#there's some tiny private study spots upstairs

[feral-and-or-horny]

Better hope a stronger girl doesn't notice how high and sutffed you are, she might mistake it as you making yourself nice and ready for her to use

Oh nooooo..I'd be so helpless..

She could just sit next to me and slip a hand down my pants and I wouldn't even know to stop her. I'd just start rubbing myself against her fingers and give her a big smile as I soak her fingers

[kisskissbanggang]

The Sabotage of Simkung House - Part 2

[Stray Kids Multi Fic - 15Min Read/4K Words - Changbin x - Female Reader - Non-Idol!au, Variety!au - NSFW/Smut, Plot - Reverse Harems, Variety Shows, Unfolding Plot, Gym Sex, Daddy Kink, Secret Hook-Ups]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Masterlist | Feedback

How could a show like this get tedious so fast? By the end of the first week you had established a rhythm: clean, get a dumb text from Felix, flirt a little, and do a tiny amount of Chan’s laundry every night. The frequency was the biggest part of your routine that puzzled you. 

Until you realized -- maybe that was his angle. Maybe, perhaps, Chan was awful at flirting and this was his attempt at seeing you in “private.” You set about experimenting, coming up to his room early one night, right after you heard steps travel from his room to the bathroom. Being the oldest had its perks, such as no roommate to answer when you pretended to wait after knocking. You bashfully gasped as a hand tapped on your shoulder from behind, and you turned to see Chan wrapped up in a bathrobe, his soft, wavy hair still soaked after washing. 

“Noona,” he plainly greeted, “I apologize for making you wait. It was nice of you to come meet me up here instead.” He brushed past you into his room, returning with a measly pile of laundry that he set in your basket before shutting the door in your face. You smiled meagerly, shrugging in defeat to the camera at the end of the hall when you turned to retreat downstairs. 

You hit the bottom step and let out an actual gasp this time, surprised as you were that Changbin was currently helping Hyunjin with his squats in the home gym outside your room. Both boys watched as you nearly fumbled Chan’s laundry out of your hands, Changbin’s smirk catching your eye before he turned his attention back to correcting Hyunjin’s form. You separated and got started on Chan’s laundry before heading back to your room to think. Did you have it all wrong? Maybe Chan couldn't be won that easily. You would have to do some more reconnaissance.

The next morning, you awoke to your requisite text from Felix.

>How’s my shining star this morning? Try interacting more during the day. You rate the best out of the staff cast. 

You huffed out a sigh as you pulled on a simple pair of pants with your cute blouse, more suitable for housework when you weren't attempting to get any work done for your own show. The curtains needed to be steamed and the hardwood needed to be tended to on the main floor. You would have to wax each room when the boys weren't using them. Somehow, though, the house was already seemingly empty. You grabbed a duster and peeked into each room, trying to feel out where everyone may have run off to. Seungmin hadn't warned you of any big happenings coming up, so it would seem odd that no one was around. 

Until you opened the door to the backyard. Apparently, the boys had begun a morning exercise regimen, with Changbin leading everyone in push-ups. Chan seemed most adept beside him, with Minho doing well enough at the end, and Jisung and Hyunjin attempting to keep up behind them. 

“Noona,” Changbin greeted over his shoulder, “we’re about to start some yoga to cool down and then we’ll be heading inside.”

“That’s fine,” you reassured him, “I was just checking up on you. I thought you’d all run away,” you laughed. 

“Want to join in?”

“Yoga?” You asked, considering. “Sure. Save me a spot tomorrow morning. Now, nobody steps foot in the study today until I'm done waxing the floor,” you teasingly wagged a finger at the boys, waving goodbye as you walked back in the house. 

You really did plan to join them. Your scheme now involved getting so invested in their show that you spent even more time with all of them. Surely, you'd be able to figure Chan out that way, and get the others in the process. Seungmin popped up as you headed to the study. 

“Do you need any workout clothes for tomorrow, noona?” He whispered in the quiet of the hall. You shook your head, silently thanking him and waving goodbye. Weird. If he’d watched your nighttime footage, he'd have known that you'd worked out before bed every night after the first. Then again, what assistant has time to watch the dailies?

Nonetheless, the next morning you arrived just in time for yoga with the boys, covered up pretty well with tights under your shorts and a hoodie on over your t-shirt, with a mic from the crew clipped on since you were out in the backyard. You stretched out with everyone else, them doing it to cool down from their workout, and you to warm up after your night of sleep. You attempted to not notice the boys all glancing at you as you easily kept up with and occasionally outpaced Changbin, your casual relaxation more than making up for any poses you didn’t quite get. It was apparent to you by now that the safe approach for all of them was to pretend you were entirely oblivious and innocent. 

Except for Minho. 

Minho caught your eye during Downward Facing Dog, smiling cutely at you as you stretched. And, as you transitioned into Child’s Pose, you noticed both Changbin and Chan taking note of your acknowledgement, each with one eyebrow cocked. At least, that is, until you smiled back at Changbin, causing him to quickly divert his gaze, and now Chan’s raised eyebrow was directed at him instead. 

Now what did that mean?

You were curious to the point of distraction for the rest of your yoga session and you thanked the boys for including you before you headed back in the house to get started on chores. For the time being, you would bury your head in your work while you attempted to formulate your next step. The amazing thing was, though, that you couldn’t even do the thing you usually did when you wanted to be productive and think through things. 

Streaming wasn't just your main livelihood aside from the occasional AV, it was something you enjoyed enough to be doing instead of pursuing something related to your degree. You could take some time, get some thinking done and have some fun, and please some fans while you were at it. You’d been miserable working retail and clubs. This way, you were your own boss and running your own life on your own terms. You understood why you signed the contract knowing you couldn’t stream -- filming property that belonged to the studio and making money off it was pretty much stealing in a legal sense, and you didn't need to bring the law into complicating an already complicated lifestyle -- but you still missed it. 

You headed upstairs after your day of chores to catch Seungmin and return your mic, which you hadn’t thought about and had promptly stowed in your apron for the rest of the day. You looked around, hands on your hips and confused as you saw the crew had already cleared out. 

“Hmm,” you wondered out loud, “I wonder where Seungmin is.” You’d grown accustomed to this the past couple days, just asking for something out loud to yourself and Seungmin or Jeongin appearing and giving it to you. The house was wired enough that someone was bound to hear you. 

Or at least you thought. 

You waited a solid few more minutes until Seungmin popped his head in from downstairs. 

“Noona!” He laughed, just a little surprised. “I came back for my earbuds. Did you call for me?” He walked over, picking up a pack of wireless headphones off the corner of a table. He walked over and took the mic from you, wrapping it up and setting it back in its cradle for now. “This is the only room with no microphones or cameras, so if that mic's off you’ve been out of luck.”

“Oh!” You laughed, “that makes a ton of sense. Thank you.”

Seungmin waved you goodnight and you returned the same as he hopped down the stairs for the night before you eventually went down yourself. All this thinking for the day and you still couldn't see a clear path ahead of you. Maybe you just needed to clear your head. 

You had “cleared your head” plenty since arriving at the house, usually for your viewers in the middle of the night when you weren't getting any other work done. The first time, the only feedback you got was Felix telling you to partially cover up with a blanket to appear a little more modest. You ventured down to your room, sitting on your bed and flicking through Twitter. It felt odd seeing your friends and fans and not talking to them, but it was still nice to see what everyone was up to. Everyone looked so productive that it sort of made your heart hurt, like you were missing out. Even Duckie, one of your streaming friends you’d met when you first started, was on a sabbatical for work but was still uploading old content to keep things fresh, along with some new selfies. You clicked through to his profile, scrolling through and liking his new posts and really feeling like you were missing out now. Previously, you’d considered hitting him up to possibly ask him over to collaborate, actually meet him and see his face for once and fool around, but you always felt too small, too amateur since he got started a couple years before you. You jumped through all sorts of imaginary hoops to justify your belittlement in regards to this guy who you only knew by his username. Even tapping through selfies of him wearing the necklace you got him as a birthday present, you knew that was just a thing friends did, but not friends like you were curious to be. For God's sake, he was even still occasionally wearing the cute pair of expensive briefs you got him as a not-so-secret Santa gift a year ago, but he remained unapproachable in your mind.  Maybe once the show wrapped you could consider it again.

And, you suddenly realized, you’d used up almost half an hour aimlessly scrolling and browsing. You checked the time -- so much for clearing your head. You got up, ready to try to get some work done, and grabbed your laundry basket. You headed upstairs, hesitating just a moment before knocking on Chan’s door. Should you say something? You wouldn’t even be sure what to say by now, to try and figure out what his problem was with you. By now, you were thoroughly convinced that's what it was: a problem. 

Chan opened up, taking one look at you with a sigh before fetching his laundry. “You don't have to suck up to me, you know,” he muttered as he rummaged behind his half-closed door, “I don't have anything to offer you.”

Yup, you confirmed, he has a problem with me. 

“Then tell me to stop,” you simply replied. 

“Why would I do that?” He asked as he set his clothes into the basket in your hands. “Appearances are important. You're being paid to work here, and I'm being paid to work here while you work. Don't let me get in the way of that. Goodnight, noona.” And with that, Chan briskly shut the door in your face. 

You sighed as you stormed down the stairs. You had done nothing but be nice to this prick, and he thought you were getting something out of him?

You sort of are, stupid, you silently chided yourself. 

You quickly sorted Chan’s laundry in with the rest of the boys’ and stomped back into your room, pacing in your annoyance when you heard someone descend the stairs. Maybe, perhaps, this was a good opportunity to turn this energy into something productive. But who could be down here at this time of night? You got your answer as you heard some weights being pulled off the rack out in the gym. 

Of course, you realized, Changbin. 

Changbin had given you an equally quizzical look earlier during yoga, and now seemed like a perfect time to catch him while he was distracted. 

You emerged from your room in a more comfortable outfit than you'd worn that morning: just some leggings and a sports bra, your hair pulled up and out of your face again as you stepped onto the treadmill. The sound of weights being rested tipped you off, and you took off your headphones as you looked back. 

“Oh, Changbin,” you greeted, pretending to pause the music you hadn't been playing, “I didn’t know you were out here. I can--”

“No, noona, don’t be sorry,” Changbin replied as he looked you over, “there's plenty of room for both of us.” He gingerly laid back down on the bench before starting to lift again. You let yourself ogle the way his muscles tensed as he worked out. After all, you could get some information and get some work done if you played your cards right. Changbin looked down his nose at you, catching you watching him before you quickly turned back to the treadmill to program it. You did, however, catch his small smirk before you looked away. 

“Thanks for inviting me to yoga again,” you called over your shoulder.

“Of course -- noona --” he shared between lifts, “I’d love -- to have you -- back again.”

“Don’t you mean ‘we’d love to have you back again?’”

“No--” he breathed out a laugh as he took a second to catch his breath again, “I mean I would. Maybe Minho, with how he looks at you. And the others. Well, not Chan-hyung, but--”

“I know,” you cut in, just agitated enough for Changbin to catch. What he didn’t catch, however, was you still hadn’t programmed the treadmill by the time he started lifting again. You stepped off and strode over, hesitating for only a moment to let him sense you before swinging a leg over and gently lowering yourself onto his lap where he laid on the bench. Changbin gasped and nearly fumbled the bar before you helped him get a grip and rest it.

“Chan-hyung told me about you,” he warned, quietly but confidently. 

“He what?” You asked, astounded. The audacity of this prick. 

“I asked him what his deal was with you. He told me about bit players who try to weasel their way into bigger parts on variety shows.”

“Oh, god, and you believed him?” You asked bluntly. 

“Well, I mean--” Changbin grumbled, looking a little caught. 

You rolled your eyes. “I just happen to like you and the others and look where that gets me.” 

“You like me?” He asked, and it was almost innocent. Changbin's hands still held onto the bar where he'd racked his weights, almost like he was trying to keep from grabbing onto your hips that had just started to subtly grind against his. 

“Of course I do,” you cooed. For his sake, you weren't even lying -- you did like him and the others. “You're handsome and funny and nice and so fit,” you praised. Changbin actually moaned under his breath as your fingers traced the definition of his abdomen under his shirt, teasing the lines of his hips that would eventually lead you down between his legs. Considering your bruised ego from earlier that night, your head had inflated tenfold since then, watching as Changbin grew breathless at how you rolled your hips against his growing erection. 

“How about you?” You asked, finally setting a treat on the mousetrap. “Do you like me?”

“Yes, noona,” he eagerly supplied, watching as you slid off his lap and down onto your knees in front of the bench. He groaned as you freed his length from his thin shorts. You only licked the tip of his cock and he cursed under his breath. “You sure you’re a housekeeper?” He smirked, gritting his teeth as you continued teasing the tip of his length with your tongue. “You don't act like one.”

“Well, have you met any who wanted to do this before?” You asked before taking his length deep between your lips. You pulled off him with an audible ‘pop’ and jerked his cock. 

“No, but I'm enjoying it,” he gasped as you dipped him deep into your mouth again, now threatening to suck him into your throat. “Maybe too much. Come here,” he demanded, grabbing your hand and pulling you up onto his lap again. He kissed you hard, his tongue tangling with yours as he got up and spun you around to sit you on the edge of the bench. It was his turn to sink to his knees in front of you as he pushed your thighs up to your chest. He pulled your leggings to your knees and you bit into your knuckle as you felt his tongue taste you between your legs. Changbin hungrily licked at you for a minute, his fingers getting a good feel inside you before he got back up. The head of his cock nudged up against you. 

“Noona, do you--” 

“Call me ‘baby’,” you insisted. 

“Really? I was about to ask--”

“Call me ‘baby’, or ‘beautiful’, or ‘slut’ or literally anything else,” you demanded, and Changbin nodded. Admittedly, being everyone's noona was starting to grow a little thin, but now you were more intrigued by the flush on his cheeks. 

“If we’re in the mood to ask for things,” he carefully began, the head of his length still prodding against you, “can you call me ‘daddy’?”

“Really?” You smirked sweetly. His nod was almost sheepish. “Please fuck me, daddy,” you pouted, and with a sharply whispered curse, Changbin sank into you. You whimpered for effect, holding onto your legs where he had them pinned to your chest. 

“That's it, baby, you're so tight like this,” he groaned as he fucked you, his hands holding tight onto your knees. 

“Not so loud, daddy,” you quietly pleaded, “the others might hear--”

“Hear what, baby? How well you're taking it?” He grinned as his hips pumped hard against you. You moaned loud, biting into your knuckle as Changbin worked over your pussy. “Tell me how you want to cum, baby,” he implored, “I want to make it happen before I fill you up.”

You groaned from his filthy words, surprising you since Changbin had been mostly quiet up until now. “I want to ride your face, daddy,” you whined sweetly. 

Changbin smirked as he pulled out of you, tugging your leggings the rest of the way off and helping you off the bench. He laid down, his head right at the edge. “Come here, baby. I want to taste you again.” He gasped as you lowered yourself, but positioned so you could still tease and suck his hard length. “What’re you doing?” He asked, his breath tickling the sensitive skin of your warm pussy. 

“I want to taste you again, too,” you smiled, squeaking out a moan as his hands pulled your thighs down so he could lick you. Changbin ate you like he was starving, groaning and humming against you as he tried not to buck into your mouth. You moaned and sighed around the cock in your mouth, your legs trembling from propping yourself up over Changbin’s face as you rolled your hips against his tongue. Just his enthusiasm alone was pushing you closer to orgasm -- not a big one, but still jolting through to your fingertips and making you cry out and gag on his length when it happened. 

“Come on, baby,” Changbin prodded, “I’m not finished with you yet.” He helped you back up, slipping his shirt off to wipe up his chin as he bent you over on the bench. His fingers dipped back into your sensitive pussy, scissoring inside you and feeling you out before he slid his cock deep inside you again. From this angle, he stretched you even more than he had when you were on your back, and you whined from the extra stimulation. One hand roughly gripped your hip and the other grabbed at your breasts as he roughly fucked you. 

“How close did I get you, daddy?” You smirked back over your shoulder. 

“Too close, baby, but I'm going to fuck you as long as I can.” Changbin landed a playful smack on your ass as he pumped into you, groaning in tandem with your moans as he rolled his hips. He hadn’t lied; it was really only a few more minutes before his breathing was tagged and he sounded like he was right on the brink. You just needed to seal the deal. 

“Is daddy gonna cum?” You asked sweetly. 

“Yes baby,” he panted, “how do you want it?”

“How do you want to give it to me?”

Changbin thought for a moment, his hips still snapping against you as he decided. “I want to watch you swallow it down, baby.”

You happily cooperated as he swiftly pulled out, pulling you off the bench and turning you around before you landed on your knees in front of his dripping cock. Just to get him there, you dipped his length deep into your mouth, the head nudging into your throat as his moans grew more desperate. You sucked his cock deep for a few more strokes, gagging on it hungrily before Changbin came with a deep groan. He threw his head back but quickly got his eyes back on you just in time to watch you pull off and let the rest of his load spurt into your waiting mouth. You looked up into his eyes as you graciously swallowed everything. Changbin pulled you to your feet and muffled your surprised moan as he kissed you deeply, his tongue greedily tasting his cum on your own. 

“Thanks, noona,” he laughed breathlessly, still holding your hand.

“Thanks, daddy,” you winked, loving the red tinting his cheeks now that the haze of sex was starting to dissipate from his brain. 

“First time doing anything like that,” he smirked, “maybe we can do it again.” Changbin squeezed your hand and kissed your cheek before gathering his shirt up and heading upstairs. He didn't catch the puzzled look on your face as you searched for one of the cameras in the basement. You gave a sarcastic curtsey to the nearest one before retreating to your room. 

Like clockwork, a soft knock sounded at the door only a few minutes later. Jeongin had turned out the lights in the basement and was dutifully waiting for you with a bottle of water and his small messenger bag, which you had gathered over the past few days was actually full of next to anything you might need, including extra birth control methods and hygiene products. For all intents and purposes, he was a great assistant to have on set. 

“Jeongin,” you whispered in the silent darkness of the basement, “I'm confused about something.”

“What is it, noona?”

“So far both Minho and Changbin have said they've never done anything like this before. Any idea why they would broadcast that this is their first AV like that? No one likes boy amateurs like they do girls.”

“Didn't think about it,” Jeongin shrugged, “but Felix told me the cast is really committed to playing up their studious personalities, like they're won over by you in the midst of filming their other show.”

“So they’re doing a pure and tempted bit?” You asked. You weren't one to question the big boss, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. Jeongin shrugged again. 

“That’s a question for the PD’s, but I think that’s about right.”

“Can I meet with Felix about it? I just want to know I'm following the right direction.”

“Sorry, noona,” Jeongin shrugged again, “Felix said no meetings except for urgent matters. He wants to maintain the atmosphere in the house. Goodnight.”

And as quickly as he came, Jeongin was gone, having crept up the stairs back up to the attic to keep watch. You turned back to the warm light of your room, made a little cuter by now with some of the decorations you’d brought from your small apartment. Thoughts swirled around your head, wondering how to be as committed to maintaining a vibe for the show like the boys were. You set about folding and putting away your laundry, keeping busy as you thought. 

When you noticed two pairs of your panties were missing. 

[To be continued.]

[magpiemorality]

On the fifth day of Christmas

Logan, Virgil, Patton & Roman, Human!Poly!AU, 5+1 proposals

FIVE GOLD RINGS

5.

Logan's first attempt at proposing to his boyfriends was planned months in advance. He had never really been the one to instigate any part of their relationship, and he wanted this situation to be different. He planned and plotted and planned some more until he had a rock-solid idea that couldn't possibly be faulted; they would go to Disneyworld in December and after the fireworks show in the privacy of their hotel he would propose. He had the rings ready to go, sized perfectly, and the other three were crazy excited for their vacation- what could go wrong?

Well- he thought to himself as he sat drenched in the courtyard with a foil blanket and the staff buzzed around frantically- apparently a lot of things could. Including, but not limited to; Patton getting food poisoning and having to head home early, Roman locking himself in the bathroom and setting Virgil off in a panic attack, the room above theirs flooding through the ceiling, Patton being forced to vomit into a bin and nearly making Logan throw up from the smell, and the fire alarm going off shortly afterwards.

Somehow, after the whole debacle was sorted and they were collapsing gratefully into their new room to get some well-deserved sleep, it didn't quite seem like the right moment to go ahead with the proposal, and Logan tabled the idea for a better time.

4.

Logan's second attempt was even more thoroughly planned. He'd rented out a boat for Patton's birthday and double and triple checked that the caterer was top notch and the plumbing was all up to snuff (the boat company had been a bit surprised by that query but they'd provided the MOT happily enough).

They piled on with their cases, oohing and aahing and complimenting his choice. Logan smiled to himself, already pleased but imagining the reaction to the lavish dinner and proposal to follow that evening. It was bound to be even better than his previous idea could have been- it was far more private on the boat and the stars were out in full force. No one to bother and no one to be bothered by. What could go wrong?

He was going to stop asking himself that question, he decided, shortly after Roman had been retrieved from the water after he'd tripped on a rope and toppled in, perhaps one glass of champagne too far in. Patton was still calming down and Virgil had taken up residence by Roman, towelling him dry and warm and glaring at anyone who tried to come and take over the job from him. Logan ended up having to do far too much paperwork over the next week to waiver any legal repercussions, because Roman hadn't even been wearing a life vest and had knowingly gone over his limit (even if he was grumbling about the lack of good lighting to anyone who would ask).

Logan just about resisted the urge to swear, and the rings went back into hiding.

3.

Logan's third plan was simple. He just could not find it in himself to put all that effort into an elaborate plan again when the previous two had gone so badly. And he refused to tempt fate by believing what he'd come up with was foolproof. They had a date night to see Roman in a show that provided the right atmosphere, and on the way back Logan was confident (cautiously) that when they got in it would finally be time to see the looks on their faces when he pulled the rings out. He hadn't even dared hope nothing would go wrong, but the mugger still showed up out of nowhere to grab Patton's bag and end up being chased by Roman and then the police were called and Virgil had to be taken home to calm down about the whole thing by Patton who also had to calm down but mostly because he was going red in the face as he puffed up and ranted threats at the poor arrested mugger, swinging his newly retrieved bag wildly.

So, that was a bust.

2.

Did the fourth time even count as a plan? He wasn't sure. A few weeks later, he was in the living room with Virgil cradled in his lap, Roman by their tangled feet singing along to Moana, Patton humming from the kitchen. When they were called in to eat he decided on a whim that now was the right moment, and headed upstairs to grab the rings.

That was when the smoke alarm went off.

Logan just sighed and put the rings back before hurrying downstairs to help.

It was his last attempt before he just sent them a text in the group chat or something. Their anniversary apparently merited a small party with some of their closest friends, and Patton had laid out a magnificent dinner spread for them all. The night was civilised- not too much alcohol; no falling over or muggers or disasters of any kind. Logan was actually a little suspicious, because hey- he had reason to be okay?

They toasted their relationship and Logan slipped away to get the rings at last as Patton and Virgil swayed together to some soft music in the living room, noses rubbing together fondly. He watched with a soft smile as he walked up the stairs, catching Roman's eye and blinding grin on the other side of the room and-

-Well he couldn't exactly blame Roman for him missing his footing and tumbling heavily down the stairs now, could he, but a small part of him really wanted to, if only to avoid the many embarrassing jokes that followed ("can't believe you actually fell for us, Specs!").

And when he was told he had to take the next few days off work to let the tiny (really, it was barely more than a sprain) fracture in his ankle heal up, he had plenty of time to consider that maybe the universe was sending him some kind of sign, and that it was time to give up and wait for someone else to inevitably pop the question first.

+1.

Almost six months after his first proposal attempt the previous Christmas, Logan was coming home late from work. It was nearly the end of term and his lectures were both ramping up and also winding down, students trying to cram as much in before they had to start studying for their finals and him trying to keep up and help them actually take it all in. It was exhausting and all he wanted was to sit down on the couch and have a good cuddle with his boyfriends.

When he got home, however, the house was uncharacteristically dark. There was a light on in the kitchen and a note on the table that directed him to the back garden, that he followed after a moment of trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

When Logan stepped outside it was simultaneously a dream and a nightmare. Because the whole garden was decked out like a fairytale; lights everywhere and his three gorgeous boyfriends dressed up and waiting for him with matching smiles. And his heart sank because he knew what this was, and like he'd predicted- someone else had got there first.

Patton's smile faltered first and he glanced at the other two hesitantly. "Um, Logan? Are you okay?" Logan shook himself and forced himself to relax, pasting on a smile. "Honey, before you say anything, just let us explain, okay?"

"We had a talk, Lo, and we realised that there was a bit of a pattern, and um,"

"And I found the hidden boxes!" Patton interrupted Roman, bouncing on his feet. "So we figured you were trying to-"

"To ask us the big question and we couldn't figure out why it was taking you so long but then-"

"But then," Virgil took over from Roman, quelling him with a look. "We realised you kept organising these beautiful moments that kept going wrong. And we figured out pretty quick that you might be a bit... frustrated with that." He stepped forwards to take Logan's hands, guiding him out into the garden proper. "So we thought, why not help you out? We're a team, after all, right?"

Logan was stunned, and still slightly confused, but he softened at Virgil's hopeful expression and nodded for them to continue. Patton moved closer, hugging his arm and resting his cheek on Logan's shoulder with a happy hum. "So we thought we'd organise this one for you, sugar pie, and here we are!"

Roman held out a handful of familiar black boxes, clearing his throat until Virgil and Patton moved back to their places spread out in front of Logan. He took the rings with shaking fingers, clearing his throat, turning first to Roman and sinking down to one knee.

And suddenly it was real. Everyone's breath caught and Logan deftly opened the right box, holding the shining band up proudly. He would never quite be able to remember what he'd come up with on the spot, but Roman's radiant smile and barely restrained 'yes' would be forever seared into his memory, along with the kiss he'd received after he'd slid the ring onto his first fiance.

When he turned to Virgil and took a knee again he heard sniffles coming from- honestly probably all of them. Virgil barely let him get a word out before interrupting with a soft, trembling 'yes' and pulling Logan up to rest their foreheads together as they other man slipped his ring on. He stepped back into Roman's arms as they watched the final perfect proposal.

Patton was beautiful in the twinkling lights. It was hardly fair, because Logan didn't have much air to begin with, but now he was dry-mouthed and gasping. They'd been together first out of all them and their history was perfect and complicated and stretched back too many years to count now. When he looked at Patton he didn't know how he could fit that into words. Patton looked back as if he understood completely, and he probably did.

"Patton, I love you. Will you marry me?" It was as good as he could manage, soft and slightly choked, and Patton just smiled before holding his finger out and promptly bursting into tears when the ring was settled into place.

It was perfect. They were perfect. And Logan was left wondering why he'd thought he could ever do this without them. Virgil was right; they were a team. And what a team.

12 Days of Sides-mas Masterpost

[winrene]

wenrene fanfic masterpost

(last updated 15/07/2020)

(these are all from ao3, i can try and make one from aff too if anyone wants it, but i don’t really read on there) 

Completed

let's get away tonight by daybreaking - “you should really stop showing up like this,” joohyun reprimands, wry and dry, but her hands are reaching out to take the spare helmet anyways. “my parents will know about it someday.” seungwan just grins under her helmet, cheeks full and pressing against the insides of it. she pats the space behind her on the motorcycle. “yeah, someday.”

oneshot, 3,341 words, highschool au

i'll be your naughty girl & i got to have ya babe by throwaway18 - seungwan thinks joohyun is too much of a prude to be able to beat her in a dance-off. and joohyun is certain she's the only person capable of getting into seungwan's nerves.

oneshot, 6,800 words, dancer/rivals au

much ado about nothing by numot94 (futureplans) - seungwan's front-door neighbour is the most beautiful woman she's ever seen, and one day she'll definitely work up the courage to ask her out. in the meantime, though, she'd be happy to get through a conversation without embarrassing herself.

