#( we'll just assume she makes it over the finish line )

[saekkas]

𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐁𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

summary: in which someone flirts with them, but they're only looking at you.

includes: isagi, nagi, reo, yukimiya, rin, sae, kunigami, kaiser, karasu, bachira, aiku.

notes: this one's shorter than the one before but still, go wild my loves <3

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘 who values you very much. is the type to be very secure in the relationship; doesn't like any unnecessary drama and is definitely ready to move onto the next stage. wouldn't really care about the other person but will not tolerate having his boundaries crossed. especially when it's clear that he's yours and yours only.

isagi, yukimiya, bachira, nagi.

his eyes are on his phone, feet tapping against the tiles of the cafe. it's a hole in the wall that he's used to frequenting with you, so much that the staff know your orders by heart. the line is short, seats mostly empty, as the rush hour has passed. the rain is pouring against the window beside him, and he taps his finger on the table to their rhythm.

tilting his head, his eyes find you in the middle of the line. you're focused on the menu, your bottom lip between your teeth as you scan the list of food and beverages. it makes him smile, chuckling under his breath because he knows you'll end up getting what you usually do. he gets onto his feet, wallet in hand, when you're finally set to order.

"hi. good morning, how are you?" your sweet voice tickles his ear as he approaches, his heart warm and sated as you go through your usual routine.

"hey." he presses a kiss to your head, wrapping a hand around your waist. his lips trail down, stopping at your cheek, a smile pressed against the skin as he hears you giggle. "what's taking so long?"

the cashier smiles, amused at the sight. "mornin' i'm great. how about you two lovebirds?"

"we're good," he answers for you both, an easy-going expression on his face. he looks down, scrunching his nose at you while you giggle at his answer. "just waiting for this angel to finish ordering."

"we'll have matcha latte, caramel macchiato, and a blueberry cheesecake please. the usual." he tilts his head, looking for your confirmation. he smiles proudly, chest puffing when you nod your head.

"i'll pay," you say as you show your card to the cashier, smiling at her. he chuckles, letting you take the bill this time. "how much will it be?"

the drinks are out in a second, the green and brown a contrast against each other. there are two pairs of utensils on the plate, and he thanks the staff for their work, taking the tray into his hand. "i'll take these to our table first, okay?" he looks over his shoulder, a gentle look in his eye as he processes just how... domestic this all feels.

"yeah, i'll be there in a minute. i need to go to the bathroom." you smile at the cashier one last time, tucking your purse into your bag. you glare playfully, poking your tongue at him. "don't you dare finish the cheesecake before i'm back."

he pokes his tongue back, a laugh breaking loose from his chest. "no promises."

he sits back down, placing the food on the table as he goes back to drumming his fingers. the rain doesn't look as if it'll be stopping any time soon, wind combining with water to shower the earth clean. he looks at his watch, mentally thinking about making dinner later with you. a smile grows at the thought.

there's a shadow in the corner of his eye that he assumes is you. he smiles, ready to lean over and press a kiss, only to stop when his eyes meet a stranger instead. "sorry." he backs away, a furrow in his eyebrow as he looks around, searching for you. "you've got the wrong table."

"no. it's okay. i've definitely got the right table." the stranger lays it thick with a high-pitched tone, and fluttering eyelashes. "hi, handsome. here's my number."

he watches as she slips a piece of paper onto the table, confusion blending into annoyance when she leans over to take his hand. "look," he says with a frown, pushing his hands into his pockets. he's very obviously looking in the direction you went off in. "you've got the wrong table and i'm already with someone."

"ah but i don't see this someone?" the smile on her face is pushing at his limits. his jaw ticks when she moves to sit beside him. "c'mon, handsome. give me a chance."

the bathroom door by the end opens with a creak, and his head snaps at the sound. before she has time to reach over once again, he's quick to swerve away to your side. you're already eyeing the girl at your table with curiosity, your head tilted in question. "hey, who's that? one of your frien-"

he doesn't let you finish. he's quick to reach for your waist, tugging you into a kiss with a hand cupping your cheek. all negative feelings drain from his limbs, turning him into a puddle of love as you thread your fingers into his hair.

"as much as i love your kisses," you say with a gasp of breath as you look up into his eyes, finding love looking back at you through the orbs. "that was a bit sudden. did something happen?"

"not at all." he shakes his head, nuzzling into your nose. his hands are on the side of your neck, lovingly stroking the skin. "not now that you're here."

you look back at your table, seeing it empty, and the girl from before nowhere in sight.

"shall we enjoy our drinks?" he pushes you with the hand he has on your waist. he sits down first before pulling you to sit right beside him, your hands intertwined under the table. "can't wait to eat dinner with you later."

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. he won't say no to playful flirting since it feeds his ego but will only respond if you're somewhere near or in his field of vision. he won't give the other person any of his attention if you aren't. will think it's funny that they're trying their best but will either shoot them down in a way that crushes their pride or brush them off as if they don't exist.

reo, aiku, karasu, kaiser.

the bass is thrumming against his skull, a tune that doesn't fit the mall's calm and serene energy. he's sitting on one of those plush sofas in a clothing store outlet, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he waits for you to finish changing. he feels the warning glare the manager's sending, and he snorts as if trying to go into the dressing room with you is a crime. he would be so much more satisfied with you between four cramped walls than in the wide space where people are obviously gawking at him.

"excuse me." someone calls his name timidly, and he cocks his head towards them, wanting to see where this goes. they send him a smile, one that's too teethy and falsely sweet but hey he can't fault them for not flashing his favorite smile; they aren't you after all.

"yes?" his reply is short and blunt, but he sighs when the girl flinches away. you've always said that his resting face looked too mean. he chuckles at the thought.

shaking himself out of his daydream, he shows his best smile. he leans back, arm stretched out against the back of the couch as he adjusts his pose, manspreading. a peacock, you'd once muse when he first did it in front of you. he watches with thinly veiled boredom in his eyes, a juxtaposition to the sickeningly sweet smile on his lips. "can i help you with something?"

the girl flushes, biting her lip and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. being coy, he realizes with an amused scoff.

"sorry to bother you. it's just- you looked so bored. i thought i could entertain you."

his eyebrow quirks at the word entertain, tilting his head in mock curiosity. "and how would you do that, hm?" he takes her in, taking in her choice of clothing and hairstyle. cute he'd give that much to her. nothing like you, though. she couldn't compare.

he realizes belatedly that the once over was seen differently than what he meant for it to come across. amusement flickers in his eyes when she flushes a bright red, fidgeting on her spot. "you do this often?" he tilts his head, eyes half-lidded, trying to gauge her reaction. "flirting with random strangers in the mall of a hobby, eh?"

"just the handsome ones," she says with a giggle. he watches as she points a finger to the row of clothes, her interest clear as day. "how about we look around? buy some clothes or jewelry so we match."

he chuckles, shaking his head at the thought. he can't wait to tell you about this. right on cue, the door to your dressing room opens, and you step out. his breath gets stuck in his throat, his eyes widening, and a grin making its way to his lips.

the black dress you have on is nothing short of stunning. it tapers off to your knees, the material hugging your curves. he sends you an eager look, one which you giggle at. you turn, showing him the back of the dress, keeping eye contact as you do. his mouth falls and thoughts short circuit as his eyes rake down your bare back, stopping just before your bum.

oh the things he'll do to you in that dress. no wonder the manager was so adamant on not letting him join in on the fun.

"nah," he says distractedly at the girl still waiting for his response. he sends you a wink and a flirty smile, mouthing one moment, before turning back to her. "see that gorgeous specimen right there? yeah i'm hers."

"she and i, we match." his eyes are filled with mischief as he tugs his shirt down, showing off the collection of marks you left on him last night. the skin around his collarbone is red, purple, and bruised. littered with love bites. a symbol of your love he thinks smugly. "see?"

there's pride blooming in his chest, a smug smile forming on his face the moment her eyes widen and the color drains from her face. "i'm not interested in anyone who's not her. so scram." he's quick to wave her away, skipping over to tug you back into the fitting room, this time with him in it.

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐂𝐄, the type to literally not care at all. will not give them time of day and will appear hostile if necessary. but he'll mostly just look at them, expressionless with dead eyes.

sae, rin, kunigami

there are so many options to choose from, he frowns, glaring at the row of refrigerators stacked next to each other as if they've done something wrong. the supermarket is relatively busy, customers ranging from middle schoolers to elderly. he's in the drink section, passing one fridge to another, looking for your favorite drink from outside the glass, his frowning reflection looking back at him.

you're somewhere in the dairy section, picking out pints of ice cream, and who knows what else. he checks his phone, checking for any new messages from you. i'll head over soon, after i find the popcorn, it reads along with multiple hearts and photos of you smiling beside the ice cream. he shakes his head, tapping a finger against the screen to save the photos.

he pockets his phone, ready to move on to the next isle when he bumps into someone. he huffs, his eyes looking at the girl that's staring right back at him.

"really?" she says with a flirty giggle after she gets a clear look at his face. he remains stoic, hands in his pocket, even as she nudges him on the shoulder as if a longtime friend. "you're handsome but if you don't say sorry when you bump into someone, they'll lose interest. but maybe that's your charm."

he moves to slight past her, not at all caring about her presence, but before he knows it, she's stuck a hand into his back pocket, sending a kiss playfully before bounding over somewhere he doesn't give a damn about. the frown on his lips deepens, but before he has the chance to look into his pocket, you pop up right beside him.

"hey, i can't find the drinks but i've got everything else." he hears you say as you show him your basket full of things, smiling up at him. there are all kinds of things in the basket, ranging from chocolate, popcorn, ice cream, sausages, and many more. tonight is monthly movie night and he tries to shake off the weird encounter from his mind, not wanting to dampen the mood.

he smiles back, leaning down to take the basket from you. the hoodie you have on is his, and it dwarves you. the hem reaches your knees, and he can't see your hands which makes him chuckle all the while more. you told him that you were cold, he knows it's just another excuse to wear his hoodie.

"let's go home." he ruffles a hand through your hair, affection getting the best of him, before taking your hand with his other.

he drops the basket on the self-checkout counter, and helps you scan all the necessary items. he eyes the chupa-chups by the counter and grabs two, strawberry and cola, scanning both and handing them for you to choose. he chuckles when you brighten, choosing the strawberry for yourself.

"i'll take the bags." he takes both bags into his left hand, the other placing itself on your back. he leads you out, shaking his head in amusement when he feels you slip your hand into his back pocket.

"hey what's this?" the tone of your voice has him frowning. "i didn't know you smoke. it's bad for you, ya know?"

looking down at the cigarette in your hand, he eyes the scribble of numbers surrounding the stick. ah that's what she slipped in, he sighs. taking the cigarette from you, he's quick to throw it to the ground, crushing it with his foot.

"i don't," he chuckles at the look of disbelief on your face. leaning in, he plucks the candy from your mouth, pressing a kiss and pushing his tongue in. you taste sweet from the candy he notes, you smell like ice cream too. he's quick to pull back, chuckling when he realizes just how flustered you've become.

"i prefer sweets," he says with a smug smile before popping the candy into his own mouth.

[bittersw33t-lotus]

Little Life

Ghosting Series pt. 3

Simon “Ghost” Riley x Fem! Reader

Cw: pregnancy stuff, reader is female, cursing (let me know I I missed anything)

A/N: sorry if this is very short the chapters may be pretty short just so my motivation to keep writing can stay.

Part 2 here

“Alright hon, if you can lay on the bed and lift you shirt over you belly please.” Dr. Raven says, the woman pointing to the dull looking patient bed with thin paper lining fitted over the top.

You follow her words and sit down on the bed, the cushion was surprisingly comfortable to sit on. You bring your shirt up over your stomach stopping at your rib cage and lay back waiting for Raven to prepare for the scanning. You watch as she brings out a plastic bottle you assumed was the gel, as she opened the plastic cap as she looks at you. “Okay, I’m going to put this on your abdomen. Be prepared, this will be cold.” She says as she squeezes the bottle over your stomach, the bright translucent blue gel slithers out the opening and trails down towards your stomach.

The moment it makes contact with your skin, your stomach retracted back at the cold viscous material. You shudder a breath and laugh a bit. “You weren’t lying.” You joked as Raven smiled and chucked at your response.

“Always takes them by surprise.” She says before she finishes squeezing the bottle, pulling it away and closing the cap back on. Placing it down on the table beside her she grabs the transducer clicking a few buttons and the screen turns on. She places the nub against your abdomen and spread the gel around your stomach and looks at the screen seeing the scan coming through as she adjusts it to hover where your uterus is.

You watch the screen feeling a bit anxious as you watch trying to figure out exactly what you were seeing, after a couple seconds you soon immediately spot a little white blob. A baby.

“There it is. Your baby.” She tells you as you stare at the screen in awe. That’s really inside you. Your baby slowly growing by the second, yours and Simon’s baby.

“So tiny.” You say as Dr. Raven nods to your words.

“You’re only eight weeks currently, it looks like you and the baby are doing just fine so far, baby is healthy and growing, overall you’re both doing great. I’ll provide you with some prenatal vitamins for you to take. I did notice in your readings, your blood pressure is a bit high than we’d like it to be so I need you to make sure you’re not overworking yourself, do more things to keep you calm and not focus and do things that cause you such distress if that’s possible. Other than that, you’re all set and good to go. Do you have any questions for me?” Dr. Raven says as she takes a few pictures of the scan to print out for you.

You breathe out in relief, the baby is all good. You figured the high blood pressure was definitely caused by the whole situation with Simon so you don’t know how you can make yourself forget about it, on top of that you’ve also been worried about finding a place to live and trying to figure out your financial situation now with Simon out of the picture. You take a deep breath and nod at Dr. Ravens advice. “I’ll be sure not to.” You tell her with a small smile as she hands you a paper towel to wipe off the gel, which you take.

“Would you be comfortable with telling me about the cause for your mental or physical wellbeing may be? Anything that maybe I could help you with if possible.” She asks you; you can spot the concern in her eyes when she brings it up.

You shake your head and ignore the feeling you felt as she brings it up but regardless you smile and shake your head. “Just trying to deal with not having the father in the picture. He decided he didn't want to be around." You tell her as she nods, understanding your words.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She tells you as you simply shrug your shoulders pulling you shirt back down.

"it's fine, think we'll be better off without him anyways.” You tell her. It's true, to an extent, at least that’s what keep telling yourself. You know you can do this all on your own. It won't be easy, but you hope you can manage. But deep down, you know you'll never be okay not having him by your side. He’ll miss out on so much, like watching your baby grow, learning and growing along with the baby as that baby also learns from you. You both won’t grow old together like you both wanted, with a bunch of animals, but with the baby included, maybe one or two more if things had worked out in the end.

You finish up the remaining paper work you had to sign and received your vitamins. Dr. Raven hands the ultrasound pictures to you in a white envelope and you make your way back to the lobby where Jared waited, still sitting and reading the pamphlets. He looks up as he notices you approaching and smiles as he stands up. “How’d it go?” He asks you.

You hold up the envelope with a smile. “It was great, got to see the baby, doctor said that they’re healthy and everything looks good thankfully. Just have to focus on not stressing myself out so much.” You tell him as you both make your way out of the building and into the parking lot.

“That’s great to hear. I’m sure Stacy already told you but she has a surprise in stock for you but she’s wondering if you have anything nice to wear.” He asks you as you approach the car.

Opening the car door you think for a minute before you nodded. “Yeah, I should.” You tell him. You’re sure you can find something. You took everything with you when you left Simon’s place, all your things are still in boxes save for the necessities that you need, but you’re sure you can find something.

On the drive back you spent the entire car ride back home staring and looking at the ultrasound picture, the little blob that you still couldn’t grasp was your baby, just still needed some more months to grow before you can meet them and that made you anxious. You don’t think you could wait that long.

“What’re you hoping for?” Jared asks you, steering the wheel as he switches to the next lane, glancing at the photos in your hand.

You think about it for a moment, it hasn’t crossed your mind surprisingly. Either one would be great, there was a moment where you dreamt of having a baby girl with Simon. You can’t lie, the sight of Simon being a girl dad made you all giddy and warm. Then thinking about a little boy, one that looked like a copy and paste of Simon would be so cute. You smile as the possibilities ran through your head, of course you’re just being delusional, you wouldn’t be able to see that happen ever. Just a thought in the back of your mind.

“Honestly either would be great. I don’t mind what I have, as long as the baby is healthy that’s enough for me.” You say tucking the photos into your purse, holding it close to you.

Jared smiled and nodded. “Sounds great, you’ll make a great mother. I’m sure of it.” He says to you as you smile, the reassurance from Jared was something you didn’t know you needed but greatly appreciated.

“Thanks.” You say to him, before you know it you’ve finally made it back home.

Once you arrived home you got out the car and walked into the house. Right away Stacy approached you with a smile.

“How’d it go?” She asks you as she gets up from the soft couch and walking over towards you and Jared.

You pull out the envelope and pull out the multiple pictures and hand them out for her. Upon seeing them she awe’s as she examined the little bean like fetus. “Little baby.” She coos before looking at you. “How far along are you?” She asks you.

“Eight weeks. I’ll be able to see the baby’s gender by fourteen weeks.” You tell her as she hands back the photos to you. Placing them in you bag you can see Stacy smile as she walks towards the island counter of in the kitchen. “Oh, what was that surprise you had in store?” You ask her.

She props herself up on the counter with her elbows and looks at the time. “We decided to treat you to dinner tonight. We have a reservation set for six tonight. You feeling up for it?” She asks you.

You take a moment to think and nod your head a bit excited to hear you’ll be eating at a restaurant feeling your hormones go crazed at the thought of food. “Yeah, I’ll get ready now.” You tell her with a wide smile. You haven’t eaten out at a restaurant in a long time. Last time you went was with Simon for the last anniversary together.

Making your way to your ‘room’ you take out a box with your fancier clothes. Opening the box you pull out multiple tops, bottoms, and dresses. Finally choosing one you like you slip the dress on and admire yourself in the mirror. You bump is bulging out a bit, you take the time to admire it.

You took the time to shower, do your make up and get dressed right on time. Stacy looked at your outfit as you did a 360 showing off your outfit. “You’re not even half way into pregnancy and already look like a milf.” Stacy jokes, you laugh as you grab your purse.

“Don’t tell me lies Stace.” You tell her as she shrugs her shoulder.

“I only tell the truth.” She says as you both walk out the door and towards the already running car where Jared sat in waiting for you two.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

A click from the lock sounds from the front door as it swings open. Simon’s bulking frame walks through the door as he scans the house. It’s dark and eerily silent.

