#brought to you by the absolute Meltdown she had by my commenting it was too cold inside with the aircon set to 21C

[chaos-coming]

You're not "too sensitive" you're having a trauma response

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

As an autistic person, I want to say something about The Good Doctor.

Over the last month or so - but especially the last two days - Twitter has gone nuts about dragging the absolute piss out of this show. Because autism representation is so rare in major television shows or movies, I’ve been finding myself questioning whether The Good Doctor is in fact “good” representation in the slightest or if I’m just clinging onto it because it’s one of the few shows out there with an autistic lead… and people dragging the shit out of it has made me even more unsure because I’ve only seen one and a half seasons of the show so far and so I can’t really speak on how the show has done recently in regards to portraying autism.

Personally, do I feel that Shaun in TGD represents me and how I am autistic? No. But to be honest, I wasn’t expecting him to because autism is a spectrum and the areas where my autism affects my life will be different to other people’s; it’s also worth noting that it’s been shown that autistic traits are different in girls than in boys, and that girls tend to mask more etc. Obviously this does not apply to ALL boys and ALL girls, but in general it’s thought that girls and women tend to have different traits to boys and men.

With this in mind, Shaun actually does remind me at times of a child at the school I’m currently at - again, not 100% the same but there’s similarities in regards to how they talk, what they say etc. However, that child is five-nearly-six, and Shaun is a grown man so… do with that information what you will. There have also been a couple of moments I’ve had so far watching the show where it’s seemed like lightening has struck and I’m like “Oh that’s me!” - namely the social awkwardness and a meltdown scene. It’s not every episode, it’s only on occasion, but it’s been nice to see nonetheless because the only other time I’ve witnessed that with an actual confirmed autistic character is Newt Scamander.

Obviously I don’t speak for all autistic people, and I’m very aware that many other autistic people have expressed dislike and criticism of the show - and I get it, I truly do. I do think the show isn’t exactly the best written (to put it nicely) and that it gives a very stereotypical representation of autism, namely “white boy/man autism”. I don’t want to bash the show too much because while I’ve seen complaints about it, I’ve also had some fellow autistic people say to me that they love the show and that they feel Shaun represents them - and that’s great.

I do want to express my discomfort about the fact that people have turned a scene where Shaun is having a meltdown into a meme. There is a very fine line between criticizing a piece of media for bad representation and then mocking autistic meltdowns - and I think a lot of neurotypicals are in fact just using it as an excuse to laugh at autistic people and mock us. It’s not just that scene either: I’ve seen people mocking clips showing how he stands, how he talks, how he interacts with people, and it very much feels like people just wanted a chance to make ableist comments about autistic people.

It’s also interesting that this show has so far had six whole seasons air, it’s got extremely high viewership, and yet it’s only now that people are taking offence to a scene that occurred at least four years ago. I know that Twitter has had a field day over another scene in the first season where Shaun at first struggles to understand why a trans woman is “she” (which, you know, is a whole other kettle of fish given that I’ve seen it claimed that autistic people are more likely to be trans/NB etc), and far right TERFs/bigots were using that scene as some kind of “gotcha!”… right up until it was pointed out that by the end of the episode, Shaun fully accepted the trans woman’s gender identity and used the correct pronouns.

Again, I’m not saying this was brilliant writing or anything, but it was several years ago and is only now being brought up, same with other scenes taken out of context in the show… Yes, autistic people have voiced grievances with it before, but were ignored - I don’t believe for one minute that the neurotypicals making the memes and being preachy give one shit about actually autistic people or care about us, because otherwise why were our voices ignored before? It’s only now that it’s been getting public notice for the trans episode that people are going “ohhhh this show sucks and is bad representation” as if members of the autistic community haven’t voiced that opinion for years. It just rubs me the wrong way quite frankly.

What I will say is that I’m tired of seeing people drag Freddie Highmore though. He’s a good actor, anyone who’s seen him in things he’s done since his childhood will know that, it’s not his fault if he’s given shit scripts to work with. I do also think Freddie means well with his portrayal, even if he’s (as far as we know) allistic and the fact he appeared in an Autism $peaks video (because of TGD/all the cast did it) - the man has zero social media presence whatsoever though and didn’t even know what Pokémon Go was, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt this time and assume he truly hasn’t been informed about how harmful that organisation is. Or maybe I’m just going soft on him because seven year old me had an age appropriate crush on him eighteen years ago, who knows at this point?

I’m hoping all of this talk will open up a dialogue about the show and about the representation of autism, if nothing else.

[monstersinthecosmos]

There's a million clues about how Lestat & Marius are similar characters, like father & son, and I wish so much that we had more content about Marius in his first couple centuries when he was still a fledgling. As much as VC assigned mortal age to your temperament, there's still some clues to Marius's emotional dysregulation in his years with Pandora, even leading to their breakup.

But he lapses into the same fits of despair as Lestat and struggles with his nature. I'm thinking about this part in B&G when he has to slaughter the first group of cultists and has a meltdown realizing this is what it's going to be like forever:

But though deeply touched by their mishmash of Christian and Persian ideas, of their wild notions, and by their curious appearance of innocence, I was also horrified by the fact that this was a new religion among the blood drinkers, and they spoke of other adherents. They spoke of a cult. The human in me was revolted; and the rational Roman was more confused and alarmed than I can express. It was Pandora who quickly brought me to my senses and gave me to know that we must slaughter the whole band. Were we to let them go, others would come to us, and soon the Mother and Father might fall into their hands. I, who had slain old pagan blood drinkers with ease, seemed somehow unable to obey her, perhaps because I realized for the first time that if we remained in Antioch, if we maintained our household and our lives, more and more blood drinkers would come and there would be no end to killing them in order to protect our fine secret. And my soul suddenly could not endure this possibility. Indeed I thought once more of death for myself and even for Those Who Must Be Kept We slaughtered the zealots. It was a simple thing to do for they were so young. It took only moments with torches and with our swords. We burnt them to ashes and then scattered those ashes as, I'm sure you know, must be done. But after it was over, I lapsed into a terrible silence and for months would not leave the shrine. I abandoned Pandora for my own suffering. I couldn't explain to her that I had foreseen a grim future, and when she had gone out to hunt the city or to do whatever amused her, I went to Akasha.

And as much as mortal age gives vampires perspective on humans, gives them perhaps more respect for mortality, gives them solid foundation for understanding the price of immortality, there's still something to be said by their literal age and how they've maybe ripened or calmed down. Lestat is absolutely a unique mess, but how will he mature in 2,000 years? It just makes me wonder about the overlap in their personalities, and how much will change and how much will stay the same, and if Marius is simply a little more chill because he's old as fuck. (There's also the lore that most vampires don't live through their first century anyway, so there's something here about the innate personalities of the ones who last longer and their potential or ability to adapt.)

I've been thinking too about how Marius is prone to big sleeps, and although we're told it's part of the vampire lore and that other vampires do it, a significant portion of the main cast don't. We think it's normal because Marius told Lestat it's normal. Marius saw this struggling young vampire who reminds him of himself and thought "Of course, yes, sometimes we get overwhelmed and need a break", and although he comments on the fact that most vampires as young as Lestat don't yet need to, we also know he was having these despondent fits, hiding in the shrine for months at a time, in his first couple centuries.

[words-etched-in-her-skin]

Hello, dears! This fic was written for my dear friend @loveinthekeyofx! Alcina with a curvy stable worker 👀 There lots of gay panic, thigh riding and mold horses! It's fairly long so most will go under a cut, but I do hope some of you will enjoy it! ❤️

TW: Body issues, references to bullying.

***

You wiped the sweat from your brow, the last barrel of hay finally loaded into it's trough after a long day of work. You looked up to find dark eyes staring out at you from the back of the stable. 

"Come on, Spider. You gotta eat." 

You always found it rather endearing that the youngest of the Lady's daughters had insisted on naming each of the horses based on their personalities. Spider, for instance, was black, had spindly legs and preferred her days spent in solitude. Though, on occasion, she would allow Daniela, and only Daniela, to ride her. 

The moody creature huffed in your direction before walking over to her trough and reluctantly began to eat. 

"That's my good girl." You replied with a smile, pulling out a few sugar cubes from the pocket of your uniform. 

"You certainly have a way with them, Frances." 

The Lady's voice caught you off guard, causing you to squeak loudly and nearly drop the sugar cubes from your hand. 

"Shit! Ah- .. sorry, my lady. And th-thank you?" 

Your voice raised in a way that made your reply sound more like a question rather than a response. Alcina chuckled, her profound frame moving slowly through the large doors of the barn - one of the few entryways on the castle grounds she could enter through without ducking. 

“Due praise, dear. I’ve been watching you for quite awhile.” 

The look of surprise upon your face brought a prompt and melodic laugh to the Lady’s lips - a sound you could nearly get enough of. 

“I- .. You have??” 

“Mh.. you are rather hard to miss.” 

“Oh.” Your face reddened. Your reply was soft, eyes to the side. Hands tugging at your uniform before your arms quickly came over your chest as if to shield you. It was instinctual in nature. One taught and bred into you since you were a young child. And though you did your best not to give completely into the urge to cover your body, the Lady noticed. Immediately realizing her folly she shook her head.

“Not like that, little one.” Alcina paused before chuckling. “As if I out of all people would ever deem to comment on the size of another person.” 

You chuckled in turn, smiling a little sheepishly.  

“As it was…” She continued, “I find most  humans to be.. rather petite.” 

At this your face grew even hotter. Petite was not a word anyone had ever used to describe you. Voluptuous.. curvy.. thick - sure. Fat by your childhood bullies, and once by a friend.. but never.. petite. 

In fact, the thought alone that someone could view you as such made your mouth go a little dry. 

You swallowed hard, chuckling nervously. “You are too kind, my lady.” 

The Countess’ eyes flared as they locked onto yours - liquid embers boring into you. 

“I am nothing but honest, Frances. Why.. I could easily carry you and one of your stable mates around this entire castle several times before tiring of it.” 

You stood there for a moment - mouth agape and face on fire. The image of her carrying you around anywhere was… well.. 

<i> error 404, Frances not working</i>

“I.. that..” You paused, clearing your throat. “I have absolutely no doubts about that.” 

The Lady smirked, leaning down ever so slightly in your direction. 

“Yes, I’m sure you don’t.” 

At this you only squeaked, pulling another laugh from the large woman. 

“Adorable.” 

Every cell in your body was on the verge of a thermal meltdown, but you did your best to breathe. 

“Ahem.. ah.. may I ask you something, my lady?”

“By all means.” 

“Well.. you said you’ve been watching me?” 

“Mh.”

“I.. I mean, why?” 

The regal Countess before you stared silently for a moment before rising to her full height. 

“My dear… you wouldn’t ask someone in a museum why they're staring at a piece of art.” She paused, her finger coming to your chin. “They’re looking for one reason and one reason alone - to admire.” 

“O-oh.” You swallowed. 

Alcina chuckled. “Mh.. well, as much as I’m enjoying seeing how red I can get you.. I <i>am</i> actually here for a reason.” 

You were honestly thankful for having a moment to regain your composure, the Lady’s affect on you all too prevalent. 

“O-of course, my lady.” 

“As I said, I’ve been watching you… and  your connection to the animals on the grounds is something that was immediately apparent to me. Especially your connection with Al.”

Your eyes instantly wandered towards the stable at the far end of the barn. There was no doubt about it.. Al, or ‘Big Al’ as Dani liked to call her,.. was by far your favorite. For a couple reasons: 

1. She had to be the most beautiful Fresian you had ever laid eyes on. Hair as dark as night and eyes that glistened with intelligence. She was a truly captivating creature, and she knew it 2. Due to your larger stature - She was the only horse in the barn that you felt completely comfortable riding. You could ride her with no restraints, with absolute freedom. And some days, it honestly felt like flying. 3. She was affectionately, and much to the Countess’ dismay, named after Alcina (both for her immense size and her regal stature) and you couldn’t help but think of the Lady just a little bit whenever you looked at her. 

“I mean, Big Al is a rare case, my lady." You answered.  "She is a rather beautiful horse.” 

“Mh.. that, she is.” The Countess replied, giving you a knowing look. "But the connection is still very much there with every animal I’ve seen you interact with thus far, Frances. Which is what brings me to my proposition.” 

“Ah.. propo.. sition? My lady?”

She gave you a little smirk and clasped her hands before continuing. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about other animals being on the grounds, kept away and secret.” 

You couldn’t help but smile at the playful glint in her eyes but you nodded. That was one of the first stories most people heard when they arrived at the castle. It’s one of the reasons the staff is told to stay away from the forests that border the massive manor at night.

Or so people say, anyways…

“Well, then I’m sure you’ve also heard the rumors that those animals are dangerous - mutated. Kept as a secret weapon against the hunters or any other man-thing that may deem us harm. As a second defense, of course.” 

“I-I have.”

“Mh.. I’ll be honest with you, dear. Some of the animals we keep here, even Cassandra, wouldn't cross at night.” She paused, staring out at the tree line for a moment. “With that being said, we also house a rather extraordinary rare breed of horse here. One enhanced by the cadou. And that, my dear Frances, is where you come in." 

You looked at her awestruck for a minute, voice trembling slightly when you finally spoke.

"M-my lady? I.. I'm not quite sure I understand." 

The Lady sighed heavily, the years growing more and more visible within the deep lines of her face. 

"Some rather unfortunate circumstances have recently come up. Very suddenly leaving me without the servant who's been regularly tending to them." 

You swallowed hard, not entirely sure if you even wanted to know the answer. "Ah, may I ask what kind of circumstances?" 

The Countess stood silent for a moment, thinking. Her brow furrowed in the cutest of ways. 

"Mh.. I'd rather not get into specifics, little one, but let's just say the woman made the mistake of putting her hands on one of my daughters.. without their consent." 

"Ah." You shuddered, the mere thought of the consequences such a person would be fated to made you all too grateful that the Countess had spared you the details. 

“Mh.”

“Heh.. I’m honestly a little surprised the four of you let her leave the castle alive.” 

Alcina looked down at you, a devilish smirk curling across her lips. “I don’t recall ever saying we did.” 

You swallowed. “R-right.” 

She chuckled for a moment, shaking her head. 

“Fret not, Frances. As of now Arleen is .. well, mostly safe in the dungeons. Her fate will now reside in the hands of my daughters.” 

You nodded. “I understand, my lady.”

“Good.” 

“May.. May I ask which daughter it was?” 

“Hm.. curious thing, are we?” 

You blushed, averting your eyes. “Ah, a bit, yes.. sorry, my lady.”

The large woman’s gaze lingered over you a second before answering. 

“Cassandra.” 

“Oof.” 

A soft chuckle. 

“Indeed.” 

It was well known among the staff that the Lady’s middle daughter was the least of the three you wanted to make angry. Under any circumstance. With Daniela being the most lenient, of course. Especially if she found you particularly funny (or cute, for that matter).The Countess rose to her full height, stretching a little as she straightened her back. And the soft moan that wandered off her lips was all it took to make your mouth go a little more dry. 

“So as you can see, Frances.” She continued. “I find myself in a bit of a.. bind.” 

Gods, the way her tongue danced over her bottom lip as she said that, wettening it. A soft twinkle of heat flickering in her eyes that quickly imprinted images of plump flesh peeking through soft white rope. 

<i>A bind, yes.</i> 

You cleared your throat. “ And.. y-you want me to fill her position?” 

The Countess nodded. 

“But.. are you sure? I mean.. I’m twice the age as most of the women here-” 

“Oh? Is that all?” The Lady gave you a smirk before sighing. “Yes, I’m quite sure, Frances, and I’m not one who’s used to having her judgement questioned.” 

“S-sorry, my lady.” 

The Countess waved her hand dismissively before her large frame turned back towards the door. 

“Now.. if you would kindly follow me, dear, I'd prefer we get the introductions over with before the sun sets."

You nodded, only hesitating for a moment as the Countess quickly disappeared behind the tree line. Surely the Lady would keep you safe from whatever lurked deep within those woods, surely she wouldn't be leading you straight into your untimely death. 

Surely.. 

"Frances, do keep up the pace. I'd rather not lose another servant today." 

"Sorry, my lady!" 

The scent of wet earth surrounded you as you entered the dark Romanian forest. Sounds of a nocturnal life slowly coming to wake as the dusk of a promised night filled the cool, crisp air.  And while the sun still shone brightly on the outside of the thick tree line, you could barely see Alcina's large silhouette in front of you. The steady swish of the Countess’ dress the only thing keeping you from getting lost the further the two of you went in.

“Just about there, little one.” 

You nodded, though the Lady couldn’t see you. The insistent shiver that was slowly taking over your body only grew stronger with each step - with each strange sound that echoed through the dark forest. Like the name of a long lost lover whispered into the night. And even with the knowledge that anything that may have been watching.. or following.. was no match for the woman that accompanied you, you were still all too grateful when the warm lights of the stables finally came into view.

You let out a sigh of relief, not even aware that you'd been holding your breath practically the entire time. The Countess chuckled. 

"Mh, these woods do tend to have an effect on people." 

You chuckled in turn. "I'll say."

"Nevertheless, this was the safest place to house them. Not that these horses are necessarily dangerous, by any means, but the sight of them always seems to make the staff a little uneasy." 

You nodded, a feeling you were more familiar with than you'd care to admit. Most of the staff had never really taken to you. You were older, bigger and probably kinder to most of them than they deserved. Making you a prime target for bullying. Something you feared you might never outgrow. But how can one change their genetics? Their age? Their heart? 

You sighed and Alcina’s gaze caught yours, looking you over once before turning to open the doors of the barn. A soft crinkle to her eyes when she turned back to you. 

"As for you, Frances, something tells me that you're the perfect person to care for these animals." 

You blushed slightly at her praise - even if misguided, you thought. Surely the Lady wasn't <i>that</i> good at reading people. Though, the way she looked at you made you feel otherwise. The way she looked at you made you feel exposed - seen. As if each lingering gaze from the Countess stripped another layer from your person. Peeling back the walls with nothing more than a look. 

Being quite a bit smaller than the main stables the Lady ducked to enter and you quickly followed. The inside of the barn was much warmer than you had expected it to be, almost humid - with even the warmest of Romanian nights still bearing a slight chill to them. There were eight stables that you could count, four on each side, with only six of which were occupied. The rather prominent mustiness to the air made your nose crinkle the moment you stepped inside.. 

“I do apologize for the smell. It is a rather unfortunate side effect given the mold.” 

You shook your head. "No worries. I can take it." 

Before you had even realized the implications to your words Alcina smirked. 

"Mh.. I have no doubts." She replied with a chuckle. 

You cleared your throat and tried to swallow back the blush that was steadily taking claim of your face. 

"A-anyays." 

The Lady chuckled again, giving you a look before moving further into the barn to allow you space to look around.

At first you weren't even sure what you were looking at. The Lady wasn't wrong, necessarily - each animal <i>was</i> equestrian in nature, sure, but they were also other worldly. Skeletal. With big black eyes that glistened at you with each slow movement. And while you could understand why some may have found them to be a bit off-putting, you personally found them to be rather beautiful. As if someone had taken the skeleton of a very large horse and dipped it in the blackest glitter. 

"They're.. beautiful, my lady." You said softly. 

"In their own way, yes. The cadou can sometimes create very beautiful things." 

"Well, that's a given." 

You blushed even as you quietly said the words. A slight advert to your eyes as you did your best not to make any eye contact. Even if you could feel Alcina's gaze boring into you. 

The Countess hummed in thought. "Perhaps." 

Once you moved in a little closer to the creatures you could start to see the distinguishing features between them all. With each one being unique to itself. And much like the stables on the grounds, each one had a silver plate on their doors with a name engraved in it. Something that couldn't help but make you laugh. 

"I see Dani's gift for naming things continues on."

"Mh.. whether it’s a gift or a curse remains to be seen, dear." 

And while the Lady's tone remained neutral, the soft adoration in her eyes only spoke volumes for how much she loved and appreciated each of her daughters. She gave you a small wink before moving even further into the barn, the quiet swish of fabric following her graceful migration. 

“Take a moment to familiarize yourself. I’ll need you3 to start here first thing in the morning.” 

“Yes, my lady.” 

You couldn’t help but find yourself ever more fascinated with each step you took closer to the stables. And you were almost certain that the creatures before you seemed to be just as enamored with you. Their eyes gently stalking your slow and steady movements. Of course in true Dani form, each animal was named after a defining characteristic, and most having some sort of play on the word ‘mold’. You almost laughed out loud when you came across the nameplate of a rather ornery looking one, one with an insufferable air around it and eyes that seemed to judge your very existence. 

“Moldranda?” You snorted, “I’m sure the High Priestess wasn’t happy about that one.” 

“Mh.. bold of you assume I would have told her.” The Countess chuckled.

“Hah, fair enough.” 

You continued down the first row, coming across a one-eyed horse named ‘Moldyclops’ and an exceptionally beautiful one simply named ‘Athena’. With the last stable empty you turned to make your way over to the other side of the barn, immediately noticing the rather large wings two out of the three creatures sported. You felt your eyes widen as you walked closer to them, a slight flutter to their wings as you did. A curious tilt to your head as you read the first nameplate. 

"Donut?" You chuckled. 

"Mh.. Daniela said that one’s brain is ‘filled with holes’." The Lady chuckled. "He was one of our first in the trial and not very bright." 

"Ah." You replied, walking over to the next one whose name perplexed you just as much. 

"And Moldred? Was this one named after someone Dani knew?" 

"Actually, no." Alcina replied. "Take a closer look at her, little one." 

You took another step closer and even within the low lighting of the room you could see the small red dots that covered the otherwise flawless black mold. You immediately shook your head and laughed. 

"Red mold.. mold red.. Moldred." 

"Precisely." 

As for the last horse in the row's name - it was perfect and honestly, you would have expected nothing less of the youngest Dimitrescu. With long black tendrils that wove around her head like snakes, Moldusa gave you a friendly huff the moment you stood in front of her. 

"Well, hello to you." You said, holding out your hand which the horse quickly nuzzled into. The sensation was not what one your were expecting, though. Similar to stroking over a moss covered rock only not as slimy. You couldn't help but smile when she allowed you to continue to move your hand upwards, petting the tentacles that sat on her head only to message them gently. 

"Does that feel good, sweet girl? Having your tentacles messaged? Hm?" 

From over your shoulder you could feel the Countess watching you, an unreadable emotion burning within her gaze. Immediately you blushed, turning to face your employer with a stutter. 

"A-ah.. I m-mean.. I'm sure it's relaxing! Er.. having them massaged that is.." 

The Lady smirked, only fueling your inner panic. 

"Oh geez! Not like that!  I mean.. I'm sure if you let me massage yours, you'd find it relaxing too-!" 

And just like that, you wanted to die. 

Alcina remained very still, her eyes lingering over you ever so slowly before she spoke. 

"Mh.. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, sweet thing." 

<i>Yep, kill me now.</i> 

You were almost certain that for a single moment your brain completely flatlined - a radio wave of nothing but static and impure thoughts. Surely the Lady had to know the effect she was starting to have on you. Surely the smug smirk painted over her crimson lips told you exactly that. 

You cleared your throat before taking a steadying breath, the pink flush across your cheeks deepening. Though the Lady held her gaze, eyes drinking you in as if you were a bottle of her favorite vintage. You gave Moldusa a final stroke over her nose and took a step back. 

“So, ah.. yeahh...” You said before pausing, which only made Alcina chuckle. 

“Mh? Yes, dear?”

Gods, how indulgently smooth her voice was.. how utterly teasing. Before another wave of gay panic had the chance to come through and render you completely brainless, you quickly changed the subject. 

"So, uh.. am I safe in assuming these horses don't just eat regular hay?"

"You are. Such a clever little thing, hm?" 

"I-" 

You swallowed hard. This woman was going to be the death of you. 

A melodic chuckle trickled off the Lady's lips. 

"Adorable." She added with a pause. "But yes, these horses have a very special mixture made for them each day by a local butcher. If you're familiar with a common bait fisherman use for larger fish called 'chum', it's similar to that." 

"Ah… should I even ask what sort of meat goes into it?" 

"Mh.. not if you're of weak stomach, no." She smirked. 

You chuckled nervously. "Heh.. noted." 

"The food will be here for you in the morning by the time you arrive. I pay extra to have it delivered promptly by five am and I expect you to be here no later than six. Is that understood?" 

"Yes, my lady." 

The Countess nodded before turning back towards the door. The world that laid outside the warmth of the barn nearly pitch black. 

"Unless you have any other questions, little one, we should really be heading back to the castle. It's already quite a bit later than I would prefer to have my staff out in these woods." 

"I think I'm good for now, thank you. But if I think of anything else, I'll make note of it." 

"Good. Right, then." 

The Lady began to lower her large frame as she prepared herself to duck through the semi large doors of the barn but stopped short and turned back to you. A single finger tapping her bottom lip in thought. 

"My dear.. would you be opposed to me doing something to quicken our journey back to the grounds?"

Considering you could barely even make out the trees that surrounded the stables, you shook your head. 

"Not at all. What did you have in mind?" 

Without a single word of response, the Countess swiftly stepped forward and lifted you into her arms, earning herself a sharp cry of surprise.

"M-my lady-! Wait! You shouldn't- .. I'm too-" 

Before you could even finish your sentence Alcina had you positioned in a full bridal carry, her large arms cradling you safely against her bosom. 

"You're too <i>what</i>, little one?" 

You blushed deeply, biting your bottom lip. 

"A-ah.. h-heavy, my lady." You answered, averting your eyes from her obvious glare. 

And while you were almost expecting a stern response, the Lady only laughed. Loud and boisterously - a laugh that made her whole body - as well as yours - jiggle. 

"Oh, sweet thing." She paused, still laughing. "Why, you're light as a feather. Barely even noticeable in my arms at all." 

"Oh, I'm.. erm.." 

You could feel your face growing hotter by the second and without much thought, you buried your face into the softness of her chest. An act you were sure would get you a reprimand, but the Lady only held you closer. 

"Mh.. I take it that's not something you're accustomed to hearing." 

Half muffled in your reply, you answered. 

"Truthfully? I'm more accustomed to hearing the exact opposite. My size has never really been.. well, you know.." 

Your voice trailed off, heated tears now threatening to stain the fine fabric of Alcina's dress. She let out a large sigh, fingers coming to softly stroke your hair. 

"I am more than familiar with how cruel the world can be if one does not fit into society's view of what is considered attractive." 

You looked up at her in surprise, the steadiness of her walk casting moonlit shadows across the deep lines of her face. 

"But.. but you're gorgeous!" 

And though it could have easily been wishful thinking, you could have sworn that trapped within a single sliver of moonlight was the subtle dusting of pink upon Alcina's cheeks.

"Nevertheless.." She cleared her throat, "My reputation does tend to precede me. A beautiful disaster, as it was. A monster." 

With the forest far too dark to see much else, the only thing clear enough to make out were the broken shimmers that seemed to haunt the otherwise warm embers within the Countess' eyes. 

