#at least its a quick visit so i can do some ii stuff soon :] i want to draw

[numberonetacostan]

She's telling Knife they got back together

[pickalilywrites]

i’m a bit late in posting this on tumblr, but here you go~ i hope you guys enjoy it until the end ^^ thank you for reading!

Can You Please Stay With Me? 

Rivetra. Modern AU. 

Can You Please Stay With Me? Series | i | ii 

4510 words. 

Buy me a ko-fi! or read on AO3!

Petra stares out the window of her office, looking at the clouds of gray. It’s cold and dull and gloomy, although not so different from the weather in the city she had left behind. She thinks. Now that she thinks about it, she’s not that sure what the weather was like in Shiganshina. She wants to say that it was the same, but she can’t remember the last time she had pulled out an umbrella before she came to Manchester. In all the memories she has of Shiganshina, she can remember clear blue skies and the sun peeking out behind skyscrapers, its light almost blinding, but that seems so long ago. Hadn’t it rained sometime in her last month there? It must have at least once or twice, she thinks, because how else would she be so familiar and unbothered by all this rain? 

With a frown, Petra pulls out her phone, tapping on the Instagram app and flipping through her profile. Her most recent photos, taken over a month ago, show the cityscape and beautiful weather - not a cloud in the sky. She flips through more: a photo of flowers blooming on a gorgeous spring day in the park, her rubbing a dog’s belly as it rolled around in the grass, her with an ice cream in hand. And her and Levi, sunglasses over his eyes and that perpetual scowl on his face. 

Petra slams her phone facedown on the table and buries her head in her hands. She should probably delete those photos from her phone, but she can’t bring herself to. She thought it would be fine to just keep them there just so long as she didn’t look at them, and she had done a pretty good job of that until now. Before, it had only been a couple of glances here and there. She wanted to see how much it would affect her, if seeing her ex-boyfriend’s face would ameliorate the throbbing in her chest. (It didn’t.) Eventually, Petra turned off the notifications on all her social media apps and only used her phone for the essentials - phone calls, text messages, and emails. It’s worked well for the most part, and she thought the distance would allow her to get better in time. Then again, the deep knife she felt in her chest just from a brief glance of her old boyfriend is probably a sign that she’s not doing as well as she thought she was. 

There’s a knock on her door - three short raps - and Petra looks up to see her coworker Anka at the door. Anka, meeting Petra’s eyes, flashes her a smile and lifts her hands up to show that they’re full of files and a plate full of pastries. She raises her eyebrows and mouths a bit apologetically, “Door?” 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t notice you earlier,” Petra says as she opens the door, a bit frazzled. For a brief second, she wonders if she’s forgotten to go to a meeting, but Anka merely laughs her off. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Anka says. The woman sets down the files on Petra’s desk, placing the plate of desserts on top of it. She collapses onto the extra seat Petra keeps in her office and yawns. “Ah, I noticed you weren’t looking too well today, so I decided to grab you a few snacks from the break room. I was going to get some coffee too, but the last time I tried something like that I spilled it all over my trousers. I swear there’s still a stain on it even though I’ve washed it out half a dozen times, but Mitabi tells me he can hardly see a difference from how it was before.” 

“Ah, thank you,” Petra says. She takes a lemon square without much thought, regretting immediately after the first bite. How can something taste so intensely sweet and tart at the same time? She wishes, for a brief moment, that Anka had brought the coffee too, but the thought makes her feel ungrateful so she swallows down the tangy pastry and mumbles a quick “delicious!” between gritted teeth. 

Anka gives her friend a sympathetic smile and pats Petra’s hand kindly. “The bakery never quite gets lemon squares right. Or maybe you need to be in a certain type of mood to enjoy them. Pixis adores them, but he’s quite batty at times,” Anka says, and she speaks about their employer with such affection in her voice that even Petra manages a smile. Anka reaches for a pastry horn that’s dusted in sugar and stuffed to the brim with custard cream. “Here, try this one instead.” 

“I’m not sure-” Petra begins, but Anka is already shoving the pastry into Petra’s open mouth leaving her no choice but to eat it. Anka is right - it’s much better than the lemon square was. The shell of the pastry is crisp and buttery, and the custard cream is so rich and velvety in comparison. She should ask Anka for the name of the bakery so that she can visit it sometime, do some exploring around Manchester like she had meant to do when she first arrived, but for some reason, it slips her mind. “Ah, it’s good,” Petra finally says. 

“Good, eat another one,” Anka commands. She doesn’t stop watching Petra until she sees the ginger reach for another puff pastry horn. Anka picks out a small tart - it’s probably only two inches wide but it’s filled with a fragrant pink jam and has berries piled on top - and takes a delicate bite. “I thought it might do you good. You’ve been glum for a while now. I’m thinking it might be the weather. A lot of people who move here get like that once they come to Manchester because it’s so gloomy all the time. They call it … SAD? Seasonal affective disorder or something.” 

“SAD?” Petra repeats. It’s difficult for her to process all of the words coming out of Anka’s mouth. For some reason, she feels unbearably exhausted and wants nothing more than to go home and sleep bundled under all her blankets. She would blame it on the time of day or the week ending, but it’s Tuesday morning and she really has no excuse. When she realizes that Anka is still watching her, Petra hastily shakes her head. “Ah, no … I think I’m still adjusting to life here. It’s a little lonely, I guess, moving so far away.” 

“Mmm, homesickness,” Anka says with a knowing nod. She leans over Petra’s desk, resting an elbow on it. “That’s pretty common, too. Do you talk to anyone back home? Video call or just on the phone?” 

No. She’s only talked to her father since she’s landed in Manchester. If a notification on her phone popped up from someone else, she would swipe it away, disappointed that it wasn’t who she wanted it to be. Petra had sworn that she would get to them later. It’s just that flying overseas, moving in, and getting adjusted to her new job left her with very little energy to respond to messages. But then a night went by and then a few days and now it’s been a week and a half since she’s received those messages. Her friends probably think she’s dead or at the very least ignoring them. God, she’s terrible. 

“I can never find the time,” Petra says with a rueful smile. 

“Then take time off,” Anka says easily with a wave of her hand. “Oops.” She frowns when a smidge of powdered sugar lands on her pantsuit and begins to hastily swipe away at it. 

“Time off? I just came two weeks ago. It wouldn’t look good to take a vacation so soon even if it’s only for a day,” Petra says. She offers Anka a tissue although she doesn’t think it’ll help much. 

“You came into work the day after your plane landed. People usually give themselves at least a week to settle in before coming into work.” Anka rubs at her trousers with the tissue but it hardly does anything aside from rub the sugar deeper into the fabric. She sighs and stuffs the rest of the tart in her mouth. Holding a hand over her mouth, Anka says, “At least just take the rest of this day off. You really look like you need it, and nothing makes Pixis unhappier than overworked employees.” 

“Really?” Petra says, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, he doesn’t like it when I swipe all the sweets from the break room either, but he eats more of these than he should. And he doesn’t know I’m the one that takes these anyway.” Anka wipes her fingers on the tissue before disposing of it in the trash can sitting beside Petra’s desk. She gets up, straightening out her suit, and then looks at Petra. “Now, come on. I’ll see to it that you leave before you tire yourself out working. I swear Pixis won’t mind. And I’ll give Gelgar your work to do, so don’t worry about that one bit.”

Both of Petra’s eyebrows are raised this time but Anka waves her off. 

“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll give him the rest of the pastries too.” Anka grabs the plate of pastries and the folders that she had originally meant to give to Petra. She smacks her lips when she looks at the leftover goods. “Ah, yes. Plenty of lemon squares leftover. He won’t be able to resist.” 

Although she tries not to, Petra still giggles when Anka gives her a roguish wink. 

It’s much less funny when Petra’s outside of the office building, walking along the streets of Manchester wondering why on earth she agreed to take a half-day. She could traverse the city, perhaps seek out a cute trinket shop and buy something adorably useless for Anka as a thank you. Maybe she should go exploring to find that pastry shop, the one with the delicious custard cream horns. Petra could even just visit the tourist attractions, like the lovely canal she’s heard about in Castlefield or that lovely cathedral near the Irwell river that she’s passed by a half dozen times but has never bothered to actually venture into. But she always finds some reason or other not to go to each of these places. Anka probably doesn’t want something impractical as a gift and Petra doesn’t need more knick-knacks crowding her apartment when she hasn’t even unpacked her luggage yet. Finding the pastry shop is a bad idea since she’s just stuffed herself with desserts not even fifteen minutes ago. And the others … well, she’s not quite in the mood for sightseeing and she’s met enough locals to know that tourists are a bit of a nuisance in Manchester. She knows these are all excuses. This only leaves her with two options: go straight home and mope in her apartment among her boxes of unopened belongings or wander aimlessly around the city. 

