#he brought back spring in a meaningful way only at the cost of his love

[redrobin-detective]

So I've been listening to my two favorite songs from Hadestown, Wait For Me (Reprise) and Road to Hell (Reprise), on loop for a few days. And on my 400th listen something occurred to me.

Orpheus was writing his song to "make spring come again". He wanted to "fix what's wrong, take what's broken and make it whole." His entire purpose was to write "a song so beautiful it brings the whole world back into tune." (From Come Home with Me).

And he did. Using his love for Eurydice, he was able to finish his song, his masterpiece. But the cost of his dedication to his music meant his love went hungry and went to Hadestown for food and shelter.

He hoped his love and his music would be strong enough to save her, a task we know was ultimately futile but we still sing about it because maybe one day it will be different but also... He did make spring come again. He helped Hades be more secure in his love for Persephone so she could stay on Earth long enough for their to BE a spring. He did take a broken, strained marriage and help them communicate, make them whole. He did bring the whole world back into tune when he sang their song and another pair of distanced lovers began to dance after so long of arguing.

Everyone else got their happy ending but him and Eurydice.

He did not fail, he just not could not imagine that his song didn't have room for his own happiness. It's a reminder that for every triumph there is tragedy, every repaired relationship there is a breakup and that while it may be spring somewhere, somewhere else it is winter. I don't know, that idea of mixed blessing tragedies in the story intrigued me. Because someone's worst day may be someone's best. And that is why we must always sing these songs, to remember on the bright days and to get us through the darkness and to know, someday, spring will come again.

[popcorn-kitten]

new hiveswap info and development timelines just dropped on the Kickstarter ✌️

Over the years, a lot of misinformation, as well as deliberate disinformation, has spread around about the history of Hiveswap. The purpose of this post is to clarify these matters for backers who've been wondering what the truth is.

The Kickstarter was planned by the What Pumpkin business development team in mid-2012. One member of the team was a crowdfunding specialist who led the planning process and managed the contracts with the developer. Prior to the Kickstarter opening for pledges, What Pumpkin worked out a plan for a flexible game concept that could be refined according to how much the campaign ultimately brought in. As Hussie was still working on Homestuck full time at this point, the plan was to hand over his game concept and story outline to a development company that could deliver the project.

The crowdfunding campaign finished out at a gross total of $2,485,506, as well as a gross total of $207,930 from PayPal pledges. But because of platform fees, as well as the costs of producing and shipping merchandise to backers of the campaign, the effective budget was significantly lower than the gross pledged total:

The above deductions from the gross total do not include taxes.

After determining the final budget for the game, What Pumpkin signed an agreement with the contracted game company (hereafter “GC”) to develop Hussie’s game concept. WP and GC entered into a development contract on November 30, 2012, shortly after the conclusion of the Homestuck Kickstarter. WP paid $788,000 to GC in late 2012 for development.

Because there was an understanding that delivering the complete game development documents would take some time, during which it would be difficult for GC to make meaningful progress on the Hiveswap game build, GC inquired about getting involved with other Homestuck-adjacent projects to do immediate work. WP let GC know about the Act 7 animation plans. With an assurance that this work could be done in parallel with a flexible timeline and would not impact the development cycle of Hiveswap itself, Hussie and What Pumpkin saw this as a good opportunity to establish a working relationship with this organization prior to the start of development and agreed to contract GC to do animation work for the Act 7 project. WP and GC agreed that this project would have a separate budget from the Hiveswap Kickstarter money, paid for from WP’s regular operating funds. As the existence of this animation itself would not be revealed until its release in 2016, this was not publicly announced at the time. GC and the lead animator on the project specifically requested not to be credited upon release of the animation.

Hussie initiated the “Megapause” on April 14, 2013 in order to devote his full attention to finalizing the Hiveswap development documents. What Pumpkin soon provided its story documents so that GC could formally begin core systems development. In July of 2013 WP and GC mutually agreed to push back GC’s deliverable dates without penalty. Hussie would share an update in 2013 detailing the state of predevelopment:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/708686

In 2013 following receipt of WP’s deliverables, GC enthusiastically assured WP that it was positioned to begin development. GC would deliver its first prototype in early 2014.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qSXwWKD5Km1yL-3Cj_W5IevW-IA978zJ/view?usp=sharing

This prototype, linked above, was sent to WP on 2/18/14. At this point, it was becoming a significant concern among backers that WP had yet to show proof that the game was being made, so WP was looking for any sort of tangible progress update from GC that was suitable to share with the public. But Hussie and WP found the quality of the prototype somewhat alarming, and decided that sharing any shots from the game would only cause embarrassment for GC. Nevertheless, WP was still willing to assume that this was a very early draft of something that would develop into a more promising product soon, and gave GC some more time to improve on it.

But the improvements didn’t come. No other advancements on the prototype were ever made. After waiting weeks with no update other than assurances that progress was carrying on smoothly, Hussie initiated the “Gigapause” both to take care of personal matters and later to get directly involved in the development of the game himself. He decided to move to southern California from the east coast in hopes that working directly with the GC could help them overcome whatever obstacles they were facing with Hiveswap’s development. GC responded positively to the prospect of Hussie’s involvement, but when he made the move and tried to coordinate a time to visit the GC offices and meet, GC insisted it was a bad time due to office renovations and a busy schedule. Here is a timeline with quotes from emails exchanged between Hussie and GC:

May 12, 2014 - from Hussie to GC

“Just letting you know I actually moved to the west coast recently. I'm only an hour or so away from LA now.

