#vir also does this but more as an excuse to hold her hand

[spicyraeman]

Emra holding lae'zels hand anytime they go into a dark area so she doesn't get lost like a kid in shopping center

[solartranslations]

VF Ash Chapter 4: Closing the Distance

She hurt Ash. Will her heartfelt words reach the lone “magician”…

Gli Amanti: Good evening, Ojou-san. I am the Major Arcana that dwells within you, “Gli Amanti”

Gli Amanti: “Il Bagatto” seems to resent you quite a bit now. I apologize, as my powers may have been the cause

Gli Amanti: As “La Morte” says, my pure-hearted master

Gli Amanti: I wish for you to help those who have been hurt

Gli Amanti: Once you do, the bond between the two of you will allow me to lend you my power…Fortuna’s powers are not to be used lightly after all

Gli Amanti: This will be a small way for you to atone for hurting him

Gli Amanti: When we are hosted in the living…we may cause trouble at times, but we display the characteristics our cards in their upright positions…

Gli Amanti: But should we be hosted in the dead…we will become inverted…and this is not our proper form

Gli Amanti: And that is the cause of “La Giustizia”’s current state…it should be a power that full of light, but now it is a mere shadow if itself and that is saddening to see

Gli Amanti: Please help them, and the lone “Il Bagatto” as well, my kind Ojou-san

~*Scene: VF Deck*~

Nova: Liberta. What evidence do you have that he’ll be on the deck?

Liberta: That’s where we usually go! When people who live at sea are in a bad mood, they usually go there. Especially children!

Nova: *sigh*…That’s not evidence. Isn’t that more of your intuition?

Liberta: Huh? Is it?

Liberta: See, look over there Ojou!

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems excited

Place: I knew it!

Person: Ojou, I was right

>Ash! Please come down!!

>I don’t think he’ll come down if I ask…

Ash: ……

Liberta: Huh!? Don’t tell me you’re going to climb up there?

Nova: With those boots!?

~*Flashback: VF Ash’s Cabin Deck 2*~

Ash: I want to save Joshua as soon as I can

Ash: Does that mean everything you’ve said up until now is just you repeating whatever you saw in my heart?

Ash: This makes me sick…you steal and spy into my heart…Arcana Famiglia seriously is a criminal organization

Ash: I was right to bring the Tarocco back to this ship. It’s impossible for people like you to not have any regrets

~*End Flashback*~

Felicita: *dash*

(*creak)

Liberta: Ojou, don’t! I’ll lower it so just wait!

Nova: Idiot, don’t look up!

(*shaky)

Liberta: But it’s dangerous for Ojou if I don’t keep watch!! Ahh! Nosebleed!

Nova: You’re so immature…

(*creak creak)

(*climbs up)

>Ash, look at me so I can apologize

(+30 Amore)

>I’m sorry

(+20 Amore)

>……

(-10 Amore)

Ash: …Huh?

Ash: You think apologizing is all it takes?

Ash: Forgiving you doesn’t help me at all, and it doesn’t feel genuine either

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

Ash: ……*sigh*

Ash: You think I’ll just talk to you if you keep quiet?

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

❤≪Ash≫ Seems irritated ❤≪Ash≫ Doesn’t seem interested ❤≪Ash≫ Seems irritated

Person: You’re looking in my heart anyway, aren’t you?

Person: Just look and be disappointed

???: I can’t see very well here

Person: Just look and be disappointed

Person: I can’t trust what you say

???: I can’t see very well here

Person: So she’s just going to stay quiet

Person: What a joke

???: I can’t see very well here

>I’m sorry for looking into your heart

(+20 Amore)

>I regret looking in your heart without permission

(No Amore)

Ash: …And?

Ash: Then regret it by yourself…

~*Flashback: VF Ash’s Cabin Deck 2*~

Ash: Show me your stigmata

Ash: I see…If you won’t show me then I guess you don’t want to apologize

~*End Flashback*~

Felicita: …

>…I want you to understand, so I’ll prove it…

(No Amore)

>I’m not making excuses, I came to tell you that

(+20 Amore)

Ash: What do you mean?

Ash: Tell me…?

❤≪Ash≫ Seems confused ❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned

Person: What’s she going to do?

Person: …What a joke

???: I can’t see very well here

Person: What’s she going to do?

Person: …What a joke

???: I can’t see very well here

Felicita: …

(*unties) (*unbuttons)

>I won’t read your heart. So please listen to me

(+15 Amore)

>I want you to answer me in your own words too

(+30 Amore)

>Now you can tell if I’m using my powers

(No Amore)

Ash: It was…there

Ash: Your stigmata…

Ash: Yeah…I can tell but…

Ash: Why are you going so far?

Ash: I took my feelings out on you too! Didn’t that hurt!?

~*Flashback: VF Ash’s Cabin Deck 2*~

Nova: Couldn’t you take this as an opportunity to reflect on using your powers in thoughtless ways?