“Pft. Well. at least they got the beautiful part right.” 

The heat of her breath tickled your face as she chuckled. “Charming little pet.” 

“I-” 

You opened  your mouth and then quickly shut it, your fluster stopping your brain short.  

Alcina chuckled again. 

“Mh.. seems as if we’ll just have to come to terms with the fact that, regardless of what the small minds of society think, we both find the other quite beautiful… won’t we?”

As soon as the two of you broke the tree line, the Countess’ illustrious body basked in a wash of silver, you could see the want in her eyes. The desire that slowly stoked beneath her heavy gaze and the hunger that burned within it. There were no falsities to her words, no flattery. Her tongue licking over her bottom lip as she leaned in a little closer, step slowing ever so slightly. 

“M-my lady?” 

“Apologies, little one… but you smell divine. It.. would probably be best if I return you directly to the servants quarters, lest I lose my control.” 

You swallowed hard, heart beating faster than it had in the entirety of your forty some odd years. 

“And.. if I wanted you to lose control?” You asked softly, head tilted back. 

The next few minutes were nothing but a blur of haze, as if the thick fog that slowly crept it’s way across the castle grounds had wrapped you in it’s cold embrace. The Lady’s lips crashing into yours as she pulled a soft moan from your body. You weren’t even sure how you had gotten back inside the castle so quickly, let alone how you ended up inside her bedroom with your back against the wall and her thigh between your parted legs.

Your chest heaved as you panted, Alcina's gaze all but a smolder of lust as it lingered over you. You knew that she could smell how aroused you were, how badly you wanted her - with her firm thigh flexing against your core just because it could. And when she slowly unsheathed her claws to cut your uniform from your plump body, you couldn't even stop the needy whimper that fell all too eagerly from your lips. 

"Mmh.. <i>exquisite</i>." 

The way her tongue curled when she spoke - a faint aroma of wine still lingering on her palate so divine that you could almost taste it. And you wanted to. You wanted to taste every inch of her. You wanted to feel her large body pressed against your own and her lips claiming yours. 

“My lady.. plea-” 

A single claw against your lips - smooth, cool to the touch. 

 “Hush, now, pet. Allow me the honor of worshiping you properly first, hm? You’re quite the feast and I’d prefer to be able to savor every second of you.” 

You only nodded - not that you would’ve been able to articulate any words after such a statement anyways.

"Mh.. that's a good girl." 

The remaining fabric of your uniform fell to the floor in a single fluid motion as Alcina ripped the rest of it from your body, exposing to her every supple curve that you had to offer. A hunger in her eyes that you had yet to see before. Nostrils flaring as she breathed in your scent and leaned in even closer. 

You swallowed hard, feeling her warm breath as it skated over your skin. Your body tingling with anticipation, filled with an unhindered heat the moment her lips pressed against you. Tongue swirling over sensitive flesh and she sucked on it ever so lightly. And of course you moaned - needlessly, wordlessly - the slight scrape of the Lady's fangs across your skin slowly building that subtle throb between your legs. 

Each kiss followed closely by another, each claim of your skin - of your eager body - only leading to the next as Alcina's lips danced tangentially across you. They were softer than you imagined them to be, yet rough to the touch. A single finger trailing up your inner thigh as it inched its way closer to your core and forced you to buck in need. 

"Keep your hips still until I say otherwise, pet." 

You whimpered. "Yes, my lady. Sorry." 

"And you will address me as Mistress from here on out. Is that understood?" 

You swallowed hard, face overcome with heat. 

"Y-yes, Mistress." 

She hummed against your skin, willing a wave of goosebumps across your body so strong it made you shiver. The silk of her dress between your fingers as you grabbed onto her, pulling the Countess even closer to you. 

“So needy.” 

A single phrase followed by a nip at your skin… followed by another, and another. The sting of her teeth becoming ever more prevalent with each one, a rush of blood marking each spot as her large frame moved over your body. And oh, how she claimed you, claimed you like you were a world to conquer and she a war general. With every touch calculated - every caress focused. From your thighs to your belly, to your breasts to your shoulders and neck. You knew her thigh beneath you had to be soaked, the subtle throb between your legs now a deep ache. 

“H-harder.. please.. Mistress.” 

Alcina pulled back for a moment and looked at you, teeth a mere inches from the supple skin of your neck. 

“I’m not certain you’re fully aware of what you’re asking me to do, little one. Once I break the skin, I won’t be able to stop.” 

“I-I’m.. I’m aware.” 

The Countess hesitated and you lengthened the column of your neck. 

“Please, my lady.. I want you to” You added softly. 

Her pupils dilated, breath tickling your skin as she breathed you in an almost primal nature. Her fingers slowly moving - inching closer to your core. And it took everything in you not to buck, not to grind down onto her when a finger came to rest directly against your clit. 

“Mmh.. indulgent little thing.” 

In an instant your hips were raised, moaning outright as soon as you felt it -  Acina’s finger sliding into you the moment her teeth sank deeply into your supple flesh, forcefully breaking the skin.

“Mmph-!”

You lowered your hips slowly, allowing the width of the large digit to fill you. A subtle swirl of the Ladys’ tongue over your skin as she drew your very essence into her mouth, moaning sinfully as she did. 

“And such an exquisite taste.. So <i>robust</i>.”

You could see the blood trickling off one single fang as she looked up at you with a smirk, a quick sweep of her tongue over her bottom lip before her teeth were back inside you - her finger thrusting in. 

The duality of sensations was almost overwhelming. The slow thrusts of her finger, the long pulls of blood from your neck. Both heated, both a perfect mix of pleasure and pain. Each arousing you just the same. The cool tip of her fangs an exquisite contrast to the heat of the bite as she drank from you. 

She allowed your hips to rock, matching in perfect rhythm to her finger. A needy whimper falling almost all too breathless from your lips when she pressed her body into yours, forcing the chilled walls of the castle against your back. 

"Mmmmh."

A final moan against the crook of your neck before Alcina took her final sip of you, licking drops of crimson from your skin with an indulgent sigh. 

"Wouldn't want you passing out on me now would we, sweet thing?" 

Her breath smelled slightly metallic - sweet - lips stopping just short of your own as she rose to face you. The soft pulses of her finger steadily coaxed your arousal higher as the Countess leaned in for a kiss. Gaze lingering over your supple curves before her body was pressed even more firmly into yours. The fine fabric of her dress cool against your heated flesh and your hands placed gently over your head. 

"Such a sweet girl.. taking me so well." 

Intoxicating praises whispered sweetly into your lips, the length of her finger driving in and out of your dripping core at a teasingly slow rate as her tongue began to dance over yours. It was a dance of lovers came to met, a swirl of succulent sweeps as she kissed the breath from your body. You moaned earnestly, hips picking up their pace as you did your best to take in as much of her as you could. Her dress soaked beneath your trembling legs. 

"Mh.. be a good girl and come for me, hm?"

Sinful words punctuated by a single sweep over your clit. And that was it, that was all you needed - a soft command and a Lady's touch - to will the stars behind your eyes to collide, to force universes to touch and your whole body to convulse. A prickling heat spreading over you like an inferno as your core clenched around the width of her and forced your desire out, coating her wrist and drenching her upper thigh. 

For a moment all you could do was shake, riding out the orgasm until the last shudder fell from your body. The Countess holding you close, allowing you the time you needed to come down from your high before she slowly slid her finger out from under you and placed it to your lips. You blushed, opening your mouth. 

"Obedient little pet." 

You nodded, dutifully cleaning the taste of yourself from her skin. 

Though, as soon as Alcina's finger fell from your mouth a wave of exhaustion quickly began to take residence across your body. You yawned, making the Lady chuckle. 

"Mh.. seems I've worn you out, little one." 

Another yawn. 

"M-maybe a little." 

Alcina held you in place as she grabbed the remnants of your uniform off the floor and wrapped them around your still naked body. A soft kiss coming to your forehead and the strength of her embrace holding you close as she began to carry you. 

Where to, you weren't certain. Though you were sure it likely wasn't her bed. You couldn't imagine the Countess letting just anyone share her bedside- 

Another yawn. 

"Sleep, my dear. I've got you." 

With that you felt safer than you had in your entire life and snuggled into the crook of her arm. With your needs and wants perfectly tended to and your body more relaxed than it had ever been. You wondered if you'd think it was all a dream come the morning. You wondered if you'd believe it even happened at all. But the reddened marks that adorned your body would quickly prove to you that it had, and everyone in the castle would surely be aware of Lady Dimitrescu's claim on you by lunch.

***

[thebibliosphere]

There’s a youtuber I watch, I won’t mention her cause I don’t want people giving her shit in the comments (not that I think most of you would, but y’know, it’s the Internet) and she’s recently got on this really... anti-tech bend in which she is referring to her enjoyment of cell phone usage as an “addiction”. And while for sure being constantly wired and “on” is harmful, especially doom scrolling twitter, the things she is describing doesn’t sound like addiction to me, but rather ADHD brains seeking dopamine feedback. And honestly? Making broad, sweeping comments like “cell phones are so harmful, and if you can’t just sit still and be present in the moment you have an addiction” is... making me very uncomfortable.

Like, you want me to pay attention to something? Sure, I can do that. For limited amounts of time. You want my sustained attention for hours? Not gonna happen. Unless I’m hyperfixating, nothing is going to hold my attention span for hours on end. And generally speaking, people enjoy the initial upswing of my fixations, but they don’t enjoy the prolonged outcome of me neglecting to self care for eight hours straight because my brain decided this is the only thing I’m going to focus on to the point where I forget to eat, drink, sleep, or even go to the bathroom. So when people tell me they want my undivided attention, I like to tell them they really don’t.

What I can give you however, is a rational amount of attention with the aid of things like stim and fidget toys to keep my brain from wandering for the duration of whatever we’re doing. Sometimes that can even look like scrolling mindlessly on my phone. Speaking personally, most of my attention will be on what you’re saying. I’m just giving my brain background noise to focus on while I actually process what you’re saying/doing.

And you know what? Learning to both do this and accept that I need to do this and I’m not a horrible person for not being able to 100% focus unaided, has been actively helpful and healthful for my mental health. I get fewer ADHD meltdowns, which yeah, can occur with both over stimulation and under stimulation as well. 

My brain needs some of that instant gratification because it’s dopamine starved. And what might be a problem for some people, and I genuinely believe it is... Making these sweeping statements about addiction, which is a very serious mental health issue, and making it part of your “I shun technology” spiel you’re on while running a business through YouTube is... not as sincere as you perhaps hope it is. But of course, it’s the shunning of technology as evil, so the comments are just filled with “god, you’re so right, we should all go back to before we had smart technology”, inevitably posted from an iphone with absolutely zero self awareness or sense of irony.

And then when I brought up ADHD and neurodivergency in the discord it was liked I’d just asked “who wants to kick puppies?!” and ended up muting the thread because it was easier to peace out than listen to the whole “you don’t have ADHD, sweety, you’re just highly sensitive” bullshit that is becoming more and more common in these types of groups.

Idk, the whole thing just... rubbed me the wrong way. Especially because the things she were labeling as “signs of addiction”, said in such a scandalized manner, were actually hallmarks of what I now recognize as neurodivergency. And while addiction is a major problem with ADHD—specifically with unmedicated and undiagnosed individuals who have been forced to try and rectify their lack of dopamine on their own—shunning what are honestly harmless coping mechanisms is not going to help those people. 

So you check twitter while watching TV. So what? Oh, you checked your phone ten times a day? So what? Is it actively harming you? Is it harming your mental health? Are you doom scrolling? Is it harming those around you? Are you idealizing Instagram too much and putting yourself down? Then yeah, those are bad. Maybe work on that. 

But also maybe consider you might just blaming the phone for other problems in your life you’re not addressing cause it’s easier to blame technology than it is to even consider for one second you might have ADHD.

Idk. Thanks for coming to my rambling TED talk. I’m off to read a book while listening to a podcast about a different book.

[snelbz]

Life As We Know It {Chapter 17}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Occasional surprise chapters could be posted at miscellaneous times. Chapters will be posted on both my and Tara’s blogs! >> @tacmc.​

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

It had been a long day.

They hadn’t done jack shit, but a long day nonetheless, thanks to the run in with Tomas.

After eating lunch, Cassian had taken Nyx out to the pool, letting him float around in his little inner tube and splash in the water. He kept a close eye on him and he wasn’t sure he’d heard so many giggles from the little dude in months.

Not even fifteen minutes after they’d come out, Nesta decided to join them, though it wasn’t to play and splash like Nyx. No, she brought a book hat, and tanning oil, but Nyx squealed his delight when he saw her regardless.

After some goading and thinly veiled threats to splash her smutty book if she didn’t get in, Nesta relented and Nyx had the time of his life.

Until he got chlorine in his eye and had a meltdown.

Just like that, pool time was over, and after taking him inside and getting changed, Cassian was lounging on the couch while Nyx played on the floor.

Nesta started up the stairs and said, “I think I’m going to take a bath. Relax from…earlier.”

From that piece of shit Tomas and the things he’d said. Cassian wished he’d of at least said something, but he most wished he’d have throttled him.

Cassian simply nodded and Nesta was off, hurrying up the stairs and shimmying out of her bikini once she closed herself inside of the master bathroom.

She hadn’t been in the warm water with her eyes closed for five minutes before a horrid sound came from downstairs.

One word screamed at the top of Cassian’s lungs, her name.

“NESTA!”

For a moment, she thought she had imagined it. But, then he screamed again.

“NESTA!”

She shot up in the tub and was about to yell back, when she heard, “COME QUICK!”

Panic rose in the pit of her stomach as she jumped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her wet body as she threw open the bathroom door. “I’m coming! I’m coming! What happened?! What’s wrong?!”

“Come on, come on, come on!” Cassian yelled, but it wasn’t fear in his voice - only excitement. “Hurry, before you miss him!”

Nesta rounded the top of the stairs, and froze. A few feet in front of Cassian, on his own two feet, was Nyx, taking slow, steady steps toward his uncle.

Her feet carried her down the stairs in a flash and she was next to Cassian, on her knees, just like he was. At the appearance of his aunt, he grinned, those angelic cheeks rounding out and reached for her.

And he tumbled down.

“Shit,” Cassian muttered and lifted him back onto his unsteady feet, praying they weren’t about to have more tears. But the dark blue eyes that gazed up at him were not tear-filled, just wide and curious as always.

Taking a few more tentative steps, he reached them, leaning into Cassian, but a hand reaching out to take Nesta’s as he animatedly spoke in his own baby language.

“Good job, bubba,” Nesta cried, hoisting him up into her arms and crushing him in a hug. “Such a big boy.”

Nyx giggled and wiggled to be put down.

He wasn’t done just yet.

His feet hit the ground and he was off. He walked from Nesta to Cassian then back again. Every time he fell down, he got right back up and kept on moving.

“Look at you go, buddy,” Cassian laughed, catching Nyx as he made it to him.

“Think he’ll sleep good tonight?” Nesta asked, watching them both with a smile on her face.

“I hope so,” he chuckled, letting Nyx pat him on the face, grinning up at him.

He meandered back across the room, plopping down at his toys and began playing again.

“And I guess we’re done with that,” he laughed, standing up and shaking his head. “He finally walked.”

“Sixteen months,” she sighed, propping a hip on the side of the couch. “I was starting to think he’d never do it.”

“Me either,” he said, sitting down. He glanced up at her—and froze.

He’d completely forgotten she was wearing nothing but a towel.

“Didn’t we have a rule about coming down here nude?” Cassian asked, under his breath.

Nesta’s eyes darted to his. “Pardon?”

His eyebrows raised and he gestured to her towel, and Nesta looked down, as if she had completely forgotten that she was wearing it, too. “Oh, shit, sorry. I was in such a hurry to come downstairs-.”

“I mean, I don’t blame you-.”

“I could’ve put on something-.”

“I was screaming your name-.”

“Screaming my name,” Nesta repeated, her cheeks heating. Last time Cassian had screamed her name, it had been under very, very different context.

Although, she had been wearing little to nothing then, too.

The memories flashed through her mind, and from the way Cassian was watching her, she assumed that they were flashing through his, too.

She watched as his throat bobbed and his eyes left hers, dragging down her body as if he couldn’t stop himself. He met her gaze again and she felt her cheeks heating. Her cheeks, her ears, her neck, her entire body heated under that gaze.

“I’m going to…” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the stairs. “Finish my bath, I guess.”

“Right,” Cassian replied, his eyes still on her. “I’ll put him down in just a few minutes.”

She glanced over at the baby as she backed up toward the stairs. Nyx was indeed starting to rub his eyes, and noticing Nesta’s attention on him, he yawned and reached for her.

Before she could cross the room, Cassian was on his feet and picking Nyx up.

“I can take him,” she protested, but he shook his head, not looking at her.

“You go relax. I’ve got him.”

Nesta cleared her throat and nodded, convincing herself to say nothing more as she hurried up the stairs, clinging to her towel.

She settled back into the bath, even though the water had chilled.

She couldn’t control her breathing.

She thought of that time when he’d caught her in the bath before, right after they had moved in, when he caught her doing intimate things with herself, alone.

Then she thought of the immense amount of pleasure that he’d given her, and how nothing and no one had ever compared to it.

Her heart began to beat a little bit faster, and a throbbing formed between her thighs.

She wondered if Cassian ever caught himself thinking about it, if he ever wanted to do it again.

Judging by the look in his eyes downstairs, the intense way he had been watching her…

Nesta pulled herself out of the tub.

She dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail atop her head, but couldn’t decide if going downstairs would be a good or bad idea. She couldn’t decide if being around him right now was a smart decision, not when the thoughts in her head were so distracting she couldn’t even focus on the laundry she had neglected to fold for a few days.

Her phone vibrated where she’d plugged it in on her nightstand and Balthazar’s name lit up the screen.

That was another reason she couldn’t allow herself to entertain the thoughts constantly running through her head. She and Bal weren’t in a relationship, they were in no way exclusive and hadn’t had that conversation, but Nesta wasn’t the type to date—or in this case, sleep with—two men at once.

She could hear Cassian down in the living room again, no doubt cleaning up Nyx’s toys and settling down with a beer. She wanted to join him, wanted to curl up on the other side if the couch with a glass of wine and listen to him commentate whatever stupid show or game he was watching.

But she knew that wasn’t a good idea.

So she laid down on her bed, grabbed the book from her nightstand, and read until all of those emotions that Cassian made her feel faded into the back of her mind where she told them to stay.

*

The next morning, Cassian was on Nyx duty. Since he had the day off, the nanny didn’t have to come, which meant bro time.

First, they went for a jog along the Sidra where both Nyx and Cassian got their fair share of looks from the ladies. Turns out a cute kid was a great way to gain the attention of beautiful women.

On the way back home, Cassian decided to make a detour for some lunch, and ended up pushing the jogging stroller right into Nesta’s restaurant.

He knew where it was, and knew that Nesta was a damn good cook, but somehow, he hadn’t visited the restaurant in the over four months they’d been living together.

It was packed, to absolutely no surprise and when he walked in, he was greeted by an amazing array of delicious smells. Quickly realizing the stroller was going to be a hindrance, he parked it in the corner by the door and held Nyx as he made his way into one of the sitting areas.

“It’s open seating, so please, sit where you like.”

Cassian turned as a deep voice spoke from behind him. The man was watching him, and when he turned, his eyes fell on Nyx. Recognition lit them up for a moment, Nesta having brought Nyx into the restaurant more than once.

“Thanks. Is Nesta free?”

“Last I saw, she was helping out in the kitchen, but I’ll check. Take a seat and I’ll be back.”

Cassian nodded and the man was gone, disappearing through a swinging door to the back.

Indeed, Nesta was manning the grill, an assortment of sandwiches, meats, pancakes and other items sizzling around her. She was reading order tickets and communicating with her line cooks, and everything was exactly as it should be.

Until Helion was leaning on the wall next to her.

She groaned. “Tell me it’s not the lady who claims to find a hair in her food every time she’s here.”

The patron in question was in the dining room, a brunch buffet spread out before her and her friends. Her curly, red hair was piled on top of her head and without fail, she always seemed to find a lone, red, curling hair in her dishes, no matter what she ate and who was in the kitchen. Even though Nesta had no one in her employment with curly, red hair.

“Oh, no,” Helion said, his smirk growing. “There’s a handsome man out front asking for you.”

Balthazar.

Nesta groaned. Even though she didn’t mean to. “Let him know I’m busy, but I’ll be out in just a minute.”

“It’s not him,” he replied, practically singing the words. “This one has a very cute baby with him.”

She was moving before he’d finished speaking, hollering at one of her cooks to take up her place on the line.

When she went into the dining room, Cassian was sitting in a booth, Nyx in a high chair at the end of the table next to him.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Nesta crooned as she approached.

Nyx’s head whipped around at the familiar voice as Cassian looked up from his menu. Nesta was lifting Nyx out of the high chair when Cassian said, “We were out and about. Someone was hungry.”

Nesta chuckled. “Was that someone you or the baby?”

“Fine,” Cassian said, grinning. “Two someones were hungry.”

Nesta snorted as she kissed Nyx’s cheek. “Couldn't have cleaned up before coming in here?” She asked, nodding to Cassian’s damp t-shirt.

He shrugged his shoulder. “This was on the way home. You should be glad we graced you with our presence.”

“Right,” she laughed softly, sitting Nyx back in the high chair and buckling him in. “Any idea what you want?”

He was flipping through the menu, and honestly, every damn thing he saw looked delicious. He smiled up at her. “Surprise us. I can’t choose.”

Smirking, she took his menu and said, “Chicken livers and brussel sprouts, coming right up.”

He rolled his eyes as she walked away, but she entered their order into the system and returned to the table, sitting down in the empty booth seat across from him.

“He have a good morning?” She asked, holding Nyx’s outstretched hand and letting him grip her thumb. He shook her hand as hard as he could and grinned up at her, babbling excitedly.

“Aside from the blow out he had this morning, I’d say so. Which he found very amusing that I had to clean up” Cassian chuckled, rolling his eyes. “This is the only kid who laughs while he’s covered in shit, I swear.”

Nesta shook her head, laughing softly.

Cassian took the chance to look around. “This place is great, Nes. The only thing it’s missing is a bar.”

Nesta looked around with him and nodded. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit. Don’t wanna mess with licensing. I’ve already got too much on my plate around here.”

Cassian cocked his head to the side. “You just gotta get someone to run the bar, that’s all. You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know.”

Nesta looked back to Cassian. “Someone like you?”

“Handsome, smart, with a high knowledge of what it takes to run a bar?” He asked. “Yeah, someone like me.”

She narrowed her eyes and nudged his shin with the toe of her shoe. “Don’t get too cocky. If you decide to leave your bar and want a new project… Sure, I’ll add a bar.”

Cassian blinked. “I can’t tell if you’re messing with me or not.”

Nesta shook her head. “I’m always serious.”

“At one time, I thought that was true,” Cassian muttered.

His shin got another nudge.

“I’m serious,” she repeated, with a quiet laugh. “Shockingly enough, you’d be one of the few people I trust to let into my management.”

He stayed quiet for a minute, long enough that she glanced at him from where she’d been looking at Nyx. He was chewing on his bottom lip and she had to physically restrain herself from reaching over and working it out from between his teeth. Feeling her attention on him, he looked at her, and said, “We’ll talk about it more at home, yeah?”

Nodding, Nesta replied, “Of course. But don’t just do it because I said something, I don’t want-.”

“I’ve actually been thinking about opening my own place for while,” he murmured, and then quickly added, “Not that this would be my place, it’s yours, of course. But I’ve got savings. I can help with any applications and licensing and renovations that need to be done. Not to mention, it would be an investment in a growing business. That always looks good in a portfolio.”

Nesta smiled. “Like you said, we’ll talk about it at home. I’m gonna go check on your food.”

“Please do,” Cassian said, waving her away. “I’m starving.”

With a roll of her eyes, she stood up and walked toward the kitchen, shoving Cassian’s sweaty head as she walked by him.

Helion was waiting by the kitchen doors. “Flirting, how cute. It’s like watching two horny teenagers.”

“Fuck off,” Nesta muttered.

Helion only grinned and followed her into the kitchen. “Admit it. You’ve got the hots for hot uncle.”

“I can fire you, you know,” Nesta said.

“You wouldn’t,” he said, right on her heels. “You’d be bored to death here without me.”

She didn’t need to bother telling him he was right. On either front.

*

Nesta was beat by the time she got off. It was an effort of will to make it home before she fell asleep, but as she parked her car in the driveway, she nearly sighed in relief. Cassian had said he’d handle dinner, so she knew that a glass of wine—and hopefully, an uninterrupted bath—was in her future.

She hadn’t expected to find Cassian on his hands and knees as soon as she came in the door.

He looked up at her, eyes wide and said, “Uh, hey. You’re home.”

“I am,” she replied, chuckling. “What are you doing?”

He hesitated before saying, “Playing hide and seek with Nyx.”

Nesta blinked. “Hide and-? Cassian, he’s one.”

“I left him on the floor with his toys and I went into the kitchen for thirty seconds to check on dinner,” he said, standing up.

She waited for him to go on, not understanding. And then her eyes widened. “You lost him?”

“He’s not lost,” he said, holding his hands up. “We’re playing hide and seek.”

“Cassian-.”

“He’s one, Nesta, he couldn’t have gone far-.”

“He walks now!” She cried, tossing her purse on the bench by the door and hurrying into the living room.

A giggle sounded from the other room, and they both sped around the corner where Nyx had made himself perfectly happy.

In the laundry room, Nyx sat in a pile of Nesta’s laundry, waving her underwear in the air.

As Nesta let out a relieved breath, Cassian chuckled. “Atta boy.”

Nesta whacked Cassian on the shoulder before picking Nyx up and freeing her panties from his grasp.

He immediately started crying.

“Way to take his toy away,” Cassian muttered.

Nesta shot him a look.

Cassian shrugged. “I would’ve cried, too.”

Nesta tried her best not to laugh, but failed. “You’re ridiculous.”

Cassian opened his mouth to reply, but the smoke alarm near the kitchen began to blare.

Nyx’s cries got louder and Nesta stopped Cassian, giving Nyx to him and hurried into the kitchen, pulling a pan of burnt French fries out of the oven and opened the back door and the door leading to the garage. She got a kitchen towel and was waving the smoky air away from the smoke alarm, and after a minute or two, the incessant blaring ceased.

Leaning back against the counter, she took a deep breath and looked at the doorway, finding Cassian standing there, Nyx still in his arms, though the tears had stopped. He was cringing, expecting her to start yelling any moment—.

But Nesta took one look at the charred French fries and started laughing. Deep, belly laughs that made her stomach hurt so badly she doubled over.

Cassian turned to the living room, getting Nyx set up in his playpen, and walked back into the kitchen, where Nesta was still laughing with her hands on her knees, trying to get air down.

