#ee so excited to have her here!!!

[wonryllis]

dear future husband (m) | lee heeseung.

i can't say i do without you.

PREVIEW. you always get what you want, spoiled with the love of everyone around you. and it's all innocent love, at least that's what everyone thinks. it comes with much surprise therefore, when heeseung makes a move on you. thirteen long years of being in the brother zone having made him utterly clueless that if he’s going to date you he has to pass through your actual brothers first. and he knows how scary they can be. especially since they are known to have a sister complex and he’s been the third scary one with them, numerous times before.

OR WHERE, bimbo heeseung has no idea what the fuck to do with his feelings for you who are oblivious as fuck and your brothers who are overprotective as fuck.

MEET THE CAST. insanely love struck lee heeseung with his spoiled rich girl!reader ft. yeonjun, soobin, the rest of txt and the rest of enhypen. NSFW VERSION: BRAT TAMER heeseung with his BRAT girl.

GENRE & WARNING(S). social media!au + written chapters, SMUT MDNI!!! in the form of written chapters later on in the series, fluff, humor & crack, minimal angst, lots and i mean lots and lots of swearing and dirty jokes and everything nsfw. college!au, nonidol!au, neighbors to lovers!au, childhood friends to lovers!au. heavy on sister complex! rest other warnings will be stated in respective chapters.

UPDATE SCHEDULE. discontinued.

ׅ ꢾ꣒ profiles, character introductions & the groupchats. ( PLAYLIST ) theme song, code blue!

YEONIE NOTES. incase someone wonders if this is incest, no it’s not, they are not related by blood. sister complex. a state of strong attachment and obsession to sisters, always having them as their first priority. FIC ASKS: ask about the characters!

EPISODES rolling ..

000. prologue: the backstory.

001. arranged date gone wrong

002. it's a shame yn wants you

003. all good when all delusional

004. can you afford her a McLaren? TWT + WRITTEN ( 2.4k )

005. heeseung finally— [REDACTED]!

006. you went as my arm candy

DISCONTINUED!

i think its obvious enough why, the lack of response and enthusiasm from readers has made lose all motivation to continue this any further. i was so excited to revamp it but it seems it isn't the case for the other side. feedbacks are what keep most if not all writers going and absence of it for this one has just rid me of all interest i had to share it with you all. thank you to those who read it, and i apologize those who were looking forward to read it. this is it. over and done, with this kind of support i'm never doing a series on here again.

FIRST TAGLIST @s00buwu @lilyuwon @pockyyasii @nctislifue @shawnyle @enhastolemyheart @aaa-sia @criminalyun @oddracha @satan-223 @diorsyun @hooniehon @fakeuwus @caramelcandescence @intromortal @kookify @yutasberryy @sumzysworld @nikiswifiee @shuichi-sama @primroselover @rayofsunshineeee @aishigrey @yjwluvs @soraokkotsu @nyfwyeonjun @srhnyx @trashx678 @wondipity @winuvs @hoondiors @niniissus @firstclassjaylee @biancaness @enhaz1 @sophi-ee @un06 @heelariously @d-earlog @pharaways @ethelia @eneiyri @secretbarbariangardener @seochangbinnnnnnnnnnn @microwavedstrawberr1es @randomanothercreature @thatsoraya @graythecoffeebean @rikibun @jaeyungxrl @mxxnintheskyreblogs

[starvory777]

the perfect bet🚩

part 1

pairing: bad boy!Jay x new girl!reader.

genre: romance, angst, fluff, bad boy-good girl trope, new girl trope, smut, strangers to lovers, the bet trope, fast paced story.

warnings: smut, violence, use of alcohol, lots of dialogue.

taglist: @yourbeomiebear @kyunlov @jooniesbears-blog @yizhoutv @en-happiness @cloud-lyy @star4rin @engenesengenes333 @deobitifull @aileeeeeeeeeeeee @kirinaa08 @avaleyshin @heeseungswifefr @icepshrince @sophi-ee @seonghwaexile (16/25 people on my taglist. comment or send me an inbox to be added! if i can’t find your account, i will not tag you)

masterlist

on your first day at decelis high, you and your younger sister wonhee navigated the crowded halls with a mix of nerves and anticipation. your younger sister, wonhee, being the social butterfly that she is, easily found her place among a group of friends, leaving you alone at an empty table in the cafeteria.

the bustling cafeteria of decelis high hummed with the energy of students chatting and laughing, trays clattering against tables.

suddenly, your reverie was interrupted by the arrival of three figures who sauntered into the room with an air of confidence that demanded attention. jay, flanked by his best friends jake and sunghoon, scanned the room with lazy indifference until his gaze landed on you.

"check her out," jake muttered under his breath, nudging jay with a smirk.

jay's eyes lit up with mischief as he followed jake's gaze, his lips curling into a sly grin. "well, well, what do we have here?"

sunghoon raised an eyebrow in curiosity, his gaze flickering between jay and you. "new girl, huh? she's cute."

“what do you say, jay, if we give her a little decelis high welcome?” sunghoon snickers at jake’s comment.

the trio exchanged knowing glances before jay turned his attention back to you, a mischievous glint in his eyes. with a casual flick of his hand, he motioned towards you, his voice low but carrying across the room.

"hey, glasses, come join us," jay called out, his tone laced with a hint of challenge.

you looked up in surprise, your heart pounding in her chest as she met jay's intense gaze. unsure of what to expect, you hesitated for a moment before gathering your courage and said “i’m fine here, thanks for your offer.”

that was a first for jay, and as he looked around everyone was looking at your encounter, which made jay embarrassed. trying to avert the situation, jay sat down and started talking to you.

"new girl, huh? what's your name?" jay asked, his voice smooth and confident.

"lee y/n," you replied, feeling a flutter of nerves at the attention of the a guy.

"well, y/n, consider yourself lucky. you've just been graced with the presence of decelis high's finest," jay said with a smirk, gesturing to himself.

you couldn't help but roll your eyes at his arrogance, but there was something undeniably charming about him.

jay launched into a lively conversation, effortlessly keeping you entertained with stories about his various exploits. before i knew it, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang, and jay stood up, stretching languidly.

"so, y/n, there's a party tonight. you should come," he said casually, as if inviting you to a casual hangout.

you hesitated. this is a first for you, no one has ever invited you to anything, ever. especially the popular kid.

"i’ll think about it." you found myself saying, surprising yourself with the decision.

a genuine smile spread across jay's face, and he leaned in closer. "great. here’s the address." he hands you a piece of paper.

with that, he sauntered off back to his group of friends, looking back at you once more and winking. he and friends laughing as they walked away, leaving you with a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. what had you just gotten yourself into?

the rest of the day passed in a blur as you tried to focus on classes, but your mind kept drifting back to jay and the party tonight. you couldn't shake the feeling of excitement mixed with apprehension.

when the final bell rang, you found wonhee waiting for you outside your last class, bubbling over with excitement.

"guess what? i got invited to a sleepover tonight!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement.

"that's great, wonhee," you replied, forcing a smile despite the knot of nerves in your stomach.

as you walked home together, you couldn't shake the feeling that tonight was going to change everything. maybe your last year of high school might be different after all.

on the other hand, jay and his friends were chilling at sunghoon’s house, where the party’s going to be held.

“dude, are you sure new kid’s gonna show?” jake asked, looking up from his phone.

“i’m sure. i definitely charmed her during our encounter at the cafeteria just now.” jay smirked.

“she might show up, but what would she look like? it would be a bother to have a stuck pig at our first party of the semester.” sunghoon groaned, thinking about how you would show up.

“don’t worry my dudes, i know what im doing. she has potential.” jay assured his friends.

“please never use my dudes in a sentence.”

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for videogeek; Kara gets to Earth on time and the Kents get a two-for-one special on free kids.  (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Kin yoo tekk a luk att te genn-rayt, dee-eer?” Ma asks Pa, and he hums back in tuneless agreement and heads over to help her with the funny, rustic-looking little machine she’s fiddling with in the corner. At least, Kara thinks it’s a machine. The aliens’ technology is mystifyingly primitive and she still doesn’t understand how most of it works. She knows how to activate the lights and stove and locks, rarely as Ma and Pa bother with the locks, and a little of how the “trukk” and “trakker” both operate, but not why any of those things work or what Ma and Pa do to maintain them. She doesn’t even know if they built them themselves or if some Thinker in Smoll-Veel or somewhere else entirely did. They seem like simple enough devices and machines that even a Laborer could’ve built them and Kara’s seen Pa working on the “trukk” and “trakker” before and Ma cleaning the various kitchen devices and stove, but she’s never seen either of them build anything, so . . . 

Well, Pa’s working on a fence, and she’s even been helping him with it. But the only “device” on that so far has been a gate, which really isn’t the same thing. 

“Guh-ott te wrin-chuh, hunn-ee?” Pa asks, and Ma makes a noise back and hands him a small metal tool. He starts tapping the little machine with it as he looks it over. Kara wishes she could help with whatever they’re working on–wishes she could be useful to them–but she just doesn’t understand the aliens’ technology well enough to. 

She watches what Ma and Pa are doing out of the corner of her eye just in case she can learn a little more, and stacks up the cubes for Kal to knock over again as she does. He screeches happily and purrs in excitement, bouncing in place and waving his Krypto by the ear in one chubby little fist that’s already noticeably bigger than it was when they first crash-landed here. Ma and Pa keep fussing over their machine, Pa temporarily opening it up and adjusting a few little things inside it. They don’t seem either frustrated or concerned by the process, so she assumes they’re just doing normal maintenance and not actually having a problem with it. 

Though it’s hard for her to tell that kind of thing, admittedly. The aliens’ emotions are difficult to read, and so much of those emotions are relayed just in their bodies–their faces and gestures and even their postures, it seems like. Barely at all in their voices, even as expressive as they are. It’s . . . confusing, a bit. 

A lot. 

It’s disorienting, actually, but Kara tries not to worry about it as much as she wants to. She just–it’s just something she needs to learn. That’s all. 

Another something she needs to learn. 

There’s just so, so many things she needs to learn.

[d-targaryenshoe]

Achieved Love - Luke Thompson

Word count: 877

Summary: What is more delightful than accompanying your lover to an award show and watching how he achieves something with love?

The Bafta award show was in full swing when you finally arrived, the atmosphere electric with anticipation and excitement.

Paparazzi flashbulbs exploded like popcorn around you as you both made your way up the red carpet, your boyfriend Luke Thompson known as the dashing 'Benedict Bridgerton' was nominated for the EE Rising Star Award this year.

 Looking dapper as ever in his tuxedo, his arm firmly wrapped around your waist. You felt like a princess on a fairytale evening, your dress hugging your curves in all the right places, the diamonds at your neck and wrist sparkling under the bright lights.

As you approached the interview area, a sea of eager reporters and camera crews jostled for position, their questions and comments flying through the air like confetti. 

Luke smiled reassuringly at you, his blue eyes twinkling beneath his perfectly coifed hair, before turning to face the throng of media with a practiced ease that belied his years.

"How does it feel to be nominated for such a prestigious award, Luke?" asked one reporter breathlessly, her microphone inches from his face.

"Well, it's a huge honor, of course," he replied, his voice smooth and confident.

 "But at the end of the day, I'm just grateful to be here, surrounded by so much talent. I'd like to dedicate this nomination to my family, my friends, and of course, my girlfriend," he added, squeezing your hand before looking back at the reporter.

 "Without their support, I wouldn't be where I am today."

You felt your cheeks flush with warmth at his words, and as you looked up at him, you could see the love and admiration shining in his eyes. 

You exchanged a brief, sweet kiss before moving on to the next question. 

The rest of the interview flew by in a whirlwind of questions about the upcoming season of Bridgerton, his favorite category of the night, and his thoughts on the other nominees in his category. 

Throughout it all, Luke was charming, articulate, and gracious, leaving a lasting impression on everyone he met.

Finally, you were able to break away from the media frenzy and make your way into the venue proper.

 The grand ballroom was a breathtaking sight, with towering chandeliers casting their warm glow over rows of gleaming tables set with crisp white linen and sparkling crystal. 

Celebrities from all corners of the film industry mingled amongst the guests, their designer dresses and tuxedos making a dazzling display.

As you scanned the room for your seats, you felt a sudden surge of pride in your boyfriend.

 Not only was he talented and handsome, but he was also so genuine and kind-hearted. 

You knew that no matter what happened tonight, whether he won or not, he would always have you by his side, and that your love would only continue to grow stronger.

Just then, a waiter passed by, carrying a tray of champagne flutes. You reached out and took one, offering it to Luke with a mischievous smile. 

"To winning," you toasted.

 "or losing," you added with a wink.

 "and most importantly, to having each other through it all." He laughed, raising his glass to meet yours, and you clinked them together before taking a sip.

The awards ceremony began soon after, with the host taking the stage to welcome everyone and set the tone for the evening. 

As the first award of the night was announced, your stomach did a little flip-flop when you realized that Luke was among the nominees. 

His category was the last one to be presented, and as the golden envelope was slowly opened, the anticipation in the room grew almost palpable.

