#maybe ill read it again when im older and things are more settled. if that ever fucking happens

[n04s]

sometimes when I think of starting a new hobby I think about in Octopus Pie when Hanna was getting into running and she bought shoes running clothes etc etc and she was like. that's it? it's all about spending money and any solution to misery is commodified? and I think about that one a lot. especially because I really want to get into running but I don't want to buy running shoes but. i might have to

[sneakydraws]

Well, here it is - a lengthy explanation of each card in my mdzs major arcana deck and what I meant to convey/what i would have changed in retrospect/what alternatives i considered! It’s a bit messy and my typing style is lazy but hopefully it will be an interesting read to some of you :)

And so you don’t say I didn’t warn you - jiang cheng’s section (11 justice) is absurdly long lmao

0 the fool  I elaborated on this in the post itself but yeah basically jin ling is kind of representative of all the damage and trauma caused by the past, and there’s a kind of danger there of him falling victim to the same vices as the older characters and repeating the same mistakes and perpetuating the cycle of war and misery (the cycle that we already see with how the jin sect became the new wen sect, and later with how jgy became the new wwx) and he has a lot of room to grow! He grows so much over the course of the novel, comes to realise the complexities of the past and gets a harsh life lesson in how nothing is as black and white as it seems. But ill save talking about his progress for the end, for now whats important is that he has room to grow and also a dog. I don’t really have a justification for the sun, i mostly just thought it looked sick? It made its way to the next card as well, where it makes a bit more sense, but then i realised it was a dumb motif to include 1 the magician I still very much like wwx for the role, and that illustration would have probably had him raising a corpse on his left and pointing threateningly to the sun on his right. I considered including the table as well, with some mdzs relevant items replacing the card suits. Anyway, like i said wwx got a few cards to himself already so i went with the alternative wq design, since i think she fits the card as well. Both she and wwx are highly skilled people, extremely driven once they set their mind to something. The card to me symbolises the creative mind as well as a general drive for action, which fits them both - wwx was famously a prolific inventor, and wq came up with a previously unheard of surgery, after all. This card strays pretty far from the rider-waite deck design, largely because i was still figuring out how i wanted to approach this series, but you can still see the influence. 2 the high priestess I was actually going to skip this card at first because I couldn’t think of a fitting character, but once i considered a qings character post death, it all fit pretty well. She was already a highly intuitive person in life, and in sharing her memories with wwx she is, in a way, relaying a kind of secret knowledge. Anyway she’s one of my fav characters so im glad i got a chance to include her. The coffins could be interpreted to be xxc and sl or xxc and xy 3 the empress Theres other mother figures in mdzs who got to be mothers for a longer time, but jyl definitely embodies the positive aspects of this card the best. She’s nurturing, kind, emotionally supportive, she already mothered wwx and jc quite a bit when she was young. Plus i liked that the rw card had both water and flowers, making an easy lotus connection. In retrospect the stars look kind of out of place and i should have replaced them with something more relevant... Also, i should have had her hold a lotus seed pod instead of a flower, haha 4 the emperor Like i said I considered jc for the role but hoching bullied me into admitting that nmj was better… they’re both more of an inverted emperor than an upright one but then again theres hardly any character in mdzs who would fit upright emperor so. Jgs was also considered but he’s even uglier than nmj so i couldn’t bear to draw him 5 the hierophant It was pointed out to me that lqr would have fit this card better and the truth if that statement haunts me to this day. Unfortunately I have no space in my brain for lqr so lxc got the role instead. My main reason was his role during the wen destruction of gusu lan, when he ran away with the contents of the library - this is why there’s bookshelves behind him. The keys, take, from the rider-waite deck, are meant to represent the gusu pendants that allow you to enter 6 the lovers Im sure many people would have chosen wangxian here but I uhh don’t really care abt wangxian personally? And also their love story is so convoluted that jyl and jzx seem idyllic by comparison lol. Also i didnt really have an idea for who to put in the angel’s place for wangxian… mme jin certainly did not get these two together in the end but undeniably she and mme yu did initially give them a chance to fall for each other so. Thats something i guess. Anyway the trees became their sects’ flowers and the mountain became the burial grounds - an omen of their tragic fate, basically 7 the chariot There might have been other characters who fit this card better but i couldn’t really think of another card for lwj and i thought it would be weird to not include him… anyway i don’t really care for current timeline lwj BUT i do like that he was clearly influenced by wwx to walk his own path in life based on his moral convictions rather than follow his sect’s rules blindly. The chariot is to me a card of self control, self determination and focused action, so it seemed fitting. The composition felt kind of empty without the actual chariot so i padded it out with the guqin, the cloud recess in the bg (it doesn’t look great but i tried to replicate the drama design….) and the bunnies which conveniently fit the colour scheme of the sphinxes in the rider-waite design 8 strength Like i said before, my interpretation of this card is more… morally ambiguous than the quote unquote official meaning, so i thought about manipulative or duplicitous characters more than kind characters whose strength is expressed through gentleness (though i did consider jyl briefly for the latter interpretation). As such, i considered both jgy and nhs, but ended up going with jgy largely because i couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put the nie sect’s beast as the lion. 9 the hermit My thoughts immediately went to bssr lol. It may be an overly literal interpretation but whatever, i like it just fine. And i like that i managed to echo the rider-waite silhouette in the mountain and the tree (and even in bssr herself) 10 wheel of fortune God i love the parallels between these 2… this card to me is about how you cant trust your current situation, good or bad, to last forever, and these 2 embody that perfectly imo. Wwx went from son of a well off servant and a powerful cultivator, to street rat orphan, to adopted son of sect leader jiang, to double orphan, to MIA, to terrifying but admired warrior, to terrifying and despised traitor, to dead, to, at the very end, suddenly respected and trusted again. The dishonesty and cheapness of whatever the public’s current opinion of him is is portrayed beautifully as far as im concerned. And jgy of course claws his way up to power only to instantaneously become public enemy number one, to the point that he’s probably blamed for stuff there’s no reason to believe he had a hand in. Wei wuxian’s silent astonishment at how quickly the cultivation world turns against jgy and towards him again is a delicious moment of thematic resonance.  11 justice I settled on this card for jc after he got booted from the emperor seat but i do think it fits, in a somewhat convoluted way. I turned both the sword and the scales into visual representations of the golden core transfer (can you tell im obsessed with it). According to biddy tarot, the justice card is partly about searching for the truth, and the scene where jc finds out about the transfer is of course a big deal. I was also very influenced by the reversed meaning again - which is about being reluctant or unwilling to face or accept the consequences of your actions. I feel on an intuitive level that this fits jc but I’m not sure how well i can explain it - it’s something about how he’s a little too comfortable scapegoating wwx for things that were also, if much less so, influenced by his actions, and also something about the way he keeps wwx at an arm’s length emotionally but still leans on him and accepts his support when he really needs it, and somewhat hypocritically expects wwx to put the needs of him and the jiang sect before the needs of others. And also something about the core exchange is the consequence and proof of wwx’s deep - terrifyingly deep, even - love and care for him, which is something jc doesn’t seem to let himself acknowledge. Maybe even something about how you could argue that the way all of the jiangs acted around wwx - jfm’s favouritism that left him with the feeling of a debt he needs to repay, mme yus insistence that he be a servant more than a brother to jc, prepared to give his life for jc, and jc’s own unwillingness - or inability, he was a child after all - to clearly acknowledge wwx as an equal to himself, enabling wwx’s self sacrificial and protective tendencies - that all of this was what caused wwx’s complete and unquestioning willingness to do whatever it took to protect jc, and therefore paved the way to the golden core transfer. And i don’t mean this to be scapegoating jc - especially considering how young he was when this all went down, it wouldn’t be fair to expect this level of emotional perceptiveness, awareness and maturity of him - but i think adult jc has to grapple with the fact that the chain of cause and effect was not as simple as wwx fucking everyone’s lives up to be a martyr, and that both jc and his parents had a role in that story as well. I don’t even necessarily think this is something that jc only realised in the current timeline - i think it’s something he felt on some level this whole time, and it probably led to a lot of feelings of guilt - but the suibian reveal definitely puts it in sharp focus, and i think he’s now better equipped to handle this introspection than he was as a recently orphaned, traumatised teenager, lol. ANYWAY the window with the fabric is both a nod to the rider-waite design and a reference to the destruction of lanling - i actually did some basic ass research for this, and it seems that in ancient china fabric would indeed be hanged in a window if the normally used paper was damaged. The design of the window, as well as the very idea to use it to imply the reconstruction of lanling, was taken from this great piece of jc angst by my pal moroll1! Oh yeah also the covered window kind of works as a denial of forgiveness for jc because it’s like a halo but covered up... Also I completely forgot to put a blindfold over his eyes which would be perfectttt because blind justice and the core exchange......... ok moving on 12 the hanged man I always have issues with this card because i cant find a satisfactory summary of what it’s really about. Best i can tell it symbolises a need to hit pause, surrender or let go of something… ive also seen it tied to sacrifice? So mo xuanyu doesn’t fit perfectly, but sacrifice is definitely there in a surface level reading kind of way, and the idea that you have to surrender or let go in order to achieve your goal does fit the whole deal of getting revenge but giving up your life in exchange and not being there to see it 13 death This is probably one of my favourite cards, definitely not because I have huge issues with change or anything…. I see this card as signalling the necessity of change or putting an end to something / leaving something in the past in order to start anew? At first i considered putting past wwx, mxy and current wwx here as a kind of transformation and one cycle flowing into the next... But firstly, I’d already used mxy in the very previous card, so putting him in again would feel like overkill, and secondly, the longer I thought about it the less convinced I was that this would even fit with the card’s meaning? Because coming back from the dead doesn’t like... trigger an internal transformation within wwx or anything? Anyway, fun fact: the design I ended up going with was actually originally intended for judgement! I thought I was being very clever with the whole “figure plays an instrument and the dead rise” parallel, but apparently I’d just completely forgotten that the judgement card had a completely different composition... Truly I was boo boo the fool... But yeah anyway at the end of the day I figured the design would kind of work for death as well, with Wen Ning and the theme of transformation, (since in his case coming back as a fierce corpse does actually mark a certain transformation in behaviour) and Wei Wuxian’s protection of the Wen people essentially signifying an attempt to break the cycle of oppression if that makes any sense? Like, wwx is trying to revolutionise the way the world works a bit, if you catch my drift 14 temperance  The centrist card! Again this is probably going off track from the “official” interpretation, but to me this card has a certain “don’t commit fully; do everything in moderation; don’t take either side” flavour to it that i personally find infuriating irl and that i very much assign to lxc. It’s entirely possible that I’m misinterpreting his character because i didn’t really pay him (and the 3zun in general) much mind while reading, but hell, I’m allowed to pick favourites and choose who i want to interpret deeply vs shallowly. Again, i wish id chosen lqr for hierophant because its so annoying for a character i don’t care about to get two cards…. But oh well 15 the devil My alternative idea for this was jgy as the devil and lxc plus nmj as the figures, but since all three had been featured already (multiple times, even!) i figured I’d go with xy instead, especially since he’s among my faves lol. I think the devil signifies something along the lines of unhealthy attachment, obsession or addiction, which isn’t 100% accurate in the case of xxc and a-qing, but if i stretch it a bit to cover toxic relationships in general, and especially manipulation or negative influence, i don’t think it’s half bad. My main struggle here was to choose who amongst the xxc/sl/aq trio to choose for the human figures. 16 the tower Arguably jin zixuans death and the following massacre of nightless city were the final and most direct reason for the siege of burial mounds, and the tiger seal is good shorthand for wwx’s loss of control over his powers, which led to the deaths of jzx and jyl. When reimagining major arcana i like to feature some kind of building in this card (spoilers for a possible future project but in my rose of versailles major arcana set the tower is bastille) and even if it’s not a tower, the image of wwx looming over the gathered crowd from atop a rooftop is so good i couldn’t resist 17 the star Struggled with this one - considered both jin ling and lsz for it, as symbolising a hope for the future, but that was kind of covered by the world so it wouldn’t make sense to include here as well... As usual when I struggle with interpreting a card (as opposed to understanding it but struggling with matching a character to it, like with death or moon) I went to biddy tarot and read all the details about its meaning. What i got was that this card signifies an incoming period of introspection and inner peace following a time of turmoil, as well as a general moving on into a new, better phase of one’s life or finding new meaning and purpose. The figure also suggests someone vulnerable, but possessing a keen sense of intuition as well as a good degree of practicality and common sense. Given all those, I settled for mianmian because IM LOVE HER..... I also kind of see her as a prelude to the “just one person is enough” theme present in tgcf!! And i think her decision to abandon her sect because she saw the toxicity and corruption in it is a very inspiring action - even if it didn’t make a large visible impact, i think the appearance of her and her idyllic family at the very end of the novel - paralleling and mirroring wangxian - implies that at the end of the day, it was a meaningful one 18 the moon Another card i ALWAYS fuxking struggle with - this time less because i can’t grasp its meaning and more because I can never find a character that fits it well. I usually get fixated on the “dreams and subconscious” part, but if i lean more on the “disguise, deceit, anxiety and fear” part, i eventually figured the whole yi city arc wouldn’t be a bad fit. I say the entire arc because it really does encompass all those themes if you include both the past and the present - xue yang’s disguise, his tricks with the villagers, a-qing’s lies and even xxc’s reluctance to talk about his past as well as xue yang pretending to be xxc all fit the disguise and deceit angle, and the general mystery and creepiness of the current timeline yi city work well with the anxiety and fear - the mist, the slow uncovering of the past, even a-qing being revealed to be an ally after scaring the shit out of the protags. I definitely struggled with including all the elements and characters, and even moreso with making them vaguely fit the rider-waite composition, but i think it ended up okay ish. OH and i completely forgot to draw mist swirling around them :( 19 the sun I was considering mianmian’s family for this one, but since I used her for star, I ended up with wwx and his parents instead. Once again I’m reinterpreting the card a bit - normally I think it symbolises incoming times of pure happiness and abundance, as well as a connection with the inner child, but I gave it more of a nostalgic or sentimental twist - wwx looking back at the brief glimpse of his happy childhood. 20 judgement another card that i struggle to interpret a bit... Here i actually used the tgcf tarot zine as a reference! In it judgement is summarised as “rebirth, following duty, absolution” SO i figured that nhs, mxy and wwx all together would fit pretty neatly... wwx achieving (public) absolution through clearing his own name after being reborn, and nhs sort of calling on wwx to expose jgy’s crimes... It’s a bit messy but not bad I think! 21 the world This ties very closely to my read on mdzs as a story - which is that it’s, at the end of the day, largely about cycles, and about how hard it is to break them, but how we gotta keep trying and have hope anyway. Or maybe more precisely, that the people directly involved with and influenced by the trauma of the past might not be able to get over said trauma and that the hope for healing from it will be shouldered by the new generation. Or something like that… Basically what i mean is that jc and wwx and lwj and lxc and nhs and jgy and all these people who were in the thick of the sunshot campaign and the siege are so profoundly affected by it that it genuinely feels by the end of the story like there is little hope for them to ever truly overcome that trauma and build a better future without repeating the same old mistakes - but there is a glimmer of hope in the new generation, specifically in jl and lsz. And it’s a bit paradoxical, because they have also been directly impacted by the past tragedies - lsz having his entire clan wiped out after wwx failed to protect them, jl losing both his parents to wwx’s mistakes - but despite that loss, and despite coming from arguably the two opposing sides of the past conflicts, they are both, in the end, capable of moving past that tragedy, of recognising the complicated nature of those conflicts (jl’s moment of clarity at the end is both heartbreaking and hopeful) and forging friendships between clans in the process. I honestly think that the extra where jl is struggling to assert his authority as sect leader, to treat his subjects well and to cooperate with other sects in a truly amicable way is the single hopeful ending note for the larger themes of the novel - it allows us to imagine that maybe these kids can learn from the mistakes of their elders rather than getting sucked in by resentment at those mistakes, and actually build a brighter future for the cultivation world. And sidenote, this is also why i have a soft spot for jin ling and lan sizhui as a ship... speaking of which their poses were directly referenced from the lovers card ehehe

Looking back, I’d like to add some symbol of jin ling’s trauma so that it mirrors baby wen yuan in the tree stump... maybe his father’s sword? 

[scatterpatter]

An Alicorn(get it? get it???) fic because im self indulgent

I just wanted to write about Corren and @jazznet‘s Alistair(GET IT? ALISTAIR AND CORREN- ALI COR-N? pls laugh im beg) bonding and stuff, so like... I did. I lov them a lot so have nearly 4k words of them snarking at each other

Word Count: 3,853

Content warnings: swearing, off-screen character with unnamed severe illness, implied toxic familial situation, mentions of death

“Ah, well, can’t say this is the deadliest situation I’ve been in!”

“Speak for yourself, dipshit!” Corren yelled, tugging Alistair’s wrist harder as they weaved through the trees of the forest, nearly tripping over thick tree roots and dense shrubbery “Is it still tailing us?!”

Alistair glanced behind them for only a moment, and lo and behold, there was a massive dragon flying just above the treetops, eyes fixed on the two F.U.C.K.s “… You got any teleporting spells left?”

“You think I wouldn’t have cast one if I did?!” The Marelienth yelled, panic spiked way too much to bother acting nice. If he had any 4th-level spell slots left, he could easily teleport the both of them a good 800 feet away from the situation, but of course he wasted them all earlier in the fight.

“Well, at least we know everyone else is safe!” Alistair chirped, sarcasm in his tone to combat the adrenaline as they both ran for their lives.

“Yeah, good for them, let’s maybe not get killed ourselves before we celebrate!” He tugged on the human’s wrist to get them going once more. Maybe if he could get under enough tree cover, they could get out of sight and the dragon won’t notice them… Corren cast a brief look over his shoulder-

Oh.

Oh no.

The dragon was still right behind them, only rather than just chasing them down, they began to suck in the energy around them, a bright fireball forming in its mouth as it prepared a breath attack.

Oh, fuck.

His gaze quickly fell to Alistair, sizing up his wounds. Normally their leader had enough health to survive some of the heavier hits, but he was already looking roughed up from before. Oh no… he might not instantly get killed if hit, but he’ll definitely get knocked out, and leaving him half-dead with a dragon probably won’t end well.

Corren, though, knew he himself was going to die instantly if hit. And death doesn’t sound very good right now. He’ll take a hard pass. But without the ability to teleport…

Wait. He didn’t waste all of his lower-level magic yet. Maybe he could…

Oh, fuck it.

With a quick wave of his hand, he summoned a rope that seemed to come down from a blank space in the sky, almost as if leading up into nothing, and ending about 10 feet above them. He gave it a quick test tug before handing it to Alistair. “Climb.”

“What is-”

“NO TIME, JUST CLIMB.” He barked, nearly shoving the human to climb the rope, satisfied once he did so and quickly following suit, the heat of flames brushing by his ankles as they both disappeared from the area.

… Corren allowed himself to breathe as he climbed up and fully into the small wooden structure he made, quickly shutting the small trap door he came in through. “That… was way too close for comfort.”

“Uh.” Alistair still seemed panicked, though Corren took ease knowing he was safe in this space. “What-?!”

“Chillax, it’s a spell I know.” He waved a dismissive hand, taking a seat against the nearest wall to rest. With the adrenaline finally passing, all he felt was exhaustion overtaking. “It’s called ‘rope trick’. We can camp out here for a while, and hopefully when we leave again, the dragon won’t be there anymore.”

“I… oh.” Alistair blinked, his own panic seeming to now die down in their temporary safety. Alistair was a pretty competent spellcaster, so Corren knew he wouldn’t have to explain too much detail for his leader to get the gist of what he was doing.

The human looked around, fully absorbing their surroundings now that he had the time to do so. They were in a small wooden room, the “trap door” being the only exit. Two windows lined the walls, looking out into an expanse of forest. Though, unlike the warm, deciduous forest they were fleeing in moments ago, this forest seemed to be made of pine and mountainous trees, air much cooler and less humid than where they were before. Small bookshelves and chairs made most of the furniture in the room, little drawings and maps tacked to the walls, it was almost like… “Are- Are we in a treehouse?”

“Mhm! … Well, technically no.” Corren pulled a book from one of the shelves, absentmindedly flipping through its pages as he explained “We’re in a demiplane right now. We can’t leave this room, except to exit back to where we came from, so don’t bother trying to climb out a window.” He snorted a bit, remembering the time he attempted to, only to be smacked in the face by the planar equivalent of a brick wall. “I can choose how this looks, though, so I wanted it to look like this.”

Alistair cocked an eyebrow, amusement flashing over his expression beneath the shock “… You do not strike me as the treehouse type.”

“I’m not! Well, not anymore, I guess.” He shrugged, trying to wave off the embarrassed blush he felt creeping on his face at opening up about his… I guess this would be his more vulnerable side. “I uh… I had one just like this when I was a kid. It’s... I don’t know.” He cast a look down to the book in his hands, smiling fondly as he caressed his fingers over the page “It’s kind of comforting, I guess.”

Alistair stood there a minute, seeming to almost study the situation… then walked over, sitting by the Marelienth’s side. “Well, guess we have some time to kill. Got anything good in there?” He grinned, motioning to the bookshelf nearest to them.

Corren laughed a bit- surprised that he caught himself laughing, actually- and set his own book aside “I wouldn’t pick from that shelf, actually. It’s more children’s books than anything than else.”

Alistair smirked “Weren’t you just reading one from that shelf?”

“I was flipping through it for the nostalgia, dipshit.” Corren glared… though they both knew that his annoyance was completely surface level. He quickly rolled his eyes, standing up stepping over to another shelf to browse through the books he stored there. “Hang on, I’ll find something.”

What would Alistair’s tastes be? … He’d probably be more like Julian than Mila, so he’ll browse Julian’s old books. He clicked his tongue, running a finger over each book’s spine, scanning their titles. Would Al be a fiction or a non-fiction type…? … Hm. He paused on one book, hesitant for a moment, but decided it might be an interesting read for the Weathervane.

Alistair blinked in surprise when the book was dropped on his lap, taking it in his hands and reading the title out of curiosity “’History of Spellcasting in Marelienth Society’?”

Corren shrugged. “I don’t know, I thought you might find it interesting, since you’re magical, but it’s also something you probably don’t already know.”

Alistair hummed in response, flipping through a few pages to get a sense of what he was reading. “… Could use more pictures.”

“Oh my gods.” Corren pinched the bridge of his nose “I should have let you pick from the children’s shelf.”

They both laughed as Corren sat by his side once more, unable to help the smug grin as he saw Alistair’s attention quickly shift back to the book, finding a section and quickly latching onto it. He watched the human’s eye scan the page with fervor, absorbing whatever he could in the limited time they had.

Corren couldn’t help the way his smile went from smug to something softer. The way Alistair acted, how he was so passionate about all he did and all he was interested in, the way he loved what he did so effortlessly… Despite any fears and anxieties that weighed him down, he always found a way to trudge forward. It was all-to-familiar to Corren, though it was something he hadn’t witnessed in years. It was… almost uncanny how much Alistair reminded him of…

“Julian!!!” Corren yelled, slamming the door to their treehouse open and giving an angry gasp at the Marelienth inside. “I knew you were in here still!”

The older Marelienth gave a small wave, but didn’t pry his eyes away from his book “Just give me five minutes, I’m almost done this chapter!”

“You said the same thing half an hour ago!!!”

“… I started a new chapter since then.”

Corren groaned loudly, fully climbing into the treehouse and crawling over to his older brother, flopping against his side dramatically “I’m boooooored!!!”

Julian just laughed, finally defeated by the child’s antics, and set his book aside, using just one arm to scoop Corren up as he got to his feet. Julian was still somewhat young, not fully grown into adulthood yet, but still stood a good 6 feet tall. Corren, on the other hand, was still a child, and was very small compared to his brother. “Alright, alright, you drama queen. I need to pick up supplies for tomorrow’s run anyways, so you can come along.”

Corren didn’t seem to mind being carried one-handedly, just swaying his legs happily “Yay~!”

The two brothers left their treehouse, walking past their home and onto the streets of their town of Warrencrest. The forest surrounding their town left a scent of pine in the air, accompanied by a hint of frost to signify the changing of the seasons. Corren was set down at this point, and settled for keeping up a quick pace to match Julian’s longer strides. He held onto his brother’s hand, though, which made sure he didn’t get left behind or lost by chasing some distraction.

With his brother leading them along, Corren let his eyes wander over their town as they walked through it. Warrencrest was a mostly Marelienth-occupied town, and it was pretty rare to see other races around their home. Everyone seemed to keep to themselves, always focused on studying time and magic and all sorts of other things that Corren ‘wasn’t mature enough to understand yet’. He felt like he was living in a bubble sometimes- it was like his siblings were the only ones who wanted to talk to him… about anything other than academics, at least. Though, that really only bothered him so much. I mean, he had 2 best friends, and he just happened to be related to them! It only sucked when they would go on short quests for some extra gold and Corren had to stay home and wait for them to come back.

Speaking of quests… “What’s the job you’re doing this time?”

“Hm? Oh, uh, let me check.” Julian used a free hand to reach into his pocket, pulling a sheet of paper out and unfolding it. It was a help wanted ad, easy to find on job boards outside of stores or taverns. He read over the terms, eyes scanning the details before he sighed and shoved the job offer back in his pockets “Just a delivery run. Apparently the passage to get to this other town is pretty rough on the terrain, and the Client’s getting up there in years, so he figured it’d be a safer bet to pay someone else to do it.”

Corren pouted, disappointed at the terms “Awww, no fighting a big scary monster or anything?”

Julian snorted, caught off-guard by the sheer absurd innocence of such a question “No, no scary monsters. Sorry to be the one to break it to you, little buddy, but questing isn’t always this grand adventure. Sometimes it’s boring, but at least you get paid… like a job!”

“Ew.” The younger Marelienth stuck his tongue out. Adventuring being boring like a job??? Gross. Though that could probably mean… Corren suddenly perked up “Oh! So if it’s not dangerous, can I come with you?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” Julian sighed, scratching his cheek “Like I said: it’s rough terrain. The last thing I’d want is for you to trip and fall down a cliff and become a Corren-Pancake.” Despite the lighthearted joking, he cringed a bit “Uh, yeah, Dad would definitely kill me if I brought you home as a skeleton instead of a Marelienth. Besides, I’ll need you to stay home and take care of our big sis while I’m gone!”

Corren frowned, tilting his head a little “She’s not going with you either?”

“Uh… no.” The lighthearted air he had around him before quickly dissipated, and he squeezed Corren’s hand a little bit “Mila’s still sick, so I don’t think she’ll be able to go questing for a while…”

How sick was she? Usually whenever Corren got sick, he’d be fine after just a couple of days, but Mila’s been stuck at home for nearly 2 weeks now! “… She’s gonna get better, right?”

Julian hesitated, only for a moment, but if Corren were older he would’ve known exactly what that hesitation meant. Instead, he was met with a reassuring smile and a pat to the head “Of course she’s gonna get better. This is our big sis we’re talking about, it takes more than just a little cold to knock a Hartwell down!”

Corren just giggled, content with the answer he got “Yeah, you’re right, but I’m gonna be the best protector until then! I know magics now!”

“That so?” Julian quickly let the lighthearted air roll back in, grateful for his brother’s naivety. “Well, show me something, then!”

Corren just grinned, letting go of his hand to run over to the side of the street, picking up a small rock and trotting back over to him. With a small wave of his hand, the rock suddenly became illuminated, giving off light like a torch.

“That’s ‘Light’, isn’t it?” Julian smiled, impressed by that small spell he was able to cast “Well look at you, learning neat Cantrips! Next thing you know, you’re gonna be the most powerful spellcaster in all of Sekrezia!”

“You know it!” Corren ate up the praise, dropping the rock and putting his hands on his hips in a prideful pose before going back to walking by Julian’s side “You know, I’m gonna be a great adventurer one day.”

“Is that so?” He suddenly grabbed Corren, hoisting him up and over his head in order to perch him on his shoulders and carry the smaller Marelienth that way “You’re going to be a hero and explore the world?”

“Yeah!!!” Corren grinned, not even blinking to the idea of riding on Julian’s shoulders. It made him feel tall! “I’m gonna team up with a bunch of other cool adventurers, and we’re going to save the world from all sorts of eeeevil monsters! And I’ll be super cool and know all sorts of neat spells!” He pushed his glasses back into place after they slipped down his nose a bit “I’ll go down in legends, and everyone’s going to think I’m super cool! ‘Corren Hartwell, the bestest adventurer of all time’!”

“’Bestest’?” Julian parroted, unable to keep in a small fit of laughter at just how pure that was “Alright, well when you’re rich and famous, can I get some of the gold you earn?”

He huffed, bapping his brother on the forehead “No way, stink-face, that’s my hard-earned gold, you can make your own!”

“Alright, alright, can’t blame your poor feeble brother for trying.” He joked, rolling his eyes fondly as they made it to their town’s main market square. “… You’ve got that spark, Corr. I feel like if you really worked at it, you could be a really cool mage. … Almost as cool as me.”

“Almost?!” He squeaked, pouting at the way his brother got such a laugh out of that.

Well, he hasn’t exactly saved the world or gone down in legends, but…

“Corren?” Alistair snapped his fingers in front of the Marelienth to catch his attention, snapping Corren out of his daze “Hey, you still with me?”

“Huh?” He blinked once or twice, pulling himself back to present day to focus his attention on the human “What’s up?”

“It looked like you were spacing out on me, you good?”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m okay.” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, not realizing just how long he was getting lost in old memories for. “Sorry, just reminiscing.”

Alistair nodded, going back to his book for a few moments… then cast a gaze back at Corren. “Why’d you leave?”

Corren went stiff, not expecting such a personal question out of the blue like that. “… What do you mean?”

He cast a look around the room again, noting all of the makeshift maps of nearby areas and crude drawings that lined the walls “It just… seems like you had a pretty good childhood. And this definitely isn’t anywhere near Lilenthemar. So why’d you leave?”

Ah. Corren knew he’d have this conversation sooner or later, but he still didn’t know how to talk about… everything that happened. How could you put what happened into words? He knows that if he’s to stay with the group, he’ll probably have to come clean about everything sooner or later, but… well, he’ll put off that conversation as long as he can. “… You’re right, I did have a pretty good childhood. Things were never perfect, but… I was happy.”

Corren ran a hand along the wood that made the walls. The actual treehouse he grew up in was long gone; wood rotted and the tree toppled, but in this demiplane, it was like his old hangout was preserved in time. … If anything, that only upset him more, knowing that everything around him was just a projection of what used to be, a childhood and innocence he could never get back. “… I’m sure you’d know this better than I ever would, but good things… have a tendency not to last.” He took a deep breath, swallowing his fears and letting himself open the fuck up for once. “After some things went wrong, I wasn’t happy here anymore… and after some more things went wrong, I didn’t even feel safe here. So, I left. I wasn’t even planning on staying in Lilenthemar, but I just so happened to meet Jethro and… well. You can’t exactly say no to a job offer from a man like him.”

Alistair snorted, fond memories of how they met Corren through their shared connection with Jericho’s father… and how they practically broke the poor Marelienth with their shenanigans. That fondness quickly faded, though, in favor of the sympathetic frown he cast to his teammate “… I’m sorry, about everything that happened. You didn’t deserve to feel unsafe in your own home.”

“Yeah…” Corren sighed, folding his arms and avoiding eye contact like the plague. He still wasn’t used to weird and intimate moments like this. “You’re right, I didn’t deserve that, but… hey, sometimes bad things just… happen. And I mean… I’m not really that sorry about it.”