Petra hates her apartment. Well, it’s a bit too soon to say whether she hates her apartment or not, but she knows she already dislikes being there. She’s eaten out at restaurants for dinner every night since she’s arrived, saying that she didn’t want to dirty up the kitchen before she finished unpacking. Really, she’s only made her bed (i.e. tossed all of her blankets and pillows onto the bed) and thrown all of her clothes in the closet. The rest of her things sit in luggage cases or boxes that she’s temporarily using as furniture, although it might soon be permanent if she doesn’t start unpacking. Petra blames it on the sudden wave of exhaustion she always feels when she gets home and sees all of her belongings waiting to be unpacked, but she knows it’s not the real reason. It’s just that she can’t fathom the idea of all of her things being put in their proper place and calling this apartment her new home. It would feel empty. It would feel wrong. And that’s the problem, really. 

Petra had attempted to unpack her things the first night, but she found it was impossible. She only opened one box before she wondered how she could possibly arrange all of her belongings while still making sure that Levi still had space for his home office. The cold realization that she wouldn’t have to worry about that hit her a second too soon and she quickly shut the box. She never thought to unpack since then except only to tell herself that she would do it later even though she knew she never would. 

It’s no use thinking about this, Petra tells herself, shaking her head. Others pass by her, watching as she breaks down internally, but Petra ignores them. She thinks about other things. Like how absolutely freezing it is even though she has a million layers on. It’s not raining or snowing. It’s just dreary and glum. What is that Anka said again? Seasonal affective disorder? Ah, that might be it, but Petra has a feeling that she’d still feel terrible even if the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. 

Maybe it’s best to occupy her mind some other way. She can count imaginary sheep. She can count the windows from every shop she passes by. She can count clouds; there are so many today. She settles on counting her steps instead, watching her feet as she does so, but thoughts of Levi interrupt her between each count. 

One. Levi’s hair, a dark black like spilled ink. Two. Levi’s eyes, always narrowed and a stormy gray. Three. Levi’s brow, thin and furrowed, making it seem as if he’s perpetually displeased. Four. Levi’s nose, the curve of its bridge and its rounded tip. Five. Levi’s mouth, constantly set in a thin line. Six. Levi’s rare smile, the small upturn of it almost imperceptible but most definitely there upon a second glance. Seven. Levi’s shoulder, unexpectedly broad for someone of his stature, but perfect for leaning on after a long day. Eight. Levi’s arms, strong and sturdy, holding her tight. Nine. Levi’s chest, his heart thumping against his ribcage as Petra leaned back against him. Ten. Levi’s hands, his fingers intertwining with hers as they sat together on the couch, mindlessly watching another sitcom they’ve watched a dozen times before. 

Petra can’t tell if she feels better or worse remembering him. If she has to say, she supposes it’s about the same except remembering him is far more effortless than forgetting him will ever be. Levi’s not someone she can erase from her mind with a flip of a switch. Forgetting someone should happen naturally, the distance allowing the memories to fade over time, but is Levi someone she can ever really forget? Every detail of him is imprinted in her mind, and to take it all away would leave her feeling emptier than she feels now. Is it the same for him too? She had always assumed that it would be hardest for the person left behind, although she can’t say for certain who is who. 

He left you in the end, remember? He was the one who let you go, Petra reminds herself, but that doesn’t sound quite right. Maybe she should have said something to convince him to come with her, or maybe he should have tried harder to make her stay. If they had tried more, would it hurt less? She tries to remember that last night they had seen each other. Levi had told her he was leaving as casually as someone would talk about the weather, and she watched him go. He didn’t even cast her one last glance before he left. She should be remembering those details - how he had packed all of his things without her knowing, how he spoke to her with such indifference, and how he had left so easily - but she doesn’t. Instead, another memory slips into her mind. 

It was a week after Petra had landed in Manchester and she had just gotten off a call with her father. Even now, she can’t quite recall what they talked about. It was probably something about the weather or maybe about how much they missed each other. Her thoughts were elsewhere, though. She was thinking about Manchester and how the bustling city, one of the largest in England, felt so lonely. Shiganshina was a big city too, but it never felt as lonely as Manchester. For a brief second, she thought of phoning a friend. Maybe it would help to hear a familiar voice. Maybe it would help to hear Levi’s voice. Maybe it would help to hear him say that he misses her too. 

No, Petra thought with a shake of her head. It would be a step back from all the progress she had made after moving here even if she felt as if she was still holding on. And yet she still couldn’t stop herself from staring at her phone screen, her finger hovering over Levi’s contact because she had never been able to erase him from her phone. She nearly dropped her phone when it began ringing, Levi’s name flashing across the screen. 

Her first instinct is to accept the call, her thumb ready to swipe at her screen, but she hesitates at the last moment. There wasn’t any reason for Levi to be calling her. There was no reason for her to pick up. They've already parted ways. If he was calling her, it must be a mistake, she thought, because Levi wasn’t petty enough to call her back and demand any of his belongings that might have gotten lost during the move. She wondered if she should hang up now or let it go straight to her voicemail. After all, he just called her by mistake. 

But what if he didn’t? Petra wanted to ignore the nagging voice in her head, but the more she tried the louder it became. Impulsively, she swiped at her phone and held it up to her cheek. “Levi?” she asked, breathless. 

There were no words on the other side. She heard the wind as it brushed by. She could hear the rush of city life in the distance. She could hear someone breathing steadily on the other side. But there were no words. And, yet, she somehow knew it was Levi from the way he breathed. It was too familiar for her to not know. 

“Levi,” she said, but again he said nothing. It seemed odd for him to call her by mistake and not say anything - not even to apologize or tell her that he hadn’t meant to dial her number - so he must have called her for a reason. But if he called her for a reason … why wasn’t he speaking? Worried, she asked, “Are you alright?” 

Again, there was no answer. There was just the sound of Levi’s breathing, in and out and in and out. Petra had always liked the rhythm of his breathing, slow and steady. She would listen to it as she fell asleep. Even now it was soothing despite the circumstances. They stayed like that for a moment, just listening to each other breathe, but it ends with a sudden click and Petra was forced to face the fact that she was alone once more. 

It’s been a week since then, and Petra still doesn’t know what to make of that call. More than once she’s thought of calling Levi back and asking him about it, usually at night when he’s the only thing on her mind. She’s never gone through with it though. If it really had been a mistake, then it explains why Levi didn't call her back after that first time. Even if she were to call him up just to clarify, she would only end up looking like a fool for waiting so long just to make sure. Instead, she spends the night staring at her phone screen, turning it on and off every now and again just to check, and wishes for Levi to call her again even though she knows she shouldn’t. 

Petra glances down at her phone once more just as it begins to buzz. It startles Petra, nearly making her drop her phone again, but she sees that it’s only Anka calling. Catching her breath, Petra stops at the bridge she was about to cross, leaning against the railing. She feels the strangest mixture of disappointment and relief as she picks up. 

“Hi, Anka,” Petra says. She looks out across the river, watching the boats pass by. Her fingers fiddle with the buttons on her coat. “Is everything alright?” 

“Ah, yeah,” Anka says, but she sounds distracted. After a moment, Anka says, “Someone came into the office just now and asked to see you. He said he knew you from back in Shiganshina. Levi? I told him you already left, but I didn’t know if he was someone you wanted to see so I didn’t tell him anything else.” 

Petra can feel her heartbeat begin to pick up speed and she clutches at her chest with a hand. “Levi?” she asks. She pushes herself off the railing, her feet already carrying her where she needs to go. “Did he leave already?” 

“Yeah. He mumbled an apology and left, but he didn’t say where he was going,” Anka replies. “He left a few minutes ago, but I’m not sure how far away he is from the office now.” 