Finally, the announcer spoke his name, and the crowd erupted into cheers. 

Luke jumped to his feet, looking stunned and overwhelmed, kissing you deeply before making his way up to the stage. 

As he reached the podium, he took a deep breath and looked out over the audience, his emotional eyes meeting you briefly before he began to speak. 

"I want to first and foremost thank my Bridgerton family, the crew, the screenwriters, the whole Netflix team, and the Bafta committee for this incredible honor," he began, his voice steady despite the thunderous applause.

 "And I want to dedicate this award to the most important person in my life, a few years ago on this day I met one of the most talented people on an auditioning day, for a role in one of the most popular Netflix shows that changed my life."

"I want to thank my girlfriend, y/n y/l/n. She's been my rock, my inspiration, my home, my safe place, and my greatest supporter through all of this. I love you, y/n, more than anything in the world."

Tears pricked at your eyes as you listened to him speak, your heart swelling with pride and love for him. 

He went on to thank his family, his friends, and his agents before sitting down amidst thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

 As he made his way back to your table, you couldn't help but feel that no matter what happened from here on out, you would face it together and that your love would only continue to grow stronger in the face of whatever life threw your way.

[gothicflowers]

Graves X Reader

Keep Hands To Yourself

nsfw MDNI!

Based off song Keep Your Hands To Yourself

Warnings: Slight NSFW, you can’t tell me graves wouldn’t know every lyric.

I got a little change in my pocket goin' jing-a-ling-a-ling. Wants to call you on the telephone baby, a-give you a ring

But each time we talk, I get the same old thing

Always no hug-ee no kiss-ee until I get a weddin' ring

My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf

She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

She’s never been interested in one night stands, situationships or having a man that won’t prove that she’s worth in diamonds and gold.

B-B-B-baby baby baby why you wan' treat me this way

You know I'm still your lover boy I still feel the same way

That's when she told me a story, 'bout free milk and a cow

And said no hug-ee no kiss-ee until I get a weddin' vow.

He respects your decision to wait till marriage. Hell Philip will admit that in his twenties he was the definition of a military manwhore. He actually is turned on that men are constantly trying to DM you or buy your drinks at bars. Knowing damn well you’re going to look them up and down and laugh in their face. But the thought of him being your one and old for eternity on your wedding night. Like fire in his blood.

My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf

She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

Now you wouldn’t call yourself a prude. You dressed in a sexy and classy way. So different from the trends of today. Your breasts and waist always drove Philip wild in those tight summer dresses. And don’t get him started on your ass. He know that he wasn’t allowed to grab much but took every opportunity to lay his hands on your ass. But he realized he loved the finer details of you.

Your hair color under the sun. Your small hands he held. Your eyes watching the sunset. Your waist when he hugged you and held you as you’d slow dance in the kitchen.

Hold it here

See I wanted her real bad, and I was about to give in

But that's when she started talking about true love,

Started talking about sin

Philip took care of your every need. The man was practically on his knees for you. He wanted to express his love in every way humanly possible. He’d imagine your moans, what you’d feel like as he pleased you over and over.

And I said, honey I'll live with you for the rest of my life,

She said no hug-ee no kiss-ee until you make me your wife-a

My honey my baby, don't put my love upon no shelf

“You more excited for tomorrow, or tomorrow night Philip?”

“Well when you say it like that baby it makes it sound like I’m only in it for those soft curves of yours. I’m just excited you’re finally becoming my wife tomorrow. I mean I do plan on pleasing you all night until you feel fulfilled. I live to love and serve you”

“Aww I love you Philip”

“And getting to smack that ass”

*smacks Philip upside the head*

She said don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

[justmeinadaze]

We're A Family Part 11 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Enjoy the fluff...because the angst is coming soon *evil cackles*

Warnings: Steddie related smut and fluff, nothing too dramatic here. Just feels.

Word Count: 3181

You grinned as you sat on the back porch watching Dylan kick a ball around with his sister. Aurora was a few months shy of 3 and you felt like time was flying by. The more she grew the more she took on Eddie’s features. Her hair was wavy just like his and she preferred like her father to have it long. Every time she laughed, she cackled like he did which always made you laugh harder. 

She was definitely a daddy’s girl, always becoming excited when Steve or Eddie walked in the door. Of course, she didn’t understand that her parental situation was much different than the other children but she did grasp that they were both her dad. Ro seemed to come up with her own system of getting their attention if she wanted one more than the other. 

You three figured out that when she called for daddy, or “Da-ee” as she pronounced it, she was referring to Eddie. When she wanted Steve, she would say dada or dad. Dylan’s name she always struggled with but seemed to settle on Din for the time being. 

Things were going a lot smoother at home now that Steve had finally graduated. A few months ago, he started teaching social studies at Hawkins Middle school right down the street from the high school you worked at. Since he was so close, you two were able to have lunch together and your son was able to catch a ride with him since he was going there as well. 

The day he started sixth grade you felt like you wanted to curl up in bed and cry all day. 

“Mom! Calm down. It’s just middle school. I’m not going off to college yet.”

“Yet! Stop growing! I hate it. I feel old.”

He laughs as he gives you a big hug and you kiss the top of his head. 

You loved knowing that Steve would be able to keep an eye on him but he promised Dylan he wouldn’t embarrass him. 

“You don’t have to talk to me or anything if you don’t want to. I’ll just sob at my desk after you walk by.”

“Dad! Seriously! Oh my god. Why are you guys acting like things are going to be any different?”

Scott, the owner of the mechanic shop, DID pass it to Eddie and true to his word was able to be home a lot more. With his new income level, he had started setting money side for different things that made you fall for him even more. 

“Ok, so this is for Dylan and this one is for Ro.” He slides some papers across the table for you and Steve to look at. “Every month these accounts will take a certain amount until they graduate high school. They can use these funds for college or whatever they want to do.”

You and the other man exchange a look as you beam at each other. 

“What?”

“Nothing. Just…all of our children are growing up!”, Steve teases as Eddie sticks out his tongue.

“Daddy!”, Ro shouts as she waddles towards the porch. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” Eddie lifts her into his arms, giving her a hug as he comes to sit beside you. “Baby.”, he grins giving you a kiss. “What are you three doing out here?”

“Din ball.”

“You’re playing ball with Dylan? You wild animal.” She giggles as he kisses her cheek before placing her back on her feet so she can continuing having fun. “What about you, mama?”

“Oh, you know. Just drinkin’ booze waiting for my rockstar and professor to come home.”

“Well shit, Y/N. You’re going to be waiting awhile then because neither of the men you love are there yet.” You smile as you lean into him and he wraps his arm around you. “Steve and I have a surprise for you tomorrow night.”

“Please, no.”, you playfully whine. “Every time we have a surprise, I always end up crying or pregnant!”

“Don’t worry, baby. You’ll love this one. I promise.”

###############

Since Kierra had a date, Robin was babysitter tonight, donning a huge smile as Steve invited her in. 

“Hey Robin!”

“Hey, kid. You ready for me to kick your butt at video games tonight?”

“Pfft, like that will ever happen.”, he grins as he throws his backpack over his shoulders. 

“Here. Give this mommy.”, Steve whispers to Ro who takes a box from him and runs to your side. 

“Mommy! Dada…” She hands you the gift and turns to point at her father.

“Hm. Is this from dada?” Aurora claps at your understanding and nods. 

“Well, from dad and daddy.”, he winks.

“Do you want to help me open it?” The toddler giggles as you both tear into the present. 

“Dress!”, she exclaims as you lift the beautiful green garment up to inspect it. “Purty.”

“Guys… you didn’t have to—”

“We know.”, Eddie chuckles. “Go put it on, princess.”

You kiss and hug the kids before running upstairs to change and do your hair. It had been a while since the three of you went out anywhere especially anywhere in a date like setting. As you descended back to them, your breath catches when you find both men dressed up as well in black suits. 

“Oh wow. You two look amazing.”

“Us? Goddamn that dress looks beautiful on you.”, Eddie grins as he takes your hand. 

“Did I miss something? An important date or did YOU miss something.”

“No, honey.”, Steve laughs. “We wanted to do something special for our anniversary.”

“That’s next weekend though.”

“That is correct, sweetheart. But Dylan has a game Saturday afternoon and Ro has that birthday party she was invited to. With this being our 5-year mark of us getting married, we didn’t think it would be fitting to just celebrate at home.”

You beam at them as you link your arm through theirs. 

##############

They took you to an expensive restaurant just outside of Hawkins, insisting you get whatever you wanted and chuckling when they saw the apprehensive look on your face. 

“On day you’re going to understand you DO deserve all this. I don’t know what we have to do but we will figure it out.”, Steve grins. 

“I just…it’s too much…and I feel like I don’t do enough of this stuff for you guys!”

“Sweetheart, you married us, took our last names, and gave us two beautiful kids. I think you’ve done more than enough.”

“Aw, Eddie. That was disgustingly cute.”

He laughs as he playfully grabs your cheeks and pulls you in for a kiss. As the meal progress and the wine flows you three take the opportunity to really talk about things that you feel like you haven’t been able to due to your busy lives. 

“How are the kids treating you, Mr. Harrington? Is it better than dealing with customers at Family Video?”, Eddie asks.

“Eh. I deal with a different set of customers.”, he laughs. “I love teaching. Seriously, the kids are great but some of these parents, man. Fucking hell. One mom wouldn’t return my calls about her daughter struggling until the report card was sent home. She yelled at me saying I didn’t try to notify her enough.”

“Sounds about right.”, you grin. “I’ve gotten a few of those.”

Steve clears his throat as he brings the wine glass to his lips. “Ironically, it’s the same girl our son has a crush on.”

“No! Steven Harrington are you serious?! How do you know he likes her?”

“Are you kidding? He sits with her at lunch, walks her to her classes, and I overheard him offer to help her study.”

“Ha-ha! Kid has game.”, Eddie says with a huge smile. “Now all he has to do is play the guitar for her and she’ll be totally smitten.”

“Oh my god.”, you cringe. “My baby is growing up too fast.”

“Definitely come a long way from the little boy who knocked on our door and called us ‘Mister’.”

You grin at the memory. You had no idea how much that one interaction would change your life forever.

“What about you, Munson?”

“I, unfortunately, have nothing as exciting as you, sir. Work wise anyway.”

“What do you mean? Is your mom bugging you again?”, you ask him.

“Uh, not exactly. I actually wanted to tell you guys about this but…”, he sighs. “My dad has been sending me letters.”

“What?”, you and Steve say at the same time. 

“Yeah, I haven’t opened them mostly because I already know what he wants and there’s nothing he can say that would make me want to testify on his behalf. Wayne went over there last year and commanded he leave me and my family alone. Seems only my mother listened.”

“Eddie, baby.” You scoot your chair closer as you intertwine your fingers with his.  “Maybe…maybe we can go down there and talk to him.”

“Hey, no. No. Promise me you won’t go down there, Y/N.” His fingers lifted your chin to face. “Promise me.”

“I promise, Eddie.”

The man releases a heavy breath as he kisses your forehead. “What about you, babe? Still nothing from your mother?”

You shake your head. “And that’s fine. I’m more upset with how I explain to Aurora why her grandma doesn’t like us but… It was hard even talking with Dylan about it. Half of the family he grew up with doesn’t talk to him anymore.”

“He hasn’t mentioned Charlie at all. Not to me anyway.”, Steve sighed. 

“Me either.”, Eddie followed. “I’m kind of surprised Charlie hasn’t tried to call or anything. He just kind of gave up.”

“My son told me what happened when you went to pick him up after he took him. I genuinely believe that him calling you dad shook something inside of him and now he thinks Dylan doesn’t want to have anything to do with him which isn’t true. I don’t know.”, you shake your head. “I haven’t found the courage to tell him Vivian is pregnant. I feel like Charlie should tell him… I don’t want him to feel like he’s being replaced.”

“Never a dull moment in the Munson-Harrington household.”, Steve replies holding up his glass of wine. 

#################

The three of you giggle drunkenly as you stumble into the child free house. 

“Oh my god, it’s so quiet. I love it.”, you slur as you sit at the bottom of the stairs. 

“It is pleasant but it feels weird.” Eddie leans forward, placing feathery kisses along your neck.

Steve crawls past you two on his hands up the stairs and into the bedroom. You and the metalhead grin when you find him on the floor on his back. 

“I’m fine! I just need a little break.”

After tossing your shoes to the side, you grab a pillow and place it under his head as you fall beside him, curling up to his chest. Eddie comes down with you, covering you with his suit jacket before placing his head on your tummy and closing his eyes. 

****

Your eyes startle open as Steve’s watch beeps at 7am, reaching over to quickly quiet the device. Both boys were still knocked out so you carefully tried to reach above you to grab your purse so you could look at your phone to make sure Robin hadn’t tried to call you guys but you misjudged how far it was, spilling its contents on to Steve.

“Jesus Christ.” 

“Baby, oh my god. Are you ok?”, you giggle as he groggily smiled. “I’m so sorry. I was trying to get my phone.”

Eddie’s arm suddenly moved to search his pockets before producing it in his hand. “You asked me to hold it for you.”

