#will try to write weekly even if its lil stuff like this one

[piink-u]

A single “ding” resonated in his head – a new cursed beginning for him to live through, for him to force others through; but he couldn’t keep blaming himself for the unrelenting watchful eyes. No, not now – he didn’t have time.

Oh, so many thoughts and so little time.

Time was flowing from an hourglass like sand from an old forgotten castle; time was counting down like willingly given lives; time was being wasted like a two-in-one feckless  prize. Time was running and so was Grian.

In no more than a barely wasted second, Grian made a decision – he would run. Oh, he would run from his terrible repeating fate. He would be bad. Oh, he would defy and rebel – this time, he promised himself, it will be different.

No more scars would dare to pester and smear his old partner’s face and body. No more rips would tear and split his lost friend’s soul. No more would he be able to break his true soulmate’s heart.

Doing well – hells, doing good – failed him time and time again; made him fail Scar time and time again… Oh, but this once “time” isn’t a thing they can feel free to waste so easily. Oh, no.

No; this time Grian was going to be bad – that was his all-mighty promise whispered like nothing more than an oh-so-feeble secret. Grian was going to be bad so Scar could remain good.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

2023 recap + 2024 plans

i wrote 261,200 words in 2023; 172,500 of those for Whispers, 88,700 for Goddess-Touched!

i read 16 books to completion, beta'd for an additional 2, am currently reading 3, and got partway through 5 others before having to put them down.

i maintained my streaming schedule with only a handful of emergency-related exceptions, and drew, uh, a shit ton over the course of the year!

writing goals for 2024:

fix Echoseers (full stylistic rewrite, along with some plot tweaks)

finish the first draft of Goddess-Touched (and edit it hardcore as well)

work on as-yet-unnamed book 4 of tms

fix up Whispers with the added feedback of beta readers

start querying Whispers (i'll look into self publishing down the road if i don't end up finding an agent. the way my brain functions i must cling to the hope of not having to market it myself tooth and nail for the time being)

POTENTIALLY. if my brain fixates on it. write the script for The Lost so that i actually have something to work with to make the comic happen

one of my offline friends is starting to get into writing, and im hoping to help them through some of the early rough patches and potentially co-write a thing with them!!

i completely dropped the ball on the weekly writing updates so im gonna try and get back to that on wednesday. and potentially get back into the weekly ask games!

non-writing goals for 2024:

youtube. i want to make speedpaints and worldbuilding videos and shit. ive already made the basic animation stuff to have a lil sona to do the gesturing for me and i know how to make videos i just havent done it in a While

twitch!! i want to stream a bit more often because its fun and if i let myself branch out into video games as well as art itll be easier to do that. u might see me streaming in the evenings sometime soon. (psst im not streaming this weekend as im still doing a shit ton of holiday/social stuff but the weekend of the 13th ill be back to both patreon and twitch baybee)

SPEAKING OF i want to get my shit together enough to do like. monthly short story releases for my patrons/ko-fi members. early access, that is, so if i post one in january, it'll be posted here a month or two later for all to see/read

i want to read as many books as i did in 2023, if not more! im also considering adding book reviews/thoughts to youtube or patreon/ko-fi perks

my weekend hiatuses aren't going anywhere. having time where im not actively engaging with tumblr + don't feel obligated to do Anything online has done wonders for my mental health and i highly recommend it. focus mode on my phone and leechblock on desktop has helped so so so much

and that's all i'm sharing here!! i hope 2024 is a better year for all than the last <3

[genericpuff]

ULO user here! I recently went back and found several old comments I'd made on LO while I was a huge fan of it in 2019.. so embarassing looking back lol. You mentioned that you used to send a bunch of "fangirl" messages back in the day- would love to see your old thoughts/opinions back when you loved LO to compare as a fun(if a bit melancholic) journey, if you'd be willing to share a few? Your thoughts/analysis are always amazing, but I'm super curious as to how you felt back before you realized what a shitshow it was

Haha yeah, I was a fangirl in the sense of like... always being on time for new updates, even if I was out doing other things, messaging my real life friend who got me into the comic to talk about it. Back then Saturday was the height of my week, sometimes the cliffhangers would get me so excited I'd spend the entire week thinking about what could happen next. I suppose I do still look forward to Saturdays now, but for much different reasons.

It's a lil' shameful looking back but I did used to be one of those "don't like it don't read it" dickheads LOL I also used to "not see the issue" with the age gap thing, not because I was okay with age gaps, but as someone who tends to write about immortal beings, I followed the same line of thinking that "they're gods, it shouldn't matter", until I realize just how silly it was that if that were the case, the comic wouldn't be constantly calling out the age difference and drawing Persephone to look as young as possible. I had to really sit on LO for a long time before I started seeing the issues with it. Ironically what opened my eyes to it was lurking in the #antiloreolympus hashtag every now and then, I'd be reading the opinions like "these opinions suck! they don't get it! they're just being nitpicky/mean/etc.!" and yet I duped myself by doing just that because it exposed me to other points of view which became more and more relevant as the comic declined in quality. I think it was around the trial arc that I started to notice the holes (one of the big tells for me that maaaybe LO didn't know what it was doing was when Persephone chose Hades to be her lawyer despite him being one of the judges and someone she was romantically involved with, like hello?) and then when the series returned from its mid-season hiatus and skipped right over Persephone's time in the Mortal Realm, that was when I realized the criticisms weren't coming from nowhere and I got off the high horse and started to read their points with more of an open mind.

Of course, I can safely say I wasn't as shitty as some of the stans can be, most of my opinions were just in the weekly discussion threads in the LO sub, but I was still giving my opinions on LO as if it was a Canvas comic, failing to recognize that 1.) just because webcomics are a budding industry doesn't mean they should be exempt from criticism, and 2.) LO isn't anywhere near the same level as Canvas, it's a #1 NYT best selling book with a creator who's won awards, so it absolutely should be subject to criticism and analyzing as LO is representing that same budding industry in a lot of ways.

I'm trying to find stuff from my pre-ULO days but unfortunately nothing from my main profile is loading past the last 9 months LMAO But if I do find any specific examples I'll definitely post them so we can roast past me together (*≧︶≦))(￣▽￣* )ゞI definitely remember back when ULO was created, it came at a perfect time I think LOL

[cirquedumoi]

Howdy! I (finally) did a writing thing! I did this for the LU Discord's weekly prompt (Prompts Done Fast), and thought I'd take a stab at writing something for once. I've not written anything for the Chain before, and have had the idea of them finding a glass beach for a while now, so yeah! There are mistakes, this was timed & I couldn't go back to fix them-

As a lil fun fact: I timed this to the length of a RussianBadger video lmao (it was just over 30 mins). Anyhow, on with the story!

(Ao3 link :D)

"It's so crunchy!" Wind giggled, not rwally used to the shiny pebbles replacing the sand he was used to. The godesses had apparently decided the Chain could do with a break, and thus dumped them somewhere in Wind's world. The island was fairly small but had enough room to run around, and had the most unique beach they'd ever seen. Four dubbed it a 'glass pebble beach', though Wind thought it deserved a better name. Not that he could think of one-

"Hey Four! You know stuff, do you know how this happened?" The one in question jumped, probably not expecting a conversation in his Hylian, but nonetheless strode over, trying to recall if he did, in fact, know.

"I've only heard of these before, but sometimes bits of glass like this wash up on other islands," Wind continued. "The story I know is that bits of glass get in the ocean for whatever reason, but it pokes the gods that live down there, so they make it blunt so it doesn't hurt anyone & send it back up to the surface to be found & reused!"

"That's a nice myth, but I think it's actually the water & sand wearing it down over time," Four explained, picking up a deep purple piece & holding it up to the light.

"Ooh, that makes sense!" Wind looked out over the beach, giggling as he noticed Wild picking up random bits to keep in his slate.

"Wait, you've never seen a beach like this before?" He glanced back to Four, not expecting the question.

"I... don't think so? I mean, we get the occasional bits here and there, but the closest I've seen to this was on an island near the Old Hyrule castle. I guess it came from the old buildings near it, maybe even the castle itself! But even then, it wasn't as crazy as this,"

The two chatted for a bit longer, contemplating how the city from days past may have looked, but it wasn't to long before a mischievous grin found its way onto Wind's face.

"...What is it?" Four asked, knowing far too well what that look meant.

"Wanna see how many pebbles we can sneak into Legend's bag before he realises?" Four sat for a bit, thinking over the offer.

"Sound like a terrible plan, I'm in! Maybe we shouldn't to that to Legend, though-" Four pointed out. The Vet seemed to be actually relaxed for once, so he wasn't particularly willing to ruin that.

"Fair point! How about the Captain?" Four nodded, possibly a bit too eager to finally prank Wars.

•.•.•.•.•.•

Warriors was deep in coversation with Time as Wind shouted out to Four about something or other. He knew enough of the Sailor & Smithy's Hylian to know that it was about the glass, but that was about all he got. He watched as the two drifted off, bouncing questions & ideas off of each other.

"This is quite a view, certainly not one I can say I've seen before," Time said, taking xeir chestpiece off. Xey had taken the rest of xeir armour off already, deeming this a safe enough spot.

"Yeah, it is quite nice, if a bit weird," the Captain agreed. Everyobe seemed to agree, with most euther taking in the sight or collecting some of the pebbles. He did notice Four & Wind had quietened, and glanced over to see the Sailor's signature Chaos Grin. As quietly has he could manage, he strode over to be within earshot of the pair. Keeping an ear out for any words he knew, he picked out a few that signalled he was going to be in for some sort of prank.

"Hey Smithy, Sailor!" The pair jumped, having not noticed his approach.

"Heeey Captain, what's up?" Wind sheepishly replied, Four stifling giggles behind him.

"I think you know what," Wars replied, raisinf an eyebrow in question. "I managed to catch you two talking about me & someone's bag, which paired with the Sailor's grin, makes me think you two were planning some sort of prank." Four dissolved into laughter next to Wind, who was trying (and failing) to keep a straight face.

"Whatever would give you that idea, Cap?"

[queen--kenobi]

The Seven: The Father

Summary: Five months after the death of Daemon Targaryen, Aemond Targaryen and his Hand (and future Queen) Elayna Reyne, try to rebuild the Realm. These efforts are put on pause when Elayna’s family writes her father, the esteemed Alon Reyne, is dying. Elayna returns to Castamere, although she does not go alone. After all, it has been some time since a King has visited the High House Reyne.

King Aemond AU!

Pairings: Aemond Targaryen x OFC (Elayna Reyne), Aemond Targaryen x Elayna Reyne

Part I

Warnings: Lots of talk of death but specifically death of a father figure. A lil’ NSFT stuff thrown in (thigh riding, mutual masturbation, and breeding kink) but that’s not super explicit.

Author’s note: Thank you to my beloved @book-of-baba-fett​ for beta’ing this for me! This chapter is very heavy because it deals with the death of a parent. It doesn’t go fully into the grieving process, but it’s there. You’ve been warned. Also, I hope y’all like Alon!

The small council adjourns for the day.

Elayna stands with the rest of the council as they begin to filter out of the room. Tyland slowly stands and makes his way toward the door. The only indication he expects Elayna to join him for their weekly lunch is the look he gives her from across the table before disappearing out into the main hall.

Grand Maester Orwyle clearly wishes to speak with the King. He stands up and makes his way over toward Aemond. Elayna instinctively makes her way to Aemond’s side. At that, the Grand Maester’s expression changes. His features pinch. Aemond notices as well because he leans in towards Elayna.

“You have lunch with our Master of Coins today, do you not?” 

“I can postpone if need be. I would much rather hear what the Grand Maester has to allow.”

Grand Maester Orwyle stops in front of them. 

“My King. Lady Reyne.” The man’s voice is not as feeble and fragile as his predecessors, but it still quivers with age. 

“Grand Maester Orwyle.” Elayna greets. Aemond merely watches him. “I hear Maester Norcross is soon to be an Archmaester and go to the Citadel. I’m sure you must be proud of your colleague.”

A small smile makes its way onto Grand Maester Orwyle’s face.

“Yes. He has earned it. He will do well at the Citadel.” Grand Maester Orwyle looks at the two of them. “I’m afraid what I wish to discuss is less about current successes but future ones.”

Elayna raises an eyebrow. Aemond merely tilts his head.

“And what is the topic you wish to discuss?” 

Grand Maester Orwyle turns to Aemond. “This is not a subject that I feel should be brokered in front of a woman.’

“Lady Reyne is the Hand. If you have something you wish to say to me, you can say it in front of her as well.” Aemond’s tone is cold, holding an edge not to be ignored. The amount of times Aemond has reminded the men of the Council Elayna should not be excluded based on being a woman has been staggering. Tyland even jumped in on several occasions. Elayna knows it was to gain favor with Aemond, but she appreciates the gesture nonetheless. Orwyle’s face scrunches up for a second before he nods.

“It is time you thought about a wife, Your Grace.” Orwyle looks between the two of them. “It has been five months since you killed the traitor Daemon Targaryen.”

“Has it only been five?” Aemond raises an eyebrow. His posture remains open. However, no one can mistake the edge to his tone, the warning Grand Maester Orwyle should tread lightly.  “I must have forgotten.” 

“The Realm needs stability, Your Grace.” Grand Maester Orwyle seems to realize he’s going to get nowhere on this topic without Elayna’s help. He looks at her. Elayna dips her head in acknowledgement.

“The King and I are aware of the issue. We have been discussing options and have narrowed down his search considerably.” She smiles at Orwyle, willing it to be a friendly one. It works from the way Orwyle seems to relax as she speaks. “King Aemond has to be incredibly careful, given there are still traitors out there. We do not wish to accidentally invite a serpent into the King’s bed, do we not? So we must spend more time making sure each candidate is safe.”

The Grand Maester nods but doesn’t seem entirely convinced.

“That isn’t the only issue troubling you right now, is it?”

“I am aware of the... complications. It is just.” He stops to try and figure his next words carefully. He at least has the decency to look somewhat embarrassed. He turns to Aemond. “The people are talking, Your Grace. They worry you have already made a choice and not given the rest of the Realm a chance.”

Oh.

Oh, it’s this conversation. Elayna presses her lips together. Aemond tenses. He looks at Orwyle, regarding him carefully.

“Grand Maester Orwyle.” She does her best to smile. “The King and I are aware of what the people are saying. If you do recall, Lord Wylde brought up this topic of discussion not too long ago.”

Grand Maester Orwyle’s face pales at the memory. Aemond was not violent that day, but he certainly made it quite clear where he stood on those kinds of rumors. 

“I am considering each option carefully.” Aemond speaks clearly and calmly. “Lady Reyne is involved in the process as my Hand.”

“It is not that Lady Reyne is involved, it is-” Elayna watches as Aemond swallows and his jaw clenches.

“Grand Maester Orwyle.” Elayna interrupts. “Would it make you feel better if we provided a list of who the King has narrowed it down to?”

It isn’t the solution Orwyle is looking for based on the look on his face, but it clearly soothes whatever fears he has.

“It would, actually.”

“Excellent. It shall be sent over tomorrow? There are a few names the King would like my council on. It should be up to date by then. Do you have any other issues you wish to bring up with the King?”

“No.” Grand Maester Orwyle shakes his head. 

“Do congratulate Maester Norcross for me.”

Aemond and Elayna wait for the elderly Grand Maester to leave. Once the door shuts, Elayna lets out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding in. Aemond looks at her. The building rage within his eye slowly fades, but it doesn’t dissipate entirely.

“A list?” He raises an eyebrow. A slight tinge of amusement creeps into his tone. Elayna scoffs. She crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the table.

“He’s a stuffy old academic. They love lists.”

Aemond lets out a small ‘hhmmm’. He watches her carefully.

“I noticed you also mentioned my needing your council.” This time, the teasing is unmistakable. 

“Of course. I would not be a good Hand if I did not help.”

“I see.” Aemond slowly stands up. He approaches Elayna smoothly until he’s close to her. Not so close anyone could claim inappropriate activity were they to walk in suddenly, but certainly more close than he should be. “And I suppose this will take place in my chambers tonight?”

“It must be updated as soon as possible. And we must do it somewhere we know no outside influences can sway you.” Elayna blinks innocently at him. “It is in your best interest and in the name of safety.”

Aemond doesn’t say anything. Elayna can see him try to fight to keep a small smile from making its way onto his face. He reaches out and adjusts the pin on her stole. His fingers brush against her skin as he does so.

“Do remember you promised a physical list.” Aemond looks at her. He never fails to take her breath away when he looks at her like that. Elayna knows if they were married, he would have her flat on the table by now. As it is, she’s surprised he’s showing some sort of restraint right now. 

If they were in his chambers, no doubt his leg would be in-between hers while he guided her movements. 

“You sound as if you might try to make me forget.” 

Waiting until marriage is more difficult than either of them thought. In the early weeks of their courting, they did fine. Perhaps they brushed fingers and then shoulders and then fully by each other more often than they should have, but it was contained. At least, it felt as if they had it under control. 

Elayna doesn’t even remember what the inciting incident was. She thinks it may have been Lorence Tyrell. They got along well. Elayna never felt as if she had to be quite as guard with him as she did others in Court, although she never fully opened up to him. She did seek his counsel once or twice on some matters. Sometimes an outside opinion did help. Someone made a jest about how Elayna’s future husband must be okay openly being second to the King. Lorence had stepped in to defend Elayna’s honor.

The problem arose later. Elayna spoke to him to thank him and assure him while it wasn’t necessary, it was appreciated. She had information that the person who spoke let his wife be second to his mistress, a secret Elayna was not sworn to keep. Lorence very quietly informed he did not see Aemond to be the threat that other men may. If she was still looking for ways to infuriate the Lannisters without losing comfort, he could be of some use.

Throughout the conversation, Elayna could feel Aemond watching.

When she told Aemond later of what Lorence had to say, Aemond backed Elayna against a wall as he kissed her senseless. His thigh found its way between her legs. Elayna knew it was over the minute her breath audibly hitched at the friction.

Once the dam broke, it became harder and harder to wait. They had yet to see each other completely bare. Elayna knew once she saw Aemond completely, she would not be able to stop herself. The farthest the two of them have gone was pleasuring themselves beside the other. Again, this was due to Elayna. She told Aemond as much; if she did more than look him in the eye as he stroked himself, she would not be able to control herself.

Holding eye contact was a dangerous game in its own right. Watching Aemond’s face made her want more. She suspects he feels the same way when he watches her.

“Perhaps.”

Elayna smiles softly. She wants to tell him he can make her forget everything, including her own name. She can’t, though. Being overheard saying something like that would no doubt bring Elayna’s professionalism into question.

”I must attend lunch with Tyland.”

Aemond doesn’t move. He instead opts to take a stray strand of her hair in his hands and toys with the ends. The only indication he heard her is him letting out his soft ‘hmm’. 

“Aemond. I must.’

“Remind me why you attend these lunches.” He looks at her from underneath his eyelashes.

“Because I need to keep an eye on the Lannisters. That, and it is occasionally nice to talk to someone from home.” 

After a moment, Aemond steps away. 

“Lord Commander Cole wishes to go over some defense points.” Aemond informs Elayna. “If you need me, I shall be with him.”

“Is it the secret passages?” 

“Daemon made a map of all the passages. ‘Tis perhaps the only useful thing he did in his life.”

“That and die?” Elayna teases. Aemond lets out a small noise, but Elayna can hear the edge of amusement in his tone.

“Once I am done with my lunch, I shall come find you.” Elayna finally steps away from the table. Aemond gives her just enough room to scoot by but not so much she doesn’t press up against him some. 

When the two of them exit the council chambers, they look the picture of proper. 

“Your Grace.” Elayna excuses herself.

“Lady Reyne.” He dips his head.

Elayna makes her way towards where she and Tyland eat. They initially ate in Tyland’s chambers but switched locations for fear of someone, Tymon, reading too much into their interactions. Food sits on the table when she enters. Tyland sits in his usual place, an apple in his hands. He looks at Elayna quizzically when she enters.

