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khoicesbyk · 2 years ago

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The Royal Romance.

Love Everlasting.

A/N: I had a different name and plot for this fic over a year ago. But after being in the RP community for more than a year, I've decided to write the current Royal Life of my favorite OTP.

Rated: Mature (at times can and will be Explicit. I'll be sure to change the rating when and if that happens). | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual. Y'all should be used to this from me by now 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Miller-Rys (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me and/or other authors [their characters have been mentioned and/or used in the story with their permission] ) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 50K words. (may be slightly more or may be slightly less. Look, I stop counting after editing and re-editing and driving myself insane. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature and/or Explicit. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

TW: Mentions of Cancer. Reader Discretion is STRONGLY ADVISED!

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations

Matrimony. Part 2.

“Will you come on? We gotta go!” she said to him as she dragged him out of the residence entrance.

“Will you slow down Shanelle?! Your duchy isn't going anywhere.”

Shanelle stopped for just a moment.

“I know it's not. I'm just anxious and excited to go. I've never had something like this and I’m just…I’m ready to see it.”

Marquise shook his head with a chuckle.

“I understand my love. I understand your excitement. But I promise you it's not going anywhere. We won't miss anything.”

Shanelle sighed.

“You're right. I'm sorry for being in such a rush.”

Marquise kissed her forehead.

“No need to apologize. I understand your excitement.”

She smiled at him.

“Also I hope you don't mind. I invited a few people to come with us.”

“Who?” she asked.

As soon as Shanelle asked the question, George, with Ozzie on his leash, walked out of the residence.

“Good morning you two. Master Oswald and I are ready to ride. Aren't we?” George said to the couple.

“His name is Ozzie Papa.” Marquise corrected him.

“I know what his name is my boy. After all, you named him after Oswald.”

“Oswald?” Shanelle asked.

“He was my old hunting partner. A lovable beagle that my boy here was in love with. Unfortunately, Oswald passed away last year.” George replies.

Just then Margo walked out of the residence.

“Look at you two! Looking like a vision of a true King and Queen.” Margo said to the two.

“Merci, maman,” Marquise said to Margo before turning his attention to Shanelle, “now my love, are ready to go?”

“Yes! Let's go!” Shanelle replies.

Soon they were off to tour Shanelle’s duchy. The ride which lasted 3 ½ hours took them through beautiful fields of flowers, rolling hills, small towns, and quaint villages. When they arrived at her duchy estate, Shanelle’s jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what all she was looking at.

“Sooooo…just to recap, THIS IS ALL MINE?!” She asked Marquise.

“All of it,” he replied.

Shanelle looked back and forth pointing between him and the estate’s main entrance.

“Yes. Everything you see is yours, my love.”

“All mine. It's all mine. Oh my God! It's all mine!” she squealed happily.

That's when a primly dressed woman walked across the bridge to greet everyone.

“Good morning Your Highness! My name is Gladys Gibbons-Renaud. I am the Major Domo here at the Volterias estate.” Gladys said as she greeted Shanelle.

“I have a Major Domo?” Shanelle asked.

“Yes ma'am. I was personally selected by Mr. and Mrs. Geaneaux to handle the affairs and staff here at the estate. I am at your service at all times.” Gladys replied.

Shanelle looked between Gladys and Marquise with a hand over her mouth. Marquise chuckled.

“Yes, Shanelle. It's real.”

Shanelle couldn't contain her excitement.

“Shall I begin the tour?” Gladys asked Shanelle.

“YES!!” Shanelle ecstatically replied.

“Let us begin.”

Gladys led them on an extensive tour of the estate. When they got to the master bedroom, Shanelle lost her mind.

“Oh. My. God! IT’S PURPLEEEEEEE!” she exclaimed.

“Yes ma'am. His Highness let the staff members know that your favorite color is purple.” Gladys added.

Shanelle threw her arms around Marquise’s neck.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank youuuuuu!”

“You're very welcome. Wait until you see your closet, my love.”

“M-m-my closet?!” she stammered.

“Right this way, Your Highness,” Gladys said as she led them to Shanelle’s master closet and bathroom.

When they got to the massive walk-in closet Shanelle’s knees gave out on her. Thankfully Marquise was there to catch her.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Glass asked.

“Yeah. I'm okay. Just a little wobbly is all.” Shanelle replied.

“I understand. If you'd like to finish the tour at another time we can do that.”

“I'd like that. Thank you, Gladys.”

“My pleasure, Your Highness. In the meantime, I have to prepare rooms for your incoming guests.”

“Incoming guests?” Shanelle asked.

“Yes. His Highness sent out invitations to your friends to stay here at the estate, while you're here. We can't have them staying in stables now can we?” Gladys replied.

“I love it here!” Shanelle squealed.

“I am glad you do. Now if you'll both excuse me, I have rooms to prepare.”

Gladys bowed politely before leaving the couple alone. They walked out of her closet and sat on the plush master bed.

“Just to recap, you invited my girls without telling me?” Shanelle asked.

“Unapologetically. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.” Marquise replies.

“I can't believe you pulled this off. I get to spend time with them here at my duchy for a few days. We're gonna have so much fun.”

“Weeks actually.”

The record spinning in Shanelle’s head just scratched.

“Weeks? What do you mean by "weeks?” she asked.

“Well considering that the Derby is next weekend and of course, you girls are hosting your very first tea here, and then you and I will be the stars of The Grand Hunt,” Marquise replied.

“But what about their jobs? I don't want to get them in trouble.”

“They won't be in trouble. Their presence was requested by the Crown Prince of North Cordonia. I dare their bosses to argue with that.”

“Okay, I get it. When do they get here?” she asked.

“Next Friday. Just in time for the Derby next Saturday,” he replies.

“Will they be staying here?” she asked.

“Yes. I wanted your very first weekend here to just be you, me, and Ozzie,” he replies.

“And Margo and George,” she added.

Marquise chuckled.

“Yes, mama and papa too. Here, come with me.”

Marquise stood up and brought her to her feet. He led her out onto her balcony which overlooked a massive field and waterfall.

“I can't believe this is all mine,” Shanelle said quietly.

She felt him wrap his arms around her waist as he placed a small kiss on her right shoulder.

“Believe it, my love. This is all yours. You are the future Queen. You deserve this.”

They stood together and quietly watched the waterfall for several minutes.

“How are you feeling my love?” he asked.

“It's a lot. Like a whole lot. Hell, I’m still trying to process everything we've done and seen this entire week. But thank you for being patient with me. All of this is still new and it's hard to keep up with it all sometimes.” she replied.

“I understand. But I'm proud of you for trying. None of it is easy. Not even for me. But what good is a monarch if they don't try?”

Shanelle smiled at him. They continued to enjoy the view just as Ozzie’s bark interrupted the moment. He was followed by Margo and George.

“Ozzie! Are you enjoying yourself here? Are you being a good loaf?” Shanelle asked him as she gave him scritches behind his ears. “Are you two enjoying your accommodations as well?”

“Yes, we are, Your Highness. We love the guest house. I'm currently trying to come up with a plan to steal those beds.” George replied.

“The guest house? You should be staying here in the estate with us. I'll have Gladys make sure you two have a room.”

“No Princess. We would never want to impose.”

“Nonsense Margo. You two are practically family. Anyone who puts up with this walking beanstalk is always welcome to stay here in the estate.”

“I am not a walking beanstalk!” Marquise protested.

Margo smiled at Shanelle.

“If you insist, Your Highness.”

“I certainly do. Now I don't know about all of you but I'm hungry so it's time for lunch. Besides, I want to meet the kitchen staff.”

They spent the rest of the day meeting the various staff members and touring the grounds. By the end of the day, Shanelle was exhausted yet happy.

“I love this bed.” she sighed happily as she snuggled against Marquise’s chest.

“I love you in this bed,” Marquise said to her.

“It's so soft and comfy and it's mine. All mine.”

“Yes, it is,” he said before he kissed the palm of her right hand.

“I can't believe you are giving me all of this.”

“My Queen deserves no less than the best. And that is what I give.”

“I can't wait to bring my mom and dad here. They'll love it.”

“Have you spoken to him?” he asked.

“No, not yet. But I miss him. He's my dad. He fucked up. Completely. But I still love him.” she replied.

“Of course you do. Like you said he's your dad. And you love him just as much as he loves you.”

“If that's your way of saying that I’m a daddy's girl.”

Marquise snickered.

“Your words not mine.”

Shanelle shook her head with a yawn.

“Are you sleepy?” he asked.

“Mmmhmm. It's been a long day. And I still have so much to see here.” she replies.

Marquise held her close.

“Goodnight Princess.”

“Goodnight Your Highness.”

Soon they went off to a peaceful sleep together. The next day they were touring a few of the towns, so she could meet her people. The people were eager and excited to meet the new Princess and couldn't wait to show her around. The couple toured a factory that made hand-blown glass and stained glass windows. She got to spend the day learning the different customs as well as learning more about the lantern festival she'll host once she becomes Queen.

By the end of the day, Shanelle felt good about what all she had done and seen that day. She spent that night relaxing with him in a couples bubble bath and snuggling together in her bed.

”I have died and gone to heaven!” she said with a contented sigh.

She felt his chin on her left shoulder as his arms wrapped around her.

“Welcome to paradise my Queen.”

“I don't have the title yet and you still call me Queen.”

Marquise softly kissed the back of her left ear.

“You will have the title come this Wednesday.”

Shanelle turned slightly to face him.

“Wait! Are you serious?!” she asked.

“Yes, my love. We will meet with the soon-to-be former monarchs Wednesday. Where we will sign the official transfer of Monarchial powers.” he replies.

“That means…” she trailed off.

“As of this coming Wednesday, Cordonia will be ours. Yours and mine.”

“We'll be King and Queen for real?” she asked.

“Not quite. We won't be King and Queen officially until we're married. But we will be the regents. Also, Wednesday is when the kingdoms unite. There will no longer be a North Cordonia or South Cordonia but Cordonia as a whole.” he replies.

“And it'll all be mine?” she asked.

“Everything the light touches is our kingdom,” he replies.

Shanelle snickered.

“How do you feel about that?” she asked.

“Relieved mostly. I'm ready to burn this kingdom to the ground and rebuild it in our images,” he replies.

“I like that idea.”

“Yes, I knew you would. But mostly I’m ready to restore the people's faith in their leaders.”

“And we will. It won't be easy,” she added.

“I don't expect it to be but we will do this.”

“I have faith in us. We will restore Cordonia.”

“Indeed we will, my love.”

Shanelle felt her eyelids getting heavier by the moment as she lay in his arms. Eventually, the Princess dozed off into a peaceful sleep. After spending all the next morning in bed, that Sunday evening, they took two of the estate horses out for a walk along the river. Shanelle, having not ridden a horse in years, was feeling it as they went along the river’s edge.

“Yup my thighs are burning. This was a bad idea.”

“Well, we could stop and walk the horses ourselves the rest of the way if you prefer to do that.”

“Is that your way of telling me to quit complaining?” she asked.

“You said it, not me,” he replied.

Shanelle pouted.

“Besides, we're almost there.”

“Almost where?” she asked.

“You'll see,” he replied as they rode along.

They rode a little further up until they got to their destination. And when they got there Shanelle’s jaw dropped.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he replied.

There was an entire picnic laid out in a field, with a large tent set up as well.

“I figured we could spend a night under the stars. Literally. Unless you want to ride all the way back to the estate and do something else.”

She wanted to kick him but she was too busy being stuck. She didn't have words. He helped her dismount and they walked over to the picnic.

“You're silent,” he said to her.

“I'm speechless. How did you do this? How did you have time to do this?” she asked.

He tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him.

“When it comes to you when it comes to spoiling you when it comes to giving you everything you deserve when it comes to making sure you know how I feel about you, I will always have time. I will always make time. You will always know that you’re my #1 priority.” he replies.

She didn't know what to say or do, so she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. When their kiss broke she had tears in her eyes.

“Why are you crying, my love?” he asked.

“You did all of this for me when you didn't have to,” she replied.

“Yes, I did. And I would do it again and again and again and again. You tasked me with loving and nurturing your heart and your trust and this is just one way how I do that. By showing you true, real, unconditional, and genuine love. Now dry your eyes and let's sit down so we can enjoy our picnic.”

The couple sat down and Marquise immediately started unpacking the picnic basket. There were two champagne glasses, 6 covered dishes, utensils, and two chilled bottles of wine.

“So what do we have?” she asked.

“Two first courses, two main courses, and two desserts,” he replied as he uncovered the first two plates.

“Ooh! Caesar Salad!”

“Yes. And for our main courses, we have Beef Wellington with a beautiful Red Wine reduction, Chicken Cordon Bleu, two beautifully cooked lobster tails with melted lemon and parsley butter, roasted garlic parmesan smashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar and bacon, and roasted asparagus with Hollandaise.”

“Shut up and pass me a fork!”

Marquise snickered before they dug into their meal.

“Are you moaning over food?” he asked.

“Look. I make a lot of noise when I eat,” she replied.

“And when you drink,” he added.

“That too.”

Once their meal was done it was time for dessert.

“Now what is this?” she asked.

“Chocolate Strawberry Napoleon and a Pot De Creme Au Chocolat L’Orange. They're absolutely delicious,” he replies.

“And what do you have?” she asked.

“Baklava! Specifically Chocolate Baklava,” he replies.

“I'm sensing a theme here.”

“And what theme is that, my Queen?” he asked.

“These are all menu options for a wedding reception,” she replied.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying, my Queen?” he asked.

“Yes. We have officially tasted our reception menu,” she replies.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Positive. I want this menu at our reception,” she replies.

Marquise swirled the wine in his glass.

“As my Queen commands.”

Shanelle snickered.

“I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing you say that.”

“You shouldn't. The day that you do is the day I have failed you completely.”

“Have I told you that you're hopelessly romantic?” she asked.

“Plenty of times. Now shall we explore our sleeping quarters for the evening?” he replies.

“As long as you bring the wine.”

Marquise grabbed the bottles before they made their way into the tent. It was spacious with an opening at the top so they could look up at the stars. Shanelle laid back and looked up.

“This view is amazing!”

“Yes, it is. And the stars are nice too.”

Shanelle rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“You never stop.”

“Nope and I never will.”

Shanelle sits up and takes a sip of wine before laying her head on his shoulder.

“Drunk yet Princess?” he asked.

“No, but I'm getting there," she replied.

She felt his arm wrap around her and pull her closer.

“I like having you like this.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“In my arms. I don't like letting you go,” he replied.

“Do me a favor," she said to him.

“Hmmm?” he replied.

She kissed him softly.

“Don't ever let go.”

He kissed her slowly. When their kiss ended all she wanted to do was melt into him.

"Is it wrong that I just want to stay here like this?" She asks.

"No. Because I owe this to you." He replied.

"I'm not a debt Marquise. You don't owe me anything."

"But I do. I owe you my heart and my love. And I promise to give you that. I promise to always give you that.”

She shook her head at him.

"Well, this weekend might not have been so bad after all."

“I wanted to make sure your first weekend here was peaceful.”

“Mission accomplished sir.”

She snuggled closer to him.

“Go to sleep Shanelle. I'll see you in the morning.”

She smiled at him just before closing her eyes. The next morning they were back at the estate, readying to leave for South Cordonia.

“Is it wrong that I’m excited?” she asked.

“No, it's not. Today we get to travel to the capital city of South Cordonia. This is a big deal for you.” he replied.

“Will it take long to get to South Cordonia?” she asked.

“Your duchy sits on the border of both North and South Cordonia. It's about 2 ½ hours away. Would you still like to go?” he replied.

