#crabby. crabby. why do you look like that (affectionate)

[aching-tummies]

"My tummy hurts" you say as we slowly walk down the street arm in arm. " I know baby but just a little longer and will be there" I say as I move my hand down to rub your swollen bloated belly. We are on our way to meet my boss at an office party. They said to bring your family and unfortunately when I interviewed for the job I nervously said that you were pregnant (a lie of course) and I needed this position because of it. Now 8 months later they want to see us together and theres only one way to get you looking that pregnant that fast. So here we are walking into the office arm in arm with your tummy stuffed to the max and swollen enough to pull of being pregnant. "Just follow my lead and if they offer you more food just try and eat what you can"

Wow...this is an interesting scenario. I don't think I've done preg or preg-adjacent stuff on here. Honestly, preg-stuff is low on my list of things. First time for anything, I guess ^^ A very creative scenario ^^ I don't know if I did it justice here. Honestly, I wanted to write more...but I kept getting stuck on some scenes and I kind of feel like I'm being very crabby to Anon in this and I guess I couldn't hold the suspension of disbelief at the sit-com-y premise of this scenario, as enjoyable as it was. Thank you for sending this one in! It was super interesting and hilarious and I enjoyed writing it ^^

Trigger warnings: fake pregnancy with mentions of "failed to take" pregnancy. I know that pregnancies that don't result in a healthy baby afterwards can be a touchy subject in real life and I don't want to upset anyone. I have never experienced it myself, but I've known people who have and I do not wish that on anyone or wish for anyone to have to re-live such moments. If pregnancy-related things (including non-successful ones) is upsetting to you, feel free to skip and not read the stuff under the cut.

“Ugh...m-my tummy hurts.”

“I know, baby, but just a little longer and we will be there.” You rub gently at my swollen stomach over my dress. As good as the rubs feel, I'm angry at you and quickly smack your hand away with a glare.

“Nnngh...you owe me big-time for this, sweetie.” My annoyed tone completely counters the affectionate pet-name and the sickly grumble from my belly seems to come on-cue as though agreeing with me. “Ugh...you already lied once...why couldn't you have lied again, moron?” I huff and sit on a nearby bench in the foyer of the venue, rubbing my distended tummy.

“I panicked, love. I'm sorry.”

“There's no way this'll work.” I nudge at the slight bulge of my belly.

My stomach is firm and definitely bulged out enough to make wearing jeans extremely uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that's what I've got on beneath a flow-y, high-waisted, knee-length dress. In order to make my belly really pop, I have on a pair of denim booty-shorts, belted just under the slight curve of my full belly to prop it up as well as to inhibit digestion. We need this budge to last the whole night, after all. It's excruciating, but the sheer stupidity of my partner and his harebrained plots is a close second to the amount of pain my belly is in.

“It's fine. First pregnancies are usually small, right? No one will know..” You crouch in front of me, squeezing my budging belly between your palms, sliding them around my bulge as though fluffing up a throw pillow. You're also checking to ensure that I haven't sneakily loosened the belt under my dress. I glare at you, gripping your wrists tightly in a silent threat.

Try as we did, we couldn't get my belly any bigger than this. You didn't remember your initial lie until someone called to remind you of the event and that everyone was excited to meet your 'expecting' wife. Honestly, if I had known that taking part in such a ridiculous, sit-com-y plot was going to be a part of our marriage, I'd probably have thought twice about saying 'I do'.

“How are we going to explain it when there isn't a baby in a month or two? You should have dropped the lie early on, said the pregnancy didn't take or something. It's going to be much harder to explain now.” I nudge at my belly and wince, having poked too hard at my achy tummy.

“A little late for that now, isn't it?” You hiss, not wanting to be reminded of your web of lies.

“Anon! Welcome! Is that your wife? Don't get up, no need to stand on ceremony—lovely to meet you!” A man in a suit jumps in, startling you as you jump up, putting some unwanted pressure on the crest of my belly as you rise. I hiss and can't help but curl up as my stomach gripes at the pressure.

“Sir! T-Thank you, sir! Y-Yes. T-This is m-my wife—m-my very pregnant wife, sir!” I subtly stomp on your foot, telling you 'obvious-lie-is-obvious'.

“May I?” Your boss hovers his hand over my belly. I flash an angry look your way. Of course, the stupid, stupid phenomenon where everyone and their mother starts pawing at the pregnant lady's belly.

“O-Of course, sir!” My rage against you is almost tangible as you allow your boss to rub my belly, shrugging over his shoulder as though to say 'I panicked'--story of our lives, I see.

I bite back a snarl as your boss palms at my belly. We spent forty minutes rubbing my stomach after stuffing me silly to ensure we got as much gas out of my guts as we could. We needed it to be packed, stuffed solid and not likely to deflate throughout the night.

“My, my—what an active child!” Your boss leaves his palm on the crest of my belly as he makes some small talk with you, completely ignoring the seething lady he has his hand on.

After the boss has landed a couple of solid pats on my tummy, I nudge his hand off of my stomach.

“Sorry, my late Cynthia and I always wanted to try for a baby.” Your boss's eyes grow misty at the memory. “Where are my manners? Terrance Floyd, at your service—feel free to call me 'Terry'.” Terrance offers a slight bow, retracting his hand from my belly. “When you're ready. Feel free to enter Conference Room B. The party is in there. I've been told that there will be a champagne tower—no pressure to partake, my dear. There are plenty of non-alcoholic alternatives available if you ask the bar-tender or waitstaff. I hope you enjoy the party.” With another subtle bow, Terrance Floyd leaves us in peace to go greet another guest that has just entered the building.

Once Terrance leaves, I direct my burning gaze squarely on you. If looks could kill, you'd be dead a billion times over with just that look.

“I panicked!” You exclaim. “I get that you're mad—but we needed me to have this job!”

“Well, stop panicking. Make something up 'cuz you seem to have a lot of experience with that. I'm not going to sit here and let everyone and their father paw at my stomach all night.” I rub my stomach, mentally cursing Terrance Floyd as the achy cramping in my belly intensifies.

Digestion was already stalled thanks to the ridiculous glut of food we managed to cram into my belly in the three hours we had between the call and leaving the house. The belt was cinched as an added layer of insurance, in case moving around somehow managed to kick-start digestion. My stomach's been trying and failing for digestion, convulsing painfully ever since we left the car and began the walk into the venue. Terrance's palming did me no favours and he no doubt felt the intense cramping of my belly under his palm and attributed that to the fake baby moving around.

“He's my boss!”

“And I'm your wife. Better think fast or we'll be adding an 'ex' to that.”

“Anon! And Eitee? We've heard so much about you! Are you coming in? Terry just said it's Conference Room B.” A bubbly, lady flounces over to where we are, plopping down next to me on the bench. I bite back a cross between a snarl and a moan as her action jostles my upset belly. I can already tell that her cheery attitude is going to grate on my nerves. Her partner strolls along behind her, stopping next to Anon.

“Hello! I'm Greg. Anon and I work in the same department. That's my wife, Bebe. Bebe—reign it in a bit.”

“Hi, I'm Bebe! Gosh, your dress is so cute! I love the color on you. I'd have gone for a bright yellow. I guess maternity wear is limited? Oh gosh—right, you're pregnant! You must be so excited! Have you thought of names yet?” Despite her husband's admonishment, Bebe's mouth is going a mile a minute.

She's an animated conversationalist—if you can call one-person speaking a conversation--talking with her hands and her whole body. She's like something straight out of a 90s cartoon, moving this way and that, facing one way and then another, hands clapping to her cheeks or mouth every time she gasps at some new statement she utters. She also doesn't have the same courtesy your boss had, her hands have already slapped themselves onto my belly about three times during her monologue.

“Uhm...Bebe—it's nice that you're friendly and all. My wife...uhm...she doesn't really like being touched so if you could...uhm.” You stutter, nervous under the force of my glare.

“Yes, Bebe. I'm sorry, I really don't like being touched.”

“Oh? I'm sorry! Is it Braxton Hicks? I heard it can happen!” Once again, Bebe's going a mile a minute, though I save 'Braxton Hicks' for later, in case I want to beat a hasty retreat from the party. Despite being told, Bebe's hands still find their way onto my belly more than a couple of times.

“How about we head in? The sooner we get started, the sooner all of this will be over.” I mutter, shooting a glare at you.

“You don't like parties, Eitee?” Bebe's tone takes on a bit of hurt and disbelief, like she can't fathom the idea of someone that doesn't like parties.

I gesture at my belly, hoisting myself up and placing a hand against my back to help with hefting the load (coincidentally, it's also a posture many pregnant women adopt). I gesture at my protruding belly.

“Kind of hard to party with a seven pound bowling ball in my stomach. Can't drink, can't be around smoking people, can't exactly dance in this state. If it weren't for my darling being so desperate to prove to his colleagues that he managed to score at least once, I'd be at home trying to decide between a hot bath, a nap, or whatever twisted snack combination this little one demands we try.” I add the last one on for good measure, but the thought of eating anything at all makes my stomach quake uneasily.

Greg chuckles. “Yeah, he's really been talking you up at the office. Most of the interns think he's bragging and half of them think he's bluffing.”

As much as I hate you for tonight, the idea that you've been bragging about me is touching.

The four of us make our way to Conference Room B. It's one of those meet and mingle parties. Lots of open space, a bar, tables full of finger foods and waitstaff dressed to the nines carrying more finger foods on platters and offering them to the guests. At the centre of the room is a seven foot champagne tower, like Terrance mentioned.

One of the waitstaff saunters over, offering a platter of something on a cracker to the four of us. Greg and Bebe take one each, with Bebe squealing and chattering on and on about the flavours. You take one and give me a look but one glance at the platter makes me feel sick to my stomach and I wave off the chance to try it. You frown at me as the waitstaff leaves.

I grip your hand tightly as my stomach convulses sharply at the sight of all the food. As stuffed as I am, even the idea of a single bite of any of it makes me fear I'll puke, burst, or both.

“That was rude.” You hiss at me. I match your glare, jabbing at my drum-tight belly.

“When I puke, not if, I'm gonna aim it squarely on you, bozo.” I hiss right back.

[happyandticklish]

ohohoho ed n stede for the headcanon game pls 🥹💕

Of course, I love them so much <3 I apologize for how ungodly late this is, I completely forgot this was in my inbox 🥲

Who has the cutest tickle laugh?

Probably Stede, tbh. I feel like

What are their tickle spots?

I think the fandom has collectively agreed that Ed's worst spot is his stomach, but I would like to add on that his ribs are a close second. Stede's absolute worst spot are his thighs, but basically everywhere serves as a walking tickle spot tbh.

Who is ticklish in unusual places and where would that be?

Ed's calves are ticklish, especially to that tactic where you grab the muscle and just squeeze. It's not even his worst spot, but it's unbearable in this very specific way where he can't stand it for very long.

Who gets cheer-up tickles?

They both do because they're saps (affectionate).

Do either of them try to hide their ticklishness?

I feel like Ed would due to his reputation. It can't really get out that the infamous Blackbeard is ticklish, after all. Stede does not, and also does not realize why that information would be something that you'd try to hide.

Who takes advantage of the other one getting their arms stuck while trying to take off their shirt?

Ed does, because it's so fucking easy. The sheer amount of fancy clothing and frocks and undergarments on Stede's person makes it impossible to get it all off in one fell swoop, and often he'll get stuck in the process and Ed's not not gonna take advantage of that opportunity.

How did they discover each other's ticklishness?

Stede found out through Jack. Out of all the shit that Jack brought into their lives, that particular piece of information that he left slip was the one good thing he did for their relationship. Ed found out when they first really got together; Stede's far too ticklish for his own good, and it would crop up in cuddling a lot.

Who can't take tickle bites/raspberries?

BOTH they turn into giggly piles of mush and it's adorable 🥰

Who has to be tickle-forced out of bed in the morning?

Okay, so Stede most of the time, because he's not an early riser and it's the only way to wake him up without him getting crabby. Ed, on the other hand, is used to getting up early, but he'll pretend to be asleep just to give Stede an excuse to tickle him awake.

Who initiates tickle fights?

They both do ^^ They have a very playful relationship and love fucking with each other, so it comes up a lot lol

Who gives up in tickle fights?

Weirdly enough, Ed. Stede's is a goddamn glutton for tickling, and he could go endlessly without any breaks. Ed isn't used to tickling though, so he gets overwhelmed very quickly and has to take a break.

Who's in danger of getting hurt when attacking the other?

They both are! Ed could genuinely hurt someone on accident, and Stede's just really fucking squirmy. Ed has definitely walked away with a black eye from one of their tickle fights lol.

Who always provokes the other into tickling them and how?

They both do omg. Ed gets extremely playful and will get into arguments about everything, poking Stede in the side and pretending nothing happened when he looks over at him. Meanwhile, Stede fully just asks, my man has no shame.

[dogsofardour]

Alright, so this started as gushing on the same JJBA server, but it evolved into a confession piece! I'm tempted to say this happens a little after the Bast and Set arc but before Osiris, but I won't say that definitively until I've finished reading SDC. This was really fun to write. The reactions from the server were so, there are fantastic people on there. I love them (platonically, of course). I hope you'll enjoy this as much as I, and those nice people, did!

***

Jotaro has spent a good chunk of his recent life rejecting people. How exactly is he supposed to win her over? Know if she's interested in him? She's so affectionate! Not just with him but like, EVERYONE, his wires are so crossed.

What's he supposed to say? ‘Hey Eileen, I really like it when you sit next to me, and doodle on my hand, or share your headset with me. Wanna catch a movie after we kill this vampire guy?’

He could never. So, he resorts to passive-aggressively trying to express his interest. Like a very frustrated crow or half-tamed cat. He simply cannot confess, it's too much of a risk. He will get her to confess to him.

It's a genius plan! NO IT ISN'T USE YOUR WORDS JOJO.

Eileen is elated by the fact that Jotaro lets her cuddle up to him, that they go for walks together, that he points out shops she might like. That she stole his hat one time and he didn't pulverize her.

There is a precedent for that expectation by the way! Polnareff had Jotaro's hat for a single second before his nose got rearranged! So, imagine, if you would, Eileen being so ecstatic with this hunk of wood Jotaro found for her to carve and he's like, intensely staring at her, like waiting, anticipating some sort of reaction. She's doing her cute little squealing, he is happy that she's happy but is a lil sour he's not being rewarded thanked.

Then, from out of left field, she plants a big wet kiss on his cheek… He doesn’t know what to do with himself!

"Wuh?!" flies out of his mouth.

When Eileen realises what she's done too and she is mortified. 

He's making high pitched noises while she's going "I AM SO SORRY?! I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME!!! THAT WAS AS A FRIEND!! AS A FRIEND!!!"

Meanwhile, his heart is pounding, Star Platinum has been summoned.

Polnareff and Joseph, who have been snooping, laugh like it's the funniest thing they've seen in the world (it is). Jotaro's face is red as a tomato. He makes this very pointed eye contact with Eileen for a split second before he stalks off.

Poor Eileen's shaking like a leaf, mumbling to herself, "Why did I do that?! I've ruined everything." 

Polnareff is still in shambles, but Joseph has somehow found the strength to calm down. He walks over to her, she's sitting on this makeshift stool, clutching the wood in her hands, staring at it like it's gonna tell her what to do, and he pats her shoulder consolingly.

"Eileen," he begins, and it's a little ridiculous, given the noise Polnareff is still making, but she startles at his touch. "My grandson really likes you."

She looks up, tears still spilling down her face. "He's so angry at me, I messed up."

Joseph bites back a chuckle. "That... That wasn't anger."

"He's never going to want to see me again!"

"Young lady I-" he huffs a little. "- he just wasn't braced. He's liked you for a long while now."

Eileen looks up at Joseph, brow scrunched, crying and confused, so he continues.

"You ever notice how much...less crabby he is with you?" he sits down beside her. "Or how he looks at you so kindly."

"Well that's just cause... well. We're friends. He's in a better mood," Eileen sniffles.

"He goes on walks with you. Offers to do snack runs in the middle of the night. Laughs at your jokes. Smiles. Brings you gifts!"

"Let's you wear his hat," while Joseph's been listing these things off, Eileen's quieted, no longer grasping onto the wood like a life line.

"You know when he got upset that Polnareff wouldn't switch seats with him on the plane? When we had that little baby with us? You know why he was so adamant?"

"I... I dunno."

"The front seat had a lot more leg room for sure, so why would my grandson want give up such a good space?"

"...To sit with me?"

"Yes!" Joseph is finally getting through to her, Holy shit!

"Now, my Jotaro isn't too... He's a do-er but, not as much as a say-er." Joseph pauses. "I think you need to let him know how you feel about him."

Eileen face flushes, but not in the blotchy 'i am about to cry' way. "How I feel?"

Joseph shrugs. "Well, I'm not going to presume you feel the same way, and I'm not going to ask you to lie to him if you don't like him like he does you. That would be cruel."

Eileen's posture straightens so sharply, Joseph nearly loses his balance.

"Oh! He thinks...!" she exclaims quietly, the urgency is present but her voice is wispy. "I SAID I KISSED HIM AS A FRIEND. A FRIEND!"

Polnareff's laughter is heard kicking up again in the background.

"Thank you so much, Grampa Joestar, but I really gotta go!" Eileen squeaks and then rushes off in the direction Jotaro fled in.

Joseph's 'wise-old man' facade cracks so swiftly after that.

“She said she kissed him as a friend" he rasps between bouts of laughter, "Holy shit… they're worse than SUZIE was!"

The old man gets up, cracking his bones and joints, y'know, as you do when you've been crouched down to give grandfather-ly advice and mutters something about "weird lips" as he tries to haul Polnareff off to the rest of the group.

***

Eileen finds Jotaro throwing pebbles into into the distance. It's sandy as hell where they had been hanging out, Eileen can feel the pound of rocks and silt just shuffling about in her shoes.

She approaches...carefully.

"Taro?" she asks. 

Jotaro jolts at her voice. He's usually very alert. He turns towards her, but angles his head down, Eileen can only see shadow where his eyes are.

"...What," he mutters.

"I..." she swallows. "I'm sorry what I said earlier."

"No- the kiss it was fine I-- did you say 'said'?"

She gives him a tight little smile in a 'hah, you caught me' kinda way.

"I shouldn't have said..." she passes the piece of wood between her hands, like an amateur juggler. "I shouldn't have said, 'friend'." 

There's this horrible lump forming in Jotaro's throat, and Eileen sees his frown deepen. 

"So you don't..." a space as he stuffs his hands in his jacket. "We're not... I ruined it." 

Eileen's eyes go WIDE AS SAUCERS. ‘WRONG CHOICE’ a tinny voice rings in her head, ‘WRONG CHOICE!! FIX IT!’

"I MEAN," she nearly yells, Jotaro's eyes are briefly seen beneath is hat, bewildered as hell and a little teary. "I really!" she stomps forward, angling her face UP, just to SEE him. "I! I love you!"

‘Woah... that was a strong word,’ that dumbass voice belated mumbles.

Her face is frozen in terror, jaw clenched. Time stretches forever, Jotaro staring at her, Eileen gawking back. He moves a hand from his coat pocket, and without true drive kind of waves his hand at her. 

"You..." he says slowly. "love me?"

In a tiny voice she whimpers, "I really really do. And it..." her hands are trembling again. "it would mean a lot... if you told me how you feel."

She clenches her eyes shut tight. It... If Grampa Joestar was wrong about this she might actually die. Then the clinking of his chains and the swish of his coat fill her ears.

And she's clutched into a warm embrace, Jotaro's fingers digging where he's crushed Eileen to his chest.

"I love you too."

[twst-bs]

NRC Students and an Anxious MC

And with this, I've done all of the students at NRC!! Well, with the nervous MC, anyway, I have some other stuff in the works too.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, I'm open for both requests and commissions!

-----

Ace: “You look awful.”

The Ramshackle Prefect shot Ace a glare, but it lacked their usual fire. “Thanks, Ace.”

“Come on, I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.” he caught up with them easily when they turned around to keep walking. “I just meant you looked like you had a rough night. Or like you’re stressed out. You know.”

“Your grave only has to be six feet, Ace, you can stop digging now.”

Ace rolled his eyes. “You aren’t usually this crabby. Seriously, what’s up?”

They sighed. “You’re right, I had a rough night.”

“Any particular reason why? Or just ‘cause?”

The two of them had reached Crewel’s classroom, but they still had a few minutes before they had to be in there. The Prefect bit their lip nervously. “I kind of freaked out last night because of the homework.”

“It was pretty hard, huh?”

“Well, that too,” they crossed their arms, almost like they were trying to hide themself. “But, it’s like...I feel stupid, you know? You guys all know this magic stuff, but I’m struggled to handle even the basics. Then I thought, well, if I can’t handle the basics, I’m going to get punished, and I would deserve it because I’m an idiot, and...you can see how the spiral went.”

Ace was quiet for a moment, studying them with an unreadable expression. Then, he heaved out a side and grabbed their wrist, tugging them into the classroom. “I guess it can’t be helped, then.”

“Huh?”

He plopped unceremoniously into his seat and dug around in his bag. “Be quick about it, okay? Queen only knows what Crewel’s punishment for getting caught copying homework is.”

The Prefect stared at Ace with wide eyes. “Seriously?”

“It’s better than nothing,” Ace shrugged, slapping his notebook down on the desk. “If he says anything, I’ll tell him you helped me word it. Now, come on!”

Deuce: They weren’t getting anywhere.

The longer they stared at the question on their worksheet, the less they could focus. Apparently this was supposed to be basic stuff, but there were so many strange ingredients with different magical properties that they couldn’t keep track. And the more that had to flip back and forth between their textbook and worksheet, the more stupid they felt.

“...right? Hey, are you alright?”

Deuce’s voice broke through the panic that was beginning to set in, and when they finally looked up, his blue eyes were wide with concern.

“What? I’m sorry, Deuce, I kinda...spaced there for a minute.”

That only made the crease in Deuce’s brow deepen. “You looked really freaked out. Is something wrong?”

The two of them had made a habit out of studying in the library together. Since Deuce wasn’t the best student and the Prefect was playing a very intense game of catch up, they figured they could motivate each other while studying. But lately, all they had been able to do was sit there and be anxious about everything.

"I...um…" They absent-mindedly clicked their pen, unable to look Deuce in the eye. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked incredulously. "For real, are you alright?"

The genuine worry in his expression made something in them burst. They threw their pen down on the table and buried their face in their hands. "I don't know what I'm doing! I went from magic not existing to suddenly having to study it, and I can't even master the basics! I'm terrified that I'll fail and Crowley will kick me out and -"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, it's okay!" Deuce's chair scraped against the floor as he hurried over to their side, grasping their hands in his. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Their chest heaved as they tried to suck in enough air. "But -"

"Listen," he cut them off. "The stuff you have to deal with is a lot. And I'm sorry for not realizing it earlier. If you want, we can go to Professor Crewel and ask for some tutoring, or even remedial lessons. Whatever you need, I'll help."

Cater: “What are you looking at?”

At the sound of the Ramshackle Prefect’s voice from behind the couch he was sitting on in the Heartslabyul lounge, Cater lolled his head back to grin at them. “Heya! Just scrolling through Magicam, what else is new?”

“That is your favorite pastime, huh?” they leaned on the back of the couch, looking at the screen.

“What are you doing in Heartslabyul, anyway?” he asked.

“Ace thought he could get away with not studying if he ‘forgot’ his textbooks at Ramshackle. I’m returning them before Riddle thinks I was in on it.””

“Yeah, that tracks.”

The two of them lapsed into a companionable silence, the Prefect watching as Cater scrolled. However, out of the corner of his eye, he could see their expression gradually get tighter and tighter, like they were trying to control whatever emotion was trying to show through.

“What’s with that face?”

“What face?” they asked defensively. “This is just my face.”

“That’s the face you make when you start having bad thoughts but don’t want anybody to know.”

“Get out of my head, Cater.”

He snorted, turning so he was sitting sideways on the couch and could get a better look at them. “Come on, tell Cay what’s on your mind.”

They hesitated, picking idly at the loose thread on the couch. “...It’s just me being stupid.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“...The people on Magicam are way more good-looking than I am.” the finally mumbled, looking away. “I keep wondering when you’ll realize that.”

Cater’s green eyes widened before he giggled. “Nope.”

“Nope what?”

“I won’t realize it,” he reached around them to pull their face closer, kissing them affectionately on the cheek. “Because it’s not true. And whenever you start to think like that, you tell me, so I can reassure you.”

Jack: Something felt off.

Nothing in particular had happened, it was just one of those days. But, it was bad enough that they thought about just going back to Ramshackle instead of waiting for Jack like they normally did. Waiting outside of the classroom just made them feel even more antsy.

Just as they were about to shoot him a text to say that they weren’t feeling well - which wasn’t technically a lie - said wolf came out of the classroom, tail wagging involuntarily when he saw them waiting like it wasn’t an everyday occurrence.

Before he could even greet them, however, his nose scrunched up. Furrowing his eyebrows, he leaned down and began sniffing them.

“Jack, what the hell?”

“You’re nervous about something.”

Right. Nothing could beat that canine sense of smell.

“It’s nothing.” Jack opened his mouth to reply, but they cut him off. “No, literally. Nothing actually happened, it’s just a...a weird day, I guess.”

It was clear from the expression on his face that Jack didn’t quite understand, but the guy was nothing if not sympathetic. “Do you need help with anything?”

“Nah, it should eventually work itself out.” They tried to muster up an encouraging grin, but from the look on Jack’s face, they didn’t quite hit the mark. “I’m fine, Jack, promise.”

His tail had dropped, and his ears were pressed against his head. “...When I get worked up, going for a jog usually helps me. Gets all the energy out.”

They raised an eyebrow. “You and I both know that your jogging is my sprinting.”

“Then I’ll walk and you jog,” he grinned. “If you want to, that is.”

They paused before shrugging. “I probably won’t do a good job on the homework if I’m like this, anyway.”

Floyd: Don’t fall asleep. Don’t fall asleep. Crewel will turn you into a rug if he catches you falling asleep.

Their internal monologue was the only thing preventing them from passing out onto their desk. They had had a hard time falling asleep last night, and of course they were working on sleeping draughts in Alchemy today. The vapor wafting from the cauldron was enough to knock them out.

They hadn’t noticed that their eyes had closed until a hard knock on the classroom door startled them open. When Crewel called out for whoever it was to come in, the door opened to reveal Floyd.

“The Headmaster wants to see Shrimpy!” he sang, leaning against the doorframe. Crewel nodded, motioning with his pointed cane for the Prefect to get out.

Physically shaking themself awake, they stood. Next to them, Ace went “Oooooooh~”

“Trappola, just for that, you’re responsible for giving them the notes for the lesson.”

“Aw, come on!”

They didn’t even have the energy to stick their tongue out like they usually would. They just inched past all of the other students until they were at Floyd’s side. The merman casually slung an arm around their shoulder and steered them out of the classroom.

“What does the Headmaster want?” they asked. It could literally be anything, honestly.

“Oh, I lied!” Floyd giggled. “He doesn’t need to see you at all.”

“Huh?”

“You looked exhausted this morning,” Floyd tugged them closer. Not quite a squeeze, but there was something intensely protective in the embrace. “I figured you could use a nap.”

“So you busted me out of class?”

“Yup! This makes me your favorite, right?” he grinned, showing all of his teeth.

“Definitely.”

Epel: They always did have a nervous stomach.

There was a test in Trein’s class that day. No matter how much they studied the night before, they didn’t feel prepared, and their stomach was committing mutiny in response. They hadn’t been able to eat any breakfast, so now they were nauseated and hungry at the same time. They were either going to puke on the test or eat it, they hadn’t decided yet.

“Are you alright?”

They jumped. They had been so caught up in their own head that they hadn’t even heard Epel approach. “Hey. Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit of test anxiety, haha.”

Epel didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure? You look kinda pale.”

“Really, I’m fine. I was just a bit too nervous to eat breakfast.” they insisted.

“Well, that’s not good.” Epel frowned. “You’ll do even worse on the test if you’re hungry.”

Oh, why did he have to phrase it like that? Just the thought made their already roiling stomach turn, and they whined softly as they hugged themself around the middle.

“Ah, wait, I didn’t mean it like that!” he backtracked. “I just meant it won’t do you any good!”

Epel reached into his bag for a moment, mumbling to himself. “I know I have some in here...ah-ha!” he pulled out a bag of dried apple chips. “Here! It’s not exactly a full meal, but it’ll help. And they’re really light, so if you’re sick because of nerves, they won’t upset your stomach.”

“Are you sure?” they asked as Epel handed them the bag.

“Pos’tive.” he grinned. “I’ve got plenty back at the dorm. And Ma’s always sending me stuff from the farm anyway. So go ahead, I don’t want you passing out!”

Sebek: They had no idea what he was talking about.

It was a feat in and of itself to be able to not pay attention to Sebek. The man was a walking lightning bolt. But today was just not a good day, mentally.

A pity, too. They always liked walking around in the woods with Sebek. Something about being in nature and listening to him talk passionately about whatever was on his mind was almost soothing, but it just wasn’t working this time.

“Are you listening?”

They jumped when he said their name. They had gotten so sucked into their own head that they hadn’t noticed him turn his monologue into a conversation. “I’m sorry!”