When Simon came back, he felt like shit. His heart dreaded coming home to see your answer. He hoped you stayed, at least long enough till he came back, he planned to move out the house and leave it for you if you decided to keep the baby. It would give him a peace of mind to know where you were and know that you and the kid were safe, and you could use the extra room and space for the baby. But, even if you got rid of it, he doesn’t know if your relationship could ever be the same.

However your answer was first made clear when your car not in the drive way. His heart dropped but he took a deep breath, ‘Maybe she’s at the store.’ He thought. He hadn’t texted you either to let him know he was coming home today, he couldn’t bring himself too.

You’re not here. It’s something Simon suspected but he still feels dread overcome him as he steps into the house and notices the little things around the house that belonged to you were gone. Your shoes were gone, your car keys, the blanket you left on the couch is gone. He walks into your shared bedroom, which is now his bedroom, opening the door and he’s stunned with how much of an eye sore it is. His room is so plain now, like how it looked before you moved in with him.

He remembers how much you wanted to decorate the place, especially the bedroom, you hated how lifeless the whole house looked. It didn’t take much to convince him to let you decorate saying , “Go crazy.” And you did. Literally. You decorated adding a touch of you but keeping it to an extent to not overwhelm Simon. You hung up a few decorations and posters in the bed room of bands you and Simon both loved. A few shelves displaying your books and trinkets. Your touch added to his home making it more like home for him. Like you were his home. He liked, loved it if he dare say, he worried you would over do the place but it look perfect. Like you.

But now as he looked around the house, he sees the walls are bare and plain. He feels plain now, empty. Sad. He looks through your closet and drawers only to find them completely bare and empty.

He walks into the living room notices your shoes are gonna as well from the rack, and the little table beside the front door, he noticed the white folded paper on the little ceramic plate that held their keys, walking over he pick up the paper seeing his name written on it in your hand writing, unfolding it reveals page with your writing inked into the material.

‘I know we made a promise but this is something that takes two to do, accidents happen and I know you never wanted children and you knew it was still on the table for me, I’m thankful that you gave me a choice, even if it wasn’t easy. I don’t want to drag you into something you never wanted but it still hurts that I have to chose between you and this baby. I figured it was best for the both of us if I left, you can keep your home and I can keep my baby. I hope you stay safe out there Simon and please take care of yourself. I still and always will love you and I’m sorry.’ Simon checked the back of the paper for anything else but it was empty. You didn’t say where or what you were going to do and it scared Simon. Were you safe, do you have a place to stay, do you have people to help?

He knew you weren’t really in any contact with your family, your only friends were Johnny, Gaz, and Price. His ‘friends’ were yours. For the most part Simon knew you didn’t have anyone to help you or look after you and the baby. “Fuck!”

Taglist <3

@wise-owl @sandyseagullsip @mileyraes @nicolebarnes @nikkyevansdochen22 @mattmurdock-wife24 @demonking-69 @mooievis @lunamoonbby @cherrycosmos392 @eevee-of-eternity @makimamybelovedwife @venavanup @amberpanda99 @simplyymee98 @callmeluno @stormy-stardust @ssc7514 @badbitchthings @moldypeaching @asteria33 @going-through-shit @blarba-girl @leonsgirlie @andoraamore @nobodycanknoww @thegreyjoyed @natashamea18 @kylies-love-letter @blackhawkfanatic @leehoonii-i @xenop0p @sh1ga-to3s

[yumeka-sxf]

My thoughts on Spy x Family: EYES ONLY Guidebook (English ver) - part 1

I finished reading through my copy of the English version of the SxF manga guidebook "EYES ONLY." There's tons of fantastic information about the series, but I wanted to share my thoughts/commentary on parts that were the most interesting to me. Since there's so much content to cover, I'll be dividing it into a few different posts. Also, rather than go in the order of the book's sections, I decided to group the content based on topic. This first post will cover Endo's comments about the characters individually, as well as information about Garden.

Endo's Q&As and comments about the characters

Loid:

I like that Endo provides a reason for why Loid wears a WISE logo pin as it's something more than one fan of the series has questioned! And I totally agree with Lin about his "lack of distinctive features." Compared to so many other anime characters, especially shonen main characters, Loid's design is so plain, particularly in his hair and clothes. At least in his spy outfit he has a gun to make him a little flashier, but when he's in his casual clothes, he literally just looks like "some guy," haha. But that also makes sense for his character.

I love how Endo gave specific numbers for comparing Loid and Yor's strength (Yor: 10, Loid: 6-7)

Anya:

I did notice what Endo is talking about how Anya's design changed over time. But that can be said for all the characters really, and it's definitely not uncommon for manga-ka's styles to evolve as they get a better feel for their characters and world.

He mentions the classical language thing that was also brought up in chapter 42. Definitely makes me think that will somehow tie into her backstory.

Speaking of Anya's backstory, there was this little excerpt about the researchers at the lab. So one thing we can say for sure about her past is that she was not treated well there at all (which has been hinted at in the series).

Endo also discussed the origin of Anya's pink hair (namely, there really isn't any origin, lol).

Yor:

Interesting that he spent the most time designing Yor, and also about the origin of her stilettoes. And his apology to the cosplayers for that bonus feature about Yor's hair, haha.

I had to chuckle when he said they can't measure her strength because she keeps breaking the instruments! Also the fact that she hasn't learned how to make a single successful meal since the stew…Endo is such a savage sometimes, lol. But keep in mind that this book was originally published over a year ago, and obviously we know from recent chapters that her cooking is improving. I also like that he mentions that she has left witnesses to her work, like in Extra Mission 2. I wonder if that will be a bigger plot point somewhere down the line.

Like Anya having pink hair, Endo expresses some regret about making Yor an assassin (but his laugh makes it clear he's not terribly hung up about it!)

Bond:

I know some people are bothered by the fact that Yor is Bond's least favorite. But I think Bond's (initial) dislike for her originated from the chapter where he assumes he would have died from her cooking. Also the fact that Anya put the idea in his head that she would "murder" him if he did something she didn't like, like shun her food (which is obviously heavily exaggerated). But again, this book was published over a year ago, and the most recent chapter revealed that he definitely doesn't dislike her even if she's not his favorite. It's perfectly normal for pets to have family members they prefer over others for whatever reason.

Franky:

I love that Franky does charity work. I hope we'll see that in a future chapter.

Fiona:

It's interesting that he ranks Fiona's combat ability so low, especially when you consider what she did to Wheeler in the recent arc. But to me, that wasn't so much a display of combat prowess as it was totally raw, uninhibited willpower.

Yuri:

I love his blunt answer about whether Yuri has other interests besides Yor. Also intriguing that he mentions Nightfall when discussing Yuri's combat ability…maybe those two will meet eventually?

Information about Garden

Since Garden is still such a mysterious entity in the SxF universe, I tried to gather everything about them that the book mentions.

It's interesting that Yor sees Shopkeeper as her mentor since he taught her survival skills in her youth. The book also raises the question about how Yor found Garden in the first place…maybe something Endo will expand on in the future?

So the information Franky gives us about Garden is exaggerated? Gah, that just makes them even more mysterious!

The above was a cool bit of trivia...so it seems like the secret police might know more about Garden than WISE. Perhaps Yuri will find out about Yor's real identity before Twilight?

Continue to Part 2 ->

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Musician Age Gap AU Pt 10

Kara sets her phone on do not disturb the instant the first unrecognized number flashes across the screen. Keeping hold of Lena's hand, she sits them both on the edge of the bed as she dials the only other person she wants to talk to.

"Kara!" Alex exclaims. Her voice then dims as she turns to call the others. "It's Kara!"

"Hey," Kara says, keeping her voice steady. "You're on speaker. I've got Lena with me."

Lena leans closer to the phone, resting against Kara's side in the process.

"Hi."

"Hi, Lena." As Kara expects, it takes more than a global superstar to faze her sister. "Are you two okay?"

Kara nods. "Yeah. We're okay."

"We're more concerned about you guys." Lena glances at Kara. "I'm worried your family might be pulled into this."

It will only be a matter of time before internet sleuths find Kara's old social media, and for her identity to be shared with the entire world. But where Kara had consented to her relationship with Lena, her sister's family hadn't agreed to be drawn into it along with her.

"We'll be okay," Kelly chimes in.

Lena shakes her head. "Let us send a car. We can get you to a hotel until we see how far they'll dig."

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary..."

"But what if it is?" Lena asks softly.

What about Esme, goes unsaid. A long beat of silence passes, and Kara imagines Kelly looking to Alex for guidance, and Alex's own indecision.

"Lena's team has more experience and greater resources to handle this sort of thing," Kara adds. "They can book you guys under fake names, assign security--"

"Security?" Kelly interrupts, her voice laced with fear. "You don't think..."

"We don't know anything at this point," Lena rushes in, doing her best to allay the immediate worry without downplaying the risk. "But I don't think we should assume the best, either."

Alex is the next to speak. To Kara's surprise, her sister doesn't speak to her.

"Lena."

Kara glances at the woman beside her. Lena's features are as somber as Alex's voice sounds, but her brow is creased with thought.

"How bad can this get?"

Lena takes a deep breath.

"I can't say for sure."

While it's not a firm answer, Kara knows Lena isn't sugarcoating anything-- it's just too soon and too volatile to anticipate an outcome with any kind of certainty.

"You've had high profile relationships before," Alex counters.

"Yes," Lena concedes. She takes a breath, shoulders sagging as though in defeat. "But this is different."

Alex makes the connection before Kara does.

"Because you're women."

A jolt travels down Kara's spine. She shoots a glance towards Lena, who looks at her helplessly.

"Yes," Lena confirms. "I've been in relationships with women before, but not publicly."

"Do you intend to hide this one too?"

Lena glances at Kara, cheeks flushing with guilt.

"That decision hasn't been made." That the option is even on the table sends a frission of displeasure through Kara, but Lena's tone-- while conciliatory-- is pragmatic. "But even the implication could make a lot of waves. And if people get angry, and they can't get to us..."

"They'll go after us," Alex finishes for her.

Lena nods, her features mournful. "It's a possibility. Online, in the media, or even picketing..."

Kara knows Alex's decision before she says it.

"Okay." Then, "just until we know more."

"Of course."

Alex sighs over the line. "Any other recommendations?"

"I would limit screen time; things might get... nasty. And the less you see, the less you might be tempted to join the fray."

Kara's thoughts turn to Esme, and as though reading her mind, Lena continues.

"Alex... Kelly... I know you don't know me. But-- I want to protect you and your family as much as I can in this. I wasn't much younger than Esme when all this started for me, and-- I don't want to make this any harder for her than it has to be."

Kara gives Lena's hand a squeeze, prompting Lena to lean a little more of her weight against her shoulder in return.

"Thank you, Lena," Kelly says, voice soft. "We appreciate your guidance on this."

Kara leans forward intently, bringing the phone a little closer.

"Lena's team will coordinate everything," she offers, "and I'll be in touch with more details as soon as I have them. We'll take each day as it comes, and adjust however we need to."

"Kara can send you my number," Lena agrees. "If any of you need anything, at any time, please call me."

"We will," Kelly promises.

Alex sighs. "We should go tell Esme."

Kara bites her lip. "She's seen?"

"Who do you think showed us?"

Shit. Kara's teeth grind in frustration. "Is she upset?"

"Nah. Not really. I think maybe a little hurt that she found out with the rest of the world, but mostly thrilled?" Alex sighs. "I don't know. Teenagers are hard."

That makes Kara chuckle. She wipes a tired hand over her face. Barely an hour had passed since she woke up, but it feels like a lifetime. "Yeah."

"We'll let you two go. Stay safe."

"You too," Kara returns. "We'll be in touch."

[hoomandoescosplay]

On The Air | Alastor x Reader Oneshot

In the early morning I feel Alastor get up from our bed causing me to slightly groan and pull the covers up a bit more.

I hear a muffled laugh come from him as he walks into our bathroom to get ready for work. I shift my position a bit, getting more comfortable to drift off again.

Eventually he comes back in, one more time, and leaves a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I love you my darling. I’ll be back home before you know it.” I mumble an incoherent response back, still being half asleep, before he leaves heading out to the radio station.

─── ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ───

I wake up noticing the empty, and slightly cold spot, next to me. Sighing I sit up to stretch before getting out of bed and walking into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast.

As I enter the kitchen, I see a tray of toast with butter and jam, an omelette, and a plate of sausages and potatoes. Alastor even prepared my coffee just the way I liked it.

After taking note of the thoughtful breakfast I noticed a note as well. I picked it up to read it as a smile engulfed my face.

Don't worry about breakfast, I prepared it for you, my darling.

I shall be home later today as the radio station has requested for me to stay longer tonight.

I’m sorry I won’t be home as soon as I originally thought today.

I’ll make it up to you darling. Kisses.

- Al ♡

Ever since we started dating, before that even, Alastor always tried his best to make me happy and put a smile on my face.

While I’m a bit sad he has to work a few extra hours today it also gives me more time to get some last minute gifts I wanted to give him today.

I stretch once more before grabbing the plate of sausages and potatoes along with the omelette to heat up over the stove.

I flick on the radio and start humming along with the song that is playing. As I continue to heat up the food, I hear something over the radio. It's Alastor's voice, he's on air at the moment making me smile.

“And that was some wonderful music for you. Now back to your wonderful host, here's me, Alastor!” A clapping track plays after he finishes his sentences causing me to roll my eyes playfully.

“How is everyone doing today? I'd hope well considering it’s Valentine’s Day.” He takes a second to pause. “I'd like to talk with you about something important as always - it's not the time to panic, but I think we should all remain vigilant because of the terrible events happening in nearby cities.”

I turn off the stove and slightly tune out his voice talking about the recent murder spree happening around our city.

Placing my food onto the dining room table I walk back into the kitchen to bring the radio with me into the dining room as I catch the last bit of his spiel on the recent murders.

“As always, I urge you all to stay cautious. And if you want to, you can always call in here and we'll chat. The police have assured us that they are working hard and that we should have no grounds for concern... But still, stay vigilant, my friends, stay vigilant.”

Taking a breath he starts up again. “Onto some lighter news, let's talk about Valentine’s Day. anyone want to call in and tell us what date you have planned for your special someone?” he asks in his radio voice as I start to eat my breakfast.

Not long after he asks for people to call in, someone's voice is already being heard through the radio.

The woman on the line is excited and speaks quickly: “Oh, I’ve got the best plans! My boyfriend and I are going out for dinner at a fancy new place we’ve been dying to try and to top it all off he said he would take me to one of his favorite spots. It's going to be so romantic.” She swoons and I can only assume blushes as well.

“Ah, how romantic. I do hope you have a wonderful time.” Alstor says as she thanks him before hanging up. A he takes a few more callers before he starts introducing the next song he has lined up to play.

I finish my breakfast and start to pick up the tray to bring into the kitchen for me to start cleaning.

I take the radio with me once more back into the kitchen. “Coming up next, the most romantic song I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear. All the ladies, all the men, get ready cause this song is going to just melt your heart. This one’s for you, everyone, and you especially, my love. This song is just for you. I hope you enjoy it.” I blush and roll my eyes playfully as I start to wash the dishes.

“Such a lover boy.” I mumble with a smile starting to spread on my face. The song ends much too soon and Alastor starts to talk on the air a while longer once more.

I shut the radio off after drying my hands and head into our bedroom to get dressed for the day. Getting dressed quickly, I check the time. It's still early morning which gives me more than enough time to do some shopping before he gets home.

I finish getting ready quickly and start to walk to the shops nearby to get a few things. I’ve been eyeing some new bowties I’ve seen and decided it would be a good idea to get him a new one along with some other small gifts.

The short walk ended as I walked into a store. As I browse I immediately see the bowtie I’ve been eyeing for weeks. It's a beautiful piece and I think that he would love it.

I also see some other romantic items, like a box of chocolates, a teddy bear, and a beautiful bunch of flowers. I decide to get all of the items and head to the register to check out.

I am happy with the selection I’ve made, and I feel like Alastor is going to be very happy with his gifts as well. The cashier rings up my items quickly. I pay the cashier and leave the shop with my bag of gifts. Satisfied with the amount of gifts I found I decide head back home.

─── ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ───

Opening the front door I walk inside making sure the door closes behind me before I place down the bag in the living room.

Glancing at the clock I notice I have a bit more time before Alastor said he’d be home. I decided to relax with the extra time I have by reading a book.

I unpack the gifts and set them on our bed for Alastor to walk into as a surprise when he gets home. I grab the book off of my nightstand and head back into the living room, sitting down and starting to read.

A few hours pass and I get through most of my booth until the phone starts to ring. Closing my book, I place it on the table next to me and walk over to the phone.

I picked it up and said a small “Hello?” waiting to see who is on the other end of the line.

“Hello my darling, I just wanted to give you a quick call to let you know that my day is taking longer than expected.” He pauses to sigh as I lean against the wall. “I’m sorry, I had so many plans for us today and it’s just not seeming to work out.”

I put a smile on my face hoping I can convince him I’m not disappointed we probably won’t be doing anything tonight.

“It’s alright Al, I promise. Don’t stress yourself out over this. Well just do something tomorrow.” I can hear him sigh again, clearly disappointed he has to stay late.

“Are you sure?” he asks, “You’re not disappointed?” I feel my heart melt a little at how much he cares. “Not at all,” I reply, trying to convince him.

Alastor pauses and sighs again. “I really wanted to do something special for you today. I wanted today to be special and romantic…”

“I know, I know. But it’s okay. We’ll do something extra special tomorrow alright?” I say trying to make him relax a bit.

He sighs again, but this time he sounds slightly more relieved when I assure him that I’m not disappointed. “Alright,” he says, “You’re right. Tomorrow, definitely. I love you.”

I smile. “I love you too Al. I’ll see you soon.” I hang up after and head back to where I was sitting in the living room.

Sitting back down I decide to go back to reading my book. A few hours pass, and as the afternoon begins to roll around.

Looking out the window an idea pops into my head causing me to grin. “That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” I say to myself as I get up and head into the kitchen.

I grab a small basket and start putting together a small dinner. After finishing making the simple meal I pack up the basket with the food, a bottle of wine, and some plates and utensils.

The dinner looks lovely, quite a romantic gesture that he is sure to appreciate. Deciding to bring a small romantic dinner to Alastor at the radio station was a brilliant idea on my part I think as I take one last look around to make sure I’m not forgetting anything before I head out.

─── ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ───

Upon arriving at the station a few of Alastor’s coworkers greeted me and some even engaged in some small talk.

After getting past the lobby and some of the offices I start making my way to where Alastor’s studio and office is. I take a peek through the window connected to his office and see he’s not live right now. Taking the opportunity I opened the door.

He jumps in his chair, quickly turning to me with a surprised look on his face. Seeing me standing there with a basket filled with a romantic dinner causes that surprise to quickly turn into a big smile.

