#I have so many ships I couldn’t decide what to draw for Valentine’s Day…

[narratorsandall]

Never drew anything for Valentine’s Day so here’s a Midsummer Misty Mountain doodle cause I loved seeing all the Kurt art.

In the spirit of love, I think Mr. No-Hook-Crane should get lots of letters to replace the theoretical fish he might’ve caught (if he had a hook and bait that is…)

That is to say, each time he reels in his line, he finds a letter stuck to the string. Not sure how much he’d appreciate it though, since he’s trying to catch fish, not words…also MMM takes place in Midsummer so it might just come off as an odd, persistent secret admirer if we wanted to take that into account…best situation it strokes his ego? Worst he thinks someone keeps littering into the river and/or is pulling a joke.

I’d like to think he’d appreciate it, though I think the alternative is very funny the longer it goes on.

If August is around then he’d definitely be a suspect, though I think Crane could use the help sorting the piles of letters he will get. Maybe Aug could read them out while Crane continues fishing? It’s always good to have another pair of hands to help out anyway.

[chameleon66]

Sanders sides Valentine’s Day headcanons

Author’s note: I decided to do Valentine's day headcanons on some of Sanders Sides' ships. I'm sorry if I didn’t include your favorite ship but there are only so many things I could think and write at the time. I promise I will write something new soon and please give me your thoughts on my headcanons. Happy Reading!

Logicality (Logan x Patton)

Patton spent most of his day in the kitchen cooking a special dinner for him and Logan which is about 40% actual food and 60% sweets because both of them have sweet tooths but Logan doesn’t usually allow himself to have any so Patton decided to spoil him

Logan bought Patton a shark Blanket for his bed with a hood and mittens sewn into it (Because believe it or not Patton’s favorite characters in Finding Nemo are the sharks)

Patton sets up the dinner in the imagination and Logan is so flattered that Patton put in all this time and effort into his gift and he’s also flustered because of how cute and affectionate Patton is being with him

After they finished eating they decided to go home and watch Big Hero 6 and Toy Story 2 on Logan’s laptop before they cuddled up in Logan’s bed and fell asleep

Roceit (Janus x Roman)

Janus gets Roman a new 300 page notebook to write all his award winning ideas in and spent a few days customizing it with all of Roman’s favorite musicals on the cover

On Valentine's day Janus couldn’t find Roman all day but in the afternoon he found a mysterious letter on his pillow inviting him to a ball in the imagination that night (I’ll give you three guesses who the letter is from)

That night Janus went into the imagination in a snake skin print suit and finds part of the imagination has been transformed into a huge ball room with a glass ceiling showing the night sky a self playing grand piano and Roman waiting for him in a bright red ballgown dress

That night the two of them danced, exchanged sweet words, recreated Disney princess and Disney prince scenes with each other and came back home around 7 a.m and fell asleep in Roman’s room

Dukexeity (Remus x Virgil)

Since both Remus and Virgil have problems with giving and accepting love they decide to do what they both do best, make everyone in the mind palace suffer (Playing pranks on the others) one example is them taking Logan’s stuff from where he last put them and putting them somewhere different (It made Logan think he was going crazy)

They also tainted Janus’s face mask with marker ink which caused Janus’s scales to be stained bright pink for almost a whole week after Valentine's day

But both of them targeted Roman the most, between placing a bucket of slime above his door which fell on him when he opened it or drawing on his face when he took a nap, they did it all to him (They didn’t prank Patton because Virgil refused to because Virgil doesn’t want to hurt a soul as pure as him)

After they were done pranking the others they hid under Virgil’s bed and watched youtube to avoid the others until they fell asleep under the bed together

Logince (Logan x Roman)

Logan spent most of the week before Valentine's day a stressed mess trying to figure out the perfect gift to give Roman because nothing he found ever seemed to be good enough for Roman so in the end he went with making something for him, a list of 101 things he loved about Roman

On Valentine's day morning he woke up for breakfast only to find Patton there not cooking but just sitting there as if waiting for Logan and when Logan asked Patton what he was up to, Patton just smiled and said “Not what I’m up to.”

Patton then handed a envelope to Logan and snuck out with a wink, Roman had planned Logan a scavenger hunt with riddles which then led Logan to Roman in the imagination who made a breakfast picnic for both of them with toast, muffins and Crofters jam

After they finished Breakfast Logan gave Roman his gift that Roman broke into happy tears at and they spent the whole day in the imagination hanging out with each other and experimenting with crazy ideas

Dukeceit (Janus x Remus)

Neither of them like Valentine's day, Remus because it’s a holiday dedicated to lovey dovey mushy gushy stuff and Janus because it’s such a commercial holiday that really serves no well known purpose

So instead they treat it like any other day but both of them kept subtly being a little more affectionate with each other like Janus making Remus a sandwich while Remus is busy making Thomas consider stupid things or Remus holding Janus’s hand under the table at breakfast

That night since everyone else is out of the house they cuddle up on the couch with wine and have a SAW movie marathon (Janus likes SAW because of the thought put into each trap and Remus just loves the idea of each trap and sometimes tests them on himself because he’s not real so he can’t die)

The both fall asleep on the couch in a wine induced sleep coma with Janus’s head on Remus’s chest and when Patton comes home and finds them he gently covers them with a blanket and switched off the TV (But not before being traumatized by a woman having her stomach cut open by a buzz saw)

Intrulogical (Remus x Logan)

Together they plan a full day’s worth of activities that start with a nice breakfast they made together early in the morning before Patton had woken up to make them breakfast, after Breakfast they went into the part imagination that Remus had full control over and they spent the whole day answering questions and experimenting

Since Remus has questions and Logan loves answers they came up with a full list of questions like “What would happen if you turned a human inside out?”, “Can sharks smell fear?”, “What acid dissolves human flesh the fastest?”, “Is it possible to jump from one plane to another and live?” just to name a few, they thought they’d try and answer them all

They came home in the evening covered in blood with ripped clothes, messy hair, and some mild(ish) injuries which scared the heck out of the others

After they lost consciousness Virgil, Patton, Janus and Roman took care of their injuries and put them to bed and both say they still would consider it a great day

Moceit (Janus x Patton)

Patton woke Janus up with breakfast in bed and bouquet of a dozen roses and they cuddled in bed until the afternoon afterwards

After they got up and ready Janus gave Patton his gift, a scrapbook of all the sides and pictures of all the fun moments they had together, the squeal Patton let out could shatter glass and then Janus was squished in bone crushing hug

What Patton finally let Janus go they went off on their planned date only to find Remus lurking around every corner and trying to but in on everything they were doing like the very intentionally third wheel he was trying to be (He didn’t have a reason for doing this other than just being bored and it was fun to watch Janus get angry) so they spent most of their date trying to hide from Remus and failing horribly to do so

Once they got home Janus locked him and Patton in the bathroom just so they could be alone for a while and not be third wheeled, so they ended their Valentine's day cuddling on the title of the bathroom with noise canceling headphones on to block out the sound of Remus banging on the door

Prinxiety (Roman x Virgil)

Virgil told Roman he didn’t want anything super grand for Valentine's day and that he wanted to keep everything lowkey which Roman surprisingly agreed to

On Valentine's day Patton took Virgil out for what he called “Friendintine’s day” but Virgil saw it was a poorly devised excuse to keep him out of the house while Roman was without a doubt setting up a surprise for him but he pretended to be unaware as Patton and him hung out in the imagination with Patton coming up with one excuse after another to keep them from going home

Once they got back to the Mind palace Virgil went to his room to find a pillow fort had been made on top of his bed and a tray of snacks had also been set out with Roman waiting for him his Beast onesie, Virgil was speechless but extremely happy that was made very clear by how his eyeshadow changed from back to a bright shimmery purple when he saw the display

After Virgil got changed into his skeleton onesie they took turns picking out movies to watch (Mostly Disney movies) and fell asleep around 2 am

Second Author’s note: Thank you for reading and whether you’re spending Valentine's day with a partner or alone, remember to take time to do something you love doing.

[beevean]

SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever

[Translator’s note: this article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​]

Hello again! Today we’d like to discuss about something that’s been happening recently, and probably taking Sonic fans by surprise: what is going on with SEGA and its stance about Sonamy?

At the beginning of this year, to celebrate the 200 articles on Seaside Hill Paradise, I finished what I call “the Sonamy trilogy” of articles that I started in 2018 and which cover different themes, such as:

SEGA and the eternal issue of the Sonic-Amy dynamic

“I love you” – Forbidden words in Sonic

SEGA and the eternal issue of “Sonic’s girlfriend”

The idea was to offer a more-or-less complete analysis about the many facets of their dynamic in the last 27 years; a dynamic that, you may have noticed, is not that easy to pin down, and that we’ve been updating almost regularly (although I also intended to investigate on other dynamics, like Knuckles and Rouge’s for example, and write about them). Generally speaking, in these articles I don’t draw objective conclusions about the status of the ship in canon (despite the fact that the available information tends to confirm it in various occasions). I also like to repeat myself and say that shipping is supposed to be for fun, not for tearing each other’s hair in that black hole of misery that is Twitter, but recent events left us slightly perplexed, and this is why we’re here once again.

We left the status of the Sonamy canonicity with these two peculiar instances back in August: Sonic mentioning his “girlfriend” in the Japanese version of Sonic Battle, and the Twitter account of SEGA of Europe saying Sonamy is their “favorite videogame romance”. Now, let’s recap a bit…

Sonamy in Sonic IDW... Round 3

[SPOILERS ALERT FOR IDW SONIC #14-#35]

In 2018, when IDW just started, I decided to study a little how the Sonamy dynamic worked in this new universe. To our surprise, the comic didn’t waste time in dropping its biggest bomb, in one of the cutest scenes we had seen in ages. Since the very beginning, IDW proved that it didn’t intend to deceive those fans that looked for a bit of development of both characters.

I wrote an article about it in June 2019, and it coincided with the beginning of one of the most infamous arc I’ve seen in a Sonic comic for a long time: the Metal Virus Saga. The question is, what has happened since then?

Well, in 2019, with the same accuracy of an aimbot, I said “We’ll probably see some new interactions between Sonic and Amy sometime around IDW #20”. And wouldn’t you know, as misery and tragedy settled in that arc, it was exactly around IDW #20 that we saw some Sonamy interactions: both exhausted, to their limit, with a Sonic that couldn’t even touch Amy to soothe her pain, due to him being infected with the virus.

The arc developed like this in what felt like an eternity, to finally conclude in one the most absurd ways in Sonic history. But it wasn’t a complete disappointment, as, after months and months of asking and discussing on the internet about how much Sonic and Amy deserved a hug at the end of the arc… it actually happened.

Since that moment in IDW #32, we shippers thought that it was what both of them deserved after so much time spent separated and pushed to their limit to survive, but also that after the end of the arc everything would go back to normal. However, what we didn’t know was that the Sonamy train had no intention of stopping, not in IDW, nor anywhere else.

A recurring detail in IDW Sonic is that Amy’s tail starts wagging every time she sees Sonic, as if she was a happy dog. I swear, it happens every time.

Come IDW #35, once again we have some hugs and bits of dialogue between our hedgehogs. For sure, the question here isn’t their relationship itself, as it was for IDW #2, but rather the issues this arc is slowly dealing with. But it’s really nice to see them again, sharing that closeness that they’ve had in the comic since the beginning– be it with some gestures of affection, a wink, a gesture, a private joke.

My favorite image is the first one, Belle’s reaction to seeing Amy hugging Sonic. It’s like she’s thinking “oh, is she his girlfriend?”, and she wouldn’t even be wrong in thinking that.

It can’t be denied that IDW Sonic provided us the conversations and the emotions that the games seldom do. Certainly, the comic has its share of issues and it’s not really a story that I personally follow for its own merits (it’s more because it’s still Sonic, for my interest for things like this, and Belle’s existence… whom I already ship with Tails, sorry not sorry), but what it does well it does really well.

For now, we have to see how IDW Sonic will follow the development of the characters, especially in view of the closure of the current story and beyond. And we may be done with this part of the article, but there is still a lot left.

Sonamy in merchandise

Taking us completely by surprise, recently SEGA launched, in collaboration with Hot Topic, a series of Sonamy-themed t-shirts. No, seriously.

So many people told me this as soon as the voice spread (you know who you are, thank you guys for thinking about me <3), and I can’t help being still surprised that this is actually a thing. T-shirts with lines like “You’re my favorite”, “Love in the fast lane”, and my personal favorite, “S&A Forever”, with drawings of Classic Sonic and Amy… in SEGA-approved products. I don’t know if you realize how much of a big deal this is, even more than “Celebrate the 25 years of Sonic’s girlfriend” from 2018.

One of the things that surprised me the most (aside from how explicit they are in officializing the relationship, and the fact that there are still 2 months left before Valentine’s Day 2021), was the decision to use Classic Sonic and Classic Amy. I tried to understand this decision by analyzing the simplicity and easiness with which the Classic designs convey a message (let’s not forget that Classic Sonic was so iconic because it was specifically designed to convey his expressions without words), besides the fact that they’re inherently cuter than their modern designs. There’s also the controversial aspect of post-Adventure Sonamy, with all the dubbing and weird interpretations that the fandom made over the years… By comparison, the Classic design are a much simpler choice.

What is actually going on?

Well, let’s take a step back and think about what we just saw. The way SEGA has been recently trying to push Sonic and Amy in front view (and for the entirety of 2020, based on the articles I mentioned in the beginning) tells us the harsh truth we all have to accept sooner or later: Sonamy sells, and it sells a lot.

From a strictly business point of view, the ship is so iconic and popular, with fans and detractors alike, that it would be absurd for SEGA to ignore the chance to print these two characters and get a load of money. As I said in my 2018 article, despite the fact that in Japan Sonic isn’t as big of an icon as it is elsewhere, they know pretty well that Sonic + Amy = love, and they have huge amounts of merchandise to back it up. It’s in the West that because of different cultural values, of which we’ve already talked about, along with some internal resistance, left this aspect of the franchise a little on the side. But they’ve been trying to fix it… and how…

Let’s not forget that a decade and a half ago Sonic Team seriously favored Sonamy. They officially said it, Sonic X was their purest view of Sonic they had at the time.

Outside of the business perspective, I believe we’re facing the moment that we’ve been waiting for: it’s time they’ll establish once and for all the dynamic of these two characters, following more closely the original Japanese vision of Sonic. I said many times that, in trying to change canon, the West, especially SEGA of America, did nothing but confuse fans and generate more discussions than needed, by introducing different data and portrayals that contradict the canon established by Sonic Team.

We’ve talked about Unleashed and emotional support, about Sonic X, about the major moments that opened the door to interpreting this dynamic as something more. We don’t threaten at gunpoint those who would rather stay away, but we respond to those declarations that still try to violently discredit the simple fact that Sonic and Amy, who are most of all close friends, form in some measure a couple that, even with its imposed limitations, manages to captivate fans and not fans everywhere in the world. Even the Simpsons used it as a joke, and that says a lot.

What the future has in store for us.

Unless something else happens in this last month of 2020, this is the most complete compilation I can offer at the moment about the status of Sonamy in the fandom and in the official canon. Yes, canon.

It’s impossible to ignore the signals. As you may have noticed, I’ve been considering Sonic and Amy as an official couple, with its clarifications (for example, that at the end it’s more of a friendship, that it’s not a romantic relationship in the most explicit way, that it’s more of a personal perspective to justify a more mature vision of the relationship in the future, not right now), but nowadays I think that SEGA has spoken loud and clear. I think canon is ready to negotiate the idea that Sonic and Amy, apart from being excellent friends who would risk their lives for each other in a heartbeat, have something else on their hands (probably the other’s hand). This won’t automatically translate into a kiss, or a complete love declaration (although Sonic X came close…), or a commitment to a formal relationship like we know them in real life. SEGA canon affirms that Amy is “Sonic’s girlfriend” and nothing more. Outside of that detail, they still pretty much function as friends interacting with a little flirting here, and a little Sonic running away there. It’s the basis of their dynamic, now enhanced by the fact that SEGA is giving us a clearer message.

I think that this all may culminate in a game or an animated series, but I wouldn’t completely count on that. It is good to recognize how far the official position goes on this issue, but at the same time I want to reaffirm that there are things that are better left in the hands of the fandom, and in the meantime that IDW or any other continuity gives us hugs, winks, gestures and words of encouragement, we as the fandom will take care of exploring other avenues and hypothetical scenarios.

This is all I have to say on the matter for now, and I hope you’re happy with this wonderful Sonamy experience we’re going through – I certainly am. See you next time!

