#I was approached by one of the workers who was handling the instruments there

[llitchilitchi]

no more monarchy restoration au its Czechoslovakia restoration au from now on

NO, no, no fuck that, no fucking way, Czechoslovakia lost all 3 canon lives, it's gone, dead and buried in the backyard and we Do Not have a revive book

[healthy-home-lifestyle]

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[noweyesee]

Let’s talk about •••

••• Spirit Work

Pt.2/2

You’ve seen it around and decided you want to try your hand at Spirit Work or you have had encounters and would like to take back some control by deepening your knowledge of this practice. So:

I. Where to begin

• First Step

Ask yourself and define this: What do you want to work with? What do you classify as spirits?

Ancestors and Known Deceased

— These tend to be the easiest to communicate and connect with, due to your shared experiences and energies. In this type of Spirit work most people tend to utilize divinatory instruments or the astral.

Unknown Human Deceased

— Just like the first example, these also are somewhat accessible, since their plane tends to be parallel with ours. Normally it requires more steps of protection and precaution, since you don’t know the spirit's temperament nor it’s signature.

Nature Spirits: elements, plants, animals

— These are at the same time the most common and the most difficult type - common because people tend to, unknowingly, communicate with them all the time and due to that their presence is quite naturalized, making it tricky for some to actively seek them out. Each of the subcategories also have their own language and means of communication.

*I’ve added elements, because honestly, ask any nature or green witch out there, elements are also spirits and have their own language, messages and signature.

Nature Spirits a.k.a Entities: angels, fay, demon

— Ah, yes. The coveted and honored. These are easy to connect to, but also are easy to mess up with. Each subcategory of entity has its own subcategory, and in those the methods of communication and connecting vary a lot, but are heavily influenced by two aspects: Respect and also Trying not to mess up and unknowingly sell yourself.

Divine Spirits a.k.a Deities

— Divine Spirits and Deities are the most popularized, since many these days are visited and maintain a tight relationship with their deities. Each deity or divine spirit has its own specificities when it comes to communication and connection, not to mention the UPG’s and particular experiences of their followers, worshipers or workers.

Thoughtforms a.k.a Tar Spirits

— This is a topic to debate, as I’ve seen thoughtform being used in various themes with different connotations, but to specify, this one is related to what the web has been calling Tar Spirits. I, particularly, don’t communicate with them because their egregore and existence isn’t really one amenable to cleansing, enlightenment or anything - but there are people who claim they do so, these two have their own way of being handled when doing Spirit Work.

Those were only some (yes, only some!) generalize examples, each one has its own subcategory. So you see, deciding what you want to work with, first and foremost, is the first step to begin practicing Spirit Work. Also, nothing impedes you from broadening your range of work with time, as long as you have a clear intention as to who and what you’re working with.

• Second step:

With that done, you’re ready for the part that many dread and others adore - Research.

Yeah, yeah, I know. People in the community are already tired of seeing research be always recommended, as if it is implicit. But hey, doesn’t hurt to comment about it once again, because it is true.

This practice, as any other can be done through the empirical way, but will you really put, quite literally, your life at risk?

If the answer is no, then a way to prevent that is to research. Understand the details and methods of the target audience you’ll be working with so that you can prepare and protect yourself.

• Third step:

You defined your target audience, you researched, so much so that you’re confident in yourself and have a certainty that you’ll be safe. Now what? Practice!

Finally the time to start acting and testing all the theory you went through, so… how do you begin?

I’d suggest here beginning in controlled environments with controlled methods. Those, different from just wandering around on energetically charged places (like hospitals, cemeteries and so on) are the ideal to at least not be straight up traumatized in the beginning. So, choose your method of communicating - will you use divination, herbs, meditation, trance, the astral plane, channeling, psychography (the spiritual one, not the study method)?

Whichever method you choose make sure it’s one you're well versed in interpreting, so the chances of having your leg pulled are lesser.

So, do a checklist

Target audience ○

Study and Theory ○

Confidence ○

Preparation ○

Protection ○

Plan and Method ○

Plan B ○

Checked all of those? Then you’re ready to go.

Always make sure to tell a friend who knows what you're doing before, so they can also serve as a second pair of eyes if anything goes haywire.

II. Getting Better

Now, that’s a complicated topic. One because the answer, as you have probably guessed, is to practice. But other than that, when doing Spirit Work you have some… branches of possibility you may choose to follow.

One is to master one technique, applying yourself to the specific type of Spirit with one specific method. Another is to branch out, try as many different Spirits and methods as you want.

So yeah, pretty contradictory, though nothing impedes you from mastering something and then branching out after, just a thought.

III. Instruments

Most Spirit workers do their practices alongside instruments, that of course is not an obligation and it doesn’t mean that if you don’t have one of such you won’t be able to do Spirit Work - but I can not lie, having at least an aiding instrument helps a lot, specially so that you don’t use all your energy up, specially in the beginning of your practice.

Okay, so, these instruments will include herbs and such because they work as an aid during spirit working and also methods of communication, because these too are instruments. With that said, here we go, yeah?

Divinatory Methods: Cards, Runes, Charms, Seashell, etc.

— Used for communication.

Smoking Stick, Candles, Crystals or Incense

— Used for either channeling, warding or intensifying. Can also be used for inviting.

Rue Broom

— Used for cleansing the space before the Spirit work session and after to get rid of any lingering negative energies

Wands and Blades

— Used for directing and controlling energy

Tibetan Tingsha Bells

— Used for attracting and Inviting

Tibetan Bell and Dorjee

— Used for cleansing and passing on the Spirit.

Bones, Remains and Plants

— Used for channeling and Inviting.

Rope and Vessels

— Used for binding.

IV. Interesting Readings

-> How to Communicate with Spirits: Seances, Ouija Boards and Summoning by Angela Kaelin

-> A Brief Introduction to Macumba - on The Culture Trip site

-> Features of Trance Mediumship in Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Spiritualism by Martha Maxine Meilleur

-> The State Oracle of Tibet, Spirit Possession, and Shamanism by Homayun Sidky

-> Buckland's Book of Spirit Communications by Raymond Buckland

-> Talking with the dead: Spirit mediumship, affect and embodiment in Stoke-on-Trent by Nadia Bartolini, Sara MacKian and Steve Pile

••••• 👁•••••

This is it, I’m happy I could approach this topic because it has been one that I’ve been wanting to breach for a while here on tumblr. The readings above are mostly easily accessible pdfs, so if you have time take a look at them, yeah?

Hope this somehow can help someone.

-Lou

( ・∇・)👇🏽

Etsy | Donations

[suchalonelysunflower]

Take Your Feelings, Put Them Into a Song (A.I)

Pairing: Ashton Irwin x Wallows! Fem! Reader

Requested: yes!

Summary: Y/N Sixx, bassist from the famous band Wallows, is helping 5SOS write their latest album CALM. If only she could keep her crush on the drummer under control…

Warnings: Fluff. Language. Some grammatical errors (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 4.6 k

Author’s Note: IM BACK! Remember that Reblogs, Likes, Comments and Feedback are very important! You have no idea how much they help 💕 Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋🌻✨

My materialist // wanna be part of my tag list?

anon: Can you do a one-shot where the reader was born on 1996 and she’s the daughter of Nikki Sixx and Brandi Brandt and it’s the bassist and songwriter of Wallows (…) and she helps 5sos write songs for the album CALM and starts dating Ashton and the fans go nuts (in a good way) with shipping? There’s no drama like it was in EUH

It was another boring day in the studio and you would literally prefer to do anything else than to listen to Cole talk about the last date he had instead of working on your new song. But inspiration was lacking between you and your bandmates and you really had no other choice since you already took that time on the studio’s schedule.

One would believe that you would be used to dull times in the studio, having spent a lot of time on them while growing up with your parents, but boredom was a cruel crime inside your head and today your patience was running thin.

“Hey, peanut!” Dylan called your attention “Everything good there?”

You were laying on the sofa, looking at the ceiling for some kind of saving grace, but Dylan’s voice brought you back to your reality.

“Are we going to get something done today?” You asked with a sigh, with your eyes still glued to the ceiling “Cause we are really just wasting time by now and I don’t think Cole’s last fling will bring any kind of inspo into our little group”

“Hey!” Cole protested, earning a chuckle from Braeden.

“Whatever,” You said, already getting up from your spot “I’m going to take a walk”

You took a deep breath once you closed the door to your private room. You loved the guys, you really do, but sometimes people can be too much, especially people who you spend every single day and hour with.

Memories from the past year started to fill your mind and you smiled when thinking about how much your little band has grown. Wallows was now everywhere, you created a name for yourself without using your parent’s influence and you were so damn proud of that, yet when moments like these come around - the moments where you just need to breathe to escape the reality for just a while - you start to reflect on every choice you made and if they were the right ones.

It’s the overthinking that got you to write those first lyrics in the first place, the ones that were put into songs and now were, somehow, all over TikTok with thousands of people relating to them. So maybe, overthinking now might not be such a bad idea after all.

“It’s a terrible idea if you think about it for more than one minute, mate”

You stopped in your tracks when you heard that voice, thinking that maybe you were finally going crazy or someone could’ve read your mind. But it wasn’t until you heard someone else answer that you realized it was a conversation.

“Well, I don’t know what to do with it anymore!”

You turned your head to the left and smiled when you saw the little sign that said “5SOS now in session. DO NOT DISTURB” And realized that your other favorite boys were back in town.

Of course you ignored the sign and knocked on the door a couple of times before opening it shamelessly.

“Well, well, well…” You said with a teasing smile as you leaned over the door frame “If it isn’t my second favorite Aussie band”

The faces of two of the members of said band light up once they realize it was you, quickly getting up to wrap you in a hug.

“Mini Sixx!” Calum said, ruffling his hand through your hair “About time you came to visit us”

You pushed him and Luke away from you “And you should’ve told me you’re back from your break! I could’ve escaped Dylan and the other minions earlier”

“Rough session?” Luke asked, seating down and patting the place next to him for you to sit on.

“Oh, you have no idea”

You loved the 5sos guys, it was impossible not to. Ever since you met them at a label party in 2015 when you were introduced to them because you were the same age as half of the group, you knew that they were made to be on the stage.

It was easy to become their friend, given their welcoming attitude and easy-going smiles even before they found out who your parents were. It was nice for a change not to be Y/N Sixx, daughter of the famous bassist of Mötley Crüe and famous Playboy doll Brandi Brandt, for a moment and just be Y/N, a bassist that had a lot to give to the world. And with the boys you didn’t even have to try to be someone you were not, with them everything was just so… real.

Just like now, where you were allowed to complain about your lovely bandmates to them and they would complain just as well, with no judgment nor responsibilities, just three friends letting out some steam due to the stress of your careers.

“-And basically we don’t know what else to do with the song” Luke finished his rant on the missing piece of their new song for their next album.

“And you have the lyrics ready?”

“Yeah, me and my girl wrote it a few weeks ago but the melody is just…”

“It’s missing something” Calum finished for him with a sigh.

You hummed “Can I see it?”

The two Australians got to work, playing the song with the piano and the guitar and you came to the conclusion that they were right: there was something big missing.

“So it’s a ballad,” You said, thinking of ways to fix it.

“Technically yes, but when you play it like that it sounds incomplete and the lyrics won’t work with another type of rhythm” Luke sighed “We’ve been at it for days now.”

You stayed quiet for a while, reviewing the lyrics and melody more carefully now, analyzing the situation with different approaches but without getting anywhere. It was a beautiful song, it truly was, but it needed something else, something that could create a “boom” sensation for whoever was listening.

Something like…

“Hey guys, have you finished with the- Oh, Hey, Y/N/N!” Ashton said, opening the door and finding you with his bandmates in deep concentration.

Bingo.

“Uh, why are you smiling at me like that?” Ashton asked you with a chuckle, but you didn’t even address him as you turned to Luke and Calum.

“It needs drums”

“What?” The three men said in unison. You rolled your eyes and snatched the notes from Calum’s lap and started to sing the melody.

“Here!” You pointed out “In this part, before finishing the first chorus: I already made, already made that…” And then you started to make drum noises and movements with your arms for them to get the idea.

In a matter of seconds, Luke got up from his seat and walked towards you, taking the notes from you and reviewing them with new eyes, smiling as he got the idea.

“Ha!” He laughed loudly, “You’re a fucking genius!”

“Thank you,” You said with a smug smile as you, Calum and Luke started to discuss the arrangements.

“Wait, hold up” Ashton interrupted the chatter “Y/N, I appreciate you trying to help and no offense and all but I think this isn’t your place to just decide something like that,” He said, pointing to the three of you.

You rolled your eyes. You’ve dealt with stubborn people before, but Ashton did take a spot on your top three and you knew just how to handle him.

“Wow,” You said sarcastically with a teasing smile “One would think that by being half of the rhythm section you would have more… I don’t know, rhythm?”

Ashton crooked an eyebrow and you and you knew you had him in the bag “I just don’t think-”

“You don’t think?” You said, getting up from your chair and walking up to him to be almost chest to chest. You looked up to his eyes and challenged him “Or you just can’t handle the fact that I might’ve had a better idea than you”

You could see by the sparkle in his eyes that he has taken the challenge to heart. He took a step closer to you, almost pressing his body completely against yours, and smirked.

“Want me to prove you wrong, princess?” He teased but you didn’t back up.

“I’d like to see you try, darling”

Ashton’s smirk widened as he took a step back, turning his head towards Luke and Calum who were watching the scene with intrigued eyes and knowing smiles “Get your asses back in the recording booth”

He followed them as they walked into the big recording space they had, but not before sending you a wink seconds after he closed the door.

You were thankful he didn’t see you blush.

Once they were all set with their instruments - Calum on the keys, Luke on the guitar, and Ashton behind his drum set - You pressed the buttons of the console that would make it possible for you to hear them at the other side of the mirrored glass.

“Okay boys, show me what you got”

*

You became an official 5SOS songwriter after that day and even Ashton had to admit that you were adding so much more to the band lyrics and melodies since you started to work with them.

Every day you would find yourself walking towards their studio after your band’s session and you start to work wherever they left off. It was a simple dynamic that worked wonders for everyone and after every session, you would get even more inspired to write your own music for Wallows, so it was a win-win situation, not to mention, spending time with your new co-workers; especially a particular drummer that grew closer to you that you would’ve ever imagined.

When you first met the band you hit it off pretty quickly with Luke and Calum, them being the same age as you and having pretty much the same interests; then came Michael that shared a similar sense of humor with you and with whom you discussed videogames with. But Ashton was always the one that you consciously tried to not get too close to.

In all honesty, he intimidated you but not in a bad way. He was smart, talented, and super funny, not to mention also ridiculously handsome. But he was also stubborn, a little bit egotistical, and the only one that could keep up with you in a battle of wits, teasing, and sarcasm. And you knew that if you mixed that all together it might mean trouble, especially when he smiled at you like that.

Of course you had a crush on him, who wouldn’t? But the fact is that you know what it is like to date in the industry and having feelings for a member of another pretty famous band might bring some tension to the table, so it was safer to play the crushing card and just stay friends. Or at least that’s what you tell yourself every day since you started to see him regularly and spend more time with him than with any other of the two bands.

Speaking of…

“Earth to Y/N?” Called Braeden waving a hand in front of your face “Is anybody there?”

You blinked a few times before pushing his hand away with a scoff “Very funny, B. What’s up?”

“You spaced out again” Cole added, fidgeting with his drumsticks “Just when we were going to start complimenting you on that bass line you wrote the other day…”

You smiled as you threw a pillow at him that he was able to easily dodge “Sorry, I was just-”

“Thinking about a particular drummer again?” Dylan teased, to which Cole added.

“I knew it wouldn’t take long for you to fall in love with me”

You searched for other pillows and started to throw them at your band members, giggling as they started to throw them back at you and starting an improvised pillow fight in the middle of the recording booth.

“Hey, Y/N/N! I was wondering if you-” Ashton’s sentence was cut short as he opened the door and took in the scene that was in front of him.

You were so busy chasing Breaden with a pillow on each hand and a devilish smile that you didn’t even notice when the door opened or that Ashton was standing there, smiling at you with his arms crossed as you aimed at your bandmate's head.

“Oh look, peanut!” Dylan said teasingly “You knight in shiny armor is here to-” But before he could say anything more embarrassing, you threw a pillow directly at his face to shut him out.

You quickly turned your head to Ashton who was fairly amused by your battle skills and smiled at him.

“Hey!” You said breathlessly after chasing down the others.

“Hi,” He smiled back “Am I interrupting something or?”

“Nah, you’re good,” You said, throwing one last pillow at your three friends that stood in a corner blowing teasing kisses and puppy eyes at the two of you “These assholes and I are done for the day” You commented before said assholes started to pout and complain, but you were already out the door before they could say something embarrassing again.

“So…” Ashton trailed off, starting to walk alongside you with his hands in his front pockets.

“So,” You said, drifting your eyes from him and praying to the universe that he didn’t hear anything or else it would make the blush on your face even pinker “You needed me for something?”

You wanted to get the topic of work right there in the open as soon as possible, not wanting him to notice how nervous you got when you were alone with him. At least when you were talking about work you leveled the ground in some parts.

“Actually, I’m going home early today” He smiled softly “Luke and the guys are working on a love song that’s just way too happy and butterflies - in - your -stomach like and I didn’t think they needed me there if I can’t bring nothing to the table”

“You’re not a lovey-dovey feeling kinda guy?” You teased by bumping your arm with his, earning a “hey” from him “I actually get it, I’m not that kind of person either”

“It’s not like I don’t like it, it’s just that-”

“You process your emotions differently, and it’s easier to write those when you think of love in other stages and/or mixed with other complex emotions because-”

“Love is not just one-sided! Yes!” Ashton celebrated, amazed that you could understand what he was saying “I knew you would get it”

That comment made your cheeks heat up as you looked at him, all dimpled smiles and light chuckled as he looked at you with sparkly hazel eyes. Oh no…

“Well,” You said, breaking that little moment “If they are going to work on that all day then I guess I would head home, too. I don’t think I’ll be able to provide anything else either”

“Actually,” Ashton said as he stopped in the middle of the hall leading to the exit, making you stop as well and turn to him “I was wondering if you would want to get some coffee with me now that we are both free. Of course, if you really are free and have nothing else to do and want to actually drink coffee or tea… or maybe not and you’re not that type of person and-”

“Are you asking me out?”

Ashton stopped his rambling and looked at you with an incredulous smile and lightly blushed cheeks.

“I- well, yeah,” He said shyly “Yeah, I am”

You smiled and softly chuckled “Look at the famous drummer all nervous” You teasingly took a step closer to him, not knowing where this confidence was coming from, and he did the same “It’s just me, you know?”

“And that’s exactly the reason why”

“Do I make you nervous, darling?”

“Let’s say that if it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have rambled like that, princess”

You pressed your lips in a thin line and smiled as you looked away from him, blushing like a teenager on her first date.

“So…” You trailed off.

“So?”

“Lead the way”

*

From that moment both of your routines changed once again. Now you took time off the studio at least two times a week to go with Ashton on those small friendly dates as he took you out for coffee or just simple but meaningful talks.

Soon enough you lost all the doubts that made you nervous around him, seeing how easy it was to talk to him and how much you had in common in more aspects than just music. You became more comfortable around him and your level of teasing and playing grew alongside your relationship, not to mention the level of teasing and playing you received from your band members and the other 3 Aussies who joined in on all the fun.

You were used to blushing and dismissing comments about your - undeniable - crush on the drummer, but Ashton didn’t seem to be affected by them at all. On the contrary, Ashton played along and even seemed like he was enjoying it. Like in one particular occasion where you were working on a song together and Michael said:

“Oh my god, date her already!”

Ashton didn’t blink an eye before responding “I’m trying! But she just wants to focus on the harmonies”

And you’d be lying if you said that didn’t put a smile on your face.

Yet, you kept it all professional while being in the studio; no need to mix your personal lives with whatever was going on down there, that’s why those coffee runs were your favorites.

It was an unspoken rule between the two of you that “work-talk” was forever banned from those outings.

“So what are we going to talk about?” You asked him the first time you went into his favorite coffee shop.

“Us” He simply answered, unaware of the butterflies he just set in your stomach.

“Us?”

“Yeah, I want to get to know you better, princess. Who is Y/N Sixx?”

“Who is Ashton Irwin?”

“I asked first”

“I asked second” You countered

Ashton smiled widely “You think you’re clever…”

“It doesn’t matter what I think” You answered, casually sipping on your coffee “I know I’m clever just like I know you like me that way”

You were testing the waters back then, hiding the shaking of your knees under the table as you longed to know how he felt about it. But the way he smiled and how he blushed a little bit made all your fears go away.

“Yeah, that I do”

Your cheeks turned red whenever you reminisced about that moment - or any moment that you spent with Ashton for that matter - which gave you the perfect idea for a song.

“I don’t want to kill my time with somebody else…” You hummed to yourself as you wrote down what you think is the chorus to a new song.

You told Ashton that you were not the type to write silly love songs or very uplifting songs; but there was something in that memory, something in that feeling that you couldn't ignore or just let it be without doing something about it. So, you started to write it.

You couldn't separate the feeling from the art, after all, feelings were what led you to dedicate your life to music. People would say it was because of your parent’s influence but they had little to nothing to do with your decision. This was you, the authentical you writing whatever came to mind and then sharing it with the world and only a few people will get it in its entirety. And surely Ashton was one of them.

“Dadadada something, want you all to myself”

“Wacha doing there, princess?”

Speaking of the devil.

Ashton smiled at you as he hunched over the table you were working on, trying to peek at what you were writing. You lifted the notebook and pressed it against your chest faking offense as he giggled.

“Didn’t your mother taught you not to sneak up on people, darling?” You asked as he walked around your workspace and sat himself down on the chair next to you “Besides, you’re late. You were supposed to meet me here like half an hour ago!”

“Aww, sorry Sixx” Ashton pouted “But there were no chocolate chip cookies left in the shop so I had to go around town to get you some” He then put a bag of freshly made cookies on top of the table with a cup filled with coffee.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?”

“Of course I did! You always only eat chocolate chips cookies in the afternoon”

He started to giggle again, ignoring the way you were looking at him “How did you know that?”

“C’mon, Y/N/N, every time we go for coffee you order two, one for the coffee and another one for the road. And every time we cater something you never touch anything but those cookies”

“I never knew you were so observant”

Ashton shrugged “I just pay attention if I like what I see,” He said nonchalantly with a wink, making you blush instantly, but you covered it up with an eye roll.

“God, you’re terrible” You scoffed.

“I’m honest!” You shook your head and went back to writing, but Ashton was not going to let that go so easily. “Look, how else could I know that you always put an extra bag of sugar in your coffee?”

“‘Cause I always drink the same thing,” You said without looking up from your notebook.

“Yeah, a mocha latte with extra chocolate drizzle and no foam. Honestly, how can you handle that much sugar?” You were about to answer but he caught you off. “But that’s not all you drink, whenever you have a bad day you always order a cup of mango and ginger tea because that’s your mother’s favorite drink and it helps you calm down. You also don’t want anyone to know that you’re having a bad day but the minute someone looks away your smile starts to flatter until you’re back in the conversation”

You stopped the writing completely as you turned to him, suddenly feeling how your heart started to jump all over your chest as he kept talking, eyes never leaving yours as he gave you a soft smile, almost as if he was remembering all those moments with you.

“You draw flowers on the corner of your notebooks whenever you feel bored. You love the sad songs on the radio and you know every single word to Lorde’s Melodrama, yet every time you have to choose a playlist you put 2000’s pop and R&B songs because it hypes you up. You hate awkward silences unless you are the one being quiet. You help Dylan dye his hair every time he asks you to because you would trust each other with your lives, you give Cole relationship advice because you care about him and he always appreciates your advice more than anyone’s and Braeden is your best friend because you always say that he is one of the few people that could make you laugh in a bad day and you have no idea how much I want to be included in that list”

“Ashton-”

“You write better with dim light, it helps you concentrate on your work. You say you don’t believe in astrology yet you check your horoscope every day. You want to make sure that everyone has a good time and feels included, that’s why you always make conversations with Micahel about games you never even heard before or let Luke braid your hair when he’s bored or how you switched topics when you noticed that Calum was not engaging as much in a conversation. You literally take care of everyone but you never let anyone take care of you, and when we do you get all shy and you blush as you say thank you and you have no idea how fucking adorable you look”

You sat there speechless as he spoke. You felt the back of your throat dry as you tried to find the right words to answer all of that.

It was too much. The fact that he knew all of that and how he said it like he was just talking about his favorite things in the world, it was just too much but at the same time, you want to hear him say that again.

A weird sense of joy and shyness came over you as he set his hazel eyes on yours. You gave him a small smile as you averted your gaze to the floor.

“Wow, I-��� You started “I never thought someone noticed all that”

“How could I not?” You heard him say “You’re all I can think about and to say that I don’t notice you is like saying I don’t notice the sun in the sky or the stars at night. You’re the brightest light out there, Y/N, you shine everywhere you go”

You noticed how he pulled his chair closer to you and suddenly you felt how your chair started to slowly turn his way until you were face to face.

Ashton carefully placed his fingers under your chin and tilted your head until you were finally looking into his eyes again.

“There she is!” He smiled when he noticed your blushing cheeks and gleaming eyes.

“What do you mean when you say I’m all you think about?” You asked expectantly, curling your fingers nervously on top of your thighs.