She’s jogging now, but Petra knows that she’ll be sprinting soon. “I’ll call you later. I have to do something,” Petra tells Anka, already pocketing the phone as she hangs up. In the hour since she’s left work, she’s probably walked three, possibly even four, miles across the city. Petra’s not sure how she has the energy to run back towards her workplace, but she won’t question it. As long as she gets to where she wants to go as quickly as possible, that’s all she really cares about. 

It takes a certain madness to run across a city, but Petra’s been losing her mind for the past two weeks and this breakdown is long overdue. She ignores puzzled looks from the people she runs past, excusing herself hurriedly when she finds herself pushing past a few of them when she hits a crowd. The back of her heels dig at her ankles and she knows she’ll be looking at blisters and cuts later tonight, but she clenches her jaw and runs anyway. The city becomes a blur the faster Petra runs, and she can feel her legs burning with every step she takes but she can’t seem to stop. She doesn’t know what would happen if she were to stop running, but she’s scared to find out. She can’t remember the last time she’s run this fast. Even when she was a teenager Petra hadn’t been able to run this quickly. Then again, she’s never really had anything worth running towards. 

She’s not sure when she stops, leaning against a railing by the river to catch her breath. Her heels have cut through her stockings and into her heels. She doesn’t have to check to see if they’re bleeding. Frustrated, Petra kicks them off even though she knows she’ll regret it later. Petra grabs onto the railing with one hand, panting heavily. It’s so stupid for her to think that she could have run that way. She’s only been running for ten minutes and she couldn’t have crossed more than a mile in that time. Maybe she really is crazy. 

Still huffing, Petra pulls her phone out of her pocket. In all the madness, she hadn’t thought of trying to call Levi. It makes far more sense than running across a city only to find that he’s already gone. Hell, he might have gone already, moved on after being told she had left work early as if she had anticipated his arrival and left on purpose, but they’ve avoided each other enough. Petra thinks it’s about time they’ve talked. 

Petra calls Levi, holding her breath as she holds the phone up to her ear to listen to the dull ring as she waits for him to pick up. She counts the seconds as she waits, hoping to distract herself, but she can’t even remember what comes after one. Instead, she waits anxiously, her free hand gripping at her coat as she waits. The spaces between each ring seem to take longer and longer, and Petra can feel her heart sink with every passing second. It’s almost about the last ring when she hears a voice calling her name. 

“Petra?” 

She looks at her phone, confused when she sees that Levi has still not picked up. For a second, she thinks she had just imagined Levi’s voice, but it’s too vivid for her to have conjured up on her own. 

“Petra!” 

Her head snaps up, looking towards where she had heard the voice this time. It’s so surreal seeing Levi running towards her, almost as out of breath as she is. As he comes closer, she hears Levi’s familiar ringtone - one of the generic ones that were programmed into the phone because Levi could never be bothered to change it - and she hears her own call going to voicemail. Petra swipes her phone with her thumb, hanging up, and drops her phone in her pocket. 

“Levi,” she says slowly. She steps towards him tentatively, unsure if this is all real or if she’s finally cracked. “What are you doing here?” 

“Sorry I’m late,” Levi says quietly, voice breaking slightly. He steps toward her, and Petra sees that he looks the same as ever. The bags under his eyes are a little bit darker, his hair is a mess like he had forgotten to comb it, and his face is a little thinner, but there’s that same smile on his face when he sees her, the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. 

Petra’s lip trembles and she can feel tears coming. “I missed you,” she says as a single tear rolls down her cheek. 

Levi reaches his hands out, holding hers. “I know. I missed you too.” He pulls her in and wraps his arms tightly around her. He lets her sob into his coat and he reaches up to stroke her hair with his hand. “I’m sorry I took so long. I had to say goodbye to some people.” 

“That’s good,” Petra mumbles into the wool of his coat. She’s happy, she really is, even as she’s crying. “Levi, that’s so good.” 

They should probably talk more - about Levi’s sudden arrival, about where he’s going to stay, about whether or not they’re going to be okay - but that can wait. For the first time in a long time, Petra no longer feels empty. She no longer feels alone. For the first time in a long time, Petra feels as if she’s come home. 

[musingsofsaturn]

Opening Up [Kristanna ‘Waitress’ AU] - Chapter Four

[Masterlist for this fic]

Fandom: Frozen/Frozen II

Ship: Anna/Kristoff

Side Pairings: Anna/Hans, Elsa/Honeymaren, Bulda/Cliff

Chapters: 10/10 [COMPLETE]

Rating: M

This Chapter’s Rating: T for mentions of alcoholism

This Chapter’s Word Count: 1,900+

Summary:  Waitress and baker Anna Westergaard’s life changed forever when she discovered some startling news. Dr Kristoff Bjorgman didn’t anticipate liking his new patients quite as much as he did. For better or worse, the residents of the small town of Småby Bend were about to be changed forever.

Author’s Note: Hi folks, apologies for leaving it so long between chapters - it's been a bit of a manic weekend! (The exact reason I never set scheduled upload days - life has a habit of getting in the way!) I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Thank you so much for your support on this so far, It's always greatly appreciated! :)

~ Saturn

[Photo from Serious Eats. The recipe to accompany this chapter is Green Chilli Chocolate Pie. Looks yummy!]

The waiting room’s seats were hard and cold, and Anna found herself reflecting on how unwelcoming that felt as a patient. She was feeling nervous about what the upcoming appointment might reveal about the health of her and her baby, and her mind raced with apprehensive thoughts of what was to come with the pregnancy, and eventual child. The last thing she needed right now was an uncomfortable chair.

“Anna Westergaard?” Kristoff’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she got to her feet to follow him.

As they settled into their respective seats, Anna basked in the feeling of friendly familiarity she found herself experiencing with him. He’d been coming into The Snøffnug Café at least once a week for a slice of pie, cup of coffee, and a quick chat with Anna and the other two waitresses. Even Cliff had begun to give the doctor a friendly greeting and occasional discount when he visited.

“How are you doing today, Anna?” he asked her, friendly but professional.

“I’m doing alright. I feel good, no uncomfortable symptoms. Well, a little bit of morning sickness, but it’s not severe or anything.”

He nodded as he quickly typed up some notes on her answer. “The sonographer at the hospital forwarded me a copy of your scan – did you decide to find out the sex or are you keeping it as a surprise?”

“I don’t want to know,” Anna replied. “I just call it- uh, them ‘baby’.” Her hand subconsciously made its way to her belly, where a small bump was beginning to surface, just little enough for it to still be her secret, though she knew that would soon change.

“Alright, ‘baby’ it is.” His eyes were twinkling with the knowledge of a secret, and Anna couldn’t help but smile. “If you could just hop on the bed for me, and I’ll have a quick measure so we can see how baby’s growing.”

No one would have ever accused Anna of being graceful, and she demonstrated that perfectly as she clumsily mounted the bed. She tried not to move the paper that had been placed down on it, and as a result her movements looked as awkward as they felt. Kristoff was kind enough to pretend not to notice, but Anna couldn’t help but grimace inwardly.

To distract herself from the embarrassment she felt, Anna found herself asking, “So what made you transfer to Småby Bend anyway? You’ve never said.”

Kristoff had just turned to her after rummaging in his desk drawers for a tape measure, and Anna noticed the flicker of hesitation that came across his features. He quickly recovered though, and she thought she might have made it up.

“Oh, it’s kind of a long story. I’ll try to give you the Sparknotes version.” They shared a grin, and he quickly asked her permission to lift her top so he could measure her tummy. She consented, and he went on, “I, uh, I’m actually married. I don’t wear the ring anymore because we’re… separated, I guess? We got married just after I qualified, so like two years ago. Which is a very short time to be married, but apparently long enough for her to realise that she’d actually rather be with someone else, so…”

Anna kept silent as he spoke. His hands on her stomach were warm, and ever so gentle as he carefully measured the small bump from top to bottom. She felt her heart beating faster as he leaned in close to read the numbers on the tape measure. Nervously, she suppressed that feeling as far to the back of her mind as she possibly could.

“I didn’t even see it coming.” He laughed, but there was a great sadness in it. “She just came home from work one day, told me she didn’t love me anymore, and that she was leaving me to be with her best friend.”

