#and this part is already 1k

[ecstarry]

snippet from pt.3 of olympic villa au - full fic here

“No, tell me why you are upset.” 

Regulus snapped his arm back and stared at him with absolute disdain. “Don’t fucking tell me what to do, Potter.”

“So it’s Potter now?”

“What do you want from me?” 

To kiss you, James thought. 

“Why are you this mad?” James couldn't wrap his head over how insensitive Regulus was acting.

“I’m not fond of people who fake interest, whatever the reason for that may be.” Regulus wasn't even looking at James while speaking.

James was even more confused by that answer, and quite honestly, he was starting to get upset too. 

“Regulus what the hell? Why would I send an apology if I didn’t want to make things right?”

“Do you mind?” Regulus started walking away. “I really wanted to do my cardio for the day.”

[ofthirtynine]

BARBIE (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig

[stevenrogered]

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE ↳book > screen

“I’m not like you. I can’t afford to be reckless. I don’t have a family who will support me. I don’t go about shoving who I am in everyone’s faces and dreaming about a career in fucking politics, so I can be more scrutinized and picked apart by the entire godforsaken world. I can love you and want you and still not want that life.

I’m allowed, all right, and it doesn’t make me a liar; it makes me a man with some infinitesimal shred of self-preservation, unlike you, and you don’t get to come here and call me a coward for it.” 

Alex takes a breath. “I never said you were a coward.”

[ekingstonart]

Kara knew what she was getting into when she started dating a workaholic. It does make it a little difficult to plan a surprise, though…

[crystalcatgamer]

A saga of Batman picking up his Robins like a sack of potatoes and booking it whenever needed

Dick reacts with either a ‘hey I’m not done fighting’ or a ‘WEEEEEEEE’

Jason goes frightening still the first few times but eventually relaxes enough to try to wiggle out

Tim just lets himself get hauled away and sometimes ends up running back to fight (“I’m tracking their escape route and logging it, you can drop me off in the Batmobile and go after them!”)

Damian protests. Violently. (“I am not a child, Father!” “No, you absolutely are, and I say we go.”)

—————

My Batfam-centric discord server! | Writing Commissions

[apple-orchards-writings]

two hubbies that co-own you :) they pamper you and organize sacrifices while you fall asleep in their laps <3

^^^^^^^ IF YOU DON'T ELABORATE ON THIS I. WILL. PERISH!!! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE APPLE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THAT REPLY GOT ME JSJBDBRBDJRJR

Every morning you wake up, in both of your lovers' arms. Everything feels right with the world. You try to get up and get dressed, but they don't want you to, stay in bed with them and enjoy the morning, who cares if they have duties. After you manage to convince them to get out of bed (probably after some morning sex, let's be real), they'll bicker over what jewellery you should wear the gold one with white accents or the black one with green accents.

They ultimately settle on both, complete with your usual collar, both of their names written on the little tag. Before they can start fighting on what you wear, you call in your handmaidens, and they help you choose a nice outfit, not too revealing, but still enough for your picky lovers to be satisfied. The next step is to have a nice breakfast, and today it's Sydney's turn to have you on his lap, though you both know that by the end of the meal, Kylar will have joined you, envious as he is.

When you move to the audience room to hear petitioners, you move next to Kylar's seat, and he enthusiastically grabs at you, dragging you in his lap and holding you there so you can fall asleep in his arms. He keeps you there for the rest of the morning, barely even listening to the people making demands, more focused on your steady breathing and the way you look so sweet and pliant, just for him (and Sydney).

Lunch time comes around, and Kylar wakes you up, smiling down at your sleepy face. All three of you get a nice lunch in the boudoir, your lovers refusing to let you do the slightest bit of work, insisting on feeding you. Usually this would also be a time to have some fun, but you're a bit too sleepy for that today, maybe later.

You let yourself drift off a little more in your lovers' embrace for a little longer, until you have to move to another part of the temple to witness the sacrifices. Not your favorite part of the day, but it is necessary, and Kylar will not let you skip out on it. You're about to get up when Sydney gathers you up in his big beefy arms and smiles down at you, carrying you to the altar room.