Ashton chuckled. “Well, if you didn’t notice, I really fucking like you, Y/N”

You looked up at him, smiling with hopeful eyes and feeling as if a weight was lifted off your chest thanks to the joy you were experiencing while hearing those words.

“You do?”

“Unless you don’t like me back and I just spilled my feelings for nothing-” You smacked him playfully in the arm “Ouch! I’m kidding! Of course I like you! Fuck, Y/N I’ve been falling for years now and I thought I was being pretty obvious”

You laughed “I thought you were just playing!”

In an instant, Ashton pulled your chair closer and grabbed you by the hip, lifting you up and making you sit on his lap as he hugged you by the waist and you placed your arms around his neck.

“I’ve never been more serious in my life,” He said, “I’ll do anything to prove it”

“Well,” You said, pressing a kiss to his cheek and knocking your forehead to his “How about you help me finish this song and then you take me on a date? Cause I’ve been falling for you, too and I don’t want to waste any more time”

Ashton hummed as he nuzzled his nose against your cheek, kissing it softly as he murmured “Will I get to kiss my princess at midnight?”

“Maybe… or you can take your chances now if you’d like”

He smiled.

“I like those odds”

And just before you know it, he softly pressed his lips against yours; finally creating a happy beginning for the two of you.

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[rq-s]

Title: Lucid Dreams - Chapter 1

Word Count: 2680

Warnings: Mingyu is featured heavily in the first few chapters and is directly involved in significant plot events. Due to recent events, I understand if reading these chapters may make you uncomfortable, but be aware that you’d be missing core story elements by skipping them. (Details)

Lucid Dreams Masterlist

Prologue | 

It was an hour after dawn, the streets were busy with students and workers on their commute. Yn gazed out of her apartment window, forlornly missing when she would do that. Why wasn’t I doing that? I should still be in college, worrying about scores and my social life.

She was still slowly waking up, with unfocused eyes and bad balance, as she sat at her desk. She shifted in her chair and faced her journal again, with two blank pages staring up at her.

It started as a school project, but it turned into a habit that Yn kept through her youth.

Yn stood and left it open without having written anything, frustrated with herself. If she had dreamt last night, it was long gone from her mind, and she had nothing else to write. There were more days like this lately. Update-less, absent days.

Eventually, Yn left the apartment complex with her phone and wallet and walked the familiar path. For weeks she had been going on walks around town, and she’d always somehow pass by the same peculiar store. She found herself lingering there, wanting to go in just to have her questions answered, but something within herself always stopped her. Online searches turned up very little. Just some patents, an under construction website, a local news article, and a few social media postings by previous customers. Everything she found only made her more curious.

The town seemed quiet, though it wasn’t ever busy. It made the journey to Dream Store a peaceful one, even as Yn's nervousness began to bubble.

She arrived a few hours before noon, the sunlight warm and shining brightly past the cartoonish and fluffy clouds. The well-tended potted plants, power washed sidewalk, and neon sign all had a strangely comforting feeling to them that welcomed her. Even the grey layered siding was sweet, despite how it clashed with the surrounding architecture. Yn stood on the sidewalk, facing the front patio, and hardened her resolve. Today would be her first time seeing what it was like inside; she refused to put it off anymore.

Yn approached the door in quick strides and read the print on the window before entering. “Dream Store | keeping hold of our hearts.”

Her breathing went still as soon as she pulled the door open. It was more spacious inside than the exterior led on, having a pastel pallet and being well lit. It felt like the door way was more then just the entrance to a business.

The first thing to see was the bar. A fairly long one, taking up most of the far wall, yet was still tucked in the corner. From the left wall towards the center were eight different taps, and on a counter behind the bar were two large blenders, a sink, and a small ice cream station with five flavors.  A small Bluetooth speaker on the end of the counter was playing instrumental lo-fi, and somehow the air itself felt light and bubbly against her skin. On the wall above the bar was a large LED menu with what appeared to all be beverages in narrow-necked glass bottles. On the little space that was left against the far wall was a freezer, decorated in stickers and notes. So it’s a juice bar? The tweets just mentioned ice cream. There was a hallway by the fridge, presumably leading to bathrooms and the staff area. In front of that and against the right wall were wood tables and chairs with mismatched cushions. There were similar tables meant for two on the left side, with what seemed to be medium sized square lockers, and two vending machines full of those same bottled drinks from the LED screen. It all felt surreal, it was too perfect.

“Excuse me?” Yn’s attention was brought back to reality by the voice of man, one she hadn’t even seen standing behind the bar until that moment. His fingers were intertwined and rested gently on the bar while he leaned forward, as if he’d been calling her for a while. Once he saw he had her attention, he stood upright and smiled sincerely.

“Welcome to our Dream Store!” It was as if the entire scenario was a prank, he was an actor and this business was a set. Everything was still and quiet, with nothing and nobody in existence but this store and the two of them.

Finally, Yn approached the bar.

Instead of a name tag, the name Mingyu was sewn onto the collar of his white dress shirt. He was very tall, and his uniform was clearly tailored for to fit him perfectly. His smile was kind and courteous as he spoke to her.

“Is this your first time here?” He asked gently, but with no less energy in his voice than before. Yn nodded.

“Gotcha, let’s find you a table then.” He chirped, and walked around from behind the bar, grabbing a physical menu from somewhere behind the register. “Do you like to sit by the window, or in the corner?”

“Anywhere that lets me see the exits, please.” She answered softly. Mingyu didn’t seem phased by her request and tapped his chin in thought while looking around. Only then did Yn notice one of the benches by the hallway was taken, where two teenage girls were fast asleep. It wasn’t uncommon to see college kids or overworked employees taking powernaps at cafés, but seeing them sleeping so peacefully while hunched over the table was something Yn found odd. Are those pillows matching the seat cushions?

Mingyu decided to seat her at one of the tables for two, the one closest to the taps on the bar. She could observe the whole store there, and had a clear view of the front door and the hallway, while sitting snugly in the corner by the vending machines. Yn sat down carefully as Mingyu set the menus in front of her. Sitting down brought her attention up, making her notice the peculiar ceiling with exposed beams, cords, pipes, and ducts, all painted white to match the ceiling itself. Something about the unconventional look of it was comforting for Yn, as if the establishment itself was being laid bare for her.

“First, thank you for coming in, we really appreciate your interest,” He smiled awkwardly for a moment before continuing, “I’m going to get someone from the back to watch the register for me, feel free to look at that menu in the meantime.” Mingyu lowered his head a tiny bit then swiftly headed down the hallway.

Thank you for visiting our Dream Store! All the staff here are proud of our beverages, passionate about our purpose, and excited to give you a safe, enjoyable experience when you spend time with us. We believe that we offer your community something special, not only with our drinks, but with our potential to give each visitor a unique and individualized experience.

Mingyu came back before she could read further, with another tall young man behind him, who promptly went behind the counter and washed his hands after smiling in acknowledgment to her. He seemed familiar, but she didn’t know why or how. Mingyu sat himself across from her with a sigh, feeling very nervous and struggling to act like he wasn’t.

“Alright, sorry about that. Did you get a chance to look at the menu?”

“Only the first paragraph.”

“Okay cool, the way the menu explains it is kind of weird, so it’s better that I do it.” Yn only grew more confused. She watched as Mingyu glanced over towards the other man, she wanted to look back to see what was going on, but didn’t. Instead, Yn watched as Mingyu squinted, shook his head in confusion, and then silently gasped in realization, all within a few moments. Mingyu swallowed and nodded to himself before redirecting his focus back to her.

“Is it alright if I know your name?”

“Uh, sure? It’s Yn.” He nodded formally and put on awkward smile.

“It's nice to meet you, I’m Mingyu. Like I said, thanks for coming in today.” He failed to fight the cringe on his own face and hurried past it.

“Essentially, we can offer you different kinds of drinks: juices, sodas, and smoothies. They’re all made by us, with our recipes, and you can either have them made for here or to go, or even from the coolers right here.” He leaned over and patted the cooler that had a variety of colored drinks in sturdy glass bottles.

“Why do you need to explain that to me?” She asked without thinking, having already picked up on the fact that this was a place that sold beverages. It was a selling point that they concoct them themselves, and that they can do all this seemingly without a big brand to fund them, but she doubted that it required introduction to every new customer. Yn heard the man behind the register chuckle, then try to hide it with a cough.

“I was getting there.” He stammered, his face flushing a soft red.

“If you’d like to have something here, there’s the option to make it a sleep aid. We call it a Sleepy. With those, we prepare the drink as we usually would, but instead of the liquid sugar we usually use, we use a mix of liquid sugar and drowsiness medicine. We’ve been able to use that in a low volume but effective dose to allow our customers to have a refreshing drink, followed by a recharging nap.” Yn watched him cringe again as he tried his best to explain it without making it sound as bizarre as it was. He continued as soon as she tried to comment, eager to get it the introduction over with.

“You don’t need to worry though! When a visitor picks one of our sleepy drinks, we give them a key to their corresponding table, and that key opens one of those lockers. You can put your things there beforehand so you know they’re safe while you sleep. We have cameras in here and outside, and there’s always at least one member of staff on duty who's trained to handle altercations of any kind, and all of us are trained in first aid and emergency procedures like CPR.” There was another chuckle from behind her, and he didn’t even try to hide it this time. Mingyu glared at him, and this gave Yn her opening to speak.

“So you take safety seriously, that’s good…” She was at a loss of what to say, having been bombarded with information, all of it outside of what she’d expected. She wasn't sure what the odds were leaning toward: him having a scripted yet speedy and thorough defense to any worries or questions she’d have, or that he’d flounder as soon as she asked for details.

“Of course we do. We know it’s a risk to just take a nap at a café. Especially one run but a bunch of young adult guys. But we’re trying something new that no one else in the world is doing, and we really believe in it.” Mingyu’s sudden sentiment was sincere, and his nervousness looked more like vulnerability now. Something compelled her to trust him. Maybe what he was saying about having something completely unique wasn’t true, Yn had no clue, but it might as well be for a town like theirs.

“You’ll notice that we have 13 distinct drink options available right now, each one named after a member of the staff.” Mingyu  opened the menu and flipped a few pages till Yn could see depictions of each of the drinks. They were colorful, and beautifully presented on the pages, with descriptions of each one. He stopped on a page of cool toned drinks.

“Let’s say you come in and decide to order a Sleepy Mingyu, that’s this one,” He pointed to the deep purple iced drink and tapped its picture fondly. “It’ll come in a medium glass bottle, with a straw and napkin of course, along with a locker key that corresponds to whatever table you pick. While we’re making it, you can put your stuff in the locker, and inside the locker will be a small pillow, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. We switch the covers after every use and wash all of them each night, so don’t worry about that either. You can decide to keep the key with you, or give it to whoever’s at the register for safekeeping.” He began to ramble again, wracking his brain to make sure he mentioned everything Yn could possibly need to know while to keep himself from growing too embarrassed. She sat there patiently, listening as he helped her understand. He seemed to grow more uneasy with each word.

“You’ll probably want to wait at your table till the drink is done, it usually takes less than five minutes. We’ll bring it to you.”

Mingyu paused and took a deep breath, biting the inside of his cheek in thought, picking his words carefully. He hadn’t looked at her since his sentiment about safety and now it seemed like he was actively choosing not to look up at her.

“The Sleepys only come in medium because the drowsiness medicine is fast acting, and we try to make sure that you’ll have enough time to finish it all before you fall asleep.” He looked to the man behind the counter, and this time Yn dared to look at him too. But he only looked at Mingyu, giving his coworker an encouraging, albeit aggressive, thumbs up. Mingyu shook his head.

“This is really weird, Jun. How do you guys explain this kind of thing without seeming creepy?!” He seemed deeply upset, frustrated and on the verge of tears. It suddenly felt like Yn was intruding on something private.

“Take a breath, okay?” The man came around the counter and spoke gently to his colleague, kneeling to the ground like a father would when speaking to a child. He was close enough now that Yn could read the name on his collar as Junhui. He put his hand on Mingyu’s knee and squeezed it a few times, urging him to relax. Then he turned to Yn.

“Once you finish your drink, you’re gonna fall asleep, and we’ll watch over you while you do. You’ll have a great dream, and we’ll wake you up at whatever time you told us to when you ordered, or after you’ve been asleep for 2 hours.” Junhui stood back up, and patted Mingyu’s shoulder while still looking at Yn.

“Mingyu is a really great guy. He cares a lot about people and about what we're trying to do here. And if you ask me, his drink is one of the best.” Junhui’s smile was warm and his tone of voice was calming as he praised his friend. Mingyu still couldn’t look at her, facing away from her entirely and looking downtrodden. Yn didn’t know what to say and instead decided to read the blurb about Mingyu's concoction.

A sweetly rich concord grape flavored soda! Mingyu’s soda brings one’s imagination to life, while remaining proud and inspired.

“I’ll try it.” She spoke casually, trying to imagine what such a drink would taste like. It had been so long since she’d had a grape flavored drink of any kind, and something carbonated sounded great in that moment.

“You don’t have to.” Mingyu said pitifully, assuming she chose his drink to help him feel better.

“The picture looks really pretty, I wanna see if it really looks like that.” Her bluntness stunned him, and he wondered if she was bluffing. Even so, he resolved to grin and bare it, standing up from the table. Junhui stepped back and smiled, leaving silently as Mingyu went back behind the counter.

“Alright… Let’s get it ordered then!” He bolstered, ready to reaffirm himself in the form of a fancy looking grape juice.f

[iheartsunset]

Papa Louie Scarlett HCs

-Rosabella Ocampo is a 23 year old singer/songwriter and graduate school student who lives with her fiancé, Rudy, in a Powder Point condo. She is widely known by her legal/stage name, Scarlett Heart and is the lead singer/songwriter of Scarlett and the Shakers. While punk ska and playing gigs with her friends are her true passion, Scarlett plans to become a game theory professor in the future. She can mostly be seen writing lyrics for a new song, riding roller coasters with Rudy, climbing trees with Clover, and just vibing with Marty.

-Scarlett is rather bold and seductive, often playfully flirting with others or making jokes about inappropriate topics. I stole this from Rouge, thanks SnapCube fandub for revitalizing my love for Sonic. Alongside her flirtatiousness is her intelligence and desire to succeed, using rules and lessons that she learned from various games to apply to her daily life. Thanks to her love of poker and mahjong, Scarlett has grown to be very analytical and sly in her motives. Out of the shakers, she is undoubtedly the big sister friend as she’s kind of a bad influence on the rest of them and is always subjected to scoldings by mom friend, Janana.

-Rudy calls her “Princesa” because of her Cinderella-like backstory. Her mother was a very kind woman and Scarlett lived happily with her and her father. Her mother died in a roadside construction accident when Scarlett was only 9, leaving Scarlett heartbroken. Her father then married a woman named Moira with two sons, Graham and David, who was emotionally abusive towards Scarlett until she moved out at age 16. Scarlett’s relationship with her dad deteriorated over time and she’s basically disowned them since. She finds solace in Marty and Clover’s parents, who think of Rudy and Scarlett as their own. She also got along with the other Frostfield residents and helped Willow get back into hockey after her infamous car accident (the first one).

-Stan Twitter often makes memes of her because she’s so iconic and quotable. One of her most iconic moments was when she screamed “I wrote this next one about my bitch ass stepmom. Moira, if you’re listening, your hair is limp and you fucking suck!” at the VMAs.

-Music was her escape as a child, hence why she learned to sing and play multiple instruments. However, her stepmother made her play the violin in the school orchestra as opposed to being allowed in a punk rock band. Even though she was concertmaster and first chair, she hated life so badly. Scarlett can play the guitar, bass guitar, violin, cello, drums, the trumpet, the saxophone, the bassoon, the piano, the xylophone, the harp, the flute, the recorder, the French horn, the clarinet, i didn’t even list all of them and I’m tired already. When one of the other shakers has lead vocals on a song, she’ll take over playing their instrument.

-Scarlett met Rudy during their shared freshman year of high school. Hazelnut High’s orchestra department had its annual field trip to Powder Point (based off my actual orchestra field trip!). Scarlett decided to sneak away from her snobby classmates and teachers and have the time to herself. On one particularly large roller coaster, she sat next to a boy with a Mohawk who told her that since he was a Powder Point native, he could more than handle it. He then proceeded to cry the entire time while holding her hand. They realized how much they had in common and kept in contact even after her trip was over. Their relationship is super lovey dovey, yet chill at the same time. Couple goals, but not on the level of Prudence x Cooper x Taylor.

-The shakers got together during the 23rd season of Flipline’s Got Talent. After the shocking elimination of Taylor Morales in the quarterfinals, the remaining acts were merged together. Scarlett and Rudy and Marty and Clover were two sets of pairs merged together. They all got along beforehand and loved Scarlett’s songwriting, so they all wrote an original song together for the finals. Even though they were fan favorites and had lots of support from the audience, Bill and Boopsy’s amazing ventriloquy act was what won the show, with the upset Shakers coming in second place. Afterwards, they were approached by Janana who offered to become their agent, and all they’ve known since was success. Fun fact: Rudy wouldnt accept Clover and Marty into their act unless they beat him and Scarlett at poker. They did.

-The shakers each can speak multiple languages, with Scarlett being able to speak fluent English and Tagalog, Tagalog being her native language (Filipino gang!). She can also speak some Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, and Gaelic because she hangs around the other Shakers and Janana so much.

-All of the food, drinks, clothes, and personal belongings Scarlett loves are various shades of red. Cherries, longanisa, red wine, and candied strawberries are her favorite. Her entire wardrobe? Red. Her LED lights? Red. It honestly scares Rudy how red everything is.

-Her voice would either be Jessica Sanchez from American Idol or Gwen Stefani from the No Doubt era. She also covers a lot of No Doubt songs during their concerts. Speaking of covers, the shakers like to sing classic rock songs as well as modern day hits. Scarlett has the vocal range to do Ariana and Mariah Carey justice.

-Her and Marty are best friends. They’re both on the same wavelength and will most likely have the same reaction to memes, like word for word the same reaction. They usually have to get Rudy and Clover out of trouble most days. I love their chaotic, yet chill energy, like the types that just sit and observe and quietly make funny comments to each other.

-She determines whether she likes you or not based off of how good you are at mahjong or poker. If you suck enough to let her win, she’ll love you forever but if you match her in ability, she’ll respect you but kinda fear you as well. If you refuse to play altogether, she hates you. She’s a game theory student, so playing any board game with her is grounds for disaster because she’ll use her weird psychology and tricks to win all the time. Ironically, she sucks at video games. Even though she loves games of chance, she’s hugely against casinos and betting, instead trading small trinkets like food or makeup.

-At the Cheeseria, she set up a poker table, a mahjong table, and a pool table for the entertainment. They unfortunately had to get rid of the Uno table because somebody (ahem, Jojo) got a little too heated over a match with Papa and Wally. And by “got a little too heated”, I mean that Jojo literally got in a fist fight with Papa and lost.

-All she watches are telenovelas. Don’t ask about The Office or Game of Thrones, all she knows is stuff like Rubi and Maria la del Barrio.

-She doesn’t like musical theater except for Phantom of the Opera. She has taken a few roles as Kim in Miss Saigon, but secretly regrets it because musical theater is so much harder than just a regular concert. She still respects theater actors, but will never again sit through Anything Goes.

-She is the only one of the workers who has managed to successfully punch Guy Mortadello. Koilee and Rudy came close, but Scarlett landed an especially hard punch to his nose. Next to being engaged and forming Scarlett and the Shakers, she says it’s the third happiest day of her life. Now, Guy Mortadello is extremely scared of Scarlett and will cry if he sees her or hears her song on the radio (which is all the time).

-She has a tattoo of a heart of her hand along with a crown. On three of her fingers are a yellow Diamond, green clover, and blue spade.

-Scarlett is absolutely gorgeous and badass, I always kept rewinding Papas Cheeseria just to see her and Rudy in the opening because I had crushes on them both. Anyways, stan Scarlett for good grades (it’s not working though I’m still failing two classes)

[theaspiringwanderess]

The West Coast Trail; A Vancouver Island Adventure Of A Lifetime

Packing: Food/Clothes/Essentials | Booking: Reservations/Transport | Research | Facts | My Story | Start | Days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | Chez Moniques | Nitinaht Crab Shack

The West Coast Trail is one of the most, if not the most, iconic Canadian west coast adventure a hiker could ask for. It is a 75km test of both physical and mental endurance in one of the most stunning environmental settings you have ever seen. Not everyone that sets out for this great journey completes it, but those that do have a tale to tell for a lifetime and a forever bond with those they meet along the way.

Having completed this epic trail twice now, my approach is to blend a little bit of old and new into a (hopefully) wondrous tail that offers context, wisdom and insight to the journey, while describing the magical things you will experience and the challenges you will face. I’ve also prepared additional posts for your reading pleasure on Packing: Food/Clothes/Essentials and Booking: Reservations/Transport. So please, grab a hot cup of tea, throw on those comfy pjs and sit back and enjoy the read. 

Handy References and Information Material

Every great hike starts with research, especially this one! If you haven't heard of it yet, look up the famed book Blisters and Bliss: A Trekker's Guide to the West Coast Trail by David Foster and Wayne Aitken. This awesomely 80′s comic styled guide adds a little light-hearted humour to a highly detailed account of the WCT which is revised roughly every couple years. It offers both trekking options (north to south AND south to north!) and gives you all the step by step nitty gritty deets in between including history, objects of interest, geological features and safety tips! I suggest taking it with you and read about the section ahead each night. Also, opt to keep it in a safe pack pocket, don’t put it in a plastic bag (I did this my first time and sadly lost my copy to the inescapable moisture and mold).

Check out the West Coast Trail Facebook Page! This page is not manned by Parks Canada. However, it is a great place to meet other hikers, find someone looking to ride share, ask questions and for advice, learn about recent developments and important information (washed out bridges, danger sections, wildlife sightings or concerns... even hear about annoyed hikers picking up others garbage...not kidding lol).

Oh! And there is also a Women’s West Coast Trail Page!

Parks Canada Website. Duh, right?! But you may not realize that Parks Canada has some handy info regarding what to pack (and what not to!), emergency items, wildlife warnings, necessary fees, maps, tide tables, tips and more to make your hike a happy one. Check out the Planning For WCT page here.

You'll also find online a plethora of websites, blogs and articles dedicated to WCT info, tips, advice, and more. I encourage you to read a few personal accounts to get a real life feel of what others experience. Here are some of my favourites (don’t let the names scare you!), plus a very cool and scholarly article from UofBC on the effects of colonial-style tourism in the area and on the local indigenous tribes written in 2020. Fascinating read.

Hike The WCT (website)

Walking the wild coast : territory, belonging, and tourism on the West Coast Trail (UofBC Open Collection)

Lost On The West Coast Trail

How Not To Die On The West Coast Trail

The Facts

The West Coast Trail is 75 km long. That's on the map and, best as I can figure, relatively "as the crow flies". It does not account for the extra steps, the ladders, the climbing, the crawling, the descending, etc, you get the picture. Both times I've gone my fitbit has read almost double or more the distance in 'real ground covered'. For example, when they say its 5km from the Gordon River Trail Head to Thrasher Cove, my fitbit in both cases recorded over 12 km when all was said and done. When they tell you it takes on average 5-6 hours to do that stretch, and you're only covering 1km or less an hour, this is why. You will chuckle in the orientation, as many have, and think, "ya, if you're a SNAIL!", but you will soon realize it’s about the terrain and that you're essentially doing double or more the physical effort to cross it. The same is true for nearly all the trail, even the "easy parts".

Safety First - the majority of accidents and injuries occur in the first 13 kms on the south side of the trail, from Gordon River at km 75, to Camper Bay at km 62. The trail accommodates just over 7500 people a year. Of that, Parks Canada evacuates roughly 80-100 injured persons annually and Nitinaht villagers have claimed to ferry out 100-200 additional hikers off the trail as well, due to injury, misery, etc. It won’t be a bear or cougar that takes you out, it’ll be the wilderness itself. A fall from a wet log or slimy stone is the most common culprit, and it may not even be the fall itself, but what you land on. Sharp rocks, jabbing sticks, etc all cause serious injury. And it always happens when you're TIRED. Don't push yourself. Take a break, have a snack, don't go farther in a day than your body can handle. Better to be a day late than waiting 24 hrs in the bush with no morphine and a broken leg for a boat ride that surely will be agonizing. Just sayin' here...

The WCT historically was maintained for shipwrecked mariners. Many have lost their lives along this trail. I don’t understand how it doesn’t have its own ghost story yet! It has an amazing history with lots of ship wreckage to see along the way if you time the tides right.

Lastly, the temperate rainforest that engulfs the WCT is not only stunning but globally very rare, encompassing less than 1% of ecosystems across the earth. Here you will see plants, trees and animals that may not exist anywhere else on our planet. The Sitka Spruce for example is among not only the tallest trees in the world, but also the oldest, some 700-1000 years old. This means they have seen North America as it was before European Settlers touched it. They are revered by many and highly sought after by loggers, which often leads to conflicts. Many extremely unique animals also reside in the WCT, like the islands' black bears which are actually larger than mainland black bears with massive skulls and only one unique colour phase. The island is also home to cougars, Victoria's famous mini-deer and sea-wolves, the only wolves in the world that have adapted to life on a coastline, they call the Pacific Coast home. With a completely unique diet of seafood they are genetically different from mainland wolves and have also been known to swim in the ocean for many kilometers.