“You’re not?”

The Marelienth shook his head “I mean, it sucked, don’t get me wrong about that, but. If I never ran away, I never would’ve met Jethro or Raerose. And if I never worked for Jethro, I never would’ve met- or eventually teamed up with- all of you, so…” He shrugged, a small smile tugging at his expression “I’d say it wasn’t all bad.”

Alistair just returned the smile, giving Corren a light punch on the arm “So you do love us and our antics~”

He rolled his eyes, grateful to have the tense and vulnerable moment passing for their usual snark “Oh live it up, weather boy. Just be grateful I keep sending your love messages to your boyfriend free of charge.”

“We love you too, Corren.”

He snorted, punching the human back “That’s it, I’ve had enough of your bullshit feelsy mush. That dragon’s probably gone by now, and we should regroup with the rest of the F.U.C.K.s.”

“Aw, can’t we wait just five more minutes?” Alistair pouted, motioning to the book he was given earlier “I’m almost done this chapter!”

Corren blinked incredulously, not believing his ears for a minute. He really just… “Holy shit. You are the same goddamn person.”

That caught Alistair off guard as he suddenly looked at Corren like he had two heads “… Who’s the same?”

“Uh-” He shook his head, embarrassed that he actually said that out loud “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” … Maybe a quick subject change would help, “Well, we could stay here a while longer… but the group might start thinking we’re dead. I mean, unless you want Lautrek to be appointed the new leader in your absence…”

Alistair quickly shut the book, panic setting on his expression “Uh, you know what? Maybe we should head back now. Don’t want to scare the others, haha!”

Corren just smirked. It was too easy sometimes. He opened the door back to the Material Plane, letting Alistair exit before Corren followed suit.

They landed right where they left, only the forest around them was charred completely, some branches and trunks still in flames from the fiery breath attack they barely avoided. The good news, though, was that the dragon was nowhere in sight, so they were safe for the time being.

“Wow.” Alistair remarked, scuffing his boot along the dead grass beneath them “We totally would’ve died if we got hit by that.”

“Oh yes.” Corren nodded in agreement, stretching his back lazily “I would’ve died in an instant, but you? Probably would’ve been a long, agonizing death. You would’ve wished you had low health like me. Like your blood would start to-”

“Ooookay kid, I know you’re a little bit Necromancer, but I need you to dial it down on going into detail over how I would burn to death.” Alistair patted Corren on the back, putting just enough force behind his hits for the Marelienth to get the not-so-passive aggressive message… But then a swift look of fear fell over his expression “Uh, Corren?”

“Yeah?”

“So that dragon was chasing us, so we knew our teammates would be safe?”

“Uh… yes?” He raised an eyebrow, unsure of where Alistair was going with this.

“And if we chose to hide so the dragon would eventually leave…”

Oh no. Corren was starting to get an idea where he was going with this.

“… What’s to say that Dragon didn’t go back to attacking everyone else after we disappeared?” Alistair slowly turned to share that look of horrified realization with the other.

… Oh, fuck.

“I don’t think we thought this through.” Alistair quickly readied his Halberd, looking back to where they came from.

“Thought this through?! I saved our lives!” Corren huffed, pulling out the sniper that was strapped to his back. “Guess we gotta save a few more, greeaat!”

Alistair smirked a little, pulling a health potion from his pocket and quickly chugging it down. “So, starting to regret crossing paths and joining us yet~?”

He scoffed, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face “Aw, cute. Don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily, Stormcrown.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Hartwell.”

[seraph-novak]

Are you taking prompts for Tyrus? If so, could you do one where TJ helps Cyrus to rehearse for a play? thanks, have a lovely day.

All feedback is very much appreciated, but comments and reblogs really make all the difference. Thank you!

Also available on AO3 ♥

~~~~~

Cyrus is quickly losing his patience. On the opposite end of the Kippens’ couch, Amber is grinning down at her phone, a strand of golden hair twisted around her finger as she giggles at something on the screen – no doubt another text from her ‘mystery’ admirer. Cyrus simply sits there and waits, passively fiddling with the corner of his script as he waits for his friend to snap out of her crush-induced daze.

Without thinking, he lets his eyes drift to the corner of the room, settling on the older boy sitting quietly in a well-worn chair, his nose buried in a book. His hair is a shade darker than Amber’s, but his eyes are the same sea-foam green, with a touch of grey softening the bright hue. He’s never really spoken to Amber’s brother before, apart from a few pleasantries exchanged in passing, but there’s something about TJ Kippen that has always intrigued him…

Just then, the other boy lifts his head, as if sensing Cyrus’ curious eyes. A blush warms Cyrus’ cheeks as he quickly returns his attention to the script in his hands, but not quick enough to miss the hint of a smirk playing on TJ’s lips.

“Are you almost done?” he asks Amber, his words sounding sharper than intended. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees TJ go back to reading his book, and his shoulders slump in relief. “Sorry, I just… I’ve only got a few more days to rehearse, remember? The nerves are starting to kick in.”

Amber glances up from her phone, a sliver of guilt fracturing her lovesick smile. “Sorry, Cy. Just gimme a sec.”

It takes closer to a minute than a second for Amber to finally put her phone down, but Cyrus lets it slide. At least he now has a distraction from the indecipherable looks TJ keeps sneaking him, scorching his skin and quickening his heartbeat. 

As they return to the play, Cyrus can’t ignore the longing glances Amber keeps flicking at her phone. With every new text, her concentration wanes even more, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she visibly fights the urge to throw the script across the room and pick up her phone instead. She’s practically vibrating with the effort to focus, her face pinching tighter and tighter as the incoming texts start to slow down.  

“Amber,” Cyrus says, nudging her leg with his foot. “It’s your line.”

She tears her eyes away from the phone, now blessedly silent, and shakes her head. “Sorry… Where are we?”

“Page 14. Line 38.”

“Oh, right.” She slides a finger down the script, her brow furrowed as she searches for the right line. A few seconds later, she clears her throat and falls back into character. “Thomas,” she says, her voice slightly higher than usual. “I thought you’d never –”

“Nope,” Cyrus cuts her off. “Wrong line.”

“Are you sure?”

Cyrus smooths his face and lifts an eyebrow, his breath catching on the edge of a sigh. “Unless we skipped ahead to the final scene without me realising, I’m pretty sure it’s the wrong line.”

Across the room, TJ snorts, an amused smile nicking the corner of his mouth as he meets Cyrus’ eyes. For a brief moment, something warm and sweet blossoms in his chest, but it’s quickly cooled by the sudden ringing of Amber’s phone. He shoots a glare at his friend, silently warning her not to pick it up, but it’s no use.

“I’m so sorry,” Amber says, shrugging helplessly. “It’s Andi. I have to answer!” Before Cyrus can protest, she throws her script at TJ and picks up her phone, already halfway up the stairs. “Run lines with Cyrus until I’m back, okay?”

TJ frowns. “But –”

“Thank you!”

A flirtatious giggle floats down the stairs in her wake, followed by the sound of her bedroom door closing. Once she’s gone, an awkward silence settles over the room. Cyrus looks over at TJ, his stomach churning as the older boy studies the script now lying in his lap, and forces a smile.

“You don’t really have to run lines with me,” he says, twisting his hands together. “I’ll just wait until she’s back.”

TJ scoffs. “That could be a while.”

“Yeah.” He huffs a laugh, then sighs. “Maybe I should just go…”

“I thought you said you only had a few days to rehearse?”

“I do,” Cyrus says, his heart skipping at the notion of TJ paying attention to what he was saying. “But I can do that by myself. Or I’ll ask my mom to help.” He winces, realising too late how lame that must sound. “Or one of my many friends.”

TJ chuckles, and the sound sends a pleasant shiver down his spine, soothing the aching burn of his cheeks.

“Let me help.”

“I… You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

“But –”

“Scooch over,” TJ says, gently slapping Cyrus’ outstretched legs with his script as he sits down on the couch. When he’s comfortable, he licks his finger and flips through the pages. “Page 14, right?”

Cyrus swallows thickly. “Um… Yeah.”

“You’re Thomas?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I guess I’m… Alice?”

A nervous laugh bubbles in his chest. “You really don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t mind,” TJ insists.

“Are you sure?”

“100%.”

Cyrus hesitates, then breathes a sigh as he settles down and reopens his script. “Okay then… I’ll start from the top.” He coughs to clear his throat, flicking an anxious glance at TJ, and starts to read. “I think we need to talk, Alice.”

“About what?” TJ says, a feminine twinge to his voice.

Cyrus fights back a smile and keeps reading.

They run through the scene fluidly, only stopping to turn pages and share secret smiles over the tops of their scripts. As Thomas confesses his undying love for Alice, and the tone of the play takes a turn into sappy territory, Cyrus feels himself flushing darkly, his voice turning tight and raspy as the two characters begin tossing flirtatious comments at each other.

“Who wrote this play?” TJ asks on the cusp of a laugh, his own cheeks turning pink. “It’s very, uh…”

“Terrible?”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say it that bluntly, but yeah.”

Cyrus snorts. “A few of the girls in my group are Jane Austen wannabes.”

“Yikes.”

“Yep.” Cyrus scratches the back of his head, the smile slowly dying on his lips as he skims through the upcoming pages of groan-worthy dialogue. “We can stop if you want.”

TJ snaps his head up. “What? No! It’s just starting to get juicy.”

“I thought you said it was terrible?”

“It is, but…”

Across the room, the discarded book lying on the chair TJ was previously sitting in catches his eye, and a teasing grin spreads across his face. There’s a cheesy stock photo of two women in old-fashioned dresses strolling through a park on the cover, with tiny umbrellas held above their bonneted heads.

“Oh,” he says, folding his arms with a quirk of an eyebrow. “I see… You’re a Jane Austen wannabe, too.”

TJ blushes. “It’s my mom’s!”

“Sure.”

“Shut up…”

“Hey, I’m not judging!”

When TJ sees him smirking, he breaks into a smile of his own, playfully kicking Cyrus in the shin as readjusts himself on the couch. “Let’s get back to it.”

“Eager, aren’t we?”

“Ha-ha.”

Cyrus wipes the grin off his face, despite the butterflies still fluttering in his stomach, and tries to focus on the poorly-written script in his hands. They dive back into flirty banter – Austen style – all the while stealing glances at each other, their lips twitching with barely supressed laughter. It’s only when the scene shifts from light to serious that Cyrus feels his palms beginning to sweat.

“You look beautiful in the moonlight,” he says, his voice trembling. Even though the words aren’t directed at TJ, he can still hear his heart pounding against his ribcage as he risks a glance at the other boy, trying to gauge his reaction. “You look beautiful in all lights, of course, but this is different.”

TJ licks his lips. “Different how?”

“Your hair shines,” Cyrus says, his voice a whisper. “Your eyes twinkle like starlight. Your skin glows.” He lifts his head, eyes drifting to TJ’s face once again. His gaze is fixed resolutely on his script, but Cyrus can see the blush creeping up his neck, the ripple of his throat as he swallows, the slight furrow between his brows, the silent murmur of his lips as he follows Cyrus’ lines on the page… “You’re absolutely gorgeous.”

TJ freezes, his mouth falling open, and Cyrus realises his mistake: that line isn’t in the script.

“I…” The words die in his throat. He gulps back his embarrassment and tries again, his face starting to burn. “I’m sorry, I just… I-I don’t know where that came from.”

“It’s okay –”

“I got a little carried away, you know?” Cyrus closes his script and gets to his feet, desperately searching for his bag beneath the coffee table. “I think I should go now. Thanks for helping me and everything… I really appreciate it.”

TJ reaches for his arm, but Cyrus shakes him off.

“I’m sorry for making things weird,” he says, tears of humiliation stinging the backs of his eyes. “I don’t know if Amber told you, but I’m gay. Not that you care.” He laughs, completely mortified. “Wow. I just came out to a guy I barely know. This is just getting better and better, isn’t it?”

When TJ reaches for him a second time, he doesn’t miss. His fingers are gentle, but his grip is firm, and he doesn’t take his eyes off Cyrus’ face as he slowly lowers him back onto the couch.

“Calm down,” he says, giving his arm a quick squeeze before letting go. A blinding smile breaks across his face when Cyrus finally meets his eyes. “If you think I’m mad at you for calling me gorgeous, then I must be worse at this than I thought.”

Cyrus frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been flirting with you for the past half an hour, you idiot.”

“What?”

“Okay… I guess I really am bad at this.”

Cyrus shakes his head, trying to steady his racing thoughts. “Are you saying you like me?”

“I have for a while,” TJ admits, shrugging bashfully. “I know we’ve never really talked, but… I’ve seen you around. And you hang out with my sister a lot.” He huffs, one side of his mouth lifting in a crooked smile. “Why do you think I always stay downstairs when you come over? I like being around you.”

“Oh,” Cyrus says, a touch breathless.   

The tension in TJ’s shoulders melts away as Cyrus returns a tentative smile of his own. For a moment, they just sit there, smiling shyly at each on the middle of the couch, their knees deliberately brushing against each other.

“So,” TJ says after a while, his fingers nervously drumming the cool leather between them. “I was thinking… Maybe we could –”

“I’m back!” Amber announces as she bounces down the stairs, her cheeks rosy from her conversation with Andi. When she notices TJ and Cyrus sitting so close, she stalls on the bottom step, her smile morphing into a scowl as she narrows her eyes.  “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing!” Cyrus squeaks, accidentally throwing his script in the air and hitting TJ on the head. He cringes, hiding his face in his hands, and splutters an apology. “Oh no! I’m so sorry, TJ! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

TJ rubs the back of his head and chuckles. “I think I’ll live.”

“Maybe you should go upstairs now,” Amber says, glaring pointedly at her brother. “We have work to do.”

“Right.” TJ rolls his eyes and gets to his feet, shoving his script into Amber’s hands. He picks up his cheesy Victorian novel and heads towards the stairs, only stopping to cast a gentle smile over his shoulder at Cyrus. “Good luck with the play,” he says, ignoring the daggers Amber is shooting at the side of his head. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Cyrus chews his lip and shrugs. “You could come, you know? The tickets are all sold out, but I could sneak you in.” He blushes, immediately doubting himself. “Only if you want to, of course. I mean, the script is pretty terrible, and I’m not exactly the greatest actor in the world, so you really don’t have to –”

“I’m there,” TJ cuts in with another smile, offering him a wink before turning around and disappearing up the stairs.

As soon as he’s gone, Amber throws herself onto the couch and punches Cyrus in the arm. “You’re not allowed to have a crush on my brother, okay? That goes against the rules of friendship!”

“You have way too many rules,” Cyrus says. “And, besides… You’ve been flirting with my best friend all afternoon, so I’d say we’re even.”

Amber opens her mouth to protest, then freezes, a groan escaping her lips. “Okay, that’s fair.”

“Thank you.”

“But you do admit you have a crush on him?”

Cyrus glances at the staircase, the frantic beating of his heart still echoing in his ears as a nervous grin tugs at his lips. “Yeah… I think I do.”

The End.

~~~~~

You can find the rest of my Tyrus fics on Tumblr or AO3! Thanks for reading ♥

[huphilpuffs]

flares

chapter: 25/? summary: Dan’s body has been broken for as long as he can remember, and he’s long since learned to deal with it. Sort of. But when his symptoms force him to leave uni and move into a new flat with a stranger named Phil, he finds that ignoring the pain isn’t the way to make himself happy. word count: 3065 rating: mature warnings: chronic illness, chronic pain, medicine a/n: a huge thanks goes to @obsessivelymoody for beta reading this for me!

Ao3 link || read from beginning

Dan wakes up on Thursday to a heaviness in his chest.

He groans before he even opens his eyes. His face is squished against a pillow, his ribs pressed too harshly against the mattress. Stabs of pain burst between them, make his muscles spasm and send his breath escaping in a stutter. He has to count, one, two, three, four to keep it from happening a second time.

It eases some when he rolls onto his back.

And he tries to comfort himself further by counting out how long it’s been since he’s been able to sleep on his stomach. Too long, probably.

He’s been getting better, though. Even staring at the bedroom ceiling through his tears, Dan knows that. Knows the he’s helped Phil with dinner the last few nights, and managed to handle the curtains being open for a few hours yesterday.

His hand smoothes across his sternum, and he pokes at the painful spots in his sides until the sharpness dulls.

It’s enough to let Dan sit up, then stand on shaky knees. He tosses Phil’s pillow back to where it belongs and tucks the duvet into place to prove the voice in his head, wondering why he’s suddenly worse again, that he’s fine.

And to ignore the second voice, telling him it’s anxiety that causes your pain, over and over again.

His appointment is in a day.

Dan’s hardly slept for three.

He tries to swallow back a sigh. Whatever rush of adrenaline had dragged him out of bed has faded, left fatigue settling heavy in his bones again. He could drag himself to the lounge, curl up in his blankets and continue his new daily routine of watching people on YouTube for hours.

But his body aches and his eyes burn, and he crawls back into bed instead.

The voice in his head grows louder.

Dan grabs Phil’s pillow, clutches it ot his chest and presses his face against the fabric, breathing deeply.

It smells like Phil.

He holds it until he falls back asleep.

---

The afternoon drags.

It’s past two when Dan wakes up again. The flat is still empty, the bed unmade again. He crawls out without bothering to fix it, makes himself a sandwich, and settles back on the sofa, where he can rest his head against the cushions and ignore the tightness around his heart.

Every time he turns on his phone, it’s too a notification reminding him he has an appointment tomorrow that has his muscles seizing, making it ache to breathe.

And to a reminder he half regrets setting, since he’s ignored it for days.

Call mum.

There’s only a few hours to follow through with it now.

He glances back at the clock that tells him it’s just ticking past three. Twenty-five hours left, says the voice in his head. It sounds like the last GP he saw, who looked him in the eyes and told him to try acting like he had more energy, who told him it would help.

You should try it, his mum had said afterwards. You never know unless you do.

Dan’s thumb swipes across the screen. He finds her contact, sucks in a breath, and hits the call button.

He doesn’t breathe again until she picks up on the third ring.

“Hi, Dan,” she says.

He hasn’t heard her voice since he decided to stay here. It feels like a lifetime ago, suddenly.

“Hi, mum.”

There’s silence for a long moment. He can hear her breathing over the line, low and steady, and wonders if she can hear the shakiness in his.

“How are you?” she asks

“I’m okay,” he says. “I, uh, have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

He swallows, nodding even though she can’t see him. “Just with my new GP, but I’m hoping he might be able to help me,” he says. “With, well, you know.”

“I hope he can.”

She sounds sad. It’s been a long time since Dan’s heard that.

“Me too,” he says. And then, because he can’t handle the silence: “But, uh, I was hoping you could maybe help me figure out my medical history, to prepare? I don’t remember all of it from when I first got sick.”

Back when she was responsible for it, he doesn’t say. Back when anyone could keep track of all of it.

“I’ll text it to you, okay?” she says. “I know your memory isn’t always the best, and your wrists tend to ache from writing.”

“Really?” He slams his mouth shut, the click of his teeth probably audible over the phone. “I mean, thanks.”

She chuckles, quiet, distant, like he can hear the miles between them. “I’m not always heartless, you know,” she says.

Dan’s breath comes out in a rush. Guilt bursts in its place, painful, bringing tears to his eyes. And he wants to tell her he never thought she was, but he can’t. She knows he can’t. He doesn’t even know what he thinks about her now, crying, hands shaking as he clutches his phone too tightly.

“Can I ask you something?” she says. “Without you getting mad?”

“Yeah.”

“How are you doing?” she says. “I know you don’t think your problems are with your mental health, and I’m not implying they are–” the not this time goes unspoken “–but I know you’ve had bad experiences with doctors and you’re my son.”

His breath catches. A tear rolls down his cheek, and he wipes it away with his hand.

This is his first appointment without her, he realizes. The first one in six years that she’s not driving him to, waiting outside or sitting next to him for the length of it. The first time she won’t smooth his hand over his knee in the waiting room, telling him it’ll be okay, that doctors can be trusted, even though they’d been proving otherwise for so long.

“I’m okay,” he says. “Phil’s coming with me.”

“That’s good,” she says, like she means it. “I am glad you have him, you know.”

He almost reminds her what she thought of him living with Phil last time they spoke, but his heart aches and his eyes are stinging and he doesn’t want to fight, not this time.

“Me too,” he says. “He’s the best, mum.”

She sounds like she’s smiling when she says: “I’d love to meet him, one day.”

Dan swallows. He can hardly picture it, bringing Phil back to a house filled with terrible memories and people he still doesn’t trust entirely. And yet there’s a tug in his chest, a bittersweet image forming in the back of his mind.

He doesn’t say anything.

Neither does she, for a while.

“I should get going,” is what she ends up saying. “As long as you’re okay? I’ll text you your medical information in a little bit.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’m okay. Thank you.”

She hums. “And Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“You should call your grandma. She misses her sofa buddy.”

He chuckles. It aches. Suddenly, he’s exhausted again. “Okay. I will,” he promises. “And mum?”

“Yeah?”

“No news is good news, okay? If I don’t call you after the appointment, I mean.”

“Okay,” she says. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

The line goes dead.

His head falls back against the cushion and his phone drops onto the sofa. Tears are rolling down his cheeks, and he’s not entirely sure he knows why.

Or maybe he just can’t untangle all the many, many reasons.

---

Phil’s quiet when he gets home.

He takes the smoothie Dan didn’t touch and sets it on the coffee table before dropping onto the empty cushion. His arm is draped across the back of the cushion, his hip just inches from Dan’s, as he turns his gaze to the open laptop, lit up with another Smosh video.

Dan’s been watching them mindlessly since his tears dried on his cheeks.

“This is a good one,” says Phil.

It’s an older one, the production value a little cheaper and humour a tad outdated. Probably more similar to what Phil had watched back at uni, Dan thinks. He tries to imagine it, a younger version of Phil, one with longer hair and a slightly narrower frame, sitting in a uni room like the one Dan moved out of before coming here.

He hardly can. Maybe because his mind is still muddled, hanging onto words he said during the phone call, onto all the things he should have said but didn’t.

“It is,” he says, just as the video ends.

He doesn’t start a new one.

Phil’s fingers sweep across his shoulder. In Dan’s peripheral, he can see Phil turn to look at him, but he doesn’t look back.

“Are you okay?” asks Phil.

Dan swallows. There’s a lump in his throat, a pressure behind his eyes so harsh it aches.

“Didn’t sleep very well,” he says.

Phil squeezes his shoulder. “I know.”

That makes the corner of his mouth quirk up. Of course Phil knows. He was there, arms wrapped around Dan as he fidgeted, tossed, and turned. His hands had combed through Dan’s hair, and his quiet questions about if Dan was okay were mumbled against his shoulder, his reassurance felt in his touch.

Phil usually falls asleep pretty quickly, Dan’s learned. Last night, he didn’t.

The hand at his shoulder tightens. Dan finally turns to face Phil.

“Is that all that’s bothering you?”

His eyes are soft, almost sad, as his hand rubs gentle circles against Dan’s skin. He knows. He must know something’s up. Dan has to remind himself that Phil’s seen him after countless sleepless nights, curled up in soft blankets on the sofa and dozing when his mind gets too tired to keep racing.

Today isn’t like that.

Dan reaches out to rest a hand on Phil’s knee, needing to feel grounded, as the first tear rolls down his cheek. Phil draws him closer, so Dan’s head is by his shoulder, his tears dripping down onto the fabric of Phil’s shirt.

There’s no pressure, none but the weight of Phil’s hand on his shoulder, when Dan says:

“I called my mum.”

Phil goes tense. “Oh,” he say. “How did that go?”

Dan swallows. “I don’t know.”

He really doesn’t. His chest feels too full with contradictions, the weight of past accusations crashing up against her understanding tone and he doesn’t know what to think anymore. He’s never been sure how to exist around her, not since pain first settled in his bones and she told him it was growing pains, it would pass, it would get better.

And it never did.

“I haven’t talked to her since I told her I was staying in Manchester,” he says, maybe as an afterthought, maybe because it’s felt heavy on his shoulders since he answered the phone.

“Was she nicer this time?”

He nods. Another tear falls. “She’s texting me my medical history,” says Dan. “She offered, because she– she knew I had trouble writing and remembering.”

Phil hums. His breath has gone even again. His mouth is close to the top of Dan’s head. He sounds hesitant when he speaks. “It sounds like she cares.”

Dan feels that, sharp and painful in his gut. Another tear rolls down his cheek, and his breath catches, and Phil holds him tighter like he’s scared Dan will fall apart.

Maybe he will.

It’s been so long,

He’s been so that sure she doesn’t actually care.

Now, he doesn’t know what to think.

---

His mum texts him.

Dan almost cries. His teeth dig into his lip and his ribs ache and he stares, wide-eyed, at the list of diagnoses and unexplained symptoms he’s had over the years. There’s the migraines they never treated at the beginning, the lightheadedness it took them four years to explain, the instructions to do more exercise that dot the whole six years that he’s been ill.

The first time he went to therapy, and the antidepressants they put him on, and the second time he went to therapy.

And every time he told his doctor he was still sick after that.

Phil’s hand lands on his wrist, gently pushing the phone from Dan’s line of sight. His voice is barely a whisper when he says: “Are you okay?”

Dan swallows. His throat aches.

Laid out like this, it doesn’t look that bad, a distant voice in his head that’s haunted him for too long tries to remind him that maybe he’s just making it all up. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. But Dan can remember the A&E doctor who turned him away because it was growing pains. Can remember the so many times his blood pressure was low before anyone bothered to point it out.

The time his doctor looked at him and said–

“Can we do something?” says Dan. “I want to– I need a distraction.”

Phil nods. In Dan’s peripheral, his phone screen goes black. The knot in his chest loosens, just a bit.

“Wanna play video games?” says Phil.

He shakes his head. “Wanna go out. It’s been too long.”

Phil’s brows furrow, like he’s about to point out that there’s a reason it’s been so long, about to warn Dan that he doesn’t want to make himself sick before such an important day.

Except part of Dan does. He’s done it before, forced himself to be in pain because maybe that way the doctors would actually see that he wasn’t lying. Not that it’s ever worked.

“Please?” he says.

Phil squeezes his wrist. “Okay.” His thumb drifts across Dan’s, careful and comforting. “Where do you want to go?”

---

Dan squeezes into his skinny jeans, even though the fabric burns his legs. He pulls a shirt over his head for what feels like the first time in forever. Though his knees are shaky, he bends down to tie his own laces, as Phil watches from where he’s leaning against the door.

“Are you sure about this?”

He reaches out, without a word, to help Dan stand again.

“I’m sure,” says Dan. “And don’t worry, you won’t need to take me to A&E this time.”

The corner of Phil’s mouth quirks up, and Dan knows he’s forcing it. He can feel his worry in the too-tight clench of Phil’s hand around his, the way his gaze trips over Dan legs when he wobbles as he stands.

He squeezes Phil’s fingers, forcing a smile of his own, as he opens the door.

It’s warm outside. The sky’s going purple as the sun sinks below the city. Dan realizes, staring up at it, that he hasn’t left the flat since he trip to A&E, hasn’t enjoyed being outside in far too long.

If his joints would let him, he’d suggest they walk around a bit. Instead, he stares up at the clouds and reminds himself to spend more evenings, when the sun won’t burn his eyes, on their little balcony, just to feel the wind against his cheeks again.

Phil tugs on his hand when the cab pulls up in front of them. They pile in, side by side in the back seat. Dan doesn’t put on his seatbelt. He can’t be bothered to deal with the harsh rub of fabric against his ribs.

His chest is still tight, the quiet buzz of anxiety at the back of his mind growing louder. He can still feel his phone, heavy in his pocket, can still imagine the text he hasn’t yet responded to. He can remember their last movie night, laughing and gasping and falling asleep with Phil’s hands trying to massage the pain away.

They hadn’t even gone out last time.

Dan stares out the window and hopes he can keep his promise that it’ll be okay this time.

They slip out of the car at the cinema. Phil pays the driver. Dan leans against the wall as he waits, wondering if the lines inside are long. It’s been so long since he’s been to the cinema, he can hardly imagine it anymore. The screens usually hurt his eyes and the audio gives him a headache and he doesn’t care today.

“You okay?”

Phil’s smiling at him, standing by the door. He holds it open for Dan, and buys their tickets for a random comedy neither of them particularly wanted to see. He lets Dan go find a seat as he buys them popcorn, soda, and a chocolate bar to share. He hands it over, in the darkness of the theatre, with a smile.

Between them, their knees bump together as the film starts.

---

They’re holding hands when it ends.

Dan’s eyes are starting to burn and his chest aches from laughing, but the voices in his head have dulled just enough that he can breathe a little easier. He doesn’t think about the appointment he needs to show up to tomorrow, or the doctor he hasn’t met yet who might dash his hopes all over again.

He stares at their joined hands as the cinema empties, smiling.

“You ready to go home?” says Phil.

Dan shrugs. He probably should give his spine a break by sinking into the sofa again, close his eyes against the bright lights of the city before a headache wells in his temples. But he doesn’t want to sit in the dark and wait until tomorrow, letting his fears return.

“Can we get pizza?”

“You up to walk?”

He nods. Phil helps him to his feet and leads him out of the cinema. He knows Manchester better than Dan does, and tells a story about coming to watch movies with Ian when he was younger as they find the nearest pizza place. Dan listens, maybe more attentively than he needs to, to keep his mind from going hazy as the city moves around him.

There’s still a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Dan wonders if him of a few years ago would have believed that he’d end up here.

The restaurant they end up in is small and quiet, and they slide into a booth in the corner of the room. Dan sinks back against the cushion, realizing that Phil’s smiling, too.

His chest feels warm. His fingers twist in the tablecloth, because part of him misses holding Phil’s hand.

“Thanks for tonight,” says Dan. “I had fun.”

Under the table, Phil knocks their feet together.

“I did too,” he says.

[dimpled-gummy-smiles]

hey guys, imagine this.

because i was just reading through my tumblr and blogging mdzs stuffs and someone replied with this:

“ @crystalconfusions: but what about a mafia au where LXC and LWJ stop by for their "protection" racket because the flower shop is on the border of 2 rival gang's territories etc. and over time it becomes increasingly obvious that LWJ is involved in the mafia and everyone understands except for WWX, who is completely oblivious to the point where LWJ could be like "im in the mafia" and he'd be like "ooh is that a new game or smth??"action “ and i’m down for this because wwx is sometimes clueless.

and this is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overdue.

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

- no one really owns a business in that empty shop because its right in the middle of two rival gang territories. oblivious wwx decides to open a shop there because only that shop is empty and also he likes that shop.

- wwx employs wen ning. because wen ning is a kid, and no one employs a kid. but wwx needs someone to tend to this shop when he’s not around (which is most of the time)

- lxc and lwj hears about the shop that is newly opened. they decide to stop by to tell them a few rules and also for their protection racket.

- only wen ning is in the store when they stop by. it doesnt take much for wen ning to know that these two men are mafia. because (a) the face. stoic. refined. suit and jacket. (b) wen ning overhears that the lan clan is here to collect their “money”. wen ning hands over some money over to the brothers (he doesn’t know how much, but such a small store, shouldnt cost that much right?). lxc smiles, taking the money as lwj looks around the store. wen ning will have to explain to wwx later regarding the discrepancies in the cash register later. mafia first.

