#i agree with Owen they need more personality in their outfits

[thebumblecee]

I’m so not here for the boring black and white tuxedos I’m soooooorry. Where I’m from grooms wear bright colours usually so to me they look like waiters.

Still love them though 🫶🏻

[fruity-four]

There’s been so much negativity that I 100% AGREE WITH but I wanted to also highlight some of the positive things from volume 2!

Sinclair sibling bonding! The scene when they were preparing for battle was so sweet and it’s good to see them interacting as siblings more this season

The Jonathan and Will scene. Obviously this was just my favorite scene. We all need a Jonathan sometimes.

Papa is dead. Just. Fuck that guy. Burn in hell you piece of shit.

The Preparing-The-Tank montage interspersed with Argyle making pizza. This just made me crack up.

Argyle yelling for “Nina”. That whole scene. Chef’s kiss.

Every interaction between Eddie and Dustin. Especially in the field. They were just perfect.

Noah’s acting. He had me sobbing in every scene. It deserves a shoutout.

CALEB AND SADIE’S ACTING! Holy shit their scenes were the best part of the season for me. Truly amazing.

Every Lumax interaction. They were so sweet! You can tell they’re in love and it’s not forced by the writers.

Enzo. He was great support for them during the finale and I loved how willing he was to help them out to no personal gain.

JOPPER KISS! That’s it. Enough said.

“Don’t ya, big boy?” That line. So good. Steve’s reaction. Robin’s judgement. The lack of personal space. It was great!

The outfits! Especially for the fruity four, their looks were on point this whole season! Nicely done costume crew!

Dr. Owens really pulled through for El. She needs more people like him and Hop and Max who support her in making her own choices! Owens fighting for her to have free will was so important.

El and Max’s bond being explored more. Hopefully we see more of this in season 5 as El attempts to bring Max back, but we got some really good moments that show how important Max is to El! Especially since she’s one of the first people who really stressed for her the importance of making her own decisions.

[theorphaninthetardis]

Chapter Thirty-Nine

While the Doctor and Jack are under the water, the rest of the team mills about on dry ground. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz stand off to one side, while the Torchwood team stand off to the other. Sophie hovers between the two groups, everyone standing about in an awkward silence.

"Well, who knows how long they'll be," Sophie finally says, getting tired of the quiet. "Ianto, do you happen to have any towels in the van? They'll be needing some when they return."

The Welshman nods curtly, handing Jack's wardrobe to Gwen, before walking around the back of the van. He pulls out two large, fluffy, navy blue towels. Sophie turns around, sliding open the van door. She grabs the Doctor's clothes out of Yaz's hands, folding the clothing pieces and placing them on one of the car seats. Ianto immediately follows suit with Jack's outfit, placing it on the passenger seat.

"Alright, now that we have that handled," Sophie starts, wiping her hands on her trousers, "How've things been at Torchwood lately?" She leans against the van, crossing her arms, and propping one foot up against the side.

"We've been doing well," Toshiko starts, "There has been a lot of rift activity over the past couple of months. It's not the worst I've seen, but still, we've been busy."

Yaz moves a little closer to the group, "What exactly is this rift?"

Tosh looks a bit shocked when Yaz speaks to her, but quickly recovers, "There's a rift in time and space running under Cardiff. It's mostly harmless so most people don't realize that its there."

Gwen continues where Tosh left off, "Sometimes things leak through, tech, objects, even people. That's why we're here, we handle the flotsam and jetsam that finds it's way through the rift and onto earth."

"So wait," Graham starts, stepping forward, "That's what you lot do then? Track down alien debris that floats through this rift? How does no one in Cardiff notice."

"That is basically what we do, yes," Ianto states. "Although it is a bit more complex than that. We have to collect the debris, find out what it does, catalogue it, store it safely, and then file paperwork so future agents know everything that we know."

"And all of Cardiff knows," Owen rolls his eyes, "We're Britain's worst kept secret."

"How come we haven't heard of you then?" Ryan crosses his arms.

Sophie smiles, "When was the last time, before this week, that you found yourself in Wales, Ryan?"

He nods, "Fair point."

Gwen pushes herself off, from where she was leaning against the van, "So, what's the Doctor really like? Jack always talks about him-her-er...them. Is it as fun as he says?"

"Yeah," Yaz smiles, "never a dull moment with the Doctor."

"But it's also pretty dangerous," Ryan adds.

"And occasionally you lose, whether it be a fight, or a person...or your chair."

Ryan pats Graham on the shoulder, "It's okay, Grandad." He then looks back up at the Torchwood people. "My, uh, my Gran died the day we met the Doctor. She was trying to save her, and the universe, but ended up dying instead."

Ianto smiles sadly, "My fiance died because of the Doctor as well. I used to blame him, but now I realize it isn't his fault, but the pain is still there."

"Yeah," Graham agrees, and walks over toward Ianto, "But it ain't the Doc's fault though, is it? She can't help it, in fact, all she ever does is save the day." Ianto smiles at the older man, nodding. "If you don't mind me asking, son, what happened to your fiance?"

Ianto gulps, looking down, "She, uh, she was at the Battle of Canary Wharf, and she ended up turning into a Cyberman. I thought-I thought..." he tapers off, and Graham doesn't hesitate to pull the Welshman into a hug. Ianto accepts the embrace, laying his head on Grahams shoulder, "I thought I could save her, bring her back, but it only ended in more heartbreak, and betrayal."

Yaz looks at the tea boy, her brows pinched, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Ryan nods, walking over to place his hand on Ianto's shoulder, "It's hard losing those you love, but it gets better. Right, Grandad?"

"Yeah, son, yeah it does."

Ianto nods in thanks, as he swiftly wipes the tears from under his eyes. Graham pats his shoulder again, before walking back over to Yaz.

[cant-blink]

Shin Ghidorah and Mothra Got Married!!

Shin Ghidorah and Mothra finally got married in the RP and... Hang on tight for this one, because it got WILD!!

So Shin Ghidorah was quietly hanging out with Mistress Femuto and her mate, Gigan, as he always does. When the topic of their marriage was brought up, Shin was intrigued and couldn’t help but ask what that meant.

It was explained to him that it was the next step up from the relationship he has with Mothra, when you’re certain you’ve found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. There’s a ceremony that’ll bind you together forever and show the world that you belong with each other. Shin needed nothing more said to decide that he wanted this marriage thing done, now.

So he heads to Mothra’s home and asks her if she wanted to get married. Mothra is certainly surprised by the sudden question, but she accepted his impromptu proposal.

Excitement is in the air as Shin tells Mistress Femuto that Mothra accepted him. She tells him that preparations must be made to hold the ceremony and they needed someone of highest authority to wed them. Can’t get higher than the ruler of this planet and the space emperor himself: Monsterverse Ghidorah.

Ichi was willing to wed them, San being excited because they’ve seen this done in movies and now they get to do it! Ichi takes this wedding seriously, as Shin is part of their family and their right-hand man, and nothing short of perfection was required! Ichi got together a bunch of slaves- I mean... ‘volunteers’ to get the wedding location perfect!!

Shin and Mothra both decided to have their wedding at the beach where the water glows blue, the same place Shin finally admitted his feelings to her. 

Shin himself learns more about this whole wedding thing. He’s dismayed to learn that he is not to see Mothra until the ceremony, so he tries to keep himself distracted by helping with the preparations. 

Music is supposed to be a thing, so he goes to Legendary Godzilla (nicknamed Owen) and his mate, Megaguirus. Owen lives his life to music and dancing, and the goji helped find a genre for Shin. A bit difficult, as Shin finds most music to be nothing but noise.

But they soon settled and as Shin departs the scene, he tells the couple that if their child cries at the wedding, Shin will eat it.

Well, then.... time for a baby-sitter!

The cake and food was designated for the Rodan family, and Shin was outfitted with a custom groom’s outfit. It’s the first time he’s ever worn any clothes and he finds it most uncomfortable. But he resists chewing it off. It’ll be worth it, he’s sure!

With his best man being Master Jeff, the Final Wars Goji, and Mistress Femuto as the maid-of-honor, and DesGhidorah as the flower girl, everything with falling together nicely!!

So the wedding begins, everyone is there and excited as Ichi directs Shin on what he is supposed to do. The Ghidorah-groom follows those directions and then, music starts as Mothra makes her appearance down the aisle!

If Shin’s dead white eyes could get big and sparkly, they would’ve. She’s absolutely gorgeous in the wedding outfit she and Femuto put together!!

She takes her position to Monsterverse Ghiddy’s left and her eyes meet with Shin’s.

“Hi, Mothra!” San greets happily!

“Both of you,” Ichi starts. “Come together before me.” He watches the two come forward to meet each other. “You may hold hands... or bug-thingies. Whatever.”

Shin leans back on his tails, freeing his hands so they may hold Mothra’s smaller foreclaws.

“Brother Ichi, say the thing!” San says excitedly, only to get a glare from his brother.

“Shh, I know what I’m doing,” He clears his throat. “Dearly beloved, uh-” He squints at the tiny human book in his wing. “We are gathered here today to bond these two in holy macaroni. I don’t think that’s how it’s meant to be said...”

“Matatonoroni,” San tries. “I think it’s a type of pasta.”

“I think so,” Ichi agrees. “Someone will have to bring this pasta, I will inquire about it to the Rodans. Now...” He looks up at Shin. “Shin Ghidorah, do you take this insect to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?”

“Yes.” Shin answers.

“Alright then.” Ichi says, about to continue when San pipes up.

“Hey, that’s not how it goes in the movies!”

“Listen,” Ichi tells him. “Ain’t nobody got time for that. We’re all just wanting to go straight to the drinking.” He clears his throat again. “Moth lady, do you take this Ghidorah to be your husband, for all the same reasons I had just stated. I dunno how they expect me to just repeat myself again. Um... For as long as you both shall live?”

“I do!” Mothra chirps happily!

“This is a very interesting wedding,” A guest in the back whispers to another. “I love how the priest is just shit-talking the whole speech, he’s saying what we’re all thinking.”

“Then by the power vested in me by me,” Ichi continued. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Shin, you may blep the bride.”

Shin purrs and gives his little lick, with Mothra leaning in to give a big kiss in return. The crowd cheers, the glowing blue water is splashed into the air, there’s fireworks! Someone opens the kaiju-sized champagne and the cork flies off and destroys a helicopter. It’s beautiful!

The couple finally separate from the each other with Shin giving an extra nuzzle! Ichi looks to Shin.

“After this, you can dance or something. But first... Um...” He looks at the book. “I pronounce you husband and wi- Wait, I did that already. Son of a bitch... Okay... Hmmm... Ah yes, I think I was sent the wrong one, but here’s this tiny human bottle. One of you squish it and we all yell, Mazel tov.”

“Squish it?” Shin question, before he does it. 

MAZEL TOV!!!

“So Brother Ichi,” San starts. “When’s the part where they smash cake in each other’s faces?”

“That’s up to them,” Ichi answers, finally tossing the book aside. “I believe the cake is brought to us by a certain Rodan. I think it’s made of weed or something, I can smell it from here.” They look up to find Kitty Ghiddy (wearing a cute kitty harness!!) already licking the icing all cutely.

“Ms. Mothra,” Shin starts, turning to his new wife. “I can’t say I ever ‘danced’ before, but it would be lovely if I can have my first one with you.”

Mothra immediately hops into his arms and Shin flies them towards the dance floor.

“This is the part where we can all party now, right, Brother Ichi?” San asks.

“No, no, they dance first, then we start.”

Everyone gathers to watch the new couple dance together. It starts as a lovely slow dance on the ground, before Shin takes it up into the air and lets go of Mothra. They fly together in a lovely aerial dance!

“Ah yes, much more graceful,” Ichi comments. “Never did understand the GROUND dancing. Honestly, Kevin, when you have your dancing competition with the FAT, why don’t you ever start flying? He can’t match that.”

“Gasp!!” San’s eyes widen. “That’s a great idea, Brother Ichi!!” His gaze snaps towards Owen, the Godzilla meeting his glare. San points a wing at him dramatically. “You!”

“Me!”

“A worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!!”

“You can at least wait until they finish, man,” Owen says. “Then I can kick your butt!”

“AWJUIHADUIO UGGGGGGGHHHHHH,” San groans. “Fine.” His gaze migrate elsewhere and settles on the cake. “I’mma just engulf this cake.” He starts trying to swallow the cake whole, knocking over the layers as he does.

“Wait, Kevin, No! That’s not normal cake!” Ichi tells him, trying to pull him away. But there’s nothing to deter a snake-Kevin once he’s started engulfing something. “Oh, no... Kevin is going to be high as a kite.”

Finally, San pulls away to chew a massive mouthful and to respond to Ichi’s words. “Oh no, Brother Ichi, I’m taking us all down with the ship.” Back to engulfing!

“NOOOO!!!”

Meanwhile, the dancing above continues, with Shin exploding some more helicopters. For dramatic flair, promise. Then the slow drift back to the ground, with San engulfing the cake in the background. Kitty Ghiddy hissing at San because he had the cake first and the kitty starts bapping him with a wing. Ichi too is bapping a wing at San.

It was no use.

Now the party begins! More people try to grab some weed-cake when they can snatch a piece, and as expected, it’s not long before most everyone is high or drunk or both.

San and Owen then face off for their epic dance battle..... before-

“I AM SO FUCKIN HIGH RIGHT NOW!!” San exclaims.

Yes, now Monsterverse Ghiddy is completely high and even Ichi is fuckin’ GONE!! San then brings Owen down with the ship as well by shoving cake into his mouth. The Goji is so confused, but he can’t refuse cake!

Cut to them in a cuddle pile, Owen hugging San as they talk about the universe and the meaning of life.

“What’s in that cake?” Mothra asks.

“I am unsure,” Shin responds. “According to Master Ichi, the one in charge of the cake was a... Rodan.”

“Oh, no...” Mothra shakes her head. “Well, they’re going to have a fun night.” She spots Shin moving towards what’s left of the cake, about to lick it curiously. The moth was quick to stop him. “No, don’t. It’ll alter your state of mind.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, mostly makes you hungry, happy, and sleepy.”

“You say those like it’s a bad thing,” he chuckles before moving away from the cake. He looks around at the guests partying around them. “I still do not understand this ceremony, but I’m happy that you have accepted me enough to do all this.”

“Of course, I’ve never been happier. Even looking at all these future patients I’ll have to treat later.”

“Oh, don’t think about that.”

Cue explosion in the background. “Whooo!!”

“Don’t. Think. About. That.” Shin emphasizes without even glancing back. He nuzzles her. “So tell me, then, what happens after this?”

“Well, usually, there’s a lot less drugs and alcohol. A-”

“Hey,” They look over to see Femuto. “Shin, can you tell me where my brother’s life-force is? I can’t find him.”

Shin merely points upwards and there is Hokmuto, swinging from the chandelier. “SPRING BREAK!!” Then he lets go and smashes into a table. Femuto is quick to rush over to him in a panic.

“Our guests seem happy,” Shin says to his mate.

“Some might say a little too happy...”

“Let them have their fun, Ms. Mothra. Most of them will not be waking up in the morning...” 

That’s not ominous at all!

Ichi is now singing on the karaoke, just GONE to cloud nine. Kitty Ghiddy is wobbling around, having found puddles of alcohol and lapping it up. Now the poor Kitty Ghiddy doesn’t understand why his feet don’t work right no more. He mews in distress for his owner before flopping.

“Kitty!” Femuto hurries over, dragging her brother on a leash behind her. The leash meant for Kitty Ghiddy, but y’know...

Kitty Ghiddy tries to get up before flopping again.

Femuto decides they were going to go home early. 

Good thing too, because things escalate quickly from here, when a folding chair gets involved. Hitting the ground near Ichi and he responds with immediate Gravity Beam.

“Oh.” Shin says with a grin.

“Gasp!” went Mothra.

Enter a downright brawl with the guests, all high and/or drunk. How can Shin not join such fun and Gravity Beams into the crowd. The more disposable guests are going to die tonight, and as they drop, Shin himself is getting high of a different sort. Those moon crests on his foreheads giving pleasure with each death around him.

He takes a stroll passed fainted guests and just starts murdering any who he doesn’t give two shits about, picking off the stragglers. Tis the whole reason they were invited in the first place: to act as fodder.

“Brother Ichi...” San slurs.

“What?” Ichi slurs back. “I... I think we-I-we-” He stumbles over his words for a moment. “I got ‘em... I got the guy who threw that...” Points at the folding chair lying innocently on the ground. “I got ‘em...”

“Yeah,” San nods, his tongue blepped out of his mouth. “I think you did.” He seems about to doze off before jolting up. “What was that? I think someone threw something again!” 

There was nothing thrown, but Ichi immediately Gravity Beams in the direction San is looking, destroying more innocent patrons.

This instigates another wave of brawls! Anyone who ISN’T too high or drunk have already ran away. The humans witnessing this in the helicopters don’t even know what they’re seeing right now.

“What’s going on out there!?” went the radio in one helicopter.

“Sir, they’re shooting and killing each other! Both the Ghidorahs just started blasting. A chair fell over and then everything went crazy!”

“Of course,” the radio went. “The chair was the mastermind all along!”

“May we request mission abort? Those beams are getting pretty close...”

“No, you will stay out there an-” And this helicopter explodes as Shin shoots at it and all the other helicopters in the immediate vicinity.

“Such annoying insects, aren’t they, Ms. Mothra?” He begins to cackle madly, intoxicated by all the death and destruction.

“Okay, have you had your fun?” Mothra says.

“Oh ho, this is all just beginning. It all feels so damn GOOD!!” He starts Gravity Beaming more people before one of his faces is suddenly grabbed. It was Mothra and he stops his beams immediately.

“Stop!”

“Mm?”

“Please. Just... fly me home. Please, for me...?”

Shin glances back and forth between his bride and the chaos, another folding chair flying through the air and Monsterverse Ghidorah beaming after it.

“Very well then, Ms. Mothra.” He nuzzles her, relaxing her before he picks her up. He glances at Monsterverse Ghidorah. “We will be departing back home, Master Ichi.”

The larger Ghidorah looks towards them.

“Brother Ichi... There’s a guy there talking to us...”

“Are you Dirty Dan?” Ichi slurs. “Because I’m Dirty Dan.”

Shin and Mothra just stare at them for a moment.

..............

“I’ll see you there, Master Ichi.” Shin flies off with Mothra in his arms, her wings and dress trailing beneath them.

“Look at him run, Brother Ichi, he’s scared...” San says before flopping over Ichi’s head.

“Yellow bellied coward...” Ichi turns towards the crowd, San still on his head. “Now who among you are with me...” He stumbles a bit. “... And who is BETRAYING me!?”

“I think it’s that guy, Brother Ichi...” San mutters, their left wing waving vaguely at an unconscious guest. “He... He got that look to him.”

Immediate Gravity Beams.

Meanwhile, Shin and Mothra arrive home and Shin sets her down.

“Well, despite the craziness, that was still the happiest day in all my lives,” Mothra tells him, giving him a kiss and he bleps back.

“Now...” Shin starts after he pulls away. “May I please take this thing off? It’s quite uncomfortable.” He looks down at the outfit he was wearing.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. You don’t have to wear it anymore.”

Shin immediately rips it off and shakes himself off. He then curls around her all comfy, his eyes trailing over her form. “You however, look lovely in this cloth you’re wearing.”

“Thanks,” she says, nuzzling into his coils with a purr before leaning up to kiss him again. “Now about the honeymoon~...”

-

Morning, and a giant turkey is now scavenging the remains of the wedding. San is the first to wake up and he whines. “Wha-... Hey, there’s a turkey eating my leftovers.”

“Shut up.” Ichi growls.

“Mmmmph...” San flails their left wing in a failed attempt to shoo the turkey away before it flops back to the ground. “That was fun, Brother Ichi.”

“What happened?”

San lifted his head just enough to look around. “Hm... Looks like a normal Sunday morning to me.”

“Kevin... it’s Wednesday.” Now it’s Ichi’s turn to lift his head and open his eyes, seeing the mess they made of the wedding. “Ooooh...” 

San plops his head back down. “That was the best cake I ever had.”

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Quarantine Lovers (Part Two) | Charlie Gillespie

Part 2 in the “Life in Quarantine with Charlie” / “Quarantine Lovers” series! You can find part 1 HERE!! Hope you like this!

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader 

Warnings: Implication of sex, more sexually tinted scenes

A/N: I used some songs in this one too, none of which are mine. Full credit for those go to the creators of the songs! 

How Can I Say No To This? 

So far, quarantine with Charlie has been a blast. Though things are scary and you both get a little anxious at times, you still have each other, and for now, that’s all that counts. It’s all you have. But it’s more than enough. 

One day, when Charlie has back-to-back interviews, you -- being bored as hell -- figured it would be fun to surprise Charlie and you knew exactly how. There was only one person you could call to help you with it. Tori Caro. The two of you had talked on FaceTime before when Charlie had a bit of a reunion over Zoom with all of them and all of them wanted to meet you after Madi, Owen and Jeremy told everyone about you. 

“Hey, girl!” you greet when the girl appears on your phone screen. “Hey, Peaches!” she greets back, her smile nearly reaching her ears. “What’s up?” She settles herself onto her bed, leaning against the bedframe whilst holding her phone up to her face. 

“I am extremely bored and Charlie’s doing interviews all day, but I kind of had the idea to surprise him, which I need your help for.” Her eyebrows raise in intrigue. “Do spill.” You place your phone on the coffee table, letting it balance against a glass of water. 

“I want you to teach me Madi’s part of the choreo to Perfect Harmony, so when we listen to music while cooking tonight, I might be able to surprise him by doing the dance with him?” You explain, then laugh at yourself. “That sounds lame, doesn’t it?” 

“What? No! Not at all! I think it’s cute! I’ll definitely help you!” And with that said, the two of you spend about an hour teaching the choreography. “I bet he’s going to be extremely surprised by this, Y/N!” You giggle at her compliment, panting a little from the exertion. 

“Thanks, Tori!” You say when you hear the door to the studio/office open. You quickly take a seat on the sofa, grabbing your phone with you and sipping from the glass of water. 

“Please, film it when you do it!” she tells you, and you  just simply nod vigorously. When Charlie enters the living room,  you look up, offering him a smile. 

“Who are you talking to?” he asks with a smile before sitting down next to you and glancing at the screen himself. “Tori!” he exclaims excitedly, his face lighting up entirely. 

“Charlie!” Tori retorts, matching his level of enthusiasm. “How were interviews?” He wraps an arm around you as you lean further into his body, a habit you’ve accumulated over the course of being together. 

“Great! We’ve played a couple games as well. It was good fun!” He explains. Though there’s a smile on his face, you can tell he’s tired and would rather curl up on the sofa with you. 

“Hey, Tori. We’re gonna go, start on dinner and stuff,” you tell her, to which she shoots you a knowing look. “Thanks for helping me out.” 

“Helping you out with what?” Charlie asks, his fingers trailing up and down your arm. 

“Uhm… She helped me pick an outfit for our date tomorrow,” you lie. It’s a plausible lie. Ever since getting to know Charlie’s friends and cast members, you’ve been calling or texting the girls from the cast to ask for help with stuff like that. 

“Aw, that’s cute!” he says with that same, excited, beaming smile on his face. “You could come in pj’s for all I care, and you’d still look gorgeous to me.” Tori pouts at this, and awes loudly. 

“Alright, we’re gonna go and make dinner,” you say, patting Charlie’s thigh twice. “See ya, Tori!” You offer her a wave and the brightest of your smiles, Charlie doing the exact same. 

“Bye, Peaches!” You hang up the phone and get up from the sofa, turning to Charlie and reaching your hands out to help him up. 

“Do we have to cook? Can’t we order something?” he whines, placing his hands in yours. You pull him up to his feet, but don’t really move, causing there to be no space between you. 

“We’ve ordered last night,” you remind him and lace your fingers with his. “Besides, I already bought everything from the shops!” He widens his eyes, faking shock. “Yes, I went to the frontlines, to the most dangerous place on earth at the moment!” You retort dramatically before a giggle escapes you. Charlie lets out an airy laugh before dipping down and kissing you on the lips. 

“Alright, let’s get cooking!” He leads you towards the kitchen and starts grabbing everything the two of you need whilst you turn on the music. You’ve made a lockdown playlist together with all of your favorite songs, including the entire Julie and The Phantoms soundtrack, which is what it starts with; Now or Never. You quickly queue up a couple other songs before adding Perfect Harmony to that list too. The two of you sing along softly at first, until the chorus hit and you’re belting the lyrics at the top of your lungs. This has occurred a few times during lockdown already; the sing-and-dance-along parties in your pj’s or during cooking. 

By the time your pasta is cooking and still has about five minutes left, Perfect Harmony chimes through the speakers. Now’s your time to surprise him. 

“Step into my world Bittersweet love story 'bout a girl Shook me to the core Voice like an angel I've never heard before”

You turn him around and grab his hands, doing the choreography Tori has taught you today. He’s surprised, but dances along as if on automatic.

“Here in front of me They're shining so much brighter Than I have ever seen Life can be so mean But when he goes, I know he doesn't leave”

You push him away to the living room where he has a little more space to do the floor work he did on the show, and does it flawlessly. 

“The truth is finally breaking through Two worlds collide when I'm with you Our voices rise and soar so high We come to life when we're In perfect harmony”

He picks you up into the lift with ease, as though you’re as light as a feather. 

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

He looks at you in pure surprise and delight, softly singing the lyrics along with the audio. 

“Whoa-oa-oa, whoa-oa-oa Perfect harmony”

“Is that what Tori actually helped you with?” he asks when you reach the part without choreography since the song was cut shorter in the show. He’s still holding onto your hands.

“Yup,” you reply with a cheesy smile. “I was bored and wanted to learn that dance anyway since you and Madi made it look so cool on the show… Plus, I wanted to surprise you after your long day of interviews.” A tender chuckle erupts from his mouth as he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he kisses your knuckles before turning you around, so you’re with your back pressed against his chest, and throws your hands up, continuing the choreo. 

“We say we're friends we play pretend You're more to me we create Perfect harmony”

He twirls you out and away from him until you reach the wall you carefully place your hands onto to stop yourself. 

“That’s such a fun choreo,” you say as you turn back to the pasta to check how it’s doing. 

“Yeah, I know,” he agrees whilst walking up to you and wrapping his arms around your waist from behind. “Can I tell you a secret?” he whispers in your ear, then presses a kiss underneath it. 

“Of course,” you whisper back, trying to keep your composure. 

“I like dancing with you better than with Madi,” he lets out a giggle after, and it’s the cutest thing you ever did hear. “Don’t tell her.” You turn around, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him on the mouth softly. 

“My lips are sealed,” you say and kiss him once again. “With a kiss.” He plants his lips on yours again, for a longer, more passionate kiss this time. “Time for dinner,” you mumble against his lips. 

“I prefer starting with dessert,” he says. You giggle at his comeback, and squeal when he picks you up and brings you to the living room. 

“Charlie!” you protest, detaching your lips, “At least let me put the food off the stove so it doesn’t burn?” He retraces his steps backwards, and plops you back on your feet, so you can take care of the food. “All right, we’re good to go,” you say as you turn to him. “Catch me.” With no time left to think, you jump into his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as you resume the passionate kiss from before. For once, you don’t mind starting with dessert before dinner. You’ve been bored all day without him, the least he could do is make it up to you… In bed… 

“People are asking to go live on Insta,” you tell Charlie when the two of you are back in the kitchen, heating up the food you’d left out. You didn’t even bother to put proper clothes on. You just grabbed the closest thing you found, which is Charlie’s Canada sweatshirt. 

“Yeah, sure, we could eat whilst chatting to them…” he says, grabbing two plates. After being introduced to the rest of the cast, you’ve been interacting with them a lot more on social media, and -- along with Madi’s blabbing in interviews about Charlie’s secret quarantine partner-- the fans have figured out it was you. And that the two of you are, in fact dating. Especially since Meghan, Charlie’s sister, couldn’t help but jokingly call you ‘sister-in-law’ when commenting on one of your pictures on Instagram. 

Charlie hands you his phone for you to set up the live whilst he grabs dinner from the microwave. 

“Okay, we’re live!” you exclaim when Charlie hands you the plate and a fork. “Thank, babe.” He takes a seat next to you on the couch and sets his plate on his lap. 

“Hello, people!” He greets the now about 1k people watching the live. You watch as a dozen of comments yell back at you that the two of you ‘definitely just had sex!’, and can’t help but giggle at that. “Do you guys have any questions for us?”

At the same time, Alexander Hamilton from the musical Hamilton starts playing through the speakers. You’d forgotten to turn the music off, but it’s quite nice having background noise all the time.

You gasp, capturing Charlie’s attention, and start singing along flawlessly. 

“The ten-dollar founding father without a father Got a lot farther by working a lot harder By being a lot smarter By being a self-starter By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter”

Charlie looks at you with a surprised smirk on his face while the comments about Hamilton start streaming in, neither of you paying attention. 

“And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away Across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter”

You smile down at your boyfriend as he simply watches you in admiration while stuffing his mouth with pasta. 

“Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain”

The song goes on, but you turn to the phone to see what everyone’s been saying. You laugh when your eyes catch a comment. 

“Someone said ‘Get someone who looks at you the same way Charlie looks at Y/N’.” Others asked if you could do the rap from Guns & Ships, to which you replied with a determined “Yes! And Satisfied too!”  

“We’ve watched the movie on Disney Plus about a dozen times. Of course she knows it!” Charlie adds after swallowing his pasta. “Now eat your pasta before it gets cold!” You comply and eat your food whilst answering some of the questions here and there. Some of them are about Julie and The Phantoms, which Charlie answers, and others are about your relationship. Most of them want to know how you two met and how lockdown is going for you guys. All of which you answer very honestly, chiming in to add something when the other’s answering. 

“Ooh! Tori’s here!” you notice, “Hi, Tori! I’m sorry I didn’t film the surprise!” Tori comments, ‘BOO!’ in all caps, which makes you chuckle. And then all the questions about the surprise started flooding in. “Tori taught me the Perfect Harmony dance, and I surprised him with it when we were making dinner.” 

Everyone’s telling you to do it again, including Tori, so, you obey and put the song on again, showing what you did earlier that evening. 

“AMAZING!” Tori comments with a bunch of hearts plastered behind it. Some other fans comment something along those lines as well, others tell you they liked it better with Madi, but the bigger part of the comments tell you they think otherwise. 

Then, a One Direction starts to play, and you can’t help but sing and dance along from the couch, which gives you an idea. 

“Babe!” you exclaim, gripping his bicep, “We should show them what we do in Quarantine when we’re cooking meals!” Charlie chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. “Yes! Come on!” You turn to the phone again. “Guys! Tell Charlie we have to show you what we do whenever we need a break from work or we’re cooking together!” Comments flood into the box at a fast speed, all of them saying “DO IT CHARLIE!”. 

So, with a groan, he gets up from the couch, taking the phone with him and placing it a bit higher, so you’re both in shot completely. 

“But I need you guys to vibe along, okay?” Comments of assent pile in, and Charlie turns the volume up a little whilst you get up too. The both of you start singing and dancing along to the One Direction song, knowing everyone at home is dancing with you. After that song, Dead Girl Walking from the Heathers musical starts playing. 

“Oh! Where are my Heathers fans?!” you ask the audience, glancing at the phone for all the Heathers comments to come in. “I saw the West End version when I was in London in 2018!” You tell them, and Charlie, though he knows that. 

“Yeah, I know, babe,” he tells  you with a smile before you turn back to him, standing in front of him with barely any space between you. He towers over you, like he always does, and it would normally get you weak in the knees, but not this time. Not with this song playing. 

“Ssh…” You press your finger to his lips, a teasing smirk tugging at your lips. 

“Had to see you hope I didn’t wake you See I decided I must ride you ‘til I break you” 

You wiggle your eyebrows, both of you knowing that already happened earlier. 

“‘Cause Heather says I gots to go You’re my last meal on death row Shut your mouth And lose them tighty-whities!” 

Charlie knew you could sing, but he had no clue you could hit notes this high. 

“Come on! Tonight I'm yours I'm your dead girl walkin' Get on all fours Kiss this dead girl walkin' Let's go, you know the drill I'm hot and pissed and on the pill Bow down to the will of a dead girl walking!”

You see Charlie swallow visibly, glancing nervously at the phone filming all of this and decide to stop before he completely melts down into a puddle of sweat. Now or Never begins to play when you skip to the next song. 

Charlie’s demeanor suddenly changes and fully starts rocking out now, forgetting anything just happened mere seconds ago. You follow his example and start jumping around like a hyper rabbit. 

“When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!” 

You throw your hands up in the air at this, stopping the jumping. “That’s my favorite line ever!” you exclaim loudly, making sure the viewers hear too. 

Comments of agreement flash onto the screen as you and Charlie lapse into the bridge. 

The next song is one of your favorite Hamilton songs to belt; Say No To This. Though not your favorite scene from the musical, it is still one of your favorite songs. 

“You know this one, baby!” You say to Charlie. 

“No, I can’t, I can’t do--” he cuts himself off and starts singing along with Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

“That’s when miss Mariah Reynolds walked into my life, she said,” he points at you, telling you to take over. 

“I know you are a man of honor I'm so sorry to bother you at home But I don't know where to go, and I came here all alone”

“She said”

“My husband's doin' me wrong Beatin' me, cheatin' me, mistreatin' me Suddenly he's up and gone I don't have the means to go on”

He struggles with the next line, not knowing the musical quite as well as you do. 

“You're too kind, sir,” you sing anyway with a smile on your face. He does know the next line. 

“I gave her thirty bucks that I had socked away She lived a block away, she said”

“This one's mine, sir”

You try your best to imitate Jasmine Cephas-Jones’ husky, warm tone. 

“Then I said, "Well, I should head back home She turned red, she led me to her bed Let her legs spread and said”

“Stay”

“Hey”

“Hey”

Then both of you started to sway back and forth, twirling around the living room, singing along to the ‘no’s and ‘go’s from the ensemble. 

“Ooh! This is my favorite part!” you say excitedly, preparing yourself for the belts. 

“No, sir”

“Half dressed, apologetic, a mess, she looked pathetic, she cried”

“Please don't go, sir” 

“So was your whole story a setup?”

“I don't know about any letter”

“Stop crying God dammit, get up”

“I didn't know any better”

“I am ruined”

“Please don't leave me with him, helpless”

“I am helpless, how could I do this?”

“Just give him what he wants and you can have me” 

“I don't want you, I don't want you”

“Whatever you want, if you pay You can stay”

You grasp Charlie’s bicep as a support to keep your balance while you throw your head back to belt out the note. This shuts Charlie up entirely, impressed with your singing abilities. 

“I knew you could sing, but damn, babe, you got pipes!” He turns to the phone where fans voice their impression and awe, complimenting your voice. 

Connecting with Charlie’s fans and doing things like this with Charlie is literally one of your favorite things you’ve ever done. There’s nothing better than rocking out with a bunch of friends, even if you don’t see 2k of them. 

“Alright, guys,” Charlie says, turning down the volume after a few more songs, “We’re gonna go.” He wraps his arms around your waist from behind, placing his chin on your shoulder to peer at the screen. “Thank you for jamming out with us today! We’ll see you later!” You offer a smile and a wave before ending the livestream. 

“That was fun!” You exclaim excitedly, bouncing up and down as you make sure to save the video onto his IGTV. Charlie turns you around, placing his hands on your hips and pressing a kiss to your forehead. When you’re done, you lock his phone and put it into his pocket, looking up at him with a happy smile on your face. 

“Can you hit that last note again?” he asks with hope in his eyes. 

“That gets you going, doesn’t it?” You wiggle your eyebrows as a teasing smirk creeps onto your face. He bites his bottom lip, which to be fair, gets you going. So, you cough and place your hands under his biceps on his ribcage, gripping at his shirt tightly. “Just give him what he wants and you can have me. Whatever you want, if you pay, you can stay!” 

“We ought to get you on season two,” he whispers before crashing his lips onto yours for a passionate kiss that leads you straight to the bedroom again. 

“How can I say no to this?” You mumble against his lips cheekily. 

This lockdown and quarantine thing isn’t as bad as you thought it would be. If you’ve got Charlie by your side, you’re good to do anything. 