He stands up to come over to greet me, kissing me on the cheek as he wraps his arm around my waist.

“You didn’t have to come all the way here to bring me dinner darling.” He rubs small circles on my waist with the hand wrapped around me as I smile up at him.

“I know but I felt bad that you had to cancel our plans due to working late so I wanted to bring the dinner plans to you.” I grin at him as I lean into his touch a bit more.

He stares at me with utter adoration as he speaks up. “Happy Valentine’s Day my darling. I couldn’t have asked for a better surprise today.” He says pulling me in closer to him as he kisses my lips quickly.

I smile during the kiss and it grows wider as we part. “Oh trust me this isn’t the only surprise.” He raises an eyebrow at me causing me to laugh. “I got you a few more gifts. You’ll have to wait to see what they are until we get home though.”

Alastor’s face lights up when you give him that hint. “This day just keeps getting better and better.” He says excitedly. He gives me another kiss on the lips, but this time it lasts longer.

“I guess being on the air today was worth it then.” Alastor replies as I start to laugh again.

[libraryofgage]

Meddling Kids

Part of: Steve Deserves Good Parents, Actually

Debbie and Fester Addams One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six Rick and Evelyn O'Connell One | Two | Three Harley Quinn One | Two | Three 10th Doctor and Rose One | Two Scooby Gang One (you're here!) Jedidiah and Octavius (from Night at the Museum) One | Two Queen Clarisse Renaldi One | Two | Three Leverage Crew One

From the girl that brought you that silly little Spicy Six Scooby Movie post (I've been thinking of making that post into one of those social media series things on Tumblr but imma let that cook a little longer actually lmao) is a brand new Stranger Things and Scooby Doo crossover

Anyway, we're here for good vibes and fluffy Scooby gang, so definitely don't point out any typos hfjkds

Have fun reading!

---------

People coming.

Steve freezes, looking at the possum that's scurried into the room and sidled up next to him. He takes a deep breath and forces his shoulders to relax. People have come to explore the abandoned lab before; usually, it's just older kids daring each other to stand inside for a few minutes. There's been that lady recently who likes dressing up as a weird rat-thing, but she hasn't bothered Steve or his friends. Actually, she may not even realize Steve is here.

"Is it the lady again?" he asks, his voice low as he places a hand on the possum's head. He feels its nerves flow through his palm, and it pushes its head against him, snout nuzzling against the 004 on his arm.

No. Four big ones and a beast.

Four adults and a dog, probably. Steve frowns slightly and gets up, carefully making his way across the dirty floor toward the window. He lifts the corner of the curtain and stares at the bright blue, green, and orange van parked in front of the building. Four adults are standing around with a big dog, which isn't looking too happy about being near the place. Steve can't blame it.

He slowly pushes the window open a crack, straining his ears to hear one of the adults say, "Okay, gang. Daphne, Velma, and I will look around downstairs. Shag, you and Scooby will take the second floor. We'll meet back in the lobby in an hour."

"Can't we just, like, not explore the creepy abandoned lab for once?"

Steve assumes this is the one called Shag, and he hopes the other man agrees to just leave. That would make his life so much easier. He hears the dog, Scooby, agree with the sentiment and hopes the other people can understand him, too.

Unfortunately, one of the women says, "C'mon, guys, the monster isn't real. Here, I'll give you some Scooby Snacks for the road."

And that seems to be the end of that. The man and dog accept the snacks, the people enter the building, and Steve resigns himself to hiding for however long they stick around.

He bunkers down, leaning against the wall beneath the window, and goes back to coloring the floor with markers. This entire room is covered in drawings that reach only a few feet up the wall. Steve isn't tall enough to go any higher.

Right now, he's drawing all the animals in the building. There are the ones that were there to begin with (mostly rats and rabbits) and the ones that moved in after the bad people left (possums and raccoons and cats and more rats). He doodles them marching across the floor, a relaxed smile tugging at his lips as he colors a cat purple.

He's putting the finishing touches on the final animal in the line (the very same possum that came to warn him about the people) when he hears a scream from down the hall. Steve blinks, looking up just in time to see Shag and Scooby throw open the door, slide into the room, and slam it behind them.

They lean against it, sinking to the ground, and finally notice Steve sitting against the opposite wall. "Like, Scooby, please tell me I'm imagining that kid over there," Shag says, his voice wavering and cracking near the end.

Scooby starts out looking as scared as Shag, but then he tilts his head. He hesitates for a few seconds before dropping low to the floor and slowly moving toward Steve. "Scoob, what are you doing?" Shag asks.

Not a ghost, Shaggy!

"Not a rhost, Raggy!"

Steve blinks, frowning in confusion. Scooby talked. Like, actually talked. He talked out loud and Shaggy (it makes as little sense as Shag in Steve's opinion) understood him. "There, like, can't be a kid here!"

By the time he says this, Scooby has reached Steve, looking up at him from the floor with hopeful eyes and an eagerly wagging tail. Steve holds himself back for all of two seconds before reaching out and scratching behind Scooby's ear.

The dog lights up and tries to squeeze into Steve's lap, licking his cheeks and covering him in slobber. Steve laughs, trying to evade Scooby's tongue and utterly failing. "Stop, stop!" he shouts breathlessly, still giggling even when Scooby finally gives him a break.

"Oh, man," Shaggy says, slowly moving from the door to approach Steve. When he's a few steps away, he stops and crouches. "What are you doing here, little guy?"

Steve blinks, glancing at Shaggy before turning his attention back to Scooby. He reaches up, scratching under Scooby's chin and trying to ignore his nerves about talking to another human after being alone for so long. "This is my home," he says.

Your home?

"Your rome?"

"Like, man, this is not a good home," Shaggy says, looking around at the dust and the cobwebs and the possum in the corner of the room. "Don't you have, like, parents or something?"

"Not really."

Can we keep him, Shaggy?

"Can re keep him, Raggy?" Scooby asks, his tail wagging hopefully as he looks at Shaggy over his shoulder.

"Gee, Scoob, I don't know," Shaggy says, frowning slightly as he finally sits down on the floor and hunches over. "A kid's a lotta responsibility, man. We gotta feed him and clothe him and, like, make sure he doesn't get sick."

Steve looks between the two and can't help a slight smile. Shaggy is nice, and Scooby is a dog, which automatically makes him good to Steve. He doesn't mind helping them out a little. "You're here about that lady, right?" he asks.

Lady?

"Rady?"

"Like, what do you mean lady?" Shaggy asks.

"The one dressing like a rat," Steve says, wondering how they didn't make that connection themselves. Haven't they already realized it's not a real rat-thing?

"Oh, man, I guess Velma was right," Shaggy says, a relieved laugh bubbling out of him as he slumps even more. "We gotta tell the gang, right, Scoob?"

Yeah, yeah!

"Reah, reah!"

"Are you trying to catch her?" Steve asks, looking between the two once more.

"Well, like, the rest of the gang's gonna want to."

"I can help with that," Steve offers, smiling reassuringly at the concerned looks that Shaggy and Scooby give him in return.

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

Hawkins is supposed to be a vacation. Sort of. There's a possible mystery in the town, but even Velma couldn't confirm for sure, and Daphne had encouraged them to just relax.

Steve is inclined to agree with her, especially when she buys them a house with a pool that Scooby immediately launched himself into.

Still, he can tell that Velma won't relax unless she gets a chance to look around, so he finds her to go on a grocery run. "Oh, you're right," she says when he points out the lack of food in the house. "We'd better get something before Shaggy and Scooby start chewing on the walls."

"We'll set up the bedrooms while you get groceries," Fred says, grinning at them from across the living room. He digs in his pocket and pulls out the keys to the Mystery Machine. After making sure Steve is ready, he tosses them over.

"Please just don't put me in that plaid room," Steve tells him, catching the keys and passing them to Velma.

"I think that would count as cruel and unusual punishment, Steve," Daphne calls, her voice coming from down the hall where she's no doubt started setting up her room. She pokes her head into the hall, smiles at him, and adds, "Don't worry. We'll put Shaggy and Scooby in that one."

"Knowing them, they'd like it," Velma says.

As if he was just waiting for his queue, Shaggy leans over the second-floor railing and shouts, "Dibs on the plaid room! It looks groovy!"

Steve snorts as Velma rolls her eyes with an amused smile. "Come on, Steve, let's get going."

The drive to the grocery store is quiet, with Steve paying more attention to the town around him and Velma focusing on driving. He notes anything that looks weird, like the lack of people walking around. They pass other cars, of course, but even when they drive past what could be called Downtown Hawkins, he doesn't see anyone walking around.

He tucks that away for later, seeing nothing else of note until they park near a pile of bikes at the grocery store. "They're not locked," he says, nodding to them.

"It's a small town, Steve," Velma says, unbuckling as she turns the radio down so their ears aren't blasted when they get back. "They probably don't feel the need to."

"I guess," Steve mumbles, hopping out of the van and waiting for Velma to round the front. He walks next to her and holds the door open when they reach it. "Maybe we can get sandwich stuff."

"We'll have to wipe out their entire deli section," Velma says, sighing as she grabs a cart and pushes it towards the produce aisle. "At least we never have to worry about food waste."

Steve hums in agreement, easily falling into their normal routine of Velma calling out items and him grabbing at least five of them if there's enough in stock. "What do you think about that mystery?" he asks, placing a bag of apples in the cart.

"I think that forest out there is prime real estate," she replies, leaning on the cart's push bar. "Get a watermelon, too, Steve. Anyway, demon dogs aren't the weirdest we've run across."

"They were demodogs. Not demon dogs."

"I still think that was just a typo. Either way, I'm sure we can walk around the forest later and, you know, learn what the squirrels have seen."

Steve crinkles his nose, glancing at her as they make their way towards the deli. "You know the squirrels are too flighty. We're better off with the raccoons. Or, like, the sparrows."

He looks over to see her smirking and realizes she was just teasing him. Steve huffs and grabs as many sandwich meats as he can, getting everything but ham since Velma can't eat it and it gives Daphne migraines.

"Well, whichever animals you interrogate, I'm sure they'll clear up this mystery in no time."

Steve hums in agreement, follows Velma into the cereal aisle, and is about to say they should consider focusing on field mice when a voice from the other side of the shelf says, "Dude, spray cheese isn't gonna help us against the demodogs."

He blinks, pauses, and looks at Velma. She tilts her head, holds a finger up to her lips, and waves off the smirk he gives her at being right about demodogs not being a typo. "Yeah, I know," another voice says, followed by the clatter of grabbing a few cans, "but I want Cheez-Whiz."

"That stuff is gross," a girl's voice says, her tone flat in a way that Steve almost recognizes. He frowns slightly, tilting his head as he silently places a few cereal boxes in the cart. "It tastes fake."

"That's the point, El."

"Shouldn't we focus on lighters and hairspray?"

"I mean, this is technically a spray, right?"

Steve glances at Velma, raising an eyebrow before gesturing to the end of the aisle. She nods once and starts pushing the cart in that direction, huffing in amusement when Steve drops in a few more boxes along the way. "You'd think we're feeding an army," she says, tone dry.

"We might as well be," Steve replies, feelings his shoulders relax at the routine exchange.

They round the corner to see three kids down the aisle, two boys and one girl. One of the boys has curly hair and a baseball cap while the other is wearing a basketball jersey, and the girl has short hair that falls to her shoulders. They're all looking at the shelf, but the girl glances over when Velma and Steve enter the aisle.

She meets Steve's eyes, and he wonders if he's met her before. Her eyes narrow slightly, more in confusion than anything else, and her gaze travels down. He feels it on his arm as she lands on the 004, and her eyes widen as she steps away from the shelf.

Steve glances down at her arm in turn, sees the 011, and feels like his breath has been punched out of him. "Eleven," he whispers.

Next to him, Velma shifts closer, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. "I'm here," she says, her voice low and more reassuring than she'll ever know.

"Four," Eleven says, walking up to him without another glance at her companions. "Are you here to hurt me or my friends?"

Steve blinks. "What?"

"Are you violent? Kali, Eight, was violent. And angry. Are you angry?"

As she talks, the two boys move to flank her, looking between Steve and Velma with something between suspicion and confusion. "Is this one of your siblings, El?" Basketball Jersey asks.

"Yes. Four. He was...transferred a year before the Upside Down. Four, these are my friends Dustin and Lucas"

"I go by Steve now. And, uh, no, not violent. We're grocery shopping," Steve says, awkwardly gesturing to their cart.

"Steve? You can name yourself and you choose Steve?" Dustin asks.

Steve blinks and frowns. "I didn't name myself. I asked the smartest rat I knew to name me."

The two boys blink as El nods in understanding. "The rat chose well," she says.

"Dude, how many people are you feeding?" Lucas asks, seeming to finally notice the shopping cart.

"Well, one of them is a Great Dane," Velma says. "Hello, El. I'm Velma, one of Steve's...guardians, I suppose. How would you like to come by for dinner? El and Steve can catch up, and you can tell us about those demodogs you mentioned."

"Were you spying on us?" Lucas asks.

"You weren't exactly being quiet," Velma tells them.

Before Lucas or Dustin can start arguing, El cuts them off, "We will come by for dinner. I am glad we met again, Steve."

"Yeah. Me, too," Steve replies, smiling at El and wondering if they'll have to explain how Scooby can talk.

----------

Tag List (please let me know if you'd like to be added!)

@romanticdestruction,

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Dirty Work 7

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bullying, familial discord/abuse, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You start a new gig and find one of your clients to be hard to please.

Characters: Loki

Note: This week is killing me.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Sunday sees your second day in your new position. As you send off your letter of resignation to the agency, you can't help the coil that winds tight in your stomach. There's no going back now.

You close out of the several templates you Googled in your efforts. It's the one thing you know how to do. Willa, the friendly librarian who checked out the PC for you, always said, if you can Google, you can figure it out. Still, you feel like there's so much you don't know that you're not sure a search engine can answer.

You close the laptop and take both your phones with you into the hallway. You have to go check out that gazebo and figure out if you need to make a call about it. Oh, and the fridge was beeping when you filled your bottle, you have to call the maintenance number that flashed up too.

That makes you even more anxious. You've never really been the sort for phone calls. You never had anyone to talk to and everything else was easier done in person. Well, you'll have to muddle through. Work isn't supposed to be fun or easy.

As you near the staircase, your flip chimes. You juggle to answer the right phone. The slim touchscreen is set only to buzz, an option not available on the clumsy burner. You answer the call as you stop on the top stair.

The woman on the other end asks for you by name. You confirm your identity as you hear familiar noises in the background. She's a nurse from the downtown hospital.

“I'm calling to confirm your father's discharge tomorrow at noon,” she says over the rustle of paper and clack of keys, “we'll need the bed so if there is any delay, another day would be added to the invoice.”

“I understand, I'll be there, erm… noon. Tomorrow,” you don't have your notebook so you key a reminder into the other phone. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course, miss, we would recommend you arrive earlier. We have some resources and counseling available on what you can expect getting the patient settled at home,” she continues, “nine would be ideal. I'll be able to add a note for the doctor to check in as well.”

“Oh, yes, I can do that,” you squeak, “thank you.”

“Alright then, I have all that logged. You have a good day.”

“You too,” you utter before the line dies.

Phone calls weren't too bad. You think you did okay with that one. Then again, you didn't think! You're supposed to work tomorrow. Mr. Laufeyson said you could take Wednesday off, and tomorrow is only Monday.

You close the flip phone and stare at it. Oh boy. You really don't want to spoil this. Just the mention of the coming invoice underlines your desperation. You need the money. Your dad needs it.

“Are you finished?” Mr. Laufeyson's timbre drawls from down the hall. You glance over as he stands just in the doorway of his study. You gulp.

“Sorry, Mr. Laufeyson. I didn't mean to disturb–”

“Yet you did,” he insists.

“I was only going to check–”

“Not my concern so long as it's done,” he waves you off, “an important call, I assume, to make such a racket.”

“Mr. Laufeyson, um,” you shove the phones away, one in each of your pockets. “I… could I have the day tomorrow? Instead of Wednesday. My father is getting out of the hospital and–”

“The day? What time?” He snips as he approaches with decisive steps.

“Well, I'm supposed to go at nine,” you explain, “I'll come in Wednesday still.”

“You will come in tomorrow, after all that,” he says. “You can work later then.”

“Yes, Mr. Laufeyson, but my father will need help getting settled–”

“Figure it out. You agreed to this schedule–”

“I did but–” you stop yourself as his eyes flare, “I will be here in the afternoon, Mr. Laufeyson.”

“You will be. In the appropriate attire, I expect,” he snarls and spins to strut back to his office, swinging the door shut sharply.

You waver at the hard slam. You didn't mean to anger him. You can't help that your father needs you. You thought Mr. Laufeyson would be more understanding, after all, he's the one who pointed out how much you needed the money.

🧹

Your father shoos you away as you try to help him sit. He lets go of the walker and flops back with a grunt, his oxygen tank clinking against the aid’s metal leg. He coughs and snatches around blindly on the cushion for the remote. You retrieve it from the folding table beside him and put it in his hand.

That agitates him further as he growls and jams down the button to turn on the television. You yawn and back away. You still have a full day left ahead of you, and what feels like one behind you. You spent the night doing some last minute tidying to make sure everything is read for your father.

“Smokes,” he snaps his fingers and hacks.

“Er,” you hesitate. You go to find the half-crushed pack you found with him on the floor. You knew better than to throw it out. You return to him, clutching the package nervously, “Dr. Shearer said–”

“Give it to me,” he demands.

You relent and obey. He’s been doubly miserable than before. You feel like an annoying gnat buzzing around his head as he tries to swat you away.

“I made you meals for the weak. They’re all labeled in the fridge–”

“I’m not a goddamn kid,” he scowls and takes the lighter from the folding table.

“I know, but–”

“But I’m home. You probably hate that,” he sneers, “you’d be happy if I died in that hospital.”

You’re taken aback by the accusation. You gasp and shake your head, “of course not, I’m happy you’re here. That you’re alive–”

“Painfully,” he snorts darkly, “the fuck you keep me here for?”

You take a breath and frown. Your eyes tinge and your cheeks pinch, “because you're my dad… and I love you,” you croak.

He doesn’t reply as he pulls out a cigarette and moves the tube from below his nose. You watch him, waiting. He lights the smoke and sucks on it eagerly. You drop your head and give a shrug.

“I gotta go to work,” you say, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Don’t be slamming around when you come in,” he dusts ash over the freshly vacuumed carpet, “doctor said I needa sleep.”

“I won’t,” you promise and back away.

As you leave the room, your chest plummets in dread. You think of coming home, of finding him like you did before, laying on the floor, lifeless. You sniff and swipe away the speckling of tears. More than you want him to love you, you want him to love himself. You don’t just want him to want you around, you want him to be around.