39 chapters, 180,319 words, neighbour au (this is simply gorgeous, one of the best wenrene fics of all time in my opinion, again highly suggest reading their other wenrene fics)

tell me why my gods look like you (and tell me why it’s wrong) by irwens - joohyun waits tables. seungwan is a cook. they work at the same restaurant.

oneshot, 3,333 words, restauraunt au

when you move, i'm moved by birdii (birdmint) - when you're an idol dating a ballet dancer, finding time to appreciate each other is difficult. seungwan and joohyun do their best.

oneshot, 2,195 words, ballet/solo-artist au

playing pretend by xpenguinqueenx - yeri needs a fake girlfriend to meet her parents, and wendy agrees to fill the spot, but mostly because she wants to eat her yogurt in peace. irene is not enthusiastic about their new 'relationship.'

oneshot, 10,026 words, ordinary-life au

this structure fell about our feet (and we were free to go) by redcapesarecoming - the seven times irene and wendy met in an airport

oneshot, 4,740 words, airport au

recessional by birdii (birdmint) - seungwan calls joohyun for a ride to the airport. it's the first joohyun has heard from her in five years.

oneshot, 4,045 words, modern au

rain will make the flowers grow by 8moons2stars - after red velvet splits up, joohyun and seungwan find each other again.

5 chapters, 5,334 words, canon-divergence au (highly suggest reading this author’s other wenrene fics too)

death of the author by numot94 (futureplans) - all seungwan wanted was to escape reality at least for a little while and go live in some fairy tale where everything goes right and everybody’s happy. still, she didn’t expect it to actually happen! now that she’s found herself in the fairy tale kingdom overnight, she’ll do her best to keep the story on track and make sure princess joohyun gets her happily ever after with the prince. of course, nothing is ever that simple, is it?

11 chapters, 35,134 words, fantasy au

the purity club by changdeol - joohyun bae is the president of their school's christian union who thinks she has all the answers. seungwan son proves her wrong.

37 chapters, 152,278 words, highschool au

sweet like honey by hyunsvelvet - son seungwan is in desperate need of a job. when she gets hired as the new secretary for up and coming forensic lawyer bae joohyun, who has developed a habit of firing secretaries, she's determined to keep this job. she pictured joohyun to be cold and distant, but upon meeting her seungwan can't help but notice her warm personality and begins to wonder how she's the same person known for firing secretaries after hiring them just weeks before.

25 chapters, 48,900 words, lawyer au

and i could see for miles, miles, miles by jisooosname - based off of the prompt: in which joohyun runs an advice podcast show and one day, seulgi asks for her advice and she gives an advice so bad that seungwan hunts her down

oneshot, 5,547 words, college radio-host au (fluff and good feelings all around, a very adorable read)

never mind your bleeding heart by numot94 (futureplans) - the first time seungwan saw joohyun, she’d just turned 13 and the older girl was 14, a few weeks away from her birthday. she fell in love instantly.

3 chapters, 32,742 words, childhood au (yes yes i know another numot fic, but god their writing is amazing i can’t help but suggest it cause i just love everything they write)

hey jealousy by fated_addiction - "you know they're not dating." or when wendy struggles with definitions.

oneshot, 1188 words, canon au (i have a thing for this author’s introspective writing. it’s like a drug, also i’m a sucker for lowercase. highly suggest their semicolon and check one series)

a kiss (to build a dream on) by seungvvannie (galaxygerbil) - there are other things and other people that should fill up Irene’s time, but maybe… maybe just for now, it can be her in Irene’s heart. just her on irene’s mind. everything else can wait until tomorrow. wendy just wants tonight.

oneshot, 3,845 words, fallout au

pisces by espressochoreom - in which a 24-year-old joohyun is at a laundromat on a gloomy tuesday morning when she recognizes someone across her washer. it's none other than the girl who had her earnestly question her sexuality in high school—son seungwan. the last time joohyun heard from her was six years ago, months after they graduated from high school, when she told her that she was planning to move and stay in canada for good. but of course, that's not the case anymore. seungwan happens to be in the same laundromat building, and from there they attempt to catch up where they left off. the awkwardness is so consistent; it's laughable.

oneshot, 2,447 words, laundromat au (kinda)

vague hope by beatosuffers - irene only knows one thing: emotions are prohibited.

oneshot, 6,475 words, nier:automata au

yesterday, today, tomorrow by sparksfly7 - there are two new girls this year. one is tall and round-cheeked and sweet-looking. the other one – from canada, with her collection of instruments and powerhouse voice – won’t leave irene alone.

oneshot, 2,796 words, canon au

let it shine by sparksfly7 - “it’s just – i planned to talk more, to give people a good impression, but…” irene trails off, clearly frustrated. “i don’t know.” she drops her head, her hair falling over her face. even the pink streaks in it look duller, as if her mood has washed out the dye. “there was nothing wrong with how you acted.” wendy sits down next to her on the bed. “being quiet isn’t a bad thing.”

oneshot, 2,064 words, canon au

see you soon by leirskald - seungwan tries to be okay with everyone leaving for the new year's holiday, but it's hard when she's the one left behind.

oneshot, 1,237 words, canon au

trust these butterflies by rosybutterflies - the circus just isn't that fascinating for irene bae anymore, having been in it since she was young. but the butterflies in her stomach tell her otherwise every time she's with one of the newbies, son seungwan.

2 chapters, 17,527 words, circus au

in her eyes by blkvelvets - now is definitely not the time to get hooked on a dumb freshman with a smile that could light up planets.

oneshot, 2,387 words, highschool au

i wanna come home to you by newboldtrue - irene says, “thanks for not thinking i’m a serial killer. i guess.” “thanks for letting me throw up the worst new year’s eve of my life in your apartment,” room 53 returns, and irene cracks a tiny smile at that. or, irene doesn't know her upstairs neighbor, really, but it's 5am and she won't stop ringing the doorbell;

oneshot, 1,599 words, neighbours au

the scent of you by ashensprites - seungwan, a private investigator, is hired to find a child who went missing almost 15 years ago.

16 chapters, 38,253 words, private investigator au

the downfalls of procrastination by lovelines (alliwantisthetruth) - fun fact #1 : seungwan has exactly 3 midterms coming up this week. fun fact #2 : seungwan has not started to study for any of her midterms. fun fact #3 : joohyun might kill her before she has the chance to sink her gpa. college au where seungwan is a smart but hot mess(TM) and joohyun cannot tolerate messes but for her, she does. somewhat.

oneshot, 1,413 words, university au

close your eyes, see through mine by sindubu - "her name is joohyun, and if that were the case...." her heel comes up to rub at the bridge of her nose. "why is she even here?" junior shrugs. "the intricacies of repressed lesbianism, my young, sapphic friend, is shockingly not in my field of expertise."

4 chapters, 9,070 words, conversion therapy au

feel my heart come undone by sindubu - wendy is homesick.

oneshot, 1,390 words, canon au

Ongoing

i’m different by throwaway18 - when wendy returns to seoul, being mistaken as a homeless person has been far from her expectations.

6/? chapters, 27,871 enemies to lovers/baker au

my heart and this night (makes this game flicker) by daybreaking - seungwan just got dumped and her roommate is trying to make her feel better by playing cards with her, but she just keeps winning and whispering, "sorry."

4/? chapters, 33,782, university au (an absolute favourite of a fic, it is so so good)

colored out the line by baechuzz - it’s been a while since joohyun had seen sooyoung blooming with happiness and love since her soulmate died. so when joohyun met wendy for the first time and during their handshake, a little dandelion blossomed on her wrist—she decided not to say a word and step back on the sidelines. even if wendy was her soulmate.

4/5 chapters, 27,628 words, soulmate au

somebody wants you by winterbreath - wendy doesn’t need anybody to tell her that this is a bad idea but she needs something to draw attention to the coffee shop; and irene needs a pretend-girlfriend. except Irene is a brat—and can someone please just send wendy to hell.

12/? chapters, 71,840 words, fake/pretend relationship au (another one i love a lot, definitely suggest reading this author’s other fic too, especially their all this love series)

shared space by sapphicirene - seungwan needs a new roommate, and joohyun is searching for an apartment. joohyun wonders if it's bad luck or fate that draws her back to seungwan after all these years.

4/? chapters, 11,259 words, college au (i’m not going to lie, this hasn’t been updated since 2018-12, but the chapters that are written are very lovely, so i think it’s worth a look!)

tea party for two by scarletstring - as a veteran female escort, wendy expects to be between the sheets, receive her pay, and then leave -- all within the hour. but wendy can't tell if this particular client knew that when she was spending her time preparing her tea instead of telling her to take her clothes off.

8/? chapters, 114,713 words, female escort au

noisy thoughts by scarletstring - irene moves in to her new apartment, where she meets her interesting roommate.

15/? chapters, 172,654 words, college au (scarlet is currently on hiatus, but their fics are one of the best things you could read)

just my cover, sweetheart by newboldtrue - wendy threw a disbelieving glance at the woman in her passenger seat. “have i had lunch? i just attended my own funeral, haven’t much been in the mood for eating.” or, son seungwan is leaving her life as a hitman in the past--but when a dead woman criticizes her epitaph and offers her one last job, she finds herself agreeing to help. wendy isn't quite sure what she's signed herself up for.

6/? chapters, 14,319 words, 1950s hitman au (hasn’t been updated in AGES, since 2018-08, but it is honestly a really worthwhile read)

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 16

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 16 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 16/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

[A/N - Oh my god. Here we go. These next few chapters will heavily influence Elise’s up and coming regeneration. It’s not pretty, so it will impact the personality of her next body and that body’s journey.]

The Doctor, the Ponds, and Elise were enjoying the nice sunny day in New York City. The Doctor and Amy were reading, while Elise was sitting in front of her easel painting Central Park. Rory was just lounging on the rocks they were perched on.

No running, just relaxing.

“New York growled at my window, but I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight, my lipstick was combat ready, and I was packing cleavage that could fell an ox at twenty feet,” the Doctor read.

“Doctor, you're doing it again,” Amy told him.

“I'm reading!”

“Aloud. Please could you not?”

The Doctor turned around to look at her. “There's something different about you, isn't there?”

“What's the book?” Rory asked.

“Melody Malone. She's a private detective in old town New York.”

“She's got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips, and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden,” Amy recited.

“Oh, you've read it?”

“You read it. Aloud. And then went Yowza!”

“You know, only you could fancy someone in a book,” Rory told him.

“I'm just reading it. I just like the cover.”

“Ooo, can we see the cover?” Amy asked.

“No, no, I'm busy.” He examined Amy again. “It's your hair! Is it your hair?”

“Oh, shut up. It's the glasses.” She fiddled with them. “I'm wearing reading glasses now, on my nose, see? There you go.”

“I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney.” He raised the glasses. “No, actually, sorry. They're fine. Carry on.” And then lowered them.

Rory jumped up. “Okay, I'm going to go and get us some more coffee. Who wants more coffee? Me too. I'll go!” Rory grabbed Elise’s arm and pulled her up.

“Hey!”

“Rory, do I have noticeable lines on my eyes now?” Amy asked him.

“Yes,” the Doctor said.

“No,” Rory answered.

“You didn't look,” Amy said.

Rory turned around and said, “I noticed them earlier. Didn't notice them. I specifically remember not noticing them.”

“You walk among fire pits, Centurion.”

“Do I have to come over there?” Rory walked over to her.

“You can if you like.”

“Well, we have company.”

“I'll get a babysitter.”

Amy and Rory kissed.

The Doctor sighed while Elise just made a disgusted face.

“Oh, do you know, it is so humiliating when you do that,” the Doctor told them.

“Coffee?” Rory asked Amy.

“Coffee.”

Rory and Elise walked off.

“You two are so gross,” she told him.

“Just you wait missy. You’ll find your own “Boy Who Waited” and then you’ll understand.”

Elise and Rory, grabbed coffee (or cocoa in Elise’s case) and started walking back to Amy and the Doctor.

As they walked back, they heard giggling of children and tiny footsteps.

Elise’s senses immediately went on high alert. “We need to get back to Amy and the Doctor. Come on,” Elise told him.

They turned back and suddenly it was nighttime.

“What are you doing here?” a familiar voice asked.

Elise spun around and hugged River.

“We…we just went to get coffees for the Doctor and Amy. Hello, River,” Rory said.

“Hello, Dad. Little Star.”

“Where are we? How the hell did we get here?”

“I haven't the faintest idea, but you'll probably want to put your hands up.”

A man was pointing a gun at them.

Rory turned around and put his hands up, while Elise clung to River.

A man came up behind River and Elise. “Melody Malone?”

“You're Melody?” Rory asked.

A limo pulled up next to them.

“Get in,” the man told them.

“What’s going on?” Rory asked as they got into the limo.

Elise sat next to River with her arms around the woman’s waist.

“You didn't come here in the TARDIS, obviously,” River said.

“Why?” Rory asked.

“He couldn't have. Besides, he would have never left Elise on her own like this. At least not yet. This city's full of time distortions. It'd be impossible to land the TARDIS here. Like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Even I couldn't do it.”

“So how did you get here?”

“Vortex manipulator. Less bulky than a TARDIS. A motorbike through traffic. You?”

“I'm not sure.”

“I’m pretty sure I know how. It was the Angels.”

Elise was immediately transported back to the Byzantium. She hated the Weeping Angels. They were the subject of many of her nightmares as a child.

They pulled up to a house and were led in.

River spotted a china vase. “Ah. Early Qin dynasty, I'd say.”

A man appeared at the top of the staircase. “Correct. Are you an archaeologist as well as a detective?” He came down the stairs and stopped in front of them. “Early Qin, just as you say. You're very well informed.”

“And you're very afraid. That's an awful lot of locks for one door,” River told him.

“River, I'm translating,” Rory said as the Chinese characters transformed into English.

“It's a gift of the TARDIS. It hangs around.”

The man pointed at Rory. “This one. Put him somewhere uncomfortable.”

“Oh, great,” Rory sighed.

“With the babies, sir?” one of the thugs asked.

“Yes, why not? Give him to the babies.”

They grabbed Rory.

“Rory!” Elise called after him. The other thug grabbed her.

“As for this one, put her upstairs in one of the bedrooms.” The man approached her and ran his finger down her cheek.

Elise jerked her head out of his grasp.

“I’m going to have fun breaking you.”

Elise tried breaking free of the thug and screamed for River. “River, River, please!”

It broke River’s heart to hear her screaming, but she had faith that the Doctor would come.

“Mum! Mum!”

The thug dragged her kicking and screaming upstairs. He threw her to the floor in one of the bedrooms.

Elise heard the door lock behind her and she dissolved into tears on the fancy rug.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elise heard the TARDIS engines and got up, running to the door. “Dad! River! Amy!”

Elise listened and could hear Amy’s voice calling for Rory. “Amy! Amy! I’m in here! Let me out!”

The door opened and Amy stood there. “Elise! Where’s Rory?”

“I…I don’t know. They didn’t bring him up here. I was so scared…”

Amy wrapped her arms around the young Timelord. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. The Doctor’s here.”

They went back downstairs.

The Doctor and River were in the study and a Weeping Angel was holding River’s wrist.

“Why do you have to break mine?” they heard River ask.

“Because Amy read it in a book, and now I have no choice,” the Doctor told her. He turned to see Amy and Elise. “You see?”

“What book?”

“Your book.” The Doctor pulled it out of his jacket pocket. “Which you haven't written yet, so we can't read.”

“I see. I don't like the cover much.”

The Doctor threw himself on the couch.

Elise, despite wanting him to comfort her, could tell he was in one of his moods.

“But if River's going to write that book, she'd make it useful, yeah?” Amy asked.

“I'll certainly try. But we can't read ahead, it's too dangerous,” River told her.

“I know, but there must be something we can look at.”

“What, a page of handy hints, previews, spoiler free?” the Doctor asked.

“Chapter titles,” Amy said.

The Doctor quickly scanned the chapter titles. “He's in the cellar.”

“Gimme!” Amy held her hand out and the Doctor tossed her his sonic screwdriver.

He walked over to River and kissed her cheek. He started to leave, but stopped.

“Doctor? Doctor, what is it? What's wrong? Tell me,” River said.

The Doctor looked at the chapter titles again.

“Doctor? Doctor, what is it, tell me.”

Both River and Elise knew a meltdown was coming.

“Okay, I know that face. Calm down. Calm down! Talk to me. Doctor!”

The Doctor stalked over to River and for a split second, Elise thought he was going to hit her.

Elise put herself between the two of them and held the Doctor back.

“No! Get your wrist out. You get your wrist out without breaking it!” the Doctor hissed at River.

“How?”

The Doctor stormed from the room. “I don't know. Just do it. Change the future!”

Elise and River were left standing there.

Elise walked over to the book and picked it up, scanning the chapter titles to find out what set the Doctor off. Elise felt her hearts break for the Doctor, but there was nothing they could do. Elise looked at River. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get my wrist out without breaking it.”

“It’s set in stone, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so, Little Star.”

“Do it.” Elise closed her eyes and heard the sound of River’s wrist snapping.

River walked over to Elise and took the book from her. “Whatever you do, don’t say anything to your father. He needs to believe for as long as possible, do you understand?”

Elise nodded.

They couldn’t afford for the Doctor to become emotional again. That’s when he made mistakes.

They joined Amy and the Doctor in the foyer.

“So, is this what's going to happen? We just keep chasing him and they keep pulling him further back?” Amy asked.

River was using her computer to track Rory. “He isn't back in time. I'm reading a displacement, but there are no temporal markers. He's been moved in space, not in time, and it's not that far from here by the look of it.”

The Doctor smiled. “You got out.”

“So, where is he?” Amy asked.

The Doctor paced as River tried to pinpoint where Rory was. “Well, come on, come on, come on, where is he?”

“If it was that easy, I'd get you to do it,” River told him.

“How did you get your wrist out without breaking it?”

“You asked, I did. Problem?”

The Doctor laughed. “You just changed the future.”

“It's called marriage, honey. Now, hush, I'm working.”

The Doctor sat down next to Amy. “She's good, have you noticed? Really, really good.”

“Ah, wherever it is, it's within a few blocks. There's a car out front. Shall we steal it?”

“Show me!” The Doctor jumped up and grabbed River’s broken hand.

River gasped and the Doctor realized what was going on. The Doctor took the computer and the Vortex Manipulator from River and handed it to Amy.

River sat on the stairs, cradling her wrist.

“Okay, when all those numbers on both units go to zero, that's when we've got a lock, okay? It's how we find Rory.”

“Got it.”

The Doctor walked over to River and sat next to her. “Why did you lie to me?”

“When one's in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve year old, one does one's best to hide the damage.”

The Doctor gently took River’s wrist in his hand. “It must hurt. Come here.”

“Yes. The wrist is pretty bad too,” River tried to joke.

Elise watched as regeneration energy flowed into River’s hand.

“No. No. No, stop that. Stop that. Stop it!”

“There you go.” The Doctor kissed the back of River’s hand. “How's that?”

“Well, let's see, shall we?” River slapped him.

“That was a stupid waste of regeneration energy. Nothing is gained by you being a sentimental idiot.”

“River!” the Doctor yelled.

“No! You embarrass me.”

“River!”

River stormed outside, Elise following.

[elisaphoenix13]

Another Unfortunate Encounter

There was some staring. Mostly from Stephen and Diana since they were the ones to cause it, and the little girl hides her hands behind her back sheepishly.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident." She says quietly and the tiger in front of her grumbles softly as it lays down.

Diana and Stephen had been practicing her magic again, and since it was just the two of them, the sorcerer didn't bother with the mirror dimension. She wasn't going to practice anything harmful or destructive so he didn't see the harm. When she was about to send a spell at Stephen though, Scott and Quill came onto the family floor. The celestial ran into something, and when whatever it was fell, the sound of breaking glass startled Diana and she accidentally sent her spell at the couple.

Now Quill was a tiger, and Scott was a fox.

Athena was actually visibly confused but thankfully wasn't threatened by the new animals, so Stephen assumed that Quill and Scott still smelt like themselves. As long as they didn't try to suddenly attack Stephen or Diana, Athena would not attack. Quill just took to sighing and getting settled on the ground in the living room, and Scott laid next to him until Stephen came up with a reversal spell.

Weird was usual in the tower nowadays.

"I'm sorry Mommy."

Stephen looks down at Diana and gently pats her head with a smile. "No harm done. Like you said, it was an accident and I'll be able to fix it. We should probably call it a day though."

"Okay."

The Sorcerer Supreme moves his hands intricately as he forms the reversal spell, but when he sends it at his team members, the spell only evaporates. Stephen sighs and opens a gateway to the lake house, and the motions to it as he looks at the two new animals. The spell that Wong used on him and the kids to turn them back to humans from wolves didn't work on Quill and Scott, so he would have to look into it. For now though, it was probably better for the two to stay at the cabin. The tower was not a place for a six hundred pound tiger. Quill already almost knocked over a few things just trying to lay down.

"Come on. You'll have to stay at the lake house until I find a way to undo this." The doctor explains. Diana grabs the table that Quill accidentally brushes against to hold it still, and Scott hops through the gateway with the tiger close behind. "I'll be right back. If your father gets home before I do, just explain what happened."

"Okay." The little girl responds.

Stephen walks through the gateway and it closes behind him after Athena charges through it to follow him, and watches in amusement as Scott makes use of the pet door Tony had installed for the wolf. Quill on the other hand stops at the bottom of the patio steps, and knowing there's no possible way he can get through the tiny door, he looks over at Stephen.

"There should be enough room in the living room for you, but that's just to sleep. Assuming I can't fix this tonight." Stephen says as he passes the tiger and opens the door for Quill after Athena also makes use of the pet door. "If that's the case, you'll either have to hunt or I'll have to order an emergency supply of meat. This is all private property so no one will see you."

Quill growls gently as he carefully makes his way into the house and over to the most open area of the living room, and is about to lay down when they see Scott trying to drag a pillow meant for the pets over to the open space. It was one of the bigger and heavier pillows meant for Athena, so the fox was having some trouble with it until Quill took mercy on him and helped him drag it over the rest of the way. Scott waits patiently as the tiger settles part of himself into it, and as soon as Quill is comfortable, the fox wiggles himself between the tiger's front paws and under his head. Stephen raises an eyebrow when Scott rests his head on one of the giant paws he's lying between, and then shakes his head.

"You know, under normal circumstances, he would be eating you right now." Stephen tells the fox and the tiger chuffs. "Not like that. Honestly…" He sighs out.

Stephen leaves them to their nap and promises to return to either turn them back into humans or feed them dinner, and portals out of the lake house and to the Sanctum. After hours of study and a quick explanation of the current predicament to Wong, he unfortunately had to return to the cabin without a reversal spell. His fellow sorcerer had told him that he would have to tweak the spell that he used to change Stephen and the children back to humans because not only had Diana cast the spell, but Quill and Scott were not wolves. Stephen's daughter casting the spell apparently made a difference since she was born from magic.

Before he went back to the cabin, Stephen went back to the tower to explain the situation to Tony (in detail), and to ask other team members to try and keep their schedules open in case they needed someone to stay at the cabin with Quill and Scott. It wasn't that those two couldn't take care of themselves, he just wanted someone available in case something happened or to let Quill outside. Tony would rather not have to constantly replace his door if the tiger needed to get out.

Stephen asks Victor to order more meat for the tower as he grabs the entire supply from their fridge and opens a gateway back to the inside of the cabin. He leaves out enough for Quill, Scott, and Athena, put the rest in the fridge, and then feeds his wolf before getting the attention of the other two. They were exactly where he left them, only they were relaxing with the tv on instead of asleep. Stephen assumed that Scott had to find the remote and paw at it since they couldn't talk and ask FRIDAY for help.

That was an amusing image, and sure enough, when Stephen moved closer, the remote was sitting on the floor nearby.

"Dinner outside you two." The sorcerer announces and Scott gets out from his spot under the tiger's head to stretch and yawn.

Quill heaves himself to his feet and yawns with a loud groan before following Scott and Stephen outside, and the sorcerer tosses them both some meat. Well, mostly Quill, but Stephen was positive that the tiger would eat slowly until Scott got his fill, and then polish off the rest. Sure enough, when the fox was full, he sat back and Quill finished off the rest of the meat. It had been quite a bit, but Stephen was only feeding them enough to hold them over. Not the forty plus pounds tigers usually eat.

These were different circumstances after all.

"I'll be staying here tonight." Stephen tells them as he sits by the fire pit and throws a couple of logs into it previous to lighting a fire with his magic. "Stretch your legs while you can Quill...and please don't eat Gerald."

A huff was all Stephen got in response before Quill wandered away to prowl the property, and every once in a while when the sorcerer looked up from the book he was studying, he caught the fox weaving himself between the tiger's legs and under him. It was an unusual sight for normal people, but for Stephen he hardly blinked. He's most definitely seen weirder things than a tiger protecting what would usually be food. Stephen was almost tempted to bring someone who worked with and studied animals for a living just to see the confusion on their faces when they saw Quill and Scott.

Athena of course joined him after she finished her dinner, and they both enjoyed the fire until Quill and Scott came back from their walk. Those two enjoyed the fire with them for another half hour until Stephen finally decided to call it a night and extinguished the fire with one of his spells, and they all went back inside. Athena didn't mind that Quill and Scott were using one of her pillows since she would be able to sleep upstairs with her master in the bedroom, and Stephen was almost sure she knew that it was only temporary anyway.

It was also possible that she knew not to pick a fight with a tiger.

The next morning, Stephen fed himself and all of the animals (including Gerald), and he and Athena left through a gateway after letting Quill and Scott outside for the day. They were only left alone for a few minutes when another portal opened, and Bucky stepped through with Natasha. They both sniggers at the couple's predicament and the soldier holds his hands up toward the tiger when he growls in warning.

"We all know you would laugh if it was someone else so calm down." Bucky placates the beast before he and Nat sit at the table on the patio with a pack of cards.

The tiger lays on his side in the sun and chuffs quietly as the fox curls up against him, and the two humans occasionally look over at them as they play multiple different card games.

"Scott seems more...skittish as a fox." Nat ponders as she watches the smaller animal's flick periodically.

"Can you blame him. He's smart. He knows he's considered dinner to bigger animals and there are a few out here. He's going to rely on Quill a lot, especially since Quill is at the top of that food chain."

She shrugs. "I would say he could have stayed at the tower, but those two don't stay apart as long as they can help it."

"They're lucky that Cassie has school and that they can rely on the rest of us to keep an eye on her until Stephen fixes this." Bucky puts his cards down and stretches as he watches Scott get up and wander off toward the trees. Quill only lifted his head for a few moments to watch him go before laying back down. "Hungry?"

"I could use a sandwich." Natasha confirms and throws her cards onto the small table.

The two walk inside and start making themselves sandwiches, and just as Bucky grabs some meat for Quill and Scott, he and Natasha exchange looks when they hear a high pitched yelp. They both had a sinking feeling that it belonged to Scott and didn't jump into action until an earth-shaking roar followed it moments later. They drop everything and run out the door, vaulting over the patio railing, and race in the direction the fox had wandered off in not five minutes ago. It didn't take long to find the couple, and the sight that met them had Natasha springing forward. Quill was standing over Scott protectively while baring his teeth and growling at the hunter pointing a rifle at the fox, and while Natasha went after the hunter to take him down, Bucky went over to the animals. It took a lot of convincing to get the tiger to move away from the fox, and when Quill did finally move, Bucky discovered the reason for Scott's yelp.

He was caught in a bear trap.

The hunter must have pounced the moment he got caught because there was evidence of Scott trying to wiggle his way out of it, and his leg and paw were covered in blood. In fact, Bucky was pretty sure he saw some things he shouldn't be able to.

"You're okay. You're safe now." The soldier attempts to soothe the panicking fox. "You have to stop moving so I can release this okay?"

