#also! does the right hand read as like- reaching behind to put the fishing pole down?

[doodlboy]

More wip stuff: Panel 2!

[cowboisadness]

Hang ‘Em High {Arthur Morgan x FemOC} Chapter 9

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x FemOC Summery: Belle Hawthorne is high society looking to escape her mean husband. A robbery by the Van Der Linde gang could be her chance. Can she escape his cluches and possibly discover what love should feel like?

Warnings: None

.....

The strong, bitter smell of coffee filled my nose and woke me. My back aches and eyes sting when trying to open them. The faint morning glow stabbing the back of my eyes. A noise from beside me wakes me further. That's when I realised I was laying against something apart from the log at my back. Opening my eyes I'm met with the smouldering fire ahead and Arthur laying right beside me, my head against his shoulder and his head propped up against mine. Arthur stirs and Pearson comes into view, adding a few more sticks to the fire and checking the coffee pot. Groaning from the intense headache and pain in my neck as I sit up, waking Arthur fully as I do so.

“Morning folks. Coffee is ready, no doubt y'all need it.” Pearson grins at us as he pours the coffee into two tin cups.

I look to Arthur, hungover evident in his features as he scowls and lets out a groan. We look at each other, smiling shyly and slightly embarrassed at the whole situation. Pearsons hands us the steaming cups and we murmur our thanks, not even prepared to move ourselves from the floor. We sipped our coffee in silence for a few minutes. Wishing for the intense headache to subside soon and hoping the unease in my stomach won't be the alcohol trying to make an appearance.

“I wanna die” I murmur into my cup

“Me too.” Arthur murmurs back

“I’ve never been that drunk. Does it always hurt like this?”

“More or less” He takes another sip of his coffee

I groan, wondering if this feeling is going to last all day. If so, today is going to be fun, to say the least. I’d love nothing more than to curl up on some bear hides and sleep till dusk.

We sit in silence for a while, as the others slowly wake, some looking just as much of a sorry state as we do. After our second cup Dutch calls for Arthur from his tent and he leaves with a groan to see what he wants. I stayed seated on the floor, not daring to get up as every movement inflicted some variant of ache and the threat of my stomach emptying its contents.

“You look worse than I feel” That Irish tone appeared from nearby at the fire. Sean pouring himself a cup.

“I’m trying not to vomit.” I grinned weakly as I looked up to him. He nodded in understanding, sitting on a crate nearby.

“So, tell me more about how your Knight in shining armour saved you.”

I couldn't help but giggle, my hand shooting to my stomach to ease the sudden and threatening twinge.

“My husband is one mean bastard…”

“You're married?”

“Unfortunately. Arthur, Dutch and Hosea were in the process of robbing him. I got caught up in it. Got out of the gunfight that ensued and asked, well, begged him to take me somewhere else. Passed out due to a few broken ribs and woke up here.”

“Damn what a shit show. You got somewhere you'll be moving onto, or will you be staying with this bunch of degenerates?”

I look around the camp, everyone now up and preparing for the day. Little Jack playing with a bunch of flowers, tongue out in concentration. Abigail watching over him as she collected clothing to be washed. Hosea and Lenny sat at the table playing what looks to be a very competitive game of dominoes. Pearson preparing today's breakfast at the food wagon. Sadie sat on a rock at the edge of the overlook, taking in the views and seemingly lost in thought as the morning sun beams down onto her. Mary-Beth and Tilly stitching garments in their hands, sharing a few laughs between them. Javier sat on his bedroll sharpening and cleaning one of his knives, all his attention on the task in hand. Strauss with his book in hand, that thing seems to be in his grasp as often as a bottle is in Uncles. Arthur stood at Dutches tent, talking about whatever jobs that need doing or what their next move should be to gain more money no doubt. Dutch is rambling on as Arthur listens, hands resting upon his gun belt, nodding along to whatever Dutch is saying to him every so often.

“I think I’ll stay.” I say unsure if I was answering Sean’s question or telling myself.

------

After a few hours of chores and making myself busy around camp, the hangover slowly began to ease. The distraction and the emptying of my stomach by one of the trees in the outskirts definitely helped. It was at that moment I vowed never to drink that excessively again. Lesson learned.

I sat with Jack, watching him play with his two wooden horse toys. He was bored and Abigail had become restless with his constant need for attention and questions so I was doing my best to entertain him to give her a few moments of peace and to complete whatever tasks Miss Grimshaw had asked her to do.

Watching Jack as he played out the story he imagined for his little horses Arthur came over to us. A slight smile on his face as he watched the boy play contently.

“Whatchu up to?”

“Playing”

“Anything fun?”

“I guess”

“You wanna come fishing with me?”

“Fishing?”

“Sure. It’s about time that you started to earn your keep.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Go get your pole then. You do have a fishing pole don't you?”

“I sure do! Uncle Hosea made me one.” Jack stood, little horses and their story now forgotten about in the dirt.

“Well go get it then. Let’s catch us some fish.”

“Yeah!” He almost shouted, running off into the direction of his tent.

We both watched as he went with a little skip in his step. Excited about having something new and different to do.

“You, er, wanna come with?” Arthur said, going through his satchel to pull out his cigarettes. Lifting one to his mouth and then lighting a match with the bottom of his boot.

“Sure. I don't have a pole though. But I could catch a few rabbits or something while there.”

He nodded then made his way over to his horse, giving him a brush down while he waited for me and Jack.

Thankfully we didn't need to go far from camp as the Dakota river was only a minute ride away. Jack sat in front of Arthur and I kept up beside them listening to their conversation. Asking if Jack was feeling better from recently being ill and Jack mentioning a storybook he left back at the camp in Blackwater.

We all dismounted at the riverside, the two boys making their way to the water to ready their poles as I readied my bow. Telling them I won't be far before making my way towards the gathering of trees nearby but far enough away from the dirt roads that noise shouldn't be an issue. It didn't take long to find a few Black-Tailed Rabbits hanging around the area, as well as a few squirrels running through the bushes and up the trees.

I knelt in an area void of sticks or piles of dead leaves, skimming my eyes over land ahead of me, waiting for that unsuspected rabbit to place itself in my line on sight.

Four rabbits later I returned to the boys at the river. Jack now sat nearby, flowers in his hands and a pile at his feet. A child that age doesn't seem to have the attention span for something like Fishing, something that takes a little patience. We should have known he would have gotten bored of it quickly.

“Catch many?”

“Uncle Arthur has!”

I smiled at Jack and walked over to Arthur who was currently battling a fish as we speak.

“Can I borrow your knife to skin these? I still don't have one.” I said as I held up my catch.

“Sure. It's on my belt.” He pulled on the rod, seeming to get frustrated that this stubborn fish wouldn't give up.

I sat a little aways from Jack, glancing over to see him delicately chain each little red flower together. His tongue sticking out from intense concentration.

For a few moments, it was quiet and peaceful as I skinned and salvaged the usable meat. Arthur muttering praises then whispered curses to the fish he finally reeled onto dry land. Holding them up to get a good look before throwing the back into the river.

“Hey, look at this.” Jack proclaims, holding up the completed chain of red flowers as far as his little arms to reach.

“At what?” Arthur says, kneeling in front of Jack to see his creation.

“This necklace I made.”

“Necklace?”

“For Momma. I made one for you too Miss Bella.” He grabbed another chain of red flowers from his side, handing it over to me.”

Putting down the knife and rubbing my bloodied hands on my pants I then reached out to take it. A smile beaming on my face and heart swelling twice its size at this adorable and thoughtful gift. “Thank you, Jack. It’s beautiful.” I place the necklace over my head for it to lay around my neck as delicately as possible. Worried that I might pull it apart accidentally. Thankfully I don't. A necklace like this is more valuable than any gold or jewels and should be treated as such.

In these few moments, we are seemingly so distracted by what is going on that none of us noticed two men appear nearby on horses until one of them speaks.

“What a fine young man…” One man says as he strides towards us, dressed in fine clothing. Bowler upon his head and a badge on his lapel. “And in such complex circumstances. Arthur, isn't it? Arthur Morgan?”

The other man dismounts his horse and cocks his rifle. Not saying a word but striding towards us too. Weapon rested on his shoulder. A badge adorning his lapel also.

The three of us stand to the attention of these unwanted strangers. Arthur ushering Jack to stand behind him. “Who are you?” Arthur says, an air of confusion and wariness in his voice

“Yes, Arthur Morgan. Van der Linde’s most trusted associate. You've read the files, typical case, orphaned street kid seduced by that maniac's silver tongue and matures into a degenerate murderer.” He turns to his friend beside him, both nodding in agreement.

“Agent Milton. Agent Ross. Pinkerton Detective Agency seconded to the United States Government.” They finally introduce themselves, taking slow but sure steps closer towards us. My heart starts racing, cursing myself for leaving my gun back at camp. I look down to the knife still on the floor beside me along with the rabbit remains. I’m sure Arthur could deal with them himself if it came to it but with Jack here it was too much of a risk. There is no way I could bend down to pick it up now with both their beady eyes on us, watching our every move. If I went for it when and if shooting started that would leave Jack more in the open and more at risk. Instead, I keep it in my sights and hope it doesn't come to that.

“Nice to finally meet. We know a lot about you.”

“Do ya?”

“You’re a wanted man, Mr Morgan. Five thousand dollars for your head alone.”

“Five thousand dollars? For me? Can I turn myself in?”

“We want Van der Linde.”

“Old Dutch? I haven't seen him for months.”

“That so? Because I heard a guy fitting his description robbed a train belonging to Leviticus Cornwall up near Granite Pass.”

“Oh, ain’t that a little old fashioned nowadays?” He huffs a laugh.

“Apparently not. Listen, this is my offer, Mr Morgan. Bring in Van der Linde and you have my word, you won’t swing.”

“Oh, I ain’t gonna swing anyways Agent, um…”

“Milton.”

“You see, I haven’t done anything wrong aside from not play the games to your rules.”

“Spare me the philosophy lesson, I've already heard it. From Mac Callander.”

“Mac Callander?”

“He was pretty shot up by the time I got to him so really it was more of a mercy killing. Slow. But merciful.”

Arthur fling the pole he was still holding to the ground, losing his composure but still trying to keep some sort of calm when given this information. His fists balling at his sides but keeping one close to the holster at his side. Jack jumps and gasps at the sudden outburst so I grab his shoulder with one hand to gently guide him to stand behind me.

“You enjoy being a rich man's toy do ya!?” There is a low growl to his voice, fury slowly pooling out with every word.

“I enjoy society, flaws and all. You people venerate savagery and you will die savagely! All of you.” The Agent gets up closer to Arthur, pointing his finger in his face to try and be imposing towards the man that is twice his size and could possibly snap him like a twig.

“ Oh, we're all gonna die, Agent”

“Some of us sooner than others. Good day, Mr Morgan.” With that, he turns and walks away. It wasn't till now that I realised the other Agent had his rifle up and aimed at Arthur and by the looks of it, Arthur might not have noticed either as he kept his eyes on the one now with his back turned. The other man starts to back away keeping his eyes on us but slowly lowering his weapon to the ground.

“Enjoy your fishing kid. While you still can.” It's all he says before turning as well. Both of them mounting their horses and riding off. Neither I or Arthur took our eyes off the two men until they were clearly out of sight.

“Who were they?” A little voice pulls us back, Jack now moving from behind us.

“No one to worry about, no one at all. Come on, let’s pack up your things and get home.” Arthur places his hands on Jack to steer him away. All of us collecting our belongings and mounting up as quickly as possible.

My heart began to slow as we mounted and made our way back but I had questions and it seemed Jack had a few too. He has a bounty on his head? And five thousand dollars no less? It can't be true. How would he get a bounty of that sum? I was told by Mary-Bath that they all lived near Blackwater before having to leave quickly but she never said why. I never had a reason to ask. I always knew travellers and outlaws moved from place to place quite frequently and some were known to be right bastards that needed to be hanged for the horrific crimes they committed but...this gang ain't like those, they don't hurt and kill for the simple fun of it. Maybe I should ask him at some point. My logic being if I am to stay and live amongst them I should know what to say or how to act if the Pinkertons come around again. I should know what I’m truly getting myself into.

We made it back to camp quickly, Arthur looking around us momentarily to make sure we had not been followed. He let down Jack before dismounting and making his way over to Dutch with urgency.

Whatever questions I have, they could wait for now.

[jaxsteamblog]

Aurora

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

And it was over.

Zuko took time to help her move during the week and on Saturday, Sokka closed up the Ice Blossom and drove the big truck to move the pieces she couldn’t break down. In the evening, as she washed away their sore muscles, they all sat at Katara’s kitchen table and shared the various cartons of take out.

They ate by candlelight as the electric company had not switched over her account like she asked.

It was awkward for more than that, as they all knew what the next day was.

Katara’s summer was over, though there was still a week left before her classes began. All of them were about to head up to the North Pole for the Avatar’s debut and, even worse, the Fire Lord was coming along.

They slept over and in the morning, they went together to the airport. Despite the impending three day ordeal, their luggage was light. All of their fancy attire would already be there and waiting for them.

Flying to the North Pole was a lot easier for Katara, mostly due to the fact that they boarded a private plane. Iroh met them at the airport, coordinating with Zuko about when they would be meeting up with Azula and the Fire Lord.

The thought that she would soon be face to face with the man behind her mother’s death was, for the lack of a better word, odd. The degrees of separation between the Fire Lord’s order and Kya’s death passed through so many people, it was difficult for Katara to connect the two. Still, having to meet him made her feel queasy.

Everything was moving so fast, and Katara took her first breath of the day on the plane. It was as if the past few weeks had swept by her in a gust of wind. Her head spinning, Katara gripped her armrests and tried to focus on the small porthole window.

Hopefully the next five days would pass quickly and without incident.

Multiple cars were parked on the tarmac and their plane taxied slowly over to them. A stairway was wheeled over and as the door to the plane opened, the cars similarly opened. Most of them were guards, but Hakoda stepped out of one, smoothing down the sleeves of his parka.

“Hey, there they are!” Hakoda greeted as Sokka and Suki emerged from the plane. “Let me see my soon to be daughter-in-law!”

Katara followed after them and watched as Suki hugged her father. She hesitated before walking over and was distracted by a loud calling. Looking around, Katara finally peered upward, shielding her eyes from the sun still clinging to the horizon.

A Sky Bison banked and landed in a turn, facing the rest of them and stomping some of its tree trunk legs.

“Hi Katara!” Rohan’s voice bellowed from over the Sky Bison’s head. There was a flurry of orange as multiple people jumped down using their airbending.

Still breathing, Katara smiled. It didn’t seem likely that the time would pass slowly now.

It was dark when Zuko found her.

A dinner was being held for just the guests of honor, and drinks were being served. The Avatar was in conversation with Arnook and Tenzin, while the Fire Lord was standing with her father, Iroh, and Azula. It was too much and, with dinner still yet to be called, she had to escape.

It was the end of summer, so the North Pole was heading quickly into the dark season. The sun was only up for a few hours and lingered at the horizons, but evening fell quickly. So it wasn’t surprising that Katara stood in twinkling darkness before suppertime.

“I am not used to it being this dark but not feeling tired.” Zuko said as he walked up to her. Most of the building was made of wood and stone, but the balcony was pure ice. Zuko looked uneasy as he stepped on it, despite the grit the architect had added.

“It’s worse when the sun doesn’t go down at all. My bending is all out of wack then.” Katara replied.

“Sounds like Firebender perfection.”

“Don’t like the moon?”

“I prefer the ocean.”

Katara rolled her eyes and turned, crossing her arms on the railing just as Zuko stood next to her. He, like every other Firebender that came to the Poles, was dressed lightly. It was a mark of weakness if they needed arctic clothing, and while Katara understood that their inner fire kept them warm, it also greatly annoyed her.

It was as if they were saying they were better suited to living in her home than she was.

“So the Avatar seems nice?” Zuko offered. Katara glanced back briefly and nodded.

“She is. She definitely seems interested in being your friend.” She said.

“It surprised me too. I wasn’t prepared for her to get political so quickly.” Zuko replied. “But she wants Azula to teach her firebending.”

“You’re kidding!” Katara scoffed and Zuko smiled.

“It makes sense. If she cozies up to me, it gives me a leg-up on the global stage. But by having Azula be her teacher, she doesn’t risk ticking off my father too much.” He explained.

“About him…”

“What?”

“Does he always look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like he has a rod jammed up his backside but instead of taking it out, he just gets offended that you haven’t impaled yourself?”

A laugh burst from Zuko and he quickly covered his mouth.

“That is definitely one way to put it.” He said.

“I can find other ways.” Katara offered and Zuko chuckled.

“I’d rather you not.” He said.

They stood in silence, looking out over the snowy courtyard. Everywhere she looked was snow and ice. With no humidity, the lampposts and streetlights didn’t glow, but stood like beacons of crisp white brilliance. The snow and ice itself glowed, coloring the light blue.

When it got truly dark, people would begin to carry around lanterns that were as old as their tribe.

“I hate being here.” Katara said suddenly and Zuko faced her.

“As in tonight or just in general?” He asked.

“In general.” She shook her head and tucked some of her hair behind an ear. “It reminds me of horrible things, yet I spend all of my time needing to go to the Oasis.”

“Then let’s go.” Zuko said.

“And be late to dinner?” Katara asked.

“Let’s cause a scandal. I don’t really want to eat with my father.” He replied. Smiling, Katara took his hand.

“We can be quick.” She said and pulled up a massive ice ramp from the snow on the ground.

Katara raced them both around the palace and to the high walls that guarded the Oasis. Out of respect, Zuko insisted they use the door and the guards let them pass. It was going to be hard to deny Katara entry when she harbored a link with one of the spirits being guarded.

Zuko seemed in awe of the place and Katara watched peacefully as he walked around. She went to the pond and sat down, not looking at the fish beside her but neither was she ignoring them.

After marvelling at the plantlife, Zuko walked to her and sat next to her.

“How do you feel?” He asked.

“Calm.” Katara said with a smile. She then grinned and leaned toward him.

“Want to see something weird?” She asked. Zuko only nodded and Katara sat back, putting her hand into the pond.

She couldn’t see it, but the look on Zuko’s face told her what was happening.

“Whenever my link to La is active, my hair turns black.” She said.

“But at the beach-” Zuko started, still staring at her hair.

“My hair was wet, you wouldn’t have noticed it.” She said and then turned to look at the fish. As they swam by, Katara put out her hand and let them pass under. Their scales felt like silk.

It was while she looked down that she saw the reflection of the sky.

“Zuko.” She said with a gasp and looked up, pointing as she did.

Green light spilled over the dark sky like trickles of water. The lines themselves also bled upward, illuminating a three dimensional space that made the vast sky a maw of darkness. The lights shimmered and Katara turned, lying on her back to watch them. Zuko joined her on the grass, his hands under his head.

“Now that is cool.” He said.

“Everything is so beautiful here, I wish I was happier.” Katara murmured.

“Are you not happy?” Zuko asked.

“I am, right now.” She said and turned her face. She was looking at Zuko’s scar and felt impelled to reach out. His eye fluttered, but he didn’t move away and Katara lightly touched the burn. At her touch, he closed his eyes and Katara rolled onto her side.

“I think here, of all places, I could heal you.” She whispered.

Zuko smiled.

“No. Right now, I’m happy too.” He said.

Katara took back her hand and leaned over as he opened his eyes. Zuko reached up with one hand, putting on the back of her head as she dipped in to kiss him. As her lips met his, she turned herself, and he sat up, holding her. They curled around each other as Katara ended up with her arms around his neck; his wrapped around her middle.

As they broke apart, Katara felt her arms pull against him and he pushed her up.

“We should probably go to dinner.” He murmured.

Sighing, Katara rested her forehead against his.

“Fine.” She put down an arm and pushed herself up, allowing Zuko to stand.

“May I escort you, your Highness?” He asked, offering his arm.

Katara only stuck out her tongue before linking her arm with his.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

[sojourntime-aux]

Day 6 (August 7th): Life’s Perks –  With no worlds to save or Heartless to battle, how do they spend their free time? What are their hobbies or talents? Give us that slice of life goodness!

I'm not the best at writing slice of life stuff but I gave it a shot. Also I kinda went a little off prompt, since I've already talked a lot everyone's hobbies and talents! So enjoy Day 6! @khoc-week

-----

"Hey Kathrynn, back just in time! Come check this one out!" Tagen called to his friend, making the girl in question come sit down next to him on the sand.

"What to you think it's from?" She asked, eyeing the tiny piece of worn bone that Tagen had sifted out of the sand and was now holding up to show her.

"A Heartless maybe?" He replied, half joking as he adding it to the jar of other things he'd found today. Kathrynn snorted.

"A Heartless? Do Heartless even have bones?" Tagen join in laughing, adding another pile of sand from the hole he had dug, onto his homemade sifter. Kathrynn looked back over her shoulder calling a little ways up the shore to her friends. "Tabby, Tabitha! What do you think? Are these Heartless bones Tagen is digging up?"

Tabby glanced over from where he was further along the shoreline, next to the few fishing poles he had anchored in the sand. He gave Kathrynn a confused look before going back to his fishing endeavours. Tabitha didn't seem to notice her friend calling to her, she had her nose to far in her notebook. Kathrynn laughed, rolling her eyes playfully, before turning back to Tagen.

"So how far did you walk?" He asked, already working on sifting down the next scoop of sand.

"Until I could see the end on the island, then I turned back, so I wouldn't be away from you guys too long." Kathrynn replied, helping him pick out the larger bits of shell.

"That far? Really? So did you find anything cool?"

"Some nice shells, even some spiral ones, or at least pieces. And plenty of the kind Tabitha likes." She looked back over at at her friend. "Heeey Tabitha~" Kathrynn flicked a little sand Tabitha's way, startling her freind and making Tabitha pout slightly.

"Hey! You're gonna get sand in my notebook!" She whined. Kathrynn only chuckled.

"Uh then you shouldn't have brought it to the beach? There nothing but sand here Tabitha! Of course it's gonna get some in it!" Tagen called back to her. Tabitha only huffed, closing her notebook. She then set it aside and stood up, stretching a moment before stepping out from under the large beach umbrella and walking down the sand to her friends. Moldy OJ only picked its head up for a moment to see where its owner was going, before curling back up.

"Check this these out Tabitha." Kathrynn pulled some shells out from the small bucket she had next to her, and held them out. "There are lots of red ones." Tabitha took one in her hand, running her fingers over the grooves. Tabitha always liked the shells Kathrynn found wandering the beach. She liked making things out of the ones with the little holes.

Suddenly Tabby let out an excited help behind them, making everyone turn their eyes. On the end of one his lines was a good size fish, and Tabby was looking pretty proud of himself. "One more, and we will have a enough for dinner."

"Sounds great!" Tagen said, giving him a grin. "Let me know when youre ready for my help with cooking."

"Alright, sure!" Tabby said, recasting the line he had just reeled in, now that it was bated again.

"I don't understand how you can spend all day fishing Tabby, we are supposed to be here relaxing." Kathrynn said, giving her friend a teasing smile.

"This is relaxing for me, I like fishing. Plus maybe you should talk to Tabitha about not relaxing today." Tabby replied, returning the smile, and chuckling at at the look Tabitha gave him.

"Yeah, you're right. Weren't you supposed to bring other books to read, and not your notebook?" Kathrynn turned to give Tabitha a playful shove.

"Heeey! Aren't you guys the ones who just said that any book I brought would end up with sand in it...?" Was Tabitha's defense. It made her friends all laugh, making Tabitha let out a huff and flop back onto the sand. "I'm going to end up buuuurnnned! What am I supposed to do?"

"Go swimming?" Tagen suggested.

"That won't stop me from getting burned!"

"But the burns will be worth it!"

Tabitha sat up, and reached into shallow water at their feet and splashed him, before laying back down again.

Tagen put the sand sifter aside, shoving the extra sand back into the hole he had dug. He then stretched out his legs and stared out at the water before them. "So find anything else cool, Kathrynn?" Tagen asked, leaning back on his hands.