You thanked him as you snapped it open and scrolled through your messages. 

“Dylan still beat Robin at video games and Aurora threw a tantrum because she wanted to stay up late with Viki.”

Steve rubbed his eyes before taking your phone to look at the pictures she had sent. 

“Seems like she’s going to be a night owl like Eddie.”

“That’s my girl.”, the metalhead laughs. He pulls himself up into a sitting position as you do the same, leaning against the bed. 

“Well, we still have four hours before we need to pick them up. What ever could we do in that amount of time?”

You smile as Steve’s arm grabs your own lifting you on to his lap. “I’m sure we can figure something out.” His lips connect to yours as you slide your tongue along his own. As your hips grind against his, his fingers delicately trail down your shoulders bringing the straps of your dress along with them. 

You moan as he licks down your chest to your tits, open mouth kissing your nipple as his tongue plays with the bud. Turning your head towards Eddie, you reach for him and he scoots closer to encapsulate your lips with his own. 

As you crawl over to him, Steve brings your dress down your legs and tosses it above him onto the bed. Eddie’s strong arms hold you to him as you rub yourself against his pant covered groin. 

“Fuck…I still think you two are so sexy in suits like this.”

“Yeah? You want to make yourself cum while we’re still wearing them?”

His palms slid down to your ass as he guides your movements. A stuttered breath left Steve’s lips and you both turned to find him stroking his cock as his lust filled eyes watch you intently. 

“There you go, sweetheart. Cum on my lap.”

You whimper as you cling to his neck, pressing your lips to his so he can swallow your moans as you cum. 

“Come here, honey.” Steve reaches for you, helping you to your feet before placing his hands on your ass, guiding you forward as his head dips between your legs. 

His tongue eagerly glides between your folds as you run your hands through his hair. Eddie leans over the boy’s lap, taking him into his mouth, and bobbing around him just the way he knows Steve likes. 

His moans vibrate against your clit, driving you crazy. “Yes, baby. Just like that. Your mouth feels so good.” 

You mewled at the sounds of the metalhead gagging behind you as he took the man as far into his throat as he could. 

“Fuck me.”, Steve groaned as his head tipped back. “Stop. Stop, stop, stop. I’m going to fucking cum if you keep doing that.”

Eddie wipes his mouth as he moves out of the way, allow you to descend on to Steve’s cock. The man brushes your hair from your face with his hands as you grind and bounce against him. 

“I love you, Y/N. Still fucking beautiful—mmm—God…” His lips passionately kissed yours as your hands roamed his chest, absently unbuttoning his shirt so you could feel his warm skin. Steve’s arms wrapped around your back, lifting you up and placing you on the floor underneath him. 

Hastily, he removed his suit jacket with his shirt, tossing it to the side as he thrust his hips against yours, placing his palms on either side of you for leverage. Eddie tenderly reaches for his face, bringing his lips to his own. 

Your pussy clenches at the sight, reaching your fingers between you two to rub your clit. Your free had reaches up to caress the metalhead’s cheek and he turns into it, gently kissing your fingers before leaning down to kiss your lips as well. 

“Fuck…I’m…Steve…baby, please.”, you beg. His chest falls to yours and your arms wrap around his shoulders as he roughly rolls his hips into yours. You whimper his name repeatedly in his ear as you come undone around him.

“Yes, honey. Oh my god.”, he mewls as his breath and pants warm your skin. He chases his high till a few moments later you feel his hips sputter, clinging your legs tighter to him, as he pumps his spend deep into your body. 

As soon as he pulled out of you, you watched with hooded eyes as Eddie fully slid his pants off and took the other boys place between your legs. You both moaned as he guided his dick into your entrance, watching himself as he slowly pumped his cock in and out to the tip.

His hands grasped your thighs, opening them as wide as they would allow as he smirked up at you. “Princess, I could watch myself disappear inside of you all day. Fuck… you feel so fucking good gripping me.”

Eddie’s strokes were precise, pushing himself deep into your cunt making your toes curl. Steve leaned towards the other man, placing gentle kisses down his chest, along his stomach, to your bundle of nerves. You moaned as his tongue flicked rapidly against your nub while the metalhead ran his fingers through his hair and pressed him harder against you. 

“Yes! Fuck! Don’t…don’t stop.”

Eddie’s pace picked up as Steve continued to play with your clit, his mouth making obscene smacking sounds that made your eyes roll even as you tried to watch them. Your body began to shake as you came, screaming Eddie’s name till your orgasm stopped coursing through you. 

You lazily tugged on the man’s head, silently begging him to stop. His lips detached from you long enough to find your own. You hummed at the taste of yourself as the other boy hovered over you both as his hips smacked against yours. 

“I love hearing you cum, sweetheart. Mmm—one of my favorite fucking sounds.” Eddie’s rhythm faltered as he came inside of you.

Both men continued to kiss along your neck until the metalhead gradually pulled out of you and fell to your side. 

“Do you want to take a bath?”, Steve whispered, chuckling as you aggressively shook your head. 

“Tired. Cuddle.”

“And food, dude. I’m kind of hung over but also kind of hungry.”

“Excuse me. I am not the fucking butler. I will take care of the lady and you can go get us some food.”

You and Eddie laughed as the boy crawled towards the door before rising to his feet and heading downstairs. 

Steve lifted you onto the bed, disappearing into the bathroom, and returning with a rag as he cleaned you. 

“Thank you…for tonight. I had a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, honey. It was nice for it to just be us three.”

You nod as the other boy reappears with leftovers from dinner. “It was nice. I mean the kids are great but hot damn are they exhausting sometimes.”

“And clingy.”, you add. “I hope you know I’m very proud of you both and love you so much.”

They grin as they kiss your cheeks at the same time.

“We love you to, babe.”

“Here’s hoping we don’t kill each other in the next five years so we can do this again.”, Eddie raises his cup of water, flinching when you smack his arm. “What?! What did I do?”

###########

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @alienthings

@steddieloverrr @manda-panda-monium @decadentwombatmiracle

@katie-tibo @marsupiooo @local-stoner-bitch @steamystrangerfics

@lunatictardis @adaydreamaway08 @hazydespair

@actuallyspencerreid @moviefreak1205

@waylandmorgernsternherondal-blog @kik51199 @strngrlytn

@idkidknemore @damon-loves-pie @k-k0129

@micheledawn1975 @eddie86baby

@justmeandmymeanderingthoughts @3rriberri @sashaphantomhive

@chelebelletx @big-ope-vibes @munsonzzgf @munsonmoonshine86

[saturnalmoss]

ARM-WRESTLER

Chapter Five

Old Friends Dead Ends

Master Post

The detectives didn’t have a chance to ask Leon more about the odd encounter when they met again that evening. Leon came home only just in time to head back out again. Piri pulled Grendan along playfully. 

“You look too boring in the clothes Granny gave you. You’re coming with us, right?”

Grendan laughed, following along after her. “To this fortune teller, right? Yeah! We all want to come!” Piri squinted at Rosé and York, then huffed. 

“Piri, be nice.” Leon said. “You’re all welcome to join.” They looked over at their eldest. “Are you sure you don’t want to, Jyuri?”

Jyuri stared at her Narri with an expression so complicated and pained that only a teenager embroiled in her own personal drama could have made it. 

“I’m fine.” She said. 

“Uh-huh.” Leon said. They looked at Piri, who shrugged.  “If you’re sure...” She nodded, eyes glittering. Granny Skully gave her a hearty thump on the shoulder. 

“Never you mind this. I’ll take care of her.” She grinned toothily, and Leon smiled back. 

The fortune teller’s building was a little hole in the wall. There was a banner hung over the door advertising the grand opening, dated almost three weeks ago. Piri was vibrating as they approached the door. “Ahhhhh...!!”

She flung open the door. “Hello!!”

“Madam Arrow...?” Leon called after her. 

“Welcome, welcome.” A voice called out from the dimly lit interior. Rosé perked up, and glanced back at York, eyes wide, and Grendan, with a big disbelieving smile.

The group walked carefully into the smokey candle lit room. A short woman sat at the far end of the table. She was wearing, as far as they could tell, a hat shaped like an ominous tower, complete with lightning bolt. 

“Ohh, I get it.” Grenda muttered.

“Terry!” York said. 

“Or, Sharron..?” Rosé tried. “It’s Sharron for real, right.”

Sharron Lutz blinked at them. “Oh, I know you.” She said. “Who do I know you?”

“We’re Eugene’s parents!” Rosé said excitedly. “He’s our precious baby boy.”

“Oh, you're those ones, huh.” Sharron said. 

“Did you miss us?” Grendan asked. 

“Sure, sure.” Leon looked between them, bewildered. Piri didn’t seem deterred at all and waited with a hunter’s patience at the table. 

“We missed you.” York said. The three of them sat too. After a moment of hesitation, Leon followed suit. 

“We’ll catch up later,” Rosé said sweetly. “This young lady has been so excited to meet you.”

“Aw, well, that’s nice.” Sharron said. She put her hands on the the table and it rumbled gently.

Sharron leaned back, eyes to the ceiling. “Ah... let me summon the spirits to converse...” She said. "Do you wanna speeeeak... speak with your passed mother?” 

Leon lurched in their seat. Panicked, they shook their head as violently and subtly as they could.

“Nah,” Piri said. “Show me the fake stuff.”

The table stopped shaking. Sharron looked down. “The... fake stuff?”

“I love this kid.” Rosé whispered.

“Yeah. I’m not interested in the real spirit summoning. I want the tricks! Please show me your best tricks!”

Sharron looked perplexed. She looked at Leon, then the drawtectives, who were all looking at Piri. “Well, it looks like you run the show around here. Alright, hold on. I wasn’t prepared for the fake stuff.” 

She shuffled into a room nearly invisible in the shadows. Leon leaned back into their seat, calming their racing heart. 

When she came back she offered a deck of cards with black and white geometric designs on the back. “Draawwww a card...” Sharron told her. 

Piri delicately plucked a card from the top of the pile and turned it over. Sharron stood, free hand dramatically in front of her face. “I see..eeee..ee... you’ve drawn DEATH!” She droned. 

“Oooh! I did!” Piri said.

“What?!” Leon looked alarmed between them. Piri gave an annoyed sigh. 

“Narri, it’s fake, remember?” She said pityingly. 

“Also, death’s more of a metaphor.” Sharron added. “But it makes for some juicy drama. Good card for a reaction.” Leon deflated.

 “Haa. Yes. I forgot. Immediately.” They rubbed their temple. “I’m. Going to get a little air, alright, Piri?”

“Yup! I’ll stay right here. I’m gonna figure out how Madam Arrow knew it was Death.” She waved after Leon and loudly sniffed the card. “Hmm.”

Rosé leaned over to Grendan and York. “Should one of us go after them? Maybe they remembered something important?” 

“Good idea! York, do you want to go? Their whole family is orcs, maybe they would be more comfortable with you?” York thought seriously about this.

“No. That’s why I should stay here. I’ll keep Piri safe.” 

“From Sharron?” Rosé asked incredulously. York shrugged. 

“Probably not.”

“I’ll go, then.” Grendan said and slipped away from the table. 

Rosé and York turned back to the table. “So it’s not smell?” Piri was asking.

“That’s be hard.” Sharron said. “All the smells would get on each other.”

“I guess... Are the backs subtly different?” Piri asked. 

“Can’t see the backs or the fronts with my hand in my face.” 

Piri chewed her lip lightly with a tusk. “Ahh... How’s she do it..”

“Maybe it’s my psychic powers.” Sharron said. Piri grinned. 

“You had the card in your sleeve and slipped it to me!”

“Surely you would’ve noticed that?”

“You subtly pushed the death card to the front and made me pick it!”

“Nah.”

“The whole deck is death??”

“Oh, you got me.” Sharron said. “Keep it to yourselves, would ya?” Piri looked pleased and nodded. 

“What else you got?” Sharron tapped her cheek with a nail. 

“You’re an odd kid, huh?”

“Hey, Piri,” Rosé said. “You really enjoy these sort of things, huh?” Piri wiggled a little in her seat. 

“Yes! I’m gonna learn magic and grow up to be like Narri!” She thought a moment. “I’ll get a cooler job, though. I dunno. Street magician or master thief or something.”

“Master thief?” said Rosé.

“Master thief?” said Sharron, with a touch more concern. Piri shrugged. 

“I’m still undecided. The cards aren’t your only fake trick are they?”

“Well, I don’t really have a need for the fake stuff when I can do the real stuff.” Sharron considered a moment. “How about a seance?”

“A fake one?”

“A fake one.” Sharron held her hands out to the side. In one she took Piri’s hand and in her other she took York’s. At her insistence, Piri and York took Rosé’s hands in theirs. 

“Oooh, spirits.” Sharron said. The table rumbled. “Oooooh, listen...!” She huffed and the candles went out. “Tell us.... Secrets!” The crystal ball glowed gently in the center of the table. 

Sharron turned to Piri. “Ask... the spirits! Ask ‘em your question!”

“Just like, anything?”

“Yeah, like anything. Works best if it’s something you’re a bit invested in.”