My West Coast Trail Story

Now, before we begin, I'll preface this by saying, don't mistake me for a pro; I am simply someone who has made it off the WCT twice [relatively] safely and lived to share my tale. If you are looking for expert advice I'd say check out the Parks Canada website or the Blisters and Bliss book. But if you are looking for a heartwarming and informative, real life account of the experience, you've come to a great place.

I am now amongst a lucky few that have had the enormous privilege to have hiked the West Coast Trail not only once, but twice in my lifetime thus far. I say thus far because this trail has such a special place in my heart I expect at some point I will likely attempt it again. It changed my life and has had an everlasting impact on the lives of those around me. I learned a lot about myself and even more about those closest to me. What I am capable of, the importance of preparation and planning, the bonds you create with people you meet along the way and the love of those that support you going and take care of things while you're gone. I simply couldn’t have done this without the support of my amazing husband, friends, parents and sister and my wonderful sister in law whom we stayed with this time. But most importantly I missed the encouragement and support of my mother-in-law who lived on the island and sadly has passed since my first trip. She and her friends played such an instrumental role in my first journey with my sister, buying us foods, housing us, driving us, and just overall being so excited to see us off, I truly missed her this time but I know she was there with me in spirit.

In this way the West Coast Trail is a life-shaping experience like no other. You will learn much about yourself, be in awe and hopefully inspired by the incredible natural world around you and you will meet fellow Canadians and global trotters and, in turn, become a part of their WCT story. Let me be amongst the first to congratulate you on this epic endeavor and wish you the happiest, and safest, of journeys and hopefully I can send you off a bit more well prepared for the adventure.

First Timers VS Second Timers

My experience as a first time WCT hiker was extremely different from my second expedition in every way possible.

The first time I hiked the WCT I went with my youngest sister Jenna. We had both hiked and camped before but this was a new experience and everything was raw, a bit scary, amazing and beautiful all at once. I think it just hit us both like a ton of bricks when we landed at the base of that first ladder across the Gordon River. Although Sharon had talked to me for months, mentally preparing me for the hike, when Jenna and I both looked up at the rest of our start group scaling that first beast, looming up from the small beach landing, I know we both had the exact same thought, like, "oh shit, this is for real...".

Why the WCT? Sharon, my good friend and co-worker, had previously attempted it before turning me onto it. Due to an unfortunate incident with her hiking companion, they had to turn in the towel. She has since rocked it twice more and was an absolute wealth of information, support and the wisdom that only an experienced female hiker, mom and athlete can be. Much of what I am sharing with you today began with her. She continues to inspire me every day with her ferocity and determination and boundless want for adventure.

At the time of my first hike in 2016, my mother-in-law lived on Vancouver Island and she and her best friend Jill had kindly arranged for us to stay at another friend's cottage just outside Port Alberni. The friend and her husband fed us well and the beauty of the setting was unimaginable. But the anticipation of what lay ahead weighed heavily on both Jenna and I and neither of us barely slept a wink. The next morning we had our last hot shower and flush toilet experience for the next 7 days and the 4 of us set out for the Gordon River Trail Head.

We piled into Jill’s car the following morning. The ride was long, on gravel switch back logging roads, but the supportive company made the nervous anticipation bearable. I feel like I did not appreciate the ride as much as I should have at the time, but a few 5 am bus rides (and much experience) later, I certainly cherish the thought my mother-in-law and Jill had put into making the beginning special for us both.

Since then, I've booked my island hike transports with the West Coast Trail Express bus. The folks there are super helpful and the experience has always been a good one. In 2018, a WCT facebook group was created which has made connecting with others looking for ride shares and doing the trail much easier AND more informative! You can read about this page and other research options at the top of this post if you missed them ;)

When 2016 saw Jenna and I land at Gordon River's Information Station, I was greeted with an amazing surprise... Sharon and Jackie (another friend) had pre-purchased for me a WCT t-shirt. I cried, there were no words. When 2021 saw Krista and I land at Gordon River's Information Station, I was greeted with a sense of the familiarity of the adventure and vicariously enjoyed the wonder of someone else now experiencing the trail for the first time... READY?!.. and INHALE... can you smell it..? the Adventure?! It's like greeting an old friend again, for the first time.

It's Like Those Choose Your Own Adventure Books, Where You Pick Your Ending...

Remember those..? Maybe..? When Starting the WCT, you can plan to start at either entry point, Gordon River to the south or Pacheena Bay to the north, or now even halfway at Nitinaht. There are advantages to all, so it just depends what is most appealing to you. Most people do the trail within a 6-8 day time frame. This gives a good balance of time vs pack weight. I always try to plan for an extra emergency day, just in case. Things happen here... Long stays requires more provisions and a heavier pack. Shorter stays (in my personal opinion) are extremely challenging, unless you have done the trail before, are very skilled in lightweight packing and are an expert hiker. I still wouldn't recommend it. Plus, if you're going that fast, you're rushing by so much, what's the point? If you've paid and taken the time to be here, enjoy it! That being said, when Jenna and I did the trail we were treated to watching marathoner and athlete Jen Segger run it in one day. ONE DAY. She currently holds the women's record for WCT completion at 13 hrs 44mins (as posted here on her page under 2016). Of course she had no pack and support runners with her and a camera crew. But as she ran by us I think both our jaws dropped. It was like watching Super Woman run by you and you were just lucky if her sweat spayed you as she passed by. 

When you start out, keep in mind your pack is at it's heaviest. Starting at Pacheena Bay entry point means you'll be hiking the easiest parts of the trail first. You'll make excellent time here and cover the most distance over the shortest number of days. Although all areas of the trail offer exquisite and unique beauty, in my opinion the north end is the most magical. Maybe because by the time I reach it Im half delirious and most certainly exhausted so the easier hike is a much welcome break. Both times I've hiked the WCT I have opted to start at the southern trail head point known as Gordon River.

Starting at Gordon River means that you get through the most difficult terrain right at the beginning, when you're freshest, well rested and eager to set out. You also have the added benefit of anticipating the terrain getting easier (rather than harder). To me, this is the most logical approach and why I prefer this route and honestly, there is just something that seems slightly disillusioning about expecting something to get harder along the way. When Jenna and I first made it up that initial ladder we came across several groups finishing their hike. One in particular stuck out, a group of three female friends. We passed the first two who were happy and chatting and weirdly gave us a (mild) warning to disregard their companion, who was somewhere behind them. Ok... sure, we thought. Then along came the third girl... muttering, swearing under her breath, we contemplated what she might do to her companions if she caught up to them and we joked about how that likely was the end of that friendship. 2016 was a much busier year, pre-covid and all, and we met so many more people, Canadians, Germans, Chinese and Auzzies! 

2021 though is the year of the Canadians! If you happen to head out on the WCT this year, although you will still experience a wide range of people (Canada is an extraordinarily diverse nation!), rest assured most currently reside within Canada. Hello Homies! It was, however, a much more muted WCT experience than my past one. Although the Parks staff assured me they have had lots of people come through (I asked!), and the online bookings are sold out, it seemed so much quieter day to day. At the time Krista and I arrived, Parks staff were still only doing outdoor basic debriefing, prior to which we were expected to watch an online information video covering the basics. This was in stark contrast to the very in depth orientation Jenna and I had to attend back in 2016. 

Fellow Canadians, Tsk Tsk...

The biggest difference I noticed that could be as a result of the minimized debrief is the amount of garbage. There is NO garbage removal on the trail. Parks staff DO NOT haul garbage out (its a remote wilderness, do you really expect garbage men??). The WCT is accessible by foot (as in, you hike in... for 75 km) OR by boat, the latter being weather and safety dependant in extreme occasions (ie emergency evacuation). At each campsite we stayed, hikers THIS year (the trail was closed 2020) have left copious amounts of garbage. It’s in the bear bins, on the trail, the beach, in the outhouses... it’s EVERYWHERE. The worst by far was Camper Bay with stinking tuna cans and bags in every bear bin and Cribbs Creek, where the garbage pile extended to a massive bottle collection BEHIND the bear bin.

Why do sites have bear bins in the first place? Because human food and waste smells amazing to BEARS! So we lock it away to keep it, and us, safe. This does not mean a bear can’t smell it, it just means they can’t access it. Now, what happens when food rots and gets stinkier...? Of course it's more enticing. This draws bears, and other animals, to the campsite, which puts your safety, and the safety of each camper, at risk. I have to give Krista major kuudos here because that girl dug in deep, cleaned someone else's mess at each site we stopped at and even hauled out other people's stinky gross trash. Please give her a round of applause for thinking about you because she deserves it. And as Canadians, seriously, we can do better right??

Da' Debrief

Apologies, now that’s out, let's get on. During our debrief we learned some important key points.

2021 has seen unprecedented amounts of animal sightings and encounters. Primarily bear and cougar. There has also been more daytime sightings of wolves, which is considered extremely rare. With the trail closed in 2020, lack of human presence has caused a larger wildlife presence. Be aware, practice safety, travel in groups. Groups are also being asked to accommodate single hikers to reduce risk.

There is a lot of maintenance to be done that wasn't able to be accomplished in 2020 due to the pandemic. Be prepared for washed out boardwalks, bridges and rotten boards. There is also fewer Parks staff to help with this upkeep. Luckily, local members of indigenous tribes, called the Trail Guardians, historically help in a huge way with this and you may even run into them on the trail! We saw their team arrive in their new boat leaving Walbran and at Pacheena we spoke to a Parks staff who's uncle is on the team. It's a small world here.

Following the debrief, the Parks staff escort you to the Gordon River ferry. The fellow here takes you across and plops you down on the small sandy beach, gathers up any hikers waiting for a ride back and heads off on his way. And there you are, left to stare at a huge ladder, really, the first of many.

up, Up, UP You Go!

In 2016 Jenna and I patiently waited at the end of the line to be the last two up the ladder and I tackled the climb with my 50lb pack in tow (phew!). In 2021 Krista and I were the only two standing on the beach, me revelling in my 'barely there' 38lb pack. The trail was our oyster!

The trek from Gordon River to Thrasher Cove is the most challenging and physically demanding on the trail. We left on the 11:30 ferry and finally walked into Thrashers Cove at 5pm - Yes, it DOES take that long. You actually don't see many ladders, a few here and there, but best believe you are still climbing! You scramble up rock faces, you squeeze past trees, you choose your footing extremely carefully and all the while up, up, UP you GO! Even over rocks and hard ground the trail is fairly well worn and easy to follow... most of the time. A short while in you come to the first bridge over the first creek. I have stopped here both times to fill up water bottles, but beware, the scramble back up is more difficult than it looks this year due to the fallen trees. Mountain Goat level scuttling expertise is advised! Much further along, not far from Thrashers, you'll eventually comes across the famed Donkey Engine! This year you will find it to be directly in your path, where as in 2016 I’m quite sure we looked down on it somehow from a higher elevation. Either way, it’s epic and makes for an amazing photo op! To think that thing was hauled by beast and hand up that hill still blows my mind.

Along the way we met a very nice gentleman named Wilson who had intended to hike the WCT with his son. Unfortunately, due to a graduation re-scheduling mishap his son was unable to come, but Wilson decided to soldier on. He was incredibly happy, thoughtful and polite and asked if we minded if he tagged along as we hiked. He regaled us with tails of his trails, immigration to Canada, his wife and family and much more; he was a fascinating fellow! With the wildlife warnings this year, Parks staff request that no one hike alone, if you can, allow a solo hiker to tag along so everyone can stay safe. We graciously obliged and enjoyed his company and great conversation for a couple more days until we parted ways at Nitinaht comfort camping.

Thrasher's Cove is an amazing, but small, campsite. I recall vividly in 2016 the trail down to the beach being extremely treacherous, with steep and slippery embankments and so many ladders! By comparison our 2021 descent seemed like a cake-walk. Here I was, boasting to Krista the challenge that lay before her, but when we got there it was literally a quick hop and skip down. She found anything I said after that to be hard to believe and was convinced I was totally embellishing. It really made me realize how MUCH the trail changes and what dynamic metamorphosis must have occurred in 6 years! I also realized how hard Trail Guardians and Parks staff must work to maintain all this constantly worn out infrastructure. It must a BEAST. Be warned, if you arrive to Thrashers too late in the day it will be tough finding a spot. If this happens to you, check out the south side of the beach, sometimes there's a bit more space there. Ironically, I have set up my tent in the exact same spot both times, right in front of the tiny triangle cave around the rock wall on the south side of the beach. I have claimed this spot now.

Knock, Knock, It's The Ocean!

This is also where knowing how to read your tide tables is extremely important. While camping on the beach you must pitch your tent above the high tide line. The high tide line is where you can see the sand was last wet on the beach. It's not where the water is when you arrive. Look for the wet point on the sand and keep your tent a few good feet above that. When Jenna and I first arrived at Thrashers, I was confident in my tide table reading skills; being from Alberta, I took the time to learn how to read them in advance. But, during the orientation the Park staff had warned our group that our first night was due to be the highest high tide of the year - intimidating to a couple prairie girls! And, which is also a thing if you read up on the moon cycle! (Actually there is a lot of news this year on the effects of the moon's impending orbital wobble on tides, its a fascinating read if you're interested!). So, naturally a bit cautious and overly leery of the horror stories of campers waking up to soaked tents in the middle of the night, my poor sister was worried sick. Exhausted but too afraid to sleep, I promised her I'd stay up till high tide to make sure we were safe. She soon passed out and I settled in reading my book. But the surf was loud and near, a thundering, crashing rukus with each wave and about 2 hours in my sister jolted straight up in her sleeping bag, scaring the ba-geezus outta me crying out 'IS IT HERE?! IS THE OCEAN HERE YET?! ", big-eyed I just stared, then broke out laughing; I settled her back down, reassured her we were safe, now passed the time of concern, and wiggled down into my own sack to drift off. It's still an inside joke to this day and once in a while we chuckle to each other about the time the ocean came knocking.

2021 brought me its own surprise when at 4am I awoke to an unusual scratching noise against our tent next to my head. We had wrapped our rain covers around our [empty] backpacks and snugged them up against the tent to stay dry and save space. Apparently the local otter family found them fascinating and decided to check them out on their morning stroll. An alarm clock certainly fit for the WCT. 

It's A Beach Walk, Not A Cake Walk

Leaving Thrasher's Cove you have two options! You can take the beach route if you time the tides carefully OR you can take the inland route. In 2016 Jenna and I sojourned the inland route. Although the inland hike was pretty, if I'd found the trek down to Thrashers tough, the trek back up would've been classed insane. Sharon’s favourite saying is, what goes down must go up. In 2021 Krista and I timed the tide, leaving at 7:30am, to take the beach route. Although we'd planned to avoid what turned out to not be a bad climb, I'd really wanted to see the famous sea caves! The sea caves themselves were nothing short of AMAZING. There is just no other word. I was so in awe that in my mind they seem to take up almost 3 days of our trip, not just half an hour on the second day.

Although we'd planned to aim for Cullite Creek Campground day 2, we hit a major snag. As we traipsed along, well after the sea caves, we came to a rocky sea shelf that rose high out of the water. As you look up, you might catch a glimpse of some buoys, which commonly mark the beach access to the trail and campgrounds. Thinking this was our access back onto the trail, as you must go inland from here to Campers, we headed up along the higher shelf. We passed an unusual 'Danger' sign. We looked around, but could not identify anything that seemed out of the ordinary for where we were. We kept on. We came to a similar sign on the rock, but again, failed to see what was obviously dangerous. Wasps? Bear den? Surge Channel? There was no fallen bridge, no down ladder. Everything seemed ok. We reached the buoys, and Krista lifted her leg to step over a small trickle of a water... That's when it happened.

Danger on the Trail...

Before she could even complete her step, both feet flew out from beneath her and her whole body, pack and all, smashed onto the rock shelf. She began rocketing like a she was on a pro waterslide down the embankment towards a 9 foot drop into the water pool below. I had the wherewithal to shout out 'grab a rock!', and in the 3 seconds that seemed like 3 hours, I had the presence of mind to ponder how I might explain this to her mother back at home and 4 year old son if things went sideways... but with a 38lb pack on myself and being a few feet behind, there was no way I could move fast enough to do anything but yell.

Luckily, mid-slide, she managed to grab a handhold just long enough to stop and get some footing. Crisis averted, but the damage was done. Wearing shorts, she was sporting some nasty road rash on her cheek and arm, but most of the damage was buffered by the hoodie she'd had tied around her waist. She was bruised, but she was lucky.

Feeling pretty roughed up, we opted to stay at Camper Bay instead and rolled in about 1pm where we washed and treated her ailing buttocks and gave her some much needed pain meds. Along came a few more groups and we felt a bit less sheepish learning 2 of them had also had the exact same experience. Pride slightly less wounded, we made some new friends for the chatter and laid back and chilled for the afternoon. On your parks provided trail map, you will see a small note in red pointing to BA 'B' (beach access B) that warns about a dangerous slope just past the surge channels after Owen Point. It's not kidding.

If you stay at Camper Bay, it's a lovely and large campsite with lots of room for everyone. However, it has a habit of getting very windy, like all the time, and the only time it's not is when the sun goes down. If you're early enough, grab one of the sheltered tent spots in the woods/taller grass along the creek side. It also has a rep for early morning rain and fog. Something about the geography here seems to create its own micro-environment. If you walk out along the beach at low tide and cross the creek to the north, you'll see some neat tidal pools and caves in the rock wall. In the one with the small pool of water you might see a single lonely fish with the pool all to himself. I hope one day the tide washes him in friend.

Reminiscing...

Ironically, day 2 in 2016 was also the day I had a mishap of my own. Tired and worn down, toddling  after Jenna across a log bridge the width of my car, I misstepped. My feet were somehow gone and in a second I found myself sitting on my ass, straddling the log instead of walking on it. I peered down into the 6 foot drop below. Completely in disbelief I suddenly realized Jenna was yelling at me "Are you OK?!" ... Yes! I was! I was ok. Nothing was broken, hurt or otherwise. But it was a wake up call. If you are tired, take a break, don't push on or try to keep up with someone faster. Only hike as fast as your slowest hiker and be patient. Take a breath and remember, the goal is no one dies out here... hopefully.

Gone Are The Days Of Legendary Mud And Tilting Ladders That Make You Poop ... Just A Little

The few days that followed are a bit of a blur. There's so much to see and so little blog space to include it all! We left Campers Bay on a foggy, rain mist morning at about 10am. Since we had to take the inland trail there was no worry about racing the tide on this stretch. We chatted with the couple we met the night before (Mat and Lauren from Calgary!). Everyone was a bit tired that morning.

Although we saw some mud, with a historic heat wave just prior to our trip in 2021, the legendary mud pits that the WCT has typically been known for were non-existent. In 2016 Jenna and I spent most of our inland trail time figuring out how to cross mud-holes, watching where each other stepped and trying not to fall in up to our armpits (I kid you not). This time, there was no mud and if you disagree with me, go again after it rains. I dare you.

This is also the section where we saw the most ladders, most notably through Cullite Creek, which was sadly such a trickle there was no need for the cable car, we just rock hopped across (with ease). We saw some really cool art done along the trail by the Guardians in the new bridge and log cuttings, some even signed their names! Have you tried making a curve with a chainsaw? I was impressed.

This section also has a neat and unique stretch of boardwalk that goes through a fragile wetland. Sections of the boardwalk were out, it looks easy, don't let it fool you!

A brand-spank'in new suspension bridge calls Logan Creek home! In 2016 Jenna and I had to climb a harrowing series of crazy, half-tilted ladders to get to the bridge. I recall my favourite as being the third ladder in a tower, that was so amazingly on a 10 degree angle sideways, and scaling it with my 50lb backpack. It was all I could do not to roll off and meet a perilous end at the bottom of the gully. Today the beautiful new bridge almost disappointed with the ease it took to cross it. NO more ladder climbing, you just walk up the stairs and off you go!

We arrived in Walbran Campsite at 5:30, the creek is perfect for swimming if it’s warm enough. Several groups had a run-in here with a couple breaking the fire ban policy. People on the WCT take this seriously, keep in mind if you start a forest fire here, there’s no where to go and it puts the homes of indigenous peoples at severe risk too. We all simmered, had a tasty meal, chatted with our travel companions, explored the beach a bit and turned in for the night, thoroughly exhausted.

We spent the next two days going from Walbran Campsite to Cribbs and then to Tsuisiat Falls. Due to a problematic and confrontational cougar in 2021 there is no camping permitted along the trail between kilometer 34 to 38. So, naturally, your last stop prior to Nitinaht Narrows is Cribbs Creek.

The Stretch from Walbran to Cribbs is basically all beach walk. The beach is lovely, but don’t let 'beach walk' fool you. It’s just as challenging to walk in sand as it is through forest... and you thought it was going to be easier, didn’t you?! It's like walking through snow without snowshoes and being 30lbs heavier...what a Canadian thought. But! Fear Not! along this stretch is also the famed Chez Moniques burger stop and the Carmanah Lighthouse! The lighthouses are closed to the public this year due to covid, but it’s still a sight to behold as it beams brightly through the fog.

The Legend That Is Chez Moniques

In 2016 Jenna and I made a critical, but common, food planning error. We packed meals based on what we felt was healthy and would give us energy, without accounting for taste. In other words, we packed a lot of dry lentil-based meals that tasted awful and took forever to cook and I couldn't have forced down my throat if you had paid me. I love beans, but dried lentils on the trail... yech! You can read more about our cautionary tale in my food section, and if you're uncertain about foods to pack, it’s worth the read!

So, sufficed to say, that year we had the absolute pleasure of experiencing Chez Moniques in it's prime. It was incredible. Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, exhausted, starving (I was anyway lol), and run off our feet. And out of nowhere arose this mirage of a tent with burgers, fancy meals, peach ciders and more! My god it was intense. We kicked off our boots, stuffed our faces, chatted with Monique, the legend herself, and I protectively cradled the best Okanagan Cider that had ever touched my lips while we waited for the tide to recede. It was magical.

Sadly, between 2017-2018 both Monique and her husband tragically passed away. It was a blow felt around the world by all those who had passed through their doors and experienced their generosity. There is a lovely documentary attributed to their memory here. Today, in 2021, following a devastating 2020 with no business, Monique & Peter's grand-daughter, Katrina Knighton is trying to carry on the dream though the restaurant will be renamed as Nytom. We heard lots of chatter and some hikers did actually see her in person, but unfortunately there are some struggles, including keeping up supply levels, which they are walking in for 1.5 hours (!). We missed them this year, as did many hikers, and I was so sad Krista would not experience it. But! They are rumoured to have services most often morning and around 5pm. Katrina is also very active on the WCT Facebook page, so feel free to drop her a line there for more info!

We arrived in Cribbs Creek at about 2:30pm. It was the end of our Day 4 and what a campsite it was. Lovely soft sand under your toes and beautiful beach. There is nothing here for swimming but we had the most amazing sunset view on the rock shelf that night. Although it didn't rain while we were on the trail, this was the first time we'd seen the sun since we left Victoria.

The Magical Beauty Of Nitinaht And  The Crab Shack Of Your Dreams

We left Cribbs Creek about 9am and stuck to mostly inland trail. Other hikers going the opposite way had warned it was very overgrown but we honestly had no problems with it; it was a little underused, but keep in mind they hadn't seen the south side yet. We made excellent time and arrived in Nitinaht Narrows at 1:09pm. The journey is absolutely stunning. There is a new bridge over the creek at Dare Beach and the forest walk is lovely. The bridge over the Cheewhat River offers great views also. You cannot take water from the river itself but after the bridge there is a freshwater stream marked by a wooden sign if you need it and soon you will come across an old Cabin. When you arrive here, turn around and see the new and amazing Ditidaht home across the river. It has changed a bit, likely with the drought, but in 2016 Jenna and I referred to this stretch as "the place that Disney films are based on". Ivy clung all the way up the trees and just as you wrapped your head around that, the trail winds it's way through a silent coniferous forest where you could almost hear a pin drop, followed by a magical wetland lake with flowering lilly pads the size of your head. But none of this compares to Nitinaht Narrows.

As you walk along the trail, just a few short minutes past the lake, the path will turn from boardwalk to dirt and as you round the bend you will suddenly walk, with no warning, right into Nitinaht! It has caught me by surprise each time. We strolled down the walkways to the dock, left our packs safely on the bench and made our way to the Crab Shack. The blue-green waters of Nitinaht Narrows is something to behold. When you peer over the side of the wharf you see schools of small fish so thick you could almost surely touch them. When I dream of paradise, I dream of here.

Nitinaht Narrows was only recently made an 'official' entry and exit point by Parks Canada in 2014, you can read more about it here. But prior to this, older community members witnessed the inception and rise of the WCT as we know it today and watched it grow. Ferrying hikers across the narrows has become a task handed down from generation to generation. Connected to the ocean, it has tides about 10 minutes apart and historically, many years ago, hikers did drown trying to swim across before getting swept out to sea, naively misjudging the calm-looking waters. About 3 kms past the narrows, the Ditidaht band offers comfort camping options to those looking to settle and day hike the trail or in need of a break from the grind. This is marked with a sign and you will see it on the trail. The crab shack itself has also recently built new cabins as well which start from roughly $100/night (houses 4 bodies and you use your own sleeping bag) and goes up to ($200 and $300) where bedding is provided. They also offer tent platforms for a modest $30/night fee.