“Yes, I would like to go.”

“We're not too far from the capital city.”

“What is the capital city?” she asked.

“Cloutier. And should you ever be asked, the name of the capital city in North Cordonia is Bélanger for future reference,” he replied.

“Thanks for the heads up. Do you think we would have time to visit my grandparents’ graves today?” she asked.

“Of course,” he replied.

“I've always wanted to see where they were buried. As weird as that sounds.”

“It's not weird at all. You were a toddler when they died. But I do know that they loved you. Especially your grandmother.”

“How can you be sure?” she asked.

“The last time I remember seeing your grandmother, she was having tea with my mother. I remember running into the garden where they were, and how she called me a handsome little prince. But mostly she gushed about you. She was so excited to be a grandmother.” he replied.

Shanelle smiled softly.

“Thank you for that. So what are we waiting for?” she asked.

Marquise shook his head with a smile.

“Let's go.”

And off they went. The 2 ½ hour drive was smooth. They traveled along the river through several villages to the capital city of South Cordonia. When they got to the center of the capital city, the main street was filled with people eager to get a glimpse of the heir to the throne.

“Look at all the people!”

“They're all here to see you. You’re the heir they've heard so much about.”

When they pulled into the motor court of the palace Shanelle was in awe.

“I haven't been here in years but it's beautiful.”

“Indeed. In the few times I've had to come here I was always struck by its beauty. But we aren't here to admire the palace, we're here so you can see your grandparents or at least their final resting place.”

Shanelle nodded solemnly.

“Are you ready, my love?” Marquise asked.

“No, but we didn't come all this way for nothing. So let's go," she replied.

Slipping her left hand into his right and flowers tucked under her right arm, they walked from the motor court to the memorial gardens. The closer they got to her grandparent's graves, Shanelle started to get emotional and Marquise noticed.

“Are you okay, my love?” he asked.

Shanelle shook her head no.

“We don't have to continue.”

“Yes, we do. I just want to see them. I feel like I have to say goodbye.”

“If it becomes too much we'll leave, okay?” he asked.

Shanelle nodded before they continued. When they got to her grandparent's graves and saw the names on the headstone, she lost it. Thankfully Marquise was right there by her side.

“It's okay my love.”

“I didn't think it would be this hard. I wasn't even here when they died or when they were buried.”

“That doesn't change the fact you love them, Shanelle. You still have the memories of them.”

Shanelle nodded while drying her eyes.

“I don't have that many memories of them because we weren't around each other long. But I do remember parts of my coronation.”

“Tell me about that.”

Shanelle closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly.

“It was my first time here in Cordonia. I couldn't have been any older than 19 months old. Me, my mom, my dad were walking down the hall to the throne room and I remember seeing my grandmother’s garden. So when we were in the throne room with them and Edward, I was fussy because all I wanted to do was go see the flowers. So my grandmother took me out to the garden, and let me run around. I even picked one of her flowers and gave it to her as a present. Her favorite flowers were Roses, Hydrangeas, and Carnations. Because of her, they're my favorite too.”

Marquise nodded.

“Your connection to Cordonia is strong because of them. They wanted you to have this. They knew you were destined to be the Queen that South Cordonia needs.”

Shanelle smiled sadly at him.

“Do you see that inscription between their names?” she asked.

“Yes, I see it. What about it?” he replies.

“Read it.”

Marquise looked closer and read the inscription.

“In the memory of Flower and Baba. Loving and doting grandparents.”

“Those were the nicknames I gave them. I called her Flower and I called him Baba. I was supposed to be saying Papa but 19-month-old logic and pronunciation at the time.”

Tears started to well in her eyes again.

“I think I'm ready to go now,” she whispered.

“Alright. We’ll head back.”

Shanelle looked at the headstone one last time.

“Bye Baba. Bye Flower. I'll come back soon.” she whispered before they left.

They walked back to their waiting car and when they left the palace, Shanelle was quiet.

“Are you alright my love?” he asked.

“I will be,” she said as she laid her head on his right shoulder.

“Your grandparents would be proud of you. Especially your grandfather.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yes. For years, he was the Iron King. Unrelenting and impenetrable. Nothing fazed him. He literally ruled with an iron fist until he found out that he had a beautiful granddaughter. There was a seismic shift in the way he ruled after he found out about you. He became more patient. More understanding. More kind. He began to have a more open mind and honest dialogue with his people. He even apologized to them for the way he treated them. Because he didn't want you to inherit his old ways as King. Your father was right. You changed your grandfather for the better up until he retired as King.” he replied.

Shanelle smiled at him.

“Thank you for saying that. I needed to hear it.”

He kissed the back of her left hand.

“That's what I'm here for my love.”

When they got to the palace in North Cordonia, all Shanelle wanted to do was go to sleep.

That following Wednesday couldn't come fast enough for Shanelle and especially Marquise. It was the day the kingdoms would be theirs permanently and Cordonia’s two final Royal Families would begin the process of being one family.

Marquise was up bright and early getting ready. This was his moment and he was going to take it. Once he was ready, he went to check on Shanelle who was getting ready in the palace boutique. When she walked out of the boutique his jaw dropped.

“What? Is it too much?” she asked.

“You are a vision, my Queen,” he replied.

She snickered.

“Kiss ass.”

“Absolutely.”

Shanelle shook her head with a smirk.

“Shall we be off?” he asked.

“Yup. Let's go,” she replied.

He offered her his arm and soon they left the boutique and headed for the main dining room.

“Is it wrong that I’m nervous?” she asked.

“Why are you nervous?” he replied.

“Because this is it. Today we are about to gain two kingdoms. You're about to be King and I will be Queen.”

He stopped walking to face her.

“Look at me,” he said as he gathered, then squeezed her hands gently, “I understand that you are nervous but you are never alone. You've said it for days, we are a team. We are and will always be a united front.”

He watched her bite her bottom lip.

“You're cute when you do that.”

“Do what?” she asked.

“Bite your bottom lip. It's absolutely adorable. I love to watch you bite your lip. Here come with me.” he replies.

He led her to a large picture window looking out to the hedge maze.

“You are moments away from being a Queen of legend. Normally I would be biased and say that the title of Queen of legend belongs to only my mother but even I have to admit that title will soon belong to you. As it should. I have every confidence and faith in you and your abilities. You are a pillar of strength, beauty, intelligence, grace, and poise. And soon, Cordonia will see what I see in you.”

Shanelle closed her eyes and exhaled slowly before smiling softly.

“I love your faith in me.”

He kissed her forehead softly.

“So let's shake off the nerves, let's each take a deep breath, and let's go conquer the former monarchs.”

Shanelle snorted.

“You're gonna have a field day with this aren't you?” she asked.

“Damn straight I am. I've waited years for this and now the moment I've been waiting for is finally here. So do excuse me whilst I get the rare opportunity to show my entire ass.” he replied.

Shanelle snorted.

“You're insufferable.”

“Very. Now if you don't want to talk to any of them, you don't have to. I will do all the talking. Okay?”

“Okay. Besides, I think I wanna watch you in rare form today.”

“Very well. Now, are you ready?” he asked.

“Lead the way, my King,” she replied.

They continued down the hall to the main dining room where Bastien was standing guard.

“Good afternoon Your Highnesses. Are you two ready?” Bastien asked Marquise.

“We were born for this. Open the doors.” Marquise replied.

With a curt nod, Bastien opened the doors to the dining room. When the couple walked in they are greeted by her uncle and his wife, Constantine and Regina, George and Margo, and two unexpected guests.

“Mom? Dad? What are you two doing here?!” Shanelle asks her parents.

“You would have to ask the Prince that question, baby.” her mother replied.

Shanelle glared at Marquise with her arms crossed.

“Before you hit me let me explain.”

“Start yapping.”

“This is an important moment for us both. And I thought it was pertinent that your parents share this moment with you. Besides, your father deserves to see his scheming pay off.”

“I guess…” she trailed off.

“Also, it's time the two of you sat down and spoke.”

“Now?” Shanelle asked.

“After we're done here,” Marquise replied.

Shanelle nodded.

“Okay.”

Marquise turned his attention to everyone in the room.

“Please be seated everyone so we can get started and lunch can be served.”

Marquise pulled Shanelle’s chair out for her as everyone took their seats and earned a side eye from her dad.

“How about instead of giving me a look Damien, you be grateful I got your daughter to even look at you?” Marquise warned Damien before taking his seat.

Once everyone was seated Marquise spoke.

“First on behalf of Shanelle and myself, I want to thank everyone for joining us. Today marks the dawning of a new era in Cordonian history. Today signifies the end of the reigns of King Constantine Rys of North Cordonia and King Edward Miller of South Cordonia. And marks the beginning of a brand new reign of myself and Shanelle.”

Everyone looked at Marquise as he continued.

“Now I know that 4 of you in this room are not very happy right now. And that is due to the work of 3 of you. Stand up, gentlemen! Let's have a round of applause while the three of you take your well-deserved bows because you've done it. You three wanted a united Cordonia after centuries of it being divided and you've succeeded. That is a feat like no other. Now, unfortunately, two of you have to renounce your titles as Ruling Monarchs thus giving up your kingdoms to achieve this goal of a united and unified Cordonia. Not that I can say that I'm sympathetic to your cause.”

Shanelle took a sip of her water to hide her snicker while Edward rolled his eyes.

“Are you finished, Your Highness?” Edward asked.

“Absolutely not. I just had to get that off my chest.” Marquise replied.

“Need I remind you that you’re still just a Prince?” Edward asked.

“No, you don't but if you don't keep your mouth shut these proceedings will take all day,” Marquise replied.

Edward cursed under his breath but said nothing else.

“Much better. Now let us begin.”

With a quick clap of Marquise’s hands, the first course was served. It was Lobster Bisque. It's one of Shanelle’s favorites.

“This Lobster Bisque is amazing,” Shanelle whispered to Marquise.

“Wonderful. I'm glad you like it. This lunch menu was curated with just you in mind.” he whispered back to her before addressing the room. “While lunch is being served everyone, let's get down to the first order of business.”

Marquise watched as everyone turned their attention toward him.

“The first order of business is our upcoming wedding. We are here today to officially announce who will stand for myself and Shanelle at the ceremony.”

Marquise turned to Damien and Shantel.

“Because of the magnitude of this extraordinary circumstance, it would be customary for the King and Queen of South Cordonia to stand as the representatives of the Crown Heir but, because you two are her parents, I have but one question, will you stand as the representatives of Princess Shanelle at our wedding?” he asked her parents.

“Are you kidding?! Of course, Damien and I will stand for our daughter!” Shantel enthusiastically replied.

Marquise nodded with a smile before looking at Damien.

“What say you, Prince Damien?” Marquise asked.

“I would love nothing more than to stand for my daughter at your wedding,” Damien replied.

Marquise nodded before turning his attention to Margo and George. He looked fondly at Margo.

“Now you’re probably wondering why you and Papa are even here in the first place aren't you?” he asked Margo.

Before Margo could reply, Connie finally spoke up.

“That's a very good question, my son. Why are they here?” Constantine asked.

“I'm glad you asked. Because you’re about to find out.” Marquise replied before turning his attention back to Margo.

He smiled at Margo softly as he took her right hand into his left hand.

“You have been like a mother to me. You raised me. You gave me love when I didn't think I was worthy of it. You challenged me. You fought for me. You taught me. You cheered me on. You encouraged me. You wiped away silent tears I’ve shed over the years. You kicked my ass when God knew that I needed it. You and Papa have been the parents I desperately needed. Especially when His Majesty couldn't have cared less for me.”

He cleared his throat while rubbing the back of her knuckles.

“You showed me what family is, what it should be, and how it should always look like. With that being said, Maman, I would be so honored and eternally grateful if you and Papa would stand for me at my wedding.”

At that moment you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was stunned.

“Say something, Mama.”

Margo looked at him with her eyes shining with tears.

“You're certain?” she asked.

“Yes. It would mean the world to me if you and Papa would stand for me as my representatives at my wedding,” he replied.

“My love. Just say yes!” George says to his wife, making Marquise shake his head with a chuckle.

Margo looked at Shanelle who smiled at her encouragingly.

“If you’re both sure, Papa and I would be honored to stand for you,” Margo said to her adopted son.

“Papa?” Marquise asked George.

“Of course my boy. It would be an honor and a privilege to stand for you. Especially when it's to honor your mother.” George replied.

Connie scoffed.

“You mean he disgraces his mother. Eleanor would be offended and appalled.” Connie sneered.

Marquise glared defiantly at his father.

“I do no worse of a job at disgracing her name, her memory, or her legacy than you do. Furthermore, my mother trusted Margo far more than she ever trusted you. Not that I blame her, given your track record as a King, a husband, and a father.”

Connie went quiet, and that's when Regina spoke up.

“If your representatives for your wedding have been chosen, stepson, why are we, King Edward and Queen Genevieve even here?” Regina asked.

“Simple. You don't have a choice in the matter. To which you and Genevieve can thank your husbands for that. After all, Damien wasn't the only scheming father in this plot you know. The same man responsible for Leo and Madeleine’s disaster of an engagement is the same man who helped to orchestrate this whole thing.” Marquise replied.

Regina huffed.

“Now onto the location of the wedding, as you all know Shanelle is not native to Cordonia, she is native to New York and that is where the wedding will take place. And because it is customary for a former Monarch to attend the wedding of the new Monarch, the presence of the four of you is required to attend our wedding.” Marquise announced.

His announcement was met with jeering protests from the Monarchs.

“Absolutely not! I will not step foot in that cesspool of a city!” Queen Genevieve shouted.

“As I stated to my father's wife, you don't have a choice in the matter, Your Majesty. Your presence is mandatory as is theirs. All thanks to your scheming husband.” Marquise said to Queen Genevieve.

She glared daggers at him.

“That look may work on your subjects and children but it doesn't work on me. You’re not as intimidating as you think. Now the date is to be determined, but all of you are required to attend. And I expect to see all of you there.”

Edward slammed his fist on the table.

“How dare you speak to my wife that way?!”

“Sit down Edward!” Shanelle snapped at him.

Edward scoffs.

“So now the Princess has a mouth eh?” he asked Shanelle.

“She also has a shoe that she will take off and chuck at yo big ass head if you don't sit yo sorry ass the fuck down!” she replied.

“You dare threaten me, child?!” he sneered at her.

“It's not a threat, it's a promise. One that I plan to make good on,” she replied.

“Why you insolent little-” Edward started to say before Marquise cut him off, “sit down and be quiet Edward!”

Edward glared at them both but sat down and kept quiet as the first course plates were cleared and the main course was served. The main course was a perfectly seared petite Filet Mignon topped with colossal shrimp and a crab Oscar sauce with creamy parmesan risotto and honey-roasted carrots with roasted hazelnuts. Shanelle loved it.

“Now that everyone has been told about the wedding details. It's time to sign the paperwork.”

With a snap of his fingers, the official transfer proclamation was brought in.

“I see no reason to delay the inevitable for much longer so let's rip the bandaid off and get it over with,” Marquise announced.

Marquise took a pen out and signed twice then handed Shanelle the pen.

“Sign your name twice under mine, date it, and record the time.” be instructed.

Shanelle nodded before signing and dating the document. Marquise then turned to Shanelle’s parents.

“Prince Damien, as the agent acting on Shanelle’s behalf, you are to sign, date, and record the time. Duchess Shantel as Mother Of The Heir, you are also to sign, date, and record the time.”

Damien was first to sign then Shantel.

“Now comes the fun part! Stripping the two kings of their titles.” Marquise announced.