I could drive down and check out the office, see how things are going with the game and animation in person some time soon. Is there a time that would work for you guys? In a week or two maybe?”

May 15, 2014 - from GC to Hussie

“That's awesome about being on the west coast. It'd be great to have you come to the studio.

Dev has slowed a bit on our end, as we wanted to take a step back and really evaluate what was needed and the best way to achieve the features that have been coming online in the docs. We're continuing to break that all down so we can build and plan most effectively moving forward. We also wanted to find some simple formats for input from your writing team for dialogue content and are getting that squared away.

The best time to come by would actually be right after E3. Things are a bit nuts until then.”

May 18, 2014 - from Hussie to GC

“[Name redacted], sounds good. I'll set aside some time after E3 to make the drive down. As we approach the date, just let me know what works for you.”

E3 was June 10-12, 2014. GC did not invite Hussie to visit at this time.

Hussie and WP representatives were in LA over July 4th weekend, 2014. When they inquired about visiting the offices again they were still not welcome. A GC representative insisted that they meet at a restaurant instead. Yet GC continued to telegraph that they were receptive to the idea of inviting Hussie to the office well into the summer:

Aug 18, 2014 - from GC to Hussie

“We'd love to set up a new time for Andrew to come to the studio as well as a skype chat to meet the other team members.”

Despite apparent enthusiasm about meeting with Andrew in their email correspondence, GC continued the pattern of refusing to meet at the office or supply any signs of progress on the prototype.

Over that summer, GC delivered several pieces of concept art that WP had been requesting since January. Hussie did his best to present this publicly as a positive development as WP felt it would be counterproductive to the project and harmful to GC to publicly detail the development troubles at the time.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/883860

There was no indication from GC that the Act 7 animation project was in any way in conflict with Hiveswap development. GC was enthusiastic about taking on this project, and bidded against other animators for the contract. They saw it as a useful tie-in to concept art work on Hiveswap, as GC leadership conveyed in an email to WP in early 2013:

WP also does not have any reason to believe that the Act 7 project in practice created a conflict that was not disclosed by GC to WP. Act 7 was a 2D animation project, and Hiveswap at the time was a 3D game, so it did not pull GC’s programmers or 3D artists away from work on Hiveswap. GC never mentioned the development needs of a separate project at all to WP, or cited any such reason as distracting from work on Hiveswap; GC instead repeatedly provided WP with various assurances that everything was still fine with Hiveswap.

Had GC communicated that they had scheduling conflicts or some other impediment preventing them from developing Hiveswap, WP would have terminated the contract even sooner.

WP moved to terminate the agreement with GC late summer of 2014, and Hussie pivoted towards establishing a new independent game studio while consulting with a designer who had stepped up into a leadership position during the GC development period. That individual lived in NYC, which is why that location was chosen to establish the new studio rapidly. They helped build the studio through a local network of professional contacts. While this “What Pumpkin NYC” studio shared a name with What Pumpkin, it’s important to note that all of WP NYC’s studio staff save for the aforementioned individual were hired without any prior affiliation with WP and thus had no association with the GC contract. WP documented this development on Kickstarter on October 30th, 2014. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1035099

At this point, negotiations were very amicable; both parties agreed the project simply wasn’t turning out to be a good fit for GC, and were both ready to move on. There were no signs given at all that WP was about to have trouble recovering the remaining funds.

WP is legally permitted to discuss details of the resolution of the dispute only under very specific circumstances. WP may make additional disclosures outside of this post to individual backers in accordance with legal obligations.

Following resolution of the GC contract, in Spring 2015 the WP NYC studio was running at full capacity on Hiveswap. The main problem was the fact that WP management was blindsided by the revelation that much less money would be coming back than expected. The WP NYC project manager had designed the schedule based on the good faith presumption that most of the development funds would be recouped. When it was finally revealed the return was far short of what was expected, and the repayment plan could in no way keep up with the schedule as currently drafted, it threw the project into a period of chaos as plans were quickly redrawn. The length of Act 1 was slashed, and other modifications were made to try to fit the rest of Act 1 into the newly shortened runway. But in the end, the revisions still weren't enough to save the game as it existed, and the studio needed to be closed in order to reserve what funds remained to finish the project in some form.

This may have come across as a sudden or spontaneous decision. Part of this is because the WP NYC senior staff and WP ownership were doing everything in their power to save the project, including injecting WP regular operating funds into the project, until it was determined that going any further would be disastrous for the future of Hiveswap. Another is that WP was legally unable to give any detailed disclosures about the financial troubles, even to many of the WP NYC staff.

It should also be noted that originally the NYC studio was not going to be permanently closed, but only frozen for a reassessment of the project. But during this freeze period, there were some dramatic events. One staff member behaved in a destructive and threatening manner. For the protection of those involved, details shouldn't be disclosed. But these events made navigating the post-freeze issues impossible. Communication between ownership, management and staff broke down because of these events, and the freeze turned into full closure. This version of the project was then abandoned for many reasons, including these events.

