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reyev · 1 year

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To save everyone on discord from my endless song ramblings. I have decided to make the annotated playlist post here. Under the cut is every song on my Juno/Nureyev/Jupeter playlist with explanations and lyric excerpts that really Get me about them. Bon appetit and whatnot.

If you want to listen to the playlist and/or steal the songs you can find it on Spotify and Apple Music.

Also shoutout to everyone in the Penumbra Creator Collective discord. Yes most of these are songs I stole from other people and/or playlists. I don't listen to music ♡

(There is a heavy Nureyev bias in here. I'm a Nureyev girlie. Who knew.)

I'm Good, I'm Gone - Lykke Li Nureyev who runs away from him fucking problems. Juno who ALSO run away from him fucking problems! They love to run away from everything.

And if you say I'm not okay with miles to go If you say there ain't no way that I could know If you say I aim too high from down below Well say it now 'cause when I'm gone You'll be calling, but I won't be at the phone And I'm hanging around 'til it's all done You can't keep me back once I had some No wasting time to get it right And you will see what I'm about

Love Don't Die - The Fray Nureyev u-haul swag is real. And then in season 3 when they are so clearly…sooo happy together. Like they would die for each other even if they don't stay for each other. They are in love ♡

If I know one thing that's true It ain't what you say, it's what you do And you don't say much, yeah, that's true But I listen when you do No matter where we go Or even if we don't And even if they try They'll never take my body from your side Love don't die

Kiss With A Fist - Florence + the Machine This is very much fitting with the crime boss Roses AU. But also in general Juno and Nureyev bond through a lot of suffering. And also also Juno "active desire to do me harm" Steel.

Blood sticks, sweat drips Break the lock if it don't fit A kick in the teeth is good for some A kiss with a fist is better than none

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend - Julie London Heist song!!!! And also Man in Glass Nureyev.

Men grow cold As girls grow old And we all lose our charms in the end But square-cut or pear-shaped These rocks don't loose their shape Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Fucking Boyfriend - the bird and the bee I think it fits them. TBH to be honest. Especially Murderous Mask and Man in Glass.

There is something wrong and there is something right When you can take me by the hands and I will close my eyes When you laid down with me you took the other side When you laid down with me you never slept that night Are you working up to something, but you give me almost nothing Keep me helpless up to something on my knees

Runaways - All Time Low The fantasy of running away together! Nureyev says let's run away and forget everything and they consider it for a little bit, tbh!!!

So let's run away They will have to find another heart to break Why don't we just run away? Never turn around, no matter what they say We'll find our way When the sun goes down on this town There'll be no one left but us

W.A.M.S. - Fall Out Boy Juno self-hate and loves to ignore things with sex.

Hurry, hurry You put my head in such a flurry, flurry Reflect, reflect on what makes you so special Oh, what makes you so special? I'm gonna leave you Oh, I'm gonna teach you How we're all alone How we're all alone, oh, oh

Never Love an Anchor - The Crane Wives Juno cutting Nureyev loose because he thinks he's the anchor and Nureyev is the ship.

There are times where I still wonder about you You are someone I have loved but never known And you'll never see the reasons I had For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you

Come With Me - Chxrlotte Final resting place. Especially Nureyev's POV.

They won't find us, you and I Can watch the stars fall from the sky The world ends eventually, so come with me

Complicated - Avril Lavigne Juno and Nureyev both seeing what each other are hiding and so frustrated by it. Especially Juno watching Nureyev wear a mask around their family.

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? I see the way you're Actin' like you're somebody else, gets me frustrated Life's like this, you And you fall, and you crawl, and you break And you take what you get and you turn it into Honesty and promise me, I'm never gonna find you fake it No, no, no

Cherry Thrill - Movements "Who knows what kind of trouble we could cause?"

Ooh, am I the only one? I think it might be fun Drop everything and run Ooh, you look so fit to kill World explodes and I'm with you still Hypnotized in your cherry thrill I'm feeling lucky, I'm feeling charmed You pick the roles, I'll play the part One robs the bank, one drives the car And we run the job like a work of art

Fair - The Amazing Devil Hopelessly and uselessly in love.

"It's not fair, it's not fair how much I love you It's not fair 'cause you make me ache, you bastard" And they'll say "Oh how, oh how unreasonable How unreasonably in love I am with everything you do I'll spend my days so close to you 'cause if I'm stood here Then I'm stood here And I'll stand here I'll stand here with you"

Neptune - Sleeping At Last Nureyev is allergic to the truth but can't help being a hopeless romantic!!!!

I'm only honest when it rains If I time it right, the thunder breaks When I open my mouth I wanna tell you, but I don't know how I'm only honest when it rains An open book with a torn out page And my ink's run out I wanna love you, but I don't know how

It's Always Sunny With You - {Parentheses} Nureyev learning how to love in the present instead of just the past. He loves Juno!!!

You caught me when I was falling down Picked me up when I was on the ground You were warm when everything was cold On you, I have been sold I thought I was drowning once, but then You made my life happy once again I thought I was lost but now I'm found It's you I wanna be around

Black Sheep - Metric Nureyev loves to self-flagellate by going back even when it hurts. And also he is literally the black sheep of the crew.

I'll send you my love on a wire Lift you up, every time Everyone, ooh Pulls away, ooh It's a mechanical bull, the number one You'll take a ride from anyone Everyone wants a ride Pulls away, ooh, from you

Bug Like an Angel - Mitski Nureyev making promises he can't keep! Because he loves Juno but he also is dedicated to his debts (literal and metaphorical).

Hey, what's the matter? Lookin' like your sticker Is stuck on a floor somewhere Did you go and make promises you can't keep? Well, when ya break them, they break you right back Amateur mistake, you can take it from me

Where Do You Run - The Score Nureyev and Juno both wanting to be wanted!! So badly!!!!

The bridges I have crossed since you've been next to me You showed me there's a life worth fighting for, yeah Now the tables turned and you're the one in need Just let me in I'll help you win this war, oh

Devil's Backbone - The Civil Wars Nureyev sees himself as broken but guess what!!! Juno loves you anyway bitch.

O Lord, O Lord, what have I done? I’ve fallen in love with a man on the run O Lord, O Lord, I’m begging you, please Don’t take that sinner from me Oh, don’t take that sinner from me

Love of My Life - Queen Nureyev learning what love really feels like with Juno and well. That's his other half now.

(Please bring it back, back) Bring it back, bring it back Don't take it away from me Because you don't know What it means to me (means to me) You will remember when this is blown over And everything's all by the way When I grow older I will be there at your side To remind you How I still love you (I still love you)

Suck the Blood From My Wound - Ezra Furman Magic healing in various AUs. But also the symbolism of angel Nureyev.

Blood on my angel's lips blends in with his makeup He's off the premises before his brain's had time to wake up Peeling off bandages to unfold his wings The doctors said they'd have to stay on for another three weeks Fuck it baby, let 'em bruise, let 'em break But please, let 'em bleed I let you walk as long as fear will allow I've never loved you more than I love you now And then we're back on the road before the sun's even up We're making time, we're making progress But progress towards what?

Hero - Faouzia Nureyev thinking that if he can be Juno's hero, Juno will be his savior. And he does, but not how either of them expect.

If I was your hero, would you be mine? I know this ain't a fairytale, this is real life But if I were to save you, would you do the same? And catch me if I'm fallin', fallin', fallin', fallin'?

Never There - CAKE Nureyev resenting Juno leaving him. Of course.

On the phone long, long distance Always through such strong resistance And first you say you're too busy I wonder if you even miss me

Only the Lonely Survive - Marianas Trench Nureyev running back to a "reality" without Juno. He's survived by being no one for years! He knows they're on limited time.

But I know A love like this will end in tragedy You know Every kiss suspending gravity Burns us both to love this close We lose ourselves And I know we won't get out alive But only the lonely survive

UNBELIEVABLE - Ethan Gander If Nureyev ever stops running away he'll fall to pieces, so he will keep running until he falls away.

The things I've done to run away Are unforgivable This debt I'm unable to pay Is unbelievable Oh so weary, no rest And still got miles ahead I've created a mess with my own bare hands

When Somebody Needs You [Song] - Will Wood Reuniting on the Carte Blanche and they just…wow they're okay? Actually? And then they both get to be needed by someone who's here.

Then you looked in my eyes and said "How dare you love me when you should despise me? You should be scared of me" It seems that that's what it means When somebody needs you

Promises - Beach Bunny Nureyev pissed at Juno but still wanting to be thought of. Because he's that bitch.

Part of me still wants you, part of me wants to fall asleep When we're all alone in your bedroom, you came like a reoccurring dream Part of me still hates you, how could you love someone and leave? When you're all alone in your bedroom, do you ever think of me?

You're a Cad - the bird and the bee Nureyev is so obsessed with Juno it makes him look stupid. Especially gap between end of FRP and CB. Also this is reverse AU Nureyev fr.

Still I tug at your line, I'm a fish on your hook You're rash and you're hasty, you're reckless with my heart Still I wait by the phone, I will never get smart I should be better, but I'm worse

A Night Like This - Caro Emerald The fantasy of being together, of running away, of being a pair. Murderous Mask, Train From Nowhere, and Final Resting Place vibes.

I have never dreamed it Have you ever dreamed a night like this? I cannot believe it I may never see a night like this When everything you think is incomplete Starts happening when you are cheek to cheek Could you ever dream it? I have never dreamed Dreamed a night like this

Tomcat Disposables - Will Wood The Pests and Nureyev dreaming of more.

And so I stumble back to bed Something's not quite right. Guess I'll just go rest my head Now as I lay me down to sleep I expect no dreams, and no sweet goodbye to me Flatline in the morning light. I held on so tight for so long It's just not right, let a sigh out as I close my eyes Was that all there was to this? What's for the best?

Liar - The Arcadian Wild Nureyev thinking there's nothing waiting underneath all his aliases and lies. Is there even a person there?

I am the host of this hostility I’m the master magician that makes you believe I’m real, I’m not fake, but in reality I’m a lying man My life’s become this grand game of deception My mind’s ignored all my heart’s good intentions We all feel this tension We all have our own illusions

Broken Boy - Cage the Elephant Nureyev!!!! Nureyev the Brahman child. Trying to grow past it but he's always going to be Peter Nureyev the Brahman child.

I was born on the wrong side of the train tracks I was raised with a strap across my back Lay me on my side or hold me up to the light, yeah I was burned by the cold kiss of a vampire I was bit by the whisper of a soft liar Any good friend of yours is a good friend of mine Broken boy, how does it feel? Broken boy, how does it feel? How does it feel? Tell me why I'm forced to live in this skin Tell me why I’m forced to live in this skin I'm an alien, I'm just an alien, oh Tell me why I was born to live in this skin Tell me how I’m supposed to be forgiven With my hand in the hive and the sun in my eyes, yeah

Chapter 6 Many Mistakes (feat. Jaye Prime) - Jax Anderson Both Juno and Nureyev have always caused problems for one another and thinking it over, even as they commit to their mistakes.

Late night thinkin 'bout many mistakes I never meant to hurt you Late night problems come and I can't escape I never meant to hurt you Late night wishin' I'd run away I never meant to hurt you Late night problems come and I can't escape I never meant to hurt you

Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn - Sleeping With Sirens Season 1 Nureyev, Season 5 Juno, Season 3 them together.

How the hell did you ever pick me? Honestly, cause I could sing you a song But I don't think words can express your beauty It's singing to me How the hell did we end up like this? You bring out the beast in me I fell in love from the moment we kissed Since then we've been history They say that love is forever Your forever is all that I need Please stay as long as you need Can't promise that things won't be broken But I swear that I will never leave Please stay forever with me

The Moon Will Sing - The Crane Wives Regrets and desires.

All those empty rooms We could have been anywhere, anywhere else Instead I made a bed with apathy My heart knew the weight Ten years worth of dust and neglect We made our peace with weariness And let it be

Extrasolar - Baths Juno's moral core, Nureyev's dedication to a promise he's made. Broken by who they are and also literally running off world!

Get offworld, get extrasolar Boot the motor, we've got time to waste (In every blot of space) Our goodwill is gonna kill us But come what may, we're on our way (Intrepid and unphased)

Into the Storm - BANNERS Nureyev who will always chase after Juno!!!!

So violently Held captive by your gravity Hold your breath and wait for me Where the wind may blow Through light and dark And fantasies that fall apart Know you're always in my heart Anywhere you go

First Love / Late Spring - Mitski Nureyev who had to learn to be mature so young, and now he's emotionally stunted!

And I was so young when I behaved twenty-five Yet now, I find I've grown into a tall child And I don't wanna go home yet Let me walk to the top of the big night sky

Francis Forever - Mitski Nureyev who has to prove himself to anyone whose approval he's ever valued. Mag, Juno, Vespa, Buddy!!

I don't need the world to see That I've been the best I can be, but I don't think I could stand to be Where you don't see me

Starlight - Muse They're in love, your honor.

Far away This ship has taken me far away Far away from the memories Of the people who care if I live or die Starlight I will be chasing a starlight Until the end of my life I don't know if it's worth it anymore Hold you in my arms I just wanted to hold You in my arms My life You electrify my life Let's conspire to ignite All the souls that would die just to feel alive I'll never let you go If you promise not to fade away Never fade away

Mercury - Sleeping At Last Nureyev thinking that Juno is the most precious thing. Even more than Slip or even more than his name!! They're in love.

I know the further I go The harder I try, only keeps my eyes closed And somehow I've fallen in love With this middle ground at the cost of my soul Yet I know, if I stepped aside Released the controls, you would open my eyes That somehow, all of this mess Is just my attempt to know the worth of my life

Pretty Little Things - The Crane Wives I don't think I need to argue this. It's so.

I cut straight to the heart I don't believe the pretty little things that you say I've heard a lot of little pretty things Don't buy me flowers It pains me to watch pretty little things wilt away Pretty little things wilt away Pretty little things wilt away

Hey Brother - Avicii Benten and Juno!! Bentenbentenbenten. (Also Steliana and Nureyev if you're a deep V lore follower.)

What if I'm far from home? Oh brother, I will hear you call What if I lose it all? Oh sister, I will help you out Oh, if the sky comes falling down For you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do

Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC) - Fall Out Boy Both Juno and Nureyev trying to fill the emptiness of their past.