- wwx arrives a few seconds later just as the lan brothers were about to leave. wwx smiles at the two men, not knowing who they were. lwj falls in love at first sight. wwx walks to wen ning and hands him breakfast. “your sister is going to kill me if she ever finds out you skip breakfast to come to work.” wen ning smiles weakly, his vision away from the two men. “have a good day.” lxc says. wwx just smiles back, “you too.” lxc and lwj then walks away. wwx doesn’t know who they are. they’re probably customers. wen ning doesn’t have the heart to tell wwx they are mafias. because a lot of people left this town because of the mafias.

- a few weeks later, a short man enters the shop. wen ning recognises him as someone from the rival mafia. why isn’t wwx around when this kind of things happen?! but maybe it was for the best. wwx shouldn’t know about the mafia just yet. he’s still new here. and if wwx left, wen ning would be unemployed once again.

- the woes of being at the border of two territories. wen ning takes out some money, deciding to hand to that short man. but he stopped, eyes widened when he sees lwj and lxc entering the shop. wen ning is relieved to see the lan mafia for a moment. the rival mafia looked at them. “this shop is under our protection.” lxc looked at his brother. because it was never his kind to call for territorial claims. the short mafia grumbled and walked away. 

- wen ning thanks the brothers, and keeps his money. because he doesnt know how to explain to wwx if money keeps disappearing. lwj nodded. wwx appears some time later, with food. “yl cooked us some lunch. oh i brought alcohol.” wwx passes by the two gentleman and shows the food to wen ning.

- lxc notices his brother’s eyes fixated on the young lad wwx. lxc smiles. oh. no wonder you were so protective of this shop.

- wen ning points at the two gentlemen still in the store. wwx ushers wen ning to eat first, he will tend to the two men. he looks at them. “hi how can i help you?” “its ok, we’re just looking aro-” before lxc can finish his sentence, lwj grabs the nearest bouquet and hands to wwx. “i want this.” wwx smiles and takes the bouquet from lwj and wraps it. lwj stares at the pork ribs lotus soup on the table. is this his lunch?

- wwx passes the bouquet back to lwj after wrapping it nicely. “how much is it?” lxc ask, when he notices his brother not talking. “it’s free. because its not always we have such good looking customers.” wwx smiles. wwx notices lwj staring at the lunch on the table. “have you guys eaten yet? do you want to have lunch with us?” wen ning’s eyes widened. lunch with the mafia?! he doesn’t want to die yet.

- lxc pats his brother, gaining back attention. “it’s alright. maybe next time.” lxc says, dragging his brother out.

- lwj stares at the flowers in his hands. he doesn’t even know what flower this is. he just grabs the nearest flower. he doesn’t know what to do with the flowers now. lxc just stares at his brother who keeps staring at the flowers in his hands.

- lwj comes to the shop often. most of the time he only comes when wwx is around. lwj has a rough idea when the young owner would be in the shop. lwj buys a bouquet of flowers every time he visits. “what flowers this time, lan zhan?” wwx smiles. anything you recommend. lwj says nothing and looks around. “what about this?” wwx could point to any flower and lwj would just nod his head. “mhm” and he’ll get it. wwx wouldn’t charge his any money for the flowers. “didnt i tell you i don’t charge good looking customers?” wwx laughs. “and also, you’re a regular.”

- so wen ning doesn’t take money from lwj. and also, who takes money from the mafia?!

- lxc drops by the shop one day. wwx smiles and greets the older lan brother. “oh its xichen-gege.” lxc smiles back. wwx looks around. “its only me. lan zhan didnt come with me today.” oh. wwx nodded. he didn’t know why but he hopes to see the younger one. but he tries to hide his disappointment. “so what can i get for you today?” wwx asked. it isn’t often for lxc to drop by the store. its usually lwj.

- wwx and lxc are at the back of the shop. “my brother is sometimes awkward and slow but it doesnt take a genius to know that he likes you.”

- wwx looks up, after hearing the door bell jingle. lwj enters the shop and wwx greets him as usual but it was a little different today. “i have to run an errand, lan zhan. do you want to come with me?” ill do anything to spend more time with you. lwj nods and follows wwx.

- wwx told a lie. he has no errands to run. cue awkward confession. because “your brother told me you like me?” lwj is planning to kill lxc in his head already. was that why you told me you didnt need me that day? was that why you said goodluck to me when i’m about to meet wwx? lwj didn’t say a word but wwx knew lwj heard him. wwx stopped in his tracks. 

- “honestly i didn’t know.” lwj looked at wwx.

- was lwj not obvious enough? that he likes wwx? he thought it was pretty obvious. the day he stopped collecting protection racket from that shop. that time he keep on dropping by the shop just so he could see wwx. the day he kept buying flowers. he silently sent people to buy flowers. but ok. he thinks even wen ning knows about his fat crush on wwx.

- “but you know? i like you too.” lwj knows he has to protect this man and this shop and everything this man owns.

- but if there was anything that was stopping lwj from confessing to wwx right here and now and kiss this man right here on the spot was that lwj is a goddamn mafia. this mafia business was dangerous. and he can’t implicate him. but wwx has to know the truth.

- “I’m in the mafia.” lwj states. it was to let wwx knows what he’s getting into if they were together. wwx looks at lwj. “is that a code name for a new game or something?” lwj didn’t know if he wanted to smack him because he’s so clueless or kiss him because he looked so cute at this moment. “no, i’m in a gang.” lwj didn’t really like this term but if that’s what it takes for wwx to understand him, he didn’t mind using this layman term.

- “is that a term for a game?” no. wwx you’re not getting it. so lwj drags wwx to his house. it’s a fucking mansion. wwx eyes widened because his house looks like a rat hole as compared to this. what even is his one room apartment? lxc smiles, seeing wwx. “xichen-ge” “you’re rich, lan zhan?” it’s inherited but yes. “i’m from the Lan clan. I’m a mafia” lwj silently prays wwx understands.

- wwx turns to meet his eyes and then smiles. “ok” ok? ok-what? ok, that he’s in a mafia? oh ok because he still doesn’t get it. but lwj doesn’t probe wwx anymore. he’s happy to settle for an oblivious wwx for the moment. he could settle this mafia thing another day.

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

what am i even writing? it sounds so beautiful in my brain. but then again, everything sounds beautiful in my brain at 2.30am after 2 cups of Starbucks.

injustice served.

will be edited when i am actually coherent enough to do math problems.

[dragonwitch77]

Shadow Girl Ch2

“AAAAAAHHHHH! HELP US!”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”

“THEY’RE AFTER US!”

“SOMEONE HELP US! AAAAAAHHHHH!”

The screams of his minions did little to grab his attention. His eyes were glued to the book, reading every line carefully and studying the sentences word by word. It had his full and utter concentration, and nothing would tear him away from it.

“Waaaor!”

Except maybe for the occasional checking glance.

Snatcher looked up from his book, looking down from the stump home of his many minions he had perched himself on the moment he entered the small village. Many of his minions were running around, heading in different directions with a unanimous unspoken agreement to get away from one individual. The said individual who was one not among the dead that was chasing them.

“Waor waor!” Down on the ground chasing the minions was a little girl. No older than four, she was like any typical child would be. Hyper, full of energy, curious of the world all around her, and purely innocent.

Snatcher couldn’t help but smile as the young child ran around his village chasing his minions, roaring like a monster with her little hands up in the air. He noted that her hood had fallen down again, and one of the pigtails was coming undone. He would have to fix that later if not sooner with the kid running around messing it up.

“AAAHHH! HELP! SHE’S CHASING ME!” One of the minions cried out. But Snatcher knew they weren’t in any real danger. None of the minions were. Nor were they screaming in fear. The cheeriness in their tones and attempts to hold in their laughter was a far cry from any fear that would be there if they were in real danger. But, no. It was just a typical game of Monster Chasing.

It was currently the kid’s favorite game this week. It was one of the more ‘quiet’ games that Snatcher preferred her to play other than her more adventurous role playing games. But at least she wasn’t playing with the Fire Spirits or getting stuck in a spider web. Even the Dwellers would join in once in a while for fun chasing or being chased.

“Waor! Wao-ah!” Snatcher’s eyes widened as the small girl tripped, landing face first on the ground. Before he could move to do anything, his minions were already there surrounding the small girl.

“Oh no! Newbie fell!”

“Is she alright?! Is she hurt?!”

“Poor newbie!”

“Check her for any owies!”

The minions helped the small child up, dusting any dirt that might have gotten on her when she fell and checking for any signs of injury. Satisfied that his minions were handling things, Snatcher went back to his book.

It was odd that a ghost would be caring for a child. Much more so a living one. It wasn’t something Snatcher had planned or even wanted. The child simply came into his undead life without warning. He didn’t plan to keep the kid for this long, he had thought of getting rid of her, but he just never found the heart time to do so.

Now he was stuck with a kid he didn’t want in his forest. It wasn’t so bad. His minions tended to do most of the work in keeping the girl entertained and most of them enjoyed playing with her.

“Snatcher!” Hearing his name, he once again peeked over his book down at the small girl looking up at him. Her big blue eyes stared up at him, holding up one of her ribbons. Ah. Her ribbon fell out.

He sighed, setting the book aside and picked up the small girl in his hands. There was one thing that the girl refused anyone to touch and that was her hair. Aside from Snatcher, she never let any of the minions touch it, claiming that they pulled too hard or it wasn’t pretty enough.

Mostly Snatcher had a feeling she only wanted him to do it since he had fingers. And she liked being near him for some reason. “There.” He smiled at his work, finished the ribbon into a bow at the end. “Now don’t try to mess it up.”

Once Snatcher had set her on the ground, the child turned around and blew a kiss at him. He merely rolled his eyes and went back to his book. Giggling, she turned around and started chasing the minions again. “Waor! Waor!”

“OH NO SHE’S BACK! AAAAAAH!” And with that, the game continued.

It was a peaceful day in Subcon. A typical, normal day.

“Aw~! She’s so cute~!”

Until Snatcher got an unsuspecting visit. The ghost nearly jumped in surprise, whirling around to come face to face with the last person he wanted to see today. “Moonjumper!”

“The same.” The corpse giggled. “You seem a little jumpy today Snatcher. Did I manage to catch you off guard?” Moonjumper poked the shadow’s cheek, which was slapped away rather harshly.

“Don’t. Touch me. Shouldn’t you be up in the sky keeping a lookout?”

“I was. But then I spotted my little niece playing with your minions!”

“She’s not your niece.” Snatcher said in a deadpanned tone.

“Then why do you keep her?”

“Because there was no way to get rid of her.” Snatcher growled. “I’ve told you this hundreds of times! I’m only keeping her now because she may be some use to me when she gets older.”

Moonjumper frowned. “Well that’s not very nice. If you wanted to have some servants, you could at least force some intruders to do your bidding. That is what you normally do.” Snatcher glared at him. “And what use would you have of her when she got older?”

“Probably some task that might pop up in the near future that I need her to fix.” Snatcher scoffed. “The only thing I care about is my forest. Whatever happens to her is none of my concern.”

“Got you!” The girl shouted, catching Snatcher and Moonjumper off guard. They glanced at the child, spotting her hugging one of the minions from behind.

“Oh no! You got me!” The minion playfully whined, placing a hand on top their head. “Oh woe is me! She got me! Woe is me!”

Snatcher frowned as most of the other minions shook their heads or groaned. “… Oh.” The child let the minion go from the hug, running over to a different minion and hugged them. “Got you!”

“HEY!”

“Sorry dude.” The minion shrugged, patting the child on the back.

Moonjumper chuckled lightly. “The child certainly knows which minions are her favorite.” His voice caught the attention of the minions and child.

“MOONY!” The girl squealed with delight, letting the minion go and running up to the corpse, holding her arms up.

“Why hello little star! How’s my favorite niece?” Moonjumper picked the child up, holding her to his eye level.

“She’s not your niece!”

“Everyone says otherwise!” Moonjumper stuck his tongue out at Snatcher. “Look how big you’ve gotten! I only see you at a distance but I swear you’ve gotten taller! How old are you now sweetie?”

“I’m thr—” The child started before stopping, holding her hand up with three fingers. “… FOUR!” She finally said, holding up another finger and making Moonjumper and a few minions swoon over her cuteness.

“So CUUUTE~ Now, what would my niece like from uncle Moonjumper? Dancing dolls? A puppet theater? Story time?”

“HEY! Story time is MY job mister!”

“Dolls! Dolls!” The girl chanted, making Moonjumper laugh.

“Dancing dolls it is then! And after that we can play some games and have some snacks and watch the stars and—”

“Annnnd now it’s her bedtime.” Snatcher plucked the child from Moonjumper’s hands, heading off towards his tree home.

“Nooo! Not bedtime Snatcher!” The girl whined.

“Yes. It’s certainly not the child’s bedtime. That’s not for another hour!” Moonjumper followed after the pair much to Snatcher’s dismay. “You can’t send my niece to bed just because I wanted to play with her! You’re being utterly rude! And not to mention messing with the child’s sleeping schedule.”

“She’ll be FINE. And let’s not forget how you kept her up nearly the whole night into the morning that one time.”

“IT WAS JUST ONE TIIIME!” Moonjumper whined, making the young girl giggle.

“Moony funny!”

“Moony has to go bye bye now kid. He needs to be at his post, like he should be.”

“Oh you’re no fun.” Moonjumper huffed with his hands on his hips.

“No. I’m just cautious. I don’t want intruders scampering about in my—”

“Our.”

“In MY forest. I only have room for one living being and that’s all.” The girl looked to Snatcher with confusion on her face.

“What’s scamping?”

“Scampering in when you run in quick light steps all around the place kiddo. You do that with the minions all the time.”

“I do?”

“You sure do! Like a little bunny~” Moonjumper peered over Snatcher’s shoulder, getting shoved away by the shadow.

“Post. NOW. And you. Bed.” This earned a loud groan of complaint from the two. “None of that now! What I say, goes.”

“Fine. Have it your way then.” Moonjumper huffed, turning to leave. “But you don’t need to be so pushy about it.”

Snatcher glared at the corpse a bit before he felt small tugs on his mane. “What is it kiddo?”

“Why you hate Moony?” The child asked, staring up at the ghostly shadow with her big blue eyes.

“I don’t hate him kid. I despise him.” Snatcher growled before shaking his head and sighing. “It’s… an adult business kid. I’ll tell you more about it when you get older.” The child huffed, pressing her face against his chest so deep that the lower part of her face was obscured and only her unhappy eyes were visible. This made Snatcher smirk a little. “Heh. Alright kid. How about a story before you go to bed, hm?”

The mention of a story instantly perked the young girl up. “Yeah! Story! Story! I want story!”

“Alright, settle down. Settle down.” Snatcher chuckled. “How about a story with…” He hummed, thinking up a story to tell the child. “Wiith knights. And a dragon?”

The child gasped with excitement. She loved stories with dragons in them! It was always funny when the dragon burned the knights stinky butts! “Yeah! Yeah! Dragons! Lots a dragons!”

“And some magic?”

“Yes!”

“And some daring adventure?”

“Yes Yes Yes!”

“And cute little princesses?”

“Oh don’t be silly. We don’t add princesses in our stor—WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE?!”

Moonjumper frowned. “I would put a princess in a story.”

“GET. BACK. TO. YOUR. POST.” Snatcher growled through gritting teeth.

“Not until you promise to—URK!”

“POST. NOW.” Snatcher tightened his grip around Moonjumper’s neck. “Or else I’m going to break that neck of yours you little—” He stopped short, looking at the small child in his arms. “… uh, meanie. Yeah let’s just go with that.”

“No! No hurt uncle Snatcher!”

“Okay, kid, we really need to work on your sentences.” Snatcher let Moonjumper’s throat go, turning his focus back on the child. “And on that matter we really should start teaching you about the basics and learn some astronomy and—”

“Boats?”

“Noo. That would be ridiculous.”

“Oh. Well that’s a shame.” Moonjumper rubbed his neck, hoping that he wouldn’t find any marks left behind later. “Because I saw some ships that were nearing along the coast line of the forest that looked interesting enough to study.”

“Well the kid isn’t going to le—I beg your pardon?”

“There are ships coming at the coast line of the forest. BIG ones.”

A cold pit formed in Snatcher, gripping the child closer to his chest.

“Snatcher?”

“Sorry kiddo. Story time will have to wait.” Snatcher hurried to the tree, Moonjumper following behind in pace with him. “Snatcher has to go somewhere really quick and check it out.”

“But story!” The child whined as she was placed on her bed. “And dragons!”

“Kiddo, I promise when I come back, I tell you a story.” Snatcher started to pull away, but the child quickly grabbed his hand.

“No go! Snatcher need to tell story!”

“I will! When I get back kid. I just need to make sure that—” He stopped, looking at Moonjumper. The corpse only shrugged. He didn’t know how to help at the moment. “Okay, look, kid.” Snatcher sighed, turning back to the small girl. “How about when I get back, I’ll tell you an extra story? Hm? Would you like that?”

The child looked into the shadow’s eyes. She liked Snatcher’s stories. They were always funny and cool. But she really didn’t want him to go either. She didn’t like sleeping without Snatcher there. But an extra story…

Snatcher could almost chuckle at the cute look on the child’s face as she tried to decide what she wanted, though he wished she would hurry up soon. The longer she took, the more he worried about those ships getting closer.

“Snatcher.” Moonjumper was a little more impatient, clenching and unclenching his hands on his arms, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“I’ll be there just hold on.” Snatcher shot back before looking at the child. “Well kiddo?”

The young girl really didn’t want Snatcher to go, but the idea of an extra story was very tempting. Finally with her mind made up, she let Snatcher’s hand go with a pout. “Back soon?”

“I’ll be gone and back before you know it kid.” Snatcher promised, floating out the tree. “Just stay in the tree and wait there! Smell ya later!”

“Do you really think she’ll stay there when we get back?” Moonjumper asked as the pair took to the sky.

“Of course not. Why do you think I have minions stationed around there in the first place?” Snatcher huffed, breaking through the trees to the sky above Subcon.

“I knew they were placed there for a reason.” Moonjumper mused.

“Alright, enough chitchat! Where are those ships you mentioned?”

Moonjumper pointed to where the forest met the sea, out in a distance where a pair of large ships were sailing. Snatcher summoned a telescope, looking through it and frowned deeply.

“Well? Is it a false alarm? Or are we going to have some company?”

Snatcher was quiet a moment, studying the ships carefully.

“Snatcher?”

The shadow huffed, squishing the telescope between his hands which then evaporated into nothing. “Looks like we have far away visitors coming to pay a visit.”

“Imperials? Monarchs? Pirates?”

“More along the lines of travelers sent out by a sovereign.” Snatcher crossed his arms, not liking this one bit. “They seem to look like they’re on an expedition.”

“Well that doesn’t seem so—”

“An expedition for take over.”

Moonjumper frowned, looking out at the ships that were sailing closer and closer to the forest. “… Really?”

“Well if cannons, spears, handful of armed knights, and barrels of gun powered is somehow their friendly way of saying hello, they probably haven’t heard of our customs.”

“What if the cannons are full of confetti?”

“Who in their right mind would fill a cannon with confetti?” Snatcher sighed, pinching his face. “You know what? Let’s not dwell on that and focus more on the situation here.”

Moonjumper smiled, cracking his fingers one by one. “Soo… I take left, you take right?”

A deep smirk crossed Snatcher’s face. “Only if you’re willing to lose.”

Moonjumper laughed, disappearing in a flash of dark pixels as Snatcher took off diving into the shadows.

~~***~~

She didn’t like waiting. Waiting was boring! And boring was a bad thing like timeouts and eating nasty veggies.

She didn’t like veggies. They tasted yucky! Not like the sweet stuff uncle Moony brought her when Snatcher wasn’t looking. Those were yummy! She wished that Snatcher wasn’t so mean to uncle Moony so much so that he could visit her more often and give her more yummy stuff.

She sighed, flopping over on her stomach on her bed. “It no fair Mr. Floppy Ears. Snatcher promised story. Yet he weft with no story! Oh! Left. Left. Left. Left. Snatcher says I need to pract my words better. Left left left!”

Snatcher told her that she need to work on her words since she was getting to be a big girl. But uncle Moony says she was fine speaking like that.

“He promise two stories when he come back. But when he come back Mr. Floppy Ears!” Mr. Floppy Ears was silent. “Yeah! He take looooooooooooooo—(Deep breath)—ooooooooooong time!”

She rolled over on her back, looking up at Mr. Floppy Ears and giggled seeing him upside down. “Uncle Moony says Snatcher goes on importan stuff. Snatcher goes for very looong time before come back.” She frowned. “Uncle Moony always fun when Snatcher gone. Makes you dance silly! And makes funny shows with you and Puff and Flip!” Her frown deepened. “… but uncle Moony left with Snatcher.”

She sat up, turning around and picking Mr. Floppy Ears up. “They left Mr. Floppy Ears! With no story! Snatcher say to wait, but I want story!” She huffed, looking out the tree. She smiled. “I go to story.” She slid off the bed, walking with Mr. Floppy Ears in her arms to the front of the tree. She peeked out.

Snatcher left minions behind to watch her when he left. He didn’t like it when she left the tree on her own. Something about it being bad? She didn’t know. And didn’t really care.

She smiled when she looked to the right and saw the funny fire foxes dancing around the fire. Snatcher didn’t like the fire foxes, but he kept these foxes next to the tree. Saying he needed them for a wall? But why? All they did was dance around a fire and Snatcher didn’t like it when she got close to them.

She would play with them later. She needed to find Snatcher and get her stories first. Climbing out of the tree and walking slowly down the root to the land, she started on her way to find Snatcher.

“Newbie’s out of the tree!” She froze, stopping in place as four minions popped out of nowhere and surrounded her.

“Newbie! What are you doing?”

“Boss said you needed to stay in the tree.”

“Yeah! You need to stay inside the tree till he gets back!”

“He won’t be happy if he catches you out of the tree.”

She huffed, hugging Mr. Floppy Ears closer. “He left! No story!”

The minions looked at each other. “Story?”

“Is she talking about her bedtime stories?”

“Boss does like to tell her stories.”

“He left! No story!”

“Newbie, calm down. I’m sure boss will be back soon to tell you stories.”

“No! He left! I go find him for story!” She pushed past the minions, trying to get away from them and find Snatcher, but they blocked her path.

“No newbie! Boss doesn’t want you out of the tree when he’s away!”

“He gets really mad when you don’t listen.”

“And he doesn’t want you wandering around on your own!”

“You might get hurt and get owies!”

She frowned. She did hate getting owies. They hurt. But she wanted her stories!

“Listen. How about we tell you a story?”

“What?” Three minions looked at the middle minion in shock but her eyes lit up. A story from a minion and two stories from Snatcher? That was THREE STORIES!

“YES! YESYESYESYES! Gimme story!” She hopped up and down, really wanting the story.

“Oh great. Now you made the newbie want a story from us.”

“What? There’s nothing wrong giving the newbie a story.”

“Nothing wrong?! Do you not know how the boss gets when someone other than him tells the newbie stories?!”

“The last time Moonjumper told her a story, boss was livid for WEEKS!”

“Not to mention that the boss made it very clear that he doesn’t want other people telling the newbie stories!”

“Story?”

“Sorry newbie. You’re not getting a story.”

“… no… story?” Her lip trembled. No… story? She wasn’t getting a… story? But. But she liked stories! Why wasn’t she getting a story?!

“… Ooooh no.”

“NO! Don’t cry newbie!”

“Please don’t cry!”

“Y-yeah! Don’t cry! You don’t need to cry!”

“Story…” Her eyes were getting watery. All she wanted was a story.

“OKAY! OKAY! We’ll tell you a story!”

“YEAH! We’ll tell you a GREAT story!”

“A really really great story!”

“You’ll be begging to hear it again!”

“… weally?” She rubbed her eye.

“Yes! It’ll be a story you will remember forever!”

She smiled. That sounded great! “Tell! Tell!”

“O-okay, uh, um. O-Once upon a time in a village, uh, far, FAR away—”

“—there were four bestest buddies in the whole wide world!”

“Who really liked to get into mischief a lot—”

“—because they wanted to have fun!”

“And these buddies got into a LOT of trouble—”

“—TONS of trouble!”

“Very big trouble.”

“Well. You guys did.”

Three minions turned the heads at the minion.

“… what? It’s the truth. You guys always got into trouble.”

“YOU got into trouble too!”

“Only because you dragged me along!”

“Oh Yeah? What about that time you tried to steal a pie?”

“You guys made me do it!”

“No way!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“You did it by yourself dude!”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did.”

“No I didn’t!”

“Yes you did!”

“No I DIDN’T!”

“YES YOU DID!”

“NO I DIDN’T!” The minion jumped on the minion next to them, slapping them and tumbling around on the ground. The other two minions jumped on top of them and then proceeded to fight.

She… was confused. Did he steal the pie or not?

She wanted to know, but Snatcher always told her that she shouldn’t get close to minions that were roughhousing or she would get owies. Thinking of Snatcher reminded her of way she was out of the tree. She needed to find him and get her story!

She couldn’t go forward since she wasn’t allowed near roughhousing minions and she couldn’t go to the swampy part of the forest. She gazed towards the fiery part of the forest. Snatcher always said that she could visit there someday when she was older. She was older now! She could go in there and find Snatcher!

The only thing standing between her and the fiery forest was a fence, but that was easy! She just crawled under it and came out the other side. The minions were still fighting, so they wouldn’t be busy watching her as she made her way inside the burny, fiery, hot part of the forest all on her own.

She was such a smart kid!

~~***~~

“There it is. Subcon Forest. A real nasty work if you ask me.”

“So that’s what it looks like. I always imagined it to be creepy. But not this creepy.”

“Did you ever imagined trying to invade it?”

“Not really…” The young soldier frowned, looking at the helmet in his hands. “Why are we invading? Subcon really hasn’t given us a reason to invade them before.”

“Ba! Who knows?” His companion leaned against the side, staring out at the large forest they were heading to. “King probably wants more land or resources or something. Can’t really tell with him. His advisor might have an idea, but he probably won’t tell any of us lowly peasants.”

“Still, don’t you think it’s odd?”

“About what?”

“No one has ever come out of Subcon over hundreds of years, right?”

“So they say.”

“Are we even sure there’s anyone living in that forest?”

“Living? Pfft. Sure are.” The two soldiers turned to the third knight who was leaning his back against the railing that had joined them. “I’ve heard that there was at least one living person spotted living in that forest. People just assume everyone else is just too shy to come out of that forest to say hi.”

“I wonder why.”

“Probably because of that old legend about the crazy king and the mask.”

“Old legend? What’s that?”

“You haven’t heard of it?”

“You’ve got to be kidding. No one hasn’t heard of the old legend about this place!”

“I know of a mask and the king.”

“So, you had heard of it.”

“Probably. I do tend to hear a lot of stuff now and then and different versions of any story.”

“Then you should know about the old legend about how an old king used an evil mask to control his kingdom and how he used it for evil deeds and wicked tasks against the different nations before the rose up against him!”

“I heard he used it to separate his kingdom from the rest of the world.”

“Yeah, I heard that too. The nations had such a big army that the crazy king used his mask to push the lands far away, breaking them into islands that made new kingdoms! The mask has crazy power!”

“Get real. The mask isn’t really real. And neither was the king. Subcon’s residents are probably just too cowardly to show their faces or reach out to anyone. Guess seeing two ships ready for battle will wake them up from their illusion of a peaceful dream to the harsh reality of the world when we dock.”

“I’m pretty sure someone should have seen us by now.” The young knight glance at the second ship sailing beside them. “I mean, two big ships coming from a different land armed to the teeth just to invade. That really not the best welcoming party I know.”

“You’re right. It isn’t. I’m pretty sure Subcon’s residents wouldn’t be too happy about it either! Especially the Snatcher!”

“… who?”

“… You’re kidding.”

“No. Who is the ‘Snatcher’?”

“That’s an odd name to give someone at birth.”

“Oh for the love of! The SNATCHER! Ghostly being?! Stealer of souls?! The living shadow!”

“OH! You mean HIM!”

“Oh yeah! Yeah! I know him!”

“Yeah, heard a lot about him!”

“Yeah a really spooky guy. Don’t want to run into him on a dark night.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“… you have no idea who I’m talking about.”

“Nnnope!”

“Sorry.”

“Who would call themselves the Snatcher? That’s ridiculous!”

“Besides, there’s no such thing as living shadows.”

“Or ghosts. Ghosts are pretty dumb.”

“Yeah, I used to be afraid of them when I was a kid but now? Not so much.”

“When you get older, you start realizing how dumb things are now that you know things better.”

“Ghosts are pretty dumb.”

“Yep. Not even the brightest. I mean, what can a ghost do? Float? Yeah, really scary.”

“I obviously don’t believe in ghosts at this point. I mean have you seen a ghost?”

“No. Have you?”

“Not in my life. Have you?”

“… Every… Single… Day.”

“Okay you’re obviously lying. There’s no way you could ever have seen a ghost every day.”

“Yeah, also, what’s up with your voice?”

“… PECK IT.”

“Wh—” The young knight started before the knight they were talking to evaporated and a large shadowy being stood over them, glaring with deep anger.

“DUMB? YOU WANT TO SEE DUMB? WELL, TOO BAD!”

The knight coward in fear, staring up at the shadowy being that was towering over them.

“YOU GET THE NOT SO NICE GHOST.”

With that, the shadow lunged at them and attacked the ship. It was an uproar in that moment as soldiers were blasted and had their souls ripped out of their bodies, not even noticing the second ship being attacked by their own enemy with red strings.

~~***~~

She was a smart girl.

Snatcher told her that often when she did something new. Like when she climbed a tree without help. Or when she played hide and seek with him and hid with all the other minions so he wouldn’t find her. Or the time she painted a picture of her, Snatcher, the minions, Dwellers, and uncle Moony!

Though, uncle Moony was gone from the picture last time she saw it.

Oh well! She could make more paint uncle Moonys later! She needed to find Snatcher and get her stories!

… but, where was he?

She looked around, turning to find the familiar shadowy being. He wasn’t anywhere nearby, and she couldn’t see very far between the trees.

Maybe he wasn’t here? But he wasn’t here, then where was he? Uncle Moony said that the forest was a big place. Maybe he was deeper in?

“Snatcher is hard to find Mr. Floppy Ears. I no see him in forest.” She hugged Mr. Floppy Ears closely. “I no give up! I want story! Find Snatcher and get story!”

She huffed, continuing on her path to find Snatcher and get her story!

“We’re going the wrong way!”

“No we are not!”

She stopped. Did she hear voices?

“Yes we are! We’re supposed to be at the tower!”

“And we’re getting there!”

“Does this looking anything like a tower?!”

“We would be getting there sooner if you would just shut up and follow me!”

“You don’t even know where we are!”

She looked around, but couldn’t see anybody. Where was the voices coming from?

“Well we’re somewhere in the forest heading towards one of the towers.”

“That’s not comforting at all!”

“Hello?” She called out, looking for the voices. “Is anybody there?” Something flew past her ear, making her jump and let out a squeak of fear.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT?!”

“I was just defending myself!”

“AGAINST A CHILD?! REALLY?!”

“It could be a ghost disguised as a child!”

“You are such an idiot Naon!”

She hugged Mr. Floppy Ears tightly. These voices were loud. Loud like when Snatcher got angry. And when Snatcher was angry he got scary. And she didn’t like scary things. Scary things were bad. Uncle Moony always told her to hide at the tree when bad scary things appeared.

