#i once walked outside in a pair of shorts the day after a blizzard because compared to the days before 10 degrees (F) didn't feel cold

[piratefalls]

a friend sent me a message on twitter of a picture of travis kelce dressed in a pair of shorts for practice in kansas city, where it is currently in the 30s (F), and she was like "there's visible snow in the background what is he doing" and it has never been more obvious to me that wearing shorts outside in the winter is very much a midwestern thing.

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Reading Lessons

it's been a while, because school and work has been a bitch, but I finally was able to put that on pause for a bit recently after getting sick, and I wrote a ton! Fluff for today (with a tiny smidge of angst), with the prompt "grabbing their hand to show them something" from this prompt list with Elliot and Princess Hestia. takes place during the book Handsome and the Beast.

Wordcount: 1484

Warnings: none

FSF Taglist: @rose-bookblood @chalcid @evethenovicewriter @writing-is-a-martial-art @thatprolificauthor @fiercely-raging-writer

General Taglist: @enchanted-lightning-aes @thatprolificauthor @wip-nook @writeblrsupport

~~~🌹~~~

The blizzard continued to rage outside the castle, and Elliot was fine with that. He always kept a few books on him in his bag for any situation, and he had three of his favorites with him.

After checking in on Dahlia in the cozy stables, he found a room with a comfy chair and a fireplace and settled down with his book. The book was a funny and dramatic one, about a pair of twins who got separated in a shipwreck, pretended to be the other, and hilarious adventures ensue as people believed they were the same person while neither twin knows that the other is there.

Embers brought him tea and biscuits from the kitchen, and left him to read in peace.

He was likely in there for half the day when there was a soft knock on the entryway. Hestia stood there, nervously shifting from foot to foot. “I- um… I just-” She nervously bit her lip. “I want show you… something… Please.”

A shy smile crept across Elliot’s face, and he gave her a short nod. “Alright.” He’d barely gotten up and closed his book before Hestia darted over, grabbed his hand- and raced out of the room with him on tow.

Several dark hallways and corridors later, she pulled him up to a large set of double doors- they were tall, made of dark oak with ornate handles and gold detailing.

Once he caught his breath, Elliot asked, “So, what did you want to show me?”

Hestia turned to the door, “Right, um… uh, close your eyes.”

He laughed a little, but covered his eyes. Hestia pulled the doors open, the old but sturdy oak creaking loudly and falling open with a large boom.

“Can I look yet?” He asked.

“Uh, wait,” Hestia said, gently grabbing his shoulders and moving him to the side a bit. Then she moved behind him and said, “Alright, open your eyes.”

Elliot opened his eyes and found himself standing before the biggest library he’d ever seen in his life. The biggest one he’d ever seen before that was just one little bookshop in the village with just two small shelves, and his family’s library at home had one shelf that covered a whole wall (and most of the shelf space was taken up by knick knacks and sculptures). But this… There had to be at least a hundred shelves in the huge room that reached all the way from floor to ceiling, with tall rolling ladders to reach the highest shelves, and books filling every inch of each shelf. 

And that wasn’t even counting the walls lined with even more shelves of books, with staircases leading up to narrow stretches of balconies to walk along the shelves. The room was so tall and wide it could easily fit the entire village square and two of it’s tallest buildings inside the space before him alone. On the other end of the room, a large fireplace sat, already lit. At least a dozen soft, dark red armchairs and small tables were clustered before the fireplace. 

The shelves and books were all covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs, but the idea that there was a whole treasure trove of books that he’d be the first to read in ages made Elliot giddy with excitement. 

Elliot’s mouth was still hanging open as he slowly entered the library, turning in a circle and trying to estimate how many books there must be. Finally, he turned back to Hestia and excitedly whispered, “You didn’t tell me your castle had a library! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” He kept his voice low for fear that too loud of a sound would turn all of the ancient books to dust. “And it’s so big, Mother Hallya, it’s so huge I’ve never seen so many books..…”

Hestia gave him a small smile. “I-... To be honest, I forgot that we had one, until Embers mentioned that he and Flicker can’t dust in here because one slight movement from them would set the whole castle on fire, so it would have to go untouched. I noticed how you always have a book in your hand and you read every chance you get, so I figured you would give this library the attention it deserves.” 

She gestured vaguely to the packed and dusty shelves. “It’s yours.”

Elliot’s eyes widened at that. “Mine? All of this?” He laughed a little. “You’re serious?”

“You’re the only one in this castle who can come in here without running the risk of burning the whole place down, so, yes. It’s yours if you want it. If you want to clean it up a bit and get rid of the dust, I’m sure Embers and Flicker will help you find things.”

Elliot darted over and threw his arms around her, jumping up and down. He thanked her at least a million times and giddily rambled about what he was going to do first and what kind of books must be in here and he’s never seen so many books in his life and he was definitely going to start dusting right away-

He went over to the closest shelf, brushed off some of the dust and cobwebs, and gingerly pulled out a book. It was dark green, the leather cracked and dried with age, the pages yellowed and rough, and traces of gold engraving in the leather cover chipping away. He blew the last of the dust off the cover, and opened it to the first page. Not two lines in he started jumping up and down again excitedly.

“Do you know what this is?!” He asked Hestia, the grin on his face getting bigger by the second.

Hestia let out a small giggle. “No, but, I’d love to hear you tell me.”

“It’s an original copy of Sir William Von Romanovans’s book, By the Wayside! The first copies he had made were in thick green leather covers, but only twenty of them ever existed! I have a copy of a copy with a thin brown cover that’s falling off, I’m pretty sure that edition was made years after he died, and that edition is missing pages from the original. I can’t believe I’m holding a real, original copy in my hands right now!” He flipped through the pages and sniffed the paper scent with a satisfied sigh. “Oh, smells like comedy and adventure.” 

He asked her, “Have you read this one?”

Hestia twisted the already shredded fabric of her dress in her hands, and muttered, “It’s been a very long time since I’ve read anything. And even then it wasn’t much because I was so scared of burning the book.”

Elliot nodded, tucking the book under his arm. “You don’t know how to read?”

She shrugged. “I know some words, and I can speak very well, but that’s about it.”

He nodded and bit his lip, thinking. Then he said, “Do you… want to learn… how to read?”

Hestia looked around the library, scanning the shelves of books. Finally, she gave him a hesitant nod.

“Great! Could you wait for a moment, please?” He walked across the room, and started scouring the shelves, dusting off the spines of books to read their titles until he found what he was looking for and plucked it off the shelf, blowing at the dust that coated the cover and spine.

With the two books under his arm, he gently grabbed Hestia’s hand and lead her out of the library and back to the drawing room where he’d been reading earlier. 

Then they sat down on the small sofa, and Elliot opened the second book he’d picked out. The leather cover was dark red, the engravings having chipped away a long time ago, leaving only rough ridges and valleys in their place. Upon opening the book out of the poetry section, he found the pages not only yellow with age, but the edges burned and curling at the edges.

Hestia squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah, I, uh… burned that one. Stopped trying to read after that.”

“You don’t have to touch the pages to read if you’re worried about setting it on fire,” Elliot told her, “You just need someone to hold the book for you.” He gently turned pages in the book until he found a short poem that he liked, and held it up so they could both read it. “Here, how many of those words do you know?”

Slowly, Hestia read the words she could recognize, stumbling over the sounds. With some encouragement from Elliot, she was able to read the words more smoothly, and even finished a whole sentence.

They stayed on the sofa in front of the fireplace for the rest of the day, reading the book of poetry until both were so tired they could barley keep their eyes open.

[quinnharperwrites]

List of WIPS

Here are some unposted WIPs that I have previously worked on <3

1900 Christmas Eve - This one is short. Most of the others are not. XD

It’s Christmas Eve, 1900, in a tatty apartment in New York City. The apartment is adorned with a small scraggly sparsely decorated tree, a threadbare rug, a scuffed coffee table, and a couch with cushions deflated by time. It probably daily reminds them of how poor they are.

Snow Day - satirical mentions of kidnapping and the black market

You put your foot down on the ground. It immediately sinks, and suddenly, the whole area from your foot to your knee is submerged in snow. You wonder why you have to go on this search mission. You know that everyone knows that Kyle and Skye can take care of themselves. Just because they didn't come home doesn't mean that they are in trouble. It's the morning after a blizzard. Maybe they stopped at a motel or something. However, when you tried to voice your opinion to the team, Kyle's sister Nielle came up with a really obnoxious story. She said, "What if they got abducted by a poor logger who then sold them on the black market so that he could have enough cash to throw his daughter a party for her 6th birthday?" Now everyone had to pair up and look for them. Nobody wanted to be partners with you--this you knew. Everyone was at least 16, but you're only 14. You think. The years blur after your mother dropped you off at a boarding school and left. After the school kicked you out, you don't know how long you were on the streets before Kyle, Jason, Zander, and Colvin found you. It turned out their teacher was your uncle, so they tracked you down and took you in. You're practically a child, with an attention span shorter than Kyle's temper. You got paired up with Jason, much to his dismay. Sometimes you don't know what goes on in your head. Or why you think certain things. Like using Jason as a human sled after nobody let you take one along. After you did it, you instantly felt guilty. You keep apologizing and apologizing. Jason claims he's fine, but he is now walking beside you instead of in front of you. You know that you are like the baby of the family. Even though you are probably stronger than them, they always protect you. Colvin, Zander, Glitch, Kyle, Jason, Nielle, and your uncle Wade. It's a crazy family--Zander and Glitch are robots! From the outside, your lives seem perfect, but Colvin's mom died, Kyle and Nielle just found their parents after they were kidnapped and missed the lives of their children, and Jason was adopted. You don't like to talk about it, but everyone knows that you have it the worst. But there is nothing you can do about it. Just because life gave you a bad hand doesn't mean you can't be cheerful at all times, you like to say. So you always try to put a smile on your face. Sometime later, Jason gets a call from Nielle saying that Kyle just called her, saying that he just came home. You groaned when Jason relayed the info to you. Surprise, surprise, you had been right the whole time. This means you just wasted your time walking for hours away from home on this ten-thousand-below-zero day. Other than the human sled fiasco, you didn't get to play in the snow at all. From the look on Jason's face, you know that he came to the same realization. He gets a sheepish look on his face. You just hope there would still be snow tomorrow. But for now, all you want to do is sit by the fireplace and drink hot cocoa while watching a movie. It's a miracle to you that you haven't frozen solid yet. It is at this moment that you realize that the sun is in the far west. You're exhausted. You trudge closer to Jason and drop your head on his shoulder. Despite the cold, bitter wind, you feel yourself falling asleep. You aren't sure, but you think you feel yourself getting picked up as Jason says, "Just this once, Greenbean. Just this once."

Dauntless

Dauntless, happy, uncompassionate, unsympathetic Lover of bizarre, grotesque, and revels Who believes he can escape death Who feels safe, protected, and secure Who wants to be immune, throw parties, and have fun Who gives nothing, nada, and zilch Who says “ Seize him and unmask him—that we may know whom we have to hang!" Prospero

RIP Plants - this one was so long I have to link the document

In Which HE is a SHE - Mentions of murder, insane asylums, and implied psychopathy

You stare across the room, all white, bright lights. You know they can see you. They've put on a face, pretend that they have control. They think that they can hold you, suppress you, contain you. They assumed that if they put you in a straitjacket and tossed you in this room, you would do nothing. How dare they assume that you do nothing. They thought they could fool you. But they just fooled themselves. You can see through their brave front. They believe that they have control; they're wrong. You are in control. And if they think you'll stay quiet, stay contained, they're in for a treat.

You aren't a mindless cold-blooded murderer; you are an artist. But they can't see that. They think you are dumb because you got caught. Little do they know that they gave you a shortcut to victory. They don't know your plan. You're patient, oh so very patient. You'll have to wait just a little longer. 

In the meantime, you can think about your plans. You need a new victim, maybe one of those police officers who apprehended you? No, no. Perhaps you'll pick one of those dancers off the stage. Tempting, but no. You have to stick with the plan, follow the pattern. You have to kill a victim in this asylum. Moreover, it would take a while to entice outsiders inside.

You know that this is a weird asylum; they don't do things the way they should. You smirk; that'll be their downfall. You require an opportunity, a distraction. One so great that you can slip out without anyone noticing before it's too late. You already have it planned, of course. Your inside man is going to pull the alarm, the fire alarm. They'll lead everyone out, including you. You'll wait until your two escorts lead you to a private place. Then you'll kick one in an open room, then quickly barricade it. You'll walk up slowly to the other, too terrified to move. You'll put your hand on his shoulder, the other on his head. The worker will know what's coming; the worker will squint his eyes in expectation. You'll snap his neck, then swap clothes. It'll be easier to sneak out now. 

Once outside, you'll slip away. By the time the others finally notice you're gone, find the body, and free the worker, it'll be too late. You'll be far away, already constructing a new base hidden from the rest of society. 

But for now, you stare across the room, all white, bright lights. You can see through their brave front. They believe that they have control; they're wrong. You are in control. Then you hear a commotion from behind the white doors. You smile. The fun has just begun.

You climb the hill, donned in the asylum uniform. The wind blows, your long hair flowing in the wind. You think back to the day's earlier events. Putting women's clothes on a man's body had been rather difficult, but you managed to get it done. Most would've skipped it, but you always like to be thorough. You raise your hand to brush back your hair, then freeze. Upon looking closer, you notice one of your perfectly manicured nails got chipped. They'll pay for that.

[wolfs-hunt1]

Wolf Kisses 3

Pairing: Stucky x Shapeshifter reader

Word count: 1897

Warnings: none on this chapter, sorry for any typo.

A/N: ok ... I think I already know where I want this fic to go. I have currently 3 more chapters planned, but since I got stuck writing this (it covers only half of what I had planed for this specific chapter) I might take longer with the others. I’m just publishing this one like this because I feel like I’ve been stuck long enough and I might need a new perspective. I hope you all like it!

Tag lis is OPEN

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

Part 2

You were in the communal kitchen, having breakfast with Bucky and Steve when Tony walks in and stops when he looks at you. he whistles slowly and looks between the two men.

"You go Capsicle, finally getting on with the times I see." he winks at them and slaps Bucky on the shoulder when he passes him on the kitchen, going in for the coffee pot to make himself a cup. This makes Steve choke on his coffee and a scowl to appear on Bucky's face.

"What is that supposed to mean, tin man?" Bucky grumbles, turning on his seat to look at Tony. Tony merely looks at the three of you and makes an obscene sign with his fingers, making a collective groan to leave you all.

"First of, eww, we're still eating!" you say "And second of, I'm still recovering from an injured leg, I don't think those activities are advisable." you sass back, looking at Tony's shocked face when you tell him you're the injured wolf the two super soldiers brought home.

"What? But…"

"Wolf got your tongue?" you are now openly laughing at his reaction, with Steve and Bucky snickering beside you. "By the way, I have some really strong words for you if you think I'll let you do any testing in me without me bitting back." you are glaring at him by the end of your sentence, making sure he knows you don't want any probes anywhere near you whatsoever.

"Will a bite from you make me turn?"

"I'm not a werewolf, I'm a shapeshifter."

"Sure thing Lupin, whatever you say." he picks his cup and leaves the kitchen, trowing that comment over his shoulder.

Tony didn't talked more to you that morning. But in the afternoon you did got a manila folder under Steve's door with information about your species, that Tony had collected from one of Shield's servers, along with a written note that a room would be prepared for you that same afternoon so you wouldn't have to sleep on Steve's couch. Yeah… like you had been doing that anyway. But maybe a room would be nice. You would be able to give them their space and you could have yours.

You have dinner alone with them in their apartment that night, and after, you are shown to your new room. There were some clothes set out for you, that seamed about your size, so you wouldn't need to keep wearing Steve's and Bucky's oversized shirts, although to be honest, they were quite comfortable.

You take your precious time in the bath that day, making sure you are thoroughly clean and relaxed before sleeping on some clothes and flopping belly up on the bed, just staring at the ceiling. The soft shadows caused by the lights from the buildings outside made the room appear cold, dark, and empty. Made you feel alone. When did you stop feeling like you were alone in the first place? You had barely noticed it… but now that it was missing, you craved it once more.

You didn't want cold and dark and alone.

You wanted toasty warm, and cuddly. You wanted the comfort both men provided without really asking it of them. You wanted the security they gave and how they made you feel like you didn't have to be alone ever again.

You get up and walk to the door before stopping abruptly. No. You couldn't. You had intruded on their lives enough already. And now you had your own room, and not even one excuse to go and see them. You were alone once more and you had to live with it. So you crawled back to bed and pulled the comforter atop your head, hiding underneath them to keep warm.

Your night was restless, you got little sleep, and had sore muscles from the lack of rest. Your eyes were still a bit puffy from the time you burst out crying with no idea what you were even crying about. Overall, you looked like a freshly crawled out of a grave zombie. That was plainly clear when Tony and Sam spent the entirety of breakfast teasing you.

"So… where's Steve and Bucky?" you ask, not having seen them yet that morning.

"Last I saw them was when we went on our morning run." answered Sam, between bites of his toast.

"FRIDAY, were are Capsicle and Barnes?" Tony quips from his seat, eyes never leaving his tabled and occasionally sipping his coffee.

You looked at him weirdly until a disembodied voice ranged all around you. "Captain Rogers and Sargent Barnes are currently on the training floor."

"What was that?" you ask a bit startled with the voice that came from thing air.

"That was the AI that powers this building. You can ask her anything if you ever need help around here. She'll also let you know what floors you have access to and what floors are off-limits." that could come in handy.

"Cool… do I have access to the training floor?" Tony merely hummed, and so you went back to finish your breakfast. Sam comes with you to the training room when you both finish breakfast, him going to the locker room first to change to something lighter than the sweater he was wearing.

You go ahead and open the door, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and grunting could be heard right away, the overpowering smell of the leather of the machines hitting your nose with the slight tang of sweat. You can see both men in a sparing mat, trowing and dodging punches right and left, with barely time to take a breath.

You don't want to distract them, so you lean against the wall, just watching them. Roling muscles expanding and coiling with each new movement an entrancing sight. Sam shows up a few minutes later, wearing a black t-shirt with the Avengers logo on it… subtle. He walks up to you and smiles.

"Do you spar?"

"Oh… not really. I only fight when others get too close for comfort. And even then I have sharp teeth and claws to help me out. Like this, " you point with a hand at your body, "I'm basically useless." he chuckles at you and nods at one of the punching bags.

"Care to help?" you nod, following him and grabbing the bag so it wouldn't move too much whenever he punched it. You could feel the strength of his punches traveling through the bag, and you could also tell he was holding back, maybe so he wouldn't make you fall down. "So… wolf girl. What's it like to live as a wolf?"

"It's thrilling. The rush I get when turning, when running or hunting, it's amazing. The power flowing through my veins, making me faster and stronger, making me be able to see better in the dark, and to ear and smell more enhanced than when I'm human? It's addictive really." you can see the fascinating in his eyes with every word you say, his focus on punching the bag slipping away so he could better hear your story. " But all extremely draining, the more time I spend as a wolf the weeker I progressively became, and if I get injured, my body can't even turn back."

"So like, you can only be a certain amount of hours turned?" he asks, resuming his punchings when he notices he had fully stopped his training to look at you.

"No, with experience, and by pushing my limits I get to extend that time. The most I've staying turned was about three weeks, it was during a blizzard, and honestly, being human in that situation would have killed me." a loud bang reverberates in the room, making the both of you look over to the two super soldiers. Steve was pinned to the ground, whit Bucky's metal arm in his throat pushing him to stay down while he straddled the blond's hips, also pinning his legs so he couldn't move.

"Ready to give up, Stevie?" Bucky taunted, leaning furder down to whisper something on his ear, making him shift his head softly to look in yours and Sam's direction before looking back at Bucky.

"I can do this all day." Steve manages to topple Bucky over and get the upper hand, pinning him now to the floor mats. Gripping Buckys arms to the side of his head, sitting on his thighs.

"Get a room you two." Sam throws at them, making you laugh at the light blushes on their faces when Steve helps Bucky up.

"No need to get jealous birdbrain, we can share you between us." Bucky quips back, just to rile up Sam. Your friendly bickering is stoped when Natasha walks in, with a serious face.

"Fury is calling all of us for a meeting. Now." she leaves the training room without waiting for an answer.

"(Y/N), why don't you go up to your room and order something for lunch from FRIDAY, we'll probably take a long while at the meeting." Sam leads you to the door, while the three of them go to the locker room to change before the meeting.

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

Being cooped up in this fancy room wasn't your idea of fun. In fact, you've been living so long on the wild that being in this place as long as you have is starting to make you climb the walls. Almost literally.

Maybe you should have taken Sam's offer to throw some punches and let out some pent up anxiety. Maybe a walk outside would help you calm your nerves. You walk to the elevator and after some awkwardly pacing around, you speak up.

"FRIDAY, can you take me to the ground floor please?" you can feel the moment the elevator starts to move, and a short few minutes later the doors open up to a massive lobby. "Thank you." you step out and walk along the vast space, boots making some squeaky noises every few steps. The doorman tipped his hat at you and opened the door, bidding you farewell.

The air outside was warm, but the cool wind that was blowing felt refreshing on your skin. You pick a direction and start walking, not caring much about where you're going. The streets were busy, but no one really paied any attention to you, making you blend in naturally with the city.

You are so distracted by your own thoughts that the next thing you know you are walking at a park, the lush green canopies of the trees making the air cooler and more refreshing. You walk to a bench and sit there, looking at the small playground infront of it, watching the children playing.

You longed to be able to run as a wolf once more, but it wouldn't be smart to do it here, the bystanders would only call for the authorities and you would be shot on sight. So running freely would have to wait. You wondered how the meeting was going, what they were talking about, and if it involved you. You where living there rent-free after all, and with a questionable background to warrant you lots of questions about it, none of the superheroes were doing.

Taking a deep breath once again you decide to return to the tower, you had been away for far too long without having told anyone.

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

Part 4

Tags:  @hidden-treasures21 @jelly-fishy-babie @thedarkplume @fallenoutofrose @animegirlgeeky @salveangeli @lokilokilokilokilokiloki @artemis629 @buckysknifecollection @glimmering-darling-dolly @ rebekahdawkins @amiets2  @tite-rose @ animegirlgeeky

[yoonsshadow]

BLIZZARD BLUES ⎯ myg

⇰ summary ; There’s a storm coming. Literally. And some idiot is standing outside singing Christmas carols.

⇰ pairing ; yoongi x fem!reader

⇰ genres ; strangers to friends to lovers[?], snowstorm!au, romance, fast burn [?]

⇰ themes ; fluff, a bit of crack

⇰ warnings ; talk of a natural disaster [blizzard], lots of banter, brief talk of male genitalia [balls lol], a bunch of sweetness

⇰ word count ; 1.8k

⇰ note ; Happy holidays everybody!! I hope that you all have a safe and happy day, no matter what you are celebrating. [Also this is largely unedited.] xx

It doesn’t always snow on Christmas Eve. Sometimes, when the sky feels selfish, it will open its clouds and welcome through the sunlight, especially harsh against the previous snowfall that is melting on the ground. What was once a white wonderland, snowflakes clustered together in a fine powder, becomes a muddy expanse of grass, dampened by the flowing tears of the melted icicles.

The magic of Christmas, so often associated with the pure white sheen of snowfall, is gone within hours of a clear sky.

But not today.

Today, the sky is selfish in a very distinctly opposite way.

“Temperatures will be reaching a record-low tonight, and snowfall is expected to only get heavier. With the possibility of a blizzard on the way, citizens are urged to stay indoors tonight.”

“Aish.” Licking droplets of mulled wine from your lips, you sigh at the latest news update. Just yesterday, you had been complaining of the warmth in the air, expecting yet another disappointment out of Christmas Eve. The universe seems to have answered your pessimism with a natural disaster.

Thankfully, you are one of the many lucky ones with a roof over your head tonight. The townhouse is small by standard means, but it feels so big to you. Though it may be cosy, it holds everything that is important to you, every memory that you have collected over your life, every momentum that has ever brought you joy. It is an extension of yourself, of your innermost being, and now it even protects you from the howling wind that you can hear picking up outside.

As you sit in front of your roaring fireplace, wrapped in blankets and listening to the Michael Bublé christmas album play on your scratchy record player, you think that maybe this is serenity; this feeling of calm, of contentment, when chaos surrounds you.

A harsh knock at your front door breaks through the sound of the wind.

At first, you think that maybe it was a trick of the mind, or perhaps a branch hitting a window, but the rapid knock-knock-knock against the wood is far too deliberate to be a mistake. Plus, when it’s followed by several more⎯⎯less patient⎯⎯knocks, you know that someone is here. At your house. At ten o’clock at night, as a blizzard is brewing.

It takes a moment to detangle yourself from your comfortable cocoon of blankets, but you eventually shuffle to the door as quickly as your cold toes [the things just never seem to be warm] will allow. You’re expecting an emergency official telling you to evacuate, or a neighbour asking to borrow supplies.

You don’t expect a shivering, disgruntled man reluctantly singing ‘Oh Christmas Tree’.

“Your boughs so green in summertime...stay bravely green in wintertime...O tannenbaum, O Christmas Tree...How lovely are thy branches…”

“Are you seriously carolling right now?”

The man stops his ‘singing’ to glare at you, as if you’ve just interrupted the most important performance of his life. “Hey, either let me finish the song or let me move on. It’s fucking cold out here.”

“No, but like, why are you singing at all? Didn’t you see the news?” The chill of the wind is biting at you even through all of your layers, so you don’t know how he’s surviving right now.

The man sighs, the air fogging in front of his face. “Look, lady, I lost a bet, okay? I gotta sing these carols, and I’m not backing out just because it feels like my internal organs are shutting down. So, what’ll it be? I can take song requests, if you’re feeling spicy.”

It takes you barely a moment to make your decision. “Option C. Come here.”

And you all but drag him into your house.

“Y’know, this could be considered kidnapping,” the stranger says as he slides out of his soaked jacket and toes off his boots. Despite his words, he doesn’t seem at all reluctant to be within your warm abode. “You could at least take me to dinner before inviting me in.’

His voice sounds harsh, mean even, but for some reason you aren’t intimidated by him. Maybe it’s the way his nose shines pink from the cold.

“Well,” you say, already gathering some towels for him, “it seems as though you haven’t watched the news in the last three hours. There’s a blizzard on the way, buddy, and you looked about halfway to frozen already. I thought that I would save the neighbours the trauma of digging your body out of the snow.”

“How considerate.”

“What’s your name, by the way? Since I’m extending my home and hospitality to you. I’m Y/N.”

“Yoongi. Also, you barely extended anything. More like forced. But, I’m a kind man, so I’ll let you believe that you’re being selfless. It is Christmas, after all.”

“And a merry Christmas to you too, mister Yoongi.”

“Ugh. Don’t call me mister.”

“Whatever. You should go take a shower to warm up, I should have some of my dad’s clothes for you to wear. I also have a shit-tonne of blankets and a big pot of mulled wine, so whenever you’re done just come downstairs and sit by the fire. And don’t steal anything. Or piss on the carpets.”

“Oddly specific, but okay. Thanks, generous kidnapper.”

Yoongi takes nearly an hour before he re-emerges from upstairs, to the point where you wonder if he’s actually pissing in your carpets. He looks clean, though, and flushed with warmth. And absolutely adorable in the ugly, oversized Christmas sweater that you laid out for him.

“This is fucking horrendous.”

A snort escapes you at his blunt statement, watching as he sinks into an armchair opposite you. His hair is sticking out from where he’s hastily dried it. “Thank you. My dad is the reigning champion in his workplace ugly sweater competition. He takes immense pride in inducing nausea. Want some wine?”

“Absolutely.”

When you pass him a mug, the liquid steaming and aromatic, he seems to pause, hesitation in the grip of his fingers. You give him the time he needs to arrange his words.

“I guess, um...thank you. For bringing me inside.” Yoongi isn’t meeting your eyes, but the tips of his ears are turning pink. “I was probably too stubborn to realise how bad it was and...I don’t know, it could’ve ended up really bad. So. Thanks.”

“Hey.” His eyes flicker up, briefly, but enough to see the bashfulness hiding behind all that sarcasm. “It’s seriously fine, but you’ve got to make a habit out of taking care of yourself. I’ve known you for two hours and even I can tell that you don’t take yourself very seriously. Hell, I could’ve been a serial killer, and you still just walked into my house.”

“I could’ve been a serial killer as well, hypocrite.”

“Killer Caroller does have a certain ring to it,” you admit. He’s deflecting, but you accept the divergence easily. “So, mister serial killer-”

“Don’t call me mister.”

“-Why don’t you tell me about yourself? There’s a chance that you’ll be here for a little while, so we may as well become acquainted.”

Taking a lingering sip from his mug, Yoongi keeps his eyes trained on the fire before him. “My name is Yoongi, I’m a Pisces, and I enjoy long walks on the beach.”

“Romantic.”

“I was born in Daegu.”

“Makes sense.”

“I’m a music producer.”

“Impressive.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, though they hold more mirth than annoyance. “Oh, and what about you, miss charity? Tell me about yourself.”

Biting back a chuckle, you reposition yourself in the armchair to face him better. “Well, my name is Y/N, and I have never been to a beach.”

“That’s sad.”

“I take self-defense classes.”

“Convenient.”

“And I’m a social worker.”

“Very fitting.”

The quick banter between the two of you pulls a smile across your face before you can tamp it down, but it seems like Yoongi is fighting one of his own.

Somehow, you have both converged to your larger couch, huddled together in a wine-drunk, giggly mess.

“No, I seriously would’ve won! But then he totally caught me off guard. I was sabotaged.”

Yoongi’s recounting of the story of how he lost his bet is nothing short of hysterical. “This Jeongguk guy sounds like a menace,” you say, throwing your legs over his lap. “I mean, who swings their balls in a friend’s face just to distract them? That’s just low.”

“Right?!” His voice is so loud, but your little bubble is barely disturbed. “And they were all hairy, too. I swear that I found a pube in my hoodie.”

This sets you off, for some reason, and your chest erupts in light giggles. Yoongi has only told you a few stories about his six male friends, and it has filled you with a kind of joy that you don’t remember ever feeling.

“It’s just...I bet that women aren’t this immature with each other. Am I right?”

You hum. “Sort of, but also not really. A friend of mine once stole my diva cup just because she was mad at me for using her hair brush. I tried to explain that it was an accident, but man was she pissed.”

Yoongi pauses. “What’s a diva cup?”

Blinking at the man that you’re draped across, you bring a hand up to pat his soft cheek. “Oh, honey,” you whisper, offering a small smile.

Slowly but suddenly, his hand comes up to cover yours, keeping it on his face. Your heart skips a beat, but you don’t notice.

“You’re really nice,” he says. His pupils are blown from drinking, and maybe from your faces being so close. Your cheeks are flushed for the same reasons. “And totally not a serial killer.”

“I’m still undecided about you,” you joke, breathing out a laugh. “But I do know that you’re pretty nice, too. And not as bad of a guest as I thought you might be.”

“Is it-” Yoongi cuts himself off, takes a slow breath as he closes his eyes. When he opens them again, he seems determined, if a little nervous. “Is it weird if I say that I enjoy spending time with you? And would, maybe, want to spend more time with you in the future?”

A lazy grin stretches your cheeks as you tuck yourself a little closer to him. It’s peculiar, maybe, that you’ve just met a man that you feel you’ve known your whole life. Curious, perhaps, that conversation with him feels more natural than with most people you know.

But weird?

No, you don’t think so.

“No. Not weird.” You lean forward a bit, shyly; wait for him to maybe do the same. “You do owe me the rest of a Christmas carol, after all.

He does lean forward, just a bit, and just as shy.

[mrslittletall]

Number 17 with Ornstein and Nameless King, for the whumps prompt list, please ^^

Title: Thaw Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Dragon Slayer Ornstein/Nameless King Word Count: 4.859 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30799619

Summary: Unable to sleep, Ornstein takes a walk on Arch Dragon Peak, completely underestimating just how cold it can get up there.

(Author's note: Drowning/Hypothermia

Arghl, of course Ornstein would prompt me to write a massive amount of words, so here you go, enjoy your prompt ^^ I went with Hypothermia, because I already used Drowning for another fic.)

It was the dead of the night and Ornstein was wide awake.

He tried to fall back asleep a few more times. He closed his eyes, buried himself under the blankets and tried to completely empty his mind, but it was of no use. Eventually, he gave up. He needed to get up and go outside.

Back in the cathedral, he always had donned his armour and went on patrol through the dark streets of abandoned Anor Londo, but he wasn't at the cathedral anymore. Regardless, he knew that he couldn't stay here, lying wide awake in bed with no prospect of rest.

Ornstein got up and shivered. It was a cold night. He had come to Arch Dragon Peak only a few months prior, and he hadn't known how cold it could get up here. There surely would be snow outside. Ornstein searched for some warm boots and a thick sweater. Once he was dressed, he was putting his hair into a ponytail. Finally, he put a pair of gloves on. As he was sitting there, considering if he truly was fitted for the cold, Ornstein went back to his luggage and got a scarf out. It was old and ragged, but it still held him warm. A dragon was knitted into the scarf, it had been a gift from a dear friend. Ornstein enlaced his neck with the scarf and went to the door.

The only thing that Ornstein took with him was his spear. He had discarded his armour shortly after arriving and he planned to never don his armour again. He only took his spear with him in case he needed to defend himself. His dragon slaying days were long over.

On the way outside Ornstein stopped to peek into the room of the Master. It still felt unreal for him, that he had found him. That he had been so close all the time, on a mountain that could be seen from Lordran. Ornstein never had suspect for him to be so close, and so he had searched the world before finally taking a look at this mountain.