“Grand Maester Orwyle give you trouble?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Yes. He seemed intent on bringing up a subject that might anger the King.” Elayna takes her seat on the other side of the table. A knowing smirk creeps onto Tyland’s face. 

“So he wished to know if the King has made progress picking a suitable bride?” Elayna gives Tyland a look. He merely leans back in his chair with a smug grin. “If one wishes to anger the King, that topic seems to be the best and fastest way.” Tyland pauses. “It also seems to work for you.”

Elayna nearly rolls her eyes. Tyland looks far too pleased with himself. 

“It only angers me because no one is giving the King the time he needs to make such an important decision.”

“And not because you are invested in the decision yourself?” He plays dumb with the way he says it, as if it truly is an innocent question. Elayna scoffs.

“You’ve shown me too much of your true self for the innocent fool act to work on me anymore.” Elayna begins plucking meat from the table, trying her best to not stab it viciously. “How is your brother? Are things at Casterly Rock holding?”

Elayna doesn’t miss the small smirk on Tyland’s face, fleeting as it is. He knows he’s gotten under her skin.

“Jason is... Jason.” Tyland shrugs. “He does appear to be having trouble reigning Tymon in. I hear he’s been quite upset these past couple months.”

“Upset over what?” Elayna raises an eyebrow. “I doubt anything has happened to threaten your holdings.”

“Jason won’t let Tymon come back here.” Tyland begins pulling pieces of meat onto his plate as well. “He seems to be under the impression Tymon might try something stupid.”

“Stupid in a he’ll hurt himself way? Or stupid in a 'Jason would do that' way?"

“Are those not one and the same?” Both of them snort at the comment. To most, Tyland would defend his brothers. However, Elayna is different. She knows the Lannisters well so she’s more acutely aware of Jason’s decision making capabilities. “No. Jason is afraid Tymon might try to go after a married woman.”

Elayna arches an eyebrow.

“I was not aware Tymon was pursuing anyone.” She cuts another slice off meat.

“Oh, no. He’s not pursuing someone new. He’s pursuing the same person as always.” Tyland hums. “He is quite dedicated to you, Lady Reyne.”

Elayna lets Tyland’s words sink in for a moment. That doesn’t make any sense; she is not married, nor is her courting of Aemond public.

Oh. The rumor must have changed to her marrying Aemond in secret. Perhaps not even that. Most likely Tyland is trying to figure out what exactly is going on between her and Aemond. A look at Tyland’s face confirms her suspicions.

Fucker. 

“Unless my father betrothed me without my knowledge, which is unlikely, I am not married or to be married. But I think you know that.” Elayna takes a sip of wine. “Not that it particularly matters in this case. I refuse to indulge Tymon.”

“So you’re denying the rumors you and the King have secretly gotten married, and that’s why the King has yet to pick a Queen?”

Elayna levels Tyland with a look. “Tyland. You may not know Aemond as well as I do, but you know him. Do you truly think he would get married and not let the Realm know? Not for the purposes of boasting but to make sure no one attempts to go after what is his.”

Tyland purses his lips. He slowly dips his head.

“I suppose you’re right. That does not seem in the King’s nature.” He picks up his goblet. “It does seem in your nature.”

“Why would I hide if I was Queen? It would mean your brother would be forced to call off his advances, so wouldn’t it make more sense for me to say something?”

“So you do think of Tymon on occasion. I was beginning to worry you did not share his affections.” Tyland hides his smirk in his goblet. Elayna nearly groans. At least the conversation was shifting in a more playful direction as opposed to one seeking information and weaknesses. She starts eating, not giving Tyland the benefit of a response. He merely takes a long drink of his wine.

The conversation naturally turns to other topics. They touch on the small council meetings over the past week, quietly dissecting certain points they both thought were uninspired or unintelligent. They also go over the latest gossip of the Court. That’s not to say it’s a peaceful conversation; neither of them are able to help themselves from making jibes and snide comments at the other.

A knock at the door makes both of them turn.

“Come.” Tyland calls. A servant comes in, a letter in their hand.

“A raven came in for Lady Reyne.” He comes over and hands it to her. Elayna notices the wax seal on it. It’s from Castamere.

“You may go.” Tyland dismisses the servant. Elayna opens the letter carefully. A pit begins to build in her stomach, and her hands start to tremble as she works it open. Eventually, she manages to get it open.

She reads it once. 

No, that can’t be right.

She reads it again. Her hands start to shake again. She scans the words, but none of them seem to want to stick in her brain. She shakes her head. It takes all of her strength to lift her head. Tyland watches her. 

“Are you alright?” He asks. She can’t tell if it’s genuine or if he’s playing sympathetic.

Elayna clears her throat.

“I... If you will excuse me for a moment, I must. I must go see the King.” She stands up. As she walks, she can feel Tyland watching her. 

Elayna makes her way through the halls. She feels off kilter. She needs to tell Aemond what the letter says. She needs someone else to read it. She needs him to tell her the news in the letter is wrong, that...

That her father isn’t dying.

Where did Aemond say he was going to be? Something about being with Lord Commander Criston. The back passages, she thinks. Okay, yeah. She shakes her head. If worst comes to worse, she supposes she can ask a servant. She has to take a moment to think where they might start.

The logical place would be either the passages to Aemond’s chambers or to hers.

Elayna swallows. They have to be in the ones leading to her chambers. Almost reflexively, she rubs the scar running across her forearm. Elayna has kept that door blockaded, not wishing for another night time visit from Blood and Cheese’s ilk. They beat her pretty badly, and no doubt would have killed her if Elayna hadn’t managed to grab a piece of a vase broken in the scuffle. She never knew she was capable of violence, much less severing a man’s Achilles tendon, until that night. 

Thankfully, she managed to kill Blood, and Aemond apprehended Cheese when the rat catcher attempted to escape. She almost regrets caving Blood’s skull in with the door. Aemond had only gotten the pair were sent by Daemon as retribution for Elayna aiding in Rhaenreya’s capture and subsequent execution. As soon as he had his confirmation, he had Vhagar deal with Cheese. His corpse was nothing more than charcoal.

Elayna never felt satisfied with the story. She doesn’t remember much of what they said, but she can’t shake the feeling they were not sent by just Daemon. Someone else helped. She never caught a name, but she knew. It wasn’t the work of Daemon by himself. He had help.

But, who? Who would want her dead that badly?

Elayna steps into her chambers. She can’t see either Aemond or Cole, but she can hear them in the passages. She steps towards the open marble door. She finds them not too far into the passage.

“My King.” Elayna clears her throat. Both Aemond and Lord Commander Cole turn to face Elayna. Aemond can clearly see the distress on Elayna’s face. “May I.... May I speak with you in private?”

“Of course.”

Aemond dismisses Cole. As soon as he and Elayna are alone, he comes to her. He stops just short of her. Carefully, he takes her forearms in his hands. The simple gesture makes tears well up despite her best efforts. His eye searches her face.

“What is it?”

“My father.” Elayna manages. “He’s fallen ill again, and he... He mostly like won’t make it.” Elayna clears her throat in an attempt to regain control of herself. “I am requesting permission to go back to Castamere to be with him.”

Aemond doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Eventually, he nods.

“Of course. Do you wish to go now or depart in the morning?” 

“The morning. Just so I may wrap up as many loose ends as possible before I leave.”

“Yes, that is the best course of action.The council will be short two members.” Aemond lets out a noise akin to a laugh at the look of shock on Elayna’s face. “Did you not think I would go with you to Castamere?” 

“I cannot ask you to do that for me. It would be irresponsible to-”

“You did not ask. I decided to.” Aemond steps closer.

“Yes but your duties to the Rea-”

“You are more important than that." Aemond almost snaps. He takes a deep breath.  "My mother is more than capable of running the Kingdom while we are away."

Elayna nods. A pit begins to build in her stomach despite his words. She wishes she could go back to not caring what people thought of their relationship. The unfortunate reality is now she must. She has to care, for her sake and Aemond's. Aemond studies her face. She forgets he can almost read her mind sometimes.

"They can talk all they like. It does not change anything. You are my Hand. I will not have another because I cannot trust another as I trust you." He considers his next words. Elayna wants to reach out and touch him.

"You were the only one there for me when my father died." Aemond confesses. His throat bobs for a second. Elayna succumbs to her desire and places her hand on his cheek. He looks at her.

"I will be there for you as you were for me." He speaks with utter authority.

Elayna nods. It's all she can do. Her throat tightens. If she tries anything more, she knows she'll burst into tears.

"Okay." She swallows. "Okay, you can come with me." A thought occurs to her. "I think... I've written to him a lot about you. He'll be glad to meet you."

"And I him. You have always spoken so highly of him." Aemond tilts his head. "You wrote your father about me?"

"Perhaps." Elayna hums. The urge to cry still presses against her, but she finds a smile for him. "Perhaps I still do."

"Hm." Aemond steps back. "I shall tell my mother we are to leave upon sunrise. Then I shall inform the Council."

"And what would you have me do?"

"Nothing. You need not do anything."

Elayna wants to find a joke or quip, some way to deflect her building sadness. Instead, all she can do is try her best not to cry.

“I don’t suppose you do this for all your friends.”

Aemond tilts his head. “I don’t.”

“Only for me?”

"Perhaps.”

Once Elayna leaves Aemond, she attempts to do as she said. Before either of them can leave, many loose ends must be resolved. She does what she can. Unfortunately, most of the issues require talking to people. Elayna does not have that kind of energy within her. Every time she thinks about talking to someone, her stomach and head hurt.

She feels guilty. She has so much to do and yet it feels as if none of it gets done.

She wants to express these feelings to Aemond but doesn’t. Elayna doesn’t want to saddle Aemond with more things.He no doubt has his own tasks he must accomplish before they leave in the morning.

Not surprisingly, Elayna does not sleep well. She does not toss and turn but instead lies in bed and stares at the wall. Everything about this feels unreal. This is not the first time her father, Alon, has been sick, but it sounds as if it is the final time. The thought makes her feel ill. It doesn’t make sense. Even when he was sick, he was still a giant of a man. How could... He can’t die. No. 

There must be some sort of mistake.

Elayna awakens to a knock on the door. She feels as if she hasn’t slept at all, but she must have. Soft light filters through the edges of her curtains. 

“Just a moment.” Elayna’s voice is raspy. Carefully, she stands up and grabs a robe, throwing it on over her nightgown before padding over to the door. A servant stands in her doorway. She curtsies. Another stands behind her with a pile of clothes neatly folded in her hands.

“The King requests your presence in the courtyard as soon as you are decent.”

Elayna nods.

“Of course.”

“The King also requests you wear this.” She gestures to the pile of clothes in the other servant’s hand. At first, Elayna is a little confused, until she realizes. Since they are riding on Vhagar, a dress would be impractical and most likely more than a little cold.

The servant helps Elayna get dressed. It doesn’t take nearly as long, simply for the fact Elayna doesn’t need to be laced into a dress. Elayna tries not to think too hard about the fact these riding clothes fit her perfectly. She did have riding clothes made once before, when she rode the one time on Dreamfyre with Helaena, but that was over a year ago, if not two. Those clothes could no longer fit her.

As Elayna looks at her reflection in the mirror, she knows Aemond specifically had this outfit made for her. It’s mostly plain black leather, one that no doubt matches his outfit. She does notice on the back of her leather coat an embroidered dragon, done in a thick silver thread. She smiles softly to herself. She can come up with an excuse for it later, no doubt something about being an envoy of the King, but for now, she simply lets herself enjoy the quiet possessiveness of the gesture.

She likes this. Elayna likes how Aemond shows she’s his.

Obviously, it’s fairly limited for now. The two of them can’t exactly go about flaunting their relationship, as much as Elayna wishes they could. She knows even when the gestures can become bigger and grander, she won’t mind. Not only because she very much loves the idea of being Aemond’s, and perhaps even the idea of the whole world knowing she is his and he is hers, but also because the gestures are never entirely about him. On some level they are about him as well, but they aren’t entirely. He clearly thinks of her.

Had this been a gift from Tymon, Elayna knows it would be all reds and golds. Everything Tymon ever gave her when attempting to win her over never reflected Elayna; it was all a reflection of Tymon and his ego. He gave her what he would want, not what she would want. Elayna could never tell if it was because he could not think of what she might want or if it was because he assumed she would want what he did. 

Aemond was obviously different. Every gift he ever gave her, every subtle way he showed people she was his, was done with her in mind. Elayna never got the concept of wanting to be somebody’s until she met Aemond. Not just because she fell in love for the first time but because he was different. The way Aemond treats her makes it appealing, makes her want to be his. She has never felt like an ornament or an object just to be shown off; she feels genuinely loved and wanted.

Tymon never made her feel that way. Everytime he did something “for her,” she just felt more trapped. It felt as if he was trying to take away everything that made her Elayna and try to turn her into what he wanted, something he could control.

Elayna’s upper lip curls. Even now, the thought disgusts her.

"My lady." One of the servants speaks. "I do not mean to overstep, but the King did seem in a hurry."

Right.

"Of course." Elayna clears her throat.

Elayna makes her way towards the courtyard. As she passes a window, Elayna sees Vhagar. Even now, her size takes Elayna's breath away. She looms over everything. She puts Elayna's life and size into perspective. Within these walls, she may be one of the largest metaphorical figures, but outside? Elayna is nothing compared to the might of nature.

To think her love, her future husband, her Aemond, rides such a massive creature. 

Aemond waits by Vhagar. Elayna sees him as she walks through one of the arches. The sun is only just beginning to rise. Thankfully, no one else seems to be up and about; Elayna would rather not deal with questions.

Aemond takes in her appearance. He seems happy with the way the garments fit her.

"Thank you for the gift." Elayna greets. Aemond's lips twitch. 

"I will not have you freeze."

"I appreciate that." Elayna stops beside him. Her nerves twist and turn in her stomach. "I... I must confess. I rode Dreamfyre once, but. I am not sure I am up for this."

A smug expression creeps onto Aemond's face. 

"Yes. Riding Vhagar is no doubt different." Aemond hums. He looks at Elayna. "You carry high honors. You are one of the few without the blood of the dragon running through your veins to ride one. Certainly the only one to ride two."

"Without the blood of the dragon, hmmm?" Elayna looks around the courtyard before stepping close to Aemond. "Perhaps it does not run through my veins, but it will run through my children's. I think that gives me a pass."

Aemond almost loses his composure at Elayna's words. They have never spoken of children before, although they both know Elayna will bear him heirs. She sees him clench his jaw to help keep himself grounded. He looks at her. Fire lurks in his eye.

"Do not tempt me." He steps towards her. They could barely fit a piece of paper between them. 

"Tempt you? 'Tis not temptation when I speak the truth. My children will have the blood of the dragon in their veins. Will they not?"

Aemond swallows.

"It is temptation when I cannot make that a reality yet." He lowers his head. His lips nearly brush the shell of her ear. "Were it not for those who seek to question us both, I would have you with child by now. I would not let you leave our bed until we were both satisfied my seed took. Even then, I would not be satiated. I cannot be when it comes to you." 

Elayna swallows. Her heartbeat thrums throughout her entire body. She wants nothing more than to make his words a reality. 

"You are not the only one who will be insatiable." She looks at him from underneath her eyelashes. She wants to speak, to tell him how she'd forsake her pride in order to be whatever he wanted. Instead, she stops herself. Any more talk like this, and she will be carrying his babe by the end of the day. Aemond watches her. 

"I think I'm ready."

Aemond almost smiles.

"Excellent." 

He directs her towards the netting on Vhagar's side. 

"You will sit in front of me." He gestures towards the net. Vhagar shifts. Elayna swallows. Her nerves rise to the forefront of her mind again. After a second, she grabs the net.

She begins to climb. Her palms feel sweaty. Thankfully the coarse texture of the rope means she does not slip. She can feel her legs tremble as she climbs. Not from exertion but the rising fear she will fall. Elayna keeps her head trained upward. Vhagar shifts some. Elayna almost screams. Instead, she bites down on her tongue.

This is going to be a long journey.

Eventually, she makes it up to the end of the net. She swings her leg over the saddle. She’s surprised she can’t see her leg trembling. As she adjusts so she’s comfortable, Elayna makes an effort to not look down. She grabs both pommels to help steady herself. Aemond doesn’t take nearly as long to climb, no doubt due to practiced ease and confidence. He smirks at her.

“Don’t.”

“I had no intention.” Aemond clearly did from the faux nature of his tone. He swings one of his long legs over the saddle and situates himself behind Elayna. He grabs the reins in his hands and then takes hold of one of the pommels. He snakes his other arm around Elayna’s waist.

“Hold on.” He whispers in her ear. 

"Dohaerās Vhagar. Sōvēs."

Vhagar rumbles.She begins to move. Instinctively, Elayna clutches the pommels of the saddle. Her eyes close. Aemond tightens his hold around her waist. She can’t hear his laugh, but she can feel it. His chest is pressed to her back. She feels his laughter against her, and she can feel the curve of his smile against her skin.

Elayna nearly screams when she feels Vhagar leave the ground. This time, she hears Aemond’s laugh. Thank the Seven for his arm around her. Not just because it makes her feel secure, as secure as she can in this situation which isn’t as secure as she would like, but it also helps ground her. No doubt she would pass out if it weren’t for his touch.

The wind whips past the two of them. Aemond clearly isn’t bothered by it, but Elayna screws her eyes shut even more. Part of her wants to look, wants to see, but she knows better. It would not end well. Instead, she tries to breathe through her nose and keep herself calm.

She waits until they’ve leveled off to open her eyes. She doesn’t look down. Not yet, at least. Instead, Elayna turns her head to look at Aemond. His good eye is closed. The expression of sheer joy and contentment on his face makes Elayna smile. He seems more at ease here than she’s ever seen him. She can feel he’s more relaxed; his shoulders have dropped some, and his jaw isn’t clenched. 

Elayna doesn’t know if it’s from the sheer exhilaration of flying, an exhilaration that is building in her despite the fear, or if it’s because up here, no one expects anything of him. She doesn’t care. All she wants is to see him like this.

Relaxed. Happy. Beautiful.

He opens his eye. Aemond takes a second to focus on her. Elayna swallows. She wonders if her expression matches her love-drunk thoughts.

“You’re beautiful.” She breathes before she can think better of it. Reverence bleeds into every syllable. Aemond swallows.

“Do not say things you do not mean.” He keeps his voice even, too even. He doesn’t look at her, opting instead to look at the landscape unfolding beneath them. Elayna huffs.

“Aemond. I mean it.” Elayna twists some in the saddle. She knows it’s old insecurities and other people’s opinions, but it doesn’t mean his words hurt her any less. “I would not, cannot, lie to you.” She pauses. Her lips twitch. “You know that I cannot lie to you. You would not make me your Hand if you thought I could, much less your wife.”

Aemond doesn’t say anything. His shoulders tense. 

“I do not wish for your kindness or platitudes right now.” He snaps. Elayna nearly recoils from him.

“Aemond...”

“Don’t.” He warns. Vhagar lets out a rumble, one that makes Elayna grab the pommels of the saddle harder. If Aemond notices her sudden fear, he doesn’t say anything. 

Elayna closes her eyes. She wants to argue with him, but Vhagar made a persuasive argument. The beginnings of a headache creep into her skull. She feels tears prickling behind her eyes. It’s not the small argument, one that might become a big one if she isn’t careful, that is really what makes her want to bawl.

She sighs. She leans forward some, almost as if she’s trying to build space between them. Elayna can’t do this today. 

For a second, Elayna thinks the subconscious gesture has gone unnoticed. That is, until Aemond’s arm comes back around her midriff and pulls her close to him. He presses her close to him, so close her back touches his upper chest. He places his chin in the crook of her neck.

Aemond doesn’t say anything. Elayna doesn’t either. It’s not necessarily a mad silence, but a hurt one. The hurt doesn’t last long, slowly melting away the longer he holds her. He won’t apologize. At least, not verbally. 