🧹

You hurry up to Mr. Laufeyson’s gate with your kit and water bottle jostling. You fumble around until you find the smartphone and bring up the digits to punch into the code box. You buzz through and shuffle inside. You set off on your usual path around the back.

You stop at the rear door and try to untangle the strap of the water bottle from your kit. Your hand lingers on the front of the ballooning shirt. You still haven’t gone to look for clothes so you did your best with what you had. One of your father’s forgotten button-ups and a pair of pants that could pass in an office. It’s ill-fitting and scratch but better than jeans.

You get inside and leave your kit in the closet. Today’s a cleaning day but you have a few things to check off the schedule first. With your water bottle bouncing on your hip, you go upstairs and scurry down to the library.

As you enter, you’re surprised to discover the space less than empty. You apologise aloud and choke on the word, ‘mister’. It isn’t the house’s single resident as you expect, no, this figure could not be more different than Mr. Laufeyson. You recognise them, from the dinner.

The blond man faces you as he stands by the window, the drapes open to add the peculiarity of the situation. Like the man, the space is golden with sunlight. You lean back on your heel as you clutch the door handle.

“Hello,” he grins as he greets you in a playful demeanour. You can’t answer. You don’t know if you should. 

Is it rule one; don’t speak unless permitted; or the other rule, do not disturb my guests. You can’t figure out the riddle so you languish in perplexity.

“Aren’t you a sweet little lamb,” he muses as he steps away from the window, placing his hands on the back of the dimpled leather chair. His large hands. If you thought Mr. Laufeyson was tall, this man is even taller and twice as wide. “I remember you. The sweet maid.”

You blink. Where is Mr. Laufeyson? You can’t speak. You’re too terrified; not just of the strange man but of the one you know by name. Your employer would be unhappy to know you spoke out of turn.

“Have you seen my brother at all?” He prompts disregarding your stagnant silence. “Has he spoken of me? His brother? I'm Thor.”

You look down at your hand on the door handle.

“And what is your name?” He asks.

You don’t answer. You know it’s not right but you have no other choice. You pull the door shut and close the man in. You retreat in a half-sprint and barrel back down the stairs. You trip at the bottom and barely save yourself from stumbling to your knees.

You latch onto the banister post to keep your balance and catch your breath. You hear the door above. Oh no, would he follow you? Another door clicks and you look up to find a shadow on the other side of the frosted glass framed in the front entrance.

Mr. Laufeyson steps inside coolly, unbothered as swings the door shut and tugs on the lapel of his suit jacket. His eyes fall on you and he scuffs on his sole, tilting his head in curiosity. You didn’t realise he hadn’t even been there. You look at the ceiling with wide eyes; so how was the other man inside?

“Well, there you are,” he says matter-of-factly, “this place is sore in need of a dusting–”

Laufeyson is interrupted by a clamour of footsteps above. You let go of the banister and sidle away as his green eyes flick to the top to the staircase. You shy away and listen as the man descends in a series of thunder thumps. You turn to peek down the hall, wanting to hide in your chores.

“Stay,” Laufeyson commands. You turn back to him as he points at your feet. You stop in place and sway. He faces his visitor as he comes to the bottom stair, “brother, what is the meaning of this intrusion?”

“Can I not come see my baby brother?” The other man; the stranger; his brother, called Thor, booms.

“You may, when you warn me of it,” Laufeyson rebuffs.

“Ah, don’t be so grim,” Thor claps his shoulders and is swiftly shrugged off, “this place is always so dark. I hope you don’t mind, I opened a few windows.”

“I do mind,” Laufeyson says, “you do always presume.”

“And you are always offer such a warm welcome,” he tries to tap Laufeyson’s cheek but is batted away. The dark of the brothers backs up with a scoff. “Ah, and there she is. I was only just coming to find the little maid. She rushed off so suddenly–”

“You don’t need to bother with her,” Laufeyson dismissed with a slice of his hand through the air, “maid,” he points at you again, “back to work.”

You lean back on your heel, ready to disappear.

“Ah, don’t be so rude, brother. She is sweet. You get more bees with honey–”

“Do not tell me how to run my house,” Laufeyson growls, an edge in his voice you’ve never heard before. Dangerous and dark.

“Is she not doing you a service? A please would be appropriate–”

“You are not mother. I don’t need you to mind my manners,” Laufeyson girds and nears his brother, unflinching even as he comes up a few inches short of chest to chest, “nor do you need to worry for my staff. She does not take orders from you.”

“And I suppose that’s all she gets from you,” Thor chuckles.

You furrow your brow, stunned by their spat. You’re not quite sure what that last bit meant. You work for Mr. Laufeyson so of course he would tell you what to do. And why are they so volatile? They’re brothers. You don’t have any siblings but you always wanted one. So that you had a friend. So you weren’t alone. 

“Maid, go,” Laufeyson repeats, “now.”

Your eyes widen and you nod. You quickly turn and rush down the hall to the closet. You’re shaking as you try to sort out one phone from the other and find the old list of tasks. You can hardly steady your hands to get a pair of gloves on.

You take your time in the back of the house as you hear the men’s footfalls climb the staircase. You let your nerves settle just a little. You’re alone, for now, and your mission is simple. Clean and stay unseen.

[momotorin]

shared blankets (but we'll be sleeping on different beds)

nerd!momo x campus crush!sana | fluff, smut | men dni!

thank you so much for @jeongmosimp 's amazing request and idea (p.s: sorry it took so long but here it is!)

in the first week of university, momo, in her thickly rimmed glasses, goes up to the room assigned to her.

god, it hurt her ears as 'lovefool' by the cardigans was on full blast, by some shitty speaker as it was rumbling the ground with its bass.

she sighs, knocking— goes on for once, twice, until she opens the door with her left hand, sneakily going in the room.

momo finds a figure, dancing with all her heart. the girl; hair tied up nicely with a pink hair tie, in a tank top, and the shortest shorts she's ever seen. momo stands on the doorframe in utter shock, some sort of a star struck daze, perhaps, as she assumed that the woman only comes from her dreams.

the song comes to an end, and suddenly all is silent, the woman in front of momo sighs.

"AH!" the woman says in shock, finding momo and her luggage, standing just right there— hands in pockets, eyes staring right at her.

"oh, um," momo quickly reached out for the keys she was given with and dangles it in front of her face. "1129?"

sana stands still for a while, trying to recollect what she had done in the past minute that might've been embarrassing, as this was literally: "oh, roommate, right," she laughs awkwardly, as she ditches the broom to make way and accommodate her future (cute) roommate. "come right in," she says. "sorry if i..."

the other girl chuckles, "don't worry about it."

"well- um," sana leads her right in, going to the common area of the room. "your room's on the left."

"thanks," the other girl smiles. oh good heavens, how this woman saves. "um, i’m momo," she reaches out for her hand, asking for a handshake. who was sana to deny? "i study aeronautical engineering."

as if she couldn't get any better. sana takes her hand, gladly, as she flashes the woman a smile. "minatozaki sana," sana shook momo's hand. "i study psychology."

momo retracts her hand from sana's warm one, and hoped that it wouldn't be over.

"well," momo sighs. "i guess, see you later? i'll set up my stuff and i can help later cleaning the area."

sana chuckles, "oh, no, no," she refutes. "don't even bother. you just moved. take a rest after you set up your room, hm?"

momo just nods, smiling as she went into her room. it wasn't the most spacious, but it had a full sized bed, surprisingly new, and the windows were shining a light directly to the tables and the bed. there were a couple of shelves, a sizable closet, and it was perfect, as momo can put it.

she's in it for a good and long time.

for the first few days, momo was literally stuck on doing things inside of the room.

“hey,” mina greets from outside of their dorm door. “no roommate yet?”

“uh, no,” sana chuckles as she lets her friend in the common area. “she actually moved two or three days ago? i'm not really sure,” sana pauses for a little while to recollect her memory. “but yeah, she's a sweetheart. she's just quite shy.”

momo, half awake and half asleep, goes to the bathroom, not minding to pass by sana and mina.

“see,” sana chuckles at the sight of her. “she's just…”

“yeah,” mina inched closer to sana, whispering— “you like her.”

mina received a huge laugh and a playful slap from sana. “don't be silly,” sana says. “i’ve only known her for three days.”

those days turned into a week, a month, and two months.

it was midterms week, momo's extra extra stressed finishing her midterm plates and equations on the dining table. sana just came home from her last night class, and sighs as she goes in, her body being consumed by the warmth of the dorm.

she smiles at the sight of momo, focused, eyebrows clinched together in the middle as she's so careful in making that line with her ruler. after she finishes that line, sana says, “hey.” that shocked momo, and she's just glad that she got her micron pen out of the way of her plate. “busy night?” sana asked.

“yeah,” momo chuckles. “sorry i have my things all over the table,” momo comes up to fix the other side of the table, leaving some room for sana. she knows that sana would also study at the same space, for some reason she doesn't know. a change of scenery, she guesses. “just finished your classes?”

sana hums as she takes out her books from her bag. “finished my first midterms test,” she says. “you?”

“oh, well,” momo just sighs as she continues on her plate. “this,” she says, pointing to the one she's doing, “and this,” she points to the one on her left. “and this.” she points to the one on her right. “quite a handful, but i’ll finish them soon.”

“don't rush it,” sana smiles. “i know you'll do just fine. or better, you'll do great.”

momo asks “why'd you say so?”

“you're working hard for it, momo,” sana says. “plus, i always find you like this, you know? i feel like we never really talked because you're always so focused. not that it's a bad thing, but i just really wanna know my roommate.”

momo just nods, “what do you wanna know then, sana?”

“dunno,” sana chuckles as she opens her textbook. “what's your favorite color?”

momo smiles as she draws another line on her intricate plate. “purple. yours?”

“pink.” sana smiles. “why'd you study aeronautics?”

“i like planes,” momo chuckles. “my dad used to take me to the airstrip and wondered how they could do that, so, i ended up here. what about you, sana?”

“oh, um,” sana hesitates to answer. “it’s just an interest of mine.”

“really?”

“yeah, but,” sana sighs. “it’s a family thing. my mom's a general surgeon, and my dad is an optometrist, and naturally they want their kid to be like them as well. i don't hate psychology, it was something i liked too, but it's just that…”

“you forced yourself to like it?” momo asked.

“kinda like that,” sana sighs. “but en-”

“what do you really want to be?”

“kindergarten teacher,” sana says, flipping her book to the next page. “or a writer, something like that.”

they fall into silence for a few seconds, as momo started to get concentrated on the line she was drawing.

“did you eat already, sana?” momo suddenly asks.

“um- oh, not yet, actually.”

momo then stands up, gets two cups of ramen, heats the water, and sits by the kitchen counter, waiting for the water to boil.

sana just lets herself admire momo for a minute— hair tied up neatly in a bun, thick black rimmed glasses, and in her hello kitty pajamas, sana swears she never saw a person look that good.

in her head, sana giggles at the sight, but she fawns away the moment momo looks at her.

sana, under the dim dinner light, concentrated on her notes. momo can't help but stare at the woman just in front of her, the woman who shares her dorm with, the woman whom she wishes to do gestures for.

the water kettle clicks to a finish, and momo reaches for it, pouring generously on both cups.

“do you like your ramen spicy, sana?” momo asks, arguing whether she'd put more seasoning on sana's cup.

she sees sana nod, smiling at her. cute. momo shrugs at the thought and just finishes hers and sana's cup of ramen.

she puts sana's ramen just beside the book she was reading, “eat up,” momo says. “you wouldn't be able to remember anything if you don't have energy.”

“thanks,” sana smiles. “this is perfect, thank you.”

“no worries.” momo eats hers on the kitchen counter, afraid to spill on some of her hard work on engineering plates.

their questions go over and over the whole night, keeping both their mouths and brains busy. sana's afraid that she could only remember momo; who has two dogs, but has four family dogs, likes to dance, secretly likes natto, makes a really good cup of instant ramen, likes aloe yogurt, and watches the korean tv show the penthouse.

momo wakes up to a fridge filled with a pack of aloe yogurt with a note: thanks for the ramen last night, i’ll make sure to ace my exams, momo!

oh, such sweetness.

“what do you mean you're roommates with minatozaki sana?” jeongyeon yoo asks, quite the ramble as she was also munching away her lunch.

“um.. yeah?” momo casually answers.

“you're such a lucky person.” jeongyeon sighs.

“what for?” momo chuckles. “i mean, it's just sana.”

“what do you mean that it's just sana?!” jeongyeon exclaimed. “dude. half of the school population literally wants her despite her being just a freshman. that itself is crazy.”

“no, i mean-” momo cuts herself off at the realization. “she's nice, she studies with me, and we get along well…”

“yeah, that's sana,” jeongyeon smiles. “kind, nice, sunshine and all.”

“how'd you know?” momo asks curiously.

“girlfriend's best friend,” jeongyeon chuckles. “it's not that hard to find people if you go around, you know,” she nudges at momo. “and before you say it, no, going around is not going to different libraries. the uni’s big. it literally has like 14 streets you could visit, just go and have a little fun.”

“you know i don't do ‘fun,’ jeongyeon.” momo rolled her eyes.

“you can,” jeongyeon chuckled. “you just need a little party for you to do ‘fun.’”

sana's fun wasn't what jeongyeon was talking about.

“momo?” sana knocks on her door, and momo removes her earphones to hum loudly. “can you come out? i need a little help wi-”

“hey,” momo opens her door, adjusting her glasses. “what is it?”

they both walk to the living room, with a projector laying just on top of their coffee table.

“oh,” momo takes a look at it, and she wonders, “where'd you get this from?”

“there was a yard sale,” sana scratches her nape as she just watched momo set it up. “just a few blocks away from here, and it was ten dollars! ten! dollars!”

momo laughs, getting it to work, wiping down the lens with her hoodie, “that's a fucking steal,” she says, and the lens fires up the initial blue screen. “and it's great, look.” she points to the broken display, as it shoots to different places. “but we can't set it up here.” momo pouts, finding a good place to point the projector to.

“wanna do it in my room?” sana smirks, like having an ulterior motive, jokingly, of course.

momo stares at her, laughing, “if you say so.”

a few fixes and ‘careful’s from sana later, momo has set up the projector in sana's room.

“there,” momo sighs, sitting down as she hands sana the hdmi cable. “just plug this in somewhere and it should work.”

sana takes it, and plugs it to her laptop, “whoa!” sana's eyes sparkled at the simple projection of her screen to her wall. “it's big.”

“well, yeah,” momo grunts, standing up to go back to her room. “just call me if you need h-”

“momo,” sana calls out. “what's your favorite movie?”

“um,” momo's hand was gripping sana's door knob, wanting to stay, but also wanting to get out. “monsters inc?”

sana laughs, looking at momo, “okay then,” she searches it up, “come,” she chuckles, patting the spot beside her. “if you have free time, stay.”

momo smiles as she takes the spot beside sana, hesitant, so she leaves a little space as sana searches for the movie.

momo observes— the delicate flow of sana's hair down to her shoulders, the curve of her upper lips, the ridge of her nose holding her eyeglasses (momo figured that sana uses contacts in uni), the little cleft of her chin, and momo has never seen such a sight: one that she wants to consume her, wholly and fully.

momo snaps out of her daze when sana shifts closer to her, and the movie starts with the familiar disney film intro.

it became a usual thing. every saturday, sana and momo spend their time cooped up in sana's bed, watching some movie, every week alternating from sana's favorites, to momo's favorites, and so on.

i mean, momo couldn't miss out on a good movie, and sana just wants to put the projector in use, so it's definitely a win for the both of them.

but sana definitely thinks it's a win: she hears momo blabber about things when they watched interstellar, it left her in awe that she couldn't explain. momo's just so soft, and she just wants to launch herself at her fluff to listen to her talk about interdimensional places. she wants movie night to be forever, so that she could listen to momo, again and again, until they end up in her blankets, cooped up into a ball as they hug each other.

momo doesn't admit to herself that she likes to cuddle with sana. she tells herself that she doesn't like the way sana presses her head on her chest, the way sana mumbles different words on her sleep (sometimes even her name), and the way that sana pulls her closer, holding tight at the back of her clothes. but in her sleep, momo wraps her arms around sana, enveloping her to a warm hug, that sana ends up sleeping on her chest, and her head on top of her hair.

but she doesn't flinch, she doesn't falter, and she just lets it happen— the warmth, the light brush of their pajamas on each other, the smell of sana's blankets, and she realizes, she wants to lock them in this pocket of time, the quiet, the calm, and something momo can't put a word for just yet.

sana always wakes up first, trying to get a sight of momo, tracing her eyebrows, caressing her cheek, running a finger on her nose bridge to its center; sana thinks it's fucking stupid, for all she is, she's just momo's roommate and they just watch movies every saturday, that's why they end up like this. sana pretends to fall asleep to wake up to momo's pancakes, and sana smiles about something she can't put a name on just yet.

momo, as intelligent as she is, is shit at parties.

she doesn't know how to play beer pong, she can't command a dare, and she can't handle shit. well, “holy fuck,” jeongyeon says, herding a half-sober, half-drunk momo from one of the couches. “you're smashed. what did you do?”

“jeongyeon!” she exclaimed, almost kissing the woman who falters away from her touch. she pouts. “jeongyeon..”

“what the hell happened to you?”

“dunno,” momo laughs, drunk. “made me drink a lot with something that was definitely! not! beer! but to be honest, it was so good…”

jeongyeon fixes momo's eyeglasses, “is sana here?”

“dunno either!” momo laughs once more. “been finding her the whole night, too.”

momo's damned because her head hurts, and she doesn't know where to find her dorm key, she's so fucked when she tells sana she lost it.

“fuck,” momo slurs. “i need sana…”

“‘kay, damn,” jeongyeon says, getting her phone out to call her girlfriend, mina. “hey, honey,” she says over the phone. “momo's finding sana. where is she?”

“got home, i guess, honey,” mina says. “haven't found her the whole night either.”

“hmm, okay,” jeongyeon says. “ok, i’ll hang now. meet you later. love you, honey!”

mina chuckles over the phone, “love you too! be careful!”

“okay,” jeongyeon puts back her phone on her jean pocket, “she's not here. what if you try calling her?”

“i tried, ‘kay? she just isn't fucking answering…” momo slurs, taking another red cup of spiked coke, probably has something in it. “it's getting a little frustrating.”