Bucky winces when the fox whines pitifully and when Scott finally calms down to sit still long enough for the soldier to release the trap, Bucky does so and watches with sympathy as the fox backs away. Scott's animal instincts seemed to be overtaking his human ones at the moment and no one could blame him. He was just caught in a trap he couldn't escape from and held at gunpoint, and now he was desperate for safety. Which he fortunately still knew was with the tiger he was pressing himself against. The tiger that looked ready to eat the hunter that Natasha was currently pulling to his feet and keeping him compliant by pressing a blade to his neck.

"I have half a mind to let the tiger maul you." She threatens.

"I have a license--"

"Which is null and void on private property." Nat hisses. "Don't try to give me the lame excuse that you didn't know or that you thought this wasn't part of it. You are two miles in and I know for a fact that there are signs all around." She looks over at Scott when he whines again and starts to lick his wounded leg. "Don't let him do that, and call Mama Bear."

Bucky nods and pulls out his phone, thanking whatever god was watching that he had a signal, and calls Stephen as Natasha takes the hunter to the cabin. Quill growls in warning when the soldier stops the fox from licking his injury again and making him whimper, but the tiger does nothing to follow up. He knew Bucky wasn't trying to hurt Scott, but he was just being protective because that was exactly what Scott needed right now. To know he was safe.

The poor thing was still shaking like a leaf.

After getting ahold of the sorcerer and telling him what just transpired, Bucky hangs up. "He'll be here in just a minute. Let's get you back to the house."

He grimaces when Scott tries putting pressure on his right front paw (the injured leg), and he yelps in pain again as he holds his leg up off the ground. Before the soldier could do anything though, Quill growls softly and bends down to scruff the fox and carries him away to the cabin, leaving the soldier to follow. Bucky wanted to laugh at the look on the hunter's face (that was currently sitting tied to a chair that Nat was standing next to) when the man saw a tiger carrying a fox away instead of eating it, but refrained from doing so. He was more focused on getting his friends inside so Scott can be tended to.

Stephen steps through a portal the moment Bucky opens the door to let Quill inside, and the tiger gently deposits the fox at the sorcerer's feet. Scott tries a third time to lick his wounded leg and whines when Stephen stops him before grabbing a first aid kid from a smaller portal.

"You'll only make it worse if you do that." He reprimands softly as he kneels down. "I'm no veterinarian, but I can at least wrap your leg."

Bucky leaves the sorcerer to sanitize and wrap Scott's leg, and walks back over to the kitchen to finish making lunch for himself and Natasha. When he hears yelling, he looks outside and finds Tony laying into the hunter like nobody's business with Nat, and then looks over at Stephen again when the doctor stands up.

"I think he submit to his animal instincts for a few minutes back there." Bucky informs him and Stephen nods.

"I'm not surprised. Stressful situations can trigger moments like that. He's starting to come out of it."

He grabs the remaining meat out of the fridge and feeds it to the two once Quill brings Scott into the kitchen. The tiger begins to eat some of the meat, but when Scott makes no move to join him, he grumbles softly and nudges some of it toward the fox. Stephen watches carefully, and just when he's about to interfere, Scott slowly approaches the offered food and eats half of it before laying down with another whine. It was to be expected. Scott was hurting and the stress likely killed much of his appetite, but Stephen and Quill were glad that he ate something.

Quill finished what was left, and Bucky mops up the floor where the meat had sat while the tiger scruffs and carries Scott back to the pillow. Nobody said a word when the tiger gently groomed the smaller animal, not even Tony and Natasha when they finally came in after the authorities arrived and took away the hunter. They all knew Quill was just trying to comfort Scott and help him relax again, so they pretended not to notice while they ate their own lunch. Not even when the tiger started to purr.

That was what helped the fox fall asleep after all.

Stephen stayed at the cabin after that. The other three adults returned to the tower, and since Quill refused to leave Scott's side, it was a good thing Tony was rich because the sorcerer had to order a lot of meat to feed them and Athena. The tiger was not going to hunt. He was solely focused on protecting and comforting his fox.

The doctor also stayed so he could change the bandages on Scott's leg as often as needed, and that was for another couple of days. Quill took to carrying Scott everywhere the entire time anyway, which helped the healing process some, but there were still a couple of times the sorcerer had to stop Scott because his animal instincts took over and had him chewing on the bandages.

Stephen finally tweaked the spell to change his friends back into humans on the fourth day, and approached them after telling Athena to stay in the kitchen. "I believe I finished adjusting the spell, but Scott…" The fox looks up at him. "The change back may hurt you because of your injury."

As soon as he gets a quiet bark in response, Stephen casts the spell on them, and then immediately grabs the first aid kit when Scott yells out in pain. Like the past few days, Stephen uses magic in his hands to steady them while he tends to the thief's wrist and lower forearm, and firmly wraps the injury as gently as possible. As soon as he finishes, Quill wills his light into his hands and not only cradles his husband's wounded arm, but also the back of his neck. The scars there weren't with him as a fox, but now they were probably flaring with a vengeance. From Quill's constant scruffing or the fact that Scott temporarily didn't have them, Stephen didn't know.

"Shh...baby. Just relax. I've got you." Quill whispers.

"Shit." Scott curses before booking it to the nearby bathroom and both the celestial and the doctor grimace at the sound of retching. Not from disgust, but sympathy.

"Try and ease his pain. I'll make him some soup." Stephen says and Quill nods before disappearing into the bathroom.

Stephen didn't bother with homemade soup. He just heat up some canned chicken noodle, and set it on the coffee table in the living room as Scott and Quill exited the bathroom. The younger thief was a little pale, but at the very least he looked like he was in less pain while Quill led him to the living room and they sat on the couch. To Stephen's satisfaction, Scott was more than willing to eat and surprised the other two by eating everything the sorcerer had made him. He then fell asleep against the god's chest as soon as Quill laid back against the arm of the couch, and Stephen brings them a blanket which he lays over Scott once he realizes that Quill's hand are back to soothing the younger's arm and neck.

"A little color has already come back." Stephen observes quietly.

"The pain was just too much. As glad as I am that he didn't have to deal with the scars as a fox and that I could work with that, I hate that it caught up with him."

"It's a good thing he has you then." Stephen grabs the empty bowl off the coffee table. "I'm going to make myself some dinner. Any requests?"

"Is it weird that I want a salad?" Quill asks and Stephen snorts.

"Not with all the meat you ate. How does spaghetti and salad sound?"

"Perfect. Do you need help?"

"No. You worry about Scott and keep him comfortable." Stephen replies gently.

"Thanks Mama Bear."

"It's the least I can do after my daughter put you two into that situation."

"It was an accident. No big deal."

"Either way, we're practicing in the mirror dimension from now on."

[fericita-s]

Vanished (part 3)

Part One Part Two

on AO3

Third installment of four, Rated M, an Agduna Frozen story, amnesia AU. This chapter owes a debt of gratitude to @the-spastic-fantastic​ who pointed out we hadn’t yet let Iduna notice Agnarr with his sleeves rolled up, requested drunk and depressed Agnarr (and added even more devastating details to that scene) and as always did a wonderful job beta-ing and working through this with me.

Part Three

The letter arrived to the Sommerhus before she and Elsa did, Agnarr’s mark in the wax that sealed it together.  Iduna thought he must have written while she was packing clothes and toys, directing which servants were to accompany them.   She had also scribbled off a hasty note to Thea and Linnea inviting them to come visit and putting a cheerful slant on her hurried departure. 

Please come see Elsa and me at the Sommerhus! Agnarr is staying in the palace, royal duties preclude his presence.

Elsa loved the journey north, looking out the window of the carriage and pointing at every new animal and person and house she could see.  “Baa! Sheep! Cow! Moo!” When they arrived at the house, Elsa had craned her neck around each corner as she toddled through, calling “Papa?” Iduna felt the prick of tears in her eyes, and swept them away quickly, before Elsa would see and turn the whole cottage cold with frost in sympathetic worry.

As the servants unloaded the carriage and trunks and the cook set up the pantry and a light meal for dinner, Iduna put Elsa in her crib for a nap and took the letter upstairs.  She settled into an unused bedroom. She couldn’t bring herself to use the room that she and Agnarr had occupied on previous trips.  For having hardly any memories, the ones she did have were certainly plaguing her now.

She expected a quickly jotted note, a “Please forgive me,” or a “Please come home,” or perhaps even a “I am your King, you must do as I command.  Come home now or I’ll take our daughter away from you.” It didn’t seem like him to do that, but then did she truly know him?  After keeping such a big lie, what else could he be hiding?

Instead, the note was two pages of cramped writing, Agnarr’s hand faint in some places and overly strong in others as if he was having trouble controlling his emotions as he wrote.  She put a hand to her cheek as she read, and this time, let her tears fall.

             My Dearest Iduna,

I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’ll ask for it just the same.  I will write down for you all that I know of you, some in this letter, and more to follow each day.   But if you find that your tastes have changed, know that my love has not. I loved you when we were fourteen.  I loved you still at twenty-four when we pledged ourselves to each other. And I love you now at twenty-six with a child of our own.  I will love you whether or not you remember anything and whether or not you are the same girl with whom I fell in love.  I will love you in this life, and every life, and hope that we can share this one again soon.

Your lips were cold the first time we kissed, almost frozen.  You took me to a spring of water, you told me it was the purest in the whole forest. The water was clear and cold and you said there was legend about it wielding the power of truth.  That those who drank of it would tell their secrets.  You drank first, cupping your hand into the water and bringing it to your mouth.  The water dribbled down your hand and from a corner of your mouth and I was mesmerized by the sight, wanting nothing more than to kiss the spot on your lips that was wet, to take your truth and make it my own.  I dipped my hands in the water and drank too, and said the first thing that came to mind, a truth so basic and fundamental but one I had not said out loud to you before. “I love you." You smiled and said “I love you too.”

I leaned in to kiss you, and the cold water made us both gasp and then laugh.  But soon we had made our own heat and the relief and joy I felt at saying those words and hearing you say them warmed me brighter than the summer sun at noon.  I wish I could tell you if you were nervous or excited or impatient for me to say those words but I don't know. As well as I knew you then, I won't guess at your inmost thoughts and I hope they come back to you someday. But I will tell you mine - and they are that I love you wholly and desperately, that I am so sorry for betraying your trust, that being your husband and the father to our daughter is worth more than this kingdom or any other.  I love you.  You don't ever have to forgive me but I hope you will believe that I love you.

Yours, Agnarr

Iduna folded the letter and got into the bed, letting herself cry for the girl she was and couldn’t remember, and over the husband who knew them both but had kept it from her.

***

Every day, letters came.  Some were as long as the first, some were short. They made her laugh and cry and rage. She might have ignored them altogether, but she was so eager to know about who she was and who they had been. And she hated that she was dependent on him for that.  That he could have told her this a year or two ago and chose not to.

***

My Dearest Iduna,

Your anger is justified, but please know nothing will ever change my love for you and our daughter.                                                                                                                   Yours, Agnarr

***

At the end of the first week, Agnarr arrived and delivered a stack of letters to her in person. She was holding Elsa who squealed and clapped her hands together at the sight of him, and she wiped the tiny icicles that grew from Elsa’s fingers.  Agnarr kissed Iduna on the cheek and whispered urgently in her ear. “Read them alone and burn them when you’re through.”

When she started to read, she knew why they couldn’t be kept.  He had written to her about the Northuldra – the rituals, the legends, the spirits, the names of her family members and what they were like. Songs that he remembered.  Foods she liked to eat. Speculation on how Elsa’s powers might be related to the enchantments of the forest, though it was a unique magic he didn’t think had been seen there before.  He had given her his study of the Northuldra people. 

Having it might get her killed, even as the queen. Lord Hannesel and others still fueled resentment against the Northuldra and there were rumors he was gathering support.  Agnarr had even told the maid who had heard Iduna sing the Northuldra lullaby a carefully concocted story of his remembrance of the tune from a trip there, explaining that he had taught his wife.

She put the stack into the fire but held the last one a bit longer, waiting until all the others were burned before parting with it.

My Dearest Iduna,

Your birthday is September 5th, a time when the leaves in your forest start to change and the colors are so bright it seems like the trees have dressed up to celebrate you. Your mother gave you a shawl at birth with the patterns of the spirits on it.  It wasn’t with us the day we escaped the mist.  

We wrapped it around our hands when we were handfasted.

I was so hopeful we would create peace between our people.  My father had been getting more aggressive and insistent in matchmaking for an alliance with a European nation, angry at my declaration that I would marry you. I thought if we had our own ceremony, just the two of us, and if we had the privilege of creating a new life, it would force him to accept us. We could also create a new and peaceful life for both of our nations.

You took me to a cave and we sat alone. How my hand trembled as you held It.  How comforting it felt to be wrapped up in your shawl, and how impossible it was to imagine my life without you.  It still is.                                                                               Yours, Agnarr

***

At the end of the second week, Thea and Linnea came to visit.  Linnea and Elsa played outside while Thea and Iduna took tea in a private area of the grounds. 

“I’m surprised the king’s not here.  Elias said council meetings were cancelled last week and this week too.  No one has seen him for some time. I half thought I would find him here when we arrived!”

Iduna shook her head.  “No.  He’s been to visit, but not to stay.” She looked at Thea, deciding if she could share the reason why. But if she told her, would she be in danger too? 

For the first time, she understood Agnarr’s decision to keep her identity hidden. But it didn’t give her any relief.

***

“Agnarr.  Ag! Wake up!” Elias entered the king’s bedchambers, waving off the guard and servants. He shut the door behind him and moved to open the tightly drawn curtains.  The sunlight streamed in on a sorry sight.

Agnarr was lying face down on the bed, clad only in trousers.  Elias looked to the heaps of clothing on the floor, the trays of untouched food, full glasses of water, and the two bottles of akvavit uncorked, empty, and lying on their sides.

He sat on the bed next to Agnarr and began slapping the soles of his feet.  “Sit up, Ag.  Get up!”

Agnarr groaned and rolled over, putting an arm over his eyes.  He made a move to sit up, but groaned again instead.

“Thea sent me here.  She visited Iduna this week and could tell something was wrong, though Iduna didn’t say what. She told me to come here and fix whatever it was so her friend won’t be so sad anymore.  So you see? You’re making a liar of me too.  Because I can guess what this is about.  And if I’m right, I won’t be able to tell my wife the truth.  So thanks for that.”

Agnarr remained silent, but managed to move into a sitting position.  He cradled his head in his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees.

Elias’s voice was sharp, his words meant to hurt. “Thea was always talking about how romantic it was, the two of you, and how amazing Iduna told her the…physical aspect of your relationship was.  How intuitive you were.”  He snorted and shook his head.  “And I'll never tell her it's because you've loved Iduna since you were fourteen and were handfasted at twenty-four, and married a whole year before this fiasco began to unfold.”

Agnarr blindly groped for one of the glasses of water, knocking one over but grabbing one next to it.  He drank slowly, eyes closed.

“Did she find out? She knows who she is and she knows you lied about it?”

Agnarr set the glass down and turned to face his friend.  Elias saw the red rimmed eyes, the unshaven cheeks, the sunken look of him.  “I've ruined it. I've ruined us.”  His voice was raw.  “And now she has no one and our child won't know me.  And why should she? A liar and a coward is all I am.  Better fatherless than to have me.”

Elias was silent a moment and then moved to put an arm around his friend.  “What will you do? Is it really beyond fixing?”

Agnarr took a short breath, his breath hitching and his voice held a strange timber as he replied.  “I don’t know.”

“Give her time, Ag.” Elias sighed.  “Keep apologizing and give her time.”

***

He kept writing and at the end of every week he came to the Sommerhus to hand-deliver letters about Northuldra customs and the details of her family in the Enchanted Forest.   Iduna would read them and then burn them as she looked out of the upstairs window as Agnarr and Elsa played outside. Father and daughter would walk through the fields or woods, stopping to inspect interesting insects and beautiful flowers and the feel of a small creek. Iduna could see them from her upstairs window.  She would pause in her reading to see Agnarr with his shirt sleeves rolled up, holding the flowers that Elsa picked or lifting her high onto his shoulders so she could get a better view of a woodpecker.  There were times she wanted to go and hold his hand, to run her fingers along the familiar curve of his forearms she so admired.  But after he read their daughter fairy tales and rocked her to sleep, he slept on the floor in her room on a pile of blankets and cushions.  And, after silently checking in on them, Iduna would retire to the room where she slept alone.

***

My Dearest Iduna,

             My greatest fear, other than harm coming to you or Elsa, is that Elsa’s magic was given to her because I lied to you.  Did the spirits see my actions and give us a child with magic so that I would tell you about your ties to a land so blessed with it? If so, they must want to punish me greatly for failing that twice.  And I want to punish myself.  But Elias, who has known all of this, says it is not helpful.  That I should be patient and contrite.  So I will be.  Because you deserve that and so much more.  Yours, Agnarr  

***

“Happy Birthday, Elsa!” Linnea jumped out of the sled as soon as it pulled up to the Sommerhus.  Elsa waved and Iduna shouted from the front steps.

“It’s so cold! Hurry inside!”

Captain Calder helped his wife down from the sled and then collected a pile of brightly wrapped presents from underneath their seats.  They hurried to the warmth of the house, shucking their coats and hats and mittens and knocking snow from their boots as they came through the door.

“Are Elias and Thea here yet? The roads are treacherous today.”

Iduna took the topmost packages and shook her head. “No, not yet.  But they might have waited on Agnarr to join them.  And I’m sure Elias will ask the driver to go slowly.  He has been so cautious since Thea began to show.”

Linnea took a present from her father’s arms and gave it to Elsa.  “Open this one now! I made it for you!”

Elsa took the package and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you!”

Iduna laughed.  “You’ll have to show her what to do.  She doesn’t know she has to open it.”

Linnea pulled at the ribbon and it fell to the floor, and then pulled at a corner of the wrapping until it ripped.  “Now your turn!”

Elsa looked doubtful about the wisdom of ripping the paper, but did as she was told and soon discovered a fabric doll, with a blue dress, yellow hair, and a small crown on its head.  Elsa hugged it to herself.  “Baby!”

Linnea smiled. “Yes, a babydoll! I made her look like you, only I had to guess at the hair color since you’re still mostly bald.  And I used one of my old dresses for her dress so she is a very fancy baby doll.  Shall we go show her your room?”

They ran upstairs, the other presents on the pile forgotten.  Iduna breathed a sigh of happiness, a tight feeling in her chest at Elsa’s delight, and bent down to pick up the strips of wrapping paper that had scattered on the floor, like bright and cheerful snowflakes.  “She loves it when Linnea comes.  I think she gets lonely here.”

Mrs. Calder tilted her head and looked at Iduna. “Agnarr hasn’t joined you here yet?”

Iduna looked down, looking to where Captain Calder had stacked the remaining presents. “No, it’s been too difficult for him to leave the castle.”  A blush was creeping up her neck and she pressed the wrapping and ribbon into a ball and worried it with her hands.

Mrs. Calder looked to her husband, who cleared his throat and changed the subject. “I’m fairly certain Agnarr was bald for the first two years of his life.  It’s quite common in children with light-colored hair.”

A gust of cold air swept in as Thea, Elias, and Agnarr came inside. “Did I just hear someone call me bald?”

Captain Calder laughed and clapped him on the back.  “Happy birthday to your little one!  Two years old!”

Hugs and greetings were passed around as everyone discussed the snow, the cold, and the delight of celebrating a birthday with the happy royal family. Agnarr and Iduna shared an awkward look, and Agnarr leaned over to kiss Iduna’s cheek in greeting. She stayed very still, hands grasping the ball of paper, unsure if she should respond or not, wishing her body wasn’t longing for more touch from Agnarr, the heat from his kiss making her feel as if the whole room had been warmed.

Thea groaned. “Having children is a blessing, but being pregnant is surely a curse of biblical proportions. Elias, help me take my coat off.”

Mrs. Calder and Elias both helped her, and then ushered her into a chair by the fire and Iduna excused herself to get her a glass of water. She listened to their voices as Captain Calder mused about the state of the roads, Elias wondered whether or not the driver needed help settling the horses in the barn, and Thea and Mrs. Calder decided if it was better to sit close to the fire and prevent a chill or further from it so as not to get overheated.  Iduna smiled, glad to hear the voices of friends, of her family.

“Iduna.”

She turned and saw Agnarr, his hands behind his back. She wished she hadn’t discarded the ball of paper.  Bunching it in her hands to conceal her emotions had felt satisfying in a way holding a glass of water did not. Her heart sped up and she wondered if he had a new letter for her. She wondered if he would kiss her, hug her, hold her, now that the Calders were here to see their interactions.

She wondered if she wanted that.

“I didn’t write a letter this time; with the Calders here, I…”

She nodded in understanding, trying to keep any look of disappointment from her face. Today was for Elsa, not her.  “Of course.”

“But also, with the Calders here I thought we could, if you want to of course, and only if you feel comfortable, we could tell them about your origins.  Elias knows already and I know you think of them as family.  We can trust them. And I don’t think it would endanger them, with Lord Hannesel off the council and public opinion slowly changing.”

“If we can trust them, why didn’t you tell them three years ago?”

A faint redness appeared on Agnarr’s neck and he nodded quickly to her, almost a bow.  “I should have.  I should have told you too. Every day I think about how I could have gone about this all differently.  What I could have done better.  What I could have done right.”

Iduna handed him the glass of water. “Bring this to Linnea? I’ll get the glogg ready for everyone else. I gave the staff the week off since the weather looked to be so bad.  I knew they’d want to be home with their families.”

Agnarr took the offered glass.  “Think about it? You don’t need to give me an answer, now or…you know, ever.  But think about it.”

Their fingers touched as the glass passed between them and Iduna felt a shiver run through her.  She turned quickly so he wouldn’t see the confusion on her face.

Wasn’t she still mad at him for lying to her?

“Yes, I’ll think about it.”

She heard his footsteps and the conversation in the other room growing in volume as his voice was added to it.  She knew she had a lot to think about.  What was easy to ignore while playing with a toddler all day was harder to ignore now. As she poured raisins and almonds to the glogg on the stovetop, the feeling of safety Agnarr’s touch gave had stayed with her.  She did feel safe with him.  He had done all he could to keep her safe, both during the battle and every day after.  He had done all he could to make life safe for Northuldra in Arendelle, whether or not the mist ever opened.  He was a good man, a just king, and a devoted father.  And she could forgive his mistake.

Through his letters she had fallen in love with him in new ways.  Learning all she had lost was a heartbreak, but what she didn’t have to lose was him.

She didn’t have to be without family, either.  The Calders loved her, and would keep loving her even if they knew her past the way Agnarr did.  She could trust them and not shut them out in fear.

***

After a cold walk with Elsa pushing her new baby doll sleigh around the yard, eating cake, and Agnarr playing his violin while Elsa spun and danced in delight, it was time for her to go to bed.  Iduna picked her up and carried her to each guest for a goodnight kiss and then she and Agnarr took her upstairs.

Iduna laid her in her crib and watched as Elsa’s chubby arm slung around the baby doll’s neck, pulling it closer and breathing deeply. Agnarr reached into his violin case and took out a red and purple shawl, soft and trimmed with fringe.  He covered Elsa with it and ran his hand up and down Elsa’s side, humming the tune he had been playing on the violin a few moments before.  She smiled and closed her eyes.  Agnarr straightened.

“That’s my present to her.  And you too, really.  I had a weaver make a shawl like the one your mother gave you when you were born.  I know it’s not the same, but you can tell her about your family and maybe this will help.”

Iduna reached over and ran her hands along it, feeling Elsa’s sleeping body and wishing she could remember being wrapped up in her mother’s shawl, safe and protected, loved and cherished.

“Thank you.”  She looked at him and hoped he could see in the low light that she truly was thankful.  That it was a thoughtful gift that she would treasure and one that proved again how much he valued that part of who she was. She hoped he could tell she wanted to say more but didn’t want to wake their daughter or break this spell of calm and quiet, of understanding and maybe even forgiveness that felt like a shawl around her shoulders.  “And I thought about it.  I think we should tell the Calders. This weekend while they are staying here.  But maybe not tonight.  I’m tired.”

Agnarr nodded.  “Would you like to go to bed now? I can give them your excuses and show them to their rooms if you’re too tired.  I’ll go sleep with the drivers in the guesthouse.”

Iduna stepped towards him and reached for his hand, the same sensation of safety and calm reigning over her as it had earlier in the day, as it did every time they touched. “No.  You can show them their rooms but then come to our bed.” She turned and left the room, heat building in her cheeks and in her stomach and she wasn’t brave enough to look in his eyes and see what he thought about that.

***

“They’re all settled.  And I looked in on Elsa just now - she’s asleep.” He shut the door gently behind him and looked around the room, still not quite sure if Iduna had meant for him to share their bed.  Was it merely for appearances? So they had one less thing to explain to the Calders tomorrow?   He looked around the room, searching for something to say.  Something to break the awkward silence.  “The room is so clean and orderly.  It doesn’t even look like anyone has been staying here.”

Iduna was sitting on the bed, changed into her nightclothes.  “I haven’t been.  I stayed in the room next to Elsa’s.  I didn’t want to stay where we once had.”

“Oh.” He winced, sorry again for how he had hurt her, once more wishing he had made a different choice.

She looked at him and then spoke quickly. “No, I don’t mean that I was angry with you.  I missed you.” She paused and took a breath.  “Well, I was also angry with you. But I didn’t want to be in our bed without you.” She put her hand down next to her on the bed.  “Will you come sit?  I think better when I’m touching you.”

He laughed a little as he came to her and sat down, their thighs touching and her head even with his shoulder.  “I have a hard time thinking when you’re touching me.  Except about how much I want to be touching you.”  She leaned into him, her head on his shoulder.

“When I touch you, it’s almost like remembering.  I know I’m meant to be with you.  That it’s right.”  Agnarr turned his head so he could kiss her on the top of her head.  He brought his hand up and ran it through her long hair.  It was unwound from the neat crown braids she usually wore as queen and reminded him of the way it had been in the forest.

“Your hair was like this when I first met you. Down and a little wild.  Wavy and dark and beautiful.  I was staring so much at how it moved in the wind that I fell into the river because I wasn’t looking at how close I was to the bank.”

Iduna laughed. “You didn’t write about that in any letters!”

He brought his hand to her shoulder, running it up and down her arm.  “Some things were too embarrassing to commit to paper.”

Iduna reached to his face and cupped her hand around his cheek.  She ran her thumb over his mustache, back and forth and back and forth, like she was soothing his worry. “Thank you for giving me all of those memories.  And for all of the ones here in Arendelle that I can recall – being your queen, being the mother of our daughter, knowing the Calders.  That’s all thanks to you.”

His hand stilled. “Iduna, I’m so sorry.  Truly.”

She stood and nudged his knees apart to stand between them and then brought both hands up to this face. “I forgive you.  And I love you.”

He gripped her under the thighs and lifted her up so she was seated on his lap, chests pressed against each other and her legs around him. He buried his face into her chest but she could still hear his whisper. “I certainly don’t deserve it.  But I love you too. I wish I had the words to tell you how much.”

She leaned to his ear, kissing it on the lobe and shivering at the feel of his hands on her back, the movement of his hips into hers. “It’s not your words I want right now.”

***

The Calders didn’t seem surprised or upset to hear that Iduna was Northuldra. Captain Calder even suggested that they tell the council.  “They, like everyone else in the kingdom, love the queen.  And they will see it as a chance to strengthen the statement of peace: naming the queen as Northuldra and your marriage as an alliance that respects and honors their people.”

Mrs. Calder hugged Iduna tightly. “Our love for you has not changed.  Perhaps richer now for the truth of things, but not changed.”

“It makes sense.” Linnea spoke as she reached to pick Elsa up out of Iduna’s lap. “Is that why Elsa can make ice?”