Some misinformation claims that at the time the WP NYC studio was shuttered, its iterations of Act 1 and 2 were complete. This is wrong. Act 1 was very far from a shippable state and absolutely no work on Act 2 had been completed besides some concept and 3D art. Here you can see a video documenting one of many major bugs with critical path progression in the final build produced by WP NYC, where it becomes impossible to re-focus on the Simon Says toy if Joey fails and then exits out of the puzzle:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M2mmkMx8Wkwp1VU_5IpMKDvngmUFS0IG/view?usp=sharing

At the point the WP NYC studio was frozen it was still difficult to finish a full run of the critical path without the debug tool, and the UI was far from complete. With that build, Act 1 ended the moment Joey passed through the portal on Earth. The current version of Act 1, where Joey makes it to Alternia and meets Xefros, is more indicative of the original length of the NYC version of Act 1. Not only did it need to be slashed from what the original script proposed, the NYC version of Act 1 still wasn't that close to resembling a shippable product after those changes were made.

Because of the amount of time and resources already devoted to this project, WP was initially very reluctant to lay anyone off or scrap the work being done. It was for this reason that the studio stayed open for months after the contract with GC was resolved; WP made every effort to deliver a game with that team, but at the time WP NYC was shuttered, the funds just weren't there to keep the studio running at its current burn rate and schedule slips. The game was never going to reach delivery with the funds available. The studio urgently needed to be frozen for a full reassessment, and then it was closed after the freeze due to the reasons stated above. This was the only course of action that could have saved the project.

To WP's knowledge every artist whose work was used in the final release of Act 1 was included in the credits. The final version of Act 1 was in large part built off concept art and storyboards drawn during the WP NYC era, and many of the artists who made them continued to work on the team that produced the final version of Act 1; the roadmap for the completion of Act 1 was specifically planned because WP had determined that the existing 2D concepts could easily be refined into a final product that would both be visually appealing and more economic to produce. Unfortunately due to the transition to 2D WP no longer had a place for the 3D artists or the original 3D engine, and all of those assets were dropped. They were not used as a basis for the finished assets in Act 1, and visual similarities to WP NYC 3D assets are due to the fact that final Act 1 assets are in large part refinements of the original concept art. Any artist whose work was used incidentally was included in Additional Contributions.

Both the GC and NYC phases of Hiveswap were setbacks to the overall fulfillment of the project, but not insurmountable. WP reorganized the budget to establish a new version of the studio, and Act 1 was released two years after the closure of NYC.

As an addendum, WP has identified the primary source of a disclosure to a well-circulated document of the Hiveswap development process. WP has been aware of a pattern of false claims this former employee has made since the end of their employment at the beginning of 2014. As this individual was not present during the end of the development contract with GC, nor the WP NYC development period, all of the information they have shared is based on speculation and conjecture.

At this time, WP does not wish to invite more controversy into the lives of anyone previously involved with this project, and considers these matters to have been resolved long ago. The goal for years has been to turn the page on flawed attempts by earlier studios, and simply move forward and bring Hiveswap to completion without sparking the chaos, disruption, and threats to personal safety that would have resulted from disclosing many of the details stated above. Doing so would only make it more difficult for the staff to rebuild the project during these periods immediately following the termination of the GC agreement and closure of the NYC studio. Since preservation of the project was the primary responsibility to the backers, making destructive disclosures that put the project at risk along the way would have been at odds with that responsibility. This policy also served to protect individuals from personal or professional harm, including those who were responsible for serious setbacks with the project. Please respect the privacy of any persons affiliated with GC and WP NYC.

[hargrove-mayfields]

for @magellan-88!

When Hawkins’ class of ‘85 graduated high school, Billy was the first to take off, halfway back to San Francisco before the caps even touched the ground.

Everyone gave hats off to him for being one of the few who’d ever make it out of the dying ghost town that was Hawkins, but as much as he hated that place and all its confines, he felt like he had left behind a lot.

The job wasn’t what he really wanted to do anyways, his house, when he was still staying there, was cramped, and after only a couple of months, the town had no sentimental value to him. The only thing he couldn’t help but feel bad about ditching, and that amounted to a whole lot of regret on his part, were the people.

Not the girls who swooned over him or the half made friendships he’d been neglecting since they formed anyways either, but he had his little sister, to whom he promised he’d drop everything and come back the second she said the word, and he also had Steve.

His relationship with Steve was a little blurrier, the two of them had gotten to the point of calling each other friends just after Christmas, best friends by the time Neil kicked Billy out for nothing but turning the big one-eight in april, and he was left crashing on the Harrington’s designer couch until he was free to leave Hawkins.

That’s where Steve would’ve ended the story at least, but as for Billy, he’d fallen ass over tits in love for his best friend in a matter of a smoldering gaze at a Halloween party.

Of all the many things he regrets about his short time in that cramped little town, he’d have to say the biggest was not having worked up the courage to fess up about his little crush before he skipped town to live it up more than two thousand miles away, mostly because that had been the only of his mistake he never took any time to resolve.

So it was that when Steve, apparently completely forgetting about the existence of time zones, calls him up at five in the morning to ask if he could come out to visit his new place in the golden state in a few weeks, Billy senses a pretty big opportunity.

What Steve had always done when Billy was staying at his place was cover the couch in the upstairs foyer, as he was made to call it, in layers of spare pillows and blankets, making it up like a bed for him. If he could, he would’ve let him have the guest bedroom, but that was out of the question when every other night that Steve’s parents were home, they argued and John had to take the spare.

But Billy doesn’t have a spare room, and he isn’t too sure about doing the same for Steve in his new apartment.

