#Deadly Touch

[sharp-fanged13]

What a wonderful occassion to remember this happened and is canon af:

[vehemourn]

VINEWHIP!

[ganondoodle]

(OC Lore and design time!)

(it got longer again ... sorry ... idk how to make things short, i just need to talk, but i guess if you can read the written stuff in the pic thats the barest bare bones of what i wrote here)

i was asked what new lore story stuff i had thought about that made me sad which i mentioned a bit ago, and while that is too hard to explain given all the missing context i thought i could at least talk about lore having to do with it :D

so, (Lord) Eadrya is one of my fav OCs (big blue lad, here a rough sketch in humanoid form) they are both one of if not THE most powerful demon alive and the most battle trained;

at the mid point of the story the demon world gets invaded by the celestials (the angel inspired things i talked about in the previous lore post with Xaror) and Shargon, as the king, should be their first and only frontline, but at this point his life is only being sustained by maschinery after being mortally wounded, he cannot fight (he realizes what is going on, rips himself off the maschinery to get at least his youngest child to safety, barely managing it before dying- the guardian, the demons god, takes over his body to attempt to fight against the celestials but cant keep itself alive long enough since its host is already dead) Eadrya takes the role of the frontline fighter (despite being very full of themselves and aggressive they care about their 'job' of protecting their own, also giving them the chance to show off just how strong they are); the fight was going well for them all things considered, but when the guardian activates it drains the power of all elemental lords (which Eadrya is one of, and since they have the most strength it also takes the most from them), so much so that they lose the fight and suffer deadly wounds (the worst being a spear through the chest made of a material that grows hard, root-like formations when in contact with demonic blood like a fungus but worse, also stopping any self healing processes) after the guardian falls apart it creates a huge shockwave of energy that stuns every living thing within a certain distance and possibly more-

Eadrya (in true demon form, so like a blue whale in size at least) was likely taken through an active gateway to the human world in a large tidal wave also created by the guardians fall; they wash up in the harbor of a small secluded village, the head of which is 'lady 13'; although never having seen a demon before and everyone being afraid (largely thinking its a strange hurt animal, only she suspected otherwise), they still gather all villagers to pull out the celestial spear, which is diffcult and brutal given that its already taken root, but the village lacked both knowledge and means to help any other way- doing so damaged their heart which is how they were able to collect samples of all three demonic blood types ('normal' -red like humans-, energy -essentially purely magic- and heartblood -highly concentrated energy only found within the heart of a demon and the only one to contain genetic material) (this is the start of Eadryas character arc, having to deal with the fact that their world is likely destroyed, them failing what they didnt think they could fail, having lost a battle so badly (even if not really their fault) for the first time and not knowing if literally anyone else has survived .. also being now stuck in the human world, which they dont like)

Lady 13 (placeholder name? stands for experiment 13) is a human that was tricked by demon hunters to enroll into a series of experiments trying to create hybrids of demons and humans, which they hoped would be powerful and easily controllable tools for their endeavours, though the two are inherently not compatible, they tried grafting body parts of demons on humans to make them compatible- all experiments failed except for her, more or less, though she never got to see the hybrid she carried and was then told it had died too, they threw her out believing she wouldnt survive much longer either and all such experiments were cancelled due to the high cost of human life, research material (demons are still rare) and upkeep with no successful results Lady 13 survived though (perhaps even via the pirates picking her up?) and she ended up living in said small village far away, hiding her half demonic body, though most know there soemthing 'wrong' with her (her being this tall when it doesnt fit the rest for one), only few know the full extent; she enjoys the life she has now, perhaps on the more poor side but safer and more loved than ever before; she largely lead the efforts to try and help Eadrya when they ended up in the harbor, though there wasnt that much anyone could do it was still enough- they leave immediately after waking up, but return after really having nowhere to go and struggling to deal with everything that has happened; over time (probably years) they start to open up towards the people there (though not .. very much) enough to get rather close with Lady 13 too- she actually falls madly in love but after Eadrya (extremely aro/ace) rejects all her attempts quite clearly she respects their boundaries