“shh.” jeongyeon says, rubbing a hand on momo's back. “there you go.” she points at the east, somewhere on the stairs, where she sees sana go down with a couple of other girls. something in momo's stomach was bubbling, and she's sure that it's not acid reflux from the alcohol she's consuming.

momo makes a run for it, tapping sana's shoulder, “hey,” she says, mentally patting herself on the back for trying her best not to fall down the ground. “um, i just want to,” momo was lost in her train of thought as sana stares at her, her eyes, brown, glistening under the varying party lights, and the sound drowns, it fades, and “oh, yeah, the- um- dorm key. i kinda lost it. or i don't know, i-”

sana pulls her by the hand, going outside the party, almost slipping on the floor. “hey!” she says, panting, as they reach the end of a street. “what the hell?”

“you're fucking drunk,” sana holds her by the cheeks, checking all of her facial features that screams: i'm drunk, let's go home and let me kiss you! “what did you do, momo?”

“i lost,” momo chuckles. “by like… a lot! they made me chug down half a bottle of soju, sana. but you know, it's better than kissing someone else! i mean, apart from the fact that you could get this drunk,” momo chuckles again, now looking at her shoes. “so um, the dorm key?”

sana pulls momo closer by her jacket, running her hand to the inner pocket of it, opening one by the zipper on the left chest of it, and sana pulls, “here,” she hands momo the key. “you really wanna go home without me?”

“yeah,” momo says. honest, abrupt, and sure. “but i don't want to go home without you just yet.”

“great,” sana chuckles, and pulls her by the hand once more, going to her car. “i don't want to put you to bed so drunk. sober up with me.”

“hm, ‘kay,” momo carefully gets inside sana's car. they drive off to a highway, and momo can't make anything up because of the stupid headache, the lights, and sana. “oh, sana,” she suddenly blurts out, in all her drunkenness. “did you do the dares too? the kissing stuff.”

“oh, i don't lose like that,” sana laughs. “if you're worried about me kissing anyone, don't be. i’d rather be kissing someone else. how about you?”

“did everything but the kissing,” momo smiles at her. “i feel a little stupid when it comes to that part. i haven't had any kisses ye-”

“wanna try?” sana suddenly asks, finally stopping in front of a taco bell. she's just thankful that it's still open, but she's anticipating momo's answer.

“well, if it doesn't hurt,” momo inches closer to her, letting sana cup her cheek once more. “if it's you, then, g-”

sana captures her lips in a kiss, sweet, one tasting of strawberry, gin, soju, and some other punch flavor. momo thinks, feels, that it was nice: sana's lips were so soft against hers, and she can't help but pull her closer, holding her by the waist, just letting sana melt into her mouth.

they pull away, breathless, momo felt restless when sana pulled away.

“you're a fucking natural,” sana taps her shoulders. “c’mon, you need to have something warm or else you'd wake up with a bad headache.”

“i kinda want another one,” momo laughs, but sana's already cupping her cheek, pulling her closer to her breath, and momo latches onto her softness like she'd never felt before: like the sky on new year's eve, or a flying jet, just gliding through the highest of heights, one she knew she couldn't reach. “fuck,” momo sighs after the kiss, pulling away from sana as she smiles. “you're um-,” momo pauses as she goes down sana's car. “a good kisser. you're a good kisser, sana.”

“yeah,” sana wraps an arm on her shoulders, guiding her to the entrance of some taco bell. “and you're shit faced drunk.”

“yeah…” momo sighs, seeking comfort in sana's neck as she leans. “i hope i won't forget this.”

momo doesn't forget it. and fuck, the headache really came crashing into her.

“pick up,” momo nervously taps with her shoes, just outside the lecture hall. “jeongyeon!” she says over the phone, relief of confiding in someone.

“what the hell,” jeongyeon grunts over the phone. “what happened, momo?”

“i- um-,” momo sighs. “well you missed the first class, but yeah, um- can you meet me at the library later? there's something i need to tell and y-”

“yeah, yeah,” jeongyeon sighs. “you were drunk and did stupid shit… is it the first time you got drunk, momo?”

“no,” momo says. half lying, she did get drunk before (she guesses) “but it's the first time i got drunk and…”

“it's sana, isn't it?” jeongyeon laughs.

“yeah,” momo sighs. “but i need you to talk with me, okay? i can’t get this shit together.”

sana wakes up, tucked into her bed, with a hoodie and some sweatpants on, totally different from what she wore last night.

she also has a headache, one that can rip the center of her brain out. god, she remembers last night that she could have an exam about it and get an a+.

she looks at her nightstand, which has a note with a glass of water and hangover medicine: hey, sana, i changed you into your clothes (don't worry i didn't see you naked, plus, i was also fucking smashed even after taco bell) breakfast is on the table, and take the medicine after eating. hope you have a good day. — momo.

sana laughs. oh god, she's just so sweet: she made pancakes, some bacon, and didn't forget the syrup on the side.

if there's one thing sana wishes, for this to be a perfect morning, is that momo is beside her, also having the same breakfast, overspreading butter on her pancakes, taking a bite of it, as she holds her hand beneath the table.

she takes out her phone, calls her best friend, “mina, i think i'm liking momo a little too much. is it bad?”

“you're so down bad,” jeongyeon giggles as she takes a sip of her boba (definitely sponsored by momo). “just kiss her again, i guess.”

“the hell?” momo says. “i can’t just come up to her and kiss her. i mean, i'm not even sure if she likes me. she let me kiss her probably because she pities me since i haven't got my first kiss.”

jeongyeon laughs, “sana's not that dumb, momo. for all i know, sana's fucking smart. she's a president's lister.”

“yeah, i know that part,” momo sighs. “but you know, maybe she really just… was a good friend to me that she let me kiss her.”

“for a genius,” jeongyeon fixes momo's eyeglasses. “you're so damn stupid that it hurts me. you're also my friend. did i let you kiss me knowing that you're a full ass virgin? hell fucking no!”

“why do you have to be so loud,” momo half-screams, half-whispers. “but sana's nicer than you. she's the type to be nice enough to pity someone without a first kiss.”

“for fucks sake,” jeongyeon holds both momo's shoulders. “you're in love with sana. sana likes you around. sana likes you. hell, sana even loves you that much. trust me, ‘kay?”

“okay,” momo sighs. “so how do i tell her…”

instead of having a saturday movie night, momo invites sana to a restaurant downtown, somewhere a little far from their university. before being there, momo got into a panic: arguing with herself whether she'd keep her glasses or finally break in her contacts, well, she did the contacts instead, along with a dress shirt, carefully tucked inside her dress pants, and a blazer. well, it wasn't like she was going to work, but she just wanted to be at least presentable.

sana comes two minutes after their arranged time, in a black dress, hair nicely straightened out. momo has seen sana for so many times already, but she's never not left in awe.

sana chuckles, “hi,” she greets as momo pulls the other chair for her. “oh, thanks,” momo lets her sit down before coming back to her side. “sorry if i was late.”

“no worries,” momo says. “go order, it's my treat.”

“no way,” sana chuckles as she looks at the menu. “it's a date. we should split the bill.”

momo pauses. it's already a date? “well,” momo giggles as she looks through the menu. “if you say so.”

momo orders for the both of them, and their food arrives shortly after.

until then, sana breaks the silence, “so,” sana says as she turns her fork to eat her pasta. “why'd you ask me on a date, momo?”

momo sighs, well, it's good that she should know, “i-um,” momo pauses as she thinks of how she can say, “well, i figured out a couple of things on my own, and found out that i like you.”

sana laughs, “i like you too,” she says, looking into momo's eyes, sparkling, bright, under the dim light of the restaurant: sana has never seen such a sight, one full of adoration, a reciprocated feeling and something very sure. “i guess i liked you since you came into the room.”

“oh,” momo laughs in relief. “what? wait… since i went inside our dorm?”

“yeah,” sana says. “i mean, what's not to like about you? you're smart, you're cute, you're caring, so…”

“oh, sana,” momo chuckles, holding sana's hand that was on the table, fiddling with it. “i guess we should just take it slow. we have all the time in the world.”

sana likes that it's just them: momo's little blabber about planes, sana's little touches on momo's hand, momo's glances that shows all of her feelings, and it all falls down into place as it is just the two of them, momo and sana.

they go home after a couple of drinks, not drunk, just buzzed, and momo held sana's hand the whole time as they drove to their dorm.

as soon as they arrive, sana pulls momo in a deep, sweet kiss.

“hey,” momo giggled as they pulled away. “shoes, baby.”

“oh, right.” sana blushes, both from the fact that she's so excited to kiss momo, and from the nickname momo has said. they go into their dorm, shoes off, hand in hand, and momo pulls her back for a kiss, leading sana to her room.

in a heated pace, sana clasps and removes momo's blazer, dropping it on her floor. sana trails her kisses to momo's jaw, to the crevices of her exposed collarbone as she slowly unbuttons momo's dress shirt, slow but wanting as momo leans to her, moaning like asking more.

“sana,” momo says in barred breaths. “fuck, how do i say this,” momo sighs as she guides sana to her bed. “i- um- have a-”

sana laughs, tracing her hand on her clothed thigh. “i know,” she whispered. “i know that, baby.”

sana starts to palm momo's hard on, printing on her trousers.

“i can’t help but notice,” sana says, still moving her hands up and down momo's erection. “you're so big,” sana chuckles lowly as she ghosts her fingers on the button of momo's trousers. “you don't think i don't stare at you when you have those sweatpants on, baby? you don't think that i can’t hear you when you jerk off?”

“fuck,” momo moans out, as sana removes her pants along with her boxers, and her length springs out to meet her abs. “sana…”

“so big,” sana glides her finger on the tip, collecting momo's precum. “it can't wait to fill me up, hm?”

momo squirms, something unfamiliar brews in her stomach, a want, a need, something sana can only bring out, and she pulls sana to lock with her lips once more, as she pumps her hand on momo's length.

“so needy,” sana laughs as they pull away from each other, but she keeps a steady pace on momo's length. “undress me.”

momo doesn't need another word, and immediately goes to sana's back to remove the zipper of her dress, latching her mouth with hers, sloppily inserting her tongue to touch sana's, tasting her fully, as sana rises above her, straddling her abdomen with need.

“you're so fucking hot,” momo moans out, unclasping sana's delicate black lace bra. “mmh.” she hums, latching on sana's hardened nipple as she kneads on the other nub.

sana's hands flung to momo's hair, holding a certain grip, making momo suck on her tits further. sana makes momo pull away, and momo breathes heavily.

“momo, please,” sana whines at the pressure building between her thighs, seeping to momo's abdomen. “i‘ve been so wet,” she says. “please.”

“fuck,” momo hooks her fingers underneath the waistband of sana's panties and helps her remove it, the wetness of her pussy now directly on her stomach. sana lowers, her wetness gliding on momo's cock, coating every ridge, every vein, as she helps momo enter inside her sopping, tight hole. “so fucking tight.” momo grunts, holding onto sana's waist as she bounced, up and down, taking the pace slow, wanting to take momo's inches carefully.

momo then sits up, holding sana closer to her, as she sinks on her length, moaning at the stretch. momo pulls sana once more into a kiss, one that was slow, “take your time, darling,” she whispers. “we have all night.”

sana smiles, bouncing up and down on momo, using her shoulders as her leverage.

“fuck,” momo grunts as she pushes sana down, her hole clenching. momo flips them over, not pulling out of sana, and she carefully gets sana into fours. she kisses the delicate skin of sana's back as she thrusted, holding onto her waist tightly, pushing into the deepest parts of her and sana arches, letting momo use her. “g’nna cum, baby?” momo's pace inside becomes faster as she leans into sana, her hand travelling to her clit to circle it. sana clenches on momo's length and momo lets out a grunt, pushing inside sana's tightness.

“more, ah,” sana thrusts back on momo's pace. “inside me, please.”

“mmh,” momo lightly slaps sana's ass as their skin touches. “such a good little slut for me.”

sana smirks, as she also tightens around momo's length, coming without warning.

momo holds onto her, going in and out at such a crazy pace that made sana's eyes roll back on her eyelids. momo's seed spurts inside of sana's walls, coating every side of it, and she pulls out, quite spent, as she lays sana down slowly.

she places one last kiss on sana's pussy, lapping up the remaining juices, careful to not overstimulate her. she goes up to see sana, her arms opened, ready for momo to succumb to.

momo sighs, looking at sana “sorry, i-”

“no, momo, i told you to… so it's okay,” sana chuckles, fixing momo's hair. “plus, i'm on the pill.”

“m’kay,” momo smiles as she closes her eyes, being fully consumed by sana's afterglow. “oh fuck.” momo suddenly sits up, sprinting to her bathroom, removing her contact lenses.

sana chuckles as she follows momo shortly after, “everything alright, darling?”

“yeah,” momo says, putting the contact lenses on their case. “just the contact lenses, i forgot that i have them today,” momo laughs. “do you need anything? like hoodies or something… it's quite cold here.”

“i need a you, kinda,” sana jokes. “but yeah, your hoodie would be great.”

momo smiled as she went outside the bathroom, pulling a fresh hoodie from her closet. “here,” momo giggled, helping sana pull it over on herself. “warm enough?”

“not quite,” sana pulls momo to the bed, hugging her tightly, as she kissed momo's forehead. “you're just too damn cute.”

“no, you're even cuter,” momo chuckles as she looks up at sana. “but you know, we kinda need to brush our teeths first before sleeping…”

“god, you're also toothbrush police,” sana jokingly rolls her eyes as they went to the bathroom once more, and momo reaches out for a spare toothbrush. “i could've just gotten my toothbrush from my r-”

“no,” momo held her hand as she brushed her teeth with the other. “your room's too far.”

“so dramatic too,” sana laughs as she puts some toothpaste on her new toothbrush. “my room is literally twelve steps away from yours.”

momo shrugs it off and says, “still far.”

that's how they end up on momo's bed, curled up into each other, in this little pocket of space and time.

momo looks up at her familiar empty ceiling as sana lays her head on momo's chest.

“you know,” sana looks up at momo. “i really like it when you sleep with me in my bed.”

“i’ll do you one better,” momo shifts, looking deeply into the pool of sana's honey brown eyes in the moonlight seeping through momo's windows. “i like it better when you sleep on my bed.”

“yeah, really?” sana chuckles. “wanna bet on who has the comfier bed?”

“oh, it'll be mine, baby,” momo giggles and pulls sana by the waist as they lay on their sides. “i have way more pillows than you do. plus,” she pulls out a big pompompurin plush toy behind her. “i have a little friend.”

“that’s just cheating,” sana pouts. “okay, you win, you do have the better bed.”

“hm, i’d still beg to argue.” momo says. “if i got you in any bed, i think i’d be able to sleep fine.”

“why?”

“don't you think i can't feel what you do to me in my sleep?”

sana was stunned. “h-how…?”

“i'm never a heavy sleeper, darling,” momo says. “and you've taught me to be so that i could feel how you touch my face when i sleep. and you mumble my name in yours, how cute.”

sana was blushing, unable to speak, now that her biggest guilty pleasure was known.

“you can do that to me now, while i'm still awake,” momo chuckles. “i think i’d like that if you'd do it forever.”

"if you say so," sana pulls momo closer, letting momo now lay on her chest. she puts a hand on her cheek, brushing it on the soft skin, feeling the warmth of momo's face against her cold hands. "god," sana chuckles as she runs her finger across momo's eyebrow, and she sees momo giggle, teeth out, as she looks at her: full of spark, one that can compete with how the sun shines. "you really know how to make me melt, don't you?"

[rosanna-writer]

we said hello and your eyes look like coming home (19/?)

Summary: A canon-divergent AU where the bond snaps for Rhys on Calanmai, Feyre unwittingly accepts it, and Fire Night magic proves to be more transformative than anyone bargained for. Feyre drags a mate she hardly knows out from Under the Mountain, then puts him back together as war with Hybern approaches. Warnings: dubious consent, canon-typical sexual violence, canon-typical violence Rating: Explicit Chapter Word Count: ~3.2k

More of Feyre settling into her place in the Night Court and understanding exactly what it means to be Lady of Night. Some dialogue and text is lifted directly from A Court of Mist and Fury.

Read on AO3 or you can find the nineteenth chapter below the readmore.

ch. 1 - 10 | ch. 11 - she underestimated just who she was stealing from | ch. 12 - no amount of freedom gets you clean | ch. 13 - stay stay stay | ch. 14 - call it what you want to | ch. 15 - even when you're sleeping, keep your eyes open | ch. 16 - you drew stars around my scars | ch. 17 - do you remember all the city lights on the water? | ch. 18 - and it smells like me | ch. 19 - your mom's ring in your pocket

The next morning, I ate breakfast standing in the space between Rhys's back and his wing, peering over his shoulder as we both read the latest report from Azriel. The spymaster's words were short and to the point—I understood most of it, and Rhys answered my questions about what I didn't.

The conclusions were clear enough. Despite Azriel's extensive network of informants, there was no new evidence of the attackers' identity, and the Cesere trove had been completely looted. Nothing had turned up for sale on the black market. And strangely, a complete accounting of whatever had been inside of the temple was impossible to find. No survivors meant nothing but dead ends.

I was still finishing my tea when Amren arrived with a stack of books that was nearly half her height. Slips of paper with handwritten notes were shoved between the pages of all of them, and some of the titles were in languages I didn't recognize.

Amren dropped the stack unceremoniously onto the kitchen table. "Research. As requested before you leave for Illyria, Rhysand."

"Research on what?" I said.

"On you, girl. And whatever power has been thrumming in your veins since you were Made."

I downed the last of my tea—I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about whatever remnant of the Great Rite still lived within me. It was something I tried not to think about. In the past couple of months, I'd gotten used to ignoring it, though the echo was still constant.

"And I assume you found something, or we wouldn't be having this conversation," Rhys said.

"I have theories, but books aren't enough to prove anything—we'll have to run tests."

I set down my empty cup, and Rhys rested a hand on my lower back. If Amren hadn't been there, I would have leaned into his touch.

"We don't have time for dramatics today. Please explain," Rhys said, and it was the closest anyone, even a High Lord, ever got to barking an order at her. From the way Rhys stood a hair closer to me than usual, I could tell it stemmed from protective instinct.

"Feyre has been claimed by the Night Court, and she's mated to its High Lord. It stands to reason that she's a creature of Night. But at the same time, her Making was a boon from Spring Court magic after taking Tamlin's place in the Great Rite. She may be…something else entirely."

An oily knot of dread settled in the pit of my stomach. "If Tamlin thinks I stole power from him and swore fealty to Rhys on Calanmai…" I said.

Perhaps being the Cursebreaker wouldn't be enough to keep Tamlin from hunting me and seeking revenge if he thought I'd worked against him. Saving all of Prythian might not matter in the face of the feud between Night and Spring.

Rhys let out a low growl. He must have been thinking along the same lines.

"Agreed," Amren said with a curt nod in his direction, "and because treasure troves with objects from both Spring and Night are few and far between, it's time to stop stalling. You have a promise to keep."