“What are you sorry for? Is everything alright?” he looked them up and down with sharp amber eyes, scanning for anything that could present any danger. “Are you ill?”

“No, no, it’s not…” they sighed, shoulders slumping. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Nightmares.”

Bad dreams had been a problem before they arrived in Twisted Wonderland, but now they were really plaguing them. It made concentrating difficult, even on simple things such as a walk with their partner.

Sebek stepped in front of them, forcing them to stop in their tracks. His angular features were serious, thrown into deep contrast from the light of the sun setting between the leaves. He clasped both of their hands in his own, holding them tightly as he looked into their eyes.

“You needn’t worry about such things. I will not let anything harm you, even your own mind.” he squeezed their hands. “On my honor as a knight.”

Silver: Watching Silver train with a sword was...something else.

They could watch him all day, going after the training dummy like it was actually an enemy.

Well, usually, they could.

It had been another sleepless night, up worrying about all the various things they needed to do. They only managed to fall asleep around four AM, and they needed to be at their first class by eight, so they hadn’t exactly gotten well-rested. They were impressed that they had managed to stay awake during their lessons, but now it was catching up to them.

The warm sun shining on their face and the rhythmic swishing of Silver’s practice sword was vaguely soothing, and before they really knew it they had slumped against the tree they were sitting under, fast asleep.

When they awoke, they were moving. It took a minute to gather themself, and they blinked sleepily at their surroundings.

“You can go back to sleep.” Silver’s voice rumbled against their side. He was carrying them. “We aren’t that far from Ramshackle.”

“...You could have woken me up.” they mumbled, nuzzled closer to his chest. “I would have walked.”

“You looked so peaceful.” he responded, adjusting his grip. “Unless you want me to put you down?”

“No.” they sighed. “This is nice. Me and Grim are always saying that it takes forever to get to Ramshackle from anywhere in the school, I’ll take the ride.”

Silver chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to their forehead. “Go to sleep.”

[ryuichirou]

Thank you so much for all the content you give us! I absolutely love all the art, aus and headcanons! Could you share some sexy headcanons for Zeke? I'd love to hear your ideas if you don't mind ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I love your headcanons for Eren and Levi! Do you have any for Zeke? 

-------------------------------

GUYS, when I first saw your asks I audibly gasped. I was just whining to Katsu about how I want someone to enable me to talk about Zeke, and then you appeared, beautiful curious people hahaha.

(Thank you so much for enjoying all of our content btw! <3 It’s so cool to hear that you like our aus and headcanons)

Ok so ZEKE. ZEKE IS AN INTERESTING CASE

My mind screams to me that I should mention that Zeke is definitely a virgin before all the zeviing around begins. And he was kind of proud of it because everyone around him is so obsessed with sex, and Zeke will take all the reasons to believe that he is smarter and better than everybody else. But Levi awakened something feral in him.

Some mornings he’s very crabby and irritable because he doesn’t like the fact that he started getting wet dreams at the age of 29 (or 25, depends on the AU…) He also started masturbating more often after this, and it disappoints him.

Out of everyone we’ve discussed already, Zeke is the least experienced one, but he’s a very fast learner and is pretty sure Levi doesn’t notice how inexperienced he is. He’s never addressed that because, well, why would he? And to Levi out of all people? Screw that noise.

Zeke is dirty talk and dirty talk is Zeke, these two things are inseparable. He never shuts the fuck up. He asks a lot of questions, he’s always super smug and arrogant. The feeling that his words affect Levi in some way arouses him the most. Zeke loves it when Levi is speechless because of The Audacity, but he also is very into it when Levi verbally bites him back and insults him. Sometimes he gets a boner when they do their angry flirting thingie argue and forgets what they were even talking about.

He gets aroused very easily too, but with him the pattern is more obvious. Their arguments with Levi and anything physical turn him on instantly. Intense staring contest works too sometimes.

Emotionally Zeke is the least mature and open one when it comes to sex, he isn’t really honest with Levi because he doesn’t want to show him how much he enjoys this process. He’d rather play the role of someone who is degrading than just let himself melt while kissing and embracing Levi.

And he does enjoy being somewhat sadistic and insulting, he absolutely loves being dominant and teasing Levi for being so turned on by a dick in his butt despite being the mankind’s strongest soldier. He LOVES provoking Levi and making him angry just to shove his dick even deeper while Levi tries to stare at him all scary and stuff.

He is into a lot of kinky stuff, bondage and choking being some of them, but everything he does boils down to him going “Oh, you got a boner because of that?” as if that wasn’t the whole point.

But underneath this douchebaggery Zeke is surprisingly soft. I mentioned it before, but Zeke is starving for love and attention and tenderness. If Levi does something remotely gentle or affectionate (like stroke his shoulder or hug him), his heart goes crazy and he tries very hard not to show how euphoric he is over these little things. Deep inside, he really wants to hold hands, kiss a lot, feel his lover’s body under his and be very sensual. Cuddly, even. He rubs his nose under the glasses sometimes so he won’t cry when that happens.

Sometimes, when he’s still horny but too tired to think after sex, he can get very obvious about these desires and lay his head on Levi’s shoulder, rub his face against Levi’s cheek, even stroke Levi’s fingers a little bit. But it always ends up with him trying to snap out of it and saying something douchey once again.

One thing Zeke is very comfortable about though is walking around naked lol out of all of Levi’s lovers he’s the one who is likely to strip completely naked and undress Levi too. Not every time though.

He adores blowjobs and would love to receive them more often. The idea of Levi standing on his knees pleasuring him with his tongue make him go crazy.

He always comments on how Levi looks with cum on his face/body or how his butt twitches after he pulls out. He’d love to take a photo or even video, but it’d show that he’s extremely into that, so usually he doesn’t do that. He would definitely do that in some AUs though.

Zeke smells like cigs and coffee, duh. He also smokes after sex. And Levi hates it.

The idea of phone sex intrigues him. One time he masturbated while talking on a phone with Levi, and he’s pretty sure that Levi didn’t notice that.

In some AUs he jerks off into food while cooking and tries feeding it to Levi. I can’t really explain this one, it just kinda worked perfectly with Zeke for some reason lol

If we’re talking canonverse, and it was already mentioned in our Levi post, but we believe Zeke and Levi fucked all the time while they were in the “hotel”. The first time was an accident, the chemistry and horniness and stress and all this stuff just hit them like a truck and the hatefucking began. After that first time, it became a routine. Zeke would be kind of scared of Levi, but too cocky not to start touching him with “What? Do you have anything better to do?”

It is also possible that they fucked on a blimp, but who knows who knows.

He thinks a lot about what Levi is like when he is with Eren or Erwin. When we talk about Eren, his feelings are complicated because he’s still kind of bitter that some man takes all of his brother’s attention and he’d rather spend time with Levi than play baseball with Zeke, but sometimes he catches himself feeling a little jealous of Eren, because Levi is so loving with him and Eren can just be honest about his desires and feelings. He’s sure that all of it is just a phase for Eren because he’s so young and maybe he’ll lose interest in Levi. With Erwin though, Zeke is extremely jealous. Thinking about Levi sleeping with him (both Erwin and Eren actually…) would still makes Zeke horny though. Like, angry-horny.

Ok, that’s it for now lol but you can also check out this reply if you want to read me elaborating on why Zeke doesn’t blush on my drawings and how closed off he can be despite his desire for love and attention in case you (or any person reading this) haven’t seen it.

Thanks for your question <3

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid 192

192

    Holding Keith’s hand in public felt nice. Walking from the hotel to the restaurant, Lance found himself watching families of all types as they walked. He couldn’t help it. A smile coming to his lips as he watched kids nag their parents, or listened to them as they played. His hand sitting on his stomach while his mind substituted the kids for their twins, and the parents as Keith. Keith would be such a good dad. He absolutely knew that for certain. He’d worried when Keith had spent most of the night sleepless, the walk seeming to invigorate him as it wore away Keith’s energy. Keith needed his coffee pronto, lest a server cop his boyfriend’s uncaffeinated anger loaf rage.

  Leading Keith into the restaurant, it had a kind of rustic charm. Heavy oak logs made the walls, with all kinds of memorabilia stuck to the walls, including a giant stuffed fish with a plaque that red “Billy Bass”. It appealed to his tacky side in all the right ways. Sending Keith to find a seat, his boyfriend slouched off to throw himself into the only available booth. Lance giving a shake of his head affectionately. He really loved that cranky werewolf. Waddling over to the counter, he forced himself to remember to look and act like a girl. Keith didn’t know he was terrified of the same kind of comments made at the petting zoo being repeated. This trip had to go as well and as smoothly as it could. Picking up the menu, he knew instantly he wanted more than pancakes. Everything smelt vaguely appealing, and Keith would eat like there was no tomorrow.

  “What can I do you for, darling?”

Jumping at being unexpectedly talked to, the woman behind the counter cackled at him

“Sorry, love! I didn’t think you’d be lost in thought over a menu”

Lance flashed a smile, careful of his teeth. He kind of wished he’d worn a set of glasses. The more he stood in the restaurant, the more he heard and the bigger the world suddenly seemed to be

“Sorry, everything sounds so good I’m not sure where to begin”

The woman chuckled

“I remember those feelings. How many you got in there?”

“Two. I guess I do look pretty big”

“And carrying low, you’ll be in labour no time, love. Now. What do think?”

No. Nope. No labour for him. Not unless he was comfortably set up at VOLTRON... he’d hold his legs together for as long as possible if their twins dared to think of coming this soon

“I think I’m famished. Can I please order two sets of pancakes and two sets of the bacon breakfasts? Ooooh, and I’ll grab a fruit salad, two of the largest coffees you have, aaaand... I think I’ll have a green tea latte... and a fruit salad. Yeah, that’s all, thank you... oh! Do you guys have soy milk? I don’t want to gas my boyfriend”

  The woman behind the counter ogled him fo a moment, shaking her head and laughing again

“I don’t know where you’re going to fit all that... We have soy, almond, and regular. None of that skin stuff”

Lance blushed. He couldn’t help that he didn’t exactly know what he felt like, but food seemed like an amazing idea

“It’s for me and my partner. Soy will be fine, thanks”

The woman slapped his arm gently with the back of her hand

“I know that, love. Just an old woman teasing”

“You don’t look that old”

She looked about the age he should look... her name tag reading “Dae”, the white tag almost lost in the red of her bright red shirt

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. Now, darling, cash or card?”

“Card please”

  The woman rang up there largish breakfast bill. Lance paying as he was trapped into small talk

“So, love. Are you here for our Easter markets? Or you one of those passing through?”

“Oh, my boyfriend and I are spending a few days here. We’re meeting up with some friends”

The woman printed him a receipt without him asking

“I’m sure you’ll find this quite boring compared with the cities around here, but we have own charm. Now, can I get a name for this order?”

He’d been prepared for that. He’d made kind of a mental story for himself. He and his photographer boyfriend were driving up, stopping in small towns as Keith built up a portfolio in the hopes of turning to selling prints online

“Lancella... my, uh, parents were hoping for a boy”

“I’m sure they love you at any rate. We can’t help our names. You go take a load off and I’ll bring your coffee over. Take my advice, love, take a look at the markets while you’re here. They really are something else”

“Awesome. We might just take your advice. Thank you”

    Siding, barely, into the booth opposite Keith, Keith was glaring at the menu in his hands. Tugging it free, his boyfriend huffed as Lance set the menu back into its holder

“Your coffee’s coming”

“Good”

Keith should have perked up at the thought of coffee. The scent was strong enough that Lance’s stomach was threatening to turn traitor right there at the booth

“Babe?”

“It’s nothing. You looked like you were having a good conversation, Lancella”

Lance rolled his eyes at the name

“I’m a simple man. The best lies have a kernel of truth in them”

“It pisses me off that you have to lie. You’re you. If people don’t like that, they can go play in traffic”

  There was his grumpy little anger loaf. He’d also realised something that was likely to make Keith grumpier

“You can’t just put them in traffic. You know, we’re going to be in trouble”

Keith sighed deeply

“What for now?”

“I’m starving... and all that food has to come back up. Plus, apparently I’m going to pop soon”

Scowling at him, Keith sat back and crossed his arms. His voice firm and joke free

“There’s no way you’re allowed to even think about giving birth in this crappy town. Don’t even think about going into labour”

Sometimes it was scary how in tune they were. He didn’t want to give birth here, yet he couldn’t hate this town

“I don’t know. This town isn’t that crappy. This is the town you were born in and you’re not crappy. Maybe crabby... but not crappy”

“You’re fucking hilarious”

Lance shot his boyfriend double finger guns

“I try. But seriously, I’m starving...”

  He’d also forgotten to do his shots before leaving the hotel room. Keith coming out with the bath mat around his waist had driven away the thought. His boyfriend hadn’t questioned why he’d packed heavier than usual. There was a whole suitcase of towels and bedding, waiting to be unpacked. His new plan was that after breakfast they’d unpack a little more, and he’d look up the directions to the cemetery where Keith’s dad was buried. The vampire knew his own pain from having now lost both his parents, yet that was nothing compared to Keith losing his dad at such a young age. Making the comparison seemed really shitty and like it lorded the fact Lance had had his parents for so long, that’s why he’d never say it out loud.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the coffee and the latte. Keith sliding both mugs towards him as Lance thanked “Dae”. Wrapping his hands around his cold drink, there was kind of a happy peacefulness as Keith took his first sip of coffee. This was nice. Them having no real schedule. Not rushing around. Kind of on a date, but not at the same time...

“Stop staring”

Chuckling, Lance moved his hand up to take the straw between his fingers, stirring his latte as continued to stare

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

Kicking him under the table, that was Keith’s great comeback

“Really, babe?”

“Fuck you. Fight me”

  It’d be soon long since he’d heard that one. The second they found out he was carrying, he had to behave himself and training went out the window

“I could beat you, but we both know you’d liked it”

Delivering the words slowly and purposely, Lance succeeded in making Keith choke on his coffee. Placing the mug down, his boyfriend coughed into his hand

“Fuuuuck...”

“Still want to fight me?”

“Keep this up and I’ll beat your arse so hard you won’t be able to walk for a month”

“Do you promise?”

On the back of choking on his coffee, Keith choked on air. His hand fanning his face as he shook his head

“You deserve to be punched in the dick for that”

“Nah. You love me too much for that”

“God. I fucked that one up”

  Lance knew Keith was teasing, yet he felt himself automatically tear up. Apparently he could dish it, but his ego was too much of a diva to take it. Dropping his gaze to his drink, he felt awful for how he’d reacted

“Babe?”

“It’s nothing”

“You know I love you, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I guess my hormones are being silly. It’s ridiculous”

Keith wisely decided not to agree with him, changing the topic

“What did you order?”

Raising his head again, Lance shot him that fake smile that hadn’t come out in so long that he wasn’t sure he was doing it right

“Pancakes. Eggs, tomatoes, bacon, sausages, and fried onion. Coffee for you. Tea for me, and fruit salad”

“You think that’s enough?”

Now he was feeling self conscious over how much he wanted to scarf down his food

“I figured you’d eat what I didn’t...”

Keith playfully kicked him under the table again

“Great. Now I’m the garbage disposal unit”

  Shit. Why had his mood plummeted so much? Now it had, his ego was getting riled up. He was starting to feel vulnerable over being pregnant and into a strange place, where people he didn’t know could easily target him, or Keith. He couldn’t scent anyone like them in the place, yet he’d been so care free when they’d come in, he hadn’t thought to. The sudden shift to extreme vulnerability by his ego threw him off. They were a goddamn vampire. Had he been so inclined, he could easily take every single human on in the restaurant... Why was he suddenly so spineless? And why was his ego not propping his mood up with its usual douche attitude.

  “Babe, you’ve gone pale. And you’re shaking. What’s wrong?”

He was shaking? He hadn’t noticed...

“Sorry. My ego... just went funny...”

Keith stared at him in confusion

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know...”

He didn’t know. Was it not sure keith could protect them? No. Keith could and would go beyond them. Then why did it want him to run? All he wanted was a nice breakfast with Keith, so Keith wouldn’t be so stressed about what was to come...

  Leaning across the table, Keith’s confusion grew. Cocking his head, he drew back slowly

“You feel like... you’re pushing everything away. If there’s something wrong...”

“I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m sorry”

Trying to let his ego flare a little, the instinct to run grew with it. Lance quick to force it back down. Maybe he’d been too focused on being home of late? No one had made any kind of threat towards him

“If you’re not feeling well, we can go back to the room”

“That’s not it. All of a sudden I got a spike of fear and I’m not sure why”

  Keith pursed his lips, shook his head, then suddenly decided to move to sit next to Lance, a little too fast for Lance’s liking. Taking his hand in his, his boyfriend squeezed softly

“You don’t need to be scared”

Having Keith close should have calmed him, yet the spike of fear had spiked his anxiety over not knowing why he was kind of internally freaking out  

“I know. All I wanted was a nice breakfast”

“We can still have a nice breakfast...”

“I’m so sorry. I know you’re stressing badly. This has to be so much all at once”

The restaurant was loud, despite it being breakfast time. Too many people seemed way too awake

“The glasses help. Do you want them?”

  Yes. And ear plugs. Someone dropped something in the kitchen, Lance flinching at the sound as he shook his head

“No. No... it’s okay. I’ve been doing this longer than you have”

“Are you sure?”

“Babe, I’ll be okay. It’s just weird... I don’t smell anything... bad. Maybe I’ve spent too much time hermitting”

“Or maybe people just suck?”

“Careful, babe. Your grump’s showing”

Keith huffed with a pout

“I’m not being grumpy”

“Fine, your lack of people love is showing. I hope breakfast doesn’t take too long”

“You need to eat more. You’re all skin and bones”

Lance’s ego chose to take the wrong way. He ate. Keith knew he ate. He couldn’t bring Keith’s mood down any further

“I’m going to. Your babies are demanding it”

  Bring their hands to Lance’s stomach, Keith rested them there

“Already causing so much trouble. You two better give your dad a break”

“That’d be nice. I think the first thing they’re getting when they’re old enough is a trampoline”

“Why do I feel like you’re the one who’s going to be spending more time on it than them?”

“Because it’s nice to lay out under the stars?”

They hadn’t done that in so long... Maybe they’d get a chance while they were here?

“I wonder what sex would be like?”

And there Keith went stating the real reason he supported getting their kids a trampoline

“I’m not conceiving any future siblings on a trampoline”

Keith bumped his shoulder lightly

“There goes that idea...”

“I’m going to put you in a time out if you don’t get your mind out of the gutter”

“But without the gutter, my mind would be homeless”

  Without missing a beat, the werewolf had him groaning

“Who taught you that one? They need to be shot”

Keith grinned, Lance kind of envious that no matter how upset Keith was internally, he was keeping his ego well under control. He should be proud. No. He was proud. He just wished his would perk back up

“Pretty sure I learned that from you”

Great. He couldn’t exactly shoot himself... though he’d definitely shot himself in the foot in the metaphoric sense

“You don’t want to listen to me. I’m going crazy in my old age”

“You’re not even that old”

“Older than you”

  Keith put on that bad southern drawl that never failed to work on him

“And twice as pretty. A pretty little thing like you should be careful. A big bad wolf might just gobble you up”

“Nah, my boyfriend takes care of all the scary things out there”

“I could take him. They don’t call me the Mullet for nothin’”

Oh lord. That was terrible. That was terrible and Keith knew it was terrible

“Is it because you’re kinda fishy? A bit limp all dead eyed?”

“Why, miss. I’ve been told I’ve got the perdiest eyes around”

Lance let out a long groan of defeat. He didn’t feel safe, and as much as he didn’t want to feel amused, Keith’s stupidity was kind of turning his frown upside down

“Alright. No more. I get it”

“Do you feel any better?”

No...

“Yeah. I’m still staving, though”

“It won’t be too much longer... hopefully”

   *

Keith kept a careful eye on Lance once their breakfast finally arrived. Lance noticing, and responding by eating despite the lack of interest in the pancakes he’d wanted. It was hard to pretend to be happy. Everything felt too much for him, and having it all feel too much for Lance threw him.

  Holding it together, the walk back to the hotel was brisk. Lance tried to shake him off to go to the bathroom alone, but Keith wasn’t having it. As Lance “threw” himself down to vomit, he slipped behind him, tugging off the annoying wig so he could rest his chin on Lance’s shoulder. His boyfriend was shaking, his skin felt a little colder than its above barely warm natural state. Having played breakfast over in his mind, he still didn’t know why Lance had spooked, or why his ego had drawn in. The only thing he could think of was that that woman’s words brought up Lance’s fear of giving birth soon. No one had said anything to his precious mate. No one had barely looked their way. No. Everyone else was too busy fucking chewing like a herd of cows. The noise infuriating now he’d noticed.

  Staying with Lance until his stomach settled, his boyfriend wobbled on his feet as he stood. Keith had spent the time giving Lance belly rubs and trying smother him in his scent to calm him down. His own ego was rattled by their mates strange actions, making it almost mad at a situation where no one was to blame. Rinsing his mouth out, Lance stared at him in the mirror. He looked exhausted

“I’m sorry”

No. Lance had nothing to be sorry for

“Babe. Hey, it happens”

“I’m supposed to be the one in control here... and I freaked out for no real reason”

“It’s okay”

  Lance didn’t know he was semi echoing Keith’s earlier movement as he kicked the basin cabinet lightly

“No. No it’s not. You’re stressed. You’re in a new environment. You’re being forced to go out with me when I look like this. And I couldn’t even keep my shit together long enough to enjoy being out to breakfast with you. It’s fucking pathetic. I should be past all this shit”

“You’re overthinking things again”

Sighing deeply, Lance went to grab his toothbrush out the toilet bag, only to knock the contents out. Sensing the impending tears, he turned his boyfriend towards him, gathering him against him

“Babe. Hey. It’s okay. I’m not mad and you haven’t done anything wrong”

Lance shook his head again

“I’m sorry... God. I feel so fucking incompetent”

  Lance wasn’t incompetent. Keith ego saddened to hear their mate talk about himself like that. He wanted to make Lance smile again

“You’re not. Didn’t Dae say something about a fair?”

Again, Lance shook his head

“Sorry... I think I want to lay down for a bit... and I really need to pee. Can... can you get the blankets out the suitcase? They’re in the black one”

“And you’ll be okay?”

“I’m going to pee, then I’ll be out”

Kissing Lance’s hair, Keith found himself more anxious over Lance than the thought of seeing his father’s grave. Maybe Lance was more tired from the day before than he was letting on

“Alright. I’ll be waiting”

   When Lance came shuffling out the bathroom, he made straight for Keith. Keith having covered the top of the hotel bed with their three blankets, the bottom one acting as the sheet between them and the crappy bedding below. Lifting the corner back, his boyfriend climbed in beside him. Shoes and all. Lance had to be dead tired to not fight him over his shoes, which had kind of become part of Keith’s daily job. Laying himself against him, Lance rested his head on Keith’s chest, arm snaking around him. Somehow the feeling that came to mind was akin to missing that bottom step and terror flooring you for a moment as your stomach dropped. When Lance started crying, Keith could only let him cry it out. He’d gotten used to Lance having more emotions than he thought possible for a vampire. Lance’s motto seemed to be “sometimes you just need to cry it out”. Still. It sucked. They were so far from their friends. So far from home... and the hard bit was yet to come.

    *

Falling asleep Keith, Lance carefully pried himself off his boyfriend. He felt safer for being in the hotel room, and disoriented from how hard he’d seemed to nap. Creeping to the bathroom, then back into their room, Lance mentally sighed to himself over his emotions. He was being so dumb. Keith needed him... None of this... he couldn’t break down now. Taking his phone off the bedside table, the vampire crept back into the bathroom. He’d already talked to Keith, explaining that he didn’t get what was going on at all... Yet he wasn’t sure that Keith believed him. His people hating boyfriend had offered to take him to the markets on for Easter. That wasn’t Keith’s thing. That was Keith grasping at straws and trying to find a way to make him happy again.

  The call took a long time to answer, Krolia’s voice happy as Lance wondered if he was annoying her

“Hey, Lance! How are you?! Did you and Keith arrive safely, I swear that boy never thinks to let me know he’s okay”

They’d sent a message to group chat, and that was about it. With some small unpacking, they’d both been too tired for phone calls and any form of in-depth conversation

“Sorry, Krolia. Yeah, we got here okay. If this is a bad time, I can call back”

“No. Not at all. Is everything okay? I mean, I’m thrilled you called, but I’m confused as to why”

  That stung a little. He hadn’t spoken to Krolia all that much since Keith turned...

“I won’t keep you long. I have a question, and I think you’re about the only one who understands what it’s like to be pregnant”

He would have turned straight to Mami if she’d been alive. He felt like he really needed that maternal support right now. Hearing her voice would have driven home she was safe and she would have teased him for being hopeless

“Shoot away! Are my two grandbabies giving you grief already? I can have a stern talking to them, if they are”

   He wanted to reach through the phone and hug Krolia. Keith was absolutely amazing with him, yet he couldn’t fall pregnant. A small snort escaped without him meaning for it to

“They’re fine. Using my bladder as a trampoline and wriggling around in there. I... uh... I was wondering if when you were pregnant with Keith, if you ever felt... scared for no reason”

There was a pause. Lance grateful Krolia was taking the time to think about it

“Sometimes, yes. Especially in the line of work I do... Did something happen?”

So Krolia has only experienced fear when thinking of vampires and werewolves...

“We we’re having breakfast and all of a sudden I got scared. There was nothing there to be scared of. No one else who wasn’t human... but... I feel like I was too care free lately. I didn’t guard my scent. I didn’t think about what would happen had someone caught it. I didn’t think about bringing Keith here and what if there was someone like us here... I didn’t think about it... and I feel... like me not thinking about it is the same as me thinking Keith... is... something less than he was”

  Starting to cry, he felt really very stupid for his tears. He treasured Keith. But he’d been running around trailing his scent after him without a thought of the impact. All he’d wanted was to get things done and settle his ego

“Lance, you love that idiot son of mine. I’m sure at the first hint of danger you would have reacted. Is Keith there with you?”

“He’s asleep... I’m sorry for calling... I would have turned to Mami, but...”

“No. No. I’m glad you called. I want to be there for the both of you. Yes, I was scared. But nothing like Keith’s father. The slightest thing and he wanted to rush me off to the emergency department. You’re under a lot of stress. Have you been...?”

Lance shook his head, then remember Krolia couldn’t see him shaking his head

“Not yet. I freaked out and Keith had to take care of me...”

“You’re nearing the end of the pregnancy. Fears happen. I know that all too well. Especially how the insomnia can play on your mind. You’ve both been through so much, and I heard from Curtis that you were looking forward to some alone time with Keith. My opinion is that you let Keith take care of you. He’s strong”

“He’s not that strong when it comes to his dad”

“No, but keeping it in will only make him worry more. He loves you. If anything were to happen to you... well, I feel sorry for whoever crosses you. I believe both of you would sense actual danger”

“How am I supposed to know the difference?!”

“You’ll know. Take these feeling of fear and ignore them. Push them aside. They’re useless. Focus on you and my grand babies. You should be safe there. Coran didn’t mention anything about anyone living there that you should be wary about”

Lance sniffled. Krolia hadn’t given him much of anything useful and it sucked... but she tried in her own way

“Thanks, Krolia. I’m going to go back to Keith now”

“No worries. Let me know how everything goes. You can call me. Anything you two need...”

“Yeah. I will. I... thanks for talking to me...”

“Anytime. I’m your mother too. You can come to me”

  Coming out the bathroom, Keith was awake, meaning he’d heard some, if not all, Lance’s side of the phone call. Stopping a few steps into the room, he expected Keith to be angry at him for admitting he hadn’t thought of his precious boyfriend’s safety. He hadn’t thought of anything much when it came to the more important things he should have been almost paranoid about

“Babe... come here”

Holding his arm out, Lance caved instantly as he moved to climb into bed with Keith, his emotions getting the better of him as he started crying again. Krolia wasn’t Mami. She didn’t give advice like Mami did. The vampire craving that maternal touch, that Krolia had only taken the point off of

“That’s it. I’m here... I’m here, let it all out”

“I’m sorry”

Keith gentle ran his fingers through Lance’s hair, hushing him softly

“Shhhh... I’ve got you. I’m okay and you’re okay. It’s okay”

“I miss Mami”

“I know you do, babe. I know. Let it out... let it all out”

  He was such a selfish boyfriend, yet Keith loved him anyway. He didn’t deserve the love he felt from Keith, but he did notice that together like this, the fear had mostly gone away. There really was no substitute for cuddles with Keith.

[soulangel]

Dance Lessons - Mingi

Summary: Being a romantic at heart, Mingi finds the perfect way to finally tell you how he feels about you

Group: Ateez Mingi x Fem!reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None? Fluffy crack? Watch your teeth in case they rot from sweetness?

Word Count: 1,945

    After you just managed to get off work, you were checking your phone to see if you had any missed notifications. Only to see 5 miss texts and 1 call from Mingi? What in the world could he want that was so important? You frowned a little as you pressed the call button to get ahold of your best friend. It took a couple tries until your call connected, and when it did you could hear shouts and hollers on his end meaning he was still with the group.     You took your hair out of its ponytail as you sighed with a small shake of your head. “What do you want Song? I just got off work.” You told him with a fake crabby voice.