However, after hearing news of potential demon sightings Eadrya decides to leave in hopes of not being the last demon left after all; Lady 13 then decides to reveal her secret to them (though hearing and seeing what lengths hunters would go to for their experiments makes them absolutely seething with rage- she insists on not being out for revenge) and asks if they would be willing to donate a small amount of heartblood; shes always wanted to be a mother but is now incompatible with humans too- through things she picked up back at the experiments facillity, hers and her doctors research she is sure that is all that is needed, she dares to ask since she does not know when, if ever, she will meet another demon, much less one she could actually trust enough for this though Eadrya hesitates (why would she want to go through the same thing again that didnt work and threatened her life, if it does work, do they want to be involved with any of this? what if hunters find out it worked after all?) but after her ensuring that they would have no part in it other than giving up a little blood and would not be considered a parent in any way, nor made responsible for anything that might happen to her, but considering it all in the end they agree to it

only for her to reveal shes had a small bottle of it already, along with multiple samples of the other types, which she collected when Eadrya was bleeding out into the harbor not knowing if they will survive, though not wanting to make use of it without their consent either way (they are actuallly rather touched by this)

alot later the main group returns here and it turns out to have worked (though she is unable to walk/bedridden for a long while bc it did alot of damage to her body, which can heal since its demons parts, but only really slowly bc she does not have a full functioning system and no demonic blood of her own -she uses the other samples for the healing process-) though its a little awkward to explain, especially considering that 13.1 took alot after Eadrya xD (their theory as to why it worked so "well" that time is that even though the sample was already taken, them giving their consent for it still made it less likely to be rejected; demons dont need partners to have offspring, and all can do it, they just have to decide to- so them agreeing to it, even though its long been outside their body, still had an effect on the blood sample)

[spitblaze]

when heterosexuals do literary analysis of works in which queerness and the persecution thereof are major themes which they just completely skip over or call 'confusing relationships'

[meli-meliai]

Would Scale ever poison your tea?

The answer is yes, surprisingly. And not ONLY your tea-he slips you every kind of poison in all of your meals, but only in the smallest doses so that you wouldn’t even notice.

They include the classics: arsenic, antifreeze, cyanide, etc…

There are also herbal poisons: belladonna, henbane and hemlock, just to name a few.

Some animal’s poisons, like that of the pufferfish and various kinds of snakes.

He even included some magical poisons, just to be safe.

Pinches of toxic powder and drops of diluted venom, all swiftly sprinkled and added to every meal, drink and snack you’ve ever had.

Ever so slowly, dose by dose, you begin to build up an immunity to as many kinds of poisons as he could get his hands on. One that was more potent than any paranoid king and queen’s ever was.

He was relieved, so relieved when you finally stopped feeling nauseous or woozy after a bite of food or a sip of your tea. At your questioning, he sarcastically replied that he was just glad the oolong tea that you steeped had stopped making you sick, and as you rush to defend the drink-which tasted perfectly fine before HE came into your life!- he takes the chance to examine your complexion.

No tinge of green, red, or any other suspicious color. The fact that you are yelling at him proves that your lungs work just fine, and that your digestive or cardiovascular system are both working perfectly.

He felt a sense of pride at his work. He feared that he wouldn’t have enough time to be with you to carry this plan out throughly, but everything turned out perfectly! And all he had to do was meticulously stalk you every single day, monitoring your eating habits and swiping it whenever your back was turned in order to add the ever-so-carefully measured poison.

As an assassin, he knew better than anyone how deadly dating anyone could be. And even though he protected you 24/7, every moment that he possibly can, it would never be enough.

So it wouldn’t hurt to take this extra step (even though he began this habit LONG before you guys began dating, as embarrassing as that was to admit…)

In the middle of your yelling fit, your voice suddenly died down as you see how unresponsive he was being. That was so uncharacteristic of Scale; usually, he would argue with you right back, but it was never all that serious, and you two would usually kiss and make up easily after. So THIS… this was frightening.