“Is that Gold Road?” Elayna asks after a second. “It looks...”

“Small?” Aemond offers, a hint of amusement in his tone. “Unimportant?”

Elayna nods. She turns her head slightly. “I suppose everything looks that way from up here. Especially on the largest dragon.”

Aemond almost preens at her words. He lets out a small yet pleased ‘hm’. Vhagar snorts beneath them.

“I wonder. How insignificant do you think Casterly Rock looks from here.” Elayna can’t help herself. The joke is too good for her to not make it.

“Very. But you do not need to be on the largest dragon to see that.” Aemond’s words make Elayna choke on a laugh. He moves his lips so they’re right by her ear. “Highgarden looks much the same.”

Elayna nearly scoffs. It has been at least three moons since Lorence made that offer, yet Aemond seems unable to forget it. 

“I have no desire to see Highgarden.” She leans back in Aemond’s embrace. “I am quite happy where I am.”

“Hm. Perhaps you should tell Lord Tyrell this.”

“If we are making announcements, I think Lord Tyrell is not the first person on my list I would tell.” Elayna tilts her head again to try and look at Aemond. “Tyland implied we got married in secret at lunch yesterday.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“The truth. We are not married.” Elayna shrugs. “He did not need to know more than that.”

They must have been flying longer than Elayna realized. The ground beneath them steadily becomes more rocky and rises towards them. Elayna sees a handful of places she recognizes, mostly from her trips down mountain towards King’s Landing.

Seeing the Westerlands from dragonback puts things into perspective. Growing up, Elayna always thought the hills and mountains were huge and all encompassing. She never quite grew out of that feeling; she just got used to their presence. The first time she left the Westerlands everything felt too flat and open. 

The pure majesty comes back to her as they begin to climb over the mountains. Elayna watches the landscape unfold beneath them. Despite her earlier fears of falling, she looks down. She can see Gold Road underneath them, running through one of the mountain passes.

Elayna knows they’re getting close to Castamere when the mountains begin to drop once more. Even if Elayna hadn’t recognized Deep Den, and then Hornvale, she knew they were going above the Highlands. The chain of mountains and valleys was too big to be anything else. 

On the other side of the Highlands, at the southernmost point of Pendric Hills, was home. 

Well, her initial home she supposes. She sneaks a look at Aemond. The Red Keep is now her home. It is home in ways that Castamere could never be. By the same token, Castamere is home in ways the Red Keep cannot be. Elayna presses her lips together. She doesn’t want her mind to get bogged down in the intricacies of what is home and not home. It leaves a sour taste in her mouth, the words polluted by Tymon. How many times had he begged her to “see reason” and “come home”? 

Castamere was her home. The Red Keep is her home. She may have lived at Casterly Rock, but it never was, and never will be, her home.

The ground flattens out again. She can see more hills on the horizon, growing larger very quickly. Ashemark stands out noticeably. She always hated going to Ashemark. Even though it had mountains on either side of it, she always felt exposed. It felt too flat out there, even if she could see it wasn’t. 

Aemond says something to Vhagar once they pass by Ashemark. Vhagar huffs and begins to slowly descend. Elayna squeezes Aemond’s hand. She knows the slower descent is meant for her, to help ease her nerves.

When they see the walls of Castamere, Vhagar begins a full descent. Elayna grips the saddle pommel tighter. She feels Aemond laugh. He moves to grip one of the pommels as well. He brings his free arm around her, pressing tight against her stomach to keep her in place. He rests his chin on her shoulder.

“You forgot how high up we are, did you?” He sounds more than a little bit amused. “Do not worry. I will not let you fall.”

Elayna doesn’t trust herself to speak. Instead, she merely nods and closes her eyes. The ground suddenly seems far too close when just hours ago it felt too far away. 

For her size, Vhagar lands gracefully. The courtyards at Castamere were not built with dragons in mind, and certainly not with dragons Vhagar’s size in consideration. She comes to rest outside the gates. Elayna has no doubt her family has already come outside. Missing Vhagar coming or going isn’t exactly an easy thing to do.

Aemond dismounts first. He swings himself off the saddle and down onto the ropes with ease. He drops to the ground when he only has about ten feet or so of net to go. Elayna clearly doesn’t have the experience he does. She can feel Vhagar shift as she moves down. Aemond murmurs something to her, and she stills.

“I thought you had ridden with Helaena before.” Aemond calls. Elayna looks down. She still has several feet to go down. Aemond looks almost smug. 

“Yes, well. I did not need a net of this size to get down from Dreamfyre.” 

“Do you trust me?”

Elayna screws her eyes shut. “I- Perhaps.”

Aemond laughs. “Jump. I will catch you.” 

Elayna wants to argue with him, but Vhagar makes up her mind for her. She moves in an impatient manner. Elayna knows the choice of how she gets down will not be up to her in a minute.

“Okay.” She takes a shaky breath in and exhales. “Okay.”

She shifts in the netting to make it easier and jumps. She doesn’t jump from nearly as high as Aemond did, but it still feels like too long of a fall. True to his word, Aemond does catch her. His hands find her hips, and he helps ease her down onto the ground. A sparkle Elayna has never seen before lights up his blue eye.

“You should consider yourself honored.” He murmurs before looking at Vhagar. “She seems to like you. She would have left already if it had been anyone else.”

“I think she only likes me because you do.”

Vhagar makes a noise that sounds almost suspiciously like a huff. Aemond reaches out once more and speaks to her in a low voice. Vhagar quickly launches herself skyward once more. Elayna watches. She’ll never get used to the sight.

“She really is beautiful.” The words fall from Elayna’s lips without her thinking. Aemond merely hums. She can hear the pride in the small noise.

The sound of the gate opening catches her attention. Both she and Aemond turn. Several guards stand at the gate.

“My King.” One of the guards greets. “Lady Elayna.”

It takes a moment for Elayna to place the voice, but when she does, she smiles.

“Ser Devron.” She steps forward. She tries to keep her voice cool and deceptively collected. She can see a slight grin on his face. “When did you get bumped down to gate duty?”

“I didn’t. Your father specifically wanted me to come escort you.” Ser Devron clears his throat. He turns towards Aemond. “Lord Reyne does extend his apologies. He may be a minute before he greets you.”

Elayna frowns. That doesn’t sound like good news. 

Devron guides them inside the castle walls. Elayna notices Aemond clasping his hands behind his back as they go in. She almost calls attention to it but decides against it. She doesn’t know if he slipped into King mode because that’s what’s expected of him or if it’s because he doesn’t know how her family will react to him.

“My King.” Several familiar voices call at once. All the figures bow. Elayna notices one person in particular. When he stands up, Seban looks at Elayna. He clearly tries to surprise a smile. “Lady Elayna.”

“Seban.” Elayna greets. She turns to Aemond. “My King, this is the Honorable Lord Seban, son of Alon Reyne. Lord Seban, this is King Aemond Targaryen.”

“King Aemond.” Seban steps forward. He looks more tired than the last time Elayna saw him. Dark circles underneath his eyes betray him, telling Elayna of how little sleep he’s been getting. “ ‘Tis a pleasure to welcome you to Castamere. I hope your flight was pleasant.”

“It was.” Aemond mirrors Seban’s movements and steps forward as well. Elayna moves with him. 

Seban turns to Elayna.

“Elayna.”

“Seban.”

The two stare at each other for a second. Elayna breaks first, stepping forward. Seban meets her half-way. He’s quick to envelope her in a hug. He pulls Elayna towards him as if he’s trying to crush her. Elayna does the same. When they pull away, Elayna swears there are tears in Seban’s eyes. She clears her throat and steps back.

“How is father?”

“Not well.” Seban sighs. His voice softens. “I’m glad you came.”

Elayna feels her throat constrict. It’s easy to read between the lines.

“My King. Lady Elayna.” Another, very familiar voice calls. Elayna whips her head around to see who it is. Elayna smiles and steps back from Seban, making her way back over to Aemond. 

“Lord Ryman.” Elayna greets. “My King, the Honorable Lord Ryman of House Reyne. Lord Ryman, King Aemond Targaryen.”

“King Aemond.” Ryman stops by Seban’s side. “We welcome you to Castamere. It is an honor to have you here.”

“ ‘Tis a pleasure to be here.” Aemond dips his head. Ryman looks to Elayna.

“Lady Elayna.” She can hear the teasing edge to his formal address.

“Lord Ryman.”

Ryman doesn’t hesitate like Seban did. As soon as Elayna steps forward, Ryman pulls her into a hug. He doesn’t squeeze her nearly as tightly as Seban, but it’s a powerful embrace nonetheless.

“I’ve missed you. We’ve missed you.” Ryman squeezes Elayna one last time before letting her go. 

“I’ve missed you too.” She murmurs.

“It’s been no fun without you here. I’m stuck with Ser Stuffy over here who thinks he’s too good for us.” Ryman speaks just loud enough for Seban to hear. Seban glares at Ryman. No doubt Aemond’s presence is the only thing preventing Ryman from meeting the Seven.

The doors to the castle begin to open. Instinctively, everyone moves into their positions. Seban and Ryman each fall on one side of the stairs leading up to the castle doors. Elayna moves to Aemond’s right side. 

“Introducing Lord Alon Reyne.”

Elayna misses the announcement of her father’s titles. She’s too focused on the fact she’s seeing him again after almost four years.

Somehow, Alon looks just the same as he did when she left and yet he looks worse. His face looks the same but gauntness haunts his cheeks and eyes. He seems smaller. Elayna isn’t sure if it’s because he’s stooped over more or if he’s truly gotten shorter since she last saw him. A certain kind of frailty sticks to him. It makes Elayna’s chest hurt. Her eyes meet her father’s.His eyes crinkle. He smiles, and for a second, it looks as if he might cry. Addison stands behind Alon. She smiles as well. Elayna absolutely sees a few tears at the corner of her mother’s eyes.

Elayna isn’t sure how she manages to introduce Aemond but does. Aemond must sense she’s overcome with emotion.

“Lord Reyne.” Aemond greets. He and Elayna almost walk in sync.

“Father.” Elayna manages “I’d like to introduce you to King Aemond Targaryen.” 

Alon makes his way down the stairs.

“King Aemond. It is a pleasure and an honor to have you at Castamere.” Alon stops when he’s close to Aemond. His expression sombers some. “I was sorry to hear about your father passing. I knew him when we were both boys, and he was always kind to me.”

“Yes. Elayna did mention you grew up with my father and my uncle.” Aemond tilts his head. “She speaks very highly of you.”

“You flatter an old man.” 

“I speak the truth.” Aemond looks at Elayna.

“He does, Father.” Elayna steps forward.

“‘Tis nice to see the Hand of the King can find time to visit her old and ailing father.” Alon sniffs delicately. The slight curve of his lips tells Elayna he’s merely messing with her. Elayna smiles back. She tries her best to fight the oncoming wave of tears by clearing her throat.

Wordlessly, she steps forward and hugs him. He hugs her back, pulling her as close as he can without hurting himself.

“I’ve missed you.” She murmurs. She can hear her voice start to crack.

“I missed you too.” Alon pulls back some to look at her. He smiles softly. Addison comes over. Elayna hugs her mother as well. As she does, Elayna hears Alon talking to the servants.

Addison smiles when they pull apart. “I’m glad you’re home.” 

“I’m glad to be home.” 

“Having only your brothers around has been driving your father up the wall.” Addison confides in Elayna.

“What? You mean that even Seban can get on father’s nerves?”

“Says the golden child.” Ryman nearly makes Elayna jump. He doesn’t cackle, but his eyes sparkle with barely contained mischief. 

“Please don’t call me that. You know how I feel about it.”

“Oh, excuse me. Says the ‘better than silver’ child.”

“Better.”

Elayna turns her head. She sees Alon and Aemond discussing something. She politely excuses herself and steps over to them.

“Elayna.” Alon turns to her. “While the servants prepare the King’s rooms, would you like to show the King around?”

“Of course.” Elayna turns to Aemond. “Shall we get started, my King?”

Elayna manages to give Aemond a tour of Castamere without getting distracted and making out with him in some corner. Mostly because Seban and Ryman end up following them for most of it. Ryman is at least good company. He asks questions about Vhagar and compliments her. Aemond nearly preens from the attention his dragon receives. 

Elayna gets the impression Seban is only there to make sure she and Aemond don't do anything stupid. Doing so was not her intention, but now that the option is no longer on the table, Elayna finds herself aggravated with Seban’s presence.

She is a grown woman. She’s the Hand, for the Seven’s sake! She can do as she pleases. If she wishes to kiss her future husband senseless in some corner, she should be allowed to do so.

Still. Despite her irritation at his presence, it is good to see him. The disparity in their ages meant they never got along. She was always too childish for him, and he was always too stuffy and formal for her. It meant plenty of arguments as Elayna grew. For a while, she wondered how she and Seban could even be related. He seemed so... different from her. Not just because of his looks, although looking at the two of them one would not think they were related at all, even as half-siblings. 

Seban’s mother, Marla Reyne, was not Elayna’s mother. Marla died in a tragic mining accident, one that took both her life and the life of Seban’s older brother, Reynard. Elayna knows the incident took its toll on Seban. He was five and in the mines when it happened. No one knows how he managed to survive. Once, when drunk, Seban confessed to Elayna someone else was down in the mines that night. He never got a good look at them, but they managed to lure him away from the site of the collapse.

Sometimes, Elayna wonders if it was a Lannister who saved Seban’s life. She and Seban bear no familial resemblance. Seban’s features show no trace of Alon. Not even the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles or his laugh seem similar. Once when at Casterly Rock, Elayna noticed Seban’s hair curls much the same way Tymon’s does, and his laugh is similar to Jason’s. Even the way he narrows his eyes when he’s thinking is far more similar to the way Tyland does than to Elayna or Ryman.

Not that it matters. Seban is Elayna’s brother. He was raised by Alon as a Reyne, and as far as Elayna’s concerned, he is one. Even when she hated him intensely, Elayna never thought to call Seban a bastard. She never met Marla; she never got a good look at the woman. For all Elayna knows, Seban could take far more after his mother than Alon. It is as simple as that.

Ryman and Seban stay with Aemond and Elayna until they’ve finished the tour. Elayna excuses herself once they loop back to the main hall. 

“I wish to speak with Father before the feast.” Elayna explains. “I have much to discuss with him.”

Elayna knows in her heart it will probably be the last time she gets to speak with her father. From the look on Ryman’s and Seban’s faces, they think the same. 

“I will make sure the King is seen to.” Seban takes control of the situation effortlessly. For once, Elayna is appreciative of it. She nods. She wants to open her mouth to tell Seban she’s grateful, but she can’t find the words. She doesn’t seem to need them. Seban’s look tells her he knows.

Elayna makes her way down through the halls. Even though it’s been years since she’s been home, her feet carry her along the familiar path. She doesn’t have to think about where she’s going; she just lets her body lead her. 

Elayna stands at her father’s door. She pauses. For a second, she considers turning and walking away. She doesn’t... What if she isn’t able to handle seeing her father like this? What if one of her last memories of her father is seeing him weak and broken? What if-

She takes a deep breath. 

No. She has to. Elayna will never forgive herself if she doesn’t see Alon now. 

Elayna knocks.

“Come in.” Alon croaks after a second. He sounds so weak and feeble, it hurts Elayna’s heart.

Elayna steps quietly into her father’s chambers. Alon sits in his chair. He must have been expecting her; he looks as if he would rather be in bed but is instead waiting. His chest rises and falls shakily. His eyes are closed, but when he hears Elayna, he opens one.

“Elayna.” He sits up, wincing as he moves. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just wanted to see you.” Elayna stops by his chair. She wants to ask how he’s feeling or if there’s anything she can do to make him more comfortable. The words get stuck in her throat. Instead, she sits down wordlessly.

“I am so proud of you.” Alon breaks the silence first.  He places one hand on her shoulder. “You were so scared when you left, but you stuck it out and made it. You found yourself while you were gone. That is not something most can say.”

“Are you sure ‘tis not just because I’m Hand?” Elayna jokes. She can feel tears threatening to fall. Hastily, she wipes them. Alon shakes his head.

“For becoming Hand? I must admit disappointment. I thought I taught you better than to get involved in politics.” Alon sighs. “Of course I am proud of you for that. I do not think there is a single thing you could do that would make me not proud.”

Elayna’s lower lip trembles. She clears her throat and wipes her face quickly. 

“Did you get a chance to talk with Aemond?” 

Alon shakes his head. He lets his head fall back on the headrest.

“I hope to speak with him upon the morrow.” 

“I think you will like him.”

Alon opens one eye again.

“Do you love him?” Alon scoffs. “Don’t look at me like that. Just because you fool others does not mean you can fool your father.”

Elayna huffs in mock offense. Alon levels her with a look. After a moment, Elayna nods.

“I do love him.” The words feel freeing. She’s only ever told Aemond she loves him. She’s been too afraid to tell anyone else. Alon watches her face. “I don’t think I have ever loved someone as much as I do him.” She laughs softly. “When he went to fight Daemon, I was so afraid he would not come back, and I... It physically hurt to think of my life without him in it. I could not conceive of my world without him in it.”

Elayna realizes she’s about to cry. She clears her throat and goes to wipe her eyes. Alon stops her by taking a gentle hold of her hand.

“I felt much the same way about your mother.” Alon keeps his voice soft. “I was lucky enough she felt the same.”

Once again, Elayna wants to speak but the words escape her. Instead, all she can do is nod. Alon seems to understand. He doesn’t press her to speak. The two of them sit in silence for a long moment. 

Just as Elayna gathers the courage to speak, a knock sounds. Elayna stands up as a servant opens the door.

“The King.” The servant announces. Aemond steps into the room. The door shuts behind him. Elayna can feel her expression soften as soon as she sees him. She moves forward to greet him.

“I hope I am not interrupting anything.” Aemond steps forward. He does sound sincere.

“You aren’t.” Elayna reassures him. She turns back to Alon. “You remember Aemond?”

Elayna makes sure to subtly stress she says Aemond’s name and that she is not calling him King here. Alon nods.

“Yes, we were acquainted this morning.” Alon nearly drawls at her. Elayna heads back towards Alon, Aemond following her. Aemond takes the chair across from Alon, and Elayna settles herself in the chair beside him. 

“King Aemond. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You may call me Aemond.” Aemond speaks. He looks at Alon as he does so. 

“Very well then, Aemond.” Alon dips his head. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I merely wish to speak with you some. You mean much to Elayna.” Alon nods.

“I should hope I do.”

Aemond pauses. He carefully studies Alon.

“Elayna mentioned you grew up with my father and uncle. She said you were one of the few people who beat my uncle.”

Alon lets out a low laugh.

“Yes. Up until our Lord Commander of the King’s Guard, I was the only one with that distinction. Although, I suppose the ultimate honor goes to you.” Aemond merely lets out a low noise. “I was far closer to your father than I was your uncle. I hold no ill will. The Daemon you fought is not the Daemon I grew up with.” 

“I see.” Alon’s words seem to soothe some part of Aemond. He leans back in his chair. Alon waits until Aemond sits fully back before speaking again.

“Besides, I would not risk my daughter’s happiness over that.” Alon looks at Aemond. This time, he looks appraisingly at Aemond. “She is happy, yes?”

“Yes.” Aemond speaks with absolute certainty. His lone eye meets Alon’s. “Even before I became King, I found myself with few people to trust. Your daughter has always been the exception. She knows that is something I can never repay. If she is wanting for anything, all she has to do is ask.” Aemond’s lips twitch. “Besides. Both you and I know if Elayna were unhappy, she would simply leave.”

Elayna can’t help the laugh that escapes her. Alon lets out a noise suspiciously close to a snort.

“Oh, I am well aware of that.” Alon turns his teasing towards Elayna. “I have had many a discussion with our dear esteemed Lord Lannister and his younger brother Tymon about that.”

