#but turkey in the straw???? hello?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lunartadpole · 2 years ago

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December, 1991.

Welcome to Hawkins

It's snowing, white puffs hit against the windscreen in a beautiful manner. And there's a certain tension in the car as it drives past the all too familiar sign. It's like a weight pressed down on his chest, and the thickness of the air makes it difficult to breathe. Eddie doesn't know for certain if Nancy can feel it too, but as the car rolls down the road, her demeanor changes; she straightens up her back and sighs heavily, like she's only just realised what a horrific idea this whole thing is. Whereas, Eddie realised that on the drive to the airport.

They didn't talk much on the plane. Or, well, they did but just not about anything they actually wanted to talk about. As Nancy went on about one of her stories and a lead she was chasing, Eddie could tell that she was just itching to know why he left, why he didn't tell anyone he was going; and Eddie couldn't really blame her, because the whole time she was talking his mind was just screaming for him to ask How's Wayne? Is he still living in Loch Nora? Is Steve? What does Steve look like now? Has his freckles faded from the lack of summer sun? Has his hair grown? Has he cut it? Does he miss Eddie? Does he hate him?

"Is it alright if we stop off at my house first?" Nancy interrupts the silence between them which had otherwise been filled with radio static. "Just so I can drop off my bags and say hello to my Mom. I'll take you to the trailer park after."

The trailer park?

He must say that out loud, because Nance shoots him a side-glance of confusion. Then realisation dawns on her. "Oh yeah, right. You wouldn't know. Uh, Wayne got a new trailer after you left. It's right next to Max's."

She's purposely leaving out details, Eddie doesn't like feeling like he's on the outside of something. But again, he doesn't press. Because he's scared of the answer. Instead, he turns his gaze back out the window, watching as the tree line morphs into town. And Christ, it's like Eddie never left, or Hawkins has just been staggered in time, constantly unchanging. Frozen like the ice on the road. They drive downtown, all the stores swarmed with people fighting to get the last turkey, or the last toy for their kids; Eddie remembers Steve coming home with a blackeye and a turkey that looked like it had been exploded and put back together, dramatically recounting his experience with a feisty old woman like he was some kind of war hero. And a ghost of a smile finds its way to his lips at the thought of Steve Harrington. Stupid, sweet, thoughtful Steve Harrington, who only bought a turkey that year because Eddie told him he and Wayne never did the whole Christmas Dinner thing.

They drive past Family Video, and if that isn't a big kicker for nostalgia. The building is lit up with those awful flickering lights, and windows are decorated with the same Santa window stickers and tinsel Eddie was forced to put up when he drew the short straw. He swore he was going to get frostbite putting up those lights, all the while Robin and Steve laughed at him with their warm coffee cups heating up their hands. "Bastards," Eddie spat, but he was smiling, teeth chattering from the cold.

He wonders if those two still work there, wonders if the break room still smells of moldy cheese from Keith's lunch. He wonders if Robin was the first person Steve called when he came home from work to an empty house, only to find Eddie's room cleaned out. He slumps down in his chair as the video store fades out of view in the side mirror.

Sensing his change in attitude, Nancy nudges his arm. "You okay?"

Eddie chews on the inside of his cheek. No, he thinks, no he is definitely not okay. This whole thing was one huge fucking mistake!

Nancy thinks for a moment, probably deciding what or what not to disclose to Eddie. What is her place to tell and what isn't. "Mike is gonna lose his shit when he sees you," she tries to joke, shaking her head fondly. "God. You know he grew out his hair? It's like, like yours now."

Eddie peaks over at her. "Really?"

She nods. "And Mom keeps calling me to complain about him blasting his 'screaming music' at all hours of the day. Apparently Wayne gave him some of your old tapes you left behind." Her expression softens. "You really made an impact on him."

Something akin to pride swells in Eddie's chest, replacing the feeling of his insides doing backflips. "No, I didn't- I'm not-"

"Don't do that. Don't undermine yourself. Those kids really looked up to you. I remember Mike coming home from school after you offered him to join your stupid club, he was so excited. You like, made him feel less alone. Or something."

And Eddie well, he doesn't know what to say to that.

"So don't worry so much. They'll be thrilled to see you."

"Yeah," Eddie huffs, "at least someone will."

They drive the rest of the way to the Wheeler House in silence. And when the car pulls into the driveway, Nancy doesn't move. Eddie looks over to her, and she seems to be in deep thought, debating whether or not to go in.

That's the thing about Nancy Wheeler, Eddie thinks. Everyone thinks she's so difficult to read, but you just gotta know what to look for; Nance chews on her nails when she's unsure, she gets this glassy look in her eyes and this twitch in her lips. Eddie saw her many times after Vecna. He doesn't think anyone else did.

"I don't have to go in," he supplies, already expecting her to ask him to stay in the car.

She snaps out of whatever haze she trapped herself in. "What?"

"It's not a problem, I get that your folks may not be too happy having a former wanted murder back in the house."

"What?" She repeats. "Oh, Eddie, no. God no. It's not you, it's just." A deep sigh escapes her. "You're not the only one avoiding home."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks, only a little offended. Because he's not avoiding anything, thank you very much.

Nancy pops open the driver-side door, climbing out into the Hawkins Winter Weather. "It means," she says, "that things between me and my parents aren't great right now."

Vague. Leaving out details on purpose. Eddie doesn't know what to expect anymore, but he guesses she doesn't owe him any explanation. He certainly didn't give her one.

Eddie follows suit, pulling his old leather jacket close in a futile attempt to block out the nipping cold. He exhales deeply, breath turning to mist in front of his eyes in that way that makes him feel like a dragon, before going to help Nancy pull her various suitcases out of the trunk of her car. But he gets about halfway towards her when a small, porcelain figure on the snow covered grass catches his eye.

For a second he thinks it's new, because surely it has to be. But no, it's the exact same colour, there's still that chip on its large round nose, and there's obvious cracks in the structure.

Nancy catches him staring. "Oh yeah," she huffs a laugh, "Mom super glued it back together. You two never did tell me how you broke it."

Eddie looks at her with a smirk. "I have no idea what you mean."

December, 1987

"How are you not cold?"

It's the first time Eddie's ever been invited to the Wheeler's Christmas Party. And he thinks it might be the last if the look Karen Wheeler gave him when he walked in dressed, not in a Christmas jumper like the invite said, but rather his usual attire of a leather jacket. Not that he minds though, there is only so much cheery Christmas music and judgemental stares from Nancy's neighbours he can take before he needs a minute outside.

Eddie watches the smoke from his lips evaporate, mingling with the cool night air. Warm yellow light from the house bleeds out from the open door, and vanishes when it shuts again. It wasn't snowing yet, but he suspected that it would start soon.

"It's like, below freezing out here." Steve appears beside him, shivering despite his many, many layers of clothes he insisted on earing. The top layer is an awfully ugly Christmas sweater that Eddie bought him yesterday for this very occasion. It looks incredibly itchy, but Steve insisted on wearing it.

The other boy leans against the wall and holds his hand out to Eddie, to which Eddie passes him the cigarette with a smug look on his face.

"Thought you were quitting?" Eddie japs a finger at Steve's side. "Thought it was turning your hair grey?"

"Yeah well," Steve holds the cigarette up to his mouth, taking a long drag and Eddie pretend that he's not staring at the way his boyfriends cheeks hollow as he does so. "I'll quit tomorrow. You okay?"

And god Eddie loves that man.

"Honestly?" he sighs, "I kinda hate it here."

He doesn't expect Steve's shoulders to completely drop in relief. "Thank god. Listen, I love Mrs. Wheeler. I do. But this is the most boring party I've ever been to. And I was at Chuck Myers' Spring Brake party. That was boring."

Eddie laughs, shaking his head fondly. "Yeah, I could do without the middle aged women staring at me everytime I walk by them."

Steve frowns. He loops an arm around Eddie's waist and pulls him closer. "They're just old bitches. Don't pay them any mind."

They're so close Eddie can smell the spiked Eggnog on Steve's breath. And he panics when he hears laughter from inside, trys to pull away. "People might see us."

"And?" Steve smiles, the cigarette in his hand long discarded on the ground. He holds onto Eddie's hands, they're calloused yet soft in his. Again, he urges him closer and plants a chaste kiss on Eddie's cheek and that makes Eddie giggle like a school girl, so goes to give Steve a proper kiss but he doesn't get the chance when the song inside changes.

"Ah! I love this song," Steve slurs, and Eddie begins to suspect he's had a bit too much to drink. He can only imagine what Robin's like inside.

The song in question is another generic Christmas tune, one the radio can blast over and over and people keep listening to because it's catchy. Naturally, Eddie detests it, much like most holiday songs. He groans, "Of course you do."

Steve doesn't take the, frankly obvious, bait to rehash the same playful argument they have almost every time they turn on the radio. Instead, he starts to move in some sort of way that Eddie guesses could be considered dancing, and he manoeuvres Eddie's hands so that he's forced to join in.

It's an odd, arrhythmia rocking motion Eddie finds himself locked in. He thinks that Steve might have been going for a slow dance sorta thing, but Lord knows Harrington couldn't dance to save his life so he settles for whatever it is he's doing. And you can't really hear the music, since they're outside it's quiet through the walls, making it a bit awkward but Eddie doesn't care. The way Steve laughs, all carefree and thoughtless, the way he doesn't do very often, is music enough for him.

So Eddie let's himself dance, on the front doorstep of Karen Wheeler's house, and he lets himself forget that there was even a party at all; that he was here for an entirely different reason other than to dance the night away with his boyfriend - his boyfriend, Steve Harrington, that's still so surreal. He even forgets where he is.

Smash!

Momentarily, at least.

Steve and Eddie pull apart at the sound of the noise. They look at the ground, horrified to find the shattered body of a lone garden gnome broken into a dozen pieces. They stand over it, staring. Then Steve looks up at Eddie with a pale face.

"You," he says quietly, "you murdered him."

"Me?! He's closer to your foot! You stepped on him during your awful attempt at dancing!"

Steve's cheeks turn red, Eddie doesn't know if it's from embarrassment or from the cold. "Yeah, well, standing here over a dead body isn't going to magically fix it."

"What do you want to do then?" Eddie huffs.

As if on cue, they hear Mrs. Wheeler's muffled voice through the door, proudly declaring something to her guests. They stare at the door until Steve rattles around in the pocket of his jeans and pulls out his car keys.

He stares at Eddie. "Last one to the car has to tell Nancy."

Eddie is bolting before he finishes the sentence. The quiet music from the party is replaced by Steve's laughter. Music to his ears.

December, 1991

There's the smell of cookies wafting through the air when Eddie trudges through the front door after Nancy. She calls out that she's home and instantly there's footsteps rushing towards the hall. Mrs. Wheeler appears in the living room doorway. She's wearing a stained apron and her hair, now back to its natural brown, is pulled back out of her face.

"Nancy," she smiles, and pulls her daughter into a tight embrace. "Welcome home! Though I wish you called ahead, I'm a bit of a mess." She laughs and then turns to the living room, where a young, blonde haired girl sits on the couch. "Holly, come say hi to your sister."

Holly, who has grown significantly since Eddie last saw her at that Christmas party, merely waves. She doesn't even pull her attention from the cartoons she's watching. Nancy gives a curt wave back.

Mrs. Wheeler's eyes land on Eddie, quietly lingering in the doorway, and her expression hardens for a split moment.

Nancy coughs. "Mom, you remember Eddie, right? Eddie Munson."

"Of course!" she exclaims, still smiling but it's tighter, forced. Her movements become wary and Eddie is very quickly reminded why he left in the first place. Eddie feels very pinned down under her state. "It's so good to see you again."

Lies.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Nancy warily looking around. "Is, uhm, is dad here?" she asks, and that's enough to take Karen's mind of off Eddie and onto something more pressing it seems, by the way her happy expression crumbles into one of uncomfortable sorrow.

"He's working til seven." she tells her. Nancy breathes a sigh of relief. "But, maybe you could stay here this year," Mrs. Wheeler tries, "I'm sure if you brought Steve over then maybe-"

"Where's Mike?" Nancy interrupts, just when Eddie perked up at the mention of Steve's name.

"In the basement."

She turns to Eddie, giving him a sort of urgent 'go" look. Though he's reluctant - and curious, knowing she's only telling him to go just so he doesn't hear the rest of the conversation - Eddie makes his way to the basement. He gives a jerky nod to Holly on his way. She doesn't even acknowledge him. With her large, square shaped glasses, she looks a bit like her dad.

The stairs to the basement creaks under his weight. As he descends down further, Eddie can hear quiet laughter underneath the sound of slow music turned down so low, he can't quite make it out. The basement has that same BO stench that Eddie became familiar with during the many, lengthy Hellfire sessions he held down here. In some strange way, its comforting.

When he gets to the bottom of the steps, he starts to think that maybe he should have called out his arrival before hand; surely that would have saved Mike - and himself - the embarrassment of Eddie walking in on Mike and Will - Will Byers, Eddie fucking knew it - making out on the sofa.

He clears his throat, and takes a sick sort of humor in watching the two boys literally jump away from each other in panic because yup, been there kid. "Y'know, if you're going to have a gay make out session, the best place to do it probably isn't your mom's basement."

Mike all but yells in shock and horror. And Will seems to freeze like a deer in headlights, sitting stiffly with a rapidly growing red face. A second passes like this before Mike blinks, once, twice, and shoots up from the couch with furrowed eyebrows.

"Eddie?!"

Nancy wasn't lying. Standing in front of Mike now, all 5'11 of him, it was like looking in a fun house mirror. His face has thinned out, more sharp edges than last Eddie saw him; he's tall, incredibly so, and his hair, full of wild, unruly curls, has fallen down to his shoulders. He's dressed in a, clearly loved, Black Sabbath shirt that Eddie actually thinks is his, and he can't help the wide smile that splits his face in half.

But Mike is not smiling, well he was. His expression starts to cycle through a mix of happy, confused, angry. And then Eddie gets the air knocked out of his lungs when Mike barrels into him. Eddie thinks he's crying a bit.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Eddie tells them. About New York, about writing. He revels in that same old warmth that comes when the two boys laugh at his jokes, or when Will's eyes light up at the description of the New York skyline at night. Eddie and Will spent lots of time together before he left, both of them eager to have another DM to talk to, plan campaigns with. He looks at Will now, and he still sees the face of that kid that used to show up at his trailer with his tattered notebook and a head full of new ideas; it doesn't matter that his face has finally come into its own, or that he finally let his hair grow out past that ridiculous bowl cut, it's still Will Byers. They tell him about their own lives too, briefly, about school and life in general, and seem to have forgotten that Eddie caught them, what he walked in on. And that's fine with Eddie, they'll talk about it when they're ready, who is he to pry?

