat on the balcony of the palace looking out over Alma as the summer sun rose. Her only company was Melanthios, though the dragon was silent in his blade. She wondered if he could see the morning, and if he could how it was achieved.

She didn’t bother asking him knowing she would get a lecture. He would ask her why she had broken it off with Darin, but she didn’t have an answer. She wanted her freedom, but it wasn’t like Darin had been impeding her in anyway. Nor had her feelings changed, she still enjoyed his company and touch. Nor had she grown to love Kaden more, she cared for Kaden but no more than a friend. She didn’t know why she had said what she had, yet she regretted nothing. No, that wasn’t true, she regretted the pain it had caused Darin. Still, she couldn’t take it back even if she wanted to.

Her stomach growling finally roused her from watching the dawn. She grabbed Melanthios, careful not to touch the hilt so she didn’t get an earful of a lecture from him. Going through her room was easy as she had it to herself, and back out into the palace hallway. It was a simple task of finding breakfast in the kitchen, grabbing a fried bread and some honey comb as she exited the palace.

She walked through Alma, eating as she went, watching the preparations for the solstice. Alma had changed since she last been there, many more people now lived in the city. If she went to a railing on a bridge or walk way and looked down, Pepper knew what she would see. The fields on the forest floor were mostly full now of tents and other hasty shelters of the refugees. There was order to this tent city, and Alora had made sure every family was well provisioned and sheltered, but there were still many people crowding the city.

The merry air of festivity had brushed away the cloud of finality that laid over the city, everyone focusing on having a good celebration. Decorations abound, flowers rained petals everywhere, and music could already be heard ghosting around the air. Pepper ignored it all, marching with purpose to her destination.

She arrived at Kaden’s house with the dawn still young and entered without knocking. Basil turned to her surprised as she entered, seemingly in the middle of his morning tasks of making breakfast. Kaden was of course still asleep.

“Pepper, what are you doing here?” Basil asked lowly. Pepper didn’t answer, going to sit at the table. Basil sighed and prepared a cup of tea for her and continued to cook breakfast. Kaden walked out of his bed then, rumpled and eyes half shut.

He spotted her and stared at her obviously mystified why she as here. Pepper felt suddenly lonely to know he no longer held the familiarity they once held. Kaden sat at the table and Basil set breakfast out. Soft boiled eggs, toast, and fruit made up the day’s breaking, Pepper picking at the fruit as she watched Kaden eat. Basil used to her moods said nothing, keeping his eyes on one of the windows as if Pepper and Kaden weren’t even there. At last Kaden finished his food and Basil quickly cleared the table to busy himself with washing the dishes.

“Ye baint go on this journey Kaden, it be dangerous,” Pepper said. “What with ye lost yer memory n all ye could blunder it anyways.”

“You wish to stop me,” Kaden said puzzled. “Why?”

“T protect ye,” Pepper answered. “Ye be a dreamy painter, nowt a knight fer a quest.”

“I am not puzzled by your interpretation of my character,” Kaden answered. “Your distain for me is quite obvious, but that distain makes me wonder why you care at all.”

“Ye baint remember but we were close as friends,” Pepper said softly, hurt that he was misunderstanding. “I care fer ye Kaden, my opinion on yer abilities baint change that. Mab’s Tits man, ye baint even be able ta make yer own breakfast.”

“I will be going with him,” Basil said and Pepper looked at him startled. “Does that make you feel better?”

“Nowt,” Pepper said frowning at him. “Ye baint be a warrior Basil, I be worried bout ye both fer safety.”

Basil looked at her then with surprise, Kaden looking up at him puzzled.

“I guess she never saw so how would she know?” Basil said with a shrug.

“Saw what?” Pepper asked.

“Come, I’ll show you,” Basil said as he stood. Frowning Pepper followed him, Kaden standing as well. Basil went to one of the closets crowded with Kaden’s art supplies and began to rummage through the pile of things. At last he came out with a wrapped package, what looked like a long staff as tall as he was. Basil unwrapped it to reveal not a staff but a long bow, made of yew wood and still unstrung. Before Pepper could say anything Basil bent the bow and strung it, Pepper surprised he could do it alone. Basil took out a quiver of long arrows and slung it over his shoulder.

Basil led the way out of Kaden’s house, Pepper already guessing what would be his demonstration. She was surprised this never came up, then again she had never asked. Basil led them to an open landing overlooking the forested city, a deserted area given the preparations for the solstice. Basil set down his quiver and pointed out into the forest.

“Do you see that apple?” Basil asked. Pepper looked out into the trees where he was pointing but it took her a moment to see what he was talking about. An apple hung from a tree branch, looking to be someone’s lone apple tree growing in a pot on a balcony. It was a speck in the distance, easily three hundred paces away at least.