“Yes, well. Miserable doesn’t even begin to encompass how I felt there.” Elayna tosses her head back with a dramatic flare. Aemond reaches out and lightly places his hand on her forearm for a second. Alon lets out a soft noise almost like a sigh.

“I should have never let Seban ward you to them.” Alon sounds legitimately sad. He shakes his head. Elayna stands up and makes her way over to her father. She kneels down and places a hand on top of his old and wrinkled one.

“You were sick. There was nothing you could do.”

Alon scoffs. “I could have. If I had fought more or made it more clear to Seban that you would be miserable, maybe...”

“I would not have met Aemond if Seban had not done what he did.” Elayna runs her thumb over the back of Alon’s hand. “Had Seban not sent me to Casterly Rock, and had you not protected me from Tymon by sending me to the Red Keep after you called me back, I would no doubt be married to some generic Lord and be incredibly dissatisfied with my life. I do not begrudge you or Seban. Things turned out the way they were meant to.”

Alon doesn’t say anything. He closes his eyes and leans back. He seems to be considering Elayna’s words. 

“Elayna is right.” Aemond’s voice nearly makes Elayna jump. “I have no fondness for the Lannisters. However, they were instrumental in her and I meeting so I must extend some grace.” 

Aemond looks at Elayna. She knows what he is referring to. Even before he was King, Aemond made it clear that once the Lannisters stopped being useful, he would burn Casterly Rock to the ground. At the time, Elayna merely thought it was Aemond expressing rage at how they had treated his friend, but now. Now Elayna knows it was a declaration of love.

Alon doesn’t say anything. After a moment, he sighs and leans back in his chair.

“I do not mean to be rude, but I am not feeling well. I must save my energy for the feast tonight.” Elayna stands. Aemond moves to stand as well. When Elayna reaches her full height, she presses a kiss to the top of her father’s head.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Elayna quietly exits her father's chambers. Aemond stays close to her. 

It’s not long before they have to get ready for the feast. Thankfully, Elayna thought ahead. While she never spoke a word of it to Aemond, she sent clothes and other belongings for the both of them to Castamere for when they visited. Ideally, it would have been for when Aemond asked Alon for her hand, but Elayna also knew the reality of the situation. A grim affair was just as likely as a joyous one. 

Aemond stays with Elayna and walks her to her chambers. Neither of them speak. Elayna can’t. Her throat hurts too much. Her eyes almost burn with unshed tears. Aemond doesn’t force conversation. He merely keeps step with her. It takes Elayna a moment to realize he’s standing closer to her than normal, as if he expects her to start crying at any moment. Elayna doesn’t know how she manages to keep a hold of herself until they reach the door to her quarters.

“I shall see you at the feast tonight?” Elayna realizes she’s defaulting to tried and true scripts to keep her emotions at bay. Aemond’s expression wavers. His forehead furrows, and he looks upset. He steps towards Elayna. His eye scans her face for a second. He pauses. Aemond looks left and then right quickly before speaking.

“Elayna...” He takes a deep inhale. “I will not push you about your father. But do not take that as me giving you permission to hide from me.”

“Hiding from you?” Elayna starts to scoff. She realizes it sounds hollow, even to her ears. She sighs. “Aemond, I...” She clears her throat. “I will not hide from you. I promise.”

Aemond makes a low ‘hm’. He almost seems as if he doesn’t believe her for a second. Eventually, he takes a step back.

“I shall see you tonight.” His response is curt. 

Elayna makes her way to her designated room. Her head pounds. She feels the want, the need, to cry build within her. She swallows and stamps it down. She cannot afford to do this now. Tonight? Tonight when no one is around and no one will hear or see her, she can. But not now. 

There is too much to attend to.

One of what Elayna considers to be her few gifts is her gift of foresight. After the war was over, Elayna quietly sent several chests over to Castamere. Alon grew sicker and sicker by the day. Elayna knew she would be called to go home at some point. She also knew Aemond would not let her go by carriage; he would see her to Castamere himself. 

Sending several chests ahead for him as well may have been hopefully. She's glad she did so.

The chests were only sent two moons ago, so the dresses inside still fit. After a quick bath, more to wash the smell of ozone and dragon off than anything else, Elayna stares at the dresses. Each one seemed like an excellent choice at the time but now. She isn't sure.

Eventually, one catches her eye.

It's perfect. It's elegant and refined without being showstopping or attention grabbing. It's red but not Lannister red, Reyne red. Small details in the pattern reveal not a lion but a dragon, curled about her waist. Elayna pairs it with her silver stole and silver jewelry with sapphires encrusted in them. 

She takes her time. Elayna knows. Deep within herself, she knows. This is Alon's last feast. 

Elayna presses her hand to her mouth.

Gods old and new, she would give anything, anything, to either have that not be the case or to not have this knowledge. She wants to scream and lash out, break things because she can. 

Instead, she swallows. She can do that later tonight, when no one is around. 

A knock on her door nearly makes her jump.

"Come in."

Aemond enters silently. He shuts the door carefully behind him. Elayna almost bursts into tears then and there. He doesn't say anything. She takes a deep breath.

"You... you. You don't want me to hide from you?" Her voice almost breaks. He crosses the room.

"I do not."

"Even when it is ugly?"

"Especially then." Aemond reaches out and places a gentle hand on her cheek. Elayna leans into his touch. 

"It will be ugly."

"I don't care. I will not have you hide any part of you."

Elayna nods her assent.

"I won't, then." She wets her suddenly dry lips. "And you... you will not hide from me?"

Aemond dips his head.

"I will not."

"Okay."

They make their way down to the great hall together. Elayna walks close to him. She needs him to ground her. For his part, Aemond shortens his stride so she may keep up with him.

When they get to the hall, their presence and entrance is announced. Everyone stands as they walk through. She can feel everyone's eyes on her. She does not care. They don't matter. Her father and family sit at the table at the front of the hall. Elayna keeps her gaze trained on them. Seban and Ryman smile openly, as well as her mother.

Alon practically beams. 

They sit at the large table. Normally, as Aemond’s Hand, Elayna sits to Aemond’s right. Elayna goes to do so, but Alon waves her away.

“You are my daughter. I will sit on this side to protect the King.” Alon gestures for Elayna to sit to Aemond’s left. Elayna narrows her eyes but does as her father says. She feels as if her father might be trying to set something up, although she isn’t sure what exactly.  

Elayna and Aemond sit. Alon waits.

"Thank you, everyone, who is here tonight." Alon's voice rings out in the hall. "It is with much pleasure we have found ourselves host to the King and his Hand, my daughter, Elayna." Approving murmurs ring out around the room. "Our portion of the surrounding forest hopefully plays host to the great dragon, Vhagar." Small laughs break out. "It has been quite some time since Castamere has been blessed with the presence of a King or Queen, which makes the honor of hosting our King much stronger. I cannot think of any greater honor to be bestowed in my lifetime." Alon pauses. "To King Aemond!"

The crowd echoes Alon's statement. Aemond merely bows his head. 

The feast begins.

Ryman sits on Elayna's right. He's a welcome and grounding presence. Elayna missed her younger brother. It feels good to see him again, even if the circumstances aren't ideal. 

As the first course wraps up, Alon motions for his page to begin refilling his cup. When the boy leans in, Alon whispers something to him. The boy nods and begins refilling other cups. As he waits for this task to be finished, Alon turns to Aemond.

“Rumor has it,” Alon leans in conspiratorially as he speaks, “that Boros Baratheon has been rather insistent on pushing one of his daughters towards you.”

Aemond merely arches an eyebrow. “Rumors travel far these days.”

“Only as far as the raven flies.” Alon merely hums. “If you will indulge me on one topic. I would like to know who your considerations are for Queen. You seem very tight lipped about it. Besides. It’s not as if I would tell anyone.”

“Father.” Elayna hisses. “ ‘Tis not the time.”

“I’m an old man. I am allowed to have my indulgences.”

“I only have one person in mind.” Aemond trains his gaze on Alon. Even on Aemond’s other side, Elayna can feel the intensity of Aemond’s gaze. 

“Do I get a name?”

“Elayna Reyne.”

Elayna’s heart leaps into her throat. She doesn’t know how her father feels about Aemond now that he’s met him. She knows he seems to like him, but she described Aemond in letters. Meeting someone in person is entirely different. 

Alon’s eyes meet Elayna’s.

“I suppose you could do worse.” He grins at the small, fake offended noise that leaves Elayna. Alon begins to stand. Addison looks at Alon, concern written all over her face. She starts to help Alon, but he shakes his head. He reaches full height. Everyone turns to look at Alon. He holds his goblet out.

“A toast.” Alon begins. Everyone lifts their goblet. “To the King. May he live long and his reign prosper.” Murmurs of agreement break out. “And to my daughter, Hand of the King, and future Queen, Elayna. May their union be strong and unwavering.”

Instantly, shocked murmurs break out. Seban cranes his head to look at Elayna while Ryman elbows her hard. Alon clears his throat.

“To the King and Queen.”

“To the King and Queen!”

As soon as the toast is over, people break out into whispers. Alon catches Elayna’s eye and smiles at her. She smiles back. Underneath the table, Aemond’s hand finds hers. She intertwines their fingers. 

“When were you going to tell me?” Ryman hisses. Elayna shrugs.

“Perhaps you were the only one I didn’t tell.” She murmurs into her goblet. Ryman shifts his leg. “Ah, kicking me would count as a crime now.” She can’t help but to dissolve into giggles at the look on his face. 

“You are an asshole.��� He hisses.

“You should not speak to the future Queen that way. You should address her with respect.” Aemond looks at Ryman. For a second, Aemond’s slightly icy tone throws Elayna. “Just because she is your sister does not mean you can leave out her title.”

Elayna smirks at Ryman. It takes a moment for the fear to leave Ryman’s eyes, but once it does, he almost snorts.

“Forgive me.” He turns to Elayna. “You are an asshole, my Queen.” 

“That is acceptable, yes.” Aemond murmurs. Elayna hides her face by pretending to wipe her face and clears her throat in an attempt not to snort with laughter.

“Of course, Your Grace. I would not want to cause any offense.” Elayna nearly splutters at Ryman’s words. She opens her mouth to ask him how exactly calling her an asshole wouldn’t cause any offense when she hears footsteps behind her.

“Your Grace.” Seban greets. “Queen Elayna. May I have a word?’

Seban’s words are polite and formal, almost overly so. Elayna stares at him. No doubt his approach to teasing her would be the opposite of Ryman’s, leaning so far into formalities people would think they weren’t siblings.

“Of course.” 

Ryman stands up. “I do believe I’m being called.” He winks at Seban. Both Elayna and Seban do their best not to roll their eyes. No one was calling Ryman. When Ryman is a suitable distance away, Seban takes his seat. He looks at Elayna. Alon strikes up a conversation with Aemond. Elayna isn’t sure if it’s because he wants Aemond’s opinion on something or if he’s giving Seban time to talk with Elayna. Knowing Alon, it was likely both.

“How long?” He keeps his voice low.

“I don’t kn-”

“Elayna.” Seban nearly hisses. “I know you. You wouldn’t make this decision on a whim.”

Oh. Elayna swallows. She never really thought about Seban noticing things like that about her. Since he was much older than her and from a previous marriage, it often felt as if he was more of an adult than her brother. He was, in a way. He was seven when Elayna was born. By the time Elayna reached the age where she could remember things, he was already twelve and much too old to be hanging around someone barely done being a toddler.

“I...” She sighs softly. “Five months.”

She watches Seban do the math.

“After he killed the traitor Daemon?”

Elayna nods. “The same night.”

Seban sighs. He leans back a little in the chair. He eyes her for a second.

“I’m surprised it took that long.” Elayna’s mouth nearly drops open. Seban shakes his head. “I have friends in Court as well. The King’s fondness for you is well known.”

“Yes. Tymon loves to remind me.” She huffs. The mention of Tymon makes Elayna’s stomach sink, though.

By the Seven.

What were they going to do about that? Panic rises to her throat. It would be a bad look for her and Aemond to announce their engagement while at Castamere. It should be done when they were at the Red Keep. Normally, she would not care about things like that, but given the two of them will no doubt face unending questions and attempts to delegitimize their relationship at every turn, she knows everything counts. 

Seban reaches out. He places a hand on hers.

“No one is going to say anything.” Seban murmurs. “I’ve already begun telling people to keep word to themselves until they two of you are ready to announce it to everyone.”

“Seban...” Elayna swallows. Seban moves his head. 

“I do ask one thing.”

“What?”

“I want to be the one to tell Jason.” Elayna laughs.

“Only if I get to be the one to tell Tymon.”

“Deal.”

Seban holds out his hand. Elayna shakes it.

The feast continues well into the night. As Elayna laughs and jokes with her brothers, as she watches Ryman and Seban easily accept Aemond as if he was meant to be part of the family, as she watches her father and Aemond converse, she finds. She finds she wants nothing more than to live in this moment for the rest of her life. 

It is a perfect last memory of her father.

She knows that's what it is, what it must be. As she squeezes her father's hand for the last time when he departs, her lower lip behind to tremble.

"I love you." She manages.

"I love you too." Alon presses his lips to her temple. "Remember. No matter what. I am always proud of you."

Elayna keeps his words close to her chest. She has to.

For she knows the Stranger will visit in the night. The Stranger may take her father away, but He cannot take their bond away. She won't let Him. As she watches her mother carefully guide Alon to their chambers, Elayna realizes. The Stranger takes everyone away. He cannot take the love away, though. 

She clings to that knowledge like a lifeline. She knows she will need it in the coming days, weeks, months, years.

Aemond reaches out with one hand. Not under the table but on top, in the open. Elayna accepts. She interlaced her fingers with his and squeezes. When he squeezes back, she knows.

The Stranger cannot take this away either. 

She won't let Him.

Tags: @writingbylee​

[jostepherjoestar]

return from Sicily 🖤

sfw // gn reader // so much pining like whew 

Hello everyone, it is i, Cozy, back to give you a lil snack between schoolwork. This was fully self indulgent, to a worrying degree, so my apologies for that. But please enjoy, it was a fun little writing exercise since it’s been a while!💖✨

A distant car door shut, the sound muffled by the thick brick walls that separated you from the sparsely populated street where La Squadra Esecuzioni has been residing for a little while now. It’s not an uncommon sound, not at all actually. You’ve lost count of how many times you’ve woken up to heavy car doors slamming in the middle of the night, men of disputable morals stepping out and going about their even more so morally disputable business. But instead of filling you with annoyance that you’d have to lull yourself back to sleep again, this faint slam meant the return of your capo!

He’d been off on his very first holiday since joining Passione. Perhaps it was even the first in his life, the past never really presenting such opportunities unfortunately. 10 days. 10 whole days since the looming figure that brought a sense of calm and comfort to your shared homebase had left to start his travels to Sicily. And God had you missed him. You thought your crush on him had been manageable, maybe it would even dim by not seeing him for a while.

But oh no. It got worse. It got so much worse.

You hadn’t realised it before, but living so close with your teammates had conditioned you. You saw them every single day, for worse or for better. And that also included Risotto. Sometimes he’d be too busy to come out of his office but you were always sure to pay him a quick visit. Just to check up on him, you told yourself. You’d shoot him a warm smile that always received a small nod in return from the tired form pouring over his work.

A rush of excited energy barreled through your body, trying to suppress the need to wait at the front door like an overzealous golden retriever. You put down your phone and exhaled deeply, mentally preparing yourself as to not let on how much you’ve missed seeing him around.

You heard the familiar sound of the front door unlocking and got up from the living room couch you’d been lounging on as casually as possible. Casually making your way to the entrance to casually welcome back your colleague. Casual.

Risotto looked...magnificent. His skin had darkened under the Sicilian sun and given him a nice tan that evenly spread over his figure. He was wearing a simple black shirt that clung to the right places, adorning his chiseled chest and barely holding onto his built biceps. His hat was nowhere in sight and his silver locks poked out in different directions, clearly not bothered to tame them for his drive home.

Your quick once-over cut short over the sound of your own voice. “You’re back! Did you have fun? I missed you-” To your own surprise the words left you all too soon. In an attempt to fix the slip up you hurriedly continued. “We all missed you, I mean…” you trailed off. Risotto’s lips quirked up into an amused smirk, showing off his dimple that rarely appeared. He looked a lot more relaxed than before he left.

“Oh? We?” he said, making it a point to lean to his side to direct his gaze to the empty apartment behind you. No one else had been home. You felt heat rise to your cheeks and the desperate need to run and never return. Why was this already so hard?

You nervously chuckled and wrung your hands together, casting your eyes down at Risotto’s bag that had been put near the messy shoe rack Formaggio promised to clean up while your capo was gone. Sensing you weren’t going to rebuttal his comment, he continued. “It was nice. But I did miss you all, too.” The baritone of voice only stoked the fires burning under your skin.

He had missed you. Your mind swatted away the unnecessary word that followed his statement indicating that he’d also missed your teammates. You really needed to get a grip on your feelings.

You looked up again, feeling a bit braver to face your capo. “You look at ease, it really did you good, huh?” you softly hummed. His eyes held kindness in return, no matter how dark and spooky they were to some, they held no sharp edge whenever they landed on you.

As soon as you both stepped further into the apartment you heard him let out a deep sigh. It wasn’t of displeasure, no, those were way deeper and mostly kept for difficult meetings. He was breathing in the familiar smell of home. One that strangely enough had become the one he most associated with you. Walking behind you towards his room with his bag gripped tightly, his hand clutching the straps even harder turning his knuckles white.

He’d missed you too. So much. His trip was fun and relaxing and he could finally spend time by himself after being surrounded by people 24/7. But with every stroll past the beach, every dinner spent by himself- calmly sipping a glass of deep red wine, he wished you were there to spend it with him. To hold your hand and gently sway it as the sea breeze washed away the stress work had caused to settle onto you both. To rest on the beach together, lazing on a towel while the sun beamed down and a comfortable silence that rested between you.

Risotto was thankful for the holiday he never thought he’d have while working for Passione, but even more thankful to be back home. Where you were.

You had kindly opened the door for him, that cute smile resting on your lips as you let him pass by. The room smelled fresh and sweet like the breeze outside, the wind fluttering the curtains. “I changed your sheets and opened the window for you. Thought you wouldn’t mind it.” you shyly said as he set down his bag and huffed down on the edge of his bed. Idly caressing the light sheets in appreciation. He offered you a quick smile in return, instantly making that heat rise back to your cheeks.

“I’ll let you get settled.” You were glad he was back home safe, maybe you’d rest easier now and maybe your feelings would reach a more manageable level again. But before you could get far, not even a step further towards the hallway, you felt a big hand grasp your wrist. It felt warm and calloused, one that has worked hard and endured too much. You bounced back but steadied yourself to face Risotto who had cleared his throat and swiftly let go of your wrist. Bold move there, he warned himself.

“Sorry, I- I got you something.” he grumbled out the apology, brow creased as he dipped down to reach for something in his bag.

“Here.” He handed you a strangely shaped crumpled newspaper, cursing himself for not wrapping it in something a bit nicer. It was much heavier than your average weekly publication so you held it steadier, gently trying to unwrap whatever was hiding inside. Excitement was still bubbling inside, but a sense of ease that only Risotto supplied had nestled its way into you.

Risotto took over the discarded newspaper to let you admire the gift, trying his best to hide his excited stare, eager to know if you’d liked it. In your hands rested a ceramic mug, it looked handmade and the uneven strokes of shiny blue coloured glaze gave it a rustic touch. Lemons and leaves decorated the sides, making you turn it over a couple times to fully admire the handiwork. You were so enamoured by the gift you’d forgotten to let him know your thoughts.