[j-reau]

a hiatus or something

I didn’t want to post this. I told myself to give it until morning and sleep but I’ve been laying here for over an hour and I can’t sleep and I know I’m not going to sleep until I get it out. And I decided I’m not going to do the pretend things don’t bother us mentality that tumblr likes, the don’t show emotions on the dashboard, don’t let people know you’re hurt or angry out of fear it’ll be seen as ~drama or whatever thing stop me from just saying how I feel. Because I feel pretty shitty? I’ve been feeling shitty for a few days now. Maybe more. Last week I told myself that the drama that had randomly cropped up was just too much and I wasn’t going to let tumblr be something that made me cry or panic or kept me up at night over bullshit like arguing with someone over things that happened years ago. So I set my focus on my friends, on my dashboard, on reminding myself why I love RP and why I’ve been in it for this many years, for so long, with all of these people. Those Valentines I posted were part of that project for me. It was a reminder, for myself and my dash about all of the human connection that happens here, all the people we meet, all the little pieces of each other we take on and take with us, all the ships, all the conversations, however brief.  From the people we just see on our dash to the ones we talk to about all our fears and insecurities. And how all of it matters. 

I know how much we all love to say calm down gregg, it’s tumblr RP. I know how we all loathe this hellsite when we’re being our worst. I know how we all talk about how we’re too old for this now or we’re tired. We’re just here to write. I’m just here to write. I love writing. But what brings us all back time and time again, what keeps us here is the fact that it’s not just tumblr RP. It’s a community. Whether you have a real life that keeps you busy or your whole life is here, whether you have plenty of friends offline or all your closes people live on discord, we’re all people. And we all take this with us. We make friendships and we talk to each other. We open ourselves up to the constant trust and fear of interaction, of  plotting, of who is going to reach out or send the meme. We build friendships based on that, we care for each other, we see each other’s bad days on the dash, and great days and inspiration. And it means something. It may just be tumblr RP, but it matters to us. Because of the people here, because we give a fuck about each other. Or at least I’ve always liked to hope we do. I have friends on this website I’ve had for ten years, some just for 3, and others just a few months. It always floors me how we can always come back to it, how we stick with each other or don’t, how we see the good and the bad and the ugly. 

So to get on with it, I wrote those Valentines.  I hit refresh on my blog and put the weird random drama in the past and moved forward. I made this blog for JJ only about 3 months ago. I don’t know how I got 500 followers in that short time but I did. And it’s. been the wildest experience I can possibly explain, having that happen so quickly, finding so many people out in the RPC that I hadn’t before on my other blogs. I felt fucking good. I was excited. Not just to write a character I had wanted to and loved for years but to find so many people who I vibed with. I remember writing a post about a month in and being so fucking ... floored. By how much I loved you all, by how amazing it was to be received like that still, to find people my age and who wrote things I liked and loved their female characters. I fucking love JJ. I LOVE THE SHIT out of my partners on this blog, even the new people I’m still itching to write with. And yet, I did that little refresh, posted my valentines , got ready to go and felt .... sad. 

I tried to explain it. I tried to tell myself it was a bad mood. I hoped maybe it was medication. But I couldn’t shake the weird funk. And everywhere I looked it seemed like things were .... not good. My friends taking breaks, people feeling sad too, relationships splitting, people I liked and respected separating themselves. Tonight, one of my closest friends I’ve made on this blog blocked me. Someone I adored and trusted and absolutely loved to write with. Tumblr says we’re not supposed to care. That we’re supposed to let people draw their lines in the sand and take their leave and maybe we are. Maybe it’s important to let people make their choices. But I also think it’s important as fuck to talk to your friends, to mean what you say when you tell someone they’re important to you. I think it’s important that we remember on the other side of every blog and discord user is a person. Who has bad days and bad feelings and cries and feels insecure and tells themselves it’s just tumblr RP even when they know somehow it feels heavier when it’s bad. This was a friend I had talked to at length about all of those exact things, about how personal the community can feel sometimes, about feeling replaceable or invisible, even for the toughest most confident most take no shit people. I’ve always considered myself a pretty tough, confident, take no shit person. I think anyone who has known me for as many years as I’ve been around has seen that first hand. I don’t like how sad I’ve felt lately. I don’t like the insecurity that’s making me want to know why things feel way or why people vanish without so much as an explanation. I had to block a mutual last week I saw making fun of me on their twitter. A mutual. Someone who chose to follow me and on a public place where my other friends could see it made fun of what I posted. And I just don’t know what we’re doing anymore. It didn’t bother me. I don’t have hurt feelings over it. That’s the kind of stuff I definitely know I’m confident about. But .... it did really fucking floor me. Because here we are, on a sight where users talk about positivity and not sending anon hate, and we can treat each other like that. 

I’ve been sitting up in bed for hours trying to figure out what to say or what to do. That’s what I do I guess. I try to figure out what to do, how we fix it, like somehow there’s some unified we and some responsibility to make things better. A lot of you have only known me for a few months so this probably sounds all kinds of nuts. And you’re probably going JJ you’ve been an emotional mess since the moment we met you. Because I feel like that’s how it’s been for the last few months. But that’s not how it’s always been for me. That’s not who I am. So for now I guess I’m just trying to figure out what I do. Instead of sitting here and spinning and trying to figure out how we as a community fix these gaping holes and the way we talk about each other like we’re disposable and treat each other like names on a list instead of people. 

For now, I think what I do is take a little break. It’s the very thing I don’t want to do. Because it feels like quitting and it feels like being scared away. So I feel the need to promise whoever has read all of this and myself that that’s not what it is. Maybe I’ll be back in two days, maybe two weeks, who knows. But I need a break. From whatever this feeling is that seems to have come over things lately. I’ve loved these few months on this blog so much. And maybe that’s half the problem. Maybe I got spoiled and this is the come down. Maybe I’m just an idiot who thinks what we all want on this website is to find people and love each other and write together. I never knew that me -- the person often accused of being aloof and feelingsless and distant would somehow turn into the emotional bitch on this website but here we are I guess. I just don’t know how to navigate this anymore. I don’t know how to put my heart into relationships and friendships that can just be switched off like we can just stop caring about people. I don’t know how to ignore people who say horrible things and do horrible things to each other just because we don’t want to see it on our dashes. I don't know how to give enough of everything to everyone so that every single one of my mutuals and partners knows they’re valuable to me. I don’t know what I hope to accomplish. I don’t know when I got to be so much of a raw, frayed edge on tumblr dot com but that’s how I feel. And I hope in a few days or sometime soon I’ll have an answer or at least get my hard shell back.

I want to keep writing. I want to keep talking to you guys. I don’t want to lose anyone. I truly mean what I say when I say you’re all important to me. I plan to still be around on discord. I’ll write on discord if anyone wants to keep writing. If we aren’t discord friends yet and you want to be, send a message. I plan to come back. I don’t want to abandon anything. I’m so deeply fucking sorry for this rant, for all the overflow of feelings lately, for anyone that’s had to listen to them, for putting them on your dashes, for fucking all of it. Please be good to each other. Please talk to each other. Please remember that if we’ve crossed paths at any point on this blog, I value you. I value all of your friendships, your writing, your shitposts, your dash commentary, your tiktoks you dump at me on discord. I love you. Every last fucking one of you. 

[killiansprincss]

The Perfect Gift

Happy Valentines Day to all! So when you’re Single AF like me what better way to spend the day than to write about CS spending Valentines Day? So here it is, Captain Swan with Captain Beauty friendship. 

SUMMARY: When Killian learns about Valentine’s Day and Emma won’t go into much detail, he consults Belle who helps him plan the perfect gift for Emma. Pure Valentine’s Day Fluff. Also on A03

Set in the 6 weeks of peace, let’s say Valentine's Day was during this time.

Killian Jones liked to think he was getting the hang of this strange world. Emma had given him a talking phone to contact her when he needed to. Well he’d mastered the Emma button, and half the time she would answer. But most times he would leave a voice message.

He was also getting Belle to help him understand texting, she had described it as writing a letter that is delivered instantly and Emma can read it and reply with a letter of her own when she sees it. There were also funny little drawings when you could send in the text, Belle had said the name before but he couldn’t remember-it was a funny little name. But they had faces, happy, crying and even little heart drawings which he liked to send at the end of his letter-text-to Emma. He saw the way her face lit up when she opened one in front of him once, and he wanted that reaction every time so he continued to use them.

On the topic of hearts, Killian was seeing them all over Storybrooke lately. It was overnight almost, heart shaped teddy bears had appeared in the stores, and even Granny’s was decorated with them. Everything was decorated in pink and red, was this normal for this world? Or was there some strange love curse that had affected the town?

“What’s with all these hearts popping up around town?” He asks Emma when they’re having breakfast at Granny’s one morning.

Taking a break from her stack of pancakes, “It’s Valentine’s Day next week. It’s a stupid holiday we have in this world don’t worry about it.” Emma didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, she had never celebrated Valentine’s Day before unless she was catching a perp and she didn’t want to stress Killian out about it-he was busy figuring out how to save the fairies, Valentine’s Day wasn’t important.

But that didn’t explain the hearts. What was a celebration of hearts all about? And why was Emma so against it?

He turns to Belle, hoping she’d have the answers.

“Valentine’s Day is a holiday this world celebrates. The hearts are popping up over town because it’s a holiday about love, you ask someone you love or like, to be your Valentine. You normally get each other a card and a present maybe, or even go out for a romantic dinner.” Belle explains. Killian assumes she must not be feeling great about this holiday of love after banishing the Dark One.

“So I’m supposed to ask Emma to be my Valentine? And get her a heart shaped gift?” Killian liked the idea of this holiday. Even though those 3 special words hadn’t been spoken yet, he knew how Emma felt about him. He also wanted to show Emma how much she meant to him.

Belle chuckles as she looks through one of her books. “You don’t have to get her something heart shaped. But you could get her something special-something you know she likes or would like. Some girls receive jewellery from their boyfriends, or knowing Emma she may appreciate a Granny’s gift card!”

“Would you help me? I want to find Emma the perfect gift for this Valentine’s Day.” Killian assumed considering her past, she hasn’t celebrated the day in a while and wanted to make sure she knew she was appreciated, and loved (just without saying it, he didn’t need Emma’s walls going up when he was working hard to knock them down)

Belle smiles at her friend. “I’d love to help.”

__

And so Killian sets out to find Emma the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. He considers what Belle said about a Granny’s gift card, but that’s not special enough. No Emma deserves something better.

He finds a card straight away, it’s two Swans kissing with a heart above them, feels appropriate and will hopefully make her laugh too. He wants to see that spark in her eyes he gets to see when she’s happy. While they had only been courting, or ‘dating’ as Emma calls it, for a few months he still couldn’t believe sometimes that they’re together. He never thought he’d see her again when they were cursed, and seeing her at her door in New York was one of the most incredible feelings, even if she didn’t know who he was.

She didn’t judge him for his past, she never did, even before they were together. She understands that it wasn’t always a pirate's life, and that he experienced loss and heartbreak the same as she had. For once in his 300 years, he had someone know the pain he had gone through, he could open up about his abandonment without the other person feeling sorry for him. Emma was abandoned too, so she understood how it felt to be alone.

He looked in the Jewellery store on Main Street to see if there was something that screamed Emma. Sure there were beautiful necklaces and bracelets, but he didn’t want to get her just anything, she wasn’t just anybody: she was Emma, his Emma. She deserved the world, and that’s all he wanted to give her.

Until he comes across a locket. The locket in the store is worth more than the doubloons he carries around (which only Granny seemed to accept), but an idea struck in his head. Sure his ship was gone, but he did keep a few things before he traded it to Blackbeard. And one of those things was a small locket his mother had. It opened up to reveal a small drawing of her and his father on one side, and on the other side was Killian and Liam.

“How would I go about filling a locket?” He asks Belle that afternoon. He didn’t have many possessions coming back to Storybrooke, but he could fit a surprising amount in his leather coat, including said locket, so he finds his old jacket at the back of the closet and finds the locket in one of the pockets.

He shows Belle his mother’s locket and she takes a look at the drawings inside and smiles fondly. Like with Emma, Belle doesn’t pry into his past-she knows he was also a man before his days as a villain that had lost people. “At Granny’s tonight, I will get my camera and take photos of you all, I’ll say it’s for an album full of memories. Then I can print the photos out and cut them into small enough shapes for the locket.”

“Thank you Belle. I appreciate it. How are you feeling about this day? I know it can’t be easy considering the Dark One and all.”

“I actually won’t be alone on Valentine’s Day.” She says shyly, Killian tries to think who could have caught her eye in Storybrooke. “Will, uh Will Scarlet has asked me out, and I accepted.”

Killian smiles, Will was an annoying bastard but he was a good guy and would treat his friend right-far better than the Dark One ever did. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you Killian.” She smiles. “And Emma is going to love the locket.”

__

That evening the extended Charming family meet for dinner at Granny’s as they do every Friday. Henry is complaining about homework, Regina is dealing with mayor matters, and Killian and Emma are just happy. They share some rum while Emma talks about her day, how she was called to The Rabbit Hole to break up a fight between Leroy and a bartender who wouldn’t serve him anymore alcohol. Killian tells her that he and Belle are making progress on freeing the fairies-Belle was still working on a translation.

They hadn’t talked about Valentine’s Day since his original question, he wanted to surprise her, which is why he acted none the wiser when Belle walked into the diner with her camera.

“Everyone, get together. I want to make a scrapbook!” She says gesturing for everyone to pose.

She gets Snow and Charming to pose for a picture. Then Emma and Killian, then Emma Killian and Henry and a whole bunch of other combinations until she decides she’s happy.

“Do you have any idea what that’s about?” Emma asks Killian once she leaves.

“Not a clue luv.” He lies putting his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her head, hoping she doesn’t become suspicious. Weirder things have happened in this town.

__

The day before Valentine’s Day, Belle shows him the finished locket. On one side, a picture of Henry and his grandparents and the other side was a picture of himself and Emma. He hoped she would look at it and be reminded that she had so many people who loved and cared about her. They had peace for now, but who knows how long it will last before the next monster or villain comes to town.

Emma stays with Killian on the night before Valentines. Something about not wanting to walk in on her parents. So it gives him the perfect opportunity to give Emma her gift in the morning.

“Ugh What time is it?” Emma stirs in her half awake sleep. Killian had been awake for almost an hour, excited for the day, and to give Emma her gift.

“It’s almost 7 luv.” He kisses her head as she stirs, clearly wanting more sleep. “And Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Her eyes almost immediately open at the sound of those four words and groans. “What have you been told? It’s really not that big of a deal this day.”

She sits up in bed, worried to see what big romantic gesture Killian had planned.

“But Swan, I wanted to know if you would be my Valentine?” He asks with his cute pouty smile that makes Emma weak. He fixes his Hook on and then grabs a card and a rose from the drawer.

Emma groans, this is exactly what she was afraid of if she mentioned Valentine’s Day. She wasn’t good at the whole displaying emotions and expressing love, and there was also the fact she had never experienced Valentine’s Day with a boyfriend before. Being on the run with Neal, they didn’t exactly do romantic dates, especially not Valentines Day ones.

She can’t help but smile at her pirate boyfriend, taking the rose as she gets out of bed to kiss him. “Thank you. You really didn’t need to do this though.”

She opens the card and can’t help but grin at the two Swans. It makes Killians day already, just seeing her smile first thing in the morning, and the way he was able to make her smile. “That’s adorable.”

“I may have one other thing too.” He says, pulling out a white box wrapped in red ribbon from behind him.

“Killian!” She groans, he had already done too much.

“Open it.” He says handing it to her with a grin as wide as ever.

She takes the small box and unwraps the ribbon that he so clearly didn’t wrap-A hook for a hand doesn’t seem like it would wrap a bow as neatly as this one, she wonders who he got to help in his master plan. The lid to the box opens and she finds a silver locket wrapped among white tissue paper. It’s a little rusty but cleaned as best as it could be-clearly it’s not new or bought from a store here.

‘ A. Jones ’ is engraved on the back.

“Alice Jones. My mother. This was her locket.” Killian explains.

Emma opens up the locket to see the photos Belle took the other night. Well that explains what that was about, and who had helped him plan all this.

Inside the locket, her parents and Henry on one side, and her and Killian on the other. They all look happy, and in all honesty this was the first picture she had seen of herself where she looked especially happy.

“Killian. It’s beautiful, but I can’t accept this. This was your mother’s, the only thing you probably have of hers.” She thought he had spent all his doubloons that people of Storybrooke still seem to accept-but this was worse, it was something that belonged to the woman who knew him before he was a pirate.

He had never mentioned his mother, this was the first time she had heard her name. She must have been pretty important, and another death that broke Killian.

“Nonsense love. I couldn’t think of a better person my mother would want her locket to go to.” He takes it from her hands and opens the clasp, gesturing for Emma to hold her hair back as he clips it round her neck.

Emma admires the pictures, the people she loved most were in it. It was a beautiful gift. It was the first time anybody had given her something so sentimental.

“I officially win the award for the worst girlfriend ever. I didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it, and didn’t want you to feel pressured.” She tells him.

“I get it Swan. You didn’t have many people in your life before you came to Storybrooke. I don’t know much about this holiday, but Belle told me it’s about spending it with the people you care about, make them know you appreciate them.” He’s careful not to say the L word, it may be the day of love-but that doesn’t give him an excuse to say it before Emma’s ready herself.