There, in between the two thrones, sits a nice, comfortable bean bag with a blanket, which you promptly wrap yourself in, curling up while you let Kylar do all the talking. His hand comes down to pet your head, brushing through your hair, and you lean into it before grabbing one of the books you left here last time, and diving into it, forgetting all about the sacrifice. You're only taken out of it when hearing the screams of the victim, but Sydney covers your eyes and shushes you gently when you turn to look, not to protect your innocence really, but mostly to have your full attention on him.

He motions for you to sit on his lap, and you climb to sit, facing him. You don't have to wonder what compelled him to ask you for long, because he's already grinding on you, not focusing on anything around the two of you anymore. He's panting quietly in your ear, hands holding onto your hips to push you down on him, telling you to be quiet in hushed whispers. You look to your left, and Kylar is struggling to not stare at you, you can see his jaw clenching and his fists crunching up his robes.

Sydney's going faster now, biting his lip to try and stay silent, and you can feel his hard on now, even with the robes in the way. Your little gasps and whimpers have not escaped Kylar's notice, and he seems to have teared up his robes with how hard he's clutching them. You reach out to at least hold his hand, which he gratefully takes and brings to his mouth, sucking on your fingers.

Sydney's noticed your little noises too, and decides to kiss you to shut you both up effectively, which works a little, until he's biting and sucking at your lip. His hand moves to disrobe himself slightly, making you feel the heat of him even more. When you expect it to move away when he's done displacing his clothing, he instead takes the opportunity to slip his hand in your underwear, stroking at your core.

He's now sucking on your neck uncaring of any moans that slip out of you. His only goal is to make you cum now, he needs you to finish before him. He speeds up, his hand moving even faster and his hips thrusting harder. In a few short strokes, you come undone, and he allows himself to let go, ruining your outfit.

Before you can turn around to face the group of flustered cultists, you hear Kylar order for the proceedings to finish immediately, before he takes you from Sydney's arms and carries you to the bedchamber. He's determined to have his turn.

Once you're done with that, which is to say, a few hours later, you rejoin Sydney in the dining room, finally getting your own chair for the first time today. All three of you discuss advancements in the cult or the book you're reading lately, basically making pleasant conversation, before you're done eating and servants come to take away the empty plates.

You're then guided to your private bathroom by your lovers, who insist on holding your hands, even if you remind them you know where it is by now. They help you undress and wash, fondly lathering you in soap as you return the favor, fooling around and splashing each other, leaving responsibilities behind, in this moment you three can just be loving, and not care about the world outside. There are no fights, no arguments here, only tenderness and pure unadulterated love.

When all of you are squeaky clean and the water is getting cold, you relocate to your bedchambers, where you can prepare for a full night's rest, if nothing, or rather no one, disturbs your sleep tonight. You slip into bed, awaiting your lovers to cuddle and let yourself drift off in their arms again, until you wake up the next morning, ready to tackle the next day.

[alltheyoungmoons]

The Gift

G - WIP - Part 1/? - 1k words - ATYD timeline compliant.

Is this a fic? Because there's barely any plot. This is the first part of one single scene and it's already long as fuck, because I am nothing if not verbose. Based on this headcanon. Hopefully I won't drag it out too much. Enjoy and lmk what you think!

Sirius Orion Black the Third had heard his best friend singing the praises of one Lilian Jasmine Evans for so long that he never thought there would come a day when the two of them would amicably be having a private conversation. 

It’s not that he thought bad of her - they had just never seemed that compatible. She had been an annoying swot in their early years at Hogwarts, and she was friends with Snivellus of all people, which, in Sirius’ book, couldn’t be a good sign of character. Thank Godrick people change, and if he had been surprised when James and Lily finally got together, imagine his shock when he realised he had, in fact, grown fond of the redhead himself. 

Remus, of course, had predicted it. The bastard was always right.