“Scale- is everything okay?” You asked, staring with worry at his pondering face. He looked up, and, realizing that he probably made you upset with his offhanded comment, smiled.

He so wanted to tell you what he had done, but he knew that you would probably not take very kindly to having your food spiked for such a long time.

So he kissed you, leaving you a little woozy once again.

“I’m fine! Promise… but I’M brewing the tea next time.”

As you hit his chest-and also pushing him away from you as a result, he laughed. Laughed with joy, and relief. He dodges your next attack and tackles you, all smiles and swiftness and strength.

You embrace each other, and he begins to think of which kind of tea he’ll brew for you next time.

[overelias]

I forget that some of the media I love more than anything else has relatively big fandoms. What do you mean Dungeons and Daddies, the little guys I’ve been listening to over and over since S1E24, is the top recommended Spotify DnD podcast? And A Deadly Education, the book I found in a little free library and is the only book I ever rerereread, has 170,000+ ratings on Goodreads? Jack Johnson, the voice behind the songs that played me to sleep every night of my childhood, performs concerts for hundreds of thousands? The Last of Us, the first real video game I ever played and whose main character (Ellie) I dressed up as two years in a row at Halloween, has an Emmy-award winning show and is one of the greatest award-winning games in PS4 history???

[chesthighwater]

the original thief games are on sale for 97 CENTS on steam ❗❗❗

thief gold is 97 cents! the metal age is 97 cents! deadly shadows is 98 cents for me for some reason BUT STILL THIS IS CRIMINALLY CHEAP. that is less than a pack of gum nowadays!!!

go buy thief do it now

and get tfix for thief gold, t2fix for metal age, and sneaky upgrade for deadly shadows. AND GO EXPERIENCE THE BEST STEALTH GAME EVER MADE

[ethosiab]

If anything there might be a rule put in next session where everyone gets 1 life back cause it feels bad especially for those who died because of the snails water breathing mechanic

yeah, my only worry is that... the mechanic was put there on purpose? so it feels a bit iffy that they'd retcon something like that. I understand that the snails not swimming/going through water to follow the players could definitely have been some sort of mistake with the pathfinding ai, but the drowning mechanic wasn't the sort of thing that could happen on accident lol

[thehayakawas]

something so painfully romantic about aki taking it upon himself to wear gloves and cover up instead of making angel do it

[ayyponine]

not to be a milennial but harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban really is that bitch....

[togament]

Guess I know what to draft up next 🤠

[thenntrewrite]