“For your collection…” he trailed off, getting a bit nervous at his choice and doubting if you’d liked it. He knew you had a particular taste in mugs that were allowed into your hallowed collection. (not to be touched by your other teammates of course)

“I love it Ris. Really, it’s absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much.” You really did love it, your heart could barely take how much you did. Clutching the mug in your hand, you reached over and hugged him. He had barely processed the relief of you liking his gift to be hit with your form clinging to his torso. Carefully, he placed a single hand around your middle, not wanting to make you feel uncomfortable as he reciprocated. “Thank you.” you quietly let out while giving him a curt squeeze.

His arm eased you down  to sit next to him on the edge of the bed, feeling his very own surge of warmth ghost over his cheeks. His hand remained on your side, comfortably resting there, feeling right at home. You didn’t mind, not in the slightest. You were just so happy he’d returned and even brought you a thoughtful gift.

“Maybe next time I could show you around the shop I got it from. They have lots more to choose from.” he urged himself on, hearing his own heartbeat reach new speeds at the suggestion and its implications. A next time, but with you by his side.

You held onto the mug for dear life, clasping your fingers even tighter around the sides in case you’d drop it and shatter it like your chances with Risotto. Your mind raced, his suggestion having caused a mild short circuit of all functions. After a trained breath you find the strength to reply. “I’d like that very much. Just be sure to keep Ghiaccio away from the fragile stuff.” you chuckled nervously. A heavenly sound to the smitten capo.

“The rest of the team- as much as I like them- are uhm… not invited.” The smile that danced on his lips and the glint in his eyes made your heart flutter all over as you looked up at him.

A holiday? Just the two of you?

“Oh. Oh.”

You can’t seem to tear your eyes away from his as the thought settles between you. His hand on your hip hadn’t moved, only growing warmer and now finally urging you to scootch a little closer. His soft touch lingering on the small of your back now, closing in the distance and letting your hands rest on his chest as he moved to your inviting lips.

You felt like you’d burst any second, steadying your breath seemingly the hardest task you’ve had to face yet. But then your lips met, softer than any you’d felt before and easing over yours like it was the greatest privilege ever granted. A warm palm cupping your cheek, only deepening the finalisation of your mutual holiday plans. Everything you’d both been wishing to let out finally coming together, moving along your lips with a deep need and hunger that got its chance to grasp at a godly buffet.

With disbelief you both let go- regrettably so, softly gasping for air. If you wanted to go on a holiday together, you would still need to be breathing to get there. As you shared the lingering moment of closeness, appreciating the warmth and love of each other’s gazes, your hearing picked up on scuffling in the hallway.

Mortified you snapped your attention to Melone in the doorway collecting what looked like money from a passing Formaggio and Prosciutto. “Told you they’d do it after he got back.” he smuggly grinned, counting his winnings as you heard Risotto let out a small chuckle under his breath. Earning him a playful jab to his side from you.

“Melone, I won’t kill you if we split the winnings. We have a holiday to save for.” you grumbled.

[babysizedfics]

Back at it again with a couple more HC prompts, which imma just dump in one, and you can pick which ones you want. Puddles with the kiddos, family baking sessions when both are regressed, Ro wanting attention whilst Logan is reading, so climbing all over his book, how their reactions to new stuffies differ, regressed versus non-regressed birthdays.... Etc... 👍

okokokokok buckle up everyone

Puddles:

this is the only one where i have to be like .. i don't think so :0 see virgil can get very nervous when it rains because he's so anxious about 'is it gonna storm? will there be thunder? will we be hit by lightning? will there be a flood? what if one of us slips and hurts our head??' that he just cannot relax enough to be able to jump around in puddles because 'WHAT IF I SLIP IM GONNA DIE' and the wetness on his skin sets off the wrong sensory feelings so jumping in muddy puddles is a no for him (as much as he loves peppa pig)

and roman is a fussy little thing, he may not care as much for his appearance when he's small but i think he will still be conscious enough to notice if he gets wet hair and muddy clothes - plus i feel like roman's mood is quite tied to the weather, on dark days he tends to fee a little more gloomy, ao again not sure about this especially if he wouldn't have his baby brother there with him

Baking:

OH BOY so roman is a great cook okay? like chef level he has honed his skills so that he can make romantic meals for handsome princes, but baking? nu uh, too technical, he ain't got time for that. Patton is the baker of the house and makes cookies and cupcakes way too often for Logan's liking (but secretly he loves them of course, he's just concerned for everybody's teeths) but both CGs will cook dinner when the boys are little

When the boys are regressed they're not allowed much in the kitchen anymore. after roman tried to make breakfast in bed for his CGs and started a very small but very real fire he has lost some kitchen rights (ficlet coming to you at some point perhaps) and is not allowed in the kitchen without at least one CG. even if he can switch so quickly between headspaces, he ends up either 1) too stubborn to come out of little space, or 2) a kittle bit clumsy when he comes out of it

but to make up for roman being upset by this slight loss of independence (he is a big kid after all) patton and he do weekly baking sessions! and there's always a theme. most recently they had animal crossing themed cupcakes, a little mermaid themed jello (not technically baking but roman wanted to but little fish gummies in the jelly), and... the next one is a secret because i might put it in chapter 7 (: in fact chapter 7 will feature the first instance of this tradition!!

virgil has pyrophobia (fear of fire) and so is never keen to be in the kitchen while there's food preparation going on (but he was allowed to help with the under the sea jello!!) so roman and pattons baking sessions are an excuse for mama and baby bonding time! the tradition didn't start until after virgil's separation anxiety from patton had eased up a little so luckily there's barely any tears

mama baby bonding time consists of but is not limited to: sitting on mama's lap, doing puzzles together, (vee trying to suck on a puzzle piece and crying when he's told not to), mama reading baby books to vee, vee touching all the textures and flaps in the baby books, snuggles

Ro wanting attention while Lo is reading:

this is 1000% canon!! later in the series logan will often be at work in his room and have the boys with him because patton is busy with something or another. they realise they really do need to keep working for thomas' sake but manage to integrate the boys' littlespaces into it. Eg. logan dangling baby plastic keys from one hand to amuse girgil while he's typing with the other

but when it's quiet time, when patton is in virgil's room because the baby is having a nap and papa wants to watch over him, when roman hasn't been little because he's been working or simply not in the mood earlier that day, when logan is just chilling, just reading a stephen hawking book in the living room, when he's literally just vibing, roman can and will launch himself into logan's lap sending the book flying and logan isn't allowed to tell him off because 'I'm little now! i want attention now!! hi mom!!!!'

New stuffies:

AHHHHHHHHH this this this is so so cute!!

roman never used to care much for soft toys before okay? before he was ever a little sure he appreciated disney action figures (he used them to block out scenes he wrote for theatre productions and screenplays and fanfiction) sure he always had a soft spot for Mrs Fluffybottom his childhood toy, but she always just sat on a shelf, he never fet the need to cuddle her or play with her

but when he realises he's little, when he starts playing with vee, when he sees how much vee cares about his soft animals, when patton and logan buy him a present to welcome him to the littlespace family and it's a golden teddy bear (soon to be named Aladdin) with big brown beady eyes and a satin crimson bow around its neck? yeah big kids love stuffies too

and now whenever roman is gifted a new toy (soft or otherwise) he essentially gets the zoomies!!! his brain is going a million miles a minute with all the game possibilities and with the excitement of NEW PRESENT!!! and with the happiness that his caregivers thought about him and he's been a good enough boy to deserve gifts?? yeah he's so so so excited he canNOT stand still he runs around the house for a whole hour flinging his new toy around (yeah he's a bit rough with them and there's been more than one torn limp or loose eye but he doesn't care it just shows how much they're loved!)

Now virgil: this boy is very very very emotionally attached to his stuffies. when he was a "dark side" he couldn't have much soft stuff because it just went against everything the household stood for and he couldn't risk the others finding out about how not-scary he really was, but he allowed himself a single stuffed rabbit that was easy to hide and that he loved with all of his being. it was his security blanket and his one item that could offer him comfort in a oanic attack and his only posession that he felt was true to him and not true to the scary facade he put up to scare thomas and the "light sides" into listening to him

without spoiling anything, that bunny was left in that house when he moved to the "light sides"

and in his new home virgil started collecting soft toys whenever he needed comfort. everytime he felt unwanted, every time he had an anxiety attack, everytime there was a thunderstorm predicted for the next week he would get himself a new soft toy because that was the only way he knew to comfort himself. needless to say he's got a pretty big collection now. you might think he became desensitized to new toys because of how many times he had gotten himself a new one, and you might be partly right.

that is until for the first time ever he is given a stuffie by someone else... when logan buys him a soft toy in apology for accidentally revealing his regression to everyone ((yes i am writing this fic!))

it wasn't really logan's fault, virgil should have been more aware he should have been more careful he should have hidden it all better but the logical side was guilt-ridden nonetheless. virgil hadn't expected much to be honest, the sincere apology was enough for him

but when logan blushed and shyly opened a box and handed him a black cat stuffie? virgil had to fight very very hard not to outright sob on the spot. he simply took it, thanked logan shakily, and prayed that logan didn't point out the fact that tears were falling onto the fluff of his new stuffed friend Jiji

now whenever he gets a new toy it's different than before - it's not because he's upset and needs comfort, it happens less often now but it's more special, it could be for a holiday or as a way of saying he's been very sweet or just because patton simply couldn't resist this one because look at its cute lil eyes! but each and everytime he knows when he is handed a new toy by one of his family members it really means 'i love you'

and he buries his face in its softness - it used to be to hide his tears, but now he just can't help but squeeze it tight and close and let the feeling of love wash over him

Birthdays:

yknow that episode of steven universe where steven wears a regal cape and a golden crown? yeah that's roman whether he's little or not

seriously this kid is very much the 'it's my birthweek!' type

lots of singing, lots of 'but i'm the birthday boy!!' to try to get thtings he really shouldn't be getting (like a third cookie) (and yes patton caves every single time) (patton is eventually banned from making decisions on romans behalf during his "birthweek")

there's not much difference at all between little romans birthday and big romans birthday, he's just an excitable boy whether he's a kiddo or not - this may or may not make the caregivers question whether maybe he actually was a little before virgil's regression was revealed

(irrelevant but patton definitely makes the pun 'you're a little? a little what? finish your sentences silly billy!')

virgil hates his birthday. hates it.

too much attention, too many things that could go wrong, too much pressure on it being a good day. what if his anxiety is bad that day? what if he doesn't want everyone watching him open presents? what if he's genuinely terrified that people think walking towards him with a big grin, singing at him, and carrying a cakeful of literal fire is a somehow a fun activity??

when he first moved into the house he made it very clear that he does not have a birthday so don't even try to throw him a party

naturally roman and patton were devastated, but after a failed attempt at getting virgil to enjoy his birthday they obeyed logan's request that they not try to push the idea on virgil any further

but the first birthday after they become a little family, it's a bit different

they don't push it, not at first, but virgil does wake up to patton already in his room and cooing at him adoringly , immediately sending him into his regressed headspace

then he's given a new soft toy. that wasn't so bad

then roman let him choose what disney film they watched. that wasnt bad either

then logan cuddled him for an hour and they might have fallen asleep together not noticing the smell of vanilla coming from the kitchen

then there was a new paci, a new rattle, another new soft toy, and cake cut up into tiny squares so he could nibble on it with his fingers

there was no loud singing no big surprises no bright lights or fire or anything else that he hated about birthdays

there was only love and toys and comfort. so virgil really didn't mind birthdays much after that

[rainandhotchocolate]

About Last Night - P2

A/N So i know I have a million other requests but I’m a sucker for this story sooooo here’s part 2222 lel enjoy!!

Mon 12:00pm

Sirius ~ So before I read the weekend news, should I be worried about seeing any murders I was supposed to be involved in? ~

Y/N ~ Don’t worry I planted your fingertips everywhere so they’ll know you were involved as well ~

Sirius ~ Oh thank god, I needed something to destroy my reputation ~

Y/N ~ And what reputation is that? ~

Sirius ~ Oh you know, cool edgy creative writing major with a soft side ™ ~

Y/N ~ Dear god you’re one of them :O ~

Sirius ~ Ur DiffEReNT thAN OthER giRlS ~

Y/N ~ **Blocked**

Sirius ~ I sincerely hope you know I was joking ~

Y/N ~ I guess I’ll have to find out :P What are you up to today? ~

Sirius ~ Well apart from giving my alibi to police, I have about 3 hours of classes today and an essay due ~

Y/N ~ Wow, that sounds like a super fun day – any good classes? ~

Sirius ~ Yeah I’m enjoying my lit class at the moment, we are doing genre fiction at the moment so looking into how writers create worlds, even within our own world, and why genre fiction is so looked down upon in literature society ~

~ and now that I’ve typed that out I am realising that it probably doesn’t sound wildly interesting ~

Y/N ~ Hahaha nah it does! That would be cool to learn about, I’m a sucker for genre fiction tbh, could never read the classics ~

Sirius ~ That just means you never found a good classic 😉 – What kinda stuff do you read? ~

Y/N ~ look I want no judgement here… I honestly mostly read fantasy/ sci-fi ~

Sirius ~ Have you read Dune?? ~

Y/N ~ Yes !!! Holy shit such a good series !! ~

Sirius ~ I’ve been trying to get my mates to read it for a LIFETIME its so good ~

Y/N ~ I would have thought Remus would have read them? He’s always got a new book with him ~

Sirius ~ I didn’t know you knew Remus as well? But yeah, he in theory would but he also has a long list of to reads and wants to go through them one after another ~

Y/N ~ Yeah, he studies with Lily a lot and I sometimes join them 😊. Also jesus that’s commitment, I’m usually picking up another book whilst I’m halfway through another ~

Sirius ~ I have no idea how he does it, if I’m being honest, if I hate a book I just don’t finish it (please don’t tell my literary friends I told you that, I would be killed in my sleep) ~

Y/N ~ Haha your secret is safe with me – imo I reckon that’s the best way to read, like why force yourself through something just because it’s a classic or whatever, I feel like that’s why so many people don’t read a lot you know? ~

Sirius ~ Completely! I actually just realised I have no idea what you study? ~

Y/N ~ Ahh that’s because I’ve been avoiding the question ~

Sirius ~ It can’t be worse than creative writing – I won’t even get a job after uni ~

Y/N ~ Oh believe me, it is. I study communications ~

Sirius ~ Oh dear lord you are every white girl who ever existed ~

Y/N ~ I know, I’m perpetuating the stereotype its very disappointing tbh ~

Sirius ~ So is that where you work then? ~

Y/N ~ Wow you remember a lot haha yeah, I’m doing an internship in social media management, it’s surprisingly soul-sucking ~

Sirius ~ Is that surprising… 😉 ~

Y/N ~ I mean, that was thinly veiled sarcasm haha but it’s actually not all bad, the strategy behind content etc is actually pretty interesting, and I’m working for an eco-friendly company so at least I get to come up with cool environmental memes ~

Sirius ~ Ahh yes, hit the youth with the memes ~

Y/N ~ See, you’re learning the comms ways already ~

 Thurs 11:28pm

Y/N ~ Whats ya facebook? ~

Sirius ~ Uhhh… Sirius Black? It’s not wildly hard to find, why? ~

Y/N ~ I’m gonna be real, I would like to stalk you ~

Sirius ~ Is this Y/N? ~

Y/N ~ :O ok you’ve known Y/N like 2 days how did you guess that ~

Sirius ~ Cause this message felt like one of those old school msn ‘my friend hacked me !!!’ ~

Y/N ~ You’re a smart boi, Black ~

Sirius ~ thank you kindly stranger ~

 Fri 6:45 am

Y/N ~ I AM SO SORRY ~

~ MARLENE STOLE MY PHONE ~

~ I PROMISE I’M NOT A STALKER ~

Sirius ~ Why on earth are you awake right now ~

Y/N ~ Because my body never allows me to sleep in ~

Sirius ~ how rude, also don’t worry I accepted your Facebook request so you can stalk all you want 😉 ~

Y/N ~ Literally am going to stab Marlene ~

Sirius ~ At least she’s up front ~

Y/N ~ Wait why are you awake rn? ~

Sirius ~ James wants to make the firsts soccer team at uni and has decided I must train with him ~

Y/N ~ Well that’s gross ~

Sirius ~ Couldn’t have said that better myself ~

Y/N ~ so what does this training consist of ~

Sirius ~ Mainly James trying to shoot balls at my head as I attempt to goal keep ~

Y/N ~ Can’t see that ending well ~

Sirius ~ Excuse you, I happen to be VERY athletic. I am a multisided human being thanks ~

Y/N ~ I am so sorry to have placed my predisposed ideas on you ☹ pls forgive ~

Sirius ~ I will have to think about it – right now James wanted me to do suicides and I must go into hiding ~

Y/N ~ Godspeed ~

Sun 2:58pm

Y/N ~ Ok I know I promised not to stalk, but what the fuck is going on in this picture ~

~ file ~

Sirius ~ oh no no no no no no no no ~

Y/N ~ ehheheheheheheheh ~

Sirius ~ I really thought my privacy settings were better than this ~

Y/N ~ Yeah this was very easy to find ~

Sirius ~ I’m going to kill James ~

Y/N ~ You can’t blame james for this beauty ~

Sirius ~ Oh I really can, he decided it would be hilarious for us to have a photoshoot when I was completely trashed one night. And then proceeded to post everything and tag me ~

Y/N ~ James sounds like a fun night out ~

Sirius ~ I wouldn’t say that to lily ~

Y/N ~ What she doesn’t know won’t kill her 😉 ~

Sirius ~ You are slyer than I thought ~

Y/N ~ I think I’m going to frame this photo and place it all over your uni ~

Sirius ~ You wouldn’t ~

Y/N ~ You may need to convince me otherwise ~

Sirius ~ Anything to avoid that embarrassment in my life ~

Y/N ~ Perhaps you’ll just have to owe me for sparing you ~

Sirius ~ I think that’s a fair deal – what about a coffee? ~

Y/N ~ I think a coffee or two would be a fair trade off :P ~

Sirius ~ Well I have the most disgusting week of midterms but perhaps on the weekend? ~

Y/N ~ Sounds LIT ~

Sirius ~ You’ve just made me regret inviting you anywhere ~

Y/N ~ That’s what I’m here for 😉 ~

 Wed 3:07pm

Sirius ~ Bit of a creepy question, but did I see you at uni today? Navy Skirt, Black Jumper, & tights?