It was though Killian was looking into her soul or something. He got her, really got her. One of the only people who understood her. “You didn’t need to get me anything really. You traded your ship to come find me-your home. You literally win boyfriend of the century with that one.”

“I didn’t do it to win points Emma. I traded the Jolly because I knew you were more important. And you don’t need to get me a present in return, you being with me is the best gift I could ask for. I never thought I would be happy after Milah was killed, but these last few months with you have been the best few months of my very long life.” He pulls her closer to him with his Hook and kisses her softly. She wraps her arms around him and enjoys the kiss.

She was falling. Hard. It would be easy to say those three little words to Killian right now. She was sure she felt it for Killian. But she had never felt like this before, even with Neal. She had told Neal ‘I love you’ countless times, but now she wonders did she truly love him? Because the feeling she gets when she’s with Killian is incredible, she never felt this way with Neal. She loves seeing the way his face lights up when she talks to him, the way his blue eyes shine when he speaks about the Sea. She loves how much he cares about Henry, and how often he takes him out sailing-he didn’t have to do any of it, but he did.

He was such an ass when they first met. It feels like a lifetime ago when she tied Captain Hook to a tree and climbed a beanstalk with him. But he changed, she saw the way he changed over time. And slowly she realised that maybe he wasn’t a bad guy, they weren’t so different. Both abandoned, both heartbroken and both mending their broken hearts together, with each other.

“How about you come over to the Apartment tonight? My parents are out and Henry is babysitting Neal at Reginas. I’m not that great a cook but I can attempt grilled cheese.” She says smiling at Killian.

“Sounds wonderful love.”

Killian was happy.

So damn happy.

After Liam and Milah were gone, all that mattered was killing Rumnplestilskin, until he met a stubborn blonde who changed his life forever. He slowly started to see that being a villain wasn’t all it used to be, and that he could be the man he once was.

When Henry brought Emma to Storybrooke and told her she was the saviour who needed to break a curse, she never expected it would be true or lead her to her happy ending. A happy ending she also didn’t realise would include Captain Hook. Fate was a funny thing. But she was finally happy, and for once was excited for her future.

[activechataclysme]

marinette's adrien-must-never-find-out list v/s adrien's to-do list.

Written for the @mlwritersguild for the Feb event, for it’s wonderful member @queer-cosette​

I know it took me forever and I’m sorry, I just wanted to do the prompt justice, and involve all the ships you wanted at least a little bit in the plot, so my brain took an eternity to cook up this plot. And despite the time I took, I’m sorry it’s not finished yet, but I’m working on it!!

Hope you like it at least a little bit! 😅

Summary: Adrien is Chat Noir, and he must never find out she had a crippling crush on him when they'd first met; she knows she'll never hear the end of it, stupid, sexy smirk and all that. She's determined.Marinette is Ladybug, and he must find out who the other boy is so he can out-woo him and win his lady's heart. He's determined.Both their lists expand - she has done some pretty embarassing things for the boy and Adrien thinks his classmates are acting extremely suspicious - as the days go by.Their classmates are just along for the ride.

Post-reveal shenanigans, fun and fluffy.

Complete Chapter 1 posted below the cut. Also up on AO3.

Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste.

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Her best friend was the guy she has had a major crush on for quite a long time now.

Super cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Her mouthy partner, who had been confident that she would fall for him, especially if his mask came off (ugh!), is the boy she had fallen so in love with that she couldn’t speak to him straight for the first year and a half since she met him…

Not cool. So not cool.

Chat Noir - Adrien Agreste - must never know she had had a crippling crush on him.

He could never know she’s in love with him, period.

She would never hear the end of it.

The Operation: Secret Garden groupchat from three years ago was suddenly active again that night, a flurry of discussions entailing Marinette strictly banning discussion of... Certain topics.

Adrien relives the night over and over again. Marinette is Ladybug Marinette is Ladybug Marinette is Ladybug Marinette is Ladybug Marinette is-

Perfect.

They’d decided on a reveal mutually, that it was time. There had been one too many instances when one of them was caught up in something and could not get to the other; the last straw had been Marinette watching Chat get beaten to a pulp from a classroom with a locked door, and the decision had been made. And then, the moment their transformation had dropped, Marinette had squawked, endearingly reminiscent of the first year he’d known her. He had laughed and pulled her into a hug, and she’d relaxed with a chuckle of disbelief.

“I’m glad it’s you,” they’d said at the same time.

Adrien hasn’t stopped walking on air since. It was a dream come true, literally and figuratively. The truth of the matter was that, Adrien is a romantic at heart, who thoroughly - and frequently - enjoyed daydreaming about various scenarios of getting Ladybug to fall in love with him. Sometimes, it’d be Marinette, and he’d learned to roll with it.

Not anymore though.

He can daydream about both girls without holding back because both the girls were, in fact, one girl.

Wielder of Bad Luck, who? Adrien didn’t know her. ( Well, him. )

Among his various, innumerable scenarios - confessions on Eiffel tower, confession via frosted lettters on a cake, serenading on the Trocadero at 2 a.m, in his lap while he perched on the baton against the moon, no less - his admittedly favourite scenario is one involving Ladybug, where she falls for him once they reveal each other to themselves.

It’s possible now!

He preens.

Arguably, the only flaw is that she already knew him. And… Well, he thinks he’s smart enough now to perceive social cues and his observation of Alya’s extremely feeble attempts at being subtle ( and, to be fair, straight from Marinette’s mouth when he visited her as Chat Noir all those years ago ), lead him to believe that she already likes someone else. Talk about a wrench in his daydream.

He could still try though.

He will, he decides.

Besides, he thinks he needs to size up his competition.

And for that, he has to figure who he is up against.

Two things on his To-Do List. Easy, peasy.

“G’morning, Mari,” he practically sings as she walks into the classroom, early for once.

Her lips twitch. “A good morning to you, Adrien.”

He beams. She beams back. As she walks past him to her seat, he swivels in his position automatically, and rests his chin on her desk just as she sits down.

“You’re here early today,” he observes.

“Very astute,” she says solemnly, laughing a little at his pout as she pulls out a small notebook. “I have to brainstorm some ideas for the Valentine’s Day dance to pitch to the student council. After all class reps pitch theirs, the council will vote!”

He perks up. “I’m sure yours will win, you’re brilliant, m’lady.”

She flushes a deep shade of crimson.

Score.

He’s about to ask something else when Rose and Juleka walk in hand-in-hand. Rose looks a lot more excitable than usual, eyes wide, bouncing on her feet as she grins exceptionally widely at Adrien first and then at Marinette. She holds Marinette’s gaze.

“Hi, Marinette!”

“Hello, Rose,” says Marinette, and she sounds a little wary.

Rose bites her lower lip - boy, must that hurt - and her twinkling eyes flicker between Marinette and Adrien, multiple times.

“Babe,” mutters Juleka chidingly, nudging her girlfriend with her hip.

“Sorry,” sputters Rose, before giggling manically. “It’s just so romantic!”

Marinette groans, and he turns just in time to see her bang her forehead against her desk. Adrien watches as the barest hint of an amused smirk settles itself on Juleka’s face before she pats Marinette’s head gently. Then the pair are walking away to take their seats.

“What was that about?” he asks bewildered.

Marinette looks up, not raising her head completely as she rests her chin on the table and blows at her bangs. “Hell if I know,” she mutters.

Adrien quirks a brow. He knows she’s lying. Curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to investigate. So far on Adrien’s To-Do List:

1. Size up his competition.

2. Woo the hell out of his lady.

3. Investigate Rose’s weird behaviour.

4. And why Marinette’s lying about it.

The rest of their classmates trickle in. Through the day, most of the girls keep catching Marinette’s eye, and some sort of silent communication passes between them that either ends with Marinette blushing or flipping them off.

Curious. Very curious.

Come lunch break, the girls start to crowd her desk, but she declares - very loudly - that she has to work on the Valentine’s Day Dance presentation and flees, leaving in her wake a group of cackling classmates.

His eyes track Marinette’s exit, and he catches Kim’s eyes, only realising then that he had been smiling his Disgusting Moony Grin, as Plagg had dubbed it.

He raises his hand to put the index fingers and thumbs of his hand together to form a heart over one eye and then the other, before waggling his brows at him. Adrien blushes, a sheepish smile on his face as he rubs the back of his head and shrugs in response.

Kim lets out a hoot, and draws everyone’s questioning looks to him.

Adrien flees, face still flaming.

"You saw that right, tell me you saw that?"

Alix snorts. "Kind of hard to miss. I thought the moony eyes were bad before but-"

"So are we going to-"

"-do nothing," interrupts Juleka pointedly. "Because our very good friend Marinette told us to stay out of it!"

"Boo," pouts Alya. "What does she know?"

"I'm sure plenty, given how she was freaking out yesterday," argues Juleka. "We promised."

"You're no fun."

"I am too!" says Juleka indignantly. "Tell 'em, babe!"

"Yeah you are. On our second anniversary, she got me this pretty pink-"

"Rose!" hisses Juleka, face flaming. "No need to tell them that much!"

Rose giggles apologetically and reaches up to kiss her girlfriend in apology.

"I'm filing that away for further investigation for later," says Alya. "But for now, a mission is afoot."

"No there isn't."

"Yes there is. Marinette's going to thank us."

"Marinette's going to kill us."

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

Becoming Acronix Borg

This was a gift for @buff-anime-time-twins on my server for a Valentines Day Gift Giving thing we did it was amazing to be the one to make their Gift, theres a second story I made for them that will be posted soon

Words:2705

Rating: T

Ship: Futureshipping

To say Cyrus and Acronix were soulmates was to be the understatement of the century, these two were almost always found near each other. Acronix either working on some new gadget his boyfriend was finishing up, (and yes they joked that Acronix had become Cyrus's unintentional guinea pig not of course that Acronix minded) but Cyrus and Acronix both unknowingly wanted to take the next huge step,

Marriage

For Cyrus, it was a rather funny thought, only due to the fact before his possible future husband had kidnapped him and changed his whole life taking it and flipping it on its head so to speak, Cyrus had been content as a bachelor single Dad to an amazing daughter named Pixal. (amongst 15 others). Now he sat in his office with his mother's ring in his hand. It was a dainty thing made with Sterling Silver an interwoven band like vines intertwined and had two Sapphires set to a larger Diamond in between the two, flipping it through his fingers he contemplated his next big course of action which terrified the inventor to no end asking Acronix to marry him. 

If only Cyrus knew that ironically enough Acronix had actually with Pixal's help gone out and purchased a ring. The ring Acronix had chosen was a beautiful platinum band thick in width with an inset diamond he knew with the way Cyrus functioned and had a tendency to forget, his possible husband to be would need something strong, that could take a beating and knew that this ring was perfect. Acronix, now sitting in their room in their apartment, he decided to just be himself and just jump head first, he stood up grabbing his jacket and throwing it on he looked at the mirror his own youthful reflection stared back, brown eyes wide and circular in shape with a thin face and rich black hair only a shade darker than Cyrus's own balanced and complemented each feature, Cyrus had even convinced him to let his long eboni locks be out free from the ponytail, he hadn't even worn the makeup around his eyes in months, he didn't need to hide behind it Cyrus had given him his identity back, he smirked at the small braids intertwined in the raven black hair hand braided by said man when he had gotten bored and could get ahold of him. 

Acronix tucked his hair behind his ear as he walked out and locked the door behind him and left the building, he whistled loudly hailing a taxi. 

"Where to?" The driver a portly man, asked nonchalantly as he got in 

"Borg Industries, please" Acronix responded quickly the excitement getting to him

The driver looked a little surprised at that but took off as soon as Acronix buckled in, he pressed a few buttons on his Borg watch putting an earpiece into his ear, so only he could hear Cyrus, this was a new function they were testing it soon would be released to the public, all the bugs had been worked out from it(with him being the test subject of course), he dialed Cyrus's private number,

Cyrus jolted as his watch suddenly rang the ring jumped out of his hand but he managed to catch it with quick reflexes, tucking it away safely in his jackets inner pocket, he smiled and answered it a hologram image appeared of a smilingAcronix,

"Hi love!" he greeted cheerfully smiling back, "Whatcha need?" 

Acronix playfully pouted, 

"Can't I call you just to say hi?" Acronix teased 

Cyrus laughed raising an eyebrow, 

"With you, no usually you've either gotten lost or almost burned the apartment down" 

Acronix groaned annoyed putting his hand to his face, 

"That was one time!" He defended "Not my fault Electric Stoves weren't a thing 40 years ago it was all gas!" 

Cyrus laughed even more, making Acronix smile again, he could listen to that chiming laughter all day"But seriously, you alright?"  Cyrus cocked his head to one side in concern

Acronix nodded quickly

"Yeah! I'm on my way over to the Tower figured you wouldn't mind some company," Acronix answered,  smiling brightly to reassure Cyrus. 

"Of course! I always love it when you visit me at work. I have to also admit you have a way with my devices that it leads me to be conflicted, but in a good way!" Cyrus said quickly, worried he'd offended Acronix.

"It's alright, I get what you mean" Acronix chuckled as the Taxi pulled up he bit his bottom lip nervously "Well I'm here I'll be up in a few moments I-" he paused trying to get his nerves under control"I've got a question for you, that I need to ask in person" 

Cyrus perked up visibly at that,

"Oh? And what might that be?" Cyrus questioned drawing each syllable out like a small child 

Acronix smirked, a glint in his eye

"Like I said dear, I need to ask you in person" 

Cyrus pouted looking slightly dissapointed,but nodded

"I'll be up in a few moments, alright? Love you!" Acronix stated as the Taxi pulled up to the building and he got out and went to pay the fee,

"Love you too Nix see you soon" Cyrus smiled as Acronix cut the connection 

Cyrus gathered up papers and tried to make the space semi-presentable for when Acronix walked out of the elevator and strode over to him, 

"Hi, Woah!" Cyrus gave a yelp of surprise as his boyfriend lifted him from his wheelchair sometimes, he will admit he forgets how strong Acronix is, said man took him to the side room off of the main office, where he sat down with Cyrus in his arms held the crook of his shoulder, only Acronix and Pixal were allowed to lift him even Pixal did it when absolutely necessary, really only Acronix would sweep into his office on occasion and randomly pick him up cradle him and take him to his more private office, but Acronix was always careful with him so Cyrus didn't mind. 

Cyrus laughed as Acronix kissed his neck and then face, being his affectionate self. 

"What brought this on today? Not that I don't mind" Cyrus questioned, cupping Acronix's smiling face, staring into those large brown eyes.

"I, being myself just wanted to just jump, wanted to ask you something, "Acronix said looking suddenly nervous he sighed and gathering courage, he reached into his pocket" I know most likely you wanted a romantic setting but I really couldn't wait to know" 

Cyrus gasped as he spotted the ring as Acronix pulled it out and straightforward ask

"Cyrus Borg will you Marry me" 

Cyrus laughed tearing up and nodding,

"Of course I will love" he pulled out his own ring he was going to propose with and Acronix joined him laughing,  understanding now why his beloved was laughing as Cyrus managed to say"After all, I was going to ask you the same thing" 

They both laughed sliding their partner's respective rings on, they sealed the engagement happily with a kiss, 

The whirlwind that was the next year was a blur for the two as they prepared for their upcoming nuptials and in that time Zane had come to them asking for their daughter's hand (After all Acronix had taken to calling Pixal his daughter with her permission, since she was already old enough to have the choice and he respected her) and they'd gotten engaged as well, though they were taking their time with their own wedding. Unlike Cyrus and Acronix only a year later and Acronix stood at the end of the aisle waiting for his soon to be husband. 

Again little did he know in secret Cyrus had been using his genius to give him a big surprise, Pixal knelt adjusting the straps to the exoskeleton now attached to his lower half it had taken months of having a physical therapist visit him to even attempt his first steps sure he couldn't feel the ground but he could walk, he wanted to surprise Acronix by being able to walk down to him, with the assistance of arm crutches, of course, it was so strange but he knew this right here would be beyond special as Pixal smiled at him,

"Straps and everything is good, let's get you on your feet " she held out her forearms and he grabbed on the devices hydraulics immediately standing him upright he let out a small laugh 

"To be honest never will I get used to that" he confessed

She laughed,

"But it's still amazing to see" 

 His daughter for the wedding she was in a purple ankle length off the shoulder dress, hair in a loose bun a few pieces as usual framed her face and she wore the diamond chandelier earrings and pearl necklace he had given to her for her birthday, with him now standing and even with her wearing silver strap on heels  she still stood only a few inches taller than him, but it wasn't as drastic a difference as him in his wheelchair. It was still strange though but for Cyrus it felt amazing.  

