#WHOEVER wins this cast should know they handed that person the money whether it be Tucker or Brooklyn or cheslie or Quinn

[sexologii]

Watching people seriously talk about working with Tucker ….

[sincerelyasomebody]

Give An Inch || Oscar "Spooky" Diaz

(GIF Credit: @merakiaes)

A/N: Not proofread, apologises. Feel free to point out any mistakes with the Spanish translations. Thanks!

Pairing(s): Spooky x Reader ▪︎ The Core 5 x Reader (platonic relationship) 

Summary: A helping hand is mistaken for something else. 

Warnings: fluff, language, mention of smut (very light), mentions of a baby, sexist comments, 

Word Count: 1815

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

"Come on, (Y/N)." Jamal begged, trying to snatch the bag filled with candy, "just one more and I promise I'll stop asking." 

"No, Jamal," she reprimanded the teenager, "you've eaten enough candy as it is."

He huffed, the rest of the group laughing at his misfortune. Oscar shook his head, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, clicking his tongue, "eh, just give him one." 

She looked at him, "and have him throw up on himself? I don't think so." She glanced over at the group and back at him, "besides, he keeps grabbing the (flavour) ones and there's hardly any left." 

With a laugh, he kissed her forehead, "so it's not about his well being? It's 'cause he keeps taking the ones you like?" 

"Shut up," was her response. 

That made him laugh harder, causing the group of teenagers to look back at the couple. Cesar smiled at how carefree his brother looked whereas his friends were still surprised, despite knowing of the couple's marital status. 

They and their families, the Santos and (Y/N)'s family were present at the courthouse, a simple but elegant affair. Despite her mother's protest about a big wedding, (Y/N) was more focused on spending the rest of her life with Oscar and Cesar (they were a packaged deal). She didn't care where they got married. 

It had been months since that court appearance and (Y/N) and Oscar had fallen in love with each other more everyday. Yes, they had their disagreements, but before the sun set apologises were said and a round of cuddles were given. He may have been a tough Santos leader, but Oscar was big on affection. 

A relaxed date night for the pair turned into an eventful group outing. (Y/N) didn't mind, having grown accustomed to having the teenagers around (even Jasmine with her big personality, something she really admired). Oscar was annoyed, but adjusted to having her attention shared. 

The teenagers began to disagree on whether to try their luck with the games or grab a bite to eat. The girls wanted to play some games and the boys wanted to get some more food. (Y/N) decided to make the decision for them, looking at Oscar, "you go with the boys and I'll go with the girls," she laughed, taking note of his unimpressed look, "they're not that bad." 

Right on cue, Jamal and Ruby began arguing about the most problematic person in the 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days cast. Cesar stood by, saying nothing and somehow got dragged into the debate. (Y/N) shook her head and pecked Oscar's cheek, "good luck." 

And with that, she walked off with the girls in tow. 

The three walked around for quite a bit before deciding on playing Whac-a-Mole; no lines, reasonably priced and the prizes were really good. (Y/N) handed the attendant the money and watched the game light up. 

"How do you plan on winning?" Monse asked, knowing that a bunch of the games were rigged. 

"By imagining something that pisses me off," she replied. Both girls quirked an eyebrow and watched as she hit almost every single mole that popped out of its hole. When the game ended, she glanced over at them, "see?" 

They laughed at her chosen stuffed animal being a wolf, knowing her obsession with dogs, when the attendant asked about her prize. Taking a step back, she allowed the girls to decide if they wanted to play a game. 

Unbeknownst to her, a figure had been watching from afar and decided right at that moment to start up a conversation. 

(Y/N) felt a presence move closer, she smiled thinking they were passing by, but instead stopped right in front of her. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she took in the person; solid build, tall and tanned skin. 

"The name's Damian," he introduced himself.

She nodded, "hello, Damian, I'm (Y/N). Did you need something?" 

Before he could reply a mallet hit the side of his head. She covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, eyes looking at the direction of where it flew to find Monse nodding towards Jasmine, the girl giving a sheepish grin. (Y/N) turned back around to find Damian rubbing his head.

"Well… uh, that was… something," he muttered, picking up the object and holding it out. 

"Sorry," Jasmine apologised, taking it and giving it back to the attendant.

(Y/N) noticed his cheek darkening, "you might need some ice for that," she held up her finger, "follow my finger, please." A couple seconds later, she concluded, "you don't seem to have a concussion, but you should check out the medical tent." 

He smiled, "you in the medical field?" 

"A nurse at the local hospital." 

"Beauty and brains," he complimented

She shook her head, "come on I'll take you," she glanced over her shoulder, "tell the guys where I'm going, okay? I shouldn't be long." 

Monse and Jasmine nodded at her instructions, sharing a look when she walked around the corner, hopefully Spooky wasn't nearby. 

But of course, luck wasn't on their side. 

"You girls win anything?" 

They turned around and found Cesar walking ahead of the group, a grin plastered across his face holding up a teddy bear and handing it over to Monse. Jamal and Ruby holding a slushie and a churro in their hands. Spooky took notice of the missing figure, his eyes staring at the pair, "where's (Y/N)?" 

Jasmine piped up, "at the medical tent," when she noticed their concerned faces she quickly added, "don't worry, she's not hurt. She took a guy there 'cause I hit him in the head with a mallet." 

"You hit him with a mallet?" questioned Ruby, taking a sip of his slushie. 

"Sí, pero no propósito," she gestured to the truck, "I was using it for the game, they really need to tape that shit down."  

Jamal's eyebrows scrunched together, "aren't those things attached?" 

"Yeah, they are," Monse replied, "well.. one used to be." 

As the group got on the subject of other carnival games, they didn't notice Spooky slipping away to find (Y/N). Always being down to help whoever with whatever, it didn't come as a surprise to him hearing she had walked the guy over to the medical tent. It was a trait he loved about her, but of course it had setbacks. 

With a heart as big as hers, there were some people who liked to take advantage of her goodwill. 

If the guy fell into that category, then he was in for a rude awakening.

He walked around the corner, avoiding a bunch of kids running with their parents trying to keep up with them. Passing by several tents he found the one he was looking for. It wasn't that hard as an ambulance, cots and paramedics stuck out among the food trucks and carnival games. 

His eyes focused on her, her hands clutching a stuffed animal, a smile crossed his face taking note of it being a wolf. She let out a laugh and continued talking to the person next to her. He moved towards them, his pace picking up when he noticed her twiddling her thumbs, a subtle sign that showed she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. 

"Cariño." He called out. 

Her head turned in his direction, a big smile on her face as she rose to her feet. When he was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. When she released her hold, she pecked his lips. 

Quickly bending down to pick up the wolf plushie.  

After shaking it, she held it up to his face, "say hello to the new love of my life." 

He kissed his teeth, "new love? The only new love of your life is gonna be the baby I put in you, esta noche." 

She gasped and hit his chest, laughing when he pulled her in and kissed the top of her head. 

"Uh… you're taken?" 

The couple turned to the figure holding the ice pack to his cheek. (Y/N) nodded, "yep, happily taken." Holding up her left hand to reveal just how taken she was.

Damian shook his head, "you're married and walking around as if you're single? Wow, aren't you a great catch." 

Her eyebrows furrowed, at the switch in his tone, "excuse you?" 

"You led me on."

"Led you on?" She scoffed, "how?" 

He gestured to the tent, "you brought me here." 

"Yeah, I brought you here to make sure you were okay," she replied, "and before you say anything about me staying with you, I thought I'd keep you company before your friends arrived." 

"You have to train her better," Damian shifted his focus to Oscar, "can't have your wife leading men on like some bitch in heat." 

Before (Y/N) could blink, Oscar gripped the front of Damian's shirt and pulled him close their nose centimetres apart, "don't fucking talk to her like that, understand me?" Damian just blinked, causing Oscar to give him a shake, "I asked you a question." 

He nodded, "yeah, I won't. Ever again." 

Oscar loosened his grip, nodding towards the bruising on the side of his head, "next time it'll be a bullet," at the scared look he received, he smirked, "now, apologise to my wife, pendejo." 

"I'm sorry." 

"She has a name." 

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)." 

"What are you sorry for?" 

"I'm sorry, (Y/N) for calling you a bitch and assuming that you were interested." Damian apologised. 

She nodded, "thank you." 

"When a woman is interested, she'll make it clear that she's interested." Oscar explained, "if she isn't interested, back off." 

"Right, got it." 

"But with your obscured view on women, I doubt they'd be interested," (Y/N) snickered, "all that muscle on you and you're nothing but a punk ass bitch." 

Oscar held her hand in his, giving the back of it a kiss, "come on," when they were about a metre away, (Y/N) called out, "enjoy the rest of your night, Damian. You sexist pig." 

This received a few stares from those surrounding the other tents but the couple kept walking as if nothing had happened. (Y/N) allowed Oscar to lead them back to wherever the group of teenagers were. When she spotted them, she stopped her movement, causing Oscar to halt in his.

"What's wrong?" 

She smirked and moved in close, fingers fiddling with the button of his shirt, "do you wanna get started?'

His eyebrow arched, "get started on what?" 

"On putting that baby in me…. Unless, you've changed your mind and -" 

She laughed when he gripped her hand and dragged her in the direction of the car, throwing a comment about texting Cesar that she wasn't feeling well and to stay the night at Monse's when she asked about the group noticing their disappearance. 

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ - 

Spanish Translation(s): 

Sí, pero no propósito - yeah, but not on purpose

Cariño - dear or darling 

Esta noche - tonight 

Pendejo - asshole or bastard

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Journey to Hogwarts - Chapter Six// Malfoy Manor and St. Mungo’s.

A/N: CHAPTER SIX! I’ve had a fun experience writing this with @kalimagik @obsessedwithrandomthings @heloisedaphnebrightmore and @firewhisky-kisses. This has so much of my love for Draco in it, I hope you all like! Chapter 7 will be out in a couple of days and I hope you're ready for drama!

Warnings: swearing, mentions of injuries.

Word count: 4.9k

MASTERLIST

Mel groaned, covering her eyes as the bright light of the sun peeked its way through the window. She pulled the duvet cover over head; the inevitable headache as a result

Memories flooded through her mind, chasing her from her bed sooner that she would have liked. She dressed slowly, pulling her arms through a dark green cardigan, pausing every so often to fight the wave of nausea that washed over her.

The curved staircase that led to the lower floor had Mel’s stomach turning once more as she descended into the dining room where Ellie was already sat, sipping at a cup of tea.

Mel dropped into a seat; cursing firewhisky and her status as a lightweight.

Ellie chuckled at the sight of her friend looking as hungover as one could be after multiple shots of firewhisky followed by bottle after bottle of butterbeer.

“I suppose you don’t want any tea,” Ellie offered; laughing again at Mel’s scrunched up face.

“You’re awfully chipper this morning? And you drank more than me.” Mel accused; an eyebrow raised as her Canadian friend.

Ellie beamed, shrugging her shoulders, “Blaise gave me a potion to help with hangovers the night we went out to the pub. I had some left.”

Mel dropped her head to the table; letting the coolness of the table work its wonders on her head. “I should have hooked up with a Potioneer; my life would have been so much easier as of right now,” She groaned.

Ellie laughed, “Healer is pretty close to Potioneer the last I heard.”

Mel groaned again, “I don’t even want to know what happened last night. I just know I made a fool out of myself.”

Ellie doesn’t get the chance to reply. The girls are joined at the table by the Malfoy family; all three glided gracefully into the room. Lucius sits at his expected seat at the head of the table; joined by Narcissa on his right and Draco to his left.

“I’m waiting for an explanation for the state that you returned home last night.” Lucius declared, folding his hands in front of him.

“All things considered; I don’t think we were very loud.” Mel muttered, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead.

“Regardless of that, you should have more decorum when conducting yourselves in public.”

Mel glared at the elder gentleman, “You’re kidding aren’t you? This isn’t the nineteenth century! I’m not walking around here in petticoats pretending to be seen and not heard.”

Lucius returned Mel’s glare with just as much venom, “We have a reputation to uphold. The Malfoy name is revered through wizarding society.”

“It was,” Mel muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Pardon?”

“It was. You’re not doing too hot right now, are you Lucius?”

Ellie stared at her friend; hangovers were not Mel’s friend and the pain lancing through her head was making her mouthy.

Lucius gaped at the young brunette. Mel rolled her eyes, “Your fall from grace was well documented, Lucius. And another thing – no, don’t interrupt me, I’ve got my gander up now -  this is very much the twentieth century; women have rights nowadays. And I can swear, drink, fight and argue just as much as I’d like.”

Lucius remained silent at Mel’s words. Narcissa watched her with something akin to pride glittering in her eyes. Draco’s repressed the urge to laugh at Mel’s words.

Ellie raised her cup; meeting her friends gaze, “Here here!”

Mel grinned at her friend, pushing herself back from the table. “If I may be excused,” she started, glaring at the patriarch, “I want to go sit in a quiet room and let this headache pass.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll send someone to check in on you soon,” Narcissa promised with a kind smile.

Mel left the dining room; adrenaline coursing through her veins. Draco and Narcissa had been the epitome of kindness through their time in the wizarding world; it was time for Lucius to remove the stick up his arse so he could finally see the damage he had caused and start hunting for a solution before he was left alone in this big, cold manor house.

Mel trapped herself in a small room just off the main living room. her headache was showing no signs of lessening, but she supposed it was karma for the way she acted last night. She groaned, rubbing her forehead – she knows she shouldn’t drink; her hangovers were always worse than the drinking was worth.

She sighed, standing from the table by the window. She had sat down upon entering, needing to stave off the dizziness and nausea. Now though, she hunted for a candle.

Her education in what she now supposed was muggle society to her had involved the research into history and lore of witchcraft. It had been a personal choice of hers to follow the stories of those executed in Pendle and West Yorkshire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Through her research, Mel had read supposed grimoires, translating the old English to modern. Mel rooted through the draws in the room, yelping happily when she finds a candle for her to try with. The girls had mastered spell after spell; potion after potion. Passed their exams with exceptional grades, but Mel had researched this in her old life, and she wanted to know whether she could master the basic wordless spell of lighting a candle with a single breath of air.

An hour into her staring match, someone knocked on the door. Mel didn’t turn her gaze from the candle as she granted permission to whoever was outside.

“What has that candle done to offend you so badly?”

Mel jumped in her seat at the sound of Draco’s voice, “It’s nothing – don’t worry about it.”

Draco sat across from the brunette, “It isn’t though, is it?”

Mel flipped her hair over one shoulder, “Did Narcissa send you in here to check on me?”