"Find another method," Rhys said. Darkness began to leak from him, the inky whorls stretching in my direction. Tendrils wound around my arm but didn't squeeze.

"Feyre has to go claim it anyway."

"She's already proven more than enough."

"Spare me, Rhysand. We all know what you were thinking when you put that bargain tattoo on her finger."

A muscle feathered in Rhys's jaw. Amren rolled her eyes.

"Tell me what you're talking about this before this comes to blows," I snapped, shrugging Rhys's hand off my back.

When he glamoured me, Rhys kept the bargain tattoo visible on my ring finger now that we were back in the Night Court. He'd never actually promised me that the morning after Calanmai wouldn't be the last time we saw each other, so it had never faded. In truth, I'd grown a bit fond of it. But if there was something I hadn't been told about it…

Amren looked at Rhys, and there was something almost amused about the way the silver in her eyes swirled. He took a deep breath, clearly gathering himself. I crossed my arms and waited.

"There's a ring," Rhys said, and each word sounded as if it were ripped out of him. "An heirloom of my family, passed down from female to female. My sister wasn't born yet, so my mother gave it to me when I was a boy. A reminder that she was always with me, even during the worst of my training, and I safeguarded it with preserving spells, the way our kind do for anything valuable. When I reached my majority, she took the ring away and gave it to an ancient, wicked creature called the Weaver, who added it to the collection of treasures she amassed over millennia."

A hoard of spelled objects from all over Prythian, the perfect setting to test what magic matched the echo still within me. Assuming, of course, that I could avoid the monster guarding it.

There was one aspect of it I couldn't quite follow. "Why would your mother give it away?"

Amren's answering serpentine smile made my blood run cold, though I doubted the look that Rhys shot her in response could have been any more murderous.

"Another test. If I were to marry or mate, then the female would either have to be smart or strong enough to get the ring back. And if she wasn’t either of those things, then she wouldn’t survive the marriage. I promised my mother that any potential bride or mate would have to pass, but I think if she were still here…she'd agree that you've already done more than enough."

I froze. And nearly forgot to breathe until I blurted out, "A wedding ring?"

My wedding ring, really. It sounded so human. Rhys was my mate, my soul-bonded partner—husband didn't even begin to cover it.

"Yes, but you're under no obligation to—"

I cut him off; a horrible thought had just occurred to me, and I needed to ask, even though Amren was growing impatient. "You— You haven't…sent someone after it before me, have you?"

"Cauldron, no," he said, horrorstruck. I felt a bit better, though, knowing that there wasn't some poor female who'd died attempting to marry Rhys a few centuries before I was born.

"And this isn't— You're not…proposing?"

For a moment, Rhys just stared at me with the wide-eyed expression I'd last seen Under the Mountain when I'd told him I was nineteen. Amren rapped her nails against the table.

But a pounding against the front door saved him from having to answer my question. Cassian, Azriel, and Mor had arrived, and there were more urgent matters at hand. The door unlocked with a gesture from Rhys, and Amren muttered something about leashing his dogs as we made our way to the sitting room.

Cassian wasted no time reporting on everything he'd learned about the rogue war-bands—their numbers, their movements through the forest, who in Windhaven sympathized with them. I wasn't familiar enough with Illyria to follow all of it. But I still listened carefully, waiting for a chance to suggest I go with.

The conversation turned to exactly what to do with the ringleaders. It was obvious enough that they couldn't be allowed to live, not after they'd supported Amarantha. Killing them in woods would be most efficient. But it would be out of the public eye, a missed opportunity to send a message, albeit a bloody one.

Perhaps it was the question of how to claim my wedding ring still being fresh in my mind, but a thought struck me. It might have been ridiculous—I wasn't entirely sure what sort of creature the Weaver even was—but it seemed worth considering.

"If we need to make a statement to keep control of Illyria," I said, cutting in, "then we could give them to the Weaver and kill two birds with stone."

Five pairs of eyes landed on me, all with naked shock.

Rhys was the first to smile. "Are you suggesting that we allow a death-god to eat a few rogue Illyrians in exchange for the return of your wedding ring?"

I couldn't tell if he was mocking me—it did sound ridiculous when he put it like that. In truth, I didn't care enough about the ring that I was willing to kill for it, but the Illyrians who'd gleefully bowed to Amarantha would be put to death anyway. And years of hunting had taught me to wring every last ounce of utility from a kill.

I lifted my chin. "Amarantha refused to free her human slaves. I'm the Night Court's resident human. What better way to punish them for supporting her than turning them over to me?"

Azriel's brows flicked up in approval. After our conversation in the training ring yesterday, the sight of it made me feel a bit more sure of myself.

"If we're cracking a few wing bones, Feyre might as well get a turn," Cassian said. Breaking an Illyrian's wing bones—ideally leaving enough jagged edges to tear holes in the membrane—was one of their most severe punishments, I'd learned, a favored way of preventing prisoners from escaping to the skies.

"It's Illyria, not Velaris, so word will get out, which we can spin in our favor. Distaste for slavery instead of petty revenge against those who supported the bitch who made Rhys her—" Mor said, choking back that last word with a grimace. Her throat bobbed. "The bitch who hurt him."

"I'll never be offended by you telling the truth. Even about that," Rhys said softly.

On the other side of the sofa, Mor took his hand and squeezed it. "No one reasonable would fault you for slaughtering your rapist's supporters. But for the unreasonable ones…it's also true that involving Feyre could help dispel the rumors that Prythian's savior is a pawn you intend to discard."

"Assuming the Weaver is willing to bargain, it's not a bad plan," Azriel said.

"Hell of an assumption, though," Cassian added. He crossed his arms, the siphons on his hands glinting in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

My eyes slid to Rhys—I had their support, but as High Lord, this would be his call. If he wanted me to stay out of it and find another way to get the ring…I'd understand.

"All of it is your choice, Feyre. If you don't want to risk leaving Velaris, no one will force you," Rhys said.

I hadn't thought of it like that. I'd been so prepared to prove myself useful, ready to argue that a human wouldn't slow the rest of them down or get in the way. But Rhys's concern was the burden it placed on me.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised—after Calanmai, he'd told me that if nothing else, I needed to understand there was a target on my back. I was safe behind Velaris's wards, hidden away in an untouched city like a gem in a vault.

No one would blame me for staying behind. I'd nearly lost my life countless times since Tamlin dragged me over the Wall, and continuing to push my luck might be a bit…insane.

But when Rhys's mother had left that ring with the Weaver, it had been a message. The test wasn't about whether I was worthy of her son—after all, the Cauldron itself had matched us—but rather a statement about what it meant to share your life with the High Lord of the Night Court, hard-won wisdom wrapped up in a challenge she'd designed to outlive her when the worst came to pass.

Lady of the Night Court wasn't just a title…it was a mantle to take on.

"I'm not shying away from any of it. I'll go," I said.

There was a flicker of pride down the bond, identical to the one I'd felt the first time I'd landed a hit to Rhys's jaw. And apparently he wasn't the only one who felt that way—from where he'd been leaning against the doorway, Cassian reached over and mussed my hair. I hissed, batting his hand away.

"Send your mate and your dogs out to the yard if they insist on playing, Rhysand. The adults still have matters to discuss," Amren said.

Cassian's smile turned predatory. "Amren, if you wanted to play—"

"Can we not?" Mor said with a groan. "We're supposed to be working."

To his credit, Cassian said nothing after that, just smoothed my bangs back into place apologetically. Rhys watched for a moment, expression soft, before turning his attention back to the task at hand.

Amren had a point; there was plenty to plan with Rhys being away from Velaris for a while, the priestesses still in need of support, and more information about the state of disarray in other courts filtering in daily. We were at it for a while, making plans and setting priorities.

It was another early night, followed by another early morning.

For the first time since Calanmai, I strapped a quiver to my back, a hunting knife to my thigh, and slung a bow over one shoulder. The familiar weight made my stomach churn. Even though I'd eaten breakfast, fear that the food would run out came roaring back, and for a moment, I felt as if I were still starving in the winter woods.

I forced myself to breathe. That part of my life was over. I wouldn't let it get the best of me now.

Dawn was breaking when I met Rhys in the foyer. His wings were still too weak to manage the long-haul flight from Velaris to Illyria—we'd winnow most of the way, then land. With the bow and quiver, it was a bit awkward, but Rhys scooped me up in his arms easily.

My unease disappeared, so quickly that for a moment I thought he might have pushed past my shields and slashed it with a talon. But no, I just…felt better with Rhys holding me. The scales of his leathers brushed my cheek as I pressed myself closer.

I felt a rumble in his chest as he chuckled, low and soft. "Good morning to you, too," he said.

"We have somewhere to be," I grumbled.

Rhys kissed my temple as the world disappeared into smoke and shadow. In an instant, we were high above the ground, falling fast. I yelped and held on tighter as his wings snapped open.

We pitched forward, and the wind died down as we settled into a smooth glide. The air smelled strongly of pine, and I breathed it in deeply as I lifted my head and beheld Illyria for the first time.

This high up, the tents and buildings were little more than dots on the mountain. And we were far from the only ones in the air—everywhere, winged males were soaring to and from Windhaven. Two of them drew closer, and flashes of cobalt and crimson in the morning sun were enough to identify them as Cassian and Azriel.

As curious as I was about Illyria, there wasn't much to see as the ground rushed up to meet us. Fire pits, the grey stone of the mountain, a few squat permanent buildings. Not much else.

Rhys's wings flapped occasionally, enough to keep our descent slow and controlled. With my arm hooked around his shoulders, I could feel the strain in his muscles. But he was managing—and making it look effortless.

Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel landed in perfect synchrony, with the ease of seasoned warriors who'd trained to fly in formations. Rhys set me down, and I found myself wishing there was a more graceful way to stand up after being carried.

Because people were staring.

The High Lord had returned after fifty years Under the Mountain, with a human girl cradled in his arms. I drew myself up to my full height and met their stares. There was no warmth here, no joy. But there hadn't been much of that in my ramshackle village below the Wall, either. I might have been the only person without wings for miles, but in a way, Illyria seemed familiar.

An older male approached, flanked by a small group of warriors with their hands near their weapons and their wings tucked in tight. As they took in my Illyrian leathers and the ash arrows peeking over my shoulder, I tried not to fidget.

"Your dog," the male said, indicating Cassian with a jerk of his head, "already completed camp inspections yesterday. Don't tell me you've brought a human to check for dust in the barracks, too."

He'd said human, but from the way he spat the word, he might as well have called me a cockroach instead.

"After fifty years away, it's good to see your sparkle hasn't dimmed, Devlon," Rhys drawled. "Feyre Cursebreaker is a member of my Inner Circle, and she wouldn't be here to clean up a mess if you'd kept a tighter leash on your men."

I didn't feel much like a threat, not surrounded by winged warriors twice my size. But I knew better than to let that show. With practiced ease, I pulled an ash arrow from my quiver and gave them a small smile as I tapped it on my thigh.

Devlon hated Rhys—I'd knew that much from all the planning we'd done the day before. I wasn't sure if he was bold enough to call his High Lord a whore to his face, though. From the way he'd narrowed his eyes, I could tell he wanted to. My grip on the ash arrow tightened.

"These last fifty years have been difficult for us all," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm not interested in hearing your excuses. The current state of your camp is pathetic, and if I see one more misstep, you can consider yourself court-martialed."

Rhys turned and started walking towards the tree line, not bothering with a dismissal. Azriel, Cassian, and I followed without another word.

There were more stares as we crossed the camp, not just from the warriors, but from Illyrians who'd clearly been in the middle of chores or going about their business, too. If Windhaven was anything like my village below the Wall—and I suspected it was—word traveled fast. I focused on matching the quick pace Rhys was setting with his stupidly long legs, lest the gossip be about Prythian's savior jogging to catch up and falling on her face.

It wasn't until we'd stepped into the forest that Rhys's wicked amusement slid through the crack I kept open in my shields for him. Stupidly long legs? But you look so delicious framed between them.

"Save it for when we're back home, Rhys," I muttered, and I could've sworn I heard a snicker, either from Cassian or Azriel. We reached the edge of the camp not long after that.

There had been days those first steps into the woods had taken everything out of me. Days I'd been weak from hunger, exhausted from hours on my feet, but alive and determined to stay that way. To ensure my family stayed that way.

Enough food and rest made a difference, but the weight of memory was a heavy one, something that had lodged itself deep in my bones. It might still have dragged me under. But I had a lifeline, an unbreakable cord to grip, and for once, I was working as part of a team.

The work ahead of us might be grisly, but nocking the arrow in my hand had never been easier.

[inlovewithgreta]

you are my sunshine

Larissa Weems x Fem!Reader

Chapter Three

"Oh— I'm so sorry!"

You apologize as you accidentally opened the door and hit a red haired woman with glasses. The force was enough to send her papers flying, both of you instantly getting on your hands and knees to scoop them back into a pile. During the commotion, you failed to notice a certain tall blonde make her way closer to get a better look.

"No I'm sorry, I was standing outside the door waiting. I guess I was too close." She fixes her glasses with a small frown.

"The door was a bit rough to open, I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt."

While you were interacting with the redhead, Larissa was quickly aware that she did not like where this was going.

"All good here! Thank you for helping me pick these up."

"It's the least I could do for knocking them over, here you go." You hand her the last few pages for her to put back in their folder where they belong.

Being the one to stand up first, you hold your hand out and help her back to her feet.

"Thank you," She brings herself to smile at you, "Um— I didn't quite catch your name. . ."

"I'm sorry, it's Y/N—"

"Addams." Your sentence gets finished for you when the blonde appears in the doorframe just a few inches behind you, her sudden appearance nearly making you jump.

"Addams?" The redhead sounds almost shocked.

"My new assistant." Larissa informs her with a cross of her arms.

Larissa's mannerisms caught the attention of Marilyn, unsure why she would be acting this particular way with you already.

"Oh, that's right! Pardon me, you just don't look like an Addams."

"I thought the same thing, Marilyn. This one is quite. . . unique." The blonde looks down at you with a small smile.

"Where are my manners?!" The redhead exclaims, "I'm Marilyn Thornhill, one of the teachers here at Nevermore!" She holds her hand out to you, which you instantly shake with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you!"

"Likewise," She turns her focus to the blonde, "Shall I take Y/N to her room?"

"Of course, help her get settled in. She has a big day tomorrow. . . and Y/N?"

"Yes?" You set your eyes on Larissa.

"Come to me if you need anything, you know where my office is." And with that, Larissa closes her office door behind her and leaves you with Marilyn.

"Shall we?" She gestures down the hallway.

"We shall."

The two of you make your way down several hallways and stairs until you reach a beautifully decorated hallway with several doors lined up in a row.

"So, each door has the person's name on it who occupies the room behind it," Thornhill points to each door, "The good thing about being a teacher here is our own completely furnished room with a nice balcony that overlooks the courtyard. Also, students aren't permitted up here so that's also nice."

As she goes on, your eyes scan the names as you walk. Thornhill stops just in front of a door with no name plastered on the front.

"Here you are! Don't worry, we'll get your name on it as soon as possible. Your things should already be waiting inside for you. And before I forget, here's the key to your room." She hands you a small brass key. "Try not to lose it, we don't have any spares. My room is just a few doors down if you ever find yourself running into any issues."

"Got it, and thank you Marilyn for helping me find my way. We must talk again soon!"

"It's no problem at all. I think we're going to be great friends." You noticed she smiles a bit bigger than before but just assume she's excited about having someone new around.

"Well, I'll let you get to it then." She waves herself off and heads to her own room.

"Okay. . ." You whisper to yourself, "Let's see what we have to work with."

Opening the door, your eyes are met with a spacious yet nicely decorated room. It wasn't much of a difference compared to the students' dormitories but it had a balcony and a bathroom and it was all entirely yours.

Your luggage awaited you just inside the door. Closing the door behind you was the first thing you did before lugging the few suitcases to your bed.

You were glad to have a small desk where you could do some work in your free time. Some of the shoes you took out now made home against the wall to the left of it.

Clothes got folded into drawers while you left out one of your silk nightgowns for when you were done.

Some of your little knickknacks got placed around to help make it feel more at home while you were staying here, not wanting to feel homesick.

You couldn't help but groan as you lifted the heaviest case. This was where you put your most prized possessions. . . your painting materials.

Painting was always a way for you to express yourself when you couldn't put certain thoughts into words. Morticia always boasted when you drew her a new piece and that kind of praise boosted your confidence and helped you get to where you are today.

The wooden easel got set up just next to the large floor length windows that led out to your balcony. Flowers, foliage, and anything to do with nature were always some of the most beautiful things to paint. Although there wasn't much directly around you, there was still room for creativity to paint whatever you wanted.

After getting everything set up, the sky that was once bright as day, has now turned dim as the sun slowly sets in the horizon. Knowing there wasn't much else you wanted to do, it seemed like the best idea to wind down for the night.

Suitcases got stacked into a nice pile in the corner and you tried to ignore the fact that they still weren't all empty.

Wanting to get more comfortable before bed, you strip out of your clothes to put on a silk nightgown.

The fabric feels like heaven against your smooth skin, but you remember that you forgot to take out your robe when you feel a slight breeze of cold air.

You put your dirty clothes in one of the empty suitcases, wanting to deal with it tomorrow and bend down to the last suitcase you had yet to open. Luckily, the fuzzy robe sat atop the rest of your things. There was a quiet sigh of relief as you picked it up but your composure quickly changed the second a hand came crawling towards you, eliciting a loud squeal as you fell back onto your ass.

With thin walls, it was fairly easy for a certain tall blonde to hear the sudden burst of commotion, worry immediately bubbling in the pit of her stomach as she raced out of bed.

The robe falls to the floor beside you as you clutch your chest, your heart now beating at the speed of light.

"Damn it, thing! What are you doing in there?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Thing slowly crawls out and plops onto the floor in front of you, using its gestures to explain the situation. Gomez had decided to bring thing along to look over Wednesday, ensuring she remained at the school.

"Why didn't you just tell me that instead of waiting underneath my robe to scare me?!"

Before thing could explain anything else, the door to your room flings open to reveal a frantic Larissa.

"What? What happened? Is everything alright?!"

"I-I just—" Before you could finish, your eyes landed on Larissa's wine colored negligee.

The blonde was too focused on making sure you were okay to care about what she was wearing.

You instantly lose your train of thought once your eyes discover the way it perfectly hugged her body. The way the shade of red brought out the beautiful color of her skin. Heat rose to your cheeks once you saw how it stopped just above her knees.

While both of you were occupied with each other, thing quickly took the opportunity to scatter behind Larissa to go find Wednesday.

Once she realized that you were no longer looking at her eyes, she quickly realized what you were staring at. Her eyes widen as she quickly fixes her dangling robe to cover her body.