The three of them sat there for what realistically couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but felt like eons in the best way possible. Until raised voices upstairs cut through their conversation. Eddie recognises Nancy's voice and assumes the other is her mom.

Mike rolls his eyes and deadpans, "Oh great, we're back to this."

Curiosity gets the better of him, and despite knowing he shouldn't pry Eddie asks anyway. "They fight alot?"

"Just like, all the time," Mike groans and Will snickers at his antics. "God it's been like this for two years now, it's a miracle Nance even comes home at this point."

"Of course she'd come home," Will interjects, "Nancy's not like that."

There's something more to that sentence, something both Mike and Will understand. Yet another thing Eddie is being left out on.

"Two years?" he whistles, laughing sarcastically, "What could she have possibly done? Misspelt a word in her college application?"

Mike stares at him with wide eyes. "She hasn't told you yet? Her and Ste-"

"Eddie!"

Nancy's voice cuts through the conversation. Eddie looks to where she's standing at the top of the stairs, cheeks burning red with a fiery gaze in her eye. Beside him, Mike stands immediately, concern painting his face but Nancy just shrugs him off.

"C'mon," she says, "We're leaving."

Before Eddie can blink he's hauling Nance's suitcases back out to the car to the tune of Mrs. Wheeler begging, pleading, with Nancy to stay. Nancy doesn't listen to her, and she manages to keep her composure right until they pull out of the driveway, then tears start forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Nance?" Eddie puts a hand on her shoulder. "Nance, hey, what happened?"

She laughs, wetly. "Nothing. It's fine. My mom just- shit." Her grip on the steering wheel tightens. "I'll Uhm, I'll drop you off at your Uncle's place I just-"

"Hey, hey." Eddie rushes to comfort her. "It's alright, I'm honestly in no rush. Just, go wherever you need to go. Okay?"

Nancy takes a series of deep breaths, and her tight lock on the wheel loosens. "Okay."

The car turns right, and Eddie doesn't even need to ask where they're going; he remembers the road like the back of his hand. Loch Nora. Steve Harrington's house.

And it's different.

Not massively so. In fact, the only difference Eddie can see is the change in colour, from that ugly steel grey to a soft yellow. Had the snow been melted, he would have seen rows of flowerbeds but with the garden frozen over the only thing standing there are a couple of poorly made snowmen, one significantly smaller than the other but both finished off with hats and scarfs and, of course, carrot noses. Eddie spies the sight of that large, perfect Christmas tree he and Steve spent hours decorating so that everything was just right. The house stands out from the others, and whether that's because of the change in colour or the extravagant Christmas lights only it has, Eddie doesn't know.

And there's a moment where Eddie forgets where he is. A moment where he's not in the car with Nancy, but rather in his Van with bags upon bags of groceries beside him, and he's getting ready to navigate - completely destroy - Steve's kitchen in a futile attempt to cook dinner for the two of them. It feels like he's coming home, like he's never been away. Like it hasn't been four years, and things between him and Steve aren't completely ruined, shattered to bits by his own hand.

"I'll only be a minute." Nancy tells him, obviously picking up on something he isn't given the side eyed glare she shoots him. 'It's probably best if you stay here." But hell no, Eddie finally feels whole again and he's going to chase this feeling into tomorrow. He's out of the car before Nancy can even stop him.

Walking up to the door, Eddie's in a hazy trance. Memories upon memories flood the forefront of his mind; Him and Steve playing in the snow; Him and Steve watching horror movies; Him and Steve coming back from one of their summer drives, the sound of ABBA blasting much to Eddie's playful dismay. He gets to the door with Nancy yelling after him.

He lifts his fist to the door, but it swings open before he can knock. And that trance Eddie found himself in quickly fades as the smell of citrus and burning wood hits his face, and there's a child standing at the door.

A little girl, with curly brown hair tied back into pigtails, with a freckled tan face and wide hazel eyes that look into Eddie's soul. She's wearing a pink tutu and some kind of sports jersey, Eddie doesn't know what sport though. She blinks at him in a curious manner, tilting her head to the side, then her gaze stares past him and her face lights up in a face splitting smile.

"Nance! She screams excitedly, and sprints off in a waddle. Eddie watches as Nancy rushes up to meet her with the same smile on her face, and she picks her up in her arms and twirls her about. The little girl laughs ecstatically. Eddie's face pales at the similarities between the two girls.

"Wheeler, thank god you're home," A voice calls from the house. Eddie turns to the source and his heart swells at the sight.

Robin fucking Buckley. Standing in the doorway in all her chaotic glory. Her hair is slightly longer now and just as untamed as it used to be; she too is wearing a tutu and she looks like she's been running if her red cheeks and heavy breaths are anything to say about it.

She rubs her eyes, laughing in a pathetic huff of air. "I swear if I have to watch one more episode of Sesame Street I'm going to kill mys-"

For someone who always seemed so open, Eddie has a hard time figuring out what emotion lies in Robin's eyes when she finally looks at Eddie; is it happiness? Confusion? Sadness? He doesn't know. She stares at him, with wide unblinking eyes, and time seems to slow down for her as she takes the sight of him in. Eddie feels a little exposed watching her look him up and down, and he'd probably shift uncomfortably under her gaze, if he wasn't so fucking happy to see her.

"Hey Rob," he smirks, trying, and definitely failing, to sound sauve. "Miss me."

In response to his question, Robin gives him her fist colliding with his nose.

tag list :)

@thermofisherscientific

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve/eddie #steveddie #steddie ficlet #stranger things ficlet #Nancy Wheeler #Robin Buckly #part 3?? Maybe??#I promise Steve will be in the next one #and he's a single dilf now hehe

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kadavernagh · 1 year ago

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TIMING: Current (prior to dash convo) LOCATION: At the Medical Examiner's office PARTIES: Regan and Kaden (Featuring old friend Janice the janitor) SUMMARY: There's a hungry ker stalking the morgue, and Regan called animal control to come deal with it. She didn't expect a disgruntled French officer, Kaden, to make a mess of things -- and himself -- in the process.

The vulture had been there for hours, and the whole time, Regan had been there watching it. From atop the morgue, it stayed still as a statue. And all day, it had been dive bombing everyone coming in or out, desperately trying to get into the building. Scratching up Marcy had been the last straw. Though she had a certain appreciation for scavengers, this one was not welcome and not getting near her decedents. If she got close enough to grab it, she could – no, not here. She wouldn’t do that in this place. And besides, the bird was too swift and too strong for her to grab and subdue just like that. What species was it, anyway? Regan frowned, taking in its serrated maw and weird, scraggly lizard tail. Non-native, probably.

She knew she needed help. Sighing, she dialed what was surely a popular number in this town. “Hello, is this Animal Control? This is Dr. Kavanagh down at the morgue. Yes, the medical examiner. Listen, do you have– no, no this is important.” She pressed her hand to her forehead, wondering how she could explain this without sounding insane or, worse, incompetent. “There’s this vulture. Trying to get into the morgue. Yes, I know it can’t– it’s attacking people who are entering. What’s it look like? It’s a beautiful building, big sign on the front that says– oh, you mean the vulture. Um, it has wings, a naked head, and sharp talons. I’ll be here, thank you.”

She already felt sorry for whatever poor rookie they were sending, and could only hope they came prepared for those claws.

Kaden sat in the car, pinching his nose between his brow. He had pulled into the parking lot of the morgue a minute or so earlier but he didn’t want to get out of his truck right away. The report that came over the radio played back in his mind again. A large vulture attacking people at the morgue. He couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been to hope that for once, it was an actual vulture. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy, he could see the problem from here and it sure as shit wasn’t a vulture.

He could see it looming on the rooftops from the van. He also saw someone in a lab coat waiting in the parking lot and approaching him, likely impatient. “Animal control,” he said as he swung the door open and headed to the back of the truck to pull out his weapons. “You called about a vulture?” The cry coming from the monster on the roof was far from anything natural, nothing close to what a vulture sounded like. Kaden put his hand over his brow to shield his face from the sun as he tried to get a better look at it. Fucking ker if he ever saw one. Yeah, it was time for the rifle. No way could he even put up a front trying to snare-pole that.

Regan watched the bird from a safe distance until she saw a car pull into the lot, helpfully labeled as Wicked’s Rest’s Animal Control. She had been careful not to come close enough to incur the vulture’s wrath, but watching it sit there and pluck blood and tissue from its claws only made her more eager to take care of this problem. But not angry. No, she couldn’t be angry. Regan turned to the vehicle, watching as a uniformed man stepped out of the car. He had only been here for a few seconds and already looked exhausted. He also sounded very French. “Yes, that was me.” She considered extending a hand, then thought better of it. “Dr. Kavanagh, Medical Examiner. And birdwatcher, now.” She eyed him, scanning for anything he had on hand that might be able to subdue the animal. She wasn’t sure what she expected. Maybe one of those long nets to fish debris out of swimming pools.

“Are you familiar? What species do you think it is?” She knew of turkey vultures – there were plenty of them around here – but this bird had none of that familiarity. She’d also never had a turkey vulture look at her… quite like this. The bird’s pinprick pupils bore right into Regan’s, then Animal Control’s, as if issuing a challenge. Come get me if you can.

“Officer Langley,” Kaden offered. He wasn’t sure who he expected to meet him once he got there but he wouldn’t have guessed it would be Dr. Kavanagh. Mostly because he assumed it would be someone who worked the front desk or an intern or someone, but also because it didn’t look like she saw a whole lot of sunlight. This must be unusual for her. “Yeah, I’m familiar alright,” he said, catching another glance at the winged beast clinging to the rooftop. “It’s a type of vulture,” he said without a moment’s pause. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to come up with alternative explanations for the supernatural. Hell, that was part of his training. “Likes to eat dead things. Guess that’s why it’s here.”

He pulled the gun out of the back and made sure it was loaded, shoving a few extra rounds into the pouch looped around his belt and hanging off his hip. He grabbed the pistol, too, just in case. Before he turned back to face the doctor, he rummaged around until he felt the knots and rope all strung together. “Here,” he said, handing the net to the medical examiner. “If you plan to stick around, I could use the extra hands.” At the very least it would be helpful if she got it closer to the doorway.

Kaden backed up and aimed his gaze towards the roof again, scoping out any potential angles to get at the monster. “Putain,” he said under his breath. He sighed as he slung his rifle across his back and grabbed the snare-pole (though that one was mostly for show). “The sun’s directly behind this piece of–” He cleared his throat and corrected himself. “Behind the bird, I mean. No way I can get a clean shot on it. We’re going to have to lure it down.”

“Nice to meet you, officer.” And it was true – it would be nice to meet anyone who could get rid of this vulture. And Kaden seemed like a weathered expert. He recognized the species and came prepared, something Regan always appreciated. She figured she could simply step back and watch the ordeal, but when a net was pushed toward her, she frowned down at it. “I guess this is better than being armed with nothing at all,” she admitted. But the net felt strangely oversized in her hands; she grappled with it for a moment before her fingers tightened around the knots. As with all things, she would learn to wield it, if it was required of her.

“What did you just say?” Regan blinked at him, backing up toward the door to have that base covered. That was the bird’s favorite spot. Even now, its keen eyes were staring down, just waiting for someone else to step out so it could have an opportunity to stuff its way inside the building or divebomb someone deeply unlucky. “Now doesn’t seem like an ideal time to get poutine. Maybe once this has been taken care of. It’s an awfully fatty food, though – hardly something I would recommend in terms of–”

Of course, the door opened. “Wait!” Regan shouted, the glass pane of the door wobbling in response. Oh, feces. But it was unheeded. From the other side, Janice the janitor paused for a second at Regan’s sharp voice, then swung the door open with a deeply concerned look on his face. Didn’t Marcy tell everyone not to leave the morgue? Did she forget the janitor? The bird shrieked and stretched its great wings. Before Regan could even fully process what was inevitably about to happen, the vulture went careening toward Janice, talons-first. It was so frenzied, so ravenous, that a puff of feathers shed from its wings as it tore through the air. Janice screamed as his view was quickly obscured by the brutal bird, and just barely ducked out of the way in time for only his hat to be clawed off his head.

“What?” Kaden had no idea why she was asking about food right now. And poutine of all things. Was she Canadian or something? Didn’t make any sense but he didn’t have time to dwell on that as the door to the morgue swung open. “Putain de merde,” he grumbled again. That was not the kind of bait he was looking for.

The doctor yelled before he could say anything and it felt like pins digging into his ear drums. Kaden winced and had to fight back the urge to let his hands fly to his ears. Merde, he was better than this, trained better. A simple shout shouldn’t have been enough to set off his hearing, as sensitive as it was. It was enough to distract him, though. Enough to keep him from leaping at the door before the man walked out and enough to make him fumble with his weapon as the monster flew down, talons ready to strike.

The guy was fucking lucky that all the ker got was his hat. It could have easily crushed his skull. But now the beast was close. Kaden aimed the rifle and took a few quick shots at the monster. The creature’s screeching was nearly drowned out by the sounds of glass wall shattering behind it. “Shit.” He hadn’t considered the structure of the building before, he just shot first. It seemed the thing was at least injured, blood pouring from one of its wings but it also had a new way towards its prey. “Run!” Kaden shouted at the janitor who hadn’t gotten the hell out of there yet.

Regan didn’t flinch at the gunshots that rang out. A one, two, three that penetrated the air, the second bullet making the vulture plummet downward. The third got only the glass. That elicited a wince. Usually she was the one breaking it, and almost always because dumb, human emotion seeped in where it no longer belonged or fit. “Don’t worry about the glass. It doesn’t matter. It’s replaceable.” And as the vulture shrieked again, picking itself up and shedding blood as it spread its injured wing, she cared even less about the state of the window.

“Get out of here!” Regan shouted at Janice just as Kaden had, gesturing emphatically toward the cars parked on the lot. Janice’s eyes widened and he stood, stammering. He was not hired for his intelligence. Actually, Regan wasn’t sure why or when he was hired. It was way before her time. He was a decent enough janitor and left her well enough alone for her to appreciate him. “Go.” She repeated, gesturing again. With that, he nodded and bolted toward his car. Oh, so he was the Honda with the CLNUP vanity plate. That made sense.

