#maybe i'll write that story one day

[whisperprime]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Hob isn’t certain what Dream has cooked up in that pretty little head of his when it comes to theories about what happened, but he can tell this response wasn’t even on his list.

“2189?”

He sounds carefully reserved. The fact that he doesn't outright disbelieve such a thing might be possible leaves the once mortal human with some serious questions.

But those are for a later time.

Right now, Hob nods. He had long since decided that if questioned about this, he would tell as much of the truth as he felt he could. He would explain the meeting with The Other Man, the seal, maybe even where and how he’d spent those 106 years.

He would not share that Dream had been the being who'd been originally summoned. Nor would he mention Dream’s death. There was no point in either. One hadn’t happened in this timeline. One hadn’t happened yet and dwelling on it would do no good. So.

Hob presses his hands into his thighs to still them. “I was sitting in The New Inn when a stranger approached me.” He smiles, some true amusement leaking in. “Seems to be the story of my life.”

Dream has narrowed his eyes at him, searching his face for any tells that this is all a fabrication. He won’t find one because Hob is all too serious. “In the year 2189?” When he finds no lie, that at the least the story teller believes this all to be true, Dream leans forward. “Are you proposing you've time traveled?”

The immortal human wishes he were more into science fiction, because this was already a bit over his head and trying to explain this to someone else feels like a task. He can still barely believe it all. And he lived it. “Sort of? He called it ‘destroying a timeline’?”

“He?”

Hob spreads his hands out, a bit helpless here. "Did I mention that story is filled with mysterious strangers who often fail to mention their names?"

His friend ignores the slight, raising his hand, but it seems more to stop himself from continuing this particular thread of inquiry. "I interrupted. Please begin again from this 'New Inn'."

Hearing the name of what had become such a dear place to them both said without shread warmth or recognition hurt like swallowing shards of glass. One felt like it had lodged in place in his chest and Hob has to resist the urge to rub at it.

"I initially told him I wanted to be alone, but then he knew my name - my real name," Hob still remembers the chill of hearing his name on the lips of someone other than his friend, especially at a time no one was supposed to know it. "He said it was important, so I gave him a chance. Better to know if I was going to have trouble and needed to leave, you know?"

Dream give a curt nod, showing he understands.

Hob swallows and wishes he'd remembered to bring a drink with him. "Then he started talking about how he shouldn't have existed, but did? And it was because of the premature end of the universe or something?" He pauses, then scoffs. His eyes drops to the table as he tries to remember as much of the encounter as he could. Wishes he'd understood what was said more. "I thought he was nuts, honestly, especially when he started talking about time travel, but. Well." He shrugs, again. "He had a compelling arguement."

Dream considers this. Hob is a little surprised he is even entertaining all of this. "What did he want you to change?"

Hob considers his options. "Have you heard of a Gabriel Richards?"

His friend gets a bit of a far away look to him and Hob wonders how well the whole knowing everyone thing actually works. It takes a moment or two, but Dream comes back with, "He is known for discovering gialium. His daughter discovered how to use it as a cleaner, more safe energy source to any previous resource."

"Huh." Hob has never heard of 'gialium' before, but a safer energy resource is always good. He isn't certain how this element not being discovered could possibly lead to the end of the universe, but then The Other Man had said it was a chain reaction sort of thing. He gestured to Dream to indicate that this was the answer and added, "He said Richards was supposed to do something but didn't. Now he has."

Dream raises an eyebrow, but doesn't look satisfied with this at all.

"Look, I don't know how to prove it any of this-" He breaks off, because he does know how to prove it. He's just unsure how this version of his friend will respond to such a Knowing if simply calling him lonely had been enough to send him running. When he hadn't had every bit of solitude he could ask for until it choked him before he came back.

"I've seen Death," Hob says, quotes. Can see Dream recognizing the reference and waiting to see where he's taking this.

Sees when he decides to bite. "Oh?"

Hob stares off just to the right of him, the memory still bright in his mind in the way a beloved photo that has been looked at time and again is remembered. He can still hear the laughter of his friends, even if he can't remember their faces. Still remembers this beautiful stranger, dressed all in black save his insanely large ruby, approaching their table. Remembers him glancing at someone, although by the time Hob had thought to look, they'd been gone.