Keep making trouble 'til you find what you love I need a new partner in crime and you, you shrug that There's a room in a hotel in New York City That shares our fate and deserves our pity I don't want to remember it all The promises I made if you just hold on Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on

Ruin - The Amazing Devil They ruin one another in the best fucking way. And being left alone? Remembering their time together.

Because brick by brick you built us And I'd fill in the cracks Nothing quite prepares you for When they don't come back I wish I'd done things different I wish that I'd been brave I wish I'd known these stones were something I could save

Metaphor - The Crane Wives Nureyev who thinks he's only a liar and is better at loving dead people than alive people.

I keep my closet free of skeletons 'Cause I'm much better at digging graves But I always dig up bones in your sympathy I can't trust a single thing you say

Brother - Kodaline Benten and Juno and what could've been with them. Ride or die. (Also Steliana and Nureyev. Don't @ me.)

We're living different lives Heaven only knows If we'll make it back with all our fingers and our toes Five years, twenty years, come back It will always be the same, oh-oh, oh-oh If I was dying on my knees You would be the one to rescue me And if you were drowned at sea I'd give you my lungs so you could breathe

A Message - Coldplay S1/S5 parallel feels.

Your heavy heart Is made of stone And it's so hard to see you clearly You don't have to be on your own You don't have to be on your own And I'm not gonna take it back And I'm not gonna say I don't mean that You're the target that I'm aiming at Can I get that message home?

Fool & The Thief - THE HARA Nureyev thinks he's a fool! He's stealing things, he's stealing time, he's foolish for loving.

The smile don't mean I'm fine It's just my disguise Laugh through gritted teeth Good at faking that I'm fine The mirror that I speak to Has a thousand eyes I get all the attention but they don't know the truth Imposter in my heavy head tells me what to do This 2am anxiety Pumps a hole straight through my chest

Honey and Glass - Peyton Cardoza How Nureyev sees Juno. They're in love your honor.

And she's dancing in the rain with her clothes on Drenched to the bone, never knows when she´s all gone But she's the life of the party and deep down I know That nobody flinches when she takes off her clothes And I wonder what's it like to be one of those girls To sit in the sun, and look at the world and never think "Wow, am I enough"

Becoming the Lastnames - Will Wood Domesticity arc. Espeeeecially in my belief that Nureyev dreams of it. Also Juno allowing himself to want it?

I'm not sure yet myself, but I learned from a good father Yeah, I mean, sure, they messed me up, but I think that's just the gig And maybe it's just some hormones that kick in in your late twenties But I have laid a lot of women, and now I'd like to just lay down And marriage always scared me, but I'd like to have a last love And love can last a pretty good long while, yeah, I've seen it around But if we grow old together, will you talk to my headstone? That is, assuming that I die first (which is fair) and assuming I don't leave Close enough to forever, I guess, to prove what I hope I mean, otherwise, how am I to believe?

Shiver - Mike Waters Nureyev who was willing to give away everything for Juno and Juno still left him. He probably thinks about that a lot in the next year.

But I don’t need excuses And I don’t need your love And I’m a little dumb And I’m a little stupid for speaking from my heart And I’m a little numb 'cause I could hear your footsteps When you left last night

Foolish Believer - Broadside Nureyev who thinks he's not whole but that Juno can somehow fill that for him. He needs to do the work later. Get your character development arc bro.

I can't shake the feeling All the world is just a stage And everybody's acting Hoping that the crowd will numb the pain So here goes another line from a fading light I need your love 'cause I've sold all mine Don't walk away

#mine #v.txt #since it's not really a creative project like i usually do but it did require work #but it's also just me being funny silly #i am extremely mentally healthy about juno steel and peter nureyev do not listen to anyone who tells you otherwise

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pkmn-lillie · 1 year

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alright im reorganizing my pokemon ocs. fuck it ill draw a timeline ok? ive posted Mari and Juno but Yuki is new.

Yuki: protagonist of Black, meets Mari right when her journey begins. 2 years later, directly after the events of Black 2(?? i will have to actually finish this game to say for sure), she goes to Alola to find Mari and acts as the protagonist for Sun/Ultra Sun.

Mari: my little fish girl blorbo. after escaping the Aether labs (with help from Gladion as he runs away from home + gets his Type: Null) she washes up on the shores of Numeva Town. Disappears during/after Black's postgame, either because she wants to go back to Alola to find Seth, or she just gets scooped back up in a wormhole (happens either way) Reappears* during the climax of Sun/Ultra Sun after saving Guzma from Ultra Ruin, joins Team Skull and reunites with Yuki.

Juno: protagonist of Violet. has a pretty normal, game-adherent experience up until the Paradise Protocol, where she gets stabbed by Iron Valiant and fails to save the day because shes fuckin dead. Arceus sends her back to be the protagonist of Legends: Arceus, an experience which is also pretty close to the game except for the Diamond Clan Sky-faller, who is actually Mari. Upon completion of her task, Juno is sent back to the beginning of her journey in Paldea to do it better this time. (Turo has also been sent back because Tera crystals or something idk. not Arceus' intent but They let it slide) Juno catches back up to the normal flow of the timeline after the Paradise Protocol.

#pokemon ocs #oc tag

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ofmymuses · 3 years

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꒰♡꒱ — PET NAMES MASTERLIST .

under the cut, you’ll find a total of 578 name ideas for furry friends sorted in alphabetical order!! if you find this post useful, please consider giving it a like / reblog so i know ♡♡

abby, ace, angel, annie, allie, angus, apollo, aries, athena, autumn, avery, alvin, amour, aspen, archie, artie, ava, alice, alpha, aslan, almond, alfie, axel, appricot

baby, bailey, basil, bella, bean, bandit, betty, birdie, betsy, bear, beau, bonnie, blossom, biscuit, blue, bo, boomer, brownie, bingo, bambi, bacon, billie, bubbles, bitsy, boots, bb, buddy, buster, bowser, barbie

candy, callie, chanel, chloe, cinnamon, cleo, coco, cricket, captain, cash, champ, chunky, chancey, charlie, chester, chico, chief, cooper, chipper, cookie, campbell, clove/r, coffee, coconut

daisy, dakota, delia, diamond, dixie, dolly, duchess, dane, dexter, diego, diesel, dodge/r, duke, dexter, darcey, dawn, dainty, dora, dizzy, decker, dallas, dagwood, dew, drusilla

eden, ella, ellie, emmy, eddie, elmer, eli, emmett, echo, elvis, eva, enid, eiffel, easter, elfa, edsel, evita, elzie

fiona, foxy, fern, fanny, finn, flash, frankie, fritz, fairy, fang, fancy, ferris, fey, flo, fluffy, fly, fudge, fuzzball, finch, foster, figo, fidget, frodo, flick, frieza

gaia, gumball, gumdrop, goldie, griffin, gus, georgie, gordon, garfield, glitter, gollum, goose, grover, gremlin, gem, gidget, goober, grumpy, gulliver

ham, harry, hope, hickory, harley, henry, hazel, holly, happy, hunter, hopscotch, hershey, harvey, honey, honeybee, hilda, hutch, hyde, hugo, hiccup, hawthorne, hades

icy, indie, itchy, isla, itsy bitsy, izzy, ivory, indigo, iggy, izzy, ike, ima, inigo, ira, isabella, iman

jabba, jade, jax, jj, jiffy, joey, july, juniper, june, juno, jackson, jagger, jasmine, jedi, jellybean, jack jack, jubilee, jonesy, jimbo, jock, jenkins, jinkies, jazz, janie, jaws, jennie, jiggly puff, jiggles, jodie

king, kai, kaijo, kermit, karma, krabby, kraken, kylo, koko, kali, kash, kane, kenny, kiddo, kimmy, kip, kisses, kit kat, kitty, kiwi, klaus, kleo, koda, kona, kylie, kooper, kimbo

luna, lola, lily, lady, lucky, lovey, loki, linus, lilo, lightning, leapfrog, lemon, lemondrop, lacy, luigi, lavender, lilac, leia, levi, lenny, lewis, libby, little, link, little foot, leftie, lulu, lurk, lydia, lynx, lars, lovebug

m&m, mabel, macaroni, macy, mae, midge, milo, midnight, marshmallow, maisie, mischief, mocha, monster, monty, munchkin, muppet, magenta, magoo, magic, maggie, malibu, maxwell, maximus, max, meeko, melody, mellow, mickey, millie, mimi, minnie, mint, missy, moon, moxie, muffy, muffin, mystic

nana, nanette, nanny, nani, newbury, natwick, nico, noah, nixon, nymph, nyx, nacho, nacia, nibbles, niche, noisy, nessie, nugget, napoleon, nanook, nutella, nellie, neon, neptune, nightmare

oatmeal, ozzy, octavia, october, oddball, olive, oreo, oscar, odie, olaf, oasis, oceana, o’hara, oakley, odessa, odin, ollie, olympia, omega, onyx, otis

panda, pumpkin, pops, popcorn, patches, prince, princess, precious, pepper, paige, pongo, poppy, penny, prudence, polly, priscilla, prancer, paris, pooh, peanut, potato, piggy, peppermint, pancake

ralph, ribbit, riley, rio, raphael, rebel, rex, roo, river, rocket, rosie, ruby, rey, ranger, raven, razzle, red, reese, retro, rhino, rigsby, ringo, rizzo, rocky, rogue, rolo, romeo, ross, roxie, ruckus

spencer, spyro, sadie, sage, sabrina, sugar, scout, sass, sky, sunny, sally, storm, stevie, sammie, scarlet, snickers, sweetie, snow/y, snoop/y, suzy, sookie, sapphire, sushi, sedona, skittles, sparkle/s, sweetpea, skipper, spot, sterling, sox, scar, scottie, scooby, sprocket

tinkerbell, tank, tango, tigger, teddy, taz, turner, toto, tess, topaz, tulip, tomika, tycoon, toki, trinket, tootsie, tarzan, trouble, twiggy, tetra, tia, thunder, thor, thumper, titan, toby, twinkle, twizzler

ursula, unit, urian, ulana, unix, utopia, urmina, unique, ultra, ufo

vesper, velvet, vanilla, valentine, vito, victory, voodoo, vallisa, vallie, valino, vanessa, vandooh, van goh, vega, vee, varro

wolfe, wolfie, wagner, whiskers, wendy, willie, worm, winnie, waldo, woody, warlock, wildfire

x-tray, xandor, xampus, xandrana, xandy, xanta, xara, xena, xera, xisco, xylo

yzma, yoda, yaki, yahoo, yogi, yeti, yenga, yumi, yello, yamana, yeska

zeus, zombie, zara, zoe/y, ziggy, zeke, zelda, zero, zola, zane, zorro, zia, zazu, zip/per, zella, zsa zsa, zadie, zoro, zorra, zephyr

#animal names #pet names #idk what to tag this as DFGJKSH #masterlist ♡#names masterlist ♡#mine.#mine.*ml

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koraki-grimoire · 3 years

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Theoi Summary - Hera

Ἡρη (EE-ra) - Hera Goddess-Queen of the Gods, marriage, family, motherhood, the sky, and the stars Ouranic Olympian

Symbols: Scepter, peacock feather, diadem, throne Animals: Peacock, cow, lion, cuckoo Colors: Royal blue, green, gold, silver, white, purple Plants/Herbs: Pomegranate, lotus, lily, iris, willow, white rose Stones/Crystals: Lapis lazuli, silver, pearls, sapphire, citrine, diamond

Retinue: Hebe, Eileithyia, Iris, Kharites Relations: Zeus (husband/brother), Kronos (father), Rhea (mother), Haides (brother), Poseidon (brother), Hestia (sister), Demeter (sister), Hebe (daughter), Ares (son), Hephaistos (son), Kharites (daughters), Typhoeus (son), Eileithyia (daughter), Eris (daughter), Identified with: Juno (Roman), Isis (Kemetic), Uni (Etruscan), Aphrodite (Hellenic)

Festivals: Theogamia (26th Gam.), Daedala (??), Heraea (~Olympic Games), Hera Telkhinia (20th Met.)

Epithets: Pais (Girl), Nympheuomene (Betrothed Bride), Teleia (Woman), Chera (Widow), Gamelia (Of Marriage), Ataurote (Unbulled), Zygia (Married), Henioche (Of the Chariot), Anthea (Of the Flowers), Hypercheiria (Whose Hand is Above), Chera (Widow), Aphrodite (Of Aphrodite/Love), Gamelia (Of Marriage), Alexandros (Protector of Men), Parthenos (Virgin), Boopis (Cow-Eyed)

#theoi #hellenic polytheism #hellenic paganism #hellenismos #olympian gods #grimoire #deity summary #theoi summary #witchblr #ouranic theoi #hera #hera goddess #celestial gods

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bookaestheticsbybern · 3 years

Text

The Soulmate Equation

[Christina Lauren]

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Book Description:

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard...and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get ‘to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

Jess (and Juno) & River

“You’re so quiet. This concerns you, too, you know. I realize your default energy level is Cardboard Cutout, but I can’t get to know you if you don’t speak.”

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“If that’s okay. I’ve got to fix things with both of my girls today.”

#contemporary romance #book aesthetic #the soulmate equation #christina lauren #single mother #scientist #statistician #wholesome #grandparents #Spotify

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plegdoctor · 2 years

Note

Happy astromonday!! Since I talked about William Herschel last week, this week I wanted to tell you about his sister Carolina.

Like William she was born in Hanover, and when he went to England in the 1760s as a professional musician, she followed as a soprano singer. While there, she also became as interested in astronomy as her brother, and assisted him with his astronomy hobby in the 1770s. After Uranus was discovered, astronomy became more of their focus rather than music and Carolina started observing the stars too.

William Herschel is known for discovering Uranus in 1781 as well as satellites for Jupiter and Saturn, and became the Royal Astronomer in 1782. But Carolina was just as well-known in her time for her work observing comets and nebulae, the first in 1783. She discovered eight comets (five on her own) and from working with her brother and nephew, doubled the known number of nebulae at the time. She became the first woman paid a salary as an astronomer - an assistant to her brother - by George III from 1787.

Although she was ridiculed by the press at the time for her work, she now has nebulae, a comet, and a crater on the Moon named after her. Today's picture is M110, a dwarf elliptical galaxy she found in 1783.

When she died in 1848 (at 97!!) she was a very well known and respected astronomer although her brother remains better known nowadays.