“There shouldn’t be any other surprises,” Regan said, sprinting back toward Kaden and the writhing bird, who seemed to be none the worse for wear. Though, observing its clumsy soaring, maybe it was slowing down after all. “Marcy is still in there, and she told everyone in the lobby to stay put, I guess she just forgot – it doesn’t matter. Shoot it!” She held the net up lamely in her hands, though the bird was so far out of reach. “I don’t care if it lives or not. I just want it gone.” Although… “But if you do kill it, I want to keep it. It’s not migratory, is it? So try to shoot it somewhere that doesn’t damage the plumage too much.” It would already be a task cleaning up the existing bullet wound. “Um, if you can. Please.”

The janitor had enough sense to run. Good. One less thing to worry about. The ker flicked its wings, blood splattering all around as they did. It wasn’t ready to give up on a good meal. It crouched down, leaned into its heels and was about to lunge after the janitor. Shit. Kaden couldn’t let that happen, letting off another few rounds. One hit its side and the monster screamed, turning its focus to the hunter now instead.

Good. That’s what Kaden wanted.

The creature rocked back and pounced towards him, razor-sharp talons open wide and directed right to his chest. Fuck. Kaden threw himself out of the way and into shards of glass shattered on the concrete. He was thankful for his tough skin, there were only a few pieces that had sliced him open. Didn’t do much to stop the stinging, though. And it didn’t do much to stop the ker’s talons from ripping through his jeans and into his leg. Kaden grit his teeth and did his best not to scream out in pain. He grabbed a handful of shattered glass and threw it at the monster – enough to make it loosen its grip on his leg.

“I’m trying!” he shouted back at her as he scrambled to stand, fumbling for the rifle. The fuck did she think he was doing, anyway? Trying to make the building insurance rates go up? Putain.

He got his grip around the barrel but there wasn’t time to aim. Kaden twisted and slammed the end of the barrel into the beast, aiming for the wound in its side. It cried out and shirked away, turning towards the morgue. Putain de merde, it was going to go inside the building.

“Wait!” Regan yelled again, all too loud, as Kaden took a plunge and collected sprinkles of glass in his skin as he hit the ground like a lint roller. She was used to broken glass becoming a mainstay of her life, but others weren’t, and on the rare occasion she exposed others to these accidents, they often ended up stuck like pin cushions. She was already planning on getting him fixed up after, but the bird’s talons took a quick swipe at his leg and that made it a damn certainty. Regan grimaced against the obvious pain Kaden was in, and a scream rattled in her lungs, encouraging her to free it. It could help. It could spare more injury, could save a life. But she wasn’t ready to resort to that yet, and could only hope she was making the right decision.

As Kaden fumbled with the firearm, Regan tried to approach without the bird being alerted to her presence, net readied and taut between her hands. She wasn’t even sure she could successfully throw it over the vulture if she managed to get close enough, but she had to try. This wasn’t going well at all.

The round was fired first, and the bird called out in an undulating shriek as it tore into the air as quickly as it could and whirred straight toward the morgue. It couldn’t get inside, not without the door open, unless it was prepared to crash right through the –

If Regan thought she would be responsible for most of the broken glass today, she had another thing coming. The bird collided with the huge glass window that overhung the main door, and several panes and cracks shattered on impact, crashing to the ground in a million slivers. Regan’s mouth fell open. But the vulture, at least, wasn’t inside. The force of the impact seemed to really stun it, and it fell to the ground again squirming around in pain. “Can you get it now?” Regan called to Kaden, finding her words. “I – you can damage the plumage. It’s fine. Whatever. Your leg is less fine.” She swallowed thickly against her other concern. “And I don’t know if everyone inside is okay. That was a lot of glass.”

Damage the plumage? Putain de merde, was she actually concerned about damaging the goddamn plumage? If he had time, Kaden would have looked at her with stunned disbelief, but there wasn’t any to spare. The hunter pulled himself up, steadied his upper body as best as he could, and aimed the shotgun. He kept his gaze straight down the barrel. It was easy to let himself get flustered in these sorts of situations, his instinct was to act fast rather than act smart. But years of training had rewritten Kaden’s instincts and instead of allowing the pressure of time to force his hand, he breathed deep, letting time slow down as he lined up the shot. The monster was limping and clawing its way towards the morgue, determined to get at the corpses waiting to be its meal.

Kaden inhaled, looked down the barrel and aimed at the creature’s chest. It was bobbing up and down, but the hunter exhaled and let the gun settle into place, still, and he waited. Waited. The ker bobbed down. Waited. The ker began to rise back up and—

Bang.

The bullet tore straight through the monster’s heart, its last cry ringing out as it crumbled to the ground, twitching and writhing before going still and silent. Kaden pushed himself up from the floor, doing what he could to avoid the glass shattered around him. He approached the beast and gave it a nudge with the toe of his boot. Its limp limb flopped up and crashed right back down to the ground. Seemed dead enough. But Kaden wasn’t one for taking chances.

Bang.

One more shot right through its skull. Better safe than sorry. “Should be good now,” he said, turning back to Dr. Kavanagh. He gave the scene a quick glance. Shattered windows. Glass everywhere. A monster corpse slumped on the ground. And blood splattered all over the place. “Uh, sorry about the mess.”

She felt it – the moment the bullet did its work and the vulture’s heart stopped beating, and it became another one of her dead. Her flesh prickled and for a moment, it was like she felt everything the bird no longer could, a rush of life exploding under her skin and inside her skull. Regan sighed, content, and she couldn’t say whether it was because of how pleasant the company suddenly felt – the dead vulture, that is – or because the threat was handled. As the gunshot echoed in her ears, only the inert remains of the bird held her attention. “You got it.” She said, acknowledging a job well done.

Regan scanned the warzone of glass covering the parking lot and let out a whistle that only caused another chunk of fractured glass to pop out of its window frame. She’d done worse. Saol Eile nearly kicked her out several times in those early months, not always offering a great amount of understanding or compassion toward her for not knowing any semblance of control. And besides, most of this was because of the bird, not Kaden himself. “It can be cleaned up, and the glass replaced. People are harder to replace. I mean, not in terms of hiring. That’s easy. But – you know, if they were killed by a hungry vulture.” She approached the remains, waiving all caution due to her confidence in its deceased status, and itched to examine it. She didn’t hold back. Greedily, Regan extended one of the bird’s massive wings, admiring each glistening dark feather, only some of which were tarred with fresh blood. She wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there before reality sank back in, and she remembered Kaden was there, too.

“Anyway, can you help me get it inside? I would like to keep it, unless you have any objections. Oh, but – you can have your choice of parts, of course. You have my thanks. And more importantly, I need to have a look at your leg. How much does it hurt?” She looked down, frowning at the blood that was getting soaked into the denim of his pants. Actually, it looked like it might have been worse than she thought. Maybe he shouldn’t be carrying much of anything right now. “Um, or we could do that out here. If you can’t walk.”

“Yeah, thanks. I know,” Kaden replied as he stepped away from the corpse to try and gather himself. He wasn’t sure what he expected her to do, but he wasn’t expecting that. She descended on the dead body and was immediately examining it. His eyes narrowed as he watched her studying the ker. Something about it unsettled him, but he couldn’t put a finger on what. She had to know by now that this was clearly not a vulture, and yet, it didn’t seem like that elicited any fear in her. Did that mean she knew about the existence of the supernatural in some capacity? Or did it mean that she was just that unfamiliar with the anatomy of birds?

Her offer to have his pick of parts definitely didn’t do anything to ease his mind there. “I can help you get it inside, sure.” He didn’t know why she wanted it and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know. The thought struck him that she was involved in medicine, a doctor. Meaning this would be giving a doctor a supernatural creature to study. Which was completely against his hunter’s codes. Putain. What the hell was he going to do now? Well… He supposed if she was already aware of the supernatural, it wasn’t so bad. “Just, uh, keep it to yourself. If you can.” Kaden didn’t have a reason to offer her and he hoped she didn’t ask. “Parts are all yours, though. I’m good.” Wait. His brows furrowed for a moment, trying to remember if there were any parts worth keeping or selling to a spellkeeper. Merde, he didn’t know. Didn’t care right then.

The hunter limped over to the carcass and started to pick it up to carry it inside. “I got it, it’s fine,” he said, voice tight with the strain of holding the monster. There was also some pain mixed in there, but he was choosing to ignore that. “Lead the way. We can patch this up inside.” This wasn’t the worst injury he’d walked through by a long shot. It hurt, sure, but it wasn’t like he had to clear a whole acre to get to civilization this time. He’d be fine.

“Of course I’ll keep it to myself.” Regan’s brow tensed at the strange request. Did he think she was going to share the remains with others? She only offered to share with him because he was present and the one who struck the bird down. No – this vulture was too interesting to share with others. It was still unclear what species it was, and there were aspects to its anatomy that struck Regan as unlike any bird she’d ever seen decompose before.

As the two of them shuffled past the broken glass and into the morgue, Regan couldn’t help but notice that Kaden’s hair complemented the bird’s remains – when the sun and wind caught it just right, his hair almost resembled a dead rabbit, fur twirling in the wind. He probably wouldn’t give that to her in addition to the vulture.

Marcy’s concerned shout brought her back into focus. “We’re fine. Th– good job keeping almost everyone inside.” Regan waved to Marcy, who was now only staring at the huge vulture carcass draped over practically the entire top half of Kaden’s body. “Well, except for Janus. Did he– never mind. Later.” The janitor was okay, and that was what mattered. “You can set the remains here.” She motioned to one of the tables in the lobby, “Slowly, carefully. You’re limping, you know.” Everything would be cleaned up anyway, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to bring the bird back to the cabin to return it to nature or learn more about it here at the morgue first. “Are you okay to follow me? It won’t be far.” She walked Kaden over to the door and carded herself in. Everything she needed was in her office. As much as she didn’t enjoy the thought of having others in there, she enjoyed the thought of using the autopsy suite for this even less. So down the hall, Regan washed her hands and then carded herself in again, holding the door open for Kaden to urge him in.

Her beetles didn’t know her from anyone else, but it always seemed like they clicked a hello from their enclosure in the corner. They were probably hungry. Perhaps she’d give them some of the vulture to clean off. “My office,” she explained, probably unnecessarily, as she pulled a well-worn first aid kit from one of her desk drawers. “Remove your pants.”

Putain de merde, Kaden couldn’t believe he was walking a fucking ker corpse into the morgue past a gaggle full of people. And he couldn’t even speed up, not with his leg the way it was. He was ready to keep limping along towards wherever it was that the dead bodies were kept and nearly kept walking when she motioned to drop the carcass in the lobby. “Here? You want to leave it out here?” He expected that they’d take it to somewhere more private than the goddamn table in the middle of the morgue where anyone walking by could just see it. “And I’m fine, I got it. Just– here? Really?” It didn’t seem like she was going to pause to give him any answer other than ‘yes,’ so he sighed and lowered the damn ker onto the table in the fucking lobby. He couldn’t tell if the grimace on his face was from the pain or just his distaste at the idea of leaving a monster in a spot that felt way too public. “You better find a better spot for it soon,” he said as he limped after her, gritting his teeth every time he had to flex the calf muscles on his injured leg.

Stepping into her office, Kaden assumed he would simply sit on one of the chairs or something and start rolling up his pants.

Guess not.

“Remove my what?” he repeated, eyes going wide. Was this going somewhere he hadn’t anticipated? Were there signs that he missed? Kaden was pretty sure he hadn’t misjudged things, but then again, there she was, asking him to undress. He thought she was supposed to be helping clean up his wou– Oh. Right. On his leg. Which was under his pants. Which were probably in the way of her doing whatever it was she needed to do. “You sure I can’t just lift them up? I mean you can probably get to the wound through that nice hole the talons made in them.” Kaden sighed and had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the case. Either way, he had plenty of other gear to take off first before he could even consider removing his damn pants. He laid the weapons on the floor, as well as the snare pole. Then came the knives and pistol strapped to his belt and upper leg. It was going to take a bit.

“Your pants, officer.” Regan raised a cool eyebrow. “You’ll recall that you were injured on your leg. If you can roll them up and provide me access to the entire wound, be my guest. Aren’t you glad I brought you down here for this, now?” She watched as knife after knife and gun after net and pole after gloves were set on the floor. How much did he carry with him? Well, you could never be prepared enough. And she figured he encountered the unexpected fairly frequently. As Kaden busied himself with that, Regan snapped open her kit and started getting everything ready. Gloves. Needle. Thread. Disinfectant. She hadn’t had a live one in a while. This was almost exciting.

“Ready when you are.” She frowned down at the injury – it was messy, leaving trails of blood dripping down his shin. It obscured the edges of the wound, and would need to be cleaned off before anything. “Hm. But first, I trust that you can wash the injury. The sink is right there.” She nudged toward the bathroom that was just past her beetles and a couple of cleaned animal skulls – an otter and a rabbit.

Kaden tried not to roll his eyes but he couldn’t help it. Even though he knew it probably wasn’t going to work out, he bent down and tried to roll the hem up on his pants. The fabric was soaked in blood and stuck to his shin and rolling it only made it worse. His skin felt every bit of friction from the fiber scraping against him. He tried to keep going out of sheer stubborn determination, wincing the whole time, eyes almost fully shut, but he only got about three quarters of the way there before he had to admit defeat. All he could do was grumble curse words to himself while he undid his damn pants and kicked off his shoes.

He was about to settle in the seat next to her and get as comfortable as he could manage in such a vulnerable situation when she asked him to go clean the wound. “Could have said that before I got undressed, you know,” he muttered as he headed to the bathroom. Cleaning out in the fucking sink was a challenge. It was tough to maneuver his leg up to the faucet and even harder to stand the stinging once the water was turned on. More curse words were his only comfort at the moment. When he’d done all he could stand, he pulled his leg out of the sink and hobbled back towards the medical examiner. He couldn’t say he did a good job but there was less blood there at least. If she wanted better, she should have done it herself. “Happy now?”

“I could have. But then you would have tried to clean it while dressed, which defeats the point.” Regan wasn’t used to having patients be adversarial with her. At least not for the last few months. Some of the others in Saol Eile were quick to argue with her, but the dead never did. She could handle it. As she assessed Kaden’s leg, now able to see the wound much more clearly, she nodded. “No, never. But this is decent enough, and you can sit down now. And while you’re at it, I’ll remind you that I’m trying to save you a trip to the hospital, and you would have mentioned far more poutine if I had tried to convince you to let me clean it off.”