"She was there with you the day we met." Hob catches the slight flicker of surprise out of the corner of his eye. Knows he's caught him this time. "It was her doing that granted me this long life. Her and your bet over if I would give up on this life if I had enough to drown in it." His eyes flicker back to meet Dream's eyes. Says, albeit not unkindly, "She was the one who bet I wouldn't."

Dream takes the hit. Accepts it and nods in acquiescence. He had indeed lost that bet. Several times over. Had only asked at the time of their parting those last few times because it had become part of their ritual.

Hob takes the victory and let's go of it along any pride he may have gained in it. "I met her a couple more times in that other timeline." He's unsure, but he thinks he might see some like alarm flash in those blue eyes, but it's gone before he can be sure. "Once at one of those horrid Ren Fests and again while she was mortal?" Hob pauses, wonders, "Is that something you all do? She made it sound like it was just a thing she does."

Dream leans back on the couch. He clearly finds that subject to be one he has difficulty with, going by how he sounds like he is choosing his words carefully. "Every one hundred years, for one day, she allows a part of her to become mortal and then meets it like any other mortal being. To better understand them when she comes to meet them."

That clocks with what she'd said. Figures she couldn't have just explained it like that. Or maybe she had and Hob and been a little too wigged out by spending time with a mortal Death of the Endless (or a part of her) to catch it. Either way.

Hob shifts, braces himself as if he were about to walk into a storm. "I know you're her little brother."

His friend-who-isn't-his-friend stares back at him out of eyes that were no longer blue, but rather as dark as the night sky, light only by galaxies no human has ever seen. "You would claim to known me, Hob Gadling?" Hob hears the words, you dare, from that night in 1889 as they lay between them, unspoken, but a heavy weight regardless. Did Hob dare to claim he knew any creature such as this one?

Yes. Hob dared. He'd dared that night and every day he'd held to his hope with near blind faith where perhaps he should not have.

"Aye, I know you." Hob meets that gaze, holds it, and names him, "Dream of the Endless."

Dream shudders, lightly, at the sound of his true name. All doubt has vanished from his expression, but what has it cost Hob to play this card?

Part 9

[sevensinswithin]

Okay so to everyone who was here for the original post, here’s basically how Alicent and Laenor get married in my lavender marriage au:

The entire thing starts because Alicent catches Laenor and Joffrey fucking in a secluded part of the castle a few weeks before Aemma dies. The boys only realize they’ve been caught because Alicent runs away from them like her ass is on fire. That girl had no idea gay male sex was an option in life and now needs to reevaluate everything in her life after catching them.

Laenor then spends the next few weeks trying to find a way to get her alone because guess what. Fucking in a secluded but also public area is not a good strategy if you want to keep your gay love affair a secret. So now Laenor is hoping to convince Alicent to stay quiet about what she saw because his dad seems to think he'll grow out of it (do not attack me, this literally happens in canon) and he doesn’t want anyone to know yet since it might impact who he’ll get married to eventually. Meanwhile Alicent is desperately trying to forget that she ever saw anything and doesn’t tell Otto about seeing Laenor and Joffrey because let's be real. This man said “childhood companions” like it was a slur in that one scene, so she knows that her father would do something with this information. Alicent does not want to be the reason Joffrey and Laenor are in trouble for their relationship. Nevermind that she’s suddenly having the realization that women liking women isn’t that far of a stretch after all.

Unfortunately, to everyone else in the world, it looks like Laenor is trying to court her and that Alicent is just trying to be very polite about his interest in her since she never wants to be alone in a room with him unless they’re around other people. Which is something that is totally normal and not weird at all. Why would you say otherwise?

Then Aemma dies and Otto sends her to see Viserys in his room and Alicent is now very stressed about something else in her life because she wants to do what her father says, but she also doesn’t want to betray Rhaenyra.

So during those six months after Aemma dies - which is apparently how much times passes between Aemma’s death and when Viserys decides to marry Alicent according to a HOTD article I read - Alicent, like in canon, is sent by her father to Viserys’ chambers and desperately hopes that her father’s ambitions won’t happen and that Viserys will simply see her as person that is supporting him in his grief.

(Life Hack: If you ever want to read an article and it says you have to make an account to read the rest of it, just go back to the google page you found it on, right click the link, and save the link as an HTML document. That lets you read the article without having to make an account. I found this out from someone on the internet and damn did it help when I wanted to access any account restricted article. Anyways, back to the plot.)

