#i can kinda see not wanting to include kit’s old one because his last name is different and the book is organized alphabetically and they

[livvyofthelake]

another thing about the flower book. and remember i got this thing literally fifteen minutes before leaving for work i did not actually go through it page by page i just kinda skimmed and didn’t read any of the descriptions. and of course i called out that typo because i’m annoying and literally how do you mess up something so simple cassie… they’re twins getting their birth years right is one of the all time easy things…. anyway i digress. something i noticed that i need to talk about is the updated flower cards vs the old ones for a few characters. as we know kit dru ty and ash as characters who appear in tda AND are the future leads of twp, they all had original cards from 2016 and then got new ones a few years ago. as we also know the carstairs siblings were also updated from the original versions obviously because the ogs were made before the books were written and stuff changes etc. some people thought cassie was whitewashing them with the old cards being super light skinned but i honestly just think she changed her mind about what they looked like and then the art was already made and already old and she didn’t really think to change them because she’d never done updated ones before. and then she did updated ones for twp and i guess realized she should change cordelia and alastair too. like i don’t think she was being problematic guys let’s be chill. ok but NOT what i wanted to talk about. anyway. so i figured the carstairs siblings would just be their new ones and we’d just pretend the old ones never existed. but i did initially think that for the OTHER updated ones she’d have included both the old and new ones right? because both versions are different and are reflecting the characters at different periods of their stories right. so what’s crazy is that’s not what she did those four characters only have one page for each of them not two pages for both versions. and sure maybe she just wanted it to be fair but like girl you released two cards for these guys… it’s not unfair it’s necessary for the story…. anyway so now you all know only one version was used for each of those four characters and you might be assuming she used the updated ones for everyone right? WRONG. what’s really BONKERS about this is that she used the updated ones for kit, dru, and ash. and none for tiberius blackthorn… she used his old one and everyone else’s new one that’s crazy right. like that’s objectively a weird choice. i just want to know what the thought process was here. and why didn’t she include both. look at these ok

they’re literally different in important ways and she just axed half of them…. hello. and what’s her beef with ty’s new one. what suddenly we don’t fuck with irene the lynx…. suddenly my girl doesn’t get her purple tulips associated with her in an official capacity…. like was ty’s kept the same just so he’d match livvy instead of matching dru and kit. if so. bonkers. if not. then what’s her beef with my boy…..

[sickofthistoxicshit]

This is my 4x12 review - skip if you haven’t watched yet.💖

In my opinion the whole Treasure Hunt thing, had a S2 bank mystery vibe about it. Like the silly calm before the storm, again in parallel to right before when Buck was hurt.

I knew the Author jerk is alive the second I saw the actor who played it, the was not one show where he guest starred and wasn’t a jerk 😂😂

So since I did my own version of live writing, I apologize if this is a bit disorganized.

We got so much buddie bread crumbs, that eventually felt like a meal at the end of the episode so let’s start with: Both boys in sunglasses - oh WOW! 🔥🔥  

Bobby sending Eddie with Chimney and Buck looking thoroughly unhappy to be separated from Eddie. They nod at each other and while Buck frowns at Chimney, Eddie crosses himself before going to get geared up.

It was a small gesture but very significant because Eddie has already crashed in a chopper (in 3x15 and watched Hen and Strand crash in the crossover) he knows what could go wrong.

Chimney’s “cheer up you can go next time” doesn’t really reassure Buck. I think a “we’ll be fine” or ��I’ll keep him safe” would have calmed Buck’s nerves a lot more.

Can we discuss for a second how HOT!! Eddie looked doing the aerial rescue? I mean WOW, I watched it several times. 🥵🥵🥵

The 118 sitting together trying to figure out the riddle was funny, everyone thinking how it’s a bad idea to even consider this to be a real thing, except for Buck, of course. 😂

And while the others are already considering how freaking horrible the rest of their shift  is going to be like, because it’s all over the news thanks to Taylor Kelly’s story.

Eddie called Taylor - Buck’s “girlfriend”, but we don’t see his face, we do get to see it, when Buck stresses (for what feels like the millionth time from the sigh and tone of his voice) that she is his friend not his girlfriend.

Eddie’s “Yeah, sure, right.” face is priceless!!😂😂  

Buck and Taylor plotting together again, is always hilarious, those two are disaster magnets, it makes for good fun. What bothered me was that Buck offered Taylor to pair up, but re-watching, everybody’s reaction didn’t exactly originally encouraged a teaming up vibe.

However the problem with human nature is - everyone love to obsess over riddles. 😉😉

Eddie jumping through the window into the fire truck? epic!

Eddie did suggest to team up to Buck and I love that even after Buck told him he’s working with Taylor, the look on Eddie’s face melted Buck almost immediately and had him suggesting Eddie joins the two of them. 🥰🥰

The scene in Buck’s apartment, with the three of them Eddie is right between Taylor and Buck in the shot and kind of “talking to himself” was so funny. - Gave me a BBC Sherlock scene between Irene Adler, Sherlock and John.

The way Martin Freeman stole the scene just by dropping small comments. I gotta give it to Eddie, out of all of everything in that scene, Ryan performance is what I’m going to remember. - Acting choices were made all throughout this episode by both Oliver and Ryan.

Also can we talk about the fact that Eddie is now stating little bits of knowledge like Buck now - “I can know weird stuff too” from 4x03 is so haunting me, these boys have totally rubbed off each other. (get your minds out of the gutters... for now anyway 😉)

I love how Eddie and Buck sit down and scratch, just thinking about the fire ants 😂😂

Buck being lowered into the septic tank - notice, Eddie is the one handling the rope, again, his expression worried while Buck is still down there, especially after having to drop him into the water.

I have noticed that Bobby sent Eddie up in the chopper, but is reluctant to send him under ground still 😉🙃

Buck’s “come on” when Eddie and Bobby made a face and walked away from the stench was so funny. Also super adorable on Buck’s part. 

I love how Taylor keeps shutting Buck down, it’s amusing to watch now that I know how the episode ends.

Athena being done with idiots the entire episode was hilarious! Angela is a queen!

I loved that 9-1-1 dispatchers were running a bet of places where the treasure may be. (Josh’s “Who thought that was a good idea?” and someone shouting “not it!” had me in stitches 😂😂)

Let’s take a break from buddie for a second:

Hen and Chimney joining the race and Bobby trying to hide his research from Athena was so funny, I mean, she is a police sergeant, there was no way she wouldn’t figure him out.

Bobby planning a future together, a life after the job, and Athena shutting him down. I do think this is what will come between them eventually. Athena making a unilateral decision, without considering even talking about a future with Bobby that doesn’t revolve around them working until they’re either forced out or buried six feet under ground. 

I find it interesting because it’s usually the other way around, my mom has been working on my dad to retire for years now so they can travel before both of them are too old to do it. So I kinda get where Bobby’s coming from.

In parallel though, Athena making the unilateral decision like Eddie did when he re-enlisted in 3x15. I do hope Bobby and Athena manage to work things out, I love them together. 

Back to the hunt:

Of course Athena worked out where the treasure is, Karen built an algorithm, and Taylor apparently helping Buck and Eddie figure it out bringing all three teams together.

Athena looking to Buck and Eddie asking them if they seriously brought their gear with them and Eddie pointing at Hen and Chimney to divert the attention from them about their med-kits. - like children trying to justify themselves to their parents. 😂😂😂

Wasting time negotiating about the money was hilarious, especially with Taylor in the chopper hovering over them lmao.

And then there was probie - Jesus! I laughed so much.  😂🤦‍♂️

Also Buck’s “I’m not doing anymore math”, as a reference to “she taught me math”, Buck’s not doing that shit. He calculated enough for one day and he is done!  😂

I do like that Oli and Ryan’s marks are closer together again ❣❣❣  

Eddie: “We didn’t kill him”  Buck: “We just wanted to” Bobby’s “Shut up” face killed me.

Probie selling them out “I don’t know these ppl.” You don’t say shit like this as a probie 😂😂😂

Also Rick saying “I didn’t actually think it was” and I'm just enjoying the moment, was awesome. I like it when he shows up in episodes, he and Athena make a good and amusing team. 

Back to buddie bread crumbs:

Everyone in Bathena’s house, including Taylor, who took the place next to buck, leaving Eddie to sit directly in front of Taylor and next to Chimney. - The “At this point I don’t trust anyone.” cuts to Eddie’s face, that looked as if he’s saying “Seriously dude? hurtful” - The fact that Buck stopped and met Eddie’s reproachful gaze even though they are not directly in front of each other says so much! 

Also the “Stop for a second and think about what you said.” looks from Chimney and the others are very meaningful. (#everybody knows 😉)  Buck sticking his foot in his mouth and him backtracking are shot directly from Eddie’s perspective. - hmm, I wonder why…? 🧐🧐

And to complete the meal:

Taylor placing Buck directly in the Friend-Zone category, was genius. And while Buck and Taylor have a fun energy together it never really felt romantically oriented. Also I have a certain feeling that seeing Buck and Eddie interact, at Buck’s place and at Bathena’s house and not for the first time either, she knows it will not work between her and Buck.

Buck, trying to feel something more for her, even if in a gentler and way sweeter way than the cursed ship I will not name, it feels forced on his end too - and Taylor lets him off the hook in a gentle way too, I like her for that even more. 

I really hope we keep seeing Taylor in a friend capacity for Buck, I think it’s good for him to have support and someone to talk to outside the 118. And I will absolutely worship Taylor if she will be the buddie catalyst, I mean Megan does ship buddie too, it will only be appropriate 😉💖

The episode in itself was pretty nice, I would have probably enjoyed it more if I watched it before LS who absolutely kicked me in the feels today. But I do know that just like 9-1-1 2x15 I’ll go back and watch it like a million times because it is a fun episode to pass the time, and the buddie crumbs were delicious. 

The promo kicked me in the feels too, I will not discuss it here right now, but I do hope that that last part won’t be a cliff hanger and we’ll have to wait an entire week for the rest, two weeks of frayed nerves are a LOT to suffer through 🙈

Sending big hugs out there to whomever needs it 🤗🤗🤗

[troublecominghq]

character name(s)/alias/etc: jesper fahey / the sharp shooter.

character age and date of birth: 21, april 22nd year 100.

character's pronouns/gender identity/romantic & sexual identity: he/him mostly, but vibes with any tbh. genderfluid. bisexual, biromantic & polyam.

character faceclaim: kit young.

oc or canon + which fandom affiliated with: canon, grishaverse.

currently located: the slat, ketterdam.

moral alignment + people/groups etc they are aligned to: chaotic neutral, jesper is one of the last people to be seen following any rules, but he also doesn’t have evil intentions really. he’s a chaotic entity, sure, but there aren’t any overly bad or overly good motivations to it. jesper is entirely aligned and loyal to the dregs/crows, and though he can be reckless at times with it, he cannot be shaken on that.

tell us about their personality/the kind of character they are/what kind of goals etc they have: charming, witty, a touch full of himself, but jesper has a true heart. he’s not above doing dodgy shit to get what he or the crows want/need, and he certainly dabbles in plenty of vices, but he’s not a horrible, evil person. he doesn’t believe in the oppression of others, unless that ‘other’ is some rich fuck getting off on making the lesser suffer. jesper ‘eat the rich but i also wanna be rich’ fahey. jesper can be incredibly reckless, loudmouthed and overly confident. he’s got a habit for fucking shit up though most of the time it’s not intentional, but in the end, even some of his most chaotic of methods get shit done. there just… might be a bit of a detour first. which, on the note of: jesper has a bad habit for even worse decisions. a gambler, an addict to the rush, jesper has a lot of issues around this and relishes in figuring the odds on most things. the downside is that although jesper definitely isn’t suicidal, he takes a lot of risks with his own life. jesper can be a jittery, anxious person at times and he specifically uses these outlets-- gambling, even fighting to get a fix of an adrenaline rush and soothe it. however, in spite of all of this, jesper has a lot of self esteem issues and doesn’t have a genuine, high value on himself. he has a grandiose and exaggerated personality, but the fact is, so much of it is for show and to cover up his many flaws and the parts of himself he hates. he tends to look to his peers-- the crows especially, those he loves and is dedicated to above all else-- for validation. jesper’s goals are simple, to an extent. they don’t align with big, grand ideas as such and are far more personal. he wants to pay off his debts. he wants to live comfortably, rich and content but he doesn’t want to push down others like him to do it. he knows his issues with gambling will likely prevent it, but he clings on to the small dream and that he could undo the mess he’s made of his life since moving to ketterdam. he wants to see his fellow crows happy, to do what he can to help their plans and gains. he kinda would love to see the old fucks of the city taken down a peg or twenty.

biography: born to a kaelish father and zemeni mother, jesper grew up on a jurda farm in novyi zem, close to the western mountains. tragedy struck jesper’s life early with the death of his mother, a grisha, who died using her powers to protect two young girls from poison. in fear of the same happening to his son, jesper’s father discouraged him from using his own powers, insisting he let them go dormant. jesper obeyed, growing up with a fear for his own powers and an internalised hatred-- not for grisha, but simply for his own powers and self. however, grisha that fail to use their powers tend to suffer ‘sicknesses’. in jesper, this presents itself in a seemingly never ending supply of energy building up inside of him, and is why he often seems anxious and jittery and in need of the outlet he uses for it-- gambling and other reckless, adrenaline inducing vices.

coming to ketterdam for university was supposed to be a turning point in jesper’s life. and to an extent, it was. just not in the way he’d planned. drawn in by the lifestyles on offer, jesper very quickly developed a gambling addiction and as such, he ended up dropping out of university early into his new life in ketterdam. this is where he began to dabble in crime, taking on jobs for multiple different gangs in order to pay off his debts, only to repeat the cycle. this broke at least partially when he met kaz brekker who saved him from a severe beating and took him on as a member of the dregs. in spite of his flaws, jesper is an incredibly talented sharp shooter and an asset to the gang. he’s a quick thinker, and easily adjusts when things don’t go as planned.

jesper was quick to join kaz on the job to find and kidnap the alleged sun summoner and had one hell of a time crossing the fold, delving into more heists and general causing chaos in ravka. tragically though, things didn’t quite go as planned and the crows had to return to ketterdam without a prize but, hey, at least they survived? but that didn’t mean it was an easy return by any means, not when their exit had left so many loose ends in the first place and brought more enemies to the table than planned. but jesper’s faith in kaz never failed, and thankfully, it wasn’t misplaced. some bribery here, a little heartrending beautiful tweaks there and eventually, things were back on track for the crows. jesper knew there was still a threat lurking though, but it didn’t stop him from diving right back into his usual chaotic life. till, that was, a new job came to the table. the biggest one yet and promising a lot more than a million kruge split three ways.

breaking into the fjerdan ice court was a shit show, but one that, in spite of the fuck ups, jesper relished in. the exact kind of thrill he thrived on. of course, until one of their own is kidnapped. but in true crows fashion, they go just as hard, if not harder to get inej back and completely destroy jan van eck. for once, things finally work. maybe not as planned entirely, but they get their win. the dregs come out on top, and jesper feels somewhat settled in knowing that he finally managed to begin to make things right not only with his friends, but with his father too.

but now, he has a whole lot of actual secure looking future to play with and he has to wonder: what beautiful way can he play with that? because he’s far from done with being a chaotic lil fuck.

for those writing canon grishaverse characters particularly from the s&b trilogy, please outline any instances of divergence you wish to include within your portrayal, even if it’s already been mentioned in the biography: when it comes to jesper, i’m chill to keep pretty much everything established in the books while of course, having included the show details too!

[normiewrites]

I think a lot about being hawks childhood friend and him falling In love with you but after he moves aways and becomes a hero you forget about him. Then he meets you again after he became a spy. Everytime he tries to interact and talk to you, you keep calling him "hawks" and he just want to tell you he is "keigo" but he won't because he knows how dangerous it is for him to be in your life. 😭 Is this angsty enough

This took so long and it feels like shit, oh well.

Please listen to ‘Everything I wanted’ by Billie Eilish, it’s kinda of the inspiration (besides the request)

Here’s the angst to all the Hawk whores, including @sparkncharge

(Also I’ve changed the backstory of Hawks and his job, as well as Stain, so just go with the flow)

Warning(s): angst

Angel - Takami Keigo x (fem)Reader

‘I had a dreamI got everything I wanted’

You hair was different now, it had changed in your own unique way. You wore different clothes too, but it still looked good on you. You also seemed to be more mature, politely talking to the man behind the counter as you ordered your pizza. But your smile was still the same; beautiful and simple yet was able to claw at his heart. Takami gripped the edge of the table, feeling all the emotions rush back into him, his heart buckling over.

Takami softly sniffled, looking down at his bloodied knees, the wind pinching it slightly. He had been trying to practice flying, but the winds suddenly changed, and he lost control, landing on a road a few streets away from his. As he sat on the edge of a walkway, his small wings shook along with his legs, now noticing the few grazes on his palms.

“Are you ok?” a small voice asked him, snapping his head up to the small girl that stood in front of him.

Through his teary eyes he could see your small face peering at him in curiosity and concern, your mouth in a small ‘o’ as you titled your head at him, taking him in. You had never seen such a quirk, and you thought his wings were magnificent, just like out of a fairy tale. He was like an angel. You held a small emergency kit behind you, fiddling with the handle as you waited for the boy to respond.

“I-I fell” he sniffled out softly, wiping his nose with the back of his hands.

“Oh no, that must hurt! But don’t worry, why? Because I am here!” you giggled softly, pumping one of your fists into the air, smiling down at him as you played out All Might.

Takami’s eyes sparkled, a small smile lifting onto his face at your impression. After multiple nights of watching All Might save countless of lives, he would never fail to cheer along with him. After seeing his smile, you got on your knees, tending to his injuries. Your father had taught you how to bandage wounds. It stung, but the view of your h/c hair littered with clips and your sweet smile distracted Takami, now his mouth in a small ‘o’.

“Hawks?” he heard, your voice snapping him out of his day dream as you stood before his empty table, holding your receipt for the pizza in your hand.

His wings fluttered softly at his hero name, his spine feeling the same tingles as it did all those years ago. God knows what would happen to him once you said his real name.

But you never did.

“I’m such a huge fan of yours!”

Realization kicked him in the guts. Of course, you didn’t recognize him. He shouldn’t have expected it, considering your ‘incident’. You had lost some of your memories, and that included the ones with Keigo. He vaguely remembered getting the call from your mother from the hospital right before he started his secret ‘internship’ with Stain. Besides, he had changed too; his old side parted blond hair now swooped back and messy, his baby fat gone and even his wings turned darker from maturing. But he couldn’t help feeling how deep his heart sank, his food now seeming unappetizing as his heart filled his stomach.

“I know you might be obligated to take a photo with a fan of yours, but actually I would rather talk to you. Would you mind if I sat here? I need to wait for my order anyways” you asked, pointing to the seat in front of him.

His wings went stiff as your request, accidentally hitting the table besides you, making you jump softly and giggle at him. He completely broke down his character at a few of your words, but your laugh was still the same and it made his stomach twist all the same too.

“U-Uh, sure” he smiled, motioning to the seat before tucking his wings back, chewing his lip softly.

“You were amazing the day other, just flying in and saving everyone from the burning building. You saved so many lives!” you exclaimed, the adrenaline of meeting your favourite Pro-hero rushing through your veins as you kept talking about his cases.

Currently, Takami was working a vigilante with Stain in secret. Their new mission was to infiltrate the system of heroes by disguising themselves as one and climbing up the ranks. Takami just entered the scene 6 months ago, but he worked his way up fast, surprising everyone.

Keigo zoned out as you went on about his work, focusing on your face instead. He couldn’t see it properly before, but now he it was everything he remembered. You took his breath away, as if he was flying on cloud nine. If only he was the same to you.

‘I had a dream

I got everything I wanted

But when I wake up, I see

You with me’

Keigo woke up with a soft prickling sensation that came from the base of his wings and spine. He peeked open his eyes as he remained on lying on his stomach on the makeshift bed, watching as you touched his feathers. The morning sunshine trickled in through the cracks of the pillow fort that you both had made in your backyard, highlighting the wisps of your hair and your soft cheeks. Takami had never let people touch his wings, he felt too sensitive, but how you did it soothed him. You hadn’t noticed that he had woke up, and he didn’t want you to, wanting to forever live in this moment. He kept one eye shut, while his other eye peeked at your beauty. He had never seen such an angel in his life, wanting to burn your image in his mind. He had never felt this way, it was strange, but he wanted to feel like this forever.

“Your wings are so cool, Keigo.”

“Hawks?”

He blinked his eyes slowly, wiping a few tears from his eyes, which hadn’t gone unnoticed by you. You always noticed the smallest things.

“Are you okay? You seem to be crying” you said, the same curious and concerned face peeking right at him. Flashbacks of your first encounters running through his mind.

Takami chuckled, “Sorry, it’s just that it’s touching when people notice my work. But shh, don’t tell anyone, it’ll ruin my cool boy persona.”

This was the first time he had ever lied to you, and his tongue stung from it. He felt like he drank poison as he looked at your unconvinced face. He was never able to lie to you, that’s why he never did. But you let it be, not wanting to pester a stranger.

“It was so fun talking to you, you’re someone I look up to. I wish I could talk more, but I have to go to my friend, it’s her birthday and I had to get the pizza for the party”, she smiled sincerely, resting her hands on her lap.

He felt his heart sink even further, the tips of his wings now touching the cool marble of the floor. He wanted to tell you everything; your pillow forts, the adventures you both had, how much you both troubled the stores in the neighborhood, how you used to touch his wings, how you were his first friend, and how you were his first and only love.

 Hiccups shook his body as he tried his best to control his breathing, his wings quivering around him as he sat on your porch, his body going cold. He softly jumped from your sudden touch on his wings, but the quivering stopped just as quickly when you softly stroked his feathers, the way he liked it. The warm touch of your fingers trailing down his feathers and lining the edges of his wings sent a comforting chill down his spine that only you were ever able to conjure. You had noticed a few uneven spots in his wings, your brows furrowing in thought, wondering what happened.

“What happened, Keigo?” you asked, looking at him with a smile that made him want to forget everything bad.

“They hurt me on my first day. T-they called me ‘Chicken little’, a-and plucked a few feathers of mine. Their touch was so different from yours, it hurt so much. Why did they do that, y/n?” he asked, his bird eyes now looking at, streaks of tears painted his cheeks as he looked lost in the world of life.

‘And you say, “As long as I’m here, no one can hurt you

Don’t wanna lie here, but you can learn to

If I could change the way that you see yourself

You wouldn’t wonder why here, they don’t deserve you”’

 But now you weren’t here for him anymore. Maybe as a fan, but not as someone who loved him, not as someone who could touch his feathers in the blissful way that you did. As much as he wanted to tell you everything, he knew he couldn’t. His life was too dangerous for you, and he would rather be de-winged than to put you in harm’s way. His heart was always yours, but never to keep.

You got up, and slung your backpack over your shoulders. He wanted to hold your hand and keep you there, in his life, in the warm embrace of his wings, in his heart without any pain. But life was like that, and he couldn’t stop it.

‘I tried to screamBut my head was underwater’

“Have a good day, Hawks” you smiled, Hawks immediately getting up from his seat, bowing his head in respect. His heart beating against his chest, trying to escape and stay in your arms. The thuds were all he could hear as his body heated up slightly, frustration and sadness poking his brain and choking up his throat.

“You too, my fangirl” he said soflty, in hopes that he would see your smile and hear your giggle for the last time.

He succeeded, his wings fluttering softly as you chuckled. Everything felt too quick as walked away from his table, your footsteps seeming too quick, as if you were trying to escape. His eyes followed your back, remembering how your hugs were always the best, your arms perfectly fitting around his body, knowing how to lace around his wings as he used to nuzzle his face in the crook of your neck, the scent of your hair refreshing him.

Your retreating back stilled for a second, turning around as you looked at him with your angelic face. The face he saw so many times, in tears, in laughter, in confusion, in embarrassment and in love. He could never get it out of his head. He got hopeful, as if you could read his mind, and that you possible remembered everything. That you both could go back to your old life, no memory loss and no vigilante life. Just a life full of love and happiness. 

His wings quivered softly, anticipating your words as his eyes bore into yours, time now slowing down as you approached your last words to him.

“Your wings are so cool, Hawks.”

[the-sweetest-dragon]

Things Can Only Get Better - Chapter One

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Pairing: Stiles Stilinksi x OC (Evangeline Monroe)

Word Count: 11k

Warnings: allusions to trauma, me explaining things, anxiety, an extremely slow burn

AN: Hi... I am alive, barely.  I honestly don’t know if anyone really wants this, but I’m posting it because @nerdsarebetter​ told me to <3.  This is purely self indulgent but I’m actually kinda proud of it so uh..... yeah.  Sorry this isn’t my IT fic but this has been making me really happy so you’re just gonna have to deal with it.  Oh, the dots symbolize a change in point of view, just so everyone is aware 

__________________________________________

“The wolves in the woods have sharp teeth and long claws, but it’s the wolf inside that will tear you apart.” -Jennifer Donnelly

Mom and I drove through many different states during our drive from Kansas to California.  We watched the sun set in New Mexico and the sun rise in Arizona.  None of them compared to Kansas, but we’d learn to deal. Mom and I paused to rest when we reached California, since we had been driving for what felt like forever.  

The move was necessary; we all needed a bit of a fresh start.  We were returning to Mom’s old home, Beacon Hills, where my aunt and cousin still lived.  Now, you may be wondering why we were living in Kansas when we could have been living in California the entire time.  My parents met at the University of Kansas; she was an art history major and he was a law student.  It was instant chemistry and after they were married, they just never saw a reason to leave Kansas.  Until Dad got this job offer and decided that we all needed a change of scenery. 

Was that partially my fault? Yeah, kinda.  Last winter was rough for all of us, and I knew it was one of the reasons Dad accepted this new position.  I also knew he wouldn’t ever insinuate that it was fully my fault, even though it definitely was.  Mom assured me that Dad wanted this job anyways, and I tried to believe her.  

We settled down for the night in a cheap motel just inside the California border.  I took the time to relax and update my cousin and Dad about our travels.  Dad sent me a picture of the new house, with him smiling in front of it.  I couldn’t help but smile; he looked so happy already.  Lydia, my cousin, gave me details about the high school that would be starting the day after we arrived.  She told me about her life, the classes and teachers we would have, how excited she was to see us.  

I knew having Lydia Martin as a cousin would help me find friends, but she was insistent that I would have to have a boyfriend.  Now, I wasn’t going to think too hard on that one, especially since I knew that with Lydia around, finding a boyfriend or even a guy that was interested in me would be practically impossible.  

Lydia looked a lot like me, in a lot of ways.  We shared the same red hair and our faces were very similar.  When we were little, people would confuse us for sisters when we would visit her and her parents.  The small differences between us weren’t necessarily in looks, but in our personalities.  Lydia had always been bossy and confident, and remained that way.  I have always been more of a classical bookworm; I would sit alone and read during recess, I never had many friends, and I wasn’t the prettiest.  Despite sharing similar faces, Lydia didn’t have to struggle with her weight.  I had… issues, that came to a head last winter.  

We started the drive back up again early this morning.  It was only another two hours in the car and then we were in Beacon Hills.  I watched in awe as the city sprawled out in front of us.  We drove down several streets, Mom exploring her old home that she would be able to share fully with her family.  Soon we were turning onto the street to our house.  

As we pull into the driveway for our new house, I can’t help but admire it.  Dad had found probably the prettiest house I could have ever imagined.  It’s painted a deep blue color, with ivy crawling up the sides.  The front porch held an old picnic table and a few boxes from Dad moving a few things in.  It’s pushed up against the woods, the tall trees embracing the back half of it.  

I pull myself from the leather seats and stretch before getting out of the car.  Mom smiles over at me before doing the same.  I can see her mind working on how to improve the house, where she can plant her garden and let it blossom.  Distracted by the house, I don’t hear another car pull up behind our own.

“Evie!”

At the sound of my name I quickly turn to find Lydia standing near the parked U-HAUL Dad drove up here a day before.  I let out an ungodly squeal and run towards her, catching her in a hug before she can tell me to stop.  She let out a soft sound of discomfort before I let her go.  

“Sorry,” I say with a smile.  “Wasn’t expecting you to be here already.”  I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear and readjust my glasses to sit more comfortably on my nose.  “Are you here to help me or…?” 

Lydia laughs softly and shakes her head, strawberry curls bouncing slightly at the movement.  The light caught her green eyes, making them sparkle like emeralds.  Not for the first time, I wish I had inherited green eyes instead of my father’s dark brown ones.  

“I’m here to tell you about my party that you’re the guest of honor this Friday.”  I let out a soft groan; parties were one of my least favorite activities.  “No, I will not hear any of that.  You are my cousin, you have to be introduced to the public in the grandest way possible.  I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning, ok?”  I nod, agreeing silently.  Arguing with Lydia was not something I wanted to do, ever.  She would win and it’s much easier to just agree with her.

Lydia left with a pat on my arm, leaving us to move in on our own.  She stopped to hug my parents before getting into her car and driving back to her own house, in a much more expensive part of town.  

Moving all my boxes into the house took longer than I originally expected.  By the time I had gotten everything into my new room it was dark outside.  Instead of unpacking, I decided to take a short walk into the woods, just to explore a little.  The air had turned chilly, so I grabbed a hoodie and changed into more comfortable shoes.  

“Don’t forget a flashlight!” Dad says before I head out into the dark.  He hands me one with a smile.  He was used to me sitting at the edge of the woods at our old house, reading a book against a tree.  

As I enter the dark of the woods, I can immediately sense something off.  The woods in Kansas never felt like this, never felt so… sinister, like something was watching me.  I shake the feeling off, knowing I only felt this way because it was new.  

I walk for maybe twenty minutes before I trip on a tree trunk.  I wince, hands and knees scraped and bloody from the fall.  I wipe the blood from my hands off on my jeans when I hear a howl in the distance.  I fix my glasses and tilt my head, making sure I heard it correctly before continuing.  The sounds of animals were familiar and not threatening, but it was still spooky.  I make it another few feet when I get the sense that something is following me.  I check over both shoulders and see nothing but the feeling doesn’t go away.  I turn back towards the house and quicken my step, refusing to run quite yet.  

The feeling continues and I’m so distracted by it that I trip again.  I land hard on my already cut knees, my flashlight disappearing into the brush.  Biting my lip so hard, I taste blood, but refusing to let out a sound of pain to alert whatever was following me that I was injured.  I fumble, trying to pick it back up when I feel something close around my ankle.  

Before I can scream, I’m being dragged backwards, farther into the woods.  I try to kick at whatever is holding me, when I feel wickedly sharp teeth latch into the fleshy part of my calf.  I scream, both in frustration and pain as I double my efforts to get free.  Nothing I do seems to make it let me go.  The pain becomes secondary to the panic that fills me.  What happens if I can’t get free?  Will anyone come to find me?  What will be left of me to find?  I feel immense anger take over me; I did not come all this way just to be taken out by some anonymous thing.  Letting the rage fuel me, I kick my attacker so hard that I hear a bark of pain and the teeth let go.  The moment I feel it release my leg I’m up and sprinting back to the house.  

I run until I can see the light of the house and I’m out of the woods.  I check over my shoulder to see if anything follows me but the only thing I see is darkness.  Collapsing on the front porch, the pain finally hits me.  The reek of my blood fills the air and the sight of my own blood leaking out of me makes me want to vomit.  I press a hand to my calf to check the damage, feeling the bite marks that it left there.  A sob escapes me and that's the moment Mom decides to open the door.

“Honey!  What’s wrong?  Where’d all this blood come from?  Are you hurt?” she questions in rapid fire succession.  Instead of answering, I break down in tears.  Mom pulls me inside where Dad is waiting with a first aid kit.  He calmly applies pressure to the bite mark, asking quiet questions about what happened.  I give a  quick version of the story, including my thought that it was a wolf that bit me.  Dad nods but Mom looks like she may argue with me.  Thankfully, she doesn’t.

Dad cleans out my various wounds with alcohol and I wince softly.  He apologizes and puts bandages on my hands and knees, then wraps my calf in gauze and tapes the edges with medical tape.  The wound still bled a little.

“Can you stand?” Dad asks gently.  I nod and he pulls me up carefully.  

“We should take her to the hospital Danny!  She could be seriously injured!” Mom exclaims, her panic evident in her voice.  Dad turns a level look at her, one hand resting on her shoulder.

“The marks aren’t deep enough for stitches, Mandy,” he says calmly.  “We cleaned them out really well, so there shouldn’t be any infection.  We’ll keep an eye on it, okay?”  Mom nods, wiping at a tear that had fallen.  Dad helps me up the stairs to my bedroom.  

After he deposits me into bed, Mom sits down beside me with a glass of water and a few painkillers.  She runs a hand over my uninjured leg and smiles at me.  

“I remember when I was little, your grandma always warned me to stay out of the woods.  She said bad things lingered there.”  She sighs, a frown forming on her face.  “I never understood the warning, but I do now.  Please, don’t go back into those woods.  I know you like to read in secluded spots but from now on, the woods are off limits, especially at night.  Do you understand Evie?”

“Yes, Mom.  I understand.”  She nods, a sigh coming from deep within her.  “I think it’s for the best anyways.  They kind of freak me out.  It’s nothing like the woods in Kansas.”  Mom laughs softly, shaking her head.

“You got that right kiddo.”  She sighs.  “Well, try to get some rest babe.  Lydia will be here bright and early I’m sure.”  

I nod and she gets up off my bed, walking to the door and leaving my room.  I drift off sometime around one in the morning, Persephone, my cat, curled up next to me.  I, surprisingly, have no dreams, not even with the horrific events of the night plaguing my waking thoughts.  

My alarm goes off at six and I groan before getting up.  My hands and knees still ache from my falls in the woods, but the bite had stopped bleeding sometime in the night.  I would have to get Dad to replace the bandages anyways, just to be safe.  I carefully remove the gauze from my calf, checking it out in the mirror before turning on the hot water.  The marks themselves weren’t big but they went deep into the muscle of my calf.  I take a quick shower and sit patiently on the toilet seat for Dad to rebandage my leg.  He does it without complaint, even giving me a smile before patting my thigh and returning to his own morning routine. 

I dress quickly, in an outfit I had planned on the drive here.  The loose fitting plain pants paired with a white button down, the shirt half tucked in and I unbutton a few buttons then roll up my sleeves past my elbows.  I put on a gold locket I got as a present from Nana before leaving Kansas and admire the way in glints in the light.  I finish the outfit off with a thick black belt before rushing to do my hair and makeup.  I keep my makeup light and pull my short hair into a half ponytail, letting my bangs fall slightly in my eyes before putting my glasses back on.  A honk from outside makes me rush to put in earrings and I grab my shoes and bag before rushing out the door to Lydia’s waiting car. I wince as I get into the car, my wounds still aching.  Lydia lets out a wolf whistle, admiring my outfit.  She’s dressed rather nicely too, though that is her default.  Dressing nicely gives her confidence, and Lydia has always had a great sense of style.  I smile, showing off my outfit for her, her expert eye noting all the little details and gives me a nod of approval.  

“Great first day outfit Evie.  It’s almost perfect.”  I laugh as I buckle my seat belt, leaning down to roll the cuffs of my pants a few times and slipping on my boots, accidentally flashing my bandage at her.  “Woah what happened to your leg?”

I retell my story to her, leaving out some of the scarier details to not freak her out as badly.  As I tell her, Lydia’s eyebrows retreat further and further into her hair, her eyes going wide at the mention of feeling like I was being stalked.  I show her the bandages on my hands as well, laughing about how clumsy I was right before I was bit.  

“That’s so weird.  We’ve never had animal attacks before,” she says.  After a pause, she continues.  “Well, just stay out of the woods, Evie, and we won’t have an issue.”  I laugh softly as she turns the ignition and we drive in comfortable silence to school.  Once there, she turns to me, her curls moving with her.  “So, I’ll introduce you to Jackson when we get inside.  I’m sure he’ll love you.”  She smiles, giving me confidence.  Having Lydia’s vote of confidence meant the world to me.  

“I’ll do my best to make a good impression.”  I shoot her a lopsided grin, my glasses perched precariously on my nose.  Lydia gently pushes them back up and boops my nose before getting out of the car, making me laugh.  I unbuckle my seat and grab my bag before doing the same.  

I follow her through the main doors of the school, ignoring two boys talking on the sidewalk.  One was taller than the other, with fluffy hair and an uneven jaw; I vaguely recognized him.  Maybe I had seen him on the street yesterday?  The other had a buzzcut and whiskey brown eyes.  They’re discussing some body the police found in the woods last night and I feel a surge of panic fill me.  My stomach turned sour and I’m suddenly glad I hadn’t eaten yet.  That body could have easily been me.  It had been found ripped in half, by an animal they thought.  Their conversation stops as we walk by.