Pixal had already seen a drastic difference in the health scans of her father from using the wheelchair to the exoskeleton with the crutches he was able to move his legs and exercise and he was able to do something he'd only could hope to do and she knew he wished to correct for others and give them ability to walk again, this was her father's personality. He had always been one to only help others, and she knew how many health issues he dealt with in secret caused by the previous mobility aid, again he knew he wasn't the only one and had been working on it and just completed testing it when Acronix proposed so he set to work using himself once again as the test model and put in hours of work the steps at first were unsteady but he now had it down to well an exact science. He hoped to get them approved for the public soon.  

Pixal handed the black arm crutches to him, smirking and saying

"Let's go, Cyborg" 

He playfully glared at her, he walked to the doors sighing, she looked at him concerned.

"Dad?" 

"I just am nervous" 

She smiled and placed her hand on his

"Dad will love you no matter what I may have been stubborn at first but I'm glad my eyes were opened I've never see you so healthy and most importantly so so Happy"

Cyrus gave her a smile before he stepped into view Acronix smiled big upon seeing him standing and walking towards him another one of his soon to be husbands inventions strapped to his own form ever the inventor, this was the Cyrus he knew the one who kept surprising him kept pushing the boundries and First Spinjitzu Master Acronix loved that so so much, as Cyrus got to him, Pixal held a hand to her Dad Cyrus's  lower back as Zane took his crutches and ducked back to his chair in front.

Lloyd officiated the Ceremony being the Grandson of their lands Creator the First Spinjitzu Master he could join anyone he wanted and was happy to be able to do this, 

"Well, who would have thought they'd see Cyrus Borg walking to his husband to be? But judging by the said husband to be's smile he expected something like this"

People nodded, some chuckling as Cyrus grinned trying to act innocent, Acronix took his hands squeezing them. 

"Because he's amazing both in a wheelchair and walking with help doesn't matter how my soon to be husband gets around I still love him all the same, it's his personality I fell for the looks are a bonus"

A splattering of red ran across Cyrus's cheeks immediately as Acronix said this, he in kind responded with

"No matter how many questions of Stockholm Syndrome I get" again some light hearted laughter  happened because the poor man had dealt with so many therapists and other famous faces asking if he'd lost it when the two had come out with their relationship "My answer will still be the same I did not fall in love with my captor I fell for the man I knew was hidden behind a mask of false bravado,, hiding a gentle and curious soul that can still amaze me with his wizardry with technology, the one who later I willingly testified that he should not be grouped with his brother because of this kindness he showed, he never showed me any hate it was always for show to protect me and I admit it was that kindness that helped me carry on" 

Acronix had tears in his eyes smiling Cyrus reached up able to get to Acronix's face he wiped the tears away,  

"Well we've seemingly flipped everything backward with this Union, let's get the main things over with shall we?" 

Actual laughter broke out one of Cyrus's friends towards the back calling out 

"That's normal!" earning even more laughter

Lloyd smiled looking to Cyrus

"Do you Cyrus Elijah Borg take Acronix to be your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and in health for better or for worse for richer and poorer as long as you both shall live?" 

Cyrus tucked a strand of Acronix's hair back behind his ear smiling as he said 

"Of course I do" 

Lloyd turned to Acronix

"And do you-" 

"Of course I do as well I won't let him ever slip from my grasp" Acronix interrupted making people laugh again at the former Time Masters eagerness

Lloyd snorted as well shaking his head not annoyed but amused,

"Since you two have already practically shared your vows already anything else you wish to say?" 

Cyrus smiled and kissed Acronix's hand, 

"This whole adventure has been amazing already and I am glad it won't stop any time soon, I'm glad to call you my Husband and Partner" 

Acronix smiled

"I fell for you quickly, I will admit especially after we were allowed to be ourselves after you showed me there was so much more then following orders, and then I witnessed the way you fight for so many people, contribute to the community Lloyd's Grandfather, it amazes me in a good way" he stuttered quickly making Cyrus snort "The way you can go from stern to gentle, kind and loving is a wonder in itself I can never put into words how much I love you

Cyrus again blushed, as a chorus of awwing occured at this

"Love you two Nix"

Lloyd smiled and then called out

"Will the ring bearer please bring the rings" 

Little Nelson well now well into young teens walked forward a big smile on his face one arm in a sling which, Cyrus knew he didn't have last week.

"Again?" He motioned to the sling, making the boy groan audibly in annoyance.

"What? Paper route incident!" He defended himself "You would not believe how many times I have had to dodge something" 

Everyone started laughing they could believe that it was Ninjago after all, as Nelson handed over the rings to Cyrus and Acronix who smiled at each other, each saying the words I the Wed as they slid their respective rings on each other's fingers.

"With that I now announce you two, Husband and husband, you two know what to do" 

Acronix chuckled and kissed Cyrus who kissed back they separated laughing

"I announce to everyone Mr Cyrus and Mr Acronix Borg!" Lloyd called over the cheering, that only amplified with that.

Pixal pressed a button automatically releasing Cyrus from the exoskeleton, Acronix immediately scooped him up taking off with him with a cry of, 

"This time it isn't kidnapping!"

Everyone lost it laughing nearly in tears at the jest towards how the two met, it was indeed a unique union and had been a hard fought battle against the odds but they had beaten those odds and now unified who knew what adventures they'd get up to but that was just how the two were and if one was to be honest it was a perfect Beginning. 

[faejilly]

Malec, 10

10. Anniversary Celebration [X] I am uh, really sorry about this very loose interpretation of ‘celebration’. aka the exact opposite of one. 

#MCD warning (before the fic starts, but also the only thing this is about) 

I’m mostly ignoring the whole Inquisitor/Alicante thing from the finale because… well, because I can? They lived in NYC.

Except for the first one, still busy putting out metaphorical fires as the Shadow World adjusted after Valentine and Lilith and Jonathan, helping the Clave rebuild into something at least a bit better than the last few times, they’d always taken time off for their anniversary, always celebrated it in New York, always made sure to be home. 

This was the first anniversary, after, and Alec couldn’t bear the thought of it, of NYC’s bright lights and loud voices surrounding him now that he was alone.

He’d always known he might lose Magnus because he couldn’t keep the balance of their private lives steady against the pressure of their public ones, always knew he might fall down and fail Magnus one too many times… he’d never once let himself consider simply out-surviving him. 

Warlocks didn’t age, could barely get sick, and Magnus was too bright and powerful to be easy to kill by violence or accident.

But no one was invulnerable.

Not even Magnus Lightwood-Bane. 

It hadn’t even been a Greater Demon or anything, just bad luck and bad timing and a scuffle between a panicked Warlock and a young Nephilim and one too many uridezus in the shadows.

Alec moved to Alicante after the funeral, somewhere as different as possible, somewhere close to what family he had left; Izzy was head of the Clave’s R&D departments, and Clary was still arguing with every single Clave policy that she hadn’t yet managed to drag into the 21st Century.

(Clary reminded him a bit of Imogen at her best, right before she’d died, steel and spark and a well-hidden heart; he was never going to tell anyone that thought. He might not even have told Magnus, if he could…)

Clary and Izzy had both been worried, when he said he’d be going ‘out’ for the day, but they hadn’t said anything.

Izzy especially hadn’t needed to, he could see it in her eyes, the fear that he wouldn’t come back, now that he didn’t have an anchor anymore, didn’t have Jace or Magnus; she still didn’t realize that she had always been just as important to him, so important he hadn’t needed any extra ties to bind them together, to make it some sort of “official” for other people.

He didn’t know of any other way to tell her that she’d believe, anything beyond the way they’d lived their lives, so he just kissed the top of her head, her hair catching against his lips. She was dyeing it a lovely purple-blue this month, but for all she could stop the natural grey from showing, it felt different, thicker, coarser, in contrast to the way the skin around her eyes was softer, thinner and fragile.

Magnus’ hair and skin had never changed, not in almost forty years.

Nothing about him had changed, except his smile, which only got warmer and softer, except his eyes, which got darker as he watched Alec age, as he knew their time was growing shorter.

Neither of them had ever planned for this.

Well. Magnus had planned, they’d both planned, they had updated wills and everything, but neither of them had ever really believed… 

Alec sighed, and let himself relax into his chair, his toes digging into the sand as he stared up at the stars scattered through the sky above him, listened to the sound of the ocean rolling in and out only a few yards past his feet. 

They’d always loved this beach, for whenever they got a few days free. Some tiny little island off most of the shipping routes in Indonesia. Not near where Magnus had grown up, but still almost home, or what home could have been in a better world.

Clary had taught Alec the portal rune, after Magnus…

She taught him bits at a time, spread it out over about a week, so she never actually drew the whole rune herself. It was a method she’d mastered over the years, until almost every Nephilim who’d come through the New York Institute knew the half of the Alliance Rune that they’d need to draw on themselves.

(She’d taught the other half to the Downworlders directly, so it would always be their choice, never up to only a Shadowhunter.)

She never shared the Portal rune though, said she wanted to keep the Clave at least a little humble, make them pay the Warlocks for their trouble.

Magnus had laughed, and kissed her cheek… and talked most of the Warlocks around the world into adding a commission charge to their Portals, and giving the total to Clary each year on her birthday. 

(The first year her eyes had widened and she’d missed the chair trying to sit down, landing on the floor with her hand over her mouth. Alec was pretty sure it was the only time he’d ever seen her speechless.)

She’d used it to set up a referral network, safe houses and foster parents, counselors and doctors and cops who knew about the Shadow World. She spent most of her time on it now, (in-between her daily arguments with the current Counsel and Inquisitor), now that she’d retired from field work.

Alec huffed out a breath, and closed his eyes. He couldn’t focus. Didn’t really want to, didn’t want to… 

He opened them up again, rather than let himself remember Magnus again, how he’d looked when…

It was better to remember him from before.

“I miss you.” Alec blinked until the stars came back into focus. “I don’t know how to do this. Don’t know how to be, anything, without you here.”

Especially today. 

He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out the small box that had been poking into his side. He traced the edges, but didn’t open it. He couldn’t decide if it was a comfort or not, that the present he’d ordered for their anniversary had arrived right on time, as if he still had someone to give it to, still had…

As if he still had Magnus.

He’d always still have Magnus in his heart, but on days like today that didn’t help. He put the box back in his pocket. It was just a charm for Magnus’ collection, a silver and gold lucky cat waving its paw. Their anniversary had always been more about spending time together than presents.

“How terrible of me is it that for all I’d never wanted to leave you, to make you feel like this, I was glad I wouldn’t have to do the very thing I kept asking you to do, would never have to learn how to live on without you?” Alec watched the sky blur as tears welled up, didn’t even bother to try and wipe them away. “I wanted you to learn how to be happy again, but I can’t… I can’t imagine ever doing that myself.” It had been a bit of a guilty comfort over the years, in fact, knowing that he wouldn’t have to try.

Showed what he’d known. 

At least I won’t have to try for as long as you would have, Magnus. 

He snorted. That was awful, and the only person who would have laughed at the desperate dark humor of it all with him was dead. 

He swallowed, closed his eyes and leaned forward, trying to keep the ache in his chest from spreading so far he’d break apart from it. 

He’d promised, and he was trying, he was, but he didn’t know how. 

‘You don’t have to know, darling.’ He could still hear Magnus’ voice every time he closed his eyes, knew what his hand would feel like as he rubbed Alec’s spine to try and soothe him, still almost felt the weight of him on the other side of the bed when he tried to sleep. ‘You just have to keep trying. You’re better at that than anyone I’ve ever known.’ 

“Only when I had you to help,” Alec whispered. It was probably a bad sign he kept having one-sided conversations with his dead husband, but at least he’d managed to only have them in private. 

At least he knew they weren’t real.

“I’m a mess, but not that much of a disaster.”

Yet.

“I’m afraid, Magnus.” He didn’t want to let anyone down, the people who were still around, or the ones that were already gone, but. “There’s only so many times I’ll be able to pick myself back up again on my own.”

‘That’s fine. As many as you can is good enough.’ 

Alec smiled. He sighed, and leaned back again. He let his hand fall, swiped down the leg of the chair until he found his bottle of beer. He lifted it up, a toast to the sky, to everything beyond it. 

To everyone he missed. 

“As long as I can.” He took a sip. “You always were nicer to me than I ever managed to be to myself. Nicer than I deserved.”

His lips twitched as he pictured Magnus rolling his eyes. ‘No such thing, Alexander.’

“To another year of your memory, of my life.” He sighed. “I’ve got a few more tries in me, I guess. For Izzy, for you. Even for Clary.”

‘Not for yourself?’ 

Alec didn’t bother to answer that one, not even in his own head. “I love you.”

‘I love you, too.’

He lifted the bottle and tilted his head all the way back, finished the last of his drink. Until next year. 

[lothirielswanmarvel]

Love and Alex Russo’s Bitchy Pills [13]

Continue the journey of Avengers: Love and Lightning here, part II of new series, The Collector’s Cosmic Romance Saga! Love, fortune and glory to you!!

~*~

Thor was right on one thing: sickness did tremble before him. After hours of naps and cuddling (and the discovery that it was impossible to gross out Thor) I could actually breathe again through my nose. The plague was just a twenty-four hour thing, but I couldn't say the same for the cramps.

The Avengers returned later, and judging by the glum looks, we hadn't made any progress.

“I never thought I’d say this, but, I think I prefer fighting Loki instead,” Steve muttered and walked up to us. Thor’s arm was wrapped around my waist while I held Loki the Cat. I still had to explain that, somehow.

Steve scratched underneath Loki the Cat’s chin. I couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like Loki had an amused expression.

“There’s too many people here from the holidays,” Rhodey remarked, easing onto one of the armchairs. A sheen of sweat glittered across his forehead.

Natasha’s eyes narrowed at Thor’s arm around my waist. She made a soft “hmm” sound and looked away. She was smirking.

“Why are you smiling?” Sam asked her.

“ ‘Cause Clint and Tony owe me money.”

I decided not to comment, although I was sure that my new relationship with Thor had been gambled on. Steve and Rhodey exchanged a few bucks.

Stephen approached us next. His gaze drifted to me first, “How do you feel?”

“Better, thanks.” I had endless apologies lined up on my tongue, for my sucky immune system and stealing Thor from everyone. But I didn't want to linger on it. “Where to next?”

“The trail went east,” Stephen explained. “The sooner we get out of this city, the better.”

~G R E E C E~

“I think I should stay with Evangeline. Amora picked her out before, I think the Strongest Avenger should be by her side,” Thor said, practically bursting with confidence. His voice boomed slightly against the gleaming white walls of the alleyway.

Stephen looked between the two of us. “The only reason I'm allowing this is because it could work to our advantage. It might draw out Amora.”

Scott was back and part of the new group. He was off to the side, nodding along with Natasha. “I ship them so hard. What should be their ship name? Evor? Thoreline—? The last one kinda sounds like a hair product, that could work.”

“We can hear you, Scott.”

“Sorry, Gelo—oh! Gelo! Sounds like jello.”

“We’ll set up a perimeter,” Sam said, thrusting up his hood as he went into incognito mode. “I miss my wings.”

The Avengers started to empty the alleyway one by one. Stephen came up to me, “Could I speak with you alone for a minute, please?”

I felt Thor’s grip slightly tighten on my waist. I glanced up at him. He was wearing that full-lipped, too-placid smile.

“Can I catch up with you after?” I said.

“Of course,” Thor’s fake smile seemed to grow wider. He leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek. He stared down at me for a second too long.

Thor’s arm dropped from my waist. I listened to his loud, thunderous steps as he left. Loki the Cat wiggled out of my grasp and followed him, casting a warning glare back at me.

We were alone in the alleyway. A cool dampness pressed against me in the absence of Thor’s warmth. Most buildings in the city were a gleaming white, like they were made of pearl. The alleyway was much more dank and grimy.

“Never thought you would fall for a guy so grandstanding,” Stephen remarked.

“I put up with you,” I pointed out.

Stephen’s face broke into a smile. “Fair enough. I have something for you. A little Valentine’s Day gift,”

He held out an unwrapped box. I flipped it over. I smirked at the cover.

“Claritin,” I read out loud, laughing as I did so. “Thank you. That's very thoughtful. I'm sorry, Stephen, but I didn't get you anything.”

He dismissed it. “It doesn't matter. But I had to do something, because you are the most important woman in my life.”

My gaze snapped back to him. “That's very...sweet.”

“Not in that way,” He explained as he read my facial expression. “You are the one woman in my life that I will never sleep with, and that’s a good thing—and that came out wrong, dammit.”

“Stephen, I don't understand. And it's not because I haven't taken one of these yet,” I lightly shook the box of Claritin.

He sighed. “Look, let me start from the beginning. I have no romantic feelings for you. At all. Whatsoever. You are the one woman I’ve seen in a while as a friend, and that friendship keeps me sane.”

I studied Stephen very carefully. We spent a lot of time together, but I never saw it as anything more than that. We were close; that was all.

He continued, “I'm happy for you and him. I really am, I just...I’m not ready to lose you yet.”

My face scrunched up at his words. “What do you mean? Lose me?”