“Oh! Wait! Don’t go!”

“Maka! Don’t go down there!”

She looked up, spotting something jumping out of the trees and land in front of her. She froze up. This didn’t look like a minion or a Dweller. She whimpered, backing away from this new thing.

~~***~~

“No no no no! Don’t be scared! I’m not going to hurt you.” Maka softly spoke. “Did Naon scare you?”

“I didn’t scare anyone! That’s a ghost Maka!”

“She is not a ghost!” Maka shouted up in the tree Naon was still hiding up in. She turned back to the child, smiling softly. “Don’t listen to that big meanie. He’s just being paranoid.”

The little girl clutched her doll close to her chest, her wide big blue eyes staring up at her with fear in them. “w… what’s par… par… parnod?”

Maka’s smile widened, kneeling down so she was smaller so not to spook that child. “Paranoid means that he’s scared and jumpy. Like a big old scaredy cat.”

“HEY! I am NOT a scaredy cat!”

Maka shot a frown over her shoulder before looking back at the scared child before her. “What are you doing in this forest sweetie? Are you lost?”

The child was silent for a moment before nodding her head.

“Are you trying to find something?”

The child nodded again.

“We’re trying to find something too. And we got lost too.”

“Again! We’re not lost! Just off track!”

Maka frowned, turning to look behind her as her partner jumped down from the tree. “That’s the same difference Naon!”

“Look, we’re not going to get anywhere talking to some ghost disguised as a little kid!”

“She’s not a ghost!”

“You don’t know that!” She looked back the child, finding her backing away with fear on her face. “Oh. Oh no, don’t cry sweetie! We’re just being angry at each other.” She knelt down in front of the child, rubbing her head gently. “My name is Maka and he’s Naon.”

“Don’t tell it our names.” Naon whined.

“What’s your name?”

The child fiddled with her doll, drawing a circle in the ground. “… kiddo.”

Maka frowned. “N-no. I mean your name. What do your parents call you?”

The child blinked, tilting her head. “What’s parents?”

Her frown deepened. “… your mommy and daddy.”

“I no have mommy and daddy!”

Maka felt her heart stop a moment.

“Whoa whoa whoa. Back up! How can you not know what a mommy and daddy is? Or have any?” Naon stepped forward, making the little girl back away. “Someone has to be taking care of you! You got clothes on and you don’t look to be starving.”

Maka looked at the child carefully. Naon was right. The child did appear to be healthy. But she did question the clothes. Purple raggy clothing with a matching poncho. The only thing that wasn’t colored purple was the two pink bows in her brown hair that were kept in two tiny pigtails.

“Don’t you have any siblings? A cousin? An aunt or an uncle?”

“Uncle? I have uncle!”

“You do?” Maka asked.

“Yeah! Yeah! Uncle Moony! He fun uncle!”

“And where is uncle Moony?”

“He over…” The child glanced around, her smile slowly looking around the forest. “He over… over…”

“… Are you lost little one?”

“Obviously.”

“Shut it Naon.”

The child looked back at her. “Uncle Moony no here.”

“I see. Well, how about I help you find uncle Moony then?”

The child’s face lit up brightly. “Really?!”

“Maka! You can’t just abandon the mission!”

“You can go ahead if you want to Naon. I’m not letting this child get lost any further.” She picked the child up, carefully sitting her on her hip.

“It could be a trap!”

“Would a ghost really go as far as to disguise themselves as a human being?”

“Master won’t like this.”

“I wouldn’t like what?”

Maka and Naon jumped. They quickly turned to the voice. “Master!”

There standing before them was Master. Deep black cloak with his special mask on his face, eye boring at them with unamusement before looking at the child in Maka’s arms. “Why is there a child in your arms Maka? I don’t recall you bring one for this important mission.”

“We just found this child here sir.”

“It’s a ghost in disguise! I keep telling her but she won’t—”

“The child is not a ghost Naon. A ghost would need considerable amounts of energy to make a disguise this convincing and hold it for this long.” The Master spoke, cutting off Naon and walking up to Maka.

The young girl eyed him warily, hiding part of her face against Maka’s chest.

“Hello child. How are you?” The child let out a small squeak of fear, hiding her face more from the Master. “Shy aren’t we? Do you have a name?” The child shook her head. “Really? Now that can’t be right. You must have a name now, don’t you?”

“Master. We don’t have time for this. The longer we stand around here, more the more time we waste.”

The Master was silent, contemplating Naon words. He was right, in a sense. The more they focused on this random child, the more they were getting off track of their mission. The ship were likely being attacked by now, so it was only a matter of time getting to the tower.

“… Very well. We’ll worry about the child later.”

“But sir—”

“You may bring the child if you wish Maka. But we must focus on our task first.”

“… yes sir.”

“Good. Now I believe the tower is this way. Keep close. Especially you Naon.”

“Oh come on! I wasn’t lost!”

~~***~~

Moonjumper hummed, marveling at his handy work with glee. The boat was practically destroyed, with bits and pieces floating on the waves along with bodies of soldiers. He didn’t exactly know what he was going to do with this boat, but he figured he could take some of it apart and make it in a smaller boat for his little niece to play with.

His smile broadened. Thinking of his little niece with a pirate hat on her little head with a wooden sword in her tiny hands was a cute thought. One that needed to come to fruition.

“Whelp. I’m done on my end.” Snatcher floated over to him, a few souls in hand. “Could have gone better than I wanted to. So how’s your ship fairing?”

“Better than yours I suppose.” Moonjumper cast a quick glance at Snatcher’s ship, which was nothing else than a few scraps on fire quickly sinking to the sea. “You really have a dramatic for flair in your attacks.”

“Please. I could have done better.” Snatcher shrugged, shoving the souls in his mouth and swallowing them whole. The action made Moonjumper cringed, finding the act rather gruesome and inhumane. “Don’t give me that look. You used to do it too.” Snatcher licked his finger.

“That was before I knew what I was doing was wrong.”

“Whatever. You’re missing out on a good meal here.” Snatcher shrugged, heading off towards the forest. “Anyway, I better get back to the kid. No doubt she’s trying to escape to get her stories.”

“Or you.” Moonjumper followed after him. “She’s really attached to you you know.”

Snatcher scoffed. “Please. She only likes me because I tell her stories and put bows in her hair. Between the two of us she prefers you over me more.”

“Ouch. That must be hard to admit.”

“DON’T PUSH IT. I still don’t like you hanging around the kid. You’re a bad influence on her!”

“I’m a bad influence? Mister, you do realize that you hardly are even a better role model for her than I.”

“Like what?”

“Well for starters, who keeps taking their eyes off her often?”

“I have to patrol my forest mister! And besides, the minions keep an eye on her for me.”

“Who keeps forgetting that she’s afraid of the dark?”

“The whole forest is dark! You can’t blame me for that!”

“Who keeps on getting her into trouble with spiders?”

“For the record, you’re half of the blame there.”

“And let’s not forget that one incident with the Fire Spirits and the swa—”

“OKAY! I GET ALREADY!”

Moonjumper smirked.

“But let’s also look at the fact that you don’t tend to have the best intentions for the kid either.”

His smirk quickly fell into a frown. “What? Don’t be absurd! I have the best intentions for her health and life!”

“You keep giving her sweets for food. She’s going to get fat before she reaches the age of ten!”

Moonjumper sputtered. “She is not going to get fat! And there’s nothing wrong with giving her sweets!”

“All she ever wants to eat are sweets! And further more—” Snatcher suddenly froze, putting a hand to his chest.

Moonjumper stopped, eyeing the shadow carefully. “Snatcher?”

“… something’s wrong with my tower.” Snatcher gazed in the direction of a tall tower covered in fire and thick spiky vines. “I… I have to check it out.” He changed his course, veering away from his original intended path to his tree.

“Wh—Wait! Snatcher! What about the child?!”

“KEEP AN EYE ON HER!” Snatcher shouted over his shoulder before disappearing, leaving the corpse to hover there confused.

He could have gone after the shadow, but for years he dared not to go anywhere near his tower. Snatcher only had two things that Moonjumper knew he was very protective of. First being the forest and its inhabitants. Second being his tower. He didn’t know why Snatcher was so protective of it. No amount of poking or asking ever got him to open up about it.

And it wasn’t a good idea to go anywhere near it since last time he did, he ended up with broken bones and deep scars. Since then, he had lost any interest to go anywhere near there. But, what exactly was going on over there that would draw Snatcher’s attention? He could follow to find out.

… Ooor.

His eyes landed on the tree with a giant vine wrapped around it in the distance, smiling widely. Maybe he could take this little chance to spend some time with his niece after all.

~~***~~

Cold.

She wasn’t used to cold. Snatcher always made sure she stayed warm wrapped up in blankies and uncle Moony gave her funny looking mud water that tasted great. But Snatcher wouldn’t let her make mud water. Something about it not being mud?

She shivered, snuggling against the nice lady. What was her name again? Maka? Yes that sounded right. Maka was a nice lady. Even if she wore dark clothing and a funny mask on her face like the other two. The mask reminded her of the ghosties that were in the forest and love to funny moves and chase her in Monster Chasing. And they had pretty colors.

“Are you cold, little one?”

She looked up at the nice lady, nodding her head.

“It’ll be alright. Soon we’ll reach the tower and be out of the cold.”

She smiled, nuzzling the nice lady. She was so nice! She never met someone as nice as her. Well, uncle Moony was nice too. But he didn’t count!

“Maka. Come take a look.” The loud one called out.

She didn’t like the loud one. He was mean, and loud, and stupid. So he gets no name. Mr. Floppy Ears said so.

“What is it?” The nice lady went up to them. “… oh.”

Why was the nice lady suddenly quiet? She looked to where the nice lady was looking. Her mouth fell open in shock as she gazed up the big tower that was in front of them.

“… big.”

~~***~~

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE GOT PAST YOU?! YOU FOUR WERE IN CHARGE OF WATCHING OVER HER AND YET YOU’RE TELLING ME YOU LOST HER?!”

The four minions cringed, looking at the ground in disappointment.

Moonjumper growled, facepalming with one hand and clenching his other tightly. “One. Job. You four had. One. Simple. Job. And you botched it up! Not only were so preoccupied with fighting over some petty squabble, you also managed to lose my niece?!”

“We didn’t know she would wander off when we were fighting.”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER! My little niece is out there on her own and you four have done nothing but argue instead of searching for her! How does Snatcher deal with you IDIOTS?!” Moonjumper huffed. “… Now is not the time to be yelling at you. I need to find my little niece before she gets hurt.”

“We’ll hel—”

“NO!” Moonjumper roared, causing the four to cower in fear. “Absolutely not! You four will be nothing but trouble! You couldn’t keep an eye on her and when I come back there will be consequences to your actions!”

The minions trembled as he left to go look for the small child.

~~***~~

“This tower seems bigger on the inside. It feels like we’ve been climbing forever.” Naon said, glancing down the side of the stairs they were ascending. Kicking a small pebble, he watched as it fell. When it disappeared and he couldn’t hear it land, he chuckled nervously. “Yikes. Don’t think anyone would survive a fall like that.”

“It does feel like this place is going on forever.” Maka agreed. “This place doesn’t feel normal. Almost like we’re in a different place. Yet… not.”

“Then it must mean we are on the right track.” The Master gazed upwards. “But luck would have it, we do not have far to go now.”

“Thank goodness! I was getting tired of walking up these steps.”

“Don’t be hasty Naon. This is only minion to what we have to do now.” The Master stopped at the top of the stairs, looking about the small stone bare room. Icicles hung from the ceiling and covered the floor, jutting out like swords that were placed about with no meaning.

The Master gazed intently at the ice, feeling dark power radiating off it. Just the same as the power radiating below them deep underground.

“Ice!”

“Yes child. This whole place is covered in ice. Be careful and don’t slip.” The Master gazed over as Maka led the child up the stairs, making sure she didn’t slip or step on any ice patches. Naon was right behind them, keeping an eye on the child and the ground.

“Hurry up. The item we seek is near.” The Master turned his focus to one side of the room that was covered in thick ice. Calmly, he walked over to it, taking out a small vial and opening it. Tipping it over, drops of green liquid landed on the ice. Once the liquid touched the ice, it began to crack and melt. Satisfied, he put the small vial away, waiting for the ice to melt away.

“Made it!” The child cheered as she hopped up the last step.

“Yes you did! Good job!” Maka cheered, clapping her hands as the child did a little twirl.

The Master couldn’t help but smile a little behind his mask at the child’s antics. Such a young mind and innocent of the world around her. He always envied that of young children.

“Come. Our path is almost at an end.” The Master beckoned his group to follow, heading up the wet stairs to a trap door. It took some force for it to move before it opened, letting a full blast of cold air seep in. Stepping out into the cold, The Master gazed around, his eyes landing on the center of the room where a single pedestal stood.

It looked harmless enough, but it was the box that sat on top that The Master was after. The deep thick chains made of magic wrapped around it intrigued him to step closer and inspect it. It was there, just in reach, yet so far away out of touch.

Naon poked his head out, spying the pedestal and the box. “Whoa. So it really is here.” He said with slight awe, stepping up on the floor with Maka not far behind him with the child.

“Yes. But we must be quick now. We cannot dawdle now.”

Maka eyed the box, feeling the power coming off it. “It feels… suffocating.” She clutched a hand to her chest, pulling the child close to her leg.

The child looked between the box and everyone, confusion written on her face. “What that?”

“That, child, is a powerful artifact. The very reason we are here.” The Master stepped closer to the pedestal, yet dared not to get too close to it. “With this our troubles will be far behind us and the kingdom.”

Naon nodded his head, stepping forward next to The Master. “Well, best we get this done now. The weather certainly isn’t being nice to us.”

~~***~~

Moonjumper was panicking.

Not only was his niece gone, but he had no clue to where to look for her. The village was out of the question for searching. The minions living there would have brought her back to the tree. She couldn’t have gotten into the swamp. The Fire Spirits were still there and barrier was still up. So that only left the burning part of the forest.

Still not an ideal safe place for a child, yet Snatcher didn’t put any barrier or wall to prevent a small child from wandering inside like he did with the swamp and ruins. He would have a strong talk with him later once he found his niece.

Right now he was more worried that the young girl would burn herself or have a run in with spiders or, even worse yet, one of Vanessa’s living ice statues. He would never forgive himself if something happened to the child and he wasn’t there protecting her.

Just as he was looking in one of the tree houses, he felt a thrum of power. His flying faltered for a slight moment before he caught himself.

“What the-?!”

Surprised and shocked, he turned to where the wave of power came from. The tower. The one covered in ice. He could feel it pulsing with dark energy, even from the great distance he was at.

Someone was at the tower.

His first thought was to rush over and see what was going on, but his mind drifted to his niece and worried about her safety. He wanted to find her first, but the tower was just as important. He knew what was there. He knew it had to be guarded.

But at the same time, his worry for his niece bled in.

He had to find her, to make sure she was okay. But he didn’t know how long that would take or if he ever would find her in time before whoever was at the tower was gone.

If he went to the tower first, he could stop whatever was going up there.

But with a cost of potentially losing his niece…

~~***~~

The box pulsed with power like a beating heart, sending wave after wave of dark magic in the air. The air felt colder, fear was emanating, and all anyone could do was stare at it in mixed awe.

The Master, standing closest to the box, gingerly held out a hand, touching the wood with light taps before taking it in his grasp.

“… WOW. That was… this is…” Naon started, trying to find the words yet failing to come up with any that could speak what was on his mind. Maka could only numbly nod her head, having no power to speak or take her eyes off the box.

The one who was greatly effected however, was the small girl pressed against the stone pillar with her doll clutched tightly to her chest. No one in the room could feel the power so great such as she did. Her eyes were wide, her heart rate going up to concerning rates, and cold pit of fear was overtaking her. But that wasn’t all she felt.

She could feel something. Something bad and wrong coming from the box. Something that made her feel small, helpless, and scared.

Maka took notice of the child’s distress, slowly moving towards her as her limbs felt numb and out of place than they normally did.

“… such power.” The Master whispered, feeling the power pulsing through his very core. He never felt such power before. Never in such great volume.

“Master?” Naon quietly called out. The Master was quiet for a moment before shaking his head, turning to Naon.

“We should start heading back now. There’s no doubt that someone felt that power surge and will come check it out. We need to leave. Now.”

“Yes Master. I don’t want to be caught in the cold. It makes my joints ache.” Naon joked, though there was a noticeable lack of any real humor in his tone.

“Come now child. Let’s go.” Maka held her hand out for the child to take, but the young girl’s attention went past her and spying a figure fast approaching the tower.

“UNCLE MOONY!” She cheered, catching the three off guard.

~~***~~

“Little star?!” Moonjumper couldn’t believe it as he approached the tower. There was his niece with three dark cloaked figures with masks. One holding the box, and another in front of his niece.

That sight set off warning bells in his head and he charged forward. His magic surged, creating strings that materialized out of thin air and shot forward at the three figures.

To his disappointment, the three evaded his strings, jumping out of the way before they could land their mark. This didn’t stop him so easily. Commanding the strings, they followed after the strangers, making sure to maneuver the strangers away from his niece. He didn’t want them or his stringers accidentally hurting her.

His main objective was to get the box. The power coming from it was bad, and needed to be sealed away again.

“Hold still and let my strings grab you!” He growled as, somehow, the three cloaked figures kept getting away from his strings.

Until one grabbed at his string, giving it a mighty tug that surprised Moonjumper at how strong the pull was as he was suddenly pulled down and into the tower, landing in a heap. The fall left his dazed till a burning pain in his back snapped him out of it. With a roar of anger, he leapt up and turned to face his attacker.

Using a bit of his magic, his strings bundled together, weaving into a sword. Grabbing the handle, he swung at his attacker. To his credit, the attacker had thought that the sword was a useless weapon being made out of string, but was quickly proven wrong when they sidestepped away and the sword got nothing but the cloak, leaving a clean cut in it.

Moonjumper grinned, swinging again and again at the figure who evaded his attacks with great skill. He did not get to enjoy the feeling long as he was attacked from the side. Growling, he made another sword and began fight with the three figures in cloaks all at once.

He couldn’t risk going all out. Not with the chance of harming his little niece. His best option was to battle these figures. He knew they would tire out soon. They were still living being after all. He could keep this up forever and snot feel the strain of it.

Raising one sword up, he brought it down fast at one of the figures pinned against a pillar, smiling with glee as they could not get away and only held their arms up for protection. His glee was short lived however as when his sword made contact with the figure’s arms, it bent. Confused, he brought it up close to his face for inspection, wondering why it bent when it was supposed to slash.

He didn’t have long to inspect it however as he was suddenly clocked in the jaw. The punch was powerful enough to send him to the ground, and it was then that he realized how tired he was. But that was impossible! He shouldn’t feel weak!

He then kicked in the gut, slashed at the arms, kicked in the face, and then stabbed through the chest by the three figures, slamming against a pillar and pinned there.

“Uncle Moony!”

Moonjumper weakly cracked open his eyes, spying his little niece. “l-little star…” His voice crack, coughing as the sword in his chest was making rather difficult to speak. He wanted to scream at his niece to run, to get help or at least get away from the danger of these strangers.

Unfortunately, his niece decided to run towards him and the three cloaked figures. His heart sank as one figure turned their head towards his niece.

“Uncle Moony?! I knew it! The kid IS a ghost!”

“Naon! No! She’s not a—”

“Can it Maka!” The one known as Naon stepped between him and his niece, stopping her in her tracks and gazing up at the cloaked figure in fear. “I knew it was only a disguise! Its been fooling us this whole time!”

Horror pooled inside Moonjumper as Naon took out a dagger.

“Naon! No! Leave them be! We got what we came for! We must leave now!”

Naon seemed to falter a bit. For a moment, Moonjumper hoped that Naon would leave his young niece alone.

But in one quick motion, Naon swung his arm, hitting his niece and sending her flying to the ground. Anger bubbled in him. Glaring daggers at the Naon as the one known as Maka rushed forward and grabbed Naon.

“Naon stop! Don’t hurt her!”

“Don’t Hurt It?! Do you realize that it set a trap here?! Fooling us with that fake kid disguise?!”

“Ghosts can’t bleed!”

“What?!”

“There’s blood on your knife!” Maka pointed to the dagger. Blood dripped off the steel, landing on the cold ground.

Eyes turned to the child, slowly picking herself up, holding her bleeding cheek in one hand as tears rolled down her face.

Before anyone could move, there was a deep growl. An inhuman growl. One that shook the very core inside Moonjumper.

He knew that growl anywhere.

In a flash, the three cloaked figures were smacked aside by a shadowy appendage. The child was dragged over to him, and Snatcher glared darkly at them, hovering over the child protectively with an arm shielding her.

“NEVER TOUCH THE KID!”

Moonjumper could almost smirk. He knew he loved her.

“Sna-nat-ch-cher!” The child hiccuped and sniffled, fat big tears falling down her face.

Snatcher cast a quick glance at the girl before turning to Moonjumper with a deep scowl on his face. “Why didn’t you take her someplace safe?!” He growled, grabbing the sword and pulling it out.

Moonjumper grunted in pain, rubbing his chest. “To be fair, I didn’t get much of a chance to.”

Snatcher huffed, patting the child gently on the back as she cried against him. His eyes were trained on the three figures as they picked themselves up. “So, mind telling me what you’re all doing here. And more importantly.” His eyes landed on the box clutched in one figure’s hands. “What you plan to do with that.”

“None of your business ghost!”

“Naon! Shut up! You’re making things worse!”

Snatcher growled, sending a wave of his own power out. “Better watch your tongue boy!”

“And do please try to think before you speak. Whatever you say next will determine your fate.”

“It is none of your concern.” The one figure who held the box spoke. “Only know that we have gotten what we came for, and if you may somehow stop us, the others have already gotten the other half we need.”

“Oh, they were friends over yours?” Snatcher smirked. “They made a nice treat when I got there. Though they weren’t much of a fight as I would have liked.”

“YOU PECK!” Naon shouted, charging at them. His path was blocked as thick thorny black vines shot out from beneath.

“LANGUAGE! There’s a kid here!” Snatcher turned to the child, pulling away slightly. “Kid, stay here. Snatcher and Moonboy—” “HEY!” “Need to take care of this real quick.”

With that, the vines dropped down and the pair lunged out, claws and strings ready for round two.

The child watched as her two guardians battled with the three not so nice people. She pressed up against the pillar, making herself as small as possible. She had never seen Snatcher or uncle Moony like this before. And Snatcher was angry, which made him scary.

She hugged herself, but then realized something was missing. Looking down, she found that Mr. Floppy Ears was missing! Oh no! Looking around, she spotted him near the edge.

Moonjumper was not having an easy time. Naon was proving to be a difficult opponent, blocking his every attack with the small dagger. Snatcher wasn’t faring well either, as it turned out Maka and the third cloaked figure were skilled in the use of magic, blocking and attacking with their own power that counteracted Snatcher’s power.

Things were not looking good. Adding with the fact that Moonjumper was getting weaker and weaker, which was really getting on his nerves. Bring down his swords only to be blocked again by Naon’s dagger. Blood was being smeared on his swords, making his anger flare.

How dare they? How dare they attack his precious little niece?!

Out from the corner of his eye, Moonjumper spotted the on with the box edging away from the battle. It didn’t take a genius to know that they were trying to make a break for it, and that got under Moonjumper’s skin.

Well if he wanted to leave the battle, then he will.

Permanently.

The moment the figure tried to run, the moment he tried to make a break for it, Moonjumper had only enough power to throw a pair of strings at him. One thin for wrapping and grabbing stuff, and the other one thick for moving heavy stuff around. The thin string wrapped around the box, swiping it from his grip, while the thick string slammed in to their chest hard enough to push them over the edge.

But what was meant to be only one victim, another was also taken.

The world slowed down as Moonjumper and Snatcher watched in complete horror as the young girl, innocently picking up her Mr. Floppy Ears, was rammed into and pushed over the edge along with the figure.

Her scream was carried in the wind as she fell from the tall tower, disappearing into the mist far far down below.

“KID!”

“LITTLE STAR!”

Moonjumper was kicked in the head, knocking him down. Naon then threw an elongated knife at Snatcher, hitting him in the middle and stunning him. His magic seeped out, draining him till he could no longer move and slumped against a pillar.

Maka and Naon ran to the edge, looking down from the high height. “MASTER!”

“He’s… he’s gone.” Naon slammed his fist on the ground. “He’s gone! Peck! He’s Gone!”

“And the child.”

“Who cares about her?!”

“I do! She was just a kid Naon!”

“She’s not that important now! We lost Master! How are we supposed to complete the mission now?!”

The two argued, not noticing Moonjumper slowly making his way towards Snatcher. Bit by bit he crawled towards him, eyes focused on the knife embedded in his middle. Once he was close enough, he grabbed hold of the handle, tugging at it. With all his strength left in him, he tugged the knife out of Snatcher, throwing it over the edge.

“Look! We got to focus on the mission! It doesn’t matter that a few kids die along the way!”

“How heartless are you?! How can you just says that with a straight face?!”

“I’m being reasonable here! We need to take the box and get out of—” A dark shadow cast over them.

They both looked up to see a red eyed Snatcher glaring down at them before he grabbed each of their heads, lifting them up high before smashing their head down hard enough that the ground cracked. Both bodies went limp.

Releasing his grip on them, Snatcher turned to Moonjumper, going over and lifting him up by the collar to glare at him in the eyes. “WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?!”

“I… I-I don’t—”

“YOU SHOVED HER OVER THE EDGE! YOU PUSHED HER OVER!”

“I-I didn’t… I didn’t want—”

“Save it!” Snatcher tossed Moonjumper down. He flew out of the tower, leaving a broken Moonjumper to think about what he had just done.

~~***~~

“Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasebealright!”

Snatcher had never once been so scared in his life up to now. His yellow eyes scanned the mist, hoping that the young girl had grabbed onto one of large icicles that could have possibly saved her from the fall.

Though that was a very slim chance.

“Pleasepleasepleaseplease!”

Eyes landed on an icicle, and Snatcher froze. Every part of him felt cold and hallow as he stared in terror at what he saw.

“… no…”

He shook his head. “NO! Kid!” Snatcher doved farther down, trying to reason that the red tinted ice wasn’t from the kid.

[stillthewordgirl]

LOT/CC fic: Somewhere on Your Road Tonight (ch. 14)

Sara and Leonard made a life for themselves, together in 1958, after the Waverider left them, Ray and Kendra behind. But now they're back on the ship, Mick has been twisted into Chronos, Kendra is pregnant, and Savage is still out there. They'll deal--together. (Sequel to "Chances Are.")

Second "Destiny" chapter. Pieces are coming together. Many thanks to LarielRomeniel for the beta.

Can also be read here at AO3 or here at FF.net.

Since Rip, Raymond and Mick seem like they might have the better chance at anything having to do with the ship and getting away from the Time Masters, Leonard takes the responsibility of getting Stein to the medbay. The older man is trying to move as best he can, but he’s clearly suffering, and Leonard can’t help a prickle of sympathy.

Once the professor is settled into one of the chair-bed things, with an IV of medication Gideon has prescribed to at least keep him more comfortable, Leonard hesitates, uncertain. He wants to go find Sara, but leaving Stein alone to contemplate his plight seems…well, cold, even to him.

“Anything help you other than getting the kid back?” he drawls uncomfortably, sidling toward the chair. The ship shakes a little as he does so.

Stein opens an eye and regards him with an expression that’s understanding and almost kind. It occurs to Leonard that while he may have been the one on this ship who’s changed the most, the professor has changed too. He’s a far cry from the arrogant man who’d scorned Leonard and Mick back on that rooftop in Central City.

“No, sadly, Mr. Snart,” he says with a sigh. “It’s just a matter of time, I fear. And now, with Captain Hunter’s revelations about the nature of our quest itself…it seems that it’s all been for nothing.” He shakes his head. “At least Jefferson is well out of it.”

Leonard wants, no, needs, to find out more about that himself, but while they’re still in the process of getting the hell outta Dodge, it seems best not to storm onto the bridge demanding answers. As the ship jolts again, he decides to sit down next to the other man. Stein watches him do so.

“Mr. Snart,” he asks after another moment, “may I ask you a question?”

The ship shakes, lurching. Leonard decides he’d rather be distracted. “Shoot.”

“Back in the beginning. When Captain Hunter invited us on this whole…adventure.” He stops, then continues again as Leonard continues to regard him. “Why did you decide to go?”

It is, truthfully, a good question. Leonard can remember how scornful he’d been of the whole thing, at least on the surface he’d presented to the others. And it seems like the least he can do is to offer the truth to the man before him, who, it seems, is all too likely to be giving his life on this mission.

After a moment’s thought, he starts to speak, carefully. “I’ll deny it if you tell the others,” he warns Stein, who rolls his eyes but also inclines his head. “But I do care about my city.”

“At least, insomuch as no one could hurt it but you, eh?” But the professor waves a hand when Leonard gives him a weary look. “I’m sorry. Carry on.”

After a minute, he does. “I did wonder if I could…” He thinks of Sara’s words back then. “…change my fate. Either by changing the past or, as it turns out, becoming…a rather different person.” He shrugs. “And I got even more of a chance for that than I’d expected.”

Stein tilts his head and offers up some of his occasional uncanny understanding. “Your time in 1958?”

“Yeah.” Leonard hesitates again. “Amazing what a clean slate can do.”

Stein’s closed his eyes again. “Hmm,” he muses. “I daresay Ms. Lance’s presence in your life didn’t hurt either. The love of a good woman…or rather, a good person…has saved many a lost soul. Clarissa…in some ways, I think she effectively saved me.” He sighs. “I hope I get to see her again. At this point, however, I rather doubt it.”

Leonard’s not sure what to do with that. “C’mon, professor. I thought cynicism was my hallmark.”

“As you’ve said, Mr. Snart, people change.” But Stein shakes his head. “Still. I suppose that there is always hope.” He smiles a little. “In a world with time travel, is not anything truly possible?”

“And in a world with burning, nuclear-powered heroes,” Leonard tells him seriously. “And speedsters. And…”

“…and where Captain Cold is a hero.”

Leonard frowns at the older man, but Stein just chuckles. “Don’t deny it,” he tells Leonard mock-seriously. “Your actions prove otherwise.”

“Eehhhh.” He decides not to argue. “You get back to 2016, professor, don’t tell Barry Allen and his ilk that.”

Stein chuckles, closing his eyes. “I do believe I shall have to try to survive this, Mr. Snart, just to collect on all these favors you’re going to be owing me.” He reopens one eye and regards Leonard. “Please tell the others that I will endeavor not to blow up while I’m here.”

Leonard feels his own lips twitch at the words. “Appreciate that, professor.”

“As well you should.”

Despite the others’ reassurances, Sara’s still relieved when Leonard finally ambles onto the bridge. He catches her eye and she catches his, and that’s enough for now.

“Professor's in the medbay,” he drawls, approaching the others. “Promises not to blow up while he's on board, which I thought was considerate.”

Rip sighs, moving toward the holotable. “Yeah, the professor's condition is the least of our worries, I'm afraid.”

That seems a bit callous, but as Sara frowns, Ray chimes in.

“Yeah, much to my chagrin, it turns out everything we've done, maybe even our whole lives,” he says woefully, “has been determined by the Time Masters.”

“What?” Sara asks incredulously, leaning forward. She glances at Leonard, who leans on a jump seat, eyes sweeping the room. He doesn’t look surprised. Instead, he wears an expression of intense concentration.