The adults in the room all stared at her. Her mother spoke first.  “She can…do what?”

Agnarr cleared his throat.  “Yes, it seems she can make ice.  And snow as well.  But it’s not a known gift among the Northuldra and we don’t know what it means.  We don’t know if the power will strengthen or fade as time goes on and she grows up.”

Thea reached to take Elsa from Linnea.  “Show us, Elsa, dear.  Show us the snow.”

And Elsa did.

[reifromrfa]

🏰

🏰 - spend the night in a spooky vacation spot

You can't believe you agreed to this

But it's too late to back out now, you and Saeyoung are already checked into the private resort, with the beach just steps away from the house

You have the whole place to yourselves --the closest house is miles away

You agreed to come here because you wanted some time alone with Saeyoung --no distractions, no missions, nobody who knows them for miles and miles

Everything's perfect --Saeyoung's old agency buddy got him a deal that made this entire trip free of charge

There's only one problem...

"MC," Saeyoung said as you packed your swimsuits. "There's a teeny tiny detail I forgot to tell you about~"

"What is it?"

"The resort is said to be haunted. But that's okay, it'll be fun! We'll have a slumber party with the ghosts, awooooo~"

You remember laughing at that time

Ghosts? No way, you don't believe in ghosts

"Well, I better pack some treats for the ghosts too then!"

It was a ridiculous idea back when you were in your cozy home

But now that you're here in the Philippines, so far from the confines of the bunker, preparing dinner alone in the kitchen as Saeyoung took a shower in the upstairs master bedroom

You can't help but feel as though you're being watched...

It doesn't help that the house is centuries old, a beautiful remnant of the colonial era of the country but a house that many have once lived in...and possibly died in

It doesn't help that awhile ago, when Saeyoung went out to put your diving gear outside to dry, you heard heavy footsteps from the second floor

It surely doesn't help that the light in the bathroom flickers when you go inside

You rationalize that they're just because the house is old

There's no such things as ghosts

But goosebumps break across your skin as you feel a cold chill somewhere behind you

You tense and want to call out for your husband, but can't seem to find your voice

You hear the wooden floorboards creak

"Saeyoung!" you blurt out loudly, not brave enough to look at whatever it is is standing right behind you

"Yes, my space muffin?"

You turn and Saeyoung just entered the kitchen, hair wet from his shower

You run up to him and hold him close, burying your face in his chest

"Let's stay together...okay? Don't leave me alone."

Saeyoung chuckles, thinking you're being adorable and he pulls you close, kissing your forehead

"606...if you wanted a shower with me, you could have just said so~"

He's laughing but when there's a loud SLAM! from upstairs, like a door slamming shut, you both jump

You let out a little cry and his arms tighten around you

"I take it back," you say, "I don't want to stay here anymore! Ghosts are real!"

"What? You're admitting that now?"

"Yes! Let's get our bags and leave now!"

You realize that's silly, it's the middle of the night and you're at least an hour away from the city

But being in this house is giving you the creeps now

That is...until Saeyoung brandishes a small microphone

"Can you say that again, my lovely wife~? Closer to the mic please~"

Your jaw drops and you know you should be angry but relief floods your body

You playfully smack his chest and Saeyoung laughs, explaining how he orchestrated everything

The chill is from a device that blows out cold air, the door has a mechanism attached to it and the flickering lights were being controlled by Saeyoung with a remote

You shake your head as your goofy husband explains everything to you

How he wanted to see his brave wife's spooked expression, because you never believed in ghosts

When you pout and cross your arms, feigning anger, he leans close and kisses your lips

"Don't be mad, 606, you know I'll never let anything bad happen to you."

Saeyoung wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close, his lips finding yours

Your act falls and you pull him closer, feeling breathless as your husband kisses you passionately

But something's bothering you, and you break free a little and ask breathlessly

"How did you do the footsteps? The must be a heavy machine and I didn't see you pack anything like that"

Saeyoung has a confused expression on his face

"What footsteps?"

"You know," you say, brushing his hair from his face, "The ones on the second floor. I thought that was genius, agent 707."

"I didn't do anything like that."

You chuckle and plant another kiss on his lips, even though he looks bewildered

"Ha ha ha, very funny, baby"

"I'm serious...I didn't do anything like that. What footsteps?"

You pull back now and study his face --you know when your husband is messing around and this time he's serious

You scrunch up your face and stare at him

That doesn't make sense...

Because if Saeyoung didn't do it...then...

All of a sudden, the chair in the corner of the room scrapes against the floor a little

Both of you look at it, your faces pale

You know it's not a prank anymore, because even Saeyoung is tense, arms tight around you

Then a soft voice fills the kitchen, a mournful female voice singing a tune in the native language

There's no one there, but the humming doesn't stop

You feel yourself being lifted off the ground, Saeyoung hoisting you into his arms as he zooms upstairs to your bedroom

He locks the door and you jump into bed, pulling the sheets to your chin

Saeyoung lies down beside you, eyes wide

Both of you stay up all night, locked in the master bedroom

In the morning, you two get the courage to look into the kitchen, but everything is where it should be, the chair unmoved

Since you have a couple more nights here, you two decide to stay but avoid the kitchen for the rest of the trip

Nothing else happens during your stay and you're thankful for that

Lol Saeyoung even insisted that you both shower together at some point

But when it was time to leave, you look at the house from the passenger seat of the rented car

It's a really beautiful house, the architecture unlike the ones in the cities nowadays

Saeyoung drives away and you say goodbye to the beach, the house, the wonderful memories you two spent in there, despite that one spooky night

You grin and you're about to roll up your window when you spot the window from the kitchen

It's open, and a lady in a white dress stands and waves at you

In the blink of an eye, she disappears

~

Thanks for the request, girl! I had writing this spooky request! :)) I wrote the location as Philippines because lol that’s where I live and I have had some pretty eerie experiences when visiting the provinces lol so I hope you liked it! I’m sure GOD707 will protect you no matter what happens, Momo!!! :)) 

Wooooo excited for Halloween!

Prompt from THIS list! 

Masterlist

Feel free to send in more, but take note, idk when I’ll be able to finish hehe ^^; I had fun writing this!!

[anonsally]

Days 79-82 of COVID-19 shelter-in-place

These have been four very intense days both globally and personally. This admittedly long post will focus more (but not exclusively) on the personal side of that.

Day 79 was Wednesday. I hadn’t had enough sleep, but I got up at a reasonable hour because I needed a ballet class. Before class started, I got a call from the medical center for scheduling a procedure I need to have done. That will be in 2 weeks, contingent on me testing negative for COVID-19 four days beforehand. I’m anxious about the procedure but will be glad to get it over with after several months of worry. Anyway, ballet class was good for calming me down. 

It was hot out. I did my parents’ grocery shopping (and bought a few things for us) and then had a nice conversation with my dad when I dropped off his groceries. We talked about the state of the world. He told me about a city that had literally fired its entire police department and started over... which is what we probably need on a national level, with very few exceptions. 

I refueled the car on the way home and got a predictably late start on my work day. Wife got two more job interviews scheduled at very different companies. I took a walk, spotting another Steller’s jay at the bird feeders. The jays are so much larger than the little birds who frequent the feeders!

I then went to try to buy milk, but the tiny independent market had closed early to enable the employees to get home before curfew. So I had to go to Trader Joe’s instead. By the time I got home I was somewhat demotivated about food prep, but luckily Wife pulled herself together and scrambled me an egg. I didn’t manage to get to bed till 1am, which was at least an hour later than I’d intended, but Wife was still up at 4am!

Day 80. I forced myself to get up at 8:30 since I knew I would need to go to bed early that night. I arranged to (video-)meet with my boss at 12:30. I started work around 11am or so and got a few thing done. The meeting with my boss was good--partly social, discussing how we were coping with the situation and working from home, what we missed about the office, and such, but we also talked about what I’ve been working on. She reminded me that the study section reviewing my grant application will be meeting this month, so I will have to remember to check my scores.

Afterwards we had a meeting with a few other coworkers, which was fairly productive. I had a short “coffee break” video call with a colleague, too. The county-wide curfew was lifted a day early.

After work, I took a walk in a direction I hadn’t gone in a while. Was heartened to see Black Lives Matter signs even in cul-de-sacs in a wealthy, mainly white neighborhood. I picked up takeout for dinner, and did a bunch of Adulting in the early evening, including preparing for the next morning. I was in bed by 10:45pm.

Day 81. My alarm got me up at 5am, and we left at 6am. We got to the medical center on time at 7am and I went in (Wife was not allowed to accompany me, but had to be there to drive me home; there was a separate room across the street for visitors to wait in, which was good because it was suddenly very cold outside). Initially, there was a lot of waiting, during which I did a little bit of yoga and dancing as I knew I would not be able to move much for the rest of the day. I was there for a diagnostic procedure involving a needle (for data privacy reasons I won’t get more specific here; it’s unrelated to the procedure I’m having in 2 weeks), which required me to remain horizontal for 4 hours afterwards, at least according to the information they’d given me beforehand. I had to be fasting from midnight the night before: no food or drink, including water.

Eventually I was wheeled down to the ultrasound department, where the doctor who planned to do the procedure met me and the radiologists. However, when they looked at the images, there were a lot of vessels around. The doctor did not feel confident that she could do the procedure based on a mark on my skin without accidentally hitting a blood vessel. So she asked the radiologists to do it as an ultrasound-guided procedure, which would be safer since they would be able to see what they were doing on the ultrasound. This procedure was done with only local anaesthetic. Mostly I couldn’t feel what was going on, and it was supposed to be very quick, but unfortunately, the resident had a lot of trouble--the senior radiologist was trying to guide him through doing, but he couldn’t get the needle positioned quite right, and in the end the senior radiologist had to do it herself. It was pretty uncomfortable and there were some moments where it was quite painful. I tried to breathe deeply and stay relaxed, but it was hard. When they finally got it to work, it was over pretty quickly. I was relieved. It was about 11am by then.

However, I had to spend an hour in a large recovery room with many other patients, while my blood pressure and pulse were monitored. I had expected to have the procedure done upstairs in the room where I’d started, where I had left all my stuff. They very kindly sent someone up to retrieve my phone for me so I could at least text Wife and my parents so they would know the worst of it was over. 

After an hour I was wheeled upstairs and transferred from the gurney to a bed (this took 3 people as I was not allowed to stand up yet) for more monitoring. They drew my blood to test my blood counts; I was going to be allowed to leave after only 2 hours of bed rest if the counts were stable. After the 2 hours, I was allowed to get up and use the bathroom (and grab the crossword puzzles from my backpack to work on), and then I continued resting while waiting first for the blood counts, which finally came back fine, and then for the discharge papers, which took an unreasonably long time. Around 2pm the nurse finally allowed me to have some ice--hoorah! (I was parched. I normally drink at least 2 liters of water per day.) At 2:40pm I was cleared to leave; I texted Wife, who went to get the car and picked me up at the entrance to the hospital at about 3pm. 

Literally every single person on the hospital staff was kind and friendly. They all introduced themselves to me by name, including the people whose job it was to simply wheel me from one place to another, and they all seemed to be invested in my well-being. When I was being wheeled through the hallway, whenever we passed anyone else who worked there they smiled and said hello both to me and to the person in charge of transporting me. It seemed like everyone working really considered themselves a team, with respect for everyone regardless of place in the hospital hierarchy. Since, like all patients during this pandemic, I was there alone and a bit anxious, it made the experience much less unpleasant than it could have been.  

I spent 8 hours in the hospital, so I really hope I didn’t catch COVID-19, but the procedures seemed pretty good. I was wearing a mask almost all the time (except in the room where I was waiting at the beginning and end, which was essentially private), as were all the employees, and everyone was sanitising their hands every time they entered or exited a room or touched any equipment. I also didn’t spend the whole time with any one person. So, hopefully it was safe. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon vedging out at home, rehydrating, and finally eating, and I went to bed earlier than usual though later than I expected, around 12:15am.

Day 82. I wanted to try to get a lot of sleep so my body could heal from yesterday’s ordeal, so today I slept till about 10am. The wound from the procedure is tender to the touch and there’s a small bruise near it, but otherwise I’m not in pain from it. Except my ankle is in more pain than it’s been in for ages, and I have no idea why. Maybe I slept on it funny? Or maybe it’s an aftereffect of the weird position I had to hold during the procedure.

I think my joy at getting to eat cereal this morning was perhaps a bit over-the-top!

Wife had a bad headache today, likely caused by neck tension from all the driving yesterday. I am still pretty tired today, despite all the sleep, but I suppose that’s to be expected.

We went to the farmers’ market and stumbled upon a socially-distanced, family-friendly protest. A friend of mine was there with her kids, but I didn’t see her. We bought our produce--though I had to make an extra trip back to the car to drop off my purchases, as I am not supposed to lift anything heavy today. The stand with the curried fish had run out, but they still had some uncooked prepped fish, so we bought that and they explained how to steam it at home. We came home and cooked the fish and ate it for lunch; it was just as good as it would’ve been if they’d cooked it. Phew! Other than that we’ve been relaxing at home, though Wife did gather her energy and go for a run, which has helped to relieve her headache a little (as has the bath she took afterwards, and the painkillers she took). 

I’m hoping to feel up to taking a dance class (online) tomorrow. 

[solecize]

.  .  .   𝑹𝑼𝑵𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑰𝑵 𝑪𝑰𝑹𝑪𝑳𝑬𝑺 (PT9) |  

college has suddenly become a playground of the rich and elite for the country’s finest youth. born and bred into a world of private islands, sports cars, and baths of chanel perfume, you’re on top of everything as apart of one of the most envied social circles in the world. with a nickname of ‘the g.o.d club’—meaning ‘gifted or desired’—there is without a doubt certain high expectation set for members of this group. from princes to old money socialites, not just anybody can join your ranks. enter sicheng, new money who spells out trouble with his return…years after the two of you broke each other’s hearts.

when you lived a ten minute drive away from campus in your parents’ ginormous estate, it would seem pointless for you to move into a dormitory. nothing appeared appealing in the form of a cramped up room, communal washrooms, and a shitty cafeteria to eat from every morning. however, it was initially kunhang’s idea and ten’s insistence that you decided to move into one of the in-campus residences. one of your friends decided to follow suit and just like that, it was a chain reaction. you tried to make your tiny single room as home feeling as you could, installing shelves and adorning them with knick knacks, books, and flora. 

“it’s like my grandmother’s garden threw up in here.” xiaojun’s eyebrows were raised all the way up to his hairline, as his eyes scanned your room for the first time.

behind him, kun coughed at the smell of essential oils wafting through the air. “your room at home is nothing like this,” he said. “not that it’s bad. you’ve gone full hipster on us, y/n.”

you were halfway buried into your silk comforter and watching youtube videos when the two idiots decided to swing your door open without notice. it was clearly a mistake to give kun a copy of your key, even if he was the only ‘trustworthy’ one out of your friends. you grumbled, yanking one of your airpods out of your ear.

“why. are. you. here.”

“we just finished decorating my room upstairs and we’re bored,” xiaojun carelessly explained, plopping down onto your desk chair. kun moved to the foot of your twin bed, but you kicked him as soon as he made contact.

you bit down on your lip to shut away the curses threatening to spill out. “get out, dorks, i need alone time.”

xiaojun reached out to touch the fern growing by your closet and you wanted nothing more than to hurl your slipper at him. “alone time with all these plants?” he snicked at that, but you just rolled your eyes.

the truth was, you really did love those plants. it reminded you of your grandfather’s house, where you would go during your childhood. he taught you how to nurture and look after plants like they were humans. it brought out a more gentle side in you. 

there were only three things that you really did in that dorm room. the first was sleeping, obviously. mostly naps, though, since you spent a decent amount of nights back in your parents’ home. your bedroom there was empty and decorated like a museum, but your bed was huge and soft, unlike the one provided by the school. the second was not study. third, you spend your time caring for your plants. they were the first thing that you loved to see in the morning.

that’s why you instantly knew something was wrong when you didn’t wake up next to them. 

the fabric enveloping your body felt like a cotton blend and was not nearly as soft as you were used to. your eyes were shut, stirring in your half asleep state, but you noticed the faint scent of sandalwood and ginger lingering somewhere around you. the door creaked open, but you were too lost in your fatigue and the pounding sensation in your head to even realize it.

“you awake?” at first, the voice sounded like one of the guys. maybe kun, who needed to borrow your kettle. it could’ve been ten, wanting to drag you out for breakfast. your lids were like cement, as you struggled to open your eyes.

honestly, you felt like absolute shit. your throat was wrung dry and you felt as though your insides were scraped clean. you weren’t sure what happened last night, but the lasting image of your nagging mother was tattooed into your memory. wait, your mother? and the pumping bass of shitty club music continued to make your ears ring and your body feel numb.

the line of sight was completely blurry at first and you could only make out the faint figure of a tall man by your doorway. however, it dawned upon you that it wasn’t your doorway. the succulents that normally hung on it was gone. this door was not coloured ivory like all of the other ones in your dormitory building, but a bleak grey. this wasn’t your room.

you began to scream, but due to the state of your throat, it came out strangled and suppressed. “what the fuck—”

“can you quiet down? it’s three in the afternoon and there’s some sort of yoga thing downstairs.”

when your vision cleared up, you didn’t want to believe what what in front of you. sicheng was the absolute last person that you wante to see at any time, much less when you were hungover and looking like garbage. he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with a backpack slung over his shoulder and some books in his hand that he placed down on his desk. 

you tried shooting up from the bed, but groaned at the sudden infliction of pain driving to your head. you rubbed your head, cursing under your breath, and a water bottle appeared in front of you. sicheng was extending it out to you, offering it.

shaking your head, you ripped off the covers and snatched your purse, spotting it on the floor. as gently as possible, you tried to bring yourself up on two feet. upon hitting the floor, you wobbled slightly, to which sicheng attempted to help you balance yourself. you flinched at his touch, backing away, only to fall right back onto the bed.

you gritted your teeth through your pain and irritation. “do not help me.”

“you’re not even gonna ask how you got here? out of an alleyway beside that shady club?” the male scoffed, not believing you.

“i’m not stupid. i probably got wasted and you were delivering pizza or something nearby and saw me,” you snapped. you didn’t need to hear the fully story because you didn’t care that he helped you. the only thing you wanted to do was to get out of there.

sicheng said, “close, but no cigar—hey, relax.” his eyes softened, watching you still try to leave. for the past twelve hours, he’d witnessed nothing but pain from you and it made his stomach drop to the soles of his feet.

“why are you pretending like you care about me?” it came out harsher and louder than you expected, but he didn’t even blink at the retort. he never did, so you weren’t surprised. 

“i’m being a good person! is it really that foreign for you, y/n?” he shot back.

at this point, the two of your faces were only centimeters apart. you scanned his expression to find any signs of dishonesty, but his eyes were only cold. you could smell the same sandalwood scent on him at this proximity, only closer with a touch of mint. you shut your eyes tightly.

you said, “i’m going now. you aren’t talking about this to anyone and,” you collected your bag and slipped into your heels left by his closet, no matter how bad your feet stung, “we are never talking again, period.”

“what, you’re still at the beck and call of your mother?” sicheng snorted, but you ignored his statement. those words were what really stung, nothing in comparison to the aches of your body. 

inhaling deeply, you fired, “at least my mother isn’t a scam artist!” your back was turned to sicheng at this point, but you could hear his chuckle.

“whatever. go live your life, y/n. be the it girl at every gala and runway, the heiress who lives her life on social media,” sicheng said. “you were never that girl from high school anyway, it was just a sham.”

the last thing you did was pluck a bottle of aspirin off his desk, shaking some into your hand for the road. you wanted nothing to do with sicheng, you repeated in your mind. he had no reason to help you, you weren’t a charity case. 

for a moment there, the hazy memories of last night began to pour in. sicheng dragging you into an uber from outside the night club. he bought you vending machine ramen and pulled your hair back when you threw up. you probably hit him a few times in the process. it sent a couple drops of guilt into your body, but you swallowed it down. you wanted nothing to do with sicheng.

“in case ten asks, i couldn’t find a way into your room!” you heard sicheng’s voice call out when you were halfway down his hallway, but you weren’t sure what he was talking about. 

meanwhile, sicheng stared at the bed that you were just laying it, cursing to himself when he realized that you left your purse. 

[overly-obsessed-fangirl1]

A Study in Pink - Part 3

A/N: I wanted to know how Sherlock would be the same or different if John was Jane, but everything else remained the same. This was the result. Unless a scene is particularly short, each scene will be one chapter.

Transcript used was written up by Ariane DeVere and can be found here

Walking out into the street, Sherlock hailed an approaching cab.

“Taxi!”

The taxi pulled up and he and Jane got in. The car drove off again, headed for Brixton. The two sat in silence for a long time while Sherlock focused on his smartphone and Jane kept sneaking glances at him. Finally, Sherlock lowered his phone.

“Okay, you’ve got questions,” he stated.

“Yeah,” Jane said. “Where are we going?”

“Crime scene. Next?”

“Who are you? What do you do?”

“What do you think?” Sherlock turned to look at her.

“I’d say private detective,” Jane said slowly.

“But?” Sherlock prompted.

“But the police don’t go to private detectives,” she finished.

“I’m a consulting detective. Only one in the world. I invented the job.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means when the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me.”

“The police don’t consult amateurs.”

Sherlock threw her a look. “When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said, ‘Afghanistan or Iraq?’ You looked surprised.”

“Yes, how did you know?

“I didn’t know, I saw.” He took a breath before continuing, rapid-fire. “Your haircut, the way you hold yourself, says military. But your conversation as you entered the room...”

Jane limped into the lab, looking around at all the equipment. “Well, bit different from my day.”

“... said trained at Bart’s, so Army doctor – obvious. Your face is tanned but no tan above the wrists. You’ve been abroad, but not sunbathing. Your limp’s really bad when you walk but you don’t ask for a chair when you stand, like you’ve forgotten about it, so it’s at least partly psychosomatic. That says the original circumstances of the injury were traumatic. Wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan – Afghanistan or Iraq.” He loudly clicked the ‘k’ sound at the end of the final word.

“You said I had a therapist.”

“You’ve got a psychosomatic limp – of course you’ve got a therapist. Then there’s your brother.”

“Hmm?” Jane looked back at him. Sherlock held out his hand. “Your phone. It’s expensive, e-mail enabled, MP3 player, but you’re looking for a flatshare – you wouldn’t waste money on this. It’s a gift, then.”

Jane, having handed over the phone, watched as Sherlock turned it over and looked at it again as he spoke.

“Scratches. Not one, many over time. It’s been in the same pocket as keys and coins. The woman sitting next to me wouldn’t treat her one luxury item like this, so it’s had a previous owner. Next bit’s easy. You know it already.”

“The engraving.”

Engraved on the back of the phone were the words:

Harry Watson From Clara xxx

“Harry Watson: clearly a family member who’s given you his old phone. Not your father; this is a young man’s gadget. Could be a cousin, but you’re a war hero who can’t find a place to live. Unlikely you’ve got an extended family, certainly not one you’re close to, so brother it is. Now, Clara. Who’s Clara? Three kisses says it’s a romantic attachment. The expense of the phone says wife, not girlfriend. She must have given it to him recently – this model’s only six months old. Marriage in trouble then – six months on he’s just given it away. If she’d left him, he’d have kept it. People do – sentiment. But no, he wanted rid of it. He left her. He gave the phone to you: that says he wants you to stay in touch. You’re looking for cheap accommodation, but you’re not going to your brother for help: that says you’ve got problems with him. Maybe you liked his wife; maybe you don’t like his drinking.”

“How can you possibly know about the drinking?” Jane asked, disbelieving.

Sherlock smirked. “Shot in the dark. Good one, though.”

He pointed out the charging port. “Power connection: tiny little scuff marks around the edge of it. Every night he goes to plug it in to charge but his hands are shaking. You never see those marks on a sober man’s phone; never see a drunk’s without them.”

Sherlock passed the phone back. “There you go, you see – you were right.”

“I was right?” asked Jane, astounded. “Right about what?”

“The police don’t consult amateurs.”

He looked back out of the side window, biting his lip nervously while he awaited Jane’s reaction.

“That ... was amazing,” she said after a pause.

Sherlock looked round, so surprised that he couldn’t even reply for the next four seconds.

“Do you think so?”

“Of course it was. It was extraordinary; it was quite extraordinary.”

“That’s not what people normally say.”

“What do people normally say?”

“Piss off,” he muttered.

He smiled briefly at Jane, who grinned and turned away to look out of the window as the journey continued. The cab stopped at a road block surrounded by police. Sherlock and Jane got out and walked towards the police tape.

“Did I get anything wrong?” Sherlock asked suddenly.

“Harry and me don’t get on, never have,” said Jane. “Clara and Harry split up three months ago and they’re getting a divorce, and Harry is a drinker.”

Sherlock looked impressed with himself. “Spot on, then. I didn’t expect to be right about everything.”

“And Harry’s short for Harriet.”

Sherlock stopped dead in his tracks.

“Harry’s your sister.”

Jane kept walking. “Look, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?

“Sister!”

“No, seriously, what am I doing here?”

Exasperated, Sherlock moved to catch up. “There’s always something.”

They approached the police tape and were stopped by a policewoman. Jane thought she didn’t look happy to see them.

“Hello, freak,” the policewoman said, crossing her arms.

Oh, so her ire was aimed at Sherlock.

“I’m here to see Detective Inspector Lestrade,” Sherlock said, seemingly unaffected by the dislike radiating from her.

“Why?”

“I was invited.”

“Why?”

“I think he wants me to take a look,” he said sarcastically.

“Well, you know what I think, don’t you?”

This is like a tennis match, Jane thought, looking back and forth from one to the other.

Sherlock lifted the tape and ducked underneath it. “Always, Sally.” He took a deep breath. “I even know you didn’t make it home last night.”

“I don’t ...” the woman -Sally- stopped mid-sentence, noticing Jane. “Er, who’s this?

“Colleague of mine, Doctor Watson.” Sherlock turned to Jane.

“Doctor Watson, Sergeant Sally Donovan.” Voice dripping with sarcasm, he added “Old friend.”

Sally looked taken aback. “A colleague? How do you get a colleague?!”

She too turned to Jane. “What, did he follow you home?” she asked, sounding a mix of mocking and slightly concerned that he actually might have.

Jane shifted uncomfortably. “Would it be better if I just waited and ...”

Sherlock lifted the tape again. “No.”

As Jane walked under the tape, Sally lifted a radio to her mouth.

“Freak’s here. Bringing him in.”

Jane didn’t think she liked Sally Donovan.

Sally lead them towards one of the houses. Sherlock studied the area and the ground as they approached. As they reached the pavement, a man wearing a coverall over his clothes came out of the house.

“Ah, Anderson. Here we are again,” Sherlock said.

Anderson looked at him with distaste. Jane was sensing a pattern.

“It’s a crime scene. I don’t want it contaminated. Are we clear on that?” he said shortly.

Sherlock took another deep breath.  “Quite clear. And is your wife away for long?”

“Oh, don’t pretend you worked that out. Somebody told you that.”

“Your deodorant told me that.”

“My deodorant?” Clearly that’s not what Anderson had expected.

Sherlock smirked. “It’s for men.”

“Well, of course it’s for men! I’m wearing it!” Anderson was getting more exasperated by the second.

“So’s Sergeant Donovan.”

Oh, Jane thought. I was not expecting that.

Anderson looked round in shock at Donovan. Sherlock sniffed a third time, pointedly.

“Ooh, and I think it just vaporized. May I go in?”

Turning back, Anderson pointed at him angrily. “Now look: whatever you’re trying to imply ...”

“I’m not implying anything,” Sherlock said, striding past Donovan towards the front door. “I’m sure Sally came round for a nice little chat, and just happened to stay over.”

He turns back.

“And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees.”