In a whisper, Anna let out a soft: “I am so sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. It was for the best. She’s happier now than she ever was with me, and it’s better to have split up early than to keep up a façade for decades. But I couldn’t stay where we’d started to build a life together, so I went looking for a new job, and it turned out that Småby Bend was in need of a doctor, so here I am!” He paused, glancing up at her in a way that made her think that he was debating whether or not to carry on. “I like it here. It’s a beautiful little town, and it’s got everything I need. The people here are… really lovely as well.” Anna couldn’t ignore the warmth in his expression, but she dismissed the notion that it was for her.

“For what it counts, I’m glad you ended up here.” She meant it.

Standing upright, Kristoff cleared his throat. “Baby’s growing perfectly. Just the size I’d expect them to be at this stage.” He turned around so she could readjust her top to cover her tummy up again, and she heard him typing up something into her notes once more. When he finished, he reached for a blood pressure cuff and turned back to her. “We can take your blood pressure while you’re still lying down, it’s easier for you.”

Not for the first time, Anna recognised how respectful and caring he was towards her. Of course, he was a doctor, so it was to be expected, but she still appreciated how he respected her body and her privacy, and wanted to make these appointments as non-invasive and easy as possible. Her instincts had told her the first time she met him that he was someone she was safe with. Maybe it was that sense of safety, or the idea that she had to reciprocate his honesty, but she started to speak.

“Hans wasn’t always a drinker. We started dating in high school, so obviously he wasn’t drinking then. I’d had a crush on him for years; he was so handsome, and sweet, and funny.” She smiled to herself. “When he asked me out, I thought I was so happy that I thought I was going to faint. He was so nice to me, you wouldn’t believe. My mama died when I was sixteen, and he was right there to support me through it. What teenage boy can take that responsibility?

“Did you know Småby Bend used to have a cloth manufacturer? It was a factory for knitting wools and fleeces and stuff for blankets.” Kristoff nodded that he knew what she was referring to, and Anna went on, “Hans worked there after graduation, six days a week for seven whole years. It paid for our wedding, for the house, and all the little things we needed. And I worked in the café, just to keep myself busy more than anything.

“The businesses that used the factory’s supplies weren’t happy with their profit margins, though. Not only could they get the same material cheaper from elsewhere, but we’re so ‘middle of nowhere’ that we were really hard for them to get to so they could pick up their stuff. So more and more companies stopped buying from Småby Bend, and eventually they just closed the factory altogether.

“We’d only been married for two months, but after that, Hans was miserable. He felt useless, like a failure, and he used to have a drink every night to take the edge off his worrying. Then he started drinking through the day too, and now I think he drinks more beers than he does water.”

Kristoff hadn’t moved while she was telling him all this, but he carefully stepped towards her now to begin sliding the blood pressure cuff up her arm.

“It’s been four years since the factory closed. Now he’s got a job at the garage, but he still drinks every day. Sometimes I think that he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to anymore. It makes him angry. The world makes him angry; he feels lost, and not himself, I can tell. And I make him angry sometimes. Some of the things I say, or do, just… I piss him off. I don’t mean to, but I do.”

She was finished, and she knew that Kristoff picked up on that, although he didn’t say anything. In silence, he filled the cuff with air, before taking the reading and going to write it down.

“Your- the reading suggests that your blood pressure is a little low,” he said eventually. “It shouldn’t be too serious, but just to make you aware.”

“Okay, thank you,” she answered politely. She didn’t like this new way they were speaking to each other. It felt so professional, so distant. “I brought you a pie,” she told him at last. “‘Death by Chilli Chocolate’. It’s a new recipe I’m testing out, so I want to know what you think of it.”

“I’ll be sure to stop by with my critiques.” He smiled at her, and she basked in the warmth of it. “That’s it for today, you can hop down whenever you’re ready.”

She got up quickly, too quickly. The dizziness hit her like a sack of bricks, and she felt herself losing her balance. The ground seemed to be galloping up towards her as the room spun, and she cried out as she realised that she was falling.

Strong arms on her own helped her to regain her balance. Kristoff’s grip was firm as he steadied her, and her dizziness slowly receded as he held her upright. She looked up at his face, meeting his concerned gaze as she came back to herself.

“Are you alright?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” She made no move to step away from him, and neither did he.

They could have pretended that they stayed that close for that long simply because they were concerned. He could say that he was keeping hold of her to make sure she was fully recovered before he let go. She could have said that she still felt dizzy, and she needed his strength to steady her.

But that wouldn’t have explained why his hand went to her face, gently brushing aside a piece of hair that had come loose when she lost her balance. That gentleness was magnetic to Anna. She stepped closer to him, so close she could feel his breath on her.

“Anna,” he murmured, “You deserve so much more than a husband who doesn’t realise how lucky he is to have you.”

She didn’t reply. She didn’t even think. Instead, she moved her hands to his shoulders, rising to tip-toe even as he leaned down towards her. Kristoff’s hand cupped her face and his arm wrapped around her waist, pressing her closer to him and making butterflies flutter in her stomach. Her heart was pounding, and the room was spinning for an entirely different reason than before. It felt as though every moment in her life had been leading to this one, here, with her leaning in desperately to kiss Kristoff Bjorgman.

A knock on the door caused them to jump apart mere milliseconds before their lips met.

“Come in,” Kristoff called, startled but recovering now that they were separate.

A nurse opened the door, and Anna didn’t hear a word they said as she fumbled with her bag, placing the cake tin she’d brought for him on his desk. Her fingers were shaking as she buttoned up her coat, and when the nurse left, she all but ran from the room.

Next Chapter

[eatbreathewrite]

Second Visit

Part I | Part II | Part III

It was no surprise the Earthians did indeed return for a second visit to the Holos Station.

However, Gormar Xeldan had not been present to receive them. That light cycle, he’d been summoned to the council to present the recent lunar phase’s activity log for review. Among which was the arrival of the Earthians Greta Christie and Nwoye Jordan. Magnate Kann’ir had been present as well, if only in particle projection, to provide his statement as a witness to the event.

It may have been due to the Isa’s presence, and the council’s bias against the species, or perhaps because the Holos Station’s research had been so successful over the decades, that they determined the visit to be nothing more than a vivid circadian vision. Because there could absolutely be no Earthians in this star system, Gormar. Have you imbibed above the suggested dose, Gormar? Is it that phase of the orbit cycle, Gormar? You must return to your home planet and replenish your neocortal levels.

That response was not one he’d test with proposing a tentative alliance between their species, no, if he mentioned that he’d surely be dismissed and discharged from the project completely—as a laughing stock, no less. He needed irrefutable proof—and the next time he stood before that council full of—of bormlats, for lack of a better term—he’d be prepared to make them regurgitate their innards in shame.  

It was the exact reason he’d appointed the Eeos to install a surveillance network throughout the Holos, created specifically to track Earthian presence, after they made first contact.

It was a surprise that the network captured an imprint while he was away.

“Xir, welcome back,” clicked the Eeos stationed at the communications desk as Xeldan traded his helmet for a headset. “You just missed, the Earthians, however, we’ve documented their visit, if you’d like to review.”

“The Earthians were here? For how long?”

“Not long, Xir, they intended to meet with you, or with Magnate Kann’ir, and claimed they waited, as long as they could. Before departure, Earthian Greta left correspondence for you, Xir. Tergan Znn delivered it, to your data hub.”

His tactile extremity slipped against the headset band, not clumsily enough for the Eeos to notice, but he noticed it and primed his vocals loudly as he tried not to recall the encounter with Earthian Greta, and how she’d boldly—publicly—proposed unity to him in obvious social faux pas. It had been a mistake. An accident. An error in cultural communication—one he’d have to educate the Earthians on in future.

It was still embarrassing, however, that the first being to propose had been an Earthian and not a Vendarian—and his colleagues did not let him forget it, even if it was in jest. “Send the imprint to my data hub as well. I’ll review it at my research desk immediately.”

“I think, Xir, you will find it, rather entertaining.”

The Eeos’ jovial vocal clicks were not given a response, but he supposed the dull yellow glow of his biolumes was response enough.

He didn’t read the correspondence when he accessed his data hub. Why, he wasn’t sure, as it would take less time, but instead of dwelling on it he selected the imprint file and replayed the visit, funneling the aural waves to his headset and adjusting the resolution of his hologram screen.

