#detective cathy parr!

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six. Chapter Twelve.

Next chapter of the Detective AU! I have been looking forward to this one FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TW: Swearing, death, mentions of murder, depression, and suicide.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/59731042

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon @dm-lancaster. If you want to be added, you know where to go🙂

[jane-fucking-seymour]

Legend of the Six has Updated!

Chapter 24 - Twice Tested

Ao3 Link

Words: 2,538

“How in the Goddess’ name did we end up in the bloody fucking Fae Lands?!?”

Anna and Katherine chuckle a bit at Maria’s outburst as they continued to walk through the clearing. They had been walking away from the town for a few days now, though they didn’t seem to be making much progress: the town was still visible, and the group had argued whether it was further away at all.

“Language,” Catherine replied; it’s the first time in a few days that she’s been able to take a walk. She had been a bit unwell for the two days after returning, but now she seemed to be in much better shape - able to walk for long distances, at least.

Or, at least, what they THINK is a long distance.

Still, Maria’s glare was deflected with a smirk from her Blessed, who chuckles as Maria huffs in annoyance.

“Fine.. how in the WORLD did we end up in the bloody fucking Fae Lands?!?”

“Better.” Catherine winks at her before turning to her map. “To answer your question… there’s nothing on this map that shows any type of Fae territory here.” She looks over at Cathy. “When was this map drawn?”

“The day before we left Weston. I magickally chartered it myself, and I know it’s right.” Cathy shakes her head. “There was an area near here that is Fae controlled, but it’s to the south. I don’t understand how it’s grown this large.”

“Maybe your magicks were off?” Maria suggests.

Cathy frowns. “Maybe…” she looks back up, then back at the town they left days ago, and huffs. “I don’t understand why we don’t seem to be going any further away, though.”

“Because I don’t want you to.”

They all turn to find a young fae, standing in front of them. The Fae seemed young, excited even as it jumped up into the air. It landed on a pedestal about thirty feet above them. The world around the group faded into a blur that made it hard to focus on, save for a rectangle of space right behind where the Fae was sitting above them that was still clear as day.

Anna, Catherine and Maria immediately stepped forward, the first line of defense as glass-like mirrors appeared all around them, in a circle. The reflections, however, weren’t true - the one Catherine was looking into showed her back, while the one Maria looked into seemed to face Anna. Anna looked over at Catherine and saw herself in the mirror in front of her and raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Are these reflections at all?” Anna asks, looking around the circle of mirrors that were now in front of them.

“Oh, brilliant deduction, Lady Cleves,” the Fae said, peering over their perch to look down at the group. “They’re portals! Fun portals. One gets you out of here, the rest keep you here. It’s a game! A fun game.”

“And you want us to, what, exactly?” Maria asks, glaring at the Fae above. “To play your game?”

“Or you don’t leave,” the Fae replied. “It’s simple enough, really.” They gasp. “Oh, and before you think about it - your teleportation magicks won’t be useful here, mages. Mine are stronger. Mine keep you here. Until you play my game and get up here, you’re sticking where you lot are.”

“Do you not realize that your lands and the world around us are in trouble?” Catherine asks, stepping forward. “If we can’t stop Henry, your games will be destroyed, too.”

The Fae tilts their head. “I want to play a game now, though! You lot seem like you want to play games, too. Don’t you want to play?” The Fae smiles brightly and giggles at Anna poking one of the mirrors, sitting back and gleefully watching them below.

Catherine huffs, looking back at the rest of the group. “... I don’t see another choice here.”

Katherine nods. “Let’s try to figure this out as quickly as possible.”

Anna looks around the portals - they all look the same to her, and she assumes to the rest of her group. However…

“Katherine,” Anna says, turning towards her. “Can you sense anything?” she looks at Elizabeth, Catherine, and Cathy. “Any of you? Maybe there’s some sort of… energy, that links the portals that you can detect?”

“Well, that’s a good shout,” Catherine says with a nod. “Kat’s the most in tune with natural energies, and while Fae magicks aren’t completely natural, they are fairly close, energy-speaking…”

Katherine closes her eyes and focuses. Her relaxed face becomes more and more tense as she struggles to pick up anything, eventually ending up opening her eyes with a frustrated huff. “Nothing.”

“Well hidden, isn’t it?” says the Fae above them, smiling brightly. She’s leaning over the edge of the platform, smiling as her arms prop up her chin. “Gotta try harder than that, come on, ladies!”

Anna frowns a bit deeper, looking at Catherine in thought, before Maria simply steps forward. She takes out her sword and pokes it through a portal - causing a yelp from Liz, who was standing a bit too close to one of the portals.

“Hey!” she says, jumping away from the surprise poke, and Maria pulls her sword back with a sheepish smile.

“My bad.”

“Okay, well,” Elizabeth says with a huff, smoothing out her coat and glaring at Cathy, who was clearly trying not to laugh. “We know which one that goes to.”

“Then we do that with each one,” Catherine says, taking out her blade. Anna does as well with a nod, moving to a portal. They all start to poke a weapon through each portal, seeing which one goes where… but that stops when Catherine pokes her sword through a portal and Elizabeth once again yelps.

“Watch it!!!” 

Catherine frowns. “Some portals go to the same ones, apparently?”

Cathay tilts her head and goes to the old portal, poking an elemental dagger through it… and Elizabeth yelps as she’s poked by yet another dagger.

“Alright, next one to poke me gets burned!” 

“Don’t stand so close to the portals then, for the Goddess’ sake…” Maria says, rolling her eyes fondly as Elizabeth moves to the center of the room.

Elizabeth huffs and looks over. “That portal didn’t go to there before.” She says, frowning. “They’re changing.”

“Oh, are they?” The Fae asks, tilting her head. “No idea that could happen,” she says, but it’s clear she very much had every idea that that could happen.

Anna frowns. “This isn’t getting us anywhere, I don’t think.”

“There’s got to be a trick to it,” Cathy says. She looks at the portal in front of her thoughtfully, eyes narrowing. “Fae?”

“Yeah?” The Fae asks, tilting her head.

“You wouldn’t try to kill us before the game ended, right?”

“‘Course not, then I’d have to find new people!”

“Right.”

Catherine seems to catch on. “Cathy, don’t you dare-”

But she’s too late as, suddenly, Cathy leans forward, tilting her head into the portal…

… and finds Anne and Maggie. They’ve made it back to the City of Everlasting Promise, it seems, right at the gates.

“Oh!”

Both Anne and Maggie jump in surprise, blinking at the sight of a bodyless Cathy in front of them.

“Well, this is a bit ironic for me specifically- hey!” Anne says, but she’s suddenly grabbed by Cathy and pulled forward. Maggie, of course, grabs her mistress’ hand, and the two are pulled back into the game.

Cathy falls back into Catherine, who had pulled her goddaughter back out of the portal. 

“Catherine bloody Parr!” Catherine yells, instantly checking Parr for injuries while yelling at her. “What in the world were you thinking?!? That was dangerous, stupid, and-”

Anna and Elizabeth instantly aim their weapons at the two that Cathy quite literally dragged along with her through the portal, Maria instantly putting herself in between the intruders and the Catherine’s. Anne blinks, looking around, then blinks again.

“Uh… hi?”

“How do we know that’s actually her?” Elizabeth asks.

Anne flinches at the question, but then sighs. “Catherine, thanks for coming to my aid back there.”

Catherine stands up, moving straight over to the girl and looks her over. Anne winks and conjures up a dagger of darkness, taken from Catherine’s own shadow.

Catherine brings the girl into a tight hug, of which Anne returns in kind.

“I’m so proud of you, Anne,” Catherine says quietly.

Anne squeezes her harder. “Wouldn’t have gotten through it without you, Catherine. Thank you.”

Maggie moves forward to where Cathy was on the ground, offering her a hand.

“Did you really just… try to jump to your death?”

“Hey! It was a calculated risk, thank you,” Cathy says, not-so-dignifyingly standing up and brushing herself off. “The portals change depending on who is going in, apparently. So that’s a new part of this, I guess.” 

Anne blinks, looks back at the portal she just came in from, and does the same exact thing that Cathy just did.

“Oh, for the Gods’ sake-” Catherine says, shaking her head. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

“Did you not realize that before this?” Anna asks with a smirk, but then Anne returns.

“That brought me to Weston - oh, and your sister says hi.” Anne says with a grin to Cathy before she turns back to the rest of the group. “But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t completely leave the portal.”

“You can’t! It’s just for us here, us now.” The Fae replies. “Only portal that takes you anywhere will lead you back to here, or this platform!”

Cathy huffs. “... admittedly that’s very clever.”

The Fae smiles.

“Thanks!”

“Alright,” Anna says, looking back at the others. “Let’s just… try to do something with what we’ve got then-”

Suddenly, however, the portals disappear for a moment. They return to normal, but when Anne pokes her head in, she comes back with singed hair tips.

“That wasn’t Weston.”

“Did they reset?” Catherine asks, looking around. Maria, returning from one of the other portals, nods, and Catherine sighs. “We’ll be here forever if this keeps up.”

“Play forever!” The Fae replies. “Play forever! Or until you get up here!”

Cathy blinks, looking up at the platform, and then…

… she tilts her head.

“Until we get up there,” she repeats. She smirks.

“Okay then.”

Suddenly, she pulses upwards into the air, using her magicks to jump and effortlessly land on the platform the Fae was on. The Fae yelps, rolls to the side to (Cathy would argue) dramatically dodge Cathy’s touching down, and gets up.

“Hey!” The Fae says, clearly angry. “What are you doing up here?!?”

“Winning your game,” Cathy replies with a grin.

The Fae, however, is furious.

“No, no, nononononononononNO!” The Fae yells. Lightning cackles and storms appear. There’s so much water that the others think they’ll drown. While they’re fighting to stay afloat (or treading water), Cathy and the Fae are high and dry, the only source of light is on them.

Cathy tilts her head thoughtfully at the angry Fae, watching as the temper tantrum continues. She eventually kneels down to the Fae’s eye level, giving a soft smile.

“What were the rules that you put into place at first, little one?”

The Fae sniffles. “Th-th-that you would p-play- the g-g-g-g-g-game-”

“And that we would get up here,” Cathy points out gently, giving her a soft smile. “Isn’t that what we did? We played your game and we got up here!”

“You w-w-w-weren’t supp-pposed to cheat!!!!!” The Fae says. Their gaze snaps up to Cathy, angry. “I don’t like it when people cheat.”

Cathy flinches at the glare, but she gently takes the Fae’s hand and looks it over.

“I didn’t cheat, though. Your rules were abided by,” Cathy says quietly. Her thumb gently rubs the ring on the Fae’s middle finger. Cathy looks up. “May I ask a question of you?”

The Fae looks down at the ring, then back up at Cathy, tears still flowing.

Down below, the others are confused.

“Is she going to be ok?” Maria asks; she’s being held in Catherine’s arms, who is currently flying; once they figured out what was going on, the ones that could fly simply did so, holding onto the ones that couldn’t to make sure everyone was out of the water. “What happens if we can’t get to her in time? What if the Fae tries something?”

“I think she’s ok,” Anna says, also flying. “She seemed sure of herself before, anyways. And besides, if she does run into trouble, a few of us can just pulse up there and grab her.” She looks around to find the blur fading, things coming back into focus. She looks at the levitating Elizabeth, who nods with a gentle smile. “I don’t think it’ll be necessary, though.”

Katherine, however, cannot stop looking at her cousin. “Since WHEN did you get THOSE?!?”

They all look over to Anne’s gorgeous black wings, clearly ethereal, flapping in the wind as Anne adjusts Maggie, who is on her back. “Oh, uh, long story.”

“Long story?!?” Katherine asks. Her golden wings contrast rather nicely with Anne’s darkened ones. Katherine’s flap a bit haphazardly as she moves back to Anne. “Tell me! It’s the thing you went to do, right? The thing you hugged Catherine for?”

“I’m a Keeper now,” Anne replies. “And my Mistress is most pleased.”

“Knew she could do it,” Maggie says with a large grin. Anne rolls her eyes fondly but nods back at Katherine before looking at Catherine, who just chuckles.