    You could hear his whine on the other end at your tone and you couldn’t stop the giggle escaping your lips as you stopped at the cross walk waiting for your sign to change. “Okay I’m sorry, but what do you want?” You asked him nicer this time when you noticed the light change for you to walk.     You checked to make sure you wouldn’t be run over by cars before making your way across the street quickly, hearing his deep voice responding, “am I not allowed to hear your voice?! Jeez....no you’re right sorry that was dumb. I wanted to see if you were free now!” He sounded a little flustered the longer he talked until you were full blown laughing at his attempt to change what he’d said.     You sighed softly after a minute of quietness and glanced around you, double checking where you were and how far it would be from your location to his studio. “I’ll be about 10 or so minutes. I’m seriously on the other side of the street where I work.” You told him before starting your trek to KQ Entertainment.     He groaned a little before you could hear something over the phone that sounded like a smack, then his grunt of pain. “Don’t worry Y/N! You still got your extra work out clothes here Mingi refuses to-OoOOF!” Wooyoung was yelling for you through the phone before the wind was knocked out of him.     You giggled a little when you ended up stopping in front of a store for a second thinking for just a moment if you needed something from it. Deciding on no, you continued walking. “Wooyoungie you okay??? He didn’t hurt you too bad did he?” You asked him before someone bumped into you. “Ow! Sorry, I’ll get out or your way.” You hissed with a glare towards the person who continued on like they never touched you in the first place.     You faced ahead of you again and went back to walking toward the studio, tuning out the shouts and yells coming through your phone as you tried focusing your hardest on just getting there. “Y/N!” You heard someone shout finally.     You jumped a foot in the air and glanced around you wide eyed before you realized it was coming from the device in your hand. Feeling foolish with a blush on your face, you smiled and waved awkwardly to the elderly couple who gave you a strange look. “Ah, what? Sorry wasn’t paying attention.” You mumbled, rushing away from the couple who started whispering to themselves.     Mingi sighed on the other end. “Where are you? I’ll come get you.” He said, and you could already hear him putting on his jacket.     You pouted as you ended up at another stoplight and had to wait for it to change, tapping your foot to whatever beat was going on in your head. Which just so happened to be All I Wanna Do by Jay Park. “Y/N stop getting distracted! Where are you?!” Mingi shouted over the phone; you could hear him running through the street since there were cars honking and people talking loudly around him.     The crosswalk lit green and you started walking, once again looking for oncoming traffic that might hit you. Safely crossing you sighed and glanced up at the signs to read off to him. “Ugh, you’re that close?! Why didn’t you say so?” He groaned finally, earning a small glare from you as you huffed, “someone didn’t give me a chance to!”                                                        xXx

    Once you managed to meet up with him finally in back of the building, he snuck you into the studio where everyone greeted you with grins and waves. Wooyoung even came up and gave you a long and tight hug while whining that he missed you. You clung to his shoulders and fake cried into his shoulder about how tired you were and how mean Mingi was for forcing you out to their studio. “’If you didn’t want to come you wouldn’t have shown up though, we know this.” Yeosang pointed out with a smirk when you shot him a glare.     You stuck your tongue out at him in response and pulled on the bottom part of your eye like a child. “But I enjoy spending time with you guys. SO! What are we doing today?” You asked with a clap of your hands, changing the subject quickly so no one would pick at you more.     Mingi instead rushed to the stereo and grinned at you. “You know exactly why you’re here! Let’s see your progress!” He shouted, turning on their newest song while pulling out his phone to record your dancing.     You sighed when the phone was turned on you, and gave him a pout to try and get out of it. You even went so far as to looking at the group behind him, who all turned away from you innocently, some whistling quietly. “Mingiiii!!” You whined out while the guy just started chuckling.      He moved closer to you and started dancing in front of you, marking the steps since he was using his arms. “Come on Y/N! I know you know this song. We dance to it all the time!” He called out to you, trying to get a rise out of you and catch it on camera.     Giving in you huffed and started dancing across from him, both of you mirroring each other. At some point Mingi put his phone away to use his arms as well while you continued to dance across from each other, ignoring everything else around you. This seemed to be a normal thing for you; he’d teach you a dance and you both would get so into it, you would forget about the others and just go. Until one of you either dropped from exhaustion or forgot a step. You just smiled at him while he continued dancing in front of you, and slowly you both stopped dancing until you were stopped in the middle of the floor panting softly from the exertion.     You looked over to see where everyone went to find an empty corner, meaning they must’ve silently left while you two were in the middle of your weird dancing. “Mingi, where’d they go?” You asked him softly, looking over at him to see a different expression on his face than ones you normally see.     He started playing a different song, a slower one that you’d heard a few times in something like romantic movies, and tilted your head at him. “Mingi, what-” “Sssshhhh, let’s just dance.” He cut you off while holding out his hands for you to take.     You grabbed his hands without hesitation and stepped closer to him, stepping into place for a slow dance. He wrapped an arm around your waist while holding onto your other hand, smiling down at you fondly for a minute. You focused on his chest since you were so much shorter than him and bit your lip, silently wondering what had gotten into him to do this. He wasn’t into the mushy romantic stuff you were, hell he normally would tease you for it! But whenever you opened your mouth to say something, he would shake his head and tell you with his eyes to be quiet.     When the song ended and you two stopped dancing, he refused to let you go and just smiled down at you cheekily. “That was the best dancing you’ve ever done.” He said, completely ruining the mood.     You scoffed and hit him in the chest. “You are such a dork. Oh my gosh I can’t believe I thought you were actually trying to prove something.” You grumbled, walking over to the bag you keep in the studio at all times for moments like this.     He sighed and ran his hands down his face, too awkward to face you. “Wait, honestly I was trying to prove something. I just couldn’t help saying that. I’m sorry.” He apologized, looking over at you for a moment.     You stepped over to him with a frown on your face, asking yourself if this was his way of confessing to you like in the movies. “What did you want to prove? I know you can dance. And I know you can be cheesy. But I don’t understand.” You sighed out, baiting him to say what you both know he’s about to say.     Instead of saying anything at this point, he just pulled you into his body and hid his face in your neck, something you both have never done before. “M-Mingi, what-?” You cut yourself off once you thought about trying to help make him feel more comfortable.     You ran your fingers through his hair and hummed quietly, knowing that almost managed to calm him down from a fit or episode he’d have. He smiled a little into your neck and pulled you even closer if that were possible. “I like this. I like being like this with you. And I like the fact you’re so open with being affectionate with me even if I don’t always reciprocate it. I want you, Y/L/N Y/N, to be my girlfriend, not just my friend.” He whispered finally, flinching away from you before you even had the chance to think about what he said.     Once you managed to come up with the correct thoughts, you looked over at where he ran off to and smiled a little. “I like you too dork. And I like taking care of you, even if that includes the rest of the boys too.” You said gently, walking up to his crouched form to crouch in front of him and stroke his head a little.     If he could purr he most likely would as you continued stroking his hair. “Will you be mine then? My girlfriend?” He asked hopefully, smiling up at you before you could even say yes or no.     Instead of talking, you just nodded your head and hugged him. And at the point in time, the door slammed open and a very obnoxious voice shouted that it was about time you two got together! “Wooyoung, I suggest you run now.” You hissed, glaring at the boy whose eyes widened in fear at your threatening stare.     He ran out the door as fast as possible with you hot on his tail, yelling at him for ruining a perfect moment. The rest of the group glanced at each other and started exchanging bills. “Who said it first?” Change moved around.     “Did you kiss?” More change moved around.     “Did you run away after you said it? Or did she say it?” Two different changes moved around.     “WHY ARE YOU ALL BETTING ON OUR LIVES?!” You screamed from the doorway, panting something fierce with a squirming Wooyoung in your grip.     “RUN AWAY!” Hongjoong yelled at his members to get them all to disperse.

[piratewithvigor]

Love Break My Heart: Chapter 1

Summary: A half-life relationship is disintegrating at the seams. Neither of them is good for the other, but after 14 years together, they don’t know how to be with each other anymore.

Word Count: 2109

A/N: This is a prize story written for @slashscowboyboots​ and I expect it to be about 4 chapters or so with maybe more if the chapters turn out to be much longer than this one.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing in front of the mirror. My eyes have gone foggy from the bright lights bouncing off of every shiny surface in the bathroom and from trying to see a coherent reflection in the shattered glass. I keep meaning to go out and replace it, but every time it leaves my line of sight, I forget about it and the rage Axl was in when he punched it. All the pieces are there; just broken. It serves its purpose, just not well. It’s doing well enough that I’m able to spot the gray hairs. 

In the time I’ve stood there (God knows how long it was), I found twelve. Plucked them each out and dropped them into the sink. I’m not even thirty yet… Nowhere near old enough to be going gray from age. 

I turn the faucet just enough that a dribble of cool water begins to flow. The stream washes away the hairs and somewhere deep in my soul, I feel like I’m telling a lie. I know exactly why I’m going gray and it wouldn’t be all that much of a guess for anyone close to me either. Not a single one of us would say it out loud. I can almost taste bile at the thought of it. The wave of nausea urges me to cup my hands under the stream of water and toss it into my face. For a moment, I feel some brief sense of relief, but the moment is fleeting. 

I dab away the water with a nearby towel and the broken mirror confronts me with proof I can’t just wash away: what used to only be crinkles are now lines of age etched deep in my face.

I must have gasped when I saw them; something caused Axl to turn over in bed. He’d always been a light sleeper, for as long as I’d known him. Likely a survival instinct his mind had created for him. If he was already tossing and turning, getting back into bed would almost definitely wake him up. The last thing I wanted on a day I’d already slept as poorly as I did would be a crabby Axl. Or a bitchy one. Or an angry one. He could be moments away from waking up naturally, but if someone woke him up before he was good and ready, said poor fucker would need eyes on the back of their head for the rest of the day if they wanted to make it through alive. 

I shut off the light in the bathroom and paused in the doorway for a moment to consider my options. On the one hand, I could try to get another hour or two of sleep before I’d have to get ready to head out to the studio with Axl and risk waking him up as I got back into bed, or I could just stay up and try to get any kind of work done. Judging by Axl’s second groan and turn in the sheets, it’d be more prudent to take the second option. He may or may not be pissed at me already.

I don’t remember much about what triggered the fight between us last night. My brain had been foggy during most of it and I was riding a mild hangover when I woke up. It’s possible that might have been the beginning of the argument. Axl was no saint when it came to booze either, but he was the best about it and took it upon himself to chastise the rest of the band about their habits. 

My suspicions seem to be correct, judging by the apparent tornado that had swept through the living room at the bottom of the stairs. On second thought, ‘tornado’ didn’t do the wreck justice; it was carnage. Almost as bad as the shithole the whole band was sharing when we were first starting out. The only difference was that I know the room had been clean and proper the morning before. A real ‘Better Homes And Gardens’ situation. It looks more like a crime scene as I walk through it for damage assessment. 

Nothing seems to be damaged beyond repair at first glance, just moved or thrown. The only furniture still where I remember it was the couch, which had purposely been the heaviest one available for exactly fights like the one we must have had. Can’t throw something if you can’t lift it.

Bits and pieces of the fight started coming back to me as I step over the strewn chairs, magazines and various other shit that populated the room. I remember the remote for the TV being whipped at the back of my head and a side table being poised for an equal action, but I’d be damned if I could remember why. The only thing that makes me stop is the shattered bottle of Jack by the front door. Bottles had been thrown at each other before. Back in the day, they’d been thrown at almost anything. Perfect for subduing destructive tendencies. The difference between the wrecks I recognized and the one at the door was the lack of any splatter. There’d always be a splatter from the bit of liquid left in the bottle, but there was no sign on the door. Just a little mark in the white paint where the black ink of the label had hit. No splatter meant that Axl hadn’t taken it from me to throw. That impact was my doing. 

The pang of regret hits harder than I expect it to. I don’t remember feeling angry at Axl. Or the reason why I would want to hurt him. Axl’s rage burns fast and hot, but once he’s calm, it all goes away. I’m used to the tantrums. I’m not used to coming out of a blur and finding that I wanted to hit him with a heavy bottle that could have either knocked him out or given him need of stitches. And at the front door? He wouldn’t be there unless he was planning to leave. Make-up sex isn’t going to garner me the forgiveness I need for whatever transpired the night before. 

I start by cleaning up the glass and fixing up the room as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, it means leaving all the furniture I can’t pick up to move. How Axl can in his rages, I have no idea. Instead of looking like a crack den, I leave the room looking more like the middle of a redecoration project. The second step on my quest of forgiveness is breakfast. Neither of us are too big on it, or really food in general, but coffee and toast are still a staple of the day. 

Luckily, the kitchen seems to have been completely disconnected from the chaos. A little messy from a slipshod dinner cleanup, but nothing more heinous than any nuclear family would be facing after meatloaf night. The early morning hour keeps me from wanting to scrub and dry dishes, but I can at least leave them to soak while I prep the coffee. 

The old machine looks like it’s on its last legs, but I doubt we’d get rid of it even when it finally decides to stop. It was the one luxury we all chipped in on when we started renting the band house. We mostly stole anything more expensive than a Big Mac but security at the appliance store were on us like hawks if we dared to step into the store. We could have probably survived without food and most of our vices, but taking coffee away from a house full of drunks was just asking for murder. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was still kicking after the horrendous overuse we put it through. A memory of when the five of us weren’t too fucked up to work together.

I exhale softly when the thought passes through. Stevie may have been a pain in our collective asses, but he was our pain in the ass. Part of the guys. And he threw it all away over a vice. If one of the five of us could leave, then who was next? 

The little light on the coffee maker begins to blink. There used to be a shrill beep that went with it, but the speaker was promptly removed when five angry drunks with five angry hangovers unanimously decided that there was no place in the house for that kind of bullshit. 

I’m pouring the first cup when quiet shuffling from behind me results in two arms around my waist.

“I didn’t wake you, did I?” I murmur, setting the pot back down. I can feel Axl shake his head between my shoulderblades. 

“I was up anyway. Thanks for making the coffee and cleaning up.” His voice is still thick with sleep, making it deep enough that I can hardly hear him. 

“Want something to eat? I was feeling toast.” He considers for a few moments and I’m almost worried he fell asleep against me. He eventually nods, still holding onto me gently.

“Butter, unless you wanna open that jam from your mom.” I turn around in his grasp and place a kiss to the top of his head. He’s feeling the same way I am- remorseful for an event neither of us remember clearly, but knowing that reparations must be made. It’s why he’s being so physically affectionate. 

“Anything for you, Fireball.” He takes my cue to sit down at our little table in the middle of the kitchen. It’s big enough for the two of us and maybe one more if we squished elbows, not really more than a card table, but perfect for two introverts who like proximity.

When he sits down, I take my opportunity for looking him over for damages. His hair is mussed, but likely from post-sex instead of a bottle hitting it, so I’m not too worried. His collarbone is spotted with little bruises, but the placement and shape lead me to believe they’re nothing more than love bites. No scrapes or cuts along his arms. He doesn’t look like he’s facing anything worse than insomnia. I can’t blame him; the new album is set to be released within the next couple of months, and his vision for it is huge. Two full albums, released on the same day, and we’ve only got one album’s worth of songs written for them. It’s brilliant, but I’m as worried as he is about completion. 

The toast pops up and is smeared with my mom’s spiced peach jam. She sends us a few jars each summer as a care package that I used to protest about, but learned to accept. Childhood comfort foods are something that only last for so long. 

I set Axl’s plate in front of him with his coffee. We both like it strong, but he somehow takes it black without anything added. As far as he knows, mine is the same. He’s still looking a little tired and distracted, but not unhappy. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask, nibbling on a corner of toast.

“Just the albums. It’s the third album curse,” he explains, only now noticing his breakfast.

“Explain?”

“Any band’s third album is always the worst. They use up all the songs they’ve written on the first two and by the third, they have nothing to say. Zeppelin 3? Dressed To Kill? We’re having the same problem, but we’re doing two at once.” 

I can feel the floor shaking between us. He’s bouncing his knee like he always does when he has nervous energy. I lean across the table and take his free hand in mine. It’s softer; no calluses common to a guitarist. 

“You’re forgetting Toys In The Attic, London Calling, Electric Ladyland… The last two also being double albums. Dunno about you, but those guys turned out okay.” Axl manages a small smile. It’s hard to believe that the same face that can look so sweet and charming is the same one who tried to throw a table at me less than ten hours ago. “Ours are gonna kick so much ass.” As fast as the smile came, it descended into a scowl. 

“It would if I wasn’t the only one pulling his fucking weight.” I sighed quietly, only letting the air escape through my nose. An out-loud sigh would only bring on another fight. This wasn’t Axl’s fault, or even my fault. He simply stressed out about details more than the rest of us and was definitely more vocal about it. It wasn’t anyone’s fault...

[vivifrage]

LORE, YOU SAY?? Give us them sweet lore headcanons. Not sure if you were seeking a specific prompting but I'm all eyes for your interpretation of the Pale King

PK does have most of my actually wordable headcanons at the moment so PK you shall get! Some may be familiar but I hope I’ve stashed a few deep enough for them to be fresh.

(And many thanks for the ask!)

(Note that my wyrm society stuff gets into some toxic masculinity Fun Times, so expect all the nonsense with that. Sixth bullet point in particular involves implied rape and racial/species supremacy. Not anything PK’s doing, though. There’s also some talk about death and some general body horror.)

Mkay so:

I’ve brought up a couple times in Broken Open my headcanons on wyrm society. I studied society for years I gotta put that somewhere y’know? So like, there’s a huge gender divide, where the males think they’re the actually civilized ones and they say the females are just fuckin’ feral. Intelligent, but feral.

So the males keep kidnapping their sons. PK’s father up and died before he could pull this off, leaving him to be raised - in part - by his mother.

Mama Wyrm, knowing someone was going to come after her baby boy, told him as many stories and did her damndest to introduce him to as many other females as she could without getting him eaten. The few around her were generally amazed by the fact she still had a son. Jealous AF, but still.

All in all, someone finally realizes PK might exist. And they go, and even though this lil wyrm boy thinks he knows better, he’s still charmed by this promise of being out from under his mom’s wing and gets far enough away from the nest that the older male grabs him and drags him the rest of the way away.

He proceeds to bounce between foster fathers. Most of them are older, so not spry enough to be chasing him out of their territory immediately, but he tends to get on their nerves eventually. Home kind of doesn’t exist, so he spends a lot of time in the communal spaces with the reincarnated males. Their preferred pastime is ego tripping.

Their other preferred pastime is talking down about literally everyone who isn’t a male wyrm. They’re fuckin’ awful about “bloodline purity” crap in regards to mortals and other Higher Beings. (The only thing worse than the reincarnated males who brag about never breeding with another species? The ones who whisper-brag behind their backs about doing that exact thing.)

They think they’re teaching PK how to be a proper, tough young male. PK never quite falls for it; he’s always an outsider looking in and going “What the fuck?”

Somewhat older PK!

Hallownest was part of his mom’s territory, before it came into his possession.

He did tend to terrorize other towns and kingdoms. Usually just experimenting with different approaches to see what changed, and how long a civilization’s memory was. Sometimes he didn’t even intend to spook people, he’s just a big fuckoff wyrm. Sometimes a town was his dinner, though.

He partially decided to stick with Hallownest because he’d not messed with them before.

The Radiance was the ruling god there when he realized he was dying and decided to dig in and reincarnate. She didn’t care. She didn’t realize Wyrms didn’t do perma-death like that.

He didn’t die of anything fun, it was just old age catching up to him.

He gave himself a bunch of arms and legs and wings because he’d not had any and he overcompensated a bit.

He didn’t mind dying, really. It was exceedingly uncomfortable, and a weird sensation, forming his own egg in his throat (which started choking off the rest of him, and for extra icky bonus points his guts and stuff started to dissolve and got used in the reformation process). However, he’d lived a lonely life, generally separate from the other males and refusing to go chase after the females.

He’d known that he wouldn’t be able to help any child of his. Either someone would get to his son or his daughter would be stuck in the same cycle of loss. Big part of why he refused to have kids even after rebirth.

Anywho, Radi was Not expecting him to come back. She was a little (a lot) mad about this.

Aaand PK as we know him:

The White Palace is in the Ancient Basin because a) he found the Abyss nearby and wanted to keep an eye on that, and b) there was nobody else there and he is very much a solitary being.

Except when he’s not solitary. He totally fell head over heels in love with the White Lady; when they married, he very literally gave her access to his soul via the Kingsoul. She, in the meantime, used her roots and such to help build the White Palace.

He struggles with expressing his emotions, especially around others, but when it’s just him and WL he’s very open. And also very, very romantic.

He loves to sleep on top of her. He’ll just curl up on her chest and snooze. Also gives him a chance to crawl up and wake her with early-morning kisses.

She’s like, the one person he’ll tolerate touching his wings, and that’s only sometimes. Sometimes he regrets giving himself so many because he hates when anything touches them.

He’s hard to get into courts and the like. He would much rather be left with reports and one-on-one meetings. He gets crabby around too many people and tends to up his glowing because meetings end quicker when everyone has eyestrain and a headache.

Hornet, however, is the one person he’ll turn it down for. Seeing as she was born and raised early on in Deepnest, her eyes were set up for the dark. She comes to the White Palace with Herrah as a wee baby and screams. Even once she’s older and long adjusted to the lighting, he dims himself way down if he knows she’s there.

Speaking of Hornet (and Hollow and Ghost and all the rest), he would be a somewhat better parent if he wasn’t under such bad conditions when he was siring kids. Particularly if he had to be involved from an earlier age. He still has awful coping mechanisms and would need someone around to check that his worst methods and traits don’t get blindly passed down, but he’d be more attentive and openly affectionate.

Part of this is because with Hornet especially, he just got blindsided by broodiness. He was a dangerous opponent if actually forced to fight already. If someone had dared put Hornet in danger, or Hollow before they were big and strong? He’d go straight-up feral. (I’ve got a “what-if” fic where Xero goes after PK when he’s on an outing with Hornet. She gets hurt and the next thing he remembers is standing over Xero’s corpse, having turned into a claws-and-teeth-and-spell-swords whirlwind and bitten his throat out.)

He keeps trying to curl up around his babies because that’s what mom wyrms do. Some of his early memories are being in the nest (which is basically a pit dug in a relatively small den and filled with moss and such) and snuggling up against his mother while she curled around it. He’s too short to pull this off effectively.

Nobody wanted to go in his workshop. It creeped them all out. He was perfectly happy about this.

Bitch loves baths. He’ll run himself ragged in terms of food, sleep, etc. but nothing stands between him and a nice, warm bath. Unlike most bugs he tends to bathe alone. He’ll take forever. He does hate having to clean his wings, though.

Despite them not really moving, when Hollow was but a wee tot and he was trying to teach them how to take a bath on their own, he still managed to get soaking wet every time. This confounds him.

Hornet has bitten him at least once. Possibly injected venom.

Admittedly I could post plenty more, probs. Especially involving him and his kids. But this has gotten

uh

long.

I hope they are interesting! Always happy to talk more about any of these or the way too many others.

[canid-slashclaw]

The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9,  Chapters 10 and 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16 , Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20,  Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23,  Chapter 24 Chapter 25

"You alright down there?"

She shouted gruffly. "Fine. Except this flux isn't bonding the way it should."

"Mind if I come down?" Kaleb asked as he saw the flickering torch lights coming from the open doorway.

"Bring me a pint when you do."

"Lager or mead?"

"I don't care. Either will do," she said in a noticeably annoyed tone.

Kaleb knew that she was in the zone with her work, and any disturbances would only serve to piss her off even more. After leaving some coin for the tab, he helped himself to two tall steins of lager. When he took them to the new workstation, Amalthia was sitting on the bench, donning her welding goggles and completely absorbed in whatever it was she was working on.

"Over there by the soldering table," she said pointing towards the wooden table.

"Dammit!" She angrily threw down her welding torch, shut down the outflow valve then pulled off her goggles and tossed them to the edge of the bench.

Kaleb handed her a stein. He took a sip as well from his own.

"At the risk of getting my head bit off, whatcha working on?" He asked.

She walked over, took the stein from the table then gulped it down as if she were dying of thirst.

"I'm sorry, Kal. Didn't mean to sound crabby. It's just I'm getting walloped by something that I usually have no trouble figuring out. For some reason, this flux is just not bonding properly to the metal."

He walked over then began massaging her shoulders. "I hate seeing you stressed like this. Hey. I was going to give this to you yesterday, but I figured you were too busy to be bothered."

Kaleb handed her an envelope that was written in charr pictograms. Amalthia took the letter, opened it and a smile suddenly crept across her face.

"It's from my warband! They've been asking how I've been doing and whether or not I plan on rejoining them." She folded the letter then handed it to Kaleb as her smile faded just as quickly as it appeared.

He fumbled with the parchment then asked her. "So does that mean you plan on going back to them?"

Amalthia grabbed hold of Kaleb's hand and stroked it in reassurance. "No. Like you, I am now a free agent. My place from here on out will always be with you. So don't worry."

"But don't your people frown on that sort of thing? You know... turning your back on your comrades in arms?"

Amalthia shook her head. "It's not like that. They would respect my decision given the circumstances. In fact, I probably can keep my suffix name of Steelblade if I do go as a free agent. But no matter what happens, they will always be my brothers and sister in arms."

Her mate's face suddenly brightened. "Hey! How about we do a big meetup between your warband and my comrades. I'm sure Cynth and Brad would love to meet your crew."

"Um. We aren't ausarans. Only they have krewes," she said mockingly.

Kaleb playfully thumped her on one of her horns. "What's with you and the homophones?"

"It's my duty to make your life as entertaining as possible," she gently cuffed him on the face with her clawed hand.

The two lovers embraced in a kiss as their passion became more intense. Kaleb began to completely disrobe when Amalthia stopped him.

"Hold it, tiger. I'm still tired, sweaty and very cranky from this project. I'll be in the mood once I get cleaned up and dressed into something more appropriate." She smiled then gave him an affectionate lick on the side of his face.

"Anyway, I think having our 'crews' meeting up would be a wonderful idea. It might take a week or two to get things arranged, but I'm sure they would be thrilled to meet your people," she said as she tucked the letter into her pocket.

Since their stay at Ulfgar's, the couple had become practically celebrities among the people who patronized the tavern. Everyone clamored to talk to and be entertained by the human and charr who openly professed their affection for each other.

After the two had cleaned up and got dressed for a day on the town, they headed downstairs to the main bar. As always, Ulfgar was there to greet them.

"Top of the mornin' to ye, youngsters," the big norn said while holding up a tall mug of ale in a salutary fashion.

Both of them responded in unison. "Hey Ulf."

Kaleb and Amalthia sat next to each other on the bar-stools and each ordered a half-pint of lager. Kaleb was the first to drink his down.

"I wonder when Ari will have those outfits done for us," he wondered while stroking his mate's long golden mane.

Amalthia turned to him and said in a soothing voice as she stroked his arm with her pawed hand. "They should be ready sometime tomorrow. Hey. While we are in Lion's Arch, I would like to do a bit of research."

"Oh? What kind of research?"

"Those life commitment rituals your people call marriages."

Ulfgar let out a hearty laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kaleb and Amalthia asked simultaneously.

The mighty norn leaned down and crossed his arms on the table as he looked at his two dearest friends.

"The one force nothing on the face of Tyria can stop. I meant no disrespect to either of ya. But seeing the evolution of this amazing occurrence brings warmth to this old norn's heart."

"I would love to hear about how your people perform their life commitment rituals," Amaltha stated.

Ulfgar held his arms aloft and grinned. "The traditions of our people are carried in spoken word and written form. As a matter of fact, a cousin of mine is having a handfasting with his beloved in the next month. I would be honored if the two of ye attended."

Kaleb stood up then bowed in respect. "It would be my honor, Ulfgar."

"This is an honor, sir. Thank you." Amalthia saluted then bowed as well.

"You are both most welcome. Oh. Kaleb - I almost forgot. There's a letter for ya," Ulfgar said as he reached under the counter and pulled out an envelope. "It arrived first thing this morning."

After Ulfgar handed him the envelope, Kaleb saw that his father addressed it.

I wonder what this is about, he thought as he opened it.

Upon reading his father's letter, Kaleb looked up at Amalthia and Ulfgar and said in a slightly distressed voice. "My sister, Rachel, has been accepted into the Asuran College of Synergetics. They plan on throwing a going away bash tonight."

Amalthia's ears flattened. "So are you going?"

"Why should I? After what she did to me, I don't owe that kid a minute more of my time." Kaleb crumpled the letter in disgust then threw it on the table.

Ulfgar looked at the wadded piece of paper then back at his longtime friend. He sighed as he bowed his head.

"We norns tell of heroic deeds and epic struggles on the battlefield. But even our people face some of the fiercest, most heartbreaking battles of all - the ones that occur under the roofs of our own homes."

"You've had backstabbing siblings too?" Kaleb asked as Ulfgar handed him back the crumpled piece of paper.

"Lad. Some of the most grievous wounds inflicted upon the heart are the ones given by those closest to us. Hell, I remember a time when my own brother left me for dead after my great hunt. He was jealous over the fact that my deed had won over the heart of one of the most beautiful lass in all of the Shiverpeaks. It took him over three decades to forgive me of that transgression," the old norn said somberly.