With Kaden’s leg stretched in front of her, she resolved to make this quick. Unfortunately, it was quite the grisly wound. It bordered on something he should go to the hospital for, but she felt confident she could take this one here. She steadied her careful hand and got to work. “Some people prefer having something else to focus on while they’re getting sutures. Feel free to look at the shelf behind me. Just don’t wiggle.” On it were some of her favorite bones – including a few European species she’d managed to salvage from her Saol Eile collection before being whisked away. Nearly done. “If there are any signs of infection later on, I do want you to see a doctor. One at the hospital. Do you understand?”

Kaden grumbled as he took a seat, stretching his leg out for her to stitch up. This shit always hurt, but he was pretty used to the song and dance. Granted, the song and dance usually had less steps when he patched himself up but it wasn’t like he could argue with her when she mentioned that this would help him avoid the hospital. Hospitals were definitely worse than a medical examiner treating the wound in her office. “It’s putain, not poutine,” he said through his tensed throat. He didn’t want to let out any loud sounds of pain or discomfort if he could avoid it and he was well practiced on how to keep the screams that threatened to escape from passing through his vocal chords. His mother had always found it annoying when her children cried as she was trying to dress their wounds.

He leaned back in the chair after letting out a long exhale that had wanted to be a cry of pain. She had a good point about distracting himself. Normally looking up he’d at least get the sky, maybe some tree branches. This was just ceiling tiles. Not exactly riveting. His eyes scanned the room and landed on the various bones and skeletons across the way. “That’s a lot of bones you got th–” A wince cut off his words. Deep breaths. Kaden squinted, trying to determine what he could about the creatures that used to have flesh covering those bones. “Rabbit, over there, pretty sure. Is that a …shrew? Maybe. And a– ahhh!” Damnit, he was caught off guard. He swallowed back the rest of his pain. When he thought it was safe again, he continued. “And that’s a coyote?” He leaned a little closer, narrowing his eyes. “No, fox. Are you done yet?” Kaden looked down and it seemed like she was done or something close to it and he let out a deep sigh of relief. “Got it, doc. This isn’t my first time getting sutures. I know how it works.” They were rarely this even and practiced, though, he had to admit.

“Putain, then.” Regan said, stretching out the ai sound. “Are you going to explain what it means?” Though some nagging part of her thought it might be best if he didn’t. It had the taste of an expletive. Rabbit. Shrew? Fox. For a moment, she felt exposed, someone seeing more than they were truly invited to. Looking at skulls did not mean identifying them, asking about them; most people didn’t have a good enough grasp on animal anatomy to do that. But of course, animal control. It became easier by the time he got to the fox, like something to be cautiously shared instead of kept from him. She didn’t experience that very often. Regan stayed silent during his guessing and then finally replied. “It’s a fox, yes. A gray fox that I found out in the woods my first week here.” She could anticipate his question. “Already dead, mind you. No signs of trauma. I suspect disease or rat poison.” She hesitated, trying to put aside the feeling that something inside of her had been split open and exposed. So he could identify a few skulls she had. He knew nothing. This wasn’t some superhuman feat and it didn’t mean he even liked them. “You did well.” She finally said, unclear whether she meant with the skulls or with the sutures.

Considering his legs were riddled with shiny scars and shallow pits, she doubted that was a lie; he probably had had sutures before, and many times. “Yes, I’m done now. You were able to stay quite still.” She snipped off the suture and deposited everything on top of her desk for later cleaning. Regan rose from the seat and motioned to Kaden that he could put his pants back on if he wished. He probably had to if he was going to leave. “Anything else you want me to look at before you go?”

Ah. Right. Of course she wanted to know what it meant. Kaden could feel his cheeks grow warmer and he reached back to rub the nape of his neck. “Uh, well, it’s sort of the equivalent of saying ‘fuck’ in English but, uh, the direct translation is whore. Not used like that, though. Language oddities, all that.” Sure he could swear like a sailor but having to explain it always felt like being called out in class by a teacher somehow.

Before he could ask, she answered his question and the tension he was holding in his chest dropped. Already dead. Good. He didn’t want to have to deal with the alternative scenario. “Rat poison?” His mouth pulled into a thin line. There was no reason a fox had to die like that at the hands of humans. “Do you happen to remember where you found it? It might be worth investigating. I don’t love the idea of more animals dying due to some idiots.” It was a long shot if she’d found it in the woods when she first got there that they could even find the spot again, let alone that it would lead to anything, but he had to try.

With a nod, the hunter stood and picked up his pants and started putting himself back together. He shook his head at her question. “Nah, I think, if there’s anything else you want to look at before I go, that’s up to you,” he teased, adding a wink. If he had to stand there and be vulnerable and exposed in her office, he had to at least turn the tables one time.

“Ah. Imperfect translation. I understand.” Though Regan still didn’t approve. But there were many words and phrases she kept finding herself stuck on – things she’d picked up in Saol Eile that just didn’t translate into English at all. It was also a shock learning that the Gaelic she’d been forced into learning was a little different than the Gaelic spoken elsewhere. “I’m still trying to translate some of what was said back – before I lived here.” She didn’t even want to mention Ireland and invite that line of questioning.

There was something sweet about how genuine Kaden’s concern was over the dead fox. Nothing to be done about it now, no way to help it, but he seemed to be looking for justice. There was very little of that to be had. “I remember exactly where I found all of them, every single one in my collection. If you’d like me to show you, I will. I don’t know that you’ll find anything there – except, perhaps, some other dead foxes.” Actually, that prospect excited her a little bit. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a terrible idea. “Once your leg heals. It’s a ways into the woods, a couple hours north of Gatlin, and you’ll need to rest up before attempting that hike.” She frowned, knowing he probably intended to show up to work tomorrow like usual anyway. All of these rugged-type men were exactly the same. Stupid enough to worsen their injuries because they’re impatient and have something to prove.

As Kaden rose clumsily to his feet and collected his array of weapons and tools, Regan watched, considering the question. The wink – and insinuation – made her freeze, the first aid kit dropping out of her fingers and onto her desk with a too-loud slap. She cleared her throat. “I am a physician and this was strictly, um, medical. In nature.” Her eyes darted to the shelves of skulls, as if one of them could save her from needing to provide a response. They were silent. Convenient. She fiddled with the kit, righting it, and looking anywhere but at the newly-pantsed officer. “Nothing, um – nothing more today. That will be all. Th– you’re welcome. Remember, take it easy. Don’t overdo it with your leg. Stay, um–” She ducked below her desk, wedging the kit away in the drawer, but also using it as an excuse to hide out of sight. “--hydrated. And eat well. Brush your teeth three times a day. Also, see a doctor if the wound starts to smell strange or–” The shoes were gone. She took a breath and poked her head up from underneath her desk.

Alone again. And she had a vulture to necropsy.

#writing #c kaden

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ncsasp · 2 years ago

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So this is going to be a post about AI. I know that’s a bit of a controversial topic on here so I’m going to start by saying that I hate AI ‘artists’ who steal other people’s works just as much as the next guy, but boy is AI getting good.

Let’s talk about chatGPT.

Most of the people who follow me know that I run the @oneshotcafe blog on here, and one of the things that I do is make the “weekly lunch specials” that is probably the main gimmick of the account. And I’ve actually been running out of ideas recently, I’m grasping at straws. And I was playing around with chatGPT and I’m like “hey, what if chatGPT could make my lunch specials for me?” so on a whim, i type in

Hello ChatGPT. In this conversation I would like you to roleplay as the owner of a cafe in the universe of the video game OneShot. I would like you to generate a list of “Lunch Specials” for use in the cafe themed around the video game OneShot.

And it did not disappoint.

"The Solstice Special" - a sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing on a soft roll, served with a side of sweet potato fries.

"The World Machine Wrap" - a chicken Caesar wrap with lettuce, Parmesan cheese, and croutons, served with a side of pasta salad.

"The Tower Burger" - a hearty burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion, served with a side of onion rings.

"The Prototype Panini" - a grilled panini with mozzarella cheese, tomato, basil, and balsamic glaze, served with a side of garlic parmesan fries.

"The Barrens Bowl" - a vegan bowl with quinoa, roasted vegetables, chickpeas, and tahini dressing.

"The Refuge Roll" - a sushi roll with tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayo.

"The Glen Gourmet Grilled Cheese" - a grilled cheese sandwich with cheddar and Swiss cheese, tomato, and bacon, served with a side of tomato soup.

"The Silverpoint Salad" - a salad with mixed greens, grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Like, holy shit it makes better recipes than I do.

Anyways, I’m not going to take any ideas from chatGPT directly, but only use it for inspiration. For example, one of the ones it came up with was “Tower Tacos”, but it was a normal taco. It didn’t have any flair themed around the tower. Instead of the “seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream, served with a side of tortilla chips and salsa.” That it came up with, I would say maybe a breakfast taco. My idea would be “ground beef, and scrambled egg.” to be more reminiscent of the tower and the sun at the top. Perhaps with a few more details, but that’s the point.

In my opinion AI is a useful tool when you’re not just copying off of it. The AI is able to come up with good ideas, but they lack the flair of a human being, and the theme. An AI would never be able to think of the idea to theme a drink around reigen once you’ve run out of sans drinks, however it is a good idea tool.

Don’t know what i was trying to get at here by posting this, but i think it’s interesting.

#posting #oneshot game #oneshotgame #ai #long post

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wine-and-madness · 2 years ago

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I keep coming back to wine on lips, food in mouth, taste on tongue. What's the difference between eating, savoring, devouring, ravenously burying oneself into? Between cutting bites of steak and picking up, consuming ribs or wings or a turkey drumstick with wild abandon? Drinking through a straw and drinking from cupped palms, the liquid running down your face? The difference between licking a popsicle and eating out a cunt?

None are bad, but not all are holy. Messiness, the abandonment of manners, the savoring with lips and teeth and tongue and jaw and hands, more wholly involved, more alive.

I get this with wine too, even when sipped from a cup instead of palms, when I intentionally leave a bit on my lips. The association with my god, the poetry mentioning wine on lips again and again, juice on lips, fruit and honey sweet on lips, so often, rather than saying sweet on the more accurate tongue.

I think leaving some on the lips, not licking right away, it feels more real; a touch to accompany taste, a private in-joke around abandoning manners like you might at a good barbecue except this time, in a formal setting, a little nod to Dionysus. Hello. I see you. My lips are the altar I leave my offering upon; I leave it there for you.

#dionysus #dionysus worship #original

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mad3jokes · 1 year ago

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Clean Joke Of The Day

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azx3jokes · 1 year ago

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Funny Clean Joke

childhood sweetheart quotes - poor people - paulo coelho - angel quotes - fishing humor - pilgrimage - english story - true stories - bra jokes - funny ugly people - how to plan - eat together - what can i do - sake - history humor - quick funny jokes - business - zen - you lied to me - go shopping - funny family photos - guy names - holiday jokes - i cant sleep - letting people go - writing a book - quotes about strength in hard times - avatar the last airbender funny - positive morning quotes - wine jokes - dad jokes - jewish humor - old man funny - inspirational prayers - good night photo images - chip cookies - sister jokes - lawyer quotes humor - church quotes funny - fat cats funny - story - divorce stories - daisy field - bear - student jokes - funny mom jokes - funny italian jokes - inspirational quotes motivation - funny excuses - funny school jokes - good doctor - ring doorbell - duck and ducklings - public execution - conceited - christmas poems - pregnancy jokes humor - third grade teacher - funny words - kittens cutest - new ferrari - puppies funny - catholic priest - sleep quotes funny - bad temper - daily jokes - very funny pictures - funny inspirational quotes - funny wise quotes - little red riding hood - pizza jokes - revenge funny - truck driver - funny picture jokes - jackdaw - fiance humor - funny pix - funny women quotes - deer camp - sweet quotes - jesus funny - new year jokes - clean humor funny - bull elephant - janitor - romantic text messages - dentist humor - math humor - hello quotes funny - guys be like - husband and wife love - captain - broadway shows - cleaning quotes funny - prison jokes - gynecologist humor - recipes to cook - good clean jokes - collision course - fudge recipes - family jokes - passed away - cooking lessons - romantic texts - good morning inspirational quotes - life choices quotes - engaged to be married - mom thoughts funny - short funny quotes - old man jokes - the silent treatment - antique oil lamps - japanese funny - cats and kittens - sunday sermons - one dollar - funny true quotes - pottery - life quotes family - good morning funny pictures - grizzly bear - cant sleep - construction humor - talk - farmer quotes funny - feelings humor - old age quotes - inspirational quotes about love - clean funny jokes - party quotes funny - funny blonde jokes - how to memorize things - turkey jokes - old age humor - dog jokes - ghost jokes - tax day - bible life lessons - oldest bible - beach - repair - coincidences - love my wife quotes - crow - chocolate chip cookies - girlfriend jokes - pizza funny - monk - good knight - chocolate chip - did you know jokes - lawyer jokes - story people - when someone hurts you - funny fart jokes - stormy night - crazy jokes - funny city - shoe repair - wisdom quotes - butter - marriage humor - irish funny - marriage counseling funny - story of the world - how to wake up early - romantic jokes - christmas short stories - happy birthday teacher - school jokes - beautiful birds - i love you means - couples jokes - country jokes - honeymoon - sherlock funny - winter jokes - straw - car jokes - elephant - ceramic pottery - break up texts - paddy jokes - tv funny - cold humor - the monks - picture story - funny chinese jokes - funny science jokes - catholic jokes - places to visit - age quotes funny - math jokes - country - great jokes - wise quotes - fresh fish - how to find out - once upon a time - silly jokes - school - poor - funny love story - jokes and riddles - dirty laundry quote - desert island - christmas humor - i quit my job - emus funny - plant jokes - ceramics pottery art - boyfriend and girlfriend jokes - amazing funny facts - disciple - funny stories - the third man - train travel - farm yard - love you funny - good wife - funny family jokes - animal jokes - college students funny - soreness - healthy motivation quotes - things to come - serious quotes - pilot joke - deepest sympathy - good moral stories - good looking women - no way out - cute little kittens - doctor - tommie smith - buddha face - funny physics quote - funny pick

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keykeep · 2 years ago

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The Prank Wars part 2- Fred Weasley

If you can’t handle the heat get out of the kitchen

Y/N = Your Name

Y/H/N= Your House Name

Y/N walked into transfiguration for the detention Weasley landed her. A cat sat atop the professor's desk. As Y/N took her seat the cat turned into the smart transfiguration teacher.