Elizabeth’s gaze immediately goes back up to Cathy, who can barely be seen on the pedestal now, as it’s now blurred. She holds her breath as Cathy suddenly falls backwards, towards the ground, but sighs in relief when Cathy straightens out and lands safely on the ground. The ground below them has changed - no more water, but not the grass they thought they were walking on. Clearly, they had been in a trap of some type.

“Alright, we’re good to go,” Cathy says simply. She puts her left hand in a pocket as she takes out her pocketwatch in the other. “We’ve… been away for a while, actually.”

Catherine steps forward. “How long?”

“About a week’s time.” She frowns. “And we’re not out of here by a long shot, either. Look.”

She takes out the map. It suddenly glows where the Fae Lands were, spreading throughout the map more and more and more…

“That’s an incredible amount of territory to suddenly appear,” Catherine says. 

“That definitely wasn't there before,” Katherine agrees. “I know that. It wasn’t there when I was queen.”

“There’s something going on here, but I don’t think we’ll have time to deal with it right now,” Cathy explains. “But I also think we can get everything to stabilize if we stop Henry. That’s what I’ve gathered, at least.”

“So the plan’s the same, then,” Anna says. “We continue with our present mission.”

Of that, the group is in agreement.

The Fae watches them leave, sniffling. A hand of theirs goes to where their ring once was for a moment before they dried off the last of the remaining tears. They immediately portal away; there’s much to discuss with the others. 

[nice-neck-by-the-way]

I Really Need Your Love

High School AU

Author’s note: I’m backkkkk :) and i’m sosososo sorry it took me so long to update, honestly i didn’t feel like this story was any good, buuut thanks to a lot of messages i decided to continue it and well here we are

After this chapter there will be some drama, so enjoy this one hehehe

And well like always i really enjoy reading your messages and reviews so keep those coming (only if you want to of course)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Chapter 6

Anne was looking at herself in the mirror for the hundredth time before going to pick up Cathy for their date, their very first date of many, Anne hoped

She went through the list she made in her head to make sure nothing was being left behind. Once she was done checking everything, she gave herself one last look in the mirror, and she had to admit that she was feeling pretty confident in her outfit, courtesy of her cousin’s advice.

She grabbed the bag of snacks and blankets and she made her way to her father’s car, she would have used her own, but she needed a car with more space for the purpose of this date

‘here goes nothing’

She got in the car and went to pick up Cathy who was already waiting for her outside in some sweatpants and a hoodie, Anne couldn’t help but fall in love with her all over again

“Hi Annie” Anne shook her head waking up from her daydreaming 

“Hi” she gave the other girl a smile and started driving

“Sooooo, where are we going?” Cathy tried to get some information from Anne

“Oh no, it’s a surprised, you’ll find out when we get there”

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye Anne saw something familiar, she hadn’t notice before because she was too busy staring at the other girl, but now it was impossible to deny the resemblance to something that belonged to her but hadn’t seen in ages

“Hey Cathy, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure” 

“Where did you get that sweatshirt?”

“It’s mine” Cathy answered in an oddly suspicious and defensive way

“Well that was not exactly what I was asking, it’s just that used to have one exactly like that but lost it a couple years ago in a sleepover at your house actually” Anne tried her best to face the girl sitting beside her with her best detective look without taken her eyes off the road

“I don’t know what you are talking about” now the girl looked straight up guilty

“Cathy…?”

“Okay fine! I admit it, I stole your sweatshirt, happy?” Cathy pouted her lips while turning to face the window

“Hey I don’t mind” Anne reached for Cathy’s hand and interwind their fingers for reassurance 

“Really?” 

“Yes, I just would like to know why you did it?”

“Well it smelled like you” the other girl answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world

“And…?”

“You know I’ve been in love with you for years”

“Cathy I lost that sweatshirt when I was 12, you’ve been in love with me for that long?”

“Well yeah” Cathy just looked at her lap, suddenly ashamed with the confession she just made

“You are too cute Catherine Parr”

“Oh shut up”

“I would say make me but I'm driving, and I don’t want to get us into a car crush” Anne said giving the other girl a cheeky smile

“Well then you’ll have to settle with this” before Anne had time to think what she meant, she felt a pair of lips on her cheek which made her blush until she achieved the color of a tomato.

After that they fell into a comfortable silence with a little bit of small talk now and then for the rest of the ride

When they finally got to the place, Anne couldn’t help but feel nervous all of the sudden, maybe this idea was too little, maybe the other girl was expecting more. But all of her worries washed away when she saw Cathy’s eyes light up

“Oh Annie it’s perfect”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! I love it, thank you so much for bringing me here” Cathy launched herself to the other girl’s arms

Anne had driven them to the drive-in movie that was in town, she knew how much the other girl loved movies, so with the help of her cousin they came up with this idea. She made sure to bring enough blankets to keep them warm through the entire film and also a bunch of snacks that Anne was going to end up eating practically all by herself

“What movie is on tonight?” Cathy asked with excitement in her voice

“Well this lovely night we will be enjoying the new film masterpiece called Little Women”

Now Cathy was jumping up and down like a little kid, she was dying to see this movie

“This is so perfect I love the book and I’ve been meaning to watch the new movie”

“Yeah I remember when we were in 6th grade you were obsessed with the book so when I saw that this movie was an option well it was a pretty obvious choice” 

“Well now look who is too cute”

---

They were an hour into the movie, and even though it was pretty great, Anne just couldn’t pay attention, the whole time she had been thinking about the perfect moment to ask the scariest question in the whole world. Switching her eyes from looking to the screen and the girl besides her, Anne felt like she couldn’t hold it anymore, she had the most intelligent and stunning person next to her and she just had to ask her, so after taking a huge swing of her mountain dew for some sugary courage, she cleared her throat to catch the other girl's attention, but unfortunately Cathy was too caught up in the movie to notice the noise, so Anne tried another approach

“Hey Cathy?”

“Mmmm?” The other girl replied without peeling her eyes off the screen

“Ijustwantedtoaskyouifyouwouldmaybeconsiderlikemaybebeingmygirlfriend?”

Cathy almost choked in the coke she was drinking

“What?!”

“What I just said”

“Anne love I didn’t really understand what you just say due to the fact that you said it incredible fast, could you maybe repeat it?”

“Sure, I guess” Anne once again took a big breath and was ready to ask her question 

“I was wondering if you would maybe like to be my girlfriend?”

Cathy’s smile couldn’t get any bigger even if she tried

“YES OF COURSE ANNIE” she jumped to the girl sitting next to her and captured her lips on a big passionate kiss

“wow I can’t actually believe you agreed to be my girlfriend I’m so freaking happy right now”

“I can literally think of no reason why I would say no, I love you Anne Boleyn”

“I love you too Catherine Parr”

They went back to watching the movie, now as official girlfriends holding each other’s hands

Anne couldn’t wait to tell her cousin all about this amazing night

[yourdeepestfathoms]

The Crucible (part six)

[UK Tour; Carrie AU]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Word count: 10,030

TW: Animal death, blood, the r-slur

--------------

-Something’s In The Air-

  “I’m impressed, Thomas. I am impressed.”

Brown, oily bangs gently hung over a craggy, charming face. Round green eyes, set lightly within their sockets, watch the detective closely. A knife left a mark reaching from the top of the right cheek, running towards his upper lip and ending on his forehead, leaving a permanent memory of mischief on nineteen year old Thomas Culpeper’s face.

  “Four counts of possession, one with the intent to sell. Vandalism, disturbing the peace, drunk and disorderly.” Mulaney read off from the folder with information on the newest victim of interrogation. “Boy, your parents must be awfully proud of you.”

  “My parents died when I was six.” Thomas spat.

Mulaney stared at him in horror. Thomas huffed out a breath and leaned back in his chair, glaring sharply.

  “Not so funny now, is it?”

  “Well, it sure is funny odd,” Mulaney said, “because I just talked to Constance and Alexander not an hour ago, both very much alive and very concerned.”

Thomas growled softly and looked away.

  “Thomas, do you ever pal around with a girl named Anne Boleyn?” Mulaney asked.

  “She’s a distant cousin,” Thomas answered gruffly. “We sometimes hung out.”

  “What about Catherine Parr?”

Thomas shook his head.

  “Katherine Howard?”

Nothing.

Mulaney walked around the table and over to his side, opening the folder in his hands again. “Hey, have you ever been to Irwin Henty’s pig farm up north?” 

  “No.” Thomas muttered.

  “You’ve never been up there?” Mulaney humored him. “Well, see, Henry had no security system, so people were knocking fences down and stealing hogs and all kinds of things!” He laughed. Thomas was sweating.

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah,” Mulaney said. “So what do you think he does?” He doesn’t wait for an answer- not that Thomas’s pallor makes him look up to even giving one. “He installs one of those expensive, high-tech security systems. Oh, man, he’s even got one of those really cool cameras that take pictures in the dark! Doggone it, they look like they were taken in broad daylight!”

He slipped out some green photos taken with a night vision camera and slid them over to Thomas.

  “Look at this. Look at the detail on that!” Mulaney went on, pointing to the clear image of Thomas, Cathy, Anne, Maggie, Maggie’s boyfriend, and another kid named Thomas Cromwell sneaking into Old Man Henty’s pigpen. “You can just about count the hairs on that pig’s snout, can’t you?” He showed a photo of a closeup of Thomas's face. “I thought this one was particularly good of you.”

Thomas looked away, biting his lip.

  “Of course, here’s another one of all six of you. Looking pretty chummy!” Mulaney said with a slight laugh. “Say, how come there’s no pictures of Katherine? Was she waiting in the truck?”

  “How should I know?” Thomas asked softly. “She wasn’t even there…”

Mulaney furrowed his eyebrows, exchanging a quick glance with Madeline. He sat back down across from Thomas.

  “Well, it was to my understanding that Katherine and Anne planned the whole thing.”

Thomas scoffed lightly. “Dude,” He said, “you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

------

The gym early Thursday morning was flurry of activity as kids moved to and fro to get ready for the prom in two days. Paints splattered, ribbons unraveled, fairy lights flickered, and everyone acted as if it were the end of the world if even the slightest decoration was off. Watching it was entertaining, but now that she was actually a part of the decoration committee, Katherine could see why it was so stressful.

Since she wouldn’t be going to prom, Katherine had decided the least she could do was help set up for it. Their theme that year was Springtime in Greece (whose idea was it to have themes for prom, Katherine wondered), so huge murals of Greek temples were drawn by the art kids on giant canvases and were currently being painted by several other volunteers. The stage, where the band would play and prom king and queen would be announced, was being set up in a way that made it look like the ancient Parthenon, fit with grooved columns, dressings of leaves and flowers, and swathes of white and gold silk. Sculptures were being carved away by extremely focused students, whittling the plaster or rock or ice away into the distinct shape of hands and heads and legs. Katherine walked over to one of them, Maria, who was sweating buckets trying to get what seemed to be a wave to look just right.

  “I can’t believe--they’re only giving us--two days,” She grunted, not looking over at Katherine, but hearing her coming over.

  “Can you finish it?” Katherine asked. She circled around one of the decorative pillars sitting around and began to smooth down the grooves.

  “Yeah,” Maria nodded. “But it’s still STRESSFUL.”

  “What even is it?” 

Maria frowned at her, then looked back at her sculpture. “It’s a tidal wave of human hopes and dreams. I will be filling it with pieces of writing once it’s done.”

  “And what does that have to do with Greece?”

Maria ruffled. “It could fit!” She barked. “Why are you slaving yourself in here, anyway? You’re not even--...” She trailed off, clearly still upset about the news.

  “Going?” Katherine finished for her. She shrugged. “I still want it to look nice. And it looks like you guys can use all the help you can get.” She nodded at a puny red haired Year 10 kid wrestling with coils of ivy and vines on the stage and losing the battle. Bessie, head of the Decoration Committee, watched on with a dismayed expression.

  “Can I ask about it?” Maria asked softly.

  “Sure,” Katherine said, then laughed slightly. “You don’t have to whisper, Mars. It’s not some big secret.”

  “Well, thank god,” Maria said. “Because EVERYONE is talking!”

Katherine quirked an eyebrow with a light snort. “Oh, really? What are they saying?”