Nova: We live on our little island…surrounded by a small population of people that understand us

Nova: You shouldn’t think of that as a given

~*End Flashback*~

Felicita: …

>You made me rethink how I use my powers…I’m grateful for that

(+20 Amore)

>I don’t think I would have realized if I didn’t have someone to tell me

(No Amore)

Ash: You sure are honest. That didn’t sound fake at all

Ash: …The hell…You have even more honor than me

Ash: I really was the one in the wrong

Ash: Someone to tell you…

Ash: Yeah. I’ve had my dad and Joshua tell me off about stuff before too

Ash: I hurt you by saying all those things without thinking about your situation too…I’m sorry

Ash: Felicita, I’m moved by your courage

Ash: …And I want give you a proper answer…

Ash: When he died, I promised my father that I would protect this ship

Ash: This ship is a place where souls with regrets caused by the Tarocco can rest when they can’t go to heaven

Ash: And until they can find their way…it’s my family’s duty to watch over them…

Ash: It’s because I made that promise, that my dad was able to leave this ship behind

Ash: I told you about the alchemist who made the Tarocco, right?

Ash: That alchemist took responsibility by making this ship and passed it on to us

Ash: …My dad always sounded so proud when he talked about it…

Ash: And Joshua will also be a passenger on this ship until he disappears

Ash: I have a duty to protect my passengers, and I also think of him as family

>Arcana Famiglia will be victorious

(No Amore)

>Then fight me, and show me that you’re serious!

(+20 Amore)

Ash: Yeah, I get it

Ash: I will…you better not regret this

Ash: If I win, you’ll help me

Ash: If you win…I’ll return the Tarocco. Deal?

Felicita: Yeah

Ash: Then let’s head to the deck

Ash: Sorry…come down after you fix your clothes

~*Scene: VF Deck*~

Nova: It’s great that they worked it out, but why do they have to fight afterwards…

Liberta: Idiot, this is how you avoid future arguments! It makes sense to do what the winner says after they both give it their all!

Nova: But, she’s Papa’s daughter!

Liberta: Yeah! That’s exactly why she would do this!

Nova: …I guess you’re right. It’ll be fine. If she happens to lose, then I’ll just fight him

Liberta: That’s my job! Oh…they’re starting

Ash: So you’re not going to let your friends help you…are you that confident?

❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned

Link: It was hard to have my trust betrayed

Person: You can’t know unless it’s with one of the living

Link: That’s why…

>There’s no point if it isn’t one on one

(+10 Amore)

>I want to win against you

(+20 Amore)

Ash: Hah…I’ve never met someone like you before

Ash: You’ve peaked my interest

Ash: I’m the one who’s going to win

Ash: …I’m the one who needs to win!

❤≪Ash≫ Seems thrilled ❤≪Ash≫ Seems thrilled

Daily: I’m going to fulfill my goal my way

Person: This is getting interesting

Link: You’re going to help me with Joshua

Daily: I’m going to take back my pride

Link: You’re going to help me with Joshua

Daily: Yeah…

Felicita: …

Ash: …Let’s do this…

❤≪Ash≫ Seems thrilled

Daily: Right now, all I’m going to do—is fight!

(*glare) Ash: I won’t hold back…!! Alright!?

Dodge!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

Felicita: *dodge*

(*whack) Felicita: Ah!

(*slide)

(*bam!) Ash: I’ll end this now!!

(*dodge)

Felicita: Hya!

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*whack) Ash: Ug!

(*dodge) Ash: Haah!

(*shing)

Ash: When I…turn into a tiger, I lose my senses after a period of time…

(*whish) Ash: …My dad’s life ended by my claws…

Dodge!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

Felicita: *dodge*

(*whack) Felicita: Ah!

(*whoosh) Ash: By the time my dad fed me an apple…my hands were covered in blood…

(*step) Ash: And my father’s leg was bleeding badly…

(*whish) Felicita: Hya!

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*whack) Ash: Guh…

(*dodge) Ash: That won’t hit!!

(*glare) Ash: That’s when I promised him…!!

~*Flashback: VF Cabin*~

Sergey: Ash, you don’t need to cry anymore. You’re all grown up, right?

Sergey: If you have time to cry, then go peel me an apple

Ash: But Dad…I, I…

Sergey: Come on, it’s amazing that you can turn into a tiger. Right, Joshua?

Sergey: When he made the tiger transformation elixir a year ago, I thought he was a genius

Joshua: Yes. Ash, you possess extraordinary talent

Ash: Then I’ll use that talent to heal you…

Sergey: You can’t, Ash. This injury won’t heal. Soon, my life will come to an end

Ash: Dad…no!

Sergey: Then promise me

Sergey: Promise me that you’ll watch over the passengers of this ship in my place

Ash: Dad…

Sergey: You’re mastering your alchemy skills so you can take over this ship someday, right?

Sergey: Keep the flame in the power reactor burning. Joshua will be with you, so I have no regrets

Ash: Dad, what about my future…?