The Master was fast asleep, cuddled in his blankets and looking peaceful and content, his long white hair all over the pillow. A smile washed over Ornstein's face before he frowned. The Master wanted to rekindle his relationship with Ornstein right away, but Ornstein had been... reluctant. Too much had happened. The Master never knew about the hardships of Ornstein in the cathedral, about his relationship with Smough and how hard the journey to find him had been. He had just lived freely without a worry in the world. Ornstein wasn't ready yet. Even though his heart screamed at him to just forgive his old love, his brain said no. He also couldn't deny this tiny sting in his heart every time he thought about how the Master had turned traitor.

It were these thoughts that kept Ornstein awake. A walk in the fresh night air would do him good, so Ornstein finally turned around and went outside.

The fluffy snow on the ground told him right away that it was cold. It seemed fresh, as if it had just fallen. It was crispy cold and Ornstein felt how his lips got dry. It wouldn't surprise him if he would have a few cuts from the cold on his exposed skin later. He wouldn't mind about it though. He only wanted to take a walk for ten to fifteen minutes and come back right away. He would hardly freeze to death in this short time, especially not with the warm clothes he had put on.

Ornstein picked a direction and started to walk. He wasn't too familiar with the monastery grounds, but he had a general idea where everything was. For now, he was searching for some alone time, so he went away from the monastery, down the mountain path. The snow crunched under his feet. Ornstein thought back at the time that Artorias had challenged him to a snowball duel. It had ended with a bleeding nose for Ornstein and lots of apologies from Artorias. In the end, they had gone inside to have a warm drink. That had been much better times.

Artorias had died in the meantime. It had been such a long time ago, that almost nobody recognized his name anymore. Ornstein had heard of a group that honoured his memory though, a group that fought the dangers of the Abyss. He asked himself if they would just end like his late friend, corrupted and being forced to put down by some nobody. He wished this fate on nobody. At the same time, he had wanted to get put down by that nobody, but it never happened.

Ornstein looked at the ground and at the footsteps he produced. Having died back in the cathedral would have made everything so much easier. Then he wouldn't have to walk through the snow and try to avoid thinking about how he felt about his Master or missing his dead friend dearly once again.

He often asked himself if the other Knights of Gwyn waited for him or if they already moved on. If there was something like an afterlife and Ornstein would enter it somewhen, he probably would get his ass beaten for having taken so long. Ornstein never wanted to live that long. It still had happened. Deep inside of him, Ornstein secretly only wished for it all to finally end.

His thoughts wandered back to his Master. He, as well, hadn't died. He had stayed alive. He spent all these years, decades, centuries, millenia... how did he spend them? He didn't look unhappy, but... lonely. He looked incredibly lonely whenever Ornstein refused to get hugged by him or he cut their conversation short and went elsewhere because he felt unable to think straight in his presence.

Ornstein didn't even know why he was so stubborn.

Ornstein raised his head and looked in the sky when he felt something cold on his face. It had started to snow again. He probably should head back before he couldn't see anything anymore. Ornstein turned around and froze in place. He wasn't on the path anymore. He had been so lost in thought that he must have left it without noticing.

That was bad. He better found the path soon, or he could turn into an icicle very soon.

Ornstein kept his eyes on the ground and started to walk in the opposite direction he had come from, hoping that he would find the path back to the monastery by following his footsteps. This worked well until he had to notice that the snow, which had picked up in intensity over the time, had filled in his footsteps.

With not being able to see the path and not knowing where he was, Ornstein felt a slight panic creep up into him. The master had warned him to not get lost out in the mountain when it snowed. When the snow picked up, he would lose all orientation, not knowing where he was or in which direction he could walk. Ornstein felt it right at this moment, the snow was flurrying so wild that every direction he looked into seemed to be a pure white.

It didn't help that Ornstein started to feel his fingers and toes. Even with the gloves and the warm boots he was wearing, he felt the cold seeping into his body. His fingers and toes were going numb and soon he wouldn't be able to feel them anymore.

Still, Ornstein picked a direction and started to walk. He just needed to find something, anything, he could orientate himself on. Ornstein was in luck when the direction he picked ended on a wall. It also provided some shelter from the blizzard, so Ornstein leaned against the wall and tried to find out where he was. He couldn't be too far from the monastery. Of course this only applied when he hadn't gotten lost even more on his quest trying to find a way back.

A particularly cold and strong wind gust hit Ornstein and he hugged himself in an attempt to conserve some warmth, when he got buried under a sudden, very cold pile of snow. Ornstein yelped when it hit him, the snow came crashing down with enough force to even knock a man of his size down on the ground. As he was still in a slight panicked state about the possibility of being caught in an avalanche, Ornstein noticed that the snow around him didn't move.

It was his luck that he took his spear with him, because Ornstein was able to melt the snow around him and free himself from the pile. Only that now his clothes were completely soaked! It didn't matter how warm they originally were, when melted snow dripped off them. The harsh winds and still ongoing Blizzard did nothing to warm Ornstein up and he knew that he had to find a warm place soon if he didn't want to freeze to death.

Ornstein decided to follow the wall and hoped that it led up. The monastery was pretty much on the peak of the mountain, he should find his way back like this. Even though his toes protested, his body was violently shivering and he could hear his teeth chatter from the cold, Ornstein started to move.

The shivering didn't stop. How could it, when his clothes were so soaked? While Ornstein had the brief idea to use the powers of his spear to dry them, he probably would set them on fire on accident and he preferred wet clothes over no clothes in this heavy weather. While moving felt easy enough at the beginning, he soon started to feel sluggish and even putting one foot in front of the other was becoming a chore. He raised his head when he heard a voice, but quickly had to notice that he must have mistaken the wind... he just didn't know why the voice had sounded so much like Artorias.

Ornstein didn't know how long he already had wandered, when he felt the tiredness he had craved earlier, washing over his body. As much as he wanted to sleep back then, he knew that if he fell asleep in this cold and in this weather, he wouldn't wake up again. He had to find a warm place if he didn't want to freeze to death. Though, as Ornstein put one tired foot in front of the other again and again, feeling how his strength more and more left him, he asked himself why he resisted. Hadn't he thought about wanting to die just earlier? He just needed to give in and let his body rest. The cold would do the rest... he had been alive for so long already, maybe after his death he would finally see Smough and Artorias and Ciaran and Gough again...

Ornstein hadn't even noticed that he had stopped walking and sat down on the ground. The snow barely felt cold around him anymore. In fact, he felt hot. He felt like he wanted to get rid of his clothes... Ornstein was just in the progress of removing his scarf when something big... and warm... picked him up.

“Ornstein, I am so glad, I've found you!”

Ornstein opened his mouth to say “Master?”, but nothing came out. Instead, a rattling cough happened and Ornstein felt his body convulse under it. That cough wasn't because of the cold, this cough had plagued him for some while now.

“It's alright, Ornstein. I am here now. We'll get you into the warmth right away.”

As soon as Ornstein felt the master's warmth, he recognized how cold he actually was. How strange... just a few minutes earlier he wanted to get rid of his clothes.... but now he just relaxed in the Master's arm. What had he thought about earlier? That it was fine for him to freeze to death...? What had he been thinking? He didn't want to become a frozen dragon slayer in the middle of nowhere... as his thoughts engulfed Ornstein, he felt how his heavy eyes started to close. Sleep, he just wanted to sleep.

“No, Ornstein, you can't fall asleep!”, Ornstein jerked awake as he felt a sharp pain on his face. He was wondering a brief bit how he could feel it, his whole skin felt so numb, but it was definitely there.

“Please, you have to stay awake a little while longer. I will talk to you, Ornstein, concentrate on my voice. Just don't fall asleep.”

Ornstein raised a weak arm and gave the Master's shoulder a squeeze, telling him that he understood. The Master held his words and started to narrate all kinds of tales, especially tales of their time together in the cathedral. Ornstein would have been impressed about how much he remembered, if he wouldn't have been so tired. Once in a while his eyes fluttered shut, but he opened them right away when he felt pain in his face. It was hard to resist though, the Master's chest was so warm...

Finally, after what felt like hours , Ornstein was out of the wind and the snow. The moment his body was back in a warmer place, it started to protest about having been out in the cold for so long and he started to violently shiver.

“We need to get you warmed up right away.”, the Master said and bellowed some orders to the snake people in that strange hissing tongue. Ornstein was too out of it to keep much thoughts about it, he just wanted to warm up.

The Master brought Ornstein to his bedroom... the bedroom of the master, not Ornstein's, and put him down, then removing his wet, no in the meantime, they had frozen, clothes. Ornstein, still shivering, didn't protest when the Master rubbed him dry with a big towel, frowning as he looked at his toes.

“You got yourself some frostbite.”, he said. “This will hurt for a while. But first, we need to heat you up. Your lips are all blue, your body temperature surely is too low.”

Ornstein simply stared when the Master got undressed and laid into bed with him, putting the blankets over them both. He then felt himself engulfed by the strong arms of the Master and being pulled closer to his chest. Now that they both were naked, Ornstein felt the warmth of the Master even more than earlier, when he had been fully clothed. He had been the prince of the sun, the firstborn of the sun, a god of light, and even though he didn't have any of his titles anymore, his body still radiated the same heat Ornstein had loved so much back in Anor Londo.

He curled himself up in the Master's embrace and finally allowed for his body to get the rest he so desperately had craved earlier.

Ornstein awoke again before it was dawn. The Master still held him in his arms and looked at him with his amber eyes.

“Are you feeling warmer, Ornstein?”

Ornstein nodded and then tested if his mouth and tongue would move, before he spoke: “Why did you come looking for me? You were fast asleep when I set off.”

“I went to check on you when I had to get up anyway to take a leak.”, the Master replied. “I saw you missing and knowing you and your habit of taking a stroll when you can't sleep, and knowing that you weren't on the privy, because I just came from it, I had to go look for you after I saw the blizzard outside.”

The Master's gaze darkened. “Ornstein, you should know better than to go outside in this kind of weather.”

“It... it hadn't snowed once I set off...”, Ornstein tried to defend himself, it was a weak attempt, he knew it.

“Still, the snow was fresh and you ran straight out into a whiteout.”

Ah, that was the word for it. Fitting, because Ornstein surely hadn't been able to see anything other than white when he got caught in the blizzard. He felt how the Master's embrace around him tightened.

“Don't scare me like that, Ornstein. I just found you again. I can't lose you so soon again.”

Ornstein was about to retort that he had been the one to search out the Master and not the other way round, but he assumed the Master probably had searched for him through other methods. Through the eyes of the sunlight warriors for example... He also felt too weak to argue.

“I am sorry.”, he simply said.

“I am just glad I found you in time.”

“Master... how did you find me?”, Ornstein didn't have a clue how he had done it. Either he had been very close to the monastery, or the Master had some kind of special radar to locate him before he froze to death.

“That's easy.”, the Master chuckled. “You never stopped being one.”

“Never stopped being what?”, Ornstein was clearly confused. What was the Master talking about?

“A warrior of sunlight.”, the Master replied. “I just have to follow the golden signature all of you carry around with you. Even though you have been an excellent dragon slayer on your own, you have always preferred to work together with others. This signature has never left you. I just needed to walk in the direction towards the nearest sunlight warrior.”

Ornstein felt himself blush a little, however it was possible with his blood still feeling like it had frozen in his veins. It was true, he had never left his Master's covenant. He had stayed true to the end with it even in Anor Londo, always having fought at Smough's side.

“You feel a little warmer, but you still haven't your original body temperature back.”, the Master said as his forehead touched Ornstein's, who suddenly felt a lot hotter than before. “I have told the serpent man to bring some warm soup and prepare a bath. We need to warm you up from the inside and the outside.”

“Hmmm...”, Ornstein only said. He felt safe and secure in his Master's embrace... he didn't want to get up. His muttering turned into a whine when the Master moved to stand up and Ornstein felt all the cold at once in his body, violently shivering once the body warmth of him had left.

“Oh no, Ornstein, I am sorry.”, the Master said and wrapped Ornstein into a second blanket. “I won't be gone for long, I just need to see what takes the serpent men so long. It has been over two hours now.”

“I.. How long have I been asleep?”, Ornstein asked, his teeth chattering, making the words come out stuttered.

“Not long, actually. A little longer than an hour.”, the Master answered. “I will come back in a minute, don't worry.”

“Yes... thank you...”, Ornstein said and wrapped the blankets around him. His eyes felt heavy again, but he didn't feel like he could fall asleep with his body shivering so much. He truly had underestimated the mountain. Or maybe deep inside of him he had wanted to not come back. I can't lose you so soon again. The Master's word still hang over him.

The Master came back only two minutes later. Ornstein hadn't even noticed that he had put a loose robe on, but of course the Master wouldn't run around naked around the serpent men (though it felt a bit like a pity, his body surely deserved to be seen). He let the robe fall on the ground and crawled back into bed, taking Ornstein in his arms again. Ornstein cuddled himself against the Master's chest and his shivering slowly halted.

“The soup will be here soon.”, the Master said. “As long as we wait, I will keep you warm.”

“Thank you, Master...”, Ornstein said, closing his eyes as he rested his head on his Master's chest.

“I am not your Master anymore...”, the Master said. “You can call me by my name.”

His name... Gwynfor, no, Faraam. He had left his old name behind when he got banished. Ornstein opened his mouth to say it, but nothing came out. He probably would never be able to call his Master by his name.

Luckily, the Master didn't take it as offense and simply as Ornstein being too exhausted, shown by him rubbing circles in Ornstein's back and whispering soothing words to him. Words that didn't reach Ornstein's ears, but it was nice to hear his Master's voice.

After a while, or at least it felt like a good while, someone entered the chamber. Ornstein slowly opened his eyes as he heard his Master say some words in the tongue of the serpent men. A bowl was placed on the nightstand and the Master took it, dousing a spoon in it.

“Ornstein, say aaaah.”, the Master prompted Ornstein and the knight wrinkled his forehead.

“Master, I can eat myself.”, he said, not wanting to be treated like a little child.

“I am just teasing you, Ornstein.”, the Master said, but there was a certain disappointment in his voice to be heard, as he gave the spoon over. He continued to balance the bowl of soup on his lap however, all while Ornstein slowly ate. As it turned out, the soup had needed a while because they needed to let it cool down. It wouldn't have been good for him to eat something very hot while his body was still low in temperature itself. The warmth of the soup was exactly right however and Ornstein could feel some of his strength returning after he had finished the bowl.

“How are you feeling?”, the Master asked, embracing Ornstein once again once the empty bowl was put on the nightstand.

“Better, I think...”, Ornstein answered.

“Your skin still feels very cold.”, the Master said. “It's time for your bath.”

“Oh, alright...”, Ornstein said and put the blankets away, only to remember that he was, in fact, stark naked. He quickly put the blankets over himself again, even though the Master was the only one to see him. The thought of anyone coming in and seeing him like that was too much.

“I am getting you some warm robes.”, the Master said, as Ornstein wrapped himself completely with the blankets. He didn't like his naked body very much, all the scars on it... it made him feel self conscious. Neither the Master nor Smough had ever minded them, but each scar only reminded Ornstein of his losses. The one on his chest, caused by the Chosen Undead, was a special painful reminder. The wound that should have killed him, but hadn't. Not even Smough had succeeded, to caught up with his feelings for Ornstein to go through with it, only having taken a tiny part of his soul for himself.

The Master returned and handed Ornstein a thick robe, which he quickly put on. He then pulled the blankets back and got up, only to realize that his legs felt like pudding. He fell back on the bed and quickly hugged himself when his shivering came back, now that he was away from the comfort of the bed.

“Let me help you, Ornstein.”, the Master said and Ornstein felt himself being picked up. He also felt his face flush, however it was possible with his body temperature so low.

“Master, let me down...”, he said, his voice strained and weak, “If anyone sees us like this...”

“The only ones here are the serpent men and they don't mind.”, the Master said. “Now let's get you into that bath. I will come in with you as well.”

“Alright...”, Ornstein said, feeling too weak to struggle much.

On the way to the bath Ornstein asked himself why he even bothered. The Master had carried him back into the monastery and he surely had been seen by the serpent men, Ornstein had just been too out of it to register. It also wasn't like anyone would be there to judge them. It wasn't as if Ornstein was still a knight. He relaxed in the Master's arms and only flinched when he felt the robe covering him being removed. He then was gently set into a basin of warm water. It wasn't hot, it was just pleasantly warm. Ornstein laid his head on the edge of it and closed his eyes, hearing some splashing noises as the Master entered behind him.

“The water had to cool down a bit to not shock you.”, the Master explained. “With your body temperature so low, we need to gradually warm you up.”

Ornstein managed to raise his head to look at the Master, tiredly blinking.

“Do I have to move?”, he asked.

The Master chuckled and shook his head. “No, you can just stay in the bath and let me handle everything. Just don't be surprised if you get a bad cold the next few days, but we will make sure that you get healthy again soon.”

Ornstein could feel how the Master stroked over his hair and closed his eyes again, leaning into his embrace, resting his head on his chest. He was still so warm, not even because of the water, the Master always had been naturally warm. Ornstein always had craved this warmth, had felt safe and secure in his godly influence, but now the Master wasn't a god anymore. He had never lost his warmth though... which made Ornstein think that maybe it never had been the godhood that he had craved.

The Master gently moistened Ornstein's hair with the warm water. “Why have you gone wandering outside anyway?”

Ornstein opened his eyes again, waiting a few seconds before he replied.

“I couldn't sleep. I normally manage to fall asleep when I go wandering around for a bit, so I did. I... lost my way and before I knew it, it had started snowing.”

The Master hummed as his calloused fingers went through Ornstein's curls and massaged his scalp. The Ornstein from the past would have purred at this treatment, but the present Ornstein just felt so very tired.

“You know you can always come and sleep in my bed.”, the Master said. “Like when I warmed you up earlier. I gladly hold you, so that you can sleep better.”

Ornstein wasn't opposed to the offer, but... there was a certain knot in his throat. He just couldn't rekindle their relationship as easily as the Master wanted.

“Master...”, he said and he felt mortified when the next words came out sobbed: “I can't... not yet. So much... happened. I found someone... someone who never left me alone. Someone I wanted to die with. But I didn't die. For some cruel reason fate left me alive, left me with the knowledge that he died and I didn't. I couldn't stay there anymore, I had to go. Somewhere. Anywhere. I just...” I just needed a goal. Ornstein didn't finish the last sentence, his face feeling hot and flushed, the salty taste of his tears on his lips.

“When I was out there I thought it would be better for me to freeze to death.”, Ornstein instead finished his rant, unaware that the Master had pressed him against his chest and rubbed soothing circles in his back.

“I don't know everything that happened to you.”, the Master said. “And I want for you to share it at your own pace. I won't force you to rekindle our relationship, as much as it would joy me.”

The Master cupped Ornstein's face in his hands and gently forced him to look into his eyes, clear amber eyes, that were equally sharp as they were gentle. “I was overjoyed when you found me here, Ornstein. I thought I would never see you again. I knew you were still alive, but I never thought you would come back to me. I had already let you go, for you had moved on. I won't force you to do anything that you don't want, but please, Ornstein...”, the Master gently lifted Ornstein's chin and now Ornstein could see some tears in his eyes. “Please never say again that you should have died.”

While Ornstein could still feel a tear or two running down his face, no new ones fell out of his eyes after the Master's words. Ornstein hadn't even considered the Master's feelings in all of this, having been purely too self-absorbed in his own thoughts, in his own negativity, in his thoughts about how he just wanted to stop existing.

“I am sorry.”, he choked out, hating how broken and weak his voice sounded and he felt like bursting into tears right again when the Master replied with.

“You don't have to.” (Author's note: Wow, I got carried away! Ornstein is just too fun to write for me. I know there is heavy stuff in there... I have this headcanon that Ornstein was lowkey suicidal since a long time, but he never wanted to actively do it, it was more like a “If I die here, that would be fine.” kind of way. He is just so tired and he has lived for so long, that he asks himself why he even is still alive. If you yourself have some thoughts, please get some professional help ASAP however, Ornstein's mindset is not healthy and NK was right to call him out on Ornstein saying that he wanted to die. There are a lot of issues between NK and Ornstein when they find each other again on Arch Dragon Peak. Feel free to ask about my headcanons about it or maybe one day I turn it into a story, if you guys are interested in my take about NKstein take. Anyway, this got even more angstier than intended, but I hope you enjoyed. Also, props for Death Stranding to letting me experience a whiteout. I tell you, they are scary. You can't see shit and you don't even know where up and down is anymore and that was in a video game!)

[bluepenguinstories]

Remoras Full Chapter XLIV: Sting Ray

Exhaustion set in as soon as the form before us faded. Vague shapes of the people around me blurred further until they were just airbrushed silhouettes who swayed from side to side. They were both close to me while also being further away. Miles away, even as they stood in place, next to Sunny and I. Even without exhaustion, I would have felt the same, thanks to the high setting in.

“I can’t believe it’s over...”Sunny muttered as she puffed the last of her joint. I think we were all shaken by the experience, even if none of us were naive enough to believe we were rid of such a monster.

Before we were ready to move on, Remora stepped out in front of us and lowered herself down to one knee.

“Aw, are you about to propose to someone?” Sunny leaned in and teased. Remora looked up and tilted her head.

“...What?” She asked, perpetual confusion. “No. I just...well, I do have a proposition.”

“Well, out with it!” Sunny urged.

Remora lowered her head, then continued:

“I left you all at a time when I suspected we weren’t rid of the one who sought to harm us. Thus, I put you all in danger. For that, I am sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I tried to reassure her, “I don’t think any of us knew Cronus could conjure up a fog like that.”

“Even still...I left and I shouldn’t have. For so long, I wanted a home, some place I felt right in. Maybe this place wasn’t what I would have considered ‘home’ at first, but over time I found you guys to be important to me. Yet I left you all behind, because I was scared. Because I didn’t understand what you all meant to me. So, even though I know I have no right to ask this of you, I will do so anyway: may I be a part of your lives once more? If you refuse, we’ll part ways once we reach the surface and you’ll never have to see me again.”

We all stood in silence. Despite the haze which was taking over, I took the initiative and cleared my throat.

“Oh my. I wasn’t expecting this,” I remarked.

“I’m serious,” Remora replied.

I can’t do serious. Not when I’m starting to feel the buzz kick in.

“I know. It’s just that you should know by now that at least in my eyes, you’ve always got a home here.”

“Yeah, I don’t see why you’d need to worry about something like that,” Sunny added.

“Still,” Remora turned her head away from Sunny and I, “I want to make sure it’s okay with everyone.”

Tigershark stamped her feet as she marched up to Remora, then tapped her on the shoulder.

“I still don’t like that you used to kill people. That’s not a very nice thing to do. But the you that I know is a good person now, so that’s what matters to me. Besides, you’re still one of my precious older sisters!”

“I…” Remora sounded ready to object.

“If you don’t stay, I’m going to be mad, so you have that to think about!” Tigershark roared, hands on her hips.

“I guess I do, huh?” Remora chuckled a humorless chuckle, awkward smile to boot. Afterward, she turned her attention toward Demetria, to which, the rest of us did as well.

“What? Why’s everyone looking at me for?” Demetria stammered, then on the defensive, took a step back and crossed her arms, “what do you need my opinion for? It’s not my decision to make.”

“Everyone means everyone,” Remora told her, insisting on an answer.

“Sure...Yeah. Whatever.”

“Is no one gonna ask me how I feel?” Tigershark jumped up as she asked.

“How do you feel?” Sunny looked down to humor the child, still with enough energy to jump in place.

“Terrible! Thanks! This whole thing has been a nightmare! First, there was that other you,” Tigershark looked over at Remora, “who turned out to be a monster. Then we fight rock monsters. We’re all bleeding and getting hurt. Then we fight another guy who’s a monster and apparently he’s the one who killed my parents? It wasn’t a blizzard, but a scary guy? And now...I’m ready to wake up.”

“Aw, we’re sorry, dear,” Sunny pursed her lip.

“No, I agree, though,” rasped Demetria’s rough voice. Odd, ‘rough’ when I had known her to have more of a mouse-like voice. “What else could it be called other than a nightmare?”

She didn’t speak another word after that, opting instead to hobble her way closer to me, and further from Remora. It was remarkable, that even in my high state, I could notice such subtleties. As we made our worn-out strides out from the room of Cronus’ design, I noticed little pebbles fall into my messy black hair. I ruffled through my hair, trying to shake the flakes out, all while more fell onto my head.

Of course. This part of the tunnel is one of his own design. Once he’s faded away, so too do his illusions.

“Don’t mean to rush any of you all, but I think this place is about to collapse,” I dropped the hint, and being the smartypants that they were, they looked at each other, eyes bulging, then in a panic, began to pick up their pace.

“Demetria, if you find it hard to walk, you can hold onto the side of my suit,” I offered to her. She scowled, though the scowl dropped to a more relaxed frown. As if to say, “fine. If it comes to that, I’ll allow it.”

“Good, and Sunny,” I added, then turned to my wife, my life, “you can do the same with Remora. If either of you need to lean on each other, that’s totally fine,” I gave the thumbs up. Sunny winked.

It was more like a game of hopscotch than a race of peril. Really embarrassing, if I were to be honest. If I had thought to bring a video camera, or even just record them on my phone, I’d look at the footage of us running for our lives and I would laugh. As it stood, I didn’t have that luxury. Any reason to laugh had to be put on hold as my breaths grew short and shallow and the collapsing rocky ground continued to close in behind us. Its pace picking up alongside our own increasing pace.

Other short breaths followed my own as if the other four were a barbershop quartet with stage fright. Hell, with me alongside them, it may as well be a quintet.

Remora and Sunny were both tall ladies. Tigershark was somewhere. Demetria was not a tall lady and I was a Short King (OK. So actually, I am Average Man height. Like 5’7”-(on my good days) 5’9”. Probably). Together we made up a group of people trying to get by with our lives.

I felt a little pull against my arm sleeve. I looked down and saw the orange jelly bean, Tigershark herself, held on tight to my sleeve.

“Hey! Look at you! Good job!” I congratulated her as I tried to work up a smile. If not for myself, then for the kid. She still looked ready to cry. Maybe when we got back to the diner, I could make a cake. If we even still have enough ingredients. Dammit Cronus (because the fog, not because he stole our food, which in an indirect way, he may as well have).

“Fancy weather, innit?” Sunny tried up a Parisian accent.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re underground,” Remora replied in a non-emotive shout, partially muffled by the rumblings around us.

Out the false tunnel and into the original tunnel as we slid our way through as the collapsing illusion. As it shut behind us and became a wall once more, it caused a miniature quake and had us all jump into place before we fell into the ground.

“Worst trampoline I’ve been on in a while,” I remarked as I rubbed my sore bum.

Tigershark was the first to stand back up and made cymbal crashing motions as she danced around with an angry chicken look on her face.

“When I get back, I’m going to bang pots and pans, because I deserve to!” She roared.

“Yeah, can’t argue there,” Sunny murmured. Then her and I laughed.

When we struggled back up and continued walking, I decided to break the ice:

“So, anything you wanna talk about?” I peered at the Demetria beside me. She didn’t say a word.

“Ah, the quiet game. I see,” then I turned to Remora who had a confused look on her face, but also said nothing. “You’re playing too, I see.”

“You’ll have to excuse my Ray of Sunshine, he’s a little high right now,” Sunny waved her hand around in a fanning motion.

“High?” Tigershark looked up. “What’s that mean?”

“He’s ascended,” Sunny then fluttered her hands to the side, like she was breaking out of her cocoon and becoming a beautiful moth fairy.

I tried to keep quiet. I knew I should. There were rules, and if all the world was a stage, then I was a character just as much as anyone else around me. Which meant, there were rules. One of those rules was that I was to stick to the established personality traits of my character. Any deviation was forbidden.

Oh, but much like someone who drank a gallon of tea needed to pee, if we walked through this long tunnel with neither Sunny nor I saying a word, I think I’d be in throbbing pain.

“A word,” Sunny took one for the team. “That’s all I’m going to say, though.”

Wow. Do we share the same mind?

“Thank you, dear,” I told her.

“Any time. Just remember: you’re my wife.”

I chuckled in response.

“I’m your wife, just as you are mine.”

“Wife and Malewife. We’re a gay male and female couple,” Sunny snapped her fingers and remarked.

“That’s what I’m saying!” I exclaimed in agreement.

Collective groans were made from the other three ladies.

Much of our trip back from then on was a blur, other than the fact that at one point, Demetria remarked, “gee, I bet everyone else back at the diner’s wondering what’s taking us so long.”

Although I was still a little outside of my mind, I let out a chuckle.

“Yeah, they’re probably thinking, ‘it can’t possibly take this long just to turn the lights back on’.”

Speaking of lights, as weary as we were, the sight of the bright, yellow glow flooded into view the closer we reached the entrance back into the basement. I looked beside me and saw Tigershark blink several times and rubbing her eyes. The others might have been just as astonished to see light again.

For my part, I was just hoping I had a spare pair of glasses somewhere once we got back up to the surface.

We walked through and everyone’s astonishment was voiced through low “ooh”, “aah,” and “wow.” While they all looked around, I couldn’t help but notice little red streaks on the otherwise clean floor.

No doubt from the fight that went on.

Everyone else made it up to the ladder before me. When it was my turn, I noticed some red marks upon the bars of the ladder. Whether blood or rust, I couldn’t tell. I just hoped they were dry enough that none of the others had gotten it on them. Even without getting it on them, one thing was certain: all five of us were due for a bath (but not at the same time).

Once I made my way up into the kitchen, I closed the hatch behind me. Sunny dropped to the floor, a wide grin on her face, then shot her arms up.

“Whee! Let’s do that again!” She cheered.

“NO!” The rest of us shouted in unison. It couldn’t be helped, of course. She was still riding that high, even if I was starting to come down.

I half-expected for someone, or a few someones, to bolt through the kitchen door and check in on us. When that didn’t come, I expected to hear commotion from the dining hall. Then, when that didn’t come, I just had to investigate. My heart beat like a dog would wag their tail at the prospect of a treat. Though replace ‘treat’ with ‘mystery’.

So I strolled, or strode, whichever suited my fancy, out into the dining hall where I saw the crowd...that wasn’t there. Yes, despite my poor vision, I still couldn’t believe my eyes at the emptiness of it all. There were still plates and messes on each table, signs that life had been there. But where they had gone, that was still a mystery.

Everyone else came out from the kitchen soon after me. Behind me, I heard Tigershark ask, “where did everybody go?”

Yes. Good question. Just how long were we gone? What could have happened in the meantime? Were they all hurt?

“That’s a good question, pipsqueak,” Demetria replied.

“Hey! Who you callin’ pipsqueak? In a few years, I’ll be taller than you!” Tigershark shouted back with ferocious fury.

“Man, I love you all,” Sunny drawled out, an adorable smile spread across her face.

“Uh. OK? Thanks?” Remora didn’t know how to respond.

Two things caught my attention: one, though outside looked fuzzy and dark, it did not look foggy. Which could only mean that the fog was lifted. The other thing I noticed were a few sheets of paper spread out on a nearby table. Ignoring their banter, I wandered over to the table. Each sheet had our names written on one side, with a series of text on the back. Although I couldn’t make out the individual words of our names, I could tell who was who by the individual letters shown and the vague shapes that made them up.

I chuckled at the absurdity of not even being able to read a simple letter.

I hope I have a spare pair of glasses somewhere.

“Hey guys,” I motioned for the others. It was my own little way of obfuscating from the fact that I couldn’t see what was written, “come check this out.”

The others scrambled on over and noticed the sheets of paper on the table, just as I had.

“They’re...letters?” Demetria blinked, astonished, and just a slight tinge of confusion.

“Man, oh man! This is too much!” Sunny held one hand over her face while the other held the sheet of paper, “she spelled it ‘hoomin’! Like Moomin, but with an ‘H’!”

“It’s Astraea!” Tigershark gasped as she read her letter, “she said that everyone else went to the hospital and she followed them there! Apparently there’s someone in particular she wants to see.”

“What does yours say, Demetria?” I turned to her as she parsed through the page. Before she answered, she folded up the paper and put it in her pocket.

“Nothing important,” she answered in a dry manner.

“Same here,” Remora added with a shiver and a shifty look.

Nervous, much?

“In that case,” I smiled, still trying to save face, “I’ll keep my letter private as well. They are meant for the individual, after all.”

“Aw, I wanted to know what yours said,” Tigershark whined. I pat her head and chuckled.

“Maybe I’ll tell you about it later,” I suggested as a means to reassure her.

“...Heh...Hoomin,” Sunny mumured to herself and laughed a howling laughter.

Now that I think about it, she probably has less of a tolerance to that kind of stuff than I do.

I strolled over to each table and picked up each plate, ready to take it to the kitchen. As I held a stack in hand, I turned to the other four.

“Now, we’ve all had a long day, so how about we all relax? Go ahead, sit down, I’ll get you guys something to drink.

“I’ll take vodka,” Remora requested whilst lowering herself down to the booth next to her.

“What’s vodka?” Tigershark asked.

“Shitty alcohol,” Sunny answered, not seeming to care about the swear, “I’ll have whiskey, take it or leave it.”

“Both of those sound gross!” Tigershark stuck her tongue out. “I’ll just have some hot cocoa.”

“Whip or no whip?” I asked.

“Lots and lots of whip cream!” She roared and cheered, fist pumping into the air.

“How about you, Demetria?” I turned my attention to her and watched as she slumped over in her seat, next to Sunny, and sulked at the table.

“Coffee,” she stated, which I found interesting, as I never pictured her to be a coffee drinker. Then again, I didn’t know what kind of drinks she tended to like.

“And how do you take your coffee?”

“Orally.”

Her response left me no choice but to make my expression as dull as hers as I teased, “oh, really? And here I thought you took yours rectally.”

“Wha...no. I mean, black, I guess.”

Sunny cackled into a thunderous laughter and slammed her fist on the table, which shook the poor thing every which way.

Sheesh. It’s like I’ve got my own laugh track. Thanks hun.