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @bookdealer5​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @hemmingsness​ @iainttakingshitfromnobody​ @ifilwtmfc​ @angryknightstatesmantrash​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​ @lolychu​ @perfectlywrongformend3s​ @luckylouiebug​

[thiswasinevitableid]

If you are still taking meet ugly prompts, sternclay 22 nsfw???

Here you go!

22: you’re on a date with this awful, awful person who keeps getting under my skin because my friend and I have been eavesdropping all night and your date says something that makes me snap … I thought it was a first date, not a three year relationship.

Note: I interpreted "first date" loosely. Slight content warning for mentions of blackmail, including blackmailing someone into a relationship.

It’s hard to tell where the sting of gin on his tongue ends and the sharpness of the pines through the window begins. The combination would invigorate him were it not for the conversation playing out at the other end of the short bar.

“...Last time, I’m not leaving.” The bartender, a mountain of a man who Joseph would love to climb, has been dealing with a persistent suitor for the better part of an hour. They’re the only people in the place; ski season is far behind them and summer isn’t here yet.

“C’mon, you’ve got no reason to hang around.”

“Yeah, actually, I do.” The bartender finishes cleaning glasses, turns to put them up.

“Don’t you fucking turn your back on me! I’m not through with you, oughta drag you outta here by your hair you cheap, dull-”

The next word is an unkind name for men who, like Joseph, prefer men in their beds. The bartender doesn’t respond, though his hands tighten around the glasses. Damn it, the world did not go for a second war just for him to let everyday evil slide by.

“That’s enough.” Joseph stands, moving to where the other patron wobbles on his stool, “him being uninterested doesn’t give you the right to abuse him.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, pretty boy.”

“I know that if you don’t leave, I’ll escort you out.”

The man throws up his hands, spits at Joseph’s feet before stumbling and stomping for the door, “Three years, Barclay, you’re throwing away three years in one night, and you’re gonna regret it. I’ll make sure you do!”

“Don’t think you will.” Barclay mumbles as the door slams. He’s twisting his dishrag to the point it’s ripping.

“Three years? Good lord, I thought he was just a run-of-the-mill drunk.”

“Nope. If you can call him tracking me down every few months a relationship.”

“I’m sorry.” Joseph pulls out his handkerchief, kneeling to clean up the spit, “still, I apologize for getting in the middle of a, um, lovers quarrel.”

“Please don’t, I’m glad you stepped in. Don’t know what I woulda done if you hadn’t.” His brown eyes study Joseph more closely, “have I seen you here before?”

“Through there.” He indicates the pass-through to the kitchen, “I come here as often as I can since the food can’t be beat.”

“Thanks.” Barclay smiles, starts wiping the counter, “yeah, Dani usually tends bar after the kitchen closes but her wife is down with the flu. Only seemed fair to let her take time to look after her.”

A big heart to go with a big frame? Joseph’s in big trouble.

“You, uh, you up here for the lakes or…” He’s now directly across from Joseph, sliding a fresh gin and tonic in front of him.

“I’m a private detective, a one man operation as of 1949; Kepler’s the optimal spot for me, since it’s between the mountain towns and the eastern edge of the city. That’s a lot of people who might need help. Not to mention lots of the residents closer to the lakes are wealthy, the kind where they’re always looking for someone to trail a straying spouse or track down the pearls their no-good layabout son sold for dope.” He lets a little bit of scorn enter his voice in hopes of letting Barclay know he doesn’t always agree with his clients, but that a man has to make a living.

Barclay rolls his shoulders, then leans forward, “any fun cases so far?”

Joseph pulls off his jacket as he thinks; if Barclay’s really interested, they might be here awhile.

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

He’s an early riser, so the banging on the door to his house (and office) interrupts his breakfast and not his rest. Joseph opens it and then fights to keep it that way.

“Detective Hayes. This is a surprise.” He smiles.

“I’m not here to catch up, Stern. I’m here so you can answer one, simple question: where were you between eleven-thirty and midnight last night?”

“In the dining room at Amnesty Lodge, talking with the bartender. If you need to verify that, just go to the Lodge and ask for Barclay.”

Hayes glowers in a way he recognizes as, “this won’t be an easy case like I assumed” and turns without a word. Two officers follow him. The third, Dewey, hesitates. He’d always been a pal. Joseph shoots him a confused look.

“Guy got shot in the woods near the Lodge last night. His only known contact in town was the bartender, and everyone else we questioned said the two had been arguing for a few days. Hayes thought the cook was a shoo-in to book but, well, his alibi aligns with what you said. Plus, some ranger Owens talked to said he saw Barclay talking to someone in the dining room at the time of the murder. Guess he was walking by the window on his way to-”

“Dewey! Get the hell over here!”

As his informant scurries up the hill to join the others, Joseph steps back inside to finish his toast. He only gets through one piece before the phone rings, summoning him to the managers office at Amnesty Lodge.

Madeline “Mama” Cobb sits behind her desk, whittling with the kind of force that suggests she’s doing this in place of putting her knife to another use.

“Barclay tells me you’re a detective.”

“That’s right, Miss. Cobb.”

“Great. I’m hirin’ you to find out who the hell killed his useless ex and is tryin to frame him for it.”

He sits down, intrigued, “I thought the police were handling the investigation.”

“I ain’t inclined to trust ‘em. Barclay can’t think of someone who’d set him up, and the police don’t think he was. Yet. But I happen to know there were scraps of a shirt Barclay owns on the trees nearby and that the fella who died had this on him.”

She holds a crumpled paper out. He unfolds it, reads, “Come to the old mill at a quarter until midnight. B.” He looks up, “meant to stand for Barclay, one would assume?”

“Yep. Whoever wrote that did a decent job forgin it.”

“How can you be sure it’s fake?”

“Because I got plenty of documents where Barclay describes a time. He just uses numbers, not words like ‘quarter until.”

“Did you suspect a set-up before you lifted this from the body so the cops wouldn’t find it?” Joseph tucks the note into his inside pocket.

“Course I did. You’re new in town, but there ain’t a person here who’d say Barclay is anythin but gentle. He ain’t about to shoot someone in cold blood, even that fucker.” She sighs, takes off her hat and runs a hand through greying hair, “that boy is as good as a brother to me. I know he’s been through some rough shit. He don’t deserve to get caught up in some goddamn murder scheme. So name your price, Mr. Stern; so long as it keeps him outta trouble, I’ll pay it.”

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

He’s elbow-deep in Barclay’s dresser when the cook returns from his shift; he gave Joseph permission to search his room for signs of whoever took his shirt, but still, the other man doesn’t seem pleased with his presence.

“I’m sorry, but I have to be thorough. I’ll be out of here as soon as I can.”

“S’fine.” Barclay slumps down on the bed. After a moment he murmurs, “I know Mama hired you, but is there anyway I can convince you to quit? She, the Lodge doesn’t have much cash to spare this time of year. I don’t want anyone going without on my account and, and maybe this will all blow over if I just lie low, y’know?”

“It might. But until I think that’s the outcome, I’m inclined to agree with Miss. Cobb that we should work to keep you clear of this. And” he watches Barclay stand, moving to the window so he won’t have to see Joseph rifling through his life, “I promise that if it comes down to getting paid or bankrupting the Lodge, I’ll stop taking my fee. This is a good place and, um, it clearly means a lot to you. That makes it worth some belt-tightening on my end.”

“Thanks.” Barclay stares into the woods, then looks over his shoulder, “Joseph, I-”

It’s only because the mirror is above the dresser that he sees the black barrel peek from the trees. With no time to yell, he dives forward, pulling Barclay to the floor as the first bullet makes shards of the window.

“What the fuck?!” Barclay covers his head as another shot flies over them

“I think we just confirmed Miss. Cobb’s theory!” He pops up, fires once, and drops back down. Whoever’s in the trees isn’t expecting someone armed, so in place of another bullet they get breaking branches.

Joseph gives chase, leaping out the window and sprinting into the trees. Were they in downtown L.A, hell, even if he was still in Chicago, he’d have a better chance of staying on his target. But there’s no paths, no short-cuts, and every tree looks the same at this speed, cloaking the shape in the distance. Worst of all, he discovers that instead of dead-ending at a brick wall, he dead ends at a rockface.

Oh, and his hand is bleeding. He must have cut himself jumping out the window.

It looks like his investigation just took on a bodyguard element, and his wish to spend more time with Barclay could end with them both looking like swiss cheese.

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

“You could talk to Duck.” Barclay finishes bandaging the slash on the back of Joseph’s left hand, “he works in the state park near here and knows a ton about the layout of the woods. There, not too tight?” He sits back on his heels as Joseph tests the tightness of the bandage.

“It’s great, big guy. Um, I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from.”

“I don’t mind it” he winks, “pretty boy.”

His visit with Duck the next day, while informative, doesn’t give him much insight into how their assailant disappeared, especially when Duck points out that the rock face he ran across is over a mile long and hard to climb without equipment or a death wish. At least the ranger outfits him with a map with written-in details; most are about trails that are likely to be muddy (and thus hold prints) or spots where a person might be able to hide. And some hike recommendations, just because.

He tries not to think about taking Barclay on the one to a secluded lake and fucking him under the stars.

His schedule alternates between sitting in his office taking and making calls, shadowing Barclay when he’s out on errands or otherwise vulnerable (he’s spent more than a few nights on the floor of his room, that velvety baritone talking to him until they both fall asleep), and scouring the woods for clues.

A jay heckles a squirrel, which surrenders it’s pinecone and scrambles along the rocks. He’s wishing he could be so nimble when it climbs up and then...disappears. Following it, he discovers what he dismissed as endless rock is an optical illusion; the rocks above and behind align with the ones in front and below to make it seem as if it’s a flat face. But when he climbs over the bottom rock, he finds a narrow slot canyon. One big enough for a human.

Fifteen minutes of granite scratching his back later, he’s at the other side of the rocks. Smoke curls up his nose, and he trails the scent to a cabin which, according to Duck, is on a strange pocket of private property, just up a frontage road. Stranger still is the sign out front.

I.C All

Tarot, Palm Reading, and Other Psychic Services.

He knocks as wind chimes sing lazily around him.

“Come in!”

The first room is divided by a curtain, the half he’s in a rather eclectic waiting room. The dining room and kitchen are probably on the other side of the pink and yellow cloth.

Waiting for him in the next room is a man with a distinctly beatnik air about him, from his red glasses down to his brightly colored shawl and shoulder length hair. Laid out before him is a tarot deck, crystal ball, and several black candles. But that’s not what concerns Joseph.

“Before I sit down, can you ask your friend hiding in the bureau to come out?”

“Fuck” the beaura hisses, “uh, I mean, uh, there ain’t, uh, fuck-”

“It’s alright dearest, I suspect we may all benefit from this.” He gestures for Joseph to sit, “Apologies, but my hope was you were either a client I could turn away or one in search of a brief reading that I could perform before returning to more...pleasurable activities.” He grins as none other than Duck Newton steps from the creaky wooden bureau, looking like he’s been wrestling a very amorous tiger.

“Afternoon, Joe.” Duck sits on the nearby couch, “didn’t take you for the fortune tellin’ type.”

“I’m more interested in whether Mr…”

“Cold, but my friends call me Indrid.”

“Whether Indrid has noticed anyone coming and going on his property without permission?”

“I can’t say that I have, though it’s hard to do so; the walkway is guarded by Beacon, our dog, and everything but the walk up to the cabin is fenced off or, well, a massive wall of rock.”

“...Come with me.”

Soon, Duck is studying the slot canyon while Indrid worries his lower lip.

“I had no idea this was here.”

“No one did. It ain’t on any of the maps, and I never heard of anyone findin it on accident.” Duck pulls back, popping his hat on as he turns to Joseph, “this got somethin to do with Barclay?”

“I think whoever shot at us used this to get away. For all we know, the person who killed Mr. Douglas did the same.”

“To think, I encouraged Barclay to come here even more often once he told me his predicament; I thought no one could approach us without me seeing them coming. No, no this will not do at all” he shakes his head, “he needs to go see her.”

“You know he won’t, sugar.”

“He must. It’s the safest place for him. And the last anyone will look.”

Joseph looks between them, but before he can ask Indrid simply says, “You should ask Barclay about the Greenbank House. That story isn’t ours to tell.”

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

“Home sweet home.” Barclay grumbles as he and Joseph step out of the car and into the shadow of a mansion in the most exclusive neighborhood in Lakeshore. It took all of his friends telling him he should go--and Joseph assuring him it’s location meant it wouldn’t look like he was trying to run away from the scene of the murder--for the cook to agree to a stay at his family home.

“What are you afraid of?” Joseph keeps his tone gentle as they climb the front steps. His friend had simply said he had unhappy memories of the house and would rather live in a mausoleum then stay there.

“It’s more dread. You’ll see when we get inside.” He knocks on the front door. It’s opened by the least congruous face imaginable; a man with greying hair and a groundskeepers clothes. When he sees Barclay, a smile bursts across his face.

“Barclay! How are you kiddo?”

“I’m...I’m okay. It’s good to see you Thacker.” He offers a genuine smile as he opens his arms and gathers the older man into a hug. When they separate, Joseph offers his hand and introduces himself. Having an extra guest delights Thacker, and he ushers them in with a promise that he’ll have rooms ready to go in a jiff.

“How’s Maddie doin’?”

“She’s good, and she’ll still slug your arm for that nickname.”

“Good old Maddie.” Thackers cheer falters, “do you wanna go see your ma? If I didn’t know you were comin, gonna guess she didn’t neither.”

“Yeah. Yeah I should go see her. Joseph, you don’t, uh, you don’t need to come with me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s only polite to meet my hostess.”

Barclay leads him up a flight of stairs, then down a hallway where dust substitutes for walllpaper. Waiting for them in a red and orange toned bedroom is a woman with greying, black hair and a face not unlike Barclay’s.

“Dear heart” she rises from her armchair, drawing her son to her, “you came back.”

“Just to visit, Ma. Uh, this, this is Joseph. He’s a friend of mine. He’ll be staying here too.”

She studies him with a critical eye; Joseph thought Hayes had a judgemental gaze, but she could beat him any day.

“Hmm. The more the merrier, as she always said. How long will you stay?”

“A few weeks.”

She nods, regards the photo of another woman above the mantelpiece as if seeking council, “You’re not here for pleasure.”

“No.” Barclay rubs his arm, “I...I got into some trouble. Andrew Douglas was shot the night I broke things off with him. The cops are leaving me alone for now but someone else wants me dead.”

The woman’s face suggests she both recognizes and despises that name, “We will keep you safe.”

With that, she sits once more and picks up her book. Barclay hesitates, then bends to kiss her forehead before pulling Joseph from the room.

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

“How long ago did your mother die?” Joseph kicks his legs up onto the ottoman. Barclay alluded to her passing previously, but never gave details.

“When I was eighteen. Car accident. She went off the Kepler bridge. They, uh, they never found her, and just found part of the wreck.”

He intends to leave it there; they’re on the back porch overlooking the garden (“Thackers pride and joy”), early summer dusk on their skin and their arms occasionally brushing from the edges of their chairs. No need to kill the mood further. He just wanted some kind of context for the house and the widow within it.

“Ma never recovered. She loved mom so much that losing her was like losing a lung; she can get through her days, even enjoy them, but it will always be hard. She tried to keep mom around however she could; the whole goddamn house is the same as it was the day she died, even my room. She wanted me to stay too, but Mama offered me the job and I just...I couldn’t live in a haunted house anymore.”

Joseph tips his hand to the right, extending his fingers into the space between them. Barclay takes it and holds tight.

“I’m so sorry, Barclay. You had every right to leave, to make your own life.”

“I know.” He runs his thumb across Joseph’s knuckles, “okay, pretty boy, my turn for a tough question; why’d you really leave the police force.”

It’s not that tough a question, not when he knows the man he’s confiding in won’t go running to Hayes, “I joined the force because I wanted to solve mysteries and help people. But it turned out there was a lot less seeking justice and a lot more chasing off drunks who just needed a place to sleep off benches and harassing certain neighborhoods. Then I worked out that the chief was taking bribes from all kinds of places and was naive enough to think someone might listen to me and help me when I told them. Instead they threw me off the force. In hindsight, it could have been worse; they could have killed me and covered it up.”

“Jesus.” Barclay polishes off his drink, contemplates the ice, “glad they didn’t. Both because, y’know, world is better with you alive, but, uh, also because if they had we’d never have met.”

Joseph meets his eyes, smiling in a way that makes the other man blush, “that would’ve been a damn shame.”

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

This is turning into one of the stranger cases he’s worked, in good ways and bad. The good is that his work days, when he’s not on the phone or digging through his notes, are spent with Barclay. His friend insists on cooking, has even brought him lunch at his desk, and usually the two of them have dinner with Thacker in the garden. They read or play chess in the study, take walks through the labyrinthine grounds, and even swim in the open air pool. Barclay in his swim trunks is a fine sight indeed. Joseph wonders if he ever brought boyfriends here, ever kissed them in the blue water or let them have their way with him in some hidden patch of lawn.

But it’s not all roses and revelry. The more he roots around in Andrew Douglas’s past, and in Barclay’s, the more questions he has. Why did Andrew come and go? What happened to large portions of Raquel and Sylvia (Barclay’s parents) fortune? And who wants to kill someone with no criminal record, no known enemies, and no heirs? If it’s the same person who murdered Andrew, killing Barclay would remove their fall-guy, so that makes no sense as a move.

His best lead comes when he learns Barclay’s family and Andrew Douglas lived in San Francisco at the same time. A friend in the city agrees to do some sniffing around there for any information that might point towards their killer. Two days later, he calls back and says he’s sending Joseph a “fucking brick” of evidence in the mail.

It’s been several days and he’s still waiting. He dozed off in his room after dinner, intending to cat nap, but it seems he’s overshot; it’s after ten. At least the mail must have come by now.

“Barclay? Did anything come--you have five goddamn seconds to explain yourself.”

His friend stammers from his seat on the bed, surrounded by papers, photo’s, newsprint, and a manila envelope with Joseph’s name on it.

“I, uh, I, it isn’t-”

“This is all evidence collected for the purpose of protecting you, so if you have something you’re afraid of me finding you’d better start talking now.” He snaps, looming over the other man from the edge of the bed.

Wordlessly, Barclay hands him a piece of newspaper. It details a kidnapping, one that ends--happily--with the victim being returned to their family. Four names are mentioned, but none of the perpetrators are the man in front of him.

“I was sixteen. A stupid kid. I had this perfect life and I got a little stir crazy, a little bored, and fell in with some other rich kids who felt the same. It started out harmless. Then James, the guy in charge, decided we should dream bigger. I was so, so fucking in love with him, I didn’t try to stop him. Not right away, anyway. I...I was their look-out for that kidnapping. But I couldn’t let them keep it up.”

“You struck a deal.”

Barclay nods, “Best part is, I managed to do it without either of my parents getting wise. We moved here soon after. I thought I could put it behind me.”

Joseph takes a closer look at the paper. The byline for the article is one A. Douglas.

“He blackmailed you.”

“Not at first. He, he” Barclay takes a shaky breath, “he went to mom first. Asked her how much she’d pay to keep my name out of the papers. James had told him about me and he was going to spread the story. That’s why she was on that fucking bridge in the middle of a fucking storm; she was meeting him.”

“Oh, Barclay.” Evidence crumples under his knees as he sits to comfort his friend.

“Then he came to me; now not only was I paying to keep the story quiet, I was paying to keep him from telling Ma why Mom died.”

“She died because of a blackmailer, wet cement, and a weak guard rail. Not because of you.”

Barclay looks at him, eyes coffee cups of sorrow, and simply shakes his head. Then he crumples forward and Joseph catches him, holds him tight while he finishes his story through his tears.

He paid off Andrew for three years. Ned Chicane, owner of the Kepler Museum of Curiosities, helped him with the family accounts so Raquel wouldn’t notice anything suspicious. Whenever Andrew came around, he demanded Barclay act as his “boyfriend” for the duration of the visit.

“Everyone must think I have terrible taste in men.”

Once they establish that, as far as Barclay is aware, only Ned knows about the blackmail, Joseph cups his face and says, as firmly as gentleness allows, “From now on, I need you to be truthful with me. You said you didn’t want me putting the pieces together because you were ashamed, but all I want is to help you. I can’t do that if there are big things you’re hiding from me. Understand?”

Barclay nods, and apologizes the entire time they’re gathering the strewn pieces back into the envelope.

“Barclay?” Joseph cuts him off and eases him down until he’s on his back, “I forgive you. Now please go to sleep before you pass out from stress.”

The cook smiles at him, eyes already fluttering closed, “You’re the boss, Joseph.”

He ignores all the urges that kickstarts in him and leaves his friend to sleep in peace.

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

“Y’know, kind of wish we’d known each other back then.” Barclay looks up from where he’s helping Joseph sort the new evidence on the floor, “when I was in San Francisco, I mean.”

“It would have taken more than just a change of scene for me; my family does alright, but I’d have been way outside your circles.”

“So? Maybe then I coulda had a boyfriend who was ‘disreputable’ for bullshit reasons instead of real ones.”

“I’ve never once been disreputable.” He looks up from the photos in his hand, “and is that your way of telling me something, big guy.”

“Yes. I, uh, you can tell me to knock it off, but I, uh, I think you’re swell. It’s okay if you don’t feel that way but you said I should be…” he trails off as Joseph leans into his space,”honest.”

He kisses him once, so brief it barely counts but the larger man whimpers and tries to grab him before he pulls away.

“If we’re going to do this, I need you to promise me that you’ll tell me to hit the brakes if you need to; it won’t change my dedication to the case.”

“I promise.” There’s no dishonesty in his face, just boundless hope and affection.

“In that case, big guy” he lunges forward, pinning him to the rug, “you’re all mine.”

An unexpectedly high whine leaves his lover.

“You like when I’m rough?”

“Uh, uh huh, so much, people always want me to be and I don’t want to, wanna be, wanna beAHHHhhnnn” he arches his back as Joseph bites the patch of skin just below his beard.

“You’re so gentle, big guy, I thought you’d go straight to making love but” another bite, another gasp, “I think I’d better fuck you instead.”

“Please.” Barclays hands glide up to cup Joseph’s face and guide him down into another kiss.

Joseph rolls his hips forward and his sleeves up as speaks, “Now that you mention it, I can see how things would’ve gone if we met earlier. I was an obedient son but not beyond sneaking someone into my room when my parents were away” he undoes Barclay’s shirt, keeps grinding against him and licking his lips as he feels him getting hard, “or maybe we met down here, and you’d sneak me into the backyard.”

“Fuck, yes.” Barclays chest heaves as Joseph cards his fingers up through the dark hair to tease his nipples, “god, if how I, fuck, feel now is a clue, I’d have been so fucking mad for you.” He makes a charming groan as Joseph tongues his nippls and then nibbles his way up to his ear.

“It’s funny” Joseph kisses his cheek, “I knew so many guys like you on the force. Not you now, used to hard work and worry, but you then; spoiled and softer than a boiled egg.” He allows himself a moment of savoring their cocks teasing each other through their pants before continuing, “always wanted to discipline them, because it was clear no one ever did.”

“Please show me how.”

“Why?” He grins down at him, toying with his left nipple until it’s bright red.

“Because I wanna be good for you, Joseph. Wanna be every fantasy you ever had.”

“...Lord god almighty how am I supposed to say no to that?” Joseph undoes his suspenders, laughing at Barclay’s triumphant smile, “you’re a dream, big guy.”

He crawls so he’s straddling Barclays face, cock dripping pre-cum onto his lips. Barclays tongue keeps peeking out from between them, but doesn’t go further without permission.

“Since this is disciplinary, you don’t get a say in how it goes. You’ll take my cock as long and as deep as I want it, because I’m superior to you and you’re here to do what I say”

“Fuckyeah” Barclay paws Joseph’s thighs, opens his mouth so he can guide the head in.

“That, ohyes, that being said, if it’s really too much, tap my thigh twice.”

Barclay nods to show he understands, but is already pre-occupied sucking his cock like he’s starving for it.

“A good start, big guy, but if I just wanted my cock wet I’d have gone swimming.” He cups the back of Barclays head in both hands, “I want something to fuck, and your face is it.”

The man beneath him moans, fucks the air uselessly as Joseph pushes further in. He finds the resistance of his throat with a half-inch to go, and decides that’s good enough. He pulls halfway out, pushes back in, repeats the process a few times before finding his rhythm. Weeks of wanting mean it’s hurried and greedy, but the resulting moans suggest Barclay approves.

“You look so good like this, Barclay. God, if you’d been some fresh-faced officer, one look of those doe-eyes is all it, shit, would’ve taken for me to make this the only discipline you ever got. Any time I needed to put you in your place or just, fuck, just needed to let off some steam, I’d do this, get my, my cock in your mouth so often you’d run out of spit and be thankful for my cum in, in it’s place.”

Barclay is groping him again, eyes bright and lips managing some upward curve as his cock forces them apart.

“Then again” he tenderly massages Barclay’s scalp, “there’s no reason I can’t do that in this universe. Oh, ohshit, Barclay-” his words desert him as he cums, the other man swallowing eagerly and sucking him clean before he pulls out.

Joseph glances over his shoulder, “Can I take care of that for you?”

“Fuck, please?”

He rolls off of the cook, stays on his side and slips one arm under his shoulders. Then he sets his palm on the monstrous bulge in Barclay’s jeans and sets to work.

“I, I should unzip-”

“No” he kisses him, “we’re surrounded by evidence that I can’t have you cumming on. Don’t worry, I’ll clean up the mess you make cumming in your pants like a teenager.”

“Promise?” It’s an odd thing to say, but Joseph thinks he understands.

“I promise.” He quickens his pace, Barclay’s grunts growing louder when he does, “I’ll take care of you, big guy. I’ll look after you. You don’t have to lift a finger when I’m around.”

“Joseph.” Is all the reply he gets, Barclay already turning as cum spreads across his fly and clinging to the detective. His breath is hot, stays shaky even as his cock stops pulsing.

“Barclay? Baby, are you alright?”

“So fucking good, babe. I, I uh” he holds him tighter, “this is the first thing to make sense to me in years. Loving you, having you in my life, I get how we fit together so easily. Everything else, the murder, Ma, this person lurking around the last place that feels like home waiting to hurt me or hurt Mama or someone there, all of it, it’s so goddamn tangled I’m worried it’ll never get straight.”

Joseph rests their cheeks together, “We’ll figure it out, big guy. I promise.”

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Shelbys at Somme: Chapter 2

Thomas X Reader

4584

Summary: Reunions aren’t easy with dead people. Old feelings begin to stir in the privacy of The Garrison Pub but it’s hard to rebuild what time broke.

By: @adventuresintooblivion

Thomas groaned to himself. He’d been nursing a headache for the past three days since he’d asked Grace out to dance. He was pretty sure it was stress related, and the fact that he was witnessing Arthur get up in arms again only solidified the notion.

He was going on about retaliating against the police and being tired of all the harassment. Normally Thomas would agree, but something about this copper set him on edge and quite frankly this needed to be dealt with carefully. As he was leaning forward to voice his opinions, a loud banging startled the entirety of the Shlebys onto their feet.

“What in the blood blazes is that?” Arthur growled, his hand resting on a small pistol.

Danny’s muffled shouts filtered through the door, “Thomas she’s real this time! Get out here and see for yourself. She’s not a ghost.”

Aunt Pol’s eyes narrowed, “Isn’t that?”

Thomas waved her question aside , “I’ll handle this. John, brass knuckles on.”

A small flurry of activity happened over his shoulder as Thomas reached for the doorknob. Not much got Danny this worked up these days and even his affinity for chaos couldn’t handle everything Danny threw at him.

He swung the door open just as Danny’s hand was coming down to deliver another thunderous knock. It paused in the air mere inches from Thomas’ nose.

“Alright, what is it this time Danny.” Thomas’ voice was a bit gruffer than normal. While he hardly slept, it only seemed to be getting worse lately. Which probably also contributed to his throbbing headache. However even Thomas couldn’t deny that relief flooded him once he saw Danny’s ear splitting grin.

Danny practically shouted, “She’s back Thomas. Y/N was never dead, I...I found her on the street.”

Thomas felt his face fall, “Danny…” 

That when he saw it. A mop of curls swiveling back and forth as the girl tucked under Danny’s arm tried to absorb her surroundings. Bullocks!

“Danny put her down for God’s sake.” Thomas reached out, prying the girl From Danny’s grip. “I’m so sorry miss. He was in the war, and he’s having a rough time of it.”

He had said the words a hundred times and a small part of him suspected he would say them a thousand more before his day came. But the thought went silent, along with a dozen others, as the girl righted herself and shoved her mass of curls out of her face. There before him stared back the wide eyes that haunted his dreams.

Thomas, no matter what happens, I want you to live. To go home to your Aunt Pol you’re always talking about. And raise those horses you love so much.

Only if you marry me.

“I… I know Thomas I was there.” 

He barely heard the words. The whole world seemed to expand infinitely and then collapse all at once. Question after question assaulted him in a vain attempt to make some sense out of the impossibility before him.

Y/N was there, alive. She stood before him, not drained of color like it was in his dreams, with cheeks wind burned [is that what it’s called?] bright red. Small hands clutched an uncased violin. Eyes that sparkled even in the dimmest of light, searching for something in him he wasn’t sure he’d be able to give.

Thomas reached out, his fingertips barely brushing Y/N’s cheek. He didn’t know what he expected, but she didn’t pull away. When he came in contact with warm skin something inside him shattered. His world began to tilt and a small voice in the back of his head warned him he might faint. But he was Thomas Shelby, and Shelbys didn’t faint. 

It wasn’t until Danny spoke that he realized he was shaking, “She’s real right? I...I didn’t grab some random girl off the street did I?”

“No, Danny.” Thomas’ voice was barely a whisper. “I see her too.”

A hand on his shoulder managed to drag Thomas back to earth, even if just a little. 

Aunt Pol stood beside him, her eyes picking apart an untold story even as she spoke, “Thomas, I think you owe us an introduction to your friend here.”

Y/N glanced between the two. She had heard stories of Aunt Pol several times throughout her deployment and knew two things for certain. Aunt Pol respected a strong personality with conviction. However, there would be no disrespect shown towards her or her family and quite frankly Y/N had no idea what counted as disrespect here.

So she simply saluted, “Corporal Y/L/N. Reporting for duty.”

Aunt Pol raised her eyebrow, “You? A Corporal?”

“She served in the same company with Danny, Freddie, and I.” The words didn’t sound like they belonged to himself but Thomas didn’t see anyone else speak.

“How on earth did you convince anyone to let you join?” Aunt Pol stood a little straighter.

Y/N chuckled, “Oh, I absolutely fucked the physician.”

Arthur barking laughter suddenly filled the room, “Well I’ll be damned. Most people didn’t want to be there. I sure as hell know I didn’t. Why would you go and sneak in like that?”

“Well, we’ve all got idiot brothers to look after, so there’s that.” Y/N shrugged. Danny snickered over he should as Arthur’s face fell. Aunt Pol on the other hand was smiling. 

Thomas glanced around, the situation having gotten quite out of control at this point, “Alright, either you two get in here or we need to go out there and quite frankly I’d rather have this conversation in here.”

Over the next several minutes Y/N told her story, or at least an abridged version of it. Of how she joined. Her job amongst Thomas’ company and her subsequent court martial when she was shot.

“And how is it you stand before us now instead of rotting away in some prison?” Aunt Pol had taken over the conversation. Or more accurately, interrogation. 

Thomas was silently grateful that he wasn’t in charge for once. He was too shell-shocked to gather a single coherent thought let alone a line of questions that actually meant anything. Though there were those questions Aunt Pol didn’t ask. The more personal ones that burned his tongue even as he held it. But he would have for this what he forced himself to have in all things, patients.

“It was the price for my silence. It’s hard to convince the public they should support a war that irrevocably changes their lives on a good day. But how are you going to convince them you’re routing out German spies when they can’t even spot a woman right under their nose? It’d be a blow to their reputation they couldn’t afford to take.”

Aunt Pol’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she finally asked a question that had been eating at Thomas’ soul this whole time, “And you didn’t send a correspondence of any kind to inform your company that you were alive?”

Y/N looked down, “I sent several. Though after I didn’t hear back from anyone I suspected they weren’t getting through. I had to wait until everyone was out of an army camp at the very least, which meant the war had to end. And finding everyone afterwards? I’ve been traveling for almost a year now, and Danny is the first person I’ve bumped into.”

Thomas couldn’t look at her. All he could focus on were the grains on wood on the table. A part of him couldn’t quite wrap his head around that this was real. 

A knock on the door suddenly broke the spell of hushed voices. Everyone glanced around before Danny reached behind him and cracked open the door. Grace stood there, two bottles on a tray full of glasses.

“H..Hello, I figured everyone could use some refreshments?”

Thomas’ eyes locked with hers. Something in his expression made Grace’s fragile smile fall. She knew something was wrong, but she had no idea just how sideways things had gone.

〜 

Later that night, the Shelby family left the Garrison Pub, their new guest wrestling her luggage from Danny’s grasp. 

Thomas glanced at Y/N. He’d barely said a word to her. He didn’t know what to say. But her easy smiles that she cast towards himself and Danny lifted a weight in his heart. 

Finally he asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

She spun around, “Oh, well. I’ve got a job in a couple days at this fancy place. I was probably gonna go swindle a dress out of some high society idiot.”

A deep rumbling laughter escaped Thomas, “Grab a fancy cigar for me?”

“Always.” She waved as she disappeared into the night.

After she was gone Thomas glanced towards Aunt Pol, “So, what do you think?”

“I like her.”

〜

Later that night Grace slunk down the streets. She wore one of her better outfits but she still felt underdressed compared to the other patrons. This opera house meetup was Inspector Cambell’s idea. Grace wasn’t much of a fan. It was too open and while Thomas wasn’t inherently wealthy they didn’t know enough about him to guarantee he wouldn’t be here.

She let the concierge lead her to the booth. The whole conversation passed in a blur of nerves and paranoia.

Grace was so stressed had almost forgotten the entire reason she’d agreed to this, “I almost forgot. A new face has made an appearance. Danny Owen burst through the door carrying her under his arm and interrupted a family meeting. They were in there for a couple hours talking. I’m not sure what her name is but I’ll get that to you as soon as I can. Here's a sketch”

As she handed Inspector Campbell the small note the hairs stood up on the back of Grace’s neck as she spoke. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing around searching for a Peaky Blinder amongst the crowd. She didn’t see anyone. But that didn’t mean no one saw her.

Y/N leaned forward, her brow furrowed. Wasn’t that the barmaid from Thomas’s bar? And who was she talking to?

“Is everything ok?” the young man beside Y/N asked. His hand slid to her lower back, his fingertips brushing over the line her underwear created under the cloth. 

Instead of slapping him Y/N flashed him her most charming smile, “It's nothing. You might want to keep your hands to yourself. The anticipation is part of the experience.”

He flashed her a wicked smile. Y/N silently debated on whether or not she should take all his money or simply steal his clothes while he was tied to a pole.

Y/N strolled home in the darkness of night. For such an industrious city, Birmingham was proving to be quite peaceful in the early hours of the morning. Nothing dared break the spell that had blanketed the region some time after midnight. Only the stars and mist were witness to her every step.

She silently congratulated herself on her new dress even as Y/N pulled her threadbare shawl closer around herself. She was in desperate need of several pieces of clothing. And housing. And food. As if on cue her stomach growled loud enough to nearly echo down the nearby alleyway.

Y/N glared down in the general direction, "Hush you."

Her words meant nothing in the face of hunger. It only gained power after she acknowledged its existence gnawing at her insistently. When Aunt Pol had been asking her questions earlier she'd answered them easily but they definitely danced around one of the most important ones. How long had she been in town?

The all too real answer was not long enough. Not long enough to find a job nor a place to stay. Currently her small pack of things were stashed in a hidey hole she'd carved out for herself the first night. Now all she had to do was make it all the way down there without ruining her dress.

Easy right?

She picked her way back carefully through the muddy streets. The air itself became cooler as she approached the river. The Cut, Thomas had called it back in the trenches. As the squat building that housed the Garrison Pub came into view she gave a soft sigh of relief.

While it was inconvenient to make it all the way back here from across town, she'd chosen to leave her stuff here because she was fairly certain she'd get it back even if it was stolen. Thomas just had that kind of way with people.