I hope you liked this, have a fantastic day!! ✨️

Carolina, you absolute legend. Forever will I look at the stars and think of the women before me gazing at the same lights 🫡⭐️

#juno in the sky with diamonds

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dilsdelights · 3 years

Text

sugar and plum (T, 1249 words) (this is a link to the ao3 if you prefer that)

Juno Steel had hair on his head. It was dark and thick and kinky and when he stretched it out it went all the way down past his chin. Sometimes he wore it with clicky clacky beads on the ends and got in trouble with his teachers when he took every chance he got to shake his head no, even when it was the wrong answer. Sometimes he wore it all the way out, all the way to the edges of space, like a big cloud, catching the wind, and he got in trouble with Ma for hiding stuff in it. Sometimes it was green, and it writhed its way along his scalp like snakes, or vines, or other green squiggly things. Sometimes it was gold, like a crown, or a halo, or the sun in the sky.

Benten had hair like his, too, even if it didn't look that way. He liked to get it twisted up close to his head, but he always got shapes and patterns and things twisted into it, real fancy stuff. Their mother used to do their hair every week, one at a time, washing it and twisting and asking how they wanted it. Then she got too busy, and stopped asking. Then she stopped washing. Then she stopped twisting.

The hairdresser used to pull too tight. He always had to mess with Benten's hair so he wouldn't have a headache later. He got real good at ignoring his own.

His grip was always awful, and his hands were always shaking, and he always had to section it at least twice, but Benten can't cornrow to save his goddamn life, and he needed his hair done right for dance. If Ma had her way, they'd have chopped it all off by now– "Less of a headache," she'd said. She didn't make them, though. She'd threatened them, sure, grabbed the clippers and pulled Juno by his scalp, kicking and screaming, all the way to the bathroom sink, but she just… stopped. Let him go, told him to take care of it himself, or she would. Benten said she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Looked like she saw a monster. She did, Juno thought. But that's never stopped her before.

He tried to keep his hands steady enough to do the winding patterns he likes, or just straight lines, or really to do anything right so Ma wouldn't change her mind again, but it wasn't easy. And Benzaiten Steel definitely didn't make it any easier. He was tender-headed, he couldn't sit still, he always, always forgot he was holding the goddamn grease– he was a pain in the ass. But no matter how bad it looked, no matter how much it didn't look like what he asked for, no matter how uneven it was, he always said he loved it. What's more, he looked like he meant it. He'd do anything to keep a smile on his brother's face. Even if it meant spending less time on his hair. Even if it meant the same old boring braids for a month, or more. Whatever it took.

His hair was straight and thin, but still dark. It was always dry, and always frizzy, and it broke off a lot more, and he couldn't figure out how to fix any of that, but it was technically more manageable now– if he was careful with it. He didn't really know how to style it on his own when it was like this, and it sorta made him feel like a kid, but he didn't mind too much. Diamond liked it this way– said she liked being able to run a hand through his hair, liked being able to style it for him, liked the way it looked. And Juno– Juno liked Diamond happy. He felt guilty that he wasn't more grateful, though. She was doing something nice, right? She wanted to do his hair for him, to take something off his plate. He just had to make his hair easier for her. That was all. That was fair.

He'd cut it all off. He'd had no other choice; It was deep fried and frayed and there was nothing else he could do to save it. In all honesty, right then, when he was waking up, shaking and sweating bullets in the middle of the goddamn night only to roll out of bed and work off the debts he made getting himself that sick in the first place, even if he hadn't nuked his scalp so bad it looked like he spent a sunny day out in the Martian Desert, he'd have had to chop it all of anyway, 'cause he could hardly feed himself, let alone keep himself presentable with a whole head of hair. He hated the way he looked, he hated the way he felt and he hated the way he got where he was. But at the very least, he could maybe– just maybe– get his own head back.

It took him a long time to grow his hair that long again. To be honest, at first it was all Rita. Even when he said he didn't care, that it wasn't a big deal, that she should stop leaving those homemade leave-in conditioners she makes all over the goddamn office– she stuck around and she made a fuss, and secretly he was grateful. The first time she did his hair, they were watching Bad Cops 3 (it'd been that kinda week) and Rita had all her stuff with her, 'cause she did her hair while they were watching, and Juno was so caught up in the movie that he didn't notice what she was doing until she was already halfway through doing it. Maybe he did, and he was just too tired to stop her. Either way, she started helping with his hair, at least when he couldn't muster the energy to do it on his own. And when he could, they did it together. Wash day was a ritual for them, full of streams and shampoo and shouting at each other. It was nice. It was needed

Juno didn't trust him at first. Sure, Nureyev never touched his hair, not until he made it clear he wanted it at least. Sure, he never had a bad word to say about it. Sure, he always watched with rapt attention when Juno did his hair, always seemed to care, always seemed to notice, even if his hair was straight and shiny in ways his own couldn't be– he didn't trust him. Juno couldn't shake the feeling he was just itching to make a request. And as it turned out, he was. For once, it was something he could get behind. You don’t have to, Nureyev added, quickly. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.

So once a month, on those rare lazy days on the Carte Blanche, Juno Steel sat in front of Peter Nureyev, and waited. With his hands that learnt to treasure all the most valuable things in the galaxy, he still had yet to find anything that was worth as much reverence and care as his lady's head of hair, dark and thick and kinky, just reaching his chin when he stretched it out. He gripped a section of hair, with grease on the back of his hand and a tail comb behind his ear and said, "Tell me if I'm pulling too tight, love."

Juno smiled. "I will."

#tpp #the penumbra podcast #juno steel #jupeter #peter nureyev #dils declares

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Two Minutes (Diamond Chaney) - Juno

Summary: Ellie misses Lawrence, but when they call to her in a dream, she knows where to find them.

A/N: This is kind of angsty, and featuring Time Lord Lawrence and companion Ellie. Hope you enjoy.

It had been ages since Ellie had slept properly.

She could still drift off into a vague doze, but sooner or later Lawrence's terrified face would appear in her mind, the last backward glance she'd had of them before Tia had dragged her through the last gap between the universes.

She'd always wondered if she and Lawrence would be separated. Lawrence had said that they probably would have to split eventually. After all, a human and the last of the Time Lords could only co-exist for so long.

What she'd never expected was for it to be permanent.

Eternal.

Binding on pain of blowing up both Earths if they tried to cross back over.

Since they’d all escaped to the parallel Earth, moved into this flat, every time Ellie heard a song on the radio singing about lovers being so far apart, she turned it off. Or lately, just wrenched the cord from the socket and stormed out of the room.

Try being whole fucking universes apart.

Tia always told her that she needed sleep, but Ellie would put her hands over her ears, shutting out the pity Tia couldn't keep out of her voice.

Ellie didn't want pity.

She wanted Lawrence.

——

It replayed in her head, like some torturous episode of some crap drama series that Veronica watched on daytime telly, box of Quality Street in one hand and tissues in the other, dabbing her eyes while insisting she wasn't crying.

Ellie had cried enough.

She couldn't picture much of it vividly, but she remembered the pull of the void, hundreds - thousands - of Daleks being pulled into it, while she and Lawrence were hanging on for dear life to the clips on the walls.

Until the lever had jammed and Ellie was the only one who could reach it -

Until she'd slammed it forwards and felt the irresistible suction of the void lift her off her feet with a cry of surprise, this time ever closer to going in, screwing her eyes shut and gripping the handle of the lever -

Until Lawrence called her name and her concentration slipped along with her fingers, and for one horrifying moment, the whole world moved in slow motion, the icy fear paralysed her; she was being dragged into the void and there was nothing she could do -

She was caught, seized tightly, and she thought that some silent prayer she hadn't said had been answered, but her angel was Tia, of course. Tia, who had worked out the device to get to her, and zapped them both away through the break in the universes to the parallel Earth, escaping the suction of the void the Daleks had gone to.

That was the last time she’d seen Lawrence.

She wished she could have remembered all the best times they’d had. The fun, the laughter - the saving the universe - the warm days and the cosy nights. Instead all she could think of was that expression of terror that Lawrence wore the moment it dawned on them that Ellie was slipping away.

——

“Ellie. Ellie! Els!”

Lawrence’s voice woke her up from the dream, twisted in the sheets, as she realised that this time she must have gone to sleep. Coaxed into a dream by the star light that Bimini had bought, mesmerised by the patterns they traced along the ceiling, she remembered her eyes suddenly growing heavier and her thoughts fading away, from a buzz busier than a hive to a blank canvas.

But the light had turned itself off. And she knew it was Lawrence’s voice; she’d know that accent anywhere.

“Ellie …?”

The dream was still with her, she realised, so vivid she could almost see it before her waking eyes - and the pin on her google maps, she knew exactly where on the map of England it was - and the image of the dull ochre of the beach and the brilliant, shining grey-blue of the sea -

She didn’t hesitate.

It took just twenty minutes for all four of them all to pile into the car. Veronica adjusting her glasses in the drivers’ seat. Bimini in the passenger seat, pressing all the buttons, trying to find the radio station. Tia in the back seat, clutching her rucksack to her chest with one hand, and Ellie’s hand in her other, rubbing it tenderly.

But Ellie barely felt it. All she could see was the dream, and the exact pinpoint of the beach on her google maps on her phone, and the picture of the beach on the app that looked exactly like the one she’d just dreamt about.

Where Lawrence was waiting.

The drive to Plymouth was far too long, and somehow they drove past the car park and onto the sand itself, but Ellie stumbled out of the car, running to the spot she’d seen. It was raining - typical - drizzle that clung to the air and hung in tiny particles to the skin, and the sky overhead was covered in clouds.

And in the fading afternoon light, they appeared in a shimmer, fading out and then in again.

“Lawrence!”

Ellie’s shriek was elated, rushing to the spot Lawrence was trying to emerge into. They were speaking, becoming real instead of haze, and Ellie caught a few words as their image settled into a solid form.

“… broke it.”

Ellie perked an eyebrow. “You broke what?”

“The star, the one I found. I broke it.”

“What star?”

Lawrence rolled their eyes. “Didn’t Tia explain to you what had happened?”

“I mean,” Ellie twitched her shoulders, licking the salt from her lips. Tia had explained everything, soon after she’d turned up to save Ellie from certain Dalek doomsday, but Ellie admittedly hadn’t really listened, partly uninterested, partly desperate to get back through the break in the universes, back to Lawrence.

“Yeah, yeah she did.” Ellie nodded.

Lawrence grinned. “Don’t tell me. In one ear, out the other, right?”

“Shut it, hen.”

But Ellie’s voice broke at the last word. The lump in her throat grew, prickly and swollen with everything she hadn’t been able to say these few weeks, everything she’d swallowed down had lodged itself there.

“In simplest terms, I’m at a supernova. In the TARDIS. Projecting this image of me through the gap between the universes. It’s - it’s the last bit left to close, and it’s taking all this energy from this star burning up to keep it open.”

Lawrence took a shaky breath. “I’m - burning a star in a parallel universe to see you, Lanky Legs.”

Ellie could feel her heart swell, could feel her feet leave the ground.

“Can you come back?”

But Lawrence just smiled sadly.

And Ellie had known it was hopeless. She knew it with her head, but her heart still hoped it could burn brighter than the supernova, sear a hole through the universe that separated them.

“How - how long have we got?”

“About two minutes.”

“Two minutes?” Ellie choked on the lump at her throat, her feet hitting the ground again and sinking into the sand. “What - how am I meant to - how can we get through everything - what do you mean, two minutes?”

“Probably more like one-and-a-half now,” Lawrence murmured.

“What - how am I meant to - there’s so much I want to tell you -“

“So tell me.”

Ellie opened her mouth -

And her mind went blank again.

She laughed, a nervous sound through the tears that started to fall.

“I don’t know what to say!”

That was a lie and they both knew it.

“I see you’re not alone,” Lawrence waved at the others, standing next to Tia’s third-hand Fiesta, who waved back, knowing not to interrupt but wanting to say their own hellos. And goodbyes.

“No. We all drove down here -“

“I was gonna ask, where the fuck is this?”

The laugh escaped Ellie before she was prepared for it, and she spluttered. “It’s Plymouth.”

“Plymouth?” Lawrence blinked. “Did we ever come here when I was -“

“No, no we didn’t!”

Small talk, Ellie. Fucking small talk. Get to the point!

"Lawrence -"

But there was no time. No time at all.

She reached for Lawrence, but her hand went straight through her arm.

"I'm just a projection, that's all."

Lawrence's own voice was gravelly, as if they were recovering from a cold. Pained, sombre, aggrieved.

"What will you do?" Ellie heard herself say, an octave above her normal voice, her throat almost unbearably painful with words and tears.

"I've got the TARDIS, haven't I? Gonna do more fucking timey-wimey stuff. Maybe."

Ellie just nodded, gazed at Lawrence.

"On your own?"

But Lawrence just continued that sad smile, even as their chin quivered.

"Aye. On my own this time."

A whisper was all they could manage. A quiet sound that deafened Ellie with its sorrow.

Ellie wanted to hold them tightly, to squeeze that pain from their voice the way she used to, to kiss their forehead and to hear their hum of contentment. She wanted to pummel her fists into the sand below her at the frustration and shout at the horizon that the sea drew back to … she wanted the universe - no, the universes - to know that time and space had torn them from each other and that the fact they had no time, no time left to do this was an abhorrent injustice …

"Lawrence …"

And she realised that what she wanted to say, what she had to say to Lawrence, was so enormous that her mind had assumed, stupidly, that it would take a lot of time, so much time that it would be too much for this small window of opportunity …

"Els?"

… when in reality it was the sheer size of her heart was taking up room, but it could be condensed, summed up in three meagre little words that held such limited significance -

“I - I love you!”

And Ellie crumbled to the sand, weightless as she saw Lawrence's green eyes flicker, their lip tremble as they took it between their teeth, their face grow flushed with pink as they crumbled too, shaking with love and sadness and grief and anger and everything else that Ellie could see in them, because they mirrored her too.

… and everything about Lawrence before doomsday came flooding back to Ellie.

The way their eyes used to crinkle up with laughter. The way they had made the world around her sparkle with fun. The softness of their skin, their hair - their smile, their smile that burned brighter than the supernova that threatened to turn to embers at any moment now.

She knew this was why Lawrence was calling her in her dream.

This was it.

The chance to experience happier times again.

The chance to ease the grief with a balm of comfort, and love.

"Ellie."

Her own name was the most beautiful sound in the world in their mouth.

"... I love you."