The problem isn’t that he can't, he has a brand new couch, bought from an actual furniture store instead of an old busted up one at thrift (or that he brought in off the curb and said was bought at thrift) and it’s even got a pull out to make things easier. He’d spent too many dozens of nights on Steve’s couch, staring up at the way high ceiling and wishing he had the guts to make a move, that he doesn’t think his yearning heart can take being just down the hall from him again, especially not with the promise that in a few weeks time, there’d be that vast, looming space between them again.

So he’s settled on it, Steve is going to sleep in his bed. He’s just gotta find a way to get him there, and that’s simple enough, he just has to pretend there’s nowhere else for him to sleep.

Now, he’ll admit that his plan on selling that idea is shaky at best, but Steve is bone tired when he gets there a few days later, his first time flying and dealing with jet lag taking everything he has out of him, so really, he’s looking to crash as soon as they get up to Billy’s apartment.

Only, he notices immediately that the couch isn’t set up like a bed like he usually would have done it up, and he looks to Billy with a slight tilt of his head, confusion in those big puppy-dog eyes.

So Billy answers, trying not to be too smug about it, “Sorry man, couch is out of the question.”

“Why?” Steve asks, then thinks better of it, knowing Billy’s history, “Actually, hold that thought, I don’t think I want to know.”

That makes Billy laugh, makes him remember why he fell in love with Steve in the first place too, “Nothing gross this time, s’just brand new. Can’t have you drooling all over the furniture that cost me two months of rent.”

“Right. So.. where am I going to sleep then?”

“I’ve got a bed, Steve.”

“Well duh, but I’m not going to kick you out of your own bed.”

“I didn’t say that. You’re not the only one with a queen sized now. I got room for two.”

“But.. is that going to be weird?” Steve asks, shifting on his feet, like the suggestion makes him uncomfortable, and Billy almost backs out then, lies about how he was just messing around to test Steve, but he sticks to his guns, saying, “Only if you make it weird. Don’t have much of a choice anyhow, unless you want to sleep in the bathtub.”

Steve insists on arguing though, “What’s wrong with sleeping on the floor?”

“Dude, this is a shitty ass apartment. I live here and I don’t even know half of the nasty shit that’s been on this floor.”

“Fine, just as long as I have a place to sleep.” Steve half-mumbles, cut off by a yawn, obviously too tired to keep pressing the issue.

He saunters off to Billy’s room not too long after that, not even changing out of his clothes before he’s throwing himself face down in his bed, leaving Billy to do his entire nighttime routine while Steve makes himself right at home, assuming that after brushing his teeth and putting his hair up, changing out of his jeans and triple checking that the doors and windows were locked tight, that’d be enough time for Steve to fall asleep.

That however, does not happen to be the case.

Billy knew from sleeping just down the hall from Steve’s bedroom that he snored like a motherfucker, and from the times he had fallen asleep on the basketball bus after a game that Steve never stopped moving in his sleep, but he was truly not prepared for how difficult it was for Steve to get to sleep in the first place.

He understands it, he remembers how hard it had been trying to relax in the silence that surrounded the country, and since that was all Steve was used to, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that the sounds of the city were hard for him to tune out and just sleep.

What he doesn’t understand is how Steve doesn’t wear himself out tossing and turning, and after at least an hour of it, Billy’s got to wonder if this is a princess and the pea type situation, some messed up spring in his mattress making this arrangement not proper for the royalty at his side.

Billy can tell he wants to talk, from the way he keeps feeling Steve’s eyes on his back, the tapping of his fingers against the headboard, which, if they got to talking he might not even need part two of his plan, but Steve doesn’t ever say anything just sighs with every chime on the clock, another hour he can’t get to sleep.