"Yeah actually, I found something you'll like. I think it's the bone of a sea star." She took the nearly complete starfish skeleton out of the bucket.

"Wait, The ocean has stars too? Are you sure they didn't just fall out of the sky?" Tabitha asked, sitting up to look at the thing in kathrynns hand.

"It was a living thing at one point, Tabitha. Most of what I find are from things like sea stars, if they arent teeth. But I guess those are from living things too." Tagen said holding up his jar.

"Well aren't the stars living things?" Tabitha replied. The comment made all four friends look up at the sky at the few stars they could see in the pale unchanging.

"Kathrynn?" Tagen prodded after a moment.

"I-I don't know. I just know which stars are named which, and what pictures they make. I don't know what they really are. I'm not sure anyone does..."

-ERROR-

"Mmm something smells delicious!" Kathrynn greeted her friend who was waiting by the fountain with a small picnic basket over her shoulder.

"I made Tabitha's favorite. Hopefully they'll still be warm when she gets here." The girl replied. Kathrynn chuckled in response, looking around the square to keep an eye out for the girl in the question.

"I'm sure she'll love them either way. She always loves your baking. It's always good. Weeell after you're done experimenting with the recipe."

"Why thank yo- hey!" The other girl was halfway through an over exaggerated bow in thanks, which she stopped to give Kathrynn a playful shove. "You should be honoured to be my taste tester! I could always give the job to Tabitha."

"And have Tabitha constantly burning her mouth? No way!"

"I don't burn my mouth that often!... Only cause it smells so good." Tabitha was looking at the two with mock hurt, having just arrived. Kathryn started snorting, leaning against the edge of the fountain. The other girl shook her head with a smile, stepping forward to give Tabitha a hug.

"What took you so long, sugar? I was worried these would go cold if you didn't get here soon." She opened up the picnic basket to show off the freshly made chocolate raspberry cupcakes, making Tabitha's eyes go wide.

"Oh those look amazing!" Tabitha replied, bouncing on her feet a little.

"Then I guess we better get moving, before they actually go cold." Kathrynn piped up. "To the hiking trails?" The other two nodded, before following Kathrynn out of the square.

"Y'know, maybe one of these days we should take the ferry out to island. Go to the beach." Kathryn piped up as they walked.

"And get sand in my baking? No thank you." The other girl replied. "What do you think Tabitha?"

"Don't boats makes people sick?"

"Only some people, there's really no way to know until you get on one." The girl replied.

"Oh. But why would you want to find out?"

"The beach, Tabitha! There's an actual beach the ferry goes to! With shells, and shore, and tide pools, and probably a million more stars a night!" Kathrynn gestured her arms to the morning sky.

"Whoa whoa whoa, the ferry doesn't run after dark! If we went wouldn't it just be for the day?" The girl turned to look at Kathrynn, a little shocked by what she was saying.

"Well why couldn't we camp out there at night?"

"Um the Heartless that's why!"

"Isn't that what our keyblades are for?" Tabitha piped up. Kathrynn gave a little bounce, smiling, and gesturing to Tabitha.

"See~, Tabitha's on board."

"I didn't say that.." Tabitha gave Kathrynn a look in response. The other girl pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked.

"We'll go for the day, and if it looks fine, we'll talk about going back and camping, another time." The girl glanced around, before leaning in close to Tabitha and Kathrynn. "You know the heartless have gotten more and more dangerous, everything has been crazy lately." She said in a lowered voice as they walked.

"That's why we should go. This could be one of our last chances to go!" Kathrynn said, making a shard of panic stick in the other girl's heart. It must have been visable on her face because Kathrynn put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Relax, I just meant with the Heartless getting stronger, you might be right, and we should go before that becomes the truth." The girl nodded, glancing over at Tabitha, before turning her gaze to her footsteps.

There were a few moments of silence between the group, but the girl knew what they were all thinking. 'If that is the truth we are headed for.'

"Can we talk about this later?" Tabitha broke the silence. "Today was supposed to be our relax day."

"Agreed!" Kathrynn and the other almost shouted in unison, before giving each other a smile.

"C'mon, let's get a move on! We've still got a long walk ahead of us!" Kathrynn said, skipping on ahead, leaving Tabitha and the other girl behind.

"Wait up!!"

[smlyds]

Sam x Reader (stardew valley)

Dandelion

Chapter 3

The next day, I woke up in the early morning and planted my new seeds and watered my crops. I also noticed I had some mail. One was a fifty dollar check for some sap and fiber I sold the day before and a letter from the joja mart in the east side of the town. I put the money in my wallet and decided to go to the town again to see if anyone had posted a request. The walk was as peaceful as the day before with the morning light shining through the trees, the birds singing and the quiet patting of my feet in the soft dirt. When I reached the town, I looked at my watch and realized it was still really early, only 8:26. That meant nothing would be open for another half an hour. I sighed and continued to the bulletin board with the calendar and request section. On the requests, a small paper was pinned that said,

If it’s not too much trouble, I would like someone to bring me a Joja Cola after my shift at Joja Mart. I will give you 3 dollars. Bring it to me at my house around 2:30! Thanks!

-Sam

I took it down and took and put it in my journal, deciding to buy a cola from the saloon for him. I still had about 6 hours until then, though, so I decided to spend some time at the beach, which lay at the southern end of the town. I walked through the town square, then the small graveyard and to the bridge over the river that led to the beach. It was a very nice beach. A small cabin was built in one corner, where Elliot lived. The sunlight shimmered off the water as waves crashed against the sand. A fishing dock stretched into the ocean, and a small building was built and the far end of it. I walked around the beach and found some shells, which I placed in my backpack, then decided to see what the building was at the end of the dock. I walked down it, the old wood creaking and bending slightly under my weight, which made me uneasy. When I reached it, I opened the door to see a small fishing shop. It had bait, fish and fishing poles all over. At the end of the small room, behind a counter, a tall man with a gray beard and a red hat and jacket stood.

“Hello there! Yer’ new here aren’tcha?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m (y/n),” I said.

“Well I’m Willy. It’s good to meet’cha!” He said with a hearty laugh. “So, d’you have a fishin’ pole?”

“No, I can’t say I do,” I responded, hoping he wouldn’t try to convince me to buy one. I was really bad at refusing things, so I knew I would spend what little money I had on a fancy fishing pole if he suggested I do.

“I just got a nice fiberglass pole, so If you’d like, ya can have me old bamboo pole,” he said, picking up the bamboo fishing pole he had referred too.

“Oh, I would feel bad to take that,” I said, though I did want it.

“I don’t need it, so there’s no reason to feel bad,” he said, handing it to me, and J took it.

“Are you sure it’s alright?” I asked, to which he replied with a smile and a nod. “Okay! I guess I will go fish then!” I said, walking out the door. I then proceeded to fish until 2:10, getting tons of great catches I could sell, then left the beach and bought a Joja Cola to bring Sam. After buying it, I checked my watch and saw that it was 2:25, so I walked quickly to Sam’s house, and thoughtlessly knocked on the door, taking out the note with the request. Today, a young boy with reddish hair and brown eyes who seemed to be about 7 answered the door.

“Hello stranger!” he said.

“Hi! Is Sam here?” I asked the boy.

“Yeah, I will go get him,” the boy responded, going back into the house. A moment later Sam stepped out, and I felt myself get a little nervous.

“Hey there Farmer!” He said in a bright and cheery tone.

“U-um, hi,” I said awkwardly. “I saw your request on the bulletin board.” I said, handing him the Joja Cola.

“Oh, cool! I’ll go get my wallet,” he said, almost going back inside.

“You don’t need to pay me, it was only a dollar,” I said quickly.

“Well, on the request, I said I would, so I am going to stick to that,” he said with a smile.

“Well, then I will just use that 3 dollars to buy you a pizza or something,” I said stubbornly.

“Alright, then let’s get some pizza, on me.”

“Huh?”

“I will go get my wallet,” he said, smirking at me and going inside. After a moment, I processed what he had suggested and started to blush. He quickly came outside and said, “alright, let’s go to the Saloon!”

“A-alright,” I said, walking with him down the street and through the town square to the Saloon. “Also, let’s sit at the bar, because the chairs are tall and it’s more fun that way.”

I smiled at that suggestion, as I always felt the same way when picking where to sit.

“Thank you, for the pizza,” I said quietly, still blushing, but trying my best to hide it.

“No problem! This seemed like a good opportunity to make a new friend so I thought I should take it,” he said happily. He quickly ordered a pizza from the Saloon’s owner, Gus.

“So, have you lived here your whole life?” I asked in an attempt to make small talk.

“Nope, I moved here from Zuzu City about 6 years ago,” Sam said.

“Oh really? Do you prefer it here,” I asked curiously.

“I think I probably prefer the city. Things seem to move slower here. There are some nice things though,” he said, pausing before continuing. “I might move back to the city once I have enough money saved.”

“That makes sense. I guess the country isn’t for everyone,” I said, a little disappointed.

“Of course, that’s just a maybe right now. I might stay. Anyways, why did you move here?” Sam asked.

“I got tired of working an office job and remembered a letter my grandfather left me that he said to read when I was tired of modern life, and it had the will to the farm, so I decided to pack my bags and go,” I said, resting my chin on my hands.

“Wow! I wish I could do something as spontaneously as that,” he said, seeming amazed, which didn’t make sense to me. “I couldn’t do that though,” he said, looking a little sad.

“It hasn’t been all that great, so don’t worry to much about the idea of it. If anything, I wish I had planned more,” I said in response.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right! It does seem like it would be kind of stressful,” he said with a laugh, his mood restored. I smiled.

“Here’s your pizza!” Gus said, placing a medium sized pizza between the two of us with two small plates.

“Thanks Gus!” Sam said happily. “Pizza is my favorite,” he said, taking a slice. I got one as well and took a bite.

“Wow! That’s really good!” I said, taking another bite.

“Yeah! Gus’s pizza is the best,” he said, already having eaten half of his slice, sauce smeared on his lips. I let out a small giggle. He laughed and said, “Y’know, you’re a lot of fun! We should hang out more!” I blushed and continued eating my pizza. We spent the rest of the day talking about random things, and I learned a few things about Sam, like how his favorite color is blue, he plays guitar and sings, his favorite drink is Joja Cola and that he has a younger brother named Vincent.

I spent the remainder of the day in my room doodling and thinking about how much fun I’d had with Sam. I hoped we would be able to do something like that again. With that thought, I went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, the sun shining through the window of my one room house. It felt so serene as I stood up from my bed, which loudly creaked in reaction. I spent the morning farming and weeding, only to remember I needed to meet Emily at 10:30 with only 15 minutes to make it to town. Panicked, I ran down the path to town and made it to her house on time, my breath uneven and shallow. I looked at my watch, which read 10:28, and knocked on the door. A girl with blonde hair answered.

“Who’re you?” She said in a rude tone.

“I’m (y/n),” I said, pausing to breathe. “I’m here to have tea with Emily.”

“Oh, okay I guess, come inside and I’ll get her.” I walked in and took my boots off, looking around. It was decorated normally, with a bookshelf, and a coffee table which was surrounded by a small couch and a chair. The blonde girl, who had failed to introduce herself, walked to another room and came back a moment later with Emily.

“Hello, (y/n)!” She said, smiling cheerfully, bright red lipstick lining her small lips. “Take a seat. Oh! What’s your favorite kind of tea?”

“Thank you, I like peppermint tea. I hope that’s alright,” I said, sitting on a yellow chair next to the coffee table.

“I like peppermint tea, so it won’t be an issue. Haley, would you mind making the tea? I wouldn’t want to leave (y/n) by herself to wait,” She said to the blonde girl.

“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes and going back into the room she went to to get Emily.

“Sorry about her, she can be kind of rude. She’s my younger sister Haley, by the way,” Emily said, sitting on the small couch.

“She’s been fine, so it’s really no problem,” I said, feeling a little awkward.

“So, how are you liking Stardew Valley?” She asked.

“It’s nice here. Most of the people are very friendly, and farming has been a lot better than I expected,” I said in response.

“That’s good! We only moved here about 5 years ago,” She said.

“Oh really? Where did you move from?” I asked.

“Calico desert. It’s a lovely place,” She said, looking nostalgic.

“I’m sure it is,” I said. “I just moved from the city.”

“I can’t blame you for that. I’ve never liked the city. Too harmful to the environment,” She said in a serious tone, and Haley came in, setting out tea down. I quickly picked up my cup.

“That makes sense,” I said in response.

“Have you made any friends here yet,” Emily asked.

“Kind of,” I said, pausing for a moment. “Jodi is nice. I talked to her a bit. Also Sam is... nice,” I said, my cheeks warming as J looked into my tea. Emily giggled at me.

“I suppose you could say that. Sam is a good guy,” She said, smiling at me. I could feel my heart beat a little faster.

“Yeah. He got me pizza yesterday. It was so much fun,” I responded enthusiastically. Emily giggled again, and I started to take a sip of my tea.

“I hope I’m not overstepping any bounds, since we aren’t close friends or anything yet, but do you have a crush on Sam?” Hearing her words, I immediately choked on my tea and started blushing immensely . “Ah, sorry, are you okay?” Emily asked, sounding a bit worried. I coughed a few times.

“Y-yeah, I’m okay,” I said, though I was very embarrassed. “Also, your question was fine. I don’t think I have a crush on him, considering I barely know him,” I answered, but in that moment I knew I was lying through my teeth.

“Alrighty, if you say so,” Emily replied suspiciously. I could feel heat rising to my ears.

“Well, I have to go,” I said, downing my tea and setting the cup down. Emily laughed at me.

“Bye, then,” She said as I walked out of the door. I closed it behind me, closing my eyes to take a deep breath, only to be met by those gorgeous green eyes with blue and yellow specks. “S-Sam!” I shouted in surprise.

“Hey there, (y/n)!” He said cheerfully. I felt embarrassed knowing my face was still bright red. “Are you alright?”

“O-Oh, yeah, it’s just a bit hot,” I said, fanning myself, even though I thought it was very nice out.

“It is a bit hot. Anyway, I’m on my way to hang out with Abigail and Sebastian, so I gotta go! Bye, farmer,” He said happily, starting to jog away. I felt a pang of jealousy, wishing I could hang out with them too.

“Bye!” I said, giving him a weak wave.

“Don’t like him that way, huh?” I gasped, turning around to see Emily giggling at me.

“When did you come out here?” I asked, spooked from her sudden appearance.

“I have been here the whole time. You would’ve noticed if you weren’t so enraptured by Sam,” she said teasingly.

“I am not!” I said, lying to her once again.

“Alrighty. Just know, my door is always open if you wanna talk about it,” She said, ducking back into her house and closing the door. I blushed and decided to go home to collect my thoughts about the whole situation.

The walk home was long, and I felt uneasy the entire time. When I got home, I farmed and thought everything over, berating myself for getting a crush so easily on someone I didn’t even know. In the evening, I left the farm to go get something to eat from the saloon. When I arrived, the jukebox was playing a cheery tune. I sat at the bar and asked for some pancakes.

“You got it!” Gus said with enthusiasm, cooking them at a stove only a few feet away after handing me a small glass of water. I watched bubbles drift up from the side of the water in silence as I waited. “Y’know, I don’t know you, but you seem troubled.”

“How could you tell?” I asked.

“Running a saloon and seeing so many people makes it easy to read people’s moods,” Gus said, flipping a pancake. “If you don’t mind, can I ask what’s bothering you?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just something dumb,” I said with a sigh.

“I know what it’s about!” Emily said, and I suddenly noticed her organizing wine bottles a few feet away.

“Emily?” I said in surprise.

“I work here, by the way,” she said.

“I figured,” I said in an accidentally rude tone.

“Well, if you don’t want to share, you don’t need to,” Gus said, handing me a plate of perfectly made pancakes.

“Thanks. These look amazing, by the way,” I said, taking a bite. “Mmm! Yummy!”

“Thanks! It’s taken years to perfect the art of the pancake,” he said in a serious tone. “Well, you seem to be okay again,” he said happily.

“Yeah, I feel much better than I did before,” I said, eating the pancakes faster, when the door opened with a creaking sound.

“Hey Gus!” A voice I recognized quite well said.

“Hey Sam,” Gus said in response, hearing Emily giggle at me in response the the redness suddenly coloring my cheeks. “What can I get you?”

“Could I get a Joja Cola?” He asked, sitting down next to me, giving me a quick wave.

“Of course!” Gus said, shooting me a glance, wondering what was wrong as he poured a glass of Joja Cola for Sam. “Are you okay? You’re kind of red?” He asked.

“Yeah, you were pretty red earlier, too,” Sam said.

“I-I’m fine!” I said quickly, looking at my glass of water.

“Are you sure? If you feel sick at all, you should go home,” Gus said.

“Really, I’m fine,” I said, and Emily laughed again.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Emily said, smirking at me, and I glared at her.

“Well, okay then,” Gus said, looking a bit suspicious.

“It’s good you’re alright,” Sam said, smiling and taking a sip of the Joja cola. I took a deep breath.

“Yeah, it would suck if I got sick,” I said, looking at my pancakes to avoid eye contact. I knew if I looked him in the eyes, I would be blushing even more than I already was.

“I don’t mind getting sick too much,” he said. “When I’m sick I don’t have to work,” He laughed at the end.

“Oh, where do you work?” I asked curiously, taking a bite of my pancakes.

“I work at the Joja mart,” he said, and I found myself looking at him frowning.

“I worked at Joja in the city, the jobs there suck,” I responded.

“Really? You must like farming better,” he responded.

“Farming is so much better! It’s a lot of work but it doesn’t suck your soul out like Joja does,” I said, stopping in response to Sam’s laughter. He really had a nice laugh, and it made me happy that I caused it. My cheeks started to warm once more.

“You’re funny, (y/n)!” He said, drinking the last of his cola and handing Gus money for it. “I have to go, so I will talk to you later!” He waved goodbye and walked out of the saloon, and my cheeks were burning from the unexpected compliment.

Once the door closed, Gus said, “so you like Sam, then?”

“Is it really that obvious,” I asked.

“Yes,” Gus and Emily said in unison. I blushed and sighed.

“I really hope Sam can’t tell,” I said, stressfully eating my pancakes.

“He is kind of dense, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Gus said, and I giggled in response.

“That’s a relief,” I said, finishing up the pancakes. “Well, thanks for these! They were delicious.”

“No problem, and they’re on the house today,” He said with a kind smile.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course!” Gus said, taking my plate.

“Thank you so much! Have a good night, Gus, Emily,” I said happily, leaving the Saloon.

I walked home with a clearer head, and a good feeling in my heart.

#fanfic #samstardewvalley #stardewvalley #xreader #samxreader

[thegreatantonchekhov]

The Man In A Case

By Anton Chekhov

Translated by Constance Garnett

“Ah, freedom, freedom! The merest hint, the faintest hope of its possibility gives wings to the soul, does it not?”

AT the furthest end of the village of Mironositskoe some belated sportsmen lodged for the night in the elder Prokofy’s barn. There were two of them, the veterinary surgeon Ivan Ivanovitch and the schoolmaster Burkin. Ivan Ivanovitch had a rather strange double-barrelled surname -- Tchimsha-Himalaisky -- which did not suit him at all, and he was called simply Ivan Ivanovitch all over the province. He lived at a stud-farm near the town, and had come out shooting now to get a breath of fresh air. Burkin, the high-school teacher, stayed every summer at Count P-----’s, and had been thoroughly at home in this district for years.

They did not sleep. Ivan Ivanovitch, a tall, lean old fellow with long moustaches, was sitting outside the door, smoking a pipe in the moonlight. Burkin was lying within on the hay, and could not be seen in the darkness.

They were telling each other all sorts of stories. Among other things, they spoke of the fact that the elder’s wife, Mavra, a healthy and by no means stupid woman, had never been beyond her native village, had never seen a town nor a railway in her life, and had spent the last ten years sitting behind the stove, and only at night going out into the street.

“What is there wonderful in that!” said Burkin. “There are plenty of people in the world, solitary by temperament, who try to retreat into their shell like a hermit crab or a snail. Perhaps it is an instance of atavism, a return to the period when the ancestor of man was not yet a social animal and lived alone in his den, or perhaps it is only one of the diversities of human character -- who knows? I am not a natural science man, and it is not my business to settle such questions; I only mean to say that people like Mavra are not uncommon. There is no need to look far; two months ago a man called Byelikov, a colleague of mine, the Greek master, died in our town. You have heard of him, no doubt. He was remarkable for always wearing goloshes and a warm wadded coat, and carrying an umbrella even in the very finest weather. And his umbrella was in a case, and his watch was in a case made of grey chamois leather, and when he took out his penknife to sharpen his pencil, his penknife, too, was in a little case; and his face seemed to be in a case too, because he always hid it in his turned-up collar. He wore dark spectacles and flannel vests, stuffed up his ears with cotton-wool, and when he got into a cab always told the driver to put up the hood. In short, the man displayed a constant and insurmountable impulse to wrap himself in a covering, to make himself, so to speak, a case which would isolate him and protect him from external influences. Reality irritated him, frightened him, kept him in continual agitation, and, perhaps to justify his timidity, his aversion for the actual, he always praised the past and what had never existed; and even the classical languages which he taught were in reality for him goloshes and umbrellas in which he sheltered himself from real life.

“ ‘Oh, how sonorous, how beautiful is the Greek language!’ he would say, with a sugary expression; and as though to prove his words he would screw up his eyes and, raising his finger, would pronounce ‘Anthropos!’

“And Byelikov tried to hide his thoughts also in a case. The only things that were clear to his mind were government circulars and newspaper articles in which something was forbidden. When some proclamation prohibited the boys from going out in the streets after nine o’clock in the evening, or some article declared carnal love unlawful, it was to his mind clear and definite; it was forbidden, and that was enough. For him there was always a doubtful element, something vague and not fully expressed, in any sanction or permission. When a dramatic club or a reading-room or a tea-shop was licensed in the town, he would shake his head and say softly:

“It is all right, of course; it is all very nice, but I hope it won’t lead to anything!”

“Every sort of breach of order, deviation or departure from rule, depressed him, though one would have thought it was no business of his. If one of his colleagues was late for church or if rumours reached him of some prank of the high-school boys, or one of the mistresses was seen late in the evening in the company of an officer, he was much disturbed, and said he hoped that nothing would come of it. At the teachers’ meetings he simply oppressed us with his caution, his circumspection, and his characteristic reflection on the ill-behaviour of the young people in both male and female high-schools, the uproar in the classes.

“Oh, he hoped it would not reach the ears of the authorities; oh, he hoped nothing would come of it; and he thought it would be a very good thing if Petrov were expelled from the second class and Yegorov from the fourth. And, do you know, by his sighs, his despondency, his black spectacles on his pale little face, a little face like a pole-cat’s, you know, he crushed us all, and we gave way, reduced Petrov’s and Yegorov’s marks for conduct, kept them in, and in the end expelled them both. He had a strange habit of visiting our lodgings. He would come to a teacher’s, would sit down, and remain silent, as though he were carefully inspecting something. He would sit like this in silence for an hour or two and then go away. This he called ‘maintaining good relations with his colleagues’; and it was obvious that coming to see us and sitting there was tiresome to him, and that he came to see us simply because he considered it his duty as our colleague. We teachers were afraid of him. And even the headmaster was afraid of him. Would you believe it, our teachers were all intellectual, right-minded people, brought up on Turgenev and Shtchedrin, yet this little chap, who always went about with goloshes and an umbrella, had the whole high-school under his thumb for fifteen long years! High-school, indeed -- he had the whole town under his thumb! Our ladies did not get up private theatricals on Saturdays for fear he should hear of it, and the clergy dared not eat meat or play cards in his presence. Under the influence of people like Byelikov we have got into the way of being afraid of everything in our town for the last ten or fifteen years. They are afraid to speak aloud, afraid to send letters, afraid to make acquaintances, afraid to read books, afraid to help the poor, to teach people to read and write. . . .”