The clever bastard was, incidentally, the topic of conversation that morning in the library. They had come back from Winter break a fortnight before, but the third years already managed to wreak havoc in the dungeons - Slughorn had previously confessed to the seventh years how the Slytherin-Hufflepuff third class was particularly inept this year. So class had been cancelled for that morning, as the Potions professor tried to take care of the sour batches before they exploded all over his classroom. Potter used the free hour to take care of some Quidditch business, and since neither Sirius nor Lily had other urgent plans, they decided to spend the time revising in the library. As he glanced at the freckly girl across the table, Sirius thought it was probably the first time they were spending time alone, ever. He couldn’t recall any other instance anyway. 

They had been sitting quietly for a while, reading, but the novelty of having a spontaneous hour off was evidently bothering Lily:

“Ugh I just can’t focus at the moment, this free has really thrown me off my schedule” she sighed, rubbing her eyes. Count on Lily to look at a free hour like a hindrance.

“That’s exactly what Moony would say” he chuckled. He found that now that all his friends knew, it was so easy to make comments like this, without worrying about the implications. Still easier with Lily, who was similar to Remus in many ways - both analytical planners, worryingly devoted to their to-do lists, but who crumbled under pressure if anything didn’t go to plan. Sirius and James, on the other hand, were the think-on-your-feet types. He privately thought they had all paired up quite well. 

Lily had blushed slightly at being compared to Remus; she probably thought it was high praise, and Sirius was inclined to agree. He could only have intended a compliment, if the other boy was involved. 

After a moment's silence, Lily’s eyes widened a bit, as if she had just remembered something, and leaned forward across the desk. Sirius put down his book, glad to be done with the pretence of doing something useful and instead turning his attention to something more exciting than the legislature around Veritaserum. 

“Speaking of Remus… his eighteenth birthday’s coming up,” Lily said, somewhat expectantly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at this. Sure, March was more than a month away, but did she think he didn’t remember?

“I know, he’s my boyfriend.” He stumbled through his defensive tone. It was the first time he ever referred to Remus as such, out loud anyway. He felt the top of his ears warm up - he had surprised himself with this choice of vocabulary. Lily’s cheeks had become bright red as well; it was new territory for all of them. 

“Of course, I was just wondering…if you have anything planned? Gift-wise?” There was a tinge of nervousness in her voice “I know we went all-out last year, but eighteen is when you come of age for muggles, and I thought he would maybe appreciate if someone put some effort to celebrate this…I know it sounds silly, but I would…” she shrugged. Sirius could see she truly cared about this, and that she was putting a lot of thought behind it. He always held in high regard all his friends who didn’t abjure their muggle origins, even more now, in the middle of the war. Moreover, any birthday was a good enough reason to spoil your loved ones, no matter the cultural implications of the age they were turning. 

“Yeah - I, um, already got him something, actually” he answered apologetically, remembering the detailed instructions he wrote to the Goblin goldsmiths. Lily’s shoulders slumped at this,

“Ugh, I should’ve known,” she looked very defeated “I have been wracking my brains for weeks trying to come up with a gift, but with everything that’s been going on I never have more than five seconds to properly think about it…” Sirius tried to now dwell on all the things "everything that's been going" could entail.

“Well… I’m giving him a cigarette holder” he supplied, expecting Lily to disapprove. She and James were always giving out to him and Remus for the terrible habit. 

“That’s perfect!” She gasped. Sirius was stunned. She then buried her doll-like face in her hands “That’s perfect for him. He’ll love it. I’ll never find anything as good.”

“Aren’t you putting too much pressure on yourself? I’m sure Moony will appreciate anything you give him.” This was true, but unfortunately didn’t sound as comforting now that he’d said it out loud. 

“I know he will, but it’s not just that… I want this to be special, you know? Something useful, yes, but also meaningful.”

Meaningful. Sirius was looking into Lily’s green eyes, her gaze tired but solemn. 