It isn’t until three in the morning rolls around that Steve finally conks out, Billy himself still barely awake enough to shoot his shot, draping himself over Steve and pulling him close before he has a chance to roll over onto his front again, falling asleep with his crush in his arms.

~~~~

The sun’s not up yet, and the clock’s too blurry to say exactly what time it is when Steve wakes up again, realizing after a few minutes that he’s hot as hell, and didn’t immediately start tossing and turning again, which, once he’s actually woken up enough to think, he discovers that the only reason that is is because Billy is pressed against his back, his arm thrown over his side, spooning him and basically keeping him held there in place.

Steve at first tries not to think about it, the whole, sleeping in the same bed as the person he deliberately never did that with to avoid facing his feeling, and just get comfortable with Billy all cuddled up to him, but he’s a front sleeper, and Billy is fucking hot in more ways than one, so when it’s evident that’s not going to work, he clears his throat, announcing into the silence, “You’re smotherin’ me, Bill.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath behind him, like Billy had just woken up, and a soft little hum of a question, “Hm?”

“You’re like, on top of me, man.” Steve informs him, like he didn’t notice he was half laying on him, but Billy answers bluntly, voice all tired and scratchy, “Don’t care.”

That sort of confuses Steve. He’d been expecting an apology, for Billy to roll over and them to pretend this never happened in the morning, and it’s got his mind, and his heart, racing a mile a minute, because Billy isn’t the only one with a helpless crush, there’s a reason Steve flew 2,000 miles just to see him.

So he asks, before he can lead himself on, “Just to be clear, is this an accidental thing that only isn’t awkward because we’re friends or is this like, meaningful?”

Billy just hums, pulling him even closer, making Steve feel small, “Go to sleep, Steven.”

“Okay.” He tries to, shoving his arm under the pillows and shifting under Billy’s weight so he’d be comfortable enough, but it’s just nagging at his lovesick brain, “But seriously man, I don’t know what I should take away from this.”

Billy sighs softly, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, maybe because he was tired, maybe because Steve was being Steve, “Look, you’re in my bed, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, because of the couch, I thought you were just a cuddler or something.”

“Nope. This was all by design.”

“So then the couch..”

“Was perfectly fine, yeah. Damn thing even has a fold out.”

“You did this on purpose?”

“Thought I made that pretty obvious.”

Steve pouts, sitting up so Billy has to let go of him, “Well if you’re so annoyed with me, I’ll just leave you to get back to sleep.”

“Oh no. It’s much too late for that. I’m thinking we’re going to have to find another way to spend the time now. And, well, since you’re already here...”

[lia-jones]

Growing Stronger - Chapter Twenty-Nine - Who Wants To Be Rich and Famous

“We need to start discussing the wedding.” Victor initiated the subject over morning coffee, wearing his usual LFG CEO, all-business-no-play expression. “First order of business: the date.”

“Oh my.” I teased, but I still corrected my posture on my chair, straightening my back. “I was thinking about either a Spring or Fall wedding. The heat is unforgivable here, I don’t want pit stains on my dress.”

“You want to get married here?” Victor raised an eyebrow at me.

The realization that came with that simple question hit me hard. If I was talking to an ordinary guy, the obvious answer would be that we had to get married in Loveland, because that was where we both lived. But Victor wasn’t an ordinary guy. He actually had the financial power of planning a wedding in ANY part of the world, and comfortably fly all the guests there, without breaking a sweat. It wasn’t like I didn’t know Victor was rich, but the truth was I never stopped to think how financially well off he was. The first word that came when I thought of Victor, besides hot or love , was successful . But for some reason, not rich .

“I don’t know, actually.” I started playing with my bracelet. “I would like to marry at someplace that is meaningful for us.”

“Hmm.” Victor looked up for a moment, pondering on my words. “Not Souvenir, it is too small. Not Dubai, because we would have to explain…” He smiled mischievously at me. “Where we shared our first kiss? That would be a great idea, actually.” He took his tablet and started tapping, searching for something.

“You mean in the middle of the street in Paris?” I frowned. “Too… public, don’t you think? Although Jules Verne could do the catering.” Sure, a Michelin awarded restaurant doing my catering. So easy and common!

“You know our first kiss wasn’t in Paris.” Victor frowned at me, looking up from behind his glasses.

“Excuse me?” I frowned back at him. “I’m not senile, I know it was.”

“Our first kiss as a couple was in Paris, but it wasn’t our first kiss.” Victor stubbornly insisted. I was suddenly confused by his confidence.

“Ok, spill it.” I glared at him, tired of walking around the question. “What do you know that I don’t?”

“Remember the gala we went to, in Creekwood?” He raised his eyebrows at me, expecting for the penny to drop.

“That wasn’t a kiss, that was an accident!” I laughed. But Victor was staring at me, in all seriousness. “Wasn’t it?”

“Maybe for you.” He gave me a cocky and knowing smile. I just stared at him, the wheels in my mind turning ever so slowly. “Ok, let me walk you through it. Stand up.” He got up from his chair and took my hand. I obediently followed.

“Ok, now what?” I asked, as he assumed a dancing stance, holding me in his arms.

“I invited you to dance, we were dancing that Aretha Franklin song, Say a little prayer for you , remember?” He said, swaying to the music inside his head.

“Ok…” I played along.

“Then the music stopped, and Sting was on. When we dance. It was a slow dance, so you wanted to stop and go back to your seat. But I didn’t let you. So we started dancing that one.” Victor assumed a different position, wrapping his arms around me.

“How can you remember all the songs that were playing?” I looked at him, surprised. “I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.”

“I remember every single detail of that night.” He declared. “And I made you pancakes yesterday. So, do you remember what happened next?”

“I told you I would do you a favor. So Miss Bates would really think we are together.” I smiled.