So to counteract that and make it so she’s less appealing to Viserys, Alicent always mentions Laenor and how fond of him she is during their talks. She also mentions how worried she is about Rhaenyra and her position as heir because there seems to be so many people that seem to be under the impression that they can replace her by having Viserys marry one of their daughters and convince him change his heir to one of the possible children he might have with those daughters.

Meanwhile, Laenor is absolutely losing his mind because all of a sudden Alicent is always around him and receptive to interacting with him, even though literally weeks before she avoided being around him like the plague. During this she also manages to wring out of him the fact that his parents (mainly Corlys, let's be real) are talking about potentially marrying Laena to Viserys and that he hates that idea as she’s way too young in his eyes for that. Eventually Alicent manages to find a way to be alone with Laenor and make him swear to secrecy about what she'll tell him because telling anyone might mean that his sister will actually have to marry Viserys. He does and she fills him in on what her father wants and what she’s attempting to do, and that she needs his cooperation to get him to at least appear like they’re courting.

So Alicent and Laenor put up the appearance that they’re at least attracted to each other to get people talking, which totally doesn’t ignite jealousy in Rhaenyra at the idea of Alicent being in love with her cousin. Cue Rhaenyra absolutely doing everything in her power to make Laenor appear like a loser to Alicent and the rest of the court. Alicent makes sure to get her to stop that shit real quick and tells Rhaenyra that she and Laenor are only pretending to be in love in order to avoid having to marry someone that would disrespect Laenor’s preference for men and disregard Alicent’s autonomy. Alicent also mentions that possibly marrying Laenor means that Alicent and Rhaenyra will be allowed to see each other very frequently as she will be Laenor’s wife and the Velaryons are often at court since they are related to the royal family. So now they have Rhaenyra on board.

Eventually the night before that one small council meeting where in canon Viserys announces that he’ll marry Alicent, Alicent “confesses” to Viserys that she’s in love with Laenor and that she wants to marry him, but that her father would never allow Alicent to marry Laenor because he and Lord Corlys dislike each other. She also lets it “slip” that Otto is very adamant that Viserys must have a male heir despite the fact that Rhaenyra has already been made heir, and that he sees Alicent as a potential bride for Viserys despite her unwillingness to marry her best friend’s father. She also sprinkles in the fact that Rhaenyra would be devastated at the idea of her father remarrying, especially if the bride in question were her best friend or even her little cousin (Yeah fuck you Corlys, you’re on thin ice for that and the grow out of it comment), and the fact that surely his wife would want him to defend his daughter’s claim to the Iron Throne from potential usurpers, which is something that would definitely happen if he had a son.

This causes Viserys to absolutely lose his shit, but Alicent calms him down and he sends her away from his chambers. However, not before Viserys hints that he would not dissolve a marriage between a highborn lady and lord if they eloped and consummated the marriage. So instead of heading straight to her rooms, Alicent instead books it to Laenor’s chambers. The two of them run off to a sept and convince a septon to marry them with a few commoners as their witnesses because they can’t take any nobles in fear of being stopped (and to also have the commoners spread the fact that Alicent and Laenor eloped). Then she and Laenor head off to Laenor’s chambers to consummate the marriage with the help of Joffrey, who they had stay in Laenor’s chambers so that no one would get him in trouble or notice that he was in the room with them during the consummation, and to have Alicent stay over so that people could catch them together in the morning and spread the news of her “ruined reputation”.

The next morning Laena bursts into Laenor’s chambers like she always does and “catches” them before running off to tell Rhaenys the way all little siblings do. So then Rhaenys and Corlys show up, as does Otto; he caught wind of the situation through a servant he paid off to spy on the Velaryons. Once there Otto starts shaming Alicent about her ruined reputation and Laenor retorts that she didn’t ruin anything as he married her before he bedded her. Otto then explodes at the pair when Laenor says that and Corlys rushes to defend his son against all the stuff Otto is saying and threatening him with.

