#+ then i import jake’s friends to wherever

[soistoodup]

“grey is your mk set in new york or london” the answer is whatever is more convenient for the thread but the real answer is whichever is funnier at any given moment

[jakesangel]

how would jake be if you go non verbal >< -requested

to jake, you're comfort is his top priority, whenever and wherever you're with him. his hands on your waist is a way to keep you close to him and away from the danger but sometimes that wouldn't be enough to keep you safe.

the mall being too crowded, overwhelming you with to munch sounds : people's laugh, babies cries, children running all around,,, and being hyper alert always always makes you go non verbal.

the first time it happened, he didn't know what to do, concern also overwhelming him. baby, why are you not answering ? are you okay ? he would ask you, stopping in his track. you'd shake your head, meaning no. he'd take you outside, calling for a car so you guys can come back to your home. he tries to be as mindful as possible tho he doesn't understand why you are in this state rn, but he understood that you need your privacy, hence why you are not on way to his dorm.

once arrived, he wouldn't let you get undress by yourself, going on his knees to removes ur shoes, going back up to help you w ur outside coat. are you feeling better, baby ? he would whisper making you nod. should we go cuddle on your bed ? or would wathcing a movie help you out ? you, obviously, can't answer to that right now, just looking at him. he'd be dumbfounded n would think about how to help you while he removes his own clothes. he would then lead you to the bathroom, helping you wash your hands. let's go to your bedroom okay ?, reassuring you w a smile of his.

once settle on the bed, he'd make you sat in front of him so he can see your facial reactions, and be sure of your well being. let's do yes no questions, would that be alright baby ? making you nod, i don't really know what's going on, and i won't ask anything until you're ready. i just want your to be okay. would cuddles be too much for you ? you shaking your head left n right meaning no. okay baby. let me set it all up yeah ?

after cuddling for over an hour, you'd finally be able to talk and it's only then jake would make you talk about your condition and asking you why u didn't tell him previously. he wouldn't be mad at you but towards himself, as he would feel like he failed his boyfriend duties. during this important conversation, hed tell you lots of comforting words you're okay baby, i'm here, i'll always love you. he would also take extra precaution to leave your place only if he is sure that you are more than alright. once back to his dorm, he would go on internet, trying to educate himself. he would also text you and ask you questions about ur triggers n how u would usually handle urself.

since then, he would always be more than cautious. his hands would pulls you even closer to him and his eyes a bit less on you to keep in check your environment. whenever you'd want to go out, he'll always check the influence and if he think it would be too munch for you, he'd change the destination or make you wait with another activity waiting peak hours to pass. or if you come over to the dorms hed tell the members to stay more or less calm, or he'd keep you in his room w chilling music to block the stimulations away. but even if his extra preparations wouldn't be enough, he'd still be prepare. always having a pair of headphone w him or hoodie to try to block your stimulations and soothe you down. he would even make you a special playlist those moments, a playlist full of your comfort songs.

note : thank you anon 🩷 for this , i do wish you the well and i'm glad u have friends who can help you w it <3

@imaluckygirl @luvj4key @heeseungswifefr @stwrjvke @goldenretrieverjakezgirlbaby @jaeyunpinkyring @pockettwinzz

[sucker4colby]

Party’s over

Part 1

Summary: Colby fucked up bad. Choosing his girl best friend amber over his girlfriend on his girlfriends birthday.

Warning: cussing, angst, fluff between best friends, insecurities.

Pairing: Colby Brock x female reader.

I could feel jakes sympathetic gaze on me as I paced back and forth biting the nail on my thumb, a habit I exhibited when in distress. There was no way you could miss how uneasy I was, the anxiety stinking up the room. “ maybe he’s caught up in traffic.” His voice broke the silence in my bedroom. I closed my eyes in annoyance letting out a sigh, I wasn’t annoyed at Jake I was annoyed at my boyfriend Colby. We had been together 2 years and for some reason he chose today of all days to flake on me, my 25th birthday. I turned to face the boy who sat on my bed trying to comfort me. “ he hasn’t messaged me all day Jake. I woke up and he was gone. No happy birthday nothing.” I told him blinking rapidly to push back the tears threatening to spill over my water line.

He nodded dropping his head knowing we both knew Colby had forgotten my birthday so there was no use in giving me false hope. I stared up at ceiling trying to make sure no tears dropped on my makeup I had worked hard on. I wouldn’t lie but I was hurt, I never cared to make a big deal out of celebrating my birthday as long as I was surrounded by the most important people in my life, Colby being the most important of them all had convinced me to make a fuss this year only for him to leave me hanging. The clenching i felt in my chest traveled up to my jaw as my feelings shifted from being sad to being furious.

A knock broke the silence causing Jake and I to look at who was entering my room. “ hey, sorry, i couldn’t get a hold of him.” Sam waved his phone at me giving me a sympathetic smile. I nodded reaching up weakly to smooth my hair down from me running my hands through it so much. “ I’m sure he’s fine , you should come down and enjoy your party.” The blonde boy tried consoling me. “ he better be lying in a ditch bleeding out.” I snapped instantly feeling bad but I was angry his location was off and he wasn’t answering my calls or messages. I never checked Colby’s location but we had shared it in case of emergencies back when we were just friends. I just couldn’t believe he wasn’t here , I had brushed every red flag off indicating he had forgotten thinking maybe he was planning a surprise trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I followed the two boys out of my room and downstairs to where my birthday party was being held. The loud bass of the music vibrating throughout my body dulling the already present ache there.

I was wished a happy birthday by hundreds of people but none of them being the person I really wanted, only spreading the sadness throughout my body. I faked a smile and cheered along with everyone accepting a couple drinks to help me forget why I was down. Honestly fuck Colby wherever he was, I didn’t need him to enjoy myself, I found myself thinking as I threw my head back downing a shot of tequila earning cheers from a couple people surrounding me. I laughed throwing my arms up and cheering along with them momentarily forgetting my concerns.

I felt my phone buzz in my left pocket so I reached down to grab it walking away from the make shift bar in the kitchen. I furrowed my eyebrows in confused at the notification stating that Colby Brock had posted on his instagram. I had alerts on for whenever he posted so i thought it was odd since he wasn’t responding. Clicking on it his posted showed up, a mirror pick of him and amber, amber smiling big and leaning her head on his shoulder. My smile dropped and my body ran cold making me freeze in the middle of the room. He had forgotten my birthday because he was hanging out with amber, I knew they were friends and I didn’t have a problem until they started getting flirty with each other.

I was fighting back tears faking a smile at a friend who cheered walking past me. How could I be so stupid of course he would forget the moment he was with her. She’s beautiful and I’m just me, she had full plump lips, flawless skin, her body was to die for and here I am, plain and ordinary me. My skin all of sudden felt dirty and I felt like I looked ridiculous wearing these jeans and revealing shirt, my makeup felt heavy and caked on now and I know you could see the pimple I had on my cheek. Wiping the stray tear on my left cheek I put my head down and rushed to the bathroom to recollect myself.

My arm was tugged back making me fall into sams chest where he wrapped his arms around me. I looked up at him not able to hide my watery eyes and pouting lips. “ I’m sorry bubble, he fucked up and I let him know he isn’t aloud near you when he gets home” he comforted tugging me towards my original location. I guess he had seen the post as well but I’m just glad he knew his best friend fucked up. I couldn’t stop the water works once the blonde boy called me by my nickname, and I couldn’t help but think why was Sam here and not Colby. I sobbed clinging onto him wishing I was dreaming and I was hugging my blue eyed boyfriend instead of crying over him. He shushed me rocking us back and forth patting my head hoping it would calm me down which it did for a bit.

“ Katrina will come up with you while I try to kick people out ok ?” He asked making me look up at him. I nodded thankful that I could count on Sam to be there for me. I raced up the stairs hoping not many people saw me and rushed into my room changing into some sweat pants and big hoodie. Katrina had walked in with some water and snacks as I was rinsing my face off placing them on my bed and walking into my bathroom.

“Hey bubbles, how are you holding up.” She asked handing me my towel to dry off my face. I pouted at her looking at her with my bloodshot eyes knowing she already knew the answer. “ come on, Colby’s a dumbass.” She pouted back bringing me in to hug her. “ I didn’t think he was this big of a dumbass.” I sniffled angrily nuzzling my head into her shoulder. My phone started ringing from the bed making us both look at it. My lip trembled as I saw the familiar caller contact pop up, a picture of Colby and I smiling into our kiss reminding me how much It hurt that that I loved him so much when he was doing the bare minimum. Kat reached out turning my phone off causing me to raise my eyebrows at her.

“ he’s been ignoring you all day, we’re just matching his energy.” She shrugged guiding me towards my bed tucking me in and making herself comfortable as my big spoon, I couldn’t help but giggle at her accepting her cuddles. “ you know, if it doesn’t work out with Colby I could break up with Sam and date you.” She whispered causing me to close my eyes and let out a laugh. Of course kat would be the one to cheer me up, I considered her my best friend for that reason. Ever since we met, we hit it off always being there for each other and being each others number one fan.

We laid in silence her arms wrapped around me providing the warmth and love I sought from Colby. It broke me that my best friend was setting the standard higher than Colby was but it was opening my eyes. Maybe I loved Colby more than he loved me, and maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to show him and harder for him to show me. Maybe I had been so in love with him I was turning a blind eye to what was in front of me, he had gone out of his way to get amber tickets to a show she wanted to see for her birthday and I so stupidly had helped him get them calling around to different vendors to get them. Was I keeping him from being with the person he really wanted to be with? Amber wasn’t a bad person so I know she would never try to purposely ruin my relationship but this was on Colby.

Tears dropped down my cheeks as I laid there silently hoping I wouldn’t wake Katrina who had just fallen asleep. I wanted to sink into the bed and disappear, was I really that replaceable or forgettable. I could hear Sam downstairs making an announcement that the party was over, somehow that made my heart break even more. The party was over and he was still at her house, he had been with her all day not even bothering to let me know he was ok.

Pretty soon all you could hear were Kats light snores and the crickets outside as everyone had left. Sam had some in to say goodnight before making his way into his own room deciding to let kat sleep with me since I seemed to need her more. As I laid there for a couple hours in self pity I heard the familiar engine of his red corrola pull into the drive way and the door shut. I screwed my eyes shut trying to fight even more tears from falling at each sound of his footsteps climbing the stairs. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted from him, did I want him to leave me alone or did I want him to make things right. Did I just want the chance to be petty back or did I want to fix things. My breath caught in my throat as he stood right outside my door his shadow visible from under the door my heart pounded and I could hear it in my ears. I don’t know how I kept myself from shaking as he opened the door to peak in, I pretended to be asleep hoping it was make him go away.

He never did come in, he shut the door and walked away.

____________

Hi guys ! I know I haven’t been posting but Ive had writers block 😭

Im hoping to make this a two part series so stay tuned ! Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Also It’s been weeks and I can’t wrap my head around the fact that Sam and kat are broken up 💔

As for the nickname bubbles I literally just pulled that out of my ass, I’m trying to refrain from giving my characters a name or using y/n.

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Welcome to my Masterlist 💌

hi, i'm murphy. my requests are always open - feel free to send any ideas or thoughts you have - i'll always read them all.

note - all of my fics are reader insert. no use of y/n. i don't write for real people, only characters <3

Last Updated - October 31st

❁ - over 1k notes

✯ - a series

Characters I Write For.

500 Follower Celebration Masterlist. 3k Celebration Masterlist. Valentines Masterlist. 5k Celebration Masterlist.

Moodboard Masterlist. My Ao3.

 ⊹ 　 ✫ 　　 · 　　 ✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵  　.　 ✦ * 　 ⋆ 　　 .  ✵ 　　　

Top Gun: Maverick

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

The Orange. ❁

You and Jake share an orange. He's in love with you.

For Eternity. (Part 2 of The Orange.)

You and Jake share an orange. He's never loved you more.

North Star. ❁

It's New Year's Eve. Jake is tired of waiting.

I Know Places.

Jake always joked that he'd kill for you. One fateful day, he does just that.

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin & Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw

Why Choose?

A drunken game of spin the bottle gets a little heated. Why choose, when you can have both?

Mickey 'Fanboy' Garcia

Dr Cupid.

Mickey Garcia passes out in hospitals. Luckily, this time there's a pretty nurse there to catch him.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Marvel

Bucky Barnes

Lessons in Love. ❁

Bucky didn't believe in love at first sight. Then he met you.

Honey Girl. ✯��

The Universe shows you your soulmate when it feels like you need them most. When you least expect it, you're given yours - Bucky Barnes. Your dad's best friend. You can try to refuse it all you like; but the universe wants what it wants. There's no denying fate.

Trick or Treat.

You love Halloween. Bucky loves you.

Rest Had Seemed The Sweetest Thing.

Bucky's slowly learning that love isn't a finite resource. aka, Bucky's first Christmas.

Stucky

Letters to the Moon.

Steve is gone. The love you and Bucky have for him isn't.

Wishbone.

You meet Bucky and Steve while on the run. The three of you quickly learn that nothing is more violent than love.

Frank Castle

There's Always Tomorrow.

Frank knows you better than you know yourself. It's a blessing and a curse.

Multi Talented. ❁

Frank shows you exactly what you deserve.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Criminal Minds

Luke Alvez

Wherever You Are. That's Where Home Is.

Luke might be a mind reader. Only with you, though.

Vice. ❁

Everyone on the team has their vices. It just so happens that yours is sat across the table looking at you.

Spencer Reid

Web of Lies. ✯

Spencer Reid has always been good at keeping secrets. You just never thought he'd keep one from you.

Cowboy!Spencer ✯

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Narcos

Javier Peña

Self Control. ❁

Javi keeps refusing himself what he wants. One night puts everything into perspective.

Yes, Mr President.

There's an endless amount of things you shouldn't do as the President of the United States. Defiling the Oval Office is definitely one of them.

Western Nights. ✯

You don't expect to bump into your dad's best friend Javier in a church basement on the outskirts of town. You also didn't expect to fall in love with him. Life seems to be full of surprises - and Javier was the biggest surprise of all.

Jealousy, Jealousy. ❁

Javier Peña doesn't share.

Two Murphy's and a Peña.

Javier knows Steve's sister is off limits. He's never been one to follow the rules.

After Hours.

You and Javier are stuck in the office in the middle of a heatwave. You're hot in more ways than one.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Triple Frontier

Time. ❁

You get shot in Colombia. Frankie, Benny, Santiago and Will each have their own ways of helping you heal.

Tethered. ❁

The lines of friendship blur when you’re this close. Also known as - each of the times you’ve kissed Benny, Frankie, Santiago and Will.

Tranquility.

You're not good at keeping secrets from the boys. Turns out, Will isn't either.

Home Is Where The Heart Is.

They say home is where the heart is. Your heart belongs to the four boys you call your best friends. Also known as - four important times the guys told you they loved you.

Will Miller

Champagne Fuelled Confessions.

You come home drunk, and have something burning you need to tell Will.

Best Friend's Brother.

You've known Benny for years. You've had a crush on his brother Will for years, too.

Frankie Morales

Find You.

A bad date brings Frankie Morales to your door at the perfect time.

Rain Soaked Romantic.

Frankie will run across town in the rain if it means finally telling you how he feels.

Santiago Garcia

This Is The Way It Always Goes.

Santiago always comes crawling back. You convince yourself this is the last time - but you both know that's not true.

Precious Girl.

A chance meeting with your Dad's best friend at 2am.

Benny Miller

Adrenaline.

Ben needs a way to work off his post match energy. You.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The Last of Us

Joel Miller

Pretty When You Cry. ❁

Joel realises his morals are fucked. You realise you like it.

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Succession

Stewy Hosseini

Clandestine. ✯

You and Stewy know it's wrong. So why, pray tell, does it feel so right?

Fully Clothed.

Being Stewy's assistant has its perks.

Consequence.

Stewy's actions have unexpected consequences.

Needy.

You've been waiting all day for Stewy to get home. He loves it.

Play Pretend.

The classic fake dating trope, with a twist.

The Place Where It All Began.

You reunite with Stewy at your high school reunion. Turns out, he's been waiting for you, all this time.

Risky.

The thrill of being caught makes it all the more exciting.

Kendall Roy

Me and You.