"It's so hard to do, Ulf. I mean it was my sister who was responsible for me getting kicked out of the house," Kaleb said angrily.

"No, lad. She only revealed a truth that would have eventually come out in the end. As painful as it was for you, it was a necessary step in your relationship with Amalthia. Perhaps your sister is afraid of something or someone."

"Rachel's always been the perfect little angel, always going to church to look good in the eyes of her mother. I mean, she seems to get a free pass when she's all gaga over that asuran boyfriend of hers. Yet when I mention having a relationship with a charr, my whole family goes to pieces. It's really not fair, yanno?"

Amalthia held Kaleb's hand and smiled. "Kaleb. I think I may know why your sister may be such a brat."

"Oh? You never met her and how would your people know anything about how my people behave in situations like that?" Kaleb observed as he clasped his hands with hers.

"Listen. Hate is a universal principle. It sounds like your sister deeply resents your mother. Trust me, I know this. One day, I would like to talk to members of your family so they can get to know me better."

"My youngest sister would probably love you because she would think you are cute and cuddly. But Rachel... she's an entirely different story altogether. And my mom... I'm afraid she would lose it if she saw you. I'm sorry Amalthia, I just don't think my family is ready for you at this time," Kaleb said somberly.

She nuzzled him. "It's okay. I understand. Like I said before - one step at a time."

"One step at a time, then." Kaleb kissed her on the cheek.

Evening had arrived as Kaleb was walking down the street that led to the place where he was born and raised. He asked Amalthia to remain at Ulf’s since this was a matter that he had to resolve with his own family. Once he neared his former homestead, he heard a faint commotion coming from the barn. Curious about the noise, he changed his course to investigate.

Moaning sounds were coming from one of the spare stalls just on the other side of where he was standing. When he took a lantern to check out what was going on, he looked down and noticed several sheets were sprawled out atop the haystack. In the center, two large lumps began wiggling as groans of pleasure emanated from them. Seconds later, the sheets were flung back revealing the faces of an older man and a much younger woman.

"Uncle Will? Trish?!"

Kaleb's ex-girlfriend saw his dark eyes and hair illuminated by the amber glow of the light. As soon as she saw him she jerked the sheets over her exposed breasts.

"Kaleb... just what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with that charr girlfriend of yours?"

"Trish, Trish. Why does seeing you naked in a hay barn with my uncle, no less, somehow not surprise me? How much lower could you stoop?" Kaleb shot back.

"Kaleb, I..."

"Don't say anything more, uncle. She's just making you feel twenty years younger so she can talk you into marrying her. Am I right?"

Moments later, a barn cat ambled by as it came up to Will Grimwald, begging for a scratch on the neck. But as he began stroking the cat's chin, Patricia abruptly grabbed the feline by the scruff of the neck.

"Screw you, you feline fornicator! Here. Is this what you like making love to? Cause here... have some more pussy!"

Patricia flung the hapless cat through the air as it careened into a hard wood panel of the stall. Unfortunately, Kaleb had no time to react fast enough to catch it. He saw the limp body of the innocent creature and his face suddenly filled with rage. With lightning-fast reflexes he drew his sword then lunged straight towards his ex.

"I would take your head off right where your slutty body lies. What say you now, whore!?" Kaleb was now a force of vengeance.

His uncle was quivering in fear, but managed enough courage to say something. "Kaleb, please. This was all a misunderstanding. I... I cannot believe you did that to the cat, Trish. You had no right to do that to Fredricka."

"What? You were about to propose to me and all you care about is a damn cat?"

Kaleb's rage boiled over. He grabbed the lantern then hovered it just in front of his face revealing his maniacal visage.

"I've offed worthless people like you before. The next time I see your sack-sucking face around here again, I swear I'll have your head mounted on my wall!" He pushed the edge of his sword unto her neck until it drew a slight trickle of blood. When his ex got up very quickly to leave, the man she had been sleeping with jerked back and commented on how the sheets got wet. Kaleb deduced that he must have quite literally scared the piss out of her.

Once the former girlfriend had departed, Kaleb helped his wayward uncle to his feet.

"I can only say that I'm a little disappointed in you, uncle. I just hope she doesn't come back a couple of months later saying that thing in her belly is yours."

Will looked up at his nephew with shame. "I'm so sorry Kal. She said she loved me and wanted me to marry her. I guess I was just a lonely, old man who was desperately seeking companionship."

Nearby, a slight mewing sound could be heard. Kaleb looked over to see that Fredricka was still alive.

"If you don't mind, uncle, I'm taking the cat. She will be much safer with Amalthia and I anyway."

"Take her, please. It was my fault that all of this happened in the first place."

Kaleb picked up the injured feline then gently tucked her into the crook of his arm.

"I've got to go. This night didn't turn out at all as I expected."

His uncle looked up and asked. "Are you still going to Rachel's college acceptance party?"

"Hardly. Given what just happened, I believe that I'll even be less welcome than I already am. Besides, I saw Trish heading towards the family house. No doubt she's spreading more lies about me... well except for the part where I threatened to kill her for doing this to the poor cat. Please enlighten my dad to that fact in case they believe the lie that I just randomly threaten people without good reason," Kaleb said as he departed from the barn while carrying Fredricka in his coat.

***

Over an hour later, Kaleb was back at the tavern showing off the newly rescued feline to everyone. When Amalthia examined the injured animal, she immediately began scrounging for some medical supplies.

"She appears to have a fractured tibia judging by the way she reacts. I'll make a splint. Just give me about five minutes and I'll have something that should help mend the bones properly," Amalthia said as she began salvaging some metal stirring sticks then took them to her workshop to fashion a makeshift splint.

Kaleb took the cat with him being careful to shield her eyes from the flickering blue welding flame. He, then, gently tucked their new charge into a set of sheets at the foot of their bed.

Once Amalthia was done with the splint, she fastened it onto Fredricka then began stroking the creature until it was fast asleep. Kaleb kissed his mate on the cheek then covered the lower half of the cat's body in a knitted shawl.

"I think she'll be fine. Thanks m'dear for crafting that for her."

Amalthia shook her head. "You never told me what happened to the poor thing."

"A vengeful ex happened. I caught her and my uncle in the act and she got pissed, grabbed the cat and threw it against the side of the barn wall." Kaleb's face grew red with anger over replaying the incident in his head.

"Did you lop her head off? I sure would have."

"I came damn close. But she pissed the sheets in fear. For me, that was satisfaction enough."

"I can do her real slow if you like. Go for the kneecaps then work my way up."

Kaleb shook his head disapprovingly. "No dear. A charr killing a human in that manner would only validate bigotry. That little tramp is not worth the powder or the lead in a single cartridge. One way or another, she'll get what's coming to her."

"I gather you didn't make it to your sister's whatever-it-was party."

"Nah. Given what had happened, I don't think I'm going to be exactly welcomed by my family at this time. I just hope my father and uncle see Trish for the person she really is." Kaleb bowed his head as he rubbed his temples, hoping to alleviate an oncoming headache.

"I wrote back to my warband and invited them over to our place this weekend. Didn't you say that Brad and Cynthia would be joining up as well?" Amalthia queried.

Kaleb nodded. "Yup. They'll all be here - pretty much everyone from my unit."

"I hope it'll take your mind off all that's happened." His mate licked him on the forehead then rested her head atop his.

"What will we do with this little girl? I would love to keep her but the two of us are usually gone so much of the time," Kaleb asked.

"Would Ulfgar take him? He seems to love animals."

"He told me that he's allergic to cats. Loves dogs, though."

"Waait... I know..." Amalthia was about to say when Kaleb interjected.

"Ludrick. Of course! I'm sure your old man... err, charr... would love this little gal as a companion."

Amalthia massaged the back of Kaleb's head using her long claws. "Well. We can make plans to see him tomorrow if you like. Don't worry; he's forgiven you for what happened. The only problem may be that he's not forgiven himself for what he did to you."

"It doesn't matter. I understand your father's reasons for doing what he did. Let's call this a peace offering."

"You think your ex will press charges?" Amalthia queried offhand.

Kaleb shook his head. "She has no proof anything happened. Plus, if she did then she would have to hear my testimony of how she not only abused an animal but also pissed on herself and my uncle. The humiliation alone would be enough to deter her from doing anything."

"I hope you're right, love." She kissed him and he returned the favor with a passionate kiss of his own.

"Hey. Our outfits are going to be ready by tomorrow, right?"

Amalthia nodded.

"Good! Then maybe we can both spend some time doing some research into the marriage thing. That is, after we drop our little friend off here at your father's."

The two lovers headed to bed then drifted off to a deep and peaceful sleep as their charge curled up between them and purred loudly in contentment. For the first time in her existence, Fredricka was in a place where she was both safe and loved.

(All chapters have been posted to AO3. Chapter 25 is posted here.)

[prettywordsyouleft]

Romantic Notions

Pairing: Son Hyunwoo (Shownu) x reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: This is dedicated to the beautiful Chelsea aka @chellolaa! It’s her birthday today and since Chelsea loves Hyunwoo, I figured a bit of playful fluff was needed! This is an idea I got from seeing an acquaintance complaining over the lack of affection she faced in bed and I really wanted to explore it more with Hyunwoo so I’m glad I got the opportunity to do so! Happy birthday Chelsea, I hope you enjoy this! <3

Word count: 1816

You watched the scene on the television screen with high interest, a small smile gracing your lips at how comfortable the couple appeared. They were almost asleep when one of them rolled onto their side and the other instinctively moved in to spoon their partner, drifting off to sleep comfortably.

You hated how much this scene made you swoon. Being the romantic that you were, you had always thought when you started sharing a bed with the man you were dating, that endearing moments like the ones you saw on movies and TV shows would happen for you too. You knew better than to believe the media for everything they depicted as being true, but so many couples around you also did things like spooning. It was comfortable and a way to connect even when slumbering in different dream states.

Well, that was your take on it anyway.

The reality was different for you. As you became more intimate with Hyunwoo, you were hopeful to one day wake up in his strong arms, feeling encased by protection and comfort. And whilst your boyfriend was incredibly affectionate and loved to hug you, once Hyunwoo was asleep, he was anything but on you.

In the first few weeks of him staying over, it was generally after long days at work, and once Hyunwoo was in bed, he was instantly asleep. However, as you grew closer physically, you had hoped the constant affection you were blessed with out of the sheets, would, you know, follow into them. Hyunwoo continued to keep to his side of the bed, not even touching you though.

It felt incomplete to go from being smothered by him to being completely out of his reach.

You had decided to try snuggling into him, in hopes that would open Hyunwoo up to your advances. And for the first five minutes in bed, he would happily accept you snuggling into his warm chest, chuckling softly when you pressed your lips to his bare skin. As soon as you attempted to settle down there for the night though, he’d make a big point of saying goodnight and roll away from you.

It frustrated you so much that you turned to your friends about it. “Maybe he’s used to sleeping alone. Some guys need it spelled out to them.”

“My boyfriend had lived alone his whole life until dating me yet I’d love it if he was more like Hyunwoo and would let me have some space in bed,” Yubin pointed out with a shrug to Mimi’s suggestion. You stared at your best friends helplessly.

“So I should bring it up as a topic? I don’t want him to think it’s a big deal.”

Mimi nodded. “If it’s bothering you, then he has a right to know.”

You approached the topic a week later, when a television series you were watching together happened to show a scene of a couple spooning. You nudged Hyunwoo’s side gently and pointed at the screen. “Don’t they look comfortable?”

“Mm, they do.”

“I wish we were that comfortable,” you said slowly, diverting your gaze from the television and up at his face. “The idea of snuggling is so nice.”

Hyunwoo frowned. “Babe, we’re snuggling on this sofa together right now. How are we not that comfortable?”

“I meant in bed.”

Hyunwoo nodded. “We snuggle in bed too.”

“We’ve never spooned,” you offered and smiled up at him. “Should we try tonight?”

“I’m not able to stay tonight; I have an early schedule so I planned to go back to the dorms. Didn’t I mention that earlier?”

“Ah, you did too.”

And just like that, the conversation seemed to fizzle out.

You tried to let go of the romantic notion of snuggling up in bed. After all, Hyunwoo was literally the best boyfriend you had ever had. He cherished you like no other. You didn’t need him to hold you in your sleep just to know he loved you.

But this resolve changed when you saw an article on social media about partners who didn’t show affection whilst in bed had something to hide. You knew it was just a clickbait title, yet you played into it all the same, reading the words of other disgruntled men and women around the world about their partner’s inability to reach out for them in their sleep. You didn’t feel so foolish and actually related to some of their feelings.

Spooning was deemed normal, so what was it that you and Hyunwoo had?

You started to lose sleep when he would stay over, trying to figure a way to get closer to the man sleeping on the opposite side of your bed with his arms wrapped firmly around him.

And the lack of sleep made you cranky which then made Hyunwoo quiet, concerned at what was wrong with you.

“Are you suffering from that time of the month?” he asked one morning and you glanced up at him, his cheeks flushing with his sentence. “You seem kind of crabby.”

“No, I’m not on my period.”

“Is work stressing you out then?” You shook your head. “What is then?”

“You.”

The word fell from your mouth before you could prepare for it and Hyunwoo visibly flinched, hurt by your easy admission. He blinked a few times, holding his toast in his hand but no longer eating. He finally spoke again. “Oh.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” you groaned and then chewed at your lip anxiously. You had been dating Hyunwoo for seven months now and this was the first time you had seen him this disappointed. You were desperate to take the pain away from him. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It seems to be with how you’re not sleeping well because of me,” he mumbled, his attention back on his food as if his life depended on it.

“Hyunwoo, you’re going to think I’m ridiculous for thinking so foolishly.”

“I doubt it, try me.”

You nodded to yourself, trying to find the right words. You smiled weakly. “Before I started dating you, I never had a boyfriend who stayed over at my house before. None of them really seemed to really fit into my world like you have and I’m so glad you do. Because of this though, I was able to continue thinking of relationships in an unrealistic way. I’m a bit of a dreamer, you know.”

Hyunwoo smiled. “I know.”

“And, I had always imagined myself dating someone who was strong yet affectionate. Who would smother me in their love and never let go,” you said, your smile tugging at your lips as you looked at your boyfriend. “And you are all that.”

“Then what’s the problem?” he wondered, his brows furrowing together.

“You are everything and more to me already but in bed, it’s like once you’re asleep you forget I’m there,” you admitted in a small voice.

Hyunwoo’s eyes flashed with something, though he didn’t move to respond. It made you anxious and you started to babble some more. “You see, I always thought that sharing a bed with someone you love meant you end up in their arms some nights and just sleep attached to each other. I had this belief that it just happened for everyone because the representation in media and my friends proved this to be a common thing between couples. But whenever we share a bed, you move so far away it leaves me feeling cold. Do I have a bad bed habit that makes you want to avoid me? Is there something I do that annoys you? I just don’t know what it is about why we shift apart in our sleep or why I seem to have this-”

“I sweat really easily,” he blurted out, his cheeks flushing with colour again. Hyunwoo’s eyes were wide with his announcement, watching to see how you would react. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “It’s not that I don’t want to hold you all night long, it’s just that I get hot easily and I didn’t want to put you through that. How unromantic is it for your partner to get you all hot and sweaty and make you uncomfortable in bed. I want to hold you, Y/N. Believe me, I really do. But I just thought the last thing you’d want is me sweating all over you like a big bear.”

You stared back at Hyunwoo and then grinned. “Is that it?”

“What do you mean, is that it? Do you want to wake up sticky and sweaty?”

“I shower every morning, Hyunwoo it’s not a big deal. Plus, everyone sweats. You mean to tell me I could have been sleeping in your arms all this time but you were scared of making me sweat? You do that in other ways, you know.”

He blushed again at your cheeky reference and cleared his throat. “You’re the one who thought you were being ridiculous, remember?”

“I did but now I think we both are.” You laughed and rounded the small table to sit down in his lap. Hyunwoo’s arms instinctively wrapped around your body and you nuzzled him with your nose. “We’re so silly.”

“I can’t believe you stressed over whether we were a normal couple just because we don’t spoon in bed,” he teased, somehow growing his confidence back now that you were in his arms. Perhaps all he needed was your confirmation that you didn’t care about his sweat to completely relax. It made you pout all the same and you poked his shoulder.

“Might I remind you that you literally fold your arms around yourself as you sleep.”

“So I don’t subconsciously reach out for you!”

“You wanted to hold me?” you asked more softly and Hyunwoo nodded.

“Just like this.”

He kissed you then, his lips tasting sweet from the strawberry jam on his toast you had made him. You licked at them gently and he groaned, picking you up and carrying you off to your bed, laying you down and well, making you sweat as you had put it before.

And when you were both done with lavishing each other in your love physically, Hyunwoo pulled you closer to his body, wrapping himself completely around you.

“How’s this?” he whispered and you sighed in content. “Should we sleep like this now?”

“A morning nap?” you asked and you felt him nod into you before he kissed the back of your neck.

“And tonight we can sleep like this and then every single night I stay over too. Except for when it’s too hot in summer for cuddling, because even normal couples don’t spoon then.”

You giggled. “We’re not normal?”

“Of course not,” he responded immediately and you shot Hyunwoo a look over your shoulder. He grinned, leaning in to peck your lips before continuing. “We’re the ridiculously romantic kind.”

_________________

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[bastardsonofday]

what if I requested all of the friends to lovers tropes for rhycien? what would it do?

What it will do is kill me. You just want to send me to an early grave, huh gwyneth? That’s what you want to do? You want me to die? (jk i love you)

Btw friends on mobile for whom this readmore might not work? Sorry :/

But i’m not one to back down from a challenge! Okay here we go! 

Unbetaed, unedited, un-nothing. Just posting.

ao3

Prompt: holy shit i just realized i’ve liked you for the past 8274 years and i really wish i didn’t but i dO and everyone somehow knows about it except for you oh my god why is this happening to me (modern au)“Oh.” Rhys said as he watched Feyre and Lucien in their ‘morning fight’. The two of them circled around one another like hissing cats, though Rhys knew they loved one another. Eyes flashed and nostrils flared. 

Every morning for as long as Rhys could remember they’d done this. Biting remarks and getting so close to crossing the line of too far but never quite getting there. He knew they both enjoyed it–it was a game, you see. A fun one, for them.

For Rhys? Usually it gave him a certain amount of dread, but it wasn’t until today that Rhys finally figured out why. 

“Oh.” And ‘Oh’ it was.

He was afraid of them going too far and Lucien getting hurt by something Feyre said because he loved Lucien. Like, love loved Lucien.

“Oh.” And ‘Oh’ was all it was.

Then the second realization hit, and that dread once again curled in Rhys’ stomach as Lucien smirked something back. 

“Oh.” He didn’t want to be in love with Lucien. Because if he was… well then, that meant that Lucien would turn him down. Lucien–the man who could have anyone and never wanted; Lucien–his best friend who he so desperately wanted to keep that way; Lucien, whom he was utterly hopelessly in love with and had been so for probably, a very long time.

“Oh.”

“Uh oh.” Mor hummed from next to him as she handed him his morning coffee. “Those were introspective 'oh’s. What’s up, cuz?”

Rhys took the drink from her hand and sipped it. His voice low against the backdrop of Lucien and Feyre’s 'morning fight’. “Don’t.. freak out.”

“Okay…? Should… should I be worried?”

“I think… I know I’m in love with Lucien.”

This time it was Mor’s turn. “Oh.” She took a nonchalant sip of her frappachino. Then she jumped and turned to Rhys’ surprised face, “wait-you’re just figuring this out now?”

“Oh?? That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, believe it or not Rhys, your love life isn’t that important relatively in my life, but also…” Mor gave him a sideways glance, “I, like, kinda assumed you’d already come to this conclusion. We all did, actually.”

“Wait, so… you all thought-All those times you joked that we were dating you all thought-”

“Well, yeah.” Mor took a sip of her coffee. “God, you are dumb aren’t you? You’re really just figuring this out now?”

“Shut up!” Rhys hissed, elbowing his cousin hard enough that her coffee spilled a bit. “He could hear you!”

Mor rolled her eyes. “Oh no. What a horror that would be.”

“Wait-if you thought we were dating then–you think Lucien-” Rhys swallowed his next sentence. He couldn’t even let himself hope for that. There was no way…

“Well, yeah. That’s what we thought. But if the two of you are really this stupid, then who knows. Maybe he’ll never realizd it either.”

“Please don’t call him stupid. Me, it’s a fair cop but not-”

“Not your crush, yeah I get it.” Mor took another sip of her coffee. “So. When are you going to tell him?”

“What? Tell him? I can’t tell him!”

“Why not?”

“Because–” How was Rhys supposed to explain that that could ruin absolutely everything if he was wrong. Not to mention between Elain and Jesminda, Lucien didn’t really have a good track record with love and partners and- Mother, things would have been so much simpler if he could just forget that he was in love. “I just can’t okay!”

Mor narrowed her eyes and surveryed her cousin. “Oh. Okay.” She turned back to Feyre and Lucien’s spectacle. 

“'Oh’? ‘Oh’? What was that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t tell me and I won’t tell you.” Mor sniffed. 

Rhys scowled. “I hate you.” He told her. Mor didn’t seem to care one way or another about that statement. Rhys turned back to Lucien, watching as Lucien threw a triumphant smirk at Feyre who fumed. Clearly, Lucien had won today’s fight. 

“Oh.” Rhys breathed as his stomached clenched and his heart made a weird little half-flutter in his chest. He had it bad. 

Lucien marched over to Rhys, high on his win against Feyre and took Rhys’ coffee from his hands. He sipped it. “So,” he said, “what are we talking about?”

“Rhys has a new crush.” Mor teased. At which Rhys turned a brillient red color and looked as if he was going to murder his cousin. 

“I’m not-! I don’t-!”

Lucien laughed at Rhys’ expression and watched as his face turned an even darker color. Rhys ducked his head, and snatched his coffee back. 

“That’s for laughing at me.” He snapped, though there was no bite to his remark. In fact, the corners of his cheeks were even turning up a bit. He was sort of smiling.

It felt as though someone had punched Lucien in the gut. “Oh.” Immidately his playful mood vanished. Rhys had a new crush? Emphasis on “new”? Then it couldn’t be- Lucien didn’t have a-

Oh. 

Lucien kept his smile plastered on his face. He’d be happy for his friend. As he always was. 

Though that flutter in his chest leading to his “Oh,” moment… that was certainly going to make this way more complicated. 

But Lucien wouldn’t let his newfound feelings get in the way of his best friend’s happiness.

“Oh?” Rhys asked, quoting Lucien. He looked… stunned. Just a little bit. And slightly… intrigued? Playful? Interested? 

Lucien ignored the flush he began to feel rise to his cheeks. “As in 'oh, who is it’?” He teased, desperately trying to retain their status quo. 

Then that blush was back on Rhys’ cheeks. “Yeah, right. Like I’d ever tell you.”

“Oh come on! I won’t tell! Promise! Cross my heart and hope to die.” Lucien said, taking back Rhys’ drink and sipping from it again. Was it just his imagination or where Rhys’ eyes following him as he- Nah. Couldn’t be. Though Lucien was sure, from where he stood that he could hear Mor mutter under her breath “Idiots,” and roll her eyes. 

Sequel to prompt for rhyciensmut: (the i’ve had a bad day so lets get in our pajamas prompt that i wrote like two weeks ago or whatever)Rhys had had a nightmare. In his nightmare he dreamed that Lucien had told him he loved him, and Rhys’ mouth had been sewn shut. Rhys had been unable to say it back. Rhys woke up first. He laid there, listening to Lucien’s breathing beneath him. Slowly he began to get up, as gently as he could so as not to wake his best friend. 

His best friend in the world. The one who had given up a night to study to make him feel better. Just 'cuz he’d had a shitty day. Lucien had absolutely no idea how much that meant to him. Granted, after the last plate of nachos, Rhys’ memory was a little hazy from the sugar coma. But he hadn’t remembered falling alseep on Lucien. He kinda felt bad, as he sat there watching Lucien sleep. Oh Lucien was going to wake up with such a crick in his neck. 

“Rhys?” The voice was groggy and a little bit crabby. As if it was Rhys’ fault that the world existed. 

Rhys loved hearing Lucien’s voice in the morning. He felt like this was the true Lucien. The one who said whatever he was thinking. Which was, in fact, because it was. Before his morning coffee, Lucien had little to no filter. Pure and undiluted Lucien. And Rhys could never get enough.

“Yeah.”

“What time is it?”

“Just about seven.”

Lucien made a horribly loud and painful sounding groan as he sat up. He let out a yelp and slowly began kneading the back of his neck. 

Rhys slapped his hands away. “Let me do that, you idiot.” 

“I’m the idiot? You’re the one who fell asleep on me.” Lucien grumbled. His shoulders tensed as Rhys’s fingers hit a tender spot and then he let out a groan.

“Better?” 

“I hate you, but yes.” Lucien said. There was a silence. “Thanks.”

“You should have woken me up.”

“Yeah right.” Lucien said quickly, as if it wasn’t even a question. “You needed it.” He said softly. 

Rhys felt something tug in his belly at that statement. Lucien would have done that for anyone. Feyre too, he told himself. “Yeah, I did. Thanks again for last night. You’re the perfect friend.” Rhys mumbled. 

He felt Lucien’s shoulders go tense under his fingers. “Did I hit a sore spot?” Rhys asked worriedly. 

“Yeah.” Lucien’s voice was slightly strained. “You did. It’s okay, though. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Rhys continued his neck massage, until Lucien finally brushed him off for good.

“Rhys?” Lucien asked as he packed up his stuff. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah. What’s up?” 

“Last night… how conscious were you?”

“Huh?”

“Well, there was this point last night-” Lucien suddenly flushed, “-it’s stupid.”

“Hey,” Rhys said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder affectionately, “what is it?”

“You said something to me… I think you were talking in your sleep?”

Rhys stilled. No… Rhys-Rhys didn’t-Rhys had never before talked in his sleep. It wasn’t- Lucien-there was no way he’d called out Lucien’s name or anything… Was there?

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rhys said, forcing himself to laugh it off. 

“Oh. Okay then.” 

“Why what did I say?”

Lucien grinned at him and flicked his earlobe. “That you loved me. Wanted to have my babies.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “I didn’t know pre-coffee Lucien could lie.” Rhys snorted, a little concerned that Lucien’s comment may had hit a little too close to home. Had Rhys really said anything of the sort when he’d been asleep? Had he told Lucien-? Somethign twisted unpleasently in his gut at the idea of confessing to Lucien in his sleep–to not be able to see his reaction, or his rejection. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. 

Rhys stood and walked over to the coffee machine in the kitchenette to start a morning batch while Lucien cleaned the rest of his stuff up. 

Finally the coffee was done and Lucien was ready to go (not that Rhys even remotely wanted him too). Rhys walked Lucien to the door and gave him a hug and said “Thanks again. You really helped me last night.”

“Of course, Rhys.” Lucien said as he pulled back. “It’s no problem. You’re my best friend.” What Rhys didn’t catch was the way Lucien’s voice snagged on the word friend. He was too busy trying to stop the ache in his heart that word caused. Lucien really had no idea how much this night and Lucien’s love had meant to him.“Yeah.” Rhys agreed. “This is what best friends do.”

Prompt: we drunk-kissed but you forgot about it and i don’t know how to act around you anymore wtf (modern au)Feyre had wanted to get drunk. Not just drunk but really wasted. Absolutely lost in the sauce. So, there they all were, from Nesta to Amren, sitting in Rita’s getting shnockered. 

The case against Tamlin had finally gone through and he’d been sentenced. Restaining orders had been filed for. Finally, it seemed, things were back to normal. There was dancing, good food, lots of shots. It really was a party. 

So when Lucien, cheeks bright red from alcohol, had sat next to him (Rhys, tipsy himself had run a finger through the long strands of Lucien’s gorgeous red hair, despite the partying it had stayed mostly unknotted and was extremely soft), Rhys really hadn’t thought through the idea of kissing him much, he’d sort of just done it. 

The important part of that night being that Lucien had kissed back. And the important part of that morning being that he didn’t seem to remember it at all. Rhys, however, remembered in every sobering detail. Lucien must have been exceedingly drunk to crash at Rhys’ the night before instead of heading to his own apartment to puke in peace, he thought as Rhys made them breakfast. 

Lucien had woken up on Rhys’ couch, a blanket had been thrown haphasardly over him at some point and he’d twisted up in it, clearly, from the way he had to untangle himself after. A glass of water and asprin had also found their way onto the coffee table next to the couch. Lucien thanked drunk!Rhys or him, whoever had remembered to do that, and drank it down gladly. 

Then, Rhys had woken up. Rhys himself didn’t seem too hungover but he certainly was a little bit from the way he flinched when Lucien had put the glass back on the table (Lucien had flinched too, he hadn’t meant to do that).

Then, without a word of greeting to Lucien, Rhys had stalked over to his kitchen and began making breakfast. 

“Some night, huh?” Lucien asked.

“Yeah.” Rhys responded stiffly. Lucien heard him turn on the stove. 

“I’ll get my stuff-” Lucien began when Rhys said nothing more. Was Rhys mad at him?

“No.” Rhys said quickly. Then his voice abruptly cut off–as if he’d stopped himself from continuing. “I mean, I’m already making breakfast. Why don’t you have some?” His voice was strained, as if he was trying to get back into his suave self but was too hungover to do it properly. 

