#I'm going to try and finish reading Red Chamber‚ first‚ though--because I think I want to liveblog things when I replay

[throughpatchesofviolet]

I brought in some homemade peanut butter fudge for my coworkers, today, as well as some ornaments as little holiday gifts, and everyone who saw me expressed appreciation ... it felt really nice, I won't lie. Just ... to do something small for others like this. And I've been noticing that whenever I reach out and try to help or comfort or offer something to someone else, it makes me feel a bit better.

I think sending out tree messages yesterday had a similar effect, and helping the kiddos on Thursday with building gingerbread houses and making shakers for their sing-a-long. It's hard to put into words, but it feels like I'm finally coming out of the funk I've been in, and it's because I'm choosing to be kind in spite of everything I'm going through.

[liar-liarpantsonfire]

Stars in the big, black ink

Summary:You're staying with Alois for the night, it's a beautiful and clear, quiet night so you decide to enjoy it.

Cw:There is none, just fluff

Alois sighed, straightening out your bed. "I don't know why Claude couldn't of done this... it's litterally his job!" he muttered causing you to look up at him.

"Hm?"

"Oh! Nothing, dear!"

"If you say so..."

Alois finished with bed sheets and looked up to you, "All done!" He chirped, walking over. "Well, I'll be in my chambers if you need me, I'm just next-door." He said gently, looking to you with a small smile as he made his way to the door. You nodded, sitting on the bed and grabbing a book, reading in quiet. An hour or so passed and you couldn't relax, nevermind sleep.

You stood up, making your way to the blonde's room and gently knocking on his door. A gentle, "Come in!" was heard from the other side and you opened the door, shutting it behind you.

"Would you like to go outside? It's a beautifully clear night." The noble's eyes lit up as you said that and he nodded, standing up.

"That sounds lovely! Why not?" He grabbed a spare blanket before heading downstairs and outside with you, a gentle grip on your hand.

You walked for a short while, through the gardens, until you reached a table and chair with rose bushes surrounding them. You and Alois sat down as he wrapped the blanket around you both. You looked up at the sky, beautiful, shining white stars were scattered in the black void. It was beautiful. The moonlight illuminated the garden, shining down on the two of you. Alois placed his hand in yours as your head rested against his shoulder.

"They're pretty aren't they?" His voice was the first thing to break the silence in a while.

"Yes, they are... I've never seen them so clearly before."

"I like coming out here sometimes; to watch the sunset and look at some stars." He paused for a moment. "Its nice. It's peaceful and quiet..." He smiled to himself. "You know?"

You gave a small nod in response, it wasn't clear what else he wanted from you if wanted anything at all. Sometimes it felt like he was more just talking because someone was there to listen rather than make conversation but sometimes that was nice. You didn't always need to say anything, just listen.

"They remind me of when I was younger but... in a nice way. It makes me think of someone special." He said softly.

After a moment, everything went quiet again. The silence was nice though, it was calm and gave you a moment to just think and stare at the beautiful sky. Usually it'd be too cold to stay out for a while but with the blanket you could stay out for hours. The two of you sat in silence for a while, Alois's arm slowly finding it's way around you. The red of the roses and green of the leaves stood out against the ink black sky and the small dots of white scattered in it. The wind began to pick up and you shivered a little, Alois looking to you and pulling you closer, almost pulling you off your chair. "Woops! Sorry!" He giggled, clearly not that sorry. You laughed softly, looking to Alois, shaking your head and leaning against him again. "No you're not."

"I am!" He was still giggling and very clearly didn't feel too bad about it.

"Mhm, sure." You laughed, shaking your head and looking back up to the night sky.

"You know how you're supposed to see certain shapes in the stars?" You nodded. "Sometimes I like to try and make shapes out of the stars if I can't find one of the special ones. It helps me relax." You smiled and nodded, even though you spent a lot of time listening to Alois he often did the same for you, he always let you talk about whatever you wanted for as long as you pleased. This was the way you two worked... it was nice.

"Do you think that humans will ever be able to see the stars?" You asked gently, Alois shook his head.

"I don't think that we'll care enough..." He looked to you. "Humans are funny that way, we seem to only care about things we understand well and we don't seem to prioritise the correct things. I don't think we ever will." You nodded slowly, sitting up and looking to the blonde.

"You have some deep thoughts..."

"I suppose so? Not really though." He giggled softly. He really was oblivious to himself.

A little while passed and Alois sighed, standing up and stretching out. "We should head inside and get some rest." You nodded and he helped you to your feet, taking the blanket and walking back inside with him slowly.

Tonight had been perfect, in it's own way.

Authors Note:This took me far too long to write but I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry it's so short! Let me know if you gave any requests for other fics!!

[totallycorrectpmdquotes]

I'm on another PMD kick, and I stumbled across your Backfire fic on AO3, and it's super good so far! Even if it's a while to the next update, it was totally worth reading what you have so far-- so good job, and good luck with it if you ever continue!

Thank you so much! :DD

But speaking of updates...

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2)

Uxie’s powers aren’t just limited to his lake, and affect all memories which could be traced back to the Time Gears. It’s easy to imagine the mental catastrophe this could cause in the mind of someone who’s spent nearly their entire life looking into them. In his defense, Uxie was really mad at Grovyle.

-

3.

For Chatot, it had been aparticularly frazzling evening. The Guildmaster had reorganized a storage roomwith a rather small window for Grovyle by throwing all its contents into thehall. Bidoof and Loudred carried out their orders to clear the mess away quicklyenough, although Chatot would not bethe first one to open the closets they had stuffed everything in. When OfficerMagnezone had led the secret transport of the still unconscious Grovyle,Dusknoir had followed. As Grovyle was deposited in his new bed – closer to theGuildmaster’s chamber than any of the apprentice’s, just to be safe – Dusknoirhad promptly positioned himself outside the door.

“Dusknoir, Sir,” Chatot had said,“we can have the apprentices take over that position. You don’t need to troubleyourself for us.” His intention had been to send Chimecho to take over, andmore importantly, have her make sure the Great Dusknoir was alright.

But Dusknoir had waved him offand refuted any further attempts to convince him that they could help. “I camehere to find him, I’ll guard him. It’s no trouble.”

A few minutes later, Dusknoirapparently caught sight of his reflection in one of the lower-level drinkingfountains and jumped in fright. No one dared to ask what startled him. Herefused to leave his post when dinner was ready as well, despite the fact thatGrovyle wasn’t due to wake for another several hours. And Chatot, well, mayhave reacted by bringing him a plate of leftovers sprinkled with a portion ofground sleep seeds.