Shanelle snickered.

“You're enjoying this aren't you?” Shanelle asked him.

“Immensely,” he replied with a smirk.

“You're a mess.”

Marquise shrugged.

“I told you how I planned on acting.”

Marquise turned to the Monarchs who were all glaring at him.

“Now let's start with King Edward and Queen Genevieve. Your Majesties, you both are to sign, date, and record the time, and King Edward you are to seal the document.”

“No.” Queen Genevieve said defiantly. “This disrespectful child doesn't deserve MY kingdom.”

Shanelle rolled her eyes.

“For the record, the kingdom you’re claiming is yours has always been Shanelle’s. You were nothing more than a glorified caretaker. Also, this deal was brokered and set in stone, long before you married Edward and had his children. You know this. All because he wanted to be a hero in his father's eyes.” Marquise said to Queen Genevieve.

“I don't care! This is my kingdom! I will not sign!”

Marquise looked at her coolly.

“You can either sign on your own free will or be thrown in chains. Your choice Genevieve.”

Damien choked on his water, Shantel took a satisfied sip of her lemonade, while Shanelle snickered at Genevieve’s facial reaction.

“Well, what's your decision, Your Majesty?” Marquise asked, “you are holding us up.”

Genevieve angrily signed the proclamation.

“Are you happy now, Your Highness?” Queen Genevieve sneered.

“Very! Now for your husband.”

Marquise turned his attention to Shanelle’s uncle.

“Your Majesty you’re next. Now sign!”

Edward gave Marquise a venomous look.

“You can look at me like that all you want. This was all your doing. And now you get to reap the seeds that you've sown. Don't be angry now. You and your co-conspirators caused this. Now sign the goddamn proclamation!” Marquise growled.

The two stared at each other furiously with Marquise’s gaze unrelenting. Finally, with a long exasperated sigh, Edward gave in and signed.

“Seal it!” Marquise commanded.

Using his signet ring, Edward applied his seal while cursing under his breath before handing the document over to Marquise.

“Perfect. Now for the moment, I have waited my entire life for.”

Marquiss looked at Constantine who looked disgusted with him.

“Now this…this is what you deserve. To be stripped of your kingdom and title just for it to be handed to me. The son you always called a failure. The one you threatened to have hung by the neck whenever I didn't do whatever you demanded I do more times than I can count. It's pretty sweet if you ask me.”

“Are you done gloating?” Connie asked with a sneer.

“Are you six feet under?” Marquise replied.

Constantine gave his son a death stare.

“I'll take that as a no. Now sign! Both of you! I'm out of patience.” Marquise ordered.

Shanelle had never seen this side of Marquise. He was powerful, unflinching, and relentless. She loved it. Everyone watched as King Constantine and Queen Regina signed and sealed the proclamation without needing any provocation. It was official, Cordonia now belonged to Marquise and Shanelle.

Marquise stood up and helped Shanelle to her feet to formally announce the signing of the proclamation.

“Let the signing and sealing of this proclamation signify the full dissolution of the kingdoms of North and South Cordonia, to make way for the creation of a new unified and united Cordonia. Per the betrothal agreement, all now former Monarchs will be allowed to keep their duchies both by birthright and by marriage, any summer homes, and whatever business holdings if any, they should have. Also, each former King and Queen shall receive a curated monthly living stipend. In terms of the palace in Cloutier, it will be turned over to Shanelle. The former Monarchs of the now dissolved South Cordonia will be given 90 days to vacate the property. After which, Shanelle will take full ownership of the palace.” Marquise announced.

Shanelle had to hide her excited smile as Marquise continued.

“In addition to the signing and signifying of this proclamation, Princess Shanelle Dominique Miller, Crown Princess, and Heir To The Throne of South Cordonia, and myself, Prince Marquise Constantine Rys, Crown Prince, and Heir To The Throne Of North Cordonia, do hereby officially renounce our titles as Prince and Princess. Henceforth, we will be the new King and Queen Regents of Cordonia until we are married. Where we will be the official King and Queen of Cordonia.”

Shanelle couldn't believe it. They did it.

“This proclamation will be entered into permanent record within the Hall Of The Royal Archives,” Marquise said as he handed the proclamation off to the attendant. He then turned his attention to his fiancee who was bouncing on the tips of her toes.

“Congratulations my love. We did it.”

Shanelle threw her arms around his neck while squealing excitedly.

“Oh, My God! We did it! This is real! I'm going to be a Queen. And you…you’ll finally be King. Marquise this is happening. It's no longer a dream! It's real!” she exclaimed.

He brought her left hand to his lips for a soft kiss.

“Indeed it is my Queen. I couldn't have done this without you. The future of Cordonia is bright all because of you.”

Genevieve scoffed.

“I hope you two are so proud of yourselves! Because if this dream of Cordonia of yours falls, which it ultimately will, you'll only have yourselves to blame.” she sneered at them both.

“Poor former Queen Genevieve. Upset you won't have any of the people’s money to spend on new gowns?” Marquise mocked.

Edward and Genevieve both stood up furious.

“Don’t you ever mock my wife, you simpleton! Our kingdoms have thrived and survived for decades thanks to our leadership!” Edward shouted at Marquise.

“You mean the kingdoms have suffered, you selfish son of a bitch! Maybe if you took your head out of your ass for once you would see that people are suffering! You four have done nothing but bleed the people dry and forced them to bend a knee! The nobles run amok because of each of you. Because of the incessant greed of the four of you, it is now our job to prevent a war from destroying the only home many of us have ever known! All while we will have to fix an economy you all have all but bankrupted!” Marquise snapped back.

“We don't have to sit here and be insulted by you!” Genevieve shouted.

“But if you leave now, you'll miss dessert.” Shanelle quipped.

That was all it took for Queen Genevieve and King Edward to storm out of the dining room without looking back. The two shared a mischievous grin.

“Now that all that ugliness is over, I think it's time you and your father sat down and talked. Don't you?” Marquise asked Shanelle.

Shanelle looked over at her parents and smiled wistfully.

“You're right it is time.”

Marquise nodded before they walked over to her parents.

“Marquise you were fantastic! I have never seen those two more embarrassed.” Shantel said to him.

He smirked then bowed slightly.

“Thank you, Duchess. I don't get to do that very often.”

Shanelle shook her head.

“I came by because I think it is time that your daughter and husband sat down.”

“You're right. This has gone on long enough.” Shantel agreed before speaking to her daughter and husband, “it's time to end this.”

Damien and Shanelle just looked at each other before Damien awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Why don't we go out into the courtyard?” Damien asked.

“I think that's a great idea,” Marquise answered.

Damien nodded before opening the door for his wife and daughter. As he watched them walk out Marquise tapped the older Prince on his shoulder.

“Fix this Damien. They are all you have.”

“I know Marquise. I thank you for what you've done.”

“I'll see you whenever you’re done.” Marquiss before he stepped away.

As Marquise went to walk out of the dining room, he was stopped by Constantine and Regina.

“We need to talk. Now!” Constantine demanded.

Marquise rolled his eyes.

“Since you’re not going to stop pestering me, let's go,” he replied to his father.

He followed the elder couple down the hall, past the throne room to the Elder Rys’s office. As they walked Marquise noticed Connie’s stride was a lot slower than normal. Once inside Marquise took his usual seat across from his father.

“I'm here. What do you want?” Marquise asked, clearly annoyed.

“That was quite a performance you gave, my son. Very compelling. It's almost like you were trying to humiliate me.” Connie replied.

“I was. Because you definitely earned it.”

“You're not amusing Marquise.” Connie sneered.

“Not to you anyway.” Marquise shot back.

“Your attitude is starting to test my patience, boy.”

Marquise scoffed.

“Good.”

Constantine balled up his fists and shook his head.

“I have been trying to talk to you for weeks and you've done everything to avoid me.”

“That's because whatever it is you want to talk about is personal. And I don’t care for or about your personal affairs.”

“You need to.” Constantine insisted.

“No, I don't. But since you have me here, what is it?” Marquise asked.

“It's about the surgery for my cancer,” Connie replied.

“The one you had 9 weeks ago? What about it?” Marquise asked.

“It wasn't successful. The cancer has metastasized to my liver. It's inoperable.” Constantine replies.

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning it's terminal. I only have 6-8 months left to live.”

“So you’re dying?” Marquise asked.

“Yes, my son. I'm dying.” Connie replied.

“Why are you telling me?” Marquise asked.

“Because you deserve to know that your father is dying,” Regina replied.

Marquise nodded then shrugged.

“Good. The sooner you die the better.”

Regina and Constantine reared back.

“How can you sit there and say that?! He is your father!” Regina snapped.

“Because I don't care! That's how. I have nothing for him. No love, no compassion, no empathy, and certainly no sympathy. Why? Because he doesn't deserve it. And that is a sad commentary in and of itself. I should be mourning my father. Hell, I should be terrified of losing him but instead, I can't fucking wait for him to die. And do you know whose fault that is Regina? That's his fault. After all these years of him being a piss poor excuse of a King, a man, a husband, and especially a father, because he would much rather spend his time being a self-centered, greedy, calloused, drunken whore, his karma has finally caught up with him and it's now biting him in the ass. ” Marquise replied.

“You can't wait for me to die?! Are you really that damn callous, boy?” Constantine asked.

“I learned from the best. And the best at being a callous bastard is you.” Marquise replied. “Now as the King Regent, I will do what I need and have to do to ensure your final days and months, whichever comes first, are as comfortable as possible for you. And when you do eventually die, I will honor Cordonian tradition and give you a state funeral. But that is as far as I will go.”

Connie just stared at Marquise.

“Are we done here?” Marquise asked.

Constantine shook his head.

“Good. Now if you two will excuse me. I have better things to do than look at the two of you.” Marquise said as he got up and walked out. When he got outside Constantine's office, Margo was waiting for him.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“According to him, he's dying, mom,” he replied.

Margo was shocked.

“Dying?! But what about his surgery?”

Marquise shrugged.

“Apparently, the surgery didn't take, and the cancer metastasized to his liver. He has maybe 6-8 months left to live.” Marquise replied.

Margo looked at him.

“How do you feel son?” she asked.

“I don’t care. I wish I could but I can't force myself to care about someone who never cared for or even loved me,” he replied.

Margo looked at the office door before shaking her head.

“Walk with me?” she asked him.

“Anything to get me away from this damn door,” he replied as they began to walk. Soon when they were as far away as possible from Constantine’s office, Margo finally spoke.

“You know you can always talk to me and tell me what it is you’re really feeling, son,” she said to him.

“I know.”

“So what are you feeling Marquise? And don't say it's nothing. Because I know you well enough to know that isn't true.”

Marquise stopped mid-stride, closed his eyes, sat down with her on a side bench, then took a deep breath.

“I feel conflicted. I feel…a sense of relief. Because soon it'll all be over. I feel angry. I feel cold and callous. I feel resentful. I feel disgusted. I don't feel sad. I don't feel mournful. I don't feel sorrow. I don't feel scared. And I should mom. I should feel something because my only living parent is dying. But I don't. Whether he dies today, tomorrow, 6 days, to 3 months from now. I won't mourn him. I can't.” he replied.

Margo wrapped him in a motherly hug.

“Despite my feelings about Connie, I do hope one day that you'll be able to truly forgive him.”

“I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.”

Margo shook her head.

“You're even more stubborn than an ox.”

“Moooooooooo!”

She rolls her eyes with a chuckle.

“That's a cow.”

Marquise snickered.

“You love me, mom.”

“Yes, I do.”

The two continued their walk back to the main dining room. When they got to the dining room, they saw Damien just standing at the window. With an encouraging nod from Margo, Marquise walked over to him.

“I thought you were fixing this Damien.”

Damien sighed.

“I am. I just…I don't know what to say to her. I'm scared that she'll never forgive me.”

“How do you know for sure?” Marquise asked.

Damien chuckled dryly.

“You're right. I don't.” Damien replies.

“Exactly. Now I can't tell you how she will react but I can tell you this, she loves you and God knows she misses you. So get out there and talk to her.”

Damien looked at him and then nodded.

“Thank you, Your Regency. Maybe you won't be such a bad son-in-law after all.”

Marquise rolled his eyes.

“Going now. Thank you again.” Damien said to him before stepping out into the courtyard.

When Damien stepped out into the courtyard, his heart seized. There were his girls sitting together on a bench. The two women he would stop the world on its axis for. They were beautiful, smiling, and laughing with each other.

“I can't tell you how excited and proud I am of you, baby. You’re going to be a Queen. My daughter is going to be royalty.” Shantel said to Shanelle.

“I mean technically I already am royalty mom.”

“Oh, girl! You know what I meant!”

The two laughed. When Shantel looked up, there was her husband.

“Well well. Look who finally decided to join us instead of being a creep lurking in the shadows. Come sit.”

Damien sat down next to Shanelle who had a restrained look on her face. That look changed when Damien held out his right hand to her. She slipped her left hand into his waiting hand with a small smile. Damien cleared his throat before speaking.

“A Queen. My beautiful, smart, incredible daughter. The one who used to fall asleep underneath my desk when she was little is going to be a Queen,” he spoke softly.

“Just the way you wanted Daddy. Your hard work paid off,” she replied quietly.

“I think you mean all my scheming paid off.”

They laughed before Damien looked at her remorsefully.

“I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I had no right to treat you the way that I did. I was cold, arrogant, and callous. I had no right to be. Especially to you and your mother. You are the light of my life. The reason my heart beats. I have been in love with you since the first time I held you in my arms. And God knows I have missed you so much. My beautiful Princess will now be a stunning Queen. I am so proud of you.”

Shanelle looked at her dad with tears in her eyes.

“I miss you my darling. I miss you so much. I have been so sorry. I hurt you and your mother in the worst way possible. And I can not tell you how ashamed I have been. With both myself and my actions. All I can do is beg you for your forgiveness.”

Damien rubbed the knuckles of her left hand, toggling her engagement ring.

“When Marquise called last week and said that the transfer of power would be happening I was so happy and excited for you. And when he said that we were invited I couldn't wait to leave. I had to see you. I had to hold you again. I had to apologize to you for my callousness.”

Shanelle threw her arms around her father and hugged him while crying.

“I've missed you, Daddy. I've missed you so much.”

“I've missed you too, my darling. You and your mother are the only things in this world that will ever matter to me.”

When Shanelle looked at her father, she smiled softly.

“I forgive you, Daddy. I know that at that time you were under pressure from your brother.”

Damien shook his head.

“That is no excuse. I will never forgive myself for the way I acted. I love you so much, my beautiful girl.”

“I love you too Daddy.”

Shantel let out a sigh of relief. This is all that she wanted. She wanted her family back together and she was getting her wish. Marquise watched from the dining room with Margo at his side.

“They look so happy,” Margo said to him.

“I hope they are. I know how much having her parents here means to Shanelle,” he replied.

Margo patted his arm.

“You did good, son.”

“Thank you. Now there's just one thing left for me to do.”

“What?” Margo asked.

“Asking her parents for her hand in marriage,” he replied.

“You didn't ask her parents for her hand?” Margo asked.

“At the time we got engaged, she and her father weren't on speaking terms mama,” he replies.

Margo reached up and hit him upside his head.

“Ow! Stop that!”

“What are you waiting for, son? Get out there!”

“They're having a family moment mom. I don't want to interrupt.”

Margo put a hand on her hip and gave him a look.

“Yup. Going to ask for her hand in marriage.”

“Good boy. I think I'll join you so you don't mess this up.”

Marquise gave her a look.

“I will not mess this up!” he protested.

“Less talking, more walking Your Regency.”