Since the Diagon Alley attack, meaning had been an elusive concept to capture. It wasn’t the same as purpose, it was much more fickle. In the face of the terrible evil that was making itself increasingly more present, meaning seemed to escape entirely. Asking "why" wasn’t an option anymore, if any answer to it seemed impossible to conjure. The lack of certainty in the present translated itself into an imbuing of meaning in the small, mundane things. Thus, a simple birthday gift could, and did, hold this much weight. 

He straightened up, a fire newly lit within him.

“Ok, let’s brainstorm.”

[overly-verbose]

SIkuna doing a mantra of "-DoNotHugTheChildDoNotHug-" is hilarious, thank you for that

Glad to hear that you found it as hilarious as I did lmao, it's such a funny contrast to how he may come off externally 😂

(He tries very, very hard to balance out being relatively pleasant with just bad enough for Yuji not to completely 'forget what he's dealing with' but mAN is it a tightrope walk above a freaking canyon kinda balancing act huh 😂

(ironically it'd be MUCH easier - and less stressful - for him to actually physically do that, maybe even in a handstand, rather than having to deal with the metaphorical version lmfao))

But, fun fact; although he's not gonna Hug The Child (that's for 'Sunshine Child'/Part 2 and after it 🤗), there is gonna be a bit of a compromise on that front at one point lol

- with an 'Oh I'm So Selfish Wah Wah' excuse ofc, but how effective it's gonna be you'll have to just wait and see until I Finally Finish The Freaking Part heh

*stares at the keyboard like it stole my carrot sticks or something*

Yuji's gonna be so confused lmfao, he just had to get the 'Morally Ambigous But Very Caring' Inner Demon edition rather than the 'Obviously Evil And Clearly Malicious' edition

and now has to wonder if he's having a malfunctioning People Reading sense or if this King of Curses guy is actually really not That bad (but trying to act like he is???) even if not 100% good 😂😂😂

.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ayyy im back with another Unedited human au snippet <3 it's almost entirely dialogue oopsies <3

~

Eddie slows in putting his coat on - Barnaby isn’t sticking around to chat with fellow staff like usual. He’s in a rush, scrambling to grab his jacket and hurrying from behind the bar. He dashes through the door, looking like a man on a mission.

The door Mr. Frankly had just vanished through. 

Could he be…? No, Barnaby seems like a good man. But he had seemed a little pushy with Mr. Frankly, from what Eddie could tell. 

It couldn’t hurt to make sure.

Eddie frowns deeply as he goes outside, wincing slightly at the first burst of cold air after hours spent in a warm building. He’s just in time to see Barnaby jog up behind Frankly and close his car door before he can get in. Barnaby immediately leans against the door with his arms crossed, pinning it shut and blocking Frankly from the driver’s seat.

Eddie’s stomach plummets. Before he knows it, he’s speed-walking across the parking lot towards them, a fire burning in his chest and his hands curled into fists.

Frankly says something loud enough that Eddie can almost hear, his voice echoing in the empty lot. As Eddie watches, Barnaby pokes Frankly’s chest, making him stagger back a step.

“Hey!” Eddie barks. 

Both of them jump and whip around - Barnaby’s eyebrows shoot into his hair, while Frankly’s lowers into a flat line. 

“Eddie?” Barnaby says.

At the same time, Frankly says, “Mr. Dear?”

The two of them look at each other in surprise. Eddie pays the exchange no mind. He stops by Frankly, trying to slightly angle himself in front of him without making it too obvious.

“Is everything all right here?” he asks, looking Barnaby up and down. He really hopes this won’t come to blows - Eddie can throw a punch well enough, but Barnaby is an imposing figure. Eddie already knows he’d likely lose, but as long as he can buy Frankly a couple extra seconds…

“No, actually, everything is not fine,” Frankly says in a ticked-off - and strangely scolding - tone. 

Barnaby, not breaking eye-contact with Frankly, counters with, “Everything’s peachy, Ed.”

“You sure about that?” Eddie asks, trying to keep his tone amicable. 

“Scout’s honor.”

“Please,” Frankly scoffs, “you were never a boy scout. And that’s not the point - I am trying to get home!”

“You are trying to die in the most avoidable way possible.”