Granted, he’s been insisting for a while that the Time Masters are pulling their strings, but this…this is more than that. Those words--which no one is arguing with--suggest that it goes back farther and deeper, that…

No. No, Sara doesn’t want to think about that right now. As it is, her stomach is twisting, thinking about the choices she’s made and the places she’s been…the people she’s hurt…

She doesn’t look at Leonard now. She can’t.

“The Time Masters have this thing called the Oculus, which allows them not only to gaze into the future, but to engineer it,” Rip tells them resignedly. “Yes, Mr. Snart. As I said before, you were right.”

But Ray speaks again before Leonard can respond. “A future where I'm dead.” Sara’s heart goes out to him as he closes his eyes, swallowing. “Guy, you gotta get Kendra back. I mean, for her sake too, but Alex…”

“We won’t leave your kid without a family, Haircut,” Mick cuts in roughly. “No matter what.” He shrugs uncomfortably as everyone looks at him. “Don’t know that we’re what you and Bird Girl would want for uncles and aunt, but I s’pose we’re better than nothing. And, hey, Snart and I know what not to do, anyway.”

Ray looks like he’s going to cry, or hug somebody, but the captain speaks up again, shaking his head.

“This is a lovely moment,” he says, just a touch acerbically, “truly. But in my opinion, Dr. Palmer's death is not part of their plan.”

“Not reassuring,” Ray mutters, then “Ow!”

Mick, apparently deciding that enough sentiment was enough, had leaned over and whacked him in the arm. Then he turns challengingly to Rip.

“You sayin’ the Time Masters wanted me to do that?” he growls.

Rip gives him a long-suffering look. “What I'm saying is that they've been engineering our lives to move in very specific directions,” he says. “And we are playing out that script even now.”

The Gambit? The Pit? All the people she’s killed? Sara closes her eyes, then opens them, rising from the captain’s chair and moving toward them. Her eyes catch Leonard’s very briefly, and she can see similar thoughts there. Did the Time Masters make sure he’d be a criminal no matter what, with the perfect skills to do what they wanted on this mission? Did he ever have a choice? Did they create Lewis? Or Barry Allen to prod him down another road?

And what about them…

Before she speaks, though, he does.

“But they’re not controlling everything,” he says, staring at Rip. “And we can still surprise them.” They’re statements, not questions. “They didn’t know that I’d left the ship in Harmony Falls.” He glances at Mick. “We know the Time Masters didn’t know I’d been left behind too.”

Rip blinks, considering that, and Mick grunts thoughtfully in agreement.

“Yeah,” he says. “They told me just what to do. And things were all different from what they said.

Ray, looking a bit encouraged, nods. “So they didn’t have anything to do with what happened to any of us in 1958.”

Sara looks at Leonard, who’s looking steadily back at her. This is still disconcerting and awful, but at least…at least they have that.

“No. They can’t control thoughts, and they can’t control feelings,” Rip tells him, almost gently. “And…they’re not in there all the time, fiddling with every little detail.” He shakes his head. “It’s a rather jarring experience, the Oculus. It’d be like performing delicate surgery with a hacksaw.”

“So, it seems they sort of…set the program and let it run, with occasional course corrections.” Ray looks thoughtful.

Sara takes a deep breath. “Well, this is interesting…and encouraging in a few ways, anyway, for what that’s worth. But we still need to figure out what to do.” She puts her hands on the holotable, scanning the others. “So, we can go to 2016, but that might be what the Time Masters want. Or we can go get Kendra...”

“Which could also be what they want,” Leonard mutters.

“Then we need to do what they don't want,” Ray says, determination brightening his voice. “If the Oculus is what they're using to control us, then we need to destroy it.”

Sara nods, but…

“No,” Leonard cuts in, getting to his feet and approaching. “Or not just that, anyway.” He takes a deep breath as the others look at him. “Look. They’re expecting us to act according to our natures. Right? That’s the whole point. They did their best to create those natures.”

“Yes?” Ray looks inquiringly at Rip, then back at Leonard. “But…”

“And the Time Bastards just made sure to give their biggest rebel, a bunch of heroes—and me and Mick—the information that they control time.” Leonard tilts his head. “What do you think they think is going to happen?”

For some reason, as soon as he’s delivered those words, something in Leonard relaxes. Not entirely, but a little. Like he’s passed a test. Delivered a message.

It’s an odd sensation, but he decides not to examine it for the moment.

“I acted against my nature—what had been my nature—when I left the ship in Harmony Falls,” he says, looking at Sara. “And they didn’t expect it or plan for it. What, now, would they not expect us to do?”

Sara hums thoughtfully. Raymond shrugs. “Give up and go back home,” he points out. “But we can’t do that.”

“Well.” Rips frowns. “I do think that going back to the place we just escaped from would seem rather unexpected.”

Leonard snorts. “Not with this group,” he says. “Seriously, Rip?”

The captain gives him the ghost of a smile. “True, indeed, Mr. Snart. But we still need to get rid of this Oculus, if we’re to have any hope of truly changing things.”

Raymond’s looking off into the distance. “I’ve spent my whole life wanting to be a hero,” he says quietly. “A hero…a hero is brave. Helps others. Makes a difference. If I can do that, to make a better life for my son…”

“So, basically, the Time Bastards would expect you to do some shit like dying while trying to blow up the Oculus.” Leonard nods when the scientist gives him a startled glance. “So, you can’t do that. You’ve gotta be selfish, Raymond.” He glances at Rip. “Can you take him back to the Refuge?”

“No!” Raymond says, even as Rip considers and nods.

“And the rest of us, Mr. Snart?” he says with resignation, but also with a small smile on his face. “As you just might be onto something here?”

Leonard can appreciate what it’s cost the captain to say that…and maybe Rip’s arrogance was something the Time Masters were counting on too. He gives the other man an understanding smirk in return.

“The rest of us…” he says slowly. “What if we split up? Rip, they’ll figure you’ll go back to the Vanishing Point. It’s personal. You and…and Sara and maybe the professor, if he’s up for it…go after Kendra.”

“Wait a minute…” Sara starts as Rip lifts an eyebrow.

“And what are we going to use to do that?” he asks drily, spreading his hands out before him. “One ship.”

“The Pilgrim’s ship is still at that old outpost, right? Leonard looks around at Mick. “You hid it.”

His friend grunts thoughtfully. “Yeah. I could fly that. Good ship.”

“Great. Then, Mick and I will blow up the Oculus.” Leonard ignores the immediate arguments. “They won’t expect the criminals to be playing heroes.”

Mick nods. “And I like blowing stuff up.”

“You’re not…”

“Mr. Snart…”

“He’s got a point.” Raymond shrugs as everyone looks at him. “We can make it work. We’re Legends, right? But one change.” He holds up a hand. “I get your meaning, Snart, about going against what they expect. But…I won’t do any good to the mission if I’m back at the Refuge. I want to go with you.”

Leonard regards him a moment, then glances at the captain. “Rip,” he drawls. “What was the Boy Scout here doing? When…What did you see in this Oculus thing?”

Rip hesitates, thinking. “He was…” His eyes widen. “It was an explosion. How did I forget that?” He looks at Raymond. “You were working on something. And there was light…you started to come apart…”

“I think that’s enough,” Sara breaks in as Raymond winces. “Rip, even if we—or some of us—return to the Vanishing Point, can they mess with us there?”

The captain shakes his head. “No, Druce told me that the Oculus' ability to control our actions doesn't work in the Vanishing Point, most likely because the Vanishing Point itself exists outside of time.”

“And we need to move,” Leonard says firmly. “If you want to have any chance to save Kendra. And your family.”

Rip looks a bit wild-eyed, but Gideon cuts neatly in, her voice calm.

“I apologize, Captain,” she says, “but I’ve already diverted us toward the outpost. Mr. Snart’s plan is a good one, and I chose to…anticipate your orders.” She pauses as Rip collapses into a jump seat and Mick barks out a laugh. “May I also point out that you have always encouraged such independence, but…a time ship AI knows what it is to be controlled by the Time Masters. I wish to help, although they are not all like me.”

Rip rubs a hand over his face. “Ah, Gideon. No one is quite like you.”

“Thank you, Captain. I shall take that as a compliment.”

“OK, then,” Ray says firmly, turning for the corridors. “I’m going to go talk to Stein, figure out how we’ll need to destroy this Oculus wellspring. Rip, we’ll need what you know.”

The captain shakes his head but gets to his feet. “This is not how I envisioned this going at all,” he comments with a sigh, then smiles. “Which just may be precisely why it works.” He glances at Mick. “Mr. Rory. You have experience as a time ship captain—and a reputation as a sneaky and very effective one. Would you work with Gideon to plot a good intercept course for Savage?”

Mick shrugs, but Leonard thinks he almost looks pleased at the words and the request. “Sure.”

“Thank you.”

Leonard stands with Sara and Mick, watching as Rip and Raymond leave, then looks over at his friend. “You want help?” he drawls, folding his arms. “Might not know how to fly a time ship, but I know how to plan.”

Mick’s already deftly pulled some schematics up on the holotable. He glances over and snorts. “No,” he says, “I want you two to go get your shit together before we all trot off to hunt psychopaths or blow stuff up.” He looks back to the display. “So, get. I got this.”

“We got this,” Gideon announces. “Mr. Rory, please take a look at the path skirting Jurgens Ridge. I believe…”

She continues, and Leonard blinks at his old friend, then looks at Sara.

She gives him a slight smile and shrugs.

“OK, then,” he mutters, turning aside and heading for their room. “I know when I’m not needed.”

“Don’t whine, Mr. Snart,” Gideon tells him snippily, stopping her comments to Mick for a moment. “It’s not a becoming trait.”

Well, he thinks with resignation as he saunters for the door, at least the comment makes Sara laugh.

“I can’t believe we were just…dismissed…like that,” Sara says with faint amusement as they enter their quarters. She looks from side to side restlessly, then turns to face Leonard. “I mean, I know my skills lie mainly in hitting things until they stop moving, but…I would have liked to do something.”

Her words get a slight smile, although it’s a distracted one. “Got the feeling maybe we already did,” he drawls, leaning against the bed and watching her. “But…you OK?”

Sara laughs a little, knowing that the sound isn’t very sincere. “Well. I’m trying not to think about it too much,” she says, boosting herself up onto the bed and looking down at her hands. “I don’t know how profound the directions the Time Masters steered us in are, and I don’t think I want to know. I know I still feel responsible for everything I’ve done. And it still keeps me up at night.”

After a moment, she hears a sigh and glances over at Leonard. Her lover is staring off into the distance, a complicated expression on his face. It’s melancholy and uncertain, very unlike anything he shows the world, and something turns over in Sara’s heart as she watches him.

“Len,” she says quietly, putting a hand out and resting it on his shoulder, “what are you thinking?”

Leonard shrugs, after a moment, then looks at her.

“It wasn’t just a script,” he asks, a still, opaque expression on his face. “Was it?”

Oh.

Sara tightens her grip on his shoulder, pulling him toward her, and after a moment’s resistance, Leonard allows her to guide him. After a moment, he’s facing her, although his eyes are still darting around and not meeting hers. He exudes uneasiness and apprehension, and she can see and feel how stiff his shoulders are.

“I thought we agreed that the Time Masters didn’t even know we were there, in 1958,” she says. “When our relationship…changed. Or evolved. They weren’t pulling our strings.” She reaches up and rests a hand against his jawline, feeling the tension there. “And…Rip said, they can’t change feelings.” She takes a deep breath. “Everything we feel…it’s real.”

Finally, Leonard’s eyes meet hers, heartbreakingly wary.

“Yeah?” he asks quietly. “And what…” He pauses. “I’m not a good person, Sara. Not the sort you should…care for. I…”

Sara huffs out a breath. “Stop…listening…to Lewis,” she tells him sharply, shaking his shoulder a little, then feels guilty as he flinches. “He’s been dead for months, or longer depending on how you look at it. Stop giving his voice space in your head.”

Leonard actually looks thoughtful at that, and Sara presses her advantage, reaching up and putting her other hand on his jaw, holding his face in her hands and making sure he looks at her.

“I think we went through all this back in 1958,” she tells him. “About you being a good person. Leonard, no one’s a good person all the time, and you’ve been actively trying to be better.” She hesitates. “What would Rebecca say? Or Ginny. David?”

He mutters something, but Sara doesn’t let him off the hook. “You know perfectly well what they’d say, because they’ve said it,” she tells him fiercely. “Now, stop insulting the man I love. Or I’m going to be pissed.”

That actually gets a smile, and he studies her, eyes a saturated deep blue. It’s impossible, as the tension fades—replaced by a different sort of tension--not to realize how close they are or how very charged the atmosphere is. Leonard reaches out deliberately and puts one hand on either side of her on the bed, looking through his lashes at her, and smiles.

“Well,” he drawls, sounding a little more like himself, leaning toward her. “Can’t have that. The woman I love is quite the badass, you know.”

“Yeah?” Sara smirks in return, moving her hands down to rest on his hips, where she threads her fingers through the belt loops on his jeans, pulling him even closer. “She sounds awesome.”

“Oh, yeah.” Leonard studies her, then glances away, expression going serious again. He looks like he’s trying to make a decision, and Sara waits, wondering.

Finally, he nods, as if to himself, and meets her eyes.

“Being on this ship,” he says, quietly, bringing one hand up to touch her cheek gently, “traveling through time…” A pause. “…I’ve been wondering what the future might hold for me... and you…and me and you.”

He stops again. Sara feels like she can’t quite breathe. Is this…a proposal, Leonard Snart-style?

“You want to steal a kiss from me, Leonard?” she says lightly, giving him the chance to defuse the moment even as her pounding heart wants desperately to know what he’s going to say. “You better be one hell of a thief.”

A smile tugs at the corner of his lips. A light in his eyes, Leonard starts to speak again…

But Gideon beats him to it.

“I am very sorry, Mr. Snart, Ms. Lance, truly, but we have arrived here, at the outpost,” she says carefully. “And time is of the essence…ah, in more ways than one. Can you meet the others at the bridge, or…”

A sigh explodes out of both of them at once, and Leonard shakes his head roughly as Sara closes her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. She wonders, briefly, if Leonard will tell Gideon that they need another moment…but then Leonard’s kissing her, his hand moving to curve behind her head, his lips warm and intent on hers, and Sara kisses him back, pulling him close, trying to memorize the feel and the taste of him before they part. It’s dangerous, what they’re going out to do, and they both know it—but if they ever want the future Leonard had spoken of, it’s something they both have to do.

They part slowly at first, staring at each other like they’re trying to memorize the sight, too. Well, Sara knows that she, for one, is.  She tucks a strand of hair behind an ear and takes a deep breath, knowing that they have to move.

“I love you,” she tells him breathlessly. “Leonard, be careful. I know you’re playing the hero now, but…I’d rather have a live crook. Got it?”

That gets her a wry, if somehow melancholy, smile. “Got it,” he shoots back. “Sara…I love you, too.” A glance away, then back. “Give Savage hell, and don’t let Rip do anything too stupid.”

He steps back, and Sara slides off the bed with a sigh, grabbing her good White Canary leathers. “I could say the same to you,” she tells him. “Don’t let Mick and Ray do anything dumb. I want you all back.”

“Promise.”

She’ll remember that, later. He’d promised.

[artificialqueens]

Twist Of Fate - Ch11 - (Trixya) - katyahzamo

A/N: Here we are folks, the penultimate chapter of this fic! Things are slowly falling into place with these two and I can’t believe it’s been three months since I started writing it. Thank you everyone, for your continuous support and lovely feedback!

A reminder: Trixie is a hairdresser and Katya is a struggling photographer slash yoga instructor. Lesbian AU. Read the chapters on AO3 and/or come hang out on my tumblr katyahzamo. Comments are welcome and encouraged!

Katya wakes up sometime around eight in the morning the next day, with sweat on her upper lip and on the back of her neck. The air is stuffy in her bedroom, and only when her eyes open does she remember that she’s forgotten to leave the window open before falling asleep.

Additional source of heat is the pile of blonde curls spread across her bare chest, with an arm and a leg hugging her close as Trixie Mattel sleeps peacefully snuggled up to her. Katya can barely feel her arm that got trapped under Trixie sometime through the night, and there is a certain soreness in her thighs that reminds her it’s been a while since she’s had sex… or done strenuous yoga for that matter. Still, she has a large smile on her face as her fingers trail through blonde hair splayed across her collarbone, feeling her heart speed up at the mere thought of the last night’s events.

Seeing Trixie naked, getting to kiss every single inch of her soft skin… it was better than any fantasy Katya’s imagination could have conjured up in many lonely nights when she thought about it. Trixie was both gentle and teasing, and heat pools in the bottom of Katya’s stomach as she remembers Trixie between her legs, eating her out like it’s the last thing she’s going to do. Her thighs squeeze when she recalls the sounds that Trixie made as they fucked, as she made Katya come, over and over again, until they fell asleep snuggled together, too tired to move a muscle or put any clothes on.

Katya is pulled back to the present when Trixie snorts in her sleep and it almost makes her laugh out loud, but she remains silent when she slowly untangles their limbs and slips off the bed, in desperate need of a shower, a cigarette and some food.

Trixie doesn’t wake up until two hours later, to Katya’s great delight, since she has plenty of time to run to a convenience store right across the street, buying some toast, eggs, maple syrup and a pancake mix which she prepares quietly in her narrow kitchen that she barely ever uses for herself in the morning.

It seems that it’s the smell of French toast, eggs and bacon that rouse Trixie from her slumber, and she’s standing in the doorway, in one of Katya’s shirts no less, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and a bright smile on her face. It makes Katya’s heart jump violently and then drops to her ass. The shirt strains a little over her chest, but reaches her thighs nevertheless. She looks sexy as all hell.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, birthday girl. How did you sleep?”

“Mmm really good, but I think I fully didn’t move all night. Everything hurts.”

There is a little pout on Trixie’s lips, that playful one that Katya has seen so many times in the last twenty-four hours, and it is hard to breathe for a moment before she flips the pancake.

“Maybe you can do some yoga with me later?”

“Hard pass. I’d rather do something else.”

Katya turns her head, and Trixie is there, leaning her hip against the counter, her eyes big, and brown, and staring at Katya’s mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Mmm.”

A second later she hops on the counter to sit there and gets a toast and nibbles on it, watching Katya who puts the last pancake on the plate, turns off the stove and comes in front of her. Trixie’s knees part instinctively and Katya settles between her thighs.

“This is really good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I usually don’t eat white bread that much but I was starving.”

“I also made you pancakes and bought a little candle so you can blow on it. Even though you don’t celebrate your birthday-”

“Oh I celebrate it.”

Katya, who had her hands resting on Trixie’s bare thighs and was brushing her fingers up and down lazily looked at her with her eyebrows raised.

“But you told me last night you-“

“I did that only so you would finish what you started.”

“Oh my god.”

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

Trixie’s wide grin makes Katya cackle, all with head thrown back in delight.

“You’re such a fucking brat.”

“It’s what you signed up for, mama.”

They laugh and Trixie drops the toast back on the plate when Katya leans in to leave kisses under her jaw and down her neck, her eyes closing instinctively and arms wrapping around Katya’s shoulders. She leans up seconds later to capture Trixie’s lips with her own, and before long Trixie has her nails dragging down Katya’s back and Katya desperately digs her fingers into the soft flesh of Trixie’s thighs.

“God you’re so sexy.” Katya’s words are barely a breath she speaks into Trixie’s open mouth, and are greeted with a soft moan before the kiss becomes needier, causing both of them to grind their hips towards the other.

“Trix-“ Katya starts again, but Trixie’s fingers are already trailing down Katya’s abdomen and past the hem of her boxers, finding her wet already. Feeling Trixie’s cold fingers pressing against her clit makes Katya gasp into the kiss, and she adjusts her hips so Trixie can have more access.

It doesn’t take her long before she drops from the counter and on her knees, to Katya’s surprise, in the middle of the tiny kitchen. With Katya’s boxers discarded on a nearby chair and Trixie’s mouth between Katya’s legs, Katya is reduced to a shaky, moaning mess minutes later, barely holding herself upright by leaning back and gripping the countertop with one hand and Trixie’s hair with the other. She comes without much effort and Trixie’s fingers knuckles deep in her pussy, and Trixie playfully kisses her before going for a shower; leaving the Russian disheveled and barely able to put her underwear on and set up the table for breakfast.

“So you know Mrs. Davis, right? Kasha Davis?”

They are sitting on the couch, Trixie’s feet in Katya’s lap and a plate of pancakes in her own. Katya made her blow a single candle she found in one of the drawers and make a wish she then refused to share with Katya. It won’t come true if I do! She said and interrupted Katya’s laugh with a lingering kiss and a hug in a silent thank you. They moved to the couch immediately after and put a movie they weren’t paying attention to, too distracted by kissing and Trixie force-feeding pancakes to Katya, who refused to eat pieces that had maple syrup on it.

“The older, rich lady that comes to Honey? Yeah I know her.”

“Her daughter Jean is having a Sweet Sixteen party in two weeks.”

“Oh god don’t tell me she’s gonna be on MTV or something.”

“How old are you?” Trixie laughs loudly and Katya swats at her ankle playfully. “No, grandma, she won’t be on a show that ended ten years ago, but-“

“It didn’t end! It’s still going!”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah! I’m pretty sure I watched it last week.”

They bicker for a little while longer, until Trixie pulls out her phone from underneath her and stares at the Wikipedia article with her mouth open, and Katya laughing loudly at her.

“I’m right, huh? It’s still airing.”

“Who the hell funds this still?”

“Mrs. Kasha Davis?”

“Right!” Trixie tosses her phone Katya’s way, who catches it and laughs again, doubling down on intensity when Trixie glares at her and then Katya raises her arms up in surrender.

“I’m sorry! Go ahead, what about her daughter?”

Trixie blinks at her pointedly a several times more but then her expression softens when she speaks again.

“Latrice called me while I was still in Wisconsin. Apparently, Mrs. Kasha Davis wants me to do her daughter’s hair. And her daughter’s best friends’ hair. And probably makeup too. There will be like… seven or eight girls there.”

“Trix, that’s great! They’re loaded, they will probably pay well.”

“Right? There’s a problem, though. Maybe one you can help me with?”

Katya tilts her head and can’t help but grin back when Trixie bats her eyelashes again, feeling her heart thump at the sight.

“What do you need?”

“They need a photographer. Apparently there’s a company who organizes these things and they usually send a photographer and a makeup artist in a bundle. And it’s hard for them to find a photographer on their own on such a short notice. So…”

“So if you don’t find a photographer, they will go with the company.”

“Right. I know you’re busy and you’re getting like a thousand jobs offer an hour but…”

“Trix, being booked one week in advance is barely a thousand offers.”

“I know! But you’re so good and all these modeling agencies are fighting for you, and I know teens are not your thing but…”

“I’ll do it.”

Trixie’s eyes widen, and her smile too. Money aside, this sight alone makes Katya think that hanging around teenagers the entire day makes it totally worth it.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I mean, they are loaded and I can probably get a rate as high as I get for weddings so…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence since Trixie has put the pancakes away and is pulling her down towards herself, her soft pink lips covering every inch of Katya’s face, causing her to burst into laughter, over and over again. Doing what she loves to do and with the girl that she’s pretty sure she’s in love with? Who would say no?

The two of them stay on Katya’s couch for the remainder of the morning and early afternoon, cuddling and watching Casablanca that comes on, parting reluctantly only when Trixie says she needs to go into Honey even though it’s her last day of paid leave and it’s her birthday. Since Katya needs to work on engagement photos she’s taken the day before, she lets her go, but not before spending fifteen minutes kissing at the front door and agreeing to see each other that evening for birthday celebration, and the next day, when Katya would pick Trixie up from work and go with her to test out a new lens in the park nearby. As she watches Trixie get into her Uber while she smokes on the window, Katya wonders what she did in her largely miserable life to finally get so lucky.

.

.

.

“No, go back. Details bitch.  Is she a top or a bottom? What does she like? Did you talk kinks yet?”

The connection on Violet’s side is not really the best, and Katya has to squint at her own phone to recognize that the pixelated blur is in fact her best friend, calling her from the other side of the continent, after having blown up her phone when Katya told her Trixie began spending almost every night for the past week.

“Vi, I can barely hear you, what?”

Maybe she is trying to avoid the subject altogether now, at least until Violet is in the same room as her, since sleeping with Trixie is… different. She is not just a tinder hookup or a casual dating thing that Katya had no issues talking about with her best friend in the past, all details included. Now, she is afraid of sharing too much with the universe, fearing that the universe might yet again be a bitch and take it away from her.

Just that morning Trixie left her apartment to go to work, and she woke Katya up by dragging her to the shower and kissing the sleep away from her puffy eyelids, then proceeded to make them both coffee after which they sat by the window as Katya smoked. Trixie’s thumb rubbed her knee as they talked about their plans for the weekend. It has been surreal, more surreal than any other thing that had happened to Katya in the past year. Considering all the changes that she went through, this being the biggest one, it was a lot, and now difficult to put into words.

How can she even begin to describe the happiness she feels to get to spend every single free moment with Trixie when it seemed just like a distant fantasy only a month ago? No words could even begin to come close to describe how beautiful Trixie is, or how funny. How her nose scrunches lightly when she yawns over her cup of coffee in the morning or how she chews thoughtfully and looks into the distance when she thinks Katya isn’t looking. Anything she could say to Violet pales in comparison to the warmth in her chest when Trixie kisses her collarbone and talks sleepily before drifting off and the way her small apartment rings with the sound of Trixie’s absurdly loud laughter. Katya is happy, and it’s a scary thing to even fathom talking about.

“Fine, you don’t have to tell me now. Is it good at least? Is she good?”

The connection clears enough for Violet to see the wide grin on Katya’s face, the crinkles around her eyes visible even through the blurry video.

“She’s the best, Vi. I’ll tell you everything when you get back.”

.

.

.

“So, I want my hair to be wavy, but not too curly. I don’t wanna look basic, you know?”

Katya is barely holding in her laughter as Jean continues chattering on, giving precise instructions on how her hair needs to look like, the funny part being the way Trixie’s eyes are bugging out a little. Katya can see that Trixie is holding in an exasperated huff too, but nods along and keeps saying okay as the girl continues talking.

“And please don’t give Amanda the same hair as mine, she’s been trying to copy me for months.”

“Isn’t Amanda one of your best friends, dear?”

Mrs. Kasha Davis is sitting in the chair next to her daughter, flipping through the menu that the caterers have brought minutes after Katya and Trixie walked through the door of the gigantic mansion where the Davises lived. Her eyes lift up towards her daughter, a perfectly shaped eyebrow quirked.

“Mom, I told you fifteen times already, I have to keep Amanda close because she has the pull with the cheerleaders. But I can’t stand her, all she talks about is Justin Bieber and we all know he’s so 2013.”

Katya cackles at this when her eyes meet Trixie’s, and the girl looks at them in the mirror.

“What? You know I’m right.”

“You sure are.” Katya says amusingly, lifting the camera and adjusting the lens before she snaps a photo of the mother and the daughter, with Trixie fiddling with the scissors in the background.

Both Trixie and Katya woke up at seven in the morning to get everything ready for the Sweet Sixteen party, or at least the part they play in it, since Latrice instructed them both on what Mrs. Davis loves and doesn’t love, and when she saw Trixie getting nervous about her first big gig, encouraged them both that Kasha, despite being a rich white woman, has a kind heart and will tell them if anything is amiss.

They had no issues finding the house in the outskirts of Boston hours later and Katya expected to see swans in their larger-than-life front yard that had a fountain decorated with endless balloons and pink bows. Despite the kitschiness of it all, Katya appreciated how this girl’s parents went above and beyond to make their daughter’s birthday special. Jean, all teenager drama aside, is not as snobby as Katya expects most girls of her class to be, and she spent half an hour discussing photography with her before they sat down for hair and makeup.

Soon after they shit talk Amanda, the head cheerleader walks in with half a dozen of other girls and Trixie sits them all down and gives them catalogues to browse for hair styles they want, while Katya walks around, taking quick photos as girls get ready, of the tables and canopy set in the backyard, of the house and exterior decorations, and finally of Trixie.

The only dress code for the party is to incorporate something pink in their outfit, since that is the main color of the event. Trixie sure looks the part n her baby pink dress, slightly loose around her shoulders and flowy around her legs and reaching down below her knees. Her thick curls are pushed in a ponytail and makeup is as soft as one could imagine it being on a warm September day. She looks like she walked out of Katya’s wildest cotton candy dreams. Katya, in return, sports only a dark pink button up shirt that she matched with the black pantsuit, the jacket tossed aside as soon as they arrived to the house.

Katya feels smug whenever she notices Trixie swallowing every time she looks at her, and remembers how breathlessly she complimented her that morning when she saw Katya get out of the car to kiss her hello in front of Kim’s building when she picked her up.

She sees Trixie looking at her now, a curling iron in her hand and a little smile on her face that Katya snapped a photo of seconds before, and now has the wild urge to go over and kiss her senseless. Instead, Katya walks past her and squeezes Trixie’s hip lightly before she walks out of the spacious, bright-lit room and into the back porch of the house. Some of the guests have begun arriving already, mostly family members including older aunts and uncles. Mrs. Davis has told them that the main event would be after seven, when half of Jean’s school would be coming over for the party, but the afternoon was reserved for the older family members and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Davis.

Katya spends an hour or two walking between the tables, introducing herself to people who want to know her name, and taking photos much to the guests’ delight. Despite having initial reservations for an event like this, Katya realized that older rich white people are a goldmine for photography opportunities, and she has already given out a dozen of her business cards before she sees Trixie on the porch too, drinking something that looks like pink lemonade.

“Almost done?” Katya comes to stand next to her but only after she’s quickly snapped a photo of her, feeling her heart grow ten sizes when she sees Trixie pose playfully.

“Yep. Jean was right, Amanda talks about Bieber more than you talk about your Russian weirdo bands.”

“Hey!” Katya cackles and nudges her with her hip, sending Trixie into giggles too.

“They’re a cool bunch, though. They keep asking me if I can redo their makeup too.”

“How could they not? You’re the incarnation of their favorite Barbie they played with up until two years ago.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“What? I think you look beautiful.”

Trixie’s blush is visible even in the slight shade of the porch and Katya is grinning proudly.

“God, if we made out right here, right now, do you think we’d look unprofessional?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Katya!”

“What? You think dykes would be too much for the poor old aunt Shirley over there?”

“She’d fully be clutching her pearls.”

“Oh there you two are!”

The voice of Mrs. Davis makes them both jump a little and they turn around, their expressions slightly flushed and guilty. Katya prays she didn’t hear any part of the conversation they just had. But, even if she did, Kasha shows no signs of it.

“Trixie, dear, Jean is absolutely glowing because of your handiwork. You did a marvelous job!”

Trixie grins and Katya’s heart skips several beats. She’s so proud of her.

“I’m glad she’s happy with it. I only have two more girls left and I’ll be done.”

“Beautiful! Katya, we’ve agreed you’ll be staying here until nine, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Mrs. Davis.”

“Please, darlings, call me Kasha. You’re making me feel old.”

All three of them laugh and Katya nods.

“Anyway, I’m here to offer you to stay for the party too, Trixie.”

“Oh you really don’t have to, I-“

“No, nonsense! You can keep Katya company and David ordered too much food for this amount of people. I insist.”

Katya and Trixie look at each other and Katya gives her a non-committal shrug, even though all she wants is to have Trixie around for the entirety of the day. It would definitely make the remainder of the party more bearable.