Eventually their argument gets so loud that a servant rushes to get Viserys and a few guards since they’re afraid that the two lords will resort to violence. Trailing after them is Rhaenyra and the Small Council, as the meeting was supposed to start half an hour ago but certain people were missing and needed to be found. So now the entire Small Council, Rhaneyra, and Viserys are at the doorway of Laenor’s room while a furious Otto and Corlys trade insults. Meanwhile Rhaenys sees how afraid Alicent and Laenor are and rushes to the pair’s defense (because they need someone in their corner that isn’t shaming the other party), saying that perhaps the two wouldn’t have resorted to eloping if Otto and Corlys weren't always at odds. Seeing the King, Otto rushes to demand that he have the septon reverse the marriage, but Viserys reveals that he knows about Otto’s plan to make Alicent marry him and how he knows that she wished to marry Laenor instead. He then fires Otto from being Hand and sends him packing to Oldtown, approving of Laenor and Alicent’s marriage as a final insult to Otto. He also firmly informs the small council that he will not be getting remarried, that Rhaenyra will remain his heir, and that anyone who objects otherwise is speaking of treason.

So there you go, the outline for a story that I’m most likely going to write in non-linear bits. In this world Alicent is Lady of Driftmark, Laenor and Joffrey get to be happy, and Viserys prioritizes making sure that Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne is secure. Also somewhere down the line in this universe Rhaenyra and Alicent get their shit together and realize they’re in love with each other, and Rhaenyra gets to marry Harwin because Daemon never takes her to the brothel and so she gets to pick her husband and be the polyamorous bi queen we all love.

[levinbolts]

he needs a shirt that says "glasses: on. day: over."

[redgitanako]

🏹🦅

[chenziee]

One day... one day I will write a fic about how Zoro and Sanji fucked during/after the party in Cocoyashi, which ended with Sanji panicking and running away in the morning, leaving Zoro beyond confused which in turn lead to all their fighting and bickering

Zoro tried to talk to Sanji about it the very same day, and then again and again, but Sanji always runs away. Zoro's pissed about it, which only escalates their fighting.

Nami is the only one who knows what happened--Zoro told her during one of their drinking-buddies sessions and she was very supportive... even while calling them both idiots several times over. But she's always there for Zoro when he needs to vent or just have someone sitting next to him.

(Luffy knows something happened between them. He doesn't know exactly what but he does have a pretty decent guess. But he never askd for exact details because it's not his business and he also doesn't really care what exactly happened anyway. But he knows and he knows it's been bothering both Zoro and Sanji every single day since and that makes him unhappy but again, not his business.

"I don't know how you always just know these things," Law tells him one time after Luffy had explained to him what the weird tension between them was. "But I guess it very you. Also very you that you just let them be a couple of awkward twelve year olds without doing anything about it as their captain."

Luffy only laughs.

Law kisses him.

They don't talk about either Sanji or Zoro the rest of the night.)

It gets even more complicated after Thriller Bark but they still never talk about it and nothing really changes... although it feels like now, they're fighting just for the sake of fighting. There is something heavy and unspoken undeaneath it all, but neither of them wants to poke into it. It's too fragile, too scary and too painful to even think about.

Then Sabaody happens and they don't see each other for two years... and when they do... they find nothing really changed. It's awkward, Sanji still refuses to talk about anything that is not insults with Zoro and Zoro... Zoro had thought the two years would have helped to forget about that one night but no. He wishes they did.

And then...

Then Zou happens.

And now, now Zoro isn't sure what he regrets more.

Ever catching these feelings at all... or letting Sanji run away from him?

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Me, faced with a shiny new story idea: Save it for the Inklings Challenge, save it for the Inklings Challenge, please save it for the Inklings Challenge, I'm begging you please save it for the Inklings Challenge

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

the doctor isnt neurodivergent or autistic or adhd or nonbinary or genderqueer or asexual. what the doctor is, is Not From Here

[creaturefeaster]

Any tropical islands on theia??

Yes!! There's many across Theia, and maybe one day I'll have a full world map to elaborate on, but for now I can tell you about the ones localized around Stolla.

Also I hope you're ready for lore beyond their climates heehee.

There's a lot of islands littered around Stolla but the ones with tropical-like climates hang out on the south-eastern half of Stolla, which harbors the warmest and most humid climate out of the 5 vertices of the continent.