“Aye,” Pepper said. Basil nodded and drew an arrow and notched it. He sighted for only a moment before he let fly, Pepper watching as his arrow split the apple and lodge into the wall of the distant house.

“Well Pepper do you still object to my journey?” Kaden asked and Pepper glared at him.

“Don’t be smart,” Pepper growled. “He just be a good archer, what bout when the enemy closes?”

“That is what Sir Horace is for,” Basil answered. “Face it Pepper we are more than equipped to deal with this journey.”

“Fine then go!” Pepper said throwing up her hands. “See if I care bout ye gain!”

With that she turned and stormed off, not looking back at Kaden or Basil. She walked and climbed through the trees until she found a secluded garden to hide in and weep. She sat under a magnolia tree heavy with flowers, the blossoms doing nothing to sooth her mood. She felt a hopeless sense that everything she love was slipping away, yet she knew it was because she had turned her back on everyone as well. She had no right to demand others stay by her side while pushing them away at the same time.

Footsteps made her stop and quickly wipe her eyes, Pepper looking up to see Glen walking over to her. He smiled at her and nodded, sitting next to her and putting an arm around her. He said nothing, Pepper knew he could not speak, but even if he could she knew he wouldn’t. She remembered Grandmother Meadhbh comforting her in the same manor once, no words just an arm around her.

Eventually she calmed and Pepper looked at Glen to see him watching her with a comforting smile. She sighed and looked away.

“I bet ifn ye could talk I’d be gettin an earful o what I’ve done wrong,” Pepper said. Glen smiled wider and signed the negative and Pepper snorted. “Aye ye right, that were Muriel’s task.”

She felt a pang then for her dead step mother and wondered if she would ever see her again like Meadhbh. No, it was unlikely given how long it took a spirit to be reborn, half a lifetime at least. Maybe in her next life but she wouldn’t know it being unable to gather her past memories. Glen made a hand sign and Pepper frowned at him.

“It be better ta talk mind ta mind baint?” Pepper said reaching for his hand but Glen pulled away shaking his head. “What?”

Glen made another hand sign but Pepper didn’t know the meaning. He sighed and turned to the mulch at their feet. He wrote something out in Regarian before quickly wiping it away to write again in the symbols of the messengers.

“Danger?” Pepper said, having learned some of those symbols as a child. “Ah, ye mean it be dangerous ta talk in our minds like. But me n Melanthios talk all the time.”

Glen wrote out another symbol, death.

“A spirit, cause Melanthios be a spirit it baint be as dangerous,” Pepper said and Glen nodded. “Well that makes things harder. What do you have ta say ta me then fer all I’ve mucked up?”

Glen held out his hands palm up and shrugged.

“Nowt really?” Pepper said skeptical and Glen nodded. “Well I ken I mucked up.”

Glen motioned her to continue and she sighed heavily.

“I baint ken why I gave Darin the boot. I do love him, at least I think I do. He be someun who I trust, someun I enjoy bein with. But there be times we baint agree, n I baint like him when he be so bull headed. I ken we both be that way, n that be what makes it so hard.”

Glen patted her shoulder as she felt tears of frustration rising. She quickly dashed them away and stood, unwilling to give in to her tears and cry again. Glen stood as well and followed her as she stormed away back to the palace. The palace was crowded with the celebration soon at hand and Pepper nearly turned back except there was no where else for her to go.

They eventually made it through the crowd to the entry hall, but when Pepper was heading for her rooms someone hailed her. She turned to see Bailey and Ian walking over, Will riding Ian’s shoulders and Matt in Bailey’s arms. She stopped for them and they made it through the crowd, Bailey smiling at her. Pepper noticed a Hyrian man with them then realizing he had been walking with them all along.

“Who be this?” Pepper asked.

“This be Rork o Loamy Downs,” Ian said. “I just got him n Basil freed from the jail.”

“Aye thanksome far that ja,” Rork said rubbing his neck. “But that were a cozysome goal ja. Real class.”

Pepper frowned at the man, not liking his easy attitude.

“Rork this is my sister Pepper,” Bailey said.

“Aye I ogles the similarity just fine,” Rork said with a grin and Pepper scowled more. Rork laughed and she punched him on the arm.

“I baint like him,” Pepper said lowly to Bailey.

“I do,” Bailey said with a smile. “And I kenned ye wouldn’t.”

Pepper made a face at Bailey who responded with one of her own. This only made Matt and Will start making faces at each other.

“Alright stop it ye two,” Bailey said pinching Matt’s cheek. “I actually came lookin fer ye Pepper cause we be meetin with Xavier.”

“Will Darin be there?” Pepper asked worried.

“Nowt, just Xavier, Zaire, n the griffin Kalyani,” Bailey answered. “They have somewhat ta talk bout with the song.”

“What?” Pepper asked. “N why en baint Darin n Donar be there?”