“I volunteered for the job actually. Now, don’t change the subject – what’s wrong?”

Mel slumped in her chair, “I have been given the richest education I could ever receive. I have researched witchcraft since I was eighteen years old and I find out I have magic and I can wield it to make potions, cast charms and to grow magical plants – yet, I can’t light a single candle.”

Draco held his hand out for the candle; Mel passing it to him without question. They both pointedly ignored the spark of electricity that passed between them when their finger brushed against each other. Draco placed the candle back in the centre of the table. He blew on the candle; the wick caught and burned aflame.

“Show off,” Mel muttered, crossing her arms.

“Practice.”

“I have been!” She cried, “I work on everything from Hogwarts; going over the charms I have been taught. Magic and spell work are the same thing, Draco; they take power from the elements, yet I can’t harness fire. I bet the others aren’t having this much trouble with their magic.”

“Mel, breathe for a minute a listen. You’ve had magic for a few weeks; I’ve had magic all my life. It’s all down to practice.” Draco blew out the candle, “Now, take another deep breath and clear your mind, save for the action you want to complete.”

Mel leant forward, mind emptied, resting her head on her arms with her eyes closed as she loosened a breath from her lungs, sending it towards the candle.

“Mel, look.” Draco whispered.

Mel opened her eyes to see the wick of the candle aflame. Joy sparked through her at the sight of it, but something deeper caught aflame within her as she caught Draco’s eyes on her; something akin to pride and happened reflected in the bright blue of his eyes.

---------

Mel found that the longer she spent at the Manor, the more she enjoyed being in the company of Narcissa Malfoy. She had truly repented for her actions in the war; had donated a large amount of money to wizarding orphanages for children who had lost their parents in the war to make amends for the damage she followed blindly from youth had caused.

Every afternoon, Mel would join Narcissa in the gardens, walking among her prize-winning roses. Narcissa was very proud of them, and very knowledgeable on the meanings of flowers.

“Herbology was my favourite subject alongside Potions,” She had told Mel as they stood together by the yellow roses. “Yellow roses, for example, used to stand for jealousy – they’d be sent by jilted mistresses to the wives of their lovers. Now though, they represent friendship and joy,” Narcissa explained.

Mel reached out to touch the petals, her voice laced with sentimentality as she murmured, “We used to have yellow roses in the garden at home.”

Narcissa looked at her sympathetically, “Do you miss it?”

Mel nodded, “I do, but I’m enjoying my time here too.”

Narcissa smiled at the young woman, “I’m glad. Though I am sorry Lucius gave you a hard time the other morning, but I liked that you stood up to him. So few do.”

Mel frowned, “I understand what you’ve been through, or at least, I do to an extent. I won’t ever understand your motivations, but it isn’t for me to understand. I’d like to help though; you’re all healing from the events of the war but there are deeper scars, and I think Lucius is having trouble adjusting to the aftermath.”

Narcissa stared at Mel for a moment, “How would you help?”

Mel shrugged, “I’ve been told I’m a naturally warm person, I want to crack his cold exterior.”

Narcissa chuckled, “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”

Mel held her arm out for the matriarch of the family who had so graciously taken her and Ellie in, in their time of need. Narcissa took the offered arm, and the two picked up their walk around the garden where they left off.

--------

Mel rubbed at her eyes as she descended the now familiar curved staircase. She wasn’t sure what had awoken her; all she knew that was one minute she was dreaming of the eyes of a certain wizard and then she was wide awake.

Her stomach had grumbled until she pulled the covers from her body. A hot chocolate would work just fine at this time of night, so Mel made her way to the kitchen.

“Draco?” Mel asked; stepping closer to the slumped figure at the kitchen table.

Draco jumped up; eyes blinking rapidly. He yawned, “Mel? What are you doing up?”

Mel walked towards the fridge, pulling out the glass bottle of milk nestled between some juice. “I couldn’t sleep,” she shrugged, reaching for a pan and placing it on the stove, “Do you have any hot chocolate powder lying around here?”

Draco pulled himself up from his seat wearily. He opened a cupboard, grabbing the famous purple tub of Cadbury’s drinking chocolate. He handed it to the brunette before taking a seat back at the table.

Mel added the sweet powder to the now warming, stirring slightly before reaching for two mugs. She turned to tired man behind her, “Would you like one? I’ve made more than enough for two.”

Draco nodded; his words cut off by another yawn.

In a matter of minutes, Mel had poured the hot chocolate into the two mugs and had handed one to Draco. He sipped at it gently, watching the woman across from him.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” He asked.

“I’m not sure. One minute I was fast asleep, and then I was awake. I thought hot chocolate would help.”

“You did?”

Mel nodded, “My grandmother made it when I couldn’t sleep. When I was small, I couldn’t pronounce ‘chocolate’ so I’d ask for ‘choc choc’.” She chuckled at the memory of her grandmother stirring the pan filled with the sweet concoction that had her eyes drooping within minutes.

“That’s adorable,” Draco uttered; eyes on the brunette.

Mel ducked her eyes, blushing. A change in topic was needed, she thought to herself, “How come you’re up?”

Draco ran a hand down his face, “I just finished work.”

“How long were you on?”

“Twelve hour days this week, it’s not so bad.”

“How was your shift?”

“You are inquisitive, aren’t you?”

“Oh hush, and answer the question, Draco.”

“It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Draco replied. Shaking his head, he sighed, “We lost two patients who had been there for a while. I’d formed a bond, you know?”

Mel nodded understandingly, “I’m still sorry, Draco.”

“So am I,” Draco stated; his blue eyes bright with unshed tears.

Mel stood from her seat. She wrapped her arms Draco tightly; letting him cry into her shoulder. He sobbed and sobbed for the patient he had lost but also for those he lost back in the war; the grief overtaking him.

They’re clutched at the other.

Time passed and Draco’s sobs quietened to sniffles. Mel attempted to step away, but Draco kept a tight hold on her arm, keeping her close to him. In the early hours of the morning, Mel stands over Draco as if she could protect him from feeling too much all at once.

In the early hours of the morning, the pair become aware that their relationship was set for a different course that once originally thought.

--------

Mel had raided the library on her third day living at the manor; collecting book after book on wizarding lore and history and smuggling them away in her room. She might not have been in the muggle world with her laptop and highlighters, but she was going to benefit as much as she could from this experience. And this was by learning their histories.

Draco noticed that as the weeks and months progress, more and more gaps appeared in the library shelves. He chuckled as he realised who the culprit could be, climbing the stairs to her room to prove his theory correct.

“You know, the purpose of having a library is to give the books back so others can read them.” Draco drawled, gesturing to the pile of books on her bedside table.

Mel grinned at the blonde-haired man, an eyebrow raised, “Thank you for your definition, I’ll be sure to return them once I’m done.”

Draco sauntered into her room, taking a seat on the edge of her bed, “What are you reading?”

Mel marked her page with a bookmark and held the book up for Draco to see the title. He laughed at the words on the cover, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard? I didn’t take you for a fairy tale fan.”

“I’m worried to know what you do take me for then,” She flirted, a smile aimed in the direction of the Malfoy heir.

“Romances, classics. All the muggle authors that fancied themselves experts on love and the gothic.”

Mel flushed; she held the book of fairy tales to her chest, “I do like those books, but I had a hard time finding them in your library.”

Draco’s eyes twinkled, “That’s because you weren’t looking in the right places,” He held out a hand to her, “I’ll show you where to look.”

-----

Draco led Mel through the maze of shelves; he stopped only to point out how the room was organised.

Mel continued to be amazed at the room. Books were very much a life source for her; they had been there for every part of her life. For when she felt upset or vulnerable, she had a book that she could read for comfort. For when she needed to pass time, a book was always her first choice.

Draco turned right at an aisle; pulling Mel with him. He hasn’t let go of her hand since they entered the library, she was trying her best to quash the emotions blooming at the feel of his touch. He’s showing you the way, what is wrong with you?, her mind admonished her.

Draco stopped at the end of an aisle and knelt down to the final shelf, “Here they are, we only have the classic I’m afraid – Dickens, Bronte, Wilde, Carroll.”

“Carroll?”

“Lewis Carroll,” Draco clarified, “As in Alice in Wonderland.”

“I know who he is,” Mel chuntered, “I just didn’t think you did.”

“I’m full of surprises, clearly,” Draco laughed, the copy already in his hands.

Mel took the book from him, flipping through to the first few pages, her mind eager to meet the familiar characters once again. She crossed her legs on the floor and leant back against the sturdy shelves, happy to remain there with the small collection of muggle works.

Draco tapped her knee, “Come on, you can’t sit on the floor and read, we have comfier couches at the front.”

-----------

The pair sat in the library for well over an hour; sitting together on the couch where every now and then they would show the other a quote they loved from their respective book.

They shared secret smiles over the bindings of their books. Mel’s heart raced from the attention the blonde-haired boy was giving her. Her mind raced into overdrive at what everything he did could mean – the lingering touches, the late night conversations, how he helped her with her magic. He went above and beyond for her, and Mel was terrified of her feelings for the Malfoy heir in case she was reading too much into them as she had often done in the past.

A crashed resounded through the Manor. It pulled Mel from her worrying and Draco from his reading. The pair rushed out of the library to find Ellie crumpled at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ellie!” Mel shouted, running over to her. Draco followed close behind.

Ellie groaned as she sat up, her hand stretched out towards her ankle that had already started to turn multiple shades of purple, “I think I hurt my ankle.”

Draco’s fingers nimble examined Ellie’s ankle. He apologised at her wince of pain but soon frowned, “It sounds like a sprain. I don’t have what I need here to heal it. We’re going to have to take to you to St. Mungo’s.”

Mel folded her hand into Draco’s and in a single, nauseating moment, they landed in the emergency room of St. Mungo’s.

----------

Blaise entered the emergency room with a harried look on his face; eyes searching for Ellie and Ellie alone. His face calmed as he reached her bedside, but his eyes can’t hide the panic he felt at seeing her hurt. Blaise’s hands hover over her as if terrified she’ll break if he touched her even once.

“B,” Ellie murmured, “I’m okay.”

Blaise wasn’t entirely convinced by Ellie’s promise. She caught Draco’s eye; a silent plea passed between them.

Draco wandered over to Blaise, a hand placed on his shoulder, “Ellie’s fine, Blaise. She fell down the stairs but managed to only sprain her ankle. We had it healed in no time.”

Ellie smiled, “Draco had me healed in expert time. I’m not in any pain now.”

“Do you need anything else?” Draco asked.

Ellie shook her head, “I’m all good. Thank you, Draco.”

Draco nodded at the both of them; happy to leave them to continue their conversation. Draco had always hoped that Blaise would find someone like Ellie to share his life with; Blaise was reserved, had walls built around him and he never socialised much through his time at Hogwarts. Draco treasured their friendship; Blaise having been the voice of reason more times that Draco could count on both hands. It made him happy to see that Blaise had fallen in love with a woman as determined and kind like Ellie.

Draco watched his friend take the arm of the woman he loves. Blaise holds Ellie’s hand tight as he manoeuvred her from the bed. Ellie tested her ankle for second before she deemed it healed enough to walk on with her full weight. Ellie beamed up at Blaise, her arm wrapped around his as he led her from the emergency room for a tour of the counterpart of the muggle medicine Ellie has studied for most of her life.

Draco shook his head fondly as he walked back over to where Mel waited by the admit desk. “Ellie is going to be okay, isn’t she?” She asked worried.

“Ellie will be just fine; she has Blaise after all,” Draco stated, leaning against the admit desk.

Mel nodded, “That’s good. That she has Blaise; they’re perfect for each other.”

“They are,” Draco agreed easily, “You’ve been here a while now, has no-one caught your eye?”

Mel smiled up at the blonde-haired man, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Draco chuckled; eyes shining with mirth. “Come on you, I’ll take you on a tour.”

Mel grinned widely; eyes crinkled at the corner with happiness, “I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Draco held Mel’s hand in his as he pulled her to the next floor, pausing outside the door. “This is where we keep the more serious cases, similar to your ICU floors.”

Mel nodded in understanding; remaining silent as she watched families interact with their loved ones. Her mind flashed back to her last visit to a hospital; saying goodbye to her grandfather. She didn’t know how Draco did it; how he surrounded himself with death and sadness day in and day out. She had seen how the hard days affected him, but he made it look like he was doing fine. Mel saw through the façade. She had sat with him as he let a few tears fall in memory for the patient’s he couldn’t save.

They bonded over that time together; Draco seeking Mel out after a long shift. Mel searching for Draco before the exams at Hogwarts. They bounced off each other; becoming closer as Mel’s time in the wizarding world continued.

Draco continued his tour of St Mungo’s. Mel followed behind him; her hand still held tightly in his. Mel watched the blonde-haired man in front of her; attempting to pinpoint the exact moment she had fallen in love with him – was it the candle? Or was it earlier today in the library? Or had she always been in love with some aspect of him? Draco was he favourite character in the series; it made sense to her at least, that she would fall in love with the real thing.

Draco dragged Mel into an empty exam room, grinning wickedly as the sound of her yelp. “You’ve been distracted this entire tour; did you hear a word I said?”

“Of course I did. We started at the ICU where the permanent residents reside before moving down a level to the floor where you treat potions and plant poisoning. We were heading down another level, but you’ve dragged me into an empty room. Why?”

“I kept looking back at you, you didn’t seem like you were paying attention.”

“So you dragged me into an empty room?”

Drag shrugged, “I want to know what’s on your mind.”

Mel chuckled, “Nothing overly interesting, I promise you that.”

Draco stepped closer to the brunette; Mel took a step backward, her back now pressed against the cool white wall. “You see,” Draco began, “I think it is interesting. I normally get a good read on people, but I can’t get a read on you.”

Mel thanked her lucky stars. Draco leaned in closer to Mel; his hands made their way onto her waist. She bit her lip at the feeling of his hands on her.

Then Draco did the inevitable; he ducked his head to press his lips to hers.

Mel pulled away from Draco, breathless, “Draco… we’re in a hospital.”

He hummed, nosing her cheek, “So we are.”

“And it’s your place of work,” Mel reminded as Draco’s hands grip her waist tighter.

“So it is.”

“We can’t do this here,” Mel whispered, a hand on his chest.

“Who says we can’t?”

And with those words, Draco pressed his lips to Mel’s. He kissed her gently, but the kiss soon shifted into something more; something deeper. She gasped against his mouth; Draco took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Her hands made their way into his hair. A low groan sounded in the back of Draco’s throat and he pulled Mel against him; arms circling around her.

Mel lost herself in him; he invaded her senses. All she felt was him; all she smelled was him, and all she tasted, was him.