  “That you and Joan Seymour are having a lesbian affair, and you’re having Anna take her to prom to throw people off,” Maria said languidly. Katherine leaned over to a nearby canister of paint and flicked the paintbrush at her face for that. She sputtered, scrubbing viciously and leaving light purple streaks all over her dark skin. “Okay, okay-- I deserved that.”

  “Well, you’re right…” Katherine sighed. “It’s just that--Joan satisfies me in a way no other woman or man possibly could.” She finished her sentence with a lewd touch to her breasts; a Year 11 girl that was helping paint the mural looked over at that moment and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Katherine dropped her hands quickly, and Maria burst into laughter.

  “Oh, I bet!” Maria said. “Does she use her crosses as a dildo? Because I bet Jesus’s face feels GREAT against your clit!”

Katherine flicked more paint, this time orange, into Maria’s face. Once again, Maria spluttered and clawed at the colorful tears rolling down her skin. Katherine peered at her thoughtfully.

  “Orange really is your color,” She observed.

  “Just like how Christian semen white is yours.” Maria replied.

Katherine rolled her eyes and nudged Maria’s side with her foot, earning her a cheeky, paint-splattered grin. 

  “I just feel bad about what happened,” She said. “I’m hoping it’ll bring her out of her shell a little, you know? Knock down some of those walls she has up. It’s the least I could do after what happened in the showers.”

  “Great! So you’re a saint and we’re all bitches!” Maria said.

  “Pretty much!”

They both laughed.

  “I can’t believe Anna’s going along with it,” Maria went on. “She really wanted to bring you.”

  “Well, she’s been very agreeable since we started having sex.” Katherine stated bluntly.

  “Ooh!” Maria cooed. “You go girl!”

Katherine was about to reply when a momentary hush fell over the gym. She turned to see her cousin walking in, back to school after her three day suspension, her head held high. She glared sharply at a Year 10 boy dripping yellow paint all over his hands, and he nearly keeled over dead instantly. Katherine looked away quickly, not wanting to face Anna after their falling out at the pub. Her words began to echo in her ears again.

  “That’s why you had this bullshit change of heart. You don’t give a shit about Joan Seymour, and everybody knows it…”

She stamped them down and silenced them.

  “Has Anne said anything?” Katherine asked Maria.

Maria thought for a moment. “Only that she hates your guts.”

  “Ah,” Katherine said, not surprised. “Think she might try something?”

Maria tilted her head at her. “I don’t know.”

A whirlwind of thick brown hair and green polo shirt whizzed by- Maggie scuttled over to Anne, eyes wide, clutching a dark brown folder in her arms. Katherine turned her attention to the pillar she was sanding down, so she didn’t see the way her cousin was pulled to the side and out of sight behind the mural.

  “Got your 999,” Anne said, holding up her phone. “Ever so dramatic.”

  “Let me reiterate-” Maggie said. “Oh my god!”

  “What?” Anne asked, amused. She could see the mischievous light in Maggie’s eyes, and that filled her with a deadly thrill.

Maggie pulled a small slip of paper out of the folder and waved it in the air. 

  “This,” She declared, “is the ballot for prom king and queen!”

  “What?” Anne’s eyes widened in interest. “Let me see!”

Maggie handed Anne the piece of paper and they began to read from it, nitpicking all the choices.

  “Jackson and Georgie,” Anne said. “No way, Jackson’s in marching band.”

  “Ruby and Leila,” Maggie read next. Their school was very open to LGBTQ+ relationships, so it wasn’t a surprise that a lesbian couple was a choice for prom king and queen.

  “Maybe. Everybody likes them.” Anne said. “Miller and Jessie, no. Ren and Alex, maybe. Anna and--”

Her eyes go wide.

Right beside Anna von Cleves’s name was her cousin's name--but scratched out and replaced with “Joan” over the top. Greedy intensity began to bubble up inside of her. She giggled darkly.

  “Anna and Joan!” She exclaimed.

  “I know!” Maggie agreed enthusiastically. “What are you gonna do?”

A twisted grin curled on Anne’s ruby red lips like a bloody smile.

  “Give everyone a night they’ll never forget.”

------

First period with Anne back was...awkward, to say the least. Maggie talked to Anne as she always did, being the loyal little imp that she was, but everyone else was slightly unnerved by the smirk that never disappeared from Anne’s lips for even a second. 

About halfway through the class, when Anna got up to go sharpen her pencil, Joan leapt up from her seat to go talk to her. Katherine pricked her ears to hear their conversation.

  “Hey, Joan,” Anna said, smiling at the younger girl. “How are you?”

  “Good,” Joan answered quietly. She was fidgeting with her sleeves, pulling them over her hands and bunching them into balls, clearly anxious about something. “Umm-- I-I just-- I had to t-tell you that I need to be home by eleven.”

Katherine saw Anna frown slightly. Joan lowered her head, guilt practically radiating off of her body.

  “I’m sorry,” She whispered. “B-but my Mama-- She’ll worry if I stay out too long and-- I’m really sorry. I don’t want to spoil your fun, but--”

  “Hey, no, it’s okay,” Anna calmed her, noticing that she was getting worked up. “I understand completely.”

Joan nodded slightly. “O-okay…” 

  “Did something happen?” Anna asked. She gently lifted Joan’s chin and ducked her head slightly to look at something. That’s when Katherine noticed indigo and violet splotches of bruises under Joan’s lower jaw.

  “Oh--” Joan looked a little uncomfortable, but didn't pull away from Anna’s hand. “Yeah. I just--fell. On a chair. Yesterday. And I hit my mouth.”

Anna pursed her lips. “Looks like it hurts.”

Joan shrugged. “I’m used to it.” She took a small step back. “Umm-- I’m gonna--go sit back down. Oh, and th-thank you. For not getting mad.”

  “I wouldn’t be mad at you, Joan.” Anna said honestly.

Joan ducked her head with an adorably shy blush. She nodded and shuffled back over to her seat.

Katherine didn’t miss the way Anna smiled fondly at her.

------

  “Um, 15. High school. I’m in Year 11.”

Joan held the phone close to her ear, listening intently to what the operator was telling her. She kept shifting from foot to foot, trying to keep her nervousness quelled inside of her.

  “What kind of counselling? Like a guidance counselor?”

Miss Aragon’s office smelled like apples and cherry blossoms. It was a comforting scent, so different from the locker room just outside the door. And outside that door, was someone coming in. Someone who wasn’t the coach.

  “Oh. No. Nothing like that. Would they know what’s happening with me?”

Footsteps, the rustling of clothes, soft clangs against lockers- Joan heard none of it.

  “Um, so, if I just think it’s real and it’s not, how would I know? I mean, it feels real.”

  “We’re not supposed to use that phone.”

Joan just about jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice. She slammed the phone back down onto the receiver, missing it the first time, nearly flipping it off of the desk the second, and then finally smashing it into place so hard it’s a wonder the entire thing didn’t crumble to dust the third. She whirled around to face Anne Boleyn standing in the doorway, looking like a disdainful emerald with her sparkling green dress and darkly amused expression. Joan swallowed thickly and shuffled back slightly, pressing her spine against the sharp edge of Miss Aragon’s table.

  “I-I was talking to my mum.” She stammered.

  “Didn’t sound like you were talking to your mum.” Anne said.

  “We were having a fight…” Joan said awkwardly. It was the best excuse she could come up with under pressure; telling this girl that she was actually calling a university over the psychic powers she had would probably sound a little strange.

Slowly, she bent down and picked up her belongings off of the floor. As much as she wanted to stay longer and talk more with Miss Aragon when she got back from her current class, Anne was making her extremely uneasy and on edge. She didn’t feel very safe being alone with her.

  “I always fight with my mum,” Anne mused. “Always hang up on her, too.” She laughed. “So, I take it you’ve leveled out since last Friday?”

Joan stared at her.

(what does she want what does she want)

  “Your little episode.”

(no no go away leave me alone)

  “You went all fetal in the shower.”

In spite of herself, Joan felt a blush crawl to her cheeks. She looked away, shifting her weight onto a different knee. She wanted to hide behind her books and hope Anne would be gone when she looked back up again.

  “What about it?” She asked softly.

  “Well, you have to admit you totally overreacted,” Anne said. She stepped into the room fully. The door clicked shut behind her.

(trapped trapped trapped trapped)

  “You know, we were just messing around!”

(what)

  “We wouldn’t give you a hard time if we didn’t like you.”

Joan raised her head slightly and blinked at Anne in confusion and shock. Was that really how friendships worked?

  “I mean, we all really like you.” Anne said. “You know that, right?”

(friend)

Joan looked her up and down, and could easily locate at least three faults in this statement, but she was so hungry for friends and affection that the hopeful, naive part of her sort of believed it. Still, she kept her walls raised up and tried not to let that vulnerability show on her face.

  “What do you want?” She asked warily.

  “Don’t get all pissy,” Anne said, and she playfully shoved Joan, although it didn’t feel as playful as it should have been. Miss Aragon’s desk scraped against the floor slightly, its edge cutting uncomfortably into Joan’s spine. “I’m only trying to be nice!”

(nice)

(not nice don’t trust)

(nice)

  “So,” Anne examined Joan closely, and Joan wanted to squirm underneath her gaze. “Are your boobs sore?”

Joan blinked at her in bewilderment. She looked down at her breasts for just a moment, then looked back up quickly, opening and closing her mouth like a flabbergasted fish out of water. All she could get out was a dumbstruck, “What?”

  “You look a little bloated,” Anne continued, ignoring her question. She tilted her head, seemingly to get a better angle at Joan’s stomach, and Joan felt like there were eels squirming underneath her skin. “When I’m bloated, my boobs get really sore.”

Joan couldn’t help but glance at Anne’s own breasts when that was said.

  “You’re only supposed to take, like, two Ibuprofen,” Anne went on. “I take three.” She chuckled. “I got that from Kat! She’s, like, a total junkie. Now that you guys are all cozy, she’ll have you tossing them back like communion wafers.”

  “I’m not...cozy with Katherine Howard…” Joan said.

Anne looked oddly surprised, and Joan wondered for a moment if she accidentally ruined a friendship she didn’t even know she had.

  “Really?” Anne said. “She’s acting like you’re her new best friend!”

(friend)

  “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. Just...don’t let her turn you into another one of her ‘projects.’”

That made Joan perk up. She blinked rapidly at Anne.

  “Did she say I was a project?”

  “It’s her MO.” Anne said. She looked at Joan pitifully. “Maria was a project, Bessie was a project...I was even a project! She practically talked me into getting Botox last summer. Can you believe that?” She laughed.

  “Maybe she thought you needed it…”

Something twitched on Anne’s face, like her expression was actually just a mask of plaster that was starting to crumble. She resettled her features quickly.

  “I’m just saying that she has a hard time accepting people for who they are.” Anne said. “Being her friend can be a little on the demeaning side, especially when everyone in school knows why she’s being your friend.”

Joan flinched at her words and looked down at her feet. Anne made a sympathetic clucking noise.

  “Well, I gotta dip,” Anne said, heading for the door. “Oh, and you can tell Katherine she can say all she wants about me, but at least when I’m being a bitch I’ll cop to it.”

Joan said nothing.

Anne smiled. “Bye!”

And then she was gone. Joan could finally breathe, and she instantly sunk to the floor, trying to tame all the whirling thoughts filling up her brain.

(go)

(don’t go)

(go)

(don’t go)

(trick trick it’s a trick Mama was right)

A door out in the locker room opened and closed. Miss Aragon appeared in the doorway, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead and dozens of water droplets shimmering like silver spider eyes in her hair. Despite the chilly weather outside, she was wearing black shorts and a lemon yellow workout shirt, looking like an angelic wasp in the office.

  “Joan,” She said, noticing the girl on the floor. Students from her current class were starting to file in to get changed, so she stepped inside fully and shut the door. “You really did skip all of third, didn’t you? Naughty girl.”

Joan ducked her head, feeling embarrassed. After what her mother did to her last night, she had been desperate to see Miss Aragon, one of the only people she felt safe around. Something about the coach’s presence was so comforting to her, like she would never be harmed as long as she stayed by her side. So, she went to her, missing the entirety of her third period Geometry class to hide out in the office after explaining that she was feeling very anxious, which wasn’t exactly a lie.