“You find something funny, Archeron?” He asked, pausing in front of her. Even he was unable to stop the small smile on his face.

“French fries?” she asked, unable to catch her breath. “You— You burnt frozen french fries? How long have they been in there? Two hours?”

Cassian looked behind him at the clock on the stove and rubbed the back of his neck. “I like them crispy.”

“Oh, they’re crispy,” Nesta promised, straightening her back, small bouts of laughter still finding their way out. “They’re really damn crispy.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, shaking his head. He pulled a series of paper towels off the stovetop and revealed a tray of chicken nuggets and a pot of cooked broccoli. “At least I didn’t burn everything.”

“Chicken nuggets and broccoli?” she asked, her grin still wide. “Kids barely old enough to eat solids and we’re already having kid dinners?”

“Kid dinners?” Cassian repeated. “You’re lying your ass off if you’re telling me that you don’t enjoy a big ass plate of chicken nuggets.”

Nesta laughed, shaking her head. “They’re dinosaur shaped!”

“The dino ones taste better!” Cassian protested.

“We’ll see about that,” Nesta said, and just as she looked up at Cassian, she realized how close he’d stopped from her.

He couldn’t have been more than a foot away, but he felt much closer.

Nesta’s laughter died down, although that light feeling in the pit of her stomach remained.

One of his hands was braced on the counter she leaned on, and though he wasn’t caging her in, she couldn’t help but stare up at him.

“At least it’s not breakfast again,” she murmured, noting the way he was staring at her, too.

“You’ve never complained about my breakfast,” he said, swallowing roughly.

She tracked the way his Adam’s Apple bobbed. “Well, you’ve never burnt it, so.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and she knew he was trying his hardest not to smile. He opened his mouth to reply, but Nyx started talking from the other room, babbling and nonsense and baby language reaching them.

Cassian seemed to realize how close he stood to her and backed up a step, clearing his throat. “If you want to grab him, I’ll put some fresh fries in the oven.”

Nodding, Nesta said, “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m making them crispy, though,” he said, as she left.

Nesta snorted as she shook her head and lifted Nyx out of his pack n play. “Your uncle is nuts. Yes, he is.”

Nyx’s grin melted Nesta’s heart.

Forty minutes later, once the french fries were sufficiently crispy, the three of them were sitting at the table, eating dinner. Nesta didn’t mind it, not one bit, the fact that they sat there every night and ate together.

It was almost as if they were a family.

An odd, dysfunctional, interestingly beautiful family.

[foilfreak]

Beauty and Her Beast: Chapter 7 (aka the ‘big boobie vampire mommy’ and ’mutant servant girl that is very horny for her’ chapter)

WARNING PLZ READ BEFORE CONTINUING: This fic is rated NSFW and contains graphic depictions of things some people may find disturbing or alarming, including, but not limited to: violence, gore, unhealthy family relationships, Oedipus complexes, gratuitous amount of pornographic literature, ableist language, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, etc. If you are someone who does not enjoy fiction with these elements in them, then I suggest you refrain from reading this, because this fic will have all that, and probably a lot more. So, this is your first and final warning to turn around and go somewhere else if stuff like this just isn't your vibe, because from this point forward, your emotional wellbeing is in your own hands, and I will not be accepting blame if you disregarded my warnings and ended up reading something you didn't like. Idk why I feel compelled to write one of these despite this being Resident Evil fanfic, but I figured I'd cover my ass just in case.

(AO3 link below:)

“Good evening, sir. Is there something I can assist you with, tonight? It’s quite late, and my mistress has already retired for the evening due to the strenuous nature of today’s events, so while I’m sure the good Lady Dimitrescu won’t be too terribly displeased if you’ve come with urgent news that requires her immediate attention, I’m afraid anything outside the realm of absolute importance will have to wait until morning, when my mistress will be better rested and therefore better able to address whatever concern you’ve brought” The low and smooth voice of an older teenage girl said, staring slightly downward at Salvatore with a level of such blank indifference that he would have wondered if the girl hadn’t seen him had she not outright greeted him upon opening the door.

With piercing red eyes, dark skin and long, black curls tied up neatly and carefully into two thick buns on either side of the top of her head, and dressed in a pretty, but still practical dress, the older teen looked every bit as much the role of a dignified estate’s head servant as she acted, right down to the pencil straight stiffness of her body. Despite how uncomfortable the stiff position looked to Salvatore, the subtly bold way she carried herself did give the older teen an air of confidence and reliability, however what it didn’t do was answer the multitude of questions flying around in Salvatore’s head about who she was, and more importantly, where she came from.

And then it hit him.

“Y-you’re… Alcina’s g-gift… aren’t y-you?” Salvatore asks aloud, though seemingly more to himself than the girl standing in front of him. Said girl furrows her brows in confusion for a moment before huffing in, what appeared to be, mild offense. Though what on earth Salvatore could have done to offend the young teen, he had absolutely no idea.

“I have no idea what you mean when talking about these so called “gifts”, however I think it's important for you to know that I am a very busy woman with a great many things to do, so if this is all some kind of sick game you’re playing to waste my time then I’m going to have to politely ask that you take your rotten whale behind and go throw yourself into the nearest body of-”

“Anastasia?” a low, feminine voice booms from somewhere behind the older teen standing before him. The girl immediately stiffens, her skin around her nose and cheeks darkening even further, her eyes growing wide and her breath catching in her throat as she turns around. Immediately abandoning Salvatore at the still open front door, the young servant clumsily made her way further into the room before disappearing out of the narrow view the hooded man had been given of the castle through the crack in the door.

Taking a step forward and opening the door enough to slip inside, making sure to close it securely behind him, Salvatore lingered along the walls of the room, merely observing the events before him unfold as the young girl, Anastasia, quickly moved to stand in the center of the circular design on the floor of the entrance hall. Waiting for her on the landing at the top of the stairs was none other than the lady of the house herself, Alcina Dimitrescu, standing as tall, proud, and intimidating as Salvatore last remembers, though it would appear that the disfigured man’s fear of the much larger woman was not shared amongst everyone in the room.

“Y-yes Lady Dimitrescu! Is there something I can do for you this evening, my Lady?” Anastasia asks, hands clasped together in front of her and eyes blown wide at the gargantuan woman leering from above, like a lovesick puppy dog waiting for a command from its beloved owner. Eager to perform. Eager to please.

“Why yes, my sweet, I was just wondering what on earth all that racket was and if it could wait until morning to be finished? The girls and I have had quite the taxing day and I do so wish to retire to the sound of peace and quiet” Alcina coos warmly, causing Salvatore to pause in confusion.

“Oh goodness, I apologize, mistress. It’s just that there was a visitor at the door and despite my repeated attempts to convince him to come back when you were rested, he insisted upon making a nuisance of himself. Please forgive me if my attempts to preserve your restful evening were for naught” the girl said sadly, bowing deeply in apology as she continued to speak.

Alcina practically purrs in delight at the teen’s polite, but genuine behavior. “Fear not, my dear, I had only just taken off my earrings when I heard the commotion. I came out here merely to see if things were getting out of control, but it would appear as though you’ve handled things perfectly.”

The girlish blush on Anastasia’s face only darkens in color as the young teen casts her adoring gaze to the floor, joyous glee from having been praised by her mistress evident all over the younger girl’s body.

Not wanting to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary, especially if this is what he’d have to witness the whole time, Salvatore gathers all of his strength and uses it to clear his throat and take a step forward, revealing himself to both women as he gingerly comes out into the light.

“YOU!” Anastasia yells, immediately turning on her heel and making a beeline toward the increasingly anxious Salvatore. “So not only have you made enough of a nuisance of yourself to disturb the lovely Lady Dimitrescu just as she’s about to retire and rest from a very long and taxing day, but now you’ve decided that you’re so above everyone else that you can just waltz right into someone else’s home without even the slightest hint of respect or admiration for the incredible woman living in it, how dare you be so crash and selfish you overcooked blowfish, exit this castle immediately, or I’ll shove my boot so far up your rear end you’ll be fishing around for it for weeks you-”

“Anastasia, calm yourself, dear” the loud, but calming sound of Alcina’s voice said, causing the young teen to pause in her angry scolding of Salvatore.

“My Lady?” The young teen asks, dutifully awaiting orders.

“Let the wretched man inside, he’s the furthest thing from a threat to us, even if he is an annoying little manthing. Although, I’d be lying if I said a visit from you at this hour of night is something I’ve come to expect of you, dearest elder brother.”

The disfigured man swallowed thickly as he stepped past Anastasia to fully face his other younger sister, who looked all the more intimidating from her looming perch upon the upper story.

“I-I know this is s-sudden…” Salvatore begins, hoping he’d at least be able to explain himself before Alcina tossed him back outside on his ass.

“I’ll certainly say” Anastasia bursts in angrily, but she’s quickly silenced and sent away to tend to her other duties by Alcina, who motions for Salvatore to ascend the large set of stairs leading up to the rest of the castle and join her on the landing for a moment.

“Spunky little thing, isn’t she?” Alcina says when Salvatore finally makes it to the top of the stairs, panting slightly as he follows the much taller mutant’s gaze to the door that Anastasia had just exited the room from.

“Th-that’s certainly… one way… o-of putting it” Salvatore stutters, not wanting to offend Alcina by calling her servant rude, but clearly not seeing what’s so great about someone who just yells at you a lot the second you walk through the door.

“Yes! She apparently received a strain of cadou that was quite similar to mine, however her need to consume blood to maintain herself is far more similar to that of leeches. Rather than having to consume it regularly in smaller doses, like myself, she’ll only require one feeding every few weeks or so, which I thought was quite interesting. The only issues Mother Miranda brought up was the fact that her hunger, if it gets bad enough, can trigger both her transformation, as well as some sort of feral and animalistic meltdown that only ends once she’s finally had her fill. Apparently more than a few villagers were lost in the process of learning this information” Alcina comments casually, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Mother only brought her over earlier today, just before dinner, and yet she’s already managed to carve quite the little space for herself here. I hadn’t realized how dirty this place was without any girls left to take from the village until she went through and washed all the walls in the west wing spotless. It was like night and day, I could hardly believe how open and bright the halls looked” Alcina stated.

“W-wow… so th-then… d-do you think y-you’ll keep her a-around… long term?” Salvatore asks curiously, craning his neck so he could get a better look at his sister’s face.

“Perhaps. I’m certainly thinking about it. Not only is she an incredibly hard and fast worker, but she’s also got such a lovely spark of energy and excitement to her, and she’s always very polite and respectful, if a bit obvious in her “admiration” of those she looks up to… not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily. It’s quite sweet, actually!”

“S-she did look… q-quite taken… by y-you” Salvatore comments, having noticed the girl’s far-too-eager-to-be-innocent disposition when Alcina was in the room, vs. when it was just him. Not that it was a terribly surprising turn of events. Alcina, for all her monstrous height and sheer mutant bulk, was still a very beautiful, and very desirable woman at the end of the day, meanwhile Salvatore was only about 2 rolls of the genetic dice away from sharing a more recent common ancestor with the blobfish than he did humans.

“I know, isn’t she adorable? She came exactly like this, too. Mother Miranda has no idea if this is a result of the mutation process or if it's merely her former personality finally returning now that she’s awake and out of containment, but I suppose the logistics of things aren’t really important in the end. I'm so glad I chose her over the other two, I don’t know what I would have done had such a promising and delectable little morsel like her go to waste on the rest of you imbeciles” Alcina coos in amusement. “Regardless of what Mother Miranda said however, I was almost certain this whole “gift” situation was going to be nothing more than a pile of useless drivel that I’d be left to clean up all on my own once the novelty wore off, however after having Anastasia here for these past few hours, and seeing all that she’s willing and capable of doing, I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps I’d been too hasty in my final decision.”

“Funny… K-Karl thought m-much the… th-the same thing i-initially… w-when I t-talked to him… th-the other day… th-though… knowing him… I doubt h-he’s having q-quite as much… of a ch-change of heart… as you a-are” Salvatore said suddenly, more than anything due to the incredible shock that was the concept of Alcina and Karl sharing a similar opinion, at the same time, while both occupying the same dimension of reality.

Alcina’s face immediately turns sour at the mention of Karl. “Oh, did he now? That’s an unfortunate thing to learn,” she says in annoyance, clearly displeased by the notion of agreeing with Karl on anything.

“Y-yes… he… he th-thinks that maybe… M-Mother might b-be using the g-gifts… to d-distract us w-while she’s g-gone away… o-on her mission… b-but that maybe… sh-she also wants… s-something else out of a-all this… something… th-that she isn’t t-telling us… f-for some reason” Salvatore explains, unsure if he should be revealing all this information to Alcina, notorious and open critic of Karl and quite literally everything the younger man has ever done and said, is doing and saying, and will do and say sometime in the span of his chaotic lifespan.

Contrary to what Salvatore assumed, however, instead of looking bored and uninterested in what Karl thought about this whole situation, Alcina looked just the slightest bit… intrigued, if still clearly wary. “Really? And what, pray tell, does our dear sweet little brother Heisenberg believe will come of this whole situation then? Did he say?”

“H-he… he never m-mentioned anything s-specific… but he th-thinks that the g-gifts… might p-play a l-larger role… in all th-this… than M-Mother has been l-leading us to believe.”

“I see,” Alcina says, remaining silent for a moment as she thinks, looking almost concerned by what she’s heard. “And what do you think of this whole mess, Salvatore?”

“U-um… well… I-I think it’s nice… th-that Mother trusts us e-enough… to g-give us her p-previous experiments… and u-use them however w-we want… b-but I’d be l-lying if I s-said… that I d-didn’t think Karl… was o-onto something… I-I don’t know w-what I believe to be t-true a-at the moment… but I d-do know… th-that I’d like t-to give… g-give a gift of m-my own… to Nadine… and that… and that y-you might be… s-someone else who c-could help me… w-with that” the hooded man explains nervously, hoping that Alcina was in a good enough mood to feel like humoring him and his sudden request.

“Nadine?” The tall, pale woman asks in confusion, before suddenly nodding in understanding. “Ah, your gift…”

Salvatore nods. “D-Donna… is f-fashioning a n-new dress… for her… a-and even gave me… this b-beautiful nightgown… to hold h-her over until… until the real one is c-complete. I th-think she w-will… e-enjoy the nightgown b-but… but I’d like to… l-like to get her something else t-too… like a… like a necklace… a-a gold one… o-one that w-would… c-complement her skin tone… j-just right.”

Alcina briefly stares at Salvatore with a blank expression, momentarily making the hooded man worry that he’d overstepped his boundaries and said something to offend the much larger woman. His nerves are thankfully calmed when Alcina turns and orders Salvatore to follow after her, which the disfigured man happily does if it means what he thinks it means.

The two siblings arrive at Alcina’s personal chambers just as Anastasia is exiting them, her arms filled by a large basket of blood soaked towels and clothes, some collected from Alcina’s room, the others likely from either Bela, Cassandra, or Daniela’s rooms.

“Good evening, Lady Dimitrescu! Are you finally retiring for the evening?” Anastasia asks, bowing cheerfully as she finally notices her mistress approaching her. “I’ve already gone ahead and prepared your bed for you, as well as collected all the soiled laundry from today’s harvest. Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?”

“Thank you, my dear, but not quite, I have one more matter to attend to before I fully turn in. Since you were so kind to offer however, I would greatly appreciate it if, once Lord Moreau and I are finished with our affairs, you would be so kind as to escort him to the front door and bid him a good night, for me. You are free to retire to your own chambers for the evening once he’s left” Alcina orders softly, which the young girl obediently nods her head to.

“Of course, mistress, thank you very much! And I’d be happy to see Lord Moreau out for you, so please don’t hesitate to call me once you’re finished with your meeting” Anastasia says, bowing lowly to both Alcina and Salvatore before wordlessly skittering off to do… whatever it was she planned on doing to those dirty garments.

“Now, about that gift you were talking about” Alcina says upon entering her personal bedroom, immediately striding over to her vanity and beginning to sift through several boxes worth of jewelry, “you said you wanted gold, correct? And a necklace specifically?”

“Y-yes! I-if you have anything y-you’re willing to… g-give away… of course… I’d feel t-terrible taking something i-if it meant a g-great deal to you” Salvatore answers, standing awkwardly in the doorway as he waits for Alcina to return to him with whatever she finds.

Of all 3 of his siblings, Alcina was the one Salvatore was easily the least close to, despite having been the only two around for a considerable amount of time before the eventual arrivals of both Donna and then Karl. It wasn’t that Salvatore was displeased when Mother Miranda first informed him that he’d be getting a “sibling” all those years ago, but Alcina’s natural personality, coupled with her terrifying size and strength from the mutations, had made the very meek and timid Salvatore hesitant to reach out and form any kind of sibling bond with the younger woman, like he had with Karl.

Karl was a royal pain in the ass to deal with on even his best days, but at the end of it all, there’s still only so much a 6 year old can do to you, anger issues and mutant metal bending powers or not. Alcina was both a royal pain in the ass to deal with more often than not, but also a fully grown adult when she first joined the family, so needless to say the 2 oldest siblings hadn’t been given very many appropriately opportune moments to bond or get along.

That being said however, the simple but elegant golden locket that Alcina procures from one of her many boxes of jewelry has Salvatore wondering if maybe he had misjudged Alcina, having never expected her to show him something as luxurious and real-looking as this, especially when the understanding was that she’d be giving it away whatever item of jewelry Salvatore took a liking to.

“This is an old locket I received for my 3rd birthday from a relative who died long before I was old enough to care about who they were, though all those diamond star details on the front do make me think they could have been close with us at one point, or perhaps they just had that much money to throw around? It’s an old and well-loved piece of my collection, but Duke has been bringing back such wonderful treasures from his travels that I just have to start getting rid of some of these old sentimental trinkets so I can make room for all the new additions I plan on purchasing once he finally returns” Alcina explains, gingerly handing the necklace over to Salvatore, who could do nothing but gawk at how extravagant and, to be perfectly honest, expensive the necklace looked.

With 4 small diamonds, likely real knowing Alcina, embedded into the surface of the locket’s front cover, surrounded by small engravings that give the glimmering stones the appearance of stars in the night sky, the necklace looked like it belonged upon the neck of a fair and noble princess, into which the radiant beauty could then place the photo of the man who’d stollen her innocent heart. Nadine wasn’t actually a princess and Salvatore all but gagged at the idea of a picture of his face, mutated or not, being put somewhere for anyone to see, however the necklace was far too perfect for the hooded man to possibly turn it down.

“So what do you think? Will something like this do?” The taller woman asks, curiously. “I could continue looking if that isn’t quite what you’re after, however if that is the case, then I would like to politely request that you come back and look at them tomorrow. It's already so late and I’d have to have the rest of my collection fetched from the vault downstairs.”

“N-no no… th-that’s alright… this i-is perfect… thank y-you… Alcina… this w-was very k-kind of you to do… f-for me” Salvatore says, carefully tucking the glittering necklace into the bag Donna had placed the nightgown in.

“Don’t fret about it too much, I only did it because I had a bit of time to spare prior to going to bed, and you happened to catch me in a good mood. That’s it” Alcina states firmly, though something in the back of Salvatore’s head can’t help but take the taller woman’s words with a grain of salt, feeling as though there was more to Alcina’s sudden generosity than just pure coincidence. “Besides, who knows what gaudy thing you’d have shown up with had you not made the surprisingly wise decision to invoke Donna’s and my vastly superior knowledge of the feminine experience. I don’t even want to think of what tacky little trinket you’d have tried to gift her. Why the thought of that alone is enough to make me want to run for the hills, how on earth do you think your poor little gift would have felt? I’d have had to murder you on the spot if I found out you tried to pass some disgusting pile of garbage off as an appropriate gift. In fact, if I didn’t know that Donna was working on a more fitting dress for her already, I’d have half a mind to skin you alive for only having a flimsy nightgown to take back with you, but I doubt any of the dresses I have, that would be appropriate to wear with that kind of necklace anyways, would come close to fitting her, and I really do want to start making room for some newer, more exciting pieces. So, with all that in mind, count your blessings that the stars have aligned in your favor tonight, dear brother, because I won’t be doing this for you again… unless, you’d be willing to do me a few favors in exchange for some of the other pieces of my collection, that is.”

Aaaaaaaaaaand there’s the Alcina that Salvatore knows and secretly likes. In vehement denial that she feels anything positive for her 3 siblings and also actively trying to get someone else to do her dirty work for her. It's certainly not how the hooded man prefers to operate, but he supposes that if Alcina can somehow convince everyone around her to do all of her work for her, why wouldn’t she take advantage of that as much as possible?

“I-I think that’s e-enough… for t-tonight actually… maybe i-if I decide I’d l-like to get her s-something else… I’ll c-consider that offer y-you brought up” Salvatore says, bowing politely to his sister as he makes his desire to leave obvious.

Thankfully, Alcina seems more than happy to send her older brother on his way, calling Anastasia to come lead Salvatore back to the front door so he could finally begin making his way home.

“Th-thank you again… Alcina… I really a-appreciate this… an-and I'm sure Nadine w-will love the gift t-too” Salvatore says just as he’s about to bid Alcina goodnight and begin following the young servant girl.

“Yes, yes, you’re very grateful of my wondrous kindness to you, I know, you’ve made that fact more than clear already, brother” the taller woman says with an only mildly annoyed roll of her eyes as she stands just outside the door to her chambers. “Just make sure you don’t waste the opportunity my graciousness has afforded you, do you understand?”

Salvatore stiffens nervously as Alcina shoots him a pointed look that screams ‘don’t fuck this up or I’ll fuck you up’, a threat which the hooded man knows she’ll make good on, should Salvatore make it necessary for her to do so. Salvatore wasn’t sure how Alcina had picked up on the nature of his budding affections for Nadine so quickly, or how she seemed to instinctively know what he was planning despite having never asked directly, but clearly she’d noticed something and was now in the process of making the matter of whether Salvatore successfully courted his gift her business.

Heavens above have mercy upon whomever is unlucky enough to have their problematic situation noticed and meddled with by Alcina Dimitrescu.

“Y-yes… I u-understand… an-and I’ll be s-sure not to w-waste... waste the g-golden opportunity you’ve g-given me… OH! An-and Donna w-wants her mannequins b-back... too… sh-she wanted m-me to tell y-you” Salvatore replies, his anxiety only mildly calmed when Alcina makes a face at the mention of Donna’s yet-to-be-returned-still mannequins.

“Oh for goodness sakes, I always forgot about those stupid things. Anastasia?”

“Yes, Mistress?” The young servant dutifully answers.

“Please make a note to remind me to have Heisenberg come by so he can collect and return the manequins Donna leant me while I was commissioning some dresses from her earlier this month. That foul-mouthed mutt owes me a favor, and so if all goes the way I’d like I’ll be making this his problem in the morning” Alcina says devilishly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Of course, Lady Dimitrescu, I’ll be sure to remind you of that first thing tomorrow morning” Anastasia replies warmly, though her amicable grin is quickly replaced by a flush and a girlish giggle when Alcina waves and turns on her heel, swaying her hips in an obvious fashion before bending down to enter through the door of her chambers.

Salvatore passed exceptionally confused glances back and forth between his sister and the young servant standing in front of him, totally clueless as to what just unfolded a moment ago as a feeling of disgust, the kind you get when you see something you wish you hadn’t, began to curl in the pit of his stomach. Whatever it was that was going on in the Dimitrescu house, and more importantly with their new servant girl, it was clearly none of Salvatore’s business. Not that he’d wanted it to be in the first place.

Salvatore had enough problems to deal with regarding his own gift, he didn’t have time to worry about whether or not Alcina was already making moves on hers.

“Have a safe journey home, and do make sure to stop by with Nadine if things turn out well between the two of you. Based on how today played out, it would seem as though things are about to get a lot more interesting around here… and a lot more fun too. Goodnight, Dear Brother” is all Alcina says before gently closing the door to her chambers, effectively ending their conversation without so much as a single word from Salvatore, not that he minded being handed the chance to finally get out of here, especially after… whatever the hell that exchange between Alcina and Anastasia was.

Best not to think too hard about it, probably, especially when there was another woman back at the reservoir who was much more deserving of Salvatore’s lustful and impure musings.

“Uuum… the front door is this way… Lord Moreau,” Anastasia says suddenly, her face still dark from embarrassment, though whether it was from her earlier treatment of him before she learned he was another Lord and not just some random man from the village, or from… that thing he just saw that he doesn’t feel like thinking about anymore, the hooded man couldn’t tell.

Nor did he particularly care to find out.

[pikapikabishes]

It's Okay Now(Kirishima x gn!Reader)

Disclaimer: all characters rightfully belong to their original creators, only thing that is mine is the plot. Also do not copy my writing. Thank you

Summary: Class 3A's Y/n was having a jolly day hanging out with the BakuSquad, including her amazing bf of over 6 months, Eijirou Kirishima, even with all the stress piling up, like a shaken soda bottle ready to burst, until said explosion finally happened. Triggered by the littlest, probably stupidest event

Warnings: anxiety (?), panic attacks, not eating for days, mentions death, suggestive themes, a bit of swearing

Mentions: mental breakdown, overworking oneself, starvation, hyperventilating, ugly crying, kiri being absolutely biggest sweetheart, daddy!Kiri breifly

A/n: this is my first fic on Tumblr so please be nice, and if you enjoyed it, like and comment

Everything hurt. My head, my eyes, my chest, my mind. I don't even know what happened. One minute I'm perfectly fine, having a good time with my friends, the next I'm in this situation.

Im sitting in the middle of my dorm on the floor, crying and sobbing over the smallest thing. I admit being stressed with everything going on in my life; with upcoming school exams , training every single day to improve my ultimate moves, and the biggest clicher... my dad's passing a couple months prior.

This whole time I've just been bottling it all up, trying my hardest to put up a brave front as to not worry my mom, who already has a lot on her plate, my friends and boyfriend, Kirishima. To be frank, I haven't even told my class or Kiri, keeping a bright smile as to not hint them in on my life crashing down around me. Some days are easy to keep up my smile, to let my mind focus on something else, and then there are harder days when everything reminds me of my dad.

I was real close to him, we did a lot of fun stuff together; going to amusement parks, going out to see movies we both were really excited to watch, going out to eat at our favorite restaurants.

It still doesnt feel real after all this time. It felt just like yesterday he was perfectly fine, we were celebrating my grandma's birthday, and literally the next day, I find him stiff and eerily still in his bed. And then everything crashing down on me as the paramedics regretfully tell me that my dad was no longer of this world, when I sob into the phone to my mom that my dad was gone, when I listened to my grandma's wails as my mom told her of her son's passing.

It all felt so surreal, like if I go over to see my grandma at her house, I'll see my dad sitting there in the living room, greeting me with his smile and warm hugs and kisses.

I sob harder as I remember all the times we watched Disney movies and me crying at some scenes as my dad happily comforts me. Buying me a toy from one of the movies I adored at the time. Him gifting me a puppy when he moved into a new neighborhood and I didnt have anyone to play with.