One kiss and she was a goner; entirely addicted to him.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, but they both had to come up for air. Draco pulled away first, but he pecked Mel’s lips one more time before he did. Their chests heaved; Draco’s arms remained tightly wrapped around her waist.

“What does this mean, Draco?” Mel asked, savouring the feel of his arms.

Draco pressed kiss after kiss to her face, starting with her nose. “It means that I want to be with you, Mel.”

“Even though I prefer fairy tales and gothics?”

Draco laughed, throwing his head back. He grinned down at the woman who had stolen his heart in such a short amount of time, “Even though you prefer fairy tales and gothics, yes.”

Mel beamed at Draco; taking the opportunity to fist her hands in his shirt, dragging him in for one more kiss before they needed to return back to reality.

-------

They returned to the Manor even more wrapped up in each other than they were before they left. Draco pulled Mel back to the library, though he paused multiple times on the way to drag her into a kiss.

She laughed at the man she had fallen for in the short time she had been in the wizarding world. Mel hadn’t ever given much thought to her love life in the muggle world; she had had crushes and been on dates but none of them ever really meaning anything. She watched Draco from her place a step behind him; his long legs no match for her short ones. She watched him push open the doors to the library, thinking to herself that she hadn’t ever met a man like Draco, and she wasn’t bothered by the timeline; she’d fallen in love with Draco Malfoy.

Draco turned to face Mel; their books from earlier in his hands. He sauntered over to her, “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Mel placed a hand on her heart, laughing, “As mad as the March Hare, Draco?”

“Only for you, my dear,” Draco gasped dramatically; embracing Mel.

----------

The dinner party was Draco’s idea. He sent the invitation to Blaise before letting Mel know their plans for the evening.

Mel threw a cushion at Draco’s face which he caught with a laugh.

“Want to tell why I deserve a cushion to face?” He asked.

“I have to find an outfit for a dinner party!” She cried, throwing her arms up in the air at the impossibility of it all – she knew she was being overdramatic, but she felt underprepared for something such as a dinner party.

Draco hushed her worries; pulling her into his arms. He rocked them both side to side, “It’s Blaise and Ellie, love. They won’t care what you wear.”

“I suppose not,” Mel chuntered into Draco’s chest.

He chuckled at the brunette, kissing the top of her head, “Whatever you wear will be fine; don’t overthink this – let’s just enjoy the evening.”

----------

The atmosphere in the room was light and joyful as the couples ate and drank their way through the late afternoon into the early evening. Blaise’s hand remained a staple on Ellie’s thigh through the meal as Draco’s arm remained seated on the back of Mel’s chair.

The girls shared a knowing glance; both their men oddly territorial but utter sweethearts when in private.

The dinner was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Narcissa entered the room with an apologetic aimed at the two couples, “I’m sorry, love, but this just arrived for Draco. It must be urgent coming this late.”

“Thank you, mother,” Draco answered, taking the envelope from his mother’s hand. Narcissa departed with a smile; leaving the four of you alone once again.

Blaise and Ellie are wrapped in their own cocoon of happiness as Draco reads over the letter. Blaise tucked a piece of Ellie’s hair behind her ear, and she smiled up at him, face full with happiness and love.

Mel kept her eyes on Draco as he read the letter, watching as his body grew more tense with every word written on the piece of parchment.

“Draco, what is it? What does the note say?” Mel asked.

Draco cleared his throat before answering, “It’s a note from Ron.”

“What’s happened? Has something happened to Ana?” Ellie asked, already stood up, grabbing Blaise’s hand ready to apparate to the Burrow.

The note is handed to Blaise, “Ron’s asked us to come to the Burrow. Arthur overheard something at work, and he wants to tell us in person.”

The girls looked at each other in worry; anxiety already having settled deep within their guts. If Arthur had overheard something at the Ministry regarding them, then what they had to hear could not be positive.

Draco held his hand out for Mel. She doesn’t argue as she takes hold of his hand; she doesn’t say anything. She started into his eyes, committing the blue to her memory.

In a single second, both couples have apparated to The Burrow.

**********

Journey to Hogwarts taglist: @jenniweaslee​ @just-an-outstanding-auror​ @the-hufflefluffwriter​ @ravenclaw-member​

[ultraglittercat]

Drabble 93

Sleepover

Varian had only planned on showing his wheelchair invention today and then wheeling himself back to Old Corona, but Rapunzel wouldn't hear of it.

“I don't even know how you managed to get here by yourself, but you're spending the night. I'll have Stan deliver a letter to your house, explaining to Quirin that you're staying over. In the morning, Max can take you home in the carriage.” Rapunzel decided.

“It wasn't an easy trip, but it beat traveling through a blizzard.” Varian said lightly.

“You never should have gone through that.” Rapunzel murmured, but whether she was talking about the snowstorm, or Varian's broken leg, or both, Varian wasn't sure. He did appreciate her concern, though. All of his friends had crowded around the bed and were being extra nice to him.

“We could all stay the night. Make it a sleepover party.” Lance suggested.

“Yeah!” cheered the girls.

“Just let me go home and get our blankets and nightshirts. I won't be long. Girls, you can play nicely with Varian while I'm gone.” Lance said.

“We always play nice.” Kiera insisted, holding a pillow and ready to deck Varian with it.

“Be careful with those pillows. Don't hit Varian near his leg.” Rapunzel cautioned. Kiera and Catalina nodded, and began whacking Varian's arms and head. Kiera always went for the face in pillow fights, while Catalina concentrated on body blows. Varian fought back as best he could, but it was obvious the girls were winning.

“Team Awesome to the rescue!” shouted Eugene, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Catalina, who turned into a wolf, and shredded it.

“So much for that plan.” Eugene admitted defeat, as Kiera alternated between hitting him and Varian with pillows.

“Try not to make a mess.” said Rapunzel, picking up feathers from the destroyed pillow. “Faith will be cleaning this room in the morning, and we don't want her to have to do extra work.”

Catalina shifted back into a human. “Sorry.” she replied.

“It's okay. Just try to be more careful in the future.” Rapunzel told her.

“Speaking of future I know a game we used to play in Old Corona. If you pass me a quill, some paper and paints, I'll show it to you.” Varian offered. Rapunzel handed him some art supplies while the girls sat nearby, intrigued. Varian folded the paper into twenty triangles, with eight in the center. Then he painted colored circles on each of the four corners. He wrote numbers on the remaining eight outer triangles. He scribbled a few words on the inner triangles, blocking Kiera and Catalina's view so they couldn't see what he wrote. Varian then folded the entire paper so it resembled a lotus flower, with the colored circles on the outside, and the numbers on the inside.

“Okay Kiera, you're first. Pick one of the numbers on the fortunate teller.” Varian instructed.

“Six.” Kiera replied. Varian folded the fortune teller in and out six times.

“Pick a color.” he said next.

“Green.” she chose. Varian moved the fortune teller five times, spelling the word g-r-e-e-n.

“Now pick another number.” Varian told her.

“Seven.” said Kiera.

Varian peeled back the 7 triangle. “You will have a wish come true.” he read.

“Wow, that's really cool.” Kiera replied, beaming.

“Do me next!” Catalina insisted, and they went through the process again, as Catalina chose five, red, and two.

“You will come into a lot of money.” Varian read.

“What else can you fold with paper?” Catalina asked him.

“I can make paper cranes, or boats, or jumping frogs....” Varian answered.

“Frogs!” the girls said in unison. Rapunzel handed him more paper, and Varian obligingly made a frog for each of the girls. They had fun pressing down on them and making them jump, and soon began competing to see whose frog would go farther. Then they took turns spinning around in Varian's wheelchair. They were still playing when Lance came back.

“Did I miss anything?” Lance asked.

“Varian used magic to tell our fortunes.” Catalina told him.

“Technically, it's not magic, it's origami.” Varian corrected.

“Shh. V, you're being cool for once. Don't blow it.” Kiera said.

“I've got a game for us that me and Eugene played all the time as kids. You take an ordinary broomstick, prop it up, and set if you can walk under it without knocking it over. If you succeed, you lower the broom a little and the next person tries it. You keep going until the broomstick is knocked over. Whoever was the last to successfully cross under it, wins.” Lance detailed.

“We wanna play it!” Kiera and Catalina exclaimed.

“I can't really play right now, but I'll watch.” Varian said. Next to him, Ruddiger nodded.

“Pascal and I will watch too.” Rapunzel declared, sitting down next to Varian.

Lance set up the broomstick and he, Eugene, Kiera, and Catalina took turns walking under it. In the end, Kiera won when Eugene knocked the broom over.

“Huh. I could've sworn this game was easier when we were kids.” Eugene mused.

“I think we've had enough games. We should get ready for bed.” Rapunzel decided.

Lance spread some blankets on the floor, and Kiera and Catalina each grabbed their special ones that Rapunzel had made.

“I wish I'd brought my blanket.” Varian sighed.

“Next time you can. Tonight, you can use some of the palace blankets. They're just as comfy.” Rapunzel said.

“Yeah, but they're not as special as the ones you make.” Varian replied.

Rapunzel smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “I'm glad you like them.” she said.

“How about a story before bed?” suggested Eugene.

“Flynn Rider!” Lance and Varian both exclaimed. Eugene regaled them with stories of the bandit hero. The girls were only half-listening, but Lance and Varian were riveted.

Afterwards, Rapunzel had everyone wash up and change into their night clothes. If they didn't have anything to wear to bed, like Varian, Rapunzel provided them with a nightshirt from the palace. It was tough for Varian to change clothes while wearing a cast, so Eugene helped him. Once they were all ready, Rapunzel said goodnight to everyone and blew out the candles.

Varian went to sleep, feeling tired but happy that he had such good friends. A lot of things had happened to him since meeting the Princess, some good, some bad, but he was grateful for how well things had turned out, after that rough patch.

The End

Thanks for requesting this anon! It's always fun when the whole gang's together.

[hufflesmonsters]

Baker and the Beast, Forever After

A/N: This has been months in the making, but I finally finished it! This story has a special place in my heart, and I can’t just casually mention an important chapter in Belle and Igrisz’s life without writing it out fully. 

The lake water was calm as you walked out onto your back porch, a coffee in one hand as you held a croissant in the other. The soft wind blew the wisps of hair that fell from your bun across your face as you sat down on the chair. Several alligators swam nearby, their reptilian eyes looking at you with disinterest. You felt yourself relax against the wood as you took in your surroundings. It wasn’t often that you were the first one up, Igrisz was always a morning person, er, lizard. Today was a rare treat indeed.

It was also a calm before the storm.

Your mother had expressed interest in meeting “whoever it was that is making you smile again”, and Igrisz, for some ungodly reason, was wanting desperately to meet your family. Which meant your mother, the mother who absolutely feared the infamous lizardman, and had absolutely no idea how you’d managed to “tame the beast”.  You took a bite out of your pastry. Your mother was likely to drop dead.

A strong hand landed in your shoulder, the thumb rubbing soothingly against your skin. You smiled and placed your pastry on your lap before reaching up and placing your now free hand over his. “You're up early,” Igrisz's deep rumble sounded as he sank into the chair on your left.

You looked over at him, accepting the kiss he placed on your cheek. “I'm enjoying the morning,” you said simply.

“You're worried,” he stated flatly. You smiled as you stared back at the water, after two years together, he knew you inside out. “It's understandable.”

“My mom is going to be here by noon, and I don't know if she's going to survive meeting you. She claims to have a frail heart, I don't want to see if it was a joke or not. And then your brothers.” You turned to look at your boyfriend. “Thraz and Irsosz? What are they going to think?”

Igrisz grasped your hand, rubbing small circles in the skin. “Let's worry about your mother,” he suggested. “My family won't care one bit.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

He snorted. “Trust me, I know.” He stood up, his large shadow casting over you. “Bruxo will be here soon, we have to go prepare the den for Thraz and Irsosz,” he leaned over and nuzzled your temple lovingly. “I'll be back before your mother arrives.”

You grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to it. “I love you,” you told him. While you've told him that multiple times in the past, he never failed to loose the grace in his step. You watched, snickering in glee as he tripped backwards over his own tail and nearly fell into the water.

“I, uh, love you too,” he said coughing into his fist. He cleared his throat and straightened his back. “I’ll get going before you make me lose whatever dignity I have left. God knows you'll have plenty of time later on.”

“You promise?” You asked with a wink, chuckling when he tossed you a dirty look before jumping into the water. You shook your head as he immediately disappeared, the sap was probably hitting himself with a rock for getting so flustered. It was a good thing that he had a thick skull, otherwise he would have beat himself to death long ago.

You stood, grabbing your now empty mug and shoved the rest of the croissant into your mouth. You had a lot of work to do between now and noon, and most of it involved stress baking. You had your mother's favorite recipes all set out on the counter, hoping that when the news broke she'd be comforted by the sweets you'd shove into her face.

You set to work, putting your music on shuffle as you made your way into the kitchen. Aurora was coming by shortly to help out and to keep Bruxo out of your way. You loved him, truly, but he was a menace when it came to your baking. He was always sneaking pieces of cookie dough, slices of cake. You once caught him trying to get out of your house with two pies in hand. At least with Aurora here, you had a chance at keeping most of your goodies.

Your first recipe was a simple lemon brownie, both you and your mother loved them. You grabbed the bowl of lemons that you had bought the day before and grabbed your zester, resigning yourself with the knowledge that you were about to lose either some skin, nail, or sanity by the end of this. You were thankful that this particular recipe didn't call for much zest, only a teaspoon. But still, that took a lot of lemons.

Once you got the zest out of the way, and only lost half of your nail in the process, you quickly went to work on the rest of the recipe. You combined the dry ingredients, mixing in the butter after it was done. You whisked the eggs, lemon juice and zest in a separate bowl, possibly letting out your stress along the way who's to really say. You combined both bowls and mixed, pausing near the end to grease your pan. You finished folding the mixture, then slowly poured it into the pan.  You placed it in the oven and stood back up, hands on your hips as you debated which sugary treat to bake next.

You turned, and let out a scream as you came face to face with Aurora. The other woman jumped, blue eyes wide as she slowly lowered her hands from where she'd been gathering her hair.

“I did knock,” she said after a moment.

“I didn't hear you, when did you come in?” You asked as you recovered from the mini heart attack she had given you.

“Caught you when you were beating those eggs like they owed you money,” Aurora said. “Figured it was best to leave you be.”

You nodded, mouth pressed in a thin line. “I'm just, stressed I guess.”