  “Sorry…” She mumbled.

  “It’s alright, sweetheart,” Miss Aragon chuckled. She tilted her head at Joan. “What are you doing on the floor?” 

  “Just...thinking…” Joan replied.

  “About?” Miss Aragon asked, sitting down next to her. Her eyes were so caring and loving; Joan wished she could be looked at like that forever.

  “I got invited to prom.” Joan said, and something about Miss Aragon’s expression told her the coach already knew. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. “But I don’t know if I should go…”

Miss Aragon appeared to be a little startled by that. She shifted around and ducked her head so she could look at Joan’s face, and Joan could see all that love and care glow in her eyes once again.

  “What do you mean?” She prodded. “Why not?”

  “I’m not gonna fit in…” Joan said. “I still can’t wrap my head around why Anna von Cleves asked ME. Katherine Howard is so pretty and muscley and smart and tall and confident and pretty…” She trailed off. “Why would she want to go with me?”

  “Because you’re amazing, Joan.” Miss Aragon said, not missing a beat. “Anyone who doesn’t have their head in their--umm--butt can see that.”

Joan giggled softly at her coach’s avoidance of swearing in front of her, but it quickly died off when all her self esteem issues came shoving their way back in. She huddled her knees even closer to her chest and looked down at the floor.

  “But...I’m not as pretty as all the other girls…” She mumbled.

  “Nonsense!” Miss Aragon reprimanded. “Joan, you are a very pretty girl.” She cupped Joan’s face and lifted her head up. “Just look at those eyes! And those lips! Why, with the right shade of lipstick--”

  “Lipstick?” Joan sputtered. “My mother would never--”

  “Joan, it could be wonderful!” Miss Aragon went on. “They don’t have the glow you have. The-- the charm! Those other girls may as well just wear garbage bags with the word ‘whore’ spray painted on it. And you wanna know why?”

  “Why?”

  “Because they’re whores.”

Joan burst out into giggles and had to cover her mouth to try and muffle them. Miss Aragon grinned triumphantly.

  “It’s because none of them will be able to do what you can do,” Miss Aragon said. “You have been hurt for so many years, and yet you’re still getting up and going to the prom, despite it all. If one of those girls out there were in your shoes, they would have given up a long time ago. They wouldn’t have said yes and, instead, cried in their bathtub or something pathetic like that. But you,” She cupped Joan’s cheeks again, and Joan couldn’t help but lean into the warmth of her hands, “you’re not doing that. You’re stronger than all of them combined, you know that?”

  “I-I am?” Joan asked shyly.

  “Yes, silly!” Miss Aragon said with a light laugh. “You’re so brave, Joan. Braver than you let yourself think.”

Joan blushed and looked away. Miss Aragon smiled down at her lovingly.

  “And I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing you kill it on the dance floor,” Miss Aragon added, making Joan dissolve into giggles once again.

  “Thank you, Miss Aragon,” Joan said. She threw her arms around Miss Aragon’s stomach and hugged her, much to her coach’s pleasant surprise. She heard Miss Aragon chuckle softly and return the embrace.

  “Anything for you, sweetheart.” Miss Aragon said.

They sat there together on the floor, limbs intertwined, for a few more minutes until the bell rang, signaling that the fourth period would soon begin. Miss Aragon had to pull away and stand up, but Joan could have sworn she noticed some reluctance in her movements.

  “Are you going to stay in here?” Miss Aragon asked.

Joan nodded. She pulled out a notebook and pencil from her nearby bag.

  “I have something I need to plan.”

  “Oh?” Miss Aragon tilted her head. “What is it?”

Joan grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

------

  “Come on, you hotshots!” Aragon yelled, clapping her hands loudly. “I want to see you sweat!”

Although it wasn’t detention right now, she still thoroughly enjoyed making gym class a little more like hell than usual for the week-long punishment. She had the girls playing a rather fierce game of rugby out in the field. Nothing was more entertaining than watching these daisies slip and slide in the wet turf and barrel into each other to evade her scornful words.

  “Maggie, get those knees up!” She shouted at the brown-haired student.

  “I don’t like running!” Maggie wheedled in response. She narrowly avoided being plowed by a blonde girl much bigger than she was.

  “Maria!” Aragon barked, rounding on the next student she caught slacking. “Question.”

Maria raised her head, squinting through a rain of sweat dripping into her eyes. She replied with a loud, bovine-like, “WHA?”

  “Did you ride the struggle bus to school this morning?” Aragon asked. “Because you are just one hot mess express over there!”

Maria swallowed thickly and turned her attention back to the ball.

  “It’s not a bomb, Katherine!” Aragon said, watching Katherine fumble and avoid the ball so she wouldn’t get hit or run into. “It’s not going to hurt you! Get in there and get some points for your team! You’re better than this!!”

Katherine nodded wordlessly and threw herself into the fray.

  “Bessie, hi,” Aragon smiled at the bleached girl, who slowed down to look at her. “Do you smell that?”

Bessie blinked her big dark brown eyes in confusion.

  “It’s the smell of FAILURE!” Aragon yelled.

Bessie whimpered loudly, and then whimpered even louder than that when the ball flew into her stomach. She fell backwards to the ground and quickly scrambled across the grass before she could get trampled by her classmates. Aragon watched her in amusement, then noticed Anne whispering to two other girls a few yards away. She locked in on her.

  “Anne!” She roared. “Shut your mouth and get back to the game!”

Anne glared at her, but her features strangely evened out and calmed rather quickly. A smile spread on her lips.

  “You’re right, Miss Aragon,” She said. “I am so sorry!”

Aragon was instantly suspicious. It wasn’t like Anne to be so agreeable to her scolding when she was worked up like she had been the past week. There was something off about that smile, too…

What was she planning?

------

Katherine could have spotted her from a mile away- Joan stuck out like a sore thumb in the makeup section of the department store.

Per Bessie’s frantic request, she was out getting more paints and art supplies for the decoration committee. However, she didn’t expect Joan to be there, poorly applying ruby red lipstick to her lips.

It was almost painful to watch. Joan’s hand slipped several times and streaked shiny crimson lines over the top of her mouth. There was even a moment where she flicked her tongue out to taste the gloss and instantly scrunched her face up in disgust. Katherine barely managed to muffle a laugh.

A few people were starting to stare. Two small children were giggling over the spectacle. A woman nearby looking through a selection of eye shadow watched Joan with an absolutely dismayed expression, like she couldn’t believe any girl in this day and age didn’t know how to properly apply makeup. Katherine rolled her eyes. Gender expectations.

Joan’s head swiveled around and she looked like a deer in headlights when she noticed Katherine standing there. Katherine gave her a warm smile as a truce gesture of sorts and stepped out of the art aisle she had been going through. She walked over, setting various paints and paintbrushes in the basket she was holding. Joan eyed her warily, poised and ready to run.

  “Hey,” Katherine greeted casually.

  “H-hi,” Joan replied in a squeaky voice. The overhead lights made her pale skin look very pasty, and the sheen of messy red gloss coating her lips only stuck out even more. She was trying very hard not to look at Katherine, but her eyes kept trailing over to the older girl.

  “You come here often?” Katherine asked. Over Joan’s shoulder, she noticed a trio of Year 12’s from her school gliding out from the next aisle over and stopping to ogle her and Joan. She shot them a severe look and they moved on, muttering to each other.

  “N-no,” Joan answered. She jammed the lid of the lipstick back onto the capsule and set it back on the small rack of gloss that was used for testing the colors. Although, they weren’t meant to actually be put on the lips, rather just the wrist or example board provided off to the side. Joan didn’t seem to know that, though. Katherine guessed that this was her first time ever being in the makeup section of a store.

There was an awkward beat of silence between the two of them. Joan was looking through the other selections of lipstick, but it was obvious she was watching Katherine out of the corner of her eye. Katherine wondered why she was so untrustworthy around her and seemingly everyone else, but perfectly okay with Anna.

Strange. Was that...envy bubbling up inside of her?

  “You have trouble coloring in the lines, don’t you?” Katherine commented, finally breaking the tension between the two of them.

Joan blinked at her obliviously, like a little white calf that didn’t realize it had a rattlesnake wound up its leg.

  “Huh?”

Katherine gestured vaguely for her lips. Joan looked in the mirror provided and jolted, only then realizing how messy her mouth was. 

  “Oh--”

She hurriedly began wiping the lipstick off with her arm. Katherine gave her a napkin from a box on the shelf, smiling in a humored way that she hoped didn’t come off as cruel or mocking.

  “You know, you might want to try something a little less drastic.” Katherine said. She wove around Joan to get to her other side and began looking through the selection. After a moment of mentally comparing shades to Joan’s light skin tone, she plucked up a dark pink tube of lipstick. “Like...this one!”

She reached for Joan’s face to apply it, and Joan flinched away as if she were expecting a blow to the head, nearly falling over. Her eyes were suddenly bulging out of her skull in fright. Katherine mentally swore at herself.

Idiot. Of course that would startle her.

  “Sorry,” Katherine said softly. “I should have asked first. Is it okay if I put this on you?” She opened her left hand harmlessly, and after a moment of consideration, Joan tentatively placed her chin into her palm. Katherine felt a strange fluttering sensation inside of her.

  “So, you curve it around the bow of your lips like so…” Katherine explained, dragging the tip of the lipstick across Joan’s pale lips, giving them color so they wouldn’t look as leached as they always were. Joan watched her with wide eyes the entire time, never looking away. “And...now rub them together.”

Joan obeyed, rubbing her lips together and smearing the color into a darker, more prominent shade.

  “And smack them!” Katherine demonstrated with a pop.

Joan blinked and then copied her. Pop, went her lips softly.

  “There you go!” Katherine smiled. She screwed the lipstick back into its capsule and put it back before anyone could realize they were actually putting it onto someone’s face. “You can add some lip liner for a little extra drama…”

She trailed off, watching as Joan used a pad to wipe her lips clean. Secondhand embarrassment surged so strongly inside of her she felt her throat close up and face burn with heat. She snatched the pad away from Joan, startling her into bumping into the display of makeup and causing it to rattle. They both frantically steadied it as customers peered over curiously and a worker restocking some markers from the art section looked at them with an exasperatedly devastated expression. Katherine waved at him dismissively to let him know that they had it under control and everything was okay. He looked away, relieved at not having to confront any sort of issue and run the risk of being yelled at (not that Katherine thought she had any kind of Karen vibes… Joan certainly didn’t and didn’t look up to yelling at anyone).

  “Sorry,” Katherine said to Joan, standing up fallen tubes of lipstick. “I didn’t mean to, uhh, freak out. It’s just--that’s not what these are for.” She shoved the pad into her purse, hoping the flickers of scarlet flames on her cheeks couldn’t be seen.

  “Oh.” Joan said and choked out the slightest laugh, even though it was clear she thought the situation was far from funny. “I-I’m sorry.”

  “No, no,” Katherine said. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”

Nobody told you… Her mind went on, and embarrassment was quickly replaced with pity and sadness. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have her biology and own bodily functions hidden from her for so long. No wonder Joan freaked out last Friday. There was so much blood, too, even for her first period… Even she had to think back on it and wonder if something was actually really wrong. Surely there wasn’t, though. If Joan was internally bleeding, she would be dead by now.

  “I-I, uhh--” Joan started, and then clamped her mouth shut. She swerved away from Katherine and began walking quickly down the main aisle towards the back of the store. Katherine followed her.

  “What?” She questioned.

  “N-nothing,” Joan shook her head. 

Joan turned, and Katherine saw that she was heading to the fabric area of the store. She tilted her head slightly and watched as the girl beelined for a roll of teal fabric, running her hands over it and rubbing it between her fingers. She turned away after a moment of feeling, going to a darker aquamarine shade, then orange, then purple, and then magenta. Both Katherine and the woman working the counter watched her process in a vaguely interested way.

  “What are you doing?” Katherine asked.

  “Looking,” Joan replied distractedly. She felt a roll of black mesh and instantly ripped her hand away with an expression of pure disgust. Katherine couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Don’t like that, sweetie?”