As I worked my magic in the kitchen, washing dishes and preparing drinks, I thought it over and decided that what Sunny really needed was water. As for everyone else, it went over just fine: I didn’t have to venture back down into the basement to get some vodka (thank goodness) as there was a bottle in the fridge. After I poured a shot, I filled another shot glass with water from the tap. Next, I brewed a pot of coffee, boiled a kettle of water on the stove, and as I waited for each one to heat up and fill up, I took off to the back of the diner to search for a pair of glasses.

There were none in my desk drawer. Next, I ascended to the upstairs bedroom. Sure enough, on the night stand, there was a box for glasses. I opened it up, half-fearing that it would be empty, but my heart fluttered upon seeing that there was indeed a pair for me.

Thank my lucky stars. Feels like things are finally starting to turn around.

As soon as I put them on, the world opened up to me.

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone,” I hummed and made my way back down.

Before I went back into the kitchen to prepare the final three drinks, I unfolded the paper and read its contents. For the sake of posterity, I will transcribe it without so many spelling errors (trust me, just about every word was misspelled):

Dear Ray,

Thank you a lot for letting me be a waitress. I appreciate what you taught me about humanity, just as much as I do with the things Sunny and Tigershark have taught me. Tigershark is my friend, you know. Also, I liked asking people what food they wanted to eat. I learned so many names of foods.

I think we’re a lot alike, because we’re both curious about things. It’s good, I think, because there’s always more to learn. While I didn’t understand what was going on at the time, I know a lot of people weren’t doing too good and you looked a bit sad. But I think even if bad things happen, you’re still very nice. I also want to be very nice! But I think I like tricking people too. That’s fun (Tigershark taught me about tricking).

As for how I managed to write all this after everyone went to the hospital it’s because I can write fast (Tigershark taught me to read and write). I’m very fast! Maybe not running but I can do things fast!

Also everyone left because someone called the doctor and the doctor mobile picked them up. I was in my room but I heard that someone fell over. It sounded interesting, so I’m going to walk to the hospital now. I might come back, but it also might take me a lot of days. I can’t always tell where I’m going.

P.S. I think you would like Animal Crossing. Tom Nook is kind of like you. He’s a nice man and maybe human.

I smiled and folded the paper back up, placed it into my desk, and strolled back into the kitchen. There were still some missing pieces, some gaps that needed to be filled in, but I’m sure they would be explained in time.

Actually, I’m growing a little impatient on that front.

After pouring in the hot cocoa mix into the boiling water, I stirred it. Then I filled it sky high with whipped cream. The coffee was easy, since it was all automatic. Really, needed no explanation. As for my tea, I chose a nice cup of ceylon and jasmine tea, and let it steep. While it sat, I decided to call up Dr. Cole-Slaw. To my surprise, she answered right away.

“Ray! You better have a good explanation for all this!” She huffed into the phone, clear annoyance rang through her voice.

“I’m sorry, Shir – Doctor, but I was hoping you could give me one. I was away while everything went down. One moment, I was attending to business in the basement, the next, all my patrons are gone.”

“Are you aware what ‘DOA’ means?” She asked, a little ‘tsk tsk’ in her tone.

“Yeah. Of course. I’ve been a wanted man in a few cities.” That was a joke. I wasn’t as popular as some might have believed me to be.

“Dead on arrival, smartass. One of your friends, Xena Warrior Princess over here, called me to go retrieve a dead body. Is this some kind of practical joke?”

Dead body? What?

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. I don’t know anything about that. Also, Xena Warrior Princess?”

“I dunno, purple sword lady.”

“Wendy. I don’t think she’d appreciate being called that.”

“Oh, no, she does. I ran it by her first. She said it’s quite amusing. Anyway, care to explain?”

Still the same Shirley, I see. Still...this is concerning.

“Trust me, I’d love to. I’ve buried a couple of people outside of the diner, but there shouldn’t be any corpses inside.”

“Excuse me? There’s more? Have you gone off the deep end, Ray? I know you’ve done some questionable stuff, but I didn’t know you had it in you to be an ax murderer.”

“It’s nothing like that. Look,” I slid back from the counter, “I’ll tell you what I’ve been dealing with for the past year: there’s been a terrible fog, maybe you’ve seen it? Maybe not. But there’s been monsters in the fog attacking people and I’ve been sheltering as many people as I could, trying to keep everyone alive on what limited supplies we had.”

“No offense, but I’ve got a hard time believing that.”

“Maybe it’s better that you don’t. I’d rather it wasn’t real, myself. But as you could see, it’s been lifted. For equally supernatural reasons, I presume.”

I got to thinking about all that I’ve endured the past year. All that we’ve endured. How all that time, I never bothered to learn the names of the people I sheltered. It was just as Aurora said. Perhaps if I had gotten to know everyone, I would have figured out Sister Cecilia’s identity sooner. I would have figured out Captain Aca...okay, that one was obvious. But still, I wished that I had a stronger bond with the others. Maybe then I might have had higher spirits.

“Say, do you know who it was you picked up?”

“No, sorry. But your cohort seems to have an idea. I’ll put her on the line. She’s agreed to mop the hospital floors while she’s here. I figure it’s a fair enough deal since I ended up hauling off a whole crowd of people.”

“Great. Do it.”

“Oh, and by the way, our little Jane Doe’s still breathing. For now, anyway. She’s in, uh, not good condition, but it’s something.”

“What a relief. Wait, I thought you said dead on arrival?”

“Yeah. But I didn’t say arrival to the hospital. I’m a genius, I know,” she gloated.

“OK, let me hear from Wendy.”

She passed the phone on over, then I heard Wendy’s raspy yet sly voice.

“Hey, Ray, guess who I’m with at the hospital right now?” She posed the question.

“Are you going to tell me?” I wasn’t really in the mood for guessing, nor did I have enough information on hand to do so. “I know they’re a woman, that’s about it.”

“Hmm…” she lingered on that last ‘m’, “have you taken a look in the mirror since you got back? I do take it you’re back, and not just calling me from underground.”

“No, I haven’t. I should get on that, but I’m busy preparing drinks for the other four.”

“You sure sound exhausted, that’s for sure. I bet you look just as bad as you sound right now,” she suggested.

“Probably. I just sound this way because I’m coming down from a high, but we all need our rest. Now, since you’re not going to tell me about this mystery patient, will you at least tell me what went on while I was away?”

“Aw, you’re no fun. But sure. Basically about a minute or two after you went down, the lights flickered back on and we were all excited. I told everyone to temper their excitement, as we still don’t know what to expect. What a statement that turned out to be, as maybe a little more than an hour later, we hear someone coming back up. Some of us got all giddy, thinking it was you guys, but instead walks out this woman none of us recognized. Well, some of us thought we did, but I’m not gonna name names. She fell down once she saw us, but not before saying something, I think it was, ‘that’s all, folks’ in a weak voice.”

“Someone besides us was down in the basement?” My heart skipped a beat. I knew there was that impostor, and later on Cronus, but I didn’t think there would be anyone else. “Did she sneak down there and hide or something?”

“Couldn’t tell ya. I’m as lost as you are on that front. But I’ll say this: upon seeing her face, I flew into a panic. I shouted for someone to call a doctor. Others thought it was ridiculous, but then we saw that the fog was gone and that was when we all wanted a doctor. Someone had the number to your good friend, Cole-Slaw, and she was happy to come out and get us all.”

Something tells me she wasn’t very happy at all, but let’s put that aside.

“Speaking of coleslaw, what’s the deal with it? You put mayonnaise on radishes and lettuce or something and for some reason that’s supposed to taste good?”

“Any other time, I’d love to talk about what constitutes as food, but I’m just a little beat.”

“I get you. I think even I would be, given what you all must have gone through. But hey, now we’ve got clear skies. That’s something to celebrate, no?”

“Yeah. Maybe in the morning I can get a good view outside. As it is, it’s just a little too dark for my liking. But anyway, I should go,” but before I did, I got to thinking, “oh, and hey: if this mystery patient manages to make it, I’d like to meet her in person. Maybe you can invite her back to the diner and Tigershark and I will treat her to a nice meal. How’s that sound?”

“Sure thing, Ray. We’ll see.”

There was a great list of things to look forward to, and that just became one of them. But anyway, I needed to deliver everyone their drinks before the hot drinks turn cold and the cold drinks turn warm. So once I ended the call, I brought out each of the drinks on a platter and strode out into the dining hall.

“Here you go, ladies,” I set down each drink onto the table. Sunny, without hesitation, downed her shot.

“Damn,” she wiped her mouth, “that’s the best whiskey I’ve ever had.”

I suppose the irony may have been that it would have been easier to mistake water for vodka than it would be whiskey, but since she was still riding a high, perhaps it was just a little hard to tell.

Tigershark sipped on her hot cocoa, a little whipped cream mustache forming above her lips.

I, meanwhile, too my seat at the booth just behind them. It wasn’t a matter of isolating myself from the others. No, I just liked to listen in as an outsider while I took comfort in the solitude.

“It really has been over a year. How old are you now, Demetria?” Remora asked, working up her best kind voice.

“Twenty-four,” Demetria replied and shrugged whilst sipping her coffee.

“Aw, man! That means I missed your birthday!” Remora then complained.

“Uh, yeah? That’s what being away for over a year means.”

“Still, it’s good to see you,” Remora smiled and continued to try to lighten the mood.

“It is? Why?”

“Because I’ve missed you.”

“No you didn’t. You just missed the attention.”

“That’s not true…” Her voice turned desperate, before lowering it.

“Sorry. That was maybe too harsh of me,” Demetria looked away as she mentioned.

“No, you’re right.”

Demetria got up from her seat, took the coffee cup, chugged it down, then announced, “I’m going to my room.”

She walked off a couple of paces, then turned back.

“Don’t worry, Ray. I’ll wash out my mug before I go.”

She walked a couple of paces once again, almost to the kitchen, then turned back once more.

“Actually, I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll go to my room.”

I couldn’t help myself, perhaps a tad insensitive of me, but I cupped one hand over my mouth and called out to her.

“Actually, you’ll go through the hallway, then take a shower, then go to your room!”

She twitched, it seeming to strike a nerve, but then just said, “yeah…”

I then saw Tigershark, still with her whipped cream mustache, look over with an incredulous face, then turn back to Remora.

“What was that for?! We just got back and she’s already got an attitude?” Tigershark thew her hands up.

“It’s because of me,” Remora turned somber and stared down as she explained, “the whole reason why she left last time, and why I left.”

“Why?”

“Because I told her that I didn’t, and couldn’t care about her. Or anyone. I really thought that at the time, too. She didn’t take it well, which...understandably so. So I tried to bargain with her, and...that made it worse, because I panicked and I wasn’t feeling well, just recovering from being sick, which probably contributed to the whole thing. So...I can’t blame her for being wary around me.”

“Well, that’s stupid! You care about us, right?” Tigershark was incensed and poised for a rant.

“Yeah, but it took a long time to figure that out.”

Interesting. I never thought I’d hear her say that. Perhaps in her absence she went through a long journey of self-discovery and probably has many stories to tell of her adventures.

“So? Just tell her that.”

“It’s not that simple…”

“Yeah it is. You just told me.”

“I’m sure she’d want me to prove it, and I don’t know how to.”

“That’s dumb too! And I’m sure you missed us, too! Also, what’s wrong with wanting attention? Who says you can’t miss people and want attention at the same time? Attention is good.”

“You don’t get it. You’re just a kid.”

“So what? What’s that got to do with anything? I’ll have you know, I’m eleven now!”

“Wow. I’m gone for over a year and all of a sudden everyone’s a year older,” Remora muttered. It was almost like she was making an observation, but to anyone else, it may have come off as sarcasm.

She looked out the window, listless, then peered her head over to where I was; to be honest, I was a little caught off guard that she would notice me, given that I was just there sipping my tea and listening in to everyone else.

“I’m going to my room, too, and, uh, Ray?” Remora announced.

“Yes?” I addressed her.

“Your wife’s asleep at the table.”

“Ah. Thank you. I suppose it’s time we get some rest. In the morning I’ll make us all a large meal, how does that sound?” I offered.

“I can do it! You’re still hurt pretty bad!” Tigershark shot her hand up.

“Very well. I’ll leave it to you, then,” I gave a light chuckle as I got up from my seat, took one last sip of my tea, and led Sunny up, first by tapping on her back.

“Come on, hun. It’s time we got ourselves to bed,” I coaxed as I helped lift her up.

“Boobas…” She murmured in a half-asleep daze. She must have been dreaming about bubble tea or something.

“Yes, dear. I understand quite well.”

We stumbled our way to the back, then up the stairs to our room. She rubbed her eyes a bit, but rather than start to wake up, as soon as we were next to our bed, she collapsed right into it. I followed suit.

The following morning, I fumbled getting my glasses back on, surprised that I had slept without taking them off, and my head almost crushing them while asleep. Once I had conquered that battle, it was time to...well, check the time. My phone read 5:31 AM, and as early as it was, I accepted it and forced myself out of bed.

As I got up, I felt the intense soreness of yesterday’s struggle. What a terrible and aching physical reminder it was. It got worse when I went down and took a shower; the hot water stung against the wounds on my sides and on my face. After getting myself dressed, I headed to my desk in the middle of the hallway and sat down. Yes, it may have been wiser to have brewed another cup of tea, or perhaps, dare I say, coffee, but I just wanted to sit and think for a little while.

What a day yesterday. For better or worse, we all made it back, and the diner is once again empty save for the five of us. While I do hope to get some customers sooner or later, I must say that I enjoy the quiet. We’ve all earned it. Now, even if some things may be different in terms of everyone’s personalities, if we are getting back to business as usual, then I ought to make a phone call.

The downside is that based on our timezones, Cybele would probably still be asleep.

I know. I’ll just send a text.

Me: It’s safe now. You can return if you’d like.

I set my phone down on the table, then almost jumped out of my seat upon seeing Remora seated across from me. Her serious expression made whatever she was there to say seem urgent.

“So, I just had a dream that we were all on a battlefield and then Demetria died and I got sad, so there’s no denying it now: I’ve got a crush on her.”

I matched her dull expression with my own.

“Remora, it’s like 6 AM,” I informed her.

“Is it? I don’t have my phone with me, so I can’t really tell the time. Anyway, I don’t see what that has to do with the dream I had, so quit beating around the bush and tell me what you think.”

Is this really all I’m good for?

“It doesn’t really sound like a crush,” I shrugged, figuring she wouldn’t give up staring until I gave her an answer, “it just sounds normal. You’d be sad if I died, wouldn’t you?”

She paused. Didn’t say a word. I let it linger for a few seconds longer, then I couldn’t help myself.

“What?! No answer?!” I spat out.

“I’m still tired,” she replied, “I have to think about this.”

I was still just a little baffled, but I let it go.

“Even if it turns out you haven’t developed a crush, like you theorize, I can still tell you’ve discovered some things about yourself, so I commend you for that. Maybe later we can discuss some of the things you’ve learned.”

“Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s a crush,” Remora dismissed, as if she didn’t even listen to what I had to say, “but I’m going to deny it, because I already know a relationship wouldn’t work out.”

“I agree. As it stands, I don’t think either of you are ready for such things. Besides, I know how she used to be, but do you think that’s something she wants now?”

“What? That’s not what you’re supposed to say. You’re supposed to say, ‘go for it, what do you have to lose? You only live once, et cetera’.”

“I’m agreeing with something you said. Isn’t that good enough?”

“We’re friends, right, Ray?”

I put my palm over my head.

“Yes, Remora. We’re friends.”

“So you’ll tell me anything I wanna hear, right?” She closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and smiled.

“That’s not how that works.”

“I know, but can’t you just pretend?” Her smile lowered and she pleaded.

“OK. What do you want to hear?” I humored her.

She just slammed her head against the desk and groaned.

“Ugh...I don’t know. What should I do?”

“First you should get your head off my desk,” I instructed. She didn’t, at least not at first.

“Ugh...you’re so mean, Ray,” she whined before lifting her head.

“Now, you should go back to bed. You clearly need some rest.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right,” she blinked, her face back to the blank expression I was used to seeing on her. “What are you doing up so early, anyway?”

“I’m just sitting and thinking. I like to do it sometimes.”

“Wow. That’s such an old man thing to do. You’re not that old yet, you know,” she pointed out.

“Don’t you ever do that?”

“Only when I need to.”

“Well, then, I think you need to do some of that after you’ve gotten a little more rest. You said yourself after we got back last night that the reason she’s acting the way she is around you is because of what happened before you left over a year ago. So don’t you think that should be addressed first before any prospect of a relationship?”

“Hm. Yeah. OK. Back to bed I go.”

A few hours later, Tigershark had made pancakes with strawberry syrup for everyone. She, Sunny, and I sat together while Remora and Demetria sat alone in booths at opposite ends of the diner silence.

“So, I was thinking, hun, how we don’t really charge people for meals most of the time,” Sunny brought up in between bites of the fluffy pancakes.

“Yeah. We used to a few years ago, but there’s been many changes since then,” I replied.

“Right. But you don’t mind that we don’t charge, do you?” She pondered.

“I suppose not.”

“So I’ve got a couple of ideas: we could turn this place into a hotel and start charging. If we hire more staff, then it shouldn’t be all that stressful managing all those people. Yeah, we had to house many people already and it was awful because of the circumstances, but if people can go in and out, then it should be fine.”

“It would cost a lot of money to expand this space in order to accommodate,” I pointed out.

“Right. My other idea is: why do we need to be a business at all? Like, sure, the front half is pretty much designed like a business, but there’s nothing saying we have to. We get by just fine on our own as it is. So maybe we could provide free meals to anyone who comes in and advertise that.”

“So basically what we’ve already been doing, but announce it?”

“Yeah!”

“I won’t rule it out. Not sure if I really want the attention, but it’s an option.”

“What do you think, Tigershark?” Sunny turned to the kid.

“Hmm...oh! You could do both! Make it like a free hotel!”

I put my palm over my mouth and chuckled.

“So like a homeless shelter, but fancy...not bad, not bad. Still would be expensive to see it through, but it seems like the kind of thing Wendy would approve of. Not to mention, just like with the previous hotel idea, we’d have to hire more staff, and even if they’d live here with us, they’ll probably want to get paid for their labor.”

“Oh! Have you heard from Wendy?” Tigershark asked.

“Yeah, I talked to her last night. She’s doing fine. Just hanging out at the hospital.”

“That idea…” Sunny scratched her chin. “Tigershark, you’re a genius! It’s easy! We make lots of money by taking on requests again!”

“That’s one way...but then there’s the chance of Cronus striking at any moment. Sheesh, everything’s become so complicated.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out something, hun,” Sunny reached across the table and gave me a pat on the shoulder. When she sat back down, I felt my phone begin to ring. I picked it up and saw that it was Cybele.

“Oh my Goddess! This is the best day ever!” Cybele gushed over the phone, her excitement at maximum capacity.

“Is it really?” I chuckled.

“Yes! I can’t wait! I’m going to head back on over right away! Oh, but what should I do about the big house? Should I sell it? Should I give it to a homeless person? Oh, but if I do that, then they wouldn’t be able to afford to pay utilities, so that wouldn’t be very fair.”

“You can sell the house, then give the money to a homeless person,” I suggested.

“Yes! Brilliant! Thank you so much, Ray!” She hung up right after, without so much as a goodbye.

“Who was that?” Sunny asked.

“Cybele. She’ll be coming back soon,” I informed her.

“Awesome! We’re getting the band back together!”

“Band? What band?” Tigershark looked at the both of us, turning her head back and forth.

“It’s a figure of speech,” I explained.

After breakfast, Tigershark and I tended to the dishes. Once we had finished, I headed back to Sunny and I’s bedroom so I could fetch myself a book to read. We had an extensive collection along multiple bookshelves, enough that if we expanded the space just a bit more, we could have ourselves our own little library.

After much deliberation, I decided to settle on a collection of Akutagawa’s short stories. His tales were amusing, if nothing else, so it should at least pass some time away.

As I made my way back downstairs, I heard some commotion between Remora and Demetria.

“We need to set boundaries! So you stay at your end of the hallway, and I’ll stay at mine!” Demetria shouted whilst holding a stick of chalk.

“But the bathroom is on your end of the hallway and sometimes I have to pee. Also, what about showering?” Remora stated her case.

“You’ll have to get creative! We’re not good around each other, and this is a good solution!”

I made my way to the bottom of the stairs, then turned to the two.

“Hey Demetria, I need to cut something, so can I borrow one of your knives?” I asked.

She looked up at me, blinked, then dug into her pocket.

“Uh, sure, here.”

I took her knife and held it up, making a slashing motion into the air.

“Yep. It’s just as I thought. The tension in the air’s so thick that you have to cut through it with a knife.”

“What?!” Demetria stomped her foot at my little theatrics. I handed her knife back to her, then smudged out the chalk line on the floor with my foot. She, of course, took issue with that. “Hey! What are you doing? I’m setting boundaries, here!”

“You’re acting like a child, is what you’re doing.”

“Am not! She started it!” Demetria pointed at Remora. I faced Remora, who then backed away a step.

“I was just trying to talk things out with her, but I understand wanting space and I’m willing to compromise, but please let me take a shower sometimes,” Remora pleaded.

“There’s the bathroom in the dining hall,” I explained, “but yes, there’s no reason to restrict what bathroom you use. That’s just ridiculous.”

“First off, when she tried to talk things out, she just made things worse,” Demetria was still going at it.

“Look, I’m fine if you guys fight with each other, but can you two not take up so much space? Sit down at a table, or go to a room and go at it there,” I told them.

“I don’t want to go at it with her, I just want us to coexist,” Remora explained.

“We can’t coexist! We’re not good around each other!” Demetria shot back.

I shook my head. This was really trying my patience.

“Maybe you’re right,” I relented.

“Ha!” Demetria gloated.

“What I mean is, if you two can’t get along, you both can leave. We don’t need any of this bickering.”

“What?! You can’t do that! I was here first!” Demetria protested.

“Technically speaking, Remora was here first,” I pointed out.

“Well I came back first!”

“Well, I’m...uh...taller?” Remora interjected in an absentminded fashion.

You do realize this isn’t a competition, right?

“I’m serious. Get along or else,” I reiterated.

“But we can’t get along!” Demetria whined.

“...You won’t have to. I’ll be in my room, so, there should be no issues,” Remora stated, then walked away back to her end of the hallway. Even if she didn’t look like one, the image of a sad little puppy conjured up.

Once she entered into her room and closed the door behind her, I turned to Demetria.

“Anything you would like to drink? Tea? Coffee?” I offered. She looked up, confused, but answered.

“Espresso?”

“Very well. Go ahead and sit down, I’ll make you some.”

I brewed a cup of espresso, then set it down for her and sat across from her at the booth.

“What gives? First you say I’m acting like a kid, and now you’re rewarding me?” She asked after taking a sip.

I smiled before I spoke.

“I figured ‘let’s have a drink’ would sound less like you were in trouble than ‘let’s have a talk’.”

“I see. It was a clever ruse.”

“Not really. So, care to tell me what I missed?”

“Nothing much,” she scoffed, “she just came up to me and said she was sorry and that she’s started to feel things. I didn’t get it and I still don’t. She asked me if we could be friends, at least until she figured things out.”

“What did you say to that?”

“I asked if it was even possible for her to be friends with someone.”

“Don’t you think that was a bit harsh? It may have hurt her feelings.”

“Does she even have feelings?”

Can you not tell?

“Sure she does,” I answered, “maybe she doesn’t express them in the same way that you do, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t. I don’t know, but I’m thinking she’s started to figure that out as well.”

“I’m sorry, then,” she muttered, then slumped her head down onto the table. I wanted to get her head off the table, but...I let it slide.

“I don’t need any apologies.”

“Well, she said in response to that, ‘I don’t know, but I’d like to try’ and so I gave in and said that I guess I could do that much. It’s just, what does she mean?”

“I think she means that she’d like to be friends?”

“But what does that mean to her? Can I really do that? It’s not like I really know what to do with friends either. I’ve never been good at that kind of stuff.”

“In that case, maybe it will be a good learning experience for both of you.”

“Why...why does anything have to be a learning experience?” She grunted, “I don’t want any more learning experiences. That’s not what I came here for. I don’t even want to like her anymore.”

“Don’t want to?” I questioned.

“That’s...you get what I mean.”

I do. It’s just that you’re trying to convince me that you didn’t say what you meant.

“Demetria,” I commanded, “what is it that you want?”

She looked up, leaned back toward the window, and looked out.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“Because you don’t have to be her friend if you don’t want to. It wouldn’t be right if you forced yourself to, would it?”

“Look: I came back to protect you guys. She wasn’t on my mind at all. I did everything I could to get her off my mind and just move on with my life, but I couldn’t bear the thought of the rest of you in a dangerous situation beyond your control. So if for nothing else, I wanted to return for that.”

“And I thank you for that. Seeing as the cat’s out of the bag, I think it’s fair to say you know what I think of you.”

“But I wish I didn’t have to be in disguise to hear it.”

“Yes, but I’m telling you now: we all like you. Tigershark likes you, even if she might like to pick on you sometimes. Sunny took a liking to you right away.”

“I’m not interested in stealing your wife from you,” she replied and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not what I meant, but I’m amused that you took it that way.”

She puffed her cheeks and scowled. I felt like getting a needle and popping one of her cheeks, though I doubted it would pop like a balloon.

“We’re all happy to see you back, don’t get me wrong. But you should have known that there was a chance of her coming back as well.”

“Really? I thought she didn’t care about anyone.”

“Oh, come now,” I flashed a toothy smile, “and I thought you knew better than to take people’s words at face value.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She turned to face me.

“Figure it out yourself.”

Again, she puffed her cheeks. I wasn’t going to spell it out for her, but I figured an elaboration was in order.

“Don’t get me wrong, even if she was how she was just a couple of years ago, she’d have justified it by saying ‘I’m only doing this because it’s my mess and I need to clean it up’ or something to that effect. But how is that any different than ‘I only came back to protect you guys?’”

“It’s plenty different! What? You saying I’m a liar? It was a big motivating factor! If I never heard that you guys were in trouble, I probably would have never returned. That would have been that. Like I said, I wanted to move on with my life.”

“I don’t want to put words in your mouth. You say you came back to bail us out, I believe you. And so you did and we are thankful, so now there’s nothing stopping you from moving on with your life.”

“Uh, yeah there is. Cronus is still out there and he could come back any time. What then?”

For a moment, I had forgotten that whole matter. Oh, such sweet ignorant bliss.

“It’s true he really had us on the ropes. Drove me to the point of despair, took lives right in front of me, all for the sole purpose of wearing me down. But if the same incident were to happen again, even more hopeless this time, I want to maintain compassion just to spite him. I want to learn everyone’s names, that way even if their lives end up lost to his petty game, at least they would be remembered. However, now that we have more knowledge at hand, going forward it will be that much easier to prepare. What I’m saying is that while there’s no guarantee, you shouldn’t have to hinder your future for our sake.”

“You wouldn’t be hindering my future,” she muttered.

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because if it’s something that I chose to do, then it’s on me.”

“I see. I’m just saying, you can choose to do other things. It’s true that there are times situations are out of one’s control, but you’re crafty in ways that even surprise me sometimes. If you need support, I could try and assist you in any way. Even if there’s something you want to do and you can’t achieve it, I’m just saying that I want you to have the option of trying.”

“Thanks,” she replied, then let out a dejected sigh, “she’s going to be disappointed. I’m not the same person she remembers.”

“So what? Why worry about disappointing her?”

“I’m not. I’m just saying, if she’s expecting things to go back to how they were before, she’s setting herself up for disappointment.”

“I think it goes without saying that we’ve all changed since we’ve last seen each other, but now I’m curious: how exactly have you changed?”

“First of all, I finished school. I can be a marine biologist if I want to now.”

“Good job. I’m proud of you,” I gave a little clap, “if you want to be a marine biologist, you should. There are many benefits to being a marine biologist. If you want to stay in the area, you can find an aquarium to work at and visit here from time to time. We could talk about how your job’s treating you, and how life’s been, and we can both share a good laugh.”

“I just don’t know. I didn’t get it because I want to be a marine biologist. I wanted to, once, but I don’t know. I didn’t finish school because I wanted to finish school, either, but because I didn’t want it to go unfinished.”

“So perhaps it was a pride thing less than interest?”

She either laughed or scoffed. It was hard to tell.

“Yeah. Might have been something like that. I...also killed a few people.”

That took me aback. Though not appalled, just surprised. But given where we were at, who she was talking to, she should have known that there wouldn’t be any moral condemnation.

“You and Remora have something in common, then.”

“Is this a joke to you?” She rasped.

I smiled and shook my head.

“No. At least not one I benefit from laughing at.”

“I didn’t enjoy it.”

“I doubt she enjoyed killing, either. She was just conditioned to treat it as a chore or routine. Just another assignment.” However…

“That said,” I continued, deciding not to keep my thought to myself, “there is a certain thrill she gets from intense fights, hunts, perilous situations. It may not be that she enjoys pain. Whether it be inflicting or receiving. But...it’s a rush that’s hard to satiate.”

Demetria gulped, as if she knew what I meant. Sensing that she was afraid to speak, I continued once more:

“There are things that she was conditioned to believe about herself, things that she’s told herself, that she’s had to unlearn. Then after that, there’s learning new beliefs in its place. I can’t imagine it’s easy. I’d say it’s probably been scary for her, as well, and in that process of challenging such old mindsets, she’d resist them. Maybe she’s changed since then, and she’s not the person you first had a crush on and maybe you’ve changed and you’re no longer the person she was hoping to see again, but even if that’s the case and things can’t work out between you two, I think you should still have a talk with her.”

“About what?”

I snorted, then coughed up a laughter. It wasn’t like she said anything funny, nor did it warrant a laugh, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Anything. Just say anything to clear the air. Even if nothing’s resolved after, at least it would be better than avoiding each other. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you have to, nor do you need to do it right away. If you need time, if you don’t feel ready, that’s fine. But I do think it should happen sometime.”

“It’s going to be hard to face her,” she replied, and some of the edge in her voice had diminished, in its place an aching timbre.

“I can imagine.”

“What if we try to talk, but then I snap or lash out and that just makes things worse between us?”

I shrugged.

“I’d rather than not be the case, but at least then you’d have made an effort. Forty percent is better than zero, y’know?”

“Sounds like a wasted effort if it still ends in failure.”

“No effort is wasted, dear.”

She got up from her seat without another word. Her face looked a little more relaxed, though I wondered how much that had to do with the talk and how much it had to do with the caffeine. Then again, there’s the possibility that giving her so much caffeine would have done the opposite of relaxed her and make her unable to sleep, so...my god, why did she want that? Why not some relaxing herbal tea?

After dusk, Tigershark made tartiflettes for everyone with buttered sweet rolls on the side. Again, Sunny, Tigershark, and I sat together, while the other two (no need to name names) sat far away from each other at opposite ends of the diner. Both were thankful for their meals, but they remained fixated on the food in front of them, not on anyone else, let alone each other.

Once that was said and done, I walked back to my desk, gathered up papers, and examined any possible requests or avenues in which to make money through unethical means. Just me, a middle aged man, sorting through papers. As if that was what my life had been reduced to. Even with my glasses on, the words all seemed to just bleed into each other after a while. Every little option or scheme carried with it some kind of risk, and balancing risk and reward...man, it was a stress and a half.

I reached into my drawer, hoping for a joint, but none were to be found.

Sunny must have taken them. She might even be getting higher than a hot air balloon in outer space right now. Lucky her. Can’t really blame her, either. To quote a certain little nun, we all ‘went through hell.’

Going back over to the stack of papers, I looked up and saw Demetria emerge from her room and saunter (maybe ‘saunter’ wasn’t the right word choice, but she couldn’t stop me from describing her movements that way) through the hallway. She caught my gaze and turned her head.

“You said it didn’t have to be right away, but better now than never,” she told me, before crossing the threshold into the other end of the hall.

I expected that she would have knocked on Remora and Tigershark’s door (I didn’t know where the kid was, at the moment. My suspicion was in the kitchen, either cleaning up, or baking treats for herself). Instead, I watched as before she could get to the door, she bumped her head on an invisible wall. I heard her hiss, “ow,” then slide her back down against the wall until she sat, legs folded up, and her head down.

“Figures you would put up a literal wall. You’re not really one for metaphors,” she muttered, “then again, at least you’re direct. Here I’ve been trying to keep you out of my mind and avoid you to little success.”

I figured after saying that, she’d get up and go back to her room, given that it didn’t seem to be the right time. Props to her, though. She was a persistent one.

“Funny how that works, huh? I started out all obsessed with you. I wanted you, or at least I thought I did. Well, I’m pretty sure I did. I had all sorts of fantasies you probably wouldn’t want to hear about. Somewhere around the line those fantasies faded and in their place, I just wanted to know you better. Even then, though, I was still pretty attached, and I still think I wanted you to notice me, more than anything else. Now…” She shook her head, “Ha. You don’t need the whole recap.”

She folded her arms over her legs. It was like she was trying to cradle herself, but she remained still and just held on tight.

“You probably can’t hear any of this. That’s fine, too. Maybe it’s better sometimes to talk to myself and pretend there’s someone else listening. I’d do it more often, but I don’t like the sound of my own voice.”

I watched as the illusion shattered, the wall must have come down, and in its place, Remora sat at the opposite end of Demetria, in the same position. To boot, her back was against Demetria’s.

“I only caught the last bit,” Remora spoke up, “what was the rest of it?”

Demetria, startled, but regained composure within the same sentence, replied, “I’m not going to repeat myself.”

“That’s fine. But what are you doing on the floor?”

“I came to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. I guess just to try to work something out. Figure out where to go from here.”