“You are so mean!”

“I'm your mother. If I wanted to be nice to you I wouldn't have raised you.”

Marquise shook his head with a smile as he opened the door to the courtyard for her and they walked out.

“Hello everyone! I hope His Regency and I aren't interrupting.” Margo said as she and Marquise greeted them.

Shanelle smiled at Margo.

“No, not at all. Let me introduce you to my parents. This is my father Prince Damien Miller and my mom Duchess Shantel.”

Margo bowed politely.

“It's been a long time since we've last seen each other, Your Highness. It's good to see you. Your daughter is an absolute joy.”

Damien smiled proudly.

“Thank you, Margo. It's good to see you again as well. How is George?” Damien asked.

“My husband is doing quite well, thank you. He continues to be a throne in Constantine’s side.” Margo replied.

Damien nodded with a chuckle.

“That sounds like George.”

“I didn't know you knew George and Margo, Daddy.”

“Yes. They've always been amazing.”

Marquise cleared his throat before addressing Damien.

“I'm glad you all have had this time alone. But I have a question to ask you, Your Highness.”

“Yes, Your Regency? What is your question?” Damien asked.

“I would've done this when we were back in America, but that time was tumultuous. So I am formally asking you now. I would love to know if I have your and her mother’s blessing to have your daughter’s hand in marriage.” Marquise replied.

“Seriously?” Shanelle asked.

“Yes. It's tradition for the Regent to ask their bride’s parents for her hand in marriage.” Damien answered her before turning his attention to Marquise, “on behalf of my wife, Your Regency you may have our daughter’s hand in marriage on one condition.”

“Name it,” Marquise said.

“Normally I would be the one to walk her down the aisle, but instead, I want to greet her at the end. If you and her will have me, I would love to officiate your wedding.”

Shanelle looked at Marquise with a hopeful smile.

“I accept your terms, Your Highness.”

“Welcome to the family, Your Regency.”

“Likewise, Your Highness.”

The two smiled at each other before everyone headed back into the palace. That night Shanelle was snuggled up with Marquise, gazing at her engagement ring.

“What a day,” she said with a sigh of contentment.

“Indeed my love. We accomplished a helluva goal.”

“We're the regents now. Connie and Edward are no longer in power. Or at least they don't have a lot of power anymore. They haven't become figureheads yet.”

“True. We have a lot of responsibility now. It is up to us to form the new Monarchy. To make or break policies. To balance the scales between the nobility and the people. To be the voice of and for the people.”

Shanelle whistled low.

“That's a whole lot. But I think we will manage.”

Marquise nodded.

“Yes, we will. No one expects you to know everything about politics, love. Least of all me. But I believe in you and your VERY strong determination.”

She smiled softly at him.

“I never did thank you.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For bringing my parents here. I know you didn't do it just for the transfer of power,” she replied.

He held her closer.

“You're right. I didn't. There was no way you were going to go on without seeing them. Especially your father. You two just needed a tiny nudge in the right direction.”

“Yeah. We did. I've missed him. And I think I punished him enough.”

“And now that you have your kingdom, it's time to show off.”

Shanelle snorted.

“How?” she asked.

“The Derby is this weekend. And your friends will be here. So now is your chance to show Cordonia who you are, my Queen.” he replies.

“I can't wait for the girls to get here Friday. We are gonna have so much fun. Having them and my parents here means the world to me.”

“Good. I'm glad to hear it.”

Shanelle sighed contently.

“I don't like how my dad went about all of this, but he was right about one thing. I deserve this. I deserve you.”

Marquise kissed her forehead.

“Indeed you do.”

Shanelle drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

The next day she and Marquise were in the palace gym having a sparring session with blunted swords.

“Are you ready my love?” he asked.

“Let's go!” she replied.

Marquise lunged at her with practiced ease. Even though he had more experience, Shanelle didn't give up. She was able to parry, dodge, and evade his attacks. While getting a few shots of her own in.

“Okay. So you’re not as bad as I thought,” he said.

“I took fencing lessons as a kid. I hated them but I took them.”

“It shows. You have some things to work on but so far you're good.”

“Thank you.”

“Should we continue?” he asked.

“I'm game,” she replied.

They continued to practice until both were sore, with Shanelle holding her own.

“Alright. Let's take a break,” he said while catching his breath.

“Well now, it seems like I've impressed His Regency. I must be doing something right.”

Marquise shook his head before taking a drink of water. When he put his bottle of water down he noticed Shanelle staring at him.

“See something you like, my love?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she replied.

She bit her bottom lip when he flexed his bicep with a smirk.

“You sure?” he asked.

Just as she went to answer, a voice answered.

“Like she would ever be able to appreciate the way you look.”

Shanelle rolled her eyes as Naya walked up.

“Shouldn't you be at home with your husband instead of fawning over my fiance?” Shanelle asked.

“And this is how I know you'll never be an effective Queen. You don't even know the rules of the palace.” Naya replied.

“If you got something to say to me, please speak your mind.”

“Oh, believe me, I've got plenty to say to you. First of all, I am a guest of King Constantine. I have his permission to come and go as I please. Second, the palace gym is open to all nobility. Not that some common American mutt like you would know anything about being a noble. Hell, your father isn't even a good one.”

Shanelle stepped to Naya and got in her face.

“Don't you EVER mention my father!” Shanelle growled.

“Why not? He's almost as bad of a noble as you are. And don't get me started on how disappointing your grandparents were as Monarchs.”

That's when Marquise jumped in between them both.

“That is enough! Both of you!”

“Nah. Little Miss over here wants to drag my family so I’m gonna drag her fucking face.”

“Such a nasty thing you are. You'll never make it with the court with an attitude like that.” Naya sneered.

“That's it,” Shanelle said before she tried to jump over Marquise.

“Shanelle stop!” he said to her before turning to Naya, “why are you here?”

Naya threw up her hands in mock surrender.

“I just came to work out in the gym. That's all.”

Marquise let out an explosive breath.

“Translation: you pestered Alex and Bastien about where I was and you thought you would walk in here, bat your eyelashes, and I’d fall for it.”

Naya huffed.

“But since you’re here, the gym is yours, Princess. Have a good workout,” he said to her before dragging Shanelle out of the gym. When they got outside the gym Shanelle was ready to fight.

“That bitch! Who the fuck does she think she is to talk about my family like that?!” Shanelle seethed.

“I know you’re angry. You have every right to be but I need you to calm down.”

“I'm calm. Or at least I will be once I beat her ass.”

Marquiss steered her away from the gym.

“Not here. There are too many people on her side. They'll turn the court against you.”

“…fine.”

“I understand your anger. And Naya has a way of getting under the skin of people. But I don't want you to be seen as hostile toward others that you don't like. Because there will be people in court that you won't like. And as infuriating as Naya is, she still has considerable sway with the court. And she knows how to wield it.”

“So what you're saying is try to use her ego against her?” Shanelle asked.

Marquise shrugged.

“I didn't say anything,” he replied.

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manonamora-if · 2 years ago

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Happy October!

This was planned for yesterday, but comp opening and I had bugs to fix.

I managed to "finish" the game and submitted it just on time!

The current build (playable on the IF Comp website starting yesterday lol!) is about 40-50k words long, including all variation (excluding: "codex", "player page", the arcade mode" and some text widgets). While the cap to reach an end is 14 in-game days, the game can be completed around day 5-6 if you only serve perfect drinks. Also, you can just skip that and play the Arcade for lulz.

This has been super nerve-wracking, submitting something to the big league of comps for IF, and it is about to be even more nerve-wracking having people not only play but judging it. It's exciting, but I am a bit anxious about it. And now judging has started...

BUT: my goal was to submit a working project with more than just making random drinks (so a minimum of a story) and place in the top half of the ranking. I've achieved the first, hopefully, the second will be true too :D

Still, I have learned A LOT working on this project: making special widgets, optimizing my code, editing some JavaScript, including more accessibility (key biding, animation-blocker), creating a more interactive game for the player than just choice lists, mastering flex boxes, using the memorize() function (which I had to remove at the end cause it was creating bugs...), using more custom animations in CSS, etc...

I am quite proud of having done all of that in like 3 months or so. Probably not the best timeframe to upload a comp game but eh, I did it anyways :P

I have a bunch of ideas on what to add, but I'll think about that in November. Expect a "post-mortem"/roadmap coming before the Comp Result.

In the meantime, play TTTT on the IF Comp website, as well as the other amazing entries there! Give all participants some love <3 We all worked really hard for it.

Since the last update (only UI x, x) back last February, I've received a handful of reports of bugs in some paths and other issues (typos, colour contrast, etc..). I started looking into it, hoping this would just that, and... there will be quite a bit more to fix on top of those. (It's real rough... I feel very ashamed)

I have learned A LOT about coding since I first made this project public last year. Not only that, but also about formatting text on the screen.

I know full well I should keep the project shelved and leave it be. I've worked enough on it. It showed what I could do at that point in time and is a great point of reference to see how far I've gone.

And yet, looking into the code just made me wince a bit... Especially when I know I could improve it and actually try to make it more accessible in general.

So yeah... Update incoming.

Lol, I already added 1k of words for the English version bc proofreading/editing.

MelS had been writing a few hundred words here and there, pretty much when he gets a chance to write (he's been super busy). He promised me to try to finish the missing Scene of Chapter 2 so I can code them in for the end of the month release. I have a backup planned if this doesn't work out.

Currently not much on that front. But further updates will be planned throughout the month!

OTHER PROJECTS/NOTES:

I will be uploading 3 more rounds of Exquisite Cadaver sometime this month and add another theme! You will see another theme form passing by to choose the next one :)

I am also bringing Crimson Rose & White Lily out of official Hiatus. The writing of the next scene has technically started, but it won't be full steam ahead for another week or two.

I am taking SugarCube coding questions again! If you need an explanation about the use of a certain macro, or how to do a certain thing in CSS, etc...

Will I manage doing everything this month? Probably not :P

#progress #update #tttt #mtp #ttateh #ec #crwl #the thick table tavern #meeting the parents #the trials and tribulations of edward harcourt #exquisite cadaver #crimson rose and white lily

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coffeeandcalligraphy · 4 years ago

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A chatty writing update | novels, short fiction, etc!

Hi folks!

It’s been a while since I last wrote an update on this blog! I thought it’d be fun to go back to basics, and just talk about writing. This post chats about: new plans for Feeding Habits, my newest novel, my short story goals & growing collection, along with process reflections.

(image description: a photo of green leaves with the text “writing update” in a white font written on top. /end image description)

Post starts under the cut!

General taglist (please ask to be added or removed)

@if-one-of-us-falls, @qatarcookie, @chloeswords, @alicewestwater, @laughtracksonata, @shylawrites, @ev–writes, @jaydewritesfiction, @jennawritesstories @eowynandfaramir, @august-iswriting, @aetherwrites, @avakrahn, @maisulli

What have I been up to?

For starters, I finished my second year of my Writing undergrad last week and got two of my final grades back today (A+ baby)! For anyone who has taken online university, y’all already KNOW, but this year was so difficult. Would not recommend! Really proud of myself to have gotten through this absolute rollercoaster of a school term and am excited to get into some writing. That leads us to:

What have I been up to (writing edition)?

2021 started off so fast. By the time January hit, I was so consumed in my new semester that I did not have time to write Feeding Habits (my novel). In the first few days of the term, I managed to write between class, until I could no longer keep up! Essentially, I did not write any of that novel until exam season (last week), where I did manage to get in about 3k words in ~4 days.

Feeding Habits

I’m currently drafting what I believe will be the last chapter of this book (chapter 10: Swan Song). This chapter is so bizarre for a few reasons. It begins the book’s third part and also marks the shift back into Lonan’s head from Harrison’s. I originally thought this part would be much, much longer, with at least another five chapters to go, but quickly realized the book’s content was nearly completed. In my 4 day 3k palooza, I hit 50k in the book (the word count goal), and couldn’t see myself extending past 60k. Since then, I’ve made the loose decision to write this final chapter as a ~novella. Here are a few reasons why:

1. This chapter is structurally very strange.

I unashamedly shift from present to past to present to past past, and so much more every 12 words. I mapped out the timeline on a sheet of paper, and there were over 20 shifts in scenes (the chapter is only about 4400 words at the moment). The fictive past is incredibly important to this chapter, more important than the present, and I thought it would make more sense to not break randomly for a chapter so I could upkeep the consistent inconsistency of the chapter.

2. The chapter is very abstract

This stems from the structural changes, but there are paragraphs in this chapter of the fictive present that are loosely based in reality. They’re more poems than they are factual paragraphs, and keeping them all contained in one place (so a mega chapter/ novella) would reduce the most confusion!

3. There’s not much left to cover

Like I said above, Feeding Habits is on its last leg, lol! I know exactly where the book needs to end up, which is very, very soon from where I’m currently at on the timeline. Swan Song should cover what 2-4 chapters would cover in terms of arcs.

Feeding Habits and I have a really weird relationship, tbh! When I realized a few weeks ago that it’d been over a year since I started the book, I realized I just needed to finish it. Not that I want to rush (because I’ve taken longer than a year to write a book in the past), but that in order to move onto another project, I’d like to put this one behind first. This book has been the hardest thing I’ve ever written, and has reminded me there’s always a time to let go. This sort of scrounges up a conversation about letting this entire series go, which is certainly something I’ve been contemplating doing soon(ish). If this spinoff series gets a third book, that may or may not be the last Fostered book for a very long time (or ever)! There are many complex reasons to move on, but the main one is that I have other projects I’d like to focus on. This is not a definitive decision, but something I’ve certainly been thinking about!

Here are a few excerpts I wrote recently:

(TW: death, gore)

Dying feels like being a trout dangled out of water. Clinging to a hook. Mouth open. Scales iridescent in a final death cry. It’s like blood spurting up the knuckles, drowning out the flesh. It’s that moment on the long fall down when the clouds cup the body. Easy drifting. The sound a skull makes when it cracks is really just the afterthought.

(TW: death, gore)

Kill shot. Death blow. Coup de grace. Right in the heart. He feels it. The blood swelling, slicking his palms. He can do it. Reach into the cavity. Feel for the ribs. Part each bone. Then cup the humming heart. Stay there. Right. It’s never been easier.

Look at this PURE moment of Lonan holding a baby I CANNOT:

The grocery store was a fifteen-minute walk away. With Olivia clinging to his shoulder, Lonan was acutely aware that she could feel his heartbeat. Open valve. Close. Repeat. Hers pulsed right above his, a miniature drumming. The sky had bruised purple, misted with clouds. The evening air nipped his cheeks, so he made sure Olivia was securely fastened between him and his jacket. With wide eyes, she absorbed the drowsy suburbia, all its family cars pulling into driveways, all its couples heading back home after a sunset walk. When Lonan passed a young boy walking two golden retrievers, Olivia giggled, and didn’t stop, even after he’d spent fifty dollars on groceries and nearly the rest on a red Corolla marked with a MUST GO NOW sign outside a convenience store.

Let’s move on!

Mandy and Cora

I said I wouldn’t talk too much about this project, but I just love it so much?? I wanted to share my SUPER early thoughts on drafting a novel, especially one that is SO different from what I’ve been writing recently. I talked about this before in THIS post, but the summary about this project is that it’s a YA contemporary novel! Can’t believe I’m writing YA again, it’s been so long, but I also think it’s going so well. Everything I’ve learned as a literary fiction writer has been a fantastic primer for transferring back to the genre. Admittedly, I have not written much, but I’m having a lot of fun diving back into a lighter project. This is the summary:

Cora and Mandy are identical twins who’ve always done everything together. But when Mandy decides to go to university out of province after graduation and Cora doesn’t, Cora takes this as an opportunity to “test run” life apart from her sister for the first time by spending the summer at her aunt’s house across the country.