You quit as Kendall's assistant. He's been waiting for this day.

Illicit Affair.

You're Matssons wife. You're also in love with Kendall Roy.

Forced Proximity.

The classic only one bed trope, this time with your emotionally unavailable boss.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The Bear

Carmen Berzatto

The Roommate Collection. ✯❁

A collection of fics based on being roommates with Carmen.

Vienna.✯

Everything is the same. Nothing has changed. Everything has changed. Nothing is the same.

Carmen. ❁

Carmen. Your Carmen.

Denial. ❁

Carmy can’t keep pretending.

Mechanic!Carmen.

Inspired by that picture of JAW in a crop top.

Perfectionist. ❁

Your boyfriend being a professional chef has its perks. Especially when it comes to gingerbread houses.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

9-1-1

Evan Buckley

Lightning Strike. ❁

The two of you deal with the aftermath of Bucks trauma.

Fire Hazard. ❁

The story of your firehouse nickname - and Buck unable to handle you in a sundress.

That Old Cliche. ❁

You swore you’d never give in to the best man and maid of honour cliche. And then you met Evan Buckley.

Evan Buckley & Eddie Diaz

The Look of Love. ❁

You, Buck and Eddie are absolutely, undeniably, head over heels in love with each other. It seems like everyone can see it except for the three of you.

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Sons of Anarchy

Jax Teller

Heatwave. ❁

You cut Jax's hair. He can't keep his hands to himself.

Sundress Season. ❁

It’s sundress season. Jax can’t keep his hands to himself (again).

Filip 'Chibs' Telford

Teach Me How to Ride. ❁

Chibs is teaching you how to ride (in more ways than one).

Handled.

You and Chibs have been walking the line for a little too long.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

Challengers

Two Can Play That Game.

You’re cheating on Patrick. You’re not proud of it, but it just… happened. Patrick’s cheating on you, too. He never meant for it to happen, but it just… did. Imagine the surprise from both of you when you find out that Art Donaldson is caught up right in the middle.

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Miscellaneous

Steve Harrington

Cherry. ✯❁

The lines of friendship get a little blurry, one unassuming Friday night in December.

Someone Borrowed, Someone Blue.

An engagement party, your childhood best friend, one too many glasses of champagne. What could go wrong?

[songbirdseung]

payphone / sim jaeyun

thank you for 1k! where molding back a broken heart starts with you standing at a phonebooth in a foreign country trying to figure out what the hell to do and thinking where it went wrong. pairing stranger!jake x reader genre angst at first but turns into fluff. strangers to friend, possibly lovers

usually you'd feel very claustrophobic being in a tight enclosed space and feel anxious when people look at you regardless of expression but right now you had a different task that was highly more important that your own feelings right now.

you still had two whole months being in this country whose language you don't speak, with people you don't know nor trust but you were desperate to leave behind a memory, a person. because quite frankly being in his own home country didn't help you with trying to move on due to the fact that whenever and wherever you looked, something reminded you of him and that stupid smile you love so much.

it's weird, really. why are you in a phone booth when you can easily use your phone and do much more with it than a telephone attached to a wire in a box? easy answer: your phone died.

so, here you were. in this clear glassed box surrounded by people that are giving you looks as they pass by. since your tear-stained face with never ending tears flow out along with frantic and desperate movement would cause anyone to look.

some people tried to help but gave up when they realized you didn't speak their language but gave you enough reassurance and comfort your ex could ever give.

"damn it!" you shove back the phone into its switch hook as the automated voice came through for the nth time. sighing at the realization you no longer have any loose change to use.

a stupid idea but the only idea you had left was to start softly banging your head on the glass and calling yourself stupid for even making the decision to surprise your long-distance boyfriend.

"you okay in there?" a warm soft voice with a charming aussie accent along with a knock on the glass gets your attention. turning your head to be met with worried brown eyes looking at you. clearing your throat as you wipe your tears away, "uhm..you want an honest answer?"

"that's why i asked" okay, maybe that small chuckle was too much for your just broken heart could take.

"then…no"

"can i open the door or could you get out so i could help you in any way?"

never in a million years would you blindly follow nor interact with a stranger, let alone a stranger that was a guy… but that;-'s just you being anxious and suspicious. although, for some reason, this stranger felt like a warm hug or maybe it's just your emotions going haywire and your actually out of it. either way, you made the decision to step out of the booth and sit in a cafe with this stranger.

hands down, the best decision you made this whole month because know you understand why people say a stranger can understand you way better than anyone else in your life. this man who you are sitting across from right now, he felt like a warm room after being in the cold for hours on end. he just sat there, listened to you and sometimes even offering sweet and comforting words that would reassure you that maybe not everyone and everything is horrible.

if your ex barely gave you the bare minimum, this guy was giving you beyond that. no, you weren't exactly falling for this guy just like that. you've been through too much to do that to yourself. it was just a friendly acknowledgement that this person is a gem and that you can't let it go. there was no need to polish this one, he was already too perfect.

you sat at that cafe for hours, it started off with you crying to a whole stranger to leaving the cafe with a new friend, sim jaeyun… maybe there is a reason to stay in Seoul for the two months you had left.

-

"you're telling me your douchebag of an ex tried to get back together you with?" jake gives you a look that says "you better not have said yes" which makes you laugh and nudge him

"don't look at me like that"

"just tell me you didn't get back with him, woman!" he nudges you back and steals your cup of m&m's "these are mine now, by the way" while popping one in his mouth as he waits for your answer, eyebrow raised with an attitude and all.

"of course I didn't, doofus" trying to snatch back your beloved snack but to no success.

banter and bickering with jake was now your favorite thing. it's been two days since he found you crying in a phone booth, being a lovely, kind and friendly person but now he's teasing you and play fighting with you as if you two have known each other you whole lives.

"no offense but did you really think your long-distance relationship with him would work despite his track record?" he sits down, still holding your chocolate hostage.

"i was young!" trying to defend yourself, rolling your eyes at him as you at down next to him on the picnic blanket.

"it was only a year ago" okay, who is this diva? because he's giving you a deadpan "are you for real?" look. "just admit you're stupid, yn" shaking his head as he continues to eat the candy, looking at the ducks in the river in front of them.

"i'm not stup-"

"you think ducks can eat chocolate?" you see him holding one piece of the m&m's, rolling it with his pointer and thumb. "jake, you'll kill it!" he chuckles and eat the candy "it was just a question"

it makes you scoff and chuckle at him "look who's stupid now?" soon after that question, you feel your upper body meeting the grass next to you along with jake's defensive tone.

you never had a friendship like this. all your girl friends were the loving, caring, soft type of friends who love to sugar coat and beat around the bush when it comes to comforting you, you know the usual. they usually are gentle with you and are soft spoken but with jake? nope. say bye bye to that because the man will literally tell you straight up that you were doing something dumb. but again, for some odd reason, he was more real and comforting than anyone you've known. he can be a pain in the ass and hella competitive when you two play games but overall, he's such a fun guy to be around.

-

"have you dated before, jake?" you watch him put down his ramen and look up at you. there was something in his eyes that held something you couldn't really figure out. maybe a sense of longing?

"no- well, i mean- i've been a few dates set up by my friends in australia but I never actually had a girlfriend, why do you ask?" now paying full attention to you, waiting for where this conversation leads to

"i was just curious because i just can't believe a guy like you doesn't have a girl" you hear him sigh and see him shrug

"it was never really a priority"

"that's it? what about the girls you dated?"

"i don't like blind dates, i prefer to find "the one" naturally, you know?" you nod, telling him you understood and got him mindset on dating and relationships.

the conversation on his love life continued until he whined and whined, asking you to stop and let him finish his lunch. jake wasn't entirely secretive with you, he's actually been very welcoming and open to letting you know him and bringing you into his life. although, like any other person, there were things he like to keep to himself.

-

the next two months were a whirlwind of shared experiences and growing affection. you and jake were practically inseparable, exploring seoul's vibrant streets, from bustling markets to serene temples.

one day, you embarked on a culinary adventure, attempting to make kimchi. what started as a fun activity quickly turned into a chaotic mess. red pepper flakes flew everywhere, turning the kitchen into a colorful battlefield. jake, ever the comedian, couldn't resist capturing the moment, teasing you about your culinary skills.

"you call that kimchi? it looks more like a crime scene!" he joked, doubling over with laughter. you playfully swatted him, but couldn't help but join in the fun.

another memorable moment was a karaoke night. initially hesitant, you let jake's encouragement push you out of your comfort zone. as you belted out your favorite tunes, your shyness melted away. you even attempted a duet with jake, a hilarious performance that had the entire karaoke bar roaring with laughter.

late nights often found you on a rooftop, stargazing and sharing your hopes, dreams, and fears. hours would pass as you connected on a deeper level, the city lights twinkling in the background. it was during these quiet moments that you realized how much you valued jake's friendship, his honesty, and his unwavering support.

the quiet hum of the city faded into the background as you and jake settled into a cozy evening. a bowl of popcorn, a soft blanket, and a heartwarming movie filled the screen. the familiar comfort of his presence washed over you as you leaned into his side.

a shared laugh, a knowing glance, a gentle touch—these were the moments that painted your time together in vibrant hues. the simplicity of it all was breathtaking. no grand gestures, no dramatic declarations, just the quiet understanding that grew between you.

as the credits rolled, a comfortable silence enveloped the room. you turned to face jake, his eyes soft and contemplative. a warmth spread through you, a realization dawning upon you. the bond you shared was something truly special, a friendship that had blossomed into something more.

the days that followed were a whirlwind of shared experiences, laughter, and quiet moments. you explored hidden alleys, savored delectable street food, and lost yourselves in the vibrant tapestry of seoul. each day was a new adventure, a fresh memory etched into your hearts.

as your departure date drew near, a bittersweet feeling settled over you. the thought of leaving seoul and saying goodbye to jake filled you with a sense of longing. on your last night, you wandered along the han river, the city lights reflecting on the calm waters.

"i'm going to miss you," you confessed, your voice barely a whisper.

jake turned to face you, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "i'll miss you too. but hey, this isn't goodbye, just see you later."

[beiasluv]

Hello! Do you take request for platonic relationships? May I request for a fic where the reader is Neteyam’s twin and they died instead of Neteyam? Thank you!

neteyam x sister!reader

°:. *₊ ° . ° .•

a/n: yesss, i love platonic relationships, hope u like it :)

warnings: curse words, death :( and ye bad grammar bc i am potato 💀

masterlist

enjoy!

the tale of jake sully and neytiri began a long, long time ago. until now, they had a been blessed with a baby or should i say babies

the future child of the toruk makto bear great responsibility since a youngling. even the childbirth was not private, the clan gathered around the suffering neytiri to celebrate their heirs.

neytiri screamed as her voice cracked; she squeezed jake’s hand tightly, as if she wanted him to bore the pain. jake, who was helpless to his wife held her tightly and made an attempt to calm his own beating heart.

“a boy!” the first cry echoed the forest floors and a blue baby wailed.

“neteyam!” jake held his baby high up the ground, as an offering back to eywa. and like she had noticed, the wind blew heavily among the trees.

“neteyam!” the people of omaticaya chanted as they celebrated.

jake held neteyam against his mother, “he is so precious- ma ja-!”

“neytiri!” she held his hand tightly for the second time. “what is wrong? are you injured?” he looked for mo’at and she came hurriedly.

“this can’t be!” mo’at raised her hand high towards eywa. “ewya had blessed them with a twin!” “Tsleng kä! (eywa gives)”

“Tsleng kä!! (eywa gives!)”

…

“y/n!” jake held you up in his embrace.

“y/n!” the people chanted. as if eywa acknowledged her blessing again, the woodsprites surround your body and flew off into the wind.

a twin can only be so different yet so similar at the same time. you both inherited loyalty and obedience from your parents.

however, the eldest daughter can never deny that they are a daddy’s girl. and neteyam is a mommy’s boy. a fair trade

jake will always have a soft spot for you in his heart. the firstborn daughter of a toruk makto carries a great burden all the time. he had to prepare you since young to learn how to hunt, speak intellectually, and the importance of your people.

he will call you his ‘babygirl’ when you are going through tough times and it helps calm you down 👀

you would say you guys are both calm and collected. but if compared with each other, neteyam is still leaning towards his brain, but you leans towards your heart.

you are more emotional than neteyam and for good reasons.

whenever he gets too harsh on lo’ak, you were there to support and push him up. (sorry neteyam, but we know who is lo’ak’s favorite twin here)

however, twins are twins. you guys can fight each other and screw up one another, but you are always there to back him up.

“no, neteyam, can not have my food, but here is my liver if you are going to die.”

neteyam, being the eldest he is, is very protective of his twin sister. your human hand gained a lot of unwanted attention from the other na’vis. he made each and everyone of them to learned their lesson if they decided to judge your precious pinkie.

he is very picky of what you wear and where you go

“no, you can not wear that, cover up,” he whined.

“please, as if you are not showing your whole upper body,” you slapped his abs.

“no, this is different!” he raised his arms. “there are boys drooling over you wherever you go! do not think i didn’t notice.”

“it is normal of our culture! na’vis wear this!” you complained.

“i’ll tell mom you’ve been seeing a boy out,” he raised his eyebrows.

“nete! we are just friends!”

“then cover up.”

“fine!”

whenever the boys are in trouble, you have to go bring them back. dragging them by their ears are your favorite method.

now, they’ve learned when does your footsteps mean trouble from mom and dad.

“shit! she’s coming! run!” lo’ak tapped his brother.

“neteyam! lo’ak! i am not covering for you this time!”

“then, catch us!”

“don’t make me count!”

buttt, you still covered for them because they are your beloved brothers.

patching them up most of the time. kiri is also there to help you patch them up.

kiri and tuk are your angels for lifeee. teas? spilled. you guys have girls night all thetime.

the girls like to roam the forest floor and sometimes the lab. you knew kiri and grace have a special connection, and you were there to support here through the hard times.

kiri is your spiritual sister, Period. she loves to nap in the forest with you and swim in the waterfalls.

tuk is your baby, she is so supportive and lovely to be around. your baby sister who backs you up all the time.

when mom and dad goes too harsh on you, neteyam and tuk is always there to hold you up.

spider tho. no particular comment. you had always smelled stinky feelings towards him since the beginning, but seeing your siblings grow fond of him you didn’t say anything.

he is very friendly, to the point of being weird to you. you remember to keep a distance from him

bantering with neteyam all. of. the. time. who’s older or younger, classic. who’s taller, well, you kinda gave up after puberty hit him like a BUS

you are also protective of him. girls are always surrounding him with gifts and flowers. some even took an extra step to spy him through you.

nope, not happening.

-spoilers!!-

the metkayina welcomed you guys with hospitality and same hostile behavior. which you didn’t mind, considering your dad brought much trouble to them.

you tried to be invisible to most of the people, staying away on the beach, swimming alone, or watching the sunset.

ao’nung took advantage of your solitude to make friendship. easy to say that your brothers are not happy with his attempts.

you agreed to talk with him as long as he stop bothering kiri, which he agreed swiftly. he didn’t agree swiftly to stop bothering neteyam and lo’ak, tho. but he gave in in the end.

“you have to breath in from here,” ao’nung grabbed his abs, sort of what flexing, you noticed.

“okay,” you breathed in deeper than you normally do, earning a chuckle from him seeing your puffed cheeks.

“not your cheeks, here,” his hand claps your area of shown stomach. unknowingly, his hand was burning on your skin.

“are you sick, ao’nung? your hands and face are burning,” you touched his forehead.

“oh! no! definitely not! i am fine!” he flinched his hands back. “so- sorry.”

“hey! great! you are learning to apologize!” you giggled at his words.

“only to you,” he mumbled under his breath.

“what?”

“oh, nothing,” he replied.

“y/n! let’s go! dad’s calling!” neteyam ran over to you. “look who’s here, trying to get my sister?” (giving the eyes)

“you shut up!” ao’nung retorted back.

“hey! he’s not and don’t call my brother that, you guys apologize to each other…nete”

“s..sorry” “sorry”

for someone with ego as big as his, you taught him to become more selfless. the way your father taught you since a youngling. his parents were amazed by your successful attempts and welcomed you heartwarmingly.

his sister, tsireya, welcomed you with love and affection. she is quite the opposite of her brother, which you appreciated it quite a lot.

whenever your mom needs a second hand you will always be there for her. hugging her daily and giving her comfort. neytiri sings you daily to sleep just as it was in the jungle.