“Well, you don’t have to believe me, but I’m glad.”

“I’ll choose to believe you – but only because if you aren’t, it doesn’t really affect much, but if you are, then it makes things a little better.”

“But what if you believe me, but then it turns out not to be true?”

“Dammit. Why do you have to ruin this?”

“I just want to cover all the bases.”

Demetria huffed, then answered, “I think I’ll choose to believe you anyway. I know how I’ve been since we got back, but I really would like us to be on good terms as well.”

“Do you mean that?”

“What? Now you’re doubting me?”

“No. It’s just that if you didn’t want to, I’d have understood.”

“Well...when you asked about being friends, it really caught me off guard. For one, the last time the subject came up, it was how you said you could pretend if I wanted, but it wouldn’t be real. When you brought it up this time, it was ‘at least until I figure myself out’. Which means that maybe after a while, you’ll come to the conclusion that you don’t want to be.”

“I know. It’s a risk. One that you might not want to take. I can’t really say what conclusions I’ll come to or how things will turn out. But I prefer to be upfront about what’s on my mind and how I feel, and at the moment, how I feel is that I would like to try being friends with you. I think I’ve reached the point where I can say that whether it’s pretend or not is a moot point, because if I think of us as friends, then I’m going to treat it as real.”

“B-but...what does being friends even mean to you?”

There was a pause and Remora lifted her head up.

“I’m not sure. Friends are...friendly to each other? Well, that might go without saying. I know friends are people who like each other. Get along. But then there are friends who don’t get along. So I’m not sure. I feel like I should know, it just seems more vague when I try to put it into words.”

“Well,” Demetria replied, “that makes two of us. I’ve never been good at that sort of thing, myself.”

“Then...we can not be good at it together,” Remora suggested. “Maybe we can both learn.”

“But how would we do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know, either.”

“See? We can not know together.”

“But how would we both be friends if we don’t know how to be friends? That just makes no sense.”

“I know. But I think if we were both in elementary school, we wouldn’t think so much about that sort of thing. One of us would just go up to the other and be like, ‘let’s be friends!’ And either the other would say, ‘yeah!’ Or say something like, ‘ew! Go away!’”

“That’s kind of a cute idea,” Demetria remarked, “if only we had met that way.”

“Hm. I don’t know. Even as a kid, I preferred to be left alone.”

“Oh. Yeah. Me too.”

“But now we’re adults and we’ve spent so much time wanting to be left alone that –”

“– you no longer want to be left alone?” Demetria suggested as she tried finishing that statement.

“Hm. No. I was going to say, ‘even if we have some friends, we don’t really know what it means.”

“Oh. I guess that’s true, too.”

“Yeah. But I like your answer better.”

“Yeah. But your answer applies to you and mine applies to me.”

“It’s kind of nice that way, though. Each different perspectives.”

“You know, when we talked earlier, and you asked me to hug you, it felt weird, but I said sure. So I held out my arms and walked up, but then you backed away and said you didn’t think you were ready after all and I didn’t take it well.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I wanted to, too. I’ve just never been comfortable with others touching me, and even if it would have been okay, I was still a little hesitant and nervous.”

“It’s okay not to be ready. I should know better. I was just hoping that things would be different.”

“They might be, in time.”

“You know, it’s still hard. Because I want to be friends with you, I do, and I feel like I should be happy about that, but then I just think about when we talked right before we both left and it hurts. Like, I was so convinced that we had gotten closer and that you cared, and hearing you say that you didn’t, I wanted it not to be true. But you pushed harder, and I just thought ‘maybe you’re right.’ Now you’re saying ‘I don’t know’ and it’s like, nothing’s really changed, has it?”

“You’re wrong there. I’m sorry about what I said and how it affected you and it makes sense that it would hurt, but you’re wrong in that nothing has changed. Before, I was so sure it was a ‘no’ and now I’m not so sure, but I’m more optimistic, and even leaning toward the possibility that it’s a ‘yes’. It just feels messy and gray.”

“I think I can understand that. To be honest, it’s going to be awkward. Us, as friends.”

“We’re awkward people, so it’s to be expected.”

“But at the same time, you might not like who I am now.”

“Maybe. But I’d rather find that out for myself. It’s only been a couple of days.”

“You’re taking this rather well,” Demetria remarked.

“Not really. I’m just taking it.”

“Well, I’m just saying, I’m different than how I used to be.”

“I’ve changed as well, you know.”

“How?”

There are many obvious things you could say, so what is it you’ll say? I wondered. Remora lowered her head, and when she answered, it wasn’t an answer I would have expected. But then again, it wouldn’t have been her if she didn’t throw a few curveballs in between her signature style.

“If I was the old me, and I still had that job, and you were the target, then I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Demetria spoke in what was like a half mix between a growl and a tease.

“You wouldn’t even see me coming.”

“I’d like to see you coming.”

...What?

“Well, maybe with how you are now, you would. But then, maybe with how I am now, I wouldn’t mind you seeing me coming.”

This is still about a hypothetical assassination, right?

“I suppose that’s how we’ve both changed, huh?”

“It’s not much, but it’s honest work.”

“So what are you thinking about now?” Demetria asked.

“How much I have to pee,” Remora answered. “That’s why I undid the barrier, so I could go to the bathroom, but then I saw you sitting there talking so I figured I’d hold it and sit too.”

“Oh my fuck. Just go to the bathroom.”

“But we’re in the middle of a conversation. It would be rude.”

“That doesn’t matter! We can continue when you get back!”

“But then you might lose your train of thought or I might not feel like talking anymore and just head to bed –”

This is ridiculous. I’m done eavesdropping. I should’ve just left my desk the moment they started talking. Why did they have to talk in the middle of the hallway, anyway?

I got up and headed out into the front of the diner. If those two had anything more to say, they could have at it. As for me, I went into the kitchen to check in on Tigershark.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I greeted after a knock with the back of my hand.

“I made cookie brownies!” She cheered, and I saw a large casserole dish filled with brownies.

“Oh, good. May I have one?” I asked.

“You may have two!”

She put two pieces on a saucer for me and had two on her saucer as well and she jumped down from the stool she stood on and we both walked out into the dining hall and sat at a booth together.

“Mm. Good job,” I complimented.

“Thanks. I was still hungry and sweets are sweet.”

“That they are. Just don’t have too many.”

“I won’t!” She scowled. “Maybe three. Or four. But that’s it.”

We both laughed together as we ate our brownies. Just a few minutes later, Sunny walked up. She looked (not) high, and her eyes were (not) bloodshot red. I suppose she might have moved the stash elsewhere and planned to smoke them some other time.

“Hey hun, you gotta come check this out!”

“What? I’m busy spending quality time with Tigershark,” I replied. And it’s quality time because I’m not hearing about bodily functions.

“I see that, but this is important!” She urged, and motioned us to come to the back with her. Tigershark and I hopped out from our seats and followed. When we reached the hallway, Sunny pointed and went, “aww” and Tigershark and I saw what the fuss was about: Remora and Demetria were asleep, leaned against the wall, and backs against each other.

“I guess that’s what happens when you hold it in for so long,” I remarked, then, realizing I had said that out loud, added, “emotionally, I mean.”

“Aww, so adorable,” Sunny continued fawning over the scene.

“How am I supposed to get to bed tonight? They’re blocking the way!” Tigershark complained.

“It’s okay, you can sleep with us tonight,” Sunny replied.

“Tigershark,” I turned to the child next to Sunny and I, “get the broom and dustpan. There’s something on the floor.”

“Don’t!” Sunny nudged me, “leave them be.”

“Tigershark,” I continued, “I give you full permission to draw on their faces with a sharpie.’

in response, Tigershark grinned and ran off to go find one. While she was gone, I turned to Sunny.

“So, shall we head off to dreamland as well?” I offered.

“Oh yes. Two tickets, please,” she replied and yawned for added measure. We locked arms with each other and strolled up the stairs. I’d like to say that in the coming days, the dynamic between everyone improved greatly, but the truth is, it was more like slow and drunken baby steps.

[thecassadilla]

A Scarf to Keep Him Warm

Pairing: New Dream/Rapunzel x Eugene

Word Count: 1,754/AO3

Summary: Rapunzel decides to take matters into her own hands when she notices that Eugene doesn’t have any wintertime accessories.

Author’s Note: Hi again! I still hate fall, but I wrote another New Dream fic so yay! I was able to write about a skill that Rapunzel and I both share in this one - knitting! Although this is a modern!AU, Rapunzel is a skilled knitter just like she is in the movie. Writing this fic made me want to knit something even though I’ve devoted all of my time to writing these days lol. Anyway, enjoy!!!

In the years since she’d met him, Rapunzel learned a lot about the man known as Eugene Fitzherbert. From his meticulous hair styling and grooming routine, to the way he took his coffee, and everything in-between.

But the one thing that she couldn’t quite understand was his lack of preparedness for the colder seasons. A chill formed in the air, and while Rapunzel had added a hat, gloves, and a scarf to her outdoor ensemble, Eugene hadn’t added anything. He simply wore a black leather jacket, his hands buried deep in the pockets when they were outside for a prolonged period of time. 

The first winter they spent together, Rapunzel kept making the foolish assumption that he’d eventually add those missing pieces to his wardrobe. But soon, the air grew warm, and there was no longer a need for such accessories, and the assumption changed. Her new assumption was that he had a high tolerance for cold weather. Nonetheless, their pea coats and leather jackets were traded in for shorts and tank tops. 

But the seasons are cyclical, and autumn eventually returned. On one particularly brisk October morning, Rapunzel and Eugene sat at his kitchen table, discussing the rapid change of weather.

“Just yesterday it was sixty-five degrees!” he griped, setting two steaming mugs of coffee onto the table. “Today? It’s forty degrees! Should I break out the shovel just in case there’s an unexpected blizzard tomorrow?”

“Stranger things have happened,” Rapunzel shrugged, cradling the mug between her hands and relishing in its warmth.

“I’m getting really tired of the seasons,” he moaned. “I want to move somewhere where the seasons never change. Somewhere tropical and sunny. I hate cold weather.”

“I see,” she remarked, furrowing her eyebrows together and placing her mug back on the table. She leaned back in her chair, pondering what he had just said, before proceeding with her query. “How come you never wear anything that keeps you warm?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t exactly wear clothing that keeps you warm during winter,” she explained. “I feel like if you wore a scarf or gloves, then the cold would be more tolerable.”

He sat still for a moment before answering, his face softening. “I never really had those things when I was growing up. So I guess I never really thought about buying them as an adult?”

“Eugene,” she cooed, reaching out and taking his hands in her own. “That’s awful. No wonder why you can’t stand the changing seasons - you suffer every time you go outside because you’re cold.”

“It’s really not a big deal, Sunshine,” he promised, averting his eyes. He was trying to downplay the situation. “I’m used to it. I’ll survive this winter, just like I survived the past twenty-three winters: with a bit of complaining, and my trusty old leather jacket.”

Rapunzel was not satisfied with his response. Why would he want to continue to suffer when the solution was so simple? So, she decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. If he didn’t want to buy a scarf, she would make him one. It would be more expensive and labor-intensive than simply buying him a scarf, but it would be worth it.

Knitting was one of the many talents that she acquired, but never put to use. It wasn’t a particularly difficult hobby, and she was grateful that she’d finally be able to put her skills to work. The following day, she spent hours on the Internet, researching patterns and types of yarn before taking a trip to the craft store. She wandered for what felt like hours, picking up the supplies that she knew she needed - particularly, size eleven needles - and the supplies that she wanted. After consulting with the sales associate, and taking trips to a few other craft stores, she finally found the yarn she was looking for; skeins of dark grey cashmere. It would match his leather jacket, and it would be softer against his skin than wool. Finally satisfied, she returned home to her apartment and set off to work.

The pattern she chose was fairly simple, and nothing to fuss about; a simple two-by-two rib stitch pattern. She followed the pattern closely, casting on thirty-nine immaculate loops. Knit two, purl two, repeat. Row after row, she sat for hours under the soft glow of the floor lamp in her tiny, cozy living room. It was easy to keep going; her hands growing accustomed to the back and forth motion of the needles, and the constant pulling of the yarn. When she finally put the needles down and glanced at her cell phone, she realized exactly how much time had passed. Fifteen text messages from Eugene that had gone ignored. Instead of answering them she decided it would be easier to call him. He answered after a few rings.

“Hey, Sunshine,” he crooned, his voice low and gravelly.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“It’s alright,” he insisted, and he suddenly sounded much more awake than he did the minute before. “I dozed off on the couch. I’m glad you called, we didn’t get to talk much today.”

“Sorry about that,” she grimaced. “I was a little preoccupied.”

“No need to be sorry. You were busy.”

“I still should’ve checked in.”

“I’m just happy to hear your voice.” She could practically hear him smiling through the phone and she found herself blushing. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“No,” she sighed, glancing down at the project in her lap. “I have plans after work. Tuesday for sure, though.”

“Okay,” he said, softly. “I think I’m gonna head off to bed now.”

“Same here. My eyes are starting to burn.”

“Goodnight, Sunshine. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she smiled. “Sleep well, Eugene.”

Though, instead of making it to her bedroom, she settled back into the chair and slept there, too tired to move.

When she got back from work the next day, she settled into the same routine. Knitting and purling under the glow of her lamp until she finally felt satisfied with the length of the scarf. She began to bind off, making sure that the edges were even and perfect. When she finished the very last stitch, she rolled her shoulders back, releasing the tension that had built up while she was working on her project. She stood up, dropped the needles onto the chair and brought the scarf over to the mirror. She draped it over her own shoulders and around her neck, trying to picture what it would look like on Eugene.

She eventually took it off, and gently folded it so it would easily fit into her oversized purse, as the best way to catch him off guard was to not put his gift in a gift bag. And for the rest of the evening, she twiddled her thumbs and hoped that the clock would move faster so she could finally give the scarf to him. 

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

Rapunzel was buzzing with excitement by the time she finally made it to Eugene’s apartment, and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide the scarf from him for long once she actually saw him. She knocked a few times before he answered.

He was already smiling when he opened the door. “Hey, Rapunzel.”

“Hi,” she said, walking into the tiny hallway. They shared a quick, but sweet ‘hello’ kiss before she shimmied out of her jacket and hung it on the coat rack. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

They had barely made it any further into his apartment before she nearly exploded with eagerness. “So, I have something for you,” she said, rocking back on her heels and clutching her purse in her hands. “Something I made.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “You have to close your eyes, though.”

“Okay,” he agreed, squeezing them shut.

“No peeking,” she warned.

He shook his head. “No peeking.”

Content with his promise, she reached into the bag and unraveled the scarf. Taking it in her hands, she dropped the purse on his coffee table and stepped closer to Eugene, balancing on her toes before loosely draping it around his neck. Her cold fingers gently brushed across his cheek as she created a single loop, adjusting it so each end of the scarf was even and flat against his chest. Smiling, she took a step back, satisfied with her work.

“Okay, you can open your eyes.”

He did as he was told, and his eyes immediately darted down to the unfamiliar object that had been placed around his neck. A small smile appeared on his face and he gingerly took one end of the scarf in his hands, admiring the soft texture and the perfect stitches.

“You made this? For me?” he asked, almost in disbelief.

She nodded, her own lips creeping upwards. “That’s why I couldn’t see you yesterday. I wanted to finish it.”

“I don’t know what to say, Rapunzel,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He couldn’t seem to peel his eyes away from her craftsmanship. “This is the most generous gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you.”

Before she could respond, he was pulling her into a hug, squeezing her as tightly as he could, and burying his face into her neck. “I didn’t want you to be cold this winter,” she explained.  

“I didn’t even know that you knew how to knit,” he remarked, his voice muffled.

“I never mentioned it. It’s been a long time since I knit anything.”

He finally pulled away enough to look at her face. “I still don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”

“I’m just glad that you like it.”

“How could I not like it? It’s so beautiful and thoughtful.”

“I could make you gloves, too. And a hat, if you want. The only thing that I can’t make you is a sweater because of the sweater curse.”

He looked puzzled. “The sweater curse?”

“It’s an old superstition. If you knit your significant other a sweater before you’re married, then the relationship will end.”

“Don’t do that,” he laughed, waving his hands. “No curses here, please.”

“No curses,” she promised.

“Thank you again, Rapunzel. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“You shouldn’t have to suffer through the cold weather, and I wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t,” she smiled. “I’m just happy that you’re happy.”

Without any hesitation, he took her back in his arms, both of them as safe and warm as could be.

[diaz-buckaroo]

9-1-1 POV- Christopher Diaz:

—it’s a sunny, warm 80° F Los Angeles Sunday, and you get to spend the day with Evan Buckley, your Bucky, while your dad has another long 12 hour shift. Instead of spending the day with Carla or Abuela, Buck perks up with the idea that you two should hang out for the day that makes you incredibly happy, an idea impossible for your dad to say no to.

—Bucky takes you on an adventure to the neighborhood park, where he helps you do the monkey bars and pushes you on the swing set. The breeze that blows through your soft, brown curls is refreshing as you soar high into the sky and back down to earth into Buck’s hands that push you on your back, sending you back up high. Buck laughs along with your laughs. A wide smile appears on his face just seeing how much fun you’re having.

—After not as much convincing as it takes for your dad to cave, Buck drives in his Jeep to the local Dairy Queen for a mid-day Blizzard, you ordering the frosted animal cookie one while Buck stays basic with an Oreo blizzard. Maybe they should have some nutritional food, Buck thinks to himself as he goes back up to the counter and orders a small cheeseburger for you and a burger for him, along with a medium fry to share. You and him exit the restaurant and sit outside on the patio tables since it’s so beautiful out, and spend your lunch chatting about the newest school news and brainstorming ideas for what to do after. Buck pulls out his phone and clicks on the camera app, taking a cute selfie of them to to send to your dad. Buck asks for your input on what to say to him, so you suggest “having fun with Bucky!” He smiles as he types just that, reading his full text out loud. “Christopher says having fun with Bucky!” I say this blizzard tastes pretty dang good!” Your dad texts back and Buck reads aloud once more. “Tell Christopher I say “hi buddy!” And Buck, good luck with that sugar high later on.”

—since you’re his favorite kiddo, Buck always wants to spoil you even though your dad tells him he doesn’t have to and you have enough toys to fill the planet earth. Buck rarely listens to your dad, and he drives over to Target to buy a new Lego City building kit that looks complicated enough for you both to do it, together. You pick out the fire truck one, of course, that had a whole fire scene, miniature firefighters, a ladder truck, and everything, which made Buck blush and he tells you your dad would be proud of you when he sees the finished product.

—it’s already 6:00 pm when you finish building and spend a half hour or so playing with it. You two shared laughs and jokes, Buck cracking the majority of them as you play. You and him both start getting hungry as the Dairy Queen lunch wears off, so Buck cooks a 2 boxes of Mac and cheese for the 3 of you to share, the third person being your dad when he gets home after work. Buck asks you what you want to watch during dinner, and you suggest Despicable Me, the original. Buck smiles as he tells you it’s one of his favorites and that he loves how Gru loves those little girls after adopting them because it reminds him of you and him.

—sadly by the time the movie is over, it’s your bedtime. Your dad told Buck to have you in bed by 8:30 sharp, although it’s already 8:35 and you aren’t even in your pajamas yet or have your teeth brushed. Buck helps you pick out a pair of pjs, your gray short sleeve and shirt match with lightening bolt decals on it. After you brush your teeth, Buck tucks you into bed, sitting on the side of your bed as he pulls the covers to your chin and place your stuffed animal next to your side. You look at him and ask for a bedtime story, pointing to the book by his nightstand that your dad or Carla read to you at night. Even though it’s 8:50 pm now, Buck’s a sucker and reads to you and makes you promise not to tell your dad what time you actually went to bed. He only makes it past his 5 page of reading when you close your eyes and drift off to sleep. You feel a small, gentle, and warm kiss from Buck on your head before he walks away and shuts the lights off, with the door shutting next. You grin a tiny bit, thankful to have spent such a lovely and fun day with your best friend.

🧡

[miko-and-companyau]

We Lie in the Black and White

Miko meeting Hades! 

Not gonna lie, this may be my favorite story I’ve written for this AU so far. Get ready for some angst (will I ever stop hurt this child? Who knows!)

Once again, not beta-read (I really need to find a beta-reader for these things...)

...

“Is Euri okay?”

The winter had been hard these past few evenings. The snow piled up and the temperatures and food rations went down. Miko had moved in with the loving couple just a couple months prior and things were for once going okay. 

Except not fully. 

Orpheus’ fingers froze in mid head pat. He was putting Miko to bed, kneeled down next to the child who was sat upwards in his cot, a worried expression evident on his face. The musician sighed, melancholic smile plastered on his lips, “she will be, Miko. I promise.”

… 

She had a system, a nightly routine she had to complete before her brain allowed her to relax and unwind. Miko watched as she made her way to the kitchen, in her hand a green notebook with a slightly bent cover. Opening up the cupboards, cabinets, and drawers, green notebook flipped open to the next blank page, she’d count their stock. 

He observed how she stacked cans high in the cabinets. Counting and re-stacking. Re-stacking and counting some more. She held on firmly to jars of pickled vegetables and preserved fruits, a gentleness to her touch. They were fragile, valuable glass filled with, in her mind, multicolored gems. She wiped the pads of her fingertips across the polished, handwritten labels. She read them once, twice, three times before putting them back in their place. She’d frantically scribble down numbers and begin the process again, moving on to the next item in her vision. 

Once finished with the kitchen, she’d walk with hasty steps to their living room, that in reality, was more a glorified dining room. She’d pull blankets up from old squeaky chairs, folding them over and over, only pausing in short burst to run her hands over the fabric and ponder. Silent in her thoughts. Miko never knew what she was thinking about in those moments, but he also didn’t want to ask. 

He studied the way she rearranged the logs of firewood- rotating them to the left, the right, lying then vertically against the dirty brick fireplace, before letting them crash to the ground in disarray. Kicking them back against the wall and leaving them be. Gazing at the dwindling fire, orange glow illuminating her bronze cheeks, she’d quietly tiptoe over to Miko’s cot. Closing his eyes, he listened as she retucked his blanket over his body up just below his chin, and kissed his temple. Ruffling his hair - Miko always imagined a small, tender smile would be on her lips- she’d softly whisper goodnight. With that and one final kiss, it was back to her and Orphy’s room, finally ready to close her eyes for the night. 

Every night was the same thing- count, stack, fold, kick, kiss, goodnight. Miko had it memorized by heart. He wondered if Orphy had known of Euri’s special habit, but he had a strong suspicion he did. Miko knew from quiet whispers that Euri came from a bad background, filled with trouble and grief. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she thought and carried herself- she was like him. 

Miko hated seeing her like that. The woman that saved him, fed him, fought for him, loved him- so scared and stressed to the point of paranoia over the impending thought of being without food or warmth. It broke his heart. 

He wanted to help her. 

He tried once before, asking her in the dead of night with only the sound of the crackling fire and creaking floorboards if there was something he could do. “Need help Euri? I can count to seventeen. And write tally marks.”

“No, no Miko,” she brushed him off with a wave of her hand. “I can handle this. I’m sorry if I woke you.” Miko watched as her eyes glazed over and her smile became more forced and heavy. Caught like a child with their hands in the cookie jar, her nervous compulsion now out in the open. A distant look full of shame and uneasiness battled with her calm exterior. Miko never asked to her face to help again. 

But he couldn’t leave her. He had to help, needed to. 

So he started small, subtly. He took less and less food at dinner time, walked into the forest while Euri and Orphy were both at work or sleeping and picked up small sticks and broken tree limbs then dragged them back inside their home. He scavenged for food around the town, looking high and low and everywhere in between. Some people took pity on him, thinking he was alone, graciously gifting him spare inklings of fruits, pieces of bread and meal scraps. They were the nice ones. Others chased him off, recognizing him from when he used to steal off their carts. Without fanfare or warning, he’d place his goods on the cupboard shelves and close them tight. And with a smile, he’d quietly listen to the scratch of Euri’s pen each night as she took count each night, the number growing without her knowledge to how.

He was proud of work, he was making his dues. Or so he thought. 

In the dead of winter, the temperatures dipped further and further. Noses dripped, tears spilled from bleary, wind slapped eyes and skin dried and cracked in the frigid weather. Dark gray clouds constantly covered the silver dyed sky, the night seemed to creep up earlier and earlier as the days went by. A blizzard was rumored to pay the upside a visit, which sent the town, and especially Eurydice and Orpheus, into a frenzy. 

“You think he’s fighting with the misses again?”

“I’m sure he and Lady Persephone are fine. If anything, it’s most likely a small disagreement. It’ll pass in no time.” 

They talked in the late hours of the night, not wanting to address their concerns in front of the young child in their possession. Miko listened with keen ears to the hushed whispers of the young couple who sat in the dining table chairs near the fireplace. His body was turned away, playing asleep once more, unable to see their faces. But he could perfectly hear their voices- urgency and fear pooling together with trace amounts of bleeding hope. 

“We won’t have enough firewood.”

“Have faith ‘Rydice, my love. We’ve made it through much worse. We’ll get through this storm together.”

“I’m trying, I just,” Miko heard a sigh, body tensing as he waited with bated breath. “I didn’t think I would be counting another person when I started prepping food and fire for the fall and winter. I’m scared we might not make it.” 

Miko tuned out the rest of the conversation, barely registering the press of warm chapped lips against his cheek and temple. In the endless hours of silence his brain replayed Euri’s words over and over in his brain, “counting for another person,” “I’m scared we might not make it.” “We won’t have enough.” 

Won’t have enough. They won’t have enough. And it was his fault. They would run out of supplies and it would be his fault. They would freeze or starve and it would be all his fault.  All his fault. 

Hot tears streamed down the boy's scarred cheeks. He pressed his hands firmly against his mouth so no sound spill could out into the air and alert the couple. He breathed and let his tears fall.

Pairs of footsteps, one more gentle and subdued from practice than the other, made their way back into their bedroom. As the door shut, Miko wordless made a vow to whatever god would be listening: He wouldn’t let his family suffer because of him. 

There had to be something he was able to do. Time ticked by, the midnight sky turned from a gray-blue to a light, indescribable hue. A stroke of genius struck the boy where he laid. 

Mutedly, Miko crawled out from under his sheets, the cold of the floor chilled his toes. He reached for his hoodie and pants, slipping them on as well as a thick pair of socks, and a matching set of wool mittens and a cap Euri and Orphy bought him at the market. He tiptoed across the room, careful to avoid the loudest boards on the ground. He grabbed his pair of sneakers that were next to the front door and pulled them over his feet. They were old and tarnished but for now, they would do. With a measured pull, he opened the door, a burst of chilly air briskly rushing in to whip against his face, and slipped outside. 

Instantly, the cold nipped at his skin. Stepping out and making his way down the covered path, Miko exhaled and watched as the puff of air visibly disappeared around him. 

As Miko walked down into the forest, he took in the sight around him. The world was covered in white, fat icicles dangled languidly from skinny branches on trees, their weight bending the branches in an unnatural curve. The dull crunch of packed snow crushed under his shoes, the sound ever-pleasing. It was a serene experience, just him and the sound of crunching snow, the distant caw of morning birds and the light shine of the sun behind the clouds, desperate to be seen even just the tiniest bit.

Miko reached the entrance to the forest in a matter of minutes. The snow was beginning to fall from the clouds again. Light and pretty in the morning glow. After a good chunk of time searching for an open clearing, he found an ample area next to a remote cliffside. In no time, being wary of the steep descent next to him, Miko began scrounging around for broken sticks buried under the piles of snow. He picked up a rhythm, brushing away snow with his hands and feet, tossing wet sticks, thick or thin, into a pile behind him. Miko didn’t know how much time had passed, his once meager pile now home to dozens of spare pieces of wood. 

The snow was really coming down now, a fat flurry of flakes landing in his hair and on his clothes, accumulating into inches on top of inches on the frozen ground. “Good enough,” Miko said to no one but himself. He started to gather his work into his hands. The wind began to pick up as the snow fell harder and harder, making it nearly impossible to walk or even see. With slow, cautious steps, he slid his feet through the snow. His toes and fingers numb and vibrating. 

He attempted to march forward but stumbled backward due to the onslaught of wind and icy snow that bit and howled at his face like a rabid dog. Unable to see, he aimlessly trudged around until he felt his foot slip from under him, the ground uneven and dipping. Losing his balance, Miko fell back and tumbling down the snowy hill. 

As he rolled, he felt the endless jabs of sticks and pointed rocks poke and cut his skin, air escaped his lungs. Snow and debris flew around him as he beat against the frozen ground. The sound of pained wails, snapping wood and slapping smacks against snowy hill filled the air, until he finally reached the bottom of the hill, slamming hard right into a tree. 

Miko couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt- his head throbbed, stomach groaned and legs felt like jelly. His clothes were soaked and torn and one of his shoes had been ripped off from the fall. 

He needed to get up...but he just couldn’t. 

The snow fell around him, it looked so pretty. Miko’s vision grew white as he stared up to the sky. The sky, the snow, everything was white. 

…

Hades didn’t know why he was out there. Well, that was a lie. He knew why he was up top- him wanting to spend more time with his wife. A sweet gesture of love, that quickly morphed into a bitter argument. Her storming off and him riding on the first train to the upside. 

It started off so innocently, so how did he end up here?

As he walked through the storm, passing through the forest trees, he stewed in his brain. The cold didn’t bother him, never did. It gave him a distraction from his burning heart and raging head. 

He pushed on through the path, stomping down the familiar trail. Then he saw him- a young boy sprawled out, partially covered in a light dusting of snow. His foot, shoeless and sticking out. He wasn’t moving. 

Hades examined the scene in front of him- the child lying at the base of the hill, broken sticks tossed about, shoe missing, small puddles of red that stood out against the white. He took note at the trail of body-shaped prints that went down the side of the hill and easily put two and two together. 

Hades stepped closer to the body, no bones appeared to be broken or missing. He was most likely dead by this point. Another soul for the ever-expanding underworld. He wouldn’t be much help in Hadestown. Hades frowned the pit in his stomach gnawing at the thought of the tiny child fending for himself alone in the sweltering crowds of the underground. 

Suddenly, the boy groaned, startling the god of the dead. “Eu-Euri? Or...phy...” Euri? Orphy… He wasn’t expecting the near-frozen child to be awake and most definitely not coherent. What did he mean by Euri and Or…

No. I couldn’t be. 

With a deep sigh, Hades scooped the boy up into his arms, tucking his shivering body under his coat. His skin was as cold as ice, face bruised and forehead covered in semi-dried blood. Hades wiped at the bits of icy blood that dripped down the sides of the child’s face. “Mista Hermes?”

“No child, I’m not. Now quiet.” Hades turned and began his trek back into town, the wind slowing down in his speed. 

Miko couldn't focus, everything still hazy. He had felt himself get picked up and knew that someone was carrying him somewhere. He threw a name out into the air, a complete shot in the dark. “Hades?” 

The man said nothing. The silence all the confirmation Miko needed. “I...dead?”

“Not yet,” the voice boomed, pushing a stray branch back with his one free hand. It’s quiet between them for another minute until Miko spoke up once more. 

“You okay?” Hades stumbled, feet slipping in the snow. Stupid, insolent child, Hades thought to himself. Why was this boy asking him if he was okay? He was the one lying half-dead outside in the middle of a blizzard. As Hades gathered his bearings with a grunt, the boy began to speak again. “Euri and Orphy...scared you, fighting with...Per, sep...penny.”

“Hush child,” Hades softly commanded, “save your strength.” 

“‘Kay,” Miko weakly whispered, burrowing closer into the god’s chest and fitted suit. No more words were shared as the continued into the storm, footprints disappearing as quickly as the appeared. The outlines of their figures vanishing into the trees and white. 

…

“Where could he have gone?” 

“I don’t know! He was here sleeping when we went to bed!” 

Orpheus and Eurydice were pacing around the house, searching every square inch of the residence. Miko had vanished and the two were panicking. 

“Orpheus, there’s a blizzard going on! What if he’s out there? Lost. And alone,” Eurydice rambled on feverishly, hands frantically pulling at her wild hair. Her thoughts ran wild in wary circles, her doubts creeping in past her guard like an unwelcome house guest. The wind spoke nasty whispers in the dark corners of her mind. 

You lost your boy to the storm.

He’s dead and gone.

Nothing’s left for you to do but mourn.

Orpheus could sense his wife’s downward spiral, “stay calm ‘Rydice-”

“I can’t stay calm! Our kid is missing and he may be out in a snowstorm all alone and I just,” Eurydice fell to her knees, not caring about the bruises her heavy fall most definitely caused. “I don’t know what to do.” She was at a loss. They both were. 

“I’ve been out in a storm like that before,” she added quietly her eyes glued to the floor, not fully talking to Orpheus. “I never want anyone to left out there like that. Especially not him.”

The air between the two froze over, and it wasn’t because of the storm going on outside. They never talked and Hadestown- the trip down, their time there, the way back, or even the storm that caused it all. Despite it being years ago, it still felt too fresh to touch, pulsing and bruised. 

Orpheus joined his wife on the ground, pulling her into a snug hug, her head falling into the crook of his neck. Fresh, salty tears burning his exposed skin. “We’ll find him. I swear we will.” 

They sit there close together, tears flowing from their eyes. Both restless but neither moving away. 

“I’ll go get Mister Hermes,” Orpheus broke out into the quiet, “he’ll probably know what to do. You can look around the area of the house.”

“No, I’ll go get Hermes,” Eurydice said, pulling back from her husband's embrace. “I’m faster and I can search in some areas he could be at.” 

Orpheus nodded, okay with the change of plans. The two got up and hastily put some clothes on. Eurydice rushed out the door in the direction of the bar while Orpheus was still pulling his thick pants over his legs. As he struggled to get his boots on and laced, a harsh knock was heard at the door. It was way too soon to be his wife and Hermes. Miko! 