Sergey: Don’t worry. You have your promise with me. And Joshua will see it through

Joshua: That’s quite a responsibility…I’m dead, you know

Sergey: Joshua…I have a request

~*End Flashback*~

Ash: Haaah…!!

Felicita: *dodge*

(*whish)

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*slash) Ash: Guh…

(*clang) Ash: Where are you aiming those!? They won’t hit!!

Ash: The sun’s…going down

Ash: We’ve got to settle this…

Ash: I’ll unleash the power of the great Vir Ingeniosus

Ash: Miracolo di Nascita

(*whack) Felicita: Ah!

(*stands)

(*running) Ash: Take this!

Ash: …Uwah!!

Felicita: …/p>

(*step) (*dash)

(*whoosh) Felicita: Hyah!

Attack!

>Hit

(+50 Amore)

>Miss

(-50 Amore)

(*whack) Ash: Guh…agh!

(*dodge) Ash: …!!

Ash: Daaaamn it!! Strawberry Heaaad!!

(*spark)

Felicita: *glare*

(*bam!) Felicita: Hyah!

Ash: …Ugaaaah!!

(*grab) (*slash)

Ash: Guh…ahhhh!

(*shaky) Ash: The hell…Felicita, you’re actually pretty strong…I really thought I was going to win…

❤≪Ash≫ Seems shocked

Link: I wasn’t planning on losing…

Place: I’ll do something about the ship with my powers

Person: Now what…

>I’ll thank you in advance for the Tarocco

(+10 Amore)

>You made me a promise too

(+30 Amore)

Ash: ……What do you mean?

Ash: Yeah…I’ll give you back the Tarocco

❤≪Ash≫ Seems shocked ❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned

Arcana: I don’t understand

Arcana: I’ll return the Tarocco

Link: I can trust her with it

(*shine) Liberta: Ojou! You did it!

❤≪Liberta≫ Seems excited

Pleasure: Of course she would!

Arcana: And now…

Nova: So, now what do we do?

❤≪Nova≫ Seems concerned

Link: This result is only natural

Arcana: I can guess what she’s going to say

>We’ll return the “Justice” Tarocco to normal

(No Amore)

>Let’s go see Joshua

(+10 Amore)

Ash: You…

Nova: Right. It’s a problem we have to fix

Ash: What…

Liberta: Well, that’s what you asked Ojou right?

❤≪Ash≫ Seems confused ❤≪Ash≫ Seems confused

Arcana: What…

Arcana: What…

❤≪Nova≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Liberta≫ Seems excited

Daily: As expected

Arcana: But it is necessary

Person: They’re on different levels

Daily: Well, we’ll just do what we can!

Felicita: *smile*

Ash: Thank you…Felicita

❤≪Ash≫ Seems concerned

Link: Does that mean…we’re friends now?

Person: I’m grateful

~*End of Scene*~

Special Voice obtained. It can be heard in the Profile section

(Continue to Ash Chapter 5)

(Back to Directory)

[liaragaming]

Why I Love the Solas Romance

I have thoughts, and when I have thoughts, they get written down into a thing.

The fact there even is a Solas romance blows my mind. I mean, here is a world Solas has written off as being full of not-real beings. Small minded, uncaring, unfeeling things. He has no notion or reasoning to get attached to anyone.

Yet Lavellan completely catches him off guard. At first, I’m sure he convinces himself his preoccupation with her is strictly situational. She has the Mark, after all. Of course, she would hold his attention.

“You were a mystery. You still are.”

But little by little, he finds himself drawn to her in ways he can’t explain. He becomes enamored by her. Yet even when he admits his feelings to himself, he knows it can never be more than a fantasy.

Then they find themselves in the Fade together, and Solas’ feelings slip through. He tries to cover his mistake by telling her his words were only a figure of speech. He turns away from her because he knows this cannot happen. He will not encourage this. But then she turns his head and kisses him, and all his will power goes out the window.

“You change everything.”

Even then he tries to fix it. This isn’t right. We shouldn’t. This could lead to trouble. Even if Lavellan agrees with him, he still thinks of her. He can’t not. And when we find ourselves on the balcony scene, Solas’ feelings slip again, and again he tries to walk away. But Lavellan takes his arm and asks him not to go, and he is completely doomed.

He is in love with her, and there is no escaping it.

I’ve seen a lot of analysis that Solas holds all the power in this relationship - that he makes her chase him - but I completely disagree. Solas tries to walk away multiple times, not because he’s playing a game but because he’s at war with his feelings. This cannot happen! But Lavellan pulls him in, and he loses control to her. He can’t say no even though he knows he should. He is powerless. It’s Lavellan’s actions that steer these two scenes. She doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into, but she is the one who progresses the relationship forward, who brings Solas’ feelings to the forefront where he can no longer ignore them. She holds all the cards.

Come with me, vhenan!

Crestwood is the one scene where Solas finally takes charge. He initiates it. He decides he isn’t going to fight his feelings anymore. He is going to tell her everything and let her decide what becomes of them. He holds her hand every step of the way and confesses completely how much she means to him.

