#back to book one: Athena making some long excuse of how she is totally a human man and immediately transforms into a bird

[marivanilla05]

My favorite scenes from The Odyssey (books 18 to 21)

Odysseus fighting a random beggar being its own book was not something I expected to enjoy this much when reading The Odyssey, but here we are.

[madrone33]

Ok so. I have no excuse for taking so long. But! The good news is I FINALLY hunkered down and finished the Odyssey in one night :D

It was long! And fun! It was much more political scheming than I thought it'd be lol

Anyway here's some highlights and musings from my midnight readings, much longer than my others 'cause it's like 12 books at once:

The Phaeacians after reaching Ithaca and neatly dropping both a sleeping Odysseus and his vast loot on the sand: peace out, bro.

Aww man why'd you have to do the Phaeacians like that, Poseidon?

Odysseus, hearing that he's FINALLY made it home, tears in his eyes: proceeds to elaborately lie.

Odysseus: has trust issues from trauma.

Athena: awww, see this is why I like you!

Odysseus, hearing his son is in Sparta: you let my son sail? over the sea that took 10 years of my life??

Odysseus, professional liar, hearing that people lied to his wife about him: liars? I HATE liars >:( I would never lie.

Also Odysseus: lies about his life story again, multiple times.

LMAO Athena tells Telemachus he's gotta go, and he immediately kicks Pisistratus in the ribs to wake him up XD

Telemachus: hey so can I maybe not say hi to your dad again? He's like those old grandparents who never let you go without telling a thousand stories.

Pisistratus, after thinking for one second: I gotchu homie.

Odysseus might be projecting juuust a little when Eumaeus greets Telemachus

Athena makes Odysseus taller, again XD

FATHER AND SON REUNION!!

Tele: uh dad? Surely you're not suggesting we fight 108 men on our own?? Please tell me we have backup.

Ody: how's Athena and Zeus sound as backup?

Tele: ... yeah ok fine.

No!! Argos :(

Lol. Odysseus and Athena both: test the suitors to find the innocent from guilty! (Inwardly: yeah they're all gonna die)

Telemachus when Eumaeus insults Antinous to defend Ody: whoa whoa. No need to speak to Antinous like that, my friend... Allow me >:D

Antinous: throws a stool at Odysseus.

Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope: so you have chosen death

Lol the sneeze :D

Ah yes, Homer can't help but mention Odysseus' fine thighs XD

Odysseus, deeply torn between flat out killing this guy with one blow or just "lightly jabbing" him uncontiously. Decisions, decisions...

Odysseus @ Amphinomus: hey. You seem nice. Don't come to school tomorrow

Athena just loves making her mortals taller and more beautiful, huh XD

Penelope after Athena made her take a nap: ah, what a gentle sleep. If only Artemis would kill me :D

Penelope, Telemachus, and basically all of the palace staff at any and all opportunities: mayhaps? death? to all the suitors? 👀

Awww, Odysseus told her to watch over his parents, and that she should re-marry if he wasn't back before Telemachus became an adult 🥺

Penelope, swindling the suitors out of their money: shame on you, for not lavishing me with gifts to seduce me!

Odysseus: hell yes that's my wife <3

A second stool has been thrown. This one was dodged. RIP the wine-steward

Odysseus really can't help showering Penelope with compliments, comparing her to the gods, and a king

Poor Penelope :( Let her not-make her shroud in peace

Wine dark sea mention :D

Odysseus, once again lying about his life story, this time to his WIFE. Smh

Penelope calling the city of Troy "Destroy" with such spite is amazing.

Penelope and Euryclea: stranger, you remind me so much of Odysseus. You're just... really alike for some reason.

Odysseus: haha yeah weird coincidence, right?

Autolycus: ah yes, I shall name my grandson "he who causes pain" ✨

Penelope @ the man that is totally not Odysseus: hey, unrelated to anything at all, I had a dream where my husband returned and killed all my suitors. How WEIRD, right? If ONLY it would come true!

"Nobody but your cunning pulled you through the monster's cave you thought would be your death." Nobody. Ha!

"deep in his heart it seemed she stood beside him, knew him, now, at last..." 🥺💙

Now an oxhoof has been thrown at him?? Athena, why

Wow, Telemachus is almost as good a liar as his dad!

Ooh Telemachus almost strung it!!

Odysseus has the bow. Ayyyy you're all fucked now >:D

LMAO did Athena just fly up into the rafters while still looking like Mentor? XD

Odysseus: I'm cleaning house

He's playing a wedding song! As Odysseus and Penelope reunite!! <3

Athena made him taller again XD

Strange woman! Strange man! 🥰

Odysseus: exCUSE ME? You moved our BED? How did you move our bed?? It's a TREE for gods sake! I carved it with my own two hands! What did you DO to our BED-

ATHENA! HOLDS BACK THE LITERAL DAWN!! She's their #1 shipper fr <3

Brief interlude in the Underworld: Achilles' and Patroclus' bones are in the same urn... and they were urn-mates

Amphimedon: and that's how Odysseus killed me-

Agamemnon: Ah classic Odysseus. And what a great wife he has! So loyal. Unlike MY WIFE-

Odysseus, torn between revealing himself and happily reuniting with his aged father, or testing whether he recognises him: time to lie about my life story again!

Not every one of Odysseus' family at some point wondering if he was just a dream 🥺😭

His fake name is "Man of Strife" this time. I see you, Odysseus...

Odysseus for the first time drops the act in favour of comforting a crying family member. Character development /j

There Athena goes again, this time making Laertes taller XD

Lol, Athena stepping in (STILL looking like Mentor XD) to force a peace. Didn't realise it ended on this note, but cool

I finally started reading the Odyssey!!

Got up to book 5. And I mean, I've seen the jokes, but I never realised just how many times it says some variation of "rosy fingered dawn." 😂

Also, Athena pretending to be a mortal and then leaving by just- becoming a bird and flying away will never not be funny.