Orpheus forgot about the boots and rushed to the door. He swung the door open, nearly pulling it off his hinges, “Miko!” 

Orpheus froze. There at his door, was someone he’d thought he’d never see again while still alive and breathing. The king of the underworld himself, “Mister Hades.”

Orpheus was too busy with his eyes locked to the king's face, that he failed to notice the shoeless foot that protruded from the bottom of his overcoat. “Boy.” 

“Wh-why? Why are you,” Orpheus sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence in his shock. 

Hades didn’t signify his stuttering with a response, instead choosing to pull back the coat to reveal the shivering child. 

“Oh gods, Miko!” Orpheus reached out to nab the boy from the god’s hands. The boy was shaking like a leaf, clothes sopping wet and ripped in some areas, bleeding cuts and bruises lined his face, legs, and arms. And one of his shoes was completely missing. The poet rushed further inside to start a fire, wrapping the child in a spare blanket. As his fingers fiddled with the matchbox, Orpheus tried to figure out what to do next. He needed to find the first aid kit, and then get the boy a change of clothes. Maybe he should draw a warm bath? Or start prepping some soup and tea? Or maybe-

“Boy.” Orpheus jumped, mind still reeling. “Finish starting the fire, then draw a bath to warm his body temperature up. I’ll grab a medicine kit.”

Orpheus nodded, awkwardly picking up in speed as his brain slowly comprehended what was being instructed to him. “R-right. Okay.”

The two didn’t move. Hades grew impatient, “the kit boy. Where is it?”

“O-oh! It’s right below the sink in the bathroom. Just over there,” Orpheus pointed down the unlit hall in the direction of the sole bathroom in the house, finally getting his hands to cooperate and a match to ignite. 

Hades walked into the tiny washroom and looked under the sink, dried chips of painted wood peeling off the sides. Just as Orpheus said, there was a white box with a large red cross printed on the cover, the words FIRST AID KIT in big bold letters right underneath. When Hades arrived back into the living room, the fire was burning away in the pit, the temperature in the house already rising. 

“I’m gonna draw Miko a bath,” Orpheus scrambled, hands holding a pair of cotton shorts, a ratty tee that was most definitely too large for the shivering child still half-asleep near the fireplace. “Will you clean him up a bit? I left a towel on the table.” Before Hades could respond, Orpheus was already gone, leaving him alone with the medical supplies and the quiet boy. If it weren’t for the small twitches and occasional sniffles and sneezes, Hades would’ve thought he was a statue. 

The sound of rushing water from the nearby bathroom snapped the god out of his thoughts. With lackadaisical yet gentle movements, he worked on the child, wiping away smeared streaks of blood and dirt from his face, hands and any other exposed area. Digging in the box, Hades found what he was looking for: a see-through bottle of clear rubbing alcohol. He lightly pressed a cloth dosed in the clear liquid to the tender blistering wounds, causing the boy to jump and wince at the stinging feeling that bubbled in his open cuts. 

“Owwie…” Miko squirmed, desperately attempting to inch away from the god and the burning contents of the bottle in his hands. 

Hades cocked an eyebrow, an unamused frown dancing on his lips, “you wish for your injuries to become infected?” Miko shrunk into his seat, shaking his head. His eyes glued to the orange embers that popped in the hearth. “Then sit still,” Hades answered sternly, focusing back at his task at hand, “the pain will subside soon.” 

The continue on in silence. No words needed to be said. Just the sound of the occasional quiet winces, the popping of the fire burning away and the distant sound of water running into their old, tiny tub. Suddenly, as Hades was finishing up with cleaning up the boy’s cuts, a large crash of the front door being slammed open rang out into the home. The sound of furious footsteps approaching brought Miko and Hades’ eyes over to the direction of the entryway. 

They heard her voice before the saw her body, “Orpheus! I told Hermes and he said he’d be right over, he’d just have to shut the bar down first.” The young woman of the house, covered in a dusting of powdery-white snow, rushed into the living area, her face frightened and erratic. She whipped her head around the room. Instead of being greeted by the familiar frame of her husband, she was met with a sight that shocked her eyes: Hades and Miko. The latter, covered in puffy cuts and bruised skin, being treated by the god who was fiddling with a first aid kit. 

“Miko…” Eurydice said slowly as if he was merely a mirage that would disappear if she spoke too quickly. 

“Euri,” he said softly, eyes and body desperate to be closer to the woman. 

She gasped, cupping her hands over her quivering mouth. While relief flooded her bones, there was a tenseness she just couldn’t ease. She’d never thought she’d be this close the god of the dead again. Not ever since the Hadestown experience. Yet, here he was, in her and her family’s home crouched down in her front of her adopted son. “Miko!” She cried rushing over the boy in a frenzy.

“His injuries are mostly treated at this point- nothing too extensive, just cuts and a few bad bruises. Maybe even a concussion, but I highly doubt that. 

Eurydice scooped the child up from his seat and held him in her arms. She pulled him close to her chest, twisted her body so her side not holding Miko was facing Hades, trying to keep Miko as far away from the god as possible. “Don’t touch him!”

“Eu-euri?” Miko whispered concerned, voice raspy and coarse as if he’d gargled a bucket of nails. His head laid against the base of her neck, coughing harshly into her chilled skin. 

Eurydice gently pats the boy’s back in an unintentional one-two rhythm. She locked eyes with the god standing near the fireplace, “why are you here?” her voice stiff and sharp as steel. Hades paid no mind to the edge in her voice or the suffocating tension plaguing the air, instead, continuing his efforts to pack up the medical supplies back into the first aid bag. Shifting a bottle, pushing back a box of bandages, removing pearl-colored tape and putting it back in. As the seconds ticked by, Eurydice burned hotter and hotter. Her anger and frustration melting in a scalding pool ready to boil over at any time. “Hades-”

“Your Poet is running him a bath,” the god pointed over to the hall where the musician had disappeared down, minutes ago. “Don’t know what’s holding him up so long.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Eurydice huffed, her patience a thin line of wire, itty bitty strands pulling and snapping one by one. “Why are you here, in our home? Why is my child hurt?”

“If you would stop acting like an impudent child and let me explain my reasoning maybe you would get your answer,” Hades growled lowly, eyes and face squinting and scrunching at the young woman’s tone. 

“I won’t let you take him,” Eurydice said fiercely. It burned, everything burned- her words, the heat, the ever-growing tension, her uneasy nerves. “I won’t you take Miko down there.”

“Is that what you think is happening?” Hades asked gruffly, his voice rising, echoing off the walls. He stepped closer causing Eurydice to step back. They continue their dance; every inch forward led to another two back. “You think I came here to collect him and ship him out to the mines?”

“Don’t act so surprised, that’s what you do, isn’t it?” Eurydice countered back just as forceful. Her brown irises, fiery hot and staring right into the god’s. “You promise them the things they crave, and since they’re desperate and naive, we fall for it.” Eurydice’s chest rose and fell at an accelerated pace, eyes wild and dazed- a wounded animal looking for a clearing to charge through. She didn’t realize she started to include her in her phrasing.

“I wake up and find my kid gone in the middle of a winter blizzard and come back to see you here and him half dead! So, I’m sorry if I’m jumping to conclusions.”

Just then, Orpheus came stumbling back into the living area, “alright, the bathwater is read...Eurydice?” He pushed forward, barely noticing the heavy tenseness permeating the space. “What’s going on?”

“Why is he in our house?” Eurydice pressed, turning her body fully away from the suited man. Confusion and desperation dripping from every word as she marched closer to her husband's side.

“Boy, tell your girl that she’s got everything wrong,” Hades commanded, passing the medical kit roughly into Orpheus’ hands. He brushed down the crumpled wrinkles in his suit and fixed his tie, standing straight and imposing. He was a God after all.

“Mister Hades found Miko ‘Rydice,” the poet said softly, hazel pools meeting his wife’s blazing brown. He reached out with his one open hand and placed it on Eurydice’s shoulder, the fabric soaked from the wet snow. “He brought him home.” 

Eurydice felt as she had been struck in the back by a pipe. Her body feeling hot yet cold all at once. “Is, is that...true?”

“It’s true…” The three adults jumped at the extra voice and glanced down at the child Eurydice tucked to her chest. His teal eyes cloudy, struggling to stay open and alert. “I saw you,” he spoke up again. “In the kitchen every night. And the fireplace, counting wood. You look so sad,” he trailed off. Streams of tears fell from his shimmering sockets, “you and Orphy were scared we’d run out. Sad and scared. My fault..had to find more and then…”

Miko coughed, body jerking from the hacks. He closed his eyes, “I sorry, Euri. I wanna make you happy again. I so sorry.” Miko felt hot drops of water fall on his skin. He peeled open his eyes once more to see Eurydice struggling to hold back her sobs. Her face scrunched, bottom lip bloody red and caught in between her teeth. “Euri?”

“I’m sorry.” Miko was at a loss. “I’m so sorry, Miko. This wasn’t your fault, I-” She wrapped the boy even tighter in her arms as if he would evaporate into thin air if she lessened her grip. She wouldn’t let the tears fall. “I’m so sorry.” 

“I found him buried under a coat of falling snow at the bottom of a remote cliff. There were splotches of blood and tree limbs scattered all around, must’ve fallen from the top,” Hades cut in, crossing his arms in unamused disdain. “I thought he was dead.”

Eurydice’s shoulders sagged, from relief, her boy wouldn’t be taken from her. From guilt and sadness that she’d jumped so quickly to a rash and horrid conclusion. Her heart struggled to slow, each labored breathe seemingly getting stuck in her throat. Her brain fought tooth and nail to process everything that was happening, every word being spoken, every action occurring around her. Hades, Miko, he...he brought Miko home? She raised her head to address the god she had just minutes ago called out for attempting to steal her child away, “I, I’m-” 

Miko let out a small sneeze, his nose a bright red bulb, beads of sweat beating down his forehead. “Get him to the bath,” Hades nodded at the shivering boy cradled in Eurydice’s arms. “The earlier you try and break that fever, the better.”

“But-”

Hades raised his hand, silencing the woman’s attempt at a rebuttal, “all’s forgiven and forgotten, Songbird.”

Eurydice opened her mouth once more, words like little spiders tingled on her tongue, desperately aching to crawl out. But nothing escaped. So, she silently nodded and walked away, taking a few steps but stopping before disappearing behind the corner into the dark. “I’m sorry, for what I said,” she said softly, genuine. “Thank you, for what you did. And for bringing him home.” Then they were gone, the sound of the bathroom door opening then snapping shut filling the two men’s ears. 

Snow fell outside the window, gentle and light. The clouds parting and rays of bright beaming light came down, reflecting off the white snowbanks. “Storms broke,” Hades said out loud, not directly addressing the poet standing a few feet away from him. “I’ll be taking my leave.”

“O-oh, okay,” Orpheus sputtered, setting the first aid kit he was still carrying, down on the old wooden table. 

Hades, with perfect strides, marched over to the family’s front door. With a twist and pull, he yanked open the door, a stream of light blaring into the house, climbing the walls and silhouetting both of their bodies. “Boy.”

“Yes, Mister Hades, sir?” 

“I better not find any more loved ones of yours out in any more storms. Next time, I won’t be as gracious,” He peered over to Orpheus, face stiff and eyes hard, “do I make myself clear?”

Orpheus lowered his head and nodded, “yes.” 

“Okay.” Hades took four steps out the door, boots leaving a perfect trail of prints in the ground. He paused, back still facing the young man’s, “soup with lots of garlic.”

Orpheus raised his head, tilting it slightly, “what?”

“It’ll help with the cold.” Without any further explanation, he took off into the wave of white, all that’s left of his being is his trail of prints. 

…

“Well brother, you’re looking good. Redecorate the office area since I’ve last been here?”

“What can I help you with, Hermes?” the god of the underworld sighed, not looking up from his stacks of unfinished paperwork. 

The office space was wide and virtually empty of any personal, sentimental items. Dark, embellished curtains were drawn over the titanic window in the middle of the left wall, the view of what was left of the expansive mines and factory tucked away. Every object on his matching bookshelves and paper on his desk was neatly stacked and pristinely placed. The ‘redecorating’ Hermes mentioned was the replacement of the portrait that hung above the desk. The painted portrait of Hades, that once loomed over the office with a hefty, intense stare, had been switched. The King was no longer alone. A new painting, Hades and Persephone, side by side with no space in between, hung in its place instead. The green of her dress and the colorful flowers weaved into her hair added a nice hint of light to the room.

Hermes chuckled and closed the office door. “No time for small talk, I see.”

“I have important business to attend to.”

Hermes shrugged, “I’ll only be here a moment. Just have an important message to deliver you, then I’ll be on my way.”

Hades put down his pen and raised an eyebrow, “what is it?”

“From someone on the upside who made me promise to give this to you as soon as possible.” In his midst, Hermes held an envelope. He passed it over to Hades waiting hand- it was off-white in color and partially crinkled in some areas. There was no evident address or stamp to be found, no clue for the god to piece together the mysterious sender. Hades squinted but the messenger god just winked and headed to the door. “Well, I’ll be taking my leave. Got business myself I need to take care of back up top.” With a flash, he was gone leaving Hades to his lonesome.

With a careful slide of his letter opener, he tore into the envelope’s flesh and pull out its sole contents: a folded piece of paper. 

Pulling back each fold, Hades glanced down at the paper- a drawing. More specifically, a drawing of him, holding the Poet and Songbird’s boy in his arms. The backdrop of falling snow surrounded them. At the bottom of the paper in what could graciously be called handwriting or less nicely chicken scratch was a short message: Thank U Mista Hades! Miko! punctuated with a small red heart. Some letters backward and barely legible. 

It was a crude thing, obviously done by a child’s hand. Scribbles outside of lines, unrealistic color choices and proportions, he was smiling in it for gods sake! 

“Mr. Hades, sir,” a hesitant soul wandered into his office, poking their head through the minuscule crack. “Your wife is calling for you.”

“Give me one moment, I must attend to something important first.”

The worker nodded and backed out the door, shutting it as they went. Hades turned back to the drawing that laid stagnant on his desk. He pulled open a drawer and scrounge around searching for a certain item. There! He pulled out a roll of tape and ripped off a long piece. Then two. Done.

He stepped back from his handy work and silently marveled. There, on the wall, a messy picture of the God of the underworld holding a small child in the falling snow, a cheeky grin painted on his face. Hades’ mouth morphed into an uncharacteristic smile, tiny but still present. He spun on his heels and walked out the door, turning the lights off as he went. The faces of him, his wife and the small child he’d slowly come to appreciate, watching over him as he shut the door. 

...

[btswishes]

I will adopt you.

Monsta X (Shownu) hybrid au

Part1 / Part2 / Part3 / Part4 / Part5 / Part6 / Part7 / Part8 /…

A/N: I saw this dog that looked like a bear, kind of scary but also superrr cuddly looking and I thought of this macho mochi. Hope you like it there are more parts to come.Sorry for any mistakes made.

Word count:   2,627

Warnings: I mean ,just normal 21 century teen cussing.

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

  Winter is one of those seasons where you just don’t want to go anywhere. Just staying home with a nice warm cup of tea, coffee or coco and enjoy a good book or movie. But we all have those moments where we have to adult and today it was your turn. The day had almost finished when you opened the fridge and realized.

“Who ate all the damn food?” a slap echoed when your palm hit the skin on your forehead “That is rightttt, Mina was here yesterday.”your hands found your waistline and rested there “I need to stop inviting friends over all the time.”

 Taking a deep sigh, you walked over to your bedroom. You were groaning and stepping harshly as you were throwing clothes onto your bed. 

“Ughhhh, too cold!” 

 Swinging over the long and fluffy scarf, you made sure you were nice and warm before even confronting the cold weather. The moment the building’s main entrance opened up ,you were hit with a gust of cold wind. You could hear the howling sound it was making. Crackle after crackle you were getting farther from your home. 

 As the name says already, the convenient store wasn’t far, but in this weather it felt like a hike on mount Everest. The second the warm air hit your face you felt hope and so did your stomach. When people say don’t go shopping when you are hungry, they were right. Who knows what stuff you had in the bags on your way out, what was sure though was the fact that you grabbed anything and everything ,that looked good enough to eat with the packaging still on it.

 As you were about to exit the store, you pulled out a sandwich out of the bag and took a big bite from it.

“ Oh yeah.” you said muffled by the food “ That hits the spot nicely.” 

  The wind outside had gotten stronger, so powerful that it was picking up snow from the ground and basically throwing it in your face. Taking a few deep breaths, you placed the sandwich in the bag and stepped out.

“ Wow wow”  the wind was pushing you back a bit. Still being able to walk some what normally, you felt like you were taking two steps and then one back. Getting home was gonna happen sooner or later, but the night was beginning to fall and temperatures weren’t going to be so nice to you anymore.

 Like the champ you were, with all the power left in you, you were about to reach your house ,when the wind knocked some snow in your eyes.

“Fuck!” it was blowing very strongly and you had to kneel down to keep yourself from falling. The sound turned from a howl ,to the voice of a ghost that was hunting you.One minute had passed and then two, you weren’t moving at all and that was a no go. A plan was needed to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

“ Oh God, what is up with this day? A person can’t get themselves anything.” you were thinking about possibly crawling home, but your self-respect was not going to allow you that at all.That didn’t stop you from considering it though.

“ I bet people won’t even notice, plus my face is covered so no one will know.” the wind was turning slowly but surely into a blizzard  “ Hu?” you stopped mid way thinking. You could still hear what was happening around you, but the biting cold wasn’t hitting your face anymore.

 Slowly you rose your head up and noticed something gigantic in front of you. It had a deep brown color with a slight tint of amber. Hesitantly you reached out.

“ What?!” your hand almost disappeared into the object that was blocking the cold.Moving your head to the side you were met with two big, dark eyes and a puff of warm air. It took some time, but judging by the silhouette it was a dog, probably a bear looking at it’s size. The pup nudged you with its tail and you stood up. Yes, the wind was as strong, if not stronger than before, but you didn’t feel the same resistance. The body of the animal was blocking maybe 50% of the blizzard.

  It took you less than 5min to get back to your building. You patted the dog on the head and smiled.

“ Thank you sooo much little guy...oh- I mean you don’t look little at all. A!” reaching in your bag you pulled out the half eaten sandwich and gave it to it ”Sorry I can’t offer you more. “ 

  You were looking at it and noticed how wet its fur had gotten. The poor thing was probably hiding somewhere sheltered from the storm and all. You were about to unlock the door, when you turned around and saw the pup still looking at you. You closed your eyes for a sec and went back to it, putting your scarf around its neck “ Should keep you warm.” you patted its head and the dog seemed to like it “ Go find some good place to dry off.” with one last smile you went inside, in the elevator and got home safely. 

 Throwing all the bags on the kitchen table ,you dropped on the couch and took a deep breath. The fire place your parents insisted on you getting had finally proven to you its worth. The air was warm and enjoyable. Closing your eyes, you relaxed,but your mind drifted to your savior.

“ Poor thing...” you whispered to yourself

  The room was quiet and your head was thinking of all kinds of possible bad outcomes for the pup. You were worried it might freeze to death somewhere, or not be able to find a safe spot.

“ Ughhhhh.” you jumped up and grabbed the nearest coat you could find “ Fuck me, why am I doing this.” cussing with every move you made, you opened the door and ran out. Wearing almost nothing to protect you from the cold, you looked out the glass doors of the building. “ I can’t believe I am doing this right now.” you threw yourself in the blizzard willingly.

 The cold was stabbing at your cheeks, eyes watering and nose about to resign its duties as a functioning body part.Your hair was all over the place. Your arm was covering the top of your head as you were fighting your way through the winter. 

 You were wandering for what seemed an hour, but you couldn’t see the dog anywhere. You were sweaty even if it sounded impossible and very tired. Sadly giving up was the only option at this point. Dragging in the snow, your feed were trembling. It was unbelievable how you survived this long so lightly dressed. 

  The moment you were about to unlock the door, your vision went blank and you lost grip on the keys. The jingling sound let you follow them to the snow at the bottom of the stairs. But the state of your legs dropped you to the stone ground. You were puffing and wiping your face. Leaning your head onto the cold wall ,you tried to gather your strength and get up. As you were starting to see clearly again ,you felt something brush against you. 

 Lifting your arm you grabbed the material that fell on your chest and relisted it was your scarf.

“ Wait what?” the sound of metal hitting metal pulled your attention to the same mysterious hero that saved you the first time. “ This feels a bit like fate and it’s low key strange.”

 Leaning onto the dog you were able to get up and open the door. The sudden shifting sound made you notice that the pup was leaving. You quickly grabbed it by the tail. “ No you don’t. I almost died trying to find your furry ass. You are coming with me.”  the dog seemed confused or maybe you were still in a daze. 

 The thing you were sure about tho was that it was a male. He followed you into the elevator and kept close, letting you lean onto him when you were losing your footing. The moment you opened your apartment door, he hesitated to walk in.

“ Come on, don’t be shy.” with a few pulls from your side he finally stepped in. Maybe it was because of the change in the scenery, but the pup didn't even make a move. It was standing there like a new plush toy that you just bought and breathing heavily taking in the atmosphere around it.

"Are you getting comfortable in there?" You peeked your head out of the kitchen, but he was still standing in the middle of the room. You sighed and waddled over.

"I let you in so you are allowed to make yourself comfortable." placing a bowl of water next to the fireplace, you sat back down " It's one thing to be shy but you don't have to be at all. Come here."you patted a place next to you and he finally walked over ,curled up into a fluffy donut and calmed down.

"Oh lord!" your nose just scrunched up "Wet dog, not a good perfume idea." One option was to towel dry him, another to let him naturally dry next to the fire place, but since you didn't know how long he was out there, you were firm about what you were planning to do.

"Ok." You said a bit deep while getting up "It's settled then. You are taking a shower." Clapping your hands you pulled the pup to your bathroom "For once I am sooo glad this apartment is big. Who knows what it would have been if I couldn't fit you in here."

  You turned on the shower just to adjust the water so it wasn’t too cold or too warm. The bathroom was isolated from the rest of the house and you couldn’t hear the outside anymore. Wetting the pup’s fur, you were about to pull the shampoo from the rack next to the shower door, when your shirt got stuck on it.

“I need to change into something else. If I get this shirt wet it will shrink and I am not planning to go on a diet.” you ran out of the bathroom as fast as you came back in. Your body had on it a short shirt tied up at the chest and a pair of pink panties. “Ok, all ready.Come here pooch.” but the dog had it’s back towards you “What is wrong?” he let out a small whimper when you pulled him close to you suddenly by his back legs.

“Hold still now.” grabbing the bottle of lavender shampoo, you placed a small dollop of it on your palm “Hmmm, you are a big boy, probably the equivalent of 1 bear or 20 wigs.I will add a bit more.” squeezing the bottle a bit longer this time let almost half of it spill out “Oh well.” 

 Rubbing your hands together you started lathering the dog from head to toe, focusing on his paws and tummy.He was jumping away when you were cleaning his stomach area “I get it I get it.You are shy, I will stop.” 

 Grabbing the shower head ,you looked at him “Don’t worry we are almost done here.” turning it on firstly splashed your chest. Pulling onto the shirt you noticed it become translucent “Aw man, well I should have expected this.” you started rising off the shampoo as best as you could. “There, all done.It wasn’t too bad now was it?”

 You walked out the bathroom, changed into dry clothes fast and ran back to the dog. You threw a gigantic towel on his head and he panicked. Looking at the circles the dog was making made you burst in laughter and help him out. “Sorry sorry.”

 Making sure the pup was next to the fire place, you kept rubbing the towel all over him until he was as dry as the desert.

“Ah!”you plopped onto his body, making him jump a bit “You smell sooo good.” rolling over onto your back, you were looking at the ceiling and just enjoying the sounds of the crackling flame and the howling winds.It felt so peaceful and almost like a fantasy story.

“You know.” your voice spoke out calmly “This is feels like one of the stories I used to read about when I was little.”you crooked your head towards the pup, giving him a serious look “You are not a man that was cursed into a dog form are you?” you felt as if he stopped breathing for a second before giggling to yourself and laying back onto him “I am joking. So this is what it feels to talk to your pets. I mean you are not my pet, probably have an owner.”

  You let your hand travel to his neck, but no leash was there to identify him as someone’s dog.As he seemed to like it, you continued to run your fingertips through his dark and soft fur. 

“You can stay with me.I mean....if you want.”you sighed “Get’s kind of lonely being by myself all the time. I was ok with it at first but now, I am not so sure about it.”

 There was a moment of silence were only the ambiance in the room was ruling, until you felt the soft fur envelop you.He came closer and licked your cheek a few times. Pursing yourself up onto your elbows, you looked him with a spark in your eyes.

“I will take that as a yes.But...” you paused “I need to give you a name.” sitting up cross legged, you began looking at him from head to toe “I won’t give you a very manly name since you are scary enough as is. What about.....mmmm. Nunu!” the dog’s tail perked up “Yeah, you look like a Nunu to me.” you cupped his cheeks and started messing up his coat “Nunu, you are such a cute Nunu.” 

  The dog was getting annoyed but before it was about to growl, his eyes met yours. You had stopped moving and were giving him the brightest smile one could receive. It was warm and kind, your eyes were relaxed and filled with love, such pure energy. “My Nunu.” you scratched behind his ear ,as he closed his eyes and leaned into it without a hesitation.

  The petting session continued till 11 when you were already fast asleep. The fire burned out and it started getting colder and colder. Nunu woke up when he felt you nuzzling yourself into his fur. His head came close to yours and sniffed you, before giving you a quick lick. 

  Moon light was creeping in from the big windows, but suddenly got covered by a big shadow. It wasn’t looming over you, it had more of a safe and protective feeling to it. Your body almost instantly moved up as if on it’s own and met the comforting covers of the bed. A soft blanket moved up your body. The figure turned away from you and was about to leave, when something escaped your lips.

“Mmmm....Nu...Nunu.” you rolled around for a bit, trying to get comfortable 

“Worried more about a dog than yourself.” the shadow started loosing it’s tall shape and walked over to your bed. Your hand instinctively escaped the cover and laid calmly, once it reached the furry head of the pup, leaning onto your bed. The whole night he staid there, looking out for you. 

 Where did this dog come from and why did it not leave?

[namjoonchronicles]

beautiful, tragic | yoongi

✿ pairing: yoongi x you ✿ genre: domestic, yoongi as a husband, fluff, suggestive content, slight smut ✿ words: 4k ✿ summary: it’s hard sharing your musically talented husband with the world, and this is your story.

Stay home. He says. Watch the house. He says.

You’re stuck, scrolling idly on your phone with your drama on Netflix long abandoned on your 85” Sony LED Screen, equipped with the sound system that would surpass Dolby Surround System if it ever went on competition with each other.

Apart from the boring international celeb news, who broke up and who got divorced, the politic scene is too awry for you to read and you were not prepared for that headache so early in the day. One particular headline caught your attention, though.

Billboard Judge, Music Producer Min Yoongi Purchases USD$3M UN Village Villa In Cash.

Excuse me, what?

Screenshot. Clicking the home button on your phone, you tapped on Kakao Talk app next and ignored the messages from your ex-classmates group that has mounted to 120 unread texts and straight to ‘Fish’ ID.

You had sent him the screenshot of the news clipping, and proceed to multi-text him the following:

????????? Why wasn’t I informed?? Yoongi. What did I tell you about purchasing things without a proper discussion? Behind my back?? The nerve?? Bitch, square up when you get home. I also have watched five episodes without you. Fuck you.

Delivered. The anger had made you toss your phone to the side on the couch. This stupid huge ass house he is never in. You grind your jaws, glaring at your wedding picture on the top corner of your wall. And he dares to buy another one. You can hear him whispering a silent fuck from the distant. Fuck--is quite right, Yoongi. Your phone dings a new message in less than twenty minutes. He had machine-gunned you with replies that your phone had trouble keeping up with. You crossed your arm, scoffing at the sight of his name blinking on your screen. Oh, now you want to call me.

Volume : 70%, 75%, 85%. Netflix show has dimmed the sound of his calls and desperate texts.

He just never learns, does he? You’re starting to feel like he feeds on these little arguments like ginseng soup--has to have it when he’s unwell or deprived of something. Now that’s something you didn’t share with him. Yoongi’s work prevents him to be home as often as he’d like, requires him to befriend sketchy men and women with hidden agendas, they also constantly separate you and him--all this, you know and understood from the beginning. But like flying kites, when kites with strings tend to stray too far, and stretched too long, it snaps. Especially when you’re the one at the end of the string, holding him down to earth with a promise of a golden ring, always the one waiting for his return. When the blizzards come, the storm arrives, you gripped tighter, but there’s no guarantee that he felt the tug even if he should.

Here lies his expertise on words. Here lies the test of loyalty. Here lie your trust and his devotion. Love is a gamble, isn’t it?

It was supposed to be a surprise :( I wanted to take you there when I come home, but the news spoiled it :( :( Good news is, it’s not fully furnished and we can go furniture shopping… I know you love decorating the house :) I’ll forgive you if you watch the same 5 episodes with me later Babe? :( :( You’re still fetching me at the airport right? Right, sweetie?

He sends a screenshot of his expected arrival time, and you skimmed pass the message with a blank look. You tap the camera icon and took a selfie of your middle finger.

Fish was immediately typing…

OK, but it’s difficult with jeans on.

You gawked as you realized that he was talking about fingering you. You snarled against the screen and tapped video call button.

But it was declined. And he replied immediately.

Can’t. In a crash meeting with the staff.

You put your phone close to your lips and tapped voice recording icon. And Yoongi knows better than to play it in the midst of a meeting. You’re roasting him and for that, he’ll keep for his lullaby on the way to the airport later with his good headphones on. He gave a goofy smile on the screen when you replied with middle-finger emoticons. “God, I love her…” he stares fondly at your ID.

Flight JN1741 from Amsterdam arrives at Incheon International Airport on 2:00 PM. Passengers begin to rise from their seat before the ‘fasten-your-seatbelt’ sign was turned off. Already, Yoongi’s massive entourage are receiving calls within the moving but landed airplane. His staff is dependable but workaholics, like he is. He was just worried that his wife won’t show up because she’s mad. But he’s also certain that she will be there at the arrival. He likes that you make him nervous this way. He likes that he could mean everything to the world, and has his words as law to others, but won’t necessarily have the same effect on you. He loves the fact that you keep him on his toes and make him chase. He also loves the fact that he knows you’ll be waiting at home where he left you as he works.

Loving and having are different things.

Yoongi of all people knows the constraints of having a serious relationship in his hectic life will be hard to manage. When he couldn’t meet his lady love, he relies heavily on her profound loyalty and his blinded trust. God knows that both of you tried. Both of you really tried to keep the passion alive, never to fizzle out. But distance could make or break a relationship--and Yoongi really wanted this. This battleground he chose to live in. He was lucky to have the best of both worlds. Most couldn’t experience that. To him, the game is only over when the other stops playing.

A conversation is a conversation, even if its a fight.

He refastens his black facemask, his black hoodie and stood up as the manager asks him whether he needs a ride home or not. The 40-year-old man walks away once Yoongi said that his wife is fetching him.

“Also, hyung...can you bring the iKey to the Apple Store I bought it in? It had malfunctioned again. I left the warranty card inside the pack,” Yoongi politely asked. “Every single time we leave Amsterdam… Yoongi what did you do with it?” The manager pulls the bag out the compartment above the head. “Work I guess…” Yoongi shrugged and fiddled with the straps of his black backpack.

Most of the passengers had left the airplane. But before Yoongi leaves with his manager, something metallic clinked on his sneakers. His manager crouched down before he did and picked the object up.

“Can’t forget the ring when you’re meeting the wife...take it from me,” his manager returns Yoongi’s ring to him. “It keeps slipping out my finger, I think I’m losing too much weight,” Yoongi chuckled short and put them back on with a small wiggle. “VIP arrivals that way…” His manager pointed the way out, “Tell her we missed her around.”

Yoongi nodded, feeling rather bashful and shy. That’s right. You used to work in his entourage as medical staff. Until he had you hitched and away from the stressful job that costs you your mental health. Now, you review staffs’ health records from home and frequently, his. You fell sick prior to the world tour he led, so that’s why he had you staying home. Not that you tailed him often when he works. He just prefers you doing your own thing. His work requires a lot of movement while you had to be static in one place to finish your writing or reading. You were that hot white coat bearer with a sexy full-rimmed glasses and spoke medicine parseltongue. Every time you share a piece of medical knowledge with him or explain a medical condition, Yoongi drools like a lovesick puppy dog inwardly. He can’t wait to have you explain liver cirrhosis everytime he brings up how much he drank when he was away. That was his version of dirty talk.

But where’s my lady love? Yoongi hums. Scanning the room for any glimpse of you. Could you be standing nearby a coffee vending machine, or would you be in convenient stores searching for a mint? Or are you strolling idly in the expanse of the airport in slow, relaxed strides?

No, you’re walking straight towards him with your arms crossed from the entrance, your hair flew back at every trudge you make to close the distance between him and you. He fumbles with the strap of his bag, and a bit slouched to the side. Having to push his head back to see your face from the beak of his black cap and hoodie, while you draw in, closer and closer.

Your hand came in contact with his at the handle of his roller bag first, before you leaned up to his ear and he lowered himself down, “You and I have a lot of things to talk about.” You snatched the roller bag from his grip roughly and Yoongi watched your back getting smaller and smaller as you stormed away. He pouts at the sight and gripping his bag strap tighter, firmer. You passed an acid glance once and expect him to follow closely with a glare. Yoongi’s pouty lips slowly form a smirk and a naughty cock of his eyebrow. He really enjoys it when you’re angry.

The trunk opens with a hydraulic rise, and he helped you carry his own bag inside. It slammed shut and you dashed to the driver seat, knowing that he is often exhausted after a long flight. Engine purrs on, and your focus was interrupted by the sound of his seatbelt clicking. He’s here. He’s really home.