Ivan Ivanovitch cleared his throat, meaning to say something, but first lighted his pipe, gazed at the moon, and then said, with pauses:

“Yes, intellectual, right minded people read Shtchedrin and Turgenev, Buckle, and all the rest of them, yet they knocked under and put up with it. . . that’s just how it is.”

“Byelikov lived in the same house as I did,” Burkin went on, “on the same storey, his door facing mine; we often saw each other, and I knew how he lived when he was at home. And at home it was the same story: dressing-gown, nightcap, blinds, bolts, a perfect succession of prohibitions and restrictions of all sorts, and --’Oh, I hope nothing will come of it!’ Lenten fare was bad for him, yet he could not eat meat, as people might perhaps say Byelikov did not keep the fasts, and he ate freshwater fish with butter -- not a Lenten dish, yet one could not say that it was meat. He did not keep a female servant for fear people might think evil of him, but had as cook an old man of sixty, called Afanasy, half-witted and given to tippling, who had once been an officer’s servant and could cook after a fashion. This Afanasy was usually standing at the door with his arms folded; with a deep sigh, he would mutter always the same thing:

“ ‘There are plenty of them about nowadays!’

“Byelikov had a little bedroom like a box; his bed had curtains. When he went to bed he covered his head over; it was hot and stuffy; the wind battered on the closed doors; there was a droning noise in the stove and a sound of sighs from the kitchen -- ominous sighs. . . . And he felt frightened under the bed-clothes. He was afraid that something might happen, that Afanasy might murder him, that thieves might break in, and so he had troubled dreams all night, and in the morning, when we went together to the high-school, he was depressed and pale, and it was evident that the high-school full of people excited dread and aversion in his whole being, and that to walk beside me was irksome to a man of his solitary temperament.

“ ‘They make a great noise in our classes,’ he used to say, as though trying to find an explanation for his depression. ‘It’s beyond anything.’

“And the Greek master, this man in a case -- would you believe it? -- almost got married.”

Ivan Ivanovitch glanced quickly into the barn, and said:

“You are joking!”

“Yes, strange as it seems, he almost got married. A new teacher of history and geography, Milhail Savvitch Kovalenko, a Little Russian, was appointed. He came, not alone, but with his sister Varinka. He was a tall, dark young man with huge hands, and one could see from his face that he had a bass voice, and, in fact, he had a voice that seemed to come out of a barrel -- ‘boom, boom, boom!’ And she was not so young, about thirty, but she, too, was tall, well-made, with black eyebrows and red cheeks -- in fact, she was a regular sugar-plum, and so sprightly, so noisy; she was always singing Little Russian songs and laughing. For the least thing she would go off into a ringing laugh -- ‘Ha-ha-ha!’ We made our first thorough acquaintance with the Kovalenkos at the headmaster’s name-day party. Among the glum and intensely bored teachers who came even to the name-day party as a duty we suddenly saw a new Aphrodite risen from the waves; she walked with her arms akimbo, laughed, sang, danced. . . . She sang with feeling ‘The Winds do Blow,’ then another song, and another, and she fascinated us all -- all, even Byelikov. He sat down by her and said with a honeyed smile:

“ ‘The Little Russian reminds one of the ancient Greek in its softness and agreeable resonance.’

“That flattered her, and she began telling him with feeling and earnestness that they had a farm in the Gadyatchsky district, and that her mamma lived at the farm, and that they had such pears, such melons, such kabaks! The Little Russians call pumpkins kabaks (i.e., pothouses), while their pothouses they call shinki, and they make a beetroot soup with tomatoes and aubergines in it, ‘which was so nice -- awfully nice!’

“We listened and listened, and suddenly the same idea dawned upon us all:

“ ‘It would be a good thing to make a match of it,’ the headmaster’s wife said to me softly.

“We all for some reason recalled the fact that our friend Byelikov was not married, and it now seemed to us strange that we had hitherto failed to observe, and had in fact completely lost sight of, a detail so important in his life. What was his attitude to woman? How had he settled this vital question for himself? This had not interested us in the least till then; perhaps we had not even admitted the idea that a man who went out in all weathers in goloshes and slept under curtains could be in love.

“ ‘He is a good deal over forty and she is thirty,’ the headmaster’s wife went on, developing her idea. ‘I believe she would marry him.’

“All sorts of things are done in the provinces through boredom, all sorts of unnecessary and nonsensical things! And that is because what is necessary is not done at all. What need was there for instance, for us to make a match for this Byelikov, whom one could not even imagine married? The headmaster’s wife, the inspector’s wife, and all our high-school ladies, grew livelier and even better-looking, as though they had suddenly found a new object in life. The headmaster’s wife would take a box at the theatre, and we beheld sitting in her box Varinka, with such a fan, beaming and happy, and beside her Byelikov, a little bent figure, looking as though he had been extracted from his house by pincers. I would give an evening party, and the ladies would insist on my inviting Byelikov and Varinka. In short, the machine was set in motion. It appeared that Varinka was not averse to matrimony. She had not a very cheerful life with her brother; they could do nothing but quarrel and scold one another from morning till night. Here is a scene, for instance. Kovalenko would be coming along the street, a tall, sturdy young ruffian, in an embroidered shirt, his love-locks falling on his forehead under his cap, in one hand a bundle of books, in the other a thick knotted stick, followed by his sister, also with books in her hand.

“ ‘But you haven’t read it, Mihalik!’ she would be arguing loudly. ‘I tell you, I swear you have not read it at all!’

“ ‘And I tell you I have read it,’ cries Kovalenko, thumping his stick on the pavement.

“ ‘Oh, my goodness, Mihalik! why are you so cross? We are arguing about principles.’

“ ‘I tell you that I have read it!’ Kovalenko would shout, more loudly than ever.

“And at home, if there was an outsider present, there was sure to be a skirmish. Such a life must have been wearisome, and of course she must have longed for a home of her own. Besides, there was her age to be considered; there was no time left to pick and choose; it was a case of marrying anybody, even a Greek master. And, indeed, most of our young ladies don’t mind whom they marry so long as they do get married. However that may be, Varinka began to show an unmistakable partiality for Byelikov.

“And Byelikov? He used to visit Kovalenko just as he did us. He would arrive, sit down, and remain silent. He would sit quiet, and Varinka would sing to him ‘The Winds do Blow,’ or would look pensively at him with her dark eyes, or would suddenly go off into a peal -- ‘Ha-ha-ha!’

“Suggestion plays a great part in love affairs, and still more in getting married. Everybody -- both his colleagues and the ladies -- began assuring Byelikov that he ought to get married, that there was nothing left for him in life but to get married; we all congratulated him, with solemn countenances delivered ourselves of various platitudes, such as ‘Marriage is a serious step.’ Besides, Varinka was good-looking and interesting; she was the daughter of a civil councillor, and had a farm; and what was more, she was the first woman who had been warm and friendly in her manner to him. His head was turned, and he decided that he really ought to get married.”

“Well, at that point you ought to have taken away his goloshes and umbrella,” said Ivan Ivanovitch.

“Only fancy! that turned out to be impossible. He put Varinka’s portrait on his table, kept coming to see me and talking about Varinka, and home life, saying marriage was a serious step. He was frequently at Kovalenko’s, but he did not alter his manner of life in the least; on the contrary, indeed, his determination to get married seemed to have a depressing effect on him. He grew thinner and paler, and seemed to retreat further and further into his case.

“ ‘I like Varvara Savvishna,’ he used to say to me, with a faint and wry smile, ‘and I know that every one ought to get married, but . . . you know all this has happened so suddenly. . . . One must think a little.’

“ ‘What is there to think over?’ I used to say to him. ‘Get married -- that is all.’

“ ‘No; marriage is a serious step. One must first weigh the duties before one, the responsibilities . . . that nothing may go wrong afterwards. It worries me so much that I don’t sleep at night. And I must confess I am afraid: her brother and she have a strange way of thinking; they look at things strangely, you know, and her disposition is very impetuous. One may get married, and then, there is no knowing, one may find oneself in an unpleasant position.’

“And he did not make an offer; he kept putting it off, to the great vexation of the headmaster’s wife and all our ladies; he went on weighing his future duties and responsibilities, and meanwhile he went for a walk with Varinka almost every day -- possibly he thought that this was necessary in his position -- and came to see me to talk about family life. And in all probability in the end he would have proposed to her, and would have made one of those unnecessary, stupid marriages such as are made by thousands among us from being bored and having nothing to do, if it had not been for a kolossalische scandal. I must mention that Varinka’s brother, Kovalenko, detested Byelikov from the first day of their acquaintance, and could not endure him.

“ ‘I don’t understand,’ he used to say to us, shrugging his shoulders --’I don’t understand how you can put up with that sneak, that nasty phiz. Ugh! how can you live here! The atmosphere is stifling and unclean! Do you call yourselves schoolmasters, teachers? You are paltry government clerks. You keep, not a temple of science, but a department for red tape and loyal behaviour, and it smells as sour as a police-station. No, my friends; I will stay with you for a while, and then I will go to my farm and there catch crabs and teach the Little Russians. I shall go, and you can stay here with your Judas -- damn his soul!’

“Or he would laugh till he cried, first in a loud bass, then in a shrill, thin laugh, and ask me, waving his hands:

“ ‘What does he sit here for? What does he want? He sits and stares.’

“He even gave Byelikov a nickname, ‘The Spider.’ And it will readily be understood that we avoided talking to him of his sister’s being about to marry ‘The Spider.’

“And on one occasion, when the headmaster’s wife hinted to him what a good thing it would be to secure his sister’s future with such a reliable, universally respected man as Byelikov, he frowned and muttered:

“ ‘It’s not my business; let her marry a reptile if she likes. I don’t like meddling in other people’s affairs.’

“Now hear what happened next. Some mischievous person drew a caricature of Byelikov walking along in his goloshes with his trousers tucked up, under his umbrella, with Varinka on his arm; below, the inscription ‘Anthropos in love.’ The expression was caught to a marvel, you know. The artist must have worked for more than one night, for the teachers of both the boys’ and girls’ high-schools, the teachers of the seminary, the government officials, all received a copy. Byelikov received one, too. The caricature made a very painful impression on him.

“We went out together; it was the first of May, a Sunday, and all of us, the boys and the teachers, had agreed to meet at the high-school and then to go for a walk together to a wood beyond the town. We set off, and he was green in the face and gloomier than a storm-cloud.

‘What wicked, ill-natured people there are!’ he said, and his lips quivered.

“I felt really sorry for him. We were walking along, and all of a sudden -- would you believe it? -- Kovalenko came bowling along on a bicycle, and after him, also on a bicycle, Varinka, flushed and exhausted, but good-humoured and gay.

“ ‘We are going on ahead,’ she called. ‘What lovely weather! Awfully lovely!’

“And they both disappeared from our sight. Byelikov turned white instead of green, and seemed petrified. He stopped short and stared at me. . . .

“ ‘What is the meaning of it? Tell me, please!’ he asked. ‘Can my eyes have deceived me? Is it the proper thing for high-school masters and ladies to ride bicycles?’

“ ‘What is there improper about it?’ I said. ‘Let them ride and enjoy themselves.’

“ ‘But how can that be?’ he cried, amazed at my calm. ‘What are you saying?’

“And he was so shocked that he was unwilling to go on, and returned home.

“Next day he was continually twitching and nervously rubbing his hands, and it was evident from his face that he was unwell. And he left before his work was over, for the first time in his life. And he ate no dinner. Towards evening he wrapped himself up warmly, though it was quite warm weather, and sallied out to the Kovalenkos’. Varinka was out; he found her brother, however.

“ ‘Pray sit down,’ Kovalenko said coldly, with a frown. His face looked sleepy; he had just had a nap after dinner, and was in a very bad humour.

“Byelikov sat in silence for ten minutes, and then began:

“ ‘I have come to see you to relieve my mind. I am very, very much troubled. Some scurrilous fellow has drawn an absurd caricature of me and another person, in whom we are both deeply interested. I regard it as a duty to assure you that I have had no hand in it. . . . I have given no sort of ground for such ridicule -- on the contrary, I have always behaved in every way like a gentleman.’

“Kovalenko sat sulky and silent. Byelikov waited a little, and went on slowly in a mournful voice:

“ ‘And I have something else to say to you. I have been in the service for years, while you have only lately entered it, and I consider it my duty as an older colleague to give you a warning. You ride on a bicycle, and that pastime is utterly unsuitable for an educator of youth.’

“ ‘Why so?’ asked Kovalenko in his bass.

“ ‘Surely that needs no explanation, Mihail Savvitch -- surely you can understand that? If the teacher rides a bicycle, what can you expect the pupils to do? You will have them walking on their heads next! And so long as there is no formal permission to do so, it is out of the question. I was horrified yesterday! When I saw your sister everything seemed dancing before my eyes. A lady or a young girl on a bicycle -- it’s awful!’

“ ‘What is it you want exactly?’

“ ‘All I want is to warn you, Mihail Savvitch. You are a young man, you have a future before you, you must be very, very careful in your behaviour, and you are so careless -- oh, so careless! You go about in an embroidered shirt, are constantly seen in the street carrying books, and now the bicycle, too. The headmaster will learn that you and your sister ride the bicycle, and then it will reach the higher authorities. . . . Will that be a good thing?’

“ ‘It’s no business of anybody else if my sister and I do bicycle!’ said Kovalenko, and he turned crimson. ‘And damnation take any one who meddles in my private affairs!’

“Byelikov turned pale and got up.

“ ‘If you speak to me in that tone I cannot continue,’ he said. ‘And I beg you never to express yourself like that about our superiors in my presence; you ought to be respectful to the authorities.’

“ ‘Why, have I said any harm of the authorities?’ asked Kovalenko, looking at him wrathfully. ‘Please leave me alone. I am an honest man, and do not care to talk to a gentleman like you. I don’t like sneaks!’

“Byelikov flew into a nervous flutter, and began hurriedly putting on his coat, with an expression of horror on his face. It was the first time in his life he had been spoken to so rudely.

“ ‘You can say what you please,’ he said, as he went out from the entry to the landing on the staircase. ‘I ought only to warn you: possibly some one may have overheard us, and that our conversation may not be misunderstood and harm come of it, I shall be compelled to inform our headmaster of our conversation . . . in its main features. I am bound to do so.’

“ ‘Inform him? You can go and make your report!’

“Kovalenko seized him from behind by the collar and gave him a push, and Byelikov rolled downstairs, thudding with his goloshes. The staircase was high and steep, but he rolled to the bottom unhurt, got up, and touched his nose to see whether his spectacles were all right. But just as he was falling down the stairs Varinka came in, and with her two ladies; they stood below staring, and to Byelikov this was more terrible than anything. I believe he would rather have broken his neck or both legs than have been an object of ridicule. ‘Why, now the whole town would hear of it; it would come to the headmaster’s ears, would reach the higher authorities -- oh, it might lead to something! There would be another caricature, and it would all end in his being asked to resign his post. . . .

“When he got up, Varinka recognized him, and, looking at his ridiculous face, his crumpled overcoat, and his goloshes, not understanding what had happened and supposing that he had slipped down by accident, could not restrain herself, and laughed loud enough to be heard by all the flats:

“ ‘Ha-ha-ha!’

“And this pealing, ringing ‘Ha-ha-ha!’ was the last straw that put an end to everything: to the proposed match and to Byelikov’s earthly existence. He did not hear what Varinka said to him; he saw nothing. On reaching home, the first thing he did was to remove her portrait from the table; then he went to bed, and he never got up again.

“Three days later Afanasy came to me and asked whether we should not send for the doctor, as there was something wrong with his master. I went in to Byelikov. He lay silent behind the curtain, covered with a quilt; if one asked him a question, he said ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and not another sound. He lay there while Afanasy, gloomy and scowling, hovered about him, sighing heavily, and smelling like a pothouse.

“A month later Byelikov died. We all went to his funeral -- that is, both the high-schools and the seminary. Now when he was lying in his coffin his expression was mild, agreeable, even cheerful, as though he were glad that he had at last been put into a case which he would never leave again. Yes, he had attained his ideal! And, as though in his honour, it was dull, rainy weather on the day of his funeral, and we all wore goloshes and took our umbrellas. Varinka, too, was at the funeral, and when the coffin was lowered into the grave she burst into tears. I have noticed that Little Russian women are always laughing or crying -- no intermediate mood.

“One must confess that to bury people like Byelikov is a great pleasure. As we were returning from the cemetery we wore discreet Lenten faces; no one wanted to display this feeling of pleasure -- a feeling like that we had experienced long, long ago as children when our elders had gone out and we ran about the garden for an hour or two, enjoying complete freedom. Ah, freedom, freedom! The merest hint, the faintest hope of its possibility gives wings to the soul, does it not?

“We returned from the cemetery in a good humour. But not more than a week had passed before life went on as in the past, as gloomy, oppressive, and senseless -- a life not forbidden by government prohibition, but not fully permitted, either: it was no better. And, indeed, though we had buried Byelikov, how many such men in cases were left, how many more of them there will be!”

“That’s just how it is,” said Ivan Ivanovitch and he lighted his pipe.

“How many more of them there will be!” repeated Burkin.

The schoolmaster came out of the barn. He was a short, stout man, completely bald, with a black beard down to his waist. The two dogs came out with him.

“What a moon!” he said, looking upwards.

It was midnight. On the right could be seen the whole village, a long street stretching far away for four miles. All was buried in deep silent slumber; not a movement, not a sound; one could hardly believe that nature could be so still. When on a moonlight night you see a broad village street, with its cottages, haystacks, and slumbering willows, a feeling of calm comes over the soul; in this peace, wrapped away from care, toil, and sorrow in the darkness of night, it is mild, melancholy, beautiful, and it seems as though the stars look down upon it kindly and with tenderness, and as though there were no evil on earth and all were well. On the left the open country began from the end of the village; it could be seen stretching far away to the horizon, and there was no movement, no sound in that whole expanse bathed in moonlight.

“Yes, that is just how it is,” repeated Ivan Ivanovitch; “and isn’t our living in town, airless and crowded, our writing useless papers, our playing vint -- isn’t that all a sort of case for us? And our spending our whole lives among trivial, fussy men and silly, idle women, our talking and our listening to all sorts of nonsense -- isn’t that a case for us, too? If you like, I will tell you a very edifying story.”

“No; it’s time we were asleep,” said Burkin. “Tell it tomorrow.”

They went into the barn and lay down on the hay. And they were both covered up and beginning to doze when they suddenly heard light footsteps -- patter, patter. . . . Some one was walking not far from the barn, walking a little and stopping, and a minute later, patter, patter again. . . . The dogs began growling.

“That’s Mavra,” said Burkin.

The footsteps died away.

“You see and hear that they lie,” said Ivan Ivanovitch, turning over on the other side, “and they call you a fool for putting up with their lying. You endure insult and humiliation, and dare not openly say that you are on the side of the honest and the free, and you lie and smile yourself; and all that for the sake of a crust of bread, for the sake of a warm corner, for the sake of a wretched little worthless rank in the service. No, one can’t go on living like this.”

“Well, you are off on another tack now, Ivan Ivanovitch,” said the schoolmaster. “Let us go to sleep!

And ten minutes later Burkin was asleep. But Ivan Ivanovitch kept sighing and turning over from side to side; then he got up, went outside again, and, sitting in the doorway, lighted his pipe.

NOTES

elder Prokofy: the village elder was the elected head of the mir (village commune)

Anthropos: Greek for man

Turgenev and Shchedrin: Ivan S. Turgenev (1818-1883) and Shchedrin (real name Mikhail Y. Saltykov, 1826-1889) were considered liberal and enlightened in the 1850-1860’s

Buckle: Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1862) was an English historian

Little Russian: Ukrainian

Aphrodite: refers to Botticellil’s painting “The Birth of Venus”

pothouses: taverns, pubs; the pun is that the Russian word for tavern, kabak, means “pumpkin” in Ukrainian

aubergine: eggplant

kolossalische scandal: ein kolossalischer Skandal, a colossally unpleasant incident

vint: a bridge-like card game

[vagrantblvrd]

Destination Anywhere (1/1)

Summary: Experience has taught Ryan that being rousted out of bed in the middle of the night and into a car with its engine running is never a good thing.

Notes: Prompt fill for @demoncowedgar who asked for camping Battle Buddies. :D?

(Read on AO3)

Experience has taught Ryan that being rousted out of bed in the middle of the night and into a car with its engine running is never a good thing.

Never.

The fact that Jeremy has a shit-eating grin on his face as he’s rousting Ryan is the only thing that keeps Ryan from resisting.

Much, anyway.

“Jeremy, what the hell - “

Jeremy’s grin takes on a manic edge as he puts his body into it, shoulder against Ryan’s back as he shoves him out of their tiny apartment.

“It’s a surprise, Ryan!” he hisses, mindful of the late (early?) hour and their sleeping neighbors. “We’re going on an adventure so shut the fuck up and enjoy it!”

And then he plays dirty and jabs an elbow in Ryan’s kidney to buy enough time to lock up behind them as Ryan jerks away from him in annoyance.

“Son of a bitch!” he hisses, rubbing at his side as Jeremy shoots him a look that’s not sorry at all. “Jeremy!”

Jeremy eyes him, head cocked. Look on his face like he’s calculating the odds of taking Ryan in a fight right here, right now, and snorts. Expression clearing as he reaches up to smooth a wayward strand of hair behind Ryan’s ear.

Grins like the unrepentant asshole he is and darts in to peck Ryan on the cheek.

“Hey,” he says, stupidly soft and fond. “Trust me, okay? This will be great.”

(Famous last words.)

========

Jeremy makes up for trying to rupture Ryan’s kidney by shoving a bag of food from (one of) Ryan’s favorite fast food places in his hands once they’re in the car.

Has to be an asshole about it, though. Gives Ryan this pointed little look before it clicks in Ryan's head that he hasn't buckled in yet, and then he pulls the bag from...somewhere.

Ryan rolls his eyes as he opens the bag to poke through it as Jeremy puts the car into drive and pulls int traffic because Jeremy, suspicion rising as he realizes Jeremy got his favorites.

Buttering him up for something, or maybe he just thinks Ryan won’t be able to bitch with his mouth full, who the hell knows?

“Here,” Jeremy says, and hands Ryan a hot cup of coffee from the same fast food place. “Liquid candy bar just the way you like it.”

Alright, so he’s not doing a great job with this whole peace offering deal by being an ass, but this is Jeremy so…

“Okay, look,” Ryan says, balancing the bag of food on his lap as he takes the completely valid coffee, thank you very much. “I’m not the one who might as well be injecting energy drinks directly into my veins.”

He’s just.

Easing his way into this coffee business, nice and slow. If that means he adds a touch of creamer and sugar to it before he tosses it down hit gullet, that’s no one’s business but his own.

Jeremy scoffs, fingers tapping out a jaunty little rhythm on the steering wheel as they get caught at a red light -

“Wait,” Jeremy says, a few beats later, almost misses it when the light turns green, but that’s okay because the asshole behind them honks his horn to let them know. “Would that work?”

Oh, Jesus Christ.

“No,” Ryan says, putting as much emphasis on it as he can because no.

This is like the time Jeremy asked him if he could bulk up on protein via semen, which.

It had been a Thing at a time in Ryan’s life when that was a fraught conversation to have with Jeremy, because pining. (All the pining, and the others laughing at them while they placed bets on when he and Jeremy would “get their shit together and bone, fucking hell, it’s just embarrassing at this point,”.)

“Jeremy please. Do not do the thing. I’m begging you.”

Jeremy hums thoughtfully the way he does when he’s not listening, mind turning over some puzzle or another that won’t end well for anyone.

Ryan takes a sip of his coffee in something close to desperation because Jeremy will be the death of him one of these days.

========

They stop at a truckstop an hour out of Los Santos for gas and a bathroom break. It’s a touristy little place with lots of kitschy souvenirs for sale.

Ryan takes the opportunity to root around in the trunk for clues. He finds a pair of backpacks packed with clothes and toiletries for the two of them. Bags of food and a cooler. Other assorted camping gear, including a couple of fishing poles and bag from a sporting goods store with fishing tackle and bait inside.