My head's pounding, a deep pressure in my brain, as I clutch tightly to the same doll he bought me all those years ago. My screams silent as I try to keep my classmates from finding me in such a pathetic state and worrying about me, my brain not processing that everyone was still at school. I fought to take control of my emotions again, wanting to be strong for my mom, grandma, and my friends. Unknowning of the pace of my breathing as I desperately tried to grasp my emotions.

My stress and anxiety climbing higher with each panicked breath. All those late nights I stayed up studying as much as I can for the midterm exams, catching up to me. I even forsaken eating as to study so I can at least get a passing grade. And the times I didnt spend studying was spent training to try and get my mind to focus on anything rather than fully face the reality that I no longer live in a world with my dad in it.

When was the last time I had a fulfilling meal? Three days?? And the time before that?? I dont even remember, the pounding in my head preventing me from thinking too much. All I can think about is what caused this stupid meltdown in the first place, my frustrations climbing higher with my stress and anxiety.

~~~

Today was one of those days where it was hard to keep up my smile for people. In an attempt to cheer myself up, I made myself the same lunch my dad and I used to make together for later, excited to eat as this was my first actual meal in days.

As I stroll down the hallways to meet up with Kiri and the rest of the BakuSquad, someone in a rush, bumps into me full force, causing me to fall and drop my lunch on the floor. I only had a moment to grieve as I see my precious lunch splattered all over the floor before the person that bumped into me uttered a measly, rushed "sorry" before hurrying on their way, stepping my lunch in the process.

I stayed there in my position on the floor, looking at my lunch with grief. I know it was stupid to start crying over something that can be replaced with something else that Lunch Rush made, but there the crocodile tears were. My heart and mind had wanted that lunch.

Without thinking I got up and ran out of school and towards the dormitories, deaf to the calls of my fellow 3A classmates and the incoming call on my phone.

~~~

I was brought back to the present by the sound of pounding coming from my dorm door. I was still fighting for control, not able to send a reply without my sobs mixing in with my voice.

"Y/n? Are you okay?" A familiar voice sounded through the door. Of course it would be Kiri to be checking up on me. "I tried calling you to see where you were, but you didn't answer. Tsuyu told me she saw you running off upset when I went to go looking for you."

For some reason I sobbed harder, barely able to keep quiet.

"Princess/Prince, please tell me what's wrong, I'm getting really worried."

He stayed quiet for a moment, anxiously waiting for my response. And of course my body betrays me when an ugly sob wracks through my very being, unable to quiet it down.

"Princess/Prince, are you crying?!" Kiri's voice carried his panic and worry. "I'm coming in!" He warned before slamming the door open.

I barely raised my head to meet his worried crimson eyes as his giant frame took up most of the doorway, frozen. His expression falls at the sight of the giant crocodile tears running down my face, distress written all over my expression.

Without saying anything, he rushed over to my side, his big, warm hand landing on my back, immediately rubbing gentle circles as to comfort me.

"Baby, what's wrong? Tell me," he asked, voice trying to soothe me. I shook my head, unable to say or utter a word and I dropped my head again, breathing erratic. "You're hyperventilating, baby. You need to try and calm down a bit."

More sobs was the only thing I responded with. Hearing some shuffling, a moment passed before a soft calming melody sounded through the storm in my mind, along with the sound of gentle falling rain. It was the same several hour music track that I would usually listen to when something was bothering me.

I've always loved the sound of falling rain and ocean waves.

Kiri dropped his phone to the floor, letting the music wrap us in its soothing melody. He brought his hand to my cheek to gently bring my face up and face him. His expression sad as he gets a better look at my distraught, of the crocodile tears streaming down my face, of the deep sadness in my eyes.

Letting his other hand to join my face, he gently wiped away my tears as I tried to control my breathing. "Baby, you have to calm down. It's okay now, I'm here," he said in a gentle voice, bringing me up onto his lap, and wrapping his strong arms around me.

I clutch onto his uniform jacket, burying my face into his chest as I sobbed away, ruining his uniform with my tears and snot.

He gently rocked the both of us, bringing one of his hands up to my head as he softly brushed his fingers through my hair. "Shhh, baby. It's okay. It's okay," he whispered in my ear.

I don't know how long we sat there, listening to falling rain, Kiri rocking us, whispering calming words into my ear before my breathing was back to normal and my sobs turning into sniffles. Even long after I've calmed down, Kiri still held onto me tightly, grounding me from the storm whirling in my mind.

Only when I lifted up my head from his chest to look up at him did he give me a soft smile, reaching up to brush away strands of hair from my face and eyes. Then, Kiri reached over to his phone, pausing the music before turning back to me.

"Feeling better?"

I slowly nodded my head, my voice hoarse as I finally managed to give a reply, "Yeah, a little bit."

"What happened back there?" Kiri asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

Tears were already welling up in my (e/c) eyes, my bottom trembling as I fought to hold back the tears. Kiri reached up one hand to hold my chin, his thumb softly brushing my bottom lip.

"Please baby, I hate seeing you so distraught," he told me, eyes full of concern as he continued to stroke my bottom lip, as if trying to coax the words to come out, to explain what was paining me so much so he can fix it.

"I-" I stuttered, sniffling back the tears. "I miss him."

"Miss who, baby?" Kiri asked, confused.

"M-my dad," I said, voice now shaky as the tears started falling again. "I m-miss him so much."

Kiri seemed to come to the conclusion that I might have only been extremely homesick. "Why dont you go visit him today then? It's Friday, so you can just stay with him for the weekend."

I violently shook my head. "I-I can't."

"Why not, baby?" He started stroking my back again to try and comfort me.

"H-he died! Two months ago!" I sobbed, pressing my face to his chest again.

"Oh fuck. Shit, I am soo sorry baby. Why didn't you tell me?" Kiri asked, hugging me tightly to him. "I would've been there for you."

"I-I didn't w-want to w-worry y-you," I cried.

Kirishima started rocking us both again, his grip on me tighter as if trying to hold me together. "Of course I'm going to be worried baby. I have been worried about you. I noticed you've been distancing yourself for a while now, but I didn't want to make you talk when you weren't ready. God, I'm so unmanly, not realizing that you were in so much pain all this time." He placed his hand on top of my head. "I am sooo sorry, baby."

I sniffled, shaking my head. "D-Don't be. I w-was the one who d-decided not to t-tell any of you g-guys. I-it's not your f-fault."

"But why didn't you tell us baby? You know we all would've been here for you."

I shrugged. "I-I just wanted to be s-strong for y-you guys. I d-didn't want to w-worry any of you."

"Oh, babe." He pulled back enough to look at me. "You are strong. But it's okay to lean on us, on mee. Just because you're crying, doesn't make you weak. You're mourning, and its okay to cry when you're mourning. It just shows how close you are with your dad and how much you're missing him."

"But... But it feels like my fault though," I cried.

"What do you mean?" His brows furrowed again in confusion.

"I... I was there that night. The night he passed." I wiped at the tears even though it was fruitless with how the tears continued to fall. "We were all happily celebrating my grandma's birthday. We were all laughing. And I went to sleep a bit late that night. I noticed how his was position in his bed when I got up to use the bathroom, but I didnt think any of it. My dad sits in that position sometimes, and I know that he goes to sleep way later than me. And when I woke up at 11 the next morning because of my grandma calling for me, I got up to see what she needed. You remember, that my grandma cant really move around that well anymore?" I asked him.

Kiri nodded his head, remembering that I helped my grandma when the two of us had dinner with my dad and grandma. "So when I got up and headed towards her room, I saw my dad in the same position. But figured he must've just fallen asleep... Then I went to use the bathroom after helping my grandma, and when I looked closer, I noticed how swollen his feet were. I... I knew my dad was always sick and his legs getting swollen all the time, but... I-I just didnt think I'd find him like that." I cried, covering my mouth as another sob wracked threw me. "Vomit... All over the blankets and his bierd... A blood clot hanging from his nose-"

"Shhh, its okay, baby" Kiri hushed me, rubbing my back, "If it's too much for you, you don't have to explain anymore."

After waiting for my breathing to stabilize again, I continued, "I... I just feel like if I had checked up on him before I went to bed... Maybe... Maybe the paramedics would've been able to save him..."

Kiri grabbed onto my shoulders to pull me away so as to look me dead in the eyes with a stern look. "Y/n, listen to me. It is not your fault," he said firmly. "Okay? It is not your fault. Sometimes these things happen."

"But-" I started, but he cut me off.

"No but's. Okay? I know I havent known him as long as you, but I could tell from the first time I met him that he was soo proud of you. And probably still is." His words made me cry harder, my bottom lip trembling again as I tried to pull myself together in front of this amazing man in front of me. "There's no need to beat yourself up over this," Kiri said, pressing a kiss to my forehead as I started bawling my eyes out again. Kiri started rocking us again, holding me tight as I let out all my sadness and anguish.

"Shhhh... It's okay... Everything's will be okay..." He mumbled in my ear. "Let it all out."