A tear, just one, glistened in the fading afternoon light like a diamond on Lawrence's cheek.

Then they were gone.

——

The drive back to Nottingham was a blur.

Tia took the first leg, then Veronica. Bimini did the M25, the only one brave enough to tackle it.

No one asked Ellie to drive.

Her mind was blank, neither happy nor sad for a while, numbed by the salve that was having her peace with Lawrence one last time. By the time they all got back, Ellie was starting to feel calmer. They weren't in any imminent danger in this universe, at least - they were safe and sound.

After a while, she had enough energy to drive to Skegness - good ol' Skeggy as Tia called it fondly - to sit on the wall above the beach, dull, grey sand rising to meet the steel skyline of the sea as the sun set behind her, her back tingling with its rays.

Before long, it became a regular haunt. This spot on this wall became Ellie's Spot. She brought food, books, music, alcohol. But time continued, the tides always simply rose and fell, to make a mockery of Ellie's emotions by ignoring them and letting her lose herself in the memories the sea sparked.

She found she no longer needed the star light to sleep, but she still had it on now and again.

All while replaying in her mind every incredible thing about the glorious Time Lord who once burned up a fucking star to see her one more time.

#rpdr fanfiction #lawrence chaney #ellie diamond #ellie x lawrence #bimini bon boulash #tia kofi #veronica green #lesbian au #angst #sci fi au #uk2 #rpdr uk #juno

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crimsoncityhq · 4 years

Text

PART I

One thing rang true and that was the prediction of the brutal blizzard of November 28th. Everyone prepped the best they could with the remembrance of how last Winter had ruthlessly blanketed their homes. There’s a frenzy for backup generators that get bought up in the Chicago stores for the anticipation. The first ominous whistle of the wind, and the pebbles of ice fall on the eve of Thanksgiving. Power flickers in each home giving them a moment of awkward darkness, before the backup generators kick in. The power companies in the city promise to have everyone serviced, but they start to service the scattered patches on the outskirts of the city first .

Most joked that was the brutal blizzard they had prepared for, until Mother Nature dropped her poker face. The ships with cargo became stuck in the harbor due to the icy fortress that froze over the gigantic lake. No lights of passing planes in the sky, as the wind turned into a sinister howl. Darkness engulfed the entirety of the city, except for a strip of hotels in neutral territory. The footmen of the families alert them that there seem to be only a handful of hotels that seem to be around. Meanwhile the temperature dips in the homes of those unlucky, and they must face a brash decision to not become the ice sculptures akin to the people of Pompeii.

Multiple phone calls are done, and just as their phones are about to die they get a booking. A hotel that mentions that the accommodations might be crowded -- However, they can host your groups and promise warmth as long as the storm doesn’t shut them down. Everyone packs up their children, pets, and housemates to journey to the only solace that isn’t sold out in all Chicago.

After a restless eternity everyone was given a room number with their baggage ( human and otherwise ). The group of people that checked guests in alert them that there is a room for the animals to stay in kennels or they may accompany the others up to the room. Just when everyone was annoyed after being crowded in the lobby, and having to wait decades to get from one floor to another in the elevator. It doesn’t help there’s always that one asshole that tries to asphyxiate everyone with their heinous flatulence.

They FINALLY make it into their hotel room. Massive enough and customized with multiple full sized beds. No television, the heat blares up, it’s the poster child of the most bare necessities room. While everyone claimed a bed and stared haughty towards the guests that had ended up in the same room with them. A loud crackle followed by a slight rumble of their feet had the lights in the hotel rooms go off. The hotel doors seemed to have powered down, and anyone that tried to leave them --found they wouldn’t budge. A soft wheeze emitted from the heater in the room, and for a moment that’s the only noise in the room with you until the profanities start to flood. Winter wasn’t the only one that had prepped for the evening. The Walshes and their affiliates watch on with hidden elation as their plan goes into motion.

Part I will run from November 28th until December 3rd. Under the cut will be the groupings as well as some additional notes for this event.

Please don’t make any new starters open or closed that don’t pertain to this event while it’s happening. Normal replies can be done while the event is running, but it gets confusing timeline wise if people have additional threads that they start that would belong after the event timeline.

For this event specifically, the weather in Chicago is fictional. After the event you can feel free to glance at the Weather app and RP it out that way!

Animals will also be boarded at this neutral hotel. Keep in mind if the animals are left at your residence with the current temperature and no heat they will likely pass away.

Keep in mind that if your character has children (unless they are Walsh affiliates) they likely have their kids in the room with them or any other NPC’s. If the character is a Walsh it was their choice to have them be ‘stuck’ in the room with them or left with a babysitter provided by the council.

For information on the bold names check the Walsh Discord channel.

PREP PLOT SLOTS CHOSEN

LIAM WALSH & IVY IVASHKOV volunteered to carpool with a hotel van to the hospital for sedatives and other harvesting supplies. AUDREY ROUSSEAU is already at the hospital and helps them fill the van before they all ride back to the hotel together. DAVUT DEMIR & KILLIAN WALSH are tasked with going to The Westin and sabotaging the hotel in time for the storm. They are told to do whatever necessary to make sure the hotel can’t accept any more guests before they return for the night. DARREN MURPHY took a smoke break after unloading only one of the supply vans at the hotel. LINCOLN DAWSON caught them smoking—as opposed to working—and made DARREN MURPHY finish unloading two other vans while they watched.

ASLYN WALSH collected the weekly stash owed from the business owners at Magnificent Mile. She delivered the money to the council without prying eyes of local law enforcement or rival gangs catching on. ARMANDE IVASHKOV & another associate, had the dirty work of cleaning up the old blood stained hotel rooms used for organ harvesting the night before. They made it presentable before opening night. Their efforts were doubled when other affiliates weren’t aware of the chore, and had set off to bloody the room with a fresh harvest session.TARON LYNCH & JOANNA "JOEY" O'SHEA are instructed to sabotage the backup power generators on the north side. Surprisingly, they didn’t get caught. CAOILAINN WALSH had to “check” everyone into the hotel—AKA, assign each guest to a room. Everyone converges in the lobby and watches them impatiently, and the later it gets, the more aggressive the crowd becomes. ASLI DEMIR & FLETCHER HARGRAVE met with Jean Jaques “JJ” Baptiste and persuaded him by discussing terms of agreement for him to temporarily close Romanet Hotel the night of the massive storm.

ROOMS

ROOM #1: Arlo Flores, Fletcher Hargrave, Ira Evans, Jesse Valencia, Theodore "Teddy" Cohen

ROOM #2: Anastasia Sahin, Billie Washington, Josephine "Josie" Leon, Mathias Attano, Taron Lynch

ROOM #3: Andrea "Andy" Perez, Asli Demir, Blythe Sweetwine,Braden Kahale, Margeaux Saint Claire

ROOM #4: Alejandra Ruiz, Armande Ivashkov, Harlow Dumas,Jackson Marston, Lev Vasile,

ROOM #5: Gwen Arnolds, Hana Faust,Jean-Jacques Baptiste De Romanet, Jessika Delmonica, Oisin Donnelly

ROOM #6: David Sharpe, Juno Song, Layla Jiminez, Nadia James, Nicola Faust, Peyton Bridges

ROOM #7: Callan Quinn, Effie Faust, Igor Vasile, Letitia "Tia" Valentine, Rosalie Halliday, Sutton James

ROOM #8: Addison Mckinley, Anton Volkov, Aries "Rhys" Rigsby, Cecilia Cavendish, Esmeray Demir, Lucian Faust

ROOM #9: Aslyn Walsh, Catriona O'Shea, Oliver Faust, Tulsa Jane Honey

ROOM #10: Genevieve Bisset, Lee Malkovich, Levi Bohan, Maisie Kane, Saskia Vasile

ROOM #11: Amara Ricci, Auron Wright, Christine Li, Holden Mercer, Sloan Washington, Stefano Vitorri

ROOM #12: Edith Cohen, Ellis Rowe, Lavrenti "Lav" Vasile, Lincoln Dawson, Silas Hale

ROOM #13: Fabian Drake Kalashnyk, Carrigan Connolly, Cassidy Faust, Monika Adler, Nicholas Krieger

ROOM #14: Erin Cerci, Lada Antonovna, Leonid "Leo" Vasile, Rahi Kumar, Zoe Washington

ROOM #15: Abel Washington, Dominika Romanov, Faith Williams, Olivia Madden, Rosalia Leon, Cassandra Conally

ROOM #16: Atticus Mercer, Diamond Washington, Killian Walsh, Lorelai Faust, Oakley Butler

ROOM #17: Audric Noire, Mikhail Morosov, Noah Etkin, Nova Deveraux, Viktoriya Vasile

ROOM #18: Anatalya Vasile, Darren Murphy, Julia Faust, Konstantin Vasile, Violet Madden

ROOM #19: Davut Demir, Katarina Vasile, Veronica Pierce, Vincent St James, Zane Washington

ROOM #20: Beauregard “Beau” Griveaud, Blair Faust, Caoilainn "Callie" Walsh, Milo Arrington, Zedekiah Vasile

ROOM #21: Dante "Sebastian" Faust, Liam Walsh, Marissa Atkinson Orion Anderson, Vitomir Kipriyanov

ROOM #22: Andrew "Drew" Whittmore, Callum James, Ivy Ivashkov, Marie-Anne Beaulieu, Nikolai Volkov ROOM #23: Audrey Rousseau,Barnaby Eaton, Constansia Fournier, Edie James,

ROOM #24: Birdie Mendoza,Eleanor "Elle" Eaton, Joanna "Joey" O'Shea, Katya Ivanova, Wyatt Leon

#crimson.event #mature rp #oc rp #appless rp #crime rp

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mollymauk-teafleak · 4 years

Text

I will love you if I never see you again (final chapter)

It’s the end! Thank you so much for sticking with this fic, if you enjoyed it please let me know by reblogging or by leaving a comment on Ao3! It really means everything to me.

Thanks to my wonderful betas, @spiky-lesbian and @minky-for-short, I love you both

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Trigger Warnings: kidnapping, violence, references to trans pregnancy

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Nureyev’s eyes had been fixed for the last twenty minutes, staring out of the window of the med bay, oblivious to the tugging sensation at the back of his head as Vespa stitched his wound closed.

Every so often, one of the stars he saw would shift or turn, suspended in the invisible molasses of space but moving by some impulse that had fled hours ago, and he would realise it wasn’t a star at all. It was an earring, a necklace, a bracelet. Some fragment of his life that had been torn away with the drone’s retreat and scattered out into an unreachable, empty coldness. Things he’d treasured at one point that were now lost to him, even though they seemed so close, just past the thick, reinforced glass. If he had the inclination to lift his hand, he could have pressed the tips of his fingers against the window and felt those impassable inches that may as well have been miles.

He would have, if he’d cared. But he barely saw the stars or the not stars, he only saw the distance between them. The miles and miles that stretched between where he was now and wherever his daughter was. And he was sitting here, doing nothing, eyes and cheeks burning with drying salt, shame pooling in the bottom of his stomach like acid.

He’d allowed himself to crack. He’d sobbed and lashed out and collapsed the way he’d told himself he would never do because it was amateurish and childish and everything he’d been taught that master thieves did not do. And because of it he’d cost them minutes that were more valuable than any amount of gold and silver and diamonds now floating in the slight gravitational orbit of the Carte Blanche.

Because it was only after his panic had run its course, burning down into something he could use rather than something that debilitated him, did he remember. Only when his throat opened up again was he able to choke out the words. And he would spend the rest of his life thinking about how things would have been different if he’d only acted quicker.

Vespa finally stood back and there was a single, high chime as she dropped the bloody needle into the metal tray beside her, “Right. Now do not move, I’m doing one set of stitches so if you open them back up, better get some glue.”

Nureyev’s eyes flashed, “If you think for one second I am staying on this ship-”

“Who do you take me for?” Vespa demanded angrily, moving back into his field of vision and wiping her hands on a sterile cloth, “Do not move between now and when we land and then you can wreck as much shit as you want.”

Nureyev was far beyond relaxing at this point but he fell silent, accepting that and turning back to the window. Still Vespa lingered, a lime green smudge on the edge of his eye, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t get it out.

Eventually she managed, voice low and rough like a lioness trying to give comfort, “Ransom...we’ll get her back. And if they’ve hurt a hair on her head, we’ll make their deaths that much slower.”

Nureyev felt the many knives concealed under his fresh clothes pressed against his skin until the barrier just disappeared under the constant, cool weight and they were practically part of his skeleton. He pulled himself away from the window to give Vespa a tight, grateful nod.

Clearly relieved that was the end of it, she left him alone with another reminder not to move. Nureyev listened, though he’d usually disagree on sheer principle, holding himself as still as his fast rising bruises would allow. He could follow rules for the promise of free reign once they touched down on wherever they ended up. He could ignore the almost unbearable burn of adrenaline in the deep down channels of his body if he and his knives could go to work.

Instead he thought of what his meltdown might have cost them. What if, while he’d sobbed and screamed, it had been discovered and deactivated? What if the kidnappers had set it on another drone flying far out into space, just to lead them on a pointless winding chase while they took Bianca who knew where? What if it was too late in any one of a thousand different ways, all because he’d been weak when his daughter had needed him to be strong?

The soft hiss of the door sliding back registered to Nureyev only slightly, though the voice and it’s words drew his attention immediately.

“Rita got the signal,” there was a strain to Juno’s voice, like he’d ran to the med bay, like he was feeling the same burn that Nureyev was, “Clear as day, she said, and it’s heading back into occupied space following the drone’s trajectory so it’s got to be her.”

Nureyev felt no relief, just a solidifying of the need to act inside him. It didn’t erase his mistake.

He hadn’t even thought of the bracelet until almost twenty minutes had passed, ten long minutes of Juno holding him by the shoulders to keep him up right and directing him to breathe through the tight clutch of panic on his chest. What good was a tracker on your child if you didn’t realise it was there immediately?

Bianca had adored the teething bracelet when he’d presented it to her months ago, loving the rattle it made and the colours and the way she could gnaw on the soft rubber shape that hung from it. And as long as she didn’t bite down on it too hard, the tracker inside the shape would keep on silently beeping away.

It was only for while she was very, very young, he would trust her once she was old enough to take care of herself, of course. He didn’t want to be that kind of father. But Nureyev had slept through far too many nightmares to take chances in his waking hours.