“Huh,” he says, because he was expecting to find a body instead.

It’s been...way too damned long since Ryan’s been camping.

Camping-camping, not a survival training exercise or mission gone wrong when they were still with the agency. Not a heist SNAFU where he has to pull himself out of a river and hike through God knows how many miles of wilderness to get to the nearest road like last month.

Just.

Camping.

He’s told Jeremy about wanting to go again one day, like he used to when he was a dumb kid and things were simpler.

Take a few days off and find a quiet spot, sleep under the stars.

Roast marshmallows over a campfire, make s’mores.

The whole shebang.

Never thought he’d get the chance, the way their lives go, but -

The sound of Jeremy’s voice brings Ryan’s head up, sees him stopping to chat with a pair of college kids struggling with changing their tire.

Infectious laugh and a smile that lights up his face, and Ryan’s gone on the asshole the way the others are always ribbing him about because he feels this swell of affection for Jeremy. (Might be heartburn though, because breakfast sandwich, but he doesn’t think so.)

Ryan closes the trunk and slips back into the truckstop’s gift shop for that mug he saw while Jeremy’s busy playing good samaritan..

========

“You saw, huh?”

There’s a rueful grin tugging at Jeremy’s lips, sunglasses on in face of the bright sunlight coming though the windshield and this little blush spreading over his cheeks.

Ryan bites back a laugh and pops open one of Jeremy’s energy drinks before handing it over.

========

Several hours later they stop at a cabin overlooking a lake. Small, quaint little thing made out of wood logs and perfect for a postcard.

Quiet spot far enough away from neighboring cabins they won’t be disturbed and Ryan loves it.

He gets a lot of shit from the others for his love of shiny technology, gadgets and the whatnot. Gets called a city boy because they don’t know, but he misses this.

“There’s hiking trails all over the place,” Jeremy says, joining Ryan on the porch facing the lake. “Spots we can set up a tent if you’d rather do that than stay here. I just thought - “

Ryan glances down at Jeremy. Catches all his nervous tells no amount of training could ever beat out of him, and feels that swell of affection for him again. All-encompassing, because they’ve been through a lot together, the two of them, and Jeremy still gets like this.

Nervous, awkward, like he has no damn idea how much Ryan loves him and that’s the worst rime Ryan’s ever committed right there.

“Jeremy, shut up” Ryan says, smile tugging at his mouth at the way Jeremy’s mouth snaps shut, the look he sends Ryan.

Eyes narrowed, answering grin curving his mouth and some snappy little comeback on his lips Ryan steals away with a kiss.

========

So, the thing about camping memories and nostalgia leave out? (Smooth over, make sure you forget about in light of the good times just to fuck you over when you least expect it?)

How goddamned annoying it can be.

Bugs and insects, for starters. Squirrels being territorial little shits. Birds literally shitting on you.

The weather taking a turn, because Jeremy forgot to check the forecast with everything else he had to do to keep this jaunt a secret from Ryan.

Rain coming down hard enough he’s worried the tent might give up the ghost on them and leave then drenched and miserable because they couldn’t not use the damn thing at least once. (It already drowned their campfire, ruined the s’mores Ryan was looking forward to, why not this too?)

Also? Goddamned rocks.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Ryan mutters, shifting to get away from that pointy little rock digging into his shoulder blade.

They double and triple checked for shit like this when they found a promising camping spot for the night. Cleared out the rocks and other debris before setting up the tent and laying out their sleeping bags and still there are things trying to stab him to death.

Beside him Jeremy is suspiciously still, and Ryan reaches for the flashlight to snap it on.

Aims it at the cocoon that is Jeremy and his sputtered laughter as he glares at his stupid sleeping bag. (Dark purple with bright orange reflective stripes and Ryan doesn’t want to know how long he looked for the perfect sleeping bag, he really doesn’t.)

“You can just shut up,” Ryan mutters, little flare of rage when he searches for the stabby rock and can’t find it, even though he knows it’s there.

Like it’s some kind of damn stealth assassin waiting to attack again when lets his guard down.

Jeremy is laughing at him, quiet wheezy thing, and Ryan snarls because this isn’t funny.

“Ryan,” Jeremy wheezes, so damned amused. “Oh my God, Ryan.”

Ryan looks at Jeremy, who is mocking him in his hour of need.

Sees the helpless grin on his face and all this love and affection there for Ryan to see and he has to look away again because it’s...it’s a lot.

Always has been, and Ryan’s never sure he deserves it. (Jeremy could do so much better than him, is the thing and yet here they are.)

“Hey,” Jeremy says, soft, quiet. “Idiot, hey.”

Ryan snorts as he looks at the moron he fell in love with a long, long time ago. Always a sweet-talker, Jeremy.

“Come over here,” Jeremy says, tugging at Ryan’s sleeve. “There aren’t any rocks, I promise.”

That sounds like a lie and a trap, because Jeremy is the kind of person who endure discomfort just to make someone else suffer.

“Uh-huh,” Ryan says, but he goes anyway because he’s the kind of idiot who falls for it every time.

========

There are indeed rocks and other stabby bits, but there’s also Jeremy, so Ryan figures he breaks even on that one.

[discomfort-food]

Terrifying, Beautiful, Maddening (A Hegeleth fic) 4/?

Read on AO3

Jeralt, famed Blade Breaker, former Captain of the Knights of Seiros, and captain of the Silver Wolves mercenary company, has held many titles throughout his many years. But there is only one that would make him stop midway through a battle briefing with his company lieutenants and, most importantly, set down his morning coffee.

“Dad!”

His men are confused at first as to why he stops mid-sentence, but it is made clear to them after following his gaze and spotting the familiar head of dark hair running full-tilt through the mercenary camp. Barely eight years old, the small girl is sure-footed and possesses an almost uncanny amount of grace, deftly leaping over piles of firewood and darting between unaware soldiers, causing them to stumble to stay on their feet.

“Dad!” She repeats again upon reaching him, skidding to a sharp halt, not short of breath in the slightest despite her dash across the camp.

“What is it, kiddo?” His voice is cheerful, but inwardly he is more than a bit alarmed at the uncharacteristic exclamation of his name not once, but twice.

She looks up at him, clenching and unclenching her fists as she takes a moment to find the words. “In… In the woods.” She turns slightly and points behind her.

“What’s in the woods?” He says patiently, encouraging his daughter to elaborate. If Byleth had been like most children, he would have told her to wait until his meeting was over, but Byleth was not like most children. It would not be uncommon for her to go the whole day without talking, and when she did decide to speak it was never more than the minimum necessary to get her point across.

“A fox. It’s hurt.” She clutches the edge of her tunic and only now does he notice the blood on her hand.

He sighs. “Looks like you’re hurt too, kiddo.” She looks at her hand and then back at him, nodding blankly. He turns back to his men. “Okay, boys, I think we’re about done here anyway. Vilja, Edran, make sure all the horses and wagons are inspected and ready to set out tomorrow. Caius, take a few men and scout the forest ahead, report back to me this evening.”

Saluting, his lieutenants disband. Jeralt swigs the last of his coffee in a single lukewarm gulp and pats Byleth on the shoulder. “Let’s get that hand looked at, and then we’ll go see what we can do about this fox, all right?” Byleth nods and follows her father to the medical tent.

Once her hand is cleaned and bandaged up, Byleth leads her father out of the mercenary camp and into the thick pine forest surrounding it. They travel in silence for a good ten minutes, the girl occasionally glancing behind her to ensure Jeralt is keeping up. He feels a small pang of parental guilt for letting his child wander so far unsupervised, but in truth she is far more capable of spending the day alone in the woods than many grown adults he has met. To this day she has never gotten lost, and is always sure to return before sundown. She is also quite proficient with the small dagger on her hip, although he has told her only to use it in self-defense as a last resort.

They slow as they approach an outcropping of moss-covered rocks in a relatively clear area of the forest. Byleth stops a few paces away from it and points towards where two rocks have fallen against each other, forming a small cave less than two feet high. The dried pine needles carpeting the ground have been scraped aside in front of the cave, exposing the dirt beneath, as if something has been thrashing about.

“It was caught by the wire, but it went in there when I tried to free it.”

“And I suppose that’s when it decided to take a nip out of you, then?”

Byleth nods and rubs at her bandaged hand. Jeralt steps closer to the rocks and spies a thin wire tied to a nearby sapling, pulled taut and leading into the small cave. “Did you set this?”

“I thought it was a rabbit den. Caius showed me how.”

“What he should have taught you is to be more careful when dealing with animals that can fight back,” Jeralt says, making a mental note to have a discussion with Caius about appropriate lessons to teach his daughter. He crouches down and peers into the cave. He can just make out the huddled form of the fox, ears pressed backward and mouth opened in a stressed pant.

Byleth kneels down on the ground next to him to get a better view.

“Now, reaching a hand in there is just asking to receive another bite, so we’re going to have to get it to come out on its own. I want you to untie the wire at the other end so it has some slack, all right?” Byleth nods and complies.

With a little time and a long stick, they manage to lure the fox out of its hole so Jeralt can grab it by the scruff of the neck and loosen the snare that had been pulled tight enough to draw blood. Once the snarling animal is free, he releases it, and they watch it bound away into the trees. He looks over at his daughter and sees her brow is furrowed in thought.

He plops down onto the soft pine needles and pats the space next to him for her to sit down. “What’s on your mind, kid?”

She picks up a twig and snaps it in half, the pieces falling to the forest floor. “Why did it bite me? I was just trying to help it.”

He chuckles and ruffles her messy hair. “I know you were, kid. But it was just scared of you and trying to protect itself. They can’t talk, so they have to use teeth and claws. Even a rabbit can give a nasty bite to someone who isn’t paying attention.” Byleth’s blue eyes grew wide. “An animal is most dangerous when it is cornered and feels like it has nowhere to go. So I want you to be careful in the future, all right?”

Byleth nods, understanding written on her face.

Jeralt smiles and stands, holding his hand out to help her up. “What do you say we head on back to camp?”

---

Byleth was about a day’s trek from Garreg Mach monastery by her estimation. Despite the proximity to the school, the valley she was in was rather isolated, with steep mountain peaks surrounding it, and would cause difficulty for any large group to traverse quickly and unnoticed.

The day was cool and heavy with the threat of more rain after the morning’s showers. The trees were gilded orange and gold, and the sound of water falling from the canopy through the glistening leaves kept her company as she meandered along the slow-moving river at the base of the mountains. As she followed it she noted that there would likely be plenty of fish to catch here.

There was no need for haste this day. Her quarry had made no pretense of hiding her tracks the night before, and a clear path of snapped saplings and branches made for an easy trail to follow. The two of them had fallen into a sort of pattern; Byleth would make progress during the daylight hours, and the other seemed only willing to travel at night, taking shelter in a cave when possible or finding some sort of resting place during the day. Today though, that cycle would break.

Around midday the path wandered away from the river’s edge and into the dense forest. Byleth noted marks on several trees, where bark had been raked off by sharp claws, but they were not fresh. A bear, most likely. A bear that would likely not reside much longer in this valley if it still did at all.

Soon, the trail led her to what she hoped she would find: a cave. Framed by crawling tree roots and moss, the entrance was a good size, perhaps three times her height, rather narrow, but from what she could tell from a safe distance, it opened up further inside.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Byleth took a step forward to get a better look, but her foot found a branch that had been obscured by the carpet of fallen leaves with an echoing snap. She froze, hoping her transgression had not been noticed.

One second, two seconds. Byleth was about to let out the breath she held caged, when a low, rumbling growl echoed out of the cave. Slowly, she put her hand on the blade at her waist, and waited for any signs of movement. Nothing. Not willing to test her luck further, Byleth retreated back the way she came until the river was in faint earshot again.

The trees thinned near the river, and Byleth found a suitable location to set up camp: flat, and a stony ledge on one side providing shelter from wind. The river was shallow here, and provided an ample number of smooth rocks to build a low wall for a campfire, though she did not light it yet. Lamenting the fact she had no pole or line to fish, she made do with a simple meal of mushrooms and berries she had collected earlier that morning.

For the rest of the day, Byleth meditated. Letting thoughts, worries, hopes wash in and out of her mind like the moon-drenched tide, she sat cross-legged and still. She steeled her mind for what she might have to do that night if things did not play out as she expected. While it was true she always had the option of using the power gifted to her by Sothis if things went awry, as she had found with the death of Jeralt, some events in time were fated to be fixed. Her gut told her whatever way tonight went, that’s what the universe wanted to happen, and who was she to stop it?

Her face grew warm as she felt the rain clouds leave to be replaced by the afternoon sun. It was nice here. Her mind briefly flitted to the idea of not going back to the monastery, but- no. Too many people were counting on her, trusting her to provide leadership. She couldn’t do that to Seteth, to Dimitri. They had probably already grown concerned at her absence. Seteth, bless him, would be organizing search parties within the next month if she did not return. Still, the thought of going back to being a simple mercenary was comforting, and it entertained her until sundown.

Alas, the brief moment of warmth was soon to flee, and as the late autumn chill reached through Byleth’s cloak, she rose to gather firewood for the night. There was no need to build a towering blaze like she had done on previous nights, she was close enough to be found easily. She built just enough of a fire to keep her comfortably warm, and settled down to wait.

The rose gold of sunset faded into dusk, and dusk gave way to a moonless night. Byleth gazed up to the stars, tracing the constellations her father had pointed out to her as a child. She wondered what he would think of her now, if he would approve of her choices. She hoped he would, and rubbed the scar on her hand where a scared fox had bitten her so long ago.

Several hours passed. The shadows of the forest closed in around her as her fire dimmed, the flames growing lazy and small. She was contemplating throwing another log on the pile when a gust of cool air fanned the flames for her, releasing a cascade of glowing sparks up into the heavens.

As rapidly as it had blazed, the fire receded again, and as Byleth’s eyes dropped from the stars above, she found the pitch black shadow of the treeline against the stars above to have gained a new, familiar shape. It would easily be mistaken for another tree if not for the pair of glowing red eyes staring down at her.

“Hello, Edelgard.”

The eyes drew back slightly, as if the mention of her name had caused her to flinch.

A rattling breath, and after a moment, a voice rusted from months of disuse replied. “So. You have finally grown tired of toying with me. Are you here to finally put an end to my sordid existence?”

“No.”

“Then why ? Why must you torture me so? I am haunted day and night by you.”

Byleth sighed. “I… I don’t fully know why I’m here. Just that I have to be.” Words had never been easy for her, but for once they came tumbling out in earnest. “Things shouldn’t have turned out this way. I’m sorry, Edelgard. I’m sorry that you felt you had no other choice than to become-”

“Become what? A hideous monster that children scream in terror at? A wretched beast that nature herself doesn’t wish to exist?” She spat her words out, the growling tone underneath growing deeper. “Now, I suppose, my exterior matches my interior.”

“I don’t think that’s true, Edelgard.”

“No? Well, then you are a greater fool than I believed you to be, professor, ” the last word said in a mocking tone.

“No. You almost killed that girl, didn’t you? I know you didn’t want to do that. There is still human in you yet.”

She heard the sharp crack as a branch snapped. “You know nothing about me anymore.” Her voice was low, strained with frustration.

Byleth was silent a moment. “I know that I want to help you, Edelgard. I’m not sure how, but I want to try.”

The red eyes across the fire bored into her soul. “Leave. Me. Alone.” Each word was a threatening rumble.

Byleth continued, unphased. “If you stay here, I can protect you. This valley is isolated, and the Knights of Seiros won’t find you, I’ll make sure of it.”

The infernal crimson eyes disappeared and for a moment Byleth thought she had left in disgust, but a dry, creaking sound grew steadily louder and she realized it was wry laughter.

“Where else can I go? You have made it clear to me I am thoroughly and sorely beaten. Very well. I will stay, a feral beast caught in your pen. But be warned: like your dear prince said, the Edelgard you once knew is long gone. Who knows how long I will be able to hang on to the faint memory of her?” She stepped forward just far enough that the light from the fire could illuminate the faint outline of her face. Despite the bitter anger in her words, Byleth could just make out dark trails, slick with moisture at the corners of her eyes.

“I will stay, you have my word. But don’t come back.”

As silently as she had appeared, the shadow melted back into the forest, and Byleth was alone once again.

[7deadlycinderellas]

The Starks at War

(aka, I am a huge ww2 nerd, and you all will suffer for it)

Ao3 link

Truthfully, it must be said, that Winterfell had seen better days.

The once huge estate no longer provided any income of it's own. The grounds were cut when the council bought off the land to put a road through behind the house. The house was still grand, the gardens still it’s Lady’s pride and joy. The Lord of the house now owned a hand tool factory down the road, and the Lady oversaw a staff of only a cook and two maids (plus the children’s tutors of course, and Old Nan, who nursed the youngest). Even the stable of horses had been replaced by a motorcar.

The Starks themselves too, had known loss. Eddard Stark, only a second son, had not known he would inherit, until the loss of his brother in the Great War. His fiery sister Lyanna too, lost her life only a few years later, poisoned by the munitions factory where she worked to serve her country.

But it was clean, and well kept, and the Lord and Lady kept up appearances.

And the Stark children, it must be said, loved the place. The summer times they all spent on their families lands may well have been paradise to all of them.

Robb, the eldest of them, got his driving license that summer. Ned Stark spent most of the summer in London, leaving Robb to take the car down to the village where it attracted the attention of men and women alike. He would be going to university come autumn, and was appreciating his final months of freedom.

A word must be also spared for the children’s cousin Jon. Raised as their brother after his mother’s untimely death, he was often spoken about in hushed tones for the truth of his illegitimate birth. Though the Starks had planned to provide for his education as they had for their own children, his own pride led to him deciding against university, and spending his summer working for the newspaper office in the village.

Sansa, the eldest daughter, had returned home from boarding school. She had come bursting with stories of her classmates, who came from families older and more important than the Starks, who lived on huge country estates and gave her stories of grand parties and great romances. And if she spent most of her summer in the window seat of the parlour, reading paperbacks and writing letters, she was no less happy for it.

Arya Stark’s summer holidays were spent much the same as the rest of her year, though without her being scolded for trying to dodge her lessons.  Earlier that year, she had received a bicycle for her birthday, and it carried her more days than not into the village. Far less touched by her mother’s concerns of propriety, Arya had many friends there, and carried back with her dime novels and packs of sweets. On her other days, she climbed over the rock wall marking the end of their estate into the land owned by their neighbors, the Reeds, such as it was, and joined the two children there in climbing the trees and swimming in the pond that was all that remained of their land.

In fact, it was Arya and the older Reed girl, Meera, who had a special project that summer: to get Arya’s younger brother Bran out of the house more.

Before the coming storm, it would have been said that the greatest tragedy to befall Winterfell that generation would have been Brandon Stark’s fall. An active and athletic child, at the age of ten, Bran had taken a bad fall from one of the manor’s windows. The injury had truly in the grand scheme of things, not been terrible. Bran could still bend at the hips and partially straighten his right knee, but both legs were left incredibly weak, and the left one nearly completely numb.

That had been two years ago, and the boy had resigned himself to spending most of his summer days sitting in his room reading or listening to plays on the wireless. Sometimes he would sit with Old Nan and Rickon, and listen to their stories, but he felt far too old for it now.

Neither Arya or Meera could stand for this.

So, one warm day in July, the two girls approached him when he was in the parlor, reading a book.

Both of them have their arms crossed, and Bran isn’t sure what’s going on.

“Come with us, we’re going swimming.”

Bran looks his sister up and down. She might have been wearing cast off work trousers of Jon’s and an old jersey with her hair in rough plaits, but she looks completely serious and at that moment, has a definite air of authority.

“I’m reading.”

Arya looks at him like he’s grown a second head.

“You can do that outside. Come one, you’ve been inside nearly the whole year, you look like a fish’s belly.”

And she isn’t wrong, so Bran decides to give in.

Admittedly, being in the sun again is nice. The window can only let in so much. The day is rather hot, and the water will be nice. The stone path leading out from the house is easy enough for him to push the wheels of his wheelchair on, though when they cut off onto the grass, it takes more effort.

“What are you reading now?” Meera asks him cheerfully, “Burroughs again?”

The last time Meera had come by, Bran had been finishing the Land that Time Forgot. He had enjoyed it, but ultimately preferred Conan Doyle’s take on a lost prehistoric world.

He shakes his head.

“Wells this time.”

“Island of Doctor Moreau?” Arya interjects, “If so, give it back, I didn’t finish.”

“War of the Worlds. It’s that one that was on the radio in America last year and made everyone think it was real.”

Arya wrinkles her nose. “Jon said that was bunk, made up to make newspaper seem better than radio.”

“I suppose Jon might know, working at the paper.” Jon had often told them that the men who ran the news office were a bunch of stodgy, stuffed shirts, who seemed to think they knew more than him simply by virtue of his age.

“Well it’s a good book either way.” Bran insists.

They’ve reached the end of the Starks land, marked with a low stone wall just above knee high. It’s easy to just step over. Just one more of the easy things rendered impossible to Bran now.

Arya looks at Meera,

“You take the top, I’ll get his feet. “

And suddenly, Meera steps up onto the wall and grasps Bran under the arms and hoists him in time with Arya lifting him up by his pasty, atrophied legs.

“Did you two practice this?” Bran asks grouchily, feeling rather like a slab of meat.

“You’re not that much different than moving a log.”

That’s not really any better, Bran thinks, when Arya sets him on the ground and moves to drag his chair over and help him back into it. He wishes the back of the device wasn’t so high. If it were lower, he might be able to drag himself over the wall like he does from the window seat. But he was already lucky that it was light weight and metal and not one of the huge wooden monstrosities he had seen when he woke in the hospital after his fall.

When they reach the edge of the pond, Bran slides himself out of his chair carefully, settling himself under one of the tall trees close to the water’s edge. He pulls off his shoes and socks, letting his lower legs float into the water, even though only righty appreciated it. Arya had been right, it was a good enough place to read a book.

The pond was large for a pond, feeding into one of the streams that led to the canals through the south. Good fish could still often be fished from it, and it was more than deep enough in the middle for swimming to be a bit dangerous.

Arya seemingly paid no heed to this, as she stripped off to the swimming costume she had on under her trousers beside the tree. She then climbed one of the branches that hung over the water to its end, and did a cannonball.

Meera goes back to the house and returns with a pole and line. She rolls up her trouser legs before taking a seat on a log near Bran and casting out her line.

“What’s happening now?” She asks Bran, gesturing at the book in his hand.

“A bunch of ships with people on them are fleeing the Martian tripods, so one of the Navy’s ships rams it so it the people can get away.’

“Do you think they’ll make it?”

Arya pops her head up out of the water,

“Doubt it, the Martians have heat rays.”

“Don’t give it away!” Bran says petulantly. This was another of the books he’d filched from Arya’s shelf, that consisted nearly entirely of science fiction and pulp adventures, to her governess’s despair. Arya had once told him they had contained all the adventures she was never going to get to have.

“Just saying, the narrator is just a journalist, and the tripods are enormous.”

That’s what made the story so good, Bran thought. It shouldn’t be very long, yet there’s still half a book left.

Not too much later, Meera’s brother Jojen sticks his head out the house.

“Mum asked if you all want sandwiches.”

“Tell her yes,” Meera calls back, and Jojen disappears inside.

Arya swims up to the edge and crawls out of the water onto the shore.

“Isn’t he coming out too?”

Meera’s gazing back at the house with a distant look in her eye.

“He had another seizure this morning, and was out of it for a while. Mum’s taking him to the doctor’s tomorrow to see if his medicine needs adjusting.”

Ah. Though most in the village had come to understand Jojen’s condition, Bran had come to feel kinship with the other boy’s vulnerability. Lady Reed had been a school teacher before she’d wed, and taught him at home before the doctor’s had been able to keep from having the fits anymore. Him and his sister both attended the village school now.  

Jojen does join them when he returns with lunch, sitting between Bran and Meera on the dirt.