“Hey Lydia!  You look… like you’re going to ignore me,” the buzzcut one says.  I turn and shoot him a soft smile in apology and hurry along with Lydia.  Poor boy is probably in love with her, like most boys are.  Jackson is a real lucky guy if Lydia chose him out of the millions of guys prancing around trying to impress her.  

The feeling of panic settles in my gut, and I suddenly remember that I hadn’t stopped to take my medication before leaving the house.  All eyes fall on us, making Lydia smile as she struts down the hallway to her locker, but I frown pausing slightly.  She definitely didn’t prepare me for this.  A boy quickly joins her side and I hurry to catch up, trying to forget about the panic lacing my body.  I check my bag for my antidepressants, but realize they aren’t there quickly.  I quietly curse, hoping no one heard me as I race to catch up to Lydia before the bell rings.  

I bounce on the balls on my feet, a smile flashing across my face at the boy, who I assume is Jackson.  His face is handsome but seems to be set in a permanent scowl.  He gives me a quick nod and turns back to Lydia.  They have a soft conversation right before the bell rings.  I wince, the sound too loud in my ears.  Lydia gives you a worried look before taking me to the principal's office for a tour.  

She leaves me with a smile and a promise to meet me at lunch.  I walk in and have a short conversation with the secretary, giving her the files from my old school that I had put in my bag, the one important thing I had remembered to take with me today.  The tour is short, mostly going through where my classes were going to be before she drops me off at my English class, where another new girl is being introduced.  

“Class, these are our new students Allison Argent and Evangeline Monroe. Please do your best to make them feel welcome.”  The other new girl is pretty, with dark curls and pretty dark eyes.  I shoot her a smile before heading towards one of the only open seats, coincidentally near the boys from earlier.  Allison does the same, sitting behind the one with fluffy hair.  I watch as he turns to hand her a pen, a grin plastered on his face.  The other one turns to look at me and I catch a whiff of his cologne, which is far too strong for a Wednesday morning.  

I gag slightly at the smell and he makes a face at me before turning his attention back to the teacher.  God, I had never had such a strong sense of smell before.  Maybe I’m coming down with something?  Trying to quell the panic before it sets in, I push my glasses back up onto my nose to distract me, and try to concentrate on the lesson and not the awful smell radiating from the boy next to me. 

He smelled of the woods and death on top of his strong cologne.  Now that I thought about it, so did the other boy.  He had the reek of blood lingering on him as well.  I’m so focused on the smell that I drop my pen.  As I reach for it, so does buzzcut and we hit our heads on each other.

“Ow,” he says rather loudly.  I mouth sorry and he hands me my pen, grimacing slightly.  

“Stiles, if you have something to share with the class, maybe you should stand up.”  The boy, Stiles, shakes his head and the teacher continues with his lesson.  I readjust my pony tail and continue to take notes quietly.

The next half of the day passes quickly and soon it’s lunch time.  I search for Lydia in the cafeteria and spot her sitting with Jackson, having a heated conversation about something.  I pause after getting my food and feel the ache in my leg start to lessen.  I smile to myself, happy that it’s started to hurt less.  Lydia spots me and waves me over to her table, where the other new girl, Allison, is also sitting.  I walk over quickly and sit down next to Lydia.  

“Evie, please help me convince Allison that she has to come to our party.”  I make eye contact with Allison, who shakes her head slightly, making me laugh slightly.  “She says she has a family thing but we all know that’s a load of bull.”  

“If she doesn’t want to come, that’s her business Lydia.”  I smile and extend my hand to Allison.  “I’m Evie by the way, Lydia’s cousin.  You just moved here right?”  She nods and the conversation flows easily after that.  We compare schedules and find out that we share three classes with each other in the afternoon: PE, chemistry, and math.  

Apparently, PE is used as an extra practice for the lacrosse team, which I won’t complain about.  I hate mandatory physical exertion.  However, as Lydia explains the game to Allison and I, I’m lost within five minutes and Allison seems just as confused as I am.  Lydia gives us all the details on the guys on the team, mostly in relation to which ones she thinks we should date.  She completely skips over 24 and 11, deeming them undateable by not mentioning them.  Allison and I share a look, already wondering who the two could be.  

“Who’s number eleven?” Allison asks.  I raise an eyebrow, turning to Lydia to hear her answer.  Lydia purses her lips, an unreadable expression on her face.  

“I’m not sure,” she says after a slight pause.  “A freshman maybe?”  I laugh softly, shaking my head.  It’s just like my cousin to not know the boys that don’t catch her eye.  We watch both boys take off their helmets to get a drink and their identities are revealed quickly.

“Oh, it’s those boys from English class,” I say with a flick of my hand.  Lydia laughs, Allison joining in soon after but quieter.  I lean forward, balancing my chin on my hand.  “They’re kinda cute, in a nerdy kind of way.”  Allison nods and Lydia’s face pulls into a frown.  

“Out of all the guys, you think they’re cute?  Them? Seriously?”  The confusion on her face makes me want to laugh, though I refrain from doing so.  “Evie, I can understand.  The boys at your old school were atrocious to look at, all weak jawlines and colorless eyes.  Not sure about you Allison, but you have to have better taste than that.  You’ve been all around, surely there’s better guys than those two?”  I shrug, turning my attention back to the boys running on the field.  

“It’s not just about looks Lydia, it's about personality.  I much prefer someone with a sense of humor over someone with perfect cheekbones,” Allison says with a smile.  I nod, agreeing.  I notice how she watches McCall and already I know she’s interested in him.

“Personally, I don’t really care about gender either.  If they have a good personality, what should it matter what they look like?” I say.  Lydia just shakes her head and turns her attention back to the field to watch Jackson practice.  I nudge Allison and lean in close to whisper in her ear.  “That got her to shut up, huh?”

Allison laughs and bumps me with her shoulder.  The rest of the period passes in relative silence.  At one point, I pull out a book and start reading, the pages fluttering in the slight breeze.  McCall apparently has improved immensely over the summer according to Coach.  However, every time the ball was caught a shiver ran up my spine at the sound.  It hurt my ears to hear, like nails on a chalkboard but not nearly as bad.  It got to the point that the sound was making my head throb in pain.  I rub my temple and dig through my bag until I find the bottle of ibuprofen I had stashed in there.  I take three and take a swig of water out of Lydia’s bottle.  I pat her leg before going inside at the sound of the bell.

“See you after school?”

She nods, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.  I grab my bag and hurry to my next class.  The rest of the day passes quickly and I meet Lydia back at her car.  Jackson and her are making out quite ferociously on her side of the car, making me roll my eyes.  I sigh and go to find another ride.  Maybe Allison could give me a ride.  

As I walk back towards the school, I get body slammed by some guy, sending me tumbling to the ground.  My books fly everywhere and the other person makes a loud sound of pain.  

“I am so sor- oh it’s you.”  The guy sighs, and overs a hand to help me up.  “You really need to learn to watch where you’re going.”  It’s the guy from English, Stiles I believe, that I had bonked heads with earlier.  He hauls me up to my feet and picks up my sprawled books while I dust myself off.  The cuts on my knees are screaming, but the pain is quick to fade after a few seconds.  

“Thanks,” I say with a smile, happy to reconcile.  I hold out a hand.  “I’m Evie, by the way.  Stiles, right?  I’m really sorry about earlier.”  The boy blinks in surprise, not used to female attention.  He takes my hand and shakes it.  I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, taking my bag back from him.  Stiles looks over my shoulder, realizing without me saying anything why I was walking away from Lydia’s car.  “Would you mind giving me a lift home?  My ride’s kinda busy.”  He gets a funny grin on his face before nodding.

I follow him back to his car, an older Jeep that I instantly fall in love with. Jeeps have always been my favorite car, and I was saving up for one before… well, before last winter.  I can feel my face breaking trying to contain my smile.  Stiles raises an eyebrow and opens my door for me.  The inside of the Jeep is messy, as if he kind of lives in it.  

“So, Evie.  How’re you related to Lydia?” he asks as I climb into the car.  I throw my bag in the back and buckle my seat belt.  

“She’s my cousin, our mothers are sisters.  I just moved here from Kansas.”  Stiles frowns, as if Kansas is an insult to him personally.  He turns the ignition and we drive silently after I give him my address.  I wince only once, when we hit a pothole in the road that reminds me that my calf is not ok.  I lean down to check the bandage, but there’s no new blood.  Stiles looks over at me at that moment.

“What happened there?” he asks.

“Oh, I got bit by some animal last night in the woods,” I say with a wave of my hand, like it’s no big deal that I probably should have gotten a rabies shot.  He slams the brakes, shooting me forwards in my seat and hitting my head on his dash.  “Ow!”  I rub my forehead, with an indignant look on my face.  “What is your obsession with hurting me today?”  He turns towards me quickly, one arm flinging itself over the back of my seat.  

“You got bit in the woods last night?” he asks.

“Yes, what part of that did you not understand?”

“My friend Scott was bit last night too!  Why were you in the woods?  Did you hear about the body that was found?” he says in rapid fire.  “I wonder if it was the same animal… Can I see the bite?”  My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion but show him the wound only to discover that it has fully healed.  His eyes go wide and I hear him mutter, “oh fuck.”

“I - I don’t understand.  It was bloody this morning…”  Stiles looks panicked, and honestly I’m on the precipice of a panic attack myself.  “I promise!  I had to change the bandage this morning because it had bled through the first one.  I have no reason to lie to you.”

“I don’t understand then.  You don’t even have a scar.”  I sigh and lean my head onto the dash.  Could this day get any weirder?  Stiles sits up straighter in his seat, as if an idea came over him.  “Have you been having hearing and light sensitivity?  Scott said earlier that the lights were hurting his eyes and that he had heard someone’s phone call from outside.”  I nod, narrowing my eyes at him.  

“I’ve also had a sensitivity to certain smells.  Like earlier, you smelled awful.”  A hurt look crosses his face, and I try to quickly amend.  “You smell fine now, but earlier you reeked of death…” I pause.  “Maybe that was Scott.  I apologize for saying you smelled bad.”  He shakes his head, a small smile on his face.

“You’re forgiven.”  The smile falls when he realizes how close the symptoms were to each other.  To be honest, it was kind of freaking me out as well.  Before I know it, the Jeep is in motion again but the opposite way from my house.  

“Where are we going?”

“My house, we need to do some research.”  At the word research, a smile floods my face, despite the panic still racing through me.  I adore research.  Stiles turns to me, a frown on his face.  “We have to figure this out.  You and Scott could be in serious trouble if we don’t find out what the hell is going on.”

……………………………………………………………………………………..

We researched for hours, her chair pulled directly next to mine as we poured over any information on werewolves and the supernatural that we could find.  Every once in a while I would look over at her, still astounded by how much she looked like Lydia.  They could almost be twins, if you didn’t look too long at them.  Evie must have gotten her dad’s eyes because they were a deep brown, darker than even Scott’s eyes, while Lydia had green eyes that reminded me of spring grass.  

Everytime Evie scooted her chair closer to mine, I moved away slightly.  Not because I didn’t like her, but because she kind of scared me, and not in a fun way.  If she and Scott are what I think they are, they could be really dangerous.  As we collected evidence, the more worried Evie became.  I watched as her eyebrows scrunched together with every new piece of information.  

“So, if I am a werewolf, when’s the next full moon?” she asks suddenly.  I do a quick search and look back at her, finding that her eyes had gone wide, the pupil completely taking over the brown in her eyes.  The next full moon was this Friday, coincidentally the same night as Lydia’s party.  “Oh this is bad… this is very, very bad.”

“Why?  It won’t be that hard to just not go.”  She shakes her head, running her fingers through her already messed up hair.  It had come down from her small ponytail about an hour into our research.  

“The whole reason she’s even having a party is because of me.  It’s my introduction into Beacon Hills.”  Evie sighs, tugging on her hair once more, as if it was a nervous tick that she couldn’t control.  “She’ll be pissed if I don’t show up.”  She turns to me, worry shining in her eyes.  “I’m a pretty calm person.  Do you think I’d be ok?”

I pondered the question.  Evie did seem pretty laid back and generally pretty calm.  I didn’t know her that well, but if the hours we had spent pouring over information wasn’t an indicator of how calm she was, I didn’t know what would be.  But with all the information we had found, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to stay calm, especially in a party setting.  The lights, the music, the drinking.  It was a lot to handle, even for a normal person.   

“I have more confidence in you than I do Scott, but I still don’t think it would be a good idea.”  She nods, a sad look crossing her face and I instantly feel bad.  I lay a hand on her shoulder and squeeze gently.  Then, an idea pops into my head.  “What if I went with you to the party?”  She raised an eyebrow.

“As what, my date?”  I blink a few times, not having considered the possibility that people would think we could be dating.  

“I mean, it would be easier to explain than the actual reason.  And, I don’t think I’d be invited unless you personally invited me anyways,” I say.  Evie considers it for a moment, thinking through all the possible scenarios and how it could go wrong if she didn’t have someone with her to calm her down if the change was too powerful.  “Before you decide, I really should call Scott and tell him about what we’ve found.  I don’t think he’ll be as accepting of this fate as you are.”  She nods.

“Do I need to find a ride home or do I need to be a part of this?  What would you like me to do?” she asks and I balk at the question.  I had just assumed she’d stay, not really understanding that she may need to go home to her family.  It was weird how comfortable I was around her already, despite our rocky start.  I consider her question for a moment, before deciding Scott would probably be more willing to hear it from a stranger than me.  

“I think you staying would be a good idea.  Scott isn’t the most perceptive guy, usually needs a helping hand to understand things.  Maybe if you’re here to help me explain, he’ll be more apt to not do something stupid.”  She laughs, a bright happy sound.  I notice that we haven’t eaten yet, and it’s getting to be kinda late.  “Hey, I’m going to go call Scott and then order a pizza, anything in particular you want?” I ask, hoping she doesn’t say something dumb like pineapple.  She taps her chin, considering all the options.  

“Do they have meat lovers?” she asks.  I nod and go off to take care of my calls, leaving her in my room alone.  The one to Scott goes immediately to voicemail, as usual.  Placing the order to the pizza parlor was a lot easier and quicker than I thought it would be, considering the time.  I walk back into my room, only to find that Evie has made herself comfortable on my bed and is doing homework.  She looks up and says, “What?  I have math homework.”  I just shake my head, a small smile on my face.

We work on our homework in relative silence, Evie only talking when she has a question about a math problem.  The pizza arrives and I finally get a hold of Scott, who’s at my house in less than ten minutes.  The call was filled with him gushing about asking Allison to the party on Friday, though I’m not sure how he pulled that off.  He’s at my house in less than ten minutes, a knock at the door announcing his presence.  

I watch Evie shake out her shoulders, as if preparing herself for battle.  She’s not entirely wrong.  Opening the door for Scott and ushering him in takes all of five seconds and he’s heading up to my room before the door is even shut.  I hurry after him, only for me to run into his back.  Hard.  He had paused in the doorway, blocking me from entering.  

“OW! Dude you can’t just stop in the middle of a doorway!”  Scott turns to look at me, a confused look on his face.

“Sorry, wasn’t expecting you to have a girl in your room!”  I snort, a bit impressed with myself at the realization that I did have a girl in my room, and push past him into my room, where Evie is sitting cross legged on my bed.  She waves, a piece of pizza in hand.  Scott looks back at me with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.  I huff out a sigh, already knowing what he’s thinking.  

“It’s not what it looks like… I mean, it may look like what it looks like, depending on what you think it looks like but it’s not…” I drift off, earning a snort from Evie.  I glare at her, but she just shrugs and nervously starts picking at her eyebrows.  “Not helping.”

“So what’s she doing here then?  Is this a date? Am I interrupting or…?” Scott asks.  Evie just laughs, shaking her head.  I glare at her again, she’s really not helping my case at all.

“No, you’re not interrupting, but we do have some things to share with you,” she says.  She meets Scott’s eyes, not an ounce of fear in her body.  “We have the same problem.  Both of us were bit by an animal last night in the woods that half a dead body was found in.  I can’t be sure that it was the same animal, but my bite has disappeared, and I’m assuming yours has as well.”  Scott looks at me, confusion written plainly on his face. 

Evie just sighs, already distraught.  “We’re werewolves.  The light and sound sensitivity, the heightened smell, the quick healing.  All signs point to lycanthropy.”  Her eyes drop to her hands, which had moved from messing with her eyebrow to messing with the ends of her pant leg.  With a sigh, she pulls the pant leg up, showing Scott where her bite mark had been.  Evie runs a finger over it, as if checking to see if there was anything left of the wound.  “This morning I was bleeding and now there isn’t even a scar.  I know it’s a lot to take in but we have to be careful from now on.  We’re dangerous,” she says, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Scott looks at me, and I nod, confirming what she had said.  He shakes his head, either not believing it or not wanting to believe it.  I open my mouth to explain more, but he’s out the door before the time the words can form.  I exchange a look with Evie and hurry after him, hoping to catch him before he goes completely loco.  I catch up, winded and with a racing heart.

“Dude, you have to believe us.  This isn’t some prank.  You have to be careful, especially on Friday.”  Scott turns quickly to look at me, making me backpedal a few feet so I don’t get run over, again.  Confusion is written plainly on his face.  I mentally kick myself; of course Scott wouldn’t know what Friday meant in werewolf terms. 

“Why?  What happens Friday?” he asks.

“Friday’s the full moon, man.  That’s when your bloodlust will be at its strongest.  You won’t be able to control yourself, especially around Allison.”  His eyes flash yellow, something I hadn’t seen Evie’s do yet.  I don’t back down, even though I really should have.  Anger radiates from him, and I put my hands up in surrender.  “I know it’s a lot to take in, but you gotta believe me.  I’ve seen the way Allison affects you, it’ll be easy to lose control, especially at the party.  You have to cancel.”

“I can’t do that!  This may be my one shot with her!  Nothing will get in the way of that!” he yells.  I stop, not used to being yelled at by Scott.  He turns away from me, returning to his fast pace and I let him leave.  Knowing he won’t come back, I turn back towards my house

Once inside, I raced up the stairs to see that Evie was packing up her homework, her back turned towards me.  She turns when she hears me at the door, a sad smile on her face.  Evie tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear and pushes her glasses up her nose before speaking.

“So, he took that rather well huh?”  I let out a strangled laugh and collapsed on my bed. I feel, rather than see, her sit down beside me.  “Hey, if nothing else we’ll know where he’ll be Friday.  We can keep an eye on him.”  She smiles down at me and I smile back, before a thought hits me.

“We should have told Scott that we were dating.  Would have made Friday so much easier.”  She snorts, flopping back on the bed.  

“May have made it easier, but I have a feeling he’s going to ignore us like the plague.”  She sits back up with a huff.  “Well, I guess you better get me home.  I had told my parents that I was studying with a friend but after last night it wouldn’t surprise me if they gave me a tighter curfew.”  With a groan, I sit up as well.  It was well past ten, we had been here for at least seven hours.  

The drive to her house was quick and mostly silent.  I could tell that all of this weighed heavily on Evie; her shoulders had drooped and her eyes were dull.  As I pull into her driveway, she turns towards me, putting a hand on my arm and squeezing lightly.  

“My dad is standing outside.  He’s going to say some really dumb things,” she says.  I nod, not fully understanding but agreeing nonetheless.  “Pick me up tomorrow morning?  I don’t know if Lydia planned to pick me up or not and I’m not allowed to drive.”  I scrunch my eyebrows together, confused.  Evie just shrugs.  “I’m not… a safe driver.”  

I hop out to help her out, still pretending her leg hurt even though it had healed over.  I grab her bag for her, a tight smile pulling across her face.  Handing it to her, I look towards where her father lingered on the porch.  I wave and he starts coming closer to say hi, I guess.  Evie stands there nervously, unsure to how her father will react.  He meets us at the Jeep and we shake hands.  I make sure to keep a smile on my face, though his grip feels like he’s going to break my knuckles.  

“Thanks for bringin’ her home, it’s much appreciated.”  I nod, trying to seem as non threatening as possible.  He claps me on the back.  “Now then, was this a date or just studying?”

“Dad!” Evie exclaims.  Her dad just holds his hands up in surrender and smiles at his daughter.  “No, it wasn’t a date.  Stiles was helping me with math, right Stiles?”  I gulp and force a smile.  

“Yes sir, just math.”  Evie smiles at me before pushing her dads towards the house.

“See you tomorrow!” she calls over her shoulder, her dad’s laugher catching on the wind.  I smile as I get back into the Jeep.  Maybe, just maybe, this will all work out okay. 

………………………………………………………………………………………

My sleep that night was less than restful.  I had dreams where I had claws and fangs and I ran through the woods naked.  I woke up to my mom yelling my name from downstairs.  I groan, dragging myself out of bed to get dressed quickly.  I pull on a patterned green sweater with a black skirt and grab my boots from downstairs, not bothering with makeup or trying to make my hair look better.  I ran my fingers through it and called it a day.  Grabbing a granola bar and my bag, I was out the door and hurtling for my ride within ten minutes.  I skid to a stop when I see not only Lydia’s car, but also Stiles’ Jeep waiting for me.  

“Well this won’t end well,” I say under my breath.  Lydia gets out of her car and reaches me first, a confused look on her face.  I smile at her, hoping that she won’t be angry.

“What is he doing here?  I thought I was your ride to school!” she says with a stomp of her foot.  I look over her shoulder and make eye contact with Stiles, hoping he understands that he needs to get his ass out of the car now.

“He gave me a lift yesterday,,” I say as Stiles hops out of the Jeep and rushes towards us.  “Stiles offered to pick me up today, since I hadn’t heard from you.”  I smile apologetically at my cousin, watching her eyes narrow at the two of us.  Stiles throws an arm over my shoulders, giving me a small smile.  Something must click for Lydia because her face quickly changes.  

“I said to get a guy on the lacrosse team!” she exclaims, surprising me slightly.  

“You play lacrosse right?” I ask, actually unsure if I had dreamed that part of the day or not. He looks back and forth from Lydia to me before nodding.  I turn back to Lydia, a smile on my face.  “You never said that he had to play, just that he had to be on the lacrosse team.”  

“Be careful with my cousin,” she says before getting into her car and speeding off. 

“Let’s get going.”  Stiles opens my door for me, yet again.  “Thanks, but you really don’t have to do that.”  He just shrugs and I get into the car with a sigh.  The ride to school was relatively quiet, mostly filled with our combined anxious sounds.  Stiles wouldn’t stop drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and my leg wouldn’t stop bouncing.  

“So, how are we planning to make people think we’re going out?” he asks.  I sigh, a headache already forming.  

“Lydia already assumes we either hooked up or something.  She’ll spread that like wildfire.  We won’t have to do anything,” I say softly, pulling at my eyebrows in nervousness.  Stiles just nods and opens my door for me, yet again.  We walk into school together and immediately people start staring.  Stiles and I hurry towards English, with moments to spare.  

The stares don’t stop there.  I’m not sure if it’s out of confusion or jealousy, but either way I’m not a fan.  It follows me the entire day, only stopping when I get to lunch and a different scandal has happened, taking the heat from Stiles and I.  

After grabbing my tray, I search for his shaved head, already deciding that I would rather sit with him and Scott than deal with Lydia’s angry eyes that had been following me all day.  Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.  Almost instantly, Lydia is there, Jackson and Allison in tow.  Jackson plops down, a scowl on his face.  I really don’t get a good vibe from him, but that’s a conversation for another day.  

“We are going shopping after school today,” Lydia states.  I make eye contact with Allison, who was sitting very closely to Scott.  I raise an eyebrow at her, somehow already knowing that she won’t want to go.

“Is there a reason why?” I ask.  Lydia flips her hair over one shoulder, hitting Stiles in the face.  I hold in a laugh, knowing that would set her off.  Allison shakes her head at me, desperate to get out of this endeavor.  I turn towards Lydia, a frown settling on my face.

“You both need new outfits for the party,” she states matter of factly.  I sigh, already knowing we won’t win this argument.  “Evie’s closet is totally void of any party clothes and I know Allison’s is pretty much the same.”  Lydia pointedly looks at both Scott and Stiles.  “Since my friends refuse to find acceptable dates, everyone’s outfits will have to be perfect.  Especially you, Biles.”

“It’s actually…” he starts, then Lydia glares at him.  “You know what, Biles is fine.”  I laugh softly, gaining a frown from Stiles.  

“If I agree, do I get to pick out my own dress?” Allison asks.  I shake my head, already knowing the answer.  Lydia would not relinquish that particular thing.  If she couldn’t pick our dates, she sure as hell would pick what we wore.  

“Of course not, I already have them picked out.  We just have to go pick them up.”  Allison and I make eye contact, shrugging.  What could go wrong?  It was just shopping.  

The shopping actually didn’t take too long.  She really had picked the outfits out already.  Lydia refused to let us see them, but insisted they would fit perfectly.  I hated to doubt her, but I was pretty sure she didn’t quite understand I wasn’t a size four.  So, I made sure to check at least the size of the dress was correct.  Shockingly, it was and I was insanely grateful that she hadn’t tried to stuff me into something too small.  

We dropped Allison off first, her house not too far from my own but much larger.  Her family must have money out the ass to afford it.  After exchanging goodbyes (and numbers since I had basically no one's information), Allison hops out and leaves Lydia and I alone in the car.  I decide to take the plunge and apologize for this morning.

“I didn’t mean to upset you this morning.  I didn’t know you’d show up to give me a ride,” I say softly.  Lydia shakes her head, waving a hand to dispel any hard feelings.

“I was more confused than upset.  I wasn’t expecting you to get a guy so fast.”  She nudges me with her shoulder, getting me to laugh.  “While I still don’t get why him, I won’t question your choice too much, as long as he keeps you happy.  You deserve to be happy after everything.”  I smile sadly and she grabs my hand, squeezing twice.  I grab all my stuff from the backseat and head inside.

I work on homework for a few hours and take a break to answer texts and eat dinner.  Around ten, I hear my phone ring and Stiles' name pops up on my phone.  I answer, a smile on my face.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask quietly, fully aware of my parents sleeping in the room over from my own.  I close my door, hoping that keeps the noise to a minimum. 

“I have a lot to talk about, are you home?”  I furrow my brows.  His voice is echoey and filled with anxiety, making me wonder what he’s found.  

“Yeah…” I say cautiously. 

“Okay, great!  I’ll be there in a few.”  

I wait for a few minutes and then I hear rocks hitting my window.  I open it, seeing Stiles standing not too far away with a handful of pebbles.  Racing downstairs, I let him in and hold a finger to my mouth to signal that he would have to be quiet.  We’re up the stairs in record time and I softly shut my bedroom door behind us.  I watch Stiles take in the mess that is my room, and I rush around to pick it up a little to make it look less like I just moved in, even though I had.  Stiles watches me with a grin on his face, all anxiety from the call dissipating from his face.  

“So, what happened?” I ask, keeping my voice low.  He takes a deep breath, readying himself before launching into his story.

“Me and Scott were in the woods, trying to find the other half of the body that was found because he said he saw it before he got bit.  We didn’t find the body, but we did see Derek Hale, who was being extra spooky in the woods for apparently no reason and-” I hold my hand up for him to pause and he stops mid sentence.

“Hold up.  Who’s Derek Hale?” I ask.

“Oh, I totally forgot you just moved here. Of course you don’t know. Duh Stiles.”  He hits himself on the head, making me laugh a little.  “Six years ago there was a fire at the Hale house, and lots of the family died.  Only a few survived, one of which being Derek.  Everyone thought he left after the fire, but apparently he’s come back.”  I nod, now somewhat caught up.  “Anyways, he was in the woods being creepy and threw Scott’s inhaler back to him.  We think he may be behind the murder and you guys being bitten but we aren’t sure and have no definite proof.”  At the mention of the bite, I start to pace.  Stiles sits on my bed, picking at my bed spread.  

“So, if he’s the one that bit both me and Scott, what does that mean?  Is he the alpha?” I ask.  Stiles shrugs, unsure.  He seems to be more occupied with looking around my room.  I sigh, deciding to sit down next to him, forgetting that I was already in my pajamas.  With a boy in my room.  The urge to pull the blanket over my head was getting stronger by the minute.  Lydia would skin me alive when she found out that I had Stiles in my room and didn’t make out with him.  I laugh softly and turn myself towards him.  

“What?” he asks, his whiskey brown eyes searching my face.  I just smile, knowing he may not like my answer.

“Lydia will be so disappointed in me,” I say with a sigh.  His eyebrows furrowed together, making me laugh again.  “I have a boy in my room, with no intentions to make out with him.”  He laughs, shaking his head.  I pat his knee.  “Well, anything else you need to tell me?” I ask.

“How’re you doing, with all of this?” he asks.  I sigh, running my fingers through my hair, contemplating how much to share.  This was just one more problem in my life that couldn’t be fixed, and I had a lot of practice with such things so I wasn’t nearly as freaked out as someone else would be.  I settle for a nicer version of the truth, knowing that while I felt comfortable around Stiles, he didn’t need to know all the dirty details of my life right now.  

“To be honest, not well.  Every little sound is amplified tenfold and certain smells make me want to vomit.  Heightened senses are not the superpower I wanted,” I say with a slight smile.  

“You’re handling it all really well, a lot better than Scott is.  You just seem so…” he pauses, searching for the right word.  I raise an eyebrow as he settles on the word that everyone uses to describe me.  “Calm.  If I were you, I’d be freaking out.” I shrug, stretching my legs out on my bed.

“My constant state is freaking out.  I was diagnosed with anxiety in middle school and I take antidepressants that even me out a lot.  I haven’t had an attack since last year,” I say, hoping he won’t ask me to elaborate.  Thankfully, he does not.  Stiles just nods, as if understanding without me having to say anything.  “This whole werewolf thing may be good for me, maybe the healing factor will seep into my brain and repair the pathways that make me anxious.”  He laughs.

“Well, it did fix Scott’s asthma.”  He pauses, pondering something.  “Have you tested the extent of your reflexes?  Scott got weirdly good at lacrosse right after he got bit, catching every ball that was thrown at him.  I wonder if yours have gotten better too.”  I shrug, unsure if I really wanted to know or not.  I was never good at sports before, what would be the point in trying out for them now?

“I’m not really an athletic person,” I say, gesturing towards my body.  Stiles rolls his eyes, a funny look on his face.

“Oh please.  Every time I turned around today some new guy was staring at you.  Every guy on the team thinks you’re an absolute babe,” he states.  The compliment catches me off guard, though not totally unwelcome.  It had been a long time since someone noticed the way I looked, without being creepy about it.  Stiles pats my bare thigh, not noticing the way I tense up as he does so, and stands up.  “Well, I’d better get going before your dad threatens to kill me.”  I laugh, shaking my head.  “See you bright and early tomorrow morning?”

“Sure thing,” I say with a smile.  He starts to walk out, but pauses in the doorway.  Stiles turns to look at me, a weird glint in his eyes.

“Oh, and by the way.  I meant what I said.  You’re a total knockout.”  He leaves with a smirk, my mouth hanging open like a fish.  I stay like that for a good amount of time, trying to decipher if he was flirting or just being nice.

It takes a while, but I finally settle myself down enough to sleep and for once, I don’t have any nightmares or dreams.

I woke up on time for a change and took time to look nice.  I showered, removing the bandage and deciding that I wouldn’t put another on.  The people who knew wouldn’t notice and it was a waste of gauze.  I select a cream colored button down sweater, a pair of brown trousers, and a pair of ballet flats.  I curl my hair a little and add minimal makeup along with my necklace and a few rings.  Shockingly, I even have time to eat an actual breakfast before I hear the Jeep pull into the drive.

I kiss my mom’s cheek on the way out, grabbing my bag and heading out. Stiles opens my door for me and I smile up at him.  We chat on the way to school about nothing in particular and our day goes much the same way as yesterday.  We eat lunch together, Allison and Lydia joining us once again.  Jackson is there too, but he doesn’t talk much; he mostly just glares and looks moody.  I sincerely don’t know what Lydia sees in him, I can’t detect any sort of a personality coming from him.

Lydia drives me home after school, our conversation filled with talk of the party.  She seemed confident in my abilities to get there myself, not offering me a ride or anything.  Getting ready by myself feels like a monumental task, especially since tonight was not only the party but also the full moon.  My first full moon as a werewolf, and I was going to a party.  Honestly, how dumb am I?

I pick nervously at my cuticles as I pull the outfit we decided on out of it’s bag. I let out a soft gasp; Lydia had picked out a deep green dress with a corset-esque bodice and long lace sleeves.  It was short and made of a satin material, which would hug my curves nicely without feeling clingy.  If I was being honest, the dress kind of scared me.  I’m not used to showing so much skin, especially since I would be in front of so many people.  

I slip the dress on, skipping looking in the mirror just yet and heading towards the bathroom to do a more dramatic makeup look.  My version of dramatic is just a heavier blush and a slight winged liner.  I refresh my curls from this morning, making a few frame my face.  I also make sure I put in contacts, though I have noticed my eyesight getting better.  I slap on a little lip gloss and hurry to put on the heels that Lydia had chosen.  

Remembering that tonight may not go so well, I pack a small bag with extra comfortable clothes, just in case I wolf out and end up naked somewhere.  I pat Persephone on the head as I grab a pair of sneakers to throw into my bag when I hear Stiles’ Jeep pull up to the house.  

He gets out to help me get myself out to the car, somehow knowing I’m worthless at walking in heels.  I notice that he’s gotten very dressed up for a party.  He’s paired a light pink dress shirt with a black tie and grey suit jacket with skinny jeans.  I raise an eyebrow, wondering if he got dressed in the dark but not really caring too much.  I have come to appreciate his weird sense of style, with his many layers of shirts and odd pairings of colors.

When he finally looks at me, his mouth drops, making me laugh loudly.  I can’t say I was expecting that kind of reaction but I won’t say no to it.

“You look… wow!”  I shake my head at him, a smile crossing my face.

“Yeah?”  I do a little spin for him, just to get the full effect.  Stiles laughs and helps me into the Jeep.  I watch him rush to his side and get in the car.

“So, I’ve got some things prepared in case you feel like you may lose control.”  He pulls a duffle bag out of the back seat and hands it to me gently.  “I have rope, cuffs, and if it comes to it, chains.  You said Lydia had a basement, right?”  I nod and he continues.  “If we have to, we can keep you down there away from everyone.”  Something on my face must have betrayed my thoughts of worry, because he quickly adds, “not that I think you’ll have too much of an issue with it.  You seem pretty in control right now.”

I smile, but something must have changed in my face because Stiles’ eyes lock onto my own.  Fear leaks out of him, the smell of it hitting me quickly.

“What?  What’s wrong?” I ask, immediately worried.

“Your eyes were yellow for a second.  I hadn’t seen them do that yet.”  His fingers start drumming on the wheel, an anxious tick of his that I nearly duplicated by bouncing my leg.

“Oh.  Is that bad or…?”  I gnawed on my lip, hoping that my eyes changing color wasn’t a bad omen of what was to come.  

“I don’t think so.  You weren’t doing that on purpose right?”  I shake my head.  “Maybe it was triggered by feeling anxious.  I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”  He smiles, but the reek of fear lingers.  

The party goes off without a hitch.  Lydia really does throw great parties, though I barely see her or Allison the entire time, though I try to periodically check on them, just to make sure.  Allison seems to be having a really good time with Scott, and Lydia is off with Jackson somewhere almost constantly disappearing into dark corners to make out.  

I stick with Stiles most of the time, his hand on my arm a constant comfort.  We drink a little, but I mainly try to stay away from the alcohol.  The lights outside hurt my eyes, so we stayed inside. He barely leaves my side, only leaving for a few minutes to check Lydia’s basement.  Stiles is back within moments, finding me in the same place he had left me. We dance a little, his moves goofy and catching me off guard.  I genuinely started having a good time, the worry that had consumed me for the past few days slowly leaking out of me.  

However, sometime around ten, Stiles rushes out to follow Scott out of the party and leaves me on my own, without much of an explanation.

“I’ll be right back!” he yells before disappearing.  I try to keep to myself after that, not wanting to risk anything.  Not long after he leaves,  I realize that I haven’t seen Allison in a long time and go to find her.

“Hey have you seen Allison?” I yell over the music to Lydia.  She shakes her head, and continues to dance with Jackson.  I sigh, irritation crawling its way up my spine.  It couldn’t be that hard to know where one girl went, right?  I quickly crush the irritation, knowing that won’t help me find anyone.  

I head towards the bathroom, deciding that would be the quietest place to make a call.  I call Stiles, he doesn’t pick up.  Then I try to call Allison, no answer there either.  Frustration and anger fill me, nearly overtaking the anxiety of the situation.  I grip the sink and watch my fingers lengthen and grow sharp claws.  Looking up, I watch my face transform slowly; the space between my brows becomes flatter, my eyes turn a bright shade of yellow, and two pairs of fangs rip through my gums.  I groan, realizing how painful having extra teeth in my mouth was.  