“Nureyev?” Juno prompted, standing close to him now, closer than he’d dared since he’d set foot on this ship. A line had been crossed apparently, “We can find her. As soon as the drone touches down we can go get her and they’ll never expect us. We can win.”

Nureyev looked at him and felt like he’d already lost.

“Juno,” he murmured, voice level, “When we get Bianca back, I think I should leave and you should take custody of her.”

His thick eyebrow furrowed, “What? Nureyev, come on, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Juno, just listen,” Nureyev exhaled, making himself look the former detective in the eye. From this close up, he could see the injuries he’d taken as their home had been shaken in the sky, less extensive than his own but there were countless nicks and scrapes on his cheeks. Apparently he’d fallen face first into the wall, “Look at what’s happened to her when she was in my care. Whoever’s taken her, they’ve done it to hurt me and she’s suffering because of it. I was a fool to ever think I’d be able to do this with the life I lead, I have too many dogs snapping after the blood on my hands. She deserves a hero for a parent. That just isn’t me.”

Juno’s eye widened, looking beyond stunned, “How hard did you hit your head? Because you’re talking absolute nonsense.”

He was making it so much harder than it needed to be, as always. Nureyev tried to keep his face and voice as cool and level as possible, “Juno, it’s what’s best for Bianca. I’ll do this for her, I’ll bring her back and then I’ll give her a good life. Without me. With you.”

Juno was shaking his head before he’d even finished speaking, “Nureyev, look, you’ve had pretty much the textbook definition of a shit day but you need to shake this off. This isn’t going to help anything.”

Nureyev frowned, “Juno, I didn’t expect you to push me back on this. You’ve wanted to be her mother since you stepped on this ship and you’re ready for it. You’ve grown so much and you’ve got something real here on the Carte Blanche. You can make her part of it so easily and she can grow up happy and never need to think anything like this will happen again. You can be what she deserves.”

“Will you please stop?” Juno wasn’t angry, he was pleading, “Just stop. Why would you just assume there’s no place for you too? Why would you just write yourself off like that?”

“Because someone has taken my daughter, Juno! They’ve reached through her to hurt me, I’ve not been careful enough-”

“No parent is careful enough, not all the time-”

“You’re talking about a child skinning their knee when their parent isn’t looking, not being taken halfway across the galaxy-”

“Nureyev, you love her, that’s what matters. And she loves you-”

“And that’s why she needs to go!” the last burst from Nureyev with a force that surprised even him and, god help him, it came with tears, “Because look what happens to people who love me!”

Juno flinched but he didn’t take a step back, he didn’t turn away with shame or pity, even as those own feelings took root in his own mind, “Peter…”

“Mag, the only example I’ve ever had of parenting and look how that shook out!” Nureyev gave a laugh that was half a sob, “You and you only grew better after you left me behind, doesn’t that tell you everything you need? And now Bianca! I somehow convinced myself that she could be the exception, that I could let my guard down and love her and let her love me. I thought if I worked hard enough it could happen but I just let it all build up like a volcano and now it’s gone off, I could have killed her as surely as I killed Mag!”

Silence followed his words, like the universe was sucking in a horrified breath. Had he ever said it out loud before? Hadn’t he been afraid of exactly this, that once he said it, he’d realise he’d done something unforgivable?

But if the universe was going to call him a monster then Juno Steel would be his one defendant. The lady who’d seen it happen with his own eyes, the one who’d dealt with countless monsters, he didn’t withdraw and there wasn’t a hint of condemnation in his eyes. His gaze held steady, the only emotion visible there was a fierce kind of love that Nureyev simultaneously yearned towards and shrank away from.

“Nureyev, my ma said very little right in her whole life but one truth she did know was that you need other people to live for. So when you’re not tough enough, they can be, that’s what she said. So you can’t give up because you’ve got them to worry about,” Juno looked him right in the eye, “And that works both ways. You live for them and they live for you and that’s how we all get by. Bianca isn’t just your person, you are her person too. And if you take yourself away from her, it all comes crashing down. God, you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be the flawless Peter Nureyev. You just have to be you. And so does she. That’s how everyone gets better.”

Every guiding instinct Nureyev had left told him to deny. To sink back behind his mask and ignore what Juno was saying, ignore the love he saw in his gaze. But he didn’t want to. He just didn’t want to.

“Yeah, I got better,” Juno continued, “But I didn’t do it without you, Peter. I was always thinking of you, even when I told myself I wasn’t. Because you were the person who really made me believe I could get better. That I didn’t have to die for a cause to be worth something. You woke me up to the people who’d been telling me that for years, you...you became my person.”

Nureyev trembled in the face of that love. The love that wasn’t conditional on whether he was perfect, whether he was collected and in control, whether there were tears on his cheeks or not. It was just being offered.

“I want to be one of the people you live for, Peter,” Juno murmured and the distance between them seemed closer all of a sudden, “And Bianca’s. But only if you’re okay with that, only if it’s as a family. And only if one of your other people is your own damn self. That was another thing my ma got wrong.”

It would be so easy to lean in, cross those few inches, though they were as significant as a few inches that would walk you off the edge of a cliff.

He wanted, he couldn’t deny that. But he had to study this want, find out if it was the want that drove him to take things that belonged to other people or the want that had made him look down at the squalling, squirming, seconds old baby in his exhausted arms and realise he couldn’t give her away as he’d planned.

“Can we speak again after...all this?” Nureyev murmured, “After we get her back safely? Can we come back to this then?”

Nureyev had known a hundred people, some of them people who’d claimed to love him, who would have grown angry. Who’s faces would have darkened and shoulders would have set and a possessiveness would have clouded their eyes.

But Juno Steel only nodded.

“Sure,” he gave a rough laugh, “Today’s more than enough to deal with. And there will be a tomorrow, Nureyev.”

He’d always known that. He’d lived for tomorrows for much of his life, moving forward to a new face, a new name, a new thing to steal to prove he could. He’d always thought tomorrow was worth showing up for.

But this felt so much more real. This felt like a promise of tomorrows that would be hard at times, where some would hurt. But these tomorrows were ones he could spend as Peter Nureyev, with people he cared about and who cared about him.

Both of them jumped at the sound of footsteps in the hallway, fast approaching. Rita drew the door back, her hair flying out of its usual twin buns, her eyes red raw from crying and staring at too many screens in too short a time, smoke practically rising from her fingertips. But she was grinning, in a manic, frantic kind of way.

“The signal stopped! The drone must have landed!”

In an instant, Juno had turned and Nureyev was on his feet, twin expressions of determination and frantic energy.

“Where?” they both barked, not even reacting to the other speaking.

Rita was bouncing in place, clearly jittery, “The signal held strong the whole way there, I didn’t even need to triangulate when it got messed up with all the other frequencies you find buzzing around an inhabited planet like giant space bees in that one stream, the one that made me scared to eat honey for six weeks even though honey roasted salmon squares are my seventh favourite snack-”

“Rita, please!”

“Mars!” Rita finally choked up, fighting through her own panicked babble, “She’s on Mars, Mistah Steel, at a place called, um…” she looked down and read her comms screen again, “The Oasis Casino Resort.”

Nureyev’s eyes met Juno’s, the same expression of sickening deja vu shared between them.

The former detective gave a wayn, humorless smile, “Looks like it’s not just your fault after all.”

The sense of deja vu, the sensation of falling and waking up in the middle of the night, continued through the family meeting, the crew sat or stood around the kitchen table and a projected schematic of the Oasis. Looking at the tiny, translucent rooms and hallways and grand game halls, floating and shifting whenever the people across from him moved, he felt nearly three years younger. Three years, two heartbreaks and a baby younger. He remembered when he’d felt invincible and so sure of himself, running into victory with a beautiful detective by his side, like something out of an old fashioned movie. He would need some of that old self to get through this, he realised.

Plot points happening all over again but the order shuffled and the roles recast. It was dizzying. And he needed to focus.

“And you’re sure this is up to date, Rita, dear?” Buddy leaned forward, eye focused like a laser on the plans in front of them all.

“Yes, Captain,” she nodded, still bouncing with anxious energy, “Remotely hacked the head of security’s computer so it’s a live feed. Even if they reshuffle all the rooms or something, we’ll know about it. And this…” she tapped something on the comms in her hand, causing a bright white dot to appear somewhere in the depths of the projection, “...is the current location of Bee Bee’s beacon.”

It was sliding slowly at a walking pace through a stairway, up and up. Nureyev’s throat tightened. Was she being dragged? Had they knocked her out with some chemical so she was lying limply in a stranger’s arms? He found himself bleakly hoping for the latter, he didn’t want her to know what was happening.

“They’re taking her upstairs. To this two bit con artist with ideas far above his station, I assume he has the penthouse suite to compensate for his lack of skills,” Buddy said smoothly, leaning forward with an intensity to her gaze that would have given weaker souls heart conditions, “Isn’t it helpful when they give us a lovely, high, phallic pedestal from which to reach up and drag them down?”

“It certainly is convenient,” Jet said cooly, somehow paying attention while calmly assembling a frankly enormous, heavy duty pistol on the counter, “I suggest we enter from the same height, scaling the fire escapes. It will limit potential interactions with innocent bystanders and employees of the resort. The only problem will be exiting once they realise how we have entered.”

“There are trash chutes,” Juno spoke up, sharing a glance with Nureyev that made both of them feel somehow a little better, for a brief second, “We could use those.”

“Are they big enough to accommodate a person?” Vespa raised a doubtful eyebrow.

“Oh yeah,” Juno was somehow fighting a smile, despite it all, “Believe me, they are.”

“That would work,” Jet nodded, “Reverse what they would expect, entering through the exterior and leaving by the interior. We could store the Ruby and my hoverbike in the garage, recoloured and with false plates. Present ourselves as rich visitors, the kind that pass through such a place every day.”

“This is assuming Engstrom is hiding his activities from the Oasis,” Vespa pointed out, also preparing herself, sliding an oilcloth down the blade of her knife as she spoke, “And they haven’t been told an assault might be incoming.”

“They won’t be,” Nureyev answered, eyes still fixed on that dot, like he could somehow reach in and give Bianca comfort through it, “Engstrom’s arrangement with the Oasis is hush hush. If he could rely on them to such a degree, he wouldn’t have to pay them under the table for his security privileges. This will be a small operation, low to the ground, only with a few trusted people. Engstrom will be aware how thin the ice under his feet is, no matter how much he paid off the guards after the Utgard Express fiasco.”

“So you two really did rob the Utgard, huh?” Vespa muttered, mostly to herself, “Always thought you made that up.”

Nureyev shot her a look before continuing, “We have to move quickly, a skeleton plan is all we can manage. He may be planning to move Bianca.”

“Well it isn’t as if we haven’t played it fast and loose before,” Buddy lifted her chin, “In fact, I’d say it’s when we do the best work. Rita will work through the comms, diverting cameras and blocking the security communication line. I will be posing as our fictitious Oasis patron, the pass will give me access to wherever I might need to go to clear your escape. Jet, Juno, Vespa and Ransom will go up the fire escapes and unleash hell upon this low life who thought he could threaten our family.”

Her eye passed over them all, causing them to straighten their backs and square their shoulders with the sheer magnetism of her words and her gaze.

“Let’s bring our girl home.”

The Oasis was true to its name, standing and glittering in the middle of complete Martian wasteland, the only object for miles around. Covered in flashing lights and bold colours, it could so easily be a mirage or a hallucination brought on by radiation poisoning, so incongruous did it look with all it’s flashy finery on a backdrop of constant, unbroken mud red dunes and a flat night sky.

They’d touched down under the best cloak that Rita could manage, the Carte Blanche’s bulk hidden a few miles out, right at the edge of the dome but not out of signal range of her hacking equipment. She would stay on board, working remotely, while the rest of them travelled to the Oasis in the Ruby 7, with its new, rush job coat of glittering gold and false plates, all of its features cloaked and hidden as well as just a scant hour of Jet’s time could allow. Rita had given Vespa a kill switch to temporarily plunge the garage cameras into static so there would be no record that there were more people in the car than just the illustrious and completely fictitious Comtesse D’or who had just made a last minute reservation at great expense.

Already Nureyev was seeing holes, gaps he’d want to plug with far more research and preparation but the time just wasn’t there. As the Oasis loomed in his vision, rapidly approaching until it wasn’t clear who was rushing at who, Nureyev realised how much of this would be riding on sheer dumb luck.

It was a little easier that Buddy seemed entirely unconcerned, sending them off with a wink as she sped towards the garage entrance, letting them simply leap off the Ruby 7 and hide in the clutter of the building’s back side until the attendants were occupied with her loud and flashy arrival. Before they jumped, Nureyev saw fear flash through Juno’s one eye and he took his hand, squeezing briefly. Whether Juno would have jumped if he hadn’t done that or not, the smile he gave him after they’d hit the cooling sand and caught their breath with their backs pressed to the brick made him glad he’d done it.

Climbing the fire escape was simple enough, Vespa and her knife leading the way, her hair as vivid as the hotel they were scaling, eyes flashing like the neon lights. Jet was next, climbing smoothly and skillfully despite his size and despite the serious hardware strapped to his back. Juno next, clearly not as comfortable with being a thief just yet but a fierce determination in his eye that showed he wouldn’t be turning back. Nureyev gripped the metal, still warm from the heat of the day’s blistering sun, and what Buddy had said before they broke away from the family meeting. They all cared about Bianca, they were willing to risk everything, not least the search for the Curemother Prime, to get her back.

He certainly could see the benefit of Bianca having family.

Over many years of thieving, Nureyev had developed something like an extra sense for when things were about to go wrong, a pull in his stomach that would signal him to duck, a second’s lead on searching for hiding places, a moment to tense his muscles to run as fast as he could or throw himself into their nearest available shadow.

Apparently it was something inherent to anyone who lived outside of the law because in the same instant both Jet and Vespa stiffened, something cold and sharp seized Nureyev.

Vespa, as always, was the quickest and most ruthless. Like a bear snatching a salmon from a driver, her hand flashed into the open window just above her head and caught the guard who’d been about to look down and see the four of them by the front of the jacket. With a hard yank, the unfortunate individual went careening down, an almost comical look of surprise on their face, and landed with a muffled crash in the garbage below. Mercifully, the guard was as stunned as the rest of them and didn’t make a noise.

Juno craned his neck down and, rather adorably thinking that they’d care, whispered, “They’re okay. Knocked out.”