Eddie shoots Frankly a concerned look. “You’re what?”

“I am perfectly sober,” Frankly says.

Barnaby raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “Your face is flushed.”

“It is not!”

Eddie winces. “It, uh, it is. A little.”

“It’s none of your business,” Frankly seethes. 

“Listen,” Barnaby sighs. He leans heavier against the car and rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t wanna be the one 'ta call Julie and deliver the news that her beloved Frankie went and got himself killed at the taco bell intersection.”

Frankly makes a high and derisive noise. “Excuse you, I have class. I’d die outside of Howdy’s.”

“Please, he’d turn your memorial into part of the gift shop. I can already see the signs - ‘dead friend sale, five percent off!’”

“I’m worth at least thirty percent.”

Eddie clears his throat and gestures between the two of them. “You two… know each other?”

“Unfortunately,” Frankly mutters.

Barnaby grins. “Aw, you’re just saying that. It’s okay - I know ya love me, Frankie. You don’t have to say it.”

“I do not.”

“I have evidence that proves otherwise.”

Frankly rolls his eyes. “You’re unbearable.”

“And yet…”

Eddie heaves a sigh - of relief or exhaustion, he’s not sure - and drags a hand over his face. “Alright. Good, I - good to know.”

“What, did’ja think I was attacking him?” After a moment of prolonged, awkward silence, Barnaby’s teasing smile drops. “Oh. You did.”

“Barnaby? Attack me?” Frankly snorts. “Give him some credit - he’s smarter than he looks.”

“Yeah, I’d have better chances taking on a pack’a hyenas!” Barnaby lets out a hearty cackle. “At least then we’d all get a laugh out of it!”

“So I misjudged the situation pretty terribly,” Eddie says, inching to the side to give Frankly his personal space back. “My apologies.”

“Don’t sweat it, Ed. I know Frank may look like a bundle of sticks, but he’s petrified wood all the way through! Pure stone, you know.” Barnaby grins and leans towards Eddie. He whispers conspiratorially, “‘Cept when it comes to holdin’ his liquor. Then he’s a total lightweight.”

“Barnaby,” Frankly hisses.

“Practically paper!”

“That’s enough, thank you!” Frankly makes an attempt at shoving Barnaby away from the car door, but Barnaby widens his stance. It’s like watching someone try to move a tree.

“See, this is how I know he shouldn’t be driving,” Barnaby says conversationally to Eddie. “If he were sober, I’d be the one drunk - punch-drunk, that is.”

Eddie isn’t sure whether or not he should laugh - was that a joke? Barnaby seems fond of them, but… surely Frankly isn’t a violent person. Frankly lets out a growl of frustration and clumsily tries to bodyslam Barnaby. Eddie inches back a step.

“Alright Frankie, you had your fun.” Barnaby scruffs Frankly like a misbehaving cat and holds him at arm's length. He holds out a hand. “C’mon. Keys.”

“Never.”

“Have it your way. I’ll go ahead and call Poppy, tell her that you’ve forgotten the many dangers of-”

“Oh, fine,” Frankly spits. He yanks his keys out of his pocket and slaps them into Barnaby’s waiting hand. 

Barnaby flicks the keys as Frankly stalks to the passenger side door and yanks it open. “Choose a place for dinner, we’ll swing by and pick it up - my treat.”

“Obviously your treat,” Frankly grumbles. “As if I’d-”

The slam of his door cuts off whatever he says next, though Eddie can see him still talking in the car. His phone screen illuminates his irritated expression as he - presumably - looks up places for takeout. 

“Well, I’m glad you were here to stop him from doin’ somethin’ everyone would regret,” Eddie says. “Mr. Frankly-” 

“Mr. Frankly?” Barnaby snorts. “You’re not one of his students, are ya?”

“I’m just bein’ polite. He set the tone by referrin’ to me by Mr. Dear, so I’m tryin’ to respect that line in the sand.”

Barnaby shakes his head, grinning. “Just call him Frank. He puts up a big show of bein' a grouch, but he’s really a big softie. Though don’t - don’t try to pick a fight with him. Ever. You’ll lose.”

