#and bell berring hunters

[morning-day-yew]

Today’s emotion is: Downing two 5 hour energy’s and clearing out all the night only bosses in Elden Ring

[lou-bonfightme]

Analogy of the Sun [Interlude] || [Berlou]

In which Toulouse asks a favour of Berlioz...[takes place: November 30]

@ber-bonfamille-lyons

[tw -- mention of death, emergency medical procedures, child death]

TOULOUSE: When Toulouse got off the phone with Hades, he didn’t stop moving. If he did, the panic would come back. It was a silly thing to panic about, he tried to tell himself as he continued packing Opal’s things while she watched him from her crib, her lips tugged down in a frown. Even if--the worst happened, it wouldn’t be his tragedy, not the way it was with Duchess. It would be Hades tragedy and Opal’s tragedy, and Lou’s only role would be to make sure that everyone was alright. 

This, of course, ignored Lou’s own relationship with Belle--which was just as long and deep as his relationship with Hades. But, it was easier to lie to oneself in such an instance. 

So, he packed an overnight bag for Opal and as soon as he finished, he realized that he should--actually call his brother, instead of just showing up with Opal and transforming into a wolf and taking up his living room. The idea made him distinctly uncomfortable, considering he’d only been a wolf perhaps once or twice in front of his brother and he didn’t exactly relish the thought of Simba’s house with all its dogs and people coming in and out. However, he refused to go into the woods, especially with a hunter lurking and Opal all by herself otherwise. No matter what happened. 

As he moved towards Belle and Hades’ room, he dialed Berlioz’s number and lifted his phone up to his ear, waiting for him to pick up. 

BERLIOZ:  For Berlioz, it was just a Monday. 

Actually, he was still in bed.

It was a bit late to be in bed. But he had classes later and ever since he broke his fucking thumb, he hated working on even his demos of stuff. It was just a hassle and a headache and it was much easier to lay here and scroll mindlessly and drift off. Simba was bustling downstairs after going to his classes and would probably come up to bitch to Berlioz soon, but for now, he was enjoying his boredom. 

And then Lou called. 

Ber squinted at the call. There was always this split second when something like this happened: an out-of-body moment where Ber knew his day was about to veer off its tracks. Lou would text, unless it was an emergency. Lou would text, unless Marie was dead or injured, or Maman in the hospital, or maybe he was panicking again, in a manic episode.

During that split second, Berlioz always wanted to be asleep.

And then he plugged back into reality. He jerked up and clumsily hit the button, after first failing to do so with his busted hand. “Wat?” he said on the third ring. “What’s going on?” 

TOULOUSE: The response made Lou snort out once and then--feel a bit guilty. He stopped to take another breath as he shoved a few pairs of pants into the duffle bag he’d found. “Good morning,” he replied, trying to not be entirely alarmist because--

Everything was fine, this was going to be fine. The babies were going to be fine. Belle was going to be fine. Even if everything had gone to plan and was not necessarily an emergency, there was a good chance Lou and Opal would’ve spent some time at the Bonfamille-Lyons residence. It was just happening a bit more quickly than anyone anticipated. (Though, stupid. Stupid. Lou should have pressed more for them to have a back up plan. He’d thought about it. Mentioned it, briefly, to Hades, only to be shut down because it wasn’t what Belle wanted. (He should’ve said that those babies didn’t necessarily care what Belle wanted and the chances of her giving birth in the hospital, with a c-section, were astronomically high, no matter what.)) 

“Belle’s gone into labour,” he told his brother. “She and Hades are at the hospital now, she’s getting an emergency c-section as we speak.” He managed to say all of this rather calmly.  

BERLIOZ:  Good morning, said Lou, and instantly Ber relaxed.

There wasn’t a crisis-- well, not a Bonfamille-sized crisis. Ber did not know what Lou could be

calling about, but it wasn’t about Marie, Maman, Pere, or even little Claude. Well, actually, it could be about Claude all the way in France. Or about their grandparents. Ber’s brow creased at that thought and the worry came back. Maybe it wasn’t an immediate disaster, but still, bad news…

His instincts weren’t wrong, even if it wasn’t a Bonfamille or La Blanc crisis after all. It was an Acheron one. 

Berlioz blinked as the news settled. He didn’t know much about Belle’s pregnancy, but he remembered her saying that she was due New Year’s Eve, which was funny to her. He also knew that though Lou was trying to stay calm, there was a bit of breathlessness in his voice. He was-- rushing. He was worried. And if Lou was worried, it probably meant there was a very good reason. 