…and the war came, that demon you always loathed.

“y/n! y/n! no!” neteyam tried to keep your head above the water as he is fighting against the wave himself. “bro! take her!”

“shit!” lo’ak took your body on his ilu and cradled you in his arms.

“fuck! she took the shot for me, lo’ak! what am i going to do!”

“should’ve left her dead, bro,” spider said emotional-less.

“SHUT UP! TAKE HER TO DAD NOW!” neteyam commanded lo’ak who hurriedly tightened his grip on you.

“couz, do you know what the fuck did you just said!” lo’ak called his ilu to take off while neteyam is holding on to its harness.

“she said she will sacrifice herself for her family, and this is what exactly what it is!” spider shouted back. “she wants to be with eywa! back when we were younger!”

“we’ll get back with you, spider!” neteyam shouted as he fought back the waves. “you are fucking mad! she’s our sister! I’ll never lose her to a fucking bullet! pray for yourself that I’ll not pluck your eyeballs out!”

…

“DAD!” lo’ak called out jake on the rock. “bro watch her head!” lo’ak, neteyam, and tsireya lowered your body softly on the rough surface. everyone can hear their heartbeat as well as the liquid in their teary eyes.

“fuck, pressure! apply pressure on her!” jake took neteyam’s hand and place it on her blood soaked chest. neteyam placed his shaky hands as heavy as he could on your chest to stop your blood.

“it’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” your dad muttered to your fading sight.

“d- dad, i want to go home,” you sobbed, as each word hurts to mutter out.

“i know, i know, we’re going home,” he smiled softly at you, trying to keep himself together.

“no, no, no, no, no,” neytiri held your body tightly. she cradled your face in her soft hands. you remember these soft hands, they are the one who brought you to bed every night, the ones who took care of you when you are sick, and the one who held you when you first broke your heart. now you felt as if you are breaking their hearts.

“i- i- mom- dad-“ you can’t help but your body is shaking hardly.

“yes, sweetheart?” “yes, babygirl?” your mom and dad replied softly and everything blacks out.

…

“no! nooo! y/n!” neytiri screamed her heart out, her hands traveled around your head and held it close to her chest. as if she is trying to retrieve her last memory like the first time she was breast-feeding you. “my child! my daughter!”

your brothers held your body close to them as well. neteyam taking your hand and knitting his ring with your pinkie finger, “you promise! you promised!”

“neytiri, neytiri,” jake held her closely. “they have our daughters, i need you to be strong.”

“let’s take our daughters back.” from that moment on, her eyes became as emotional less as a robot, grabbing her bow she took off.

“stay with your sister!” jake commanded.

…

“what are you doing, mad animal! i don’t even care for that child!”

“A CHILD FOR A CHILD”

part 2

today’s a great day to take care of yourself, 🤍

[sgiandubh]

Friends and friends of friends a network make

Boys are back in town, no rings (Real Life, not Instabuzz) and active networking:

In this case, those who are missing from the pic are as (if not more) important as those who made it, riding in the rain.

Let's unpack:

John Laurie, Managing Director at the Glenturret distillery, where my personal favorite blend (oh, well, The Famous Grouse - I know, really LOL, but it is what it is) is made. A long, interesting career that started in 2000, as General Manager of a fitness club network headquartered in Irvine, California (LA Fitness) and got him more and more involved in whisky business since 2014, as General Manager of Edrington, the Macallan distillery. If it sounds familiar to you, well... always remember that #silly old slogan on the Pall Mall cigarette packs: 'wherever particular people congregate'. I know I do 😎.

Something immediately piqued my interest in this short bio: 'opened a fine dining restaurant that achieved a Michelin star inside 7 months'. And it is, of course, true: part of the reasons I am always using LinkedIn to place people, is that it would be counterproductive to blatantly lie, there. Or childish: even McSideburns knows that, with his very empty page and 1 contact - but what the hell do I know, though, he's more private than if he worked for the MI-6.

The one starred Michelin restaurant who got 'le macaron' in seven months is The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, that opened in July 2021, on the distillery's premises and got it by February 2022. The first time a distillery wins a Michelin star, by the way:

Now, where did I read a similar business story, not so long ago and wrote about it? Oh, that's right, Tom Kitchin's first restaurant in EDI apparently followed the same yellow brick road to instant success, back in 2007:

Again, I am sensing a theme, here. Associating with young, dynamic and daring entrepreneurial voices in the whisky business. Not exactly the manwhore, closeted gay, peasant and crook some hypocrites would like to portray. I have to say, I am always, always over the moon glad to see the real thing showing up from time to time: a consistent effort to get things done, properly.

But sure, you believe what you want. I cannot force anyone to go beyond a sometimes very limited world view.

Second person being missed is David Coulthard, F1 legend, but also...

Company Director at Whisper Films, one of the most dynamic, fastest growing UK media groups. He founded it in 2010, along Jake Humphries, BBC F1 commenter extraordinaire and Sunil Patel, a former BBC producer, but also a Board Member of the Edinburgh TV Festival:

And for those who might not know it (I didn't), Coulthard hails from Dumfries & Galloway. Mmmhm. Well done, S. Well done.

S knows exactly what he's doing, where he's going and when and with whom he is seen. By this point in time, I think we might safely think his somewhat lackadaisical recent Insta follows (Romanian female MMA athlete? ROFLMAO, really and I howled) as gently trolling this very obsessed invested fandom. As I wrote it many, many times already, the Scottish Mafia is a reality - and good for him, really, to use what is readily available. And if you still had any doubt that was a business informal meeting, The Highland Chieftain tagged SS in his story.

He's going to laugh all the way to the bank, this one. You'll see. Great news and I will always be here to put it in context. Some of the things being heavily peddled around in here might not be very interesting to me - but this yes: this is exciting.

Also, many, many thanks to the two of you who immediately keep me up with these: you know who you are and you are loved, of course, why even ask?😘🙌

[cheolsfae]

Hello can u do energy check for all the enhypen members regarding their career and lovelife? Thanksssss

Sure!

*For fun!*

Note(s):

since this is a larger request both categories are getting 1 or 2 card pulls:) but oracle cards are being used!

☾ Jungwon:

June 8, 2024

→Career: King of cups, doe

Okay, so he is currently content with how things are going in his career. He's happy that things are playing out in the way that he had hoped. It's like he's in the energy of receiving. He's getting everything he put in back. He's seeing the fruits of his labor pay off.

→Love Life: 2 of swords, goose

However, in the romance department, he's not as fruitful. He's kind of stuck between wanting to date and not. Like yeah, he wants that someone to go through life with but at the same time he's kind of like nah, that's not important at all. But it kind of feels like this is a warning. Like be careful, someone might be waiting to take advantage of him. He needs to be careful of who he dates if he does decide to.

☾ Jay:

June 8, 2024

→Career: Temperance (reversed), 5 of pentacles (reversed), the spider

It's like he's being impatient with the way things are going. Kind of disappointed with how everything is progressing. But I get the vibe, he chose the harder route than taking the easy way out. He took the more difficult road instead of the easier path. He made it hard on himself for the same rewards. Does that make sense? There was an easier way to do something and he chose to make it hard.

→Love Life: 10 of pentacles (reversed), crab

So, I don't think he's focused on romance right now. Kind of feels like romance has screwed him over recently. He might of had a situation-ship and it may have ended horribly (as it always does) and he's just like no, that's not for me right now. He's being very horde-ish with his energy. He doesn't want to open up to anyone emotionally at this time.

☾ Jake:

June 8, 2024

→Career: The high priestess, friend

So, this one to me is really a bit vague to me. Something is coming in for him but it's like a surprise. He's going to want to tell someone about it but I don't think he's going to be able to. He's going to have to keep his mouth shut. It's something really exciting though.

→Love Life: Judgement, snail

As far love, slow and steady wins the race. He might be seeing someone at the moment and he wants to go in full force but he's being told to hold back and let things unfold naturally. If it's meant to be it will be. He doesn't need to force anything. Take it day by day, you don't need to know the outcome of everything right away.

☾ Sunghoon:

June 8, 2024

→Career: King of swords (reversed), rooster

Career wise, it feels like he's playing a game. He's trying to stay at least one step ahead of someone. Someone could be trying to sabotage him or vice versa. It just kind of feels manipulative. Someone could be trying to control him or the other way around. This person he's dealing with could be very domineering. They like to be in control. When they aren't they flip their shit and I think that's the kind of situation he's in right now.

→Love Life: Ace of pentacles, the devil (reversed), rabbit

For his love life, it looks like he's making an offer to someone but nothing serious. Just a hook up kind of thing. He doesn't want anything serious at the moment. He wants to still have fun and all that. He does not want to be tied down to anyone. He's busy having fun. This person could be a friend. They could be someone he's kind of close with. I don't think this person is going to take this offer though. They might be looking for something else.

☾ Heesung:

June 8, 2024

→Career: 10 of swords (reversed), wolf

He's ending a cycle in his work. Something he could have been repeatedly going back to just because that's what felt natural to him. But he's breaking it and trying to branch out into other things and just kind of following wherever the wind takes him. He's listening to his gut instincts and just going with it. Love that for him!

→Love Life: 9 of cups, turtle

He isn't really too focused on it either. He's working more on self love than anything else. He could have had self-esteem issues and that could be what he's working on fixing. He's doing it little by little. One day at a time like he should. Very happy for him!

☾ Sunwoo:

June 8, 2024

→Career: The magician (reversed), camel

Okay, so he's feeling like his manifestations aren't coming to show. He's disappointed in what he was working on. But it's also giving main character energy, like yeah no this isn't working for me but maybe if I keep pushing through, It'll all be fine. But I don't think that's the case here, I think he needs to walk away, it feels like a waring sign, like please don't keep pursuing it, it's going to bite you in the ass.

→Love Life: 6 of cups (reversed), hippo

Alrighty, he's not doing too good romantically. He's missing an ex partner. He's remembering mostly the good and none of the bad. He's choosing to look past all the issues he had with them and debating reaching out to them again. At the time, this person could have felt like they were a perfect match for him and that's what he's focusing on. He isn't remembering all of the shit they put him through.

☾ Riki:

June 8, 2024

→Career: King of pentacles, crab

So, he's feeling secure in where he stands financially. He's content with what he's made of himself. He could be being kind of cheap with how he's choosing to spend his money lately. Nothing wrong with being cheap but this feels more like it's due to being insecure, like emotionally. Like I don't want people thinking I spend it uselessly. that kind of vibe. He's kind of watching how everyone is reacting to what he buys.

→Love Life: 8 of swords, hen

He's in his head about a specific connection from the past. He's feeling stuck, he isn't but he feels like it. He might have been too submissive in the past to his ex-partner. Like he may not have stood up for himself. This person could have bossed him around and it was too much, he needs to heal these wounds before he can move onto something new.

[mrcspectr]

Before when I’d consider the way Steven’s flat was arranged for him, I always assumed it was mostly Marc’s doing. I mean, it’s really the only perspective we see. And I’m sure he had a strong hand in it; the postcards, the fish, the bed. He’d have to be pretty focused on the things Steven would notice were different, or if things were missing day to day. He’d have to make sure that his shadow didn’t fall on the things that he moved or changed, leaving no traces. And god, he’s not perfect at it. He misses things, he forgets. Sometimes his ideas aren’t the best. I mean, look at the key and the phone. Right under Steven’s nose, he was bound to find it eventually.

His influence on their environment, or really, lack thereof, would be practical. Marc would give Steven what he needs to be happy, to be safe. Marc the military man, Marc the minimalist, Marc the older brother, all roles he can never quite shake, coexisting in the only ways he knows how. Loving and well meaning, even as a ghost, forming a haphazard life in what little ways he knows how.

But all that stuff, all those things, pulled together in such a short amount of time. That’s not something easily accomplished alone. And maybe he thinks he did. Maybe he sees the books and trinkets, the vegan food in the fridge, and he has the.. vaguest sense of buying it. It doesn’t feel quite right, the memory looks foggy, or maybe there’s no memory of it at all. A blank spot or a brick wall where the trip to the market should be. But he fills in the blanks, makes excuses. Because who else would it be if not himself, right? Where else could it come from?

Jake Lockley is observant. It’s a skill acquired over long periods of silence, years of watching and waiting, time spent catching the details needed to keep safe, to shield. He could be a talker when he wanted to be, able to lay on the charisma and wheedle out information when necessary. The man could make friends anywhere he went, could charm ice and soften stone. But people like that learn to value the quiet, and all the things you can learn from that empty noise that you’d never hear in all the chatter.

There’s a notebook in his jacket pocket, filled with his chicken scratch. Being vigilant has never done shit for his poor memory, it seems, but writing it down fast and saving it for later seems to do the trick. He’s got a lot of lists: Steven’s groceries, the little vegan market a few blocks from the museum that’s always closed by the time he leaves work. (Jake does remember his disappointed face, every time he’d make the stop and see the lights off in the windows.) Subjects that Steven’s particularly interested in this month, collections of books tailored to each one. Lines run through them when Jake finds a copy in an old used book shop, tucked away into shelves or left in precariously stacked piles on the kitchen table for Steven to find. Names of all the museums in London and descriptions of the stock in their gift shops, so he can correlate miniatures and decorations for the flat with the Topic of The Week.

It seems small sometimes, to him. In the grand scheme of everything he and Marc do, what Marc accomplishes feels more important. Marc protects Steven’s heart from being broken, keeps him away from Khonshu wherever possible, and while he doesn’t always agree with the methods, Jake sees the good intent and leaves it at that, where he can. And he does his part too. He does the dirtier work, the harder tasks. The jobs no one else should have to take. And he does it silently, thanklessly. Jake gives without thought to receiving, doesn’t even try to ask. Probably wouldn’t know how, if given the opportunity. But his shadow is tucked into every corner of that flat just the same, whether Steven and Marc can see it or not.

[sunflwryu]

warning: yandere, threats | not requested

promise

there’s tears in your eyes, and you’re clearly scared of the man behind you, but...why? why must you say such things to him, again and again?

“please, jake, leave me alone...”

those are the words that are coming from your lips, each one an invisible slice to his heart, but the fearful expression on your face begs to differ, almost repairing the damage as soon as it's been dealt with an invisible hope that it's not you who means the things you're saying. almost. it hurt a lot coming from you, when you never ever treated him so coldly like this, you never let anything separate the two of you, who'd been best friends since you were children.

"...why? what happened? we were doing just fine, and then you stopped talking to me when you started dating him..." he protests.

said man sighs, shaking his head. "don't go manipulating my darling like that about me..." his voice is dangerous, low, serious and sharp like a knife's edge. he narrows his eyes, and there's something dangerous in them that makes jake feel like he should run away. it's all the more reason to take you away, to keep you away from whoever this boyfriend of yours was, wherever he appeared from, because he'd never seen him until today. before he can protest, the man turns his gaze towards you, his hand moving behind your back as he whispers to you in a low voice, and jake doesn't miss how you stiffen immediately, your lips parting slightly in a silent gasp of surprise. "...go on, tell him everything you told me."

you shakily take a deep breath, then another one as your eyes laser in on him. he feels the rush of doom surging through him, and it feels horrible, like someone just read his execution sentence then and there.

"i know you don't hate me like you said you did, okay?" jake tries before you can open your mouth to speak, the words tumbling out of his own desperately, hoping his words can reach you, reach past whatever hold that man has on you. you look so sad, like this is hurting you just as much as it's hurting him, your eyes filled with a pain he wants to understand and help you with. "i know you're being forced some way, somehow because of him...i'll respect your decision if that's what you truly feel, but please...if you need help, i'll help you, i'll do anything, that's what we promised to each other when we were little, so please—"

"just fucking leave me alone! god, you're so fucking annoying! always following me around, always trying to text me and talk to me when i'm busy!" you cut him off abruptly, loudly, cursing at him like he's a lifelong enemy of yours, making his eyes widen with betrayal and shock and sadness. "i hate you so fucking much! why didn't you listen the first time?!"

surely, you'll just laugh and say it was just some cruel joke you pulled on him even if you weren't the type, that this was all a dream, but it's not, and you're glaring at him with venom in your gaze.

jake swallows, hard. if you wanted to hurt him, you certainly did, and he looks at you with his puppy eyes, hoping you'll just...you'll do something and come to him like he's always told you. but you do nothing, and the man behind you also just stares at him, and he feels like he doesn't belong, like he never did. you shattered his heart in one go, and what hurts the most is knowing that you know how fragile he is, how fragile his feelings are, how highly and deeply he holds you in his heart. sure, you didn't know of his love for you, but...you're important to him, and he thought he was too.