Looking forward to finally getting to Odysseus' part :D

[evanescentform]

Closure | Orion & Shiloh

Location: Skylar and Orion’s place on Jan. 19, 2021 With: @3starsquinn and Shiloh Description: Shiloh goes to Skylar’s place looking for her but finds Orion instead.

It was the lack of sleep. It was clearly the lack of sleep. But Shiloh had to see Skylar. She had to see if she was okay. If she hated her. Figure out what the hell was going on. They were friends first, right? Now Shiloh felt so completely alone. She didn’t bother texting Skylar - she didn’t want to give her a chance to come up with an excuse and that in and of itself wasn’t a nice thing to do but Shiloh wasn’t thinking about what was nice, she was thinking about what she needed and she needed to see Skylar in hopes she could comfort her like she once had. So, she drove to her place. Walked up to the door. And knocked. And knocked again. Perhaps a bit more urgently than before but definitely not banging on the door. However, she soon heard movement and straightened up, hoping she looked okay. Definitely not like she wasn’t sleeping right? Right. “Skye -” she started when the door opened. But then, that wasn’t Skylar. “Uh. Is Skylar home?”

A faint knocking sound just barely managed to grab Orion’s attention through the music his headphones were emitting. He was lying by the pool, headphones on and staring up at the ceiling. He wasn’t a huge fan of swimming. Too much skin exposure. But the apprehension had extended even when Rio was by himself in the home that he now found himself living in. But he enjoyed the sounds from the room enriching the music as he tapped against the book resting on his chest. He pushed up on his elbows, unsure that he had actually heard anything until the knocking came again, faster this time. He jumped up from his spot on the ground, grabbing his hoodie and pulling it over his head before making his way to the front door and opening it to see an unfamiliar face. “Uh hey. Sorry, not Skylar. Rio” Rio pulled the headphones out of his ears and left the cords dangling as he tried to decipher the woman’s tone and body language. She seemed worried. About Skylar? Or for some other reason? “She’s not here right now. I uh- actually don’t know where she is at the moment. Do you want to come in?”

Shiloh’s brows came together as he told her she wasn’t home. Where would she be? Work? What day was it? “Oh. Uh. Okay.” Shiloh accepted the offer to come inside, although not really sure what she would do while inside. As she stepped in, she glanced around as if she would find Skylar just standing there. But, there was nothing. “Do you know when she’s coming back?” Shiloh asked turning around to look at him. She stared at him for a bit before realizing she hadn't introduced herself. “Oh, sorry, I’m Shiloh. Uh.” Well, they weren’t together anymore were they? Plus she’d sound really weird if she labeled herself as an ex. He might think she was being a creep. Which she wasn’t, right? “Just Shiloh.” She reaffirmed, not sure if Skylar had even mentioned her to this guy. Wasn’t she living with someone named Nic? Shiloh was a little confused as she tried to remember what was told to her months ago on a brain that had inconsistent sleep.

Orion stepped aside to let Shiloh slip in and closed the door behind her. He hadn’t seen her since he had moved in with Skye. But that hadn’t been living here that long and admittedly, he hadn’t seen a ton of Skye either. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Just Shiloh.” He smiled, offering a hand out to her. “I’m actually not really sure when she will be back. I’m not even sure where she is at.” Since the two had become friends, they had their ups and downs, but he had moved in with her on a high note of their friendship. But despite that, he couldn’t say he wasn’t worried about her recently. Something had seemed off, something that Rio wasn’t sure was any of his business. “I just moved in a month or two ago, so I’m still kind of getting used to her schedule, y’know? But you’re welcome to hang out until she’s back if you want.” Rio shrugged as an offer. “Um how do you know her?”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Rio.” Shiloh said with a small smile. She wasn’t sure what she was doing here without Skylar being around. She wished she was here. She needed someone. It was selfish to ask for Skylar only when she needed someone, especially after she had left her. “Do you know what happened to her old roommate?” She asked, hoping he hadn’t died since she’d been gone. They still hadn’t gone over what they went through the past months or so. She scratched at her head as she thought over what to do. “Is it a weekday? I might be a little too early before she comes home from work.” Shiloh said, giving a gentle laugh at her own mistake, hoping Rio didn’t find her weird. “Oh, we, uh, we used to date.” Shiloh winced slightly at that, wondering if she had come off as a weird ex. Had Skylar told him about her? “I just haven’t heard from her in a while and I wanted to see what she was up to. I-I I missed her.”

“You mean Nic?” Orion questioned, hopping onto the countertop and reaching for a container of cookies to snack on. He was pretty sure she also had a roommate in her old place prior to moving in with Nic, but he didn’t know anything about them. After taking a few cookies from the sleeve, he offered the box to Shiloh in case she wanted any. “He had to leave town I guess. I don’t know much about the specifics. But he’s okay.” At least Rio hoped he was. There was a tiny bit of guilt that always bit at Rio. A voice that constantly told him that Nic had left because of what Rio had dragged him into the night Rio and Athena had stopped their parents once and for all. Even though he knew that wasn’t actually the reason. “It is a workday. So that could be it? Sorry, I guess I’m not much help.” Rio had been spending so much time at the Scribrary that the two had mostly missed each other around the house anyways. “Used to date?” Rio asked innocently, quietly connecting the dots in his head until he excitedly realized that this could be the girl that Skye had told him about. “Oh! I think she told me about you! I thought you left town too?”

Shiloh nodded as he mentioned Nic but frowned at him leaving town. She never really got to know him too well but he couldn’t be that bad if Skylar agreed to move in with him. She was a good judge of character, Shiloh was sure of that. She smiled in fondness. However it quickly faded as Rio knew who Shiloh was and it probably wasn’t good. “I did have to leave town for family matters a few months ago. I didn’t think it would have been fair to her if we remained together when I didn’t know when I would be back, so -” Shiloh realized she may have been talking a bit too much about it with a stranger. However, she didn’t know how much Skylar had told him. Shiloh sighed, leaning back against the wall. She was being defensive because she felt terrible about it all. Not only did she just leave so suddenly but she returned and before she even told her she arrived, they bumped into one another. It was an awful thing to do. “She hates me, doesn’t she? I know she does.” Why else would she not be speaking with her especially now that she knew Shiloh was in town. Shiloh wasn’t expecting them to get back together but… they were friends, weren’t they? Couldn’t they have continued to be friends? Then again, how was she going to tell her friend she was a filthy hunter?