“Cause Alora’s claimed Donar n Darin,” Bailey answered. “They be in the great hall already fer the Solstice Calibration. Come on.”

Pepper and Glen followed Bailey through the crowd of the entry hall into lesser hallways of the Palace. Pepper was surprised Bailey led them to Alora’s green house, but the gardens were deserted as the rest of court was gathered in the great hall. They found Xavier, Zaire, and Kalyani sitting at a circle of benches that served as a meeting place of sorts.

“So you found her,” Xavier said as they all sat. “Is there anyone else you wanted to bring?”

“Kaden,” Bailey said. “But I baint ken that be wise.”

She glanced at Pepper who sighed.

“Aye I already had a row with him,” Pepper said. “But best be beyond that. I can go fetch him.”

“No, with his memory loss I fear he won’t be able to handle what is coming,” Xavier said.

“What be coming?” Pepper asked.

“The second ringing of the song,” Zaire answered.

“I’d forgotten,” Pepper said. “Do ye ken what’ll happen?”

“No one does,” Kalyani answered with a shrug of her great wings. “Nothing may.”

“Then why we be here?” Pepper asked. “This place baint even be a meetin o the lines er a dreamin place.”

“We are gathered to act if something does happen,” Kalyani answered. “And safer to do so away from the lines lest one of us becomes overwhelmed. What of Melanthios?”

Pepper had almost forgotten the dragon blade and quickly drew it. She was expecting irritation from the spirit of the dragon and was surprised to sense alarm instead.

:At last, Pepper do you sense what is going on in the aether?: Melanthios said in her mind.

“Nowt sense what?” Pepper asked.

:Never mind, don’t try: Melanthios answered. :The aether is still:

“Still?” Pepper said surprised. “Wouldn’t it be all stirred up baint?”

“What is he saying?” Kalyani asked but Pepper held up a hand for silence, so she could listen.

:No it is still like the calm before a storm. But I have never seen the aether still before, there is always movement. Even when the Phay marched or the song had been sung before it had always had a current. I have never seen this before.:

Pepper felt dread take her because in Melanthios’ mental voice she had picked up a hint of fear.

“What be it?” Bailey asked, as if sensing her twin’s dread.

“The aether be still,” Pepper answered, her throat dry. “Like it holds its breath.”

“And when it breaks?” Kalyani asked and Pepper shook her head.

“Melanthios baint ken,” Pepper answered. “If it’ll break at all.”

A sharp breath and Pepper looked up to see Glen’s eyes unfocused, his attention on the aether now. She almost rose to stop him but he turned to them his eyes clear and frantic. He waved his hands in signs but Pepper doubted any one knew the signs.

“I see somewhat,” Ian said worried. “The auras around me they be…”

His eyes rolled up in his head and Ian fell senseless to the ground, Bailey crying out wordlessly. Pepper sensed it then the buzzing in her ears and her vision darkening along the sides. She saw Xavier drop his head into his hands groaning Zaire holding him frantic. Kalyani stood with every feather and hair on end, her pupils pinpricks in her great golden eyes.

It was like she was falling into a void, the aether the backbone of creation laying still was drawing her into it, her breath being crushed from her. Then something pulled her back, Pepper sensing Melanthios around her.

:Glen tried to warn us: Melanthios said. :The aether was drawing us in and crushing our spirits when we were reaching out to sense it. I am strong enough to pull back, hurry to the others.:

Pepper stood and went to Ian putting her hand on his arm and letting Melanthios ground his spirit. She turned to see Glen had already done the same for Xavier.

“Baint reach out,” Pepper said hoarsely. “It will draw ye in.”

“What is it?” Kalyani asked, Pepper sensing her spirit shrink within her.

“The aether be so still it lays like quicksand,” Pepper answered. “If we venture too close we will just sink in.”

“The movement and cycles of the aether must provide the buoyancy of the spirit,” Zaire said fascinated. “Much like the High Magic, it allows the flow of energies to fill us but when it stops we sink.”

Pepper didn’t understand entirely, but all she needed to know was it was dangerous.

“Glen how did ye ken?” Pepper asked and Glen looked at her, tapping the side of his head. “Ye remember!”

He nodded and Pepper was astonished.

“How do ye ken o yer past lives?” Pepper asked and Glen held up his thumb and forefinger.

“Only a tiny bit baint?” Bailey said and Glen nodded.

“Melanthios baint remember anything happening, how do ye?” Pepper asked. Glen pointed to the ground and Pepper looked at him puzzled.

“It is because Melanthios was never in Miread when the song rang,” Kalyani said understanding. “Apparently it is different here than it would be in Tir Aesclinn. I am guessing I never sensed anything because I was sealed away.”

“En ye ken what’s goin ta happen?” Pepper asked and Glen nodded. “N ye can’t speak!”

“Calm down Pepper,” Bailey said. “Glen I ken be a good time ta make an exception n speak mind-ta-mind baint?”