Y/N ~ Wow you really observe an outfit don’t you ~

Sirius ~ I mean I noticed the outfit cause I thought it looked good and then I realised it was you and so it stuck in my head ~

~ in a less creepy way ~

~ in fact let me just completely start over – were you at uni today? I think I saw you! ~

Y/N ~ Maybe, what was I wearing? ~

Sirius ~ I hate you ~

Y/N ~ 😉 Well to answer your question, yes I was at uni – it was Lily and I’s weekly cheap lunch date ~

Sirius ~ Classy ladies you two are ~

Y/N ~ Couldn’t describe us better myself ~

Sirius ~ Oh by the way, are you going to Remus’ party this Friday? ~

Y/N ~ Mmmm I was thinking about it, why? ~

Sirius ~ No reason, I just knew Lily was invited and he mentioned inviting some of her friends ~

Y/N ~ Mmmm, yeah he told Lily to bring Marlene and me along, unsure though as Lily is particularly annoyed at James this week and he will of course be there and be annoying ~

Sirius ~ What if I can promise he won’t annoy her? ~

Y/N ~ I really don’t think you should make a promise you can’t keep :P ~

Sirius ~ Ah, you underestimate me! James has to go home this weekend to see his parents so he won’t actually be there ~

Y/N ~ This is a very interesting development – we may reconsider ~

Sirius ~ Well Remus does throw a great party ~

Y/N ~ DO you actually know what James did anyway? She usually likes to rant about it but she’s been shut in her room the past 2 days ~

Sirius ~ Honestly I’m not sure, James has been unprecedently quiet as well ~

Y/N ~ Hmmm how odd ~

Sirius ~ Indeed it is ~

 Friday 4:42pm

Y/N ~ What are you guys wearing tonight? ~

Marlene ~ Not sure, I’m torn between a velour tracksuit or the classic Canadian tuxedo ~

Lily ~ Both very classy options ~

Marlene ~ You know me, go hard or go hard ~

Y/N ~ You’re both incredibly unhelpful ~

Marlene ~ Worried about meeting a certain dark haired texter? ~

Y/N ~ Am I not allowed to want my best friends’ help on my outfits?? ~

Marlene ~ I mean I can’t help you look hot if I don’t know who its for 😉 ~

Lily ~ God forbid she looks hot for herself ~

Marlene ~ Hey, you’ve gotta play to your audience ~

Y/N ~ How would you even know what he likes ~

Lily ~ She stalked him around campus yesterday ~

Y/N ~ um MARLENE ~

Marlene ~ I just wanted to know his style, habits, if he was a psycho killer ~

Lily ~ She has a point, if he’s as annoying as James we have to protect you at all costs ~

Marlene ~ We need to make sure she isn’t sucked in by his serial killer prowess ~

Y/N ~ You’re making me sound like prey ~

Marlene ~ 😉 ~

Y/N ~ How did you even stalk him, Lily has no classes with him ~

Marlene ~ I have my ways ~

Lily ~ She flirted with the office assistant until she gave her Sirius’ schedule ~

Y/N ~ You minx ~

Marlene ~ No one can resist my charms ~

Lily ~ That is yet to be determined actually ~

Y/N ~ very true Lils, we’ve never met anyone you’ve dated yet ~

Marlene ~ Sooooo not the point, and we’ve gone off topic! How are you going to wow Mr Black ~

Y/N ~ That is 100% not what I asked ~

Lily ~ you may as well have ~

Y/N ~ You both suck ~

Lily ~ Wear that flowy black dress you refuse to ever wear!! ~

Marlene ~ YES YOU LOOK BANGING IN THAT ~

Y/N ~ ugh but it’s a casual party ~

Marlene ~ Who gives a shit, stand out ~

Lily ~ He’ll be drooling ~

Y/N ~ I don’t need him to drool I just want to make a good first impression ~

Marlene ~ Aha the truth finally comes out ~

Y/N ~ if you were actually in your dorm I’d be hitting the roof with a broomstick rn ~

Lily ~ Where are you?? ~

Marlene ~ Where do you think 😉 ~

Lily ~ Not the office assistant ~

Marlene ~ 😉 ~

Lily ~ How!? I was with you the whole time, you never exchanged numbers ~

Marlene ~ Exchanging numbers doesn’t have to be an oral task… unlike other things 😉 ~

Y/N ~ We get it, your sexual prowess is above all of us ~

Lily ~ I’m honestly impressed, she was cute ~

Marlene ~ I’m offended you’d be impressed tbh ~

Y/N ~ Ok so you are both coming over to my house in an hour to dress and intoxicate me ~

Lily ~ Deal ~

Marlene ~ Maybe give me an extra 30 mins 😊 ~

Taglist:  @averytruerayofsunshine @siriuslyjanhvi @blushingskywalker @blackpinkdolan @thebabblingbookworm @cherrie511 @imlukesnirvana @avengersassemblee @maraudersandco @sly-vixen-up2nogood @katbernoulli @sirius-lysad @evyiione @minerva26love @aikeia @gollyderek @greatwombatblaze  @songforhema  @your-typical-giggle

[mypondnow]

thinking about how when i join a rp group i normally dont think about how my ocs interact with one another but then i join some funky lil elemental wizard school and go “hohoho fire one and fishy one ... Yes.... when theyre older they WILL hold hands and  cuddle. absolutely...” 

its all because of the background of a doodle with one oc im thinking bout it and im rambling bout it here cuz u cant stop me thats why i made this silly little blog 

OK SO LIKE THE BACKSTORY ? WELL

this little doodle in the background not sure if you can tell exactly what it is or even see it since i made it so   transparent but 

its!!!!!! levees mom carvel!!!!!!!

in the corner of a beach photo!!! or whatever .  baby atlas baby atlas . ft their mama . forgot her first name but her nicknames toastie. i think its laylah cuz i kno its starts with an l.. . alliteration... laylah lianne <3

ANYWAYS

thats what inspired me to start shipping 2 of my own damn ocs!!! i mostly only do that in writing when i think 2 of my characters have a neat bit o’ chemistry (freshman year i wrote a story where there were 2 love interests.  one a man one a woman just to b like “YO!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHES BISEXUAL!!!!!!! LOOK AT MY MAIN CHARACTER!!!” literally all of my stories i write for a competition have some form of lgbt+ character)

so like after that im like “what if.... when theyre older.... levee becomes a photographer and atlas ends up a model like their mom? hahahahaha jk jk... unless?” it was also with that little bit of thinking i ended up making my character, cain, a transman so like. impulsive decisions that Just Feel Right king? me.

WHY do i think they get along well? OK!!!! here we go 

they were childhood friends and are both ..... relatively nice. levee’s a memelord, kind of, just an overall polite jokester (another oc in this group of ocs, pluto, isn’t Too nice sometimes) and   atlas is a bit Meaner. 

trying to think of my characters who are in a relationship ok here we go 

levee: i talk a lot, huh?

atlas: yes, but it’s nice. i like hearing your thoughts.

levee, 2 minutes later: grapes are easy to acquire and easy to eat

atlas: If you say anything else on this topic I am going to murder you.

thats just as a treat. i didnt think of any other characters because honestly? Yeah. 

anyways personality-wise? well they blend pretty nicely. both of them can defend the other if needed though. atlas probably wouldnt need to be defended theyre pretty good at defending themself. 

atlas isn’t even very high-tempered they just like causing problems on purpose. levee does as well at times but Who Doesn’t like causing problems on purpose. 

levee’s just a bit more passive than atlas frankly. a little more nice. at least he didn’t bully someone named similarly to their mom’s nickname (atlas really went off and bullied a kid named toast huh. damn atlas </3)

!!!!!!!!!!!!! speaking of bullying toast 

Atlas literally didn’t talk to levee at all during their school life . first of all they probably didn’t even kno levee went to the same school as them for a few years. second of all they were NOT the same little kid they were on the beach when the two met and hung out 

i’d think they hung out either weekly or yearly. preferably weekly like just goin out on a drive to hang out !!! say “heyyyy levee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” heyy ms levees mom i mgoign to dcry  hey lmxs nfshduygahij oeklw HEY MS LEVEES MOM AHOAIYGUSUFSDYHIJFODKSFD

carvel going “hey atlas’ mom” since shes like ‘my son calls her that im sure i can do that too’ 

thats because carvels a Mermaid and doesnt understand stuff like remembering people’s names. its ok me too carvel 

it is   3:16 am. anyways feel free to ask me either in the ask box on this blog or my dms and i WILL bombard u with as much information as i can think of on the spot. 

(fun fact i was considering having atlas have a crush on toast but then i thought of atlas and levee being together and i went ‘’OHOHOHO!!!!!! thats So much better” since atlas would never bully levee. they mostly bullied toast to feel even more powerful and in control of their world around them. it wasnt very justified or nice but they did have their reasons and they did try to get better and they Are successful in being somewhat nice)

[rune-boy]

For people who cant focus or dont have much time

If you're like me, than you either dont have a lot of time to practice/worship or you have a lot of trouble focusing on one thing

And thats okay! It can be difficult sometimes to commit yourself to a weekly offering or the such

Here are some things I do to help me in my practice and worship

Arts! If i have enough time to ill sometimes draw a picture or write a lil poem for the gods or my ancestors. Even if its a rushed picture or a small poem, it still helps

Little prayer! Sometimes ill just try and formulate a quick prayer in my head. If im walking or working or studying, a quick prayer can always help

Giving thanks! This is probably one of the easiest things to do and can sometimes be the most affective. Just simply giving thanks throughout the day can go a long way for your gods. If you had an easy commute to work/school that morning or if you had a nice lunch break, giving thanks is an easy way to let your gods know you appreciate and love them like they love you

Single pull runes! Now this is leaning towards the more practice side of things rather than worship. If you carry a rune pouch on you (which I highly recommend, runes are useful to just have on you.) Its good sometimes to just ask a simple question and pull a single rune for it. Some good simple questions can be "How will today go?" "Should I be careful today?" "Is it wise or smart to go do X?" A single rune pull can answer these questions to a basic yet satisfactory result

Making recipes! Writing down simple recipes to try later for spells/potions is always a good idea if you have a moment. Dont let creativity get away from you! Use it to create better spells and more innovative ideas for your practice

Writing worded spells! Not all spells are verbal but if youre ever waiting with nothing to do, it can be fun and relaxing to write up a performed spell. Its something that always helps me chill

Hope this helps! I know it helps me out. If you have any day to day little things you do please share! Im always looking for new ways to spread out my practice and worship

Side note: i need more mutuals and friends! Hmu if you wanna be friends and share ideas about magic and practice n stuff :))

[thehomierobbstark]

Request : headcanon of Erik being jealous

[A/N: Another headcanon-fic hybrid for the homies. I took this one and kind of did my own take on it. It’s got a lil a this n a lil of that 😉. I hope you like it anon! Thanks for asking :)] 

You would think that with all the confidence, accomplishments, and swagger Erik Stevens had, there would be no need for him to ever be worried about anyone else, especially when it came to the rock solid relationship the both of you’d built over the years

He was an incredibly educated, resourceful, and intelligent strong black man.

Unfortunately, it did nothing to keep him from always being just a little bit jealous.

“Hey, E? I’m gonna drop my stuff and go run to the store real quick. Text me if you need anything, ok?” you yell down the hallway, letting your work bags fall softly by the couch before slinging your purse around your shoulder and heading out the door.

“Get me some gatorade please! The clear kind!” he hollers back, head poking out from the bedroom. The front door closes right as he says it, and he chuckles to himself. ‘Always moving a mile a minute,’ he thinks, smiling as he thinks of you.  He makes his way out into the living room to grab his phone, texting you the information you missed and to remind you to slow down.

On his way back, he passes your stuff on the floor, scooping up the bags to put your things in your home office. As he grabs your computer bag, something falls out of the front pocket, a small red envelope addressed to a ‘Miss Y/M/N’ with hearts drawn around your name in the shape of another heart.

Erik picks it up, eyeing it while he turns it around in his hand for more details. He didn’t want to open it because he trusted you too much to be looking through your stuff, but he was curious who it could be from since it wasn’t February or anywhere near your birthday. And nobody ever called you by your middle name except for him (well, sometimes).

When he gets to your office, he places the rest of your stuff on your desk, plopping down in your chair, still fingering the card and twirling it between his hands.

It was already open, the seal broken, so he figured it couldn’t hurt to just take a quick look at it. It was just a card, after all. Probably a thank you from one of your work wives or something for all your hard work.

Pulling out the card, he opens it, the neat words written in near perfect cursive, almost looking like one of those instruction guides on how to write script. 

It read: 

‘The last three weeks have been the best I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to show you what else I can do this Friday.’

Love,

Bakari

The thing about Erik Stevens was, once he started to become suspicious, he became very dramatic about it, very fast.

And it never took much to get him suspecting.

“What the… yo who the fuck is this Bakari nigga?!” he gets heated within a millisecond, flipping the card over obsessively to try and find a number or something to let him know who this secret admirer was. 

There wasn’t even an address on the envelope, which meant that this fool either gave it to her when she was in class, or walked his bold ass up to his house, HIS HOUSE, and dropped it in the mailbox.

Erik couldn’t wait till you got home so you could explain to him what the hell he was looking at. He couldn’t believe some random no good nigga was tryna put the moves on his girl. Not his baby girl.

While Erik was back at home having a stage 5 meltdown, you were currently in the pasta isle trying to find the right udon noodles for the Anime and Manga marathon you and Erik had planned for this weekend.

You were super excited to show him your all time favorite Manga, Pearl Pink, which was the first manga you’d ever read.

You get a text on your phone, the device buzzing away in your back pocket as you reach down to grab your chosen noodles.

Thinking its more grocery demands from your black hole stomached boyfriend, you ignore it, waiting until you’re done shopping in this section to head over to the frozen isle he no doubt wants you to go to.

Erik: Y/N. Call. Me.

Erik: We can talk about this baby! Just tell me who Bakari is

Erik: I know you see these text messages girl, you better answer me goddammit

Erik: I’m sorry babygirl, I ain’t mean to curse at you like that. I just wanna talk baby please call me back.

Erik: Aight, coo then. 

All within a span of three minutes

He’d reneged on his earlier plan to wait until you got home, his anxiousness pushing him to reach out to you immediately.

He just wanted to hear your voice, hear something in it that told him that you were still his.

You’d just finished dumping a couple bags of your favorite Shrimp Chips into your basket, unsuspecting of the turmoil unraveling at home when your phone buzzes again, this time longer than before. 

You pull it out and look down to see that Erik’s calling you. Apparently he was getting very anxious about his food.

You put the phone to your ear, answering sweetly. “Hey baby, what you need?”

“You at that nigga house, ain’t you?” His voice was gruff and short, a stark contrast compared to the way you just answered the phone. “I knew I should of gone with you!”

Your face scrunches up into confusion. “Whose house? Erik what are you talking about?”

“Don’t try and front babygirl I seen the card!! How could you do me like that baby? After all we been through?!” You can hear his voice start to rise to an almost hysteric pitch, and you wonder if he’s been drinking since you last saw him 30 minutes ago.

“What card, Erik? Baby, slow down, you’re freakin me out. Look, I’mma be home in a second baby can you just hold on-”

“Just tell me who Bakari is Y/N! I just wanna know who that bitch ass nigga is!”

You pause, stopping in your tracks from rushing to push your cart to the nearest checkout line. You throw your head back and cackle, laughing so loud you scare the white elderly couple standing to your left. You wave your hand at them, trying to weakly apologize as tears threaten the corners of your eyes while you attempt to catch your breath. You dropped the phone in the cart when you bursted into hysterics, and all you can hear are the small faraway sounds of Erik trying to get your attention again.