  “It’s too scratchy.” Joan said, shaking her hand in the air as if she were trying to erase the feeling of mesh against her skin. “Do people really wear that? What kind of self-respecting person would put that on?” She touched some fishnets next and recoiled like she had been burned, looking even more appalled. Katherine laughed again.

  “Some people do, yes,” She said. “It’s kind of a gothic look.” She decided to leave out how she had a black mesh top that she liked to seduce Anna with when they were alone.

  “It’s awful.” Joan stated firmly. She tugged off a waterfall of sunflower yellow fabric off of the wall and it all came tumbling down onto her. She tottered backwards, nearly collapsing under the weight of the material, then steadied herself and held out her arm, coiling a lacing of cloth around it. She inspected it for a moment, then began putting the fabric back onto its hook, much neater than it had been before. The woman at the counter blinked at her with an appraising look.

  “So…” Katherine said idly, watching Joan dart over to another rack of fabrics. She’s never seen the girl’s eyes shine so much before. It was like she was in textile heaven. “Have you picked out your dress?”

  “No,” Joan replied after a brief moment of hesitation. She unraveled a veil of iridescent green fabric, took one look at it, then wrapped it back up and put it back on its hook. “But I found a style that I like.” She thoughtfully touched her messenger bag.

  “What color?” Katherine asked interestedly. 

  “I can’t decide,” Joan said, holding strips of saffron and azure and wrinkling her nose at the way it contrasted with her pale skin. “I’m--trying to figure out that now.”

Katherine’s eyes widened a little. “You make your own clothes?” 

Joan looked a touch shy. “Sometimes.” She said. “It’d be cheaper to make my dress myself.”

  “Oh, you are absolutely right.” Katherine said. “Those things are EXPENSIVE!”

A small smile twitched on Joan’s lips, then she got back to looking through the selections. She didn’t seem pleased with any of them offered, even though Katherine spotted at least four different shades she thought would make beautiful dresses.

  “Well,” Katherine quickly started again, pouncing on an opportunity that lit up inside of her like a light bulb. “I don’t know if you want to, but maybe we can do a little fashion consultation thing? We could even model! Maria’s coming over Saturday afternoon before prom and she does these little shows to find the perfect style.”

Joan tensed, hands freezing in their process of sliding over a roll of crimson red cloth. She stared at it for a long moment, then pulled away, shaking her hands out like they had blood on them.

  “I don’t know if I want to model,” She mumbled.

  “Oh--”

Katherine blinked stupidly, now looking like the brain dead cow between the two of them. She didn’t know why she was expecting Joan to say yes. The girl didn’t exactly look like the type to be able to say no to people. Now she just felt bad for seemingly pressuring Joan into the hangout session.

  “Sorry.”

Joan didn’t hear her apology, however, because she had already darted to another rack. Her eyes were wide and glowing, and she realized she was looking at a roll of pale flamingo pink silk. Carefully, like she thought it may disintegrate in her hands, Joan picked up the bulk and held it close to her chest, staring up with a dreamy, wistful expression.

That had to be the one.

  “It’s so pretty,” Joan murmured as Katherine walked over, running her hand up and down the surface of the fabric. There was a smile ghosting over her lips, which still had remnants of the lipstick splotched over it.

  “It is.” Katherine agreed. The shade of pink really fit well with Joan’s pale complexion, light hair, and icy eyes. “You’re gonna look great, I’m sure of it.” Then, idly, as she fiddled with the edge of some scratchy white cotton fabric, “I’m really glad you’re going to prom.”

Joan paused her process of thoroughly caressing the silk and blinked at Katherine in bright confusion.

  “Why?”

A piece of Katherine’s heart broke and chipped off.

  “I just thought you’d have a good time, that’s all.” Katherine said.

  “Why?” Joan asked again, this time softer. Her eyebrows knitted together, and Katherine only now realized they were light brown instead of platinum blonde like her hair. Her pubic hair had been brown, too, which Katherine remembered with an internal cringe and a flash of intense guilt. She would never get over the culpability of harassing this young girl when she was completely naked.

  “Why do you care if I have a good time?”

Katherine opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Joan tilted her head at her.

  “I mean, you’ve never really talked to me before,” She said, “and the only reason you’re probably talking to me right now is because none of your friends are around.”

Katherine sucked in a sharp breath, but released it softly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the lady at the counter listening with great intrigue, but was pretending to cut some fabric to make it seem like she wasn’t.

  “Look,” Katherine said. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go.”

  “N-no, I want to go!” Joan sputtered out hurriedly, like she thought her ticket would be revoked if she didn’t speak fast enough. “I-I didn’t say I didn’t want to, I just-- I wished I was going ‘cause someone liked me, not because they feel sorry for me.”

  “This is not a pity thing.” Katherine clarified. She was usually such a good liar, but she could hear the falsehood oozing between her words. Even the lady at the counter widened her eyes in a ‘yeah, okay’ sort of expression. “I don’t feel sorry for you.”

Joan laughed weakly. “Yes, you do.” She said. She gazed down at the roll of fabric in her arms, then hugged it closer to her. “You feel sorry for me--because you think you’re better than me.”

  “I don’t think I’m better than you.” Katherine said.

Joan smiled tightly at her. “It’s okay,” She said. “Everyone does.” She turned to go pay for the fabric, but paused for just a moment and added, “Doesn’t mean it’s true, though.”

------

Joan placed a box of buttons and sequins and string down next to all her other sewing materials and stood back proudly, admiring her precise set up for a moment. There was the sewing machine, her rack of different colored threads, a gleaming pile of needles, the fabric, and then her dress sketches. The crucible lifted his wooden head from the floor and placed it heavily on the table, blinking his broken glass eyes at everything. 

Joan summoned--was that the right word?--him again--she had decided he was a boy. She enjoyed his company, even if it were just herself who was controlling all his movements. If she didn’t think about it, then he almost seemed sentient.

  “Want some tea, Mama?” Joan called into the den.

Most of the furniture and religious decorations were gone, broken up to form Judgement’s body. But Mama’s velvet throne chair remained, and that’s where she sat, sewing a dark grey embroidery and trying very hard not to look at her devil spawn and her horrid creation. She doesn’t reply to Joan’s question. Judgement let out a hiss of static. Joan sighed and went back to her project.

She picked up her sketches. After going through at least ten different designs, she was stuck on two. The first was long and flowing, with off-shoulder sleeves and a fishtail skirt, while the second had a cross-folded bust, loose skirt, and open, draped sleeves that reach down to her elbows and hang low like flamingo wings. She analyzed the two dress ideas for a moment, showing Judgement for his opinion, then looked up again.

  “Mama?” She padded over to her mother. “Do you like this one or this one?”

Jane Seymour did not look up from her embroidery as Joan showed her the two drawings. 

Joan waited for a moment, expecting a reaction, then smiled down at the second drawing.

  “I think this one’s really pretty…” She murmured, already dazzled by it, even in a simple pencil-sketched form.

  “It’s Godless.” Mama muttered.

Joan’s smile disappeared in an instant. She gave her mother a look of extreme offense.

  “It’s not Godless, Mama.” She said. “I wish you could be happy for me.”

Mama’s dead, dull eyes wandered up to Joan’s face slightly, but almost instantly turned back to her embroidery. She began weaving the needle through the fabric again.

  “There’s a mark on you now,” She said bitterly.

Joan blithely ignored her. “This one’s prettier!” She declared, beaming, and pranced back over to her sewing station in the next room. 

  “Pretty.” Judgement echoed in a high pitched feminine voice that was slightly edged with static. He coiled up into a spring-like formation so he could watch from a higher view point.

  “Yes!” Joan bobbed her head eagerly. “It’s really pretty!” She grinned brightly at her sketch.

  “Woe to the woman who makes garments for lustful purposes, for she is prideful and curses and rejects the Lord.” Mama said from her chair. She was looking at Joan intently, now, hands knotted and frozen in her embroidery.

Judgement cast her a dark look, his wooden facial features creaking threateningly as his mouth and eyes move. Joan just furrowed her eyebrows at her mother.

  “Sometimes I think you make that stuff up.” She said.

  “Ezekiel, Chapter 13.” Mama said. “Read it for yourself.”

  “I’ll read it later.” Joan said dismissively, unfolding the cloth she got from the store.

  “Read it now.”

  “I’m bust, Mama!” Joan whined.

Mama set her needle and thread and embroidery aside, and approached Joan cautiously. Her eyes kept darting over to Judgement, who had his bladed tail poised and ready to strike. Joan took a deep breath and looked up from her project to meet her mother’s gaze.

  “You’ve gone so far astray that I fear for you.” Mama said. 

Joan hunched her shoulders in slightly. “Do you really think I’m going to burn in hell, Mama, just for going to my prom?” She asked meekly. 

  “I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen to you.” Mama answered. “Sin knows you now. It’ll find you.”

  “Mama…” Joan whimpered out softly. 

Mama advanced on Joan. Judgement swelled up, his platelets and wooden scales standing on edge to make him look bigger. Mama took a small step back, but didn’t stand down fully, even though Joan could easily see the terror in her eyes. Her mother wanted to run and hide and pray to God.

  “Your sin will find you, Johanna,” Mama hissed. “And when it does, not even Jesus can help you.”

  “Jesus will help me.” Joan said. “He will help me if I really need him.”

  “Not if he doesn’t love you anymore.”

Mama’s words made it feel like the entire world was coming down on Joan’s shoulders. Her eyes widened and she watched, mouth agape, as Mama turned and went back to her chair to continue sewing. Not even Judgement moved- her mind was too shell shocked to control him.

And then, she’s marching forward before she’s even aware of what she was doing, burning flares of anger urging her onward. Judgement slithered after her, his body making a menacing scraping sound against the wooden floor. Mama didn’t look up at her.

  “Jesus loves everybody, Mama.” Joan said, clenching her fingers into shaking fists at her side. “Even me.”

Mama glanced up at her and opened her mouth to retort, but Joan narrowed her eyes into slits and silenced her.

  “Don’t say a word,” She warned, “or I’ll vibrate your insides so hard they burst, and don’t think I won’t do it.”

Mama became very pale. Judgement let out a pleased hiss. Joan turned her nose up and marched back over to her sewing station, where she got to work on her dress. Judgement played music that wasn’t religious for once, and Mama did nothing to stop it.

She couldn’t.

------

The black G-Wagen jostled violently as it drove up the dark dirt path that night, going twenty miles too fast on the unpaved road. Branches scraped against the room and mud squelched beneath the tires, and if she weren’t so excited for this, Anne might have been dismayed about her car getting all dirty. She made a mental note to wash it before her father saw the mess on the sides.

  “Are you sure Henty isn’t around?” Cathy asked from the passenger’s seat. She was white knuckling the overhead handle, looking a lot less mature than she usually did. Anne rolled her eyes at her.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Anne answered.

  “Where is he?” Thomas Culpeper, a distant cousin to Anne, piped up. He was crammed in the back with Maggie, Thomas Cromwell, and Anthony Lee, Maggie’s boyfriend, and kept being throwing from side to side with every bump they hit.

  “Funeral.” Anne said. “For his mum or something? Doesn’t matter.”

  “Okay, okay,” Thomas said. “I just don’t want to get caught.” The car went over a particularly rough pothole and his head smacked against the window. He whined sharply in pain, rubbing the impacted area, while Maggie and Anthony burst into laughter.

  “We won’t get caught.” Anne said.

  “Seems like a lot of work for a joke…” Cromwell muttered over the peals of giggling.

Anne jerked her head around, not watching the dark road ahead of her, and narrowed her eyes until she looked like a venomous snake.

  “Are you pussying out?” She asked. “Do you want to get out?”

Cromwell stiffened. “No! No!” He said. “It’s a good joke!”

Anne made a pleased noise and looked forward again. Her bright yellow headlights cut through the brambles snarled around the road and illuminated the large grey building coming up in the distance. She finally began to slow the car down.

The night air was a strange mix if humidly warm and chillingly cold. The half moon glowed brightly in the bruise-dark sky, its light twinkling on the surface of a nearby pond and bathing the surrounded apple orchard in rays of luscious silver. A cow lowed from somewhere in the distance. Pigs and chickens snorted and clucked inside the barn.