“Okay, I’ll stay then. Thank you. If you need me to help with anything-“

“No, absolutely not. You can finish up the hair and makeup, and I might ask you to touch up mine later in the afternoon, but the moment you are done you’re a guest like everything else here.”

“Thank you M- Kasha.”

“Oh you’re both welcome. Now if you’ll excuse me, I see my mother-in-law calling.”

Both Trixie and Katya laugh at the eyeroll and the wink Kasha gives them, and watch her trod across the lawn.

“Better go get Amanda ready before she cuts my head off.”

Katya laughs and takes her hand briefly, kissing it.

“Go. I’ll be out here. And bring me one of those lemonades when you’re done.”

The remainder of the afternoon goes by fast, and Katya barely has time to shove some of the food in her mouth while people call her from one side of the lawn or another, wishing her to take photos of them in different poses and with different family members and friends. It’s well past six in the evening and the majority of the adults are already tipsy and ready to dance, so the DJ is already in his spot too, forced to take requests of songs that range from Frank Sinatra to Spice Girls. When five minutes pass without anyone calling out her name, Katya decides to take a bathroom break while she still can, since the only people who like having their photos taken more than middle-aged people are teenagers, and almost a hundred of them are soon to start arriving through the door.

The bathroom offers a welcome silence and Katya feels her head pulsating a little bit, but she has to admit to herself that she is having fun, more so because she knows Trixie is going to join her soon. What makes her the happiest, though, is the fact that Trixie will be coming home with her later and they will get to snuggle on her worn out couch and talk to each other about the day they had.

Just as Katya flushes and goes to wash her hands, there is a brief knock on the bathroom door and Katya calls out that she’ll be out in a second. When she does open the door, she sees Trixie standing on the other side, the look on her face making butterflies in Katya’s stomach dance for the millionth time that day.

“Oh hi.”

“Hello.”

Trixie’s hand pushes her lightly from the door and back into the bathroom again, and follows her in an instant before she closes the door and locks it.

“I’ve missed you the whole damn day.”

“Me too.”

Katya wraps her arms around Trixie’s  waist and Trixie cups both sides of Katya’s face and leans in to kiss her – her soft lingering kisses that Katya returns eagerly, humming contentedly.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you all day.” Trixie mutters into the kiss and Katya kisses her again, and again, and again, until she’s backed into the wall and raking her fingers through Katya’s waves, the feeling of blunt nails against her scalp causing goosebumps on the back of Katya’s neck.

“Did I tell you how hot you are in that fucking suit? Holy shit.”

Katya squeezes Trixie’s waist in response, digging fingers there and grinding against Trixie’s thigh just a little, their mouths inches apart, both of them breathing heavily.

“Do you think it would be unprofessional if I bent you over in our client’s bathroom and fucked you senseless?”

That makes Trixie’s mouth fall open and she kisses Katya softly again, and Katya knows that she’s considering it. They both know it’s a probable thing that would happen if their kisses lasted for more than five seconds.

“Probably. Maybe we shouldn’t.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe you can do that later tonight when we’re back at your place?”

“Sounds like a solid plan.”

Katya is the first one to rejoin the party, her neck still flushed from how easily worked up Trixie has gotten her, but her dark red lipstick is in place once again and her hair brushed out. There is an ache between her thighs for a while after, especially when Trixie comes to join her soon after with a hand on Katya’s lower back, but knows that they still have a few hours to go.

Taking photos of teenagers is definitely more work, since they ask to see how they look in photos every time they are taken, but they are also ready to go with Katya’s ideas of crazy poses, so Katya finds herself having a lot of fun. Both her and Trixie, who watches the entire thing unfold, are invited into several selfies too an hour into what turned into a photoshoot with the cheerleaders.

It’s well past nine when Katya packs up her camera, and when she comes out to the lawn that is now lit up with hundreds of small lights and with a crowd consisting now mostly of people under twenty, save some of the adults here and there, she finds Trixie surrounded by several girls who keep asking her about the hair products she uses to make her curls be the way that they are. Once Katya reaches them, Jean begs them both to stay a little bit longer to join the dancing since the band has taken over, and Trixie is the first one to give in.

An hour later Trixie and Katya are still on the dance floor, and no one seems to care that they are dancing with each other and not talking with anyone else aside from several older cousins who are there more out of solidarity for their cousin’s birthday wishes more than anything else. When the fast-beat song changes to something slower, Katya pulls Trixie close and Trixie leans her head on Katya’s shoulder as they sway slowly.

“This is like a prom I never got to have.”

Katya pulls her head from where it rested, leaned on top of Trixie’s, in surprise.

“You never went to your prom?”

Trixie rolls her eyes but laughs.

“Of course I went to prom, but I never got to go to one with a girl that I liked.”

Even though Katya knows that Trixie likes her, she’ll never get tired of hearing it.

“Did you go with a guy, then?”

“Yep, Bob. We were the only two out gays in the entire school so no one really wanted to do anything with us.”

“I’m sorry, Trix.”

“It doesn’t matter, we had a lot of fun. And I get to redo it with you now.”

“Does this mean I forgot to buy you flowers and that I’m a horrible girlfriend?”

Trixie lifts her head up to meet Katya’s eyes and only by the expression on her face does she realize what she just said.

“So that’s what you are, huh? My girlfriend?”

Katya grins wider, and kisses the small crease that formed in the corner of Trixie’s eye as her smile grows too.

“Yep.”

“Cool. Then I’ll need those flowers.”

“I’ll get them for you as soon as we get out of here.”

They leave the party shortly after that, and Katya does stop in front of a little flower shop whose owner knows Katya from before, and who gives her a bouquet of lilies that she passes on to Trixie when she gets back in the car.

“Are we having a little Imagine Me and You moment now, Katya?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Imagine Me and You? The best lesbian movie ever made?”

“Never heard of it.”

“And yet you know that Sweet Sixteen is still airing? I’m breaking up with you immediately.”

The ride to Katya’s apartment is full of their bickering and Trixie’s loud laughter, and Katya can’t remember a better day at work in her entire life. A part of her wishes that she and Trixie can do things like this forever. She loves photography, and getting to finally do it for living is a dream come true, but now she wants to share that dream with Trixie. As she watches Trixie kick off her heels and stretch before she joins her on the couch, Katya thinks that it’s probably too early to even bring it up. She knows that Trixie has been planning to leave Honey for a while now, but Katya doesn’t want to put a strain in their very new relationship by proposing something like that. They have time.

An hour later they are still on the couch, their carefully applied lipsticks gone and their clothes discarded on the floor. They barely spoke anything in the hurry to get each other off, the tension between them building for the entire day and released only when Katya fucked Trixie until her thighs shook and then gladly returned the favor. Katya felt so exhausted afterward, especially with Trixie cuddling into her side, both lazy to get up, shower, and go to bed. The silence breaks shortly after, and Katya didn’t notice that Trixie has been chewing on her lip nervously for at least ten minutes before she speaks.

“Katya?”

“Yeah?”

“I have to talk to you about something.”

“Shoot.”

“Remember when I went back to Wisconsin to be with family couple of weeks ago?”

“Yes, of course I remember.”

“I went to see Pearl too.”

The name Pearl, spoken out of nowhere, and in that context, sucks all of the air from Katya’s lungs and suddenly she can’t breathe, so she sits up. Trixie, who was leaned on her, sits up too, bringing the blanket to her chest, suddenly feeling exposed. Katya opens her mouth once, both unsure of what to say and not understanding why this is being brought up now, then closes it. Then finally:

“Okay.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you back then. I wasn’t sure where you and I were going and there never seemed to be a right time. This is also not the right time, but I have to tell you anyway.”

This exact moment not being the right time is an understatement. Katya’s jaw is clamped shut, but all she can do is look at Trixie, and wait. After all, she has no idea what seeing Pearl means in this case, and wants to give Trixie the benefit of the doubt. Shiver passes down her spine, but it has nothing to do with being cold.

“And I know you and I didn’t talk about it at all, but our breakup went really badly, and I was afraid that I hurt her so I – I needed to fix it.”

Met with Katya’s silence, Trixie seems to falter a little bit, but she continues talking.

“So Bob and I went to Chicago and Pearl and I met over lunch and talked about… everything. Nothing happened obviously, I knew I didn’t love her that… way, and I knew I liked you, so I wanted to do the right thing and bring us both closure.”

A part of Katya, that has been under considerable strain and threatening to snap since Trixie started the conversation, loosened up and she let out a small breath. Nothing happened. Yet, there is an irrational part of her that’s still hurt about it. It’s not something she can help.

“Why are you telling me this now? That was almost a month ago.” Her voice too is slightly strained, but Katya tries not to project her insecurities on Trixie. Her insecurities are what ended every single relationship she’s had so far. There weren’t many.

When Katya didn’t snap, something that Trixie apparently expected, the corner of her mouth pulled into a small smile and she shrugged. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions that Katya went within two minutes time, she can’t help but want to hug Trixie when she sees her this way.

“You called me your girlfriend tonight. I was afraid that mentioning Pearl would fuck all of this up, and these past couple of weeks have been the best I’ve had in my life.”

“Mine too.”

Trixie’s face seems to light up at that.

“And tonight you called me your girlfriend and I became aware that I can’t hold this back from you because I don’t want to hide anything from you, Katya. I really, really like you and I want us to work. More than I want anything else.”

“Trixie…”

“So I had to say it. And I see that you’re upset and I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know and not find out from one of our friends or something.”

Katya reaches out and takes Trixie’s hand for the millionth time that day, and pulls her close, meeting in a kiss as she closes the distance between them, and Trixie readily responds.

“Thank you for telling me.” Katya speaks when they pull away, and Trixie leans into her side to snuggle her again.

“Thank god. If we had to fight it would have killed me.”

“How did Pearl take it?”

Trixie lifts her head to see that Katya’s looking at her, and they smile at each other.

“She was surprisingly okay and appreciated that I wanted to clear the air. She’s going on a big world tour and said it was for the best anyway.”

“And you’re okay? You guys were together for a long time.”

“Trust me, Katya, I’ve never been more okay with anything in my life. I have you.”

—–

[yunhycran-blog]

( the cuteST )

for once i don’t have a long ass spiel typed before introducing myself, imagine that ! hey i’m kat, i’m 20, canadian, and uh, i’m rly pulling this stunt again huh !! bc of lo siento fucking me up, i’m giving this brat one last shot in the group rp realm rather than pick up a new muse ( i am.. v convinced i kill or ruin rps by presence alone but with her ?? it’s tenfold so fingers crossed GKSKGKSL ) i’m just.. rly attached to her ok. 

i’m a uni student and in love with sowoo if that wasn’t already obvious, plus i’m 90% sure at least a quarter of you have seen me use hyeran before so this shouldn’t be a surprise to you SDKGJGKLDFS. you can find extras abt her — including stats — HERE, hmu on d*scord if you’d like ( STREAM LO SIENTO !!#2030 ) and with that, i’ll shut up and ( re ?? perhaps ? dfgjslkg ) introduce you to this brat !

` +⬦･ﾟ——— SHE/HER, PANSEXUAL — YUN HYERAN is said get mistaken for JEON SOMIN on campus all the time. they are TWENTY-TWO and about to go into their SENIOR YEAR. rumour has it they’re majoring in MUSIC COMPOSITION and came all the way from DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA. their roommate says they’re EBULLIENT & RESOLUTE but also SELF-CRITICAL & CIRCUMSPECT. ( kat, 20, gmt-3:30, and she/her  )

yun hyeran, a daegu native with an older and younger brother, an ambivert and an all around baby

tbh this is a copied intro from a few months back that i tweaked a bit for the rp, and i don’t have the time to perfectly incorporate much of her bg, so you can check out all of that HERE

buT she became involved in music through her father, who studied it in uni and ended up becoming a music instructor with a focus on piano, flute and vocals

her and her mom.. also her older brother, didn’t have the best relationship when she grew older, which seemed to die altogether when her parents divorced and her mom left. but her and her brother’s still exists, albeit barely. he’s a bit of a toxic influence on her, or at least that’s how she perceives it, and she tends to distance herself from him

would visit jeju island when she was younger bc her aunt lived there

she adores said aunt, her dad’s sister and the maternal figure she Deserves, so overall jeju holds a special place in her heart

went to uni in seoul to pursue music like her father ( a daddy’s girl too like ) but transferred to busan u after some.. shit and her own feelings ? anyways she was content when she settled here and soon found her way into the world of production !! by junior year, she’d transferred out of her original program and majored in that instead and has loved it ever since

for the time being, she works full-time as a barista at a café off-campus

she’s also making something of an income as the creator of an acct on youtube and soundcloud for her music, something she’s had for abt a year now

she’s not even close to making it big yet ofc, and she doesn’t mind if she never works for a moderately to highly popular label — though she should if she wants to get by

among the aesthetic, lo-fi music crowd ( one of those yt accts with a livestream for certain playlists that go on for hours, rip ) where for the most part, it’s personal faves mixed with her own works, and has a substantial following as of now. but has an interest in experimenting, with mashups ( as a lover of them ?? i couldn’t help myself sgflkdsjg ) for example, with a small fear of how that change would be received

this is so short since i took out a bit from when she was recent uni grad!hyeran so, pardon that sgkljgskfld

in terms of her personality and other things:

she’s a very loyal person, v e r y. while like i said ( and will elaborate on in her bio ), her relationship with her brother is Not Great, she hasn’t completely given up on him. maybe for the time being — by that i mean another two years or so ?? LJSKSDFGJ my baby’s still hurt by his bullshit so — but her being someone who’s open to the idea of people changing for the better somewhere down the line, leaves a bit of room for her to possibly change her mind if he does enough to allow her to consider it

so she can be a bit of a doormat in some cases, it all depends on how she sees the person that determines if that’s the case, but she generally won’t let you off if you’re being dumb/an ass to someone or if she gets advantageous vibes from you for example ( given she can.. be a little naive and is a p gentle soul ) so.. idk fgklsj good luck to the 99% ig ??

don’t confuse that with her being v forgiving, weak, etc, etc. she’s a soft bitch, p vulnerable too ngl but.. she’s not that Dumb sdljfkg

speaking of vulnerable, she does have a slight dependency on others despite her thinking all signs point to the opposite, and even though her and her mom never rly had a good relationship she still reels from the neglect/abandonment some days so handle her with Care if she deems you a close pal

spontaneous tbh, transferring to busan was a little last minute on her part, for one

she’s a bit reclusive when focused on something, if she tells you she’s working on a track, it’s essentially a head’s up that you might not see her for a couple of days depending on how soon she gets it done — lowkey that bitch™ who makes up an illness to her boss, so she wouldn’t even show up for work if it’s more than just her fucking around

bc admittedly, a lot of what she posts is fucking around and liking it, her more thought-out and effort packed projects are hidden away on her laptop

a bit insecure with her work and just her general disposition ?? those first few points above mess with her a lot and leave her disheartened so.. my poor child

v strong overall, takes people’s shit and if it gets to her, she gets over it p fast. doesn’t dwell on much and will be courteous to you even if she’s declared you too toxic to stick around 24/7

isn’t exactly one to get angry ?? she’s basically just disappointed or annoyed at best 99% of the time, it takes a lot to get her beyond that

positive, ugh. maybe not sickeningly sweet, but.. still dgklsf

don’t confuse that with optimism tho, bc she’s a bit of a defensive pessimist deep down, with her optimistic side always trying to overpower it

a cute bean who wants the best for everyone

uhhh

has a good understanding of english, her mom’s an american national so she grew up with it being spoken in the house at times

prob speaks it better than i speak french ( and uh, i studied that for almost ten fucking years with a shit end result on that end of things LKSDFGJGDKF ), but still wouldn’t consider herself fluent

.. i would tho js

plays piano and bass guitar, but knows her way around a flute and tenor sax ( you don’t know how tempted i was to say clarinet as an homage to jiwoo gjflkgds )

prob had some kind of little amateur rock band with a few music majors and took up bass for the hell of it lmao

loves animals, leans towards cats or big dogs. corgis and those little spaniels get a pass tho

speaking of, she has a cute little calico kitten back in daegu ( i’m shit with pet names so if lucy sounds lacklustre.. you know why rgkjls ) who she Loves, her baby !!

sweater, ball cap and basic t shirt junkie

those glasses somin wears a lot ?? hyeran wears them too but.. actually needs them for reading and especially while she’s working on shit on her laptop, not even close to a fashion statement

doesn’t don much makeup unless someone’s dragging her to a party or something

thaT’S when she looks a little more like a classy early twenties bitch.. which lbr, is hard enough when adulthood is a whole Train Wreck for the most part LGFJSDL

not a heavy drinker, but the textbook definition of a lightweight so.. she’s always praying for anyone who has to deal with her dgfjklsfg

lattes are her livelihood

a bit of a hopeless romantic, just a bit, but god help her nonetheless

her favourite subject in hs was literature/writing and reads quite a bit on her breaks at the café, even took up a couple of courses since attending uni

favourite music genres.. it’s easier to say what she doesn’t like/finds boring, which is prob country and some aspects of edm/pop, not into punk/metal either

these are super basic but.. i’ve gotta get myself together for the day so this’ll do for now i hope ??

so if you’d like to plot, im me here or on d*scord ! i prefer the latter personally, but whichever’s easiest for you. i have a list of a few of the specific wcs i have in mind ( for the time being, catch my lazy ass avoiding listing all the basic ones and revising a few i have on an old blog ) for hyeran up now, which you can find here, so just lmk if any of them appeal to you !!

[wildloveyoga]

One of the most beautiful practices to connect with, the Sacral Chakra. This is an area, expression that comes very natural for me, you will notice my teaching style is heavily influenced by it! MOVEMENT, FREEDOM AND PLAY!

So what is the Sacral Chakra? The sacral chakra, also known as Swadhisthana Chakra, is located two inches below your belly button but can radiate down into the pelvis and through the lower back, it has a close physical connection with the reproductive organs, bladder, lymphatic and circulatory systems.

This chakra is the centre of the search for pleasure, whether sensual or through your daily life experiences. It governs your emotions, your creativity, sensitivity, sexuality, intimacy, emotional well-being, and self-expression. An open, balanced sacral chakra allows you to experience intimacy and love freely and fully, to be honest and non-judgmental about your desires, and to live as your authentic self without fear.

As we move through life its very often we experience moments of feeling exhausted, over stimulated, depleted, or bouts of illness, this could be from an energetic blocks and imbalances as well as energy-sabotaging habits that prevent us from accessing our full vitality. When the Sacral Chakra is blocked we can physically experience symptoms like pain and stiffness in the lower back and hips, sciatica, low back pain, urinary and kidney problems, reduced libido, irregular menstrual cycles, constipation, and pelvic pain. Emotional symptoms can include, boredom, feeling easily offended, fear of change, guilt about the past, low self-worth, jealousy and emotional stagnation. You also might find yourself stumbling into a creative block, unable to express new ideas.

How can I heal my Sacral Chakra?

The Sacral Chakra is all about embracing change within our lives, taking a step back and noticing resistance that appears for us, wether this is emotional, physical or something beyond our control. When we can acknowledge this resistance it's easier for us to understand and process. The Sacral Chakra we can explore life's pleasures, creativity and personal identity. You'll find if your'e overwhelmed by others opinions or you find yourself feeling controlled or manipulated this can also create a huge block in the energy flow.

Get Creative

It's time to go back to our childhood roots and explore our inquisitive and creative side. Wether this just means doodling on a note pad, repainting the kitchen, cooking, dancing and gardening. We create when we find a new solution to an old problem. Any time we take raw materials, physical or mental, and transform them into something new, we are using our creative energy. Creativity can mean so much I so many different ways. I used to make jewellery and paint every single day, there didn't need to be an outcome it was an outlet to express something! Boredom can be one of the main 'symptoms' of an imbalanced Sacral Chakra, so time to find out those things that make you feel creative, a paint brush, the gardening spade, the sewing machine, the notebooks.

Start finding you again.

As we get older we start to lose our creative flare, maybe its just a natural process but at what age do you suddenly loose your passion and playfulness? I have mentioned this so many times in classes before, you're never too old to learn a new skill, never to learn to play, never too old to START! As we accept life's responsibilities, jobs and routine it can be very easy for us to fall into the trap of a monotonous life. Routine and being organised are important but remember life isn't all about hitting that bonus, your child can go to bed late occasionally and by far the most important thing is stop sacrificing your creativity and things that you want to do! As we move through life, sometimes it seems that we must mould into less creative beings. In order to conform, follow the rules and fit in, we lose our unique ideas in the process. Adults become used to following what’s right, the latest trend, or what’s acceptable to others. You will see it as clear as day on social media, the need to change yourself as a person for social acceptance, other peoples opinions can start to make us question our own decision making and actions. Often when we get consumed by the 'social media' world we really do get lost. So why not make the effort to limit your time online? I know that might sound like a wild idea, but reconnect to your discipline, before you go to bed, turn off your phone and be with yourself, think, read, meditate. DO ANYTHING other than ONLINE. As soon as you start to create time to yourself that isn't distracted I promise your flare will come back, those little curios thoughts of 'I want to go for a walk', 'I want to cook something new', 'I want to climb a mountain'. Your thoughts and mindset are limitless, so go explore and feel how amazing life can be!

Connect to water.

The sacral chakra relates to the water element and our ability to flow with change. You can reconnect with this element by spending time with water by going for a swim, sitting near the sea or flowing stream, or taking a bath. Why not make the effort to become more involved in your facial routine, did you know you can meditate or practice mindfulness anywhere? Next time your in the shower or bath, close your eyes and feel the water upon your skin, the rolling droplets as they roll off into the basin, the temperature, the heat but also how your hairs stand on end if to cold or there is a breeze through the window. The cleansing sensation of the water running over your head and face, washing away yet saturating you in an energy, I have lost many hours meditating in the bath and literally floating with no intention, Im just resting, settled in a womb like space. The rhythm of water, the waves moving in and out are just like your breath, in and out, ever changing, always moving and infinite.

Affirmations

Placing affirmations can be so beneficial, the power of words are what makes or breaks our day. It can only take one 'bad' comment from someone else to put you on a downer, but it can also take one 'good' word to change your outlook. Surround yourself with positivity, positive people and your life will flourish.

“I deserve to experience pleasure”

“I am confident that what I offer the world is enough.”

“It is safe to express my sexual self in fun, creative and healthy ways.”

“I attract relationships with loving, good people who will support me.”

“I know I can embrace change and make the best of my future.”

“Every day, I experience joy and satisfaction.”

“I am full of inspiration and the potential for creation.”

“My body is vibrant, and I am comfortable inside it.”

“I am a strong, creative person and I love what I create.”

“I am ready for positive change and for deep personal growth.”

Your Yoga Practice

The beautiful thing about your physical yoga practice is you are always evolving, always moving in it, with it and always creating it. The Sacral Chakra allows you to cultivate that true connection to yourself, your personal identity, and this is what your yoga practice is all about. It's about listening in and seeing how you feel, and giving yourself the time to problem solve, sit with, let go. The postures connected to this energy centre are hip based and movement, just flowing, shaking and dancing! Go back to that visualisation of water, there are NO boundaries, NO guidelines, it's just infinite and true into itself.

Move your body in all directions, don't worry what it looks like! Be with those sensations that feel good, that feel uncomfortable, that feel unfamiliar, weak and strong. The more you explore, the more you learn. (On and off the mat).

Explore postures that are hip based, strength wise and flexibility wise:

Butterfly pose.

Pigeon pose.

Cow face pose.

Childs pose.

Half monkey pose.

Goddess pose.

Warrior poses.

Frog pose.

Wide legged forward fold.

Tree pose.

Reclined butterfly.

Use your curiosity to make your practice yours, it doesn't need to conform to what every one else looks like in the studio. After all, and how often have you heard me say...

Your practice is about learning to feel, listen and have a conversation with your body, emotions and mind. No one else's.

These blog posts are a piece of my heart to you, take what you want, leave what you don't need.

Show up for yourself every day and enjoy every minute.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!

V x

[zoemurph]

blistering feet, ch1: improvisation

on ao3

'hey tea are you ever going to write something thats not a dance au' no.

welcome! i dont know why im posting this OR why i started it!!! i only have 2 chapters written and i just started college and i have no outline. so.

fingers crossed (please dont expect a lot from me)

shoutout to all my friends for encouraging this. thank you for being bad influences.

also please!!! read chapter notes!!!! ill be putting any sort of specific trigger warnings in the beginning notes. let me know if i ever need more. in the END NOTES ON AO3 ill be putting videos and links to any dance terms/references that i use in the chapter. let do this

tw: references to self harm

Connor clenches his fists, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. He’s shaking, his brain is screaming a million things at him, and he feels like he’s drowning in his thoughts.

He can hear his mother’s voice in his head telling him about breathing exercises.

Fuck breathing exercises.

Before he does something he regrets — even though summer is coming to a close, it’s still too warm to suffer the fate of long sleeves — Connor throws his hair up into a ponytail. He changes out of his jeans and into old sweats, his jeans are old and soft but not stretchy enough, and hauls his bag onto his shoulder. He grabs his phone as he passes it on his desk and resists the urge to slam his bedroom door behind him as he leaves.

He’s already going to get shit from Larry, he doesn’t need more.

Connor huffs out a breath before knocking on Zoe’s door. She opens the door quickly, a questioning eyebrow raised. She gives him a once over before closing the door again. Connor crosses his arms and taps his foot impatiently as he waits. He finds himself tapping out an old rhythm that his body has somehow remembered despite the years and leans into the beat.

A few minutes later, Zoe leaves her bedroom. She has a bag on each arm and is wearing sweats and a loose top. “I’m choosing the music,” she says, twisting her hair up into a messy bun and kicking the door shut with her foot.

Connor Murphy started dancing when he was five years old.

His mother signed him up for a tap class when Zoe refused to go on her own. Connor hadn’t wanted to go, but he was the older sibling, he was supposed to be the example, he was supposed to be there for his sister. So despite all his complaining and all of Zoe’s tears, Cynthia packed them into the car and drove them to the dance studio.

Connor was immediately put off by the amount of pink— pink was Zoe’s color, she had a monopoly over it. Zoe hated all the people, all the parents that were much bigger than her and all the other dancers who she had never met. She hid behind Connor and held onto the sleeve of his hoodie.

Connor decided he hated dance.

But he didn’t mind the way the shoes clicked on the floor.

They stood in line and the teacher talked and Connor stopped listening. But then the teacher turned on the music and showed them how to hit the floor with the toe of their shoe just right. The studio filled with the sounds of stomping.

Connor decided he liked dance.

Connor grits his teeth as Zoe plugs the aux cord into her phone. She hums to herself as she scrolls through her music, pursing her lips before settling on a playlist.

Connor focuses on the road, even though he knows this route well enough by now that he could probably drive it in his sleep. Not that Zoe would let him.

Zoe leans forward and turns up the music, guitar notes floating through the speakers. Surprisingly, it’s not a song that Connor recognizes. Probably some indie band that Zoe found and has decided to obsess over for a few weeks.

He doesn’t know how many songs have passed when he pulls into the parking lot.

“You’re lucky Heather likes us,” Zoe says as she hops out of the car.

Connor rolls his eyes and turns off the engine. He grips the steering wheel one last time before grabbing his bag from the back.

Melinda looks up from where she’s working behind the desk when Zoe pulls open the door of the dance studio. Melinda smiles and asks Zoe how she’s doing, her eyes flicking over the Connor briefly. Connor can practically feel the worry dripping off of Melinda and elects to ignore it. Whatever.

“Is Studio C open?” he asks, kicking off his shoes.

“Always is!” Melinda says cheerfully. He doesn’t care enough right now to decide if the tone is forced.

Zoe thanks Melinda as Connor climbs the steps to the storage room for the competitive dancers. He dumps his shoes and sweatshirt in his usual cubby and glances to his bag for a moment before deciding just to take all of it. He passes Zoe as he leaves the room and she holds out a water bottle to him. He takes it without a word.

Studio C is cold like it alway is. The heating in this particular studio isn’t very good, especially since it’s in the older part of the building. Him and Zoe moved to this studio when he was eight and his mother wanted them to start taking dance more seriously. When they were ten, the studio expanded into the building next to it for more studio space. Now, this studio in particular, with its dented wood floors and small size, is usually left open for anyone wanting practice space.

Two years ago, Connor claimed it as his own.

He plugs his phone into the speaker system and turns the music up as loud as he can without getting yelled at by Heather to lower the volume or get out. He can feel the beat in his bones as he sits on the floor and laces up his tap shoes, easy and familiar.

He stands and closes his eyes, facing the mirror but not wanting to see himself.

That’s the worst part about dance studios. There are so many mirrors. All of your mistakes, everything you are that you don’t want to be, projected for what seems like the entire world to see.

Connor does a few cramp rolls. His mind starts to calm as he soaks in the music.

He’s really supposed to warm up. It’s important to do, even for tap. He’s supposed to warm up his ankles.

He’s not really in the mood to be safe.

The song ends and the intro to another starts up. He always leaves his phone on shuffle when he improvs so it can be a surprise. He recognizes the song after the first few notes, smiling a little to himself.

Connor counts himself in and he starts with a simple flap ball change. And then he dances.

—«·»—

Zoe is sitting on a bench outside the studio scrolling on her phone when Connor has finished, his muscles sore and his heart racing. She barely gives him a second glance when he drops his bag on the bench next to her and sits down.

He leans over to check the time on her screen. Zoe pushes him away.

“It’s almost three,” she says. “And you smell.”

Connor rolls his eyes and pulls the hair tie out of his hair. “Do you want to grab something to eat before rehearsal?”

Zoe is already standing. “God I thought you’d never ask.” Connor follows her into the storage room as she complains about their mother’s cooking. “—which isn’t bad but, we dance twenty three hours a week, we need more carbs than that.” Zoe shoves her bag into one of the cubbies and puts on her shoes. Connor fishes the car keys out of his bag and does the same.

“McDonald’s?” he asks as they get into the car. The car has already gotten warm since they went into the studio and Connor remembers that he really fucking hates summer and heat.

Zoe is already reaching for the aux cord. “Depression fries?”

“Fuck you,” Connor says flatly. He shifts the gear into drive and tries not to speed out of the parking lot. If Heather so much as suspects that he was speeding in the area, he’ll get an earful at rehearsal tonight.

“I’m not judging,” Zoe says as she chooses a song. “I want chicken nuggets.”

Maybe fast food isn’t the best idea before rehearsal, but Connor stopped caring about what was healthy a long time ago. He spends hours in the studio without eating or drinking and sleeps less than five hours a night. If his plan was to live a long life, he’d be failing. But luckily that’s not his plan.

If he spends enough time in the dance studio, the rest of the world stops for a while. Or at least he stops paying attention to the rest of the world for long enough that it’s a little less shitty.

That’s the problem with school starting up again. Less studio time. More time in a hellhole where no one would care if he died, where half the school thinks he’s about to snap and go on a shooting spree, where all anyone knows him for is throwing a printer in the second grade.

Yeah. High school definitely is the best four years of his life.

Connor doesn’t even realize he’s made it to the drive through until Zoe is leaning over him and rolling down his window. He really has to stop doing that when he drives, even if he knows the route well. One of these days he’s going to get into an accident and kill himself (not a bad thing) and Zoe (a bad thing).

Zoe orders quickly, getting him a drink along with his trademarked depression fries, and then sits back down in her seat and buckles in, motioning him to drive forward. It’s sort of weird how Zoe just goes along with stuff like this without question, but it’s better than being at home and getting yelled at for it.  