Clearly, things were a bit complicated between Skye and Shiloh. Orion wasn’t a master of reading people, but even he could tell that. The situation was oddly similar to his own. Skye and himself had been the ones left in town while Shiloh and Winston both had to leave. A family matter seemed pretty important, and Rio wanted to understand Shiloh’s reasoning for leaving just like he did for Winston. “I totally get that. Ironically, I actually moved in with Skye for a pretty similar reason.” Rio interjected nervously. He didn’t want to hijack her story, but could tell that she felt bad about the whole scenario. “I was dating someone and they had to leave town too. I get it. And there were no hard feelings between us.” Skye and Rio had talked about the breakups. Neither had been especially happy about it, but Rio couldn’t say that Skye hated her for it. “I don’t think she hates you. It’s uh-” Hard to explain? Everything about Skye had been different for a while now. Rio just wasn’t sure what was going on, and didn’t want to ask too many questions. “I don’t think it’s you. I think there’s something else that’s bothering her. I just don’t know what.”

Shiloh let her insecurities take a backseat as she listened to Rio, finding out that he really had gone through something similar as Skylar had and probably had a better insight to her emotional state than Shiloh did. She sighed, allowing herself to believe that. “Sorry, for what it’s worth I’m sure your person is sorry too.” It wasn’t planned and she really didn’t want to have Skylar hanging onto a relationship for nothing… She tried not to go back to her same thought patterns. “What do you mean something’s bothering her? When did it start?” Maybe it was incredibly narcissistic for Shiloh to think that her absence was Skylar's biggest problem. From what she remembered she was really struggling with the whole seal thing. Did her new roommate know that? She watched him carefully. “She had trouble being… different. And I don’t mean being hard of hearing.” Shiloh started seeing if he understood what she was saying. After all, she wasn’t going to out Skylar to what might be a complete stranger. That would definitely upset Skye and she didn’t want to do that.

“Thanks. And yeah, don’t worry. My ex and I ended things on good terms. We both knew it was best.” Maybe that was exactly what Shiloh needed to hear. If she had any reservations about her own place in Skylar’s life, maybe it would be comforting to know that Orion held no ill will towards Winston when they shared a similar situation. Unsurprisingly, Shiloh seems more interested in Rio’s concerns about Skylar. He wished that he had something more to go on, or an actual lead to give the woman who clearly still cared a great deal about Skylar. But instead, Rio was left with a nervous ‘um’ as he tried to think of something to say. “I guess I don’t really know for sure? I don’t know what it’s like to live with her, but she just seems distant. Like she’s always got her mind in a million other places.” Shiloh’s emphasis on the word different peaked Rio’s curiosity. If she dated her, it wasn’t hard to imagine that Shiloh might know about Skylar being a selkie. Though it wasn’t something that he should mention just in case they were talking about two entirely separate things. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I had hoped things were getting better there. But now I’m not sure.”

Shiloh listened to Rio, only able to hope Skylar felt the same but unless she said that herself, it was hard to completely believe that. She appreciated the way he tried to comfort her, even though he really didn’t know anything about her. He was a good guy. Her concern turned to Skylar though, thinking about what she must be going through. All of Shiloh’s friends felt so distant from her since she came back. It was probably for a good reason. She sighed, closing her eyes. “If only she was here so she could tell us what was going on - I don’t even know who her friends are so it’s not like I can reach out to them for help!” Shiloh let out a derisive laugh. “I was a terrible girlfriend.” And now an even worse friend. “I think I should just go and hope she’ll reach out to me soon.” She couldn’t even look Rio in the face, afraid he might see the tears beginning to form in her eyes and the last thing she was going to do was cry in front of a stranger - that would be so embarrassing… “You’ll tell her I’ll stop by, yeah?” She only tried to glance at him briefly, as she took a step. She didn’t know where she’d go - she didn’t want to go home where she would just be alone but being in the presence of her parents or people who knew her well seemed… unideal as well.

Orion wished he could be more helpful. He didn’t know Shiloh while the two were dating, and he barely knew her now. The two had met fifteen minutes ago, he could hardly consider the two of them close friends. But he couldn’t just let her blame herself for what was going on. It wasn’t fair for her to have to carry that weight. “You weren’t.” Rio stated, “I mean, I guess I don’t technically know if you were a terrible girlfriend. But I know that when Skylar and I talked about it, she never mentioned a single bad thing about you. Just that she missed you. That sounds pretty good to me.” It wasn’t exactly a glowing defense, but it was the best that Rio had right now. Both of them were preoccupied with Skylar’s wellbeing. Rio knew that the core of Shiloh’s distress was making sure that Skye was okay. But letting her leave while so upset seemed pretty irresponsible. “Or instead of you leaving… uh… what if we went and got something to eat? Or junk food. There’s this great bakery run by this super cool guy. He’s amazing.” Rio tried to ask the question upbeat, breaking the sullen mood and tilting his lips upward to feign a smile. “Honestly, I’ve been super lazy all day and needed to grab something to eat. I just haven’t motivated myself to leave yet.” It was better than nothing. “Plus, afterwards we can come back here and see if Skylar’s back.”

Shiloh appreciated his kind words and she only wished the two of them could have met in better circumstances and not when she was a simple remark away from a breakdown. If only she could have gotten this whole nightmare thing in check. Whatever. It was her life now and she was going to deal with it just like she dealt with all this supernatural crap… squared it away to be dealt with at a future time. “Thanks,” she simply said before glancing over at him, stopping in her tracks as she was surprised by the invitation. “Oh - yeah! Okay! That sounds great.” Even if Shiloh was struggling with things, she would be thankful for the chance to go out and not worry about someone worrying about her own well-being because it’s not like Rio knew her before she became all this. He only knew her as the sad weird girl who came into his place looking for her ex-girlfriend and you know what? Shiloh was pretty sure she could work up from that rather than worry about keeping up an appearance. She smiled genuinely at him. “I can drive.” She offered, feeling better by offering him the chance to come along for a ride than having him do the driving.