He was concerned and had everyright to be! Dusknoir would surely be upset when he woke, and Chatot would takethe consequences of his actions in stride. He would apologize for hisdeception, but not for his actions. Dusknoir needed to rest – whatever ailmenthe was suffering from would not be treated if he ran himself ragged.

Night fell on the guild, andChatot enlisted Chimecho’s help to move the now fully asleep Dusknoir to theGuildmaster’s bed.

“And remember, this stays betweenus.” Chatot said, well aware that Chimecho already knew and wouldn’t say a wordabout Dusknoir’s condition. Nervousness kept him tittering about, though. “Areyou certain he has to be awake for you to examine him?”

“Sorry,” she said, and used herpsychic to gently set Dusknoir down. “If he’s against it, we could have someonetalk with him and I’ll examine him while he’s distracted.”

Chatot hesitated for a secondbefore he sighed. “You have better eyes for this than anyone in the guild. Ifyou think that would be enough for you to help him, then I trust yourjudgement.” He shrugged off Dusknoir’s bag and did his best not to look at thesleeping form. “You may take your leave and return to your quarters.” He was very aware she would not be doing that;the apprentices would be meeting in Team Relic’s room, where the two would bebombarded with questions about why they had decided to let Grovyle stay.

Chimecho nodded, and with a quietring of her bell, she left the room. Chatot watched her leave before he nudgedDusknoir’s bag closer to him. There was something strange about the bag,something that Chatot struggled to put a feather on, but it clicked when hefound a worn patch on the right side where a few rolled up pieces of parchmentwere visible. The bag was the same model as Grovyle’s.

Chatot allowed himself a momentof short, quiet laughter – he’d had such a horrifying feeling, and all it hadamounted to was that. How incrediblysimplistic. Those bags must be mass produced in the future with that samedefect. It was unfortunate that the Great Dusknoir had such a poor qualitytreasure bag.

With one long look at the piecesof parchment which, really, were none of Chatot’s business and were not something he’d be prying into,Chatot returned to his post outside of Grovyle’s room. The Guildmaster sat tothe left of the door, two crochet hooks in his hands and what looked like a half-finishedyarn apple in his lap.

“Hiya!” The Guildmaster said,loudly, but clearly trying to be quiet. “How’s Dusknoir? Is he having sweetdreams?”

“I’m sure he is,” Chatot said,and made himself comfortable to the right of the door. “And Grovyle?”

The Guildmaster put down his yarnand stared across the room. “…No,” he said, “he’s still having nightmares. Buthe’ll be awake soon. He’ll be happier then.”

Chatot glanced back, through thecurtain they’d draped over the doorway. The shadows were twisted around Grovyle,and in the dim light almost looked like they were standing over him.

Chatot pulled the curtain openfarther as Grovyle shuddered, and the illusion faded.

.-.

There was no vulpix named Breannain the Wigglytuff Guild. However, there was one who’d introduce herself by hernickname, Breeze.

She hadn’t known that Pokémon goby their species name unless interacting with their family until she was told.She was practically illiterate – everyone around wrote and read in footprintrunes, but she didn’t even know the alphabet. When asked where she was from, orwhy she had made her way to Treasure Town in the first place, all Breeze had tooffer was a shrug.

Honestly, it was impressive thatno one had figured out her secret yet. Well, they’d figured out about herDimensional Scream, but her secret of being a ‘human turned Pokémon withamnesia who couldn’t even remember her own real name’ was still safe.

Mostly.

Breeze sat beside her partner,Dusk, with their guildmates crowded into the room with them. They’d beenarguing for the past several minutes. Breeze had been reorganizing her treasurebag for most of them and left Dusk to deal with their friends’ questions.

At least Chimecho had taken pityand brought him a chalkboard so he wouldn’t strain his voice anymore.

“But I don’t understand,” Sunflora said, “he’s a bad Pokémon!”

Dusk dipped his paw in chalk duskand drew several footprints from various normal-types while Breeze triplechecked her stash of orans for any orens. She returned them to her bag as Duskgestured to his writing.

“I guess,” Sunflora hesitated,“but you can’t change nature.”

“We are still worried about youtwo,” Dugtrio said, “you may be confident in this second chance, but we wouldhate to see a horrible fate befall you.”

Breeze didn’t look at him (them?She really needed to find a chance to ask what Dugtrio preferred) and insteadgently dumped out her orbs. She started to sort them by function, thenalphabetically on top of that. Dusk used some grass and water-type footprintsthis time.

“We will not question yourdecision further,” Dugtrio said, “but know that you may fall back on us if thisfails.”

“WELL, I will!” Loudred announcedand was promptly shushed by the rest of the apprentices.

“Oh my gosh, do you want Chatot to come tell us off?”Sunflora said as she whacked him with one of her leaves. “Be quiet for once!”

“Fine!” Loudred said in whatcould barely be counted as an indoor voice. Breeze heard him stomp towards her,and kept her eyes focused on the orbs. “Vulpix, don’t do anything stupid.”

Breeze pawed categories of orbs alittle bit farther apart. “I won’t.”

“I mean it,” Loudred said, “Idon’t care if you think he’s cool,you get yourself or any of us killed we’re going to have a problem.”

Breeze licked her lips and didn’tlook up at him. “I won’t,” she repeated, “I know what I’m doing.”

“But that’s what we want toknow,” Chimecho pointed out, her voice gentle. “What is your plan? We know hewon’t remember you, and that you feel bad because of how much he’s missing, buthe nearly killed you both. Why are you putting so much faith in him?”

Dusk started to write somethingdown, but Corphish held up a claw to stop him.

“Hey-hey, no offense Riolu,” hesaid, “but I want to hear what Vulpix has to say about this. She’s been tooquiet.”

As an agreement rippled acrossthe guild, Breeze coaxed her orbs back towards her. “Uh,” she swallowed,“well…”

Breeze frowned. Why… why was she doing this? Yes, she felt badfor and identified with Grovyle, but she hadn’t been a bad person. She’d neverhurt anyone who hadn’t deserved it, and Grovyle had nearly destroyed the world.He’d tried to kill her, Dusk, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf – everyone. What if she was looking at this all wrong? What if hestill remembered how much he wanted to hurt them, just not the why? What if she was being stupid, andputting so much trust in someone who was just going to hurt the guild?

“Come ON!” Loudred said, yellingright by her ear, “Spit it out!”

There was a muffled squawk beforea tremor knocked the apprentices off their feet.

.-.