“What are you going to do now that you’re done with school?” Arya asks Meera idly, still chewing on a tough bit of green.

“Get a job I suppose. Father says one of the sailing clubs down at the marina needs someone to handle registrations and paperwork. Though I’m not eighteen until November.”

“That would just drive me mad. “ Arya responds, “All day, just seeing all the boats go in an out but being stuck in a little box.”

Meera shugs, “I don’t think I’d mind.”

“Not holding out to get swept up by some handsome Duke at a ball somewhere?” Jojen asks with a smirk.

Bran hides his face. He’s always known Meera was pretty- even if the other boys in the village didn’t appreciate her- but in the past year looking at her has made him feel like he was taking another long fall.

Meera laughs him off, “If the boys weren’t interested in me at school, they won’t be interested at the balls I won’t go to.”

The balls and derbies and garden parties that make up the London social season. They had never been something that interested Bran or Arya in the least. Mother occasionally spoke of the ones she had attended as a girl, and Robb had gone to the Windsor horse show as a guest of a school friend, but Father had expressed more than a bit of disdain at the opulence in the wake of the slump. The world was changing, he said, and they ought keep up.

It was not something the Reeds would have ever been able to take part in. While they maintained what remained of their family’s land, and kept the title, the only thing resembling a fortune they had was Howland Reed’s Navy pension and his earnings from his current role as the harbourmaster.

“Sansa sure won’t shut up about it though,” Arya comments.

God above, that was true.

Sansa had pled to be allowed to go to boarding school for her last few years of secondary education, and Ned and Catelyn had reluctantly agreed. While they indeed missed their eldest daughter, her education was important to them, and Cat in particular had recognized that Sansa, a social butterfly, would blossom surrounded by other girls of her station.

And blossom she had.

Sansa had left for school with a neat red braid, a pressed uniform, and a head full of dreams. She returned home with her hair pinned up, a purse full of smuggled make up, and dozens of tales of party invitations on the weekends.

Right now, she was at the table in the dining room with her mother. Having finished her lunch, she was writing to Margaery Tyrell, her house’s head girl, and one of the closest friends she had made during the year.

“Have you gone into the village to visit Jeyne yet?” Catelyn asked.

She had not. Jeyne Poole was the daughter of a man Ned had once employed who now ran a shop in town. Jeyne had before this year, been Sansa’s dearest friend.

“No, Mother. It’s just- I worry we won’t have anything in common anymore having been apart for a whole year.”

This was a half truth. It is what Sansa thought when she pondered her magical year away at school and tried to fit. Giggly Jeyne, who was so frightened of mice and snakes, and dreamed of one day being a film star, just seemed so far away from the sophistication she had come to know.

“You should go see,” Catelyn says, smiling, but firmly. “Pack a picnic and sit somewhere. I’m glad you’re so happy at school, but you musn’t forget your old friends, or where you came from. Winterfell may not be as grand as where your school friends live, but it is still your home.”

Sansa tried not to wrinkle her nose, but she takes her mother’s advice. The next day, Cook helps her pack a basket and she dons a straw hat and walks to the village and finds Jeyne getting her hair set in the beauty shop, and they share lunch on a bench in the park.

“At least without you around, there were a lot more boys paying attention to me,” Jeyne tells her, taking a sip from her bottle of cordial.

Sansa laughs.

“Oh forget about these village boys. I met so many lovely young men at school.”

Sansa tells her about Margaery’s brother Loras, with his golden curls, who was planning to study at Cambridge. Of Joffrey Baratheon, who had such a lovely face and was of such a good family. Even of Joffrey’s uncle Jamie, who was captain of football at their school, and such a good player, his feats were still spoken of to this day. He had joined the army after graduation, and the girls at the school whispered breathily of his exploits.

“Oh it sounds so wonderful,” Jeyne sighs, “I wish I could move to London, that’s where all the fancy people live. I would love to go to a ball or a tea party, instead I’m stuck here.”

Sansa purses her lips. The girls she went to school with were girls with estates, and titles. Little Myrcella Baratheon was even the daughter of a Duke. Truly, she did not believe any of them would invite a girl such as Jeyne to any of their occasions, but she can’t tell her that.

The potential awkwardness of the discussion is brought to an end by the honk of a car horn coming down the street.

Robb sticks his head out of the window and waves to them.

Jeyne hastily fixes her hat while waving back.

“How is your brother doing now? Any of those high-class ladies catch his eye?”

“Robb still has university to finish, I don’t imagine he’ll think of marrying at least until he’s graduated. I think he’s just having fun now, he’s probably driving out to visit Theon.”

Theon had been raised among the Stark’s as a child. Son of another man who Ned had known in the service, he had fostered the boy as both a gesture of goodwill, and a protection from the harsh reality that his life would be up in the industrial north. Now nearly twenty, Theon had moved out of Winterfell and taken a job at the dockyard.

He had already gone out there today though, in fact he was actually on his way home when he drove past Sansa and Jeyne.

A bit down the road, he also passed Arya.

“Want a lift?” He asks, head stuck out the window.

Arya waves him off.

“I still want to go by the newsstand, I told Bran I’d bring him the newest Strange Tales.”

Robb pulled on past her, and Arya stepped back on her bike and kept going.

She’d only gone out today because Jon had forgotten his lunch, but it was a good enough excuse.

Gendry had worked the newsstand for Mr. Dondarrion since he had left school two years ago. Initially, he had tried to dodge Arya as she pawed through the stacks, interrogating him about the contents of all the pulps. He seemed to have gotten more used to her in recent times though, and often would offer her recommendations.

After plucking Strange Tales, she turns to him.

“Anything else good?”

After a moment’s thought, Gendry passes her a copy of Astounding Science Fiction.

“There’s one in there about an alien. Incredible. “

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

When he rings her up, and takes her pocket money, he asks.

“So how’s it all go for the Starks up upon the hill?”

Arya makes a face.

“There’s no hill, the land here is flat.”

“It’s a figure of speech.”

He had always been like this, ever since he found out her father was Lord Stark. It used to make him wary of her, now he seemed just to take the opportunity to tease her.

She shrugs.

“Most of the same. Sansa chattering on about school, me trying to drag Bran out more. Robb keeps driving places and still won’t teach me.”

“I’m with you, I’d love to learn to drive. Thought about going down to the next town, see if I can find a job working on them.”

Arya’s stomach twists at the thought of him not being in the village anymore.

“You won’t do it will you?”

Gendry makes a soft noise, and tugs his cap a little lower on his head. He puts his elbows on the counter and rests his chin on his hands.

“I don’t know. It would be a great opportunity. A chance to leave,” he gestures at the quiet street in front of him, “all of this.”

Arya’s in a bad mood the entire ride home. She tries not to agree with Gendry. The village was tiny. The shops, a newsstand, the post office, the newspaper, the church. That was mostly it. She’d often had the same sort of thoughts herself.

Much of the summer passes in the same fashion.

Bran turns thirteen in August. When asked what he wants for his birthday, he says,

“I just want Father home, he’s always gone for it. “

“Alas your father still has social obligations in London.”

Catelyn too, wished he could return, but some courtesies must be observed, no matter how much she missed her husband.

Bran sighs, he really should have known better by now.

“A new sketchbook would be good too.”

He gets the book, and spends much of the remains of the month by the pond with Meera and Jojen. He draws planes that he’s seen in magazines, and newspapers, or the few that fly overhead.

“I wish I could be a pilot.” He tells Jojen one day.

“I used to want to be one too.” Jojen admits.

“I guess neither of us are ever going to fly.”

It wasn’t fair, he thought, that the both of them were stuck grounded.

One day, Sansa peeks her head into Arya’s room.

“Can you come to Jeyne’s with me today?”

“Why?” Arya asks, confused. Sansa’s sudden appearance in her room was unusual enough. The two girls were not close, and Arya had often been pleased that they didn’t have to share a room like some of the girls she knew in the village.

“I’m going to cut my hair.”

That was a bit surprising. Sansa had always been so proud of her long, smooth, Tully red hair, so much like Mother’s.

“Why do you need me for that?”

“I’m worried I might chicken out.”

Well that at least made sense.

Jeyne’s aunt Ellyn did hair out of the family’s parlour. When Sansa was sitting in the chair, with Ellyn washing, combing, then snipping at her long hair, Arya would have swore her sister was in pain. But, Sansa insisted that long hair was terribly old fashioned, and she’d even seen pictures of Lady Lannister, Duchess of Casterly Rock, with her hair bobbed. When Ellyn’s done, Sansa shakes her head in amazement,

“My head feels so light!”

Looking at her sister, Arya has a queer notion.

“Can you do mine too?”

Both are a touch worried when they come back home that night. Sansa rides on the handlebars of Arya’s bike, like she had done with Robb when they were young children, and Arya felt for once like they might really be sisters.

When Catelyn sees them, she reaches out to touch the shorn ends of Sansa’s hair.

“I can show you how to set it properly later.”

Then she moves on to Arya’s.

“Did they use the hedge clippers on yours?”

But the cut proves very practical the next week, when Catelyn enlists her to help her dig up and move several of the rose bushes in the garden. It stayed out of her face, and reduced the sweat on her neck.

Ned returns to Winterfell near the end of the month. The only one not home when he comes is Jon, who’s working late.

When Jon returns home, only Ned is still in the parlour.

Happy to see his uncle, Jon moves to embrace him.

“Any particular reason your superiors kept you from my homecoming?”

Jon laughs, but he looks a bit uneasy.

“We had to run an extra edition. Thorne got word in last minute, Hitler has invaded Poland.”

Ned sighs deeply.

He stays up later than the others, alone in his study.

It would be a lie if he said he hadn’t felt the waves coming in in the past few years. Ned had served in the Navy during the Great War, and though he had had more than enough of war, he knew what he heard.

Jon stayed up that night too, switching through channels on the wireless, nearly all dead. He was in a unique position compared to the rest of the family, and wasn’t sure what he should say, if anything.

The next day is chaos, with Sansa packing to return to school, Bran and Arya having to be coerced into restarting their lessons, and Robb preparing to leave for university. Ned and Jon barely had time to think about anything.

September 3 was set to be their last breakfast all together. Sansa was nibbling at her eggs, which she swore the school cooks could not make as good. Arya was shoveling down her porridge so she would have enough energy to make a break for it after. Bran appeared to be attempting to demonstrate something to Robb using bit of his bacon as his models. Rickon had somehow already gotten jam smeared on him.

And Cat was watching Ned, with a smile on her face.

Jon didn’t usually turn on the wireless during breakfast, but he’d had an impulse that day. One that turned out to be prudent.

A hand reaches out and turns the volume nod, and the voice of the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is head:

“I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.”

The speech continues, but one by one, every face at the table freezes.

Ned feels something deep in his gut begin to ache. He hopes he can remember this breakfast as it is.

[catie-does-things]

A little preview of that “Zuko is banished to the south pole” AU, which I am absolutely not writing right now, except I kind of am, because I can’t resist.

.....

They came two months after her father and the other warriors left.

There was no black snow this time, for the boat they came in was not large enough to spew that much soot into the air. It wasn’t even a warship, as they would later realize, though that hadn’t stopped Sokka from doing his best to muster what little defenses he could - if a half-finished snow wall and a thirteen-year-old with a club could even be counted as defenses. The stout old man in half-armor who disembarked first certainly didn’t seem to think so.

Unfazed by Sokka’s war cry - which even Katara knew would have been more impressive had his voice not cracked in the middle of it - the old man easily caught the club with one hand when Sokka swung it at him. His grip was firm enough that Sokka could not break it, but he made no counter attack of his own. “Please, young man,” he said in a tired voice, looking down at Sokka with pity. “Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

Sokka, to his credit, let go of the club and drew his knife. It was a knife meant more for cleaning fish than fighting, but it could be deadly enough. Yet the old man swatted aside that attack as well, and the knife went flying into the snow. When Sokka resorted to punches and kicks, they proved just as ineffective.

At last, the old man caught both of Sokka’s wrists. “Please,” he repeated. “You have shown your courage, young warrior. Now stand down, and no one will be hurt.”

“Liar!” Sokka shouted, struggling helplessly against the old man’s grip. “You’re here to kill us!”

“No,” the old man replied, shaking his head. “We have not been sent to destroy your tribe, but to govern it.”

Behind the half-finished wall where Katara was crouched, watching, there were gasps and murmurs from the other women who clutched fish-knives of their own with shaking hands. They were less trained even than Sokka, but just as prepared to fight desperately if it came to that. They had never imagined the Fire Lord, half a world away, would ever consider their village worth governing.

“Never!” Sokka shouted defiantly. “You are not our chief!” Katara felt a surge of pride for her brother, and a pang of anger at her father for not being here to defend his own position, as well as the whole tribe, from this foreign invader.

“You misunderstand,” the old man replied, as maddeningly calm as ever. “It is not I who has been appointed. It is Prince Zuko.” Then he dropped one of Sokka’s wrists, stepped to the side, and pointed behind him, to the top of the gangplank of the boat, at someone that no one had taken notice of until now.

He was a boy about Sokka’s age, in full Fire Nation armor and a red cloak that almost looked too big for him. Half his face was covered with bandages, and he was scowling at them. Katara thought he was the most pathetic looking person she had ever seen, and she hated him.

Then, Prince Zuko spoke.

“Your chief Hakoda and his men attacked a Fire Nation convoy in our waters,” he began, sounding like he was reciting a prepared speech. He began to walk slowly down the gangplank. “They fought...with honor,” he went on, the last word said with some difficulty through gritted teeth. His water tribe audience waited with bated breath as he paused in the middle of the gangplank, swallowed, then continued. “The survivors were presented to the Fire Lord, among them Chief Hakoda, who surrendered this.” He reached behind his back, removed something from his belt, and held it up for all to see.

Katara gasped this time along with the others. In Prince Zuko’s hand was an elaborately carved whalebone knife. It was her father’s knife. The knife of the chief.

“The Fire Lord has given it to me,” Prince Zuko concluded unnecessarily as he reached the bottom of the gangplank and set foot on the icy surface of the south pole for the first time. “I am in charge here now.” He lifted his chin, daring anyone to challenge him, knowing that no one could. The knife had come to him fairly, by their own rules of war.

Katara hated him even more.

---

“That could have gone better,” Zuko commented to his uncle when they were back aboard their ship, less than an hour after he had delivered the speech his father had written for him. That was all the time it had taken for the women and children that constituted what was left of the Southern Water Tribe to acknowledge his authority, and for him to survey his new dominion - a collection of tents, a few canoes, and barren antarctic wasteland as far as the eye could see in every direction. He and Uncle Iroh would have to continue living aboard ship until some more suitable dwelling could be constructed.

“But it also could have gone much worse,” Iroh replied, ever the optimist. “They did accept you, after all.”

“They didn’t have much choice,” Zuko scoffed, removing his cloak and throwing it on his bunk in the narrow hold. “One boy wasn’t going to stop us, even if it weren’t for their primitive superstition about this thing.” He brandished the crude knife that now represented the last shred of dignity he possessed. It wasn’t even sharp, and would be useless in a fight. If losing it meant so much, Hakoda should have left it at home.

“A good leader does not dismiss the beliefs of his people so lightly,” Iroh cautioned, sitting down on his own bunk, opposite Zuko’s. There was about three feet of empty space between them. The rest of the hold was filled with crates and barrels of supplies. “Like it or not,” his uncle went on, “these are your people now.”

With a strangled cry of frustration, Zuko threw the knife down on top of his cloak. “This is ridiculous!” he fumed, pacing the small space. “If there were any waterbenders left here, they would have been sent out to fight us!”

“So it would seem,” Iroh replied evenly. “But you are tired from our journey, Prince Zuko, and still recovering.” Zuko flinched at the reminder, one hand instinctively moving towards the bandaged half of his face, but he checked the motion with great effort, clenching his hand into a fist instead. “Why don’t you rest for a while?” his uncle suggested.

“No,” Zuko insisted, marching the short distance to the chest at the foot of his bunk that was filled with scrolls, everything they had been able to find about the Southern Water Tribe in the royal library. “I have work to do.” He had skimmed over most of the information as they had sailed south, but now that they were here, he could begin his research in a more focused manner, starting with how to construct buildings out of ice. Then, later, he would have to do a formal census - that shouldn’t take long - and draft his first report to his father.

“Very well,” Iroh said reluctantly. “Would you like some tea while you work?”

Zuko made a vague noise of assent, already focused on his task. He picked out three of the more promising scrolls, then sat down on his bunk to read. He barely noticed when his uncle gently forced a teacup into his hand a short while later.

Ice building didn’t sound like it would be too hard, if he put enough people to work on it. The women here might have been content raising their children in squalid little tents, but he knew they could do better. It would have been even easier with waterbenders, of course…

“Some of the children are quite young,” Zuko mused aloud, looking down at his still untouched teacup.

“Very young indeed,” Iroh agreed.

“One of them might turn out to be a waterbender, someday,” Zuko went on, his grip on the teacup tightening. And a young child, who probably wouldn’t even remember any other chief besides him, surely that child would be loyal to him? And when he had the unquestioned loyalty of a southern waterbender, then he would have met the conditions for his banishment to be lifted, and proved to his father…

“I suppose that might be the case,” Uncle Iroh said. “Destiny, after all, is a funny thing.”

[disabledpaladin]

some world-building bits i’m super proud of ! this is for miscellaneous npcs, rps & tabletop rpgs, flavor text, and the like from the past 2 years

(from a homebrew D&D 5e game)

You come across a curious man, talking excitedly to the donkey pulling a merchant’s cart. Strange herbs and baubles are tied to the posts and to the sales counter on the side, as well as around the donkey. As he spots you, his elven ears perk up and he grins widely.

“Hello, my friends, hello! You’ve come from many places, and you must have a need to unload your wares and worries, right? You’ve found just the man!” He goes behind the cart and suddenly appears inside, bending over the counter at the window to beckon you closer. 

As you approach, you can see a large variety of items crammed into the cart. Earthen pottery, beautiful jewelry, and toolkits for unfathomable professions line the walls. A large bookcase behind him only holds trinkets- a glass smokey orb, a golden ticket, and what may be a mummufied hand, and much much more. Before you can examine more, the merchant’s hand is thrust just in front of your face, awaiting a handshake.

“My name is Digiornos, and I am here to serve! How may I help?”

(hireling from a current Dungeon World campaign, with consent of players)

Meredith Hellswing: An excitable and slightly clumsy gal. She's young and impressionable, especially eager to go out and shape the world. Meredith works at the Green Acres Inn (Anstead) as a waitress to save up for good gear before adventuring fulltime. 

Body: Lithe | Eyes: Bright | Hair: Braided | Clothes: Traveler's clothes Cost: Good Accomplished | Loyalty: 1 | Skill: Man-at-arms - 2

(location from the same Dungeon World game)

Serendale:  A prospering city that is a central trade hub for the many strange territories it borders. Many unique and interesting goods can be found through the market. Many products by the local Guild furnish stores with handcrafted furniture and weapons. The city itself is fairly antiquated- old buildings form the town, some dating back to a century prior with crumbling stonework. The government hosts a royal family rather than the usual council other cities have. Though none of the members have royal titles, their lineage is often cited as their rite to rule.

(various items/trinkets made for a game I was working on & scrapped)

Natalia’s Tears: A small glass vial of a floral and translucent pink liquid. While it looks beautiful, it is one of the most dangerous poisons in the realm. Once ingested, the victim’s body sprouts pale pink crystalline growths all over their body, until they are weighed down and crushed under the weight.

Amulet of Gods: An ugly, heavy brass necklace with a chunky and misshapen pendant that resembles a glassy eye. The wearer can store small items inside by reaching into the eye, revealing a hot, humid and moist chamber. Sometimes the walls and floors quake when something is taken out.

Tent For Two: The easiest tent to assemble in existence! Just throw it on the floor and watch it magically transform into a cozy abode for two. This comes with ASSEMBLY DUST*, poles, tarps, and a complimentary snack to share with your partner. (ASSEMBLY DUST does NOT disassemble, DISASSEMBLY DUST sold separately.)

Wand of the Ocean: It looks like a fish, and smells like a fish. A sea bass, specifically. Imbued with the very essence of the sea, your Mana will be channeled effortlessly through this wand. Also, it will leave your hands covered in salty brine.  

(from a current Monsterhearts game, with consent of current players)

Dillard's Farm Fresh Beef was once the heart of the city in the early 1900s, bringing in new workers who often uprooted their families to live here. Anyone capable of working at the packaging plant was hired, especially because of the high rate of injuries caused by large machinery. Children often worked alongside adults in these harsh conditions. 

Due to poor infrastructure and poorly surveilled land reports, in 1922, the blood that had been drained from the meat and under the factory floor had opened up a massive sinkhole underneath the building. The building crumbled into the earth on one fateful night. No one had been reported injured or killed in this incident, though the factory's loss was devastating to the local economy at the time. 

The sinkhole is now filled in, though the former grounds and remaining structure serves as a historical marker and symbol of tragedy.

(from the same Monsterhearts game)

Gregory Grimaldis was the head librarian of the Lennox Achibald-Elswood Library before the Univerisity bought the building. The University offered Gregory a job to stay on and work for them, but only as a janitor. Gregory refused and left. Gregory now runs the Bookmobile, an old school bus with the original high school’s name blacked out. Instead, white, dripping paint on the sides reads simply “The Bookmobile.” Seats have been ripped out in place of bolted-in bookcases, books held in by belts of strong elastic. He makes runs through the city's residential district, and makes stops at a few of the preschools and nursing homes to exchange books (and promote literacy in the case of preschools.) While Gregory is all smiles, the look in his eyes is vacant and a little dead as he tries to move on from losing the best job he's ever had.

(from a mystery puzzle Storium game; this was the opening scene)

A rainstorm is passing overhead, and thankfully most of Mrs. Miles’ guests have made it into the house before the torrential weather has come down. Luna had welcomed these visitors into her house personally, leading them into the parlor. Unfortunately, the early bird turn out for this event was just a mere six people. Perhaps more would arrive before the first tour began.

The fireplace of the parlor is lit, despite it being a summer evening. The parlor holds its seven occupants without much crowding, though seating is another situation- a couch and two armchairs can sit five, six if everyone squeezes. Personal photos of her and Solomon sit on the mantle, and there’s two large bookcases lining the wall for literature if one was very bored. Naturally, one of them has a large section dedicated to Solomon’s work.

Luna Miles constantly weaves back and forth between the parlor and entryway, making sure everyone will be in order. She looks like a nervous woman on a mission, so maybe it’s not the best idea to talk to her right now. However, it would be a great idea to get to know everyone else, if you were a friendly sort of person.

(from a cyberpunk Storium game that was never released due to illness)

Robots and AI*: Artificial personalities in artificial bodies, and seen as tools by most humans. With artificial personalities becoming more complex, and robots seeming more human-like, sometimes it can be hard to discern they’re a robot… except for their designation card, that is.

AI* exist largely as the virtual version of robots, assistants to users of the Internet, Intranet, and MentalNet. It is very rare their programs get moved into a mechanical vessel (and becoming a robot), but sometimes “cracked” AI programs find themselves in highly illegal parts of the Internet for hacking, putting into a body, or anything else possible.

Some robots and artificial intelligences can be classified as androids or gynoids when they seem “human” enough, which is determined through a series of tests done by the original manufacturer. While it’s an uncommon occurrence, there have been cases of newly classed androids/gynoids being dismantled for holding vital information.

[rebelren]

Leverage ficlet

Set after the Gone Fishing Job

(Thanks for reading this and giving me your ideas and feedback, cousin!)

---

After that time they were stuck in the woods together - and the subsequent disappointment of the fishing game - Eliot decides to take Alec on a proper camping trip.

Alec is initially reluctant when Eliot informs him they're taking a trip next weekend, especially when he hears they will be Outdoors ("Really, man? With the bugs? And the SMELLS?"), but then he gets into the idea.

The whole next week, packages of varying shapes and sizes arrive at McRory's. This isn't unusual, not since that time with the mechanical bull, so Eliot doesn't think much of it.