Unbidden, Y/N's mind slowly wandered back to their reunion this morning. She didn't know what she'd expected but that wasn't exactly it. She scowled at her own girlish inclinations.

She "died" in a man's arms and expected him to be completely fine with her showing up out of this air? Y/N's heart began to ache as she recalled the look Thomas had given her when he finally realized who it was. The pain that had etched itself deep into his features. The quiet resignation that came after dealing with heavy burdens day after day. Had her death done that to him? Or the war?

Again she kicked herself, the hubris she'd gained in the last three years sometimes even astounded her. Bending down to uncover her few possessions from behind a small mound of bricks.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind her.

"Out a bit late, aren't you?"

She yelped, spinning around to confront her attacker. The light cast a shadow over the slim figure of a man, the only illumination coming from his lit cigarette. Despite the years she could still recognize that silhouette anywhere.

"Thomas? What the hell are you doing up this time of night? Scaring the shit out of me no less?" She huffed indignantly.

He stepped forward in the pale moonlight raising an eyebrow as he closed the distance between them. His eyes lingered on her, moving up and down slowly.

While Y/N didn't like the scrutiny, she knew he needed this so she waited. After a few moments he held out his hand.

"Come on Y/L/N. You haven't eaten all day and Harry usually leaves a little something in the back for us. Just in case."

Y/N smiled, "Been following me Shelby?"

He nodded unashamed as he gripped her luggage, "Saw that pretty boy you snagged. Good mark. Good dress."

Y/N prayed to whatever god still existed that he couldn't see her cheeks flush. She took a deep breath to steady her voice, "Think I can catch a few more in it?"

Thomas chuckled as he unlocked the Garrison Pub, "Aunt Pol always assumed that it was the war that honed my conman skills. Should I tell her it was you instead?"

"Only if it gets me on her good side. Though I don't think that I've done anything that's so bad." Y/N let out a sigh of relief as they entered the shelter of the pub.

Her nose and cheeks had long ago turned numb in the chill of the night. Her shawl barely held enough body heat to keep her from shivering but stepping inside was like returning to a warm bed with a sleepy lover. A welcome distraction from the future.

Thomas continued, “Not so bad? You convinced a whole regiment that if they drank vinegar with their food it would turn them blond.”

Y/N leaned against the wall, “Commander Hopper said he needed to get rid of it.”

Thomas turned towards her with the smallest smile on his face. Something about him had changed between this afternoon and now. His posture was less rigid, his features less guarded. Then the light hit his eyes. His pupils were blown out so far there was almost no color left between them and the bloodshot whites of his eyes.

“You smuggled in a whole crate of wine, right under Hopper’s nose.”

Y/N stiffened as he approached, “It was Christmas.”

“You stole the Acquisition Officer’s boots, wore them around yourself until he replaced Jerimiah’s.”

“Now, he was just being a prick.” Y/N’s voice was barely a whisper as Thomas stopped barely an inch away.

His eyes were glazed over as they wandered over her features. Over and over they passed across the same area, an addled mind trying to remember every significant detail. The spell only came undone when he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers.

When he spoke again his voice was gravely, “If I kiss you will you taste like blood and dirt?”

“Thomas?”

“If I open my eyes again will your face be burned by the funeral pyre?” his voice cracked as he shuddered.

 His hands were on either side of Y/N’s head, trapping her against his body. The heat that passed between them almost seemed to burn compared to the early autumn air outside. His body was a wall against hers, a bit softer than she remembered but that was probably due to the fact that he wasn’t being malnourished anymore.

Y/N knew she shouldn’t move right now. That she should let him overcome this on his own. It didn’t stop her from reaching up, letting her arms circle around him. “Thomas, it’s me. I’m here.”

His eyes slowly opened, traveling up her face, his jaw set in determination. Thomas shifted his weight, detaching one hand from the wall to cradle the back of her neck. Y/N froze at  the gentle touch. Her skin was still cold beneath his fingers. His hot breath mingled with hers as the whole world came down to a single point. 

“Say my name.” 

“Wha… Tommy?"

His lips brushed against hers. So gentle it was as if Eurus himself had come down for a taste. Y/N gasped softly as she leaned just ever so slightly closer. That was all the hinting Thomas needed, his lips were suddenly crushed against hers. His hand tilting her head up just enough so he could taste her. His tongue brushed against her lips, asking for entry. Y/N answered by pressing her body against his, parting her lips.

Seconds later Thomas had her lifted into the air, his hands digging into her thighs as he pinned her against the wall. While he held her aloft, he wasn’t the one in control of the kiss. At some point Y/N returned the kiss. It was something wild born out of the fear and pain that had built up over the years. 

It was a kiss that rent open the walls they’d built around themselves letting the shattered pieces of their souls lie bare for each other to see. It was need. It was desperation. It was a blossoming love stomped out by the heel of war. 

After a long moment Y/N pulled away, gasping softly as he pressed his head into the curve of her shoulder. They stood there in the barest of light, catching their breath. Letting what had just happened sink in.

It was Thomas who broke the silence, “I...I guess you are real. FUCK.”

Fuck indeed.

Y/N squeezed her eyes shut fighting back the tears. The want for Thomas was still there demanding attention. Close proximity made it all the harder to stop. However, a familiar taste lingered on her lips now. Opium. She could not in good conscience keep on going.

She almost didn’t recognize her own voice as she spoke, “Thomas, can you put me down please?” She hated herself for sounding weak, but the day had been a long one and quite frankly she wasn’t sure how much more she could give it.

He nodded, setting her down gently and taking a step back. Allowing her the space she needed to collect her thoughts. Y/N pressed her lips together in an attempt to figure out what to say, but caught herself wincing. Somewhere in their heated exchange they’d become bruised and sensitive. Thomas instinctively reached out to brush his thumb across her lower lip. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her the entire time. “I..I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath before yanking back his hand like it was on fire, “I’m so sorry.”  He spun on his heel suddenly stalking toward the bar, “I promised you food.”

“That’s really not-”

“If you tell me not to again I’ll just have to go buy you enough groceries for a whole month. Now go sit down; I’ll have it out in a moment.” He disappeared into a back room Y/N hadn’t noticed earlier.

Y/N didn’t trust herself to stand especially after all the physical activity for the day. She stretched slightly, testing out her muscles while keeping most of her weight against the wall. After a distinct lack of pain, she stood and slowly made her way to a nearby table. After sitting down she arranged herself in the way she knew created the least amount of stress on her limbs. She’d be damned if she kissed Thomas and collapsed on him in the same five minutes.

A soft hum wafted towards her accompanied by the smell of food heating in an oven. The tune was one she recognized from her time in the trenches. It was one she’d made up for her company to bolster their spirits on a particularly gruesome day. She was surprised that Thomas still sang it at all.

A few minutes later Thomas returned with a bowl of soup and a fresh chunk of bread. Y/N could practically feel her jaw drop.

She grasped the hot bowl that was thrusted at her hoping to warm her hands, “What the hell is all this?”

Thomas shrugged sitting opposite of her, “I can’t feed my friends?”

“Fresh loaves of bread that feel like they came out of the oven five minutes ago? You know how much I love bread; this isn’t just feeding your friends. It’s handing me tasty gold.”

A chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest. “It’s a secret from my mum’s side of the family. Besides Aunt Pol would have a fit if I handed you anything less.” 

Y/N was about to dig in when she registered the fact that there was only one bowl. “Aren’t you having any?”

He shook his head. “I ate. Plus your stomach has been growling non stop since I brought that in here. I’m starting to get concerned that you haven’t eaten in days.”

Rather than confirm his suspicions Y/N shrugged and dug in. Though she still split the bread in half and handed it to him.

He gave her a reluctant smile and ate with her, occasionally dipping the bread in the soup.

When Y/N was done eating Thomas whisked away her bowl before she could even think to stand and take care of it herself. Upon returning he found her grabbing her luggage.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Y/N shrugged, “Dunno, but this is a pub not a hotel. I can’t stay here”

“Don’t you have a place to stay?”

Y/N paused. She didn’t know the area well enough to make something up so she just opted for the truth, “I haven’t been in town long enough to find anything. I had enough time to get my first job set up but Danny dragged me away from getting enough money for a hotel tonight.”

Thomas’s brow furrowed. “You don’t have money for a place yet.”

Y/N shook her head despite the fact that it wasn’t a question.

“Well I’m not letting you go out there in the cold if that’s what you’re thinking.” He crossed the space between them in a fraction of a second, pilfering Y/N luggage directly from her grasp.

Y/N lunged for her case, “Hey! What exactly do you plan on doing then? Taking me back to your room? Because I can tell you right now that’s not a good idea.”

He hefted the case into the air with little effort. “You’ll be staying here. There’s rooms upstairs.”

“I won’t be some charity case, Thomas Shelby.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it, Y/F/N.” He walked back towards the door he’d disappeared in earlier, but instead of going in he began jogging up a flight of stairs.

Y/N stared after him in mild horror. She really didn’t think she could handle stairs tonight, but what choice did she have? If she didn’t follow him he’d be back wondering what on earth was keeping her so long. So she walked over to the stairs, her back stiff but not protesting. She thanked the gods for small miracles and began to climb.

After a minute or two she crested the last flight, letting out a slow breath to ease the tension that had gathered along her spine on the way up. Thomas was down a skinny hallway fumbling with a set of keys. 

He spoke at the door refusing to look at her more than he had to, “This whole floor is typically meant for employees, but Harry’s got a family and Grace has her own place. So you’ll more often than not have the whole floor to yourself. I do sleep here sometimes, but that’s few and far between.”

Y/N thought back to earlier that night, “Does Grace live with her parents?”

Thomas shrugged, not really paying attention, “I don’t think she has parents anymore.”

Y/N slowly closed the distance between them, Thomas’s antics becoming down right jittery as she got closer. Finally the door opened.

Inside was a small room with  a full bed taking up most of the space. There were no blankets or sheets to be seen but the layer of dust on everything signaled that no one had lived here in a long while. Two small doors were the only things that interrupted the dull wooden walls.

“It’s perfect.” Y/N grinned. 

He looked at her like she was crazy but instead of answering he set her luggage beside the bed along with her violin. He disappeared as she wandered in. The air was musty and everything needed cleaning but it was more than she’d hoped for when she had gotten onto the train headed for Birmingham.

Thomas reappeared a couple minutes later and threw a pillow and sheets onto the bed. With a flourish he wrapped the duvet around Y/N’s shoulders, getting a startled yell in return. He smiled fondly as she struggled with the mass of cloth, his features returning to normal as she emerged.

“This is all too much, Thomas. I..How much is the rent?”

He answered.

Her cheeks flushed, “That’s way too low, even for living on this side of town.” 

Thomas shrugged, “I expect you to play on Saturdays. Grace requested we allow singing and I think using your violin to draw in the customers will more than make up for the discount.” 

Y/N raised her eyebrow, “You didn’t allow singing? In a pub?”

He shrugged before handing her the key and turning to leave. He was almost to the top of the stairs when he stopped.

“Again, I’m sorry about tonight.”

Y/N barely heard him and honestly she wasn’t sure she was supposed to. She didn’t reply and instead went about making her new bed.

[captainsolare]

Dancing With You

Summary: You get sick the day of a once a year ball, your fellow Black Bulls make sure you still have the best night ever. 

Word Count: 1,441 

Tags: Asta x reader, fluff, sickness mention

A/N: I tried to make this gender neutral! Hope you enjoy :) 

--- 

You woke up with a sneeze, and looked around your room groggily. You felt like you had been run over by some large creature, your blurry eyes focused in on the corner of the room, your fancy outfit for tonight hung on your wardrobe. Oh that’s right, the dance is tonight. You lurched out of bed, well, tried to anyway; what actually happened was you falling out of bed and onto the cold stone floor of the Black Bulls hideout. There was a knock on your door and Noelle popped her head in, gasping when she saw you on the floor. Your room was quickly filled with the presence of your fellow Black Bulls, until Yami kicked them out, leaving only yourself, Owen, and Vanessa inside. 

“What’s the story doc? Am I going to live?” You asked, your words sounding muffled to your ears. Owen nodded, “Yes, it’s only a fever, but unfortunately I don’t think you’ll be able to attend the ball tonight.” “What?! No fair!” Vanessa exclaimed. You looked down at your lap, tears of disappointment pooling in your eyes. This big event only came once a year and you were going to miss it over a measly fever? You sniffled as Vanessa gave you a sad air hug, then she left, leaving you alone in your room. 

You fell asleep quickly, hoping a nap would help you feel better. Asta peeked in on you, wanting to check up, but you were asleep. He left, disappointed that you were going to have to miss out on the festivities tonight when he had a sudden burst of inspiration. He went downstairs, a ball of nerves and energy, he tapped Finral and Vanessa on the shoulder and pulled them outside to talk to them. “Hey, can you help me with a surprise?” The two listened to the plan eagerly, and agreed to help. Even though you wouldn’t be able to attend the big ball, they’d make sure you’d have a night to remember. 

You spent the day in your room, bored and disappointed; you stared at the walls, then turned over and stared at the ceiling. Finally you went to your desk and stared out the window, feeling utterly miserable. Outside you saw Finral and Vanessa whispering about something and giggling, they sensed they were being watched and glanced up, giving you big smiles and waves when they saw you. You gave them a sad smile and waved back at them. I wish I could be down there too… You glanced at your outfit hanging in the corner, and nearly teared up again; you leaned forward, resting your head on your elbows as you stared at the sky, Oh well, there’s always next year I guess. 

Charmy brought you lunch, but you spent the day largely alone, normally there would be people in and out to check on you all day but not this time. You supposed you couldn’t blame them, tonight was the dance after all, that was more important, but you couldn’t help but feel forgotten about. Vanessa came into your room, heaps of supplies in her arms; “Hey you! Why don’t we get you dressed and we can head downstairs to take some pictures?” You perked up at her suggestion, “Really? I can do that?” Vanessa nodded, her eyes sparkling. Vanessa helped you get dressed, she tied every bow, secured every button, even put a small Black Bulls emblem on one of the ribbons. You sat before your mirror as she fixed your hair. “Thank you Vanessa, this means a lot.” You sniffled. 

Vanessa smiled at you in the mirror, “Of course! Anything for a darling like you.” Vanessa led you outside, but it was strangely dark. “Where is everyone?” You asked, “I thought we were going to take pictures--” You were cut off by a flash of light, outside the hideout, there was a makeshift dance floor, and fairy lights that lit up the night. You couldn’t believe your eyes, “You-- You all did this for me?” You asked, tears threatening to fall. Yami laughed, “You really thought we would leave you here all lonely, kid? You know the Black Bulls never abandon a comrade.” Vanessa leaned over to whisper in your ear, “Actually, it was Asta’s idea, so you can thank him.” You blinked and looked around for him, eventually finding him near the edge of the lights. You walked over to him, cheeks warm. You reached out to him as an offer to dance; he took your hand sheepishly. “Aww shucks, you found me out.” You chuckled and nodded. Finral had somehow gotten his hands on a magical music item and turned it on. 

The first song was a slow waltz, you led Asta to the dance floor. It was awkward as all get out, Asta kept stepping on your feet, you kept unconsciously fighting over who led, but somehow, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. You ended up dancing with all the Black Bulls that were willing to, even Zora and Yami took you out for a spin. Somehow Gordon ended up being the best dancer, (he was the only one who didn’t step on you), but by the end of the night you were back in Asta’s arms again. You felt your heartbeat quicken as he led you a little ways from the festivities, everyone else was being rowdy as usual. He led you to a rocky overlook and you sat together, looking at the night sky. You rested your hand on the rock by your side, pinky barely touching his. “Thank you for tonight, I had an amazing time.” You said quietly. Asta glanced at you, an unspoken something in his expression. 

Asta’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest, but he couldn’t help it, here he was looking at the most beautiful person in the world, and he was going to tell you so. He took a deep breath and turned to you, you felt your heart somehow beat even faster, and you shifted so you were facing him. “Listen,” He started, then he had to pause to take another deep breath, “I know I’m not good at… words and stuff but I need to tell you something.” You felt your breath hitch, Is this what I think it is? “Okay, what is it?” Asta clenched his fists and shut his eyes, “The thing is... “ You looked at him, trying to read any part of his expression. 

He took another breath, “You see, there’s someone back home,” You felt your heart sink, was he rejecting you even though you hadn’t even confessed? Asta could sense your sudden change in emotion and opened his eyes in a panic; not really knowing what else to do, he grabbed both of your hands in his. “I’ve never felt like this before, about anyone. You’re important, to me.” Asta’s words came out in a jumble he was speaking so fast, “It’s like, when I look at you I feel this pull, I can’t even explain it. It’s like, you take all my breath away and all I want to do is make you happy.” He paused, to look back up at the sky, “And I want you to know, that even if you don’t feel the same, I’ll still do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy.” 

There was a moment of silence between you, the weight of his words wrapped around your heart, but instead of weighing you down they lifted you up. You reached over and grabbed his chin, turning him to face you. “Can I-- can I give you my answer without words?” You asked. Asta wasn’t quite sure what you meant, but he gave a small nod, too preoccupied with the feeling of your hand on his chin and how close you were. You closed your eyes and kissed him, Asta blinked in surprise. You pulled away and looked away from him, you had surprised even yourself in that moment. “Oh Asta, you already make me happy.” Once the shock wore off, Asta relaxed and gave you that smile that made your heart squeeze. 

As you walked back to the party outside the hideout, holding his hand you gasped. He looked at you, concerned about your sudden outburst. You dropped his hand and brought yours up to your mouth, “Oh no! I hope I don’t get you sick!” Asta stared at you, then chuckled, kissing your hand. “Don’t worry, I don’t get sick. Hearty immune system and all that.” You looked at him skeptically, “Okay, whatever you say big man.” (Spoiler alert: he totally got sick.)

[snowdice]

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 45]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

I have an aggravating task to do tonight which I have been avoiding... let’s do this!

Chapter 18

They made it all the way to the big blowout between Al and Melly where Melly got mad and left the group to their fate in the magical garden by the time Virgil awakened completely from his food coma (he’d never actually fallen asleep, or at least he always responded when Patton asked) and squirmed around for a bit before sitting up.

Logan hadn’t been particularly interested in the story he’d heard many times before and was reading a book of his own on Patton’s other side, but he put a bookmark in his book when Virgil sat.

“Want to take a break from reading?” Patton asked. “We can do a bit more later, but we have more than just food and books planned for tonight.

 “Okay,” Virgil agreed easily.

“Great!” Patton said clapping his hands. “We’re going to introduce you to the most fun sleepover party event ever!”

Virgil tilted his head.

“Dress up!” Patton said. “Also make-overs. We’ll do you first and then we’ll help you learn how to help pick out other people’s outfits and make-up. If you want to, of course.”

“Sure,” Virgil said with a shrug.

“Yay!” Patton hopped to his feet. “You stay here. Lo and I will get everything ready.”

He pulled Logan to his feet and over to the chair that was the perfect height for doing make-up.

 They set up what they’d need for make-up and then Patton instructed Logan to grab the clothes of his they usually used for this sort of thing out the closet that Virgil wasn’t set up in while he grabbed the pieces he himself had brought upstairs and strew them over the bed so they could see anything.

Smiling happily, Patton looked over at Virgil who had stood up in the giant pile of pillows and blankets to watch him with intense eyes. He looked like he was memorizing every action Patton took as though expecting a test at the end. He was so adorable. A rush of affection and a touch of mischief hit him suddenly.

 “Hey Virgil,” Patton said. Virgil looked over at him. “Can I tackle hug you into that pile of pillows?”

“Tackle hug?” he asked.

“I run over and hug you so hard that we fall into the blankets. I do it to Logan all the time without warning, but I didn’t want to confuse you.”

Virgil considered the offer for a couple of seconds. “Okay,” he finally decided.

“Great!” Patton did a little hop before launching himself across the room. He slammed into Virgil, who apparently had very good balanced because they didn’t immediately fall backwards, but then he seemed to remember that he was supposed to let Patton slam him into the pillows, and so he fell back on his own power.

 Patton giggled when they hit the ground and drew back to look at his face. “I got you!” He leant forward to kiss him on the nose. “Oh wait! I should let you fight back.” He propped himself up on one arm and held out the other hand. “Pinkie promise not to hurt anyone if I let you use the 3rd setting again?”

“Pinkie promise,” he agreed with a grin, linking their pinkies.

“Great!” Without hesitation, Patton did the hand motion to allow the restraints to be in the third setting.

Patton was on his back almost instantly, but he didn’t even have a chance to think about worrying before Virgil pressed a kiss to his nose in a mirror of what Patton had done a moment before. “I got you,” he said proudly.

 “So, you do,” Patton agreed with a laugh. He reached up on of his hands to card it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil leaned into the touch and then practically melted on top of him. “Virgil,” Patton laughed. “It isn’t nap time.”

He grumbled something unintelligible into Patton’s neck making Patton giggle more.

“Sweetie, please.”

Thankfully Logan saved him from the unrelenting cuddling by poking Virgil in the side. “I have finished preparing the stations for the makeover and dress up. You need to get up now.”

Virgil made a noise that sounded like a growl, but he did roll off of Patton.

 Patton hopped to his feet and helped Virgil up before pulling him over to the piles of clothes. “We pick the outfit first, but you don’t put it on. Then, we do your make-up and hair based on it. Then, we get you dressed and do touch ups. Okay? Pick anything you want.”

Virgil looked over the options, eyes going a bit wide. “It…” he said. “It all looks really fancy and expensive. Are you sure you want me to touch any of it?”

“We wouldn’t be offering anything we didn’t want you to touch,” Logan said gently. “In fact, I insist you touch all of it. Beyond just appearance, making sure the texture of the fabric is agreeable is a large part of this activity.”

 Patton picked up one of the pieces of fabric he knew was very soft and offered it to him. He touched it with careful fingers, his eyes lighting up at the feel of it. They had to continue nudging him into feeling the different fabrics, and he hesitated when they asked him to pick his favorite at the end, but eventually he shyly pointed at a dark purple dress.

Patton clapped. “Great! Ooo, I already have some ideas for make-up that will go with that.”

Virgil let Patton pull him over to the chair they’d set up and settled down on it.

29009

Patton hummed. “I think silver and purple make-up mostly?” he said.

Logan nodded and they grabbed a few things from the make-up kit. Logan let Patton do most of the make-up as he tended to be better at the more creative parts, but Logan was the one who gave him the fancy winged eye liner with purple sparkles because he was really good at them.

“You look fantastic!” Patton squealed when they were done. He held up a hand mirror for Virgil who studied himself in it for a long few moments. “Do you like it?”

“It’s really nice,” Virgil confirmed. Patton smiled and hugged him.

“Next hair. We have a lot of accessories. I’ll let you pick from the purple ones.”

 He and Logan sorted through the jewelry box full of different hair accessories for the royal family and ended up finding three purple ones. Patton hesitated a bit over one of them, but Logan picked it up and set it in front of Virgil for him.

“Your choice from these three,” he said.

One was a purple feather with little hooks to braid into hair, one was a smattering of purple and silver stars that would weave through the back of someone’s hair, and the last was a string of silver leaves with purple tips that would wrap up the back of a person’s head from a bun.

Virgil thought for a moment and then pointed to the one made of leaves.

 Patton glanced at Logan who took the hairpiece. “I’ll do your hair right for that one,” he said. “I know how it fits.”

He grabbed the brush and carefully ran it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil seemed to like the attention, leaning into the touch, and a smile flickered over Logan’s face. Logan started gathering the hair together to make the low bun that would be the base of hair arrangement. Patton honestly did not expect him to speak, but then he did as he started to secure the piece with pins.

“This was my Pa’s favorite hairpiece,” Logan said. “Not the father you came here for, but my other one. He died when I was six.”

Virgil went shock still. “I don’t have to...”

“I wouldn’t have let it be offered if I wasn’t okay with you using it,” Logan said.

 Virgil didn’t move as he finished securing the hairpiece. “There,” Logan said when he was done. He picked up the hand mirror and positioned it so Virgil could see. “It suits you.”

“I…” Virgil said. His eyes were wide, and he clearly didn’t know what to say.

“Now,” Logan said. “I believe there are some other pieces of jewelry that would match this very well in the other room. I…” he turned away. “If you will excuse me.”

He turned away and exited through his bedroom door into the hallway. Patton watched him go and then turned to Virgil. “I’m going to go make sure he’s okay, okay?” Patton asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong, there’s just a lot of emotions.”

“I can take it out…” Virgil said.

“No,” Patton said. “I think he likes that you’re wearing it.” Virgil bit his lip. “He never really moved on,” Patton felt inclined to say. “This is… a lot for him, but I think it’s good too.” He leaned forward to kiss the top of his head, being careful not to mess up his artfully done hair. “I’ll be right back.”

He turned to follow Logan out of the room.

  Chapter 19

Thomas sighed in relief as the door to the royal wing finally came into sight. He was exhausted from his journey to Lamir for many reasons. Beyond just the physically taxing journey, he’d also had to deal with the emotions of loosing someone he had thought of as a friend while also trying to help her young daughter who had just had the crown thrust upon her.

Now he just wanted to see his own child and curl up into bed. He smiled at Owen and Kalani as he approached. “Is Logan here?” he asked.

Owen nodded. “The prince and his royal advisor are having a slumber party.”

Thomas smiled. “Of course, they are,” he said.

 He said goodnight to the two guard as they’d be getting off duty soon even if he did manage to drag himself out of his room again tonight and walked past them into the hall.

He walked past the room where they kept the jewels, though was unsurprised to see that the room was unlatched as Patton loved playing around with the different jewelry and had probably left it open when he grabbed them. He was however surprised when his son’s room’s door was thrown open, as Logan usually couldn’t stand for the thing to be open with or without him in it.

 Thomas didn’t think much of it however, and simply walked over to look inside. He was surprised when he didn’t see his son or Patton and instead saw that the only person in the room was a young boy that Thomas did not recognize. He was seated in one of Logan’s chairs and had his head tilted looking at himself in the mirror. He seemed to be trying to get a look at the ornament on the back of his head, and Thomas felt his heart seize a little bit when he recognized the hairpin.

He hadn’t recovered from that gut punch when the boy’s eyes drifted and met his in the mirror. There were a couple of long seconds where the two of them stared at each other in silence.

“Hello?” Thomas finally managed to get out.

Panic. There was suddenly horribly intense panic in the child’s eyes, the likes of which Thomas had never seen before. Thomas could only blink dumbly as he hopped to his feet like his seat was suddenly made of hot coals and then threw himself across the room to the opposite side from Thomas.

He looked around himself, back to the wall and considered Thomas with wildly spooked eyes. Clearly, he realized that he was pinned in Logan’s room by Thomas being in the door.

The boy dropped suddenly and disappeared under Logan’s bed.

 “Uh,” Thomas said, confused and shocked and still a bit in pain from seeing that piece of jewelry in use. He crossed slowly over to the bed and bent down to look under it, moving the bed skirt slightly to the side. He saw a small shaking blob curled up into itself under the bed. “Um, hi,” he said softly.

The blob did not respond except to continue shaking.

Thomas frowned and settled himself onto the floor. “It’s okay,” he said softly. Had he been here stealing things? Thomas had to wonder as he wasn’t sure why someone here for legitimate reasons would be acting so terrified of being caught. Though, that posed the question of how he’d gotten past the guards, and why Logan hadn’t noticed him. “I’m not mad,” Thomas said. “You’re fine.”

The boy looked up briefly from his knees looking terrified. Thomas tried to smile at him gently, but that just made him hunch into himself more, his breathes coming faster. That wasn’t good.

“No, shh,” Thomas said softly. “It’s okay. I promise it’s okay.” He did not seem to believe him, and Thomas winced. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just leave him here but trying to talk him down himself didn’t seem to be working.

Luckily, a familiar voice spoke from behind him then. “Dad?” Logan asked.

Thomas looked back at him. Both Logan and Patton were standing at the door, a couple of pieces of jewelry in their hands. They seemed very surprised to see him.

“You… seem to have a guest,” Thomas informed them.

 “I…” Logan said, beginning to edge into the room like he was expecting something to blow up at any moment. “Yes.” He got to Thomas and squeezed himself between him and the bed, putting a physical barrier between Thomas and the boy. Confused, Thomas took a couple of steps away without challenge. “That,” Logan glanced behind him. Patton had moved to the opposite side of the bed from Logan and Thomas and had gotten to his knees to look under it. “That is Virgil.”

Thomas blinked at him. “Virgil?” he asked.

“He’s… new to the castle,” Logan explained. Patton started speaking softly the boy, but Thomas could not make anything he said out. “Patton and I… invited him to a sleepover.”

“The guards didn’t mention anything,” Thomas said, sure that they would have warned him if there was a stranger in the royal wing.

“Uh, well, Virgil is… shy and we didn’t think you’d be back for another week. So, we snuck him past them.”

“Shy?” Thomas asked doubtfully. That was a lot more than shy.

“Particularly of adults,” Logan said.

Thomas took a moment to let that sink in. “Oh.” He was… scared of adults. Thomas could imagine many reasons why that might be the case and none of them set well. “I see.”

“Hey, no, sweetie, stop that,” Patton said, sounding distressed. Patton had managed to draw Virgil out from underneath the bed, though they were both still mostly hidden behind it and Thomas had no question in his mind that if he went to step towards them, Virgil would be back underneath it in a moment. Currently the boy seemed to be clawing at his own head. “No, baby shh,” Patton said, trying to stop him from tearing the pinned in hairpiece out, Thomas realized. “I’ll get it out,” Patton promised him. “Just calm down and let me do it.” He sounded close to tears, and Thomas couldn’t particularly blame him with the way the boy was acting. “You’re hurting yourself, baby.”

He must know, Thomas realized. If Logan had known he was here, then he must have allowed him to use that hairpiece. He’d probably even told Virgil that it belonged to his dead father. Now he was probably terrified that Thomas would be mad at him for touching it, especially when he’d come in to find Virgil alone without Logan to explain.

Patton managed to get all the pins undone and placed the piece delicately on the bed before wrapping himself protectively around the boy and hushing him.

Logan was looking back at them as well. He looked between the puddle of upset on the floor and Thomas. “Could…” he said. “Could I maybe come and see you in a few minutes, Dad?”

“Of course,” Thomas said. “Of course, I’ll go wait in my room. Take as much time as you need.”

He was careful to move slowly as he stepped towards the door, so the poor thing didn’t notice him move and mistake it for him approaching. He closed Logan’s bedroom door softly behind him feeling even more drained than he’d been before as well as anxious and a bit sickened. He went to his own bedroom to wait for Logan.

  Chapter 20

Logan let out a slow breath as his father closed the door behind him. That could have been very, very bad. He turned his attention to Virgil and Patton. Patton had curled himself around Virgil as much as physically possible and had tucked the boy’s head under his chin.

Logan slowly rounded the bed and knelt in front of them. “It’s alright,” Logan said, cautiously moving to put a hand on his shoulder. Virgil didn’t pull away. “I asked him to leave. It’s alright.”

Virgil tilted his head slightly too look at him. Logan rubbed a circle into his back as he slowly got control of his breath.

 Logan smiled softly at him and reached out to touch his cheek with a gentle hand. “You… didn’t hurt him. You didn’t even try to hurt him.”

Virgil shook his head.

“Why not?” Logan asked curiously. “It was a perfect opportunity.”

“Promised Patton,” Virgil mumbled, and the idea that perhaps the thing that had saved his father’s life was a pinky promise just about gave Logan a migraine, but then Virgil ducked his head. “And it would make you sad.”

“I see,” Logan said, heart in his throat.

Virgil kept looking towards the floor, his eyes starting to fill with tears again. “Are you going to turn me in now?”

 He was shaking and barely holding back a fresh wave of tears. Logan knew of course that no one would hurt him here if he turned him in to his father and the guards, but he also knew that Virgil would be terrified if he did so. He was already terrified. Logan didn’t want to know what he thought the fate Logan would be condemning him to.

“No,” Logan said before he could even truly think it through. “No, I’m not.”

“You’re not?” Virgil asked.

“Well, there wouldn’t really be a point, would there?” Logan asked. “The reason we planned to turn you when father got back in is because you posed a danger to him, but you have just demonstrated that is no longer an issue.”

 “Really?” Virgil asked, sniffling a bit and Logan saw Patton’s arms tighten even more around him.

“We will have to figure out a better cover for you than just that you’re new to the castle, but I believe it will work fine. No one besides the two of us would ever guess your origin anyway.”

“S-so I can stay?” Virgil asked, “and you won’t throw me into prison or execute me?”

“I promise you were never going to be executed Virgil,” Logan said. “Even if we turned you in, but yes you can stay with us. We’ll figure out a backstory for you that doesn’t involve assassinations and you’ll have to keep up the lie, but I doubt anyone will question it.”

 “I’ll do whatever you want,” Virgil said, chocked up. “Thank you. I really didn’t want to go.”

“Well, you’re our friend now so there will be no going anywhere,” Patton said kissing him on the cheek. Virgil relaxed back into his hold, pleased with the affection.

Logan smiled at them both. “Can I see your wrists, Virgil?”

Virgil blinked but offered them and Logan tapped the restraints doing a quick incantation. They popped off after a moment.

“You’re letting me go?” Virgil asked, eyes wide.

“Of course,” Logan said. “We’re not just going to keep you prisoner for no reason.”

 “That’s…” Virgil said, eyes watering as he clearly was trying not to cry. “You’re the best people I’ve ever met.”

“I wish that was not so clearly the case,” Logan replied. He slowly reach up and set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to go speak with my father. Patton will stay with you.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed, seeming a bit hesitant.

Logan smiled softly and leaned forward to gently touch their foreheads together. “I will be right back,” he assured. “We will finish our slumber party, though perhaps we will table the rest of the dress up activity for another night.”

 He stood then, leaving Virgil in Patton’s capable hands to exit his own bedroom and cross the hallway to his father’s. He took a brief moment to compose himself before knocking on the door.

“Come in,” his father called.

Logan opened the door to see his father sitting on one of the armchairs in his room. Despite the almost disaster that had taken place a few minutes ago, Logan found himself smiling at the man. It was nice to have him home.

“Sorry about that,” Father said.

“It was more my fault than yours. If I knew there was a risk of you coming home today, I wouldn’t have left him alone.”

 “Is he alright?”

“I believe so,” Logan answered. “Patton is with him and will certainly smooth out any lingering distress.”

“Good,” his dad said. “That’s good.” There was a pause and then he gestured at the seat beside his.

Logan settled himself down on it. “How was your trip?” he asked. “You’re back a week early.”

“Yes,” Father said. “The trip went better and worse than anticipated.

“How so?” asked Logan curiously.

“Well,” Dad said. “The purpose of the trip was to convince the new queen of Lamir, Cecil not to ally with Mocnejsi, but by the time I’d arrived there wasn’t really a risk of that.”

 “Why not?”

“After investigation, it turned out that Cecil’s mother had been poisoned by an assassin from Mocnejsi.”

“Oh,” Logan said, mind already racing.

“They figured out that one of the young women who had been hired on in the kitchen for the winter had done it, and had learned her origin when they questioned her,” Dad informed him. “Considering Cecil was immediately approached for an alliance with Mocnejsi, their aim was likely to manipulate her going forward because of how young she is. Luckily, Cecil is a smart girl and has the help of her mother’s advisor as well as her own. By the time I got there, my only real role was to extend my condolences and reaffirm out alliance. I would have stayed longer, but the possibility that Mocnejsi may think to attack us in a similar way hastened me home.”

 “That…” Logan said. “That is wise. I assume you are going to institute more security.”

“I am, yes,” Dad replied. “I would like your input on plans in the coming day.”

“Of course,” Logan agreed.

Dad smiled at him, “But for now,” he said, “I think it’s time you get back to your slumber party and I get to finally go to sleep.”

Logan nodded and got to his feet. He leaned over to hug his father perhaps a bit longer and harder than was strictly necessary, but Dad did not seem to mind at all. “Goodnight,” Logan said.

“Goodnight, son.”

  Chapter 21

Virgil woke with something soft but kind of stringy in his face. That was weird. He didn’t know what in the closet would feel like that. In fact, as he woke more he noticed more things that he couldn’t sus out the origin of, particularly the warmth curled up against his side. Curious, he blinked open his eyes. Oh, right. Patton.