People interpret the break up in different ways, but I don’t see it as a chickening out on Solas’ part. He has been thinking about the consequences of who he is for nearly the entirety of the year. He is not about to make a split decision to tell her everything and then freak on the thought that she’ll reject him. Solas has thought this through in his head multiple times. He knows there’s a risk, but he also knows she’s already accepted parts of him he never expected her to - spirits, the Fade, etc. Her rejection is not what he fears at this point.

You have become important to me. More important than I could have imagined.

What does catch him off guard is what’s caught him off guard the entire game, realizing just how utterly he loves her. He’s been on his own for so long it’s hard for him to trust, and yet here he is about to lay everything bare. When was the last time he agreed to let someone completely in on his plans? When has he ever thought of letting someone else compromise the path he’s set for himself?

She changes everything, and if he lets her in, if he tells her who he is and what he’s planning, and she accepts him...

She makes him yearn for things he knows he cannot have. She makes him believe that he could have them. And he knows if she accepts him and wants to help that he would change his plans for her. She holds that much power over him.

Please, vhenan.

I’ve seen posts that people find the power dynamic between these two disturbing. But they’re looking at it with Solas in control, and again I say they’ve got it backwards. The power dynamic between these two kills me. He’s a freaking elven god. He is the perfect image of precision and control. And yet she brings him to his knees, and she doesn’t even realize it. He very nearly gives her every piece of himself.

The break up isn’t a moment of I knew this could never work but I went with it anyway. It was fun while it lasted. Solas doesn’t go into this relationship lightly. He’s not here for fun - he’s got a job to do. But he gets swept up in his emotions, in how strongly he feels for her. For a time he actually believes this could work. For a time, he lets himself give in to it. And at the last second as he’s about to give her everything, he realizes there’s a part of himself he can’t hand over.

In another world...

He has a duty to perform, and he can’t let her change that. He can’t allow himself to be complacent with this world as it is, and with her he would be. So he has to walk away.

What I love is Solas doesn’t just pick himself up and move on. He gives her that front, but in reality he struggles as much as her. He knows he broke her heart and should feel like an ass about it, and he does. He outright admits to her, I’m furious with myself. I made a selfish mistake. You deserve better.

Not once does he try to take away her anger. He lets her shove him at Crestwood. He tells her she was right to be angry after defeating Corypheus. In Trespasser if she tells him not to speak of their relationship, he tells her she’s earned her anger and never brings it up again. Solas acknowledges throughout the remainder of the game that she is hurt and has every right to be. He makes no excuses for himself.

Take that pain and sharpen it to a cutting edge.

But while she has the power to move on during the two years they are apart, he gives no such power to himself. Reunited at last in Trespasser, it’s clear he’s every bit as much in love with her as he was before. Because it was never about not loving her. He always loved her. He just has this thing he has to do.

And once again the ball’s in Lavellan’s court, and she at last gets to decide whether to drop their love at her feet or wade through it. But even if she accepts him, Solas still leaves. He learned years ago he cannot have her at his side for this, though he would if he could. And yet again, he gives in to his emotions. He allows himself one kiss with her before dragging his feet as he walks away.

I will never forget you.

tldr: I love everything about this relationship. How she catches him off guard. How he can’t deny his feelings even though he tries so hard. How she’s the one who forces him to face those feelings. How he falls in love with her so completely and even after leaving her still does. How he doesn’t deny her pain. How Trespasser comes around and nothing’s changed.

Give me two people so utterly in love but driven apart by tragic circumstance and a misplaced sense of duty. One heading toward a freight train, and the other fighting like hell to save them. Neither of them have anything to go on but sheer hope things might work out okay in the end. I will ship that all over the place. I will root like hell for that love. Because they deserve nothing less than finally being together.

Solas, var lath vir suledin.

[stardust2003]

Madferit: The Novel - Chapter 30

           We were back in England for a short break before heading to begin the first US leg of the tour. We wouldn't be anywhere close to home then so I guess it was a good thing we decided to make a special trip for Thanksgiving.

"So what's LA like?" Emma asked as we folded laundry.

"It's a wank." I replied. "At least, that's what Noel thinks anyway."

"Noel thinks everything's a wank. You know Mom and Dad liked Liam better."

"What?"

She nodded. "They thought he was funny. A bit needy and oddly obsessed with you but who doesn't think that? They thought Noel had a stick up his ass."

"Well he'd gone without coke for three days so-"

"That makes it alright?" She asked.

"No." I replied quickly. "It just shows why he was...who could that be?"

The pounding on the front door kept going as we made our way towards it.

"Liam?" I said a bit taken aback after I opened the door. "What are you-"

"I need to speak with our Emma." He cut me off. "Is she in?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Is everything okay?" His eyes looked so panicked.

He didn't respond and just pushed right past me to come inside.

"Emma? Emma!"