Dusknoir sat on the edge of afrozen riverbank beside a man dressed in shades of gray. They had a pile ofrocks between them and sat in silence as they threw them into the river. Thesound of a splash was there, but the water didn’t move as it sucked the rocksdown. Dusknoir pulled out a rock, flat and circular with small protrusionsaround the edge, and handed it off to the human. Immediately after touching itthe human gasped and gripped his head. The rock fell from his hand and rolleddown the bank, bouncing twice before it finally settled in the shallows.Dusknoir stared at the man, and he stared back with blank, unseeing eyes.

Dusknoir blinked.

He was on a cliff face, a body infront of him and his hands stained a dark red. There was a loud, shrill noise.There had been for the past minute.

He turned around, and the imageof a small child with red-brown hair drifted away like smoke. The cliffblurred. The body faded.

He was in a blank but colourfulroom, and in front of him was an unfortunately familiar shadow form with a wispof white hair.

“Hello, Hope,” Darkrai said,absolutely smug, “are you having a nice nap?”

“Don’t call me that,” Dusknoirsnapped, immediately on guard. “What are you doing here?”

“What, you thought you were theonly one who followed those idiots when they fled back in time?” Darkrai said,“I knew you were dense, but I was hoping you weren’t stupid.” He sighed,overtly dramatic as Dusknoir scowled. “Of course that was too much to hope for.Tell me, what was your theory for why the brat doesn’t remember you anymore?The power of friendship between you and your minions?”

“You don’t need to act like achild,” Dusknoir growled, and continued to stare at Darkrai’s smug face. “You…did you do that to her?”

“If it’s any consolation, it wasa happy accident. I was aiming for the nuisance your friends have dumped in theother room – I planned on blasting him out of existence, but your little bratsaw me and took the hit.”

“She’s not mine,” Dusknoir corrected,“if you did this to her, why don’t you go finish the job?”

“What, and take all your glory? Please,” Darkrai grinned, “besides, Icould ask you the same thing. You’ve completed your mission. Why are you stillhere?”

Dusknoir narrowed his eye andspoke carefully. “There was an issue with creating the Dimensional Hole back.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so?”Darkrai said, faux cheerful and still unbearably smug. He snapped his fingers,and the dream world shifted to hold a frozen Dimensional Hole. “I’ll just set thisdown right outside, and then you can finish your job.”

No! “That’s not necessary,” Dusknoir said quickly. “Besides,they’re both still far too entwined with the others in this time. I’ll needmore time to separate them so I can take them back without severely -”

“If you’re going to make excuses,at least put some effort into them.”

Dusknoir froze. Darkrai suddenlyseemed so much bigger than him. “E-excuse me?”

“I own dreams, you idiot. This is my realm.” He was barely the size ofDarkrai’s eye now. “I know you don’t want to leave. For all you try and protestyou want to stay here and enjoy this time before it’s gone, while still pretendingyou’re just doing your job. And who could blame you, especially with your history? I wonder what Dialga wouldthink of this after how much faith they put in you. I’m sure they’d be rathercross.”

“Don’t question my loyalties,”Dusknoir shouted back, and struggled to keep himself steady as Darkrai’s laughshook the dreamscape. “I’m just as loyal to Master Dialga as you are!”

The laugh grew louder. Thecolours got brighter, more saturated, and began to drip into each other.

“That’s not a very high bar,”Darkrai said. “Still, if you’re oh so convinced of your loyalties, then let memake the task simpler for you.” Dusknoir looked down and saw that his handwrapped around Chatot’s neck.

“Wait -” he couldn’t shout. Hisvoice wouldn’t get any louder than a whisper. The ground below him started toshake as the shadows morphed into Wigglytuff, and the colours dripped into thebackground of the Wigglytuff guild. Dusknoir tried to shout again, but no wordscame out.

“The Dimensional Hole will beatop Mt Bristle when you’re done,” Darkrai’s voice said, echoing fromeverywhere and nowhere at once. “Don’t take too long. Make sure you don’t needmy help again.”

A variety of faceless shadows ranin from down the hall, led by that same little girl with red-brown hair.

Dusknoir jolted, free from thenightmare. Breanna, who’d led the charge of apprentices through the guild’sshaking halls, was a vulpix again.

Dusknoir dropped Chatot and backedup as quickly as he could. The guild stopped shaking as Dusknoir raised hishands, and everyone ran over to help Chatot up. He had tiny flakes of ice inhis feathers, and Dusknoir glanced down at his hands in horror. There was norecovery from this. He would be run out – he needed to grab the two he had comefor and be done with it. He had no time to waste.

“I’m alright,” Chatot wheezed,and looked over at Dusknoir, halfway across the room. “Dusknoir, sir?”Wigglytuff grabbed Chatot and held him tight as the rest of the guild movedcloser. “Are you okay?”

Dusknoir swallowed and glanceddown at his hands. He scrambled to find the words, but his tongue was stillfrozen. He couldn’t think of what to say.

He looked up, at Chatot at first,then past him at Breanna’s horrified look. Then past her, at the green form inthe doorway he was supposed to be guarding.

Grovyle met his eyes before he ducked back, andDusknoir was confident he’d seen the whole thing.

[beauregards]

'cause I'm a beautiful wreck, a colorful mess

3,145 words

keyleth/vex’ahlia

keyleth gets sick and the rest of vox machina know the only person with a shot at able to handle her is vex.

a/n: so this is the first thing i've written in like two years and i'm so happy to be over my writers block, god bless.

i've rewatching the first campaign and i got a lot of feelings about keyleth/vex so here's this! i have taken some artistic liberties with details i couldn't remember but nothing major. as i was writing this i said to my sister ‘ignore the fact that none of them would ever actually get sick bc magic’.

title from the song 'honey' by kehlani

ao3

It’s over breakfast that they first notice Keyleth’s temperature. Pike leans over and places a hand on her bicep to catch her attention, meaning to ask her a question about a druidic healing method she had read about last night, when she notices the heat radiating off of Keyleth.

“Keyleth,” Pike moves her hand to the back of Keyleth’s neck, “Do you feel alright? You’re burning up.”

 Keyleth presses the back of her hand against her forehead for a moment before shrugging, appearing nonplussed.

 “I feel fine, it’s just a little warm in here,” Keyleth finishes off her plate and moves to stand, “I’ve got some work I wanted to finish up this morning, but I’ll see you later?”

 She doesn’t wait for a response as she exits the dining hall, leaving Pike staring after her before sharing a concerned look with Grog and Vax.

 “We should probably do something about that,” Vax says once Keyleth has left.