The thatched cross-beams of the screen revealed the main corridor of the access ways, focusing particularly on the airlock hatch where Earthians Greta and Nwoye soon appeared, as eager to board as ever.

“Oh. Well. I expected to see some familiar faces,” Greta said with pause, pulling off her helmet and tucking it under her arm as she surveyed the corridor, populated only by the Earthians and a single Eeos. Tergan Znn administered maintenance to one of the broken doorway hatches (at times, they jammed, and thanks to budget tightening, they hadn’t been able to buy new) with hir back to the two beings, and answered without turning hir oculars.

“The gormar is at a meeting, Earthian Greta. As is Magnate Kann’ir.”

“Oh, well, who’s second in command? Is it alright that we’re here when Xeldan’s not? Who are you? What are you—I mean, is it alright to ask that? About your species, I mean.” She took a brief moment to nudge her partner and say something so quietly that the surveillance devices only caught bits of it, in the order of “looks like” and “earth worm” and “Jim.”

Beside her, after taking off his own helmet and sending her a wordless look, Nwoye tinkered with the replication device hanging from his neck and his brow ridge—eyebrows—rose a considerable degree as he turned his full attention to the Eeos. “Not here? Really? What’s the policy on taking photographs right now?”

Tergan Znn looked to them at length, setting down hir laser multi-tool, and straightened up to hir full height, which was scarcely half of theirs, before speaking in the typical clicking vocal pattern of the species, albeit smoother, more refined.

“I am Tergan Znn, an Eeos from, the Ragbar System.” The instant ze began speaking, the two Earthians trained their oculars on hir with rapt attention. “Tergan is a rank of a separate branch, but roughly equivalent, to gormar. I have the authority to oversee your visit here, in Gormar Xeldan’s absence. I will answer all questions you have, regarding our systems, Earthian Greta.” Ze turned to Nwoye, briefly checking the replication device he absolutely intended to use. “Earthian Nwoye, you are free to take as many imprints, as you would like. I only ask that you seek permission, before taking.”

If the Earthian possessed biolumes, they’d certainly be flashing bright orange from his dark skin. As it was, the Earthian facial gesture of excitement was bared teeth and a raised brow ridge. As soon as he was granted permission, he reached into the large sealed pocket on his insulated suit to retrieve an archaic tablet screen, fingers flying fast across its bright surface, tiny muted plinks filtering into the imprint’s aural waves. After a tic, he looked to Tergan Znn. “How about you, now? What is it you’re doing? I’d love a photo.”

Beside him, Greta shifted on her feet, looking eager to speak, always curious, but struggling to remain silent as her colleague spoke.

“Of course, but this is only maintenance work. The doors tend to stick, if not properly lubricated. Then the tracks must be cleaned or replaced. I am, cleaning now. This isn’t interesting, I’m afraid, Earthian Nwoye.” Regardless, the replication device clicked several times in quick succession, in a sound not unlike the one the Eeos made, followed by a brief flash. Tergan Znn blinked twice before offering a kind and patient facial gesture to Nwoye.

“Of course it’s interesting! All of this is; it’s great. Tergan Zean, taking care of business.” A broad smile, bigger and more threatening than ever, crossed his face before it faltered. “Oh, I am saying your name right, ain’t I? Also—how do you spell that?” Again, his fingers were at the tablet screen, taking notes. “And, uh, forgive me asking, but you don’t have a maintenance crew for that?”

“No one job is above another among the Eeos,” ze explained. “It’s a bit less Zeen, and a bit more Jean. That’s T-e-r-g-a-n, Z-n-n.”

“Wow, you can spell in our language!” said Greta as she crouched near the laser multi-tool, rolling it over in her palm, fingers ghosting over the activation buttons as she lined up a single ocular with the igniter plate for one terrifying tic that could have spelled galactic disaster.

“Yes, most of us on this station have a decent grasp of at least, five variations in Earthian language.”

“More than most Earthians, then,” she hummed, moving to the doorway, peering at the jammed tracks. “¿Así que hablas Español, eh?”

“Si, un poco.”

“¡Eso es impresionante!” She paused, looking to Tergan Znn in surprise. “Parlez-vous Français?”

“I’m afraid our translators, can’t analyze that yet.”

“Good, because I only took it in high school.”

“▯▯▯ ▯▯▯ ▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯▯ ▯▯▯▯ ?” ze asked in a series of unfiltered and unstammering vocal clicks that was the Eeos mother language.

“Uh—nope? No? That’s not—It’s not Morse Code, but—?”

“You will learn a neutral language yet, Earthian Greta.”

“It was close to Morse Code.” Nwoye looked up from his screen. “Gret, I’m gonna take a look around and get some more photos—there’s some Eeos over there by the window and they look interested. You gonna be okay on your own? Gonna be good this time?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m gonna stay and have a chat with Jean, here. I have plenty of questions, and, uh, stuff to say, too.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. You wouldn’t shut up about it. You’ve been bugging me about it for weeks. Xeldan this, Xeldan that.” He looked to Tergan Znn with an odd half-smile. “Buddy, I hope you’ve got a lot of time to listen because she doesn’t know how to shut up.”

“All I have is time, until the next light cycle.”

“Well, alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The two beings watched as Nwoye approached the Eeos lurking around the end of the corridor, most too shy and reluctant to approach any species, and soon Tergan Znn returned to hir maintenance objective. “Will you hand me that laser multi-tool, Earthian Greta?”

She handed it over with a bob of her head and watched over the tergan’s shoulder as ze fit the tool into the narrow tracks and flicked on the igniter plate, vaporizing the gelp that coagulated over time with the thin red beam. “Just Greta is fine. Same for Nwoye.”

“Greta, then. And Nwoye.”

“You aren’t afraid of humans?”

Tergan Znn visibly recoiled upon hearing the word, laser beam jerking off-course and briefly searing the edge of the door frame and causing it to smoke slightly before ze set it back in place, twitching slightly. “No, but we’ve all been conditioned to react negatively to that word. Eeos have been aware of Earthians for an immeasurable amount of time. For some species, it’s hard to believe you exist at all, as more than a cautionary tale, and for others, like myself, it has been a long time coming, as foretold by the omnisight.”

“Omnisight?”

“A tradition of those from the Ragbar System. A ritual where the past meets the present and the future, and all are revealed through predictions and memories. In a sense, the Eeos have always known of your kind and, have always been aware you pose little real threat. It’s one of the reasons this station is occupied largely by the Eeos.”

“Then where did the idea start that hu—Earthians—were dangerous?”

“Because the beings in charge set the rules.” Ze terminated the laser and flicked open another tool, a standard scraper for the more delicate wiring. “Of course, you could say that we were too meek to, stand up to their decisions, as well, and were complicit in the slandering of all Earthians. It has been in motion for several…millennia, as you say. It will be hard to reverse the damage. But not impossible, with the proper guidance.”

Greta watched the tergan work for a moment, then looked over her shoulder to where the steady clicks from Nwoye’s replication device could be heard in the background, mingling with the distinct sound of the Eeos.

“Yeah. It’s hard to change old mindsets when people are stubborn. But it has to start somewhere.” She crossed her arms as best as she could through the thickness of her insulated suit. “I’m guessing word of our visit hasn’t spread yet, then?”

“Gormar Xeldan will discuss it at the meeting. Although I don’t have high hopes for the outcome.”

“Because no one likes Earthians.”

“Because if our reigning council on Vendaria even gives the gormar audience, they will likely take it as a hoax. If they do believe, they will take it as warning. These coordinates will be scrubbed, and the Holos Station relocated.” Satisfied with hir work, the tergan took a step back from the doorframe and tested the hatch, only to have it jam halfway through, struggling briefly in its tracks before retreating upwards. Resigned to the task, ze moved to the other side of the door frame and continued cleaning.

Quietly, Greta leaned back against the wall and sank slowly to the floor, dropping her helmet beside her. “All this could disappear at the drop of a hat? No way. Connor would still try to reach us. I mean, it isn’t like we’ve told anyone on Earth, or even the Egret, about what we found here, but…one day, and with your permission, we definitely will. This is something good.”

“You have been keeping aliens as a secret from your home world?”