[caralynsmoved]

it’s human nature to miss what’s right under your nose

fandom: 911onfox

characters: bethany flynn ( original female character ), evan “ buck “ buckley, tommy kynard, fire fam, original male characters. 

relationships: bethany flynn/tommy kynard, evan “ buck “ buckley/eddie diaz ( supporting ), maddie buckley/howie “ chimney “ han ( supporting and adorable ), bobby nash/athena grant ( supporting ), hen wilson/karen wilson ( supporting and amazing )

rating: general audiences, teen

setting: i guess post season two since that’s when beth appears and maybe leading into season three ? 

∞

“ again ? “ 

“ sorry, beth. “ aidan, the man behind the counter at the coffee shop she’s fallen in love with apologizes like he’s been apologizing because the pumpkin muffins were gone .. again. “ guy took the last two an hour ago, you just missed him. “ 

“ sorry beth stops feeling sorry four muffins ago, “ a pout colored her features as she ordered her vanilla latte and blueberry muffin as a consolation prize, “ i’m going to find this muffin thief one day, “ 

“ of course you are, justice will be served ! “ aidan calls after her, raising a stirrer in the air as she raises her own cup in answer as she leaves. 

“ huzzah ! “ 

∞

“ still no pumpkin muffin huh, pumpkin ? “ buck teases her with the smile she knows means he’s holding back laughter at his own joke and she throws a napkin at his head, “ come on, that was hilarious ! “ 

“ you really need to learn what that word actually means, dork. “ beth said, refraining from letting out the laugh that would give buck vindication on his awful jokes, “ and no, the muffin thief struck again and aidan did nothing but let him have it ! “ 

“ you mean he actually let someone buy a muffin and then gave it to him ? “ buck affected a mock horrified look, “ i can’t believe he just did his job like that ! the horror ! “ 

“ you know when casey phillips said you tripped him i said he was lying and backed you up, you could at least pretend to do the same for me, best friend. “ beth said, kicking her shoes off as she took a seat next to him on the couch. 

“ that was in second grade and he was lying ! “ buck exclaimed, with all the offense someone could muster over a 12 year old argument, “ casey was a complete klutz ! “ 

“ of course he was, it’s why he was the only third grader to become equipment manager instead of playing gym with the rest of us. “ beth said, picking at the remains of her muffin before rolling up the wrapper and laying it on the table, “ what i’m saying is i was on your side so you’re supposed to be on mine and not mr. muffin thief. “ 

“ fine, i’m sorry, “ buck said, making sure he was not sorry at all as he spoke with a familiar smirk, “ do you want me to stake out the muffin shop, find the first customer who buys a pumpkin muffin and hold him upside down by his ankles until he apologizes for his crimes against humanity ? “ 

“ let’s save it in our back pocket but, i like we’re you’re going with this. “ beth said, nodding as she drummed her fingers along her leg, “ for now, i’m thinking a more verbal approach, “ 

“ you’re a crazy person, you know that ? “ buck said, the words undercut by the amusement and affection in his eyes, “ an absolute crazy person and athena’s not going to bail you out like moms did. “ 

“ but, i’m your crazy person. “ beth said with a dimpled grin as she leaned over and pressed a kiss against his cheek, “ besides i’m not going to get caught, you’re the one who always gets caught. “ 

“ you know sometimes it baffles me how people think you’re the innocent one in this relationship, “ the blonde said with a near pout, “ you’re like half the reason we get into as much trouble as we do, “ 

“ hey ! you’re the other half of that, buddy, it’s not like you’re some innocent angel yourself, mr. no one will notice if we steal one golf cart as long as we give it back. “ beth said, thumping her foot against his side. 

“ hey, we didn’t even get written up for that one ! “ 

“ because my mom was the arresting officer ! “ beth insisted with a laugh, remembering the look on her mom and her partner’s face when they had stopped the aforementioned stolen golf cart and seen her and buck at the wheel, that had been a lecture for the record books, “ and trust me she was this close to arresting us anyway. “ 

“ lies, mom loves me. “ buck said, reaching over to snag her coffee off the table and take a drink, “ everybody does, it’s the buckley charm. “ 

“ yeah, the maddie buckley charm. “ beth said, under her breath only to hear an overdramatically offended gasp in response. 

“ see, now i’m glad you never get your pumpkin muffin, “ was the petulant response she received, “ maybe the person who gets it is actually super nice to the best person in their life. “ 

“ again, i’m super nice to maddie, i brought her lunch yesterday and we went shopping for boots. “ beth said, playfully oblivious to the point buck was trying to make as she fumbled around for where they had left the remote last night, “ we had a great time. “ 

“ i’m getting a new best friend one day and you’re gonna be heartbroken, “ buck said, full on pouting now as he sank back into the couch cushions, adamantly refusing to help her find the remote even though she knew he was probably the one who lost it. 

“ is that best friend going to be an eight year old boy who thinks you’ve hung the moon ? “ she said as she got off the couch to look underneath it wondering if one of them had fallen asleep with it in their hand during a bout of insomnia induced bingeing. 

“ maybe … but at least he’s got better taste in movies than you do, “ with that he reached over and pulled the remote out of the couch cushions with a smirk, “ and now i don’t have to watch another re-run of the office. “

“ well excuse me, mr. suddenly i’m too good for the hard workers of the dunder mifflin scranton branch, “ 

∞

“ hey, there’s my favorite customer ! “ aidan’s wide smile greets her, overly wide and she quirks a curious brow at the at the door greeting, “ how are you today, bethers ? “ 

“ wondering if i love or hate being called bethers, “ beth quipped, trying to peek past the young man to see what he was hiding from her, “ what are you hiding, aid ? “ 

“ why do you assume i’m hiding something ? “ the affronted look came and went in a second before aidan sighed and moved away to let her move towards the counter, he followed after slowly and made his way behind it, “ okay, fine i was hiding something but it wasn’t my fault ! it was jake ! “

“ liar ! “ came the affronted and maybe a little scared shout from the back where she assumed jake was doing prep. 