“Exactly.” Victor nodded. “You told me to lower my hands on your back, and I obliged.” He slowly lowered his hands on my back, sending shivers through my spine. “Then you asked me to bring my face closer to yours. And I did.” He lowered his head, and I could feel his breath touch my skin. And it was just for the sake of fully understanding what had happened that I didn’t kiss him there and then. “And here’s when things were a little different for me.”

“Wait, you stole that kiss?” I asked, after replaying the whole thing in my mind. Sneaky beautiful man.

“I already had feelings for you by that time. I had had them for quite a while. I didn’t invite you to be my beard, I couldn’t care less about Miss Bates. I wanted to spend time with you and get to know you. And I wanted to show you I wasn’t as bad as you thought I was.” Victor lovingly rubbed his nose against mine. “Also, after the Mia fiasco, I promised myself I would be bolder, if I was lucky enough to love someone again.”

“So I kissed you on the cheek…” My lips touched his skin, and neither of us could help the content sigh.

“And all I had to do was to turn my head. I had been thinking about kissing you the whole evening.” His lips met mine, just like that night, only this time the kiss wasn’t as soft. All the slow build-up resulted in a hot fiery kiss, and it would turn into something more if we didn’t have to go to work.

“So our first kiss was in Creekwood.” I croaked when we broke the kiss.

“Well, technically yes, but I was the only one truly enjoying the kiss. You thought it was just pretend.” Victor argued, still holding me in his arms.

“Victor, I wasn’t pretending. The kiss was unexpected, but I was actually kissing you back. I thought you thought it was just pretending.” I pulled him closer.

“Is that so? The time we have wasted.”  His lips teased mine. “If only I had known, I would have kissed you all night long.” His tongue grazed my upper lip, making me lose my mind. I deepened the kiss, crazy with lust.

Thankfully (or maybe not) my phone rang. It was Diane. And this time I was wise enough to put it on speaker, not wanting to lose an eardrum for good.

“Hey, Di, you’re on speaker. What’s up?”

“I didn’t know you like soccer.” There was a mischievous tone in her voice. Victor suddenly grabbed his phone.

“It was a charity- Wait.” I paused. “How do you know?”

“Channel 24. Right now.” Diane instructed.

Victor grabbed the TV remote, to turn the kitchen’s TV on. And the first thing we saw was us, on the kiss cam, kissing.

Look at her Perry! She notices the cam is filming, kisses him on the cheek. The guy notices, and… There! There you go! Full on her lips! She’s melting, look at that! The CEO’s got moves!

In her defense, every girl would melt under those lips. Victor Lee is pretty easy on the eyes.

I was frozen, hypnotized by the screen in front of me. I hear Victor’s livid voice behind me.

“I’ll make them regret this.” He gripped my shoulders. “The lawyers made it perfectly clear that you are not to be discussed in the media.”

“It’s fine.” I turned to show him I wasn’t upset. “They are talking about our kiss, not my abuse. Actually, they’re talking a lot more about you than me.”

Ok, he may seem grumpy and have that bad temper reputation, but I think it adds to the charm.  I would love to have that CEO boss me around any day!

I stifled a laugh, watching Victor’s cheek turning pink.

All jokes aside, we are happy for the couple. It was about time Loveland’s Most Eligible Bachelor to find love. And the way they look at each other, it’s true love, I’m sure.

He definitely put a ring on it! Look at the size of that rock!

Another channel commented that it's a blue diamond, incredibly rare. Her ring is probably worth something close to a million dollars.

I looked at my hand with dread.

“Victor…” I called, afraid to ask the question. “How much did my ring cost?”

“You’re not supposed to know that.” He hurriedly picked up his suitcase, turning to leave. “I’ll see you later. Don’t worry about dinner, I’m cooking tonight.”

“Victor.” I stood in front of him, not letting him leave. “Do I have a million dollars on my finger?”

“Of course not.” He avoided my gaze. “Who do you take me for?”

“Victor.”

“Andy.” The nickname said it all. He wanted to appease me. He was hiding something.

“How much did my engagement ring cost? How many people could I feed with it?”

Victor gave me a smug smile.

“None, obviously. Diamonds are not nutritious, dummy.” He chuckled at his own joke. Mocking me.

“Victor Lee, drop the diversions and answer me!”

He quickly took me in his arms, kissing me, and he did it so sweetly, so perfectly, that I couldn’t help but melt in his arms, oblivious to the world around me.

“I love you. Enjoy your day.” He pecked me on the lips, as I tried to recover from the daze the kiss brought me.

And it was when he closed the door that I realized that he had made me temporarily forget what I was angry about, so he could make a run for it. Damn it.

Later that day, I went to LFG to meet Diane for lunch. Obviously everyone had heard about the engagement, so I was surrounded by people congratulating me or simply wanting to say hi. Ten minutes after, I hear Victor’s voice in my ear, coming from behind me.

“My fiancée comes to my company and doesn’t even bother to come to my office to greet me? I’m severely offended.” He scolded playfully.

“I didn’t even know you’d be here! I came to meet Diane!” I defended myself, giving his muscular arms a soft squeeze. He took my hand, lacing his fingers in mine, leading me to his office.

“There’s someone who wants to see you.”

When I entered Victor’s office, I was immediately greeted with a suffocating hug.

“Andrea! Congratulations! I’m so happy for you both!” Mia jumped while hugging me, making me jump too.

Although my opinion of Mia had improved slightly since that gala at the University, I was still somewhat conditioned to relate Mia with things I didn’t like. I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around her. And although I could imagine what she was doing in LFG, I didn’t like to find she was spending time alone with my fiancé .

“Thank you, Mia!” I put my serene smile in place.

“You should’ve seen Victor’s face when he saw you through his window! His face lightened up, so cute!” Mia cooed.

“Is that so?” I smiled at him lovingly, giddy to see him blush a little.

“Mia wants to interview us and be the face of the media coverage of our wedding.” Victor quickly changed the subject, clearing his throat.