“It isn’t like anyone would really believe it without concrete proof. Sorta like what you said with the council. My dad heads a big government project, my brother’s in the military—borrowed his ship to get here again—and they’ve always had to deal with regular ol’ me ‘wasting my time’ on pursuing proof that aliens exist, so they’ve heard all of the usual. Most are hoaxes or confidential government operations, like Area 51 and anything that has to do with Roswell, false UFO sightings…but then Connor came along and, well, I still didn’t have any proof. Until now. No one could ignore this and they’d love it. Still, part of me wants to keep it secret, keep it to myself. I’ve always wanted to meet aliens, and to be one of the first...?”

Tergan Znn kept silent, quietly working at dislodging the gelp gathered in the door tracks. Greta took that as a sign to continue.

“Which is why I was so damn mad when Xeldan said all of that stuff. It wasn’t how I pictured meeting any extraterrestrials, ever. I thought they’d love us, like, unconditionally, like we were the puppies of the universe or something. Celebrities or something. Like how Connor was so accepting of us. I never thought we’d be viewed as these debauched creatures no one even wanted to look at. Like ugly animals. And I was nervous. I said stupid things, because sometimes I forget to use my internal filter before speaking, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but it might have been partially my fault for saying that and giving a bad impression and—probably scaring Xeldan.

“Now, I still meant every word I said about how unfair it was to treat us that way, but I could’ve said it better. I could say a lot of things better. Nwoye’s always trying to teach me how to be more diplomatic but I guess it just never really sinks in. We’ve both dealt with a lot of discriminatory crap in our lives and he’s always been better at handling negativity. Can I tell you about the day we met and became BFFs?”

She asked, but clearly meant to continued regardless of response.

“Some drunk jerk was yelling out some nasty slurs at this kid while he was sitting in the park studying, like—I can’t say them, they’re not good words, or words for me to say, but there are a lot of words Earthians shouldn’t say but do anyway—and Nwoye just sat there, minding his own business, all pacifist. See, he fights with photos, not words or violence and all that. Well, not me. I was always a problem child, throwing punches when people deserved them. It kind of backfired. The guy ended up chasing us both, but we got away. We stuck together after that, so I could mouth off when people pissed us off and so he could keep me out of trouble.

“Then eventually I told him about Connor and we swore secrecy in a blood oath.” She paused. Smiled without showing teeth. “Not really. But not being taken seriously, looked down on—it wears on people after a while. Making contact with you guys is a big deal. And I want it to go well. So—I want to apologize to Gormar Xeldan. Not for what I said—well, some of what I said—but mostly how I said it.”

At some point during the discussion, Tergan Znn had stopped cleaning and focused fully on Greta without turning to face her. Likely because the mass of words required intense focus, even with their translation frequency decoding it, and the intermingled topics could become a tangled mess if the listener wasn’t careful.

At some point during their silence, Nwoye wandered back to them, teeth bared in a pleased smile as he reviewed information on his tablet. “Hey—don’t move, you two. I’m getting a photo of that scene.” 

He quickly raised his replication device, focused it, and snapped an imprint of Greta sitting still on one side of the corridor, looking across to Tergan Znn frozen mid-turn to face her on the other side, as if paused in enlightening conversation. “I heard her voice carrying down the hall. Told you she was a jabberjaw. But—man, I got some great shots, Gret. You won’t believe some of these. Did you know Eeos are the majority on this station? I met a nice secretary sorting through some holo screens, and she—nah, ze is how the Eeos call themselves, and I also learned something interesting about Vendarian pronouns but we’ll save that for later—took me to a recreation room where they were playing some board game like ‘Sorry!’ but it had a name they couldn’t translate—”

“Ignbocl?” Tergan Znn supplied.

“Yeah—yeah, I think that’s what they said. So I got an inside glimpse at the daily life of Eeos workers on the Holos Station. And they weren’t even afraid! Don’t know what I’m gonna do with these besides just keep ‘em in a personal collection, but damn. I’m kinda glad Xeldan’s not here. I don’t think he’d let me take any photos.”

He paused, out of breath, still smiling, and glanced at the corner of his tablet.

“We gotta get going soon, Gret. We barely got back in time for nobody to notice, last time. We’ll come back again soon. And,” he turned to Tergan Znn. “To pass a message along, we erase the vessel’s travel logs every time we get back to the Egret. We’re the only ones who know how to get here, so don’t worry about anyone else coming by yet. And tell General Xeldan, and, Connor, if you see him, that we said hello.” A bit awkwardly, he held out his hand. “Thanks so much, Tergan Jean. Do, uh, you know what an Earthian handshake is?”

Tergan Znn clicked for a tic before extending hir left extremity and grasping Nwoye’s hand briefly. “Yes. That custom translates appropriately for Eeos.”

“Alright. I’m gonna go upload these to my hard drive and check ‘em. There was some really nice lighting going on…” One by one, he packed away his tablet, his replication device, and secured his helmet over his skull before heading to the particle pathway linked to their ship.

“He gets hyperfocused on photography sometimes,” Greta explained, respirating loudly before pushing herself to her feet and picking up the helmet she’d set down. She held out a cautious hand before drawing it back. “Anyway, I want to leave Xeldan a message. To get that apology across. Can you help me with that, Jean?”

Briefly, Tergan Znn’s oculars met the surveillance device. “I think it will reach the gormar just fine. But yes, come with me. We’ll take a vocal imprint.”

Xeldan stopped the imprint playback there, watching as the hologram screen flickered and shifted on the still image of Greta following Tergan Znn off-screen.

For a few tics, all he did was stare at that screen, unsure of how to react.

As if it would hold an answer, he sorted through the files on his data hub and pulled up the message file and set it to play.

“…Alright, you can speak now.”

“Oh—ok. Great. Uh, General Xeldan. Greetings. Hi. This is Greta Christie speaking, obviously, because I’m the only female Earthian you know—uh. Tergan Jean is helping me with this message, so I’m probably going to mess it up—”

The tergan’s voice was quiet, but clear—and then Greta’s was too loud, too close to the vocal capture device, and staticy with interference. Between that and her fast-paced, nervous excitement, it was near unintelligible. Xeldan paused the file, adjusted the settings to clear the feedback and finally managed to level it.

“—But thank hir later for helping me with this. Ze was immensely helpful during this visit. Which, well, you missed. I hope things went well at your meeting. I wish I could say this face-to-face, but, well…things don’t always go the way we want them to. And I better say this now, because the next time Nwoye and I can visit might not come around for a while. You might not be there then, either.

“Uh. I just want to apologize for, well, goading you last time. Saying things I shouldn’t have. Inappropriate stuff that sort of…fed into the stereotype you have for Earthians. If I didn’t say that, our meeting might have gone better. And I’m sorry for lashing out—but not for what I said, just how I said it. I was…upset. I think it got through to you, either way, since you let us come back and all. But I hope you’ve been thinking about it and trying to be not-so afraid of us humans anymore, not so prejudiced. Re-educating yourself a little and all. Trying to be better. You know, extending the same courtesy to us.

“One day, I think it’d be great if you came to visit us all on Earth, or even just the Egret station if you’re not ready for that. Maybe not so soon, but eventually. No—actually, whenever you want. Me and Nwoye aren’t the only Earthians who want to meet an alien. Bring some Eeos with you. Connor, too. Or, just you. I think Nwoye told you before, you’d get full VIP treatment as our first—our first Vendarian visitor. I won’t lie; it’ll turn into a whooole lot of politics, but this is a gap we have to bridge one day, so why not make it happen sooner than later? …Anyway, I’m sorry. And consider this an open invitation, like what Connor gave to us. He can tell you how to contact us.

“That’s all I had to say. Uh. Bye. Be nice. That’s it. Did—did you stop it…? You can stop it now. I—”

The message stopped.

And again, just as before, he simply stared, at a loss.

Several thoughts filtered through his mind, such as the fact that Earthian Nwoye managed to leave the Holos with photographic proof of their existence, regardless of whether or not he truly intended to keep them secret; the fact that Earthian Greta had left such a…tolerant message, when he’d expected a bit more yelling; that fact that she’d invited them to Earth and, most important of all, the fact that he now had evidence to present to the council, between the surveillance imprint and the message.

Bioluminescence filtered through a spectrum and lit up the room around him as the information registered, but he didn’t pay it much attention. There were more important things at hand.

Namely, a decision. He—no, all species in the megaverse—were at a crossroads, ready to intersect. And the choice of how it would play out had been placed upon him. 