I try to take deep breaths, to find my center but nothing works. God, Lydia will kill me if I mess up this stupid bathroom.  My face stays the same and at that moment I’m glad Stiles left to trail after Scott.  I don’t think I’d want him to see me like this.  Shockingly, at the thought of Stiles my claws slowly start retreating.  I watch as my hands return to normal in a few moments and the pain in my gums recedes slowly.  

Closing my eyes, I try to think more about Stiles and the way he calms me down.  I think about how his hand on my arm kept me stable tonight and my eyes return to their usual dark color.  Focusing on the image of him dancing in my head, I can feel my face settle back into its normal position.  I sigh, letting go of the sink and stare into the mirror to make sure everything is back to normal.  

Once I’ve assured myself I’m back to being myself, I smile at my reflection.  A sense of pride overcomes me, making my smile turn into a grin.  I didn’t hurt anyone.  A weight is slowly taken off my shoulders and I feel as if I can finally breathe again.  I made it through my first full moon without doing anything stupid, I wasn’t naked in the woods, no one was dead.  I could handle this.  I could do this.

[northernxstories]

Trading in Dignity

It was shocking how quickly it all came to an end. It started in the 2020s and within a decade, after the third global pandemic, they were faced with the worst yet. All the science deniers, those who refused to distance, wear masks and all of that ... well, most of them caught it. Some of them caught it without showing a single symptom. That didn’t matter because approximately eight months after you were infected, after you thought you were all well again, your lungs started to bleed. Nothing could make it stop. You drowned in your own bed, at night, sometimes in mere minutes. Most of the time, you just went to sleep and never woke again. It was grim.

The survivors were rare and the disease progressed so quickly, institutions fell almost overnight. Whole cities became ghost towns. Survivor teams started sweeping, looking for children, infants, pets trapped in houses and then supplies. Survivors came first. There were a lot of supplies. Not that many people.

She was rare and she knew it. Immune. How? No idea. Luck? Genetics? It didn’t matter at the end of the day. The world grieved and cities were abandoned for smaller communities. It wasn’t like in the horror movies or post-apocalypse fiction. No one ate people, bought and sold people, or any of that ridiculousness. For the most part people tried to help one another. Older people banded together to raise the children who survived. With the population reduced in the span of a decade to less than a third, it became very clear that every single human was a necessary addition. Funny how prejudice and differences in sexuality mattered a whole lot less when the end of the human race was at stake. All that shit became real irrelevant real fast.

In a spate of particularly weird coincidence, some communities lost more of a certain type of people. The east coast of North America for example had nearly no men left. It was startling, You could travel for days, scout many towns and communities and find less than a dozen males. West of the Rocky mountains however, the opposite was true. The average was 1 self-identified female to 20 self-identified males (like people were checking - get real). Some communities the ratio was more like 100 to 1. In the mid-west, prairie region, well there was almost no people left there at all. No one knew why they were so hard hit but the coasts survived. Perhaps it was just population distribution. Scientists would be studying it long after she was dead.

So, in a world where you lived with almost 100 men in your community and the number of single women could be counted on one hand, and you wouldn’t need every finger? Yeah. This was fantastic. 

Again, it wasn’t like the books though. She wasn’t chained, or bound or really mistreated in any way. Nope. None of that.

She was a strong survivor. She had a thriving garden and a number of animals of her own. Her house was cute as hell and in really good shape. Her grandmother had taught her to sew and the rest she learned from books. The little town was powered by a local dam that kept the predatory animals such as the dog packs, at bay with electrified fencing in key areas, including around her goats whom the wolves thought looked super yum yum.

But even she needed supplies. I mean, was she going with a raiding party into a city to get tampons and advil? Ummm ... no obviously. That was terrible. That’s how people died! Those places were not safe. It took rigging and expertise she did not have to be on a scavenger team. Plus do you think they would be cool having one of the few women in town go out with them? You’re dreaming if you think that’s gonna happen buddy and no one went without a team. That was a fucking death wish.

So, she had to shop. She had to trade. Fact of life. They didn’t want her tasty preserves or baking. Nope. That they could do for themselves. She traded the one thing that few had around her - her pussy. Fucked up right? 

Prostitution was the oldest game in the book for a reason it turned out. So she went into the store and put in her order for supplies that she needed. Flour, tampons, books for example. There was a tally and a calculation conducted. She was a modest girl. It rarely went above two visits. Then there was a jar. Yup. A fucking jar, with names on it. Men who had paid into the credit system. 

“One” The merchant stated bluntly marking it in his book. 

“One?” She repeated, a little surprised by how light the requirement was. Her list had been pretty long.  

“Yeah, Bernice fell pregnant, she’s off the list until after and maybe permanently since the Bennett brothers are putting serious court to her. All remaining traders just had their value go up.” 

That’s what they called them - traders. Like she was wheeling a cart through town with little jars or something instead of letting men cum in a minimum of two holes per trade. It was awesome. By the way, that was sarcasm in case you can’t tell.

“Nice.” She replied with a nod, “I hope the baby is healthy.” That was the customary statement these days when anyone fell pregnant. You see, the virus didn’t exactly go away and infant mortality was high as fuck. It was depressing as hell. She didn’t know a single woman who didn’t half dread getting knocked up, even if they really wanted to be a mother. It was a huge risk and all too likely to end in just more painful loss. Yay for survival.

“We all do.” the merchant stated sincerely as he pushed the jar toward her. Sliding her hand in, she let slips of paper, card stock that was refreshed so often you couldn’t get a feel for any one particular person, just dance through her fingertips. You just had to stick your hand in and pray to whatever god you might actually believe in that you didn’t get one of the gross old coots who thought bathing was fucking optional. Last time she had one of those she had about forty baths and still felt disgusting.

She pulled out the card and took a deep breath before flipping it over. Both her and the merchant looked surprised. “Well good luck there. Didn’t even know he paid in.” The merchant marked his book and then nodded. “I’ll get your order in as soon as ... you have about four days before you’ll have had to pay up.” 

That was another thing, the man had to confirm you had ‘paid’. However, if that man lied, he was off the books permanently. Not only that but the other men in town usually paid you a visit and beat the holy hell out of you. It was an honour system true but most followed the rules, out of honour or out of necessity, it didn’t matter at the end of the day. Men who might only get one fuck a year with a ‘willing’ woman weren’t about to lose the privilege because you decided to get fucking cute about it.

“Thanks ... Have a good day now.” She replied with a sincere smile. The merchant was a good man after all. He never put his name in and if he found out one of the men was cruel or unkind even, he’d return their credits and tell them to start getting real used to the sweet feel of their left hand because that was about all they were getting from now on. 

She walked through town, that name flipping through her mind. It was just so unexpected. 

Well no time like the present she supposed. She had had a bath last night, given the old cunt a tidy and all that. She had a debt to pay and she just knew she wouldn’t sleep right until it was paid off good and proper. Yes, it was a little fucked up but that was the system and she had lived with it for a while now. Strangely you kinda got used to it. Most men were pretty appreciative about it. 

Walking down the main street, she noted the weird combination of old and new that had blended together in this world. Cars jerry-rigged with solar panels to charge the batteries travelled on the same road as horse-drawn carriages. Kids wore sneakers cause there were still plenty of those left in old stores but paired them with clearly homemade clothes and then spiked them with leather jackets kitted out with studs and chunks of cell phones used as artistic decoration.

She walked until she hit the slight outskirts of the main town area. She could see him now, his arm lifting as he pounded the steel into shape with a large hammer. Farriers, blacksmiths, knife-makers, welders and so on made a nice living in this new world. You could always tell who they were because they smelled like fire and had arms the size of her entire body it seemed. She licked her lips and straightened her back. For the first time in well over a year, she had to admit that she might just be looking forward to this one.

“Hey ...” She greeted. He put down the hammer and shifted up his eye protection, squinting at her in the bright light of day. “Hey.” He replied back, his voice a little gruff. “You looking for something?” He asked.

“Ummm ... pulled your name.” Turns out all the cool things she was saying in her head since pulling his name had just fallen right on out of her brain. Well I wasn’t cool before, she thought bleakly with a tinge of amusement, Guess I’m not now either. Maybe the next apocalypse.

He stopped, frowning lightly as if he wasn’t sure what she was talking about and then his expression cleared and his eyes grew wide. “Oh.” he said. It was actually more of a sound. He cleared his throat. “I ... I  ... yeah. Now?” he queried.

When she nodded, “If you have the time. Otherwise ... I can come back.” I can come back. What the hell, was she Uber Eats? What the fuck is wrong with her?

He shook his head, “Now is good.” He tipped his head toward the interior. “Let me shut this down a bit and then I’ll wash up and be in.” 

He seemed nervous. Why did she like that so much? Maybe she was bored of the older guys who just had you bend over or would just unzip when they saw you coming. No effort man. No fucking effort. Literally. Wham bam, you’ve paid for your groceries Ma’am.

Mr. Muscles here better put in some damn effort at least.

[domesticsns]

What happened to the dude who kinda made a phone call to Tobirama and threatened to kill him in a way worse than Tobirama's brother die?

It was A thursday night when Naruto came home from a teacher meeting. He was planning on watching some TV, eat some left over dinner from last night and hopefully get some booty from his husband once he came home from his brother’s. He turns the lights of the apartment on a freezes when he sees the window where the fire escape was open. He sees splashes of blood on the floor, making it’s way to the bathroom. His heart start beating faster and he carefully approached the bathroom, the curtain around the tub was pulled closed. Naruto slowly walks towards it. He sees the blood on the floor. He pulls the curtains away and he was about to scream if the face wasn’t familiar to him. 

“Tobirama?” Naruto looks at the blood under under him. The man looks paler than usual, there were red rings under his eyes and he looks beat up. A bruise on his cheekbone, his hair was messy, his leg was impaled by a knife. 

“The fuck happened to you? Holy shit! What are you doing here? Why are you not in a hospital!? I should call an ambulance-” 

Tobirama pressed his finger weakly against Naruto’s lips, giving him a weak smile calling him a pussy. He asks where Sasuke is. 

Naruto, not believing this is really happening to him, tells him Sasuke is at his brother and Tobirama sighed. 

“I’ll settle with you then. Grab me his medical kit.” Tobirama says.

“You mean the first aid kit-” 

“No the medical kit. With the morphine and the surgical tools.” Tobirama clearifies. 

“We don’t have that. Itachi is the doctor!” Naruto says. “Let me bring you to a hospital, dude.” 

“No hospital!” Tobirama hisses, “He has it. I am sure he has it. Look pff...a place you can’t find it..Look under the washing machine...”

Naruto feels an imaginary brick hit his head. So, Tobirama knows about his bad habits....He reluctantly looks under the washing machine and pulls out a machete. He mutters that he had talked to Sasuke about it. He looked further under it and feels some box taped under the washer. He pulls it out and sees it is indeed a medical kit. He looks at Tobirama giving him a thumbs up. It was painful to see he actually knew Sasuke better than him.

He opens the box and feels a bigger brick hit his head seeing some top notch surgical tools, a small bottle of morphine, needles. He hands Tobirama the needle a belt and the bottle of morphine and sees him inject himself with it a soft moan escaping his lips as he says that that was the shit he needed. He became quiet for a moment and Naruto shakes him slightly and Tobirama opened his eyes again and looked a little confused. 

“You got stabbed...” Naruto remind him and Tobirama looks down his leg and remember and laughs. Stating he almost forgot. 

Naruto hears the door of the apartment open and close and an immediate concerned voice of his husband calling his name. 

“In here!” Naruto says and Sasuke kicks the door open and sees Naruto squatting next to the tub there is a second of relieve in his eyes his eyes shoot over at Tobirama. 

“Fuck,” Sasuke says and slaps Tobirama’s cheeks slightly waking him up.

“Do I call an ambulance?” Naruto askes, not sure what to do. 

“No...No....I got this, just...Call Itachi tell him I need a huge favor.” Sasuke says, taking his jacket off and rolling up his sleeves. “Go.”  He tells Naruto as he grabs a pair of scissors a cuts Tobirama’s pants off. 

Naruto does what he is told and he calls Itachi and you would expect with Sasuke’s calm voice. Naruto is pretty calm knowing there is no need to panic...But no..He screams at Itachi that there is a man stabbed in the leg in their bathtub and they need him right away. 

After twenty minutes Sasuke comes out of the bathroom. His shirt has blood on it and he has his hair in a messy bun and wearing latex gloves that had blood on them. He tells Naruto to call Kakashi too. He indicated to his phone on his pocket and Naruto takes it and says what is he supposed to say. 

“Tell him the jackass got himself hurt.” 

Naruto, sticking to Sasuke’s words says exactly that and he can hear Kakashi say, “Fuck, Tobirama. Is he alright?” 

“He is bleeding in the tub...Sasuke’s with him. Itachi is going to come.” Naruto says.

“Ah then it is not that bad.”  Kakashi says and Naruto is wondering what is considered ‘bad’ for these people. 

Itachi arrives and Naruto send him to the bathroom and Naruto hasn’t kept track of the time anymore and soon Kakashi arrived. 

Kakashi is carrying Tobirama from the bathtub to the couch, lying him down. He seems pretty out of it by now. 

“How is he?” Naruto asks. His wounds has been tended to. 

“I have to say I am impressed, you patched him up pretty good.” Itachi says, “But did you stitch your initials in there?” 

“Ssssshhh...” Sasuke says putting his hand on the wound, putting pressure on it. 

“Fucking bitch...” Tobirama says. 

“We were taught a thing or two at the boarding school,” Kakashi says. 

“But do remember, if his temperature is rising he needs to go to the hospital.” Itachi says. 

“And we will be there to escort him.” Kakashi says. Sasuke gave Itachi a hug, thanked him for his help. Naruto walked Itachi out and when he returned he saw Kakashi and Sasuke talking, more in whispers. Not sure if they wanted to hide the conversation from Naruto or Tobirama. 

“Uhm...So what happened?” Naruto asked, seeing both Kakashi and Sasuke look at him. The conversation died out. It was obvious who they tried to keep in the dark. 

“So....Danzo?” Naruto asked, they both shook their head. 

“Worse?” Naruto asked and sees both of them look away. 

“Babe, it is okay I’ll handle it.” Sasuke says, giving Naruto a small smile. Naruto knew this expression, it was the  “Don’t ask me anything, just let me to do my thing” look. 

“No, I should know.” Naruto says, closing the window and he curtains. 

“It is going to be alright. I am handling it.” Sasuke says. 

“Just tell him, if your personality hasn’t chased him out of the door neither would Zabuza going after Tobirama chase him away.” 

“Zabuza...As the murderer...On the news?” Naruto asks, sitting down. He needs a second. 

“Okay he is an assassin with a grudge.” Kakashi says, “And Sasuke fucked him twice or trice?” 

“What?” Naruto askes wide eyes. 

“You fucked him over too!” Sasuke says pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi. 

“But Tobirama didn’t fuck him and he is the one that got injured!” Kakashi says. 

“Okay what is going on!? Who fucked who!?” Naruto asks. 

“I am fucking you,” Sasuke says hoping to get some tension out.  

“I fucked you once too...In a dream. It was weird. My husband was watching.” Kakashi said. 

“I was weird?” Naruto asks. 

“No you were adequate,” Kakashi says. 

“I fucked you.” Tobirama voice says weakly, smirking at Sasuke.

“He is high on morphine,” Sasuke says shaking his head and poking a sore spot on Tobirama so he yelped in pain and shut up. 

“Okay this is what is going on.” Kakashi began.  “I assume you know about Itama?” 

“Itama...” Tobirama’s whispered.

Sasuke’s expression darkened too. 

“No...” Naruto says and he looks at Sasuke. He had read that file from top to bottom three times...How could he not remember Itama. 

“I didn’t include him in the...File...” Sasuke says lowering his eyes. 

“So there is more?!” Naruto says. 

“Little bit...’“  Sasuke mutters. 

“Itama is Tobirama’s brother. He was in Sasuke’s class and died in the forest task. The task where all first year are dropped in the forest and attacked from all sides. They have to make their way back to the school or die trying. It was about survival. Living from the woods, being attacked by whole bunch of people. Old graduates, highly ranked officers, criminals...Heavily relying on the psychopathic murderers  that were arrested and given a week release to just...Do whatever they pleased.” 

“Oh God...” Naruto felt his throat go numb. “Well Zabuza was an old graduate with a very keen sense for killing a killer sense...I did not believe was possible for a human to achieve. He was in my year and he had it out for him. Couldn’t get over that I outranked him. The only reason I did was dumb luck.” Kakashi sighed, “He killed Itama during the forest task. Itama, Tobirama’s little brother, teamed up with Sasuke in the forest assignments because they got along or something-” 

“He reminded me of a little you,” Sasuke says, looking at Naruto with a sadness in his eyes. “And he was killed...Zabuza slashed him open with his sword. I managed to knock him out and I dragged Itama away and he died. So that is why Tobirama has beef with this guy. Especially since he could track him down and kill him as revenge.” 

“Zabuza worked in Otogakure as  a high ranked military officer, he was untouchable until....Sasuke came forward with what happened in the boarding school and suddenly no government wanted to have anything to do with the graduates...Playing the..I didn’t know card...So he was fired...and ended up gutters and I think somewhere he started a criminal organisation and is now working with the mafia these two are tracing.” Kakashi points at Tobirama and Sasuke. 

“So you fucked him over twice...I fucked him  once.” Kakashi says pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke. 

“So he wants after Tobirama because he got close to arresting this mob guy and he was sent to kill him?” Naruto asks. 

“That too.” Sasuke says. 

“Too?” Naruto askes. 

“Well...Remember that time Naori went missing and my dad said how it could’ve been a kidnap because there were consequences in coming forwards with what happened?” Sasuke asks and Naruto slowly nods. 

“So...Uhm...” Sasuke stopped taking, never finishing what he said. 

“Zabuza has no beef with Tobirama....What he wanted to know was who the snitch was, and Tobirama said it was him.” Kakashi said.

Naruto looks at Sasuke who looks at the floor. 

“This is a lot to take...” Naruto says. 

“I know...Just go to bed, don’t worry Kakashi and I keep an eye out.” Sasuke says, giving Naruto a kiss on his cheek. 

That next morning at the crack of dawn Naruto woke up, not being able to sleep after receiving so much information at once. He figured he would get up and just resume his life and go to work. But before he even got out of the room he could hear talking and it is like every time he thinks Sasuke and him have compleet honestly...Some shit comes up and makes him feel like he doesn’t know shit about Sasuke. He can hear some talking in the living room. 

“No, no, we can’t do that. Getting out of otogakure I figured we would never have to...Not again...” He could hear Sasuke say. 

“Sasuke, Sasuke, listen to me.” He could Tobirama’s voice say a lot stricter and seriouser, “He is not gonna stop. They’re all not going to stop until every one we love is gone. He’ll start with me. He’ll kill my brother, his wife and drown me in their blood. Then he will come after you and you think he is going to make it quick and easy without involving your husband, your brother, your brother’s children. He is going to come for them, it is a matter of time.” 

“Zabuza is strong, he is dangerous...He might not be the best when it comes to investigation but even he will soon or later find out everything about each of us and then he will attack and make us suffer. I’ll give him four to six months for him to recover from Tobirama’s attack and come to us.” Kakashi says. 

“We have the information, I have the tracer on him. We have the upper hand. If the three of us go..We’ll be out there in two hours tops. We go in, we go full out, we burn it down. It goes on the record as some rival gang attack and we won’t have to worry about him ever coming near anyone we love.” Tobirama says. 

“If we do this we’re no better than him.” Sasuke says. 

“He is not being held back by the law or morals. You know how far he can go. You saw him kill a fourteen year old child without a gun to his head-” 

“I know! I was there!” Sasuke hissed, “I tried to safe, I held him until the moment he died!”

“And I saw him kill my brother, he made him choke on his own blood.” Tobirama hissed. “You see these scars!” 

“Stop it.” 

“They chained me up and made me watch and he laughed! He laughed!” Tobirama raised his voice. 

“I said stop it!” Sasuke shouted. 

The door opened and Naruto looked at the dining table. The tension could be cut with a knife. He saw Kakashi, Sasuke and Tobirama on the dining table. Kakashi was holding a cup of coffee and Sasuke was looking pale. Tobirama seemed to be doing a lot better than he did the previous night. He seemed to be mostly himself again. But seeing him in a simple white shirt and shorts he could clearly see what Tobirama is clearly been hiding under his clothes the entire time. There were red scars on his wrists, ankles and neck. 

“Knock it off, Tobirama.” Kakashi said.

Tobirama sat back down, his hand going over the scar around his neck. It was almost as if he tried hiding it, thinking rubbing over it with his hand would make it disappear. 

“Baby, hey...” Sasuke says getting up and kissing Naruto on his cheek. 

“So...What’s going on?” Naruto asked. 

“Nothing...Shouldn’t you be getting ready for school?” 

“Pff..You make it sound like you’re fucking a highschooler.” Tobirama mocks him. “You read for school?” 

“Why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll make you breakfast...”  Sasuke says, letting his finger go over Naruto’s hair.

“You don’t have to-”  Sasuke presses a finger against Naruto’s mouth, placing a little on his lips.  

“Go.” 

Sasuke turns back to Kakashi and Tobirama. 

“Fine...I will help take them down. Four months until he will strike...We’ll have to do with two. Go, give them all we have, get out...Blow the place up. And we’ll never talk about..”  Sasuke says looking at Kakashi and Tobirama.

“Deal.” 

“Deal.” 

[moretreasurewithinarchive]



Ella's mother calls her clever at least twice that I heard.

LITTLE ELLA HAS A LEGIT FULL SIZED CAROUSEL HORSE IN HER BEDROOM??? And with that, it looks like there was at least 1 puppet stage, what I can only assume to be a carousel music box but it's built like a Christmas Pyramid, a mobile, and a canopy bed.

The way she and her dad both say thank you this must have been very difficult for you when they get news the one they love is dying???

The Just So and Shall We lines repeat too.

The dress she's wearing when her father returns and when her mother's dying are the same, it just had fake flowers on it when he returns.

We see 3 different Ella's walking with her father toward the meadow. There's little Ella in Black after her mother dies, then what I assume is teenage Ella in a white or blue floral dress sand her hair work to the side and flowing over her shoulder, and then Lily.

Ella lets her shoes hand off her feet a lot

Her physical reaction to her father mentioning Lady Tremaine even before he says anything about marriage.

That butterfly comb will never NOT remind me of Rose's in Titanic.

I can't see anyone in that time period actually making their day Lucifer???

I hate Lady Tremaine's black hat when we first meet her.

The way Ella smiles and laughs for her father and then visibly deflates the instant he turns around KILLS me.

When the Tremaines arrive, Ella's mother's portrait is on the bookshelf in the study/parlor/whatever that room is where she died.

Drisella tells Anastasia their mother's lying about the house being charming and says it's just manners. Anastasia tells her to shut up.

The look Ella's father gives Anastasia when she says they never thought to decorate, and how he looks back at Ella.

Before he leaves on that last trip, Ella KNOWS he isn't well and she can tell something going to happen.

Why the fuck does Tremaine get so jealous of hearing about Ella's mother when she CLEARLY doesn't love her father?

The way Anastasia and Tremaine both look at Drisella after the complexion line kills me.

Like... Tremaine legit kept up a smile until the carriage pulled away and it was gone in less time than it took to blink.

The harp just sitting in the corner. Totally Ella's mother's. Js.

When Tremaine banishes her to the attic, it sounds like Ella was going to say something about staying in a smaller room?

By the time Ella and Tremaines talk in the study/parlor, all of her things, her father's things, and her mother's things are packed up and set aside, including the portrait of her mother. Suspicious much?

Anastasia and Drisella have toys. At first, we are Anastasia holding a doll and Drisella a rabbit, but they switch later.

Casual reminder that Ella's the youngest, since Anastasia calls her their little sister.

I want a full version of Lily singing Sing Sweet Nightingale and Lavender's Blue.

There are flower decorating and motifs all over this house. The walls. The clothes. Even in the stone wall in the kitchen.

Ella's look at Drisella while she's singing. And like... Tremaine herself tells her to shut up, but she gets mad at Ella for being like cringe.

Ella immediately knows as soon as she opens the door and see Farmer John.

Tremaine is a damn good actress though. Her eyes treating when they get the news.

THE BEEHIVES ARE SO CUTE.

That red bedroom of Tremaine's is so garish though.

Another casual reminder: ELLA NEVER GOT TO PROPERLY MOURN HER FATHER BECAUSE SHE WAS WORKING 24/7.

I imagine the scraps they gave her to eat lessened as time went on and they had less food and money. But she always shared them, no matter how meager.

Jacqueline is iconic.

A GIANT POT OF LAVENDER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS TO THE ATTIC FROM THE KITCHEN.

Gods that robe of Tremaine's is AWFUL.

"Is there someone we've forgotten" They're dehumanizing her already. What a cunt.

Ella riding barebacked and workout reigns will never NOT impress me tbh.

Convince me the stag wasn't a test for both Ella and Kit from Fairy godmother.

Gods Richard was PERFECT in this role. And every time I hear his real accent I'm shook.

Kit's fucking whipped from the start.

Ella only calls him Kit. You can't tell me otherwise.

His sympathy when she says "They treat me as well as they're able". Tell me that this like doesn't ring in his head later and that's why he knows she's been stopped from coming to him.

RICHARD'S DIMPLES

IT'S KIT. KIT. I'M KIT. You absolute fucking disaster of a man 🤣🤣

And you know the Captain never lets him live that down.

Kit goes away a little and comes back when he says he hopes to see her again.

Ella's little lip bite.

Gods those blue and yellow split outfits on the palace staff are ATROCIOUS.

The banter with Kit and the King. And Kit and Ella in the secret garden.

MASTER PHINEAS.

Why are Kit's outfits so attractive?? 🥺

Kit and the king are so short compared to the Captain and the Grand Duke.

The Captain's laugh.

"That's very kind of you. To think of me." My poor baby.

THE LOOKS AFTER SHE CLAPS BACK IN FRENCH. SLAY.

Also, "I speak French not Italian".

Kit, honey you can say it's for the people all you want. You're not fooling anyone.

What the actual fuck does moonface even mean??

Ella making her dress in a day??? Damn girl.

I love Fairy godmother's beggar woman cloak???

Gods I HATE Lady Tremaine.

Ella's pink dress swear her mother's wedding dress like in the deleted song from the cartoon. And this is the hill I'll die on.

"Hairy dogfather" JFC.

I'd have liked the whole fairy godmother getup better without those dinky little wings tbh.

Ella not knowing what cantaloupe is.

MR. FUCKING GOOSE.

I'm sorry, but the lizard footmen creep me out. THEY DIDN'T NEED TO GIVE THEM THOSE TEETH LIKE WTF.

Ok but like... Would the greenhouse have been repaired at midnight though???

Honestly, Disney deprived us all of Lily being trapped in the pumpkin a la the Cinderella episode of Britannica's Tales Around the World with Pat Morita.

WHY TRANSFORM THE MICE. IT'S A FARM. THEY HAVE HORSES.

"I can't drive, I'm a goose" is my favorite line.

Unpopular opinion??? But I liked the ballgown better either without the butterflies or during the transformation when there was only those few blue ones.

I do like the gold butterflies in the slippers though.

I want to know how they got the crystals to stay in Lily and Helena's hair.

Sitting in a crinoline must be awful.

The palace is stunning.

I love every single one of the chandeliers in this movie.

The king waves at Chelina and Kit KNOWS.

The girl on the staircase next to the Tremaines when they get introduced laughs at them. And honestly, same.

"Someone I meet once TONIGHT".

For real, how did the guards at the stairs not hear Ella's name or that her footman was a lizard? They were like not even 5 feet away.

Ella playing with her skirt when she happy and scared.

KIT'S SMILE.

I wish we saw more of the purple in the ballgown.

I love that Ella's descent had Lavender's Blue and the dance has Once Upon A Dream in the score.

The Captain HAD to have told Kit that the Grand Duke already promised him to Chelina. And who gave him the right to do that anyway?

Kit's stammering.

Ella's gasp when he takes her waist and the way she looks at him is like the signature Lily shot. They did the same thing in War & Peace.

"They're all looking at you. Believe me they're all looking at YOU".

The one part in the dance where they kinda flap their arms up and down reminds me of a butterfly and idk why.

Dancing wearing a sword had to be tough. Especially when your partner's in a crinoline and a heavy ass dress. Props to Richard.

Lily tripping at one point during the dance.

Even Chelina loves Ella let's be real here.

Why is there so much telling people to shut up in this movie???

WE GOTTA FACE FACTS HERE, KIT AND ELLA ARE EVEN BETTER AND MORE LOVING PARENTS THAN THEIR OWN WERE.

I love the secret garden scene so much.

When Kit puts the shoe on her foot... Why is that like 😏😏. I hate feet. Why is that breathtakingly romantic??

Why do they always hesitate? GO AFTER HER IMMEDIATELY DAMN IT.

The crier's aids when he hits his head on the stairs.

Ella's interaction with the king.

Kit you're so slow. She's in glass heels and a crinoline and she still outran you.

DISNEY I WANT A DIRECTOR'S CUT OF THE FILM WITH ALL THE DELETED SCENES PUT BACK IN. I NEED KIT SAYING THE LADY ISN'T HERE TO DEFEND HERSELF.

They honestly don't see the footman using his coat tails to lower the portcullis??

Anastasia actually seemed pretty nice to Ella after the ball? Saying she looked cheerful and patting her arm? But then again, we really only see Tremaine and Drisella ripping the dress soooo?

ELLA YOU CAN'T KEEP A SECRET TO SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Girl you need a better hiding place than under the floorboards.

But like the music in the attic after the ball is so sweet???

KIT AND HIS FATHER. THANK YOU FOR LETTING HIM CRY AND SAY I LOVE YOU.

Also like... Notice that Tremaine's Just so to Ella's father was really patronizing and condescending. Ella's to Kit was insecure and uncertain. But the king's to Kit was proud.

At least Kit's not dumb. He's meet this girl multiple times. He don't need a shoe to tell him it's her.

WHY RIP THE ORIGAMI BUTTERFLY THOUGH.

Ella was full on ready to die in that attic to save Kit.

Why do all they guys' pants fit really well except Stellan's? His are loose and baggy.

Y'all know this girl is young and blonde wtf.

Also, fun fact. The girl that asks the Captain if she can try the other foot is Mimi Ndiweni. She played Fringilla in The Witcher on Netflix.

The Grand Duke turning away from the old lady, but the Captain letting her yet the slipper on anyway. 🥺

I want to know where in the line Kit was hiding.

Also how many takes they had to do of Sophie and Holliday trying the slipper on. Cause I wouldn't have been able to do it without laughing. Especially at Holliday's face.

Like... Even if the plan had gone down the way the Grand Duke and Tremaine wanted, I don't see him keeping his word to make her a counted and get good marriages for Anastasia and Drisella.

"YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN AND YOU NEVER WILL BE MY MOTHER".🗣️🗣️

Ella and Kit is my favorite score in the whole movie.

You know, the girls actually seen happy for Ella. Especially Anastasia. Her and Ella getting along better like in Dreams Come True is canon ok.

NEVER GONNA GET OVER KIT AND ELLA WEARING THEIR PARENTS' RINGS.

I love Ella's wedding gown.

Where did they get all those flowers in the winter though 😂

[sfthearted-blog]

*  minecraft villager noise *   —- hello , hello folks !! my name is amanda ( 19 & she/they ) & i am super duper excited to have joined this rp because i don’t remember the last time i joined a general town rp + i really missed it??? but AnYWay ; there’s some info & wanted connections on your local sensitive farm girl under the cut :~)

[ kristine froseth, twenty-three, female, she/her ] ━ did y'all see [ clementine dunaway ] walkin’ into [ custard’s last stand ] they’ve lived in frostford for [ sixteen years ] and you can catch ‘em around town working as a [ farmhands @ wilson dairy farms ]. I reckon they’re pretty [ empathetic & humorous ] but I hear they can also be kinda [ sensitive & clumsy. ] if ya see ‘em around, be sure to say hi.

details…

♡ pinterest  (  note that her fc is originally someone else so some of the physique pictures might not add up  )

♡ rosy cheeks, red plaid, thick southern accent, fresh strawberries with whipped cream, woven baskets, reading collections of poetry late at night, drinking tea in the morning, faint music playing in the background, loose ponytails, soft lips .

♡ heart belt buckles, pearl necklaces, heart shaped sunglasses, pink bralettes, fuzzy socks, smocked bodice dresses, colourful scrunchies, bumblebee earings, heeled boots, cherry patterns, maxi dresses, layering bracelets .

on the inside…

♡ positive : kindhearted , empathetic , humorous

♡ negative : sensitive , clumsy , quiet

♡ mbti : infp

♡ quirks : cheeks flush when nervous , writes with left hand .

♡ likes : her farm animals, smiling, being touched, homemade foods, cows

♡ dislikes : feeling sad, wet socks, cold weather, funerals, video games

important info…

♡  bisexual  |  cancer  |  hufflepuff

♡ born on a farm to a loving couple, louisa & mark with her grandparents living in the basement -- about an hour and a half from frostford

♡ when clementine was 7, her parents decided it was time for a change : they wanted to move into the town & frostford just-so happened to be the closest

♡ she had a very typical & tbh, pretty boring childhood growing up. nothing too exciting happened

♡ clementine found a great love for art when her grammy gifted clem her old art kit

♡ ( fun fact.... her grandma was actually a locally well known artist in her hometown growing up )

♡ she does art on the side & loves her job sO frigging much ; she loves caring for the animals + watching crops grow. it makes her heart WARM

♡ she currently lives with a roommate 

wanted connections…

♡ platonic | best friends, unlikely friends, childhood friends, bad influence, her roomie

♡ romantic | fwb, one night stand, mutual or one-sided crush, exes, current partner

♡ negative | frenemies, enemies, friends on bad terms, exes on bad terms

♡ A N Y T H I N G

i hope this is everything i wanted to include jkdfs tysm for reading about my baby girl !!!!!!! please hmu @ any time to do some chatting or plotting :^)

[mirkwoodshewolf]

The Rock angel shines; Queen x reader

Hello people and beyond. Well like I promised here is the first part of my Rock Angel series.  So for those who have asked to be tagged I have you up, let me know if it doesn’t work and I’ll try to fix it as best I can. I hope you all enjoy this and have some warmly big brother feels with this chapter. Not really any warnings except for some mild swearing, scars (not suicidal but of this triggers you this is a warning for you) and TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF.

Taglist (open):

@phantom-fangirl-stuff

@mr-badguymercury

@onebigfangirlworld

@labessieisallama

@starswin

@naturalswifty89

_______________________________________________________________

April 20th, 1982

Frank Bough was hosting his Breakfast time interview discussing the next rising star of Britain.

“We first saw her make her big debut at a Queen concert at Madison Square Garden last year and ever since then she’s been recording her first album which will be released at the start of summer. Her biggest single ‘Set it all free’ took her to the charts as the youngest performer at 19 years old. Let’s have a listen.”  What would then play on the television was the newly made music video for “Set it all free”.

(Y/n) was on the guitar in the same attire she wore that day at Madison Square garden, her hair this time was dyed a blood red as the chorus of “Set it all free” was being sung.  As (y/n) would rock out in one shot, in another she was wearing normal clothes trying to escape the confines of what appeared to be a jailcell she would constantly beat against the walls trying to escape but then cry every now and then.

“(Y/n) (l/n) welcome to the show.”

“Oh Frank it’s an honor to be here, how are you?” I asked as I leaned up against the couch and extended my hand out to him.

“I’m doing well and you?” he said as we both shook hands.

“Fine thank you.”

“Well you have truly made a name for yourself, the Rock Angel tell me where did that name come from? Did you come up with it yourself?”

“No I’m terrible at coming up with names” I joked out as I laughed. “It was actually Freddie who came up with the name Rock Angel. Back when I was helping them and when I told them that I had written songs and played music he’d always just call me their little ‘Rock Angel’.”

“Now when you say, ‘work for them’, how do you mean?”

“I was an intern for Jim Beach.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. At the time he was asking for interns at my University and I was one of probably hundreds of other young kids to apply and by some miracle I was picked and the rest is history.”

“Now on your album ‘Set it all free’ you also include Queen on a couple of your tracks. Is that because of your history with them?”

“I love my boys so much. When it was fully announced that I was to make my first full length album after my single was released, they were so supportive and happy for me. And actually it’s a sweet story, I was recording my album at Rockfield studios, the same place where they recorded their hit Bohemian Rhapsody as well as the rest of their Night at the Opera album. And while I was recording they just suddenly popped in for a visit…..”