They sit in the McDonald’s parking lot for a while and eat because Connor’s fries would get cold in the drive back to the studio and McDonald’s fries have this magical ability to get really fucking gross when they’re cold. Zoe cranks her weird music louder as she eats her chicken nuggets, clicking through emails and updating Connor on studio events.

Connor takes a sip of her drink before his own, mostly to annoy her, partially to see what she got because he’s already forgotten what she ordered. “Do you think Erin is going to try more party pop jazz?”

Zoe shudders. “I hope not. That was…”

“Fucking awful?” he asks, and she nods eagerly in agreement. Lauren liked trying new things. Trying a different style of jazz, with a lot more pop music and jumping and neon, had not worked out in her favor. Connor had tried to drop the dance and Zoe had yelled at him.

“Do you think you’ll get a solo this year?” Zoe asks lightly.

Connor raises an eyebrow at her. “Do you think you will?”

They stare at each other for a long moment before Zoe snorts and grabs her drink from the cup holder. “Erika would lose her shit if they didn’t let you have your solo.”

Connor smirks. “That’d be something to see. Maybe I should refuse it.”

Zoe whacks his arm. “ Drive , asshole. Heather will have your head if we’re late.”

“What about your head?” He puts down the empty fries container and backs out of the parking space.

“I’m too pretty for that,” Zoe says haughtily. “Besides, I’m actually good at ballet.”

“I’ll throw you out of this car,” Connor threatens.

Zoe just changes the song and blasts the music louder.

[chenziee]

Do you have scars?

[AO3]

Words: 3678 Pairing: Ereri Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mentions of Anxiety, Levi's endless patience, Established Relationship, implied dangerous lab habits, Fluff, really, the whole thing is just one big ball of mush, Mina is the best character to use as you need, and i'm sorry about that 

Summary: Eren's exhausted at the beginning of the new semester. Levi isn't willing to give up his date. Compromises must be made.

There were only a few minutes of Eren’s last lecture of the day left and since Levi was planning take him out on a date after the hectic week, Levi headed for the parking lot to wait for his boyfriend. He settled ­on the hood of Eren’s car, laying his bag next to him, and pulled out his phone just as it vibrated with an incoming text. Levi clicked his tongue, swiping at the screen to read the message from Hanji.

>> hows life with new roommate?

Levi rolled his eyes and went to reply but apparently, Hanji wasn’t done as the device vibrated again. And again.

>> i bet you dont even miss me :( >> judging by how you never talk to me anymore :‘((( >> and by how dutifully you go wait for him as soon as you get out early for once ;);););););)

Levi blinked at the barrage of texts, frowning at the last one in particular. His eyes rose up to glower towards one of the windows on the second floor of the science building, which was oh-so-conveniently adjacent to the campus’ parking lot. And of course, as expected, there Hanji was, hanging from the window of her shared office, the hand holding her phone laxly waving at him as she grinned stupidly, dressed in her dirty lab coat and with protective glasses perched on her head, making her hair stick out in all directions.

Levi’s frown deepened before glaring back at his phone to fire a reply.

<< If you drop your goddamn phone, I’m not lending you money for a new one. What are you even doing in the office dressed like that; shouldn’t you be in the lab or some shit? << And yes, I don’t miss having to drag you to the shower so you actually wash. << And stop spying on people.

The distinct, if muffled by the distance, sound of her laughter carried over to his ears as she read each text and Levi, despite his better judgement, felt the corners of his moth twitch in amusement. It had only been a week since she moved out so Eren could move in in her place, but he had missed her. She was his best friend, as astonishing as that was to everyone. Levi himself especially.

He jumped as the vibrations started again, jolting him from his reverie.

>> dwdw im not erwin ;)

Levi smirked at the reminder of how Erwin, graceful, confident Ewin, dropped and broke his phones on a regular basis. It became a running joke in their friend group; they even got him an old Nokia 3310 for his birthday one year. To say Erwin wasn’t exactly amused would be understating “the displeasure he felt over such a treatment from his closest friends.” And to say said friends were stricken by shame afterwards would be a blatant lie. They laughed about it - and at Erwin’s face every time they did - even now, several years later.

>> im going back down in a few. Just giving the great gods of chemistry the time to work their magic :-* >> meanie :((( >> im not spying you just happened to walk into my field of vision :P

<< I’ll remind you of that once you drop it. << Right. Just don’t burn down the building. And I’m not mean, just feeling sympathetic towards Moblit. << Tell that to the freshman from last week.

Levi’s lips stretched wider and wider as he typed, looking up with each message to see Hanji’s expressions. From his distance, it wasn’t as clear as he’d like, but still he could make out the exaggerated frown on her face. Suddenly, her head shot up to send a glare at him, sticking out her tongue in the process, only succeeding in making Levi smirk in victory, before she started typing furiously again.

>> i swear you forget to shut off the burner ONE TIME... >:( >> ill let you know that moblit hasnt had a single complaint since i moved in -__- >> their own fault. they shouldn’t be making out in the lot :P

<< You left some sodium right next to it, if Armin is to believe. And he is. << That’s because he has the spine of a sine function. And you haven’t started stinking the place up yet.

>> hey at least i hadnt dropped it into the sink? :D :D :D >> excuse you mr clean freak???????? >:((( >> math nerd!!!!!! >> ammonia man!!!

Levi couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping him. He went to type reply before Hanji could come up with more ridiculous insults just as the first students entering the parking lot caught his eye.

<< If there’s anyone smelling of rotten eggs, that you’d be you, shitty four eyes. << Anyway, gotta go. Eren will be here soon.

>> i was thinking more along the lines of chemical burns and destroying your mucous membrane o.O but disgusting smell works too i guess? :D :D >> k. say hi to my replacement for me :’( :D

Levi slowly looked up at her with a straight face, making sure to roll his eyes extra hard so she’d be able to see it. (He doubted she could, but he was sure she got the message anyway. At least her laughter said so.)

He watched, unimpressed, as Hanji abruptly stopped shaking with amusement and instead started fumbling to save her phone from the unfortunate fate Levi foretold it, when his ears perked up at the sound of Eren’s voice. It was faint, he couldn’t make out the words, only the light tone it carried, but he could pick it up anyway. And it filled him with equal parts warmth and dread. How scary was it that he could tell his voice apart from the maybe twenty, thirty others in the open space of the parking lot, from a distance in which all the noise just blended into one giant pain in the ass? Very scary.

Levi shook his head to chase the thoughts away. It shouldn’t be scary. It shouldn’t be but it was. And Levi was big, bad, scary man, who (accidentally) left children crying and lesser adults cowering in his wake. He shouldn’t be letting himself be turned into a trembling teenager experiencing his first love. Especially after literal years he’d been with the guy.

His hand twitched with the urge to slap himself and Levi had to stop himself from following up on it. Instead, he took a deep breath and ran his eyes over the small crowd to locate his boyfriend, which he succeeded at fast, the boy being taller than most. He was smiling and Levi’s own lips stretched a little as well at the sight. Fucking ray of sunshine that smile was. He was pretty sure if Hanji were next to him, she’d be making fun of his ‘love-struck puppy eyes’ as she liked to call it. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised to find a text saying something about that later. Yet, in that moment, Levi couldn’t even bring himself to care.

Next to Eren was walking a small, reasonably cute girl, who was looking up at him with almost equally adoring expression as Levi was, blinking at him prettily and leaning too close to be considered friendly.

Noticing this for the first time while looking for the reason for Eren’s amusement, Levi felt torn between pride and the need to stake claim. Staying true to his nature, however, he stayed put, only watching carefully with a neutral expression while imagining what he would do if he were to do it. Pushing Eren against the car and flipping the girl and everyone else watching off being the most reasonable of his fantasies.

Levi watched calmly as the two came closer and closer, the girl lightly touching Eren’s arm. Levi’s eyes narrowed, glaring at her. As if sensing his menacing stare, she turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting Levi’s darkened ones, and suddenly she stopped in her tracks, as if burned. At the same time, Levi realized he knew the girl. She was one of his own students in the elective course he’d started teaching this semester as a part of his doctorate. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘this will be interesting.’

Eren, noticing his companion wasn’t next to him, stopped as well, questioning, “What’s wrong?”

She looked at him blankly, before opening her mouth and immediately, Levi was glad they were already within earshot – if he strained his ears. “Eren, did you... do something?”

Eren blinked, a confused expression adorning his face and Levi had to bite his bottom lip not to laugh.

Seeing Eren was not comprehending, she gestured carefully in Levi’s general direction. Eren turned to look and Levi was graced with being able to watch his expression change with surprise and then melt into a soft, happy smile before a chuckle escaped him.

“Oh, that’s Levi. You know, the guy I said I just moved in with?” He shook his head and started walking again, nodding for her to follow.

She did a few hurried steps to catch up, lowering her voice significantly, obviously, trying to prevent Levi from hearing her. “Oh. I.. He teaches one of my electives; he’s scary, I thought... I don’t know...”

Now Eren laughed fully, smiling at Levi as he replied, “He is scary, isn’t he?”

Levi scowled at him as Eren winked in response. Levi felt a sudden urge to throw something at his boyfriend. Unfortunately, the only things at hand were either his phone or his books, neither of which he was willing to throw in fear of hurting either the thing or Eren. Or both.

“Yeah.” The girl (Levi couldn’t remember what her name was, couldn’t remember what the name of a single person he thought was) said in defeat. “Is he really your roommate? Isn’t he older than us?”

Levi almost rolled his eyes as Eren smiled. They were pretty much standing in front of him now and still talking as he wasn’t there. “I’m actually the same age as him. We used to be classmates. Also, not roommate,” he added with amusement as he leaned in to kiss Levi on the lips.

Levi took a great pleasure in giving the girl a challenging look as he returned the kiss gladly, even as he shoved Eren off immediately after. She looked crestfallen, her face turning bright red. Eren didn’t notice, still blissfully oblivious to her flirting. He only continued looking at Levi, questioning, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Finished early; thought I’d wait for you.”

“You were just being lazy and thought I could give you ride,” Eren said in a fake, hurt tone.

Levi smirked, teasing back, “Of course. Why else would I be sitting on your dirty ass car for the most dreadful ten minutes of my life?”

Eren scoffed. “Hey, I had the car washed just yesterday.”

Levi reached over to tug Eren closer with a cheeky glint to his eyes. “Only because you knew I’d kick your ass if I saw it filthy.”

Eren looked like he was going to protest but their conversation got interrupted by someone awkwardly clearing their throat. They simultaneously looked back to realize they had completely forgotten they weren’t alone.

Eren’s face turned pink while Levi only raised an eyebrow as the girl shuffled uncomfortably.

“Uhm, right,” Eren mumbled, scratching his head sheepishly. “Mina, this is Levi. Levi, Mina. Shit, you already knew that. Right. Sorry.”

Ah, so her name was Mina. Levi was sure this time he’d remember it for maybe 10 seconds longer.

Eren cleared his throat, shaking the awkward off of himself before he turned back at Levi. “Anyway, I promised Mina a ride. Do you mind if we drop her off?”

Levi glanced at Mina, who now looked positively horrified. “No, it’s okay!” she squeaked hurriedly, shaking her head. “Your... boyfriend...” she still looked like she didn’t really believe it. Levi wasn’t sure whether that was because of the gay thing or the teacher thing but he felt like that didn’t really matter. He was immensely enjoying making her uncomfortable either way. “Levi is here and I don’t want to intrude.”

Eren frowned. “No, I promised. It’s really okay, it’s not like you live that far.”

“But-“

Levi rolled his eyes, saying in a tone that refused arguments, “Get inside, brat.”

Eren looked at Mina who was left gaping and shrugged, “You heard the nice man.” Levi slapped his hip and Eren laughed, finally fishing out his keys to unlock his car. But Levi frowned slightly at the sound of his giggle. It didn’t sound right. He couldn’t put his finger on it; it just didn’t sound so... carefree as it usually did. Strained. He tried to shake the feeling off but before Eren left his side to walk to the driver’s side of the car, he briefly squeezed his knee, almost desperately, and Levi’s stomach sank.

Eren, as if nothing happened, turned towards Mina, telling her to sit wherever. She still hesitated, glancing carefully at Levi, but after the man glared at her she finally moved, probably scared of what he’d do to her if she didn’t comply, and she all but jumped inside the car, settling in the seat behind the driver.

Levi shot Eren one last look, meeting his gaze briefly as Eren looked at him questioningly, silently asking what was wrong. ‘You tell me,’ Levi thought. Knew better than to question him now, however, so he took a deep breath and slid off the hood, walking to the passenger’s side. “By the way, Hanji says hi,” he mentioned conversationally instead.

Eren paused in opening his door as his eyebrows shot up. “You saw her? She wasn’t in the lab for once? Every time I go see her, she’s not in the office.”

“I wouldn’t say I saw her but...” Levi trailed off, nodding towards the upper floors of the neighboring building before sliding into the passenger seat.

Eren looked up to where he knew Hanji’s group’s window was, squinting at the curtains someone was obviously using to hide behind. He shook his head, finally getting in himself. “Doesn’t she realize we can totally see her?” Eren wondered out loud, cocking his head to the side and Levi chuckled.

“Honestly, sometimes I really can’t tell what she does and doesn’t realize.”

Eren just hummed and turned the key in the ignition, rolling out of the parking spot.

The drive to Mina’s place was silent save for her timid instructions and Eren’s affirmatives. Levi took the time to observe the other man, but really, it scared him how much he didn’t even have to try to see it. Eren’s driving was erratic, like he was struggling to stay focused. A far cry from his normal calm and relaxed style. He was going too fast before he caught himself speeding, his grip on the steering wheel was too much, making him take the turns sharper than needed be. He had trouble changing gears once or twice, not pushing the stick shift far enough. It was obvious the people in the car with him were the only thing keeping the cries of frustration in. Every movement he made sent a sharp pain through Levi’s gut.

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t say anything with the girl still there. So he did the only thing he could in that situation, even if he hated it. He waited. Levi closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, starting to gnaw on his lower lip. He could only hope Eren wouldn’t kill them in this state before they got to be alone.

Mina’s “That’s my house; you can drop me off here” could not have come sooner in Levi’s opinion. He turned back to look at the girl as Eren pulled over but really, it was just so he could watch Eren. As soon as the car was in park, Eren closed his eyes for a moment, and to Levi it looked like he was praying. Maybe he was.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to give Mina a winning smile as she thanked them for the ride. Levi wanted to cringe at how fake it looked but Mina apparently didn’t notice, judging by how she smiled in return. Then again, Eren was an excellent actor and even Levi needed to be slapped in the face with reality before he started seeing the cracks more clearly.

As soon as goodbyes were said and Mina turned away, Levi carefully put a comforting hand on Eren’s thigh. “Do you want me to drive?”

He could feel Eren tense up and the sound of the engine rang loudly in silence of the car. Levi could see the inner battle raging inside the other as neither of them moved. Finally, Eren gulped before opening his mouth to utter a single word, so quietly Levi almost didn’t hear. “Please.”

Levi squeezed his thigh in reassurance. “Of course.” When Eren didn’t make any move to get out of the car, Levi continued softly. “We can switch now?”

At that Eren resolutely shook his head and immediately pulled away from the drive way of Mina’s house. Levi frowned in confusion and Eren gulped again before elaborating, “Not here. Mina would see.”

Levi blinked. He didn’t see Eren’s point. So what if she sees? There’s a million explanations why they might want to switch. Wisely, Levi didn’t voice his opinion. He had long since learned not to question Eren’s many irrational fears and now mostly let his boyfriend to lead the way, going with what he was comfortable with and just continued throwing assurances and compliments at him. Nothing good ever came from trying to reason with him over what people might or might not think if he, for example, went alone to eat somewhere. Only screams and tears and accusations of ‘you don’t understand what it’s like to live like this!’ Four attempts were more than enough for Levi to understand he should never oppose or question Eren and his wild fantasies.

Eren turned the corner and after confirming there was nobody walking down the street, he stopped again and jerkily got out. Levi followed, circling the car at a slower pace than Eren was. As they passed each other, he tried to grab Eren’s hand briefly but as soon as he made contact, Eren’s whole boy pulled away from him. Levi wasn’t even surprised. It was just sad resignation weighing down on him.

As soon as he was sitting again in the passenger seat Eren kicked off his shoes and pulled them up against his chest. Levi shot him a concerned look before putting the car in gear again, taking off. He only spoke up once they were back on the main street. “Did something happen? Or are you just tired?” he asked carefully, choosing his words to sound as not accusing as he could go while still getting to the point.

He heard Eren sigh sharply, as if he was about to snap back at him, but then he paused and suddenly Levi watched the tension leave his body as Eren sagged in his seat, his head dropping against his knees. It took him a while to gather enough strength to mumble an answer, “Just tired. Exhausted. I don’t know why, it’s not like they want too much from us yet.”

Levi shook his head, stopping at a red light. “It’s normal. School just started, it will take a while to get back into the rhythm of things,” he said, looking at Eren with a sure look in his eyes.

Eren sighed closing his eyes. “I know. But it seems like it’s never been this bad before.”

“Well,” Levi started, not sure if his next words were a good idea just as the light turned green again. “You didn’t go to therapy every week before. That’s fucking exhausting even without school.”

Eren made a face but didn’t comment, instead looking out of the window. Levi took it as a small victory and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

They were silent for a bit before Eren spoke up, changing the subject. “Where are we going anyway?”

Levi shrugged as he answered, “I actually wanted to take you out on a date.”

Eren looked back at him, a hesitant look in his eyes, biting on his lower lip. Obviously he wasn’t in the mood for anything but sitting back and ignoring the world. “Where?” he asked instead of outright saying no and Levi was glad for it. He smiled, blindly reaching out to touch Eren in reassurance.

“I was planning dinner, but seeing you now, I’m thinking more a dumb movie and a drive. What do you say?”

From the corner of his eye he could see the warm smile that spread on Eren’s lips and in turn, warmth spread through Levi’s chest at the knowledge he’d made that smile appear there.

“I fucking love you,” Eren said with certainty, not a hint of hesitation in either his voice or his expression. “Do we have a blanket, and can we stop by Starbucks?”

“Love you, too, Sunshine.” Levi said, in return, smiling. Then he cocked his head to the side in thought. “Not sure about the blanket but if there isn’t one in the trunk, it’s not like we can’t buy one. And when have I ever said no to Starbucks?”

“Well, last winter you threatened to burn the mall down if we went inside,” Eren reminded with a raised eyebrow.

Levi rolled his eyes in response. “That was because that would be the fourth time that day and there’s only so much gingerbread I can take before I’m sick of it.”

“Nobody said you had to get a gingerbread latte again.”

“You do not go into a Starbucks in the middle of winter and not get a gingerbread latte. Besides, even if I didn’t, you and Hanji would get it and then the smell would be all around me anyway.”

Eren laughed, leaning over to press a kiss to Levi’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Levi smiled, happy Eren was feeling better. “You’re welcome, brat.”

previous || next

[itsudemoyoshiwara]

[RP Log 7/27/2017] FFXIV | Fiore Brunelli

Fiore - Quell - Cedrick

Ala Mhigan Quarter

Quell Tyrbrandr mouth would open to let out a yawn, the two had wandered the small city for a few hours now and would seem to be resting their legs for the moment. Quell looked over to the horned woman, his gold hues inspecting her and then looking upward "...What will you do when you find your emerald dragon slayer?"

Fiore Brunelli looks over to her apparent companion with a start. She'd been staring at the arch at the top of the stairs, filled with dread. As much as she liked being out and about, the atmosphere was... not with good intent. "One would think that an ill placed question for one they'd just met normally, I'd think. Unless you're genuinely curious, miqo'te." Fiore spoke quietly, avoiding eye contact with Quell. He hadn't come off as too friendly on their journey here.

"What if he no longer breathes?  Such is the fate of most whom slay the dragons.  What if your quest was for naught?  Will you pick yourself up and continue on or will you give in on this life?" he asked sounding slightly concerned for the woman whom hired him.

Fiore Brunelli narrows her eyes at Quell. No longer breathes? That man? Nonsense. But even so... "I am not so foolish as to relenquish myself to the earth merely for a man, life-debt or no." She shakes her head, either annoyed or anxious. Possibly both. "The verdant dragoon gave me purpose, aye, but tis not my purpose simply to find him. Hydaelyn is far larger than Eorzea and I recognize that." Fiore Brunelli turns her gaze downward. While he had not been more than a catalyst, she would prefer to think him alive rather than dead. The miqo'te's words stung. She started up the stairs and beckoned to the man behind her. "No man shall be found should we stay here all day. Come."

Quell Tyrbrandr follows quietly! hiding his eyes from the bright sun with his hat

Fiore Brunelli eyes Quell suspiciously. Had she been too harsh? Despite the concern in the man's tone, he had come off as what she was taught to be too forward... "No quips, Quell?"

"Pray, let me remind you that you hired me.  The sooner we find this man the faster I can get back to my bottle of ales." he replied quietly, his eyes looking around at the hustle and bustle of the recaptured city and then to Fiore, his eyes locking into hers "Though I cannot say that I have not enjoyed this trip...these lands remind me of my home near the Sangoli Desert."

Fiore Brunelli flinches, a small squeak escaping her lips at Quell's initial response. Maybe she had been to hasty in enlisting his help. She had been wary to hire him in the first place, feeling that he had wanted more worth-while assignments. Her stomach knotted as his eyes found hers, but found herself taking an audiable, deep breath when he spoke again. "And here I thought you one not to speak much of yourself. Curious, that." She continued forward, eyes darting from face to face anxiously.

Quell Tyrbrandr stares at Fiore as she remarked on his thoughts of his makeshift home, he said nothing more and carried onward, a few men bumping into the man as they hurried along telling him to watch where he was going.  Quell quietly said nothing and kept following his companion.

Fiore Brunelli took a deep breath to calm herself. The combination of Quell's lack of response and the sheer number of faces within such close distance were overwhelming. Any of these could be that dragoon--her dragoon. She forced Quell's earlier words from her mind and bit her lip. Fiore could not allow herself to be discouraged. "Was that all you had to say?" she asked, shakily.  

Quell Tyrbrandr looked at her worry, his face forming a slight frown, he would then annouce loudly "Attention Ala Mhigan people.  I am looking for a man, Ala Mhigan, bores emerald armor and a spear.  A slayer of Dragons.  Would anyone here know of such a man or possible men that have come onto the service of the resistance?" he asked the workers

Fiore Brunelli turns to face her companion, eyes wide with fear. She rushes to his side, grabbing onto his sleeve hurridly. "Are you mad, miqo'te?!" Her eyes dart from face to face, her grip tightening on Quell's attire.

Cedrick Highwind sat here in relative dryness, looking over documents of relative insignificance. Upon hearing the miqo'te speak up loudly, he tried to ignore it before promptly hearing the words 'green armour' and 'dragon slayer'. Huh. He glanced over, looking at them both from over the rims of his reading glasses. A Miqo'te and a... Xaela? That was a rare sight outside the Azim Steppes. He did, however, keep silent. He would just watch them with the stealthiness of a goobbue in a Hingan porcelain shoppe.

"You want your answers you're not going to find them hiding behind a box, in order to garner your goals you must make headway on them." he said as he was tugged by the sleeve, freeing himself and then annoucing loudly again "I ask for a few moments of your time if you feel the need to give information, I am willing to part with some coin as a reward."  Quell said no more and would make his way back a bit

Fiore Brunelli felt her stomach drop twenty leagues as Quell continued to raise his voice. She looked around as people turned to stare, her heart rate spiking. The miqo'te had taken the stability of himself physically away from her and she began to panic. "Q-quell... wait!" Fiore squeaked out. Barely. She scrambled behind him, biting her lip. "There are more sublte ways we can handle this, one would think..." The Xaela woman felt much smaller than normal, suddenly, and hiring Quell was beginning to seem more and more liked an ill concieved idea.

Cedrick Highwind took a deep breath before speaking up. "How much coin're we talkin' 'bout, lad?" came the deep tones of Cedrick's cockney accent, raising his hand so they knew exactly whom it was that spoke, while at the same time motioning for them to come closer.

Quell Tyrbrandr as he walked with Fiore having a small meltdown behind him would stop in his tracks "Son i'm a lot older then I look and enough for a meal and possible bed for the night rather then sleeping outside.  Ala Mhigo and her citizens have seen enough of that." he's replied to the red haired male that has asked

Fiore Brunelli whipped her head around hard enough to give the poor woman whiplash at the sound of their respondant's voice. Her eyes immediately searched the crowd for the sound, resting on a large hand in the mess. The panic she had felt merely two moments before intensified with a mixture of excitement. Her stomach churned. Fiore Brunelli looked up at Quell, then back to the hand in the crowd and did not wait to push through the mass of workers. As she burst forward, the small Xaela woman stopped not a fulm away. "I'll pay you whatever you want!" The words shot out from her mouth before she could stop herself and suddenly, she felt very conscious of her volume.

Cedrick Highwind cocked his brow, "Calm yer breeches, lass and quieten down. Cum wit me." he stood up, storing the papers he was holding just mere moments ago somewhere on his body. If a glance upon them was cast, you might recognise the Ishgardian seal on it. He turned and made his way over to... a table further back, with three seats, "Hav' a seat, y'two."

Quell Tyrbrandr followed the red haired man to the back where it seemed less loud and out in the open, he was generally curious about what he had to say and what information he had to provide

Fiore Brunelli felt her eyes dart from place to place across this man's large, but familiar back as she followed very hastily behind him. If she bit her lip any harder, she might have drawn blood. He sat and she immediately took a seat at the table across from him, shooting Quell a quick, wide-eyed look full panic and anticipation.

Fiore Brunelli 's eyes fell to her lap after that, and she began to play with the hem of her skirt. A moment passed before she thought to apologize for her previous outburst, but recognized that the moment had passed and sat quietly, waiting for the man to continue.

Cedrick Highwind just glanced between them both, taking off his reading glasses and placing them on the table before them. "I take it yer not jes' lookin' fer a run o' th'mill dragon slayer. Not many o' 'em clad in green." he started, leaning forward, "B'fore I part wit me knowledge, I need ask; Whot is i' ye wont wit 'im?"

"She wants the man.  I am just hired to help sniff him out.  I'll let her explain rather than I..." he said adjusting himself int to the chair and allowing his sore legs to rest for the moment.

Cedrick Highwind glanced over to the Xaela since the ivory-haired Miqo'te gave his statement.

Fiore Brunelli felt her face redden as she felt the Highlander's gaze upon her. "W-well..." she started, her voice small, "I was looking for a man to whom I owe my life, as to repay him for doing so." The Xaela woman gripped her skirt tightly. "Twas that man who helped me leave the Azim Steppe and see the world, and by association he has given me so many things. As such, I feel a deep need to repay him... So--"

Fiore Brunelli stopped abruptly, finally looking up from her lap and into the face of the man before her. "I had not seen his face, but I will remember his gesture for the rest of my being. I would appreciate it greatly if you could lead me to him... Please."

Fiore Brunelli swallowed hard, feeling too awkward to keep eye contact. She let her eyes fall back to her lap.

Cedrick Highwind leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and raising a hand to his cheek in quiet contemplation. "Azim Steppes, aye? 'Tis quite th' distance fer a smol thing such as yerself." he muttered mostly to himself. Opening his eyes and letting his green eyes settle upon them both, he spoke up with certain conviction, "I knoe nought of a... verdant dragoon, y'might say, that ain't me seeing as that's whot me comrades in arms call me." he paused, shrugging.

Cedrick Highwind "Sorry fer me deception, y'need understand 'tis tumultuos times in me homeland, aye?"

Quell Tyrbrandr "Then this quest hath come to an end.  Your prize awaits." he said looking over to Fiore offering a faint smile before standing himself up and giving the two some space

Fiore Brunelli continued to stare silently at her lap, unsure how to process the information provided to her. Had she heard him correctly? She flinched as Quell left his seat and became extremely conscious of the privacy he had provided the two of them. She lifted her eyes to look upon the man--the verdant dragoon that she had left home for--and bit her lip again. Despite thinking of this moment for quite some time, Fiore was at a loss for words.

Fiore Brunelli turned her gaze to Quell's back, hoping he wouldn't leave her here for long.

Cedrick Highwind just stared at Fiore, who seemed quite... unwilling to do anything but sit there. Cedrick stood up with a sigh and walked over to Quell, "Keep yer coin. Make a random beggar's day wit it." He said to him before starting to leave.

"Ye would leave this woman whom has spent many moons under my watch and guide like chaff in the wind?  Nay sir.  You will talk with her.  She holds you to much accord and respect, she hath done not but sing into thine ear about your deeds and praises.  Else i'll put in arrow in your arse lad." he growled as what appeared to look like Cedrick fleeing the scene.

Fiore Brunelli felt the slight pop of her teeth breaking skin as she watched the Dragoon stand from his seat and leave, wordlessly. "Ah--!" She too, stood and pressed her hand to her mouth. He had made his way to Quell, who seemed more agitated than she'd seen him on their journey here. This had gone not at all according to plan. Her stomach lurched again. Fiore was gonna puke. Or pass out. One.

Cedrick Highwind smirked. He cared not for the man's threat. "Sure. I'll listen while I'm doing me paperwork." is all he said as he made his way back to the table, taking out the papers from before as well as putting his glasses back on. He propped some ink and a quill out as well and started writing, "G'on then lass."

Quell Tyrbrandr looked agitated at Cedrick as he sat back down, he shook his head a bit and wandered a bit more away so that they could talk privately, he removed his hat for the moment and sighed.

Fiore Brunelli watched Cedrick as he sat back down, and once again back to Quell as he walked further away. Hopefully he wouldn't go much farther than he had? She turned her attention back to Cedrick after being addressed and sheepishly motioned to the hand she'd used to cover her mouth. "I hope you'll pardon me, uhm... Sir, but I've hurt myself," Fiore managed, her words muffled. "Though I will have to apologize, I'm not sure what to do now that I'm here..."

Cedrick Highwind took a deep breath, placing the paperwork on the table next to the ink and quill, before standing up. He approached the Xaela, and just took her hand and moved it away from her mouth, leaning in closer to inspect it. "Yegads, lass, why'd'ye do this?" he muttered with certain incredulity. He poked it with a finger, a soft wave of curative magicks flowing through to her to mend the skin. "Learned me sum conjury back during me time in Gridania." he explained. "So, whot's this about a debt?" Cedrick Highwind "Who are ye again? S'been like... wot, ten - twenty years since I've been in th' Azim Steppes?" it probably was less.

Fiore Brunelli flinched as Cedrick stood, steeling herself when he drew close. She wasn't sure what made her face burn more, the careless way he moved her hand away or when he touched her lips. Though, nothing about it was much to be worked up over, she had to remind herself. He was simply doing what you ought to have done, had you not been so stupid. By the twelve, his hands were rather large though...

Fiore Brunelli shook her head slightly, and returned her hand to her lips, touching the spot he had healed. "Ah, thank you," she muttered. Her gaze fell downward to nowhere in particular. "I would not expect to you to remember, but you saved my life once. As is per your, uhm... Profession, you slayed a dragon that I had encountered near my home."

Fiore Brunelli took a deep breath and continued, "Although, the sight of you... I had not seen any but my own kind. It inspired me to leave and see everything. For that, I owe you much more than just my physical form."