I have come up with a few ~things since I last talked about this project, mostly how I’d like to structure it. As of now, I’d like the book to be structured super loosely. I’m really pulling on a lot of inspo from “We Are Okay” by Nina LaCour (which is SO good), particularly how “nothing happens-y” that book is. This project (which I still need a title for!!) will be structured in short chapters that cover something Cora does on her own for the first time (without Mandy). For example, a few ideas are “Flight”, “Lunch”, and “Groceries”. “Flight” is the first “chapter” (they’re really kind of vignettes) where Cora flies to her aunt’s house. I still can’t determine if this book will take place in Canada. On one hand, I feel like there will be a wider audience if it takes place in the US (is that just an assumption??? maybe?? someone let me know!), but also: don’t really care too much about an audience at the moment! It could also take place in Canada (So Ontario and British Columbia). But if it does take place in the US, I think it may take place in NYC and San Francisco. The problem is: I really don’t like researching lol, and while I’ve been to NYC many times, I will definitely write it wrong! Does this really matter on a first draft?? absolutely not lol, but of course I am already overthinking!

But back to structure: I am looking forward to seeing what this looser structure will do. This is a story that is solely around one half of a set of twins learning to be her own person (and ultimately that she doesn’t have to completely forget her sister in order to do that), and as a twin who KNOWS this feeling, I think this structure of her doing things for the first time is SUPER relatable.

I was worried it might sound silly/worrying to others who are not twins that Cora hadn’t done things like “lunch” or “groceries” on her own, but I feel this so much as an identical twin myself! Not that she hasn’t done anything at all by herself, but as a twin, when you do something without your twin for the first few times, at least in my experience, you notice. If any twins are reading this--weigh in!

This story is the most personal thing I’ve ever written. It definitely is an OwnVoices book! Usually, I avoid details that are remotely similar to me because they make me uncomfortable haha, but with this book, it’s all me, lol! The characters are all Guyanese, which is SO fun because I’ve been planning what they eat (my fellow Caribbean peeps know: the FOOD!), which is so fun (yes they have pumpkin and shrimp, yes they have roti, yes they have pera, yes they have mithai). Every time I’ve gone to dabble at this book, or even think about it, I get incredibly emotional for this reason? I don’t exactly know why. I think this is a story I just so want to tell, with the culture I love SO much that I definitely struggled to love as a child. This is reclamation bitchessss!

Not going to lie tho: the prospect of writing ~a book~ is kind of freaky! I’m going to make the minimum word count for this book pretty short (50k) and see where it goes from there. I think I will focus on this project this summer! Originally I was going to write a literary novel this summer, but I think this one’s calling my name!

Here’s a pretty rough excerpt:

Try. I remind myself that’s what I’m doing after the flight attendant fills me a disposable cup of Coca Cola and all I can think of is Mandy and I shoving Mentos into a bottle of the stuff when we were twelve. Just me, wedged in the middle seat between an exchange student heading out for summer break and a middle-aged woman sipping a cocktail, thinking of Mandy and I bursting whole oranges in a blender when we were bored one Winter break as the plane dips through a wave of turbulence. Mandy and I dying our hair neon green with highlighters (didn’t work—our hair is too dark) as the plane lands on the tarmac. Mandy and I arguing so loud last month, we both lost our voices as I lug my carry-on out of the overhead compartment and shuffle off the plane and through the airport, searching for Aunt Vel.

Short Fiction

I’ve written so much short fiction this year! I have a goal to write a short story a month (they can range in length, as long as 1 is “complete”), so my short story brain has seriously been soaking it all up lately. Let’s chat my month to month breakdown so far:

January:

I wrote four stories in January! The first is a flash fiction piece called “Shark Swimming” that follows a young woman who attends a shark swimming class after breaking up with her girlfriend. I wrote this story for a “test” workshop for my fiction class, and it was based off the prompt “think about something you’re afraid to do and make the character do that thing”. I’m not particularly afraid of sharks, but had been wanting to use the title “Shark Swimming” for AGES (literally since 2018).

This story is one of my favourites. It’s only about 900 words, but I think there’s something profound in how mundanely specific it is. The entire story doesn’t even see the narrator swim with sharks once; it actually takes place fully in the sanctuary’s lobby. But I really love this narrator. This is the first story I’ve written in second person in a while, though I felt really connected to the unnamed narrator. She struggles with accepting that she truly is a “boring” person, and there’s something about the final image that really gets me!

I’ve been submitting this around, though it’s been rejected a handful of times. Hoping I can secure it at a magazine one day because I really love it!

The second story is “Joanne, I’ll Pray for You” which is actually a rewrite of one of my very first short stories (the first story I did not write for a class haha), “NYC in Your Apartment”. I LOVE this rewrite a lot, and also learned the original is not a very good short story! Revising this story taught me just how much I’ve learned in the 2 years I’ve been writing short fiction. Seeing the 2019 version versus the 2021 version side by side is fascinating because I essentially “gutted’ the 2019 version of its beginning and end until all that was left was the middle of the story (aka the actual story). AKA: this is the only story I’ve ever written with a hopeful ending and I cut out all the happy bits lol I am SO sorry (that arc is more for a novel or novella). That’s how this went from a 5k word story to an 1800 word story (my Submittable thanks me for this lol). A lot of details and scenes I included were more pertinent to a 3 act structure/novel, which of course short stories don’t often have because of their brevity. I love rambling about writing theory, and seeing that actually pay off is so fascinating!

(TW: trauma)

Like the original, this story follows Joanne, a woman in her early twenties, who spontaneously breaks up with her boyfriend. She claims the poltergeist haunting her drove her to this decision. The original draft focused a lot more on the traumatic events Joanne survives, but this draft really loosens them up. It focuses less so on the events themselves, and more on how Joanne’s life is affected. I found the details of these events were less important, and even sort of contradicted Joanne’s insistence she is being haunted. Instead, the poltergeist really takes more precedence in the new draft as a force Joanne doesn’t understand. That ambiguity, I think, is what the story truly needed.

I also centralized Joanne’s relationship with her boyfriend, Julian, here. Now don’t get me wrong, I really didn’t add anything to this draft. It was a matter of trimming the fat around it to leave the lean “meat” in the centre. But by removing that fat, I was able to emphasize what was most important here, and that was her relationship. Julian always played a really big role in the original draft, but I feel like his role as both a friend and partner to Joanne is much more emphasized since this draft literally is only two scenes now. Because there is less, there is more room for Joanne to reflect, which I’m happy about!

A final change I made was the setting and therefore the title. The original, which was “NYC in Your Apartment,” I couldn’t keep because I shifted the setting to Toronto (this is how I originally saw it, but in 2019 I just?? couldn’t?? write?? canlit??), and “Toronto in Your Apartment” sounded sort of gross LOL. The new title comes from a line in the story which I think is more relevant to the themes!

The next short story I wrote in January was “How to Spell Alpaca.” This one is super fun because I wrote it SO fast (in about 15 minutes or so). THIS is the writing update if you’re interested in learning more. I talked extensively about this one in that update, but some developments are that I dove into an edit a few weeks ago to really understand the core of the story. I’m still not quite there (this is just an intuitive feeling; I know not everything has “clicked), but I am really intrigued by the two mothers in the story, the narrator, and her newfound acquaintance, Violet. Both really struggle to understand their place as mothers (the narrator even declares she isn’t a mother anymore). The narrator, who is in her 50s, sees herself in Violet, who is much younger (~20s), and so she views Violet’s relationship with her daughter in a cautionary, yet mournful way, like she can see it will end up like her own relationship with her daughter, despite wanting the opposite. This is a really subtle story. I feel like if you blink, you’ll miss the message. But I think it’s compelling for that reason. It’s really a portrait of parenting and how to grapple with mistakes you may make that inevitably affect your children. Wow just unlocked the theme writing this lol.

The final story I wrote in January is “The Party,” which may be in my top 3 faves I’ve ever written. This story follows Aida, a recent divorcee in her ~40s. The day her divorce turns official, she moves into a new house and receives a party invitation addressed to the previous homeowner, yet RSVP’s anyway. At this party, she’s hoping to find some sense of noticeability, having struggled with being nondescript her whole life. Things seem quite normal at the party, until it gets bizarre.

I LOVE this story, y’all. Like “How to Spell Alpaca” it really delves into motherhood. Aida, our narrator, is incredibly hurt after her divorce. She now lives farther from her children she struggled to feel connected to in the first place, and doesn’t really know how to reignite her life. This party is a means to do that. This is the first story I’ve written that contains a “twist” which is strange because I really prefer stories that give us as much info as possible upfront, but yes, this one sort of twists.

February

I wrote one story in February, and that was “Protect the Young.” This title is SO changing when I think of a new one because it’s thematically incorrect, haha, but this story follows a woman in her late 40s whose daughter, Lindy, announces she is married the same day all their backyard chickens turn up dead. The discovery of dead chickens prompts our narrator to recall her ex-husband’s murder and the role her daughter may have played in his death.

I love this story so much! I think this would make a great closing for my short story collection. It just has that vibe! I wrote this for my second fiction workshop. I thought I had to hand in the story a week earlier than I had to, so I panicked and wrote this in one sitting! Little did I know, I did not need to do that lol but I’m very happy because this story is so fun. We get to learn more about Arnold (her ex), his relationship with Lindy, and how that translates to Lindy’s relationship with her new husband, Malcolm. I LOVE true crime (I listen to about 3-4 hours of case coverage daily), and this is my first “true crime” story. Because of that, I’m very sus of a few details that probably wouldn’t slide in actual investigatory work, so I’ll also be working on that in a revision. My professor also gave me a great suggestion that may alter the story’s structure a bit, though I look forward to toggling with it in the future.

March

In March, I was really on a Criminal Minds kick lol. I’ve been watching this show since I was seven (oops), and dove into a rewatch since it hit Disney+! This story, “Where to Run When the Lamb Roars,” is very clearly Rachel watching 5 episodes of CM a day. Oops! We follow 14-year-old Astrid as she and her older half brother kidnap a young girl to sacrifice for their yearly ritual.

I knew a few things going into this story, but the main thing was that I did NOT want to show any details of a potential murder (if one even occurs). I really wanted to keep all of those elements off the page because this story is not about those events, but about Astrid’s relationship with her brother. They are a murderous duo, with Astrid actually being the dominant partner. I wanted to explore that. I knew her brother, Fox, was more of a submissive partner in their team, even when he used to do this same thing with his father when he was much younger (chilling!), and so it was a task to explore how this young girl’s desire for violence works. The end actually comes right before the story starts, one could say, but I like it for this reason. It really made me contemplate the story by the time I finished it, and helped me examine what it really was about versus what it appeared to be about.

April

(TW: sexual content, non explicit)

I was so busy this month! Who knows if I’ll write a story last minute, but I did write one story this month called “Five Times Fast.” I wrote this during a “writing sprint” that was being hosted at a flash fiction workshop I recently took with one of my favourite writers ever, K-Ming Chang. I learned so much from this class, and am so happy I came out of it with a draft! This story is just over 300 words, so the shortest flash I’ve ever written, but I’m really happy with it. It was based off the prompt “describe the last time you or your character was naked.” In this case, the narrator has a “friends with benefits” relationship with Ricky who works at a laundromat. This story highlights a moment in this relationship (and also Ricky’s goofy personality lol). I really like it! Hopefully I’ll submit it to some magazines soon.

My short story collection

Very briefly I wanted to touch on my short story collection which I’ve titled “She is Also Dead.” I’ve been meaning to make a blog post on this, so look out for that in the coming months, but this collection is already at around 35k words (about 14 stories so far). The collection also surprisingly has a solid amount of flash fiction which is kind of fun! There’s definitely a range here, which is what I personally love in short story collections.

I feel very professional now that I have a ~collection chart. This is her:

(image description: A chart with the title “She is Also Dead.” It is broken into four columns: Story, Status, Word Count, and Published. Entry 1 - Story: Slaughter the Animal. Status: Revisions, Word Count, 3982, Published: N/A. Entry 2 - Story: Joanne, I’ll Pray for You, Status: Polished, Word Count: 1809, Published: N/A. Entry 3 - Story: Primary Organs, Status: Published, Word Count: 2342, Published: The Malahat Review. Entry 4 - Story: Faberge, Status, Polished, Word Count: 619, Published: N/A. Entry 5 - Story: The Wolf-Antelope Will Not Come for Us, Status, Polished, Word Count: 1556, Published: filling Station (forthcoming). Entry 6 - Story: How to Spell Alpaca, Status: revisions, Word Count: 1327, Published: N/A. Entry 7 - Story: Blink Twice for Final Judgement, Status: Polished, Word Count: 6572, Published: N/A. Entry 8 - Story: The Species is Dead, Status: Published, Word Count: 1208, Published: Minola Review. Entry 9 - Story: Shark Swimming, Status: Polished, Word Count: 907, Published: N/A. Entry 10 - Story: The Party, Status, Polished, Word Count 2339, Published: N/A. Entry 11 - Story: Fig, Status: Polished, Word Counter: 947, Published: N/A. Entry 12 - Story: Protect the Young, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 4128, Published: N/A. Entry 13 - Story: Where to Run When the Lamb Roars, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 2174, Published: N/A. Entry 14 - Story: Phantom Limbs, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 4844, Published: N/A.) /end image description.

This order is DEFINITELY not permanent (at this point whenever I write a story, I just fit it randomly into this chart lol), and some of the info is outdated (for example, Slaughter the Animal is now polished!!! thank god!!!). But just an idea of what I’m thinking of including.

This is the summary so far:

In SHE IS ALSO DEAD, characters are pushed to act on their gravest impulses. A small town turns murderous when their local invasive species, the Janices, begin dying. A child struggles to understand her mother’s suicide. A college dropout who insists she’s being haunted by a poltergeist unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend. A mother acknowledges her daughter’s murderous tendencies after her backyard chickens mysteriously die. A young girl caters the funeral of a girl rumored to be killed by a wolf-antelope. A newly-divorced mother RSVP’s to a bizarre party she was not invited to, and a murderous brother and sister upkeep their yearly tradition of abducting a young girl. These stories follow characters who navigate death, violent desires, womanhood, and loss, both self-imposed and otherwise.

This is also so subject to change as I may pull and add stories to the collection!

I think I’m going to leave this update here for now! I’ve written TONS of poetry too, but I honestly ~hate my poetry right now lol, so! Hope you enjoyed this chill rambly update. Hope writing has going well for you all! All the best!

--Rachel

#writing #writeblr #writerblr #amwriting #writingupdates

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notchesandbullets · 4 years ago

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Gifts From the Heart (Soft!Ojiro x Wolf!Reader)

Art credit: Pixiv ID 4177162

Requested by anon: Saw the word Ojiro, came running. Can I request fluffy, wholesome Ojiro x Fem!Reader where Ojiro makes the reader a gift?

A/N: This is a chapter from my unpublished Ojiro x reader book that will be uploaded all at once very soon xD. Stay tuned!! there needs to be more ojiro content out there, this boy is so underrated

[anon, i got so carried away the full fanfic is at 50k words and its climbing im so sorry it took me so long to post what you requested, it spurred on my creativity and now i have a fanfic sitting in my docs waiting to be shown to the world lol]

✨Edit: this is part 10 of Ojiro’s fanfic series titled “Saving Her”. Masterlist for it found here!! ✨

Words: 3.8k

It was a lazy Sunday and everyone was lounging around the Heights Alliance dormitory. Aoyama was sitting at one of the tables with Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka, serving hors d’oeuvres.