 “Yeah, but what?” Pike replies, frowning down at her bowl of porridge. Both Pike and Vax sit in silence, pondering their choices when Grog speaks up, his mouth full of bacon.

 “What about Vex?”

 “What about Vex what?” Pike asks, curiosity flitting across her features.

 “Why don’t we tell Vex that Keyleth is sick and let her handle it?”

 “What would my sister do about the matter?” Vax asks, wondering where Grog is going with this.

 “Well, you know,” Grog says, looking at them both meaningfully, “Her and Keyleth…”

 “You know what, you’re right,” Vax says, nodding in agreement, “My sister is pushy enough that she’ll be able to get Keyleth to see reason. I mean, if she can’t none of us can.”

 “Good idea Buddy,” Pike says, reaching out to pat Grog on the back which ends up being more like his ribs despite the fact that both of them are seated.

 “I don’t think-” Grog starts before letting it go; if Pike and Vax think he’s had a good idea he’s just going to leave it at that, “Thanks’ Buddy!”

 //

 Vex finds out that Keyleth is sick when her brother comes to find her in the archery range she had set up in Greyskull Keeps expansive garden. She’s just notched another arrow when her brother speaks up from behind her.

 “So, I need you to talk some sense into Keyleth,” Vax says, leaning against one of the large trees that grow throughout their property.

 “And why would I need to do that?” Vex asks, “Keyleth’s probably the most sensible of the lot of us, at least most of the time.”

 “Well that explains why she’s working on her potions when her temperature is through the roof,” Vax says as she lets her arrow lose. It flies wide, hitting just outside the bullseye instead of dead centre like Vex has been aiming for. “She’s being sensible, making the most out of the day.”

 “She’s not,” Vex says, despite knowing that her brother was telling the truth. Despite how much Keyleth cared about Vox Machina, about their little family, she had a tendency to be reckless with herself. Sometimes stupidly so.

 “Please, just talk to her,” Vax says, “Or strong arm her into bed. Whatever you think will be more effective.”

 “I’ll do my best,” Vex says, sliding her quiver onto her shoulder as she heads towards the keep, “No promises though.”

 Vex leaves her quiver and longbow in the mudroom, her footfalls heavier than normal as she heads towards Keyleth’s newly set up laboratory. She takes a moment to compose herself outside the door. As irritated as she is with Keyleth’s lack of self-regard she doesn’t want Keyleth to think that Vex is angry with her. That’s the last thing Vex would ever want.

 Vex lets the door swing open and takes a few steps into the room. Keyleth doesn’t hear her enter and while Vex would like to claim that it’s because of her stealthiness it’s more likely the result of Keyleth’s fever.

 Vex watches her for a moment, sitting at one of the workbenches measuring out powders with shaking hands and a sheen of sweat on her face. The fourth time she has to remeasure something Keyleth swears softly under her breath. She sets the powder down carefully on the bench but flings the metal measuring implements across the room. Vex watches them crash into a collection of glass vials and jars, wincing as one of them breaks with a sharp crack that Keyleth doesn’t seem to notice.

 “Oh Keyleth,” Vex says softly, stepping forwards until she can sweep Keyleth’s sweat damp hair off of the back of her neck and place her palm against one of Keyleth’s bright red cheeks, “What’s going on here Darling?”

 “It’s nothing,” Keyleth says, leaning into the coolness of Vex’s palm, “I’m just trying to get some of these potions done before we leave next.”

 “Keyleth,” Vex says with enough feeling that Keyleth forces her eyes open to look at Vex, “The potions can wait.”

 “But what if they can’t? What if the next time one of us is on the edge of death one of these potions could help us, but we don’t have it because I didn’t get it finished?” Keyleth’s voice rises at the end of her question and Vex barely manages to conceal her flinch, but Keyleth seems to pick up on it anyway. “I’m sorry Vex,” Her eyes widen and her hand comes up to press against Vex’s cheek, “I didn’t mean to snap.”

 “Get up,” Vex says in response and Keyleth blinks at her.

 “What?”

 “Get up,” Vex repeats, moving both her hands to rest under Keyleth’s elbows so she can help her stand, “We’re going to your room.”

 “Yours?” Keyleth asks as she stands, looking at Vex with sad eyes.

 “Alright Darling, we can go to my room instead,” Vex readily agrees, leading Keyleth through the hallways of Greyskull Keep until they reach her chambers.

 Right after they had first taken Greyskull Keep as their home Vex had dragged her mattress off her bed so that she could curl up with Trinket on the comfortable mattress without him breaking her bed. Now she nudges Trinket awake with her foot and settles Keyleth into the patch of warmth he’s left behind.

 She presses a kiss to Keyleth’s sweat slick brow and pulls back. At the whimper Keyleth makes when Vex lets go of her she stops and places her hand against her girlfriends back.

 “You’re alright Darling,” Vex unnecessarily adjust the sea of pillows around Keyleth, “I’m just taking Trinket downstairs to help me bring water up from the hot spring for your bath.”

 “I don’t need a bath,” Keyleth whines, having apparently finally embracing the fact that she’s sick. She kicks her feet a little in protest and Vex scrunches up her nose at how cute the sight is.

 “You kind of do Keyleth.”

 “I can go downstairs then,” Keyleth continues to argue, “It’s a hassle for you to bring everything up here just for me.”

 “It’s not a hassle and I’m doing it,” Vex says firmly, “Don’t even think about moving while I’m gone.”

 She leads Trinket down to the hot springs and loads him up with two barrels of fresh water to dump into the tub in her washroom. She plans to let the water sit for a while and cool down before she attempts to get Keyleth into the tub.

 When they return Keyleth is exactly where Vex left her, her eyes closed and her breathing even. Vex tries her best to keep the volume down as she fills the tub, scratching Trinket’s back in thanks for his help before he lumbers out of the room and off down the hall.

 Vex wakes Keyleth with gentle hands, brushing her hair out of her face and shaking her shoulder.

 “Keyleth,” Vex sings, “Kiki, time to wake up. The bath is ready.”

 Keyleth rolls onto her back at the sound of Vex’s voice and blinks up at her.

 “Okay,” Keyleth says after a moment, her voice rough, “I’m up.”

 Keyleth leans into Vex on their walk over to the tub, already exhausted again. She sits down beside the tub once they reach it and starts attempting to pull her clothes off. Vex watches her struggle for a moment before stepping in when Keyleth manages to get her dress stuck over her head.

 “The waters not too warm for you?” Vex checks, watching Keyleth dip her hand into the tub.

 “No, that feels nice.”