I love making OCs, and this rewrite will inevitably have a lot of them, or at least a good handful of them. I'll write out a list and make little blurbs for each of them—the skeleton of the characters, if you will! Aleron/Morgan le Fay: The main protagonist of the rewrite that's a celestial-faerie hybrid. She's the former princess of the Kingdom of Tintagel that becomes a traveling mage that lives for thousands of years. She's the oldest companion of Meliodas and the main alchemist/doctor of the group. Also the stocker of the Boar's Hat. Prior to that, she's usually the royal court mage of kingdoms. Rhiannon/Igraine Pendragon: The mother of Aleron, the wife of Gorlois and the older sister of Avalon. Once was considered the best of the Goddess mages, but she died during the war. She gets reincarnated as Igraine le Fay many, many centuries later and marries Uther Pendragon to have their son, Arthur Pendragon. The memories of her past are restored early in her life, and she was the one who hired Aleron as her own personal royal court mage—a counter to Merlin and simply to have her daughter from another life closer to her. Gorlois: The father of Aleron and the husband of Rhiannon. He was once remarked as a great king, and a remarkable battle tactician. He was friends with Gloxinia until the faerie king deflected to the demons. Gorlois survived the war and died when he reached old age. Avalon: The younger sister of the dearly departed Rhiannon. A Goddess warrior that lives and breathes the path of the blade. She sealed her soul in the body of birds, living on for thousands of years. She harbors a deep hatred for demons. Eventually, she wound up in a pet shop in the Kingdom of Rheged and purchased by King Urien due to her beautiful feathers. Bavmorda: One of the best mages around. She was one of the many teachers Aleron has had. Not much is known about her, but she has a deep seated fear of her former student and vowed to kill her. Kilia: The younger sister of Ban, and a beast-man. She was thought to be dead when Ban couldn't find her, but she miraculously survived thanks to unlocking her ability to shapeshift into a human. Kilia lives on to prosper and eventually leaves Ravens behind to pursue a career in helping others, like how her big brother always did for her. She'll either become a nurse or a schoolmaster for young children. Shivani: A vampire that acts on her own. Not trusting Izraf, she deflected to build her own kingdom of vampires. She tries to marry a human king the same time Aleron became the royal court mage in the same kingdom. Eventually, they go from enemies to frenemies (She was once fused with Kilia as a character, but I decided last minute it's better if they were two separate ones). Urien Rheged: The human king of Rheged and the younger brother of King Lot of Lothian. He hired Aleron as a royal court mage, and finds himself going through the seven stages of grief when he's charmed by the stoic mage who could care less about the human. It's a one-sided hate-love relationship. He disliked Arthur Pendragon when he first ascended to the throne, but eventually became one of his closest allies and friends, often involving himself in any wars or affairs with Camelot. Dinah: A mischievous beast-man crow that Aleron saved from hunters a decade before the main story. She becomes loyal to the hybrid and refers to her often as master, even though Aleron told her many times not to call her that. Usually she stays a small crow and perches on Aleron's shoulder or staff, opting to stick with the mage at all times. She becomes the unofficial familiar of the mage.

Part II

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

Look man I just think it’s a shame that Lon Chaney Jr’s horror film debut usually gets cut from the roster.

[lovelesslittleloser]

People should be more afraid of asexuals, because they’re the only people that are immune to one of the seven deadly sins

[blrrblog]

Lust or Love?

You look into your bathroom mirror after a warm evening shower, watching droplets trace the curves of your body as the dim light illuminates your bare skin. Soon you find yourself grappling with a dilemma that gnaws at your insides: if you had to, would you choose lust or love?

A Pretty Face

They say beauty opens doors, but they fail to mention that it also locks you in a gilded cage. Your reflection in the mirror mocks you—a symphony of angles and curves, you are the typical image of a pretty face, a nice body. Yet, what good is beauty when it becomes the sole currency of your worth? You are more than just a pretty face, more than the sum of your features. Beneath the surface, you harbour a tempest of thoughts, hopes, and dreams—a universe waiting to be discovered.

Rebellion

You rebel against this reductionism. Your defiance is not a mere act of vanity; it is a battle cry against the tyranny of shallow perception. You wield your intellect like a sword, slicing through assumptions. You are not a delicate ornament; you are a force—an intricate mosaic of contradictions. Your mind dances with ideas, your heart aches with empathy, and your hands create worlds. You are more than the sum of your parts; you are the physical embodiment of a universe that has graced mankind.

The Sexual Being

Yet, even as you fight this notion, desire clings to you like a shadow. Men leer, their eyes tracing the contours of your body. They hunger for your flesh, oblivious to the soul within. You are a siren, luring them with your curves, but they mistake lust for love. They see conquest, not connection. And you, too, are torn—you crave intimacy, but only with those who see you as more than a vessel for their desires.

Intimacy

Still, in the quiet nights when you lay alone in bed, you yearn for a touch that reverberates beyond skin. You ache for hands that explore not just your body, but your essence—the scars, the laughter lines, the stories and memories deep in your soul. You want to be seen, not as an object of lust, but as a constellation of vulnerabilities. To be desired for your quirks, your flaws, your unguarded moments—to be held by someone who knows that love is not a transaction.