“Why you laughin like that? Oh you forreal cheating on a nigga, huh? I can’t believe you got me out here looking stupid like this! I’m bout to run up on this mf…”

~~~

The Next Day

“Will you stop pacing please? You look like you’re ready to fight somebody.”

“I am ready to fight somebody Y/N. Yo you need to stop playing and just tell me where this nigga at so we can talk. I just wanna see wassup real quick.”

You start giggling again, chest bouncing as you try to stifle it with your hand over your mouth. You couldn’t wait to see the look on Erik’s face once he found out who it was.

The classroom empties out, the new students filtering in, ranging in all ages as they move about to find their seats in the college classroom.

Erik scans every guy who enters, sizing him up, trying to see if its him.

“Is it that nigga?” he leans over and whispers to Y/N, nodding to the dark chocolate brother with long dreads hanging down his back. “Really Y/N? You was gon trade me in for a hotep?” he looks at you bewildered, and you almost spit your coffee out your mouth. Oh, the irony.

“Look, Erik, you not bout to embarrass me here so you better shut the hell up and relax.” you whisper harshly, and he grumbles in submission, leaning back in his chair as his eyes still scan the students.

The bell sounds and you clear your throat, standing up from your chair and smoothing out your dress.

“Alright class, today we have a very special guest from the Wakandan International Outreach Center, Mr. Erik Stevens!”  Erik lifts from his chair, plastering on a warm smile as he waves around the room, greeting everybody before sitting again.

You continue. “He’ll be here to give us some information at the end of class on some of the amazing programs they have to offer over at WIOC.  In the mean time, he’s gonna be up here, helping us with our final projects!” you clap your hands together, and the class erupts into cheers, excitement over the days events filling up the room.

You step out in front of your desk to walk around the room, holding your chin as you think out loud.

“Hmmm… who wants to be the first one to come show Mr. Stevens what we’ve been working on? Anyone?” you ask, and a bunch of enthusiastic hands shoot up, waving around vigorously. 

“Hmmm… how about you, Bakari?” Erik’s head snaps towards the class, eyes looking around vigorously for the culprit. 

He scoots back from his chair, nearly running to the front of the class before colliding with you, hugging you tightly. 

You return the hug, looking back to see Erik’s face looking completely dumbfounded, and you snicker, taking a mental picture of it. You look down at the 3rd grader, smiling brightly.  “You ready to get started kiddo?”

“Yeah, Miss Y/M/N!”

You spend the next 15 minutes with Bakari and Erik at the whiteboard, practicing calligraphy samples for the class to see.

Erik is horribly bad at it, and Bakari sees to it to teach him how to do it, much to the amusement of both you and the students.

After a few more teaching lessons and a quick recap, you give the class 45 minutes to work on their final projects, the buzz of parents helping their children and exchanging information for play dates, giving the room a low hum.

You walk back to join Erik at your desk, finally taking a seat.

“So, Bakari is -”

“My 8 year old calligraphy student, yes.” you finish for him, cheeky smile peeking through as you rest your head in your hand and look at him.

“Your weekly Calligraphy classes,” Erik chuckles to himself, remembering now. “I completely forgot about them,” He blows out a sigh, running his hand down his face. Of all the possible scenarios he’d imagined, this one was the absolute furthest from his mind.

“I figured,” You snorted. “It’s only a four week program now that the college cut the funding. They’re saying they can only afford the curriculum for the grad and undergrad students now going forward.” You share, a little saddened at the news. You’d grown to really enjoy the extra curricular classes you got to teach outside of your regular art classes, and you were really heartbroken because you’d really grown to love the students too.

Erik takes your hand down by your lap, rubbing a thumb over the back of it. 

“Hey, the Outreach Center’s got more than enough funding to help keep the classes going, and plus we’ve been trying to get more involved in higher education programs anyway to better support our high school participants. This could be a great start for us.” he tells you, squeezing at your hand for assurance.

You look over to him, completely and utterly content with everything the man before you was. You don’t think you could ever love another person as much as you do Erik.

You smile, nodding your head to accept his offer. “I’m still tryna see this fight that you promised me, tho. What did you call him again? A bitch ass nigga?” You tease him, and he leans his head back and closes his eyes, quietly groaning.

“You’re never gonna let me live this down, are you?” he mutters, still embarrassed.

“Never.” You say, and you both laugh together. You link your pinky with his under the desk, both of you holding on to each other as you look out over the class.

[javocjovian]

A Very Supernatural Christmas Party, Chapter Two

As you may know, I’ve decided to write a fic for million Christmas December Supernatural Prompt Challenges. The challenges include:

Gabriel’s Monthly Challenge @gabriel-monthly-challenge, @archangelgabriellives, @ttttrickster, @archangel-with-a-shotgun, @warlockwriter, @archangelsanonymous, and @revwinchester

spnfanficpond’s Weekly Episode Writing Challenge @spnfanficpond @mrswhozeewhatsis

Supernatural Amino’s Holiday Prompt List and their Hunters Writing Club Challenge - December.

You can find me and this fic on AO3 Archive of Our Own

I’m also on Ko-Fi

If you’d like to read this chapter directly on AO3, here’s a link: A Very Supernatural Christmas Party - Chapter Two

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

A Very Supernatural Christmas Party

Summery: Metatron’s annual Christmas parties are the stuff of legends. As in, no one has ever been able to stop Gabriel bitching about how terrible they are. This year, Gabriel decides to ask one of the Winchesters to go as his date. Guess which one. Castiel has a similar idea, but things don’t go as planned. Meanwhile, Sam, Dean, and Charlie discover the true meaning of Christmas. Spoiler: it’s shopping, and a lot of booze.

Ships: Destiel, Sabriel, the rest are surprises!

Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Gabriel, Charlie, Metatron, and a whole lotta angels later

Chapter Two Summery: Sam, Dean, Cas, and Charlie decorate the bunker for Christmas and reflect on the simple joys of family, friends, and eggnog. All of which will be ruined by a surprise guest. Thank Chuck.

Chapter Two

Look What the Blizzard Blew In

With Charlie on her way over and Castiel out on a Christmas supply run, Sam and Dean decorated the bunker while they waited. Their dad’s old box of ‘X-Mas shit’ was mostly old, open bottles of booze and something that looked suspiciously like a reindeer hoof, but it had some legitimate decorations, too. They put wreaths on the doors, tinsel on the banisters, and Dean even hid a talking Santa in Sam’s closet.

“What’s so funny?” Sam asked him suspiciously.

“Nothing! Nothing at all.” Dean put on a serious face.

 Castiel came back twice before Charlie arrived. The first time he’d brought them a gigantic, leafy fern that the ‘plant salesman’ insisted was a tree. They made Cas take it back, but they kept the beer and eggnog.

The second time Castiel brought back a colossal, live palm tree that Sam and Dean suspected had been basking in the Bahamas not thirty minutes ago.

"It's a tree." Castiel breathed.

"Yes, it is..." Sam agreed.

Sam and Dean were both staring at it. Sam looked hesitant, Dean was biting back a grin.

"I made sure this time." Castiel patted its thick trunk, "I pulled it right out of the ground."

"Did you?" Dean's eyes were watering. Even Sam was smiling now.

"What's wrong?" Castiel's brow furrowed, "Is this not the right kind of tree?" He asked wearily.

"No! No, it's great Cas." Sam assured him, "Thank you."

"It's the best Christmas tree I've ever seen." Dean said, "Good job, Cas."

Castiel didn't look convinced, but he was too tired to press the issue further. Surely this was a proper tree.

Sam and Dean navigated the gigantic palm tree into the sitting room with difficulty. It was so huge that they kept getting stuck on corners and furniture. Meanwhile, the fronds were knocking everything off the walls and the roots were spreading sand and soil everywhere.

A few times they had to stop for laughing too hard. By the time they were done, Sam's light-up antlers were halfway down his head and Dean was red in the face. The palm tree towered over the multi-leveled sitting room, fanning out across the second floor balcony.

"What a beauty." Dean sniffed.

"Yeah.” Sam huffed, “I'm gunna need another drink."

Dean made drinks for the three of them while they calmed down. Castiel wasn’t sure what was so funny, but he decided it was best not to ask. Once they were settled, they all cleaned up the path of destruction caused by the palm tree, all the while reassuring Cas that the tree would look better once it was decorated.

 Finally, Charlie arrived. They had just righted the very last lampshade when she called them from outside. Dean was thrilled to find that she was wearing a Christmas sweater of her own and carrying bags of ornaments and Christmas supplies.

“Sup, Christmas-bitches?” She beamed, “Oh, and Castiel.” She added as Dean led her down the stairs. "Have you been a good boy this year?" She asked Dean.

"Not a chance."

"That's my boys."

Dean helped her get settled while Sam took her giant, fluffy coat.

"I’m glad I left when I did.” She told them, “It is really coming down out there now. Nice tree." She stared upwards, "It's like Christmas in the tropics. I assume..." She noticed Castiel staring at her.

"Yep. That's what we're going for this year." Dean nodded, surveying the tree.

"Well that's perfect because I brought..." She reached into one of her bags and pulled out... "Hawaiian-Shirt Santa." She smiled. It was a three foot tall, plug in Santa that danced the hula.

"Ha! It's perfect." Dean laughed, “Hey Sammy! Put on some Christmas music, would ya?”

“Sure.” Sam went to his chair and pulled up some music on his tablet, “Charlie, what do you take? We have beer, egg nog...”

“I could go for a beer.” She said, joining Sam as he went to the bar. She crouched down to look at their selection, “Oh, you have ‘Awesomeness’? That’s… awesome.” She took a bottle.

Sam laughed, “You can thank Cas for that one. He must’ve grabbed every kind of beer in Kansas.”

“Sam...” Dean was holding Sam’s tablet and eyeing him in exasperation.

Sam’s brow furrowed, “What?”

“This isn’t Christmas music, man!”

Sam straightened up matter-of-factly, “Actually, it is. The song’s called Christmas Lights.”

Dean looked back at the tablet, “Yeah well, you can’t play it on this.” He dropped the tablet on the couch.

“What? Why not?” Sam came over and picked it up defensively.

“Because.” Dean said, picking up a remote by the TV, “I didn’t wire up this place for nothing.” Dean pressed a button and a classic rock version of ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ blasted from every corner of the bunker.

Sam rolled his eyes.

“Yeah...” Dean grinned, “Classic vinyl.”

Charlie laughed, “Very nice.”

Sam opened Charlie’s beer for her, then the four of them began putting up lights and ornaments. They had to lean over the balcony railing to get most of the ornaments up, but with Cas's help it didn't take long. Dean insisted he put up the impala ornament himself, which required reaching precariously over the railing. It was the only ornament he’d bought himself, rather than fish out of their dad’s old X-Mas box.

“Just put it in the front.” Charlie told him.

“It doesn’t quite fit. It’s delicate.” Dean defended, trying not to look down.

Sam laughed, “It’s what, Dean?”

“Shut up.”

Soon the tree was decked out in tinsel, Christmas lights, John's old rock n roll themed ornaments, and Charlie's superhero ones. It was the oddest combination of ornaments, but it looked perfect to Sam and Dean. They even wrote their names in sharpie on red and green socks and hung them on the fireplace.

Panting and laughing, they sat back and admired their work by the fireside. It wasn't a traditional tree, but it turned out so well that even Castiel seemed proud. There a contented silence between them as they listened to the crackling of the fire and the blizzard blowing outside.

"So... I got you guys presents..." Charlie broke the silence. She casually grabbed her bag off the floor beside her.

"No way." Sam smiled.

"Oh, Charlie, you didn't have to do that." Dean said.

Charlie ignored him. She got up and handed them both neatly wrapped presents in Star Wars-themed Christmas wrapping paper. She even had one for Castiel.

“Thank you.” He said in surprise, taking it gingerly.

"I know it's early, but I'm never sure when I'm going to see you boys, so I figured now’s a good time."

Sam and Dean unwrapped their gifts while Castiel stared at his. Charlie gently prodded him and he took the hint. He began unwrapping his, too.

"Oh, no..." Sam laughed, grinning as he took a box out of the paper. He looked at Dean's gift and his suspicions were confirmed.

Charlie had gotten them both miniature plastic figures of... Sam and Dean Winchester.

Dean stared at his.

"So... remember those books you told me never to talk about?" Charlie asked, ignoring Dean's stony look, "Well it turns out there was a limited-time toy release of your... you guyses… in Japan! So I went on eBay and.. " She trailed off.

Castiel had opened his box and taken out the tiny winged man in a trench-coat.

"I thought maybe you could use them as ornaments.” She was becoming less sure of her gifts as she spoke, “You know... as opposed to killing me." She froze as Dean stood up from his chair, "Uh-oh." She muttered, but the next thing knew, Dean was wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Thanks Charlie." He let her go, holding the little Dean, "I've always wanted to be an action figure." He smiled at her.

Charlie and Sam both looked relieved. Castiel was just intrigued.

"Well, now we have to get you something." Sam smiled.

"It's okay. Really." Charlie assured them, "Being here, enjoying the Christmas spirit, that is the gift." She said sincerely, "Hey, let's put tiny Castiel on top of the tree. You know."

Dean grinned, "Cas? Would you do the honors?"

"Yeah, it's traditional to put an angel on top of the tree." Sam told him.

Castiel looked at his figurine and an odd expression came over him; It was almost like a smile, "Of course. One angel on the tree coming up."

 Once lil Cas was on the tree, Charlie put lil Sam and Dean by the impala ornament, and they all laughed and talked for what seemed like hours. Dean and Charlie had somehow managed to get both Sam and Cas in Christmas sweaters. Sam's was too small and kept sliding

up, but Dean insisted that made it even better. They'd just put some pizzas in the oven and proposed that Charlie spend the night to avoid the icy roads when a siren went off in the bunker.

The boys stood up. Charlie froze in her seat.

"What's going on? Is the pizza burning?" She asked hopefully.

"No. Stay here." Sam said.

With a silent look to Dean, they both grabbed guns stashed under their seats and split up. Sam went upstairs to the entryway, Dean down to the garage, while Castiel stayed to guard Charlie.

"Jeez, are there guns hidden under the toilet seats, too?" Charlie asked Castiel.

"Probably." He said stoically.

Charlie looked somewhat reassured.

They waited, ears straining at every gust of wind and crackle of the fire. In no time the siren went off and Dean came back.

"The garage is secure." He said, "Where's Sam?"

Charlie pointed up the stairs.

"Alright, Cas, do a sweep of the place. I'll stay here with Charlie."

Castiel nodded and disappeared with a rush of air.

Charlie blinked and spat hair out of her mouth, "That was… cool."

 Upstairs, Sam had found the front door to the bunker wide open. A wintry chill was blowing in and there were footsteps in the snow. Sam stepped outside slowly, trying to minimize the crunch of snow under each step. He pointed his gun into the trees, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. The footsteps could've been Charlie's, but why was the door open?

After of few moments of silence, the only movement caused by the wind and snow, Sam had to admit defeat. He stepped back inside and slammed the door shut, making sure it was locked. With a chilly breath, he turned around to head back downstairs, but in the dull red glow of the emergency lights he came face to face with another man.

Sam's breath caught his throat. Instinctively, he smashed his shotgun over the intruder's head. The intruder buckled and Sam aimed his gun at him. But before he could get a word out...

"Ow! What was that for?" The intruder demanded.

Sam stopped. He knew that voice, "Gabriel?"

"Yeah!" Gabriel clutched his bleeding nose and the bleeding stopped.

Sam stared down at him in shock, "Are you crazy? Sneaking up on me like that?" He whispered, "What are you doing here?"

Gabriel eyed him appeasingly and put his hands up, "What, I can't come by to say hi?"

“No.” Sam said firmly.

"Sammy?" Dean had come running up the stairs when he heard another man's voice. He stopped at the sight of Gabriel kneeling on the floor. He looked between his brother and the Archangel, then lifted his gun.

"Woah. Woah! Easy there, tiger.” Gabriel slowly got to his feet, “I was just in neighborhood so I thought I'd stop by..."

"Bull."

Sam gestured to Dean knowingly.

"Wow. Where is the trust?"

“How about you start by telling us where you’ve been? Hm?” Dean said, not lowering his gun, “Last we saw, you were dead.”

“Fake news.” Gabriel replied. When he got glared at he continued, “What can I say? I’m passionately peripatetic.”

“Say that ten times fast.” Dean muttered.

"Dean." Castiel appeared beside him looking urgent, "There is an angel here, I'm sure of... it." He looked at Gabriel.

"Howdy, Cas."

Castiel took out his angel blade.

"Aw come on!" Gabriel groaned, "Look, I'm unarmed. I come in peace. I mean you no harm. Frisk me if you’d like." He winked at Sam.

Sam's lips tightened.

Castiel stared at Gabriel for a moment, "He's telling the truth. He is unarmed."

"See?” Gabriel said, “I just wanted to come in to warm my feathers."

Dean eyed Gabriel wearily.

"You guys carrying on the party without me?" A small voice came from the stairs. Charlie had poked her head up to see what was going on, "Who's that?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Fine. Come in." He said, turning down the stairs.

Sam's eyes widened, "What? Dean... wait." He followed after him.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows at Castiel, then strutted past him, after Sam and Dean.

Castiel sighed.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Chapter Two Prompts:

Here are the prompts for this chapter.

Gabriel Monthly Challenge Song - Christmas Lights by Coldplay

spnfanficpond's Weekly Episode Writing Challenge "It doesn't quite fit. It's delicate." "“I’m passionately peripatetic.”

Amino's Holiday Prompt List 11. stockings (the socks count, right?) 16. by the fire 17 "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" 19. holiday/Christmas tree 25. exchanging gifts 27. family 29. friendships

If you’d like to read this chapter directly on AO3, here’s a link: A Very Supernatural Christmas Party - Chapter Two

Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

[attract-mode-collective]

Not An April Fools Gag; That’s A Game Boy Advance With A GameCube Stick Affixed For Reals

What you're seeing is a modded GBA that I spotted on eBay. It's a real thing! Though it doesn't magically grant analogue control to all the digital input only games on the system, which is all of them for the record (sorry). Then again, it could be argued that the controls in WarioWare Twisted is technically analogue...

That aside aside, welcome to yet another recap of stuff posted over at the Attract Mode Twitter! Though this time it's gonna be a bit on the short side, relatively speaking; even I know covering two entire whole weeks has led to hard to handle Tumblr posts, so I'm going to try concentrating on just one week at a time/attempt weekly updates.

Let's see how well that goes...

Hey, it's SF2 IRL thanks to ARKit (via prostheticknowledge)...

At the time, when I first tweeted about it, there were only three left of Amanda Visell’s Player One Mario; no idea how many there are now...

When you can make a decision regarding lunch (via @Mechazawa)....

If you appreciate both the ease of slip-on sneakers and the taste of ghosts, then Games Glorious has something for you (via miki800.com)...

As a connoisseur of video games on the printed page, it is my goal to one day own a copy of Namco's newsletter that was distributed in game centers during the 80s & 90s, NG (via miki800)...

Remember that time Namco got someone from Yellow Magic Orchestra to hawk their wares (via namcomuseum)...

Both in print and on TV…

The YMO member in question, Haruomi Hosono, also did a Xevious remix album, which longtime readers of the blog will hopefully recall.

Sticking with Namco CMs, there’s a pair of longtime faves that I could have sworn I’ve already posted as well, yet cannot find. Though as noted, many times already, the search functionality here is broken.

So here’s a boy playing with his Famicom in the middle of the woods...

And here’s a girl playing with his Famicom in the middle of the woods...

Back to the subject of print, can’t seem to find any info on the Futabasha Fantasy Novel Series, which (I think) was a line of video game novelizations; this one appears to be written by the creator of Xevious himself (via shmups)...

The focus here is supposed to be the Lawson’s reward card with Kirby on it, but I am all about that Space Invaders whatever the heck it is (via miki800)...

Spent MANY hours at Japanese bookstores during my college years, flipping through Sega Saturn Magazine; seeing these VF Kids ads again makes me feel all warm & fuzzy (via thesegasource)...

This (what I believe to be a) farewell image of the face of the Saturn from the very first issue of Dreamcast Magazine, also gives me the feels (via oldgamemags)...

BTW, everyone knows the identity of Saturn's pitchman (Segata Sanshiro), but what about the Mega Drive's? (via yokosuka87)...

Back to the Saturn; I love how Sega want from Segata Sanshiro to Hidekazu Yukawa for the Dreamcast. This launch edition of the console, btw, was spotted at VideoGamesNewYork...

It's also where they Kira Kira Star Night DX for twice the asking price, as @gamespite)...

Speaking of music, to fully enjoy this animated gif of Eggman running…

… you need to have this song playing (via lunaticobscurity).

And to fully enjoy this image of Eggman on the sax…

... you need to have this song playing (via very-territorial-oak).

@ondoruragitan sez: "whoever designed that clown lady in ace attorney is probably the most horny artist to ever exist" (it's funny cuz it's true)...

So the big news these past few weeks, especially among video game folk my age, has been the end of the Toys R Us. Many have been sharing artifacts from the glory days, with my fave example being these old flyers, with the obvious highlight seeing all the original MSRP prices (via retrogamerblog)...

Oh, and don’t forget the gifs (via nintendroid)...

The following are more appropriate for my way, way overdue batch of game culture snapshots, but since we're on the subject of retail anyway; I recently stumbled across Nintendo's collab with Bloomingdale's that I had no idea even existed...

Took a bunch of pics, but unfortunately, due to the harsh lighting at the SoHo store, it was impossible to capture the women’s section, hence the abundance of men’s wear...

These women's sweatshirts are the best example of the line's overall design sensibilities, or lack thereof; it’s just a bunch of random Nintendo sprites on attire that is available at Bloomingdale's, period. That's all it aspires to be, nothing more...

... And that's a real shame, cuz aside from the quality of the clothing itself being high, some of the ho-hum looking designs could be really engaging with a few minor tweaks, like this b&w women's jacket with a very random assortment of b&w Super Mario World sprites...

In addition to clothing, you had accessories, like iPhone cases...

Plus sunglasses, which revealed Super Mario World playing on what appears to the naked eye to be a blank, white screen....

Speaking of Super Mario World, here's a hamster enjoying the game (via @kousuke_teppei)...

The lil guy also owns an original Famicom, and here we is playing Solomon's Key (thanks to @Topherocious for helping me to identify the game)...

Being that friend who is REALLY into video games means I'm asked a wide variety of questions from folks who are not, like why @beesmygod  is "freaking out" over a Sonic & Garfield two pack for the PC...

... I'll be honest, I don't really understand why either.

Here we have a mockup for an ad blocker that replaces banners with GBA screenshots, which I really want to see happen (via @tinycartridge)...

I also really want to see this happen too (via @truongasm)...

Back to Tiny Cart; that's where I found out that you no longer have to play emulated Tiger handheld games sans backgrounds...

Nothing beats a pic of a dimly lit arcade, especially when it's shot on ACTUAL film (via mendelpalace)...