"Hi Liam!" She said cheerfully. "What's-"

"Can I talk to you in, er, private?" He replied. "Please?"

"Yeah sure." She waved for him to follow her upstairs.

I went back to the laundry room and got back to folding clothes.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

I gasped at the sound of Liam's voice and dropped the shirt I was folding.

"Addie?" Emma called from upstairs. "Will you come up here please?"

"Yeah. I'm coming."

I went up to her room and saw she was alone. "Where's Liam?" I asked puzzled.

She pointed at the closed bathroom door.

"Liam?" I spoke through the door. "What's-"

"She's tryin' to fuckin' violate me, she is!" He yelled.

"Oh my God! No I'm not!" She exclaimed. "I'm trying to assess your situation, you asshole!"

"Situation?" I echoed. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Ask him!" She pointed at the door.

I sighed. "Liam. What's going on?"

"Just fuckin' leave me alone!" He cried.

"You're in my bathroom, you prick!" Emma muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "Liam." I said through the door more firmly. "If you don't come out of there right now, I'll call Noel and make you fucking-"

The door slowly swung open just enough for me to slip inside.

I went in but Liam was nowhere to be found.

"Shut the door." He said softly.

Or so I thought.

I did as he ordered then went over where I heard his voice. I found him sitting on the floor, hiding behind the left side of the sink.

Worry overcame me as I fell to my knees in front of him. His whole body was shaking a little as he sat there with his knees drawn up under his chin.

"Ya gotta promise ya won't get pissed at me." He said quietly.

"Why?" I asked curiously. "What did you-"

"Just promise me, Tix!" He looked really scared now.

"Alright!" I sighed. "Come on!"

I held his hand and led him back out into the bedroom.

Emma stood there with her arms crossed. "If you want me to look at it, you're gonna have to take off your pants." She told him.

"I ain't takin' off nothin'!" He screamed. "You just want an excuse to look at me-"

"WHOA!" I yelled as I stepped between them. "What the hell is going on?"

"Tell her Liam!" Emma barked. "You know you can go to jail if you don't."

"You what?"

"I said, you'll go to jail if you don't-"

"No I fuckin' won't!" He exclaimed as he stepped towards her.

"What the fuck is going on?!" I screamed again. "Liam! What the fuck did you-"

"I didn't do nothin'! It was some bint who gave me-"

And then it clicked.

"Get on the bed!" I snapped as I pointed towards it.

He quietly went over and laid down. His hands were shaking and he did his best to hide it.

"I'm gonna go put some gloves on." Emma informed him. "You better have your pants down when I get back."

She went into the bathroom.

Liam grabbed at the button of his jeans but his hands were shaking too much to let him do anything.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" I muttered. "Here." I moved his hands out of the way and undid his jeans. I pulled them and his boxers down enough and by the time I was finished, Emma was back.

She sighed at the sight. "When did this happen?" She asked him.

"I dunno."

"Who gave it to you?"

"I dunno."

"Okay." She said as she stood back and made to take her gloves off. "Good luck-"

"No wait!" He cried. "It must've happened in Stockholm or summat. 'Cuz it started to burn afterwards when I had a slash."

I winced at the thought.

"Did you use a condom?" Emma asked keeping her no-nonsense nurse face on.

He shook his head. "Don't like condoms." He replied. "It's like havin' a wash with me fuckin' clothes on!"

"Oh my God! Are you really that stupid or do you just look like it?"

"Oi!"

"Liam! For God's sake!" I yelled as I held him down on the bed. "She's right you know." I turned to Emma. "So what do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure-"

"What d'ya mean you're not sure?!" Liam exclaimed. "You're a nurse, aren't ya? Thought ya said all ya had to do was write me a prescription or summat? Gimme an antibiotic-"

"I never said that!" She argued. "I said I thought all you'd probably need is an antibiotic-"

"Well write us a prescription then! Go on-"

"I can't write you a prescription, you dumb ass! I'm not a doctor."

"Well then what fuckin' good are ya?!" He snapped.

She shook her head and I could tell she was trying her best to stay calm. "You know, it really doesn't surprise me why Noel always wants to kick you out of the band." She said not moving. "You're a fucking liability!" She took off out the room.

"Emma!" I called after her.

"Hang on! Tix!" Liam yelled from the bed.

I turned around to face him and tried not to lose my shit.

He went to speak but I held up my hand.

"Just go tell Maggie you need to see a doctor." I said quietly. "She'll take it from there."

I went to a clinic later that day. I couldn't remember the exact date of the last time Liam and I did anything (regardless of the level of intimacy) so I thought it best to get myself checked out. I turned out to be okay and made a vow to myself I'd be faithful to Noel and Noel only.

I had to do it. He was too good to let go.

Liam's issue turned out to be nothing an antibiotic couldn't fix. The rest of the band and even the crew had no idea what happened to him other than he'd been sick and needed some sort of medication.

Noel decided a party was in order. Not to celebrate Our Kid being on the mend but because we were back in London and he feared Supernova Heights was getting boring. Paul came down from Manchester to join in on the festivities and I couldn't help notice him taking a shine to my sister.