“Sure. Uh. My sister’s acting weird lately. Can you ask the spirits, did she like steal Narri’s arm as a prank and she’s too embarrassed to own up?” Sharron looked at her. 

“No.” She said.

“No.” York said.

Outside, earlier, Grendan stepped into the low evening light after Leon. They looked back at him. 

“Ah. Hello, Grenda.” They looked back through the doorway behind Grenda. “Just you?”

“York and Rosé are staying with Piri.” They said. “But I was worried about you. You wanna talk about it?”

Leon sighed. “I’m grateful to them. You three... How do I explain?” They leaned back against the wall and looked up at the purples and reds of the evening sky. “I feel very sure that you would protect them. Piri and Jyuri.”

“Of course! I think you’re more in danger right now, though, don’t you?”

“Well...” they said. “I still don’t know that it was more than a one off thing.”

“Pretty mean spirited! If someone hit me and took my arm? I think I’d feel pretty targeted!” Leon said nothing. “You seemed pretty shaken up by Te- Sh... Madam Arrow.”

“It was foolish of me. I mean, it’s fake tarot. Deliberately fake tarot.”

“Maybe you were feeling tense in general?” Grenda suggested. “They whole mugging, and the seance before?”

Leon glanced down at them. “You’re a pretty astute bunch, aren’t you?” Grenda smiled. “... I didn’t expect Madam Arrow to bring up the kids’ - My wife.”

“Didn’t talk to her about it before hand, huh?”

“I mean, why would I! I certainly didn’t want her to bring up Piri’s late mother?!” Grenda nodded, understanding. They leaned back as well, and tried to study Leon from under the brim of their hat.

“Of course, of course. I meant, to warn her not to! Like, boundaries and stuff.” Leon thought a moment.

“Grenda. I’m afraid to say it has only just occurred to me that she may have some supernatural power.” They rubbed their temple. “I just thought she was going to cold read the kid and Piri would get a kick out of it.” Grenda laughed lightly. 

“She’s not too good at that actually! So, it’s like a fun thing you two are doing? Finding scammers and street magicians and stuff?” Leon smiled and nodded. 

“She’s got quick fingers and a sharp tongue. I am hoping she’ll find something... above board that keeps her interest.”

“Oh, definitely. There’s lots of stuff. I mean, Rosé’s super above board and she’s got all those quick fingers. The fastest. And you!” Leon’s eyes flicked away and back. 

“Myself?”

“Of course. You’re in logistics. I mean, until you quit I guess. I don’t know what you’ll do after that.” Leon was quiet for a moment. They seemed to be genuinely thinking about it. They quit without another job lined up? Grenda thought. They must have decided very recently, indeed. 

“Leon, can I ask you, what we saw earlier... Did you think that your boss has something to do with your attack?” They heard Leon groan. 

“Ugh. Of course not. Quitting has nothing to do with this. It really was something I was planning for a while.” They tapped their foot impatiently. Grenda was sure there something else here... something with their boss or their wife, they weren’t sure. 

“Sure, sure.” They said kindly. “I’ll stop bothering you about him.” Leon laughed softly. “Can I ask you something else? Case related, of course.”

“Of course.”

“I wanted to ask... and I sorry if this is sensitive, but were you reminded of anything when Madam Arrow mentioned your late wife?” Leon frowned at them. 

“I don’t see how this is related to a recent mugging.”

“It’s just, I get that you’d be worried about Piri getting upset about talking to her mother... I definitely wouldn’t know how to handle that! But I don’t really see how it would, let’s say, prime the mind to worry that Piri is in danger?”

Leon was quiet for a long moment. 

“It didn’t, of course. It’s perhaps a fault of mine but I’m rather overprotective of my kids. I’m told it’s rather unbecoming for a parent of orcs.” They pushed off the wall. The sun had set and left long shadows on the ground. Leon’s face was hard to distinguish. “The seance... It only put into my head that what she does could be real.”

Grenda patted their arm. “I understand. Thank you for telling me. Let’s go in! It’s getting pretty chilly, huh?”

They both slipped quietly back inside and through the back. They heard Piri talking loudly.

“Eh? That was too fast! You didn’t even check with the spirits! Er, pretend to check, I mean.”

“Oooh, spirits...” Sharron said.

“She’s a good orcish kid.” York said over her. “She woulda crowed ‘bout winning the fight.” Piri looked peeved. 

“No, she’s not all orc. We’re half sea-elf.” she said. “I can even swim. Can you swim?”

“Sure.” York said. “It’s just punching and kicking water.” Piri only looked more irritated. 

“She’s a dumb cry baby elf and I’m a sneaky clever elf!” York nodded. 

“But she an’ you are also good honest orcs. I see it on you. If you beat someone up, they’ll know who did it.” 

“What’s going on?” Leon ducked their head around the curtain. “Piri, don’t yell, love. You’re a guest.”

“Nothing’s going on.” Piri said, suddenly sullen. She looked away. Rosé waggled her eyebrows at Grenda subtly. Grenda gestured back that there was much to discuss. 

Sharron looked skywards. “Oohh... ” she said. Leon looked over.

“Ah, I think we should head out, actually.” They told her with regret. 

“I see... A large shadow... a large shadow...” she droned. There was a tension in the room. Piri looked up at Leon, who walked to her side. Rosé leaned over and laid a gentle hand on Sharron’s shoulder.  

“Sharron...?”

“You think this is a real one?”

Sharron blinked suddenly. “Whoops.” She shook her head. “That wasn’t what you paid for at all.”

“Um.” Said Leon. “We were going to head out? Are you okay?” 

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Don’t worry your head. Comes with being in the psychic field of research.” Leon nodded slowly. 

“What did you see?” York asked.

“A large shadow!” Grenda said. Sharron thought a moment and nodded.

“That it?” York said.

“Hmm. It was standing behind you.” She said, and pointed to Leon.

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

What You've Done, You Cannot Undo (Medieval AU)

Chapter 6

Dew reconnects with the ghoulettes, and the pack go to find Rain.

Ok I know I said this one would be quicker as I'd already written the first scene... but then I went away for the long weekend and also the word count spiraled a bit. A fair bit more plot here, so I hope it's worth the wait!

Rating: M Content: implied/threat of torture, injury Words: 5252

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Hello tag alert-ees! @revengeghoulette @everybodyshusband @rainsbasspick

Read below, or on AO3!

Dew looked up at the large, dark doors of the Abbey. He’d sworn he would never come back to this place, every happy memory of the ghoulettes who took him in and showed him care and kindness was tainted with bitterness at how he hadn’t been able to fully open up to them.

The brass bell still hung beside the entrance, unchanged. Everything about the scene he found himself in was familiar, with one key exception: he had changed. Dew wasn’t the same ghoul he had been when they took him in, he wasn’t the same ghoul that had left there either. He had learned that burdens could be shared, asking for help wasn’t the weakness he had always perceived it to be.

Dew was still scared of many things; rejection, abandonment, failure. Now though he had a far larger fear that, instead of paralysing him, made him brave. Dew hadn’t known the terror the thought of losing his pack would cause until he felt it, and now he knew he would cross oceans to protect them. The strength he had been building through his new life emboldened him, the support of his pack made him self-assured. He’d learned to take up space, to demand respect, and now he could put every ounce of inner strength into protecting those he loved; swallowing his pride and asking for help.

Huffing out the last of his hesitation into the evening air, Dew reached for the bell pull. The sound rang out, louder than he remembered it being. He stood in front of the gate, stroking his horse’s nose for comfort. She sensed his anxiety even through her own tiredness, and snorted reassuringly.

Just as Dew’s hand was hovering by the bell to ring it a second time, the doors swung open and a familiar face and cloud of hair greeted him.

“Dewdrop?!” Cumulus squealed, seemingly overjoyed to see him. “You came back? I thought we’d never see you again!”

Unable to stop herself, the ghoulette pounced on Dew, almost knocking him to the ground with her enthusiastic hug. The horse nickered nervously on Dew’s behalf, until she released him again.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” she kept a perfectly manicured hand latched to his arm, as though he could vanish in front of her if she let go.

“Hello Lus,” Dew smiled at her, the familiarity of her greeting putting him at ease, even if it was more enthusiastic than he could’ve imagined. “Sorry I left like I did… it’s a long story.”

“Who cares, you’re back now! We have to find Riri, she’ll be so happy to see you.” Cumulus twittered. She went in for another hug, but a more composed one. Her face tucked into Dew’s neck, she sniffed delicately.

“Eww, you’re getting straight in the bath afterwards though, you smell like ghoul!”

Dew froze. It was now or never.

“I am. A ghoul, that is.” Dew stuck his chin out defiantly. He wouldn’t allow himself to make the same mistake twice; if his relationship with the ghoulettes was going to be rekindled, it was going to be on a foundation of truth.

Cumulus looked at him for a second, her appraising eyes fixed on him, before her familiar laugh rang out again,

“Well you’re not getting out of taking that bath mister, look at the state of you!”

Maybe, thought Dewdrop, some things weren’t as difficult as he made them out to be.

Cumulus had practically skipped beside him as she dragged him by the hand into the Abbey. He made her pause her excitement momentarily to take care of his horse, leading her to the small stables where the Abbey’s own horses lived. Handing her reigns over to a very obliging Cowbell, Dew was greeted by a lopsided smile and a nod. Dew knew she’d be in safe hands there, and she would need to we well rested for the journey back.

Reconnecting with Cirrus and Mist went even smoother than he could have imagined. Cumulus had barrelled ahead of him into the common area they had all shared during his time here to announce his presence, the two ghoulettes looking up from their conversation in amusement at her theatrics.

“Look who’s here!” She cheered, “I found him wandering around outside!”

“Well look who the cat dragged in,” Without hesitating at how Cumulus addressed had Dew, Cirrus stood up and moved to pull him into a hug, “our Dewdrop.” Dew felt instantly more at ease as he sunk against her chest. “Missed you.” He muttered into her neck, a low purr starting in his chest. Cirrus stroked his hair, and he was immediately transported back to that night so many moons ago when she had cared for him in this very room.

“You look well, Dew,” said Mist with a knowing smile as she stood up to join in the hug, “really well.”

All Dew could manage to say was a whispered thank you, he could feel the sisterly pride rolling off her, and knew she was aware how exactly deep his thanks went for all she’d helped him to discover.

Never one to be left out of any physical affection, Cumulus squeezed her way into the group hug still situated next to the doorway. As she did so, the door slammed open again making them break apart,

“Guys, have any of you seen my yellow–” a whirlwind of a ghoulette almost collided with Dew as she burst through the door.

“Oh hello!” she purred with a smirk as she grabbed his arms to steady herself, “I haven’t seen you around before.”

“Knock it off Sunny,” snorted Mist with a good-natured shake of her head, “don’t fluster the poor guy before he’s even had a chance to sit down.”

Dew felt a blush spreading across his cheeks to the tips of his ears as the ghoulette appraised him from under light eyelashes before releasing him.

“Sunshine.” she eventually stated, holding out her hand in a strangely formal gesture, seeing as she’d been gripping his biceps moments earlier.

“Dewdrop.” He reached out and shook her hand, smiling as the small ghoulette vigorously bounded them up and down.

“Sorry about her,” said Mist, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her into her side, “Sunny’s never met a boundary she couldn’t push.”

“Hey, you love me really!” Teased the ghoulette, pressing a small kiss to the delicate skin above Mist’s gills.

“Alas, I do.”

Dew couldn’t help but beam at the display of affection in front of him, delighted for his old friend’s happiness. She deserved it.

“What brings you back here then Dew?” asked Cirrus, “I’m guessing this isn’t just a social call?”

He shook his head, and felt the air turn serious as four pairs of piercing eyes focussed all their attention on him before speaking words that had never passed his lips before.