The Nitinaht Crab Shack is owned and operated by the Edgar family. They are kind, light-hearted, hospitable and will make you the best meal you have ever had. They work extremely hard and have a great sense of humour. A family member told me the previous day they had served a group of 20 lunch all at the same time! Hippie-Doug was their ring leader that day and he manned the ferry, that took us across the narrows to complete our journey, along with a sweet old chocolate lab you will see in many a hikers' photos. If you catch him at a slow moment he might share a joke and and story with you. But don't leave until you have warmed yourself thoroughly by the wood stove, had the best meal this side of Canada and picked up some treats for the road. The ferry finishes for the day at 4:30pm and then Hippie-Doug settles in for a much deserved break, a meal, and maybe a drink, so don't be late!

Tsu-Tsu-Tsusiat!

We left the warming comfort of the Nitinaht stove at about 3pm and headed on our way. We saw our new friend and traveling tag-along Wilson off at the Ditidaht Comfort Camping site and continued on, arriving at Tsusiat Falls by 6:30pm. You can't see the falls from the beach, but if you reach the hole in the wall at Tsusiat Point, you're just minutes away.

In 2016, the first 5 days of our hike Jenna and I had the most amazing weather. On our 5th day, after the crab shack, while the sun beamed a balmy 25+ C, we ditched our packs on a slope of sand with gentler waters between Nitinaht and Tsusiat Point and ran into the ocean up to our knees, jumping the waves and being astonished at their strength. We laid on the beach afterwards and soaked in the sun. When I think of my little sister, I often think of this carefree day and smile. Enjoy the journey as you go, or you’ll miss the best parts.

Tsusiat Falls is a popular campground. When we arrived the beach was packed. According to 2021 Parks regs, you can only stay one night here to minimize environmental impact. The beach was very different from what I remembered, but the falls were ever glorious. We threw on bathing suites and while Krista enjoyed the brief sun, I took a dip in the beckoning water.

The next morning, with Krista not feeling hot, I'd aimed to get up early and walk back to the Hole In The Wall with my Nikon DSLR camera. When we passed by the day before it was high tide and the Hole was under sea water. However, after a delay, Krista decided to come with me. We packed up, left our bags at Tsusiat and strolled back to the hole together, and a better decision it was. I’d watched a group ahead of us pass through an hour ago, but beneath their tracks you could make out a fresh set of cougar prints. Since low tide was at 10am that morning, that means the tracks were very recent and could only have been made since the water receded. Food for thought.

Darling Bears You Might Be Cute, But I Don't Want To Snuggle

The last 2 days on the WCT (or your first two, depending where you start) are the easiest to hike and where you make up the most ground. We'd intended to land at Darling River Campsite (approx km 14), which from Tsusiat (approx km 25) would make it about an 11 km day. Most of our fellow travellers whom we had become familiar with were aiming for Michigan Creek though, which would add 2 km to our 6th day, but save us that on our 7th and final day out. We decided to see what the day held and if we arrived at Darling early we might continue on. WELL.... what the day held was not entirely what we expected.

In 2016 Jenna and I walked the beach hike between Tsocowis Creek and Michigan Creek. It had started to rain the night before and by morning was a light, but steady, downpour. We donned our rain gear but by noon, and halfway through our distance, it was clear that Jenna's rain jacket was not waterproof. Though she had tested it prior to leaving, it turned out not to be up to WCT-level rain. As we continued on poor Jenna got wetter and wetter and by the time we reached Michigan, she was soaked through to the bone. Water pooled in her boots, and she shivered so hard she couldn't help me with the tent. Realizing this could get worse quickly, I popped the tent, got her changed and snugged into her sleeping bag ASAP. Then I worked on adding a tarp. When the shivering stopped we got a warm meal into her and passed our time taking turns winding up our emergency radio and trying to maintain the faint signal from a long forgotten US talk station till darkness fell. It poured the entire next day as well for a total of over 24 hours straight and our photos at the Pacheena lighthouse are in plastic emergency ponchos.

In 2021 Krista and I opted for the inland trail as we'd previously made better time this way. There is lots to see here, another Donkey Engine and a rusty old grader, and I absolutely love the Billy Goat Bridge. The trail threw us for a bit at Tsocowis Creek, there, phantom branch-offs seemed to lead off and abruptly stop. You have to go down the ladders to continue the inland trail portion (OR access the beach). However, just passed Orange Juice Creek, it was quite clear this section of trail was not well used recently... by people anyway. It was eerily dark, overgrown and passed by what looked like long lost abandoned campsites in caves along the rock wall. As we passed by we heard something stir in the dim light, knocking over an old cup, and we nervously quickened our pace. We began to see pile after pile of fresh bear scat, some so fresh that by the time we reached Darling we figured we must be just behind it. Making a lot of noise we made our way to the beach and relief washed over us as we recognized people half a km ahead... our fellow Albertans, Mat and Lauren! But when they stopped suddenly and started to back up we knew something wasn't right.

Just ahead of them on the beach was our bear. And big guy he was! They figured a lone male. They managed to scare him off and once we caught up the 4 of us made our way as a group to Michigan Creek just down the beach where we figured there was relative safety in numbers.

Bitter Sweet Goodbyes

Our last day from Michigan to the Information Station at Pacheena was a super short one. We were the last hikers to leave Michigan at 8am and among the first ones (ironically) to reach the Parks office at 11:01am. The path is very well maintained and an easy hike. You'll also see a lot of day hikers here, many with dogs. Along the way are some cool sights you won't want to miss, so don't be too quick to rush out. The abandoned dirt bike isn't going anywhere fast anymore, but be sure to check out the sea lion rock just passed km 10. You may even hear them from the trail! Just before the sea lions you'll also pass by the Pacheena Lighthouse. Again, due to covid, you cant access the grounds but you can totally snap a quick pic! The area has so much bear activity Parks Staff joke about running 'bear daycare' here so be vigilant. Two wonderfully enthusiastic young ladies we met along the way carried an amazing tune; Im sure they must've charmed away any "would be" encounters.

In 2016 there was no km 1 sign on the trail and in 2021 there was still no km 1 sign lol. Both times I raced past km 2 and then later wished I'd taken a pic with it. You'll want it as proof! We walked the very last km along the beach, where firm sand makes for easy going. There were bear sightings of a mother and cubs here just before we arrived. We missed them, but were lucky enough to get some great foot-print photos. The very last bench you'll see on the trail is emblazoned with the word 'PARKS'. We sat here for an eternal minute and took some photos. As we strolled towards the Information station I couldn't believe it was over again so quickly.

Looking back, even after time number two, it feels more like a dream. The first time I walked off the trail in 2016 I eagerly anticipated a hot shower, was thoroughly disappointed at finding I had no quarters for to pay for one and I spent the 5 hour bus ride home starving and trying to sleep on a roller coaster. Perhaps not such a glorious end, but I realized I had achieved something few people would in their life time and of that I was SO proud of Jenna and myself. We did it.

When I arrived back at work Sharon had the most glorious little bouquet of flowers for me and she glued tiny cut out flags of all the major trail milestones to skewer sticks throughout. It brought tears to my eyes.... she told me this, "for a while, you will think to yourself, I am NEVER going back to that EVER again. And then, slowly, you will forget all the bad parts and the thought will creep in... maybe, perhaps, I might try it again... and you will find yourself looking it up once more". And she was right, I did. And I am so glad I did... I might even do it again.

[mdzsgildedfate]

Gilded Fate - Chapter 8

Reincarnation AU [Chapter 8/?] Characters: Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Original Characters. Pairings: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, Lan Sizhui/Lan Jingyi, Xue Yang/OC

Sometime during his sleep, the faces of ghosts were replaced with that of Xiao XIngchen. His white robes enveloped Xinyi like a pair of wings, shielding him from the restless spirits advancing on him. The darkness took over and the dreams disappeared completely. When something finally roused him from his sleep, Xinyi muddled through a fog of confusion to remember where he was, who’s body he was curled around, who’s hand was stroking his hair-

“Mm…” The light from the window was blinding. “MingYue��?”

No… Not MingYue… This is… Xiao Xingchen?

He looked up at the radiant face, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes with his spare hand. Xingchen simply looked back at him with a blank expression, waiting for Xinyi to speak first. He still felt exhausted, wondering if it’d be okay for him to lay his head back down against Xingchen’s chest and go back to sleep.

“What time is it?”

“Noon. They’ll be serving lunch soon.”

“Mm…” Xinyi put his head back down. “I’m not hungry.”

Xingchen pulled himself free from the other’s grasp and sat up, looking down at him expectantly. Xinyi opened one eye and peeked up at him, frowning at Xingchen’s resolute expression.

“Fine.”

“Hm… Your clothes are still wet.” Xingchen said, running his hands along the damp fabric.

“Oh well. Guess there’s nothing we can do.” Xinyi slumped back against the bed.

“Stand up.” The man pulled open his trunk again, pulling out a set of plain, grey robes. “Put these on.”

Xinyi sighed, pouting slightly as he stood up and took the robes. Xingchen helped tie them in place and then led him out the door, down the hall towards the courtyard. Looking down at his new attire, he wondered where Xingchen got such drab looking robes. The Daozhang only wore white robes, with occasional black accents- he couldn’t imagine the man wearing any other colour.

Reaching the courtyard, it looked like everyone had already gathered for lunch. Most of the low tables had been filled by students, the two Lan Jiaoshou were seated together near Song Lan, and Jin Ling was off to the side with his dog. As always, MingYue was sitting near Jin Ling, but as soon as she saw Xinyi, she stood and began approaching him. Xingchen veered off to join Song Lan, leaving Xinyi to face MingYue alone. Every muscle in his body tensed.

“Xinyi, I-”

Before she could get a word out, Xinyi stuck his hands out in front of him and bowed to her, not daring to look at her face.

“MingYue. I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I don’t know what came over me, but it won’t happen again.” Xinyi straightened up, eyes still stuck to the ground. “I promise I won’t make trouble for you again… I- Uh… Are you… okay?”

MingYue reached out and took his hand, urging him to look up at her. She had a sweet, reassuring smile on her face that almost made his heart skip a beat.

“A-Xin. I appreciate your apology, but I’m the one that’s been making trouble for you. This is your trip after all, I’m only here as a guest. I shouldn’t have bothered you.” She let go of his hand and gave a small bow in return. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m okay.”

A small smile twitched at his lips, but instantly fell when he saw her neck. “Ah- MingYue, your neck-”

“It’s fine, I promise.” MingYue’s smile widened, though her eyes were turned up with concern. “It doesn’t hurt. I’m just worried about you. I’ve never seen you so upset, is everything okay?”

Xinyi’s heart hurt, feeling another wave of shame seeing her more concerned for him than for herself. “I’m fine, it’s nothing to worry-”

“A-Yue!” Jin Ling’s sharp tone cut through the courtyard as he approached them. “Come away from him, go sit down and eat!”

Xinyi took a step back. A-Yue?

MingYue gave him one last concerned look and scurried back to her table. Jin Ling followed behind her, looking at Xinyi with disdain. Xinyi gulped and turned away, spotting an open table between Chen and QianHua to take refuge at. He put his face in his hands for a moment, thinking again about how badly he just wanted to go back to sleep and not think about MingYue or her weird, uptight friend, or how Smiling Ghost was watching him from the stairs again.

“A-Xin, are you okay? You disappeared for so long, where were you?” Chen asked as soon as he sat down.

Xinyi looked over at him, his mood dropping even more at Chen’s expression. “I’m fine. Xingchen took me to his room and made me take a nap.”

Chen’s jaw dropped slightly, looking just a little horrified. “He made you sleep in his bed??”

Xinyi cracked a smile. “How do you always make things sound so much worse than they are?”

“It doesn’t help that you’re not wearing your own clothes.” QianHua mused, snickering at them.

“Huh? Oh, right.” Xinyi looked down at what he was wearing again. “I fell in the river earlier. My clothes were still wet, so Xingchen lent me these.”

Chen looked away, mumbling under his breath. “I didn’t realize you two were so familiar…”

Xinyi quirked an eyebrow at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re jealous.”

“I was just worried about you!” Chen straightened back up, taking his glasses off to clean them angrily. “You were so mad, it took four people to hold you back! And then you just disappeared for three hours and no one knew where you were! Why didn’t you come to us for help?”

Another wave of shame. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Chen sighed and put his glasses back on. “I’m sorry too. I just… was scared.”

“I’m sorry too.” QianHua yawned.

They both looked at him. “For what?”

QianHua shrugged. “I just wanted to be included.”

~X~

The clouds forming in the sky had provided a welcome shade from the sun during lunch. After spending the morning hiking through the mountains, spelunking through caves, and handling rotting corpses, it felt nice to relax and have a meal with MingYue and Gongzhu. As much as he disapproved of MingYue approaching Xinyi like that, Jin Ling had to admit she seemed in better spirits now. Plus, Xinyi looked even more dejected, so maybe it wasn’t so bad.

“Hey. A-Yue.”

“Hm?”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

MingYue looked up from where she sat with Gongzhu. “Did I do what on purpose?”

Jin Ling pointed at Xinyi with his chopsticks. “He looks miserable now. Did you apologize just to guilt him?”

“What? Of course not!” Her tone was indignant, but the faintest hint of a smile played on her lips. “And why are you saying my name like that so much suddenly?”

“Saying it how?” Jin Ling asked, turning his gaze back to his meal.

“A-Yue~.” She said, mocking Jin Ling’s tone.

“I didn’t-!”

Before Jin Ling had a chance to defend himself, Song Lan and Sizhui rose from their seats and were calling everyone’s attention their way. Sizhui had set up his guqin on his table and was now plucking at the strings, making sure it was still in tune. The idle chatter and clanking of dishware slowly died down as everyone turned their attention to the men. Song Lan glanced back at Sizhui, who gave a small nod, and addressed the students.

“For today’s lesson, I’d like to talk briefly about a forgotten culture. Your textbooks and history classes will not teach you about these groups of people, but Xiao Xingchen and myself have spent a long time maintaining the remnants of this time.”

Jin Ling looked at them curiously. Save for the immortals currently present, and the few hidden away in seclusion, there wasn’t a soul alive who knew about the existence of cultivators. He hadn’t even come across the descendants of cultivation clans in at least a few centuries, so what was the point in leading a lesson about them?

“Many thousands of years ago, there was a widespread spiritual practice called Cultivation. These spiritual workers belonged to clans who were devoted to protecting commonfolk from restless spirits, demons, and other dark forces.” Song Lan spoke in a steady tone, slowly pacing back and forth in front of the students. “These clans were well respected and held a great deal of political power in the regions they presided over. If you recall from the tour of the temple, the tapestries you saw depicted those regions.”

“Cultivators trained their whole lives to deal with the evil beings haunting their lands and were also highly skilled warriors. The standard spiritual tool was their sword, though many of the gentry clans also specialized in a specific technique. For example, instead of swords, the Nie clan carried heavy blades as their signature technique. Another techniqueincluded the use of musical instruments, such as the guqin.”

Song Lan paused, looking over at Sizhui. The man was gracefully plucking out a calm rhythm, quietly enough that Song Lan could be heard over him. With his attention turned to the music, Jin Ling realized the song being played was Cleansing. He followed the flow of spiritual energy to where Xinyi was sitting, looking more relaxed than he had at the start of the meal.

“Other common tools included paper talismans, sigils, arrays, nets, and pouches. Spiritual tools were items infused with positive qi, spiritual Yang energy..” Song Lan continued, turning back to face the students. “The use of these tools depended on the presence of a cultivated golden core, the part of the body that stores and controls spiritual energy-”

Jin Ling’s focus waned, feeling bored at the memory of lectures he had to sit through as a junior disciple. He propped an elbow up on his table and leaned his cheek onto his hand, letting his eyes wander over the students. Expecting to see bored expressions, Jin Ling was surprised to see how many were hanging on Song Lan’s every word. Three students sitting closest to Jin Ling and MingYue seemed to be engaged in discussion about the lecture, talking with bemused expressions. He turned his attention to them, unable to resist the urge to eavesdrop.

“-seems kind of strange.”

“I thought this stuff was all made up.”

“Yeah, like, fairy tales the Wang family invented to hype up their collection.”

“Is this the same story? I thought it seemed familiar…”

Jin Ling furrowed his eyebrows. This wasn’t the first time he’d overheard the people here mention some mysterious Wang Family Collection, but he’d never suspected it had anything to do with cultivation. He glanced at MingYue, wondering what the chances were that his companion just happened to be the ex-girlfriend of a member of the Wang family, who just happened to be a reincarnated cultivator.

He frowned. He hated convoluted things like this.

“MingYue.”

“Hm?”

“I keep hearing people mention the Wang Collection- What is that?”

She blinked a couple of times before cracking into hushed laughter. “Were you living under a rock before I met you?”

He frowned harder.

MingYue scooted closer to Jin Ling so she could speak without disrupting Song Lan’s lecture. “The Wangs are a really wealthy family in Beijing known for collecting antiques. It’s actually a really impressive collection, but some of the pieces are famously controversial because they reference historical events that didn’t happen.”

“What kind of pieces?”

“The majority of pieces are heavy swords, but there’s also a lot of old books about ghosts and magic, strange flags, amulets, random trinkets, sculptures. Kind of like what Song Lan Daozhang is talking about, actually.” MingYue looked back at the Daozhang curiously. “Honestly, even when we were dating, I thought it was nonsense, but I guess not…”

“Hmph… Don’t dwell on it.” Jin Ling retorted, turning his attention back to the lecture.

Two mysteries is more than enough, I’ll think about that one later…

~X~

By the time Song Lan concluded his lecture, the clouds had thickened into a dark sheet stretching across the sky and the smell of rain hung densely in the air. For the rest of the evening, the lecture continued to ruminate in Xinyi’s mind, providing a welcome distraction from Smiling Ghost and the two new spirits that now served as an ever-present audience. Still, they weren’t as bad as the bloodied ghosts that appeared the first night, so ignoring them was becoming easier.

By dinner time, the rain was coming down hard, creating small streams that rushed across the stonework of the courtyard. Everyone gathered in the main hall for the final meal of the day, the room quickly filling with the sounds of excited anthropology students discussing the existence of a forgotten study of spiritualism. Xinyi sat between Chen and QianHua like always, this time placed towards the head of the table where the Daozhang and Jiaoshou sat together.

A few yards past Jingyi Jiaoshou, Smiling Ghost stood in the corner, her watchful gaze occasionally scanning over the other students before returning to Xinyi. He stared back at her, tapping his finger on the table while he thought.

Why does she just stare at me like that?

What does she want?

She’s dressed so nice… Not fucked up or covered in blood like the others...

Don’t you have anything better to do? Or am I really so handsome that you can’t take your eyes off me?

She turned her head slightly, eyes still on him, and smiled wider. He shuddered and looked away.

Tap tap...Tap tap…

He looked over at the two farther down. The older of the two was a middle aged woman with an open throat and the younger was a boy, no older than ten, with a wound through his chest.

Tap… Tap tap… Tap tap tap…

He jumped slightly. How long had Song Lan been staring at him? And what was that expression? Their eyes met for a moment, both looking equally confused and startled, before Song Lan quickly looked away. Xinyi put his chopsticks down and excused himself from the table, feeling sick to death of being stared at.

Going back to his room alone, Xinyi slumped onto his bed. At least for the time being, no ghosts appeared here and no disembodied whispers filled his ears. The only sound came from the rain outside, which quickly became white noise. He breathed a sigh of relief at the rare moment of silence, realizing just how badly he needed it. With the rest of the thoughts pushed from his head, Xinyi remembered for the first time since probably ten that morning that his notebook was still missing.

Sitting up, he noticed someone had brought his bag back to the room for him and left it at the head of his bed. He grabbed it and pulled it over, hoping the notebook had someone found its way back inside. Even though the weight already gave him his answer, he still opened the bag and felt around inside. Sighing, he tossed the disappointing thing aside and slumped back, staring up at the ceiling.

So much for a year and a half long project… It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just a transcription… but all my notes in it too!

A lot of those pages took forever to decipher… Whoever wrote the original had the handwriting of a kid and talked in riddles half the time…

Xinyi fished his phone out of the twisted bedsheets and turned it on, opening to the pictures he’d taken of the original book. At least he could remember the notes he’d made about the most recent pages, but for everything else, he’d have to start over completely.

Whatever. It wasn’t important anyways.

By the time Chen and QianHua came back from dinner, Xinyi was already starting to doze off. The sound of movement in the room jolted him awake, immediately sitting up and looking around for the source of noise. Once he realized who had come in, he relaxed and laid back down. He murmured a few initial replies to the two when they entered, but felt too exhausted to stay up and chat with them. When the lamp was extinguished earlier than usual, Xinyi said a silent thanks to Chen, knowing he was the one to have mercy on him. Now enveloped in darkness as well as the silence, sleep overtook Xinyi quickly.

Before long, the first nightmare was manifesting behind his eyelids. Fog surrounded him, obstructing most of his vision. Some figure seemed to be moving around him, darting past his peripheral vision. Behind him, the sound of tapping was filling him with horrible anxiety. He lashed out, JiangZai in his hand, desperately trying to silence the source of the noise.

Give it back… Please… Give it back!

His eyes searched the fog wildly, looking for his lost item and swinging his sword at the tapping. Some object came hurtling towards him, appearing only about a yard in front of him before spearing through him. Unbearable pain shot through his shoulder, sending him reeling and crashing to his knees. Looking down, he could see the arm that had held JiangZai, severed and limp on the ground. The tapping had ceased and was now replaced with the sounds of solid footsteps approaching him headon.

With his remaining hand, he reached into his shirt and pulled out the fan he’d painted. Opening it, his eyes scanned over the mountain scenery, thinking it seemed a great deal more realistic than he remembered. Another pain shot through his chest and he looked up at the white figure towering over him- a man with glassy skin like jade, an icy expression, and an utterly regal air to him. Slowly, his vision turned down to see the blade sticking through the middle of his sternum.

Blood sputtered from his mouth, staining the blade red. Further up, the white robes were turning red as well, sprouting poppy flowers all the way up to the open throat of the figure in front of him. The cold expression was replaced with a face that glowed in the moonlight, obscured by a pair of bloodied bandages around the eyes. All at once, a feeling of sheer horror rushed over him, turning into desperate wails of grief in his throat.

All he could do to stop from screaming was to stuff the side of his wrist into his mouth and bite down. The pain in his shoulder and chest still screamed as though the wounds received in the dream were real. He’d slept so well earlier, why couldn’t Xingchen have just let him sleep longer? His eyes opened at the thought. He had slept earlier. Actually slept! Pulling himself to his feet, and pointedly ignoring whatever figure was crouching in the corner, Xinyi slipped out into the hall in search of Xiao Xingchen’s room.

...If only he’d paid even an ounce of attention to which turns they had taken to get there.

All the halls in this temple look exactly the same, especially at night, and there was no way he was risking opening random doors. If there was anything worse than going back to sleep on his own, it was accidentally opening the wrong door. If he happened upon Song Lan, he might actually kill him, and if he happened upon a girls’ room, he’d be branded a pervert for the rest of his school life. Xinyi shuddered. Finding Xingchen’s room wasn’t worth the risk, especially when it wasn’t guaranteed the Daozhang wouldn’t be just as offended by being barged in on.

Fuck it. There was nothing to be done and standing around feeling sorry for himself was just giving the restless spirits a chance to catch up to him. The whispers were already starting to stir up again, Xinyi wasn’t about to wait to see what else showed up. After what he did to MingYue, not sleeping wasn’t an option. Sleeping with Xiao Xingchen was not an option. With how many nightmares he had, sleeping alone was also not an option. So all that left was...

Xinyi cursed himself and this whole damn situation, back inside his own room now, staring down at the two figures of his sleeping friends. How was he supposed to explain to either one of him why he, a twenty year old man, was trying to crawl into their bed in the middle of the night? Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath, and decided Chen was the safer option. He knelt beside him, his heart pounding in his ears, and slowly lifted the blanket to lay beside the sleeping man.

“Mm… Hm?” Chen roused almost at once. “Xinyi?”

Xinyi tensed. “...sorry… can- can I sleep here? Just tonight?”

Chen lifted his head slightly, squinting through the darkness. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Y-...yeah…”

Without another word, Chen moved over to make room for Xinyi. He breathed out a small sigh of relief and slipped under the covers next to him. For one blessed moment, the whispers disappeared and all of the muscles in Xinyi’s body relaxed. Maybe this wasn’t so bad… Chen was warm and he wasn’t afraid to drape an arm over Xinyi, inviting him in closer. The slow rhythm of breathing was comforting, a steady movement and sound he could focus on instead of-

“Xue… Yang…”

Fuck. Please no.

“Xue… Yang…”

No Xue Yang here. Please leave.

Against better judgement, Xinyi opened one eye to peer around the room. In the dark, it was hard to make out anything completely, but there was no mistaking it. There was a shadow in front of the door, darker than the rest of the room. Without meaning to, Xinyi brought his hands up to Chen’s chest, grasping the front of his shirt.

“How pathetic…”

The figure moved forward, coming close enough for Xinyi to see the details of its face. The thing was covered in cuts, hundreds of them at least, with blood covering every inch of its form. The sight was enough to send Xinyi burrowing into Chen’s chest, praying it would go away if he couldn’t see it.

“Ah- A-Xin?”

“Xue Yang!”

Xinyi inched closer to Chen, feeling his forehead press against the man’s cheek. Other whispers were joining in with the voice of the mutilated ghost, sending shivers throughout Xinyi’s body.