The soft stuff in his face was Patton’s hair and the warmth next to Virgil was the rest of the boy’s body. Patton had all but refused to let Virgil go last night after Logan had taken off the restraints and Virgil hadn’t minded the attention. They must have fallen asleep together in the piles of pillows and blankets on the floor.

 Virgil brushed his hair gently away, internally (for fear of disturbing him) shaking his head at him. He’d fallen asleep hallway on top of an assassin. He had no self-preservation instincts. He looked at his wrists. It seemed no one had any self-preservation instincts. This of course, included himself as instead of running off when free in case they decided to turn him in after all, he had fallen asleep on the floor with Patton too.

He looked to the side and saw Logan was already awake, reading on one of his chairs. He seemed to sense Virgil’s eyes on him because he looked up after a moment.

 “You can get up if you like,” Logan said. “He is a heavy sleeper and won’t wake up if you squirm out of his grip.”

Virgil frowned, unsure if he wanted to risk it.

“I have breakfast ready for you.”

Okay, Virgil was going to risk it.

He carefully squirmed out of Patton’s grip, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead in apology for leaving him before getting to his feet.

Logan handed him a plate of eggs and toast when he walked over and gestured to the chair next to him. Virgil sat there to eat while Logan continued to read.

 Virgil ate his food quickly, and then glanced over at Logan once he was done. Virgil was honestly at a bit of a loss. Usually, they came and got him out of the closet only once they were ready to do something, but Patton was still sound asleep on the floor and Logan looked engrossed in his book.

Virgil fidgeted slightly, unsure what he should be doing or even if he should be doing anything. Considering Logan hadn’t given him any instructions, he should probably not do anything. He didn’t want to screw up the first day of… whatever this was now.

 Logan glanced over at him after a few minutes. “Don’t forget about the potion,” he reminded.

Virgil nodded and stood, walking over to the closet since it would still be in there from the previous morning. It was about half gone now and it had gotten to the point where Virgil didn’t feel any immediate affects from it anymore other than some warmth. It basically just felt like drinking tea.

He said as much to Logan when he walked back over to him.

“That’s good,” Logan said, “it means it has been working. It has healed any damage it can from malnutrition. Any internal organs that were damaged should be mostly healed. You may even notice your eyesight getting slightly better. Your immune system should also be boosted. You will likely also find it is easier to gain muscle and while you likely will never be as tall as you could have been, you will likely still grow a few inches during your next growth spirt.”

 Virgil studied his hands where they were sitting on his thigh now as though he could see the changes that allegedly had already taken place in his body. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Of course,” Logan replied, eyes already back on his book like it was some normal thing and not a huge kindness he’d bestowed on Virgil before even really knowing him. As though Virgil didn’t just owe him more than just his life going forward.

They sat in silence then for a few more minutes, before the was a soft sigh from the floor and Patton started to wake. He sat up and looked around. His eyes landed on both Virgil and Logan sitting together and he seemed to light up.

 “Good morning!” he chirped.

“Good morning, Patton,” Logan said as Patton popped to his feet, “I have breakfast for you.”

“Thank you Lo,” Patton said, throwing his arms around Logan’s neck, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Virgil presumed from the lack of surprise on Logan’s face that this was normal for morning Patton, not that the fact surprised him considering how night Patton acted.

He still managed to be somewhat surprised by the fact that Patton turned to hug Virgil a second later. Patton’s lips were pressed briefly to Virgil’s head and then he turned to grab the plate Logan had saved for him.

 “So, what are we doing today?” Patton asked.

“I was thinking Virgil and I could continue our reading lessons if he is not opposed,” Logan said. Virgil nodded, happy with that prospect. “Other than that, I have no plans. I have already spoken with my father before the two of you woke. He is going to spend most of his day catching up on things he missed and said I could take the rest of the day off royal duties.”

“A whole day to relax then!” Patton said, happily chewing on his toast. “Reading sounds fun, but we should do something more active too.”

 Logan hummed. “We can show Virgil the courtyard after the reading lessons,” he said.

It took a moment for it to register, but then Virgil froze. “Wait,” he said. “We’re going outside?”

Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes.”

“So, we’re leaving your room?”

“Are you alright with that?” Logan asked cautiously.

Virgil nodded quickly.

“Oh,” Patton said at his enthusiasm. “I guess you have been cooped up a while, haven’t you?” He smiled sadly and turned to Logan. “Maybe we can do reading lessons in the garden.”

“That would be satisfactory.”

“Great!” Patton said. He looked over at Virgil. “If we’re going out, we should probably put your hair up and get you in some clean clothes.”

 Logan nodded. “You finish eating, and I will help Virgil find something to wear.”

Logan found him an outfit, though it was a bit baggy on Virgil and the hem of the shirt went halfway to his knees. When Patton finished breakfast, he sat Virgil down and carefully worked a brush through his hair.

“Can I braid it?” Patton asked.

Virgil hummed his consent. Having his hair brushed and done up by another person was a lot more enjoyable than he’d anticipated. He’d liked it when Logan did it the night before, though he had to very firmly push away thoughts of where that led.

 “Okay!” Patton said after a few moments. “You look good. Ready to go?”

Virgil nodded and they both led him out into the hall. He paused before they got to the door. “What about the guards?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’ve already given them the same story as I did Dad,” Logan replied. “They know you’re here.”

Virgil still hesitated.

“It’s okay,” Patton promised. “Here, hold my hand?”

Virgil took the offered hand immediately, and Logan stepped in front of them both. Virgil felt himself relax a bit knowing the prince was between him and the guards.

They led him to the door.

 Logan greeted both of the guards at the door, and they said good morning back. Both of them glanced at Virgil curiously for a moment making him shrink into himself, but they quickly averted their gazes.

Patton pulled him past them without incident and soon they were in the small dining hall Virgil had passed through his first night here. He remembered how he’d snuck around at the edges of the room in the shadows with the aim to kill the king, but now he was being pulled through the middle with the prince having just wandered past the royal guards in broad daylight like it was nothing.

 It was so strange, and Virgil still couldn’t totally believe this was happening. The retraced his exact steps back down the spiral stairs near the kitchen and out of the door he and the nice gardener had came through. He could even see the shed he’d been hiding in from here. With a blink, he remembered they were going to the garden, and he wondered if he’d see the man again.

For now, he just looked around them as Logan and Patton led him past the garden shed towards an area with many trees. Orange and yellow leaves were starting to fall from many of the trees.

 They made a satisfying crunching sound under his feet as he was led to a tree. He had seen the group of trees when he’d first arrived here and had even thought about hiding amongst them instead of in the shed, but they’d seemed scary in the dark. They were pretty in the daylight, however, and Virgil found himself tilting his head to watch the branches sway in the slight wind.

Logan sat down under it and pulled out a book and some writing materials from the bag he’d brought. Virgil settled down next to him so they could both look at the book at the same time and Patton flopped down on the other side, immediately setting to work tying fancy knots in the yarn he’d brought with him. Patton shuffled slightly to the side so they bumped shoulders as Logan opened the book and started Virgil’s reading lesson.

  Chapter 22

Patton bit his lip to keep from laughing or awing. “Do you like the flower, Virgil?” he asked.

Virgil glanced up at him briefly and then his eyes returned to the flower he’d found. “It’s nice,” he said.

They’d finished the reading lessons and let Virgil explore the garden a bit. He’d found a dark purple and yellow flower (a pansy, Patton thought) and seemed to be endlessly fascinated by it. He’d been staring at it for minutes now, almost as though he expected it to do something. Patton did not quite understand his interest, but he was still adorable.

 Logan sat next to him and the flower, smiling at him softly. “I imagine you’ll enjoy the garden in the spring,” Logan said. “There are many more flowers then. Of all types. We’ll have to show you all of the best spots. Mr. Deknis has a particularly good eye for colors, and it is always quite beautiful.”

“Who is Mr. Deknis?” Virgil asked.

“He’s the head gardener,” Logan said. “He’s a nice man, though a bit prickly when it comes to his garden. We may see him today if he’s in this part of the garden.”

“Would he have been the multrum I saw in the gardening shed when I hid there?”

 “Ah, yes, that would be him. I was unaware you interacted with anyone in the castle.”

“He caught me in his garden shed, but he wasn’t mean,” Virgil said, he tilted his head curiously at Logan. “Why…” he trailed off.

“Yes?” Logan asked.

“Why is he the gardener?”

Logan looked confused, “Well,” he said, “I guess because he wants to and is good at it.”

“No,” Virgil said with a frown. “I mean. Shouldn’t he… he’s…”

Logan seemed to think hard for a moment. “Right,” he said. “You’ve been under a blood compulsion. I’d guess you would have only worked with multrums in the military.”

 “I guess I didn’t realize that they could be other things…”

“Of course, they can,” Logan said. “Their abilities don’t make them any less of people. Mr. Deknis likes to garden so he gardens.”

Virgil blinked at him.

“…Of course, all things considered, that may not be a familiar concept to you.” Virgil turned back to look at the flower instead of answering. “Right,” said Logan.

There were a couple of awkward beats of silence. Patton bit his lip and happened to glance up. “Oh,” he said. “Speaking of Mr. Deknis.” He gestured to the gardener who was coming up the path between the trees.

 Logan sat up on his knees as Patton waved at him. He saw Patton and turned to walk towards them. “The two of you had better not be up to mischief in my garden,” Mr. Deknis called, his voice a bit gruff. He clearly did not see Virgil who had laid flat on his stomach to stare at the flower.

Logan rolled his eyes automatically. “We were just reading Mr. Deknis,” he said. “Your piles of dirt are safe.”

“No mud cakes?” Mr. Deknis asked skeptically still coming towards them.

“It has been a literal decade…”

Patton saw when Mr. Deknis was close enough to see Virgil.

 He stopped in his track and looked down at Virgil who was already watching him a bit warily. “Hello,” he said, his voice a lot softer than it’d been a few moments before. His expression completely flipped in a moment to something very gentle when he saw Virgil and the cautious look on his face. Virgil did seem to have that effect on people.

“Hi,” Virgil replied.

Mr. Deknis looked at Logan and then at Patton and then back at Virgil. “This is our new friend, Virgil,” Patton offered.

“Hello, Virgil,” Mr. Deknis said with a nod.

“Virgil, this is the gardener Mr. Deknis.”

 “He’s not nearly as grumpy as he sounds,” Patton assured.

“Well,” Logan said, “yes he is.”

Mr. Deknis shot him a look that only served to prove Logan’s point if Patton was being honest. Logan just smiled back. Mr. Deknis apparently decided to let it slide because he turned back to Virgil.

“It’s good to see you again,” Mr. Deknis said. “Are you feeling better?”

Virgil nodded. “I’m a lot better,” he said. Mr. Deknis considered him for a moment, clearly reading how true that statement was. Patton was glad he seemed satisfied with the answer.

“I see you’ve met these two.”

 “Yeah,” Virgil said.

Mr. Deknis smiled slightly. “Be careful with this one,” he said, pointing to Logan. “He’s a bad influence.”

Virgil frowned in confusion. “He’s the prince,” he pointed out.

“And a bad influence,” Mr. Deknis repeated. “He’s a beacon of irresponsibility and mischief and he corrupts that one,” he nodded to Patton.

“I am completely responsible,” Logan replied.

“Need I remind you of the cucumber incident.”

“I was 8,” Logan said.

“I know how old you were,” Mr. Deknis replied, “and you are hardly any older.”

“I resent that.”

Mr. Deknis just smiled and turned back to Virgil who was watching the interaction with pure curiosity.

 “I just picked a few more of those apples for Patton’s mom to make into apple sauce. Would you kids like some?”

Virgil glanced over at Logan and Patton.

“That would be nice, thank you,” Patton replied for them all, standing up. Seeing that, Virgil also climbed to his feet.

“It’s back this way,” Mr. Deknis said, inclining hid head back the way he’d came and then turning to lead them that way. Patton followed him. He glanced back to see Logan put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder and give him a gentle push to get him going. “So, what are you kids up to today?”

 “We wanted to show Virgil the garden and courtyard,” Patton said. “He’s been cooped up inside for a bit.”

“I see,” Mr. Deknis said. He glanced back at Virgil. “Feel free to come out in the garden anytime you like. As long as you don’t go about purposefully destroying stuff, I don’t mind you being out here.”

“I won’t destroy anything,” Virgil promised instantly.

“Well I hope you manage to keep that attitude even while befriending the large upright groundhog behind you.”

Virgil looked a little bit nervous. “He’s just teasing Virgil,” Patton assured. “He loves Logan.”

Mr. Deknis glanced back again and seemed to read the same thing Patton had read on Virgil’s face.

 “Yes, of course,” Mr. Deknis said. “I have simply known the prince for a long time and joke with him in that way often. Logan is aware of that.”

“Indeed,” Logan agreed, his hand squeezing a bit on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil relaxed a touch.

Mr. Deknis stopped and reached down into a bucket next to a tree. “I wouldn’t offer my apples to people I don’t like,” he said, tossing an apple underhand to Logan. Instead of trying to catch it, his eyes widened and he dodged out of the way.

“You would however throw apples at them despite knowing they have never been able to catch things.”

 Mr. Deknis just rolled his eyes fondly, but Virgil frowned and turned to Logan. “You don’t know how to catch things?” he asked scandalized. “You should know how to catch things. What if someone throws a knife at you?”

Mr. Deknis looked… probably the right amount of concerned about that statement coming from a 14-year-old’s lips.

“Haha, yeah,” Patton said awkwardly. “Maybe you can teach Logan how to catch things Virgil, but later. Right now, why don’t we just get the apples and then show you the courtyard.”

Virgil was still frowning, but he did not argue with Patton’s suggestion.

 Thankfully, Mr. Deknis did not push, though Patton did have to dodge many a meaningful side eye. He might… need to make sure he did not get cornered by the gardener in the coming days… or brush up on his lying without lying skills.

For now, though, he just handed out the apples, not tossing them this time. Virgil thanked him softly and Patton could see the way the usually fairly gruff man went all melty at that. He even slipped an extra apple to Virgil for later which Virgil perked up at.

Patton and Logan pulled him away gently after that so Mr. Deknis could go back to work, but Virgil seemed happy with the apples and copied Patton at waving goodbye to him cheerfully.

Despite the fact that he liked Mr. Deknis and he’d been nice, Patton still took a calming breath when they were no longer at risk of lying about something and getting caught by the man’s powers. They went back into the castle towards the courtyard.

  Chapter 23

Logan was unsurprised that after showing Virgil the large courtyard, Patton almost immediately decided to instigate a game of tag. They were, after all, here with the goal of getting Virgil a bit active after having had him only in Logan’s room for weeks.

He was also unsurprised that Virgil seemed confused about the concept of tag, and Patton had to explain the game in detail to him.

It made him wince, but he still was unsurprised when Virgil went about inquiring after the consequences of losing the game.

He was, however, very surprised when, after getting all of the facts about tag settle, Patton was chasing after Virgil trying to tag him and suddenly the boy disappeared.

 Patton almost ran into a wall in his confusion. He stared at his hands stretched out and just a couple of inches from touching the wall for a moment, before slowly looking up.

“Virgil!” Patton exclaimed. “What?”

“What?” he asked.

“…What are you even hanging onto?”

“The wall,” Virgil replied.

Logan walked closer to the two of them and tilted his head up to look at him. Virgil had jumped up and somehow managed to find hand and foot holes on the seemingly smooth wall. He climbed about 5 meters above their heads and was peering down at them curiously.

 “Okay,” Logan said. “New rule. Virgil is not allowed to scale walls during tag.”

Virgil frowned down at him. “Why only me?”

“Because Patton and I cannot do that anyway,” Logan said. “We would not be able to actually play if you remain up there.”

Patton glanced over at him and reached over to touch Logan’s shoulder. “No tag backs,” he said. Logan glared at him. “Why don’t you come down sweetie?”

“But Logan will tag me,” he said.

“Well, honey, that’s part of the fun,” Patton reasoned. “Don’t you want to try being it?”

Virgil seemed to consider this for a long moment. “Okay,” he agreed.

 To Logan’s terror, he simply let go of the wall, falling straight down and landing crouched. He blinked at Logan. Right. With a start, Patton took off, so he’d have a head start. “No tag backs means a 10 second head start for me,” Logan reminded. Virgil nodded, and Logan reached out to poke him in the arm before immediately running off in the opposite direction as Patton.

Logan’s strategy worked out since, knowing he couldn’t go after Logan for a few seconds more, he chose to turn and go after Patton. After finding one of the statues to hide behind on the edge of the courtyard, Logan risked glancing back.

 Virgil was faster than Logan (and likely Patton) had accounted for. Patton had gotten a good head start on him, but Virgil closed it quickly. Patton shrieked as Virgil barreled into him, bringing them both to the ground.

“Virgil!” Logan heard Patton giggle. Logan figured he was more than okay despite the tackle. “This isn’t how you play tag!”

“I combined tag and tackle hugs,” Virgil declared, making Patton giggle more.

“That’s very innovative, honey,” Patton said. “Now are you going to let me up?...Virgil… I’m counting down your 10 second head start in my head, and if you don’t let me up I’m going to tag you again.”

 This did not seem to have the intended effect as Virgil did not remove himself from Patton’s person. Patton laugh when it became clear he was not going to move and began counting down “7, 6, 5, 4, you’d better let me go sweetie, or you’re going to get tagged again.” Virgil did not seem to care. “3, 2, 1.” Patton reached up and bopped him on the nose. “Tag!” he declared.

Logan was surprised when Virgil instantly jumped off Patton at that. He whipped around.

‘Oh,’ Logan thought as the boy’s eyes narrowed in on Logan immediately, ‘I see.’

 “Virgil was already halfway across the courtyard towards him before Logan could even think about running away. There was no way that he was fast enough to outrun him. Perhaps he could outthink him, he thought. His eyes scanned his environment in the seconds he had left and landed on a large square piece of stone that held flowers in the spring. It was just full of dirt now, but it was still about waist high. Perhaps if he kept that between them, he could outmaneuver him. He sprinted towards it and scrambled to the opposite side from where Virgil was heading.

 He really should not have been as surprised as he was that Virgil did not even slightly slow as he approached the planter box, instead grabbing ahold of the side of it and vaulting over it. Logan stumbled back, bracing for impact, but instead he just got a quick tap on the shoulder.

Logan blinked at him.

“I don’t know if you would be okay with tackle hugs,” he explained.

Logan considered him. “I would be okay with a nontackle hug.”

Virgil happily jumped forward to hug Logan, pressing his nose into Logan’s shoulder. Logan chuckled and patted the top of his head. “Six,” he said, “5, 4, 3…”

 Virgil bolted away suddenly, actually making Logan stumble a bit. He paused just out of reach of Logan, looking at him with anticipation. “2,1,” Logan finished with a raised eyebrow. He already knew he was being played with, but he indulged him by starting towards him. Virgil danced out of the way, eyes alight. Logan sighed. “Is this truly how it’s going to be?” he asked.

Virgil didn’t answer, but to watch him with wide, excited eyes.

“Fine,” Logan said. He dashed towards him again, only to have him continue to maneuver just out of Logan’s reach each time Logan went forward. He’d call it taunting if there was any sign of malice in it.

 They ran around the courtyard in spirts of Logan charging at him and Virgil expertly dodging. Eventually Patton came closer to them. Logan could tell that Virgil was aware of his presence, by how he glanced back at him briefly, but considering he was not ‘it,’ it seemed he chose to disregard him. However, he was not aware of the way Patton winked at Logan as he walked up behind Virgil.

Logan, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening. He went to spring for Virgil again, and Virgil again moved to dodge, but this time Patton grabbed him around the waist, allowing Logan to actually tag him.

 He turned slowly to face Patton who started to giggle immediately at the perplexed look on his face. It cleared into something else as soon as he heard Patton laugh. “Traitor!” he claimed. “We were on the same team and you betrayed me.”

“I just thought we should probably have mercy on poor Logan,” Patton replied.

“Hmm,” Virgil said, eyes again full of that playful mischief Logan had not seen until today. “Plea for mercy not accepted.”

Patton once again half-shrieked half-laughed as he was pounced on. The two of them went rolling across the grass, Virgil clearly keeping the rolling going longer than it should have as they made it a good few meters.

 Virgil sprung off of him a few moments later.

“Oh, is it my turn?” Patton inquired with a huge smile. He slowly got to his feet. “Hmm, I’m probably at about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” He took off after Virgil, but Patton had a bit more endurance than Logan, so instead of doing quickly calculated lunges at Virgil as Logan had done, he just ran at him full tilt without stopping.

Virgil ran from him, though Logan was pretty sure he was intentionally slowing himself down a bit so Patton had some amount of a chance. He kept turning to check behind him and make sure Patton was still somewhat close as he ran.

Which is why he didn’t see the imminent disaster in time.

  Chapter 24

Thomas should have been paying more attention, but his mind had been on the meeting he’d just had with the castle guards about increased security in the wake of the possible threat from Mocnejsi. He’d decided to take a brief walk around the courtyard to clear his head but was still distracted with mulling over the options that had just been presented to him. He stepped into the castle courtyard and did not have time to step out of the way of the much smaller body rocketing towards him. Virgil slammed into his front, but not before Thomas got a good look at his face.

 Virgil’s expression changed dramatically in the few seconds between him registering Thomas was there and running into him. For the briefest moment, Thomas could see that he must have been having a lot of fun. He’d caught the wide smile and sparkling eyes as Virgil turned his head back from looking at Patton who was chasing him across the greenery. He’d looked very happy which made it all the more painful to see that happiness die in and a few instants. When his head had turned back towards Thomas, there was a flicker of confusion at something being in his path.

 Then, clearly everything about the situation registered, because his eyes blew wide in horror as he tried to stop himself, but there was no way he’d be able to in time. Thomas saw that fact register on his face the moment before he hit. Gone was any trace of happiness or joy in that split second. All that was left was dread that had no place anywhere near a children’s game of tag. It was the expression Thomas would expect from someone who felt ice give way under their feet in the middle of a lake they had thought was frozen solid.

 He hit hard, but he wasn’t nearly big enough to actually harm Thomas. Thomas was thrown slightly off balance but managed to stay on his feet. He reached out a hand to his shoulder automatically to steady the child. There was a moment of pseudo calm where they both absorbed the impact and stilled.

Then, the boy’s shoulder slipped out of Thomas’s grip as he went crashing to the ground in a move that made Thomas wince for the state of his knees. Thomas couldn’t quite grasp what was happening for a moment as Virgil face planted onto the ground in front of him, but when he did, Thomas couldn’t help but flinch and take a step back from him.

 Thomas had been bowed to before, of course, seeing as he was a king, but this was not out of respect or courtesy or even just tradition. This was out of terror. He was begging for mercy and it made Thomas feel sick.

“I’m sorry,” he said, meek and shaky into the ground, and there was almost something worse about the fact that he did not beg for forgiveness with his words, but only his posture. The way his breathes came far too quick and shallow said he was likely on the verge of a panic attack, but he was not blubbering through apologies or even not speaking at all. He gave a clear, if shaky, apology, and waited for whatever he thought Thomas planned to do to him. There was no way that was not learned.

 “You don’t…” Thomas stuttered. “You don’t have to do that. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again, but he reacted in no other way. He did not even react when Patton made it to his side and knelt down next to him. Patton’s hand hovered over his back, clearly wanting to touch down, but he pulled back on that instinct.

“Virgil, honey,” he said softly. “It’s okay. No one is mad. It was an accident.”

Virgil did not react to this at all.

Thomas caught Logan’s eye as he hurried over to them himself. “Sorry,” Thomas mouthed. Logan just nodded and turned his attention to his friend.

 “There is no reason for any of that,” Logan said, his voice firm, almost clipped. “You are not in trouble. Now sit up.”

Virgil did respond to that, slowly shifting back on his knees. He kept his head down looking at the ground. “Sorry,” he said again.

“I…” Thomas said, surveying the three kids on the ground in front of him. Thomas slowly sunk to the ground to be at their level. Virgil was tracking his movements out of the corner of his eyes, his head still bowed and his shoulders tensed. “Hey,” Thomas said softly. “Were you three playing tag?”

 Virgil hesitated, eyes flickering as he debated whether he should respond or not.

“Yeah, we were,” Patton answered for him after a moment of stressful silence.

“Well that’s fun,” Thomas said. “I’m sorry for interrupting the three of you. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Virgil glanced up at him for just a moment before looking away again. Patton apparently felt it was safe enough to touch Virgil, because he settled a hand on the boys shoulder.

“Yeah, we’ve just been having a fun day,” Patton said, carefully matching Thomas’s light tone. “We went to the garden and did some reading. Then, Mr. Deknis gave us some apples.”

 “That’s nice,” Thomas replied. “He’s been talking about the new apples he’s been growing. He’s been working on them for years and they’re just beginning to bare fruit this year. I haven’t gotten a chance to try any yet. Are they any good?”

“They’re very good,” Patton told him. His hand rubbed slowly on Virgil’s back. “Isn’t that right, Virge?”

Virgil nodded a bit, a little less tense now, but still nowhere near calm.

“Well, I’ll have to try them soon,” Thomas said with a smile. “Thank you for the information. Now, I’ve got to get back to what I’m doing, but I hope you three have a good day.”

 “I’ll see you later, Dad,” Logan said.

Thomas nodded and pushed himself to his feet. “Goodbye you three,” he said before turning away towards the door back into the castle. He paused to take a breath when the door closed behind him, cutting off the courtyard. There were a lot of thoughts to shirt through in regards to that conversation. He hated that Virgil was so obviously terrified of him. Both of their two interactions had ended with the poor thing panicking on the ground. He wished he had some idea of how to help him or at least someone to talk to about it.

Maybe he’d go visit Mr. Deknis himself and not just for the apples.

  Chapter 25

“Alright,” Patton said, pressing a kiss to Virgil’s forehead. “I’ve got to go back to my room for the night. Will you two be okay?”

“We’ll be fine,” Logan said. “It won’t be particularly different than the last two weeks.”

Patton nodded and leaned to the side to squeeze Virgil in another hug. He’d been clingy since the incident in the courtyard, and Virgil had been appreciative considering he was still pretty shaky from it. He was still surprised he’d touched the king of Prijaznia (let alone ran into him) and lived to tell the tale.

“Goodnight, Pat,” Virgil said because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t leave if Virgil didn’t.

 “Night Virge,” Patton said with a smile before standing up from where they’d been sitting on the ground. He reached over to hug Logan who was sitting on a chair. “Night Lo! Put the book down and go to bed.”

Logan looked up from his book with a frown.

“It’s almost midnight,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and set his book down. “Very well,” he agreed. “We will get ready for bed.”

“You better! I’m going to come and wake you up early in the morning.”

“Early in the morning for you is 9am,” Logan scoffed.

Patton stuck his tongue out at him as he walked backwards out of the door.

 Logan gave his book a mournful look once the door closed and Virgil almost giggled. “I won’t tell on you,” he said.

Logan thought about it for a few moments. “No,” he finally said. “We should probably get some sleep.”

Virgil nodded and pushed himself to his feet.

“We should probably both take a bath after sitting in the dirt today,” Logan said. “Do you want to go first or should I?”

“Don’t care,” Virgil answered.

“You can go first,” Logan offered.

Virgil felt himself smile. “You just want to finish the chapter in that book,” he accused.

“Perhaps,” Logan conceded.

 Virgil just grinned and walked over to his closet to grab one of the outfits he’d been given for pajamas. He chose a pair of baggy shorts that went past his knees and the huge soft black sweater Logan had found in the back of his closet. He headed into the bathroom, noting Logan had already picked up his book again.

Logan may have declared the both of them dirty enough for bathing a few minutes before, but Virgil was cleaner than he thought he’d ever been before coming to the castle. Logan had taught him how to use the tub and what soaps to use for what a couple of days after he’d arrived and had suggested he clean himself regularly.

 Virgil didn’t mind. The tub was enchanted to warm the water inside of it and Virgil loved it. Though, that had the negative affect of making it very difficult to leave.

He cleaned himself up quickly, so he’d have a few minutes to just sit in the water before he felt like he needed to get out and let Logan have a turn. He changed into his pajamas, pulling the crescent shaped protection charm out of his day clothes pocket and storing the warm to the touch stone in the short pocket. He used the clip Patton had made it to pin it to the cloth to make sure he wouldn’t lose it.

 Logan was engrossed in his reading by the time that Virgil exited the bathroom. He did not look up as Virgil approached.

“Your turn,” Virgil said to him.

Logan clearly just barely managed to tear his eyes away from the book. “Right,” he said. “Yes.”

“The book will be there in the morning,” Virgil reminded.

“I know,” said Logan sadly as he set the book aside.

Logan never took much time in the bath, so Virgil quickly went about getting ready for bed the rest of the way. He put his day clothes in the basket Logan had for that purpose and started to straighten out the blankets and pillows in the closet.

 He heard Logan come back into the room a few minutes later.

“Virgil,” Logan said. “What are you doing?”

Virgil looked over at him. “Getting ready for bed,” he answered, confused.

Logan frowned at him. “You don’t sleep in the closet anymore,” Logan said. “That’s only for when we were worried you might escape.”

“Oh,” Virgil said blinking over at him. “Right.” He felt a slight pulling at his chest. He liked the closet. It was warm and soft. Patton had taken a lot of care with how he’d arranged all of the pillows and blankets. It was the best place he could ever remember having to sleep in his life. Yet, he did not argue. He knew getting to sleep out in the open was supposed to be a reward and he wasn’t about to reject it.

 Virgil stood and closed the closet. He tugged on the bottom of his sweater, stretching the fabric between his hands as he watched Logan pull down the covers of his bed and settle down onto it. Cautiously he walked over towards the bed. He wasn’t sure where he should lay down exactly. He dithered for a moment before bending down to sit on the floor near the right side of Logan’s bed and then laying down.

There was shuffling on the bed above him and then Logan’s head popped over the side to squint down at him. “On the bed Virgil,” he said.

 Virgil looked up at him in shock. “But it… I’m…” He trailed off and there were a few seconds of silence.

“It is just a bed Virgil,” Logan said.

But it wasn’t ‘just’ anything. Virgil was pretty sure touching the bed of a royal family member without permission would be considered a capital offence. At least, it would in Mocnejsi. Yet, Logan was expecting him to just… crawl into it?

“Please just get up here,” Logan said. Virgil’s caution at touching something he was definitely sure he should not be allowed to be touching wared with his resolve to repay his literal life debt to Logan by doing whatever he wanted.

 Feeling honestly a bit sick to his stomach, Virgil slowly pushed himself back to his feet. Logan scooted back over to the left side of the bed, and Virgil cautiously sat down on the empty side of the bed. After a second of hesitation he slowly laid down, his head hitting a soft fluffy pillow. He jumped when Logan flopped the covers on top of both of them.

Virgil took a long moment to absorb the situation while Logan took off his glasses and reached over to turn off the light next to him. He’d never slept in a bed before, or if he had he’d been too young to remember. In the orphanage there was a lack of actual beds due to overcrowding and there had always been someone bigger and stronger that Virgil didn’t dare fight for the use of them. During training, none of the kids had a bed. Only a few of the higher ups had ones at the more permanent training sites. There were very few situations where any of the assassins, at least a Virgil’s level, would be allowed to touch a real bed.

 The light switched off, plunging them into darkness.

“Is this…?” Virgil said, eyes still pointed towards the ceiling even though his eyes had not adjusted to the darkness enough to be able to see it. “Do you want… things?”

“Things?” Logan asked.

Virgil did not move his head, but he did reach over and put his hand slightly above Logan’s knee. Logan didn’t move, so Virgil slid his hand up.

Virgil’s wrist was grabbed immediately and pulled firmly away from Logan’s inner thigh. He did not let go afterwards, his fingers squeezing hard, but not quite painfully. “Never,” Logan said, his voice harsher than it had ever been even on the day when Virgil was nothing more than an intruder with deadly intent. “Never offer anything like that to anyone ever again.”

 “I was just…”

“I know what you were doing,” Logan said, voice icy, “and it inadmissible. Never offer that again for anything. Do you understand me?”

“I... yes.”

“Promise me.”

Virgil took a short moment to think. “I promise,” he agreed.

“Good,” Logan said, releasing his hand. His voice got softer too. “Good.”

They were silent for a long time after that, though Virgil had no delusions that Logan had fallen asleep. He could almost feel the tension.

“Sorry,” Virgil finally said softly.

“It’s not something you should be apologizing for,” Logan replied. The bed moved as Logan shifted and a hand lightly touched the top of his head. “Just… never.”

 “Okay,” Virgil said. He shifted slightly after a moment until his head was in the crook of Logan’s arm. Logan brushed the hair out of his face with the hand that had been on his head.

“Goodnight Virgil,” Logan said.

“Goodnight,” Virgil responded. They were quiet after that, though Virgil was still awake for a while yet and Logan’s hand slowly stroked through his hair for a while. Eventually though, Virgil relaxed into mattress. He stuck his hand into his pocket and curled it around the charm in his pocket. The bed was nice, he thought. It was soft and warm… and safe. He finally fell asleep.

  Chapter 26

Patton did their new special knock on the door so Logan and Virgil would know it was just him and they didn’t need to hide the fact that Virgil was sleeping in the prince’s room. He didn’t wait for a response, however, and just shoved open the door. He was surprised to see that Logan was not already out of bed and wondered for a moment if he had broken his promise stayed up way too late reading like he was sometimes known to do. Yet, then, Logan spoke from the bed. “I’m awake,” he called.

Confused, Patton stepped into the room. Logan wasn’t one for lazing around in bed; usually he was out of bed the moment he woke.

 He stepped over to the bed and had to stifle a smile when he recognized the problem. Logan was awake, but Virgil was still sleeping, and he was half on top of Logan, his arms wrapped around him.

“Why don’t you just squirm out of his arms like you do me?” Patton asked, keeping his voice low.

“He isn’t like you,” Logan said. He did not bother to quiet himself at all.

“What do you mean?” Patton asked amused.

In answer, Logan started to move as though to squirm out of Virgil’s death grip on him. In response, Virgil made a pitiful mewling sound in his sleep that landed like a piercing blow straight to the heart. Logan stopped moving immediately and Virgil shifted to grip Logan tighter.

 “Aw!” Patton said.

“It’s not cute,” Logan insisted. “I’ve been stuck for hours and I have to pee.”

Patton chuckled. “Alright, alright, I’ll save you.” He rounded the bed to Virgil’s side and crawled up on it. “Virgil, honey,” he entreated softly. “I think it’s time for me to get cuddles so Lo can get up.” Patton softly touched Virgil’s shoulder and pulled at him gently. He reached forward to carefully pry Virgil’s arms off of Logan.

Virgil made a more confused than heartbreaking sound this time, turning towards Patton so Patton could wrap his arms around him. Logan managed to scoot towards the edge of the bed.

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Logan made it off the bed and dashed towards the bathroom as Virgil’s arms came around Patton and squeezed. Patton laughed and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. After a few moments, Virgil’s eyes started to flicker a bit.

“Good morning, honey,” Patton said softly. “Did you sleep good?”

He hummed sleepily. “Beds are nice,” he said. Patton felt a slight pang at that because it implied he didn’t get to sleep in beds very much, but he chose to shove that aside.

“They are,” Patton agreed. Virgil’s eyes started to close again. “Honey,” Patton laughed. “I think it’s time to wake up now.”

 Virgil made a sleepy whining sound, squeezing Patton tighter. “Don’t you want breakfast?” Patton asked. That question managed to make Virgil open his eyes again. “I was thinking we could go down to the kitchen to eat that way it’s nice and fresh and I can introduce you to Mama real quick.” He neglected to mention the fact that they really did not have a choice. Mr. Deknis had blabbed to Mama about Virgil, and worse, had apparently mentioned that Virgil was skinny. As soon as he’d gotten home yesterday, he’d been met with an already worked up Mama firmly insisting that she meet Virgil sometime today.

 He wasn’t going to tell Virgil that though, because he thought it might scare him away from both Mama and Mr. Deknis.

Virgil thought about the prospect of breakfast for a long moment. “Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll be awake.”

“Good,” Patton said. He reached up to bop him on the nose. Virgil narrowed his eyes and then bopped him back making Patton giggle. He sat up then, and Virgil let him. “Let’s get you something to wear and do your hair,” Patton suggested. Virgil nodded and reluctantly got out of bed, just as Logan returned to the room. “We’re going to go downstairs for breakfast,” Patton told Logan. “That way Virgil can meet my mom.” He gave Logan a significant look and Logan nodded once in understanding that this was not a choice.