"i...i'm going to go..." he barely gets out awkwardly with an indescribable pain in his voice before he turns heel and runs off out of the alley, the sound of his footsteps fading quickly.

you just stand there, jake's betrayed expression burned into your mind and making you taste guilt, shame, and disgust with yourself. you try not to cry, clenching your fists so hard that your nails almost dig into your palms, your eyes glued to the asphalt, trying to pick out the rocks in your vision so you don't close your eyes and see that pained face your now former best friend had made. your lips tremble, mouth dry with the terror that runs through your bones now that you're alone with your boyfriend.

“you did so well, darling...” jay puts something in his pocket, making you release the breath of relief you've been holding onto for this entire time. he grabs your hand enthusiastically, unraveling your fist and interlocking your fingers with his quickly as he squeezes it too tightly, making you wince from the slight shot of pain that rushes through your arm. “...i’ll keep my promise since you kept yours, okay? i won’t kill him, i won’t do anything to him...as long as he doesn’t try anything else.” his lips land on your cheek softly, an action you would think lovely if it was a few weeks ago when you first met him, but you know better. you know.

you nod silently, hesitantly leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek as well. “yes...t-thank you.” your voice is timid and trembles with fear, something you know your boyfriend enjoys from the way his eyes sparkle with amusement when he hears you stutter.

he smiles at your return of affection, dimpled smile so unfitting for the person he really is underneath the honeyed lies, the sweet words he used to lure you in to this inescapable "love" of his. he drags you forward with your clasped hands so you both can get out of the darkness of the alley too, to his car parked just around the corner, your expression faltering a little from the slight spike of pain on your mid-back, but you ignore it and press on, not wanting to give way to anyone who might be watching what just happened in there, not wanting to cause a scene, because you know what would happen after that. you swallow hard at what you've just done as your feet follow his, barely catching up from the exhaustion that plagues your body. you're so tired of keeping up, of playing along, of promises.

you just hope you've said enough, done enough to ward jake far, far away from this monster, away from you, the one who the monster fell in love with; after all, jay always follows up on what he likes to call "promises", but they're really threats in what he gleefully pretends is a clever disguise.

you'd know, the small knife wound on your back from just a few minutes ago says so clearer than anything else.

note: haven't wrote for enha in a while! my favorite song by them at the moment is fever, i play it sometimes when i'm getting ready in the morning and i just dance along to it lol. anyway, i finally have a masterlist with at least one fic for each member, and that's enhypen! i thought txt would be first since they only have 5 members but i guess not. this is for @appleofthemoon ♥ i know you're jay-biased(?) so this one's for you. thank you for always supporting me, apple! i haven't written a lot lately because it's just been work, 1-2 hours of me time, and then back to sleep again, and with writing, i need time to develop all my ideas in my head before i actually write a fic. still, i hope you all enjoyed this, and thank you for reading!

enhypen masterlist | main masterlist | by @sunflwryu

[soobberries]

Bf!Jake // ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 * .♡ *:･ﾟ✧

Some random headcanons I wrote in one sitting after seeing a cute Jake gifset and getting in my minor feels. He's not even my bias help me-

Nothing explicit, just some suggestive things here and there but it's like barely there so it's a pretty safe read!

Let me know if I should make a full blown Jake fic or just a full blown headcanon 🥺 ‎♡

Boyfriend Jake who you have giggle fits after just glancing at each other from across the room due to the same braincell activating, or giggle fits at 3am and both of you trying to shush the other saying you're too loud and proceeding to laugh harder.

Boyfriend Jake that bites his lip as he looks you up and down before going out to an event, absolute stars in his eyes. Stumbling as he utters out how amazing you look, his eyes showing how they're both wholesome and very much not wholesome thoughts going through his head right now, but instead of trying to speak he just picks your hand and maybe kisses it before intertwining your fingers, with a wide grin on his face knowing your his.

Boyfriend Jake that will go out of his way to bug you or mess with you because he thinks it's cute when you whine at him or get upset. Only if you seem like your on the edge will he chuckle and kiss your cheek saying woops, or otherwise hugging you tightly with a 'I'm sorry baby~^^'. He has a shit eating grin when he's messing with you too. And he will happily say 'alright I'll stop [blank] if you kiss me?'

Boyfriend Jake that sees you shaking your leg, biting at your nails or lip, picking skin, or literally any nervous type of tic you may have, and he gently places his hand wherever he sees fit (on your leg or in your hand or on your cheek) either leaving it at that to calm you down or he asks you if you're okay, or need anything.

Boyfriend Jake laughing when you don't know something but patiently going through the topic so you understand it and is so attentive to your questions and won't stop till you're certain you got it or are comfortable.

Boyfriend Jake who sets up the most Netflix romcoms esc dates. Having a date in the back of a truck or in the boot of the car where he hung up fairy lights and messily threw some blankets, saying he ordered some food but for now he brought snacks (chocolate strawberries or smth). Candle lit dinners or baths. Dancing in the living room after watching a silly movie. A beach date where he definitely accidently got sand in a sandwich. (no pun intended).

Boyfriend Jake who's laugh is so boyish it transports you back to the free feeling of being a kid and brings you the most bursting joy in your chest. Bring out the child in you because you're able to feel so safe around him.

Boyfriend Jake accidently forgetting an important date but has the most heartfelt ways of apologising or making up for it, not stopping until you're alright again. Proceeds to label ever date for the foreseeable future afterwards too.

Boyfriend Jake who stares at you intently at events or parties, blatantly undressing you and losing interest in the conversation he's currently in. Not bothering to excuse himself from the conversation with a friend (probably receiving an eye roll from the other person) only going straight to you and wrapping his arm around your waist and even in front of people would with no shame be 'hi (any pet name he feels like or nickname), did you know you look dazzling tonight?' or something cheesy like that and even if you're in a convo he either asks to steal you away or if you're very occupied he'll lean his head down into you while he waits, or he'll back hug you, nuzzling his head in your neck, sometimes discreetly placing kisses on skin he has access to, maybe even a bite if he wants.

Boyfriend Jake who always tries his best to accommodate your friends and give off a good impression to anyone you trust to introduce him to. He will be doing his absolute most to show how well he's taking care of you and how you're in capable safe hands and he'd also show how he mutually leans on you.

Boyfriend Jake that would try and get to you as soon as he can if you call him after a nightmare or during a breakdown, fighting for his damn life to see you and be there for you. Will lose sleep if necessary.

Boyfriend Jake who remembers you saying you like a certain snack and buying it for when he next sees you if he can.

Boyfriend Jake who sometimes writes things down about you so he never forgets.

Boyfriend Jake who gets you matching charms or bracelets or rings... Literally anything.

Boyfriend Jake who if he has a lot of free time with you, will spend his time hugging and cuddling with you from behind regardless of what you're doing. If you're playing games, studying, working, cooking, literally anything. He's being a koala bear and just shoving his face in your neck, maybe even falls asleep but is just happy to hold you.

Boyfriend Jake who has you laying on his lap, and when you smile up at him, arrows hit his heart and he has a grin that hurts his cheeks just at the sight of you.

He's such a hopeless romantic bye.

He is the second lead in dramas and movies and you always root for them or somehow wish they were endgame. HE'S THAT GUY. he's always second place but takes place in everyone else's hearts as first. He is textbook boy next door in the best way and he's just... Idk he's so lovely bye.

[halestrom]

Director's commentary: Cockblock

Alright, this is gonna be LONG bc I have so many feelings about this story. So also, a read more, for reasons. I apologize in advance, not really.

Also? Spoilers? I guess if you haven't read the fic. Which if you do wanna read it you can find it here

first off, the moment that started it all bc tbh that's how 90% of these fics start. some random ass comment one of us make and it just takes off. (looking at u blank space)

So two things that were very evident for me with this fic was that I fully believe Jake and Bradley are capable of embarrassment, but it is few and far between. Which, don't relate in the slightest. You cannot put either of them in the spotlight and expect them not to ham it up in the slightest. They will take it to the next level, and they will not care. And this is important bc the second thing is:

They are competitive. Becoming a naval aviator is not easy, it's not something you casually fall into. It's something you want to do, and you train and study and do everything you can to get there. And on top of that, canonically they're the best. They were chosen for the mission for a reason and so they're the top of their classes/cohort/wherever they are for a reason.

And we know Jake and Bradley have history so when Nimue mentioned this idea I knew I wanted to take those two reasons and just mush it all up into the most competitive fake dating.

This wasn't going to be awkward romance. This was going to be 'i will fuck you on the floor if it means im winning' kinda romance. They wanna outdo each other, they want to be the best and sometimes that means they get in trouble (ie. the bet in the beginning of the story) or when Bradley fell asleep in Jake's lap and Of course jake would take care of him? Who else would it be?

But also, because they had had this antagonistic relationship that essentially had to be put to the side in order to maintain the belief they were the best it finally gave them a chance to see who the other person actually was with the adversarial nature of their relationship not necessarily taking a backseat to everything they're doing, but actually morphing into something else in the same way we see the rest of the Daggers kind of joking around.

And then it just keeps growing, because they don't really have defenses for each other in this context. Bradley can say the worst things to Jake (you're going to lead someone to an early grave) and it might hurt, but Jake isn't going to shut down over it. And Jake can call Bradley out (ie: the dad comment) and Bradley can get up in Jake's face but the next (whatever the fucking timeline is int hat movie jfc) day they're fine? They know how to be the antagonistic in each others stories, but friendship? A relationship? That's something new.

Especially for Jake, who did have a crush on Bradley but it wasn't something that was holding him back. It was something there, but it never stopped him from dating, and being with people and I would never classify it as love? Not truly because Jake wouldn't actually love someone who treated him the way Bradley and he treated each other, but he definitely would start sinking into those feelings as their fake relationship progressed. He saw the opportunity in the beginning of the story to get close to Bradley, just for fun, not because he's sitting there wallowing and pining and writing sad poems in his journal, but he's not gonna lie and say it wasn't also nice being that close to Bradley and not have an argument.

And then for Bradley, I really feel like the switch from seeing Jake as someone he's competing against, to someone he could be friends with, is in Chapter 4 when Jake makes him dinner, and opens up a little bit more about wanting to make it to Admiral, and how he's wants to get his PhD and he's got a plan. He's got a family who loves him, and he loves them and, unlike a lot of people, understands that while Mav isn't his biological father, he was the one who was there, and so while the title isn't 'Dad' the actions definitely are. So it was the start of a connection bc of Jake's relationship with his stepdad, who, in all the ways according to him, is his actual Dad. Bc he was the one who was there.

And it's not perfect, bc of what happened to Goose vs Jake's bio dad being a Raging Douchebag, but it's a start.

And following that moment is when we start to see them opening up more and more. Jake coming out as gay, not bisexual to Bradley and wanting to go to the gala as a statement. And then when Bradley falls asleep in Jake's lap at brunch, and they have the most minor argument but it's still them so they don't know how to handle it anymore within the context of each other and it just keeps growing and then they're kissing, and having sex and are intimate in that regards, Jake telling Bradley about his Mom, and Bradley talking about his Mom and how much he misses her even then and it's a grief he can't ever close, and it just keeps growing, and every moment is bringing them closer and closer to the edge.

But neither one of them can really toss themselves over it because they have so much history that they still haven't completely dealt with so it's hard, and complicated, esp with these new feelings.

My personal HC for Jake is that he is, while very gregarious, he also keeps things close to the chest, and he plans. And keeps making plans and more plans bc if he has a plan, then he can account for everything. But Bradley is steady, he flies steady right up until the moment he doesn't. and so Jake has a plan. And his plans have plans but for all their relationship looks real to the outside world, to each other it's still brand new because in some respects, it doesn't exist.

They have a relationship yes, but they're not IN a relationship. Not truly and so Jake can't plan for that. But Bradley doesn't need a plan because once he makes a decision, he just goes. And he wanted to tell Jake, he decided he was going to tell Jake and talk to him but talking is hard but it's a good thing he is the unholy product of Carole/Goose with some input from Mav and Ice so he will sing about it. Because he can use someone elses words to talk about it, and it works.

SO yeah, this was a very long winded way to talk about how their relationship morphed and changed because of the dumbass way they had to fake date to get funding, which is the biggest authors handwave of density ever but it was a good one. They couldn't fight anymore because they were faking it, so they, as Jake said early on, had to become friends but the problem was, there was always too much passion and fire for it to be easy, and it could've gone badly for sure. It could've crashed and burned.

But that would mean they would lose, and it's a lot easier to keep your mouth shut about shit that might once have pissed you off and let it slide off your back when you're a hyper-competitive asshole who likes winning. And when you let a lot of the anger slide off your back? Then it's impressive what can grow in it's wake.

And I had so much fun writing it, and I'm so so so glad it resonated with people.

Random other things:

Jake's Mom and his stepdad bc they were the best part of the Prometheus movie: Idris Elba and Charlize Theron

Bradley laying on the couch and lamenting to Mav and Ice is a personal HC of mine that I will never let go of. This man is Dramatic and he will be dramatic about it. Even if Ice and Mav aren't together, he will be Dramatic about it to one of them.

I figured out what songs I wanted Bradley to sing a full three months before I even got to that point. Especially You're So Vain bc I just have the image of all the daggers singing it to Jake in good faith, and before it would've made him annoyed, but now its just friends ragging on friends.

I had a whole plotline I ended up discarding where the Daggers had a BBQ style thing for and Marcus, Jake's Dad shows up and Jake is just like DAD and Payback is like "the fuck you mean Dad" and Bradley's keeping a straight face through sheer force of will alone bc Jake was right, it is fucking hilarious trying to watch people try not to ask, and figure it out.

There was also a second idea where someone asked who's sister that was. And it was Jake's Mom, bc she is young.

I may also write this at some point bc it would also be when Bradley met Jake's parents and he is PANICING bc Jake's Dad is a SEAL.

I am forever enamored of the diea that Bradley is Mav's responsibility 100% and he is like THIS CHILD WILL NOT BE A TEENAGE FATHER and proceeded to give the most horrifying, in depth discussion of sex. Charlie, Ice, Mav, Sarah, Penny. Anyone he could talk to gave him input on it. Plot twist: Bradley got laid a lot in college bc he was respectful, understood consent, knew what the fuck he was doing, and like. Word got around and as a result, he had A Lot Of Fun. But he didn't knock anyone up.

One of the first scenes I had in my head was actually the end of the fic and it was this moment:

“You said you weren’t writing sad poems. Does this mean there are other kinds of poems?” Bradley asked. “Or a journal?” Jake tilted his head down enough to see the smirk curling the edges of Bradley’s mouth, and he used his free hand to pinch his side. “No journal, asshole.”

I'm also very proud of the limerick I wrote

There once as a man we loved to mock Ge was always racing against the clock. We called him Rooster cuz he needed a booster. But mostly, I just really like his big cock.

um yeah. so this is long lol so i should shush. but i have a lot of feelings about this fic and i had fun. so 🤣 HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY LOTR EXTENDED EDITION DIRECTORS COMMENTARY ON COCKBLOCK

[delightful-to-be-read]

Cliffhanger - Jacqueline Wilson (6/95)

I can’t find my library card for where my parents live and my borough doesn’t have Libby so I’m currently reading these books using my Dad’s card. They have Cliffhanger and Buried Alive as ‘Biscuit Barrel’, so that’s where I’m heading for the next JW books I read as a kid. I was maybe nine when I read this, maybe eight.