As for this particular arcade show, @kappuru theorizes "it looks like cinestill film, or a filter designed to mimic it." (via parkerwoods)...

"WHO IS THIS NUN?! WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO SINISTER?" is a great KOF related question (via vice-s-assistant)...

And "BOWL BEFORE ME" is a great KOF related gag (via brondeef)...

"this is the best cosplay i’ve ever seen" is a a great costume play related observation made by lunaticobscurity...

"how to get away with playing super mario odyssey in class" is the caption given by retrogamerblog...

"Stardew Valley gave me 500 characters to use as my farm name, so I put down an entire 1-star amazon review for an Independence Day DVD" is the explanation given by @NoahHafford...

Hey, you never know, maybe one day a homebrew dev might make “Shinjuku-Nichome Gay District Serial Murders” a reality? (via mendelpalace)

When you’ve got one copy of Melee with two boxes, and one copy of Air Ride with zero boxes… just gotta improvise (via stellatuna)...

When you’ve got a killer Game Genie code but no paper to write it down on... and then you discover the code does something totally different (via theassortment)...

And when I asked what this 4koma featuring a Dreamcast VMU was all about, @JonahD was kind enough to explain: "VMUs are playing hide and seek, Black is seeking. One VMU thinks hiding in the controller would be good but it makes a bunch of noise and they’re found immediately" (via posthumanwanderings)...

Whereas I have yet to find out what all these Sonics are doing at a German airport (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

I normally don’t let the weather get to me, yet the constant cold weather in NYC over the past few weeks began taking its toll, to the point that I’m starting to resemble an upside down Super Famicom/European SNES (via sixteen-bit)...

I also really wish I could have checked out Sakura-Con, and not just cuz the weather is so much nicer in Seattle, but to pick up @alexisparade's Monster Factory zine...

I stared at gif illustrating the wacky perspective-related behavior of Super Mario 64’s trees for an entire day, no joke (via suppermariobroth)...

Here we have the rarely seen alternate angle of the internet famous "LAN party gamer duct-taped to the ceiling" photo (via reddit.com)...

Turning the clock back even further, here's yet another kind of party, one that doesn’t involve first person shooters but shoot ‘em ups; it’s the 1986 Hudson Caravan (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Recently, a modded NES Max controller showed up on Kotaku, in which the cycloid nub has been replaced with an analogue stick...

... Which actually appeared the day after I spotted that modded GBA at the very top of this page. I am also willing to admit the disappointment over my tweet not catching on as expected/hoped it would, hence why I'm sharing another pic...

At any rate, I was also reminded of my buddy Nick Santaniello's modded Jaguar controller, which allows for arcade perfect Tempest 2000 controls...

... Which in turned led to me republishing the post from which it hails from originally, my recap of Nick's Shmup Appreciation Night, for Medium (and also sharing additional pics on Twitter)...

BTW, for those wondering, based upon the last round of tweets; the kitchen isn’t just for playing old Mega Drive & PC Engine shmups… you can also play old Naomi fighting games (via internetflexin)...

Guess that's it for now? Sorry, but it finally feels like spring in NYC, and I feel the need to step away from the computer & enjoy weather! Just like Mega Man (via arcadequartermaster)...

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Dark Nights (Part 10)

Summary: With the Alphas dealt with, Dean and the reader embark on the next part of their lives together...

Dark Nights Masterlist

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader

Word Count: 1,500ish

Warnings: language

A/N: This was my first A/B/O series and it was definitely an interesting ride but I really enjoyed playing with these dynamics and hope you guys had as good a time reading it as I did writing!...

“Alright,” you said, putting the last of the plates on the kitchen table, all three guys giving you a smile. “Eat your freaking home cooked meal and let’s try to be a normal family for once.”

“Edgy?” asked Sam, earning a pout from you. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I want no one to get kidnapped anymore, no more people breaking in our house or packs of monsters chasing us or car crashes or children of the corn crap going on. Let’s just have a nice celebratory dinner and enjoy ourselves,” you said. 

“You got it boss,” said Dean, shoveling some potatoes on his plate. It took a few hours to find Sam and by the time you were home again, you’d had enough shit for one day. Dean cleaned up the shifter with your help, the two of you passing out in bed after a long, hot shower. A good meal that wasn’t pizza for once was something you figured everyone could use.

It turned out the guys liked it, making a big meal together, sitting down at the table for a few hours, talking about old hunts and bad dates and childhood memories. Everyone agreed that making it a regular weekly occurance would be a nice family tradition and you couldn’t help but think of how a few months earlier, you didn’t have any of that.

Things got normal after the shapeshifter Alpha situation was dealt with, a few hunts here and there, Dean bringing you along on some of the easier ones, politely asking you to stay behind in the motel room when they were a bit advanced for someone so new to it. You tried your best to appease him, knowing how hard it was for him to let you do it but eventually it’d been a few months and Dean stopped asking you to stay behind and to simply stick close when you were out on the hunt with him.

It was a slow week when you woke up in bed one day, Dean already awake and looking you over carefully, that concerned look back in his eye.

“What is it?” you asked, giving him a smile. Dean moved his hand down to your stomach and stared at it, bringing his eyes up curiously to yours.

“When was the last time you had a heat? It’s been a few months, hasn’t it?” asked Dean. You’d knotted again a few days after everything had settled, your heat lingering that time but it’d been in the back of your mind with all that had happened. It probably had been a few months and you had been complaining to him about feeling sick in the mornings lately.

“You have any of those pregnancy tests left?” you asked. Dean shook his head but his eyes lit up, excited at the possibility. “I’ll call the doctor, see if I can get in today.”

“Wait, won’t he recognize you? We faked you being dead and everything to get rid of the criminal stuff but-”

“I don’t think he’s going to be a problem.”

It turned out, he wasn’t. He was as happy as could be actually when you and Dean came in that afternoon.

“Y/N, I’m glad we’re having a very different conversation than the last time we spoke,” he said, patting your shoulder. “Dean’s a lucky Alpha,” he said, holding out a hand for Dean.

“Very. We’re hoping for maybe a little more luck today,” said Dean, shaking it and sitting back in his seat. 

“Well, Y/N. You are very much pregnant,” said the doctor, sliding over an envelope. 

“Oh,” you said, putting a hand on your chest as you felt Dean’s reaction, the doctor chuckling as Dean had a big smile on his face, rubbing a hand over his own.

“A lot of bonded parents have that happen. Mom and dad are real excited from the look on both your faces,” said your doctor. “Your results look good and you’re about twelve weeks in. Your sonogram showed everything was clean.”

“Awesome,” said Dean, rubbing a hand over your belly. “She’s okay? Like everything’s normal?”

“Yup. Everyone is right where they’re supposed to be,” he said. “Mom and the little ones.”

“Little ones? As in more than one?” you asked.

“I didn’t think you guys heard me in there you were so caught up in it all. But yeah, you’ve got twins on the way,” he said. 

“Two pups,” said Dean, your body almost certain you’d never felt him so happy. “Do we know what they are yet? Girl, boy?”

“It’s a little too early for that,” said the doctor, pleased with how eager Dean was. “But don’t worry, we got plenty of time for you guys to get everything ready.”

“Um, I have a question,” you said, looking down. “Since I’ve never done this before or even really looked into it, what...what will they be? Like what are the odds that we have an Omega?”

“Well across the board your best odds are Beta, then Alpha, then Omega,” said your doctor. “As an Omega female and Alpha male, I’d say the odds of an Omega or Alpha child are slightly higher than if you were both Betas for example.”

“Hey,” said Dean, sliding his hand up to cup your cheek. “Whatever they are, we’ll raise them right. How to be a good and strong and kind, no matter what they are.”

“I know, Dean. Whatever they are, we’ll love them all the same.”

About nine months later you were watching Dean feed your two month old daughter, your son trying to hold the bottle in your hand but not quite getting the grasp of it just yet.

“I swear these kids eat more than we do,” said Dean. “How’s Eli doing?”

“Lil’ Alpha is almost done,” you said. “Ellie?”

“Lil’ Omega is almost too. Bath time and then we can hand them off to Uncle Sam for the night?” he asked, watching you smile. “Guys, I got a hot date with your mom tonight if you want to hurry it up.”

“This is the first time we’ll have gone out and I can actually fit in a dress I like,” you said. 

“You look hot in everything,” said Dean. “Especially my Zeppelin tee you like so much.”

“I’ll wear it tonight when we get home if you want,” you said, Dean throwing you a smirk. “Boy’s done.”

“And...girlie is done. I got ‘em, you take the extra time to get ready,” said Dean, watching you stand and trade off the baby for his bottle. Dean brought them into the kitchen, still small enough that they fit in their little tubs in the sink, both getting a nice bath as you lingered. “I got it, go relax sweetheart.”

You came in and wrapped your arms around his waist, resting your head on his back, taking a deep breath.

“Mommy’s in a mood Ellie,” said Dean, lightly spraying the warm water from the faucet over her tiny body. “I’m so lucky to have your mommy love me.”

“They’re gonna be okay, both of them,” you said, peaking your head under Dean’s arm to watch Eli splash in his water with a big giggle. “He’s going to be kind like you. She’s never going to worry about bonding. They’ll be okay.”

“Omega,” said Dean, wrapping an arm around your waist. “I know. Besides, she’s not going on a date until she’s twenty. And Eli is going with her to spy for us.”

“They’re twins. They’re going to be way more loyal to each other than to us,” you said. “They’re already growing up too fast.”

“What’s today?” asked Dean, picking up Ellie, drying her off as you sat Eli on the counter.

“The 25th, why?” you asked. You used the same towel to get him dry, both you and Dean putting fresh diapers on them, putting them into their onesies to put them down for bed. Dean reached for Eli and you let him take them both, following after as he tucked them into their cribs and turned off the light, heading down the hall and into your room with you to get ready for your date. “Why’d you want to know the day?”

“I wanted to make sure I had the day right when I took you out,” said Dean. You cocked your head and you saw him blush, rare on his face but a sight you loved. “A year ago tonight, we met. You saved my life.”

“It’s only been a year?” you said, pulling him into a hug. “It feels much longer.”

“Marry me?” he asked, your head snapping up. “I was going to do it at the restaurant but a lot of important stuff has happened in this room. Bonding, the first time I told you I loved you, our kids...I love you and I should have asked long before now.”

“Yeah, I’ll marry you, Alpha,” you said, leaning up, getting a kiss from him. A long and slow and soft kiss that made you feel so fuzzy you went into that blank space you did on occasion where nothing existed outside of him and your family.

“Love you, Omega,” he said.

“Love you back, Alpha.”

@anokhi07 @xxwinchester-22xx @charliebradbury1104 @everyday-supernatural-af @squirels-angels-and-moose @youwerelikeadream @drugpug @darkx143 @kristaparadowski @tom-is-in-my-tardis @tanithlowisabamf @smoothdogsgirl @dancingalone21 @ktrivia @demonic-meatball @feelmyroarrrr  @cojootromuelle @gallifreyansass @fangirl1802 @casgetoutofmydiddlydarnass @mogaruke @secretlyfurrydragon @perpetualabsurdity @ria132love @heycassbutt-67 @aingealcethlenn @docharleythegeekqueen @missmotherhen @smacklesandstretch67 @ceeceewinchester

@tumblinwith-me @xfanqirlinq @heaven-is-aplaceonearthwithyou @hey-um-misha @bennyh @imissyoualittlemoreeveryday @lovelife-tothefullest @under-general-asthetics @tardis-full-of-fallen-angels @missdestiel67 @evyiione @jensenackesl @xxxdevine-demonsxxx @ayeeitsemry @mac5323 @atc74 @captainemwinchester @lemonadegazeelle @nanie5 @idalinette @quiddy-writes @sassyspn67 @pureawesomeness001 @poukothenerd @af112992 @mickey-m399 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @mrswhozeewhatsis @upon-a-girl @amazinntay @akshi8278 @baconlover001 @flufy07 @jayankles@alilianamendez @batmanprincesskitten @uniquewerewolfsuit @whit85-blog @spn-ficfanatic

@zeusmyster @maddieburcham1 @moonstar86 @kathaswings @my-blogging-skills-are-rusty @arryn-nyxx @amionthetumbler @kickasscas67 @fandom--shipper @mrsbatesmotel53 @sup3r-pott3r-lock3d @i-ship-crazy-crap @untitled39887 @extreme-supernatural-lover @emilymorgan1994 @boxywrites @fallen-castiel @its-not-a-tulpa @pillow223 @jaelami @roxyspearing

@acreativelydifferentlove  @bellastellaluna  @maximoffangel-girl @milo-winchester-4ever@gr8tedcheeese @maui137 @smalltowndivaj @somniae @ofloveandlonging @sexyashmike @http-girlwithnolife45 @winchesters-complete-me  @angelofwinchester17 @winchestersmut @kdfrqqg @abigailredgrave  @itsmyeffingstory @pinkleopardss @kkkkkennedyyyyy @babydanixox @melissaj616 @trinty33 @shamelesslydean @cass-xxo @fallen-castiel

@wheresthekillswitch @night-thinker-23 @loveissupernatural @chiffondesserts @bakabozza @bamby0304 @angelsandwinchesters @carribear31 @emilycollins11 @sandlee44 @sasquatch5 @calicat79 @fangirlwalkingbitches @love-me-some-pie21 @samsfabuloushair  @castianityislife02 @happydog00 @naharglolololol @letsgetyourdeanon @anticipate1003 @pretty-fortune @phonegalhelp @sasquatch5 @answer-the-sirens @flirtswithdanger @unstoppableangel8 @goingnorthtillsunrise @ellen-reincarnated1967 @dorky-and-i-know-it

[ibreathedisney]

Sunday 26th June – Ellis Day Two

Today was the second day of 8.00 – 17.00 Ellis Lifeguard Training at Mickeys Retreat. As I mentioned in the previous weekly blog, I am going to be writing a dedicated post regarding Ellis Lifeguard Training as there is quite a lot to cover and not a great deal of info online.

Once we got back to Patterson Court we had dinner and then met at the pool to practice for our test the next day!

Monday 27th June – Ellis Day Three (Test Out Day)

Today was our Ellis test out day and another 8:00 – 17:00. However, you might get to leave early if they get through everyone quickly! I was really apprehensive about the test out day and was worried I was going to forget everything. In hindsight, you really don’t need to be – Ellis prep you so well in such a sort space of time. Safe to say I passed and was officially a Disney Lifeguard!! As I’ve already mentioned, I am going to be writing a more detailed post on the whole Ellis Lifeguard Training process.

Tuesday 28th June – Day off (Outlets, Publix, Welcome Party)

After three long and tiring days of Ellis Lifeguard Training, I was glad to have a day off. Becky, Eleanor and I went to the outlets for a little mooch around. We also needed to get some appropriate footwear (i.e. ugly crocs). I also needed some black sunglasses and a black waterproof watch for work. (FYI – you can buy a black waterproof watch for $14 at the outlets!) We also went to Publix for the first time and spent way too long chosing what American foods we wanted! I then realised how expensive fresh fruit and vegetables are – poptarts are cheaper than a bag of grapes! My weekly shop was around £20 in the UK – over $50  in Publix really? You can walk to Publix from Patterson Court in about 10-15 minutes, but there is also a transtar bus if your shopping is too heavy.

That afternoon Becky and I also headed over to costuming to collect out lifeguard gear. They were really short on the sizes I needed so I ended up grabbing whatever I could. You can take up to five of each item (i.e. five swimming costumes, five pairs of shorts etc). If you find a size that fits, then keep it!

Once we got back to Patterson Court we decided to have a lil fashion show trying on all our stuff with our ‘fanny packs’. Lifeguard, ready!

That evening, Becky, Suzie, Eleanor, Emily and I went to the Disney Housing Welcome Party at Chatham Square. There was lots of music, character meet and greets, a photo booth and free Pizza – they even had gluten-free slices for me!

Wednesday 29th June – Welcome to Operations a.k.a The Worst Day Ever

Today, we headed back to Disney University for our Welcome to Operations class. The day was from 7:30 – 16.00, so it was a very early start for us all. Let me tell you now, this is one of the most boring days off your entire life. The class is a mixture of CP’s and non CP’s. They teach you a bit more about the company and then some incredibly basic things like how to tell the time using the 24 hour clock (I thought everyone knew this). We also learnt about Disney’s Safe D Begins With Me policy. The ‘Safety In Motion’ portion is probably one of the most patronising and boring portions of this class. Good luck, and try not to fall asleep (honestly, it happened to people).

After we stopped for lunch, we had more recreation specific induction. It involved a presentation and some questions from Disney trainers. We then had to complete some readings online followed by multiple choice questions. It’s all rather straight forward and largely common sense. They also set you up on the hub and get you linked to the cast member wi-fi across Walt Disney World – this is much better than the guest wifi, so use it!

Once Welcome to Operations was finally over, we headed to costuming to collect our free lifeguard shoes. Lifeguards get the choice of receiving a free pair of either white trainers (sneakers) or crocs. I would highly recommend choosing the white trainers over the crocs. The crocs that Disney provide have no holes in and are terrible for getting lots of water trapped in them. I also knew of people who burnt their feet through the crocs because they got so hot! It’s best to collect the free shoes and buy you’re own crocs/tevas – the Croc store at the premium outlets always have some kind of offer available. Generally speaking, resort guards tend to wear trainers, whereas water park guards (who tend to be in the water a lot more) will wear crocs or tevas.

Thursday 30th June: Typhoon Orientation

I met Chris (another UK CEP at Typhoon Lagoon) at Chatham Bus Stop and we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon for our ‘Forecast Typhoon’ class. You are required to wear clothes similar to Traditions attire. My advice is to make sure you have something that is both smart, in Disney look and comfortable in crazy florida heat.

The class ran from 8:00 – 12:00 but because of the bus timetable, we ended up arriving really early. (Transtar is the devil). It was quite strange entering the backstage area of Typhoon Lagoon as I hadn’t even visited the park in the day! We went into one of the training rooms and had a presentation on the story behind Typhoon Lagoon.

The legend goes:

“A furious storm once roared cross the sea Catching ships in its path, helpless to flee Instead of a certain and watery doom The wind swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon.”

All of the theming in Typhoon is based on this ferocious storm; that’s why Miss Tilly is impailed on the mountain (the highest centre point in the park). The stories goes that the mountain still tries to dislodge the boat with an enormous geyser of water every half and hour!

The orientation involved some quizzes such as looking at a map of the park and answering where was the nearest QSFB location, the nearest first aid, the nearest restrooms etc. After a quick break it was time to head out ‘on stage’ and to see the park for the first time.

Typhoon Lagoon is beautiful. I couldn’t think of a more well themed water park and (although I am bias) I definitely prefer it over the theming at Blizzard Beach. Walking around Typhoon Lagoon did feel like a bit of a maze. I thought ‘how am I ever going to remember my way round or be able to get from the backstage area to one of my furthest stands in time!’ It also made me realise how busy the parks and the aquatic areas were going to be. I was excited, but also quite nervous.

After work, I headed to Magic Kingdom to meet the girls. Suzie’s roommate, who works in Fantasyland, had given her loads of fast passes for Magic Kindgom rides so we were able to beat the queues!

I went on Buzz Lightyear for the first time on my programme and lost miserably – I’m used to the Disneyland Paris Version, ok?

We also watched the Main Street Electrical Parade and despite the annoying music, I love it! It’s a love hate thing for sure.

We also watched Wishes from across the lake in Frontierland. I’d definitely recommend trying to see Wishes from different locations in Magic Kingdom!

Sadly,  Eleanor and Suzie left early as they had work the following morning. However, I had the next day off and Becky had a PM shift so we decided to stay to watch the Kiss Goodnight. Of course this meant that we had to take some photos in front of the castle and I got my first Mickey Rice Krispie Treat of my programme. (The first of many, may I add).

Friday: Day off!

I had a day off, but everyone else seemed to be either at work or at training. I decided to head back to Typhoon Lagoon for opening and experience the park as a guest. I felt that if I was going to be working there for the summer, I may as well get acquainted with all of the attractions myself. I would really recommend going to either of the water parks for opening as you get on the attractions very quickly – I had managed to do just about everything by lunchtime!

I headed back to housing and decided to go lay by the pool in Patterson Court for some more sunbathing and swimming – I could get used to this life!

I decided to meet Eleanor after she had finished work. She was lifeguarding at Wilderness Lodge which is a Magic Kingdom area resort. I caught the bus over to the Contemporary and met her in Magic Kingdom. We didn’t get into the park until pretty late in the day. There was also a massive rainstorm and we got absolutely drenched walking from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom main entrance. As soon as we arrived, we ended up spending $8 on the most touristy Disney ponchos.

The good thing about the storm was that Magic Kingdom had emptied out considerably. The bad thing about the storm was that a lot of the rides were closed. At one point, the lightening was right on top of us and struck right next to the castle. Everyone (including us) let out a little scream!

We decided to ride The Little Mermaid ride, It’s A Small World and Enchanted Tales with Belle. Enchanted Tales with Belle is one of my favourite attractions for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney film and Belle is my favourite Disney character. Secondly, Belle’s house is so well themed – I loved all the little details inside. Thirdly, I absolutely adore seeing the kids reactions to Belle when she comes to welcome us in her library. The parents reactions to their children reactions made Eleanor and I get all teary. There was one little girl dressed just like Belle and she was in complete awe of Belle when she entered the room; the little girls mum was beaming with happiness! That is what Disney is all about. I love seeing magical moments like this because it reminds me of my own family and all of our amazing memories in Disney.

Overall, our rain filled evening was one of my favourite evenings in the parks!

Saturday 2nd July – My first day of OTJ Training

Today I had training at Typhoon from 8:00 – 16.30. It was also my first day in costume – exciting! I was up at 6.30am ready to catch the 7am bus to the Typhoon Lagoon cast entrance. I didn’t officially start until 8am and the bus only takes 15 minutes from Chatham Square to Typhoon. However, the buses aren’t that reliable so it is best to get to work early. You are also given a 15 minute grace period to clock in and they encourage you to clock in at the earliest convince. However, don’t clock in before your 15 minute grade period as you’ll end up with a Disney point. Three points and boom, reprimand. Three reprimands and boom, please leave the country within 48 hours.

I am going to compile all of my On the Job Training in one post as there is quite a lot to cover and I never found a great deal of information on the process before I started.

That’s it for another week working for the mouse. Stay tuned for the weeks that follow!

What did I get up to last week?

______________________________________________________________

Instagram: @anniebelleymcd

Twitter: @_TheDisneyBelle

YouTube: AnnieBelle – TheDisneyBelle

  Finally posting my weekly diaries from my time as a Cast Member at #WDW! #CEP #DCP🌟 Sunday 26th June - Ellis Day Two Today was the second day of 8.00 - 17.00 Ellis Lifeguard Training at Mickeys Retreat.