“My pack is in danger. Please, I need your help.”

~~~~~~~

Heeding Dew's words, Swiss, Mountain and Aether had finished gathering their belongings, and left the farmhouse as darkness began to fall on the night of Rain's capture. They had loaded the herbs Aether and Mountain had been gathering, Swiss's guitar, and all the food they could fit onto a handcart along with blankets and bedrolls for the three of them, plus Rain. They'd emptied the house of valuables, loath to leave anything behind that the villagers could loot and said a tearful goodbye to the building that had been their home for so long.

In the brief time they spent tearing through it packing, Mountain had been distraught that he couldn't find the book he had been working on with Aether. He couldn't stand the thought of it falling into the hands of the humans, they didn't deserve the knowledge contained inside. Mountain had smelled a slightly fresher scent of Dew in his room that he would’ve expected, he cursed the ghoul if he had indeed run off with something so precious. He could barely identify non-poisonous plants, let alone distinguish the small details that marked out the most magical herbs. Well, if it could help keep him alive then Mountain guessed it was worth it. Despite his current annoyance he didn’t want Dew to come to any harm: he still loved the temperamental idiot.

They set off away from the house, away from the town and civilisation. As they moved, Mountain made sure to bring up the rear and remould the earth behind them to remove all traces of the wheels of the small cart so they couldn't be followed. A few miles further on, they found a small, densely wooded area that offered some shelter. Aether and Swiss worked to stow their belongings inside of a hollow tree to protect it from wildlife, while Mountain laid protective wards into the earth around the area. This would have to do for now, they needed a base camp to stage their rescue from that was close enough to town, but safe. They had talked over various plans as they walked not having any concrete ideas so far, yet they remained optimistic.

Around this time, it was truly night outside and the dark sliver of moon was the only light. The first step in all of their possible plans had been to go to Rain, so Aether loaded up some food and healing tinctures, and they set off under the cover of darkness. Dew hadn't told them much, only that Rain was in the jail and not in a good state.

They prowled towards the town in formation. Mountain lead the way, feeling the way ahead with his enhanced earth ghoul senses and listening for the thrum of heartbeats or the vibration of footsteps disturbing the earth, his eyesight spotting even the smallest movements. Aether was next, tuning in more broadly to the ripples of life in the void from those who may be lying ahead. He guided Mountain in the directions with the least signs of life, hoping to guide them into the village via the quietest areas. Swiss brought up the rear, protecting their backs while opening his mind to visions of their imminent future.

Mountain paused, the ghouls behind him following suit. He could hear something, eventually pinpointing the distant echo of iron horseshoes striking the road, about a half-mile or so further on. The trio ducked behind a hedge, and Aether carefully attuned himself to the aura of the stranger as he approached. They watched him and the horse slowly patrol past their hiding spot. He appeared to be a night watchman, although at this distance from the town he must have been instructed to greatly extend the reach of his rounds. He felt on-edge, slightly scared even, to Aether.

They kept going, Aether continuing to direct the paths Mountain should walk down, until they reached the first buildings at the edge of town. Even from their distance, they could all see the hive of activity that was the main gate. Men dressed in the village guard’s uniform swarmed the area, while yet others seemed to be constructing additional defences around the old wooden gate. The village was mostly surrounded by an old stone wall, some of which formed the walls of houses themselves, which had remained strong for centuries. The gates were however, until now, poorly maintained weak points. The ghouls’ hearts fell at the sight; sneaking in was going to prove challenging. They could climb the wall, but that would take time and draw notice, and certainly couldn’t be done with a potentially incapacitated water ghoul in tow.

They were met with the same sight further round at the west gate near the tavern. The patrons appeared to have spilled out onto the streets to watch as the guard and workers set about erecting a wooden construction, obstructing access to the village except via a small walkway, just large enough for a horse and small cart. They scouted around to the south, keeping the village on their left as they picked their way through the tree line. Eventually, they came across a narrow gap between two of the buildings that helped form the wall. With some difficulty, the three ghouls were able to squeeze through the gap, and they found themselves in a small alleyway. Now that they were amidst the maze of streets, Aether and Mountain went back to listening ahead to determine the quietest path to the centre of the village, Swiss shaking his head vehemently to get their attention if he felt a sharp lance of fear at a certain route.

After weaving their way to the centre of the village, the ghouls reached the high wall surrounding the town hall courtyard and the jail built into its foundations. It was immediately apparent how Dew had got in: the bricks were uneven and the perfect size for his nimble fingers to grip and climb. They wouldn't be able to break Rain out if he was in the state Dew had described though, the wall was simply too high to boost him over.

The trio began to scout around the wall, looking for an alternative. They soon realised the only breach in the imposing stone barricade was the single gatehouse that led to the town hall itself, and presumably the small window Dew had spoken with Rain through. The entrances to the cells themselves were too heavily fortified for an unplanned attack by the three ghouls alone, and the gatehouse was buzzing with activity even at the late hour. Aether scoured the area, searching for the tell-tale pinpricks of energy of additional guards by the cells under the walls but felt only a single glowing beacon in the darkness: Rain. He guessed the guardhouse and meters of stone separating the jail from the outside world rather negated the need for extra jailors. Clearly, a break-in through the gatehouse was impossible.

Away from the possible eyes of the guards, Swiss eyed the wall again. He reckoned he should be able to climb it; despite being heavier than Dewdrop he was also stronger and the most agile of the three present. Testing that the bricks jutting from the wall would hold he weight, he hauled himself up while Aether and Mountain kept watch, before passing him the small parcel of food and herbs they had for Rain. He paused at the top, hunkered down like a gargoyle as he surveyed the enclosed courtyard. There was no one around so he motioned to the others that he was going to investigate further, and dropped to the ground.

The small grates at floor level were immediately apparent in the moonlight, and Swiss made a beeline for the one from which Rain’s fearful scent emanated. He looked at the iron bars and made a mental note that if Dew was here, he could have probably melted through them, creating a gap just large enough for the lanky water ghoul to squeeze through. Peering into the darkness, his enhanced eyesight could just make out the shape of Rain, far below on the floor. Swiss acknowledged that the window was easily at Rain’s shoulder height, too high for him to pull his weakened body out unassisted, and too high for Dew to get himself out had he helped when he was here earlier. The window was also far too narrow for any of the rest of them to squeeze through, not to mention there was still the additional hurdle of the large courtyard wall Swiss had just climbed himself.

While Swiss was creeping around in the courtyard, Aether went on a mission of his own. Mountain agreed to keep the watch alone, as the quintessence ghoul slunk closer to eavesdrop on the guards and their boisterous conversation.

 “…monster. Death’s too good for him…”

“…all those lives, and that poor girl…”

Aether shuddered at hearing Dew’s story recounted, and the plan for Rain’s execution confirmed. What he heard next made his blood run cold,

“…clearly not human. I say we should keep him around and see what the elders can learn from him.”

“How so?”

“Cut him open and see how he bleeds, for starters,” another voice chipped in, “if he does at all.”

As the conversation moved to the various ways the guards would want to torture Rain, and the experiments they could devise, Aether turned on his heel and fled back to tell Mountain. He’d heard enough.

Through the gloom, Swiss’s eyes began to adjust and soon he could resolve details of the ghoul slumped in the cell. Rain looked half-mad already, and it had barely been twelve hours since his incarceration. Swiss could see why Dew was so distraught earlier; the sight made his breath catch in his throat as he tried not to whimper. Rain’s glamour seemed to be only partially intact, his horns and tail that Dew had seen were now hidden away, but he still looked distinctly blue and inhuman.

“Rain!” Swiss hissed into the darkness.

Rain’s blue eyes darted up to the window, and Swiss thought he saw a flicker of recognition deep within them. Well that seemed promising, compared to the empty shell Dew had described earlier. Maybe the shock was beginning to wear off.

“We’re going to get you out of here!” Swiss whispered, hoping Rain wouldn’t see past the false optimism in his voice. His eyes glowed brighter in understanding.

“In the meantime we brought food,” Swiss pushed the small bag through the bars, smiling as Rain’s tail unglamoured itself and emerged to pull it closer to where he was chained. He ripped into it, and began chewing on some slices of dried apple.

“So,” Swiss didn’t know what to say, “how are you doing?”

Rain’s eyelids lowered, his piercing gaze becoming almost sardonic.

“Sorry, stupid question…” Swiss shuffled his feet until he was sat down, his knees beginning to cramp from the uncomfortable kneeling position.

The sarcastic glint in Rain’s eyes turned humorous, the water ghoul amused by Swiss’s awkwardness even in his current situation.

“They’re feeding you?” he asked, changing the subject. Still wordless, Rain slowly picked up a small metal bowl to show him, before pressing it to the ground and drawing water from the damp earth to fill it. He looked up at Swiss and flashed his fangs in what could have been a self-satisfied grin in any other situation.

Well, at least they were making an effort to keep him alive, Swiss thought wryly. He supposed they had to, if they wanted to make a public spectacle out of his hanging in a week. But he suspected they would still be trying to keep him weak, lest he try to hurt his captors.

“Did they do something to you, is that why you aren't talking?” Rain was often quiet, but he hadn't been totally mute like this since the day he arrived. He shook his head slowly, but it was quite clear to Swiss that he wasn't entirely unharmed, the shadow of a black eye standing out even in the dim moonlight. Rain purposely flicked his eyes to the cell door and back to Swiss, demonstrating that he didn't want to give anything away to any captors potentially lurking. Swiss supposed that made sense. Rain would be the one to suffer if they thought he was trying to escape.

“I see your magic came in then?” he commented, continuing to try and make small talk as Rain went back to digging through the bag of food, before sinking his fangs into a large piece of jerky. Rain’s eyes flicked up again, gleaming with what could have been a small shimmer of pride.

“There’s some herbs in that bag too,” Swiss continued, “they should keep your magic strong. You should think of a way to use it to protect yourself, in case we aren’t around to help.”

Rain laid aside the strip of meat he had been gnawing on before making unnerving eye contact with Swiss and grinning wickedly, although it didn’t reach his eyes. Swiss watched the water ghoul in awe, as ripples of blue sparks coursed across his teal skin, sparking between his hands as he held them near each other.

“Well that’s slightly terrifying,” Swiss mused, “you learned that just now?” Rain’s grin widened, his fangs sparkling. “No wonder you’re in solitary, little electric eel, they’re probably scared you’ll fry them all!”

A ripple of what could have been a purr drifted up to Swiss. Rain was in surprisingly good spirits now, considering his situation. Swiss only hoped it would last.

“Take care of yourself okay Rainbow? There’s guards everywhere outside so we have to be careful, but we’re working on a plan I promise.”

Earnest blue eyes begged him not to leave.

“I’m sorry, I have to go, Mount and Aeth are waiting just outside, I don’t want them to worry about me or get spotted themselves. I’ll be back tomorrow night with more food, you have my word.” Swiss felt infinitely guilty, leaving the young ghoul down there.

“I'll see you tomorrow, we love you!” He curled a hand around the bars as he stood up, his knees cracking loudly, like it was Rain’s hand he was holding. With a finally look and a wave, he turned back to the wall and set about hauling himself up.

As Swiss dropped back down the other side the others could see the grim look in his eyes and he could see the shadow of horror in Aether’s.

“What happened?” he asked immediately, as Mountain helped him steady himself on his feet, and pressed close to his side in comfort.

"Not now,” Aether whispered tersely, shaking his head as if to dislodge painful thoughts from it by force, “let's get out of here first. How's Rain?”

“Bruised and battered, but alive.” Swiss would elaborate later. After managing to keep a straight face for Rain’s sake, he didn’t think he could maintain his composure if he recalled what he had just seen to his pack. For now, their priority was getting back to camp and forming a plan.

Slowly and cautiously the trio made their way out of town, ducking into quiet alleyways and side streets. The walk back from the village was a sombre one. Rain's situation was clearly dire, and all the ghouls felt varying degrees of hopelessness at his situation. Swiss was very clearly shaken at having seen his young pack mate imprisoned and injured, and Aether was still in shock at the plans he had overheard. Mountain tried his best to provide comfort to his packmates; his earlier outbursts of anger had burned out, and now he was left as shocked and saddened as the rest of them. He didn’t need to be a quintessence ghoul to sense the turbulent emotions rolling off Swiss, or to feel how fragile he was right now. He stuck close to him the whole walk back.

Once they were safely back at their camp and contained within its wards, Mountain volunteered to take the first shift watching over their camp. Even with his protective magic in place they couldn’t be too careful. Aether watched in mild amusement as Mountain sat himself down directly at Swiss’s feet. He’d watched the two getting closer lately, and this was a distinctly protective move towards the multi ghoul. Long before Swiss had joined their pack, him and Mountain had been solitary creatures. They’d initially bonded over the fact that neither was interested in going out of their way to find a mate, so it was sweet for Aether to see this budding relationship unfolding.

Swiss finally broke his silence. He described Rain’s dark and dingy cell; how he was chained up in a corner, his glamour half gone. His injuries, and how he was too afraid of potential guards lurking nearby to speak. Mountain leaned closer to him as he told them how Rain seemed to be in better spirits than Dew had seen, how he had recognised him and even smiled. He purred in satisfaction when Swiss explained that Rain’s magic was clearly powerful, now he was able to use it, and how he had apparently developed a defensive protective ability alongside it. At this, Aether sat up straighter,

“He can shock people who touch him?”

“It looked like it,” Swiss shrugged. “I don’t know if he’s tested it yet.”

“Good,” Aether muttered, “he might need it after what I heard.”

Swiss and Mountain’s jaws had almost hit the floor when Aether recounted the snippets of conversation he had overheard.

“I don’t see how we could stop them,” mused Mountain, “not when Rain’s trapped so deep inside. We’d have to kill the lot of them…”

“…if they didn’t kill us first.” Swiss finished.

“We need a plan.” Aether agreed.  

~~~~~~~

Back at the Abbey, the ghoulettes had leapt into action. Cirrus and Cumulus had refused to let go of Dew’s hands the whole time as he explained the situation, how Rain was in grave danger at the mercy of the humans. Sunshine had run off to find Copia, or wake him given the late hour, as the small group made their way to the expansive library to brainstorm ideas. Mist threw open the double doors, gesturing to the aisles of books.

“Let’s get to work.”

The four ghouls searched through books outlining ghoulish magic, protective wards, defensive amulets and more. Barely ten minutes later, the large central table was already littered in books they thought might be of use, when a panting Sunshine emerged from a small side door connecting to Copia’s small study and rooms. The man himself traipsed after her, bedraggled and pyjama clad.