We stayed like that for the next hour as I let out all my suffering, the scent of his cologne, the comforting words, and the sound of the music track all lulling me to sleep, my mind and body too heavy to fight it off.

~~~

I woke up to a dark room, the sun long gone over the horizon. I blearily blinked my eyes open, feeling my tears dried over the skin of my cheeks. All of a sudden, a warm hand slides under my shirt, rubbing a thumb on my stomach. A face was then buried into the back of my neck, a soft pair of lips kissing at the skin.

"Morning beautiful/handsome," came Kiri's sleep filled voice

"Mmnn what time is it?" I mumbled.

Kiri pulled away for a moment, turning to reach behind him for presumably his phone on my nightstand. Squinting at the glare of the phone, Kiri gave me an answer, "7 o'clock at night, so its just about dinner time." Dropping his phone back onto the nightstand, he resumed his position of spooning me, completely dwarfing my body with his giant frame. "You haven't ate lunch right?"

I shook my head. "Or breakfast. Or dinner last night. Or any meals for the past few days."

"What?" Kiri shot up, glaring down at me. "And the time before that?"

I shrugged, my brain too drained to think of a solid answer. "Couple days."

"Y/n!"

"I know, I know. I shouldn't be skipping my meals everyday. I should eat at least once a day."

"Is that why you look thinner? Cause you've been skipping your meals??!"

I shrug at him. "I was busy studying for the midterms. Besides I never went 3 days without eating something."

"That's not the point!" Kiri rubbed his hand down his face before looking at me with worry. "You shouldn't be skipping any meals or overworking yourself like this." He reached over to brush a lock of hair away. "Babe, my heart hurts at the thought of you not taking care of yourself."

I place my hand on top of his, leaning into his touch. "I know... I'm sorry. I didnt mean to worry you like this. I just... couldn't come to terms with reality so I busied myself to make me forget the pain. On the bright side I came up with this new, awesome ultimate move I've been dying to show you," I said with some excitement, trying to cheer him up.

He scowled sternly at me for a moment before sighing, shaking his head, any trace of worry and frustration gone from his face as a small smile took over his lips. "Alright fine." But then the stern look came back as he firmly told me, "But I'm not letting you skip any meals anymore, even if I have to force you to eat. And you're not doing no studying or training this weekend."

"Wait, but-" I tried to counter, stopped when the stern look in his eyes intensified.

"No if's, and's or but's. Unless its yours up in the air as I fuck you so hard you wont be able to do anything this weekend but relax."

I blushed and swallowed loudly. "Good, now wait here while I go get you a plate. Bakugou's supposed to be cooking tonight." He leaned down to plant a kiss on my lips. Then another. Then another and another before pulling away only slightly to look into my eyes with that familiar dark look in his eyes, a smirk forming on his handsome face. "Maybe I should grab you two plates. You're going to need it for fuel for tonight."

My faced burned as I realized what he meant. He chuckled darkly before standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll be back in a few. And you better be stripped down to nothing by the time I get back." Turning back towards me with a seductive look. "Don't you worry about a thing, baby girl/boy. Daddy's going to take real good care of you this weekend." Then he opened the door and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

I gulped loudly, already feeling that familiar heat down below.

It was going to a long weekend.

[buck-nialled]

Would you do a Niall imagine where the reader is a famous actress and she's doing an ig live and she walks into their room to see him lying in bed, clearly upset so she ends the live suddenly to cuddle him? Thank you! X

this blurb features a VERYhangry!niall. I would also like it to be known that how he acts in this is probably far off from how he would respond in real life. But the dialogue and action Niall presents in this is solely for the imagine’s plot/comedic purposes only. With that being said, I hope yall like it! 

Hangry - N. Horan Blurb

Five minutes into your live stream and over thirty thousand people were viewing you make an absolute buffoon of yourself trying to find something entertaining to you. Due to the virus festering all over the country, there was nothing to do except keep yourself hunkered indoors until further notice.

Many of your fans were disappointed at the fact that your show had to halt its filming in the middle of the season, a season who you and the cast of the show agreed was going to be “the best season yet.” To make it up to them, you decided to hop on the bandwagon and make a live stream like everybody else. You had even seen your boyfriend, Niall, make a few of his own. Speaking of—

“Go scare Niall.” You read aloud from the messages flooding in and laugh. However, your eyes flick over to the bedroom door in curiosity. This did not go unnoticed by the people watching, and soon most of them were cheering you on to follow the idea of the original commenter. You bite your lip deviously, taking a look at the closed door again. It had been quiet for a while, which made you wonder if he was even awake. The usual strums of a guitar and singing were not being picked up by your ears, nor his cheering over some golf match. Not even his laughter was booming behind that door, which had your brows furrowing.

“Okay,” you picked up your phone and brought it near your face, “he might be sleeping. So,” you stand up from your seat and begin quietly tip-toeing over to the bedroom door. “I’m going to peek inside, and he’s awake, then I’ll do it.” You inform the audience, who was encouraging every second of your evil actions. Slowly, your hand slid onto the door handle and turned it slightly, finger hovering over the “flip” function to share his reaction to you bursting into the bedroom. You cracked the door open silently and felt your face fall at the sight before you.

Niall sat on the foot of the bed that directly faced the door, head in his hands. He let out a small noise of anguish that nearly made your heart crack. You glanced back to your phone screen and moved your thumb to end the live stream altogether. Shoving your phone into the pocket of your sweatpants, you push the door the rest of the way open, and slowly approach Niall until finally sitting yourself down beside him.

His hands fell out of the temporary shield that was hiding his distressed features as soon as he felt the mattress sinking beside him. Upon turning to face you, a hand of yours was reaching up to brush back the hair matted to his forehead.

“Do you want to talk?” You ask cautiously, staring into his dejected eyes. His eyes glance at his surroundings in contemplation, and an aggressive huff passes from his mouth, but he shakes his head.

“No, it’s—actually…yes. Yes, I would.” He states, before twisting his entire body to face yours in a confrontational manner.

“Okay—”

“Because it’s fuckin’ ridiculous.” His tone was biting and sharp, which made your eyes widen. His voice was usually never stern, but quite the opposite: relaxed and sedate. It was a tell-tale sign that something had seriously crawled under his skin. “I called them—all of em’—every single one!” His statement was built off of all anger and no detail, leaving your mind to work the situation out like a jigsaw puzzle.

“Called who? Your family?” An agitated sigh leaves him as his hand comes up to pinch the bridge of his nose. You observed the rapid flare of his nostrils and clench of his other fist as he angrily muttered out his response.

“No.”

“Then who?”

“Like, the only decent place to eat out here! They fuckin’ closed like that. No warning whatsoever.” Niall grunts out with a snap of his fingers, while his hand returns to rub his jaw back and forth. Your jaw, however, almost unhinges from how far it drops.

“No, Niall…please don’t tell me you’re talking about…”

“I mean how can they do this? Without even letting their most loyal customer know! All I wanted was my Nando's chicken wrap and fries is that too much of an inconvenience?!”

“It is when there’s a worldwide pandemic happening outside our front door!” Niall only scoffs at your rebuttal and waves a hand at you.

“Please, love this is more important. I even asked them if I could pick-up, or if they can deliver, but nope—”

“Niall if I make you a chicken wrap and some fries will you quit whining?!” Silence follows your question, Niall standing stoic after his pacing. You raise your eyebrows at him, which elicits a small murmur from him.

“I mean, I guess that’s fine too…” You roll your eyes and take his hand to come to lay down with you in bed. You two lay back and rest your head against the pillows, Niall's arm holding you close to him. His heart was still racing from the near-meltdown he almost suffered on your bedroom floor, something you took notice of alongside his fingers tapping at your back without stopping. But with your hand rubbing up and down his chest soothingly, both slowed to a comforting pace.

“Feel better?” You loop a leg around his and entangle your bodies together, while he shuts his eyes in the soothing silence.

“Mhm.”

“Good.” You grin, placing your head against his chest and letting your own eyes fall closed. But the tranquil moment was short-lasting. Your eyelids peeled open when Niall began speaking again.

“So…when you said you’d make that wrap and stuff…exactly what time were you thinking?” And with a roll of your eyes, you slid out of bed to walk to the kitchen. The things you do for him, sometimes.

“I love you!” He shouts to your exiting figure.

“Mhm, we’ll see in the morning! You’re making breakfast!”

hoped yall found this cute! more can be found in my MASTERLIST!

[saiilorstars]

The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 23: By Love and Death 

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: The Originals

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

Requested tag: @queenmj10​

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Maleny finishes the arrangements for Hayley's wedding. Meanwhile, Freya Mikaelson endeavors to change Finn's mind whilst also revealing that she knows something about Maleny's and Klaus' past that nobody knows.

Because Maleny has been switched bodies once again, her temporary face claim is Adriana Louvier.

A disappointed Freya walked into a morgue where her brother's, Finn, corpse rested. She went towards the body and unzipped the body bag, sure enough finding Finn. After Elijah set the safe house on fire, Finn received several harsh burned injuries on the side of his body. She noticed he wore a necklace of hers, the blue pendant talisman, and smiled a little. There was still still a chance for him to survive...and fix the wrongs he had done.

~ 0 ~

Cami hopped out of the car she'd compelled for herself and rushed over to a payphone, all the meanwhile holding a crying Hope in her arms. She was only a mile away when she heard the safe house bursting into flames. As much as she wanted to go back and help Elijah, she knew Hope was their main priority. So, once on the road she compelled the first driver that stopped by and took the car.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," she fumbled to get some spare change from her pocket as she stood in front of payphone. She had to leave her phone back at the safe house as well and now she only hoped she had enough change for one stupid call to the Quarter.

Hope was crying harder, sensing something way off with her environment. On a chance, Cami dropped the quarters she'd managed to pull out of her pocket.

"Dammit!" she growled but then flinched as Hope's cries grew stronger, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry. You're being so brave, the least I can do is watch my…" she trailed off when she heard metal noises not too far. She clutched Hope to her chest and slowly looked around, "Whoever's out there, if you try anything, I will gouge out your eyes!" she called out into the dark, "You are not getting this baby!"

A minute later Elijah appeared, in torn clothes and practically covered in ash, "Your threats are getting better…"

"Oh thank God!" Cami ran to him in relief and hugged him with one arm, "What the hell happened back there? I saw the flames and I wanted to go back but I had Hope and I...I'm sorry I left."

"You did exactly what you were supposed to do," Elijah smiled at her, pulling away from their hug to hurry her towards the car, "But now we have to go."

"I don't care as long as we're together!" Cami blurted before thinking and soon found herself flustered, "I meant as in, we're like-"

Amused, Elijah just opened the door of the car for her, "I understand," Cami graciously climbed in and tried to focus on the bigger problem instead of her bluntness for words.

~ 0 ~

In the ballroom of the compound, decorators and caterers were busy preparing everything for the wedding that night. As Hayley and Jackson entered the room, they were awed by what would become their party. When Klaus had offered the place as the site for the wedding they were under the belief it would just be a simple get together...never in their lives did they think this would be happening.

"Ohhhh, I so do not belong in your world," Jackson commented as he moved up to a table and looked at the elaborate center piece.

Hayley scoffed, "My world? Give me some credit. I'm not exactly the girl who sat around fantasizing about her wedding day. And, if I had…" she motioned to the caterer passing by with a rather large wedding cake, "... it probably would have looked a little less than that."

Maleny entered from the other side of the ballroom, sheepishly smiling at the two, "Sorry, sorry, was this too much?" she'd been tasked to prepare for the wedding and since this was practically the only thing she was doing for some time she wanted it to be spectacular.

"You did this?" Hayley comically asked and pointed to the tables.

"Yeah," Maleny made a face, awaiting for some type of scold, "Klaus told me I could do it but I really know he's just trying to come up with ways to distract me from having another meltdown."

Hayley walked up to the brunette woman and hugged her tight, "I'm sorry I haven't been here for you."

Maleny smiled and hugged back, "Hey, you were busy with your wedding rituals. You can't exactly leave that for a girl who has a knack to get swapped bodies."

Hayley pulled away and sadly smiled, "This wedding will help you too, I promise. It's just for the moment, you know..."

Maleny sighed and moved to the table Jackson was at, "No offense, but your wedding won't help me. I just want to be placed back in body. It's like...it's like my entire world has been turned upside down again. The last time, it was my fault - I chose to go into a curse. But this time...I hate Finn Mikaelson. I detest him."

"Hey, it will all get fixed," Hayley tried to start but Maleny shook her head and raised a hand to stop her.

"Please, I'm tired of hearing the same things," she pulled on a happy smile for the bride and groom, but neither wolf bought it, "Today is not about me, not about curses. I'd like for today to be about this wedding which I will bust my ass off to make it perfect. I promise."

"Hayley," called Klaus, a minute later entering with a sneaky smile, something that put Hayley on edge for a min, "If I might intrude, there's someone who wishes to say hello."

At the motion to be followed, Hayley shared a look with Jackson before slowly going out to the courtyard. Maleny went after them, tugging Klaus' arm as she curiously asked, "What did you do?" she whispered, forgetting it did no good around supernatural hearing.

Klaus didn't say anything as Elijah and Cami walked into the courtyard from the entrance, Cami holding Hope.

As much as Hayley wanted to be incredibly happy to have Hope back her fear won over, "You brought them here?" she turned to Klaus, "Finn could be anywhere!"

"I've taken precautions," Klaus assured them, his devious smile alerting them he'd taken care of the immediate problem - the wolves, "There'll be no uninvited guests at your wedding, and after, your wolves will be the first line of defense to this home. No more running, Queen."

Hayley then wasted no time and ran to get Hope from Cami. As soon as she no longer held Hope, Cami went over to Maleny, whom she hadn't seen nor talked to in various days, and promptly hugged her.

"It's good to have you back," Maleny relished in her family moment.

"I am so sorry for not being here for you," Cami pulled away frantically and looked to Klaus, "What's the progress? Are you-"

Much like she'd done with Hayley, Maleny raised her hand for Cami to stop, "It's a wedding day and I don't want to keep talking about this. Please?"

Cami was momentarily surprised by the calmness in Maleny's tone, but she supposed after days of processing what happened to her Maleny was finally just going on to stage two: trying to live as normally as possible.

"Okay," Cami turned to the others, "So what do we do now?"

"We prepare for the wedding, that's what," Maleny announced with a clap of her hands, ushering everyone to get a move on, "Hayley, there's something Rebekah and I have to show you but since Rebekah is out helping Kol, it's up to me."

Hayley looked up from Hope with a curious face, "Well, what is it?"

"Right this way, Miss Marshall," Maleny left for the stairs, leaving Hayley to follow.

Cami watched after them while the others also began to dissipate. She waited Maleny to be long gone before she went after Klaus in the ballroom, "How's she doing?"

"Mal did just say the day was for Hayley's wedding," Klaus remarked with his usual sarcasm.

"Brother," Elijah called in his sharp tone that expressed irritation. He walked into the ballroom and stopped beside Cami, putting a hand on her shoulder, "She's been gone for days, tell her what she needs to know."

Klaus rolled his eyes at their dramaticness but nonetheless answered, "She's...better. She's not entirely there yet but I believe there's been progress."

"Based on having her coordinate a wedding?" Cami made a face, clearly unimpressed with the idea.

"Well, she has managed not to thrash anymore furniture pieces," Klaus smiled at them, amused at the faces both made.

"She thrashed furniture?" Cami blinked and looked at Elijah, "This is why I need to know things, you see!"

"Cami, she's fine," Klaus tried to say but Cami wasn't having it.

"She's not fine, Klaus!" the blonde snapped, "She's stuck in some body because your brother put her there! How the hell can she be fine-"

And now it was Klaus who lost it. He wasn't going to stand there and let some woman basically tell him he wasn't doing his job. "Do you think I not know that!?" he replied in a shout, startling her enough to have Elijah shift into a protective stance beside her, "I'm not an idiot, Camille, of course I know everything isn't fine with her! But the fact remains I don't know what to do at this moment! Forgive me for trying to bring in a little happiness into her life in the meantime I get a clue as to how to help her."

While Cami remained silent, unsure of how to respond, Elijah moved forwards, "We understand how difficult the matter is but-"

"You don't know!" Klaus snapped, growing more angry as the two tried to 'imagine' what it was like for him and Maleny at the moment. The more he thought about it the more furious he became, "Do not stand there and say you 'understand' because absolutely no one could understand! Do you know what it's like to stand in front of Maleny and tell her that I will figure it out while she is sobbing on the floor? Do you?" Elijah and Cami shared a silent look, defeated. Klaus' eyes landed on Cami for a minute, "I don't need a reminder that this is my family's fault," he coldly told her, "It's always been like that…but I will not allow you to assume that I have no care for Maleny's condition. Next time, I will forget who you are, Camille, and act."

~ 0 ~

"What are we doing, Mal?" Hayley relentlessly questioned as the brunette opened up her closet's doors. She had placed Hope on Maleny's bed while she remained at its side.

"Rebekah and I managed to find you a little something," Maleny chuckled as she pulled out a white bag from the floor of her closet. "Well, I say, me and her, but really I have no head for many things right now."

Hayley raised an eyebrow, "And just what is that little something? And remember, there's a baby present," she pointed a finger to Hope.

Maleny rolled her eyes and walked back to the two, pulling out a long, white laced wedding dress from the bag, "Ta-da! We absolutely refuse to let you get married in skinny jeans and combat boots," Hayley was awed by the beauty of the dress as she took it into her hands. Maleny took a seat on the bed and put Hope on her lap, both watching the brunette hybrid went over to the mirror to see the dress.

"Thank you," Hayley whispered minutes later, "It's beautiful."

"Well, it's actually one of Rebekah's. She's technically the only woman alive who's commissioned wedding dresses in five different centuries."

"And you?" Hayley looked back, startling Maleny with the question.

"Me?" Maleny blushed and pretended to play with Hope, "Wh-why would you ask me that?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Hayley sauntered back with the dress pressed against her body as she pretended to dance out in a waltz, "...could be because you've been living a love-story cycle for centuries?"

Maleny scoffed and fiddled with Hope's hand as she spoke to the baby, "I sure hope your mummy tells you better fairy tale stories than the ones she's read."

Hayley rolled her eyes and laid her dress on the bed, "C'mon, you're telling me a woman who knows how to throw a wedding like this one has never actually made it to the aisle?"

"I've never even been proposed to, Hayley," Maleny looked back at the brunette with a dim smile, "There was never time for such a thing. Either I was sacrificed first or Klaus had to run away because of Mikael. Either way, I ended up dead anyways. No weddings whatsoever."

"But what about now?" Hayley took a seat on the bed close to Maleny, wearing a mischievous smile, "I mean, you're kinda here to stay and I hear Klaus is like-" she took on a stereotypical teenage girl's voice, "-pretty into you," she dramatically rolled her eyes.

Maleny laughed for the first time a genuine laughter, "Hayley! What was that!?"

"What? I'm only saying," Hayley reached over to tickle Hope, "You can be Hope's new stepmom."

Maleny laughed lighter and blushed, shaking her head, "Honestly, Hayley, does Klaus look like the marrying type to you?"

"Up until you showed up I didn't consider him more than my one-night stand," Hayley shrugged then made a face, "It would be kinda weird seeing him at the end of the aisle…"

"It's even weirder imagining him actually getting down on the one knee," Maleny shook her head again, "I doubt that's gonna happen. Once upon a time, when were humans, things were far more simple but now...I honestly doubt that would happen. Besides, if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly myself right now," she gestured to her current body, "and until that's resolved I have no mind for anything else."

Hayley nodded, able to agree on that term. She looked back at her dress and ran a hand down through it, "Thank you for the dress - and for my wedding."

"You're welcome," Maleny smiled at her, "We're family after all. I mean, you may be marrying Jackson Kenner of the boozy backwater Kenners, but you're still my family. Though if Rebekah was here she'd tell you you were a Mikaelson."

Hayley's eyebrows raised up as she laughed, "And then I would say it's a nice compliment if only it didn't link me to so many homicidal lunatics."

"Why do you think I'm still Maleny Rowan?" Maleny pretended to raise an arm in question.

"Good call," Hayley took Hope from Maleny and set her on her lap, "Take a good look baby girl," she poke to the baby and pointed at Maleny, "Cos I guarantee you by the next year you'll have your brand new step-mommy," she waved Hope's small hand who giggled in response.

"Hayley!" Maleny cried, mortified yet still laughing.

"Maleny Mikaelson - has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Hayley continued to speak to Hope whilst ignoring Maleny's pleads to stop.

~ 0 ~

In her room, Cami sat on a rest chair sifting through her leather journal. On a whim thought, she reached for a pen on the table beside her and began to jot down some notes. She'd ignored her psychology work for as long as possible and now she thought it was probably the only thing that could make everything feel less...weird than it all was. Maybe it was time to get back on that. The knock on her open door made her sigh and look up from her journal, unsurprised to find Elijah waiting there.

"I know I have to apologize," she said her first thought as she assumed she knew what Elijah wanted from her at the moment, "but to be fair, Klaus owes me for many more things than he can count."

"Why don't we simply let the ordeal go?" Elijah suggested and came forwards, his eyes happily trailing the journal he gifted her. He liked seeing it was being put to use.

Cami followed his gaze and closed the journal, sheepishly smiling, "What did you need, Elijah?"

"I was wondering if you had already picked out something for the wedding tonight."

Cami raised an eyebrow and put her journal on her table before leaning back on her chair, "To be frank, I've got nothing. I've never actually been to a wedding, so I thought it might just be best for me not to attend. Besides, someone has to take care of Hope."

"Yes, and Amarrah has already volunteered herself for the task," Elijah informed as he reached down for Cami's hand, startling her as she was pulled to her feet, "and believe me when I say you will have absolutely no trouble acquiring your dress for tonight."

It took a minute to process what was happening but once Cami was led out of her room she was almost there, "Where are we going?"

"I figured you may have dressing problems so I went ahead and found a solution," Elijah looked at her with a broad smile, "An easy solution."

"And that would be…?"

Elijah came up to a closed room and promptly opened the doors to an old closet-like room. It was filled with ornamented boxes of all sizes, chests as well. Cami slowly stepped inside while Elijah went straight to large chests set on tables at the end of the room.

"Now these are Rebekah's gowns - some of them aren't even touched," Elijah explained as he opened one chest to reveal dozens of gowns inside, "Sometimes she was simply obsessed with having the 'best of the best' she forgot the most important thing: to wear them."

Cami was in awe at all the trinkets and chests around them. She had never seen so many things from the past - not even a museum could compete with this!

"Still, that's only better for you," Elijah had continued talking without noticing Cami's reactions, "There's plenty of gowns from which you can pick."

Cami met his look once he turned around, "Your family are packrats…" was the first thing that came to mind.

Elijah silently smiled, "I would think the same…"

"I mean it," Cami gaped as she walked by an old-fashioned phone, "Who the hell keeps a phone around?"

Elijah shrugged, really having no answer for that one. He gestured for her to look at the chests instead, "Feel free to try on as many as you'd like."

"Wow…" Cami reached in and touched a lavender gown, "...these are beautiful. I feel bad just touching them - you want me to wear one?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I hear Maleny has already come in to choose her own." Elijah nodded, slowly reaching for her hand on her side, "And, you know, it would be lovely if you would...accompany me to the wedding as a…"

"Date…?" Cami was already getting flustered with the idea, but it didn't strike her bad.

"I don't mind if you call it anything else, as long as you say 'yes' and be there with me," Elijah held their hands together between them.

The smile that broke across Cami's lips was something she couldn't contain, "O-okay...yeah," she nodded.

"Excellent," Elijah let her hand go and backtracked from her, "I'll leave you to get ready, then."

"See you then," Cami wiggled her fingers and chuckled as he returned the gesture. Once he was gone, she turned to the chests once more, utterly confused as to where to start with the gowns.

~ 0 ~

Later that night, while everyone was getting ready, Maleny was pulling out another shopping bag from her closet when someone knocked on her door. She looked back and smiled upon seeing Alton - the wolf man wearing a suit and neatly groomed.

"Wow," Maleny turned over, smiling, "you clean up well, you know. Yamilet's one lucky gal."

Alton bashfully smiled and came forwards, "You look amazing too," he gestured to her current gown.

It was a gold and beige tulle maxi dress with subtle sequins and beads forming vintage floral designs over it. The rest of the beds were scattered down on the skirt. It had a high neckline with ruffled, short sleeves. Her hair had been curled and left down. Around her neck was her golden necklace hanging freely.

Maleny looked down with a temporal smile, "Well, you're a little biased. This is your girlfriend's body so of course you'll think it looks good."

"I know this wasn't Yamilet's idea because she hates gold," Alton informed and made Maleny nervous for a minute, her hand placing itself over her chest, "But you look good, trust me,' Alton added with a comic laugh.

Maleny relaxed and smiled once more, "Thank you. It's difficult trying to find something for a body you don't own."

"So, has there been word from that estranged Mikaelson witch?"

Maleny pursed her lips together and shook her head, "No, and frankly I don't expect anything out of that woman. Nothing coming out of her mouth can be trusted."

"But she said she would help and she did look pretty honest to me."

"She can say what she wants but I just don't trust her if she's working with Finn. She's a complete stranger."

Alton couldn't disagree there and gave a shrug, "Well, maybe Amarrah can figure it out."

Maleny gave a slight nod and sighed, "I don't mean to be rude but can we please just avoid any of this body swap thing today? I don't...I don't want to talk about it."

Alton nodded, "Yes, um, so how about that groom, then? I bet he's having cold feet. You think he'd mind me helping out?"

"Not a bit. Jackson's a pretty good guy," Maleny gestured Alton to go ahead and seek Jackson, "He's across the courtyard."

Alton gave his thanks and headed out. After a minute or so, Maleny grabbed her shopping bag and headed out herself. She came into Hayley's room where Amarrah was now looking after Hope in the meantime Hayley got herself ready.

"Where's Hayley?" Maleny asked once she entered.

Amarrah looked up from Hope, both sitting at Hayley's bed, "She went out to see how Jackson was doing."

Maleny made a face, "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Not when it's a Unification ritual," Amarrah shrugged and fiddled with Hope until her eyes saw the bag on the bed, "What's with the bag?"

Maleny smiled widely, "A little present for the most adorable baby in the house," she took a seat beside Hope who was busy playing with a small teddy bear.

"She's the only baby in the house," Amarrah reminded with a sharp look.

"And the most adorable," Maleny insisted and tickled Hope.

Amarrah rolled her eyes and got up from the bed, "Can you look after her for a moment? I promised Rebekah I'd keep calling in to give tips for her and Kol."

"Of course," Maleny happily took Hope into her arms while Amarrah rushed off. Hope giggled as Maleny playfully used the teddy bear to tickle her stomach, "I think we should get you ready, don't you think? If only you were walking then you could be the beautiful flower girl. Hold on, are there flower girls in Unification marriages?"

Hope was staring at her with big blue eyes, only toothlessly smiling in return. Maleny chuckled and reached over for the shopping bag, "Either way, you'll be the cutest guest out there."

It was about ten minutes later that someone entered the room, "Mal? Maleny? Where the hell have you gotten into?"

"Hey, watch your tongue around your daughter," Maleny scolded Klaus as he came inside. She picked up the newly dressed Hope and giggled, "Okay, so I know Hayley said 'no pink' buuuut…" she turned around and allowed Klaus to see Hope in a pretty pink dress complete with a pink and white bow and white shoes, "...she has to make an exception for this right? Doesn't she look adorable?"

Hope gurgled as her small hands flapped over her head in an attempt to grab the bow. Klaus reached over to take his daughter into his arms, and sure enough, he agreed, "What has Mal done to you, Hope?"

"Hey," Maleny pretended to pout, "She said it was alright. She agreed she would look good in pink. Though I told her she'd look good in any color."

"Gets that from me, you know," Klaus flashed her a smirk.

Maleny rolled her eyes and fixed a part of Hope's hair, "She also agreed her father was a conceited man," she rose her gaze to meet Klaus' with her own smirk, "At which point I also agreed."

Klaus' smirk died at that moment. He followed Hope's leans to the bed and picked up her toy bear, "Good to see you're better, Mal," he remarked a minute later.

"Better, better, no," Maleny clarified first, "but I don't...I don't want to talk about it. I just want one regular day. One regular wedding - well, one regular Unification wedding. I don't want anything sad to come up."

"That sounds fair, and it's going to be like that, I promise," Klaus turned back to her with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Maleny thanked quietly. However her expression did say there was some doubt that could actually happen.

"I'm assuming you'll be down with the rest of the wolves in the ceremony?"

Maleny gave a small nod, "Yeah, sorry. You can sit next to me if you'd like?"

"Mm, best not. The wolves aren't quite fond of me," Klaus shook his head, "I'll stay a little farther away. But my eyes will always be on you my dear."

Maleny smiled. "Well, Alton is going to be with me and before you get any funny ideas in that dusty head of yours-"

"Dusty?" Klaus frowned, having to interject.

"Over a thousand years old - it's time to face it," Maleny laughed, "But like I was saying, Alton is going to be next to me and I want to clarify that he is not going to be a date for me. I'd rather not find him dead, or...with his head ripped off?" she tilted her head and had a knowing look on her face, "Much like the ones a little someone did earlier in the day? Care to explain?"

"Well first of all, that someone was not so little, and second of all what is there to explain?" Klaus shrugged and pretended to fiddle with Hope, "It was a wedding present."

"Your ideas of presents are way different than anyone else I've met," Maleny sighed and moved closer to him and Hope, "But, I guess, thank you - I heard one of those wolves was one of the three that attacked Alton and I. The girl?"

"I don't see why Alton couldn't have done what was needed to do be done at the moment," Klaus informed, still irritated with the issue.

Maleny chuckled, "Not everyone strikes to kill. But he did a good job protecting me."

Klaus scoffed, "Right."

Maleny began smiling as she saw traces of jealousy in his face, "For the love of God, why on earth would you be jealous? You're both doing the same thing and I thank you for that."

"Yes, but I'm the one who will be protecting you better," Klaus almost warned with the tone he used, "I will do what it takes."

"Believe me, I know that. And, if I wasn't in someone else's body right now you'd receive a very gracious kiss."

"That wasn't a bother in the previous dozen times," Klaus innocently reminded her.

"That's because I didn't know I wasn't in my body," Maleny reminded as well, "And I will respect this body for as long as I'm inhabiting it. She has a boyfriend, Klaus," she spoke softer once he rolled his eyes in mild irritation, "and he loves her very much."

"Fine," he grumbled, "but if he tries anything with you know that you will find his body missing the head."

Maleny laughed and took Hope from him, "I'll be sure to pass on the message. But I'm sure he's on the same page as we are. But you know who is immune to the rule?"

"Who?"

"Hope," she kissed Hope's head. Hope responded with a giggle and a random happy bite of her teddy bears ear.

"She's very lucky then," Klaus remarked quietly, wearing a warm smile.

Maleny looked at him and leaned forwards to kiss his cheek, "You can get one of those as much as you want, though," she rubbed her finger over his cheek to remove the smudge of lipstick she left behind.

While it didn't necessarily fill Klaus' desires he took it with a smile, "It's temporal, okay? I'll fix it, and I'll-"

Maleny placed a finger over his lips, "I don't want to talk about it, remember? It's a wedding day and a fun wedding I shall have. Okay?"

Klaus took down her hand into his and nodded, "Yes, of course," he kissed her hand afterwards, "and I've failed to mention you look beautiful tonight."

Maleny felt butterflies under his gaze, "I'm glad you like it. It belonged to Rebekah-"

"Yes, I remember her babbling on about how much she wanted this dress. And do you know what happened after she bought it?"

"Mmm?"

"She never wore it!"

Maleny laughed again, shaking her head. "That sounds like Rebekah, alright."

"But," Klaus brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed its back, "I think it was just waiting for the right woman to wear it."

Blushing, Maleny shook her head. "I hardly think it was waiting for a cursed woman to wear it. Do you know how difficult it was to cover up the fact I carry a mark near my clavicle? They just don't make those sorts of dresses anymore," she feigned a sigh. "But anyways, I think it's time we get you ready too. Black suit?"

"You can pick. I'm all yours, darling," he whispered in her ear, causing chills up her spine.

"I hate you," she mumbled and yanked him out of the room, ignoring his laughter.

~ 0 ~

"Clean up nice," Gia remarked as she stepped up beside Cami, both overlooking the ballroom that was slowly being filled up by the wedding guests.

Cami, who wore a long, sleeveless, baby blue gown with a high neckline and laced bodice, glanced at Gia with a bashful smile, "Thanks…"

"Gotta say though," Gia put a hand on Cami's arm, her eyes trailing the clearly expensive gown, "I didn't think psychology students had enough to afford it…

Cami cleared her throat and pushed her short, curled hair back, "I know, I know, it's way out of my league."

Gia lightly laughed, "I think it looks good on you, though. Love the color."

"Well I think you look great too," Cami looked over her friend's short, dark purple dress.

"I did my best," Gia pretended to pose and made Cami laugh. Gia ran a hand through her long, dark hair and dramatically sighed, "But you know, being a violinist doesn't make a lot of money. Still, I try."

Cami looked at Gia for a good minute before saying, "You're so dramatic," and both women shared a laugh.

"Camille," Elijah's voice made the two women sober up from their laughter. Once he saw the blonde vampire, he was awed.

Gia looked between the two with amusement, wondering which one would break the silence. Hoping to speed it up, she cleared her throat and excused herself, "I'll see you after the ceremony, Cami," she gave Cami a side hug and a polite smile to Elijah before leaving.

"You look wonderful," Elijah praised Cami's gown, the crooked smile on his face making Cami's breath hitch in her throat.

"Thanks," Cami looked down at her dress for a minute, "Rebekah has amazing taste in clothing. But I still stand by the packrat statement - that applies to all of you."

Amused, Elijah chuckled, "Maybe you can help us clear some things out, then."

"So, where are you going to sit at?" Cami sheepishly asked and looked out to the guests.

"I was thinking of a much better view," Elijah raised a finger to the balcony of the courtyard, "Care to accompany?"

Cami nodded and allowed him her hand, "Let's."

~ 0 ~

"This is too weird," Maleny whispered to Alton as they took their seats for the wedding. "Everybody is looking at me - aren't they supposed to be staring at the incoming bride?"

Alton chuckled, but didn't try to at least make it seem like she was wrong. It was difficult to hide the fact that many of the guests were casting her, and sometimes Alton, odd looks, as well as those awed. Maleny knew she was probably the talk of the wolf century - she had taken over the body of one of their own because of Finn Mikaelson. She, a witch, stealing mortal lifetime from a woman?

"Mal?" they heard a distinctive voice behind them. Maleny turned around to find Davina, looking quite pretty in her short dress, and who was staring right at her. "Mal…?"

Maleny knew Davina hadn't yet seen her newest body and was unsure if she was addressing the right witch-in-a-werewolf body. Though still mildly crossed with Davina for their past differences, Maleny spoke to the teen calmly.

"It's me," Maleny confirmed, and just as Davina's eyes teared up she quickly added, "And please can we skip the sad part about this? I told everyone I wanted this to be a good day."

"Okay," Davina agreed and swallowed down her tears. But that didn't stop her from abruptly hugging Maleny, "I promise I'll help Amarrah in anyway that I can. I'm sorry for everything and I'm-"

Maleny smiled warmly and hugged the teen back, "It's okay. I told you, now that you have something with Kol you'll understand my situation better. But for now, please," she pulled away, "let's just enjoy the wedding, yeah?"