“Angie, Thor’s not from Earth. Who knows how long he's sticking around, and you’ll probably go with him, and—” He paused, taking a deep breath. “You’re the one person who gets...all of this. You get the weirdness. And you’re the only person I can talk to without sounding like I'm addicted to LSD. You’re the only part left of my life that’s human.”

There were too many details to take in. I focused on the one that scared me the most. “Thor's leaving?”

Stephen huffed, and paced the small alleyway. “He has to. He's the prince of an entire race, Angie—did you really think he would stay?”

The realization stung. I bit my lip. I whispered, “I didn't think that far ahead.”

Suddenly I was thinking of Jane. Thor had left her for two years. He came back, but only to hunt down Loki’s scepter and to fight Ultron. Thor was back in space, until I dragged him back to Earth with my cosmic engagement scandal. How long would he stay?

I could go with him. I could leave Earth. And in the process, I would abandon my broken Avengers, and my poor aunt. My cupcake business, all of my contacts...my future. It would be left behind.

“I don't think I’ll leave with him,” I croaked. I would endure the pain. I was an independent person, anyway. I had my own life. I wasn't living for someone else—but the new anticipation for Thor’s absence was excruciating.

Stephen stopped pacing. I knew he was relieved, but he wasn't smiling. Stephen spoke in a gentle tone, that was otherworldly to his usual formal, croaky voice, “It's probably for the best. It’s safer. It would be easier to end it now, in the beginning—”

“End it?” I hissed. End it...end the kisses that tickled from Thor’s stubble. End the near-constant handholds and the huge smiles. End the reign of the sun, right when dawn just broke across the horizon.

Stephen nodded hesitantly. “It's not a healthy relationship, Evie. Thor lives a dangerous life—”

“Oh, come on!” I threw up my hands. I didn't care if my voice was bouncing off the grimy stone walls, “That's the best you got? Are the Avengers too dangerous now? Are you too dangerous?”

“At least I stick to one planet,” Stephen remarked.

“Yeah, overlooking the other dimensions you flit to day by day!”

“That seems as ordinary as an office job, compared to you choosing to live your life with someone who will leave you, who won't age a day in a hundred years,” Stephen’s words were extra raspy as they flew out, without restriction. “the sex would probably kill you.”

He stopped abruptly. Either he realized the error of what he said, or it was because my hand whipped across his face.

I was starting to feel sick, but not in the way I had the last twenty-four hours. My insides were gnarled and twisted, like a garden infested with weeds.

My hand lowered to my side, and I curled it back into a fist. Stephen’s face was still slightly turned to the side from my slap. His gaze eventually lifted to mine.

“It's my life. It's none of your business.” I said in a stern, venomous tone.

“I'm sorry. I was out of line.” Stephen’s voice sounded strangled and wounded.

“Out of line—? Should’ve given me aspirin instead!” I remarked, holding up the claritin.

“...Actually, I could prescribe something.”

“I would say to stick you on something, but I don't know what would make this better!” I gestured at all of him.

I stomped off, and yelled without looking back at him, “Let me know when you stop taking Alex Russo’s bitchy pills!”

“They’re strawberry flavored.”

“Oh, shut up!”

~Author’s Note~

Tony Stark: Stephen, I like to think of myself as a woman expert, and after provoking a woman during the wrong time of the month, you should leave the country.

Stephen Strange: Should I really be taking advice from someone who just got dumped on their ass?

Scott Lang: Pepper left him :( Poor guy, he's spending Valentine's Day all alone...good thing we're here!!

Tony Stark: Yes. Terrific.

Peter Quill: Okay dudes, but we all know who the TRUE woman expert is here.

Thor: You are right, Quill.

Peter Quill: That's a first. Thanks, man—

Thor: It's me :D

Wanda Maximoff: Did it ever occur to you morons that a woman expert is a woman?

Shuri: Americans. Aliens. They are all the same. Literally, I cannot tell them apart. Love, fortune and glory to you, Awesome Adventurers!!

[lindoig5]

Days 6 to 9   Wednesday to Saturday – the wild, wild sea!

Four days at sea – most of it as rough as we have ever experienced before.

Once we were out of the lee of Campbell Island, it became very hard to get around the ship and almost everyone spent most of the first couple of days in bed, sleeping or reading. I spent quite a bit of time in the Bridge looking for birds and whales and the sea was quite extraordinary. There was a rolling swell, probably only 2-3 metres high, but there were constantly seeming upwellings when a peak of water would erupt from the waves upsetting any chance of bracing oneself against it.  I imagine regular seafarers would not notice it, but it seemed to me that with no good cause, a couple of hundred square metres of water simply bulged upwards a couple of metres from its surrounds and rocked the ship violently as it ploughed into it.  We were mostly driving at a shallow angle to the swell resulting in quite long distances surfing the side of the wave and it was quite scary watching the bow surge into the deep until a mere metre of freeboard was visible – and then the wave lifted us so that we couldn’t see the horizon ahead at all because the bow was pointing to the stars.  They altered course a little each time we had a meal in an endeavour to stabilise the dining area a little, but at night, we were either sliding from one end of the bunk to the other or hanging on tight to avoid being tossed sideways onto the floor. The ship is capable of 12.5 knots but slowed to under 5 at times to make our passage a little smoother.  (A few days later, we were sailing along at 15-plus knots with a following current in calmer waters.)  Quite exciting, but many people were very sick and everyone is carrying multiple injuries from bruises to cuts and abrasions.

After a couple of days, the seas abated a little and they decided that it was safe enough to put on a few lectures.  They had a recap session talking about the things people saw on Campbell Island but also had a lecture on the identification of many of the seabirds we are likely to see – quite interesting but far more information that any of us could possibly take in.  At least some of us picked up a few broad pointers that helped us find the right section in our various field guides to start the process.  They also had a film about the Rat Eradication Project that freed Campbell Island entirely of rats.  New Zealand really has had some remarkable, even extraordinary, successes in ridding some of its islands of feral pests – cats, rats, mice, rabbits and foxes mainly.  Stoats, weasels and Aussie possums are still a major problem on the mainland and a few remaining islands.

We have also had three lectures about the history of Antarctic exploration – not particularly well presented but interesting to us having just listened to a talking book covering quite a bit of the same information.  They have shown both episodes of David Attenborough’s Life in the Freezer and two parts of a film about the development of a series of clocks that enabled mariners to determine their longitude.  This was pretty important as it happens.  We later heard about a series of dreadful shipwrecks on Auckland Island that had been clearly mapped – a mere 56 nautical miles from where it actually is!

Friday was Valentine’s Day, an event mentioned in passing by a few people, but no new relationships seem to have blossomed from the day.  But we crossed the 60 degrees South Latitude around noon (a much more significant event), thereby entering the official internationally regulated Antarctic Region.

We woke to our first sub-zero temperatures on Saturday and saw our first iceberg a couple of hours later. There was a competition to guess when we would see the first one and the woman who won (another Heather) guessed it to be at 10am – it was about 10.30 but I think it was rigged.  I reckon it must have been a fake iceberg tethered in place because it was another two days before we saw our second (and our hundredth) one.

A few people saw what they thought were porpoises and I saw a whale (as did the guy standing next to me). We didn’t know what species it was, but when I described it to Dan, our number one naturalist, and modified the sketch he drew to indicate his best guess as to what it was, he immediately said my description and modified drawing was conclusive - the best description he has seen for an adult female long-finned pilot whale – a big tick for me!

That day, we had lectures on the Great White Land and the Ross Sea Region, good preparation for our upcoming encounter with the real thing.

Each evening a small selection of expeditioners are invited to dine with a key staff member and we were invited to Dan’s table.  Apart from getting a free glass of wine, we had a fascinating discussion with him – he is very knowledgeable, much travelled and a really nice guy.  Immediately before dinner, we gathered in the bar to celebrate our entry into the Antarctic Zone, encountering our first iceberg and something else that I can’t recall.  I am sure it was an important celebration, but it obviously got forgotten in the great discussions we had with Dan over dinner.  We discussed all sorts of things about the Antarctic, natural science, flora and fauna, adventure travel, other places any of us had been and anything else that happened to crop up.

[turtle-steverogers]

race is a flat earther and al wants to die

when i planned this fic this morning it was a lot more stupid and shit

but then this happened

so im sorry ig

warnings: none really. but angst kinda ig sorta

ship: ehhhhhh ralbert....

word count: 1030 how satisfying

His hand was wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, eyes trained on the road ahead of him, only flicking away every so often to check the rearview mirror.  It was nighttime, meaning it was easy to lose oneself in the daunting shadows of the streets, threatening to pull you under with its strength.  

Silence suffocated the atmosphere as it had often done in the past few months.  Lips stuck together, struggling to make conversation though it had once been easy.  Two hearts that had once been adjoined drifting apart by the second.  Was it a blessing or a curse?  A relief or a burden?  The answers were unclear, but they had a mutual understanding of the shared feeling.  Whatever they had was drawing to a close.  It was weirdly sickening.  Disheartening.  Feeling the grasp of something so strong slipping between their fingertips as their hands that once gripped the other’s so tight barely brushed at the edges.  It was like holding water in open hands.  

They drove in circles around their town, their stomachs full from dinner.  It was Valentine’s day and almost out of sheer obligation, and partly from literal desire, they’d decided upon a date night.  It had been a while since they had done something together, anyway.  

The night was going smoothly.  No petty arguments.  No fuck-ups or frayed ends fraying further.  It was almost like old times.  Almost.

They passed a road sign with a large, cheesy photo of the Earth on it, along with some stupid advertisement for water, and Race smiled sadly, brain wandering as a new memory invaded his mind.

“So, the Earth is flat.”

Albert groaned, letting his book drop to his lap as he scrubbed a hand over his face.

“You’re literally an astrophysics major,” Albert sighed, keeping his palms pressed over his eyes as he fought the impending headache that threatened his skull, “don’t come at me with this shit.”

“Oh come oooonnnn,” Race whined, “Think about it!  People all around the globe support this theory!”

Albert lifted his head, a bemused look etched on his face.  He opened and closed his mouth a few times before scrunching up his eyes and shaking his head.

Race bit back the urge to laugh, Albert’s reaction already better than he had imagined.

“Race, baby,” He sat up, guiding Race to sit down next to him and leaning forward to rub his temples, “I want you to say that last sentence again, but say it slowly.  People all around the globe support it?”

Race couldn’t help the spurt of giggles that passed his lips, his face sprouting into a giddy grin, “Sorry, babe, sorry,” he managed between laughs, noticing that Albert was watching him with an exasperatedly amused expression, “I just wanted to see your reaction.”

Albert studied him for a moment longer, then scoffed and picked his book back up, “You give me pain, love.”

Race situated himself so that he was tucked into Albert’s side and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Yeah, but you love me, so…”

Albert’s gaze didn’t shift from his book, but his smile turned into something a little more genuine, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

The boys in the memory seemed to differ immensely from the boys who sat in the front seat of Race’s old RAV4 now.  They had been more carefree.  More open with each other.  Less scared to say something wrong.  But at the same time, more scared.  Less resilient to when his right to speak up was thwarted.  He had grown to be more guarded with himself.  To hold his ground better, despite how detrimental standing up for himself seemed to be.

They passed a train station and another memory resurfaced, the intimacy of that moment making it almost more painful.

Albert’s lips were soft against his, hands gripping his biceps as they kissed slowly.  It was well past midnight.  Long since the time when other pedestrians swarmed the area, looking to go home after a long day of work.  

They were alone, their solitude invigorating.

Albert lifted his hand, lacing his fingers into the back of Race’s hair and deepening their kiss.  They were close, warm, happy.  In love.

He wasn’t sure how long they had been there, listening to music and talking before losing themselves in each other, but it was amazing.  Every stupid, cheesy love movie made sense in that moment.  It was cliche, but real and raw and Race couldn’t be happier.

Albert pulled away and they broke apart completely, chests heaving and eyes glinting.  

Albert traced his fingers lovingly along Race’s jaw, placing another, softer kiss on his lips.  Race allowed his eyes to flutter shut again.

“My god, I’m in love with you,” Albert murmured, voice barely audible.

Race leaned his forehead against Albert’s, “I’m in love with you, too.”

Race swallowed, emotion rising in his throat.  He missed it.  He missed the long kisses and the strong embraces.  He missed them.  

The urge to reach out and take hold of Albert’s hand soon became too much to bear and he shifted his arm over the console.  He could see Albert’s look of surprise in his peripheral when he intertwined their fingers, but he stayed adamant and a moment later, he felt Albert squeeze back, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles.  Just like old times.

So why didn’t it feel like it?

He rounded the turn into Albert’s neighborhood, driving on mental autopilot to the house he’d driven to so many times.  He pulled up gradually, putting the car in park almost reluctantly.  Almost.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Tonight was fun,” Race said, breaking the quiet.

Albert looked at him, smiling.  It didn’t look right.

“Yeah, it was really nice.”

His remark was genuine, but scripted.  

“I love you,” Race said, leaning forward to peck Albert on the lips, “Happy Valentine’s day.”

Albert reciprocated, but the warm feeling that once accompanied the motion was nonexistent, a weird pang of sadness taking its place.

“I love you, too,” Albert said, opening the car door, “Drive home safe.  Happy Valentine’s day.”

Race waved, watching as he walked to his front door.  They knew where they stood, but god did it hurt.

-

*hi wait this is me ten minutes after posting i edited it cuz i forgot to italicize memories lmao*

so happy valentine’s day lol

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

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[longliveninokuni]

Love Letters

Part of the EOA Ship Appreciation Week on Discord.

It's time for the Festival of Love: where Avalorans give letters to the people they love. But what happens when Naomi gets a letter from the anonymous person who usually gives her one asks her to meet in person? Will she meet them? Who could this secret admirer be?

Ff.net link if you prefer: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13207795/1/Love-Letters

A/N: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Also, I'm sorry that I'm getting this story to you just now, yesterday's story was tough to write. So, I'm saying I just finished this story. Today's theme is "Valentine's Day," but I don't recall if the Ever Realm celebrated it. So I came up with another holiday to compensate. Enjoy! And hopefully, tomorrow's story will also be finished tomorrow.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based, fanfiction. Elena of Avalor is owned by the Walt Disney Corporation and Craig Gerber. Lady Elma is my OC; thus she belongs to me. Please support the official release.

"Aww, did the loser not get any letters for the love festival? Boohoo. Hahaha!" Said one of the many bullies Naomi must deal with daily.

In Avalor there is currently a festival going on for the day: The Festival of Love. No, not the one associated with Dia de Los Muertos. This one, this is associated with showing love to those who have meaning to you, be they friend, family, or lover. And at the end of the day, there is always a ball where the people can gather and dance with the people they love and cherish.

But before that, every citizen gives letters to the people they love, be they platonic or romantic. It helps sets the mood for the ball.

Naomi, however, has never gotten any letters, except her friends and parents. She was always sad, especially during her first festival. No one from school gave her letters.

But then she got her first letter that wasn't from her friends or her parents. "You look better when you smile." It read, and in the bottom corner was a drawing of her smiling. No one signed it, and she didn't recognize the handwriting. It was her favorite letter. And when she showed it to everyone in the palace, they were all thrilled. Estéban however only came up with a snarky remark but kept it in his usual teasing tone.

Her second one, she got another letter from the same person. "Did you have to score the winning point in olaball? Now I have to be impressed." Then there was a drawing of her scoring the winning point in olaball. It was still her favorite. But while she did get a letter on her third one, this one complementing her book smarts with a drawing of her sleeping face down in a book, she got another letter from a guy in her school who wanted to dance with her at the ball. She was excited and said yes, making some of her female bullies jealous.

During the ball, the two danced and were having fun, but then the guy pulled her out of the ballroom to a random hallway and tried to push himself on her. He only wanted to bed her. Naomi didn't want it, she tried to push him off, but he had a knife. He cut her cheek a little, enough to draw blood, and warned her to stay still and let it happen. Before he could use his knife to cut her dress, his hand was stopped by another one, and it was squeezing the boy's hand painfully tight. When the two looked over, it was Estéban who had stopped the boy's hand. And he was giving the guy a death glare. "If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in the dungeon for assaulting a member of the Grand Council, then I suggest you stop what you're doing right now and leave." He said in a low, threatening voice — all while tightening his grip. The boy shakenly nods his head and was in tears.

Estéban scoffs and lets's go of the boy, letting him run off. He then turned to Naomi, who's been crying tears of fear. Estéban pulled out his handkerchief and carefully wiped her blood and tears off of her cheek. "Let's get this blood off you, get rid of the tears, then make your schoolmates jealous of your dancing." Naomi raised a brow. "You don't think I know what's been going on? When it comes to unnecessary pettiness, I think I take the crown." He smirked at Naomi's small giggle then holds out a hand. "Shall we?" And the two danced better than everyone from her school.

That was a good year, but now Naomi faces a new dilemma. "I want to meet you face to face tonight at the ball. Meet me at the fountain in the palace gardens at 6:00." Along with the info was a drawing of a rose in bloom. Naomi has no idea what to do. Should she meet him? Well, of course, he could be the love of her life. Or she. She's not one to judge.