 Logan and Virgil got dressed, and Patton did Virgil’s hair up nice, before Patton led them out of the royal wing. They went down the main staircase instead of the spiral staircase that went right to the kitchen, mostly because it would be very busy, and Patton thought they should probably eat in the main dining room anyway. He could feel Virgil getting more anxious as they entered the busier part of the castle, and he stuck close to either Patton or Logan from the time they hit the top of the steps all the way to the main dining room.

 There were a few people in the dining room already eating breakfast when they arrived. Virgil’s curiosity seemed to temporarily overwhelm his anxiety as he looked around the large hall and at all of the people there. Patton looked around trying to see it through his eyes. He’d been running around this place since he was little, so he never really thought about how big the room was or how grandly it was decorated, but Virgil was just seeing it for the first time. Patton smiled at him as he guided him to one of the seats. There was already muffins on the table so Patton grabbed one and plopped it in front of Virgil.

 Virgil frowned down at the muffin dubiously. “You just… keep food out in the open?” he asked.

Right.

“It’s fine, Virgil,” Patton promised. “No one here would have put anything in it.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes and looked around at the other occupants of the room suspiciously.

“Honestly,” Logan said. “No one even knew we would be down here for breakfast. Nobody would just put something in random people’s food for no reason.”

Virgil gave him a look like he’d just told him people could in fact breathe under water. Virgil was really from a… whole different world, wasn’t he?

 “It’s really fine,” Patton said. “Logan and I have eaten things on the table like this a lot.”

“I’m surprised your not dead yet,” Virgil said.

Logan rolled his eyes and reached for a muffin. Virgil slapped it out of his hand and onto the floor. “Really?” Logan asked.

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him. “No eating unsecured food!”

“Virgil,” Logan groaned.

“I bet you don’t even know what common poisons taste like.”

“No,” Logan said. “I don’t because I don’t worry about being poisoned on a daily basis!”

“You should!”

People were starting to look over at them. Patton shot an awkward smile at the woman a few chairs down.

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“Just don’t eat the muffins Logan,” Patton said under his breath.

“I do not understand why-”

“Because it’s stupid as he-”

“Shush,” Patton commanded out of the corner of his mouth, “people are watching, and Virgil is just a normal castle resident.”

That shut the both of them up at least.

“No muffins for now,” Patton said. “I assume it’s okay to eat the things they bring straight from the kitchen.”

Virgil looked a bit leery of this still, but he nodded.

“Good,” Patton said, “then we’ll just wait for that to get here and then everyone will be happy, right?”

Logan opened his mouth and Patton turned to glare at him.

“Right?”

[gotbts7fics]

Positive | Five |

| Four | July 2018 (1) | Six |

“I don’t know if this is a smart idea. Like, being in the same city of them is risky let alone going to their concert.” Owen said to you as he wrestled to put Ayla into her outfit. She was pretty feisty for an eight month old baby, way more than Jaidyn had been. Ayla, your sweet, beautiful Ayla. She had been born on October 10th, 2017. Ironically the day of her father’s comeback, go figure. She was a perfect mix between you and JB, albeit having adopted his terrible temper. Having Ayla was something incredible. She was the one thing that encapsulated the love you lost, having gained love again. Jaidyn had been thrilled to find out she was having a baby sister, and true to her nature, she was an unbelievable helper. Jaidyn had grown so much in the past year, she was a laid back child, going with the flow and enjoying adventures. She had settled relatively easy back in Canada. There had been tears when she learned that you and JB had ended things. Oh there had been tears, and then she was sad he would never know of her baby sister. She was angry to for a bit, but life goes on. Now she was happy and excited.

“The likelihood of them seeing us in Toronto is like… none. And we will blend into the crowd at the concert. It’s fool proof. Besides, think of Jaidyn, she still misses him. This is a way for her to see him without him seeing us.” You smiled as you took your squirmy baby from him.

“Also I’ll have you there. You can protect us!” You laughed, Owen only scowled at you. He still wasn’t happy with how you handled things, but he loved those little girls so much. So much that he agreed to tag along to the city with you, to watch Ayla, while you took Jaidyn to the ‘Eyes On You’ concert. Something a few friends were apprehensive of. You couldn’t even imagine running into them. It wouldn’t happen. Toronto was way to big. Owen was finishing packing your bags and bringing them out to the car. He was an amazing man, you couldn’t help but admire. He had been there, to pick your crying pathetic ass up from the airport. He wrapped his arms around you and kissed your forehead, grabbing your bags and leading you and Jaidyn to his truck. After you came home he took care of you two, feeding you and making you laugh. You had changed your number quickly after returning, and deleted all the members off your social media. Even then you had been extremely careful of what you posted, in case a mutual friend saw something. You literally removed yourself from their life. It had hurt, god it had hurt. You almost messaged JB several times, like the day of his comeback when Ayla entered the world. Or when Jaidyn had done something amazing at gymnastics. Everything you were excited for and wanted to share with him you couldn’t, and that’s where Owen came in. He was there. He was there for everything and you appreciated him so much for it.

“Are you ready, because I am, and let me tell you… this drive is going to suck without coffee” Owen said, pulling you away from your thoughts.

“Yup, all set” You replied making your way to the door. Jaidyn had already run off and climbed into the car, anxious to head to the City. With the house locked and the car packed, your little family was off to the City for a few days vacation.

“Hyung! Do you want to come to the mall with us. Let’s go shopping?!” Youngjae yelled, making JB look up from his phone. It was the last picture he had taken with you and Jaidyn. It was his lock screen, his home screen, hell he’s pretty sure he made it every screen and printed it out for places around the dorm and his studio.

“No thanks, I’m going to rest.” He mumbled, looking back at your smiling faces. Just over a year had passed, a whole year where he had thrown himself into work, not wanting to believe you were gone. He had tried to contact you. Several times a day in the beginning, even having the other members try. When you had changed your phone number he moved to social media, only realizing you had deleted him, and the others. You had ripped his heart out, and now you made it completely impossible for him to contact you. He had been angry, so angry towards you. He tried to get over you time and time again. He dated other girls, but it never went far. A few dates in he called it off, they weren’t you. No one was you. He wanted you, he wanted his daughter, he wanted the little family you gave him. So he threw his whole being into work. The song face on their 7 of 7 album was about you, how he had prayed you would hear it and reach out to him, realizing he needed you, but you never did. The other members tried to help him move on, but gave up. They supported him, regardless of how it hurt them to see him still hung up on you. They weren’t angry at you anymore though. Just upset and confused on how you could just leave. Each one of them missed you in their own way, and they still secretly tried to find you. JB knew this when going through Jackson’s phone once for a certain picture. He had seen the attempts to text you.

“Are you sure. We don’t come to Canada often, it will be nice to get out….” Jinyoung said cautiously.

“I’m okay, thanks. Have fun.” JB replied without looking up. Toronto, being in Canada, it hurt. He knew your home town was only 3 hours away, and when it was announced that they would be in Canada, he tried to figure out exactly how he could track you down, showing up on your doorstep. Sadly, he couldn’t. So here he was, staring at your picture, wishing with all his might that you would show up to his concert, like you used to in Seoul.

“Okay, well…. we will see you later” Jinyoung said, leaving with Youngjae to visit the Eaton Centre.

Exhausted and lonely, JB went to his hotel bed and simply decided to nap.

“You brought me shopping… and not even at Bass Pro. This is torture” Owen exclaimed, pushing a sleeping Ayla in the stroller as you held Jaidyn’s hand, walking into the Eaton Centre.

“Come on!!! It’s fun! This place is the best!” You smiled brightly at him.

“YEAH! And they have the Disney store!!!!!” Jaidyn yelled, jumping like a little bunny full of excitement.

Owen smiled fondly at the two of you, meaning you had won this battle with your charms. Walking around the shopping centre brought you a feeling of peace. So many stores you didn’t have at home that you could spend hours in. Walking among the many individuals browsing, you made your way to the Disney store, as per Jaidyn’s request.

“Can we please, please buy something?” Jaidyn asked in her cute way when she really wanted something.

“We will see” You replied with a smile.

“I’ll wait outside with the baby, no use for us going in”

“Really…..”

“Yeah, we will be right there when you come out” He said with a chuckle, pointing to a bench, as you approached the store front, conceding that he would not walk into the store with you, opting to play on his phone while he waited. You and Jaidyn left him, and walked into the store of happiness.

Youngjae and Jinyoung had been walking around for a while now, hardly being noticed, so the two were just enjoying the time. While walking along the corridor glancing around, Youngjae looked into a store with toys and kids running around. Youngjae faltered in his steps, looking up he noticed he was in front of a Disney store.

“Why did you stop?” Jinyoung asked, with a quirked eyebrow.

“No reason, Hyung, lets wait a minute” Youngjae said making his way to the glass wall railing that overlooked to the floor below, not bothering to wait for a response from the older man.

“Why?” Jinyoung asked again. Youngjae was ignoring him, but his eyes were trained on the entrance of that store.

“What are you waiting for? Just go in if you want, don’t stand here” Jinyoung said in annoyance.

“Maman!”

Jinyoung whipped around to the entrance of the store, he knew that voice. Oh god, he knew that voice so well.

“Maman, lets go!”

Jinyoung held his breath, when the little girl who was calling to their mom stepped out of the store, Jinyoung gasped. It was her. The little girl he read stories too, who had dance offs with. There she was, right in front of him.

“Hyung…” Youngjae went to move forward, only for Jinyoung to grab his wrist, shaking his head as Youngjae looked at him. They waited with bated breath, watching the entrance that she was standing in front of. A few seconds later, you emerged holding a multitude of bags and a smile on your face. You didn’t notice them, instead you looked at your daughter, who was running ahead of you. They watched you walk over to a man standing opposite of them. They watched as he took the bags from you and put them under a stroller. Jinyoung’s eyes went wide, a stroller. Youngjae was staring, he couldn’t believe it. There you were, with Jaidyn, another man, and with a stroller. Jaidyn was way to old for a stroller.

As if by the grace of god, the little person in the stroller started to cry. They watched as you bent down and picked up the baby, snuggling it close. Youngjae looked at Jinyoung with a shocked expression.

“Oh shit. Hyung… is that… do you think….?” Youngjae asked unable to form a true sentence.

“We don’t know anything. Let’s not jump to any conclusions.” Jinyoung said, but he had an aching suspicion on the reason why you had left Korea now. He closed his eyes for a minute. Should he follow you, should he tell JB. His mind was muddled on what to do.

“Come on Jaidyn, we need to head to the hotel now. We need to rest well for the concert tomorrow”

“Maman, do you think Appa will see me?” Jaidyn asked, you could tell she wanted to see JB so badly.

“No sweetie, remember I told you Appa is very busy. We will go support him but don’t be upset if he doesn’t see you in the crowd okay?” You said with a smile.

Jinyoung looked back at Youngjae, who was taking a picture of the scene in front of him.

“What are you doing?!” Jinyoung whispered harshly.

“We have to tell Hyung!” Youngjae whined.

“Omg are you nuts, what if she sees us!” Jinyoung said turning around to face somewhere other than at you.

“Did you hear though, she’s going to the concert!” Youngjae said with a smile.

“Youngjae, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing” Jinyoung said. Honestly, he didn’t know what he felt, other than chaos.

“Let’s follow them!” Youngjae exclaimed.

“What… NO! Why would we do that?” Jinyoung was losing his mind right now.

“Because then we will know which hotel she is at… duh. Honestly Hyung, why aren’t you thinking?” Youngjae said as he began to walk after you.

“Omg Youngjae!” Jinyoung called after him.. jogging to catch up. This was a bad idea, Jinyoung thought.

“Lets walk by the TORONTO sign!” Jaidyn squealed. She was full of energy, running this way and that.

“Can you at least stay close?” Owen warned. It was the beginning of summer and the square was absolutely crowded.

“Hey! Look!” Jaidyn said running forward to all the flags.

“She is so happy” You remarked, looking towards Owen. He was pushing the now back asleep baby for you. He would never admit it, but he was enjoying this little trip.

“Yeah, she is. But are you?” He questioned, keeping his eye on the eight year old who was running in every direction.

“I am”

“Nervous?”

“Yes, now that I am here… I am but I know the likelihood of being seen is so small. He probably wouldn’t even recognize me”

“Sure, three years of dating, and he just forgets about you. Do you know what he’s been up too?”

“No, I’m sure he is dating some really beautiful idol. Ya know? Living his life normally” You said with a faint, but sad smile.

“Maybe, you deserve happiness Y/N. Don’t think that just because you have the girls that no one will love you, and them whole heartedly. You should open yourself up again.”

“The girls are my priority. Besides, I’m not ready. My heart still belongs to him” You looked at Owen, who was now looking at you.

“He doesn’t deserve it” He snapped, turning back towards the Toronto sign, where Jaidyn was playing.

You looked at your eldest daughter, smiling and laughing as she ran around. Owen had been there to catch her when she fell, he had dried your tears, maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to let go and live happily.

“Hyung, look how happy Jaidyn is. I want to hug her and run too” Youngjae said as he watched Jaidyn. Jinyoung couldn’t help it, he also was watching the little girl play. It had been a long year. Everyone had been lost in the beginning when  you had left. Their hearts broken, missing both of you. JB had thrown himself into work, to the point that it was almost scary. For a year they had been busy working and preparing for this tour, but the hole never closed. There had been so much anger for Jinyoung. He was close to you and for you to just leave, it hurt so much. Now, seeing you with a man and your daughter that anger had returned in full force.

“Youngjae, we need to go” Jinyoung interrupted Youngjae’s private photo shoot.

“You can’t keep taking pictures like that”

“Whyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Youngjae whined.

“Because, it looks weird. Come on, lets go back to the hotel” Jinyoung began to drag the reluctant Youngjae towards their accommodation for the next few days.

“But Hyung, don’t you want to find out where they’re staying!?”

“Absolutely not, you’ll tell Jaebum-hyung and that would be bad!” Jinyoung exclaimed.

“He deserves to know.”

“Youngjae…. lets go.”

You and Owen had sat down on a bench, watching Jaidyn run around the square to release energy, being oblivious to the two men who also watched her. Jaidyn had seen them though. She stopped for a moment and looked right at them, before giving them a wave and running to you.

“Maman, I’m hungry” your little big girl stated.

“Yes! Let’s go eat” Owen shouted, getting up and grabbing her hand, leading her towards the hotel. You laughed and stood, bending down to put something in the overflowing basket of the stroller. When you stood up you looked around for the two who had seemingly disappeared. Your eyes caught movement to the left of you, and you could have sworn you recognized those backs. No way, you thought. Taking another minute before you went after your daughter and best friend.

“Nahhhh, no way” you chuckled to yourself, you were simply being ridiculous. There was no way you were going to fun into any member of GOT7, that would be a way to cliche sappy romcom story, like the fics you secretly read once the kids were asleep.

JB was lying on the hotel bed, going over some lyrics he was playing with. He missed how you used to tease him. Telling him to put them away and come back later to them. He would always scoff, but you were right, breaks helped him so much. God he missed you. Missed the way you would fall asleep on the couch waiting for him. Missed how you would show up to dance practice with Jaidyn just because. He missed the way you argued with him over the dumbest things. He missed everything. A whole year of missing you, Jaidyn, birthdays and Christmas. A year without you and yet the pain was still the same. He had visited his parents shortly after you had left. His mom had held him and let him cry. She was understanding of you, had said that there must be a bigger reason on why you had left, but she had been adamant that you loved him. Well if you loved him why the hell did you leave him. He wanted to marry you one day. He wanted to put Jaidyn on his family registry. He wanted you and only you.

Now he was laying on this bed, in this hotel, in your damn home country and he had no idea how to find you. Did you know he was here? Did you still keep up on him? Sighing, he rolled over, looking out the window.

He was lost in his thought when there was a sudden urgent knocking on his door. Reluctantly, he got up and opened it, just to tell which ever member it was to go away.

“Hyung!” Youngjae came flying in, followed by Jinyoung.

“YOUNGJAE!” Jinyoung yelled.

“YAH! What do you want? I was trying to sleep” He said running his hand over his face, getting up from the bed.

“I saw her hyung! We saw her!!!” Youngjae rushed out. Jinyoung was standing there, looking like he didn’t know what world he was in.

“Who? Youngjae slow down.” JB said, as Jinyoung shut the door and turning to the overly excited younger man.

“JAIDYN!” Youngjae said with a huge smile on his face. JB’s face went pale. Jaidyn, his little girl?

“Wh-what?” JB stammered.

“Hyung, we saw Jaidyn! Look” Youngjae whipped his phone open to show JB the pictures he had taken of the little girl.

“Wh-where? Where was she?” JB was going through the pictures. His little girl, oh god his little girl, was in this city.

“At the mall hyung, we didn’t talk to her, we just saw her briefly” Jinyoung said.

“Hyung, she is going to the concert. Maybe we can find her there!” Youngjae was smiling from ear to ear.

“And y/n?” JB whispered out.

“Uh, yes. We saw her too.” Jinyoung said hesitantly. JB noticed the tension filling the air when he asked about you. Something was off, but he wasn’t going to question it right now. You were here, you were here with his girl, going to the concert. He was going to find you. He was going to find you and remind you about how much you loved him and how he loved you. He was going to get you back.

“Jaidyn are you ready?” You called from the bathroom. Your trip to Toronto thus far was amazing, a much needed time for you, how ever at this moment your anxiety was running through the roof. It was the concert day, which meant in exactly three hours, you were going to be in a crowded arena with screaming fans, looking at the love of your life. What if he saw you, what if he saw Jaidyn?

At this point you weren’t sure if you even cared.

You heard the baby squeal from inside the room.

“AYLA!” Jaidyn yelled

“Mom!!! Ayla won’t give me my BamBam socks!” Jaidyn yelled.

Laughing you exited the bathroom.

“Why does she have them in the first place” looking at your baby who was sitting on the floor. When Ayla saw you, she started crawling towards you, with a sock in her mouth.

“Oh Ayla, drop the sock.” You said laughing as you picked her up, taking the sock and handing it to Jaidyn.

“Can we leave soon!! I am so excited!” Jaidyn said, putting her socks on.

“Yes, in a few minutes we will go baby.” You mumbled smushing Ayla’s face against yours for kisses.

“How late will you two be?” Owen asked from the bed. You sat down across from him, lifted your shirt and began to feed Ayla.

“Concert is over at 11, so like after that.” You said, playing with Ayla’s hair while she ate.

“Make sure you have your phone. Walking that late at night, in the city….. please text me” He said. You laughed, this poor guy was so protective of you.

“Yes dad” You chuckled. He smiled and went back to playing on his phone.

“Okay, there’s 2 bottles of breast milk in the fridge, and her snacks. I doubt you will need them, but they’re there for ya. Have fun with her tonight, and thanks. I appreciate you coming and watching her for me.” You said as Ayla finished, standing and passing her to him.

“Of course, I’d do anything for you” He stood up taking the baby and walked you to the door. Kissing Jaidyn and then your forehead.

“Be careful, please.” His voice held a hint of worry.

“Promise” You said as you grabbed Jaidyn’s hand and left.

“Ready baby?”

“Ready maman”

JB was a bundle of nerves, more than normal. Sound check had went smoothly, everything was great. The guys were feeling wonderful and ready to put on a killer performance. JB was ready to put his everything into this concert. He wanted his fans proud, but he also wanted you to be proud, if you actually showed.

“Do you think she actually is coming?!” Jackson asked, tearing JB from his thoughts.

“Well Jaidyn said she was coming to the concert!” Youngjae said plopping down beside Jackson on the couch.

“But is it this concert?” Mark asked.

“It has to be! She would never miss seeing her favourite member” BamBam said.

“It doesn’t matter. Tonight we will put on an amazing show for our fans. Everyone, I want you to concentrate and have fun, be safe too. No injuries” JB turned on the leader switch. Ensuring everyone's safety was priority.

Their manager announced what time it was and the members scurried to get ready.

“Hyung….” JB said quietly pulling his manager aside.

“She’s here.. I think…” He said to the older male, his manager looked shocked at this.

“Is she, really?” he quirked an eyebrow, JB understood his hesitation. His manager had picked him up on more than one occasion since you left. JB worried that one day his manager would lose it on him, tell him to get over you.

“Yes…. can you… you know…. help me to try and find her…. like you always do?” His manager smiled, for the past year he was helping to look for you, he had found your social media but it was private so he couldn’t access it. He always had a picture of you and Jaidyn to show the security workers, just in case you decided to show up. Tonight was no different.

“I will go see the head of security, if she comes… I will find her” He patted JB’s shoulder and went to leave. JB sighed in relief and went to get ready.

“Mommy, I am so hungry!” Jaidyn complained.

“Well… you’re the one who wanted to come wait in line. I can buy you food once we are inside” You smiled at her.

“Fine….” she pouted.

“Look, any minute now the doors will open okay, it’s almost 7pm” You reassured her. After what felt like forever, the doors finally opened. After proceeding to get in, the two of you walked around the venue before purchasing a hot dog and heading to your seats. Jaidyn was ecstatic. She was hyper and happy, jumping around in her seat waiting for the show to start.

“We saw her” the manager said as he walked back stage.

“WHAT?!” a chorus of voice shouted, looking towards him. They saw you, JB thought.

“Well, where is she?” Yugyeom asked, bouncing forward. He wanted nothing more than to hug you tightly and drag you home with them.

“Sitting in section 107, you guys have a good show. Don’t think about it to much. I will get more information okay.”

“Thank you” JB smiled, for the first time in a year he actually felt happy.

[nevergiveupneverrun]

Bodyguard - Chapter Twelve “The memory of the body” Part One

Hello, I hope you’re all doing great. Here is chapter twelve of my Story Bodyguard. I’m sorry in advance for the mistakes… English isn’t my first language and I do my best. Here is the link to the previous chapter: Click Here.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter :) 💛

A week had passed since the reception for Amelia’s foundation and this chase. A week that Amelia’s stress was climbing with each passing day… not so much because of the threats, she had regained the upper hand in record time… but because of the upcoming concert, which was only a few days away. She kept repeating and I didn’t count the number of trips back to the Conservatoire or the studio. Richard was even worried about Amelia’s diligence, so much that he had imposed today on a day off, which had the effect of annoying Amelia noticeably. She was not particularly happy and had spent much of her day in her composition room playing and humming her songs.

I was looking for her in the house, no longer hearing any melody escape from the end of the corridor. Approaching the room, I soon perceive two distant voices: those of Amelia and April who were be installed on the terrace. - It will change your ideas! - I don’t know April, a quiet evening at home would do me good too, I think… - Not at all… an evening between us, where we drink more than reason and where we dance all night, it is the best remedy for your state of mind… you are a too anxious sweetheart! Even if the best remedy is not the best expression: it is a good remedy but not the best… - Oh yes, and what is the best remedy, doctor? I hear Amelia’s smile through her voice as she challenges her friend. - You know Amelia… but you can not do it alone… April’s mischievous tone echoes in my ears. - April Kepner, you will never change! - Stop, you know that it’s effective, and besides, you don’t have to look far! - Clearly, men are jostling at my door right now… I’m about to move away from their discussion when April’s sentence suddenly stops me in my movement. - Maybe not, but there is a man 24 hours a day at home… - And who works here…Amelia adds. - You should take things more lightly sometimes… frankly, I saw some of the bodyguards on the filmings where I was able to work and they look more like Schwarzy than Ryan Gosling… I’ll pay a lot for a ride with Mr. Hunt… - You know it’s a very bad idea April… - Stop thinking from time to time… - You will not make me believe that you don’t like him? - I didn’t say that… - What do you say then? - He is… I listen carefully despite me but she doesn’t finish her sentence. - Anyway, it’s my bodyguard and I’m not… Amelia stops again without revealing her thoughts clearly. April remains silent a few moments, then I hear her voice again soon, but more weakly than before. - Everyone will not let you… just one person… just fall on the right… then you should take over Owen’s contract and add a clause so that he takes care of you in every sense of the word, ends April in a laugh. I slip away on this remark; I should not have heard this conversation let alone the colorful comments that knew so well April. I had always noticed certain looks from women: I knew that I could count on real ease in contact with them, but this kind of opinion about me always made me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t see at all what seemed to fascinate them. I go down the stairs to join the kitchen and serve myself a glass of fresh fruit juice while trying to chase the conversation out of my mind. I finish my drink quietly when I hear steps down the stairs and a question that reaches me from the stairs. - We will ask him, we will see what he answers, right? April and Amelia step into the kitchen: April first, with a decided step and Amelia behind her, a little less assured. - Owen, we were looking for you, April launches. Amelia told me that my idea of soirée was not compatible with your rules, so I just check with the expert? - I listen to you… - Here: Richard asked Amelia to relax today and decompress a maximum… and for me, it is necessary that Amelia takes a little air and has fun: hence the soirée that I propose, a soirée in a night club for her to let go a little! A soirée in a night club?! I remain silent after April’s announcement. Nightclubs were some of the places I feared the most in my profession: noise, crowds, lack of space. I had always managed to avoid this environment that combined all the risks. - You see April, it’s not a good idea, whispers Amelia taking her friend by the hand. The distant and weak voice of Amelia calls me, she carefully avoids my eyes. Her face strikes me, however: more dull and closed than usual, so that I consider in spite of me the suggestion of April. - Is it really important to you? Amelia stops in her movement and finds my gaze while April moves forward again. - Of course, it’s important… - I ask the question to Amelia, April… Amelia hesitates a few seconds then answers me in a voice almost shy while fixing me. - April knows how to be convincing… and that could change me a little the ideas actually… I look at her for a long time, she really didn’t look better today. I would have like to detect a glow in these two pupils that I could recognize between a thousand henceforth… enjoy a frank smile on her face… April’s idea was perhaps complicated to manage but if it could give a little energy and confidence to Amelia… and revive the joy of life that I missed at this moment by seeing her in front of me. I think quickly reviewing the details of such a soirée. - Are you aware that you can not go out alone? - Yes, of course, that’s why we talk about it, says April. - Well… I’m not going to say that you make my job easier… but if it’s important to you… - Thank you, Owen, you make two happy, exclaims April. - Some small remarks, however… have you already a place in mind? I prefer that it’s not a night club accessible to anyone. A place that already makes a minimum of sorting… and that we can enter through discreet access… - No problem, we expected to go to a friend’s night club: a pretty select place… and since we know the owner well, she can arrange all the necessary details… she can keep us a table in a corner a little less discovered, privatize a VIP zone… - Good, and agree with her that she keeps a table near the exits while giving a view of most of the room… and that we can enter by the entrance of the staff and not the official entrance. - Ok, I will call her, it should not be a problem… - Are you sure, April? Saturday night, she often has a stage with bands playing live… and well-known DJs who mix… tables are often booked well in advance. - She will make us a little place, don’t worry, Amy… something else Owen? - At with time do you plan to leave? - Around 10:30 pm… are you ok? April asks turning to Amelia. Amelia just nods her head. - Okay, I’ll tell Jackson, I said going back to my room.

4 hours later.

One last look at my outfit and I decided to leave my room. I had finally left my tie on my bed, judging that it would have been the accessory of too much for the soirée: shirt and jacket of the suit were amply enough. I go back to the entrance and I’m surprised discovering Jackson at the foot of the stairs. - Hi Jackson, how did you come home? - I have a key you know now, it was Richard who gave me it a few days ago. - Did you see the girls? - Uh… I saw April… she was coming out of the kitchen… and see a woman welcome me in bra and panties, dress in hand, I didn’t have this pleasure fifteen times in my life… you must not be bored, tell me! He said laughing. - If you knew… He smiles a little more in front of my answer before resuming his seriousness. - In any case, you surprised me when you told me where we were going. Are you sure? - Yes, I’m well aware, but we will take all the necessary precautions and everything will be fine. - What made you accept? - Amelia needed to get some fresh air and I’m not here to stop her from living. - Not so long ago, though, you would have categorically refused these kinds of outings… Jackson observes me for a few seconds, when heels slam a few meters away from us, at regular intervals, to the rhythm of the stairs. I turn around and discover April and Amelia come down and walk towards us. I can not help but quickly note their outfits and the difference between them that expresses through their look. April is dressed in a sleeveless white dress, extremely short, arriving at mid-thigh, with black heels. Amelia has opted for slim black jeans with a red silk top, revealing her shoulders and knotted visibly behind her neck. - Good evening, gentlemen, launches April in a singing voice while advancing towards the coat rack to detach a light jacket. Amelia follows her and just smiles, turning around. And the top she wears is actually much less wise at first sight, revealing her whole back… and I realize that the tie behind her neck is the only link hold this piece of fabric against her. A black suit jacket that she puts on, stops me quickly in my observation. - We can go? Can you give me the address? Asks Jackson by my side. - Yes, we are going to Belltown, on the edge of Western Avenue, I will tell you where to go when we were nearby. - All right, let’s go there. Jackson walks out of the house first, followed by April, as I bring up the rear with Amelia. I notice that she almost reaches my height. A look at her shoes quickly gives me the answer to these many centimeters that she had won for the soirée: a pair of stiletto heels at least 12 centimeters to her feet in which she seemed incredibly comfortable. I see her eyes, looking up and she smiles at me having noticed my observation. - I cheat a little… I’m not lucky enough to have a mannequin size. - You should not pay to much attention to these pseudo-standards… but I remain admiring in your mastery of balance, I will be unable! - Ha, something that I know better than you, I’ll remember, she replies in a burst of laughter. I join her, laughing in my turn, happy to have won this sweet melody. The girls both sit in the back and then we head straight for Western Avenue, under the bright, twinkling lights of a Seattle night, worthy of the most beautiful postcards. April and Amelia chat loudly behind us: however, we remain focused with Jackson on the road and especially on the vehicles surrounding us… Jackson taking care not to take the shortest drive to have time to see if a suspicious car was lurking around us. He finally nods to me saying that there is no warning and continues on the road until arriving on Western Avenue. - April, we are there, says Jackson with a look backward. - Okay, then go up the avenue again and you will take the next right at the light you see in front of you. The night club is at the corner and the « discreet » entrance is from the back, we can leave the car, says April. Jackson follows April’s directions and we head down the small street, cutting off Western Avenue, and skirting a glittering signboard showing “Rainbow World”. Jackson parks in a nook in the back of an imposing building where I guess a door marked “staff only”. - It’s here? - Yes, mission accomplished, announces April with a wink. We can enter through this access, we will arrive by the offices and the owner will let us pass. - Okay, …wait until I go out, ok? - A quick question… what will Jackson do? Jackson looks at me for a few seconds, surprised by the question, before answering to April. - I will wait here as usual. - Are you going to wait for hours alone in this car? Frankly, it will not help much, you should accompany us. - April… - You run fast, you will be quickly in the car less than a minute if we had to leave quickly… - I don’t… - And it might be more prudent to have to former agents with us than one, right? April’s last remark makes me seriously consider her suggestion. Jackson looks at me for a moment again not knowing what to say. - As long as you’re driving when I need you… the rest is up to you… - Ok, so if I can keep company to O’, why not? I think it’s not going to be easy… Jackson and I get out of the car at the same time and open the door respectively to April and Amelia. We go all four towards the « Staff Only » door facing us, a door that I open to let April then Amelia enter first. The heat of the place is stifling from our first steps inside. The light is weak and almost less pronounced than the street lighting we had just left. We walk in the corridors, leaving several doors on both sides of our passage, while I quickly see a silhouette in the background. As I go, I gradually distinguish a young woman, small and thin in front of us, dressed in a long black dress slightly slit on the side and put on… caster shoes. - Hi girls, she said while we are still a few steps away. Her voice is soft and cheerful which is a stark contrast to her assured look. - Hello Ari, April answers by making her a kiss on the cheek. - Good evening Arizona, continues Amelia imitating April. - Access is right for you? - Yes, it’s perfect, thanks… by the way, I present to you Owen and Jackson who are with us tonight. - Good evening sirs. Arizona Robbins, the club owner.

Thank you so much for reading. 💛

[ifeveristoday]

Buffy Summers’s Diary (III)

[insert Dawn’s lament here]

My silly little thing has gotten a bit less sillier in this part. Carry on.

1 Lyft carpool with Anya

3 missing pens

1 maybe date

7 outfit options, all terrible

100 years of rain

 When I was little and it rained, my mom would bring me to the living room and watch the rain splash against our bay windows. Sometimes she would get out her box of cassettes and we’d listen to “It Never Rains in Southern California.” Of course, I would point out that the singer was wrong, because what was happening outside then?

She would just laugh, and shake her head. ‘Baby, it’s not that it doesn’t rain, it’s the feeling that LA is always sunny even when it rains.’

I didn’t understand back then.

Watching the sun stream into the street and shine on perfect rectangles of manicured lawns while I peeked through blinds – I understood a little better. LA carries on even when darkness surrounds you, is in you.

 Anyway, it rained today, a deluge even. Kendra arranged for Lyft carpools for the employees and I shared mine with Anya. She lives only twenty minutes away from my apartment, but she drives while I take the bus. I like Anya, but it’s impossible to make small talk with her. She doesn’t understand the concept and launches into whatever she’s thinking with no segues whatsoever. I need a mental crash helmet whenever I talk to her.

She asked me if I used her gift certificate – ‘It expires soon, Buffy. There’s a special sale going on this weekend, I really think you would find some helpful aids there.’

Before I can even respond, she’s off talking about the new vibrator line that’s come in, and the importance of using essential oils in the bedroom.

The backseat of a car never collapses into a black hole when you want it to.

She managed to ask a question about Xander among all the updates from the Magic Box and I guess my expression tipped her off. Her mouth thinned out and she crossed her arms across her chest.

‘What? I can’t ask about Xander?’

I’m just surprised that she wants to. Their romance was pretty volatile at the end.

‘No, you can. He’s fine – sent me a postcard from Cape Town. He seems happy.’

She slumped a little. ‘Oh. That’s nice.’

I’m going to regret this – like in five minutes, I’m sure of it – but I ask her anyway.

‘How are you doing?’

‘I’m fine. I’m the one who broke it off. I’m very happy, I’m busy, my jobs are going great, I found a decent hairstylist in this town – I’m fantastic,’ she babbled.

She straightened up again and looked out the window.

‘I’m happy that he’s happy,’ she said. ‘We’re almost there.’

The driver pulled up to our building five minutes later. He smirked at us as we got out.

 Anya works in a different part of the building than I do and our goodbyes were awkward as I got out of the elevator. ‘Remember the sale, Buffy,’ she said as the doors slid shut.

I’m just not in the mood for that kind of self-care.

 There is an office supply thief on this floor and they are stealing my purple pens. I had four and now I have one. This is ridiculous, we are all adults and surely we can use the office supply cabinet instead of just lifting pens from other people’s desks like thieves in the night.

Why would they even take my pens? Everyone in the office knows I use purple to revise my notes – I know everything is digital but there’s something comforting about the way a pen can glide over the paper. I like the weight of the pen against my palm and it seems more permanent than a blinking cursor on a screen.

  I moved a PR box and found my pens wedged underneath my monitor stand.

Good thing I didn’t write that email to HR complaining about pen theft and being known as the most uptight person on this floor.

I need a cup of coffee but I’m going to make tea instead.

William is lounging in the break room when I come in. He has a rapt audience, the temps and Harmony are there, hanging onto his every word.

I roll my eyes and head for the tea station. Just because a man has good bone structure, an accent, and a leather jacket doesn’t mean he’s the most interesting person in the room.

Okay, maybe in the top five.

 I sit at the lone unoccupied table and hear snatches of the conversation. William is doing research for his next novel. He reached out to several publications and my CEO accepted his request along with the offer of a guest column in the magazine. He’s going to be writing about his travels and whatever else interests him.

It sounds like a dream assignment but I remember my blog is important too. Kendra told me not to read the comments though.

 One by one the admirers flutter out of the break room as editors appear in the doorway, meaningfully clearing their throats. I’m still sipping my tea when William walks over to me and sits down.

 ‘So, Summers. I have a gift for you.’

‘Yeah?’ I say, playing it cool. I am a cool glacial woman of substance.

‘I do,’ he smiles and then reaches into his messenger bag. ‘Freshly autographed.’