Glen nodded and held out a hand to Bailey. There was a moment while they communicated and then Bailey’s face went gray.

“Wards,” Bailey gasped. “We need wards.”

Startled Pepper hurried to comply, moving to the edge of the gathering she began to cast a ward using Melanthios to draw the circle. Her mind was hardly centered to the task, yet Melanthios made up for her lack of concentration with raw power. Pepper turned to see Glen and Bailey walking counter to her wards, adding their own power. They closed their circles quickly, Pepper hoping the hastily drawn wards would hold. Such things usually took time, the Elder Magic a slow working power often.

They came back to the gathering to find Zaire and Xavier working on a sigil in the dirt, Pepper guessing it to be a High Magic ward.

“Nowt!” Bailey cried out and Zaire looked up startled, but Xavier was bent over the sigil. Pepper felt her ears pop as he drew on the High Magic, and then the air kicked out like thunder. She was thrown down by the concussive force, her ears ringing. Weakly she stood, blood dripping from her nose. Using Melanthios as a crutch she stood to see everyone out and groaning as they struggled to stand.

Pepper hurried to Xavier, of anyone he would be the most hurt. He was bleeding from his ears, nose, eyes, and even mouth, but he breathed. Zaire stirred and raised her head, looking to Xavier with abject terror.

“He be fine,” Pepper said and Zaire’s relief was palpable. She turned to see Bailey walking over stemming the flow of blood from her nose. “What happened?”

“Usin the High Magic while the aether be still like be hard,” Bailey said. “The High Magic be movement o the stars baint? Well the aether slows it, when the aether be still that power be twice as great. Xavier baint kenned that sos when he drew on it he took too much.”

“He’ll be fine then,” Zaire said relieved. “Mages are taught how to deal with drawing too much power.”

“What bout other mages in Dridia?” Pepper asked.

“There will be some accidents I’m sure,” Zaire said. “Sigils already drawn should be safe to use and stay active. There might be a few flairs, but nothing the mages can’t handle. So long as a great working isn’t attempted, there won’t be any disasters.”

Xavier groaned then, Zaire gently wiping the blood from his face.

“I feel like I was just kicked by a mule,” Xavier groaned.

“Ye were,” Pepper said, turning to Bailey. “What be bout ta happen what we need wards fer? What bout the Court, thousands be gathered. N all o’er the kingdoms too.”

“Nowt, it be just here we have ta worry bout,” Bailey said sounding tired.

“Why here? It baint be a meetin o the lines,” Pepper said and then Bailey looked at Xavier, still recovering from his casting. Pepper only frowned her question and Bailey sighed.

“Glen said the aether will bow out, like a wave, and travel through Miread with a burst o power,” Bailey said. “He says that be how Lailoken died, n the only memory he has. Arke gave him the memory in a dream nowt long ago, sos we would be prepared. The wave will make anyun o a large spirit shed their skin n die back inta the aether.”

“Large o spirit?” Pepper said shocked. “So what bout Darin n Donar?”

“I ken they be fine since it’d happened afore n the Dwarves weren’t shocked by it,” Bailey answered. “Ifn so they’d ken more bout when the song be sung baint?”

“Aye, anyun else then?” Pepper asked.

“Xavier I ken be a great risk,” Bailey said. “That be why we needed the wards. Ifn he died now then all would be lost.”

“That must be what has happened the last times,” Xavier said. “When the song was sung and I wasn’t ready in my past life, I wasn’t able to ward myself and I died leaving the answer un-sung.”

“Unless ye were in a dreamin place er protect by someun else aye I agree,” Bailey said. “Which be why this time be different.”

“As you said,” Xavier answered nodding to her. “How long do we have to stay under the ward?”

Bailey looked to Glen who merely shrugged in answer.  

“Guess we’re gonna be here a while,” Bailey said and Pepper growled angrily.

“Whelp I guess I go along n grab some grub fer ya’ll,” Rork said. “I aint be affected by all this mumbo jumbo. Ya want anything specialsome lass?”

He said this to Kalyani who tipped her head to the side puzzled.

“No, I will eat what ever you bring,” Kalyani answered.

“Right-o,” Rork said with a salute as he walked off with a jaunty step. Pepper saw Bailey was grinning as was Ian.

“Still baint like him,” Pepper muttered under her breath. “Well baint we be fine ta leave the wards? Seems like Xavier be the only un ta be in danger baint?”

“We drew them,” Bailey said.

“Right forgot,” Pepper grumbled. When a witch drew a ward and she was on the inside of it, the ward would remain until it was broken or dispelled. If the witch left the ward it would fade instantly. Had they drawn the wards and remained outside of them it would have remained, and only the caster could cross into them.