*November 11th, 1981*

I have been here at Rockfield studios for the past six weeks now recording my first album ‘Set it all Free’. Now I began to understand why Fred said they needed to be away from all distractions to record A Night at the Opera, because out here with all the country side, the fresh air, never have I felt such creativity flow through me.

I mean sure I’ve hit a couple of speedbumps and obstacles when it came to some songs but after feeding the chickens and riding the horses, I would suddenly get inspired.

I was currently in the studio now doing my latest song that I’ve titled “Who I am”.  I had completed the guitar and vocal portion of my song and now I was recording the drums.

Now I know what you’re thinking? Why are you doing all the work? Why hasn’t a band come in and help you with the percussions?  Well the answer to that is because of the sudden reservation I had made with it being the autumn season now, no one wanted to risk driving along the roads to the studio so living at the studio is just me, Mack and a couple handlers just to keep an eye on me.

Using the lessons that Rog has given me, I twirled my sticks and began doing the rhythm I had in mind.  After the first half of the song was done, I stopped and flexed my hands and I said.

“How’d it sound Mack?”

“Come out and have a listen.” I took off my headphones and left the booth as Mack played the first half of the song back to me.  I bopped my head up and down as my voice came up for a brief moment before I heard the strum of my guitar.  The whole song so far sounded good and I said.

“Sweet, okay play it from the second verse.” He gave me a thumbs up and I went back into the recording booth and quickly put the headphones back on and as I gave him the signal that I was ready, I began the next verse of the songs for the drums.

We kept going with the song until it was perfect and as I had Mack play back to me the entire song, I got goosebumps all up along my arms and shivers up my spine.  I did a successful ‘Deacy’ dance as I was happy for the song.

“Love it, I fuckin love it!” I praised.

“Sounds good love, why don’t you take a break now love?”

“Mack my deadline is fast approaching and I still got three songs to do, plus one of my songs that’s already been recorded is still missing something. I can’t afford a break.”

“But you’ve been hard at it for the past week with no break love, if you don’t slow down your fingers will bleed out and your arms will pop out.”

“I’m fine Mack.”

“Doesn’t sound like it love,” I froze right there in my spot. Mack looked just as surprised as I was, when I turned around there stood my boys.

Freddie, Brian, Roger and John.

“Oh my god….what—what are you lot doing here?”

“Well we heard our little Rock Angel would be here, so we’d thought we’d check on her to see just how her first big album is coming along.”

“And it’s a good thing we did, cause from what we just heard, you’ve been over working yourself, haven’t you love?” Brian asked using is dad voice.

“No” I said shamefully kicking my foot around as I avoided looking at them.

“Then let us see your hands.” John stated using his dad voice.

Damnit.  Now I knew there was no escaping this lie this time.  Truthfully my hands were heavily imprinted with both base and normal guitar strings, and my palms were scarred and cracked from the drumsticks.

“(Y/n) (l/n) show us your hands” demanded Roger.  I sighed and held them out palms down.  Both Roger and Bri took my hands and flipped them over and they were all horrified at how extreme they were.

“Love do you know how serious this could’ve been?” stated John.

“Based on these string imprints, any longer and you could’ve damaged a nerve allowing you to not be able to feel a note again.” Brian answered.

“And your palms, you’re lucky these scars don’t need stitches, not to mention they are as dry as the desert.” Hearing the boys say this made me rethink a little bit on how strict I’ve been to keeping my schedule.

“I’m sorry guys. It’s just that—my deadline is in a couple of weeks and with it just being me and no one else willing to travel this far up north during this time I….I had to work three times as hard as I am just a soloist and I didn’t just want my songs to be recorded separately from what I’ve already delivered through singing. You guys get what I’m saying right?” They all looked at me and Deacy said.

“We do love, but we also understand when we need to step away and not strain ourselves to the point of almost losing the limbs that need to be required in order to play them.”

“And don’t take offense to this darling but you look like shit at the moment.” Freddie stated.

“Oh gee thanks Fred.” I sassed sarcastically.

“What Freddie means is that you look so exhausted. When was the last time you had a proper sleep?”

“I’ve tried to get my daily 8 hours but so far I haven’t.”

“And what about a decent meal?”

“I had a big breakfast earlier this morning before we started recording.”

“But that was hours ago.” Mack piped in. I turned and glared at him but he explained to the guys, “In fact that usually all you would eat minus a piece of fruit, a granola bar or some water to stay hydrated.”

“Thank you Mack” I sneered at him.

“Alright. (Y/n) you need to take the rest of today plus tomorrow off, you are running yourself ragged at this point. You need a proper meal, some rest, and all the pampering you deserve.” Roger said.  One look at these boys and I knew I wasn’t going to win. So I gave in and told them.

“Alright, I fold. Take me away.” I was then taken out of the studio picked up bridal style by Roger and taken back towards my room.

John unfolded the sheets from my bed and Roger put me in and John tucked me back in.

“Anything in particular you would like me to cook up?” Roger asked.

“I’ve been kinda craving for Tikka Masala. But you don’t have to make it if you don’t want to.”

“Nonsense, I’ll get right on it.” He kissed my head before leaving my bedroom.  Deacy came back with a first aid kit and he said to me.

“Okay give me one of your hands, love.” I handed him my right one since it was closer to him.  He took out the rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs and he began to lightly dab around my palms which made me wince in pain.  “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, not your fault. It’s mine. You all were right, I’ve been overworking myself.”

“You have such dedication poppet, that’s the first thing that I noticed about you. But it is always best to take a break. You’re already a star to us and to the world. And you always will be, don’t let the pressures and stress of this business affect you, otherwise we’ll lose our Rock Angel forever.” I looked up at John and nodded.

He paused his doctoring and looked straight in my eyes and softly smiled before leaning forward and pressing his forehead against mine. I smiled softly as his nose bumped up against mine in an Eskimo kiss before he kissed it and went back to doctoring my hands.

Once they were bandaged up John adjusted my pillows and soon Brian came up and he said.

“How are things up here?”

“Well I’m officially the mummy’s wife” I joked as I raised up my bandaged palms.  The two of them chuckled then Brian came in and he sat down beside me as he handed me a cuppa of Jasmine tea.

“Your favorite, just how you like it.”

“Thanks Bri,” I took the mug and took a small sip and hummed in content.

“Dinner is served madam.” Freddie gestured as Roger came in with a tray with my meal, plus a plate of cracker, and some ham and cheese sandwiches.

“You guys really did go the full yard of pampering.” I said as the tray was sat down in front of me.

“All the best for our little angel.” Freddie said as he gingerly took one of my hands and kissed my fingers, his tache lightly tickling them. I then began eating my masala and my taste buds had died and gone to heaven.

“Oh my god, Rog this is…..this is incredible.”

“Thank you darling, of course I had help from Fred here.” I thanked them both and continued eating.  I would occasionally dip the crackers into the masala for a little kick.  I then moved to the sandwiches before finally feeling so full I felt like I was going to burst.

“Ohh that was so good,” Brian gathered my now empty tea mug and placed it on top of the tray and he took it back down to the kitchen.

Once he came back, I noticed he had actually brought up one of the acoustic guitars.  Probably the one I may have left in the kitchen one time just to practice my chords and experiment with a song.

“Alright now that that belly of yours is full, its time you got some sleep.” Freddie said.  Brian strummed on the guitar and I said.

“You guys are gonna sing me to sleep?”

“What better way, with the way your little brain has been buzzing lately, it needs a sedative. Allow us to be that sedative you need.” Brian then began to play notes to “Love of my Life”.  Even without a piano, it still sounded just as beautiful as Freddie began to sing the song.

I adjusted myself to lay down on the bed as Fred kept singing the song and soon the rest of the guys joined in on the backup vocals.  Their voices harmonizing so beautiful which soothed my mind and I began to relax and shut my eyes.

“The next day after just hanging around the farm, in thanks for all that they’ve done I asked them if they’d be interested in being featured in my album, at first they were hesitant but I managed to convince them and so we got to recording once my hands were better of course. And as for the song I had a problem with, it was fixed up when I decided to make one version of the song just me singing, and then the same song featuring Queen, which to be honest I prefer the latter’s version.”

“So what’s up next for you?”

“Well I’m gonna take a summer vacation but then get ready for my first ever European tour.”

“Well, all the best of luck to you. (Y/n) (l/n)’s album hits the shelves this summer and you can catch her up in her upcoming tour. We’ll be right back after these messages.” With that we went off the air.

After my interview I was back at my flat and collapsed into my couch after having to wake up at 4am just to get to the station and get ready for that interview.  Just before I went back to sleep, my phone rang and I groaned as I answered it.

“Hello.”

‘We saw your first television debut love.’ I heard Brian’s voice say on the other end.

“Did I screw up?”

‘You were perfect darling, and the press won’t hold anything against you. Well done love.’ I heard Roger’s voice say.

“Thanks lads, well I’m bloody exhausted these past few months have been brutal, I’m getting some sleep and sleeping until supper time.”

‘Alright love, you deserve the rest. Rog and I will pop in on you later to make sure you aren’t oversleeping too much.’

“Okay, good day guys.”

‘Sleep well love.’ I heard them both say. With that I hung up the phone and fell right asleep there on my couch.

[mikrowrites]

How to Save a Life (epilogue)

Tony Stark x Daughter!Reader Tony Stark x Pepper Potts Avengers x Reader

Warnings: MAJOR INFINITY WAR SPOILERS INFINITY WAR SPOILERS INFINITY WAR SPOILERS

Summary: 5 years after the events of Infinity War, years after the original Avengers team retired, Y/N gets a job offer.

A/N: what a journey this has been. Thank you to everyone who made this series possible, and to all who supported it. I felt so loved and sad to end this series, but it has run it’s path and it’s time to let go. Thank you again. Let’s do this one last time❤️

————

5 years later...

————

Y/N ran down the beach, no time to catch her breath. She could hear the footsteps behind her, catching up. She turned in time for the figure to tackle her to the ground.

With a yell Y/N grabbed the figure off her, holding him to her chest before running into the water with him.

The 4 year old cried out with joy as Y/N put him down, grabbing his arms and spinning him around. “Again! Again!” He kept yelling.

Y/N would take her brother out to the beach, playing in the ocean with him and holding his little hand as they walked across the sand. Y/N adored him.

Hours later, Y/N was laughing as she sat on the edge of the shore, beat.

The little boy plopped down on her lap, immediately falling into a light sleep as she wrapped her arms around him.

He was a spitting image of his father. Dark hair, his nose, his humor. But he had his mother’s eyes and mouth.

The moment Y/N met him she was smitten. She held this innocent baby in her arms and decided: “yeah, I need to protect him and love him.”

Y/N stared out at the vibrant sunset, the smell of salt and the sound of the crashing waves and her little brother’s snores gave her a sense of peace. It took her a long time to find peace.

She still beared the results of her decision even though a year had passed. She had the scars (her brother would trace his tiny fingers over them and laugh), but she still would remember. And remembering was worse than the injuries sustained.

But the little boy asleep in her arms helped her realize it was okay, she was fine. He was her peace.

Y/N heard footsteps, her father sitting down on the sand with her, letting out a soft groan.

“Feeling your age?” Y/N snickered, turning to Tony Stark.

“Haha you’re hilarious my dear.” He snarked back, eyes dropping from his daughter to his son. “I think he actually likes you better than me or Pep. I’m kinda offended.”

Y/N gave Tony a shit-eating grin. “I’m sorry, the kid has good taste.”

Her father let out a snort, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they both looked out at the horizon. Y/N let out a sigh. “One day he’s going to realize who I am. Who you are. What do we do? What do we say?”

“We tell him the truth.” Tony responded, his eyes drifting to the dozing boy. “My father was an arrogant asshole. He sure as hell didn’t raise me or give a damn about me. It was such a relief to not have to burden my child-my children-with his name. Because though I do admit, my ego can sometimes be a little... much-“

“Wait wait wait... did Tony Stark just admit his ego sometimes sucks?” Y/N interrupted in mock surprise.

“Why’d you have to go and ruin the moment? Why? I was in the midst of a grand soliloquy! I don’t care that you’re a legal adult I will still ground you. Anyways where was I?”

“Inflated ego.” Y/N bit her lip, smiling as she shook from the effort not to laugh and wake her brother.

Tony pointed at her. “You watch yourself little girl. Anyways, yes, my ego can be a little much but I would move heaven and earth for the two of you. Because I don’t know what I did to earn two amazing kids like you guys.”

“You did because you deserved it.” Y/N smiled up at her father. “Everything you’ve done—you deserve it.”

Tony kissed her forehead before leaning down and kissing the top of his son’s hair. “Thank you.”

Y/N leaned into him, the three sitting on the beach in the orange sunset. She had no idea how much time had passed. Hours, maybe. It was too good to be true, but it was true.

“Y/N!” Pepper yelled from the little beach house on one of the secluded shores of Miami where the family of three lived, Y/N stopping by frequently from her home in Clearwater. “There’s a phone call for you.”

“Well, duty calls.” Y/N shifted the little boy into Tony’s arms as they both stode up, embracing.

“Go save the world.” Tony whispered in her ear, Y/N smiling.

As she walked away, she turned to him, cupping her hands around her mouth. “I’ve actually already done that. Twice.”

“Get off my beach, smartass.”

Y/N grinned at him before running up to the house where her mother gave her the phone and a hug. Y/N grabbed her bags and waved before walking out of the house and answering her phone. “This is Agent Y/N Stark speaking. Hide the weed.”

“Very amusing, Agent Stark. Your presence is required immediately at New York HQ.” Nick Fury responded in his usual monotone voice.

Y/N scoffed. “I was having a lovely weekend. This was my week off.”

“Well, shit happens. Be there in 4 hours.” Fury responded curtly, before hanging up. Y/N threw the phone in the passenger seat. She started her car with a scoff, murmuring “prick” before driving away from where her heart truly was.

————

Y/N walked into the HQ conference room, where Peter Parker and Nick Fury sat. Peter immediately stood up, Y/N nodding.

“Parker.”

“Stark.”

The two stood for a few seconds before smiling and pulling each other into a hug. Y/N clapped his back. “How’s it been, Pete?”

“Pretty good. It’s nice to have finished school and to focus on my job, especially taking over your father’s company.” Peter scratched the back of his head, smiling. “How about you? How’s your family.”

Y/N beamed. “Great. The little kiddo’s getting bigger and more like dad each day.”

“I hate to ruin the reunion,” Fury cut in, “but we have an important matter at hand.”

The two nodded, sitting down at a table across from Fury. The man cleared his throat, shuffling some papers. “You two have worked for us under Spider-Man and Iron Man for awhile, yes?”

They both nodded once more before he continued, “the original Avengers team have disbanded and retired years ago. But our world is still in need of an organized task force with... let’s just say more unique traits and methods than a SWAT team.”

Y/N raised her hand. “Agent Stark?”

“You aren’t say to bring the old Avengers out of retirement, sir?” Y/N seemed to hiss.

Nick chuckled. “I may be cold, but I’m not that cold, Stark.” He clicked a button, a hologram showing the files of several people, Y/N and Peter included. “We need to start fresh. Since the disbandment of the Avengers, crime rates have risen, innocent lives have been taken.”

“So... why are we here?” Peter asked, fidgeting with his shirt.

“Mr. Parker, I’d like to offer you a high-ranking spot on the new Avengers Initiative. And you,” Fury turned to Y/N, “Agent Stark I want you to head this group. You have all the leadership qualities and you sure have proved yourself.”

“I-I don’t know...” Y/N stumbled over her words, massaging her temples. “I have a family, Nick. I want to be there as my brother grows up, I-I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Y/N, I see a leader in you. I trust you the most to control this team. And if it’s your family you’re worried about I can be sure if you need time with them Wilson can take command while you’re gone. It’s up to you Stark.”

Y/N silent for a bit, staring at the table she turned to Peter, who gave her an encouraging smile.

“Aw hell, I’m in.”

Fury smirked, before sending a signal out to the candidates. “Glad to have you on the team, Spider-Man,” Peter and Y/N stood, Fury shaking his hand and staring Y/N in the eye as she shook her hand. “and Iron Man.”

“Thank you, sir.” They both responded, Fury giving them a curt nod before leaving the room.

“Well shit, never thought I’d be an Avenger again.” Peter sighed. Y/N silently walked over to the list of people. “Y/N?”

She murmured to herself, staring at the files. She suddenly turned to Peter, a smile on her face. “What was it Steve always said?”

Both smiled before turning to the files as a signal went out to the future defenders of earth.

“Avengers... assemble.”

————

Where did I go wrong?

I lost a friend

Somewhere along in the bitterness

And I would have stayed up with you all night

Had I known how to save a life

————

Taglist:

@lovely-bree @isnow-0r-never @peterfromtheavengers @not-jk-rowling @nxtalia-rxmanova @meridele473 @ayyidkeither @kit-kat-katie99 @trenzaloures @extrovertedantisocialunicorn @spacetor @the-ordinarylady @lizlil @natashacamillaus @spacequeenstuff @bluegirlusa1 @lilulo-12 @lovely-dreamer19 @jorileychan @ladyaragorn13 @marveltrashaddict @imabookworm31 @insultme-notmyfandoms @let-me-try-mom

[catistakingabath]

12/9/2022

First diary on tumblr hehe

Today is also the first day I skip class in uni because my phone died and sister didnt wake me up even though I told her to. Class started at 9:10 and if only I wasnt on my period, I would not have wake up so late TT, and if I miss one more session I will have to retake the course, so I have to be super careful. Promise myself that I will try to be 10 15 minutes early.

Yesterday I have a meeting with communication department in TEDxBachkhoa at a cf. To be honest, anh Quang said too much that I can hardly process all the information, but what I know is: we have to brainstorm ideas about the up coming pj, maybe a series of videos or sth, and I have to do the tool kit with chi Nhung, but I think that might be hard since it was similar to a booklet and it need a strong unity in the design. I hope that she is easy to work with and I will try my best not be bossy and len mat day doi dan chi cause she is 2k2.

At the end of the meeting, anh Quang did the tarot reading for us, and I found out a friend have the same name (both first and last) and the same birthday as my secondary Thao, which was so cool!! Like what are the odds of that coincidence?? And I also found out my than so hoc was number 1. Like when people found out, they were like surprised and impressed, and anh Quang told me that people with number 1 are born to be leader, either they will be very successful or they will be poor and bad as f. Yea this kinda fascinated me. At first I want to ask him the read about my love life, but since the than so hoc has sparked my curiosity, I decided to ask about my work. He said that there will be someone teach me lots of things and I will found my strength and gain my confidence. And I need to rest more and this is not the right time to begin a relationship. Idk if this is true but I will see in the near future (6 months).

Yesterday I also seen a post about this is a bad month for Sagittarius. It gave advice that whenever I am working in team, be aware of bad talking conversation about other. Try to stay out of drama and not to be involved emotionally. To be honest, it is true that I have struggle this kind of problem before. Like when you join a big group of friends, there will be some conflict between someone. I have come to a solution. Whenever they talk bad shit about others, I will only be listen and ừ and not say anything else. If they start to ask me to give thought about this stuff, I will start saying: thật ra quan điểm của em là em sẽ không đánh giá một người chỉ qua lời kể của người khác. Chỉ khi nào em thực sự tiếp xúc và trải nghiệm thì em mới đưa ra đánh giá của em để cho khách quan nhất. Bây giờ em chỉ có thể lắng nghe chuyện anh/ chị kể và tiếp thu thôi. Like, it will like i am in between. I am not totally in any side, even if it will be more convenient for me to just stand on their side, but i should seperate work and relationships and i think this is the right thing to said. The other day Han tell me that she started preparing her introduction in uni 1 month before, and i start to think thats a great idea :)) From now on, I will start imagine difficult situations like the one above, and I will think of the best thing to answer so that I will not end up troubling myself.

Okay actually last week I went out to eat with the secondary class. Most of them are the boys, including Manh, and at first I didnt want to go. Tuan and Chip insisted me, but I did not changed my mind until Chip said this might be the last chance to meet Manh cause he is going the study aboard the next month. When we got there, I was so shy that I cant make myself to look and talk with Manh. Even though I wanted to know about his life, like is his old white cat doing fine, how is his girlfriend, is he excited about going study aboard, what major is he going to study, and so on. But I cannot bring myself to do that cause I such a coward and I still have feelings for him. It is embarrassing but he still appear in my dream occasionally, and how am I supposed to get rid all of my feeling if he keep doing that and there is no one cool enough in my love life?? And I hate that feeling when you are noticing someone in the corner of your eyes, and you feel that they are looking at you too but you cant know for sure cause its vague. I feel that when we at the hot pot he was looking at me, but I cant know for sure, and Chip didnt notice him for me. Anyways, the boys was nicer than I thought cause some of them were really mean in secondary school and I didnt like them at all, but somehow they are nice to me at the meeting and no one talk shit. Surprisingly, Giang who was sitting in front of me were kinda nice cause hes keep refilling the water for me even when I'm not asking him nor my cup was empty. When my chopsticks fell, Giao Linh gave me a new one without even asking. Looking back, even in secondary school, those guys were not the mean one, they just the shy-to-the-girls type of guys, be mean back when someone teased them (sr Giao Linh cause I once teased you for being short), and not rl care or help when I was in trouble, and play with the mean ones. Okay now I feel less appreciated them :) Okay but everyone have their phrases and they were still childish back then. Even though everyone said that the grown up are bad and everyone start to faking feelings to each other, and making friends is not as easy as when we were kids. However, the more I grow up, the more comfortable I feel with the surroundings. Bc my peers start to be more understanding, and they are not as mean as before, even if they did not change at all, the truth is that they still think bad of me, and they are just good at masking it, I still feel more comfortable because I am not aware of that, and I feel that I am being treated in the way I deserved. Anyways, back to Manh. After the meeting, I feel that hes not as pretty as in my memory, not as special compared to others since my peers start to be more mature. This is a great sign that I finally get to move on and stop being such a pathetic ass. Maybe meet him 1 or 2 more times will help me even more, to get rid of that pink and perfect version of him in my head, but I think it will be hard to have another chance. Lately, I also feel like I want to have a lover and shit, that I want to be loved and start listening to the kiribaku series on yt again. Now think of it, I start to notice that my phrase of desperating-to-be-loved occasionally was around september, november every years, because last year I started to addict to the kiribaku series around this time of the year. And I start wondering, if this has anything to do with the time I start liking Manh in 9th grade. Cause that is when my feeling start to blossom and have grow the strongest :/ idk 

Lately, I also been thinking about being myself. Idk maybe it is somewhat about a existence question? Like I am aware and want to moving forward, to improve myself, not only to embrace my strength that I already have, but also looking at others and learn. But, would it be like, i am just a creature thats copying others? Like it is okay to learn things like skills, or knowledge, but one of my biggest weakness is soft skills, and I intended to copy their way of coping problems to others, their way of socializing and shit. I mean, almost everyone do that and I am also doing that from a long time ago unintentionally. But like now if I intent to do so, I will copy more and more, and does that harm my inner-self? Like I will adapts traits, personalities, from person A, person B, person C, and will that make me a totally different person? And will that kill my past me, my child me? I mean, I might be dramatic but, imagine if I can meet me when I was a child, when I have adopted all of this new personalities, my child me will think that she was such a loser, that she is nothing, that she need to change to be better, and my present me will be so guilty cause I never want to feel that way, and neither does my child-me. For example, I used to have this conversation with my sister. She said that she hate to interact to other, to be involved in social occasion, like when her uni friends invited her to their wedding, or when her uni friends ask she how shes doing and invite her to cf. And I have told her that she should turn them down, because she should do it to maintain her social relationship, which might help her in the future. Until then I realized I'm not doing all this thing because I like it at my heart, I'm just doing it because I think it as an "investment", that I need to do it so my life will be somehow easy, because it is how this society works. I'm not doing all of this because of my inner-child, but it is how this society expect from me. Maybe this is not the right way to healing my inner-child, not trying to perfect myself. But seriously, I dont really know what to do. What is the way to improve myself, which is also healing? That sound kinda impossible i guess

[freddiewatts]

Soapberry Pride 2018

@ephrampettaline | @charliesfins | @gracevilliers | @ianncardero | @rydenbolt | @scarlettxruby | @mayaparker | @ashcaplan | @lilo-el-lobo | @thisbrutalbelle | @cassiegermaine | @bumblingbrujo | @freddiewatts | @monsterbyamile | @danisavin

The parade had gone off nicely without any hitches, and Ephram’s officers had dispersed afterwards to meander around town and participate in the festivities (while still being cops, of course; they were never really off-duty). He’d opted for Erzebet’s because it was familiar and he was curious what in the hell a black light party was in the first place.

Charlie prepped a set of neon paints at their station inside Erzebet’s. They’d volunteered to do some body painting. That didn’t meant Charlie planned to stay on the sidelines. They’d worn an all white suit and planned to loose the jacket for dancing and paint fighting, especially since they’d heard rumors of paint twister. Charlie was ready for a good time and planned to be wearing every color BUT white by the time they left.

The Soapberry cops were kitted out in black t-shirts and jeans with white wings painted on the back and rainbow beaded bracelets, and Ephram realized with a start as he entered the club that he was a little out of place not being painted up like most of the dancers. Sidling out of the way of the crowd, he fetched up next to a table with a bunch of paints and an extraordinarily handsome person presiding over it, and asked haplessly, “…so is this normally what these sorts’ve things are like? People out there lookin’ like goddamn ghouls.”

Grace wore a black bra under a sheer blouse, showing rather more skin than she normally would have done, but it was Pride, and it wasn’t as if she had to worry about getting cold. Her blonde hair was highlighted with pastel colors, a mixture of rainbow flag colors and pansexual flag colors but nothing too bright. She got some paints at the door and painted something of a bedazzled pattern on herself in the mirror before putting her blouse back over it. She got a drink and headed to the bar. The chap who’d had the argument with Fane was behind the DJ Booth, which she supposed would keep him out of trouble.

Iann told himself it would be a ‘good experience’ and 'broaden his horizons’ which even as he said these cheesy phrases to himself, he wanted to rebel…against himself. But it was true - a black light party was normal fare (as far as Iann was concerned) but a supernatural blacklight party? Would that include seafolk bioluminescence? Atronach rune illuminations? Vampires with glow-in-the-dark blood? Fairies and witches with magical glowing awesomeness? It was hard to resist. Plus, it was at Erzebet’s and Iann knew places he could retreat and Bellamy would totally indulge him. Besides, he still had a goal to recruit people for the talent show. With that in mind, he figured a plain white t-shirt and white baseball cap would be glowy enough under the black lights. Iann beelined for Erzebet’s bar first, not because he wanted a drink but he wanted to see someone he knew. When he saw Grace, Iann blinked for a moment and then leaned in closer. “Your Ladyship?? That you??”

Charlie looked up at the sheriff sidled up to their table. Chuckling at his comment, Charlie shrugged. “It all depends. When you only get to be this crazy once a year, I guess some people can go a little overboard. Or just on board enough, depending on your perspective.” They scanned his outfit, wondering if he was allowed to cover a temporary uniform with paints and such. Then again, he was probably the one who had picked them out, so Charlie figured he could do what he wanted on the subject. “Were you hoping to add some dazzle of your own?”

Ephram scrunched his mouth to the side, considering. “Weellllll,” he demurred, “reckon it ain’t such a bad idea to blend in. I don’t wanna look like no narc, do I?” He grinned and touched two fingers to his hairline in introduction. “Ephram. And since it seems like you’s the artist in charge of makin’ folks look good instead of like somebody sneezed silly string all over em, would you be so kind as to colour me up nice?”

Grace lifted her head at Iann’s voice. “Well, at least you didn’t call me Gracie,” she teased, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Charlie let out a laugh. They were pretty sure most people could recognize who he was around here, and while he was a pretty good sheriff, he wasn’t exactly known as a narc. They’d heard of an exploit or two, but Charlie wasn’t about to ask if they were true. “Charlie. And that is my job, so to speak. I do tattoos over at Needle Point most of the time.” A little free advertising never hurt anyone. “What are you thinking you’d like? I can do something a little more surreal and just get the color everywhere or a more specific design if you’ve got some ideas.

"You can teach an old dog new tricks,” Iann grinned back, now prepared for the kiss on the cheek for a greeting, as she’d done it before at Ash’s party. “I wasn’t even sure it was you! Jesus look at you, lady.” Iann leaned back and gave what he considered a very appropriate wolf-whistle at Grace, given the venue and festivities around them. “It’s like you’ve been dipped in a leprechaun’s hot tub. In, y'know, in a sexy kinda way.”

Ephram looked more interested and less bewildered as Charlie offered their name and mentioned Needle Point. “Oh, hey! I been by that place a couple times.” Holding out his left hand, Ephram showed Charlie a somewhat uneven blue stick-and-poke tattoo of the name 'Edith’. “My great grandmaw,” he explained. “Did this when I was thirteen and she passed on. But it’s startin’ to git a mite raggedy – wonder if you’d be able to fix it up without makin’ it look, y'know, fixed up?” He offered a hopeful smile, finally answering the colour question with a drawling, “somethang simple’s fine, no need to slap makeup on a pig.”

God, he actually missed this. It’s been a while since Ryden’s party days, when the young wolf picked up a few odd jobs in a few clubs and underground joints, either bar tending to impress for tips or DJing on stage while the crowds went wild. He liked his vantage point right now, as the large space started to fill up and a random playlist played in the background while he prepared, fine-tuning the set. The shock of electric blue hair made him stand out above the crowd, the skull-shaped make up on his lower face eerily matching his unnaturally white grin. He took another glance over the room, predatory eyes reflecting the light in that odd, spooky way, accented by the black light. The crowd was building up and Ryden figured it was as good a time as any. He picked up the mic. “PARTY PEOPLE IN THE HOUSEEEE~” It boomed across the room, drawing attention. “YOU READY TO GET WILD WITH ME??? I SAID, YOU READY TO GET WILD WITH ME!?” There was a roaring response as people began gravitating towards the dance floor, a sea of neon colors. “LET’S DROP THAT BASS YO.” And then, there was a boom of noise and not even a minute in, the crowd went positively wild, especially when enchanted mist machines blew in a pack of colorful, glittery wolf wraiths to meander about, exploding color and glitter whenever they’d bump into someone. A huge panel lit up behind the stage with explosions of color on the display one probably shouldn’t stare at for too long.

Grace quirked her brow. “Are you calling me an old dog?” she teased, but she knew she looked good, so who was there to deny it? “I like to shake it up every now and then. I’m not as stuffy as I seem sometitmes, you know.” It was a special occasion. She wasn’t that much of a Pride person usually, but it was nice when you had good friends, a partner, and were in the mood for a good time. “I’ll take that as a compliment. How are you?”

Ruby was fairly certain being back at Erzebets was on her list of 'things she would never do again.’ But well… fuck it. This was her last week as a human, and she intended to have as much fun as possible. So the moment she stepped inside the building, she put her mind in 'fun mode’ and didn’t think about anything else. Having opted for a fairly simple outfit: black laceup shorte, white tank top, braided back glittered hair, she made her way towards the first familiar face she saw. “Hey!” she called over the thump of the music, grinning at Grace and Iann as she sidled up into their space.

“I’m the old dog–!” Iann protested but then realized Grace was teasing him and burst into laughter. It was still surreal, even in this surrealist of events, how well they got along. Iann still couldn’t understand why, but some mysteries were best left to be enjoyed. Grace Villiers never ceased to surprise and titillate Iann’s mind. He tried to shimmy his shoulders (it came off more like a jiggle). “You like to shake it up a bit?” he repeated with his little dance, and was about to get a drink from the bartender when the DJ booth exploded in energy-raising noise and heart-pumping demands from the DJ, who the dance crowd completely went wild for. “Let that bass drop, your Ladyship,” Iann smirked at Grace, leaning against the bar. “Hey I know that kid! The one DJing. That Ryden kid, wow. He’s…talented.” He heard another call and looked over at…jesus it was hard to recognize people with all the paint and the glowing and the black light. “….ahhhh….Ru….Ruby? That you?”

Charlie leaned forward and studied his tattoo, flinching slightly as Ryden’s mic picked up and blared his voice across the room. “The party has begun,” they mused, already adjusting to the new noise level. They looked back up at Ephram. “You’d have a few options like a straight touch up or covering it with something larger and working her name back in in a different place. If you stop in later this week or next week, we could talk about it further. For tonight, I could do something more traditional on your face like a demon mask, zebra stripes, or a dot design.”

Maya had considered just skipping the entire black light party. After completely losing her shit at the parade she’d rather not embarrass herself further. But she had wanted to go that morning and still kind of did. She felt a little better too after talking with Fane. When she arrived she’d swapped her causal parade clothes for shorts, a rainbow bandeau and some canvas sneakers she’d painted herself. Her skin she’d hand painted, which had helped calm her significantly, and it might remind a World at Night map. Upon entering she spotted a small group of people she knew, but opted instead to head to the bar first. Glancing up at the DJ stage she had to look for a moment before recognizing Ryden. She smiled in spite of herself before sighing and turning to the bartender to order a drink.

Grace chuckled. “That I can believe.” She loved the drinks at Erzebet’s. They made drinks specifically for vampires, and though she had to say her girlfriend’s were better for loyalty’s sake, these came close. She sipped on a blood Martini, swaying casually to the music. “I’ve been alive a long time, Iann,” she chuckled. “I lived through the flappers and the sixties. I know how to party.”

“Who else would it be?” Ruby asked over the music. “Didn’t think I"d see you here. Didn’t seem like your kinda thing.”

Ephram flinched when Charlie mentioned a possible demon mask, tucking his hand back into his pocket as the music seemed to start thumping physically against his back. “Uh,” he said, “well, now – I always saw myself as more of a giraffe than a zebra, to be honest, so I reckon I’ll give that there dot design a whirl. Even though I got no idea what that is.” He looked around. “Should I sit down somewheres? Or do you got a stepstool you could use? Or I could jes lie on your table I guess…” Ephram was grinning again now, shoving hard to get that demon chill from his bones.

“It’s not,” Iann replied to Ruby with a grin and a wink. He reached out and held both their upper arms, leaning in to talk over the music. “But since I got you both here - has Savin already asked you two to volunteer for the talent show? Open Mic night? Any talent you got. I’m helping with the recruiting and I’m sure you two lovely ladies have oodles of talent just bursting at the seams to show off to an adoring crowd.”

Grace nodded. “I’ve already been coerced into it,” she said with a sigh. At least she’d gotten a beautiful set of knives out of it. “Hi Ruby,” she said with a smile. “Nice to see you again.” Was it just her, or did Ruby smell different?

“Talent show?” Ruby said, scrunching up her nose a bit. “No… he hasn’t yet. All I got is singin’,” she told Iann. “Hey Grace,” Ruby smiled, looking the other woman over. “You too. You look real nice.”

It wasn’t hard for Ryden to notice Maya, being that the bar at Erzebet’s was pretty much right under the stage and he had the best vantage point out of anyone in here. Hell, he could recognize that girl in whatever crowd she mingled. A pang of guilt washed over him as he remembered the incident at the parade earlier and how he’d just slipped away without a word so things wouldn’t escalate with Fane. Reaching for a chug of beer he had set aside, he eased into an ABBA remix, kind of winging it. Just to get her attention, he picked up the mic again. “A cute girl told me ya can’t be sad listening to ABBA, so SING ALONG WITH ME PEOPLE~” The Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie chorus began, the crowd picking up on the well known lyrics and Ryden grinned at Maya below at the bar, motioning her over to join him on the stage.

“Is it dancing, Grace? Please tell me it’s dancing,” Iann said, motioning to the aforementioned dropped bass thumping hard around them. “C'mon give me some dance moves. The Charleston or the Mashed potato or something…” And when ABBA came on, Iann couldn’t help but bop as well. “Ruby, singing is literally a talent that can be performed in front of an adoring audience. You didn’t know that?”

“I can do giraffe,” they said. He seemed slightly more uneasy than a moment ago, but Charlie chalked it up to the music starting and throwing him off. They gestured to the backed chair they’d commandeered for the occasion. Charlie had a stool for themself, though they started out standing for now. They paused, contemplating paint colors before settling on a florescent orange to do the spot patterns. “If you’ve got any wiggling to do, get it out before I start. Give me a few minutes and you’ll be ready to party like nobody’s watching.”

Grace scoffed. “It is not dancing,” she answered emphatically. Grace could dance, but alone on a stage in front of other people? No chance. “I only dance in crowds,” she joked.

Maya thanked the bartender as the beginning of Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie played over the speakers. She looked up, trying to figure out if that was indeed what she was hearing. Ryden’s words then confirmed it and she looked up at him with a smile. While she wasn’t happy with him for clearly antagonizing Fane earlier, nor was she happy with Fane for his behavior, she wasn’t angry with Ryden for disappearing when he did. It would be easy to believe that attempting to help her in that moment would get him only in more trouble. When he gestured for her to come up on stage she hesitated, only because she never liked being on stages. After only half a moment she picked up her drink and joined him on stage. “You should’ve held out,” she said, “I was going to offer to blow you in exchange for playing ABBA.”