Anne popped open the trunk and pulled out a thick sledgehammer. Anthony armed himself with a wicked-looking butcher’s knife while Cromwell and Maggie both grabbed a steel bucket each. Anne passed the sledgehammer to Thomas, who swung the ten-pound thing idly, making swishing noises in the air. Cathy waited by the front of the car, her arms crossed over her chest. 

  “What’s wrong, doll?” Anne asked, sauntering up to her. She stood on her tippy toes and nipped at Cathy’s bottom lip, slithering her arms around her waist. “You look a little blue.”

Cathy ruffled ever so slightly, touching her custom made blue leather jacket as her girlfriend giggled. She sighed and wrapped her arms around Anne, returning the embrace.

  “I’m not sure this is the best idea,” She said. “Can’t you just forget about it?”

Anne narrowed her eyes. Her shellac green nails curled into Cathy’s lower back.

  “No,” She hissed. “I cannot. I will not forget about it.” She stepped back, huffing, not realizing she looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum in the moonlight. “I was humiliated, Cathy! I can just let something like that go! It was AWFUL!”

Cathy frowned at Anne with a pitiful look.

  “And you know who I blame?” Anne went on, fuming with rage. “That goddamn freak!” She kicked a rock and sent it bouncing across the dirt before it got stuck in some mud. “Joan Seymour is going to learn not to play with fire sooner or later. And it’s about time someone gave her a real lesson.”

  “Yeah!!” Maggie agreed loudly, always backing up her best friend. Anne grinned at her brightly.

  “This’ll definitely teach her,” Anthony said, glancing at the knife Cromwell was twisting to catch beams of moonlight on the blade. “I think I would kill myself if what you’re planning were to happen to me.”

A dark thrill crackled through Anne’s body. Joan Seymour? Killing herself? Oh, the image of that stupid cow hanging from a noose or bleeding out from slit wrists or dying from a bullet to her retarded brain sounded like a dream come true. It filled her with a sick kind of euphoria that made her feel tingly and pleasured. A crooked, bloodthirsty smile curled on her lips. She doesn’t notice the wary glance Cathy gave her.

  “Hope for that,” She said. “Come on.”

They all approached the barn, with Cathy and Thomas being stupidly overly cautious despite Anne telling them several times that Old Man Henty wasn’t home. They hopped the outer fence and walked inside, where the smell of livestock became much thicker.

  “Ugh, smells like shit in here!” Cromwell exclaimed.

  “Well, yeah, dumbass.” Maggie said, rolling her eyes at him. She didn’t appear to be fazed by the smell at all, or was just really good at hiding that she was.

Passing by an indoor chicken coop and fenced area for cows, they soon came to the pigpen. There were dozens of pigs, Berkshires and Welshes and British Lops and British Saddlebacks, either sleeping or moseying around listlessly. A flat white snout stuck through the bars of the fence enclosing their pen and grunted at the newcomers.

Thomas nudged Anthony, then Anthony nudged Thomas, and then the two of them vaulted forward over the fence, squealing and snorting and making a complete ruckus. A few of the pigs didn’t even move from the mud they were sprawled in, not even caring about all the noise, while others screeched and sprinted away.

  “Idiots,” Maggie rolled her eyes.

  “You’re dating one of them.” Anne said and laughed at the way Maggie’s nose scrunched up. She hopped the fence and stepped into the pigpen, while Maggie, Cromwell, and Cathy waited on the other side.

  “Hey, piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy!” Thomas cried, bending over and cackling at a lazy British Saddleback with a thick white neck.

  “Where’s your leg?” Anthony asked an orange Tamworth that was missing one of its back legs. “This one.” He then declared. “We should kill this one. It’s crippled. We’d be doing it a favor.”

Anne studied the orange swine. It definitely did have a pitiful aura, what with the way it hopped awkwardly when it moved, but it was much too small.

  “We need a bigger one.” She said, scanning the pigs grunting around her.

  “Pick one that looks like the girl,” Cromwell suggested from the top of the fence he was perched on.

  “You,” Anne pointed to him with an appraising look, “are starting to grow on me.”

Cromwell puffed out his chest importantly. Cathy pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything.

Anne looked through all the pigs, and then spotted one that caused a sinister smirk to spread on her face.

  “That one.” She said.

It was a big, fat, pink British Lop so light it looked white in the moonlight it was standing under in the outside area of the pen. It had giant, crusty teats and huge floppy ears that it could barely see out from under. Anthony and Thomas lunged at it, shrieking callouts and laughing maddeningly, but the sow just looked up at them dumbly, its ears just barely shifting out of its face.

Just like Joan Seymour.

  “Whenever you’re ready, Tommy.” Anne said to her younger cousin.

It was only then that Thomas seemed to realize that he was holding the sledgehammer...which meant he had to kill the pig.

He hefted it in his hands, held his breath, then raised it over his head and--

Thomas faltered. He grit his teeth, staring down at the sow that was now curiously nudging one of his shoes with its snout, then released the tension in his arms.

  “I can’t do it.” He said miserably.

Anne glared at him. Maggie rolled her eyes. Cathy gave him a pitying look.

  “Are you kidding me?” Anne said. “Really, Tommy?”

  “I can’t, okay?!” Thomas cried. He held out the sledgehammer. “Y-you do it.” His eyes wandered to Cromwell.

  “Dude, don’t look at me!” Cromwell said sickly. He leaned back so far he nearly fell off the fence.

  “I don’t believe you,” Anne said to her cousin. “Does being a little bitch run in our fucking family or something? First Kat and now you?” She shook her head, tutting.

  “Take it.” Thomas said, shoving the sledgehammer forward in the air. When Anne just stared at him he said again, “Seriously, take it!”

  “You fucking pussy.” Anne hissed scathingly. She snatched the sledgehammer from Thomas and shoved him aside into the fence. She looked over at Anthony questiongly.

  “Don’t worry,” Anthony said, touching his thumb to the honed edge.

  “Right down the throat.” Anne reminded.

  “I know.”

Anne nodded. She twirled the sledgehammer in her hands and gazed down at the sow at her feet. A disturbing smirk crept back onto her lips.

  “Little pig, little pig, let me in,” She sang, circling around the sow. She then did an awful imitation of Joan Seymour’s voice, “Not by the hairs on your chinny-chin-chin!” She hefted the sledgehammer, her expression darkening, crooked smile twisting. “Then I’ll huff...and I’ll puff...and I’ll bash your brains in!”

The sow looked up, innocent black eyes peeking out from under floppy pink ears, and Anne put the sledgehammer right in between them.

The sound was like dropping a pumpkin from a great height- wet, gushy, and absolutely magnificent. The sow dropped to the ground, its skull dented and cracked open wide, blood and brains drooling out. Thomas keeled over the side of the fence and vomited. Anne regarded him with a disgusted expression.

  “Anthony,” She said, swiveling her head around to Maggie’s boyfriend. “Come on. Maggie, the bucket.”

Anthony nodded as Maggie hopped the fence and set one of the steel buckets down. Anthony lifted the sow by its thick snout, open black eyes angled towards the moon, and slit its throat. 

The blood flow was immediate and glorious. Anne, Anthony, and Maggie all got squirted by the cut aorta. Thomas gagged again.

  “Good,” Anne murmured. She gripped the sledgehammer tightly, riding the ways of pleasantly gory ecstasy. “That one, too.” She nodded at a large black Berkshire boar.

  “Jesus, Anne.” Cathay said. “Isn’t this en-”

  “That one.” Anne repeated.

  “Annie, can I cut its throat this time?” Maggie asked eagerly.

  “Of course, love!” Anne said, earning a sick squeal of glee from her friend. She lumbered over to the boar, unable to stop grinning. “Don’t worry, piggy, don’t worry,” She cooed to it. “Auntie Annie’s going to bash your fucking head in and you won’t have to worry about the fryer no more!”

She raised the sledgehammer again and smashed much harder than before. Mushed brain matter came spilling out instantly, wetting the dirt of the pigpen. Maggie excitedly cut the boar’s throat and began filling up the second bucket.

  “Thomas that isn’t a fucking disappointment,” Anne said.

It took him a moment, but Cromwell realized it was him being spoken to. He perked up, attentive, but wary.

  “Yeah?”

  “Go get the spare bucket in the car.”

  “Anne.” Cathy said. “This is enough.”

  “Shut up, Cathy.” Anne snapped. She looked back at Cromwell. “Go.”

Cromwell jumped off of the fence and ran out of the barn. Cathy grumbled something as Anne walked over and pulled her into a heated kiss. She wondered if her girlfriend could taste the pig blood spattered on her face.

  “Cheer up, my love,” Anne said, cupping Cathy’s cheeks. “This is fun! No need to be so grouchy.” She kissed her again, letting her tongue snake into Cathy’s mouth.

They eventually pulled back, panting, ropes of saliva connecting their mouths together. Cathy smiled flusteredly.

  “I guess...it is a pretty good joke.” She said.

  “See?” Anne grinned, kissing down her jawline. Her breath was hot on Cathy’s tender skin. “I told you.”

Cromwell soon returned with the extra bucket. Anne thanked him and went back over to the dead pigs. She took the butcher knife from Maggie and cut open the sow’s belly.

  “What are you doing?” Thomas asked. He was ghostly pale in the moonlight and leaning against the fence.

Anne shot him a scornful look. “Making this even better.” She replied and began pulling out the sow’s organs. Thomas vomited once again and she rolled her eyes.

Slowly but surely, the third bucket was filled up with pig guts. Intestines, the womb, the uterus, the heart and stomach. When it was halfway full, she cut open the boar, took its intestines, then sliced off the scrotum and removed the testicles. 

The smell of blood was thick, rank, and coppery in the air. Anne was slimed up to her elbows in gore. Everyone was staring at her in wide-eyed awe.

  “Let’s go,” She said, slinging the sledgehammer over her shoulder and picking up the bucket of guts. “Don’t spill a goddamn drop or else.” She warned Anthony and Cromwell when they lifted their own buckets. She didn’t trust her pussy cousin, Thomas, to do it.

They all walked back to the car, where they poured the blood and guts into a large cooler that was brought along. Anne didn’t bother cleaning her arms when she got back into the driver’s seat; she quite liked the aroma coming from the mess. She breathed it in deeply and smiled, leaning back in her seat.

  “Pig’s blood for a pig,” She mused. “That freak is never going to know what hit her.”

[ender1821]

So....inspiration has hit me like a lightning bolt in the middle of geography class today (it was my first class of the day so I spent every lesson after that trying to think of plot), it hit me at like the worst time possible too since I have a full week of exams next week and I need to study.....BUT!!!! I’m going write this au after my tests, so if you want to read it, the first chapter should be out after a week!

Here’s my first ever six the musical au: the phantom thief au!(kinda inspired by persona 5)

Aragon: The leading officer/detective for this case, was once Henry’s significant other, lives with her goddaughter, Cathy

Boleyn: The infamous thief who is now targeting the property of Henry (to nobody’s surprise), was once Henry’s significant other, shares a flat with Maggie and Katherine

Seymour: Runs a journalism/news company, lives with Anna and Joan, was once Henry’s significant other, knows Catherine because of her news coverage for the phantom thief case

Cleves: A part of Aragon’s team in solving the phantom thief case, along with Bessie and Maria

Howard: Anne’s partner in crime, recently joined her in the phantom thief shenanigans, was almost Henry’s significant other

Parr: Aspiring writer/journalist, will work with Jane after Catherine’s recommendation, knew Katherine from university

(If I don’t specify, Boleyn=Anne, Cleves=Anna, Aragon=Catherine/Catalina, Howard=Kat/Katherine, Parr=Cathy)

I will write the prologue and first chapter as soon as I’m finished with my revision and tests, feel free to send asks about the characters, I can’t say too much for now since I’m planning to reveal their backstories as the story progresses. Anyways, I’m open to any questions or suggestions :D

[boleyn-falcon]

The Queens of the Castle Chapter 2

The queens board the plane to Orlando to truly begin their trip!