It was cute how bashful he was and my sister was the exact opposite. She talked his ear off making him smile and laugh.

'About time he gets a girl.' I thought as I watched them.

Liam and Patsy were invited too, of course, and made sure to make one of their trademark grand entrances.

I rolled my eyes as they swaggered in with their arms around each other and wearing matching jackets.

Liam's eyes had that dead gaze and he looked like he was about to fall over as he leaned on Patsy for support. It didn't look like that was going to be much help for him though as Patsy appeared well off her tits too.

"Where's Our Kid then?" He slurred to someone as they made their way through the sea of people. "And his bint, right? She's here too, ain't she?"

"Probably off givin' him a gob job." Patsy replied. "That's the only way she can keep him interested, innit?"

"Oi!" Noel exclaimed as he held my hand and led us towards them. "What the fuck're ya on about?"

Liam shook his head a little, whatever he was on clearly slowing his muscle (and mouth) control a bit. "I'd fuckin' stay away from her, mate." He replied nodding at me. "She's fuckin' Frenchified."

"She's what?!" Noel asked curiously.

"It means she's got some shit, Our Kid!" Patsy drawled. "Better be fuckin'-"

"Get a hold of your missus, Liam!" He barked as he held her back. "Fuckin' off her tits, her."

"So's yours." Liam replied just as slurred as before. "Fuckin' Vir-gin Ma-ry-"

"You fuckin' prick!" Noel screamed as he jumped forward knocking Liam to the floor.

"Oh my God! Noel!" I cried as everyone around me started screaming and shouting and crowding in to get a good view.

I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders. "C'mon, Adds!" Paul said as he pulled me backwards out of the way. "Let Bonehead and them sort this out."

He took me upstairs with Emma following right behind us as the sounds of punching, shouting, and cussing continued down below. I didn't turn around to watch. I just kept going until we were inside Emma's room.

"It'll be alright." Emma assured me.

My crying stopped after a few minutes. Maybe I was too pissed off or worn out to care.

We all sat on the floor quietly. Emma grabbed Monopoly out of her closet and we set it up to play.

"How d'you play this?" Paul asked as he watched us set up the board.

"It's pretty simple." Emma replied. "You go around the board and buy property."

"Right."

We got to playing it and I felt better. We put the stereo on, letting the first Stone Roses' album play from its beginning.

When it got to a certain track, things downstairs had quieted down with Noel telling everyone to get the fuck out. I smiled at the well-deserved sound of defeat in his voice, but also because the song was quite catchy.

I joined in singing along with Ian Brown, and Paul and Emma followed suit after a couple lines in.

Her hair

Soft drifted snow

Death white

I'd like to know

Why she hates

All that she does

But she gives

It all that she's got

Until the sky turns green

The grass is several shades of blue

Every member of parliament trips on glue

Until the sky turns green

And the grass is several shades of blue

Every member of parliament trips on glue

T takes all these things and all that time

Till my sugar spun sister's happy

With this love of mine

It'll take all these things and oh much more

We continued with our game and then heard someone else continue the song from right outside the door.

I felt a smile spread across my face.

It was kind of impossible to prevent that while listening to this song no matter how pissed I was.

My hands are stuck

To my jeans

And she knows she knows

What this must mean

She wakes up with the sun

She asked me what is all the fuss

As she gave me more than she thought she could

She wakes up with the sun

I think what have I done

As I gave her more than I thought I would, ohhh

At takes all these things and all that time

Till my sugar spun sister's happy

With this love of mine

Yeah yeah yeah

The candy floss girl

The sticky fingered boy

Oh that sister of mine

Yeah

The song ended with Emma, Paul, and I chuckling as we adjusted our money and property.

And then there was a knock on the door.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Weird “Halloween”

Whipped something up for you guys this morning. Though, I would appreciate any prompts or ideas you guys have. I am going through a bit of an idea slump and need some inspiration :) Just like this story, bing suggested to me by an outside party. 

Krill awoke, well not really awoke because Vrul don’t sleep, but more like drifted out of a daydream, completely unsuspecting. Then again, when it came to humans, he was almost always completely unsuspecting. 

Krill generally took his hiatus in the in the medical bay, since he spent so much time there. There was, however, one drawback to this…. He woke to the sight of Conn, the starborn, floating suspended in a corner of the room. His large black eyes were wide and unseeing, his large, round mouth was parted revealing the sharp interior vortex of teeth. He saw nothing, ad he responded to nothing. It had been months since the event at the prison, and still, the starborn remained comatose. Internal cranial scans had not shown anything definitive. Starborn were difficult to read when compared to humans, but still it was frustrating they could find nothing.

Over all else, Commander Vir blamed himself, Conn had saved his life before falling into a coma, and the man seemed to think it was partially him to blame, Krill couldn’t have disagreed more, but there was no arguing with the man.