If he accepted Greta’s invitation, galaxies would change. For better or worse, he wasn’t sure, but there would be change nonetheless. If he revealed evidence of Earthian presence to the council, there would still be change, but to a lesser degree. The Holos Station would be relocated as per safety protocols, the Isa homeworld would be put under strict surveillance, and Xeldan would likely lose his career for allowing Earthians into sterile territory. There would be a large-scale scare, worse than the Plemox Hoax of 2214.

Under normal circumstances, which involved firm regulations and procedures, the second option would be imperative. Under normal circumstances, which were much more xenophobic, he would never consider the first. Then again, the moment the Earthians set foot on the Holos Station, the course of history had changed drastically, and nothing was normal anymore.

It wasn’t a decision he could make on his own.

Xeldan cleared the surveillance imprint from his data hub and tapped the comm link in the top corner.

“Yes, Xir?”

“Contact Magnate Kann’ir and Gormar I’il in the Kraal System and have them transport over. It’s urgent. Priority zeta.” He paused a moment, then tapped the link again. “And prepare a correspondence relay for Xeldiir, as well. Tell them I apologize. For everything. I was wrong.”

The final decision was yet to be made, but Xeldan had a strong feeling that a trip to Earth was in the omnisight’s forecast, and had been for a long while.

(Thanks so much @ysmirel for translation help!)

[blondeswithbackpacks]

Rome

After the delay in Florence, we ended up arriving in Rome around 7:30pm. We quickly realised that the bus station (like many central bus stations) was seemingly not central. Thankfully, there was a metro station nearby and we hopped on and navigated our way to the hostel without any problems. Once we found the street where our hostel was located, we were slightly sceptical as there was a big sign advertising the 'Downtown Hostel' right where our hostel should have been. We were looking for the Four Seasons Hostel (almost the luxury hotel but not quite) and it was in fact tucked away underneath downtown place. After dumping our stuff on a couple of beds, we went back out to the lounge area to exploit their free wifi. Whilst sat there, mindlessly scrolling though Facebook, a couple came to the reception to check in. When the guy said his name, I immediately looked up because I recognised it. After a couple of minutes of 'is it, isn't it' in my head, I decided it was definitely the guy that I know. Just as they were heading off to their room, he looked around and spotted me. Although he recognised me and saved too much awkwardness, it was very strange being in Rome and finding myself in the same hostel as a guy who lived around the corner and went to school with me. Hattie was fancying chips so, before we went to bed, we headed back to the MacDonalds we'd spotted earlier. Whilst we were there, Hattie went to grab a drink and I was left tucking into our snack on my own. A man came over with a massive tray of food and plonked himself down right next to me. There weren't many seats free so I didn't have a problem with this until he shuffled so close that he was literally sat on my bag. When Hattie returned, we exchanged the same look of confusion and awkwardness then quickly got on with finishing our food. When we came to leave I had the dilemma of how do I get my bag out from under this man's arse when I don't know what language he speaks. In the end I went with a generic "scusi" and pointed at my bag in the hopes he would understand. Luckily he did and shifted his weight out of the way so I could retrieve my (only slightly squashed) bag. We left the 'restaurant' laughing at the odd situation, forgetting that we were now wandering around the streets of Rome in the dark. It was the first time we'd been out at night alone in a city like Rome so it was a bit of a shock when we were met with a constant barrage of unwanted attention and flirtatious comments from slightly drunken men. We made it back to the hostel hassled but unharmed and ready for bed. The next morning, we headed off to the the other side of Rome (which it turns out is a surprisingly walkable city) to see some of the sights. As we were walking past one street we looked down it and saw an incredible white stone building at the other end. It looked like the Colosseum but we didn't seem to be in the right place on the map. Curious as ever, we headed down the street to investigate and soon found that it was actually the Colosseum (so much for my map skills). As soon as we got anywhere near it, we were met with another stream of hassle but this time from hoards of people trying to sell various tours or goods. We fought our way through these salespeople (who outnumbered the tourists) and made it to the queue. Despite the warnings from lots of people about the long waiting time to get in and their promises of queue skipping, we braved it and went in the legitimate way. As suspected, their claims were significantly exaggerated and we were inside the massive structure within a quarter of an hour. Once inside the Colosseum, we marvelled at its size and tried to work it all out whilst fighting through the crowds of tourists. We were having a look in the bookshop (a classics-nerd's heaven according to Hattie) when we bumped into a couple of people we'd met in the hostel in Florence. I know Rome is a popular stop for backpackers but it seemed peculiar that we had our second coincidental meeting there when there were so many people and so many places to go. Having gone round the whole Colosseum, we headed over the Roman Forum to explore the ruins there. We took one look at the queue and decided to come back later - food first. By the time we came back, after a lovely Italian lunch, the queue had all but gone. We spent a good couple of hours wandering around the Forum and Palatine hill, thinking about how it would have been and really taking in the size and importance of it all. On our way to see even more of the impressive buildings that Rome had to offer, we came across some artists making some really cool posters with spray paint. We were caught up in how cleverly they were made and ended up buying one each, before we even thought about how we're going to transport them. With our very sturdy posters in tow, we wandered past the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II and on to the Pantheon. Again they were incredible buildings (although not in such a state of disrepair) in amongst swarms of tourists. After the Pantheon, we came across a DHL shop which potentially had a poster tube to protect our recent purchases. We popped in and the guy behind the desk said (without so much as a smirk) that they couldn't sell us the poster tubes they had but could post them home for us for only €76. Of course we weren't expecting it to be cheap but there was no way we going to pay that much to send home our €10 pictures. By this time, it was starting to rain and we were getting tired/hungry so we headed back to the hostel via the Trevi fountain. On our way back, we came across some 6/8 lane roads that we had to cross. They had kindly provided you with a zebra crossing, however, the Italians aren't known for their cautious driving and it seemed that the usual crossing rules did not apply here. We simply had to take our lives in our hands and go across the road, hoping that the traffic would stop for us. We did manage to make it back in one piece but it was a somewhat stressful experience. For our second day, we had decided to go and explore Vatican City as we couldn't miss seeing the world's smallest sovereign state. We made our way to St Peter's square and found that it was the same as the rest of Rome - filled with a mixture of queueing tourists and people trying to sell you tours. We spent some time trying to figure out the system and work out a way to go into city without joining a group or queueing. We soon found out this wasn't really possible but we didn't want to waste our whole time standing in line so headed off in the opposite direction to find somewhere else to go (we had been in the square so at least we can say we technically have been in Vatican City). After a quick lunch in a shady park, we went into the Castel Sant'Angelo. As it turned out, it was a great place to visit with some very ornate rooms, Hadrian's Mausoleum and, best of all, some incredible views. After sitting in the café overlooking the Vatican, we made our way up to the roof from which you could see almost all of Rome and spot many of the famous landmarks. I would definitely recommend the castle as one of Rome's less visited (and therefore less crowded) sights. Rome had some incredible historic buildings and it was amazing picturing how this important city used to be but the whole experience was rather overwhelming with all the people and traffic. We both left ready for a good rest and some time out of the cities, perfect timing as next we are going to a little village in Provence. Next stop Salernes!

[alltheroadsmusic]

Wonders of Angkor, Cambodia lat13.345259 long103.85418

Backpackers and long term travellers all follow kind of the same route across South East Asia. From Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam to Laos. With loads of options for cheap flights and over-night busses and visas on arrival hopping from country to country can be done easily.

After a month in Thailand, we hopped on a ‘direct’ bus to Siem Reap to explore Angkor Wat. Be careful when booking your bus ticket as most companies do not offer a direct bus (which basically means you need to carry all your stuff across the border and switch busses). There are busses operated by the Thai government that leave from Mo Chit Bus Terminal that take you all the way to Siem Reap which is very convenient as you only need to take your passport when getting off the bus to cross the border.

The trip takes around 10 hours, 2 of which you will spend at the border getting stamped out of Thailand and getting your Visa in Cambodia. The bus from Bangkok stops at the Poi Pet border crossing. On the Thai side everything is pretty well organised; you get off the bus and walk a few minutes to the border control where you will get stamped out of the country. Beware of locals waiting at the bus asking for your passport and offering to take you to the office -  this is a scam!