Please go away… please go away… please go away.

“How pathetic you’ve become!”

Please go away… please go away…

“You think you’re suffering?”

Please stop… Make it stop…

“A-Xin, what’s wrong?” Chen put a hand on Xinyi’s cheek, tilting his face up to look at him.

Crouching just behind Chen now, the mutilated ghost glared down on Xinyi, hands stretched out like he was about to grab him. Xinyi’s eyes widened, his body frozen in fear.

“A-Xin… Look at me.” Chen’s voice was barely audible over the deafening whispers. “Whatever you see behind me, look away.”

Xinyi tightened his grasp on Chen’s shirt and forced himself to meet his eyes.

“You think you’re suffering, Xue Yang?!”

Please… Anything to make this stop…

“This doesn’t come CLOSE to suffering!”

I’ll do anything… just make this stop!

Lips brushed against his, so lightly he almost didn’t feel it at first. Xinyi squeezed his eyes shut again and tilted his head forward, leaning into the touch. Chen kissed him again, harder this time, putting an arm around Xinyi’s waist and pulling him close. With the whispers quieting ever so slightly, Xinyi relaxed his grip on Chen’s shirt and brought his hands up to hook around the man’s neck.

Locked against each other, Xinyi felt a tongue brush lightly against his lip. He opened his mouth and returned the touch, feeling a tense warmth growing in his stomach. At once, Chen pressed hard into the kiss, sending his tongue deep into Xinyi’s mouth with a faint moan. Their positions shifted slowly with every kiss, with Chen now practically on top of him, one hand grasping at the thigh Xinyi had curled against him. At his hip, he could feel Chen’s growing erection pushing against him.

Xinyi brought a hand down to Chen’s lower back, gently rolling his hips up. Another soft moan left Chen’s mouth, adding to the heat in XInyi’s stomach. Chen slipped his fingers under the waistband of Xinyi’s pants, slowly inching further down, only to freeze dead in its tracks at the sound of QianHua shifting in his sleep. They both paused, listening for the man’s snores, praying they hadn’t been caught.

After a moment, the snore came and they both relaxed. Chen retracted his hand and rolled back against the bed. The whispers had disappeared, but Xinyi couldn’t help but sit up slightly to peer around the room, just to be sure they’d truly left. When he saw no out-of-place shadows, he laid back against Chen, resting his head in the crook of his neck and draped an arm across his chest.

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico - Dinner at the Nishikino’s

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~4.1k Rating: K Time Frame: Late in Maki’s 1st year and Nico’s 3rd year in college. Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: This chapter was assembled from a patchwork of about a dozen instances I wanted to include and thus wrote each separately. And somewhere along the lines, MS Word decided not to sync between my PC and mobile devices, so I ended up with two, slightly differently edited versions. Thus, here’s hoping my self-purported prowess with prose was successful in stitching this scene into a sensible structure. Please forgive any unsightly seams.

Nico couldn’t remember the last time she had been this nervous. No, wait, just a few days ago, her first date with Maki. Well, first official date, not counting all of the not-actually-date-but-technically-were-dates from years prior. Unfortunately, that was quickly falling into second place as she approached the gate to the Nishikino home.

Perhaps the date had been easier because she knew Maki, knew Maki liked her, knew Maki liked spending time with her, knew Maki wanted to date her, and was fairly confident Maki was attracted to her. She had known all of these things even before they started dating officially. As such, looking back, she wasn’t sure why she had been so nervous for their first date, because with the exception of one little hiccup named Etsuko, it had all gone splendidly.

But the parental Nishikinos were more of an unknown. Nico had met both of Maki’s parents a handful of times throughout the years, but had never really gotten to know either. She was all but certain she would have little problems with Maki’s mother as she had apparently been talking behind the scenes with her mother about her and Maki’s developing relationship. And she had been quite supportive of Maki’s time as a school idol, so Nico didn’t think she would object to her intended career choice.

Maki’s father on the other hand… Nico remembered quite vividly when he almost made Maki quit being a school idol after her grades slipped the tiniest of bits; not even enough for her to drop from her position as top of her class. Umi had been the one to stand up to him, which made sense insofar as she understood having parents with high expectations. Still, looking back, Nico couldn’t help feeling a bit of regret that she hadn’t been the one to protect Maki. Sure, she had offered her support, but…

“Good evening, Yazawa-san.” A voice came over the speaker.

Nico jumped. Had she even pushed the button to announce her presence?

“Yes, good evening.” She replied as she recognized the voice of the Nishikino estate manager.

“Ojou-sama has informed me of pending arrival, though as always, you are most welcome here.”

“Thanks.” Nico replied as the buzzer sounded to indicate the gate was unlocked.

One gate down, literally. Nico thought as she made her way toward the front door. Though part of her wished Maki had been the one to answer the intercom, she was nonetheless thankful that it had been a member of the house staff with whom she got along well. At least it hadn’t been…

“D-Dr. Nishikino?” Nico sputtered as the door suddenly swung open to reveal a towering, bespectacled man who immediately fixed her with a cool and calculating gaze.

Damn. Why had she stuttered? This wasn’t the first time she had met Maki’s father, and if all went well tonight, it wouldn’t be the last. You can do this Nico! Sure it wasn’t the man she expected and she was caught a bit unaware, but… Gah! Stop being intimidated. You’re here for a reason! And that reason is Maki-chan!

“Yazawa-san.” Maki’s father stated flatly.

“Hi…” Nico cutoff by clearing her throat. “Good evening.” She corrected, offering a polite bow. “I’m…”

“I’m afraid my daughter will be unable to entertain your visit tonight.” Dr. Nishikino interrupted. “We are expecting an important guest who should be arriving presently.”

I’m an important guest? No, wait, of course I am! I’m Maki’s girlfriend now. So, buck up and tell him that.

“Yes, sir, that guest is me.” For emphasis, Nico indicated the stylish dress she had picked out specifically for the occasion. “I’m Maki’s date.”

“…” Dr. Nishikino raised an eyebrow but remained steadfast in his position.

“Nico-chan!” the voice of an angelic savior came from behind the barrier of the paternal Nishikino. “Papa, let her in.”

Dr. Nishikino stepped aside and…

Holy… Nico had to make a conscious effort to avoid letting her jaw hit the floor. Not that Nico, at any point, had forgotten that Maki was beautiful, but when the redhead went all out, it was all she could do not to stare. Though elegantly modest, the deep purple dress still managed to highlight Maki’s best features.

“You’re early.” Maki said, bringing Nico back to reality.

“I’m sorry, did I take you away from your precious piano?” Nico couldn’t help teasing a bit, figuring the younger girl had wanted to arrive at her parents’ home earlier for a few moments of nostalgia with the instrument she grew up playing.

“Yeah, actually.” Maki admitted as she glanced away sheepishly.

“Well maybe after dinner, you can continue your concert, but with an audience?” Nico pointed herself as if it wasn’t already obvious who she meant.

“I’d like that.”

“You look lovely, by the way. Purple always looks good on you, Maki-chan.”

“Thanks.” Maki replied as pink dusted her cheeks. “You look good too. I like when you leave your hair down. It makes you look more…” She trailed off.

“More?”

“Sorry, I meant…”

“More mature?” Nico completed what she believed to be her girlfriend’s thought.

“Uhm… yeah…”

“I’ll have you know Nico is always mature.” She squared her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips pridefully.

Maki raised an eyebrow in a way that left no question as to her linage.

“Anyway, I haven’t seen that dress before, is it new?”

Maki nodded. “Mama and I just got back a little while ago from picking it out.”

Huh… Mama and I were also just out shopping for my dress. Nico thought to herself. And, wait a minute… “We match.” Or at least they matched in the way their old idol costumes matched in overall theme and enough details to be an obvious set while maintaining enough individuality to be unique as well.

“We do?” Maki glanced down at herself before back at Nico. After half a second, she smiled. “Yeah, we do. What a nice coincidence.”

Nico found herself wondering if the coincidence was perchance planned by a pair of meddling mothers who meant well. She made a mental note to ask her mother about the issue later, if for no other reason than to thank her for the cute gesture.

“So, dinner isn’t for a little while yet” Maki continued “but they might have appetizers ready already so why don’t we head to the dining room and I’ll quick check?”

“Lead the way.” Nico decided not to bring up how she still got lost in the huge house, even after visiting frequently over the last few years.

“You coming, Papa?”

Nico realized she had all but forgotten the paternal Nishikino was still there. Stealing a quick side glance, she found him quietly observing the couple. If she was reading things correctly, his aura had warmed somewhat, though was no less calculating than before; gears were obviously grinding behind his stoic expression.

“Your mother and I will meet you at the table.” Dr. Nishikino stated. “I’ll go find her.”

As Maki took her hand to lead her through the house, Nico noticed her grip was tighter than normal. A lot tighter. Maki was more nervous than she was letting on. Just how worried was she about her father’s approval of their relationship? Nico already knew Maki’s mother was wholly supportive, as was her own, but the only things she really knew about Maki’s father were that he had high expectations for his daughter and was not particularly fond of idols.

“Wait, Maki-chan,” Nico said, stopping in the hallway before they reached their destination “hold up a moment.”

“Eh?” Maki uttered, not seeming to notice the change and almost yanking Nico’s arm out of the socket before being held to a halt. “Nico-chan?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Maki.” Nico fixed her girlfriend with a steady stare. The redhead returned the gaze, though was far more furtive, and when she began to fidget with her hair, Nico reached out and gently touched her hand. “What’s wrong?” She repeated.

Maki released a puff of air. “I’m nervous, alright? I… I just really want Papa to like you.”

“I’m nervous too.” Nico admitted, her thoughts racing through things she could say to calm them both down. “But you know, he didn’t turn me away at the door, so that’s gotta count for something, right?” She paused for a moment. “Well, technically, he did, but that was before he realized why I was here, but he still let me in, so that has to mean he’s willing to give me a chance, right?”

“I just… I know he’ll bring up idols, and…”

“Maki-chan.” Nico took a step in to close some of the distance between them. “Nico didn’t become the No. 1 Idol in the Universe without learning a thing or two about reading her audience.”

“…” Maki’s expression wasn’t one of disbelief but of continued concern.

“Look, I’m not going to lie to your father about my career of choice, but I’m also not going to try to convert him into a fan or convince him that idols are the most amazing thing ever, even if I believe that myself.”

“I know…”

“And I am attending college and aim to get a degree.” Nico continued. “Sure it won’t be a fancy medical degree like yours, but I’m getting it while still being an idol. So that’s also gotta count for something, right?”

“Papa does respect hard work.”

“And Nico is a hard worker.”

“I know.” Maki affirmed, dropping her hand before leaning her head into Nico’s hand. “Nico-chan is one of the hardest workers I know when it comes to working toward her goals. It’s always admired, and envied, about you.”

Nico scoffed. “You say that as if you don’t work hard as well, Maki-chan.”

“Mmm…” Maki hummed in a tone that implied she was paying attention to something other than the conversation at hand.

Hand… Maki closed her eyes and nuzzled her cheek against Nico’s hand, causing her to open her fingers to increase contact. It should be fine here, right? Nico moved in the rest of the way and tilted her chin up. Maki followed her hand as Nico guided her down. Their lips touched and…

“Oh dear…” A startled voice uttered, causing the couple to jolt away from each other. “I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, Ojou-sama.”

“I-It’s f-fine…” A blushing Maki stumbled through.

Nico recognized the woman one of the newer members of the Nishikino house staff. She was responsible for general assistance wherever needed.

“Welcome, Yazawa-san.” The woman said with a polite bow, but when she righted herself, her expression was thoughtful. “Although, now that you’re dating Ojou-sama, perhaps Yazawa-sama is more appropriate?”

“Just Nico is fine.” Nico assured.

“Right, anyway, I’m on my away to retrieve some bottles of Cloudy Bay at the behest of the master.”

“White?” Maki inquired.

The woman nodded. “We’ve prepared a delightful shrimp pasta for the main course.” She turned to Nico. “Ojou-sama has informed us of your talent in the kitchen, so we hope to meet your standards, Yazawa-sama.”

Guess the new title is going to stick. Nico thought to herself. “I’m sure it will be great.”

“The caprese salads should be ready if you wish to head to the dining room now.”

“Tomatoes, of course.” Nico couldn’t help commenting.

“Yes.” The staff member confirmed. “We have also been informed of one of your preferences, so for dessert, we will be serving traditional crepes with lemon and sugar.”

“Sounds delicious.”

The woman smiled before bowing again to excuse herself and hurrying down the hall.

“Is there anything wrong with your father requesting white wine?” Nico asked, trying to gauge her girlfriend’s reaction.

“I don’t believe so.” Maki shook her head. “White is better paired with seafood, after all.”

“Yes, but…?”

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Maki shook her head again. “Cloudy Bay is actually one of Papa’s favorites. He’s quite fond of the New Zealand area in general.”

“One of his favorites? That’s gotta be a good sign, right?”

“I hope so.”

Nico took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then released it slowly. “Well, the salad is apparently ready, so we may as well get to it.”

Maki nodded before taking Nico’s hand once more to complete their journey to the dining room. Nico noted, thankfully, that her girlfriend’s grip was far more relaxed this time around.

Upon arrival, the couple was greeted by the Nishikino estate manager who showed them to their seats. Shortly thereafter, Maki’s parents arrived and took their own seats. Next the chef and her assistant from before arrived with the first course. Finally, the first bottle of wine was uncorked and the meal was underway.

“So, Yazawa-san,” Dr. Nishikino stated, drawing Nico’s attention “you’ve known Maki since high school, am I correct?”

“Yes.” Nico affirmed. “It was Maki-chan’s first year and my third.”

“I see. And were you one of the girls who helped convince her to become an idol?”

Well, that didn’t take long for the subject to come up. Nico thought to herself. Straight to the point, I guess, unlike a certain dishonest daughter of his…

“Actually, it was the other way around.” Nico replied.

“Oh?”

“I was in a disillusioned and jaded state back then, after my first attempt at forming a group fell through.” Nico admitted. “And it was Honoka and Maki-chan and the others that pulled me out of my funk and helped me remember why I adored idols so much and wanted so desperately to be one.” She couldn’t help smiling as fond memories flooded her mind. “I really do owe them all a debt of gratitude for that.”

“I see. And you are still an idol now?”

“Part time.” Nico nodded. “I was able to find a small production company that was willing to work around my classes. It fills up my schedule and keeps me busy, but also lets me keep my foot in the door.”

“Because you intend to go full time even once you’ve earned a degree?”

Nico wasn’t particularly fond of the wording of the question and had to resist the urge to call it out; had it been Maki and they were in a more casual setting, she likely would have done so.

“I do.” She said aloud instead. “And once I retire from being an idol, the degree will help me find other employment.”

“And what type of employment might that be?”

“Something still in the industry, if possible.” Out of the corner of her eye, Nico caught a suppressed expression of surprise on her girlfriend’s face. Understandable, as it was news to Maki as well. “Choreographer, trainer, costume design, heck maybe even a producer, someday. Basically, I’d like to pay forward my debt by helping the next generations of idols.”

“And one is able to earn a living in such an industry?”

“Others have before me; I believe I can as well.” Nico gave another glance to the redhead beside her. “I may not have the skills to become a life-saving doctor like Maki, but I can still do my part to make the world a better place; one smile at a time.”

“Medicine, law, business, engineering,” Maki’s mother suddenly spoke up “these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” She smiled at Nico. “I believe Mr. Keating’s words hold true for many things. Music, painting, writing, really the arts as a whole are what make life worth living.”

“Mr. Keating?” Nico inquired.

“The lead character of Dead Poets Society.” Maki responded. “We should watch it sometime, Nico-chan; it’s really good.”

“And it is because the arts are so important” Dr. Nishikino continued “that my husband and I strive to support them as much as possible. In fact, we will be attending a performance of The Barber of Seville late next month and have not even started sending out invites to fill our box. You two are more than welcome to join us.”

At this, Maki’s eyes lit up. “Next month? When?”

“I’ll message you the dates later, but it’s a weekend so you should be able to work it into your study schedule.”

Maki turned to Nico with an expression rivaling the one she wore when December started. “Do you want to come with me?”

Nico smiled at her girlfriend’s excitement and word choice. “I’d love to. But where have I heard that title before?”

“From my playlist.”

“Tchaikovsky?” Nico made sure to pronounce the name as correctly as she could.

Maki shook her head. “Rossini.”

Nico racked her memory. “Cinderella?”

“Yes, different opera, same composer.”

“One smile at a time, you said?” Maki’s father suddenly stated.

“Oh, yeah.” Nico recalled her words from a few minutes ago.

The barest hint of something tugged at the edges of Dr. Nishikino’s lips. “Well, if nothing else, you have succeeded in making my daughter smile.” He nodded toward Maki, directing Nico’s attention back to the mentioned reaction. “And as my wife and I can attest, that is not always the easiest of tasks.”

“… P-Papa…” Maki offered a mild protest as pink dusted her cheeks and her mother chuckled.

Nico couldn’t help a smile of her own as she turned back to Maki’s father. “I think I’m up to the challenge.”

“Indeed.”

Wait… wasn’t this a bit hypocritical? Nico suddenly thought. Why claim to be a patron of the arts while simultaneously disallowing one’s daughter from being an artist?

On occasion, Maki had bemoaned being railroaded into the medical career while her dreams of being a professional pianist were dismissed as a passing fancy. Yet she hadn’t acknowledged the contradiction. Was she even aware of it? With the level of reverence Maki held for her parents, Nico could easily imagine her remaining oblivious; well, that and Maki’s overall naivete in many aspects of life.

Should she tell her? Was it even Nico’s place say such a thing? Nico was no stranger to speaking her mind when it came to her own interests, or those of her siblings. And she was dating Maki now, which meant defending her girlfriend’s best interests also shouldn’t surprise anyone. Or at least what she believed to be Maki’s best interests, as her parents obviously felt differently.

“On a related topic, Yazawa-san, Maki has told us much about your shared love of music.” Dr. Nishikino continued.

Nico derailed her own train of thought and refocused her attention on the conversation at hand. “It is one of our favorite subjects to discuss… or argue over.”

“And you often listen together while studying.”

“I believe music helps keep us in a good mood, which then helps us study.” Nico explained.

“I think we can all attest to the positive effects of music.” The Nishikino matriarch said.

“Indeed.” Her husband agreed.

“And Maki-chan has helped expand my appreciation of other genres of music.” Nico turned to her girlfriend. “And I’d like to think I’ve expanded hers as well.”

Maki nodded an affirmation with a smile.

“Maki also has told us that she often helps you study.”

“She does.” Nico confirmed. “Maki is incredibly smart. Even if she doesn’t know the answer to a problem, she is often able to logic things through and help guide me in the right direction. Honestly, if I didn’t already know she was going to be a doctor, I’d’ve suggested she become a teacher.”

“Now that would be an interesting career choice.” Maki’s mother said thoughtfully.

“Hrm…” Her father seemed less than convinced. “So, do you help her study in return?”

“Well…” Nico started.

“Nico-chan helps in other ways, Papa.” Maki offered. “Even if she isn’t able to help me with a given topic, she helps ensure I take regular breaks so I can come back with better focus. She makes sure I’m hydrated and helps track my nutrition and is quite insistent on keeping a decent sleep schedule. Honestly, she’s better at taking care of me than I am.” Her eyes widened as her admission registered in her mind.

“That’s right,” Her mother continued with the thoughtfulness from earlier, though Nico was sure she detected some teasing undertones “wasn’t it Nico that saved Maki from herself back on her birthday?”

“Mama…” Maki was losing a battle in trying to keep down another blush.

“Maki is very diligent in her studies.” Nico stated. “And I’m happy to help where I can.”

“Hmm… sounds like another couple we know, right Dear?” Dr. Nishikino sent a sly smile toward her husband, the teasing more obvious now.

“… Perhaps.” Maki’s father conceded.

Was it Nico’s imagination or did she just catch another glimpse into the source of some of Maki’s behavior? The Nishikino patriarch wasn’t the easiest to read behind his stoic mask, but his daughter wasn’t always straightforward with her emotions either and Nico had figured her out fairly well by this point.

As far as Nico was concerned, the rest of dinner went quite smoothly. Once Maki’s father got past his initial questions, he remained mostly quite. It ended up being Nico and Maki’s mother carrying the bulk of the conversations, which honestly didn’t really surprise Nico all that much. Maki’s mother inquired about Nico’s family, though Nico suspected she already knew most of the things anyway and it was more for Maki’s father’s sake. Still, Nico wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to brag about her amazing siblings and about how proud of them she was in taking care of the household and themselves in her absence.

After dinner, Maki’s parents excused themselves to finish up the day’s emails and paperwork. Nico couldn’t help but wonder if that would be something Maki would end up doing once she became more involved with the hospital administrative duties.

As for Nico herself, she joined Maki in the Nishikino music room for the previously promised private concert. There, she had happily settled into the best seat in the house, next her girlfriend on the bench. All in all, it was a wonderful conclusion to what she believed to be a wonderful night. However, as confident as she was, she still wanted to be sure, so she made a mental note to ask the one she believed would know best, or at least better than herself.

“So, how did I do?” Nico asked, once she was sure they were well beyond earshot of anyone even remotely associated with the Nishikino residence.

“You were perfect, Nico-chan.” Maki responded with a smile that sent a warm feeling through Nico’s chest. “I think Papa likes you and is fine with us dating, and we already know how Mama feels.”

Thank the gods… Nico thought with relief. And with that load off her mind, “Of course I was perfect,” she decided to get in some teasing of her own, after spending the evening watching Dr. Nishikino do so “Nico is always perfect.” She grinned and held up her signature gesture.

“Id…” Maki’s typical retort was interrupted by a yawn.

Nico laughed before continuing the tradition. “You love it.”

“… Maybe…” Maki managed to get out as her energy seemed to be leaving her rapidly.

Nico leaned her shoulder into her girlfriend. “Steady there, Maki-chan, you going to be alright getting back to your dormroom?”

“Eh? But, I thought…”

“You thought…?”

“I thought I was going to your place?”

“Well you can, obviously you’re always welcome, but…” Nico motioned to Maki’s outfit, taking the moment to enjoy the view as well “I figured since you don’t have a change of clothes, you wouldn’t want to put this back on in the morning.”

“It’s fine…” Maki stifled another yawn. “I just want to go home…” She blinked and shook her head. “I mean your home… Yours… yours and Nozomi’s, I mean… ueeehhh…”

Nico chuckled. “It’s your home too, Maki-chan.” By the gods did she want to kiss the redhead whose cheeks were now matching her hair, but even this late at night, there was a risk of being seen. Later. She promised herself. “Nozomi and my names may be on the lease,” she said instead “but that doesn’t make it any less home to you or Eli.”

“T-thank you…”

“You don’t have to thank me for that; that much is normal for couples, right? But you know, Eli does leave a lot of stuff in Nozomi’s room…” Nico thought aloud “perhaps I should clear out a drawer and make some room in the closet for you.”

“I’d like that.” Maki smiled. “I’ll be sure to bring some stuff over soon.”

“Good. For tonight, you can borrow your usual sleep shirt and we’ll figure out something else in the morning. I think the outfit I lent you the other day is clean, but if not, maybe Nozomi has something that will fit you.”

Maki nodded.

“Then it’s settled.” Nico took Maki’s hand as they boarded the train together. “Let’s go home.”

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

[jamiehorowitz73-blog]

What A Producer Does And Why You Should Consider Using One

Working as a producer all through the past ten years, I've recorded with a wide degree of experts from "new off the boat" juveniles to experts whose relationship with the universe of music joins or even triples my own. For each condition, my part as a producer stays on an extremely fundamental level the same. It's that work that I will portray in this article.

What Is A Producer?

The best way I know to depict what a creator does comes as this resemblance: A producer is to a record as a boss is to a film. Concerning making a film, the buck fundamentally stops with the boss. The central bovines the boat working with everyone from the specific editors to the performers to achieve their overall vision of the film. It is really that course with a creator concerning making a record. Not only should the producer have the experience to work with the studio engineer (dependably having the particular power to plan the endeavor themselves) at any rate the melodic consent to help the talented worker with everything from tune choice, structure and plan to the awesomely fundamental vocal shows that are basic in giving a story its character. To spread it out basically, a creator gives the experience and immense perspective to control a story start to finish.

Creator Backgrounds

Creators can arise out of a collection of establishments. I'm posting the four all around normal and what each brings to the cycle, in any case, regularly, creators have responsibility with more than one of these zones.

The Songwriter - Since at it's pith, a record is dependent upon the chance of the tune, the skilled worker/producer is genuinely connected with the tune decision cycle. Notwithstanding the way that such creator have thought with perceiving what achieves and doesn't work worried earlier tunes, at any rate on occasion this producer will co-structure tunes with the master for a given undertaking.

The Musician - Here, it's consistently an instrumental and music speculation establishment that gives such a creator their experience. They have direct data concerning working with prepared experts and understanding what instrumental procedure will work best in a given condition.

The Engineer - For this circumstance, the producer's basic experience comes from veritable story (i.e., setting finders on drum packs, recording vocals and mixing groupings). By changing into an expert in the wanderer bits of the record cycle, a fashioner/creator can make the record cycle a smooth one for the topic master.