Chapter two       Cathy grabbed her navy blue backpack as the other queens grabbed all of their bags, ready to board their flight. The queens decided to use Virgin Atlantic since it had good prices and had many positive reviews. They also had the privilege of boarding before a lot of other groups because of Katherine and Anne’s severe anxiety, Cathrine’s bipolar, and her own OCD. They started to walk up the ramp Cathy’s stomach began to fill with dread. She had already tried to push away the anxiety but it came back and hit her like a truck. Cathy was thankful that she was in between Cathrine and Anne,her godmother and her best friend.The downside is that they might be bickering at least half of the 8 hour trip.           The group all sat down and got comfortable. Anne and Anna sat in window seats, Kathrine was in front of Cathy, and Jane was in front of Catherine. Cathy’s anxiety only got worse as the large plane started to fill with people. “ Are you sure you're okay Cath? Your startin’ to look kinda pale” Anne asked with a worried tone as she started to get comfortable. Cathy could only nod in response as she sunk down in her small seat. Anne, not giving up and still wanting to help her friend keeps trying, “ well if you're worried about what i think you are, I’m scared of this whole flying thing too, its kinda unsettling so i get how you feel.” The blue clad queen could only stare in response to her friend’s comfort and acknowledgement,she just slightly nodded in response.     Meanwhile in the seats in front of them, Jane was buzzing with excitement while in the seat next to her Kat was starting to get slightly anxious, holding onto Bucky tightly. Anna, noticing her friend’s anxiety, reached into Kitty’s bag to pull out Wolfie, Kitty’s stuffed white dog. “ Here ya go Katze, I bet both of your little friends would love to watch the take off with you” she said with a warm smile.        Kathrine took Wolfie in her arms and began to slightly calm down with both stuffed animals in her arms.  The plane’s doors began to close as everyone in the plane had finally gotten settled and the stewardess in the front began to try and quiet people down. As she is doing this the small screens in front of them all began to light up. The screens started to display a small cartoon that started to play as the plane finally got silent. The cartoon shown was detailing plane safety and what to do in emergencies on the plane. When the video started talking about oxygen masks all the queens began to get slightly nervous, but not as nervous as Cathy. But the line was drawn when the video started talking about what to do in the situation of the plane going into the water, this is where surprisingly Anne started to panic. None of the other queens knew but, Anne had no idea how to swim and was terrified of the deep ocean water. Anne tried to keep her composure as the video continued.         Finally the video and demonstration was over, the pilot announced that they would soon be taking off and to fasten your seatbelts and to not get on till the plane was smoothly flying over the Atlantic. Soon the flight attendants came around with menus and started asking if people wanted any kind of beverages. “Can I have a Soda?” Kitty asked excitedly as she was handed her preferred drink. As soon as the woman turned to Anna, the german queen said loudly, “ ay can i have some Wine?” the attendant hesitantly grabbed a miniature bottle of red wine and handed it over. “ I don't know if you should drink much Anna, it may not be the best decision..” Jane said softly, Anna shook her head, “ Don’t worry Janey, they will only give me one, that's why i'm gonna have Anne get one to give to me!”, she said half jokingly.          Back to the trio behind them Cathy sat quietly, at least till the Stewardess came by to ask for drink orders. Before the woman could even ask any of them what they wanted, Anne coughed to get her attention. “Could you be a dear and get me a Coke, thank you”, Anne asked with a light flutter of her eyelashes, “Anne i swear these lovely women are not your ladies in waiting so don't even start!” The stewardess handed Anne her Coke and Cathrine a bottle of water as the younger queen gave a mock offended look to the spanish queen. Cathy couldn't shake her fears no matter how hard she tried so she just tried to distract herself with her new book the best she could. That is until the plane started to move and turn that is.             Cathy’s breathing started to quicken slightly as she looked out the small window to the right of Anne to see the plane moving back from the terminal. She was a little startled to feel a hand on her shoulder to see Cathrine giving her a caring look across her face. “Don't worry mi hija, you will be okay just sit back and relax okay?”, Cathy gave a small nod and a smile as she sat back and went back to her book. The plane had finally made its way to the runway and began to speed up. As the plane gained speed and got closer to leaving the ground completely, the more Anne’s anxiety began to build. The french queen loved the speed of the take off and the flying part, but it was the idea of flying over the water in at most a few minutes. She takes out her new nintendo switch to get her mind off of the water like Cathy and her book.            In front of the two anxious queens was three perfectly fine queens enjoying themselves greatly. Jane was reading a magazine she picked up in the airport, Kitty was starting to watch “Detective Pikachu” on her little TV screen, and Anna was just enjoying her wine. Well Anna was enjoying her wine until the seat in front of her was pushed backwards towards her a bit too far for her comfort. Obviously annoyed, she lets out a very audible groan to try and signal the person in front of her but does nothing. “Excuse me?” she says rather loudly to the person in front of her, a muffled grunt that Anna assumed was supposed to be a ‘sorry’ is all she got in response. Even more annoyed than before, she gets up to ‘use the bathroom’, only to look back and see that the person causing her annoyance was a boy she guessed was about twelve. After she got back to her seat she just decided to ignore it for the kid’s sake and try and sleep through the flight since it was overnight.           The hours pass and all the queens have slept a good part of the journey, except one, Anne Boleyn. She maybe slept for 2 hours at most before the plane started to land. As everyone gathered their stuff and getting ready for the landing, she turned to her left to still see Cathrine Parr, the biggest night owl she has ever met, fast asleep. Anne was just glad that Cath got some sleep because lord knows when the least time she slept for more than 3 hours. “ Hey Cath, wake up we are landing soon mon hibou” Anne said softly as she shook her friend awake. Cathy stirred slightly as she woke up to feel slight turbulence.This was enough to fully wake the anxious girl up, “C’mon love, we need to get our stuff together we are landin’ in a few”, in response, Cathy began to put her book away right as the plane began to descend.      The plane finally lands in Orlando international Airport and they start to finally let passengers off. “C’mon queens! We have a long day ahead of us!” Jane says to the group as they began to exit into what feels like a whole new world.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

yay chapter 2 is out!! @prisky0731 @oneofakindnocategory

[dannineedsfriends]

A Favour - Parrlyn Part 1

About a week into the second half-term of the year was exponentially and quintessentially annoying. Cathy was cold, irritable and tired and being too paranoid to delay school for coffee, she was grouchy. Constantly. Yet the uncaffeinated version of herself was outwardly positive and inwardly demonic, which is extremely detrimental in the long run, when people ask you to do their homework for them.

  She found it hard to say no to people in the first place, and now that the internal demon had latched itself, like a leech, to her soul, she was most definitely going to pretend to be very enthusiastic and happy, when she's digging herself into a sad hole to the underworld. So when Anne Boleyn came sliding into the seat across from her, she was preparing herself for total anarchy. 

  "Before you say a word, yes. I'll do it." Cathy sighs, knowing the exact words that were about to erupt from the girl's mouth. 

  "Okay good. So if you're into pussy, I need a desperate favour from you for like 3 months." Anne's face has lit up with relief, and she leans eagerly forward onto the table, not at all detecting the realisation of 'fuck' plastered across Catherine's face.

  "Hey- no- no no no -" she defends. "I never said that-"

  "No take-backs! You're helping me now." She smiles sweetly, and the tone leaks into her voice. Boleyn has a high reputation for never needing anything from anyone, taking no bullshit, and being extremely defiant. What would she possibly want from Parr? 

  "You do realised that you definitely tricked me, right?" 

  "I know exactly what I'm doing now shush, smarty pants! So - I need you to pretend to date me for maybe half a year--"

  "You just said thre-"

  "You have no right to interrupt me." She brushes her comment aside. "Because I may or may not have bragged about the fact I was seeing a really beautiful girl, who's super smart, for ages and now people want to actually know who she is."

  Anne leans over to over Cathy's hands with her own, grabbing her fingers and squeezing them. "This is a thing now. And you can't stop it." 

  The smile the girl gave her as she bounced away was unnerving. What the fuck just happened? From what she could understand in such a short time, she was no longer single. For six months. But not really not single because it was fake? She sighs and scribbles out her plans for the weekend, written on her hand. 

  Cathy wasn't exactly sure how she was even supposed to contact Anne, considering that they had never had a conversation, let alone any form of contact outside of the school ground. She realised that she was watching Anne walk away when she noticed her turn around, as if realizing the same thing before trudging back, throwing her bag on the chair and raking through it, before taking out a small piece of paper and slamming it down in front of her. 

  "Now I can leave." 

--

  Every time she saw Anne from that point on, her life was a living nightmare. Catherine didn't even like talking to friends - let alone a random girl from school claiming to be her girlfriend, when she was straight. 

  Cathy always enjoys coffee alone on a Saturday morning, before going to the library to continually revise or return some-book-or-other. She sat on the table, the one near the window, farthest from the door. She has her coffee black, with one sugar: she had often been told that someone's coffee order reflects a person and considering hers was pretty bitter, she assumes it's of relative accuracy. 

  She runs a hand through knotted curls, left down for once and they parade down her shoulders, concealing her face more than she cared for as she stared out the window at nothing in particular. Or at least nothing until a figure dressed in all black crossed over the road and threw their hood down, waving vigorously to her attention. Anne. 

  Cathy groans and turns away from the window. Now? Really? There were somethings in life that happen at the wrong time, and this was one of them, she decides. Her hands clench the warmth of the coffee cup, eyes squeezed shut and hoping that the prosecutor of her doom would spring through the door and bother her. Someone, somewhere was trying to severely mess up her day.

  Quiet webs of mumbling embrace the room and bring comfort to Cathy, who is still trying to  indoctrinated herself into believing that Anne wasn't going to walk in and sit down in front of her. 

  "Why do you have your eyes closed?" a confused voice calls abruptly from across from her. She opens her eyes to see the black-lathered figure that was Anne Boleyn. Gremlin energy at its finest. 

  "No reason. I was meditating, it has a very calm atmosphere in here." Catherine nods slowly, taking a slow sip from her cup, inhaling loudly to exemplify her tranquility. She wasn't exactly lying to her, either. Sometimes she did meditate here, briefly and uncomfortably, but the smell of the shop gave her a sense of safety and wellbeing. 

  She catches Anne looking her over with slightly squinted eyes and for once, she doesn't look like she's about to rip Cathy's outfit to shreds. The girl stands up, putting her bag in the seat. 

  "Wait here a minute? I just want to get a drink." 

  She nods and Anne walks to join a cue, coming back about five minutes later, smiling gratefully, as if she was expecting Cathy to get up and leave before she got back. 

  "What'd you get?" She questions curiously, placing her cup down on the table to look into hers. 

  "Fruity tea! You wanna try some?" She pushes the cup across the table. 

  "Are you sure? What if I have herpes?"

  "Do you?" Anne cocks an eyebrow. 

"No…?" 

"Then take a drink!" 

  Cathy watches her for confirmation before taking a sip, eyebrows furrowing as she tastes it. "I don't know if I like it. Nah. You keep that shit."

  She gently pushes the cup back across the table and gets her own drink to get the taste out of her mouth. 

  "Says the one drinking black coffee. Like some sort of demon-" 

  "I'm not a demon! Milk makes coffee disgusting and it gives me energy. Shush yourself."

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh. Suit yourself, Cathy." Anne smirks, finger tracing the rim of the plastic lid. 

  "I can hear the sarcasm in your tone, and don't give me those eyes, Annie." She counters, running a hand through her hair again, feeling the corners of her lips curling into a smile. 

  Anne grins through gritted teeth. "What a lovely nickname."

  "I know you love it, Annie." She sings, tilting her head to one side as if to antagonize her that slight bit more, and to her surprise, Anne starts laughing. 

  This seemingly immortal, and extremely annoying, being was laughing. It's bubbly and as her smile grows wider, she throws her head back for brief seconds before her eyes find Cathy's. Why was she laughing so much? 

  Anne sips at her tea, the smile lasting way longer as she watches Cathy. "I'm super hungry right now. How would you feel about going and getting some food with me, after we've finished here?" 

--

  After Anne had offered to walk her home, Cathy began to feel more appreciative of being stuck with the girl for so long. If she was this nice all the time, then it was practically a dream come true, if she was completely honest. Though she still had her moments of being annoying, they became more and more playfully annoying, less maliciously annoying, as before. 

  "So…" Anne drawls, walking close to her. "Are you free later on this evening? Late on tonight-ish."

  "Is it a girlfriend thing?" She asks slowly, contemplating her words carefully, and Anne nods in response. "What do I even need to do..?"