After leaving Thailand you walk across the border and have to get your Visa in Cambodia. It is supposed to cost 35$ (1200 Baht) but at the immigration office they will ask 40$ (1400 Baht) 9 out of 10 times. If you refuse to pay, they will just hand you back your passport and refuse to issue the visa so you do not have a choice but pay the bribe.

After getting your visa you will have to go to another border control office and after you get another stamp from there you can finally get back to the bus.

Once you’ve made it to Cambodia, it only takes another 4 hours to get to Siem Reap. We stayed at Tipsy Turtles and cannot recommend it enough. The staff is great, the dorms are clean and quite cheap and they’ve got a bar with good happy hour deals.

By the way, although Cambodia has a local currency called Riel (4 000 Riel = 1$), you mostly use dollars. Don’t even bother trying to withdraw Riel anywhere, even the locals use dollars.

It is safe to say, that the only reason one ventures to Siem Reap is to explore the Archaeological Park of Angkor Wat. Siem Reap is about 7 km from the park entrance and offers accommodation for all those who’d like to explore the infamous temples of Angkor Wat. There are different access passes depending on how many days you’d like to spend climbing ancient ruins. As of February 2017 the government has decided to increase prices so the new prices are as follows :

1 Day pass : 20$ (37$ as of Feb 2017)

3 Day pass (to be used in a period of 7 days) : 40$ (62$ as of Feb 2017)

7 Day pass (to be used in a period of 30 days) : 60$ (72$ as of Feb 2017)

Considering the size of the area in which the major temples are located, it is impossible to see everything in one day. 3 days seems to be the most popular option unless you’re really pressed for time or LOVE history beyond anything.

You cannot purchase your pass at the entrance to the park. You need to go to the ticket counter about 4 km east of Siem Reap. Getting in without a ticket is impossible as they check it at all of the major temples.

What makes the ticket prices even sweeter is the fact that they do NOT include transportation. That, you have to pay extra. There are several ways of getting around the Archeological Park; the most popular seems to be by Tuk-tuk. Depending on whether you are going for the grand or the small circuit rates for the day vary between 15 and 25$. When travelling with a group, hiring a tuktuk can be of advantage as you can split the fare but we found that too many drivers are unwilling to go beyond the typical “circuit tour”. There is more to Angkor Wat than just Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom so make sure you hire a tuk-tuk for the day and not only for one of the circuits (the difference being that he’ll take you to where you want to go instead of just doing his tour and stopping at the 4 biggest temples).

For fitness freaks or those with way too much self confidence, there is a possibility to rent bikes for 2-3$ a day. Every single person we saw on bikes seemed to regret it before they even got to the entrance of the park but that was just our impression. The distances between Siem Reap, the park entrance and the different temples should not be underestimated. Just the smaller circuit (without stopping here and there to explore smaller temples off the road) adds up to about 35 km! And then you still need to climb up those ruins to actually enjoy some views and the architecture. Last but not least, cycling 35 km is one thing, doing so in the heat of the always present Cambodian summer is another. We visited Angkor Wat in January, the middle of the “cool” period and had average temperatures of over 30°C a day. This is just a friendly suggestion, everyone’s free to do what they want. We’d be sad to spend 40$ only to NOT enjoy our visit because we cycled ourselves to death, but well…

Our recommended way of getting around Angkor Wat is .. *drum roll* by E-Bike! When randomly walking through Siem Reap we found a few shops that were renting E-Bikes and decided to give it a try. The going rate seems to be 7-10$ a day which is super affordable considering that two people can ride on one bike.

Tip : Do not use Green E-Bikes! They charge 10$ per bike (which can only be used by one person), they are incredibly slow and you need to recharge them a lot!

There is a ton of small shops near pub street that rent out E-Bikes (or motorbikes at 10-15$ a day for that matter). We used them for 3 days and didn’t have a problem once. Recharging was only necessary when driving the big circuit and even with two people on the bike we’d constantly drive at 45 km/h. When in Bagan, we fell in love with the concept of renting E-Bikes : you’re free to go wherever you want whenever you want and it’s ecological! Apparently, E-Bikes haven’t been around in Siem Reap for very long which is why we only saw a handful of other tourists using them but more and more rental shops are already popping up. We cannot recommend them enough! It was so nice to just stop wherever and take a turn here and there and explore some of the smaller temples that are generally untouched by the hordes of tuktuks driving around.

Once you’ve sorted out the how and when and where, you are finally ready to explore the immense complex of temples that is called the Angkor Archeological Park of which Angkor Wat is undoubtedly the absolute tourist favourite.

Angkor Wat, in fact, is one of the largest religious monuments in the world and has an amazing story to tell. Built in the 12th century under King Suryavarman II, it was originally a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, the protecter and preserver of the universe. Later on, in the 14th century, it was converted to a Buddhist temple. Angkor was also the name of what used to be the capital of the Khmer empire, one of the greatest and most powerful empires of Southeast Asia. Findings suggest that Angkor, at one point in history, was the biggest city in the world and that it could have been home to more than one million people!

The empire fell in the 15th century but Angkor Wat remained a religious centre and people from all over Asia would make it the destination of their pilgrimage.  

The carvings in Angkor Wat were just mind-blowing!

Although Angkor Wat is definitely the most famous of all the monuments in the Archaeological Park, it is by far not the only one worth mentioning (and, in our opinion, not even the most impressive!).

One of the most famous views of Angkor Wat! (highly recommended for sunrise)

Angkor Thom, presumably the last capital of the Khmer empire, is a fortified city which has been well preserved. From the stunning Bayon Temple in the centre of the city, to Baphuon, the Royal Palace and the Elephant terrace you can freely wander around the ruins by foot. What many tourists seem to miss, in the northeast of Angkor Thom lies Preah Pithu, a small group of smaller but beautiful temples that goes completely unseen by visitors and is slowly conquered by nature.

The small circuit will usually lead you past Ta Keo, Ta Prohm (the infamous Lara Croft temple) and Banteay Kdei. There are a few smaller temples along the road that are worth a stop but can be seen in just a couple of minutes.

Huge trees are now part of the temple. Nature took back its land!

If you continue driving north from Angkor Thom, you will soon reach Praeh Khan, a monastic complex that, at its peak, was inhabited by over 15 000 monks, teachers and students. Since then, nature has steadily claimed back its ground adding to the mystic atmosphere that seems to be present at all times in the jungle around Angkor.

At the east end of the complex you can find this beautiful view.

Before reaching Neak Pean, you can make a quick stop at Banteay Prei and Prasat Prei, two tiny temples that aren’t important enough to be on most people’s radars.

Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup are the last stops on the grand circuit tour. Pre Rup was definitely one of our favourites and we spend about an hour on top of the temple eating cookies, gazing at the clouds and admiring the stone carvings.

Banteay Samre is located about 3 km to the east of the main complex. Not only can you see some more of the beautiful architecture that is so typical for monuments built during the rule of the Khmer, but you will also enjoy a short ride through some local villages and fields.

We did not see everything there is to see in Angkor but we sure did see quite a lot. Obviously, we could have squeezed in a temple more or two but we wanted to enjoy every last bit and not fall victim to temple fatigue (something that happens quite easily when you’ve spent a couple of months bouncing around Asia).

The sunrise at Angkor Wat is something highly debated amongst travellers. In order to get a good spot you need to be there before 5 am (although the left basin was already crowded, the right basin was quite empty until about 5:30 am). The problem is, not every sunrise is worth the effort. In Bagan, every sunrise was unbelievably beautiful but in Angkor that was not the case. We’ve seen beautiful photos online so we gave it a try and were quite disappointed. You are sharing the spot with 1000 - 1500 people (this is an official figure, no kidding) but at least you’re up early and if you leave before the sun is all the way up, you can get some pretty nice shots at the other temples before the rest of the masses arrive.  

Siem Reap itself has a few museums and markets but there is no point in visiting if you don’t want to see Angkor Wat. Pub Street is as amazing as it sounds though the many happy hour deals can quickly turn from your best friend into your worst nightmare (climbing those freaking ruins with a hangover is NOT fun).  Street food can be found for as little as 1$ and there are tiny cocktail bars and fried ice cream stands everywhere.

The Angkor What? Bar : probably the most famous bar in Siem Reap!

Cambodia was off to a great start!