The Music Fan - This is someone who lives and takes in music and has the motivations to control arranged specialists and meeting specialists through the record cycle without in a general sense having had the "hands on" experience of being a lyricist, entertainer or originator themselves. They routinely give uncommon perspective to a situation where being absurdly close to any a tiny smidgen of the cycle may deal the overall chronicle.

What Do Producers Do?

As I've implied, producers can be associated with a wide degree of parts of a record. A few creators are especially "far off" speaking to the most part as the voice of responsibility and perspective for specialists who starting at now have a truly away from of what their character is and where they're going. On the contrary completion of the range are the producers who are associated with each segment of the document from co-outlining the tunes, to needing to playing one or even the measure of the instruments. In a couple, yet immovably not these cases, the accompanying records have a gigantic express solid that the producer gets as related with the story as the master themselves. For the record, no one way overpowers some other for making a record. The fundamental level of a producer that issues is whether the resulting record is satisfying to everyone included. As most creators work some spot in unimportant and complete relationship, here are the central districts where most producers achieve their work.

Pre-creation - This wires working with the talented expert to pick if the tunes are in a similar class as they can be and, in the long run, which tunes would work best as a social gathering for an assortment release. It also decided for the overall sound of a story which circuits picking which meeting entertainers/instruments would be usually fitting to achieve the sound and feel of a particular tune.

Instrumental Recording/Arrangement - At this point, the creator works with the amassed topic specialists and headings their shows in the studio to achieve a solid sound for the record.

Vocals - Finally, considering the way that the standard music swarm responds first to the voice of the trained professional, one of the significant parts of the creator is working with the entertainer to help them set forward a solid exertion, most veritable execution of their material. It is exceptionally hard for even the most experienced performers to have any perspective on their introduction while it's going on. Properly, a producer is the voice of reason and experience who perceives how to demand that a performer do one more vocal pass or connects with them handle that it is more magnificent to restore a break and come to fight one more day.

How Do I Find A Producer?

For the people who are new to the route toward recording, whether or not it's a plan insight or even a tune demo, it is weak where to have to find a creator for your endeavor. As a last resort, agreeable trade your music network fills in as the best, most conventional way to deal with oversee find a producer fitting for your undertaking. Another profitable approach to find a producer, particularly in the event that you're amped up for doing a whole record insight, is look at the liner notes on a dash of your crucial free CD exercises made in the city where you plan to record. Dependably, those creators are open accessible and it's basically an issue of getting their contact information which the gifted workers themselves generally have. Finally, no standard says you can't contact a well known/persuading producer whose work you appreciate. Conceivably they will be unreasonably included or too exorbitant to even consider evening consider evening consider evening consider working with, yet you never know and in case you're cognizant in your referencing there's no inspiration not to attempt jamie horowitz.

End

Close to the day's end, it's a fair working relationship and the trust among expert and creator that makes for the best results. Accordingly, be sure that you like a producer's work likewise as feel inconceivable working with them too. You'll be contributing a huge store of energy with this individual and trusting in them with your distinguishing strength, so guarantee that you feel like the creator you pick is eager to give you and your music the thought fundamental to get an unfathomable record.

[girls-scenarios]

Sweetener

Idol: Handong (Dreamcatcher)

Prompt: Handong doesn’t even like coffee. But she still finds herself coming back to that tiny little coffee shop in the corner.

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: This wasn’t requested but I’ve had this idea for a while (based on something I saw while writing the other day) and I wanted to write a scenario for it. I hope you all enjoy, support Deja Vu, and stan Dreamcatcher.

♡ Tip Jar♡

Handong had never understood the craze around iced americano’s. She’d tried them, plenty of times, because ever since she’d gotten to Korea all of her classmates and friends had recommended them. But the americano was too bitter, too strong, and no amount of creamer and sugar could make it easy for her to choke one down. So it hadn’t taken Handong long to decide that the iced Americano wasn’t the drink for her.

But it also hadn’t taken her long to discover that she needed the extra caffeine.

University work had quickly caught up to her, leaving her with no choice but to seek out much-needed coffee. With midterms right around the corner and what seemed like an endless mountain of essays and homework to do, she found herself at the small coffee shop right off campus, only a few blocks away from her dorm.

She knew from her roommate, Sua, that the coffee shop at the library was both always packed and always loud, so she’d decided to try this place instead. As soon as she stepped inside, she was glad she’d made this choice.

The shop was quiet, a few tables filled with students studying, but plenty of open seats and no noise but the espresso machine and soft instrumental jazz playing overhead. In short, it was the perfect place to study. Smiling to herself, she looked around as she walked up to the counter. Behind the counter were two baristas who looked like they were also college students, one girl with short brown hair making coffee and then you, who stood behind the counter with a smile on your lips.

“Hello, welcome to Dream Coffee! What can I get for you today?” You sounded cheerful as you greeted her, but she couldn’t help the dread that came over her body as she thought about the terrible fate awaiting her taste buds.

“What all do you guys have?” She asked, glancing up at the menu. There were plenty of things that she didn’t really recognize, fancy names and syrups of all types. At the bottom, she saw her foe: the iced americano.

“Well, we have a bit of everything! Of course, we have americano’s. We’ve also got lattes, hot and cold brew coffee, blended drinks, and teas! Here on the menu, you can see our specialty drinks as well.”

As nice as you were, the menu was intimidating. She didn’t know what she’d like, and even though she knew she didn’t like the iced Americano, it was still familiar. She was tempted just to get it and suffer through it. But then she looked up at your friendly smile, and bit her lip. Well, it wouldn’t hurt.... “Um, what would you recommend to someone who doesn’t like the bitter taste of an americano?” She was half expecting you to give her a weird look, like everyone else seemed to give her when she admitted that she didn’t like the drink. But you didn’t.

“Oh, we have plenty of drinks that are great if you don’t like bitter tastes! I always recommend the caramel macchiato, it’s sweet but not overwhelmingly so. I think it would be a good choice if you want to try something new as well.”

With the threat of the americano gone, Handong found herself smiling again. “Okay, then I’ll get one of those! Large and iced please.”

“You’ve got it, coming right up!”

After paying, Handong found herself a cozy little table in the corner and sat down, ready to dive in. It was you who delivered her coffee, and as you sat it down on her table, you gave her a sweet smile.

“I hope you enjoy this one! Good luck with your homework!”

Something in her heart jumped as she accepted the coffee and gave you a polite nod. “Thank you.” As you walked away, she took a sip of the coffee and watched you go, a smile slipping onto her lips as the sweetness hit her tongue. She loved it.

-

Handong still didn’t really like coffee. She could still taste the bitter espresso behind the sweetness of the caramel and milk, and it wasn’t something that she’d drink for fun. Still, she found herself in front of that small coffee shop once again, her backpack perched on her shoulder. Midterms were still going on, after all. She needed the caffeine, that’s why she’d come back.

(It had nothing to do with your smile. At least that was what she told herself.)

The shop smelled like a mix of pumpkin and freshly-brewed coffee as she stepped in, and she found herself liking the smell as she approached the counter. Once again, you were there to greet her, smiling brightly. This time, she looked down at your name tag. (Y/N). It was a nice name.

“Welcome back! Did you like the caramel macchiato?”

Her heart skipped a beat. You remembered her? “Oh, yeah! It was good. Thank you for the recommendation.”

“No problem. Are we going to be having the same thing today?”

“Actually....” She trailed off, looking at the menu. The words still didn’t mean much to her. Plus, she wanted to talk to you some more “Do you have anything else sweet? Besides the caramel macchiato? I’m wanting to branch out a bit and try new things.”

You nodded your head, reaching down to point at something on the menu. “We just released our new fall special drinks, and I personally love the apple crisp latte! I can’t even taste the espresso, it’s so sweet.”

“I’ll go with that then!”

“Good choice!” You rang in the drink, then looked back up at her. “Oh, I didn’t get your name last time. Can I get a name for your order?”

“Handong.”

“Handong, I’ll be right out with your drink!”

Somehow, having you call her by her name made her feel flustered, and as she paid and went to find a table, she hoped the blush on her cheeks wasn’t obvious. At her seat, she peered out the window, watching as people milled past. She felt cozy and warm as she listened to the soft jazz, nerves calming down after a long day of classes. Finally, it felt like she’d found her go-to spot for homework.

“Here’s this apple crisp latte for you, Handong. I hope you enjoy it!”

She turned towards you with a smile, happily taking the warm coffee from your hands. She knew she was going to be coming back again and again. “Thank you, I’m sure I will.”

-

It became habit. Every few days, whenever homework got overwhelming and she needed coffee and maybe a little chat with you to cheer her up, she’d head down the street to the little coffee shop on the corner. Somehow, it seemed like every time she went in, you were working, and you’d greet her with a familiar smile, welcoming her back as you recommended sweeter and sweeter drinks.

After a while, the two of you started to have regular conversations. The coffee shop was rarely busy in the evening when she came in, so you had time to chat with her, with her either staying at the counter until her coffee was ready or you standing by her table, chatting a little longer than necessary to drop of a coffee.

She learned that you were also a university student, going to the same university down the street. She learned that you tried every drink on the menu and didn’t like some of them because they were too strong. She learned your work schedule, even, and started timing her visits to match it. You learned about her, as well, as she told you about her classes and what she was studying, and how she didn’t really like coffee but needed it to survive school. Although the two of you weren’t super close, as the short conversations the two of you had didn’t lead to anything, it was still a push in the right direction. Handong was sure the two of you were at least friends at this point. And she was happy with that, at least for now.

-

The day it happened was the day Handong walked in to see the normally-quiet shop packed with customers. It took her by surprise, and she blinked, wondering if she’d come to the wrong shop by accident. But no, of course it was the right shop. She’d just stopped by earlier than usual, and apparently caught the rush. You and two other workers were behind the counter, rushing to make coffees and take orders as fast as possible. Through it all, you still had on a cheerful smile, and it made Handong like you even more. Being cheerful when this many people were swarming the shop had to be hard.

Eventually, it was her turn, and you looked up from the register with your normal cheerful smile only for your eyebrows to raise and for the smile to get wider, more genuine. “Oh, Handong! You’re early today!”

“I am. I guess I caught you in a rush.”

“It’s almost as bad as morning rush today,” you said, letting out a little laugh. “It’s not usually like this.”

“You’re handling it great, though.”

“Oh, thank you!” Was that a blush on your cheeks, or was she imagining things. “What are we thinking today?”

“I want to go back to the beginning. The iced caramel macchiato, please.”

“We’ve come full circle today.” With a smile, you punched in her order. “It might take a little longer than usual, but I’ll be right out with your coffee!”

“Take your time, seriously,” Handong said as she paid, shaking her head and giving you what she hoped was a sweet smile. “I can wait, no rush.” Even though she’d assured you that she was okay with waiting, she knew as she walked to find a table that you’d rush anyway. It was just the type of person that you were: you always did your job well. And she admired you for that. As she pulled out her things, she found herself staring at you, watching you work. You turned around, letting out a little sigh and making a playful face at your coworker after giving them someone’s order, and it made her smile. Then she caught herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to drag her eyes away. When had she started to like you this much?

It was after her drink had been dropped off that it happened. She was sitting near the doors today, and to her left was a tall standing shelf that both showed off the shop’s t-shirts and mugs and showed the guests where to line up. She hadn’t really taken much notice to it, just getting used to its existence there. But today, she looked up at it just in time.

You’d been rushing back to the counter after cleaning off a table, calling to the guests that you’d be right there, when a child ran right towards your legs. You jumped back and turned your body to avoid getting plowed over, holding the tray in your hands in the air. As you laughed, assuring the mother that you were okay, you stepped a few steps backwards, and Handong barely had the time to open her mouth before your back collided with the shelf.

A few of the t-shirts and a coaster fell from the shelf and the small box of packaged sugars fell from your tray as you spun around, grabbing at the shelf to steady it. Thankfully, the mugs rocked but stayed in place, sparing you from having to clean up broken ceramic. Still, there was a mess on the floor, and your face bloomed bright red as everyone turned to look at the commotion.

Handong wasn’t even thinking as she got up, helping you out of instinct. Your eyes widened when she bent down to pick up a t-shirt, and you seemed flustered for the first time since she’d met you.

“Oh, you don’t have to help me! It’s my fault anyway!”

“But I want to help you,” she said with a smile, placing the shirt back in its place before turning her attention to the sugars. For a second, you stuttered, still surprised, before cleared your throat and bending down to help her.

“Thank you,” you said quietly, cheeks still flushed red, and she nodded, quickly looking away as her stomach twisted. How were you so cute?

“Of course.”

The packets of sweetener, sugars and fake sugars, took the longest to pick up, but it wasn’t long before both of you were back on your feet, and she was placing the box of sweeteners back on your tray. The shelf was back in place, and the customers had gone back to their own business, your coworkers taking care of the counter while you cleaned up. You gripped the tray tightly and bit your lip, glancing down at the sugar and then back at her.

“Thank you for your help. Sorry for making such a mess.”

“It was hardly your fault,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and running her hand through her hair. Why was she so nervous? “I was happy to help.”

“Um.” You seemed to contemplate something, glancing back at the counter to make sure they were doing okay before taking out one of the packets and grabbing a pen from your apron. On the sweetener, you scribbled out something before handing it to her, your cheeks flushed again but a smile on your lips. A smile she hadn’t seen of yet. “Here. I’ve been meaning to give this to you for a while, but I never got around to it.”

She took the packet from your hand, and then her eyes widened. On the white packaging was a phone number. “Really?”

“Really. Text me soon, okay Handong?”

She grinned, closing her hand around the sweetener and holding the little packet close to her heart. “I will.”

-

Later, after she got home, she finally got the confidence to key the number into her contacts and open up a text chat. After a few minutes of writing and deleting messages, she finally hit send, her heart pounding in her chest.

-Hey (Y/N), this is Handong! I’ve actually been meaning to do something for a while too. Would you like to go out with me sometime?

Your response was quick.

-Hey! I’d love to go out with you, I was hoping you’d ask!

After a few seconds of squealing, she sent her response.

-Is there anywhere you’d like to go?

-Anywhere other than coffee is fine with me! I drink a little too much coffee on the daily for that lol.

-I get that! How about dinner then? I know a really good Chinese place not too far from the campus.

Your response made her heart flutter, and she smiled widely, holding the phone to her heart. She was so glad that she’d learned to like coffee.

-It’s a date!

[paulieshore]

Part 6: As She Laid There

Part 6: As She Laid There

Warnings: None

Characters: Lucien, Kiro, Mc, Mentions: Gavin, Victor, Anna, Minor, Kiki

Word Count: 1697

Loveland Charity Event (series)

 Just your luck, tonight you concoct a plan to avoid having to think about boys, this one being one of them…..

 “Just come out for drinks with some co-workers, it’s been a stressful week.” You answered nonchalantly.

Lucien picked up quickly that you had a fair amount of alcohol tonight, your words seemed slurred and you had a bit of a sway even as you stood still.

“I see, you should be careful not to drink so much. Drink lots of water and eat something not so greasy, you’ll thank me tomorrow for it,” Lucien advised.

“Okay, will do!” You answered quickly without even saying goodbye. Grabbing your order from the bar trying not to seem so conspicuous and rush back to Minor and Kiki. You didn’t bother to look back, Lucien always seemed mysterious, popping up where you were. Alcohol plus Lucien spelled out trouble to you, as much as you felt guilty for just ditching after a quick bump in, the last thing you wanted was more drama added to your already hectic week.

You got back to the table where the three of you were sitting, Minor diving into the chicken, and Kiki going on about how it’s time to go home. You didn’t want to go though, not just yet, going home meant the night was over.

<30 Minutes later>

After getting Kiki and Minor into a cab you wanted to walk home to help sober up, only to your dismay, seemed Lucien too was walking home. What timing, feeling bad for being rude earlier you took this opportunity to walk and talk with Lucien home (you were neighbours after all). Plus, it seemed safer then walking home alone under the influence anyways.

The walk home wasn’t as awkward as you thought it would be, Lucien seemed well behaved keeping the teasing to a minimum. You two talked about the charity event coming up, confirming the timings, and what time he should pick you up. Taking a couple jabs at you for being a light weight, or a silly girl for thinking you could walk home alone.  You both talked until reaching your door, you were saying, “goodnight and thank you for walkin--….”

When, Lucien reached out and tucked a few stray hairs behind your ear. You froze, no more words came from your mouth. You instantly felt your body temperature rise, Lucien gave you that usual smile of his as his finger glided from the back of your ear, down your neck to resting his large warm hand on your shoulder. This sent goose-bumps all over your body like wild fire.

“You know, if your ever feel stressed and are needing a friend to talk too, you can always call me. Ill listen and help in any way I can.” Lucien’s voice was low and captivating.

You were mesmerized, staring into his eyes, his face came closer and closer, out of reflex you closed your eyes, anticipating. You felt soft and warm lips pressed lightly to your forehead before parting.

You opened your eyes to see Lucien grinning, holding back a laugh, “Were you expecting more?”

You shook your head perversely, he only laughed out loud then before leaving you before your door as he entered his own home. You quickly came to your senses and fumbled into your apartment, your knees felt wobbly, heart beating 100 miles per hour. Thinking to cool yourself from what just happened you went into the bathroom for a cold shower. How were you always winding up in such situations….

<Next day 2 days till the event>

Another restless night, on top of that you were hung over, practically dragging yourself out of bed and making your way to work. Upon arriving at your company, you ran into a very worried Anna, you asked what was going on.

“Our actor for todays shoot has cancelled last minute! Were due to shoot by noon!” She explained hurriedly.

At this point you thought your head might actually explode, frantically searching within your throbbing mind for some resolve to this problem. Anna and you called a quick morning meeting to discuss what to do, Minor chimes in about Gavin covering for the shoot. You thought about it only briefly, but considering Gavin hasn’t been answering you as of late, you thought best not to bug him. Kiki makes a suggestion about bringing Lucien in (winking at you when she says his name) you decline almost immediate, after last night you needed some space to sort your head out. Given Lucien and you are supposed to attend the charity event Friday. Feeling over-whelmed with everything you pick up the phone to call Victor, then as you were scrolling to Victors contact your finger glides over Kiro’s.

Yes! Kiro!

You hit dial and dashed out of the board room, anxiously waiting for an answer.

Nothing. You really felt like crying at this point. Then your phone begins to ring in hand, KIRO!

“You have no idea how happy I am you called back!” Holding back the tears, you were afraid they would burst.

“Hey Miss Chips! Long time no see, you alright?”

No, you were not alright but you had to seize this moment while it was here.

“I’m in a bit of a bind if I’m honest, our actor for today has cancelled and we have no one!” You bluntly lay it down hoping Kiro picked up what you were putting down.

“Gosh that sucks, is there anything I can help you with?” Kiro’s voice remained just as enthused.

You pause before asking, understanding Kiro’s busy schedule and the fact you didn’t bother getting back to him the other day. You cautiously went on.

“I’m sorry I never got back to you the other day, its been a week….” Pausing momentarily

“I could really use your help, and, and!! Ill make it up to you, twice over!!” You finish.

There was a silence on the other end before Kiro finally spoke, “I’m sorry but I can’t.”

You could feel the tears breaching the threshold of your eyes, today of all days, then.

“hahaha, I’m just kidding of course ill help! Super hero Kiro to the rescue!” hysterically.

If Kiro was standing in front of you right this moment you probably would have slapped him.

“Miss Chips? You there? I was kidding, just getting you back for not getting back to me the other day! Please don’t be mad! Just tell me what I got to do and I’ll make sure to be there!” His voice breaks your thoughts.

You explain the details to him and return to the board room to inform every one of the changes. Noon rolls around and Kiro and his agent appear to do the shoot, everything goes smoothly better than expected considering how you felt like death. After the wrap up Kiro approaches you.

“Wow you really don’t look well” He looks at you sympathetically.

You tell him about your plan to let loose last night and he laughs at you for not handling your’ drink. Before setting off Kiro tells you, to make up for not getting back to him and for today, you had to game out with him tonight after work. Not being able to say no considering the circumstances, you tell him sure and part ways. The day goes by slow, seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours. How you hated hangovers, in the back of your mind you could hear Lucien almost vividly saying ‘I told you so’.

Finally, the day was done, you couldn’t wait to get home to have a nap before meeting up with Kiro at the agreed time and place. You woke from your nap later then planned, no time for dinner you jump into the shower and quickly get ready. You check your phone and sent Kiro a quick ‘I’m on my way’ message. Hailing a cab and making your way to one of Kiro’s homes, you’d been to this one previously, Kiro travelled lots but this place had the largest of his music instrument collections.

You arrived a couple minutes later then agreed, but none the less you were there. Kiro answered the door as excited as a puppy, dragging you in before you could apologise for being a little late. You realised quickly when he dragged you into the big living room what tonight’s plans were. There was snacks galore, a big 90inch tv, a game console with two wireless controllers sitting on the glass coffee table and on the screen of the tv; showed a very popular game.

The evening was going pretty good, time flew quickly, considering you had napped earlier you were feeling rather tired, little by little dosing off.

Kiro noticed Mc getting quieter and quieter, the side of her screen on the tv completely stopped. He looked over at the girl who was supposed to be gaming with him, asleep. He couldn’t help but smile, *she was always hustling and bustling with work and stress she probably hasn’t had much rest lately*, he thought.

Afraid to wake her and send her off, Kiro took it upon himself to lift her from her spot on the floor in-front of the TV and place her on the sofa. He didn’t exactly know what he was going to do but letting her rest was most important. He gently picked her up careful not to wake her as he slowly raised her from the floor. Walking over to the sofa just on the other side of the table, against the wall that was covered in all his popular best-selling records. He laid her down and couldn’t get his arm from around the back of her shoulders. Finding himself crouching awkwardly only inches away from her face, he slowed his breathing. Completely lost in thought, she looked so peaceful, so innocent, his sight fell upon her lips. They glowed a soft creamy pink and were parted only just slightly, he felt his cheeks begin to burn. An instant desire to claim her lips as she laid there…..

 To Be Continued

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[kaz3313]

Hell is the Ink Machine

I swear the title will make sense eventually 

This is part 1 (of I think 2 or 3 parts) of a fic enspired by @a-rae-of-sunshine ‘s idea’s. Idk why this idea resonated with me so much but it did!

Graphic depictions of violence ahead, proceed at your own risk

 As Joey Drew hears the door handle click open his heart begins to race and he sucks in a long breath; what he assumes to be his last.

 Everything in the studio had previously been going perfectly or as perfectly as a business can run. The animation department has been chugging out two episodes a monthly, one month three cartoons due to a Christmas and Hanukkah special, but quality still is priority.

Sammy Lawrence and Jack Fain recently won an award for the soundtrack for the cartoons; Sammy displays it in his office with pride and would make sure to polish it every week so both musician and lyricists names shone. Sometimes Jack, while passing by the music director’s office, would be caught staring at it. Besides Jack and himself no one was aloud to touch it; especially not Wally who would ‘break it’.

The toy factory is busy as ever;Joey had to hire twelve more people other than Shawn, who was the head of toy making, to help with all the demand for the toys. Bendy, surprising, did not sell the best, that place was held for the little angel, Alice. Due to such good sales the toy makers began to experiment with some side character right now the Butcher Gang.

Bendy Land is coming around nicely though its debut would take an estimated two years. That was fine with Joey, the park would be well worth the delay. It will have many extravagant rides.

Then there was the ink machine that will make extreme profits when-

Well it would’ve, if not for immediate threat present-Henry Stein.

Henry, oh dear Henry Joey thought to himself, what broke the poor fellow Joey has no clue. He was always a hard worker and overall good man. Joey asked him last night to look at some cells on his desk. Just a quick review nothing major.

“Are you sure that’s all you want Joey?” And Joey nodded and that had been the last thing that had been said between them.

Now Henry is off attacking anything and anyone he sees. Now the reaper who once was his friend is at his doorstep. He should grab something, Joey thought absentmindedly, to defend himself from Henry but...he doubts he could fight the man much less defeat him. It wasn’t due to his disability- Joey had fought many a man despite it-no it was a pesky feeling that refused to leave his heart. He squeezes his eyes shut, as the door opens and slams shut, and hopes with all his heart that however his death ensues it’s quick.

“Mister Drew! I’m glad it’s just you in here- Henry is in the music department and wrekin’ havoc!” Joey opens his eyes to see the exasperated janitor before him. Sweat pours down his uncharacteristically grim face.

“Well thank the gods it’s just you Wally; how badly were people hurt in the animation department? I hope no one ran down to the infirmary…” Joey says; Henry couldn’t be purposely going after people right? When Joey had seen him he could tell something was wrong, like he didn’t know what was going on.

“No one got to the infirmary- pretty sure I’m the only one that got outta there,” Wally’s voice was hollow even when he said his usual catchphrase. It suddenly dawned on Joey what he meant

“he’s killed everyone?” But even as Joey asks the question he knows the answer. He felt his body tremble as tears begin to streak his face. He shakingly grabbed the phone but the line was dead.

“Um, what should we do?” Wally asks but the only response is a pitiful sob.

Sammy Lawrence held the only thing he could find that had any resemblance to a weapon that wasn’t an instrument (despite the conditions his mind scolded him when he first picked up the banjo), a dust pan from the supply closet. Henry had gotten ahold of the only fire axe that were in the first two levels and swung it around widely like everything was a monster.