“Oh, that is so not going to happen! Sorry, Mia.” Victor gave Mia an I told you so look. “Wait, are you serious? Why does our wedding need media coverage?” I knew it! I knew I wouldn’t like it.

“Because it’s going to be the event of the year!” Mia almost jumped with excitation. “We must do a magazine article with both of you, photoshoot and interview. Then another photoshoot of Andrea picking wedding dresses, not revealing the one she’s wearing, of course, and then the wedding itself, the reception…”

All this new information, Mia’s excitement and my fear of exposure got my mind reeling incredibly fast, and for a moment I felt like I was about to faint. I pulled one of Victor’s chairs to sit down.

“Andrea, are you feeling well? You look pale.” He got up from his seat and kneeled in front of me, holding my shoulders.

I didn’t reply, focused on my breathing, trying hard not to make a scene. Victor silently rubbed my shoulders, his eyes trained on me, ready to act if he saw the slightest change of expression.

“This seems to happen a lot to you, Andrea.” Mia chimed in. “Maybe you should see a doctor.”

Oh shut up, just shut up already.

“Mia, do you mind leaving us alone?” Victor turned to her, his expression grave. “We will discuss this and let you know of our decision.”

“Of course. Andrea, if you need anything, just call. I know you will be really busy with the paparazzi following you around all the time, if you need a few tips-”

“Would you please leave?” Victor looked at her with fury in his eyes. Her mouth snapped shut, and she left with an understanding nod.

“Do you really want to do this? Have our lives exposed like this? It’s like having guests at our wedding we didn’t invite!” I turned to Victor, after making sure she was gone.

“The alternative is worse.” Victor’s voice softened as he spoke. “This is about damage control. If we don’t do this, there will be a race for the newest and juiciest gossip, and they will take any measures necessary to achieve it. However, if we declare we already have a company with the rights for the coverage, they will leave us alone, and Mia will deal with it. Furthermore, we will have absolute control over what is published. No focus on your abuse or on any matter we don’t want to discuss.”

“It’s too much.” I shook my head. “You heard what she wants to do, she wants to follow me everywhere! I can’t stand to take a picture, let alone do a photoshoot!” I saw the worry in Victor’s eyes, and lowered my head. “I don’t know, it just came as a surprise, I never imagined you’d be so famous.”

“Do you regret having said yes?” Victor looked at me with sadness in his eyes.

“No, of course not.” I held his face, pecking him on the lips. “I may not like this, but I do love you. And that’s all that matters.”

“Let’s discuss it at dinner tonight. I’ll make that salmon you like, we open a nice bottle of wine, and we talk about it with a clear head.” Victor smiled reassuringly, brushing an astray curl from my face. “We don’t have to do anything just yet, and if we do, we don’t have to do all she requested. We’ll figure it out together, the two of us, without any additional pressure.”

“I don’t know, will there be dessert after?” I smiled, suggestively wrapping my arms around him.

“I can make some chocolate lava cake, if you want.” Victor played dumb, and I playfully glared at him. “Oh, you mean me? It depends on how good your proposal is. I’m soon to be married, I’m not taking just any offer these days.”

“Or... I could get you drunk.” I teased.

“That could actually work.” He teased back. “Now go. Go meet with Diane, enjoy your lunch, take the chance to relax. And tell her that should she decide to extend her lunchtime a little, the Boss will look the other way.”

I left the office smiling, promising myself that this wasn’t a big deal, that it was just something that it would take some getting used to. But the truth was, I loved him so much I didn’t even think to look around him, not really. The new reality that was being forced on me, that he was indeed that rich and famous, was making me uncomfortable.

But this was Victor, the man that made me feel loved above anything else and the man I loved above anything else. The man that helped overcome my trauma, welcoming me softly in his arms, choosing to give me the immense love he had to offer. He was the man that gave all of himself, and asked for nothing in return. And because of that, I wanted to give him my everything.

I would do the photoshoot and everything else necessary to make his life easier, better, and happier. I would do my best and I would make him proud, because he deserved it. But most importantly, because I loved that beautiful man and the light he had inside him, and I would do anything it took to keep it shining brightly.

[tiny-maus-boots]

Wild West AU pt 11

A/N: Sorry this took so long...but Aubrey in a three piece suit took control of my life for a bit. 

As always thanks to my bff/beta @chloes-yellow-cup for taking time to read and give me notes. ILYAN

Chloe

Some days the job was just the job and as routine as Sunday school but some days there were unexpected surprises. Today was one of those surprise days. Chloe ducked a wild swing from a soldier, his momentum putting him off balance enough for her to act. She took two quick steps and used a seat to spring from as she brought her fist down hard against his jaw. He staggered for a second then dropped to the ground in a heap. The redhead swooped down and picked up the gun she’d dropped earlier, aimed and shot the solider that was starting to rise up from behind Beca with his bayonet poised to strike.

The other woman flinched then looked at the heavy body behind her with a curled lip and a nod of thanks to Chloe. There was a flicker of something in the other woman’s midnight eyes that instinctively made her duck down just as the shorter woman let two blades fly from her hands with a flick of her wrist. They sunk home in the chests of two soldiers behind her. Chloe winked at her mate and raised a gun and pulled the trigger, the shot startled the passengers and she gave a low whistle making anyone trying to be brave stop short.

The brakes on the train suddenly pulled making the car lurch and Beca tumbled forward nearly rolling the length of the car before they both stopped. Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle as Beca pulled herself to her feet and shook it off. The redhead eased down the center of the train car to the exit door.