Ryden leaned in, just so he could hear her better over the noise, hands never leaving the board. His eyebrows rose and a huge grin stretched his lips “Well SHOOT! Can I get one anyway??”

Ruby gave Iann a withering look. “Yes. I’m aware singin’ is doable in front of folks. Just I"m sure there’ll be a hundred others doin’ the same thing. What about you?” she asked him. “You have a talent?”

Ash loved a good party, and he loved Erzebet’s, so being able to show up to a blacklight party there for pride was pretty much the best idea anyone could’ve had. He turned up with a bare chest, paint all over him, jet black hair and what could only be described as a half jacket, half cape, covering his shoulders with black and gold. He already had a drink in his hand when he spotted Ephram. “Hey Officer Sexy,” he said with a wink and a smile. “What, no handcuffs and hotpants? I’m gonna file a complaint.”

Maya snorted her laughter. “Considering ABBA’s already playing and earlier, probably not today,” she replied with only a little edge to it. She wasn’t happy with what had happened, but it also wasn’t about her. Despite how she’d been affected by it. Although that wasn’t Fane or Ryden’s fault, not really.

“You can dance now, this music’s actually good,” Iann said, taking Grace’s hand and then Ruby’s wrist and shuffling them away from the bar, towards the dancefloor where the crowd was. He bopped along still and shrugged carefree-like at Ruby. “Yeah, but you’ll be the best one out of the pile,” he replied breezily. “Yes, my talent is to not be on stage and kill the audience’s buzz.”

Ephram snorted at the mere idea, saying, “Now do I look like the wigglin’ kind, Charlie? I’m a man, not a nightcrawl–” Naturally, Ephram’s left shoulder started to itch in one barely accessible spot and as he contorted to try and scratch it he also sneezed three times in succession. “I don’t think that counts as wigglin’,” he said to Charlie. “Or at least, don’t tell nobody.” He leaned closer, voice dropping for confidentiality. “Cain’t maintain my dignity as Sheriff if folks know I’m prone to wrigglin’ and wigglin’.”

Charlie laughed at his expense for a moment before leaning in to start painting. They quickly had to comment as Ash appeared behind them with a scathingly quippy comment. “But that wouldn’t go with a giraffe,” they said, feigning annoyance.

Ruby looked up at the stage as movement caught her eye. She saw Ryden with Maya joining him, the wolf smiling at his new companion. Ruby smiled a bit to herself, though she suddenly felt strange and had to come back to Iann and Grace. She made a small 'oop’ sound as she was snagged away from the bar and onto the dancefloor. “If this is you sayin’ you wanna dance, Iann… all you have to do is ask.” She grinned at him, doubting he’d enjoy it if she starting dancing with him, but tempted to try anyway.

Ephram was pulled out of his comment by Ash’s arrival, greeting him with a half-hug and then pulling back to admire the young man’s outfit. “Good Lord, boy,” he hooted, re-situating himself for Charlie’s paints. “You look like you’re trying out stripper costumes. Not that I’m complaining. Or getting out my handcuffs.” Ephram snickered, then said, “You two know each other? Charlie, Ash, Ash, Charlie. The pair of you pretty as sugar pie.”

Ash beamed at the compliments. He lived for this shit. “Thank you, sir,” he said with a nod. He wasn’t exactly looking to hop right back into bed, but there was nothing wrong with a little flirting, especially at Pride. “Charlie and I are buds. Hey babe,” he said, wrapping them in a little hug. “You look incredible.”

Grace joined Iann and Ruby on the dancefloor, not being given much of a choice but also not complaining either. “Iann always has a round about way of asking for things, and it’s always the long way,” she snickered. She took Ruby’s hand to dance with her. “You feel warm,” she commented, curious. “Warmer than usual.”

Ryden noticed the edge to Maya’s tone, painted lips pressing into thin line. Guilt poked at him again. “Yeah, well, I figured.” Was the only thing he said about it before a grin was back on his face again. “Hey, wanna try this thing?” He guided Maya by the hand so she was between him and the DJ set, explaining how the things worked into her ear. “So here’s the volume, the pitch bend, ya change the cue here~ Let’s try somethin’ huh?” He guided her hands over the board, to press this or that, to slide something up or down and alike, each action adding a little something to the music blaring out of the speakers.

Iann was totally content to let the ladies dance together, trying to get into the song and dance more. Because he loved ABBA and because he did kind of enjoy raves, 'back in the day’…but this seemed to just be skipping a beat and a syllable or something and and after a while it started to drive him nuts. Kids these days and their music! “HEY! HEY YO MISTER DJ!!” Iann cupped his hands to his mouth and hollered towards Ryden. “Play Super Trouper! But nothing fancified, just straight-up!”

Charlie leaned in to reciprocate the hug, holding their right hand away from their body to keep Ash from adding any unintentional paint when he looked so planned. “We’ve met a time or two. He loved to get his ass kicked in Mario Kart.” They knew those were fighting words, but they didn’t mind much. “Sheriff, you can talk a little, but try not to move too much with it.” They leaned in to do the giraffe spots on his forehead. Normally they’d be a bit pickier, but this was much less at stake with paint than a tattoo. Plus, it didn’t seem like he intended to be a picky customer.

Maya knew that now was not the best time to talk about it. If only because of how loud it was. Plus she thought she saw a bit of a tail between his legs look on Ryden’s face, which meant he already felt guilty. “Suppose I can’t blame you for trying,” she shrugged with a smile. “I’m not sure that’s a good…” she started to say as he pulled her in front of the board. She listened and nodded as Ryden explained how it worked. Understanding which buttons did what was very different than being any good at it. Luckily before he made her try it on her own Iann shouted that they should play Super Trouper, the classic version. She turned her head to Ryden with a bit of a smug smile, “You heard the people. And when the people are Iann you gotta listen.”

Ephram hummed his assent to stay mostly quiet, but that didn’t prevent him from murmuring with teasing mirth in his voice, “Oh, yeah. I know a lil somethang bout how Ash loves to get his ass … kicked.”

Ash cocked his head at Ephram, giving him a playful little nudge with his shoulder. “Aw shucks, big guy. You’re gonna make me blush. And if you weren’t so damn muscular I just might kick your ass too.”

Charlie let out a strangled choke. So that had happened. They did seem to remember the two flirting during Ash’s party on the beach, so it wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world. “Did you see how he’s dressed?” they teased, knowing he could hear everything. “I think he’s definitely the kind that wants more ass kickery.”

Ryden snorted at Iann, chuckling when Maya supported him. Picking up the mic, he answered to the request. “LAAAAME~~~" The familiar melody did blare through the speakers but it wasn’t a straight up one, it was still a remix but one easier to dance to.

Maya laughed, completely unsurprised when instead of playing the original version of Super Trouper Ryden played some techno remix. "But I think the real question is, are you sad right now?” she asked, grinning.

Ephram snickered at Ash and Charlie bantering, enjoying the particular pleasure of being around people who genuinely liked each other and didn’t mind sharing that easy congeniality. Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Ephram mumbled, “He’s a lil minx, this one, puttin’ on this half an outfit and then makin’ a beeline to me all poses and purring. But did you hear that?” He sounded highly indignant now, waiting for Charlie to finish a few strokes around his mouth before continuing, “he wouldn’t kick my ass on account of I’m bigger'n him! After all the boasting on how he normally could do either.” Ephram finished this overblown complaint with the wisdom: “Ain’t no man who says he could do either who don’t immediately give in to bein’ bottom.”

“Not if you aren’t~” Ryden spoke into Maya’s ear, working on the remix around her, chin resting on her shoulder and body moving behind her so that she’d have no other choice but to move with him to the rhythm of the song.

Iann hopped, flipping Ryden the bird when he drawled out 'Lame’ from his microphone but he played the song anyway and it was exactly what Iann wanted, sounding so retro and old school. “Oh yeah! THAT’S THE STUFF!” Iann clapped for Ryden and angrily elbowed some other nearby dancers to clap for the DJ as well, which they did half-assedly before Iann just started jogging in place backwards to the music, totally getting into it.

Maya turned back to look at the crowd as Ryden spoke into her ear. She smiled as Iann’s dancing caught her attention. “I mean, you do see Iann’s dancing right? That plus ABBA, how could I be sad?” she replied as she moved with him.

Ash flashed Charlie a grin. “Hey, I thought this was a progressive town. A guy can look sexy without necessarily wanting to get smashed,” he teased, then looked at Ephram with a chuckle. “Honestly, if it led to sex every time I flirted with someone I’d never get anything done.”

Ryden snorted at Iann, picking up the mic again. “WATCH OUT FOR THE MAN WITH THE MUSTACHE, HE FARTS IN PUBLIC.” Attention turned back to Maya and he grinned at her. “Good. Wanna go down? I’ll take a break in a bit and join ya?”

“Am I?” Ruby said to Grace as they started to dance. “Do I smell different? God I wonder if I taste different too…” Though the last bit was said mostly to herself.

When Iann started getting a little too enthusiastic his back had something to say about it. A warning twinge in his spine and Iann held the small of his back and paused, tugging his baseball cap so the rim was back to the front (somehow it had migrated backwards). The song was segueing anyway, and regardless of Ryden’s taunts, Iann gave him two thumbs up anyway and then carefully headed back to the bar. Well. At least he’d convinced Ruby to sing (maybe? He’d make sure Fane would double down on her, just to make sure).

Grace chose to ignore whatever was going on with Iann and the DJ, just dancing without a care. “You do. And I’d take a bite, but… we’re in company,” she joked with a snicker.

Maya raised an eyebrow, “Is this you trying to ask me to dance because we both know I’m very bad at that. And I’m not magically high like I was this morning.” She gave him a smile, “But if you want to buy me another drink I’ll let you do that.”

Charlie felt a little like dying of laughter. They stepped back for a moment both to survey what they’d done so far and to give themselves a pause to laugh. “I can believe that,” they said to Ash. They heard Ryden on the mic again and looked over. Sure enough, the man with the mustache in question was Iann. What wasn’t he in the middle of? They stepped forward to add a few more strokes around Ephram’s jawline. “Would you like any other colors to be a giraffe? It’s simple but effective right now.”

“Awww! A'ight, drinks are fine. I’ll need to take a breather anyway.” Ryden let Maya step away from him, helping her off the platform real quick before getting back to his DJing duties for now.

“Is it a… good smell?” Ruby wondered, glancing at Iann and wondering how he had survived as long as he had. Ruby shook her head, watching as he moved back off to the bar. “So… how’s Alia? And this is Erzebet’s,” Ruby grinned.

Maya protested, “You’ve seen me dance. I’m not good at it and I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day.” There was no edge to her tone this time. She was smiling as she said because she knew that after a couple more drinks she’d say yes. Ryden helped her off the platform and they towards the bar.

Grace pondered Ruby’s question. There was something going on that was bigger than just a change in scent. It was the reason behind the change. “It’s… a little like how a werewolf would smell.” If Ruby chose to elaborate, then so be it. “Alia’s good. She’s here somewhere…” Grace glanced around for her. At least she knew she didn’t have to worry about Alia misconstruing anything. It had been over six months since anything had happened with her and Ruby, and they were all friends, at least so she believed.

Ephram laughed, shaking his head as he straightened from the stool. “Nice 'n simple does me fine,” he declared, regarding himself in the mirror on Charlie’s table and exclaiming when he actually saw their handiwork. “Shit, darlin’ – if that’s what you call simple, you must got some real chops on you when you’re workin’ in earnest.” Ephram half-hugged Charlie, saying, “Thanks for this. I din’t know how to fit in here and this helped plenty,” before half-hugging Ash and planting a big, showy, smacking kiss on the naga’s mouth. “Shameless,” Ephram chided him, flicking at the half-cape. “Saucy-pants.” Grinning at them both, Ephram readjusted his bracelet and handcuffs and walkie, saying, “Gotta git back to commingling with the crowd, now I’m properly attired.”

Ephram nodded at Charlie and Ash, moving off through the crowd to leave a request at the DJ station for – what else – Cotton Eye Joe.

Ryden: Once Maya was off the stage, Ryden stepped up his game now that they practically had a full house. Other special effects joined in as the music got super hard core, the bass practically making the entire room vibrate. Confetti exploded from the ceiling, the lights flashing to create a stop-motion effect, spilling color over the walls and the people gathered on the dance floor. Elaborately painted dances went up on the stage, riling up the crowd.

Ruby nodded. “Well… you’re not wrong. I got bit so… that’s what I’ll be in a week. Fun times hm?” Ruby’s voice was mostly matter of fact. Though there was a tiny undertone of fear and perhaps a bit of uncertainty there too. Though she’d become more comfortable with telling people. “I"m glad. I like her alot.” Ruby had no romantic intentions towards Grace, t hough she did enjoy teasing the other woman a bit. Especially because she truly did like her a lot.

Charlie grinned. “I’m glad you like it.” They accepted the hug and snorted at the display between Ephram and Ash. As Ephram walked away, they raised an eyebrow at Ash. “Is there anyone you don’t have wrapped around your finger?” If you say yes, I won’t believe you.

When Cotton Eye Joe came on, Iann perked up, but he knew dancing too much would just get him in trouble. “AW MAN!” he yelled out instead, realizing it was the Sheriff who’d requested it. Iann threw up his hands at the tall witch. “Of course you would. Of course you would!” The worst part was how would Iann be able to resist dancing to this??? He opted to just semi-mosh instead, but as sedate as possible. In the meantime, he kinda hoped Pettaline would jig or clog or whatever yeehaw thigh-slapping dance those mountain men did.

“Oh,” Grace answered. She wasn’t sure how Ruby felt about it, and she wasn’t sure if this was the place to ask. “Well, that explains it then. I’ll take you for a coffee some time and you can tell me all about it,” Grace offered. “What the bloody hell is this music?” she scoffed. “The nineties were a terrible decade.”

Ash didn’t really blush any more but if he did it would be Ephram who made him do it. “That man,” he said with a little swoon, wiping his lips. “And that was some nice artwork. We’re gonna have to schedule another session soon. Feels like I haven’t been inked in forever.”

Charlie smirked before sliding slightly into business mode. “Definitely. I would love to give you more ink. Have something particular in mind?” As they spoke, Charlie leaned against the table to survey the dancing crowd. Iann was flaying around a bit, and while Charlie was tempting to join the crowd, they figured they should stay at their paint station a little longer. “God, this is a fun night. We should do this stuff more often.”

Maya made her way towards the bar. She enjoyed watching other people dancing although she really had no intention of joining them at the moment. Taking a sip of her drink she smiled to herself, glad that she’d decided to come out after all.

Ash sipped on his drink, something multi colored and sparkly, befitting the event. “You know I never have anything in mind. If I didn’t tip so well I’d be a terrible client.” He scrunched up his face at the music. “This DJ is Chaotic and I dig it.”

Ruby gave Grace a smile. “I’d like that, thanks.” The fact that people weren’t making a huge deal out of it when she told them helped tremendously. So Ruby let the conversation move on, looking up as the music changed. “Cotton Eye Joe,” Ruby said. “Ephram must be here,” she grinned, looking over as Iann exclaimed out loud.

Grace arched her brow, still in distaste at the choice of song. “Some sort of inside joke?”

“ALRIGHT YA’LL, KEEP IT LIT, YA’LL! QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT B'FORE WE BACK WITH SOME MORE FINE TUNES FOR YA’LL, THE TWISTER BOARD IS UP, ANYONE WHO’S FEELIN’ BENDY, GIT YER SWEET BOOTY RIGHT O'ER THERE AND LET’S SPIN THEM COLORS!” The music dimmed down to something more generic as Ryden made the announcement, giving some more instructions although they weren’t exactly necessary. Then he took a chance while the Twister event was up to take a break, the large screen panel playing a little video in his absence while the playlist rolled on to keep the music going.

Charlie “Chaos is good,” they said. Charlie eyed the bar. “I want to drink, but I also feel like I shouldn’t get shitfaced if–” They paused as Ryden made an announcement. “Scratch that. I’m going to leave the paints here for people to do what they want. I am playing twister.”

“He just… likes the song,” Ruby shrugged. “Oh my gosh… come on… we should play twister.” She tugged Grace by the hand. “I bet Alia would be great at this game. All bendy and stuff.”

Grace was definitely out of her element tonight, but she sighed and let Ruby drag her. “Alia will definitely be better at it than I am…”

Ash snickered and followed Ruby. “Oh, are you tryna play Twister with a naga? Honey, you got a big storm coming…”

Maya turned to have a better view of paint Twister, but didn’t move to join in. Again she had embarrassed herself enough for one day. As she watched she picked up her very pink drink and took a sip from it.

Ruby grinned back at Grace as she let herself be pulled along. She grinned even wider as she saw Ash join their little duo in heading towards twister. “Honey, you might be a naga, but you’ve never played Twister with me.”

Charlie arrived at the paint Twister station totally ready to play. It looked like they weren’t the only one interested in the game, and that meant a lot of opportunities for fun.

Able to take a break now that the Twister competition was up, Ryden headed for the bar where he knew Maya would be waiting. Finding her, he took up a seat next to her. “Phew, the crowd ROCKS t'night, yo~ How you holdin’ up, babe? Havin’ fun?” He waved the bartender over. “Whachoo drinkin’ there?”

Maya glanced over at Ryden as he came to sit next to her at the bar. “I’m good, less freaked out than I thought I might be,” she replied. She shrugged, “Not sure it was on special.”

Ruby stopped at the twister game, looking around to see how many others would be playing. She saw Charlie and gave them a wave. There was Grace and Ash. “No tails,” she said to Ash. “Doesn’t count.”

Charlie nodded. “Definitely. If my tail can’t give me an advantage. You can’t used yours. The rest of us won’t be able to reach the dots if you’re both slithering around like that.”

“Huh.” In the end, Ryden decided to just get a beer. He got drunk once on some questionable liquor when he DJed. Never again. Sitting close so he could easily lean over and talk to Maya, he took a sip. “Don’t like the crowds, huh?”

“What’s the winner get?” Ruby asked, unsure who was going to be calling the game. “Braggin’ rights? Free drinks? Good snog?”

Maya shook her head, “Not when I know a bunch of them. Perks of growing up famous in a small town.” She couldn’t help but sigh. Even though this town was nothing like the one she’d grown up in. And perhaps most importantly she was hardly famous in this town, not the way she had been. “So how long have you been DJing?” she asked, not eager to talk about her past. Especially not when it had caused such an issue earlier.

Charlie “All of the above, pending who wins and how impressed others are?” Charlie suggested.

Ruby laughed out loud. “Sounds good to me.”

Ryden: “I feel ya.” Ryden grinned over the rim of the neon yellow plastic cup that held his beer. “Uhh, ever since I was legal enough ta go to clubs I guess? Happened completely random, turned out I was good at it so I do it occasionally.”

Lilo was bobbing his head in some corner, or the closest he could get to one. He was interested in the dj, werewolf music, but he was beginning to think maybe he was too old for this sort of scene.

Maya added, “Not that I think I’m famous in this town.” She was certain she wasn’t and had no interest in being so. “And that’s younger than here right? In the US you aren’t supposed to be able to go to clubs until you’re 21,” she said supposed to because she had been to a few long before her own 21st birthday.

Ash threw an arm around Ruby’s shoulder with a grin. “Hey beautiful, long time no see.” He scrunched up his face at the no tails rule. “I guess that makes sense. Can’t do right and left leg when you got a tail. But I’ll still win.”

Iann headed out of the washroom, intending to head out for the night but instead collided with a shorter man. “Hey I’m walking her– oh it’s you. Hey Lopez. Uh…welcome back,” Iann added. “You here for the party?” As if Lilo would be here for some other reason. “You don’t strike me as a….Pride kinda guy.”

Ryden: “Hey, I’m a fan, so I guess ya kinna are~” He threw an arm around her. “Well… Legal was a loose term in my case.” He grinned.

“Butterin’ me up won’t make me go easy on you, no matter how sexy you look,” Ruby grinned at Ash. “But its good to see you too. Though there’s no way you’re winnin’ this.”

Lilo was just about shoved to the side when someone shoved him aside. “Ayy, fuck there watch where you are going…” Iann of course– getting a good look at him now, Lilo sighed and regretted his earlier jump to frustration. It was tough being a shorter guy among the giants that seemed to populate Soapberry. “Yeah, hey Iann. I like this party. I mean, what do you mean I don’t seem that kinda guy?”

Maya rolled her eyes, “C'mon there’s three hundred year old vampires and witches with more power than I’ll ever have. I’m just me.” She had to smile as he admitted that he hadn’t exactly been legal either during his early clubbing days. She lifted her glass in a salute, “Yeah, I feel you on that.” Pausing to take a sip she considered for a moment before asking, “So are you going to tell me what was up with you and Fane earlier?”

Cleared his throat over and over, tugging at the collar of his shirt absently. He couldn’t look at Lopez as he replied. “Y'know, I - you just don’t seem like thatkinda…I mean you know. What with. Anyway. Look at that–!” Iann pointed at the giant Twister map, literally a hasty attempt to distract Lilo from the previous topic. “It’s like a game or something. I thought it was just for kids, Twister right? Now that I’m seeing it, I’m thinking maybe it’s better as a game for adults, not kids.”

“But, apparently, their old butts are not as cute~” He gave her a little squeeze with the arm around her shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at her question though. “He didn’t talk to ya about it?” He figured he would and Maya would hate him because she got only one side of the story. He sighed. “We had a fallout durin’ that blob thing. I crashed his car and he wrecked Princess. So… yeah.” He didn’t have anything against Fane personally - he didn’t even know the guy - but his attitude was just… rubbing Ryden in all the wrong ways. Wrecking his precious ride aside, the guy just acted so high and mighty, even when Ryden tried to fix things and apologize. So Ryden was just responding to that, although that probably wasn’t the right way to go about it.

Charlie looked around. “Do we have anyone to spin the thing? Seems like everyone over here just wants to play. There needs to be some kind of placement caller.”

Lilo narrowed his eyes trying to make sense of Iann’s words and his discomfort. He almost got it but then his attention directed elsewhere “Oh huh, ayy, yeah that’s twister!” He brightened. “Hah! I remember that at parties, nothing past when I was thirteen though, that was when we thought it was lame and didn’t need some board game excuse to get all kinds of close to somebody. hah, remember those days Iann?”

Iann laughed. “No, I don’t remember. I didn’t have friends. C'mon,” Iann nodded for him and Lilo to approach it if only to watch. He heard Charlie’s question though and raised his hand. “Oh, we’ll announce the spinny thing. What do we have to do?”

“Drat,” Grace said. “I was going to volunteer.” Mostly to get out of playing. “Iann, I think you need help. So many people, we must have two referees…”

Lilo found himself tagging along with Iann again, somehow. Too interested in all the excitement to say no, and now he had a fellow old man with him he felt less like an odd one out. “Oye, didn’t have any friends though?” Just couldn’t let that one go. “Referees? I can do that.”

“My buddy Lopez here can referee, easy. Nah, Your Ladyship, you get to do all that bendy-stuff,” Iann flourished a bow at Grace, smirking all the while.

Lilo blinked at the lady, far more put together then he felt. “Ohh, but uh… I mean I can just watch? I don’t want to get in the way of anyone’s fun.”

“Have you seen all their butts though? Can you really be sure?” Maya asked with a smile. She took another sip from her drink before nodding. “Yeah, we talked about it,” she admitted easily because they had, “But both of you were out of line, so…” She shrugged, not sure how to say that there were at least two sides to every story without it sounding ridiculously cheesy. As she listened to Ryden tell his side she nodded. At the end she sighed, “So, should I just expect you two to antagonize each other whenever you’re in the same room?”

Iann shook his head at Lilo. “Well….not like friends my age. Do Aunts count as that kind of friends? I wouldn’t play Twister with them…but we did play Parcheesi.”

Lilo tried not to look like felt bad for every shitty thing he said to Iann after that question, tried very hard. “Uh, no, aunties count only as Aunties friends. But Parcheesi is nice yeah… Sooo, this twister? Is that paint stuff?”

“We fall, we get paint splattered,” Charlie explained. “It also makes the mat and our limbs slickers, so it’s harder but to keep a good balance.”

“No cheating!” Ruby said to Iann. “No weird positions that you think’re funny.”

“Maaaybe~” But Ryden’s grin faded a bit as Maya insisted on the topic. “Look, I ain’t sayin’ sorry twice. Not a reason why we should be in the same room. Not like you gonna invite me home for dinner or anythin’. I’ll steer clear and keep my mouth shut. Cause whatever, I’m just passin’ by, and he’s yer dad and of course you’ll take his side. So whatever. Let’s just forget about it.” He downed almost half of his beer. “I gotta go take a piss.” Obviously sort of miffed, though not at Maya directly, he stood up.

Iann listened to Charlie’s succinct summary of the rules. “Nice! And I promise, cross my heart and let a werewolf eat it,” Iann crossed his fingers and blinked innocently He spun the thing that spins, just to see if it was working. It spun happily, slowing eventually on a colour and symbol and he called out at random. “Hot pink, right hand!”

Grace exhaled. She didn’t know the person Iann was talking to, but Ruby seemed to really want her to play, so she didn’t push it. “No, I’m sure you’ll both to an impeccable job,” she said, getting ready to get into position.

Iann nodded in agreement at Lilo. “Aunts are only Aunts. Hey - if one of them fucks up, you can throw the paint at them.” Iann looked at the little pots of paint, brightly coloured lined in front of them. This was oddly…comfortable. Iann was surprised, considering he was with Lilo Lopez but this actually wasn’t so bad. “You know hombre, I really thought I’d be more of an asshole to you. But I’m not….hah!” Iann clapped Lilo on the back. “I’m so great.”

“Do you seriously think that?” Maya asked, hurt by the implication, “That I’ll just take his side out of some blind loyalty to family?” She set her drink down.

“Ahah… yeah… that was? Thanks?” Lilo didn’t really know what to make of all this but he nodded at the lady Iann had talked to and the nice person that explained the rules. Looking to see if he could do anything referee like before dipping into whatever was this conversation. “Hah, yeah all that slippery stuff probably not that best for me.” He wiggled his prosthetic leg, not that it didn’t shine brightly under the blacklight already, but people were in all sorts of getups and it was hard to tell.

Charlie knelt to put their hand on the pink circle. It was positively radioactive in the black light. Charlie managed yo position for one of the end circles, which they figured would give them more room to start.

Iann was getting into the logistics of this game now, and earnestly shook his head. “No, you wont have to step onto the Twister board, don’t worry. We’ll…” Iann looked around, then pulled one of the large posters off the wall and lay it on the floor next to the Twister board. “There, that’s where the losers stand when they need to be splashed with paint. All you have to do is take one of these paint sticks, swizzle it about in the paint and just like…fling–” Iann demonstrated, accidentally slapping paint onto Maya’s back. “Whoops! My bad!” he called out to her.

When Charlie got themselves situated on the giant mat, Iann hustled back to the thing and spun it with more gusto this time. To Ruby, he called out, “Left foot, acid green!”

Ryden looked down at her, giving a little shake of his head. “What, you’re actually gonna ask him to be nice to me or somethin’? Psshh. He thinks I’m trash, I’m not stupid. I can figure out that much. I don’t need no one bein’ nice to me cause someone told 'um to. I didn’t do it on purpose, yo! A fuckin’… jello-shot hit me on the head and I was trippin’ balls! But nooo, Ryden’s a jerk, he–” and then Maya got hit by a splash of paint accidentally. Ryden couldn’t help but snort a little. “…. that aim, yo. Dangerous.”

Lilo nodded at Iann’s instruction, looking a bit more serious then he wanted too. When did young people’s fun complicate things so much. “Okay, okay, fling paint. Losers get to stand on the shame poster and get more painted… yeah…”

Some part of Lilo couldn’t help but sort of wish he could get in there and win the challenge, it was sort of a shame for him just to twiddle his paint stick.

Maya stood, “Yeah, actually that’s exactly what I did. And I said that much to him as well. That its hardly fair to blame you for something you did under the influence of magic, but more importantly that he should get over it because you and I are friends.” There had been more to the story she knew from talking to Fane himself, but didn’t feel it was hers to tell. She was distracted from her mini speech by paint hitting her in the back and Iann’s voice calling out an apology. “You owe me a beer Iann,” she called back, not angry with him. Seeing as she’d done the painting herself her back wasn’t as good anyway.

Iann couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. “Shame poster…” he repeated in high amusement, and for a few seconds Iann’s eyes shone with that same level of geeky admiration he’d held for a Lock Lopez, werewolf cholo gangbanger, from over 15 years ago. He had no clue what was really going on in the werewolf’s mind.

“Whew I’ve been out of this scene for a while… you seem to know everybody though Iann. You got a lot a friends now huh?” Lilo nodded at Maya, the girl with more paint on her back who seemed engaged in a very complicated discussion Lilo couldn’t over hear but imagined it made twisting even harder.

Iann nodded congenially about the owed beer for Maya and then shrugged lightly. “I mean, it’s useful to know people,” Iann defaulted to his usual reason. “People are useful and all that.” He looked over at Lilo, “You know me, always on the lookout for an opportunity, hm? You settling back into small-town life okay again? Back at that University daycare?”

Ryden groaned audibly at Maya’s words. Seemed like this will be their first little fight. God, this was so frustrating, this whole situation. “I said, I ain’t sayin’ sorry twice. I like you but I don’t gotta like him and I ain’t gonna.” He said his final words, looking away from her. When it comes to stubbornness, Ryden could rival a mule.

Lilo shrugged. “I mean I am settling in mostly yeah. The team at sprouts is a little miffed I have been gone so long my Ms. Ramsey has my back, she knows what it’s like.” Iann sighed, on the lookout for cheaters who let their hands leave the colors and tired to shrug it off. “Ayy ayy! stay in position now.”

Bella had been in the kitchen for much of the night, and then her office as she was slowly becoming concerned that Ryden had let the party be free - and therefore exceptionally crowded - but finally brought together as much of herself as she could to come downstairs, her platform marc jacobs boots easily lifted by the vampire but admittedly very loud. “What on Earth is happening?” Bellamy asked as she approached the ridiculous twister game that seemed to be happening.

“I’m not asking you to like him, I just…” Maya cut herself off and looked down at the floor. She took a deep breath. “I’m just scared I’m going to lose one of you over it and I don’t want that,” she wished she wasn’t blushing, but since she was she didn’t look up from the floor. “I’m sorry,” she added, “It just really freaked me out.”

Ryden snapped his mouth shut. Again, there was this insufferable pang of guilt he shouldn’t feel. “It’s got nothin’ to do with you, babe. Not yer problem to fix. Don’t worry about it.” He sat back down, deciding not to leave after all, at least not yet. “Hey…” He pinched the tip of her chin, trying to lift her head up. “We’re cool. Ain’t the first daddy who tried to chase me away. But I’m like an undead cockroach. I keep comin’ back~ No matter how big his slipper is. He can swat at me all he wants.”

Iann was impressed by Lilo’s referee vigilance, clearly he was the right person for the job. “If you couldn’t do that, what would you do instead?” Iann asked, trying not to make that sound like an interrogative question an older brother might ask the fiancee of his younger sister. Nothing like that at all. He could almost hear Bellamy before he saw her, in those shoes, and turned to goggle at her. “Belle! Hey! It’s giant Twister…wait. You didn’t plan this?” Iann asked, somewhat in shock. He assumed all of the events in Erzebet’s was planned or at least authorized by her.

Lilo clammed up, fortunately the big lady boss arrived just in time for him to avoid answering life and career questions. Unfortunately he felt as if he was now caught red–hot pink–handed doing something in the bar that wasn’t sanctioned.

Bella shook her head at Iann and pointed over to Ryden who seemed to be dealing with some kind of personal thing, way too intense for her to be willing to approach. “Ryden’s idea. Do you really think my idea of a party would be giant twister and paint? If I had planned things it would involve much less clean up after. But how could I say no to a puppy?” Really whatever Lilo was doing didn’t bother her though. Lilo was perfectly sweet and it amused her that he and Iann had such an odd relationship.

Lilo: “Ayy, uh, hello Ms. Miss… Bellamy. You know if you need help cleaning up after I mean… I did accidentally fling some paint around. I would feel bad just leaving it this way.”

Iann waggled Lilo’s shoulder to reassure the werewolf, because he looked like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Ahhhh I don’t know. I don’t know what you kids find fun these days,” Iann teased Bellamy. Lilo piped up then and Iann motioned to him. “Look at that! What a good guy. Looks like you got all the puppies eager to get in your favour, mija.”

Maya spoke softly, “I know.” The not worrying she wasn’t particularly good at, but she could try at least. She let him tilt her chin up, still blushing and feeling stupid and guilty for making it about her. She nodded, “Okay. But can you not call him daddy? It kind of makes me want to vomit and no one wants that.”

“Oh no, obviously Ryden will solely clean this all up,” Bella joked, giving a little giggle as she cuddled herself in the furs she wore. “Why was paint being flung around though? Did I miss something?” she questioned before batting her eyelids. “I am obviously the mother of wolves, all adore me, as I like it.” Lilo obviously didn’t but she enjoyed the light playfulness.

Cassie double checked the posters about DJ Howl before ending up at Erzebet’s. It was busy on a good night, but it had a totally different vibe with the party going on. She could hear the music and feel the vibrations just from standing outside. She took a deep breath and entered. Cassie squeezed between people, glad to see that a fair amount of people were on stage playing some sort of weird twister. Lilo, and several other people she recognized were there. “Having fun?” She called out to specific person in particular.

Ryden: “BWAHAHA okay, yeah, it kind of grosses me out too, just did it cause it annoyed him~” Cause at least Ryden made if very obvious that he was not a mature adult and was very up front about it. Looking up, he noticed that Bellamy was in the house now. “Gotta report to the boss, babe. Be right back.” He scooted away, going through the crowd to reach the teal puff of fur that was Bellamy. “Yoooo~ And here’s our gorgeous host~ Heya baby girl~ Lookin’ goood!”

Lilo laughed awkwardly at Bellamy’s joking. “I mean we flung things, only at the losers though…” Then his eyes were drown over to the door, he couldn’t quite make out what Cassie was saying over the music and the multitudinous conversations but he waved from where he was at the stage. Hoping his bright smile was enough.

Bella raised her brows as Ryden approached, a little amused by his sudden arrival. “We’re the hosts,” she smiled, the skeletal make-up on her face looking exceptionally odd as her own perfectly pearl teeth came through. “Who are both exceptionally beautiful,” Bella assured. “But standing next to Iann aren’t we all?” she teased her Pa. “As long as they were losers,” Bellamy said, turning to see what he was looking at and smiling as she saw Cassie’s dark tendrils in their beautiful curls. “The attack must have been warranted.”

Maya rolled her eyes at his admission. She picked up her drink too, taking a sip from it. “Fine, go be responsible, see if I care,” she replied, smiling again. As for herself she decided to stay at the bar for a few more minutes. She needed at least one to gather herself.

“BWAHAHAHA right, right~” Ryden barked out a laugh, the bottom part of his own skull make up kind of matching Bellamy’s. “Ya’ll guys havin’ fun?” He asked other people gathered there. “Hi Cass~” He gave the she-wolf a little wave.

“Uh I think everyone’s done for the night,” Iann said, when he realized he hadn’t spun the thing in a while. “Unless you guys want to start a new game, I guess.”

Lilo waved again a little bashfully and leaned in close to Iann. “Oye, cabron. Who the heck is that guy in the skull makeup that seems to know Cassie?”

“What other games are there?” Bellamy asked, looking to Ryden for a suggestion while they all waited for Cassie to approach their small collective.

“Full body paint on the stage, color wars aaaand unicorn jello shots drinkin’ game~” Ryden updated Bellamy real quick.

Maya walked over to the game of Twister after a moment. She stood next to Iann and asked, “So, how’s the game Master Spinner?”

“Unicorn shots!” Bella happily requested, linking arms with the large wolf and giving him a grin. “Are they just unicorn in colour and sparkliness or magic too? Iann have some with us. I hardly ever get to see you drunk.”

“Hello! Hi! My name is Lilo nice to meet you. I am Iann’s friend Lilo.” He smiled and extended his hand to Maya as an introduction, trying to be more cheery than awkward. He really was off his game lately.

Iann’s eyes flicked from Ryden to Lilo. “That lobo. Eso es Ryden,” Iann replied to Lilo. “He’s just a kid,” he supplied, but then again maybe Ryden was older than Cassie? Iann couldn’t be sure, werewolves’ aged differently. He looked down at Maya, and wiped a hand down her back. “At least it washes off. I think. Apparently Ryden was in charge of this, not Bellamy. You know Bellamy would look after details like that but Ryden’s like - ” Then Lilo barged in and Iann grinned, getting a weird vicious glee from Lilo’s awkwardness. He was usually so cool and social, ha ha sucker. “This is Maya, this is Lopez. Lilo, Lilo Lopez.”