Of course, the day they leave, Parker decides she wants cake. Now. With seven rainbow layers because the Glenn-Reeder 107 was the first safe she ever cracked, and therefore, seven is one of her favorite numbers. Oh, and also sprinkles. The more, the better. So Eliot spends the afternoon making her the rainbow sprinkle cake of her dreams, because of course he does. And despite the frustration of trying - and failing - to prevent her from getting right in the middle of everything and sticking her fingers into everything for a taste or three, it’s worth it to see her face when the cake is ready. This means Alec has to load the car, but he doesn’t seem to mind (or even complain much, which is honestly surprising). He does, however, make it clear he expects extra cake in compensation. And then stands around and grins at Parker while she eats more cake in one sitting than should be humanly possible.

Eliot mostly enjoys the car ride. Getting out of the city always helps him unwind a bit, even before he arrives at his destination. It’d be better if Hardison would quit fiddling with the music system and stop complaining about the diminishing cell phone and wifi signal, but it isn't any worse than Eliot expected.

When they arrive at the remote and empty camp area, Eliot tells Alec to unload the car and goes to find some firewood. He’s enjoying the fresh air and physical exertion, so he lingers a bit. When he returns, arms full, he freezes in his tracks. He fully expected to find Hardison lying on the ground tangled up in the tent stakes or something equally ridiculous, given his track record with ropes, but THIS is a surprise.

Alec has somehow conjured up a monstrosity of a tent, flaps open wide to show hints of at least one full mattress inside - and who knows what other ridiculous unnecessaries.

As Eliot stands there staring, Alec emerges from behind the tent.

“Eliot! Isn’t she a beauty? I just got the satellite hooked up and--”

“What the HELL is that?”

Alec stares at him.

“It’s a tent.”

“Dammit, Hardison! Why couldn’t you get a normal tent? What IS all this?”

“Man, I’m a hacker. It’s what I do. You can’t expect me to go camping and not improve on the concept!”

A short argument (read: yelling match) ensues, which is brought to an end by Alec taking Eliot by the arm and leading him into the tent to show him the kitchen area. Eliot takes it all in. The fact that Alec brought a Keurig is just insulting, but it IS adequately equipped. Despite Eliot’s annoyance, it would be nice to have a better cooking set up, and at least the tent seems structurally sound. Being impaled by a tent pole while sleeping is not on his list of Acceptable Ways to Die. He is less happy when he sees the satellite tv and gaming laptop Hardison has brought and the argument revives.

Eventually, they get everything set up, each making compromises and neither happy with the final result. Eliot needs some space, so he heads outside to get a fire going. He's still pissed. The whole point of this was to get away! Be in nature! And now there's a giant-ass tent full of fucking memory foam mattresses and Egyptian cotton sheets right over there. All he'd wanted was to spend some time out here where he can breathe deeply for once. And lord knows Alec could use some time away from the keyboard.

Deprived of his beloved technology, Alec follows him outside and parks himself by the fire, keeping up a constant stream of grumbling.

"Man, I don't know what would've been so bad about having my tech. I could be watching the football game right now now, or playing World of Warcraft. I can't BELIEVE you expect me to abandon my party for a whole weekend…”

This continues while Eliot starts the food prep. He tunes it out for a while, but once everything is set, Alec is still talking.

“...Instead I gotta sit here on a LOG of all things, getting bit by who knows WHAT, watching you cook with nothing else to DO!”

Eliot is fed up. He stands and turns towards Alec, intending something, though he's not sure exactly what. To make him stop somehow. But there Alec is, right there, lit by the firelight. And if he’d just shut that mouth of his…

It’s not intentional. Eliot doesn’t make a conscious decision to do it. It’s like how his body moves during a fight, running on instinct and muscle memory. He reaches out and pulls Alec to his feet. And then he’s kissing Alec, roughly, annoyance coming through loud and clear. If kisses could talk, this one would be saying, “Will you just shut UP already?”

Alec is NOT prepared for this. He’s stunned into stillness for a moment, but then… Eliot’s really good at this kissing thing. And it’s not like he hasn’t thought about this over the past few years. Hell, who wouldn’t be attracted to Eliot? Alec seizes his opportunity, puts his hands in Eliot’s incredible hair, and starts kissing him back.

In the end, Alec admits the outdoors may have some merits.

[storyunrelated]

Short Stories

For a given value of ‘short’, seeing as how most people’s definition of a short story is about 5k up to 10k (roughly) while mine is lucky to reach two thousand. But! That’s variety for you, eh? We’re all different? Etc?

Anyway.

These are the ones I’ve put up on here. You’ll notice I don’t do that anymore. The reason – to myself at least – is the ever-lurking notion that one day I might parcel a bunch of these up together and do something fancy with them. Unlikely, but the thought keeps me up at night sometimes. If only because of the work that would be involved.

Speaking of which, I do sometimes also consider parceling up all of these ones into an e-book or something (the ‘Money for Old Rope’ collection I’ve mentioned previously).

This would require work too, as these below are peppered with typos and poor structure. This is because I don’t proofread.

Because I don’t CARE.

(I had to put them below this line because there’s a lot of them and I can’t in good conscience do that to your dashes. Of course, this now means that no-one will look but, you know, swings and roundabouts.)

Unwanted Advances – The logic of online pornographic robots is even more obtuse when they appear in real life, at your front door. Who’d be stupid enough to fall for that? 

An Interview With… - Something I wrote for a contest thingy with a local writing group. Didn’t win, obviously. It’s about an interview, obviously. Someone trying to make a big break in the blogosphere by talking with something they found in the garden. In a chasm. 

Just A Touch – For a refreshing change, believe what a conspiracy theorist believes for a little bit. Only recreationally, you understand. Just a taste. 

In The Loop – A very childish game, played with the very real possibility of horrible consequences should you fail. The thing behind you won’t do wonders for your concentration. 

Soothe Me – Sometimes, while doing horrible things for what they think is a good reason, a person might suffer a bout of introspection and wonder whether murder and horror is the right thing to be doing. Luckily, there’s usually someone on hand to explain why being a monster is fine.

Cupcake – There’s a hole in my bathroom wall and out of this hole extends an arm. Me and the arm are buddies, and a cupcake seems a good way of expressing this.

Checklist – What’s keeping you here?

Rollover – Even as your efforts come to nothing and you wither away to dust know that the trying will never stop.

Immovable Object – The next stage in unskippable advertisements (obviously the best form of advertisements) is something rather more difficult to ignore.

Oh What’s New? – Networking is very important! It’s all about who you know! So go in there and try to make some connections! What’s the worst that can happen? Really?

Get Hammered – You’re special, but special doesn’t fit. Don’t worry. You can be made to fit. (And later when you see someone else lauded for not fitting, don’t complain; no-one likes bitterness).

Open Platform – It’s important to let people speak their piece, but it’s equally important to recognise that what some people want to say is nothing but toxic.

Ga-Ga, Goo-Goo – The world is a scary place, isn’t it? So many bad things happening! All so complicated! No solutions without drawbacks! Problems on top of problems with no end in sight! Wouldn’t it be better if you could just divest yourself of responsibility and press yourself to the bosom of someone big and strong who’ll stroke your hair and tell you who’s to blame? Good news!

By The Book – Pick the beliefs that best reflect yours, rather than having to adjust your view to conform to something else – where’s the fun in that? Show me which book lets me hate the people I already hate and let’s get going!

Stay The Course – Support the tyrant to the hilt! Until they do something that directly impacts you, at which point you should bawl your lungs out about how unfair it is.

Old Songs – I thing I wrote out by hand (writing club, again) and then transposed. A man who can fix things by singing to them, obviously. Old songs have power, you see?

Sit Comfortably – What starts as an unusual job interview goes in an unforeseen direction. Specifically underground. Where there are spiders. More spiders, rather. (This story has a lot of spiders).

Things Are Grim – A dystopian broadcast to tell the populace something they already know for no good reason. You never know when an audience who doesn’t know how the future works might be watching, after all.

Tabula Rasa – The Book is very important, but you are not allowed to read it.

Reaper of Souls – A being of immense power watches over the city, guarding it from necromantic mischief. It also likes fanfiction and knows the importance of leaving feedback.

Out The Door – A man makes things and the two others that live with him have differing opinions on what he should do with them once they’re done. Do you improve them first, or do you move on? Ultimately, who even cares?

My Violent Heart – Using machines to turn people into soulless drones so they work without complaint seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Tinted – Goggles that allow you to see the world not as it is, but as you think it should be.

Sanded Down – You only have so much sand in your life and how you use it is very important. But using it is far more important than hoarding it. After all, even if you do something badly at least you’ve done something…

Misshapen – Looking at what everyone else is doing, it seems easy enough to replicate. Right? Right?

For Your Own Good – “Unhand that phallus!” and with that cry is the crime of male masturbation rudely interrupted. But it’s entirely altruistic – that’s spinal fluid, that is!

Flensed – Every month you’re renewed and every months you’re stripped to nothing once more. This horrible process happens without fail and it does not get any easier.

Southern Pole – How else should you define yourself except by how you are not like someone else?

Interloper – You don’t belong here.

Tannin Salon – The best tea in the world? Why, the nectar of the Teabeast of course! Getting it is a bit of a pain, naturally, but that’s all part of the allure!

Well Off – Someone’s been put at the bottom of the well, and someone at the top has a vested interest in this staying that way.

Machinegun Man – A long way from home, in the rain, only a gun for company.

Extra-Curricular – An ovoid in class provides answers the teacher cannot bear to hear.

Little Shop Of Sandwiches – A dusty, quiet little sandwich shop that sells lunchtime snacks the likes of which few have ever seen. The likes fewer still have eaten!

Start The Clock – The time between you starting a conversation and it all falling apart horribly because you’re an awkward mess is always smaller than you think. Clock’s ticking!

Rote – It might feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over (and over) again, but somehow from the outside everyone seems to think you’re all over the place.

Push On – Success can be yours! Look at all these other people! They succeeded. You can too! Just keep going! No matter how had it gets.

Excision – In the future, love is to be outlawed! No-one is really clear as to why, however.

Consult A Doctor – If you experience an erection that kills you, you should probably get that checked out.

Object of Disputation – A child tries to make something nice for their parents but everyone else has an opinion on what it actually is.

Catch Of The Slate Sea – A man on a cliff watches a big ship catch a big fish.

Faceless – We wear many faces in life, acquiring new ones as we grow and as we encounter those who dislike what faces we have already. It can be so hard to keep track of who you were to start with. Then again, were you ever anyone?

Slice And Dice – A man invents a superior method of killing that which is reluctant to die.

We Care A Lot – There are those that are paid to be professionally unpleasant in very public places. Eventually, machines displace all jobs held by persons – such unpleasant people aren’t as safe as they think.

Taste Test – Blended down, is there any real difference between these two people? A focus group shall decide!

Limit Break – Be nice enough and it’s inevitable

Three-Way – Just because what you believe also happens to be what’s best for society doesn’t mean you’re biased or myopic. You’re just sensible! It’s everyone else with the problem.

Better Than – How far would people go to avoid something horrible happening? Often, far enough that they’ll inflict something far worse and fail to see the irony. That’s irony! Is it? Maybe.

Infantalise – Casting men is easy! There’s no upper limit. Women (girls, sorry)? That’s another story! They get old so quickly! And who wants that? We have to go younger. Much, much younger. No, younger than that!

Material – Where do these journalists get these outlandish tales? Out of thin air, obviously.

Barred And Shuttered – Life is full of opportunities! Just not for you. A lifetime of closed doors. Have fun!

So Delicate. So Fragile – A man births an opinion! He’s surprised, but knows he must protect it from everything and everyone. Exposure is lethal to an opinion! It might become something else.

Mother Of Invention – Every new weapon invented is touted as the last one, the one horrible enough to turn mankind off war forever. Eventually that’s got to bear fruit. Surely.

All That’s Fit To Protect – Wrapped in lies, the truth of harm is simply deflected.

Abstinent Without Leave – What’s the best way of ensuring The Youth is not banging away like an outhouse door? Education, trust and respect? No! Ignorance!

Great Hunt – The girl is gorgeous and her father is unusual. A boy is invited to the house of the most popular, wonderful girl at school, though he knows not why. He also doesn’t know why all these other guys have been invited, either.

Nothing To Hide – If you’re not thinking anything bad then you won’t mind having your head smashed and your thoughts poked at, right?

The Perfect Model – The human body is disgusting but we’re forced to hang clothes on it so we must find the best example for this. Why must women insist on having MASS?

Lead Balloon – Trapped in an office a man yearns to run off with the nice lady from across the room. Does it end well? Take a guess.

Four Guys – The best burger you might ever encounter! But at what cost?

By His Own Hand – A man is desperate to leave a mark and to leave life on his own terms.

Somebody Cares – Someone trying to put a comforting, supportive voice into his head does it wrong and regrets his decision. His method of removing the voice might perhaps be going a bit far.

Restructure – Journalists are obsolete. We feed a monster now.

Magic Eye – What’s obvious to everyone is not so obvious to this one guy.

Rod For His Own Back – Watch what you say, or else you may find your words used against you.

Bad Boss – Not everyone is cut out to be an evil overlord.

La-La-La – If you ignore a problem like everyone’s legs turning invisible then it’ll probably just go away.

Inner Glow – Scooping out his insides and replacing them with hot coals.

You May Find This Relevant To Your Situation – Truffling for potatoes in a lake of shit.

The Door Opens and Let’s the Future In - Nigel mustn’t touch the door. The future is on the other side.

Writing Is The Wall - Waking up to find a huge wall has cut their bedroom in half. It says something, but they don’t see it. You will.

Hoops - Life is a series of hoops, and each one matters until you jump it, then you find out it didn’t.

Flat - A man finds out something about his partner he should have noticed before.

Secret Techniques - They make tea differently in this office.

Dancing in the Dark - Do what you enjoy, no matter the audience.

Close Observation - It’s nice to be watched, but it’s not happening.

Slug - The people who run the world are beaten to the punch.

We Have to Go Deeper - Layers of suffering lie beneath your feet, and further still beneath those.

Exegesis - Feel free to bring your own meaning to the book, but disagree with me at your peril. Your soul is at stake.

Square Cube - Weaponising physics to kill kaiju

Irresistible - A court-case segues into just raving about how poorly-handled sexual assault cases are. So, uh, enjoy that.

Smoke - Newspapers spew enough nonsense that it stops working.

The Dick Heard Around the World - A man sends a picture of his penis to a woman. It works too well.

Driving Home for Christmas - I look at the driver next to me. He’s just the same.

Hangers On - Saying the wrong thing can attract unwanted attention.

Bottled Up - A man in a cave puts stories in bottles. No-one cares.

Little Furnace - Curiosity burns bright in the human breast, which can end badly if mishandled.

Pecking Order - The worse a tenant you are, the higher you are placed in the building.

Waiting Around - There are those who sit and wait for opportunity to fall into their laps

Hazy - A man loses himself.

[smlyds]

Sam x reader (stardew valley)

Dandelion

Chapter 2

The next day, I woke up in the early morning and planted my new seeds and watered my crops. I also noticed I had some mail. One was a fifty dollar check for some sap and fiber I sold the day before and a letter from the joja mart in the east side of the town. I put the money in my wallet and decided to go to the town again to see if anyone had posted a request. The walk was as peaceful as the day before with the morning light shining through the trees, the birds singing and the quiet patting of my feet in the soft dirt. When I reached the town, I looked at my watch and realized it was still really early, only 8:26. That meant nothing would be open for another half an hour. I sighed and continued to the bulletin board with the calendar and request section. On the requests, a small paper was pinned that said,

If it’s not too much trouble, I would like someone to bring me a Joja Cola after my shift at Joja Mart. I will give you 3 dollars. Bring it to me at my house around 2:30! Thanks!

-Sam

I took it down and took and put it in my journal, deciding to buy a cola from the saloon for him. I still had about 6 hours until then, though, so I decided to spend some time at the beach, which lay at the southern end of the town. I walked through the town square, then the small graveyard and to the bridge over the river that led to the beach. It was a very nice beach. A small cabin was built in one corner, where Elliot lived. The sunlight shimmered off the water as waves crashed against the sand. A fishing dock stretched into the ocean, and a small building was built and the far end of it. I walked around the beach and found some shells, which I placed in my backpack, then decided to see what the building was at the end of the dock. I walked down it, the old wood creaking and bending slightly under my weight, which made me uneasy. When I reached it, I opened the door to see a small fishing shop. It had bait, fish and fishing poles all over. At the end of the small room, behind a counter, a tall man with a gray beard and a red hat and jacket stood.

“Hello there! Yer’ new here aren’tcha?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m (y/n),” I said.

“Well I’m Willy. It’s good to meet’cha!” He said with a hearty laugh. “So, d’you have a fishin’ pole?”

“No, I can’t say I do,” I responded, hoping he wouldn’t try to convince me to buy one. I was really bad at refusing things, so I knew I would spend what little money I had on a fancy fishing pole if he suggested I do.

“I just got a nice fiberglass pole, so If you’d like, ya can have me old bamboo pole,” he said, picking up the bamboo fishing pole he had referred too.

“Oh, I would feel bad to take that,” I said, though I did want it.

“I don’t need it, so there’s no reason to feel bad,” he said, handing it to me, and J took it.

“Are you sure it’s alright?” I asked, to which he replied with a smile and a nod. “Okay! I guess I will go fish then!” I said, walking out the door. I then proceeded to fish until 2:10, getting tons of great catches I could sell, then left the beach and bought a Joja Cola to bring Sam. After buying it, I checked my watch and saw that it was 2:25, so I walked quickly to Sam’s house, and thoughtlessly knocked on the door, taking out the note with the request. Today, a young boy with reddish hair and brown eyes who seemed to be about 7 answered the door.

“Hello stranger!” he said.

“Hi! Is Sam here?” I asked the boy.

“Yeah, I will go get him,” the boy responded, going back into the house. A moment later Sam stepped out, and I felt myself get a little nervous.

“Hey there Farmer!” He said in a bright and cheery tone.

“U-um, hi,” I said awkwardly. “I saw your request on the bulletin board.” I said, handing him the Joja Cola.

“Oh, cool! I’ll go get my wallet,” he said, almost going back inside.

“You don’t need to pay me, it was only a dollar,” I said quickly.

“Well, on the request, I said I would, so I am going to stick to that,” he said with a smile.

“Well, then I will just use that 3 dollars to buy you a pizza or something,” I said stubbornly.

“Alright, then let’s get some pizza, on me.”

“Huh?”

“I will go get my wallet,” he said, smirking at me and going inside. After a moment, I processed what he had suggested and started to blush. He quickly came outside and said, “alright, let’s go to the Saloon!”

“A-alright,” I said, walking with him down the street and through the town square to the Saloon. “Also, let’s sit at the bar, because the chairs are tall and it’s more fun that way.”

I smiled at that suggestion, as I always felt the same way when picking where to sit.

“Thank you, for the pizza,” I said quietly, still blushing, but trying my best to hide it.

“No problem! This seemed like a good opportunity to make a new friend so I thought I should take it,” he said happily. He quickly ordered a pizza from the Saloon’s owner, Gus.

“So, have you lived here your whole life?” I asked in an attempt to make small talk.

“Nope, I moved here from Zuzu City about 6 years ago,” Sam said.

“Oh really? Do you prefer it here,” I asked curiously.

“I think I probably prefer the city. Things seem to move slower here. There are some nice things though,” he said, pausing before continuing. “I might move back to the city once I have enough money saved.”

“That makes sense. I guess the country isn’t for everyone,” I said, a little disappointed.

“Of course, that’s just a maybe right now. I might stay. Anyways, why did you move here?” Sam asked.

“I got tired of working an office job and remembered a letter my grandfather left me that he said to read when I was tired of modern life, and it had the will to the farm, so I decided to pack my bags and go,” I said, resting my chin on my hands.

“Wow! I wish I could do something as spontaneously as that,” he said, seeming amazed, which didn’t make sense to me. “I couldn’t do that though,” he said, looking a little sad.

“It hasn’t been all that great, so don’t worry to much about the idea of it. If anything, I wish I had planned more,” I said in response.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right! It does seem like it would be kind of stressful,” he said with a laugh, his mood restored. I smiled.

“Here’s your pizza!” Gus said, placing a medium sized pizza between the two of us with two small plates.

“Thanks Gus!” Sam said happily. “Pizza is my favorite,” he said, taking a slice. I got one as well and took a bite.

“Wow! That’s really good!” I said, taking another bite.

“Yeah! Gus’s pizza is the best,” he said, already having eaten half of his slice, sauce smeared on his lips. I let out a small giggle. He laughed and said, “Y’know, you’re a lot of fun! We should hang out more!” I blushed and continued eating my pizza. We spent the rest of the day talking about random things, and I learned a few things about Sam, like how his favorite color is blue, he plays guitar and sings, his favorite drink is Joja Cola and that he has a younger brother named Vincent.

I spent the remainder of the day in my room doodling and thinking about how much fun I’d had with Sam. I hoped we would be able to do something like that again. With that thought, I went to sleep.

[libraryofrewrita]

Chapter 10: Fusions, Nokos, and Files

When they got to Catfish Pond, they saw that Bear’s fishing stuff was gone, but Bear himself wasn’t there.

“Dang it! We just missed him!”

“Well, he lives in Blossom Heights, so he might just be on his way home. We can try to meet him there or maybe we’ll run into him on our way over.”

“Let’s tell the old man that we solved his cat problem before we go.”

*****

They told the old man that a wild dog had been eating the cat’s food and that they were able to scare it off so it wouldn’t be eating the cat’s food anytime soon. He was thankful at the very least, so he gave them some free talismans, one Speed, one Strength, one Defense, and one Spirit.

“I run a talisman shop here at the shrine, so if you ever need to buy some talismans, just come here.”

They thanked him and went on their way, hoping to run into their friend.

“I just realized something. I don’t have my bug net on me, so even if we did find a Rhino Beetle, I couldn’t catch it.”

“Yeah, neither do I. I guess it just slipped our minds.”

“Well, there’s really no rush for the Rhino Beetle thing. We can find Bear, give him the ring, and explore Blossom Heights for a bit before we head back home.”

“I was actually thinking of going home to put away our fishing poles. We can’t carry these all the time.”

“Well, we can’t exactly take our bug nets everywhere either.”

“Give me the fishing poles. I know where you can put them.”

Curious, Nate and Katie gave their fishing poles to Whisper, who had opened the bottomless bag and pushed them inside.

“Oh, right. I forgot we had that.”

“That’s the beauty of this bag. If you want to, we could run by your houses and pick up your bug nets so it can also be within easy reach. No more having to worry about whether or not you should take the fishing pole or bug net.”

“We really shouldn’t waste too much time. We have to find Bear.”

“Okay, okay. It was just a suggestion.”

“When we have time, we can go by our homes and pick up our nets.

As they walked down the steps, Nate turned to Whisper and asked,

“How are our fishing poles able to get in there? I didn’t think fishing poles or bug nets counted as Yo-kai related items.”

“If a Yo-kai has been in contact with it, then it counts as a Yo-kai related item. Plus, you never know. Maybe there’s another Yo-kai that wants fish or a Yo-kai that needs a bug for something.”

*****

After quickly dealing with a Dimmy inspiriting their classmate Shelly in the schoolyard they rushed to Blossom Heights and found Bear moping in front of the candy shop. Nate slipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out the ring, and the group walked up to Bear.

“Is this the ring you were looking for?”

Bear’s eyes widened as he took the ring out of Nate’s hand.

“How did you find it?!”

“You know those big splashes at Catfish Pond? We think the ring flew out during one of them.”

Bear was too happy to care about asking how the ring had gotten into the pond and after thanking Nate and Katie, he ran back home.

“It’s nice to see him so happy. What should we do now?”

“Go back home and get your bug nets?”

“Okay, but we should come back here to see about getting a new Yo-kai Watch upgrade.”