Several people cowered away in fear and she kicked the seat of the nearest one. “G’wan git. Everyone off the train if you value your lives and the lives of your loved ones. NOW!” They rose up still trembling with fear but they were willing to trample each other to get out of the car even if the train itself was still screeching to a halt. When they came to a dead stop and most of the people had filed off the train Aubrey pushed her way in.

“Y’all alright?”

They nodded and Chloe jerked her head toward one of the bodies laying on the floor. “We’re good but them not so much. How’d they know?”

Beca knelt to look over one of the soldiers. He was still alive and she took the time to wrap her bandana around his arm in a tourniquet. “Think it’s pretty obvious how they knew. Jesse or one of his boys musta told.”

Aubrey nodded slowly in agreement of Beca’s words, her green eyes graying out with her wealth of pain she was dealing with. “So Avery told me.” Chloe and Beca froze and turned to eye Aubrey who only shrugged. Each of them feeling the weight of her quiet words.

“He still alive?” Chloe worked hard at keeping her tone from being hopeful. This was the blonde’s brother they were talking about and it wouldn’t do to show just how much she wished that he was dead. Aubrey looked torn up enough about it as it was.

“He was when he jumped off the train a bit back.” Chloe moved to Aubrey’s side and gave her arm a gentle squeeze of comfort. She didn’t figure there was any time for them to work through that now though and they weren’t about to ride back and see if he was still alive.

“Our girls alright?” Beca stood and pulled her knives from the bodies of soldiers, no longer looking at either of them. She wiped the blades on the uniforms before tucking them into place on her chest rig. There were other things they had best be minding at the moment sure, but Chloe knew it was Beca’s way of focusing on something other than her own anger at the situation.

“Yes, Dingo, Ace, and Florencia have loaded up the living soldiers and passengers into the last few boxes, mostly cargo cars. It’s a tight fit and a bit less comfortable than these here fancy cars but it’s not long of a wait til we clear out.”  Aubrey took out her revolver, opened the cylinder and tipped it back to let the spent shells fall out. She was as purposeful as and focused as Beca cleaning her knives, each taking the time to think out their next step but Chloe had already come to a conclusion none of them would like.

Stacie stepped lightly up into the car and leaned against the wall. “We’ve got ‘em unhitched, and the girls are watching passengers. Best set out before Dingo starts robbing folks for trail rations.”

Chloe gave a chuckle and shook her head. “She’s a growin’ girl, she needs ta eat.” Neither Beca nor Aubrey said a word so she took the bulls by the horn and nudged a body with her toe. “Looks like this is where we part ways for now. Wasn’t how we wanted it to be, isn’t how it should be, but someone’s got to get to the caverns to warn Kat and Emmy and the rest. Train still needs to get on for this to work because we got one shot to get the hell out of the territory.”

“We’ll ride out.” All eyes drifted to Aubrey who shrugged and pulled her hat off to run a gloved hand through her hair. “Stacie and I are the fastest riders next to you two. But this beefs our exit. We’re out of road no matter how we look at it.”

Chloe cleared her throat and rocked on her heels. Stacie gave her a significant look and a nod. She thought this might happen, especially with the way Jesse had taken to lingering on around them. They had been careful in their talk but they were in close quarters with the Swanson boys and she didn’t for one second think they had been entirely safe in planning. She suspected that Jesse had been using a few of his boys to eavesdrop so he could be everywhere at once in case something slipped.

“Let’s just get going. Get Kat and Emmy to our spot and through the tunnel to the mine. We’ll be loading up train.” Chloe pulled Aubrey into a tight hug, just in case it was the last time they saw each other. The blonde wrapped arms around her just as tightly and kissed her cheek. “Don’t get dead.”

They released each other reluctantly and she moved to Stacie giving her just the same warm squeeze. She hated that they had to split up. But they couldn’t just leave good folks stranded with the rest of the Army and a posse probably on the way. It had to be done. Chloe cleared the empty shells in her gun while Beca and Stacie grasped forearms before pulling each other into a tight embrace. Beca let Stacie go with a playful shove and moved shyly in front of Aubrey. Aubrey’s smile gentled and she leaned into the shorter woman, the hug no less meaningful than the one she had given Chloe herself.

“Be seeing you two soon.” Aubrey pulled her Stetson low and bounded down the three stairs to the ground. Stacie followed and Beca let out a deep breath.

Chloe waited a beat before she turned to the soldier still slouched in a seat to look over his wound. “He’ll live, might lose the arm but he’ll live. Becs, g’wan and get some of those big strapping menfolk to come help him off the train.”

Beca nodded and looked around the cabin. “Might as well get them to grab the bodies as well.” She hesitated and Chloe raised her gaze from retrying the tourniquet to watch Beca put her harp to her lips and give it a thoughtful twang. “Chlo…”

“It’s not time to worry yet, Cowgirl.” There would be plenty of time for that when they got caught. If they got caught. But Chloe wasn’t planning on that happening any time soon. She finished loading her gun and moved in close to Beca, one hand pulling the brunette to her by the chest rig. Chloe brought their bodies close and leaned into a deep reassuring kiss. Beca melted into her after a moment’s resistance and her lips curled into a wider smile. Chloe bumped her forehead gently against Beca’s and pulled back with a deep sigh. “We’re alright still, just gotta play the hand we’re dealt, but we’re gonna be alright. We can still ride this plan out but we gotta hurry.”

Beca nodded with a slow smirk. “I don’t know what worries me more, the fact that they know our plan, or the fact that you’re not worried about it.” She leaned back and shook her head with a wild laugh. “You know something I don’t?”

Chloe raised a shoulder in a half shrug but chose not to say anything when the wounded man groaned, the pain finally rousing him to consciousness. “Maybe, But it’s gonna cost you if you want to know my secrets.”

Beca’s eyes danced with amusement and she hooked her thumbs in her chest harness and ambled to the stairs down. “I always pay what’s due. Always.”

“Hm, I’ll hold you to that Cowgirl.”