It made a great accompaniment to Yaoyorozu’s herbal tea.

Ojiro gathered what he would need in order to make you your gift. It was almost done, but it was missing a few key finishing touches.

Throughout the time you had spent with them, he had found himself growing more and more attached to you and given your past, he wanted to show you just how much you were welcome here.

Alright, maybe it was a little bit more than that. Maybe it was more along the lines of wanting to confess to you badly, but if he went in with that idea, he was sure he would get rejected. Not to mention, he lacked the courage.

He had roped in the assistance of Yaoyorozu and Hagakure. They were the only ones who knew of his feelings and his plan for your gift, but they roped in the rest of the girls to keep you distracted while he put his plan into motion.

He had been surprised when Hagakure suggested it to him, since he wasn’t able to get you anything from that day at the mall when you all went. You didn’t want anything but what once was bewildering gave him an idea for your next present.

He was the only one who hadn’t gotten you anything, desperately wanting it to be perfect before he gave it to you.

His lack of creativity was soon solved by one simple thing as his eyes fell on what you had discarded on his bed the day before.

While you were distracted by the girls upstairs, he got to work. Pushing up his sleeves alongside Sato and Koda, he started to prepare what he needed.

Meanwhile, you were having a blast.

Yaoyorozu was teaching you how to braid your own hair so it wouldn’t get in the way and so that your fluffy ears would be shown off and not hidden. You and Asui were talking about the upcoming week where they were going to get trained for the provisional licensing exam. Since you were so new, you wouldn’t be able to take it at the same time as everyone else but that didn’t deter you.

If anything, you were even more pumped to catch up to them.

Things had been rough. You had narrowly escaped a bad situation only for Ojiro to save you. Since then, things had started to snowball one after another, but in the best way possible. Aizawa had arranged a temporary agreement with Principal Nezu concerning your enrollment into UA which also enabled you to stay at the dorms.

But what once was supposed to be temporary solidified into a permanent situation as Aizawa adopted you and now you were hoping that they would let you stay.

Overtime, you had grown close to all of them. The paperwork had all been filled out but you were nervous if they would all really be okay with letting you join their ranks. You just had to ask your fellow classmates if they would accept you.

Orjio had been particularly nice to you, taking you under his wing and letting you explore your new surroundings with a safety net that he provided.

You gulped. Just thinking about him made your heart flutter and tail wag.

“Oooo, Y/N’s thinking about him again.” Ashido teased, sidling over to you from her closet to where you were sitting on the floor by the window.

“Huh?” You blinked, your fluffy ears twitching. “Who?”

Uraraka swatted your arm playfully, mischief gleaming in her eyes. “Oh come on!! You don’t expect us to fall for that again after all this time!! Who do you take us for?!”

You flushed, gaze dropping into your lap where your hands were folded neatly. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Trailing off with a nervous mumble, you fiddled with your tail as Yaoyorozu shot you an empathetic smile.

“It’s alright, Y/N-chan,” She reassured kindly. “You don’t have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“But Yao-Momo!!” Ashido pouted. “She was about to admit her feelings for him!!”

“No I wasn’t!!” You protested, then clapped a hand over your mouth but it was too late.

The damage had been done.

Squeals burst out all around you and you had the sudden urge to take refuge in your room, no longer wanting to be a part of this humiliating conversation.

“How long?!” Ashido shrieked in your ear, tugging on your arm, wanting to know the exact time it started.

“I don’t know!!” You cried out, burying your face in your hands, utterly embarrassed.

Uraraka and Hagakure let out a gasp at your indirect confession but squealed excitedly as realization finally hit them.

“You guys would be so cute together!!” Hagakure gushed.

Uraraka’s eyes crinkled up joyously. “Aww!! I can already picture them out on their first date!!”

“Guys, give her space to breathe.” Jirou said, rolling her eyes at her overexcited friends as she freed you from their grasp.

Yaoyorozu seconded that, even though she was equally as excited as her friends at this new information.

“I didn’t know you had feelings for Ojiro-san.” She lightly teased with a soft smile on her face, patting your back like an older sister would.

“I don’t!!” You denied but winced at the collective glare that was thrown your way. “... Maybe…”

Ashido sprang up to her feet. “She’s totally crushing on him!!”

You grabbed onto her arm to prevent her from leaving the room, finding Ojiro and outing your secret. “No I’m not!!”

“Are too!!”

“Am not!!”

“ARE TOO!!!!!”

“NO!!!!”

The both of you fell back on top of the bed, bouncing a couple of times on the mattress as the other girls forced the two of you to sit down.

Even Asui seemed on board.

“I think you would be able to make him very happy, kero.” She relayed, a finger resting on her chin. “He already thinks very highly of you.”

You couldn’t help but blush at that, wiggling around uncomfortably as your heartbeat echoed loudly in your ears.

“W-What…?”

Hagakure shoved your shoulder and you nearly toppled over, not expecting her to do that.

“Y/N!!” She chastised, wagging a finger at you. “You can’t be serious!! Haven’t you noticed it?!”

You were lost. “Noticed what??”

“Oh dear.” Yaoyorozu commented, gazing at you sympathetically.

“Someone tell her or else I’m going to explode!!!” Ashido shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

You opened your mouth to ask just what was going on when the door suddenly opened and everybody fell silent.

Todoroki didn’t do or say anything. He simply inclined his head to the side and the girls who were so docile for a few seconds burst into action.

You weren’t sure exactly what happened but within the next minute, you were being shoved outside and hastily instructed to go downstairs in exactly five minutes while they all raced out, Ashido dragging a reluctant Todoroki along with them.

Since you left your phone back in Ojiro’s room and you didn’t want to be rude and barge in just to get it, you stayed outside in the hallway, counting the seconds that passed until five minutes had passed.

You lagged behind, not really sure what to expect. They had never acted like this around you before.

Maybe Aizawa had told them of your permanent stay at Heights Alliance and they were all against it.

But that didn’t make much sense since they went to such lengths to be so friendly and open with.

Shaking your head to clear the muddled thoughts, you continued on down the staircase until you reached the first floor.

When you arrived, it was dark. All the lights were turned off, which was strange because you vividly recalled Iida saying something about how important it was to keep the lights on 24/7 so that none of the students tripped or anything.

Mostly for your benefit since you tended to trip over air.

Claws sliding out, you narrowed your eyes, baring your canines threatening as you scanned for any signs of movement.

Putting into the play the training Aizawa had taught you, you crouched low to the ground, slinking along the abandoned corridor.

Adrenaline pumping through your veins, you crept around the corner, coming to halt just before the common room.

Here goes nothing.

You stepped out.

Then, several things happened at once.

You were blinded as the lights suddenly flashed on and you shrieked, jumping on the nearest person out of instinct.

“What the fuck, dumbass!!!” Bakugou raged as he caught you when you tunneled into him.

You squeaked frightfully, backpedaling until you were a sufficient distance away from the group of twenty now standing in front of you, clearly seeing them for the first time.

“I told you she would get scared!!” Jirou chastised, smacking the sheepish-looking pikachu on the head.

“I’m sorry, I thought it would be fine!!” Kaminari argued back, gripping his head in pain. “Ow!! That hurts!!”

“Serves you right!!” She snapped back.

You retracted your claws, reverting back to the adorable wolf that they all knew and loved now that you realized there wasn’t any threat. Your ears perked up and your lips curled into a smile of disbelief.

Beaming happily as Ashido smothered you in a hug, you blinked back tears as your eyes fell on the banner that said, “Welcome Home!!!”, in bright lettering above the entire class of 1-A.

You couldn’t believe your eyes. “You guys did all of this for me?”

Uraraka gestured to the pile of presents behind Shoji and Tokoyami.

“It was Ojiro-kun’s idea for the presents and Hagakure’s for a party.” She told you cheekily, pointing to the embarrassed boy hiding behind the counter to make himself appear smaller. “We just all pitched in to help.”

“You didn’t have to do all of this for me…” You said softly, in awe and vastly overwhelmed.

“You’re staying with us from now on.” Todoroki quipped plainly from the back row. “This was in order.”

Hagakure rushed over to you. “Do you like it?! Are you surprised?!”

You nodded and squeezed her tightly, thanking her before making your way over to Ojiro, who had yet to acknowledge you. At least, with words.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away from you, completely under your spell as you padded over to him.

Blushing, you tucked a lock of hair behind your ear, then cursed yourself for doing something so embarrassing in front of your long-time crush.

“Mashirao?” You said curiously, noticing his arms were hidden behind his back.

Man, he was never going to get tired of hearing your sweet voice saying his name in such an intimate way.

Winding his tail around your waist, he tugged you closer until you fell into his chest. You shivered as you felt one of his arms snake around you, as if shielding you from the people who were crowding around you.

Your face burned and you were thankful it was hidden from all of your classmates as they ‘awwed’ at the two of you. Vaguely, you heard someone slyly note how cute the two of you were and you swore, feeling more self-conscious than ever.

You didn’t get a chance to wiggle out of his hold to smack Ashido on the head for her comment since Ojiro decided to give you what was behind his back.

It was a small, carefully wrapped gift box, not impressive on the outside by any means, but your eyes sparkled and your heart skipped a beat.

Seeing the expression on your face, his shoulders shook with laughter. Your eyes were shining in excitement at seeing his present as opposed to all the other ones that were much larger than his.

He strangely felt touched by it.

You placed it on the kitchen island, running your fingers over the velvet bow and pretty gift wrap. You almost didn’t want to ruin it.

“Oh come on,” Ashido squealed in frustration the longer you prolonged it and everyone else crowded around you. “Open it already!!”

You shot her a playful glare, taking your time despite the many groans that sounded around you as you carefully unwrapped the neatly decorated box. By the time you finally finished taking off all the wrapping paper, everyone, even Bakugou, was leaning forward in anticipation.

Taking off the lid so that it covered whatever was in the box from their prying eyes, even though there were several loud protests, your eyes widened as you saw what was nestled inside several layers of crinkled paper.

Reaching in eagerly, you pulled it out and held it up.

It was a lion plushie. A beautifully crafted, complete with whiskers and a fluffy mane, stuffed lion. And you already adored it.

There were some disappointed complaints that his present didn’t live up to the hype they were expected to believe, but Ojiro didn’t hear them, only having eyes for you. As they started to disperse throughout the living room, you couldn’t tear your gaze from the cute lion.

“I seem to recall someone getting ahold of the giraffe in my room.” Ojiro teased with a knowing smile. “You seemed to like to have something to hold onto at night, so I figured another stuffed animal couldn’t hurt, right?”

Your ears swiveled happily as you heard him say that and you couldn’t refrain from bouncing in place, tail swishing behind you.

“It was so long ago, I would’ve thought you had forgotten by now.” You beamed, smiling from ear to ear as you tested out its squishiness. “Where in the world did you get this?! It’s so plushy!!”

When he didn’t answer you right away, you paused your shower of adoration over the beloved lion, tilting your head curiously at Ojiro, who was now bright red and mumbling something under his breath.

“Huh?” You squeaked, unsure if you really heard him right.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed, grinning at you sheepishly. “Well, it’s just— The stores didn’t really have any lions that looked cute enough when I took my sister to the mall and that’s when she suggested making one for you.”

Your jaw dropped to the floor.

“I remember you saying that you liked lions because… well, you said they reminded you of me so I really wanted to get you a lion.” Ojiro continued, not noticing your reaction, too caught up in his rambling.

You had told him one night after playing with his tail to calm you down after you had a nightmare and he hadn’t forgotten it since.

“Holly-chan helped me sew it, I got the materials from Aizawa-sensei and Shoji helped me attach the tail and the mane and everything else.” He told you, pointing out all of the features that were carefully crafted together with the utmost love.

Your heart skipped a beat.

He hesitated, now picking up on the fact that you had yet to say anything. “Is… Do you like it?”

You would’ve punched him for his obliviousness if it weren’t for the fact that you didn’t want to let your lion go in order to do so. “Are you kidding?! I love it!!”

Ojiro’s chest deflated as he released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding in, scratching the back of his neck. “Oh, thank All Might.”

“You could’ve done this in private, you know.” You lightly teased, brushing your fingers over the soft material in awe. “I’m sure it would’ve been less stressful for you.”

He made it for you. You’ve never had anyone buy anything for you for the longest time, let alone make something for you with their own two hands. The time and energy it must’ve taken, not to mention the thought he put into it.

That was it. You were going to explode with happiness.

“I was going to.” He said, shooting a look over your shoulder at a satisfied Shoji and a smug Tokoyami gazing at you from the sidelines while everyone else wrecked havoc on the common floor. “But everybody kind of wanted to see what it was. And your reaction.”

You giggled, hugging it tightly to your chest. “Thank you, I love it, Mashirao.”

He kissed your forehead, murmuring, “I’m really glad you do, Y/N.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you bit your lip to stop your smile from getting too wide. It was too much. You felt like you were going to burst.

“Y/N?” Ojiro asked worriedly, cupping your chin and furrowed his eyebrows. “Your face is all red.”

“Dummy!!” You pouted, pushing him away and clutching the lion plushie tighter. “It’s your fault, you know!!”

He chuckled, patting your head. Your lashes fluttered shut at the stimulation, throaty growl emitting in approval at the affectionate gesture.

Ojiro’s gaze softened, brimming with love. He couldn’t believe how far you came from being that shy, wary girl back then.

You raised the stuffed animal up, tapping it on its nose. “Your name will be Koko!!”

Squeezing it tightly to your chest, you rocked back and forth on your heels, gazing at it with adoring eyes when you held it up.

Ojiro’s heart melted at seeing you so happy.

Your other friends insisted that you open their gifts next, nearly dragging you over the table. Everyone had given you something, even Bakugou.

You objected to their generosity, protesting that they spent too much on you already the first time around but it was like all of them went deaf and ignored your objections, shoving box after box in your hands.

Sato had made sure to have enough food on hand for moments exactly like these, when everybody got swept up in the energy of it all and were literally bouncing off the walls.

Somehow, somewhere, Aizawa was found and dragged out of his cave to join his students in the party. But he mostly was out of the way, watching from afar as you were handed gift after gift.

Aoyama had gotten ahold of a painted tea set that looked very fragile and it was paired with Yaoyorozu’s jasmine tea she had gifted you.

It took a couple of turns for you to realize that they had collaborated when giving you things.

Sato’s cookbook filled with a couple of his own added recipes he knew you loved went with the polished pots and pans Shoji gave you. Tokoyami and Asui’s were combined into a patterned quilt that everyone had pitched in to help with.

The two tickets you got for the autumn festival stumped you but that mystery was soon cleared up when Todoroki gave you what looked to be an extremely expensive, embroidered kimono.

“When you two finally go on a date.” He said monotonously, pointing a finger at Midoriya and Jirou. “They said that you two will have to confess first, though.”

Your jaw dropped and you and Ojiro both turned opposite ways, unable to look each other in the eye in case that claim wasn’t true.

You had to physically push Ashido and Hagakure away when they made kissing sounds at you, embarrassed beyond belief.

Ojiro had to fight to keep Shoji at bay but his friend was much stronger than him and the tailed teenager ended up losing his balance and careened into you.

You yelped as your face ended up right in front of his, a millimeter away. Breath catching in your throat, your heart stopped and he audibly gulped at your proximity.

Neither one of you moved.

It wasn’t until you shakily held up the tickets Kirishima had given you did he blink.

“Would…” You swallowed hard, gathering your courage. “Would you like to go with me?”