"Ms. Turner, if you could so kind as to stop focusing on your letter, and start focusing on the task at hand, that would be splendid." Estéban just had to ruin her mental conversation, but he was right. Right now, they were discussing new ideas for tonight's ball.

"Hey, blame whoever left the letter here on my section of the table." Naomi found her letter here in the council room, along with everyone else.

Estéban growls but backs off and went back to discussing what ideas could be included in this year's Festival of Love.

Naomi tried to focus, but she couldn't. She kept thinking of who the author of these letters could be. Sure, there were only four, but she's already smitten with whoever wrote them. I wonder if they're anyone I know? She thought.

"MS. TURNER!" Ah, she's been caught daydreaming again.

"Naomi, we should get you a new dress for tonight's ball." Elena said out of the blue after the meeting. The only thing they could add to the ball this year was new food and a showcase of the letters given hanging from the ceiling.

Naomi raised a brow. "What? Why?"

Elena winked. "Because I want to see you in a new dress. You wear the same big purple dress to all the formal balls, and while it looks good, you can do better."

"But, you also-"

"No time to argue, I know of a new boutique that has gorgeous dresses. Let's go!" Elena said in a rush, leaving no room for Naomi to argue or refuse as she pushes her along.

When the two reached the shop, they were both amazed by the sight: dresses in different colors, body types, style, and most notably…

"No hoop skirts." Naomi stated. Yes, none of these dresses have the hooped skirts that most formal dresses usually have. All these dresses seem to fit the bodice from head to toe. "What is this?"

"The future of dress fashion." Said a voice. Then a woman came up from the back of the store. She has short dark green hair, glasses, blue eyes, wearing a plain orange apron, slippers, a long-sleeved yellow shirt, black pants, and is sucking a lollipop. She gives the women an intense stare. "Hoop skirts are out. Old fashioned. Dead. These dresses will make any man, or woman, crumble to their knees at the sheer beauty anyone would give off when wearing my designs."

Naomi was getting nervous. "Uh, Elena…?"

Elena however just pushed Naomi to stand in front of the woman. "Hi, I'm Elena, and my best friend Naomi needs a dress for the ball tonight!"

The woman looks over Naomi with a critical eye. "Hmm." She strikes her chin in thought. A few moments later, she snaps her fingers. "I got it." She grabs Naomi's wrist and pulls her. "Come! Fashion waits for no one!" And the two disappear to the back.

An hour later, the store owner came out with Naomi to show Elena the dress. "Well?"

Elena's eyes lit up, and she smiles big. "Oooh, Naomi, when your secret admirer sees you, they'll be fawning all over you!" She then turns to the store owner. "Thank you so much Lady Elma."

Lady Elma pushed her glasses. "Of course, I do my best." She then gets angry. "To rid this world of THE DREADED HOOPED SKIRTS!" She yells. She then feels a pull on her sleeve. She calms down and turns to the source, Naomi. "Yeah?"

"Uhh, where's the corset?"

"There isn't one. Those things are dreadful and unnecessary. My design is made to be sure of that." Lady Elma explained.

Naomi whimpers while Elena pays for the dress and thanks Lady Elma again.

It was now an hour before Naomi meets her secret admirer, and she's nervous. Especially with her dress. It seems too revealing; it leaves her whole back uncovered, and the only thing keeping it up is the tie at the back of her neck. She's blushing hard. "Elena, are you sure this dress isn't too...risqué?"

Elena smiled. "No, not at all, your secret admirer would fall to their knees and beg you to be with them."

Naomi sneered. "Elena, why are you so insisted that they'll react that way?" Then she gasps and points an accusing finger at her. "Do you know who it is?!"

Elena shifted her eyes. "Whaaaat? Nooooo. I don't know who it is." She scoffs, then stands. "Well you should get going, you're about to see the love of your life, bye!" And she ran.

Naomi groans and looks back at the mirror. "Well, guess I should get going." Then she leaves.

It was now 5:58 PM. And Naomi's starting to doubt herself. What if this person is pranking her? Or worse, what if they only want her for other stuff? What if they were in love with her then decide not to be once they see her in person?

It was now 5:59. Naomi takes a deep breath. "Okay, no need to panic. If they turn out to be a jerk, kick them in the shin and run." That's what Estéban told her to do the next time someone assaults her. Naomi cracks her neck, then looks at the time.

It's now 6:00 — time to get out there.

And when she does, her eyes widen in surprise, and she gasps. Standing in front of the fountain is Estéban. And when he looks at her, his face is immediately covered in a blush.

Naomi's stammering. "Uh, eh, Estéban? You wrote the letters? You?" She's also blushing.

Estéban cleared his throat and looked away, but still blushing. "...Yes." He said quietly, but Naomi still heard.

"Wha-What? Huh? Why? Was this all some sick prank?" She was starting to panic.

Estéban looked back at her, shocked. "What? No! It- well- ugh." He groans. He takes a deep breath, then exhales. "I was only trying to help."

During the first Festival of Love since Shuriki's supposed demise, Estéban immediately gave his letters to his family. Forty-one years of not seeing them and thinking one of them was dead can really do a person in. And after each letter was given, he'd give the family member a hug, which surprised all of them, but they returned the gesture. He didn't feel the need to give any more letters to anyone else.

But then he saw Naomi. She was down since no one from her school gave her a letter, probably due to jealousy. She didn't argue with him on anything, no matter how much he teased her. It gave him a strange feeling, seeing her so down. He deduced it to either pity or relatability. Yes, there was a time when Estéban never got letters from people other than his family. These days, he knows that the family ones are all that should matter. But Naomi? She's a teenager; it matters to her. Might not matter later, but it mattered at the time.

So, he decided to leave an anonymous letter for her. Anonymous because he doesn't want her teasing remarks about him caring about her or something like that. It's only so she can focus on Council meetings...and maybe their usual banter. Same thing for the second year, but this one he meant. He really was impressed with her winning the olaball match. But he would never admit it aloud.

But things changed when the third year happened. He wasn't jealous when she got a letter from a supposedly popular boy in her school; he was happy for her, which was weird because he didn't really care about her personal life. Must've been the festival. He didn't feel anything when he saw them dancing together. But when that boy pulled her out of the ballroom, he got a bad feeling. He didn't know why he just did. So, he followed them. So, when he saw that idiota forcing himself on her when he saw her bleeding, her terrified face, her tears, something in him snapped. He. Was. PISSED. Before he knew it, he had grabbed the boy's hand in a painful grip. And when the boy ran off, he was surprised that he helped clean her face. Even more surprised that he offered to dance with her. And when they danced, he realized why he cared, why he wrote the first letter, why he kept writing them, why he's dancing with her now to make her schoolmates jealous. He wasn't pitying her, or because he related to her situation. He likes her. No, he loves her. But he can't love her, she's too young, and he's too old! They would never work.

Then Doña Paloma noticed him sulking a couple of weeks after and pressed for information. The response…

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA! YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH NAOMI?! AHAHAHA! What's next, you ask her to marry you?" She continues to laugh for ten minutes.

Estéban growled. "You don't need to laugh; I already feel awkward about it. And no, I'm not going to marry her. I won't even seek a relationship with her!"

That got Doña Paloma to calm down. "Really? I thought you would."

Estéban looked at her wide-eyed. "Have you lost your mind?! I'm too old for her! She's too young for me! It would never work, much less be appropriate."

"NOT TRUE!" Yelled a voice from the back of the store. When they both turned, they saw a lollipop-less Lady Elma, who back then was just Elma. She then pointed to Estéban. "Love like yours can be very appropriate and can work! I've seen it back in my old kingdom. I've met it back at my old kingdom. The King has done it back in my old kingdom."

Estéban looked at Doña Paloma. "You know her?"

Doña Paloma shrugged. "She came in looking for fabrics."

"DO NOT SPEAK LIKE I'M NOT HERE!" She yelled.

Estéban sighed and turned to Elma. "Okay, how were these people able to do so?"

"Simple, just need to know three things." She held up three fingers.

"And those things are?" Doña Paloma asked, now intrigued with the situation.

"One: Do you love her?"

Estéban is silent, but his face is super red. "Uhh, maybe?"

"Maybe is not an answer; yes or no only."

Estéban groans then covers his eyes with his left hand. "Yes."

"Two: Is she a legal adult in terms of your laws?"

Estéban sighs. "No, but she will be in May."

"And three, and this is the most important part: Do you intend to harm her in any way, shape, or form?"

Estéban looked up at her with wide eyes. "What? No! Even if I didn't have these feelings, I would never want to harm her!"

"Then why are you questioning on what to do? You just answered your problems." Elma said.

Estéban and Doña Paloma stood dumbfounded. This random woman came up and solved Estéban's problem as if it was a simple question. Huh.

Elma then turned to Doña Paloma. "Also, do you know where I can find crystals that can be sewn onto fabric?"

So, now that Estéban acknowledges his want to be with Naomi, he's developed a plan. It won't happen in May, that's too soon. No, it'll happen the same way he did for the past three years: The Festival of Love.

And that's how he came up with the plan: Plant the letter on her table section, meet her in person, and see if she also wants to pursue this relationship. There was just one flaw in the plan.

"ESTÉBAN?! YOU'RE NAOMI'S SECRET ADMIRER?!" Elena yelled. Yup, Elena walked into the Grand Council room early so that Estéban wouldn't chew her out for being late.

Estéban stood there blushing, not knowing what to say. What to do. What to think. What will Elena do now that she knows Estéban is Naomi's "admirer?" "Are you mad?"

Elena grabbed the letter from him, grins mischievously, gave the letter back, and then ran out of the room.

"And now I see why she grinned so mischievously." He motions to Naomi's dress. "You look...beautiful." He's still blushing.

Naomi, however, is still standing in the entranceway to the garden in shock. Estéban, Estéban, wrote the letters. All of them. He's in love with her, her. She doesn't know what to do.

Estéban notices her hesitance and confusion, then sighs. "I get it. It's too much. We usually argue and tease each other, what good would a relationship be between us? And the age gap, it must be too much for you. I'll accept your rejection with dignity and leave you to your own devices for the rest of the night." He bows then turn to leave to another exit.

"Wait!" Estéban stops and turns to Naomi, who walked outside into the moonlight, making Estéban's breath escape him.

Her dress is a floor length, ocean blue dress that has the straps tied to the back of the neck. But what stunned him were the crystals that glimmered in the moonlight, making the dress and Naomi shine. It was astonishing. She was astonishing.

When Naomi finally reached him, she spoke. "Don't assume what I think just because I didn't answer! I was just...shocked that you wrote the letters."

Estéban smirked. "Because of who I am?"

"With me."

Estéban raised a brow.

"I know you write letters to your family every year; I know you aren't incapable of having feelings. I saw how you were last Navidad. It's just; we always do three things: fight, bicker, or tease each other." She looks down while blushing. "We rarely have moments where we're completely civil with one another; so of course, I was shocked."

Estéban shifted his eyes away. "And, the probability of us...courting?"

Naomi keeps looking down. Does she want this? Does she want to pursue a relationship with Estéban? She may have developed some feelings for him at last year's ball, but is it enough? Should she do it? Then a thought came to mind, and she smirked. Then she raised her head while smirking. "I don't know? You haven't asked me."

Estéban blinked. "Eh?"

Naomi snickers. "You didn't ask me out; you only wrote to meet you here at 6:00. And what's with all the 'probability' talk? You want my answer, ask me out."

Estéban stood shocked before also smirking and doing a partial bow. "Naomi?"

"Yes?"

"Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the ball this evening?"

Naomi raised a brow but was smiling coyly. "Just the ball?"

Estéban still smirked. "Well, I can't ask to court you before having an outing, now can I?" He offers his hand to her.

Naomi giggles. Then she meets his partial bow and grabs his hand. "Then yes, I will go to the ball with you."

Estéban smiles and kisses her hand. Then they both went to the ball.

The next year, Estéban personally gave his letter to Naomi.

"This has been a wonderful year, but should we possibly take it further?" And in the bottom corner is a drawing of a ring.

When Naomi lowered the letter, Estéban was on one knee holding out a ring.

The only answer he got was being tackled to the ground while getting kissed.

A/N: Finally! It's done! Now I just need to write the last one, and hopefully bring it to you guys before the day is over. Forgive me for being late! Hope you enjoyed the story, and try not to get yourself killed. ;)

[breziarchive]

(for boogaloo) laurlita, you know :)

i seem to have a habit of writing this ship from laura’s pov (listen she needs the love) but all the same i should try and kick that habit some day...hmmm...

valentine’s day boogaloo - guidelines - ko-fi

~~

Laura had gone to bed hours ago by this point. By all rights sheshould’ve been asleep, but that wasn’t the case by a long shot.Tossing and turning in bed, glancing at her humming computer, then atthe window where clouds gracefully moved across the moon outside,then to the shadows of her closet, she never seemed to give in tosleep. Frustrated, she finally reached for her cell phone restingjust by her bed on the floor and slid it open.

2:02 A.M.. Laura sighed in defeat and started scrolling through herapps. Most of her social media was quiet, as was to be expected, butone name had a small green circle next to it when most others weregray or red.

Aelita Stones.

Laura quirked an eyebrow. Aelita and her friend group were certainlyno strangers to keeping strange hours, but it was particularlyinteresting that she was awake when the rest weren’t. At the veryleast usually Jeremie—her presumed boyfriend—was awake, but hisname was grayed out entirely. Laura chewed her lip. There were alwayspuzzles to tackle in on the gaming apps—crosswords, adventuregames, the like. She could play until she felt her lids grow heavy.There was no reason she had to talk to someone.

Yet.

Yet her thumbs hovered over Aelita’s name, unsure and hesitant. Outof all the people, why her?

Laura swallowed. Whatever, right? It was something to do. She shotoff a hello, put her phone down, bunched her pillow in herface, and waited.

Her phone buzzed and she tried not to be embarrassed at the speed shelooked at it.

A simple ‘What’s up?’

Laura grimaced. For all her logical reasoning she hadn’t thoughtahead this far.

‘Can’t sleep,’ she wrote, ‘What about you?’

This time Laura stared at the screen to see the ellipses pop up tolet her know Aelita was typing.

‘Same, I guess.’

Laura stared, almost in a stupor, wondering if she should reply rightaway or wait. But then the ellipses popped up again and shehesitated.

‘What are you up to?’

She contemplated. Hours ago she had been studying, but for the lastwhile? Honestly nothing. Overcome with a need to impress her rival ingrades, Laura told half the truth.

‘Studying.’

The reply came quick.

‘This late?’

All of the sudden she felt like an idiot for being so uptight.Curling a lock of her hair tight in her fist she contemplated thenext response, then relented.

‘Not really. Can’t concentrate.’

She was satisfied with it for approximately two minutes before sherealized there were no big tests coming up and immediately her moodplummeted again. Why would she have trouble concentrating if therewasn’t something to worry about? Worse yet, she really needed todouble and triple check her replies before sending them, she must’velooked like a stuck-up brat to Aelita now more than ever.

It took her a while to even gather the courage to look at the nextreply. When she did her heart froze.

‘Maybe a shower will help you relax.’

For reasons she couldn’t discern, she started shaking. Strugglingwith too many typos to count that she had to go back and correct assoon as she saw them, thus making the message much more trouble thanit seemed worth, Laura finally sent it off and buried herself in herbedding to wait.

‘Do you mean for studying? Or for sleep?’

Her phone didn’t take long to buzz and for some reason she hatedthat.

‘Whatever you need. I think I need a shower myself.’

Oh.

How dare she, the thoughtcame at once. How dare she be so kind when they wereanything but towards each other?!Who did she think she is, her mother? Laura curled in a petulantball, stewing and grousing about it.

But a shower did sound nice.

Sheepishly gathering her things, sheexited her room and made her way to the showers. Her heart pounded,running through all the things she might say if Aelita were there.But when she opened the door,the shower room was empty andquiet. Exhaling, chastising herself for being silly, she quietly andgingerly chose a shower and turned the water on.

The sound and warmth lulled her intoa sense of relaxation, just as Aelita said it would. Laura foundherself humming lowly; no particular melody in mind, just a constantsound to showcase her utter relaxation. Standing under the water morethan she was bathing, she took every moment toenjoy purposefully doingnothing as opposed to wishing she was doing anything else—sleepingincluded.

After an hour it was finallytime to call it quits. Wrapping herself in her striped towel, shestepped into her sandals and shuffled out into the rest of thewashroom.

The steam was thick and in her foggyrelaxation she almost didn’t realize the girl in front of her untilthey almost collided. Laura sucked in a breath and stepped back,realizing she was face to face with none other than Aelita herself.

“Hey Laura,” she saidpleasantly—too pleasantly. It was almost infuriating! “Looks likeyou took me up on the advice,”

“Yes,” Laura answered,calculated, drawing her towel tighter around her. The steamdissipated with their breaths and she could see that Aelita lookedtired—truly tired.Too tired to bicker or fight, for sure. Laura felt a tingling in herfingers and she dug them into the edges of her towel.