Final Words

So, you rebel. You defy the gaze that reduces you to mere allure. You are more than the sum of your parts, more than the hunger in their eyes. You are a symphony of contradictions, a rebellion against the shallow currents of desire. And perhaps, in this defiance, you find a glimmer of hope—that someday, someone will see you not as a pretty face, but as a universe waiting to be explored, loved, and understood.

You choose love.

[atonalginger]

Here is something that so far has been a one shot. It's set up in such a way I could go back and forward and flesh it out more but for now it's just this. Starfield AU which changes to canon story beats because with Unity anything is possible!

Warnings: explicit language, light sexual suggestions (like the slightest this isn't spiced), kidnapping mention, missing child, mentions of past violence. Pretty mellow considering its centered around the Key/pirates OC(non-Starfarer) x Delgado Word Count: 3,095

Work-Life Balance

Bella and Delgado struggle to keep work and private life separate as things begin to boil over at the Key.

Just what had she gotten herself into, Bella thought as she walked down the corridor past Jazz’s office window. Jazz looked up from her terminal and waved, a bright smile flashing before going back to her work. Bella waved back and pushed on for the Cherry bomb with little Sophie waiting.

All she had wanted was to make enough creds to ensure Sophie was comfortable. It’s why she took that Argos job. Lin said there’d be desk work for Bella and soon they’d have a base she could bring Sophie along to. Lies. Then Constellation said Sophie would be safe at the Lodge while she worked and while not a flat out lie she didn’t like how they treated her over the situation. Ryujin was promising and the pay as a senior operative was nice but wasn’t the whole point of finding legit work to get away from the jobs that could land her in prison?

So then what was she doing now? What was this? She gave up on the idea of running with the Fleet when she got pregnant with Sophie and yet now she’d docked at the Key at least once a week trading loot and intel for creds. Even bringing her baby girl to the belly of the beast. And for what? Certainly wasn’t for that bastard Ikande. Filthy shark talking out both sides of his mouth, acting like she’s not expendable while forcing her to go undercover with the Fleet. As if threatening to disappear her daughter in the UC foster system wasn’t violent coercion. She thought about going to Fox and Jay but would MAST believe them over Ikande? Would they believe her?

She hugged her self as she waited for a crew to finish unloading their overstuffed crates of goodies. They each smiled and waved at her as well, most calling her Rook but their captain winked and greeted her as Cap Cherise. Not everyone was like this but she noticed those most loyal to Delgado were warm and welcoming to her and Bella couldn’t complain. It was jarring but a nice change compared to her time with the Syndicate.

Delgado. Her mind wandered back to the first real job on Suverov. How Mathis turned on her in the control room as Del opened the hanger bay. The way he threatened Mathis over the intercom before dashing for the surface. She had wondered if it was bravado as she clawed her way into the shuttle and closed the loading bay before Mathis could shoot his way onto ship, leaving the traitor as a peace offering to the creepy crawlies. But no, Delgado was waiting at the docking port when she got back to the Key, personally patched her up as she told him what she found.

She loved the way he looked at her. There was a hunger in his eyes, one that came through in his touch, his kisses, the way he fucked her. Good news or bad, he was always happy to see her. He talked her up to others around the Key. Demanded respect for her when Neava once again popped off at the mouth. She felt safest when in the arms of a man most called a monster. What was she doing? He was dangerous and if it was ever discovered she was docking at the Vigilance? She’d heard the talk about what Delgado did to rats.

Maybe ol’ Benny was right. Maybe she really did have a death wish and was just in denial.

---

Bella’s heart stopped when she reached the Cherry Bomb. The door was open wide and she could see the ransacked infirmary inside. How? The door was locked, only people who have the code are Jazz’s team and Bella. She climbed inside and hurried up the ladder. More mess. Every berth looked upside down. Clothes destroyed. And Mister Azure mutilated, hanging from the hatch into the cockpit. She did another pass of the ship, where was Sophie?