“I got no clue~ But I caught a glimpse and they sure look pretty~” Rydenadmitted, tucking Bella’s arm more comfortably under his.

Cassie hurried to the stage when she got not only a wave from Lilo but a greeting from…Ryden. She just needed to get a little bit closer to realize it was him. “Hi!” She waved, speaking a little bit louder than normal. She smiled at Bellamy, standing closer to her when she first stepped up towards the group wrapping up their Twister, “Unicorn shots? They don’t have actual unicorn do they?” She asked playfully, somewhat laughing at herself. “I bet I could win a drinking game.” Cassie mused.

Iann looking over at Bellamy, Iann shook his head. “Oh hell no, I’m not drinking tonight, mija. Go get drunk! I’ll hold your hair back when you’re puking and Ryden’s singing ABBA in the bathtub, totally plastered.”

Maya shrugged, “I’m sure I’ll figure it out. And if all else fails, magic,” she replied, not worried about the paint Iann had gotten splattered about her other than to tease him about it. When Lilo introduced himself she smiled back, “Name’s Maya.” She switched her drink to her other hand in order to shake Lilo’s hand. “Nice to meet you too,” she added.

Miguel had been doing his behind the scenes things. But people were playing now and he didn’t need to be behind a table or ushering people anywhere. So when he was Iann having fun and hangout out with people he figured he might as well go say hello. Miguel walked up to the group a little nervously, he was in his blue and pink T-shirt that said “trans dad” on it - hawthorn has given it to him to thank him for helping with the event. “Hey! Iann and friends.”

“How exactly are they a drinking game then?” Bellamy asked, before happily smiling at Cassie, glad the werewolf woman felt happy being close to her. After baking breast cakes together they were definitely friends. “Oh, don’t get Iann started about unicorns, they couldn’t possibly because according to him they don’t exist. But hee should drink anyway,” she said, frowning at him that he’d said no. “Doctor!” she let out with a grin when Miguel arrived, squeezing Ryden’s arm in the process.

“Unicorns do not exist!!” Iann called out randomly, only because he heard the word unicorn and felt compelled to proclaim this. “Hey Miguel - wait.” Iann read the t-shirt a couple times over. “Ayyyy I didn’t know you were a father! Unless you mean you’re a daddy in which case that’s none of my business.”

“Excuse you, old man, I sing Bonnie Tyler when plastered.” Ryden glanced down at Bella. “Oh, ya get your hands tied behind your back and ya get timed how many ya can drink without spillin~”

Miguel chuckled and waved, still a little sheepish. At least he recognized her and the man on her arm. “Bellamy,” he said with a nod. “Student,” he said at the young wolf whose name he never actually got.

“Or is it his business?” Bellamy winked at Miguel, smirking happily. “I can definitely do more shots than you without spilling, even if I was human I could drink you under the table,” she assured. “Anyone else want to join?” Bella asked, figuring they’d have to move closer to the bar to give the game a go.

“Holy shit, abuelo do you ever shut up?” Miguel rolled his eyes but playfully pushed his body into Iann’s side. “Hawthorn made it for me. Because I’m a dad friend or a father figure I guess.” He was blushing just a little.

“Wait, if we’re playing a drinking game I’m 100% in,” Maya piped up.

“Iann’s too grumpy for drinks.” Cassie crinkled her nose at Iann after he refused the idea. Not that it shocked her or anything. Cassie didn’t drink, but she really never saw Iann drink either. She laughed openly again when Ryden explained the drinking game. It was very college-esque. But then, Cassie had never taken part of it. “I’ll give it a whirl.” Cassie shrugged.

“Oh sorry, Bright Eyes,” Iann called out to Ryden, then motioned at Maya. “Hey that’s the spirit, all of you drink and I’ll referee, go on.” And when Cassie volunteered to join in, Iann was truly surprised. “Cassandra Margaret Germaine!”

“Unicorns do exist…” Ruby said to herself, though she would never convince Iann even though she and Alia had SEEN one. “They do exist Iann!!”

“Hi doc~” Ryden snorted at the 'student’ part, looking down at Bellamy to explain and kind of brag. “I been doin’ my homework~” But then he had to wiggle out of Bella’s grasp. “Ya’ll, gotta pass on this, I’m workin. You have fun, mmkay?”

Lilo had taken a step back from the conversation once introducing himself to Maya, wouldn’t want to be rude, but he sort of just enjoyed being around people and talking again. Leirsurely and friendly like, he missed this. “Ayyy, that is my beautiful wife! Ah, almost wife.” He smiled at Cassie enjoying herself.

“Dad friend, okay okay,” Iann chuckled at Miguel, waving him forward too. “I’ll accept that. Hawthorn knows how to treat a parent-figure.” He whirled and wagged a finger at Ruby. “They do not exist!”

“You have to work?” Bella raised a brow. “Fine, be responsible.” She rolled her eyes before happily attaching herself to Cassie, grabbing Maya with her other arm. “We shall have to show the boys how it is done as they are all clearly aware we’ll beat them.”

“Laaaaaame,” Maya replied when Ryden excused himself on the reason of work, imitating perfectly the tone of voice with which Ryden had earlier mocked Iann. She didn’t say more than that about it though.

Ruby hung back from the game, pulling up a seat beside Iann. Not because she didn’t want to play, but because she didn’t want any lingering awkwardness between herself and Bellamy to make the game weird. “They do exist…” she said again to Iann. “But not like you think. Ask Alia…”

Freddie wandered up, already slightly tipsy - fairy biology at its finest - just in time to hear his partner admonish his ex-wife, and he sighed dramatically. “Are we on unicorns again? Or is this something new you don’t believe in?”

Lilo nodded at the newcomer Miguel. “Oye! Sorry friend,” he moved forward to shake Miguel’s hand. “I’m Lilo, Lilo Lopez. Iann’s friend.” Sort of, mostly less antagonistic these days but that was better left out especially in front of Cassie.

Charlie remained crouched as they waited for everyone to take their turn. “I’ve heard a lot of big talk. Can any of you live up to it?”

Miles This sort of party was definitely outside of Miles’ comfort zone. He didn’t think he’d been to a party like this since college, and even then this was definitely ten times more intense than any of the college parties he’d been to. Not to mention so many people had face paint or glitter or overall strange outfits and hairstyles, and the lights were strobing and there was either a smoke machine or someone was throwing powdered paint in the air. He pushed his way through a throng of dancing people, trying to find a familiar face.

Lilo slapped Iann on the chest, lightly and with the back of his hand. “Ayy, spin the spinner guy. People are waiting to win.”

Iann harrumphed. “I already talked to Alia and all amount of talking ain’t gonna make them any more real. It’s not that I don’t believe you, Ruby,” Iann said in an indulgent way, smirking at her. He pulled a chair backwards and hunkered down on it beside Ruby. “It’s that I don’t believe any of you wishful thinking delusional liars. And I mean that in the nicest way, I swear!”

Miguel shook his hand and grinned. So that was his other werewolf neighbor, and the other Chicano Iann has mentioned. Miguel just had to wink at him. “You’re the other Chicano in Soapberry Iann mentioned. We’re neighbors!”

“Freddie!” Ruby grinned, reaching over and snagging his arm to pull him closer. “Tell him unicorns exist. I saw one, remember? Telll him and he’ll believe you,” she mock whispered. Which was meant to be a real whisper but failed.

Cassie nodded in agreement with Bellamy, “That’s right. Lilo!” She called turning back to see him still lingering with Iann and Miguel, she was going to ask if he wanted to come watch but seemed well distracted. She leaned in and told Bellamy, “They’re clearly intimidated.”

Freddie’s mouth fell open in mock offense, and then he laughed, the drink in his hand sloshing a little. “Oi - I’m a very grounded liar, I’ll have you know…” He felt a hand on his arm and stumbled a bit as he was tugged sideways, but lit up when he saw who the hand belonged to. “Hello, love,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek, “You look gorgeous…” But he shook his head. “He won’t,” he said firmly, “Iann’s bound and determined to think they’re a fairy story…” Freddie grinned again. “As opposed to a fairy reality.”

Iann watched Miguel and Lilo talking and it felt weird to see them, but not in a bad way. Just in a way that suddenly felt like strings being pulled from the back of his throat. But then a tipsy fairy tottered over looking all sparkly and cute, as Ruby pulled Freddie closer. “I won’t believe anyone, I keep telling you! Some people don’t believe in ghosts though. Now that - that is absolutely loco.”

“I mean why wouldn’t they be? Lilo and Iann are obviously total light weights,” Bella agreed with Cassie. Freddie being tipsy and approaching was almost enough to distract the vampire when Miles showed up, likely unable to recognise her with the make-up adoring her face, but not quite enough. “Miles!” she screamed with excitement, letting go of the two women she had attached herself to and grabbing him, pulling him towards the collective. “You’re not working!” she beamed happily, planting a black lipped kiss on his own.

“Are we?” Lilo smiled in surprise. “Well I should be more neighborly It would have been nice to meet another Chicano! All I’ve had to deal with was this guy.” He nodded back to Iann, teasing the man as he got deep into unicorn discourse.

“I’m sorry we haven’t met sooner then.” Miguel rolled his eyes in Iann’s general direction. “Abuelo, unicorns exist. I had to lure one, slay it, and use its blood, bones, and horn for a spell when I was a preteen.”

Bellamy dropped Maya’s arm when a man that Maya did recognize came up to the group. It seemed they might not actually get to the drinking game. She wasn’t too worried about that though. Instead she was content to listen as Iann argued that unicorns were by no means real. Given his knowledge about the supernatural she was liable to believe him. Of course it wasn’t particularly pressing as far as issues went.

Grace had eliminated herself from the twister as soon as possible and managed to avoid any paint baths with stern glares and quick movement. She started mingling again, noticing immediately when Freddie had walked into the room thanks to his very Freddie energy. “Where are your short-shorts?” she asked, tssking.

“Nooo, no tell me you are joking.” Lilo was aghast at Miguel, fully forgetting what he’d been up to as a teenager. His eyes darting this way and that, distracted a bit by all the colorful outfits to get a good read on the crowd.

Cassie blinked at Bellamy’s sudden burst of excitement but quickly found the source. Miles. She’d spoken about him before, and Cassie smiled with a silent little wave that he may or may not have seen. Cassie was glad to know him and Bella were still doing well. “Are you going to come watch us drink unicorn shots?” Cassie called to Miles next.

Ruby looked back at Iann, the motion jostling Freddie where she still had her hand wrapped around his arm. “You’re like… fucking Mulder but without the… I wanna believe part. I’m gonna… bring you a unicorn and then… theeeeeen you’ll believe me.” She pointed at Iann, though her aim was off and she ended up pointing out into the crowd a bit.

Lilo will forever live with the shame he missed Grace with the loser’s paint and accidentally hit two innocent party-goers as she darted out of the way I am sure.

Freddie turned when he heard Grace’s voice in his ear, and grinned at her. “Wore them earlier, didn’t I?” he teased. “Thought I’d show off some other assets tonight.” He leaned in and bussed her cheek. “You, however, put me to shame, you gorgeous thing. How are you?”

Grace wrapped Freddie in a hug, kissing his cheek as was her usual greeting. “And what wonderful assets they are. Were you in the parade?”

“We’ll play with just girls,” Bellamy said to Cassie as Miles said he would watch, figuring that was a fine enough reason for Miles to join the rest of the men in not attending. “Maya you still going to join? Ruby?” she asked, looking towards the other woman she didnt know, they all seemeed pretty focused on Iann’s discussion about unicorns existing or not though and Bella didn’t want to insert herself too much with Freddie there, especially since it was such a rare occasion they were at the same event.

In the sea of smells and sounds, Miles barely registered that someone had called out to him, but realized fairly quickly that Bellamy had grabbed him and dragged him towards a group of moderately familiar people, “Yeah, I got someone to cover my beat,” he returned her kiss with a smile, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He nodded his head at Cassie as she waved, and said a quick, “How’s it going?” As a general greeting. “Unicorn shots? I didn’t think that sort of thing existed, but sure, I’ll watch.”

Iann made it like he was listening keenly to Miguel’s claim of knowing a unicorn, nodding in interest until he proclaimed, “Nope, you were fooled by a fake-corn.” He grinned when Rubby said she’d bring one to him, rubbing his hands in glee. “Ahhhh now we’re talking! Bring me a unicorn. Because you know the mere presence of me next to a unicorn would supposedly cause it huge agony. That’d be hilarious.”

Freddie laughed. “I was a bit, yeah. It was smaller than I’m used to, but good fun all the same.” He winked. “Bit of magic in the air makes all the difference. Did you and Alia attend?”

Maya nodded, “Yeah, I’m still in.” This was especially true seen as she had nothing to add on the subject of the realness or lack of when it came to unicorns. Plus she had been in plenty of drinking contests at Pride in New York and saw them as part of the fun.

Charlie almost slipped and fell as they maneuvered on the Twister mat. The group was getting smaller, but it was also becoming more entangled as they continued to play.

“Ayy, gee Iann you are such a stand-up guy.” Lilo raised his eyebrows, giving Miguel a nod, then peered out to wave at Freddie. “Oye amigo! You look shiney and good. Having a fun time?”

Cassie rolled her eyes at the group huddled debating unicorns. It had been a joke when she asked, but apparently the topic was too hot to let be. “Okay, but do you have any idea what kind of alcohol it is?” Cassie asked Bella, wanting to know at least somewhat she should expect. She waved Maya over silently so the girl wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.

Miles leaned his head to kiss Bella’s cheek, but she had so much makeup on and he didn’t want to mess up what no doubt took hours to accomplish, so he planted the kiss to the top of her head and whispered into her ear, “You look beautiful.” Then he responded to Cassie suddenly, “No no no, you’re not supposed to know what sort of alcohol it is! That defeats the purpose of getting drunk.”

Ruby smiled as Freddie saw her and gave her a kiss. He seemed a bit drunk, which was hard for him to achieve, but seemed happy. That was good. Happy was good. For everyone. “You look beautiful too. And you have to convince him because it’s true.” Grace came to greet Freddie them and she turned to Iann as the two embraced. “What do I get if I bring you a unicorn? Oh… yeah, sure. Okay…” Ruby was a bit unsure as she got up, snapping h er fingers at Iann and gesturing between the two of them with an 'i’m watching you’ gesture before going over to the game.

Charlie wiped out and completely biffed it, smearing paint all over their white pants. That had been the goal, though, and it wasn’t the first paint smears of the night. They stood up and looked around. Spotting Iann and a few others in a clump, Charlie headed over. “What mischief are we causing over here?”

Ruby squeezed in beside Maya, looking around to see what they’d be drinking. She was good with tequila, not so good with whiskey and vodka.

Cassie smiled somewhat lopsidedly at Miles when she scoffed, “What? They could serve me rubbing alcohol and what fun is that!” She raised her hands in defeat though, “But fine, to be fair you don’t have to tell me.”

Bella happily leaned against Miles side, pulling his arms so they were wrapped around her middle. The whisper in her ear making her cheeks grow with a flushing, especially since in their environment at least half the people could still hear what he’d said with some kind of supernatural hearing. “Exactly!” she agreed with her partner. “Plus Ryden didn’t mention anything beyond unicorn and he was sort of in charge of this thing. It’s definitely not poisonous…” she rolled off. “You know, beyond alcohol being generally alcoholic.” With that Bellamy dragged Miles over to the bar, assuming anyone who wanted to join would follow, requesting one of the bartenders to line up a bunch of the shots.

Grace had another drink in her hand, probably her third or fourth that night. She wasn’t drunk, but she was in a pleasant and relaxed mood, in spite of the crazy music that had been playing. Definitely not her usual taste. “We were! We had a lovely time. I saw Ephram around.”

Ruby silently wondered if she would have any sort of…. pre-shift advantage over anyone. That would be neat, her brain though idly. "Iann should play because he DOESN’T BELIEVE and how can you get drunk off somethin’ you don’t believe in…“

Freddie realised belatedly that someone was waving at him, and, squinting slightly, not entirely sure who it was, he waved back. Though when he noticed the wolf on the bloke’s shirt, and the word 'amigo’ finally permeated, the fairy smiled broadly, no longer confused. "Lilo! Hello, darling,” he called. “It’s been ages…” Freddie glanced down at his bare chest, gleaming silver, and smirked. “And I suppose I am a bit shiney, yeah - but it’s been a good day. Good party, too. What about you, love? Having fun? Where’s your missus got to?”

Cassie followed right behind Bellamy and Miles taking a seat at the bar and adjusting her dress before she leaned an elbow on the table. “So what did Ryden say? Whoever drinks the fastest? And I guess whoever falls off their stool last wins?” Cassie went to clarify.

“Magic is mostly belief,” Miguel said with a smirk. “I’ll play if Iann plays.”

Miles wasn’t too sure what sort of unicorn conversation was going on in the sidelines, but he laughed as Ruby tried to convince Iann to join their proposed drinking game. “The shots seem real enough but I doubt there’s any actual unicorn essence in them.” He helped hand them out but he, of course, wasn’t going to partake himself.

Maya made her way over to the bar. She flashed the bartender a thank you smile. “I think it was most shots without spilling in some amount of time,” she replied, “Oh and no hands.” As she said the last part she put her hands behind herself as if they were being cuffed. She didn’t sit though. Standing gave her a better angle.

“Uh huh! Yeah I feel like I haven’t seen you since the ring thing! That worked real well tho!” Lilo smiled and pointed to the love of his life Cassie who was barreling forward into a drinking contest to get herself plastered as all get out. He sighed, a bit stary-eyed, “Ay there she is, about to drink this bar under the table, or fall right on her face.”

“Iann doesn’t believe in unicorns,” Ruby said to the person she didn’t know. “He’s just chicken I think…”

Freddie beamed at the mention of his husband. “Did you? I haven’t found him yet. He had some police business that needed seeing to,” the fairy smirked, “-so seeing to me will have to wait for a bit.”

“You drink for me, hermano,” Iann said to Miguel, and laughed when Ruby called him out. “I am a chicken! Look guys - the sky is falling down!”

“Exactly what Maya said,” Bellamy nodded, knowing that it was at least the three of them and Miles watching. He wasn’t exactly an unbiased judge. “Anyone else?” she asked, checking to see if Ruby and Miguel were joining them.

“Oh…” Cassie nodded along with Maya, placing her hands behind her as well and looking to the other women along the bar to know when to start.

“I’m in,” Ruby said.

Miguel shrugged. He had done his work for the day. Might as well have a little fun. And he was a sucker for alcohol. “Alright I’m in.” He stood next to Bella with his hands behind his back.

Lilo turned to look back, nodding at Miguel’s answer, and addressing Freddie directly. “I am having tons of fun… uh.. I seem to be under-dressed though.” He looked down in regards to his radical wolf tee and khaki shorts. “Everyone else seems so prepared for this, uh, pride thing.”

Charlie sat down beside them ready to go. “Count me in for strange drinking games. Just explain to me what we’re doing.“

Miles clapped Iann’s shoulder, "Guess we’ll be the sober judges.”

“Miles? Miles! You look so…” Iann looked the man up and down. “…Straight.”

“Iann come drink and you can video me next week in your cave pit…” Ruby had no idea how that might sound to others that didn’t know the details, but she really coudln’t be arsed to care.

“Shocker of shockers…he might possibly be…straight,” Bellamy turned to Iann with wide eyes before nudging Miguel. “You’ll let me win right? To curry favour with Iann? I am his prized child.”

Miles nodded, “What clued you in? Is it the jeans?”

Freddie clapped Lilo reassuringly on the shoulder. “There isn’t a dress code for Pride, love,” he smiled - albeit a little drunkenly. “I promise you’re fine.” The fairy grinned. “Though I can glamour you something a bit sparklier if you like.”

The bartender gave each of the players a myriad of the glittering unicorn themed shots, enough for each to make it through the minute with more to spare. Looking to Iann and Miles the bartender counted down, girls putting hands behind their back. Finally he let out a “Go!” and the game began.

Lilo laughed, a bit bashfully out of his normal character. “I mean, I’m good. Thank you for the sparkle offer but really. I mean, I’m fine not drawing too much attention to myself. But hey, aren’t you sparly enough to rub off on everyone tonight?” He joked back to Freddie, slowly edging closer to the bar to see his fiance compete.

Grace nodded. “I think he was in uniform, or at least a version of it.” Not that they seemed to have needed the police so far. The town was pretty chilled out. Even the almost fight between Fane and Ryden hadn’t escalated to anything involving violence.

Ruby leaned over and wrapped her lips around the shot glass, stopping the flow of brightly colored liquid with her tongue as she tipped her head back and swallowed. Christ it was sweet. She sat the glass back down and moved on to the next, repeating the motion one after the other.

Charlie grabbed the first one and nearly gagged just from how sweet it was. They’d been expected sweet with a name like unicorn, but maybe not that sweet. With only a momentary pause, they grabbed the next to keep drinking.

“Ruby, I am drinking, technically,” Iann said, nabbing some club soda from the bartender. “So now I get to film you in the sinkhole. Booyah.”

At the sound of go Maya picked up the first few shots with her teeth and easily tilted them back into her mouth. On the third one though, the glass slipped out of her mouth and shattered across the bar. Luckily they were spread out enough that the flying shards only injured her. But she did get sliced by a piece under her rainbow bandeau. “Oh fuck,” she said, immediately making sure that it wasn’t stuck in there. “First aid kit?” she asked the bartender.

Muscle memory from med-school kicked in and Miguel started drinking shots like a well oiled machine.

Miles grabbed a wad of napkins from the bartop when one of the shot glasses fell and broke with a shatter. “Careful there,” he offered the napkins to the younger woman.

“Whoa whoa whoa! What kind of violent game is this??” Iann said, because he hadn’t really understood the game until one of the glasses shattered and Maya was asking for a first-aid kit. “Miguel’s a doctor. But also maybe this isn’t the best game for increasingly drunk people to play if one of you is gonna start bleeding for it. No game’s worth that,” Iann intoned in surprise.

Lilo began enthusiastically clapping his hands. “Whoo! Go Cassie! Ay! Show them how a real lobo drinks. I am behind you and I will hold your hair all night mi tesoro.”

Ruby nearly lost her third shot as well. Her tongue was tingling from the sheer volume of sweetness. Which was perhaps a bit ironic considering the unicorn she’d seen had been a half-rotten, zombieish sorta thing. On her fifth one, she looked over to see the new face keeping up with her and the others.

Maya waved off Iann’s concern, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just a dumbass.” She took the man she could only guess was Bellamy’s boyfriend with a “Thanks,” and started cleaning up after herself. It was a shallow cut, certainly not the worst she’d had. Mostly she just felt annoyed that she was the first one out of the game.

Cassie was careful with the first shot glass, but as soon as the alcohol poured over her tongue and she realized how sweet the concoction was she smiled to herself, moving faster and a little more confident with the other shots handed out. It was almost like liquified sugar, and that Cassie could handle. Lilo’s cheering definitely helped too.

Freddie nodded, a small smile playing on his lips at the thought of Ephram in uniform - even today’s rather whimsical version of it. “He can’t be too far off,” he said, “I heard Cotton Eye Joe play not long ago, and I’d bet my arse that he’s the reason why.” Glancing around for a moment, he turned back to Grace. “Is Alia here somewhere too, love?”

If Ruby could drink Ephram’s moonshine, she could drink more of this unicorn fizzy sugary… stuff. She had a hell of a sweet tooth, but seven shots in was making her doub herself. She didn’t feel sick, but as she looked over at Cassie and saw the progress the woman was making, Ruby didnt know if she could keep up.

Iann looked over at the bartender, not convinced that Maya being a 'dumbass’ prevented danger. He knew the bartender was a witch and so Iann asked, “Hey, can you charm these glasses not to break? And do you know a healing spell?” The bartender nodded and used a few spells to clean up the shards as well as break-proof the glasses.

Grace glanced at Ruby. Whatever she was drinking was incredibly intoxicating. “Hm, yes. Ruby said he must have something to do with it… An inside joke?”

Miles helped the bartender clear up the broken shot glass and wipe down the bartop. “Damn Bellamy, you go babe!” He cheered her on as she knocked back shot after shot.

“Whoo! Magic! Pride! Drinking!” Lilo was getting a bit too enthusiastic getting wrapped up in all the excitement.

“Oh my god I thnk I’ve got diabetes…” Ruby said as she took a small breath before readjusting her stance and wrapping her mouth around the next glass. IT went down smooth and she coughed just a little bit as she put the glass back down.

“Maybe we should line up some water after this,” Miles wondered aloud.

Charlie picked up the next glass without really looking and didn’t quite get a good grasp on it. “Shit!” they said as they almost dropped it. Thankfully Charlie managed to catch it before it hit the counter, but it still spilled everyone. “Guess that’s me.” They’d had enough that the sugar was threatening to overwhelming them, but the alcohol hadn’t quite hit yet. Not hard anyway.

Bella was drinking rather easily, she didn’t exactly have a technique so much as she was acting how she did as a teenager, and admittedly she loved sugary sweet things as Miles had seen from the dessert spreads she had done, still she smiled happily as he cheered, wishing she could nudge the wolf and share a happy moment they had two wolf-dads egging them on.

Lilo clapped his hands on this guy Miles’ back. “Water! That is such a good idea amigo! Party, but with responsibility and smartness- uh, niceness. you know what I mean. being responsible.” Lilo smiled again and nodded to a bartender to get a club soda of his own. “This is a wild drinking game. I got to say when I was a kid there were no unicorns. It was just beer and liquor and the game was to see who got drunk quickest.”

Miguel’s soft baby esophagus started to get worked up and he made a really terrible noise before running to the bathroom.

After a bit, your mouth and throat just sorta go numb, so as the contestant got weedled down one by one, Ruby wondered if she just might be able to win despite most of her talk being of the smack variety. Though if she /did/ lose, at least she was technically human against a wolf and a vamp as the only other guy that was left suddenly made tracks.

“Ooooh, eeeeh,” Lilo sucked in air through his teeth sympathetically as he watched Miguel run to the bathroom. Practically hearing the rough noise of defeat.

Iann burst out laughing. “Miguel!! Are you okay?!”

Freddie laughed, shooting a glance at his ex-wife. “Sort of,” he chuckled. “For whatever reason, that horrible song always puts Ephram in the mood - so, now it rather puts me in the mood too.” The fairy rolled his eyes at himself. “But let’s have another drink, yeah? And then you can tell me something mortifying about yourself in order to level the playing field again.”

Cassie side-glanced over at Bellamy down the bar and arched a brow with a curled grin at the corner of her mouth. It was just short of smug, but in competitions Cassie could get cocky and she and Bella were doing well.

“Yeah, water’s a good idea,” Maya agreed with a hopeful nod to the bartender. Satisfied that she wasn’t bleeding too much she turned her attention to the remaining contestants. A moment later she had a water glass and this one she was more cautious with. She drank nearly half of it in one go though, knowing that the sugar would make her hangover that much worse.

Miles nodded pointedly at the man who had been cheering on Cassie, “Yes, exactly! It was just plain ol’ vodka shots or tequila shots back in my day.” He sounded like an old man. Then one of the contestants made a strangled sort of noise and ran off, to where he assumed the bathroom was. “He’s going to need to eat something. Maybe get some food going around after this too.”

Bella’s idea of…well, not really having a technique didn’t work out for her. Picking up the glass and the scent of blood in the air finally hitting her nose her fangs descended and the glass slipped from her mouth, happily bouncing off with the bartenders spell before she laughed and turned to Miles. “Do you have a glass of water for me to help my awful breath?”

Grace didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe, so she did a mixture of both. “Oh, bloody hell. That’s hilarious.” She glanced around at what she could only assume was a drinking game going on. “Can fairies hold their booze?”

Surprisingly, Bellamy fell out of the game, leaving just Ruby and Cassie. She glanced over at the other woman who was doing shots like they were water. There were worse ways to lose. “Can I get a kiss if I beat you?” she asked Cassie as she turned back another shot.

Miguel walked back to the game slowly, running his face with paper towel. He felt gross. It was so easy to make him vomit, and it was getting worse as he got older. He should have known better than to play a drinking game. “I’m okay,” he said and then leaned on Iann.

Lilo excitedly clapped again. “Ayy, I mean. Like greasy food yeah? Food like that is good for drinking right friend?” Lilo nodded over at Miles, happy to induct more people into his growing circle of friendships this night.

Charlie reached around Maya to grab another glass of water for themself. It was definitely a good idea, but they figured it was too little too late to stop a hangover. Starving off the worst of it seemed like a positive note, though, so they gulped down the water and asked the bartender for more. They were still in “speed mode” from the shots.

“You poor thing,” Iann said sympathetically, and handed Miguel a glass of water. “You need anything else papito? We can go get some fries after this or something.” Iann always liked downing boatloads of crappy food after his old drinking binges.

Iann nudged Charlie as well, “Honestly my money was on you.”

Maya “Did someone say fries?” Maya asked, turning in the direction of Iann’s voice, “We should definitely get fries.”

“Yes man, gotta get some shit fries or some chips and dip.” Miles’ attention was distracted though as Bellamy lost her grip on her shot. “Yes baby,” he grabbed a filled glass of water off the bartop for her. “You did good.”

Charlie blinked in surprise before a grin spread across their face. “I mean I am great, but I have to admit this isn’t really my typical. I’m all about the scene, but I tend to be more easygoing with my drinks. Give me a glass of scotch over this marathon of sugar any day.”

“Papito comiendo papitos,” Miguel said with a chuckle. “Please. I need the salt.” He grabbed one of the many bottles of water and drank it slowly.

Freddie laughed and shook his head. “Not even a little. Fairies are the first ones under the table-” he winked, “-and under the host.” Freddie laughed again, his tipsiness shining through a little more strongly. “Or at least I am, any road. Whereas vampires, I know, barely feel a thing.” His eyes sparkled. “Unless you’re the exception to the rule.”

Bella took the glass from Miles, sipping it gently. “Ah well, I’m exceptionally beautiful, I can lose at other things,” Bellamy shrugged, wrapping a free arm around his middle and leaning onto him. “You guys getting burgers?” she asked the collective of Dad-Bros.

"Fries it is! I know a great place that uses beef tallow. Or like…something vegan if you’re vegan or whatever.“ Iann nodded at Charlie. "Yeah, the sugar is really what kills, these drinks are nuts. Come get fries!”

Cassie was sort of startled to see Bellamy drop out of the game and looked over at Ruby when the other woman spoke to her. Cassie didn’t know what to say. Her mouth hung open for a moment and all she could say was “Uh…” Before she tried to take another shot, but now Cassie was unsure of herself, and the glass slipped spilling alcohol out on the bar and it trickled down onto the skirt of her dress. Cassie jumped up wiping at it frantically, “Shit, shit.” She hissed before running off to clean it in the bathroom.

Ruby hadn’t intended what she said to distract Cassie, but apparently it did and CAssie dropped her shot. Ruby swallowed the last of her (last) shot, and grimaced as seh looked around. “Did I win?” she grinned. “Because that was… awful,” she laughed, wiping purple foam from her lips. “Did I seriously win though?? Holy shit…”

Lilo’s mouth dropped open. “Ooh oh shit.” Lilo grimaced at the mess on Cassie’s dress know this wasn’t goin gto be an easy night. “Oh, oh, lobocita, mi tesoro are you okay? Oh honey.” He rushed to her side, willing and ready to comfort Cassie in her loss.

“You cheated! And it was great,” Iann simultaneously accused and congratulated Ruby.

Grace nodded. She didn’t know much about fairies but not everyone could be immune to the effects of alcohol. “Shame. I suppose I could have tried to beat them, but I think Ruby is having a good time.”

“Sounds like it. Burgers and fries are happening.” Miles kissed the top of Bella’s head once more and then slid a glass of water over toward the victorious Ruby. “You did! Congrats!”

Charlie smiled. “I would totally get fries with you, but I think I should probably head home. Devon is making me head in to work tomorrow, so I don’t want to be up too terribly late. I’ll see you later this week, though, right?”

“No rules against talking to each other,” Ruby shouted back happily at Iann.

“Oye! Cassie baby, you okay in there,” Lilo called into the ladies bathroom hanging just outside it.

“Thanks,” Ruby grinned up at MIles, both for the water and the congratulations. “I think I’m turned off to sweets forever now. Kudos to whoever mixed that up… ugh.”

Grace turned to Ruby, giving her a congratulations pat on the shoulder. “Well done. What the bloody hell was that? It seems to have sent half the party to the bathroom.”

“For the talent show yeah! I’ll text you, Ariel,” Iann said with a clap on Charlie’s back, before he pointed at them. “Lots of water. And Gatorade, you need electrolytes. You could probably just down a glass of sea-water, now that I think about it.” Maybe that was a common merm cure for a hangover.

Maya gestured towards Ryden up on the stage, “I think that’s one you have to take up with DJ Howl.” She took a sip of her water. “And congrats, although we’re definitely having a rematch with real drinks.”

Charlie nodded, waving briefly to say goodbye to everyone before slowly ambling toward the door. It had been a fun night, and they were definitely looking forward to the rest of the week.

“I have no idea,” Ruby said to Grace, sucking a bit of sticky off her fingers. “But it tastes like liquid cotton candy times infinity.”

“I’m down for burgers and fries,” Bella grinned, unsure if they meant here or if they were going to make some kind of awkward half drunk-half sober group trip to a local burger joint. Finishing off her water she placed it down, waving goodbye to the person she had just competed with.

Dani was quite fond of the dance floor. It was the perfect place to channel the energy they’d built up all day long - and a powerful distraction against thoughts of earlier events. With a bob of glowing hair that was impossible to miss, they finally escaped from the crowd to grab a drink. Nothing alcoholic, for the moment. Just something to allow them to recharge for whatever they got up to next

“I’m fine!” Cassie called, quickly popping out of the restroom wiping at her dress with a wet paper towel, “I just don’t want this to get ruined. I could have kept going. Spilling is a stupid way to win anyways.” She grumbled, Cassie was not a good loser.

“Well technically this place just serves fries, but…lots of fries.” Iann looked over where Freddie and Grace were. “Confetti, are you coming for greasy food?”

Ruby grinned at Maya. “I’ll have to thank him properly later.” She glanced up at Ryden behind the booth, grinning a bit more before turning back to Maya. “You okay? Did you get cut

"Well it’s okay baby! Plenty of other people at the bar lost that way. besides you got so close!” Lilo brightened, smiling at her. “I mean, runner up isn’t so bad?”

Ruby: “Did you get cut on your glass?”

“I can be a doctor,” Miguel said around his water bottle. “I’m sober enough.”

Maya shrugged, “A little bit. But chicks dig scars.” She smiled, not wanting anyone to worry. Besides it didn’t turn that bad. “Jury’s still out on whether or not dudes dig scars, but I’d be happy to do some scientific study on that one,” she added, “You know, for science.”

When Freddie heard Iann’s voice, he turned in his friend’s direction, realising a bit belatedly that he’d lost track of Lilo Lopez when he’d been talking to Grace and feeling a bit badly about it. “What?” he asked. “Chips?” Freddie wrinkled his nose a bit, “I could do, I suppose… Where?”

“Words patients don’t want to hear from their doctor!” Bellamy called out to Miguel as though she were playing jeopardy.

“Mmmm science is good. I used to have… a whole shit ton of scars,” Ruby said, gesturing a bit drunkenly with her hand. “Big one…. right here.” She swept the finger up her right cheek. “That shiny as fuck fairy right there fixed me allll up.” She pointed somwhere towards Freddie.

Miguel nodded. “I dig scars.” He nodded some more. “But like… I dunno they have to be strategically placed. “For 500!” He said to Bellamy, a little too loud to seem very sober at all.

Freddie noticed Ruby pointing at him and grinned. “Me? What have I done now?”

“He digs scars,” Ruby said, pointing towards the man she didn’t know.

Lilo tried to placate his no doubt disappointed fiance, knowing her competitive streak was strong. “I mean I know you could have kept going, I mean they could have probably run out of drink before you even got too drunk. Which is probably a good thing you spilled. Ruby would have really hurt herself trying to keep up with you.” He shrugged. “Honestly you probably saved a life tonight.”

Bella grinned widely as Miguel got her joke, quite pleased with herself, watching as the more humanoid of the group that had drank were clearly getting quite drunk. Fortunately for herself, and likely Cassie, it wasn’t really enough to get either of them drunk.

“Doesn’t sound very sober to me,” Miles laughed. “Alright, we gotta get some food in these people.”

Maya laughed, “Okay, the doctor is definitely drunk. But I am still taking his survey response for science.”

“Just tellin’ Maya how you fixed me up that one time. ’s good stuff… good stuff… don’t worry…” Ruby said to Freddie.