“Did you see their weapon?” Jet grunted, his expression unchanged, “Heavy stuff.”

“Did you see their uniform?” Nureyev arched an eyebrow, “Not Oasis. It would seem Engstrom has some hirelings. Who knows how many?”

Vespa had ignored them all, poised on the wall like a cat, face tight as she waited for any response from a partner the guard may have had. When one didn’t come, she settled one hand on the windowsill and leaned out like some kind of murderous acrobat so she could address them all.

“Hallways clear. Jet and I will go around the other side of the building, cause a distraction, draw whoever else he’s got patrolling. You two continue on to Engstrom’s room,” her tone brokered no argument, there was no time to weigh up pros and cons. Even Juno swallowed any objections, though God knew there were plenty to make.

The last majordomo of Engstrom’s had nearly killed the two of them handily, after all, and the late, unlamented Valencia was who he’d kept around when he hadn’t been deliberately pissing off a master thief. But as Vespa took her largest knife between her teeth and slunk in through the window, quickly followed by the hulking yet graceful form of Jet, laden down with blasters, it was whoever had taken Valencia’s place that Nureyev felt sorry for.

Maybe it wasn’t just Bianca who was glad to have a family.

Juno risked a glance down to him, looking oddly beautiful as he leaned out over the edge of the balcony, bathed in neon colours like Nureyev was seeing him through a stained glass window, as a strange kind of saint. As the goddess he was named for.

But had Juno ever held so much fear and determination and anxiety in her eye?

Nureyev gave him a nod, trying to look encouraging. Trying to look like all his fears that they weren’t prepared, that they didn’t know their target, that far too much was at risk, were all coming true.

But all they could do was put one foot in front of the other. Two more floors and they would see their daughter and whatever that would bring.

Nureyev felt the press of the knives against his skin again, insistent and hungry.

The Oasis was grand in every sense of the word, they were some height above the ground now, enough that a breeze that smelled of hot sand lifted their hair and snagged the corners of their clothing. As much as every muscle in his body wanted to surge forward and rush to wherever his daughter was, Nureyev forced himself to go slowly, hugging the brickwork and keeping out of the teeth of the wind. Now down to half their numbers, they couldn’t be caught now.

Finally, the topmost window and, muffled by glass, a voice. Juno and Nureyev crouched on the last platform of the fire escape, ducking under the golden glow emanating from behind the glass and listened, feeling the same burning anger as they recognised it in the same moment.

“...whether it’s some drunk gaggle of socialites or not, I want confirmation,” a gruff, scraping voice that seemed to have aged more than the time since they’d last heard it would suggest, “Don’t put anything past these charlatans, there’s no way they should know the brat is here but they’ve proven to be inconveniences before now. Go, quickly. Carter said she heard blaster fire.”

A grunt of conformation, footsteps whispering against thick expensive carpet. Juno tensed and rocked on his heels but Nureyev gripped his arm to still him, shaking his head. They couldn’t afford to move before they had a better idea of what they were running into. Not when so much was at stake.

He maintained that for a whole heartbeat until they both heard what was unmistakably a muffled sob from inside the room. A sob they both knew.

Nureyev’s other hand was on a knife handle before he was really aware he was even moving, having to snap fast to keep control of himself as something dark and angry, a shadow in red light, thrashed inside him. His fingers tensed on Juno’s arm, feeling an electricity run through him. Hold fast. Stay quiet. Wait for the right moment.

“Oh, will you be quiet?” Engstrom snapped, his voice less muffled now, as if he’d moved closer to the window. Nureyev tried to build up a mental picture of the room, a map he could work with, though it was hard when the younger, red washed self was fighting him.

There was the sound of an angry snap, like the sound of a puppy baring its teeth after being backed into a corner and a short cry of pain from Engstrom.

“You little…” his voice was tight and his shoes made thin sounds on the floor as he backed away, voice dampening. That meant she was close. Nureyev leaned forward a little more. Would he have been fool enough to keep her by the window?

He’d never believed in any being more powerful than himself up until now, not even at the tensest, most teetering brinks of his career, not even in the underground tomb with Miasma. But now he was throwing out desperate murmurs, willing anyone to hear them. Any port in a storm.

Engstrom was still talking and Nureyev took pleasure in imagining him cradling a bitten hand, “More trouble than you’re worth, you brat...no wonder your father taught you no manners, the classless parlour magician...I’d behave before I decide that the pleasure of breaking your father’s teeth and seeing him rot in jail while my name is cleared is worth less to me than the joy of you disappearing down that trash chute. God, you broke the skin, you freak, you vile little monster…”

Nureyev realised a second too late what Juno was doing, though he didn’t think an hour’s preparation would have been able to stop him. He wrenched free of his grip so easily it was as if it had never been, threw open the window and launched himself at Engstrom with a snarl of fury.

“Juno!” he yelled, pointlessly, though his voice was lost in Bianca’s scream and Engstrom’s sound of bewilderment, followed quickly by a loud crash.

Expensive whiskeys and brandys were soaking into the carpet when Nureyev leapt through the window, knife whistling from his fingers in the direction of the single guard who had been about to raise their blaster in Juno’s direction. It struck them hilt first, dead between the eyes, sinking them in an instant where the blade wouldn’t have had a hope of shearing through all the armour they wore. People who saw only one end of a knife were fools. First rule of thieving.

“Mama!” Bianca’s voice yelled from behind him, “Daddy!”

Nureyev couldn’t help it, he turned to her, feeling a relief like cold water on a burn. His treasure was tied cruelly tight to a chair just beside him, within arms reach and so much in him yearned to take her in his arms and promise her it had all been one bad dream. But the monster was yet to be defeated.

Engstrom was pinned under Juno in the wreckage of a drinks trolley, unsuccessfully defending blows to his face which now resembled a melon that had taken a hard trip down a very long flight of stairs. Panic filled Nureyev’s chest until he saw a small comms unit lying an arms length away from the old man’s grasping hand. Again, he found himself praying that he hadn’t been able to send out a call to the other guards, they needed every second they could snatch now.

Those seconds were stretching and warping as they tended to do when lives hung on gossamer strands. People seemed to move in slow motion, blows falling with a maniacally comedic exaggerated performance, light tripping and dancing on broken glass on the carpet. It seemed to take Nureyev an age to cross the room, focused on crunching that comms under his heel until it was beyond repair, before Engstrom could grasp it.

And it took him far too long to realise that wasn’t what Engstrom was intending at all.

The old man’s grasping fingers finally found the neck of a half empty bottle of some heady liquor the colour of ancient bark. Nureyev saw it at the peak of its arc, catching some fragments of blue from the sign just outside the window, moving so slowly but not slowly enough.

Bianca cried out as it connected with Juno’s head, almost as awful a sound as the crunch of glass and bone cracking in harmony. Juno rolled, head clutched in his hands, blood seeping from between his fingers, too gripped to even make a noise.

And Engstrom was sitting up.

Not a complete fool and running on sheer cruelty, he didn’t lurch for the comms or try to stand. Instead he pulled a blaster from his inside pocket, small but no less deadly for it. And he didn’t bother trying to decide which to aim at, the former detective or the thief. He simply pointed it directly at Bianca.

“Stop,” he croaked, voice even fainter than before, “Or I shoot.”

Nureyev froze, hand halfway to another knife. Juno looked up with swimming eyes, having enough of a hold on himself to stop too, swaying on his knees.

“The two of you?” Engstrom seemed to be on some kind of lurid, pain fuelled high, grinning like a haunted waxwork, even as his lips swelled and his gums ran red, “Now even this is beyond my wildest dreams. Guess the two of you stuck together after you left me for dead on that damned train, hmm? And how is that working out, seeing as one of you is missing an eye?”

Nureyev tried to keep his voice calm and still, as if the two of them were still sitting at that card table from years ago. And in some ways they were, though the stakes had ballooned far out of either of their reaches.

“What is it you want, Engstrom? A ransom? The Ruby Seven? Me? You can take me if you like, I’ll stay as long as you allow Juno to take Bianca far from here.”

Juno gave a pained noise that had nothing to do with his head. Tears dripped helplessly down Bianca’s cheeks but his girl, his brave, brave girl, stayed silent.

Nureyev tried to feel none of it and just calculated. Could he get to him before his finger squeezed the trigger? Could he throw the knife fast enough, strike his wrist or, better yet, in the neck so his shot went wide? Could he find the right words to reach this bitter, broken man and appease him?

Every calculation came to the same unthinkable end.

“And why shouldn’t I have it all, Duke Rose? After everything you two took from me, why shouldn’t I have it all back including your blood, your wife’s and your daughter’s? Is that not what I’m owed after what you did?” his voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking and his bloodshot eyes, one swollen almost shut, never looked away from Bianca, “I had thought you had more sense than this. To bring a child into our life, the life of a thief. Just more poison in the well…and look where it has ended…”

Nureyev felt bile in his throat, tearing around for more options, another way. Beg? Stall until by some miracle, Jet and Vespa could come crashing through the door? Plead? Pray? Offer him the world? Go back in time and never even set foot on the surface of Mars?

Everything around them slowed. But Juno Steel moved so, so fast.

He lurched forward and seized the barrel of the blaster between blood stained fingers. But he didn’t try and wrench it away, there was no time for that. He didn’t knock it or send it off course, what if it bounced and hit Bianca by chance?

Instead he made sure of where it would go. He turned it and pressed the barrel hard to his own skin.

The sound of the discharge was loud enough to tip the room, as if they were back on the Carte Blanche, twisted and wounded in space. Nureyev screamed, Bianca screamed, Juno screamed and neither sound could be teased out of the others.

Fortunately there was enough of Nureyev’s mind left to see what Juno needed him to do and to do it. He ran forward and brought his knife hilt down with all the strength he had left at the base of Engstrom’s skull. Fingers slackened, there was a hard, dull sound and he hit the carpet, out cold and maybe even beyond that. The blaster fell uselessly to the floor.

Nureyev cared for none of it. All that mattered was Juno, trembling in wordless agony, his shoulder smoking. He felt so light in Nureyev’s grip, light enough to come apart or simply fade away.

Nureyev felt the ghost of cold iron under his fists, felt years old bruises ache again from beating them against that door and against a future that didn’t have his detective in it.

“Just my shoulder...just hit my shoulder…” Juno managed to grit out from teeth clenched so hard they looked like to shatter, “It’s fine...it’s fine…”

The wound was a horror, a massive burn in a starburst shape but it wasn’t bleeding, just smoking and spitting. He would last, Nureyev told himself, he would last back to the Carte Blanche and Vespa would fix him, she would fix everything. But his arm hung so limp and useless, fingers not twitching and shaking like the rest of him was…

“Get Bianca,” Juno grunted, “Get Bianca, we need to go.”

Nureyev nodded, though his mind felt fractured, hairline cracks forming as he was pulled in different directions, different versions of himself pulling him apart. He stood, Juno’s good arm over his shoulders so he could take the weight of him, walking over to the chair where Bianca was tied.

“Saved me,” Bianca mumbled, looking up at the two of them with tears in her eyes, “Mamma, daddy…”

Nureyev knelt and sheared through her bindings easily, “I’m so sorry, my sweet girl, my treasure, I am so sorry…”

Bianca didn’t seem to be listening, her arms shooting up as soon as they were free, grabbing in the air. Towards both of them.

Nureyev lifted her and held her between him and Juno, taking one minute of calm in the midst of the storm they’d found themselves in. Juno’s arm tightened around his shoulder, his face buried in Bianca’s hair, leaning heavily against Nureyev. Bianca had one hand on his cheek, the other twisted tight in Nureyev’s earring. And Nureyev circled them both in his arms, like that would always be enough to keep them safe.

But it wouldn’t. Though he knew one way to ensure it.

A cold numbness descended on his mind, filing away all the adrenaline and hurt and fear with an eerie efficiency. He let Juno hold Bianca with his good arm, disentangling himself and settling the knife more easily into his palm, the hilt fitting into calluses worn onto his hands over years and years. He approached the still limp, still weakly breathing form of Brock Engstrom, everything in him trained on silencing that breathing for good.

“Nureyev,” Juno’s voice was weak and still brittle with pain, pain the pathetic excuse for a human at his feet had caused.

“Look away, dear,” he spoke words he was familiar with, though his tone was now flat and dead, “I’m going to stab Mr Engstrom to death now.”

“Nureyev, no.”

“I said look away, Juno,” Nureyev moved the knife an inch, his mind flicking idly through his decades old banks of knowledge on where to put the point to cause maximum pain.

“Nureyev, look.”

He did, turning slightly to see Juno watching him with an eye full of hurt. And their daughter, clinging to his coat, looking at him like she didn’t recognise him. Like she had no idea who he was. Like she was face to face with Engstrom again.

The knife slipped to the floor and he wouldn’t pick it back up again. The younger self bathed in the red light retreated, maybe for good this time. His shoulders slumped and he exhaled with a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

Peter Nureyev made a choice that was very unlike the man he used to be, very unlike the man he’d been brought up as. But it was the kind of choice the man he wanted to be would have made.

“See, Bee Bee?” Juno murmured, voice rough but a small smile quirking the edge of his mouth as Nureyev walked back towards them, “Your daddy’s one of the good guys.”

“Good guys,” Bianca repeated softly, reaching out to him again.

Nureyev took her, letting Juno hold his injured half and lean on him, “I suppose, my treasure.”

“C’mon, let’s get going and find me a nice place to faint,” Juno rasped, again showing off his ability to find some humour while mortally wounded that Nureyev had always admired and been baffled by in equal measures, “Bottom of the garbage chute sounds good right about now. Real classy.”

Nureyev managed a tired laugh in response, shouldering the weight of his small family as they made for the door.

Another first rule of thieving was to never assume an easy escape. So many thieves tripped up on their exit from the job, too high on the loot in their hands and the thrill of the light at the end of the tunnel. Just because you had the goods didn’t mean life would pull its punches.

But it seemed, for once, that life had no more blows left to deal. Their escape was smooth as silk, as easy as pickpocketing a drunk man with a blindfold on. Jet and Vespa had taken out every guard on Engstrom’s payroll, Buddy was waiting for them in the Ruby Seven, Rita was running at them to fly into a hug before they’d even parked up in the cargo hold of the Carte Blanche.

Maybe it was luck. Maybe that rule had grown rusty with time.

Or maybe this was the advantage of being the good guys for once.