I started with the Girls books because those were the ones I identified with. I generally didn’t identify with her characters as a child. But if there was ever a kid I didn’t identify with, it was Tim. I was eight when I went on my first adventure holiday without my parents. I would have begged my parents to go on this holiday - and also, if I hadn’t wanted to go, they certainly wouldn’t have made me. I didn’t like watching telly much, unless it was sport, because it was a whole lot too much sitting still - and when it came to cricket, even the fact that it was sport wasn’t enough to justify the sitting down time. I did have kiddy things, such as cuddlies, beyond the cool age (older than nine - nine shouldn’t be beyond the cool age for a teddy and isn’t in the book) and I was teased a bit for that on school trips, but not over the line. And I certainly loved reading.

The point is, I read a book with a boy who is rarely a protagonist in children’s books - even more rarely then - and understood that the children who discarded and mocked him were making unkind choices and that was not the person I wanted to be. Incidentally, I also understood that the fat-shaming was a thoughtless choice made by a boy I did not want to be like, while cool Jake always shut them right up.

I did also understand that the girl who was A Bit Much and very keen and excited and a bit annoying was basically not doing anything to hurt anyone. In the era of no girls being diagnosed with ADHD ever, this was nice.

I need to remember that Tim is nine, not thirteen as in the books I’ve read so far.

Tim is described as a ‘mummy’s boy’ and I hate that phrase to the ground, with or without the homophobic implications. It’s sexist and values all the wrong things. His Dad’s a bit of a bully and his mum is pretty stalwart in his defence, and this is his Dad’s way of undermining that. My brother is a pretty sensitive soul and super close to my mum but I can’t even begin to imagine my dad ever saying that, even as a joke now he’s in his thirties.

HOWEVER we torture kids through all the academic subjects at school. My personal experience is that with great care and time (and not torture), all children can become successful at them. Exercise, sport, PE, games, are not less important and children should be made to persevere with them - with great care and time (not torture) to support them to achieve.

Incidentally, I remember the first time I got The Fear was on an adventure holiday when I was thirteen and we were climbing. As I was going up the wall, I suddenly got a bit freaked that it was a bit high and I had to really force my legs to move. When I got down, K (who is there in all my memories forever) gave me a hug and said they could all see my legs shaking. The Fear has inconsistently turned up here and there since but I reckon if it had turned up four years earlier, I would have been more sympathetic towards Tim.

Buried Alive - Jacqueline Wilson (7/95)

Only kids, or kids with much older siblings, make fabulous mates because their parents will fork out to take a friend on holiday with them for the peace and quiet. My parents were saved this by having two close together who liked the same sort of thing, and managed to get rid of both of us at least a week each a year. Once or twice, they based our family holiday around wherever one of us was and picked us up from there to spend a week or two together. This is how Tim’s family end up taking Biscuits.

I love Biscuits. I don’t remember, but I reckon if my mum ever read this to me as a bedtime story, she loved Biscuits too.

More context to Tim’s family is added here. His mum and dad get on better than it seems in the first book. Tim’s dad is also affectionate and parents the best way he knows how but Tim is his mum’s little mate and she finds it difficult that he’s growing up and wants to have other mates that aren’t her. He’s also growing into having his own opinions and choosing his own friends which is satisfying to read from an adult point of view.

[discount-shades]

"“I don’t want to be alone tonight, Jake.” His green eyes widen in understanding and you rise up on your tiptoes to press your lips to his. At your touch it is like a dam breaks in him and Jake is pulling you into his arms." - awww, he understands!!!! And the kiss!!!! And just them giving into their feelings! So beautiful!!!

"It isn’t until you become undone that you realize why this feels so different from every other time you have lain with a man. Jake’s soft touch that had so easily overwhelmed you was meant for your enjoyment. His focus was on you and it was all encompassing. You stay in his arms as he brings you to pleasure again and after you drift off to sleep, his chest pressed to your back and his arms around you, holding you close." - this honestly made me tear up, it is so touching! Just reading this makes my heart melt! Such a beautiful description and explanation of the difference and how wonderful Sugar feels with Jake!

"Jake grins in response. “What a coincidence, I’d love to see the ocean as well.” He holds his hand out to shake hers but is surprised when she wraps her arms around him in a hug." - what a coincidence, hahaha! And I love that Nat and Jake share such a lovely goodbye!!!

"“I hear you are heading west.” he says with a grin as Jake attached the food to the saddle. “I probably won’t be too far behind you.” Jake shakes hands with the man who is his oldest friend before pulling him into a hug.", "“You're always welcome, wherever I settle.” Jake turns and mounts Jet and rides out of the stable yard." - the friendship these two have!!!! I always love when fics explore it, and you did an amazing job at showing how close they are amd how important they are for each other!!! The hug!!! Javy going after them late!!! My heart!!!

"“You left without saying goodbye, Sugar.” His eyes are beseeching and his confident stride falters and he comes to a stop just out of arm's length. “Also you have my money.”" - this is so sweet and so funny at the same time!!! The balance!!!! The emotions!!! You are so talented!!!

"“I was hoping it would be you and me.” He says trying to keep his voice casual. “But I suppose Phoenix and Bob would —.” He is unable to finish his train of thought as you launch yourself into his arms and flatten him to the ground and he wraps his arms around you." - I love them!!!!!

"“Just you and me,” he repeats softly, “Somewhere out west.” You smile softly and pull his lips to yours." - !!!!!!!!!! What a beautiful and heartwarming ending!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it so much!!!!!!!!!!

You are so incredibly talented!!!! I said it before, but this series really changed my whole view of Western AUs. It is so immersive and you did it so, so, so well, I fell in love with it!!! I could read a thousand and more chapters of Sugar and Jake, but the story is so satisfying, I am just so thankful that you shared this masterpiece with us!!! The fandom is so lucky to have you!!!! Beautiful work, absolutely amazing!!!

Lots of love!!! 💓

P.S.: sorry about the long message! 😅💕

Thank you so much!!! This made my heart so full to read! Never apologize for leaving a long review for me! I love to hear a play by play of what you loved while reading. I’m so glad there are some others who loved this story as much as I do!

You, sweet Nony, are the best! 😊💗💓💗

[beatrice-otter]

Fic: Schoolwork

Title: Schoolwork Author: Beatrice_Otter Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Characters: Jake Sisko & Kasidy Yates Written for: Ericine in Heart Attack Exchange 2023 Rating: K Length: 10k AN: Thank you to sixbeforelunch for the beta, and sovik on the Vulkhansu Discord for information about how long it takes to get from Bajor to DS9. According to secondary canon, Andorians have four sexes (zhen, shen, chan, and than), and these are important enough to be part of their names. On the show, what few times we see an Andorian, they use 'he' or 'she' which does not make sense to me if they genuinely have four sexes. (The show does tell us that Andorian marriage requires groups of four.) So I decided that the Andorian OC appearing in this fic is going to be of the chan sex and that the name of the sex doubles as a pronoun. At AO3. On Squidgeworld. On Ad Astra. On Dreamwidth. On Pillowfort. "So, when are you coming home?" Grampa asked. Jake made a face. "I don't have any plans for a vacation to Earth in the next few months," he said. "There's a lot going on here, and will be for a while. And the Federation News Service doesn't have anybody else on the station—it's a great opportunity, I don't want to miss it." They'd spent half the call so far talking about how busy he was, so he wasn't sure why his grandfather was asking when he was coming home. "I understand all that," Grandpa said with an air of patience. "But I mean, after that. Things will quiet down eventually, or they'll send someone else to cover things. Your father isn't stationed there any longer, and who knows how long it'll be before he gets back from wherever he is? And besides, you're a grown man; you don't have to live out in the far reaches of the galaxy just because it's where Starfleet sent your dad." "I know that," Jake said. If he hadn't been a grown man, he couldn't have stayed on the station when the Federation pulled out. "What's your point?" "I was assuming that you'd want to come home, to Earth," Grandpa said. "You talked about getting a writing fellowship at the Pennington School." "Grandpa, that was years ago," Jake protested. "A lot has changed since then!"