 A shiver takes over Samuel's body as the memory of Henry killing all the musicians replays in his head. He stood in the projectors booth and all he could do was stare. Henry didn’t even blink an eye when the body's would spray blood on him or when people would beg for their lives. And the madman wouldn’t stop at just hitting them once, even if it killed them the first time, he’d strike them several times. Then there was Johnny who Sammy heard his screeches while Henry played the organ. Sammy doubts he’ll ever forget what’s happened but best not to dwell while the killer is still around.

  Sammy is going to stop Henry himself and if that means sneaking up behind him in the infirmary then that’s what he was going to do. Unfortunately Henry isn’t in the infirmary when Sammy arrives which mean he traveled down farther...into the sewers where Jack was. Sammy feels ice run through his body as he continues to sneak through.

Sammy’s mind refuses to stop racing. He desperately tries to calm himself down with his quickly self made plan. Just hit him hard, in the back of the head, and then run. It’s not that hard- don’t start focusing on the fact that an axe is a much deadlier weapon then a dust pan and don’t focus that a dust pan isn’t a real weapon and don’t think about the fact that Henry could probably overpower you in a millisecond without since he’s big and bulky and- his thoughts cut off when he comprehends the scene in front of him.

Just like the band members being killed everything turns to slow motion with Sammy stuck in place like a statue. Henry has Jack cowering in the center of the room a box swaying above him.

“N-now, Henry, we can be civilized- just put down that axe and step away from the switch and we-” Jack’s voice is unnaturally raised two octaves as he tries to reason with the monster before him. but Henry does neither as he flicks the switch down a ten pound box dropping with it. A loud crunch echoes through the room and carnage is sprayed on the back wall. Henry approaches it; for what Sammy doesn’t know because he’s already running away. As he leaves he hears Henry’s once comforting now chilling voice.

“Sorry I had to do that, nice hat though” Sammy chokes back a whimper.

 Sammy is a wreck even when Henry returns, walking into his office. Jack the lyricist-no- his best friend was just killed by someone he was once considered a friend. Jack who would always talk with in the morning even when he was the grouchiest. Jack who would find words to even the worst tunes. It became a game of theirs for Sammy to make a horrendous melody and for Jack to make just as  horrendous lyrics to it. Somehow Jack failed at the game because even if the words were inherently dirty or dark they always went perfectly with the music

Sammy’s body refusing to stop shaking even when he reasons to himself that this could just attract Henry to him quicker. What he needs to do is gather his courage and just face him otherwise others could get hurt. Sammy always complained about everyone being annoying but seeing everyone get brutally murdered made him want to keep those around safe...who was around though? The band is gone as is most of the music department but Sammy never saw what became of Norman who often would be in his booth.Norman seems like the man to try and evacuate anyone he can, so Sammy silently believes the unproven truth he conjured for himself. He Doesn't know the fate of Wally either who’d often bother any poor sap who’d listen to his ramblings (Sammy couldn’t believe he’s thinking it but he hopes to hear the janitors stories soon). Thinking about it he didn’t see any of the voice actors and actresses not even-

Susie.

Susie could be hurt and at that realization Sammy’s fear is lost. Adrenaline pumps through him as he runs behind the torturous man swinging with all the force he can muster. Henry collapses onto the ground with a loud thud the only noise following is Sammy’s heavy breathing.

“We have to leave soon sir. If we stay here we’re just lambs waitin’ for slaughter,” Wally says, Joey looking at him with wide eyes. Wally guesses he’s not used to hearing all this serious stuff, especially from him, and he admits he’s not used to it either. He still can’t get the screams from the animation department out of his head nor the image of Henry staring right at him. The unstable animator’s shirt was stained with red that was impossible to ignore on his white shirt. His eyes were dead to the world as he had approached Wally in the back of the room.

“Oh god,” Wally thought he was regaining his conscious but that wasn’t the case “what did Joey do?” Then he grabbed Wally by the shirt. His voice died in the back of his through but his mouth still did the motions for spoke silent pleas. Henry tilted his head before taking the wrench out of his shirt pocket before walking away. That’s when Wally realized the man wasn’t seeing the world like everyone else; he was lost in his own mind.

The door creaks open again which not only brings Wally back to focus but he picks up the chair he had his hand on moments ago. He throws it at the approacher while glancing around the room for anything that could be a good weapon.

“Damn boy! What in hell has gotten into you!” Thomas curses out pushing the chair away making a path for him and Alison to walk through.

“Oh, Tom,” Wally says expecting to loosen but he feels his body tense and before he knows it he’s inconsolably crying on Thomas’ shoulder. In the background he hears Joey desperately trying to explain what has happened calmly but Wally can hear his own cracks in his voice. Not only that but he’s sure Tom and Alison have noticed his puffy tear stained face.

Sammy drags the unconscious tied up Henry through the music department not knowing where to dump him. He had to keep an eye on him,so he wouldn’t get away, so it couldn’t be the band room where corpses were currently rotting. It would be kind of fitting though, stuck in a place with all the people you’ve murdered ( were these the only people he’s murdered though? Sammy isn’t sure he wants an answer) and Sammy didn’t find it as cruel as he knew he should.

Why not just kill him? The thought kept creeping into his brain but Sammy dismisses it again. Not for the fact Henry deserves to live but rather for his own sanity he couldn’t see another person die  and killing someone with his own hands definitely wouldn’t tip his mentality in any good way.

Then Henry begins to stir and Sammy drops him where he is, backing up.

Alison sits quietly trying not to stare at the mourning terrified men. She was recently hired to do voices of background characters, singing trees and that kind of nonsense, and though she wants to help she doesn’t know either of these people well enough to be of much comfort. She knew Wally was a chatty janitor and handyman that would spend a lot of time with Tom helping him check on the ink machine. She knew he had a partner, who she was unsure but she heard some whispers from other voice actresses that he was taken. Not that she was asking; she was with Tom after all. Joey, even if he was her boss, she knew even less about. He didn’t come out of his office too much she guessed due to the stairs everywhere (she wasn’t sure why they hadn’t just installed ramps inside the place instead). She doubted it was for the reason he liked to keep to himself becoming every time she did come to his office he was with someone chatting to someone. Actually, if memory serves her correct, he chatted most to Henry...her frown deepens.

At least Tom was there he seemed to be handling this better then herself.

“We need to leave quickly-“ Tom begins to say Wally already nodding to what was being said.

“I’m staying here,”  Joey states using his sleeve to dry his tears.

“Mr. Drew I-“

“I’m the captain, I must stay aboard my ship even while it sinks. And anyhow I’d just slow you three down,” he whispers the last part looking at his wheelchair with disdain.

“We’re not leaving you!” Tom snarls slamming his hand on the desk but Joey doesn’t flinch.

“Your not leaving me. I simply am just refusing to come with,” She might know little but one thing Alison knew about Joey Drew that he was stubborn. More stubborn than Tom.

Sammy didn’t yell when Henry awoke nor when he started squirming in his rope. Sammy simply left him- what could a tied up man do- to find a phone of any kind. He has this feeling that Drew didn’t call anyone or maybe that was just dread that he could be dead.

Sammy gulps telling his mind to knock off with the overdramatic dark thinking;he’s getting sick of that mindset.

Then he hears footsteps behind him spinning around quickly Henry stands behind raising the bloody axe.

“No! Henry! I’m your friend! Henry, I’m your friend! Stay back-“ he feels the axe slice mercilessly through his side. Blood pours out of the fresh wound along with an agonized screech. Sammy raises a fist but it doesn’t reach Henry before another swing of his axe. This time he stifled a scream as his fist connects with Henry’s nose. A crack noise emerges but either the ex-animator didn’t notice or didn’t care for he continued the butchering. After the fourth strike Sammy’s body buckles down falling into a pool of his own blood it stains his blond cascading hair. A last strike in the chest breaks the axe in half. Henry, satisfied with his work,leaves the music director and yet Sammy’s heart still beats. His eyes are still open, even if his vision swims, and his breath comes out in strained heaves. But he still lived and he stays conscious.

So with the bit of energy he still has, Sammy hoists himself to his arms and begins to crawl leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

 Wally doesn’t mean to get spooked nor does he mean to leave Thomas and Alison but when he heard the dropping of a board he spirits away. He hears Tom yelling after him but his own instincts kick in. After realizing that they didn’t follow him when he ran away from a nothing threat more tears peak at his eyes. Did he really just leave them? Were they killed like everyone else or spared like him?

Why was he spared in the first place? The unanswerable question lingered in his mind along with the thought that Tom and Alison were dead.

His thoughts are a horrible muddled mess so he doesn’t notice when he kicks a nearby can of the old stock of bacon soup (it didn’t sell well but Joey decided it took up to much space in the warehouses so he gave it to any employee that wanted some. Since cans of it were still abundant and it’d been more than a year since he passed them out Wally deduces that they didn’t sell well for a good reason) but he does notice the voice that slices the air like a knife through butter.

“Boris,” Henry Stein gives a wide grin.

[gumnut-logic]

The Bellini Incident (Part One)

Title: The Bellini Incident

Part One

Author: Gumnut

Apr 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Kayo was going to kill him.

Word count: 3381

Spoilers & warnings: Virgil/Kayo, Virgil!whump with a side order of Scott!whump.

Timeline: Standalone, not Rain series.

Author’s note: For @soniabigcheese who threw the prompt at me, and @i-am-chidorixblossom who suggested some Virgil whump. Scott got a bit whumped, too, I’m branching out as a writer, blame @scribbles97.

The prompt: The character who doesn’t realize they’ve been hurt trying to see if everyone else is okay only to slowly realize that everyone is looking at them with mounting horror. Then they touch their side to find it’s wet and oh no…

I’m not sure I pulled it off, and this is only part one, but I hope you enjoy it anyway :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Bellini Construction...the wind had the sign banging against bare steel girders, an onerous clang above the howl of the weather and the whimpers of the man Scott was edging into a harness. First aid in extreme circumstances was International Rescue’s speciality, but that didn’t make it any easier for the person involved.

“Sir, we are nearly there. Please give me your arm.”

The construction worker was one of three who had been caught unawares by an unexpected storm that had swooped in on the site half an hour ago. The high-rise building was subjected to gale-force winds it hadn’t been secured for, and a lightning strike had been the final straw. Part of the structure collapsed in on itself, trapping the three men who had been making their way down. The elevator had fallen several meters. Safeties had kicked in, but the structure had destabilised and the supports holding the car bent under the strain.

International Rescue had been called and Scott had responded.

The two other men had been uninjured and were now safely aboard, but this man had broken his leg. An emergency splint and a haul up to Thunderbird One was the plan.

As with all broken bones, movement hurt like hell. Scott winced in sympathy as he secured the final buckle of the harness and began the lift up to his ‘bird. “I’m sorry, sir. I will do this as fast and as gently as I can.”

The man’s whimper as he became airborne was his only answer.

Scott had his jetpack on, but the gale was a challenge, so he hung onto the line, slowly pulling the man higher. Far above them, Thunderbird One was firing her stabilising thrusters aggressively to maintain her hover.

“Nearly there, sir.”

But the man was beyond reassurance, his expression terrified.

They had almost cleared the skeletal mass of the unfinished building when the world lit up in blinding white with an ear-bleeding bang. The man in his arms screamed and Scott’s senses whited out. The wind threw them against the building’s superstructure and through spots in his vision, Scott attempted to stabilise their ascent.

John was yelling in his ear when something rammed him from his left and everything blacked out.

-o-o-o-

Virgil gripped his ‘bird’s yoke just that little bit tighter as the man behind him demanded delivery to Port de Saint Tropez on the Mediterranean despite having been rescued in the middle of the Pacific.

“Sir, we will be landing in Sydney shortly. You may make alternate arrangements there.” At least Gordon was being polite. Virgil wasn’t really in the mood having had to listen to the rich billionaire abuse his brother for the last hour as the aquanaut had fished him off the bottom of the ocean, his luxury yacht having had an argument with a reef system. Several of his staff had died in the accident, yet he showed no remorse. Virgil was surprised his brother hadn’t decked him yet.

But then again perhaps that was more worrisome. Gordon had other ways to express his ire.

“Thunderbird Two we have an IR situation.” John. Calm, but urgent.

In the split second between this statement and the following, Virgil’s stomach twisted, his brain automatically listing off the brothers currently unaccounted for. IR situation meant IR operative down or endangered. Alan? Scott?

Kay?

“Thunderbird One is in need of emergency assistance. Contact lost.”

Tokyo. Scott was in Tokyo. Without thought, Virgil was changing his flight plan, inputting new coordinates into the nav system. The sunlight in the cockpit coasted across the decking as the great ‘bird banked into a turn towards the north. A pause for course correction and Virgil’s arm shoved the throttle to full speed.

Dick Billionaire - Virgil hadn’t bothered to remember his last name, and ‘Richard’ was just too easy to exploit - squawked in his seat as they were all shoved backwards at the sudden acceleration.

“What the hell? Where are you taking me?”

“We have another emergency to attend to, sir. We apologise for the delay in your disembark, but it is unavoidable.” Virgil didn’t blink and didn’t look at the man.

“This is unacceptable!”

“Too bad. Gordon, could you please take Mr Billionaire down below. And sir, if you disrespect my brother one more time, I will have you ejected from my ship.”

“Your brother?”

“Get out now.”

He could feel Gordon staring at him, but his little brother did his bidding and apparently it had been enough to shut Dick up for the short term at least. The two left and Virgil turned to the hologram of John hovering above his console. “Details?”

John was frowning at him, but the situation took precedence as it should. “Scott was attending a situation at a construction site. Bellini Constructions high rise apartments in Tokyo. Storm hit and the structure partly collapsed, trapping three workers. Scott managed to free two and was handling the third when the building was struck by lightning. I have not had contact since.”

Virgil’s gut clenched. Shit. “Thunderbird One’s status?”

“I’ve slaved her to Thunderbird Five for safety. Gale force winds are an issue and she has two rescuees aboard.”

“Scott’s status?”

“Vitals steady, but he appears to be trapped amongst a tangle of girders approximately one hundred and fifty metres above the ground. One of the rescuees is with him. The rescuee has a broken leg.”

Thunderbird Two shot over Indonesia, the blue sea interspersed by tropical green and white weather systems as they breached the equator.

“Weather conditions are still poor. Caution is recommended.” Virgil could hear the tension in John’s voice, despite its calm. One brother out of contact and sending another into the same situation definitely sat on John’s reasons to be tense list.

“FAB, Thunderbird Five.”

Guam passed beneath them as they skirted the Philippine Sea. Gordon returned to the cockpit and took up his seat quietly. John briefed him equally as calmly and his younger brother swore. John threw up a hologram of the construction site showing Scott’s location, wind direction and speed, and Thunderbird One.

Virgil grit his teeth.

Ten minutes later Thunderbird Two hit Japanese air space and John was answering their queries in flawless Japanese. Virgil cut speed as they approached the storm whipping across Tokyo and grounding the majority of their air traffic. His ‘bird shook a little and then stabilised, her mass used to her advantage. He kicked in VTOL as they approached the site, killing off unneeded speed and coming to a hover a safe distance above the damaged building.

“Any response from Scott?”

“Nothing.” John’s voice was worried. “Vitals still strong.”

Unconscious or broken comms. One or the other. “I’m going down with the suit. Gordon, keep her in the air and stable. I have no wish to play George of the Jungle with any of those pylons.”

Gordon frowned. “George who?”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Just keep her steady.”

“FAB.”

He could have taken the rescue rig, but the less dangling bits below his ‘bird, the better, so he stashed two spare harnesses, donned his exosuit and shot a zipline at a steep angle from the belly of his ‘bird. Carabiner engaged, he jumped.

It was hard and it was fast. But it had to be. The wind tore at him and it had started raining in sheets. His uniform was waterproof, but he had to work partly on instruments to see where the hell he was going and the metal girders were slick when he hit them, his boots sliding despite their specialised grip.

Scott and the rescuee were amongst a tangle of broken girders at the centre of the structure. John shot him integrity readouts and stress factors as he moved. The suit made it awkward and the ground was so far below in the falling rain, he couldn’t see it.

This could possibly be a good thing. One hundred and fifty metres was no small drop.

A cable hung from Thunderbird One and disappeared into a pile of wreckage to his right. It was a haunting sight.

C’mon, Scott, be okay.

It was more a demand than a plea.

The pile of girders was a nasty game of pickup sticks. Virgil was able to move them, but had little option for footing or angle and he was desperate to not cause any further collapse. John reassured him that there was no one below the structure, but it still seemed reckless to just let the spans of metal fall from this height, but then he had no real choice in the matter.

Five girders in and he found his brother first.

He was shoved up against a half-built wall by a single girder, pinning him there by the thruster pack on his back.

It was the only thing preventing the man from falling into the vast emptiness below.

Shit.

“Scott, can you hear me?” No response. “Scott!”

Nothing.

Damn.

Getting there to reach him was going to be a challenge. Calculations and a check with John...Virgil fired a grapple gun across the gap from where he was standing to the stable support on the other side. Securing it, he disengaged his support line to TB2 and clipped himself to the new line.

Gordon grumbled in his ear.

“I’ll be fine, Gordon. Besides, I have little choice.”

More muttering, which he ignored.

Releasing his arms from the suit, he let it take his weight and pulled himself across the gap.

The rain decided to increase and completely wash out his vision.

Goddamnit.

Reaching his brother, he linked in with the man’s harness to prevent him from falling and, with that, a small sigh of relief slipped between his teeth.

But still there was no response from Scott. “C’mon, Scott, give me a sign here.”

Nothing. He still hung limp.

Virgil wrapped his arms around his brother, bringing his helmeted head to lie on his shoulder, as he reached around to disengage the flight pack. A snap of fastenings and he let the pack drop, taking Scott’s weight in his arms. “Scott?”

Nothing.

“Gordon, I need an ascent line down here.”

“FAB.”

Thunderbird Two shifted position, his ‘bird moving to a hover far above Virgil. A line fed slowly down, wavering in the wind. “You’re going to have to catch it, Virg. I can’t get her any closer without a risk of influencing the structure.”

“I know.” The gale was definitely having its way and the rain brought his vision down to almost nothing. It took several attempts to grab the weighted line. Scott continued to hang limp in his grasp. God, he wished his brother would wake up. There was zero ability to do a medical assessment in these conditions. He had to get Scott up to TB2 and then return for the other man.

The wind gusted and spun him around. Damnit.

It took two attempts to fasten the line to his harness, but finally he was able to signal Gordon to pull them up. “I’m going to need you to secure Scott in the medbay. Ask John to slave TB2 to Thunderbird Five for the shortest time possible. I don’t trust these winds at all.”

As if to prove his point, a gust blew up and whipped them around, sending the brothers into a spin. A second gust grabbed them and threw them both side-on into a damaged girder. Virgil curled around his brother protecting him from hitting the jagged chunk of metal. Pain shot up his left side and he swore. Great, more bruises. He still hadn’t cleared up the last batch from the earthquake in New Zealand. Kay was going to glare at him again.

He pushed off from the structure and they continued their ascent. Being swallowed whole by his ‘bird was the most beautiful feeling. As the hatch closed beneath him, Gordon rushed up and helped him lower Scott and himself to the deck.

He handed his older brother gently over to his younger brother and the hover stretcher following behind him. “Check him out. Keep me updated.” Virgil grit his teeth, man, his side hurt. Damn wind. “Gotta go back down and grab the rescuee.”

With that, he opened the bay doors again, and securing himself, began another descent back down to the construction site.

-o-o-o-

The sudden engagement of powerful rocket thrusters woke Scott Tracy.

The sound was so sudden, so abrupt, he startled awake and sat up before he realised where he was. The world spun in circles to thank him. He clutched his head and found himself at war with his stomach.

Ugh.

Bile rose in his throat, its bitter taste foul. Shit.

“Don’t you be throwing up in here, the place stinks enough already.”

Huh?

Even with his eyes closed he had enough information to identify TB2’s infirmary. But who the hell was that?

He won the battle with his stomach, swallowing forcibly, but his head continued to pound and the world was anything but steady. Despite this, he squinted and opened his eyes.

Oh god.

A basin was shoved into his hands and he lost the war.

His head hated him even more, but at least his stomach shut up.

“Great. Now it really stinks. This is bloody outrageous. I could be feet up, breathing French air, but no, I get dragged halfway across the bloody planet stuck in this tin can with whiner and vomit boy.” Another voice said something unintelligible. “I swear I’m going to sue International Rescue to its knees.”

That had Scott paying attention despite his throbbing head. He opened his mouth to voice a retort, but was interrupted by a familiar voice on comms.

“Scott, how do you feel?” John.

Another attempt to open his eyes proved a little more successful and he found his brother’s hologram floating next to him.

“I-“

“Hey, you, glowboy. When the hell do I get let off this boat?”

John turned slowly and calmly in the direction of a rotund, formerly well-dressed man of European appearance. “Mr Polominka, you will be set down in Sydney as previously discussed as soon as our more urgent patients receive medical attention.”

“And how long will that be?”

Scott watched as his most patient brother frowned. “As long as it needs to be.”

“And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

John shrugged. “You could shut up. It would make this whole process much more peaceful.”

Being told to shut up apparently shocked the man into doing exactly that, the look of outrage on his face choked down whatever he had been going to say.

John ignored him and turned back to Scott. “How are you feeling?”

Scott grunted. “Been better.” A bitter swallow. Urgh. “Status?”

“We are approaching Nagoya. We have made arrangements to access hospital facilities there. The storm over Tokyo was making landing difficult so Virgil opted for the nearest major city.”

“Thunderbird One?”

“Gordon has her. On her way home.”

Hospital? He knew his brother. Virgil wouldn’t let him go home without seeing a doctor. Ugh. Almost as bad as fighting his stomach. He eyed the two other men in the room. “Rescuee status?”

“The two aboard TB1 have been delivered to Nagoya. The third has two broken legs and is sharing the infirmary with you. I have reassured him he is safe, however he is still distressed...and Mr Polominka is not helping the situation.”

“Me? You’re the one who kidnapped me!”

John ignored him. “Mr Polominka was rescued off his luxury yacht on a remote island in the South Pacific. We were returning him to Sydney when you encountered difficulties.”

“Returning? I don’t want to go to bloody Sydney. I said France, you asshole!”

While Scott’s blood turned as cold as his expression, John didn’t even bat an eyelid.” Mr Polominka, International Rescue is not a taxi service. You may disembark in Nagoya. Otherwise you will be delivered to the Australian authorities.”

“I don’t want to go to Japan anymore than I want to go to Australia. You will take me to France.”

If Scott’s head hadn’t been throbbing so hard, he would have given the man a piece of his mind. As it was, all he could do was groan.

“Mr Polominka, if you don’t sit down and shut up, you will be spending the rest of the voyage confined.”

“How dare you! I’m Richard Polominka, I own half the French seaboard. I could buy this ship and everyone on it.”

“Mr Polominka, I don’t care.”

John’s tone was so matter of fact, so dry, Scott knew his brother was moments away from calmly doing something permanent.

He opened his mouth to say something when Thunderbird Two’s VTOL kicked in and her forward momentum slowed. Scott grabbed the edge of his bed. The Japanese man groaned.

And Richard Polominka fell over, colliding with a cabinet.

“For Christ’s sake, you bastards don’t stop do you!”

Scott had had enough. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He held his head as the world swung in circles.

“Scott-“

Polominka floundered, grabbing at the cabinet, attempting to pull himself up, only to open the cabinet door and upend a pile of medical supplies on his head. He swore, grabbing shelves and only making more of a mess. Something heavy bounced off his head and his swearing increased in volume.

Scott pushed himself off the bed, knowing he was going to regret it. “Mr Polominka, please calm down.” The pilot found himself falling back against the bed. Vertical obviously wasn’t his body’s preferred orientation at the moment. The bile rose again.

Shit.

“Mr Polominka, please.”

The infirmary door flew open and Virgil strode in. “Scott? John said-“

Polominka took one look at Scott’s younger brother and pounced. “You! You’re the damned pilot of this hunk of junk.” He stuck a scalpel in Virgil’s face. “Take me home!”

Silence fell over the room, TB2’s VTOL a background roar. Virgil looked at the scalpel, then at Polominka. Calm as his orbiting brother, he said, “You haven’t met my girlfriend, have you, Dick?”

The man’s face actually turned red, and he charged the pilot. A brief tussle and Virgil flipped him onto the floor, pinned him, and was scrabbling through those scattered medical supplies, grabbing some tape and restraining the man. “Now, as my much more patient brother mentioned earlier, you can spend the rest of the trip to Australia confined. We don’t have a brig, but I’m sure I can find a closet.” And with that, Virgil dragged the man to his feet and through the door. The sound of footsteps, a creaking door and a satisfying slam.

Virgil reappeared, wiping his hands on his thighs. “So, Scott, how are you feeling?”

Scott stared at his brother. “Kayo?”

A shrug. “She felt I needed a little more hand to hand.”

“Not bad.”

“Necessary. You should have heard what he said to Gordon.” And Virgil’s anger became apparent. Much like Scott, you messed with Virgil’s brothers at your own peril. A deep breath and Virgil appeared to shake himself.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. You haven’t answered my question yet. John has Nagoya Air Control on hold, I need to get my ‘bird on the ground. You good?”

Scott frowned, his vision fuzzy at the edges. “‘Kay.”

“Say that without listing to one side and I might believe you. Lie down. I’ll get you some medical attention asap.” Scott found himself nudged back onto the bed, his head meeting the pillow before he could frame a retort. He reached out and grabbed Virgil, his fingers scraping against his brother’s uniform. “Virgil, are you okay?”

“Huh?”