He slides Saturday and The Chosen across the table to me. His fingers skim the covers carefully as if he’s touching something precious.

Saturday’s cover shows a picture of a black woman, her gaze defiant and steely. The Chosen has a more generic cover, its title picked out in shades of gold and bronze.

‘Thanks,’ I say as I turn The Chosen over and read the blurb on its dust jacket. ‘Oh. Fantasy’s never really been my thing.’

Except for the period Dawn and I would read Harry Potter to each other under the covers with a flashlight, but he doesn’t need to know that.

He lifts one eyebrow and I notice the thin white scar cutting it into two imperfect halves. ‘Try it, you never know. Or maybe Saturday is more your type.’

‘This the one with your lone female character?’ I lean back and gaze at him over my cup.

He laughs and rubs his chest. ‘Ouch. But fair – I’m going to be writing more female leads in my novels. Nikki won’t be the last.’

‘That’s her name?’ I nod at Saturday’s cover.

‘Yeah. Nikki Danger.’

I choke on my tea. ‘Her name is Nikki Danger? Are you writing the next Bond novel?’

His smile has a hint of teeth. ‘Says the girl named Buffy Summers.’

‘My mom gave me that name, and it’s after a famous singer, you Philistine.’

I heard Will use that once, during debate class in high school. It sounded cool then even though I didn’t know exactly what it meant.

‘I know. And love, I’m in the arts, not exactly a Philistine. Do you want to borrow a dictionary for next time?’

This asshole.

Then I realize what he said. ‘What do you mean next time?’

Full on smile, and is that dimple? ‘How about dinner after work – does tonight sound good?’

He stands up and leaves before I can complete my thought.

I open Saturday. He’s scrawled his phone number on the front page.

  So it’s not a date. It’s a friendly dinner. I’ve done that before. It’ll be like riding a bike.

I have an uncomfortable vision of William riding a motorcycle and I decide that I need some advice.

Willow’s answering machine picks up when I call, so I just tell her I’m looking forward to our weekend brunch.

Andrew screeches when I call him. Literally, I had to hold my phone away from my ears.

‘You’re going on a date with the Spike Pratt?’

‘It’s just dinner,’ I say, fumbling for my apartment keys. ‘I’m going to meet him at some bistro after work.’

‘Are you going home to change?’ Andrew demands.

‘Well, of course.’

‘Then it’s a date,’ Andrew says triumphantly. ‘If you didn’t care, you’d just wear your work clothes.’

‘My hair got wet this morning and it’s sort of frizzy,’ I say. ‘It’s not that big of a deal. And his name is William.’

‘Eh, Spike sounds sexier,’ Andrew says. ‘William sounds like an accountant.’

‘It’s a maybe date,’ I say. ‘I don’t know. I made fun of him this morning, maybe he’s just returning the favor.’

Andrew sighs.

‘Girl, how long has it been since you’ve been on a date?’

‘Not that long,’ I scan my desk to make sure I haven’t left anything important behind. ‘There was Owen and Parker…’ I trail off.

‘Ew, ew and ew,’ Andrew says dismissively. ‘A poet and a day trader? Buffy, Parker was gross, and Owen writes gay erotica on the internet. He hasn’t written a poem since leaving college.’

‘You’ve read some of it,’ I say. ‘And you’ve dated some highly questionable people yourself.’

‘Yes, both the poems and the erotica were terrible. And you can’t hold Warren over my head all the time.’

‘I’m sorry. That wasn’t cool of me. But he really was the worst.’

‘He really was,’ Andrew agrees. ‘Just go on the date. You never know until you try, right? You told me that once.’

‘Okay. Maybe it won’t be completely terrible.’

  It was completely terrible.

All of my clothes weren’t right. I have exactly three types of clothes – athleisure, work clothes, and clothes that are too big for me. I haven’t had the chance to donate them yet or buy clothes that fit properly.

It took me seven tries until I settled on something that wasn’t too much or too little for a casual dinner with a handsome man.

Okay, I admit it. He’s a good looking man.

 I called him on the way to the bistro. He didn’t answer until the third ring. He sounded strange as if he forgot that he asked me out to dinner in the first place.

‘I’m glad you called actually – I was about to call. I’m sorry, Buffy. Something came up and I can’t make it to dinner after all. Can I have a raincheck?’

‘What?’

‘You have every right to be angry at me, but I just can’t get out of this commitment. I’ll call you, love. All right?’

The dial tone rings in my ear.

 I ended up getting takeout from the bistro – it seemed stupid to go all the way there and not get dinner. The ride back to my apartment gave me time to sort out what exactly I was feeling.

It was a tornado of emotions. First, sheer relief. Then, a flush of anger prickling against my skin. Who does he think he is, I muttered to myself. Then seething resentment followed by an aching emptiness. He must have googled me.

 I don’t do that anymore. The last time I checked for myself was right when I got out of the clinic. All the headlines were some variations of ‘Fallen Olympian completes rehab’ or ‘Buffy Summers – where is she now?’

Even the Sunnydale Post had something about me and I only trained there for three summers. ‘Ex-Olympic Gold Medalist in Recovery for Eating Disorder.’

Simple and to the point – though skipping all the reasons why I got there. The byline was a familiar name – Freddie Iverson. He was one of the first people to interview me when I won my medal.

 ‘How does it feel being a champion?’

It feels wonderful. It feels like flying and your feet don’t touch the ground. It feels like nothing can hurt you.

 How does it feel to be washed up at nineteen?

Ten years later and I’m still trying to answer that question.

It starts raining as I clean up the rest of the takeout. I made myself eat every last bite.

 It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours

 the lyrics are from “It Never Rains in Southern California” by Albert Hammond

and I’m working from the fancanon (in exalted circles) that Buffy is named after Buffy Sainte Marie who would have been very popular during Joyce’s time because you just know Joyce was a hippie.

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[acat-lady]

12 Days of Christmas

Summary: {Pre-JW} Have you ever wondered what happened in Jurassic World that there was not a single Christmas decoration up when the first movie takes place?

Prompt sent via Twitter: Claire and Owen team up to mess with Jurassic World’s Christmas decorations.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Claire knew it was that time of the year she dreaded the most because of Simon Masrani’s constant memos. She didn’t have anything against the holiday itself, she just had something against the unnecessary need to start the ‘Christmas Spirit’ almost three months in advance. 

The redhead always pushed Decoration Time as far back as she could. The previous year, her boss hadn’t been able to pay his monthly visit in November so she had managed to keep Jurassic World Christmas-free until the second week of December. 

She didn’t have such luck this time around. She was standing at the helipad, the sun shining bright and warm above Isla Nublar, making it impossible to tell it was supposed to be winter. 

The ends of the skirt she was wearing were lightly flapping to the side, as the helicopter carrying her boss around the island carefully landed. 

“Mr. Masrani.” Claire greeted him with a nod before she could lead him down and into the park. His visit was marking the first day of Christmas at Jurassic World, a season that wouldn’t make it past twelve days this time around. 

“Where is my Christmas tree, Claire?” The CEO wondered the moment they reached the heart of the park and not a single Christmas decoration was in sight. 

The operations manager sighed and rolled her eyes while still standing behind him, “Well this year we decided to do something a little different, sir.” She walked him over to the side and pointed at a small fern on the ground. “And went with a Christmas fern!” She grinned. The green plant had a few Christmas lights around it and small Christmas balls. 

“We are planning on making it a whole attraction, put a BIG Christmassy sign here and have people take photos with it.” She explained, “we discussed having a few compys for the photo sessions, but legals advised against it.” She smirked. “I heard these are very popular in Japan.”  

“Didn’t you get my memo?” Simon raised an eyebrow. Claire knew he wouldn’t agree with any of that, but it was more of a cheap excuse as to why his park hadn’t had Santa elves thrown all over it. 

“I did, sir.” 

“I want a big fat Christmas tree!” He exclaimed. “I want it up this afternoon, Claire! It’s already mid November, we don’t want our guest satisfaction to drop due to our lack of Christmas spirit!”

“Actually, sir—“

“No excuses, Claire. I want this done today. We will invite every guest to come gather around the tree to watch it light up!” 

“Yes, sir.” She nodded and pulling her iPhone out, she e-mailed her maintenance manager so he could bring the Christmas decorations out and get his team working on setting them up. 

****

Simon’s deadline was impossible to meet, and so it took more than a couple of days for her personnel to hang green pine garlands from one end to the other and have Christmas lights twinkling around trees and ferns. 

Simon hadn’t minded that it had taken more than a few hours, as he saw the maintenance staff working hard on it ever since he had given the instruction.

By the fourth day of Christmas time in Jurassic World, the big fat tree the boss had required was already standing in Main Street and Christmas carols played through the speakers around the island, including on the ferries and monorail. 

A guest-favorite attraction was the SantaSaurus, standing 10 feet tall between the Hilton resort and the dining area. The gigantic T-Rex wearing a Santa Claus hat and beard had taken some hard work to be assembled and kept standing between the bushes and fences surrounding the resort. The line to take a picture with the thing was outrageous, but it made Simon happy to see visitors engaging with it and proving his point. 

“See, Claire!” Masrani pointed out with a smile, “The guests love it!” 

The redhead sighed and looked away, her eyes noticing Owen Grady at Bobby’s Falafel Stand a few feet away from her: he was sipping on a soda — which she imagined was one of the many Bob slipped him for free. Owen didn’t seem too amused by any of this, either. After a few seconds, the raptor trainer locked eyes with her and tilted his head at the sight of her distressed look, a lopsided grin on his face. 

Claire frowned and sighed, for a moment there, it was like both of them were having an entire conversation just by looking at each other. There was a little bit of history between them, and a complicated one at that. Not too long ago, Owen had asked her on a date, which had eventually ended horribly. The complicated part was that, in a way, neither of them had really wanted it to go badly, since the attraction they felt for each other was quite strong and impossible to ignore. 

Their mutual reluctancy to admit they each had some blame for their evening going down into flames, made them just pin it on each other and end the whole thing on a bitter note. Long story short... they didn’t like each other (or at least they pretended they didn’t) and weren’t on the best of terms. 

Claire rolled her eyes and, crossing her arms against her chest, she looked away the moment some other girl wearing a Santa hat surprised Owen from behind and hugged his waist. He had to break eye contact too, so he could greet the girl. Two seconds later, he had his eyes searching for Claire again, who was now walking back to the park with her boss. 

By the sixth day of Christmas time, Claire was already losing it over those damn carols that went on all day long. She was rubbing her temples while sitting at her desk, Rudolph the insufferable reindeer and Frosty the fat ass loser had given her a headache. But what annoyed the operations manager the most, was that she couldn’t even escape the damn music...it didn’t matter where she went, it was always playing. It was in the hallway outside her office, in the elevator, outside in the actual park, and even back home. 

She had sent an email requesting maintenance to stop with that music already. Or at least cut it a bit. It was inevitable to have it playing in the park all day long, but why did they have to blast it in the offices, too? No one was asking for it, and if there were people out there who appreciated the tunes... well, she had advised them to get a pair of headphones and play the carols on their own devices. 

She soon got an e-mail back from her maintenance manager saying he couldn’t fulfill her request. The music was staying on. It infuriated her that even if she was on the top of the food chain here, she didn’t have the authority to turn that nonsense off. 

By the eighth day, it was getting out of control, and not being in control was a deadly trigger for Claire Dearing. Now she couldn’t even eat without having a fucking Santa Claus being pushed down her throat...literally. Jurassic World was slowly turning everything into being Christmas-related, engaging every human sense in the spirit. Starbucks had been the first one to introduce their holiday season beverages and in the blink of an eye, even their burgers and sandwiches had Christmas names and decorations all over them. 

It was on the ninth day of Christmas time that the redhead noticed those poor baby assets at the petting zoo now being exploited, dressed as reindeers, while the youngest of their guests rode them around their pen. 

It had taken the park ten days to be completely drowned into the Christmas spirit, everything in sight was decorated with gold, red, and green. The only thing you could hear around were those cheerful carols, the food and beverages were all holiday inspired, Jurassic World even smelled like winter when it was eighty degrees out there. 

It had taken about sixty people and a week an a half to set it up ...and it was only going to take two people and two days to bring it all down. 

****

The operations manager had stuck around until closing time on the eleventh day. Every guest had already been escorted out to the resort area by 10PM. Every employee had already clocked out, which was the redhead’s cue to start what she had been carefully planning all day long. 

She was done with that stupid music and the eyesore of a Christmas three twinkling in her face every time she had to head to her office. She was done with everything and was determined to make it stop. She knew she couldn’t do it all on her own, though, and that’s why she had driven her car down to the only other person she had noticed wasn’t too fond of Christmas bullshit. 

It was around ten thirty when Claire found her fingers fixing her hair and her outfit on her way up to his bungalow. She took a deep breath, she knew she had to keep it civil if she wanted his help. However, Owen answering the door shirtless and with messy hair threw her off a bit. 

It took her a couple of seconds to find words. “I know we can’t stand each other... but... how would you feel about helping me destroy all that Christmas crap?” She smiled softly. 

“I’ll go get my tools.” He didn’t hesitate and, leaving the door open, he went back inside. He found his shirt and after putting it on, he grabbed his tool box and met Claire back outside. She had tried to peek inside, wondering if he was alone or that girl from the other day was in there with him, but he was ready to go before she could investigate more. 

Once back at the park, Claire led the way to the Control Center. Now that the park was closed, the room was empty. Owen stayed in the back while she overrode the security system and shut down the security cameras so they wouldn’t get caught. She double checked everything, making sure each paddock and enclosure was still closed and secured before they headed out. 

The first thing that had to go was that annoying music, even if it was usually finally off by this time of the day. Claire and Owen found themselves in the operating department. It was similar in size to a radio cabin, a lot of buttons everywhere that controlled every light in the park as well as the speakers. 

“You shut off the lights, I turn off the music?” Claire smiled, looking back at Owen, who was as curious as a little boy around all those buttons. 

He smirked and nodded, his fingers slowly pressing one button at the time. They couldn’t see it from there, but the park grew darker with each line of Christmas lights he turned off. Of course, these could be turned back on the next day, but they needed them off so they could go on with their plan back down there in the dark. 

Claire found the source of her countless headaches in a laptop connected to the whole speakers system. She smiled and, nibbling on her lips, she got access into it and deliberately started deleting every single Christmas playlist that had been had put together. She also took advantage of that moment to delete all the songs she was already tired of hearing throughout the year. 

In less than ten minutes, they were now standing back on Main Street, on a ladder, while reaching the end of the lights and unplugging them before letting them fall on the ground. 

“I’ll race you to the other end...” Owen smiled. They each grabbed one line of lights and started running to the other end while dragging along both the lights and the garlands. Claire laughed, looking back and watching how the two main ones they had pulled down, had brought a lot of the rest down with them. 

They repeated the same process all the way to the dining area around the resort, where they met that 10-feet T-Rex. Claire pushed it, making it stumble a little, but it was too heavy and the sound of it hitting the floor would definitely bring some attention to the now closed area. “I want to rip off this son of a bitch’s head so bad!” She started punching it on the stomach. “‘See, Claire! They love it!’” She mocked her boss’s accent, “ugh.” 

“I think you should.” Owen enabled her with a grin and a nod.

“No.” She chuckled, “this thing cost us a thousand of dollars!” She shook her head. 

“And all the crap we have taken down so far didn’t?” He arched an eyebrow.

Claire nibbled on her lower lip and nodded. She quietly went looking for the supply closet on one side of the resort and in a matter of ten minutes, Owen eyed her walking back with a gas chainsaw in her hands. He trotted over to meet her halfway and took the tool from her. 

Once back in front of the T-Rex, the redhead released a sigh. She looked down to her heels and figured she’d come out of there with all sorts of scratches on her legs, but it was for a good cause. 

“Careful, okay~” Owen smiled softly and squeezed her shoulder lightly. He knew she had the determination to step into those bushes and figure out a way to climb those ten feet up. 

Claire smiled back and, taking a deep breath, she slowly started to squeeze herself in between the bushes. She made it to the other side in a minute and slowly started to figure out a way to climb up the statue. It took her a couple of head scratches to find a way. She tried doing it from the front, side, and even back but she couldn’t make it past the knees of the stupid thing.

“Care to lend me a hand?” She called out, a flushed grin on her face. 

Owen sighed, finding his way around the bushes. He put the chainsaw down and shot Claire a flirty smirk before he licked his lips. 

“What?” She tilted her head before she could read his thoughts. She blushed lightly and rolled her eyes. “Yeah... enjoy it while it lasts.” She teased him, her foot using his hands as leverage as he pushed her up. “I hope your girlfriend isn’t the jealous type.” She mumbled, trying to grab onto the tiny arms of the animal, but Owen was having trouble getting her all the way up, her heels hurting his hands too much. 

He brought her down. “Not my girlfriend.” He shook his head, a light smile on his lips. Claire couldn’t help smiling back, and a second later she cleared her throat. “So...do you want to try this from over my shoulders?” He suggested. 

Claire fixed her skirt and looked up to the T-Rex which now she felt was just mocking her. “Yeah~” She sighed and let him bring her up over his shoulders. “So... how come?” Claire simply couldn’t drop the subject, “she didn’t find your board shorts sexy?” She sounded a little bitter when saying this. 

Owen chuckled, slowly letting the tip of his fingers slide around her calves while inching closer to the T-Rex so she could reach the arms. “Didn’t wear them this time.” He casually said, knowing it would upset her. 

Claire looked down, finding his eyes, while he looked up and frowned lightly. “So, try to get a hold of them from up there, okay?” Owen broke the silence that had grown among them. 

She released a sigh, and once she rested her trembling knees on his shoulders, she tried to see if she could reach that high. Owen helped her with her balance, his hands steady on her, moving them around where she needed the support. 

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?” She pulled on his ear the moment she felt his hand on her ass. 

“OUCH!” He complained, his hand not moving. “Let go, you crazy lady!” He chuckled. 

“YOU let go first, perv!” She was blushing, glad he couldn’t see that. 

“Okay okay okay...” He brought both his hands up in the air.

“Don’t let go! Are you crazy?” She called out, feeling how she was now losing her balance. 

Owen laughed and quickly helped her get steady. “For what is worth, you have a great ass.” He teased her before feeling her stab her heels on his shoulders, as she finally managed to reached those arms. 

Once Claire got comfortable up there, the first thing she did was reaching down. “Chainsaw, please~” She grinned. Owen slowly handed it over to her and she found a way to start it up. She started cutting from the back to the front, and in a couple of minutes, the head fell onto the bushes, allowing Owen to stop it from going further down and make a loud noise. 

Once the chainsaw was turned off, he took it back from Claire and then helped her down. 

By midnight, Claire and Owen were standing in front of that big fat Christmas tree. They were wondering how to bring it down fast. “Suggestions?” She wondered, the man rubbing the back of his neck.

“What’s that?” He called out after hearing a groan. 

They both went quiet, focusing their ears in their surroundings hoping to hear the noise again. They got distracted, looking around the petting zoo area and even the pools to see if they could find the source. 

“Oh no....” The redhead frowned recognizing the peculiar sound after a few groans. “How does she keep doing that!?” It was frustrating. 

“Who keeps doing what?” Owen wondered before his eyes fell on the young Stygimoloch wandering around. “Oh~” 

“This is the third time she gets out in a month.” She explained. “She’s a little temperamental, so...” she grabbed his shirt and slowly started to pull him over to the nearest tranq guns safe case. 

“Or... maybe she just wants to help?” Owen smiled, looking back at the tree behind them. 

“You are crazy.” She shook her head.

“Maybe.” He grinned. “You get that gun.” He slowly let go of her and stood right in the middle of the road. He waited for Claire to have the gun in her hands and whistled, hoping he could get the dinosaur’s attention. 

It worked right away: Stiggy didn’t like the sound of whistles and it got her aggressive. The dino turned up, and groaning louder, she started running towards Owen.

He kept whistling at her, bringing her towards the Christmas tree. Claire ran beside him, with the gun ready to shoot if needed. 

By the fourth whistle, Owen managed to have the young asset run over the tree, making it fall on the ground and break every single ball and Christmas light on it. 

“OWEN!?” Claire called out after watching him dodge that one and rolling to the side against the ferns. 

“I’m okay!” He called out. That was Claire’s cue to go Stiggy hunting and bring her back to her arena. 

The sun rose on the twelfth day of Christmas time, greeting every single decoration completely destroyed and on the ground, along with a defeated Christmas tree and a decapitated SantaSaurus. Most of the Jurassic World employees were glad this madness had come end thanks to mysterious vandals, but the cleaning department was cursing them under their breath. 

As for Claire and Owen, they had spent the night sleeping against a baby triceratops. The redhead gently curled up around Owen with her hand resting on his chest, while his right arm kept her close and warm. It had been a long night, but both were soundly asleep with a tender smile on their faces. 

[joyandowen]

Space Needle

The boys and the girls have find themselves in the same place at the same time, and spend the day getting to know each other better.

—

She wakes to the sound of some door slamming down the hall. No threat but still a little startling. The sliver of morning light was just about to cut across her face anyways. Instead though, it’s casting a warm glow on the still sleeping woman next to her. Sammy doesn’t get up, not with a rare opportunity like this. Julie is always so serious about a lot of things. She concentrates so much on the road, like if she looks away at the wrong second, it’ll all be over. Which could be true. But it would never be Julie’s fault. Sammy could never blame her.

But like this, with just a soft golden glow against white sheets and pillows, highlighting the soft tiny hairs on the curve of her face, here she was peaceful. Those stress lines just relaxed away. She’s going to have wrinkles by the time she’s thirty if Sammy’s not careful.

Julie stirs a little, like as if being observed is disturbing her. Sammy holds her breath for a moment but Julie settles back down, only ending up tugging the sheet down a little. Sammy smiles. The tan lines on her shoulder criss cross each other, layering down to pale and up to sun kissed brown. Julie can almost imagine each outfit that caused each line. Though she likes it like this the most, no obstruction from shoulder up to neck.

She reaches up ever so slowly until she can finally reach out and touch said shoulder. She doesn’t keep her touch light and ticklish but doesn’t want to wake Julie up either. She slides her fingers along her shoulder, amused at how she can’t feel the tan lines at all. She goes until she reaches the back of Julie’s neck, the skin softening as it’s no longer supported by as much bone and muscle. Red hair brushes against the top of her fingers as she gets up under the curly mess. She scratches lightly, just how she knows Julie likes it. The only reaction she gets is a soft smile peeking through the dreams she’s having.

Sammy’s never been more in love. Like, her heart hurts because she’s so in love with this goddess who sleeps in hotel beds with her. She’s cried before over how much she loves Julie and how much she’s loved.

She keeps up the petting and scratching and watching Julie sleep until Julie finally wakes up. Sammy loves watching those soft brown eyes open up. The smile grows wider as Julie finds Sammy right there. Sammy can’t help herself and leans in to kiss her, all soft and sleepy. They press together, skin against skin under the hotel linens. Sammy traces smooth lines down Julie’s back as Julie just holds onto her loosely, still waking up.

She pushes and tips Julie onto her back and starts kissing her. Kissing her everywhere until she arches off the bed with Sammy’s name caught in her throat.

Breakfast at the hotel isn’t the best, but it’s not the worst either. The coffee is actually palatable even before Sammy dumps half of the cream container and five packets of sweetner into her cup. Julie takes hers black. They sit together and nibble on toast, sausages, and homogenized scrambled eggs coated in cheese and salt. They scroll through their phones, catching up on life back home, life and news across the country, and plans on what to do that day. They had reached the tip of their journey, as far west and north as they were going to go. Seattle.

“Oh my god, they’re here,” Sammy gasps out as she opens a snapchat.

“Who?”

“The boys! Ah! Joy took a picture of the Space Needle! They’re here!”

“They are up way too early and need to go back to sleep.”

“Nuh uh. Just because you want a round two-”

“Oh my god no I don’t.”

“-We should meet them. We don’t have any concrete plans today and I bet they don’t either so we should meet up and conquer the city together!”

“Only if they want to.”

“Joy is already saying yes make it happen.” Sammy grins as she turns her phone to show Julie the text conversation that she was working on .

“You two are perfect for each other,” Julie sighs into her coffee.

“Are you jealous?” Sammy asks teasingly. She knows the answer. There is no one in the universe that she could love more than Julie. She’d never want Julie to change, but it is nice to have a friend who gets excitable like Joy does.

Sammy works on getting information from Joy on where they are and what they want to do. It only takes a couple of minutes to get something laid out that works for everyone. Sammy is so excited to hang out with them. She and Joy have been snapchatting for most of their trip and talking about their respective others to each other. They didn’t get to do much the first time they met because they were going opposite directions, but Sammy could tell that they were going to be good friends to have. Today they’ll be able to test that theory.

Since both parties ended up having breakfast as they were making plans, they decided to meet up at the Space Needle and get that tour checked off their to do list first thing. Julie had to pull Sammy along telling her that her makeup and outfit looked perfect and she didn’t need to change yet again. The gay boys definitely wouldn’t care about it either.

“But I will! We’ll be taking a lot of pictures and we have to look good for them!”

“Sammy, Sammy, love of my life, you’re gorgeous.”

“But you have to say that.”

“And you are photo ready. Come on, we’re going to be late and the gay boys are going to care about that.”

“Fine.” Sammy pouts but lets Julie take her out to the car and even helps Julie navigate all the way to the parking garage. They both smile when they see a familiar hatchback. They park and hurry to the front of the building.

Sammy sees them first and squeals happily, running at them with her arms wide open. Joy catches the hug first squeezing her back happily. Owen doesn’t escape a second hug no matter how uncomfortable he is with the idea. Julie catches up and gives Joy a hug but spares Owen. The boys are looking good for their road trip adventures. Sammy would stand there and catch up with them all day if it weren’t for Julie ushering them inside to stand in line for tickets.

Sammy lets Julie do her thing with logistics while she stays by Joy’s side to socialize. It’s so good to see him in person. As soon as Owen is out of earshot, getting tickets with Julie, Sammy starts asking for the juicy details, enjoying how Joy slowly turns red. They really are so cute. She finally lets up on her teasing when Julie and Owen come back. Then it’s time to ride the elevator up to the top.

The stroll through the museum is actually pretty cool and interesting with neat little fact that would be useful for a trivia game maybe. There’s a map of the area that Owen takes a picture of. Joy and Sammy take pictures with the cardboard cut out of the tower. At the elevator they are crammed in with about sixteen other people and it’s a bit uncomfortable and makes their ears pop as they glide upwards but it gives Sammy a very good excuse to get very close to Julie and sneak some kisses in.

At the top, they have to wade through the crowd to get to the upper floor and outside where there is only glass between them and the rest of the city. The view takes everyone’s breath away and there is a good long moment of silence as they take it in. Julie is the first to move again, turning Sammy around so she can get a good picture even though the wind is stirring up her hair into a blonde blue mess. Together the four of them takes as many pictures as they can, working their way around the circumference of the viewing platform to take a look at all of Seattle from up above.

They work their way to the lower level and marvel at the fact that the floor is glass and they can look straight down. Julie is more interested in the way the floor is supported and points out the engineering redundancies to Sammy who actually appreciates the distraction and reassurance. Sammy still doesn’t let go of Julie’s hand and quickly moves the group onto solid ground as soon as possible. She notices that Joy is looking a little pale too and quickly agrees, pulling Owen along with him.

Joy is the one to suggest snacks up here, even with the price gouging. They decide to split two snack and a glass of wine (Sammy’s idea) while they watch the rest of the people circle around and around.

They head to Pike Place Market next, the awesome open air market that has food and crafts and so many photo opportunities. They have to split up to drive over and find new parking but they meet up soon enough.

There’s a pretty decent crowd but Julie makes sure to stand on Sammy’s right side, covering for the blind eye. That way no one can sneak up on Sammy or bump into her. Added benefit is that she gets to stand next to Joy. She loves how he lights up at all the cool stuff they see. She catches Owen smiling at him as well.

They start at the big Public Market Center sign and take some pictures. The fruit is all bright and colorful with some tasty pastries thrown in. Julie has to pull Sammy back a step before she gets nailed in the face by a fish to which Sammy just exclaims “They are throwing fish!” Unfortunately none of them can come up with an excuse to get a fish thrown at them so they just watch everyone else for a moment before moving on.

From the food areas they move into the shops. Less open market but still nice to wander through. Sammy likes to touch everything she can. Owen buys little trinkets that catch Joy’s eyes. Julie looks at some of the antique contraptions that are laying around. They work their way down to Virginia Inn, reading the signs that point it out as the oldest establishment of the market, going back to 1903. They take a couple more pictures before heading back to the open stalls.

The street back down in pretty steep and not paved well. Owen keeps his hands close to Joy’s elbow just in case he needs to catch the other. Julie is similarly concerned about Sammy who is just about bouncing along. So concerned that she’s the one who misses a step and ends up tripping and going down hard. Both Sammy and Owen rush to her side. Julie waves them away, embarrassed more than hurt even if Sammy can see how she’s cradling her hands and wincing as she stands. But there really isn’t anything for them to do while still in the middle of the street. Everyone slows down and takes it careful until they get down to the market again. Sammy takes Julie’s wrists and turns to look at her palms. They are all scraped up and red, but not bloody. She’s pretty sure her knees are going to be bruised when the jeans come off tonight.

Owen shows up at their side, startling Sammy a little as he was on her blind side, but he’s holding a cup of ice water. “Hold this. It’ll help.” Julie nods and takes it, wincing again but she nods when it does help.

“Thanks, Owen,” Sammy says softly. She leans in and kisses Julie’s cheek. “I’ll kiss them better later, baby.”

“I know you will, sweetheart.” Julie leans in and kisses Sammy on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Sammy smiles back at her, happy as ever. She finally remembers that they are in public and with others and has to pull out of the moment. She looks a little sheepish at the other two who have odd expressions. They aren’t looking at each other. Sammy tilts her head but before she can ask anything Julie is bumping into her and pointing out where they should go next.

They look through the craft stalls, all a little more handmade and personal compared to the shops at the top of the market. Sammy get Joy to help distract Julie while she makes some purchases and she gets the feeling that Owen uses the opportunity to buy a little key chain at a nearby stall. Julie slips the silver into her purse just in time for Sammy to drag her along to a stall Joy found.

They finish up with the Crafts Market and end up back where food is. The heavenly aromas of the bakeries make Sammy’s stomach growl loud enough to make Joy laugh. And then his answers in response. They all agree to take a break to find something to eat. They get pieces that are a little more substantial than what they ate up in the Needle but so much cheaper. They take a seat at a cute little table where they can watch the crowds again. Sammy puts her legs up across Julie’s lap, being very careful to miss her injured knees. The boys aren’t sitting as close as Sammy would have expected but she doesn’t bring it up. She just points out the odd Seattle fashion to Joy who takes pictures every once in a while.

It’s a good break to rest and they feel refreshed enough to finish off the rest of the market, diving back into the Lower Levels, three floors of small owner-operated shops that are a bit more niched. Sammy absolutely loves the shops that have crystals and mystic themes. She knows that it’s mostly bogus but it’s always so much fun to see how the placebo effect manifests. While she’s at one such shop, she sees Julie slip away, probably to buy Sammy something. The boys are wrapped up in a book shop featuring handmade leather covers.

Sammy moves to the next shop which is full of little wooden figurines. She smiles at all the little bunnies on one shelf and is just about to reach out and pick one up when she hears a voice to her right.

“Hey beautiful, what would it take to let me buy you a coffee?”

“Oh!” She startles and turns enough to see a young man standing pretty close to her right. He grabs her and pulls her back from where she was about to bump into another shelf.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Uh yeah, that eye don’t work so well.” She notices that he hasn’t let go of her arm but she has no space to pull back.

“Oh? It looks normal. And is a gorgeous blue. Are you sure you don’t wear contacts?”

“Heh, very sure. Can’t stand anything near my eyes. Um could you...” She gestures to his hand still on her arm.

“Ah, sorry again.” He finally lets her go but doesn’t really move away. “So about that coffee?”

“I’m more of a tea drinker and I have-”

“We can go for tea too. There’s some Asian places nearby. This is the Pacific.”

“Not quite what I meant. I’m not thirsty and I have a-”

“Okay, not thirsty right now but what about a number and I can see if you are thirsty later?”

She starts to feel a little bit of panic bubbling up. He won’t get the hint and won’t let her say that she has a girlfriend and is not at all interested in his dweeby hipster ass. “I have a-”

“I saw your boyfriend down the ways at another shop. You can do better than him. I mean, I’m here right in front of you. You can catch up to your sister later.”

“Sister?” she says incredulously. “No that’s my-”

“Hey! Leave her alone.” Sammy is sick of being cut off mid sentence. She’s going to punch the next person who interrupts her. But finally the jerk takes a step back to look over at who spoke. Joy is standing at the entrance of the shop area with his hands on his hips.

“Can’t you see we’re busy?”

“Can’t you see she doesn’t want whatever you are trying to sell?”

“Just buzz off, dude.”

“No. Sammy, are you okay?”

“Fine. Just looking to get out of here.” She tries to slip past the asshole but he’s blocking the path really well and she won’t be able to without knocking over some figurines.

“Let her out, you waste of oxygen.”

“Who’s going to make me?” Sammy freezes up as now it’s definitely changed from flirting to something dangerous.

“My boyfriend knows karate,” Joy threatens. The dickbag snorts.

“Well, not karate. But I did kick boxing in high school,” Owen announces as he comes into view. Sammy’s not sure if it makes the situation better or worse. She really doesn’t want this shop wrecked. Which also means they need to get out of this before Julie shows up. “Let Sammy go before we actually have to do anything about it because at this point you’re practically kidnapping her.”

At that, the asshat finally realizes his position. He puts up his hands and steps out, giving wide clearance to Joy and Owen. “Fine, fine, I don’t want to have to beat up a cripple and a fag just over some chick.”

Sammy sees some movement and realizes that Owen has grabbed Joy from rushing forward at the dickweed who’s smirking as he turns and just strolls away.

“Let me at him! I’m going to beat him with a leg!”

“No, Joy, not worth it. Just calm down. Joy, please.” Joy struggles a little more before finally sagging in Owen’s arms. He leans against the other for another moment before apparently remembering Sammy. He perks up and turns towards her.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he? We can still chase him down and-”

“I’m fine. Really. Thanks for the rescue. I feel slimy just knowing someone like him was interested in me.”

“That’s good. That you’re okay. Fuck, what a creep.” Joy pulls Sammy into a hug as she exits the shop, not wanting to be where she was trapped by that guy.

“Uh, did I miss something?” Julie asks as she comes up to the scene.

“Just some irredeemable fuckwit trying to hit on Sammy. Aggressively. Turned into an even bigger fuckwit as he left.”

“What? Sammy, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Julie, these guys hel-”

“Where is he? I’ll kick his ass!” Sammy sighs. Now she’s going to have to punch Julie. While the red head is looking around for the offender, Sammy comes up behind her and punches her lightly in the side. “Hey, what was that for?”

“Interrupting me. I’m fine, love. If he comes back, then I’ll let you and Joy knock his teeth in. But for right now...” She steps in and hugs Julie, Julie’s arms instinctively coming around and holding her back.

“You’re alright, sweetheart. You’re okay. I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” she murmurs into Sammy’s hair. They stand there for a little bit longer until they finally part. “Thanks guys for the assist. Wish you had kept him here so I could kick his ass but oh well. We’re almost done here right?”

They finished up the Market and ended up close to the harbor. They walk along the water with the incident behind them. They wander a bit until they find a restaurant that smells incredible from the sidewalk. The food turns out to be just as good as it smells and each couple ends up splitting a dessert.

Heading back to the cars Sammy and Julie held hands while Owen had his arm wrapped around Joy’s shoulders. They were laughing and talking easily. Sammy couldn’t stop smiling. She knew that they would all get along amazingly. She’s so happy. Tired but happy. When they get back to the cars everyone shares hugs, even Owen. Sammy squishes Joy’s cheeks and gives him a peck on the lips, promising to keep in touch. They part ways, turning opposite directions at the exit of the garage again.

When they get back to the hotel Sammy flops onto the bed exhausted. Julie sets their stuff down and then comes over to take Sammy’s shoes off. Once they are both mostly naked she crawls onto the bed as well.

“That went well today.”

“Except you getting hit on by a creep and me falling down.”