Grandpa waved his hand. "After all you've done, and the things you've published, I'm sure they'd be happy to have you. Or maybe you're interested in journalism school, instead?" "I'm getting some pretty good on-the-job training, and that's more important than anything I'd learn in school," Jake said. "Yes, but in the long run, a degree will do you good," Grandpa said. "You're good at academics, and going to college always helps broaden the mind. If nothing else, it's good to spend time with people your own age." "I think my mind is pretty broad, after all I've seen and done here on DS9," Jake said. "I don't know, maybe I'll see if Bajor has any writing schools or something—they had a really good educational system before the Cardassians, and they've been working to restore it." "You mean you're not even going to consider coming back to Earth?" Grandpa said, voice rising. "To be with your family?" "I have family here," Jake said. "And close friends. If I'm not here, who's going to teach my little sibling how to cook? Kasidy would never move to Earth, her shipping company has too many contacts in this part of space." He frowned. "Did you really think I was going to move back to Earth?" "Yes!" Grandpa said. "The posting to Bajor was only ever supposed to be temporary, of course I thought you'd come home!" Jake thought about that for a few seconds. "I've lived on Deep Space Nine longer than anywhere else I've lived in my life. And if you're talking about Earth … I've never actually lived there. The closest to Earth I've actually lived was Mars, when Dad was stationed at Utopia Planitia. Earth is your home, and Dad's—" although, actually, Dad had made it pretty clear he now considered Bajor his home, but this probably wasn't the time to remind Grandpa of that "—but it's not mine." Grandpa was taken aback. "You know," Jake said, "you could come out here. You did it once, in the middle of a war, no less! It'd be a lot safer now. Besides me, you're going to have another grandchild soon, and Kasidy is even busier than I am, with less reason to go to Earth. Don't you want to meet your grandbaby?" "Of course," Grandpa said. "But a visit isn't the same as having you living nearby." "I know, but Aunt Judith has been the only one of your kids living on the same planet since Uncle Nathan moved to Luna before I was even born," Jake said. "You must be used to it by now." "Used to it, yes," Grandpa said. "Happy with it, never. I thought, with four kids, surely at least one of them will have kids and live on the same planet!" Jake made a face. It wasn't that Grandpa complained about that often—he respected the life decisions of his children, and was proud of all of them—but it was heart-felt and deeply emotional when it did get made. "Don't make that face at me, young man," Grandpa said. "You'll understand what I'm saying if you have children of your own one day. Though at least I hope all of yours will stay on the same plane of existence, even if they do live scattered across the quadrant." "Yeah," Jake said with a sigh. "Me, too." He didn't think the Prophets would take an interest in him or any future children he might have, but what did he know? It wasn't something anybody could have predicted with Dad, either. "And who's going to run the restaurant with me gone?" Grandpa said. This was complaining for the sake of complaining; Jake knew his grandfather well enough to tell. Grandpa was never so happy as when he had something to complain about. And Jake didn't miss the fact that Grandpa was already taking a visit to the station as a done deal. "I can count the number of cooks I'd trust with it on the fingers of one hand … and most of them are busy. And don't suggest your Aunt Judith—even if she didn't have her own life, she's not one of the people I'd trust in my kitchen. Not when the food is being sold with my name on it." Jake shrugged and didn't bother suggesting either of his two uncles. Uncle David lived on Proxima and rarely came to Earth, and Uncle Nathan lived on Luna but couldn't cook to save his life. Normally, Jake enjoyed listening to his grandpa grouse, but the mention of his dad's absence touched a nerve. "If you can't find someone to take over for you, I'm sure it won't kill you or your customers to have the restaurant closed for a month or two." Grandpa grumbled a bit more, and before long, the time was up on the call. …… When there were no ships going through the wormhole—and that happened regularly but infrequently, these days—the view out the windows on the Promenade was much the same as from any portal on a ship or station. A starscape—pretty, but ordinary. "You look lost in thought." Jake smiled and turned to face Colonel Kira. "I was seeing how many Bajoran constellations I could recognize and remember the stories of." "How were you doing?" Kira asked. "I knew more of them when Dad and I were sailing that lightship," Jake said. "Even with all that happened on that trip, there was a lot of time that was pretty quiet. We read Bajoran stories about space and the constellations during some of it." And he'd shown Dad his first real story. Dad had read everything he wrote. Until he joined the Prophets. Kira didn't say anything, just put a hand on his shoulder. Jake appreciated that; there wasn't much anybody could say that hadn't been said. Bajoran or Federation, everybody had an opinion on his Dad, most of them thought they knew what Jake was feeling (or should be feeling), and none of them actually did. "I was just going to get lunch in Quark's," Kira said. "Want to join me?" "Keeping an eye on him?" Jake said, and they made their way down to the lower level. "He has been the perfect picture of a legal and upstanding businessman recently," Kira said. "So naturally you're suspicious." "So naturally I'm suspicious." Kira shrugged. "I haven't even been able to catch him running a betting pool on the next Kai." "That doesn't sound like him," Jake said. "There's a limit to how quiet you can keep something and still pass the word along to your customers, and Quark always errs on the side of more customers." "Exactly!" Kira said as they entered the bar and took a table off to the side. They were a little after the lunch rush, so there was plenty of room and things weren't too noisy. Broik was there to take their order as soon as they sat down. "Colonel Kira! Jake! Always a pleasure to have you here at Quark's. How's Captain Yates doing these days? Has she picked a name?" "She's fine," Jake said. If he said anything more than that, it would be all over the station in ten minutes, and all over the system in half an hour. "I'll have my usual," Kira said, and Jake was grateful for the interruption. Broik turned to her. "One ratamba-and-cheese sandwich, with fried bonja on the side." Jake almost asked for shrimp and grits, and then realized that asking for something his Dad used to cook would only make him miss him more. "I'll have katterpod stew," he said. Dad had tried a few recipes with it, but never gotten something he liked enough to add to the regular cooking rotation. Broik smiled toothily at them and whisked away to the replicators. "Maybe I should be looking for a betting pool on the baby," Kira said. "It wouldn't surprise me," Jake said. "But as long as they don't bother me or Kasidy about it, I really don't care." Kasidy wanted to keep the baby as out of the spotlight as possible, which Jake thought was a good idea, and part of that was not announcing sex or name or due date or any other detail until the baby was born. But discussing any of that here would be as good as announcing everything to Quark, and thus feeding the rumor mill. "So how are things in Ops these days?" Jake asked. "Strictly off the record," Kira said—she always did that, now that he was a regular reporter—"it's all routine. The diplomatic stuff is all handled by people a lot more senior than I am, and neither the Dominion nor the Breen have been making trouble, so we're back to the ordinary stuff. Handling wormhole traffic, cargo ships …" "… keeping Quark in line," Jake said. "Exactly!" Kira said. "It's amazing how quickly things just … went back to normal. It's so different from the end of the Cardassian Occupation." "Bajor was lucky," Jake said. "Neither the station nor the planet suffered much under Dominion rule." "The prophets were looking out for us," Kira said. "Warning us not to join the Federation before the war. Things would have been very different if they hadn't." Every Bajoran over the age of seven knew, from first-hand personal experience, just how bad things could have gotten. The Prophets had shielded them from the Dominion. They hadn't shielded them from the Cardassians before them. "Here we are!" Broik said. "Ratamba-and-cheese sandwich for the lady, and katterpod stew for the gentleman. Can I get you anything else?" "No, we're fine," Kira said. They applied themselves to their meal, and the conversation turned to lighter subjects. Jake recounted his call with Grandpa Joseph. "So now I'm wondering if I should be looking into schools on Bajor," Jake said. "See what kind of programs they have for writing or journalism." Kira shrugged. "I can't advise you there," she said. "It's not something I've ever had any experience with, or even known anybody who did. And before the Occupation my family were artists, artisans, crafters—not the caste that went to university. Pretty much all I can tell you is that our universities are actually one of the sticking points in the negotiations for Federation membership." "Really?" Jake said. "How's that?" He'd been keeping a close eye on the news stories coming out of the Bajoran capital, and none of them had mentioned the universities as anything more than a side issue. "The universities that survived the Cardassians—or which have managed to re-establish themselves since—are prickly and proud of their heritage. They used to be some of the best in the sector, you know." "I did know that," Jake said. "Even the Cardassians sent people to them, before the Occupation." "Exactly," Kira said. "But our ways of doing things don't quite mesh with the Federation educational systems. I don't understand all the specifics, and frankly, some of it seems a bit … petty. They agree on all the major points! But I don't know how long it's going to take them to come to an agreement. I don't think it will hold up the main talks, but it's certainly not helping them along." "Maybe that's something I should look into," Jake said. Much of the negotiations were happening behind closed doors, of course, and there were a couple of Federation journalists covering the talks who had much better chances of getting things out of the Federation negotiators than Jake did, given their experience and connections. But that meant they weren't getting much of the Bajoran perspective on the whole thing. Kira shrugged. "I wouldn't mind something in the Federation news about our side of the story—I know there's grumbling in Starfleet about us, that we backed out of joining before the war and aren't gratefully falling at their feet now." "But Bajor was crucial to the war effort," Jake protested. "The final victory couldn't have happened without you guys. And if you'd resisted earlier, who knows if you would have been in a position to do something once you actually had a shot?" "But we did sit out a lot of the war, while your people were fighting and dying," Kira said. "I don't blame them for it. In their shoes, I'd probably feel the same. But I don't want them taking that resentment out on us when we do join." …… "Do you have any contacts in Bajoran academia?" Jake asked Kasidy the next night. He was cooking jambalaya for dinner, since she was craving spicy food right now and it made him feel closer to Dad. He never cooked when it was just himself—too much effort for one person. "Not really," Kasidy said. She was sitting on the couch watching him cook. "Bajorans train spacers through an apprenticeship system that's separate from the academic aspect—they have sharp distinctions between different types of higher education, and I'm not quite sure where all the differences are or why they divide it up the way they do. Or even what parts of the system are remnants of the way the Cardassians did things, what are from the original Bajoran educational system, and what have been cobbled together in the decade since the Occupation ended. What I care most about is can I trust the dockworkers and maintenance engineers to take care of the Xhosa, and can I get crew I can rely on to help me run her—and so far, I've been really impressed with the training and professionalism I've seen." She shifted and adjusted the pillow behind her. "Why do you ask? Are you thinking about going to school on Bajor?" "No," Jake said absently, skewering a piece of porli to taste it. Porli didn't taste like chicken (though they did look a little bit like chickens when they were alive), but Jake actually preferred the Bajoran bird to the Terran one. "I mean, yes," he said, catching himself, "but that's not why I'm asking. Colonel Kira said something about one of the factors holding up the negotiations for Federation entry this time around is the universities, but none of the reporters covering the talks have mentioned it. I wanted to see if I could find anything, see if there was a story there." "Makes sense, but I can't help you," Kasidy said. "I wondered what the hold-up was—they've been talking about it for years, and last time they got right to the brink of signing, and would have signed if Ben hadn't warned the Bajorans off." "Last time, there was the pressure of the Dominion hanging over everything," Jake pointed out, "and Bajor didn't want to chance an invasion without Federation protection. Maybe there were compromises that were worth it under that kind of pressure, but not if they have some breathing room." "Good point," Kasidy said. "How long is it going to be? You know I love your Jambalaya, but if it's not ready soon I'm going to have to eat this couch." Jake eyed the amount of liquid left to be absorbed by the rice with an experienced eye. "Give it another five minutes? I won't be offended if you replicate a snack, you know; you're eating for two." "I think I can last five minutes," Kasidy said. "But next time, I probably will get a snack, if you really don't mind." "I really don't mind," Jake said. "Maybe I should look through the names and biographical information for the people on the Bajoran negotiating team, see if any of them have worked in a university, and just send a request for an interview out of the blue. It's awkward, if I don't have some sort of an introduction, though; Bajor didn't have a unified tradition of investigative journalism, just a series of newsletters and magazines collecting items of interest for different professions and castes. When I want to interview a Bajoran, I usually have to explain what news media is, first." "I'm sure they'll say yes to an interview from you," Kasidy said. "I'm sure they will, too," Jake said. "But I don't like trading on my Dad's status as Emissary, which is what it really boils down to." "I'm afraid that as long as you live in Bajoran space, that's going to happen whether you want it to or not," Kasidy said. She rubbed her stomach. "I didn't realize how much Dad was insulating me from that aspect of his life, until he wasn't here to do it any more," Jake admitted. "I think people care more about you now that he's with the Prophets, too," Kasidy said. "Most Bajorans will never go through the wormhole, never even come up to the station to see it, and they certainly won't ever see an Orb in person. For a few years, Benjamin was a tangible connection to the Prophets. Now he's gone … but you're still here to be a tangible connection to him. And a reason for him to come back someday." "I hope it's sooner rather than later," Jake said, staring down into the pot. "So do I," Kasidy said. "And between the two of us, I hope we can keep the little one protected from all of that," Jake said. "I'm sure we will," Kasidy said. "You're going to be an excellent big brother, Jake." "Thanks," Jake said. He turned off the stove. "Dinner's ready." Kasidy heaved herself up from the couch and joined him at the table. "Mm! This is so good, Jake," she said as she swallowed her first bite. They talked while they ate, eventually coming around to the subject of the house she and Dad had been planning to build on Bajor. "I just don't know," Kasidy said. "It's a lot of effort, building a house, and it's just far enough from the capital to be inconvenient for business purposes. It might turn into nothing more than a vacation home, and I don't know if that would be worth it. But then I ask myself, wouldn't it be wonderful to have it ready for him when he comes home?" She sighed. "What do you think?" "I think that if Dad wants that house so much, he can come back from the Celestial Temple and build it himself," Jake said. "Until he does, you're the one who'd be living there." He pushed some of the rice around his plate. For all that his Dad had talked about building a place on Bajor, it was hard to imagine him anywhere but the station, or some other Starfleet posting—the house would probably have been a vacation getaway no matter what, somewhere to retire to, not something to live in right away. A symbol of his roots on Bajor, more than a home. Kasidy hadn't been exaggerating how hungry she was, Jake noted; her first helping disappeared before he was even halfway through his plate, and she went back not only for seconds, but thirds. "It's nice to be appreciated," Jake said with a grin as she spooned out a generous helping. "You know how good a cook you are," Kasidy said. "And the baby is a true Sisko—loves those spices!" "Have you decided on a name?" Jake asked. "Not yet." "You don't have much time," Jake pointed out. "I know," Kasidy said with a sigh. "It's just hard, without Ben here to help. We hadn't really talked about names, before he left. Everything was so busy. I was wondering if maybe Joseph would be appropriate?" "I'm sure he'd have liked that, and I know Grandpa would," Jake said. "But Dad already got a chance to name a kid. This baby is his second, but your first. Maybe only! I don't know if you two would consider a second kid even if Dad comes back tomorrow. So you should name it what you want." "I'd like to name it something Benjamin will be happy with when he comes back," Kasidy said. "Yeah, well, if he wanted naming privileges maybe he should have stuck around," Jake said. He knew it hadn't exactly been his Dad's choice, and that whatever had gone down in the Fire Caves, the Pah Wraiths were evil and powerful enough that one person sacrificing themselves to stop their rise was more than worth it. And that the Prophets could have just let him die there; taking him to their plane was better than being dead. At least this way, there was a chance he'd come back. But it still hurt, and Kasidy was one of the few people he felt comfortable complaining to. Kasidy sighed again and changed the subject. "You know, I've had a number of people trying to volunteer to be the baby's nanny?" "A nanny?" Jake asked, wrinkling his nose. "A professional child caregiver who works for only one family, instead of for multiple families in a creche setting," Kasidy said. "I know what it is, I just didn't know they still existed outside of Victorian novels," Jake said. "Apparently they exist on Bajor. In some ways, I'm torn," Kasidy said. "Benjamin and I planned to do it the normal way—take turns staying home when the baby is young, and then put them in a creche while we work once they get a couple of years old. And in some ways, I'd like to do that. But it's a lot more practical with two parents than just one." "And it's also more practical when at least one parent has a stable job," Jake said. "You spend so much time moving around. Not just cargo runs, but also trips to Bajor and back. Without Dad, you're going to have to take the baby with you. And your ship isn't big enough to have a creche." "Exactly!" Kasidy said. "I might as well hire a nanny. I'm just not so sure how to find one on Bajor that isn't doing it just because they want to be closer to the Emissary, or mold the Emissary's child in some way." "Hiring someone from the Federation would prevent that," Jake said. "But then you'd have all the political questions of why you didn't hire a Bajoran, since you live here and work for the Bajoran government." "Not to mention, it seems like an awful lot of hassle," Kasidy said. "One of the managers at the Ministry of Commerce has kids, maybe I'll ask her what she would recommend." "Maybe you can ask who I should be interviewing for the Bajoran perspective on the negotiations, while you're at it," Jake said. …… In the end, Jake got his first contact by looking for academic connections on the negotiating team and sending out an interview request. Nemjon Lelra, Arch-Chancellor of the University of Kenda (the second-most prestigious university on Bajor), Doctor of Philology from the Ilvian University of the River (the most prestigious university on Bajor), Chair of the Institute of Historical Linguistics, and a few other impressive sounding titles that Jake didn't have time to fully research, was happy to grant him an audience. And 'grant an audience' was the right word, Jake thought, as a robed student showed him into Doctor Nemjon's receiving room. It was clearly not an office, nor a conference room, in the Federation sense. It was a large room with windows on three of the walls looking out on the gardens. The fourth wall was intricately carved, with scenes of scholars surrounding the university's emblem. Along that wall was a dais, and on that dais was a table, with Doctor Nemjon sitting in the middle of it, back to the carved wall, reading a PADD. She was an elderly woman, with immaculately styled white hair, deep wrinkles, and the sort of translucent skin the very old sometimes got. She was old enough to remember Bajor before the Occupation, maybe even old enough to have finished her schooling before the Cardassians showed up. She looked up and smiled as the student escorted Jake in. "Ah! Mister Sisko! I have been looking forward to meeting you. How kind of you to wish to share our side of the story." "Doctor Nemjon, it's an honor to meet you," Jake said. "I'm here to try and see that all sides of the story are covered, and I thought you might know the needs and wants of the Bajoran educational system better than anyone else." "Of course," Doctor Nemjon said. "Though I will note that while 'doctor' is not inaccurate, the title that you really should use is Arch-Chancellor." "I'm sorry for getting it wrong, Arch-Chancellor," Jake said. "I'm not very familiar with the titles and honorifics system in Bajoran academia, and I wasn't able to find many resources on the subject. Could your office send me a style guide?" He'd been speaking Bajoran, but he used English for the last, because he didn't know the Bajoran words for it. But the Universal Translator didn't translate it, so it must not be a concept Bajor had. "A what?" Nemjon said. "A document that has a guide to what titles are used, what they mean, and how to address people with them, and how to refer to them in writing if that's different from the way they should be spoken," Jake said. "Oh yes!" Nemjon said. "I believe we have something like that in our orientation packet for foreign students." "Actually, I'd love to see the whole packet, if it wouldn't be too much trouble," Jake said. That would kill two birds with one stone. It would be background for his article and it would be a place to start his research on whether he wanted to go to a Bajoran school. "I'll see that you get it," Nemjon said. She rose and came around the table, stepping down off the dais, robes swirling around her feet. "Now, I researched your Federation news service when the reporters showed up to the negotiations. It does seem to be an effective way of disseminating information, although I'm not sure I care for the way that internal affairs are made public for all the world to see. So I believe I know what to expect." She led the way over to a pair of upholstered chairs by the windows and sat in one, gesturing for Jake to take the other. "Great," Jake said as he sat down. "With your permission, I'll be recording this interview for my notes." Nemjon nodded. Jake tapped the 'record' button on his PADD. "Arch-Chancellor Nemjon, as I said in my interview request, I'm investigating the effect the dispute over academic oversight is having on the negotiations for Federation membership. You're a junior member of the negotiating team, can you explain what your role is?" "Certainly," Nemjon said. "My role is to represent the universities of Bajor, to see that our needs are respected in the negotiations." "What about the other schools of higher education that aren't universities?" Jake asked. "Do they get a seat at the table, or do you represent them, too?" "Schools of higher education?" Nemjon asked. "I'm not quite sure what you mean." "Schools that people go to after completing the basic level of education that all Bajorans are expected to finish," Jake said. Nemjon frowned, thinking that through. "Do you mean trade schools and lower colleges and guild schools?" "Yes," Jake said. "I'm not sure that I'd call what they do 'higher' education, unless the universities are 'highest.' Why should they need a seat at the negotiating table?" she asked. "Of course we are proud of the high quality of education in schools of all levels, but … they don't have the same weight of tradition that universities do. Nor is their work so abstract. The Federation has an excellent educational system, and I'm sure they'll be able to adapt quite well to the Federation system." She tilted her head. "That's actually one of the major sticking points, for the universities. The Federation educational system is very focused on metrics. Tests. Proving, objectively, how much a person knows about a given subject, and then ranking them against other students … and judging the university itself by how well its students do on such tests. Which is all well and good, and some subjects—including things like mechanical skills such as one would learn at a trade school—would do very well with that approach. But university education is, in the Bajoran tradition, quite different. The emphasis is on teaching how to think, not what to think. Especially in disciplines such as philosophy or literature. There is no single right way to be a philosopher or a writer; there is no technique or structure that is universal. And being able to describe the techniques and why they're useful wouldn't tell you anything about a person's ability to use those techniques or the quality of their thought. And it's quite possible for someone to create something that is flawless on a technical level, and has no soul. In fact, computers do it all the time. The aim of a Bajoran university, Mister Sisko, is to teach things that cannot be done by computer. To teach the art of our subjects, not the mere rules of them." "A commendable goal," Jake said. "How does it work in practice?" "Every student has both a professor and a senior student as a mentor," Nemjon said. "They work together to devise a course of study that suits both the student's strengths that should be nurtured, and their weaknesses that should be remedied. There are classes, of course, but also a great deal of individualized instruction with both professors and senior students. And peer study groups and peer critique are both essential parts of the system, as is research for fields in the sciences. When a professor believes a junior student in their care to be ready for promotion to senior student, they present them to the rest of the faculty, who then evaluate the student, and either agree to their promotion or give them areas to concentrate further study in. This happens again when the student is ready to matriculate. The specifics of what is required to progress to senior, and then to matriculate, are left to each department." She wrinkled her nose. "There are no set curriculums that are merely items to check off on a list. No one graduates without being worthy of being called a scholar of Bajor." "What happens when there is a conflict?" Jake asked. "When a mentor is wrong about whether a student is ready or not?" "That happens very rarely," Nemjon scoffed. "Students work with many professors besides their own mentor. When it happens that a professor is reluctant to promote a student for unworthy reasons, the rest of the faculty can exert pressure, and in certain circumstances overrule them. And of course either student or professor may request to sever the mentor relationship at any time, and the student will be taken on by another professor who may evaluate them differently. A student who believes the entire faculty is biased against them can receive an evaluation from a board of professors from other universities. Usually in such cases, the student is merely over-eager and perhaps a bit arrogant. But if they find that the student has been treated unfairly, they have a variety of possible responses, up to and including declaring themselves that the student is ready for promotion or matriculation, and the student's own university must then abide by that decision. But, again, the system very rarely breaks to that extent." Jake wasn't quite sure he believed her; the bit about tailored curriculum sounded great, and when the system worked he could see that it would provide a custom-tailored education to each student. But nothing was perfect. Still, that wasn't what his article was supposed to be about. "So, what's the specific problem with joining the Federation, for your universities? Federation policies don't usually govern internal affairs of schools." "Accreditation," Nemjon intoned. "The Federation wants us to prove—using the sort of metrics they care so much about—that our universities produce a quality education. Oh, we can arrange our own internal affairs, but in order for our scholars to be accepted at the same level as those of existing Federation universities, we would have to alter the degree requirements to fit Federation specifications. Of course I understand that there must be standards—if there aren't, there's no way of telling what schools actually turn produce scholars worthy of the name, and which don't. You can't simply go by reputation and history, because these things do change, unfortunately. And nobody wants people without qualifications to call themselves a university and give out honors people haven't earned so they can inflate their reputation without actual understanding to back it up. But still, there must be a better way to do it." She waved a hand. "The Federation's position on the whole issue is ridiculous. Before the Cardassians invaded, the Federation's university system recognized Bajoran universities as granting degrees of rough equivalence to their own. We have long-standing ties with a number of Federation planets, with regular exchanges of scholars and students, including Vulcan! There are existing reciprocal acknowledgments that should be the basis for our relationships going forward. But under the current terms the Federation is trying to insist upon, Bajoran universities would no longer be recognized unless we alter our curriculum and system of evaluation to fit within the Federation's requirements for university accreditation and degree conferral. Which is simply absurd. If our system was good enough to be accepted by the Federation when it was completely separate, why should it not now be sufficient? And to allow fitness for graduation be determined—even in part—by something so rote as test scores and objective evaluation and number of hours spent in a classroom … the very notion is an insult to our way of instruction. And every seven years we would be examined by Federation examiners to see that we are complying with their regulations and teaching with their pedagogy, not our own." Nemjon continued on, listing other points of contention, but accreditation was the main one. She required little input from him to lay out everything she thought in tedious detail. There were a few places where Jake thought she was wrong about what the practical requirements would mean for her university, and a couple of items he'd have to look up, but Federation stuff was easy to research, so it wouldn't take much time. Skeptical as he was about certain aspects of the Bajoran system, Jake thought it was pretty stupid that the Federation would recognize their worth when they were a foreign planet, and then turn around and not recognize them when they tried to join. He listened to her arguments, asked a few questions for clarification here and there, made notes of things to research further, and when she seemed to be running out of steam, he turned to a more practical question. "So," Jake said. "You've been quite thorough in explaining the reservations you have about the proposed changes to the university system that the Federation negotiating team has included in the current state of the treaty. And on the Bajoran negotiating team, you are a junior member. How much influence do you really have? What would you say are the chances they will override your recommendation and sign the treaty to join the Federation with these requirements in it?" Nemjon narrowed her eyes, slightly, and her lips curved in a slight smile. "Of course, nobody can say for certain, the team is quite large and I am, as you say, a junior member, at least in theory. But I am a member with a specific area of great importance as my sole responsibility. If everything else in the treaty was perfect, with no drawbacks whatsoever, I suppose it's possible they might ignore me. Or if the Dominion were to come charging back through the wormhole, or the Breen showed up on our doorstep with an armada, and we needed Federation protection to survive, then I would change my recommendation. Survival is more important than tradition, after all. But …" she spread her hands, "… under the present circumstances, I would be very surprised." …… Jake got a tour of the university after the interview, from one of the students. It was a lovely campus, though Jake couldn't quite picture himself studying here—everyone wore robes, and he wasn't sure he'd be comfortable in them. They weren't like the robes of Bajoran monks that he was used to; the style of tailoring was quite distinct, and there was a different color scheme, and they had hoods instead of hats. The student gave him a thorough tour of the place and then handed him over to the administrative offices, where they provided him with the foreign student orientation package and several other documents they thought might be useful. Glancing at them, Jake thought they probably would be, and wished they were publicly posted somewhere so he could have read them before the interview. In the Federation, data like this was easily available for everyone, and Starfleet had automatic access to most private or secure databases. Even if Jake, a civilian, couldn't access them, his Dad would help him out if he had a good enough reason for it and the information wasn't too sensitive. Starfleet as a whole might not have access to Bajor's private databases, but Deep Space Nine did, because it was a joint station. But Dad wasn't here to pull up information from him. Jake