“Dewdrop! How pleasant to see you again, even at this late hour.” He reached both hands out to clasp Dew’s, before having to pull back to stifle a yawn.

“My apologies, dear ghoul. Please, won’t you tell this old man about your pressing concern?”

Dew once again repeated his story; telling the gentle leader of the Abbey how he had found a pack and integrated amongst humans – that had made Copia raise a curious eyebrow – and how his youngest packmate was still learning to wield his magic when he had lost control. How the villagers were baying for blood, and planning to kill him.

“As I’m sure you know, if these people truly intend to kill him then they will succeed,” Copia looked sadly at the ghoul in front of him, “but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. You all seem to have made a good start on your research, I will join you.”

The group of six continued searching through the library late into the night. Eventually, more of them were asleep than awake and Dew was struggling to make sense of the letters in front of him, his head nodding in exhaustion and threatening to fall into the pages of the ancient tome on spell-specificity.

“Let’s call it a night,” whispered Mist across the library, “we’ll get more done with fresh eyes.”

She had laid a blanket over a snoring Sunshine in an armchair, while Dew roused a half-asleep Copia and guided him down the narrow corridor to his own bed, prying the quill pen he had been taking notes with from his hand and laying it on the nightstand. Cumulus had fallen asleep against Cirrus, who herself had since dozed off, head leaning on her hand with a book open in front of her. Mist had been loath to wake the pair, but Cumulus’s back pain would undoubtedly flare up if she stayed like this. When Dew returned, they guided the sleepy air ghoulettes back to their room, before Mist dragged Dew by the hand into hers.

“C’mon Droplet, even if you don’t want a cuddle you don’t have to be alone right now.”

Dew curled up in her arms with no reluctance; after the last few days it was nice to feel like someone else was taking charge, and looking after him. He fell asleep quicker than he had in ages, feeling safe and surrounded by love and care. He only wished Rain could be feeling the same: the thought of the young ghoul spending yet another night alone in the cold, dark cell while he was here in this plush bed made him feel painfully guilty. That might, his dreams were plagued by visions of his pack and the ghoulettes being drowned by catastrophic floods, and hanged by men with vicious snarling faces.

Dew awoke alone and, judging from the light outside, near noon. He scrambled out of bed and threw on the set of clean clothes helpfully laid out for him. He silently thanked Mist for going to the effort of locating slightly tighter fitting items for him: they were practically the same size, but the floaty garments she and most water ghouls preferred always made him look like he was drowning in the fabric. Rushing to the library, he found Copia and the ghoulettes hard at work again, all huddled around one large ledger in front of Copia. In front of them on the table were several bowls of fruit, as well as bread and fresh cheese.

“Hello Dewdrop,” he looked up with a caring smile, “I hope you slept well. Please, help yourself to breakfast, or should I call it lunch!”

Dew chuckled politely, helping himself to an apple and sitting in a nearby chair, pulling his socked feet up onto the seat with him.

“Sorry,” he muttered, feeling guilty that they had all been hard at work while he slept the morning away. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”

“Nonsense!” assured Cumulus, “You needed to rest after your long journey.”

“You were sleeping like the dead!” added Mist, “I couldn’t bear to disturb you. Besides, we think we might have found something that will help.”

Dew perked up, leaning forward. “Really?”

“Sunny had an idea,” Mist beamed at her, proudly. “Why are we looking for solutions in our ghoulish literature, when it’s humans we’re dealing with?”

“They think they’re so civilised with their laws and supposed justice,” Sunny explained, “so let’s play them at their own game, and use their laws against them!”

Quirking an eyebrow, Dew stared at her in confusion.

“We think we’ve found a loophole.” Cirrus explained. “Something that, according to their laws, means they have to spare Rain.”

Finally understanding, Dew nodded slowly.

“You’re not going to like it,” she warned, levelling him with a wry stare, “it’s definitely not your style, but it might be the only thing that will save him!”

“What do you mean, not my style,” Dew asked suspiciously.

“How do you feel about marriage?” Cumulus beamed at him, head tilted in the picture of innocence, but Dew knew better. He looked at her like she had sprouted another head.

“Marriage?” he managed to splutter out. “What the hell does marriage have to do with anything?”

Copia huffed at the ghouls, as they threatened to dissolve the peace of the library with their bickering.

“There’s a law,” he began, his quiet voice still managing to echo with the gravity of his words, “that if a person condemned to death is proposed marriage under the gallows, then their life may be spared.”

“And who’s going to offer to marry Rain, when the entire village wants him and all the rest of us ghouls dead?” Dew asked incredulously.

Copia’s mismatched eyes stared into his, a glimmer or mirth at Dew’s confusion hidden deep behind decades of solemnity.

“You are.”

[manettheeternalelir]

A Practical Guide to Evil

So I've sat with it for most of the day, and while I think I'll be ruminating on it for much longer than that, here are my thoughts.

Obviously, spoilers.

First, Akua Sahelian. Even going in knowing that she was going to get a redemption arc, I was thinking that maybe I misremembered the name, that it was another character that was going to be redeemed. Especially after the demon at Marchford and of course the Doom of Liesse. I will admit to literally squealing when Catherine broke her fucking bones after 1st Liesse. As the story went on, I began to forgive and forget, and to be honest by the middle of Vol. 7 I was like get over it and kiss her, Cat. I guess I just never felt that bad about the Doom after the Everdark, despite the narrative's insistence on reminding me of it. Maybe that's good writing, that I liked Akua so much, maybe not, idk I'm just a little guy.

Hakram was a great character, with a perfect pivot from in Cat's shadow to becoming a man of his own. He was the button that EE could press to ignore all of the logistical issues when the army got big, so that was kind of annoying, but whatever.

Indrani. Around the time that she and Cat finally fucked I was screaming in my head for them to fuck, so that feels right. Really liked her characterization towards the end with the other Refuge refugees, especially the line where Concocter tells her it didn't have to always be a fight. Good shit.

Vivienne was hit or miss for me, she was her own character, but never really felt that important to me, despite obvious narrative importance. Never the same level of emotional connection to me.

Masego, my darling beloved. My sweet perfect boy. My autistic wizard son. I love him. There may be flaws in his character, maybe, but I will never see them. He is the platonic ideal of a wizard to me.

And then Catherine. She went though so many forms of anime magic. Guide truly cemented itself as a shonen to me, just by virtue of never quite knowing what she could actually do. Her characterizations were relatively constant, enough to ground her as a character anyway, but the way that she always had a hidden plan did get a little annoying. It wasn't quite Sherlock Holmes level unrevealed scheming, but there were definitely moments where I groaned out of annoyance, namely when she was take prisoner in Wolof. I'm probably overstating how much wasn't foreshadowed, and I'd guess that for a lot of people the excitement of guessing "how would Cat get out of this one" was fun, but by the end I was rolling my eyes half the time.

Overall I loved it, and I'm definitely going to reread it at some point. It will provide inspiration for my dnd campaign for years to come, and I will be shamelessly stealing characters forever. Kairos Theodosian was incredible, and probably my second favorite character.

My single biggest critique was that there were stretches of like 5 or 6 interludes in a row, which inevitably lead to me saying "Cordelia FUCKING Hasenbach" under my breath

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 4

Time to investigate if my Chopra's need any extra support!

CW: Mean nanny, distressed infant

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

I think Viola is about to unlock her sleep through the night milestone when-

Cluckton: *crows* Hear ye, hear ye! It is dawn, 5:10am with a chance of showers! Get up everyone! New Years eve!

Rahul gets up but it would appear Cluckton’s crows haven’t disturbed Cassandra. Rahul knows she only got up to pump a few hours ago so has likely slept less than two hours since. Best thing to do is let her sleep. He didn’t have to get up to tend to Viola in the night so he is happy to go and see her before the day gets underway.

Rahul: Good morning Viola! Did my big brave green bean survive the rain

Viola: ee ee ap (yes papa)

Rahul: Now mama is sleeping but I know she’ll be excited to see you. For now papa can give you breakfast and a change

As normal Viola is delighted to find the teet of a milk bottle pressed to her lips and greedily downs the milk. After burping Rahul changes her diaper and puts her in some day clothes.

Rahul: Now mama, papa, Savannah and Mercedes have to go out this morning so you’re going to get a very nice lady who will come look after you

Viola: *whimpers*

Rahul: Don’t worry, we’ll all be here for a bit yet. Now sit down here and I can get you a rattle. Look, it’s a cute little bunny! We have bunnies in the garden, I think you’ll love them green bean

New Years Eve is here and so are the clouds!

Mercedes: Mama, mama lift! Want snuggle

Cassandra scoops up Mercedes and gives her a snuggle and kiss before placing her in the high chair.

Savannah: Me next mama

Cassandra lifts Savannah and snuggles her. She blows a raspberry on her stomach making the toddler giggle before placing her in her chair. She looks around and lastly lifts Viola gently to her seat.

Rahul: What do we want for breakfast ladies

Twins: EGGS

Rahul: Scrambled eggs it is

Mercedes: NO PLEASE PAPA

Rahul: There is no need to yell. Now what do you mean ladybug

Savannah: We like folded egg

Mercedes: When papa make pretty

Rahul: Omlettes? Eggs with filling folded up?

Mercedes: YES PAPA

Rahul sets about making the breakfast while the twins babble to each other. Cassandra uses the lull to have a shower and Viola takes her time to see if she can see anything in the room. It looks like the only thing in focus apart from her siblings is the ice bucket on the counter. She doesn’t know what it is but she likes the shiny!

Rahul: Here we are team, folded eggs

Savannah: YAY!

Rahul: Now Mercedes, what must we remember

Mercedes: Food no fly

Rahul: That’s right, good memory. Now make sure you eat it before it gets cold. When we’re done we and mama have a special mission

Mercedes: *dubious* What

Savannah: *through food* Will it be fun

Rahul: What do you think darling

Cassandra: We’ll all show up with our good attitudes and make it fun

Mercedes: *still dubious* what

Rahul: You’ll see now eat up

The twins are delighted to learn Viola will not be coming on this adventure. They always prefer to have their parents to themselves. After a big hug they both notice Viola has drifted off to sleep in her chair. They look around then Savannah carefully tiptoes until she’s right beside the chair. On Mercedes signal she throws the biggest loudest tantrum she can, waking Viola up.

Rahul: Savannah! What have I told you about waking your sister up!

Mercedes: But Viola poopy face

The twins burst into laughter and Rahul mutters under his breath. After he gives them both a firm telling off Cassandra takes them to get ready.

Cassandra: It's probably a no but does anyone need a new diaper

Mercedes: Me mama!

Cassandra: I thought we had almost mastered the potty skill

Mercedes: I like mama time

Cassandra sighs and snuggles her cleaned up toddler.

Savannah: Mama where we go

Cassandra: You remember how we saw the doctor yesterday to make sure our bodies were healthy? Today we’re going to see another doctor who will make sure our brains are healthy

The twins share a conspiratory smirk. Of course this mission won’t include Viola. She doesn’t have a brain to check.

The previous default nanny passed away this week so the Chopra household is the first to meet Alana.

(I would like to state for the record here that she was angry and bitter before interacting with the children. My kids are not 100% responsible for this attitude. I just went with it. Okay, back to the story)

After some time playing with the blocks Viola realises she hasn’t seen any humans for a while. Feeling sad she begins to cry, hoping that mama or papa will appear to comfort her. Her wailing eventually brings in Alana.

Alana: What the f- What is your problem? I’m here now, calm down

Viola: *wails* ga nee do (I don't know you)

Alana: Should have known my first job would be with a rich spoiled brat. What do you want? Your parents said you were just fed and changed

Viola cries and stretches her little arms upwards. What she needs is a nice soothing cuddle.

Alana: The heck is that supposed to mean? Look I know you can’t be hungry or soiled so pull yourself together and stop crying

Viola sniffles and wipes her tears from under her glasses. Why won’t this lady just pick her up? She loves being carried and desperately wants a cuddle. Are her parents gone forever? Will she ever see them again?

Alana eventually scoops her up, still trying to shush her.

Alana: Now it can’t be that bad can it?

Viola: *through tears* ma pa ew na (Do mama and papa still love me)

Alana sighs and begins trying to cheer Viola up by tickling her tummy and every so often going, cochie coochie coo. Viola only gets more distressed however and begins trying to bat her hand away.

Alana: Oh you little stuck up ship, stop sulking

To the surprise of nobody with a brain this is not at all comforting to Viola. The next time Alana’s finger dances along her chin she grabs for it. She may not have teeth just yet but she can chomp down on it as hard as her gums allow.

Alana: Gah! That hurt!

Viola: ne da boo (Are my parents alive)

Alana: I have had enough of this nonsense. If you’re so grumpy you clearly need a nap. Where the heck are your sleep clothes

After rifling through drawers Alana finds the regular night onesie and gets Viola out of her day clothes. Laying Viola down in the crib she tries to soothe her to sleep and switches on the mobile. Seeing Viola relax with the lullaby she storms off, grabbing the dirty laundry to wash. Viola falls into a restful sleep filled with dreams featuring her beloved family, yes even her sisters are there.