Anderson and Donovan stared at him in horror. He smiled smugly, then turned and went into the house. Jane edged past Sally, briefly looking down to her knees, then followed Sherlock inside.

Sherlock lead her into a room on the ground floor where Lestrade was putting on a coverall. Sherlock pointed to a pile of similar items.

“You need to wear one of these.”

“Who’s this?” Lestrade asked.

“She’s with me,” Sherlock said, as if that explained everything, and took off his gloves.

“But who is she?”

“I said she’s with me.”

By this point Jane has taken off her jacket and picked up a coverall. She looked at Sherlock who had picked up a pair of latex gloves.

“Aren’t you gonna put one on?” Jane asked, referring to the coverall. Sherlock just looked at her.

Jane gave a soft shake of her head. Silly me. What was I thinking?

“So where are we?” Sherlock addressed Lestrade.

Lestrade picked up another pair of latex gloves. “Upstairs.”

He lead them up a circular staircase. “I can give you two minutes.”  

“May need longer,” said Sherlock casually.

Lestrade continued as if uninterrupted. “Her name’s Jennifer Wilson according to her credit cards. We’re running them now for contact details. Hasn’t been here long. Some kids found her.”

He showed them into a room two flights up. The room was empty except for a rocking horse in the far corner, emergency portable lighting, scaffolding holding up part of the ceiling near where a couple of large holes have been knocked through one of the walls, and a woman’s body. Lying face down on the bare floorboards in the middle of the room, she was wearing a bright pink overcoat and high-heeled pink shoes, hands flat on the floor either side of her head, RACHE scratched into the floor by her left hand.

Sherlock walked a few steps into the room and stopped, holding one hand out in front of himself as he focused on the corpse. Behind him, Jane looked at the woman’s body, face filled with pain and sadness. The three of them stood there silently for several long seconds, then Sherlock looked over at Lestrade.

“Shut up.” “I didn’t say anything,” Lestrade protested.

“You were thinking. It’s annoying.”

Lestrade and Jane exchanged a surprised look as Sherlock stepped slowly forward until he reached the side of the corpse. He stared at it for a very long time. Jane was beginning to wonder if something was wrong when he gave a small shake of his head. He stared a bit longer at the word carved into the floor, then bent down next to her and ran his hand down the back of her coat. He glanced at his hand and then reached into the woman’s pocket, pulling out an umbrella. He ran his fingers along the umbrella, examined them, and put the umbrella back. Next he ran his fingers under her collar, and looked at them again.

What is he doing?

Pulling out a collapsible magnifying glass, Sherlock began to examine the woman’s jewelry. Reaching the wedding band, he worked it off her hand and held it up to the light. He put it back and sat back. Jane had no idea how he got any information from that.

“Got anything?” Lestrade asked.

“Not much.” Standing up, Sherlock took off the gloves and pulled his mobile phone from his pocket, typing.

Leaning casually against the doorway, Anderson spoke up. “She’s German. Rache. It’s German for ‘revenge.’ She could be trying to tell us something ...”

Not looking up from his phone, Sherlock walked quickly towards the door. “Yes, thank you for your input.” Slamming the door shut, he turned and walked back into the room.

“So she’s German?” Lestrade spoke again.

Sherlock was still looking at his phone. “Of course she’s not. She is from out of town, though. Intended to stay in London for one night ...” He smiled smugly, apparently finding the information he needed. “... before returning home to Cardiff.”

He pocketed his phone. “So far, so obvious.”

Jane stared at him. “Sorry – obvious?”

“What about the message, though?” Lestrade asked.

Sherlock ignored him. “Doctor Watson, what do you think?”

“Of the message?”

“Of the body. You’re a medical woman.”

Lestrade cut in, “Wait, no, we have a whole team right outside.”

“They won’t work with me,” Sherlock protested.

“I’m breaking every rule letting you in here.”

“Yes ... Because you need me,” Sherlock challenged him.

Lestrade stared at him for a moment, then lowered his eyes helplessly.

“Yes, I do. God help me.”

“Doctor Watson.”

“Hm?” Jane looked up from the body, then turned her head towards Lestrade, silently asking permission.

“Oh, do as he says,” Lestrade gave in. “Help yourself.”

He turned and opened the door, going outside.

“Anderson, keep everyone out for a couple of minutes.”

Sherlock and Jane walked over to the body. Sherlock squatted down on one side of it and Jane painfully lowered herself to one knee on the other side, leaning heavily on her cane to support herself.

“Well?” Sherlock prompted.

Jane spoke softly. “What am I doing here?”

“Helping me make a point,” Sherlock responded, just as quietly.

“I’m supposed to be helping you pay the rent.”

“Yeah, well, this is more fun.”

“Fun?" He thinks this is fun? "There’s a woman lying dead.”

“Perfectly sound analysis, but I was hoping you’d go deeper.”

 Lestrade came back into the room and stood just inside the doorway. Jane dragged her other leg down into a kneeling position, then leaned forward to look more closely at the woman’s body. She put her head close to hers and sniffed. Nothing.

 She straightened a little before lifting the woman’s right hand and looking at the skin. Sitting up, Jane looked across to Sherlock, having gained no information. The woman seemed perfectly fine form a surface exam, apart from being dead.

“Yeah ... asphyxiation, probably,” she BSed. “Passed out, choked on her own vomit. Can’t smell any alcohol on her. It could have been a seizure; possibly drugs.”

“You know what it was,” Sherlock prompted. “You’ve read the papers.”

“What, she’s one of the suicides? The fourth ...?” Jane looked down and up again as Lestrade cut in.

“Sherlock, two minutes, I said. I need anything you’ve got.”

Sherlock stood up, and Jane struggled to get to her feet.

“Victim is in her late thirties. Professional person, going by her clothes; I’m guessing something in the media, going by the frankly alarming shade of pink. Traveled from Cardiff today, intending to stay in London for one night. It’s obvious from the size of her suitcase.”

“Suitcase?” Lestrade seemed puzzled.

Jane looked around the room but couldn’t see a suitcase anywhere.

“Suitcase, yes,” Sherlock continued. “She’s been married at least ten years, but not happily. She’s had a string of lovers but none of them knew she was married.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, if you’re just making this up ...”

Sherlock pointed down to her left hand. “Her wedding ring. Ten years old at least. The rest of her jewelry has been regularly cleaned, but not her wedding ring. State of her marriage right there. The inside of the ring is shinier than the outside – that means it’s regularly removed. The only polishing it gets is when she works it off her finger. It’s not for work; look at her nails. She doesn’t work with her hands, so what or rather who does she remove her rings for? Clearly not one lover; she’d never sustain the fiction of being single over that amount of time, so more likely a string of them. Simple.”

“That’s brilliant,” Jane spoke up, admiringly.

Sherlock looked round at her.

She blushed. “Sorry.”

Lestrade cut in again. “Cardiff?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Sherlock asked.

“It’s not obvious to me,” Jane said.

Sherlock paused as he looked at the other two. “Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring.”

He turned back to the body. “Her coat: it’s slightly damp. She’s been in heavy rain in the last few hours. No rain anywhere in London in that time. Under her coat collar is damp, too. She’s turned it up against the wind. She’s got an umbrella in her left-hand pocket but it’s dry and unused: not just wind, strong wind – too strong to use her umbrella. We know from her suitcase that she was intending to stay overnight, so she must have come a decent distance but she can’t have traveled more than two or three hours because her coat still hasn’t dried. So, where has there been heavy rain and strong wind within the radius of that travel time?”

He pulls his phone from his pocket and shows the other two the webpage he was looking at earlier, displaying the day’s weather for the southern part of Britain.

“Cardiff.”

“That’s fantastic!” Jane spoke again without thinking.

Sherlock turned to her, speaking in a low voice. “D’you know you do that out loud?”

“Sorry. I’ll shut up.”

“No, it’s ... Fine.” Sherlock looked strangely pleased.

“Why d’you keep saying suitcase?” Lestrade brought their attention back to the case at hand.

Sherlock spun around in a circle to look around the room. “Yes, where is it? She must have had a phone or an organizer. Find out who Rachel is.”

“She was writing ‘Rachel’?

“No, she was leaving an angry note in German!” Sherlock addressed Lestrade sarcastically. “Of course she was writing Rachel; no other word it can be. Question is, why did she wait until she was dying to write it?”

“How d’you know she had a suitcase?” Lestrade ignored Sherlock’s sarcastic remark.

Pointing down to the body, Sherlock continued. “Where her tights have small black splotches on the lower part of her right leg - back of the right leg - tiny splash marks on the heel and calf, not present on the left. She was dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her with her right hand. Don’t get that splash pattern any other way. Smallish case, going by the spread. Case that size, woman this clothes-conscious: could only be an overnight bag, so we know she was staying one night.”

He squatted down by the woman’s body and examined the backs of her legs more closely. “Now, where is it? What have you done with it?”

“There wasn’t a case.”

Slowly, Sherlock raised his head, frowning up at Lestrade.

“Say that again.”

“There wasn’t a case. There was never any suitcase.” Lestrade seemed pleased that Sherlock had made a mistake.

He called Sherlock in, why would he be pleased that Sherlock made a mistake? Jane wondered.

Immediately Sherlock straightened up and went for the door, calling out to all the officers in the house as he began to hurry down the stairs.

“Suitcase! Did anyone find a suitcase? Was there a suitcase in this house?”

Lestrade and Jane followed him out and stopped on the landing. Lestrade called down the stairs.

“Sherlock, there was no case!”

Sherlock slowed down, but still made his way down the stairs. “But they take the poison themselves; they chew, swallow the pills themselves. There are clear signs. Even you lot couldn’t miss them.”

“Right, yeah, thanks! And?”

“It’s murder, all of them. I don’t know how, but they’re not suicides, they’re killings – serial killings.”

He held his hands up in front of his face in delight. “We’ve got ourselves a serial killer. I love those. There’s always something to look forward to.”

“Why are you saying that?” Lestrade tried desperately to get Sherlock’s attention back.

Sherlock stopped and shouted back up the stairs. “Her case! Come on, where is her case? Did she eat it?! Someone else was here, and they took her case.”

More quietly, as if talking to himself, he continued, “so the killer must have driven her here; forgot the case was in the car.”

“She could have checked into a hotel, left her case there,” Jane supplied.

“No, she never got to the hotel.” Sherlock looked up the stairs again. “Look at her hair. She color-coordinates her lipstick and her shoes. She’d never have left any hotel with her hair still looking ...” he trailed off, realizing something.

“Oh.” His eyes widened and his face lit up. “Oh!”

He clapped his hands together in delight, looking like a child on Christmas.

“Sherlock?” Lestrade leaned over the railings. “What is it, what?”

Sherlock, still smiling cheerfully to himself, actually answered. “Serial killers are always hard. You have to wait for them to make a mistake.”

“We can’t just wait!” Lestrade shouted back.

“Oh, we’re done waiting!” He started to hurry down the stairs again.

“Look at her, really look! Houston, we have a mistake. Get on to Cardiff. Find out who Jennifer Wilson’s family and friends were. Find Rachel!”

He reached the bottom of the stairs and disappeared from view.

Lestrade called after him, “Of course, yeah – but what mistake?!”

Sherlock came back into view and ran up a couple of stairs so that he could be seen and yelled up to Lestrade, as if the answer was obvious.

“PINK!”

He hurried off again. Lestrade, baffled, turned and went back into the room while Anderson and his team, who had been waiting on the next landing down, hurried up the stairs to follow him into the room.

“Let’s get on with it,” Anderson said, clearly glad that he could finally get to work with Sherlock gone.

Forgotten by everyone else, Jane hesitated, baffled, on the landing for a moment before slowly making her way down the stairs. A couple more police officers were rushing up and one of them bumped against her, throwing her off-balance and making her lurch heavily against the banister. The man continued on without even a glance, although his colleague did at least look apologetically at Jane as he passed.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she removed her coverall and put her jacket back on, walking out onto the street. Looking all around, she saw no sign of Sherlock.

“He’s gone,” Donovan called out from next to the tape.

Jane went towards her. “Who, Sherlock Holmes?”

“Yeah, he just took off. He does that.”

“Is he coming back?”

“Didn’t look like it.”

“Right.” Jane looked around helplessly. Had she really gone off with a complete stranger with no idea of where? And now she was left behind.

She turned to Donovan again. “Right ... Yes. Sorry, where am I?”

“Brixton.”

“Right. Er, d’you know where I could get a cab? It’s just, er ... well ...” Jane looked down awkwardly at her walking stick “... my leg.”

Donovan finally stopped what she was doing and really looked at Jane. Jane hated the pity flashed briefly across her face.

“Er ...” Donovan stepped over to the tape and lifted it, clearly dismissing her. “... try the main road.”

Jane ducked under the tape. “Thanks.”

“You’re not his friend.”

Jane turned back towards her, surprised.

“He doesn’t have friends,” Donovan continued. “You're not his girlfriend, I don't think he can even have relationships. So who are you?”

“I’m ... I’m nobody. I just met him.” Had it really just been yesterday?

“Okay, bit of advice then: stay away from that guy.”

“Why?” Jane suspected Donovan’s reasons were more personal than professional.

“You know why he’s here?” Donovan asked. “He’s not paid or anything. He likes it. He gets off on it. The weirder the crime, the more he gets off. And you know what? One day just showing up won’t be enough. One day we’ll be standing round a body and Sherlock Holmes’ll be the one that put it there.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a psychopath. And psychopaths get bored.”

Jane was saved having to respond by Lestrade shouting for Donovan.

Donovan turned and called back. “Coming!”

She looked back towards Jane as she walked towards the house.

“Stay away from Sherlock Holmes!”

[1985keery]

Unwelcomed - (sister!reader x brother!sherlock x brother!mycroft)

imagine: being sherlocks  little sister and getting hurt while you’re staying at 221b

a/n: i’m on my period and sad so this is ANGSTY

warning: she’s a long one -- suggested rape but nothing happens 

It was hard being around the Holmes boys, everyone knew that. They somehow made everyone around them feel stupid. But it was harder for you, being their little sister. You’re only 16, so you don’t get to be with your brothers much.

That might be a good thing though, for every time you’re around them your self esteem comes down 4 or 5 levels. You can’t can’t keep up with their advanced minds, so when they go on cases or talk about secret files you feel so tiny. Especially when they say things like “Y/N, turn the other way please, your ignorance is distracting me” (guess which brother said that)

Your brothers also aren’t fond of sentiment. “A chemical defeat” Sherlock had told you. You went to bed in tears that night. All you wanted was to tell your brother goodnight, and that you loved him. Because you did, but they saw you as an annoyance.

Your mother demanded you to spend the week at 221b, claiming you needed ‘brother sister bonding time’. You begged her not to, but she didn’t listen. Your mother was smart too, really smart, but she still treated you like a human. 

You were outside 221b, giving yourself the usual pep talk “Don’t listen to what they say, Y/N. You are smart. You are worthy. You are important.”

You open the door and walk through the creeky stairs, smelling the mold from 221c. With a shaky hand, you knock on their door. A smiling John Watson opens it. “Y/N, it’s so nice to see you again!” How you desperately wish John was your brother.

It didn’t use to be like this. Your mum says that when you were first born, Sherlock didn’t let anyone touch you. He was always holding you, and if he wasn’t, he was waiting his turn. 

But then he moved out, and saw how dark and cold the real world truly was. Plus, the influence from Mycroft who moved out before you were born.

“Hello John, where’s Sherlock?” You ask, with a forced smile. “In the kitchen, working on an experiment.” You nod and walk through the door. You spot him at the table, with safety glasses on and looking at something under a microscope. “Hello, brother mine”

He doesn’t even acknowledge you.

 You suddenly remember what you brought him. “I brought you some of mums cookies, they’re homemade” you say, still nothing. “He doesn’t- He doesn’t when he’s on a case” Johns says and you look back at your brother. He has lost a little weight. “Oh, okay”

It’s silent in the kitchen for a while, until John breaks the silence by saying “Sherlock, say hello to your sister. He does a wave without looking up. “Shelock plea-” John starts, but you wave him off. “It’s okay, I’m used to it”

You look at his table, ignoring Johns look of pity to you, and notice all the science equipment. “Ouu, Formaldehyde” you say, reaching for the beaker. That is, until, you hear a deep “Don’t touch that”

“So he speaks” you say with an eyeroll. He grunts in response. “I think I’m gonna talk to Mrs Hudson for a while.” you suggest, wanting nothing more than to get out of the flat.

John nods and you walk out the door, walking right past Mrs Hudsons flat and into the London air. You’ve studied the art of deduction, trying to be worthy of your brothers time, and now you’re putting that to use. You start walking, deducing everyone the best you can. For example, the single mother who works as a waitress that’s going home to her daughter and Labrador. 

You start to admire the beautiful buildings that reach the sky, The people all you look busy so you try to stay to herself. You reach into your pocket and get your phone and earphones out and listen to your favorite song. The music zoning you out of the real world, so all you do is walk and admire. Which might seem glorious, you zone out so much you forgot which path to go back, so you are hopelessly lost.

It’s better than being at Sherlocks, you thought.

----

Pretty soon the sun started to set, and John prepared dinner. “Did you really have to be a cock to her, she loves you you know” Sherlock rolls his eyes. “I know, how’s that my fault” John shakes his head and rubs the bridge of his nose. “I’m gonna go get her from Ms. Hudson and you’re gonna apologize.”

He only grunts.

John walks down the stares and knocks on the old ladys door. She opens it with her usual bright smile.”Hello, dear”

“Hi, uh, dinners ready so I came to get Y/N” Ms Hudson looks at him with a confused face. “What do you mean love, she isn’t here. Hasn’t been all night”  John sprints back upstairs.

----

You watch the sunset through the windows between buildings. Your phone died a while ago, so you sit on a bench and admire the view. Now you know why Sherlock moved here. The sights, the people, just the air in general is different. It’s exciting. 

You keep going, but after walking all evening you wander out of London. This part  definitely isn’t as glamours, with buildings falling apart and trash on the streets. However, you keep walking. You know good and well how to fight, you’re a Holmes after all. 

----

“Sherlock! Sherlock!” John yells, running into the room. Sherlock’s head pops up at the amount of concern in his friends voice. “What is it? What’s wrong?” John puts on his coat and throws Sherlock his “It’s Y/N. She isn’t a Hudsons and she hasn’t been all night.”

Sherlock immediately jumps out of his chair He grabs his scarf and gloves and ran outside. “Which direction” John ask. “Right. She always goes right. She says something like ‘if it’s not right to go right then why would it be named that’, Quite ignorant actually” Sherlock says and John rules his eyes, “You can mock her later, we have to find her now.” he says, and Sherlock nods

----

As you’re walking, you bump into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry”. The stranger looks you up and done and you start to get very uncomfortable. Now you realize how dumb you are, being a 16 year old girl with cheekbones and a nice figure walking alone at night. “It’s alright doll, I know how you can make it up to me”

You start to back away but he grabs your wrist. “Let me go, now” You say. Mycroft warned you about this, saying “Men are filthy, disgusting creatures Y/N. Do not get involved” If only he could see you now.

“Tsk Tsk. Nah babe, you’re coming with me” He tries to pull you, but you use your free hand to punch him. You punch his gut and hit his privates in one move. He didn’t like that. “You stupid bitch!”  He yells, punching you to the ground. You try to stand up before he punches you again, harder this time. You hit him again and try to run away, but he grabs hold of your hair and slams you back against the brick wall.

----

 To say Sherlock was scared was an understatement. In truth, he loved you deeply, he just didn’t know how to show it. You were his baby, but he didn’t wanna except that. He didn’t want to accept that he felt sentiment. He actually did think you were quite smart, and your mother calls him every time another one of your report cards come out, claiming how proud he would be of her.

The duo have ran all over london, looking for you “What if we can’t find her” John says. It’s what they’ve both been thinking, he’s just the first to say it outloud. “Don’t go there” Sherlock growls. It’s then ,when they hear a loud cry, and they both ran towards the sound.

----

The man had several advantages. He was way bigger than you, and was able to throw you up against the wall, But you fought hard, as hard as you could, and it wasn’t until he hit you with a brick found in the alley that you screamed. You were done for, and you knew, the only thing you could do was take it. But then you heard several footsteps, and although your vision was blurry sand your ears were ringing, you could still see two new figures beside that man. One tall and one short. One with shaggy hair and one with a button nose.

Through all the pain, you managed to smile.

Meanwhile, Sherlock was beating the shit out of that man. “John, go to her” he demands, and the doctor obeys. “Can you hear me?” he ask, cupping your face. You can’t really do anything, so you just squint at him before passing out.

“She’s unconscious” he says, making Sherlock hit the man even harder. By then, Mycroft’s helicopter had arrived. Sherlock called him in the beginning, and Mycroft was ready to kill him over the fact he lost her,

----

You wake up to the sound of beeping, and the smell of cleaning supplies. Your vision of hazy when you first open your eyes, but after a few blinks you can see again. The sight truly shocks you.

Your brothers are holding your hands, Sherlock on right and Mycroft on left. Both of them asleep but still clutching on to you. 

You wiggle your fingers and both of them wake up. “Y/N, oh dear Y/N”

“Our sweet girl”

“How do you feel”

“Sherlock, go get the doctor”

“I’m not leaving her!”

“Neither am I!”

“You’re the oldest you go!”

“You’re the one that lost her!”

“Boys!”

They both stop their bickering and look at you. “I already pressed the button” They nod and sink back in their seats.

“Three days, Y/N’ Mycroft says, eyes going from the ground to you. “What?” “That’s how long you were out, three days” You look to Sherlock but he can’t look you in the eyes. “Oh my god, Sherlock, I’m-”

“What the hell were you doing out there anyway” He finally looks up, eyes red and cheeks puffys. He’s been crying. “I-”

“You what?”

“You didn’t wanna be with me so I didn’t wanna be with you”

It’s silent, the boys trying to soak up your words. “What do you mean” Mycroft ask. “I mean, you guys are so smart, and appreciated. The worlds only consulting detective and the ruler of the british government. How am I supposed to keep up? I’m nothing, a no one. Sherlock, when I first walked into your apartment you wouldn’t even look at me. I just feel like you guys see me as a pest and it really hurts me”

The boys look at each other and then back at the girl in the hospital bed. “We never meant to make you feel this way. We love you, darling girl, as hard as that is to say. We were devastated when you were in surgery. Hell, Mycroft even cried” Sherlock says, and Mycroft punches him, making you giggle.

“What he’s trying to say is, we do lo- appreciate you. We never want you to feel like you are unwelcomed around us. We will always be here with open arms whenever you want us”

And so they hugged, and even though the family is a mess, with a sociopath, the british government, and a brave girl in a hospital bed, they made it work,

[fpandaliceriverdale]

Missy and Moony

When Gladys Jones comes to the Cooper House, Alice expects a certain kind of reckoning. 

Inspired in part by a post I read by @antoinettexcheryl in which she mentioned the possibility of Alice/FP/Gladys as an OT3. Hope you enjoy! 

It was a Tuesday evening at 9:50 and Betty’s weeknight curfew was in ten minutes. Reading a book in her bedroom, Alice was keeping the faith. After Jughead’s first appearance as an official boyfriend, Alice had expected Betty’s respect for her curfew to disappear but while there had been a few issues, Alice was pleasantly surprised that Betty had in general kept to the curfew or called well in advance for an extension. Weekends were another story, but Alice was taking the wins where she could get them. Almost on cue, the door opened and Alice could hear Betty laughing. Betty said something and an older female voice Alice couldn’t immediately place laughed in response.

“Mom!” Betty yelled, “Can you come downstairs?”

Alice set down her book and slid into her slippers, curious. She was momentarily self-conscious about her pajamas but after a split-second, internally shrugged. Hal was a serial killer, what did it matter if someone knew she wore an old Pop’s shirt and oversized flannel pants to bed. Besides, no one aside from their former owners would know where she had gotten them. As she moved down the hall, Alice silently hoped it wasn’t Hermione. As much as she had come to accept Veronica, Alice still couldn’t quite deal with Hermione and Hiram. When she rounded the corner at the top of the stairs she saw a dark head of hair that she immediately recognized but couldn’t quite believe was really there.

“Honey, I’m telling you, he was the fattest baby I’ve ever seen.” the woman said, “Jug would eat anything.”

The woman turned when Alice’s next step creaked on the stairs and Alice came face to face with Gladys Jones.

“Gladys?” Alice said, still not quite believing her own eyes. Gladys smiled in response behind her dark bangs. Nostalgia, shame, and a certain joy rushed through Alice all at once. She wasn’t sure if she was going to throw up or hug the woman in front of her. Gladys’ smile didn’t waver in the face of Alice’s confusion and Alice was struck by the gesture. Her smile was so comforting and familiar but so unexpected, so undeserved.

“What are you doing here?” Alice asked, confused enough for her voice to carry an edge.

“Mom!” Betty reprimanded, eyes flaring, “Don’t be rude. Mrs. Jones just got back into town and she wanted to come say hello. She had dinner with Mr. Jones and Jellybean and Juggie and I and it was really nice.” Betty said, looking pointedly at her mother.

“Well, hello. Come in.” Alice managed. She knew Betty meant well but her daughter still didn’t know much about her Southside connections both past and present. Betty had no idea about Alice’s current relationship with FP, let alone her history with Gladys. As the three sat down on the sofa, Alice braced for a standoff. She figured Gladys must have heard about she and FP and she was waiting for the opening salvo. It didn’t come.

“I was just telling Betty about Jug as a baby. Did you ever see him when he was little, Alice?” Gladys said. Alice shook her head. “He was a monster, biggest chunk of kid I’ve seen to this day. Still eats like that but somehow stays rail thin.”

Gladys face was a blank slate. Her small smile was still in place so she seemed fine but something told Alice she knew about FP. Why else would she be at the house? Alice’s rational brain couldn’t come up with any other reason. Whether she did or she didn’t know, Alice wasn’t sure how long the pleasantries would last and didn’t want to take the chance that Betty would be in the room if anything painful or private was brought up.

“Betty, you should get ready for bed. I know you’ve got an exam tomorrow.” Alice said, motioning to the stairs. Betty rolled her eyes.

“Mom, I can stay down here for a few minutes, that won’t be the difference between an A and B.”

Before Alice could respond, Gladys hopped in. “I was actually hoping to talk to your mom alone if that’s alright. We have some stuff to talk about between the two of us.” Gladys said, tipping her head to Alice. Alice took a deep steadying breath. So she did know.

Betty looked confused as she stood to leave, and eyed them both with the suspicion she was so famous for. Alice was readying herself for a fight with Gladys and couldn’t handle full-snoop Betty at the same time so she tried another pointed dismissal to hurry her along.

“Elizabeth, we are adults. We don’t need to explain ourselves to you. I’ll see you in the morning, sleep well.”

Betty’s eyes stayed on the two of them until she disappeared upstairs and Alice waited for the sound of Betty’s door closing before turning back to Gladys.

“Thank you for bringing Betty home.” Alice said, voice even and measured.

Gladys didn’t respond. Instead, Alice felt Gladys’ gaze move slowly over her, starting at the top of her head before meandering across her face and ending at her ringless left hand. Alice felt herself squirm and waited for the leather clad woman across from her to speak.

“Do remember Mrs. Ramirez? Fifth grade?” Gladys said finally.

Alice had looked down out of the pure desire to escape Gladys’ observation but her eyes snapped up at the out of the blue comment. She couldn’t imagine where the other woman was going. She paused before responding, trying to figure out what tact Gladys might have been taking.

“With the terrible haircut?” Gladys prompted, as if memory was Alice’s problem.

“Yes, of course.” Alice replied, surrendering out of confusion, “The tiny little curls, we called her Medusa because you were reading that Legends and Myth book.” Gladys nodded, looking almost relieved.