“Right. Now do not move, I’m doing one set of stitches so if you open them back up, better get some glue.”

“How the hell am I supposed to not move?” Juno grumbled, wincing as Vespa finished his stitches, “For how long? Can I breathe?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Vespa snarled back, slamming down her needle.

Nureyev chuckled to himself from the opposite bed. It was rather nice to know he wasn’t the most irritating patient on the ship.

The wound on the side of his head, nearly identical to Nureyev’s own, was easy to fix. His shoulder was less so, the skin blackened and flesh raw and red. Vespa could clean it, she could swathe it in bandages so it was less difficult to look at but there was no getting around the fact that it would be a long, painful time in healing.

Every time he looked at the clean bandages that stiffened Juno’s collar, every time he saw him wince or saw his teeth sink into his lip to bite back a groan, Nureyev was plunged back into that single second when he’d thought he’d lost him. When he’d thought he’d paid an awful price for their daughter’s life.

It was strange and bitterly unfair, Nureyev reflected, how you often didn’t realise what someone meant to you until they weren’t there. And how certain thieves could still be such stubborn fools and need to be taught that over and over.

But fools could still learn. People could still change. Juno had taught him that.

Bianca slept soundly by him, her head pillowed in his lap, her cloth cat tucked under her arm. How that thing had survived, Nureyev had no idea.

Mercifully, his treasure was no worse for wear, just tired, dehydrated and hungry from her time in the drone. Apparently she’d dealt far more damage than she’d taken; Engstrom hadn’t been the only one to feel her teeth. Nureyv felt a fierce pride at that but he would remain on guard for bad dreams as long as he needed to. He was determined to be there when she woke up.

Juno and Vespa were still bickering up until the second when the door shut behind her. And then they both realised in the same moment that they were as alone as they’d been in some time, since their half conversation in the hallway after the auction. Suddenly everything they’d said and hadn’t said was crowding in the space between the two infirmary beds.

Juno was the first to break the sudden blanket of silence, venturing a weak, lopsided smile and a little laugh. After a moment, Nureyev found himself snorting, giggles pressing up against his chest, like a child in class well aware he shouldn’t be laughing but unable to stop all the same. Juno cackled along with him and it had the sensation of a tap being let go, something leaking away and what was left behind behind able to breathe again.

“God, what’s wrong with us?” Nureyev chortled, wiping at his eyes.

“Uh, some bastard took our kid and we had to go get her back?” Juno ventured, running a hand through his hair, pushing it into even more disarray.

“Ah yes, of course,” Nureyev touched her lightly on the temple, “But we did it. We saved the day.”

“We did,” Juno leaned back against the wall, unsuccessfully hiding how it pained him, “And now...see, that’s the strange thing, isn’t it? No one ever tells you what happens to the heroes after the credits roll or after the story ends. So what do we do now?”

Nureyev looked down at Bianca, humming softly as he curled a lock of her hair around his finger, “Whatever we please, I think. Though these two heros need a place to sleep, actually, seeing as our bunk got dragged out into space.”

“You could come sleep in my room?” Juno offered quickly, before a light blush touched his cheeks, “I mean...if you were okay with that? I know it might be...weird.”

Nureyev smiled, lifting his eyes to Juno’s, “No. That would be nice, Juno, thank you. Bianca will be pleased. She...she really loves you, you know.”

Juno’s gaze softened and he seemed to feel the pain a little less, “Well...I love her too. You made a great kid, Nureyev.”

Nureyev chuckled, looking down at her, sleeping so peacefully and deeply like she was so sure that the people around her would protect her, “You know, I was so scared of her when I first met her. And I had been for nine months, really, I was just terrified. Everything became so complicated all of a sudden, my own body felt unfamiliar when I was so used to being sure of myself, it was...an unpleasant feeling. I went back to Brahma but I was halfway there before I even realised I was doing it, like something else was pulling me in that direction. I told myself I would find her a nice family with kind people who could take care of her and give her a good life. Where she’d want for nothing. But it was still so hard. And...then I met her. I held her in my own hands and I realised how silly it was to be scared of something so small.”

“I wish I could have been there,” Juno rasped, voice small but sincere.

Nureyev nodded, “Me too. But it felt like you were, in a way. I told you I kept Bianca for selfish reasons, back on Mars. And I wasn’t lying. I kept her because...well, because she looked so much like you. I wanted to keep part of you in my life, Juno, because I loved you.”

Juno swallowed, watching him closely, “And now?”

Nureyev looked up, “And now...now you’re someone new. Someone brave and beautiful and still so infuriatingly stupid...but someone I would be proud to call my daughter’s mother. And, well, I think I’ve fallen in love with you all over again.”

Juno had tears in his eye as he smiled, “Fool. And I love you too.”

Nureyev grinned back, “Fool.”

Juno leaned forward, ignoring Nureyev’s groan of protest, the start of his plea for him to hold still, there would be time later. The kiss was sweet all the same, more unfamiliar than he had expected but he supposed they were both very different people, after all.

People who could make something good out of this.

Nineteen Years Later -

They had said their goodbyes, there had been tears her little brother Persephone had pretended weren’t there, there had been countless promises to stay safe and keep well and remember everything she’d been taught.

But still, Nureyev followed her to the shuttle.

Juno had looked up as he’d gone, as he’d mumbled something about seeing her off, and for a moment it had seemed like he would catch his husband’s shoulder and seat him firmly back down. But he didn’t. Maybe something inside him recognised that they both needed this.

“Do you have your laser cutter?” Nureyev asked as the two of them walked down the hallway of the Carte Blanche, “Your rope? Your TV remote?”

“Daddy,” Bianca laughed, turning on her heel, having to look up and meet his eyes even at twenty years old, “I have it all, okay? You double checked my pack ten times.”

Nureyev blushed, folding his arms, “Well...a thief can never be too prepared.”

“I know, daddy,” Bianca nudged him with an elbow, “You taught me that.”

Nureyev sighed, feeling how close that last, final goodbye was and wanting to do anything he could to delay it. “You know, I looked over the plans for the facility you’re targeting and a two man con would-”

“Daddy,” his daughter tilted her head, making those voluminous curls so like her mama’s bounce, and her hand came out to take his, squeezing gently, “It’s gonna be okay. I can do this. And you know it isn’t going to be forever, I’ll always come back and visit.”

“Often,” Nureyev corrected, feeling his throat tighten as he grasped that hand that had once been barely bigger than his finger, “You’re going to visit often.”

“Sure,” her smile was brilliant, cocky and confident and infections, “When I’m not busy being the most badass thief in the whole universe.”

“I’m sure,” he had to laugh. Though he really did believe it.

Her mama’s old coat was a little big on her, the sleeves coming a little past her knuckles, she’d inherited Juno’s small stature. In some ways she still looked like a little girl playing dress up, like this was all a game to find her daddy’s lost pair of glasses or lead her little brothers on an adventure as Andromeda the Chainmail Warrior.

But Nureyev knew the solar system wasn’t going to know what hit it when Bianca Nureyev swung in on her beam of starlight.

He just had to let her go. Far easier said than done.

“I’ll call you when I land, Daddy. Auntie Rita secured the line, right?”

“She did,” Nureyev knew that look in her golden brown eyes, the look he’d never been able to deny, “But I think you have forgotten one thing?”

Bianca frowned, “But I went over the checklist…”

Nureyev grinned, it was uncanny how similar that frown was. He brought his other hand out from behind his back. The cloth cat, Kitty as Juno insisted on calling it, was looking more than a little worse for wear these days, it’s fur faded and three of its eyes missing but still, Bianca gasped in delight when she saw it.

“Of course!” she giggled, taking it happily and tucking it into the front pocket of the coat that used to be her mama’s, “I thought Idun might have wanted to keep him…”

“No, I think he realised it would be much better off with his big sister,” Nureyev nodded.

“Well, tell him thanks. And tell him I love him. Both of them, tell them I love them lots and lots. And mama too! And Auntie Vespa and Auntie Buddy and Auntie Rita and Uncle Jet…”

Nureyev was laughing before she was halfway through, “I’ll tell them. But what about your old dad?”

Bianca’s expression softened and she pounced, hugging him so tight his ribs hurt, “I love you, Daddy. Thank you for this.”

Nureyev closed his eyes and pressed his face into her hair, “I love you too, my treasure. And thank you.”

When she pulled away, it was completely, her hand slipping out of his own. He let it, though it broke his heart.

“I’ll see you soon, Daddy,” Bianca smiled, giving him a wave before she disappeared into the shuttle that had been her eighteenth birthday present from her Uncle.

Nureyev waited a long time before he turned away from the window, looking out as he had on so many journeys with his treasure, off to exciting places and interesting people and scores that would make them legends. He had no doubt that the same thing awaited her, now she was alone.

Still he watched. He watched until her shuttle joined the rest of the stars and for a little longer after that.

He knew something amazing was waiting for her.

#the penumbra podcast #tpp #penumbra #junoverse #juniverse #juno steel #peter nureyev #jupeter #tpp juno #tpp nureyev #vespa ilkay #buddy aurinko #jet siquliak #rita

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nureyevv · 5 years

Text

This job was supposed to be easy. That’s why Buddy had put him out in the field in the first place, right? He wasn’t as experienced as Jet in these things, but they’d said it’d be good practice for when the real work began. They just needed some cushion creds-- it was the perfect opportunity to acclimate him to the life of crime.

It was the exact sort of thing Juno would have normally refused to take part in. He wouldn't steal just to steal, certainly not from innocent people, but it just so happened their mark today was a double decker asshole. The Diamond Dame Casino, just off Saturn, was notorious for attracting the worst kind of people. Juno had never been fond of casinos anyway. He couldn't understand how someone could make a living off of other people’s addictions and still sleep soundly at night. The Diamond Dame was a whole different brand of nasty, though. It was a known location among criminals to make dirty deals without risk of being caught, and at the head of it all was a man by the name of Dallas Olson. He’d inherited the business from his father and had been inadvertently running the place into the ground ever since.

See, the issue with raising a kid around some of the worst spenders this side of Venus was that, more often than not, they don’t shape up to be the best with money. Olson’s bank account said he was in debt to just about every person he’d ever met, and a man like Olson met a lot of dangerous people. Normally, a guy like that would be a thief’s jackpot-- no pun intended. The only issue was that, 90% of the time Olson didn’t even know when he would be making out checks. Most days he tried to put it off until someone pulled a knife on him and he was forced to find some creds then and there. No robber worth his name (or lack thereof) would take a job with that kind of uncertainty.

At least, that was what Nureyev-- or Glass-- had told Juno when he asked why Olson had yet to be robbed blind.

They would have passed Olson by, too, if it wasn’t for the tip Buddy got. It was incredibly vague; all it told them was that Olson was making a repayment today. They didn’t know who he was repaying, how much he owed, or when it would happen. Juno had almost deemed it a lost cause when Vespa had spoke up: “They’re just giving us money at this point, Bud.”

Apparently, when you had a spaceship with four master criminals, a hacker that couldn’t be beat, and an ex-detective, nothing was impossible.

So, they set the stage. Vespa, Rita, and Jet would stay on the ship. Jet would be at the wheel, waiting for one of two orders: get us the fuck out of here or open fire. Rita would handle the tech-- get them into The Diamond Dame’s security system. Vespa would be in charge of monitoring the live footage, watching out for possible threats and keeping the operation in line. Buddy and Pe-- Rex were out in the casino, stationed by each of the exits. When they got word of who it was they’d be robbing, they’d be the ones doing the dirty work.

That was where Juno came in. His role was simple enough: figure out who it was that was walking out with their paycheck.

At least, it sounded simple enough. Then he actually got to the casino, with all its flashing lights and chiming slot machines. Juno could hardly think straight as it was, and there were so many people, more than he’d ever imagined. Being observant, picking one oddity out of a crowd, that was supposed to be his whole thing. He had to at least be decent at it if he was able to make a living off it for all those years, and yet… he had a bad feeling about this.

He couldn’t focus, and if he couldn’t focus there was no way he’d be able to pull this off. Still, he couldn’t tell the rest of them why he was so distracted because his big distraction was one of them. Whatever name he called him, Peter Nureyev, Rex Glass, or tonight’s specialty, Orion Krum, he couldn’t push that man from his mind. They hadn’t talked since their first encounter in the martian desert, not really. Every time Juno tried to catch him alone, to explain or apologize, or something, Nureyev always slipped away in the way only he could. It was obvious he didn’t want anything to do with Juno.

Juno didn’t blame him for it either. He left, and Nureyev moved on, even if Juno couldn’t say the same for himself. Just watch the crowd, Steel.

From his spot at one of the slot machines he examined a few groups. There was one gaggle of wealthy looking women who were far too drunk to be there on official business. Juno crossed them off a mental suspect list. He caught sight of one suspicious looking man dressed in a particularly showy black gown and for a moment he thought he might be onto something.

A moment later another man arrived in a similar sneaking fashion and Juno was right back to square one. The only thing those two were guilty of was an affair. His eyes continued to trace the crowds until he caught sight of that face again.

Stars, that face.

Peter didn’t look like himself tonight. His usual warm colors had been replaced with a deep blue, suit, speckled with silver like the night sky. He wore none of his signature makeup or jewelry, but his expression said he didn’t need it when he had a face like that. He looked like the kind of man that, if Juno had spotted him back on Mars, he would have avoided at all costs: arrogant, rich, and cold.

And, simultaneously, he looked like an undercover thief Juno really wanted to take back to his room after all of this was through.

He shook the thought from his mind almost as soon as it entered. He needed to move. Maybe a new vantage point would show him something he couldn’t see from here, or at least block out someone he very much could--

As he stood up from his machine he only narrowly avoided walking straight into someone. Juno stumbled backwards a few steps and was just about to apologize when he saw the man in front of him. He recognized that blonde hair and pointed nose from Vespa’s lectures. Dallas Olson.

He was young, Juno might have even said handsome if he didn’t dim in comparison to another nearby face. “Apologies, madame,” he said in a thick accent Juno couldn’t quite place, “I didn't mean to startle you.”

Juno inhaled deeply and tried to remember who he was. Tonight, his name was Renee Bruner, a lady with too much free time and enough creds on hand to find plenty of ways to entertain himself. The dress Buddy had provided him made him look the part, long and tight fit, made of a brilliant magenta silk, but he still had to sound like Renee, too.