could have asked Colonel Kira, he supposed. Or Dax. Either would have done it, at least in this case. It just … hadn't occurred to him. He checked the messages on his PADD. There was one from Kasidy: a friend in the Ministry of Transportation had suggested he interview the Arch-Chancellor of a different university, who was apparently an up-and-comer in Bajoran academia, and might have a different perspective. Jake sent a message asking for an interview, and spent the rest of the day in the university's library at a com terminal that had a permanent hookup to the main Federation databases, looking up what the actual policies were for university accreditation and what the existing exceptions were. There were very few Federation policies that didn't have exceptions in specific cases; it was the only way to govern a society that large and diverse. Once he was done with his research, he ate dinner in one of the dining halls at the university—the food was pretty good, for institutional cooking, but it was from a different tradition than the Bajoran food they tended to get on Deep Space Nine, with less meat and more spices. Afterwards, he went to a concert put on by a group of students. It wasn't a style of music he was familiar with, but it was interesting. And he didn't get to go to many concerts; Deep Space Nine's permanent population wasn't big enough to support much in the way of music or theater groups. All in all, it was a good evening. If this was what university was like, he could see himself enjoying it. He got back to his hotel room and found a message from the guy Kasidy's contact had suggested, with an interview the day after next. Jake hadn't been planning on staying on Bajor for that long, but he put the time to good use, getting some of his research and notes into something like a rough draft. …… Chacos University of Lorojha was, in many ways, similar to the University of Kenda. There were the same sorts of buildings (though there were one or two here that had obviously been built under Cardassian rule), with lots of gardens in and around them. People walked around in academic robes, though as he was walking from the train station at the edge of campus to the administration building in the center, he did see a fair number of people in ordinary street clothes instead of robes. He felt a bit less conspicuous. At the administration building, they confirmed that Arch-Chancellor Ruce was indeed expecting him, and he was escorted to an audience hall very similar to that in Kenda. Three walls of windows, one wall of intricate art focused on the university's logo, with a dais and a long table under it, and a few seating arrangements of comfortable chairs scattered around the edges. But Ruce was waiting at one of those, rather than at the dais, and he invited Jake to join him right away. Jake did so, studying the scholar as he did. He hadn't had time to do much research on the man, just what he could dig up in the public records. And what he could dig up was a string of publications he hadn't had time to read, mostly focused on adapting the educational system as a whole to the post-Cardassian world. He'd been cited a lot in a bunch of other papers, too, and seemed to have quite a number of admirers, from what Jake could tell at a glance. He'd won a number of awards, too, both for individual writings and for work on various projects. Arch-Chancellor Ruce Vasun was much younger than Arch-Chancellor Nemjun; he'd been born and grew up during the Occupation. He was a powerfully-built man in his forties, with the scarred hands that told Jake he'd been used to do something hard, heavy, and dangerous under the Cardassians. Jake introduced himself and explained what he was here for. He summarized Nemjun's position, and asked if Ruce had any comment on the issue. Ruce considered this for a few moments before speaking. "Arch-Chancellor Nemjun is a wise and experienced scholar," he said. "And I absolutely agree with her on the value of the system we have now. It allows for us to tailor a course of study precisely to the needs and abilities of each student, and under ideal circumstances, the university is a carefully tended garden that helps the brightest minds on Bajor—and the surrounding sector—to grow and flourish. Certainly, there are many things that we should never compromise." "But?" Jake asked. There was definitely a 'but' coming. "But Arch-Chancellor Nemjun has dedicated the last decade of her life to trying to restore the university system to exactly what it was before the Cardassians came," Ruce said. "And that system, for all its many strengths, had serious flaws as well. For example, I would never have been allowed to attend university, in the old days." "Why not?" Jake asked. "My family belongs to the lowest caste," Ruce said. "Not allowed to own land, not allowed into most jobs or trades requiring any skill, in many cases not allowed to finish even secondary school, but expected to go to work as an adolescent. The Cardassians were terrible, of course; but life for my family didn't actually change all that much. It was only that under the Cardassians, most other Bajorans were suffering, too. And you may say, that's all so long ago, what does it matter that I would never have been allowed to dirty these halls with my presence a century ago. I'm here now, aren't I?" "And what would your response be to that question?" Jake asked, gamely taking the leading question when it was offered to him. This was wonderful. Not only was the whole issue one the Federation hadn't noticed yet, but he had intra-Bajoran disagreement as well. This would be a great article. "I'm here, but how many like me aren't?" Ruce said. He spread his hands. "There is still discrimination. I never personally experienced it—I was considered a brilliant, rising star from the moment I stepped foot on campus—but I saw it happen to others. Constantly. When the most average, unmemorable member of the scholarly caste gets promoted to Senior Student in under three years, and low-caste scholars of ten times their ability get passed over routinely and must take five or six years of study before reaching that same promotion—well. It's quite obvious that for all their noble words about only caring about training people to be their best, they have different expectations and different criteria for people of different castes." "Have you talked with Arch-Chancellor Nemjon about this?" Jake asked curiously. "What does she say about it?" "She tells me I'm a credit to my caste," Ruce said. "And that obviously, if the other low-caste students were as brilliant as I, they would have succeeded, so if they haven't it's proof that they are being treated fairly." He rolled his eyes. Jake winced. "You know, we used to have a caste system on Earth, too." Jake said. "Actually, we had different caste systems in different parts of the planet. But in America, where my family is from, that caste system was based on something called 'race.' Which was a combination of skin color and facial features. My Dad and I are what was called 'Black' in that system. It was the lowest caste. Our ancestors were enslaved, and it was illegal to teach us to read and write. And even after that was outlawed, there was a lot of injustice. I'm not as much of a history buff as my Dad is, but they used to say that sort of thing about us, too. That if we succeeded, we were a credit to our race, and proof that discrimination didn't exist, and if we didn't succeed, it was proof that we weren't worthy and the treatment we received was just." "That's very interesting," Ruce said. "I'd like to learn more. Did your father have any favorite books on the subject? We hear about his work as the Emissary, and as a Starfleet officer, but nothing about Sisko the man. And yet, of course, who he was as a man was what allowed him to do all the great things he did, and, Prophets willing, will continue to do." "I'll go through his library and see," Jake said. He smiled. Dad had always felt caught between his human heritage and Starfleet, and his role as the Emissary. People on either side of the species divide only ever saw half of him. It would be good to change that, in some small way. "Thank you!" Ruce said. "I don't have as much time to read for pleasure as I would like, but reading things outside my field of study is so important for spiritual and mental nourishment." "You're welcome," Jake said, and tried to drag the interview back on track. He probably shouldn't have derailed it like that. "So are you in favor of the Federation system being imposed on Bajoran universities? After all, with more weight on grades and objective evaluations, and less weight on how professors feel about their students, surely there would be less room for prejudice to affect someone's course of study." Ruce shook his head. "I'm not naïve enough to think that professors with a bias against their low-caste students will grade them on the same metric they grade their high-caste students," he said. "Outside of tests on facts memorized, any evaluation has room for mis-assessment. And rote memorization has little place in a Bajoran university. Having to put a number value on an essay's quality won't make someone miraculously more just in appraisal of its merits. It will only teach them to better justify their biases. And if all you care about are a bare recitation of facts, well, a computer can do that better than any living being." "So what do you think should be done?" Jake asked. "Oh, I have a lot of ideas about that," Ruce said. "Though whether any of them will be practical once we join the Federation will depend on a great many other factors. But! My first suggestion would be that any time a student of a low caste is to be evaluated, at least one academic from their caste should be on the panel of professors. If there isn't one at that particular university, they can bring in one from another university. It's something we do in other cases when a student might not be judged fairly, for one reason or another—a feud between their family and one or more of the professors of their university is the most traditional reason, but there are others." Jake wanted to hear more about such feuds, but that wasn't what his story was about, so he didn't ask a follow-up about that. Instead, he asked about other ideas for improving Bajor's higher education, and what Ruce thought about the Federation's system. …… Once the interview was done, Ruce walked him back to the train station personally. "I did look you up, Mr. Sisko," he said as they strolled down a tree-lined path. "And you are an excellent writer, but I notice you haven't attended university yourself. Which is curious, because I understand the Federation puts almost as much stock in education as Bajor does." "I always assumed I'd go, and probably will sooner rather than later," Jake said. "But then life kinda got in the way." "It does that, yes," Ruce said. "Have you ever thought about attending school on Bajor?" "Yeah," Jake said. "And it'd be very convenient, and you have a lot of schools with really great writing programs, which is great. But right now, I'm already working in the field. I'm a journalist, and I like doing it, and I don't want to stop doing it or take time off. And Bajor doesn't have journalism as a field, so you don't have it as a course of study that I've found." "We don't," Ruce confirmed. "And you don't have provisions for part time study or distance learning, so it would be hard to continue working as a journalist and go to school at the same time," Jake said. "On the other hand, if I go back to school on Earth, I definitely couldn't keep reporting on Bajoran matters, and that's where all my knowledge and contacts are. There are a lot of journalists on Earth—I'd be a small fish in a big pond. Here, I'm the leader in the field." He hadn't mentioned any of this to Grandpa or Kasidy, or even Dad before he joined the Prophets, because he knew what they'd say: that was short-term thinking, he had the rest of his life to be a journalist, and education was important. But he had the rest of his life for education, too. And he didn't want to leave the field and go get a degree, only to find out when he got back that others had taken his spot and he'd have to start from the bottom again. Ruce hummed. "You know, the great benefit of the Bajoran system—the lack of a set curriculum that so distresses the Federation—is that we can tailor a course of study to a particular student's interests and skills," he pointed out. "And when we don't have the particular expertise needed here, we do collaborate with other universities on other planets. The Vulcan Academy of Arts and Social Wisdom is particularly receptive to long-term partnerships. We just had a student matriculate who had two mentors: one on the faculty here, and one at the Vulcan Academy. I believe she took some of her classes over subspace, and worked closely with her Vulcan mentor over subspace, though they never met in person. We might not know journalism, but we know writing, and we could find a mentor at a Federation university for the things specific to your field." "That sounds amazing," Jake said. "I never thought of that." "Why would you?" Ruce said. "But it is a possibility, and having read your essay 'Nor the Battle to the Strong,' I think you would do very well with Doctor Zaje as your mentor." "I'll consider it," Jake said as they arrived at the train station. "Safe journeys, Mr. Sisko," Ruce said. "I hope we meet again." "Likewise, Arch-Chancellor," Jake said. …… Jake spent the train ride back to the capital organizing his notes from the second interview and figuring out how to re-arrange the article to accommodate them. He got so engrossed in work that he forgot to eat on the train, and had to grab something quick and greasy in the station to eat on the way to the large Cardassian-built office building where most of the ministers had their offices. He got a five minute interview with the head of the negotiating team—five minutes was all he needed to get a quote from the article—and then to a hotel room where he finished a rough draft of the article, sent it off to a few Federation universities to see if they had any comment on it, and collapsed into bed. The next morning he checked his messages: most had either not replied yet or sent back a polite 'no comment.' The Vulcan Academy of the Arts and Social Wisdom, however, had a long response from the head of their interplanetary collaboration unit. Jake skimmed it. It was fairly long-winded (unsurprising), but it didn't come down on either side of the issue. The interesting thing it pointed out, however, was that the basic Federation evaluation criteria and guidelines for higher education had been hammered out at the Founding and largely ignored thereafter. It reflected a four-way compromise between Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites … and every other planet that entered later had been shoehorned in willy-nilly, on the assumption that the Federation system was the best way to do things. It ended by saying that perhaps the Federation system was due for a reappraisal. Jake didn't have room for the whole thing in his article, but he summarized the most important bit and added the closest thing to a short, pithy quote in the whole response. Maybe he could get his editor to include it as a sidebar. After an hour of writing and editing, the article was in much better shape. Jake could fuss with it more—he could always fuss with his writing more, he sometimes got stuck in edit mode, chasing the impossibility of perfection—but he had an appointment. He had an actual press conference to attend this morning. They weren't a Bajoran tradition, so he'd only rarely been to them; but the Federation Ambassador was having a question and answer session with the three Federation journalists covering the talks, and it was open to anybody, and Jake was going. …… The press conference was in an ordinary room in the Ministry building, a small room with no windows, that could have been on the station. It had that same vibe of "Cardassian aesthetics, with Bajoran and Federation elements to lighten it up." The podium with the Federation seal only added to the effect. Jake recognized the three Federation civilians already in the room as the journalists covering the talks. They glanced over at him, but showed no interest, continuing to talk amongst themselves. Well, he supposed this was normal for them. They'd been here for months, the talks were stalled, and every week someone on the Federation staff gave a press conference about what had been accomplished (or not accomplished) that week. Lately it hadn't been very much. Jake was lucky; the job of talking to the press was rotating between the Ambassador and his two top aides. And today, it was Ambassador Eshes ch'Shratis chanself. The ambassador was right on time. Chan walked briskly into the room with a PADD in his hand and took chans place at the podium with the ease of long habit. Chan was wearing a yellow suit that was of a color fashionable on Bajor right now, and which contrasted nicely with chan's blue skin. Eshes scanned the room and blinked when chan saw Jake, but went right into chans prepared speech. Apparently nothing of note had been accomplished that week, but chan was adept at saying nothing at great length. At last it was time for questions. The other reporters had a few—nothing terribly interesting, because nothing interesting had happened—which the ambassador answered at just as great a length as chan's initial speech. Jake kept raising his hand, but chan called on him only after answering questions from the three reporters chan knew. "Jake Sisko, Federation News Service," Jake said, when he was called on. "Ambassador, what is your position on the Bajorans dragging out the negotiations because of the university issue? Is there room for compromise with Federation educational standards?" "University issue?" Ambassador Eshes said, squinting at him. "What university issue?" "Bajor is extremely proud of its universities," Jake explained. "They've put a lot of effort into restoring them after the Cardassians left, and the professor on the Bajoran negotiating team—Arch-Chancellor Nemjan Lelra of the University of Kenda—is absolutely opposed to the imposition of Federation-style academic metrics onto the Bajoran universities. And the rest of the team is listening to her. That's one reason things have stalled. What do you think about the issue?" "I have a great deal of respect for Doctor Nemjan," Ambassador Eshes said. Not, Jake noticed, enough respect to have learned her proper title. "And certainly, we have had many discussions about how best to handle the issue of university accreditation and the standards required for various degrees," Eshes went on. "But it hasn't been affecting the rest of the negotiations. Things have stalled based on a variety of other factors, which I have just finished explaining." "That's not what Minister Jekkuk said, when I asked him about it," Jake said, speaking quickly before Eshes could list all the factors (again). "When did you speak to the Minister?" Eshes asked. Chans antennae quivered but didn't quite draw back. "Yesterday, after the close of negotiations," Jake said. "Would you like to hear what she said?" "Yes, please," Eshes said. Jake had the audio clip cued up and ready to go. He set his PADD's speakers to max and hit play. Minister Jekkuk's voice filled the room. "The issue of university governance is not the only issue at stake, of course; but it is the most serious one on which no fruitful discussion has been possible. Federation intransigence on this issue, so core to our peoples' history and tradition, has certainly caused me to reconsider the benefits of Federation membership. If they treat our great wisdom-leaders thus when they are negotiating, how badly will they treat them—and the rest of us—once we have joined?" The clip ended, and the room was silent. Eshes stared at him, antennae low. "Any comment, Ambassador?" Jake asked. "No," Eshes said, and walked out of the room. The other reporters went a bit nuts. …… "How'd you get Jekkuk to talk?" the Tellarite journalist demanded. They'd calmed down, a bit, after that first rush when they'd been asking so many questions at the same time that Jake couldn't hear any of them. "I asked," Jake said. "You're the Emissary's son, aren't you? Nepotism." He snorted derisively. "Maybe a little," Jake said. "But I think it was more that I started with Arch-Chancellor Nemjun, and asked for the Minister's comment after I'd already talked with her. And used the right title. 'Doctor' isn't inaccurate—it's just lesser, and less formal. And unlike the Federation, Bajorans have different words for different types of doctorates, and the universities are stuck up that their degrees are more prestigious than degrees from the other schools that the Federation also calls doctorates. So being called a Doctor in Bajoran—using the correct word—is informal but not bad. Calling her 'doctor' in Federation Standard, in Bajoran eyes, is demoting her to the status of someone who went to a trade school or something. I've got a whole information packet on stuff like that, if you want it." "Yes, please," the Betazoid said. "Why isn't that publicly posted anywhere? I knew the Bajorans got prickly whenever she was addressed, but I didn't know why. It's not like anyone was trying to insult her." Jake shrugged. "It wasn't publicly posted anywhere, but I asked her university and they gave me the information packet they give new students from off-world, and that's part of it. I don't know why nobody said anything." "So what tipped you off?" the human reporter asked. "Colonel Kira, commander of Deep Space Nine, gets the Bajoran government's internal reports," Jake said. "She mentioned the issue, and I took it from there." "A good friend to have," the Betazoid said. "What other friends have you made while researching this subject?" Jake opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "You're reporters, aren't you?" he said. "Get your own sources." The human laughed. "I like you, Jake Sisko. Will you be around for drinks tonight?" "Nah," Jake said. "My shuttle back to the station leaves in three hours." "He swoops in, scoops the lot of us, and swans back out without even having a drink," the Tellarite said. "Next time, you watch yourself, I'll be scooping you." "You can try," Jake said. …… Jake found a café and ate lunch while adding Ambassador Eshes' 'no comment.' Then he found a public comm terminal and sent his article off to the Federation News Service. He got to the shuttleport in time to buy a ticket for the late-afternoon shuttle to the station, and settled into his seat. The trip took almost six hours—the ancient shuttle, stuffed to the gills with passengers and cargo, was not as fast as a runabout, and Bajor's current place in its orbital cycle took it far from the station. Jake used the time to poke through his father's history library. He found some about racial categories and history in the United States that he thought Arch-Chancellor Ruce would like, and a general primer on Earth history for background, but hesitated before sending them. Should he send a clean copy, or one with his father's notes included? In some ways, he wanted someone to see his father as the man who read history, not the Emissary. But there was no guarantee that anyone else would see what Jake saw in those notes. Ruce seemed nice, but … Jake didn't know him well enough. He sent the books clean, without the notes. …… Kasidy was off on a cargo run when he reached the station, so the Sisko quarters were empty and echoing. Jake holed up in his bedroom and checked his messages—and found to his dismay that his article had been rejected. He called up his editor, and got the night-shift editor instead. "Nobody in the Federation cares about Bajoran academics," the night-shift editor said. "It's about the negotiations for Bajoran entry," Jake said. "And there are a lot of people who care about that. The academics is why the talks have been stalled for so long." "Are you sure about that?" "Did you even read it?" Jake demanded. "I've got the university Arch-Chancellor on the negotiating team saying that they're not going to sign a treaty she's not happy with unless the Dominion comes boiling through the wormhole again, and Minister Jekkuk basically said she was right! And I've got a comment from the Vulcan Academy of Arts and Social Wisdom on the whole thing." "Fine, I'll take another look." "Do that," Jake insisted. "There were other reporters around when I asked Ambassador Eshes for a comment, I'd rather the story gets published before one of them files a story on the issue." …… Once the call was over, Jake wandered out into the living room to get dinner from the replicator. He didn't take his food back to his room, because that would only highlight that Dad wasn't here. In the Sisko home, meals were eaten together whenever possible, and even when it was not, you ate properly at the table. The last time he'd been so alone in his quarters, it had been during the Dominion occupation of the system. But Dad had been alive and corporeal then, just on the other side of the sector, doing his best to come back and retake the system. There was no Dominion, now, hanging over everything. Jake didn't have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing and being executed as an example. Which meant he had more time to notice how empty things were. Jake ate his dinner, and thought about Ruce's offer of a custom-designed journalism degree. And spending a few years on that beautiful, tree-lined campus. It sounded a lot more attractive now than it had when he was in the middle of chasing down people to interview and getting to ambush an ambassador with questions he wasn't expecting. …… "That was a great article, Jake," Nog said the next day over lunch. Jake had been reading in an out-of-the-way corner of the Promenade, preferring the hustle and bustle to the tomb-like quiet of the Sisko quarters. Nog had spotted him and dragged him to the Replimat for lunch. "Thank you," Jake said. "What was your favorite bit?" Nog shrugged. "I think it's that you clearly laid out the benefits and drawbacks of both the Federation system and the Bajoran one, so people can draw their own conclusions about what they think about them," he said. "And what would have to change to make Bajor fit the current Federation system as-is. It really showed what's at stake." "Good," Jake said. "I worked hard on that bit." "I would have talked more about who profits from the current systems, and how," Nog said. "Nobody profits," Jake said. "The Federation doesn't work like that." "Benefits, then," Nog said. "Not all profits are financial." "True." Jake shrugged. It was a good point, and he'd keep it in mind for the future. "I think it's all a stupid fuss over nothing, anyway," Nog said, "but if the Bajorans think it's important enough to hold up the negotiations, it's worth paying attention to." "Yeah," Jake said. "Arch-Chancellor Nemjon made it sound like the Federation system was completely unreasonable, but we've got a lot of good schools ourselves." "From your article, it seems like Bajoran universities aren't very … practical," Nog said. "Not like Starfleet, which balanced theory with training on how to handle real-life problems. A little dose of having to apply their high-minded rhetoric to something a little more concrete might be good for them." "What's higher education like on Ferenginar?" Jake asked. "Expensive," Nog said. "And the quality varies—if you're not paying through the ear, you're probably not getting very good teachers. And they don't tend to spend much time at all on theoretical stuff, unless it's necessary to understand something that might turn a profit. I could never have afforded a school worth going to on Ferenginar, and I wouldn't have learned as much about myself and the galaxy, anyway." "So you liked Starfleet Academy?" Jake asked. "There were good parts and bad parts," Nog said. "It was a lot harder being the only Ferengi there than it was being the only Ferengi kid on the station. But it helped me grow and learn about who I am and how I relate to the people around me, and what I care about, in addition to the stuff about engineering and piloting and combat and how to handle first contact." Jake hummed thoughtfully. Nog's comm badge chirped. "Nog here," he said. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry to bother you at lunch, but there's been an accident on the docking ring," the Ops officer on duty said. "No casualties, but it's messed up all our docking and cargo transshipping schedules, and you're needed to sort things out." Nog sighed. "I'll be right there," he said. "Can we do something this evening?" Jake asked. "Maybe something on the holosuites?" Nog grimaced. "I'd love to, but I have a double shift," he said. "One of my people is sick, and another had a family emergency and had to leave, and we're still not back at pre-War staffing levels yet so we don't have coverage for emergencies. Hopefully things will calm down soon." "All right," Jake said, disappointed. "Well, good luck." …… Kassidy was gone for almost two weeks this time, and Jake spent the time writing a few other articles—mostly puff pieces—and responses to comments on the university article. There were four different editorials on the subject of Federation university accreditation in major news outlets by the end of the week, which was a much stronger response than Jake had gotten to any of his articles since the war had ended. Grandpa sent a message with congratulations on the article, and complaints that arranging travel to Bajor was almost as complicated now as it had been with a war on. The proposed visit was now a certainty, but it might take a while, because his grandfather was going to stop by Proxima to visit Uncle David first. When Jake wasn't working, he read books from his father's library. He'd sorted them by which ones he hadn't already read, and then by which ones had the most comments. Dad had been a very well-read man, and Jake found them all interesting. It helped him feel a little closer to his father, but it didn't help the quarters feel any less lonely. "How was your cargo run?" Jake asked when Kasidy got back. "It's always good to be out among the stars, with no other concerns than running the ship," Kasidy said. "Congratulations on the article, by the way." "Thanks," Jake said. "It seems to have touched a nerve. I've actually gotten a request to appear on a panel discussion about it." "Did you accept?" Kasidy asked. "Are you kidding?" Jake said incredulously. "Everything I know on the subject ended up in the article. I'm not exactly an expert on Bajoran education, just the only person who asked the right questions to the right people." "Don't sell yourself short," Kasidy said. "That's probably the most important thing a journalist can do, I'd think." "I'm not selling myself short," Jake said. "I'm just saying that knowing what questions to ask is not the same thing as knowing enough on the subject to talk intelligently about it on a panel discussion. I've never even been to university." "Is that something you're interested in?" Kasidy asked. "Your dad said something about a school back on Earth, after the war was over?" Jake rolled his eyes. "Not you too. Grandpa wants me to come back to Earth for college. I don't want to give up being a reporter now that I've got my foot in the door. And if Dad does come back in a year—or yesterday, whatever that means—I'd rather be closer when he shows up."  He paused. "Actually, I've been thinking about going to school on Bajor. They don't have journalism programs, but they do customized courses of study and they've got some really good writing programs. And because they focus more on individualized learning than on taking set classes, it'd be easy to make time for reporting." "Sounds like it's right up your alley," Kasidy said. …… The next day they spent working together in the living room. Jake had a bunch of PADDs spread out around him on the couch, and Kasidy took over the table with her paperwork. "You don't usually spend this much time on administrative stuff in a single day," Jake noted that afternoon. "I wasn't able to get as much done during the run as I usually would, and we're shipping out again tomorrow," Kasidy said absently without looking up. "Tomorrow?" Jake said. "But you just got back!" "And in a few months I'll be taking a year of parental leave," Kasidy said. "I've got a great crew, but there's some things I like doing myself, and there's a lot to do to get ready." She was right, of course, but that didn't make the thought any easier. Jake sighed. Kasidy looked up, frowning. "Is something wrong, Jake?" "These quarters are really empty with both you and Dad gone, is all," Jake said. "Ah," Kasidy said. She sat back in her chair. "I noticed the same thing, when you left for Bajor for your article. But I had a cargo run to make, and the ship really hasn't changed since before the war, so it felt very homey." "I've thought about asking for quarters of my own, but space is at a premium on the station," Jake said. With the war ended and trade with the Gamma Quadrant resumed (even on a limited basis), the station was a very busy place. "You could probably get something if you really wanted, but you might have to trade on your Dad's status as Emissary," Kasidy said. "And it didn't help that Nog was really busy and didn't have time to hang out," Jake said. "That's actually one of the reasons that university on Bajor sounds so good right now—a different setting, but close enough I could still visit the station pretty easily, and see you and the baby and hang out with Nog. And enough work to keep me really busy." Kasidy considered this. "I think you'd do well in university, and a change of environment might be good for you," she said. "But also, you'll get more out of it if you're going to school because you want it, not because you're trying to escape from something else." "I just don't know where else I'd go, on Bajor," Jake said. "I know I don't want to live on Earth, like Grandpa wants me to." "There's the house," Kasidy said. "The construction crew is going to be breaking ground next month. You could go and keep an eye on the whole process, and then move in when it's done." "You're going ahead with it?" Jake said, cocking his head." Kasidy shrugged. "I love your father, but I'm not going to put my life on hold waiting for him. Being able to go outside and play outdoors is good for babies and small children. And I could do with a change, myself—and even after I'm done with parental leave, I don't have to base myself here on the station. I don't trade through the wormhole very often, so for most things being based on Bajor itself would be at least as handy. I live here because it's where Ben was stationed. But he's not, any longer." "Yeah," Jake said. He thought about that for a bit. "I think … I wouldn't mind helping build the house, but I wouldn't want to live there. For me, it'd feel like … like I was just treading water, waiting for Dad to come back. I don't want to put my life on hold, either." "He wouldn't want that, for either of us," Kasidy said. "Would going to university feel like you were moving forward?" "I think it would," Jake said. "I really think it would."