"Well uh—" She clears her throat, "I see that you're okay. . ."

You snap out of your thoughts and pick yourself up off the floor. Unable to make eye contact, you cross your arms over your chest to cover yourself up, completely ignoring your own robe at your feet.

She doesn't realize the negligee you were wearing until your last actions to cover yourself up, blue eyes quickly darting to your own light colored outfit.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm good—"

"Right, okay—"

"Thanks for uh- checking in on me." You clear your own throat, looking down at the floor, refusing to look up.

"No problem, I'm just gonna leave you to—"

"Yeah. . ." You cut her off.

"Okay, goodnight, Y/N." She quickly shuffled out and closed the door behind her.

"Goodnight, Larissa." You mumble to yourself, sighing in embarrassment at the scene you just caused.

The blonde had leaned her back against the door, taking a minute to compose herself, you not knowing that she faintly heard your response.

She brings herself back to reality and goes back to her room while you fall flat against your mattress, mumbling to yourself before burying underneath the covers.

It took both of you what seemed like ages to fall asleep, unable to shake the pictures floating around in your heads.

You sigh into your pillow as you try to focus on sleep rather than the blonde that now prominently stood out against the rest of your racing thoughts.

—

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[jpitha]

The Dreams of Hyacinth 11

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Nick relays the story so far to Queenie. He talks about boosting the coffin box, finding out it's empty, meeting with Jameson, working with Sunny, the whole story. When he's finished, she's silent a long time.

"Nick, I can see why your ladies like you. You have empathy, and are kind and are generous. Honestly when we first met I was just a twinge sad that Evie wasn't interested." She chuckled. "But Nick, you're kind of dim, you get that, right?"

Eastern nods. "Finally, someone else sees it. Right Sel?"

Selkirk agrees. "Dim as a spent LED."

"I knew there was a reason I liked your girlfriends Nick. They're the smart ones. So, let's get down to it. Both you and Eastern have a full AI suite of cybernetics installed by Jameson's dark doctors, and he didn't even give you a tutorial? That sounds like Jameson. I swear, the AIs are all the same. It's easy for them, so they assume it's easy for everyone. Selkirk, this is going to take a bit, and I think you'll be bored. Why don't you head up front with Evie and see if you two can figure out dinner. We'll be ready to take a break by then."

Selkirk stands. "Sure thing Queenie, thanks for taking care of these two idiots. We'll figure out how to pay you."

Queenie chuckles. "Don't worry, it'll be very affordable."

Selkirk makes her way to the front and finds Evie back behind the counter, watching something on her Pad. "Queenie kicked you out eh?" She doesn't look up from her show.

"Yeah, said I should find dinner. Everyone is going to be hungry when they're done."

Evie nods. "Probably. Even now, when Queenie gets it in her head to do some work, everyone else comes out tired."

Selkirk looks up at Evie. If she squints, she can see the resemblance. They have a similar bone structure in their cheeks. "Evie, I thought most humans died around one hundred or less. She's so..." she struggled to find the words. "Coherent?"

Evie laughed. "She has good days and bad days. You're just lucky today was a good day. But yeah, she thinks the implants are keeping her alive almost as much as her body at this point."

"Where did she get them?"

"Just like she explained. An AI thought they were 'helping' and gave them to her. As you probably guessed by our experience with Nick, running the shop wasn't always out main source of income and Queenie's line of work wasn't exactly... legal all the time."

Selkirk says nothing.

"To hear her say it, it was fashionable to have black market cybernetic mods installed back 70, 80 years ago. I don't know, it seems an awfully foolish thing to do for fashion, but she swears it was 'this close' to going mainstream."

Selkirk glances back down the hall. "I don't know. I've been around humans a long time, and I completely believe that they'd do something stupid like get cybernetic implants for fashion."

Evie laughed. "You're right of course. How long have you been on Hyacinth, Selkirk?"

"You can call me Sel if you want. I've been here, Ancestors, twenty five years now? I moved here from K'lax when I was just a kid. Familial group got together and sent me off to school on Hyacinth." She smiled bitterly. "Go and make something of yourself. Do your family proud!" She shook her head. "I was mostly sent here to get out of the way. The paterfamilias wanted his offspring to take over the leadership of the familial group. An older kit from a deceased line was a... complication."

Evie looked down at Selkirk. "Do you still talk to them?"

Selkirk flicked her ears. "Not in years. I sent them a message back when the Empress Melody shit started going down telling them I was all right and going to stay on Hyacinth, but never heard back so... I stopped sending messages. I'm sure they think they're better off that way."

"Oh Selkirk. I bet there are still people in your familial group that love you."

She snorted. "You haven't met them. I'm sure they don't feel any ill will towards me, but I'm also sure they don't feel anything to me. It's ancient history." She leaned back off the counter. "Queenie said to get dinner so I assume that if we don't she'll be upset."

Evie laughed. "Upset is possibly the most mild way that could be phrased." She took out her pad. "I know some local places that she likes, take a look and tell me which ones would work for you and your crew."

Nick and Eastern came out of Queenies room hours later looking exhausted but pleased. Queenie came out shortly after them with the help of her walker, but she also looked brighter and more alive than when she went in. Instead of going to Queenie's bedroom, they made their way to the front of the store, where Selkirk and Evie had set up a table piled high with takeout from a local place.

Eastern looks hungrily at the food. "This is quite a spread Selkirk, nice work!"

Selkirk flicks her tail and her ears. "Evie helped, but we both decided that you were going to come out of your training hungry."

"I feel like I haven't eaten in years." Nick laughs and sits at the table."

Queenie shuffles to the head of the table and sits. "Now, like I told you, those implants are powered by your bodies. Use them a lot and you need the calories to recover." She poked Nick's soft belly. "It's also a decent way to build a calorie deficit if you ever decide to lose that paunch, Nicholas North," but she was smiling as she said it.

They all sat down and started on dinner. After a few minutes, Selkirk looked up at Eastern and Nick. "How did it go?"

Queenie started gesturing with a fork full of food. "Typical AI. Stuff them full of tech and send them on their way without so much as a lesson on how to work it. They're lucky Nick knew me; they could have had their brains braised by the first aggressive attack they endured."

Eastern put down her fork. "We're very grateful Queenie, thanks for all the help." She looked at Selkirk. "Queenie put is through an initial setup, helped us with our encryption and firewalls and gave us some basic lessons on access and intrusion. Also, she looked at Nick's additional tech that Jameson installed. He could pilot a starship!"

Selkirk blinked and looked at Nick, surprised. "You can pilot a starship?"

Nick looked awkward and shrugged. "According to Queenie, I have additional modules and sensors that are related to piloting starships. She thinks its an upgrade to the old Colony Ship co-captain package."

"But... why? You're not going to be piloting a starship."

Nick shrugged. "Who knows with AIs. Maybe Jameson thinks I'll need it. Maybe he thought it would be funny. Maybe he's making a point to another AI faction that we don't even know about." He put his head down and continued to eat.

Eastern nodded. "You feel it too Sel, we're pawns in a much larger thing here. It's entirely possible that Jameson gave Nick the piloting package to show someone that AIs aren't the only game in town when it comes to operating a ship.

Queenie looked up at the three of them. "My advice is to not try and make sense of what AIs do. They go and do their own thing, they always have. It's up to us to stay out of their way and try and not get burned. Remember what they did when Empress Melody came by? They linked in a pile of their own Starjumpers and attacked her right above us. I remember looking up and seeing the flashes of the fight. It was something else." She shook her head sadly. "I never got to meet the Empress, but I heard she was looking out for everyone in Sol." She looked up at the three of them sharply. "Take heed that lesson though. Keep your heads down, do your work, and don't get involved in AI politics. It's worse than our politics."

Nick glanced at Eastern, but she didn't say anything.

After Dinner, Selkirk tried to pay Queenie and Evie but they wouldn't take her money. "You bought dinner, and you owe us a favor, that's enough." Queenie was firm. Evie smiled. Now, don't be a stranger down here, come by and say hello to Queenie every now and then. I haven't seen her this active in weeks." She winked at the three of them. "You're a good influence on her."

Queenie's cackling laugh. "They're anything but Evie, but they're fun to be around. If you ever need a fence, you see old Queenie first, you get me?"

Eastern assured them that they'd be the first place they stopped when they had some goods to fence and said their goodbyes.

When they left the shop it was late. The Metro ran all night long, but was on a reduced schedule to allow for maintenance. They decided to take an omnibus up to Eastern's apartment. As they rumbled along, Eastern and Selkirk fell quickly asleep on Nick as he looked out the window and watched Hyacinth go by. He mused on what Queenie had said about AI politics. He felt that it was a bit too little too late with that warning. They were being played off two if not three different factions now with no real sign as to the why.

Nick woke everyone up when it was their stop. They made their way home and fell into bed.

The next morning, everyone got up, got dressed and some coffee and tried to come up with something to do. They still hadn't heard from Sunny, so it was just a matter of waiting to hear from her. She had said that she would do fifty hours of searching, and by Nick's reckoning that meant they'd hear from her tomorrow afternoon.

Nick declared that they'd head to the lake today. Since Hyacinth is so large, the original designers decided to put a large lake on each arm. It was a long shallow lake, not more than three meters deep, but that was enough for watercraft and swimming and a small marine ecosystem. The beaches on the lake were a popular destination. Against Eastern's protestations, Nick took the girls shopping. They rode down arm to some mid range shopping in Laurel square and soon enough Nick found what he was looking for. He bought Eastern a black bikini and a sari skirt in blue and yellow, and found a K'laxi style bathing suit he thought would suit her. When Eastern saw what he bought her she blushed. "Nicholas North, you horndog."

Selkirk looked up at the both of them, "What?"

Eastern laughed. "This is what I was wearing when Nick and I were connected together during the surgery. Nick took me on a memory of a beach on Parvati."

Selkirk's ears flicked playfully. "Well, he has impeccable taste, you look great in it."

Eastern stared at Selkirk's suit too. "I will admit Nick has good taste. The suit he picked for you is stunning."

Selkirks tail and ears poofed in embarrassment. "It not a style I would have ever picked for myself, but I admit I look good in it." Selkirk and Eastern went to Nick and both gave him a kiss. "Nice work."

This time, they picked out a suit for Nick. Eastern insisted on a black speedo like in their shared dream and after picking up some towels and headed back out.

The most popular beach was off Dahila square. They grabbed some food to eat later and rode up to Dahila. From there it was a short omnibus ride to the beach.

Growing up in Naya Chennai, right on the water, the beach on Hyacinth was a bit of a letdown. He went to the beach once or twice after he first moved here and while it was interesting to have a lake and a beach in space, it really couldn't compare to the ocean. Eastern, a kid who was born and raised in space loved it though. It was the largest body of water she had ever seen. Selkirk had fun too. She hadn't been to a large body of water since she was a child, so she was enjoying herself too. Nick decided to try and leg go of his opinions about it being a 'real' beach and just have fun.

They spend the afternoon at the beach, sitting on the soft sand, splashing in the water and having a fun time. Nick even convinced them all to rent a watercraft and they zipped around the lake, getting a view of everything. Nick found a small secluded beach far away from everyone else and they stopped and relaxed all on their own.

Eastern declared that she wanted to try having sex on the beach like in the novels she read and they gave it a try.

It was very sandy.

After, everyone ran into the water to wash the sand off and Nick grimaced. "Okay, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I got sand in places I didn't think it was possible to get sand into. Let's keep that one to the novels, okay?"

Selkirk was in the water up to her head scrubbing her fur as hard as she could. "I agree Nick."

By now it was evening and they had to return the rental. They made their way back to the main beach, returned the rental and found a restaurant right on the water to get dinner. Hyacinth doesn't have sunsets, not really, but it was gently getting dark as they ate, and they even heard some animals in the water making noise as it got darker. You had to squint a little, but you could pretend you were on a planet. Nick looked over at his girlfriends and smiled. "Thanks."

"Eastern raised her eyebrow. "For what, Nick?"

"For being here. For being with me. Both of you. This is nice. Sure, we are deep into some shit, but we're into it together. I don't know." He looked out at the water. "It just feels a little more solvable with you two here with me, eating a nice dinner, looking out at the water."

Selkirk flicked her ears and smiled. "It is nice. Thanks to you too Nick. I'm glad we're all here, together."

After dinner, they slowly made their way back to Eastern's place, chatting and laughing. They kept their bathing suits on, garnering a few side eyes on the omnibus, but nothing else.

They made it to Eastern's place and fell into bed, tired and happy.

First / Previous / Next

[fandom-geek]

just finished my first run of bg3. spoilers for basically everything, although i don't actually go into too much detail abt the actual climax, more the ending cutscenes and companion quests.

i love jergal so much. that just needs to stand on its own. he's such a sassy skeleton git who hides the fact he still cares for humanity under it all - his scene with arabella was one of my favourite moments of the entire game.

(on that note, anyone else assuming his whole "follow the weave" thing to her is him basically protecting her? finding her in act 3 surrounded by four dead adults while she has a nary a scratch certainly makes me think she's got some secret godly supervision going on).

anyway - the ending.

i think that if i hadn't been warned that there aren't any epilogue slides, i would've been disappointed. so i'm glad i knew that, even it still felt a bit abrupt because of it. but hey! given larian's history with expanded/definitive editions, i'm guessing we'll either get it in a patch several months from now or in bg3's expanded edition.

personally, i think the section from when you enter the morphic pool to when you kill the netherbrain feels very rough and abrupt. very rough. but the rest of the game is just so stupidly perfect as far as i'm concerned, with like one exception for the cut content for karlach. which is blatantly obvious even without looking at datamining, because why else would we get a ton of different types of infernal metal in act 3?

and god i would've loved to see the upper city (as advertised, larian!) and the ducal palace before it all went to shit. cazador's palace was clearly meant to be there, and i was really looking forward to my urchin tav (malias) actually walking around the upper city and having opinions.

(on that note, i loved that bust gortash has in his office [which was presumably meant to be in the ducal office but anyway!] where the founder of the counting house was an ex-urchin who didn't give a shit abt the patriars because they never cared for him before he became important. malias absolutely would've found that an inspiration for any upper city shenanigans)

but those ending cutscenes on the pier? pretty great, even if i was internally screeching the whole time gale was talking because hey astarion is right there in the sunlight and he doesn't have a tadpole. but thank god gale was just like "yeah, you're right, leaving it there is probably a good idea".

and his line abt some things being more important than power! i adore that line. it's essentially the point of everyone's quests, that power imprisons you and the most important thing in life is the freedom to choose. and of course gale is the one to verbalise that, and to openly say how fond he is of everyone!

then gale made his slightly dickish comment about astarion fleeing, lol. boys, please.

honestly that felt hilariously fitting to my playthrough where i accidentally fell into romancing gale while intentionally romancing astarion, and broke it off with gale (despite never actually being with him). yes buddy, i know you're still a bit salty about that. please wait until malias isn't distraught over their boyfriend literally burning up and running off in front of them.

(to detour for a moment - again, thank you larian for letting me play a nonbinary characters. honestly, that alone makes it a game in its own sphere of perfection, especially since vtmb 2 originally promised that then cut it then maybe it's back in with the new studio??? genuinely perked up with happiness whenever someone used the right pronouns or referred to malias in a clearly gender neutral way.)

even if astarion fleeing and his lines about it were genuinely agonising. at least the romanced cutscene with him started immediately afterwards - i was kinda debating between the "heroes" and "sunlight" options, but honestly? as absurdly good-aligned as malias is, i absolutely think they'd value helping astarion to have the freedom to walk in the sun over being heroes. pretty sure this whole adventure has shown they're pretty good at that multi-tasking element lol. and i love that astarion is so happy about going on another adventure.

like not to go tmi, but astarion's character and plot was... painfully relatable, especially when he just started sobbing after killing cazador, and it's just so good that you can give him a happy future. not an ending, of course, because i don't doubt he and malias will get into a fuckton of mischief, but like he says - he's free! it's just such a perfect moment. my favourite companion and companion quest by an absolute country mile.

i'm also just internally assuming that malias sprinted off after astarion as soon as karlach's near death brush was finished - i am so glad i went the "have my cake and eat it" route of breaking wyll's pact and saving his dad regardless. it lets wyll and malias/tav persuade karlach to return, swearing that she'll be safe from zariel, and personally malias would absolutely be looking for a way to help karlach return safely while off finding a way for astarion to walk in the sunlight.

(also i'm a bit curious abt what others think - there's a little bit of ambiguity abt whether it's just going for the sunlight, or straight up curing his vampiric nature. after all, as his grave inscription happily points out, he was turned 194 years ago and the true resurrection time limit is 200 years. since gale wants to stick around, he can call in a favour with elminster to figure out a way to do that.)

and to backtrack for a second, i am happy that malias persuaded lae'zel to make her own path instead of following orpheus' orders! was it selfish? probably, yeah, which was a bit surprising from how otherwise strongly good-aligned malias is but between that and the mindflayer choice after freeing orpheus (i asked orpheus to do that), i just... think malias doesn't want to lose that.

to explain smth for a sec, i'm going back and forth on whether to keep malias' backstory as is (urchin/orphan who grew up in the lower city) or to make them my dark urge character. from what i've heard of the dark urge, it really ties into my favourite character dynamics and themes (and seems a bit reminiscent of kotor lol), so it's a little bit of debate.

but either way, i think malias would override any moral concerns of goodness for "fuck that, this is my family and i am not losing them". regardless of which backstory i end up picking, that's definitely staying the same. but malias as a former orphan and street kid sure as fuck isn't giving up on their new and beloved family. so yeah, i think the moral concerns of "ok you were just told to go save the githyanki as a whole" would be pushed to the side of "you've always been following orders your entire life, i want you to be free".

and if lae'zel chooses to go help the gith regardless? that's great. but malias would want it to be her choice, not orders she feels obligated to follow.

i also love that you get to say "yes, let's go to the pub to celebrate!". even if we don't see it on-screen, i just love it. those fuckers (astarion included once someone managed to throw something thick enough over him so he didn't burn en route) absolutely partied until they crashed and they fucking deserved it. i love my found family shit so much. and i'm guessing that probably ties into the cut epilogue stuff, even if that was meant to be six months later.

but yeah. i just fucking love it all. now time to do my dark urge run, which i heavily suspect will also be an astarion romance again just bc i'm curious how those differences pan out.

[slvt4em1lyprenti2s]

We’re just friends

Originally posted on my Wattpad @MayaBishop_is_myWife

Danielle Savre x fem!reader

Word count: 1.3k Fluff

Proofread

Danielle POV:  I am walking around backstage to try find some mascara because I forgot mine. We're about to go out to the press conference in like 20 minutes I don't have time for this and, another thing that doesn't help my situation is there have been loads of rumours going around about me and y/n recently. We really need to be more careful but to be honest, I just need some damn mascara. 