“Completely understandable,” Aurora said easily as she looked at one of the bookmarked pages in your cookbook. “I'm freaking out and it's not even going to affect me.” When you purse your lips at her, shaking your head when she looked back up at you. “What? You know I’d do anything for you.”

“I know,” you said with a sigh as you grabbed the cookbook to see what to bake next. “Is Bruxo already out there?”

“Yeah, I made sure he was with Igrisz before coming in,”  Aurora confirmed. “Even waited an extra two minutes just in case he tried to sneak back up to the surface.”

“Good, the last thing I need is him trying to sneak away with something,” you ran a hand over your face before sighing. You began to flip through the book, “what do you think we should do next?”

“Ooh, the apple crumb cake,” Aurora said as she pointed to the recipe that you landed on. “You baked it that one time we had a fight and I forgot why I was ever upset.” You smiled as you remembered that day, your first fight with your friend. It wasn’t over anything bad, really. The two of you were literally fighting over whether or not Cap was going to die in Infinity War or not. You ended up winning, and baked the cake to help get yourself back on Aurora’s, and Bruxo’s, good side.

“It is my secret weapon,” you said in agreement.

By noon, the two of you had finished your baking marathon with a chocolate turtle poke cake, your personal favorite and made everyone’s day whenever you offered it in your shop. You didn’t have time to use homemade caramel, but you found that using the sweetened condensed milk version was better suited for this recipe. Lastly was the chocolate chip cheesecake that you often baked once every month, or for special events. It was a fan favorite, and your mother’s absolute fave.

You bit your lip as you looked at the trays, all covered to keep their warmth. You hoped this would be enough. You glanced up as Igrisz and Bruxo walked into the living room, Bruxo rubbing a towel against his scales as Igrisz placed his around his neck. The two lizardmen looked straight to the food, a loud grumble sounded.

You grabbed a wooden spoon and held it up to them in warning. “Don’t even think about it, Bruxo.”

“Why is he exempt from this,” Bruxo demanded as he looked towards his elder brother.

“Because he has a different threat,” you said as you narrowed your eyes to your boyfriend. Igrisz gulped, but nodded all the same. Your sweets were safe at the moment. “Now, my mother called, she’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“I’ll hide in the guest room,” Bruxo said, he turned to Aurora and held out his scaly hand. “My lady?”

��I’m staying out here, as moral support,” Aurora told him as she went over to your side, wrapped an arm around your shoulder as she drew you near. “But, yeah, hide please.”

Bruxo pouted, but did as he was told. He paused by his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder and nodded in silent support. Igrisz nodded at him, patting his shoulder before gently shoving his younger brother towards the hallway.

“I’ll stay here,” Igrisz said as he stepped towards you, reaching for your hand and pulling you in. His free hand laid on your waist as he pressed your hand against his chest. “I’m here,” he said again softly.

You smiled up at him, eyes tearing up despite the absolute cheesiness of the act. “You’re here,” you said in agreement.

“You two are adorable,” Aurora cooed, ripping the two of you out of your Notebook Moment. She smiled adoringly at the two of you, a hand over her heart before she grew more serious. “Your mother is driving up,” she said as she nodded her head towards the window.

You could hear your mother’s engine now, the hum sputtering a bit. You drew in a deep breath, and withdrew from Igrisz. You turned and faced the door, coming over and exiting to greet your mother outside. “Mom!” You said with a grin, reaching down and wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Ah, mija,” your mother said as she withdrew, her brown eyes sparkling as she took you in. “You look stressed, what is the matter?”

“Nothing, mama,” you said softly as you smiled down at her. “When you meet him, just, keep an open mind?”

“I always do,” you mother said, lying through her teeth. She never kept an open mind when it came to past lovers, always skeptical of what they were doing. Granted, some of her mistrust was from several men taking advantage of your self esteem, and some women who weren’t sure if they were gay or bi and had used you as a way to tell. As a result, your mother tended to dislike everyone you brought to her.

“He really loves me, mama,” you said to her softly as you turned to open the front door. You stood to the side, watching her as she entered the house.

“Ah, Aurora, how are you darling?” Your mother said as she spotted the blonde first. When Aurora smiled and said “fine”, she searched the room for your boyfriend. You watched, tense as her brown eyes slowly went from the kitchen, to the living room where Igrisz stood. “¡El diablo del agua! Corre, chicas corren! ¡No los tomarás, tirano flaco!” (1) You watched in horror as your mother tried to take off her shoe.

“Mom!” You placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her as Igrisz took a step forward.

“Ma’am-”

“¡No te acerques más! ¡Aléjate de mis bebés!” (2)

“Mama! He’s the boyfriend!” You cried as you took her shoe out of her hand before she could throw it.

“WHAT?!” Your mother looked at you in shock before looking back at Igrisz, who was unaware of just how close he was to losing a tooth via shoe throw. “When you said you were going to bake him into submission, I didn’t think you meant all the way to the bedroom!”

“I, well,” you paused. “Not into the bedroom, no.” Aurora let out a groan from where she stood, she hated hearing about your and Igrisz’s bedroom activities. You coughed as your mother looked at you with wide eyes. “I mean-”

“Your daughter won me over with her baking, and we formed a relationship a few months after that,” Igrisz said as he saved you from nearly spilling details about your sex life to your own mother. “I care for her greatly, and I wanted to meet the woman who shaped her into the person she is today.”

Your mother paused, gathering her thoughts, before standing tall and proud. Her head was held high, and her chest puffed out in pride. “Yes, I raised my Belle into a strong woman,” she said as she reached up and pinched your cheek.

“I can see where she gets her resolve from,’ Igrisz said with a chuckle as he came closer. “Did you know she yelled at me the first night we met?”

“Of course she did, she always was a little fighter,” your mother cooed as she finally let your cheek go. She turned to Aurora, “did you know about this?”

“She’s dating his little brother,” you said.

Your mother placed a hand over her heart as she looked at the two of you. “There’s another one?” She turned to you accusingly, like you were the direct reason as to why there was more than one lizardman.

“You want to meet him?” You asked with a raised brow, knowing that Bruxo was probably halfway out of the guest bedroom by now.

“Ay dios, mija, I don’t think my weak heart could handle that,” your mother said placing a hand over her heart.

“You were about to beat the shit out of my boyfriend with your shoe!” You said as you shook said shoe at her.

“Oh, give me that,” your mother snatched her footwear back. “I might as well meet my future in law,” she said in resignation.

“Bruxo!” Igrisz called, arms crossed as his brother emerged from the shadows. “Behave,” he growled in warning.

“I always do,” Bruxo said as he came over to your mother, brushing past Igrisz who’d moved to stand behind you, and leaned down to bring her hand to his lips. “A pleasure.”

“Good job,” your mother whispered to Aurora. “Good job, both of you.”

The two lizardmen chuckled as both you and Aurora nodded. “I baked you some things, in case it went south.” You lead your mother over to the counter where you unveiled the treats, your eye caught Bruxo sneaking over, and immediately grabbed the wooden spoon. “Mama gets first pick,” you told him in warning.

Your mother cupped your cheek, a fond smile on her face, before grabbing a slice of apple cake and a lemon brownie. “My sweet girl,” she said as she stepped away. You smiled at her as she took a bite out of her cake, relief flooding through you as you took in everything.

Aurora and Bruxo shared a slice of apple cake, the blonde giggling as he tried to feed her a piece, the crumbs falling. Your mother talked with Igrisz, looking laughably small as she stood by him. Her words were fast, her eyes alight as the two of them talked about you, and your relationship. Your heart swelled with emotion, your eyes misting as Igrisz glanced over to you, his red eyes alight in happiness. You smiled widely at him, you’d never been more happy and in love with this overgrown lizard.

Your mother left hours later, but not after officially adopting Bruxo and Igrisz into the family. You were half tempted to warn Aurora about your mother’s tendency to show up out of the blue with a freshly cooked meal in hand. But, after being teased for weeks by your friend, you were more than happy to sit back and wait for the day your mother decided that a seven foot tall, nine hundred pound lizard man was in serious need of “nourishment” for he was still a “growing boy”. Igrisz had to leave the room when she had said that, and you could hear him cackling from the bathroom.  

You sighed as you looked at the dishes in the sink, placing your hands on the counter as you contemplated whether or not you should do them now or later on tonight. You sighed as two strong arms wrapped around your middle, Igrisz nuzzling your cheek.

“You’re miles away, aren’t you?” He rumbled.

You turned and pressed a kiss to his snout, giggling when he licked your nose in return. “Partly,” you admitted. “This all went far better than I was expecting, I guess I’m just trying to accept it and focus on your brothers.”

“Ah, well, they’ll be here shortly,” Igrisz said as he turned you to face him, closing his eyes when Bruxo let out a gag in the background. “Brux, I will drown you,” he warned before sighing and looking back down at you. “Why is he here, again?”

“Because your brothers will be here shortly,” you reminded him with a smile. You shook your head and leaned against his chest. “And you’re sure that they won’t mind that I’m human?”

“Giving that Thraz’s girlfriend is currently halfway down our driveway, I would say, yes, I am one hundred percent sure that they won’t mind.”

“Oh, good,” you closed your eyes, only for them to shoot open as you pulled away from him. “What do you mean, Thraz’s girlfriend is halfway down my driveway?” You demanded, eyes flying to the window where you saw a jeep with the words “Everglades Sanctuary” on the side. “Who could that possibly be?” You left the comfort of Igrisz’s arms and walked over to your door, opening it as the driver got out.

She was beautiful, with a rich reddish brown skin that shone in the sunlight. Her long black hair was pulled up in a ponytail, with some strands that fell out swaying in the breeze. The woman shut her car door and stretched, a grunt escaping as she settled. She saw both you and Aurora coming close, and smiled widely. “You must be Belle and Aurora,” she greeted as she came over and shook your hands. “I’m Jasmine,” she added.

“A pleasure to meet you,” you said with a smile before cocking your head. “What brings you out here?”

Jasmine frowned. “Igrisz didn’t tell you that I was coming also?”

Realization hit you. “Oh god, oh no,” you sighed and shook your head. “He did, I thought you’d be, well…”

“Ah,” Jasmine let out a giggle as Aurora patted your back. “Not to worry,” she smiled at you warmly. “I thought you were going to be a lizardman as well up until before we departed from the sanctuary.” Well that was a slight relief.

“And where is Thraz?” Aurora asked as she peered at the jeep. “Did he not come with you?”

“He’s, ah, a tad bit too big to travel via car,” Jasmine said as she rubbed the back of her neck. She glanced behind the two of you, waving with a smile on her face, “hey Igrisz, Bruxo!”

“Jasmine!” Bruxo greeted as he leaned against the porch railing, his tail dipping into the water. He gave her a toothy grin as he crossed his arms. “Decided to ditch the old fossil?”

Before Jasmine could say a word, a large alabaster hand shot out of the water and latched onto Bruxo’s tail. In an instant, the young lizardman was dragged off of the dock and into the water with a loud scream, water flying everywhere as he landed into the water. Igrisz started cackling as two large alligator like forms rose out from the depths, one considerably larger than the other. Bruxo broke the surface, coughing and complaining as he swam to the shore, the other two following suit.

The first to leave the water was a massive lizardman, he had to damn near twenty feet long if you had to guess. Scars littered his face and body, showing just how hard he fought to live this long in the world. His amber eyes roamed from you to Aurora, before looking back at Bruxo who shook himself dry. He turned as Igrisz came walking up, and smiled. “Ah, little brother,” he rumbled as he threw an arm over Igrisz and drew him into a hug.

“Thraz,” Igrisz greeted warmly before stepping back as the second lizardman emerged.

He wasn’t as big as Thraz, more Igrisz’s height than anything else. He was white, his pearlized scales shimmering in the light as the water flowed off of his skin. Scars littered the side of his face and down his neck, the light pink contrasting nicely against his skin. His bright pink eyes glittered warmly as he spotted Igrisz, laughing as the two of them embraced.

“Babe,” Igrisz turned and held your hand, drawing your closer to the three of them. “This is Thraz, and his girlfriend Jasmine,” he nodded at the two of them. “And this is my twin, Irsosz,” he added as he nodded to the albino lizard next to him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” you said nervously as you looked from one giant to a smaller one.

Thraz tilted his head as he took you in, his amber eyes blank which spiked your nerves. Then, suddenly, he gave you a toothy smile and drew you into a crushing hug. “Good to meet the girl who put Igrisz in his place,” he said with a chuckle that rattled your bones.

“Don’t hog her,” Irsosz huffed as he drew you from the giant, engulfing you into another crushing embrace. “Thank you for choosing my insufferable twin,” he “whispered” to you, chuckling when Igrisz let out a indingant grunt. “Now, who’s this other morsel?” He asked as he focused his sights on Aurora.

“That  is my sugar pie, my cinnamon apple,” Bruxo crowed as he hoisted Aurora up several feet to present her to his family.  

“Hi,” Aurora said meekly.

Jasmine floated over to you, a smile on her face as the two of you watched as Thraz and Irsosz greeted Aurora. “I see Bruxo lives up to his reputation,” she said lowly.

“Oh, you have no idea,” you groaned as you pinched the bridge of your nose. “I’m glad to see that someone in the family isn’t so dramatic,” you added as you took in Thraz’s calm demeanor.

“Yeah,” Jasmine said as she looked fondly at her boyfriend. “I’d known him for years, it’s almost unbelievable that we’re together like this,” she admitted.

“How did you guys meet?”

“He lives at an alligator sanctuary I work at, he saved me from a falling tree one day and, well, things just happened after that,” she smiled at the memory. ‘What about you?”

“He punched through my window,” you said calmly.

“He what?”

“Yep,” you nodded as you glanced over at her. “Then I baked him some cookies and he suddenly didn’t want to make me leave anymore,” you snorted as Igrisz glanced over at you, red eyes pleading with you to let it go. “But, looking back on it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jasmine nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. “Sounds rather impactful,” she mused. “From what I heard, Igrisz used to be a huge hothead.”

“Oh he still is,” you said. “He still terrorizes the town, but Aurora and my mother, and me of course, are exempt from his tyranny.”

“That’s because this whole family is all sorts of dramatic,” Thraz cut into your conversation, his amber eyes rolling as his younger brothers protested. “I don’t know how they ended up like this, I certainly didn’t raise them to act like, well, this.”

“That’s rich, coming from the lizard who caught a tree like it was nothing just to flex,” Jasmine snorted, snickering when he sent her a betrayed look.

“Did you really?” Bruxo asked him with furrowed brows.

“Gods, and you call us dramatic,” Irsosz rolled his eyes.

“I want none of that from you all,” Thraz growled.