“No harm done,” he said with a breezy, somewhat bored smile. “You know how it is after you’ve had a few.”

Olson nodded in agreement and extended a hand out to him. Internally, Juno’s stomach dropped. He’d hoped this encounter would be short and sweet. “It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. My names Dallas Olson. I’m the owner of this establishment.”

Juno took his hand and shook it. “Renee. It’s quite the place you got here.”

“Aw, you’re too kind,” he replied with fake humility. “This may seem a bit odd, but I was wondering if you might do me a favor?”

Juno felt the hair on his arms prickle. “I suppose it depends on the request.”

Olson smiled gingerly. “But of course,” he answered with a slick kind of charm Juno only liked on one man. “My hope was that, if you agreed, you could introduce me to that gentleman behind you.”

Juno didn’t need to look to see who Olson was gesturing at. He looked anyway. Sure enough, Nureyev stood there, pretending to be properly entertained. The tenseness in his jaw said he knew he was being watched.

Juno didn’t know how Olson had managed to put together that they knew each other. They’d been so careful, coming in separate entrances and staying away from one another. Had they received bad intel? Was Olson on to them? Should they call a quits now--

“You… do know one another, yes?” asked Olson, and Juno was relieved to hear the doubt in his voice. So he didn’t know anything for sure. They could work with that. “I simply assumed with the way you have been looking at him that you were acquainted. I like to associate myself with all my new guests, and I had not seen your faces before…”

Dammit, he chided himself. He’d given himself away. If he’d been obvious enough that Olson had spotted him then he was sure Nureyev already knew too. Couldn’t he go two seconds without making a fool of himself?

Something about this situation definitely stunk. Olson wanted to talk to them for a reason, and Juno knew it wasn’t just good business practice. He was nervous, that much Juno could tell by the perspiration in their handshake, but he didn’t know why. At least, not yet.

It was time to change his approach. It’d be more suspicious to flat out deny knowing Peter now, and besides, trying to find their mark without a lead wasn’t going anywhere.

“No, no, you’re right. That’s my husband,” he said and braced himself.

“Steel,” he heard Vespa’s voice in his ear, “this is not the plan.”

Near by, Nureyev had heard the exact same conversation. He would just have to make it part of the plan.

Juno smiled and ignored her, keeping his attention on Olson. “I’ll bring you over now, just let me grab my bag.”

“Of course,” nodded Olson.

Juno moved to the side of the machine he’d been sitting at and grabbed a purple purse. Quiet enough Olson wouldn’t hear it, Juno muttered, “Just play along, alright?”

Gesturing at Olson to follow, Juno led him over to Nureyev as Vespa complained. If Peter was caught off guard he didn’t show it. Juno knew this was a role he could play. It was familiar for both of them, and a bit nostalgic. The only thing Juno had severely underestimated was how much it would hurt to pretend to be his again.

“Hello, love,” said Juno a bit awkwardly. He was learning he really hated undercover work. “I want to introduce you to the owner, Mr. Olson.”

Peter, unlike Juno, never let his disguise falter. It amazed Juno, but then again, maybe that was just what twenty years of practice looked like. His eyes were still ice cold, but he quickly adapted to the new information. He slid an arm around Juno’s waist and pulled him close, eyes still glued to Olson. It was protective but not loving. In other words, it was completely in character.

Juno hoped he didn’t notice how he shivered at his touch and seemed to flourish in the safety of Nureyev’s torso. It still felt so natural.

“Orion Krum. I hope my wife hasn’t caused too much trouble,” said Nureyev.

For a reason Juno couldn’t understand, Olson seemed to get more pale the longer he looked at them. “Not at all!” he said with unconvincing enthusiasm, “I had asked him to introduce us. I must say, though, he seems much happier now that he’s with you. His expression earlier was quite distressed.”

What was his game? If he didn’t know who they were, why was he so invested in them? Juno was trying to put the pieces together. They were missing something but he didn’t know what. Olson was scared, but of what? The answer tugged at the back of his mind and Juno tried to pull it free. He almost had it when Nureyev spoke and broke his concentration.

For the first time in the night, Peter, or rather Orion, was looking at him. There was something in his eyes, though, something that hadn’t been there earlier and made Juno’s heart do a somersault. There was something coy about that look that wasn’t like the character he was playing tonight. Peter Nureyev was peaking through. “Is that true? Were you feeling left out?” Then, noticing his error he added a cool: “then don’t wander off next time.”

That smugness… It felt like being teased by the Peter who loved him, all those months ago. Juno was caught off guard. “I, uh, Nur--”

Before he could say something that couldn’t be unsaid, Peter cut him off. Before Juno knew it Peter’s lips were on his and anything he was planning to say was forgotten. It was effective, that’s for sure. A one hit KO that was over almost as soon as it began.

Peter pulled away. It was barely a peck on the lips, just enough to fluster Juno while not being too uncalled for. Afterwards he turned his attention back to their new friend while Juno was left properly flustered. “Well then. We’ve met, my wife has been returned. Now we’ll be on our way, unless you had some further plan for my time.”

The prickly facade was back. Peter Nureyev had been shoved back inside, and while Juno had much preferred it to the emotionless creature he was imitating now, Olson looked… chipper. The color was back in his face and his smile was unsettling to say the least. It looked like they’d just fallen into whatever trap Olson had set, but Juno didn’t know how.

Something was about to go very wrong. He turned to Peter and tried to get a warning out before it was too late. “This isn’t right, we have to--”

Suddenly, Juno was ripped away and Peter’s comforting presence was gone. In its place was blaster and Olson’s iron grip.

Oh, thought Juno. This explains a lot.

One arm was up against his throat, keeping him from escaping. The barrel of the blaster was digging into his skull, and he wasn’t planning on risking his brains in a struggle. He was facing Nureyev, whose face Juno couldn’t read: shock, anger, fear? Or maybe nothing at all.

“Juno!” said Vespa’s stern voice in his head.

“Verona,” called Olson at someone Juno couldn’t quite see. “This kind man here will be providing you your payment.”

Nureyev raised an eyebrow in his direction. “And why would I do that?”

The answer was obvious enough, though, at least to Juno. Olson had finally dug himself into a hole he couldn’t climb back out of, but he wasn’t about to give in. He had plenty of unknowing customers with the kind of spending money he needed. Olson was smart enough to find an out and desperate enough to risk it all.

All he had to do was find an unsuspecting soul stupid enough to fall into his trap with something more than money to lose. Leverage. He’d almost done it, too, but their was one big problem. The most expensive thing he or Nureyev had on them was the clothes on their backs. No wonder Juno couldn’t figure out who had the check-- there wasn’t a check to begin with.

“Well, if you’d like to keep your wife’s brain in-tact, I would highly recommend giving Ms. Verona whatever she asks,” drawled Olson. Juno really hoped Peter was as concerned with his safety as Olson thought. Around them, heads turned. A few people looked nervous at the sight of the scene before them, but most just turned a blind eye. Olson let a lot of dirty business slip by unnoticed. It wasn’t difficult to return the favor.

“What makes you think I care about all that?” asked Nureyev with that signature nonchalance. He was playing some kind of angle. That didn’t make it sting any less.

Verona shot Olson a look that said he was supposed to have this under control. Panic flashed over his features but he was quick to compose himself. It seemed like the bullet in Juno’s head wouldn’t be the only shot fired if this deal fell through.

“Don’t play games. It's the money or his life,” growled Olson at Nureyev.

“Glass, Juno,” ordered Vespa, “get out of there!”

Juno thought that was easier said than done when there was a gun to your head. They were at a disadvantage-- even if they might have been able to take Olson and Verona in a fight, any sudden movements and he might end up with a hole in his head. They could try to stall until Buddy arrived, but Juno had no clue where she was or if she’d be able to do anything before Olson lost his patience. They had to act alone.

He looked to Nureyev, equal parts indignant and afraid. To Juno, it was still obvious he was in character. That’s right, he thought, we still have the element of surprise.

Juno didn’t know what his plan was, but he knew Nureyev had one. Nureyev always had a plan. So, without thinking it through, he played along.

“Orion,” he said, voice small, “I’m sorry I wandered off before I won’t do it again-- just, just get me out of here. Please. Just give them what they want.

Nureyev sighed. “Fine. What do you want.”

Verona spoke up now. “Ten thousands creds.”

“You’d have to be a fool to carry that kind of money on you!” Peter protested.

“Then give me the passcode to you fucking bank account, then,” Verona snapped back. She was getting irritated, though not entirely at Nureyev. It seemed she was under the impression Olson had a more reliable way of paying her back.

Peter caught his eyes. Did you see that, they seemed to ask, and of course Juno did. The private eye in him was already putting two and two together. She was the weak link. She was their escape route. “Hurry up, Krum,” said Olson through gritted teeth.

Peter chewed his lip. “I will, but there is a… slight complication.”

“What? What could possibly be the problem now?” demanded Verona.

“I’m a busy man-- I don’t have time to track all my expenses and banking, that’s what having a secretary is for.”

“And?”

Peter looked at her like it was obvious. “I don’t know my passcode.”

Juno nearly laughed. Their plan was to annoy Verona into snapping, and Peter was damn good at it. The mirth was, unfortunately, short lived.

Verona shook with rage. Juno thought it was entirely possible she might just combust then and there, and for a moment Juno was terrified they’d miscalculated. He couldn’t help but fear that, when she lashed out, she’d go straight for Nureyev’s throat.

The idea of it was enough to make him feel like he was going to be ill.

And then Verona spun on Olson. “Dammit, Olson, you said you had the money and you’re gonna get it for me. No more games.”

“I will, just wait, please, a few moments more,” sputtered Olson. “They have the creds we just have to--”

“We?” She cut in. “I don’t have to do anything, understand? You owe me. I said I was done playing. You either have what you owe me or you don’t. So what’s the answer?”

On cue, Juno heard the distinct click of a blaster’s safety being turned off, and he got the impression it wasn’t set to stun. A large man stood behind Olson in all black, eyes fixed on Verona. One word from her and his target would be dead.

This was their chance. In his fear, Olson’s grip loosened and his aim wavered. Juno took the moment to slip away, over to Nureyev. The two of them had been almost completely forgotten.

Nureyev’s hands were on his shoulders, sturdy and strong. Juno might have even thought protective if he didn’t know better. The taller man tried to lead him away from all of this so they could make their escape. They could disappear before anyone even noticed they were gone, but…

“Drop the gun, Olson,” instructed Verona. The blonde man whimpered, reserved to his fate, and tossed it at the floor where it clattered at their feet. At Juno’s feet.

No one was supposed to die here. Not even double decker assholes.

“Juno,” Nureyev said at his side, tugging at him now. “We need to go before people start shooting--”

Juno was moving before he could even think of the consequences. He dove for the blaster and shifted the dial to stun. Around him he heard voices, Verona yelling orders, Vespa shouting in his ear, Peter, the real Peter’s, fearful “Wait--.” He blocked it all out.

They were all close to him, he should have been able to hit them, but without the THEIA he was never one hundred percent sure. Three shots, just three shots.

Bang. The first beam went straight into the armed man’s chest. He crumpled to the floor.

Bang. The second shot was for Verona, and he only barely hit the mark. Just in time, too. By the way her hand had gone for her pocket she’d been looking to grab a blaster of her own. He made contact with her shoulder, and though she tried to stay conscious she followed her minion to ground.

Juno took a breath before firing for the third and last time. Olson gaped at him. “Wh--”

Bang. He didn't get to finish before Juno blasted him in the gut.

People were starting to panic now. Threats were one thing, but actually shooting to host was another. Before the chaos could close in, Nureyev grabbed his hand and they were running.

They busted through the casino doors, the cool night air hitting them like pool water on a summer day. “Your aim is getting quite good, detective.”

Juno glanced up at Peter and was met with a smile. A genuine one, at that. “Ah, well,” he answered, sheepishly. He hoped the darkness would hide his blush.

“Yea, he’s a fuckin’ natural,” growled Vespa over their earpiece. “It’d be awful nice if he was as skilled at following directions.

“Oh, don’t be honorary,” chided Nureyev. How was it that he could keep up this pace and not be at least a bit winded. “This job would have failed no matter what Juno did. No reason to place blame.”

“But Glass, I’d hardly call it a failure.” The voice speaking them now belonged to Buddy. Juno had almost forgotten she’d been in the casino all together.

“That so?” he asked between strained breaths. “Where did you go during all that? I nearly died!”

“Spare me the dramatics, Juno, you two had it completely under control. I figured if we weren’t going to get our creds from Olson I might as well tamper with the machines a bit. You wouldn’t believe what kind of money people put in those things.”

At his side, Nureyev’s grin widened at the thought of their loot. “Very clever, as always, Ms. Aurinko. I believe I see you now. You’ll have to show us what you picked up when we get there.”

Sure enough, they’d crested a hill and below, at the very bottom of the incline, was the ship. It was only then that Nureyev slowed his pace.

He met Juno’s eyes, lifted a hand to his ear, and shut off his communication device. Juno didn’t know why, exactly, but he repeated the motion anyway.

Nureyev seemed to blend into the night, his skin the only glowing contrast to the deep navy around them. He looked good, but then again, he always looked good.

There was a momentary silence between them, then: “You know, I’d like to believe you meant what you said back there.”

Juno searched his face for hints but found none. He had said a lot of things in the casino, most of them in the hopes of not getting killed. He didn’t have the slightest idea which one Peter was referencing now.

“I’m… not sure I follow.”

The dark haired man nodded, as if he’d expected that. “You said you wouldn’t wander off again, Juno. I hope that’s the truth this time. I hate to admit it, but each time I lose you I find it a bit more difficult to move on.”

The smile was still present on Peter’s face, but it was distant and sad. His gaze was somewhere else entirely. The ice from the evening’s alias had melted away and Juno was left with someone he recognized. Someone he loved.

“Yea… Yea I think I know how you feel,” answered Juno, “but, if it means anything, I think it is. True, I mean. At least, I want it to be.”

They were close now, and there were still a million unsaid things between them. Peter only said one of them, though.

“I suppose I’ll just have to trust you, then.”

And really, Juno couldn’t have imagined anything better than that.

#i hope you all know i died writing this #it aint original and it aint good but i still died ok #pls... i crave validation... pls love me #the penumbra podcast #tpp #juno steel #peter nureyev #jupeter #buddy aurinko #vespa ai #jet siquliak #rita tpp #my writing #gosh i hope people actually like this

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