Ber’s heart dropped a third time, though nice and slow...drifting down, down, as the foreboding grew greater. He didn’t want to lose Belle of all people. 

“Oh,” uttered Ber. “Oh, I-- you’re going to the hospital?” he guessed. “Do you want to drop off Opal?” 

TOULOUSE: Toulouse grimaced slightly. He really wished he needn’t bother his brother with the worry. The wait would be the worst part of it, though c-sections were rather quick, as far as surgeries went. Half an hour to remove the babies, forty-five minutes to close. The risk of complication went down severely after the babies were delivered and the uterus was checked for bleeds. They just had to get through the next half hour. By the time Lou arrived at the hospital, the worst of it would be over. And yet, that time would feel like--decades. 

And now, Lou was dragging Ber into it. He hadn’t thought about it until he heard the drop in his brother’s voice. It was a selfish thing not to think about, but--Lou had forgotten entirely for a moment that Ber and Belle were even close. 

“Yes, I am going to the hospital. I’m taking Opal with me. So that she can visit once Belle is in recovery.” Because she will be in recovery. 

“However, she’ll be in the hospital for several days. We’ll need somewhere to stay tonight.” 

BERLIOZ: Believe it or not, Berlioz did keep up with the full moon. 

It was the least he could do, having a werewolf for a brother. At first it had been a little bit of an obsession. In the first months after Lou’s attack, as Lou isolated himself, then moved out to that god awful place in the farmlands, watching the moon was like… watching his brother from afar. He’d downloaded this app and he got updates about the moon phases and other various astronomical stuff he didn’t care about. He still had that app. He woke up to the notification this morning and he’d swiped it away, because now it was over a year later, and he knew exactly where to find Lou. He didn’t have to watch the moon. He didn’t have to worry. It was so normal, actually, that he forgot all about it, until right now. And then Lou’s comment was like the notification all over again. Full moon tonight. That’s right. 

He blinked. Simba wouldn’t have a problem with it, would he? No. But shouldn’t he still ask? 

“Oh, yeah, course,” said Berlioz, deciding that he did not. Simba would understand. Besides, it was Lou. Lou. If Ashlee was concerned, maybe she could go over to Ashle’s place. “Um, when would you be coming over? I just gotta talk to Simba and-- uh, see what Ashlee’s doing tonight,” he said. 

TOULOUSE: Right, Ashlee.

Lou had forgotten about the most recent stray that his brother’s husband had adopted. He had met her, of course. There had been a few dinners where she had been present but he hadn’t not paid much mind to her. And, in this moment, she was lowest on the list of important people to him. Her presence was nothing but a complication and for a moment, he resented her. If Simba had a problem with him coming over because of her--

Toulouse drew in a breath and moved to Belle’s nightstand, picking up her copy of Looking Backward, which she was clearly in the middle of. He grabbed the book from Hades’ nightstand too. 

“I don’t know,” Lou said as he added these items to the duffle at the end of the bed and then tossed their pillows next to it so he wouldn’t forget them. 

“The surgery should only take a few hours at most. And then, I assume Belle will be recovering for a bit before we can see her. It won’t be until late afternoon. I’d like to stay as long as we are able.” He paused as he reached up to grab Belle’s cardigan off the back of the door. 

“It’s the full moon tonight,” he mentioned, his voice coloured with uncharacteristic hesitation, unaware if his brother even knew. 

BERLIOZ:  From over the phone, Berlioz could hear movement-- Lou picking up something or setting something down. He could imagine his brother pacing through the Acheron house (that’s what he had to be, with Opal) and feeling out of control. Because it didn’t matter how calm Lou sounded. Berlioz knew his masks. He knew the voice he used when he needed to take care of things, because he used it all the time when he was trying to take care of Berlioz. 

But it didn’t quite fit, did it, when Lou was asking-- without asking-- for Ber to take care of him. 

“Yeah, I know,” said Berlioz. He hesitated-- wondering if mentioning his app would be reassuring or if Lou would just think it was weird of Berlioz to do that, if he’d misconstrue it and think Ber was… overly worried or… thought Lou couldn’t control himself. And so Ber didn’t mention it. “It’s no worry. Simba won’t mind, and you know-- I mean, we love Opal, he’ll be excited to see her. We just got to make sure Ashlee knows first, that’s all. But ah, yeah, that’s-- it’s fine. Come on over when you need, that’s plenty of time.” 