“Well you’re here Y/N we are just waiting on Fred Weasley before I give you your punishment”.

Your jaw drops open as you stuttered “w-w-why” “because without him you wouldn’t be spending the night with me”.

A few minutes later in stalked Weasley with his tie undone and his shirt untucked. “ sorry I'm late Minnie, just grabbed a bite to eat, don't worry Minnie and Y/N I saved you some”.

Fred dropped a turkey leg on Y/N's desk before giving Mgonagall Tuna. “Thoughtful Weasley, now you two will proceed to the library to help Madam Pince sort the books now off you go both of you”.

You walked out of the classroom and stood outside the classroom waiting for her was Fred Weasley.

Y/N groaned at Fred's Smirking face as his arm hooked over your shoulder. “How great is this? Spending the night in a dark library”

“Bet you've never been in the library before Fred?”

“ i have so, its where i check you out” he laughed at his own joke.

Y/N groaned entering the library.

Madam Pince barked out the instructions of handling the books with care and the appropriate spells to use to clean before dismissing the pair.

You had to admit the silence was bliss that was until a book fell from the shelf, landing at your feet.

You bent over to pick it up when you stood back up you backed into a hard male body.

“Can I get your reference number so I could look you up and check you out?” Fred whispered in your ear.

Your cheeks flushed and your skin prickled with goosebumps. You clutched the book to your chest tightly. “ I better get this book back before Pince screams”. You walked away trying to gain some distance.

You looked back at Fred to see him smiling at you with his wand in his hand.

After Pince dismissed you both. You bid goodnight to Fred before walking up to Y/H/N's common room falling into your bed exhausted.

The next morning was weird as you were joined at breakfast by a Gryffindor girl by the name of Hermione Granger who spent all breakfast raving on about how the Gryffindors could use another brain.

You bumped into Ginny Weasley who asked if you were sick and advised you to check with Madam Pomfrey.

The death stares you accumulated was the finally straw. Marching up to Fred Weasley as he was hanging out with his friends you were met with stares of hatred by Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet whereas Lee Jordan and George Weasley clapped in delight.

“ What did you do to me, Fred Weasley?”

“ Well hello to you love” Fred turned to face you.

You used your finger to poke his chest“ cut the crap, ever since last night..” “ it was good wasn’t it, I thought about you all night” he said flirtatiously.

“ This is hopeless,” you said with a huff. As you turned your back to walk off Fred got a glimpse of his handy work smiling widely to himself.

Burned into Y/N Robes in gold cursive writing were the words.

Property of Fred Gideon Weasley.

You went into your room to change out of your robes when you caught a glimpse in your dorms mirror.

“ I'm going to kill that boy,” you said.

#fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x you #fred weasley oneshot #Fred Weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred gideon weasley #fred weasley headcanons #fred weasley fluff #harry potter imagine #harry potter headcanon

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watchyourbluesturngolden · 3 years ago

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the shrooms cafe

part 1- watermelon tea with strawberry boba

hello everyone 🥺 this is the first series i've ever done so i'm a little nervous but i'm so excited because I really like this story!!!

this is the first part, and I have literally no idea how long it will be because I don't have a solid plan/outline yet! so feel free to send little concepts or things you would like to see included 🥺 i can't guarantee they will be added but i'll definitely try my best :)

shrooms cafe masterlist

my masterlist

warnings: none

word count: 2k

"Stella, we have to leave in 10 minutes!" You called up the stairs. "Come down so you can eat breakfast!" "Yeah Stella, hurry up!" Seraphina yelled from her spot at the dining table. She was finishing up her fruit loops with a grin on her face. "You're going to make us late!" As the youngest, she often liked to bother her sisters. She was only five, just starting kindergarten, but she was already a master at getting under their skin.

"Sera, don't antagonize your sister, please," you reminded her. "She's not going to make us late." Sophie rolled her eyes. "Seraphina, you're so immature." Despite only being 11, Sophie was clearly the mother hen. You sometimes joked that the girls didn't even need you; Sophie would take on the role of their mother with no problem. "Besides, you were the one who made us late yesterday." "It's not my fault I couldn't find my purple socks. What was I supposed to do?" "Maybe wear different socks?" Sophie suggested smugly. "You know I need my purple socks, otherwise I can't write my words!" Sophie rolled her eyes again. "You don't need a certain color socks to write." "Yes I do!" You smiled to yourself, turning back to the fridge as the two bickered. You pulled out the ingredients you would need to make their lunches, then reached up on your tiptoes to get their lunch bags from the top of fridge. "Okay girls, what kind of sandwiches do you want today?" "Peanut butter and jelly!" Seraphina said excitedly. "Why did I even ask?" You smiled. "And Sophie?" "Turkey please, but I can make it myself," She said, sliding off her chair and bringing the breakfast dishes to the sink. "Thank you, love," you said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "You are such a big help in the mornings, I don't know what I would do without you." "You would have a real handful dealing with those two," She said matter-of-factly. "That I would," you laughed, handing her a butter knife. "Stella!" you called again. The 8 year old came running down the stairs, carrying her backpack and another bag. "Did you forget I have dance today?" "I did not forget," you reassured her. She liked to plan things, and got worried quickly if she wasn't kept in the loop. "I'll pick you up at the door by the playground, does that work?" "Actually, I was wondering if I could walk today? A bunch of my friends do, and I feel kind of weird having my mom drop me off." "That should be fine," You nodded. "But stay with the group, don't go off by yourself." "I won't," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "You're so overprotective." "Oh yes, I'm so sorry for trying to keep you safe," you laughed. "Now what do you want for lunch?" Once everything was ready, the four of you made your way out to the car. Stella climbed into the back, and Sophie helped Seraphina get buckled. Even though the three of them bickered a lot (as sisters often do) it wasn't hard to see how much they loved each other. "Everybody buckled?" You asked, looking behind you. When you heard a chorus of confirmation, you started your playlist and smiled when the opening notes of Adore You filtered through the speakers. It was easily one of your favorite songs, and the girls liked it just as much as you did. It wasn't a long drive to the cafe; it took about 15 minutes if traffic was good. The girls' school bus stopped about a block away, so they walked there together every morning. Then after school, they would come back to the shop and read books or finish homework until it was time to close up and go home. You parked in the lot behind the shop, helping the girls out of the car and making sure they had all their things. Seraphina held out her hand, and Stella grabbed it to help her jump over a puddle on the sidewalk. Sophie gasped excitedly. "I think that was the biggest jump you've ever done!" The girls promptly launched into a discussion about who could jump farther as you unlocked the door. As soon as it was open, they made their way over to the mushrooms to find some books for the day. Their voices filled the shop as they chatted about school and the cute boy Stella liked and the kitten they had seen outside their house the other day. You went about your morning duties, flipping on the lights and starting up the coffee machine. You also turned on the oven, preparing to bake the muffins. (They were frozen- who has the time to bake them fresh? Certainly not a mother of 3.) Once the kitchen was ready, you went over to the radio and tuned it to a familiar station, the soft

music adding some pleasant background noise. "Okay girls, it's time to get to the bus stop," you said, leaning over the counter to speak to them. "Don't forget, I'm walking to dance," Stella said, pointing at you as she walked to the door. "I won't forget," you said, pointing back at her. "Have a good day!" "Bye mom," Seraphina waved her small hand at you. "Bye honey, bye Sophia," You smiled, blowing a kiss to the three of them. "See you later!" Once the three of them were gone, you went around to the shelves and straightened up, getting ready for your first customers.

-----

After the lunch rush had dwindled down and the shop was nearly empty again, you were getting ready to go on your lunch break. You had just leaned down to grab a sandwich from the deli case when the bell above the door jingled, alerting you that a new customer had come in. You straightened up, your eyes going wide when you realized who it was, but you quickly fixed your face and smiled. "Welcome to the Shrooms Cafe!" "Hello," the man smiled back, speaking in a deep British accent. "I saw your sign for boba tea, and I've been looking everywhere to find some. You're the third shop I've been to today, so I'm really hoping you're not sold out like everywhere else," he grinned, coming closer to the counter. "No, we're not out! What kind did you want?" You asked. "Um... probably should have thought about that before I came in," he laughed nervously, looking at the menu above your head. "Oh, don't worry about it, we're not busy right now," you said reassuringly. “Take all the time you need.” He smiled gratefully, stepping off to the side while he read the menu. Meanwhile, you fidgeted with towels and wiped off the work surfaces and tried to pretend you weren’t staring at him. Who could blame you, really? Harry Styles had just walked into your coffee shop. Who wouldn’t stare? “I think…” he spoke again, breaking you out of your trance. “I’ll do the watermelon tea, with strawberry boba, please.” You nodded, laughing lightly. He quirked one eyebrow, smiling along with you. “What’s funny?” “Oh, no, it’s just… of course you would order the one with watermelon.” “Oh,” he smiled, and you thought you detected a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “I guess I do have a bit of a reputation with fruit, don’t I?” “Just a little,” you grinned. “One watermelon tea with strawberry boba, coming right up.” After ringing up the order, you quickly got to work. Instead of his real name, you wrote “watermelon man” on the sticker on the cup. Hopefully he would appreciate your little joke. “Here you are,” you smiled. “I hope it’s good, seeing as you worked so hard to find some.” “I’m sure it’ll be amazing,” he laughed, grabbing a straw from beside the cash register. You also noticed he had dropped a generous tip into the jar, probably while you had been busy making the drink. “Have a nice day,” you smiled. “You as well,” he said with a small wave before he made his way out the door, sipping his drink as he went. You sighed, shaking your head with a small grin as you grabbed the sandwich from earlier and went to a table for your lunch break.

-----

“Hi mom!” Sophie yelled, holding open the door for Seraphina. “Hi girls!” You called from the back corner of the shop. “I’m by the mushrooms!” The girls quickly found you, Seraphia hugging you and Sophie situating herself on one of the short stools. “How was your day?” You asked. “Good! I gave my report on monarch butterflies and guess what Mrs. Wilson said?” Sophie asked, leaning forward. “What did she say?” “She said it was the best report she had heard all day. She waited until the other kids left so they wouldn’t feel bad, but still,” she said proudly. “Oh wow! I’m so proud of you,” you said, moving over to hug her. “What did I tell you? You can do anything you put your mind to,” you smiled. “Including writing the best report in the whole class, hmm?” She nodded happily before turning away from you to pull a book off the shelf closest to her. “Which one are you starting now?” You asked, leaning over her shoulder to see the book she had. “Anne of Green Gables,” she said. “Oh, I loved those books when I was your age,” you smiled. “I think you’ll really like them.”

She nodded, already immersed in the book. You turned back to Seraphina, who was pulling her folder out of her backpack. “And how was your day, miss Seraphina?” “It was so good, look!” She handed you a paper with two gold stars at the top. “My teacher gave me two gold stars. She said my writing was very good!"

"All that practicing we did must have worked, then!" you said, beaming as you looked at her letters. They were still wobbly, but a huge improvement over how they had been at the beginning of the school year.

She nodded. "And then I colored this picture for you!” She handed you another page. This one had a drawing of you holding hands with her, Sophie, and Stella. The three of you had big smiles and lots of adorable little details. Stella had her hair in a bun and was wearing ballet shoes. Sophie was holding a book in her free hand. Seraphina had drawn herself wearing a shirt with a cat (her favorite animal) on it, and she was wearing her purple socks. Lastly, there was you, holding a cup of coffee and wearing a shirt with a big red heart on it. “Since you like coffee so much,” she explained. “It's beautiful,” you smiled, hugging her. “We’ll hang it on the fridge when we get home, okay?” “Okay,” she agreed. “Why don’t you find a book and read with Sophie for a little bit? We have just over an hour, then we have to go get Stella from dance.” She nodded, handing you the papers and her backpack before running over to the shelves. She grabbed a picture book, settling into the red cushion in the tree and beginning to flip through the pages.

----- “Alright girls, it’s time to pick up Stella,” you said as you wiped off the counter one last time. You had already turned off all the machines and packed up everything else for the day. You flipped the lights off on the way out, smiling a bit when you saw the hand painted sign for boba tea in the window. Harry came into your mind again, with his easy smile, his kind words, and his blushing laugh. You really hoped you would see him again, even though you knew you probably wouldn't. Your shop wasn't very big or well known. How likely was it for him to come to the same little shop in the middle of London again? Still, it didn’t hurt to hope. Maybe he would decide to try the other flavors and stop in again. Your smile spread even further when you started your playlist and Lights Up was the first song to come on. Apparently, it was going to be hard to forget about him.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles/you fanfiction #harry styles x reader fanfiction #harry styles/reader fanfiction #harrystylesxyou #harry styles x you fanfiction #harrystylesxreader #harry styles/reader #harry styles/you #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry fanfiction #the shrooms cafe

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yourgrandfatherisfictional · 2 years ago

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Theres an icecream truck on my street and the music its playing has a clap/snare sound in it, call me old fashioned but i dont think an icecream truck should have a snare in the music. Also i dont even recognize the melody its playing, its not even The Entertainer or Turkey in the straw, i had to look this up but its called Picnic and its the one that has the weird "HeLLo!" god i fucking hate this country

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shoutobabes · 3 years ago

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An excerpt from an OCxShouto fic I’ve been working on:

———————————————

Todoroki Shouto hated formal events.

He had attended enough Hero Awards Galas as a young child with his father to soil his opinion of them nearly two decades later, a pro hero in his own right. But tonight was not about his father.

Still.

He drummed his fingers on the fine linen tablecloth and watched as the drink in his glass vibrated slightly with each tiny impact. Taptaptap. Taptaptap. Shouto allowed a small trail of frost to travel up the table inching toward the glass. The bottom began to dust with frost. The water at the bottom began to freeze. Taptaptap. Taptaptap. Taptap--

“Will you stop fucking doing that?”

Shuoto whipped his head up to see a pair of angry red eyes glaring at him. Bakugo drove an accusatory finger toward Shoto’s glass.

“You’re like an antsy kid,” Bakugo huffed. “I don’t wanna be at this shit-parade any more than you do, icy hot, but you don’t see me blowing up the fucking finger cakes, do you?”