*****

After running back to their homes and grabbing their bug nets, they happily walked back to Blossom Heights, fighting some Yo-kai along the way and befriending some new Yo-kai, Noway and two Dullumas.

“You’re both making great progress so far with befriending Yo-kai. We should see about befriending some more Yo-kai in Blossom Heights.

“We will after we get the requirements for the new upgrade.”

*****

They walked into Timer’s and More and asked about getting a new upgrade.

“Hold on a minute.”

Mortimer looked through a pile of papers near his work station and found a piece of paper with various names separated into sections labeled with a specific letter.

“Let’s see here…you two need to upgrade from Rank D to Rank C….here we go!”

He wrote something down on another piece of paper and handed it to Whisper.

“Here’s a list of the Yo-kai you need to defeat and where they can be found. I put a little device in your Yo-kai Watches that’ll tell me when you’ve defeated the specific Yo-kai on the list for your upgrade so that you don’t have to worry about proving to me that you battled them. They’ll get reset for every upgrade until you reached Rank S, the highest level of the Yo-kai Watch.”

Whisper looked over the list, which listed the following Yo-kai and their locations:

1. Signibble in the Academy Shortcut. 2. Suspicioni in the alley behind Frostia’s Place 3. Tantroni in the delivery bay south of the arcade.

A look of confusion crossed Whisper’s face.

“Where are these places?”

Nate took the list from Whisper and after reading it, realized where they had to go.

“They’re all in Downtown Springdale. We can probably deal with them tomorrow. We’re not in any rush here.”

After thanking Mr. Goodsight for the information, they walked out of Timer’s and More. Since they were in the area, they decided to check on Bear. He was currently in front of his house, happily humming as he fixed his fishing line. He waved when he saw Nate and Katie.

“Hey, Bear. How did it go?”

“Oh, it went well. Mom was happy about the gift and she just left for her class reunion. I’m in charge of the house until she gets back. Her words, not mine.”

After a few quick words, Nate and Katie said their goodbyes to Bear and went in their way.

“Whisper, what are you looking for?”

Whisper had been looking at his Yo-kai Pad when Nate asked, so he answered,

“There’s a temple around here that Nokos like to hang around. I was thinking of showing you two what a Noko looks like after doing that woman’s quest.”

“Oh, that’s great, Whisper!”

Whisper pointed southwest and said,

“To Shoten Temple!”

*****

“So what does Noko like to eat?”

“Hamburgers. Don’t ask.”

“We have some cheeseburgers, so that’s good.”

“Nokos are hard to find and befriend due to some greedy humans trying to abuse their power of luck for many, many, many years, so try to not be disappointed if you don’t see one on our first visit or can’t befriend one right away.”

The kids nodded as they walked up the steps to the temple and after finding a small alcove to the side of the temple, they slowly walked in to find a small garden and some Yo-kai walking about. They recognized Manjimutt, Mochismo, and Pandle, but they didn’t see any new Yo-kai, a.k.a Noko.

“This is where Nokos are known to hang out, but like I said, they’re hard to find and befriend.”

The kids walked down the steps, deciding to at least try to befriend a few Yo-kai.

*****

It took a couple battles, but they befriended two Mochismos, and a Manjimutt.

“Okay, we may not have seen Noko yet, but at least you have some new friends.”

The kids walked back up the steps and looked at the temple.

“Do you want to check it out?”

“Yeah, I’m a little curious about it. Whisper, if you and Jibanyan want to wait outside, we understand.”

“No, no. This temple is safe for Yo-kai. There’s something special about it. I can feel it.”

The group walked in, not really expecting much. They saw a priest, a crystal ball laying in the corner, and a gong, but that was about it.

What’s so special about this temple?

The priest looked over at the group, having been preoccupied with some papers.

“Oh! Hello, children. I’m Mr. Zen, the priest of Shoten Temple. Why don’t you and your Yo-kai come over and sit down for a bit?”

“Wait, you can see Yo-kai?!”

“Of course. I’m a priest, after all. A very special priest, in fact.”

Whisper muttered,

“Well, it was a monk that imprisoned me, so I’m not really surprised.”

“Relax, my pale friend. I’m much more open-minded. I’ve been studying Yo-kai fusion for quite a while now. Maybe you four would be interested?”

They had nothing better to do, so they sat down and listened to Mr. Zen’s lecture.

“Do you happen to have any Dulluma and Mochismo medals you’re willing to give up?”

The group did, so they handed him the extra medals of the Yo-kai he requested. He took out a box with three holes in the top, dropped one medal in the left side, dropped the other medal in the right side, and covered both holes.

“Okay, now to fuse these medals into a new Yo-kai. Fusion….HA!”

A bright light errupted from the middle hole and when it died down, Mr. Zen reached in the middle hole and pulled out a new medal of a Yo-kai Nate and Katie didn’t recognize.

“Ah, Darumacho. Here you go.”

Mr. Zen tossed the Yo-kai medal to the group and said,

“I can fuse more than just Yo-kai. I can fuse two items together and I can fuse a Yo-kai and an item together. As long as they’re compatible, they’ll fuse with no problem.”

The group thanked Mr. Zen for the example and they left the temple.

“Is there any other fusions we could do?”

Whisper found a long, long list of fusions written by Mr. Zen himself and simply said,

“Yes. Oh! There’s some fusions that Jibanyan could do!”

He showed the group the Jibanyan fusions, Baddinyan and Thornyan.

“Let’s see here…for Thornyan, we would need a Coughkoff and for Baddinyan, we would need a Roughraff.”

“Nyo! I’m nyot fusing with Roughraff!”

The group was startled by Jibanyan’s yell, but they understood why he didn’t want to fuse with Roughraff. After being bullied by one, he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea.

“Well, if we somehow befriend a Roughraff, we promise to keep the two of you separated.”

Jibanyan sighed with relief.

“Thank you. But seriously, I don’t want to be fused.”

“Well, according to the Yo-kai Pad, we might not have to. There are some wild Baddinyans and Thornyans here in Springdale. Their locations are a bit random however, so it might take a while to find them. The point is, we don’t have to worry about fusing Jibanyan.”

Jibanyan seemed satisfied with the answer as Nate looked to the sky.

“Guys, it’s starting to get late. We should make our way back home.”

Jibanyan pointed to the alcove and said,

“I’m pretty sure I saw a shortcut through here.”

“It’s better than nothing. Let’s hurry!”

They rushed to the alcove, only to stop near the stairs when they saw a yellow snake-like Yo-kai hanging around the bushes near the little vegetable garden.

“Whisper? Is that a Noko?”

Whisper nodded as Katie squeaked,

“It’s so cute! How do we befriend the little guy?”

“Well, he might make a break for it if he sees you two, but maybe I can try to talk to him for you.”

Whisper dug through the bag and pulled out a Cheeseburger.

“Wish me luck.”

The kids watched Whisper float down near Noko and give him the burger. They heard the Noko squeak a few times and they tried to hear what Whisper was saying, but his voice was too low to hear. Noko started squeaking more and nodded. Whisper smiled, picked Noko up, and flew up to the group.

“Good news! I convinced Noko to give you two a chance. Here, talk to him.”

Whisper handed Noko to Katie while Nate dug through the bag for the other Cheeseburger and gave it to Noko, who then ate it and gave a satisfied squeak.

“Okay, he seems to like you better.”

“I just wish we had more burgers for you.”

“There’s a Nom Burger in Downtown Springdale we can go to tomorrow while we’re getting the battles for our Rank C upgrade.”

“That’s true. Noko, how do you feel about being friends with us?”

Noko squeaked happily as Whisper said,

“He’s willing to be friends with you two, but he wants to stay here in the alcove. He promises to let the other Nokos in the area know that you two are nice.”

After Noko gave them his medal, they walked Noko over to the bushes and placed him down gently. He gave off a squeak as he burrowed into the bushes. The group then walked through the empty alcove, taking some loose carrots and cucumbers and they found a strange blue door with a large letter D blocking their way to the other side.

“Whisper…what is this door?”

“Watch Lock Door. They’re very annoying and only exist to remind you to upgrade your Yo-kai Watch. Thankfully, we have the proper Rank for this one.”

They flashed the light at the door, making it disappear and they walked until they found themselves near a house. They unlocked the gate from their side, quickly walked through the gateway, and closed it, hoping that the owner didn’t mind them walking through.

They started to head back home and after discussing stuff to do tomorrow, they parted ways, Whisper and Jibanyan going with Nate for the night.

*****

Meanwhile…

The mysterious Yo-kai that had been helping Nate and Katie had been reading a few files, trying to confirm his thoughts.

Let’s see here…Adams and Forester…I know I’ve heard those names before.

“Hello, old friend.”

The mysterious Yo-kai didn’t bother looking up from the file in his hand.

“Hello, Kyubi.”

“What are you doing?”

“There’s some kids that have caught my interest, but I can’t quite figure out why.”

“Here, let me help. I don’t need you pulling another all-nighter. It’s bad enough with the Yo-kai Realm in constant chaos and you trying to keep everything in control after Lord Enma’s passing.”

The mysterious Yo-kai sighed and said,

“I know, I know. But I made a promise to Lord Enma to protect the humans and Mckraken isn’t exactly making things easy.”

Kyubi took one of the files and read through it.

“Adams and Forester…ah!”

Kyubi took a photo of two boys and took a picture of Nate and Katie and put the two photos side-by-side. He pointed to both photos with a clawed finger and said,

“They look awfully similar to each other, don’t they?”

The mysterious Yo-kai looked up from his file and after examing the two photos and checking back to the file in his hand, his eyes lit up.

“Of course! Those two are Nathaniel and Kenny’s grandkids! That must be why they’ve caught my interest!”

Kyubi chuckled.

“Once again, destiny has the Adams and Forester families involved in Yo-kai hijinx, and they’re both at the same age too. How fitting.”

Previous Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/161932571939/chapter-9-battles-favors-and-scams Next Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/162221276499/chapter-11-what-dad-forgot

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #183

“Offender Encounter and Valentine's Day Shopping”

-Time skip of a few days-

[Yaunfen] Is trying to get Doc to play as xe is harvesting the garden-

[Doc] Keeps pausing to play with them. Then shakes a potato at them in mock annoyance - I'm never gonna get this done at this rate.

[Yaunfen] Jumps up to bite the potato-

[Doc] Lets hir hand fall with the potato and the dragons snout clamped around the end. - Do you really want that?

[Yaunfen] Makes a face and spits it out-

[Doc] I didn't think so. How about this instead? - Xe offers one of the candycane cat tails-

[Yaunfen] Chirps in curiousity-

[Doc] You are way too cute. Have a taste, it's okay.

[Yaunfen] Starts gumming the candy plant-

[Doc] There you go. - Xe kneels down to hug hir baby-

[Yaunfen] Trills-

[Deer] Comes outside- Love, is everything okay?  You're taking some time...

[Doc] Ah! You caught me slacking! Darn it. Too busy playing with our baby to concentrate.

[Deer] Giggles- Perhaps I can help.  Come here Yaunfen

[Yaunfen] Runs over to Deer-

[Doc] Is watching with the most peaceful gaze, xe's so happy and seeing them both smiling warms all of hir hearts.

[CP] Lands on an outcropping on the side of the castle- OI!

[Doc] Looks up from the grass. -Hey Cp! It's a lovely day for a bit of flying huh?

[CP] - Actually, I'm heading out, do you wanna give a try at entering the real world or not

[Doc] Well yes. I need to know at some point. Do you think I'm ready to do that on my own?

[CP] - We'll find out, do you want to go to where ever your....  Friend, is?

[Doc] Maybe? But if you need to go out for something, won't that be far from your destination?

[CP] - I can just teleport us to the destination

[Doc] Ah. The beach is the usual spot, will that work? Then I won't be bugging them when we don't have time to visit.

[CP] - Is there an electronic on the beach?  Because that's kinda necessary

[Doc] I can arrange for something if you give me a minute. - pulls out hir phone-

[CP] Rolls his eyes-

[Yaunfen] Is running around trying to get a better look at CP-

[Doc] Is un unplugged Tv good enough?

[CP] - Yeah...

[Doc] Dawn says we can have it. She never watches it anyway. She'll have Mort haul it to the beach, give him like ten minutes to do it. Okay?

[CP] - Whatever

[Doc] Why the sudden itch to go out?

[CP] - There's a few things I need to get

[Doc] Really? Are we going... shopping? That's right, isn't it?

[CP] - Well...  Yes...

[Doc] Is American currency okay? I've got a paypal card....

[CP] - Yeah, it will

[Doc] Looks at Deerheart - someday my love... I'm sorry to jet off. I'll hurry back.

[Deer] - Don't worry, I'll have Yaunfen to keep me company

[Doc] And all our other cute critters. You should have seen the cuddle pile I woke up too, flopped Galvantula with Exeggcutes all snuggled on them.

[Deer] Laughs a little- And you took no screenshots?

[Doc] I was saving them for the dinner table. So everyone could see - passes her a picture-

[Deer] Laughs again-

[CP] Comes down- Are they ready yet?

[Doc] Holds up the carrot - Yeeeeee..... yes. Ready now.

[CP] Creates an opening to the digital realm- I'll help you find the screen

[Doc] Kisses hir mate and baby before following him out-

[CP] Closes the opening and concentrates before taking a determined stride towards the screen-

-The beach is as they remembered it, bright and sunny. Mort is sitting a few yards away with a fishing pole and waves cheerfully-

[Mort] Hey Cp!

[CP] Scowls before turning back towards the screen which he had closed behind him to watch and see if Doc can make it through-

-Behind Cp a rather large CRT tv is sitting with it's back against the base of a tree and the cord trailing off into some weeds.

[Mort] Nice trick-

[Doc] Is trying to make a hole but having some difficulty keeping it open.

[CP] - Well?  Are you coming?

[Doc] Jams up against the resistance and pushes with all hir might.

[CP] - Come on you fucker

[Doc] Takes a few steps back and huffs before running at the ragged slashes that are already closing. There's an unpleasant sound of space time ripping between the two realms and the doctor shoots out of the screen as a full sized dragon and barrels into Cp, sending them both skidding down the sand and into the cold shallows.

[Mort] HOLY CRAP

[CP] - YOU FUCKER!

[Doc] Spitting water and sand Xe's soaked and coughing from the salt-

[CP] - GET OFF!

[Doc] Wiggles around and gets up on the beach before changing back- I did it!

[CP] - Yeah...  But turning into a dragon to get out generally won't work asshole!

[Doc] I just used my head, that's all. Ha.

[CP] Is not amused-

[Doc] Sorry I got you wet.

[CP] Erupts into a cloud of steam and is dry within a minute or so-

[Mort] Also a handy trick...

[CP] - Change your clothes fucker, you'll stand out and we don't want that

[Doc] Aw.... dammit. - Xe morosely takes off hir coat and gloves and puts them away. Underneath hir tank top is black and tight and xe has a little bit of cleavage showing from a pair of small boobs.

[Mort] Doc..?

[Doc] What?

[Mort] Uh.. nothing.

[CP] - You ready?

[Doc] Yeah... - pouts a bit

[CP] Puts a hand on hir shoulder and teleports them to behind a large shopping center, he's donned his usual sunglasses and jacket-

[Doc] Turns down hir glitch so the faint glow of hir eyes isn't visible in the sunshine.

[CP] - Come on- CP leads them around to the front of the store and inside

[Doc] There's an instant change of mood as the digital entity is overwhelmed by the fully 3-d colors and textures of everything around hir. Xe stumbles a little from the assault of unfamiliar smells and sounds-

[CP] Glances back at them- You okay?

[Doc] Holds the tail of his jacket to steady hirself- Just a little dizzy from everything...

[CP] - Grab a cart and lean against it

[Doc] Does so and walks along slowly beside him.

[CP] - What I need is in hardware, so feel free to wander

[Doc] Look at all the little toys! I smell catnip.

[CP] - No

[Doc] But I could get something for Grinny- Is picking up mouse toys and rattle balls. - And a big rawhide bone for Smiledog!

[CP] Groans-

[Doc] Shakes a soft spring happily. - LH would love this. I've never seen anything shaped like this before. Oh, they're cheap too.  I can get lots!

[CP] - Whatever...  You done looking here?  Or should I expect you to get stuff for all the pokemon to?

[Doc] I'm not sure what I could get for them... better to do that in one of their games probably. Good thinking though.

[CP] -  Come on, we also need to stop by the food section.  I did tell you I'd get you a pepper if you made it out on your own

[Doc] Are we hurrying? There's so much here. - Is drawn to a very pink and gaudy display - what's... Valentines Day?

[CP] Stiffens- It's nothing...

[Doc] It sure looks like something. So many hearts.... and they look like our kind, not the complex ones with the valves and such.

[CP] - It's a holiday that some humans celebrate

[Doc] Is it health-related?

[CP] - No

[Doc] Starts reading the cards- My dearest.... Lover, beloved.... best girlfriend ever.. oh! It's all so sweet!

[CP] Makes a gagging expression-

[Doc] Meanie. - Xe's poking around on the stuffed animals and gets to the chocolate boxes - What's in... chocolates? With fruit and stuff in them?

[CP] - Are you done yet?

[Doc] No. I'm gonna get a big one and make lots for everyone from it! This looks neat!

[CP] - It's sickening

[Doc] I think you just don't know anything about it at all and that's why you won't tell me.

[CP] - Once, I've participated in it once

[Doc] Sure you have...

[CP] - It's when I gave Lie Rosebud

[Doc] AWWWW, so you give people pink things on a special day?

[CP] - No!  It's basically a holiday to show your significant other how much you care about them

[Doc] Is quiet for a moment, and then -I love it! I'm gonna tell everyone. What a great idea!

[CP] - How about no

[Doc] Puts the huge box firmly in the cart and starts walking away- Coming Cp?

[CP] Groans but follows-

[Doc] Pulls up a partially clear object from a stand near some clothes and fusses with it. There's a hook on one end like a cane and the plastic has white scallops at the top, the while thing is wrinkled in long pleats- What IS this?

[Doc] hits a button and jumps as the object whooshes open - Ah!

[CP] - That's an umbrella idiot

[Doc] Is looking at the top, it has a cute smiling cloud at the apex of the dome and the rest is clear or white. - what's it for? It's adorable.

[CP] - To protect humans from the rain

[Doc] Puts it in the cart as well - I'll give it to Deerheart. She'll appreciate both the cuteness and the irony.

[CP] - Doc...  You have to close it

[Doc] Show me?

[CP] Sighs and reaches down, pressing in on the latch at the top and sliding the bit of plastic back towards the handle- There

[Doc] Tidy. I like it! - Xe looks a little farther afield- Must be baby stuff over there, everything is pastel.

[CP] - Could probably use some locks to keep baby dragons out of stuff

[Doc] Then lead on-

[CP] - Must I?

[Doc] You know what you want. Keep an eye out for some antiacids. I'm not sure where that would be.

[CP] - With the other medicines

[Doc] Shrugs helplessly-

[CP] Points in the direction of the medicines- I'll meet you over there

[Doc] Goes wandering a bit sullenly. Xe's still slightly afraid of Cp ditching hir again. Xe cuts through the toys and stops to stare at all the teeny Lego things before gravitating inexoribly to a mostly black display. A pack of cards is put in the basket and the Doctor moves on.

[CP] Is quick to grab some baby proof locks before looking for Doc-

[Doc] Finds the mirrors and freezes in front of a large one. Xe can't take hir eyes off hir reflection, there's just too much. And xe can feel the edges of a panic attack trying to begin.

[CP] Spots them and silently walks closer- This isn't the medicine aisle

[Doc] Mumbles - Mirror... for Splender... just a little one...

[CP] Pushes Doc away from the large one- Then you don't need this one

[Doc] Shivers- Thank you...

[CP] Grabs a small one and pushes them completely out of the aisle-

[Doc] I smell something....- Xe comes around and turns toward the garden supplies-

[CP] - Yes, garden supplies

[Doc] No...it's not just dirt. - Xe heads for a small display of plants and runs hir hands across them before taking a huge sniff. - It's this... I want this- the plant has tiny purple flowers and the smell of lavender coming off of it is nearly overwhelming.

[CP] - Really?  Lavender?

[Doc] It makes me feel... calmer somehow... Doesn't it smell good to you? You like your wife's flowers at least. I could make another and you could give it to Lie.

[CP] - It's one of the flowers she based her calming off of

[Doc] But stronger smelling... the whole plant smells, not just the flower.

[CP] - Get it if you want

[Doc] I intend too. Did you find what you were looking for?

[CP] - Not yet, but it should be in the next section over- He grabs the front of the cart and starts dragging it along

[Doc] Just puts hir feet up on the rungs and lets the cart go with Cp.

[CP] Enters the hardware section and browses the selection.  There are several things he could buy to tease Lie with, but he's looking for one thing in particular.  He smirks as he spots the small padlocks at the end of the aisle and he grabs a couple of them- Alright, that's all I need

[Doc] Is looking at a scrap of paper - where's the baking aisle?

[CP] - With the rest of the food on the other side of the store

[Doc] Wanders over to a display of garden tools - at least most of this stuff I recognize...

[CP] - Yes it's it's mostly stuff we don't need

[Doc] I didn't say I wanted it, just that I knew what it was. This may be old hat to you, but quite a bit of it is new to me.

[CP] - You do realize that Lie could probably make any of this for you, for free, right?

[Doc] What? You mean the tools?

[CP] - THE PLANTS YOU IDIOT!

[Doc] Don't get so mad, I'm just getting the one. Why do you care anyway? It's my money.

[CP] - Because it's more time being spent here

[Doc] Then let's get the medicine and the food and leave.

[CP] - Good- Starts turning away to head towards the other side of the store

[Doc] Just follows, quietly gawking

[CP] Walks past the body products aisle-

[Doc] Sniffs- more smelly stuff...

[CP] - For baths and such

[Doc] Nothing we need then, I deliberately keep soaps and detergents off the server. Nobody really needs them and they pollute the water and dirt.

[CP] - Even if it can make your mate and the room smell better?

[CP] Is seriously considering buying a crap ton of them just to piss Doc off-

[Doc] That would be stupid Cp. Deerheart always smells nice. I don't think she's even capable of sweating. And if I want the room to smell good I'll just pot some of Lie's oily flowers that she made for Sweet Alex. This stuff is gross and unessesary.

[CP] - Yeah but there are scents in there that we don't have in game

[Doc] Don't care. - Xe gives Cp a steady look- If I said I wanted to poison your mate for the sake of something smelling better you'd tear my head off. Let it go.

[CP] - But it wouldn't be poisoning!  You could literally just open the bottle and never actually use it

[Doc] No. And I really don't want any of this nasty plastic packaging either. I'm going to have to gather it up and figure out a way to destroy it later.

[CP] Rolls his eyes- Whatever, let's get what we need

[Doc] Quietly- You live there too you know....

[CP] - Uh, I have an entire other server to retreat to

[Doc] I don't feel like arguing with you about where your true home is. But I think Lie would say it's where her friends are. And your home is where she is.

[CP] Grumbles a little-

[Doc] Finds a display of stomach remedies and picks out a jar of antacids. - Let's get the food and go. I need a box of rennet. It should be with the yeast and flour and junk.

[CP] - Rennet?

[Doc] It's for making cheese. Some kind of enzyme. I think TLOT could do some magick with it.

[CP] - Oh joy- They reach the food and CP is looking at the signs just above to see what's on each aisle

[Doc] Spots the sugar and cake mixes and scoots ahead. Xe runs a finger along the shelf and snatches the tiny box. And a carton of salt.  - Perfect. You said something about peppers?

[CP] - Yeah, so you can learn what spicyness is

[Doc] Okay? - Xe follows him-

[CP] Walks into the produce section and starts looking for a small container of peppers.  He grins when he finds it, it has warning on it, but he hides those with his hands- Here we go, ghost peppers.  They're not the spiciest so you should be okay

[Doc] Well I'm not going to eat them now. I want to wheel click everything first so it's not lost. And grab one of those orange things too. It looks interesting.

[CP] - You mean an orange?

[Doc] Yeah. That's why I said one of those orange things. I swear Cp...