Aurora rolled her eyes as she was finally put back down on the ground, smacking Bruxo’s arm lightly. “Don’t act like you didn’t give me a heart attack on the night we met,” she chided. “Standing in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t blame him, he’s an idiot by nature,” Irsosz said as he looked at his younger brother, crossing his arms. “An idiot who tends to venture further downstream than he promised to when he first came down here.”

“I thought you’d like the company,” Bruxo said in his defense.

“I like your distance.”

You clapped your hands, smiling at the four lizards as they broke out of their brotherly spat. “Well, I don’t know if anyone would be interested in some dinner?”

“Oh, I am starving,” Jasmine said as she placed a hand over her stomach. “I’d be happy to help out.”

“Same here,” Aurora said as she joined your side.

“We might go hunting, if that’s alright, babe,” Igrisz said as he came over to your side. “It’s been a while since we’ve all been in one place.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” you said as you cupped his cheek and pulled him down, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before pulling back. “We can eat on the back patio, and you guys can come by when you’re done. How’s that?”

“Sounds good,” he said as he pressed another kiss to your lips before stepping back, glaring at Bruxo when he gagged. “Aurora, I might kill your boyfriend.”

“I’d understand,” Aurora said, closing her eyes when Bruxo let out a whine.

Thraz placed a hand on Jasmine’s head, a fond look on his face as the two of them shared a look that exchanged far more emotion than words could ever convey. He nodded towards you and Aurora, and then looked to his younger siblings. “Let’s go, I saw some cows on the swim up.”

Oh god, not Mr. Abernathy’s cows, you looked to Igrisz in panic.

“Let’s go a county over,” Igrisz suggested as he caught your gaze. “There’s plenty of cows and deer,” he added.

“Yeah, that’s where I saw the cows,” Thraz said with furrowed brows, rolling his amber eyes as he placed a hand on Bruxo and steered him towards the lake. “We’ll be back soon, ladies,” he said with a dip of his head.

The three of you watched as they waded into the water, and waited until they disappeared into the depths. Aurora clapped her hands, looking between the two of you. “So, let’s take a vote. Cook? Or order some take out?”

“If I have to cook again I will cry,” you said with a world weary sigh. “Count me down for take out.”

“Take out is good with me,” Jasmine said with a shrug.

“Pizza?” You asked as you looked around the three of you.

“Pizza,” came the answer.

The boys swam up three hours later, their eyes glowing in the setting sunlight as they floated down the river towards your house. You prayed to god that no one would link them to you, the last thing you wanted was an angry old farmer knocking on your door. You would absolutely die if that had happened. And then Igrisz would die for making you go through that. Jasmine and Aurora left shortly after the boys came back, taking their respective boyfriends with them. Irsosz left shortly after, bidding the two of you a good night before slinking into the water to go to the den that Igrisz had prepared earlier that day.

You smiled up at Igrisz as the two of you were soon left alone, leaning against his side as he settled down in the chair next to you. “This was a good day,” you said after a while, the two of you content to just sit there and watch the fireflies dance across the water.

“I told you they wouldn’t care,” Igrisz said as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and held you close. “All that worrying for nothing.”

“My mother was going to knock out another tooth if I hadn’t have stopped her,” you snorted as you poked his side, smiling when he grunted. “But I’m glad it all worked out. This was a good day,” you said again.

“It’s not over yet,” Igrisz said as he stood, taking your hands in his and pulling you up. “I have something to show you,” he said with a nervous swish of his tail.

You raised a brow at his nervous tick, but nodded all the same. “Yeah, should I get in the boat?”

“Yeah, yeah, that would make it easier,” Igrisz said with a nod as he let go of your hands. He took a step back and walked with you towards the boat that floated off of the back deck. It was a little system that the two of you came up with when you first got together. There were places where he was eager to show you, and most of them were accessible via water only. Hence, the boat. Igrisz would grab ahold of the rope attached to the front of the boat and tow you to the place without much fuss.

You slowly climbed into the boat and yelped as a splash of water hit you as Igrisz jumped into the lake. He rose back up to the surface with a grin, barking out a laugh as you glared at him. “Sorry, babe,” he said as he grabbed the rope.

You rolled your eyes and settled into your seat as he set off, his powerful tail propelling the two of you across the water. You watched as the fireflies glowed against the twilight, the orange glow reflecting against the deep blue water. The spanish moss swayed in the light breeze, the owls were already beginning their nightly calls. The cicadas were loud and frequent, a sure sign that summer was truly here. You watched as the boat was taken into a cove, masked by two willows that covered the entrance.

It was a small little island, secluded near the edge of the lake closer to the forest than the roads. Trees masked the area from view, keeping it a secret between just the two of you. You waited until the boat was settled against the shore and took Igrisz’s hand as he helped you out of the boat.

“Do you trust me?” He asked as he kept a hold of your hands.

You smiled up at him and nodded. “I trust you,” you answered.

Igrisz pressed a quick kiss to your nose before turning you around and placing his hands over your eyes. “I’ll guide you,” he whispered into your ear as he slowly moved the two of you forwards. “Watch your step, there’s a log a few feet in front of you.”

You nodded and poked around with your foot as you took a step forwards, you paused as you felt the log and stepped upwards. From then on it was smooth walking, the two of you waddling as Igrisz took you to wherever, you really had no idea. This was new territory for you, Igrisz had taken you to everywhere else but this small little island. It was pretty exciting actually, you wondered what was in stow for you.

“We’re here,” Igrisz announced suddenly, stopping the both of you. His hands were removed from your eyes, settling on your shoulders as you slowly opened your eyes.

The area was beautiful, low hanging branches covered in solar lamps illuminated the area around the two of you. You gasped as you looked around the small clearing, the soft light casting a slight glow of the mushrooms that adorned the ground. A slight breeze rustled through the clearing, ruffling through your hair as you turned to face Igrisz.

“This is amazing,” you said, tone full of wonder. “How come you’ve never taken me here before now?” Igrisz rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, it’s a special place. I didn’t want to take you here until I was completely ready to.” He held your gaze now, red eyes boring into brown. “I’m ready now,” he said as he took a step towards you. He held something in his hand, fingers closed around it gingerly.

He paused, looking down at you with pure love in his eyes. While his demeanor was calm and collected, the slight twitch of his tail gave away the nervousness he possessed. “Belle,” his voice cracked slightly but he soldiered on, “when we first met I wanted nothing more than to see you leave forever. But then,” he cracked a smile as his free hand came up and cupped your cheek, “then you yelled at me, you stood up to me. It was humbling, and then your baking…”

“Focus,” you said with a slight chuckle.

“You brought out a new side of me, a side I never thought existed. You made me calmer, I felt peace for the first time around you. I looked forward to coming to your home each night, even to the point where I was patrolling around your home during the day time.” He slowly got onto one knee, the two of you now eye level. His hand came up and uncurled, a beautiful silver necklace with a pointed ivory looking pendant hanging from the end of it shown up at you. You looked between it and him, understanding finally hitting you. “I know it’s not a ring, but it’s the closest I can get you. Belle Gabrielle Dubois, will you do me the honor of being my wife? My mate?”

You wiped the tears away from your eyes, grateful that you weren’t wearing makeup for once. You nodded, a watery smile on your face as you gave him a quick, but passionate kiss. “Yes,” you rasped as you pulled back, giggling as he kissed you again. You took the necklace and inspected it, taking notice of the pendant. “Wait… is this an alligator tooth?”

“Well, uh,” Igrisz coughed slightly. “So, according to our tradition, we exchange scales to wear over our hearts. Since that’s not the case, I thought you could, still… wear something of mine…?”

“Is this that tooth you chipped when you slipped in the road and hit that motorcyclists two months ago?”

“That’s not important here,” he said with a couch. Which basically meant ‘yes’.

You gave him a smile, and kissed him softly. “I love it, a fond memory to wear forever,” you said as you pulled away, giving him a wink as you placed the necklace around your neck, the pendant settling right over your heart.

Igrisz rolled his eyes as he stood to his full height, wrapping his arms around your middle and lifting you up to his height. You cupped his cheeks and stared down into his eyes, a fond smile on your face as the two of you just stared at each other. Words couldn’t convey how happy you were, you literally felt like you were about to combust. You were in a new chapter in your life, one that you never thought would happen. And you were so happy that it was with Igrisz.

Recipes talked about

Lemon brownie

Apple crumbs cake 

Chocolate turtle poke cake

Chocolate chip cheesecake

Spanish:

(1) The water devil! Run, girls run! You will not take them, you slimy tyrant!

(2) Don't come any closer! Stay away from my babies!

[ladywritesthings]

(i was) meant to be yours, ch3

AO3

---

Caleb seemed better the next day, Jester thought pleasantly. And the next day, and the one after that. She still kept an eye on him — it was her job, after all — sneaking glances at him out of the corners of her eyes when he wasn’t looking, as he slowly seemed to settle down over the long days and cool nights, traveling aimlessly across the Xhorhasian wastes. It probably didn’t hurt that she had, despite some initial resistance and a few raised eyebrows, managed to convince the rest of the Nein that he just needed some space. Caduceus helped, even without prompting. And that appeared to do the trick; it seemed the sleep and their talk had helped him in some small way, and by the end of the week, he seemed very nearly back to normal.

‘Well, of course he is,’ she told herself with a satisfactory nod astride Yarnball. ‘I am a very good healer, after all.’

Nott in particular had needed some convincing to refrain from asking him too many questions, but she eventually relented, contenting herself with acting as his personal guard instead. She watched him closely, but less and less as the days progressed, and even pulled Jester aside one evening as they set up camp for the night.

“Thank you,” she said in a low voice.

“For what?” said Jester distractedly, sorting through her paints for the perfect shade of green.

“For… you know.” She gestured vaguely in Caleb’s direction, and Jester looked up to see him and Beau, deep in conversation. As they watched, she smacked him in the arm, laughing loudly as he smiled that small smile of his in return. “I don’t know what happened the other day,” Nott said, “when you went up to check on him. He still won’t tell me what he saw in that nightmare he had. But he told me you talked to him, and whatever you said helped. So thank you.” She squeezed Jester’s hand and Jester squeezed back.

“Of course, Nott,” she beamed.

“I won’t ask you what you talked about, I know it’s not your place to say, but…” Nott leaned in a little closer, a small worried crease across her brow as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is he… alright? Like really?”

Jester looked back at Caleb, at his relaxed frame and calm face contoured in firelight, and smiled. “I think he is,” she said, and deep down she knew she was right.

Leaving Yeza behind had been hard — even despite the guards they had hired to get him safely back to Felderwin, the money and instructions on retrieving the enchanted cart from the tavern owner to get him the rest of the way to Alfield, and the messages Jester relayed from casting Sending every night she could — and leaving him without having a clear goal in mind had been harder. That had been almost a month ago by now, maybe longer. Perhaps that was why she’d been so attached to Caleb recently. Not that that protective instinct hadn’t been justified, of course. But being able to give her some peace of mind in addition to calming Caleb down was two wins for the price of one in Jester’s book.

That night the clerics took first watch, Caduceus amusing himself by flipping through the cookbook she’d gotten him. She sat at the edge of the bubble, arms curled up around her knees as she watched the remains of their campfire slowly turn to ash. They didn’t really need watches anymore, hadn’t for a while; not since Caleb had learned to form the Tiny Hut, to be honest. But it was a comforting routine — sometimes things happened, after all — and sometimes it was just nice to enjoy the quiet on a night like tonight. It wasn’t entirely unlike being alone, but being alone surrounded by people was vastly superior to being alone without them.

Well, besides the Traveler, of course, but he was always there, so it didn’t really count.

So she relished the silence as it was, the rustling of pages, the soft wind through the gnarled trees around them. Picking up a broken twig, she traced a pattern absently in the soft dirt beneath her as the glowing embers gently winked out one by one. She felt calm, or as calm as she could be as the uncertainty of their future stretched out before them. Apart from agreeing to search for the remaining Luxon Beacon and Caduceus’s vague search for some sort of divine Kiln, they were directionless.

They had briefly entertained the idea of swinging down south, down to where Yasha was from, but when she pointed out that she not only hadn’t received any proper direction from her Stormlord, but would also be killed on sight by her tribe, the idea was squashed. It was also decided that it would be best to avoid the Empire for the time being — Caleb hadn’t quite perfected his vaguely-referenced teleportation spell yet, the one he’d promised would take her back to her mother, and the last thing they needed was to be connected to the Dynasty after essentially committing treason. A ragtag group of mercenaries “returning” from Xhorhas? They’d be hunted for sport by overeager Crownsguard if they got within five miles of the border.

And so they wandered, picking up odd jobs in whatever tiny towns they came across as they… well, explored was as good a term as any for what they were doing.

Tonight’s resting place was what could loosely be described as a forest, if one had never seen a real one before. The trees were tall and looming, but twisted and dead and scattered rather sparsely over the landscape; the only reason she couldn’t dismiss this patch of the countryside as simply more scrubland was the fact that there were trees around them in the first place, more than she’d seen clustered together in days now, and the trend seemed to stretch on for another mile, at least. She felt a little bad for Caduceus, honestly — to be away from home for so long, and not even be surrounded by a proper forest for days on end — but perhaps that was why he’d chosen to stay up with her tonight. The sound of the dry branches scraping together as the trees swayed in the faint breeze must be nicer than no trees at all. Even if it was a little creepy.

She dug through her haversack and produced the last of the pastries she’d squirreled away before they’d left the grumpy orc’s tavern: two crumbling bear claws and one jelly doughnut, lightly squished. The doughnut looked a bit iffy, the bits of jelly now leaking out one side having gone a funny color, but the bear claws were alright, if a little stale. She chewed slowly as she watched a log on the ash pile collapse on itself. It wasn’t fresh, or as good as the ones in Nicodranas — very few pastries were, of course, so she wouldn’t hold that against it — but the sweetness was a comfort.

Caduceus didn’t want the other one. She debated with herself a long time on what to do with it; should she wait a while to eat it? They still had another hour or so on their watch — she’d probably want a snack later. Or perhaps whoever traded off for next watch would want a snack. Or could she get away with saving it in the haversack for tomorrow? Surely it would last another day. But, then again, it was already in her hand, and the first one had been pretty nice…

“Warte, geh nicht!” The cry was quiet but sharp, a sudden, gutteral intake of breath in the still night air. She spun around for the source of it, hand going instinctively to her belt, though whether to her holy symbol or her handaxe was a bit of a toss-up. Caduceus’s staff was glowing. But all they saw was Caleb, sitting up ramrod straight with his blankets in a heap around his knees, breathing hard.

Oh dear. “Caleb?” she said warily.