“Do you want to eat anything? Some fast food or anything like that?” You asked. “Yeah, but she’s driving…” He glanced outside the car window like he had said nothing explicit.

“Ha, very funny…” the car reversed and exited the parking lot with no hiccups, but the situation isn’t going to be smooth on the inside, “Don’t think that snarky remarks will get you anywhere near this coochie.”

Yoongi let out a tiny scoff to the window, shifting in his seat as the view of the city he calls home, come to sight. Miraculously, he has made it home within a month. Although the reunion was bittersweet and that he landed on soil knowing that you’re mad at him, he is well-informed by your passive behavior when you missed him the most. That much is true. And it needs no extra explanation.

How was Amsterdam?

“Cold. Great sound system… decent steak,” he answered. You smiled to yourself, noticing how much you missed his aloof response. Few words, big heart. That’s Min Yoongi for you.

“I think I made a great steak a few days ago…” you took the chance to brag on yourself and Yoongi switches to the side where you sat driving. Hands between his knees, eyes doe and soft.

“Tell me more about what you did…” he said, in a gentle voice.

“Nothing much. I proofread a medical article, cooked for myself, write a bit, stare at the 2 selfies you took last two years. Sniff your hoodie, organize your shoe collection, vacuum GeniusLab2, visit Holly at your parents. I made him this cute ass leash that I knitted on my own. He had stomach flu, so I took him to the vets. He’s okay now, though.”

“I wanted to video call more, but I didn’t have the time…” Yoongi complaints.

“You don’t remember?” You crumpled your face at the road before glancing briefly at him. You could see Yoongi’s confused expression. Head tilted to the side, his mouth opens and closes several times without a word uttered out. He really didn’t remember.

“Baby bear, you called me twice in a drowsy state…” you offered a line of explanation but the contortion on his face suggests that he requires more, “You drunk video call me to tell me you had a sandwich and fell asleep before you could tell me what was inside… Three days after that, you called me again but you were already snoring when I answered.”

“I don’t recall…” he hums.

“Anyways, whatever… that’s cute though. Also, this 3 million villa you bought, what’s the story?” you snapped, at the same time, you turn at the corner of the city smoothly.

“It’s not a penthouse like you said I shouldn’t get, so technically, I didn’t go against your words,” he sang. “How on earth did you carry 3 million in cash?” You scowled. “With many briefcases,” he retorted with a thin smile.

You pressed your lips together to stop yourself from laughing because you wanted to be focused on being serious and mature. But the quick reply had you snickering. Such a matter-of-fact answer. His face lights up at your response.

“You said that we’re going to furniture shopping. Do you even have time to do that?” you stopped at the security cottage and flashed your residence card on the pad the divider retracts open.

“I knew you were going to make a dispute out of it. So I made sure Namjoon allows it,” Yoongi laced his fingers together, and made a dark chuckling sound.

“What did you do to him this time…” you felt uneasy already. The last time he wanted a day off, Yoongi hid Namjoon’s passport so the trip could be delayed for a day or two. He purchased a movie on Netflix and wanted to watch it with you.

He simply gave you that creepy smile and you already know.

“You put laxatives in his drinks, my god.” “It is my most brilliant plan of all.” “Yoongi!” “What...he said he was constipating. I am doing him a favor.”

Why wouldn’t he constipate from the amount of caffeine he had been consuming. You thought.

Everyone’s definition of success is different. Everyone’s definition of married life is also different. The married life you shared with Yoongi was entirely on a different level. There are no guidelines for marrying a music producer this world famous. So you focused on being a wife. If everything else in his life isn’t normal, then being married is.

The moment he steps inside the home he shared with you, you noticed he stifled a yawn. His eyes falling droopy at the sight of his long sought after nest.

“I’m going to get a late lunch going, and you can go lay down on the bed in your indoor clothes…” “No, I want to help in the kitchen…” “Look at your eyes, they’re barely open… go rest.”

But he wanted to unpack because he got you something.

“It’s a cross-stitch table runner…” he lays his head on his palm, curled on his side, watching your big grin as you unravel the precious gift. He remembered that you wanted to buy this the last time you were there. He got the correct design and correct color too.

“You got them custom-made,” you gasped excitedly, and then shrink your voice at him, “Thank you...it’s so pretty.” Pulling the runner into a hug while Yoongi chuckles sleepily.

Yoongi was less interested in his stories and more engaged in yours. All his relatives that he can call strangers because they rarely meet, his family members that have seen you more than they’ve seen him. He silently is grateful for you being here, being the glue between his family and close friends, an invincible knot that keeps him grounded and gave him the sense of belonging.

He drifts mid-through your stories and latest gossip. As you sat on the floor next to the bed, unpacking his luggage one-by-one, you no longer hear his response. You glanced to the side and saw him sleeping soundly. You could only imagine how many hours he could when he’s away in a foreign country. Yoongi somehow can appear to be sleeping but is in fact, listening to all the conversations surrounding him. You and he share that talent. But this time, he slept for real--the energy replenishing, body rejuvenating sleep. There’s soft snorings and little shudders from time to time. Your gaze fell from his fringes to his brows, down the slope of his nose and his doll-like lips.

Last clothing to be unpack looked familiar. It was yours. That’s endearing. He always packs one clothing that belonged to you. You know, for when he ‘misses his wife so much he could die’ moments. You don’t know when he snuck them in, but it’s probably when you’re busy at the living room, or the bathroom, making sure he didn’t forget anything. The luggage is taken away from the bedroom and into his home studio, where it stays until its service is required again--which you suspect, won’t be long.

You slid the blanket above his shoulder, and tuck him in like you would a child. He looks so tired and it breaks your heart that he has to leave again. It’s like a cycle. At least you can see him eat today, with your own eyes, so let’s get started with the lunch.

Nothing extravagant. Just broiled spinach, fermented white baby radish from last week, and warm chicken soup with ginseng to help him re-energized. But he isn’t awake yet. That’s alright, you can reheat everything when he’s up. He still needs his much-acquired sleep. With that thought, you disappear into the bathroom and undressed. Sweating from cooking, body sticky with remnants of watery expels urged you to shower before the sun is completely down. You don’t usually shower this early, but with Yoongi around, you felt self-conscious. He doesn’t know this, but you will always want to smell nice for him. Isn’t that the very core of being a wife? Being extra hygienic for the hubby? To keep him interested? Especially Yoongi, because he is constantly away and accompanied by many attractive females?

You discarded the dampened shirt outside the door of the bathroom and swung it shut as gently as you can. Off goes the bra, then the panties. The shower head expels drizzling liquid, the steam floats up to the ceiling and the glass door get fogged up from the heat. Water pools at your feet as you readied your face underneath the shower to come into contact with the sprinkles. The pleasure of a simple shower after a good sweat is ultimately unmatched.

So endorsed in your time alone, Yoongi pushes the door wider. He had come awake when he heard you turned the knob shut. He discarded his pants on the way, and pulled his black shirt over his head, charging forward like a soldier on his way to a battleground he intends to win. Then he discarded his last piece of clothing, his boxers. Afterward, he trudges into the shower cubicle where you were standing, facing away from him. “You thought I was too tired for a shower session with you?” His voice deeps lower than usual, as he snakes one arm around your naked waist, skin to skin, Yoongi sunk his teeth on your shoulder and you turned around wearing a big smile to greet him. “No I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle any sessions with me…” you smartly replied. Yoongi smiled into the kiss that began innocently enough and gradually increase in intensity and power as the seconds passed. Your arms slick against his shoulder as he held on palm flat on the walls of the shower, he stands directly underneath the shower head now--refusing to let go of your lips even when you tap out for a breath. A seasoned rapper’s lung capacity isn’t a shy away from a Navy diver. Provided with the long abstinence and accumulating want, Yoongi isn’t just going to stop here in the shower, best believe, he is going to continue making love to you in all the rooms available in this house until he’s finally sated.

His handprints on the fogged glass door is significantly larger than yours. The slippery sound of sliding skin filled your ears, and your strangled moans could only suggest an impending euphoric sensation you had longed for, since the last time he’s here. And Yoongi is a determined soul. The thrusts are languid and deep. From the way he buried his face in the crook of your neck, eliciting heavy desperate pants implies that he had been imagining this on his lonely nights for too long. His touches were too precise and calculated, coming from a veteran lover who knows his wife’s body like the back of his hand. Yoongi’s glazed orbs that greeted you in the midst of the steamy love-making, felt foreign yet familiar. But his lips that conquered yours right after the heaty glance was definitely, without a doubt, Yoongi’s. The time apart had made him a stranger to your body, and the passion that almost fizzled out from the distance had reignited to another degree.

“Fuck I miss you,” he breathlessly says against your ear. You didn’t stutter or faltered back into the lust like you used to when you first dated him. Instead, you smiled into his confessions and bit your grin--no longer shy to show how much you love having these moments with him. More, you encouraged him with your touches and sweet mewls.

I like the whispers you added at the end. She says.

No matter what the public critic might say, Yoongi’s only verdict comes from his wife. His true achievements and outcomes of his work rely heavily on what you may say. But your words can be sarcastic and Yoongi doesn’t like having to guess what you truly meant.

“You always say something like that…” “I don’t know what you want me to say,” you shrugged as you scooped out a bowl of rice for him, “I like the whisper part and that’s the truth.” “How many times did you listen to it… be honest,” Yoongi took his bowl from you.

You tipped your eyes up to the ceiling and clicked your tongue. Somehow Yoongi caught the expression.

“Are you serious…” he began, eyes following you as you pulled the chair next to him out, “Okay, fine. Do you listen more of Jimin’s Promise or my collab song?”

You added a long hum, not intending to give him the answer he wants to hear. “Technically, Jimin’s Promise came out first--”

“--don’t talk to me,” he darted.

Instinctively, you covered his knee with one palm, to soothe him. But of course, Yoongi wouldn’t let you console him that quickly.

“I spent nights writing that song while touring… Am I asking too much of you, to just listen to me more than you do Jimin’s, but no. Ultimately, I’m always the second choice for the industry AND my wife. Fine, I don’t care...I don’t want to care anymore. I worked so hard to earn money for you to spend, and all I’m requesting is that you be my harsh critic but you’re apparently too busy to listen to my songs. Hmm, I see how it is.”

“To even things out, you never told me you’re releasing a song…” you shrugged.

Yoongi set his chopstick down, clinking while you continued eating.

“To top it all, you watched dramas without me,” he tipped a glass of water into his mouth like he would a cup of soju, “Our drama.”

You knew he is just picking fights with you because to him, a fight is also a conversation.

“Gosh Alexa, this is so sad, play Seesaw,” you exclaimed with a forlorn sigh, “What do you propose I do? Wait for you until you come back? The second season would have begun by the time you returned, Yoongi… You have cities to tour, fans to meet and stages to check, and what about me? I have this house, Netflix and the chili plant outside. You’re being a little mean to me right now… my priorities aren’t always you, you know.”

Yoongi was deafened by the last sentence you said, that he couldn’t hear the rest of the off-topic conversations you promptly added after it. You didn’t seem to notice that you’ve hurt him. That’s the inspiration behind his rap verse ‘my razor tongue wife with a stone in her hand’. He likes that you’re honest and has trained you to be tougher, but the blade he sharpens strikes him once in a while when needed. He doesn’t apologize, he makes amends with his actions. He tries to be ultimately present when he’s here. When he’s home.

Like now, he sat on the floor, with a writing pad while you washed dishes.

“Turmeric powder. Can you check if it’s on the grocery list?” You raised your voice a little so he could hear from the living room. He puffed his cheeks with his cap turned backward, scanning down the awfully long list of things you needed to get for the family dinner this weekend.

“Nope,” he writes them scraggly underneath your neat writing. Then he heard you listed a number of things and gifts you planned to get before the weekend comes. Presents for your parents, and his; his nephews, his older brother’s birthday that he himself didn’t remember, a flower bouquet for his aunt who just opened a restaurant. He made a mental note to transfer a large amount of money into your account later.

“Is the villa far from here?” you asked him, wiping your kitchen stove down, spotless. “Not very… you’ll see when you drive there later,” Yoongi murmured to his chest, filling colors on the heart he drew on the grocery list, next to “Yoongi’s wife grocery list”.

“Also, I wanted to get grilled beef slices in that restaurant…” Yoongi promised to take you to the restaurant you had been wanting to go to, in two days time. Until a message from his manager came.

“...it would taste so damn good…” your mouth waters at the thought of it but when you looked across the counter at Yoongi perplexed gaze sitting on the floor there in the living room, you somehow caught what he didn’t, or rather--couldn’t say. That look could only mean one thing.

That the luggage you pushed into his studio is going to get another traveling sticker. That the restaurant trip is not going to happen. That you will be strolling aimlessly in this huge house. That you will be visiting the villa he bought alone. That your wedding picture and ring will be the only proof that you’re somehow married.

To the worldly loved, worldly known...the beautiful tragic, Min Yoongi.

Because he couldn’t keep his promise, you had him doing something similar to it. Peeking at his bobbing head, through your iPad playing Candy Crush, you smiled to yourself.

“Make sure you get all my toenails trimmed and neatened,” Yoongi lifts his head up short, sitting on the floor, with your heel digging onto his thigh as he nodded. “What color do you want for the polish?” He asked, getting cross-eyed as he hones the sharp edges of your nail, shorter.

“Your hair color right now…” “Babe, this is out of context…but” he dragged, “remember the voice note you sent me during the crash meeting with the staff?”

“The one I cursed at you? Yeah...why?” “It turns me on,” He hides his smile by lowering his face from you. What a strange yet tantalizing thought.

[thdorkmagnet]

For the First Time in Forever (Star is Anna AU)

Summary: A series of one-shots and multi-chapters proving why Star Butterfly should be considered a Disney Princess, as Star and company take over the roles of all your favorite Disney Princess characters! (Starco inevitable)

Check out my other stuff on Fanfiction! 

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. Frozen belongs to Disney. All rights go to their respective owners.

"Meteora!" Star yelled into the blizzard, her voice quivering as her body shook from the freezing chill. She slowly trudged her way through snow bank after snow bank, while the heavy, numbing wind tried it's best to freeze her in place. Still she pushed her shaking form on, trying to focus on finding her sister, instead of the biting chill that had frozen everything from her toes to her face. "Meteora! Meteora, where are you?!" She screamed, her breath fogged and her breathing labored, every step heavier than the last. She ran her hands up and down her arms trying to create some form of warmth but never with any success. It didn't help that she hadn't changed before foolishly deciding to face the elements on a long trek through the countryside meaning she was still wearing her regular sea green dress, purple and orange leggings, and purple boots, none of which had equipped her for the cold weather, only the thin velvet cape she had been given provided her any sort of warmth, but even it did very little against the freezing wind. 

"Ugh, look I'm sorry okay!" Star tried again, quickly losing patience with her sister and her very problematic powers. "I shouldn't have said those things! But you were being difficult!" At her raised tone, another chill jumped down her spine, making her body shake even more. "I mean," she quickly backtracked. "We both made mistakes so maybe please come out so we can talk about this?"

There was no response and Star merely shivered and began muttering under her breath, "Stupid snow. Stupid Meteora. If she had just told me about her powers instead of exploding out of nowhere than none of this would be happening. But noooo she just had to lock herself away and keep secrets from me." Star sighed, hurt crossing her face for a second, before she tripped over a branch hidden in the snow and fell flat on her face. She quickly sat up, yelling to the sky, "Ugh why did it have to snow?!"

How had her day turned around like this? Today was supposed to be amazing, today was supposed to be special but not like this, it was supposed to be the best day of her life. Instead it had turned into one of the worst and it was all because of her sister's secret. The blond picked herself back up, her body now covered in snow as she continued through the blizzard, her body shuddering more and more with every step as she thought back over the events that had led her to here.

…

For about as long as Star could remember she had been alone.

Sure for the first several years of her childhood she had had her sister to keep her company and play with. Meteora was always so much fun and she could recall all their good times together like they were yesterday. Even though Star was a few years younger than her, Meteora was always so nice and helpful to her needs, playing with her and being there for her whenever she needed her and Star cherished those memories more than anything. She could still remember waking her sister up in the middle of the nigh to drag her outside and build a snowman for no reason other than she wanted to and her sister willingly complying, smiling and giggling along with her as they stayed up into the late hours of the night.

Until one day, Meteora locked herself in her room and never came out. At first, Star thought she was just sick and after a week of waiting for her to get better and asking her parents as many questions about what was wrong with her as possible (only to ever receive a vague answer), she realized that her sister wasn't ill, she just didn't to leave her room for some reason.

That was when Star had changed tactics and had began a daily ritual of knocking on her door and begging her to come outside and play with her, listing every activity she could think of to get her to agree, only to either be ignored or turned away. But Star was not one to quit so easily, she stayed persistent hoping to spark some kind of reaction out of her other than rejection, and as her boredom and loneliness grew, so did her desperation and determination. Still nothing worked and so Star spent most of her days laying around the castle trying to entertain herself and fight the losing battle against her greatest nemesis: boredom.

On top of that, she wasn't even allowed to leave the castle, the gates which once stayed open were now closed and sealed tight. Her mother and father were always busy, the few servants they kept in the castle kept to themselves mostly, and Meteora... well she was just a lost cause.

And it stayed like this for years and years until Star was convinced that this was just the way it was, this was just her life. She stopped knocking on her sister's door, most of the time avoiding her wing of the castle altogether, because as much as she tried not to let it bother her, it hurt every time she knocked and received no answer other than a short, “Go away, Star!”

In fact the very last time she had knocked on her sister's door at all was the day of her parent's funeral.

They had announced that they were leaving on a trip and would be gone for two weeks. Star had been sad to see them go, but was used to being alone by now so it didn't really bug her that much that they wouldn't be there at the castle. She could still remember giving them each a tight hug and saying brightly, “See you in two weeks, guys!”

It was a few nights later when she received the news that her parent's ship had sunk. She had been devastated, her entire world shattering around her as she struggled to cope with the loss of her beloved mom and dad. And in her lowest moment imaginable, feeling empty and broken and so lost she felt a massive weight on her chest that seemed to be pressing down on her making it difficult to breathe, she had gone to the only person she had left: her sister Meteora. She knocked only once, fighting back tears as she begged one last time for her to come out, telling her how much she needed her and how she was there for her and to please not shut her out and just let her in. But when she received no answer Star had just collapsed against the door, crying and weeping, no longer able to hold back the pain and sorrow she felt coming to her in waves. But as she wept she could almost swear she heard soft sobbing from the other side of the door, and there was nothing she could do about it.

A few more years passed until at last Meteora was 18, finally old enough to take the throne. Star (now 15 years old herself) was ecstatic about her sister's coronation day. Cause with that day promised the thing she had been dreaming about for so many years... the gates would open. And with them would come a flood people, not just from town but from their surrounding kingdoms and after the ceremony there would even be a ball to celebrate their new ruler's rise to the throne.

Star had been giddy, telling her favorite paintings (so she talked to pictures on the wall, so what?) all about her plans for the big day. Her imagination ran wild as she envisioned every possible dream scenario she could cook up, most of them ending with her falling in love with a handsome stranger. And as the days ticked by at their ever slow pace, Star's eagerness only grew.

Finally, the day arrived and Star had been up bright and early, energetically bouncing around the castle as the servants rushed to get ready around her. She couldn't keep her enthusiasm contained, especially as she heard the order being called out for the gates to be opened. She had raced outside, waving to the large crowd of guests as they passed, standing on the railing of the bridge leading to the castle and walking along it as she took in every smiling and excited face that passed. The only face she hadn't seen smiling, in fact, was a little man (who she later learned was named Duke Ludo of Weaseltown or something like that) he instead just had a dark and a little unnerving look on his face as he entered into the castle, surrounded by at least three guards.

But Star hadn't taken much stock of the man, her focus and attention on all the new sights and smells the village had to offer as she quickly rushed around, trying to see as much of it all as she could. She had just been running down by the harbor when she had suddenly crashed into the front of a horse, causing her to stumble back and land in an empty rowboat, sitting on the edge of the dock. “Hey, watch where your going you jerk!” Star shouted up at whoever she had just crashed to in annoyance, only to feel her cheeks light up with a blush as she saw a young man with spiky, salmon colored hair and a fancy white suit, climb down off his horse and quickly race over to check on her.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you alright?” he asked, offering her a hand up, but as he did the boat tilted, beginning to fall over the edge and he quickly tightened her grip on her hand, yanking her off the boat as it hit the sea below. The blond landed against his chest, before looking up at the pair of gorgeous red eyes he had, lost for words for a second, even as he pushed her away, now holding her at arm's length. “Well that was a real close one,” he joked, chuckling awkwardly to try and diffuse the uncomfortable tension that had formed. Star however, was incapable of responding, stumbling around for words that seemed to be lost on her at the moment. She ended up only babbling out incoherent nonsense that caused the boy to raise an eyebrow at her weird behavior. “Uhhh, do you need me to get you a doctor or something, cause your kinda not making any sense?” he hesitantly asked.

Star finally got a hold of herself as she stumbled out, “Oh, n-no-no, I'm fine.”

“Well, I-I'm really sorry for running into you back there, I didn't see you,” the boy apologized, shooting her a very remorseful look.

“Oh that,” Star said, before scoffing and waving a hand in the air, trying to shrug off the whole situation. “Don't worry about it. I've taken way worse. I'm totally good. In fact, I'm better than good, I'm...” she paused to sigh dreamily. “...great even.”

The boy merely smiled in return before saying, “Well that's cool to hear, my name is Prince Tom of the Southern Isles.” He bowed and Star did a loose curtsey in reply.

“Star Butterfly,” she said simply, but Tom quickly gasped.

“The princess?” he exclaimed, before dropping down onto one knee in respect. “Your Majesty, I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner.”

“Oh, no, no, you don't have to do that,” Star assured the prince, grabbing his arm and helping him stand. “Just Star is fine. You don't have to be formal around me.”

“Okay then, how about I just call you Starship from now on,” he said in an almost flirty tone and Star quickly blushed.

“You can call me whatever you want,” she said shyly, folding her hand behind her back.

“Great then, I guess I'll see you later at the coronation,” the boy said and Star nodded dumbly.

“Yeah, guess you will,” she sighed, still lost in his eyes.

“Cool.”

“Cool.”

And with that, the two had departed, leaving Star in a lovesick daze. The next time she had seen him was at the coronation, though he had looked annoyed from his seat in the front row, since he had two people asleep next to him, using each shoulder as an arm rest and drooling on him the whole time. He seemed about ready to shove them off when Star had caught his eye and a smile had crossed his face as he waved to her, which she returned eagerly.

Meteora had been a bit tense, Star remembered thinking, as she stood next at the front of the large room. A choir was singing their national anthem while the young woman looked liked she might puke at any moment. Star had just chocked it up to anxiety though, after all she did shut herself off from the world, so clearly being around people must make her uncomfortable... even if one of those people was her own sister. She had even noticed her sister's hands shaking as she took the scepter and the small orb (which was always used for the coronation for some reason) into her hands. She had stood still as a statue as the priest went into his whole speech in their native tongue about crowning her and whatnot before the crown was placed on her head and the crowd began clapping and cheering for their new queen. Star wasn't a bit surprised as her sister almost threw the objects back onto their sacred pillow and slipped her gloves back on with a relieved sigh. She did always have this weird thing about dirt.

After that, things continued to go smoothly as the crowd quickly emptied into the ballroom, where a cheerful and pleasant party began. As soon as Star had entered, she had been swept away by a guard who decided it was a great idea to position her right next to her sister and for a minute the two just stood awkwardly next to each other struggling to find something to say. Meteora kept rubbing a hand up and down her arm and didn't even seem to want to look her way, while Star just had her arms wrapped around herself. “Uh hey,” she had finally tried, figuring she could at least take the initiative and try and strike up a conversation with her sister. “Sooo, haven't seen you in a while...” Understatement of the year. “You been... good.”

Meteora nodded, a small smile dancing on her lips. “Yeah, I'm fine,” she said just as awkwardly as Star.

“Well you look good,” Star blurted out. “You look like a real queen.”

“Yeah I guess so, don't really feel much like it yet,” Meteora replied, her body seeming to relax some the more they talked which encouraged Star to move a teensy bit closer.

“Come on, your gonna do a great job at it,” Star encouraged her.

“Thanks,” her sister replied with a bright grin.

Star looked out at all the other party-goers and sighed in awe, “Woooww this is sooo cool! Can you believe we're at a real party?”

Meteora chuckled slightly and said, “Not really. Though didn't we throw a party way back in the day?”

“Oh yeah,” Star said with a grin, the memory resurfacing in her mind, though it felt a bit fuzzy, like she was having trouble holding onto it. That tended to happen a lot though whenever she thought about the old days. “It was for your birthday, right?”

Meteora was now openly laughing, a mischievous glint in her eye as she recalled the incident. “Yeah, and we ended up trashing the entire dining room because you snuck an entire heard of pigs inside.”

The two sisters shared a laugh for a moment, Star had felt her spirits rising, as a connection that she had thought had long since severed began to regrow. It felt like real progress toward rekindling their friendship. After all she wasn't running off and slamming the door shut in her face, she was actually talking to her and she felt like they were getting along. Too bad she ended up messing it all up with the very next sentence. “Man I miss those days, it's been forever since we just hung out.”

Meteora's smile dropped in an instant, the same guarded look that Star hated seeing on her replacing her pleasant grin. “Well, things are different now, it can't go back to the way things used to be,” she said her voice full of emotion that she seemed to be struggling to choke down.

“Why not?” Star asked as innocently as she could but this seemed to push Meteora over the edge as she she turned away from her sister and retorted sharply, “Because I said so.”

The blond's eyes filled with tears as she quickly excused herself in a hushed tone, walking through the crowded ballroom as she tried to put as much distance between herself and Meteora as she could. But she had been stopped by Duke Ludo who gave her what she guessed was supposed to be a smooth smile. “Milady, would you do me the honor of sharing your first dance with me?” He bowed low in front of her and Star quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she declined him softly, “Um, no thank you, I-I can't-”

“Well why not?” Ludo insisted, looking annoyed at her refusal.

Before Star could open her mouth to try and come up with an excuse, she felt a hand land on her side and a presence appear behind her. “Because she promised her first dance to me,” Tom's voice spoke up and Star looked over her shoulder at him with surprise. He winked at her, which made her whole face blush, but she did smile back.

She turned back around to face Ludo and, playing along, shrugged and told him, “Sorry, but a promise is a promise.”

Ludo just grumbled something under his breath and stormed away, rejected. The moment he was out of earshot, Star sighed before giving Tom a deeply grateful smile. “Thanks, I didn't know what I was gonna do about him.”

“Don't mention it,” Tom said, grabbing her arm and twirling her around to face him. “Just give me that dance you owe me and we'll call it even.”

Star giggled, but complied, saying teasingly, “Well if I must.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and the other locked with his own as they moved smoothly across the dance floor. “Gotta say that was pretty noble of you Tom, coming to my rescue like that.”

“Well that is what us princes do,” he said smoothly.

Star leaned in a little closer as she asked, “You mostly did it just to annoy that Ludo guy though, didn't you?”

Tom smiled mischievously over at the small man, watching them with a death glare, before admitting, “It didn't hurt anything.”

Star laughed as the two moved in perfect sync around the ballroom.

Star and Tom pretty much hit it off after that, escaping from the hustle and bustle of the party and moving onto a quiet balcony to talk. And that's exactly what the two did, chatting and sharing their past life experiences with each other. He was quick to ask the question that almost everyone had which was about the pure white streak she had in her hair and Star was quick to explain to him that she had been born with it and that it was really no big deal. She never got why so many people focused on that, she didn't think it was really that weird.

Soon the hours began to fly by as they talked more and more and Star found out that Tom was surprisingly relatable. He too had had some bad experiences with his siblings in the past and considering he had 13 of them, boy did he have some stories to share. Eventually the two grew tired of talking and so they instead started sneaking into restricted areas of the castle and running from the guards just for the heck of it and Star found herself having a blast with the boy. Probably the most fun she had had in years.

Which why when he had caught her off guard as the two sat on the roof of the castle, just staring up at the stars, and he suddenly asked, “Okay am I crazy or do we just seem right for each other?” her instant reply had been, “Heck yeah we do.” She sighed leaning her head against his shoulder making him blush, “This has been one of the best nights of my life. I wish it would never end.”

Tom paused for a moment, looking deep in thought, while Star just enjoyed cuddling against the handsome prince. “What if... it didn't have to?” he finally said and Star instantly sat up, staring at him wide-eyed.

“Huh? Wh-What do you mean?” she asked, giving him a confused but hopeful look. She was desperate, she didn't want to be alone anymore, this night had only proved to her how starved she was for human affection of any kind and she wasn't really sure she could go back now that she had had a taste of what her life could be like. If Tom was offering her a solution then she would take it, whatever it was.

“Well, and this is probably a pretty insane idea,” he began hesitantly, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. “But it wouldn't have to end if... we got married.”

Star was stunned, her body freezing up and refusing to move as she just stared at him blankly, her mind incapable of coming up with a reply. Tom watched her reaction closely and cringed, believing he had just made a huge mistake. “Oh man, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.”

“YES!” Star screamed a second later, tackling him with a tight hug that nearly caused them both to slip off and plummet to their death, but luckily Tom was able to hold them steady for a moment.

“You mean it, you really want to,” Tom said in surprise.

“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes,” Star squealed with delight. “Let's do it, let's get married! Oh my gosh this is gonna be so great!”

“You can't get married.” That was the first thing Meteora had said when Star and Tom had gone to her asking for her blessing, giving them a deadpanned stare and speaking in a firm, no nonsense voice that left no room for arguments.

Still Star felt her whole world crumbling at this declaration as she said in shock, “What, why not?”

“Oh I don't know maybe because you know literally just met him today and know nothing about him,” Meteora hissed back, looking beyond annoyed at her sister's actions.

“I know more about him than I do you!” Star argued, her tone beginning to raise some. Meteora's face seemed to soften for a second, a hurt look appearing on her face, before she hardened it with the rest of her features.

“Well that may be but I am still your queen and you still have to do as I say,” Meteora said sharply, struggling to keep her anger down and in check.

“Not if your rule makes no sense, admit it you just want to take away my one chance at happiness because you want me to be miserable like you!” Star shouted, her frustration reaching an all-time high.

“Um, so should I go and let you two work this out or-” Tom asked awkwardly, starting to slowly inch away from the two sister's quarrel but Star latched an arm onto him and pulled him back to her side.

“No way, you are my future husband, anything she wants to say to me she can say to you too,” Star said stubbornly.

“Greeaaattt,” Tom slowly said, trying to keep a supportive smile on his lips despite the intense discomfort he was feeling.

“He is not your future husband because you aren't getting married to him!” Meteora shouted.

“Yes I am!”

“No, Star you aren't.” And with that Meteora turned her back on her sister saying to one of the guards. “The party is over, close the gates.”

“What, no?!” Star screamed in terror as she watched her sister walking away. No, no this couldn't be happening. This was supposed to be her happily ever after, but her sister was about to take that away from her. She couldn't let this happen. She had to stop this, she couldn't take another year alone.

And so without thinking, Star lunged forward, ripping one of the gloves from Meteora's hand, her older sister turning around to stare at her with a look ranging from shock to terror. “Give me back my glove,” Meteora said desperately and Star felt her stomach twist with guilt. But she wasn't backing down yet, she had her attention again, she needed to use this.

“No, not until you listen to me,” Star argued quickly, hiding the glove behind her back even as her sister tried to lunge forward to snatch it back. At the point they had attracted an audience but Star didn't care, she was going to say her piece and nothing was going to stop her. “You have treated me like this my whole life and I want to know why? Why do you always shove me aside? Why do you lock me out and never listen to me? Don't you see how miserable I am here? Why are you trying to take away the one good thing that I have had in years?”

Her sister was shaking her head, growling under her breath and Star didn't even notice the temperature around them dropping, all she saw was the her sister looked close to snapping and still she pushed her more. She wanted to get a reaction out of her, she had to know the reason why... no matter what. “Why Meteora?! Why can't you just let me be happy for once?!” Star yelled at the top of her lungs, tears starting to surface in her eyes.

“If you aren't happy, then why don't you just... leave!” Meteora screamed, throwing her arm out. But a cold force followed this action, a biting wind knocked Star and several others down as thick shards of ice appeared around the young queen's body. She took a step back, her eyes wide with a level of fear Star had never seen on any human being in her life, but the blond was too dazed by what she was seeing to say anything, her body frozen as a collective gasp fell through the audience. Star took a quick look around at the other members of the crowd, everyone looking at their ruler with shock and horror, Tom was stunned into silence as well, his eyes darting from the ice to Meteora and then over to Star as if silently asking her if she knew what was going on.

But then there was a shout from the crowd as Duke Ludo suddenly yelled, “Magic! She has dark magic! She's a monster!” He stabbed an accusing finger in the queen's direction and she stumbled back even more, her breathing erratic and her eyes jumping around the room in terror.

“I-I, no! No it's not like that!” Meteora panickingly cried. “I'm not a monster, I'm not!” But then for a brief instant she locked eyes with Star and the blond was able to read her expression for the first ever and what she saw was guilt, fear, and loneliness, so much packed into one short exchange that it took Star's breath away.

Meteora seemed to panic even more as she spotted Star, saying under her breath with tear-streaked eyes, “I'm sorry.” She then turned on her heels and throwing the doors open, ran from the castle, from the judging eyes... from Star. Somehow, Star got control of her limbs back as she hopped to her feet and chased after her sister, shouting after her, “Meteora wait! Stop! Come back!”

But her sister didn't listen as she raced through the courtyard, freezing everything she came across, causing the crowd of people to scream in terror and cower from her, which only seemed to make the place grow colder. Star panted as she tried to keep up with her sister but it was hard to do as the ground beneath her turned to ice, making her slip and slide across the courtyard, while Meteora seemed to have no trouble running.