Davina nodded and looked down, shyly asking, "Can I...sit next to you guys?"

"Of course," Maleny gestured for her to follow after Alton and her, "And by the way, that's Alton," Davina sheepishly shook hands with Alton, "He's the boyfriend of the actual woman of this body."

"Complicated," Alton shrugged. Davina agreed and chuckled, meanwhile Maleny took her seat between the two.

The ceremony soon began, the orchestra played and the bride and groom walked down the aisle. They separated at the two staircases to go up to the balcony. Jackson's grandmother, Mary, waited at the end of the balcony to conduct the ceremony.

"Please, be seated," Mary instructed the guests once Hayley and Jackson had reached the altar, "We gather together as a community seeking peace, inspired by this couple standing before you. There was a time when werewolves saw themselves not as cursed, but blessed with connection to our most pure selves. And tonight, we honor that blessing with the long-awaited unification of the two Crescent bloodlines," Mary bonded their wrists together with baby's breath flowers, "In doing so, we choose to embrace Hayley's vampire nature. With this union, Hayley will share her unique gifts with her pack," she long lit match into the pair's hands so they could light their ceremonial candle, "And now, your vows."

Jackson tool a deep breath as he went first, "I pledge to honor you and defend you and yours above all others."

"To share in blessings and burdens. To be your advocate, your champion," continued Hayley.

"To be your comfort, your sanctuary, and for as long as we both shall live."

"To be your family."

"To be your family."

The pair smiled at each other as they lighted their candle together.

Mary looked at the pair proudly, "You two have endured all the traditional werewolf rituals and trials. There is only one remaining. Jackson, you may kiss your bride."

While Jackson was afraid to do so Hayley lightly laughed until he took a deep breath and went for it. As they pulled away from their kiss, both their eyes glowed golden signifying the Unification Ceremony worked. With a smile, they looked out to the guests and saw the same thing happening.

Davina was smiling as the guests happily cheered for their victory. She was a little startled (even releasing a little 'oh!' in the process) when she saw Maleny's eyes glowing bright golden just like them.

Maleny looked in awe as she raised a hand to her face. "This feels weird…" She could actually feel all the new strength and power cursing through her blood and veins.

Up above, across the courtyard, stood Klaus on his own, watching the guests chattering happily. His eyes were trained on Maleny though, relieved to see her stronger than ever. She would not be such an easy target for Finn or anyone else anymore. Best of all, she would feel safe and secure.

~ 0 ~

As the party went on out in the courtyard and partially on the street, things seemed like they couldn't get better. The wolves were more than happy to show off their new abilities to their friends. The vampire guests were the only slightly nervous from the new advantages gained. Still, for the time being, things were mellow. How long that would last no one knew.

Part of the courtyard had been converted to a dance floor for the guests, and at the center were the bride and groom. At the side stood Cami, Elijah and Klaus, all drinking and simply watching the festivities.

"Oh my God I have to teach her how to dance," Cami was making faces as she watched her friend Gia across the room, happily dancing with Marcel.

"The therapist teaching dance moves?" Klaus raised an eyebrow, "There's something I'd pay to see."

Cami snapped her head to the hybrid, mocking a glare, "You never paid me for any sessions you compelled me to give you. Getting money out of you would be a miracle."

"It's possible," Elijah then spoke up, keeping a straight face, "If you're blonde...and Maleny."

Cami snickered while Klaus openly glared at his brother, "Amusing," he muttered.

And as if she had heard her name, Maleny rushed up to the trio looking happier than ever, "You all need to quit standing there like hawks and come out to dance! It's so much fun!"

Cami looked as if she were trying to decide on something, "Are you drunk? Cos you said 'hawks'..."

"She's not drunk," Klaus answered before Maleny could.

Maleny giggled and threw her arms around his neck abruptly, startling him with the action, "I'm not!" she agreed, "I'm just so happy! Happy! Happy! Happy!"

"We hadn't noticed," Klaus sarcastically replied, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"I feel so strong now!" Maleny explained to him, her hands moving to his face, "Like I can take on the world or something. Is this how you feel all the time?"

"More or less," Klaus chuckled at her and handed his drink to Elijah before Maleny could spill it with her jumpy movements.

"It is amazing!"

"Maleny you realize this body is only a temporal situation for you, right?" Elijah cautiously asked her for fear in the midst of all the novelty she'd forgotten her situation. He, and unknowingly to him, and Cami silently agreed this could very well be Maleny entering a sort of re-denial stage of her situation.

Maleny looked at him with her wide smile, "I know that. I'm just actually having fun."

"Well, may I intrude on this fun by asking you to accompany me for Hope?" Klaus took her hands off his face and let go of one, "I think it's time she joined the party."

Maleny nodded, "Of course!" the two promptly walked off to retrieve the baby upstairs.

Cami watched after her cousin with mild concern, something Elijah didn't miss, "You need not worry," he told her as he set his and Klaus' glasses on a nearby table behind them, "It seems Maleny is pushing through."

"You can't fault me for being scared of a relapse," the blonde quietly said and looked at him.

"It won't happen," Elijah assured her and held a hand out for her, "Would you like to dance, Camille?"

Cami's surprised quickly made itself known on her face, "Are you sure?"

"Are you doubting my dancing skills?"

"No, it's just...these are fast songs, Elijah. You don't exactly look like the kind of guy to dance willy nilly."

"There are many things you don't know about me, Camille," Elijah flashed her a wide smile, still holding his hand out.

"Alright, then show me," Cami felt confident and took his hand.

Elijah accepted the near challenge with a nod, "I will," he said back and led her towards the dance floor.

~ 0 ~

As Klaus and Maleny made their way towards Hayley's room where Amarrah had Hope, Maleny continued babbling on about the party.

"And you should see Alton and his crazy dancing!" she laughed, "He tried to teach me but it was so weird I couldn't!"

"Fantastic," Klaus said in total, his face blank of any excitement.

"And you should also see what he drinks! He mixes up all these concoctions and drinks them like nothing!" Maleny continued on like nothing, "He's such a fun guy! I can see why Yamilet likes him."

"Perhaps you're liking him a little too much," Klaus declared in his quiet, yet sharp, tone.

Maleny looked at him with a knowing smirk, "I do like him," she agreed, "but as a friend as I have already stated."

"That's not what it appears downstairs…"

Maleny rolled her eyes and moved in front of him, forcing him to stop, "You are more than welcomed to take me out on a dance when we get back downstairs," she draped her arms over his shoulders.

"I don't intend on making a fool of myself out there," he warned her seriously.

She giggled, "I didn't think you would you jealous moron. If I wasn't in this body I'd calm all that jealousy with a kiss - much like you used to do in the past, remember?"

"Of course," he nodded, "You were always so jealous of everyone. I had to practically snog you all day."

"Poor you," she mocked him with a pout then laughed as she backed them towards Hayley's room.

"Yes, poor me," he kept with the game, "I had to cancel important plans sometimes."

"Mm, sometimes you cancelled those just so you could be with me, remember?" she smirked, "Don't pin this all on my 'jealousy'. You wanted to be with me."

"This conversation has moved to a completely different topic," he declared after a moment or so.

Maleny laughed and stopped them near the room, "Because I'm telling you all your truths, of course."

"Nonsense," Klaus dismissed her and strode into the room for Hope. Maleny rolled her eyes and hurried in after him, containing in her smirk of knowledge.

~ 0 ~

After several dances, Maleny and Klaus returned to the party, Klaus holding Hope in his arms. He motioned the band to stop playing before he spoke out to the guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? Hayley, if you would join me, I would like to propose a toast."

Though surprised, Maleny nodded for Hayley to come over. As the brunette hybrid did, Maleny walked away to give the trio their space for their speech. She took a seat with Alton and Davina instead.

"I want to welcome you all. As you know, last spring, Hayley and I had a daughter. Due to tragic circumstance, she was lost. Now, she has returned home. Her name is Hope," Klaus explained just as Hayley took the baby into her arms, "She will live here among you, her pack. Her family. We implore you... protect our daughter," he grabbed a glass from a nearby tray, "Teach her. Love her, as one of your own. Jackson, I invite you and your bride to live here, uniting your proud and noble people in peace. Welcome to the family, mate. To Jackson and Hayley!"

As various guests clapped for the bride and groom, others were left a little confused.

"Funny, I never knew Klaus was the home offering type," Cami remarked to Elijah beside her, both two of the nonclapping guests.

"He's not," Elijah clarified. The two shared a quizzical look between them, agreeing there was probably something more to Klaus' sudden kindness.

~ 0 ~

The party had slowly began to lose its guests as the time passed by. Even then, there were some guests that wouldn't give up on their fun. However, Rebekah, still in her new witch body, appeared at the compound looking for her brothers.

"Elijah," she had found him and Cami first, but for the first couple of minutes was unrecognized by them, "It's me - Rebekah."

"Wow," was the first thing that came out of Cami's mouth.

Rebekah gave a small smile, but the matter was worse and it soon faded, "We need to go. Kol...he's not getting better. Where's Klaus?"

Elijah and Cami walked Rebekah to Hope's nursery where Klaus was looking after her for the moment. Feeling their presence, he turned to them questioning what they wanted.

"It's Kol. I couldn't help him," Rebekah guiltily explained, "He's not gonna last the night. We need to go."

Klaus looked back at Hope in her crib, the baby refusing to sleep just then. Cami walked up and smiled, "I can look after her," she volunteered and picked the baby up, "You guys go. She'll be fine."

Elijah looked guilty as well, for this is not how he had imagined their first, basic date to end at, "Cami, I'm-"

"Go," Cami insisted, nodding for them to hurry up. She didn't look at all displeased with the day, "Mal's downstairs if you wanted her," she told Klaus but he shook his head.

"I promised her she would have her normal wedding day and I intend on seeing that through," he said assuredly. He'd seen her chatting with Alton just before coming upstairs and she still seemed to be having the time of her life. He didn't want to ruin it just like it always had been.

"Okay," Cami agreed, "I'll make up something if she happens to ask, then," when she saw hesitancy from the two brothers, "Go! Kol's waiting for you guys!"

With nothing left to do, the three siblings went off to the cemetery where Kol was nearing his end.

~ 0 ~

Finn was healed completely thanks to his sister Freya who spent a good portion of the day using spells to fade away all the burn marks Elijah caused him. He was sitting on the autopsy table catching his bearings, missing the disapproving face Freya had directly on him.

"What did you do?" he was awed.

"It took a while, but I healed you," Freya replied, her tone restrained, "Brought you back from death, using this," she pointed to the blue pendant talisman around his neck.

Finn quickly looked at the pendant, "Your pendant. You said it would protect me."

"It's a talisman used to focus my power. I knew it would be dangerous to face Elijah. But I specifically said to avoid confrontation, Finn," Freya tilted her head, finally letting out her disapproval. "In fact, I thought it was you that said there would be no fighting." Finn sighed. "Finn, I told you we needed to find Elijah because he knew where our niece was. You were supposed to talk to him and persuade him to willingly come to us so that I could explain something very important to the entire family."

"You haven't met our siblings, Freya. They are wild and-"

"It does not matter what type of people they are," Freya spoke over him, looking frustrated as she began to pace. "You don't understand, Finn, no one does. Esther was nothing compared to Dahlia. Dahlia is worse than the devil and you all need to understand the real reason she is coming."

"I assure you I understand perfectly well," Finn cut in, but did not ignore the loud sigh Freya gave in return. "I do, Freya!"

"No, you don't," Freya faced him with a glower.

"And why wouldn't I?"

"Because Esther herself didn't understand." Freya knew she was getting ahead of herself and took a deep breath in before she spoke again. "Listen, you failed to get Elijah back on good terms, and that just makes it harder for me now. I'll have to move on to the next step: getting Maleny Rowan back into her own body."

Finn's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Freya straightened up, looking determined than ever. "You heard me, Finn. I need the spell you used to make transfer of souls."

Finn studied her features for any trace of a joke, but was utterly confused to find none, "Freya, why…?"

Freya walked towards him, not pleased with the reluctance she was being met with, "To reverse it. What you did to her was cruel and-"

"And justified," Finn declared, still very much on his stance, "She sided with our siblings and it just so happens punishing her is a lot easier than our siblings."

Freya had a sharp look on her face as she crossed her arms, "Well then, we're going to have a problem because I promised him I would reverse the spell."

Finn straightened up and maintained himself against Freya. "And who's 'him' exactly? Don't think I haven't noticed your evasive attitude whenever I ask you. Tell me sister, what do you know that apparently the rest of the family doesn't?"

Freya stepped closer to him and very clearly told him, "That is a story for our brother Niklaus to hear first."

~ 0 ~

With the party long over, and now changed for sleep, Maleny resided in her bedroom with Hope. She'd offered herself to care of the baby, thinking a baby on a wedding night wasn't the most romantic thing so she assured Hayley she would take good care of Hope for the night. She had changed Hope for a good sleep and even brought along her favorite stuffed bear but the baby was in no mood to sleep.

Maleny had Hope in the middle of her bed with her pink blanket but the baby seemed far more interested in playing with her bear. Maleny sighed and leaned back on her headboard, "You are one tough baby," she remarked.

Hope gurgled in response, flashing a toothless grin afterwards. It was like she was basking in none of her relatives were looking over her. It was free rules and apparently aunt Maleny was not authoritative enough to lay down the law.

Shifting on her side to face the baby, she spoke in a hush tone, "What does it take to get you asleep, hm? What did aunt Bekah used to do?" Hope clutched her teddy bear and giggled, as if refusing to tell, "At this rate I'll fall asleep before you do…" she finished with droopy eyes, proving her words to be true.

"I can take her," Klaus' voice made Maleny raise her head to see the hybrid at the doorway.

"Where've you been?" Maleny tried not to sound like the demanding girlfriend that wanted to show at the moment, "I asked Cami and she refused to tell me the truth. Actually, she kept denying she was lying."

"Kol...died," Klaus replied to her question in a quiet voice, "Rebekah came in earlier to tell us there was nothing left to do…"

"Oh my God," Maleny's demands left her mind instantaneously. She quickly got up from the bed and met him halfway the room, "What happened? Why didn't...why didn't you tell me? I could've gone and…"

Klaus shook his head, still standing with his decision, "You were having your normal, fun wedding day and I...I couldn't take that from you."

Maleny playfully rolled her eyes at him, "Listen, that all gets cancelled when you need me. Kol and I may have had some disagreements since he came back but...he didn't deserve to die like this. I would've gone with you if you asked me to."

"I do know that," Klaus gave a weak smile and glanced at his daughter on the bed, still busily playing with her bear, "but I promised you your day."

Maleny hugged him tight, wishing she could have been there for him but she knew she should've known better. He did always keep his word, though sometimes it was in a twisted way, "Well, it's past midnight so my day is done," she pulled away, "What do you want to do?"

Klaus thought about that for a good while, and though his first thought was full of revenge against Finn he decided for a much calmer act instead. He looked at Maleny who'd been anxiously waiting for him to answer, "I'd like to hold my daughter right now."

Maleny slowly smiled, nodding her head as she turned for the bed, "If you can put her to sleep too that would be great. I promised Hayley I'd look after her but at the rate we're going Hope is going to put me to sleep first."

"I don't have much experience either," Klaus reminded as he went for Hope. Barely keeping in her yawn, Maleny followed to her place and sat down, watching him pick up Hope into his arms. He sat down on the other side of the bed and momentarily fiddled with Hope's hands.

"I know this is a stupid question but are you okay?" Maleny decided to go ahead and ask in the end, "How...how do you feel?"

"I feel like I want to rip Finn's head off," Klaus replied a mere second later.

"Understandable," Maleny agreed with a small nod, "I kind of want to too. But you know you can't face him without a proper plan, right? I don't want your impulsiveness to cloud your thinking."

"We'll get a plan," Klaus assured her, more like promised, "And it will work - that much I can promise to Kol."

Maleny reached to touch his arm, softly smiling at him, "And I can help now," she reminded him, "If I can get one use out of this body, it will be to help you. No more being babysat."

While Klaus didn't like to think about her actually getting fully involved in his family's plans - for the sake of her safety - he knew there would be no stopping her now that she had the strength and speed to do so. She learned her stubbornness from him, and that had no matter of ending.

[pacificwanderer]

Hello. I just want to say that I'm eager for you to talk about the theory that maybe Ben also lost his connection with the Force after the events of TLJ. :)

Hey! Me too! I’m going to combine this with another ask that I’m putting below the cut because it gets long and ranty lol, but similar theme.

I saw a meltdown from someone who is now saying that "If Rey is weak and can't control the force properly without Kylo, SW and Disney is anti-feminist" and also said "This is probably a vendetta to keep Kylo alive because without him she would be useless. What is the point of making a force-user character like this? She is worthless. She has to rely on a man to gain excess to her power! I bet she'll have to ask permission like a obedient wife." What the actual F? This is not how the force works!

OKAY lol, so here’s the deal. Rant incoming, and not directed at you, Nonnie. Just general tone of rantiness:

Some people are just going to have to come to terms with the fact that Ben and Rey are are their strongest when they work together. Because, guess what? Kylo is having a hard time dealing with this shit too and, as we get more information during the lead up to the movies, I bet you he’s been having a hard time controlling his Force powers as well. As someone pointed out (maybe the following thread? i can’t find the damn comment), Kylo only fixes Hux’s collar after reaching towards him with what looks like a typical, Kylo going to Force choke you power, only for him to reach out and fix his collar instead. Yeah, of course it’s ship bait, but I also think that it’s more than that. I think he’s having the same struggles connecting with the Force as Rey.

The Force is fucking PISSED at these two. Here it brought them together, showed them how great they are as a team and how well they can protect/work together, and then they fucked it all up (because we’re at the midpoint in a three movie series and they had to). SO YEAH. If it’s not working for one, it’s not working for the other. Once they realize that they need to work together, like the Force has been showing them since TFA (hell, it even kept Rey and Kylo separated with the literal planet splitting between them so they couldn’t fight anymore), they will be unstoppable. They are literally each other’s equal in the Force.

“Darkness rises and Light to meet it.” WE KNOW THIS. The movie shows us this!

She’s conflicted and having a hard time centering her thoughts because she’s thinking about Ben and the burdens that are on her shoulders. She’s a GD symbol and that’s got to be hard to deal with without having a thing for the literal Supreme Leader of the galaxy. If she didn’t care about him (and if they didn’t have a fucking Force bond), this wouldn’t be an issue. But it is an issue because she cares about him. A lot! He disappointed her, and she disappointed him (not getting into the who’s right in that scenario because it’s irrelevant. Fact of the matter is, they both feel betrayed). Also, is she keeping that a secret? Who knows that she went to the Supremacy to save him? Aside from maybe Leia? Because that’s a pretty big fucking secret to have on your shoulders too.

She doesn’t need to ask his permission, she needs to understand that the conflict within her is coming as a result of her feelings for him and her own inabilty to reconcilate and accept her own dark side. Just like he needs to come to terms with and accept the light side in him. I really think that we’re going beyond good and evil with this. Might not be gray jedi (I know Pablo hates that term lol), but something new, something that is purely Force. OH and you know who agrees with me?

Luke fucking Skywalker:

“Using the Force is all about finding balance. And some Force users, particularly Force-sensitive children--known by the Jedi as younglings--are able to tap into its energy without an obvious alignment to either side. The Force simply flows through them in its purest form. Based on the constant struggles I’ve witnessed between the light and the dark sides of the Force, perhaps their innate neutrality can teach us all a valuable lesson.”

This is a Force issue, it’s a relationship issue, and it’s something they’re going to have to work through if they’re ever going to be able to resolve what’s between them. And think about it, when I’m upset with someone I care about, it impacts my ability to be able to do my work, absolutely it does.

Does that make it sexist? Fucking no. It means I care for them and I need to figure out how to solve the problem! I either need to talk to them and sort my shit out, or take a deep breath and find my center. Just like they need to find their center in the Force, but you know what helps? Having a friend or someone who understands there with you to help along the way. To help you understand the experiences you might have otherwise not understood.

The Force is there, it’s always there, and Rey’s had a hard time balancing herself for a while (remember the whole meditation thing with Luke). She needs help. She herself has said she needs help. There’s a power that inside her that she doesn’t understand and she needs to learn how to wield it. And guess who’s been set up to be her teacher (in one way or another) since TFA? Kylo fucking Ren. She goes to dark the same way he can’t keep himself from being attracted by the light.

THEY BALANCE EACH OTHER. And it’s okay! Her powers aren’t being taken from her, but her ability to access them is hampered by her own emotional state. Once she finds her center, her ability to use the Force properly will be just fine (because I think people forget that it takes a lot of mental control to be able to use the Force properly--hell, even Luke struggles with it on Hoth! Remember who helps him there? Obi-Wan’s Force ghost! Guess that’s sexist????).

Hell, I think she’s finding her center in the trailer when she backflips over Kylo’s TIE.

So much discourse comes from people’s headcanons not being validated and I certainly know that some of mine won’t be, but a lot of this angst is because people have been willfully ignoring what the story has been telling them all along.

Heteronormative? Sure, you could make a case for that, and this series as a whole needs to do better wrt representation across the board. Not feminist? How is saying that the only way a woman can be strong is if she only ever relies on herself any more feminist? I’m tired of this fucking narrative where women heroes aren’t allowed to have the same flaws, fuckups, weaknesses, you know, just generally be an interesting character, like their male counterparts. It’s bullshit. Women are multifaceted. They’re allowed to have flaws. They’re allowed to ask for help. They’re allowed to need other people. This shit carries over into IRL and I fucking hate it. Women do not have to be perfect. Not in life and certainly not in fucking fiction. YOU CAN BE A GREAT HERO AND STILL HAVE FLAWS. You can be a hero and not go it alone. You can be a hero and still fail.

The only reason some people have a problem with this is because they don’t like the character that’s clearly causing her conflict right now (but he’s not the only reason she’s feeling conflict!!!!). This all comes down to their fucking hate for Kylo Ren because if she was reliant on the character they shipped her with, there wouldn’t be a gd peep right now.

Anyways, I typed this all out, debated not posting it, but I’m gonna because it took a while.

People are going to believe what they want, I’m not going to change any opinions, but they have to take a moment to ask themselves why they are willing to invest so much time in energy in a series that apparently doing everything they hate all the time? Seems like a big waste of time to me.

Cheers!

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 7

Moms, Meltdowns, and Mayhem

Hello and welcome back to Fabian’s worst nightmare, already in progress!

We rejoin the Bad Kids who have linked back up the next day and are on their way to the library of the city Leviathan--The Compass Point Library. On the way there, they see the Crow’s Keep burning but Fabian, assuming it has to do with what happened to him, tells everyone to leave it alone.

Adaine questions why Riz hasn’t had any nightmares (Riz: In a way, my life is a nightmare) and the whole group goes into another round of Shadowcat speculation. Is she protecting Riz from nightmares for some reason? Why can Tracker and Garthy suddenly see her in the picture despite not having seen her irl or had any weird dreams? Is she masquerading as someone else? 

Anyway, they reach the library which is the cool, cobbled together and largely stolen (to Fig’s delight) pirate-y library of Alexandria type place. They meet an old pirate wizard named Rollins with a book of pirate spells that Fig immediately wants to steal and Adaine wants to borrow (or steal, she’s flexible). They all sign up for Compass Point library cards and go up to the observatory to look for Ayda Aguefort. 

In the observatory, they find a huge orange-yellow bird on a perch and this is the part of the recap where I have to inform you that Aguefort had not only banged a phoenix, he somehow managed to procreate with it. Meet Ayda Aguefort, the half-phoenix (shout-out to the anon from last week who called Ayda as Aguefort’s daughter). She’s got wings and arms, bird legs, a plume of red fiery hair, and eyes which are basically just fire.

Fig thinks she’s the creature Aguefort made for her for reasons I cannot begin to fathom. She tries to feed her but Ayda rejects the food, not wishing to be in anyone’s debt. Ayda is kind of intense, abrupt, and anti-social when they meet her. She’s fully is about to fly away instead of helping until Fabian yells that Garthy sent them and Adaine remembers she has the letter from Garthy asking her to help them. After some back and forth, she agrees to give Adaine the spell (which will take 6 hours to learn) for 150 gold. But these are the Bad Kids so, of course, we have several tangents before the plot goes anywhere, during which we learn Ayda is a divination wizard (like Adaine), she asks if her father has talked about her (Fig successfully lies that he has), and Gorgug spouts out some fortune cookie nonsense (“What is a telescope but a spyglass pointed at the stars?”) that convinces Ayda that he could be the greatest wizard of their age (Adaine does a spit take and Fig is loving it).   

Adaine hits the books to learn the sending spell with Sandra-Lynn keeping watch while everyone else splits up suchly:

Fabian wants to go out to check on the Hangman but Kristen absolutely vetoes that. Buddy. System. Ragh agrees to go with him and she lays off. He tries to see what the damage on the Hangman is. Nat 1. As far as Fabian can tell, the Hangman is full dead. Not only that, Fabian is poor people sick which he isn’t used to at all. Ragh isn’t doing much better on the emotional front. He just started making progress with processing his emotions and now his mom might be dead. Saddest Hoot Growl ever (seriously, it’s heartbreaking). Cathilda comes in, loving as ever, with food and kind words and an old lullaby, but that’s not enough to stop Fabian from rolling another Nat 1 and gaining 2 levels of exhaustion (which means disadvantage on ability checks and speed halved). Lou, please burn those dice. 

Kristen and Riz are researching the Nightmare King. They go into a religious studies section of the library and (on a 20+ check from Riz) find texts about a temple to a forgotten god in Sylvere (the forest of the Nightmare King). The god is never named in any of the texts which Kristen finds weird. Riz decides to steal the book and is able to do it, despite Kristen’s “help”. Later, Kristen cross-refs Riz’s info with her world religions book and, on a dirty 20, she finds with frustration that there’s a lot of information but none of it really matches up. The fairies, treants, and especially the unicorns all had mysterious deities but none of them really match with the forgotten god. [Note: Last time we heard about unicorns was in episode one and we learned that the last time people saw the great unicorn was the last time the NK showed up.] At the same time, it seems like there are elements of the god in all five of the cultures in the forest. Adaine checks and there’s nothing magic with the book so it’s just the contents of the book that are weird, not the book itself. Kristen thinks there might be a connection to her weird dream about not being able to draw the face of her god. Adaine wonders if Kristen might have been worshipping this unnamed god by mistake. Gorgug wonders if the god is erasing themselves (a theory backed up late when they talk to Aguefort).  

Fig looks for information on cursed gems and (with a 19) she finds a good amount--no surprise in a pirate library. She finds a book called Breaking the Evil Eye in one of the forbidden sections and learns that it could be possible to planeshift into the gem, dispel magic from the inside and get rid of the trap, before breaking the original curse. She finds all of this out after she steals the book (disguised as Rollins). Planeshift is a level 7 spell though so Adaine has a while to go before she can learn it (she gets her first at level 13). 

Gorgug asks the real Rollins for books about cheering up a friend. He’s brought to a small, dusty section of the library. Gorgug rolls a nat 1 on an insight check and thinks that Rollins must be messing with him. Rollins is confused because he super wasn’t. Adaine takes a break and uses this pointless argument borne from misunderstanding to steal his book. Dirty 20. Rollins instantly skelatizes. She hastily puts the book back. He comes back Wrong and in incredible pain. He begs them to take the book out and Gorgug does. Adaine peaces out to finish studying, leaving Gorgug to deal with her mess. Gorgug decides to keep looking at the friendship books. Even on a 5, he finds a secret door into a HUGE friendship library. Guided by his library card, Gorgug finds a book called Cheer Up Me Hearties. When he gets out, Gilear is being accosted for killing Rollins, but Gorgug is able to get them to stand down. Gorgug Thistlespring, winning pirate hearts and minds. They take the book and Rollins’ bones to get him put back together.   

Adaine finishes up as Ayda comes to check on her. Ayda is about to make another quick exit but Adaine tries again to make friends with Ayda, this time by directly asking and offering to let her hold Boggy. Ayda is immediately obsessed with Boggy (and Adaine’s backpack terrarium AND the backpack she makes for him at Ayda’s suggestion) and extremely impressed with Adaine’s spellwork in manifesting Boggy. It’s a very cute scene and Adaine has made a useful ally. Ayda can’t believe she met the two greatest wizards of the age in one day. Wild. 

Everyone regroups to call Aguefort now that Adaine knows Sending. He sends them back some more powerful magic so he can talk for longer than the 25 word response. Think of it as magic Skype. He very casually tells them that Ragh’s house is a smoking crater and his mom is super dead. He takes far too long to follow up with the information that, a long time ago, he hid Lydia’s real body under the school, made a clone of her, and used the Magic Jar spell to basically hook up her consciousness to the clone body (which held a fake demon shard). The clone body is what got destroyed. Lydia’s real body and consciousness are fine. Way to bury the lede dude! Upon being asked, Arthur says that he used to remember the name of the god of the unicorn but he forgot. Suspicious and troubling. He and Fig also renew discussions on the creature she ordered but never paid for. He says the cheapest option is a pentacorn for 30k gold (which sounds like a unicorn w/ 5 horns and pretty useless but I refuse to get dragged into this insanity, I am just the messenger here).

Aguefort leaves to deal with the situation at home. Meanwhile, Gorgug notices smoke again but he also notices that it’s on the wrong side to be related to what happened to Fabian. After giving Fabian and Ragh oranges to prevent scurvy--a tip from the pirate friendship book--he brings it up to Fabian who thinks it’s probably Captain Wicklaw making a power play and they should probably stay out of it. What? says Adaine. Nah, we should fight him. Yeah, says Fig. You deserve revenge! Fabian just wants to lay low so they can get their C+. Adaine is not here for that C+ and she’s not here for Fabian’s concerning attitude shift. None of the Bad Kids are. However, the cast is very here for absolutely roasting Lou for all of his choices by having their respective characters inadvertently reference every bad thing that happened last episode. When Adaine suggests that Fabian might be cursed, Fabian finally haltingly comes out with the entire story (which Lou has to laugh-cry himself through in one of the best scenes of the episode) and everyone interjects with comments that they (out of character) know will just make Fabian’s storytelling even more uncomfortable. It’s a very wild combination of very emotional (in game) but deeply funny (out of game). Like:

Ally (who knows good and well that Chungledown Bim told Fabian he was gonna shit in his mouth): Did Chungledown Bim help you?

Zac (who also knows good and well that Chungledown Bim told Fabian he was gonna shit in his mouth): Chungledown Bim probably saved you.

Murph (yet another person who knows good and well that ChungledownBim told Fabian he was gonna shit in his mouth) You know what we should do? We should go see Chungledown Bim.        

Amazing. 

Fabian finishes his recounting of the 20 car pile-up that was last episode by repeating his earlier opinion that they shouldn’t go after Captain Wicklaw because it will just end with all of them dead. Kristen tries to slap him back to normal and tells him to lose the Gilear energy. Led by Gorgug and Adaine, the gang tells Fabian that being Bill Secaster’s son isn’t the only worthwhile thing about him (in fact, it’s pretty annoying). He’s worthwhile all on his own. Tracker chimes in and says that she thinks Fabian might have some issues with depression so maybe their well intentioned efforts to get Fabian to buck up weren’t the best way to handle things. Adaine and Riz are skeptical that Fabian is like, capital D, Depressed but Tracker sticks by her read on the situation. The group eventually decides to at least check out what’s going on with the smoke but before they arrive, an interlude:

As they walk to Crow’s Keep, Cathilda walks with Fabian and Cathilda starts dropping information about herself and about how her own children died before Fabian was born and about how she sees him as a son--though she’s tried to keep the proper professional distance. She comforts Fabian on his bad day and then her eyes go full Terminator and she mentally buts Wicklaw on her “People I Need to Murder Today” list (more on this later).

When they arrive at the place where the smoke is coming from, they find that the Ramble (kind of a pirate meetinghouse/Courthouse) has been burned down. Jemina Joy is there and she lets them know that Wicklaw asked what was necessary to become the new pirate king. He was told that all he needed to do was get the crown from the former pirate king (because respect for/fear of Bill was the only thing keeping there from being a new king). He just burned down the Ramble to be a dick. Adaine damn near gets her ass beat by Jemina by arguing politics with her (her point being that she wants to install Jemina as Pirate Queen while Jemina is like, “I just keep this place from sinking. Lay off.”) but Riz, mindful of the fact that this is a time sensitive situation, takes off to Gibbety Square where the pirate king’s crown is (and where Wicklaw is headed).

They make it to Brennan’s latest battle mechanic: The Row and the Ruction.

This is the crazy, pirate bicameral legislative system. The Row is a huge fistfight (no weapons allowed--or really they are allowed but everyone will gang up on you if you use them) at ground level. It’s always in session and has been for 150-ish years. Above that, is the Ruction which is a fight with full weapon and magic usage alone. The idea is that you need enough support on the ground in the Row so you can use them to get up in the Ruction. It’s a king of the hill situation up there and if you can hold your position up there for long enough, you can make laws. Got all that? Good. 

They get there just barely after Wicklaw and his men who haven’t yet entered the Row. Wicklaw starts talking mad trash to Fabian but his friends back him up. They give him back his sword, his eye-patch, and Kristen hits him with a Warding Bond (which means that he gets +1 to AC and saving throws if he stays close to her plus resistance to all damage and, more importantly, she takes all the damage he takes). Fig gives everyone Countercharm. And, to top it off, Cathilda shows up with in an all black, super-badass pirate uniform to say she’s gonna feed him his own freaking brains! Let’s goooooooo!

But, Wicklaw has some new allies as well. Three elves bamf in from Falinel (same people who Kristen felt scrying on them earlier) and they’re there to bring Adaine back, and it doesn’t seem like they’re gonna just ask nicely.   

Detention

Adaine for Unnecessary Theft and (Accidentally) Killing a Man 

Adaine was kind of on one this episode. Not only did she inadvertently kill* a man while stealing from him, Adaine also ghosted at the first sign of trouble, leaving Gorgug and Gilear to catch all the flak for her attempt at pulling a Fig. Bad form, girl!

*She probably didn’t technically kill him but she turned him into a skeleton and he called the pain upon reconstitution worse than death so let’s not quibble about the details. 

Honor Roll

Cathilda for Being a Badass Mom 

Oh man, oh man, oh man. 

I’ve low-key been waiting for Cathilda to go full pirate since we learned that was an option and especially since Fabian got attacked because it was a pretty safe bet that was going to be her berserk button and boy did she deliver.

When did she have the time for a costume change? Is she that stealthy? Did she magic it on? Or did she just manifest the outfit on the power of her rage alone?

The scene where she says Wicklaw is gonna pay? Chills. Not only pledging to eat your enemy’s brains but also saying you’re going to feed him his own brains and describing exactly how you’ll serve it? So raw. 

But I also have to shout out the non-murderous mom stuff she did this ep. The little talk she gave Fabian about no one being defined by their worst day was very sweet and good advice out of game too. 