His gaze snapped to hers immediately. “Jester…?” His hands, trembling slightly, ran over his face as he tried to calm his breathing. “I… ah,” he said, and stopped.

Jester and Caduceus exchanged glances as they slowly lowered their defenses. “Another bad dream?” ventured Caduceus gently.

“Ah, hmm. Scheisse.” He cleared his throat, but his voice was still hoarse when he said, “Sort of, I suppose.”

At least he hadn’t screamed this time. And at least he seemed, at least mostly, aware of his surroundings. His exclamation had been loud to her ears — quiet as the night around them was — but not, apparently, enough to wake their sleeping friends. Small blessings, she supposed. “Are you… okay?” asked Jester.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Her first instinct was to rush over to him — she was a healer, after all, and she remembered how badly he’d needed healing last time — but he didn’t seem to be in any immediate distress, and Caduceus was closer anyway. So she hovered where she crouched, feeling suddenly awkward and a little useless.

“I… think so,” he said eventually. He still looked kind of shaken, an expression she couldn’t quite place on his face, but his breathing had slowed. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay,” said Caduceus, laying his staff down gently. “Keeps the blood pumping, I guess.”

“At least you were quiet about it.” She meant it to be a joke of some kind, something to lighten the strange mood, but Caleb didn’t respond and she felt the lame attempt at a smile wither and die on her face. She settled back into a sitting position, for lack of anything else to do, and fiddled with the little twig she’d discarded. “Do you… want to talk about it?” she said finally in a low voice.

She noticed his eyes flick over to Caduceus quickly before he swallowed again. “I don’t — hmm.” He swallowed again, running a hand absently through his messy hair. “Perhaps — no, perhaps not.”

“If you don’t want to go to sleep again right away, you can come sit next to me,” she offered. “It’s warmer over here. Closer to the fire. You look kinda cold.” It wasn’t, he didn’t, and the fire was mostly out anyway, but Caduceus shot her an approving glance as Caleb appeared to mull the suggestion over. Of course he’d noticed Caleb’s hesitation to talk about it with him so close behind. Perceptive bastard.

“Ja,” said Caleb eventually. “Ja, okay.” He slowly pushed off his blankets and shuffled over, folding himself awkwardly into a cross-legged position next to her. They weren’t quite touching, exactly, but there wasn’t much leftover space between the sleeping bodies. Caduceus went back to his book with one final approving nod as she and Caleb sat in silence for a while, shoulder to shoulder, gazing into the dying embers. Well, he was, anyway. Jester was looking at him, as surreptitiously as she could out of the corner of her eye.

He seemed distracted, or lost in thought, but he didn’t look haunted. Or scared. Just… a little out of it. A little lost.

She wanted to say something, open her mouth and make him laugh, or comfort him, or distract him somehow from his distraction, but she felt that anything she’d come up with would fall flat, or be wrong somehow. So she simply sat there with him, with her arms wrapped around her knees again, just sitting and waiting in the awkward silence. Well, awkward for her. Or rather, it felt like it should be awkward. She wasn’t quite sure he was aware enough of his surroundings to be aware of the quality of the silence, awkward or otherwise.

“It wasn’t bad, exactly,” he said finally.

She looked at him fully this time. “Your dream, you mean?” she said in a low voice.

He glanced quickly over his shoulder and she followed his gaze, back to Caduceus. He appeared fully engrossed in his book again, which seemed to satisfy Caleb somewhat, and he relaxed just a little. “It didn’t feel quite like a dream this time either,” he said, turning back to the dying fire. “But not… not the same as last time.”

“What do you mean?”

He hummed noncommittally, perching his chin on steepled fingers as he stared at the remains of their camp with glazed eyes. “I… don’t quite know how to explain it,” he admitted after a moment. “It was… like a dream, but more like a memory, I suppose. And it felt more real than both somehow. I don’t…”

She waited for him to finish his sentence, but he’d lapsed into silence again, staring at the glowing logs as though transfixed. “Do you want to talk about it?” she said eventually, in a voice that was almost a whisper now.

His face twitched a little at the suggestion, but she couldn’t quite tell if it was a good twitch or a bad one. “There isn’t really much to tell,” he said.

She pursed her lips a little against her arm, hugging her knees a little tighter. “You said that last time, too,” she reminded him gently.

“Yes, but…” He paused a moment, shifting in his seat. “Last time,” he began, “I didn’t want to worry you. Or frighten you. This one…” He paused again, swallowed. “It is not the same,” he said.

She traced her nail in the dirt, smudging her earlier squiggles. “Was it a good dream, then?”

This question seemed to stump him, and he was quiet for a long time. “I don’t know,” he said at last.

She picked up the twig again, doodled a frowny face in the dirt. “What was it, then?” she said. “What, did you have a sex dream or something? Is that why you don’t want to tell me about it? ’Cause it would be weird?”

The corner of his mouth definitely twitched up at that. “No,” he said. “I did not have a sex dream.”

The frowny face was lopsided, and she brushed it away. “I want to help you,” she said quietly. “I know you don’t like when people help you, but I’m your friend, you know. I want to try. But I can’t do that if you won’t talk to me.”

He sighed a little. “It was a memory,” he said, “or something based off a memory, of someone very dear to me a long time ago. It was… bittersweet, I suppose. I haven’t thought about it in a long time.”

He paused again. “…But?” she prompted after a moment.

“But,” he sighed, letting his hands drop into his lap, “it wasn’t particularly noteworthy, as far as dreams go. Only to me.” He glanced at her. “You would be bored by it, I think.”

She huffed, her bangs puffing up a little. “That’s awfully judgy of you,” she said. “How do you know I’d be bored?”

He glanced at her. “Because I know you, Jester,” he said, and he said it kindly, but it felt like a dismissal all the same.

“Is it because there’s people around?”

“Jester,” he said, “there’s nothing to tell.”

He was shutting her out. “Fine, then, don’t tell me,” she frowned against her arm. It was easier to just let it go, but some part of her… hurt, somehow. She’d thought after they’d talked, after she helped him… It had been an intimate moment, a real moment, where he’d been vulnerable and she’d helped him, and — well, she didn’t quite know how to explain it, but she thought they’d shared something. That they were friends, truly friends, in a way they hadn’t quite been before. That he trusted her. He had to know she’d listen to anything that troubled him, even some boring, bittersweet memory-dream intense enough to rouse him from a deep sleep; that’s what friends were for, after all.

Either he was lying, and he had in fact had some sort of raunchy sex dream he was too embarrassed to recount aloud, or he didn’t know her very well at all.

“Where’s Frumpkin?” she asked instead.

He waved a hand vaguely. “Oh, you know,” he said. “Around. I sent him off to keep an eye out.”

“Oh,” she said, and the conversation died again.

The silence was killing her, but any topics she could think of were wrong; too boring or too lighthearted or not lighthearted enough. It was clear the dreams were off the table, even though his tight-lipped reaction rubbed her the wrong way in more ways than she cared to count, but she couldn’t come up with anything else to say. She felt stuck, almost. She couldn’t bear the quiet, being shut out like this, but she couldn’t just leave him, either. It would be rude, and besides, she didn’t want to. Didn’t want to leave him, leave his side, leave him alone with the thoughts he wouldn’t share.

The fire had long since burned out by now, but he still watched the ashes, apparently lost in thought again. She surveyed him out of the corner of her eye instead, the sharp lines of his jaw and brow casting shadows over his eyes, over the gentle curve of his neck.

“You need a shave,” she commented, a little bluntly. Petulantly.

He blinked in surprise, a hand reaching up reflexively to rub at the scruff on his chin. “Sorry?”

“You need a shave,” she repeated. “Pretty bad, actually. If you care.”

“Ah, I — I suppose I do,” he said haltingly, and looked at her curiously. “I didn’t know you cared.”

“I-I don’t, really,” she said, feeling her ears heat up in spite of herself, and looked away quickly. “I just thought you should know, is all.” He was still looking at her. It was getting embarrassing.

He finally turned back to the fire, still rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I could have Yasha try again,” he said. “Although having her sword so close to my neck is… disconcerting.”

“You could get Nott to do it,” she suggested, slightly muffled against her arms again. “She has daggers, doesn’t she?”

“Those blunt little things?” He let out a little half-chuckle. “I wouldn’t trust her with those near anything.” He glanced at her again. “I didn’t know it bothered you so much.”

“It doesn’t,” she said hotly. Gods, why was he still looking at her? She didn’t know how or why the conversation had turned into something so excruciating, why she’d brought it up in the first place, but now that it had she wanted to melt away into nothing. “Shave, don’t shave, Idon’tcareanywayit’sfinewhateverokay.”

“Oh. I see.”

He was still looking at her, a curious tilt to his head, and he wouldn’t stop looking and she wanted to die, and she just about sagged with relief when Caduceus’s voice floated across the Hut to save her. “Hey, Jester,” he said, “it’s almost time for the shift change. Do you want to wake up Yasha, or should I?”

“I’lldoitthanksCaduceus,” she said a little too loudly, shooting to her feet in a cloud of dust. Caleb sneezed in her wake as she hurried away, clutching her haversack like her life depended on it as she shook Yasha awake with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, probably.

Yasha woke with a start, blinking up at her with a confused sort of look. “What’s — Jester?”

Jester tried to slow her pulse, which was hammering loudly in her ears for some reason. “It’s your watch,” she said. Her voice still sounded too high.

Yasha sat up, brushing back her wild hair from her face. “Oh, for a moment I thought…” She eyed her concernedly. “Are you alright, Jester? You look a little—”

“I’m fine,” said Jester.

Caduceus watched her with a kind of knowing amusement as she pulled out her bedroll and spread it out haphazardly, but what, exactly, he thought he knew was a complete mystery. Her nerves were buzzing with some sort of frantic, anxious energy, sure, and she could feel Caleb’s eyes on her from across the Hut, but he was all the way over there and she was here, as far away from him as possible, and that was all that really mattered.

And she was embarrassed — although why, exactly, she couldn’t say; it wasn’t as though this was the first time she’d insulted Caleb’s appearance for no particular reason than the fact that the thought had struck her and the words just tumbled out, regardless of the situation — but maybe it wasn’t that she’d insulted him, actually. She’d meant to, perhaps the first time she’d tried to insult him on purpose, just to get back at him for pulling away from her, and it had backfired so spectacularly he’d come away with the impression she cared about his appearance. Which was ridiculous.

“Good night,” she said loudly to no-one, and buried herself beneath the covers.

By the Traveler, her face was burning. Why did she even care? If he was going to be a dick about his stupid dreams, why the fuck should she care? Why did she feel the need to try to get a rise out of him, to get him to pay attention to her? She didn’t need his attention. He was smelly and weird and wouldn’t let her help him, and she didn’t need his attention.

So why was she still thinking about it?

[kitto-toberu-sa]

Digimon Stage Play - Full

Aight, so tl;dr: great show, actors are perfect, Yamato is beautiful beyond belief, Mimi is UGHHHHHH in the good way and I’m bitter that the whole show isn’t sold out and whoever was in charge of promotion should be forced to eat nothing but the hottest of hot chillies for the rest of their life.

Timeline: It’s set after Koushirou creates the cyber space for them, but before the reboot. Clearly on/around August 1st ;p

Venue/Goods: a little out of the way, small. You couldn’t buy goods unless you had a ticket, which sucks. Goods were sold on the inside, line was small pre-play, massive after. My store clerk couldn’t count to save her life. People were trading, everybody hated that everything was random and there were so many types of things. Friend and I ordered dvd – no blu ray option, it’s being released in December (average wait time since Japan is very slow on physical releases). Had to downpay 2000 yen, which this and dvd only option has never happened before when I’ve seen other stage shows – not a good sign. No postal option, so my friend has to pick mine up for me – poor form again. (Pick up is only at animate – my nearest one is 2+ hours away :/)

Promotion/sold out: four shows sold out. Tickets reduced to 7000 yen, which is insulting for us who went through lottery. They advertised low prices at fes too. Promotion was done badly. Digimon isn’t massively popular, but Toei isn’t small either. Get a cast twitter, post rehearsal pics etc. Promotion doesn’t need to be costly. Fes advertisement (last weeks vid) was too little too late. Theres events with Miyazaki and AiM and seiyuus, which also seems last minute and an attempt to sell out. Again insulting to those of us to preordered. Shonichi didn’t sell out. Must be tough on actors. Promotion video (August 5th? 6th?) is kinda bad quality – the stage itself looks and sounds better than the video may lead you to believe.

Seating: nice, comfy. We were second row, left hand side, aisle. If we had been one or two more to the left it would have been really bad (same if you’re too overly right). The cast faces back/sideways too often, so we saw a lot of backs. Need to work on being diagonal, basic stage stuff there. However, pros of our seating were: Yamato being right in front of us when he sang, Jyou fishing in front of us and making eye contact with Etemon to the point where it was creepy lmao

Play Y’all. Y’ALL. THIS IS THE GOOD SHIT. A+ A+ A+ A+!!!!!! The puppets look quite nice tbh. Sometimes a little weird and maybe the cast should have worn the traditional black instead, but it was done well. Agumon is twitchy in the start, scene is a little long. He’s basically like ‘my body can’t move/is moving on it’s own???? Wat? Why???’ (both happen, not a bad translation on my part). He wakes up and Gabumon’s like ‘yeah me too’ and some of the other Digimon agree but Palmon’s like ‘yeah same but it’s because I’m not a morning person lmao’.

They all go to where the kids are. So this is set sometime after Koushirou makes the cyber space for them. Mimi and Koushirou talk about camping and Mimi ends up throwing his laptop on the FLOOR. Koushirou looks heartbroken and the entire audience was ?!?!? but sasuga Mimi and Koushirou’s like … well, moving on. Mimi is perfect beyond belief. Right voice, face, mannerisms. I know that’s what acting is, but she NAILED IT. She’s all like ‘camping is about feeling the breeze~’ then acts like she has wind her face, ‘about being hot’ (ahhhh, it’s hoooooot, she says), about monsters! (she says as she stalks towards the Digimon). We then get the scene where Sora talks about the importance of August 1st. While she speaks, on the left and right sides we see actual scenes from the original anime, which is really touching. Sora mentions that although there were good times, there were bad ones too (CUE GIF OF LEOMON DYING BECAUSE THEY HAD TO HAVE IT SOMEWHERE) All the mons wanna go camping which obviously, is cool.