 “Okay,” Vex holds onto Keyleth’s hands and helps her climb into the tub. The humid air of the washroom is heavy with the scent of the lavender oil Vex dropped into the water and Keyleth seems to visibly relax from the combination of the scent and the warm water.

 “You are joining me, aren’t you?” Keyleth asks when Vex moves to riffle through the basket filled with scented bars of soap.

 “Hm? Oh, no,” Vex half turns to face Keyleth, “I wasn’t going to, why?”

 “Oh,” Keyleth says, voice small. Looking down at the rippling water instead of at Vex.

 “Would you like me to join you Darling?”

 “No, that’s alright,” Keyleth brushes off the question.

 “Keyleth,” Vex says, tone firm, “I don’t mind. If you want something you can tell me. I know you push down a lot of what you want for the rest of us, but you don’t have to do that with me.”

 Keyleth stays silent, gaze still on the water where the ripples are slowly disappearing. Vex turns back to the soap, looking for the bar she had picked up in town a few days ago that had make her think of Keyleth when she’d smelt it.

 “Vex, would you please get into the bath with me?”

 “Of course Keyleth, I would be happy to,” Vex says, finally locating the bar and shedding her clothes before climbing into the bath opposite Keyleth. “Washing first, relaxing second.” She says, motioning Keyleth towards her.

 Vex helps Keyleth tilt her head back and wets her hair, careful not to get water in her eyes as she rinses the dirt and sweat from the red locks. Keyleth’s eyes flutter shut as Vex’s fingers work through her hair, massaging her scalp with deft fingers.

 “Here Darling,” Vex passes her the soap and a wash rag before slipping around to sit behind her, helping Keyleth reach the middle of her back when she asks.

 “Thank you Vex,” Keyleth says eventually. She’s leaning back into Vex, body relaxed and eyes shut, and Vex had actually thought that she’d fallen asleep again until she had spoken.

 “It’s just a bath Darling,” Vex says, her fingers idly tracing patterns against Keyleth’s hip.

 “Not for that,” Keyleth says, “Or not just for that. Thank you for looking out for me, even when I’m not looking out for myself.”

 “Always Keyleth,” Vex says, biting her lip at the surge of affection she feels for the girl in front of her. “I’ll always have your back Darling, no matter what. You mean a lot to me.”

 Keyleth turns, careful not to disturb the bath water too much, just enough to press her cheek against shoulder.

 “You mean a lot to me too.”

 //

 Keyleth perks up and her fever breaks after the bath and a nap, which is how Keyleth manages to talk Vex into letting her downstairs for dinner. That and a combination of compliments, promises, and puppy dog eyes that Vex was too weak to resist. As dusk falls Vex finds herself escorting Keyleth down to the dining hall for dinner with the rest of their family.

 “If you even think you don’t feel well enough to be in there you let me know,” Vex warns her outside the dining room. “I’m serious Keyleth.”

 “I promise,” Keyleth says, holding her pinkie out in Vex’s direction. “See.”

 “Alright,” Vex says, linking her pinkie with Keyleth’s for a few moments, “So long as we’re in agreement.”

 Keyleth heads into the dining room and takes a seat beside Vax. She says a few words to him and he nods at whatever she says before reaching for her hair and beginning to weave it into a fancy looking braid. The corner of Vex’s mouth ticks up into a small smile at the sight.

 She drops down across from the pair, sliding a plate towards Keyleth who’s listening to Scanlan tell an elaborate story with a lot of hand gestures that Vex thinks might be a little embellished. Keyleth smiles in appreciation and Vex smiles back. Beside Keyleth her brother catches her eyes and shoots her a weird look before returning his attention to Keyleth’s hair.

 Keyleth makes it three quarters of the way through dinner before her eyes start to droop and she excuses herself.

 “I’ll see you upstairs when you’ve finished dinner,” Keyleth says, leaning in close to Vex and pressing her hand to her shoulder before she leaves the room.

 Once the others think that Keyleth’s out of earshot they all turn to Vex and start asking questions.

 “Keyleth is fine,” Vex announces, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the others clamoring, “Well, sick, but fine.”

 “So she’s listening to you then?” Pike asks.

 “We all know how Keyleth gets when she’s sick,” Percy agrees.

 “She’s behaving,” Vex assures them, “The sooner she’s better the sooner she gets back to work.”

 The others seem to find that assessment agreeable and turn back to their prior conversations with the exception of Vax, who fixes her with another look. Down the table Vex can hear Pike congratulating Grog on his brilliant idea and Vex’s wonders what that’s about as she picks her fork back up and goes back to eating.

 Vax corners her in the hallway outside her bedroom after she exits the dining room, stepping out in front of her and barely managing to dodge the punch she throws when he startles her.

 “God Vax,” Vex hisses, placing a palm over her racing heart, “What are you trying to do, get one of us killed?”

 “If you were paying attention that wouldn’t have happened,” Vax chastises and Vex scowls at him.

 “This is my home; I shouldn’t have to be on guard!”

 They stand there scowling at one another for another few minutes before Vax caves.

 “What was all that about at dinner?”

 “What was what at dinner?” Vex asks, feigning confusion at his line of questioning.

 “With Keyleth,” Vax elaborates, “The giddy smile and the fact that you spent the whole meal staring at her like she hung the stars. Do you like her Vex?”

 “Okay, so, here’s the thing,” Vex begins; lying is easy but lying to her twin? “I-“

 “We’ve been dating for nearly two months,” Vex looks past Vax and Keyleth is sticking her head around the door to Vex’s room watching the pair of them. “I’m going to be in bed when you’re done here Babe.”

 The door shuts again as Keyleth disappears into the room and Vax looks at Vex wide eyed.

 “Two months? How did you manage to keep this a secret from everyone for that long?”

 “A combination of luck and skill,” Vex says, “It was a little tricky at times.”

 “I would imagine,” Vax says, and then, “Well done.”

 Vex reaches out and pulls her twin into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and feeling herself relax as he squeezes her back.

 “She makes you happy?” Vax asks, voice low.

 “So happy,” Vex admits quietly.

 “Good, after everything you deserve to be happy.”

 “Goodnight Brother,” Vex says, pulling away and walking towards her bedroom door.

 “Goodnight Sister,” Vax replies before disappearing off down the corridor.

 //

 “So,” Vex says, shutting the door behind her, “That happened.”

 “Someone was bound to notice something eventually,” Keyleth says, Vex’s thick fur curled around her on the bed, “It’s been nearly two months. That’s a long time for no one to notice anything.”

 “You’re right,” Vex begins stripping down, ready for bed after such a long day.