“I guess I finally decided toshower as well,” she filled in the space, “Better than beingalone.”

Laurawished she couldn’t feel herself blush if she had to blush, butfortunately Aelita didn’t seem to notice. Surely she was onlytalking about the rush of the water, but the way she wordedit...Laura’s mind wandered and sent a jolt through her spine.

“Y-Yes.” she said again. Aelitanodded weakly and moved past her.

“Well. Hope you get some sleep.Good night, Laura.”

“A-Aelita—,” Laura said beforeshe could stop herself. Aelita turned around and perked an eyebrow.

“D-Do you want me to...um. Stayup?”

Aelita remained silent.

“You know…,” Laura inwardlycursed at her sudden unexplained inability to speak, “If you wantto talk?”

Calculations seemed to be goingthrough Aelita’s head and Laura felt herself grow hot withembarrassment. Unfortunately the heat didn’t leave her once Aelitasmiled and nodded. Duckingher head down as if her slicked back hair could cover her face, Laurabolted, slamming her door behind her and diving into her bed withouttaking the towel off.

There she curled, running over everypossible conversation in her head to keep her awake until her phonebuzzed again and she picked it up to talk to Aelita until they bothfelt too tired to carry on.

[stansrichie]

Valentine’s Disaster

prompt: “nobody’s ever sent me a valentine before…” by @littlerose13writes and “this would never have happened if you had just read the instructions.” by @daily-prompts 

ship: reddie 

warnings: none, just fluff & some cursing

a/n: not my gif, lowercase intended 

valentine’s message: this is dedicated to @africareddie for the secret admirer gift exchange! i hope you enjoy this little story and had an amazing valentine’s day <3 // @itfandomsecretadmirers

richie wasn’t the best chef. this was blatantly obvious to everyone in the loser’s club, as well as himself, but when the loser’s club decided to throw a valentine’s day party, richie insisted on baking the cake. nobody trusted richie enough to let him bake it on his own, but they also didn’t want to tell him he couldn’t so they decided volunteering eddie as his personal babysitter for the evening would suffice, much to eddie’s protest. eddie may have had a fat crush on richie, but that doesn’t mean he wanted to witness the greatest catastrophe of the year alone with the trashmouth himself. 

“hey richie, i don’t think you’re doing it right,” eddie said, peering into the large bowl that contained a multitude of ingredients that probably hadn’t been measured properly. it looked quite a mess, honestly. 

“hey eddie, i think i know what the fuck i’m doing. i don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but i was chosen to make the cake this year. not you!” he said, whisking the mixture intensely. eddie rolled his eyes and hopped down from the counter he was sitting on. “you weren’t chosen to bake the cake this year, you complained for a week until every had enough of your whining.” 

ignoring eddie, richie continued to mix the ingredients and pour the batter into the cake pan. “alright, hand me the lighter, eds,” richie said, motioning to eddie and looking at the boy with pride. eddie looked hesitantly at the lighter and then at richie before handing it off to the taller boy. “shouldn’t you read the directions? i don’t think you’re supposed to light the cake before you bake it, richie.” richie whipped around to face eddie, the lighter twirling around in his hand as he squinted his eyes. “eddie, eddie, eddie... someone with such grace and elegance and i have doesn’t need stupid ass instructions from a fuckin $5 box we bought at walmart. i know what the hell im doing, okay, i promise. this is gonna be the best valentine’s day cake you’ve ever had,” he said, flashing the brightest smile eddie had ever seen before. 

eddie thought it was not only too late, but also pretty wild to ask richie to be his valentine. he thought richie liked him, hell, the entire loser’s club had TOLD him richie liked him... so why hadn’t richie asked HIM yet? he got richie a small gift, a little more special than what he got the others, but not big enough to be seen as anything more than best friends in case richie didn’t share the same feelings. 

“hey richie... have you ever made someone a valentine present before? or bought someone a valentine?” eddie asked, watching richie try to light the cake. it was some kind of fire chocolate lava cake, and eddie was 100% positive he wasn’t supposed to light the cake AFTER it was fucking baked.

“no, not before i met you guys. i’ve never had anyone special enough to give one to,” richie said, shrugging his shoulders and attempting once again to light the cake. “this fucking lighter won’t work, what the hell,” he groaned in frustration, shaking the lighter up and down.

 “what about when someone has sent you a valentine. you’ve never given them anything in return?” eddie questioned. eddie himself had never had many friends before the loser’s club, but he always gave his mother something for valentine’s day. 

richie turned to look at eddie, giving him a look that was mixed with confusion and almost sadness. “nobody’s ever sent me a valentine before.” eddie didn’t know how to respond except by whispering a quiet oh. “don’t worry about it eds, valentine’s day is kinda dumb anyways,” richie said, a goofy grin playing on his lips. eddies eyebrows furrowed. “you really think it’s dumb? i think it’s nice to celebrate love with someone you... love.” richie blinked and looked around the kitchen of the tozier home. “well, i mean, if you don’t think it’s dumb then it’s not dumb,” he said, a red tint taking over his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck.

 richie turned his attention back to the cake, missing the matching redness that played on eddie’s cheeks and neck. not even a moment passed before eddie heard a loud swoosh and a scream. “EDDIE FUCK OH MY GOD EDDIE HELP HELP HELP THE FUCKING COUNTER IS ON FIRE EDDIE,” richie yelled, running around in circles while searching for something to put the fire out. 

“THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD JUST READ THE INSTRUCTIONS YOU FUCKING DUMBASS WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING RICHIE OH MY FUCKING GOD,” eddie yelled, grabbing the hose from the sink and spraying water in all directions as richie screamed. 

“MY FUCKING CAKE EDDIE STOP YOURE GONNA RUIN MY CA-“

 “SHUT THE FUCK UP, THE CAKE WAS RUINED THE MINUTE YOU STARTED MAKING IT AND NOW THE FUCKING COUNTER IS ON FIRE,” eddie screamed, cutting richie off. 

eddie finally got the fire to go down, the aftermath being a crusted over and soggy cake and a burnt countertop that none of the tozier family would probably notice. “now that you’re finally done playing aquaman, look what happened! my cake! it’s RUINED,” richie said, throwing his hands up and falling to his knees dramatically. “all i wanted to do was make one cake... just one cake,” he whispered mostly to himself and turning up to look at eddie with puppy-dog eyes. he hoped his dramatic attitude would distract the frantic boy from the fire he had just caused.

 “richie, now is not the fucking time or place, you just DESTROYED your countertop. IMAGINE IF YOU HAD LIT YOURSELF ON FIRE ONE VALENTINE’S DAY, THEN WHO WOULD I GIVE THIS FUCKING VALENTINE’S CARD TO?” eddie yelled, flailing his arms around. once eddie had realized what he said, he immediately stopped in his tracks and laughed awkwardly. “i mean, uhh, who would i- richie stop looking at me like that,” eddie cut himself off mid sentence and deadpanned once he realized richie was standing in front of him with the biggest smirk on his face. 

“i’m sorry, what was that, eddie? i don’t think i heard you correctly. what would happen if i lit myself on fire?” richie said, putting a hand behind his ear as if he were trying to hear something and leaning into eddie. 

“if you were to light yourself on fire you’d burst into flames and fucking die,” eddie said, pushing richie out of the way. richie laughed and grabbed eddie by the hand to keep him from walking away. “eddie wait, come on, what would happen?” eddie sighed and looked down at his feet. instead of repeating himself, he grabbed a small package that he had been keeping in his jacket pocket since that morning and handed it to richie. he had wanted to give it to richie at school first thing this morning but chickened out. richie slowly opened up the package and looked at the contents of the box: a cheesy valentine card and a gift card to the arcade. richie smiled to himself and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a crumbled envelope and handing it to the embarrassed boy in front of him. eddie cautiously took the envelope, kind of thinking it was a prank. inside was a handwritten note richie and a drawing of the two boys with a heart in the middle of them. eddie looked up to tell richie thank you, but was cut off my the curly headed boy’s lips touching his. 

“considering i just started a forest fire in my kitchen and the party starts in 15 minutes, i think we should probably go buy a cake because that baking shit isn’t happening,” richie said, happily tucking the present eddie had given him into his pocket. 

“uh, yeah... we should do that,” eddie said, coughing awkwardly and putting his gift in his pocket as well. richie grabbed eddie’s hand and pulled him towards the door. “i’m gonna tell the whole school you confessed your love to me after i made you a bomb ass cake for valentine’s day.” 

“yeah, you sure made a “bomb ass” cake alright. i’m gonna tell everyone the cake fucking exploded because you can’t cook,” eddie responded, following richie down the street. 

“fuck you, eddie. i did it out of love.”

[im-basically-logan]

Happy Density Day!

haha get it cuz the formula for density looks like a heart. I still dont know how to title things. Analogical V-Day fic anybody? (quick note- sorry if the pacing is sorta weird??? idk how story writing works. personally my favorite part is the last few paragraphs lmao)

Summary: Logan wants to give Virgil a poem for Valentine’s Day, but wants to make it as perfect as possible. Either way, Virgil loves it. Words: 2,796 Ship: Analogical, Royality (tho, it’s only briefly mentioned and analogical is the focus) TW: Kissing, sleeping at bad hours, uh... Patton tackles Roman playfully at one point Please send me an ask/message if I need to add a trigger. Genre: Fluff!!

@riverbendover @nokatai-realm @crowsketches @living-on-the-virge

It was about 3 days before Valentine’s Day and as much as Logan would usually show nonchalance or distaste towards the holiday, he’s been Virgil’s boyfriend for 8 months now. He wasn’t going to brush off their first Valentine’s Day. He was going to make the perfect card for his Virgil even if it meant he didn’t get any sleep that week. Well, that was an exaggeration and Virgil would probably ask as to why Logan’s sleep schedule had suddenly done a 180. But nonetheless, Logan was going to make a nice little card.

Logan started out with printer paper as a planning stage, wondering what to actually put in the card. He went through scribbled out drawings, minimalistic pictures, telling Virgil how beautiful he was, and finally settled on writing a poem. He was good at those. Usually.

His trash can in his room began filling with balled up clumps of paper which were drafts that he deemed not good enough.

“Clothes are dark as space,  but eyes as bright as the stars. I hope-- No.” Logan mumbled the poem out loud to himself, then crumpled up the paper, threw it to the side, and started anew. The side of his hand was turning gray from being left-handed and the graphite of the pencil he was using. “I cannot describe to you how much I love you. It was a revelation when I had discovered my feelings for you. Like when Newton discovered gravity. It was fundamental to understanding life as you are fundamental to me understanding emotions…” He tapped the pencil against his head quickly, trying to think. It sounded… Like something. It wasn’t too bad, but he decided to trash and rewrite it again. It was probably just fine, but Logan was a perfectionist.

He began writing a bit more before deciding to create the decorations on the light purple construction paper he found for the actual card. He had the equation 128√e980 written along over the spine while the card was flattened. The equation was supposed to be read while the card was closed and turned a certain way, and it would read “I love you” from being folded in half. He found the little trick while looking up ways to say I love you to a partner. In pen he neatly wrote inside the cover of the card the beginning to his poem to Virgil. The beginning was the only thing he was happy with at the moment, but he would add more later. He checked his watch and read 11:30 pm. He sighed, put his materials away and went to bed. Although made sure to put the card neatly into the drawer of his desk. It was only 2 days before Valentine’s Day and he barely had anything! He wanted to keep working on it, but also sleeping was important and he and the others were working on getting a full night’s rest. Besides, Virgil would badger him in the morning about it and he couldn’t have his boyfriend find his surprise.

Logan went through the next day rather smoothly: Nice comebacks to Roman, reminding Thomas of important events, and of course a few nice kisses with Virgil in the middle of it all. Patton always grinned if he caught them and Roman always teased them until Logan mentioned it was almost Valentine’s Day.

“We are allowed to have physical affection, especially around this time of year, correct?” Logan asked Roman, raising a brow with a pouting expression.

“Well I suppose so, but… You two are such nerds!” Roman responded weakly, unable to come up with a witty reply. Patton butted in, putting his arm around Roman’s shoulders.

“Now, don’t be mean, Roman. It’s your time of the year, isn’t it? Valentine’s Day! A day of Roman-ce.” Patton laughed and Virgil, who was leaning slightly against Logan, snickered. Logan sighed with a very small hint of a smile while Roman rolled his eyes with a laugh. He exited with Patton, most likely about to go on an adventure or brainstorm. Logan, although, had a pit in his stomach as he was constantly reminded Valentine’s Day was just around the corner.

Such terrible planning on my end… He thought, biting the inside of his mouth before kissing Virgil on the head as they went to do their own separate things for now. He sank out and went to his room, relieved to find it just as it was when he left it. He hadn’t taken out his trash yet, but he assumed Virgil wouldn’t go digging through it at least and see the drafts. Checking his watch, which read 8:30 pm, Logan pulled out the drawer and took out the card. He drew a little density equation on the back, coloring in the little heart that the symbols for mass over volume created. He then opened the card back up, rereading the beginning of the poem he kept from a draft.

“I don’t believe I’ll be able to explain my love towards you. Like how it is a mystery as to the true way the universe was created despite the many theories. How the chances of us existing together may have been smaller than a quark, But we managed to exist and come together.” Logan sat down at his desk and began writing a bit more, once again mumbling the words to himself as he wrote. “Your mind can be as far away as a galaxy,

but I’d travel the light years.

You’re a fundamental element in my life, Like gravity to planets and stars.” He bit the bottom of his lip, unable to think of anything else to add. “I can’t even write a simple poem…” He murmured to himself, dropping his pencil. He kept his head up with his left hand, trying to think. There wasn’t any specific pattern or rhyme to the poem. It was purely just him rambling about how great Virgil is in metaphors about space and science. Would Virgil even enjoy that? He created a small, curvy border with a blue pen on the inside of the card, but cringed as he looked back to the unfinished poem. Then he put another line. “I am and always will be unable to express how much I care for you.” It was true, but the poem felt too short and he barely had an idea on how to end it. He wrote on the other half of the inside of the card “Happy Valentine’s Day, Virgil. Love, Logan”, drew a simplistic galaxy on the front, and went back to his previous position of laying his head atop his hand. Instead of coming up with any ideas, Logan somehow fell asleep on his hand. He took his nap for about 4 hours, waking up at the superb hour of around 1 am and his head ended up on the desk with his hand still upright. Great. Only 1 day until Valentine’s Day and he was barely done with his card. He dug his hands into his hair in frustration. It should have been easy to write a poem. But no it was going to be difficult and now he was tired as hell. He decided to create the blue borders on the outside of the card while waiting for the others to get up. After finishing the border, which did look rather nice, he put it back in the desk drawer and went to sleep in his bed this time. Although he didn’t fall asleep immediately. Of course not. He was thinking about what Virgil would think if he barely had anything to give. The poem was pretty choppy… he should rewrite it again. What if Virgil didn’t even want a card? Would chocolates have been better?

Luckily, Logan didn’t stay up late enough to question anymore as he crashed into sleep while thinking about Virgil. Said side must have felt Logan still being awake because he made his way into Logan’s room having woke up early himself. It was dark so he couldn’t see the trash can of the Valentine’s drafts but he could feel his way over to Logan’s bed and curled into his chest almost like a human-sized cat. Before going back to sleep, he kissed Logan’s cheek and put his head half on some pillow and half on the mattress with his head lying against the top of Logan’s chest. He didn’t mind sleeping like this, in fact if he was resting next to Logan on just a mattress he’d be content like that as well.

In the morning, the actual morning of about 7:45 am, Logan found a Virgil sleeping next to him. He sighed dreamily, then remembered that he still hadn’t thrown out his god damn drafts yet. Logan tried to move as subtly and quietly as possible to not wake Virgil. He eventually got out of  bed and moved the plastic bin under his desk quickly as he heard Virgil shuffling on the bed. Then he went back over his bed, kissing Virgil’s forehead.

“Virge? C’mon, it’s almost 8 o’ clock,” Logan said, looking at his watch. Virgil was awake, but he kept his eyes closed as he replied,”I don’t wanna.”

“Patton’s making french toast.” “5 more minutes.”

“We both know that means 5 more hours, metaphorically and even literally at times.”

“Shush, nerd.” Virgil eventually opened his eyes and got up, his hair messy and partially standing. Logan smirked at the other’s appearance, holding out his hand for Virgil to take. So Virgil takes it gladly and they move on with the rest of their day.

Logan had barely any opportunities to work on his card but while there was a short lull he managed to write a few more lines. “You’re nothing short of breath taking. A star should be named after you. No, a galaxy.”

He stopped as he felt a presence in his room. It was Patton. Oh thank god. They both headed off to the commons to discuss with the other two about the big day tomorrow.

“What are you two doing?” Roman asked Virgil and Logan. They both shrugged, but Logan of course, had a small gift to finish.