[davestaresatthesun]

i have. soo many ideas about this au already man.

SO BASICALLY highschool au? highschool au *nods* just kind of a compellation of random shit roaming around my head about it rn

relative ages: og kids are in 10th/sophmore year, adults-as-kids are in 12th/senior year

jade-jake are siblings and jane-john are siblings- the four of them are cousins and are raised as siblings until jake & jade's mom dies- they move to Australia to live with their grandma, but visit as frequently as they can

idk why but i want to give the Lalond's two mums. so roxy and rose have two moms now-

rozy started drinking to cope with stress behind her moms' back at 15, now in therapy and Working On It

jake, jade, john, dirk and rose are all autstic [this list may lengthen]

dirk, dave, and jade have adhd [jade and dirk audhd kingssss]

dirk and dave are brothers, living with thier much older, not very great bro

dave has really really light colored eyes, like almost red, so that's why he wears the sunglasses [eyes v light sensitive]

im catepolting back and forth between making them all live in roughly the same area- i want them to all live in the same place so bad, but i also want then to live all over the place like they do- hhhhhghngngjhbgsh

Jade has narcolepcy- Harley is her service dog :D

most of the trolls live outside the us [idk why but for some reason i want karkat and kayana to live wherever everyone else does kwjfbakjfbajf]

Calliope-Caliborn binary system, switch

dave ptsd with puppets

basically all of these kids are disabled, either mentally/medically/physically, but i just haven't figured them all out yet [open to suggestions! :D]

dirk is a system- i can't decide if he has OSDD or DID [would mostly just determine the extent to his dissociative amnesia] <- leaning towards DID, where they have a system where they "main fronters" have access to a sort of "memory vault" with important info/memories [how ive heard it described by a friend and also kind of how i experience it myself?]

i dont know if all the trolls will be there- they might all be there, but just not talked about

definately will be talked about tho are karkat, kanaya, terezi, sollux, probably a few others idk