“ okay, fine. it was me, but i thought we had more .. apparently our truck isn’t coming until tomorrow, which means … “ he trails off, eyes darting to the bakery case and she already knows what she’s going to see or more likely what she isn’t going to see. 

“ dude, seriously ! “ beth cries, green eyes wide as she stares at the once more empty pumpkin muffin plate, “ we had a pact, you cretin ! “ 

“ nice use of the word cretin, b ! “ jake once more shouts from the back and she moves her glare from the pumpkin case to aidan who threw a empty cup, blindly at the backroom. 

“ thank you, my new favorite barista ! “ she calls back, crossing her arms over her chest which earns her aidan’s puppy eyes. thankfully, though a lifetime of being friends with the buckleys gives one an almost immunity to puppy eyes … almost. she softens just a little. 

“ come on, i’m sorry ! “ aidan cried, arms flailing about as he spoke, “ it was so crazy and i was going to keep one just for you, but then the truck was supposed to be here so i sold it thinking i could make you a fresh batch, but then i didn’t get the memo that truck was going to be late. “ 

“ oh my god, breathe, aid. “ beth said, a laugh threatening to escape her and undermine her totally justified anger, “ just give me a cinnamon roll and call it even, dork. “ 

“ no problem, on the house. “ aidan was quick to place the cinnamon roll into a small bakery box and hand it over, “ vanilla latte, extra whip ? “ 

“ at least no one can steal that from me. “ a pout colors her features as aidan goes about making her latte and she takes a seat at the small section of the counter designated for customers. 

“ did you show her ? did you show her yet ? “ is jake’s excited question as he comes rushing out of the backroom, dark hair a messy tangle and apron covered in flour. jake is nothing if not excitable and adorable as anything, he won her over in seconds with coffee puns and goofy designs in the foam of her coffee, he and aidan are definitely one of the main reasons she’s always come back to this coffee shop. 

“ show me what, cracker jake ? “ it’s become one of their rituals, the million and one nicknames she and jake can come up with for each other and his snort of laughter is almost enough to distract her from his curious question. 

“ the note ! “ aidan sighs with a fond smile as he reaches into the drawer and pulls out a brightly colored sticky note and passes it to her, “ pumpkin muffin guy left it for you ! “ 

“ you got into the chocolate covered expresso beans, didn’t you ? “ was bethany’s question as she reached for the note, “ you know you’re not supposed to after last time. “ 

“ that was an accident that totally wasn’t fueled by the beans besides, that’s not the point ! after like weeks of back and forth, muffin guy left you a note like some sort of scavenger hunt ! “ jake said, growing only more excited and if her heart wasn’t already stubbornly stuck on one dimpled firefighter named tommy jake would have had it in minutes. “ aren’t you the littlest bit excited ? “

“ fine ! maybe i’m a little bit excited if not for the chance to finally know his name and get some revenge. “ beth said with a playful grin as she unfolded the note. 

too slow, babe ! maybe next time ;) 

“ no name ? he can tease and write winky faces like a teenager, but no name ! “ beth dropped her forehead to the counter with a groan and one of the boys reached out to pat her shoulder before she looked up, “ how much do i have to pay to poison his next muffin ? “

“ you know we can’t do that. “ 

“ how much we talking ? “ jake said at the same time aidan protested and the other man reached over to smack his forehead, “ ow ! i mean i’m not allowed. “ 

“ buzzkill. “ bethany groaned once more, sticking her tongue out at them. 

“ well … are you going to say anything back ? “ jake asked, curiously as he poked at her shoulder, “ anything at all ? “ 

“ what would i say back ? thanks jerk for taking away my favorite muffin ? hey thanks for the note, maybe eat that instead next time or ooh ooh how about if you take my muffin again i’ll have my cop mom find you ? “ bethany suggested, picking aimlessly at the remains of her cinnamon roll. 

“ or how about something vaguely less threatening .. maybe a hello or try the blueberry ? “ jake offered with a grin and shrug of his shoulders. 

“ fine, i’ll write something. “ beth said, reaching across the counter to grab the sticky notes and a pen, scribbling out a quick note. 

hope you enjoy it for now, your pumpkin days are over, buddy ! 

“ that works ! “ jake approved and aidan shot her a thumbs up as he tucked it behind the counter, out of sight as she tossed the remains of her pastry and coffee into the trash, “ bye, bethany ! “ 

“ au revoir, jacob ! “ bethany replied with a playful bow as she made her way out of the store and into the early winter morning, a brightly colored post with a winking face still forefront in her mind.

[dollhouse-rpgx-blog]

Viana Camille Láctea

22 years old. She is a club promoter and an occult shop assistant. Some say she’s -evasive, -officious and -neurotic ; while those closest to her would call her +creative, +adaptable and +gregarious.