This cluster of eyots by the mouth of the Splitriver are the truest of tropical islands within Stolla. A couple are accessible via a local port, which mainly host small, low-denisty villages. Many of these eyots however are nautically inaccessible due to sheer cliff faces, or are too thick with growth & inhospitable to most humanoids of the region.

During cooler times of the year these islands are nearly always shrouded in a dense and humid fog kept in place by the cooler ocean waters below.

The sands surrounding the lower and more accessible islands are a glittery cyan color, a noteable feature almost exclusively seen along the coasts of the Irrandiant Gulf, so they're quite the spectacle for western & mid Stolla inhabitants!

Speaking of the Irradiant Gulf, all other tropical like islands sit in this gulf's surrounding waters. These very large islands are more sub-tropic, a little further away from the equator. They are still just as humid, and despite how I lazily colored in the vegetation on this map, much of the jungle within these islands actually glow and glitter vibrantly in a range of cool colors from sea-green to indigo.

The two largest islands are populated heavily along their coasts, but very few people live far inland. The largest of the islands exports many unique and unusual magical goods and ingredients to the rest of Stolla.

And finally these two small islands in the outer center of the gulf have a somewhat sub-tropical climate, but are notably less rainy and have colder winters. Any island more northern than these in this area begins to reach more temperate climates.

These islands are home to chiefdoms of Payans and Garbeators that reject trade and much contact with the rest of Stolla. Though nobody knows how they exist, these islands happen to be right on top of an ancient meteor impact site, the same one that created the gulf, and caused the great flooding of it's surrounding provinces. Also the one that brought all that glittery magic to the world in the first place ^_^.

The islands sport several sheer rock formations of varying heights laced with colorful crystals that influence the growth and behaviors of all life within their surrounding area. Many living things from these islands beyond Payans and Garbeators have more than two eyes, for reasons yet to be understood.

~☆~☆~☆~

As I mentioned previously, there are many more tropical and sub-tropical islands in the world of Theia, these are just the more relevant ones to the story-focused part of the world.

[calamitaswrath]

Random fantasy worldbuilding concept that I thought of and needed to write down:

A sea, frozen in time. You can walk across it without sinking in even the slightest bit. But you can also "dig" through it, to get to fishes that are also frozen in time. With enough patience and the right tools, you can outright mine in it, digging tunnels and shafts, all the way down to the bottom of the sea, where sunken ships await. Submarines that are still and motionless in the middle of the water, resting spots for any that explore the water tunnels. The excavated water forms outright unnatural water mountains at the surface. A tower built from water frozen in time. Ships, abandoned or not, that are like little towns or islands in the desolation of the surface. Actual islands are like oases, not because there are any resources on them that you can't find otherwise, but because they are a change of pace in the scenery, a place that is actually alive. Large waves near the coast have had tunnels dug through them, while smaller waves have been flattened out to make roads.

[naelmasn]

⛎️⛓️ The World Sundered

A post-apocalyptic AU in which both Themis and Erichthonios survive and live in a destroyed star with large and dangerous creatures roaming about. They're taking a break from hiding...

[absenthearted]

HISTORICAL WESTERN || HACKEARNEY + ALTERNATE UNIVERSES [2/?]

PERSONAL.—Gentleman, aged 56, Sheriff and owner of valuable mining property, seeking the acquaintance of a single or widow lady of any means, and with good character and disposition. Object matrimony if suited. Contact C. Hackett, North Kill, NY.

[...]

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.—Apprenticeship available for a hardworking, dedicated Physician in mining town upstate. Lodging and transportation provided. Ability to serve both man and beast preferred. Contact C. Hackett, North Kill, NY.

Between dealing with roving outlaws, petty small-town disputes, and feral wild wolves, Sheriff Travis Hackett doesn’t have time for marriage and a wife. His meddling brother decides to help him out—whether he wants it or not.

Laura Kearney never thought she would become a mail-order bride, but she’s willing to do almost anything to pursue her dream of becoming an animal doctor.

In which a secret matchmaking plan goes terribly wrong, Laura gets rejected by her supposed fiancé on the same day that she meets him, and Travis makes a terrible first impression. [Inspired by @genevievedarcygranger’s prompt from the Hackearney Fic Exchange.]

[tinyq]

The ideal afternoon.