“Cherise?” a man’s voice called from the infirmary. Juan Wrecker, one of Del’s personal crew, “You in here? Sammy said you were heading this way.”

“Juan, how did this happen,” she looked down the ladder at him, fighting back tears, “I had it locked and…”

“Del has Jazz looking into that.” Juan motioned for her to climb down, “Me and Seumas are supposed to look for clues here while you head back to command. Del would have come down personally but he’s entertaining a little guest at the moment.”

Bella hopped down to the infirmary, “how’d she get…”

“Del had Mollie looking at the security footage. She said everyone acted like she wasn’t there. Little one also told us that mean men were wrecking your ship and she slipped away while they were busy.” Wrecker gave Bella a pat on her shoulder, “she was shaken up but she’s safe now.”

“I…Thank you…I need to go,” Bella wiped her eyes and hurried off the Cherrybomb.

Seumas called after her as she hustled past and started to sprint, “don’t worry, we’ll find who did this. They’ll pay.”

---

The Command station was quiet when Bella hurried in. Mollie was standing over a series of screens and Thrasher was working away at his usual console. Ever since Bella and Jay figured out the Legacy was lost in Bannoc IV and there’d be no retrieval Command had gone quiet. Mollie looked up and batted at chunk of hot pink hair out of her face, “they’re upstairs. Hope its okay, I fed Sophie some Chunks. A cheesesteak chunk and two cosmic red apples. Figured the apples would balance the scale.”

“She ate for you?” Bella’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Well not for me but I grabbed them for her. I saw her eating them while sitting with Del. He took her upstairs, said Thrasher and I were too much.” Mollie laughed, “oh and I already messaged Del and Wrecker, I saw who broke into your ship and Wrecker and the boys should be rounding them up quick.”

“That was fast.” Bella looked up the stairs and saw Sophie and Delgado in the window. He was holding her seated in one arm while they both waved at her. She blinked, shocked. Sophie didn’t like strangers and especially wouldn’t let one pick her up. Hell she barely tolerated her Aunt Jay some days. But there she was, smiling and half hugging Delgado, waving from the conference room. Bella waved back and turned back to Mollie, “who did it?”

“I don’t know him or his crew well, Captain Rusted Nail and some rooks he found. Only thing I know is that name is the most interesting thing about him. Don’t know why but Wrecker will find out. Go on, go hug your baby. I know you must have been scared.”

“Thank you,” Bella said in a quiet voice before hurrying for the stairs.

As soon as she opened the door Sophie ambushed her, hugging her leg tight, “Mama!”

“Sophie!” she leaned down and rubbed her daughter’s back and then slowly knelt down to hug her daughter close, “baby, how’d you get here?”

Sophie talked fast while tugging at her shirt hem and rocking back and forth, tripping over her words, “I ‘member you always saying you gotta go to command so when the mean men started throwing things and banging stuff I slipped away and asked a wobbly guy in red where Command was and he laughed and told me to go to the elevator and slap the top button and then go through the big orange doors and walk straight,” the little girl’s arm suddenly shot out to make a straight line, “until I saw the scrawny man with the red jacket with no sleeves and then go this way, “she swiped her arm away to one side, “and then ride another elevator up and then look for the big glowing table.”

“Wobbly man was one of Jazz’s techs off duty. Jazz is talking to him about maybe next time just walking the kid to Command instead of setting them loose in the Key but he still gave better directions than most.” Delgado joined them kneeling next to Sophie, “Sophie here walked in like she was Gran Jeffe looking for you. Said bad men ruined her nap.”

“They did,” Sophie nodded.

“That was very brave of you,” Bella said as she smoothed her daughter’s hair, “I’m sorry you were alone, baby.”

“S’okay, Mama. You did want me to stay with Auntie Jay.” Sophie hugged her mom. Bella held her close.