TOULOUSE: “Oh,” Lou murmured, mostly to himself. The surprise was clear in his voice. He assumed his family just liked to pretend he wasn’t a werewolf. Lou didn’t fault them for it. He, himself, liked to pretend he wasn’t a werewolf most of the time. There was a slim possibility that Berlioz somehow knew this some other way, but—

Toulouse knew his brother better than that. For a moment, he forgot his worry as his heart softened. Reaching up, he pulled Belle’s cardigan off the hook, clutching it in his hand for a moment. 

At least, this was not uncertain: that Opal would have somewhere to go and be safe tonight. For now, that was all that could matter. 

“Alright. I’ll—keep you informed of what is going on, oui? And when we are leaving the hospital.” 

BERLIOZ:  Ber supposed this meant he needed to be getting out of bed now. 

That was alright though. He was up now-- and there were things for him to do that he didn’t mind doing. Talking to Simba, getting Ashlee on the phone… he’d probably have to go up and prep a room for Opal. He wondered how he was supposed to prep a room for a werewolf. Maybe that wasn’t necessary. He wondered about his dogs too-- but if he needed to keep them separated, he’d just take them all up to the top floor. Maybe Ashlee, actually, would like to sleep with them all tonight. It might ease any worry she might have. 

Ber knew more thoughts and questions would occur to him the more time passed, but like Lou himself, at least it was better than thinking about Belle, possibly in danger at the hospital. 

Lou said she’d recover though, Ber reminded himself as he swung his legs out of bed. And because Lou was his big brother, Ber believed him. 

“Yeah, just text me, I’ll have my eye on my phone. Um-- tell-- tell Belle when you see her that I love her, eh? And we’re all thinking of her.” 

TOULOUSE: Lou wished he could ask his brother to stay on the phone, just a bit longer. Just until he was done packing, just until he was at the hospital, just until Belle was out of surgery and Hades came to fetch him. The bargaining got further and further, which is why Lou couldn’t ask at all. His brother had things to see to. Lou had things to see to. 

And Lou was already asking enough of Ber. 

So, he swallowed and gently folded Belle’s cardigan, holding to his chest for a moment before placing it in the bag and moving towards the bathroom. 

“Yes, of course,” Lou told him with a little absent-minded nod. “I will let her know. À bientôt.” 

And then, he was alone again. He took a breath and continued his march. There were more items to check off of the list.

[copperrussell-blog]

📷

Belle: one of the only pictures belle has of her mother is the two of them lying on the floor on their bellies. they’re both reading their own books, but they’re lying the exact same way, with their cheeks propped up on their fist, feet in the air, ankles crossed. she has it on a shelf in the little reading nook in her room.

Simba: there is a picture that his mom snapped that is mufasa helping simba with his tie before his graduation party. they’re both laughing over some wise-guy joke simba cracked and it’s totally candid and precious. his mom gave it to him for christmas and it sits up on the mantle along w the pic of him and ber in central park, him tink timon and ber behind the bar at pixie, and a selfie of simba and kiara in dorky christmas sweaters from their first christmas together.

Copper: there is a picture of copper on the first day he got chief (who tbh is getting old he’s like 10). the little puppy is in copper’s arms licking at his face. copper’s partner at the time snapped it and it’s copp’s favorite picture. tho, tbh, he lowkey takes a TON of pics of isabel now he’s a proud papa.

Zella: she has lots of pictures with her dad that she hangs onto, there is one on her dresser that is of her and her dad blowing bubbles together and it is precious.

Snow: her headshots from when she was an theatre actress in the 1920s in NYC. she loves them and still has them on display in the mansion. tells people it’s her grandmother.

Toulouse: he has pictures of him holding both ber and marie as little babies when they first came home from the hospital. they’re side by side on his desk at home, they’re his favorite pictures. he kind of feels like he hasn’t put them down since. they’re still his little babies to protect i cryyyyy

Bambi: there is a picture of his mom that he snapped when he was a pre-teen of her giving a bottle to a little fawn that had been orphaned by hunters. the little thing lived in their house for a while, his name was thistle and bambi cried when his mother told him they had to give him back to the forest.

Sweet: sweet has a photo of his mother and father, it’s really the only picture he has, since his tribe doesn’t really believe in material possessions. 

Perdita: honestly? i’m sure there is a picture that hte doctors took of perdita and paul with the twins right after they were first born, paul is holding patrick and perdita has penny. she looks #rough but she’s so happy and smiley. 

Maui: the picture of him on the front of the hawaii tribune-herald after he won the demigod tournament. 

Urania: yeah she gives zero fucks about pictures.