“Okay.” Lucien said. He carefully stood, dizzy for a moment, then made his way over to the granite island in the kitchen.

“Need any help?” Lucien asked.

Rhys smiled at him. “Sure. Mind getting the eggs from the fridge?”

Lucien did as he was asked. “How many?”

“Two for me.” Rhys responded. Lucien took out the carton, setting aside four for them, then put it back. He reached over Rhys to grab a glass from the cabinets above the stove and noticed as Rhys froze. No joke, no pushing him out of the way to see what he was doing, nothing.

Very un-Rhys behavior, if he did say so himself.

Lucien frowned. “You okay?” He asked, as he pulled back with the glass. He heard Rhys let out a gust of air. 

What was with him?

“Fine.” Rhys mumbled. “Just got a headache.”

Lucien cracked the eggs, checked them, then plopped them in the frying pan, stinging himself slightly when the oil splashed. 

Rhys watched him work silently. Lucien was starting to get a little uncomfortable.

It wasn’t as if the two of them hadn’t done this before. Lucien had stayed over on the couch. The two of them had made breakfast just like this. But then it was all full of playful banter and bickering, despite whatever hangovers they may or may not have had. 

So what the fuck was with him today? Lucien wondered. 

Rhys gave a small shake of his head, as if shaking himself have into his body, and returned his attention to the frying bacon. 

Once breakfast was made (mostly in silence, despite Lucien’s attempts otherwise) they sat, silently, and ate. They’d been so silent, jyst the scrape of utensils against plates and the glug of drinks, that Lucien jumped when Rhys finally spoke: “So…” he said. “About last night.”

“What about last night?” Lucien asked. 

Rhys toyed with the extra food on his plate. “You know…” He trailed off, as if expecting Lucien to finish the thought. But Lucien couldn’t no matter how much he wanted to.

“Actually.. I don’t. I can’t remember anything past Azriel doing the cha-cha slide.”

Something funny happened to Rhys’ face and he dropped his fork. 

Lucien hissed at the loud noise, rubbing at his temples. “What?” He snapped, too harshly. He counted from ten backwards in his head before speaking again, “Why? What happened?”

“Nothing.” Rhys mumbled. “’M not hungry anymore.” He stood to knock his remaining food into the garbage.

Lucien scowled at Rhys. “Stop being a dick. Clearly it means something to you because you’ve been a bitch all fucking morning.”

“Nothing! Okay? It was nothing. You were drunk and you don’t remember so it doesn’t even matter.”

“Stop saying that! Clearly it fucking does. If not, then I guess you’re just dick now!”

“Fine!” Rhys snarled. “I’m a dick. Whatever.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Lucien huffed and closed his eyes. The screaming had hurt his head. They’d had fun last night, hadn’t they? So why had that turned into this… 

Rhys was silent for a minute. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you. I’m just hungover and in a bad mood.”

“I shouldn’t be yelling at you, either. I’m sorry also.”

“Look,” Rhys sighed, “what happened last night..  it doesn’t matter, okay? But if you really want to know… you just told me you had a thing for Feyre, okay? That you were going to go for it, now that Tamlin was gone. Then… nothing. I just… I wanted to check in, you know?”

Lucien wanted to tell Rhys that there was no way in hell he’d wanted to sleep with Feyre. None at all, being that he was more specifically focused on Rhys himself in that respect. But now really didn’t seem like the time for that. “Wow.” Lucien mumbled, “I must have been really drunk if I told you that.”

“See? Like I said.”

“I’m sorry for yelling, Rhys. Maybe you aren’t the only bitch in the room this morning.” 

Rhys snorted. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, thanks for breakfast.”

“Sure thing.”

“I should probably go. Got work.”

“Okay.” 

Lucien gathered his things, and Rhys saw him out. Before he went to leave, he habitually swung out an arm as if to hug Rhys only to see him flinch. Lucien pulled back his arm. Clearly, there was something Rhys wasn’t telling him about last night. He hoped whatever it was–whatever he’d said or done–didn’t ruin their friendship. 

Then he said 'goodbye’ and left.Rhys wondered if he shouldn’t have lied. 

Prompt: neither of us have kissed anyone before and what the hell may as well just get it out of the way. except hahah ha ha h a now i can’t stop thinking of ur lips why did i think this was a good idea ha ha ahah (camp au)“Let’s kiss.” Rhys said one day as the two of them laid on the edge of Camp Prythian’s lake– feet in the water, staring up at the stars. 

It was late and Tamlin and Cassian were taking care of their campers. Rhys and Lucien had decided to go on a walk during their free-time. They’d have to switch out with Tam and Cass soon. 

“Excuse me?” Lucien was on the verge of laughing. Why on Earth-?

Rhys didn’t even seem even slightly abashed by his words. “Not like, weirdly or anything. I know you’ve never had your first kiss and neither have I so, why not?”

“Like… to get our first kiss out of the way?”

“Yeah.” Rhys brightened. “Exactly!”

Lucien snorted. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. You like me, and I like you. Why not? It’ll help for practice too.”

“Practice?”

“Yeah. Why?” Rhys raised an eyebrow. “You afraid one taste and you’ll fall hopelessly in love with me?”

Lucien narrowed his eyes. Rhys had not- “No, just worried what I’ll infect myself with. How do I know where those lips have been?”

“Ah yes, but a little surprise gives life meaning, don’t you think?” Rhys responded, a sly smirk on his face.

Let it be known that Lucien only kissed him then because he didn’t have a good comeback handy–and for no other reason. Not the coy curl of his lips. Not the way Rhys’ eyes sparkled violet in the night. And definitely not because of the fact that when Rhys had asked Lucien to kiss him something inside Lucien immidately said yes. 

The kiss was a smashing of teeth and lips that slowly morphed into something slower and sweeter (although tongues stayed put the whole time). Rhys was the first to pull away. Lucien hated himself for not wanting to let go. Rhys gave him a shit-eating grin. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

No, Lucien thought, unable to tear his eyes away from Rhys and his lips (he tasted like cherry popsicle), not so bad at all. 

“You know what they say, from here there’s only up.” Lucien snapped back, trying to ignore the delightful warmth he’d felt with Rhys’ lips on his. Rhys let out a loud throaty laugh into the sky and Lucien laid back down against the bank of the lake, hoping Rhys wouldn’t look over and see the redness of his face. 

Prompt: we’re best friends and i’ve been in love with you for forever but i’m 3000% sure you just see me as a friend except why is this sexual tension happening rn (high school au cuz I an’t help myself) (also the return of Rhys {the Dog})

“So.” Rhys said, walking into Lucien’s room uninvited. “Feyre and I broke up.”

“That’s sucks.” Lucien said, only looking up from his work because Rhys didn’t seem particularly broken-up about it. “That… sucks… right?”

“Yeah, I mean-” Rhys shrugged, cutting off the rest of his sentence. He flopped onto Lucien’s bed, picking up a stuffed dog that Lucien had (in fact) gotten from Feyre. Rhys turned the stuffed animal over in his hands, smoothing the fur down and pressing a kiss to it’s head. He squeezed the dog to his chest, eyes closed, breathing him in. The act brought back the flutter in Lucien’s heart that he always had around Rhys. Not that it mattered, Rhys saw Lucien as a friend–as his best friend. He was also convinced that Lucien was not only straight but still pining over Jesminda, as far as Lucien could tell. Neither of which were true, and honestly hadn’t been true for a while. 

Even before Lucien had gotten together with Jes he’s still had a thing for Rhys, no matter how much he’d loved her. But Rhys still didn’t see it. After years, he still didn’t see Lucien’s feelings, though by this point Lucien had gotten good at hiding them, well most of the time. 

For example the stuffed animal that Rhys had cradled to his chest had been named Rhys, after Rhys himself. Partly, because Lucien had found the confusion exceedingly funny at the time, but also because… well, Rhys. 

Rhys continued speaking. “It’s just-” He huffed, fiddling with one of Rhys’ (the dog) paws. “We’re weren’t going anywhere. It’s a good thing we broke up.” He insisted. “A good thing.”

Lucien wasn’t sure who Rhys was trying to convince, but he was doing a shit job at it. 

Lucien hopped onto the bed next to time, abandoning his lab report. Tamlin would let him off if it wasn’t finished in time, since Lucien basically carried the two of them in that class normally. 

Lucien gently took Rhys (the dog) from Rhys’ (the human) hands. He ran a finger over the markings on the stuffed animal. 

“Want me to break out the ice cream?” Lucien asked, heart beating so hard in his chest he would have been surprised Rhys couldn’t hear it if his heart didn’t beat like that all the time around Rhys. 

Lucien turned his head to his friend when Rhys didn’t answer. Rhys was staring at him. Not, staring into space in the general direction of Lucien (which happened plenty), but actually, literally, staring at him. 

Lucien sucked in a breath. 

“Actually I was more in the mood for something tastier.” Rhys didn’t say so much as breathe and Lucien felt all blood rush from his head and all air from his lungs. “Uh.” For once, Lucien’s sharp tongue failed him. Rhys just saw him as a friend, Lucien chanted in his head. Just a friend, just a friend, just a friend.

But if that was so why wouldn’t Rhys break his gaze. 

Lucien couldn’t breathe. 

“What do you think?” Rhys asked, those intense eyes still locked on Lucien’s.

What did Lucien think? What did he think? He thought the most tasty thing he could possibly imagine were Rhys’ lips but he couldn’t say that. 

Rhys. Of course Rhys would say something like that. To his best friend no less. Rhys with those gorgeous violet eyes and that smirk that curled at his lips and- Rhys was smirking. Was he-?

No. That was ridiculous. 

Rhys flirted when he was anxious, Lucien reminded himself. It made him feel better. 

But why-? With Lucien-? But he-!

Rhys’ smirk fell. “Lucien, you okay?”

Air came rushing back into Lucien’s lungs. He put down Rhys (the dog), clenching his hands so that Rhys (the human) couldn’t see them shake. Get back in the game, Lucien. Lucien snarled at himself. 

He plastered on a smile. “Always.”

“Good, can’t have both of us falling apart now, can we?” Rhys smiled, bumping Lucien’s shoulder with his. 

Lucien snorted. “Of course.” Then his voice softened. “Falling apart?”

“I mean…” Rhys shrugged. “Not really I guess. I am upset but I don’t think I could ever really fall apart. Not as long as I have you.“Rhys was looking at him again. Like that. 

Lucien knew though, he knew Rhys didn’t mean it. And that made it hurt worse. Lucien cleared his throat and broke eye contact first. “So, what’re you thinking?” He asked, refering to his earlier question. 

Rhys, of course, knew what he was referring to immidately. Like always. “Hmm, I’m thinking nachos.”

Lucien smiled. “Me too.” And he went to get them. Rhys took it as a sign as Lucien left the room. He was leaving Rhys, i.e. he wasn’t interested. So Rhys wouldn’t push. The thought that Lucien didn’t want him hurt, but it was a hurt he’d have to deal with, it seemed like. 

Prompt: i will die protecting you. no question about it. i care for you more than anyone else in the universe and even though i act like you’re a pain in the ass i love you so much. you dweeb. (Okay so this one takes some explaining: Basically I’m kinda obsessed with the au where lucien feels really self destructive and therefore runs to the Night Court instead of Spring after Jes dies so he can ‘get what he deserves’ and ends up becoming part of the Inner Circle and i actually ahve it like… plotted, even back when I only wrote gen {cuz its a gen fic in my head except for a little feysand and feycien maybe?} but anywho that’s the context)

“You’re an asshole.” Lucien snapped as he sat back against the coach they resided in. While Rhys could certainly winnow, even with the faebane, Lucien couldn’t and Rhys couldn’t carry both of them.

Even riding through the south of Prythian set Lucien’s nerves on edge. 

“We wouldn’t even be in this position if you hadn’t be a dick to Her.” Rhys grumbled. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, was I just supposed to let her say those things. About you? About-”

“Yes! Yes, you were you brat!” Rhys snarled. Lucien glared back. 

Rhys would have bent under her will. He would have done the right thing. But Lucien’s temper was worse, and the Bitch had crossed the line when she’d gone after Rhys. 

Lucien’s hands itched to raise to the eyepatch he wore, a reminder of his stupidity. 

But stupidity be damned, no one spoke that way about Rhys and the people Lucien loved. 

Rhys sighed. “At least, just- you know. Be nice. Please.”

“Why? You hate him just as much as I do.”

“Yes, but I’m also a High Lord. You, my friend, are not.”

Lucien rolled his eye. So what? “Just because he’s got power doesn’t mean he knows how to use it.”

Rhys grinned at Lucien, waggling his eyebrows. “And I do?”

“You’re such a prick.”

“That’s what she-”

“Oh great Mother, shut up.” Lucien groaned. Unfortunately, Lucien’s luck wasn’t so good that Rhys listened (not that he ever did). So Lucien was forced to endure him until the reached the estate of the High Lord of Spring. 

Tamlin met the two of them at the gate, still pissed from letting either into his Court at all. 

Tamlin made no move to greet them. Behind him, his soliders held their line. Cassian would be impressed, Lucien thought as Rhys and he went up to Tamlin.

“What are you doing here?” Tamlin snarled at Rhys, eyes filled with pure hatred. “The deal was just him.” He pointed a long meaty finger at Lucien. 

“I came along for the ride. Can’t have my favorite living in some dump, now can I?” Rhys purred. 

“Please,” Lucien scoffed, “you say deal like you had any say in the arangement.”

“Shut up, spy.” Tamlin spat at him. His eyes lingered on Lucien’s eyepatch.

Lucien heard what words he’d rathered say: traitor, weakling, whore. 

One little scratch and and Lucien had gone running home to Mommy. That was what the stories said. 

Lucien tensed. 

“And you,” Tamlin turned that nasty finger on Rhys, “weren’t invited. Get out, before I have to show you how unwelcome you are myself.” Tamlin took a step towards the pair and Lucien immidately stepped in front of Rhys. 

Rhys had been right, Lucien would never win in a real fight. Not to mention that Tamlin had retained more of his magic power than even Rhys, not that Lucien was that powerful in magic when it came to the two of them anyway. But Lucien had trained in non-magical combat with Azriel and Cassian, and if he couldn’t hold his own against Tamlin then at least he could maim him a little. 

Tamlin’s eyebrows quirked. A mean sneer curled at his lips. “I will destroy you, exile. With nothing but my pinky finger.”

Lucien was about to say something about how Tamlin’s pinky was fat enough to count as four, but Rhys interuppted him. “I’d like to see you try.” He said, boredly. But he put a restraining hand on Lucien’s shoulder all the same. He was right, though, Lucien knew. They didn’t have time for this or leeway with Amarantha to save Rhys and Lucien from her wrath if they did fight.  Lucien bared his teeth at Tamlin anyway. 

“And I thought that all the rumors were just that. I guess I was wrong.” Tamlin said. Lucien and Rhys, used to these types of comments, ignored it. Tamlin then turned his gaze on Lucien. “And here I thought the Great Exiled Prince would be harder to control than whatever the High Lord of Night or the Queen Bitch-” the entire forest seemed to suck in a collective breath, Lucien had dared call her something like that and had lost his eye, but she was obsessed with Tamlin. The asshole would be safe. Just how he always was. “Come, Lucien.” He whistled. “Here, Lucien. Heel, Lucien.”

Lucien was begging to tear Tamlin a new one. But again, Rhys saved him from probable certain death when he said: “What can I say? I like to play with my toys.” He gave a non-chalant shrug. “But the important thing to remember Tammy,” Tamlin tensed at the nickname, “is that even the tiniest of dogs can still bite. Just be nice. Maybe you won’t see Lucien’s, and we can all survive this in peace.”

Right. Survive this. That was why they were all here today. To survive. Hope. That was what Amarantha had given them when she’d made that deal with Tamlin. Hope. 

Fifty years. It was only fifty years.

Fifty years away from the mountian, fifty years convincing poor little human girls to fall in love with Tamlin, then failing in the end since Tamlin was, of course, unloveable. Fifty years of spying on Tamlin and reporting to Amarantha that he wasn’t breaking his word, or even trying to. 

In fifty years maybe he would see Mor again. Maybe he would be able to scheme with Az and tick off Cass and gossip with Amren. 

Fifty years. He just had to survive fifty years. 

“Say your goodbyes.” Tamlin snapped. “Then we’re going, and you’re leaving.”

Rhys bowed his head, grinning. “Yes, High Lord.” 

Tamlin even turned his back to give them privacy. The first kind thing Lucien had seen him do since Lucien ran to the Night Court in the first place. 

“I’ll miss you.” Rhys told him softly. He began picking at Lucien’s collar (spring clothes… they itched), smoothing it out though it was already smooth.

“Me too.” Lucien whispered.

“You don’t have to-”

“For you? You never have to ask, much less force me on pain of death and slavery.” Lucien said with a snort. Trying to lighten the mood. Then his face softened when Rhys’ looked like he would cry. “It’s just fifty years. Less if he gets a really smart one.”

Rhys snorted, though he didn’t look like he wanted to. “A smart one would never fall for him in the first place.” Lucien laughed. 

Lucien pressed a gentle kiss to Rhys’ bent forehead, still looking at his collar to smooth it. 

“I’ll be alright. Promise.”

“I know you don’t care about it Lucien, but I don’t want you to die for me.”

“Come now, Rhys, I’ll never die. Not if you bully me out of it. You know how annoying I find you.”

Rhys laughed, but water was pearling at his eyes. Lucien pressed another gentle kiss to him, this time his lips. 

“Fifty years.” Rhys whispered, eyes squeezed closed to stop whatever tears threatened them. “You be back in fifty years and not one second more.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Lucien whispered. He couldn’t help but smile at the order.

“It’s time.” Tamlin finally said. When Lucien whipped around to bite his ear off he found he couldn’t–Tamlin looked too soft. Too sad. Too much like he used to, when Tamlin and Lucien were friends. Before Jesminda.

Lucien nodded. He went with Tamlin, and Rhys climbed back into the coach to leave for Under the Mountian. Lucien watched him go.

Prompt: we’re the old married couple™ but lmao no we would never date each other. right? right???????!!!? (modern au cuz clearly im a sucker for these)

“Well if you’d just taken your coat like I told you too, then we wouldn’t be late from buying you a new one.” Lucien snapped from the doorway. The winter raged outside, and Rhys quickly shut the door behind him. 

“Well it was a good idea anyway because then we got to pick up the host gift because you left ours at home.”

“It’s not my fault! By the time you had finished your hair I was so pissed at you I’d forgotten all about it! And I’ve been busy! Really, really busy!”

“He’s been busy, he says.” Rhys rolled his eyes. Rhys turned to Feyre who helped him take off his coat. 

“I have been! You know that! God, why am I still even arguing about this? I’m right, obviously.” Lucien told Amren, who came to take the host gift. She sniffed at the wine. 

“Bad quality, but expensive. I accept.”

“I’m glad Amren.” Lucien said sarcastically. 

“Ugh. Lucien! How the fuck did you tie this thing? It’s like a fucking lanard-” Rhys grumbled as he pulled at his scarf. 

Lucien batted his hand away. “Let me.” Lucien snapped. His deft fingers quickly undid the knot and Lucien stuffed the scarf into the pocket of Rhys’ coat. He put his own coat on the coat rack and gratefully followed Amren to a (nicer, she insisted) glass of red wine. “Thank you.” He almost groveled. He chugged, much to Amren’s distaste, then asked for more. She gave, though clearly disgusted by his heathenly drinking. Lucien couldn’t really give a fuck. 

Once properly sated with drink, Amren finally asked him what she’d been wondering, “why is Rhysand mad?”

Lucien shrugged, swirling the wine. “I’ve been really busy ever since I went freelance and he’s just mad ‘cuz he gets paid less attention by me than when he lived with his brothers. He has a girlfriend for this specific reason, but noo-” 

“He doesn’t.”

“Huh?”

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore.”

“What? Why? When?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“Really?”

Amren gave Lucien a sideways glance. “How did you not know this?”

“I’ve been busy,” Lucien whined, “like I said.”

“Still, pretty big thing to miss. Especially because you two chirp like old married birds.”

Lucien sputtered. “What? We do not!”

“Do too.”

“You’re mean and that’s why no one likes you.” Lucien said as he took a sip of his wine. 

“Maybe so, but I’m right.”

Lucien made a face at her and she rolled her eyes. “’It’s you’re fault you forgot the host gift’, ‘If you’d brought you coat like I asked,’” she quoted. 

Lucien was pretty sure he couldn’t blame the wine for why his cheeks were red. “We-We don’t sound like that. We’re-We’re just friends, Amren. We’d never-” A laugh caught Lucien’s ears and he turned to watch as Mor and Rhys giggled at something Cassian said. 

They would never… Would they?

No…. 

But-?

Never….

Lucien was so busy mulling over the idea of… but they couldn’t- that he didn’t even notice Rhys himself come over to talk to Amren. Rhys swung an arm over Lucien’s shoulders and took the glass of wine from his hands. He sipped it casually and started some conversation or another with Amren about… whatever Amren did (Lucien still wasn’t completely sure, despite getting to know everyone better once he’d moved in with Rhys). 

But Rhys wouldn’t-Rhys would never-And they weren’t like that! They weren’t at all!

Lucien watched Rhys as he spoke to Amren. The glitter in his eyes and the easy grin on his lips just made him so much more than he had been moments before. Moments before the thought had ever even crossed Lucien’s mind. 

He loved Rhys, and he knew he did. Rhys loved him too, he hoped. But to date? To be together… like that? That was-

Lucien could barely process the idea, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t like it. 

He wasn’t quite sure what that meant. 

“Alright everyone!” Elain called, clapping her hands together. “Dinner is ready!” 

Rhys and Lucien were pulled over to the table with everyone else. On the way there Lucien pulled Rhys over and whispered softly. “You and Feyre broke up?”

“Yeah. Lucien can we go eat?”

“When?”

“A few weeks ago.” Rhys was busy eyeballing the garlic bread on the table. 

“Is that why you’ve been such a bitch lately?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask what was wrong. I should have been more thoughtful.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“It would have to be after we eat.”

“It would be this Friday.”

“Awesome. Let’s do it.” Rhys said, and without a further comment went straight to the table to gobble down some food. He pulled Lucien along with him. 

Prompt: MY PARENTS WON’T GET OFF MY BACK ABOUT GETTING A SIGNIFICANT OTHER AND THEY’RE HAVING A GET-TOGETHER IN A FEW DAYS PLS PRETEND TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH ME. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT I’M HEAD OVER HEELS FOR YOU BUT IT SURE IS A NICE BONUS (another modern au?? wow who would have guessed, also not his parents but his family, I think that counts, yeah?)

Mor was calling again. Rhys grimaced and pushed his cell phone farther away from himself. Lucien raised an eyebrow, picking at his dinner. 

“So… why exactly as we mad at Mor?”

“We’re not mad, I’m mad.” Rhys explained. He wasn’t particularly hungry either. But he was getting worried about Lucien. Lucien had been eating less and less over the past few days. He hadn’t mentioned anything getting worse and form Rhys’ side of the wall he couldn’t hear any nightmares getting worse. In fact, most of Lucien’s whimpers were lessening, but Lucien himself had not been eating. 

“So something trivial then.” Lucien said. 

Rhys shrugged. “We’re having a family get-together soon.”

“I see,” Lucien nodded, putting his take out cup down. 

Rhys rolled his eyes and explained. “She thinks it’s sad that I’m not dating anyoen and she’s been trying to set me up and… look, I’m just not interested in any of the guys that she wants me to be interested in, you know?”

Lucien raised an eyebrow. 

Rhys continued. “So she’s trying to get my opinion ‘cuz she wants to set me up this weekend at the family thing. Everyone else is bringing their partners… I get it, she wants me to be happy but like… seriously, not necessary. But she’s not going to stop until I tell her I’m involved.”

“Okay, so tell her you’re involved.” Lucien said matter-of-factly. He picked up his food container and gave the chopsticks in his hand a glare before working them into the contents. Rhys watched as Lucien ate, slowly but surely. So maybe, he was getting better. 

“Wait, I’m sorry: what?”

“Well, you said that she wouldn’t stop ‘til she found out you were involved, right?” Lucien explained through a mouthful of chinese food, “so just tell her you’re involved.”

“You mean lie to her.”

“Why not? I lie to my family all the time. ‘Course I think lying to them is fun. It brightens my day. But that’s why I’m in therapy so…” Lucien shrugged. He went for a fortune cookie. 

Rhys’ eyes widened and he looked up at Lucien as an idea struck him. Lucien, unaware of this, opened up his fortune cookie and read the piece of paper out loud. “You will soon be given an interesting proposal. What a crock of shit. What’s that supposed to mean?” He grumbled before glanced up at Rhys. Lucien’s face fell. “Oh no.”

“It was your idea.”

“No, no, no, no, no. I am not pretending to be your boyfriend to get Mor off your back.”

“Aww, why not? Please? Please, please, please with a cherry on top? I’ll be your best friend!”

Lucien rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to be my best friend. I want that to be someone who I actually like, you know, like Mor for example.”

“Aw, pleeease, Lucien? I’ll buy you take out every day for the next week.” Lucien didn’t yield. “Please? I’m begging you here.” Rhys got on his knees. A place he dreamed about being with Lucien, though, if he was being honest, not in this situation. “Please? A month! Free take out for a month!”

“You just want me to get fat, don’t you?” Lucien asked, arms crossed. Though he was grinning. 

Of course, Rhys did  want Lucien to put on weight but he could never tell lucien that. Lucien would lose weight just to be contrary. “Please please pl-eee-ease?”

Lucien still said nothing. “Two months.”

Lucien waved a hand as if raising the offer. “Two months and I tell Cassian to shut up on command.” Lucien kept waving that hand. “Two months, I tell Cassian to shut up on command, and I get Az to let you borrow that sexy black suit that you like so much.” Lucien pretended to yawn and look at a watch taht was not there. “Three months and I get Amren to work for you for free for two weeks and that is my final offer.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Or.. I could just annoy you until you pretend to be my boyfriend.”

Lucien narrowed his eyes. “Then I’ll just tell Mor what you’re trying to do.”

Rhys took a deep breath and let out a strangled and loud, “PUH-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-” he took another large breath, “-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-” and another one, “-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

“Okay! Fine! I’ll do it! Shut up!” Lucien snapped. 

Rhys grinned, and pumped the air. “You’re so going to regret this.” He warned Lucien. 

“I’m aware.”

“Thanks, boyfriend.”

“Oh my god-” While Rhys loved irritating Lucien, he did wish, if only a little bit, that when he said ‘boyfriend’, it wasn’t as fake as Lucien thought it was. Well, baby steps, he supposed.  

Bonus because I’m an idiot and mis-read one of the prompts originally: “you’ve had a rough day so let’s get in our PJs and watch a cute movie together and cuddle”? 

Usually, Rhys came home from work glowing. Or well, maybe not *glowing*, but he certainly seemed to be in a happy mood. Yeah, being mayor of Velaris was a tough job, but Rhys actually seemed to enjoy it most of the time, and so did most of Velaris’ residents. 

But today seemed to be one of the bad days. Lucien, who worked from home ever since he split from Tamlin’s company and started freelancing, had been worried when six o'clock had rolled around and Rhys still hadn’t texted that he was on his way home. So, Lucien called city hall and had been told politely but shortly by Nuala that Rhys was swamped today and wouldn’t be home 'til late. Late, as it turned out, was around eleven thirty. Rhys came home, ripped off his suit and walked right past Lucien to the bedroom.

Lucien called out hesitantly, “Rhys, babe? You okay?”

A muffled sound came from the room. Lucien stood from the couch and opened the door softly. 

“What’s wrong, honey?” 

Rhys looked up at Lucien as if he’d forgotten that he didn’t live alone. Then, Rhys barreled into his husband’s arms, crushing him in a hug.  

Rhys breathed him in. “You smell good.” He mumbled. 

“Hey! What’s up?” Lucien asked, confused and slightly concerned. 

“Just missed you.” Rhys mumbled into his shoulder. “Long day.”

“I can tell. Want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly. Just want to shower.”

Lucien waggled an eyebrow. “Want any company?” He asked, nudging Rhys. 

Rhys barked out a laugh, head still buried in Lucien’s shoulder and shook his head. “No thanks. I just want to get the smell of this day off me.”

“Okay, well I’ll be out here if you need anything.”

“Thanks, love.”

Rhys dragged himself away from his husband and went into the bathroom to shower. Lucien went back to work. Once Rhys was feeling more like a human again, he came out of the bedroom in his pajamas and sat next to Lucien who typed away on his laptop. Gilmore Girls playing in the background as ambient noise while he worked. Slowly, Lucien had been catching up on all the TV he’d missed while working himself to the bone for Tamlin. 

Rhys took a sip from Lucien’s mug on the coffee-table and scowled. 

“Decaf.” He grumbled, laying his head on Lucien’s shoulder. 

Lucien let out a breathy laugh. “Some of us actually like the *taste* of coffee, Rhys. Not just as a way to keep us up.”

“Coffee’s only worthwile functions are as a caffiene booster or as something to put butt-loads of sugar in.” Rhys chirped back as a pulled a blanket over his legs. 

Lucien saved his work and closed his laptop, placing it on the coffee-table in front of them. “I’ll never understand how you manage to keep your figure with the amount of sugar you put in your frappachinos.”