“Why are you asking?” Virgil replied. “What are you doing, Princey?” Roman was about to respond when he was suddenly tackled by Patton on the couch, letting out a boisterous laugh.

“Well of course, romantic things! Anyways, I thought you’d both at least say something like spending time with each other.” He continued as Patton got off and sat next to him, a wide grin on his face.

“Well that’s a given, isn’t it?” That was Logan, who quirked a brow.

Virgil shrugged. “Sure. We can just chill out here since Romano and Patton are probably going to the fantasy realm or whatever.”

Logan nodded as Roman scoffed at the seemingly mundane idea. He said it was such a boring thing to do on Valentine’s Day, but Virgil didn’t mind.

They all went off to do their jobs and then night time came around again.

Logan was rushing through his notes after playing a game of 52 pickup with his slang vocab cards which he foolishly dropped while hurrying back to his room. He closed his binder with satisfaction after looking at the schedule, putting it away in a separate drawer from the card, which he took back out of its hiding place. He was clueless as to what to add. It had barely any stanzas. Logan tapped his pencil against the table, making a fast paced clicking noise.

“Ughhh!” The logical facet sighed, his mind totally blank. “I should have gotten more hours of sleep.” He looked at his watch: 10:40 pm. He could still finish it by tomorrow. Logan, although, was holding his head up with his forearms, consciousness blinking on and off. He decided, if anything, to add just one more line he could think of. Everything else was decorated and he could finish it after taking a quick nap. He wrote it down slowly due to fatigue, but still tried his best to make it look neat.

“I love--”

Then somehow passed out while writing with a pen. Though, Thomas used to do that at times so was it really that surprising? He was out cold for a while and even slept past 8 am.

“Logan?” Virgil called, noticing Logan’s absence in the morning from the commons. Then Virgil finally found his boyfriend’s head resting on his desk with a nicely decorated card next to his right arm. He noticed the still full trash can of paper and then picked up the card. He didn’t read the inside yet, wanting to see the other things first. He noticed the equation “I love you” message first and chuckled at such a nerdy detail. Then he found the density formula on the back and smirked. How had he been so blessed as to have had such a caring nerd in his life?

Virgil finally opened the card to see the partially unfinished poem on the left flap and a nicely written closing on the right. He saw his name, so this must’ve been for him.

“I guess he didn’t finish…” Virgil concluded out loud to himself, but he really wanted to read the poem. Logan had written him previous poems and he absolutely loved them. So he read it aloud, mumbling the words under his breath.

“I don’t believe I’ll be able to explain my love towards you. Like how it is a mystery as to the true way the universe was created despite the many theories. How the chances of us existing together may have been smaller than a quark, But we managed to exist and come together. Your mind can be as far away as a galaxy,

but I’d travel the light years. You’re a fundamental element in my life, Like gravity to planets and stars. I am and always will be unable to express how much I care for you. You’re nothing short of breathtaking. A star should be named after you. No a nebula. I love…”

Logan had woken up as Virgil was reading the second to last stanza, although wasn’t completely aware of his surroundings yet.

“Morning, dear,” Logan greeted with a yawn, adjusting his glasses and hair as much as he could. He was calm and tired until he saw what Virgil had in his hand and then he was fully awake in an instant.

“I… did you read that?” Virgil nodded slowly, hoping the logical facet wasn’t upset. They sat in silence for a few moments before Virgil, surprisingly, broke the silence.

“Um… I really liked it, actually. Really.” He gave a genuine smile, moving to plant a kiss on Logan’s messy hair.

“Really?” “Yes, I did.” “It’s not even finished or--” Logan almost tripped over his own feet trying to sit up from the chair. It was way too early for this. (It was almost 1 pm).

Virgil laughed as Logan struggled to stand up and move, eventually falling onto his bed face first before slowly turning himself around and sitting up. Virgil made his way over to the bed too with much less stumbling, sitting down next to Logan.

“I assume this-” Virgil pointed at the word “love” at the end of the poem. “-is supposed to say ‘I love you’, right?”

Logan looked at Virgil deliriously for a few seconds before practically diving forward and kissing him. Virgil almost let go of the card, but held on and melted into the kiss, smiling as he did so. Then they both fell backwards onto the bed in suppressed giggles.

“I’ve never seen you this giddy,” Virgil commented teasingly.

Logan pointed an index finger straight up as in an objection. “In my defense, I’m very tired.” They both broke into laughter again. After a few minutes of Logan waking up, he had Virgil give him the card to finish writing out “you” and then gave it back.

“I love it, Logan.” He looked at the now fully visible trash can of drafts. “Man… I wish I made something.”

“It’s okay Virgil, you yourself are enough,” Logan replied, pecking Virgil on the forehead who look assured enough for now.

They eventually made their way downstairs, Virgil still latching onto the card, and had their first Valentine’s Day. It consisted of Virgil constantly complimenting Logan’s card and poem, making him blush, and Logan constantly saying how amazing Virgil is, making him blush as well. They cuddled on the couch and watched a few documentaries about space and other oddities.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, dear.” Logan presses a kiss to Virgil’s lips for the millionth time today.

Virgil smiles into it and responds,”Happy Valentine’s Day, nerd.”

[journal-of-a-gamer]

Who Am I

Chapter 10 : Overly Zealous

We slid into the bridge after Evana, a look of concern being washed from everyone’s faces till the door closed behind us, “where’s Doctor Valentine? Is she not with you?” Hayden stared at the door wide eyed hopeful that it would open and with growing dread that it was shut. Evana sniffled, she couldn't cry anymore her eyes were bloodshot and dry, “Doctor Valentine was, exposed to an alien contaminant upon the impact that the Alexia suffered shortly after landing, this contaminant is all over the med bay,” he sniffles each pause with her voice carrying across the room above the computers but quivering with sadness. “Doctor Valentine is dead…her…her body has gotten back up but I assure you that it is not my Valentine,” with this Evana made her way over to a seat and buried her face into her hands, her entire body shook while everyone besides me and Ewan stood as tho they had been victim to a static surge. “Ewan, whats your assessment of the damage to the med bay?” “Critical mam, the contaminant as Doctor Evana stated is everywhere and the entity in the room appears to be hostile in nature, so in short out of use until a way to deal with the contaminant is discovered and applied.”

Hayden curled her hands into fists and slammed both onto the briefing table, “god ducking damn this planet and this job, I'm going to glass this planet and then that entire moon with him on it when we get back!” Hayden screamed losing her composure for a rage filled moment before straightening up and walking to the front of the bridge to look outside. “Muther…fuckers…” Hayden exclaimed and her shoulders slumped as a direct communication began to flare up on the screen of the main desk, the symbol of the state of science flickered across the screen for several moments before a voice boomed over the speakers, “I am the Arch Confessor Sloan DeVolantes,” he paused briefly before smirking, “here to settle the score with me Captain Hayden Dogma? Or, maybe to join my ranks like you did on Mars hmmm?” Hayden’s face went from slightly annoyed to red with flustered rage, everyone’s attention had shifted from the main screen to the captain.

Surveying the situation, Hayden quickly shot her eyes across the room in one build sweep. No one had drawn a gun on her yet and were staring in almost disbelief her left hand swept up from her side fingers dancing on the small leather latch on her holster, her thumb placing itself around the grip using the momentum all while her back arched as she lowered her profile to an aggressive lean, ready to dodge; she stopped there for a moment waiting for someone else to draw or place their hand on their weapon. No one did. In a room in which she had been outed as a terrorist, a zealot even, everyone should have tried to kill her instantly, the bounty out on zealots was nice and high. Unit_L3.w15 looked up at the captain from the device he had been monitoring, “Captain I think I speak for all of us in that we trust you more than we do a stranger,” with that L3w1s turned off the inbound broadcast and the deranged zealot vocalised ramblings with the device he was holding.

Her hand dropped from the pistol, her back straightened and she was left with a flushed embarrassed look on her usually pale face, “okay, thank you Lewis, I guess I owe you all explanation as to why that zealot knows me.” “Nah, not really,” Jenny interjected, “you’re my captain and thats that, I’ll shoot anyone who says otherwise.” while in that last bit making sure everyone could see her stroking her right leg with her heavy blaster holstered to it; Jerome followed her hands with his eyes a little too long and far too eagerly if you asked me then following her up with, “If Jenny’s with you, I’m there too Captain.” Ewan let out a heavy sigh and lowered his head into his hands briefly, “I knew something was up,” raising his head he shrugged, “what needs fixing Captain.” Evana simply raised her head from her hands briefly to look at the captain, her face wet from her silent tears, eyes clear; she coughed to clear her throat, “I’m not about to commit mutiny Captain,” with that she dragged her sleeve across her face sniffling as she wiped away mucous and tears from her face. I simply looked at Hayden smiled a wide smile and nodded, “I’ll stay by your side till the end Captain.”

“What did I ever do to deserve a crew as good as you guys…” Hayden reached up to her face and wiped away a singular tear, “OoKay, let’s get to it, we’re here to steal an artefact from these zealots and return it to the buyer, from what I've been told it’s used in burial rights.” She looked at Ewan raised her wrist across her body pressed a few buttons, “that’s what I've got Ewan, see if you and Clark can make any sense of that and help us find it and get off this rock A S A P, thank you.” With that me and Ewan turned to leave the room, briefly stopping by Evana to make sure she was okay; she wasn’t, not really.  

Ewan reached for the panel to open the door, when suddenly something slammed off the door again. Thud, thud, thudthudthud. Noticeably taken aback Ewan pulled himself from the door panel losing his balance and lading on his back side in the motion of his being startled. Jenny cocked an eyebrow and raised her gun toward the door, the safety made a satisfying bing as the gun readied itself to blast a hole in a target after having not been needed for well over a month now.

The slamming of the door stopped, in its place there was a loud scraping sound like nails on a chalkboard, I covered my ears to save myself from the prolonged discomfort, nobody else seemed bothered enough by the sound to bother protecting their ears. Then just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, in the small window of the door into the hall what was Valentine raised it’s head into full view. “Fuck that,” Jenny shot through the glass once where it’s head was; the glass didn't shatter as much as there was a perfect circle  three centimetres in diameter burned through the glass. The molten glass residue blistered up and poured over the edges turning black as it cooled, the wall across from where Jenny took the shot had a black burn on it three centimetres in diameter.

“Open that door now, I want that thing found and removed from my ship alive or dead!” Hayden barked to which Jerome and Jenny set off out the door, guns at the ready for running into the remains of Valentine. I turned towards Evana and could see her visibly shaking with fear, I put my hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her but she shrugged me off and staggered out the words, “her forehead, the needle, no wounds.” She just stared at the area where the thing had raised it’s head clutching the sides of her head, pulling at her brown hair in a distressed manner.

I didn't know what she meant and just looked at Ewan, “I think it’s been a hard day for our poor Doctor,” turning then to Hayden I stood up straight, “permission to take Evana with us, doors locked till told otherwise?” She looked at me her features relaxing from the stern angered face she had ten seconds ago when giving the order to hunt down an ex member of the crew, “yes, look after her for me Clark, she’ll be in safe hands if she’s with you.”

With that me and Ewan grabbed the doctor each with one arm around her sides and made our way out of the bridge and back towards the engineering deck. As we left the room we could just glimpse Jerome and Jenny turning the corner guns poised to blast the first thing they seen into charcoal.

On the way back to our deck, nothing much happened, we could hear the occasional discharge of weapons somewhere on the ship and when we tuned into Jerome and Jenny’s security frequency it was just them chasing whatever was on the ship into a corner only for it to ‘slither’ away and the captain would egg them on after it. The only other thing that we really noticed was the slow mental degradation Evana seemed to be going through as she just kept muttering to herself as she walked either being held by us or for at least some of the way back without support, neither of us could make out what she was saying and decided with a look that it would be better to just get her into a comfortable pod as soon as possible.

The door was shut, and on opening it we were greeted by the massive mess that had been left in the wake of the earlier crash, tools and bits and bobs were littered across the room, collectively we let out a sigh as we both knew that we’d had to tidy this shit up before long and it was going to be a pain in the ass. “Lets just put her in your pod? It seems to be the least messy and already has a few pillows in it from when you curl up in there for a nap when you think I'm not looking.” I turned to Ewan with a rather red and embarrassed face, “you knew I went for naps in there?” He just chortled to himself as he led Evana into the comfortable pod, “lock the main door for me will ya?” Letting out a sigh as he’d found out my best spot to nap I let my shoulders sink a little in relaxation, turned and keyed in the lock code for the door and then moved towards the holo station and keyed in the code to lock down the entire deck, “There, secure, the only things in this deck are us.” “Well…unless there was anything else already on this deck…” Ewan chipped in grimly.

Just as if to spook us more than Ewan had, a plaz welder fell from it’s precarious position on a work surface and clattered off it’s canister on the floor. “O my fucking god, lets clean this bucket of lasers and tinnitus before I slip on a cutter and slice y knee open.” With that we got to work, rummaging through the mess of the work area sorting the junk into the correct areas between, canisters of fluid, gases, screws, blots, transistors, resistors, conductors, tools and many more bits and pieces that we went through.

With the collection of bits put away Ewan unclipped his rotary plasma cutter from his utility belt, pulled up a chair and inspected it over the now empty work top, “You see this part here? It’s a circuit I made myself, I dunno how well it’ll work but it should overheat the plaz almost to its gaseous state, so it should cut well burn through most things, or it’ll just fry the circuit and I’ll get a nasty shock and a good burn from the blow back” he laughed at the thought while gesturing to his hand which already had a few burn scars on its surface.

After a while just resting we both decided that we should check out the rest of the deck, make sure that nothing was broken or loose, the air purifier and hydroponics being a main point of interest. That’s what we told ourselves we were looking for, but really we were uneasy; we didn't know where the thing was, we asked Jerome if they had caught it yet but he just said that they had lost it and were still looking. Bastard could've just told us that they’d got rid of it so we could rest easy for a bit before we had to fix the ship up.

I headed for the air purifier room since I figured if that was to get fucked we would all be fucked, I forgot how dark the way around here was even with working fucking lights. After bumping off everything that was inhumanly possible to bump into and checking over my shoulder every tenth to twentieth second out of pure anxiety and fear that Valentine could have hidden in the dark down here and came out behind me without me noticing till it was too late and she was nibbling my giblets. Fortunately this didn't happen, though I think I found the experiment six to six scurrying around, must’ve escaped Evana’s mouse colony experiment, it wasn't uncommon for Ewan to find the escapists and give them refuge. I let out a sigh; for the fact that a mouse gave me a fright when there was an actual monster running around on the ship somewhere; as I punched in the code to the open the purification room.

The room was light in its usual deep crimson lighting, it was nice to know that this room was still getting power. No sooner had I door open for more than ten seconds and the refugee mouse ran between my legs into the room, “fuck, no you don't you little shit, if you nibble on any of these wires it’ll take me most a day to fix any damage you do.” I swore as a hurried into the room after it to catch it before it fucked me up.

“Gottcha you slippery little bastard, now be good and don't make me send you back to your buddies.” I held him firmly but not tightly so as not to panic him, I don't want him biting me let alone wires and then promptly slid him into my left breast pocket for safe keeping, I’ll put the little guy in the pod with Evana when I get back to the main room.

“Eeeeeeeevvvvaaaannnneeea…” a breathy voice spoke from behind me, I froze. “Whare mi Evvveeeeee,” I felt the hot breath on the back on the neck, my hairs pricked up. An icy hand with long chalky fingers placed itself on my left shoulder and the face leaned in towards my right ear, “take me her,” the breath was a mixture blood and necrosis, if I wasn’t so stricken with fear I felt that the stomach would've moved itself up into my throat and emptied itself through my nose, ears and mouth. I gulped, my throat was drier than a planet after being glassed. “Evee…nnoowwww,” it hissed. It retracted its head from my shoulder and in its place came the right hand, except this one didn't stop at my shoulder. It passed my shoulder up towards my throat and grasped, the deathly cold, long white fingers pressed tightly against my throat, it forcibly moved me out the door.

My legs moved back the way they had came, my heart was reaching a crescendo, the veins in body were screaming run; run run run run run run. I walked. The soft sickly padding of bare, sticky but most definitely wet feet moving close behind me as I led it towards Evana one step at a time. I kept my hands away from the weapon i had in a sling around my midsection, I hadn’t fired it yet and while I wanted to kill this thing than let it get to Evana I didn't really have a good opportunity with the icy vice that was what passed for it’s hands.

The walk back was sightly faster than the walk down to the purification room, I wasn't looking for the monster anymore, I had really stepped in it this time. I wished that I hadn’t gotten caught by this shambling corpse doctor.

We had reached the last door, all I needed to do was input the passcode and wham, the door’d be open and I had no idea what’d happen after that, it wouldn't need me anymore I guess. Numbness filled my head like a void. I went limp, I stared with wide eyes at the floor as I slumped my body only being held up by the unfriendly hand holding my throat.

I grant wishes.

My vision faded, my breathing slowed along with my heart; I blacked out.