“The Big Fry,” Iann announced cheerfully. “It’s a couple blocks down from here, we can all just walk.” It was still super-busy outside anyway even though it was so late, but - this was Soapberry. And Pride. So no one was sleeping. “Vamanos, people!”

“Lilo,” Cassie started, “Runner up is the worst.” She sighed and then waved her hand in dismissal, “Whatever. Did you find out what everyone was up to before you came over here?” She grumbled again when Lilo commented about Ruby and nodded, “Yeah, someone better make sure she gets home alright.”

Freddie leaned over to Grace, and murmured, “Did Iann say he’s taking us to see Stephen Fry, or have I missed something?”

“Uhhhh….” Lilo stared at her blankly, then glanced at the group which seemed to be gearing up for something. “No, no I did not. Was I supposed to? I just kinda wanted to check on you.”

“Dani!” Ruby exclaimed as she saw her friend sidle up to the bar. “Dani, where have you beeeennn? WHere’s Sam? ARe you here alone? Have you meet my other very pretty friend Maya?” Ruby slid off her stool as she said all this and wrapped her arm around Dani’s shoulder, turning them a bit to point at MAya.

At Iann’s request they leave Bellamy looked to Ryden, unsure if she should leave the party when they were meant to be hosting. The place was full though and he was quite focused on his music. She’d either return later that evening or the next day to help with things. For now she was happy to cling to Miles and get fries with her friends. “Lead the way, Pa,” she told Iann, heading off in the same direction as him, still leaning on Miles as she walked. “You going to dress this nice for the auction?” she teased him.

Cassie shrugged, “No. But you know it’s easy to lose people in here, that’s all I was thinking.” Cassie took his arm, “Thanks for checking on me and cheering for me though.” She stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the cheek, “You’re the best.”

Maya smiled as Ruby slid off her stool to try and introduce her to Dani. “Yes, we’re kind of sisters,” she replied, which she mostly only said because she was definitely buzzed by now. The fact they had earlier learned that they were eskimo sisters helped a little too. “Now,” she stood herself, “Lead me to fries please Iann.”

Iann kept company with Bellamy and Miles, motioning for others to follow if they wanted. “Is Miles going to be in that auction thing? You’ll be the only one betting on him though,” Iann stated plainly, right in front of Miles as if he was merely commenting an uncontested and inoffensive fact about Miles.

“Wait what?” Ruby said, frowning a bit as she looked between the two. It took her a second to put it all together, but once she did she snapped her fingers. “Ahhhh because Fane’s your Dad. Cool.” Ruby blinked. “I miss my sister…”

“Oh the auction I’m in it! You’re bid on me right, abuelo?” Miguel winked at Iann as he clung to his arm.

Lilo smiled at the kiss. “I know that I am, and so are you.” He wrapped arm around Cassie’s back. “Lets go see what these drunky drunks are up to!”

Miles went along with the group of people heading out, he kept an arm around Bella’s slim shoulders as they walked. “This isn’t that nice,” he was just wearing a plain button up and jeans, “I’ll probably wear a suit for the auction, unless you had something else in mind.” He wasn’t bothered by what Iann had said, in fact he nodded his head at him, “That’s probably true, at least the proceeds will go to a good cause.”

Ephram caught up with the group just as they were headed out to forage for fried potatoes, face wiped clean of the giraffe makeup that Charlie had put on him earlier. He bumped against Freddie, grumbling, “I been on my feet all day. Feel bad for me.”

"You comin’?“ Ruby asked Dani as everyone started to head out for fries. Ruby was quite suddenly starving.

Cassie nodded, walking with Lilo back towards the bar. But just like she thought, most of the seats had been cleared. Everyone was on the move. “Shoot…” She muttered. But she suddenly saw Ruby who was lingering a bit behind. “There!” Cassie pointed, hurrying through the crowd and pulling Lilo along, “Hey!” She called to Ruby before getting up next to her, “Where’s everyone going?”

Bella gave Iann a frown of disapproval. Even if Miles didn’t think anyone would Bellamy still wanted to defend him and his handsomeness. "You could wear nothing? Perhaps then you’d get some bids,” she smirked, knowing Miles would never, though part of her considered wearing less than her usual dress. “I’ll bid on you no matter what you wear. And apparently Tuah is going to be fine with you bidding on the doctor,” Bellamy’s words moving from Miles to Iann. Her eyes moved back, spotting Ephram catching up with Freddie and giving him a little wave before returning to Miles, Iann and Miguel. “Anyone else catching your eye, Miguel?”

Dani blinked when their name was so excitedly called from down the bar. It was so loud that they weren’t able to make out the owner of the voice until she made her approach. Once they recognized her, an effortless grin brightened their features. “Ruby!” They wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed, a glass of water in their second hand. “We’ve been dancing,” they laughed. “He stepped out a bit ago. We’re supplying all of the flowers for gay prom, so he wants to get some sleep and get an early start tomorrow. The sooner we get them done, the better.” When proclaimed them as 'kind of’ sisters, ignoring the other sister identification they shared, Dani felt a faint, warm sensation swell in their chest. “Yeah. Kinda sisters.” They bumped Maya’s shoulder harmlessly with their fist and then turned back to Ruby. “Why not. Lead the way, love.”

Freddie lit up when Ephram appeared beside him and he slipped his arm around his husband, leaving smudges of fairy dust everywhere they touched. “My poor darling,” he sympathised. “You’d best lean on me then, yeah?”

Maya smiled softly like candlelight when Dani agreed that they were kind of like sisters. She worried a good deal that while Fane had no problems taking her under his wing the rest of the family might not be so excited about it. It seemed at least when it came to Dani those worries were unfounded. Something especially needed to hear today.

“For fries,” Ruby told Cassie. “You two coming?” she asked. “I mean… you so woulda beat me if I hadn’t distracted you, so I know you could use some carbs.”

“Oh I dunno. Maybe Milo will. I think he’s pretty cute.” Miguel shrugged. “Not that I think Iann is cute. He’s like my brother or my cousin!” He bumped into Iann again for good measure. “Or my old grandpa,” he added.

“Ayy, this is like a scavenger hunt! Find the group of aging drunk people huh?” Lilo teased, anyone and in general as he was on the move. Just sort of giddy to be out late for once, and with Cassie on his arm as they played around with the good time group at pride. “Late night snacks? That sound good to me. I like these people, they seem fun.”

“Responsible Sam,” Ruby smiled at Dani as they all started towards the door. “I don’t know if I’m gonna go though. Depends on if I can get a date. Though it’ll be real embarrasin’ if no one bids on me,” she snorted.

“So you’re in the auction too huh? I’m going to bid on everyone,” Iann said cheerfully and then added in a gracious way, “Even you, Miles. But especially you, Miguel. Anything for Doctor Cursebreaker, who else will I go to when I get cursed and need help, huh?”

“Hey,” Ruby said across Cassie to Lilo. “I’m not 'aging,’” she laughed. “Just… refined.”

“He is like a grandpa,” Bellamy acknowledged of Iann. “And Milo is cute, I would offer to suggest he bid on you but I don’t think I have sway with him.” An 'aww’ came out of her mouth as Iann said he would bid on everyone. “Will you bid on me, Pa?” she asked, big grin on her face.

Iann paused and waved at where Cassie and Ruby were. “Hey, hey! Come on! The Big Fry, we’re going to The Big Fry!”

Ephram took Freddie up on his offer immediately, continuing to grump, “–used to be I could work a double shift and then go put back a few at the bar on my feet the whole time! I’m gettin’ soft, Freddie.” He looked around at the group, taking in familiar faces with a sigh of contentment. “I din’t even see you this morning, lookit you.” Ephram took in Freddie’s attire (or lack thereof) with grateful appreciation as he half eavesdropped on the others’ conversations.

Maya fell to the back of the group as they discussed the auction. She’d seen it advertised on one of the event flyers and didn’t even think about going. The idea made her uncomfortable. It was for charity though so she said nothing.

“Fries!” Cassie gasped, looking up to try and see Iann through the crowd, “And he didn’t even wait.” She grumbled, but hardly taking it to heart. “Lilo-“ She wagged his arm in her hand but smiled when he happily agree. “Yes of course. We gotta catch up.” Cassie glanced back over to Ruby, a slightly guilty quirk in her mouth. “That’s alright. As long as you think you’re feeling alright? That was a lot of shots for a human.”

Miles noticed that Cassie and Lilo had rejoined the group. “You put up a good fight there, Cassie. And I don’t think I caught your name before,” he addressed Lilo, offering out his hand for quick shake. “I’m Miles.”

“Hi Miles!” Miguel said. Because the face and name were new. “Are you Bella’s boyfriend?” He asked, because when he was drunk he had even less of a filter.

“Now I’m a grandpa, greaaaaaat,” Iann groused, but he didn’t seem that displeased. He just liked to gripe whenever he could.

“Yes that’s me, Bella’s boyfriend,” Miles returned. “And you’re the not sober doctor.”

“Of course you are, abuelo. Listen to you complain about everything!” Miguel smiled at Miles. “Yep that’s me!”

Ruby raised a hand to Iann. “We’re comin’… skeptic.” She turned to Cassie. “It’s because he’s a nonbeliever. And yeah I feel pretty okay… a little bleck. But mostly okay. Oh!” she said suddenly. “I;ve been meanin’ to call you. Look.” She held out her bare forearm, the one with the wolf bite. “Imma be a wolf in a week or so. Wanted to call and tell you.”

Dani returned Ruby’s smile and squeezed her arm. “You should! Why don’t be just bid on each other, hm? Then neither of us will have to shoulder potential public shame and embarrassment.”

Lilo moved with Cassie to catch up with the group, happy to do so. “Ayy, Ruby, I just mean… well how none of us are mischief-ous, mishchiving, misch- none of us are teens that go out and get drunk and be silly anymore.” Lilo cleared his throat and tried to shake of the mispronunciations, he wasn’t even drunk. “Nice to meet you miles!” He moved forward to give Miles’ hand a good gripped shake. “I’m Lilo, Cassie’s guy. You might not have seen me around lately but I’m back.”

Ruby snorted at Dani. “Sounds good to me. Though I’m poor so you might go for like… twenty bucks if no one else bids?”

Freddie smiled at Ephram’s grumbling, making soft soothing commiserative sorts of noises as they walked, happy to take his weight. “Well, for what it’s worth,” he said, “I happen to think your stamina’s quite something. Soft or not.” He leaned up and kissed at Ephram’s jaw before grinning, “And you didn’t even see my morning outfit. This is number two.”

“We’re doin’ it now aren’t we?” Ruby smiled at Lilo. “But nah, I get it. Adult responsibilities and all that stuff. But I mean… you guys… you got kids… how great is that??” She gestured between Cassie and Lilo.

Bella frowned at the two men who acknowledged themselves so simply. “Miguel says that he can break curses, he broke Iann from being an eight year old boy, reverted him back to grandpa state, and Miles works for the sheriffs department pretty much all the time, so you each can be contacted by dialling nine one onee” she told each of them so there was a little more for each of them to go off.

Lilo eyeballed Ruby, then back at Cassie. Completely caught off guard. “Ayyy… so… huh. Welcome Ruby? Um to, the wolfhood?”

Ephram waved back to Bellamy, scrunching his face at her in their old way and doing a quick observation of what she was like with Miles there. They seemed so relaxed and at ease with each other, more than he’d ever seen Bellamy with any boyfriend and sure as hell more than he’d ever seen Miles at work. A worried little knot in Ephram’s chest unraveled, and he nudged back at Freddie, feeling a little more buoyant with both his husband’s attentions and his friend’s happiness. “Say,” Ephram asked, “you gonna do that auction thing?” He raised his voice, hollering over the others. “WHO ALL’S GONNA DO THE AUCTION THING??”

Iann gave an impressed whistle. “That’s a great summary, Belle. Nice work there. Now describe yourself!”

Dani chuckled and offered up a hand as if they were forging a genuine business deal. “Twenty bucks it is.” But then Ruby held out her arm and proclaimed some rather shocking sudden information. “What?” Dani reached out to take Ruby’s extended arm in both hands, allowing their eyes to roam over the sight in a wild mix of concern and curiosity. And maybe the slightest bit of hurt for not having heard of it sooner. “Since when?”

“I tried-“ Cassie shrugged at Miles, “Thanks though. Nice to see you again. It’s been a little while.” Her attention was bouncing between people and it landed on Ruby again. She smiled kindly at the woman, that is until she saw the faint bite mark that Ruby held out with drunk pride. It made Cassie’s breath catch in her throat, “Jesus Christ. Ruby-“ She hissed taking her arm for a closer look, “Oh Jesus Christ.” She panicked, trying to hide most of the nervous reaction. But it was difficult. “Ryden was talking about you.”

“Thanks,” Ruby nodded at Lilo. “Was pretty ticked about it at first but now I"m like… okay cool.”

Dani raised their hand with an enthusiastic wave at Ephram’s holler. “Me!!”

Lilo looked from person to person. All geared up to make friends with Miles, have some guy time or Chicano time with Miguel when he wasn’t so green around the mouth, maybe tease Iann some more. But Ruby’s revelation stunned him. “Dios, I need a drink.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, uh, good for you for… making the best out of a situation.”

Ephram’s cute face to her had made Bella smile, turning back to Iann. “If I described myself it would just be me going on for hours about how exceptionally beautiful and gifted I am,” she answered. “I’m doing the action too!” she called out to Ephram, squeezing Miles arm. “You biding on me?” she asked Ephram. “Give Miles someone to compete with?”

“What auction thing, sweetheart?” Freddie asked, his pleasant drunk making his thinking meander a bit. “Are we selling something? Or should we be?” He chuckled. “I’m a bit lost…”

Lilo tilted his head down to Cassie. “So Ryden knows this?” He’d been meaning to ask her about, what had Iann called him, some young lobo.

“Mmm… couple weeks?” Ruby said to Dani. “My idiot brother. I told your Dad couple of days ago. Well, I mean… sort of. He could smell me, so… but it’s fine. It’s really fine,” she said to Dani, giving them a bit of a squeeze. Then her attention was back on CAssie as the other woman took her arm. “Ryden? Did he talk to you? I like him, he’s a real nice guy. Reallll nice,” Ruby grinned to herself. “But hey… what’s wrong? Its really fine.”

Iann nudged Maya. “You okay kid? Is there still glass in you? You look like you sucked on a lemon.”

“Okay cool?” Cassie repeated in disbelief, “Why didn’t you tell me before! Oh my god you’re drunk.” She stomped her foot, “Shit I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. And Ryden was being all hush about it after I helped him. Unbelievable. ‘Okay…cool’.” She threw up her hands in frustration, looking back to Lilo, “I just want fries. /Now/.”

Ruby raised her hand as well. “ME!!” she said loudly. “What’re we doin’?” she asked Dan, then nodded again at Lilo. “I like wolves. Every wolf I know is just… fantastic, so…”

Maya gave Iann a smile, “I’m fine. Glass free. It’s just been a long day.” She’d already managed to make enough things about her today. There was no need to mention her personal discomfort with the Date Auction, especially since she was handling it.

“Woah,” Miles had overheard Ruby’s casual announcement that she was now going to be a werewolf and looked over at her. “Well damn.” He wasn’t sure what else to say about it though, especially since she seemed to be okay with it. “I think it’s just up ahead,” he said, nodding toward a building coming up on their left. “Alright, try not to make a mess in here everyone,” he said to those who were listening, holding the door open so people could filter in, and feeling very much like he was herding a group of ducklings.

Lilo “Fries yup, they are good. I sure like wolves…. So! What is everyone doing for this pride thing? Auctioning off?”

Finally working out what exactly the auction in question entailed, Freddie’s face settled into a small moue of distaste at the idea of Ephram bidding on Bellamy Barnes, but he didn’t object, just said, “I honestly haven’t given it any thought…”

Ruby glanced over at Cassie. “Cant do much else bout it, can I? Was gonna tell you, was /still/ gonna tell you before hand… just… you got a family and kids and… I didn’t want you to feel obligated since we’re friends and all.” Ruby gave a small shrug. “Rein was mad too.”

Ephram looped his arm around Freddie’s waist, lifting him slightly as he jogged the fairy up and down. “Babe! It’s some sorter date auction thingy what’s happening. Folks can sign themselves up to git auctioned or they can bid on the auctionees.” He drew out the eeeeeee for a while, liking how it felt in his mouth – there was a good chance Ephram was a little tipsy himself, on tiredness and the occasional special Pride drink – and then bellowed back at the others, “Well shit! Reckon I might jes have to bet on alla y'all to keep things fair!”

Freddie laughed when Ephram bounced him a little, announcing that he’d bid on everyone, and said, “Well, then you’re going to need my credit cards, aren’t you?”

Bella stayed next to Miles as he let people in, not allowing herself to get involved with what Ruby had said. It felt exceptionally like the thing about Ruby that had always upset her and therefore she did not want to get involved, and admittedly she didn’t want Miles involved but that was his choice. “You and Iann will be battling it out then, he intends to do the same,” Bella told Ephram as he and Freddie entered, assuming that they would remain merely silent and in orbit of each other.

Ruby didn’t notice that Miles overheard her, but honestly at this point what did it matter? She worked with him, just like Ephram, so he should probably know. He was a wolf too, though he was also Bella’s man, and Ruby didn’t want anyone thinking bad things about her.

Iann nodded and said, “Well, okay,” because he really shouldn’t be asking Maya questions anyway; it was a slip-up on his part. Fortunately they were at The Big Fry and Iann motioned her to go in. “Go get yourself fries. There’s so many to choose from.”

“Lilo!” Cassie hissed, giving him a tug as the restaurant came into view, “Let’s go.” She didn’t even want to look back at Ruby. Of all the times to announce such a thing. And being drunk wasn’t an excuse. Cassie just wanted to have a good time, and Ruby dropped that piece of info on her? Other people might not care, but Cassie fretted about it more than most people.

Lilo was tugged along and know well enough when to take a hint. He was sure Ruby would be the center of some dinner table conversations in the future. “Going lobocita!” He didn’t even want fries that much, but damn did they seem a better choice now. “Sure do love fries! Didn’t know there was a shop that only made fries. So are they like special? Or regular but just a whole lot?”

Ruby felt a bit less chipper as she filed into the diner with everyone else. Should she still be more upset about what had happened to her? I mean… everyone else seemed to be. Was that a good thing? Or a bad thing? Or was it just… a thing? They could feel how they wanted, but Ruby certainly didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her. It was what it was.

Ephram turned his attention back to Freddie, noting the little pinched expression, and hid his smile until his fairy brightened again. “Oh, I can afford it,” he exclaimed loftily. “Or I can always run out on my debts or offer some sorter trade, couldn’t I?” His fingers stroked lazily along Freddie’s side as they moved into Bellamy’s periphery, and Ephram rolled his eyes at the mention of Iann. “WELL,” he said in a huff. “If Cardero’s already gonna bid, I won’t git tangled up in it. You know he’s gonna whip out a fossilized sasquatch eye or somethang to pay for it, I cain’t beat that.”

“Depends on what you order,” Miles replied to Lilo. “They got some poutine as well if you want to go for something a little dirty.”

Maya smiled, “You’re a true American hero, Iann. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” She slipped into the diner and made a beeline for the counter. Fries first, catching up with the conversation second.

Ruby headed towards the counter and ordered a large batch of plain bacon cheese fries before moving back to find a spot with everyone that was sitting around.

“What are you thinking of going for, babygirl?” Miles asked Bellamy, rubbing her shoulder as he glanced at the overhanging menu.

Lilo “Ahh, so let’s just say for the sake of, reality.” Lilo laughed, looking over at Milo once they caught up. “What is poutine?”

Miles: “You don’t know what poutine is? Aw man. You haven’t lived. It’s fries, smothered with gravy and cheese curds.”

Iann made a face. “Why’re you insulting me like that, Maya,” he complained as he followed her in, intent on getting so much curly fries. So so much, all curly.

“Pretty sure he’s just going to steal one of my cheque books, or maybe your beau’s,” Bellamy said, unsure how Freddie would feel about being mentioned. Either way she moved in with Miles, raising her brows as he suggested something dirty for Lilo, maybe it was pride week but that sounded flirty. “I’ll try whatever you like, just get double so there is enough for both of us. Ooooh and get drinks. And a bunch of sauces, I’m going to drag Cassie into the bathroom to help me get my weird make-up off,” Bella told him, finding the wolf woman in the group. “Help me with my face?”

After Ruby explained, vaguely, what had happened, Dani released her arm and sighed. They weren’t going to show that there was a slight sting to hearing their own father had found out before they had, but that didn’t make the wound any less real. “Right. Okay. As long as you’re alright. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me, yeah?” When she asked what they were shouting for, they covered up the dip in their feelings with a chuckle. “Nothing. Ephram was just asking who was in the auction.” Once they had all settled down at their destination, Dani sat rather quietly, listening to the conversations of others. They weren’t feeling very hungry at the moment.

Lilo’s jaw almost dropped before he broke out in one of the biggest smiles. “Oh, they can do that?! Cause I want that thing, the thing with the gravy.” He looked to Cassie, grinning. “I’m getting some gravy fries baby, what kind do you want?”

Maya frowned. “I’m not?” she replied, “At least not intentionally. Would you rather be a true Canadian hero?” At the counter she ordered garlic fries, a large order. It wasn’t as if she was likely to make out with anyone tonight anyway. Plus garlic fries were the bomb.

Iann scoffed even more. “That’s twice the insult! Keep the American part, and lose the hero. Unless you’re talking about a sandwich, of course.”

Cassie stubbornly looked up at the menu, motioning few options to Lilo, “Looks like they make all kinds. Want to split some curly ones with cayenne pepper seasoning?” Cassie asked, though really the more moments passed the more she wasn’t particularly hungry either. But the fries would keep her busy from being so angry. She couldn’t even pinpoint much of why at the moment, but Cassie knew if she didn’t start to relax her eyes would change to yellow, and that was embarrassing on its own. Just as she was going to suggest finding Bella and Miles, the vampire appeared. Cassie let out a breath and nodded, “Yeah sure, let’s go.” She could use a bathroom break, for sure. “Get gravy too then!” She called out to Lilo as she walked with Bella to the restroom.

Freddie enjoyed the slow gentle stroke of his husband’s fingers on his bare skin, looking up with a playfully raised eyebrow. “And what will you be trading, Sheriff? And with who? Charities generally frown on that sort of thing.” He looked back over his shoulder at Iann, and called, “And on sasquatch eyes!” The fairy turned back to Ephram, explaining with a bit of a happy slur, “Whatever he’s told you, we’ve only got one more of those bloody things, and it’s for a guest.”

Ruby picked at her own fries, eating a few before sliding a bit closer to Dani. “You okay?” she asked a bit more soberly. “’M sorry I didn’t tell you…” Ruby huffed a bit, but not unkindly. “Everyone’s mad I didn’t tell them… shoulda sent a mass text I guess…” Ruby poked a fry through her cheese, frowning a bit.

Maya laughed, “Iann you are a true American sandwich and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” She handed her cash over to the cashier, who didn’t even appear to register that she was painted all over.

Miles ordered a double portion of poutine for himself and Bellamy to share, and he wasn’t sure what sort of sauces would go well with it, or that she’d be interested in, so he just got some of all them, then as an afterthought he added to his order a portion of pastrami fries.

“Cayenne, gravy. Yup!” Lilo was totally paying attention, god he was so good at hearing everything and paying attention to his future wife he was going to order the best fries. “So you normally eat this sort of stuff with a fork right?” He leaned into Miles to ask the question. Trusting the wolf-man and his fry wisdom.

“I am the only person here with a skeleton face and it’s super weird,” Bellamysaid to Cassie as she linked arms with her like they had earlier. Each woman still exceptionally sober. Really though Bellamy had heard Cassie try and escape things that had come out a bit…suddenly. Honestly the surprise didn’t shock Bella but it seemed silly that Cassie’s night be upset by it, especially when it was meant to be such a nice week. “I’m glad Lilo was able to come, I haven’t seen him in ages. Who has Addie?” she asked, hoping the other questions would distract her from how she was feeling.

“That’s more like it,” Iann approved of being a sandwich. Really, anyone who wouldn’t want to be a sandwich would need a good friend to help them through their troubled times. The cashier was half-naked and mostly just in a rainbow loincloth, so they didn’t bat an eye at anyone’s outfits as they took everyone’s orders. “If you were a sandwich, which one would you be.”

“You can fork it,” Miles responded, grabbing a wad of napkins, “Or just use your fingers if you don’t care about getting messy, but fork is usually the best option to get some of everything in one bite.”

Maya considered for a moment as she picked up her fries. “I’d want to be grilled cheese, but I don’t know if I really /am/ grilled cheese, you know?” she replied before laughing again and adding, “Alright. I’m officially drunk.”

“Okay good! As long as I don’t look like some silly poutine-ing first timer.” Liloreached for some plastic forks, knowing that Cassie wouldn’t be too happy with more messes tonight.

Since Freddie was happy-drunk, he either didn’t register or blithely ignored Bellamy’s comment, which was good enough for Ephram. “Listen, you,” he growled at Bellamy with a quick grin at Miles, “I can afford my own reckless bidding! Unless I cain’t and then I rob one of yous after.” Not trusting Freddie to know how to properly order a glut of late night french fries, Ephram stepped up to the counter and briskly rapped out, “Extra-large one'a them poutine things, extra-large steak fries with chili and cheese, and extra-large them tots you got back there, make em all taco-flavour.” Ephram overheard Maya collecting her fries at the counter and made an aggravated bumblebee noise. “Gawd dammit, Maya!” he complained. “Now I got a hankerin’ for a grilled cheese. I’m gonna be thinkin’ bout that all night now.”

“Welcome to the rest of my life, dude,” Maya replied with a grin, “I’m always thinking about grilled cheese, at least 10%.”

Lilo started to walk back to the group, where he and Cassie might sit when she was done with Bellamy in the bathroom. “Y'know I am happy and all, this is a good pride, proud of my lady. I just kinda wish I got a little messy you know? Maybe a little sloppy drunk, or a little painted up from twister, but ayy. I’m probably too old for this, too many responsibilities man. But at least good old fries are here for me.” He said to no one in particular.

“Oh yeah? What does grilled cheese mean to you?” Iann said, bypassing all the youthful glory of drunkenness. She should enjoy it now, while she still had that stamina and it made for cool stories. He was interested (for funzies, not for any serious reason) about the sandwich comparison. “Please don’t tell me you’re just bullshitting, I’ll be disappointed.”

Cassie chuckled and reassured Bella, “It might be weird, but be comforted by the fact that you’re the only one here who can also pull it off.” Cassie settled in front of the mirror when they got into the bathroom, leaning her back against the sink, “Lilo? Yeah me too, he got back in town about a couple weeks ago. He’d been with his mom who was in an accident uh…” She trailed off for a moment before giving another small smile, “Addie’s with my mother. She’s visiting. We’ll probably take her to the puppet show tomorrow. I got her this cute little dress and everything.” Cassie brushed back a piece of hair before adding, “I don’t think I’ve seen you and Miles together in person before. You’re cute.” She leaned forward saying a little quieter, “We also had the best cheerleaders.”

Iann swat Ephram away in annoyance. “Get out of here, go on git!” Iann said, as if trying to chase away one of Pettaline’s fowls.

“That’s okay, you’re probably not the only poutine virgin we got here.” Miles also grabbed some forks and brought all the things over toward a booth. He sidled into it and already started digging in. “You know where has the best grilled cheese? It’s called Cheese Meats Bread, and it’s the best. Literally all sorts of grilled cheese.”

Dani glanced over at Ruby before looking down into their lap and sighing. “No, no– it’s not your fault. Something that drastic… you have every right to keep it to yourself. I should know better.” Because there was something rather drastic in their own life that they had neglected to share with all but a few choice individuals. Now they were almost debating whether or not they should share such details with others. But instead, they shook off the thought and bumped their side against Ruby’s. “It’s just that you got hurt. I’m guessing you weren’t carrying a sword around at the time, were you?”

Ephram grunted at Iann, picking up a straw and jabbing him with it. “Clear out, quit clutterin’ up the place.”

Ruby listened idly to all the conversations going on around her. She saw Cassie and Bella going off towards the bathroom, arms linked like besties, and couldn’t help but feel a bit out of place. A bit… not unwelcome, but just an awkward wheel.

“Ban the straw, man. Ban the straw!” Iann tugged the straw away, waving it and totally using his hippie voice.

Maya shrugged, “Officer Baer used to make them for me whenever it was a shit day. But like with three kinds of cheese. I guess I just associate it with being safe and warm. Plus its delicious and I would like to be delicious.”

“You don’t think that Iann and his beautiful mustache could pull off a skull face?” Bellamy smirked as she turned on the faucet. Whatever was happening with Lilo’s mother Bella figured wasn’t much of her business but family was as good a reason as any to need to go away. “Aww, that’s cute,” she said of Addie. “I’ll have to pop by to see her in it. Not really sure puppet shows are my thing though, puppets are super creepy.” Bellamy flushed with a smile when Cassie commented on seeing her with Miles, she knew Iann found the man to be a little dull but Bellamy didn’t and she felt particularly special to have someone who would show up to something that was by no means his thing, buy her fries and, as Cassie noted, cheer her on. “Right? We might not have actually won but we are doing quite well that we can’t possibly be losers,” she grinned, getting some soap and rubbing it and water on her face to remove things. “You okay?” she asked while she cleaned.

Freddie rolled his eyes fondly at Ephram. “Oi,” he teased, “-I just had you out of your sulk, and now you’ve slid right back in. I’ll make you a bloody grilled cheese when we get home, yeah? But first, you have to promise to explain to me just what exactly it is that you’ve ordered before I’ll put any of it in my mouth.” He peered up at the menu, mystified. “I mean, did I hear you say tots? And taco-flavour?”

“The night is still young,” Miles said to Lilo, stabbing a thick cut fry with his fork, “You got time if you want to crazy things up a little.”

Lilo set the fries he ordered down, settling among this rowdy group and leaving space for Cassie beside him. “Ayyy what in the hell are you yelling about now! Iann! you’re gonna wake the drunkies up!”

Iann laughed suddenly. “Officer Baer, making grilled cheese. I’m just imagining a grizzly holding a spatula and wearing an apron.”

Ruby looked over at Dani. “I was just… shocked at first. I got… attacked. By my brother. After some stupid shit went down between him and a friend of mine. I think he was after my friend. Got me instead.” Ruby leaned into Dani, appreciating their friend’s proximity, especially with all the couples sitting around so close and comfy. “I didn’t mean to not share, it was just….” Ruby shook her head. “I didn’t know /what/ to do…”

Iann motioned widely around the little take-out joint. “All the drunkies are here!! Okay maybe just Ruby’s a drunkie. Everyone else seems okay.”

Maya laughed too. “Nah, he was a werewolf though,” she replied, “But he was the officer who found me the night my parents died and he did his best to take care of me over the next decade.”

Lilo looked worriedly to the group, eyes falling to Maya, Ruby, and Dani in differeing orders. “Hey, Iann’s not drugged huh?” Then he directed his attention straight to Iann. “I dunno, isn’t that Miguel sleeping soundly on you amigo?”

Ephram rocked on his heels. “Back in Apple Fall,” he informed Iann, “we never used plastic straws. We used possum guts pulled out reeeeaaaal thin and dried. If you did it right then the meat taste faded after like, a week.” Turning to Freddie, Ephram gave him a resounding kiss at the promise of grilled cheese, and explained, “Tots. A staple of American casseroles and school cafeterias. Lil gumdrop-lookin’ nuggets of potato deep fried and covered in everthing you would put on a taco.” Ephram thought for a moment. “And not like, a fancy taco with slaw and whatnots.”

Ruby threw a cheese covered fry at Iann. “Hush, you. I"m not as drunk as you think…” Though she was pretty drunk.

Lilo looked up from his food and didn’t say a word to Ephram, just looked fully offended that the man would bring up dried possum guts while people were trying to eat.

Ephram rudely didn’t notice a damn thing and wouldn’t care if he did

“Iann?” Cassie scoffed, still smiling because just the thought was laughable. “Please.” Cassie rolled her eyes, turning to take a quick look at her make-up. “Puppets are creepy.” Cassie agreed, “But babies sure love them. And it’ll be a little more low key than tonight.” Which Cassie knew she needed. She raised her brows when Bella asked after her, “Me? Yeah I’m fine…why was it obvious?” Cassie pressed her fingers below her eyes, wondering if they changed without her noticing. “I don’t know why I got so mad. I usually don’t but…ugh just now I’m going to be thinking about what Ruby said all night.”

Miles just sort of glanced at Ephram and shoved a forkful of gravy loaded fries into his mouth.

“No, no… you gotta… you gotta use the hollowed out bone that comes in a squirrel tail…” Ruby said across the way to Ephram. “They’re bendy… Also, fuck squirrels.” “Not… like… in a sexual way, but like in a … hit 'em with your car on purpose kinda way…”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me,” Iann said to Maya, then shook his head at Lilo, “I’m - drugged? What the hell are you talking about?” It was true that Miguel was slumped, standing, asleep. He grinned and pointed at him. “I’d say let’s draw a moustache on him, but….” Then Pettaline had to make it all twangy backwater Southern American gothic to add to Maya’s tragic past of tragic woe tragedy and Lilo’s general awkward weirdness and Iann threw up his hands. He turned his attention to Ruby and opened his mouth. “Throw another fry, into my mouth.”

Dani’s expression softened as Ruby explained further. “Hey, it’s okay.” They placed their hand over hers. “We all get a little lost sometimes, but you can’t really find your way until you’ve gotten a little lost. At least in my experience,” they smiled. The woman’s toss of a fry at Iann earned a snort, followed by a highly raised eyebrow as she and Ephram began chatting about their own version of straws.

“I got it.” Dani smirked and snatched up a fry from Ruby’s order to toss it in Iann’s direction.

Lilo looked down at his fried and just sighed. Totally not being awkward and weird no matter what Iann thought, he was a normal smooth guy and not some old dude who doesn’t know how to party anymore when it’s not for a five-year-old. He shoved a forkful of gravy fries into his mouth.

Miles then looked at Ruby. What the fuck. “Dude, just don’t use straws. Straws are only good for one thing. Making a fool of yourself when you go to drink from it cause it moves and instead you just poke yourself in the face with it.”

“Thanks. I um… still feel kinda lost, but… I’m gettin’ there.” Ruby squeezed Dani’s hand and gave her another bump before tossing a fry towards Iann. It almost made it, getting caught in his mustache instead. “Soembody lick the cheese off…”

Maya nodded when Iann mentioned that she’d already told him that. “Cool, I’m going to sit, eat these garlic fries and be 75% less depressing,” she said to no one in particular before snagging a seat next to Dani.

Ephram finally realized he’d drawn some attention with his claim and looked around at them, bemused, even as Ruby added her own two cents. “Well, hellfire,” he spluttered. “Cain’t you Yankees even tell when I’m talkin’ bullcrap?”

Iann half-caught the fry in his mouth and threw his head back like a seal to capture it. But he pointed at Dani as he did. “Dani Savin! I didn’t realize you were here. You were so tiny I mistook you for a stool.”

Ruby snorted, knowing full well that Ephram was as full of shit as she had been, but enjoying the horrified looks all around nonetheless.

“I dunno Officer Ephram, with a twang on like that when your drunk Imma believe whatever white nonsense comes out of your mouth.” Lilo couldn’t help but joke back between bites of gravy and curds.

Ephram snorted a laugh at Lilo’s jibe, holding up his hands in defeat

“True, much more low key. Ryden clearly wanted to go all out,” Bella smiled, really it was nice. Usually when it came to Erzebet’s it was just her but with Ash’s party and Ryden doing this it felt like people were more open to doing things at her establishments. “I mean, I don’t think super obvious but you sure did dart away pretty quickly and I mean, I can hear a bit better than normal, stuff like your heart rate,” she reasoned with a slight shrug. “Try to just enjoy being out with people,” Bella said as she got the last of her make-up off. “I mean, you have a babysitter and have had some drinks, you deserve to focus on fun. It sucks it pissed you off. Ruby is…still learning how to share her stuff with people in a way that works, I think.” With her make-up down she started to head out from the bathroom to the restaurant. “But its your night too.”

Miles just kept shoving gravy fries into his mouth and was about half way through it when he remembered he should save some for Bellamy, so he started on the pastrami fries.

Lilo nodded in mild triumph and nodded to Dani and Ruby. “Good shot there friends! You keep that up you can take the show on the road. Iann the marvelous man who eats things!”

Again, Ruby snorted. “They make movies about that sorta thing you know…”

Dani grinned at Maya when she slid up to their side, glad to have their two favorite girls in town beside them. Iann Cardero, on the other hand, received a mildly grouchy narrowing of their eyes. “Hey, I’m not that short. And I’m far to colorful to be classified as a piece of furniture, thank you very much.”