Rhys tossed his hair over his shoulder. “I’m just magical like that.”

Lucien laughed and pulled Rhys closer so he was resting on Lucien’s chest. He pressed a kiss into Rhys’ hair, still damp from the shower. “Yes, you are.”

They were just finishing season three when the clock hit one in the morning. Lucien stretched gently. Rhys had stopped making side-comments on the Gilmores’ lives an or two ago, opting for closeness and silence and warm cider (which Lucien had gotten up to make him, despite Rhys’ objections to losing his pillow for a few minutes). Lucien craned his neck over to see if Rhys had fallen asleep. 

He had. His eyes fluttered beneath his lids. Carefully, Lucien settled back into the couch. He spred out his legs a little into a more comfortable position, turned off the TV, and pressed one more kiss to Rhys’ hair before settling on the couch. 

“G'night Rhys. I hope tomorrow is better.” And in each others’ arms, they fell asleep.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam France season 3, episode 4 reaction

Manon really does come across as Lucas’ deeply invested mom, like if she started leaving educational pamphlets around the flat titled IT’S OKAY TO BE GAY I would not be surprised.

Episode 4

Clip 1 - What the hell, Mika

Manon is telling the flat about her time in London. Lucas seems a bit miffed judging by the look he’s giving her, to be honest. Annoyed that she interrupted his moment with Eliott? Or just perceptive that she’s leaving out pertinent details of her story and things weren’t so great for her? With Noora, she was openly talking about how things had gone wrong with her and William; Manon is hiding whatever happened with Charles and putting on a happy face.

But Mika and Lisa are overjoyed to have her back. The three of them together again, they’ll be so happy! Uh, what a great thing to say in front of your other roommate? Mika, Manon, and Linn are the Three Musketeers and Lucas is like a bug they graciously decided not to squash.

Manon thinks this is a temporary arrangement until Charles returns. Lucas asks when Charles is coming back, Manon says he’s finishing up a project and it’ll be like a week or two. Uh-huh. Probably not the case, but on the surface, she makes it sound very reasonable, things are A-OK in Marlesland.

Mika says Manon can have Lucas’ room. The fuck? Lucas is like similarly surprised and Mika yells at him letting Manon sleep on the sofa, that’s why Lucas isn’t hooking up with girls if that’s how he treats them. Again, the fuck?

Manon says she’s OK sleeping on the couch and Mika hushes her and goes on about how bad she looks as a way to guilt trip Lucas. I’m sure Manon appreciates hearing that she looks like shit. Lucas says something completely sensible, that Mika should give Manon his room then, and Mika is like WHOA SLOW DOWN. It’s only logical that Manon should get her room back, right? Lucas is like, but she left it to me and it’s not even the same flat. Mika is all, this is a family and you’re like a cousin. Lisa adds, a distant cousin. Dude, fuck off, both of you.

Mika and Lisa decide Manon should get Lucas’ room and Manon sits there. Lucas gets up in a huff. The hell did I just watch?

This scene was messy as hell and people were not happy about it!

Previously I had thought it was amusing that Mika and Lisa gave Lucas a hard time, because I assumed it was coming from a place of love. You know, how Eskild made fun of Isak for his room stinking and him being a cranky teenage boy. Maybe Lisa doesn’t care about Lucas as much, and she’s been shown as a very crabby character, much more than Linn, so I don’t expect her to be all warm and fuzzy. But Mika? He sheltered Lucas in S2. We don’t know if it was under the exact same circumstances, but Lucas was crashing at their place, and Mika had to know something was up, because why else would a teenage boy not be living at home? Why would he prefer to sleep in the cellar of someone who’s practically a stranger? And I’m not sure the writer was intending to make this scene come off as harsh as it does. But this scene made me reevaluate my take on Mika and his relationship with Lucas and the whole flat-share dynamic.

I was trying to compare the Isak-Eskild dynamic to the Mika-Lucas dynamic up to this point, through episode 4. Because we might be influenced knowing the Pride clip and other important moments are coming, whereas prior to Pride it’s possible we might have felt less warmth about Isak and Eskild’s relationship. After all, the meatiest stuff about their relationship is still to come - even the backstory about Eskild picking him up in a bar is mentioned first in episode 5. But nah, I feel like Eskild’s whole demeanor is just more nurturing and fond even when he’s teasing Isak even though he and Mika have fairly similar scenes so far in these seasons. When Noora came back, Eskild said that it had been chaotic in the flat, and that Isak was a good kid but lazy. But still ... a good kid! And when Isak pointed out that he was sitting right there, Eskild said there was no need to get jealous, he liked him, too. So, some gentle roasting of Isak, but mingled with affection. Whereas Mika didn’t have anything positive to say about Lucas in this clip, voted to kick him out of his room, and made a clear distinction between the other three and Lucas, with Lucas being the outsider they care less about.

Whatever they intended, it felt really mean. That’s Lucas’ room, not Manon’s. She never even lived in this apartment! It has never been her room! Were they going for some comic relief by having Mika and Lisa decide Lucas is the one to get kicked out of his room, like ha ha, they make him sleep on the couch? I would be a lot less annoyed by that if Mika at least were affectionate about Lucas. I don’t know, joking or making a comment like, “I love you, buddy, but you gotta take one for the team” (or something similar)? It’s the combination of him getting kicked out of his room and them dismissing him as not in the “family” that makes it feel nastier than intended. Because we know Lucas’ backstory. He’s a teenage boy with a father who left and a mother with serious mental health issues, who left home to go sleep in a basement of a near-stranger. He feels abandoned enough as it is. And Mika knows at least part of this history! It feels really fucking insensitive to kick Lucas out of his own room when Lucas is clearly upset about it. For them to call Lucas a “distant cousin” is the worst part, especially when they’re showering Manon with love.

I can absolutely see why perhaps this dynamic was intentional, to highlight Lucas’ detachment and show his distance from everyone. But this doesn’t seem like Lucas’ problem. If we look at Isak, he was distancing himself largely due to his own internal struggles - like he couldn’t tell the truth to his friends, he thought his mom was a lost cause. His personality was very withdrawn and what he presented was fake. Because we followed Isak’s character development, we got to see him learn to reach out to others and be more authentic, and that came with having better relationships. This situation doesn’t seem like Lucas’ fault, though, it seems like the roommates’. So I’m not sure it really works for me, narratively. Maybe the point is that Lucas isn’t being cozy or friendly enough with them? I don’t know if we’ve seen enough of that to make this distinction. 

I was kinda wary about Mika at times last season, and was worried that they were going more for comedy with him to the extent of toning down Eskild’s more serious moments, his kindness and nurturing. I came around on him because he was there for Manon after the assault, but now I’m wondering how they’ll handle stuff like the Pride clip. I feel like it won’t seem earned. How Lucas is supposed to open up to someone who sees him as a distant relative rather than a member of the family? Isak was able to open up to Eskild because Eskild treated him with care. I hope they address that distance Lucas feels and have Mika explain that he does think Lucas is great and is glad he’s staying there or whatever.

Adding to this: Mika’s constant needling of Lucas being heterosexual and liking girls is starting to seem even weirder in light of this clip. Like I thought maybe it was him trying to cover for Lucas and act like he didn’t know his big secret. It was a kindness, because surely Mika knows or suspects that Lucas is gay - otherwise how did he find Lucas and hide him last season if it wasn’t a gay bar? We know Emma and Manon told him the gossip? But he seems so callous here that I’m wondering what his motivation is with all the hetero jokes. At a certain point it seems like he’s rubbing it in Lucas’ face, even if it’s not the intent. And that’s another reason why he might seem worse toward Lucas than Eskild was to Isak, because Eskild absolutely did not make hetero jokes about Isak like this, in a way that started to feel aggressive. 

Right now I’m just wondering what they’re doing with Mika and the Mika-Lucas dynamic, if they’re going to minimize it or if they’ll replace it with another relationship (like put in Manon or Alex instead) or if they’ll try to strengthen that relationship in the rest of the season.

Clip 2 - Manon’s about to bake Lucas a rainbow cake

In his room Lucas texts Eliott about how last night was nice and if he wants to do anything that afternoon. I like that he takes a moment before he sends it. Eliott replies that yeah, yesterday was nice, which makes Lucas smile. Awww. Something going well for him after getting evicted from his room. But Eliott says he’s busy and they’ll see each other Monday, which is a downer. 

However, I want to point out that Even told Isak in the OG equivalent that he had plans with Sonja, after telling Isak in the kitchen that he couldn’t break up with her (attempts to kiss him nonetheless). The scene with Noora and the roommates focused on her talking about how if Wiliam loves her, he’ll choose her, which was a clear parallel to Isak hoping Even will choose him over Sonja, only for Even to choose Sonja (that afternoon, anyway). Which sucked for Isak. By contrast, Eliott did not tell Lucas that he couldn’t break up with Lucille, and in fact said their relationship was ending and that he would like to be in a relationship with someone, “not necessarily a girl.” You know. As subtle as a hurricane. So there is much, much less room for Lucas to doubt that there are any obstacles with Eliott other than the technicality of dumping Lucille (and breaking things off with Chloé). That continues here, because Eliott just says he’s busy. Not with Lucille, just busy, which could mean anything. He might have to go visit his grandparents, he might have promised to go furniture shopping with his mom, he might have plans with another friend to go to fucking Disneyland. It’s a bummer for Lucas but not necessarily a reason for him to doubt that Eliott is really interested. So that tension isn’t as prevalent.

Manon comes in, Lucas resumes packing up his shit. To her credit, Manon says not to bother, she can sleep on the couch. But Lucas says Mika will kill him. Manon is like, it’ll be a few weeks, maybe a month. Oh fuck that. Why doesn’t Manon go stay with any of her other friends? Can’t she crash with Emma? Is she that concerned about putting up a front that everything is fine with her and Charles? Or that much in denial?

Also, did she just go from saying “It’ll be a week or two” to “It’ll be a month at most” within the space of a few hours? Because lol.

For a more optimistic take, especially since at the end of the clip Manon seems grateful and Lucas accepts that, it might be that Lucas feels he owes Manon since she offered her room to him at the end of S2. Which I would totally understand! But I wish it hadn’t come with Mika and Lisa being jerks about it.

Manon asks about that guy last night. Who is he? Totally casual. Lucas says he’s a friend. Who is this friend? Is he new. Totally casual. Manon comes across like a mom wanting to make sure her kid is socializing in kindergarten. Lucas wants to know why she’s asking all these questions. No reason! Totally casual. Lucas, not thrilled with this line of conversation, says if she wants her room back he has to move stuff out of there, so Manon leaves.

Manon clearly suspects that Lucas is gay, which we already knew, and that he and Eliott have a thing, and is trying to nudge him out of the closet, I guess. I do think she really means well and that she’s not asking for that spicy gossip. She probably wants him to know she’s OK with him being gay and trying to show him support when she knows life has been rough for him. It’s just that she needs to take a step back and let this thing unfold on Lucas’ terms. Lucas is obviously not ready to open the closet door. Both she and Mika are making this more stressful on him, I think: Manon is trying to probe him for information on Eliott and his dating life and that makes him defensive, and Mika keeps dropping comments about Lucas being straight which probably frustrates him, as a constant reminder that he’s not. 

Clip 3 - Protect Daphne at all costs

Emma ambushes Lucas at his locker. Manon didn’t tell Emma (her BFF) she was returning and Emma is surprised at that, so I think she’s trying to keep her Charles drama to herself. I wonder if there’s a particular reason that she’s not opening up about it, considering that Noora told her friends all about her epic romance with William not being what she thought is was. Does it have more to do with the court case, if they go through with that S4 content? Not wanting anyone to ask questions?

Daphne interrupts them, saying she thinks they got caught (re: the party). The headmaster caught her cleaning up in the morning and the furniture was still pushed to the side, so she said it was because they’re repainting the mural, but the guard still saw students there Friday night and they’re trying to figure out who it was. Emma is like, oh, the guard caught you Friday, that’s why I came back and no one was there. She and Alex were busy fucking in a classroom, lmao.

Some random girls say the party was great to Daphne as they walk by, so oh no, they won’t be able to keep it a secret! Oh my God, did you JUST realize this now. Are you kidding me. Congrats. Teenagers.

Is this going to come back later in the season at all? Because if not, this is gonna feel like a dangling plot thread. Daphne could’ve been like, whew, I think we got away with it, but her anxiety over it and the randos talking about it make it seem like it’s unfinished business. I’m not sure how any of that would fit in with the OG S3 story, so it would have to be a new addition to the plot, if any characters do get caught.

Daphne says at least the common room is popular now, and Eliott offered to repaint the mural. Emma asks who’s Eliott and Lucas looks at her as if scandalized. How can Emma not know the Eliott? I mean, let’s be real, that guy is hard to miss. Lucas offers to help with the mural because, you know, Eliott.

Basile appears down the hall. STAY BACK, DEMON.

Daphne thinks Lucas’ interest in the common room is because he wants to replace her as the head of the project. LMAO, I love that her mind goes there. 

Basile waves at Daphne and she gives him the finger. LOVE YOU MY QUEEN. He completely deserves it after he tried to plaster his pelvis against her at the party after she explicitly said she was uninterested in him, you know, that wacky bit of sexual harassment, comedy gold, har har. 

Basile says the more Daphne turns him down, the more he likes her. GOD FUCK OFFFFFFF

I might seem over the top with my hatred of him, but I don’t care. Are we really gonna do this shitty dynamic? In 2019? As if this isn’t the most basic textbook representation of male entitlement to women’s attention and rape culture? No means no. Daphne said no. Basile thinks her rejection is enticement rather than respecting it for what it is. 

Again, maybe they’re going somewhere with this! Maybe Basile’s ass will get roasted and flambéed over his attitude toward women in a way that finally gets through to him. Maybe he will have character development. We’ve seen plenty of sexist behavior from the boys, but with Basile it crossed a line into physical harassment. The fact that they’ve made one of the protagonist’s friends someone who does not respect a girl’s boundaries really doesn’t sit right with me. It’s like I’m not actually sure they do get how bad Basile’s behavior is, because it’s framed in a way that gives off comic relief vibes. It’s funny because Basile’s a loser and Daphne thinks he’s a loser! 

I hope he and Daphne do not happen. Hell no. Just get a Fleshlight, dude, and leave girls alone.

Basile is throwing a party on Saturday and he says his hot cousin will be there, who he has a shot with, Arthur is like WTF, Basile says cousins are OK, and I don’t care if this is meant to be a joke, I’m fucking tired, man. I’m not even gonna feel bad when Lucas ditches him.

Clip 4 - Lucas and Imane on religion

Alexia is telling Imane that Romain got super turned on by seeing Clara at the party and learning Alex is bi, and now he wants a threesome. OK, so he kinda sucks, too, for making his girlfriend’s sexuality about what his penis wants? Considering Basile, Mika, and Romain, I guess they had to throw in some shitty male characters to compensate for Eliott’s greatness.

Meanwhile Lucas is texting with Eliott about the mural. They set up a meeting on Wednesday, which makes Lucas happy. He also gets a text from his mom about seeing the devil leaning on him and to be careful. Creepy shit and not at all what a teenage boy flirting with another guy needs to hear right now. “The devil” being close to him - is the devil homosexuality? Not that his mom would know that, but I’m sure Lucas is taking those words to heart.

After Alex leaves, Lucas asks Imane how she can listen to talk about bisexuality and threesomes, isn’t it against her religion? I’m glad they kept in the text from his mom to demonstrate that it’s what prompted him to ask Imane about religion. A religious character seemingly at ease with bisexuality must seem important to him since he probably fears it’s the opposite of how his mom will be (well, in his case homosexuality). 

Imane says yes, bisexuality is against her religion, but it doesn’t prevent her from being friends with someone. Lucas thinks that is hypocritical. Well, although I think Imane probably doesn’t think it’s wrong herself - if she’s like Sana she disagrees with that part of her religion - I don’t care for the “hate the sin, love the sinner” attitude. I don’t think I could be friends with someone who disapproved of such an intrinsic part of me. That’s probably not what they meant, but it gives me those vibes.

Imane says Lucas is friends with Basile, does he approve of the way he speaks about girls and hits on them? Lucas is like … no. Errr, you seem to be pretty chill with it almost all the time, dude. Imane says it’s the same. And look, I get what she’s trying to say, we don’t have to agree with everything about our friends, but holy fuck @ comparing bisexuality to sexual harassment, as if those are equivalent things to tolerate in people.

Lucas is clearly not sold. Imane asks whether he has a problem with Islam. Lucas says he doesn’t have a problem with Islam, Islam has a problem with people. Like, for example, gay people. The dialogue becomes similar to that between Isak and Sana. Lucas says he believes in science, Imane says well according to the theory of evolution, homosexuals are useless for reproduction. Then she brings up conversion therapy, saying that people used machines to shock gay people into supposedly not being gay anymore, and those were created by science, so is his religion any more merciful than his?

There’s something a little off about this scene, in the way that Skam France sometimes is when they copy dialogue from OG. What’s off is that in Skam, Isak started off his rant by challenging religion from an intellectual level - he asked Sana why she was religious because she was smart and the world was progressing, implying that religion is outdated and well, for suckers. That it was illogical for Sana to be religious. That’s why she countered him on an intellectual level as well, pointing out that the science he believed in also was illogical in some ways. He specifically mentioned the theory of evolution as something he believed, which is why Sana uses that example. But Lucas is not attacking Imane’s religion from an intellectual perspective - he’s attacking it from a moral perspective. He’s say Islam has problems with people. He didn’t say anything about religion being illogical and antiquated and Imane being too smart for it, he’s implying that he thinks Islam hurts people. So when she starts talking about homosexuality being incompatible with evolution, it’s actually just a weird tangent she goes on, lmao? That has nothing to do with ... evolution having problems with people, or whatever, I can’t even describe it because it doesn’t make sense. Isak mentioned evolution but he started his argument from the perspective that science was right, before Sana even said anything. Lucas didn’t even bring up science until Imane asked, so comparing religion and science from a logical perspective comes out of nowhere. It’s just there because it was dialogue in the original show.

What does fit the scene better is her bringing up how scientists gave electric shocks to gay people to make them disgusted by gay sex, because that does address the issue from a moral perspective. Lucas says Islam has a problem with gay people, Imane points out that science has also lead to torture and suffering of gay people. It’s not a nice argument but I can at least see how it fits into the discussion by pointing out her Islam isn’t the only thing that condemns gay people, and she’s not wrong that science has also been used to enforce homophobia. They should’ve just cut out the bit about evolution because it doesn’t fit what they were talking about.

Clip 5 - If only this was the single Chloé clip this week

After class, Chloé’s waiting for Lucas, looking happy and cute. She asks Lucas if he wants to do something Wednesday after school and he says he has plans. She suggests a date on Friday, he says he has something with the guys, he can’t just leave them behind. Chloé’s annoyed and wants to know if they’re together or not. She says to call her when he’s interested and walks away. Lmao, so she pulled an Isak in 3.07, when he was frustrated with Even running hot and cold and texting him all “call me when you’ve broken up with your girlfriend.” Except Lucas probably ain’t gonna run to her doorstep.

I think this scene is better in context of the full episode, because when I first saw it, I was like ... what’s the point of this clip except to do an extra round of will-they-won’t-they with Chloé to make him look even worse, like Lucas has multiple chances to end this thing with her and he just strings her along. But in context of the full episode, what Chloé says works with what Eliott does with the mural meeting; he bails on Lucas, and his absence makes Lucas doubt Eliott’s interest. Lucas can’t tell whether he and Eliott have a thing or not, like Chloé can’t tell when Lucas says he’s too busy to hang out with her. Typically when you like someone, you make time to spend with them. The parallel is more obvious when you watch the whole episode and this clip leads directly into Lucas waiting alone for Eliott in the common room. Lucas is doing to Chloé what Eliott is doing to Lucas.

But damn, don’t you wish Lucas just let this flirtation with Chloé die here? She gave you the opportunity, dude! She gave you space!

Clip 6 - Lucas tries his hardest to show Manon he’s not gay

Lucas is waiting for Eliott, who’s not showing. He’s sent him a bunch of texts asking where he is. When someone finally does enter, it’s the girls including Manon. They show her the room. They ask her what she thinks and she’s like “...it’s special!” in the same way that Lucas said Eliott’s dubstep was good. LMAO all these kids keep talking about the common room like it’s a crack den, JFC.

But the girls are cute dancing about renovating the crack den. I laughed at Emma trying to get some life out of Lucas with that lowest of fives.

Lmao, it also kinda makes me laugh that Lucas is like, “I’m waiting for Eliott, he’s the artist,” and Manon is like “Who’s Eliott?” I mean ... he’s the artist, Manon.

I know her question was really “IS THAT THE GUY LUCAS IS SECRETLY DATING?” But damn, if Eliott had shown up, Manon would recognize him from Friday. If her questions to Lucas are awkward, imagine if she directed them at Eliott, too. 

Alex says it sucks that Eliott’s in a relationship. Daphne reminds her she’s also in a relationship. Well, better Eliott than the “Bisexual means you want a threesome, right?” guy. Daphne then realizes all of them are in relationships besides her. Imane’s like, excuse me? Daphne clarifies she means all the ones who can be in relationships, Imane stops her from saying something dumb. This exchange is a nice setup for season 4, with the girls not seeing Imane as someone who has crushes or can have relationships like the rest of them.

Lucas leaves, bitter that Eliott ditched. And maybe not overjoyed with the talk of relationships, including how it’s too bad Eliott has a girlfriend. Manon “subtly” follows Lucas out of the room. The girls are reluctant to let her leave them again, it’s cute. (Hey, I’ve got an idea ... if they don’t want to let Manon out of their sight, maybe let her crash at one of your houses?)

She asks if Eliott was the guy from the other night and Lucas wants her to drop it. Fair enough! Though he’s not making it seem less gay but snapping at her not to talk about it. Then Lucas sees Chloé coming and kisses her in front of Manon. He introduces Chloé to Manon as his girl and confirms that date she wanted on Friday. Manon’s like … all right, then.

Lucas, you had your shot, and you blew it. You fucked up, buddy. All just to keep Manon off your back. Word of advice: uncomfortably turning your head while your supposed girlfriend kisses you and emitting a look of “help me” is not going to convince Manon of your interest in this girl.

Again, Manon means well, but she should not be so in his face about his boyfriend. She’s straight, she doesn’t know the coming-out journey personally, she has to let him do so at his own pace. Like she immediately went after him and asked him about Eliott in the school hallway. So no privacy and he was put on the spot (also, she asked when he was in a bad mood because Eliott didn’t show up, although she couldn’t have known that much). She’s like a helicopter parent. Her intentions are certainly not bad, they’re just backing Lucas into the closet further because he feels on guard and defensive when she questions him. It’s not her fault that Lucas chose to kiss Chloé in this scene, that’s his choice, but she was a big reason.

I wasn’t feeling great when this clip dropped, so I missed some of the drama over it, but about the lack of Eliott - I don’t think it was inherently bad that he wasn’t in this scene, I think the biggest problem was that they inexplicably dumped three clips on Monday, which was a very strange decision, pacing-wise. There’s no reason that the Imane clip needed to be on Monday rather than Tuesday, for instance. And in all three of those Monday clips, working on the mural with Eliott was discussed, it was something hyped up, Lucas had plans Wednesday and surely something big would happen. So it definitely felt underwhelming when Wednesday rolled around and this clip wasn’t what we expected. In a way, I do see how it makes you feel what Lucas must be feeling. It’s disappointment. Plus from Lucas’ POV, Eliott has not given him a reason to doubt his interest in him, so this comes as a surprise to Lucas. He’s totally in the dark as to why Eliott didn’t show up. But I also can see the criticisms of the clip, because IMO, there is something a little redundant and unnecessary about what’s happening:  there’s an added week of Chloé drama (whereas in OG there was no real drama during the week with Isak and Emma - he was disappointed but she was just cheerfully planning their Halloween costumes) which already happened, Lucas already did the disinterest -> upset Chloé -> Lucas OTT apology/affection -> happy Chloé rodeo last week. Is it going to lead to harsher consequences and retaliation from Chloé later? If not, we didn’t exactly need it.

There’s also the fact that the girl squad is just so much more prevalent in this season than OG S3, and while I’m not opposed to them having a larger role (and I know that was required in S3 by the network), I also think that many of the scenes with them don’t add a ton to the story? Or maybe a scene with them adds something (like the bisexuality conversation last week) but there also just seems to be repeat material that we don’t need - for example, this deal with showing off the room to Manon, the girls having the same discussion about how the mural sucks, all of this really covers the same territory we’ve seen in previous episodes. We know the mural apparently sucks, everyone hates that mural, we don’t need to hear Manon’s opinion, too. We know the common room is apparently hell on earth, we don’t need to go over it again. It wouldn’t be the worst thing except we know Skam France has time restrictions, so every moment should count. And I feel like it’s taking away time from Lucas’ POV, distracting from his emotional state. Lucas is like ... materially involved in this common room project, but his emotional investment in it comes from Eliott, and that’s where these scenes should be focused. 

Clip 7 - Lucas’ endless series of bad choices

I had to laugh after the grumbling from the previous day’s clip when people were complaining about no Eliott and too much Chloé, when the first thing we see in this clip is Chloé.

Chloé waits for Lucas after class and gives him a kiss. He looks less than enthused and says she doesn’t have to wait for him. Lmao, this dude is not worth it, Chloé. I know you’re going to suck in your own way soon, but Lucas seems like the most un-fun boyfriend ever in your presence, and he changes personalities more than he changes his underwear, probably. It’s as if he’s sharing his brain with an alien and they trade custody of the body. And the alien is the one who acts nice and wants to kiss and tell you he’s falling for you, Lucas the human could not be more checked out of your budding romance.

AND THEN THERE’S ELIOTT, the people rejoiced

Eliott comes up and asks to speak to Lucas. Lucas’ alien takes over and puts his tentacle arm around Chloé and says sure. Oh my God, Lucas. You dummy. He could not be any more inelegant about chucking Eliott out of the boyfriend zone. Lmao, it’s a little childish but I mean, it sure works because Eliott notices the pointed gesture and does not seem thrilled. Maxence does some solid eye acting in this clip, glancing between Lucas and Chloé.

Eliott says sorry for bailing on Lucas yesterday, he wanted to come but had a problem. It’s presumably something mental-health related, not that Lucas would know at this stage. I don’t think we’ve had any hints about his mental illness yet? Just that he's new to the school, which could be for any number of reasons. He invites Lucas over tomorrow to make up for it, and it sounds like a date, but of course Lucas fucked this up by not talking to Eliott alone. Because Chloé is there, she brings up the date she and Lucas had planned, but suggests they turn it into a double date with Eliott and Lucille. So that’s how that happens. Interesting because in OG, it’s never confirmed but I got the distinct impression that Even planned the pre-drink with Isak, but it was Sonja who invited herself and Emma, turning it into a double date. It seems likely because she probably asked Even about his Halloween plans that weekend, and he couldn’t avoid telling her about the thing on Friday. Or she just found out. That was reinforced by Even’s “party-planner” texts where he seems to be barely concealing his irritation that she’s taken control of the situation just like she takes control of other parts of his life. In retrospect it fits with what we learned about Sonja’s personality. Here it’s Chloé who innocently suggests the double date, like I really do not think she suspected anything weird at all between Lucas and Elliot.

I know people were laughing at Chloé not noticing that Eliott was asking Lucas on a date, but I can’t blame her for not making that assumption, no matter how Lucas and Eliott are looking at each other, when Lucas is trying his goddamn best to keep her thinking he likes her. He just slung an arm around her, that’s an affectionate gesture initiated by him. And this dude gave her a whole speech about how he was falling for her, he passionately kissed her yesterday out of nowhere and introduced her as his girl. He’s leading her on far more than Isak did with Emma.

Also, we can’t tell exactly when that arm around Chloé’s shoulder came down, but it was sometime between Eliott talking about his problem yesterday and Chloé suggesting the double date, so I think Lucas slipped it off her shoulder when he realized Eliott was asking him out. 

Predictably, Lucas and Eliott are all muted while Chloé is excited. Chloé kisses Lucas but he looks after Eliott. Dude, you dug this hole yourself. 

Clip 8 - Double date

Friday night, the four of them at Eliott’s. Chloé talks to Lucille about binge watching a show and taking time for herself, encouraging Lucille to do the same. Lucas and Eliott are not having a good time, though I think that could be emphasized more in the visuals. We do get Lucille glancing at Eliott drinking and seeming not OK with that.

After Chloé asks whether Eliott and Lucille are the same age, Lucille says Eliott failed his bac last ear, which was RUDE. Why are you volunteering that information to random people? Especially when you know the painful circumstances of why he failed? Like ... he’s in the room with you, and you’re casually throwing it out there without thinking whether it might embarrass him or drudge up bad memories. Or, even worse, she’s pissed that he’s drinking too much and is mentioning it passive-aggressively. Eliott does not seem happy with her doing that, either. (Again, some good reactions from Maxence.)

Chloé: “By a lot?” ALSO RUDE. She at least doesn’t know his background. Eliott says he never went. It’s awkward. He wants to talk about something else. The angry tension between Eliott and Lucille in this scene is even bigger than the sexual tension between Eliott and Lucas.