Viana was born in Nigeria and adopted by a Louisiana couple who named her Athena. When her father died her mother developed unhealthy coping habits which included depending on her child. This resulted in Athena being kept home from school a lot. When Athena got injured and broke both her legs, this began a cycle of lies doctored by her mother. Leukemia, muscular dystrophy, chromosomal disorder, seizures, night terrors, and more were fabricated onto her medical records and Athena’s mother did everything to make it as believe as possible. With nurse training, she could accurately describe symptoms, and sometimes drugged her daughter to weaken her ability to think straight, and mimic certain conditions, as well as, shave her head and feed her through a tube inserted in her stomach to tie the image with a bow. Collecting disability checks on her daughter’s suffering had kept them afloat without the need of Emelia ever leaving her daughter’s side. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home, they lost everything, including medical files that could contradict whatever Emelia wrote into her daughter’s history. Survivor committee members who had found the family or two had rescued Athena and her mother, leaving themselves vulnerable to hearing the tall tale of the now sickly hurricane survivor and her loving mother who sacrificed everything after the loss of her husband. The lies opened numerous doors in their lives, from housing in Arizona and food, to charities like Make a Wish and MDA helping with medication and general financing. As the lies piled higher, Athena became more and more convinced of her mother’s stories. Yes, she knew how to walk but it hurt sometimes, so mama must of been right about her muscles. Yes, she could eat sometimes, but then her bellyached, so mama was right, she couldn’t eat normally like the others. Athena excuses her mother time and time again, allowing her to act the role she painted out for her for years. Any doctors that questioned the contradictory results were never seen by them again. Emelia was sweet, charming even, and seemed devoted to her daughter, so it was hard to believe anyone would lie on their child the way they did. As she grew older, Emelia began to lie about Athena’s age, going as far as to altering the dates on her daughter’s paperwork to make her seem younger and cooperate with her falsifications. But despite the lies it never kept Athena from growing older and becoming more difficult to control. Any time that Athena began to stray, become independent, or suggest that she was anything but a small, innocent child suffering from a deadly illness, Emelia was sure to step in and explain that her daughter’s mind was addled by disease. It began with sneaking out of the house, taking buses and going to parties she’d heard through events her mother forced her to go to. This is where she met her first girlfriend, Josephine Lachry — a xanax and coke addicted DJ, with assault records and a history of mental illness, who spent the night listening to Athena’s horror stories about what it was like to live at home. She swore to protect the girl at any cost she could, exchanging email addresses and personal information to make sure Athena was never fully out of her reach. But as usual, somehow Emelia was always one step behind, dragging Athena back home and restraining and beating her where no one would look till she was compliant once again. If Athena had bought herself a phone or computer to secretly interact with people outside of her home, Emelia was sure to find it sooner or later and destroy it, and deny Athena food or sleep for her deviance — but never before the girl could share more horror stories with her new lover. The lack in communication never last long as Athena stole money to replace anything her mother destroyed in order to get back to Joey with more stories. Despite Emelia’s threats to chain Athena to her bed, or smash her fingers, the femme always found a way to get back to Joey, who was adamant on saving the girl from her living nightmare once and for all. After a week of not seeing the mother and daughter had passed, neighbors became weary with concern. With the van still parked in their driveway, it was assumed for sometime that the girl had fallen ill and they’d stayed inside till she was to get better, but it was unlikely not see or hear from Emelia at the very least. Calls were made to the local departments and when the warrant was issued, police entered the house and soon found Emelia’s decaying body. All who knew the Bordelon’s feared the worst—even if Athena had not been found, they believed she would be helpless without her wheelchair, medications, and support equipment like the oxygen tanks and feeding tube. Based on traces made from the Bordelon WiFi access, an identification of communication had been made from the home’s IP address. The next day police agencies in Anaheim County raided the Days Inn & Suites, both Josephine and Athena located inside in emotional distraught. Surrendering on sight, the two were taken into custody on charges of murder and felony armed criminal action. With news that Athena was found safe, relief stretched back from Arizona all the way to Louisiana, where she and Joey were soon extradited and held on $1 million bond. The media in soon reported the truth of the Bordelons' lives: that Athena had never been sick, had always been able to walk, and that her mother had made her pretend otherwise, using physical abuse to control her, calling it a case of Munchausen's syndrome forced upon her by her now deceased mother. The fact was that Athena had spent her entire life being controlled and monitored by her mother, not allowed to go to school, have friends over, or make any real friends at all, it was difficult for the court to see the girl as anything but a victim. Experts in Munchausen syndrome by proxy, said of Athena’s life and actions, the control was total in the same sense that the control of a kidnapped victim sometimes is total. Her daughter was, in essence, a hostage, and the crime that occurred subsequently was the same in terms of a hostage trying to gain escape. Unfortunately for Athena, it had been with a person who took advantage of her ill and terrified state. Under the law of willful protection and a new name, Athena was relocated and known under the alias Viana Camille Láctea. For two years she lived a seemingly normal life, despite her itch for paraphernalia. Years of being drugged up by force had built her dependence, a dependence strong enough that she lost the ability to kick her addiction time and time again until it got the best of her. That’s when authorities lost Viana. Running with the wrong crowd might as well have been another one of Viana’s poor life inquiries, but being hopped up on the latest in black markets it was mystery and a thrill that she had no willed to give up and landed her on the streets of Manhattan just barely surviving the following years off of off the books opportunities.

Secrets are meant to be kept in the dark, but how long until hers comes into the light?

[wild-e-art-e]

One more bet | Saint FFic Fest

After so long without writing (no, better say, finish anything) I’m happy about this; was funny to write, I like the characters and the topic! I hope you enjoy and comments are always welcome.

This time I didn’t have time to ask someone to hep me to check it orz so, any mistake, remember english isn’t my first langauge but I will glad to edit it later after exams.

UNIVERSE: StS Universe CHARACTER(S): Saori Kido, Dragon Shiryu & Cygnus Hyoga SCENERY: Saori’s piano parlour LENGTH: 2580 words CATEGORY: Friendship / Comedy (?? I don’t know, I hope you laugh)

                                                              The big windows of the alley helped to have some nice natural light. Dragon Shiryu smiled feeling the warm over his skin and realised that for sure his Goddess, Saori Kido, was feeling the same. 

                 After a small trip from China to Japan, in comparison the ones he had to Greece, Shiryu already left his baggage in the guest room he would share with Seiya and now was talking with her about the party of that night. Not a party exactly, just an elegant dinner for the Foundation who will help some students with scholarships. And Saori somehow thought would be good for the Bronze Saints to have a normal and calm night. Normal for her, and totally awkward for them.

                 “I’m glad you arrived at the time, Shiryu.” Saori smiled as both were walking towards the staircase, maybe to get ready for lunch time.

                 “Well, Athena, I didn’t want to disappoint you. You asked very nice for our help.”

                 “Shiryu, once again, stop calling me Athena. It feels weird being outside the Sanctuary.”

                 The Dragon Saints just chuckled and nodded.