Cedrick Highwind cocked a brow, "... Are ye tryin'a bed me?" he grunted, going back to his seat to return to his paperwork, "No' that yer no' attractive but, not int'rested." he concluded, pushing his glasses back up, "Glad I could inspire ye though, I guess."

Fiore Brunelli visibly flinched at the mention of... intimacy? Her eyes grew wide and her face much hotter than before. "B-bed you? I beg your pardon? I--" She fanned herself slightly with one hand and cast a quick glance at Quell, who seemed to have dozed off or something. Fiore was more or less alone on this one.

Fiore Brunelli took a deep breath to compose herself and sat herself once more across from Cedrick. "I had not come here with impure intentions, I assure you. I merely wish to provide my servitude to you, should you take it. I could at least do that much, for as much as you have given me in my life since our encounter--though unintentionally."

Cedrick Highwind glanced up from below the rims of his glasses, "Err, look lass. Much as I'd like t'have me a sl--" he caught himself there, "a /servant/ pretty as yerself, I dun' think I did that much. I jes' killed a dragon, aye?"

Fiore Brunelli shook her head with enthusiasm. "Tis not all you did, I promise you! Because of you, I--" her words became more frantic, excited. "I have seen and done so much! I have known many places and people that I never would have, had you not saved me that day. Tis not a matter of simply saving my life, but also giving me one. Tis not an easy debt to repay. It has weighed heavily on me for some many moons, sir."

Cedrick Highwind sighed, "Well, if'n y'insist..." he grumbled, "Jes'... how good are ye at fightin'?" he asked, "Might've sum use for ye in me platoon."

Fiore Brunelli opened her mouth to continue, but stopped herself. Fighting? Mountain-dweller or no, she wasn't of great strength. "I have come a great deal to learn curative magicks myself, sir, but I am not so great in strength. Would your platoon have need of an experienced healer?" She swung her legs uncomfortably against the chair. While prepared to give her life for this man, who's name she still did not know, she would much hate to disappoint.

Cedrick Highwind gave a soft nod, "It'll doe. Chirurgeons are gud but, y'knoe, understaffed. Always good t' have a healer on hand." he paused, glancing at her, "Beg pardon but I dun see a cane or rod on ye?" never heard of scholars, fuck boy?

Fiore Brunelli beamed with delight at Cedrick's ignorance. She herself had felt that feeling a great many times and relished in the chance to educate someone as she had been educated. "You see, sir, I have studied the ways of Nymian scholars. As such, my healing magics are related to, euhm..." She pauses for a moment. "Faeries. I use a tome." Fiore pats the leather bound codex, secured at the small of her back. Fiore Brunelli continues, "I assure you, providing succor to your wounded is no issue."

Cedrick Highwind glanced over, "Ah. One o' them scholars. Rarely see yer kind in Ishgard. We see more o' them Astrowhatsits." he coughed lightly, a certain awkward silence washing over them before he spoke up again, "... Tell me, y'got a place t' live? Otherwise I've got a flat y'can stay in fer the time being." seeing as she's his sla- servant. :V

Fiore Brunelli bit her lip once more, but more to stifle a giggle than anything. "Ah, yes. Astrologians. Theirs are a Sharlyan based study. I had a fond time looking into that during my time in Ishgard as well." Cedrick's... blatant lack of either understanding or caring--Fiore couldn't tell which--was rather endearing. "As for my living arrangements, I am currently here on behalf of the Maelstrom for the... Euhm... 'Effort." Fiore Brunelli cleared her throat, "But if you should wish it, sir, I can change those arrangements. My loyalty to you is second to none."

Cedrick Highwind shook his head, "Nah. I'm here fer th' same thing, after all. S'not only cuz this is me home land, aye? M'still a Dragoon bound t' Ishgard. I was jes' wondering n'general."

Fiore Brunelli nodded in response. "As I would suspect. You /are/ Ala Mhigan, after all." With nothing else to say, she gave Cedrick a once over and waited for him to say anything in particular. She kinda wished she had gotten to see his appearance back at the Azim Steppe. She would have left much earlier than she had, if so. Fiore stifled another giggle and cleared her throat, her inspection of Cedrick, likely blatant.

Cedrick Highwind just kinda cocked his brow at Fiore, "... So..." he scratched the nape of his neck, "Whot's yer name, then?" is all he asked, the processing of what is actually happening just sinking down, "Wait." he blinked, "Y'would ditch yer entire life jes' fer m- Thal's balls lass."

[iannoyinglysweetstudent-blog]

What Are Some Good Health Insurance Companies?

"What Are Some Good Health Insurance Companies?

I used to be a 1099 worker but just recently got switched over to a salary but i still do not have health insurance. Are there any affordable health insurance companies out there that you guys know of?.. Maybe ones that also do Dental as well?.. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://saleinsurancequotes.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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I had bought a motorcycle and got a quote from this company for the insurance. As it was a good rate, I accepted, they sent me the temporary insurance paper (3 months) until I paid the full amount. During this time I found someone who bought my bike from me so I no longer required the insurance and disregarded the agreement(contract) never returned it or anything. I assumed they would cancel it upon not receiving any contract and payment,but 6 months later, today, they called me claiming the full amount or they will take me to court/collections. They have no paper whatsoever signed from agreeing to their terms. What should I do ?""

""Insurance estimate way to low, help?""

Ok, So about 2 weeks ago I was at a friends house. When I walked out and was getting ready to get into my truck, I noticed all four windows from the passenger side and drivers side smashed out, along with my truck being keyed all around on every panel. I called my insurance company the next day and a few days later they sent someone to give an estimate. I wasn't there though. So I then received a check in the mail, along with the breakdown of the estimate. They gave me $2,600, minus my deductable left me stuck with a check for $1,600. I felt that was way to cheap for a brand new paint job and to replace my windows, so I went around and got quite a few estimates of my own. They ranged between $5,800 - $7,000. I faxed them over the estimates, and what they told me was that the way they worked was I'm supposed to show them their estimate and they are supposed to work with the shop owner from there. So today I went, and as the shop owner was reading through the estimate, he was laughing and pointing things out, saying they can't be serious. He said there is basically no shop that would do all that work for cheap. He says I might need a lawyer. Any advice guys? Because all I want is my truck fixed, and its turning into a big ordeal. I drive a 2003 Chevy Silverado just in case that matters. I also still have they check they gave me sitting my my drawer, haven't cashed it.""

Motorcycle Insurance?

Does motorcycle insurance cost more than car insurance would or is it about the same?

Cheapest Auto Insurance Humanly Possible?

I am a college student living on campus and want to have a car but will not be driving it much at all. I am just looking for the most basic and least expensive auto insurance I can find. I am 19 with no tickets or accidents yada yada yada. Where can I find some cheap coverage?

Do insurance rates diffeer between a new and used car?

i am looking at a 2001 corvette selling by owner for 18,000, and i was wondering if the rates would be higher or lower if I was to buy a new vette from the dealer. i am 15, ill be 16 in a month, fyi.""

Quoted insurance price?

I purchased insurance on the online weekend for my car. I paid the first monthly installment. Only to have a phone call telling me this price was wrong it was a computer error and the policy will cost a lot more. Do I have any rights here? Or must I simply front the rest of the cash to keep my car insured?

How much homeowner insurance should I buy?

In other words, how much does it really cost to rebuild this house? My homeowner insurance company insures the dwelling for X, and another company suggests I insure it for 76% of X. So who is right and how do I find out? Another important question -- do most people try to get 100% coverage in case the house is vaporized, or do smart people go for, say, 75% coverage because the entire house probably won't be destroyed? Advice, please.""

Car insurance for 18 yr old male RIDICULOUS?

I'm 18 and male, so turns out car insurance companies think its okay to rape my wallet. I've been looking at a few quotes on different sites and they come up in the $300-$400 range. I tweak a few things, telling the generator that I'm a 30 year old married woman and then it magically drops to $70 per month. This is crazy, I'm an extremely careful driver, I never drive over the speed limit and I constantly check my mirrors. How the hell do young males afford it?""

Insurance rate about traffic violations question?

Ok so ive gotten 6 tickets since ive gotten my licenese about 8 months ago. Got the tickets on 3 different occasions. Yes I am a dumbass and will never conduct a traffic violation again because of my last incident. Ok so heres my question will 2 underage drinking charges, having open liquor in a motor vehicle, not being able to provide owndership, public intoxication, and tresspassing affect my insurnace if the motor vehicle being involved is checked off on the tickets? I know the open liquor charge will forsure. But what about the other ones? Your answer are much appreciated""

Should fat people and smokers get a discount on their health insurance?

Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars... -- AP/wired.com, Feb 6, 2008 http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/O/OBESITY_COST?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-02-05-02-58-08""

How much would insurance cost for a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse?

I'm 17 years old with a clean driving record. All the insurance websites won't give you quotes until your 18, and i'm just curious how much monthly insurance would be because i'm paying for it.""

What sporty car can i get which is under insurance group 11?

I am only 19 years old so it cant be higher or insurance will cost a bomb. I like the Honda Civic type s although they might be slightly over my budget at 9000. I also like the Fiat Bravo 2007 T-Jet sport, but a bit worried about the Fiat reliability. The Ford fiesta ST is okay i suppose. Can you give me some sporty car suggestions please. I prefer hatchbacks. Thanks in advance.""

Why is it important that all Americans have health insurance?

Currently, health care in America takes care of everyone, regardless of whether or not one has health insurance. By requiring all Americans to have health insurance, will this make our health care system better than it is now?""

What is the average cost of mobile home insurance in Florida?

Is it higher in different areas

What Are Some Good Health Insurance Companies?

I used to be a 1099 worker but just recently got switched over to a salary but i still do not have health insurance. Are there any affordable health insurance companies out there that you guys know of?.. Maybe ones that also do Dental as well?.. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

INSURANCE !!! any 17 years old insured ??

hi i wanna know any 17 year olds insured by themselves on wat car, how much they are paing and which insurer plz""

Am I payin the right amount for car Insurance?

I'm 20 years old and I drive a 2006 Hyundai Elantra an pay around $117 for car insurance every month for 6 months. I hear my friends payin cheaper and was wondering if I can get a lower quote. I've been driving for 2 years.

Will my home owner insurance go up if I make a claim? How much?

I live in Massachusetts. Let's say a homeowner has a flood, and claims a $3000 loss, minus a $500 deductible. Will they be punished severely with increased rates? What will it cost them? Will it make a difference if the damage was someone else's fault (e.g. in a condo where a first floor unit could be flooded by a broken water heater on the second floor, or by a fault in the building's plumbing which is owned by the association?) Will the insurance company send their lawyers after the party at fault, and in that case would they not raise the rates on the claimant? People tell horror stories, usually about car insurance, where the rates go up so much you pay the insurance company back for the whole claim. But I pay all of $220 per year for $30,000 in personal property coverage. If I claimed a loss of a few thousand dollars, how much could they really raise my $220 premium?""

Can you switch car insurance companies easily?

I bought a car last night and am picking it up today in Nova Scotia. I called around to a number of companies for insurance and got a quote that seemed reasonable. I went down today and signed the paperwork and was given the temporary insurance card and they faxed paperwork to the dealership and the dealership to them and it is all worked out. However I got a call back a few hours later from another broker quoting me a lot less. I had her verify with the company and they said yes. But I have already signed the other stuff. The one I have now is going to be monthly and the first payment should not come out till about the 15th and be the first and last payment for the month. if I switch and they have already taken the payment do I get the last month back? Can I pretty much switch at any time? Anyone know how that works? I'm a newbie at buying a vehicle an thought I had done my homework but apparently not.

Insurance for my car?

I'm buying a car from my parents and as of right now the insurance is in their name. Once I own the car, does the insurance have to be in my name or can I continue to use the insurance they already have?""

How good is the Cover Kids insurance in Tennessee?

I'm moving from California to Tennessee so we can afford to live on our own but their dad doesn't provide insurance and I'm thinking about running a daycare so I would have to buy insurance for them. I just want to make sure that Cover Kids is good insurance with good doctors, etc.""

Progressive auto quote confirmation?

I had to ask a bunch of questions regarding insurance for a certain car for my driver education project and I got an email saying that I quoted with Progressive. What does this mean?

Insurance for a 17 year old on a Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec Petrol?

Hi, I'm currently 16 years old and my birthday is coming up in late May. I'm thinking of buying a car and I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum. As I can't get a quote on any insurance companies yet. I'd like to just know roughly how much I would have to pay on insurance for a Ford Fiesta 1.4L Petrol Zetec, it has an 06 reg plate, 3 doors and 49k on the clock. thanks.""

Can relative use Insurance to get car towed?

Hi everyone. Had some trouble with my car in that it broke down 30 miles from home. The insurance company ( Halifax but outsourced to green flag) have told me that it would cost 160 as it is outwith the 10 mile radius ! So i had it towed to a local garage who tell me it needs a new engine !! Bad luck this car. I have arranged for a company to buy it back home despite being non-runner, so question is can my mum use her insurance to get it towed 30 miles free of charge ? Possible problems being that she might have to be at the car or they won't tow to the car buyer. Help please.""

Can insurance cost less on a motorcycle with a restriction kit ?

I want to know will insurance cost less on a 600 bike if you put a restriction kit on it. Also will it make a 600 a good first bike to start on. I know some motorcycle licenses have 33 HP limits and people still can get 600's and put restriction kits on them to keep the power down to make them good first bikes.

Are petrol cars or diesel cars cheaper to insure?

Are petrol cars or diesel cars cheaper to insure?

How is mandated health insurance a stepping stone for universal health care?

Doesn't it just make the HMO's/insurance companies more powerful (which will make them more influential)? Won't it just be like mandated car insurance--but much more expensive?

Are Mitsubishi cheap in car insurance?

I was looking into buying a 2002 mitsubishi lancer. Are they expensive in insurance?

Difference between term life insurance and permanent policies?

My insurance company is offering a term conversion credit if I switch to permanent insurance. What's in it for them, and what is permanent insurance? Whole life? Any benefits for me to change?""

How many Americans go across borders for affordable healthcare?

How many Americans go across borders for affordable healthcare?

Planning ahead for car insurance ADVICE.?

OK, So I have recently passed my driving test and am now currently trying to sort out a car for myself. As a young driver I know insurance is high. All I want to do is find out how much the insurance is on each small car, so I can find the cheapest. E.G KA ETC. I have looked online such as confused.com and they ask you for the number plate and ask questions about the specific car. Obviously I can't fill it in because I haven't got one. Is there a website that will show all insurance companies and their prices????? Many thanks.""

What is the best auto insurance for an adult driver?

For a driver that is under 25 but older than 21, what is the best auto insurance for a minivan or an suv? No accident history. No tickets. Clean driving record.""

Can my mom carry me on her car insurance?

My mom lives in GA and has transfered her car insurance over to GA, but I live in SC and am getting my permit in SC. Can she still put me on her insurance even though I live in SC and am getting my permit in SC.""

Cheap car insurance for 17 year old male?

I passed my driving test a few days ago and in two days i will have completed the PassPlus scheme. I was wondering if anyone knew of anywhere that i can get a cheap car insurance quote for a 1.2L 1996 corsa. Ive tried go compare, money-supermarket, confused... but the cheapest one is still just over 4,000! Quinn-Direct was 6,000! I am still in college and have a 2 jobs but i could never afford 4000 a year! I have heard of some places that have a rule that your not aloud to drive within certain time limits eg. 11pm - 5am. but i wouldn't be driving then anyway so that doesn't bother me. Any advice/tips would be appreciated, thanks""

Is there any dental insurance to recommend for adult orthodontics?

I am 26 years old, and I want to wear braces. I try to enroll a dental insurance to save money but failed to find one that covers orthodontics for adults of my age. Can anyone give me any recommendation for the dental insurance? Many many thanks.""

Grace period on car insurance in nyc?

dO WE HAVE GRACE PERIOD ON EXPIRE CAR INSURANCE IN nyc

Will my Auto Insurance Rates go up?

I just got my first speeding ticket and i was going 9 miles over the speed limit. it was 35 and i was going 44. will my auto insurance rate go up after im done paying the ticket off. i heard you can take a traffic school to get the points taken off your license. will it still make my insurance go up ?

Where can I get the cheapest car insurance?

I live in Toronto, Ontario Canada and I am looking to buy cheap car insurance. I have been driving for 30 years, any ideas, good websites, great companies? Your help is greatly appreicated.""

Why is Esurance so cheap? Are they a good company?

I'm in NY, and apparently insurance is way more expensive here for whatever reason. Well everyone in my family has gone to Esurance to get a quote, and it's WAY cheaper there. I mean we're talking $100-200 less a month. Progressive wants $300 a month for me and my mom on the same plan... which is about the same as other quotes I've got. Esurance wants $140. I can't help but wonder if it's a big scam or something.""

How much does it cost to insure an RV?

i have to do a project for drivers ed.. and i need to figure out how much it cost to insure an rv and i guess the insurance company would be aarp.

What Are Some Good Health Insurance Companies?

I used to be a 1099 worker but just recently got switched over to a salary but i still do not have health insurance. Are there any affordable health insurance companies out there that you guys know of?.. Maybe ones that also do Dental as well?.. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

How do i get insurance?

ok i saw one i like what should i do next ? should i call them ? and i want to pay monthly, and how soon do you think my insurance can be started? and can i start today?""

Insurance costs on a Range Rover?

I'm only 14 right now but since I am a massive car fan I have already come up with a selection of cars. Most definetly euuropean though. My idea was the 3.5 litre that Land Rover had in the Range Rooney (Top Gear reference) I hear insurace is higher for SUV's and convertibles. I think a Rage Rover could be good for practicality, and even though they are slightly unreliable I was thinking put in a new engine. But I also had ideas for a used Mercedes SL hardtop (if they had any). I also like the VW beetle (original). I would think my budget would likely be $4000-5000. I just remembered I also wanted a 1997-99 Jaguar XJ long wheeelbase. So if u can please make a suggestion for a European car with 6 cylinders or more preferebly British or German and tryy adding what insurance might be pllease. Thank you.""

Will conservatives send back the refund on their health insurance to protest the Affordable Care Act?

Americans all across the country are receiving refunds from their health insurance providers (mine was $166). Included with the checks are letters explaining that the refund is the result of the Affordable Care Act. The Act requires health insurance companies to spend at least 80% of every dollar received on actual health care (I.e. not on administrative costs or CEO salary). Companies who fall below that cutoff must refund the difference to their policy holders. Will conservatives who receive such a refund send it back to protest the Act?

How can i get cheap car insurance?

is there anyway i could reduce my insurance costs

About how much will my car insurance be?

1. have had my license for 3 years now 2. never had insurance before, because I never needed to drive (until now)...so I guess that I can be considered a new driver ??? 3. BRAND NEW Honda Civic//4 doors 4. I am in college right now. 5. in California ABOUT how much will my insurance be, (FULL insurance), for 6 months, or a year?""

How can i get cheap/free health insurance?

i live in chicago and wanted to go to the doctors but my dad informed me i have no health insurance (only him. he is legally blind on public aid) im 20 and in college what can i do

How much do you think my car insurance might cost? HELP PLEASE!?

I'm a new driver. I'm 26 years old. I want full coverage. I live in New Jersey. The amount of the might be 8,000 and Nissan 2007-2010. If anyone have any advice for me, that will help me choice the best car insurance. It would be appreciated. I'm still open to a different car.""

California low cost health insurance?

i need an innsurance with a low cost monthly fee.. i just need it for birth control. i dont want to pay full price it gets pricy please let me know of some good ones that you have experience with

Best place for cheap car insurance?

where is the best and cheapest place for me to get car insurance at 17 years of age.....thanks to all that help.....car will be a vauxhaul corsa 1.0

Car insurance in California - most competitive companies?

I'm considering a move from Pennsylvania to California. My existing insurance provider doesn't write policies in California so I would need to change companies. I'm currently paying 919 per year for 2 cars. I would like to find a company that can be competitive with these rates. I'd love to get any feedback from people that live in california regarding companies they recommend and which to avoid. I would probably be living in the east bay of San Francisco. I hate car insurance companies (except my current one which I love) and would like to avoid being totally ripped off. I have 18 years of accident free miles and no moving violations...

Anyone know any cheap car insurance?

Im just trying to save a little money.

Thinking about buying a house... Homeowners insurance?

How does homeowner's insurance work? Is it part of your monthly mortgage or is it something you pay separately?

Backdates homeowners insurance?r=1268786067?

Can an insurance company back date homeowners insurance?

Why are insurance rates going up even if its not your fault?

I work in claims department of a big insurance company. And I found out that even though it is not your fault or if its a comp claim, there is still a possibility that your rates would go up. Why is that so?!?""

Can I drive the car on my own insurance?

I have car insurance and I am allowed to drive any car with the owners permission,does the car I am borrowing have to have its own insurance for me to be able to drive it lawfully""

Car Insurance?

Is it possible for two brothers to be under the Named (or Names) Insured list on a car insurance statement or any paper relating to car insurance. Can two brothers be insured together?

What are the cost of car insurance?

I'm a 17 yr old female, just recently got my g2, i live in ontario canada and was wondering what my insurance cost would be per year. i will be registering as a secondary driver, and there are currently 2 cars, and will be getting a third one, for me. i have talked to friends and found out that they pay about 200 bucks a year and depends on my parents driving records. Is it possible to pay just 200 dollars a year as a secondary driver?""

Where do I find health insurance for low income families?

My children are on state funded health insurance, but my husband and I are uninsured. He is a full-time student and I work 2 part-time jobs. Neither of my jobs offer me health insurance because the companies are small. I've looked into student health insurance, but it's REALLY expensive. Doesn't Obamacare allow for insurance options for low-income families? Or do we have to wait until he graduates and gets a job to be able to get health insurance???""

Does wreckless driving increase your insurance cost?

my friend was donutting

How much does car insurance cost in Ontario?

What are the factors involved? What kind of car will help me get lower insurance? I'm 16 (but will be 17 when I purchase a car) I haven't done any drivers coarse because I personally think it would be a waste of time. I've been driving for many years, seems pointless to take the coarse just to be considered a three star driver... anyways, should I get a newer car? or an older one? what factors are involved in getting low insurance? now I'm only gonna be 17, so I'm guessing it's gonna be around $2000-$3000 ( a year) but how can I get it as low as possible?""

How much will my speeding ticket be and is it possible for my insurance not to go up?

I got pulled over doing 96 in a 70mph speed limit. In california around King City and I want to know a couple things. How much will the ticket approximately be? Is it worth contesting? Will going to driving school make it so I don't get a point on my license? And how do I make it so my insurance does not increase?

Companies that provide cheap car insurance for a 17 year old male?

I have recently passed my driving test and whenever I get a quote from a car insurance company it it always over 3000. I have tried putting myself under my mother's name as an additional driver but I still get the same outcome. I know people who are the same age with same car and have been able to get their insurance for a little over 1000. Are there any companies that will help me to get a lower quote (don't suggest compare websites because they are more expensive). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Liability Car Insurance?

What exactly is it? And can anybody drive my car with it? Like, if I had my name on the insurance, can my younger sister drive it still and she'll be okay as long as she doesnt get into an accident?""

How can I get the cheapest car insurance in the UK?

I am 29 and have had a driving licence for 11 years but in another country (non EU). I just got my UK licence and am looking for a cheap insurance. the cheapest quote I have found is over 2000 which is too much. I have a 1.6 automatic Golf. Is there any company that accepts my previous licence as my experience? I also tried to get my No Claim Bonus letter from my Insurance company but they simply don't answer me as the system is different in my country so no chance of getting that. thanks

Car insurance renewal premium amount?

I have a Swift car which is one year old. I have to renew its insurance. What can be the likely estimate of insurance amount

What Are Some Good Health Insurance Companies?

I used to be a 1099 worker but just recently got switched over to a salary but i still do not have health insurance. Are there any affordable health insurance companies out there that you guys know of?.. Maybe ones that also do Dental as well?.. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lincoln-heritage-life-insurance-address-priscilla-glenn/"

[travelinghermit]

May 20

Peru has handed me one behemoth sized problem and it has three letters. Pie. I have seen them around walking around the stores, peering into their translucent showcases of glaze and marangue. I tried, I really did try to fight the urge but I love pie. What started out last week obeying my insatiable hunger, reluctantly trying a piece of chocolate cake in Contumaza expecting a hard cardboard like mouthful, turned my relief into bliss. This morning I had a wonderful meal of a fried egg and chicken sandwich with a coffee. I was satisfied walking back to my hotel to pack up my things and get ready to head out on another day on the road then I pass a cafe with the largest lemon marangue pie I have ever seen. The pie itself was normal but the marangue was half a ruler size in height. A true spectacle to behold. I asked the lady how much from outside 8 soles. I didnt care I was already sold, then I walked in and saw a cappuccino machine. Now we had a problem. This is the longest I have gone without wifi. Ironically on the same week I challenged myself to no youtube videos, no social media, no phone use except for writing here on Tumblr, email, and of course my GPS maps. It has helped me succeed my goal now only one day away but it has also not allowed me to write anything on here since Tuesday. I checked into my hotel room in Trujillo Tuesday afternoon, room was great and I was right overhead of a wifi router eveything was going great until the next day when the wifi inexplicably shut down with no explanation from the hotel manager except that it had no solution. Here I am on Saturday still nothing except now im out of the city Trujillo in a small mountain village of Santiago de Chuco where here I fully expected finding nothing close resembling a wifi signal. I have had no problem with this except I dont like going long periods without further documenting this journey. Throughout this week I have read much more than usual nearly finishing my novel on the Peruvian conquest of Francisco Pizarro and his band of a few hundred Spaniards. I would have liked to save a bit of the book for when im in Cusco where it predominantly takes place but its one hell of a page turner. It angers more than it should how insanely lucky the Spaniards were not only in Mexico but maybe more so in Peru. When Pizarro and sixteen of his men first landed in Peru for merely a few days for inspection they had no idea that they unleashed a demon onto Peru in the form of small pox and then returning months later Peru was desamated by a civil war after smallpox took its Sapa Inka (Only King) and his two sons one in Cusco the other in Quito, Ecuador fought a bloody battle for its empty crown. Now enter Spaniards who slipped in , took advantage of this situation, looted Peru of all its gold and silver.. which was a hell of a lot. Raped, enslaved, and killed the Peruvians, and converted them all to Catholicism. Now here we are today. I didnt do much in Trujillo for the first two days. After that adventure the days prior I was needing a rest especially from the bike. First day I just walked through the city which on the outskirts atleast looks like the desert is winning the battle taking back its land. Trujillo ia honestly a dump when you escape its old colonial downtown square. But I enjoyed my quirky room with its green and orange walls with or without wifi. Second day I ate lots and spent even more on it. Third I actually did something. I woke up early and visited the Archeological site of Huaca's del Luna Y Sol or Temples of the Moon and Sun. Two opposing temples facing eachother about a few hundred meters across. Built continuously from 200 A.D to 600 A.D. (I think, i have no wifi for confirmation) These temples were used by the Moche civilization a thousand years before the Inca. A cool side note about travelling North to South in Peru is I get to see all the civilizations that occupied the area pre Inca and than finally witness their splendor as the final conclusion to Peru, whereas most people start in Lima and go straight to Cusco and work backwords. I was the first person in the Museum. Always check out the museum first and then go to the actual sites. Thats a rule of mine. The Moche civilization is fascinating. All over their temples, pottery , and alike adorn the painted head of their god with its feline head and octopus body. This God craved the blood of its people to be satisfied so every year or so warriors of high status would fight one on one with clubs. When one warrior downed his opponent, dropping his head-dress and grasping the long braided hair of his foe he would be declared the victor. With this the loser would be stripped naked and held prisoner for days awaiting his eventual sacrifice to the god. I was confused by this when I asked my guide if this was an honour to be sacrificed because it obviously didnt seem like he was treated like the high class the warrior was. Yet the guide said with a certain tone of obviousness that yes this was a huge honour. So I said ok and went along with it. The sacrifices throat would be cut at the tallest platform of the temple for all the common people to witness, blood pouring into a goblet and then drunk by the High Priest, thus pleasing his God. Gnarly stuff. Every hundred years the Moche would add a new layer to its Moon temple, making seven layers in all for seven hundred years. It was eventually abandoned when El Nino and other natural disasters ravaged the area making the Moche people doubt its God and the high priests. Thats another thing there was no kings only High Priests. Over time sand completely covered both temples making them look like normal hills. It wasnt until 1990 when archeologists discovered what they really were. With the sand protecting and maintaining its walls you can still see the black, red, and yellow paint. This was no doubt the coolest historical site I have ever been to in terms of its age, how well maintained it was, and the impossible location in the desert. Obviously Angkor Wat in Cambodia is impressive but Huacas Luna Y Sol is a thousand years older than that and it was only discovered not even thirty years ago. We had a full tour of the Moon temple but couldnt even enter the Sun temple as archeologists still have a ton of work to do on it. Unfortunately and unbelievably there are no funds to enact further work and research so its just left there. Next I travelled four hundred years ahead to the Chimo civilization while only really travelling thirty kilometers. This site wasnt all that impressive yet I did pay for a guide which was a bit steep in price but the man was able to fill holes in my understanding not only on this palace of the Chimo people but on Peru history in general. Chan Chan was the name of this palace made of mud brick and rock again in the middle of the desert. It was quite bare so it was very tough on the imagination. It was strange to see this palace made four hundred years earlier not be as magestic as the first. The theme of what my guide was telling me was how much the Chimo people valued animals and water especially as engravings of fish, pelicans, and waves adorned the walls as well as diamond holes which represented fish nets. My guide and I discussed the Spaniards as he told me they destroyed much of Chan Chan aswell as Huacas Luna Y Sol looking for gold and silver. "Those Spaniards sure loved Gold" I said "Why didnt the Peruvians value it as much?" He said food and services were their main currency. Gold and Silver was in such abundance that it was worth nothing, except when worked by metal workers. I replied "The Peruvian way of exchanging goods and services actually makes much more sense then this exchange of metals that the Spaniards and our methods use today" My guide laughed in agreement. Today I hit the road again on yet another adventure. Each new day here is its own journey I thought this morning pushing my bike outside from the hotel. The previous day I was looking at my map planning my route. Two options. One was to go straight down the coast where ill have to make a slight hook right back to the interior to reach Huacas, my next destination. Option two was split from the coast immediately for the interior most likely back into the mountains and whatever else the unknown awaited me. Without saying a word all my being wanted to take that coastal road where the roads would be flat, the weather hot, riding in a tshirt, right next to the sea. Sounds great doesnt it? especially after the fiasco in the mountains previously. It was a tough choice. I asked what is the easiest choice? The coast I thought obviously. Then were taking option 2 into the mountains. And thats what I did. The morning begun with a bright sunny sky as usual on the desert coast but that didnt last long. Immediatley I was heading right back to the interior, right back where I came from the mountains. I hit three road blocks along the way waiting for construction to do whatever which altogether took well over an hour and the chain on my bike dropped from the gear twice. Which was funny I thought because thats the first thing I noticed in the morning how droopy my chain was. An annoyance but possibly the best annoyance one can have on a motorcycle. I just had to take it easy until finding a mechanic further down the road. Which what was done. Then I was back ascending the cold mountain tops high in the sky. I was freezing. Starting the day in the desert has a way of making one make bad clothing choices. I also have a fairly big rip in my backpack rain protector. I didnt feel prepared and it was a long way to the next town so at around 3pm I settled with spending the night here in Santiago de Chuco, not even close to where I wanted to be tonight. Tomorrow's going to be a lot of riding.