It was rather early, and the medical bay was empty, the lights above had been dimmed to mirror solar cycles and allow for the proper function of the human circadian rhythm. The biggest protest Krill had against this practice was it made everything dark and kind of creepy, especially when you had a brain dead starborn floating in the corner. The shuttered internally and turned away from the corner quickly making his way from the room and into the dark hall.

Admittedly it wasn’t much better out here. While the  medical bay had a comatose starborn, the outside hallways were covered in an exposed layer of pipe, and without the reflective white surface of the hospital interior, the hallways were much darker. 

Due to safety concerns, the hallways were lit by a single light every twenty feet, but that was seriously no help. He swallowed his concern beating it back with logic and made his way down the hall. The Commander would be awake soon, and krill had a few concerns he wanted to bring before the man.

He was passing a T intersection on his way to the bridge when an echoing clatter reached him from down the hall. He turned peering into the darkness, his night vision was relatively poor, so he saw nothing, but switching over to his thermal vision, he could see the faint figure of a human standing in the hallway. It was a rather hunched person, but other than its heat signature, he couldn't see anything else.

He switched back to his regular vision, “Hello?” he called into the darkness.

Another soft clattering, and a figure appeared from the balck stepping into the penumbra of light right at the edge of darkness and visible light. Krill blinked in confusion. 

It was a woman, or at least he thought it was. She had her face concealed by ragged drapes of long black hair, her head tilted down towards the floor. Her shoulders were hunched, and her hands were held down to the side. She wore only a long white t-shirt, or perhaps a night dress. Krill might have mistaken it as a hospital gown.

Seemed odd, usually the crew were at least somewhat dressed and presentable? Perhaps they were sleepwalking, humans did that sometimes, “Hello.” Krill called again.”

He took a step forward, and before he knew what was happening, she was crawling across the floor limbs contorted feet scrabbling. 

Krill leat off a high pitched squeal turned and ran even as her scuttling followed after him a horrible brushing slapping noise as her hands came in contact with the metal. 

She was so close he could hear her breath.

He shrieked again, and somewhere along the hall a door opened.

A large blue head appeared form the doorway blearily blinking, “Krill what.” Sunny froze when she turned to look eyes growing wide, then grabbing krill up in one arm, she crouched into a fighting stance head lowered.

The ‘thing’ pulled up short, and then sat back on its heels. Dark hair parted about a grotesque face grey and cold with dark black about the eyes and a horrid blackness about the lips, “That is really hard on the shoulders, by the way.”

Sunny and Krill stared at the creature in surprise as the woman got to her feet dusting off her hands and knees throwing her dark hair over her shoulder. She giggled, “You should have seen your face.”

“Damn Cortney, that was just mean.” Krill and sunny turned again to find the Commander standing at the end of the hall followed by a possy of other humans, and all of them were….. Well they were dressed very strangely. The Commander himself was wearing a maroon button up shirt tucked into tan pants and a brown leather gunbelt and boots. Over that he wore a brown leather jacket that reached almost to the floor. Most surprisingly is he had replaced his eyepatch with a prosthetic eye. 

Sunny cocked her head, in confusion, “What is this all about?”

“Hold on, Krill though, that’s low hanging fruit.”

The woman shrugged, “He was the only one I knew who I could scare and not get stomped, besides.” She grinned, “He squeals like a child.”

“Captain, we’re wasting time.” One of the bridge crew had stepped up to the Commander’s side. He was wearing a strange blue long sleeve shirt, black pants…. And well his ears seemed rather pointir than they should have been.

“And You are absolutely right.” he motioned the group behind him forward, “Come on wouldn’t want to miss anything.”

Sunny and Krill stood by in confusion as the humans walked past in the wake of the captain. Behind him, a bearded man in tan robes and a brown cloak followed by another in a strange blck suit of armor with some serious breathing issues, and then a bunch of white armored men after that. In stark contrast to that a few people came by in very dated clothing the women with large skirts, and the men with fancy tipped canes. Sunny found one of the costumes quite unsettling, a human painted with a whte face but bright red lips, and nose with a shock of orange hair and a very strange lacy costume. When he smiled at her, it made her shiver.

After that, A human in a long black and red cape, dark hair slicked back. He smiled at them, and his teeth were far longer than they should have been. Sunny could tell by the way krill cringed, that he wasn’t particularly pleased with this. 

They continued to parade past in a column, strange armor, stranger clothing. Sunny recognized some of them from the multitudinous amount of movies Vir had made her watch. 

A woman in full plate armor clanked her way past walking side by side with a man wearing ablack suit, dark hair reaching to his shoulders. He had a very closely cropped dark beard, and under one arm he held a stuffed beagle…. Whatever that was about.

After they had gone past, sunny and Krill tagged onto the end of the line following the group of humans into the rec room where they ranged themselves comfortably. Commander Vir motioned them closer, “Come on you two, don't’ think I didn’t forget about you.” Sunny was a bit confused when he handed her a very strange looking weapon shaped sort of like a teardrop, but with two prongs. When she pressed a button near the handle, the entire thing lit up with analogue blue electricity. 