“We tried to get her to call you Artemis and me Luna but she just plain refused.” Gladys said with a laugh. Alice raised an eyebrow but sensing no ill will, played along. If laughing about the past was all that Gladys was here to do, Alice was all too happy to oblige.

Alice scrunched her nose in an imitation of the old woman they’d grown to love as a teacher. “‘Alice, Gladys, you have wonderful god-given names. I won’t hear another word about calling you anything else.’ Didn’t stop us. How long did we call each other Artemis and Luna?”

“Oh up through middle school.” Gladys said fondly. Her voice changed only slightly as she went on. “Alice, I know about you and FP. He told me, when Jellybean and I came home.”

Alice’s temporary relief was gone and panic rushed through her.

“Gladys,” Alice began but faltered. There had been no anger in Gladys’ voice, Alice realized, just weariness.

“Alice, can I ask you a few things? I know you love to talk, you’ve always loved to talk, but I think you owe me just a little bit of space to speak? When I’m done, you can say whatever you need to.” Again, there was no anger. Thrown off a bit, Alice nodded. She wasn’t sure there was a better choice than just letting Gladys continue.

“Remember the night I turned 16 and we were initiated at the Wyrm? You’d waited two extra months to join so I could join with you and we were both so excited to get our official serpent names. I knew Mr. Jones had heard us playing between the trailers growing up but I never thought he’d remember our stupid names. I can still hear him chuckling to himself when he gave us our jackets after the dance. ‘Missy and Moony snakedancing together, my my, my girls grew up.’ We almost got M&Ms tattooed on our wrists that night. Reena Fogarty smacked us across the face when she saw FP with the tattoo needle above our wrists.”

Gladys glanced down at her folded hands and softly rubbed the spot in question just inside her wrist, lost for a bit in their old world. Alice noticed the small action and caught herself brushing a finger over the same space on her own body. The shared intimacy of the absent minded touch seemed to Alice to bring the memories of their old friendship surging into the room. Today they sat across from each other almost strangers but for years they had known each other better than anyone else in the world. Even as Alice noticed the lines in Gladys’ face and the softness around her hips, she recognized the same energy in her old friend. She had aged, certainly, but her spirit was the same. Alice wondered if the same was true of herself. Gladys studied her hands as she continued.

“I still think about the day you told me you were moving to the Northside. I thought nothing would change, and for a while nothing did. FP was already there and I was stuck on the Southside but school wasn’t everything. Even when you and he started dating, I didn’t care. You could have him that way if I could keep you both in my life. But then out of nowhere you dropped him. And then you dropped me.” Gladys voice broke over the last sentence and Alice found herself reaching out a hand across the coffee table.

“Gladys, it wasn’t that-” Alice began, but Gladys drew back from Alice’s extended hand and looked up, face wet.

“Alice, I don’t know what happened, but you leaving destroyed us. You left a crater in our world. I didn’t have my Missy and FP didn’t have his Allie.”

“I had to get out, I had other people to think about,” Alice tried to explain. Gladys ignored her.

“We lived inside your absence, there was no space or moment free of you. The Wyrm was you. The trailer park was you. Hell even each other, we reminded each other of you. He looked at me sometimes like I’d driven you away and I can’t blame him. Some days I hated him because I thought the exact same thing about him.”

Alice had never heard anything about the wreckage she’d left behind in the Southside. She’d told herself that she’d never looked back out of service to her unborn child but part of her had always known it had been out of fear. If she looked back, she might have gone back. Seeing the people she’d loved in pain would have pulled she and her baby back across the tracks.

“One of my younger sister’s friends got out of The Sisters of Quiet Mercy a few months later and she was telling us about all the crazy people there. She told me about people who tried to hurt her and scary nuns but also a pregnant girl named Alice who punched a boy who wouldn’t leave her alone. I was only half listening from another room but I heard your name and I ran in and demanded to know everything. Was she blonde? Did she have a snake tattoo? What was her last name? Of course, it was you. You were pregnant and you hadn’t told me. I started crying, Alice, and I swear I don’t remember stopping. FP pulled me off the floor of the Wyrm six hours later and carried me home, I swear I was still crying. I couldn’t form sentences. I just kept saying your name.”

Tears were streaming unchecked down Gladys’ face now.

“I never told him about the baby. I was almost sure it was his but if it wasn’t… well I couldn’t imagine inflicting either pain on him in that moment. That night FP sat me down on the sofa when we got back to his trailer and put his hands on my shoulders. He was crying as hard as I was when he made me look him in the eye.” Gladys steadied herself and stood up. She walked over to Alice’s sofa and sat right beside her, reaching one hand out to rest on Alice’s shoulder. Alice didn’t flinch or move away from the contact, she couldn’t. Gladys wiped her cheeks with her other hand and placed it on the opposite shoulder, pain-filled eyes rising to meet Alice’s. “‘He looked me dead in the eye and said ‘She isn’t coming back Moony, we gotta figure out a way to live without her.’”

The pain in Gladys’ eyes was alive and that moment it devoured Alice. All the guilt and shame of the suffering she’d caused hit her like a tidal wave. She’d been able to push it all away when she could keep the reminders out of sight but Gladys was the living breathing proof of the wreckage she’d left behind. Alice already had tears to match Gladys’ but she felt her composure slipping even further. Before the sob Alice could feel growing in her gut could break, Gladys’ hands fell from her shoulders.

“Then I kissed him. And he kissed me back. And we were both thinking of you. But we kissed again, and again, over and over for weeks. Eventually we weren’t thinking of you. Eventually we were with each other. In the beginning, we’d talk about you and grieve together. It was just like you died. But we grew together and life happened. We moved in together and you faded a bit. We got married and you seemed just a little further away. After Jug and Jellybean were born, you were almost a ghost. Almost.”  

Alice had had no idea how Gladys and FP had gotten together. When she had heard about it after she’d left them behind, she’d felt betrayed. Her best friend and her boyfriend had seemed to have wasted no time moving on with each other. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Missy,” Gladys said her Serpent name in a half-whisper. “As crazy as it sounds, some part of you was always with us. I found a best friend, but he was never going to be anything like you. He found a way to love me, but it was never going to be the way he loved you.”

Alice broke then, 20 years of pain coming for her all at once. She had never allowed herself to think about Gladys and FP, to remember the only real family she had on the Southside, she’d never let herself imagine their pain. To hear of theirs reminded her of her own and she realized what a disaster she had wrought. Alice had tolerated Hal and loved Betty and Polly with every part of her being but it was never the way she had loved FP and Gladys. And, it appeared, they had never loved anyone quite the same either. How had she been so stupid? How had she thrown them away? She sobbed, deep, body shaking sobs and in the midst of her grief she felt Gladys’ arms surround her. She only shook harder. She didn’t deserve the comfort, least of all from one of the two people she’d hurt the most.

“Shhh.” Gladys whispered, “Come back.” Alice tried to stop the tears and slow her breathing but suddenly all she could smell was cinnamon gum and hairspray. It was Gladys but so too it was the scent of 16, of being folded up in a booth on the same side as her best friend with her feet in her boyfriend’s lap. It was the smell of being young, of being carefree, of being happy.

“I’m so, so-” Alice began, trying to pull back and meet Gladys’ eye between sobs. Gladys pulled her tighter.

“Just cry Missy. You can apologize later.”

So Alice did. She cried for the girl she had been, for the decision she’d made, for the people she’d hurt. She’d cried remembering the day she’d met Gladys in the second grade, the night she first kissed FP, their last night all together at the drive-in. It was all too much. And nothing she could do now would ever be enough.

“Missy, come back to me.” Gladys said softly, kissing Alice’s hair. The old comfort of Gladys’ head kisses brought a watery smile to her face and she spoke without thinking.

“Don’t leave. I don’t deserve to ask, but I will. Just stay for a while.” Alice whispered. She felt Gladys’ arms tense around her and as the other woman pulled back a new wave of tears threatened. She had already chased her away. Alice felt a finger under her chin and she looked up to find Gladys’ eyes full of fear but also the tiniest bit of hope.

“Missy, if you’re back, I need you to be back.” Alice felt Gladys tremble as her next breath came in shaky. “I can’t lose you again.”

There was a moment of silence, of stillness, and it seemed to Alice that a million bad decisions had led her to a moment where she might make one final good or bad decision. She threw her arms around Gladys and buried her face in the familiar dark hair.

“I’m done running.” Alice said, surprising herself with the certainty in her voice. “You two have been my family since I could walk. I’m never leaving you again.”

[kristallioness]

Breaking the ice

Summary: When their parents end up having a huge row, Bumi and Kya decide to take matters into their own hands.

Word count: 6,770

Author's note: I was brainstorming ideas for some of the prompts that I hadn't figured out what to do with yet. Then I remembered that I had this idea of writing Aang and Katara fighting for one of them. I think that with these two, it must've been really rare when they were in a row, so that could be an interesting thing to write about and explore. My only problem was that this concept didn't connect with any of the prompts at first. At least, not until I figured out how their kids would interfere to help them make up.

----------x----------

The household on Air Temple Island was eerily quiet, had been for almost two hours now. Nobody was bustling around, the delicious smell of Katara's cooking hadn't filled the corridors for lunch time, the usual screeches of the kids playing were absent, no gentle wind could be felt blowing in the hallways since the Avatar wasn't walking around and his airbending didn't follow his path. It hadn't been like this two hours ago. Not when the married couple had returned home and landed Appa in the courtyard.

"Argh!.. Look at us! Ugh.. We wouldn't be injured this badly if you didn't get in my way!" Katara had shouted. She'd groaned several times while holding onto her ribcage with one arm and carefully climbing down the sky bison's saddle on her own.

"At least I saved you from getting the worst! You could've gotten seriously hurt!" Aang had argued. He'd slid off Appa's head and walked over to her, hesitating for a second before tenderly grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Are you okay? Let me see.."

"Hrmph! I'm fine, okay? Ow!.." Katara had huffed and turned her back towards him, inadvertently hurting her sore chest with the sudden move.

"Maybe we should go to the hospital to have you checked over?" Aang had offered again in a worried tone, supporting her when she stooped down a little to catch her breath and let the pain subside.

"Spirits, Aang! I'm a healer, I can examine myself!" she'd protested, then eventually let him help her walk into the temple once she'd gathered enough strength to stand up straight.

Katara seemed fine now, after an hour-long private healing session. She was in their bedroom, sitting on Aang's side of the bed with her back facing the door. She wasn't alone, she was with baby Tenzin. She cradled him in her arms, gently rocking him back and forth, bouncing him now and again. She tried to play with him, but the baby could sense that his mother was upset, which made him feel upset, too.

Poor Tenzin had been crying more than usual. Not too loudly, but it was obvious that he wasn't too happy with anything. In fact, one could say that the mother and baby had both been crying together. Her son's cries only made Katara cry as well. A tear streamed down her cheek and landed on Tenzin's. She attempted to dry her own wet cheeks, then wiped the lonely teardrop away.

Tenzin reached his hand up several times, trying to grab onto something, such as the white fur collar of his mother's coat. Katara grabbed his tiny hand instead and pressed a soft kiss on the back of it. She lifted her son a bit higher and rubbed her forehead against his. She sniffed, then continued sobbing quietly in her room. The baby followed his mother's example.

Katara was too downcast to notice that someone had slid the bedroom door slightly open to peek inside. Kya had been watching her for nearly ten minutes, she'd heard and seen everything. Both she and Bumi had been playing with their baby brother in his nursery when they heard their parents arrive. Their bickering was loud enough to be heard all the way to the dormitories.

"Why did you jump in my way!? I could've gotten him right where he was!" Katara had exclaimed angrily, then groaned again.

"I thought you didn't see him coming! I wanted to protect you!"

She fidgeted her way free from her husband's gentle embrace and stood in front of him.

"I don't need any protection! I can take care of myself!"

"Katara, I just.. wanted to help," Aang was the first one to stop screaming, but Katara had no intention of stopping. She was still furious with him.

"Well, maybe I don't need your help!"

At that statement, Aang's grey eyes grew wide and his face fell. Katara knitted her brows and pouted, averting her gaze from his. She did her best to cross her arms.

Aang was lost for words. He hung his head and stared at the floor, afraid to look her in the eye or say anything. He would've wanted to tell her so much - how sorry he felt, or that if that was what she really wanted, then he'd respect her wish. But deep inside his heart he knew that Katara wasn't herself right now. Her emotions were speaking for her, hence he decided not to make the situation any worse.

"Well, I still need yours," Aang said and gave her a pathetic frown as he raised his bruised hand. Katara glared at him, then at the bruises on his hand and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine.. Follow me to the healing hut."

Those were the last words she'd uttered to him. Silence prevailed between the two of them the entire time they were in the infirmary of the temple.

With great difficulty, Katara had ignored her own pain and helped heal Aang's injuries first. She sat beside him on one of the beds in complete silence while she waterbended the water all over his body, not missing a single bruise or scrape. Luckily, she couldn't detect any broken bones. She'd tied some bandages around one of his forearms and one of his legs to offer some support. Once she was done, she'd gone to their bedroom to heal herself in privacy, leaving Aang alone in the healing hut to do whatever he pleased without her.

Healing her own injuries turned out to be a lot worse than Katara had expected. During the fight between them and a group of thugs, Aang had jumped in front of her to protect her from a hard blow of earthbending. Unfortunately, the thug had hit him and he'd tumbled onto Katara. His heavy body had hurt her ribcage, which was why she was having trouble breathing in some positions.

After sitting in the same spot in the healing hut for almost a quarter of an hour, Aang had decided to follow her to their bedroom, but he didn't wanna enter. He stood behind the closed door for minutes, hearing her groan and yelp a couple of times. He was sure he also heard her sniff once. Whether it was due to the pain or because she was upset, he didn't know.

Aang hesitated to go offer her some support. If he did, he would've walked in calmly, ignored any of her screaming and just wrapped his arms around her shoulders to hold her. He would've let her cry and he would've cried with her. He would've apologized to her. He reached out his hand several times, but it always stopped before he could slide the door open. In the end, when Katara had become quieter and he couldn't hear her hurting anymore, he left to his own study to let her cool off.

After her healing session, she'd felt a bit more relieved. She could breathe and move almost normally again. Katara had carefully headed to the nursery, where she'd met the worried gazes of her two older children, who were sitting in a circle and playing with her youngest.

"Mommy, you're home!" Kya exclaimed as she jumped up from the carpet and ran over to hug her mother's legs. She looked up at her with her big cerulean eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Katara didn't squat down to her level, which was a tad unusual. She'd simply stroked her daughter's temple and given her a weak smile in return.

"I'm okay. I just came to tell you that your daddy and I are home, and that if you want something to eat, ask Bumi to help you pick some snacks from the kitchen or the greenhouse."

"You're not gonna make lunch?" Bumi wondered with wide eyes while his mother picked up his baby brother from next to him. She stuttered.

"I-I.. I need some time alone. I'll prepare supper later, promise."

Katara gave her children an apologetic look and a wave with her free hand before she left them alone in Tenzin's nursery and headed back to the bedroom together with the baby.

"Wow.. mom and dad must be really mad at each other," Bumi thought out loud a couple of seconds later, rubbing circles over his empty stomach.

"How long are they gonna be like this?"

Her big brother shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, probably not too long. I mean, it's mom and dad! You know what they're like. Once they get over it, they'll be back to their normal, oogies-inducing selves."

Kya frowned and stared at her tummy when it growled, too. Bumi stood up and grabbed her tiny hand in his own.

"C'mon, let's go eat something for lunch. When we're done, we can come back to have a look at how mom and dad are doing. Okay?"

His baby sister nodded and they spent the following hour finding something to nibble on. Bumi wasn't exactly sure how to cook a bigger meal, so they'd settled for crunching on some fresh carrots from the greenhouse and slices of blubbered seal jerky. He'd chosen a banana and Kya had picked a papaya for the fruity part of their meal, drinking lychee juice to the side. They also discovered some leftover dumplings for dessert.

Kya saved the last one for her mommy and took it with her when she and Bumi headed back upstairs to see how she was doing. They didn't expect to see their mother crying together with their baby brother. The little waterbender quietly slid the tiny opening in the door closed and they walked away.

"Mommy must be really sad."

Bumi held a supportive hand on his sister's shoulder as she stared at the lonely dumpling in her hands. She'd wanted to give it to her mother to cheer her up.

"You wanna go see how dad's doing?"

"Mhmm," Kya hummed and nodded in agreement, after which the two siblings began searching for their father. They didn't have to look for long since they knew his usual hiding places. One of them being his study, which was only a few rooms away from the bedroom.

Aang had been meditating ever since he'd arrived there. The entire chain of events that'd happened on the outskirts of Republic City earlier in the day replayed over and over in his mind.

How the two of them had led the chase together with Toph, her metalbenders right behind them for backup. How those thugs had lured them to the spot where reinforcements were waiting for them. How, despite being outnumbered and the seriousness of the battle, they only received some minor injuries and caught the entire gang in the end. How he'd witnessed one of them make an aggressive earthbending move towards Katara and his immediate reaction was to jump in front of her to save her.

The action had nearly given the gang the upper hand, with the Avatar and one of the most powerful waterbenders in the world knocked down breathless. Thanks to Toph's scolding for messing up, as well as seeing Katara lie down on the ground and be unable to get back up, Aang had entered the Avatar State to put an end to the fight for good.

He hadn't done anything wrong, at least he thought so. They'd caught the bad guys. He'd given her time to gather herself when she claimed it was hard to breathe and move. Why did she have to get mad at him for trying to defend her from harm? Sometimes she just didn't make sense to him.

Aang took another deep breath and let it out slowly. His train of thought stopped when he sensed that he was being watched. He attempted to ignore it and continue meditating.

"What's he doing?" a little girl's voice whispered. He recognized it as Kya's. They were peeking into his study from behind the corner, not wanting to intrude.

"I think he's meditating."

That was Bumi. He was together with his baby sister. The kids.. he hadn't even thought about their kids seeing them fighting at home. They were in separate rooms in the temple, not talking to each other. He assumed that Katara had completely forgotten about them, just like he had. He hated it, hated all the rare occasions when they had to see their parents this way.

"Is he okay?" Kya wondered ever so silently, her voice quavering a little because she was so worried about him.

Aang could feel how Bumi was peering at his blank facial expression for a while, trying to read any kind of emotions. The airbender withdrew his hands from his knees and broke the jnana mudra, but remained sitting in the lotus position. He slumped a bit as he covered his eyes with his hand to hide his tears. When he couldn't hold his sniffs back anymore, he turned his head the other way.

"C'mon.." Bumi whispered and pulled his baby sister further into the hallway, away from the entrance leading to their father's study so she wouldn't have to see him cry. She didn't dare to speak a word until they'd walked back downstairs and she felt sure her parents wouldn't hear them.

"Bumi.. I'm scared," she admitted as tears began to roll down her cheeks, too. Her big brother knelt down to her level and wrapped his arms around her for a hug as she wailed into his shirt.

"Hey, it's okay! It's gonna be okay.." he told her, softly stroking her head to comfort her. He wasn't too good at comforting others. Usually Kya was the one who helped everybody feel better. But right now, neither of them knew what to do.

"B-but.. what if it's not? What if mommy and daddy are never gonna make up?"

"Well, then.. we're just gonna have to come up with a way to get them to make up again."

"A-and how are we gonna do that?"

Bumi hummed in thought for a minute, letting his little sister cry it all out. By the time her sobbing had quietened down, he'd come up with a foolproof plan. He released his embrace and wiped Kya's cheeks dry, then looked her in the eye.

"I know how. I have an idea. But first, eat that last dumpling. You're gonna need the extra energy to help me."

Kya stared at the slightly smudged ball of dessert in her hands, then proceeded to take her brother's advice. He was right, they needed all the energy they'd gotten from the light lunch they'd had.

Bumi explained everything to his sister with such enthusiasm as they ran down the cliffside. On their way out of the temple, they'd met Appa still lounging around the courtyard and asked both him and Momo to tag along and help them as well. The winged lemur flew down the path alongside the kids while the sky bison simply flew straight down to the beach and landed near the shore, waiting for the trio to catch up.

The kids didn't waste any time and immediately set to work. First, Appa used his big paw to dig a large round hole into the sand. Bumi helped smooth out the edges before he asked Kya to bring some water to fill the hole with. She had some difficulty with getting the water to stay above ground. Luckily, she could sense where it went thanks to her waterbending abilities, hence she could easily pull it back up from the surface.

Next, she used her special breathing technique, which Aang had taught her last winter, to freeze the water into a bowl-shaped, thick layer of ice. Momo helped Bumi fill the inside of the icy bowl with the rest of the sand that Appa had dug up earlier. The shiny moat was ready.

Kya scampered to the shore to fetch some more water from the bay while Bumi began sculpting a couple of small sand figurines. She helped him make the sand wet so the figurines wouldn't fall apart. His sister was busy freezing the rest of the water into two separate slices of cracked ice while he went to search for a tiny stick for one of the figurines. Once she was finished with her part, she sat down on her knees and admired all the hard work they'd already done. The sculpture was beginning to look like what her big brother had imagined, like they'd heard their parents tell them.

Kya tried to shape the round pile of sand in the middle of the moat into two, making the bigger pile seem more fluffy and drawing a face in front of the smaller one. She smoothed the back of the bigger pile into a slide and drew stripes on them. The result reminded her more of some sort of a monster than a sky bison. She scratched her head for a minute before snapping her fingers. She had a much better idea.

"Momo, can you please fetch my plush sky bison from my room?"

Momo chirped at the little waterbender before flying away towards the temple. In the meantime, Bumi had found a small stick that he could attach to one of the sand figurines. He hurried back to his sister and plopped down in the sand, placing the stick in its place.

"There! I think it's ready," he declared proudly as he wiped his hands clean from the sand. He eyed the weird-looking sand creature behind his figurines.

"Is that supposed to be Appa?"

"I know, it looks terrible.. But Momo's bringing a replacement, just you wait!"

"Okay.." Bumi shrugged before he stood up to marvel at their nearly-finished sand sculpture. He hoped it would be enough to help their parents make up again. Kya knelt down to scatter the two piles in the middle and make room for the replacement.

"Uh oh.."

"What? What is it?"

"The ice is melting!"

Bumi squatted down to have a closer look. He ran his hand along the circular moat and felt cold water make his fingertips wet.

"You're right. If we leave now, it'll melt before mom and dad ever get here."

"But I can't stay here to freeze it over and over! I have to talk to mommy."

"Hmmm... The sun warms the sand and the heat it collects makes the ice melt faster. We have to find a way to block the sun from falling over the icy parts of the sculpture.." Bumi thought out loud as he looked around them for anything big enough to be used as a shade. His eyes stopped on their gigantic fluffy buddy.

"Appa! You're pretty big."

The sky bison grunted and watched the boy run around the sculpture. He was checking at which angle the shadows would fall.

"Come and sit riiiight.. over.. here!" he said, pointing to an empty spot a few feet away. Appa merely growled as he stood up and walked over to the spot, then curled up around the sand sculpture to protect it. Bumi took a few steps back to see whether the sky bison's shadow covered the icy parts.

"There, perfect! Now the ice won't melt so soon. You might wanna give it a fresh frosting, Kya."

"Okay, Bumi!"

She followed her brother's instructions and used her daddy's special technique to freeze the water one more time. By then, Momo had returned with her requested item. The winged lemur was carrying the toy with his hind legs and he'd also curled his tail around it so he wouldn't accidentally drop it. He flew over to Bumi to hand it over.

The boy helped his little sister clear the center of the excess sand before they laid the plush sky bison in the middle of the frozen moat, in between the two halves of cracked ice. After that, as the kids stood up, he also helped her dust the sand off her light blue tunic and then his own pants. Almost an hour had passed since they'd started. Bumi and Kya stared at their finished sand sculpture.

"I take it back, now it's perfect!"

"Do you think mommy and daddy will like it?"

"I don't think they'll like it. I think they'll love it," Bumi said and patted his baby sister's shoulder. He jumped a bit when Kya wrapped her arms around his waist to give him an unexpected hug. He held her close and rubbed his chin into her hair. Now came the hard part - it was time to bring their parents there.

When the kids returned to the temple, they were greeted by a similar stillness like when they'd left. They didn't have much time, hence they acted exactly as planned. Kya went to talk to their mother while Bumi went to talk to their father.

The little waterbender scampered upstairs and approached the bedroom near the end of the hallway quietly. She pricked up her ears, but couldn't hear anyone crying anymore. She hesitated for a second before she knocked on the door.

"Mommy?"

There was no answer, so she repeated what she'd done earlier and slid the door slightly open to peek inside. She saw her mother trying to make herself presentable by wiping her cheeks dry. She was sitting on her side of the bed now.

"Mommy? Can I come in?" Kya asked one more time as she slid the door more open so she could see her. Katara finally noticed, she sniffed and then smiled at her daughter.

"Yes.. of course, sweetie. Come here! Join me and your baby brother," she said cheerfully, patting the mattress with her free hand. Kya scampered to the bed and hopped up beside her mother. Katara pulled her closer to hug her for a moment, after which she supported Tenzin with both arms again. The little waterbender watched how her mother continued nursing her baby brother.

"What are you doing, mommy?"

"I'm feeding your baby brother. He started fussing because it's been a while since his last meal.."

Katara gasped.

"Oh my! I hope you aren't hungry, too! I didn't make lunch for you two."

"That's okay, mommy. Bumi helped me find something to eat," Kya explained whilst rubbing circles around her tummy. Her mother sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness! Remind me to praise your big brother for taking good care of you when I wasn't able to."

Kya didn't know what to say. Her cerulean eyes fixed on her little brother instead. He seemed a lot calmer now. She stood up beside her mother and took a step closer on the mattress, supporting her weight on her mother's shoulder to lean forward. She reached out her small hand and tenderly stroked Tenzin's short black hair.

"Don't bother him too much while he's eating, okay?" Katara warned her in a motherly tone.

"Okay, mommy."

Kya plopped back down on the bed and simply sat there in silence for another minute.

"Are you mad at daddy?"

Her mother sighed and hung her head a little. Katara supported a hand on Kya's back, careful to make sure that Tenzin still felt cosy.

"No, sweetie. I'm not mad at daddy."

"Then why were you screaming at each other earlier?"

Katara remained silent after that question, pondering how she should explain this to her little girl.

"Because.. because I was upset with what daddy did and I was trying to tell him that, but daddy wouldn't listen."

"What did he do?"

The baby interrupted their conversation by gurgling and the two waterbenders turned their attention to him for a moment. Katara's thumb rubbed against the maroon blanket that was wrapped around him as she watched how he continued suckling. She frowned.

"He tried to protect me during the battle."

Kya quirked an eyebrow.

"But.. that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. It's a very good thing. I just became upset because I knew I could defend myself. So when daddy tried to do it, too, he accidentally put us both in danger. I didn't want him to do that. I didn't want him to get hurt because of me."

"Is that why you were crying?"

Katara averted her gaze back at Tenzin, who was softly tickling the middle of her bare chest. He supported his tiny hand above her heart. She nodded to her daughter.

"Mhmm.. I was sad, because I started thinking over everything that happened and realized that this is such a stupid fight. I was crying because I didn't mean to yell at daddy."

"I don't think that daddy meant to yell at you either," Kya tried to comfort her by grabbing her free hand.

"He was crying, too."

"He was?" Katara wondered, receiving a confirming nod from her little waterbender. She looked the other way and squeezed her eyes shut to blink away the fresh wave of tears. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings. She wished she'd never gotten angry at him in the first place.

She opened her diamond blue eyes when she felt a small hand rubbing her cheeks. Kya attempted to wipe away those few teardrops that'd already streamed down.

"Do you wanna apologize to daddy and make up?"

Katara chuckled, then brushed her daughter's hands away to finish wiping her cheeks dry herself.

"Yes, I do.. very much."