But honorable mention to Gorgug for being an absolute sweetheart all episode. Zac’s improv about pirates giving their friends oranges to prevent scurvy bodied me.  

Random Thoughts

Some very useful posts from @jamiebluewind: Character Descriptions, Location Descriptions, Transcripts of Cathilda’s speeches from this ep. 

During the initial discussion with Collins, we learn that the transmutation exchange rate is 50 Parrots=10 Bananas=1 Gold. How are bananas more complex than parrots?

Adaine: May we steal books?

Her later actions aside, I think it’s funny that Adaine’s first move is basically always to sweetly ask for what she wants and Fig’s first move is, “Gotta steal that book!” Adaine is like the most polite person in the group but also ready to fight 100% of the time. The role reversal in the Jemina scene where Fig was the one who asked an on point question and Adaine was the one who made it almost spiral into an actual fight was great.

I was just saying this re: Harry Potter in a different context but clearly marked but not blocked off forbidden sections of libraries are more a dare than a deterrent. 

Fig as a horned parrot (done by Rollins for trying to steal his book) is adorable. Please somebody draw that.

I love that when they see the bird that turns out to be Ayda and Murph is like, “I don’t think that’s a bird,” Zac is like, “Yeah, Gorgug doesn’t know that.” Zac (like Travis as Grog in CritRole) has a real talent for playing dumb while actually being really smart.

“My principal scammed me?”

Brennan truly did not have to follow through on Aguefort saying he slept with a bird. He really, really did not have to but he was like, “Nope! I said it so it’s happening! This is happening!” I really wish you guys could have seen my face as I realized in real time that the madman was actually doing that. 

Adaine to Fig who thinks Ayda is her creature: This is a full person.

“I like school.”/“You would.”

Lol at Fig trying to draw parallels between Ayda’s prickliness and her own behavior and getting absolutely shut down. “I think people think you’re really tender.” The running thing of Fig’s perception of herself as this standoffish loner being constantly reality checked by literally everyone she knows being like, “You tell us you love us literally every day,” is one of my favorite group dynamics. It’s even funnier because, besides probably Adaine and Fabian, the rest of the Bad Kids probably knew Fig (or at least had seen her around) before she started going through her emo phase. So they totally remember her in 8th grade wearing preppy clothes and carrying a unicorn backpack and listening to Fantasy Taylor Swift and all that.   

All ep they were calling Kalina a cat and I was thinking, “I feel like—in game—that’s gotta be offensive.” And then Aguefort straight said it. Wild for it to come from him since he’s the craziest person ever but I’m glad it came up.

“You seem simple to me.”/“Thank God.”

Aww at Ayda asking if Aguefort ever talks about her. Brennan, you gotta stop putting little emotional traps into otherwise funny scenes. I can only handle so much!

The gang did some experimentation with the photo in this ep with these results: Ayda and Aguefort both couldn’t see Kalina in the picture. They also took a picture of the picture but that picture had the same properties as the original picture. Weeping Angel rules I guess. 

There’s speculation in this episode about why Riz isn’t having nightmares. I have another question kinda on that topic. In episode 2/3, we see the lie/mirror/Baron thing that happened with Riz. And that was for sure super nightmarish. But it doesn’t match what happened to Adaine and Fabian. Both of them seem to have had more ephemeral experiences that quickly vanished. And they weren’t borne from lies so much as fears. Riz’s monster came from a direct lie and it didn’t seem to be a nightmare. It came out of the mirror and attacked not only him but his friends later. No one saw Fabian or Adaine’s nightmares besides them (although, that could just be because they got away). And no other lie-monsters have showed up as far as we know. I’m just wondering if there’s maybe something else going on or if it was a different NK follower who did that or just a different power of the same dude. Just something I wanted to note because it’s been bugging me a little and no one’s brought it up yet. 

Cool quirk of the sending spell Adaine learned: Because it was modified by pirates, curse words don’t count towards the 25 word limit. What I immediately thought (and what Aguefort actually ended up doing more or less) was that you could easily send very long messages with, say, Morse code. Just designate one curse as a dot, one as a dash, and one as a space, and you’re good to go. It’d be slow, but totally workable. 

Also, after watching Laura as Jester absolutely flying by the seat of her pants with every sending spell, it was wild to see the group take the time to carefully craft the perfect message. 

I said two recaps ago that I wouldn’t be surprised if Gorgug multiclassed into a casting class soon and boy do I hope this episode means he’s gonna do it for real. Adaine’s total disbelief at Ayda’s interest in Gorgug’s wizarding potential was sending me.

Oh also. Ayda has forbidden Gorgug from reading any wizarding books so he doesn’t lose is totally uncomplicated mind. I guess he’s supposed to learn everything the savant way? Imagine Adaine diligently studying her wizard books, trying to master some complicated spell and Gorgug is like, “I woke up and I guess I can use Mage Hand now? Neat.” Absolutely maddening. 

Besides Cathilda, Gorgug was the MVP in this episode. Dude has a knack for making friends that I think will eventually pay dividends. 

Also, speaking of, everything Brennan said during the secret shelf section was so good as to sound planned, however, how could you predict that that was a thing a player was going to ask to find? Brennan is just always 7 seconds of prep time away from giving an elaborate and super specifically themed speech about friendship I guess.  

Big ups to Kristen for not letting Fabian go off by himself again. Like, for the sake of the party of course but also the, “We almost lost you,” was sweet. She also helped buff him going into the coming fight with Warding Bond that means she takes all the damage he takes. I am SO glad they brought another healer with them because that’s such a risky move. Kristen is a LOT but she’s also very ride or die and all heart. I really love that the last time she used this spell it was on Gilear for a joke and now it’s getting used seriously. It’s a perfect establish existence of power to audience/bring back at plot relevant time setup. Improv storytelling is so inexplicably good. 

Technically, to cast Warding Bond, you’re supposed to have matching rings with the person you’re casting it on so imagine Kristen blinged out with a ring for each party member and each of them having a corresponding one in case she needs to cast it on them.  

Little bit concerned that Tracker still doesn’t know about Sandra-Lynn/Garthy. The longer it takes for her to find out, the higher the chance it blows up and becomes a Thing.

Fig: *Meandering philosophical question about why Ayda watches the stars*/Ayda: I study it so I can know where this big city is floating.

RIP to the Hangman. I don’t think he’s gone for good but it seems like he is for now. On my first watch, I thought that, on a 1, Fabian just fully thinks that the Hangman is gone but, the second time it seemed more like he’s just dead. Now, I’m not Brennan, but if I was in this situation, you know what I would do? I would have someone save the Hangman’s soul (or whatever he has instead of a soul) and store it in the Hangvan temporarily. Imagine how much he’d hate that. It’s full of potential for “roommate” shenanigans. 

Is there anything stopping them from just, ramming the Row with the Hangvan? Like, I know it’ll get them ganged up on, but will they be able to do much against a full van?

Also, if/when they hold the Ruction, I wonder what law they’re going to try and make. They didn’t really go in with a plan (understandable under the time pressure) so they’re really gonna have to improvise something on the fly. 

Also, I’m assuming Fabian stabbed the Hangman while he was asleep? I don’t think we were ever shown that scene, but Fabian must have been under some kind of compulsion since he woke up in the river (and the same happened to Ragh). 

Aguefort casually mentions that he has many children and this episode proves that Brennan can and will back up every single crazy thing that comes out of his mouth, so I’m excited to see if there is a single Aguefort out there that isn’t crazy.

Oh, also, the acknowledgement that occasionally that phoenix is a child is appreciated because that was def a question I was going to ask. Squicky to say the least but I guess that’s how phoenixes work so what are you gonna do?

Ally needing to roll a 10, rolling, being happy, checking Kristen’s modifier, and realizing it’s a negative 3 for a total of 9 is peak D&D.

Fig as Rollins: Look at how fast I can run!

I love Fig thinking Adaine could plausibly have 7 level spells. She’s like, idk bro. She’s the eleven oracle. She cares about school. She could know this too. Who knows? Certainly not Fig who thought she could buy wizard spells to use as a bard.

“Please speak more enthusiastically on my behalf.”

“It’s my brain guys.”

Fig mind controls Gilear into believing in himself and he fails his save. I wonder if this is could be valid therapy technique in this world. 

Aguefort mentions that a Wish spell can destroy a Magic Jar just fyi. That makes 3 pretty high level spells mentioned in this ep. Magic Jar is 6th level. Planeshift is 7th level. And Wish, basically the strongest spell in the game, is 9th level. We’re starting to deal with some serious magical mojo.

The whole thing with people in pictures that not everyone can see and memories that you know you once had but don’t anymore and information that should exist but doesn’t is hitting a very specific storytelling sweet spot for me. 

This is a little meta-gamey to be thinking about but I’m kinda wondering, why sideline Gorthalax? Obviously, it’s a good plot hook for Fig and that might be all it is. But I’m lowkey wondering is there something Gorthalax knows or can do that would solve the plot in 30 seconds if he was around? Like, was he roommates with the Nightmare King in hell or something?

Kristen finds it weird that the god’s name isn’t written anywhere but I’m sure that’s gotta be fairly common. Or at least not unheard of. Like, I know in Judaism you’re not supposed to do that. Anyway, watch the great unicorn be the Nightmare King just for the Nightmare/Night Mare pun.

Adaine being on brand no matter the situation: Everybody shut up I have to do my homework!

The, “Do you want a friend?”/“Desperately.” interaction killed me. 

“I don’t have any wizard friends.”/“I’m a wizard.”/(beat)/“I don’t have any wizard friends.”

Arthur cloned a woman, forgot to tell her, and then straight forgot. So business as usual from him. 

Fabian’s, “Nooooooo,” with the rising intonation every time someone made an assumption during his story and he had to correct him was amazing. Also, “He told me he was going to shit in my mouuuuwth.”

Ragh, Fig, and Adaine all crying about their parental issues at the same time. This has been, like, the longest week ever. I wonder if the 7 Maidens are unpacking this much trauma on their quest.

“Absolutely timbered.”

Lol at Brennan dropping the cool pirate sending spell “curses don’t count” detail and then being told from off camera that he needs to keep it PG-13. But then Cathilda needed to go beast mode so, like, what can you do?

Another cool worldbuilding detail is pirate clerics just keep shrines to every deity they’ve come into contact with to hedge their bets like Beni from The Mummy.

I know Lydia was attacked on orders from Kalina but I wonder if they knew about/had plans for the demon shard too. 

When Emily said she disguised herself as Rollins, I fully thought she was going to walk out the door the real Rollins was guarding and not go out the back door like she did. The idea of a back door didn’t even occur to me. I just thought we were in for some classic Axford insanity. 

Riz: You’ve gotta get better at talking to kids.

Riz: This is real Gilear energy.

Kristen: We brought one Gilear. We don’t wanna make that mistake twice.

Everything that happened with Fabian was really funny because there’s nothing I love more in D&D than players having a good time dunking on each other but, in game, Fabian is really going through it. Fabian low key has mom friend energy so to almost die and then for all of his friends to jump into the exact fight that almost killed him (including taunting the dude! Adaine!) against his advice must be giving him a level of anxiety and dread that I don’t even have the words to describe. Like, now is not the time for him to digging into that because things are life or death. Gotta save your life before you can fix it. But he def needs to at some point. Too bad Jawbone’s not around for a quick mid-battle therapy sesh like he had with Adaine during prom.   

Tracker suggested that Fabian might be depressed. I’m not an expert on depression. He could be depressed and, in any case, he definitely needs to see a therapist for a Lot of reasons. But having a breakdown because you saw 14 people die, almost died yourself, and were told that a man wanted to shit in your mouth less than 24 hours ago seems less like a sign of depression and more like the only rational human reaction.

Adaine calls the above, “a vaguely mediocre day”. Michael Scott Voice: Adaine you ignorant slut.

Also Adaine: You got that bike because you won it fair and square because we killed a lot of people.

This is the second time Adaine has said that Fabian’s lineage is actually the most annoying thing about him and these are the kind of tiny continuity details I live for.

Semi-relatedly, Fabian’s relationship with his parents v. Adaine’s relationship with hers is endlessly fascinating to me. Because they have such similar backgrounds but coming from, like, opposite directions of the same spectrum, you know? Can’t wait for those sweet, sweet parallels as we jump into her trauma! (What is D&D but group therapy interspaced with murder?)  

Speaking of Adaine’s trauma, it looks like we’ll be getting to it very soon as those FBI Falinel operatives have shown up to force her (and the plot) back to Falinel. This is Concerning to me for two reasons. First off, remember the Aelwyn fight from season 1? Remember how annoying that was? Now imagine that times three and also 2 separate pirate brawls are happening. That sounds like a Bad Time for our kids. They’ve leveled up some and they’ve been known to make some very clutch battle decisions, but this is gonna be tough any way you slice it. This is like two entirely separate encounters at the same time. A small good point: I looked up the language for teleportation and it can only be used to transport a willing creature. So they can’t just bum rush her and poof out. But they could give her an ultimatum to make her agree. The second reason this Concerns me is that Adaine high key doesn’t want to work with/for Falinel and they know this. The fact that they’ve resorted to kidnapping (fun international law fact: when a government kidnaps someone, it’s called rendition) tells me that they’re done playing nice which opens up two options to them they might not have otherwise used. They could coerce Adaine’s consent to be their oracle by threatening her life/her friends’ lives. Or, more troubling, they could just kill her. I mean, she became the elven oracle when the old one died, right? So, if she died, someone else would get the job. Probably someone less troublesome to deal with. I doubt they’re gonna go straight for that because they seem to want her alive, at least for now. But it is a concern. 

Of course, we’re assuming that what’s happening on the face of this is the whole story, but that’s not necessarily true. Iirc, all we heard was that they found the oracle and they were gonna bring her back to Falinel. For all we know, the elves could be working for Adaine’s mom. Of Adaine’s mom could be working with Falinel. Or she could be working with Falinel just as a way to get to her daughter. We really don’t know. The last person on this show that got kidnapped was Fabian and that was a friendly kidnapping. Anything is possible. 

Something that struck me as a possibility: This fight seems like it’s gonna suck. There is a world where the ideal move for Adaine is to pull an Evy (from the Mummy--two Mummy refs in one recap, did not plan that, I just love the Mummy) and agree to go with the Falinel elves if they help them instead (or at least stop helping Wicklaw) with the faith that her friends will come rescue her. I doubt they actually care much about what happens in the government of this pirate junk city. I’m curious about how they ended up together anyway. I’m guessing the elves clued into what was going on while scrying on the group and decided an alliance might be useful.

Brennan about both Ally’s Applebees Reference and Fig using a Leviathan phonebook: That is nothing.

Shoutout to Fruzzinoid in the chat who said Ally’s alignment is chaotic-chaotic. Accurate.

I love the laughing-squawk that Brennan does for Ayda as much as I hate the fact that he made the Choice to spell it that way.

Truly, the entire scene where Lou is recapping the fight from last episode and he’s laughing uncontrollably but Fabian is clearly crying and he’s expressing both of those things simultaneously is beautiful. 

A Fabian line that really hit but that I haven’t mentioned yet: “I probably have one follower running around. Never mind he’s my father’s just like everything else I have.” Ow. Such a deep cut but so off the cuff from Lou. As a writer, this show makes me so mad because that’s such a good line of dialogue that Lou just dropped out of his mouth like it was nothing. How dare he? 

Another good line I didn’t mention before, this tie from Riz: “We all draw strength from each other. You went in without your crew. What’s a pirate without his crew?” Ugh, Murph. Who gave you the right?

This episode has made me extremely curious about what Cathilda thinks about Hilariel. Because she sees herself as Fabian’s mom--which she essentially has been in a lot of the ways that count since Hilariel has been mentally out to lunch for the past however many years. To be clear, I do think Hilariel loves Fabian. She just hasn’t really been present even though she’s been literally present. The way Cathilda phrased some of the things she said and the way she seems to talk about Fabian’s dad so much more than his mom makes me wonder if she doesn’t...resent isn’t the right word exactly. Maybe, disapprove? It makes me wonder if she doesn’t disapprove of Hilariel’s parenting choices more than she lets on. 

Kristen’s, “Do you listen to music?” in the middle of actually useful questions for Ayda. 

Rich people sicknesses include having eaten too much caviar or smoked a cigar for too long in case you’re wondering.

“You want an orange, pal?”

On a practical note, we have two more episodes to go until the show breaks for the year so prepare yourselves from now people!

Riz, Adaine, and Gorgug each rolled one Nat 20 apiece. Fig, Gorgug, and Adaine each rolled a Nat 1 (but Adaine presumably cancelled out hers rolling with advantage because of Boggy). Fabian, who is still living his worst life, rolled three Nat 1s. Tragic.  

[artificialqueens]

before the sunrise (branjie) - holtzmanns

(read on ao3) | (tumblr: plastiquetiaras) | word count: 2648

AN: Wrote this little drabble as a break from ANOTHER drabble (which is way longer than a drabble now) that I had originally started to take a break from my WIPs. I’ve been feeling like I’m stuck in a rut lately and Writ is the best for prompting this to me and cheering me on to get me out of it. I appreciate them the MOST. And they beta-ed this too, who could ask for more? Thank you for all the sweet lovely feedback on my current fics. It makes me happier than you know.

Night shifts aren’t that bad, really.

The convenience store is empty most of the time. Quiet. The rows lined with snacks and packaged food sit untouched, acting as Brooke’s only companions between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the morning.

Brooke had taken the job because ballet expenses and the rent of her shitty downtown apartment don’t pay for themselves. Four months in with night shifts, it’s not too unmanageable. She has a pepper spray bottle in the pocket of her jeans and a heightened sense of awareness towards the windows and doors, watching those who pass by for any sense of possible danger.

But it’s calm. She spends most of her nights manning the register, holding back yawns. Listening to a podcast over the overhead speakers because there’s no one else there to complain that the store isn’t playing the latest top 40 hits.

Most of the time, she’s just bored.

She has her occasional regulars, people to talk to when the dead of night becomes a little too quiet. The mom of a newborn who lives across the street and comes in around 2 a.m. with her baby in tow, trying to get him back to sleep as she rocks him while she walks. The McDonald’s employee who comes by during his break to grab a pack of cigarettes every couple of days. The businessman who leaves work late enough that he never interacts with his family during the day, preferring to grab a packet of beef jerky for a makeshift dinner. The store also gets its fair share of those who’ve drank a little too much at the bar a few doors down, gotten themselves worked up. Though she’s able to redirect them, send them on her way after filling their hands with snacks.

No one has really stood out to Brooke, made her look twice just yet as she checks them out at the register. That is, until 4 a.m. on a Tuesday night when it’s raining a little too hard outside the dingy windows.

“A place actually open? Fucking finally!”  

Brooke’s not sure whether the statement is uttered by a customer or a drowned rat, by the sight of the woman who’s just walked in the front door. Her hair is soaking wet and heavy on her shoulders, her makeup smudging by her eyes and making her look like she has raccoon-esque dark circles.

Brooke watches in amusement as the woman strolls up the counter, slamming both of her hands onto the table and rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Can I help you with something?” Brooke doesn’t put on much of a customer service voice for the woman, distracted by the way she seems to be shaking the drops of water from her hair onto the counter.

“I moved here about-” The woman pauses, checking her watch, ‘-eighteen hours ago. Forgot about dinner, no big. But my stomach is growling and it’s gonna be breakfast time at this rate, and what I’m saying is I need a snack or imma truly lose my shit while tryna unpack.”

“Why are you up so late?” Brooke takes a proper look at the woman, sees her baggy shirt and shorts and rain soaked skin and the way she’s slightly shivering.

“Too much energy. Couldn’t fall asleep ‘cause I started unpacking a little. And now I’m hungry.” The woman shrugs, taking a step back to look at the shelves. “You got anything good?”

“We have some microwaveable meals, if you want-”

“Nah.” The woman waves a hand. “My microwave ain’t unpacked yet. That’s a project for tomorrow. How ‘bout snacks?”

Brooke comes around the side of the counter because fuck it, it’s 4 a.m. and it’s highly unlikely that any other customers will be coming by anytime soon. The woman’s lips part slightly, looking up at Brooke once she’s beside her, and Brooke realizes just how short the woman is.

It’s adorable.

Nonetheless, Brooke points to the aisle beside them. “Got some trail mixes and chips over here, if that’s what you’re into. Some jerky, over there. Some dry cereal in that aisle, over there?”

The woman’s eyes light up at seeing the cereal on the top shelf. “Fuck, I haven’t had Fruit Loops in ages. That’s my dinner.”

Brooke wrinkles her nose. “Fruit Loops for dinner?”

The woman shrugs. “Hey, it’s got fruit. That’s healthy, right?”

“Well-”

“Dang, I can’t reach.” The woman huffs after she tries to jump, get her hand to graze the top shelf, the Fruit Loops just out of her grasp. Brooke tries to hold back a laugh at the way her brow furrows.

“Can you…?” The woman looks at Brooke sheepishly, pointing at the box.

Brooke grabs the box without having to reach too far. “I got you.”

“A giraffe. Thank you.” The woman grabs the box with a grin that lights up her entire face, and Brooke can’t stop herself from returning it.

“I think we have some milk in the refrigerated section too, if you wanted-”

“Nah.” The woman scoffs. “Fruit Loops are best right out of the box, baby.”

It’s after the woman leaves with a wave, when Brooke’s brain is replaying the way she said ‘baby’ over and over and over in her head, when she realizes that she’d forgotten to ask the woman her name.

Brooke doesn’t see the woman for another week, her night shifts a boring haze that seem to blur together. She’s tired, real tired, from the exertion she’s putting her body through during the day with dancing, her muscles tugging and straining as she rolls out her shoulders and puts away inventory. She has to hold back a yawn as she opens yet another box, wanting nothing more than to head home and have a proper night of sleep.

She knows this job isn’t sustainable in the long term, that she has to find something else. But it’s convenient, and the night shifts pay a little bit more by the hour than the day shifts do, and her apartment isn’t rent controlled and there’s no way she’s moving back home anytime soon.

So, night shifts for now it is.

The clock hits 2 a.m. as Brooke fiddles with her phone, too out of it to sort through the register or clean a little or even pretend to look like she’s doing work. She’s watching the recording of the run through of the latest show that her company’s going to put on, going over the steps from one of the acts in her head, as if the mental exercise will help solidify it once she has to go to practice in the morning.

Hey, it’s worth a shot.

She nearly drops her phone when the door to the store slams open, hitting against the wall, and her heart’s about to jump out of her chest before she realizes that it isn’t someone trying to rob the store, or anyone intimidating. No one that she’s need to pull out her pepper spray for.

No, it’s the woman from last week. Looking a lot less damp and still as adorable in a t shirt dress that could very well be her pyjamas.

“It’s you!” The woman perks up when she sees her at the register, waltzing over to lean against the counter like she did last time. “Haven’t seen you here the last couple days.”

“Have you been coming in the daytime?”

The woman nods, and Brooke shrugs. “I only work nights.”

“Ooh, a woman of the night.” The woman winks and Brooke has to hold back a snort.

“I’m not sure that means what you think it means.”

The woman remains unfazed, still grinning at Brooke. “I like my definition better, if I’m being honest.”

“I’m sure you do.” Brooke leans against the counter too, a smidge closer to the woman, notices the way the woman’s eyes widen a bit. “So, what brings you back?”

“Out of Fruit Loops. Also ‘cause I didn’t see you during the day and was wondering whether I had made up a six foot tall glamazon cashier all in my head.”

“Real, and here in the flesh. As I am most nights.” The store seems more like a bedroom to her than her actual bedroom does, considering how much time she’s been spending here.

“Good to know. Guess I’ll have to come visit more often, then.” The woman winks at her and Brooke’s not sure, really, if she’s flirting with her, because who else would voluntarily come to a seedy convenience store in the middle of the night?

So, Brooke’s gonna lean into it. Even if she’s not 100% sure on the woman’s signals. “I’ll look forward to it, that’s for sure.”

“Good…” The woman looks down, trying to search for something, and… is she looking at Brooke’s boobs? Brooke’s about to comment before-

“You ain’t got a name tag or something?”

“Oh.” Brooke feels herself turning red, any moments of suaveness dissipated. “Brooke. And nah, they don’t bother, considering the employee turnover rate.”

The woman looks unfazed. “Cute. I like it.”

She starts picking up the snacks she’s dropped on the counter, and Brooke frowns. “You’re not gonna tell me yours?”

“Vanjie. But you can call me Vanessa.” The woman, Vanessa, flips her hair over her shoulder, and Brooke has to hold back a grin, because now she can tell, she really can, that the woman’s giving her signals.

She likes it.

Vanessa comes back every couple of days after that, buying snacks, sticking around to talk more often than not.

Brooke learns that Vanessa’s moved from Tampa, a makeup artist in town for a few months while she’s working on a project that’s filming in the city. She hates the cold and rainy weather so far, but doesn’t mind the humidity. She’s brought her dog with her while in town, and pulls her phone out excitedly to show Brooke pictures of him.

“If you think I’m not going to have a meltdown over how cute he is, you’re absolutely wrong.” Brooke can’t help the way she scrunches up her hands, the way her face pouts a little, because Riley is indeed adorable. “You should bring him by sometime.”

“Maybe I will, tomorrow, if he’s not snoring away.” Vanessa tucks her phone into her pocket, dipping her hand into the bag of chips that she’s just bought, before holding it out to Brooke. “What about you, got any pets?”

Brooke grabs a handful before answering. “Kitties. Two of them.”

Brooke pulls out her own phone to show Vanessa, whose voice becomes adorably high pitched as she flips through Brooke’s camera roll, cooing at the pictures of them all cuddled up to her.

“This is the cutest shit I’ve ever seen, are you kidding?” Vanessa gasps when she sees a picture of Brooke holding both cats up in her lap. “Stop. This is the best thing ever.”

A throat clear behind them makes both of them jump, turn around, to see a slightly dishevelled man holding a package of toilet paper in one hand and Pepto Bismol in the other. “Hi, uh, can I check out?”

Brooke chances a glance over at Vanessa and has to avert her eyes immediately to keep herself from cracking up right then and there. She takes a deep breath before looking up to face the man again, and can see how positively green he looks. “I can help you at the register, sir.”

Brooke manages to keep it together until the man lets the door close behind him and he’s out of earshot. She peeks over at Vanessa, who bursts out laughing.

“That much Pepto? Shit, he probably going through it tonight!” Vanessa’s bent over in half, cackling, and Brooke can’t help but join her.

“Oh god. I bet it’s coming out of both ends.”

“Nasty. A shitty problem to have, wouldn’t you say?” Vanessa looks over at her, eyes twinkling at her, and Brooke snickers.

“And that was a shitty pun.”

“You liked it.” Vanessa nudges her, hops up onto the counter, and the motion fills Brooke with a sense of ease, an untangling in her chest, from the way Vanessa does it so casually. Like they’re friends now, like their regular hangouts at the store are for more than Vanessa just buying some snacks.

She hopes Vanessa doesn’t have to move back any time soon.

It’s 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday night and Brooke’s tired. It’s quiet, more so than it usually is, and Brooke can’t help the way she lifts her eyes up every so often, peeking at the door, looking for a certain someone.

Vanessa hasn’t come by the store in days. Brooke had gotten used to her, had enjoyed passing the time by cracking jokes and fooling around and learning more and more about her. Telling Vanessa in turn about her ballet training, how badly she wants to make principal dancer eventually.

Vanessa had listened, asked questions. Let her ramble about her financial stress and ballet stress and work stress and it’s nice, really, because Vanessa understood it too.

So Brooke misses her.

She knows that Vanessa’s had a busy week at work, that the television show she’s working on has had longer hours than usual. Still, she can’t help the way she peeks at the door, waiting.

The watch on her wrist creeps past 6:30 a.m. and Brooke only has half an hour of her shift left to go and she’s thankful, because she needs a nap before practice today. She’s about to drop her head onto the counter for some quick shut eye when the door slams open, in a way that only Vanessa can do.

“Brought you coffee.” Vanessa holds up a cup and grins, handing it over, and the first sip of caffeine is practically heavenly.

“You absolute godsend.” Brooke takes a second sip, then a third, before putting the cup down.

Vanessa puts out a hand in front of her from grabbing the cup again. “Slow down, you. Don’t wanna burn your tongue.”

“I want caffeine, though.”

“True, who needs taste buds, anyway?” Vanessa reaches over, grabbing her hand, tugging her around the side of the counter like she usually does. “Help me pick out a morning snack.”

Brooke grabs another box of Fruit Loops from the top shelf because Vanessa’s gotten her into them, too. Vanessa’s squeal of delight makes the extra sugar worth it.

Vanessa cracks the box open on the counter after she pays, shoving her hand in to grab a handful. She holds the box out towards Brooke, who grabs some too.

The tail ends of Brooke’s shifts always bring in a hint of sunlight, rays that catch in the glass of the windows as they start to rise. Dawn is Brooke’s favourite part of her shift. When the darkness starts to leave, when the rows upon rows of snacks aren’t illuminated just by fluorescents anymore.

Vanessa in the light of day has a gentle glow to her, the sunlight hitting her skin in shades of gold. She’s beautiful, even as she munches down Fruit Loops like her life depends on it.

Brooke’s about to ask her what her day holds when Vanessa reaches into her pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. An old receipt? Brooke can feel her brow furrowing as Vanessa holds it out to her.

“Think there was something on one of my old receipts earlier. Can you look at it?” Vanessa’s eyes are sparkling and Brooke doesn’t understand why as she unfolds it, before…oh.

A phone number.

Vanessa’s phone number.

“You mighty cute in the nighttime. Care to hang out with me in the light of day?” Vanessa reaches out, interlaces their fingers, like she already knows what the answer will be.

“Know any good breakfast spots?”

[dramaqueeenamby]

Waves [Drabble-ish]

A/N: I apologize if (that) this is trash, but it’s necessary, and you’ll all see why soon enough....

Also, if you don’t read The Root, I’m gonna need you to get it together

I also tagged a few of you for....reasons 

TAGS: @purple-apricots @honeyybey @letsshamelessqueen-m @amethyst-dreams-and-candy-canes @sisterwifeudaku @brittyevans @idilly

Bow Down, Bitches: All Y(our) Faves Hit The Club Last Night, and Black Twitter Exploded

By: Amber Smith

2/28/19 10:14am

Filed to: BLACK GIRL EXCELLENCE

When Beyonce snatched our edges and entire income tax check, it was done so with all of the love and grace of our lord and savior, Queen Bey. We had zero complaints (unlike the credit card company’s who wouldn’t take “it was Bey” as a reason for a missed payment, but I digress). It was for the cause. For the culture. For us.

Well, last week, a similar moment occurred at the annual white men controlled Academy Awards.

Best Actor, Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Supporting Actor, Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Best Supporting Actress, Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Actress, Summer Hemsworth, A Star Is Born

Not only in Wippo Oscars history was this the first time that the winners for the top four categories were snatched by POC, but our favorite weather witch’s win marked another accomplishment.

She is now the first, youngest, and only African American to win three Academy Awards.

Hemsworth earned her first award for Best Actress in 2012 for her powerful portrayal as African queen Bashira in the absolutely heartbreaking biopic, 4AM (the unofficial black people’s Titanic). She became the first and youngest black woman to take home the coveted award since Halle Berry in 2002. Fast forward seven years later, last week Hemsworth took home the honor for her role as Ally, opposite Bradley Cooper, in the hopefully last reboot of A Star Is Born (if you haven’t seen it, please do, you will cry. A lot).

Black Twitter had a complete meltdown over Summer’s emotionally gripping acceptance speech where she acknowledged legendary black actresses who have yet to win an Oscar. Even before that though, the MCU actress walked on the stage in her House of M original dress that cost more than I make in a year.

And not to present.

Along with singer-songwriter/bff, Siyanda, Summer accepted the award for Best Original Song, Shallow. In an interview with eonline, Siyanda shared that she and bestie Summer wrote the song in under an hour after Yanda’ found out her friend wrote poetry in high school.

“She [Summer] was really against the idea of singing at all. I think Brad and her discussed someone else doing all of that [singing], and then she came to visit me at the studio. I told her I was doing some songs for the soundtrack when she told me that she did poetry, and I told her “if you can write in iambic pentameter for school, you can do it for this movie.” So, we sat down, and like an hour later, we wrote the whole song. She recorded it in one take. It was fucking amazing. She’s a goddess.”

So not only is Summer now the first and only black woman to win two Oscars for Best Actress, she now has a third under her belt along with Siyanda, who is the first black woman to win in the Best Original Song category where she was also nominated for her Black Panther theme, All The Stars alongside Kendrick Lamar.

Celebrations were and still are in order which brings us to our recap of the perfection that was last night.

Siyanda, Summer, Megan Thee Stallion, Onika, and Queen hit the oh-so-popular LA Club, Lush, for some much needed black girl only celebration.

Oh, and Lizzo was there too.

Yes, you read that correctly. All of our favorites were in one building, like, interacting with each other. Two of the best female rappers in the game right now, the reincarnation of Whitney Houston, this generation’s Toni Morrison, and a future EGOT legend (fingers crossed) were all in the same place…..at the same time.

The only thing missing was Mrs. Knowles Carter (the Hive still ain’t forgot what you did, Shawn).

There was twerking, there was drinking, there was laughing, and almost all of it shared via several of the star’s social media accounts.

Queen Ororo shared a now my iphone wallpaper candid on her Instagram of all five of the women with the unofficial Wakanda Forever emoji followed by the crown emoji. Her story included videos from throughout the night which included a hilarious video of Megan teaching the ladies how to “drive the boat.”

Siyanda’s stories showed the quad singing their majestic melanin hearts out to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts.” The duo also posted on their IG’s the night of the Oscars, photos of them hugging and crying, along with detailed and heartfelt compliments expressing their love and appreciation for each other.

According to Summer, the two first met when Siyanda was brought on as a dance consultant to help Summer prepare for the role as Queen Bashira, who was a classically trained dancer.

“I can’t dance to save my life, but this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I deeply wanted the role so I pushed myself. I’d been following Yanda since her Soundcloud and YouTube cover days so I was a big fan. Turns out, she’d seen almost all of my indie films and was a fan of me too. Honestly, we hit it off on the first day. She asked me to dance for her, I did so, she clowned me, I flipped her off. And that was really all she wrote. She’s like the sister I’ve always wanted. I love her to death.”

The friendship has lasted throughout the years with Summer appearing in several of Siyanda’s music videos including: 7 Rings, Party, God is a Woman, and let’s not forget, Partition. I’d never seen the hype in Mr. Hemsworth until I was blessed with that visual.

Summer is the real MVP, ya’ll. Homegril is winning on and off stage and in the bedroom.

In a day and age where division runs rampant among the black community, it is truly heartwarming to see such displays of black excellence. #BlackGirlsRock

Peep the slideshow below to see all of the footage (so far) from the melanated lituation.

RELATED:

PERIODT: Mrs. Hemsworth snaps on the “colorist” and “self-hating” trolls who keep infiltrating her IG comments with their “disgusting” and “pathetic” #LightIsRight “bullsh-.”

Bish Betta Have My Money: Summer Hemsworth shares how she “almost quit” following a pay discrepancy between herself and Olsen #3

Say It Loud, Say It Proud: The Queen of Wakanda shuts down reporter who refers to her as “a pseudo black”

Don’t Mess With My Man: Summer Hemsworth is not here for you hoes with this “divorce bullsh-” and shares a steamy photo of her and White Thunder from Down Under to prove it

[ledabunnie-rp]

Snippet of the ‘Gemini Coven’

Man, never thought i’d make it back to this blog to post but lookie me here I am. This has been a WIP for a little over a year now and this is just a snippet of what i have been working on to show yall. I took inspo from season 6 of TVD bc i LOVE Kai Parker and the whole Gemini Coven thing was my absolute fav. So, Here are our babies in their own Gemini Coven. 