Y/N POV: Me and the rest of the cast of Station 19 are backstage for a press conference and I can hear someone rushing about and asking everyone something. I couldn't quite make out who it was but I just waited for them to make their way round to me. Danielle - "Oh my god, please tell me you have mascara I can borrow." Y/n - "Yeah, of course I do, here." Danielle - "Thank you, now move up I don't have time to go back to my vanity and do it there."

I moved up the seat and let Dani sit next to me. I was just gazing at her while she did her mascara. It's been a stressful couple weeks for us because of all the rumours going around that we are together. It has put a little strain on our relationship because we've had to be distant and we have argued a little about whether we should just get it over with and tell people or not i said we shouldn't but she didn't think so. 

So, this moment of peace was something we both really needed. She's so gorgeous, I just want to sweep this all under the carpet so we can go back to being normal again. Danielle - "You're staring." Y/n - "And so what if I am, I'm just admiring my girlfriend." She just grinned at me and started leaning in. I did the same. Her hand came up to cup my cheek and I rested my hands on her waist and closed the gap between us. Her lips were soft and gentle agains mine, I started smiling into the kiss and she did the same. Her hand moved from my face to the back of my neck as she swiped her tongue across my bottom lip asking for entrance which I happily grant.

The moment gets ruined when someone knocks on the door and tells us we're on in five.  Danielle - "Crap I still haven't done my mascara." Y/n - "Hey don't panic I'll do it for you."

She said thanks and handed me the tube, the next minute or so was just me say, okay and blink, blink, blink, and so on. Once I'd finished we walked out to where the rest of the cast was in line to be let on stage. Danielle clutched my hand in hers and gave me a nervous smile which i returned and told her we'd be fine. I was about to give her a hug but a man then said on stage "The Station 19 cast everyone!" so I had to let go of her hand and run up on stage. 

Time skip, also I've decided it's a Jimmy Fallen interview because I can and Jimmy is the best

Danielle POV: It was around halfway through the interview and so far no questions had been asked surrounding the rumours which I was thankful for but also I knew they were coming so I just want to get them over and done with. Jimmy said mine and y/n's name which snapped me back to reality. Jimmy - "So, I know there are rumours going around about you two however, if you don't feel comfortable or don't want to address them that's fine of course but, if you don't mind me asking, what's your take on all this? Is it true?" Y/n - "No, it's not me and Danielle are just friends." Jimmy - "Okay, we'll I'm assuming you're okay to talk about considering that response so I'm just gunna say it.. I think you're lying and I have a compilation of clips to prove it. Let's take a look."

I look over to the screen and look at the video that's just started playing..

Video:  Jason - "Hey Danielle, y/n come over here! We're doing an instagram live!" You and Danielle walk into frame hand in hand and don't even realise you're still holding hands because it just became such a normal thing for you guys. You both start chatting to the live.  Grey - "Haha, someone said, 'Are y/n and Danielle in love or something they're holding hands'" Everyone started laughing and so did you and Dani, your hands separated immediately because you were still trying to keep things under wraps with the whole dating thing. Danielle had to think of a cover up quickly. Danielle - "No, we're not in love. I have to hold her hand everywhere so she doesn't run off because she's a child." You had her mouth wide open and stared at her. Y/n - "I am not thank you very much." Danielle - "I beg to differ." You just hummed and the live went on without another hitch. ~  Video two: It's bts of Station 19 and you and Danielle are sitting on the floor, your head in her lap just talking about random thing and she's stroking your hair. Jaina (whispering) - "look at them, they're so cute" The video continues and it's just you two talking and gazing lovingly at each other. ~ Video three: Barret and Jay are teasing you about something random and Danielle come over and hears it. Danielle - "Hey leave her alone guys c'mon." She said it in a teasing but 'if you don't stop I'll kick your teeth in kinda way'.  Barret - "Okay, okay, defending your little girlfriend, I see, I see." Danielle - "She's not my girlfriend I'm just a good person." Then it was a while back and forth between the two about teasing Danielle for defending you.

Videos get paused Jimmy - "Now I'm just gunna say the next video is fresh paparazzi footage so I apologise if you haven't seen this one before but, I think it needs to be shown."

Video unpauses You and Danielle are sitting on a blanket in a park eating ice cream in a pretty secluded area so you thought no one could see you. Danielle shuffled closer to you and leaned her head on your shoulder. You looked down at her and said something the video didn't pick up. Danielle sat up and saw you had ice cream on you lip so she pointed it out to you.  You tried to wipe it off but failed like 3 times so in the end she just grabbed your hand brought it to her lap and kissed it off your face. You pull away from the kiss and look into her eyes lovingly. She says something the video doesn't pick up again and you laugh and peck her lips. You then go back to your ice cream and the video cuts.

Jimmy - "So, ladies. What do you have yo say about that?" 

I'm in complete disbelief, y/n can sense that so she goes to start speaking.  y/n - "Well uhm-" I don't let her finish though because I turn her head around and kiss her. My heart is racing as she kisses me back. She pulls always sooner than I wanted her too but I guess we have to keep it PG because there's still people in the room. Danielle - "Yeah, we're dating, she's my girlfriend and I love her very much."

She grabs my hand, squeezes it and smiles at me.  Jimmy - "Wait are you serious? I was expecting that to be a PR stunt or something?" Y/n - "Nope, I'm in very real love with this woman right here."

There were cheers and applause from the audience and proud looks and words from our friends sat around us. Finally, I thought to myself. I don't have to hide our love like a dirty little secret anymore. I don't know why I was so against coming out in the first place it's so much better now, I can show off my amazing girlfriend now.

[kurisus]

Chapter 105-2 thoughts

What a roller coaster. Let's get into it.

So as I figured, Father's monsters zombie-fy people they touch. But rather than zombies per se, they become ayakashi that can't be cured with a bit of water, so the gods are faced with the dilemma of having to cut the blight out to save the rest--a nice parallel to the early times of the series, except in this case they're talking about having to kill people. Kill some to save the bigger picture, or try to find a cure/a way out in time?

The way Arahabaki reverted to his former violent nature, and how Take, Ebisu, Kofuku, and Tenjin decided to go along with it at the cost of blighting their shinki seems to me a way to highlight heaven's corruption. We know their ways suck, and here we're seeing that even the characters we love are not immune to their corrupt ways. Remember, heaven's modus operandi is strike first, ask questions later, so they're just solving things the way they know how, even if we don't think of them as necessarily being "part of" heaven.

Hopefully Hiyori or someone else will come up with a cure before the gods start doing...you know, exactly what Father wants them to do, but before I move on, I do have a concern about this chapter.

What was so dangerous about that island, after all???

Think about it--Ebisu said it's so dangerous that he died there in the past. But all that was waiting for them there was a decrepit old man and a bunch of non-aggressive ghosts. I kept speculating a booby trap, but now they've left and are safely back with the other gods? This kind of threw me for a loop, I'll admit. That place had bad vibes written all over it so it's a bit weird that nothing really happened. They simply got what they came for and left.

Anyway now let's talk about what I really wanted to talk about--Nora's character arc concluding. I loved her calling out Father's half-baked dimension as being...well, fundamentally worthless. Followed by her instinctive response of loving him, and the little Hiyori in her head that asks, "Do you really?"

Finally, finally, Nora admits she's scared of him, the same way Yato is scared of him, and turns on him. I'm so happy. I've been waiting for this day for years.

I also really liked her revelation that she had been playing her part in their made-up family. She didn't want to let her beliefs go partly because it was something she never got to have in life--a family.

Yato wants to go home and see the sun, not to die. I'm gripping the edge of my seat so hard. The eventual Yatori/trio reunion is going to break me open. When it happens, don't text. I will be in shambles. That might happen at the end of 106, since I'd assume the last chapter, 107, would be an epilogue of sorts. We'll see.

WHERE IS HIYORI

The finish line is truly in sight now, and all that's left is to defeat Father once and for all, reveal his true name, save the infected people, and get the main trio back together again. No one else except trash dad had better die :^)

I'm also really curious whether the series will be open-ended or not. As in, if it will end with Hiyori's ties being cut or her willingly parting ways with the gods--a definitive ending of their story. Or if it will end with the knowledge she'll have to leave them someday, but she wants to stick around for now. I'm personally rooting for the second just because the alternative makes me too sad, but we'll see. Hiyori getting and being tied up in the affairs of the gods has been, you know, the backbone of the series, so it would definitely make sense to put a clear ending on it. Even if it makes girls cry. It's me. I'm girls.

[larathia]

Anime Review: The Saint's Power Is Omnipotent

As with a lot of lengthy series titles, this one tells you a lot of what you need to know. The meaning of the title is, this series is not about the Saint getting progressively more powerful. It's telling you up front, just assume the main character has unlimited magic power so we can move on.

The series is a romance. And just so you all know, I'm basically aromantic so this review is probably not going to go as you might expect, either. (Hint: I'm not trashing it.)

The series is pretty low-stakes from start to finish. You're never in any real doubt as to who the Final Beau is going to be. He never has to fight to win Our Heroine. Nothing like that happens. Likewise, while Our Heroine has to deal with dangerous foes (after all, they summoned her for a reason), you're never in much doubt it's all going to end okay.

This is one of those series I think of as 'gentle' - you watch it for amusement, not to be thrilled or put through an emotional wringer.

The amusement, for me, was in the background of the world. The worldbuilding here was intriguing and touched on things I don't usually see much in isekais - that is, on the cultural impact of being suddenly dropped into a world that's quite a bit but in no way exactly like your own. Half the tangles that arise come from the women (and there are two, although the second woman is really just more of a plot device) not being familiar with societal norms regarding women's behavior in their new world.

What interested me was in how the underlying assumptions managed to make a lot of the interactions get an underlying Exceedingly Skeevy tone to them. It's pretty clear just by episode 2 that the world around Our Heroine is very interested in Who She Likes - and who she might be induced to like. The beta heroine winds up in a lot of trouble (relatively speaking) over this. By the mid-story, both women have to bear in mind that there are actual lines of noblemen jockeying for the chance to propose to them, and that marriage is not an 'if' but a 'when'.

It's strongly implied that the king has a LOT of say in who gets to the front of that line, although the Saint's power being based in love does quite a bit to mitigate the danger.

I don't want to portray this as some kind of "we'll lock you in a room until you marry Dude X" thing. It never gets remotely that fearsome. However, the way the men in this series are characterized, it's not hard at all to picture a bunch of them taking that tactic with a woman who a) isn't the Saint and b) doesn't have the power to fry them to a crisp.

The romance is sweet, I think - again, I'm aro, I mostly zoned out for those parts - and at least our Heroine is an adult and so the blushing and eeping is rather less than I was afraid I'd have to endure.

I'd say the series is worth a watch, if you're looking for something pleasant and slow-paced that isn't too likely to be emotionally upsetting.

[navree]

Question for you, oh ASOIAF/F&B analysis queen: Do you think GRRM will ever actually finish ASOIAF? I feel like no, and like he should just hire his former assistant (half of James S.A. Corey) to finish it because GRRM clearly doesn't want to (or feels pressured from the reaction to the show idk). I know you appreciate Dany as a character - do you think that, if the books ever actually did continue (lol), she would've ended up like she does in GOT? (Also, side note: sometimes I think you interpret female characters in ASOIAF with more nuance than GRRM himself appreciated/intended, but maybe I'm just not giving him the benefit of the doubt.)

Unrelated: I don't watch HOTD (I just like Rhaenyra because Emma D'Arcy is a great actor), but sorry they did the B&C scene incorrectly. They should've owned up to the choices Team Black makes.

So, the thing to know about me is I am an eternal optimist. Not unrealistically so, but I am someone whose first instinct is that things are gonna work out in my favor, even if it takes a while. So I do think that GRRM is gonna at least finish The Winds of Winter, if only because he has been actively working on it for, like, ten million years. I'm a bit more iffy about A Dream of Spring, if only because George is not a particularly young man and I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up dying of old age before completing it, especially since the length of wait time seems to double with every new release. If TWOW gets finished this year, than we're supposed to expect ADOS by, what, 2044? By which time George while be in his mid-nineties? Winds also doesn't need to solve every dangling plot thread, since it's still not the last book, which is good because I think part of the issue and wait time, based on George's context clues, is that he's kinda written himself into a corner on at least one key thing and has been struggling to figure a way out of it (along with what I assume is more pressure due to the show's catastrophic ending).

I think it's possible we'll see a version of what we saw in the show with book!Dany, because the issue most people had wasn't necessarily with how Dany's arc ended, but the steps taken to get there, which were rushed and sloppy and made no sense and grotesquely out of character. But I think it's going to look very different, because the show and the books literally cannot end in the same way. The choices made in changing character motivations, character storylines, and even straight up cutting arcs and plots and whole entire swaths of people means that ASOIAF is an entirely different narrative to GOT, and the stories cannot line up in their conclusion. That's part of what sunk GOT, David and Dan knew key beats of how the story ended, but had switched around so much in getting there that all these characters are functionally different people in a different plot, so trying to force them into book storylines didn't work. Like, the whole thing with "the bells". There is a character in the books, Jon Connington, who has a trauma response associated with the bells of King's Landing that could lead to him making dumb decisions that would eventually result in the destruction of the city. But the way that would go about in the books is nowhere near what we saw in that fuckass show. @turtle-paced has a post about how that would work that I cannot for the life of me find but the gist of it is that there will be some bells ringing to signify surrender during the conflict between Dany and Aegon/fAegon, but that Connington will likely ignore it and keep fighting because trauma response, Dany will then continue hostilities herself in the face of that, and at some point the fires involved, cuz she has dragons, are going to reach the cache of wildfire Aerys hid all over the city and blow everything sky high, because that wildfire has been given way too much significance to not matter. Very different from Dany seeing abject surrender and just deciding to become She-Hitler on a whim, because it involves characters that the books set up, like Jon Connington and Arianne Martell and Aegon/fAegon and the involvement of the Golden Company, who were literally all cut from the show. So Dany likely will have a moment where she causes mass destruction in King's Landing, she might even have a moment where she rules and might exhibit some darker tendencies, and she might die (I'm still on the fence on whether that'll happen or not), but it's not gonna be like we saw in the show, and the circumstances of any death on her part is going to be entirely different.

I probably do give more nuance to most characters, especially Fire&Blood characters, than GRRM intended, it's that eternal optimist in me that wants to believe that stuff is well written. But for F&B I at least allow that part of it is straight headcanoning because of how muddled and sparse the information is, especially when it relates to characters from the Conquest. Is there any evidence in the text for my firm belief that Visenya was a lesbian and the real "love triangle" was her and Aegon both super into Rhaenys? No, there is not, but I will go to my grave believing it.

God I wish Emma D'Arcy was in more stuff so I could see more of them, they're so good and I'd kill to have them act out scripts that are, like, well written. Honestly finding out the leaks about how they were doing Blood and Cheese really turned me off of watching season 2 even though I was tentatively back on board due to the Aegon dad stuff, because it's just badly written, and the cop-out excuse of "oh there's some stuff you can't legally do with kids involved" makes no sense because y'all are making a TV show, you're filming, you know editing and cuts and multiple takes and different angles exist. Do you actually think that D&D were having Lena Heady and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau simulate graphic sex, including elements of nudity, literally right in front of ten year old Isaac Hempstead-Wright? No, of course not, they edited that together from two separate takes, oh wow how novel that's never been done before. And they did that because Bran catching the Lannisters fucking is, like, important to the plot, and honestly Blood and Cheese doing what they did in the way that they did it is too. It turns the smallfolk hard against Rhaenyra and her faction, which is important because it's a smallfolk uprising that leads to her fleeing King's Landing and ultimately dying and losing the war, and it's part of a broader trend in ASOIAF about how monarchy is a bad system. Rhaenyra sanctioning Blood and Cheese and not punishing Daemon in the slightest for this egregious action shows that she is not, in fact, the right choice for the Iron Throne. And neither is Aegon. Because there's no right choice, because this war specifically was entirely useless and that's why, narratively, it's the beginning of the end for House Targaryen, and broadly because birthright monarchy is a scam and should not exist. There's a reason why all the kings who've sat the Iron Throne in ASOIAF are bad, that Tommen is a bad king, that Joffrey was a bad king, that Robert was a bad king, that Aerys was a bad king, that even a lot of claimants aren't really gonna be good kings (Renly was an idiot and Stannis, for all I love him, is too hard headed and rigid). And conversely, there's a reason why the rulers we see who are the best morally tend to be the ones who've come the closest to being democratically chosen, Robb was chosen by his bannermen by popular decree, Jon was elected by the Night's Watch in a democratic vote, Dany was willingly followed by free men and women who were given the option not to (and even all three of them have issues when it comes to ruling and are far from perfect monarchs). There's not really such a thing as a "good king", not firmly, because a monarchy is inherently unjust. Rhaenyra's claim is inherently as illegitimate as Aegon's, it rests on "Daddy said it's mine so it's mine" rather than "Mommy said it's mine so it's mine", because that's how hereditary monarchies work and that's bad. And having Rhaenyra allow acts of senseless brutality in her name due to personal hangups is a part of showcasing that. There's no good side in this civil war, there's no good and righteous claimant, and whitewashing so much of Team Black's actions weakens the overall story (but at least makes their stans look like the hypocrites they are, considering they were all about book purity when it came to, like, the concept of sapphics in Westeros but now all the people chanting "we support all of Team Black's war crimes after that boring ass plank of wood got eaten" have gone dead silent about the deviations when it comes to making Daemon and Rhaenyra not be monsters, shrug dot emoji).

Also, how are you, as a writer, gonna say that the core of the story is Rhaenyra and Alicent, and then not include Alicent in Blood and Cheese? Like, she was there, she was physically attacked, by this thing that happened as a result of Rhaenyra's wants and wishes! And you don't do anything with that? You don't want to give Emma D'Arcy the chance to perform that delusion conflict, that she wanted revenge but didn't even get it, and worse, someone she loved so dearly, still deep down loves so dearly, was assaulted and put in real danger as a result? If the leaks are true and Rhaenyra and Alicent are gonna have a secret meeting in the next couple episodes, imagine how wonderful it could be if Rhaenyra has to confront that not only has her side hurt Alicent emotionally in torturing her daughter and murdering her grandson, but physically as well. Imagine Rhaenyra, full of righteous "the throne is mine" crap but having to confront the still healing physical wounds on Alicent's body. It could be so good for Rhaenicent character interaction, even for Daemyra character interaction if they wanted to still whitewash Rhaenyra and have it be Daemon going off script against her wishes, but at this point I'm not entirely sure Ryan and Sara are good at their jobs.