Kya beamed at her as she waited until Tenzin finished eating. Katara pulled him away and gently put him down on the bed for a moment so she could put her clothes back on. She tucked her left breast back in her sarashi and clipped the two sides of her navy tunic together to cover the rest of her bare chest. Kya crawled to the other side of the bed to bring her mother's short-sleeved water tribe coat to her so she could pull it on.

Once she was fully dressed again, Katara picked up her baby and cradled him against her chest. She stood up from the bed and grabbed her daughter's hand to go look for her husband together.

"C'mon, let's go find daddy!"

"Actually, daddy said that he wants to see you down at the beach when you're ready."

Her mother quirked an eyebrow.

"Really? Did he say why?"

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise!"

At first Katara thought that it was strange, but knowing Aang, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd done something extravagant. She let her daughter guide her there. As they exited the temple, the sun was about to set, painting the sky in a mix of orange and purple up north where it was already getting dark.

In the meantime, Bumi had been busy trying to get through to their dad. It went a lot easier for him than it did for Kya with their mom. He'd sneaked up to the doorway leading to his study, then peeped inside for a second before knocking against the wall.

"Dad? May I come in?"

Aang broke out of his meditation and glanced at his son shyly peeking at him from behind the corner. He grinned back at him.

"Hey, son! Of course, come in!"

He waved a hand to invite Bumi to join him. The boy went to grab the second pillow, which his mother usually used, from in front of the fountain. He approached his father, threw the pillow on the floor and sat down in the lotus position next to him.

"What've you been up to?" Aang wondered playfully as he snaked his hand around Bumi's shoulders.

"Do you want the ideal or the honest answer?"

"Honest."

"Okay.."

Bumi paused for a second, taking a deep breath.

"I've been worrying about you and mom."

Aang's smile turned upside down. He gave his son's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Bumi. We didn't mean to worry you, or your baby sister. Is she scared to come and talk to me?" he asked, teetering backwards to see whether his daughter was hiding outside of her parents' study.

"Nah. She just went to talk to mom."

"Oh.. well, that's good. If there's anyone who can get through to your mother when she's mad, it's Kya."

"Why's mom mad at you? What happened this morning?"

"Ah, we were just trying to catch some bad guys together with aunt Toph and her police force. They escaped to the outskirts of the city where they were met with backup. They outnumbered us and put up a really good fight, at least until I went into the Avatar State and put an end to it.. Anyways, one of them wanted to hurt your mother, so I jumped in front of her to protect her, but we both ended up getting injured in the process."

"So.. mom's mad at you because you tried to defend her? No offense, dad, but that sounds kind of silly, and a very stupid reason to be mad at you," Bumi laughed a little.

"Yeah, I know.."

"So, why were you yelling at mom?"

"Because she was angry at me for what I did and wouldn't listen when I tried to explain why I did it. Sometimes she's stubborn like that. But it's one of the reasons why I love her. All I ever wanted was to make sure that she's safe."

Bumi recognized that fond smile on his dad's face. He smiled like that when he thought about mom. He grabbed his dad's shoulder.

"Maybe you should tell her that."

Aang chuckled at his son's suggestion. When had he become so wise about relationships? Perhaps he and Katara had set a good example to him.

"I guess you're right."

"I'll go check where mom is," Bumi told him, then got up quickly to hurry to his parents' bedroom. The door was halfway open, hence he tiptoed closer to peek inside. He heard Kya still talking to their mom. He saw her feeding their baby brother. They weren't done yet. It was the perfect opportunity to get dad out of the house first.

"Mom's not in the house, but she mentioned something about going down to the beach earlier," Bumi said casually as he walked into his dad's study. Aang smiled, he knew Katara liked to calm down by doing some waterbending. He grabbed his staff and stood up, supporting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Shall we go look for her?"

Bumi grinned and nodded excitedly. He didn't suspect a thing. Once they were outside, Aang squatted a bit to let Bumi jump on his back. He wrapped his arms tightly around his neck and waited for his dad to open up his glider. Together they flew high above the temple and did a couple of spins around the blue rooftops before changing their course down to the beach.

Bumi's laughs alerted their furry friends about their arrival. Appa released a loud growl as his best friend and his son landed near them. Momo flew onto Aang's shoulders and began licking his face.

"He-he! Hey there, little buddy! I've missed you, too!" he said before closing his glider back into a staff and having a look around. Katara was nowhere to be seen, but he noticed his animal guide guarding something next to him. Bumi grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the sand sculpture. He was relieved to see that his clever idea had worked, the ice hadn't melted so fast.

"What.. what is this?" Aang wondered as they stopped and knelt down to have a closer look. Momo held onto his collar to lean forward, too.

"Don't you recognize it? It's the moment you and mom met. This is the iceberg that mom cracked open, where you and Appa were trapped inside. See, that's you, this is mom, and that's uncle Sokka!" Bumi explained, pointing to the sand figurines in front of the sky bison plush. Aang didn't know what to say, he simply stared at it with his wide grey eyes.

"Me and Kya built it, to get you and mom to make up again. She was scared that you'd stay mad at each other forever."

Aang's mouth remained agape. He looked away for a second and rubbed at the corners of his eyes. His heart melted at the gesture. He dropped his staff and pulled Bumi to his side for a hug.

"Do you know how much I love you, son?"

He started laughing when his father began ruffling up his already messy hair. Eventually Bumi managed to break free from his headlock and they were left sitting in the sand in silence. Only the calm waves of Yue Bay that splashed against the shore, as well as Momo's soft chirps, kept them company.

"You were really smart to build the sculpture further away from the shore so the waves wouldn't destroy it while you were away."

"Don't forget about using Appa as shade!" Bumi reminded him, after which the sky bison grunted. Aang chuckled and admired the hard work his kids had put into this, just to get them to forgive each other.

"Speaking of which, if your mother isn't here, then where is she?"

"Kya was still talking to her when we left home. They're probably on their way down here any minute."

"The old 'divide and conquer' battle plan, huh? My brilliant boy!" Aang praised and gave Bumi a gentle nudge against his arm. He stood back up to gaze at their small island in the glow of the sunset in the evening. His eyes traced along the path of the cliffside that led to the top. Soon enough he spotted two figures coming down. It was his wife and daughter.

"Isn't that your mother and baby sister?"

Bumi looked up and squinted to spot the girls walking down the cliffside.

"Yeah, I think it is.. C'mon, let's go meet them!" he said and tugged at his father's hand as he began running towards them to meet them halfway. But Aang didn't follow, he remained standing in the same spot, waiting for Katara to come to him.

"Wait a minute, what are your brother and Appa doing here? I thought you told me that daddy's waiting for me down at the beach?"

"It's part of the surprise, mommy," Kya told her before letting go of her hand to scamper to her father. She and Bumi exchanged sides as soon as her feet touched the sand and he began climbing up the last curve of the gravelled path.

"Kya! Come here!" Aang exclaimed with joy as he lifted his daughter in the air to spin her around, her giggling filling the otherwise quiet shore. He rubbed their noses together and peppered her cheeks with kisses.

"Hey, daddy! Did you like the surprise?"

"I loved it!" he said, bouncing Kya in his arms as they watched how Bumi ran to their mother and wrapped his arms around her middle.

"Bumi! What are you doing here?" Katara chuckled and patted her son's back with one hand whilst holding Tenzin steady on her chest with the other.

"We have something to show you.." he told her and held onto her hand like a gentleman to help her walk down the last few steps of the steep path.

As they approached the rest of the family, Aang put Kya down next to him and stared at Katara with a more worried, apologetic look. She seemed more confused than he'd been. Both their smiles had faded away by the time they were standing in front of each other, only a few feet apart. Neither of them knew what to say, until Katara noticed the sand sculpture behind Aang's feet.

"What.. what is all of this?" she wondered as she took a step closer, both to the sculpture and her husband.

"This is our surprise, mommy!" Kya declared proudly, pulling Bumi to her side and snaking her arm around him as Momo flew on the boy's shoulders.

"Your surprise?"

"I had nothing to do with this," Aang finally spoke and raised his hands for a moment, taking a step closer to his wife. She looked at him with her big diamond blue eyes. She was just as surprised as he'd been.

"Look, mommy! This is you and daddy, and that's uncle Sokka! And Appa's here, still inside the iceberg! It's cracked open and it's the moment when you found daddy," their daughter explained, pointing to each of the small figurines so Katara would know who was who and what the icy details represented. She averted her gaze back at her husband.

"They recreated the moment when we first met. So we'd make up," Aang said to her, tenderly laying his hand on top of hers, which was resting on Tenzin's back. He laced their fingers and gave her hand a squeeze.

Katara was speechless. She hadn't expected this kind of a surprise, much less from her children. Her bottom lip started to quaver and she turned her back towards him as she broke down crying.

"Katara? Sweetie, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Aang worried and gently grabbed her by her shoulders. She didn't respond, she merely shook her head and covered her eyes with her forearm. Tenzin also began crying from the commotion.

"I-I'm s-sorry!.." Katara hiccuped through her sobs. She slowly turned around to face her husband. She sniffed and attempted to wipe her cheeks dry, but it wasn't helping.

"I-I'm so sorry, Aang!.. I didn't mean to get mad at you.."

"Shh-shh! It's okay," he hushed her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace but leaving enough room for her to break free if she didn't want a hug.

"No, it's not! I was afraid that you were gonna get seriously hurt. I-"

"So was I, Katara."

At this point, Aang couldn't hold his tears back any longer either. He squeezed his eyes shut and softly bumped his forehead against hers. She nuzzled her nose into Tenzin's hair, which helped muffle her sobs, to hear what her husband had to say.

"I'm sorry about what happened. When I saw that thug earthbend at you, all I could think about was jumping in the way to save you. All I ever wanted to do was to protect you, to not allow any harm to come to you."

Katara sniffed and rubbed her baby's back to soothe him, too. Tenzin's cries quietened down along with hers. She opened her eyes to look at her husband. She saw that his cheeks were decorated with wet streams similarly to hers.

"Me too.. I wanted to do the same for you."

She cupped Aang's chin and pushed his face further away from her own to look him in the eye, once he'd opened his shimmering grey eyes to look at her, too. Her thumb caressed his cheekbone, wiping away some of his tears.

"Can you ever forgive me for all the horrible things I said?"

Aang smiled. He placed a hand over her own wet cheek and leaned in, pressing a kiss on her lips, which she willingly returned. They took a relaxing breath after pulling away.

"Of course. Can you forgive me, too?"

Katara giggled and stroked his cheek. She planted another soft peck there before answering.

"I don't really need to. You didn't say or do anything wrong. But, yes. I forgive you."

Aang chuckled and dried his cheeks with the back of his hand. He closed his eyes and rubbed his nose together with hers, humming fondly.

"Mmm.. I love you, Katara," he murmured to her.

"I love you, too, Aang."

The kids had been watching their display of affection in utter silence. Kya held her hands in front of her mouth so she wouldn't start screeching with joy. She would've wanted to jump around when she saw her mommy and daddy kiss and forgive each other. She couldn't have been happier. Their plan was a success.

"See? Told you they'd be back to their oogies-inducing selves in no time," Bumi said proudly. Aang and Katara overheard it and started laughing. They knelt down on the sand, with Katara being careful while cradling Tenzin in her arms at the same time, and beckoned both Kya and Bumi to join them for a family hug.

Appa released a short growl before he walked over to the family and pressed his fuzzy cheek against Aang's back whilst Momo leaped onto his shoulders. The winged lemur purred as he rubbed his furry face against the airbender's, which tickled and made him giggle a little. The serenity that'd reigned over Air Temple Island earlier in the morning had returned by nightfall.

[scurvgirl]

Kass’s Girls

Hi, uh, remember that au where Kass adopts Lela that I meant to add onto back in...September...yeah, here’s a bunch more of that.

Lela, Tarlaath, and Haninan belong to @feynites

Melarue, Aelynthi (hinted at) belong to @justanartsysideblog

Selene (hinted at)  belongs to @selenelavellan

Part of Kass had suspected what happened when Ash came home for the sixth day exclaiming that Lela wasn’t there at school. A mother’s intuition, she supposes.

It is not that Tarlaath reminds her of Qal, because he doesn’t. He may be a philandering ass, but he does not strike her to be as horrid as Kass’s ex. Lela’s mother, however, makes her think of the girls who were being raised to be Tamassrans but they didn’t quite make the cut - and thus grew resentful. Worse, Kass can see that while they have left the Qun, the Qun has not left them.

She got that obedience gene. A red flag popped up in her head when he said that, which is why she began to walk little Lela home. Adorable, sweet Lela.

She holds the little girl’s hand and tries not to cry on her behalf - not out of sadness but absolute horror. Of all the things to keep with them...they choose this barbaric, backward thought. Kass doesn’t know what kind of magic Lela has or what she manifested, but she knows from first hand experience, that whatever it was, it wasn’t strong, and the reactions of her parents will stay with her for the rest of her life. Ash still looks over her shoulder every time she practices her little practice spells, worried she will see her father. Now Lela will feel isolation and guilt, and it is wrong, so deeply wrong.

It’s not their fault they are born with magic, they have done nothing to deserve punishment.

They walk hand in hand down to Kass’s old, beat-up hatchback. Kass puts Lela in Ash’s booster seat that has just about given up the ghost. She smooths her hand over Lela’s curls then moves to load up the back with her things. She doesn’t have much, and neither do Kass and Ash, but whatever they have they will gladly share with Lela.

How does Kass explain that this situation is more permanent than what she initially said? She does not trust Lela’s parents to come around, she doesn’t trust that they won’t hurt her in some way as Lela’s magic grows. And it will grow. Lela will learn spells and how to control her magic through study and practice.

Kass slides into the driver’s seat and turns on the car, Frozen’s soundtrack whirrs to life and starts playing Let it Go. The irony of the situation makes Kass snort, but Lela seems happy to sing along and after a moment, Kass joins her.

It took some working but Kass managed to take the day off to investigate the issue going on with Lela. Her boss at the bookstore is luckily understanding of these things - she’ll just have to cover for the next three Sundays and do grocery shopping at night. And since Lela has been so traumatized, Kass figures the girl could use something good. A treat.

They just need to first stop by the school and pick Ash up, but then they can head to the apartment. She has some ice cream and milk they can put in the blender for an after dinner treat...or before dinner, depending how everyone is feeling.

She pulls the car into the pick up line and Ash goes to climb in her seat to find Lela there.

“Lela!!” Ash says brightly.

“I’ve missed you!”

“I missed you too, Ash,” Lela says in a softer voice. Kass hops out of the car and gets Ash situated in the seat next to Lela.

“Lela is going to stay with us for awhile, like a long sleepover, okay?” Kass straps her in and puts her bag in the passenger seat. The trunk is full and she doesn’t want to advertise to the whole school what is happening with Lela. Kids, and their parents, can be vicious. Lela has had enough thrown at her.

Kass will have to speak with Haninan about the new situation, but she knows he will be understanding. They can work something out to catch Lela up on the weeks she’s missed.

“Yay! I can show you all my toys and movies! Mama got The Last Unicorn on Friday!” After Kass is sure Ash is secure in her seat, she gets back in the driver’s seat and drives them all home. Ash chatters happily with Lela, telling her all about the movies and toys she has. Kass knows that the movies aren’t exactly new and neither are the toys, but they’re still fun and Kass tries to get them as often as she can, even with the budget as it is. Ash likes them and that’s all that matters, not what snotty, rich parents who’ve never had to worry about the grocery budget think.

She pulls into the parking lot, maneuvering the car to avoid the pothole that has been there for years. She parks in her usual spot then the ardorous process of getting everything from the car to the fourth floor apartment.

The apartment is not much. It’s two bedrooms, the kitchen is a tiny galley style, the carpet is old and stained but it’s theirs. They used to be on the third floor, but Kass got the manager promotion at the bookstore last year and they were able to move into this empty corner apartment, upgrading from a one bedroom to a two. Ash had been so happy to have her own space back. And now she’ll need to share that space, though it’s not so bad to share it with a friend than it is with her mother, Kass thinks.

Kass keeps them in the apartment while she lugs everything upstairs. She gets the bag into the apartment and notices both of the girls suspiciously close to the small closet near the kitchen she’s been using as a pantry.

“And what exactly are we doing in the pantry!”

“Nof’ing!” Ash says around what Kass thinks is a cookie. Ah, yes, the oreos she got a few days ago.

“Okay, you both can have three each, but no more until after dinner,” Kass says. Lela needs leniency, even if Ash doesn’t. Lela’s needs right now needs to take some precedence.

“Okay!” Ash says. The bag rustles and the girls quickly move from the pantry to Ash’s room before Kass can change her mind. The rule is that Ash gets a snack plus around fifteen minutes of free time before working on her homework. Thankfully homework in first grade isn’t much more than math coloring sheets and little reading activities.

Kass sets to taking out Lela’s clothes and putting them in a hamper.

“I’m taking Lela’s clothes down to the laundry, you girls stay put, okay? I’ll be back in five minutes. I’m locking the door.”

“Okay. Lela, who do you wanna be - Nala or Hedwig?” Kass smiles as she leaves the girls to figure out which fictional animal character they want to be. The trip down to the basement laundry is always annoying. The elevator hasn’t worked the entire time Kass has lived here, so it’s five flights of stairs with a hamper. The staircase is poorly lit too, the fluorescents are always on the fritz.

She gets down to the basement level and lets out a relieved breath. Relief turns to sour worry when the building manager’s door peeps open and the smarmy little man poke his head out.

“I saw you bring that little girl in,” he says, “and now you got laundry?”

“I’m a mother, Rufus, she has friends, and clothes get dirty. I have a roll of quarters, don’t worry.” She moves past the door with the hamper and makes her way into the laundry room.

“I’m just saying, all new tenants gotta be approved,” Rufus says behind her. Disgusting little man must have found the energy to crawl out of his hole to pester her, hmm?

Kass refrains from rolling her eyes, “Did the Velmans need to get their newborn approved when she had that baby? What about Anya when she brought home her cousin’s baby because her cousin got arrested for dealing drugs?” She pushes the quarters into the machine to get the water filling the basin before tossing in soap and the clothes.

She can feel Rufus’s glare burning a hole in her back. As much as he glares, as much as he pitches a fit, he isn’t entitled to her private life. He’s just the manager, he doesn’t actually get a say in who lives here - that’s up to the landlord.

Kass grabs the hamper and heads back up the stairs to her girls. She pauses at the thought. Her girls.

It’s not as if Kass was ever against having more children, she’s always like children, she just...never thought it would happen like this. All the day dreams of finding someone kind and wonderful, having a baby with them…. But she thinks about Lela and about what she needs and Kass thinks that she can be kind and wonderful for her, because she needs her to be.

She returns to the apartment to find Lela and Ash still playing pretend with Ash’s stuffed animals. It’s...a good image, and one that stays with Kass for a long time.

**

Lela’s stay with Kass and Ash stretches from days to weeks, to months, until she is finishing first grade with Ash. The girls are let out on an early dismissal for the last day of school and Kass is there to pick them up and bring them to the diner next to the bookstore. Hanina is there, waving them off.

“Remember to sign up for summer magic tutoring!” He says and Kass gives him a thumbs up - the girls are already signed up. She got them registered first thing. The girls groan but they’ll be thankful for it in the future.

Kass helps them into the car, strapping each girl into her seat. Ash’s skin is heated from her excitement and a low current of electricity runs through Lela’s. It shocks Kass, making her reflexively shake her hand out.

“I’m sorry!” Lela says immediately.

“Not to worry, Lightning Bug, no harm done.” She kisses Lela’s forehead and wiggles her fingers to show her that she’s fine.

Kass waves by to Haninan, “I’ll see you in two weeks!” She calls. He gives her a thumbs up and the girls wave goodbye to him as they pull away from the school.

“How does it feel to be done with first grade?” Kass asks and Ash throws her hands up.

“AWESOME!”

“Good,” Lela says.

“You girls do so great this year, I thought it would be nice to get burgers and milkshakes. How does that sound?”

“YAY!” Ahs exlaims. Kass looks up in the rearview mirror to see Lela smiling and close to giggling. She’s been in one of her more reserved moods as of late, the event likely making her think about the absence of her parents.

It’s hard to fill the space where Lela’s parents should be. As much as Kass does her best, she knows that Lela feels their absence keenly, even if her last memories of them are harmful. Kass understands that, sometimes she misses Qal, not the end parts but the beginning, when they were nineteen and wanting to get out of the Qun. He had been so idealistic, and for a while, it wasn’t so bad. It was good enough that she agreed with him that they should get married. It was good, until it wasn’t. The hard part comes in that just because things turned bad, it doesn’t necessarily erase the memories of when it was good, or the feelings. It’s best to give Lela the ability to feel what she needs to, there is no right way to feel about this. They are complicated feelings even for an adult, nevermind a child.

No matter how Lela feels, Kass just tries to be there for her.

Kass pulls into the parking lot of a diner next to the bookstore. Ash is practically bouncing in her seat in anticipation while Lela is still looking out the window. They all hop out and Kass almost picks Ash up to keep her from running off. Girl’s getting too big for that now, though, Kass can’t go throwing out her back now.

They eat their burgers before the waitress brings out their milkshakes. Lela sniffles over hers and Kass brings her in close. There had been concerns that she wouldn’t finish the grade due to the amount of time she missed, but they all worked hard to get her through it. Mr. Haninan had been so understanding, working with Lela after school and not giving her assignments that were too hard for her. Kass worked with her too when she had the time. Even Ash pitched in to show her how to do things, even when it strained her eyes and made her frustrated with her reading.

“Yeeees,” Ash grins and begins slurping down her milkshake. She keeps her hands off the glass, careful to not the milkshake into just flavored milk. But she pulls back, face all scrunched.

“Brain freeeeze!”

“Aaah!” Lela laughs. Ash takes a deep breath and squinches her eyes closed for a moment before actual steam starts coming out of her ears.

“Ashokara, be careful!” Kass says, leaning forward to take her now feverish daughter’s face in her hands. Not surprisingly, Ash pulls away laughing.

“I’m fine, Mama! Mister Haninan showed me how to do it.”

“Just...be careful not to melt your brain,” Kass isn’t so sure about the trick, but if Haninan showed it to her...it can’t be unsafe. Still, it’s her job as a mother to worry.

“He showed Lela a trick too!” Ash says. Lela takes this as her cue to rub her hands all over her hair then lift her hands up away from the strands. Her hair follows and between the strands and her fingers are little sparks of electricity.

“I don’t need a balloon!” Lela declares and Kass laughs. Indeed she doesn’t. As much as she worries, Kass is glad to see the girls having fun with their magic. Especially Lela. It’s important to love the parts of you that cannot change and with Lela’s first introduction to her magic...it’s good to see her laughing and having fun like a normal mage child should.

Lela and Ash giggle some more over their food before they need to leave. Kass brings them to the bookstore where she needs to finish working and puts both girls in the kids’ section where they can play and read to their hearts’ contents.

The first few weeks of summer look like this - Kass waking the girls up for breakfast and they all go to the bookstore. Ash and Lela hand out while Kass works. They eat packed lunches together and Ash makes comments on she wishes she could go to camp like other kids. Kass wishes it too but it’s just not in her ability. They have summer tutoring soon and that will be fun because it’s with Mr. Haninan, she reminds them. Ash groans but Lela smiles, so at least one of her girls is looking forward to it.

There’s that thought again. Her girls. It’s been happening more frequently, Kass seeing Lela as hers. It’s worrisome in that Tarlaath had initially expressed wanting Lela back eventually. Well, when is eventually? Truth be told...Kass is hoping against eventually happening. Yes, Lela should have a relationship with her parents but only if her parents are willing to be supportive of her, and that includes her magic. Kass also worries about the history. Her parents actually locked her away in that tiny room, didn’t touch her, traumatized her for her magic. Kass isn’t so sure she can let Lela go back knowing that it could happen again.

When Kass heads back to tell the girls it’s time to go, Lela is reading a book to Ash about Tug the Nug. Kass stops just out of direct sight of the girls and watches them for a moment. Lela’s reading is stilted and effortful but Ash nods and tells her to keep going.

“You try again!” Lela says, giving her the book. Ash’s brows come together but she takes the book and leans in close.

“Tug...the...nug run...runs through - Lela, it’s too hard.”

“Keeping going! You’re doing it.”

Ash sighs but puts her face back in the book, “Tug the nug...runs...what’s that word?”

“Uh, a-c-r-oss. Across!”

“Across the rug.”

It warms Kass’s heart to see Lela helping Ash with her reading, but it also makes her worry. Haninan had told her that Ash showed some signs of dyslexia, plus she needed glasses. She can...save up for glasses, but dyslexia comes with recommendations for private tutoring that Kass just can’t afford.

She steps out of her hiding spot after a few more minutes of watching Ash struggle with the book. They’ll work on it this summer, probably past the summer even.

“Hey, girls! Having fun?”

“We’re reading, so no,” Ash grumbles.

“Letters hurt Ash’s brain sometimes,” Lela says.

“I know and you were so good at playing teacher. We’re going to work so that they don’t hurt her anymore. But right now, it’s time to go home and get some dinner, how does that sound?”

“Good! We can watch Sailor Moon!” Ash jumps up while Lela puts the book away with a sigh.

“You can watch Sailor Moon after we eat dinner as a family.”

A family. The word makes Lela pause and look up, a question on her face. Kass smiles and holds out her hand, “A family.” Lela takes her hand and they go home and have spaghetti and meatballs then watch Sailor Moon, as a family.

The month of Justinian arrives and summer tutoring starts. Kass doesn’t tell the girls she has the day off, instead opting to...tell a small lie. She has an errand to run.

She drives to Lela’s old apartment building and tries to not turn back around and pretend she shouldn’t be doing this. But...she should at least see where everything is regarding Lela.

Only thing is, when Kass knocks on the door expecting to find Tarlaath, a short dwarven woman answers instead.

“Hello? Can I help you?” She asks in a thick Orzammar accent.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I think the person I’m looking for moved...can you tell me where the building manager is?”

“Yes, he’s on the second floor, far left from the elevator.”

“Thank you! Have a nice day.” Kass waves and turns down the hall, trying not to feel sick to her stomach. Is it too much to hope that they haven’t just completely abandoned their daughter?

No, no, they may have just...needed the move. Kass knows that being any place with a lot of baggage can be harmful and difficult to handle. Maybe they just needed a fresh start and didn’t know how to contact Kass.

She makes her way to the building manager’s room. She knocks on the door and a younger elven man opens the door.

“Hi, yeah, can I help you?”

“Hello. Yes, I’m looking for a couple of people, last name Adaar? The man’s name is Tarlaath, I think they may have moved. You wouldn’t happen to have a forwarding address would you?” She asks. He rubs his face then sighs.

“You police?”

“Oh no, I’m...a relative.”

“And you don’t know where they moved to?”

“Qunari aren’t so good with the whole family thing, we’re still figuring it out. Do you have an address? I don’t mean to press, I just only have so much time, you know with work and the kids.” She smiles at him and he sighs, rubs the back of his neck before pushing the door more open.

“Yeah, yeah, I get you. Hold on, I got an address. They moved out a month ago, we still keep getting their damn mail and having to send it over to’em.” He lets her inside the apartment and she follows him over to a table covered in papers. He sifts through the papers before coming up with wrinkled piece of notebook paper that has a rather large coffee stain in the middle of it.

“Here we go, this is where they’re at now. Hey, if you see’em, tell’em we still keep getting their mail.” She copies the address onto a sticky note and thanks the man before heading out. The part of town they’ve move to is an hour away and summer tutoring class only lasts until one, it’s how they get away with not having to pay for any lunches for the kids. Any later and they’d be required to have the option for a meal.

Kass gets in her car and drives. It’s an hour mostly due to traffic since they moved closer to the city. An hour and fifteen later, she’s standing in front of a nicer building. It’s not a nice building, but it’s nicer than the affordable housing out in the burb.