Hikari invites Taichi and they talk. Jyou calls Hikari but Taichi answers and Jyou doesn’t realise. ‘Damn that Taichi, he isn’t coming? Leave it to me!’ Eventually Taichi is like ‘it me moron’ and Jyou convinces him to come after Taichi’s like ‘I BET UR NOT COMING’ because Jyou, as always, has exams. Jyou is a smart ass? He’s like ‘Taichi, next year, you’ll be in my position. And if it’s you… well… you’ll be in trouble.’ SUCH A GOOD SCENE JYOU IS MVP IN THIS PLAY Y’ALL. He gets his creep on here and it’s so funny. A couple of time it’s acknowledged that Hikari should have been there on August 1st but was sick. I believe at one point they were like ‘yeah we’re low key looking for Meikuumon’ so they’ve all met Meiko and plot stuff has happened. Whether you like Meiko or not (and the 02 kids), they aren’t relevant here – August 1st is for the original kids and I’m very glad they kept it that way.

Next is Knife of Day. Yamato sung and you could tell he was nervous but he did really well. He seemed to try and do too much of a Yamato voice instead of his natural voice). Yamato talks technical stuff (music wise) and then he high fives and fist bumps one of the band mates?? CUTIE PATOOTIE ALERT!!!! Honestly, he’s so pure and beautiful? One of the band mates tried to go ‘Knife of Day is… well, the name isn’t…’ ‘HAVE CONFIDENCE IT’S ALL GOOD FRIEND!!!!’ ‘Yamato that’s not what-‘ ‘WITH THESE MEMBERS WE’RE KNIFE OF DAY! WE’RE GOOD!!!’ ‘but the name-‘ ‘THESE FOUR MEMBERS. KNIFE OF DAY. HAVE CONFIDENCE!!!!’ Takeru comes along and talks about camp. Yamato is very cute toward Takeru who is worried a little about him. Very sweet scenes. Yamato explains both the band and August 1st are important to him. Later, Takeru buys Yamato a pink sleeping bag because he’s a shit head lmao

Everyone’s at camp, Mimi forgets everything. She’s adorable. People set up camp, which is cute. Yamato runs the kitchen and Hikari is chased by Agumon because she has meat. Of course, Yamato finds out about his sleeping bag and runs after Takeru. Etemon is the camp ground guardian? (What do you call these guys??) He takes their money (OF COURSE) and keeps going ‘there are MONKEYS around here!’ while posing ridiculously and everyone’s like k cool story. Eventually he’s like YOU WANNA SEE A MONKEY?!? But everyone’s like nah bro we good, so he runs off dejected.

The kids talk about the future. Mimi just wants to be a kid forever, but Palmon says she wants to be an adult lol. Koushirou isn’t sure what he wants to do, but says he likes computers. Jyou really talks about why he wants to be a doctor and it’s such a good speech! Yamato and Taichi are both like ‘well, I like my hobby I guess??’ Sora deflects the question, Hikari doesn’t know.

Theres a scene where Jyou sees a shooting star. Nobody else can see it. It’s cute.

Yamato and Taichi try to converse later (it’s just the two of them because Koushirou said something to ruin the mood so Takeru dragged him away even though he was like ‘I’ll stay awake as long as you’re up bro’). It’s mostly Hey Yamato Yeah? …. … . … Yeah?! …Nothing -silence- We have a lot to talk about, huh Yamato? -plays harmonica-

dumb morons lmao (all KoD stuff and Yamato’s harmonica is live. It sounds much better than what the video leads you to believe!!!!)

Mimi: Sora, you awake? …SORA Hikari: aye what up Mimi: GHOST STORY TIME Hikari: starts telling an old experience Mimi: NO TOO SPOOKY STOP STOP LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE!!!!!

She tries to get info out of Hikari who tries to get info out of her back. They both start going ‘what about Sora’ who stays asleep but Mimi is about to ‘reveal’ who Sora likes when she shoots up and is all like I DON’T LIKE ANYONE!!! They’re all lying down in sleeping bags, so Hikari and Mimi were jumping around in their sleeping bags and Mimi does the CUTEST wiggle!!!

They talk about their dreams and Mimi is like ‘I like lotsa stuff??’ but she thinks it’s stupid and is kinda embarrassed but they’re like?? No? it’s cool to have multiple interests and dreams? WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Jyou leaves early for his exam the next morning. Shit goes down and people split up to solve the problem. Etemon ends up revealing himself to Taichi and co. He’s super strong and is basically like “it’s been six years your time BUT I’VE BEEN SUPER SUPER LONELY FOR 100 YEARS I JUST WANNA CHILL”

There’s a gate so everyone (bar Jyou) is stuck at camp. Etemon forces Tai, Hikari, Sora and Mimi to bbq with him. AND THE ETEMON FIVE. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT – ETEMON HAS FOUR COLOURED MONKEY BOY BAND FRIENDS. THEY SING AND EAT AND PLAY TOGETHER. THEY’RE THE ETEMON FIVE, COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU!!!

Anyway, there’s a fight and Etemon wins and gets the above group together and the bbq happens. Etemon is super happy to see Hikari (“oniichan!” “eh? You’re the only dude… YOUR SISTER?! HOW ADORABLE!!!”) and she’s like ‘stop fighting’ and he’s like ‘girl? That’s all I want???’ but later they eat all the food and Etemon whips out yakisoba and offers some to Hikari.

“No. I don’t want it.” –awkward silence- Etemon 1: Eh? Why? Etemon 2: -idk- Etemon 3: Don’t push her! Etemon 4: Is it… you’re dieting? If that’s it… I totally understand…

Hikari is done with their shit. She wants to go home. Mimi wants a bath. Sora’s done with this bullshit. They realise time has gone whack so they’ve been there hours. Tai and Sora have a tiff as Tai is trying to keep the peace (doesn’t want to keep fighting, Sora realises they’ve essentially been kidnapped by Etemon 5), Mimi makes Sora back down when she tries to comfort him so Hikari can do it instead. Time is whack so they’ve been there forever, Etemon is like I SAID I WAS LONELY YOU CAN’T LEAVE EVER!!! He then tries to make Taichi be his bestie.

By forcing him into a kiss.

Curtain close.

(Honestly it was the funniest thing – it was a non-sexual kiss, but y’all, consent is consent. I mean, you probably shouldn’t take dating advice from a man in a monkey suit who low key resembles Piko Taro, but like. This is a weird site, Idk where some of you learnt to romance. I feel I need to say that.)

Part Two. Curtain stays shut. Jyou is wandering around the audience. Gomamon says it’s cool he failed his test. Jyou is very dramatic but eventually he reveals he did perfectly. Very cute moment. Etemon comes out after Jyou leaves (curtain still shut) and tries to get the crowd to yell his name. This happened earlier and nobody responded. He asked Taichi what his name was and got no response either ;;;; This time, the audience gave a lukewarm result so we got called weak lol. He then asked us again and we said his name louder, so he was very happy. The curtain was drawn and he almost got pushed away by it.

There’s more of a fight and we see all the groups are separated. The Digimon start feeling affected like how Agumon was at the start. A lot of the discussions they have are mostly about understanding the importance of August 1st, but also realising they can’t stay there forever. Life happens. They need to move on.

A gate appears so everyone is stuck in a barrier. Bar Jyou. Because he understands August 1st, is in the past, but still treasures it. Jyou and Yamato have a really good conversation, and it’s really nice to see Yamato being over the top and emotional around someone who isn’t Takeru or Taichi.

But before that, when everyone realises something is weird Koushirou’s like ‘Jyou is our last hope!’. Yamato and Takeru aren’t… too enthusiastic about that ;;; Anyway, Jyou comes in the barrier like no problem, Takeru tries to show him there’s a problem and Jyou’s like ‘are you miming something? There’s no barrier lol’. Koushirou becomes distrustful that Jyou isn’t the real deal, so he’s like ‘nvm you can leave’ and Jyou does. Only to come right back.

I’m leaving! OKAY BYE!!! –leaves-….-comes back- I’M SERIOUSLY GONNA LEAVE!!! Go right ahead!! …Really?

This exchange goes on for a while and it’s soooooooo funny. Eventually Koushirou and Takeru leave so Yamato and Jyou have their talk, since Yamato is so frustrated he can’t do anything for Gabumon who is clearly unwell.

There’s a fight and Taichi gained confidence from Agumon who is also feeling the effects of the time warp thing. Agumon digivolves into Greymon, and it’s so cool shit. It starts off with a screen and the music and then the big walls move to cover Agumon and BAM life size Greymon!!! It was done soooooo well!!!!

Etemon reveals he isn’t the villain after fighting. (This is kinda spaced out with talking, so like fight talk fight type thing, with having discussions by different groups) It’s kinda like all the previous villains (Dark Masters etc) all merged to form Venommyotism/ Venomvamdemon who is trying to take his revenge. Or something. It’s a little vague. Roll with it. But since that would be hard to make a pupper out of, Etemon just digivolves to King Etemon. It’s so weird because they take off his head???

He struggles with Etemon and eventually Etemon turns into the villain (Venom is just shown on the walls as a projection) and Greymon can’t do much since Venom is too fast/strong, so he digivolves to MetalGreymon. Being in the front row meant I was blast with a lot of icy smoke/fog, which was fun but also… smoke ;;;

Anyway, he still struggles until Yamato comes along with MetalGarurumon. They get their shit together and Omegamon comes out. The Omegamon puppet isn’t the best. It’s from the shoulders up, but it looks slightly too cartoony. Taichi and Yamato stand on his shoulders and end up beating the villain (duh).

Everyone and everything is back to normal, but everyone realises they’re suddenly in their uniforms again. It turns out that everything from when they were wearing casual clothes was a bug. I guess like in the Digital World… sort of? It’s kinda written off as ‘just a dream’. It happened, so everything is canon, but it wasn’t in the digital world but it wasn’t in our world so time was behaving differently.

Yes.

That means Jyou has to do his test again.

It’s vague on how this time bug was created, as is how the villains came back from being dead. That’s not the point of this play. The point is helping the kids to understand that the past is the past, but they need to move on.

It was a really good play, and I encourage you to buy the dvd if you can. If you’d like merch, hmu!

[shardclan]

In the Summerlands, the first creeping light of dawn turned the sloping horizon to a faded chrome of pale blue and bronze.

In the Bramble Step Entertainment district, the light only managed to add a feeble gray ambiance to the near-solid haze. One that only became obvious as the neon lights went off, snatching back the saturated glow they cast into the gloom. The streets were empty at this hour. The working girls and boys would be curled up in their beds, the cleaners were already in their assigned buildings–washing away blood and spilled liquor and polishing the bars until they were like new for the coming business day. A few piles of ash settled at the ends of dark alleys, already cool and damp with morning mist. No one would miss whoever they used to be.

Well, they might, but the first rain or stiff breeze would assure there’d be nothing left of them to find on Caress’ turf.

This morning found the Bramble Step’s proprietress in a thoughtful but pleased mood. She was not an especially devout dragon, but her family had deep roots in the Tangled Wood. So it had not especially impressed her when her obscuring goblin had suddenly emitted a stream of ichor from its mouth and eyes and spoke in a voice like a thousand whispers behind a thousand closed doors:

You will care for this.

An egg had rolled out of the inky pool, and now it sat on a pedestal in her entertaining room. As far as Caress was concerned she’d never gotten any direction to hatch it so it would stay like that until further notice. The Shadowbinder’s ‘gifts’ always had another side to them, so she treated it more like an unexploded bomb than a gift from her deity. Still, the client she had seen last night was quite impressed by the story–eager, even, to network with her if she was so clearly trusted by their deity. A hasty man (in business and in pleasure) but useful at least.

Astrit lay sprawled on her favorite chaise lounge looking at it, nude as the day he was born save an admittedly flattering brandy-wine shawl and his coveted gold jewels. She couldn’t remember any VIP appointments on his calendar, which meant he’d likely spent another night sating Achilles’s nigh-unquenchable thirst.

“You know I hate when you sit naked on that,” she said with a lazy sort of reproach. “It’s a very hard to come by type of suede.”

“What is the worth of a lounge that can’t be lounged on?”

“The same as an assistant who can’t see the value of proper use and care. I haven’t become rich buying expensive things and then carelessly soiling them.” She shooed him. “Have the decency to at least freshen up before you slide your unwashed ass all over it. Or buy your own.”

He grinned and relaxed onto a slightly less luxurious pile of pillows. Part of him considered teasing that she never said anything to Dalma when he came and sat on it, but he knew his limits. Caress loved her husband immensely and while she tolerated Astrit with grace, charm, and his due respect as a denizen of the Tangled Wood for openly hoping to usurp her, they were absolutely not on close enough personal terms for him to say anything about Dalma. Not if he didn’t want her to crush him beneath her heel.

“Seems like everyone who intends to move into the new House has,” he said instead.

“Anyone of interest?”

“To you? Probably not.” He drummed his fingers along one thigh. “If anything you might be interested in who isn’t there. Hart isn’t going.”

Caress sat across the room in a plush chair that she all but melted into. Astrit was new enough to know the political bits of Hart not going, but even with the Starlight Museum up and running, he likely didn’t really understand how odd it was. Hart’s true name might be dead, but he was still the most Arcane dragon in the lair. He didn’t have magical pursuits, he wasn’t a mage or a scholar. But he was worldly and observing. His Arcane nature was innate and deft, like a farmer so long at their craft they no longer needed an almanac to know the coming seasons. If it came out that his bones were made of crystalspine, Caress would have believed it. He had charm, he had cheer, and Caress knew well that he knew how to treat a lady both in bed and out of it, but there was something vast and timeless about him.

His not going, even for political reasons, was keenly against his nature as far as Caress was concerned.

A knock interrupted her thoughts, and a young woman coated in dark lace and silk accented by silver finery entered without waiting. Despite her golden eyes, a shadow emblem glowed faintly above her head and she had the playful but sneaky expression typical of young shadowlings.

“Labrusca,” Caress said with warmth she would not have spared for anyone else who intruded at this hour. “Is something wrong?”

“Just the opposite; I have an idea that may interest you.” She sprawled herself across the chaise lounge, but immediately her nose wrinkled and she looked distastefully at Astrit. “Still no regard for nice things, I see.”

Astrit stretched himself out languidly and folded his arms behind the sprawl of her dark red hair with a grin. “I’m regarding you, am I not?”

She gave him a sneer so withering it could have stripped the paint from the walls. Labrusca was not unlike Stellaria–not quite an adult, but by no means some young fool. Sincere flattery hardly ever worked on her, much less when it was so flagrantly empty.

“I’m a lady,” she spat. “And don’t you forget it you cheap wanna-be.”

Caress sucked in her lips to keep from laughing. Astrit liked to tease, but Labrusca was impenetrable and she liked to hit back where she knew it would hurt. Caress could already see Astrit’s usually smug expression souring.