Eventually Meteora reached the fjord, Star a short ways behind her, still begging and pleading with her to come back so they could talk it out. But her older sister no longer seemed to feel like listening as she gave one last glance back, Star once again seeing the fear and decision in Meteora's eyes, before she took a step forward into the water which froze on contact with her foot. The blond gave one last burst of speed in hopes of reaching her sister in time, but then Meteora took off in a run across the lake, the water being incased in a layer of ice as she did. Star was so paralyzed in shock by this her foot accidentally slipped, sending her crashing to the ground.

From there, the blond could only watch helplessly as her sister cleared the distance of the lake in less than a minute, before running into the treeline across the shore, disappearing from Star's sight and life for what the girl feared might be forever. For a moment, all she could do was stare ahead blankly, shivering as the temperature seemed to drop more and more around her. She felt lost and alone and it was everything she could do to keep the tears out of her eyes. But then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, pulling her back to reality and comforting her and she turned to see Tom staring down at her, concern pinching his eyebrows. “You okay?” he asked, slowly helping her to her feet, but all the blond could do was nod numbly.

He began to lead her back toward the castle, his arms resting around her, trying to provide her heat she was sorely deprived of right now. The two walked in silence for a moment, before the young prince asked, “D-Did you know?”

“No,” Star replied, her voice cracking as the true weight of that word hit her. She hadn't known her own sister was magic. How could she not know that? How could Meteora have never told her? She suddenly understood why her sister had been guarded and closed off all those years, she wasn't trying to push Star away, she was trying to keep her from learning the truth. But why? Why had she kept it from her for so long? Did her own sister really not trust her enough to tell her such a huge secret?

The next several minutes passed by in a haze for Star, unable to get the image of Meteora's frightened face out of her head, while Tom tried to settle down the crowd, who were almost in a panic over the dropping temperature and the now frozen lake that surrounded their home. And Ludo was not helping the situation as he began freaking out the most out of everyone, screaming his head off about how they were all going to die and that the monster who did this needed to be stopped. Finally, Tom decided to take matters into his own hands, stepping over to him with a firm look, and snapped out, “Hey would you knock that off! You're making things worse!”

Ludo opened his mouth to respond only to spot Star next to him and he quickly screamed out, “Ahh, get her away from me! She probably has black magic just like her sister.”

“No I don't, I'm completely normal,” the girl said, hands on her hips.

“Oh yeah, well how do we know for sure you aren't a monster like your sister?” Ludo asked, with a suspicious glare on his face.

Star felt an anger bubble up in her chest, unable to keep herself from shouting, “Stop calling her that! My sister is not a monster!”

The small man hid behind the safety of his guards at the girl's raised tone, before saying, “Oh yeah, than how do you explain her almost killing me back there?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “You slipped on some ice,” he snapped, shooting him a doubting look.

“Yeah, well I still could have been seriously injured,” Ludo grumbled in annoyance, before whining out, “I think I got a concussion and it really hurts!”

“Oh brother,” Tom mumbled under his breath, resiting the urge to roll his eyes again.

“I think we should send a search party out there to hunt that traitor down and dispose of her!” Ludo suggested.

Star let out a loud huff, before declaring loudly, “No one is going to hurt Meteora! Look, I know things look bad but this wasn't her fault. It's-It's mine.” The girl hung her head guiltily at this. “She never would have lashed out like that if I hadn't provoked her.”

Tom put a hand on the girl's shoulder, saying, “Star, you didn't know.”

“No, but I'm still the one who made her mad,” the blond royal said, shaking her head once. She took in a deep breath before adding in a confident tone, “So, I'm the one who's going after her.”

“What?!” both Tom and Ludo said as one, with varying levels of concern and surprise. “Star, you don't have to do that,” the prince added.

“Would you rather I send Mr. Paranoid over there,” the blond said, pointing a finger over to Ludo.

“Hey!” the small duke shouted.

“Good point,” Tom grumbled in annoyance, before his face softened, looking deep into her eyes as he asked, “But are you sure you're up for this, I mean it could be really dangerous.”

“It may be,” Star agreed, but the determination and resolve in her face and tone never wavered once. “But I still have to try. I'm the only one who Meteora's gonna listen to, if I find her I can convince her to undo her magic.”

Tom didn't look convinced but he didn't voice any doubts he seemed to be having about Star's sister. Instead, he only sighed and asked softly, “And you're sure there's no way I can talk you out of staying?”

Star shook her head, grabbing the cape offered to her by one of the servants and hastily throwing it on. She took in a deep breath before saying firmly, “No. I need to clean up my mess, Tom, and...” Star's brain momentarily flashed to that look of fear in her sister's eyes and she held back a shudder. “.... and I need to talk to Meteora again, finally figure out why she's been keeping secrets from me all these years.”

Tom nodded in understanding, giving her a comforting smile before he declared brightly, “Then I'm coming with you!”

“No,” Star said, gripping his hands tightly between her own. “I need you here, looking after the kingdom while I'm gone. Someone needs to be here to keep everyone from freaking out and causing a riot.” Both teens gaze slowly shifted to Ludo, who crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest. “What?!” he snapped out.

Tom let out an annoyed sigh, before grumbling childishly, “Okay, fine. I'll stay.”

Star smiled at her finance, saying sweetly, “Thanks Tom. I knew I could count on you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know you're right and all but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it,” he grumbled out, refusing to meet her eyes for a moment, as he pouted.

“I'll be back soon,” the blond said, giving his hands one final squeeze before letting go and raising her voice enough so that everyone could hear her. “While I'm gone I'm leaving Prince Tom in charge. Everyone try and stay warm and dry until I get back with the queen.”

With that she took a deep breath and started on her journey, only to be pulled back by Tom who said in a scolding tone, “Okay well if you're going, then at least take my horse.” One of his servants handed him the reigns which he then passed to Star. The girl gave him an eager grin, before climbing up onto the horse, saying, “Thank Tom, this'll make it much easier.”

“Hey, be safe, okay?” the boy asked, giving her another concerned look.

Star gave him a soothing smile, reassuring him, “I'll be fine. She's my sister, she's not gonna hurt me.”

“I hope you're right,” came Tom's anxious reply and the air around the two grew uncomfortable for a moment as they both tried not to think of the damage Meteora had already done.

But Star swallowed this doubt, shouting triumphantly, “Okay then, let's get going boy!” A few seconds passed of the girl just grinning confidently, while nothing happened, until finally the girl glared down at the horse. “Come on, boy! Move! I don't have all day!”

“Star?” came Tom's skeptical voice and the blond gave him a sheepish look. “Do you... know how to ride a horse?”

Star scoffed, saying with a slight chuckle, “How hard could it be?”

Tom and his horse, Hampton, shared a look, before the prince said, “Okay, well first of all, you gotta flick the reigns to make him move.”

“Ohhhh, got it,” the girl said and raised her hands to do just that.

“Wait, wait,” Tom said, putting a hand over hers to keep her from moving just yet. “If you're gonna go out there at least let me at tell you the basics.” The young prince cleared his throat before  giving her the basic rundown of the rules he knew but Star soon grew bored and her eyes glazed over, leaning against the horse with a tired expression as she tuned out his lecture. “And if you do all that you probably won't die. Got all that, Star?” Tom asked once he was done and the girl only cast him a small sideways glance.

“Hmm, oh yeah,” she said distantly and Tom let out long sigh, knowing she in fact, hadn't heard anything he had said for the last several minutes. He quickly cast Hampton a dangerous look, knowing how wild and hard he could be to control sometimes, before hissing in a warning tone, “If anything bad happens to her, I'm blaming you.” Star overheard this, but decided to ignore it in favor of actually getting somewhere...that day.

Finally, Star had lost all patience as she quickly told her finance, “Okay thanks for the tips, Tom!” before flicking the reigns down with all her might, shouting, “Okay boy, onward to Meteora!” Hampton reared up on his back legs, letting out a loud ninny before trotting forward, several people having to dodge out of the way to avoid being trampled, as the horse and its rider galloped out of the castle and into the unknown world that awaited them, Star confident that she and her sister would be back within the day.

But that confidence had been short-lived, as Meteora seemed to have just vanished into thin air, the only sign left of her being the snowdrifts and intense wind that Hampton fought his way through. Star regularly called out for her sister, hoping she would hear her and come back, but either she had gotten way ahead of her somehow or she was ignoring her and neither was a particularly great option in Star's opinion. And things had only gotten worse from there, as a loud noised spooked Hampton, making him rear back and Star slipped from his saddle, landing harshly in the snow. “Hey!” she screamed in annoyance. But Tom's horse paid her no mind, turning and galloping away at full speed, happy to finally be fear to explore the wilds once more. “Come back here!” the blond shouted, already beginning to shake in the cold, the snow that had caught her landing now trying to turn her bloodstream to ice. “You can't just leave me here!”

She let out a loud huff of annoyance, before pressing onward, quitting no longer an option for her now.

…

Which led back to her current predicament, wandering around lost in a blizzard, miserable and freezing cold with only a small, very thin jacket providing her any form of warmth. To say she was in low spirits at this point was an understatement, any semblance of hope was being diminished with every passing second, as if the biting wind was forcefully ripping it away from her to be devoured. The girl's body was beginning to grow numb and every step was more and more difficult to make, her labored breath coming out in short, foggy gasps. She tried to will herself forward, as she forced her frozen limbs to continuing trudging ahead though the waist-deep snow.

But the truth of her dire situation was starting to catch up with her, filling her with numb indifference, if she didn't find some heat soon she wasn't going to make it. “G-Great, dying in a b-blizzard,” she growled under her breath, felling her withering hope continuing to drain from her sore and shivering body. “Just yet a-another thing to add to my list of t-terrible t-things that have happened to m-me today.” She let out a frustrated huff, ignoring the chattering in her teeth (which grew worse with every struggled sentence) as she continued to rant to herself, “S-She just had to h-have s-s-secret ice powers, d-didn't she? S-She couldn't have been b-blessed with something more practical l-like, oh I don't k-know maybe like powers that don't end up f-freezing over our entire kingdom! Like magic that makes s-sandy beaches or cute little n-narwhals or sh-shoot rainbows into the sky. Now those would have been a g-good p-power to have, literally anything would be b-b-better than this.” She let out a long sigh, before asking the universe, “C-Could today g-get any w-worse?”

Barely a second passed, before she got her answer, as she heard a loud crack below her and she looked down to see that she had unknowingly been standing on a large patch of ice, which apparently was not holding up under her weight, jagged incisions slicing their way through the thin layer of ice beneath her shaking feet. Realizing the ground beneath her was literally about to break, she just stared forward blankly, letting out a very annoyed, “Great,” before she was submerged in the freezing cold water.

Star's body instantly went numb (what wasn't already) the moment she fell beneath the waves and she nearly gasped as the further drop in temperature took her breath away. She tried to will her arms and legs into motion, hoping she could swim back toward the surface, but for some odd reason she couldn't, her limbs had become dead weight, refusing to move an inch as the dreadful cold filled her very being, a feeling of familiarity accompanying it, leaving her stunned and confused, since she was fairly sure she had never experienced anything like this before. The fight left her quickly, as a sudden overwhelming exhaustion took hold, willing her to close her eyes and just give in. So she obeyed, feeling her body slowly sinking downward, hoping to find a release from all this cold in the safety of her dreams. Maybe... her tired mind thought, as everything began fading to black. Things will be better when I wake up.

Just before the inky blackness could consume her, she felt something wrap around her abdomen. And to her shock, whatever it was felt...warm. She reveled in the feeling it brought her, nearly snapping her awake right there as her entire being fought to reach out and grab as much of this heat and warmth up as she could. But her limbs remained heavy, lifeless bricks and so all she could do was wait, as she felt herself being slowly lifted back up toward the surface, her body losing the fight to stay away as she fell into unconsciousness, the last thought in her sluggish mind before she was swallowed up by the black being  her wonderment over what exactly it was that was holding onto her that could make her feel so... safe.

…

Star came back to consciousness slowly, fighting past the fog that consumed her mind, as she came back into awareness. The first thing she noticed was that she felt oddly warm, which was a huge surprise since the last thing she remembered was wandering around lost in a blizzard, slowly freezing to death. Wait, was she dead? Was this heaven? It felt kinda like it, since her body felt safe and comfortable in whatever place she had ended up. Which begged the question, where was she anyway? What had happened to her out there?

As she pondered these questions, letting them turn over and over again in her mind as she tried to recall the last thing that happened to her, she picked up muted voices talking nearby. This also came as a surprise and she strained to try and hear them, hoping they would provide her with answers, but it took a few moments before the fog cleared up enough for her to process what they were saying.

“So what you just found her like this, wondering around in some snowstorm?” a voice asked.

“Yeah pretty much, she fell into some ice, I had to pull her out before she could drown,” a different voice said.

“Geez, she'd have to be crazier than you Marco, to be out in this weather,” the first said, sarcastically.

Star heard a low growl, which she identified as coming from the second voice, who seemed very displeased with his friend's comment. “Yeah well, it's a good thing I was, otherwise she might have died out there,” he added, with just the slightest hint of annoyance.

“So what do you think she's doing out here?” a third voice spoke up, sounding more nasally than the other two.

“The bigger question is, how much do you think she's gonna pay us?” the first voice said, matter-of-factly.

“Ferguson!” the second one snapped.

“What? I mean you have eyes, we know who she is,” the first piped up defensively. “I'll bet she'll pay us all handsomely for saving her life when she comes to.”

“Is that really all you can think about right now... money?” the second voice scolded.

“Hey I'm a businessman, what can I say.”

“Your terrible, Ferguson,” the third said, bitterly.

“Hey you were thinking it too, Al, and you know it!”

Star tried to peek open her eyes to better understand the situation, only to hiss in pain as a bright light instantly attacked her pupils and she rolled over with a groan.

“Hey, I think she's waking up,” the first voice said, while the other two gasped.

Star tried once again to force her heavy eyelids open, this time succedding since the light was not nearly as intense as before and she blinked a few times as she took in her surroundings. She was in some small shop it seemed, the place cozy and quaint, filled with cute little trinkets of all shapes and types. The room was lit in a soft glow coming from the roaring fireplace, which Star had been placed next to, her body covered in soft furs and coats that had been piled on top of her for extra heat. The blond looked over at the three boys who were watching her with various levels of worry and skepticism. Two of them were standing behind a counter top, one lanky, one thin, while the third leaned against it, watching her closely and something about him made Star pause and observe him closer.

He looked about her age and height, though some of his features were hard to make out since his body was covered with snow and frost. He had brown hair and quizzical brown eyes, which seemed to be searching her for something, making her cheeks heat up with a blush. His eyebrows were pinched together in worry and the concerned frown on his face showed kindness Star could see creeping behind those chocolate orbs. He was wearing a thick red coat and matching pants with black boots that had a cute looking point on the end and black gloves. He had on a black hat and a brown bandana which currently hung loosely around his neck. The blond thought she spotted a little mole under his left eye but it was hard to tell with the snow on his face. Speaking of which, from the amount of snow that coated him Star would have thought he had just scaled an entire mountain by himself, twice, and his entire face was still slightly pink from the chill outside. He was also soaking wet, his clothes clinging to him at odd angles and his spiky hair, lying flat beneath his hat. If she had to take a guess she would say he was the one who had saved her.

For a moment the two just stared each other down, never once breaking eye contact as they seemed to be summing each other up silently, the only sound coming from the crackling fire and the muted roar of the blizzard outside. Finally, the boy cleared his throat and asked, “Are you okay?”

Star nodded, ignoring the slight dizziness that followed the motion. “Yeah, I'm fine.” She did another quick survey of the shop as she asked, “Where am I anyways?”

“Oh where are my manners?” the chubby one quickly exclaimed. “Welcome to Ferguson's-”

“-And Alfonso's-” the skinny teen added, before they both finished as one, “-Outlet Shop! Where all your needs are found!”

“That's still a terrible tagline,” the other boy added and his friends scowled at him.

“Shut it, Marco,” Ferguson grumbled.

“How did I get here?” Star asked, rubbing her head, still a bit fuzzy on the details.

“I brought you here,” the brown-haired boy who was apparently called Marco, clarified. He blushed slightly as he added hesitantly, “After I saved you from the ice, that is.”

“Oh that was you!” Star exclaimed in surprise, the memory finally flooding back to her.

“Uhhh, yeah,” the boy said shyly, tenderly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Tell her how you had to give her mouth to mouth to keep her from drowning, Marco?” Ferguson coyly suggested and the boy in question shot his chubby friend a death glare.

Star froze up in shock, a hand slowly rising to her lips and her cheeks heating up in a blush. Had this total stranger really kissed her to save her life?

Marco seeing the startled look on the girl's face, quickly exclaimed, “I-I didn't have to do that, I swear! You were still breathing just... really cold.”

Star breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her cheeks return to their normal temperature, though strangely enough it felt a bit forced coming from her lips. Okay that was weird, she should totally be relieved since she was engaged and all. But she pushed these thoughts aside as she gave her savior a grateful smile, pushing off the pile of blankets as she said brightly, “Well thank you so much! Without you I'd probably be a princess popsicle by now!”

The boy returned the grin, saying, “No problem, I've actually run into those situations once or twice myself.”

“Oh yeah like the time you got your feet frozen in that block of ice,” Alfonso pitched in, he and Ferguson laughing at the memory.

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Marco said, before chuckling himself and soon Star was too, finding their hearty, cheerful laughter contagious even if she didn't quite understand what it was about.  

But suddenly, Marco stopped, his eyes widening as he whispered in an intense tone, “Sometimes in my nightmares, I can still feel the cold emptiness trying to consume my soul.”

The three all gave Marco bizarre, frightened looks, Star even muttering out in confusion, “What?” The boy's face returned to normal in a flash, the bright smile lighting up his face once more as if nothing had even happened. “Not important.”

“Uhhh, riggght,” Star hesitantly replied, not sure what else to say, what did you say to a person after they tell you something like that? “Um, I'm Star by the way,” she finally said, offering him her hand.

He eagerly took it, shaking it softly, as he said politely, “Yeah, I know who you are, Your Highness. It's an honor to meet you.”

“Can you please just call me Star,” she groaned, practically begging the boy. “I hate people being so formal with me.”

“Right of course,” the boy said with a small nod. “My names Marco Diaz.”

“Well thanks Marco, for the save back there. I owe you one,” she said, still not breaking hand or eye contact, trying to ignore how her hand tingled in his touch or how deep, vast, and beautiful his eyes were, or the now rapid beating in her heart as she tried to get a hold of herself. What was she thinking, he was still just a total stranger, how come being around him felt so... right? This was a totally different feeling than she had even had with Tom.

“Well, you know, you could always pay us for our services,” Ferguson pitched in, breaking Star out of her confusing thoughts, as she watched Alfonso roughly elbow him in the arm with a scowling glare.

“Ignore him,” Marco said, rolling his eyes while shooting his friend's a scolding look. “So, what are you doing out here in the middle of a snowstorm, Star? Seems kinda unsafe to be out and about right now,” the boy asked.

Kinda like you were, Star thought but didn't voice this out loud, as she simply answered, “Actually, I'm out here looking for-”

“The best deals, this side of Mewni has to offer!” Ferguson suddenly exclaimed a wide smile on his face, as all eyes fell on him once again.

“Oh no,” Marco groaned, face-palming. He felt bad for the blond royal who was fixing to have to endure one of Ferguson's business pitches. There was no way to stop him now either, once he got that look on his face no power on this Earth could make him quit until he was done. Or somebody bought something. Or both.

“Uhhh,” Star began in confusion, shooting Marco a helpless look who only shrugged, silently relaying her to just 'go with it'.

“Maybe you would be interested in purchasing something from our big summer blowout?!" the eager Ferguson continued, holding up a container of sunscreen for Star to see.

The blond shook her head, raising a hand in a polite gesture as she tried, "Um, no thank you. I was more wondering if any of you have seen my-"

"Or maybe you'd like to see something from our rare collection of bear statues, oooohhh!" Ferguson interrupted again, holding one of the miniature statues out for her to see. Star looked over it quickly before asking, “Um, why does it have a horn on the top of its head?”

Ferguson brought it back up to his own face, before saying with an unceasing smile, “Oh my mistake.” Then he turned over his shoulder, asking his colleague in a harsh tone that made both Star and Marco jump, “Hey Alfonso! What did I say about giving me defective statues?!”

“Oh no, that's okay, really,” Star said, waving a hand in the air to try and get him to stop, hoping not to make a big deal out of it and get out of this as quickly as possible. But that hope was dashed as is it seemed Ferguson was insistent on correcting this “mistake”.

“It's not defective,” Alfonso argued, adjusting the glasses on his face with a knowing look. “I'm telling you, I saw one of those bearicorns out in the woods.”

“Stop trying to push your crackpot theories onto our customers!” Ferguson shouted in a scolding tone.

“But it's true!”

“Um, guys, y'know its fine,” Star said, trying to gain the attention back on her but to no avail.

“Yeah right, oh and also this whole blizzard is being caused by an angry spirit right?” Ferguson said mockingly, rolling his eyes.

Wellll, Star thought in her head. Not quite. Just one overemotional teenager.

“I'm telling you, this blizzard isn't normal, it's magic!” Al screamed from the other room.

“No, it's not!” Ferg shouted back. “Geez, you just believe whatever you hear, don't you?”

“Um, excuse me, could you please just give me some informa-”

“Well maybe you should be more open minded!”

“And maybe you should stop reading too much into everything you hear!”

Star quickly losing patience as the fight seemed to be nearing no end anytime soon, slammed her hands down on the counter top and shouted, “Guys, could someone please just tell me if you've seen my sister!”

The three boys froze in shock, before Marco spoke up, asking in concern, “Your sister? You mean the queen?”

“Yeah,” Star said in depression. She took a deep breath before quickly blurting out the whole story, “See turns out my sister has ice magic which I never knew about and she got upset after we had an argument and she ended up freezing the entire kingdom in ice before running off to who knows where. And now I have to find her before the everyone in the kingdom dies of frostbite or whatever, but I have no clue where she went!”

The girl took a few deep breaths trying to regain her air flow, while looking between each of the shocked faces around her, all three boys staring at her wide-eyed, Marco softly mumbling, “Wow, I did not... expect that.”

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment, until Alfonso shattered the uncomfortable tension, as he gave his chubby friend a superior look, shouting, “Ha, told you!”

“Not now, Al!” Ferguson snapped in a scolding tone.

“Well, good luck with that, Star,” Marco said, giving her a kind smile. “I'm sure you'll work it out, somehow.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” the girl whispered under her breath, looking unsure.

The boy paused before saying, “Um, hey if it makes you feel better, I think I know which way she went.”

“You do?!” Star screamed, her eyes shining with intrigue and her smile incapable of growing any wider as she grabbed the boy tightly by the front of his jacket, leaning in close till their faces were practically touching.

The boy's cheeks instantly turned red at the close contact. He wasn't really used to being this near girls, or anyone really, and he began to feel sweat dripping down his face as he did his best to keep his cool. But he couldn't stop from stuttering out his reply, somehow managing to keep his voice from cracking, “Uh yeah, I think she went up the north mountain, the storm seems to be coming from that direction, so you might want to look there.”

“Awww, thank you so much!” Star squealed, surprising the boy with a hug, his body going stiff and tense as she did, but the blond didn't notice as she quickly ran for the door. “Now I can finally find Meteora and bring her home!” she proclaimed, throwing the door open as freezing cold air hit her full force, blowing her hair back as sharp wind cut into her under-dressed form. A shudder ran through her, before she slammed the door shut with an annoyed groan. She leaned back against the wooden frame, her arms crossed huffily in front of her chest as she muttered, “Oh right, the blizzard.”

“Well if you are in need of some supplies, I do happen to have some clothes for you to wear out there,” Ferguson suddenly pitched in, drawing both Star and Marco's attention onto him as he pulled out some soft, thick fabric and fancy black boots from behind the counter. He set them down on the tabletop, wagging his eyebrows at the girl as he said, “And since you need them so badly I'm even willing to go down on price some, just for you.”

“Wow, thanks!” Star exclaimed, racing over to examine them closely. “They're just what I needed!”

“I thought you would say that,” Ferguson said, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. Marco frowned at the trader, a suspicious eyebrow raising as he began to suspect foul play was being used against the naïve princess. “Which is why I'm giving them to you for the low, low price of $300.”

Star gasped, saying in wonder, “That is low.”

Marco just face-palmed as the girl reached into her purse and began to pull out a wad of cash. But Marco couldn't stand to see the blond conned so easily as he leaned over and placed a hand on hers, stopping her from pulling out the cash. The blond gave him a confused expression, but he ignored the stunning blue staring at him as he said, “Wait, wait, wait. You can't charge her for that. That's way overpriced.”

“It is?” the girl gasped, her eyes shining with so much innocence that it made Marco's heart leap into his throat and he struggled to swallow down the lump.

“Come on, Marco,” Ferguson said in a low tone, his eyes begging. “She's rich, she can afford it and it would reallly help the business out.”

“I don't care,” the boy said firmly, his hand unknowingly squeezing over Star's own, making the princess's face turn bright red. “We're all in hard times right now, but trying to manipulate people isn't the way to go about it.”

“Ugh, fine,” Ferguson groaned, grumpily crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Will that be all?”

Star opened his mouth to answer but Marco quickly cut in, saying, “Well actually if she's going to go up there, she's gonna need some more supplies. Some rope, a grappling hook, fresh drinking water. Maybe some matches so she can light a fire, oh and a first aid kit, those are always handy to have-”

The blond watched the boy mystified as he listed off the long list of supplies that Star herself hadn't even thought to bring. She had been ready to climb up the mountain without thinking but this boy seemed intent on making sure she was well prepared for such a journey.  “Wow, Marco you really know your stuff,” Star commented, impressed with his superior knowledge.

The boy blushed slightly as he said shyly, “Yeah, well I've been climbing mountains since I was a kid. I'm an ice trader after all.” His voice got very soft at the end as if he was almost ashamed to admit to her what his job was.

“Oh wow, really,” Star blurted out without thinking and the boy flinched at her negative tone. Star felt a guilty wave wash over her, as she scrambled to correct her mistake, stammering, “N-no, no, no! I mean that's fine, I just- y'know, after what my sister did you're probably not- you just- I-” she sucked in a deep breath, steeling her nerves as she tried again, this time sounding much more sure of herself, “I'm sorry. I'm the reason Meteora did all of this. And now you're job is in danger because of me.”

“Mine isn't doing too hot right now, either,” Ferguson pointed out, but Alfonso just elbowed him once in the arm, whispering quietly, “Shh, let them have this.”

Star studied the boy's face for a moment, as he gave her a confused look, unsure how to react to the girl's confession and her heart went out to him. He had already done so much for her and she felt a deep gratitude to him, saving her from the ice, giving her directions, keeping her from stupidly spending too much on some clothes. He seemed so nice and trustworthy and Star hated the idea of him suffering because of her stupid mistake. She wanted to help him and she felt a deep resolve tighten in her chest as she said confidently, “I promise I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna bring back summer, no matter what it takes.”

Marcos' gaze softened as a smile lit up his face. “Thank, Star,” he said, his voice cracking some against his will and she could tell by the uncertainty in his eyes that he wasn't used to using this word all too often. But he gave her a questioning frown as he asked, “But, uh, sorry if this seems rude but do you even know how to climb a mountain?”

Star scoffed, saying for the second time that day, “How hard could it be?”

The ice trader cringed, worry flooding his features as he said softly, “Pretty hard.”

“Oh, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it,” she said, simply, keeping  a wide smile on her face.

“Um, right,” the boy said, giving her a forced smile, the concern never leaving his eyes.

Star didn't seem to notice this though, as she set the cash down on the counter, saying, “So I guess I'll just go get changed and I'll be on my way,” She scooped up her purchased supplies, heading for the small changing room at the back of the shop, the three boys watching her go. The moment she was out of earshot Alfonso quickly said, “So she's gonna die, right?”

“Hey, you heard her, there's no stopping her now,” the chubby teen pointed out. “Besides she might be able to pull it off.”

“Did you forget Marco brought her in here half-frozen, she clearly had no idea what she's doing?” Alfonso argued.

“Well it's not our place to tell her she can't.”

As the boy continued their argument, Marco just listened quietly, his eyes never leaving the wooden door Star had disappeared behind. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he needed to go with her. She clearly needed the help, her inexperience in almost every area imaginable as clear as day and her confidence and head-strong nature was only going to get her into trouble. There were an unspeakable number of dangers that she would have to overcome in order to complete such a trip and the idea of her having face all of these alone made Marco sick to his stomach.

Especially after she had seemed so genuinely concerned for him, promising to secure his job for him and that was something he really hadn't expected. Most people didn't even notice him and they certainly didn't offer to help him or compliment him, even his two friends Ferg and Al, only paid him any mind because he helped deliver them a steady string of ice to trade.

But not Star, Star was different from the others and now she needed him. And even though he knew he had only just met her, he felt a connection beginning to form followed by a growing and overpowering urge to help and protect her.

And, just as he was coming to a decision, the door swung open and Star stepped out, every brain cell in Marco's head frying at once, bringing him to a screeching halt. Her hair had been braided into twin pigtails and she had changed out of her already cute dress into something just as undeniably adorable... mossibly moreso. She now had on a long-sleeved blue and black winter dress with light blue leggings and black winter boots, her outfit complete with an absolutely precious purple cape. If she had been pretty before now she was downright gorgeous and the boy felt his heartbeat pounding in his chest the longer he looked at her. If fact it was so loud he began to fear she would be able to hear it and he swallowed, trying to will it back to a normal rhythm. “So how do I look?” Star asked him with a smile.

Marco, thrown off guard by this, began trying to form a comprehensible sentence, choking out a squeaky, “You look... amazing.” The boy wanted to slap himself for sounding like a total moron, but Star just smiled and surprised him with another warm hug, as she said, “Thank Marco! You've been a great help!”

As she released the now paralyzed boy from her grasp, she turned to Ferguson and Alfonso and said, “And thanks for the supplies guys! I really appreciate it!”

“No problem, princess,” Ferguson said, with a wave of his hand. “Just maybe try and spread the word about our humble little shop when you get back with your sister.”

Star giggled, saying sweetly, “I will.”

She started toward the door then and Marco, finally recovering from the dazed state the blond's hug had left him in, quickly turned on his heels and grabbed a hold of her hand, blurting, “Wait!”

Star gave him a puzzled look, asking, “What's wrong, Marco?”

“I want to come too,” he said quickly and the girl's eyes widened in surprise.

“Wait, really?” Star asked, looking genuinely caught off guard by this. That was definitely unexpected.

“Well yeah, I can't just let you go out there alone,” Marco explained, his eyes somehow full of both concern for her safety and a fond warmness that Star couldn't quite place. “No offense but if you go up there alone you're only gonna end up getting yourself killed. I on the other hand have been climbing mountains my whole life. You need my help.”

Star's face lit up with joy for a second but she quickly got a hold of herself, shaking her head and saying in a halfhearted tone, “No, no, Marco. I can't ask you to do that. This is my problem, not yours.”

“Yeah well, maybe I want it to be my problem, too,” he said firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

The blond bit her lip, whispering under her breath, “I don't know.”

“Please Star. It wouldn't feel right, letting you do this on your own. Let me help you.”

Star stared into his begging eyes for a moment, feeling his intense desire and need to come with, and she felt a smile slowly spreading on her face as she reconsidered his offer. He did seem so sincere and had already proven himself trustworthy in her eyes, maybe she should let him come with. She didn't really know what she was doing and having him to guide her would be a lot easier than her stumbling around in the snow all alone like she'd been doing. Beside, if she was being honest with herself, she wanted him to be there with her. She didn't know why but she was intrigued by this boy and found herself seeking his company and companionship, for reasons beyond her level of comprehension. And the longer she stared into his stunning chocolate brown orbs, the more sure she was that he should come with.  

Which was why Star found herself nodding and saying, “Alright, Marco. You know what, let's do it.”

Marco's face seemed to brighten at that, his voice full of hope and joy as he asked, “Really?”

“Yep, with the two of us working together, nothing will be able to stop us,” the girl said confidently.

The boy laughed, which for some reason sounded like music to Star. “I don't know about that,” he muttered sheepishly. “But we'll definitely stand a better chance if we work as a team.”

“Heck yeah, we will,” the girl said, putting an arm around his shoulder as she drew him closer to her, causing his face to instantly flush. She turned back to Ferguson and Alfonso, walking backwards with Marco out the door as she said in a determined tone, “Keep those ice cubes and fans ready boys cause summer is gonna be back before you know it!”

The two boys waited until the little door to their shop closed, before sharing a look, Alfonso simply asking, “So they're both gonna die, right?”

…

“Okay well, if we're going after your sister,” Marco began as he led Star over to the barn next to the outlet shop. “we might as well ride in style.”

The blond gave him a curious look, asking giddily, “You got something in mind?” She elbowed him with a playful wink, while Marco just gave her a little smirk in response.

“You'll see,” he hinted mischievously.

“Ooohh mysterious,” she said excitedly, her eyes now shimmering with anticipation.

As the two finally reached the door to the barn, Marco quickly threw the doors open with a flourish, saying, “Star, I'd like to introduce you to my traveling companion and best friend-”

“Ahhhh!” the blond screamed in excitement, not even letting the boy finish as she spotted the reindeer gently munching on some soft hay, and her hands flew to her cheeks, squeezing them tight. “Oh my gosh, you have a pet reindeer!”

“Uh yeah,” Marco said hesitantly, a little startled by the girl's reaction. She acted as if she had never seen one before. Still he recovered enough to say, “Her name's Nachos!”

The girl zipped forward, quickly engulfing the shocked reindeer in a tight hug as she shouted in pure joy, “Oh I love her! She's adorable!” As Star pulled out of the hug, she began to gently scratch underneath Nacho's chin, making the reindeer practically purr in response to her touch. “Who's a good girl?” Star cooed. “You are. Yes you are!”