[mintmoth]

Hey… do you have any drawings of chrys laying around? They are my fav yuu oc ive seen

DBDISSBSK AW WHAT THATS SO SWEET?? 😭😭

Omg I actually have an Older Chrys I drew to match the octa trio lmao

Her eel tattoo is just two eels, while she has a smaller tattoo on her arm that's a purple sheened wave wrapping around a small golden shell aka Azul/Ursala imagery

I have like a whole stupid timeline for her but she does end up choosing her fourth year studies locations on Azul's recommendation so she can help out on the business side of things since she ends up needing a place to go after NRC and oops she's bonded to the idiots, so she just goes where they go and does her best to help Azul with his business nonsense lmao

Though they're also crime idiots (allegedly) so she ends up getting her own loyalty tats, also why not match them they're cool tattoos lmao

ALSO- I'm working on designs for around this time jump for Jamil, Kalim, and Ambrosia since I have my own mental timeline for the three of them too lmao

[tracle0]

Prophet WIP

Hundreds of years after the six gods' potential death, a single prophet is born. When his twin brother is possessed by a holy sickness, a race begins to preserve or destroy the last relics of dead divinity, and refuse or give forgiveness for errors of the past.

Starring!

Theodore Novak (Theo): the prophet. Desperately does not want to be a prophet. A nervous wreck most of the time, becomes a little strange when he grows comfortable around you. Has not seen his brother for almost a year, and eager to apologise for previous cruelties.

Cain Kavon: The brother, and vessel to the Blight. Controlled by his anger, and by having his mind changed around him. Schizophrenic, and suffered from his brother unknowingly encouraging a delusion to dangerous levels in the past. Prideful and headstrong and terrified thrilled to now belong to the Blight.

The Blight: The divine sickness. Sourced from human anger and frustration at the gods. Recently escaped the trap the final god put it in, weakened and needing something to reside in as it gains power again. Exploits others anger and frustration to get what it wants.

Raya Glick: The student. Provided a place for Theo to go to when he was asked to leave home, and uses him as an assistant to her history PhD on exactly what happened to the gods. From an orthodox temple background. Drives around the country in a van, investigating the gods current forms. Straightforward and non-nonsense.

Featuring the complexities of brotherhood, the thin line between “prophet” and “schizophrenic”, a divine and glorious anger and a desperate attempt to reach someone who may already be lost to you.

Tagged under #prophet wip. Comic sans PowerPoint.

[icewindandboringhorror]

finally finished all of one character's entire quests/optional dialogue/questions/etc.... 100,000 words... .... aughhh

[amethyyst]

Bad weather

Villain sat in the corner of the small shop, playing a staring contest against the grey wall. They could hear the civilians shiver, scared that they might take them hostage or whatever.

But no, that was not why villain was here. They weren't supposed to be here in the first place, but some other dumb villain just had to cause a snowstorm with their powers, trapping them and a couple of people in whatever building they managed to hide in.

At first, the civilians seemed to be close to having panic attacks, but that had been the last thing villain had wanted to deal with, so they had just put their arms up and say down in the back corner where everyone could see them.

They hated the way they stared, but they would hate to be the cause of a heart attack even more.

Nobody had talked in the beginning. What felt like half an hour later, some of the people had begun to whisper with each other.

"Do you have anything to eat? We were just on our way home to have lunch and then this happened."

"Of course, but I'm afraid I won't be able to give it to you for free." Some rustling. Careful steps towards one of the shelf's.

"No, I wouldn't ask for anything for free." The woman's voice was warm, hat still shaky. "At least something for my daughter. I don't have much of an appetite myself right now."

The careful steps of the employee slowed even more as they neared the corner villain was sitting in. Right next to the shelf with some fruit.

The tip-toeing made villain just as nervous as the civilians were. They could practically hear them hold their breaths.

"You can just take whatever, you know. I don't bite." Villain buried their head in their arms. "Just pretend I'm not here."

The employee took whatever they wanted to take from the shelf, returning to the other side of the shop as fast as possible without making much noise.

As time went on, the civilians started to chat as if villain wasn't there. Maybe they had forgotten about them entirely. Who knew.

Not that villain cared.

Well they did, but... well, it didn't matter. They had told them to ignore them, so why did they feel like they wanted to cry?

They shook their head, their back burning from staying in a hunched over position for too long.

They were tired. They wanted to go home.