Ojiro didn’t even think of saying no.

A huge smile broke out on your face as he said yes and you covered your face with your hands as Uraraka and Ashido squealed, instantly hiding into Ojiro’s chest out of instinct.

He didn’t mind but the heat that was creeping up his neck turned into a full-fledged blush as he hugged you, keeping you close even after Shoji and Tokoyami sent him a pointed glance.

Mouthing for them to mind their own business, he held you until you collected yourself enough to face them. Even then, he kept you seated on his lap, running his fingers through your fluffy tail as you opened the rest of your gifts.

He knew you were going to cry by the end of the night, most likely when the two of you were alone, but he couldn’t help but agree with everything that his classmates had thought of for you.

You had been without love for so long that when you saw it, you didn’t know what to do. He would take every opportunity to show you how much you meant to him and how precious your life was.

After hours of playing video games, eating Sato’s delicious cooking and getting caught up in Kaminari’s schemes as he tried to push you and Ojiro together not-so-discreetly before Jirou bonked him on the head, you were so tired you felt like you could fall asleep standing up.

Aizawa had left a while ago, once Bakugou destroyed the TV remote, lacking the energy to deal with his students outside of the classroom.

You had run up to him, begging cutely for a hug and he hesitated but didn’t refuse you.

Everyone except for Ojiro’s jaws dropped as you called him dad so nonchalantly but they were even more shocked when Aizawa simply ruffled your hair and told you not to stay up too late.

You had made your way back into Ojiro’s arms as soon as the older man left his student to their craziness, and you tumbled onto an empty sofa with him cushioning your fall.

He smiled at you fondly, eyes softening as he swept the hair away from your eyes, his heart stopping as you nuzzled into his chest.

“Princess…” He murmured, tucking a lock behind your ear, as he had seen you do earlier. “Are you happy?”

A smile curled against his neck.

“Mmhm…” You hummed happily. “Thank you, Mashirao.”

For the rest of the night, you didn’t let go of the stuffed lion he gave you once, eventually falling asleep on the couch with your new present tucked safely in your arms.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, squeezing you once as he used his tail to pull a blanket over the both of you.

“Anything for you, Y/N.”

Taglist: @katsukis-sad-angel

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parkerlyn · 4 years ago

Text

Oct 21, 2020

Hi all!

So. I have some good news and bad news.

The good news is I’ve started working on Chapter 3 and the word count is close to 50k! (with code has passed that mark C: )

Current offline word counts (compared to live demo):

Without Code: 27k -> 47k

With Code: 31k -> 53k

Avg Playthrough: 17k -> 26k

The bad news is, Chapter 3 is the second half of what the original Chapter 2 spiraled out of control into 😫 (you’d think I’d see this coming /sob). Splitting them just for ease with file size/potential loading issues. Which also means it may be a struggle for me to meet an end-of-October update for the original “Chapter 2”, but I should hopefully still meet a mid-November goal.

I considered releasing just the new-Chap-2, but would really like for all the scenes I originally planned to be out at once in a big update so that there’s a bit more character content for each RO and it progresses the story more. But I’m open to feedback on that!

After these chapters are live, I’m going to take a little time to pick apart the current Prologue - Chap 3 before continuing on to Chap 4, which will have some more involved branching and RO split scenes.

Sorry for the likely slip into November 😞. But so excited for these new chapters!👀

Thanks as always for being wonderful and stay safe out there!

xoxo Parker ❤️

#the nameless update #the nameless cog #the nameless wip #interactive fiction #choice of games #cog #the nameless if #the nameless #progress update

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mayfriend-archive · 3 years ago

Note

Totally understand if you're not up for it and fully recognize the ronald mcdonald dom/sub anon vibes which is an AMAZING post btw but like...now i'm curious, what the hell did Lord of the Flies anon DO that got him blocked for the discourse? like...i just can't wrap my head around high school lit being...uh...that inflammatory i guess?

Okay so, I'll start by saying I've had a new anon from apparently the same anon saying they are NOT the person I blocked, just a rando making the same points, but I'll answer your question anyway just to set out why this person in particular got blocked, out of the several thousand who reblogged/commented on that very successful addition to the LoTF post I made.

First off, I added the 'real life Lord of the Flies' story because I thought it was a good story. I had read about it only a couple days beforehand in Humankind and, after reading out the entire chapter to my parents who weren't very interested, I was excited that there was not only a post where it would be relevant to post, but that I wouldn't be hijacking it, as it was already rejecting the widespread interpretation taught in many schools, that humanity is inherently savage.

When making the addition, I a) did not think it would get more than a couple reblogs, because the post was already at 50k notes and I figured anyone that might be interested would already have seen it, and b) I did not know the very specific context that prompted William Golding to write the book; all I knew was that he had been a teacher at a public school (basically, the poshest schools in the country - think Eton, Harrow, very 'old money' places that pump out Conservative politicians by the bucket-load 🤢) who hated his job and the boys he taught (which, valid), and new information I'd been given in Humankind - that Golding had said to his wife one day, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to write a story about some boys on an island, showing how they would really behave?" - which had no mention of The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, which I have since learned was the text that Golding loathed enough to write an entire novel in refutation of - and included what I considered a very telling letter from Golding to his publisher, in which Golding wrote of his belief that 'even if we start with a clean slate, our nature compels us to make a muck of it.' Another Golding quote that I believe portrays his belief in humanity's 'innate savagery' is that "man produces evil as a bee produces honey."

Obviously, the author of a book putting forward the case for humanity's inherent goodness was going to oppose Golding's hypothesis; Bregman not only noted Golding's literary accomplishments and beliefs, but his personal life.

When I began delving into the author's life, I learned what an unhappy individual he'd been. An alcoholic. Prone to depression. A man who, as a teacher, once divided his pupils into gangs and encouraged them to attack each other. "I have always understood the Nazis," Golding confessed, "because I am of that sort by nature." (Humankind by Rutger Bregman, p. 24-25)

I have bolded the part about him as a teacher, because it is incredibly relevant to the original post that I commented on, which begins with a comic of a teacher locking her class in to see them 'recreate' Lord of the Flies, something which the follow up comments before mine staunchly reject as both misunderstanding the point of the book, and the fact that it took the kids in Lord of the Flies a significant amount of time without adult supervision to go 'savage'. This misreading of the text is widespread enough that when Golding won the Nobel Prize for Lord of the Flies, the Swedish Nobel committee wrote that his book 'illuminate[s] the human condition in the world of today'. Whether or not they misread it is beyond my expertise - they do at least mention the factors of the outside world neglected by many when analysing the book, but still seem to believe it says something about human nature as a whole rather than just, to quote thedarkbutbeige 'British kids being rat bastards' - but Golding quite happily took his Nobel prize on this basis. Which, in fairness, I would too. It's a fucking Nobel prize.

It was with this knowledge, and this knowledge alone, that I stated in my now very, very widely read comment that Golding 'wrote the book to be a dick', in response to the tags of the person I reblogged from. As I said, I now know that Golding did not write the book (solely) because he hated the kids he taught, but as a response to The Coral Island and the general idea that clearly the British were inherently civilsed, whilst the people they colonised and enslaved were inherently savage. So. That's the background.

The anon - or rather, the person I thought was anon - was the sole exception out of dozens of replies, who instead of telling me about The Coral Island politely decided it was time to go ALL CAPS and regurgitate points already made by thespaceshipoftheseus, and implied that the only reason that the real life Tongan castaways didn't go all Lord of the Flies was because they weren't British. Not because they weren't surrounded by violence like the boys in Lord of the Flies, or there wasn't a World War ongoing, or that they weren't the upper, upper, upper crust of a class-obsessed society like Britain - but because they weren't British. A complete inversion of the concept that Golding was trying to get across - now, instead of all of humanity being equally prone to savagery in the right conditions, it was solely nationality that determined it. As in, the British were inherently savage, but nobody else was.

I, trying for humour, made the terrible mistake of replying to them.

I won't lie, I was absolutely blown away that this was real life. What I think they were trying to do was be that Cool Tumblr Person who, after somebody's been shitty on a post, goes to their blog and sees something Damning in their about/description. In an ideal world, I imagine I'd have gone nuts or done something Unforgiveable. In what I can only call the rant that followed, they stated several times that I needed to go back to high school to get some 'proper literary analysis' skills and that the story of the Tongan castaways was completely unrelated to the point at hand which. I mean, I disagree, considering that I made the addition, but I couldn't get my head around how commenting on a post that was already rejecting the thesis that the 'point' of Lord of the Flies was that humanity was inherently savage and was, in fact, about how kids - British or otherwise - learn how to function from the adults around them, and that traumatised, terrified children aren't going to create a mini-Utopia, and put forward a real life example of how without the key additions of an ongoing world war, a colonial Empire and the subsequent mindset of thinking you are 'inherently civilised' and therefore can't do anything wrong, actually, people just want to take care of each other.

A friend has since asked me why I even have 'england' in my description. To be honest, it's a timezone thing - I talk to a lot of people online who don't share my timezone, and it generally makes me feel like if I don't reply immediately because it's 3am, they have the tools to see that I'm not in their timezone and not just ignoring them. I did consider changing it to 'british' or 'uk' after it was... 'used against me', I guess, simply because I didn't want to deal with it, but you know what. No. Not gonna do that. I am from England, and I have never hid that fact. I have a tag called 'uk politics', during Eurovision I refer to the UK's act as 'us' (even if I really, really don't want to. Because James Newman slaughtered that song and it was downright embarrassing), I regularly post stuff in my personal tag about where I live (and mostly complain about this piece of shit government). If people really think my nationality makes every point I make null and void, then they don't have to follow me or interact with my posts; tumblr is big, and I am one medium-small blog very easily passed over.

I did reply to them, trying to explain the above, but their next response really just doubled down. Because I used the word British instead of English - foolishly because the posts above mine focused on Britishness, and also because although Golding was English and taught English kids, the pro-Imperialism author of The Coral Island, R. M. Bannatyne was actually Scottish so, ding ding ding, falls into the 'British' category - they then decided that I was somehow trying to pretend I wasn't English and made all the same points, before ending with this doozy:

At this point, I knew there was nothing to be gained from replying, because if we're whipping out conditions like they're pokemon cards then there's no actual conversation anymore, and I'm not going to start mudslinging like an identity politician. They made up their mind, and I figured there could be no harm in letting them think that they 'won' by blocking them instead of replying.

Until the ask. INNATE ENGLISH SAVAGERY did, I'll admit, make me think it was them, back again. I even thought up a really good response approximately 12 hours after I replied, I was that sure. Until the second message came in, and said they were just someone who came from the post and made the same point by chance. So the saga draws to a close... for now.

It may have been them, it may not have been - the anon feature makes it impossible to be sure, but as the second message I got said, we're in a heatwave. It's too hot to argue. And I've just written a goddamn essay about a book I dislike anyway.

My pasty English ass is going to go melt. If there's Disk Horse, do not tell me. I am Done™

#emily speaks #asks #anon #lord of the flies #this is long. this is so long. why is this so long #i literally got out humankind so i could quote directly. how is this my life

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winryofresembool · 4 years ago

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 24

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Halloween chapter, part 2.

A/N: Yay, an update! I think some of you are gonna be happy about the characters that are being introduced in this chapter... Also lots of Caleo dorkiness (and canon references) in it! And you'll get to see if you were right with your costume guesses :D

Also like I already mentioned last week, this is the last chapter that I have written so far (when I started posting this fic I tried to make sure I'd have at least 7 chapters ready so I wouldn't have to stress about deadlines... and here we are now) so it is possible that updates may slow down a bit, at least if the chapter wants to become long. But I am still /trying/ to keep up with the regular updates the best I can :) So worry not!

Now, enjoy and let me know what you think!! Ps. somehow we’ve managed to pass 50k words already :O

Words: 4040

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

“Hi, you guys!” Piper, who was dressed as Wonder Woman, greeted Leo and Calypso first when they arrived, gesturing for them to come in.

“Hello! I was afraid Argo II had decided to stop working because you guys are late,” Jason the Superman noted as he offered to take Calypso’s coat and put it in a hanger by the door.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Jason, that possibility did cross my mind as well,” Calypso said, casting Leo a meaningful look. “But no, not this time.”

“We’re only 10 minutes late!” Leo protested, checking the time from his phone. “I was busy finishing something… and Calypso took her time preparing herself as well. She probably did her wig for like two hours.” He gave her a not so serious side-eye.

“I did not!” Calypso said defensively. “Yeah, I straightened and combed and braided it but that took me maybe 15-20 minutes so he is highly exaggerating.”

“Don’t worry, Calypso, we know he does that a lot.” Piper smiled at her reassuringly. “Speaking of your wig, though, you look very cute! That hair reminds me of the style you had before my makeover. You’re dressed as the mythology Calypso, right?”

“Yes, I am,” Calypso said, pleased that Piper had figured that out so fast. “I thought it would be fun to be a bit self ironic for once. I haven’t really had a good reason to sew recently so this was a nice excuse to do that as well.” She made a small twirl to show the dress better.

“That dress really looks great!” Piper told her. “I would gladly commission you to sew me clothes; it’s so hard to find anything nice from the clothes stores these days. But Leo.” She turned back to him. “I see someone hasn’t bothered to get a costume. I wasn’t expecting that from you because you’re always so excited about them.”

“No, you got it all wrong.” Leo wagged his finger at her. “I do have it here, but as I told Cal, it would have been too difficult to wear in the car.” He dropped his bag on the floor, causing a loud thud as it hit the ground.

“Alright. Care to give us any hint what it is?” Piper asked curiously. “Seems heavy.” Calypso wondered if this was something they did every year.

“I’m just saying that it’s inspired by some movies that united us three,” Leo noted mysteriously. “But that’s all, you’ll see soon!”

“My mind is blank now,” Piper said. “Jason, what movies have we watched with him?”

“The first one that comes to my mind is Star Wars,” Jason reminded her. Suddenly both Jason and Piper’s eyes widened in realization. “Could it be?”

“Oh no, Leo you didn’t!” Piper doubled over in laughter when it occurred to her what Leo’s costume most likely was. “I can’t wait to see this!”

“I hope you took pictures with Festus!” Jason couldn’t keep his poker face either, and Calypso watched their reactions with confusion.

“Don’t worry, I will show them later.” Leo grinned, unperplexed by Jason and Piper’s laughter. “Now, where can I change?”

Piper showed him an empty room where he could get into his costume in peace, while Calypso started looking around the house on her own. Even though the place seemed rather fancy, Jason and Piper had managed to make it cozier with their personal objects. A lot of them had seen life and were worn but somehow they still fit in with the newer decorations.

As Calypso reached the living room, her focus went to the guests who had already arrived at the party. She waved at Annabeth and nodded awkwardly to Percy. Even though she and Annabeth were friends again, she wasn’t quite sure how she should act near Percy so ‘reserved’ felt the most natural reaction. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, though, when she registered their costumes: Annabeth had a Chiton just like her, although grey instead of white, with some silvery accessories and a beautiful owl shaped brooch over her chest. Perhaps the most impressive part of her costume was the Greek styled helmet that was used in battles and that hid most of Annabeth’s curly ponytail. Calypso was quite certain she was dressed as Athena, the Greek goddess that according to her was the one she identified herself the most with. Percy on the other hand was wearing sandals, shorts, a tropical shirt, and a belt with fishing equipment and he was holding a fishing rod in his hand. Calypso couldn’t quite figure out who he was supposed to be, other than some sort of fisherman.

“Hi,” Calypso greeted them as she got to hearing distance with them. “You guys look nice. You’re Athena, right?” She asked Annabeth. “Matches my theme, don’t you think?”