 “How would you feel about telling the others now that your brother knows?”

 “I think I could handle that,” Vex says, pulling one of her slips over her head. “It’s about time they found out. Besides, then I can show you off when we’re travelling.”

 “I would like that very much,” Keyleth sits up and takes a hold of Vex’s hands, tugging her forward until she’s kneeling on the bed beside Keyleth. “Now, c’mere; lie down with me so I can go to sleep.”

 Vex settles into the mattress and feels the familiar sensation of Keyleth molding herself against Vex’s back.

 “About what you said earlier, about one of us dying and there being a potion that could help stop it. Whether we have that potion or we don’t that’s not ever going to be in you Keyleth, we all knew what we were signing up for when we started traveling together, we all knew the risks.” Vex entwines her fingers with Keyleth’s where they’re settled across her stomach, “And I don’t want you to ever think that us getting hurt is on you in any way.”

 “I’ll try to remember that,” Keyleth says eventually, “But I might need you to remind me sometimes.”

 “I can manage that Darling,” Vex smiles when Keyleth presses a kiss to her shoulder. “Now get some sleep, I want you better sooner rather than later.”

 “Definitely sooner,” Keyleth agrees, sounding like she’s already halfway towards being asleep.

 “Definitely sooner,” Vex echoes softly.

 //

 “Alright,” Vex announces the next morning, halfway through breakfast, “Listen up, I’ve got some news.”

 “Good news?” Scanlan asks, sounding a little nervous.

 “Very good news,” Vex assures him, “Keyleth and I are seeing each other, we have been for about a month.”

 There’s a moment of silence before, like the previous night, everyone starts talking over each other. Vex leans over and presses a chaste kiss to Keyleth’s lips while they all clamor to be heard over one another.

 “Why are you so surprised?” Grog asks, confusion, a familiar expression, evident on his face, “I told you they were together yesterday morning.”

 “Oh my god,” Pike and Vax exclaim at the same time, twin looks of realization on their faces and everyone else stops talking.

 “How did you know?” Pike asks, one hand on Grogs arm.

 “The way they were looking at each other, and then in one of our last fights Vex got hurt and Keyleth kissed her after we won.”

 Keyleth reaches over to hold Vex’s hand at the mention of that fight.

 “Nice work Grog,” Vex says, looking impressed.

 “I was really glad you weren’t dead,” Keyleth says, leaning over to give Vex another kiss.

 “Me too, especially since it earned me a kiss like that.”

 Keyleth just laughs and squeezes Vex’s fingers. Vex smiles at the sound .

[alwayskaysanova]

Can I Be Him?

Fandom: Merlin Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Rating: T Word Count: 2,158 Summary: A Christmas celebration at Camelot might be the push Arthur needs to finally be honest about his feelings for Merlin.

Merlin Holidays 2017 gift for the awesome @yesimafan (ao3 - daroh)! Big thanks to the mods on lj for hosting this exchange and once again making everything amazing <33

{ao3} {ff.net}

Arthur smiled as Gwaine regaled yet another tale of the Knights various deeds throughout this past year. Every retelling added even more embellishments and Arthur struggled not to laugh as his deeds seemed to get even more ridiculous as the story went on.

As Arthur recalled there had been some sort of mythical beast, and it had definitely been slayed, but by who was still fiercely debated. Everyone seemed to think that it was Arthur who had killed it but as he distinctly remembered being knocked out before he'd even had a chance to strike the creature, he doubted that very much.

Half the deeds attributed to Arthur these days were events he could never properly recall. Merlin assured him he really had defeated all manner of monsters and often joked that all those blows to his head were catching up to him.

Another round of raucous laughter broke through Arthur's musings and he was jolted back to the present.

He watched as Gwaine bowed, nodded his head towards Arthur, and winked at several ladies, before swaggering back to the knights table.

Arthur's gaze switched to Merlin who was shaking his head, a wry grin on his lips, as he made his way towards Gwaine to fill up his drink once more.

Arthur watched the exchange with a slight pang. Merlin had always been very free with his expressions and was often quite touchy with people and he seemed to be especially tactile when it came to Gwaine.

It didn't help that Gwaine was very obviously interested in Merlin beyond friendship and if Arthur wasn't pretty sure it was just friendship on Merlin's side he was sure he'd be a lot more uneasy whenever they were together.

That brought Arthur back to a decision he'd made over a week ago.

In the year's since his father had died and Arthur had ascended to the throne a lot of things had changed from how he'd imagined they'd become.

He'd thought that once he was King he would marry Gwen but that had fallen apart almost as soon as Lancelot had returned. Arthur hadn't, and still didn't, begrudge them their happiness. It had been clear to all that their love was something nobody, not even a King, could come between, and Arthur hadn't really wanted to.

He thinks, looking back, that his feelings for Gwen were partly to do with his feelings towards Merlin.

He had loved her, but he didn't think he'd ever been in love with her.

It had been Merlin since they'd met and it had taken Arthur a long time to come to terms with that.

Arthur stood and the hall quietened as he made one last speech and bid everyone goodnight.

He'd enjoyed feasts a lot more when he'd been younger but lately they seemed to take more out of him. They were fast becoming the only part of his life other than diplomatic occasions that felt like an act.

He'd slowly let go of the formal atmosphere around his knights and it had never really been there with Merlin. Of course, the knights still addressed him properly and observed all the correct deference (something Merlin could stand to brush up on), but he was a lot more relaxed now than he used to be.

He caught Merlin's eyes as he began to leave the hall and they exchanged a small nod as understanding passed between them. It still surprised Arthur that they seemed to know each other so thoroughly despite never setting out to do so.

He made his way through the corridors towards his chamber. He'd have a few minutes before Merlin joined him.

Opening the door to his room, Arthur began to undress, shedding his formal attire in exchange for a simple tunic and breeches. He moved towards the table and sat down in the chair nearest the gently crackling fire.

Around ten minutes later Arthur heard the door opening behind him and relaxed further into his chair as the familiar sounds of Merlin's footsteps entered the room.

A jug and two cups were placed on the table and Merlin began pouring them both a drink.

Arthur loved these moments. When it was just them, alone, no kingdom to save and no interruptions. Moments when he was just Arthur and didn't have to pretend to be anything else.

"Reckon we'll have to postpone the next feast for another few weeks at least," Merlin grinned, "Pretty sure Gwaine's going to run Camelot's ale stocks dry by the time he's finished tonight."

Arthur huffed in amusement, shooting Merlin an accusing glare. "And who is it that keeps supplying him with the ale in the first place?"