John’s image flickered on. “Virgil!”

“Yes, Thunderbird Five?”

“Vitals say you’re injured.”

“What?”

Scott pushed himself up again, ignoring the vertigo. “Virgil...”

His brother was staring at him.

The rescuee in the other bed pointed at Virgil and babbled in Japanese. Scott looked down, his eyes widening at a slowly widening pool of blood at Virgil’s feet.

Virgil’s gaze followed his and stared. “Aw, hell.”

Scott scrambled off the bed and staggered over to his brother. Brown eyes looked up and grabbed his, a flash of fear followed by resignation. Virgil’s shoulders slumped. “Kay’s gonna kill me.”

Those brown irises rolled upwards and Virgil was falling forward.

-o-o-o-

End Part One

Part Two

[clownsgobeepbeep]

Snake Eyes

@post-itpenny As you requested, some Aunt Velvet. 

@grotesquegabby Because some of yours along with Mags’ are here as well ^^

Also, I know that Velvet hasn’t been mentioned much by me but I imagine that by this time mostly everybody has met her already

It was no doubt that the news of a new baby was exciting to everybody.

But it was also obvious that there was an even greater sense of excitement at the news of not one baby, but three.

These news had gone reached Carol who was more than delighted that there would be three new members to the family, or perhaps more! Oh, she really hoped it was more... Either way, her excitement prompted to host a party to honor the three women who were with child, everybody in the family being invited.

“How are the cakes Belinda?”

“Mmm?” said ballerina asked, turning around to show that on the corner of her lips were tiny cake crumbs as she held onto yet another plate of cake. She set her fork down on the table beside her to grab a napkin, then wiping her face before smiling at the woman before her.

“Very delicious! Me and the baby are really enjoying them!” Belinda exclaimed with a giggle. “Give the chef my compliments.”

“Will do.” Carol grinned before she made her way through the crowd of relatives and friends, finding her husband who was leaned against a wall. 

“You seem to be very pleased with yourself.”

“Why would I not be?” Carol replied before standing next to her husband, both watching everybody interact with another.

“A good point that is my love.”

“I know.” Carol beamed at Stripes who smiled down at her, then leaning down to place a kiss onto her lips. “Can you believe that we are great grandparents?”

“Hm, not really.”

“And we’re going to have even more great grandchildren!” Carol grabbed Stripes’ hand before leaning er body into his, Stripes wrapping his long arms around her thin figure as he smiled down at her. “I can hardly wait for when we have great- great grandchildren..”

“Far too soon for that, do you not think?” Stripes tucked a strand of Carol’s hair behind her ear as she gave a shrug, still smiling.

“Perhaps, but I am already excited for when that day comes. I can just imagine it…one of Pepper’s twins, or Ula...any of them having children of their own.”

“How about we focus on the children that are already born and those who are to be born some time soon?” Stripes chuckled before Carol gave him a pout, making him poke her nose despite his long sleeves. “Unless you wish to make more children of our own.~”

“Stripes! You stop that.” Carol slapped his chest before she turned to look back at the others. “Of course we are both still young, but no more for us.”

“Hm, of course.” Stripes nodded as he looked into the crowd as well. “Look at Jelly, she looks the same.”

“That is the only disappointing thing about Coralina. That her belly doesn’t grow when she’s pregnant.”

“Relax my love, it grows a bit.”

“Hm.”

“Hmm...oh no.”

“Oh no? Oh no what?” Carol turned back to Stripes who look even more exhausted than usual, so she turned back to look at what his eyes were on. “How is this an oh no?”

“I’m, here!~” a voice sang out, somehow grabbing everybody’s attention and making them all turn to the entrance of the ballroom they were all in.

“Auntie Velvet!” came another voice, this one being a child’s. Stripes and Carol watched as from the crowd appeared Ula, running before jumping into the air to land into the new guest’s arms.

“Hello there Ula! How is the tiny one doing?”

“Seriously, how is this an oh no, Stripes?” Carol turned to her husband with a bit of a frown before he shrugged with a soft chuckle. 

“I love my sister, but she is a tad bit too much to handle at times.” he looked at his sister who waltzed into the ballroom with Ula and now the twins in her arms. “I can already imagine the-”

“Gifts!” Jeff and Bubbles loudly gasped before men and women followed behind Velvet, all holding onto boxes or bags which were clearly meant for all the guests.

“That is one of the best traits about her.” Carol commented before Stripes gave her a look, making her laugh before hugging him. “You know I’m just kidding.”

“Hm.”

“Hmm.”

_____________

“What did you bring us today!?” Bubbles exclaimed before Velvet snapped her fingers, a pair of women coming by and presenting some boxes.

“This one is for you.~” Velvet handed one to Bubbles, and then another to Jeff before they both shook with exhilaration.

“Thank you!” they thanked her in sync, then allowing themselves to be put down on the ground by Velvet before they both ran towards their parents. Meanwhile, Ula was still in her arms.

“I hope you didn’t bring anything for me, because you don’t have to bring me anything for any reason at all.” Ula stated before Velvet tapped her own chin.

“Oh no...oh dear.” Velvet pouted before Ula tilted her head in confusion. “That is so very unfortunate Ulla.”

“Why?”

“Because, now I don’t know who to give this ukulele to.” Velvet spoke in a sad tone as she presented the item before feeling as Ula started to bounce in her arms.

“U-Ukulele!?”

“Yes.”

“I, I want it!”

“Oh good!” Velvet grinned before handing Ula the instrument, then presenting another item. “And these axolotl headphones as well?”

“Yes!” Ula happily took the items as she squealed to herself, then being placed on the ground before she ran over to her parents as well.

“Let’s see, who’s next…?” Velvet thought to herself as she scanned the room, then spotting a head of red which made her grin. “Of course!”

She made her way through the crowd before tapping somebody’s shoulder, then moving to the opposite side as they turned to where she had tapped them. However, the person was then startled once noticing Velvet on the other side, making her chuckle.

“Hello there Maggie!”

“Hi, Velvet.” Maggie greeted her with a bit of blush coating her cheeks, however, this short exchange was interrupted by the sound of an unexpected growl which made the women turn to see eyes glare at Velvet. However, these soon relaxed at the realization of who this was.

“Maggie, are you alright?”

“Billy, I’ve told you that I’m fine. I’m just saying hi to Jelly’s great aunt.” Maggie felt as Billy embraced her.

“My apologies for...growling. I just am on the edge when it comes to Maggie, considering-”

“Oooh, don’t apologize!” Velvet gave a hearty laugh. “It’s completely normal and expected for you to be acting in such a way. I should be the one apologizing for giving Maggie a bit of a spook.”

“Oh, it’s alright.” Maggie reassured Velvet before she and Billy’s eyes widened at the sight of bags right in front of them.

“Good thing I bought gifts for your entire family, not just the incoming baby.~” Velvet grinned before swiping the bags away, instead handing them back to the people who had trailed behind her. “But! I wouldn’t you any of you to carry such things, so keep enjoying this little party and these people are to give you your gifts.”

Velvet then turned to her workers before her eyes flashed gold and became slits, a forked tongue appearing for a moment.

“Won’t you?”

“Yes Miss Velvet.” they all gave shaky nods, Velvet then turning back to the coupe with her original, sweet demeanor.

“Well then! I’ll be on my way now and hope to have a chat once I’m done greeting everybody!” Velvet gave Maggie’s stomach a gentle pat. “Now Mr. Billy, where might your brother be?”

“Right over there, with the woman dressed in orange. Jelly is there too as well as our father.”

“Father? Now that’s a mighty surprise.” Velvet then gave a curtsy before she waved to the pair and approached said persons, Jelly being the one to notice her.

“Aunt Velvet, it’s so great seeing you again.” Jelly smiled before feeling as Velvet and she hugged.

“And I’m so glad to be seeing you all as well as meeting others.” Velvet then turned to Lennie who stood beside Jelly, and besides them was the woman Billy mentioned as well as a man with an interesting hairstyle that made Velvet give a small laugh.

“So you’re the great aunt of this family?” the other woman asked before Velvet nodded. “Well howdy there! I’m Tilde, Lennie and Billy’s aunt.”

“Nice to meet you, Tilde. What a lovely name. My name is Velvet.” they shook hands before Velvet’s eyes darted towards the man who had already been eyeing her. “Though, who might this be?~”

“The name’s Cecilio.It’s very nice to meet another family member!” the man replied with a grin, then grabbing her hand to place a gentle kiss onto it. “ Especially such a beautiful one.~”

“Oh, you’re one to talk.You seem to be quite the charmer, Ceci.” Velvet fluttered her eyelashes with a chuckle. “And I really adore your hair.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh yes. It almost reminds me of horns.” Velvet brought hand up to stroke Cecilio’s hair with a hiss. “I like them, horny.”

“Oookay. I just want to remind you both that we’re all still here.” Jelly’s voice interrupted Velvet and Cecilio before they both turned to look at Jelly and the others. “Auntie, how about you and I go with the children, yeah? I don’t think you’ve seen them all yet.”

“Oh! Well of course.~” Velvet grinned before she walked away with Jelly, but not before turning her head to give a wink at Cecilio, as well as a wave to Lennie and Tilde. “Jelly, Kelp-Cake, how have you been doing with the pregnancy?”

“Absolutely fine. No cravings or anything bad so far. It’s almost as if I’m not even pregnant at all.”Jelly chuckled before she and her aunt reached the area designated for the children. “I also wanted to thank you for the gifts you gave Ula.”

“I also have a few for Davey! And the baby on their way.~” Velvet then presented a bag to Jelly who was taken back at the new sight in front of her. “This is just one of them, but I know you’ll adore this one! Look at it right now!”

“Okay.” Jelly stopped walking before she reached into the bag, pulling out what was a tutu that made her her fawn over it. “Oh my stars.”

“I just know it’ll come in handy in the future!” Velvet beamed before prancing away towards the children’s area, hearing a series of laughter before she leaned down. “What are all you darlings laughing about?”

“Mana!” Ula pointed to the ground where the axolotl rolled around in what appeared to be a now squished slice of cake. He only got dirtier the more he rolled in it, a big smile on his face the entire time.

“Oh dear, your Mama Carol won’t be too happy with this.” Velvet chuckled to herself before spotting yet another axolotl. “Well that’s new. Who is this?”

“That’s Ka-la.” Bubbles answered in an irritated tone. “Ula’s other axolotl.”

“But we have a bunny which is even cooler!” Jeff grinned as his sister pouted.

“Kala?” Velvet approached the purple axolotl who stared up at her with a serious expression. The axolotl then raised a paw that Velvet took, shaking it as she could tell that was what the axolotl wanted to do. “My, my. What a beautiful, little lady you are Kala. It is also wonderful to make your acquaintance.~”

Kala gave a nod before taking her paw back, then walking away as she sniffed the air to find either Lennie or Jelly. Meanwhile, Velvet now looked at the other children who were at the table, spotting two babies and two older kids who she recognized as Ula’s best friends. Speaking of Ula, the girl had now walked away from the table, having taken the hand of a boy that lead her to the dance floor.

“Why didn’t you ask her first?”

“What?”

Velvet now sat on one of the small chairs surrounding the table that was covered with all sorts of foods, and she looked directly at the boy she remembered was Atlas.

“Why didn’t you ask Ula to dance?” Velvet repeated as she motioned to said girl who was now dancing with the boy who Atlas had quickly come to dislike. “I think she would have said yes.”

“Because that’s too romantic and romance is yucky.” Atlas scrunched up his nose which made Velvet give a chuckle. “Besides, Ula’s my best friend and that’s weird.”

“But you don’t look happy that she’s dancing with that boy.”

“Basil’s...weird...he creeps me out.”

“I’m sure he’s not bad and has good intentions.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I think somebody has a case of the jellyfish.” Velvet giggled before Atlas turned to her in confusion. “Rather than having butterflies in your stomach, you have the jellies.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing.” Velvet gave Atlas’ head a gentle pat. “But heed this warning dear, don’t let the jellies stay in you for too long nor try to hide it. Jellies sting and those stings immediately hurt whoever their tendrils manage to reach no matter their size. Rubbing to supposedly soothe the sting is not going to help anybody but instead make things worse.”

“Um...okay…”Atlas scratched the back of his head, right before feeling as Velvet grabbed his other hand.

“How about I let you borrow my friend for a while?” Velvet and Atlas looked down at their hands, the child’s eyes widening at the sight of something white slither out of Velvet’s sleeve. It looked right up at him with ruby eyes, a little tongue popping out as he blinked in surprise.

“Medusa, you make sure to take care of Atlas, okay?” Velvet pet the snake’s head, right before it slithered and wrapped around Atlas’ arm whilst making sure not to hurt him. “Are you alright with that Atlas?”

“Uh huh.” Atlas examined the snake who let its tongue pop out again, making him give a little laugh, then turning to look back at Velvet who had now disappeared. His eyes caught sight of something, however, peering down at the table where there was a gift box with a red velvet bow.

_____________

“I wonder what gift she brought me today.~”

“My love please, I don’t think-”

Back to where Stripes and Carol stood, the pair continued discussing in between themselves. That was until Stripes was interrupted by the sound of a loud gasp.

He and Carol turned to look up before spotting the very woman they spoke of, eyes widening as her tall figure approached them. And this was no normal approach

“My baby brother!” Velvet exclaimed as she rushed towards them, Carol instantly moving out of the way as Stripes shook his head.

“Velvet, Velvet, don’t-!” he spoke before dropping the wine glass and pasrty he had been holding, right before his sister jumped into his arms.

“It’s so nice to see you my baby brother!~”

“Velvet, I’m literally a great grandfather.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re the youngest between us!” Velvet exclaimed before turning to Carol who smiled up at them. “See Caroline, I told you he’d drop everything just to catch me.”

“I can see that.”Carol chuckled as she watched Velvet give her brother a big kiss on the cheek, making him shake his head, surprisingly in embarrassment.

“I also brought you both gifts!~”

“Don’t think that’ll make up for the other night.”

“Don’t worry, I still have another-”

“Stripes, what other night?”

“Merda.”

[hellsinvestigativereporter]

Bloodborne: Ardenti Sanguine Chapter 2

It was two days till the night of the hunt and Daigo decided to go down the streets and survey the city. The first thing he noticed was that they simply LOVED statues. Most of them of shrouded figures that seemed to be weeping and wailing. He shook his head as he laughed. The city was certainly full of life. Brewers with barrels upon barrels of blood wine, medicinal wine, and so forth lined the streets. People were drinking it and at one point, he could have sworn that a mother was feeding her child with milk mixed with blood in the bottle. On another street corner a group of mates were drinking blood booze out of tankards, talking, cheering, and carrying on as though there was not a care in the world. Across the street on the opposite, a group of richly dressed men were seated around a table at a fancy tavern smoking cigarettes and sipping what he could only assume was blood wine from more elegant looking glasses. Everywhere in this city he could see the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the men and the women all drinking blood like it was water. There was one nagging question though in the back of his mind he could not shake however since he had read about blood ministration the night before. Where was all this blood coming from? His thoughts were disrupted however when he came close to a tavern called, “The Black Rose.” The wooden sign that held the name was clearly old though well maintained, and the windows were also tinted by time. His tongue felt a little dry so he decided to go in and see what was available. 

When Daigo entered the tavern he could see a very diverse group of drinkers indeed. There were your yoeman workers and farmers, volunteer hunters, and official hunters of the workshop. There were even a pair of choir members on the upper balcony that was on the inside of the tavern. All in all it looked like a good place to kick up ones heels and relax. He saw the bar and walked over to it, took a seat and looked at the drinks available. There was Blood Whisky, Blood Bourbon, Blood Wine, Blood Mead, Blood Absinthe?! That last one was truly surprising, what sort of sights and sounds did one see with blood laced absinthe? The Bar Maid came up to him and winked. “So Brother, what shall it be?” 

She was a very pretty woman. Buxom, long auburn hair, freckles, and mocha skin. Daigo grinned and leaned back a bit. “How about the blood wine? I’m feeling like treating myself tonight.” She nodded and left with her smile still on. 

Daigo leaned back and inspected his fingernails when suddenly two people sat side by side of him. “So...you a brother of the church mm?” one of them said. Daigo looked and saw a broad shouldered man with no hair or eyebrows but a thick goat beard on his chin. He was dressed in scruffy leather and had a folding saw on his hip and a blunderbust on his back.

“Come to rub elbows with us common folk eh?” Said the other man. He was tall, pretty much wearing a poncho made of some rough tarp that covered most of his body, save for his ragged pants and mud stained shoes. 

Daigo rapped his finger nails on the counter top and grinned. “Mm.....in a manner of speaking. I’m new in town.” 

The goat bearded hunter chuckled, his laugh showing he was missing more than a few teeth. “Well, well, welllllll......fresh meat from the church? how exciting....” 

Daigo kept up his friendly smile. “Indeed.” His right arm was hidden beneath the shoulder cape of his outfit...but he flexed it into a fist. He knew what was about to happen. 

The Tall hunter shifted his arm and rested his own hand on his weapon. “Yeah...we love it when you knobs from Cathedral Ward come down here and strut around like a peacock. Gracing us with a vision of your holier than thou arses.” 

Daigo saw his drink appear...the bar maid looking far more nervous than before. She quickly put space between herself and the situation that was developing. Daigo took the glass and downed it in one go....it was quite smooth and the blood gave it a surprisingly nice aftertaste. “Well if you want to see my ass, I suggest asking your sister first for permission, she might get jealous otherwise.” 

The Tall hunter shrieked in anger and pulled out his weapon, a surprisingly elegant butterfly sword. He kept the blade folded in but tried to use the shaft as a blunt club. Daigo quickly leaned back and fell out of his chair as the tall hunter smacked the goat faced hunter right in the jaw, sending a few more of his teeth flying out of his mouth. Daigo fell on his back but then rolled back to get into a better stance. The other patrons got up quickly, and a circle formed around the three men as the other patrons began to cheer on the fight. The Bar Maid looking furious left to get help. The Goat faced hunter rubbed his jaw and then cracked his neck. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE SWINGING!” he shouted. 

The Tall Hunter looked at Daigo and spat. “I was swinging for the nancy here!!!” he and the goat faced hunter got off their stools and took fighting stances. Daigo simply chuckled and with his right arm he brushed back the shoulder capes and had them folded behind him. His Wooden Right arm revealed for the masses. The two hunters looked at it in shock and a small degree of fear. “The Hell is that?” the goat faced hunter asked. 

Daigo cracked his knuckles. “This...was a gift from a very old friend. But as far as you two are concerned, this is the instrument of your incoming ass beating.” The two hunters looked at each other, the goat faced man drew his saw and the two rushed Daigo. He flexed the hand on his right arm and the thorns that made up his fingernails on that arm extended into claws, which he then swiped across the face of the goat faced hunter on the right. With his left hand he then grabbed the tall hunters wrist that had been swinging for his head and twisted it hard, causing the tall hunter to drop his weapon. He then let go and with expert speed did a sweeping leg kick that knocked both men on their backs. Daigo quickly grabbed the butterfuly sword and in an elegant display of form and skill whipped the blade around himself quickly before pointing the now exposed blade right into the goat faced hunters face while Daigo had drawn his pistol and pointed it at the tall hunters face. The two men held up their hands in surrender and Daigo was just about to pull the trigger when he heard a whistle being blown. 

Daigo turned his head to the sudden noise and saw a team of constables in the door way. Led by a man with long blonde hair and holding a simply MASSIVE buzz saw blade on his back, and what appeared to be a mace in his hands. “Now whats all this then?!” he shouted. The Bar Maid approached his side. 

“These two men harrased my customer and intended to do him harm!! ....But it seems he was able to dispatch them himself...” She said with a good bit of surprise. 

Daigo nodded. “I just wanted a drink Constable. Nothing more.” 

The man nodded and then looked at the crowed of people who were watching. “Right then! Now listen very closely to me...We are all hunters of the city of Yharnum. From the farmer to Vicar Laurence Himself! All of us, are in this together. Now I’ve heard repeated reports of this in the past of church brothers being accosted by ruffians in this part of the city. And I tell you now, IT WILL...NOT...DO! If I hear any more reports  of drunken brawls, street muggings, or so forth, I will lock down this entire section of the city and establish STRICT rules and a curfew for the area. AM I UNDERSTOOD?” the other patrons nodded quickly. Many averting their eyes. The choir members however watched from above...with heavy invested interest in their fellow church member. The constable nodded and then looked to Daigo. “Brother, is there anyway we can make this up to you?” 

Daigo looked at the constable for a moment, then down at the tall hunter. “This is a nice sword. I’m keeping it.” He then turned and walked past the constables and out into the street. He left the tavern thinking it should be a day or two before he returned. But in the meanwhile, he had a nice new weapon to add to his armory. He twirled the sword around in expert fashion as he walked down the street, but was stopped by a call from behind. “Excuse us brother, might we have a word?”

Daigo turned to see who was calling him and saw two choir members approaching him. Walking Canes in hand. He performed one final flourish and then stuck the weapon into the back of his belt. “How can I help you...fellow brothers?” he asked with a friendly smile. 

The Choir Members smiled, but that was all he could see of their faces, those smiling mouths. Both looked exactly the same to each other. The one on the left spoke. “I must say it was very impressive seeing you handle those two brutes. They are hunters of no small reputation. Tell me...where did you train?” 

“Oh I simply learned on my travels. There is no greater mentor than experience.” Daigo said. 

“I see.” The Choir member said. “Well I say, if we had a few more brothers like you in the church we’d not need to rely on such....crude instruments.” He said with a smile. 

“Well that’s the thing about crude instruments.” Daigo replied. “They’re low maintenance and don’t require constant cleaning...unlike other more...delicate tools.” He said with biting friendliness. 

The choir members eyes may have been hidden, but the contempt in his voice could be heard. “Yes well.....we each have a roll to play dont we?” 

The other choir member spoke up. “Forgive my friend here, he tends to be much more direct in his opinions than other choir members.” 

“Well I’ll take that over pretenses any day.” Daigo said. 

“Of course” the second choir member said. “Why lie when honesty is far too much fun?” 

“Quite.” Daigo said. 

“Well...I hope todays events have not soured your view of either the city or its citizens.” The second choir member said. 

Daigo focused a bit more on the second choir member, and noticed that their lips were rose bud shaped and had a bit of gloss on them. “Well milady, it takes more than a tavern fight to spoil my view of things.” 

The Lady Choir member chuckled. “well good. I would hate to see someone with so much potential leave us so suddenly.” 

Daigo grinned and stroked his beard. “Well.....perhaps a guided tour of the city would help me find a new found appreciation for its ........wonders.” he said with a playful grin. 

The Lady Choir member laughed softly and held out a hand. “Well..anything to aid a brother of the church.” Daigo smoothly took her arm and the two walked side by side down the street. The firm scowl of the other choir member they left behind unnoticed by the pair. 

Later that night the two were having dinner in Cathedral Ward enjoying a balcony seat with a view of the whole city, the gently rising moon, and the beautiful lake that rested next to the city. They had walked the length and breadth of the city taking in the sights and sounds of all that Yharnum had to offer. And now they were ending the day with each others surprisingly delightful company. “So Tell me Sister,” Daigo said. “What are nights of the hunt like?” 

She sipped some blood wine and sighed gently. “I dont know. Choir Members are not allowed to participate.” 

“Why is that?” He asked. 

“Because choir members are researchers looking into how to elevate the mortal coil of man. A brute is easy enough to replace, there is not a lot of training involved. But a researcher who dies takes all of their knowledge and discoveries with them.” Her voice seemed to betray the bitter sweet sentiments she had about that. 

“Sounds like your a bit disappointed by that.” He said. 

“Well, only as much as a child might be disappointed that they cannot actually slay a dragon. My strengths are in academia not martial prowess as you or the hunters have.” 

Daigo sipped some wine and thought about that. :But you know....the thing about a body of flesh is...things that are weak can be made stronger....and minds that are ignorant can be filled with knowledge.” 

An amused smile kissed her lips gently now. “Are you proposing we exchange lessons?” 

Daigo nodded. “Indeed....I lack knowledge of the city, and you wish to fight in the hunt do you not?” 

The mask may have hid her face but he could see she was clearly thinking about it. “All right...then let us make an accord. I will instruct you and you will train me.” 

Daigo smiled and nodded to that, toasting her with his wine. The two clinked glasses together. “Though we simply cannot call each other brother and sister.” 

“Agreed” she said. “I am Morganna Du Loch.” She said, taking off her head piece to reveal a strikingly beautiful woman with blond hair, saphire blue eyes, and ivory skin. 

“And I am Daigo Gwyn Belfir.” He said. 

“Pleased to meet you Daigo.” She said. 

“The Pleasure, Morganna...is mine.” He said with a grin once more. 

Meanwhile in church headquarters, Laurence was pouring over his texts and manuscripts from Byergenwerth. Sketches of eyes, tentacles, and other mis matched limbs of various sorts were detailed in his books. Behind him as he researched, was a mural showing the moon, and in front of it...a tall whispy figure of bone and tentacles could be seen, descending on a field of white flowers. “There must be a way to contact him.” He said. 

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Hey guys, just wanted to thank you so much for reading todays chapter. I just want to give a quick shout out to my friend @i-am-wyrmdrake who has been an absolute champion for me this year. Things were pretty rough at the start of 2019 but now that I’m back on my feet I just want them to know that I really appreciate all that they have done for me. Keep rocking on amigo mio!