The girls have their results. Eldest Savannah appears to have a motor delay so the psychiatrist recommends occupational therapy for her. Mercedes however has a speech language delay. Can I just say I LOVE that the mod gave her this because she didn’t say her first word until she was a toddler! It fits. Anyway speech therapy is recommended for her. Cassandra and Rahul take the girls to their first sessions and both twins feel optimistic afterwards.

Previous ... Next

[finleyforevermore]

HELLOOOOOO LIL BRO!!! (i don't actually know your age so you could he older than me. I'm 15 lol) LITERALLY CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVEN'T DONE THIS SOONER BUT ALAS I AM HERE NOW!!!!! AND I WILL CONTINUE TO BOMBARD YOU WITH LIL SCENARIOS WHENEVER I THINK OF THEM

You like theater. I like theater. It makes sense

We would definitely watch live action musicals and plays whenever possible and you would show me the ones you like and i would show you the ones I like

Now if you were interested we would audition to shows together bc i volunteer at a local theater all the time

We would have so much fun together! Honestly you would love the theater i go to (i even run their tiktok account but it only has two videos 😢)

Going over to your house to run lines and practice songs (well i don't sing bc i am bad at singing but i would help you!!)

Sleepovers bc i stayed over too late to go home. Taking all nighters to practice scenes and watch the show

Probably also fantasizing about our dream roles together. (Its Veronica from Heathers for me but again I can't sing 😭)

And if I'm not in the show you're in, don't worry!! I'll still be there cheering you on!!

We would be menaces if ee went to the same school. Targeting everyone to come see the show

convenient segue everyone 😉

If we went to the same school I imagine we would go to the gardening club together

You just have the vibes of someone who likes plants

I would complain about the weather and fret over you, making aure you're staying hydrated in the warm sun

I imagine it would be pretty empty except for us too

We're like the groundskeepers basically

Probably planting specific flowers to convey different meanings

Selling some of them during the holidays like poinciana

Getting specialized and matching gloves

Singing while we work bc music makes everything better

I would be give you all the drama and say all my judgy comments

"Then she got up and sat next to this other girl who is barely even her friend! Like hellooo, why are you ignoring me 🙄. And the bitchiest part was when she tried talking to me like normal."

And then you would be lile "amor 😨 that's pretty mean. Maybe she didn't notice?"

After gardening we would probably get a snack and eat inside the greenhouse, maybe also get a refreshing drink

I'm your younger bro to clarify then! XD

And for the record I'm sure you sound wonderful! 💚💚💚💚💚

I love theatre BUT I'm frightened of the idea of performing onstage XD

You'd have to drag me kicking and screaming to the audition

But if I WASN'T, I'd be so excited ehehe

We rarely watch movie musicals anymore because I'm always ranting about how much better the stage versions are and how they ruined it XD (unless we watch one of the good adaptations ofc like West Side Story for example)

YESS US FANTASIZING OVER DREAM ROLES TOGETHER EHEHE

Got the funny visual of you waking up in the middle of the night and waking up to me trying (and falling) to quietly sing Pierre from NPATGCO1812 to not wake you up XD

I'd love the gardening club!! :D

I keep planting carnations "BECAUSE IT'S THA HADESTOWN FLOWER, AMOR! YOU EXPECT ME TO JOIN A GARDENING CLUB AND NOT PLANT THE HADESTOWN FLOWER?" "I love your enthusiasm but that's not at all what I said-"

Ik I seem all nice and kind on here and I think I'm like that irl, but trust and believe that if your pissed, I'm gonna be pissed too XD especially I've gone through similar crap with an ex friend

"She did not!! I told you about Marissa right? She did crap JUST like that! Even try to talk to me sometimes like she wasn't being a total prick- I swear people are the worst sometimes-"

We have a little treehouse or some kinda place where we can just hang out and have fun and have an absolute ball there :)

[almostfoxglove]

I’m interested in “no petty thing” & “frankie THIGHS” and I hope the camping is going great 🫶🏻❤️

ee hi friend!! thank you so much, camping was so fun :,)

no petty thing

this is gonna be an Ezra one shot because I adore that man??? haven't written him before but very excited to. the title comes from one of his lines in prospect "A man's work is no petty thing" which I looove. I was tempted at first to set the one shot in the world of the movie, but lately I've been thinking it might be fun to wiggle that man into a little modern!au and give him some sleazy sales-y job where he can run his mouth all day :,) I only have bullet points in this doc so don't have any sneak peek to share yet, but I promise to holler about it when I've got it simmering ;-) I have a feeling it's going to include some depraved dirty talk lmfao

frankie THIGHS

this'll be my first time writing for sweet catfish, too! it's for @joelmillerisapunk's #PPCUBodyWorshipChallenge and I got Frankie + Thighs :-) I haven't worked out the whole one shot, but I've got the start of something cookin' where poor Frankie comes home drunk after a night with the boys and ends up trying to open up his neighbor's apartment across the hall instead of his own, waking her up in the middle of the night >:-) here's a peek!

🚧 ask about my wips!

[nuagederose]

Dark Roots of Earth | Chapter Six: Where the Wild Roses Grow

ao3 link

“I cannot believe we did that,” Christine chuckled.

“‘We’?” Alex burst out laughing.

“Hey, you talked me into it.”

“Yeah, and you got a lot more chutzpah than I realized, too,” he said, still laughing.

It was two weeks after the incident happened, and after Alex had begun teaching summer school as well, and thus, he had money filtering in from that point onwards. As a result, he took her out to dinner out on Long Island, and she resisted the urge to tell him about what Nelly did for her in the wintry months before then. In fact, it had been quite some time since she had even thought about Chris, as her thoughts of him had subsided away while she and Eric were out in California together. Christine sipped on her milkshake and locked eyes with him from across the table, and all the while, Alex would lean back every so often so she could see his body.

She had also stopped thinking about Ann as well, as her memories had faded out with the passing of time. Her time with Alex, and she had let her own ghosts fall away for the last couple of weeks, and after she had promised to tell him about it as well.

Perhaps she could move on after all. She wanted to move on, anyway.

“I've been meaning to ask you this, too,” he started again as he set his glass of stout back down on the table, “how’s Eric? Was he at all excited to be out in California?”

“Oh, he’s been great!” Christine replied. “And yeah, he absolutely loved California. For him, it was all about being down by the water most of the time.”

He chuckled at that: those deep eyes never left her gaze for one second right then. It was like a flash of light as she thought back to that night in the snow, and she had her hand on Chris' tombstone. Where before she saw the ocean, she could feel the cold of the stone.

“I should also tell you that I have another few gigs coming up here,” he reminded her.

“A few?” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah, one right after the other, if you can believe that,” he said, and his face lit up at the sound of that. “Yeah, I have two with the trio, another with another kinda... let's call them a 'fusion' band, and another one that's a little more rock n' roll. All within days of each other.”

“Wow-ee. And I'm guessing they're all taking place over the Fourth of July weekend.”

“And you would be correct,” he declared, and he chuckled again, that time a nervous chuckle. She could see it in his eyes. She could only hope that Captain Howdy hadn't suspected anything with him, especially when, as far as she knew, she never saw either of them out there on the street.

“You wanna pull another prank on her?” he asked her.

“If it's nothing that's not going to get us killed,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “How's that sign doing, by the way?”

“Oh, some people in the apartment complex were like 'hurray! Someone finally broke that damned thing!' but she was livid, though.”

“I would imagine.” She chuckled.

“And now, she's having it put back up again, but now—” He leaned forward with his hands folded before him on the table. “—get this. Apparently, that sign has set her back some... three grand, I think is what she said. I wasn't properly paying attention, but it's costing her a bunch of money to have the glass replaced and also to have it moved so it's facing more towards the street as well as the synagogue. Because of that, it's costing her company more money out of pocket, money that they can hardly keep up with now just to keep their heads above water. She hasn't asked me for anything... yet, anyways.”

“You know she will,” Christine followed along.

“Oh, absolutely. You know, I just keep expecting to get a call from her asking me for a thousand bucks or something like that. So—”

“If we're going to do another prank, we're going to have to do something that's not going to make you possibly inadvertently tighten your belt at some point,” she followed along some more.

“Exactly! And to make matters even worse, she actually wants a piece of my world music project.”

Christine gaped at him.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah! She and I were talking about it... last week, I think it was. And she practically begged me to get onboard with it.”

“Did you accept?”

“I told her I would think about it,” he replied with a pursing of his lips. He locked eyes with her again. “Do you want to be a part of it?”

“What would I do?”

“Well, I've seen you become a bit of an artist lately,” he noted, and Christine shook her head. “What're you shaking your head for?” He couldn't resist chuckling again.

“I'm not that good,” she protested.

“Oh, but you can be,” he assured her with a wag of his finger. “If you're willing to go ahead and make a freaking graphic novel by hand, I reckon you can do some album art for me. Or—” He snapped his fingers and his face lit up again. “You can do illustrations that go along with the music. You know, like an accompanying piece or something like that.”

“But that would require me to do good art, though,” she pointed out as she brought the straw of her milkshake back up to her mouth.

“Christine, art requires courage—and as I've seen, chutzpah. You've got a great deal of it. You can do it. If I give you a deadline, you can do it. If you did it for me in a scholastic setting, you can probably do it here, too.”

“Well, I'd have to listen to the songs you've done, though,” she insisted with a little gyration to her head.

“Now, that can be arranged,” he promised her with another wag of his finger and a wink; he then leaned back in the seat again so she could see his body.

“Shifting gears, when’s the first day of fall term?” she asked him, and then he paused with his attention directed off to the side for a moment.

“September the... sixth, I think?” he gingerly replied. “All I know is it's the day after Labor Day. You know how it usually goes with us.” He flashed her a wink before he sipped on his stout. “How's your milkshake, by the way?”

“It's delicious,” she told him, and she offered him a sip. “Nice and chocolatey and decadent. Care for a taste?”

“After my beer?” He raised his eyebrows and looked on at the chocolate ice cream within the frosty glass as well as the remainder of the dollop of whipped cream on top: she did offer him the cherry on top before then, however. “It's so tempting but I worry about the aftertaste. Maybe next time, though.”

No sooner had he said that when their food finally came. Christine thought about a next time in which Alex would help himself to something as tasty as a milkshake, or maybe something else hearty and filling. She thought back to her trip out to California, and the night where Eric helped himself to some fresh slices of pie courtesy of the diner they had visited: he wanted more than one, and she was happy to share a second slice with him. Now, they were in another diner, and they were seated right near the counter which held the display of all the pies and cakes they had made for that day. It was a busy day prior to then, so she thought about suggesting some apple pie to him and seeing his reaction to it.

It was a crazy thought but she pictured herself tying him down to a chair and feeding him some pie. She shook her head at that, to which he looked on at her slightly baffled. It kept slipping through, however, the thought of the two of them donned in black leather together and she would be the mistress and the dominant over him. She continued to shake her head at the suggestion as it seemed to come out of nowhere.

“You okay?” he asked her with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I just... think I got some water in my ear is all,” was all she could think of. She hated the idea of having to lie to him, but it was either that or tell the full scoop going on behind her eyes out in the open like that. But then again, when he finished his pasta, he leaned back and rested his hands on his belly to relish the feeling.

“God, that was good,” he said in a low voice. “Filling, too.”

“All those veggies,” she remarked as she finished off the rest of her French fries. “All that cream sauce.”

He gave her a chef's kiss and downed the rest of his ice water. Christine couldn't help but let her eyes wander on him, and more so when they walked outside to the warm evening and the growing shadows around them.

“Not gonna lie, that Reuben you had looked utterly delicious,” he confessed to her. “But... I love my Italian food, though.”

“Even when it's not that cold out,” she remarked.

“Even when it's not that cold out, exactly!”

“By the way, would it be alright if I sat in on a class session?” she asked him.

“You’d have to get a guest pass from the registrar's office but, yeah, you absolutely can,” he assured her with a hiccup. “Do you remember where we parked?”

“I think we shared a cab,” she told him, and she grimaced at the thought of him driving after he had had a few too many to drink. The wind fluttered his black hair back from his shoulder and the side of his neck, and even though they were out in public in Bedford, she couldn't resist it for any longer. She put her arms around his body and rose up on her toes so she could kiss him on the side of his neck.

“I’ve always loved you,” she whispered right into his ear.

“Whoa…” he breathed. He turned his attention to her and showed her a little smile. “Let's go around the corner here.” But she was quicker than him: Christine led him around the corner of the diner into an alleyway so they would remain out of sight. She couldn't hold it in for a second longer as she shoved her tongue inside of his mouth. He seduced her with the taste of Alfredo sauce and stout while she wanted to tempt him, and constantly tempt him like the kiss of chocolate and the taste of pastrami. Her hands glided down the small of his back as if she wanted to peel off his pants for him, but she would have to go through his belt, however.

Meanwhile, his hands found their way up the inside of her shirt and to the hooks of her bra. His body was so warm and welcoming, even in the thick of a warm summer's evening; he unhooked her while she undid his belt for him. Nothing more than the shadows to protect them from any passersby on the street next to them.