"It's not my place to tell a knight of Camelot how much to drink." He shot back, taking his own drink and sliding into place on the opposite side of the table, still grinning.

"Forgive me, Merlin, I was under the impression that you seem to enjoy telling your superiors what to do or does your particular brand of disapproval only extend to your King?" Arthur leaned forward, falling into their usual banter.

"My King is a special case." Merlin replied, "Wouldn't want him to think I treat him the same as everyone else."

Arthur rather thought they'd deviated from the topic somewhere in that sentence but instead of brushing it off as he normally would he met Merlin's gaze and played along. "Oh?"

"Yeah, might get jealous." Merlin laughed and dropped his gaze. Arthur saw the beginnings of a blush colour his cheeks and delighted in it.

He decided to push a little further.

"I would."

Merlin's eyes shot back to his and he fumbled with his cup slightly, letting out a strangled breath and laughing weakly.

They continued to look at each other for a few seconds before Arthur cleared his throat and gestured towards his bed.

Merlin's eyes popped wide and Arthur almost laughed out loud but managed to stifle it into a cough. He very much hoped Merlin would end up on his bed at some point tonight, or rather in it, but there was something he wanted to give him first.

"I have a gift for you." Arthur watched Merlin's eyes widen even further and again fought the urge to burst into laughter. He really wanted to know just how far into the gutter Merlin's mind had fallen.

"It's wrapped up, next to one of my pillows."

Merlin blinked and shook his head, finally seeming to pull himself together enough to stand up and make his way towards where Arthur was pointing.

"Arthur…" Merlin sighed and Arthur shivered.

Merlin had always had a way of speaking his name with so much more than just the letters. It felt intimate, like a secret and a declaration and a confession all at once. So much emotion that Arthur almost couldn't stand it.

"You really didn't have to." Merlin brought the package back to the table and sat down again.

"I wanted to." Arthur tried to catch his eyes again but Merlin seemed fascinated with the package so Arthur tried to lighten the mood. "Besides, you've been slightly less irritating lately so I thought you deserved a reward."

Merlin scoffed, rolling his eyes and finally looking up. "I'll be sure to rectify that as soon as possible, Sire."

Arthur ignored the sarcasm and nudged Merlin's foot under the table. "Open it."

Merlin took a deep breath and began tearing at the paper.

Arthur's heart was pounding and he forced himself to relax. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Arthur to give him and there was no way Merlin would be able to guess at the hidden meaning behind the gift but Arthur still felt as though he might collapse if he hadn't already been sitting down.

A deep red scarf was slowly uncovered and Arthur held his breath as he waited for Merlin's reaction.

Arthur had made sure it was of the finest quality. It was originally supposed to be blue as Arthur knew Merlin had a particular liking for that colour but an admittedly large streak of possessiveness had overcome him and he'd decided to get him a red one instead. Camelot red. Arthur's red.

He wasn't quite ready to admit that though.

Arthur cleared his throat and spoke. "There's more but it wasn't going to be ready in time. I thought you needed a few new clothes since it's winter now and I know you lost quite a few things when that Chimera tore up our tent last month," Arthur scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, the silence making him nervous, "and honestly I can't have my manservant walking around barely clothed…," Arthur felt his face heating and rushed to correct himself, "I mean, if you caught the flu Gaius would have my head and the knights wouldn't be too pleased either…" he trailed off, trying to read Merlin's expression.

"Thank you." Merlin smiled warmly, taking pity on Arthur's stammering.

"You're welcome." Arthur replied, relieved as the tension dissipated.

"I just have one question." Merlin said, a smile playing around his lips that Arthur knew from experience meant trouble.

"What?" Arthur almost squeaked, covering it at the last second and managing to force it out calmly.

"Why red?" Merlin was smirking now and Arthur wondered, not for the first time, if Merlin could genuinely read his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Arthur hedged.

"Well, red is your colour," he continued and Arthur swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, "I know that you know that I like blue and I also know that if this was just about appearances then there wouldn't be a scarf because there isn't a scarf with any of the formal robes so," Merlin stared, an emotion Arthur recognized but was almost too scared to name blazing from his face, "why red?"

Arthur swallowed again and tried to make his voice sound even. "Because red is my colour and I…you're…" Arthur faltered, eyes flitting frantically between Merlin's and the scarf between them.

"I'm…?" Merlin prompted.

Arthur summoned up the little courage he had left and finally laid his cards on the table.

"Mine." He said simply, as if it explained everything. As if it even came close to describing all that Merlin meant to him.

Merlin seemed to be looking for something as his eyes scanned Arthur's face and Arthur prayed to all the gods he could think of that Merlin found whatever he was looking for because he didn't think he could actually explain to Merlin just what that word meant to him.

Merlin stood up and Arthur's eyes tracked him as he made his way around the table and stopped in front of him, dropping to his knees.

Arthur couldn't look away as Merlin hesitantly leaned forward, settling between Arthur's legs, and brought both of his hands up to rest on either side of Arthur's neck.

Arthur felt himself slouch down and lean into his touch, closing his eyes as their foreheads bumped gently together. They breathed each other in and just basked in the moment.

It was strange to Arthur that they'd spent so long dancing around this, because he knew now that Merlin felt everything Arthur did.

Their position right now was so very different yet felt so familiar. It was intimate and innocent all at once.

Arthur felt Merlin pull back slightly and forced his eyes to reopen, momentarily breathless as he saw the fond happiness practically glowing all over Merlin's face.

"Yours."

Arthur laughed, almost giddy with relief and joy, before pulling Merlin back and pressing a soft kiss to his mouth.

The kiss was hesitant at first as they learned each other but soon became heated. Merlin's hands moved from Arthur's neck to his hair, tugging and scratching as Arthur groaned at the shivers that they sent down his back.

Merlin moved from the floor to Arthur's lap and Arthur decided he'd have to pass a law preventing Merlin from ever leaving it again.

They rocked against each other and Arthur slowly started to lose his grip on whatever control he had left. He pulled his lips from Merlin's and panted, trying to clear his head enough to think.

Merlin placed wet, messy kisses to Arthur's neck and after a few minutes Arthur finally found his voice.

"Need…bed…" He gasped, apparently his brain was too far gone to form complete sentences.

Merlin laughed and pulled back. "Your wish is my command, Sire."

Arthur groaned at the loss of his kisses, "Now you start listening!"

"It's all about the motivation, Arthur."

"I'll remember that."

"The only thing you'll be remembering for the next few hours is going to be my name." Merlin almost growled, giving him a hot and very dirty kiss.