By the time Rork returned with a tray of food they had settled down on the seats once more. Rork had brought food from the feast, rich sweet or savory pastries, fresh fruit, wine, and cheeses. They ate, Pepper eating two pastries she was so hungry. They finished their food, Bailey and Ian turning to play with Matt and Will. Both babes were old enough to toddle around, everyone playing with them when they walked up.

Will and Matt didn’t seem afraid of Kalyani, who quickly became their favorite to pet and climb on.

“They be gettin big,” Pepper said and Bailey nodded. “Do you miss the triplets?”

“A little,” Bailey said. “I find I be more curious bout what happened ta em rather than worried. When I didn’t have Will I were worried bout him, I was worried bout Matt n I had him in my care.”

“I baint ken I could ever be a mother,” Pepper said, and Bailey smiled at her sadly.

“En don’t be,” Ian said. “Ye baint have ta be, n ye baint have ta be with anyun. Ye can be ye all ye want Pepper.”

She didn’t answer him, unwilling to acknowledge how much he saw through her. A little hand at her knee made her look down to see Matt holding onto her leg to stand up. He grinned up at her, holding out a handful of grass and clover.

“Thank ye,” Pepper said holding out a hand and Matt dropped the grass into her palm. He toddled away back to Kalyani. Looking at the little pile Pepper was surprised to see a four leaf clover in the mix. “Bailey,” Pepper said holding up the clover.

“Aye, he has a talent o findin little pieces o power,” Bailey said. “N so does Will it seems.”

“They’ll grow out o it,” Pepper said reassuringly but Bailey shook her head.

“Nowt, they’ll only get more powerful,” Bailey answered. “Especially given the Phay will march.”

“En baint that be good,” Ian said. “Those o power will flourish more baint?”

“Maybe, er maybe nowt,” Bailey answered. “It’ll mean they are drawn more ta the Phay, n the Phay drawn ta em.”

“That could be dangerous,” Pepper said.

“I ken,” Bailey said sounding tired, “But what could I do?”

“Teach em,” Pepper said. “I could help.”

“When?” Bailey asked. “Ye ken as well as I it starts now, come tomarra we’ll be across the kingdoms. N who kens what’ll happen after the Phay march.”

Pepper looked away feeling guilty, she was pushing away everyone she loved it seemed.

“Ye baint ken but I do,” Ian said and both sisters looked at him. “The Phay will march n life will go on, just more complicated maybe. Me n Bailey n the boys will go back ta Daun, might live in a village this time as witches. After all folks will need help dealin with the Phay. We’ll have a bunch o kids, grow old, n die tagether. En we’ll meet in the next life, n do it all gain.”

For a beat Bailey and Pepper just stared at him, seeing he was completely serious with such a simple approach, and then burst out laughing. Everyone turned to them puzzled, but neither were able to answer through their mirth and Ian only seemed puzzled by their reaction. At last they calmed, Bailey turning to Ian and kissing him on the cheek.

“I love ye,” Bailey said with a bright smile. “Aye, ye be right in the long run that’ll be what happens.”

“Ye baint say what I will be though,” Pepper said sobering.

“Why ye’ll be a traveling witch,” Ian answered. “Goin bout solvin problems with the Phay, n occasionally ye’ll come home fer a few months afore the road calls ye unce more.”

Pepper could see that, and actually found she enjoyed that thought. Glen jumped suddenly and waved his hands frantically, everyone looking at him puzzled.

“What be it Glen?” Bailey said puzzled. Glen made a hand sign, but Pepper knew nothing of the Sect’s prayers.

“Prophecy?” Xavier said, seeming to hold some knowledge of the signs. “You mean that what Ian just said now was a prophecy?”

“Nowt, it just be a silly fancy,” Ian said. “I saw it last night in a….”

“A dream?” Bailey asked breathlessly, and Ian nodded numbly. “Did ye see anything else?”

“Aye but I baint ken I should say now,” Ian said afraid.

“This day has power,” Kalyani said. “What you have spoken will come to pass. But what you withhold may turn sour if you do not speak of it.”

“Well in the dream it were as I said, only Pepper were coming ta collect me n Bailey,” Ian said. “We were ta go ta a meeting o the Kings and Queens.”

“Of the Phay?” Kalyani asked.

“She baint say that, but it sounded more like o the Phay n men,” Ian said. “She said it were a meetin ta crown the High King, she said Absalom was ta be crowned.”

“So he be alive,” Bailey said sounding relieved. “N he’ll be High King again.”

“Will he?” Xavier said. “He is old, very old for a human, and what Ian seems to describe might be over ten years from now.”

“Aye but it baint be that much that Absalom be dead n reborn can it?” Ian asked.

“Unless like Glen he gets help in being reborn,” Bailey said.

“There were a need fer that, n it were dangerous,” Ian said. “Why would Absalom be forced ta be reborn? Nowt ta be the High King, that could wait baint it?”