She stands out on the sidewalk, staring up at the beige rectangle. Apartment C24. She presses the button on the call pad, waits. No answer. She presses again, no answer. She presses a total of six times before the static through the intercom breaks and a familiar voices responds.

“WHAT?”

“Tarlaath, it’s me, Kassaran. We need to have a discussion.”

She hears a heavy sigh, “Yeah. We do. I’ll let you in.” The door unlocks and she heads inside and up to level C. Tarlaath is waiting for her at the front of his apartment, he waves her in and gestures for her to sit down.

He rubs the back of his neck and she can see the guilt and strain on his face.

“You moved.” Kass starts with the obvious. She looks around, sees two doors - one to a bathroom, one to a bedroom, but that’s it. The old apartment they were in was a two bedroom.

“Yeah...we didn’t need the two bedroom place anymore and I got a new job working security at one of the warehouses by the docks.”

“Tarlaath….”

“Don’t Tarlaath me! Look, I did the right thing, okay? I, I gave you her and she’s better with you than she would be with us. We never meant to get pregnant, it just...happened.” He starts explaining and Kass frowns. The guilt of what he did is hurting him at least, but this….

“I thought you wanted this to be a temporary, just to get over the initial shock of it,” she says, her voice low.

“Yeah but...look we can’t do this. She’s a Saarebas, Tama! I can’t...the Qun is wrong about a lot of things, but magic is dangerous and what’s to stop her from getting possessed and killing us?”

Kass purses her lips and takes a deep breath. She’s not surprised, not really, it was sort of expected, really.

“Okay,” she says. Tarlaath stops his pacing and looks at her.

“That’s it?”

“You’re not good parents so you should not be parents. You can’t love your daughter so you should not be parents, so yes, that’s it.” Sometimes...sometimes unfortunate things happen and it is all she can do to try to be good and open to helping when those things happen. Ash was a surprise, like Lela, and to say her father reacted poorly to her magic manifesting is an understatement. Kass has weathered this storm before, she can weather it again for Lela.

“Look, I loved Lela, but she -

“It doesn’t matter how you felt, it is what you feel now that is important. I am happy to raise her, magic and all, but you will need to sign over custody to me. Both you and your wife.” She doesn’t want any nasty formal issues arising from this. Kass needs to be Lela’s legal guardian. Tarlaath sighs but nods.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll give you my cell, we can coordinate good times for this stuff.”

“Good.” Kass takes out her phone and quickly types Tarlaath’s number into it. She gives him her number as well, but asks him not to call her only because she doesn’t want Lela to accidentally overhear the call. He agrees.

Kass leaves apartment C24 with a heavy heart but a new purpose. She’ll be Lela’s mama now, and that’s alright. She gets back in her car and drives back home. It’s not quite time to pick up the girls, so she goes to the bookstore to check on things.

It’s a nice bookstore, one of the few still locally owned businesses in town. She’s been the manager for over a year now and she starts to get a little anxious if she’s away for too long. Nell has been giving her more and more responsibility over the last few months and she has a slight suspicion as to why. If her suspicion is correct, she needs to step everything up to show that she is worth the honor of inheriting the shop.

A quick check shows that the store is doing fine. Most of the students from the local university are home over the summer which translates into slow months for Parchment. Still, Kass likes to be around.

Twelve-thirty rolls around and Kass heads out to get the girls. They come running and laughing out of the school to the pick up line. They pile into the car and start chattering away while Haninan comes to the passenger window.

“They did well! They’re both very elementally focused, as you know. Lela is distractible and that seems to be the main issue with her static going a little haywire. Ash has so much energy that she struggles to keep it at a good level. But those are both things we are working on very hard. Ash might want to get into regular sports to help regulate her energy and practice attention activities with Lela. Each girl has a folder with suggested activities.

“Oh, thank you! I’ve been wanting to do more to help them, this is great, thank you.” She waves to Haninan as she pulls away from curb. He is such a kind man, she’s so grateful to have this option for the girls. Private tutors are ridiculously expensive.

They go home, have lunch and the girls tell Kass all about the magic they learned. They learned breathing techniques and about different emotions today. She lets the girls have the living room with the TV turned to Toy Story while she goes into her room to read over what Haninan gave her to read. It’s all very informative though a little overwhelming. There is so much to get caught up on. None of this was ever public to the Qunari since mages were, are, always kept separate. Saarebas may not have their tongues removed and mouths stitched shut now, but they are still considered dangerous and ultimately antithetical to the Qun’s teachings.

It’s hard to think of Ash and Lela being subjected to those teachings, to being essentially quarantined away from people as if their magic were a disease. But that is exactly how some still magic as evidenced by Lela’s parents’ reactions.

The day stretches on, Kass makes dinner, they eat, and the girls play some more before Kass puts them to bed. She is settling into her bed with a book when her door creaks open and Lela peeks inside.

“Hey Lightning Bug,” Kass says, her voice sweet with affection.

“Hi, Miss Kass,” she replies. Kass pats the spot next to her on the bed and Lela is quick to join her.

“What’s up?”

Lela shifts and sniffles, her eyes downcast and shoulders slumping. “Ash wanted to play on your phone and when she turned it on, she saw my papa’s name.”

Kass sighs, so much for keeping this from Lela, “Yes, I went to see him today. And we both think it’s best if you stayed with me. Your papa and mama don’t really know how to...handle magic, and that’s not a safe situation.”

Lela looks up at her with big watery eyes and Kass’s heart breaks. How anyone could...she doesn’t understand how having magic can change how you feel about your child. It’s magic, but it’s still your kid, and the magic has always been there.

“I’ll hurt them?” She asks in a small voice.

“Oh, baby, no. They will hurt you because they don’t understand and they don’t know how to try to understand. It is not safe for you. None of this is your fault, okay? You did nothing wrong.” She smooths a hand over Lela’s hair and nubby horns. Lela sniffles again and wipes her nose on her sleeve. Her cries are soft sounds, like she doesn’t want to be heard.

Kass thinks of the room she was locked in, about the avoidant nature of her parents. She is seized by the need to hold Lela and at the moment, she’s not resisting that impulse. Kass picks Lela up and holds her to her chest, tucking Lela’s head under her chin.

“I’ve got you, and it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be upset. I’m still going to be here, I’m not going anywhere. So you just cry, it’s okay,” Kass says softly. Lela sniffles a little more before her body starts to shake more and she begins to sob into Kass’s shirt. Kass holds her through it all, her grip unchanging.

“Mama?” Ash says from the door. Kass looks up, still holding Lela.

“Lela’s feeling sad right now, so I’m helping her,” she explains. Ash’s face draws up into worry, then into determination. She climbs onto the bed and starts hugging on Lela too.

Kass’s heart swells with pride. Her girls are good people, they are kind and compassionate and she is lucky to have them.

**

It takes a few months to finish all the paperwork that officially signs Lela over to Kass. Lela cries sometimes about it, but she doesn’t seem unhappy to be with Kass, just sad to be losing her parents, which is understandable. Ash cried a lot the first year after leaving Qal. As much as she was afraid and as much as they both knew it was best to be free of him, they inexplicably missed him too. Missed when it wasn’t so bad, when he wasn’t so bad.

Lela’s name doesn’t change. Names are so important that Kass feels that it should be her decision when she’s older if she wants to take Kass and Ash’s last name or if she wants to keep her own or even change it completely.

By the time second grade starts, Kass is officially Lela’s legal guardian. The fall is also when Nell takes Kass into her office and gives her the news - she wants to retire and since her children have no interest in inheriting the business, then Kass can inherit it. It’s...an honor and a relief. A gigantic responsibility but wonderful all the same.

Kass spends the school year under Nell’s tutelage on how to run the business. She already has the gist of most of it after managing for so long but now she is going to be owner. The pay, the responsibility, the status...she’ll be able to do things for the girls. After all the strife and the unexpected twists and turns, it finally feels like things are looking up for them all.

Lela and Ash begin to grow like weeds in second grade. Their clothes seem to never be the right size and leads to more than a few meltdowns in discomfort. Kass saves up and manages to buy each girl a couple of longer dresses that will allow them to continue to grow without becoming too short or restrictive.

Mr. Haninan starts up an afterschool program for some of the younger mage students whose parents afford private tutors. It doubles as after school care and Kass jumps on that quick. Soon, the apartment is full of two little girls and their magic. Ash comes home one day with a bag of marshmallows and begins roasting them with the window open, apparently an assignment from Mr. Haninan. Lela comes home with light bulbs and whirligigs that spin when a button is pressed - except that the batters have been removed and Lela holds onto two different ends, concentrating to make the toy spin.

Even with the after school tutoring and all the work they’re doing, Kass worries that they’re not getting enough magical instruction. Everything she’s read has suggested private tutoring and maybe that is just due to money making system but how does she know?

Lela still asks about her parents. She looks at Kass’s phone and there was a fight about her wanting to call her father. It ends with Lela grabbing Kass’s phone but she’s so wound up she short circuits the device.

Kass is lucky enough to be eligible for an upgrade anyways. It’s unfortunately expensive, but she needs a phone. It stretches their finances for months and makes that year’s Satinalia a particularly lowkey one. Lela carries the guilt around her for months and refuses to touch any electronics for a long time. She worries about even touching the microwave.

It causes a specific type of frustration in Kass, not at Lela but at the situation. Her frustration reaches a breaking point one evening where Lela won’t touch fridge because she’s afraid of what she’ll do. Kass goes into the girls’ room and grabs a few of the whirligigs Haninan has been giving her. She sits Lela down and has her power up the toys.

“Now stop it without removing your hands,” she instructs.

“What?” Lela asks, eyes wide.

“You can do it. Just...focus on the energy to stay inside of you and not outside of you. Take a deep breath and pull it all in.” Kass has no idea if that is the right way to instruct regarding magic but Lela tries. It takes several minutes of trying but the toy eventually stops. It sputters and stops moving entirely.

“I…” Lela stares at the still toy, hands still on the handles.

“You did it! See? You can control it, it just takes some effort. You are a great little mage and you get better every day.” She smiles and the toy spurts back to life only to die down a little, then come to life again.

“It’s hard….”

“Sometimes the things we need to do are very hard, but that just means we need to sit down and keep working on it.”

And work on it, they do. Every day when they get home after snacks, Kass sits down with Lela and they work on making the toy stop for longer and longer periods. When she gets really good, Kass invents new little challenges. She has Lela get up and dance and get excited and then has her turn the toy off. She times it and gives Lela little rewards for when she beats her personal best until she can turn the lights on and off at will and to a specific beat. It’s just in time for the end of second grade.

On the last day of tutoring, Haninan takes Kass aside and gives her a flyer.

“I wanted to let you know that Lathvhenas Academy is accepting scholarship students for the fall, and I think Ash and Lela are fantastic candidates. It’s a kindergarten through twelfth grade mage specific school. My son goes there. I can write them both recommendation letters, train them for the entrance exam in Solace.”

Kass looks down at the flyer in her hand, her mind running with all the possibilities, “That is...yes. Haninan, thank you. You have done so much for us, I can’t possibly return the favor -

He waves her off, “There is nothing to return. Do you want to do this?”

“Yes, absolutely yes. Just...what if one girl gets and the other doesn’t?” It is a real concern, what if they like one of them more? What if they want electricity mages more than fire, or vice versa? What if they don’t like the gap in Lela’s teeth or Ash’s stubborn streak? What if they don’t accept students with dyslexia?

But it is too good of an opportunity to not try.

She pulls Haninan in for a tight hug and tries not to cry on him. He has been so good to them all, so patient and helpful through everything.

Summer is a busy one. Nell transfers Parchment over to Kass officially and it is exhausting work having everything suddenly be her responsibility. But she see how much she makes and it makes it all worth it. While Kass works her days away at the bookstore, Ash and Lela are with Haninan training for the entrance exam. They come home exhausted and starving. Thankfully Kass’s new job has her making plenty to buy the extra food they’re eating. Haninan’s wife, Ireth, comes over a few times to show her a few things to feed the girls to keep their magical energy up.

Kass starts actually saving money and feels the crushing weight of the possibility of an emergency slowly begin to ease. They’re not where she wants them to be yet, but now there is a possibility that she can get them there.

In her downtime at work, Kass works on the application to Lathvhenas. It is...and extensive application, one where she has to call the school several times for assistance. But she finishes it and gets it submitted just in time for the committee to review it. Weeks later and she gets the call that both Ash and Lela are going to be examined for admission. Kass holds the letter with the news to her chest and tries to feel relieved and excited rather than worried out of her mind.

Lathvhenas is a primarily elven school. A wealthy elven school for the displaced Arlathan elite who are only here because of work. She isn’t even sure there are other Vashoth students there, she knows for certain there aren’t any dwarven students. And even with all that, it’s her daughters’ best chance at a magical education.

The next two weeks, Ash and Lela train even harder. They practice control and intensity which are the two biggest things that the school looks for, apparently. Both girls have plenty of intensity, it’s just...manifesting it properly that becomes the challenge.

Examination day arrives and a nervous energy fills the apartment. Kass wakes the girls up, feeds them a hearty breakfast of eggs and ham, makes sure they drink their energy boosting smoothies with lots of banana in them and heads on out. They had to buy new outfits for this, both out of necessity and worry that the girls would stand out in their clothes. Now they’re in prescribed white t-shirts and black leggings. Thankfully new shoes weren’t required because they were expected to be barefoot.

Kass drives over to Lathvhenas and for a moment she just...sits there, in her car, staring up at the incredible, the imposing, the downright intimidating and borderline terrifying building of Lathvhenas. It is an old building, or a new building done in an old style, but it is large with...white stones and flying buttresses (at least that’s what she thinks the proper term is) and archways and old doors that probably weigh like three hundred pounds.

“It looks haunted,” Ash says.

“Those gargoyles might be friendly?” Lela says in a small hopeful voice.

“That one looks like he wants to eat your face.”

“Maybe that’s just how he smiles.”

How can such a terrifying place be a place of learning for children? And that gargoyle does look like he wants to eat someone’s face.

“Alright, girls, it’s just a building. Remember what Mr. Haninan has taught you and everything will be okay. And manners! Remember your manners!” Rich people are very attached to their manners and so sensitive when said manners aren’t strictly adhered to.

Kass takes out the map she printed earlier at the bookstore and hops out of the car. Ash and Lela follow her as she tries to make sense of the place. The examination is happening in the Gymnasium Hall, which is by the field. All of that takes them to the back of the campus and under the Suledin Archways.

“It’s so weird how everything is bigger, I’m so used to everything being too small,” Ash says in awe.

“Yeah, I feel small,” Lela replies.

“That is because you are little, you are my little ones.”

“Mamaaa.”

They reach the end of the archway and Kass sees what must be the gymnasium ahead. It’s a tall building, but not tall enough to be two stories, and it is vaguely barn-shaped. It is covered in murals, however, bright and beautiful compared to the dull white and grey of the stone of the rest of the buildings. Well at least one thing here looks child appropriate.

Inside the gymnasium are more murals lining the hall. The building i split into four different gyms, two fasting the east, two facing the west. Each door is labeled with a number and the hall is lined with seats. Several families are already there, either waiting for the kids to come out from examination or waiting to send them in.

Lela is being examined at ten in gym four while Ash is in gym two. They’re thankfully next to each other, so Kass has them take seats between the two gyms. She ends up sitting next to someone she can only describe as one of the, if not the, most gorgeous person she’s ever seen in her life. Their hair is cropped to a fashionable bob and their clothes are like the kind celebrities wear in magazines, so effortlessly chic and beautiful.

They look up from their book, bright silver eyes framed by enviously long lashes making her breath hitch for just a moment.

“Good morning,” they say.

“Good morning. Are you here for the exams?” She asks and they nod.

“Both of mine are moving from the mid-school to the upper-school, so they need to be re-examined. A formality. And you?”

“Oh, we’re trying to get in with the scholarship spots. They’re both so talented and this school is so amazing. Ash, Lela, say hi.”

“Hello,” the girls say and the stranger smiles while they wave.

“It’s nice to meet you girls. I’m Melarue Bre'Atishmanerathe, you girls can call me Serah Bre’A, I know that’s easier.”

“Kassaran Tashorit, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kass says. They shake hands, smiles pleasant though theirs looks like it belongs on a billboard for a dentist.

“That’s okay, no one ever gets my name right, either,” Ash says.

“Oh? And what’s your full name?” They ask and Ash sticks out her chest, proud.

“Ashokara Tashorit, and this is my...this is my sister Lela Adaar.”

“It is a pleasure, Ashokara Tashorit and Lela Adaar. I hope the very best for you with your examinations.”

“Thank you, that is very kind of you. Thank them, girls, they are being very kind.”

“Thank you,” they chorus and she smiles gratefully at them. The clock strikes the hour and the doors open precisely on that time. Kass jumps in her seat and Melarue leans over.

“The doors are enchanted to be on a timer so no one runs over long. Don’t let the examiners see you jump, parental reactions are just as important, especially if you’re not a mage.” Their voice is low but firm, secretive and kind.

“Oh-oh, thank you,” she stammers. Out walk two students, one white haired girl and one lithe boy. Melarue smiles at them and rises from their seat, holding their arms out.

“How did it go?”

“Fine, Nanae, no need to worry,” the girl responds.

“I had complete confidence in you,” they say and the boy sighs.

“Nanae, we’re going to be late.”

“Always in a hurry. Very well, we’ll go. It was nice meeting you Kassaran,” they say, waving to her as they set down the hallway with their children.

“It was nice meeting you too!” She calls and they shoot one last smile at her before leaving. They seem a lot more pleasant than what she expected from the parents at this place. She was expecting snooty and uptight and unfortunately prejudiced in more ways than one, not...polite and whispering words of advice.

She has little time to dwell on it before two people step forward in front of the gyms.

“Lela Adaar.”

“Ash...a-kar-a Tashor-it.”

Ash amazingly resists the urge to sigh as she follows the person who called her name into the gym. Lela does the same and soon they disappear behind the heavy doors. And so the waiting game begins.

Kass brought a book to read, but she finds she can’t focus on the words as she worries. Are they seeing Ash can be too brazen sometimes? Or that Lela can be timid and it affects her spellwork? Are they judging them unfairly or thinking them not capable because they’re Vashoth instead of elven?

It is one of the most nerve wracking hours of her life, and that is saying a lot. When the magical doors snap open again and the girls come out, they look harried and tired, but otherwise fine. Kass stands up, not jumpy or alarmed just normal, and smiles at each person walking her daughters out.

“Thank you for your time. Girls, did you thank them for their time?”

“Thank you,” the girls say.

They leave the scary and intimidating school and head to the diner. The girls wolf down an early lunch and once home, they nap for several hours before waking up with boundless energy. Oh to be young again.

Weeks pass and the anxiety over if they got in or not mounts. The school year is approaching fast and she needs to know if she will need to buy uniforms or any other supplies now. Just when Kass is sure they’ve been denied, she gets a letter. An actual letter instead of an email, congratulating Ashokara Tashorit and Lela Adaar on their admission to Lathvhenas Academy with the attached Generosity Scholarship.

They got in. Her girls...got in.

She doesn’t realize she’s crying until Ash and Lela are crowding around her, hugging her, telling her that they’re not upset they didn’t get in. They love Mr. Haninan and it’ll be okay. Oh, these girls.

Kass never quite understood when the Chantry people always talked about being blessed by the Maker or Andraste or whatever. But she thinks she understand the immense gratitude now, because even with all the crap that has happened to her and these wonderful girls, they’re still good. They’re all still good.

“Girls, girls, you got in. You both got in, you’re going to Lathvhenas Academy in the fall.”

[friendliest-place-on-earth]

Sprace Domestic Series (pt. 8)

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

(Part 3)

(Part 4)

(Part 5)

(Part 6)

(Part 7)

(AO3)

Well here we are, the last chapter of my Sprace Domestic series, and just in time too since school is just starting up. I’ll still be writing (I’ve already got some Javid oneshot ideas) but it might just be less frequent. That said, next time I do a series it will have an upload schedule. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting, it really means a lot! Anyways, let’s get this show on the road.

Side note: The movie “Storks” is referenced in this chapter and I highly recommend that you watch it because it’s really great.

Also, I don’t really know that much about the adoption process but I did some light research to help me out.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for some characters from other musicals...

As Spot and Race lay awake 2 am, three years after they’d gotten married, they await an eventful morning. They tried to get to sleep at around eleven but it seemed as though a mixture of excitement and anxiety had got the better of them.

“Hey Spot?” Race rolled over to face his husband.

“What?” Spot asked from underneath a pillow.

“What do you think she’s gonna look like?” he asked excitedly, bunching up the blanket in his fist.

“I”m sure she’ll be beautiful and the best daughter in the world.” Spot replied honestly, putting his head on top of the pillow. It had been a few weeks after they had received the call they had long anticipated, and the next day Spot and Race would be adding a baby girl to their little family. Race was busy imagining what she would look like and what she would be like as she grew up but was interrupted by a small sniffle.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Race asked as he pulled Spot in closer to him. He hugged Spot so that he faced away from him, allowing his husband to talk without being muffled by his shirt.

“H-how am I supposed to be a father?” he whispered.

“Is that what you’re worried about? Sean, there’s no reason for you to be afraid, you’re the most amazing person I know and you’re going to be a great dad. You take care of me and our friends when they need you and we’re all still alive.” Race said in an attempt to comfort him.

“Yeah but at the end of the day, they’re adults who can still take care of themselves and this is a baby.”

“Well we’ve done everything possible to prepare for this, we’ve read all the books and taken all the classes, even the guy who did our home study was impressed.” he placed a kiss to Spot’s temple.

“I guess you’re right, it’s just hard not to be worried about this stuff.” Spot sighed.

“Don’t I know it. I’m scared too but I just keep remembering that we’re going to be getting our daughter soon and that everything is gonna turn out okay.” as Race finished his mini pep talk, he wrapped his husband up in a blanket and scooped him into his arms. “What’re you doing?!” Spot struggled, but to no avail.

“We’re going downstairs and we’re gonna watch Storks.” Race said with finality, so Spot decided to comply and it wasn’t like it was a bad movie anyways. Thing is, they’d watched it every day for the past month and a half if only for the end scene. Spot was plopped onto the couch and Race put the movie in. The shorter man unfurled his blanket to allow the other to cozy up next to him underneath it.

“This movie is kinda stupid…” Spot mumbled from underneath the blankets.

“Spot how could you!” Race fake gasped, turning away.

“I still love you though!” Spot place a quick kiss on his husband’s cheek. Race turned back around to grab his face gently and place a kiss to his lips with his hands positioned in a way that Spot could feel the wedding ring on his cheek.

“I love you too ya dumbass.” Spot settled into Race’s side as the taller man wrapped an arm around him. They continued to watch the grand adventure that the two main characters, a stork and human, went on and they soon arrived at the final scene. It was of a bunch of couples holding their new children, and of course they paused on the two moms and two dads. “Spot are you crying again?” Race brushed the hair out Spot’s face to reveal that yes, he was indeed crying. “I just never thought I would see something like this in a movie.” He pressed his face into Race’s chest and held him tightly. They had received a lot of backlash from people ever since they had said they were adopting a baby. A lot saying that their child won’t grow up “normal” because she needs a mom or saying “she won’t know family values”. Of course the two tried to not let it get to them, but sometimes it was a lot and it’s hard not to give into it.

“Well look there it is, telling people across the world that what this is,” Race gestured between the TV and themselves.

“is normal. It’s a family Spot, and that’s what we have.” he smiled, kissing the top of his husband’s head.

“I just never thought that I would have been able to have a real family with anyone…” he whispered. Race pulled Spot onto his lap and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

“Look at you now Spotty, a house, a dashingly handsome husband, kids.” Race laughed, tickling Spot’s sides.

“The whole deal.” Spot placed his lips on Race’s, then rested his head on his shoulder. They eventually slumped over on the couch and before they knew it they were asleep.

Race was the first to wake up, hearing the sound of their alarm clock from upstairs.

“Wake up babe.” he whispered groggily, shaking his husband awake.

“Wh- is it today?” Spot asked, regaining consciousness.

“Today’s the day!” Race hopped off the couch and went straight for the coffee pot. [Tbh it’s the only thing he can go straight for]

“So we’re leaving at…”

“10 o’clock.” the taller man finished.

“Alright.” Spot breathed.

“Hey don’t worry, today’s supposed to be a happy day remember!” he beamed brightly, handing Spot a mug. They busied themselves throughout the rest of the morning and soon enough, it was time to head to the adoption agency to take home their baby girl.

“I love you.” Spot said from the passenger seat.

“I love you too.” Race replied. They sat in silence for most of the ride, mainly because they were thinking too much for words to be of any use.

“Almost there.” whispered the driver. In a few short minutes, they were pulling into the parking lot of the building that had their daughter in there, somewhere. Once the car was parked, they immediately jumped out and practically ran towards the building. Spot grabbed Race’s hand in an effort to ground himself.

“Hi there, I’m Sean Conlon-Higgins and this is my husband Anthony and we’re supposed to be bringing home our daughter today.” Spot said to the lady at the desk.

“Wow, what an exciting day! I’m Miss McNamara and you’re just gonna have to give me two forms of ID for the both of you.” she smiled stiffly, which was probably a side effect of working long hours at this kind of job. Once it had been verified that they were in fact who they’d said they were, one of the people from the agency Spot and Race had been working with came up to greet them.

“Hello Eliza!” Race waved cheerfully.

“Good morning gentlemen, we’re getting her ready right now. If you’ll follow me, I’m just going to bring you to one of our rooms where you can meet her in more of a private setting.” she motioned for them to follow her, and the three of them walked briskly down the hallway. They went into a room with a few chairs and a small wooden table against the wall.

“Now, it will take a few weeks to finalize the adoption, but it’ll hardly seem that long compared to all the time you’re going to be spending together afterwards.” she smiled kindly. A few minutes after their arrival, they were joined by a woman holding a baby in a car seat.

“This is one of our nurses, Miss Zoe”

“N-nice to meet you…” was all that Spot managed to squeak out.

“I’ll set her on the table here and you guys can get acquainted.” she smiled warmly, gently setting her down.

“Just call if you need me but don’t worry, she’s healthy.” Miss Zoe exited the room, leaving the new family behind.

“She’s so precious…” Race whispered, lifting her tiny swaddled form out of the car seat. A pair of big green eyes looked back up at him, and her new father’s own started to well up.

“Hi there.” he said softly.

“I’ll let you guys be alone for a moment and I’ll be right outside.” Eliza quickly ducked out of the room and went into the hall.

“I’m your new dad.” he sniffed, letting the feeling of complete joy wash over him. Race held her close to his chest as she continued to look into his eyes, almost as if she was analyzing him.

“Sean, do you wanna hold her?” he looked over to his husband, who had a few tears going down his face.

“Yes please.” he opened his arms, taking the small child- his small child- into them.

“You can call me Papa, sweetheart.” he smiled down at her, being met with a small smile in return.

“Hey Anthony look! She’s smilin’ at me!” he said excitedly, keeping his voice down so he wouldn’t upset his new daughter.

“I can already tell she’s real smart.” Race said thoughtfully.

“Her face is so tiny!” Spot remarked, studying her features.

“Did you know how rare it is to have green eyes?” “Look how long her eyelashes are!”

“She’s got the chubbiest cheeks!”

“And the prettiest smile!” Spot and Race continued to fawn over the newest addition to the family.

“She’s absolutely perfect.” Spot said, his eyes welling up again. It was a very emotional day.

“She is.” Race agreed.

“I hate to cut this short, but I think you guys should take her home and get a routine going. You already know the dates for the post placement visits, it’s really nothing to worry about because if what I heard from behind that door is any indication, she’s in good hands.” she smiled and they packed their baby girl back into her car seat, ready to finally take her home.

“May I ask, what are you going to name her?” Eliza asked as they were leaving. Spot and Race looked at each other before giving an answer.

“Chloe.”