“I’m not taking Kacchan’s side, Todoroki,” Midoriya spoke up from his seat between the two feuding heroes. “But you do certainly seem on edge and, well,” Midoriya gulped and glanced toward the stage. “Our category is two away and I’m nervous enough as it is.”

Shouto blinked. “I can stop tapping the table.”

“Yeah, and then you’re gonna start shaking your leg like you were half an hour ago before you started tapping the goddamn table,” Bakugo crossed his arms and faced back toward the stage. “Take a fuckin’ walk. Do a guided meditation in the men’s room, for all I care, but if you stay here you’re gonna piss me off.”

Shoto turned to face Midoriya, often the peacekeeper in these altercations.

Midoriya seemed to be very interested in his napkin.

“Alright, then,” Shouto stood and fixed his tuxedo jacket. “I can take a hint.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Midoriya waved his hands while shaking his head. “It’s just--”

“He gets it, Deku,” Bakugo rolled his eyes.

“Sorry,” Midoriya said, sheepishly.

“I’ll be back in time for the award announcement,” Shouto said as he walked away.

A walk was probably for the best.

Shouto wove his way through tables and chairs full of politely clapping patrons and pro heroes who were practically unrecognizable in their finery outside of their suits and gear. He recalled his father complaining about being forced into a tuxedo for these types of events. His mother would always wave them off wistfully, recounting times when she had been the No. 2 hero’s plus one while Fuyumi cried at being left behind and Natsuo would mope and pretend he didn’t care. Touya would just sit and stare. Until he didn't.

So lost in thought was Shouto, that he didn’t notice the girl in front of him until it was too late. Suddenly, he was staring at the empty glass in his hand trying to make his brain connect it to the growing wet spot on the front of the girl's dress.

Their eyes locked for a moment of shocked silence; silver and turquoise meeting violet eyes widened. A beat passed. Shouto regained his composure.

“My humblest apologies,” he finally said with a small bow. “I have no excuse. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I—“

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” the girl shook her head with a small smile. She had long, silver-white hair parted cleanly down the middle. “Not to brag or anything, but I’m kind of a dry cleaning expert.”

She lifted an arm and made a grabbing motion over her chest with one hand and Shoto watched as the spilled champagne drew itself out into a bubble of liquid. It hovered for a moment, then with a flick of the girl’s wrist, it flew into the pot of a nearby plant.

“Looked a little thirsty,” the girl said with a conspiratorial wink. “No harm no foul. Looks like you could use another drink, though.”

“Isn’t that my line?” Shouto raised a slight brow, elemental quirks were always fascinating and he met so few others with quirks like his. “I’m the offender in the situation, I feel as though it’s only right I’m the one buying you a drink.”

“Well then, it seems we’re in agreement,” the girl gestured to the corner of the room where the bar was set up. “We’re heading to the bar.”

Shouto nodded as the pair made their way over. He gave the girl a once-over; she seemed familiar but he didn’t recognize her as a hero in the Musutafu region or anywhere in Japan for that matter. She wore a simple, pale lavender gown.

“Gin and tonic,” Shouto told the bartender before nodding to his companion. “And for you?”

“Could I get a lemonade?” She asked, with a tilt of her head. “Oh, and if you have some sort of strawberry syrup could you mix that in, too? Thanks.” She grinned at the bartender as he nodded before walking away. She turned to Shouto who admittedly, realized he looked surprised.

“You don’t drink?” He asked.

“Can’t stand the taste,” she replied.

“I see.”

She studied him for a moment. Shouto felt as if he were under a microscope, being picked apart like a bacteria. Normally being analyzed like this would make his skin crawl, yet there was no malicious intent behind the girl’s eyes. Merely a curiosity, as if he were a puzzle she was trying to solve. The bartender brought over their drinks and the girl took a sip before suddenly breaking the silence.

“Why do you look like a turkey come late November?”

“I’m sorry?” Shouto squinted in confusion.

“My bad, I forget I’m not in the States anymore,” she self-consciously tucked hair behind her ear. “I meant to say, why do you look like this is the last place in the world you want to be?”

“The states?” Shouto asked. “Is that where you’re from?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose, technically.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Well to be fair, you never answered my question.”

“And what was your question?”

“Why do you look so miserable to be here?”

Shoto grimaced delicately and took a gulp of his drink. “Ask any other question and I’ll answer that instead.

“Ah, so this is off limits, then,” the girl waggled her eyebrows. “Fine. How about...what brings you here tonight?”

Shoto sighed. That, at least, he could answer.

“My agency is up for an award tonight,” he said. “My partners and I are here in the hopes we receive it.”

“An award! How exciting,” the girl gave Shoto a funny look, as if she knew something he didn’t. “I’m sure you’ll win.”

“It would be an honor,” Shoto said slowly, feeling as if he were being left out of some joke. “To know that the people we are striving to serve believe in us so much.”

“Of course,” the girl nodded. “Your turn. For questions, that is.”

Shoto hummed in response as he took another sip. “I’m assuming that inquiring about the reason you’re drinking lemonade is...off limits?”

The girl sipped her own drink through the small straw that had come with it. “You learn quick! Beauty and brains, the ladies must love you.”

Shouto’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “I wasn’t aware that having one precluded the occurrence of the other. Brains and beauty are two separate elements, their probability of occurring are in no way reliant upon the occurrence of the other.”

“Absolutely true, shame on me for assuming,” she nodded seriously. “But I didn’t hear a question there. Do you forfeit your turn?”

“No,” Shouto protested. “Fine. What do you mean you’re ‘technically’ from the States?”

“Oh, that,” she waved her hand absentmindedly. “I was born there, and I did spend my high school years there, but I spent most of my childhood here and this is where all my fondest memories are from.”

“I see,” Shouto replied.

“I think of myself as being from Kanagawa,” she clarified. “Coastal. I was always fond of the ocean.”

“Did that have to do with your quirk?” Shouto asked, recalling the way she had manipulated the liquid from her dress.

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by sudden loud cheering from the other side of the ballroom.

“That’s right folks— the award for Best Upcoming Agency goes to Plus Ultra! The hero agency run by graduates of our very own U.A. High School! Please give a hand to the heroes Deku, Dynamight, and Shouto as they come up to collect their award.”

“Shit,” Shouto cursed. He had promised Midoriya he would be back in time. “My apologies again, but I need to go immediately.”

“More apologies,” the girl joked, finishing off her drink. She set it on the bar next to Shouto’s half finished one. “Run along and don’t miss your big award!”

Shouto was already halfway across the ballroom. As he joined his partners on stage, Midoriya was at the microphone holding the award and delivering a speech of gratitude. Bakugo elbowed Shouto as discreetly as he was capable of doing anything discreetly and shot him a dirty look for being late.

“I deserve that,” Shouto whispered.

“Damn right,” Bakugo hissed.

“—in conclusion, we would just like to thank you all from the heart of the Plus Ultra Agency. We could not do this without your continued support and we will continue to go above and beyond to keep you safe! Plus Ultra!” Midoriya smiled brightly as he finished his speech.

The three posed on stage for a few quick photos, then stepped down.

“Todoroki, is everything all right?” Midoriya asked immediately. “It’s unlike you to be late.”

“My apologies,” Shouto cringed inwardly, he had apologized too many times tonight. The words were starting to ring hollow to even his own ears. “I was taking a walk when I accidentally bumped into—“

“Me, actually,” the girl from earlier materialized from the crowd behind Shouto as she stepped forward. “Literally, in fact.”

“Ms. Kagawa!” Midoriya gasped. “I had no idea you would be here tonight, I’m so sorry! I would have said hello earlier.”

Shouto blinked. How did Midoriya know her?

“Please, no formalities,” Kagawa shook her head. “Call me whatever you prefer, it’s just nice to finally meet you all.”

That’s when it clicked. Shouto recalled a team meeting from the month before.

———————

“Why are we bringing in some random chick, again?” Bakugo groaned, putting his feet up on the table from where he was sitting in the conference room. “We don’t need any extra help, hell, I could run this place alone if I wanted to!”

“Well, it’s like I said,” Midoriya replied patiently. “We did great for it being our first year as full heroes running our own agency together. But if we want to keep growing and getting better, we’ll need more than a few sidekicks and interns. We’re going to need another pro to help carry the weight and round out patrols. I thought we all agreed?”

“We did,” Shouto didn’t look up from his paperwork. “Bakugo conveniently chose to forget.”

“Fuck off, icy hot,” Bakugo said. “Whatever. At least this chick seems like she could give some of these thugs a run for their money. Wasn't she like, some big deal in America?”

“She was,” Midoriya clicked his pen nervously. “She’s had a, uh, difficult road. I’m hoping we’ll be able to help her as much as she’ll help us. Or at least that’s the plan. She won’t be here for another couple months, she’s wrapping up her personal business I think.”

“Mm,” Shouto intoned, absentmindedly.

—————————-

Shouto cursed himself for not paying more attention to important meetings. Yet, none of them had expected her so early.

“We weren’t expecting you so soon,” Midoriya said nervously, voicing Shouto’s thoughts. “You weren’t due for ah, another month?”

“You’re right,” Kagawa said sheepishly. “I closed in on an apartment here sooner than expected and, well, wanted to just get on with it.”

“Of course,” Midoriya nodded. “Ah, but we should do formal introductions!”

“Yes, right,” Kagawa nodded with a smile. “Well I already know you from our correspondence! Midoriya Izuku, hero name Deku, a pleasure.”

Midoriya smiled and they shook hands.

“Bakugo Katsuki, hero name Dynamight,” she cracked a lopsided grin. “I’ve heard...explosive things.”

“Shitty joke,” Bakugo shook her hand. “People only say the best shit about me.”

“Obviously,” Kagawa nodded before turning to Shouto. “And of course, we’ve already been acquainted. Todoroki Shouto, hero name Shouto, a pleasure.”

Shouto shook her hand. She had a firm grip. “I’ve made...better first impressions.”

“No, I enjoyed it,” Kagawa said. “It was genuine. You had no cause to act unnaturally to make a good first impression. It was...refreshing.

“That’s a polite way of saying he fucked up,” Bakugo chuckled.

She smiled. “Now for me, I suppose. Kagawa Ren, hero name Kaguya. But you’re hiring me, I’m sure you know.”

“We’re really excited to have you!” Midoriya said, beaming. “My, uh, my friend Uraraka--”

Bakugo barked out a laugh and Shouto suppressed a small smile.

Midoriya began to sweat. “Anyways, um, she- she couldn’t make it tonight because she had to go visit her parents but she’s been excited to have another female hero around. She says our agency is too filled with testosterone.”

“Sounds like me and Uraraka will get along swimmingly.” Kagawa assured.

“Are we still getting drinks to celebrate?” Bakugo said impatiently. “I told Kirishima he could meet us at that shitty bar we always go to.”

Midoriya ran a hand through his hair. “Uh, yeah, yeah we are, just, I wanted to talk with Kagawa about some details really quick.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “And we can’t do that at the bar? She can come, it’s her celebration now too, or whatever.”

“Just tell Kirishima he can meet us there in thirty,” Midoriya pleaded. “I’ll make it quick. Here, Kagawa, why don’t you walk with me back to our table? I’ll grab everyone’s things and we’ll meet Bakugo and Shouto by the front.”

Kagawa nodded and raised two fingers in a peace sign as means of saying goodbye to the other two heroes as she and Midoriya headed back to the table in conversation.

Shouto looked back at Bakugo who was busy texting.

“I suppose we should head toward the front,” Shouto said uncertainly.

“Yeah, whatever,” Bakugo clicked his phone off and shoved it in his pocket. “So, you talked to her.”

“I did.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Talking to you is like pulling teeth. What did you think of her?”

“I thought she was smart,” Shouto replied simply. “It seems like she’ll make a strong addition to our team.”

“That’s boring shit,” Bakugo huffed. “If Midoriya hired her then I’m sure she’s professional as fuck but don’t wanna spend my time around some shitty boring suit. So, is she gonna be annoying or not?

Shouto sideyed Bakugo as they turned and began walking toward the front. Social interaction had never been his strongest suit. Most interactions he felt like he was a step behind, or focused on the wrong thing, or someone would say something and he would think they were serious only to realize there was a second, different meaning attached. Mostly, he thought conversations were a bit of a minefield, especially with the wrong kind of person.

He thought back to the way Kagawa had studied him. No judgement, just-- curiosity. The good kind. Not like reporters who were always hungry for photos, desperate to know about his love life, dying to hear what restaurant he best liked to dine at so they could stalk him there later as well. No, her curiosity reminded him of when he and his siblings used to go play by the creek near their house as children, before Endeavor began isolating Shouto for training. They would freeze the water in the middle of summer and slide around, pulling frogs and turtles out from frost-covered hidey holes. One day in particular, they had found a small family of deer. They all sat very still by the edge of the water and waited patiently as the fawns ambled down for a drink under the watchful eye of their mother. One fawn had gotten so close to Shouto that their noses nearly touched, and he could smell the breath of the little thing, sweet and springy. He’d looked in its eyes and saw them searching his face. What it found, he did not know.

That had been the last summer of freedom.

“I don’t think she’ll be boring,” Shouto finally said.

“Another stunning review from half and half,” Bakugo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as the boys came to a halt in front of the entrance to the hall. “She better come to get drinks with us or I’ll think she’s a stiff.”

Shouto slid his eyes back over to the ballroom where Midoriya and Kagawa stood, gathering jackets and talking.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

#todoroki shouto #bnha shouto #mha oc #shouto x you #shouto x reader #shouto x y/n #Shouto fanfic #bnha todoroki

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the-fiction-witch · 4 years ago

Text

The King And Queen P1

REAL LIFE: X SWORD IN THE STONE COUPLE: TBS RATING: FUNNY + SUGGESTIVE

I sighed as I heard the clock tower ringing loudly across the moors from the nearby village, The cluttering and clattering down in the kitchens in this early morning, the horses riding out across the moors out hunting foxes and such like. I picked myself up kicking off my scratchy blankets climbing out of the half broken wooden bed and grabbing my pants from the floor wondering across my room going over to the window pushing open the two wooden shutters looking out from the tower. Leaning on the stone windowsill looking out across the castle and across the dark misted moors, The old moss covered stone work of the castle half falling down where the castle gets a regular beating, The horses rushing off on the hunt across the moors breaking up the mist that had sat over night. The little Village off in the distance the tall church tower visible across the hills, I rested my head on my hand trying to keep awake on this cold crisp morning.