“Wasn’t plannin' on it.” Eddie makes a mental note to keep calling him Mr. Frankly, just to be on the safe side. It’s not like they’re friends, anyway. More like… acquaintances. Occasional Run-Into-Each-Other strangers. 

[its-ya-boi-cade]

YOU. MY FAVORITE

original Mr scratch design by @samglyph <3 it absolutely rocks and i have no fantasy so have this

[alastair-hunt]

What does Semiramis ever even do in the plot except make Alastair look unhinged lmao. Like they give Call his mom's cool knife and then at no point that I can remember do they ever have him need it. Why did they do that

[sa1808fi]

Fanfic?

Undar headcanon fanfic?

Emmet turning into Rex fanfic?

...

y e s

[galacticlamps]

I'm going to uno reverse card you and say: for the fic guessing game, 'light'?

lol that's fair

apparently I talk about light a lot (go figure) so have this one that happens to be in the middle of its story's 'Oh' moment:

But perhaps, somewhere along the line, Jamie had slipped, and now . . . well now, standing on the balcony of a palace on another planet, with the Doctor dipping his head nearer just to hide his eyes from the light - nearer, and not farther, which would've been just as easy - no, now he had to admit something was different. When it had changed or whether it hadn't at all and he'd simply been too fool to realize it before he couldn't say, and it didn't matter anyway - he knew it now, and that scared him.

-

And just for kicks, under the cut I'm gonna put a longer excerpt from a totally different fic that came up while I was ctrl+f-ing 'light' in my wips - mainly because it happens to be part of a scene from a longish 'the Doctor & Jamie reunite with Zoe in 6b' story which is nowhere near completion, but feels relevant given the boxset Big Finish released last week (not that I've gotten a chance to listen to it yet, but still).

Zoe sat across from Jamie, her elbows on the table, her chin resting atop her hands - but she wasn't relaxed. She stared at him intently, and actually narrowed her eyes as he watched.

"What?" he asked, already defensive, and following through on an old self-conscious instinct, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. With no mirror in sight, he looked to the Doctor to check if he'd somehow gotten something on his face already, but he looked just as baffled. Zoe hadn't broken her concentration yet.

"I'm trying to figure out if I'm older than you," she announced, still deep in thought.

"Ah--" the Doctor began, grinning wickedly, but whether he was going to answer her or merely tease they never found out, because Jamie shot an arm out lightning quick, as if to hold him back.

"No' so fast, you. Let the girl work it out."

He finished chewing and settled himself squarely in front of her for inspection. She continued to stare. "Y'know, I'm surprised you're having such trouble telling," he taunted. "After all, how old are you now?"

She opened her mouth at first to protest that she was under no obligation to announce her own age while he continued to keep his secret, but she still thought she might figure it out - and if she couldn't, she at least had the Doctor to rely on to make Jamie tell the truth.

So she shrugged. "I'm 41. But everyone here thinks I'm 39. I was born 39 years ago, of course, but counting chronologically from the time I left the Wheel with you in the Tardis, I aged two years before the Time Lords returned me to my own time. That was twenty-one years ago, now," she added, unable to judge if the faint waver of wistfulness in her voice was truly audible, or if it was just her own imagination. Thankfully, neither of them pressed her on it.

"Well, y'see, Zoe," Jamie began slowly, still chewing his last mouthful after she finished her explanation and sat waiting calmly for his reply. The Doctor leaned forward too, seemingly intrigued, though it must only have been to see what answer Jamie would try. "I was born in 1724," he paused and washed down his food with a swig from his glass, and for a moment Zoe had the grace to assume he was just working through his calculations, as she had done. "So I'm pretty sure I'm older than you," he finished, setting the glass back down on the table triumphantly.

All at once she felt a young girl again, a devilish light in her eyes. She wanted to jump across the table and tackle him - but that wasn't what Madam Presidents did. "Why, you--"

"They don't traditionally swear at their guests either, Ms. Heriot."