[CP] - No, that thing is literally called an orange

[Doc] Decides to just let that go as well. - Are we done?

[CP] - Well unless you want to look around and see if there's anything else you want...  There's a bakery over there

[Doc] I'll look at whatever you want to show me.

[CP] - Then go that way

[Doc] Just pushes the cart along, looking at things and people, there's only a few other shoppers right now since it's still a bit early in the day.

[CP] Notices some cream horns and scowls-

[Doc] Cheese...cake? It looks like pudding.

[CP] It's a cream cheese filling...  It can be a multitude of flavors

[Doc] Is it good?

[CP] - Depends on the flavor and if you like rich flavors

[Doc] Eh, This one has chocolate and yellow parts, I'll give it a shot. - Takes a small one with a mix of slices.

[CP] Sneaks a strawberry one into the cart as well for Lie-

[Doc] Notices- Those little red things look interesting. Good eye Cp. And it's pink! So you can give it to Lie for Valentines day.

[CP] - No, I'll think of something else,...

[Doc] Oooh. - Grins knowingly- Is there anything else?

[CP] - What do you mean?

[Doc] Anything naughty to purchase?

[CP] - Not here there's not...  Except probably lube

[Doc] We'd have to go to that black place in the mall again. They had some really fun things... Deerheart reaaaallllly liked what I bought her.

[CP] Do you really want to go to a sex store?

[Doc] Why? I thought you were in a hurry? I mean, I can put the cold stuff in my inventory and it'll keep just fine.

[CP] - Because I don't feel like making a second trip

[Doc] Shrugs- Okay. I think I have almost enough slots. If you carry three or four things we should be good

[CP] - We could put things in an end chest

[Doc] It's not nessesary.

[CP] - Fine, are we done here then?

[Doc] Yep. I'll go through the line if you're ready.

[CP] - Go ahead, I'll look up where the closest sex store is

[Doc] Resists smiling at the clerk with hir teeth showing as to not freak them out. They're also trying to disguise their fascination with the little belt that's moving the things along up to the register.

[CP] Quickly finds a store and then waits to grab the stuff as the cashier puts it down-

[Clerk] Paper or plastic or reusable bags?

[Doc] Makes a pained face - Um... none. just put them back in the cart.

[Clerk] Stares - uh..

[Doc] Left my resusables out in the car!

[Clerk] Okay....

[CP] - Told ya you were forgetting something

[Doc] Grumbles - I always forget things when you rush me, dear.

[CP] - Don't call me that, you know my wife hates it when you do that

[Doc] Smirks- I guess she should continue to not know about it then, darling.

[Clerk] Is moving faster just in case-

[CP] Looks ready to throttle Doc-

[Doc] Fusses with the machine a little bit and sucessfully gets through the menus with only one mistake-

[Clerk] Hands hir the recipt and the cash xe accidently requested. It's a ten dollar bill-

[Doc] Thanks.

[CP] Starts pushing the cart out of the store-

[Doc] No hard feelings okay? Just having a bit of fun. I am kind of a hot chick today. - struts a bit.

[CP] - Shut up, let's get this stuff in our inventory and then I'll get us to the other store

[Doc] Glances around and loads up the stuff discretely so no one notices.

[CP] Does the same before putting his hand on Doc's shoulder before teleporting them into an alley near the next store-  Alright, it's in the middle of this shopping center

[Doc] I'm all excited now. Lead the way.

[CP] Leads them into a discreet looking store amidst a few specialty shops, it is however the biggest shop in the grouping-

[Doc] Ooohhhh. So what are you going to get her? Some boots to match her corset maybe?

[CP] - The fuck should I know?

[Doc] I thought you had a plan, my bad. - Xe's looking at panties with zero shame.

[CP] Scowls an looks around, avoiding the actual toys-

[Doc] Is perusing the restraints and snags a set of wrist and ankle cuffs lined with soft fur.

[Offender] - Good choice~

[Doc] Jumps a little - You!

[Offender] Chuckles- When your done here Trender wants to talk to you

[Doc] Me? - squeaks- What did I fuck up now?

[Offender] - You wanted him to get you some stuff?

[Doc] OH! Oh yes! I thought he'd forgotten but I didn't want to be a pest about it. Thank goodness....

[Offender] - It was mostly the mouse that he was fussy about, and he didn't want the perishables to go bad

[Doc] I see. I thought that would be the easy one. I was under the impression that humans had some kind of weird stores where you can just buy live animals.

[Offender] - Oh, they do, but he doesn't like them at all

[Doc] I don't either. I think it's weird. But the mouse is to make a new mob. And one of it's copies will be a present for Grinny.

[Offender] - Oh, so that's where he went- He looks over at CP- So what's he doing?

[Doc] Looking for a gift for his wife. She's not as comfortable with her sexuality as I am with my mate. So it's difficult.

[Offender] - Then why isn't he looking at the toys?

[Doc] I don't know. I hope he isn't insecure. I've seen him naked and he isn't poorly endowed or anything.

[Offender] Grins- Lets go find out

[Doc] Nervously follows him - Just don't make a scene please...

[Offender] Sneaks up behind CP- So whatcha buying~

[CP] - MOTHER FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!

[Doc] -facepalm-

[Offender] - Need help finding a toy for your little mate?

[CP] - Fuck off Offender

[Offender] - With what?

[Doc] Ugh.... Offender... Cp already has some deep-seated issues because of you. Could you just...not?

[Offender] - But that's no fun, besides, you can't deny that I am a near inexhaustible source of information when it comes to anything sex related

[Doc] Yeah but you made him homophobic. That's not right. I have so many gay friends.

[Offender] - Eh, I can't help it sometimes

[CP] - Why are you even here Offender?

[Offender] - Because Trender refuses to come in here

[Doc] They do have clothes. You'd think he wouldn't mind that much.

[CP] - Trender gets very annoyed at what Offender does...

[Offender] - I just poke him with dildo's over and over

[Doc] Geeze Offender, no wonder he's mad; never go in dry.

[Offender] Chuckle- Only if they don't want me to not use lube

[CP] - Can you both just stop

[Doc] I'm going to go buy these, and this, and one of these. You two catch up. - makes a break for the register.

[CP] - DOC DON'T YOU DARE!

[Offender] - Alright, serious talk, what does your mate like?

[CP] - None of your fucking business!

[Doc] Is sort of listening in while paying, -

[Offender] - Look, I know you pretty much have no experience when it comes to actually buying things, I'm just trying to help you.  Especially since I get the feeling this is for valentines day

[Doc] Sort of calls over- So it has to be pink right?

[Offender] Looks confused- Not at all

[Doc] Dammit Cp...

[CP] - Hey, I didn't actually lie to you

[Doc] Makes a pouty face. - I'll remember that....

[Offender] - Now then, head over to the toy section CP, you'll probably have better luck over there.  Find something similar to you

[CP] - She doesn't need anything other than me

[Doc] Slinks back over with a black paper bag in tow. - What about an egg?

[CP] - A what?

[Offender] - It's a small toy that vibrates and can be used on pretty much any sensitive spot on your mates little body

[Doc] Plus you can pop it in and leave it there. Some of them come with a little remote to turn it up and down.

[CP] Is hesitating-

[Offender] - Oh for fucks sake, really?  This is what can get to you?  I've rarely seen you balk at anything unless it's major...  This is nothing!

[Doc] Has a rather loud thought- I hope he isn't afraid of competition....

[CP] - I AM NOT!

[Offender] - You re not what?

[Doc] Looks very embarassed now-

[CP] - It's nothing, go away already!

[Offender] - Nah, my proxy is looking at art supplies a few stores over, I told her I wouldn't bug her until she was done

[Doc] You could just get her some soft restraints...

[Offender] - Ooooh, she's into that huh?  Wouldn't have thought from what I saw of her...  Seemed to flighty and nervous

[Doc] Can't help hirself- That's why she likes them, she's squiggly-

[Offender] - Well, I can certainly give many recommendations on that.  Do you have any carabineers?

[Doc] Why does that sound like something that involves pinching?

[Offender] - It's a clip that you can buy at any hardware store.  Makes it real easy to release someone from a situation if they don't like it, plus they're really strong and difficult to break

[Doc] Is thinking now - That sounds handy....

[Offender] - Lots of color options too

[Doc] Goes back to the clerk and starts asking questions. - She says the gas station next door carries them with the keychains.

[Offender] - They may be a bit small, but useable...

[CP] - Can we go now?

[Offender] - No, you haven't even bought anything for your mate yet.  Even Bloody Painter knows to buy things for Judge every once in awhile!

[Doc] Offender? Do you think I'll be called upon to meet those two anytime soon? I heard they were having trouble concieving.

[Offender] - I don't think brother has told them yet, I think he's waiting to make certain that everything goes okay with BEN's child so he doesn't get their hopes up

[Doc] I'm about 98% sure the reason they can't have a child is because of the Insanity posession.

[Offender] Shrugs- Hey, I'm just the messenger in this case

[CP] Is trying to subtly make his way to the door-

[Doc] Snags Cp by his shirt and holds on- I know you are. But they should know it may be a matter of trading one thing for the other. And BENs kiddo is doing quite well so far. He's happy and healthy and ever declaimed his first word.

[Offender] And what is that first word?

[Doc] Smiles- Wa-er He's gonna be a swimmer. I can feel it.

[Offender] Bursts out laughing-

[Doc] He gets all excited whenever a bath is in the offing.

[Offender] - Even better!

[CP] - Doc, let me go

[Doc] No. Pick something. This was your idea.

[CP] - No it wasn't!  You were the one who brought it up!

[Doc] But, but... just do it anyway dammit.

[Offender] Pushes CP towards the toys- Come on, it's not fair if she doesn't have something to play with herself.  Can't you just imagine her waiting for you, already wet and wanting as a toy buzzes away inside of her?  Perhaps already bound as well?

[Doc] I know I love it when mine is like that...

[CP] - YOU TWO ARE NOT HELPING!

[Doc] We're actually trying to though! You should be happy, I'm cooperating with one of your old housemates instead of fighting!

[Offender] - Should we just pick something out for him?

[Doc] Yes! Fuck, we'll be here all night at this rate.

[Offender] Motions towards the wall of toys- Maybe something for him as well?

[CP] - FUCK NO!

[Doc] Scoffs - He'd never use it voluntarily. Trust me on this one.

[Offender] - Pity

[Doc] I told you! You're the reason he won't!

[Offender] Shrugs- He just doesn't know what he's missing

[Doc] Agreed. I like it every which ways. How about this? It's got the little clit thingie that sticks out the side.

[Offender] - God choice, but we should add a bullet just to be safe- He sneaks a tendril out to cover CP's mouth so the brine can't protest

[Doc] Wicked smile- and a plug. With a little fuzzy tail.

[CP] Growls-

[Offender] - Hmmm, CP?  How often have you played with her butt?  That will determine how large of a toy we should get her

[Doc] Did I say the plug was for you to wear Cp? No I did not.

[Offender] - Now then, how many times have you played with her butt?

[CP] Mentally- Never

[Offender] - You have never played with your mates butt?

[Doc] Just get the medium, that's safe. And lube. He can't use the slime, he's too hot.

[Offender] - Which lube?  We've got edible of various flavors, scented, oil based, water based, all sorts of types

[Doc] Something that won't harden if it gets hot.

[Offender] - Don't know, lets see what we have here

[CP] Gets his mouth free- I already have some asshole

[Doc] Oh YES, you do. The ones you took from my house that I drove myself bonkers looking for. - scowls at Cp

[CP] - It was funny from my end

[Doc] Asshole....

[Offender] - Alright, think she might enjoy edible panties?

[Doc] Why would someone want to eat underwear?

[Offender] - For fun

[Doc] Humans are weird....

[Offender] - But creative

[Doc] Not gonna fight you there. How about this? - It's an under the bed restraint with cuffs and cords.

[Offender] - Nice

[Doc] And a fuzzy collar. - It has a nice fat ring on the front, and a simple silver buckle on scarlet leather with black fluff inside.

[Offender] - What about a gag?

[CP] - Will you two stop already?

[Doc] Eh.... hard to use a safe word with a gag.... and I personally love hearing my lovers sweet moans.

[Offender] - There are some gags that are more visual than actually effective, like a bit gag.  You can still understand your lover around those

[Doc] I'm on the fence. It's Cp's money anyway.

[Offender] - Actually it's brother's money, but we have so much of it he doesn't really care

[Doc] Then I guess get it. It's up to Lie if she wants to use it anyway.

[Offender] Snags a few different types- Okay...  Anything else we can think of?

[Doc] Turns away and puts a package into Offenders hands so Cp can't see. It's a latex posing pouch and a X-shaped configuration of leather straps and buckles for a males chest.

[Offender] His grin widens-

[Doc] He won't use it without some convincing but if it turns Lie on he will.

[Offender] Takes everything up to the counter to pay for it-

[CP] Is grumbling and growling-

[Doc] Don't be like that. You like sex.

[CP] Flips Doc off-

[Offender] Returns with a couple of bags for CP-  Here we go

[Doc] Okay, lets go see what Trender has to say. We've kept him waiting long enough....

[Offender] Leads them outside after passing the bags to CP- Trender!

[Trender] Is standing by the wall watching the humans pass, but he does turn to look at them.  He has a rather large bag with him-

[Doc] Waves cheerfully. -

[Trender] - There you are, I have the rest of what you asked for here

[Doc] Excellent! Thank you! And if you need more of the fireproof stuff just send me an email, or ask Cp to go yell at me. He loves doing that anyway.

[Trender] - Duly noted- He holds the bag out to Doc

[Doc] Takes it gratefully and looks inside. - Aww... what a cute mouse.

[Trender] - I had to send Scarfy to get it

[Offender] Snickers at his brother-

[Doc] Well I appreciate it. And the copies will be appreciated too, however briefly. Grinny's getting at least one.

[Trender] - Oh, so you have Grinny, we were wondering where he had went

[Doc] He's recuperating. We're taking good care of him. Poor thing.

[Trender] - Recuperating?

[Offender] - What?

[Doc] Well... Lj purged him for us, and the sickness that was lying dormant came back with a fury. But he's clean of radiation now.

[Trender] - It took him months to regrow that fur the first time...

[Doc] He's getting fuzzier. And our friend Steve made him a nice black and green sweater to keep him warm in the meantime. Liu and Smiledog are keeping him nicely entertained.

[CP] - Can we go now?

[Trender]- That's good...  And Liu?  Wasn't that Jeff's brother's name?

[Doc] Oh yes. That's the one. He's been staying at my house.

[Trender] - I wont ask how you managed that

[Offender] Perks as a blonde haired woman leaves a store a few doors down-

[Doc] Grins- I have a friend who deals in the darker arts. All I need is a soul to dump into a minecraft skin, and I can bring back the dead.

[Offender] As the woman approaches Offender drapes himself over her- Arc! Entertain me!

[Arc] - No

[Doc] at Cp- please tell me that's his assistant or something...

[CP] - His proxy

[Doc] Ah... Does she get any weird powers to balance out the aggravation?

[CP] - Well, his roses have no affect on her, otherwise she wouldn't be able to clean her place, but other than that I'm not sure...

[Doc] Sticks out hir hand - Hi Arc, I'm Doc. Fixer of anything. Pleased to meet you. - Theirs a fair amount of pity in hir eyes.

[Arc] - Arc, this assholes proxy

[Doc] You have my condolences, if there's anything a mere Herobrine can do to ease your hearts, let me know.

[Offender] - Arc, you wound me!

[Arc] - Nah, I've gotten pretty used to him being around. He does have his uses to

[Doc] Can't resist - Like what? Just protection?

[Arc] - Well there's that, plus during the summer it gets really hot in my apartment and his skin is pretty cool so that's a bonus. Downside is unless he wants up, he won't let me out of the bed

[Doc] You can see the wheels turning-

[Doc] Xe pulls up the creative, it's not visible to anyone else and makes a saddlebag trunk before pulling it out. It looks like a squared off backpack.

[Doc] Xe spawns a few blocks of packed ice and drops them in. Before holding it out to her- Here. Just drop one of these. They never melt. Better then an AC unit and no electricity.

[Arc] - Oh! Um... Okay?- She takes the bag and throws it over her shoulder [Offender] - Aaaaaaaaarc [Arc] - What? [Offender] - I'm hungry! [Arc] - You just ate!

[Doc] Is having some uncomfortable thoughts around how it must be to babysit someone with more powers then you. -It'll hold way more then it looks like too, and keep anything you put in at the temp it was when you stored it.

[Arc] - Cool, that'll be useful- Is ignoring Offender as he pokes away at her with his tendrils

[Doc] Basically whispers at Arc- If you ever need a vacation my door is always open.

[Arc] - It's fine, like I said, I'm used to it by now, and it's not like I have to fuck him or anything

[Doc] Is trying to think of a way to express hir relief without sounding rude. - Ah, okay...

[Offender] - She's my virgin proxy

[Trender] - Speaking of proxies, Solaces seems to have started to settle in

[Doc] Why virgin? Oh! Are you an asexual? Several of our friends are. Oh... did someone wander into the woods and get marked?

[Trender] - I'm referring to the girl you convinced them to spare doctor

[Arc] - No, I'm just currently not interested

[Doc] Makes the most sincely relieved face. - Thank goodness. I was worried for her. I know you couldn't just let her go but, I'm glad all the same.

[Doc] So how are Ej's cooking lessons going?

[Offender] Starts laughing- He's almost as bad as LJ!

[Trender] - There have been a few incidents

[Doc] Awww. Well it just takes practice. And everyone should know how to cook. It's no good to be too dependant on other people for basic things. Granted it's a bit easier in our game, but he hates my guts, so it is what it is.

[Offender] - He'd rather eat them

[Doc] Shivers rather hard - I think I gave him enough of my innards already...

[CP] - Are we done here yet?

[Offender] - Awww, do you want to get home to test the new toys?

[CP] - I will stab you

[Doc] There are people around, let's not make a scene...

[Offender] - So? I can just erase their memories

[Doc] Please don't... and he's right, Cp and I have gifts to distribute. We should be going. Unless you guys need anything from me?

[Trender] - Not that I'm aware of

[Doc] Is Slender all healed up? You said something about his tentacles? My head was a bit fuzzy at the time.

[Offender] - Some of his tendrils had been cut off during that fight, they are healed now though

[Doc] Ah good. I can rebuild body parts, but it's rare that anyone ever asks for more then the usual arms and legs. It's usually a treat when they do.

[Trender] - I see

[Offender] - Arc! Let's go get cake!

[Doc] Reaches into hir inventory and copies the cheesecake- Here you go!

[Offender] - Awesome! Arc, have some with me!

[Arc] - Not right now Smexy

[Doc] Giggles at 'Smexy'-

[Offender] Continues to whine-

[Doc] Offender, you should give Arc something nice for Valentine's day.

[Offender] - I try! But she won't let me!

[Solace] -Sidles up alongside them, sipping from a cup- To be fair, most of your gifts aren't that friendly...

[Doc] I think I know you..? Do I?

[Solace] You were drunk, but yes. Solace.

[Luna] Peeks out from behind Solace-

[Offender] - What's that supposed to mean!?

[Doc] Then I'm sorry if I said anything stupid at the time.  Oh! It's you! Are you okay?

[Luna] - Oh, yes, thank you

[Doc] Sorry I couldn't take you with me. But it looks like you gained a more powerful guardian.

[Luna] - Yes, I like being with Solace

[Doc] What's you specialty Solace? The others all seem to have powers geared in specific directions.

[Solace]-cracks a smile- I'm comfort based. Sort of intersect with Splendor here and there..

[Doc] I'm glad Splender isn't the only one who gets a charge from positive things. He's going to get fat hanging around my friends and I. Haha.

[Offender] - That could be very bad...

[Solace] Huh?

[Offender] - You probably haven't overfed before so you wouldn't know this, but if our kind overfeeds we lose control of our bodies, we grow to big, sprout way to many tendrils, and we have to physically remove tendrils in order to correct the issue

[Trender] - We also have great difficulty moving or even speaking if it's bad enough

[Solace] Oh, yikes...

[Offender] - Exactly, it's pretty bad

[Doc] That's unfortunate. But then, I can make an amputation pretty damn quick and painless too. I'm here if he needs me.

[CP] - I wouldn't have called that painless...

[Doc] If you're talking about your hand, that one had complications. If you just wanted something cut off I could literally melt the pixels off and it would cauterize the stump too.

[CP] Flips Doc off-

[Doc] shrugs- Hey, if I did it you now, you could regrow it.

[Trender] - Regrow it?

[Doc] Oh yes, I can too. I gave Cp an upgrade. He's more like me now. All the parts contain the whole and then some. My digital existence is nearly fractal in nature.

[Offender] - Dude, that is weird and awesome

[Doc] That's what I meant when we were talking about genitals Offender- I've made myself in the image of my home. Anything I don't want can't be snapped off or added on to. Block by block, every pixel is moveable.

[Offender] - Cool...

[Doc] And I wanted to make up for what little Cp lost with Insanity. He's pretty much indestructable now.

[Trender] - She's still very upset about that

[Doc] Consider it revenge for screwing him over in the first place. The knife she so kindly pulled from his back might as well have been put there by her to begin with..

[CP] - Can we fucking go now!?

[Offender] - Just be careful Doctor...

[Trender] - She has her eyes on you, but we've been keeping her at bay for you

[Offender] - At least whenever your near us that is

[Trender] - But what do you mean she screwed him over?  We know some of her methods are unconventional, but not so horrible

[Doc] I thank you for the protection then. But Insanity may have had a hand in Cp's attempted deletion in the first place. His NOTCH seems unbalanced to me anyway. But Cp had and has a very powerful defender that wanted to come to his aid when the NOTCH attacked him, but Insanity kept her away and then hid him from her afterwards when Flux probably could have healed him herself.

[Offender] - Flux?

[Doc] The spirit of the server where he was made. A being of pure magick. Not quite a mother, but certainly a guardian and a healer.

[Offender] - Can I fuck her?

[Arc] Face twitches as a red mist forms in her hand and forms a battle axe which she promptly uses to lob off a tendril- NOT APPROPRIATE!

[Offender] Purrs-

[Doc] No. She already has two hopeful suiters already. Besides, she's a server. She has no experience with these kinds of things. I... I think you're missing the point.

[Trender] - He's not, it's just his nature

[Doc] I was pretty damn angry when I found out. Especially since she split up his family and we only found his real father moments before his coding fell apart.

[Arc] - Then you have my condolences

[CP] - I don't need them!

[Doc] Touches Cp's arm. - It's okay. There's nothing wrong with someone expressing sorrow for your loss. Stop trying to not feel anything. It's counterproductive.

[CP] - Shut up

[Arc] - And this is why I'm glad Smexy never took me to the manor unless he absolutely had to

[Doc] It is a bit.... gloomy. No offense. -Just trying to be diplomatic-

[Trender] - It's brother's style and his home...  Plus most things end up destroyed within a week anyways

[Solace] That's why I don't stay around for often either. It's tiring. -Sip-

[Doc] Offender, I don't think you'd like my rules much, but either of you are welcome to visit. Our server won't bend under a Slenderbeing.

[Trender] Glances at a watch- That is very generous, but currently I need to pick up Scarfy from his university

[Doc] Another time then, Cp and I need to head back. Enjoy the cake.

[Offender] - Will do

[CP] Quickly grabs Doc and teleports them back to the beach-

[Doc] Breathes a huge sigh - This diplomacy thing is exhausing. But I do feel more at ease dealing with them in daylight in a public place.

[CP] - Eh, you eventually get used to it

[Doc] Can we go home now?

[CP] - Yeah- He creates an opening with the tv and steps through

[Doc] Dashes through behind him with the bags.

[CP] Opens the way to the server and steps into Doc's garden-

[Doc] Calls out over the chat - Honey! I'm home!

[Deer] - In the kitchen!

[CP] - Let's just get this fucking over with

[Doc] Don't be such a sourpuss. We come bearing gifts!

[CP] Glares-