Adding to that, Lucille tells him he’s drank enough, Eliott says she’s talked enough. Well ... accurate. She says she said it for his own good, Eliott’s snaps at her thinking she needs him, and throws back a retort about him failing his bac but still knowing how to count. She storms off. Maybe I’m the asshole, IDK, but I’m actually on his side here. Not that I condone rude comments from either of them, but she was pretty thoughtless bringing up the bac and I totally understand why he would throw it back at her. But it also makes their relationship seem even more dysfunctional than Even and Sonja’s.

Eliott apologizes to Lucas for having to see that, it’s just that this night isn’t going the way Elliot wanted. Lucas asks how he wanted it to go, Eliott says it’d be just the two of them. Lucas agrees. arghhhhhhblarghhhhhhhh. 

Here’s the thing: this exact same sentiment was present in OG Skam, except Skam didn’t need to spell it out for us in dialogue. Like … we got it. We got it from Even’s miserable facial expressions and the fact that he just sat there drinking. We got it from Isak and Even constantly shooting glances at each other while Emma and Sonja carried out on a conversation without them. We got it from the fact that Even asks Isak to leave with him, ditching his girlfriend as they’re both dressed up for a Halloween party in a couple’s costume. We got it from the music as we transition from the pre-drink to the bike ride, Even’s expression of misery transformed into radiant joy, both boys grinning as the lyrics tell us I wanted to be with you alone. It is abundantly clear that the night wasn’t going like how Even and Isak wanted, and they didn’t need to have the characters sit down and tell us that. Show, don’t tell. (Or, I mean ... the Tears for Fears lyrics flat-out tell you, but only after the characters’ mindset was established previously, so that the song just feels right after all that buildup, like a release of tension.)

The feeling at the start of this clip should be enough to communicate to us that Eliott is upset and he had something else in mind. I didn’t get that feeling. Maxence does fine acting but the directing itself could be much sharper to highlight the emotional atmosphere of the scene. If you watch the OG clip, at the beginning, every single shot has either Isak, Even, or both in the frame. When it’s all four of them, Isak and Even are shooting looks at each other while Emma and Sonja talk. Isak is a lot shyer about it and looks away; Even just brazenly stares at Isak, drunk and not giving a fuck. There are lots of closeups of the two of them, especially showing Isak sitting there looking awkward. The conversation between Emma and Sonja is actually background noise in much of the scene to the closeups of the boys, because that’s what it is to them - not something they’re a part of. By contrast, I felt like the way this was filmed, it made the conversation between Chloé and Lucille more of a focus, to the point where Lucas’ reactions were not. Eliott has focus, but Lucas? I didn’t feel like I was in his head. And there are some good things added in this clip, too, such as Lucille’s discomfort with Eliott made more plain, but if the clip was really effective at establishing what the characters were feeling - we don’t need Eliott and Lucas to tell it to us. We’d just feel it.

I really do like much what they’re doing this season. But stuff like this makes the writing weaker, not stronger. It’s like they didn’t trust us to understand exactly what was going through the characters’ minds, based on the acting and directing. No one needed this exchange in OG because it was perfectly clear what was Isak and Even were thinking.

Clip 9 - Polaris

Lucas and Eliott run down the street, and Eliott breaks into ... a forest/park area? Whatever it is, he’s breaking in, and Lucas is following, in the tradition of all Evens and Isaks.

I like the way they shot this opening part, of them walking through the woods in the dark, talking with just their little lights to guide the way. No forced music, just the quiet sounds of the night. I think you can hear thunder or an approaching storm in the background, to build up to the end of the clip. Lucas’ phone runs out of battery and Eliott says he will guide him. Totally not symbolic at all, Eliott with his light helping Lucas through the dark.

Their chemistry is also good, they’re smiling and happy to be with each other but there’s still some tension despite how blatantly upfront they’ve been about their feelings so far, and the conversation gets a little weightier when Eliott says that Lucas is the first person he’s taken here, not even Lucille has been here. It’s still very direct, but there’s something more like the Skam feeling that I enjoy here. Maybe it’s the pacing as they walk, it doesn’t feel rushed, or that this part of the scene focuses on the quiet, the natural atmosphere. It feels more organic than some Skam France scenes have felt in the past.

Eliott shows Lucas their destination and the music kicks in, because Eliott has brought Lucas into his movie. Of course it’s the tunnel out of Polaris. It’s actually very good placement for the music since again, we’re exiting the “real” world, sort of, and entering the movie, similar to how music was used in the pool clip for Evak. I love that Lucas seems stunned because he realizes the significance of where Eliott has taken him. Those butterflies in his stomach must be flapping their wings like crazy, because he knows how the movie ends.

Also, obviously Eliott is shining that light, keeping that imagery present as he leads Lucas. He’s the one spot of light in this darkness.

They run into the tunnel (looks like Eliott grabs his hand) and Eliott shows off the place. It’s his home, which makes sense for a raccoon, tbh. Eliott wants to know if Lucas likes it or if he’s afraid. Lucas says he’s not, but Eliott circles around him, teasing him and asking if he isn’t a little afraid, shining his light on Lucas’ face. Then the light goes out and Lucas is in the dark, and Lucas does seem to get a tiny bit afraid, if only because Eliott disappears. Eliott turns on the light and cackles, a little farther from Lucas.

This is some really great cinematography. Actually, it might be my favorite cinematography in all of Skam France. I’ve been hard on the show because IMO it has some big flaws, but this is just a very good and striking scene. It’s playful, it’s got some tension. We know they’re going to kiss, but they’re building up to it, Eliott’s toying with Lucas (and the viewers). Eliott’s constant movement gives a sense of uneasiness - I wouldn’t go so far as to say creepy, although I can certainly get why others would feel that way, especially when Eliott’s face is lit from below by his flashlight - that’s a really common lighting tactic for horror movies or for villains, because it makes them look more grotesque. I don’t know if we’re supposed to think Eliott is menacing, but maybe there’s a sense of danger here? For Lucas, being alone with a boy he likes, knowing that more could happen between them, and with Eliott’s movement, the element of uncertainty. It feels restless, like something’s brimming inside him, and the distance between them keeps changing: sometimes Eliott is breathing down Lucas’ neck, other times he’s not close enough to touch. Then there’s the light, also moving with Eliott. It feels very visceral.

They laugh and Lucas strides forward toward Eliott, saying he’s not afraid. The symbolism is pretty obvious, Lucas in the dark heading for the light represented by Eliott, Lucas taking turns being bathed in Eliott’s light. Also, the music cuts out whenever Eliott turns off the light, and comes back when he turns the light on, so it’s like the “movie” disappears when Eliott does, because this is his vision.

Eliott turns off the flashlight again, and when he reappears, he’s standing right in front of Lucas. This time Lucas doesn’t just laugh it off, because, you know, Eliott is REALLY close. Close enough to touch. And Eliott is moving in with a little smirk for the kiss. Both of them are lit up, existing in the same world as the movie characters. Lucas has his mouth open for that hot Eliott smooch when Eliott turns off the light (again cutting off the music) and disappears again. What a fucking tease. 

It starts pouring rain all of a sudden, just in time for Lucas to be alone in the dark tunnel. Fun scenario! Not creepy at all! But there’s Eliott standing outside the tunnel, getting drenched, looking at Lucas. No light. Lucas walks toward him but he’s still under cover and staying dry, he stops before stepping into the rain. Eliott asks if Lucas is afraid of rain, too. (I really like this scene but is it just me or did they mix some metaphors here ... like it goes from the divide between light and dark to the divide between rain and shelter. It still works in the sense that one character is stepping into the other’s world, though.)

I like Lucas’ reaction to the question, you can see him making a choice in his mind. He holds out his hands - is Eliott thinking to himself, “Wow, he totally saw my movie at this point?” I mean I think he’s probably focusing on being about to kiss Lucas, but this is straight out of the storyboard, so in the aftermath when they’re just lounging in bed or whatever I’d expect him to be like “...were you stalking me online?” Anyway, Eliott laces his fingers with Lucas’, and Lucas starts to smile before launching himself at Eliott. They kiss passionately in the rain. 

Going to get out a slight criticism before I mention the positives: I had expressed concern when we saw the storyboards that the kiss was going to play out exactly the same way, and well, I was right. And I think the scene itself is very good! But in a way I do prefer that we didn’t see the storyboards before the kiss, or at least that they didn’t match so closely. I mean, Eliott is even wearing the exact same outfit as the cartoon version of himself. Because actually, this symbolism works completely fine on its one, without walking us through every moment of it? IDK, I think personally if we were watching this scene without the Polaris storyboards, everything would have still come across in terms of symbolism and imagery. There’s light and then there’s dark, there’s Lucas stepping out of the safety of the dry tunnel into the rain with Eliott. We could have worked it out ourselves, much as we did with the 21:21/rebirth imagery. It comes back to maybe not trusting the viewers as much, like with Eliott telling Lucas that he wanted the double date to be just the two of them. Going into the symbolism of this scene is like ... it’s barely even subtext, it’s text, to the point where I feel silly even talking about it. (It’s true that the Evak first kiss also directly mimics the R+J kiss, but I think that still leaves more to the viewers to connect the dots. Polaris itself was so highlighted and explained within the story, whereas with the pool kiss, obviously people were expecting the R+J reference once they got to the pool, but the setup is more subtle. Isak is watching R+J and we briefly see the pool kiss scene, but it’s not like … the primary point of what he’s watching, it’s just one moment that’s on screen for a second, along with several other clips, with the main focus Isak’s reactions as he watches. This is more like if Isak watched R+J but we saw him watching the entire pool scene and only that.)

THAT BEING SAID: this is still a beautiful scene. The music is really good, actually, it falls into that dreamy-creepy vibe so it’s adding some tension in the tunnel, but it’s also romantic enough for a first kiss. The build-up was very strong and even though these two have been very blatant with each other about being into each other, still created some tension as to exactly when the kiss would happen. I was fully expecting the Polaris recreation but there was also a point where I thought they would kiss in the tunnel (and they almost did). 

Again, Lucas’ reactions were very good. He showed the right combination of emotions leading up to the kiss. Also - and this is really important - this kiss scene was not rushed. That’s my big problem with a lot of Skam France clips, that they fly through them without taking the time to let the emotions develop or resonate (and I know there are time restrictions) but this one had good pacing. It let the moment build and allowed us to step into Lucas’ head, I could see him going from nervous and hesitant to taking those small steps to step into Eliott’s world and kiss him, to the urgency of the kiss itself.

The kiss itself is enthusiastic, to say the least, lol. I’m weak for Lucas tilting his head back and Eliott holding his face as they kiss. But the best part is actually their happiness. I love how they smile at each other and how Eliott turns his face to the sky in joy at the end, right before the hug. The hug!!! Great, tender moment. I felt the relief and jubilation from the characters. 

Additionally, I said this before when we first heard about Polaris, but big props to Skam France for doing their own version of the first kiss and putting their own imagery and symbolism into it. 

Social Media/General Comments

Lucas had an IG story of him packing up his stuff after he got kicked out of his room, so you know, that’s a wonderful thing for a kid who had to leave home to have to do again.

Daphne wised up (too late) and told everyone to delete their social media about the party. Were any pics actually deleted on the characters’ IGs? It looks like it, but Basile still has one of the boys in their costumes at the party, with the caption thanking Daphne. LMAO GOD what if this dumbass gets Daphne in trouble, I don’t think it will happen but it would not surprise me.

Lucas sucks up to Daphne by being like, I deleted the pics! Keep me updated about re-painting the mural! He emphasizes that he’s most interested in repainting the mural. Subtle! Although Daphne doesn’t seem to notice his desperation because she’s too concerned about Lucas trying to usurp her as head of the common room. She says she needs to check with Eliott and he plays it cool. Lol, I can’t wait for them to paint that mural and it being even uglier than the first one because Lucas kept fucking it up by drooling at Eliott instead of concentrating.

Imane posts a Maya Angelou quote after her talk with Lucas. “I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.” Hint hint, biology partners who might want to judge her for her religion.

Then there was the whole shitshow with the boy squad ranking girls on IG. OK … I’m not going to cancel them, but it IS fucking gross. I would be more tempted to cancel them if it were not called out by the girls directly afterwards, or if it weren’t intended to be something gross, like just a funny Boys Will Be Boys thing.

Especially since most of these guys (except Basile) are saying Daphne isn’t even in the top 20. FUCK OFF, WITH YOUR BAD TASTE, LOSERS.

But really, the fuck is wrong with them? The thing is that they’re not just ranking girls vaguely, alluding to them (like “the hot blonde” or whatever) which would still be gross. They’re naming these girls! We know who most of them are! And the girls they are naming are their friends, or at least people they’re friendly with? So disgusting. Why would you post this? I said I wasn’t going to cancel them but it’s actually hard to come back from this because it’s so pointedly cruel. Like Yann saying Manon is annoying because she cries too much, and the boys ranking Alexia outrageously low. I’m sure Manon loved that and it didn’t make things awkward in the flat. I mean I kinda feel less bad for Lucas having to crash on the couch, lmao, I hope Manon slept soundly in Lucas’ bed that night.

The girls retaliated by posting their own IGs and lol, don’t even tell me they’re just as bad, because they responded to a very personal sort of bullying (I mean, that’s what it was, bullying) and called out the boys’ bad behavior. They said Eliott was number 1, which is not wrong.

Gotta say, the boy squad is pretty bad. I know they’ll turn around in the second half of the season, but there’s just little endearing about them so far. Basile is a complete disaster, we know nothing about Arthur, and Yann has not been served well this season. Two of Jonas’ key scenes - calling out Isak’s comment about the dance instructor and asking him about the neon pre-drink after Even helped Isak get his locker open - have been removed or diluted. The calling out was pretty weak and spread among the whole squad, and we didn’t get the second scene at all. There was a great scene at the beginning of episode 3 with Yann and Lucas, and a great follow-up text message, but overall I get less of a sense that Yann is noticing Lucas’ strange behavior or that he’s concerned for it. 

I know that they were required to keep the girl squad around in this season, and I get it, and I can’t say that I don’t drastically prefer them to the boys at this point. I like them a hundred times better. But I also wonder if characters like Yann and maybe Arthur would get more development if the girl squad didn’t have so many scenes. I hate to say that, but a character like Yann is supposed to be Lucas’ BFF, and yet I feel that friendship is getting overshadowed by so many things. I know more about the common room and Basile’s dick than that relationship this season.

Also? Moving on to episode 5, why the utter fuck would the girls even bother going to Basile’s party after the boys pulled this stunt? It’s not even a week later, and the boys trashed several members of the girl squad by name. Did they really think yeah, these are the assholes we want to party with? Not to mention Basile also creeps out Daphne. 

Emma looks bored as hell watching Raptor Alex watch basketball. Perhaps a sign that relationship is not going to work on a level other than physical.

Eliott and Lucas get in some jabs at their girlfriends when Eliott texts that Lucille’s super down for the double date and Lucas responds with a cheesy picture of two smiling straight couples at a bowling alley. Lmao, I would kill to see that happen in a remake? An Isak and Even who get roped into bowling with the girls and then ditch them at the bowling alley. They don’t even take off their bowling shoes so they’re running awkwardly and end up getting banned from the bowling alley.

A fandom sleuth figured out that “Polaris” encrypted through the Caesar code, as hinted by the enter_polaris IG, is Eliott’s real Instagram (”srodulv), well done! On that IG Eliott has the following pictures (among others):

Eliott and Lucille as a cartoon raccoon and cat - his first furry romance

a drawing of a chocolate bar with “chelou” (weird) on the wrapper, posted after his first talk with Lucas

piano keys with the word “surprenant” (surprising), posted after Lucas played piano for him

my favorite, a picture of Oreo, the raccoon who was the inspiration for Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, who passed away recently - RIP Oreo, respect to Eliott for honoring his raccoon brethren

a brain in a jar that says “lost & found” from perhaps when he had a bad mental health day 

a man underwater (sick Skam reference, bro) (but also, probably another mental health reference)

his raccoon fursona trapped in darkness - he was really struggling this week

a Betty Boop cartoon that seems to imply Lucille is a witch at his back?? and he’s not looking forward to the double date. also features a “mystery cave”

That miserable looking IG pic of the double date and Lucas’ reaction to Chloé’s kiss … sums up the level of enthusiasm he had, I guess!

Chloé texts Lucas after he and Eliott run off and says Eliott has a big problem, poor Lucille. There was some talk about whether Lucille told Chloé about Eliott’s mental illness and that’s what she meant, but personally I just took it as Chloé thinking Eliott was a jerk after telling Lucille to stop telling him what to do and making her stomp off to the bathroom, and then ditching her. And “poor Lucille” was just in reaction to thinking Lucille had to put up with her boyfriend being a jerk, not anything mental illness related. (Tbh if Lucille did tell Chloé … she’s a huge asshole for revealing that sensitive information about Eliott to someone who’s almost a stranger, although I suppose it’s in line with her casually dropping he failed his bac?)

I think Lucas and Eliott have good chemistry, but something about the directing is not as conducive to the chemistry as it could be. It’s not bad - like I said, they’re good together - just that with better directing it would make even more of an impact. Might have to do with timing and rushing scenes, or just allowing them to react more to each other. 

I’m wondering if they’re doing this Manon plot and kicking Lucas out of his room so he can go live with Eliott at the end of the season. Which… I think is kinda dumb, tbh, because I’m 90% certain they’re going to start Season 4 like right after S3 ends, not more than a week or two later. At least with Isak and Even there were several months of them dating before they moved in together, and Even had lots of time to bounce back from his depressive episode. I guess Lucas doesn’t have much of a “family” in the flat with Mika and Lisa, which is depressing, but I mean, if you think Isak and Even moved in together too quickly? Lucas and Eliott will have barely any time really being together before they take that step, and it will be right after a very tumultuous period for them.

Also, you can’t tell me that Isak moved out because he felt like he didn’t belong there anymore, or that Eskild and Linn wanted Noora there more than Isak and made it known to him. Like of course this is just headcanon, but I feel pretty sure that it was Isak’s (or Isak and Even’s) decision to move out since the flat was so crowded. I also think that Eskild would have kept his stray godkitten under his roof as long as possible if that was what Isak wanted, and they would’ve just dealt with it being crowded. I mean, he was asking William to move in at the end of S4, and we know Eskild doesn’t even like William much, lmao. He definitely likes Isak more than William, I think he’d be fine with him staying. With Lucas moving out, it’d feel more depressing, like maybe he just didn’t feel welcome in the flat. I guess it’d be positive for Lucas to be making a new home with Eliott, but still, it feels unnecessary. (I also think the Manon plot is also unnecessary, probably, but we’ll see where they go with it.)

I’m not French so please feel free to let me know if there are any translation or cultural issues that I missed.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[rwbyremnants]

=Chapter 4

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Weiss squirmed as Pyrrha parked in front of the dilapidated-looking building. They had been given directions to a restaurant previously known as “Shopkeeper’s” for whatever reason, that now served as the main headquarters for the Dragons. She knew they had the right address, because the ink was still emblazoned across her palm from that morning. At the same time, knowing it was the right address didn’t allay her every fear, so she couldn’t expect it to do that for Pyrrha, either. Sighing, she adjusted her pink cardigan and turned to the tall girl behind the steering wheel.

“We’ll never know unless we go in there, right?”

“It’s such a rough neighbourhood,” she whispered, glancing around warily. Her own outfit was a little more conservative, a grey jacket covering the top half of her long dress that fell all the way to her ankles. “A-and they terrify me. But if you’re sure they won’t hurt us…”

“I don't think they will. I mean, we’re no threat to them in general, and Yang is… a genuinely good person.” Saying it sounded so true that she knew examining that was futile. “So she won’t let anything bad happen, anyway.”

Nodding, Pyrrha turned off the engine and adjusted her ponytail. They almost looked like they were trying to be twins, given that their hairstyle and outfits were so similar. “My parents would ground me for a thousand years if they caught me doing this…”

“Don’t you want to live a little?”

“No!”

Laughing, Weiss got out of the car. Pyrrha could be such a stick in the mud sometimes - and that was coming from a real prude such as she.

The inside of Shopkeeper’s was actually fairly well-maintained, even if the outside and the entryway were filthy and gutted, the windows blacked out. It was dimly-lit but as tidy as the bar Yang had taken her to previously. Several round tables littered the main space, but some of the dining floor had been cleared away for the purposes of dancing, and one corner now played host to a pool table. A jukebox played softly in another corner, even if the multicoloured lights along its surface flickered now and then. No one was smoking; that seemed to take place outside, as with many restaurants, even though the purpose of this one had clearly changed. The bar was well-stocked, and an older woman with multiple tattoos tended the drinks as the denizens relaxed.

As it turned out, there were a few more Dragons than they realised. Not many, but the girls Weiss saw in the halls of Beacon High weren’t their full complement, as she had wrongfully assumed. Most of the new faces were older faces. Three ladies that were at least old enough to be her mother sat around one of the tables, laughing and slapping their thighs as a younger girl with brown hair, buzzed nearly down to the scalp, delivered them another round before heading back to the bar.

“Well… fudge,” Pyrrha breathed. “There are so many!”

“It’s okay,” Weiss whispered to her as they shuffled very slowly into the room. More than ever, she felt self-conscious in her saddle shoes and skirt; they definitely didn’t suit the atmosphere. But trying to wear anything else would have been a less than authentic representation of who she was. “Just… act natural.”

“You owe me for this, Weiss. I mean… a huge hot fudge sundae.”

Just then, a voice cried out, “The princess has arrived! And she brought a snack!”

As a few of them laughed, Cinder Fall approached from the wings, hands on her hips and stepping lively. This time, she was wearing black jeans and a red top that covered next to nothing. She had left her leather jacket draped over the back of a chair.

“H-hello again,” Pyrrha offered with a hopeful smile.

“Who asked you to come? The invitation was for one.”

“And I appreciated it,” Weiss cut in before Pyrrha could be too upset by the summary dismissal. “But I thought my friend might want to come see what this place is like, as well. That’s not a big deal, is it?”

“It is.”

“Oh.”

“Whatever,” Cinder sighed, waving for both of them to follow. “If Salem kicks you out, that’s it, but she probably won’t care. Bringing in extra men is what typically boils her oil.”

Just as they arrived at the table, seeing that Emerald and Coco were absent but Blake was relaxing with a beer, Weiss asked, “So… is Yang here? I thought she said she would be.”

“What’s your hurry? She’s in with Salem, kissing her boots.”

“Oh? In a back room or something?” When Cinder only shrugged carelessly and dropped into her chair again, Weiss nodded and took one of the other chairs. “Ah.”

“Don’t worry,” Blake assured her with a less cruel smile than her companion. “It won’t be long. Since Yang’s our leader at the school and on certain turf, she has to report to Salem and compare notes, stuff like that.”

Something confused Weiss. “I thought she was the Dragon. And the leader. So… if she’s not the leader, and this Salem is, then why…?”

Cinder sighed, sipping at her martini. Weiss noticed Pyrrha looking horrified that girls their age were drinking so heavily, but at least she was making no comment. “You really don’t know, do you? Might want to ask her yourself. But let’s just say Yang’s not the first Dragon; she’s the current one.”

“Ah,” Pyrrha spoke up at last. “So it’s like being class president?”

Both of the Dragons just stared at her.

Luckily, they didn’t need to elaborate or segue into another topic. A door creaked open some distance from them, and out walked Yang with another gangster at her side. This Dragon had mottled patches of skin and a long red-brown ponytail, and standing next to Yang, she looked quite short. They exchanged a few words, and then turned in their direction.

“Oh boy,” Blake sighed.

“I think it’s cute,” Cinder muttered, though that was all she said before the two had arrived at their table. “Welcome back, Boss. Ilia.”

“You made it,” Yang said with a slight smile. Of course, she was back to being a little more gruff now that she was around her gang again, but that was fine; Weiss expected as much. “And… who… the hell?”

“This is Pyrrha,” Weiss said, gesturing toward her and pausing while she bowed her head slightly. “I needed a ride, and thought this might be a good opportunity for my friends to meet.”

“Ooh, ‘friends’,” Cinder mocked, and Blake snorted. “What an ice cream social we’re having here.”

“Down, Cindy,” Yang sighed, which did actually shut her up post haste. “It’s cool. But if you bring any more people, it might be wiser if you ran it past me first. But Pyrrha seems okay.”

As Weiss was sighing in relief, the short stranger moved to sit in a vacant chair next to Blake. “Um, so is there anything I can get you?”

“I’m good,” Blake said casually.

“You sure? I think Kali is cooking today, a-and she’s a pretty fantastic cook.”

Blake just stared at her for a minute. “You know that’s my mom, right? I’m fairly aware of how good her cooking is.”

Instantly, Ilia was beet red and looking down at her fists where they rested on her knees. Cinder let out another chuckle into her glass as she drained it, and Yang rolled her eyes.

“Okay. Sorry, I’ll… get back to work.” Flashing an awkward smile, Ilia peeled herself out of the seat and hurried up to the bar. Weiss felt awful for the girl, but it was also none of her business, so she kept silent.

“Never mind her,” Yang said as she plopped down on Weiss’s other side. Luckily, they were sat in the two chairs that would normally be reserved for Emerald and Coco, or the table would have been very overcrowded. “She’s new and still tries to kiss up to the seniors. Doesn’t know her place yet. But I think she’ll do alright.”

“I don’t recognise her from school,” Pyrrha said. “But she’s about our age, isn’t she?”

“Goes to Signal High,” Blake grumbled. She definitely didn’t sound thrilled to still be talking about this. “On the other side of the tracks. Sad when joining the Dragons is a step up.”

“Shut up,” Cinder snapped, standing to refresh her martini on her own. “The Dragons are the best thing about this godforsaken town.” Then she was gone.

“Wow,” Weiss breathed. “What’s getting her goat?”

Yang shrugged, snaking an arm around Weiss’s back. The presence did make her feel a little less nervous about this entire situation, but now she felt more nervous about other people seeing them be affectionate than about the affection itself. “Who knows with her? Always crabby.”

“Not always,” Blake said. “Just… almost-always.” Then she turned to Pyrrha. “So what about you? Decathlon star, or something, right? Why would you come down to our rathole?”

“To give Weiss a ride,” she answered.

“But you’re still here. I mean, were you hoping to get a look at how the wrong half lives?”

Pyrrha’s already-strained face became further saddened. “Please, don’t think that. My parents donate every year to the Restoration Project.”

“Great,” Yang put in, leaning back a little more. Weiss felt the draw to slide sideways and rest against her shoulder, but resisted for the time being. “All we need is someone coming in, trying to bulldoze Shopkeeper’s. Then we’d have to find a new spot.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t- well, they’re just doing their best to-”

“We know,” Blake cut her off. “And I do know a couple poorer families who have a nicer place now because of that project. Just… doesn’t always work out great for everyone, that’s all.”

Now Pyrrha looked thoroughly depressed, and Weiss felt it was her own fault. So she put in, “Yeah. Helps a lot of families. And anyway, at worst they would probably just demand you get this place up to code, not tear it down; it looks solid enough.”

“Maybe,” she conceded with a small chuckle and a smile.

“Let’s grab some grub,” Yang grunted, pushing to stand. “Blake, you want anything? We both know how you hate to bother her while she’s working.”

The Italian Dragon gave an indifferent shrug, but her eyes said something else entirely. They were almost embarrassed, but if Weiss were to give it a name, she would call the expression concerned-yet-annoyed. But all she said was, “Fries.”

“Got it. Keep my friend entertained.”

“Sure,” she snorted with a glance over. Pyrrha gulped.

It didn’t take them long to cross the restaurant and push their way through the swinging doors into the kitchens. A few Dragons were in there, though none of them wore leather jackets while working on the food orders. An olive-skinned woman who forcibly reminded Weiss of Blake was reprimanding one of them on her burger-forming technique as they watched.

“Is… everyone here a woman?” Weiss asked Yang in an undertone.

“Yeah. Kind of our thing, right? Though guys aren’t technically banned; we just make them feel so unwelcome they choose to leave on their own. Not even on purpose.” Her arm looped around Weiss’s neck and dragged her along toward the chef. “We’re just sooooo hospitable.”

“Why, hello,” Kali Belladonna said as she smiled across at them, hands clapping in front of her ample chest that was outlined all too well by her thin shirt - and lack of anything underneath. Weiss tried not to glance downward, but they were just out there. “Who’s this we have here? Fresh blood?”

“Nah, not really. Kali, this is Weiss Schnee.”

Her eyebrows went up a little higher. “Not the daughter of the Schnees? Wow, you really don’t have any idea where you are right now, do you?”

“I’m perfectly aware.” A half-beat later, she remembered her manners and added, “But it’s nice to meet you.”

“Sweet young woman. Even if she’s eyeing my tits like a death row inmate.” When Weiss flushed and looked away, she chuckled and turned back to Yang. “What’ll it be?”

“Some fries. Oh, and you got any of that barbecue pork left?”

“All gone, I’m afraid. Right now, we have… burgers coming up, a pot of minestrone, and a big chocolate cake in the fridge.”

“What do you think? Burgers again?” After a heartbeat of silence, she snapped her fingers. “Yo, Weiss!”

Blinking rapidly, she stammered, “O-of course! Though I… wouldn’t mind trying the minestrone.”