Arthur hardened at the show of possessiveness and kissed back with his own promises of what was to come.

[hashtagsmitty]

Smitty's Thailand Adventure - Day 7

Goddamn happened again - I spent two hours on this post and my phone deleted it.

In which snakes get tortured, an expatriot hero is honored, a suit is fitted, and axes don't get thrown.

I slept weird again last night - I'm not used to box spring mattresses. I have a Koala foam mattress and April has a futon, so springs poking me in the ass all night is a new experience for me. Plus the air con, it's hot then it's cold, etcetera.

Usual morning routine - the Hitler Youth and White Family Mart for breakfast. I planned my day while I ate - I wanted to visit the snake farm. Technically, the late queen's memorial snake farm. I thought that sounded awesome.

Skytrain to Siam, swapped to the other line. Not much new to say about the skytrain except there's this jingle that one of the ads plays that I will never get out of my head. Also, there's barriers around some but not all of the platforms, and the train stops perfectly such that the doors are between the openings in the barriers. It's pretty special.

Crazy Thai traffic aside, I made it to the snake farm. It looked like something out of the Walking Dead:

It was mostly the rust on the spikes. And the overgrowth. And the barriers in front of the entrance. And the red cross trucks unloading pallets of gear. I did not think I was supposed to be in there, but the sign said this way to snake farm, so in I went.

I found the place fine. Once I got past the zombie movie shit anyway. The farm looked awesome!

It was a big pagoda with open air snake enclosures all over the place. Very tropical, very novel. There was a big old rat in one of the enclosures. I watched him for ages to see if a snake was going to get him, but he was as still as a statue, with only his tiny rat ears twitching.

After the pagoda was an indoor museum - much the same, but with single cages for each snake. With glass. It wasn't quite what I expected from a Thai snake farm - far more like a zoo than a snake farm. Not enough zero-fucks-given Thai dudes with snakes wrapped around them. I looked at the snakes for a while. This guy was my favourite:

He's a Malayan Mangroce Cat-Eye Snake. I think he's gorgeous. I also thing I have a thing for snakes. They're like nature's ropes.

There was maintenance work going on inside - some drilling or digging or something. Lots of noise. I found it unpleasant, and I'm not a creature whose entire experience of the world is through vibrations. I didn't stay long inside, and left straight after.

I'm not 100% certain that I would never get a snake as a pet. I was before the snake farm, but now I'm not sure.

On the way back to Siam, I saw the Jim Thompson store! I had to go inside and pay my respects to a true expatriot hero.

Thompson's business was selling Thai silk, so the entire store was silk scarves and shirts and other stuff. Expensive silk stuff - one shirt was $200. The cheapest thing I saw was a scrunchie for $40. I looked around for a while then left, richer for having experienced the life of a great man. Also richer for not having bought any of that tourist bait.

I went back to Siam and went book shopping. I had almost finished Growth Mindset and needed something else for the plane. I found this awesome bookshop:

It took up the whole floor, it was so big. It had the largest non-fiction section I'd ever seen. I spent an hour walking around looking at stuff. It was great. I love bookshops.

I bought Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, a stoic philosophy book I've been meaning to read for ages. I also got The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers. Lovecraft listed it as one of his influences, and I love spooky.

The coolest bit was that the clerk wrapped the two books in plastic to keep them safe. I thought that was a really cool idea, and I was impressed by how quickly she wrapped them - like 5 seconds each. I only noticed later that the plastic had the store's logo on it - even better, now I won't forget its name.

I went home via Thai KFC. I wanted to try it before I left. I knew it was a mistake going in. I always know that KFC is a mistake going in, but this was bad. Weak McDonald's style chips, boring chicken "pops". A waste of time, what with bonchon around the corner. I regret it immensely.

I went home and chilled out for a while - it's been a big week. I've walked a good 75km, according to my phone. I finished Growth Mindset and wrote some notes, listened to music, charged my phone, lazy stuff. Josh texted me and I met him at my station. We went back past Siam to a station near the tailor.

We got bonchon chicken for a late lunch/early dinner. It was great - best I've had in Thailand, and way better than the culinary abortion I had for lunch before. I distracted Josh with a game I've been playing :

It's a programming game, which is 100% Josh's thing. He hated it, but couldn't keep his hands off it. It's based on Assembly, a really old programming language. The first one, pretty much. It frustrated him because it wasn't like normal programming, but I thought it was a good challenge in thinking iteratively.

We walked to the tailor from bonchon. I cursed that I was going to be fat for the fitting. Josh could barely move - we got 18 pieces of chicken and he had 12 of them. I was still full from my mistake earlier.

On the way, I told Josh how frustrated I was with Bangkok's footpaths. There are lips and cracks and broken bits of concrete everywhere. Manhole covers that could drop you into a sewer if you're not careful. Just look at this:

That's a tame one. I've lost count of how many of these things I've tripped over. Or on trick edges to the footpath - step down onto the road, expect it to be level, nope there's another step down, don't you look smart. Or, walking down the steps from the skytrain, again, expect it to be level. Nope! It's on a raised platform, enjoy your trip, see you next fall.

Josh told me to not stand on the manholes.

We walked past some massage girls. I finally saw first hand what Josh has been talking about all week - they pretty much screamed at him. "hey handsome man," they'd say, and he'd say "no thank you," and they'd say "come over here sexy," and he'd say "no thanks". It looked uncomfortable for everyone involved.

I don't know if I Iook less approachable, less wealthy, less naive or less desperate, but none of them have reacted to me like that. Maybe it's because he's 6'3".

We got to the tailor. The suit was almost ready :

Looks awesome - the vest turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The tailor is going to courier it to the hotel tomorrow after some last minute changes. I hope.

We walked back to the skytrain, but the foot traffic was terrible. Peak hour in Bangkok is insane compared to Melbourne. We couldn't even get onto the platform last time we tried. So, we sat down at Starbucks and shot the shit for a while. I showed him my notes on Growth Mindset, and we argued about that a while. He talked about how he was going to do some of Bill's contract, then renegotiate. Seemed reasonable.

We headed home around 8 - our earliest night this week, but it's been a big one for both of us. Josh is moving to a new condo tomorrow. The train ride back was bittersweet - it's been a fun holiday. We both said while walking around that there's very few people either of us could hang out with for a full week without going crazy. He's probably coming back to Melbourne next month though, so it's not too bad.

I'm going to miss him when I head back. But I'm not going to miss much else. Bangkok is -

I guess I'll save my thoughts on the city for when I'm safely no longer in it.

I found this set of signs on the street today and it made me laugh: