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axelsagewrites · 2 years ago

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Lemon Cakes and Other Gifts

Pairing: Aemond x F!Strong!Reader

Summary: Someone has been leaving Princess Helena’s lady in waiting gifts in her chamber and Helena and (Y/N) struggle to figure out who until (Y/N) catches him lemon cake handed.

TW: none

Word Count: 1959

Part one. Part two is up and linked at the bottom.

Masterlist Here

There were few comforts at court since your father and brother died. You still technically had Larys but while he was your ward you had never been close with your older brother. At least not as close as you had been to Harwin. You were so much younger than the pair that Larys was often bored of your presence, but Harwin had loved it. he loved having a little sibling to play with and take care of. He taught you how to fight with a stick then a wooden sword then eventually, without telling your father, a real one. Larys wasn’t mean or cruel he just…didn’t care. So you were surprised he decided to keep you with him at court when your father and brother died. You expected to be sent back to Harrenhall. Instead, you stayed at court and became Helena’s official lady in waiting. You had always been friends before this, being raised side by side in court due to your father being the king's hand, so all your duties were basically just doing what you usually did. You would read with her, talk, take walks, do her hair, and listen to her dreams. But Larys seemed happy with the ‘upgrade’. Being so close with Helena meant being close to her brothers. While Aegon and you knew each other you rarely spoke though when you did it was often him asking for milk of the poppy for his hangovers. Aemond talked to you more often however still not a lot. Occasionally you would have dinner with his sister and him, and sometimes the rest of the Targaryen Hightower as well. He would talk about all things polite and expected but you would often catch him looking at you.

When you walked the halls with Helena you couldn’t tell if he was watching you or his sisters. However, even when Helena was not around you could swear you saw him glancing. You never had the nerve to glance back more than once. Sometimes if you were brave twice. It was hard not to stare but somehow you managed. After a long day at court of fake smiling and making connections that made you nauseous, you returned to your chambers to find a plate of lemon cakes sitting on the table by your window. You couldn’t help but smile as you relaxed with your treats by the window, watching the sunset. You didn’t even question who had left them. Then the next day arrived, and you found more treats in your room. A plate of iced currant cakes sat in the same spot the lemon cakes had. The day after that it was spiced cake. After that, it was gingered brie tart then cheesecake then strawberry pudding on the 7th day. Each day you grew more suspicious that the kitchen didn’t just feel like being nice to you. You had asked a servant who often attended your chambers but she said she didn’t know. Who had been coming into your room to leave treats? Then it made sense. “Helena,” You smiled as you jogged to catch up to her and take her arm. “(Y/N)! you look happier than usual,” she said, linking her arm with yours as you began to walk together. “Would you like to join me in the gardens?” “I would love to,” You beamed, “Also I wanted to say thank you. The cakes were so sweet, but you really didn’t need to,” Helena’s face scrunched up “what cakes? Though im glad they’re making you happy. If I knew that’s all it took I would’ve hired a personal baker,” “The cakes? The ones I’ve been finding in my room every night,” You stopped walking and Helena turned to look at you “It’s not been you leaving them?” “I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about,” After filling her in on all the details you finally arrived at the gardens. You sat together on the grass by a large yew tree on the edge of the garden. “That’s so strange,” she said, “but im more worried about what stranger is going into your room. Unless the servant girl was lying and does know,” “But why would she lie? Who wouldn’t want me to know they’re a nice person?” you said. Suddenly Helena's smile took over her face, “You must have a secret admirer. Oh (Y/N) this is so adorable. Some starry-eyed lover is leaving you cakes!” You laughed as she took your hands, “Helena that doesn’t change me not knowing who’s been going in my room,” As you both laughed and talked together, speculating who it may be, you saw Aemond walk past, and your eyes felt glued to him however when you saw him walking over to you both you tore your eyes away. “Sister. (Y/N). you both seem very giggly today. Should I be scared?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, Before you could stop her Helena already started “(Y/N) has a secret admirer. Someone has been leaving her cakes in her room for the past week. We’re trying to think who it could be. Have you heard anything,” you felt your cheeks grow redder as she spoke. A smirk began to ghost Aemond’s face, “I can’t say I have but I will be sure to keep an ear out. Are there any suspects in particular?” “Not yet,” Helena said, “but im dying to find out who. I wonder what they’ll leave you tomorrow,” “Well if they keep leaving cakes my teeth may fall out,” you joked. Aemond’s smirk disappeared but you couldn’t tell why. He was probably getting bored of your conversation, “then again id be happy with anything he left me. It’s just nice to be appreciated,” Aemond smiled “I understand. I’ll let you girls know if I hear anything. Goodbye sister. (Y/N).”

Later that night you returned to your chambers and went to check what treat you received this time only to find a book instead. Maybe your admirer had realised the effects of eating so many sweets. From that night your gifts started to vary far more. You found books, flowers, fruits, honey, perfume, wine, and still the occasional sweet treat. After a full month of these gifts, you were desperate to find out who had been leaving them. The servants insisted they had no knowledge, and you didn’t like to try intimidating them. By this point, Aegon had also found out and took to teasing you about who it could be. You just hoped it didn’t get back to your brother. Usually, you didn’t head back to your chambers till after yours and Helena's usual dinner at 7 however her son had spat up on you halfway through and you needed to return to change. As you walked down the corridor from Helena’s room to your own you attempted to wipe the stain away with a rag. You were so preoccupied you didn’t even see Aemond until you had already knocked into him. “Im so sorry my prince I- “ “It’s okay,” You looked up and watched as his face went red, “I was just leaving. Goodnight,” You watched as Aemond rushed down the corridors and disappeared down the stairs. He had rushed off before he went to either his mother's or Helena’s chambers, only Helena’s children’s chambers and your own and there were in this corridor. You couldn’t help but wonder what happened. Maybe the smell of the baby's spit had grossed him out. You couldn’t tell. Eventually, you turned and headed to your own chambers to change. After a struggle of trying to get your dress on and your nightgown on did you even think to check the table by the window. You walked over to the table and found a velvet box which you opened to reveal a gold chain necklace with a flower pendant. You smiled as your fingers traced the flower and carefully took it from its box. The chain felt so delicate against your skin. After putting it on you sat by the window, watching over the courtyard with one hand on the necklace. You looked down to see Aemond walking across the courtyard. He stopped and turned for a second and he looked up at your room. You smiled and used your free hand to wave. For once you didn’t feel afraid to look at him. You couldn’t tell if he smiled back but he waved back and continued walking.

The next day you showed Helena the necklace and she gushed over it. she insisted it meant he was getting more serious, and he’d show his face soon. You weren’t so sure, but you couldn’t help feeling excited. A few days passed and you headed to Helena’s chamber to have your usual dinner when you found out she was ill. She insisted it was nothing and you would have dinner the next night but she was just tired. You kissed her forehead and wished her well and returned to your own room to have dinner there. You opened the door to your chambers and went to walk to your bed when you heard something smash and your head snapped to where the table by the window was. “Aemond?” you asked as he frantically tried to pick up the broken plate and now ruined lemon cakes. “Are you okay?” “Im fine im sorry I just knocked this over im sorry,” “Hey, it’s okay,” you said as you walked over and crouched beside him, gently taking the pieces out of his hands, and sitting them on the table, “Its only lemon cake,” Aemond nodded his head and finally stood up but wouldn’t look at you, instead staring at the floor. You placed a hand on his shoulder, “Are you okay?” “I’m fine,” he mumbled, eyes still glued to the floor, “I’ll leave you be. Goodnight (Y/N),” As Aemond quickly walked to the door you looked at the plate and then to him, “Did you leave these here?” Aemond froze. You had never seen him lost for words. He was quite sure. But he was quiet by choice. He always had a response for everything. But now he stood in the middle of your room silent as a ghost and almost as pale as one. “What are you doing in my room Aemond?” you pressed, walking towards him. “Are you the one that’s been leaving me all these gifts?” You walked in front of the prince, forcing him to look at you. “And if I have?” he asked. “Would you be mad?” “Why would I be mad?” you smiled. “I don’t know,” He whispered as he looked down again. You smiled, taking a step closer, “Well if it had been you, I would need to say thank you. Then id need to try make up for all the gifts you gave me,” Aemond eyes darted up to look at you. A smile finally started to come across his face. “How would you make it up to me? If I had of course,” “Well, if you had,” you said taking another step closure, only being a few inches apart, “I might just have to kiss you,” Aemond waited no more time and closed the gap. He grabbed your waist and brought you in to kiss you. Your hands went to his chest to try to steady yourself which only seemed to make the kiss get deeper. Eventually, you had to pull away for air and you rested your forehead on his. “I’ll need to get you more lemon cakes,” Aemond said as he grinned down at you. You couldn’t stop the smile on your face, “I can think of something I want more than cakes right now,” you said as you pulled him back in for another kiss.

Part two here

A/N: First time writing for GOT/HOTD and spell check hates their names. It’s also my first time in 3 years writing fanfic again so it was fun.

Very tempted to make a part 2 because the thing that inspired this didnt even make it in the story

#aemond #aemond targaryen #hotd aemond #aemond x y/n #aemond x reader #aemond fluff #aemond imagine #aemond targaryen imagine #house of the dragon #house of the dragon imagine #hotd #hotd imagine #house of the dragon fluff #house strong #game of thrones #game of thrones imagine #got imagine

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daemonmage · 4 months ago

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Justice League Lollipop

They would all have their logos (or closest equivalent)

Wonder Woman’s is something sweet but sort of rare when it comes to lollipops. I’m thinking maybe simple honey or maybe an ice cream flavored lollipop by her request. Strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla swirl!

Superman’s is a classic flavor and I feel like his would be red of some kind. Cherry! Maybe it’s just cherry or maybe they spice it up with cola cherry. I feel like the iconic superman needs an iconic flavor. (Also I feel like cherry would just be Clark’s favorite in general)

Batman’s is a little ridiculous. I want it to be something silly, like black currant. He only agreed to this cause the others wanted to and all the proceeds were going to charities. So he chose black currant or maybe just black berry. (I wanna lean black currant and blame Alfred for it) (black currant isn’t bad, I like it, it’s just feels over the top for a lollipop)

Green Lantern won a bet with Green Arrow and got green apple for his. It fits his theming. Poor Ollie got stuck with lime. He hates lime.

Black Canary doesn’t really have a logo so hers is just a lollipop in the shape of her head. She decided to go lemon because she loves lemon flavored candy (sour heads!!!) and she’d match with Ollie. Win win scenario.

Flash had to be something super sweet. He probably had a million ideas for this so he had to settle with one… he chose strawberry lemonade with a hint of spice. Yeah this is insanity on a stick but he loves them! He has the watchtower stocked up all the time.

This is getting really long I’ll continue in another post.

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exhausted-archivist · 4 months ago

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Informal Thoughts on Universal Pantry Staples in Thedas

Yes, I'm thinking about food again. So, part of what I’m working on for the Thedosian food project I have is figuring out universal pantry staples for Thedas. I am largely working from canon, but I am also working from a watsonian perspective on what isn’t named canon. Which can be really hard because I have to look at BioWare and not try to explain why a tropical environment would not have an abundance of cherries, or how certain foods don't ship well even in modern terms and thus, no, Ferelden likely shouldn't have access to tomatoes. But hey, I'm working on the suspension of disbelief and trying to figure out how it could work in a world with magic, but where magic is feared and typically reserved for luxuries.

I also didn't include things that would spoil easy, such as: cherries, grapes, lemons, oranges, plums, tomatoes, ect. Essentially anything with a high water content that would spoil easy. But are also super common around Thedas. Mostly because when I think pantry, I think long term storage. I also tried to keep out dairy products and eggs. But there is a way to keep butter for prolonged periods of time, so it got in by a slim technicality.

A quick note: when entering the suggested or speculated portion of these listings, this is not accounting for all economic levels because to do so would mean next to nothing was universal.

Additionally, when it comes to spices, we know that the Avvar value "lowland" spices heavily and use them for special occasions. However, because they aren't staples I was hesitant to include them in these list but opted to do so for no other reason than an idea that if they can get to the Avvar, they are likely commonly available else where. So spices are marked with a *

The canonically stated staples

These are actually pretty sparse. They aren't typically directly called out, but these few are, and so they have their own little section. Outside of that, well it is mostly suggestion.

Barley (At times mentioned to be specifically Fereldan)

Elfroot

Grease

Lentils

Onions

Wheat

Some canonically suggested universal pantry staples due to their common appearance in recipes, use in abundance, use in hard times/as rations, and seen prolifically in-game:

Allspice*

Almonds

Apples

Basil (dried or fresh)

Bay Leaves*

Black Pepper* (Coarse and finely ground)

Butter (typically goat, but cows as well)

Cabbage

Carrots

Cheese

Chocolate

Cinnamon* (ground, whole stick, ect)

Cloves*

Cumin* (crushed, ground, grated, ect)

Dill Seeds*

Dried Beans

Dried Berries (currants, cranberries, raisins, ect.)

Dried Meat

Dried Peas

Fennel Seed*

Flour (typically wheat)

Garlic

Ginger

Ham

Honey

Jam

Leeks

Mace

Mint

Mustard Seed*

Nutmeg*

Oil (not specified)

Oregano (dried or fresh)

Parsley/Mild green herb

Pickled Vegetables

Potatoes

Salt (historically Orlesians in the highlands salted a dragon worth of meat on an annual basis)

Salted Meat

Squashes (Pumpkin and others)

Sugar (typically from sugar cane)

Thyme

Turnips

Vanilla

Vinegar

Wine (Most common seems to be red wine)

If you think I missed anything or have any recommendations or thoughts of your own, please do share! I would love to hear any thoughts on what you think would likely be staples in the pantries of Thedas. If you need to know what is available, you can check out this post I have listing all the flora currently mentioned in Thedas.

#dragon age #food cw #food lore #thedosian food #dragon age meta #my meta #long post #Please talk food with me haha

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weirdly-specific-but-ok · 9 months ago

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pt I the wedding dress: an actual update

For the uninitiated, my current hyperfixation (one of them) is designing a wedding dress for Crowley because I heard the song Book of Love by Peter Gabriel from their Heavenly Playlist. Here's how far I've got with the concept:

Okay, where do I start? There's so much happening and I've only got as far as the shirt, cufflinks and jacket. Let's go with the overview/jacket:

[Disclaimer: I'm a design student, but not in fashion design. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm having fun, and I hope that's what matters]

JACKET: So the first photo above was the jacket idea I had when I first decided to start this, because the season 1 waiter blazer suits Crowley, from the cropped nature to the sharp notched lapels (if you're not sure what that is, like I was at first, it's not very clear in the white but you see that lightning bolt style collar in my sketch? that's the notched lapels).

But it met too high on the chest (notice where it cuts the tie) to be soft enough for a wedding dress, so I made the two halves meet lower down in the sketch. I also made it single-breasted (which basically means a coat or blazer that has a single row of buttons, in this case, just one button).

I haven't worked out more about the jacket, oh and also if someone could tell me the material of the original costume that would be very cool. I'll probably spend an unreasonable amount of time designing the button, too. As for colour, it would be black with a garnet or currant red lining.

OVERVIEW: So like the sketch shows, there's a shirt, that's held in place by a corset over it, and the jacket covers both. The corset would probably be under bust and back-laced for more support, with hints of scarlet on snakeskin leather? I'm not entirely sure, I need to research corsets.

The cummerbund (oops misspelt it in the sketch) is a broad waist sash, you can see it in the waiter costume, too. In the wedding dress, it would overlap the shirt slightly under the corset, and I was thinking of black satin with embroidery of stars/constellations.

I was originally going to draw star charts of a significant month for them (maybe April, because that's when nightingales, which are migratory birds, usually return to England for mating season to sing). Perhaps star charts as visible from Earth versus Alpha Centauri? But that could get complicated and on the bafta livestream chat someone sent coats that have Zodiac patterns on them in gold, so I'm debating that too.

Besides, there'll already be a nightingale pin on the lapel, gold with a sapphire eye for Aziraphale.

The lower part of the wedding dress involves a train and trousers and split skirt, we won't go into that. I think this post already got too long so I'll make another one for the shirt and the cufflinks :")

Have a lovely day my maggots you're amazing and I love you. Look at you, you're gorgeous.

#good omens mascot #weirdly the nightingales wed #crowley's dress #good omens #asmi #weirdly specific but ok #maggots #good omens fandom #crowley #book of love #fashion #wedding dress #dress design

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zr-art-world · 1 year ago

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Text post about the poll I made

So, I wanted to see if people like my Yuu oc's currant last name or if they people like the other name.

I thought of giving Yuu an Italian last name and Italian background because one of the characters they are based on is the Phantom Blot who is most seen in the Italian comics "topolino". A new last name for them I thought of is Macchia which is Italian for stain or blot. I also did some research and I came up with another name that fits and sounds more like a surname

Machiavelio

It's a combination of Macchia=stain and Velo=veil and can also mean to hide or conceal. It is also similarly spelled to machiavelli

Someone Machiavellian is sneaky and cunning

Also, their first name being Yuu is because they choose that name

hence why it is different from their siblings names and their last name. Also, I like the idea of them changing their last name to their moms maiden name/their grampas surname because... Daddy issues

#twst #twst oc #twst mc #twst yuu #twst text post #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland mc #twisted wonderland oc #twisted wonderland yuu #yuu watanabe #yuu machiavelio #yuu oc #oc #twst wonderland #twst wonderland oc

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heyo-428 · 11 months ago

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With the upcoming announcement of a new Stephanie Garber book, here are all the ideas I could think of in the Caraval/OUABH universe! Even though, I’m fairly certain it won’t be in this universe, but hoping it is!

Not proofread, Enjoy!

- TellaLegend Daughter. I don’t think it’s super likely to be honest. Stephanie would have to set it in the future because Donatella’s only like 16 at the end of Finale if I remember correctly. I think Stephanie may want to put more in between but who knows!

- Chaos/LaLa story. This is more possible than TellaLegend daughter as of right now in my opinion. Stephanie obviously set them up and while I’m not the biggest fan of this ship as it currently stands I think Stephanie could come up with a very good plot like for them. They will also continue the some-what enemies to lovers that the other ships have, at least looking through the females perspective with her ships!

- Jacks’s former Fiancée. Stephanie dropped her name and never said anything again. For anyone wondering, her name was Alessandra, page 139 of the US paperback Legendary. I guess it could be nothing but for her to name drop and then not do anything is just weird, to me at least.

- Aurora Story and possibly who she freed from the Tree of Souls. While the bonus epilogues aren’t canon, it could be Stephanie’s way of tricking us. The story curse always mixing some true in with the lies so maybe Aurora DID free someone but not exactly who was said. The man also seems to know her. I think he’s from the past and the story curse isn’t allowing her to remember.

Additionally, I remember a post of someone who said that it could be Aurora because she’s a somewhat villain of the story. Same with how Jacks was in Legendary and Finale. Then Jacks got his own story so maybe Aurora will. There’s SO many narrative parallels between the Caraval trilogy and OUABH trilogy so this would make sense.

- Prequel short story collection. There’s a lot of short stories from the past that we know very little about. How the Merrywood Three came to be, The Fates and all there backstories since we don’t have more of them, Paradise the Lost, Legend (he told Donatella a story but like was that true?), Esmeralda, more on the Valors since there’s a lot more there, and probably a lot more. This is kind of unlikely in all honesty, I just really want it. I’ve always loved prequels because they make you rethink things and they like click then and it’s just so good always.

- Phaedra of the Damned. This could classify as a “prequel short story collection” technically, but was she not interesting in OUABH? She communicated with the dead and was brought up once. Maybe she’s a scam or maybe not? Also, soemthing highly confusing to me, is that when Evangeline first met her, she had a birth mark and the book specifically said “Her birthmark was something Evangeline would have recognized.” (US paper back, page 393 of OUABH) What does that mean? Previously it describes it as a “Starburst mark the color of currant wine on her left cheek.” that’s like really really specific. And I don’t think a starburst was ever one of the universally known fairy tale symbols that were on most of the arches? I’m going to look more into this.

I actually have some more ideas but I’ll probably make a part 2 for that.

#I HAVE A PHAEDRA OF THE DAMNED THEORY IM WORKING ON!!!#ouabh #tbona #acftl #stephanie garber #caraval #evajacks #evangeline fox #jacks prince of hearts #scarlett dragna #tellalegend #scarlettjulian #scarlian #theories #donatella dragna

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the---hermit · 1 year ago

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Red currants I harvested the other day, and some recipe notes belonging to my great grandfather (not the recipe I tried today, but it was such a cool find I had to share it).

26|06|2023

My post exam resting continues, and I don't know how long it will last, but I am enjoying every moment of it. Today I started planning a trip I'll be going on with my parents this weekend. I really like planning these kind of things, and I'm really excited to go on this trip. I really hope my anxiety won't fuck it up for me, but I am trying to focusing on the positive things, and in the worse case scenarios I have my meds to help me. Today I also took some time to try a new recipe I have never done before with my own hands. It's a family recipe both my grandmas used to make, and judging from the smell I have a good feeling about what I have made with my first attempt. I'll only be able to judge in a couple of days, but my hopes are high. I also worked on a reading challenge update post that has been in my draft for months and that I will hopefully post soon. I was also thinking about making a specific post on what I read in the year so far, but I honestly don't know how to structure it yet (so if anyone has any ideas let me know, I might look for a tag or something). I wanted to work in my garden but by the time I finished cooking I was tired and today it was way too hot for me to do a good job, so I have postponed that to the next few days.

Productivity and self care:

read first thing in the morning

monthly therapy session

did the first big part of my travel planning

tried making a family recipe for the first time

listened to a feel good playlist

worked on a future post

Irish on duolingo (still just doing reviews of old stuff because my burned out brain cannot focus on new topics)

listened to the newest episode of the books unbound podcast

crosswords

📖: The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

🎵:25 by The Pretty Reckless

#studyblr #studyinspo #uniblr #university #student life #productivity #self care #journaling #currently reading #journal #knife gang #mine #the---hermit

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some-creep · 1 year ago

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<3 you guys don't care if I didn't read this next one right? Right of course not. And I did that thing again where scenes are not connected in ways that make sense. It's ok though because I like it.

########

"Remind me, again, why you're making me drive all the way back to Calamari County?" Marie asked, if only to keep herself awake as she stared at the horizon of a never ending road to nowhere.

Callie had her hand out the open window, flexing her fingers up and down to "surf" along the air currant.

"Callie."

"Huh? You say something?" Callie pulled her hand back in, looking over at Marie, who diligently did not look at her.

"Why couldn't we take the train?"

"No fun."

"And this is fun?" Marie gestured towards the windshield at the sea of rolling green hills that all started to blur together after a while.

Callie thought for a moment, looking out the passenger side window. "Well, we don't have to worry about anyone taking our picture or bothering us and stuff. Just me and you."

"Oh. Yeah I guess."

She was quiet for a while, staring out the window. Their trip was almost over, and soon they'd be arriving at her parents house. Marie had convinced her it was a good idea, but she was starting to doubt it.

Callie's parents didn't know she'd been abducted, and they sure as hell didn't know what she was up to during that time. They didn't know anything about their actual time spent as Agent 1 and Agent 2, to her parents, she and Marie were just playing pretend.

She did find it odd that her parents didn't know anything about the new Squidbeak, maybe Marie's did, but she didn't talk about her parents. That was also odd. Even growing up, Callie had rarely seen them, and she couldn't remember spending any time at Marie's house.

All that mattered was her parents would be happy to see her after all this time. She'd been neglecting going home, and she knew her parents missed her. At least, that's what Marie had assured her of. She couldn't deny she felt a little guilty about what she'd really been up to.

Callie's parents weren't overly traditional, they'd been supportive of her unusual career choice, of her moving out to the big city, of her staying with Marie, but there was always the expectation she'd one day stop all of that and find a nice boy to settle down with. One she wasn't related to. Marie had similar expectations placed on her, but the moment she moved out was the moment her parents stopped caring about what happened to her. If they ever really cared before.

"Y'know, Cal?"

Callie jumped at Marie's voice, head snapping to look at her. "Huh?"

"I was just thinking about how, uh, this is my .. Our? First time seeing your folks since. Uh. Y'know."

"Since I got kidnapped?"

"Well, that too. But no. Since we…started dating? I guess you can say." Marie wrung her hands on the steering wheel, glancing at Callie to see if she could catch her reaction. No luck.

"Is that why you look all fancy?"

Marie blushed. "No! Not exactly. I just wanted them to think I was well put together and trustworthy and responsible so they wouldn't have to worry about you living with me!"

"You mean~ like a boyfriend?"

She shook her head, electing not to answer. Yes like that but no definitely not like that because if anyone thought like that they'd be in trouble. Marie wanted the perks of being seen as a worthy partner with none of the baggage. She wasn't getting either.

Eventually, the endless waves of green gave way to several small buildings dotting the horizon, then the sides of the road as they rolled into town. Buildings that hadn't been updated in decades with dusty old signs and peeling paint on the outside. Gravel parking lots and unpaved side roads. The gas station Marie worked at for a summer. The corner store she and Callie would go to after school to buy candy whenever they had spare change. The street that led to a deadend, and beyond that an abandoned scrapyard where they'd meet up in the middle of the night. It wasn't much, but it was home.

And Marie absolutely hated it.

—-----

She still remembered the road to Callie's house just as well as she remembered how to get to their apartment in Inkopolis. Even though she avoided going back to Calamari County as much as she could, she still remembered it like she'd visited only yesterday. Sure, it helped that there were only a few roads to go down anyway, but in her mind it was just so familiar.

They pulled into the driveway that sported the exact same cracks as it did when they were both children. Callie had offered them money to fix it, if they wanted, but they were quick to turn it down. Nothing about the house had changed at any point that Marie could remember. Same off-yellow exterior, same bushes with sharp prickles ready to scratch the unsuspecting person trying to play around them, same dirty screen door bent at the bottom with a small hole in the upper right corner of the mesh that they'd fix sooner or later.

The front door opened, and Callie was quick to bolt from the car to greet her mom, Marie's Aunt Charlie, though she rarely referred to her in conversation as anything other than 'your mom'. She was short, even by Inkling standards, with long black tentacles not too dissimilar from Callie's tied on top of her head. Marie wondered if it was done in an attempt to make her look taller.

Callie was hugging her, perhaps already forgetting why she was anxious to begin with, or perhaps she was distracted by the smell of freshly baked cookies coming from inside the house. Aunt Charlie usually only baked for holidays and special occasions, but this was, in a way, a special occasion.

Marie took a deep breath, turning off the car and popping open the trunk. She needed to get their bags out, and it didn't look like Callie was going to be much help. She wondered how Callie had possibly packed so much stuff for a short weekend trip. Was she planning on moving back in? She tried to lift the suitcase with one hand and frowned.

"Hey, roller main, get your butt over here and do the heavy lifting!" Marie looked around the car to see that Callie was already long gone inside of the house. Great.

Her aunt had noticed, stepping off the porch and across the lawn to help her with the bags. Marie muttered an awkward little thank you, feeling like she really should have been able to handle all of this on her own. Strike one against her definitely not boyfriend but something like it but not in a weird way credibility card.

"Marie, have you gotten taller?" She asked, reaching up to rub the top of Marie's head without bothering to ask.

Marie forced a smile, "I… don't think so?"

"Maybe I've just never seen you stand up straight before!"

"Haha, yeah, maybe that's it."

"You look pretty today. Have you found a nice man yet? I know you said you're retiring so you can settle down. What about Callie? You know she used to be popular with the boys at school. Maybe she could help you out. I remember your mother saying you'd never find someone because -"

"Heeey so let's go see where Callie went!" She interjected, slipping past her aunt and scampering towards the door, leaving their bags behind. She wasn't ready to deal with this on her own yet.

She nearly ran into Callie as she came barreling through the front door to escape any more invasive questions. Callie stood just outside of the kitchen, with chocolate on the corners of her lips, holding three cookies in one hand and a half eaten one in the other. She extended her arm and silently offered Marie a cookie while she chewed.

She grabbed all three from her hand, pointing towards the front door. "Go help carry."

"Stealing from me…" she whined, shuffling towards the front door. "Take your shoes off at least!" Callie called back before heading outside, leaving Marie alone once more.

—------

"It's nice, huh?"

Marie turned towards the voice, realizing Callie's dad was finally home. He looked quite a bit like his father, though far younger and still sporting tannish gray tentacles tied back out of the way so as not to be a hazard at work. The golden eyes she and Callie had seemed to skip a generation, as neither her mother nor Callie's father had them, both being born instead with dark brown eyes.

"Oh, hi sir– I mean, Uncle Craig." She half waved before she realized how little sense that made and lowered her hand. "Yeah I… Gramps gave you that, right?" She gestured back at the antique charger that hung on the wall. It looked almost like a Bamboozler, but it was even older than the one Gramps had used during the Great Turf War.

He'd gotten it from his father, who'd gotten it from his, then Gramps had given it to his son, Craig jr.

Craig jr. had only one daughter, and no one to pass the thing on to. Unless, of course, she got married. Marie knew all of this well, she'd heard the story a dozen times before. It was always odd to her it didn't just go to the next child. Why it needed to be a son was beyond her. Her mother had gotten nothing to pass down to her, not that she'd do that anyway.

"It still works, too. I take it out every so often and shoot cans."

"Must be well taken care of."

"I just hope when Callie has a family of her own it'll stay that way."

Marie looked away, nodding. "I'm sure it will. Gramps taught us how to take care of old guns like that. Guess I could give her a refresher when the time comes."

"What about you?" He smiled, patting her on the back just a bit too hard. "Any plans of settling down and starting a family yet?"

"Me? Not really."

"That's too bad. You'll make a great mom one day I bet!"

He thought it was a compliment. She knew he did, genuinely, think that. Regardless, the idea made her skin crawl. She'd just smile and nod. It was all she could do.

"Anyway, I promised to help make dinner. Aunt Charlie doesn't believe me when I say I learned to cook for Callie."

"She doesn't! Well that's not fair is it."

Marie excused herself to the kitchen. Callie was already there, sitting in a raised chair and swinging her feet under the table while she chatted with her mom. It stood taller than average to make it easier to do the heavy lifting of a countertop, something this kitchen lacked in excess. She stopped by the refrigerator, leaning against it. Callie's mom stood with her back to the sink, offering her a small nod to acknowledge her.

Callie grinned over at her, still kicking her feet.

"Did you get bored looking at stuff?"

"No. I'm being a good house guest and being involved here. Or something."

"Or something~."

"Marie, Callie tells me you've been working on starting up a podcast? How's that coming along."

"Oh, uh, fine. It's alright so far." She shrugged, "bit different than my usual."

"You know, aren't a lot of people doing that already? Podcasts? Not that I listen to any of them, but wouldn't it make more sense to focus on something more sustainable?"

"D'ahhhh…"

"Mom!"

"Well I just want to make sure you girls have enough money to live in that city. No point in taking unnecessary risks."

Marie bit her tongue, refusing to let herself remind her aunt that she and Callie moved to Inkopolis with no money and worked in a warehouse to pay bills while they waited for their career to take off. Without her help. If she didn't care about their financial situation then, when they were just barely teenagers, why did it matter now?

Her expression must have been a dead giveaway for Callie to quickly interject and diffuse the situation. "Marie always tells me I have more money than I can count, so I don't think money's an issue for us anymore!"

"Well I don't think she should be living off of you either."

"That's not–" Callie frowned, rubbing her neck. "We're fine, mom, really."

Marie hadn't even lasted more than a few minutes under scrutiny. She brushed imaginary dusty off of the front of her shirt, a subtly patterned button up Callie had insisted looked handsome and whatever else Marie wanted to hear. Now she just felt silly in it.

"I gotta go call my manager. Excuse me." Some help she was, bailing like this.

Callie bit her lip, watching her go out the front door. "It's probably really important stuff that I should know about! Be right back!"

—-----

"I thought you quit smoking." Callie mumbled as she stepped around the car. Marie was standing by the passenger door, leaning back on her impromptu smoke break.

"Yeah, me too."

Callie reached towards her hand, but Marie pulled it away, dropping ash onto the roof of her car.

"Mawee." She pouted, trying to grab it again by stepping too close for public comfort.

"Scram, will ya?"

Callie huffed, backing up before flopping against the car next to her, standing shoulder to shoulder. "Mom just cares about us a lot. Don't take it the wrong way."

"Sure."

"I'm serious!"

"I said sure." Marie took a drag off her cigarette, leaning her head back.

Callie stood with her, saying nothing as she leaned against Marie, letting her have her break. She looked up at the clouds rolling by, trying to decide what they looked like. They stayed this way for a while, even after Marie had finished smoking. Callie had taken hold of her hand, rubbing her fingers behind the car where no one inside could see them.

"Mom loves us, Marie. No matter what. I know it."

Marie said nothing. Pushing herself up to stand. They needed to go back inside. Callie hadn't let go of her hand, and they took a few steps together this way before Callie finally let her go. Marie was calmer, for now. At least for as long as it took them to make it back inside.

"I went ahead and made up the spare bedroom for you, Marie. I even moved your bag in for you. Much lighter than someone's~."

"Oh, thank you. I could have gotten it though."

"What was the phone call about?"

She glanced at Callie, who glanced back at her. Marie wondered if she'd been spying. Callie was quick to lie.

"It's a secret project Marie is working on with my help!"

"It's not a secret if you tell people." Marie played along, effortlessly, grateful Callie was here to back her up. And to make her look like less of a freeloader.

She wasn't a freeloader, but she didn't like the accusation that she couldn't care for herself and for Callie. Callie didn't need to be taken care of, but in Marie's mind, it was the right thing to do and what her parents wanted to hear. That someone was taking care of their daughter with a steady job that made lots of money. They already had lots of money but it was earned in a way other people didn't seem to understand. She had financial freedom and now she had regular freedom, and with that freedom she wanted to pursue work she had control over. It wasn't fair that it looked like a joke to other people, people that she respected.

It was clear her aunt didn't buy it. She felt like she was being studied, if only for a moment. Eyes scanning over her looking for any wrong move or awkward glance or laugh to prove she was lying. Maybe she was just paranoid.

"A secret project, that sounds exciting." Callie's dad spoke up from the armchair, a welcome distraction and enough of a reason to ignore her aunt.

"Yeah! And if everything works out you'll really like it, dad!"

"Can I have a hint?"

"Only if Marie wants to."

"It's a secret." Marie shrugged. His genuine interest did make her feel a little guilty about her lack of tangible, upcoming projects. She really didn't have anything to talk about other than work. She didn't have friends to discuss, she wasn't traveling right now. She didn't travel anyway except for work so that didn't matter. No point bringing up her heroic rescue of Callie because as true as it was she'd just look insane. Worse still she needed to think of things to talk about with her aunt, who she still needed to help in the kitchen. Couldn't flake on that as much as she wanted to now. With any luck she could say the right thing and not have to worry so much.

—-----

Marie prided herself on her ability to make use of a sparse kitchen. It was hard to keep essentials stocked when they were always out traveling for work. They could afford groceries, but buying them was often a waste. She'd mastered making crabby cakes exactly like Callie loved, fries served almost just like her favorite food truck. Really, most of what she was good at she was good at for Callie. All the more reason she found it insufferable when her aunt decided to nitpick her every choice. She was helping, and it felt like it wasn't being appreciated.

Don't use too much of that. You need to cut the vegetables smaller or they won't cook right. Don't use that spoon, use the other one. Oh you girls must only eat takeout everyday.

Marie abandoned all hope of an award winning conversation with Callie's mother. She just shut up and followed orders. Which inevitably lead to: Marie you still don't talk much do you? Just like your mother always used to say.

How many days did Callie want to be here again? How many days had she told Callie they should be here?

She sat next to Callie at the kitchen table to eat dinner, deciding it was better if she only spoke when spoken to. What was there for her to even say? Callie was keen on chatting for her anyway. Still, her uncle noticed her silence and tried to include her.

"So, Marie, you helped cook tonight, huh?"

"She tried to." Callie's mother laughed. Marie did not. She didn't find it to be very funny.

Marie only shrugged. "Guess not really."

"All that ordering out those girls do. It's a wonder they've lasted as long as they have."

"Marie does a good job cooking," Callie insisted, "she likes to take care of me."

"Ah, see, just like I said. Gonna be a great mom one day." Callie's father smiled. Marie wished he wouldn't try so hard.

He wanted to keep peace between everyone, wanted Marie to be happy, but it was just making things worse. He always used to comment on how unhappy she looked when she was little, but never thought to ask why. Maybe he figured kids didn't have real reasons to be unhappy, so whatever was bothering her didn't matter. She wouldn't have told him anyway. How could she? How could a child have the vocabulary to explain fully all the problems they experienced at home? In a way adults would understand. They couldn't. She couldn't.

It was better not to dwell on it. He could imagine any backstory he wanted for her and it wouldn't make a difference. They were here, now, in this moment, and Marie was grown anyway. Her problems were her own.

Maybe she could get through the rest of dinner without adding to her list of issues. Callie could help see to that. Talk about shows they did, stories Marie had forgotten, places they went, people they met. Happy memories from the past, from a time when her aunt and uncle saw her at useful to their daughter.

—------

It was strange, sitting on the roof alone. The cloud cover meant she could see only abstract shapes in the night sky, blotting out the usual luster of the pitch black country sky. Fitting that she couldn't see the stars without Callie by her side. It wasn't like she had a good reason to be up here alone, Callie was just inside showering before bed. Marie thought it would help clear her head to go out on her own and let the cold chill of the night air ground her in the moment. It wasn't a moment she wanted to be in.

She heard the door slide open beneath her, and then the ladder creak and shake. Callie's head soon peaked up over the gutter.

"Can't we stargaze somewhere a little less scary?" She asked, reaching up for Marie to help her.

Marie obliged, taking Callie's arm into her hand and pulling her onto the roof. Her skin was still damp and hot. "Can't see the stars unless you're up high," she said.

"Literally not true." Callie climbed up next to Marie, linking arms with her. It wasn't even that high, especially not for an Inkling, but falling was scary and Callie preferred not to think about it.

"It helps."

"Why'd you come up here by yourself? Cos you hate me? Wanted to abandon me?"

Marie frowned, shaking her head. "I just…wanted some time, is all."

Callie pulled her knees up to her chest as a cool breeze passed. She wasn't dressed for a chilly night like this.

"How much time is some time? Cos I think my tentacles are gonna turn to ice and fall off and then I'll be bald."

"You're exaggerating."

"And you're dodging the question."

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. She was. She didn't know how much time some time was. Until she stopped feeling miserable? Until she decided she didn't care? Neither of those would happen until she got some sleep, and sleeping on the roof seemed like a bad idea.

"I think it was a bad idea to come here," Marie said after a moment of careful consideration. She didn't want it to be too obvious that she was spiraling.

"You were the one who wanted to come," Callie reminded her.

"Well, I changed my mind."

"Mm…how come?"

"Because your parents don't like me."

The answer had come so quickly it had caught Callie off guard. "Yes they do, why would you say that?"

"Because no one likes me. Not really."

It was a non answer and a reminder that things were rarely as simple as they seemed. Whatever problems Marie perceived from the day spent with Callie's parents was just a small part of a bigger issue.

"You're famous. I think lots of people like you."

"No. People like Marie the artist. They don't like Marie the person."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that they like the version of me they can buy. They like the things I create. They like the meanings they make up for themselves but they don't ask what any of it meant to me. Nobody wants to know me, the real me, the awkward squid who can't hold a conversation without a script. Who…who isn't even really sure who she is. People think they know who I am but they're always wrong."

"Am I wrong?"

"No, but you're different."

"Mm. Then why aren't my parents different? I don't think they like you cos you're a famous idol. I think they like you cos you're their niece."

Marie flinched at the reminder.

"Basically like a second daughter," Callie added with a grin.

"You're making it weird."

"Mhm!"

"Well, don't. Or I'll smack you."

Callie thought for a moment, rubbing her chin for added flair. "I might like that. Let's try it!"

"Callie! Be serious!"

"Then tell me what's bugging you. Other than me~."

"You didn't notice the way your mom was looking at me? I haven't seen them or spoken to them in, like, ten years. And she didn't seem happy to see me. I dunno why."

"Maybe you're imagining it…"

"I'm not."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Callie sighed, resting her head against Marie's shoulder. "Well, so what?"

Marie paused. "What do you mean 'so what'?"

Callie turned her face up towards Marie's. "So what if they don't like you."

She looked away, staring at the empty backyard that was illuminated only faintly by the open back door. Callie had left the kitchen light on when she made her way outside.

"I want people to like me."

She nodded, kissing her cheek. "Not everyone will like you. Even if you didn't do anything wrong. And sometimes people who used to like you will stop. Even if it seems like they don't have a good reason."

"That doesn't sound very optimistic."

"Yeah! You told me that first, that's why~."

"Ah."

Callie giggled, hugging her arm tighter. "But you were right, y'know? But it's not a bad thing. It's just a regular thing. Isn't it enough that I like you~?"

Marie didn't answer. Was that enough? Yes was the obvious answer, but what if Callie one day didn't like her? And she'd have no one. No friends, no family, nothing. It seemed impossible, but it could happen at any moment.

"I want people to like me."

"Statistically 99% of people don't like you. You told me that too!"

"You're not helping!"

"I am. Cos you think cos you have access to a lot of people, all of them should like you. But they don't and they won't."

"People like you. Everyone likes you."

"Nuh uh."

Marie rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"I mean it. I've lost lots of friends saying or doing the wrong thing. And you can never ever fix it and the more you try the worse it is. Every time!" Callie reached up, poking Marie's cheek. "But it's okay, y'know why?"

Marie raised an eyebrow.

"Cos tomorrow happens anyway! Sure you'll still feel bad and stuff but buy a fun drink! Like a. A super sparkle rainbow milk tea with extra little squishy things and sprinkles! Or, or, we can go to the beach together or go shopping and -"

Marie cut her off. "Are you just telling me things you want from me!"

She giggled, rocking back and forth with Marie. "Maybe a little," she said, "but it's a good idea anyway. Sure you'll feel bad but you'll feel bad with a little treat. And if you do that enough it stops feeling bad."

Marie relented. "Yeah, maybe."

Callie rubbed her shoulder, leaning up to kiss her once more. Despite Marie's reluctance, she kept up with it for a while, gradually crawling into her lap.

"Don't drop me okay?"

"Y'know if anyone finds us…" she rubbed Callie's thigh absently, trying to warm her up a little.

"Who's gonna find us? My parents are sleeping already."

"Shouldn't you be in bed too, then?"

"Mmmaybe you should take me to bed."

—-------

Marie was hesitant to take Callie up on her offer, but she gave in as usual. Callie found the danger exciting, the fear of getting caught sneaking her partner into her bedroom in the middle of the night. She felt like a kid again. Marie took it much more seriously. There were real consequences to them getting caught! Not just getting grounded.

But she did always want to kiss Callie in her room… she'd thought about it for a while, even after they moved out, she sometimes caught herself wondering what would have happened had she acted sooner.

Callie sat on the edge of her childhood bed, kissing Marie, who stood leaning over her. She reached up, wrapping her arms around Marie's neck.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout now, Mar?"

"How do you know I'm thinking about anything?"

"Cos you always think about stuff."

"Nuh uh."

"C'mon, spill!" She said, pulling Marie down with her as she lay down.

"Shh! Not so loud…"

Callie grinned, kissing her forehead. "Spill."

"It's kinda weird. You sure you wanna know?"

"Well now I definitely want to know."

Marie pushed herself up, knowing she couldn't get far with Callie holding her in place. She looked around the room at the old posters Callie had hung up, old photographs and awards. It really did feel like nothing had changed. Though, she couldn't look long once she realized how scummy it felt to be turned on with the ever smiling face of preteen Callie looming over them both. It wasn't that serious. It felt that serious with Callie begging to know her childhood fantasies with her. It made her a bit nauseous.

"I just… we spent a lot of time in here together, right?"

"The most time." Callie agreed.

"And…you used to change in front of me, like, all of the time."

Callie seemed intrigued, more so than she ought to be. She waited, hoping her silence would coax Marie to keep talking.

"Sometimes I. I mean not often, or anything, and I'd never actually do something like this, but sometimes I thought about uh." She trailed off, mumbling the rest of her thought, "I thought about just making you do stuff…with me. Uh."

She blinked, taking a few seconds to process the information before coming up with the most appropriate and compassionate response she could think of, "well, why didn't you? That sounds hot."

"What-!" She covered her mouth, trying to keep herself quiet. "We were kids!"

"You'll do it now though, right? Because if you did it then you'd have to be quiet and make me be quiet so you didn't get in trouble so now is the perfect time."

"You're crazy."

"C'mooooon."

"You're serious."

"It would have been better than that weird time when I was dating that guy and we were in his car and I like you a lot more. Let's leave it at that."

Marie frowned, rolling off of Callie before sliding onto the floor to sit facing the door. "It's pretty late, Cal. Don't you think it's time we got dressed for bed?"

Callie sat up, wondering what she'd done to upset her. "But I'm already wearing my- ohhhh."

Marie rolled her eyes, waiting for Callie to stand up. This was neither the time nor the place, but she really didn't want to be here anyway. Once Callie was shirtless, she stood up herself, looming behind her, mindfully not touching her. Yet. "Hey."

Callie resisted the urge to close the gap between them. "Huh? What is it, Mar~?"

"How come you never told me you had a boyfriend?"

"Well it was a long time ago and– wait, wait. Don't laugh, I can hear you giggling."

She was. It was hard not to. She hugged Callie around the waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Why the big secret? I thought you told me everything."

She squirmed in Marie's arms, reminding herself she wasn't into it. Marie held her tighter. Callie bit her lip, pushing at Marie's wrist, "I dunno. I didn't think you'd care about stuff like that."

"How old is he?"

"What's it matter?" She said, trying to escape Marie's grip. She succeeded in turning around, covering her chest with one hand and trying to push Marie off with the other.

She grabbed Callie's wrist pulling her hips towards her own. "What kinda stuff have you done with him, huh?"

"Marie isn't this sorta yucky?"

"No. You told me we'd do everything together." She growled, leaning forward to try and kiss her. Callie uncovered her chest, placing her hand over Marie's mouth.

"Yeah but– hey, what are you doing, stop that." She dropped her hand from Marie's mouth, grabbing at her leg in a half hearted attempt to get Marie to stop rubbing against her. She couldn't help but give her a squeeze of encouragement, briefly sticking her tongue out at her. It was hard to keep character when Marie looked so serious, but she'd try anyway. "It feels weird, stop."

"Or what?"

"I'll yell! And and…"

"And get in trouble with me for letting me do this to you." Marie pressed her lips to Callie's so she couldn't tattle. She let go only long enough to yank her shirt off, grabbing Callie again the moment she was free. "Now lay down." She ordered, much to Callie's delight.

Her fantasies never involved her going all the way with Callie. Maybe she just thought she couldn't get away with taking things that far. Still, she tugged off her pants and crawled on top of Callie, covering her mouth once again.

"Is this the kinda thing you like to do with your boyfriend?" Marie demanded, rocking her hips against Callie's and flinching when the bed creaked. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. She could see Callie smiling behind her hand, amused at her reaction.

"Just for that little smirk I'm gonna keep my underwear on."

"Nooo~."

"And yours."

"Treating me like one of your pillows."

"That's gross."

She pulled Marie down, kissing her ear before whispering, "and so is this. Now keep going."

Marie nodded, hoping she could move a little quieter this time. The rest of the house was silent, but it was hard not to strain to hear any noise that might suggest they need to bail. Callie was far more confident nothing would happen, even with a little bed squeaking.

—---

Callie was the first to stir awake, smiling to herself as she felt Marie still resting on top of her. Marie had stayed the night, just as she had promised. Not that she really thought Marie would abandon her for the guest bedroom after their night together. She'd already complained about the sleeping arrangements and Callie knew she would have been more than happy to sleep on the floor if it meant she didn't have to sleep alone.

She could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen, the comforting aroma of coffee reminding her of her dad heading off to work while she was getting ready for school. She didn't actually like coffee, but smelling it felt like home. And now she got to experience that with Marie. In her old house. In her old room. In her old bed. Callie lay there with her eyes closed, listening to her parents moving about the kitchen, running water, closing cupboards, talking quietly to one another so as not to wake the girls.

She rubbed Marie's back, trying to gently coax her awake. Marie let out a familiar groan of protest about getting out of bed so early. Callie didn't think her parents would feel the need to check on them, but she figured Marie would appreciate her being mindful of the risk.

Callie kissed the top of her head, whispering, "Marie, morning, breakfast. We gotta get dressed."

Marie hugged her tighter, shaking her head. Callie sat up anyway, knowing Marie would wake up enough to remember they weren't at the apartment.

She took a moment to admire Marie as she sat on her knees, swaying back and forth, dubiously awake.

Marie sniffled, scratching at the corners of her eyes before untangling her legs from the blanket and putting her feet on the floor.

"When we're older I think it might be nice to move back here, don't you think?"

Marie scowled, still rubbing at her eyes. "No, I don't."

"Don't miss home at all?"

Marie didn't answer. She leaned over the foot of the bed to pick up her pants that lay haphazardly discarded. Callie didn't press the issue further, standing up and stretching before she too began to dress.

She was quick to finish, bouncing to her door and out of her bedroom. Marie wasn't far behind, but she was in much less of a hurry. The coffee was tempting her, though.

"Morning!" She heard Callie say as she shuffled into the kitchen after her. Marie expected an equally bright reply, but all that followed was an uneasy silence.

The look of anger and disgust on her aunt's face made her blood run cold. There was no question about it. They knew. How? It didn't really matter, because they knew. They'd been found out. Somehow. Callie's mom was probably already suspicious of them, it was so obvious now. The looks, the comments about her needing to find a man to settle down with. To move out and away from Callie finally.

It was clear by Callie's reaction that she didn't understand what had made her parents so upset. She looked between them, a look of concern growing ever present on her face. "What's going on? What's wrong? Did something happen? Mom? Dad?" She looked frantically between them, trying to parse what was going on. Neither of them had ever looked at her this way before.

"Your mother was right about you." Callie's mother said, voice shaking with rage as she glared at Marie. "You're sick. You raped my daughter you disgusting–"

Callie's father was quick to try and de-escalate things, putting his hand on his wife's shoulder to physically turn her away from the two girls. Marie didn't know why he bothered. Maybe he just didn't want to upset Callie any further.

"You promised to be reasonable about this." He sounded pained and tired, eyes pleading for some kind of peace, anything.

"You're going to stand there and defend a rapist?"

"Charlotte, please…" He turned his attention to Marie, trying to change the subject at the worst possible moment. "Uh, Marie, you like chargers don't you? You used to be pretty good, I thought. Tell you what, we can head out together and you can show me what you've learned over the years."

She wasn't listening. Everything after "your mother was right about you" was nothing more than a high pitched whine in her ears. She wanted to comfort Callie, but she'd hurt Callie. This was her fault. She'd ruined Callie's life with her own sick desires.

Callie was yelling at her mom, who was yelling back.

Callie's dad once again seemed to try and intervene as Marie stood motionless, staring off into space.

Callie vanished into her room and slammed the door shut.

Marie was being led outside by her uncle.

—------

Her feet were moving on their own.

Gravel and dirt crunched softly under her feet.

He was trying to talk to her, but the words didn't make any sense.

She wanted Callie. She didn't deserve Callie.

The next thing she processed was a cold flask being pushed into her hands. She was sitting on a log at the edge of a small forest clearing. Her legs hurt, and she had no idea how long she'd been walking for. She and Callie used to come here for target practice when they were kids, dreaming of one day being real Squidbeak agents. They were, if she could remember, about a half an hour walk from Callie's house, but leading up to this had all felt like a blur.

"It'll help your nerves," her uncle said, patting her on the shoulder, "at least that's what we used to do back in the army."

Marie took a drink, coughing the instant the liquid hit her throat. It felt like she was drinking hot metal and paint thinner. Maybe at least part of that was true. It didn't calm her nerves, but it did make for one hell of a grounding technique.

"Yeah, thanks…for that," she said, once she could find her voice between coughing fits. "What the hell was that? Actually, y'know what, nevermind."

He laughed. Marie did not.

"Why are we out here?"

"Did you want to stay at home and get yelled at? I was getting yelled at about it all morning, and you don't want that."

Marie looked down at the grass, still wet with morning dew. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking. "Is Callie safe by herself?"

"She'll be alright. Her mom's not gonna hurt her."

"Yeah, and what about you?"

"I'm not gonna hurt Callie either."

"That's not… forget it."

Marie rubbed her arms, looking around. They were awfully far away from anyone who could help her. Not that she deserved help. She glanced up at him once more, trying to read his expression. He just looked…tired. Sad. His brow hung heavy with worry, but he was trying to put on some sort of a smile for her, much like Callie would have.

"Are you gonna kill me with that?" She asked, gesturing at the gun slung over his shoulder.

"What– Marie, I told you. We were going out to practice shooting. Spend some time together. Talk."

"Oh. Is that what you were saying…"

"Marie, I'm not," he stopped, considering his words, "I don't hate you."

"You should."

"Mm. And why is that?"

"I hurt your daughter."

"I don't think the word choice used was…uh, necessarily accurate." It was clear the topic made him deeply uncomfortable. He couldn't even look at her as he spoke.

Marie stood up, feeling like a child once again. They were the same height, more or less, but she still felt so small. So helpless. So pathetic. She'd destroyed her relationship with one of the closest things she had to a real parent who cared about her. Any other crime would have been forgivable, at least in her mind.

"I guess not. But I know where she got the idea from."

He raised an eyebrow, sliding the charger off his shoulder and holding it by the leather strap. He held it towards her, but Marie didn't take it.

"She talks to my mom a lot. I dunno why."

He lowered his hand, letting the gun barrel rest on the ground, swaying back and forth as it was held partially up. "And?"

"And my mom. She knows. She's known, rather."

"About you and Callie, er…"

"You don't have to say it. I know I'm disgusting. But, no, she didn't know that. Well, I'm sure she knows now." Marie rubbed tears from her eyes, determined not to cry in front of her uncle. She looked up, blinking rapidly to try and force them back.

He reached out, hugging her from the side and rubbing her arm. "Hey, hey, it's not. I mean. It's pretty small out here. Not a lot of folks. So it's not like you're the only one who dated their cousin. Even if you did end up moving away."

She looked down, hoping he wouldn't notice her crying for real now. "Mom used to smack me if she caught me looking at Callie for too long. She had me tested and stuff. She knows there's something wrong with me but she decided it was my problem.

He didn't understand, not really anyway. But Marie was hurting and he had to try and smooth things over. "You're good to her though, right?"

"I thought. But it's not like she has a choice. I'm a freak."

"Marie. When have you *ever* known Callie to do something she didn't want to?"

She sniffled, rubbing her eyes once more. "This is different."

"Not if you're being respectful about it. Look, I'm not gonna pretend I understand why either of you would do this. And I'm not gonna say I don't think it's gross."

It hurt to hear, but it was the truth. Gross is what they were. What *she* was. Callie didn't deserve to be roped into this with her.

"But I also think people who eat salmonid eggs are gross. And that's got nothing to do with me."

"Those things aren't even similar."

"I'm trying here. I don't think you're a bad kid. I really don't understand none of this, but you're both gonna do whatever you want anyway. I still wanna have my daughter talk to me. And if that means going along with all of this, well." He sighed, shaking his head.

Marie pulled away, guilt gnawing at her insides, anxiety making her tremble. She'd hurt every single person she cared about because of her own selfishness. She'd single handedly ruined Callie's life.

—---

Uncle Craig let her sit and decompress for a while, occupying himself by taking shots with the Bamboozler at nearby trees. Marie was disappointed when she gradually began to realize the world hadn't ended. She'd even managed to stop crying.

Marie never imagined a world where someone wouldn't just…hate her. With every part of their being. But he didn't. He might have just hid it well, but he didn't seem the type smart enough to lie like that. What would be the point?

Rubbing her eyes, she stood up and approached the main, standing slightly behind him and to the side. "It's a nice charger. Wish I had something like that to look forward to."

"Are you breaking up with Callie?"

Marie tried to listen to any hit of hopefulness, but there was none. "Uh. Look I'll be honest. No. I'm not. Well, it would be up to her but. Y'know."

"Then maybe you do have something like this to look forward to."

"You're joking."

"I just want whatever Callie wants. But you're still too young. And not married."

"Uh, well, we can't *get* married, so." She made a vague gesture with her hand, dropping it to her side.

"Oh, right. But I'll know. I guess a paper isn't the only deciding factor. Settling down with someone is more than that. So, I'll know when Callie has done that."

Marie hummed in response. He offered her the Charger without a word. This time, she took it.

The wood was freshly polished, and it was unusually weighty compared to its more modern counterparts. It had a rich burgundy color unlike anything Marie had seen elsewhere. The trigger was a heavy pull, the charge time felt almost as long as her e-liter that was long forgotten in a closet thanks to her schedule and energy level. She aimed down the sights, still carefully calibrated for an accurate shot, though with none of the modern convenience of a scope. Marie fired at the tree next to the one Uncle Craig had been shooting at, and landed a splatter of green ink just shy of its approximate center.

"Can I ask you something?" Marie began to line up another shot, slightly higher this time.

"Sure, squiddo."

"How come you…knew?"

"Ehhhhhh Charlie wanted to check up on Callie like old times. See her little girl back in her own bed."

"Why didn't she kill me at that point?" She asked, firing another shot, this one overcorrected and still shy of center.

"Came and woke me up. Wanted to make sure she wasn't imagining things. I convinced her to give you guys a chance to explain things."

"Went well."

"Yep."

"My phone's still in Callie's room I think."

"Wanted to call her?"

"Just worried is all." She lowered the gun, looking down at the ink that dripped onto the grass from the barrel.

"We can go back, if you want. Probably calmer at home now."

She nodded, turning towards her uncle to return the gun to him. He slung it back over his shoulder before giving Marie a pat on the back.

"Do you think we could…talk? Later, I mean. After me and Callie go home. Maybe in a few days if she's up to it. Obviously we're not staying another night. Uh. No offense or anything."

"Sure, whatever you need. I still care about you."

Marie nodded, wiping her hands off on her pants. Hopefully Callie had already packed and would just be waiting outside. She doubted it would be that easy, nothing ever was. But at least now, for now, she had backup.

#aohota #hotaao #i don't have a creep fic tag still whoops #callie x marie #situations but they're normal in a way that hurts

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aemiron-main · 9 months ago

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Sorry if this is an obvious question but as I’m reading more and more Henry/Edward posts the more confused I get about the currant timeline (I know I’m probably supposed to be but STILL), you might’ve established this in a post you’ve already made- and if you have feel free to just link it and not re-explain everything

So like after the events of Edward being sent to dimension x after the massacre- and he “turns” into Vecna (since we’ve established Vecna=Edward and not Henry) what happens to Henry-? Maybe this is an obvious question sorry but like

Since Vecna isn’t Henry- where does he go???

WHERE IS HE??

Like is he just mentally not there anymore or is he at least somewhat Vecna?

MAYBE THIS IS AN UNANSWERED THING THAT ISNT CLEAR BUT IF THERE IS A “CLEAR” ANSWER/What you personally think happened I wanna know! You’re very much big brain 🙏

AND SRRY AGAIN IF THIS IS RLLY OBVIOUS MY BRAIN HAS TAKEN IN SM INFO TODAY LMAO

HELLOOO!! No worries at all!! :DD It’s a great question!

So, the thing is, as far as the “current timeline” goes, we don’t always know what timeline we’re in- after all, the Henry and Edward papers seem to have somehow ended up in the same timeline, as Robin and Nancy read both of them.

Which, in this post, I assumed that the Creel house with the red wallpaper was Henry’s house/the Hawkins gang was in Henry’s timeline in those scenes because that seemed to be the timeline where we got the scene of Victor mentioning Henry by name- however, this is just my best guess, because there’s evidence in some of the papers to indicate that Victor was also taken in by Hawkins lab and had his brain fried similarly to Terry, and he ALSO has a bizarre number of parallels to El’s NINA scenes- so, point is, Victor might not be remembering the right boy, there’s a chance he could be Edward’s father, and had his brain messed with & ended up thinking his son’s name was Henry instead, OR there’s the chance that Victor himself ended up in the wrong timeline.

Especially considering Fringe being a confirmed source of inspiration for ST versus Victor’s constant parallels to Walter Bishop from Fringe- Walter, who raised the “wrong” son/raised the alternate timeline version of his son because his original son from his actual timeline had died.

I’m not saying either of those things re: Victor are true for certain, he still could very well just be Henry’s dad, and it could be as simple as that- but the point I’m making with this is that we don’t know for sure- and because we don’t know things like this for sure, we can’t always know what timeline we’re being shown in the show- because going back to that Creel house wallpaper example from this post, we ARE being shown two different timelines, even if we don’t know for sure which timeline is which.

So, this subtle way of showing two different timelines/ST’s tendency to splice together clips of different timelines & present those clips as if theyre part of one continuous timeline (when in reality it’s clips from multiple timelines but together) makes it really difficult to figure out which timeline we’re seeing in a given scene.

So, my main point here is that there isn’t really a “current” timeline- because we’ve already seen clips in S4 from multiple timelines, so we don’t know what other scenes in the show could be from the Edward timeline vs the Henry timeline.

But anyway, setting that aside, let’s get into your main question- what happened to Henry?

It’s a fantastic question, hell, it’s one of MY biggest questions LMAO, because as far as what happened to Henry goes, we don’t know for sure- but we do have some ideas.

One of the main ideas is that Henry is in another NINA tank, hooked up to the NINA system, hence why he seems to be so “present,” in NINA, and seems to be aware of the simulation.

I made this post about the parallels between The Evil Within and Stranger Things, and the STEM System versus NINA, and Ruvik versus Henward, and long story short, there’s a ton of parallels in that post that support the idea of Henry being in a NINA tank/in the simulation SOMEHOW, even if he’s not in a tank.

And there’s also the fact that there’s BTS photos of a white NINA tank suit for Henward-

-which, this indicates that a.) Henry was very very likely NINA’d at SOME point, and b.) the NINA technology predates El- after all, NINA is just the name of this specific project, so who knows what other projects this NINA technology has been used on (especially considering the Project One stuff hidden in the code of the TFS website, in addition to Brenner’s Project Talisman footage/files)!

And there’s also Brenner’s line about how El could get “lost in the darkness,” if they go through NINA too quickly, versus Brenner later saying that he believed Henry was “hiding in the darkness,”- so, again, I wonder if Henry ended up in the void/as part of the simulation/if the NINA simulation behaves almost like a pocket realm/if it’s similar to Vecna’s mindlair in the sense that it’s actually in the void/in the “darkness” (look at how Vecna’s mindlair dissolves into the void), especially considering what I talked about in this post re: a “backdoor” into Vecna’s mind lair versus a “backdoor” in the context of computer viruses, versus the NINA computer program.

I’m not saying that the NINA simulation world & the mindlair are the same place, as the mindlair is in Vecna’s mind, but if we think of the void as this infinite place that transcends space and time, then the mindlair and the simulation world could both be in the the void, but still not be the same place.

And hell, if the NINA simulation IS Henry’s mind somehow, especially considering that in The Evil Within, the STEM simulation is Ruvik’s mind, then is Henry lost/hiding in his own mind?

And hence the whole “NINA and getting lost in the darkness” thing versus Vecna’s mindlair being in the void, because if NINA is Henry’s equivalent of a mindlair (more like a mind prison), then it would explain that NINA-void connection, because Vecna’s mindlair has already established that peoples’ mind places dissolve into the void/seemingly exist in the void in SOME way.

SO, ANYWAY, YES!! This is very much an unanswered thing, and it’s something I’m really curious about, especially considering all of the weird simulation vibes with TFS + the stuff that points to TFS not actually taking place in the 50s, but instead, the 70s- stuff like the anachronistic song references, and the fact that Rachel, Nevada (the town that Henry’s supposedly from in TFS) didn’t even exist until 1978.

AND THANK YOU AWGWHWHDH <<333

Personally, I think he’s stuck in the NINA simulation and/or the void somehow, at least mentally (which then brings up his physical body- is his physical body in a tank, or is it somewhere else? Does he even HAVE a physical body anymore? After all, in The Evil Within, Ruvik’s body was destroyed except for his brain, which then serves as the basis for the STEM system- did something similar happen with Henry and NINA? And/or *Patty* and NINA, especially considering all of Argyle’s stuff re: NINA being a “small woman,” versus Patty being a small woman, but I’m getting off topic LMAO), and I won’t be surprised if Henry’s in a tank/facility that’s underneath Hawkins Lab.

And to add one final bit of confusion for you re: Henry, not only do we not know where Henry went, but we also don’t really know who Henry IS- specifically when it comes to The First Shadow, there’s a BUNCH of weirdness re: “who is Henry Creel?”

Like, not only is the question “who is Henry Creel?” stated by Walter in the beginning of the play, but a.) Alice says that Henry is “not Henry,” during one of the Attic scenes, and b.) TFS Henry is 14 in 1959, whereas in-show Henry was 12 in 1959, and c.) The 7 year old Henry we see in the flashback/birthday video footage in TFS looks NOTHING like TFS Henry or in-show Henry! He’s got DARK brown, almost black hair, he’s straight up a different kid.

And so, that also brings me to something I mentioned on here the other day- not only do we have all of that weirdness re: 7 year old Henry and TFS Henry, but also, isn’t it weird that the only sources that mention Henry Creel in-show are a.) a conspiracy newspaper, the Weekly Watcher, and b.) Victor Creel, who very likely had his brain scrambled by the lab?

Like, EDWARD’s the guy whose name shows up in the actual non-conspiracy paper, and everything happened to Edward first compared to Henry (ie, Edward moved to Hawkins two years before Henry did, Edward’s Creel murders happened a few days before Henry’s murders, etc), so was Henry Creel ever actually real? Or is he the result of some sort of lab meddling re: timelines and experiments?

Did Henry ever really exist?

I wish I knew for sure!

(AND OMG THATS SO FAIR LMAO ITS A GREAT QUESTION NO WORRIES!!! I HOPE THIS HELPS!! )

#stranger things #st asks #henry creel #edward creel #timeline theory

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