“Alright, alright,” she wheezed. “What idea did you want to propose?”

“I want to undergo a breed change to a pearlcatcher.”

The mirth left Caress as quickly as it had come. “What? Darling, why? Neither your father nor I are pearlcatchers. Did you want to leave the Step and go live in Aphaster proper? They would take you without the breed change.”

“No, I want to stay here, but I think it will be good for the district if it comes out that the next proprietress is a light dragon. Quiet down all those noisy light courts insisting to Lady Telos that she should reign us in, that it’s disgraceful to let a Shadow hub exist on Light territory, blah blah blah…”

“Next…” A smirk tickled the corner of Caress’ mouth. “Next proprietress? That’s quite presumptuous. You do know you’re not my heir, right?”

“Indeed I’m not.” Labrusca grinned, and the twinkle in her eye was not of Lightweaver. “I’ve no intention of you handing it over to me just because I’m your daughter. You’ll give it to me because I’m the best choice.” She held her hands up peaceably. “Of course, that’s a long way off. I have a lot to learn and I know you have no intention of stepping down any time soon.”

“And you have to contend with me,” Astrit growled.

“He’s right,” Caress warned. “I would never let him lay a finger on you if it was anything else, but if you choose direct competition with him–”

“It would tarnish your name and mine to be protected by you, yes. I’m aware. But I don’t intend to lose to an usurper who doesn’t even have the grace to wash his balls and put on a robe for a meeting with his manager. Winning by Shadow rules is part of my proving.”

Caress looked between her daughter and Astrit. The gap between them was wide. In many ways. But her daughter had been the one to throw down the gauntlet. It would be eons–maybe even a full age before she was ready to be a proprietress. But Astrit probably wasn’t going to wait around until she was a legitimate contender. Caress didn’t have to be worried about him because she was very much above his level. Labrusca was brassy, keen, and had the knowledge to pursue this path. But she was still young and without experience.

She leaned back in her chair, and twirled her thumbs. “…Were you intending to also become a courtesan?”

Only that gave Labrusca any kind of pause. Finally, she admitted: “I don’t know.”

Astrit snorted. “So this is nothing but a child’s dream. You have no plan!”

“I’ve already stated my plan, more or less.”

“How are you supposed to become proprietress if you aren’t a courtesan?”

“There’s nothing that says I have to.”

Astrit rolled his eyes and looked beseechingly at Caress, but she merely shrugged. “She’s right. You don’t need to be a courtesan to manage money, property, or workers. Successful networking is also a skill plenty of dragons have without being in the business.”

She rose from her chair and sat by Labrusca’s side on the lounge. Tenderly, she leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I only wanted to know you wouldn’t force yourself just for the position’s sake. The only reason you should make sex work a part of your plan is if you want to.”

Labrusca’s smile was soft and winning and filled with filial pride. “I know, mama. I promise I will be my own kind of proprietress. And whether I do or don’t become a courtesan, I’ll listen to the workers and make sure they continue to be cared for the way I would want to be.”

“Make me those promises later, once you’ve proved yourself. I’ll put out a procurement request for your breed change scroll.”

Labrusca excused herself, and Astrit rose to go after her. His expression betrayed little. He even looked slightly amused in a sort of exasperated way. Like he was about to deal with some minor annoyance that simply couldn’t be helped.  But there was a gleam in those eyes visible even in the near black of the room, and Caress felt a little reality check was due.

“Astrit,” she said just forcefully enough to make him stop. “Labrusca is on the edge of adulthood, but she is still considered juvenile–not even allowed in the district after sundown yet. I hope you’ll remember that and not get carried away. If you do…”

Her eyes took a distinct glow, small and sharp as the light of a cigarette appearing in a pool of shadow that didn’t seem to contain anyone before. A sharp and meaningful aura of animosity gripped Astrit, like a guillotine waiting above his neck on a tense string.

“Not even ash will be left of you.”

[londontheatre]

Punts, Theatre503 – Christopher Adams and Florence Roberts (courtesy of Claudia Marinaro)

Parents always want what is best for their offspring. That’s a pretty fundamental fact of life really. For most parents, it’s fairly simple. Keep the sprog safe and warm, send them to school and provide a safe haven for them as they learn life’s various lessons before they are ready to stretch their wings and fly the nest. However, things are different as Jack has a learning disability. In these cases, Parents not only need to do everything above but will also try and provide as normal a life as possible for their youngster, even if this means doing things they themselves are not entirely happy with. This idea forms the backdrop to Sarah Page’s one-act play Punts at Theatre503.

In a very nice West London house, a young lad is getting ready for an important night. Jack (Christopher Adams), a young man with learning difficulties, is getting dressed with the assistance of his mum Antonia (Clare Lawrence-Moody) and the two of them are discussing the evening’s plans. Antonia goes over the arrangements with Jack again to make sure he fully understands what is going to happen. For tonight, Jack is going to become a man. Antonia and Jack’s father, Alastair (Graham O’Mara), have arranged for a sex worker to come to the house and introduce Jack to the world of lovemaking. Jack is sort of looking forward to it – with the same nervousness men all over the world have the first time – after all, he will now be able to join in the sexually charged banter with his rugby friends. Alastair has some misgivings about the enterprise but when she arrives, Julia (Florence Roberts) turns out to be nothing like his image of a prostitute. She is attractive, intelligent, and articulate and has a real understanding of the job she has been employed to do this evening. After the awkwardness of handing over the money has taken place, Julia goes upstairs to meet Jack and everybody’s life changes from then on.

Wow, this is a good play. Punts author Sarah page has interviewed several sex workers and the play is a result of those conversations. This really shows through the honesty and believability of the story and the characters themselves. The narrative itself is full of humour and moments of really moving emotion as the eighty-five minutes running time shoots past. All four characters are extremely well written and easily identified. The hen-pecked, slightly repressed husband to the professional housewife who wants to be, and in fact is, in control of everything. The mother willing to do anything to support and protect her son, whatever it takes. The worldly-wise prostitute, able to assume any role and fully aware of the way that men can be seduced. And the boy, who wants to be a man and wants to live a normal life but who recognises his own limits and the way he is viewed by the world around him. This is writing at its absolute finest.

Put the writing together with this cast and you have a production that should be winning awards hands down. Christopher Adams is just knock out as Jack. This was character acting at its best as Christopher made Jack a lively young fellow with a real personality that shone through in his time with both his mother Julia. And speaking of Julia, Florence Roberts plays her heart out in this role. Julia is, I suppose, a consummate actress – being whoever her clients want her to be – but making every part she plays seem very real and Florence pulls this off beautifully. There is a wonderful chemistry between Julia and Jack that leaves you wondering if Julia really does have some form of feelings for Jack or whether this is part of a role she is playing for him. Switching to the parent, Claire and Graham are really the ultimate middle-class married couple as Antonia and Alastair. There is a lovely line that Alastair says to Julia when discussing his relationship with Antonia “we skipped the fun years and fast-forwarded to middle-aged” a wonderful sentence that sums up Alastair’s life and the situation he is in. As with Julia, Jack has a lovely chemistry with his parents both separately and together. Overall, this is such a highly talented group of actors that seem to really inhabit their characters superbly.

Jessica Edwards’ direction feels nicely naturalistic and Amelia Jane Hankin’s quite minimalistic set works extremely well as the bedroom and kitchen. I also loved the scene transitions with the outline window frame and the square around the top and bottom of the stage lighting up in what felt like a subtle metaphor of the characters each being trapped in their own box.

So, as you may have guessed reading the above, I absolutely loved Punts. This was a show that tackled a horrendously difficult subject but did so with style and panache. All the elements – writing, production and acting – were perfectly aligned to produce a great piece of theatre that I thoroughly enjoyed and would happily recommend to everyone I know.

Review by Terry Eastham

Jack, a young man with a learning disability, lives at home, cared for by his devoted parents. Like most men in their twenties, he has needs – his mates at the rugby club talk about nothing but getting laid, whilst Jack’s most erotic experience to date is the time he was winked at by the pretty cashier in Lloyds. Desperate for their son to not feel left out, his parents Alastair and Antonia decide that they should to bring in a professional. But Julia, the prostitute they hire, has a far more profound impact on the whole family than they could ever have imagined.

Cast Christopher Adams Clare Lawrence-Moody Graham O’Mara Florence Roberts

Creatives Writer: Sarah Page Director: Jessica Edwards Producers: Holly Hooper & Stuart Slade Designer: Amelia Jane Hankin Sound Designer: Owen Crouch Lighting Designer: Dan Saggars Production Manager: Will Herman Stage Manager: Annabell Arndt Production Assistant: Laura Sedgwick

Kuleshov Theatre and Theatre503 present Punts by Sarah Page Directed by Jessica Edwards Supported by the Unity Theatre Trust https://theatre503.com/

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Ranieri had to go. The way he was sacked was wrong, but not the reasons. This is why

Leicester are back, and back with a vengeance. Their 3-1 demolition of Klopp's luck-lustre Liverpool side divided opinion, as it was always going to do. This match was always going to be a much more complicated matter than merely a game of two sides, two halves. This was, as football so often is, about heroes and villains. Wearing the white hat and represented in the crowd by an assortment of banners and people wearing his cut out mask over their faces was the saintly Claudio Ranieri. The reaction of the crowd was understandable because, putting aside for a moment the rights and wrongs of Claudio's dismissal, what is beyond doubt is the fact that it was handled absolutely appallingly, to the point where it is difficult to imagine how it could have been handled worse. Bearing in mind the coach masterminded the single biggest shock in the history of the Premier League, and probably in the whole of elite football anywhere in the world, there must surely have been something more that Leicester City could have done to soften the blow, something they could have offered, either symbolic or tangible, or both, if they felt the time had come to part company with the Italian. Not surprisingly therefore, the sacking of Leicester's very own 'San Claudio' was greeted by a combination of disbelief, sadness and indignation. "I think they should be building statues to him, not sacking him," said Gary Lineker, a man who knows better than most what it is to feel the love of the Leicester fans. In the other corner sat those perceived by many as the villains of the piece; the players, the bad guys in the black hats; the ingrates, football's 'Oliver Twists', taken from rags to riches by a benevolent, bespectacled, benefactor, before referring to type and biting the hand that had fed them so royally. Probably for the first time in their lives, this was a Liverpool side cast merely as extras in the cliff-hanging episode of a compulsive soap opera. Their role was to administer the ritual spanking to Leicester City's bad boys and send them further towards the abyss, while football's self-satisfied, smug voyeurs watched the denouement before finally proclaiming at the end that, 'justice had been done' and that 'what goes around, comes around'. But as we now know, Leicester's players hadn't read the script. What they did know, however, is that no matter what the result, this was always going to be a no win situation for them. Had they lost 5-0, there would have been a chorus of 'serves you right' from just about everyone including their own fans. Play as they did and win comprehensively, the immediate accusations would be of a bunch of overpaid, spoilt brats who manipulated the situation to get rid of their leader, for whatever reason, before going back to playing the way everyone knew they could all along. It's a wonderful notion apart from one small detail. IT'S WRONG!! There is one golden rule that applies to just about everything, including football, and that is the old adage that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Against Liverpool what we saw was a Leicester that reverted to the style and - with the exception of Onyine Ndidi in for the now departed Kante - the line up that made them such a force last season. All behind the ball and always ready to launch a sharp counter attack. Perhaps, most significantly, Leonardo Ulloa who had claimed that he had been betrayed by Ranieri and would never play for the Foxes again found himself back in the squad. On the back of their success, Leicester City spent more than £70 million on four major signings and, Ndidi apart, Slimani was the only one of the major additions to make it into the squad, albeit as an unused replacement. In order to accommodate the new players brought in by Ranieri what was needed was a change of style, a different approach to the old, behind the ball and then up and at 'em on the counter when the opportunity presented itself. This left Jamie Vardy, so lethal on the counter last season, a mere shadow of the player he was but also failed to make the most of the runs into the area from deep of Shinji Okazaki plus the pace and skill of the previous season's Premier League player of the year, Riyad Mahrez. To accommodate new players changes were made to a winning system. Players felt marginalised, undervalued following their monumental achievements and in that moment the die was cast; the dressing room, if not totally lost, was, at the very least, severely split. The purchase of Islam Slimani represented a huge investment for Leicester City and far and away the clubs record signing. He was never going to come to Leicester merely as a squad player with a role to play and Ranieri was never, not going to play him. Unfortunately the cost to the team of playing their most expensive new asset would prove disastrous. He has managed to score just five goals in 16 appearances with the club, not to mention the division - none of which is personal - that has been caused by his arrival. The inclusion of Slimani up front with Jamie Vardy provided Leicester with two front men but more importantly, left them one light in the middle of the pitch. It was never a system that would work with a Leicester side that previously gave two hoots about possession (they have on occasions won matches with as little as 30% possession) as long as they had the wherewithal to undress sides with their counter attacks which exploited Vardy's red hot pace up front. Ndidi apart, the eleven that started for Leicester against Liverpool were the same side that competed for Nigel Pearson prior to the arrival of Claudio Ranieri. Effectively what we witnessed was a return to where it had all began. Much has been made of the loss of Kante to Chelsea and certainly his performances this season with the London club show just how much of a factor he was in Leicester success. But he is certainly not the only reason for the drop in perfomances seen at the King Power stadium this time around. With new players now in the equation, and the obligation that he felt to play them, Ranieri's fatal error was to live up to his nickname of the 'tinkerman', eventually tinkering his way out of a job. Leicester's success brought with it what seemed almost like an obligation to go out and spend big money to maintain success. While a replacement for Kante certainly had to be found - and time will show whether Ndidi is the player to fill that role - the reality is that the other players brought in at huge cost have had a negative effect on the club. The double whammy is that not only have the new signings not improved things on the pitch they have actually contrived to make them worse. More importantly, players who had fought so hard to achieve what Leicester managed last season, that had put in a shift albeit as squad players, had effectively played their part in re-writing the pages of Premier League history, suddenly felt disrespected and marginalised by the club's new approach which seemed to be telling them, that despite past successes, they were not good enough. Had some of the players felt that those coming in to replace them were in fact better than they were - and players generally know whether or not that is the case - then they may not have liked it, but they certainly would have accepted it. The problem is that they were genuinely not of that opinion. In truth, no one really comes out of the whole saga smelling completely of roses although Leicester's stunning win against Liverpool tells us a number of things. Firstly that this is a Leicester side that really is too good to go down; secondly that maybe the players, whoever they were, had a point when they expressed their dissatisfaction, and thirdly that, in football as in life, it is never, ever, as simple a matter of right or wrong or black or white.