                 “Too much time with my master. But, anyway, did someone else has arrived?” he asked curiously mostly for someone. “Did Ikki say yes to the invitation?”

                 “Oh, well, you know him better than I do. He hasn’t answer and there are chances he arrives or chances he doesn’t arrive. Shun, on the other hand, was very happy to come and see you guys. Seiya said will come later because of some matters in the Sanctuary.” Saori looked satisfied at least knowing four of the five were there. “And Hyoga, he arrived last night very late so maybe he must be sleeping.”

“Really? Oh… I hope he doesn’t sleep too much. But if Hyoga and Shun are in the same place, Ikki will come running.”

“Of course. One is his brother and one is his husband.” Saori giggled by the surprise of Shiryu, who just looked at her very serious of that last comment. “Sorry…”

“Let me guess, you talked with Shiva last night.” He sighed to then smile trying to don’t laugh about those two and their friendship.

“I would love she comes to save me from this boring dinner. But, in the other hand, she would be flirting with all the handsome guys that will come.”

Both kept in silence, Saori thinking about how much fun would be seeing Shiva around acting as the peacock he was and flirting shamelessly with the other men, while Shiryu was a bit worried to the fact Hyoga was still sleeping. The only good thing about those downs of the Cygnus Saint was that for sure Ikki would appear any moment.

“Well, I hope our old brother arrives and…”

A horrible, thunderous, incredibly annoying and high pitch sound suddenly. And the continuation of said noise was moving from high to low but still terrible. Shiryu and Saori, with both hands over their ears, saw each other; the Dragon Saints expecting an answer from the goddess herself and she was just trying to see if he could have it by any guess.

Quickly as they could, they ran to the source of such atrocity just to find the music room, the one that had a beautiful classical old piano where Saori learned to play when so young, as well some books she used to take breaks time to time. But, something was sure, that sound wasn’t at all her beloved piano.

Without waiting any longer, or the few minutes their ears could survive, Shiryu opened the doors just to find a very funny image. Even the same Saori couldn’t hide a snort and take her phone to try to take a picture, Shiva needed to see this.

It was so noisy, it was a torture for their eats, but then it would be the death for the same Cygnus Saint, he who was causing such apocalyptic sound. Hyoga was holding a bagpipe and his cheeks were red as he was pushing all the air from his mouth, without noticing that he was closing his eyes for the noise and that inflammation inside his mouth. Wasn’t till Shiryu decided to take the bagpipe that Hyoga stopped and realised those two were there, his brother with not such pleasant face and Saori still giggling about that last scene.

“Oh… hello, guys.” Hyoga said with a low voice.

“What were you doing?!” Shiryu asked giving him back the instrument. “It sounded like you were killing a cat… or a bag of cats.”

“C’mon, I wasn’t playing that badly.”

“Hyoga, it was horrible.” Explained Saori looking at him now a bit serious. “We were going deaf.”

“Don’t worry, the speciality of Shiryu is getting blind.” he laughed, being interrupted by a profanity in Chinese.

He didn’t look that happy as he crossed his arms.

“Did Ikki told you to make fun of me in the moment you saw me?”

“No… yes.” Hyoga smiled. “But I did it because I had the opportunity.”

Before a fight pitched began between the Cygnus and Dragon Saints, Saori decided to finished with just moving in the middle of those two.

“I don’t think I’m the one who needs to give you a talk about being respectful towards your own brother, but I would like to know what are you doing here and why playing that.”

For Shiryu wasn’t that hard to calm down and, at a certain point, he was used to hearing those jokes time to time, he even laughed at them, but the whole bagpipe thing just made him go to the border of his patience. Anyway, Hyoga decided to place said instrument over a table and tried to explain those questions Saori just did.

“Well, you invited us to the party.”

“That’s obvious.” Said Saori.

“There you go your answer.” He smiled once again, but the way Saori and Shiryu were looking at him explained they weren't very happy about that answer. “Fine, I was practising the bagpipe.”

“Practising?” asked his brother. “As in ‘I know how to play it so I will practice’ kind of way?” he chuckled a bit. “No, that was like ‘I don’t even know how to play it so let’s give a try’ kind of way.”

“Excuse me? I did take classes before today.”

“How many?”

Saori asked to then see how Hyoga took a pause. He looked around and then at his hand counting with his fingers. Totally, with one hand he could count them and even some fingers were left.

“Ok, maybe I didn’t take many classes but I know how to use it.”

“How to use it? Really?” Shiryu was trying to don’t laugh as he saw the bagpipe.

“Sorry, sorry, ‘Mr. Perfect’, but I still have time. I was thinking in play tonight.”

“Wait, in the party?” Saori asked feeling already the shame of said action.

But Shiryu just denied with the head.

“Don’t worry, his shyness wouldn’t even let him say his name in front of those people.”

“Exactly.” Hyoga nodded. “I just want to practice a bit before Ikki arrives.”

Thanks to this, the owner of the manor and the Dragon Saint looked, once again, at each other. It wasn’t totally needed to ask why in the underworld Hyoga wanted to practice before his brother arrived because their faces said everything. Even so, Saori wanted to let Hyoga know.

“Ikki?” she asked.

“Yeah, he will come tonight, maybe after the party.”

“At least we know he will come.” Shiryu smiled. “But why to play the bagpipes?”

The half-Russian smiled but at the same time looked a bit nervous.

“We did a bet.”

Of course, for sure. Those two ‘birds’ really liked to make those kinds of things. If they weren’t playing pranks around the Sanctuary, they would play them to each other or do bets. A big part of them beginning by the hands of the Phoenix Saint.

“What kind of bet? Let’s see who breaks Shiryu’s patience first?”

“Oh, no.” Hyoga laughed a bit because of this. “We did this bet the last time we saw each other, beginning the exactly next day. We need to learn something new and show it off today. To make it better, Ikki chose for me and I chose for him.”

That, in comparison with their pranks, was almost harmless. If it wasn’t because before open the doors, Shiryu and Saori suffered a bit. But now they were curious about what Hyoga chose for his best friend and brother.