“It could,” Xavier said. “But we don’t know what he future will hold. And maybe Absalom will have the skill to do it all on his own and wants to be reborn quickly. We aren’t to know. Your prophecy seems vague, so we had best not delve too far into it. We have enough on our plate at the moment.”

“Aye,” Ian said with a sour look. “It were a nice dream though.”

“It sounds lovely Ian,” Bailey said giving him another kiss.

“Does this mean Ian tell the future?” Pepper asked.

“Probably it was from the stirred aether,” Kalyani said. “Unless he has been having more dreams.”

“Nowt, that were the only un,” Ian said. “I’ll let ye ken ifn I have more though.”

“If we are not careful you could steal the title of Oracle from Glen,” Kalyani said.

“Be that a title?” Ian asked surprised.

“More a profession actually,” Kalyani answered. “Lailoken was known as the Oracle because he was the best Oracle of his time.”

Glen made a sign for her to continue, seeming fascinated by hearing about a life he once led but didn’t remember. Kalyani bowed to him and continued, crossing her forelegs together and folding her wings more tightly.

“His predictions were no better than anyone else’s,” Kalyani said. “As far as I heard, he simply told tales. It was these stories that earned him the popularity he had, and apparently his fame since his stories are still told so I hear. It was these stories that earned him the title of Oracle because while fictional, many seemed to come true after he told them. I don’t know if he could actually see the future or if his tales were just vague enough to match any events.”

Everyone looked to Glen who shrugged, he obviously remembered nothing to enlighten them.

“I guess ye baint ken any o his tales baint?” Pepper said and Glen shook his head. “Ye do ken?”

“Some were adapted into religious tales for the Sect,” Xavier answered. “A few are still told around Regis as simple children’s stories and fireside tales. The Rhodin tell them everywhere they go, so I wouldn’t be surprised he hasn’t escaped them.”

Pepper realized she knew little of life outside of Daun then, and wondered what kind of lives those around her had led. Looking at Xavier and Zaire Pepper wondered how they had met. She understood they were linked by their past lives, but their meeting must have drawn them together.

“How did ye two meet?” Pepper asked, interrupting the general chatter that had been going on while she had mused.

“Us?” Zaire said blushing.

“She fainted as soon as she saw me,” Xavier said.

“You startled me,” Zaire said embarrassed.

“I think it was the sigil in you,” Xavier answered. “Zaire had been cursed to feel only pain when touched or feel love. When I had approached her it probably reacted and made her faint.”

“Or her Elder Magic had flared,” Kalyani said. “That sigil probably seals it, and when you two met her powers would have flared against those bounds.”

“We thought that as well that my sigil seals my Elder Magic,” Zaire said. “Though I doubt I am very powerful in it. The mages test for the Elder Magic, those that posses it are put to death and those that are related are either sterilized or killed.”

“How does the test work?” Kalyani asked.

“A sigil is drawn to see the flow of High Magic through the mage child,” Zaire answered. “If there is hinderance or blockage that indicates the Elder Magic. I had a slight disruption so my father said, but not enough to warrant death, especially because the flow of High Magic within me was little more than a trickle.”

Kalyani laughed, a chortle sound that made Will and Matt squeal and run back to their parents.

“You said it was like a flow?” Kalyani said and Zaire nodded. “Well I suppose that is an apt description. No doubt when possessing magic from multiple sources there would be a disruption in the flow of power through the person, but what if the two flowed freely together?”

Zaire’s face went to shock, her eyes going wide with fear.

“Does this mean the test is inaccurate?” Zaire asked. “Was my sister…”

“No, I am sure detecting the disruptive flow did indicate the Elder Magic,” Kalyani said.

“Even if it did I think the mages are wrong for killing babes just because of the Elder Magic,” Xavier said. “They have let their fear of Atlas confine them too much.”

“Fixing that is a task for the future if at all,” Zaire said before turning back to Kalyani. “So you think that I have the Elder Magic?”

“It is hard to say,” Kalyani said. “It is more subtitle than you think. But it is possible that you have a great deal of it, it just flows with your High Magic without hindering it.”

“That might be more than I can say,” Xavier said and Kalyani laughed again.

“Or you just need to learn to handle both,” Kalyani said. “It seems to me Zaire is more skilled than you, just because she handles less does not mean she is less.”

“I know,” Xavier said looking at Zaire with pride making her blush.

“What o the Wild Magic?” Ian asked and Xavier looked at him surprised.

“Wild Magic?” Xavier asked.

“The Wild Kin have their own magic,” Bailey answered. “Nowt be kenned bout it but they have their own power. We can use the Elder Magic ta command em, but their power is different.”

“Do you think it was the Wild Magic not the Elder Magic that drove Atlas mad?” Xavier asked.

“No, only the Wild Kin have that magic,” Kalyani answered. “How would he have it?”

“I have a touch now that a gnome possessed me,” Ian said.

“Only a little,” Bailey answered. “Unless he was unable ta get rid o the spirit that possessed him, en it would have been the spirit doin all the damage nowt Atlas.”

“No, he wasn’t possessed,” Zaire said. “The High Magic would have prevented the spirit holding him for long. Spirits seem to avoid the High Magic. We can never truly know what drove Atlas mad, all we can do is move forward.”

“Ye plan on leading Dridia Xavier?” Bailey asked, and Xavier looked up at her. “N Alda?”

“They are both my people,” Xavier said wearily. “But I see your point. But I want to help both peoples, I want to see life better for all the kingdoms.”

“En that means ye seek ta be High King,” Bailey said.

“No, I think we should do away with the High King,” Xavier said. “We should have a council of the kings.”

“Like the Elect,” Kalyani said, and Xavier made a sour face.

“Point made, what would you have then Kalyani?”

“I do not know,” Kalyani answered. “All means of governance seem to have their flaws to me. And you will have to contend with the Phay when they return.”

Xavier groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

“Ye’ll go bald ifn ye keep that up,” Bailey said. “Ye baint have ta solve all the world’s troubles by yerself.”

“Were ye always so meddlesome Xavier?” Pepper asked.

“No, only now do I have something to lose if things don’t go right,” Xavier said taking Zaire’s hand. “I just want a better world for my children. Don’t you?”

“The world will be what it be,” Bailey answered. “I prefer ta prepare my children fer it, rather than the other way round.”

“You have a point there,” Xavier said sheepishly. “Though there is only so much you can do for them.”

“Aye,” Bailey said softly. As if they knew their mother was talking about them the twins toddled over to cling to her skirts. Smiling fondly Bailey stroked their hair as they smiled up at her. Pepper felt her heart cinch, with what emotion she couldn’t be sure. Envy, worry, loneliness, guilt, all felt jumbled up in that one unsteady beat of her heart. She looked away but felt Ian turn to her.

“Ye be alright?” he asked lowly and Pepper glared at him. “I can see yer aura Pepper.”

She nearly smacked him, but held back if only because he was blind.

“I be fine, leave me alone,” Pepper growled.

“Ye ken, the more ye say that the more I ken it baint be true,” Ian said softly. Pepper was about to argue when something in the air changed. Everyone tensed, senses straining as the air thickened. Pepper was reminded of how a storm built, only the air was deadly still. Like a bow wave the air around them expanded, the pressure releasing as Pepper felt a tingle of energy all over her skin. Looking around she realized the birds had fallen silent, the plants of the garden all quivered as if in an earth tremor.

The energy passed at last and Pepper gave a sigh of relief.

“That weren’t so bad,” Pepper said.

“Really?” Xavier said and pointed out into the garden. Pepper saw then the leaves and foliage were all a richer green, the dead leaves on the ground had even returned to life. “I think had I not been in this ring of protection that would have made me shed my skin. I can still feel my blood surging.”

“Well it be o’er now,” Pepper said and Xavier shook his head.

“I think it has only just started. There will be more.”

“Ye sure everyun else will be alright?” Bailey asked.

“I can go have a looky loo,” Rork said as he stood and left before anyone could stop him.

“Will he be safe?” Pepper asked.

“His spirit be small enough it baint be swept away by the aether,” Bailey answered. “He be grounded in Miread like most other things.”

“I would think things of weak spirit would be more vulnerable not less,” Zaire said.

“He only be weak in the Elder Magic it baint mean his spirit be weak,” Bailey answered. “Mortal souls n life o Miread be o this world, very strongly. Us strong in the Elder Magic be less o this world, more o the aether where we draw power from. Sos when the aether be disturbed we be more likely ta return ta it.”

“What o the High Magic?” Pepper asked.

“I don’t think it would play a part,” Zaire said. “I’m actually not sure how a mage’s spirit would be affected. I’d have to do some experiments…”

“No,” Xavier said firmly. “No experiments.”

Zaire frowned at him a moment before she sighed and nodded.

“I suppose not,” Zaire answered. “I’m not really sure what the point would even be anyways.”

Rork walked back then, a mild grin on his face.

“Not one o those fancy pants even noticed any what ja,” Rork said as he sat down.

“No one noticed?” Pepper asked surprised.

“Well I didn’t stay ta chat ja,” Rork answered. “Might be the Queeny noticed but I be too lowsome ta be scraping elbows with her.”

“Maybe I should go…”

“Nowt Pepper,” Bailey said worried. “Ye’ll break the ward.”

“Fine,” Pepper grumbled but she was getting tired of being around so many people. She would have minded less had she been able to leave but having no choice in the matter was making it worse. Instead she went to the edge of the wards and stood apart as everyone returned to conversations. Kalyani joined her sitting down so they were closer to eye level.

“You are going to battle the Orcs in the south correct?” Kalyani said and Pepper looked to her but she could not read her expression on her non-human face.

“Yes, I baint sit idle nowt more,” Pepper answered and Kalyani nodded.

“Good, neither can I,” Kalyani said, her beak opening and eyes narrowing in what Pepper hoped was a Griffin grin. “I think you and I could get along well.”

“Aye,” Pepper said pleased. “Some time ye n I should spar ta see who be greater.”

“You will use Melanthios?” Kalyani asked.

“Nowt, it should be just me n ye,” Pepper said. “I’ll try daggers though er ye’ll be at an advantage what with yer talons.”

“Xavier wrestled Griffins barehanded,” Kalyani said and Pepper glanced back at Xavier surprised. “He is a great warrior, he earned the respect of many Griffins.”

“He baint seem it,” Pepper said.

“Really?” Kalyani said tipping her head to the side. “How so?”

“He seems too kind,” Pepper answered and Kalyani nodded.

“One can be kind and a great warrior,” Kalyani answered. “The Griffins pride themselves on being able to fight without killing. Only an opponent that can hold their own against us is worthy to be called a fellow warrior. If they die they are prey.”

“So ye can fight n kill the Orcs?” Pepper asked and Kalyani nodded. “I baint recommend eattin em though.” Kalyani laughed, cackling like a bird.

“I am a Bone Eater, I can eat anything,” Kalyani answered.

“Darin told me their blood be black like tar,” Pepper said. “N they light on fire easily.”

“Really? Then those munitions would be very effective against them. Probably why the Dwarfs invented them, they did not have them when I was around.”

“What were the Dwarves like then?” Pepper asked. “I ken they be warriors but back then the Orcs weren’t around so who did they fight. Nowt the Daunish, they raided us mostly we hardly fought back as I read.”

“Well there were a few good battles in that conflict but you are right as I remember they only raided and stole sheep, mostly young bloods thinking they were doing battle when they were robing helpless farmers. No, the Dwarves were mostly craftsmen rather than warriors, if they could say to have fought anything then it was the Giants.”

“Giants,” Pepper said interested.

“The Giants fight anything that moves, sometimes they wandered into the Dwarven mountains. They were more pests than opponents, but they made the Dwarves at least have to learn how to fight. They fought with each other too of course.”

Pepper knew Bailey would have felt sad that the Dwarves were forced to become a martial race just because of the Orcs, but she felt proud for them. They rose to the challenge and she knew they would surpass it.

“Do ye have any plans fer the war?” Pepper asked.

“Strategy was never a strong point of the Griffins,” Kalyani answered sourly. “I was hoping you or the Aldan had greater plans. We were just planning to fight.”

“I baint be much o a strategist either,” Pepper said. “Darin er Donar would be better. eR maybe Xavier.”

“None of who are going to this war,” Kalyani answered. “You are, and I expect you will become a general other will flock to.”

“Why?” Pepper asked surprised.

“You need to ask that?” Kalyani said with another Griffin grin. “You have a very powerful personality.”

“It take more en that,” Pepper answered.

“Very well, you have a strong will and desire to fight,” Kalyani answered. “There is a fire in you that will draw others, especially the young for battle. You are also a witch, people will have more faith in you and your powers. You are also noble born so I hear, and beautiful. Face it, you are the stuff of stories.”

Pepper made a sour face, but she had to admit Kalyani was right. She also realized the value in a war she would provide, a heralding point and valuable moral boost in a war. It was also a great duty as she would be responsible for all those who flocked to her. Pepper wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she would be willing to take on any task in order to win this war. They had no choice, either win or die.

“Maybe we should ask Xavier for strategies before he leaves,” Kalyani said.

“What good will that be?” Pepper asked. “He baint ken the lay o the land n battles change quick ye have ta think on yer feet.”

“Right,” Kalyani said eyeing her sideways. “Are you sure you don’t have a head for strategy?”

Again Pepper made a sour face, she didn’t like the idea of her having a conniving mind.

“I baint ken cause I baint been ta war,” Pepper answered. “Ifn I do have talent fine, but I baint have experience which I ken be more important en talent.”

“Well I will give you that,” Kalyani said. “In which case Xavier would be no good either, only Donar and Darin.”

“They have ta search fer the song,” Pepper said. “But I be sure Alora already has generals out fightin.”

“And how are they doing?” Kalyani asked mildly.

“Well considerin Alora be orderin em ta retreat,” Pepper answered.

“We can’t hope to regain what was lost Pepper,” Kalyani said. “We should focus on holding ground, we are the hunted in this case and when cornered the prey must never yield.”

“Aye I ken,” Pepper said feeling helpless. “What I baint ken is what we’ll do ifn we baint gaint aid from the other Kingdoms.”

Kalyani was grimly silent at that so Pepper said nothing, staring out into the garden thinking over the coming war.