“That doesn’t excuse it.” Bella wondered just how badly she was fucking up her kid in this moment. That her five year old was rationalizing this already. Sophie was supposed to be playing at the playground with kids her age, not having to talk to drunken pirates while assholes ransacked her ship.

“Our ships are our safe havens,” Delgado took Bella’s upper arm in his hand and rubbed it with his thumb, “Plenty of the Fleet have their kids aboard to keep them safe. You did nothing wrong; I will see this is dealt with.” There was a fire in his eyes as he finished speaking.

“Mama?” Sophie tugged on Bella’s coat sleeve, “when you were on the Bomb did you see Zur? I forgot to grab him and I’m worried those mean men might have hurt him.”

The sight of Mister Azure, Sophie bright blue trilobite plush her aunt got her, hanging in mutilated pieces from the cockpit hatch hit Bella like a slap to the head. She stared at the big blue eyes staring up at her, struggling to find words.

“They hurt Zur, didn’t they?” Sophie’s voice broke, tears breaking instantly.

“I’m sorry baby.”

“Why?” She wailed, “he’s just a friend!”

“Because they are bad men,” Delgado spoke softly. He leaned in closer and placed a hand on Sophie back, “bad, bad men who are in a lot of trouble with me. I’ll have my guys get your friend and we’ll make sure he gets better, okay?”

“Del…” Bella started.

“I’ll handle it,” he looked up at her then back to her daughter. He wiped tears from Sophie’s cheek and pulled his red scarf from around his neck, “here. You wear this for now. It’ll keep you safe while I go talk to the bad men.”

Sophie’s cries had gone quiet as quick as they’d started and she now held one end of the silk scarf, running her fingers over the swirling patterns painted on it.

Delgado stood up and motioned for Bella to join him at the door. Once they were a few steps from Sophie he took her hand and leaned in, “I don’t know what those concha de su madres think they were doing but they will regret it. I promise you.”

“You’re doing a lot for a Rook who failed you,” Bella looked away to her shoes.

“Fleet comes first. You’re fleet, you come first,” Delgado chuckled and touched her chin with his other hand, lifted her head back up softly, “plus it’s not like you sank the Legacy into Bannoc IV yourself.”

“This is still a lot for a rook, Del. I told you I didn’t want you playing favorites. We’re suppose to be separating work with pleasure, remember?”

“One, you are not a Rook anymore and haven’t been since you successfully brought the Comspike back. No I don’t care what Neava said, I’m the boss not her. Two, those fuckers broke into one of my captain’s ships while docked on the Key and did who knows what to it. I want to know why, I want to know how, and I want to make them pay.”

They stared at one another. The fire in his eyes was intense. She hadn’t seen him this intense since he patched her up months ago. His gaze flickered to her lips and back to her pale green eyes.

Little Sophie voice broke the silence, “Bad men said Neav said look for Evan Dense. I don’t know who that is or why they thought he’d be on the Bomb but they were looking for Dense.”

They both slowly turned to look at the five year old standing near the table. She was looking up at them with a smile.

“Repeat that again, baby?” Bella turned to face her daughter.

“One of the bad men, the one in charge, kept scolding the others and saying Neav said to look for Evan Dense.”

“Evidence?” Bella asked, trying hard to not sound like she was correcting her.

“Yup, do you know who that is?” Sophie asked.

“I do,” Delgado said first, “don’t know why Neava thought he’d be on your Mama’s ship.”

Bella snapped her look back to Delgado and watched as he grinned so proudly. He leaned in and kissed Bella’s cheek and then looked back to Sophie, “I’m going to ask the bad men why they’re looking for Mr. Dense. Thanks for telling us that, sweetheart. You stay here with your mama. I’ll be back soon.”

---

Bella paced little circles in the back of Delgado’s private quarters on his ship as he talked. In the next berth Juan, Seumas, and Sophie were playing board games. Bella was spiraling. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, just that the wind had finally blown and the house of cards was going down around her.