~~~~~~~

“Awhh.” The older wizard let out, patting his partner’s hand in an attempt at reassurance. “Matato… Are you jealous?” he teased. 

The tone in Matteo’s voice rose at least two octaves. “Jealous? No way! She is so bent on making my life hell. There’s nothing to be jealous of when she is just going to die soon.” 

“Oh.” Altair gasped. “So this is about the merge” 

Matteo choked up, his throat unconsciously closing causing him to gag. It had nothing to do with the merge. Well, it actually had everything to do with it but he wouldn’t admit it entirely. It made him look weak. “No.. well. Maybe!  We go last! and I don't know if I'll be ready for when..” he stopped. Thinking about the constellation’s merge brought on way too many fears and sleepless nights more than his own. He had no idea who would win, and he prayed to the gods that Altair would make it. 

Altair sighed, he figured that's what part of the issue was about. “When it's time for me and Vega to go? Well!” He nudged his shoulder into his boyfriend's neck, “don't you worry. We aren't going to participate. We refuse to live in a world where we have to live without the other. Especially when it's because of one of us.” 

“That's not how it works Altair.. you can't just, out beat the merge. If you refuse, you both die, then the whole coven dies. Mason dies, whoever wins the Mcatee merge dies, I'll die. It's not worth the risk of killing everyone.” Matteo gruffed out. How could his boyfriend be so stupid? They've known about the merge since they were kids, they knew there was no way to beat it. It was something that was going to happen and they had to face it. “You can't fight the inevitable”. Matteo couldn't accept it himself, the fact that one day, him and Mason would have to fight each other to live. To absorb each other's power and watch the other die in front of their eyes, by their hands. He refused to lose, but he also refused to kill Mason. It was a constant battle, literally and figuratively.

Altair was insulted. Why was Matteo being aggressive about it? All he wanted to give the boy was reassurance but he was blowing it out of proportion. His meltdowns were different from Vega’s. Matteo’s were insult driven, hell bent on making sure other’s feelings were hurt in the process.  “Sure that's true but there's always another way! There has to be another way. We are peaceful, lovers not fighters if you will. You wouldn't understand, you're nothing like your twin. Only thing you have in common is the womb you shared.” Matteo pulled himself up and out of that chair so quickly Altair just rolled into the crevice that was formally Matteo's body as he watched the other boy start  for the table across the room, then back towards him, then over to the book shelf. Matteo was starting to pace and needed to think. Think about what he wanted to say, how he wanted to come across. How not to strangle Altair right then and there.  Bad thoughts, bad thoughts. The freckled face boy pulled his sleeves over his hands and turned around to face the other. He needed to stop his hands from the ‘boi point’. 

“I'm sorry, but what? Another way? ANOTHER WAY? Generations of people died LONG before us and they never had another way. There were theories about how different twins in the same bloodline could merge but they both end up dying. DYING Altair.” Matteo didn't mean to be yelling near the end, he's just getting worked up. Too worked up. He needed Mason, or Estelle, or Altair when they're not having this argument anymore. The only way to not have it, was to not be there and right now though, he needed to go. Leave this whole situation and come back to it never. He was losing himself in his racing mind and the pacing started back up again.

“Hey! Hey! No! no! no!” Altair called out to the boy, clapping his hands as well. He stood up from the beanbag chair. “come back to earth. Come here.” He called out in a stern voice then pointed to the spot in front of him. 

Matteo snapped out of his thoughts of finding ways out and looked across to Altair, crossing his arms and raising his brow at the other. “what?” He scoffed then bit his lip, why did the other have to be so hot without even knowing? His cluelessness? such a cute attribute.  Altair was distracting him from the important topic at hand, though.  He started to turn back around but was stopped in his tracks. Arms were bound tight against his body; the same spell Celestina used.  His head turned towards Altair, ready to snap at him but the other boy had a hand outstretched and was chanting something Matteo had heard from moments earlier. 

Altair flicked his wrist up and sent Matteo sliding across the room without a chance to react. His hand flew back to his side when the other boy was in front of him again.  Now they could talk to him face to face. “No one is going to die Mayo. We have 6 years to figure out how to make it happen. You just have to believe that we will find a way” Altair reassured him in a calm soothing voice now as he started to wrap his arms above Matteo’s shoulders to hug him. If he could bring him close, maybe he could calm him down long enough to get a truth sigil on him, and help Matteo cleanse his mind of what was really bothering him. With his arms around the other, Altair lightly drew his three-symbolled sigil on the back of Matteo’s neck giving him a big squeeze and pulling away. 

Matteo wasn't digging the whole ‘getting dragged across the room’ situation and was ready to pop off but Altair cut him off way before he could get a word in. Before he could even comment on Altair's new comment he was getting dragged into a hug and having his neck tickled by the boy. He shook it off and when they pulled away he looked at him funny, something was off about Altair.  “You look weird. Too chipper for a boy who is currently in an argument with his…. Whatever you think we are. ” He said out loud, not meaning to at all. 

Altair ignored his comment about their status, thinking only of how awesome it was getting an honest answer from Matteo, for the first time ever. He needed to soak this up for however long he could before Matteo smudged the sigil. There were so many questions to ask, Altair didn't know where to start. He can't start with the obvious ones, otherwise Matteo would catch onto him more. “We’re in an argument? What about?” he asked, playing dumb to gauge how truthful he would be. 

Matteo scoffed and rolled his eyes unintentionally, sarcasm and annoyance controlling his voice as he spoke. “Really Altair? You're never as dumb as you look but today you really have been proving yourself. We were arguing about you really thinking you and Vega can out beat the merge by not participating when what will actually happen is you'’ll both end up dead.” As soon as it came out Matteo covered his mouth, eyes widening as he looked across at the other boy. Shaking his head he spoke through his hands. “that was not supposed to come out.” 

Well that hurt. A part of Altair was glad to know the mark worked but the other part, his most sensitive part, was very hurt. He knew he put it on himself, marking an asshole by making him tell the truth but dang.. He nodded his head then rubbed his face, pulling an eyelid down with him. “I’m sure it wasn't but Jesus Matteo, you're a fucking asshole sometimes.” 

The boy's curls started to flop around as he shook his head. He tried stopping the next words to come out of his mouth but he couldn’t. It was like he was cursed with honesty. “I may be an asshole but at least im not delusional like you are.” He gasped when it came out, he didn’t mean to say that. Well, he did, but only in his head not out loud. Matteo didn't know why he said that, why was he being honest right now? What was wrong with him? He felt stupid-no he was stupid- and he could feel himself starting to spiral but he couldn’t stop himself from saying what was on his mind. “At Least I know that when I go against Mason I’m going to lose but you won't even try to fight for the coven and you’ll risk all of our lives just to keep your ‘make love not war’ trope you have for yourself to stay true. It’s stupid to fight it Altair. You really want to die without even letting me put up a fight? That’s selfish, no, its actually fucking stupid.” Pink cheeks flushed against his freckles as Matteo started for the other boy, taking their hands into his as he spoke again.  “I..I didn’t mean that I’m sorry.  Please don’t leave me, Altair. I don’t want you to stop loving me, if you even do love me, I don't know what you feel, honestly since you won't even kiss me half the time.” Fuck! He needed to stop talking but he couldn’t. His brain wouldn't shut the fuck up. 

 With that Altair’s heart started to break as he released his hands from Matteo’s and backed away from him. Now he was the one who needed to leave this conversation. It went too far too quick and was starting to upset him. So with that he pulled Matteo in for another hug. Hand going to the back of his neck to rub the sigil off before he pulled away to look into his eyes. “You need to clean this place up before they come up here.” He told the other before pulling himself completely off the boy and walking towards the elevator to leave Matteo with the mess he made. He didn't look back either when he stepped between the elevator doors and they closed, but from the noise he heard coming from the other boy before the doors shut  Altair could tell he was heartbroken. He knew Matteo would be fine though. Tomorrow he will come back to school and have completely forgotten about this whole interaction. Things would go back to normal and it would be just another bump in their road. 

Except that isnt what happened.

@wishes-in-the--markmark @nerdynumme-rp

I hope I did ya’ll baby justice. Idk how to end the big story so enjoy this while i figure it out and decide when i’ll post the big thing. 

[onyour-right]

Change of Heart

Think Maxine Shaw and Kyle Barker but instead it’s Erik Stevens and Ryan Mosley, friends turned enemies who find themselves living in the same apartment building. Will they get a second chance at friendship or will it be forever lost? Featuring the lovable T’Challa, Ororo and Simone as well as other other characters both made up and canon. 

A/N: This is the first time I’m writing Erik so feel free to let me know how I do, as long as it’s constructive criticism it’s all good. I just wanna shout-out @hoopshoney for allowing me to use her as a sounding board, lmao, I hope it’s not too shabby. Also wanna shout out my sister wife who is on my forever tag list: @oceanscorazon. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed and reblog! (Also, apologies for any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, I’ve tried to go over it as much as I can.)

Word count: 2.3k

By the time Ryan entered the apartment that she shared with her two best-friends, Ororo and Simone, she was beyond frustrated.  As if work hadn’t been stressful enough with the several documents she hadn’t finished reading over and translating and her asshole colleagues who kept on trying her, she’d gotten home to find a moving truck in her parking space which meant she’d had to spend an additional 10 minutes going up and down the street to find somewhere else to park. It also meant that instead of the few minutes it usually took her to get out of her car and carry her heavy ass bags into the building and up to her apartment, she had to struggle with her bags for much longer. Maybe it would seem a trivial thing for her to get upset about when she looked back on it later on, but on bad days every minor inconvenience mattered. Thank goodness it was Friday and she had the whole weekend to do absolutely nothing.

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Ryan dropped her bags onto the wooden floor and slipped off her black work heels that gave her a few more inches – not that she really needed them though, she was tall enough on her own – before moving towards the kitchen to get herself a much needed drink.

She could hear the faint, contrasting voices of conversation coming from the other room and her whole body relaxed at the realisation her girls were already home and they could all bitch and catch up on each other’s day. Perhaps it was her frustration and weariness making her emotional, but she was hit by a sudden surge of warm affection for her two friends. Although Ryan was blessed with a big family which she definitely loved, ever since the death of her eldest brother the relationship between her and her siblings could be quite tense and sometimes left her feeling alone. It was at college that she met Simone and Ororo and slowly but surely they started to heal a part of her that had been left unfulfilled for quite some time. But it was something they all did for each other and a big reason why they all moved in together a year after graduating college. 

“Hey,” Ryan greeted them as she walked into the kitchen, offering both her friends who were seated at the table in the middle of the room a quick smile. They were both still dressed up from work just like she was, which made it obvious to her that they probably hadn’t gotten in any sooner than she had. Simone was dressed in a classy black and grey pants suit, with her black braids pulled back into a simple ponytail and Ororo in an elegant grey sheath dress, with her long, white hair tumbling down passed her shoulders.

“Hey girl” “Hey boo,” they both replied in unison.

“How was work?” Simone asked, but after noticing the poorly concealed irritation on her friend’s face quickly added, “Damn, your face look mad as hell, what happened to you?”

Ryan let out an inelegant snort at her friend’s brutal honesty, heading to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of wine as she started to recount her day.

 “…. and then I pull up outside and some moving truck is in my space, so I – ” she paused suddenly mid-sentence, her face scrunching up like she’d just came to some kind of internal revelation, “Wait, do y’all know who’s moving in? Because I haven’t heard anythin’.”

Simone’s eyes widened slightly at Ryan’s question and she turned her head away, both her brows raised and her bottom lip twisting into an expression that could only be described as ‘yikes’. Ryan just about caught the brief but meaningful look Simone then exchanged with Ororo.  She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she glanced over at her white-haired friend, who had half her face damn near buried in a mug of something – probably coffee, given how obsessed with it ‘Ro was –  as if hoping there was a way for her to crawl inside.

“What is going on with y’all?” Ryan probed, the bewilderment clear in her voice as her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. They usually only acted secretive like this for two reasons: either they were trying to surprise her, or they had bad news to deliver and didn’t know how to rip the band aid off.  

Ororo finally pulled her head away from the mug, feigning an expression of deep thought as she hummed and then clicked her tongue. “I have no clue, Ry, you might wanna ask SiSi though.”

Following her friend’s words Ryan turned to Simone expectantly, a hand resting on her hip as she waited. She was aware she probably looked a lot like her late grandma in that moment but she was beginning to lose what little patience she had left. All she wanted to do was have a glass of wine, eat some fast food and crash out on the sofa watching some trashy reality show that didn’t require too much brain cells to follow the story-line.  

“You ain’t shit, ‘Ro,” Simone murmured under her breath, shooting a quick scowl in the other woman’s direction before clearing her throat and turning to her impatient friend. “Okay, listen. Uh, here’s the thing. Promise you ain’t gonna get mad though?”

Ryan rolled her eyes. “I’m not promising shit, come on with it already.”

“Okay, fine. Fine,” Simone placated. “You remember T’Challa talkin’ about how he’s been looking for a roommate for months now and couldn’t find anyone? Well, uh… he’s found someone.”

Ryan blinked, opened her mouth to speak and then quickly shut it again. Was that it? Don’t get her wrong, she absolutely adored T’Challa and he was a great friend to her, but why Ororo and Simone thought she’d be so affected by it that they had to be communicate with secretive looks had her feeling even more confused. If any one of them was going to have a meltdown over someone else sharing T’Challa’s space it would be Ororo; those two were head over heels for each other but were also both completely blind to the other’s infatuation. Ridiculous.

“… Good for him?” Ryan responded uncertainly, her thoughts beginning to race as she went over the whole conversation again.  Maybe she was missing something that was painfully obvious?  

“It’s his cousin Erik,” Ororo suddenly blurted out, throwing her hands up as if she was apparently unable to take the slow progression of the conversation anymore. “T’s cousin Erik is moving in with him today and that’s why there’s a moving truck outside.”  

All Ryan could do was stare. She didn’t want to say she hated Erik Stevens because hate was a very strong word that she didn’t like throwing around, but she definitely couldn’t stand him. It had started when the three women had been freshmen in college and had met Erik, T’Challa and W’Kabi, who were a couple years older and went to a completely different college, at a house party. Initially they’d all been cool and had soon started hanging out after that, but then something went down between herself and Erik that made them incapable of being in the other’s presence without getting into heated arguments and trading hurtful insults. Because of that even though most of them were still cool with each other it had been ages since they last all hung out. A part of Ryan still felt extremely guilty about that.

Wordlessly she moved towards the glass cabinet, picking up one of her extra-large wine glasses she’d bought a few months back in some random sale and pouring herself a generous amount of wine. She would be calm about this.

Ryan turned back to her friends who were watching her reaction carefully, slowly she began to take a sip of her wine. “How long?”

“How long is he staying at T’s place?” Simone asked.

“How long have y’all known and not said shit to me?” Ryan clarified, pinning both her friends down with a glare.

Ororo got up from her seat at the table and moved towards her friend, ready to embrace her. She was very much the affectionate mother of the group; always offering hugs, always making sure the other two women were taken care of, regularly cooking for them not because she had to but because it was just in her nature. “It’s not like that Ry, it’s just…” she trailed off and looked at Simone for some support.

“It’s just that whenever he’s brought up it really seems to fuck with your whole mood.  We didn’t know how you’d react to him moving into the same goddamn building as us.”

Ryan pursed her lips petulantly. She couldn’t come up with a slick answer to retort back with because she knew her friends had a point. She’d be lying to herself if she said her chest hadn’t gotten heavy just at the mention of his name alone, or if knowing that Erik was in such close proximity to her hadn’t got her stomach feeling all unsettled.

But what exactly could she do about it now? It was done and she’d grown up since the last time she’d seen him, there was no reason why she wouldn’t be able to act civilised if she ever ran into him. She found herself shrugging, “It’s cool, I guess.”

“Ryan…” Ororo sighed, both her expression and her tone stating that she didn’t believe a word that came out of her friend’s mouth.

“Ororo…” Ryan replied, mimicking her tone. “I’m over it, it’ll be fine.”

Before anyone could say anything further, a series of heavy knocks on the front door filled the apartment and pulled them away from the semi-serious conversation. Ryan broke out into a small smile and squeezed Ororo’s arm in reassurance before putting her wine glass down. “I’ll go see who that is,” she announced, a little too relieved at the opportunity to leave the conversation.

Maybe it was the goddamn parcel she’d ordered over a week ago that had finally arrived. 

---

It was not. 

Ryan was completely taken aback at the sight that met her when she opened the door. She guessed the saying definitely must be true: ‘speak of the Devil and he will appear’. Erik N’jadaka Stevens stood opposite her, and looking infuriatingly attractive in a simple grey v neck shirt and a pair of jeans. It was weird, she thought, he’d changed so much since the last time she’d seen him and yet he hadn’t changed that much at all. He was still just as tall and well-built as he always had been, still just as beautifully striking with eyes so intense it made people want to squirm under his gaze. The only real changes to him were the keloid markings that covered his arms and his hair that had grown into locs styled in a fresh looking fade.

It seemed like Erik was just as shocked to see Ryan as she was to see him, if the way his mouth parted and his brown eyes roamed over her figure were any indication. After a few minutes of neither of them speaking he cleared his throat, breaking the silence with the deep and enticing voice of his. “I uh, I ain’t expect to see you here.”

Ryan thought she could detect a hint of uncertainty in his voice but she quickly dismissed it, Erik and uncertainty weren’t two things that went together. She tilted her head to one side as she watched him, a brow raising in disbelief at his words. She just knew he wasn’t trying to insinuate that T’Challa hadn’t told him she lived here. Not only that, but /that/ was what he was choosing to open with? After it had been so long since they’d last been face to face?

“You didn’t expect to see me in my own apartment?”

Erik huffed out a sigh, his face scrunching up a little as it dawned on him just how his words might have come across. “Nah, that ain’t what I meant, what I meant was- ” he paused, taking his time as he searched for the right words. “I just thought Ororo or SiSi would answer.”

Clearly those weren’t the right words to say however, because it only served in making Ryan even more confused and agitated. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the shitty day she’d had, maybe it was the combination of both those things, but it meant she couldn’t keep the bite out of her voice when she replied. “Uh huh. So my presence in my own apartment isn’t good enough for you? Thanks, Stevens.”

Ryan could tell Erik was also beginning to get irritated from the way his nostrils flared and his body tensed up, like he was prepping himself up for an attack. “Look, I ain’t come down here to deal with all this attitude from you, I - ”

“/My/ attitude?!” Ryan repeated as she cut him off, a scoff leaving her mouth at the boldness this man had, thinking he could say stupid shit and she wouldn’t check him for it. “Y’know what, I’m way too tired for this, be gone spawn of Satan,” she snapped, slamming the door in his face and preventing him from saying anything else.  She was absolutely seething, who did this negro think he was?!

All the noise brought Ororo and Simone rushing into the living room and looking between the door and their best friend, concern on their faces as they both spoke over the other trying to find out what had just gone on. “Girl who was that?” “What happened?”

Unable to find the appropriate words to express how frustrated she was in the moment, Ryan threw her hands up in the air while letting out a loud, disgruntled grumble. She ignored the looks on her friend’s faces as she marched into the kitchen to finish off the rest of the bottle of wine. 

Perhaps she wasn’t as over the whole Erik situation as she’d thought.  

// end