“Crochet, obviously.” He laughed as it was the best idea in the world.

“You gave to one of the most dangerous Bronze Saints two big needles. Great.” Shiryu explained. “Weapons, in fewer words.”

“Anything is a weapon in his hands, anyway. But, here is my problem, I thought he wouldn’t do it because was too… you know.”

“Girly?” Saori said a bit serious.

“Ah… well… don’t tell to Shiva I said that because I didn’t even say it. But, let me explain.” He said pointing at the bagpipes. “I didn’t practice or asked for a teacher because I thought Ikki wouldn’t try it at all. Then last week he sent me a picture of a scarf he did!”

“Ikki is doing crochet?” Shiryu said with big eyes to then… laugh hard. “You must be kidding me!”

“What’s wrong about a guy doing that?” asked Saori a bit annoyed.

“Nothing at all.” The half-Chinese said being honest. “But Ikki doing crochet, that’s another story.  I mean, myself I know how to do cross-stitch because of Shunrei, but Ikki?”

Now that he mentioned it, Saori couldn’t indeed picture that in his head. For sure that man burned more than one scarf before the one he showed to Hyoga. And that’s why she laughed.

“Maybe he bought the scarf just to scare you.” She said in the end. “Don’t worry.”

For a second Hyoga thought about it and maybe she was right about it, Ikki would like to prank him a bit before seeing him. He sighed and nodded with a smile, to then being interrupted by one of the servants of the manor.

“Miss Saori?”

“Miss Saori?” another voice interrupted. It was Ikki, holding a bag pack and a suitcase. “Yeah, of course, ‘Miss’.”

“Nice to see you, Ikki.” She answered with a diplomatic smile.

“Brother!” the Cygnus Saint moved quickly to say hello to his brother with a bump fist while Shiryu helped him with the suitcase.

“How was your fly?” he asked.

“Ah, I could use my speed.”

“You asked a first-class ticket.” Saori interrupted.

“Yeah, but the same people of the economic class spend the same hours than me who was drinking a margarita.” Ikki explained.

“And why are you here so early? You said you would come after the party.” Asked Hyoga.

The older brother just placed his arm around his neck.

“The party don’t start till I walk in, bro.”

“It is a gala party, very serious, Ikki.” Said Saori.

The Phoenix Saint looked at her without expression to then chuckled.

“I will not go to that party. Hey, Shiryu, do you want to go to a bar with me?”

“No? Saori invited me tonight to…”

“Ok, ok, fine, then I will go with Hyoga. You both know he will be an awkward duck around those fancy people.” He sighed. “But anyway, I’m here and I’m hungry.”

“We were going to eat something… before your brother decided to put cats in a bag and blow to them.” Shiryu explained.

Hyoga laughed because of this as he removed Ikki’s arm from his shoulders.

“See? I did my part, Ikki.” He smiled a bit proud of himself. “You just bought a scarf.”

“No.” Ikki answered while taking his backpack to open it. “In fact, I did something for you and for Shun.”

Once again, Saori couldn’t wait to take his phone and send that picture to her friend. Ikki quickly placed a crochet hat over Hyoga’s head, one that looked like a white duck with an angry face and the same symbol the Cygnus’ armour had in the helmet. His young brother just saw it and realised that there couldn’t exist a shop that sells that, and much less the scarf that has some kind of chains as patterns.

“Well, I can play the bagpipe for you…”

“No!” said Shiryu and Saori in the same time.

Of course, this made Ikki be a bit serious as he didn’t understand why they reacted like that.

“Believe me, Hyoga did practice. He knows how to use it.” Smiled Saori. “I have a better idea, let’s get ready to eat something. C’mon, Hyoga, I will help you to place the bagpipe in… that… another bag.”

Hyoga felt a bit relieved with this and nodded to then follow Saori to the other side of the room to do as she said. Shiryu now was with Ikki alone and decided to ask him something else as he was speaking in a low voice.

“May I ask you something?” Ikki let him know that he could with a sound. “Why a bagpipe?”

“Why not?” Ikki moved his shoulders.

“Yeah but, why that bet? Lately, you both do weird bets.” The Dragon Saint began to think about it. “You challenged him to learn to cook, he failed a bit, to be honest. Then you had this weird bet about finding a job and now this? Why?”

The Phoenix Saint smiled and nodded.

“I can’t take care of Hyoga 24/7, you know?” he said, with a touch of sadness.

“Neither of Shun, but you don’t do weird bets with him.”

“And I don’t call him every day either.” Ikki said with a low voice as well, but strong enough to make Shiryu know that he was serious. “Look, I know that both of them are capable of many things and even more. My young brother is strong and Hyoga as well, but the difference is that sometimes, some terrible times, Hyoga doesn’t feel like that. So, at least he had his mind busy, don’t you think so?”

The other brother saw him with a smile and some proud and respect to then turn to see how Hyoga and Saori were fighting with that instrument. He sighed.

“I get it. But he needs another kind of help.”

“While he gets it, I will do more of those weird bets.” Ikki chuckled. “Maybe the next one will be doing an appointment with a psychologist, I don’t know, I just help as I can.”

“And that’s great, Ikki.” Shiryu patted his back in a friendly way as the others came close.

“What’s great?” Hyoga said to then remove the hat from his head. “Apart from this abomination of Swan.”

“Adorable abomination.” Said Saori. “At least that’s what Shiva thought.”

“Thanks a lot, you send her pictures.” Sighed Hyoga. “She will not stop bothering me now.”

“Quack, quack, mother fucker.” Smiled Ikki.

“Anyway, what’s great you asked? Ikki decided he will cook for us, right? Some pizza or maybe sushi or what’s on the menu, chef?” Shiryu joked a bit.

“Whatever you want, just give me the ingredients.” He quickly held Hyoga from the neck and placed the hat again over his head. “Let’s go, duck.”

“Oh! Just don’t hurt me!”

Those two began their usual fight as moving outside the room while Saori and Shiryu looked at them and just broke the silence for one single thing.

“Let’s hide that bagpipe.”