Sophie had been in the conference room with Delgado for nearly forty minutes when Bella finally got back to the Cherry Bomb. In that time Sophie had inadvertently outted her mother as a sysdef mole. Sophie had told Delgado the bad men who trashed the Cherry Bomb reminded her of the mean men who kidnapped her and her Mama in New Atlantis so long ago. She told him how a bully named Ikande made her cry when he wouldn’t let her see her Mama and how he made her Mama do work she didn’t want to do. Bella also learned that apparently Jillian Toft had been checking in on Sophie whenever she was staying with Jay and Sam and tried to get Sophie to talk when she was on the playground. Toft had told Sophie that Ikande and her cared about Sophie very much and they just wanted to help her.

“But Sophie’s a smart girl and knew Jillian was lying through her teeth and refused to talk.” Delgado was watching her pace, “Bella, come on, sit down, you’re going to wear a hole through the hull like that.”

“And somehow Neava figured this out too. And she’s trying to find anything to pass around the Key to rally people to kill me. I’m her latest mistake, it burns her ass that she fucked up and she’s going too…”

“Bella,” He was behind her, his arms now wrapped around her holding her still, “She won’t touch you.”

“I’m a rat.” Bella didn’t move.

“You’re not a rat. Sophie said you were always talking shit about those sharks, not her words, and saying you wouldn’t give them anything useful. And I believe it. You’re loyal.” He kissed her neck.

“Del, do you realize how crazy you sound, trusting a five year old’s word completely. She swore she met a pink miniature giant space frog last week in the park in the Embassy district. Her best friend is a neon green invisible ashta named Roxie.”

“Hey Roxie is cool, I got to meet her earlier when Sophie was eating one of her apples.” Delgado kissed her neck again, “I don’t think Sophie is lying about this. She’s not old enough know to lie about this.”

Bella turned around and looked at him. “What now then? Even without edgelord Rusted Nail finding “Mr. Dense” the rumors are already swirling. Why else are we here and not still on the Key? And how does that make you look, hiding a sysdef mole on your ship?”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her hard. She let out a surprised squeak and stumbled as he walked her back to the wall and pressed her against it. His hands ran down to her hips, one grabbing firm and the other quickly returning to her head, sliding behind and holding her still. “It will be dealt with.”

“You can’t deny everything has been falling to shit since I showed up. I won’t be the only one to notice.”

“Everything had been falling to shit for a while, Bella. Anything you did it a spit in the ocean.” He paused and kissed her again, lingering for a moment and then nibbling on her neck, “It’s why I was so focused on finding Kryx’s Legacy. I thought if I could bring it back to the Key then I could bring back the ideas, the values Kryx set in place when he founded the Fleet. I realized today, when Sophia said Neava gave the order, that those were gone, been gone for a long time. I’m a fool for not seeing the plots before and I’ll figure out what to do next tomorrow. Tonight,” he kissed her lips again, “tonight I just want to rest.”

A cheer in the other room drew their attention. Sophie had won the game and the guys were cheering her on. Bella stared off toward the commotion, “I should have told you sooner.”

“I understand why you didn’t,” Delgado brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her cheek, “forced to walk a tight rope, probably fed all sorts of bullshit from sysdef.”

“I mean yes,” she looked back at him, “I just didn’t know how you’d take it. I don’t know where we stand and I didn’t want to make you feel pressured or…”

“We stand right here,” he tugged at her hip and rested his forehead on hers, “With you at my side we can take on the universe.”

“Didn’t think you the hopeless romantic type, Del,” Bella mused.

He threw back his head and laughed as he stepped away, “I’m the guy who sank millions of credits into finding crumbs about the Legacy hoping it would save a sinking ship.”

“Fair,” Bella looked once more toward the door. Sophie was singing her latest favorite song and Juan was trying to be backup but two off-key singers weren’t making a tune, “What if the ship really sinks?”

“It’s in bad shape but it won’t sink,” Delgado led her back to the couch and pulled her onto his lap as he sat down, “but those are all concerns for tomorrow.”