  She shrugs. "Give me a nickname. I don't care wha--"

  "Annie."

  "Okay." She hesitates, forgetting her words and not wanting to say something completely unorthodox. "Maybe hold my hand? Whatever comes naturally?"

  Cathy nods slowly, their shoulders brushing against each other as they walked down the streets. It was still mid-morning, and it was relatively quiet outside, the only other sounds being passing cars and the squawking of unseen birds, the rest of the space filled with their voices. 

  "Am I supposed to wear anything nice..-? I don't have any party-suitable outfit, to my recollection."

  "Who on Earth uses the word recollection in a normal conversation? I swear you speak like you're constantly writing an essay." Anne rambles, shaking her head and brushing hair behind her ears and looking over at Cathy. "But honestly anything's fine. Wear jeans and a shirt, and that's about it. We can ditch the shirt on the way home, if you get me."

   It takes a moment for the comment to register before Cathy realises and playfully smacks her arm. "We are keeping our clothes on, thank you very much."

  "Ohhhh, so you're that type, huh?" 

  "Anne Boleyn, I swear to God-" Anne snickers at her anger. 

  "But yeah! Honestly anything's fine. Come what you're in now- you look pretty."

  Cathy scoffs and stops in front of her house, shaking her head to Anne. "Thank you for walking me home, but you really didn't have to."

  The other girl just smiles at her as if to say: you know I did. She's still thankful nonetheless and gives a small wave as she opens her door, turning around one last time to blow her a cheeky kiss, before closing the door behind her. 

--

  Cathy walked to the address of said party, waiting for Anne outside, where she had been messaged to meet her, hugging her cardigan around herself and looking both ways down the street again, eyes raking through the darkness and finally the vivid sound of sandals hitting the pavement sounds behind her. She turns and sees the one and only Anne Boleyn tearing down the street in dungaree-shorts and sandals, which she inferred to be the worst possible decision of clothing in the middle of November.  

  The girl steams to a halt in front of her, breathing wildly with the biggest grin on her face, red lipstick coating her lips and apparently part of her chin. Cathy steps forward to her, taking her face in one hand and using her thumb to wipe away the straying lipstick. 

  "You scruff. What am I, your mother?"

  Anne grins into her hands, wrapping her arm over her neck and kissing her jaw softly, moving to whisper in her ear. "They're watching us through the gap in the curtain. They think we don't know they're there."

  Cathy shakes her head softly and pulls away from her. "Can you lead in? I've never been to a party and I'm nervous."

  Anne makes a comment about her being nervous at everything but leads anyway, knocking briefly before letting herself in. 

  "THE GREMLIN'S ARRIVED." Cleves shouts from the couch, Kitty next to her grinning and turning to look at  the two girls stood in front of the door. 

  "Who's the random girl-thing-?" Kitty asks ambiguously, referencing to Parr and pointing a single finger, lazily. 

  Aragon, at the statement of her friend pops her head around the door frame to catch a glance at the two unsuspecting lovers. "Are you kidding me? She's real?"

  "Duh she's real. Why else would I say she existed?" Anne narrows her eyes to slits and shakes her head, taking Cathy's hand and leading her in to the rest of the girls, all lounging around. 

  Practically as soon as they sit down, the blonde girl, who Parr finds out is referred to as 'Jane', 'Seymour' or even 'Mother Seymour', moves away to sit on the floor and then she watches the four girls form a semicircle around Anne and herself, and she clenches her hand. 

  "What're they doing..-?" Cathy whispers softly into Anne's ear, and she earns a shrug in response, unsure herself. 

  "I'm Catherine..?" She says louder, and her voice ceasing to shake, to the credit of her emotional stability. 

  "So then Catherine. When exactly did you and our dearest Anne Boleyn here meet?" Cleeves presses, a wicked smile spreading across her lips.

  Her eyes widen and she shifts slightly. "Ah- gosh. We- uh. We met in school. She wasn't in any of my lessons- but she caught my eye because she was so beautiful and- and we got talking." she nods, certain and looking over at Anne with an affectionate smile. 

  Kitty's the one that presses it even further. "Out of curiosity, how in this entire galaxy did you choose to fall in love with Anne Boleyn?? When did it happen?"

  She wipes the look of surprise off of her face and lets out a shallow breath. "If I'm honest, it wasn't a choice. It was something that just happened all of a sudden and I don't exactly know how- but the moment I think I decided that I had fallen for her was when she decided to walk me home from getting coffee, on our first date. It wasn't planned either, she just showed up and sat down and shoved tea down my throat..- and then all of a sudden she was walking me home and I wanted her to stay so badly."

  Anne's staring at her from the seat beside her, a stupid grin teasing her lips and she purses them to hide it, hands interlocking at the base of her own neck. Cathy ignores the look of her, scared of the reaction she's getting from her, and her gut begins to drop when she realises that she meant every single one of her words. 

  "And how long did it take for her to bed you, hm?" 

  "Well… she hasn't yet… She desperately wanted to, but I wanted our first time to be special and not hiding from the kids in the school bathrooms." Cathy shoots her a glance and Anne's jaw has dropped to the floor, and a surprise looks across her face as if to say: how did she know?

  Aragon grins, interjecting to the conversation. "Since we're getting into these juicy kind of details, does Anne have any weird kinks that she's told you about?"

  Catherine crosses and uncrosses her legs anxiously. "Uh.. to the discretion of Anne, I won't reveal that answer."

  "conFIRMED: ANNE BOLEYN HAS A PISS KINK" Cleves stands up and yells, followed by Anne herself shortly after. 

  "Okay! That's enough. Leave her alone." She announces loudly, turning back to her with an apologetic look. 

  "She didn't deny it..-" Anna mumbles, dipping her chin and turning to the other girls. 

  Anne sits back down, closer to Cathy then before, putting her chin on her shoulder as the room breaks put into general conversation. "Thank you, for that." She whispers, smiling at the lipstick mark against her jaw, deciding not to tell her because it made her beauty more authentic. 

  Cathy turns to her, shrugging the shoulder that Anne wasn't leant on. "I do try, y'know. And that's now fifty quid, please. Pay up, gremlin." 

  "I'm not paying you shit until I get my money's worth, thank you very much. And I'm paying you in kisses because I'm poverty." Anne grins, hand raising to push a curl behind Cathy's ear, and to her bewilderment, she doesn't object to it. In fact, she leaves her hand there, resting against her head and she watches as the girl gently closes her eyes and leans into the touch. "That's gay."

  With that, she gets up from leaning into Anne's hand, shifting to look towards her more. "You are literally a lesbian, what do you want from me?"

  "She wants pussy!" A perfectly timed comment from another conversation makes Parr grin and purse her lips to stifle a laugh. 

  "I mean- she's not wrong." Anne admits. "I'm either horny or sad, constantly and at this point I can't tell the difference between the two." 

  "Wow. You should probably get a girlfriend sometime soon." She shrugs, watching her lips and the velvet-red colour that covers them. 

  "Mhm." Anne hums, tilting her head as her eyes wash over Catherine. "Hopefully, soon, yeah."

  She drags her eyes away from the scarlet lipstick, and back to around the room, scanning each person carefully. "Since when was this a 'party'?" 

  "Well… this is our version of a party. We usually don't drink or anything, because we look to have a combined age of six years." Catherine can't help but glance down at Anne's bra, which she could clearly see through her shirt. 

  "Uh-huh. Yeah-" she nods and looks her in the eyes again, and looking away. 

  "Did you just-"

  "Yeah."

  "Well then." Anne shifts, throwing her hair over her shoulder. 

  "You don't look six." Cathy feels the need to clarify. "If you were six, I would be seeking serious and intensive therapy about my sexual tendencies."

  "Did you just-"

  "Yeah. Don't mention it." She shakes her head, looking away, but Anne insists on scooting closer, and putting her hand on her knee, smiling comfortingly. "You're so cold- I can feel your hand through my trousers." 

  Cathy shakes her head, disappointed and sighing at how idiotic Anne is. 

  "What gave you the genius idea to wear shorts and sandals in November?" She grumbles, taking her cardigan off and draping it over Anne. 

  "I like being cripplingly cold so that when I get into bed, I don't want to get out because the only warmth is bed." 

  "I hope you know that that's fucked up, right?" 

  Anne shrugs, putting her arms through the sleeves and wrapping it around herself, shuffling to lay into Cathy, sighing softly. "I'm sorry." 

  It comes naturally to turn and press her lips to the apex of Anne's head, leaving them there for a few seconds before her arm reaches around her, shushing her gently. 

  She sighs into her hair, breathing her in. Anne smells nice, she decides, though she's not exactly sure what of. Cathy can picture nights in with the girl nestled in her arm, cuddled up watching movies until they pass out, gripping onto each other, and then she turns away from her, looking around the room. These girls are the reason this is happening: why Anne Boleyn was tolerating her, loving her, to a degree. It was fake, she reminded herself coldly. All of it. 

  Anne Boleyn was only being nice to her because she got herself into a mess. After all, who could possibly love Catherine Parr for who she really is? 

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Six.

Another chapter from the Detective AU! This one gets a little intense. Enjoy!🙂

TW: Swearing, panic attacks, passing out, headaches, mentions of bodies and injuries.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/57678406

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs

Oh, and if you want a hint at who our mysterious guest is, check the tags when you’re done reading.

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The Clock Strikes Six. Chapter Fourteen.

It’s finally here!!!!

TW: Swearing, mentions of death, shooting, and addiction.

So sorry for this hiatus! I can’t promise it’ll end soon. I get distracted. I get tired. But I can promise that I’ll try. And you know why? Because of you. All of you have been such a huge part of my salvation during this crazy pandemic, and seeing that my work actually manages to bring some of you joy has been such an amazing experience. So I try to write, even if I can’t. I write for myself, yes, but I also write for all of you. So thank you for sticking with me. It means a lot.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! It’s twice as long as usual and mostly angst and rants, but I feel like I needed to write it before I move back into the mystery-solving action. Don’t worry, that’s coming soon:)

❤️❤️❤️

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/60869845

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon. If you want to be added, you know what to do🙂

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Ten.

Here we are again, back with our favorite detective! If you recall, I left y’all hanging a bit last time☺️

TW: Falling, mentions of death and murder, swearing, thunderstorms, extreme cold.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/59003731

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon @dm-lancaster @timetoriseabove. If you want to be added, you know where to go🙂

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Nine.

Next chapter of the Detective AU!

I’ve had this scene planned out for awhile🙂

TW: Mentions or murder, falling, head injury, swearing.

As always, this chapter has many special guests!

Fans of She-Ra, be sure to look out for the references! They shouldn’t be too hard to find:)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/58710931

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon @dm-lancaster. If you want to be added, you know where to go🙂

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six. Chapter Thirteen.

It’s here!

TW: Gunshot wounds/bullet wounds, mentions of shooting, actual shooting, gunfire, blood, loud noises.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/60177322

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon. If you want to be added, don’t hesitate to message or ask or comment🙂

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter One.

And we finally get to meet some of the Six characters! I will NOT always update this fast, but I felt like it today.

Anyway, this is my Detective AU. Hope you enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/56649829#workskin

Tag list: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Seven.

Another chapter of the Detective AU! Not super intense, but it’s a fun one! Lots of sassy Aragon in here.

TW: Swearing, large crowds, vehicles.

Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/57977161

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems @six-fragile-dreams @calpicola @yellowtwigs @mindless-pidgeon. If you want to be added to the taglist for this and/or any of my other long fics, feel free to message, ask, or comment and tag!

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Two.

(It says chapter 3 on AO3, but that’s because of the Prologue)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/56887735#workskin

Prologue

Chapter One.

Enjoy!

Taglist: @musical-stan-first-human-later @silverpetals97 @sweetestrequiems . If you want to be added to the taglist, feel free to message, tag, or ask me! ❤️

[azure-firecracker]

The Clock Strikes Six.

Chapter Four.

This updated kinda fast. It’s not always going to be this fast, but it’s my favorite fic to write, so...anyway, welcome to chapter four of my detective AU! This is one of the fluffier chapters🙂

This chapter features another special guest, as well as the appearance of another queen! Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600311/chapters/57324262