"THOMAS!" I heard Lucas screaming from downstairs, so I sighed getting dressed and running down the tower stairs, all the way down to the main court room where he sat on his wooden chair with his friends around him, drinking beer from there tankards, eating from chicken and turkey legs on the bone in there hands, often laughing and pinching the bottoms, and grabbing at the kitchen girls who came to serve them food and drinks pulling them forcefully onto there laps and groping them where they could "At last! Thought you might have died up there" "It is the tower-" I began

"shut it!" He yelled throwing his goblet at my head but after all this time I was used to it and I ducked letting the goblet hit the wall sending the wine across the wall "Have you cleaned the stables yet?"

"No..."

"Then go do it!"

"Yes sir" I nodded heading out the castle and out across the muddy, smelly, flooded courtyard out to the stables, the mud all over the stone floor, hay on every surface imaginable, shit everywhere, I sighed and got my broom starting to sweet up the hay, straw and dirt from the floor going down the tables cleaning it off, as I did I heard noise around the corner in the empty stable I heard giggling and gentle playful screaming I peaked around the corner seeing a familiar sight, Miss Livi stood in the stables with merlin grabbing and groping her trying to pull her dress up I coughed interrupting them making them both jump away fixing themselves up "Ahh yes just uhh just the boy I wasn't to see" he says "Hello sugar" she waves to me

"Hi Merlin, Hi Miss Livi, what's going on?"

"Ohhhh uhhh of course nothing at all my boy, just uhh debating things not uhh any sort of business" He says slapping her on the butt

"OOohh! Dirty boy" she giggled slapping his hands away "I'll see you in the kitchens later sugar" she cooes as she headed out to do back to the kitchens

"Are you and Miss Livi?"

"What! no! what an insinuation!"

"This is the forth time this week I've caught you two having a.... roll in the hay"

"Don't, get, involved, with, Wizard, Business" He says hitting my head with his wand between words

"Owww!" I complained holding my head where he hit me" I only asked"

"Are you ready for todays lesson?"

"I have cleaning to do Merlin" I sighed "I can't keep running off for all this stuff I'm not getting my work done and I keep getting an ass kicking because of it"

"It's fine" He shrugs taking my broom "Bip Bop Ba boo do the sweep for you" tapping it with his magic wand and the broom stood tall unassisted and began to sweep everything up "Come on lets go on an lesson!" He says grabbing my arm and dragging me off into the woods

"Merlin I have work to do!"

"It'll all be done when we get back" he says as we headed out to the river

"Fine, what are we doing?" I sighed

"We're going to explore the water ways"

"Okay?"

"Lets go and swim in the rivers!"

"I think your just a nutter with magic"

"There's a fine line between Genius and Madness" He says

"Yeah a very small line"

He glared at me and "Bip bop ba Boo FIsh flop floo" He says hitting me on the head and instantly I turned into a fish

"Hey! Warning would be nice!" I yelled jumping into the water he Quickly turned and jumped in with me as a fish too "why do we have to do this?"

"Because its lessons?" he says

"fine, but I need to get back" I warned him.

I sighed as I walked back to the castle

"How was I to know that you'd get stuck in a fishing net?"

"Because you turned me into a fish"

"its fine stop your worrying" He says as we got back to the stables and saw the broom had gone nuts and swept everything even the horses into one huge pile in the corner "Oohh..."

"Yeah oh!!" I yelled "I'm dead" I sighed

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pandorasimbox · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! WCIF the historical bar build you posted? The post starts with "Can anyone else hear Turkey in the Straw playing?" Is the lot on the gallery? Thanks!

Hello @holydragonsuit - I’m afraid it isn’t available for download as of yet.

The bar is the cornerstone of the Union Court building (seen here) which is a very complex mixed-used building containing the two-storey bar, a book shop, barber shop, toy shop, doctor’s office, photography studio, accountancy office, a few townhouses and some lower income housing. The upper floor of the bar isn’t even decorated yet. 😅 I also have plans to make CC sets for several of these businesses so public release is a ways away yet.

As a consolation prize, I will try to put together a cc list for the bar build for you sometime this week. <3

#my asks #Forty Acres #40acresfiction #Union Court #Brindleton Bay #holydragonsuit

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morganamysticblog · 4 years ago

Text

The Anniversary - Part 2

After a long day of meetings, Liam ate a quick dinner then headed back to his room at the hotel. He was supposed to be home by now, but his meetings had ran late. Heather, hopefully would not be too mad at him. He had one more meeting in the morning then would start heading home to Cordonia.

After a hot shower Liam checked his phone one last time before getting some sleep. He had one text message from Heather.

TEXT FROM HEATHER – Happy Anniversary.

His heart sank. He had forgotten their anniversary. Well, there went the thought of Heather not being mad at him for being late a day. Heather was going to be furious. He had already missed their daughter’s 4th birthday and now their anniversary.

Liam held his phone in his hands thinking of a reply. What could he possibly say that would make up for this? He could take her on a trip somewhere to try to make up for it, bring her home a gift. No, that’s what he always did. Money wouldn’t make up for the time he had missed.

He knew he should be sleeping, but his mind was racing by now. He had been gone a lot lately. But why? He could have sent advisors to do these negotiations. Done them by video conference. Why did he feel the need to be the one to handle all of it? To be away from his family for so long? A few years ago he would have insisted that Heather basically be glued to his side. Now? They hardly spoke. And when he was home, they argued about him being gone so much, which then made him not want to be there, to avoid the arguing.

He needed to break this cycle somehow. He needed to get back what they once had together before he lost her for good. But how? His mind suddenly went blank. He had no idea what to do or say. His whole life he was always taught money fixes everything. But money wouldn’t fix this. Finally, exhaustion kicked in and Liam fell asleep.

__________

Heather woke up early the next morning. After wiping the sleep from her eyes, she checked her phone. 6:00 a.m. and no messages. She sent a text to Hana.

TEXT TO HANA – Hey Hana. If you and Maxwell want to bring Ellie home early, I’m here and missing my girl.

Heather went downstairs for some breakfast. She didn’t want to wake any of the staff, so she cooked some scrambled eggs with cheese and turkey bacon herself, then went to the small dining room to eat. Thoughts of the night before still running through her head. Just as she was finishing the last few bites of her breakfast, her phone buzzed with a new message.

TEXT FROM DRAKE – Hey Heather. Just checking on you. Hope you had a good night’s sleep.

Heather smiled at the message from Drake. She decided to call him.

DRAKE – Hey you. You’re up early.

HEATHER – So are you.

DRAKE – Did you get any sleep?

HEATHER – Yeah.

DRAKE – How are you doing?

HEATHER – Actually, I’m ok. I think I passed the sorrow and anger stages and now I’m in the numb phase. How are you doing? Did you get some good sleep?

DRAKE – I’m ok. I had some decent dreams, how’s that?

HEATHER – Ha ha. Let me guess, you dreamt about camping in a huge forest with no one around except you, a river for fishing and a campfire for s’mores.

DRAKE – Yep. Pretty much. Maybe a little more, but we won’t go there right now.

HEATHER – Drake…about last night.

DRAKE – Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to say I regret it, but I’m not going to push for anything either.

HEATHER – Thanks.

DRAKE – Well, I’m going to get going for now. I just wanted to check in on you. I’ll talk to you later.

HEATHER – Ok. Later Drake.

As soon as Heather hung up the phone a call came in from Hana.

HEATHER – Hey Hana.

HANA – Is everything ok?

HEATHER – Yeah, why?

HANA – Are you sure you want us to bring Ellie back so soon? I thought you and Liam would want some time alone.

HEATHER – He’s been delayed.

HANA – Oh no. For how long?

HEATHER – I’m not sure. You know what…I’ll just come get her. I’ll be there in a couple hours.

HANA – Are you sure? We can bring her. It’s no problem.

HEATHER – No, it’s ok. I’ll be there soon.

HANA – Ok. See you soon.

Heather goes upstairs to her room and Ellie’s room and packs things for both of them to last a couple weeks. She loads the suitcases into the back of a small SUV. A servant comes out and asks if she would like someone to drive her.

HEATHER – No, thank you. I’ll be fine.

SERVANT – Of course, your majesty. Safe travels.

Heather gets into the SUV and heads off to Valtoria.

__________

Liam quickly ate his breakfast. He had one more meeting that started in about 10 minutes. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long. He wanted to get home. He needed to get home.

The meeting went by in a blur. He hoped he was saying the right things. He truly was not paying attention. His mind was on making sure his plane was ready to take him home. He was supposed to take the train, but he couldn’t wait that long. His private jet should be arriving at the airport in the next few minutes.

After the formal goodbye’s, Liam climbed into the limo to head to the airport. It was 10:00 when he boarded the private jet. As soon as he entered, the door was closed and the pilot began his take off procedures. Liam checked his phone. No messages. He sent a quick message to Heather.

TEXT TO HEATHER – I’m on my way home my darling. I should be there around 2:00 this afternoon. I love you.

Four hours for him to think of something to win back his wife. As the ground below blurred he decided to bring home one dozen peach roses – Heather’s favorite, and nothing else. He sent a message to the florist to have the roses ready for him at the airport so he could bring them home personally. Hopefully it would be a start.

__________

Heather pulled into the circular drive at Valtoria. Suddenly her phone buzzed on the seat next to her. She glanced at it – a text from Liam. She didn’t even open the screen to read the message.

Hana and Eleanor came out of the front door to greet her. Eleanor ran up to her as soon as Heather got out of the car.

ELEANOR – Mommy!!!

HEATHER – There’s my girl!! I missed you.

ELEANOR – I missed you too. You should have been here mommy. We had a dance party and ate popcorn and watched Frozen 2. Then we had a slumber party. Maxwell fell asleep first, so Hana and I put makeup on him.

HEATHER – Oh please tell me there’s pictures of that.

HANA – There are.

HEATHER – You are the best! Has he seen them yet?

HANA – Yes. He posted them to his Instagram like a badge of honor or something.

HEATHER – Sounds like Maxwell.

HANA – I was just getting ready to take Ellie out to the flower garden to water the flowers. I can have someone come get the bags if you'd like.

HEATHER – No, that’s ok. I’ll take them in.

ELEANOR – Mommy, come see the pretty flowers with me.

HEATHER – I’ll be back in just a minute, ok?

ELEANOR – Ok, mommy.

Heather opens the trunk of the car and takes the two suitcases into the manor. She puts hers on her bed and puts Ellie’s in her room. It had been a while since she had been here. At least a year. Hana lived at Valtoria, and now that she was dating Maxwell, he was staying there too. Even though it was her estate, she didn’t want to impose on them for long. Heather headed back out to the garden.

ELEANOR – Look how pretty mommy. I like the purple ones.

HEATHER – Those are very pretty.

ELEANOR – Mommy, is daddy coming too?

HEATHER – I don’t know sweetheart. I haven’t talked to him for a little while.

ELEANOR – Let’s call him. Can I video him?

HEATHER – Sure. Let’s go over to the gazebo so the sun isn’t so bright on us.

ELEANOR – Ok mommy.

Heather pulls out her phone and sets up the video call for Eleanor. Heather hands her the phone when the call starts ringing.

As soon as she sees her father’s face…

ELEANOR – DADDY!!!!

LIAM – Well hello there sweetheart.

ELEANOR – Daddy, I got to put makeup on Maxwell. It was so fun.

LIAM – That’s something new. So, you’re having fun with Hana and Maxwell?

ELEANOR – Oh yes daddy. Do you have many more meetings daddy?

LIAM – No more meetings my sweet girl. I’ll be home very soon.

ELEANOR – You will? Did you bring me anything?

LIAM – Maybe. You’ll just have to wait and see.

ELEANOR – Ok daddy. Love you. Bye bye.

LIAM – Ellie, could you hand the phone back to mommy?

But Eleanor had ended the call before he could finish his question. He tried calling back, but it just went to voice mail. Well, at least he got to talk to Ellie.

ELEANOR – Mommy, can we go home to see daddy now?

HEATHER – Not yet honey.

ELEANOR – I want to see my daddy.

HEATHER – We will. Just not yet.

ELEANOR – I WANT TO SEE MY DADDY NOW!!!

HEATHER – Eleanor Margaret, I said not yet.

ELEANOR – Fine.

Eleanor storms off into the manor. Hana stops watering the flowers and goes over to Heather.

HANA – Heather, is everything ok?

HEATHER – Yes, why?

HANA – Well, you asked us to bring Ellie back early, then came here to pick her up. And you have suitcases with you. I know Liam’s been gone a while, but I thought you’d be excited to see him.

HEATHER – I should be. He’s just been gone for so long.

HANA – What are you going to do?

HEATHER – I don’t know yet. That’s one of the reasons I came here. To give me some time away from the palace to think. But it looks like I won’t get that if Ellie wants to go back so badly to see him.

HANA – Ellie will be fine. She’s like her mother, she just needs some time to cool off. Maxwell and I can keep her entertained for as long as you need.

HEATHER – You are the absolute best friend ever Hana. I just…I’m not ready for another argument with him. And I’m getting really tired of being a single mom.

HANA – I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it was getting that bad.

HEATHER – It’s been building for quite a while. I have been in denial, I think. But last night when he didn’t come home, didn’t call, completely forgot our anniversary, that was the final straw that pulled me out of it. I can’t keep doing this. Something has to change…everything has to change.

HANA – Oh Heather. (Hana gives Heather a hug.)

Tears stream down Heather’s face. She always considered herself a strong person. After everything she had been through, fixing her marriage should be easy. But this seemed to be the hardest thing she had ever had to do. She pulls away from Hana and wipes her eyes.

HEATHER – I’m going to go up to my room for a little bit. Could you watch Ellie for me?

HANA – Of course. Let me know if you need anything.

HEATHER – I will. Thank you.

Heather goes upstairs to her room and out to the balcony. The view was still absolutely breathtaking. She went back in to the room and pulled a chair out to the balcony to sit down. The mountains, trees and waterfall were relaxing.

Making a mental list, she began to think about her options. There was precedence for a queen to just leave. Leo’s mother had done it. Liam could marry again. Eleanor would still be heir to the throne, but Heather could take her with her wherever she decided to go until it was time.

She could take Ellie on a vacation for a few weeks just to prove a point. Make Liam miss them while he was alone at the palace. But where would they go? It would have to be somewhere he couldn’t find them easily.

She could take Ellie to Dallas, to her family ranch. She could enroll Ellie in the same private school she went to as a child. Ellie would receive all the same training that she would here, well almost all of it. But Heather could show her how the commoners live. Show her to respect her people. She was beginning to miss Texas now. She hadn’t felt homesick at all since she left, but lately, she wanted to go home.