Marco smiled softly as he leaned against the door frame, finding this crazy blond girl quite endearing. Most people never reacted this way to Nachos, but then again Star wasn't most people. In his opinion... she was better. And it seemed Nachos agreed as she began licking the blond royal, who only giggled in response while still petting her. “Hey Marco look, she likes me!” Star said, looking over at him with twinkling eyes that perfectly matched her namesake and the boy felt his heartbeat pick up some in pace.

“Would you like to feed her?” he asked and Star gasped in delight.

“Can I?” she asked, hopefully.

“Yeah sure,” he said, pulling out a small bag from the saddle and tossing it over to the blond. “Here you feed her these, while I get everything ready.”

Star nodded in reply, before quickly untying the thick rope holding the bag closed, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she did. Nachos took this opportunity to gaze over at Marco, her gentle eyes silently questioning what exactly was going on and the boy patted her head, before explaining to his pet, “Star needs us to take her up the North Mountain to find her sister. Think you're up for it!” Nachos looked over at the giddy girl before turning back to Marco, nodding her head with a small grunt. “That's my girl,” he said with another quick pat.

Star, finally got the bag open and her joy only seemed to increase as she skipped over to the two, holding up one of the tasty treats up to the reindeer's lips. “Here you go Nachos, a nice juicy carrot for you!” she exclaimed, before giggling as it quickly vanished from her hand and down the hungry creature's throat. “Wow, you must be hungry, huh,” she said, giving Nachos a loving pet. “Well don't worry there's plenty more where that came from!”

The next several minutes passed by as Star fed Marco's Reindeer, while the boy worked to get everything together, going through their assortment of supplies, double-checking to make sure they had everything, before tying them all down securely to the sled. He then took the harness and attached them onto the reindeer, before triple-checking his work. It was important to be prepared, after all. Finally, they were ready to go, Marco nodding in approval of his work, before turning to his blond companion. “Okay Star, we're ready to go,” he said, wiping the sweat off his brow.

“Alright!” the girl exclaimed, quickly hopping into the sleigh. But it seemed her enthusiasm was making it impossible for her to hold still as she practically bounced in her seat. “Let's go!”

Marco just laughed at the girl's childish antics, before climbing in the seat next to her. “Well you heard her, Nachos,” he said over to his pet, before giving the reigns a little flick. “Let's move.”

Nachos made a grunt in response, before quickly racing forward, barreling her way out of the barn as they started their journey through the snowy landscape. Star looked around her, starry-eyed at every sight she saw for a few minutes, before her eyes landed on the towering structure up ahead, looking dark and foreboding as it hovered in the distance. “Is that... the North Mountain?” she asked, concern in her voice for the first time in a while and Marco felt his heart ache at the strained tone. It sounded so wrong coming from Star.

“Yep,” he replied, in the most pleasant tone he could, but he couldn't quite keep the grim somberness out of his tone. “We got a long way to go.”

Star frowned, slouching some in her seat, as the sudden weight of the task fell on her at once. Everyone was counting on her, she couldn't let them down. She had to succeed. For her sake, for her people's sake, for Tom's sake, for Marco's sake, for... Meteora's sake. She felt a cold chill run up her spine as the image of her sister's distressed face entered her mind. What was she going to say when she saw her again? What could she say? They had barely spoken in years, how was she supposed to reconnect with her now after everything that had happened?

“Are you okay?” Marco's voice asked, cutting through Star's depressing thoughts as she slowly turned to him with a thin smile. “Yeah, just a little cold is all.”

The boy stared at her for a few seconds and the blond felt his quizzical gaze digging into her skin, making her squirm in her seat. And the longer he looked the more paranoid the princess became, afraid she had upset him by complaining to him five seconds into their trip. After all, he was only there out of the kindness of his own heart and they wouldn't even be out there if it wasn't for her, she had no right to-

Star's thoughts were cut off once again, as she felt something soft fall over her shoulder. The girl blinked, as she found herself now sharing a blanket with Marco, the boy giving her a soft, comforting smile that made her heart bounce around in her chest. “Is that any better?” he asked, his cheeks slightly tinged pink, and the girl felt her throat close up, human speech incapable of escaping her lips for the moment. So she just settled for a quick nod.

Then to her greater surprise, he wrapped an arm around her waist bringing Star in closer to him, until their sides were touching. “Here, you'll stay even warmer if we stick close together.” He seemed to suddenly become flustered by this decision though, as he quickly stuttered out, “But uh, y'know, If you don't want to that's okay too.” He began to nervously scratch at his cheek and Star had to hold back the rising giggle over how adorable he looked at that moment.

“No, it's okay, I don't mind,” she reassured him, causing a bright smile to light up his face.

The girl settled into a comfortable position, leaning as close to Marco as her body could allow, staring ahead at their destination, while the boy just focused on the task of holding the reigns steady. However, he couldn't quite keep his eyes still as he occasionally glanced over to his passenger, a nervous, but pleasant energy beginning to settle over the two. Suddenly, the sky seemed to light up with color as the two stared up at the aurora borealis in wonder, Star whispering under her breath, “Whoa, it's so beautiful.”

“Yeah it is,” Marco agreed.

After a few more moments of silence, Star's gaze returned to the North Mountain, where her sister was waiting for her. She felt her heart clench as she remembered back many, many years ago when her and Meteora had stayed up all night to watch the dazzling array of colors. It was a fond memory, one that Star realized she had almost forgotten completely, but she was glad to be reminded of it after all these years.  And as she sat there in the sleigh, leaning against the strong, comforting form of Marco and guided by a thousand bright flashes of color and light, the blond felt a determination beginning to build within her chest once more. Her previous doubts and worries exited her mind and were forgotten, as she came to a new conclusion. She would find a way to fix this... to fix them. She would get her sister back, no matter what it took.

Just wait, Meteora. I'm coming for you.

[royal-writer]

Cuddly Serpent

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sulhadur spun the band around in his fingertips, examining the delicate piece of jewelry. The single sunburst gemstone set in the ring of gold appeared to be amber and the longer the Dragonborn stared, the more his mind played tricks on him. It appeared as though fire was moving within the swirling fiery colors, matching the flames that encircled the artifact and seemed to swirl into a point around the band.

It was beautiful. A lovely piece of craftsmanship by a talented maker. He wondered if Adela would have a good concept of the maker. But something nagged at him, the strangeness of it. He had blasted that mage with a full aura of fire, and this strange trinket, almost appeared to be…

He sat in silence for the duration of their time at base camp, studying the ring as his mind clawed for the answer to its meaning. How in the name of Bahamat was someone able to trap such magic in such a mundane creation? He would need to research this further.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The breezy winds carried away the misty clouds of puffy air expelled from their lungs before it could be made visible. Everyone was shivering.

Sul studied his hand, marveling in silence at the band part of the way down his pinky digit.

He should be cold. Even with the padding and clothing beneath his armor, it was a brisk day of howling winds and blistering cold. Even as the fire in his bloodline burned, he should feel something.

He didn’t.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I’m not coming out,” Essätha mumbled, her voice groggy into the pillow. Her entire body shivered as the walls and ceiling around her creaked and groaned beneath the surging storm. Snow was beginning to swirl frantically and the door that lead outside just down the hall audibly fought to stay upon its hinges.

There was a quiet chuckle, and a hand came to rest at the edge of the bed. Imprinting digits into fabric, the springs of the mattress gave a little to the weight forced into it. She peered out, catching sight of a wolfish toothy grin and yellow eyes.

Her own pair of soft butterscotch narrowed.

“What if I offered you coco?” Sulhadur teased.

“Abernathy already offered, after struggling to keep Rava from snatching it.”

“She likes her sweets about as much as you do.”

“I don’t want sweets,” Essie grumbled, pulling the blanket over head. “I just want to stay in my warm bed and not go outside.”

It was silent. She waited hopefully for the dragon boy to leave, but instead a hand urged against her side, shaking her.

“Ssssstop.”

Ignoring her whining, Sul insisted gently, “Here. I found this, fighting that wizard a few days ago. I wasn’t sure what it was, then. I think it’ll help.”

Screwing up her mouth, she poked her head out from the blankets to stare blankly at the ring offered in the scaly palm of the paladin. His clawed fingers curled outward further, encouraging her to take it.

“What is it?” she inquired cautiously.

“A magic ring. I thought about how the wizard seemed so unaffected by my flames, and it came to me: this is the reason why.”

He pushed it closer. “It’s a warming ring. I don’t know what it’s really called, but it keeps the biting cold away.”

“Is this one of those placebo things?” Essätha muttered with distrust. Despite herself, she reached out to carefully pick it up from his hand.

Sulhadur chuckled. “No.”

Not really believing him, she flipped it around her fingers, frowning.

“I’ll give you two some time to get acquainted,” he jested playfully, smiling broadly once more. “Take some time with it; feel its magic. I’ll let the others know to leave you be a while. When you feel comfortable, we can head out.”

Comfortable? Right. Like this thing was going to make the snow outside feel like a tropical paradise. She could slid on her shorts, walk out into the blowing snowstorm, and hold a margarita while taunting the others how it felt like a sunny summer day.

As she looked up; either the express thanks or snap at Sulhadur for his trickery, she spotted his shadow at the door, as it clicked shut behind him.

She stared down at the ring. A sneer curled her lip.

She slid the ring on her finger.

The sneer evaporated slowly, into curiosity, then wonder, as she felt the hum of the arcane whisper along her flesh and in the back of her mind.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pri’cha vibrated against her side as the wagon lurched along the winding road. The storm had passed, and the horses struggled against some of the snowbanks. As they jostled and bounced on another particularly large roll of snow gusted up against the treeline, Penimra and all his furs, blankets, and cloaks like a king’s favorite concubine fell over nearly into her lap, sniveling.

“We’re going to die!” he moaned, his voice stifled by the apparel swaddling him.

Grunting as he pushed and shoved the cart from behind to aid the steeds, Sulhadur let out a tired grunt. “We’re almost there, hold on!”

Beaming like a ray of sunshine, Essie reached out to squeeze the bug closer. She warbled a chirp like a late-night bug, singing to the moon.

She was warm.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Warmth of spring was coming. She was grateful for the thaw; the springs running once more, greenery, the smell of nature coming to life once again. It had been a brutal, raw winter of skin peeling and ashen. A terrible season to endure so far north where it felt like the blizzards never wanted to cease.

They clattered along south along paved roads flattened with time and lined with fencing. Many of the group were dozing uneasily in the early light of the morning.

Essie inhaled and exhaled happily, clutching her hands together over her chest. The outline of the ring dug into her skin, imprinting the vague impression of its sculpted design into her faintly.

She hardly recognized the difference between the seasons, but the extra rays added another layer of heat across her bronze skintone. The major difference now; and the best one, was the lack of slush to slip in and ice hazards. But it was a remarkably lovely day, and she was going to embrace the coming change in the season with open arms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The frost was beginning to disappear, leaving comfortable days and nights. It was a particularly balmy night as Essätha stepped over some of the party members lounging around the campfire for a meal, and made her way over to where the vast majority of them sat. She sank to her rear quickly, finding the nearest person to lean into.

With Sul on one side, Abe on the other, and Rava angled behind her, the trio exchanged a look.

“It’s a nice night, Essätha,” Abernathy observed, hiding a smile.

“Yep.”

“How are you feeling?” Sul inquired politely, taking a big bite of his juicy leg flank.

“Cold,” she mumbled reflexively. She stretched; flopping over to lean into Lord Amon as he tended to the flames. He made a soft noise in the back of his throat in response with some surprise.

The entire surrounding group locked eyes on her suspiciously.

“Aren’t you still wearing that ring of warmth?” Adela smugly piped up with a tone of mockery sass, curling her tail triumphantly into the air.

She locked her jaw firmly together.

“Essie, just admit you want to cuddle,” Ravamora taunted.

“Never,” she hissed. “I’m chilly. I’m only using you all. It’s my reptilian side.”

“But the ring-”

“Chilly,” Essätha reaffirmed, a flush of heat spilling onto her face that she awaited to fib and blame on the nearby fire. She was absolutely in no way going to admit she wanted to snuggle up with any of these noisy bastards out loud. Just because they made nice family comfort cuddles didn’t mean they needed to know. They were already getting a good laugh out of it now; snickering at her expense.

Having finished prodding the logs into a position that aroused the kindling into a healthier fire, the nobleman leaned further back with a sigh. His eyes slid over to her, and he cleared his throat. His adam’s apple bobbed as he placed an arm around her carefully, offering an open spot against his side for her to curl into with a sigh. His face was flush now, too.

Her companions let her little white lie slide, going back to routine bickering and chatting as she nuzzled up into the warmth of Amon’s side. The fragrant notes of the wilds on his skin as she lulled into a drifting, lazy sleep.

[alexiss-fic-archive]

A night of Diamond Dust

Summary: After Connie falls sick, Priyanka needs someone to take care of her daughter after being called to the hospital.Fluff entails

Notes:  I wrote this when I was Awfully Sick and when the heat was unbearable in this part of Mexico. I highkey want to live somewhere where it snows  

Anyways I needed some fluff and so does the Connverse Community.

Please Enjoy

ALSO ON THE Ao3!

Winter was Connie's favorite season.

Not only she gets vacations from school, spend beautiful evenings with her parents and celebrate her birthday alongside the gems. But it's also the time of the year when she gets to spend a couple of nights with her favorite jam-bud to see the snowfall, in a sort of pajama party in which they enjoyed the peace and each other's company.

They procured to alternate the visited house every couple of weeks, and always tried to make a lively ambiance with their families until nightfall, when their very own tradition truly started.

This time, it was Steven's turn to host the small event. Unfortunately, as if fate had chosen to pour rain over her metaphorical parade, Connie had caught a cold a few days earlier, and was forced to cancel the small get-together in favor of resting in her bed while being miserable.

And to worsen things even more, neither of her parents were going to stay with her. Her father was covering for the entire personnel of his office because they too got sick. And her mother was about to leave to the hospital, where according to her, were at least three dozens of people who either crashed during a car accident or nearly froze to death thanks to the weather.

So, all what Connie could do was wallow in her misery and loneliness as her stuffed nasal sinuses and high temperature tethered her to her bed.

She couldn't even find the strength to pick one of the many books in her room, or to text with Steven with her phone.

She resigned to do as her mother had advised and instead of try to occupy her mind with something, she would put it to sleep so the illness could go away at a faster pace.

However, just as she was about to hit the hay for a couple hours, Her mother opened up the door of her room. She was wearing a fuzzy sweater underneath her lab coat, from which her ID was hanging proudly from one of its pockets.

“How are you feeling sweetie?” She asked her daughter before leaving.

“Fine…” Connie groaned.

“I’m really sorry,” The doctor said as she approached to the girl. “I know you wanted us to be with you.”

“It’s Okay mom.” The sick girl said, her voice sounding raspy thanks to the infection. “You need to save people too.”

“It’s not okay.” Her mother said while caressing Connie's head. “You’re sick, and you shouldn't be all alone here with this cold.”

“I’ll manage.” The girl said before cuddling up in her blankets.

“I thought you would say so.” The woman said before standing up from the bed. “So, I took the liberty to call someone here to look out for you.”

“What?” Connie said confused as a familiar figure clad in pink walked through the bedroom's door.

“Hi, Connie!” Steven said as he entered the room, holding a plate with cookies and a cup of hot honey lemon tea.

“Steven? When did you got here?” The girl asked in disbelief.

“A couple hours ago.” He answered as he placed the plate on Connie's desk. “Your mom invited me over so we could hang out while you get better!”

“Really?!” She asked to the woman next to her.

“I couldn't just leave my daughter alone in the house during a blizzard.” She said with a smirk. “Also, you've been planning on your sleepover at the Universes since last week. And I thought it would be nice to bring it to you instead.”

“I also brought some board games if you want to play!” The boy interjected in his cheery tone as he pulled a box of chess from his backpack.

“Woah…” The girl said in disbelief. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Anything for my warrior princess.” The Doctor said with a fond Smile before ruffling Connie's short hair affectively. “Well, anything but staying. I have to go before the blizzard gets stronger.”

“You can take my lion with you!” Steven told to the doctor.

“Huh?” The Doctor was taken aback.

“Yeah! He can take you to the hospital in a second!” He said before pulling a malformed ice cream sandwich from his cheeseburger. “Just bribe him with a Lion Licker and hold tight to his mane after telling him where you want to go.”

“Oh…” The woman said nervously as she picked up the bag with the treat  from the boy's hand. “Thank you, Steven…”

“Do you want me to help you mount him?” Steven offered her his help.

“N-No no!” The doctor said nervously. “I can do it by myself. Just, take care of Connie while I’m gone.”

“Yes, ma'am!” He said as he did a naval salute to her.

“And Connie, please enjoy the evening.” The doctor told her daughter.

“I will.”  The sick girl said with a faint smile. “Please Stay safe.”

“Don’t worry, honey. I'll send you a text every now and then to check on you.  The woman said before finally leaving the room, wondering how could she ride the wild beast.

After the adult left, the two kids found themselves alone in the girl's room.

“Do you think that lending Lion to my mom was a good Idea?” The ill girl asked him.

“Of course!” He said. “She’ll reach the hospital i  no time with him!”

“Do you think she'll handle the portals well?” She asked once more, exactly a second before a frightened shriek could be listened as a pink flash appeared on the streets.

“She seems to handle them pretty well.” The boy said nervously, eliciting a small giggle from the sick girl, who promptly began to cough harshly.

“I guess the cold doesn't have a nice sense of humor.” Steven said as he took the cup of hot tea and brought it to her hands. “Here, it'll help you with that throat.”

“Thanks.” She said before taking a sip of the warm infusion.

“So… What do you want to do today?” Steven asked her. “I brought board games to play, books to read, my ukulele to play for a while…”

“That’s so considerate of you!” She said with a fond smile. “But to be honest, I don't feel that good to play games or music….”

“Oh…” The boy said sadly. “Right…”

“But I would love it if you could read something for me, though.” She asked him as she cuddled up within her bedsheets.

“Really?!” He said excitedly. “What book?”

“Anything is okay, Steven.” She said smiling.

And so, Steven began to rummage through his backpack, looking for the perfect book he could read to his ill friend. He eventually found a small book that he didn't remember putting inside of his hamburger.

“Okay, I got this little fella called ‘Light among the dark.’” He told her.

“What is it about?” The girl asked.

Steven opened up the book and went to read the author's notes.

“What do you know. It is actually a story compilation.” He said surprised.

“That sounds nice.” She said. “Could you Please read it for me?”

“Sure!” He said as he sat down next to her bed so he could read to her more comfortably.

“Ahem!” He cleared his throat before beginning.

★★★★★★★★★★

A few hours had passed since Steven finished to read the story to Connie. The short story about a prince who learned to be a better leader thanks to his loyal Knight had become an instant favorite for her, and talked about it with Steven, coughing and sneezing inbetween her enthusiastic argument. Meanwhile Steven made sure to spoil her a bit, sharing the cookies Steven had brought as an appetizer during the lecture, giving her the hot chocolate he smuggled into her house in a small thermos, as well as keeping her the most warm and comfy he could in order to ward off the infection even faster.

As the night progressed and the snowfall outside the windows thickened. And as Steven and Connie reenacted one of their favorite parts of the unfamiliar familiar series, the cold inside began to intensify with each passing second.

Connie was fine with it, as she was covered by what was almost considered to be a bear’s skin. However, Steven wasn't so lucky, and was shivering despite him wearing a sweater.

“Steven?” The girl said as her leaking nose distorted her voice.

“W-what is it?” He stuttered as the cold made him shiver visibly. “D-Did I s-screwed up my dialogue?”

“No, Steven.” She reassured with a smile. “You’re doing just fine. But… Aren't you cold?”

“J-Just a b-bit” He answered. “B-But I can handle it! I’m a Crystal gem, And a Diamond as well! Sturdiness runs through my veins.”

“I see…” She said. “Then I Believe that you won't like to get in my extremely cozy and warm bed to warm up.” A smug grin appeared on her face.

“O-On the other hand, I'm still part human!” He said blushing, The stuttering in his voice no longer being caused by the cold. “And humans need to stay warm and cozy to survive. Right?”

Connie let out a small chuckle. “Just get in, Steven.”

“O-Okay, let me just…” He said as he removed his shoes, a moment before slipping into the bed. “There we go.”

After this, the pair of children kept talking about their small reenactment of the novel, eventually planning to make a full fledged screenplay of it along with the gems.

★★★★★★★★★★

Darkness had finally reached its peak during the night. The violent blizzard that raged upon the land had miraculously subsided. The bright light of the moon that pierced its way through the dark clouds was absorbed by the falling snowflakes that continued to drift along the wind and the leftover snow that accumulated on the ground of the streets.

“So… How are stuff going on over there?” Connie asked the young boy as they witnessed the snowflakes dance through the wind.

“Well… Blue And Yellow finally apologized to everyone at Beach city.” He said. “Y’know, for the invasion and the abductions.

“That’s nice to hear!” She said. “I can Imagine how pissed off Yellow was.”

“Not as much as you'd expect.” The boy answered. “To be fair, I think she would've preferred to get killed by The Cluster instead.”

“She’ll open up eventually.” Connie reassured him. “She just needs to learn how things work around here.”

“I’ll turn her into homeworld’s best aunt!” The boy said cheerfully. “Just leave it to me and a pair of marathons of crying breakfast friends.”

The girl just let out a small chuckle before leaning her head into his shoulder.

“You’ll have to count me as well.” She reassured him. “Not offense, but I think that Books would be more effective on her than a child's cartoon.”

“Yeah… I think that she doesn't like it as much as Blue.” Steven said, eliciting a small fit of laughter from his companion.

★★★★★★★★★★

Eventually, Connie had fallen asleep on top of Steven as they watched the snow fall. And Steven took it upon himself to take her back to her bed.

He carefully placed her back in her bed. Wary about his own brusqueness as he wanted to let her sleep.

Feeling drowsy himself, The young man decided to join her in her bed once again. He snuck into the warm bed sheets and stared at the lying girl in front of him.

The boy placed a small, chaste kiss on the sleeping girl's forehead before turning away from her. “Goodnight Connie…” He whispered to himself as his eyelids began to close.

However, before he could fall asleep, the girl behind him had moved towards him to embrace him.

“Goodnight for you too, Steven.” She whispered as well, painting a faint smile on both of their faces just before falling asleep.

★★★★★★★★★★

The next day, Connie woke up feeling as if she hadn't been sick at all. Her nose was no longer obstructed, her throat felt like it was lined with silk, her body wasn't weighed down by sand.

She was ecstatic to tell Steven about her miraculous recovery. However, her joyful mood changed to something else when she saw the boy in her bed.

He laid uncomfortably in the bed, his hot skin was moist with sweat and his eyes were bloodshot as snot dripped from his reddened nose.

“Good morning, Connie!” He said weakly before sneezing vigorously. “Ugh… How are you feeling?”

It turned out that Steven had infected himself with Connie's sickness when he gave her his goodnight kiss last night, healing her in the process as well.

Connie let out a small giggle as she realized the nature of the situation before her.

“I’m feeling better now, Steven.” She said with a fond smile. “Thank you.”

[astronomyparkers]

The Upside of Falling Down {VI}

Warnings: Language

Pairing: University!Peter Parker x reader

Word count: 2.2k

A/N: Wow, two updates in one month???? Unheard of!!! But it’s here y’all!!!!!! And I have a bit more news for you. Originally, this was going to be the last part of TUoFD. However, when I was writing it, I felt like the events I wanted to take place and the pace of it would fit better if it were split into two parts. And since Skyline was seven parts, and I love having things be even and formatted the same....there will be a part vii to TUoFD!!!! I’m not quote sure when it’ll be up, since reading break finishes this weekend, but I’ll do my best!!! I love you all so much for sticking with this story.  You’re my everything, and you have my whole heart.

{masterlist}

“…was able to stop the attackers before they could fire any more shots at the event.” The news caster’s voice on the TV in the student lounge glanced back down at her notes before continuing. “Although there were police already at the attack when it began, witnesses say that it was Spider-Man’s heroics that prevented there from being any fatalities, and limited the number of injured to less than ten. Both gunman are in police custody, but the NYPD has yet to release a statement about the involvement of the masked hero.  Now, our next story—”

You glanced around the student lounge, making sure it was completely empty before you flipped off the television.  With a sigh, you tossed the remote onto the couch next to you and rubbed your eyes.

Although it had been a month since you and Peter had stopped talking completely, you couldn’t stop keeping up with his crime fighting adventures.  After spending a month and a half trying to help him keep his secret and spending every moment of your day with him, going cold turkey with absolutely no contact was killing you.  It would be killing you even if you hadn’t slept together.  It would be killing you even if you hadn’t developed feelings for him.

But you had. And it made everything a million times worse.

There was no good morning text waiting for you when you woke up.  Peter didn’t greet you outside your dorm with coffee that had way too much cream and sugar (which was how he knew you liked it) and useless facts about different types of bacteria.  He didn’t walk you to your classes or sit next to you in lectures or compare notes in the library on your breaks.  He didn’t scribble illegible questions on cue cards to help you study for biology, and he didn’t give you the tiny smile that was basically just the corner of his mouth lifting up the smallest bit when you got the answer right. He didn’t give you anything.

Peter was actively avoiding you.  Before your last conversation, he had already stopped coming to your study group, and only saw you once a day to keep up the charade that you two were dating.  But now, he didn’t even try to pretend.  He went back to sitting on the opposite side of the lecture hall.  He didn’t say hi to you if you passed each other on campus.  He wouldn’t even look at you.

In some ways, you understood.  And in some ways, you hated him for it.

When you had confessed your feelings, Peter had confessed that he was in love with you. But he said it because he didn’t believe you were telling the truth. You had done such a great job of convincing yourself that you didn’t have feelings for Peter, that you had convinced him, too. In the month that had passed since you last spoke, you had felt every emotion under the sun.  You cycled through hurt and anger and sadness like you cycled through the days of the week.  Now, though, all you felt was emptiness.

You missed him.

 “Well, this is just sad.”

You turned your head to see Sadie walking into the student lounge, her suitcase in hand. With a sigh, she sat down next to you and pulled your legs onto her lap.

“Shouldn’t you have left for the airport already?  Your flight leaves in a couple hours.” You fiddled with your fingers as you tried to keep your face neutral.  You didn’t want Sadie to know that you were thinking about Peter again.

“I’ll be fine. I wanted to check on you one last time before I go.” Sadie rubbed your leg and smiled at you. “Are you sure you don’t want to come home with me for Christmas break?  My mom would love to meet you.  And I have lots of single cousins.  Only half of them are over thirty.”

You smiled back at her as you shook your head. “Thanks, Sadie, but no.  I’ve never had Christmas in New York before; it should be fun.”

“Normally, I’d agree with you, but Christmas in New York is only fun when you’re with friends and family.  Not when you’re all alone in a dorm.” Sadie rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you see Home Alone 2? It was way worse than the first one! You don’t want to be Home Alone 2, Y/N.”

“Well, seeing as how I’m not eleven, and I don’t have two escaped convicts after me, I think I’m safe.”

Sadie groaned. “You know what I mean.  Why didn’t you want to go home for Christmas?”

You gave her a look. “I told you, Sadie.  The flight to Seattle is over six hours long, it’s snowy and cold—”

“It’s snowy and cold here, too.”

“—and I want to be alone.  Being alone isn’t that bad.”

“Being alone? No.  But being lonely…” Sadie tilted her head to the side. “That’s pretty terrible.”

You looked away from her. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not lonely, then.”

“Oh, cut the bullshit, Y/N.” Sadie rolled her eyes again and waited until you looked back at her before continuing. “I know you.  Ever since Peter broke up with you—”

“It was a mutual decision—”

“—ever since then, you’ve been moping.  I know you’re sad.  You’re allowed to be sad.  But you’re not allowed to spend Christmas holed up in your dorm around your tiny plant with one decoration on it like it’s the goddamn Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and tell me everything’s okay!”

You blew out a short gust of air. “Wow.  How long have you been holding that in for?”

Sadie cracked a smile. “Two weeks.  I’ve been trying to give you space.”

“Listen, Sadie, I’m fine.  I promise.  Cross my heart.” You reached out and grabbed your friend’s hand to squeeze it tight. “I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”

“I know, I just—”

“—Worry about me. But you don’t need to.” You smiled and pulled your hand away. “However, you do need to worry about missing your flight. I don’t want your mother to hate me before she even meets me.”

Sadie pushed your legs off of her lap and stood up. “Fine.  Now give me a hug before I go.”

You stood up and hugged her tight, burying your face in her neck. “I put your gift in your suitcase last night.  Don’t open it before Christmas.”

“And I’ve hidden your gift somewhere in your dorm.  Don’t find it before Christmas.”

You laughed and squeezed her one last time before pulling away. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Sadie pressed a kiss to your cheek before she grabbed her suitcase and began walking out of the student lounge.

“Have fun in Iowa!” You called after her.

She replied without even turning around. “You know I won’t!”

You watched Sadie leave before you sat back down on the couch, your smile dropping from your face. Truthfully, you weren’t all that excited to stay on campus alone for Christmas.  But you weren’t in a very Christmas-like mood, and you knew that going back home or going to Iowa with Sadie would only bring down everyone around you.  It was better to be alone in your emotions, you decided.  Maybe by the time the New Year rolled around, you would feel a bit better.

 Your days passed uneventfully as the countdown to Christmas got smaller and smaller.  By the time December twenty-third rolled around, there were only a handful of people left on campus.  Snow was falling heavily every moment of the day, and walking around the courtyards of Columbia felt like walking through another world. It was silent and secluded, every sound muffled by the blanket of snow, every footprint you left gone in a matter of minutes.

Despite telling Sadie that you were staying to experience New York at Christmas, you had yet to venture off campus into the bustling city.  But it was the day before Christmas Eve, and you figured that you had to go eventually so you wouldn’t have to lie to her.  

Bundled in your warmest clothes, the knit scarf your mother mailed you a week earlier (“New York is freezing, Y/N!  I see it all over the news, and you insist on walking everywhere—”), and your snow boots, you set off into the city to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.  Last year, you hadn’t gotten the chance to go see it before you flew home for the holidays; this year was the perfect opportunity.

Although it was cold, you didn’t mind walking to Rockefeller.  It had been a while since you had been out in the city, and you had forgotten how much you loved it.  Once you reached the Center, flooded with families and people of all ages, the feeling of affection only grew.  Despite the chill of the snow, you felt a warmth growing inside you as you watched the children skate beneath the glow of the tree.  Even after you left Rockefeller Center a half hour later, that warmth still burned inside you, and the glow of the tree still illuminated your mind.  

And it stayed like that until you ran into Peter on your way back to Columbia.

As in, literally ran into him.  The snow began to fall heavier and heavier, and the sidewalks were full of people trying to get home before a blizzard started.  In the rush of people, you stumbled and slammed into the person in front of you who had been walking the other way.

“Sorry, I—”

“No, no, it’s—Y/N?”

Your eyes widened as you registered the voice you were hearing.  Looking up from the ground, you saw a bundled up and slightly disheveled Peter, his hands full of shopping bags, his expression mimicking yours.

“Oh—h-hi.” You took a deep breath and forced a smile. “How…how are you?”

“I’m…what are you doing here?  Why didn’t you go home for Christmas?” Peter adjusted his grip on his bags.  Despite his curious tone, his eyes were having trouble meeting yours.

And yours were doing the same.

“I-I’d never had Christmas in New York before.  It seemed…fun.”

“Did Sadie stay behind too?”

You shook your head. “No, she went back to Iowa.  She left last week.”

“Oh…” Peter drifted off awkwardly as conversation stalled. “That’s—”

“Peter!” A middle aged woman broke through the crowd and laid a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I thought I lost you!  Keep up, slow poke.” She smiled affectionately at him before looking over at you. “Who’s this?”

“Um, May, this is my…” Peter cleared his throat. “This is Y/N.  Y/N, this is my Aunt May.”

“Hi.” You gave a small smile and wave, and May did the same.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you!” She squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “Peter’s told me so much—”

“May, Jesus,” Peter closed his eyes and sighed. “You can’t just—”

“No, it’s okay. Listen, I, um,” You bit your lip and wrapped your scarf around yourself tighter, eager to get away from the awkward encounter. “I’d better go.  It’s getting dark and I still have a few blocks to go before Columbia—”

“Wait, you’re not staying with friends?” Peter’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You’re on campus by yourself?”

“Yes?”

“That’s where you’re spending Christmas?” A look of concern came over May’s face.

You nodded quickly. “Yeah, it’s nice and quiet and—”

“And lonely! You can’t be alone on Christmas!” May said. “You should come for Christmas at our apartment.”

Your eyes widened and you began to shake your head frantically. “Oh, no, I couldn’t—”

“Yes, you could! We do a little Christmas Eve get together with a few of Peter’s friends, and then a nice Christmas dinner.  I’d love to add another!”

“May,” Peter’s jaw was locked tight. “She doesn’t want to—”

“Hush.” May gave Peter a stern look. “No one should be alone during the holidays.  What do you say, sweetheart?  Come over around 6:30 tomorrow?”

“Um, okay.” You smiled nervously at May and avoided eye contact with Peter. “I’ll...I’ll be there.”

“Wonderful!” May gave you a big smile. “Peter will text you the address!  And don’t worry about bringing anything.  Just come over and we’ll take care of everything.”

“T-thanks, I—”

“May, come on, we should let Y/N get back to her dorm before the snow gets worse.” Peter glanced at you quickly before turning towards his aunt.

“Alright, Y/N, we’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Yeah.  It was nice meeting you, May.  Peter,” You waited until the boy had turned around to face you again. “It was…good seeing you again.”

Peter nodded, his mouth set in a firm line. “You too.”

Before either of you could say another word, you turned around and began heading back to your dorm.  Although you desperately wanted to, you stopped yourself from turning around until you felt Peter’s burning gaze leave your back.  When you did finally glance back, he was gone.

{part vii}