“Oh boo. It was a good day and you can’t take that from me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.” Julie rolls towards Sammy and starts kissing her collarbones. “It was a lot of fun.”

“And the boys were so nice. They saved me.”

“I’m glad.”

“Though something’s... hm... They love each other but there’s something.”

“Yeah, even I noticed it and I’m oblivious as fuck. Any time we said ‘I love you’ they’d get awkward. But they’ll figure it out. They are good kids.”

“They are only a year younger than us, dummy.” Sammy wraps her arms around Julie and kisses her back. “But yeah, they’ll be okay. I’m glad we don’t have any of those hang ups. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I love you.”

“I just said-”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, you silly goose.”

“I love you.”

Julie laughs and kisses Sammy even as Sammy confesses her love again and again.

They finally settle down for bed with Julie falling asleep first, giving Sammy a chance to watch her relax. She gently brushes the hair off Julie’s cheek and tucks it away. The sliver of moonlight turns everything pale and soft. She’s really lucky to have Julie. She’s also glad Julie wasn’t there when the creep was there. She didn’t want to have to bail her out of jail or buy out the shop. She was lucky the boys were there.

Even despite all of that. It was such a good day here in Seattle. She’s a little sad though. Tomorrow they turn around and head back home.

She kisses Julie softly to keep her from waking up then closes her eyes for her own sleep.

[snowdice]

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 46]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

Time for some editing. :)

Chapter 18

They made it all the way to the big blowout between Al and Melly where Melly got mad and left the group to their fate in the magical garden by the time Virgil awakened completely from his food coma (he’d never actually fallen asleep, or at least he always responded when Patton asked) and squirmed around for a bit before sitting up.

Logan hadn’t been particularly interested in the story he’d heard many times before and was reading a book of his own on Patton’s other side, but he put a bookmark in his book when Virgil sat.

“Want to take a break from reading?” Patton asked. “We can do a bit more later, but we have more than just food and books planned for tonight.

 “Okay,” Virgil agreed easily.

“Great!” Patton said clapping his hands. “We’re going to introduce you to the most fun sleepover party event ever!”

Virgil tilted his head.

“Dress up!” Patton said. “Also make-overs. We’ll do you first and then we’ll help you learn how to help pick out other people’s outfits and make-up. If you want to, of course.”

“Sure,” Virgil said with a shrug.

“Yay!” Patton hopped to his feet. “You stay here. Lo and I will get everything ready.”

He pulled Logan to his feet and over to the chair that was the perfect height for doing make-up.

 They set up what they’d need for make-up and then Patton instructed Logan to grab the clothes of his they usually used for this sort of thing out the closet that Virgil wasn’t set up in while he grabbed the pieces he himself had brought upstairs and strew them over the bed so they could see anything.

Smiling happily, Patton looked over at Virgil who had stood up in the giant pile of pillows and blankets to watch him with intense eyes. He looked like he was memorizing every action Patton took as though expecting a test at the end. He was so adorable. A rush of affection and a touch of mischief hit him suddenly.

 “Hey Virgil,” Patton said. Virgil looked over at him. “Can I tackle hug you into that pile of pillows?”

“Tackle hug?” he asked.

“I run over and hug you so hard that we fall into the blankets. I do it to Logan all the time without warning, but I didn’t want to confuse you.”

Virgil considered the offer for a couple of seconds. “Okay,” he finally decided.

“Great!” Patton did a little hop before launching himself across the room. He slammed into Virgil, who apparently had very good balanced because they didn’t immediately fall backwards, but then he seemed to remember that he was supposed to let Patton slam him into the pillows, and so he fell back on his own power.

 Patton giggled when they hit the ground and drew back to look at his face. “I got you!” He leant forward to kiss him on the nose. “Oh wait! I should let you fight back.” He propped himself up on one arm and held out the other hand. “Pinkie promise not to hurt anyone if I let you use the 3rd setting again?”

“Pinkie promise,” he agreed with a grin, linking their pinkies.

“Great!” Without hesitation, Patton did the hand motion to allow the restraints to be in the third setting.

Patton was on his back almost instantly, but he didn’t even have a chance to think about worrying before Virgil pressed a kiss to his nose in a mirror of what Patton had done a moment before. “I got you,” he said proudly.

 “So, you do,” Patton agreed with a laugh. He reached up on of his hands to card it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil leaned into the touch and then practically melted on top of him. “Virgil,” Patton laughed. “It isn’t nap time.”

He grumbled something unintelligible into Patton’s neck making Patton giggle more.

“Sweetie, please.”

Thankfully Logan saved him from the unrelenting cuddling by poking Virgil in the side. “I have finished preparing the stations for the makeover and dress up. You need to get up now.”

Virgil made a noise that sounded like a growl, but he did roll off of Patton.

 Patton hopped to his feet and helped Virgil up before pulling him over to the piles of clothes. “We pick the outfit first, but you don’t put it on. Then, we do your make-up and hair based on it. Then, we get you dressed and do touch ups. Okay? Pick anything you want.”

Virgil looked over the options, eyes going a bit wide. “It…” he said. “It all looks really fancy and expensive. Are you sure you want me to touch any of it?”

“We wouldn’t be offering anything we didn’t want you to touch,” Logan said gently. “In fact, I insist you touch all of it. Beyond just appearance, making sure the texture of the fabric is agreeable is a large part of this activity.”

 Patton picked up one of the pieces of fabric he knew was very soft and offered it to him. He touched it with careful fingers, his eyes lighting up at the feel of it. They had to continue nudging him into feeling the different fabrics, and he hesitated when they asked him to pick his favorite at the end, but eventually he shyly pointed at a dark purple dress.

Patton clapped. “Great! Ooo, I already have some ideas for make-up that will go with that.”

Virgil let Patton pull him over to the chair they’d set up and settled down on it.

29009

Patton hummed. “I think silver and purple make-up mostly?” he said.

Logan nodded and they grabbed a few things from the make-up kit. Logan let Patton do most of the make-up as he tended to be better at the more creative parts, but Logan was the one who gave him the fancy winged eye liner with purple sparkles because he was really good at them.

“You look fantastic!” Patton squealed when they were done. He held up a hand mirror for Virgil who studied himself in it for a long few moments. “Do you like it?”

“It’s really nice,” Virgil confirmed. Patton smiled and hugged him.

“Next hair. We have a lot of accessories. I’ll let you pick from the purple ones.”

 He and Logan sorted through the jewelry box full of different hair accessories for the royal family and ended up finding three purple ones. Patton hesitated a bit over one of them, but Logan picked it up and set it in front of Virgil for him.

“Your choice from these three,” he said.

One was a purple feather with little hooks to braid into hair, one was a smattering of purple and silver stars that would weave through the back of someone’s hair, and the last was a string of silver leaves with purple tips that would wrap up the back of a person’s head from a bun.

Virgil thought for a moment and then pointed to the one made of leaves.

 Patton glanced at Logan who took the hairpiece. “I’ll do your hair right for that one,” he said. “I know how it fits.”

He grabbed the brush and carefully ran it through Virgil’s hair. Virgil seemed to like the attention, leaning into the touch, and a smile flickered over Logan’s face. Logan started gathering the hair together to make the low bun that would be the base of hair arrangement. Patton honestly did not expect him to speak, but then he did as he started to secure the piece with pins.

“This was my Pa’s favorite hairpiece,” Logan said. “Not the father you came here for, but my other one. He died when I was six.”

Virgil went shock still. “I don’t have to...”

“I wouldn’t have let it be offered if I wasn’t okay with you using it,” Logan said.

 Virgil didn’t move as he finished securing the hairpiece. “There,” Logan said when he was done. He picked up the hand mirror and positioned it so Virgil could see. “It suits you.”

“I…” Virgil said. His eyes were wide, and he clearly didn’t know what to say.

“Now,” Logan said. “I believe there are some other pieces of jewelry that would match this very well in the other room. I…” he turned away. “If you will excuse me.”

He turned away and exited through his bedroom door into the hallway. Patton watched him go and then turned to Virgil. “I’m going to go make sure he’s okay, okay?” Patton asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong, there’s just a lot of emotions.”

“I can take it out…” Virgil said.

“No,” Patton said. “I think he likes that you’re wearing it.” Virgil bit his lip. “He never really moved on,” Patton felt inclined to say. “This is… a lot for him, but I think it’s good too.” He leaned forward to kiss the top of his head, being careful not to mess up his artfully done hair. “I’ll be right back.”

He turned to follow Logan out of the room.

  Chapter 19

Thomas sighed in relief as the door to the royal wing finally came into sight. He was exhausted from his journey to Lamir for many reasons. Beyond just the physically taxing journey, he’d also had to deal with the emotions of loosing someone he had thought of as a friend while also trying to help her young daughter who had just had the crown thrust upon her.

Now he just wanted to see his own child and curl up into bed. He smiled at Owen and Kalani as he approached. “Is Logan here?” he asked.

Owen nodded. “The prince and his royal advisor are having a slumber party.”

Thomas smiled. “Of course, they are,” he said.

 He said goodnight to the two guard as they’d be getting off duty soon even if he did manage to drag himself out of his room again tonight and walked past them into the hall.

He walked past the room where they kept the jewels, though was unsurprised to see that the room was unlatched as Patton loved playing around with the different jewelry and had probably left it open when he grabbed them. He was however surprised when his son’s room’s door was thrown open, as Logan usually couldn’t stand for the thing to be open with or without him in it.

 Thomas didn’t think much of it however, and simply walked over to look inside. He was surprised when he didn’t see his son or Patton and instead saw that the only person in the room was a young boy that Thomas did not recognize. He was seated in one of Logan’s chairs and had his head tilted looking at himself in the mirror. He seemed to be trying to get a look at the ornament on the back of his head, and Thomas felt his heart seize a little bit when he recognized the hairpin.

He hadn’t recovered from that gut punch when the boy’s eyes drifted and met his in the mirror. There were a couple of long seconds where the two of them stared at each other in silence.

“Hello?” Thomas finally managed to get out.

Panic. There was suddenly horribly intense panic in the child’s eyes, the likes of which Thomas had never seen before. Thomas could only blink dumbly as he hopped to his feet like his seat was suddenly made of hot coals and then threw himself across the room to the opposite side from Thomas.

He looked around himself, back to the wall and considered Thomas with wildly spooked eyes. Clearly, he realized that he was pinned in Logan’s room by Thomas being in the door.

The boy dropped suddenly and disappeared under Logan’s bed.

 “Uh,” Thomas said, confused and shocked and still a bit in pain from seeing that piece of jewelry in use. He crossed slowly over to the bed and bent down to look under it, moving the bed skirt slightly to the side. He saw a small shaking blob curled up into itself under the bed. “Um, hi,” he said softly.

The blob did not respond except to continue shaking.

Thomas frowned and settled himself onto the floor. “It’s okay,” he said softly. Had he been here stealing things? Thomas had to wonder as he wasn’t sure why someone here for legitimate reasons would be acting so terrified of being caught. Though, that posed the question of how he’d gotten past the guards, and why Logan hadn’t noticed him. “I’m not mad,” Thomas said. “You’re fine.”

The boy looked up briefly from his knees looking terrified. Thomas tried to smile at him gently, but that just made him hunch into himself more, his breathes coming faster. That wasn’t good.

“No, shh,” Thomas said softly. “It’s okay. I promise it’s okay.” He did not seem to believe him, and Thomas winced. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just leave him here but trying to talk him down himself didn’t seem to be working.

Luckily, a familiar voice spoke from behind him then. “Dad?” Logan asked.

Thomas looked back at him. Both Logan and Patton were standing at the door, a couple of pieces of jewelry in their hands. They seemed very surprised to see him.

“You… seem to have a guest,” Thomas informed them.

 “I…” Logan said, beginning to edge into the room like he was expecting something to blow up at any moment. “Yes.” He got to Thomas and squeezed himself between him and the bed, putting a physical barrier between Thomas and the boy. Confused, Thomas took a couple of steps away without challenge. “That,” Logan glanced behind him. Patton had moved to the opposite side of the bed from Logan and Thomas and had gotten to his knees to look under it. “That is Virgil.”

Thomas blinked at him. “Virgil?” he asked.

“He’s… new to the castle,” Logan explained. Patton started speaking softly the boy, but Thomas could not make anything he said out. “Patton and I… invited him to a sleepover.”

“The guards didn’t mention anything,” Thomas said, sure that they would have warned him if there was a stranger in the royal wing.

“Uh, well, Virgil is… shy and we didn’t think you’d be back for another week. So, we snuck him past them.”

“Shy?” Thomas asked doubtfully. That was a lot more than shy.

“Particularly of adults,” Logan said.

Thomas took a moment to let that sink in. “Oh.” He was… scared of adults. Thomas could imagine many reasons why that might be the case and none of them set well. “I see.”

“Hey, no, sweetie, stop that,” Patton said, sounding distressed. Patton had managed to draw Virgil out from underneath the bed, though they were both still mostly hidden behind it and Thomas had no question in his mind that if he went to step towards them, Virgil would be back underneath it in a moment. Currently the boy seemed to be clawing at his own head. “No, baby shh,” Patton said, trying to stop him from tearing the pinned in hairpiece out, Thomas realized. “I’ll get it out,” Patton promised him. “Just calm down and let me do it.” He sounded close to tears, and Thomas couldn’t particularly blame him with the way the boy was acting. “You’re hurting yourself, baby.”

He must know, Thomas realized. If Logan had known he was here, then he must have allowed him to use that hairpiece. He’d probably even told Virgil that it belonged to his dead father. Now he was probably terrified that Thomas would be mad at him for touching it, especially when he’d come in to find Virgil alone without Logan to explain.

Patton managed to get all the pins undone and placed the piece delicately on the bed before wrapping himself protectively around the boy and hushing him.

Logan was looking back at them as well. He looked between the puddle of upset on the floor and Thomas. “Could…” he said. “Could I maybe come and see you in a few minutes, Dad?”

“Of course,” Thomas said. “Of course, I’ll go wait in my room. Take as much time as you need.”

He was careful to move slowly as he stepped towards the door, so the poor thing didn’t notice him move and mistake it for him approaching. He closed Logan’s bedroom door softly behind him feeling even more drained than he’d been before as well as anxious and a bit sickened. He went to his own bedroom to wait for Logan.

  Chapter 20

Logan let out a slow breath as his father closed the door behind him. That could have been very, very bad. He turned his attention to Virgil and Patton. Patton had curled himself around Virgil as much as physically possible and had tucked the boy’s head under his chin.

Logan slowly rounded the bed and knelt in front of them. “It’s alright,” Logan said, cautiously moving to put a hand on his shoulder. Virgil didn’t pull away. “I asked him to leave. It’s alright.”

Virgil tilted his head slightly too look at him. Logan rubbed a circle into his back as he slowly got control of his breath.

 Logan smiled softly at him and reached out to touch his cheek with a gentle hand. “You… didn’t hurt him. You didn’t even try to hurt him.”

Virgil shook his head.

“Why not?” Logan asked curiously. “It was a perfect opportunity.”

“Promised Patton,” Virgil mumbled, and the idea that perhaps the thing that had saved his father’s life was a pinky promise just about gave Logan a migraine, but then Virgil ducked his head. “And it would make you sad.”

“I see,” Logan said, heart in his throat.

Virgil kept looking towards the floor, his eyes starting to fill with tears again. “Are you going to turn me in now?”

 He was shaking and barely holding back a fresh wave of tears. Logan knew of course that no one would hurt him here if he turned him in to his father and the guards, but he also knew that Virgil would be terrified if he did so. He was already terrified. Logan didn’t want to know what he thought the fate Logan would be condemning him to.

“No,” Logan said before he could even truly think it through. “No, I’m not.”

“You’re not?” Virgil asked.

“Well, there wouldn’t really be a point, would there?” Logan asked. “The reason we planned to turn you when father got back in is because you posed a danger to him, but you have just demonstrated that is no longer an issue.”

 “Really?” Virgil asked, sniffling a bit and Logan saw Patton’s arms tighten even more around him.

“We will have to figure out a better cover for you than just that you’re new to the castle, but I believe it will work fine. No one besides the two of us would ever guess your origin anyway.”

“S-so I can stay?” Virgil asked, “and you won’t throw me into prison or execute me?”

“I promise you were never going to be executed Virgil,” Logan said. “Even if we turned you in, but yes you can stay with us. We’ll figure out a backstory for you that doesn’t involve assassinations and you’ll have to keep up the lie, but I doubt anyone will question it.”

 “I’ll do whatever you want,” Virgil said, chocked up. “Thank you. I really didn’t want to go.”

“Well, you’re our friend now so there will be no going anywhere,” Patton said kissing him on the cheek. Virgil relaxed back into his hold, pleased with the affection.

Logan smiled at them both. “Can I see your wrists, Virgil?”

Virgil blinked but offered them and Logan tapped the restraints doing a quick incantation. They popped off after a moment.

“You’re letting me go?” Virgil asked, eyes wide.

“Of course,” Logan said. “We’re not just going to keep you prisoner for no reason.”

 “That’s…” Virgil said, eyes watering as he clearly was trying not to cry. “You’re the best people I’ve ever met.”

“I wish that was not so clearly the case,” Logan replied. He slowly reach up and set a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to go speak with my father. Patton will stay with you.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed, seeming a bit hesitant.

Logan smiled softly and leaned forward to gently touch their foreheads together. “I will be right back,” he assured. “We will finish our slumber party, though perhaps we will table the rest of the dress up activity for another night.”

 He stood then, leaving Virgil in Patton’s capable hands to exit his own bedroom and cross the hallway to his father’s. He took a brief moment to compose himself before knocking on the door.

“Come in,” his father called.

Logan opened the door to see his father sitting on one of the armchairs in his room. Despite the almost disaster that had taken place a few minutes ago, Logan found himself smiling at the man. It was nice to have him home.

“Sorry about that,” Father said.

“It was more my fault than yours. If I knew there was a risk of you coming home today, I wouldn’t have left him alone.”

 “Is he alright?”

“I believe so,” Logan answered. “Patton is with him and will certainly smooth out any lingering distress.”

“Good,” his dad said. “That’s good.” There was a pause and then he gestured at the seat beside his.

Logan settled himself down on it. “How was your trip?” he asked. “You’re back a week early.”

“Yes,” Father said. “The trip went better and worse than anticipated.

“How so?” asked Logan curiously.

“Well,” Dad said. “The purpose of the trip was to convince the new queen of Lamir, Cecil not to ally with Mocnejsi, but by the time I’d arrived there wasn’t really a risk of that.”

 “Why not?”

“After investigation, it turned out that Cecil’s mother had been poisoned by an assassin from Mocnejsi.”

“Oh,” Logan said, mind already racing.

“They figured out that one of the young women who had been hired on in the kitchen for the winter had done it, and had learned her origin when they questioned her,” Dad informed him. “Considering Cecil was immediately approached for an alliance with Mocnejsi, their aim was likely to manipulate her going forward because of how young she is. Luckily, Cecil is a smart girl and has the help of her mother’s advisor as well as her own. By the time I got there, my only real role was to extend my condolences and reaffirm out alliance. I would have stayed longer, but the possibility that Mocnejsi may think to attack us in a similar way hastened me home.”

 “That…” Logan said. “That is wise. I assume you are going to institute more security.”

“I am, yes,” Dad replied. “I would like your input on plans in the coming day.”

“Of course,” Logan agreed.

Dad smiled at him, “But for now,” he said, “I think it’s time you get back to your slumber party and I get to finally go to sleep.”

Logan nodded and got to his feet. He leaned over to hug his father perhaps a bit longer and harder than was strictly necessary, but Dad did not seem to mind at all. “Goodnight,” Logan said.

“Goodnight, son.”

  Chapter 21

Virgil woke with something soft but kind of stringy in his face. That was weird. He didn’t know what in the closet would feel like that. In fact, as he woke more he noticed more things that he couldn’t sus out the origin of, particularly the warmth curled up against his side. Curious, he blinked open his eyes. Oh, right. Patton.

The soft stuff in his face was Patton’s hair and the warmth next to Virgil was the rest of the boy’s body. Patton had all but refused to let Virgil go last night after Logan had taken off the restraints and Virgil hadn’t minded the attention. They must have fallen asleep together in the piles of pillows and blankets on the floor.

 Virgil brushed his hair gently away, internally (for fear of disturbing him) shaking his head at him. He’d fallen asleep hallway on top of an assassin. He had no self-preservation instincts. He looked at his wrists. It seemed no one had any self-preservation instincts. This of course, included himself as instead of running off when free in case they decided to turn him in after all, he had fallen asleep on the floor with Patton too.

He looked to the side and saw Logan was already awake, reading on one of his chairs. He seemed to sense Virgil’s eyes on him because he looked up after a moment.

 “You can get up if you like,” Logan said. “He is a heavy sleeper and won’t wake up if you squirm out of his grip.”

Virgil frowned, unsure if he wanted to risk it.

“I have breakfast ready for you.”

Okay, Virgil was going to risk it.

He carefully squirmed out of Patton’s grip, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead in apology for leaving him before getting to his feet.

Logan handed him a plate of eggs and toast when he walked over and gestured to the chair next to him. Virgil sat there to eat while Logan continued to read.

 Virgil ate his food quickly, and then glanced over at Logan once he was done. Virgil was honestly at a bit of a loss. Usually, they came and got him out of the closet only once they were ready to do something, but Patton was still sound asleep on the floor and Logan looked engrossed in his book.

Virgil fidgeted slightly, unsure what he should be doing or even if he should be doing anything. Considering Logan hadn’t given him any instructions, he should probably not do anything. He didn’t want to screw up the first day of… whatever this was now.

 Logan glanced over at him after a few minutes. “Don’t forget about the potion,” he reminded.

Virgil nodded and stood, walking over to the closet since it would still be in there from the previous morning. It was about half gone now and it had gotten to the point where Virgil didn’t feel any immediate affects from it anymore other than some warmth. It basically just felt like drinking tea.

He said as much to Logan when he walked back over to him.

“That’s good,” Logan said, “it means it has been working. It has healed any damage it can from malnutrition. Any internal organs that were damaged should be mostly healed. You may even notice your eyesight getting slightly better. Your immune system should also be boosted. You will likely also find it is easier to gain muscle and while you likely will never be as tall as you could have been, you will likely still grow a few inches during your next growth spirt.”

 Virgil studied his hands where they were sitting on his thigh now as though he could see the changes that allegedly had already taken place in his body. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Of course,” Logan replied, eyes already back on his book like it was some normal thing and not a huge kindness he’d bestowed on Virgil before even really knowing him. As though Virgil didn’t just owe him more than just his life going forward.

They sat in silence then for a few more minutes, before the was a soft sigh from the floor and Patton started to wake. He sat up and looked around. His eyes landed on both Virgil and Logan sitting together and he seemed to light up.

 “Good morning!” he chirped.

“Good morning, Patton,” Logan said as Patton popped to his feet, “I have breakfast for you.”

“Thank you Lo,” Patton said, throwing his arms around Logan’s neck, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Virgil presumed from the lack of surprise on Logan’s face that this was normal for morning Patton, not that the fact surprised him considering how night Patton acted.

He still managed to be somewhat surprised by the fact that Patton turned to hug Virgil a second later. Patton’s lips were pressed briefly to Virgil’s head and then he turned to grab the plate Logan had saved for him.

 “So, what are we doing today?” Patton asked.

“I was thinking Virgil and I could continue our reading lessons if he is not opposed,” Logan said. Virgil nodded, happy with that prospect. “Other than that, I have no plans. I have already spoken with my father before the two of you woke. He is going to spend most of his day catching up on things he missed and said I could take the rest of the day off royal duties.”

“A whole day to relax then!” Patton said, happily chewing on his toast. “Reading sounds fun, but we should do something more active too.”

 Logan hummed. “We can show Virgil the courtyard after the reading lessons,” he said.

It took a moment for it to register, but then Virgil froze. “Wait,” he said. “We’re going outside?”

Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes.”

“So, we’re leaving your room?”

“Are you alright with that?” Logan asked cautiously.

Virgil nodded quickly.

“Oh,” Patton said at his enthusiasm. “I guess you have been cooped up a while, haven’t you?” He smiled sadly and turned to Logan. “Maybe we can do reading lessons in the garden.”

“That would be satisfactory.”

“Great!” Patton said. He looked over at Virgil. “If we’re going out, we should probably put your hair up and get you in some clean clothes.”

 Logan nodded. “You finish eating, and I will help Virgil find something to wear.”

Logan found him an outfit, though it was a bit baggy on Virgil and the hem of the shirt went halfway to his knees. When Patton finished breakfast, he sat Virgil down and carefully worked a brush through his hair.

“Can I braid it?” Patton asked.

Virgil hummed his consent. Having his hair brushed and done up by another person was a lot more enjoyable than he’d anticipated. He’d liked it when Logan did it the night before, though he had to very firmly push away thoughts of where that led.

 “Okay!” Patton said after a few moments. “You look good. Ready to go?”

Virgil nodded and they both led him out into the hall. He paused before they got to the door. “What about the guards?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’ve already given them the same story as I did Dad,” Logan replied. “They know you’re here.”

Virgil still hesitated.

“It’s okay,” Patton promised. “Here, hold my hand?”

Virgil took the offered hand immediately, and Logan stepped in front of them both. Virgil felt himself relax a bit knowing the prince was between him and the guards.

They led him to the door.

 Logan greeted both of the guards at the door, and they said good morning back. Both of them glanced at Virgil curiously for a moment making him shrink into himself, but they quickly averted their gazes.

Patton pulled him past them without incident and soon they were in the small dining hall Virgil had passed through his first night here. He remembered how he’d snuck around at the edges of the room in the shadows with the aim to kill the king, but now he was being pulled through the middle with the prince having just wandered past the royal guards in broad daylight like it was nothing.

 It was so strange, and Virgil still couldn’t totally believe this was happening. The retraced his exact steps back down the spiral stairs near the kitchen and out of the door he and the nice gardener had came through. He could even see the shed he’d been hiding in from here. With a blink, he remembered they were going to the garden, and he wondered if he’d see the man again.

For now, he just looked around them as Logan and Patton led him past the garden shed towards an area with many trees. Orange and yellow leaves were starting to fall from many of the trees.

 They made a satisfying crunching sound under his feet as he was led to a tree. He had seen the group of trees when he’d first arrived here and had even thought about hiding amongst them instead of in the shed, but they’d seemed scary in the dark. They were pretty in the daylight, however, and Virgil found himself tilting his head to watch the branches sway in the slight wind.

Logan sat down under it and pulled out a book and some writing materials from the bag he’d brought. Virgil settled down next to him so they could both look at the book at the same time and Patton flopped down on the other side, immediately setting to work tying fancy knots in the yarn he’d brought with him. Patton shuffled slightly to the side so they bumped shoulders as Logan opened the book and started Virgil’s reading lesson.

  Chapter 22

Patton bit his lip to keep from laughing or awing. “Do you like the flower, Virgil?” he asked.

Virgil glanced up at him briefly and then his eyes returned to the flower he’d found. “It’s nice,” he said.

They’d finished the reading lessons and let Virgil explore the garden a bit. He’d found a dark purple and yellow flower (a pansy, Patton thought) and seemed to be endlessly fascinated by it. He’d been staring at it for minutes now, almost as though he expected it to do something. Patton did not quite understand his interest, but he was still adorable.

 Logan sat next to him and the flower, smiling at him softly. “I imagine you’ll enjoy the garden in the spring,” Logan said. “There are many more flowers then. Of all types. We’ll have to show you all of the best spots. Mr. Deknis has a particularly good eye for colors, and it is always quite beautiful.”

“Who is Mr. Deknis?” Virgil asked.

“He’s the head gardener,” Logan said. “He’s a nice man, though a bit prickly when it comes to his garden. We may see him today if he’s in this part of the garden.”

“Would he have been the multrum I saw in the gardening shed when I hid there?”

 “Ah, yes, that would be him. I was unaware you interacted with anyone in the castle.”

“He caught me in his garden shed, but he wasn’t mean,” Virgil said, he tilted his head curiously at Logan. “Why…” he trailed off.

“Yes?” Logan asked.

“Why is he the gardener?”

Logan looked confused, “Well,��� he said, “I guess because he wants to and is good at it.”

“No,” Virgil said with a frown. “I mean. Shouldn’t he… he’s…”

Logan seemed to think hard for a moment. “Right,” he said. “You’ve been under a blood compulsion. I’d guess you would have only worked with multrums in the military.”

 “I guess I didn’t realize that they could be other things…”

“Of course, they can,” Logan said. “Their abilities don’t make them any less of people. Mr. Deknis likes to garden so he gardens.”

Virgil blinked at him.

“…Of course, all things considered, that may not be a familiar concept to you.” Virgil turned back to look at the flower instead of answering. “Right,” said Logan.

There were a couple of awkward beats of silence. Patton bit his lip and happened to glance up. “Oh,” he said. “Speaking of Mr. Deknis.” He gestured to the gardener who was coming up the path between the trees.

 Logan sat up on his knees as Patton waved at him. He saw Patton and turned to walk towards them. “The two of you had better not be up to mischief in my garden,” Mr. Deknis called, his voice a bit gruff. He clearly did not see Virgil who had laid flat on his stomach to stare at the flower.

Logan rolled his eyes automatically. “We were just reading Mr. Deknis,” he said. “Your piles of dirt are safe.”

“No mud cakes?” Mr. Deknis asked skeptically still coming towards them.

“It has been a literal decade…”

Patton saw when Mr. Deknis was close enough to see Virgil.

 He stopped in his track and looked down at Virgil who was already watching him a bit warily. “Hello,” he said, his voice a lot softer than it’d been a few moments before. His expression completely flipped in a moment to something very gentle when he saw Virgil and the cautious look on his face. Virgil did seem to have that effect on people.

“Hi,” Virgil replied.

Mr. Deknis looked at Logan and then at Patton and then back at Virgil. “This is our new friend, Virgil,” Patton offered.

“Hello, Virgil,” Mr. Deknis said with a nod.

“Virgil, this is the gardener Mr. Deknis.”

 “He’s not nearly as grumpy as he sounds,” Patton assured.

“Well,” Logan said, “yes he is.”

Mr. Deknis shot him a look that only served to prove Logan’s point if Patton was being honest. Logan just smiled back. Mr. Deknis apparently decided to let it slide because he turned back to Virgil.

“It’s good to see you again,” Mr. Deknis said. “Are you feeling better?”

Virgil nodded. “I’m a lot better,” he said. Mr. Deknis considered him for a moment, clearly reading how true that statement was. Patton was glad he seemed satisfied with the answer.

“I see you’ve met these two.”

 “Yeah,” Virgil said.

Mr. Deknis smiled slightly. “Be careful with this one,” he said, pointing to Logan. “He’s a bad influence.”

Virgil frowned in confusion. “He’s the prince,” he pointed out.

“And a bad influence,” Mr. Deknis repeated. “He’s a beacon of irresponsibility and mischief and he corrupts that one,” he nodded to Patton.

“I am completely responsible,” Logan replied.

“Need I remind you of the cucumber incident.”

“I was 8,” Logan said.

“I know how old you were,” Mr. Deknis replied, “and you are hardly any older.”

“I resent that.”

Mr. Deknis just smiled and turned back to Virgil who was watching the interaction with pure curiosity.

 “I just picked a few more of those apples for Patton’s mom to make into apple sauce. Would you kids like some?”

Virgil glanced over at Logan and Patton.

“That would be nice, thank you,” Patton replied for them all, standing up. Seeing that, Virgil also climbed to his feet.

“It’s back this way,” Mr. Deknis said, inclining hid head back the way he’d came and then turning to lead them that way. Patton followed him. He glanced back to see Logan put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder and give him a gentle push to get him going. “So, what are you kids up to today?”

 “We wanted to show Virgil the garden and courtyard,” Patton said. “He’s been cooped up inside for a bit.”

“I see,” Mr. Deknis said. He glanced back at Virgil. “Feel free to come out in the garden anytime you like. As long as you don’t go about purposefully destroying stuff, I don’t mind you being out here.”

“I won’t destroy anything,” Virgil promised instantly.

“Well I hope you manage to keep that attitude even while befriending the large upright groundhog behind you.”

Virgil looked a little bit nervous. “He’s just teasing Virgil,” Patton assured. “He loves Logan.”

Mr. Deknis glanced back again and seemed to read the same thing Patton had read on Virgil’s face.

 “Yes, of course,” Mr. Deknis said. “I have simply known the prince for a long time and joke with him in that way often. Logan is aware of that.”

“Indeed,” Logan agreed, his hand squeezing a bit on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil relaxed a touch.

Mr. Deknis stopped and reached down into a bucket next to a tree. “I wouldn’t offer my apples to people I don’t like,” he said, tossing an apple underhand to Logan. Instead of trying to catch it, his eyes widened and he dodged out of the way.

“You would however throw apples at them despite knowing they have never been able to catch things.”

 Mr. Deknis just rolled his eyes fondly, but Virgil frowned and turned to Logan. “You don’t know how to catch things?” he asked scandalized. “You should know how to catch things. What if someone throws a knife at you?”

Mr. Deknis looked… probably the right amount of concerned about that statement coming from a 14-year-old’s lips.

“Haha, yeah,” Patton said awkwardly. “Maybe you can teach Logan how to catch things Virgil, but later. Right now, why don’t we just get the apples and then show you the courtyard.”

Virgil was still frowning, but he did not argue with Patton’s suggestion.

 Thankfully, Mr. Deknis did not push, though Patton did have to dodge many a meaningful side eye. He might… need to make sure he did not get cornered by the gardener in the coming days… or brush up on his lying without lying skills.

For now, though, he just handed out the apples, not tossing them this time. Virgil thanked him softly and Patton could see the way the usually fairly gruff man went all melty at that. He even slipped an extra apple to Virgil for later which Virgil perked up at.

Patton and Logan pulled him away gently after that so Mr. Deknis could go back to work, but Virgil seemed happy with the apples and copied Patton at waving goodbye to him cheerfully.

Despite the fact that he liked Mr. Deknis and he’d been nice, Patton still took a calming breath when they were no longer at risk of lying about something and getting caught by the man’s powers. They went back into the castle towards the courtyard.

  Chapter 23

Logan was unsurprised that after showing Virgil the large courtyard, Patton almost immediately decided to instigate a game of tag. They were, after all, here with the goal of getting Virgil a bit active after having had him only in Logan’s room for weeks.

He was also unsurprised that Virgil seemed confused about the concept of tag, and Patton had to explain the game in detail to him.

It made him wince, but he still was unsurprised when Virgil went about inquiring after the consequences of losing the game.

He was, however, very surprised when, after getting all of the facts about tag settle, Patton was chasing after Virgil trying to tag him and suddenly the boy disappeared.

 Patton almost ran into a wall in his confusion. He stared at his hands stretched out and just a couple of inches from touching the wall for a moment, before slowly looking up.

“Virgil!” Patton exclaimed. “What?”

“What?” he asked.

“…What are you even hanging onto?”

“The wall,” Virgil replied.

Logan walked closer to the two of them and tilted his head up to look at him. Virgil had jumped up and somehow managed to find hand and foot holes on the seemingly smooth wall. He climbed about 5 meters above their heads and was peering down at them curiously.

 “Okay,” Logan said. “New rule. Virgil is not allowed to scale walls during tag.”

Virgil frowned down at him. “Why only me?”

“Because Patton and I cannot do that anyway,” Logan said. “We would not be able to actually play if you remain up there.”

Patton glanced over at him and reached over to touch Logan’s shoulder. “No tag backs,” he said. Logan glared at him. “Why don’t you come down sweetie?”

“But Logan will tag me,” he said.

“Well, honey, that’s part of the fun,” Patton reasoned. “Don’t you want to try being it?”

Virgil seemed to consider this for a long moment. “Okay,” he agreed.

 To Logan’s terror, he simply let go of the wall, falling straight down and landing crouched. He blinked at Logan. Right. With a start, Patton took off, so he’d have a head start. “No tag backs means a 10 second head start for me,” Logan reminded. Virgil nodded, and Logan reached out to poke him in the arm before immediately running off in the opposite direction as Patton.

Logan’s strategy worked out since, knowing he couldn’t go after Logan for a few seconds more, he chose to turn and go after Patton. After finding one of the statues to hide behind on the edge of the courtyard, Logan risked glancing back.