“Sure does,” Annabeth nodded, eyeing Calypso’s costume. “You look pretty much exactly like how I imagine the mythology Calypso.”

“Thank you. Coming from you it’s a big compliment.” She turned Percy. “I can’t figure out who you are, though. You don’t seem like a Greek god?”

“I am, though,” Percy replied. “I’m Poseidon.”

“Ooh, so that’s why the fishing gear!” Calypso realized. “But I don’t think the Greeks had tropical shirts quite yet.”

“No, you’re right in that.” Percy shook his head, smiling a bit. “But I’m basing this on the version in the Peter Johnson series. That’s how he was described in it.”

“I didn’t know you have read that too,” Calypso said, “But makes sense. Um, the Poseidon and Athena of the mythology hated each other, though. Not that it’s really my business, but I hope you two are doing fine…?” She asked a bit nervously, not wanting to be the reason for their issues.

“Oh yeah, we are,” Percy confirmed immediately. “It’s just an old joke – back when Annabeth and I were reading the Peter Johnson books I used to say Poseidon is my godly parent and Athena Annabeth’s, and that just kind of stuck with us.”

“Alright.” Calypso accepted Percy’s answer, turning her attention back to Annabeth. “By the way, where did you get that helmet? It definitely looks fancier than most of the plastic ones you see at costume shops.”

“My father collects these things,” Annabeth answered, lifting the helmet from her head for a moment. “I’ve told you he’s also a historian, right? Well, one of his friends wanted to make a replica of the ancient Greek helmets with some modern machines and dad bought this from him. I’m not saying this is 100 per cent accurate but it looks pretty cool, in my opinion.”

“It does,” Calypso confirmed.

“You came with Leo, right?” Percy asked then, to which Calypso nodded. “Where is he? I can’t wait to see his costume; he usually goes for something that is way over the top. Last year he was Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon and he had made a Toothless costume for his dog. I’ve also seen pics of him as Iron Man. Yes, with a full iron costume.”

“I can believe that of him,” Calypso chuckled, imagining Leo in the said costume. “He just went to change into his costume because apparently he couldn’t drive in it. He didn’t reveal what he was going to be, but it does sound like something extravagant.”

“I missed his costume last year but I’ll be sure to have a camera ready when he shows up this time,” Annabeth said happily. Calypso was relieved that the conversation was going this well; she hadn’t known what to expect beforehand because this was the first time she was in the same room with Percy since the ‘incident’. Talking with him now, though, made her realize that holding a grudge wouldn’t be smart and he seemed to think the same way.

“I just realized,” Calypso decided to change the topic, “that I’ve never heard the story of how you guys know Jason and Piper. So how did that happen?”

“It’s a funny story,” Percy started, smiling at the memory. “Jason and I used to be the captains of rivaling soccer teams when we were around 16. Well, one time Jason’s team was visiting us but we were playing in an arena that had just been renovated so I hadn’t been there before. I may have been a bit late from our team meeting and I was a bit lost so I decided to ask one staff lady where I was supposed to go. Somehow she got our teams mixed up and I ended up in the locker room of Jason’s team. Some of Jason’s teammates said that my expression was worth seeing when I realized the mistake but I dunno about that. The funny thing was that somehow the same thing had happened to Jason; he had also been late for the meeting because of traffic or something and he had gotten into my team’s locker room. Well, after the game we had a good laugh about it together and ended up talking about other stuff as well and noticed we have a lot in common. That’s how we became friends. When we moved into the same town, we started training together at least a few times a week.”

“Piper and I didn’t learn to know each other until Jason and she started dating a couple of years ago and they invited Percy to some party where I went with him. To be honest, I was a bit suspicious about her at first because we seemed very different but eventually we learned to respect each other’s qualities. And here we are,” Annabeth added.

“Those are some cool stories,” Calypso said. “It seems like a funny coincidence that somehow we all ended up in this city even though most of us are from somewhere else. Like Leo is from Texas, I am from Greece…” “Speaking of him,” Annabeth had to muffle his laughter with her hand, “I believe we are finally getting some answers about his costume.”

“Oh… my gods” was all Calypso could say when she turned to the direction Annabeth was looking at. “You’re really something else.”

Leo was completely hidden inside his costume, but Calypso could practically hear him grinning at their reactions. The costume looked very much like in the movies; golden (just painted, not real gold, because there was no way Leo could afford something like that) plating forming a droid with big round eyes and an ability to speak lots and lots of different languages: C-3PO from Star Wars.

“Holy shit, dude, that looks so real.” Percy gaped at Leo. “I’m starting to understand why you spent so much time in your room the past few weeks.”

“Why C-3PO, though?” Calypso asked once she managed to put her poker face back on. “Does that have some story behind it?”

“Because, duh, it looks cool!” Leo exclaimed with a mechanical voice from inside his costume. “I dunno, ever since I first saw C-3PO as a kid I thought it would be cool to be able to build something like that. And hey, his ability to translate like all the possible languages is pretty neat. Me? I just know 3.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable in there, though?” Calypso asked. “That thing must be heavy.”

“Sunshine, I’m always uncomfortable. But this was a childhood dream of mine so I sure as heck am not backing off now,” Leo said with determination.

“A stubborn one, aren’t you?” Calypso stated. “Even I have to admit, though, that you have certainly done some thorough job with it. Hey, I should take photos before I forget! You don’t get to see this every day.”

The others dug their phones up as well and for a while Leo just made silly poses while they took pictures, clearly enjoying the attention his costume got. Eventually he started demanding that Calypso should join him for the photos but she was a bit hesitant at first.

Leo argued: “Come on. Greek mythology meets Star Wars? You don’t see a crossover like that every day.”

“Can’t argue with that, I suppose,” Calypso said and went next to him. “Well, do we have some kind of story for Calypso and C-3PO’s meeting?” she asked as Percy and Annabeth waved at them to look at the camera.

Leo considered her question for a moment. “Oh, how about this? C-3PO somehow ends up on Calypso’s island - because duh, Calypso is cursed so she can’t leave the island…”

“You seem to know surprisingly much about Greek mythology, just saying…” Calypso noted while trying to smile for the photos, resting her hand on the metallic shoulder.

“I told ya, Sunshine, you can blame tía Callida for that…” Leo reminded her. “Anyway, I imagine those two don’t really like each other at first because they’re so different but eventually they learn to respect each other’s skills; C-3PO can translate basically any language and Calypso is good at all kinds of handiworks, which is hard for a droid.”

“And? What happens after that?” Calypso asked curiously.

Leo considered it for a moment. “C-3PO doesn’t really wanna leave Calypso’s island but he has galaxies to save with his friend R2-D2 so he has to go but he promises to come get her afterwards.”

“Aw, Leo, that is kind of sweet,” Calypso commented, suddenly aware of the metal arm that had snuck around her waist. “Does he… does he ever return, though? Shouldn’t that be impossible?”

“For a human, maybe, but he’s a droid,” Leo noted. “Unfortunately during a big battle he blows up badly but the ever so faithful R2-D2 collects the pieces and finds someone who can rebuild him again. And boom, he makes it back and lives happily ever after with his goddess.”

“What’s the term you use when you enjoy a fictional relationship a lot?” Calypso asked. “Shipping?” Annabeth nodded at her. “I don’t know, Leo, to me it sounds like you ship those two. Isn’t that a bit weird?” “What, why would that be weird? I’ve seen people ship…”

“I see these two have gotten into a full on nerd mode again,” Annabeth said quietly to Percy while they were waiting for the flatmates to stop their bickering so they’d be able to take the photos. “Not projecting themselves into their characters, right?”

“No, definitely not,” Percy agreed.

Eventually Leo and Calypso stopped bickering and Annabeth was able to take the pictures. Even if Leo was mostly hidden by his costume, Calypso felt a bit self conscious about the fact that these were the first photos of them together. They did a few goofy poses because Annabeth and Percy told them to, but Calypso thought she probably looked more embarrassed than funny in them.

Once they were done, Leo went to Annabeth who was going through the photos and bowed his head a bit to see them better. “Hey, these do look pretty cool! It’s probably just the lighting but here you look like you’re blushing to some funny comment C-3PO made.”

“Show me!” Calypso yelped nervously and took the phone from Annabeth. When she saw it, she could immediately tell Leo was not wrong; she really was blushing. “Yeah, it’s definitely those candles in the background that do it… And I think it’s pretty warm in here, maybe all the people here heat this room…”

“OK, if you say so,” Leo said but Calypso imagined that he was looking at her suspiciously through his costume.

Trying to get the others’ attention to something else, she said: “So, who else has arrived so far?”

“Nico and Will. I think they went to get some snacks from the dining room,” Piper, who had just entered the room, answered.

“Leo told me that Nico is Jason’s relative, but what about Will?” Calypso asked her.

“Will is Nico’s boyfriend. This is the first time we’re meeting him but they seem very good together. At least he seems to have a grounding effect on Nico, and he actually listens to him, unlike most of us. Um, sorry, it’s a long story, one that I should probably save for another time. Nico may be a bit hard to approach sometimes but he is a very nice guy when you learn to know him. Just… been through a lot. I guess like many of us here. But he seems way happier now,” Piper said, and as if on cue, they could hear some distant laughter coming from the dining room.

“We should start a traumatized college kids’ club,” Leo attempted to joke, and the others hummed in agreement. Maybe she did belong to this group after all, Calypso thought. If only they knew, though…

“This just got cheerful,” Percy said, interrupting Calypso’s thought process. “Who’s up for blue candies? Get them before Will and Nico eat them all.”

“I heard that, Jackson!” Nico entered the room without a warning. “No offense to you or your mom but blue candies aren’t exactly my thing.”

“Hi, Nico,” Percy greeted him, seeming a bit flustered after Nico’s comment. “You haven’t met Calypso, right?” He pointed at her.

“No, I haven’t,” Nico took a quick look at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Alright, in that case, this is Calypso Astal. And Calypso, this is Nico di Angelo,” Percy introduced them to each other.

“Nice to meet you,” Calypso approached him, but he seemed to evaluate her for a moment before he took her hand.

“Likewise,” Nico said finally. “I think Jason has mentioned you a few times.”

“Oh. That’s nice,” Calypso said a bit unsurely, like every time she met a new person. The lonely years still had a toll on her, and even though she liked spending time with her friends, meeting new people was always a bit nerve wracking to her. “You’re his relative, right?”

“A distant cousin,” Nico answered. “Yeah, our fathers are related, but I have my mother’s last name and Jason has his.”

“I take it your mother has roots elsewhere, based on the last name?” Calypso asked.

“She was Italian,” Nico shrugged. “I lived there my first years too. But now I can barely remember those times.”

Calypso noticed the use of past tense, but she thought it was probably better to not ask about that in the middle of a party. “Oh. I’ve been to Italy a few times. I’m originally from Greece.”

“What brought you here, then?” Nico asked.

“Dad’s work,” Calypso responded in a tone that told everyone she wouldn’t elaborate on that topic more. It seemed to have become a habit to her.

“Anyway,” Leo, who had managed to stay quiet for a surprisingly long amount of time in Calypso’s opinion, stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Nico, a little bird told me,” he looked at Jason, “that your boyfriend is a Star Wars geek. Is that true?”

Nico took one look at Leo’s costume and his mouth twitched when he realized why Leo was asking. “He is, but don’t let him get started on it, or else he will never stop. Besides, he’s not my boyfriend, I prefer calling him…”

“A significant nuisance?” Will showed up from the dining room, carrying a plate full of food. “Don’t mind him, he just warms up a bit slow.”

“Yes, this is Will,” Nico sighed, addressing those who hadn’t met them before. “Sometimes he’s a nuisance, sometimes he can be quite OK. When he’s having a good day.”

“Same back at you, dear,” Will laughed. “Did I hear someone mention Star Wars, though?”

“You did,” Leo said, stepping forward so Will could see his costume better. Needless to say, Will looked beyond thrilled.

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Nico said quietly before Will even had time to comment on the costume.

“Woah, that must be the best C-3PO costume I’ve seen. And yeah, I’ve seen a few so I don’t compliment you for nothing,” Will assured.

“Thanks, man, I did spend quite a while with it,” Leo said, high fiving Will. “Glad someone here appreciates good things.”

“I still hope you’re not one of those fans who have only seen the most recent movies and not the originals,” Will noted.

“Heck, no!” Leo exclaimed immediately. “The original three for the win! Mom and I used to watch them a lot… um, when I was little. She was a big fan. But the newer ones just don’t feel the same.” Calypso had a feeling Leo had almost said something else, but he had changed his phrasing at the last moment.

“You have a pretty good taste,” Will said approvingly. Then he finally realized he hadn’t even asked Leo and Calypso’s names before getting into the geek mode.

“So, who are you two? I already met Percy and Annabeth earlier but I don’t think I know you guys yet.”

“I’m Leo Valdez, and this is my, um, flatmate, Calypso Astal,” Leo introduced. Calypso hoped there was a better word to describe their relationship than a ‘flatmate’ but at the moment it was probably the best and the safest option there was.

“Flatmates, huh?” Will repeated. “How did that happen?”

“I was in a hurry to find a roof over my head so I put in the application that I also accept mixed flats,” Calypso replied. “I didn’t meet Leo beforehand because, um, that would have been a bit difficult to arrange in this case, but it worked out OK.” Calypso noticed Leo was looking at her from the corner of his eye, and she realized she had never even talked about that option before. The truth was that she had had to plan her leaving very thoroughly so her father wouldn’t notice and she had driven to Indianapolis as fast as possible, with no time for second guessing.

“And my flat happened to have a room free because our boy Jason decided to move in with Beauty Queen,” Leo added to that story. “It’s really no stranger than that.”

“Oh, right, someone must have mentioned that you and Jason used to be flatmates,” Will recalled. “I just didn’t connect the dots.”

Jason had apparently finished welcoming the rest of the guests because he joined the group in the living room. “That reminds me, I don’t think I’ve asked you, Calypso, if Leo still leaves his dishes undone and if he has empty milk cartons in the fridge.”

“He used to do that?” Calypso asked with amusement. “After seeing his room that’s not so hard to picture, but no, he’s been pretty tidy in the common area. Although one time he bribed me to do his dishes for him in exchange for some of his food.”

“It was a good deal!” Leo protested. “You didn’t have to cook and you also got to taste some Valdez’ sizzling hot quesadillas so I’d say it was a win-win. Besides, you didn’t seem to have anything against that.”

“Alright, I will admit the quesadillas were pretty good,” Calypso conceded. “But a true gentleman offers them without even asking. Well, other than that he’s been OK,” she told Jason with a playful twinkle in her eye.

“I guess he really is able to change his habits, then,” he replied. “At least when the flatmate is someone he...”

Before Jason had time to finish his sentence, Leo intervened: “Folks, do we really have to be talking about my cleaning habits in front of people I don’t know? The first impressions are important, especially when it comes to Supersized McShizzle!”

“We’re just being honest, Repair Boy.” Calypso couldn’t resist booping his metal covered nose. Apparently she just didn’t know how to not cross the line with this boy, she sighed in her mind.

“Is that all? Where’s the feisty Sunshine I know?,” Leo said in a low tone, so the others could barely hear his comment, coming out almost flirty.

“Shut up,” Calypso answered equally quietly but held her gaze at him.

“Ahem,” they suddenly heard Piper’s voice behind them. “In case you’ve stopped with the flirting, I’d like you to meet a couple of people.”

Calypso turned to see the newcomers and as she recognized the Hunter badges both of them had attached to their shirts, something in her mind just suddenly turned off.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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