Kril got some sort of black covering with a red hourglass shape on the back.

“What is this?” Krill demanded 

The commander grinned and opened his arms wide, “This my friend is october 31st, Halloween.”

“A hallow whatsis?” 

“No Hloween. Probably about the greatest holiday ever.”

“Like christmas?” Krill wondered.

“Exactly like christmas. A pagan holiday evolved overtime for commercialization to squeeze every drop of income out of the general populace, and absolutely the best.” Krill and Sunny looked back and forth between each other in confusion 

“What does that have to do with the costumes?”

“Well originally i think it had to do something with wearing masks so a demon couldn’t see your real face or something, but now you just dress up as whatever is cool, and then the kids go around asking people for candy. For adults it's an excuse to get drunk, eat their kids candy, and watch a scary movie marathon.” 

Sunny crossed her arms, “And which one of those will we be doing now?”

The Commander grinned at her, “Well, now that we are dressed up, we will be doing a scary movie marathon, eating candy, and then later we are going to party and get drunk…. Within reason.”

Oh great, this was going to be a disaster. Humans always thought alcohol was a good idea….. It never was.

The commander took  a seat on one of the couches and then patted the cushions next to him, “See, I Reserved seats for the three of us…. oh , just one warning though, I am a total pansy when it comes to scary movies. I will scream, no question about it.” 

“Than….. Why are we doing it?” Sunny wondered 

“Because it's halloween, the entire point is to be scared at at least some point during the day.” 

-

He was very much ot kidding. He did scream, a lot, and he had a habit of grabbing sunny rather violently when anything jumped out at them. Sunny personally didn’t see the big deal, there wasn’t any monster for real, and even if there was, she had a couple of ideas on how to get rid of them, and most of them involved a sharp stick of some sort, or a grenade. It also didn’t help that the humans were always stupid, she knew humans and she was very aware of how well their flight or fight system worked. No human she knew would walk into a dark room after something creepy happened to them. 

But these humans, they loved it, if they weren’t freaking out they were laughing at the others freaking out, and even those who were freaking out ended up laughing a few seconds later. She was sure that Krill had some paper in mind about human social bonding, or perhaps a theory about the calibration of the flight or fight system encouraged by the viewing of scary movies, but she wasn’t convinced.

Watching Adam almost pee himself was rather entertaining, and out of the two of them, she liked it when he was forced to rely on her. In this case, he mostly just borrowed her as a shield, but still, it was funny.

Krill was not particularly happy with the amount of trash food consumed. He hadn’t exactly known about health science when he started, kind of assuming that humans could just eat anything they wanted, but now he knew better, and knowing better meant being annoyed at the human’s poor life choices. 

As for the strange costumes, it turned out that the humans had dressed themselves up as popular characters from movies, books, or history. If not a specific person, than they chose for an aesthetic. The woman in white was from a centuries old horror movie called, the ring. As for Commander Vir, he described his costume as “Coming from the best underrated sci-fi television show to ever grace planet earth.

She would have placed him in a western rather than science fiction, but it seemed as if humans didn’t like following the rules of their own genres. 

As for Krill, he did have a couple of theories to write about. Yes, sunny was right about the first two, and in conjunction with each other. Laughter was, mostly, a social emotion, sure humans laughed to themselves, but they did it at a much higher frequency around other humans. Furthermore, from what he could tell, many humans didn’t like to watch these sort of movies alone which condcluded to him that fear was designed to be a social experience. In fact, humanity seemed to have designed a way to foster greater social bonds in people by having them experience fear together, not only that, but the human sympathetic nervous system was allowed to work in a safe environment readying itself for if something DID happen, and practicing for the eventuality.

He came to the conclusion that it was probably a good practice for the humans. It was a safe way for them to experience stress with other humans and prepare mentally for dangerous situations. For once, Krill actually approved of the behavior, it was safe, nothing dangerous about watching a movie.

As for the costumes, he had a theory about that too. Humans, and partially the Drev, were the only creatures known to design fictional events through fiction, as demonstrated by the movies. The Drev had generally used it the purpose of religion creating gand epics of fantastic warriors in order to teach their children attributes proper for a warrior. Humans would make up anything for the entertainment of it, they had an uncanny ability to imagine themselves in fantastic situations, and many spent time looking for these stories actively. Krill wondered if it was a way to practice empathy, putting yourself in the shoes of another, or if it was some sort of learning. Perhaps they gleaned information from unusual situations preparing themselves in case something were to happen.

The Commander’s opinion? Well he pointed out that it was fun to be someone else for a while, someone who was braver than you, smarter than you, better looking than you, or maybe had a more interesting life then you. It gave you an excuse to act in ways you wouldn't normally do, and allowed others to accept your actions as, not you, bu of another person.

Humanity desired nothing more than adventure, and perhaps…. That’s why they went to space before bothering to find out what was in the depths of their own ocean.