 Virgil was faster than Logan (and likely Patton) had accounted for. Patton had gotten a good head start on him, but Virgil closed it quickly. Patton shrieked as Virgil barreled into him, bringing them both to the ground.

“Virgil!” Logan heard Patton giggle. Logan figured he was more than okay despite the tackle. “This isn’t how you play tag!”

“I combined tag and tackle hugs,” Virgil declared, making Patton giggle more.

“That’s very innovative, honey,” Patton said. “Now are you going to let me up?...Virgil… I’m counting down your 10 second head start in my head, and if you don’t let me up I’m going to tag you again.”

 This did not seem to have the intended effect as Virgil did not remove himself from Patton’s person. Patton laugh when it became clear he was not going to move and began counting down “7, 6, 5, 4, you’d better let me go sweetie, or you’re going to get tagged again.” Virgil did not seem to care. “3, 2, 1.” Patton reached up and bopped him on the nose. “Tag!” he declared.

Logan was surprised when Virgil instantly jumped off Patton at that. He whipped around.

‘Oh,’ Logan thought as the boy’s eyes narrowed in on Logan immediately, ‘I see.’

 “Virgil was already halfway across the courtyard towards him before Logan could even think about running away. There was no way that he was fast enough to outrun him. Perhaps he could outthink him, he thought. His eyes scanned his environment in the seconds he had left and landed on a large square piece of stone that held flowers in the spring. It was just full of dirt now, but it was still about waist high. Perhaps if he kept that between them, he could outmaneuver him. He sprinted towards it and scrambled to the opposite side from where Virgil was heading.

 He really should not have been as surprised as he was that Virgil did not even slightly slow as he approached the planter box, instead grabbing ahold of the side of it and vaulting over it. Logan stumbled back, bracing for impact, but instead he just got a quick tap on the shoulder.

Logan blinked at him.

“I don’t know if you would be okay with tackle hugs,” he explained.

Logan considered him. “I would be okay with a nontackle hug.”

Virgil happily jumped forward to hug Logan, pressing his nose into Logan’s shoulder. Logan chuckled and patted the top of his head. “Six,” he said, “5, 4, 3…”

 Virgil bolted away suddenly, actually making Logan stumble a bit. He paused just out of reach of Logan, looking at him with anticipation. “2,1,” Logan finished with a raised eyebrow. He already knew he was being played with, but he indulged him by starting towards him. Virgil danced out of the way, eyes alight. Logan sighed. “Is this truly how it’s going to be?” he asked.

Virgil didn’t answer, but to watch him with wide, excited eyes.

“Fine,” Logan said. He dashed towards him again, only to have him continue to maneuver just out of Logan’s reach each time Logan went forward. He’d call it taunting if there was any sign of malice in it.

 They ran around the courtyard in spirts of Logan charging at him and Virgil expertly dodging. Eventually Patton came closer to them. Logan could tell that Virgil was aware of his presence, by how he glanced back at him briefly, but considering he was not ‘it,’ it seemed he chose to disregard him. However, he was not aware of the way Patton winked at Logan as he walked up behind Virgil.

Logan, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening. He went to spring for Virgil again, and Virgil again moved to dodge, but this time Patton grabbed him around the waist, allowing Logan to actually tag him.

 He turned slowly to face Patton who started to giggle immediately at the perplexed look on his face. It cleared into something else as soon as he heard Patton laugh. “Traitor!” he claimed. “We were on the same team and you betrayed me.”

“I just thought we should probably have mercy on poor Logan,” Patton replied.

“Hmm,” Virgil said, eyes again full of that playful mischief Logan had not seen until today. “Plea for mercy not accepted.”

Patton once again half-shrieked half-laughed as he was pounced on. The two of them went rolling across the grass, Virgil clearly keeping the rolling going longer than it should have as they made it a good few meters.

 Virgil sprung off of him a few moments later.

“Oh, is it my turn?” Patton inquired with a huge smile. He slowly got to his feet. “Hmm, I’m probably at about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” He took off after Virgil, but Patton had a bit more endurance than Logan, so instead of doing quickly calculated lunges at Virgil as Logan had done, he just ran at him full tilt without stopping.

Virgil ran from him, though Logan was pretty sure he was intentionally slowing himself down a bit so Patton had some amount of a chance. He kept turning to check behind him and make sure Patton was still somewhat close as he ran.

Which is why he didn’t see the imminent disaster in time.

  Chapter 24

Thomas should have been paying more attention, but his mind had been on the meeting he’d just had with the castle guards about increased security in the wake of the possible threat from Mocnejsi. He’d decided to take a brief walk around the courtyard to clear his head but was still distracted with mulling over the options that had just been presented to him. He stepped into the castle courtyard and did not have time to step out of the way of the much smaller body rocketing towards him. Virgil slammed into his front, but not before Thomas got a good look at his face.

 Virgil’s expression changed dramatically in the few seconds between him registering Thomas was there and running into him. For the briefest moment, Thomas could see that he must have been having a lot of fun. He’d caught the wide smile and sparkling eyes as Virgil turned his head back from looking at Patton who was chasing him across the greenery. He’d looked very happy which made it all the more painful to see that happiness die in and a few instants. When his head had turned back towards Thomas, there was a flicker of confusion at something being in his path.

 Then, clearly everything about the situation registered, because his eyes blew wide in horror as he tried to stop himself, but there was no way he’d be able to in time. Thomas saw that fact register on his face the moment before he hit. Gone was any trace of happiness or joy in that split second. All that was left was dread that had no place anywhere near a children’s game of tag. It was the expression Thomas would expect from someone who felt ice give way under their feet in the middle of a lake they had thought was frozen solid.

 He hit hard, but he wasn’t nearly big enough to actually harm Thomas. Thomas was thrown slightly off balance but managed to stay on his feet. He reached out a hand to his shoulder automatically to steady the child. There was a moment of pseudo calm where they both absorbed the impact and stilled.

Then, the boy’s shoulder slipped out of Thomas’s grip as he went crashing to the ground in a move that made Thomas wince for the state of his knees. Thomas couldn’t quite grasp what was happening for a moment as Virgil face planted onto the ground in front of him, but when he did, Thomas couldn’t help but flinch and take a step back from him.

 Thomas had been bowed to before, of course, seeing as he was a king, but this was not out of respect or courtesy or even just tradition. This was out of terror. He was begging for mercy and it made Thomas feel sick.

“I’m sorry,” he said, meek and shaky into the ground, and there was almost something worse about the fact that he did not beg for forgiveness with his words, but only his posture. The way his breathes came far too quick and shallow said he was likely on the verge of a panic attack, but he was not blubbering through apologies or even not speaking at all. He gave a clear, if shaky, apology, and waited for whatever he thought Thomas planned to do to him. There was no way that was not learned.

 “You don’t…” Thomas stuttered. “You don’t have to do that. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again, but he reacted in no other way. He did not even react when Patton made it to his side and knelt down next to him. Patton’s hand hovered over his back, clearly wanting to touch down, but he pulled back on that instinct.

“Virgil, honey,” he said softly. “It’s okay. No one is mad. It was an accident.”

Virgil did not react to this at all.

Thomas caught Logan’s eye as he hurried over to them himself. “Sorry,” Thomas mouthed. Logan just nodded and turned his attention to his friend.

 “There is no reason for any of that,” Logan said, his voice firm, almost clipped. “You are not in trouble. Now sit up.”

Virgil did respond to that, slowly shifting back on his knees. He kept his head down looking at the ground. “Sorry,” he said again.

“I…” Thomas said, surveying the three kids on the ground in front of him. Thomas slowly sunk to the ground to be at their level. Virgil was tracking his movements out of the corner of his eyes, his head still bowed and his shoulders tensed. “Hey,” Thomas said softly. “Were you three playing tag?”

 Virgil hesitated, eyes flickering as he debated whether he should respond or not.

“Yeah, we were,” Patton answered for him after a moment of stressful silence.

“Well that’s fun,” Thomas said. “I’m sorry for interrupting the three of you. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Virgil glanced up at him for just a moment before looking away again. Patton apparently felt it was safe enough to touch Virgil, because he settled a hand on the boys shoulder.

“Yeah, we’ve just been having a fun day,” Patton said, carefully matching Thomas’s light tone. “We went to the garden and did some reading. Then, Mr. Deknis gave us some apples.”

 “That’s nice,” Thomas replied. “He’s been talking about the new apples he’s been growing. He’s been working on them for years and they’re just beginning to bare fruit this year. I haven’t gotten a chance to try any yet. Are they any good?”

“They’re very good,” Patton told him. His hand rubbed slowly on Virgil’s back. “Isn’t that right, Virge?”

Virgil nodded a bit, a little less tense now, but still nowhere near calm.

“Well, I’ll have to try them soon,” Thomas said with a smile. “Thank you for the information. Now, I’ve got to get back to what I’m doing, but I hope you three have a good day.”

 “I’ll see you later, Dad,” Logan said.

Thomas nodded and pushed himself to his feet. “Goodbye you three,” he said before turning away towards the door back into the castle. He paused to take a breath when the door closed behind him, cutting off the courtyard. There were a lot of thoughts to shirt through in regards to that conversation. He hated that Virgil was so obviously terrified of him. Both of their two interactions had ended with the poor thing panicking on the ground. He wished he had some idea of how to help him or at least someone to talk to about it.

Maybe he’d go visit Mr. Deknis himself and not just for the apples.

  Chapter 25

“Alright,” Patton said, pressing a kiss to Virgil’s forehead. “I’ve got to go back to my room for the night. Will you two be okay?”

“We’ll be fine,” Logan said. “It won’t be particularly different than the last two weeks.”

Patton nodded and leaned to the side to squeeze Virgil in another hug. He’d been clingy since the incident in the courtyard, and Virgil had been appreciative considering he was still pretty shaky from it. He was still surprised he’d touched the king of Prijaznia (let alone ran into him) and lived to tell the tale.

“Goodnight, Pat,” Virgil said because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t leave if Virgil didn’t.

 “Night Virge,” Patton said with a smile before standing up from where they’d been sitting on the ground. He reached over to hug Logan who was sitting on a chair. “Night Lo! Put the book down and go to bed.”

Logan looked up from his book with a frown.

“It’s almost midnight,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and set his book down. “Very well,” he agreed. “We will get ready for bed.”

“You better! I’m going to come and wake you up early in the morning.”

“Early in the morning for you is 9am,” Logan scoffed.

Patton stuck his tongue out at him as he walked backwards out of the door.

 Logan gave his book a mournful look once the door closed and Virgil almost giggled. “I won’t tell on you,” he said.

Logan thought about it for a few moments. “No,” he finally said. “We should probably get some sleep.”

Virgil nodded and pushed himself to his feet.

“We should probably both take a bath after sitting in the dirt today,” Logan said. “Do you want to go first or should I?”

“Don’t care,” Virgil answered.

“You can go first,” Logan offered.

Virgil felt himself smile. “You just want to finish the chapter in that book,” he accused.

“Perhaps,” Logan conceded.

 Virgil just grinned and walked over to his closet to grab one of the outfits he’d been given for pajamas. He chose a pair of baggy shorts that went past his knees and the huge soft black sweater Logan had found in the back of his closet. He headed into the bathroom, noting Logan had already picked up his book again.

Logan may have declared the both of them dirty enough for bathing a few minutes before, but Virgil was cleaner than he thought he’d ever been before coming to the castle. Logan had taught him how to use the tub and what soaps to use for what a couple of days after he’d arrived and had suggested he clean himself regularly.

 Virgil didn’t mind. The tub was enchanted to warm the water inside of it and Virgil loved it. Though, that had the negative affect of making it very difficult to leave.

He cleaned himself up quickly, so he’d have a few minutes to just sit in the water before he felt like he needed to get out and let Logan have a turn. He changed into his pajamas, pulling the crescent shaped protection charm out of his day clothes pocket and storing the warm to the touch stone in the short pocket. He used the clip Patton had made it to pin it to the cloth to make sure he wouldn’t lose it.

 Logan was engrossed in his reading by the time that Virgil exited the bathroom. He did not look up as Virgil approached.

“Your turn,” Virgil said to him.

Logan clearly just barely managed to tear his eyes away from the book. “Right,” he said. “Yes.”

“The book will be there in the morning,” Virgil reminded.

“I know,” said Logan sadly as he set the book aside.

Logan never took much time in the bath, so Virgil quickly went about getting ready for bed the rest of the way. He put his day clothes in the basket Logan had for that purpose and started to straighten out the blankets and pillows in the closet.

 He heard Logan come back into the room a few minutes later.

“Virgil,” Logan said. “What are you doing?”

Virgil looked over at him. “Getting ready for bed,” he answered, confused.

Logan frowned at him. “You don’t sleep in the closet anymore,” Logan said. “That’s only for when we were worried you might escape.”

“Oh,” Virgil said blinking over at him. “Right.” He felt a slight pulling at his chest. He liked the closet. It was warm and soft. Patton had taken a lot of care with how he’d arranged all of the pillows and blankets. It was the best place he could ever remember having to sleep in his life. Yet, he did not argue. He knew getting to sleep out in the open was supposed to be a reward and he wasn’t about to reject it.

 Virgil stood and closed the closet. He tugged on the bottom of his sweater, stretching the fabric between his hands as he watched Logan pull down the covers of his bed and settle down onto it. Cautiously he walked over towards the bed. He wasn’t sure where he should lay down exactly. He dithered for a moment before bending down to sit on the floor near the right side of Logan’s bed and then laying down.

There was shuffling on the bed above him and then Logan’s head popped over the side to squint down at him. “On the bed Virgil,” he said.

 Virgil looked up at him in shock. “But it… I’m…” He trailed off and there were a few seconds of silence.

“It is just a bed Virgil,” Logan said.

But it wasn’t ‘just’ anything. Virgil was pretty sure touching the bed of a royal family member without permission would be considered a capital offence. At least, it would in Mocnejsi. Yet, Logan was expecting him to just… crawl into it?

“Please just get up here,” Logan said. Virgil’s caution at touching something he was definitely sure he should not be allowed to be touching wared with his resolve to repay his literal life debt to Logan by doing whatever he wanted.

 Feeling honestly a bit sick to his stomach, Virgil slowly pushed himself back to his feet. Logan scooted back over to the left side of the bed, and Virgil cautiously sat down on the empty side of the bed. After a second of hesitation he slowly laid down, his head hitting a soft fluffy pillow. He jumped when Logan flopped the covers on top of both of them.

Virgil took a long moment to absorb the situation while Logan took off his glasses and reached over to turn off the light next to him. He’d never slept in a bed before, or if he had he’d been too young to remember. In the orphanage there was a lack of actual beds due to overcrowding and there had always been someone bigger and stronger that Virgil didn’t dare fight for the use of them. During training, none of the kids had a bed. Only a few of the higher ups had ones at the more permanent training sites. There were very few situations where any of the assassins, at least a Virgil’s level, would be allowed to touch a real bed.

 The light switched off, plunging them into darkness.

“Is this…?” Virgil said, eyes still pointed towards the ceiling even though his eyes had not adjusted to the darkness enough to be able to see it. “Do you want… things?”

“Things?” Logan asked.

Virgil did not move his head, but he did reach over and put his hand slightly above Logan’s knee. Logan didn’t move, so Virgil slid his hand up.

Virgil’s wrist was grabbed immediately and pulled firmly away from Logan’s inner thigh. He did not let go afterwards, his fingers squeezing hard, but not quite painfully. “Never,” Logan said, his voice harsher than it had ever been even on the day when Virgil was nothing more than an intruder with deadly intent. “Never offer anything like that to anyone ever again.”

 “I was just…”

“I know what you were doing,” Logan said, voice icy, “and it inadmissible. Never offer that again for anything. Do you understand me?”

“I... yes.”

“Promise me.”

Virgil took a short moment to think. “I promise,” he agreed.

“Good,” Logan said, releasing his hand. His voice got softer too. “Good.”

They were silent for a long time after that, though Virgil had no delusions that Logan had fallen asleep. He could almost feel the tension.

“Sorry,” Virgil finally said softly.

“It’s not something you should be apologizing for,” Logan replied. The bed moved as Logan shifted and a hand lightly touched the top of his head. “Just… never.”

 “Okay,” Virgil said. He shifted slightly after a moment until his head was in the crook of Logan’s arm. Logan brushed the hair out of his face with the hand that had been on his head.

“Goodnight Virgil,” Logan said.

“Goodnight,” Virgil responded. They were quiet after that, though Virgil was still awake for a while yet and Logan’s hand slowly stroked through his hair for a while. Eventually though, Virgil relaxed into mattress. He stuck his hand into his pocket and curled it around the charm in his pocket. The bed was nice, he thought. It was soft and warm… and safe. He finally fell asleep.

  Chapter 26

Patton did their new special knock on the door so Logan and Virgil would know it was just him and they didn’t need to hide the fact that Virgil was sleeping in the prince’s room. He didn’t wait for a response, however, and just shoved open the door. He was surprised to see that Logan was not already out of bed and wondered for a moment if he had broken his promise stayed up way too late reading like he was sometimes known to do. Yet, then, Logan spoke from the bed. “I’m awake,” he called.

Confused, Patton stepped into the room. Logan wasn’t one for lazing around in bed; usually he was out of bed the moment he woke.

 He stepped over to the bed and had to stifle a smile when he recognized the problem. Logan was awake, but Virgil was still sleeping, and he was half on top of Logan, his arms wrapped around him.

“Why don’t you just squirm out of his arms like you do me?” Patton asked, keeping his voice low.

“He isn’t like you,” Logan said. He did not bother to quiet himself at all.

“What do you mean?” Patton asked amused.

In answer, Logan started to move as though to squirm out of Virgil’s death grip on him. In response, Virgil made a pitiful mewling sound in his sleep that landed like a piercing blow straight to the heart. Logan stopped moving immediately and Virgil shifted to grip Logan tighter.

 “Aw!” Patton said.

“It’s not cute,” Logan insisted. “I’ve been stuck for hours and I have to pee.”

Patton chuckled. “Alright, alright, I’ll save you.” He rounded the bed to Virgil’s side and crawled up on it. “Virgil, honey,” he entreated softly. “I think it’s time for me to get cuddles so Lo can get up.” Patton softly touched Virgil’s shoulder and pulled at him gently. He reached forward to carefully pry Virgil’s arms off of Logan.

Virgil made a more confused than heartbreaking sound this time, turning towards Patton so Patton could wrap his arms around him. Logan managed to scoot towards the edge of the bed.

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Logan made it off the bed and dashed towards the bathroom as Virgil’s arms came around Patton and squeezed. Patton laughed and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. After a few moments, Virgil’s eyes started to flicker a bit.

“Good morning, honey,” Patton said softly. “Did you sleep good?”

He hummed sleepily. “Beds are nice,” he said. Patton felt a slight pang at that because it implied he didn’t get to sleep in beds very much, but he chose to shove that aside.

“They are,” Patton agreed. Virgil’s eyes started to close again. “Honey,” Patton laughed. “I think it’s time to wake up now.”

 Virgil made a sleepy whining sound, squeezing Patton tighter. “Don’t you want breakfast?” Patton asked. That question managed to make Virgil open his eyes again. “I was thinking we could go down to the kitchen to eat that way it’s nice and fresh and I can introduce you to Mama real quick.” He neglected to mention the fact that they really did not have a choice. Mr. Deknis had blabbed to Mama about Virgil, and worse, had apparently mentioned that Virgil was skinny. As soon as he’d gotten home yesterday, he’d been met with an already worked up Mama firmly insisting that she meet Virgil sometime today.

 He wasn’t going to tell Virgil that though, because he thought it might scare him away from both Mama and Mr. Deknis.

Virgil thought about the prospect of breakfast for a long moment. “Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll be awake.”

“Good,” Patton said. He reached up to bop him on the nose. Virgil narrowed his eyes and then bopped him back making Patton giggle. He sat up then, and Virgil let him. “Let’s get you something to wear and do your hair,” Patton suggested. Virgil nodded and reluctantly got out of bed, just as Logan returned to the room. “We’re going to go downstairs for breakfast,” Patton told Logan. “That way Virgil can meet my mom.” He gave Logan a significant look and Logan nodded once in understanding that this was not a choice.

 Logan and Virgil got dressed, and Patton did Virgil’s hair up nice, before Patton led them out of the royal wing. They went down the main staircase instead of the spiral staircase that went right to the kitchen, mostly because it would be very busy, and Patton thought they should probably eat in the main dining room anyway. He could feel Virgil getting more anxious as they entered the busier part of the castle, and he stuck close to either Patton or Logan from the time they hit the top of the steps all the way to the main dining room.

 There were a few people in the dining room already eating breakfast when they arrived. Virgil’s curiosity seemed to temporarily overwhelm his anxiety as he looked around the large hall and at all of the people there. Patton looked around trying to see it through his eyes. He’d been running around this place since he was little, so he never really thought about how big the room was or how grandly it was decorated, but Virgil was just seeing it for the first time. Patton smiled at him as he guided him to one of the seats. There was already muffins on the table so Patton grabbed one and plopped it in front of Virgil.

 Virgil frowned down at the muffin dubiously. “You just… keep food out in the open?” he asked.

Right.

“It’s fine, Virgil,” Patton promised. “No one here would have put anything in it.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes and looked around at the other occupants of the room suspiciously.

“Honestly,” Logan said. “No one even knew we would be down here for breakfast. Nobody would just put something in random people’s food for no reason.”

Virgil gave him a look like he’d just told him people could in fact breathe under water. Virgil was really from a… whole different world, wasn’t he?

 “It’s really fine,” Patton said. “Logan and I have eaten things on the table like this a lot.”

“I’m surprised your not dead yet,” Virgil said.

Logan rolled his eyes and reached for a muffin. Virgil slapped it out of his hand and onto the floor. “Really?” Logan asked.

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him. “No eating unsecured food!”

“Virgil,” Logan groaned.

“I bet you don’t even know what common poisons taste like.”

“No,” Logan said. “I don’t because I don’t worry about being poisoned on a daily basis!”

“You should!”

People were starting to look over at them. Patton shot an awkward smile at the woman a few chairs down.

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“Just don’t eat the muffins Logan,” Patton said under his breath.

“I do not understand why-”

“Because it’s stupid as he-”

“Shush,” Patton commanded out of the corner of his mouth, “people are watching, and Virgil is just a normal castle resident.”

That shut the both of them up at least.

“No muffins for now,” Patton said. “I assume it’s okay to eat the things they bring straight from the kitchen.”

Virgil looked a bit leery of this still, but he nodded.

“Good,” Patton said, “then we’ll just wait for that to get here and then everyone will be happy, right?”

Logan opened his mouth and Patton turned to glare at him.

“Right?”

 Logan closed his mouth, though clearly, he did not want to give in so easily. They’d be doubtlessly rehashing this conversation once they were alone again.

Patton caught sight of one of the kitchen workers he knew fairly well come out of the kitchen and deliver food to a group of people who were there before them. She caught sight of them and walked over likely to ask them what they wanted for breakfast. Patton watched out of the corner of his eye as Virgil tensed, eyeing her approach suspiciously and she slowed under his glare.

This was going to be a long breakfast.

  Chapter 27

After an, honestly quite aggravating, breakfast full of Virgil’s cognitive distortions about the likelihood of being poisoned, Logan was relieved to finally be able to leave the dining area. In consideration to those serving breakfast, Patton did not lead them through the door in the back of the dining room that went directly to the kitchen, and instead took them out of the room and down the hall to a different entrance. This one had a guard stationed across from it as, despite what Virgil may believe, the castle workers did consider the possibility that someone would want to sneak into the kitchen for nefarious purposes.

 Said guard, of course, saw nothing wrong with the prince and the head chef’s son entering the side door even with the bonus stranger. In fact, he may even have known Virgil could be coming through this door if Ms. Heart had mentioned him.

Though Virgil hadn’t managed to catch it, Logan knew enough about Patton’s mother that he’d surmised that she had insisted Patton bring the boy to meet her. It was bound to happen at some point anyway, Logan knew, and he wasn’t particularly worried. After all, this was Patton’s mother. Virgil himself didn’t even seem particularly concerned.

 Logan had seen him panic and, while he tugged a bit at the sweater he was wearing, the motion was not particularly fervent, so he was likely just slightly nervous.

Of course, that may be because he did not know Patton’s mother specifically wanted to meet him and just assumed that they were starting the necessary process of introducing him to castle residents with a low risk person.

When they entered the hallway, Logan could already hear the usual noises of the kitchen: the clattering of plates, the bubble of conversation, and the sound of Ms. Heart’s voice calling out instructions.

 He did see Virgil hesitate, but Logan couldn’t sus out why and Patton was already ahead of them and opening the door into the kitchen. It was fairly calm for the kitchen considering it was meal hours. Logan imagined that Patton had chosen the time between when the day guards ate breakfast before their shifts and the night guards after their shifts on purpose. There was still a bit of chaos as dishwashers attempted to catch up during the lull and a few orders were still being made, but overall the mood seemed, to Logan at least, to be light as Ms. Heart ordered her kitchen around.

[tiawritesgood]

Jurassic: The New World, Chapter Ten

Owen hid behind his designated tree, ready to go on Claire’s signal. It was incredible how Claire could come up with a plan despite her anger. That was likely why she did so well managing Jurassic World. She was quick on her feet, and good under pressure.

  He just hoped Claire’s plan worked. Owen didn’t think he or his girlfriend could handle it if they failed.

           “On my mark,” Claire whisper yelled. Owen passed the sentiment on to the boys who hid behind the next two trees down. Their mother was the lookout.

           “One, two…” Claire paused a few extra beats before darting out from behind her tree. “Three!”

           InGen was surrounded by armed guards, but they didn’t dare shoot. That was one of the many assumptions Owen had made. The guards knew that Owen and Claire were InGen’s only hope at finding Blue, so they weren’t allowed to shoot.

           Claire walked casually towards the guards despite her hasty exit from the tree line. She approached a side entrance that they had spotted doing recon. Two guards stood outside. Both were taller than Claire, one wide with muscle and the other lanky and thin. Owen watched Claire hand for the signal and tamped down any lingering worry he had about her. This would only work if he was calm and focused, which he couldn’t do if he was scared that his girlfriend was in danger. Claire was very capable of taking care of herself. She’d proven that on more than one occasion.

           The red-headed woman’s voice carried across the open grass and into the trees where Owen hid. “Hey, boys. I need to speak with the good doctor.”

           “Not a chance, pretty lady.”

           Owen winced. Calling Claire ‘pretty lady’ was a terrible mistake. Her goal was to use the low-dose tranquilizer darts Owen had stored in the van, but if something went awry, Claire was prepared to use other methods. She and Owen didn’t spar in their front yard for no reason.

           “Come on, fellas. You can let this pretty lady in, can’t ya?”

           “Sorry, ma’am,” a different guard said. “We’re under strict orders not to allow you inside. Straight from the mouth of Dr. Wu.”

           Claire clenched her fist behind her back. It was almost go-time.

           “I’m asking nicely.”

           The lanky guard laughed. “I really wish we could help you, but we just can’t. You can try going around front and checking in at the desk.”

           “Such a shame, boys. I’d hoped we could do this the easy way.”

           Claire took one step back and the guards relaxed. They were too stupid to be afraid of a small red head. That was their second mistake. Owen was glad he wasn’t those guards.

           As soon as the men let down their defenses, Claire pivoted on her left foot and swung her right up and around, hitting the larger man square in the jaw. He stumbled, but didn’t fall over.

           Tall and lanky sprang into action, attempting to point his long gun at the moving woman. He was clearly fresh out of training and no idea what to do should someone actually try to break in. That was good – InGen wasn’t expecting them.

           And, thanks to Zack and Grey’s computer expertise, InGen didn’t see them coming, either. Their surveillance cameras ran on a constant loop to protect the soon-to-be intruders.

           Claire laughed at the younger guard’s attempts. “Really?” Her right first slammed into his face. He crumpled to the ground in a solid heap. One down, one to go.

           “Your turn, buddy. And by the way: I hate being called a pretty lady. I’m so much more than that!”

           She definitely was. Claire ducked beneath the large guard’s punch and rolled behind him. Laying on her back, she kicked the back of his knees, causing him to fall. He reached for his gun, but Claire was much faster. Her boot dug into the back of the guard’s neck.

           “Honestly, you should have just let me in.”

           Claire took a dart from her pocket and released the safety tip. Before the guard could make another move, she stuck the needle point into his neck. Within seconds, the man was fast asleep. The tranq would only last an hour or so, and the other guard would likely wake up first. They didn’t have much time.

           Claire moved her fingers into the OK symbol. It was simple and a bit cliché, but it worked. Owen, Zack, and Grey jogged across the open field to where Claire waited for them.

           “Easy, peasy,” she said with a grin. Owen couldn’t help it – he pulled her up against his chest and kissed her hard. Watching her take out those guards was hot.

           Zack tapped Owen’s shoulder. “Okay first of all, gross. Second, we really need to go before anyone comes to check on these guys.”

           Owen released Claire and she straightened up her shirt. It was caked with mud, torn from tree branches, and clung to her sweat-soaked skin, but Owen didn’t care. She looked insanely beautiful no matter what she wore.

           Zack and Grey made quick work of stripping the guards down to their skivvies and putting on the uniforms. Luckily, both boys were tall, so the clothes fit okay. Zack was engulfed in the larger man’s outfit, but not so much so that he looked ridiculous. Owen would have to ask Zack what his workout routine was. The kid had gained some muscle definition over the years. Not that Owen really needed a new workout, but it never hurt to try new things. With dinosaurs on the loose, strength and agility were more important than ever.

           Once the boys were dressed, they used the guard’s keycards to enter the building. The light blinked green and the doors unlocked. The foursome headed inside, watching their backs as they moved.

           “We need to find the main security office,” Zack whispered. “I can find where they’re holding Maisie that way.”

           “Down this hallway, right, third left, right side.”

           No one gave Grey’s instructions a second thought. He memorized directions the way he memorized dinosaur facts. They had seen the InGen blueprints for a split second before putting the plan in motion, and Grey was able to figure out where they would have to go. That was why he was with them and not outside with his mother.

           Zack and Grey went ahead to scout each hallway. It wasn’t likely that the two boys were on InGen’s radar, so they could blend in as security better than Claire and Owen. Their faces were probably plastered on the break room wall.

  ��        Only one person had to be tranqed during their journey to the control room. Well, not including the two guys who were in charge of watching the monitors. Claire took them out quickly, and Zack and Grey settled in front of the computers.

           The boys were able to divert the feeds remotely, but they couldn’t get a good look at the system without risking someone noticing.

           “This is the only control room,” Zack confirmed after fiddling with the technology. We can unloop the cameras and find Maisie now.”

           They could have brought Blue in to track their daughter, but it would have been hard to hide an angry dinosaur. Much easier to hide angry parents and cousins. Blue wasn’t happy with the command, but she obeyed Owen and stayed at the tree line.

           Zack flipped through hundreds of camera feeds. Each member of the group took a monitor and watched for any sign of Maisie.

           “Stop!” Claire yelled after a few minutes. “Go back one.”

           Zack obeyed, and everyone looked at Claire’s screen. Sure enough, Maisie was there, looking small and frail in a hospital bed. A needle stuck in her arm.

           “Is that blood?” Owen asked, pointing to the bag hanging on her IV stand. It was impossible to tell in the black and white video, but it definitely looked like blood. “What are they doing to her?”

           Claire rubbed Owen’s back. “Whatever it is, it stops now.”

           Zack put the monitors back on their loop and Grey spouted out directions to Maisie’s room. It was only a couple of hallways down, on the right. Unfortunately, there were a ton more people in that area. Luckily, they were wearing lab coats, not security uniforms.

           “What do we do, Aunt Claire?” Zack asked as they peered around the corner. “We can’t take all of them.”

           Claire nodded. Owen could see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she revised her original plan. Though, truthfully, the plan had only gone as far as the control room. It was always going to be improvised from that point on.

           “There’s only one thing we can do,” Claire said. “We make a run for it.”

           “What?”

           “We run. They’re scientists. They’ll chase us, but hopefully at least one of us will get to Maisie first.”

           Owen studied his girlfriend’s face. Her features were set and determined. There was no talking her out of this plan, and if the rest didn’t agree, she would have run on without them.

           “Fine. On three, we run.”

           Claire counted them off. “One. Two… Three!”

           Owen, Claire, Zack, and Grey took off down the final hallway towards Maisie’s room.

           “Stop!” “Wait!” “This are is restricted!”

           The scientists yelled after them, but none actually tried to stop them. They called security, but it was too late. Less than a minute later, all four of them were at the door to Maisie’s room.

           “You don’t want to do that,” a familiar voice said. “Open that door, and we won’t hesitate to eliminate you.”

           Owen had his hand on the knob. Through the window, he could see Maisie asleep in the bed. She had to be in a drug-induced sleep to stay quiet through all of the chaos in the hallway.

           He swallowed down tears threatening to spill over. These monsters were doing tests on his daughter, and they wouldn’t get away with it.

           “We came for Maisie. She belongs with us. You have no right to her.”

           “Maisie is an experiment, not a human. The judge never should have sent her with you. You don’t know what she needs.”

           “What she needs?” Claire screamed. “What she needs are her parents. Not some scumbag scientists running tests on her blood!”

           Dr. Wu chuckled. “You never understood what I did, Claire. You never appreciated me. And now you think we’re running tests on the girl’s blood. If you had only listened…”

           Claire grabbed the man’s collar. Owen didn’t bother trying to get her to back off. If she hadn’t done it, he probably would have. “You listen. Give us back our daughter, and we won’t report you for this. We’ll tell authorities we found her in the woods.”

           “Give us Blue.”

           “Not a chance.”

           “Then Maisie stays with us. Go ahead and talk to the police. They won’t believe you, and the ones that will, we’ve already taken care of. You’d be surprised how little it costs to buy loyalty these days.”

           That explained why the police weren’t doing more to find Maisie. They had known where she was the whole time. A week had gone by with no sign of their daughter, and the police just kept lying to Claire and Owen, acting like they were looking.

           Owen’s ears burned with rage. “Wu, I’m telling you once, and only once. Give. Us. Back. Our. Daughter.”

           “No.”

           Then all hell broke loose.

           And it wasn’t Owen or Claire. Not even Zack or Grey.

           Red lights filled the hallway and an alarm screeched from speakers high on the walls. Owen, Claire, Zack, and Grey covered their ears, but it did nothing to drown out the horrid sound.

           “Wu, there’s been an intrusion.”

           The scientist pointed to the four people in front of Maisie’s door. “Yes, I see that.”

           “No,” the guard said. He held up a tablet for Dr. Wu to see. “A different kind of intrusion.”

           Before anyone could respond, a horrifying scream sounded from down the hall. In response was a familiar sound.

           “Blue!” Owen cried. His raptor turned the corner and ran full speed towards her master. She hit the guard with her tail and squared up to attack Dr. Wu, but Owen called her off.

           “Wait. Blue. Halt.”

           The dinosaur glanced at Owen, then back at the doctor. She snarled, but didn’t attack.

           “That’s a good girl.” He turned his attention to Dr. Wu. “Now, we are going to go in there and get Maisie. She’s coming with us. If you try to stop us, I won’t call Blue back.”

           The doctor shook, but not in fear. Rage filled his eyes.

           “It doesn’t matter,” he spat. “We don’t need her or the raptor. We have something else, something bigger. You won’t see it coming. None of you will!”

           Owen didn’t have time to consider the threat. He finally opened the door to his daughter’s room, only Maisie was no longer in the bed.

           The small girl jumped from behind the door, brandishing a surgical knife. She stopped herself before using the weapon.

           Tears fell immediately. Owen and Claire collapsed to the floor and pulled Maisie in for a group hug. Zack and Grey joined them.

           “I’m so sorry, sweet girl,” Claire said through her sobs. “You are never leaving our sight again.”

           The girl giggled. “I’ll have to leave eventually, Mom. Just, not for a long while.”

           This brought a smile to both Claire and Owen’s lips.

           “Come on, then,” Owen said, standing and holding out a hand to his daughter. “Let’s go home.”

           Maisie nodded. “I’ve been waiting a whole week for you to say that.”

           Owen held her hand tightly. Claire may have been joking, but he didn’t plan on leaving Maisie’s side for a very, very long time. Now that he knew what it was like to lose her, he would make sure it never happened again.

           No matter what it took.