Her fingers crept down inside of his pants just to feel him.

His fingers meanwhile crept inside of the cups of her bra to feel her.

“Chr—Alex—” She choked out the words, and all the while, she stopped herself from saying the wrong name.

“Christine—my strawberry girl—” He breathed the words right into her ear.

It was right then she realized that Alex never received her letter.

He never saw her confession. He never saw her tell the truth. He never saw any of it. And she wondered what exactly had happened to it if it had been lost in the post or if Captain Howdy had something to do with it.

Either way, she knew right then that he never learned about her past. And she held back from the softness of his cherry lips and his body.

“What happened?” he asked her, slightly worried. Christine could feel her throat close up at the sight of him and at the thought of it all.

Chris. Ann. The ghosts of her past. The skeletons in her closet.

Alex frowned.

“What did I do?” he asked her. In the dim light, she could see the look of concern on his face. The concern that turned into pain as if he had done something wrong.

“It's not you,” she assured him with a shake of her head. “It's not you. I promise, it wasn't you. I just—” She shook her head again and brought her hands to her face.

“Christine?” he asked her, and she could feel the tears welling up. “Christine, what happened?”

She turned away from him, towards the street so he wouldn't have to see her.

“Christine—”

Her mind was going a mile a minute as she knew that she was going to have to untangle everything from thence forth. She caught the sound of his jeans rustling through her own tears and racing thoughts. He rested a hand on her shoulder; she could smell the stout on his breath and the cologne on his neck as he brought his face closer to hers.

“Maybe there is in fact something that I don’t know about you,” he confessed to her, and she shuddered at the thought of that. “Was it Eric?”

“No,” she whispered, and shook her head. “It wasn't.”

Alex lightly stroked her back. “Take your time with it,” he coaxed her. “You don’t have to tell me anything right now if it’s really that heavy.”

“And it is heavy,” she replied in a gentle whimper. He put his arm before her chest and turned her around so she faced him again. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and held his face close to hers again; she could feel his comfort again.

“The scars on your heart tell me everything, but your lips need to carry them,” he whispered over the noise of the street next to them. She sniffled and a tear streaked down from her eye.

“Be brave, Christine,” he said. “Your strength is formidable.”

“I don’t know, Alex…” she confessed with a shake of her head. “I’m weak and I know if I go back to it, I’ll just tear myself apart.”

He lightly kissed her neck. “You aren’t weak,” he whispered into her ear. “You chucked a brick from thirty feet away and destroyed the sign on the outside of the office building belonging to my fiancée, and then I pulled the fire alarm, and we ran off. You have been staring at your own insecurity and began taking art classes. You are anything but weak.”

More tears streaked down her face, and she struggled to catch her breath. But he still kissed her again, that time on her lips and with the most passion she had ever felt from him. She was the one who gave out the passionate ones, but he proved to her that he could do it himself. He was willing to spoil her while keeping one foot back with his relationship. He was willing to spoil her and see her for what she kept in the wings, and yet she worried about him finding out the entire truth, all of the shades of gray she withheld in the wings, away from his already wounded heart.

Alex put his arms around her, and she followed suit with him. Christine lay her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat and his steady breathing; even with her bra unhooked, she pressed her chest against his belly to feel his warmth. She gripped onto her wrist, right at the small of his back: she could feel him doing the same with her.

She didn't want to let him go.

She wanted to let the skeletons rest in the graveyard, but she needed to bury them first. And yet she didn't want to let Chris go. She didn't want to let him go, and she didn't want Alex to know about it, either, simply because he was buried way out on Long Island.

And yet she didn't want to let Alex go. Chris needed to rest before she could be inside of Alex's warmth for a second longer.

“You are anything but weak,” he repeated to her, and he tucked another lock of hair behind her ear again. They locked eyes again, and that time she could see the ocean with him again.

“Come on... let's share a cab and I'll take you home. I'll give you my schedule on the ride back so you can come and sit in with me in a class. If anyone gives you any looks, I'll give 'em hell. And most of all, I'll make sure you and Eric have front row seats for the trio shows.” He kissed her forehead, and she curled her toes inside of her shoes at the feeling.

How she wanted to keep his warmth all to herself.

But at the same time, she knew that she had to bury Chris again, and something told her she could do it without Alex knowing. She could do it without any question about it.

She could do it through art, and she hoped that he was right and she was brave enough to bring it forth.

[puffyducks]

DCRC Week #3 (Part 1)

We have ~two~ comics to read this week but this post will be covering PKNA 0.3: Xadhoom!!! I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE I LOVE XADHOOM SHE'S SO COOL!!! RIP AND TEAR 💥💥💥

I'm not doing a translation comparison again this time btw it took way too long last time SORRY I will be reading my physical copy tho lol

*standing up in the theater screaming like an excited child*

arming WHAT pads???????? sorry

YEAHHHH YEAAAAAAAHHH SHE GETS HER OWN SOUND EFFECT WHOOOOOOOOOO

NOT TRUMAN 😭 ANYONE BUT HIM

babygirl

I forgot Ducklair left behind his collection of sickass vintage cars... I thought he got rid of all his belongings, like surely Donald can have ONE car right?? As a little treat???

Donald what do you mean why, like you already know the Evronians are enslaving other planets you could just like. connect the dots here.

I appreciate Donald trying his best to be helpful here even if he's being like a little stupid. Also he looks so cute in these panels.... babygirl

🚨RARE HDL APPEARANCE🚨 I'm kind of obsessed with the fact that the reason they don't really show up in this series is like "oh yeah they were in the Arctic btw. and now they're in Africa yeah sorry." I'm a little sad that they're not around but it's probably for the best cause I don't know if my heart would be able to handle watching them get attacked by the Evronians.

DUCKBURG HAS ITS OWN BUC-EE'S

Cool asf background character

Obsessed with this fit for her I think she should be dressed like this permanently actually. Also I guess she's just addicted to shoveling handfuls of baking soda into her mouth now, thanks Donald.

Portal reference in my physical copy I'm so fucking mad

They're so homicidal I love that for them 💖 This entire event is somehow only the second worst thing to happen at the Duckburg power plant. But that's for later.

Me and the bestie after committing genocide

And so Xadhoom joins the party!! (Sort of, she kinda comes and goes as she pleases.) Super stoked to have her here, she's probably my second favorite character behind Uno. Anyways, until next week PK🫡 I'll probably have a part 2 to this post about the Scrooge comic soon!

[nightcall99]

Dream from 5.5.24

I was working at the sister store, the one I used to work at, and we were closing up for the day. It must have been after 5pm. I remember EE was there. He is the manager there now, but it seemed like this dream took place back in the day when I was in charge on Sundays, and he was my student. The lights were off and I was doing the usual stuff like putting away the tills etc., making sure everything was in order. I was ready now to walk up to the front and lock up. I made sure all the staff members were gone. But then something happened to cause a hold up, I'm unsure of what specifically, just that we weren't able to leave yet. And because of that 'something', a few customers came in even though I tried to tell them we were closed. Then a staff member, a young Asian boy, came in and started walking to the back toward the staff room. The energy of it was that he was going to put his things into a locker and sign in to start the shift. I followed him into the hallway, I think I wanted to scold him. What was he doing?

He sort of ignored me and whatever it is I wanted to say and said, Don't you know this place is closing down? I was shocked. I thought he must have been mistaken. I was going to tell him no, he misunderstood, I am just closing up for the day, we're not closing down. But he was very serious, he said, Yes it is. I don't know how he knew but he said it so resolutely that I thought he must be in the know. He said, Don't you know they're not making any money anymore? I believed him totally now. It dawned on me that I'd been ignoring the signs. There had been less customers, it was true, it was quieter lately. There was a deadness about the place, an 'old' feeling. In my mind's eye, I saw the image of the empty aisles, and an eerie feeling, like someone had taken a snapshot of a bygone era. It took me a few moments to take in what he was saying but I believed him. However a part of me was like, it can't be, because what will I do? This is all I've ever known. I kept thinking about it, were they really not making any money? This company buys everything at a very low price and it goes on sale with such a huge markup, I thought they must still be making a lot of money. But I realise that the energy of things was clear. People just weren't excited anymore about shopping here, the novelty had worn off. It was once an exciting place to find a bargain but now it was just another sad place to go shopping like any other.

I start to realise that even though I'm confused about why there's still a few people around, it's clear that we're still leaving. We weren't here to work in the normal sense, but to continue to finish up the end of day procedures, even though I thought everything was already done. It wasn't just this Asian kid that showed up, there were other people too. I don't know if it was the same people that I did my original shift with. I know the other intern from my home store, KA, was there. She and I were in the side room and I was speaking to her, possibly making a few jokes. I think she had just finished off the banking duties. Everyone was just doing other random stuff. I knew they were helping me out and when I realised, I was grateful. Then it really was time to go.

Before we were about to go, I noticed SM was finishing up something on the computer. I used the opportunity to get close to him. I reached out to get a pen from the pen holder by his computer and then I lay my arm over his arm (that was using the mouse) as I used the pen to paper, jotting something down. Our arms made a cross. We are both in a hurry so I was able to pretend I didn't realise what was happening because I was so engrossed in what I was doing. Then I move my arm from his and write on the bench like normal, sending out silent apologies. But it was enough, just those few seconds. That brief touch was all it took to feel those intense waves of intimacy that always happens between us and that truly, have nothing to do with physical contact. I admit it was a calculated move but it felt instinctual and innocent at the same time.

Then we leave, I guess, but I don't see that part or maybe it hasn't happened yet. Before I go, I take my uniform coat from the hanger in the side room, instead of leaving it there. I got it in my head that I would need it for my next shift at the home store.

The whole vibe of this dream reminds me of when I'm about to close up irl and I'm grumbling because I realise the the air conditioner hasn't been turned off yet or some other dumb shit, so I have to go do it. It’s only wasting seconds of my time but I’m nevertheless annoyed.

Then there's this other scene I dreamt of. I was looking at a wall and there was a big white panel hung up with writing on it. It was in black and white, as if it had been typed. I could read it but it kept coming in and out of focus, like I was squinting my eyes. It felt like I had to repeat this to someone, like I had to remember it so I could relay the information later. But I don't know what it said. I could make out the individual words but I wasn't able to read the whole sentences in order to understand the greater meaning. Soon after I woke up, the phrase 'the writing is on the wall' came to mind. So everyone knows that idiom but I came across the bible origin of it and it's very interesting with how the king guy couldn’t interpret the writing and also the numbered days aspect...

[vsnapdragon]

WHERE WERE YOU HIDING ALL OF MY LIFE I'm loving the captain ice content!!!and also your art in general I love it!!!

Speaking of captain ice though I've also noticed that on her forehead you draw her a snowflake and since Frost Queen too has this element in her design I was wondering if you have any headcanon that involves the two or anything of the sorts!! I'm sorry for my question, I just rlly like seeing people's interpretation of these two charatcers if they have any

Once again, I love your art and im excited to see more of what you make!!

WAHH FIRST OFF THANK YOU I REALLY APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH/GEN!!!/VVVPOS I do have a head canon, or rather set of head canons and backstory attached to her. Ice grew up in a very high class and uptight family, under the name Blackberry Ice Slushie , from her parents Milkshake (a noble from the Milk Village) and Blackberry Cheesecake (married into wealth) . Her village was most likely between Snowfall Village and the Milk Village. She grew up to be proper and polite, quiet, her mother planning to set her up for an arranged marriage into even more nobility. Though she slowly grew ill, and when her parents realized it was something they couldn't mend, they began to focus on creating another heir. She'd dreamt of escaping before, of running away, though once she'd gotten dreams constantly of the 'Frost Witch' she booked it to escape to the docks. Despite being difficult, she made it to the docks of the town, planning to escape throughout the next boat that docked at the harbor. Before she prepared to swim off, she was approached for the first (and hopefully last) time, by Frost Queen , who confronted her to come with her, it was the way of life, wasn't it? (That's where she got the snowflake, a constant reminder from FQ) (around here I do have a couple different paths for it but the full selkie one i'm gonna explain ee) , cw for mention of drowning and near death situations. Ice took the risk and decided to swim to the nearest boat, though the ice that slowly took her over allowed her to sink, rather than swim. A little group of seals found her, saving her life in return for her to be a selkie, and the illness subsided, especially being so far away from her icy homeland. At that she climbed on board a Navy ship, staying there as a little stowaway until she was found out by the ship's captain. She quickly adapted to the climate at sea, growing up into the Navy.

EDIT :I forgot to mention : the reason behind most of these backstories and head canons are canon based! Ice's skill in oven break freezing entire ships , part of her skill there's even a bunch of snow, etc. The part connecting to Frost Queen is relating to a statement she said in the storyline: inferring that the one frost child to remain was Ice, which would be plausible as they have a similar skillset . The ice's effects still remain on her, on her hands, her body, while usually something she tries to control it's something she can't at times. She's kept this a secret from Peppermint, and only a select few of her crew knows ( Iced Coffee, an oc I posted in an earlier post) , as well as Pirate, from their adventuring in the Navy beforehand .