She turned on the Doctor, shocked. "You read my mind," she began, more impressed than accusatory, but he did at least have the decency to look sheepish.

He coughed politely. "Only to, ah, verify your math. And I'm sure you could feel my presence there, if you think about it."

"I could but I didn't know that's what it was. You've gotten so much better at it."

"Had to," he said simply, and shrugged, his eyes downcast.

Well, there was more to that, clearly, she thought, filing his deliberately nonchalant expression away for closer inspection later - but for now she was not about to be deterred. She snapped her eyes and her attention both back to Jamie.

"Still, we both know the Doctor obviously continues to value honesty and accuracy, so surely he'll tell me how old you are, even if you won't."

"Not if I ask him not to - right, Doctor?"

"Well . . . " he began, noncommittally drawing the word out so long that Zoe actually had time to wonder what his plan was for once he ran out of vowel. Jamie looked so genuinely horrified it was downright comical, and she had to force herself not to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"We're married, Doctor," he reminded him, indignant.

"Oh, but it's Zoe," he complained, sounding every bit the petulant child she remembered he could be, all those years ago. "And as far as I can remember, none of the ceremonies we ever partook in had anything in the vows about obeying. Although I might be wrong . . ." he added under his breath, scratching his head.

"Charming," Jamie grumbled.

"Well, when we've had as many weddings as we have it can be quite a lot to keep straight in your head. You know, I sometimes wonder if we might qualify for some kind of an all-time record. If we hadn't the need to be covert about so many of them, of course."

"Stop that!" she snapped, and the Doctor turned back to her, the picture of confused innocence.

"Stop what?"

"You're trying to help him without helping him, just by distracting me. Naturally, I want to hear everything about all these weddings of yours, and I will see to it that you'll be having another one while you're here, like it or not--"

"Yes ma'am," Jamie quipped, mock-serious.

"--But first, I am going to find out how old you are, James Robert McCrimmon, and if you force me to use your husband to do it, then that decision is on you."

Jamie mopped his face with his napkin and came out of it smiling. He stretched and dropped an arm around the Doctor's shoulders, perfectly relaxed. Already, Zoe felt her heart sink, but she was careful to keep her composure.

"I'm only pullin' your leg. I'm 44."

"What, really? And you expect me to just believe that?" She raised an eyebrow in challenge but then glanced at the Doctor to confirm, and when he nodded she allowed her facade to crumble, rolling her eyes. Of course she had known when she'd first laid eyes on them that they'd be cutting it close, but Jamie still had quite a bit of that boyishness about him that had made it frustrating enough being his junior the first time around, and she really thought she might genuinely have enjoyed being just a hair older than him, for a change. After all, if you had to be ripped apart from your family and sent to separate timezones to live out your lives forever wishing for an improbable reunion, it might as well be good for something. But Jamie was far too smug looking now to be pretending, and Zoe knew it. "Oh, some people have all the luck," she groaned, dropping her arms and collapsing back dejectedly against her seat.

"Aye," Jamie said, leaning in over the table to follow her, "and some people live 22 years on Earth before they meet a time traveler, then spend 5 years with him before his people erase their memory and send them home to live another 5 before he's allowed to come pick them up again, and then force the pair of 'em to've spent 12 years so far working for them. Some people, eh?" he finished hotly, swiping his glass off the table again and raising it to his mouth in one fluid motion to take a long drink. But even so, his face was not so totally obscured from view that Zoe couldn't make out the amused curl at the corner of his lips, and when she caught his gaze again the glimmer in his eye was all fondness, just as it was with Doctor's and, she knew, her own.

Yes, no matter the circumstances, it was certainly good to see them again.

[lewmagoo]

another 15k word fic is on the horizon, methinks

[dallonwrites]

organised everything i have for it so far + tentatively cut some things (that i may put back if i find there’s missing beats but otherwise they were kinda unnecessary for the current vision) and refined my chapter two outline so if i have time at work tomorrow i can play around with it and write something like yayyyy i love when past me sets myself up like this

[thrilling-oneway]

oh i'm actually liking how this essay is going