That choice seemed to please Kali. She had a feeling that if Blake smiled more often than once in a blue moon, the family resemblance would be more obvious. “If I’d known someone with actual class was coming, I’d have made my garlic tortellini. But alright, I can fetch you a cup of soup.” In an undertone, she told Yang, “Hang onto that one.” Though she didn’t trouble to keep her voice down, and sent a little wink at Weiss before turning back to the stove.

“Awww, she likes you,” Yang teased the red-faced girl. “Maybe you’ll get a better look at her tits later if you play your cards right.”

“Quiet, you.”

Soon enough, they were heading back to the main area. Yang had a fairly large hamburger that looked good, but different from the one at Junior’s; a larger patty, no sesame seeds on the bun. Weiss’s cup of soup was steaming and in the middle of a plate with oyster crackers ringing the cup itself.

The table was a little more crowded when they got back to it. And Weiss was rather shocked at the activity taking place there.

“Isn’t this better?” Cinder was asking, arm looped around Pyrrha’s shoulders to hold her in her lap. The grey jacket was now on the back of the chair and Pyrrha seemed to be wearing a Dragon instead. She looked as if she wanted to expire on the spot; Weiss honestly couldn’t tell if she was flattered or horrified by the attention, because the polite girl looked so concerned with not doing anything that might upset the insistent woman.

“Y-yes, of course. Thank you.”

Sighing, Yang plopped into her chair from before. “Go home, Cinder, you’re drunk.”

“I can’t. I’m showing this tall sweetheart a good time. Aren’t I, sweetheart?”

“You’re certainly trying,” Weiss’s friend laughed nervously.

“You know,” she went on, her other hand drifting up to let the back of her index finger graze along Pyrrha’s now-bare bicep, “there are a few… private booths in the back room. Normally, we can’t use them; that’s for the elders only. But Salem likes me. We could get better acquainted.”

“No, thank you.” When Cinder’s eyes flashed, she added, “I, um… I’m happy here, getting to know all of you!”

“Yeah, Cinder,” Blake put in, also a little tipsy but clearly with more pure intentions than those of her fellow thug. “She likes all of us. Don’t hog her all to yourself; let her hang out.”

Shrugging as if it didn’t matter to her, Cinder settled in again and pet up along Pyrrha’s neck. “Is there anyone at school you’re interested in a teensy bit more than others, perhaps?”

“Well… if you mean do I have a crush, I don’t, really. Though…”

“Though?”

Pyrrha gulped, and she shivered from the touch. Weiss was beginning to get angry, even if she was also curious what kind of reactions her friend would keep having if this went unchecked. “Th-there is this boy, in my algebra class; he’s k-kind of a square and not very good at math, but I can t-tell he’s trying his best…”

“Oh,” she sighed in disgust, withdrawing entirely to her own personal space and grasping her martini glass. “A straightie.”

Though the word was flung like a curse word, Yang chuckled, “Why are you surprised? Most of the girls at Beacon are straight. You tested a lot of them yourself.”

“Sue me. Tall, leggy pin-up goddess like this one is wasted on men.”

Whereas the physical attentions had seemed to turn Pyrrha into a nervous wreck, those words did a lot more to bring an honest blush to her cheeks. “Goddess? Me?”

“Sure,” Cinder purred, turning bedroom eyes in her direction that made Weiss feel less comfortable, even without being their target. “Have you ever seen yourself in the mirror? Not just those legs, either; pretty big honeydews.”

“H-honeydews?” It was Blake who reached over and poked a single finger into Pyrrha’s breast, and she instantly shrank in on herself. “Oh… I… oh.”

“Hey,” Yang spoke up, just as Weiss had been about to. “Maybe ease off her a little, huh?”

“Why?” Cinder demanded. “She’s in our space. She needs to learn how things work here.”

“They work by making everybody uncomfortable and like they don’t have any right to say ‘no’, huh? News to me. I thought we were the Dragons, not the predators.”

This time, her eyes smouldered in a completely different way as she glared at her leader. “Dragons are predators.”

“Actually, Komodo dragons are cannibals. You want me to eat you?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she muttered with a slight smirk. But in this case, it was clear the forceful woman was entirely joking; she had no such designs on the Dragon herself.

“Um…” Pyrrha held up her hand. “I would like to not be eaten at all?”

Though Weiss had been afraid the comment was going to annoy the others, instead it made them laugh. Blake leaned over and pounded Pyrrha on the back, which finally got her to titter along with them. Weiss relaxed and began to dig into her soup.

--------------------------------------

The night wore on. Though Yang did kiss the side of Weiss’s head a few times, she made no more forward overtures than those; they simply enjoyed each other’s company. Once the newness of Pyrrha and Weiss’s presence wore off, the others began to talk of internal Dragon matters that weren’t so secret they minded outside ears hearing them, and other casual topics of conversation such as the weather, local sports, and who was dating whom.

Other Dragons drifted in and out. Ilia came back and buzzed around Blake’s ears for a little while, and the other girl tolerated the attention fairly well, but Cinder ran her off with a few snide comments. That time, Pyrrha spoke up on her behalf but was largely ignored. Emerald showed up a little later, having had dinner with her family. The other server, whose named turned out to be Vernal, dropped by and chatted with them a little, though she didn’t seem to much care for Weiss or Pyrrha and went back to serve the others soon after.

At some point, Salem emerged. Weiss never got a decent look at her, because she was wearing an actual cloak - like something out of a movie. She spoke with the bartender for a moment, then slipped out the back door and into the night. No one else remarked on this, so she didn’t feel comfortable doing so herself.

Then things took a turn for the more depressing.

The instant Coco showed up with a friend in tow, the atmosphere shifted. All focus was pulled to them, and though the jukebox continued to play softly, no one spoke as the two approached the table in the corner. The way the smaller, meeker girl at her side was sobbing and being cradled by both of Coco’s arms had everything to do with that budding tension.

“Shit,” Cinder whispered.

“What is it?” Weiss breathed to Yang. But Yang only held up a hand, lowering it again as they finally got close enough to speak.

And it was Coco who did. “They’re moving.”

“Oh no,” Blake breathed. The others didn’t speak, merely tensed.

“I t-tried to talk them out of it,” the mousy girl whispered, long brown hair swishing as she shook her head violently, fat tears glistening on their way down her cheeks. She had an accent that Weiss couldn’t quite place right away, but she sounded British. “They say it’s f-for the best. That I haven’t been d-doing that well in Vale, anyway… I… I don’t want to go back!”

As she broke down completely again, she turned and shoved her face against Coco’s shoulder. Emerald and Blake stood to pet up and down her back, offering what comfort they could.

“What’s happening?” Pyrrha whispered to Cinder.

“Shh,” she said, but it was devoid of her usual bite and nastiness. The concern was only for one of their number who was suffering.

When they had the two sat down in another booth a little ways off, Emerald and Blake staying with them, Yang explained, “Velvet’s from Australia, and her parents want to move back. Uh… and we’re pretty sure it’s because they know she’s going with Coco, even though they don’t have any proof.”

“Fooling around with all of us,” Cinder grunted. “I’d have kept my hands off if I knew it would lead to this.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Just… they’ve been dropping hints.”

“That’s awful,” Pyrrha whispered. “Do they really think changing locations will change who their daughter is?”

At that, Cinder looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not going to start talking about God? About His plan for us, how we’ve strayed? Leviticus and whatever? Your father’s a preacher, if I’m not mistaken.”

“He’s a parishioner. And my father doesn’t believe in focusing on all the fire-and-brimstone parts of the Bible; he says focusing on negative things is not God’s way, and it’s not his way.” Then she shrugged her shoulders, self-conscious now. “Though… I don’t know how he’d feel about me hanging around with…”

“With what?” No response. “Go on, say it. With bulldykes.”

“I would never say that.”

Cinder chuckled harshly. “You really wouldn’t, would you? Might be biased, but there’s not a mean bone in your body. The Dykey Dragons would swallow you whole if you keep coming back here.”

“Hey,” Yang said, and this time her sharp tone conveyed everything she needed to say. Even Weiss flinched, simply because she was so close to her. Cinder’s lips tightened for a second, but then she went back to drinking, no longer needling Pyrrha about her parents and their beliefs.

But eventually, Pyrrha surprised them by speaking up. “It’s alright. I… don’t understand much about what I’ve seen today, a-and what Weiss has been telling me. It’s only right that I listen, to try to understand.”

Yang nodded a few times. “Pretty decent of you. Most of the people you go to church with would probably just shove us in a muddy ditch. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“They wouldn’t! I mean… I hope they wouldn’t.”

“They would,” Cinder said very shortly, voice hollow. As if speaking from experience.

“I wouldn’t. And neither would my father and mother.” Her hand fell to Cinder’s forearm on the table top. “But I’m sorry if-”

Cinder jerked away, standing up and downing the rest of her drink before she went to the bar. Though Yang sighed, she made no other comment right away; only moved her leftover chips around on her plate.

“I’m sorry,” Pyrrha breathed.

“Don’t be,” Yang sighed. “Cinder’s always like that, especially when it comes to straighties. Religion and stuff. She, uh… she’s had a pretty crummy life until now. The Dragons really do mean everything to her.”

Weiss couldn’t help saying, “Then she might try being less rude to everyone.”

“Oh, she might,” Yang said with a slight smile. “I sure as hell try to loosen her up. But she’s just… yeah, real serious. I think she could be the Dragon someday, if I ever got out.”

“Got out? Are you leaving Vale?”

“No, not Vale. Just… the gang. But I don’t think I really want that; it’s just tempting sometimes.” Her smile turned a little wry. “Maybe I’ll marry you and we can play tennis all day.”

While Weiss was laughing, Pyrrha looked a little confused. “Marry? But you can’t. I mean, not legally.”

“Ain’t you ever heard of a Boston Marriage?” Yang chuckled. “Maybe we’ll move to Boston. I don’t know, maybe they don’t still do that.”

“I’m sorry,” Pyrrha whispered. “I didn’t mean to imply… well, of course you can live together. As friends, as far as anyone else is concerned.”

Propping her boots up on the table, Yang sighed and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Then she whispered, “You think maybe, in the future, we’ll be able to get married? Weirdos like us, I mean.”

“Maybe,” Pyrrha said quietly.

“Not with Eisenhower in office,” Weiss grunted. “All he cares about is the Russians and his precious nukes.”

“That might not be entirely fair; he did sign the Civil Rights Act. So maybe…”

--------------------------------------

That topic kept them bantering back and forth for the better part of an hour. Eventually, Pyrrha began to yawn, so she asked Weiss if she wanted a ride back. Yang was so eager to offer to drop her at home herself that Weiss almost laughed, but she declined the offer.

“Awww, why not?”

“Because I think it might be smart if my father actually sees Pyrrha dropping me off for once,” she said as she dusted off her knees. Pyrrha was just finishing off the milkshake Kali had whipped up for her and sliding it to the middle of the table. “Since I’m using her as my alibi.”

Shaking her head, the tall ginger said, “I wish you wouldn’t put it that way; we haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Try telling my family that. Mother would probably just tell me to be safe before she poured herself another glass of cordial, but Father…” Deciding not to go down that road, she said, “And my big sister is away at State, learning how to be a congresswoman or something, but she’d probably box my ears, too.”

“Glad to hear I’m so likeable,” Yang said with a grin, though the tone was slightly bitter. Then she glanced at Pyrrha. “Where are you going?”

Freezing on her way to the other corner, she said, “Oh… I… well, I was going to offer my condolences to Velvet. Would that… not be welcome?”

“Nah, go on. She could use all the cheering up she can get right about now.”

With Pyrrha gone, Weiss turned and pecked Yang on the cheek. “Sorry we didn’t get much time to ourselves. But hey, at least we got to hang out for most of the day.”

“True,” Yang sighed, sliding her arm around Weiss’s waist as they watched Pyrrha approach the booth. Her pulse ticked up a few notches at their closeness, but that was getting a bit more tolerable now; she didn’t feel like it was a full-on panic attack every time Yang cuddled her anymore. “And your pal there is pretty alright. Reminds me of Velvet when she first started coming. A little of you, too.”

“Me? How so?”

“She’s your friend; you should know the ways you two are peas in a pod.”

Dipping her head, she laughed, “I guess so. But I like to think that none of us are this one thing or that one thing. I hate being boxed in.”

“Hey, you’re preachin’ to the choir, Schnee. Being a Dragon… it really cut me off from some things I wanted to do.”

“Like what?”

“Oh…” She shrugged, and Weiss could tell she was a little more nervous about continuing that topic. “Well, it was great for learning how to work on cars, being strong, stuff like that. And the girls have my back. But my grades are terrible. Like… I feel dumb every minute I’m in class. Most of the other Dragons don’t get that; Blake does, but it’s easy for her to do all her homework in class. I’m not that quick on the uptake.”

“Yang… we could, um… study together, if you want. Pyrrha’s an even better tutor than me. You don’t have to give up just because you’re a brute.”

The gentle emphasis made Yang smile, and she kissed Weiss’s forehead. She had to hum from the contact; it was sweet, intimate. Caring. When was the last time anyone paid her that kind of attention?

“Thanks, Schnee. I’ll think about it.”

[theinquisitivej]

SteamHeart Episode 12 Reactions

Chapter Twelve: Launch Day

You can listen to the full episode here.

This episode is composed of a series of scenes in which our main characters prepare for the imminent departure of SteamHeart. All of the last conversations that are to be had play out, and we see a range of responses to this occasion. We see uncertainty, hope, clarity, gratitude for the connections these characters have made with one another, and a tidal wave of elation as Team Steam is introduced to an immense applauding crowd before finally setting off and beginning this journey.

         Raven starts us off with a description of the platform that will display Team Steam when SteamHeart makes its departure. He reminds us that, even without Truth’s media efforts to make the vehicle a household name, its role in subduing the Washington Riots has made it widely known, already establishing it as a point of stability. Raven makes remarks about the damage to the Smithsonian during the American Civil War, and the two hundred oil paintings of Native Americans by John Mix Stanley. The efforts that were made in the following years to fireproof the damaged floor of the Smithsonian puts Raven in an incensed and indignant mood. Perhaps the fact that the government takes such efforts to preserve “some smears of paint” depicting Native Americans but does so little to help actual Native American people is intensely aggravating to him. Raven becomes less convinced in his place in all this, and finishes by saying he will not be submitting what he just wrote to the record.

         Jeremy tells us of a conversation between James and Arlington that he was present for in which James enquires about Seth, the being that leads the Wendigos whom Arlington had met on the rooftops of Washington. We learn that Annie has been given the role of negotiator should they meet Seth on the road, due to their previous meeting giving her some experience conversing with this unknowable figure. If that isn’t possible, Butler will take on this role. James has seen Jeremy’s sketches, but he wants to know what it’s like to speak with Seth. The director remembers how he felt during his encounter with the creature in Arlington, how he seemed so like a lion not only through his appearance, but in his commanding intellect that seizes total control of whatever conversation he decides to engage in. Arlington recalls all that we know about his abilities, his healing, his connection to the Manticore, and we are left to wonder what our heroes could possibly do if the worst comes to pass and they are forced to fight this being. Our thoughts go to sweeter things when Jeremy tell us of Donald pulling him to the side to give him a new, high-quality journal. The gift shows how well he knows him, as Jeremy will have so much to write about as he goes out there to experience everything he’s always wanted. An empty journal represents new possibilities, and that’s an inspiring thing, especially for a man like Jeremy who’s always ached to see new worlds and creatures that no one else has seen. The words Donald has written, the support he shows Jeremy, and the last pieces of advice he gives the man he loves before his departure is a moment of tender human connection that offsets our fear of the inhuman, unknowable danger that Seth represents.

         Truth showing the merchandise that presents the members of Team Steam in the best possible light yields a variety of responses from the crew who are present. Abigail scoffs at the implication that she was a beautiful breaker of men’s hearts from a young age (though James, and I, couldn’t help but snicker at the nickname ‘Abby the Crabby’). Harry, however, is grateful to her sister for the words written on her trading card that call her a marvel mechanic and the best person to pilot SteamHeart, which makes me think that this is Truth’s honest opinion of her sister. Frank quite likes ‘Major Sureshot’, and I’m inclined to agree with him. Annie is being positioned as the brightest star of the bunch, being called ‘Miss America’ like she’s a superhero and a beacon of hope, which, to be fair, she kinda is.

         Annie meets her sister Sarah Ellen Mosey in another room, which has that much more impact because of the story of Annie’s childhood being relayed to us in the previous chapter. Sarah Ellen is a nurse and 26 years old, but she looks much older for having gone through what she has these last few years. In spite of the hardships and horrors both sisters have endured, they have a conversation about what they’ve accomplished, and how the recent times have enabled more women than ever before to do the jobs that were traditionally expected of men and show the world how good at it they can be. Sarah Ellen is especially taken aback by what Annie has become, this hero on posters who looks “like America wants to feel”. That’s a powerful symbol, as the traditional ideal of what America should be and what American people want to be, or want to feel like they can be, is this beaming, triumphant display of welcoming humanity that takes all people on board because they have the strength and resolve to do so. As Sarah Ellen tells her, Annie is someone who embodies and can inspire that idea of self-made strength and kindness. She’s the person for this, even if her shoulders shake at the weight of this expectation that’s been set on her.

         Arlington and Butler find Raven in a bar, halfway through a drink that is definitely not his first. Arlington is furious, and he and Raven have an altercation. Arlington gives him a choice: he either drinks another glass and is off the team, or he sobers up and gets on with his job. Raven digs his heels in, and Arlington shows him one of the trading cards that calls him ‘Reporter Raven’, trying to remind him what his duty is, and why they need Raven to be the one documenting the adventures of Steamheart. Raven’s set himself back in Arlington’s estimations, and possibly Butler’s as well, but if he commits himself to this, then he really is the best writer they could possibly ask to be on this mission.

          Annie and James agree that SteamHeart looks like a land-based Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which we learned from the Special Edition of Secret Rooms is a book that means a great deal to James. The possibility of James dropping by Weirwood at some point comes up, and although he was the one who brought it up, he maintains that he doesn’t get nostalgic for the past like Abigail does. This does gel with what we’ve seen of them in Secret Rooms, as James said it was good when he finally told himself that his parents weren’t coming back for him, whereas Abigail wanted to return to her hometown of Clearwater in case her parents were still there. While James and Abigail are an inextricably connected pair, this does emphasise their opposing nature in certain respects. Arlington arrives with Butler, telling James about the drunken state Raven was in when they found him, and granting him the authority to decide what to do should Raven continue to be a liability. James understands the magnitude of what’s at stake, but he is certainly not comfortable with the prospect of leaving Raven on the side of a road and dooming him, despite Arlington’s orders. Thomas and James may both be logical to the point of coming across as cold, but a key difference is that James will not hurt people due to his Hippocratic Oath (and possibly also because of the guilt he feels due to his perceived responsibility in what happened to Lucy, and his resolve to never let his actions, even inadvertently, lead to the death of someone else), whereas Thomas has no issue with making the call if he believes someone’s death will be for the greater good.

         Butler and Arlington look out over the crowds, discussing his persistent deliberation over all the problems that could rise up at any moment. Butler points out that Harry’s mind works in a similar way, as her mind is often halfway through the process of solving a problem. Arlington refutes this, stating that Harry is always preoccupied with the present and not anticipating the future, as he always is. Butler has become a friend to Arlington, Harry, and James as well, and he now reflects on what living with obsession, in all these different forms, can be like. These are brilliant people, but their brilliance is tangled up in all these preoccupations that take up so much energy to deal with every single day. It’s exhausting, and I suspect Butler sees that in this moment. To help take some of the weight off Harry so that she has more of an opportunity to rest, Butler has been learning how to pilot SteamHeart, and shares this with Arlington. Then the most surprising thing happens – Arlington smiles as he shakes Butler’s hand affectionately. He tells Butler that he considers him a good man, and that he trusts him to do the right thing, and then, before Butler or the audience has any time to take this in, he leaves. This level of trust in anyone beyond his own family is extremely rare for Thomas Arlington. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a chance to see him express this level of sincere faith in anyone else again.

         The last conversation before the big departure is between Abigail and Sarah Arlington, two characters who haven’t had much chance to interact before now. There’s a sense that both they and the audience are lucky to have this opportunity. Abigail commends Sarah for all the progress they’ve made in restoring Washington. Sarah has some news for Abigail and has a little fun in the relaying of said information. She speaks of a promotion to a high station, and when Abigail thinks she means her for a moment, Sarah playfully tells her “not yet, but put a pin in that for later”, showing the faith she already has in Abigail, even though she’s only known her for a short while (Sarah is quicker to connect with and trust people than her husband). She gives Abigail a couple hints as to who it might be, and Tabitha comes up, a bone collector and fellow Cartographer that Abigail took a liking to in Secret Rooms. We learn that the group will be meeting up with her along their journey, which I’m now really looking forward to. Eventually, Abigail successfully makes the connection and correctly guesses that Sarah is referring to Katherine Holloway. The end of Arlington made the audience already aware of this information, but seeing Abigail react to the news is fun and leads to a hopeful moment where Sarah suggests that, when Abigail returns safely, the two of them and Katherine can spend some time together. The final word of this scene, “hope”, makes the impossibility of this future sting.

         But we’re not done yet, because we get a fascinating scene where we hear Harry’s internal thoughts. If you listen to this scene through headphones, you’ll hear Harry’s voice alternate from ear to ear as she bounces thoughts back and forth and expresses her internal doubts, as well as her simultaneous desire to go on this mission. She describes the actions of the other people who are present, giving us a taste of her somewhat detached engagement with those around her which is nevertheless affectionate and glad to have these people as her friends and loved ones. The two voices of Harry speaking through each side of the listener’s headphones unify when her mind takes her somewhere else. The peace of the situation she imagines, gathering resources for the approaching mission, shows us what calms her, which is acquiring the means and materials to do the task at hand. Abigail’s encouraging words and her green eye lead Harry back, grounding her by supporting her and giving her something to focus on that’s there and present. It’s a brief but beautiful scene of introspection and insight.

         And now we’re here. It’s time to depart. Thomas and Sarah tell Harry how proud they are of her, and Abigail wonders if she’s about to cry while she watches this, but she doesn’t. The Special Edition of Secret Rooms introduces this running thread that Abigail doesn’t cry, or, to be more accurate, she cannot cry. She wants to, but time and time again, she thinks she might, and yet no tears are shed. We don’t really know if the things she’s gone through have instilled a form of PTSD in her that makes it difficult for her to cry, or if this part of her runs back even further than the emergence of the Wendigo, but for whatever reason, I feel nervous and uneasy about wherever this may be leading whenever this aspect of Abigail is brought up. After this, the heroes are all introduced to the crowd. At first, Abigail and Annie are scanning their surroundings for any signs of trouble. But as the scene goes on and Annie leads the crowd to applaud SteamHeart and each member of her crew, the energy swells more and more, escalating to an explosive moment of hopeful triumph. These people love them, and they want to see them succeed. Abigail plays to the crowd and even comes back to encourage them to give one last round of applause to the one person Annie forgot to mention; herself. The music is soaring, the mood uplifting, and as the episode comes to a close and the music has died down, we hear a rhythmic beat, as if we’re hearing the engine of SteamHeart move continuously forward. The characters have done all that they need to – they’re ready, and they’ve had the best possible start to their journey.

         Lastly, we get an epilogue that tells us what Robin and Oberon from The Princess Thieves were up to at that very moment. They stole a garden gnome that was partly made of gold from the garden of Captain Baltus, which caused him to fire his housekeeper Claudette. Robin regrets this and thinks about the knock-on effects of his actions, later deciding to leave parts of the gold from the gnome in Claudette’s garden until she finds new work. It’s a short but sweet vignette which connects The Princess Thieves into this significant moment and nexus point of New Century, as well as encourages the listener to consider how knock-on effects may influence later events in the story of SteamHeart. Who knows – perhaps the chain of events leading to these unforeseen consequences is already in progress.

[radreactions]

sometimes diamond city security comments "hey beautiful" to sole. how do you think romanced companions (+nick and maxson) would react? thanks!

Cait – “What the fuck did ya just say to me woman ya fuckin’ piece o’ shite rat bastard! I’m gonna-” “Cait, honey, stop.” Sole has to hold her back with all her strength, arms wrapped tightly around the brawler as she tries to drag her away from the snickering guard because she knows that if Cait got her hands on him, he won’t be snickering much longer. The brawler lets herself be dragged away, glaring menacingly at the guard because she knows punching the fucker won’t be worth the week spent in jail. But holy fuck would it make her feel better though. She is so wound up that she needs either a drink, a good bar fight or a rough tumble in the hay with her beautiful woman. In fact, she probably goes and does all three.

Codsworth – “I beg your pardon, sir. Miss Sole here is off limits.” He harrumphed. If he had arms he could’ve crossed and a nose he could’ve looked down, he most certainly would have. After the guard snickers and saunters away, Codsworth also adds under his breath. “The audacity of these hoodlums nowadays, to attempt to court an already spoken for madam! Why, I have half a mind to teach that scrappy ruffian a lesson.”

Curie – While she agrees that mademoiselle Sole is very beautiful and that she is a very desirable woman, Curie quickly feels herself responding to the man’s words in an instinctively aggressive manner. She gives the man a grumpy look, not quite knowing what to say in response, and walks just that little bit closer to Sole whose waist she encircles with her arm. “He was attempting to flirt with you, yes?” At Sole’s affirmative answer, Curie’s frown deepens and she cuddles Sole a little closer. “I do not like him.”

Danse – His jaw clenches and he stares down at the smaller man, conveying just how much he wants to hurt the guy in just one look alone. Yes Sole is very beautiful, among other things, but Sole is very much involved with him and him alone. He can forgive the guard’s transgression as long as he doesn’t do or say anything else in an attempt at flirting with Sole, but the glare Danse gives him is harsher than the hide of a Deathclaw. “Move along, civilian.” He orders sharply, letting him know in no uncertain terms just who the bigger dog was.

Deacon – He snickers, slipping an arm around Sole’s shoulders and looking bluntly at the guard while wearing a smug smile. “Say, I heard from a little birdie that a certain guard in Diamond City Security had a case of crabby infestation to the south, if you know what I mean.” He was silent for a long, meaningful moment, feeling Sole chuckle under his arm after realising what he meant. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that now, would you?” He grins as the blushing guard doesn’t answer who quickly walks away.

Gage – As soon as the words left the guards mouth – hell, it may have even been happening as he looked at Sole with that predatory glint in his eyes – Gage’s fist made hard contact with his face, sending him on a one way trip to the muddy ground. “Anything else you wanna say?” Gage growled, to which the guard responded by shaking his head and spitting out teeth. With a kick to the guy’s stomach, Gage continues walking with Sole but this time with his hand firmly staking his claim on Sole’s ass.

Hancock – “Yeah she’s a looker, huh?” He slaps Sole’s butt and grins at her affectionately, then moving to encircle her waist with his arm. “I’m certainly one lucky ghoul,” He glances to the guard, non-too subtly pulling back the label of his jacket so a clear view of his hidden blades could be seen. “Who is definitely not into sharing.”

MacCready – “Hey, pal, I don’t know where you crawled out from but I can tell you right now you don’t stand a chance. So beat it.” He flexes his grip on the rifle in his hands and watches with a dangerous glint in his eyes as the guard saunters away. He later apologizes to Sole if he made her feel uncomfortable, but there was no way he’d let her get spoken to like a piece of meat right in front of him.

Maxson – It actually kinda turned him on, knowing that other men desired his woman, fantasised about her but knowing that never in their lives will they get a chance with her. That’s not to say that the guard didn’t piss him off, what with coming onto Sole right in front of him, however Maxson was the man who got to enjoy her every night and that thought alone gave the guy a chance at walking away without a bullet between his eyes.

Nick Valentine – He’s used to being around men who felt entitled to any pretty broad that comes their way, often rolling his eyes at their piggish antics, but the moment it happens to Sole is the moment when his patience is stretched dangerously thin. He quickly grasps Sole’s hand and steps slightly in front of her, staring down at the man unflinchingly with his glowing golden eyes. “The broad’s already spoken for, so why don’t you take yourself someplace else.” It was Nick’s way of telling him in a much more polite manner than what he was feeling to go take a hike and annoy someone else.

Piper Wright – “Hey asshole, Sole’s taken. Back off.” She gives the guy a very sharp look of warning, finding herself quite aggravated that he made such an advance on her Blue right in front of her. She broods on it for a little while after, only ever snapping out of it when Blue kisses her firmly in reassurance. For the rest of the day she sits close to Sole, walks arm in arm with Sole – basically she does everything short of fucking Sole to make sure everyone knows that Blue is Piper’s only.

Preston Garvey – If he were a lesser man, he most certainly would’ve have done what he honestly felt like doing which was throttling the man senseless because how dare he say that Sole! He took offense to the comment on behalf of her, telling the man in a non-too polite tone that she was already involved and to back off. Preston Garvey may have even glared for the first time in his life.

X6-88 – He ignored the guard completely. Instead, he draped an arm around Sole’s waist and continued walking with her, knowing that to respond to the ill-mannered guard would be beneath him. He had nothing to prove and even though the words the swine had slurred to his girl made his teeth grind and his blood boil, X6 had enough restraint and grace to instead focus on how he is the one who will be enjoying her beauty that night while she’s clutching the blankets and screaming his name in ecstasy. The thought makes him smile smugly.