Then her thoughts suddenly changed to Drake and the kiss they shared the night before. She started thinking about all the time they had spent together over the years. All the times he had saved her, been there for her. His smile and the sparkle in his eyes when he looked at her. The way he looked with no shirt on. The way his muscles moved, his body glistening in the sun. Suddenly she started feeling warm. There was always the option of going on vacation somewhere with Drake.

Heather shook her head. No, she wouldn’t drag him into this and use him like that. Drake had made it pretty obvious how he felt, but he also made it obvious that he wanted her to be absolutely sure when she made her choice. This was not a quick pro/con list like before. And physical attraction did not mean everything would be perfect.

She needed a change of scenery that was definite. She felt like she was suffocating at the palace. She suddenly felt weak, not physically but mentally. When she first arrived in Cordonia, she had no problem voicing her opinion, showing everyone that she was not going to be pushed around. Now that seemed like an entirely different person. She felt like she had lost her spark.

Heather pulls out her phone – skipping reading the message from Liam – and searches images of North Fork Ranch in Texas. Slowing looking through the pictures of her childhood home, her resolve begins to come in stronger. That is where she needed to be.

HANA – Heather, are you hungry? We’re getting ready to have lunch.

HEATHER – That sounds great. I’ll be right there.

Heather heads down to the solarium to have lunch with Hana, Maxwell and little Ellie.

After everyone finished lunch, Ellie stands up.

ELEANOR – Ok mommy. I’m all done. Let’s go now.

HEATHER – What do you mean let’s go now?

ELEANOR – Daddy’s home. We have to go.

HEATHER – Soon, ok?

ELEANOR – He won’t be happy if we’re not there.

HEATHER – He’ll be fine Ellie. Why don’t you go upstairs and change into something comfortable for the ride. We’ll leave in a little bit.

ELEANOR – Ok.

Ellie heads upstairs to change.

HANA – So you’re heading back?

HEATHER – Yeah. For now. Ellie loves her daddy. I don’t want to keep her away from him for long if he’s coming home today.

HANA – Keep me posted on what happens, ok?

HEATHER – I will.

Heather goes up to her room to get her suitcase. She puts both suitcases into the car, buckles Ellie into her car seat, and starts the drive back to the palace.

__________

Liam opens the front door to the palace. No one is there to greet him. He sets his suitcase down and closes the door.

Upon hearing the sound of the door a staff member rushes out.

SERVANT – Oh, your majesty. Welcome home.

LIAM – Thank you. Where is everyone? It’s very quiet.

SERVANT – The queen gave most of the staff a couple days off in anticipation of your arrival. They will all be back tomorrow.

LIAM – I see.

SERVANT – I’ll take your bag to your room sir. Would you like me to put the flowers in a vase?

LIAM – Yes, please. Could you leave them here for the queen? I wanted to give them to her myself.

SERVANT – Of course, sir. I will let you know as soon as she arrives.

LIAM – She’s not here?

SERVANT – No sir. She left earlier this morning.

LIAM – Oh. Did she say when she would return?

SERVANT – No sir. But she should be back shortly. I believe she may have gone to go get Princess Eleanor from Valtoria.

LIAM – Actually, now that you say that, yes, she did. I spoke with the princess earlier.

SERVANT – Well, welcome home your majesty.

LIAM – Thank you.

The servant takes Liam’s bag up to the bedroom then brings a vase for the roses. Liam sits on the stairs with the vase next to him and waits.

Heather pulls on to the grounds about 30 minutes later. Liam hears the vehicle and sits up a little straighter. Excitement and nervousness coursing through him.

Heather sits out in the vehicle, not quite ready to go in. She pulls out her phone. She still hadn’t read the message Liam sent her. She finally gets up enough courage to read it. Well, at least this message was better than the one he sent yesterday, more personal. Slowly she takes off her seatbelt, turns the car off, gets out of the car and gets Eleanor out of her seat.

Eleanor runs to the front door yelling “Daddy” all the way. Liam hears her and opens the door for her.

ELEANOR – DADDY!!!!

LIAM – There’s my sweet girl. (He hugs her tight as she jumps into his arms.) Have you been good while I was gone?

Eleanor turns to look at Heather, questioning in her eyes.

HEATHER – She’s been a perfect angel, as usual.

Eleanor grins widely.

LIAM – That’s good to hear. Ellie, could you take your things up to your room and play for a little bit?

ELEANOR – Ok daddy. Will you play with me later?

LIAM – Definitely.

Eleanor slowly works her way up the stairs to her room. Liam slowly reaches down to pick up the vase of peach roses, turns and holds them out to Heather.

LIAM – I got these for you. I know they’re your favorite color of roses.

HEATHER – Oh, thank you.

LIAM – Can we talk?

HEATHER – I guess.

Liam motions for Heather to follow him to the sitting room where they can sit down.

LIAM – I owe you a huge apology. Heather, I am so sorry I missed last night.

HEATHER – It’s not just last night, but yes, that was a big night to miss.

LIAM – I have been thinking all day about everything, and I have no excuse, no reason for how I’ve been acting. I do know that if I don’t do something soon to change, to fix things, that you won’t put up with it much longer. I don’t want to lose you, Heather.

HEATHER – I just keep trying to figure out what I did to make you want to be gone so much. What I could do different to make you want to stay.

LIAM – You haven’t done anything wrong. This is all my fault. Somehow I went against everything I promised you and let duty to the crown, the job, take over instead of putting you first.

HEATHER – I just don’t know if we can get back to what we had. We went through so much together the first couple years, but after all the near death plots and coups to take over the throne, when things got to an actual normal mode, things changed with us. It’s like without all the conspiracies and craziness, we have nothing else holding us together.

LIAM – We have plenty of things holding us together.

HEATHER – Besides Ellie, name one.

Liam sits looking at Heather, thinking. Several seconds go by.

HEATHER – Exactly my point.

LIAM – Heather, I do love you. With everything in me. I don’t want to lose you.

HEATHER – I love you too. Except for putting our lives in jeopardy again, I don’t know what to do to fix this though.

LIAM – I’m not giving up on us. We will fix this.

HEATHER – Liam, I appreciate the effort, I do. And I know we’ve been apart a lot, but I think I want to take Ellie on a trip for a while, just her and I.

LIAM – Oh, when would you leave?

HEATHER – I don’t know. Maybe in a couple days. That way you would have some time with Ellie.

LIAM – And so I can have time with you.

HEATHER – Liam…I’m glad you’re feeling guilty so to speak about being gone so much and wanting to change things, it’s just…I got so used to you ignoring me, I can’t let you back into my heart just like that.

LIAM – I understand, and I don’t expect things to be perfect right away. I am just asking for the chance to prove myself to you.

HEATHER – I…I just need time away from here.

Liam reaches over to touch Heather’s hand as tears begin to stream down her face. For a second she starts to pull away, but then allows him to hold her hand. His touch is gentle, nice. She missed this. She missed him. She looks up into his eyes and sees that he is crying too.

LIAM – Heather, I am so sorry. Please don’t go.

HEATHER – Liam…I…

LIAM – Wherever it is you want to go, we can go together. Just the three of us.

HEATHER – I don’t know.

LIAM – Just give me 24 hours. If you’re still ready to leave by this time tomorrow, then I won’t stop you. But for tonight, all I ask is that you let me try to make up to you.

HEATHER – One day. I will try to let my guard down for one day.

LIAM – That is all I ask. Would you like something for dinner?

HEATHER – There’s some leftover lasagna in the fridge we can heat up.

LIAM – Leftover?

HEATHER – I cooked lasagna for dinner last night, too much for two people apparently, so there’s still some left. I promise it’s good heated up the next day.

LIAM – You cooked dinner? I am the worst husband on the planet.

HEATHER – I’ll get Ellie if you can heat up the lasagna. We’ll meet in the dining room. Does that work? Or you can get Ellie and I’ll heat up dinner.

LIAM – If you don’t mind, I’m not very good around a microwave or stove.

HEATHER – Ok. Meet you in the dining room.

Heather heads to the kitchen and Liam heads upstairs to Ellie’s room. Ellie has built a castle out of her Legos.

ELEANOR – Look daddy, I made us a castle.

LIAM – That’s beautiful honey. Mommy’s making dinner for us. Are you hungry?

ELEANOR – So hungry. Last one there is a rotten egg!

Liam chases after Eleanor as she runs down to the dining room. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs Liam scoops her up and twirls her around. Eleanor laughs and squeals.

ELEANOR – I really missed you daddy.

LIAM – I missed you too.

Heather brings three plates of lasagna into the small dining room and the three of them sit down to eat.

ELEANOR – Mommy…so good!!

LIAM – Heather, this is amazing.

HEATHER – Thank you. I hoped you would like it.

LIAM – I love it. This is so much better than anything I have had in quite a while.

After they finish eating Heather and Liam take the plates to the kitchen. They send Eleanor to her room to play for a bit before bed time.

LIAM – I can wash the dishes if you want.

HEATHER – Do you know how?

LIAM – I can figure it out, I think.

HEATHER – Why don’t you go up and play with Ellie for a bit before her bed time. I’ll take care of the dishes.

LIAM – Are you sure?

HEATHER – Yes. I’m sure she’ll want to spend more time with you.

LIAM – If you would like some relaxation time, you could take a hot bath in the 3rd floor bathroom while Ellie and I play.

HEATHER – That actually sounds really good. Have fun. I’ll see you later.

LIAM – Definitely.

Liam heads up to Eleanor’s bedroom. Heather quickly washes the few dishes and heads up to the bathroom to run a hot bubble bath.

About an hour later Liam knocks on the bathroom door.

LIAM – Heather, may I come in?

HEATHER – Uh, sure.

LIAM – I wanted to check on you, see how you are doing.

HEATHER – Ha ha ha ha ha. I like your new crown. (Liam is wearing a large flowered hat)

LIAM – Huh? (reaching for his head) Oh. Yes. Ellie insisted we had to dress up for the tea party. I must have forgotten to take it off.

HEATHER – I’m glad you two had fun.

LIAM – Oh yes. She’s all tucked in, bedtime story read, and sleeping peacefully.

HEATHER – That’s good.

LIAM – Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like a massage? I vaguely remember someone telling me I was pretty good at giving massages.

HEATHER – I seem to recall something like that. Sure, if you want.

Liam pulls a chair from the vanity over behind the tub. Heather leans forward and sits up a bit so Liam can reach her shoulders and back. He starts rubbing her shoulders and neck, gently but with a little bit of pressure to create a relaxing sensation in her.

HEATHER – That feels really good.

LIAM – There is something I have been thinking about for a while, even more the past couple of days, that I wanted to discuss with you.

HEATHER – Ok?

LIAM – Perhaps here is not the best location?

HEATHER – Ah, you’re right. If you give me a couple minutes I could meet you in the bedroom. We could relax and watch a movie after we talk if you want.

LIAM – Watch a movie?

HEATHER – I may have put a TV in the bedroom while you were gone. I needed entertainment at night.

LIAM – Oh, that’s fine. That sounds nice.

A few minutes later Heather walks into the bedroom. Liam is sitting on the edge of the bed. He smiles when she walks in.

LIAM – You’re beautiful, you know that?

HEATHER – Uh, thanks. So what is it you wanted to talk about?

LIAM – Well, with all of the traveling I have done, I have been paying closer attention to the types of governments the various countries have, and thinking whether we should change what type of government we have here in Cordonia.

HEATHER – Wouldn’t that be a huge undertaking?

LIAM – Well, I was thinking of following what England has. They have a Parliament which pretty much runs everything, but the Queen still has a say in matters. I would like to meet with Queen Elizabeth and the Prime Minister to see if they could offer any advice, possible procedures to make the change, things like that.

HEATHER – I see. So, another trip away for you.

LIAM – Oh, not just me. I apologize, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. This would affect all of us if we do this. I want you and Eleanor to be there as well. The two of you have just as much say in how we do things here as I do.

HEATHER – Ah. Well, I guess I should be impressed that you managed to be “just Liam” for six hours. I think that may be a new record.

LIAM – I…I don’t understand. I thought you would be happy.

HEATHER – Happy about discussing possible huge political changes in our country, changing the entire way things are done after you’ve only being home a few hours? You just can’t unplug for a day can you?

LIAM – I’m sorry, Heather. I just…I thought changing things, changing the responsibilities of the monarchy…my responsibilities…it would give us so much more time together as a family. We wouldn’t have to worry about the day to day governance, we could just be together.

HEATHER – So, your solution for us to spend more time together and be a family is to completely redesign our governmental system. Do you have any idea how difficult and time consuming that will be?

LIAM – I realize it would take a bit of time, but once everything is done, we’ll have so much more time together.

HEATHER – A bit of time? Are you seriously hearing yourself? This “change” would take years, Liam. This is not a quick overnight thing. We would have to review every single law ever written in Cordonia dating back to Kendra Ryhs, every Nevraskis stipulation, to make sure that we take every possibility into consideration. Then a whole new Constitution would need to be prepared defining how things are going to work. Who would approve the new Constitution? You would have to get approval from all the noble houses, which they will not be happy to relinquish their power. We would need to decide where this Parliament will meet, how often, and if a new building needs to be built. Who is allowed to be in Parliament? Are the members appointed by you, by the other nobles, are they elected by the public? How long are they allowed to serve? How much influence on decisions, law approval will they have? What happens if the initial system doesn’t work? Do we make changes or go back to a monarchy?

LIAM – I…I guess I didn’t really think this through all the way, did I? I just wanted to find a way to show you that I do want to be with you.

HEATHER – You want a way to show me that you want to be with me? Then just be with me. I don’t care what kind of government we have, how many meetings you have to go to, just make the effort to actually include me. You used to do that. Now, it just feels like you remember I’m here when it’s convenient for you. When you have a spare minute that’s not focused on conferences and trade agreements. I’m not some fragile little figurine that you bring out to display when you’re trying to show off.

LIAM – So, what do you want me to do to prove to you that I do want you, that I do love you.

HEATHER – Honestly? Stop being Constantine and start being Liam again.

LIAM – I…I didn’t realize I had gotten that bad. I’ll leave you to your television show.

Liam gets up and leaves the room heading down the hall to a guest room for the night. Heather turns on the TV to try to stop herself from thinking about how terrible the night just went. They both drift off to sleep…alone.

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