Freddie kissed back, rumbling a little growl of contented satisfaction, but wrinkled his nose slightly at the description of taco tots when it came. “If you want me to eat any of that, you’re going to have to feed me,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “Turnabout’s fair play.” But he laughed out loud when he realised that some of the others had taken Ephram’s possum nonsense seriously, leaning on his witch with a grin.

Cassie “You’re right.” Cassie couldn’t help but agree. And while she was slightly embarrassed Bella had noticed her mood, it was slightly comforting too that she took the time to say something. She followed the vampire out of the bathroom and said, “Honestly, I think just some fries will get my mind off of it all for a little while.” It was rare when she got to go out like this, she didn’t want it completely spoiled. “Hopefully the boys saved some fries for us, huh?”

“I hear there’s biiiiig money to be made….” Ruby waggled her eyebrows at Iann. “I’ll toss things in your mouth for $10k a pop…”

Bella laughed as Cassie pointed out Lilo and Miles might have already devoured everything but as she took her place next to Miles she smiled that he hadn’t, kissing his cheek quickly. She probably looked a little funny to everyone else since she rarely went anywhere without her face done up but crashing at Miles place he had seen her lack of lashes and the light pink shade of her lips before. “What did we miss?” she asked him and anyone else around. “Other than half of the food,” she pointed out, grabbing a fork and picking up some poutine.

Another fry from Ruby whanged him in the face and Iann peeled it off, wagging it at Ruby. “Okay, I deserved that one,” he said peaceably, then laughed at Lilo’s words as well. “Do you hate being short, or do you like it?” Iann asked Dani. When Ruby made an offer Iann looked at her in surprise. “Wait, I missed a part of this conversation. How’re you making bank again, Ruby?”

Lilo laughed a dropped the next big forkful back into his plate. “Ayy, that sounds like something crazy rich perverts would pay for. Pretty women tossing food into their mouths. that is wild.”

Ephram huffed at Freddie’s terms, rumbling, “How is that even remotely a hardship on my side’ve things?” he asked, collecting the tray packed with variously adorned potatoes and shuffling them over to sit with the group. “Only thing we gotta worry bout is folks who don’t care for this sorter sappy behaviour in public.” Ephram leaned in a little, lips brushing the pointed tip of Freddie’s ear, and added, “Good thing most’ve em are drunk outta their gourds.” He didn’t bother with a fork, just picked up a tater tot piled with salsa and sour cream and guacamole and held it up for Freddie to sample.

Cassie slid into the open seat next to Lilo grabbing a few of the fries she ordered and eating them. “Pretty women tossing food?” She repeated at him before smiling and glancing at the rest of the table, “What did we walk into?”

Ruby had leaned back and was picking slowly at her fries again, her other arm stretched out on the seat behind Dani. “Hm? Oh… well, I sold my yacht which gave me a pretty good bit of savings. Then I was doing little part time stuff here and there, still working at June’s House of course… and then I’m workin’ as dispatch.”

“Your fiance is starting to get into weird fetishes, Pegs,” Iann informed her soberly. “Better watch out.”

Ephram caught Ruby’s list of jobs and interjected loudly, “–and we’re damn lucky to have you!”

Miles scooted over to give Bellamy more room, “Apparently now there’s money to be made by throwing food at Iann,” he tried to clarify it as succinctly as he could.

Dani mused for a moment over Iann’s question before shrugging. “I mean, sometimes it’s a little frustrating, but it makes me harder to catch, so I’m not complaining.” As an afterthought, they sported a smirk and added, “Besides, the husband seems to have fun with it. Gives him something to tease me about and makes him feel slightly less height-conscious himself.”

Lilo held up his hands in defense, most of the fries uneaten– okay half of them there still. “Ayyy, lobocita I was just joking! I’m not into anything weird!”

Iann “No money is to be made by throwing food at me! Just do it for free!” Iann demanded, fists rested n the table on either side of his curly fries.

“But I’m gonna tell ya…” Ruby leaned forwards, pointing a fry at Iann. “For enough money… I’d do porn. I mean… why not?” She grinned over at Cassie as she came back to the table. “Food porn,” she said. “And thank you, sherrif,” Ruby said to Ephram.

“I mean, I’ll throw food at him for nothing,” Bellamy said, picking up one of the fries covered in graving and throwing it in the direction of Iann. “This is good though, not as good as my poutine but good,” she reasoned.

Cassie scrunched her nose playfully back at Iann, “Well I mean if it has to do with food…” She trailed off before laughing. Cassie patted Lilo’s arm to show him that she really wasn’t worried about it and continued to pick at the fries. “Was the gravy that good?” She asked motioning to just the little bit left on the plate. Cassie dropped her head slightly, ignoring Ruby who was in a sort of drunken ramble.

Iann “Ahahaa yeah! Because Sam’s a shorty too. Almost as tall as Lopez here. Almost.” He nodded at Ruby. “I had an Aunt who did porn. Out there it’s not so great, but in Soapberry, I heard it’s lucrat…wait didn’t we have a conversation about this before?” Or was he imagining things? He knew he was talking so someone about supernatural porn recently.

Lilo “Hey, hey, hey, who brought up porn? I wasn’t bringing up porn. I didn’t mean any of that… I’m just gonna…” Lilo shoved a forkful of fries in his mouth enjoying them loudly and motioning to Cassie’s fork he set out for her. “Soo, hey! I’m not that short! I mean am I?”

Miles was about to throw a pastrami fry at Iann but was distracted by Ruby saying she would do porn, and then added on it would be food porn. “What even is food porn?”

Maya commented, “I knew a girl who auctioned off her virginity. Made a couple hundred k.”

Freddie eyed the little potato monstrosity skeptically for a moment, then leaned closer and took it from Ephram’s fingers, eyes widening in surprise as he groaned happily while he chewed. “Fucking hell,” he murmured once he’d swallowed, huffing out a laugh, “-I must have drunk more than I thought, because those are really bloody good.” The fairy looked over at Iann. “It was me you had that converstion with, love. I was considering it.”

“Lilo’s plenty tall for me,” Cassie scoffed simply.

“Oh yeah? Well mainstream I hear isn’t that great,” Ruby said to Iann, agreeing with him. “But here?” She shrugged a shoulder. “And I think we did. In passing. Was it you?”

Freddie turned to Miles. “Food porn’s just what it says on the tin, darling. Pornography that food features prominently - in all sorts of capacities. It’s a fetish, yeah?”

Bella looked at Miles, raising a brow that basically said everything. 'Do you need to know about porn relating to someone you see everyday?’ Because Bella watched porn, but she didn’t watch porn with people she knew in it. “Everyone is tall for us, Cassie,” Bellamy pointed out to her friend who she was almost exactly the same height as, though her platform boots did hide that tonight.

“Food porn… I mean… what do you wanna see?” Ruby said. “And what he said.” She gestured at Freddie.

Iann snapped his fingers and pointed at Freddie, grinning. “Right! Right, right, you’d be so fucking good at it too. No pun intended.” He looked up at Miles, blithely eating fries. “Food porn is when there’s food involved, in porn. Eating, or…putting food places. Or sexing the food. Or letting the food sex you. Stuff like that, Miles, c'mon you’re a cop. Google it and call it research.”

Bella was actually ready to do something when Ruby asked what Miles wanted to see but ground her teeth together quite firmly instead trying to focus on what she had just told Cassie.

Lilo nodded with conviction that Cassie gave him. “See I am plenty tall! Iann is just freakishly tall” Lilo cleared his throat, dying to get the conversation on something else. “Soo, hey, everyone have good plans for this pride week? It’s my first one I am really involved in. I am excited. How about everyone else, huh?”

Ephram grimaced at Maya’s story. “That’s disturbing,” he said, before turning back to fully enjoy Freddie’s shock at his own liking the fried morsel. “See?” he said triumphantly. “All’s you gotta do is give things a chance. Especially when you’re all swizzled and adorable.” He sat back, lazily eating the poutine, and waved his fork at the current conversation. “There’s porn what features food in it, like Cardero said. By the way –” Ephram gestured with his fork pointedly at each person, “–there’s a feller in town what looks sorter like me who does porn, so don’t git the wrong idea if you come across it.”

“Gross,” Iann grunted at Pettaline, as he chawed down more fries.

“Shit. Like, willingly?” Dani raised their brows at Maya. Turning back to the group and the unexpected rise in porn conversation, they threw in their own comment. “I might have done porn once…” they blinked as if trying to summon a memory, “but I was way too wasted to be sure. Or to remember the specific details.”

Miles instantly felt like he was getting himself into some hot water with Bellamy. “No. I didn’t mean I’d watch it. I don’t even like eating in bed,” he wrapped an arm around Bella’s shoulders, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Ruby looked at Maya. That /was/ slightly… disturbing. Not the same as what Ruby thought of as something that could be fun and possibly lucrative, but to each their own, as long as it was consenting.

Maya shrugged and said to Dani, “Yeah,” then turned to Ephram to ask, “Disturbing that she’d do it or that she’d make that much money? It might’ve been only like tens of thousands. I don’t remember exactly. She bought a house with the money I think.”

Lilo picked up on what Ephram said more quickly. “Oh, hahah, that’s such a coincidence. Weird how thinks like that can happen.” In went another mouthful at fries, slowly infringing on Cassie’s share. Then boggled a little at Dani’s own revelation. “That doesn’t sound that good at all. I mean, not about you, about whatever operation that was. Eeesh.”

Iann paused in eating and blinked at Dani slowly, the young human’s seemingly offhand comment a complete shock to his system. The virginity thing, Iann didn’t blink an eye, so long as the girl was legal and knew what she was doing, but Dani being drunk and engaging in sex she didn’t even remember? Iann felt his throat tighten in anger. “That was wrong of whoever allowed that.”

Ephram looked highly indignant at Iann’s contribution. “Ain’t like I commissioned it, christ!” He looked shocked at Dani’s comment, repeating, “You was wasted? And don’t recall for sure?” His gaze slid over to Lilo, innocently eating french fries in his dad shorts, looking every inch the responsible suburban father; Maya’s reply broke him out of his reverie. “Disturbing that she thought to do it and extra disturbing that there was men in a rush to pay.”

Freddie grinned at Iann. “Course I would be,” and then he pulled a face at Ephram, chucklingly protesting that he gave all sort of things chances before nudging his husband in the direction of the tots. “And I’ll have another of those, thank-you.” It occurred to Freddie as the conversation drifted on that he would have sold his virginity in a heartbeat if he’d only understood at the time that it was an option, but by then the tone of things had shifted and he thought it best not to put in his two bits.

Iann paused in eating and blinked at Dani slowly, the young human’s seemingly offhand comment a complete shock to his system. The virginity thing, Iann didn’t blink an eye, so long as the girl was legal and knew what she was doing, but Dani being drunk and engaging in sex they didn’t even remember? Iann felt his throat tighten in anger. “That was wrong of whoever allowed that.”

Cassie scooted closer to Lilo resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. Across the table she watched Bella tense and Miles jump to defend himself. Cassie didn’t say a word, she was just glad to know her prior irritation wasn’t unwarranted. She pulled her plate slightly away from Lilo and muttered, “Relax. I want some too.”

Lilo stopped his assault on the fries. His tension relaxing under the gentle weight of Cassie’s head on his shoulder. He smiled at her. “Ay, of course lobocita, so sorry I am getting caught up and forgetting myself.” He set his fork on the table so he wouldn’t be tempted to stress eat, or shove fries in his mouth as distraction from it running again.

Maya was less phased by Dani’s admission than the rest of the table seemed to be. It was not the first time she’d heard a story like that. “Like professional porn or like amateur porn?” she asked calmly. The answer to that question would inform her level of concern about it and also whether or not if she’d offer to kick someone’s ass.

Miles arm moved around her shoulder, resting in the fur of her jacket as Bellatried to loosen the tension in her mouth. At least Freddie’s answer had been succinct, it certainly hadn’t bothered her but Miles didn’t need to think about Ruby like that, even for a second and this was probably the first time Miles was actually able to witness her jealousy beyond the passive way she had tried to be when he was dating around. Still, her jealousy seemed a lot less dark than the other part of the conversation, Bellamy agreeing with Iann, so she focused on Miles. “You wouldn’t try any food in bed?” she asked.

Miles: “I don’t know, probably not. It’d get the sheets all messed up, wouldn’t it? Then I’d have to do a load of laundry or change the sheets,” and he wouldn’t want to do all that afterwards.

Ruby looked at Dani, wanting to ask about the maybe porn comment, but feeling like maybe it wasn’t her business, especially as Dani elaborated. Which made Ruby feel awful. She glanced at Miles and Bella, who seemed to be in some sort of tiff now… and then Ephram was upset too. Iann as well. And Cassie seemed irritated. It was all just… “Um… sorry for… bringin’ it up… I’m just…” She felt entirely absurd now. For dismantaling the good mood because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “I’m just… gonna go home now…” she said, moving towards the edge of the booth.

“Oh, no no– I didn’t mean it like–” Dani swallowed trying to piece together a proper explanation, but when people were phrasing it like that… “It wouldn’t have been with some random stranger or anything. I knew the girl, but…” scratching the back of their neck, they looked down into their lap. “It was a different time. I was– kind of a mess.” They glanced up at Maya. “Oh, amateur shit, for sure.”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I won’t be shaming anyone for making money how they need to though,” Lilo added his two cents, just in case anything was misconstrued. “Work is work, huh? No matter what kind it is… Sooo, just, anyone showing up to the puppet show?”

“Eating in bed is fun,” Cassie spoke up looking to Miles. “Breakfast in bed? Like a treat.” But then Cassie also just really enjoyed eating.

Ephram kept scrutinizing Lilo, mouth curling from side to side as he tried to place a memory in his head. “Maya,” he said, a little bit of a warning tone in his voice. “Maybe that sorter question ain’t the most useful.” He continued to feed his husband, taking comfort in the intimate caretaking of the motions, especially when Dani explained what Ephram supposed they thought were mitigating factors. Sighing, he said, “Well, cain’t say we ain’t all been a hot mess at one time or another, eh?”

“Crumbs in bed though,” Miles protested to Cassie.

“Exactly!” Bellamy agreed with Cassie until she realised Cassie just meant generally eating, though that was good too. “If I did the laundry afterwards would you?” she asked him, fondly recalling their first kiss and how he’d tasted just like ranch. It wasn’t exactly a 'sexy’ taste but it made her happy.

Lilo quickly remembered Cassie’s remark about making sure Ruby got home safe, and felt suddenly guilty she seemed to feel pushed out of the group. “Hey, hey, Ruby! Hold up where are you headed so quick? At least have another drink of water huh? Then let one of us walk you home maybe?”

Freddie slid his hand up Ephram’s back to play idly with the hair at the nape of his neck, nodding his agreement. “Some of us for a very long time."

Iann had heard many, countless stories like what he’d thought Dani’s was as well, but he refused to be desensitized to it, because as a man he shouldn’t just brush it off. Besides, his anger simmering and steady, but serious because it sounded serious. However Dani’s elaboration made his shoulders relax slightly and when Pettaline spoke up, Iann just looked away out the window. "Yeah I should head home too,” he said when Ruby got up. “I’ll get you to Tuah’s.”

Lilo smiled at Iann, the drunk whisperer and commendable human being he was being right now. Then turned his attention to Miles. “Ayy, I don’t mind waking up lightly breaded if my woman is happy! Breakfast in bed can be nice.”

Maya glanced over at Ephram and gave a look that sort of said, you’re not entirely wrong but I’m asking it anyway. Her concern though dissipated when Dani explained further. It wasn’t exactly a good story, but it wasn’t all that unusual. “I’ll still kick her ass if you want me to,” she offered.

Cassie “An easy fix.” Cassie began, but motioned to Bellamy when she clearly shared the same thought. Lilo’s comment made her laugh heartily and held his arm again. “Lilo knows how it works.”

Freddie turned to look at Maya, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Is that something you offer to do regularly, love?” he asked, “Because it rolled off the tongue a bit easily.”

Dani: “Well, if you guys are headed out, be safe. Pride makes some people crazy.” They leaned over to place a small peck on Ruby’s cheek, leaving behind a neon green mark. “And tell Tuah I said hi.” Turning back to Maya, they shook their head. “It was years ago, and certainly not in this country. Not worth it.”

“I’m just… tired,” Ruby lied, giving Lilo a smile as best she could. “And I will,” she said to Dani before she got out of the booth. “I don’t wanna… make any more trouble tonight. So…“ She gave a small wave and turned to go, resisting the urge to just run away, though Iann’s offer didn’t fall on deaf ears. She waited outside a few minutes to see if he would actually come to take her home, otherwise she’d call a cab.

Ephram let out another sigh, this one satiated and grounded as he leaned into Freddie’s fingers. He returned Maya’s look with a flat, horselike disapproving stare but didn’t reprimand her any further. At the moment, he was distracted by Freddie and that simple comment that spoke to both of their experiences. "I wouldn’t of been able to afford you,” Ephram murmured to his husband. “But I wouldn’t of had to pay, would I.”

Freddie shook his head gently, eyes only for Ephram. “I’d have given myself to you the moment you asked.”

Lilo sat a bit taller in his seat, despite being one of the shorter people present, at all the praise from Cassie. “Hey I am a cool guy. I get it. You know I used to beat up people easy too! Not so much anymore.” He nodded to Cassie, assuring her.

Iann marched outside briskly, walking a few steps ahead of Ruby, before stopping and turning around to look at her. “What’re you waiting for? C'mon.” Iann said, stuffing his pipe and lighting it as he kept walking. “My van’s up the block,” he stated curtly, trying to work out the anger running in his veins. He turned to look at Ruby. “And what the hell are you talking about? Making more trouble…? I’m confused.”

Miles quickly felt like he was going to lose this battle about food in bed. “Maybe,” he said to Bellamy, but didn’t really say much more cause talking about his sex life while out with a bunch of people wasn’t really something he was comfortable with. “Maybe I’ll make you some breakfast in bed one day though. Something that doesn’t leave crumbs or gets you all sticky.”

“I’m probably supposed to say no that, but I would be lying and I’m kind of shit at that,” Maya replied when Freddie asked if she often offered to kick someone’s ass regularly. She gave Dani a smile and replied, “Well offer’s still on the table.” She didn’t expect Dani to actually take it, but the offer was more about having someone angry on your behalf. She knew how much that could mean.

Ruby was pulling out a cigarette when Iann came outside. She took a drag before following. She snorted. “Everyone at that table except for like… two people… was upset or irritated because of me. I’m surprised Bella didn’t chew me out because her fucking boyfriend looked in my direction. CAssies ill with me. You got upset second hand…” Ruby shrugged.

“Cantaloupe is a pretty good breakfast,” Lilo supplied helpfully. He took the entire food in bed talk much like Cassie, completely on surface level. “Not too sticky, and the fresh ones are delicious as well as good… but uh…” It began to dawn on him. “Not the most nourishing I think for a vamp lady.”

Ruby (outside to Iann): “So did Ephram… this whole… good vibes thing broke down because I can’t be fucking quiet…”

Cassie When Lilo happily announced he used to beat people up all she could do was shake her head and finish up her fries. Her gaze lifted and she noticed Iann and Ruby gone outside. Her focus on ‘breakfast in bed’ was mostly dissipated.

Bella pouted but she knew how he was and didn’t intend to push things with so many people around. “Well I’ll make you breakfast in my bed and it will be very sticky,” Bellamy responded, popping poutine in her mouth. She didn’t mind being this way around people, though hearing Ruby outside made her look at Cassie who could likely also hear her. Ruby would hopefully realise soon enough, when she really was a werewolf, that you definitely had to get further away from supernaturals for them not to hear you.

Ephram smiled against Freddie’s cheek, flowing along with the notion. “And then lie to whatever fucker figured he bought your cherry. Lil trickster.”

Iann lit Ruby’s cigarette for her with a snap of his zippo and snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was angry at something that had nothing to do with you, Ruby. You weren’t a part of my anger.” He slowed slightly thought, puffing for a bit. “So you feel more bad about the Bellamy thing, or the Pe - the Cassie thing?”

Lilo was mostly wishing he couldn’t hear Ephram and Freddie whisper sweet nothings to each other. Not that he held anything against the two but he did feel like some dirty eavesdropper when he honestly was trying to pay attention to anything else. Supernatural hearing was a chore sometimes.

Iann shook his head. “And I’m pretty sure whatever Pettaline was feeling had nothing to do with you either.” Not from what Pettaline said to Maya, and then to Dani. Ruby didn’t factor into that at all.

Miles snorted at Bella’s comment that she would make him an extra sticky breakfast in bed. “Guess I’ll have to stay over at your place more often then,” cause lately she’d been going over to his most of the time.

Ruby (outside to Iann): “Alright. Well. What’re /you/ mad about then? But I"m not even interested in Miles. He’s a nice guy. A good cop, but… I"m not gonna watch what I say just because he might… glance towards me. I mean… and why is everyone getting so mad with me because they didnt find out the second I got my arm nearly chewed off??” she sighed. “Maybe not,” she said about Ephram. “I’m just… I"m fucking tired, Iann. Of always… always feeling selfish and stupid and… the odd one out no matter what I do…”

Lilo: “Okay, so, I take it Cassie and I are the only ones going to the puppet show? I’ve also planned some kids activities and stuff if anybody here has kids coming to pride?” Lilo made one last ditch attempt at the subject before he was going to drop it.

Freddie turned slightly into the little nuzzle, with a smirk. “As many times as I could, if there was money in it,” he confirmed. “And you wouldn’t have me any other way.”

Lilo: “Puppets are weird right?”

Ruby was rambling a bit, she knew, but her thoughts were all over the place. IT had been such a fun night, and then to have it just… fucking tank on her… was disconcerting. Though maybe it was all just in her head.

Ephram (to Freddie): “Not true, kitten. I could have you any way I fuckin’ well want.”

Iann laughed. “So don’t, jesus. Stop letting other people’s precious feelings make you feel bad. They’re not your fucking responsibility. You’re not a tool that’s designed to make others happy. Enjoy being odd, it means you’re different. And selfishness is self-preservation. The stupid one I can’t help you with,” Iann smiled over at her. “But everyone’s stupid about something. Yes, yes even me and I’m brilliant.”

Cassie finally took Lilo’s bait about changing the subject and sat up slightly, “Bella said she might stop by, to see Addie. Right? You can’t blame most people for not coming.” Cassie pouted at him, “Only babies like puppets. Literally.”

Bella snorted a laugh, a little surprised by his respond, leaning on his shoulder before giving it a quick kiss. “Speaking of places, where are you looking at moving to?” she asked him, unsure of where he’d really been looking for a place. Still when Lilo asked about the puppet show Bella turned to him and shook her head. “Yeah, I’m gonna come, I wanted to see Addie’s dress. Plus I want to avoid the mess that is Erzebet’s.”

Dani patted Maya’s arm in a rather sister-ly fashion. “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.” Their eyes then drifted to the two men across the table and Dani couldn’t resist the wistful sigh that fell from their lips. “Gods, you two are so adorable.” Did their interaction spark a longing in them to return home to their no doubt slumbering husband? Yes, but for Dani Savin, the night was still far too young for proper sleep.

Freddie grinned, leaning in to kiss Ephram again, not particularly caring what the rest of the table thought of it. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Iann he slowed and even turned to walk backwards, facing her has he gesticulated. “Not that you shouldn’t vent. A good venting-fest like this is good, but once it’s over you should feel better, not stagnant, hm? That’s what venting is for, letting out the steam and resetting to normal.”

“I think my kids are bit too old for puppet shows,” Miles said to Lilo apologetically. He had one entering her teens and the other wasn’t too far behind. “Oh, I actually found a place. It’s pretty much in the same area I am now, and Iann said it was just a few blocks down from yours, so we’ll be closer.”

Maya yawned. She’d almost finished off her fries, just a few sitting cold at the bottom of her tray. “I should probably head out too,” she said as she stood and cleared her place, “Before I pass out on you all.”

Lilo snorted a laugh of his own. “Yeah, ay, puppets are a little this concerning.” He meant disconcerting but he was Lilo, and it was late. “But Addie is sure to look cute, and ay, puppets aren’t the only youth thing. I’m gonna make some rainbow shirts with the kids. Tie-dyes and paints and stuff. You know look as fashionable as everyone out there.”

Ephram took his time in kissing Freddie, pulling his husband in close afterwards to continue feeding him. “Might come to this puppet show,” he declared, “if the lil’ gingersnap’s in it.” He nodded over at Dani with a lopsided grin, saying, “It’s all this one. He’s the adorable one between us. I jes provide shade in the sun.”

It was best Miles daughters couldn’t come, because then Bellamy wouldn’t have been able to go and see Addie. “Really?” Bellamy asked, a smile on her face as she found out he would be closer to her than he was now. “When are you moving?” she continued before Lilo spoke of Addie’s cuteness. “Make me a shirt? I could wear some cute tie dye once in a while,” she smirked. “And Cassie definitely needs some hippie shirt.” It wasn’t Cassie’s style but it would be very amusing to see the pair of them in them when it was so unlike them.

Ruby (outside to Iann): “But if I don’t care… then I’m just some… heartless bitch. If I do care… I’m a pushover who lets other determine how she feels.” She gestured towards him. “I know that… I get that. I’m the only responsibility I have.” She gave him a small eye roll at the stupid comment. “Yes, I know, I just….” She ashed her cigarette, kicking a rock on the sidewalk. “It doesn’t matter…” She took a breath and looke up at the sky at they walked. “What the fuck is normal though?”

Ephram watched Maya get up, halfway wanting to talk to her and halfway figuring he should just let her head out as she wanted. “We should make plans to see each other at one'a these things, girl,” he called to her. “Maybe this puppet show?”

“Not a bad idea,” Dani smiled at Maya’s yawn. “I’ll see you around soon, yeah?” They grinned back at Ephram. “Maybe, but everyone’s got a little adorable in them somewhere. It’s unavoidable.”

“It’ll all be plenty of fun. Kids deserve some good PrideFest stuff too.” Cassie was practically praising, but she only did so because she felt it was warranted, “You’re just the man for the job. They picked well.” Her mouth fell open slightly in fake offense at Bella’s suggestion, “No. No way no tie-die for me. I look awful in that stuff.”

Lilo moved his arm around Cassie’s shoulders. “I think you will look beautiful in whatever you want to wear.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. It was only slightly gravy flavored. “It is getting a little late lobocita, we’ve had a big night. You want to head home soon mi tesoro?”

Maya shrugged, “I might sleep in tomorrow. Is it okay if I just text you in the morning?” She gave Dani a nod, “Yeah, you text me too? I’ll probably be in and out of stuff all week.”

“Uh….so?” Iann asked Ruby. “What does it matter if some asswad thinks you’re a heartless bitch? Let them, who cares what they think, that’s what I’m saying. People who give a shit about you won’t think that, get it? You’ll be surprised to learn who your real friends are the moment you stop being a pushover. It may be less than you think but that’s not a bad thing.” Iann opened the passenger door for her, pausing to admire Ryden’s handiwork as he went around the van and got in too. “Whatever your normal is. And if you still don’t know, well when the full moon comes at least that’ll give you some definition, hey? Bright side.”

Dani: “I could help out with the shirts, if you need it,” the professor turned toward Lilo. They couldn’t help but think of Noel and how much he would have loved the vibrancy of Pride. “I’ve got nothing else on my schedule in the morning.”

“I got another month before my current lease is up, and then I can move out.” Miles hadn’t started packing yet, and likely would keep it that way until the last possible moment. “If tie-die shirts are going to be made, I think I might bring my girls. Ellie would probably love it.”

“Wait-” Freddie said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion as he turned to Lilo, “-is the baby in the show, or just attending the show? And has she ever seen a puppet? They might bloody horrify her…” The fairy settled a bit heavier against his witch, happy to be talked about, before beaming at Dani. “Aren’t husbands wonderful creatures?”

Cassie nodded at Lilo’s suggestion, “Yeah sure. It’s going to be an earlier morning anyways and then we have to pick up Addie from the farmhouse.” She grabbed her purse, “You paid already right?”

Lilo beamed at Dani. “Ay really? That sounds awesome. Most of this I arranged by text with that Miguel guy, who’s uh, out now… But I think he’d be fine with it. The more helping hands the merrier huh?” He grinned. “Besides you can probably help the kids with designs more. You got way more of an eye for style it looks like.”

Bella smirked as Cassie objected. “Not even if Addie made it for you?” Bellamy laughed, watching as Lilo kissed her cheek, assuring her she’d be beautiful. The suggestion to leave not shocking, it was getting late. “Want me to help?” she asked Miles of his move, unsure if his kids would be there for it, it seemed they would be coming to do shirts though so Bellamy made a note to avoid that area when the time came.

Dani nodded back to Maya. “Sure thing. I’ll be around at pretty much everything, so just keep an eye out for a short person with rainbow hair. I won’t be that hard to find.” At Freddie’s response, they smiled warmly. “Yeah. They’re pretty astounding. Half the time, I’m amazed mine puts up with me.”

Ephram nodded. “Sleep in however long you want. I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” he assured Maya as she left. Tuning back in to Freddie’s concern, he asked, “I thought youn’s liked puppets? Them Punch and Judine ones, that’s English, right?”

Ruby got in the van, tossing her cigarette in the nearby ashtray first. She waitied until he got inside to buckle up. “What if I don’t have any friends after that?” Ruby said, blinking over at Iann, looking slightly downtrodden. OF course Ruby would have friends. A few at least .There was Fane and Dani. Tuah. And Iann, even though she didn’t think he considered them friends. Probably Ephram since he already knew her prety well. Freddie. Fuck… that was a fair few people. “I just… wanna get it over with. So I can… get on with things.”

Cassie looked back at Bella and narrowed her eyes slightly, lips pulled in a curl, “Oh…you’re tricky.” She let out a huff before she admitted, “I guess if Addie ran up and said she’d made it especially for me. I couldn’t refuse.” She glanced to Miles, “Aw, I hope we’ll get to see one of your girls.”

Lilo turned back to Cassie. “At the counter my love, it’s one of those kinda places.” He nodded to the group still left at the table and those slowly leaving. “It was real great to hang out with you guys again, and meet you for those I did not know before.” He nodded to Miles and held out a hand for another too manly ™ handshake. “We should hang out sometime man, you look me up okay?” He saluted Dani. “I will be on the look out for my rainbow-haired saviur when all the kids bombard me tomorrow. You stay good guys. Officer Possum guts. Everyone else!”

Maya smiled, tiredness creeping into her movements, “Okay. See you all tomorrow.” She waved before tossing her garbage and heading out into the night. She planned just to grab a cab since walking seemed a bit excessive given her current state of dress and the late hour.

Freddie chuckled across the table at Dani. “Same, darling; believe me,” before goggling affectionately at Ephram. “Have you ever /seen/ Punch and Judy puppets, sweetheart? They’re what nightmares are made of.”

“Of course,” Dani grinned at Lilo. “I know Miguel. We’re sort of, uh– fellows doctors in supernatural science?” At the mention of an eye for style, they chuckled. “I guess. I wouldn’t say it’s a hobby of mine, but I can’t deny that I was raised by several very fashion-oriented individuals.” As he got up, they saluted in return. “Sounds like a plan. You too!”

“If you want to, yeah,” Miles said to Bella, smiling at her. “And you need to help me pick out some furniture for their rooms, just not another one of those giant princess house things you got them last time. One is enough.” He turned toward Cassie, “Hopefully you’ll get to see both of them,” and since they seemed to be leaving he took Lilo’s offered hand and gave it a good shake, “Definitely man, I’ll give you a call or something.”

Lilo: “Oye! Freddie, to answer the question. I am pretty sure Addie is just gonna be watching.” He looked at Cassie. “Right?”

Iann laughed as he started the van, loving the grumbly thrum under foot. “That’s it, wallow in the self-pity. You might as well indulge right now, it’s late and you’re drunk and you’re gonna have a wicked hangover tomorrow so you might as well enjoy this wallow.” Because honestly, sometimes it just felt good to have a good pity-party, in Iann’s opinion anyway. “Yeah I’ll bet. And when you go werewolf, it’ll be interesting to see if you’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t enjoy your last human hours to the fullest. Frankly, I hope you don’t, but you never know.”

Ruby: Get on with whatever her normal was gonna end up being. Get on with… being alone. Being clueless. Being someone that no one would notice if they left and never came back. They were idle thoughts, and alcohol induced. Ruby wouldn’t truly think them in the morning, but right now she did. A bit. She laid her head against the window as they drove, watching the streetlights go by in a blur of light.

“And I will then see you in amazing tie-dye,” Bella told Cassie with a smirk. “I promise to only shop at IKEA,” she teased him, figuring if she spent a lot of money that could end up making him a bit uncomfortable too. “But no more princess castles…even though they’re amazing.”

Ephram waved goodbye to the exiting throng before looking suspiciously at Freddie. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “Youn’s got them other things too, them shows at Christmas where actors dress up as twelve-foot-high princesses or the like. It’s gotta be an English delight.” Ephram looked at Dani, trying to enlist their help. “You must of been to England before, right? They love their freak puppets?”

Lilo took Cassie’s arm and excited out of the diner, ready to find there way back and enjoy the rest of their night.

Freddie followed suit as Ephram waved at the departing masses, then turned his attention back to Lilo first as he and Cassie stood to go. “Well, stick close, Dad - just in case,” before back round to Ephram and Dani. “Pantos aren’t the same thing at all,” he argued good-naturedly, “Dani, back me up, yeah?”

“I’m not wallowing…” Ruby groaned, turning her head to look at Iann. “I’m… not… okay, maybe a lttle bit. BUt I was doing so good. So fucking good. I was.. happy. Ish. Better. Which is why I just blurted shit out there tonight like an asshole.” She rubbed her forehead. It was laready starting to hurt. “I’ve got some blood tabs that’’ll fix anything…” She turned back to teh window. “WEll, I was until tonight…”

Miles gently nudged Bella’s side, “You wanna go make tie-die shirts with me and the girls?” This was kind of big for them cause Bellamy hadn’t actually met his kids before, but he figured that since they’d been seeing each other for a while, it was about time they met.

Dani shrugged at Ephram. “Yeah, I lived there on and off as a kid. Can’t say I ever paid much attention to freak puppets, though. I was usually busy getting into trouble while my father was busy dealing with whatever work he was up to.”

Iann (to Ruby, driving home): “That’s called moods! Indulge the wallow. You had fun, now you’re feeling like shit, then tomorrow you’ll feel different. You don’t have to keep forcing yourself to be one mood and only one perfect unflawed mood anymore. Moody-moods.”

Bella knew she felt a little…upset when it seemed like Cassie would meet them first but ultimately she figured that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Cassie and Lilo were sweet and they had a kid and they weren’t…dangerous. “Maybe we should talk to this somewhere people can’t hear,” Bellamy suggested, knowing if she could hear Ruby then there was every chance others there could easily here them. It might not have been the sweet reply Miles wanted but saying yes like she wanted wasn’t quite so simple.

Ruby crossed her arms petulantly. “’M not moody.”

Iann: “It’s not a critique. Moody isn’t a negative word.”

Freddie followed suit as Ephram waved at the departing masses, then turned his attention back to Lilo first as he and Cassie stood to go; telling him “Well, stick close, Dad - just in case,” before circling back round to Ephram and Dani. “Pantos aren’t the same thing at all,” he argued good-naturedly, “Dani, back me up, yeah?”

Ruby: “Maybe.”

Iann: “Definitely. I’m moody. I’m not slamming myself.”

Ruby: "Not right now.” Then, “You deflect.“

"Oh, yeah. 'Course it’s not the same,” Dani tagged along with Freddie. “Puppets are a bunch of fake figures on strings. Pantos are more like comedic plays, and such. But geared toward kids rather than your usual theatre crowd.”

Freddie grinned. “Which isn’t to say they aren’t horrors in their own right - they’re just the sort of horror you think fondly on.”

“Pantos,” Ephram repeated firmly, although he had no clue that it was short for pantomime. “Hey, you cain’t claim Dani! Dani’s on my side!” Ephram reached across the table to fold Dani’s hand in his own. He intended to keep up the banter, but instead found himself asking, “You and your daddy wasn’t close back then?”

“Sure, I guess?” Iann shrugged and looked over at Ruby. “Are you trying to put me in my place or something? You’re the one who’s hating yourself. I don’t hate you.”

Ruby: “I don’t hate myself. And no I"m not trying to put you in any place. It’s just an observation.”

Iann: “So it is.”

“Exactly,” Dani grinned at the fairy before the witch took their hand, and a quiet giggle resulted. His question, however, caused them to blink. “No, we were still close. He was just extremely busy. When we were over there, it was typically nobility stuff he was dealing with, which awfully complicated and frankly boring for a child who would much rather roll around in the mud than learn proper manners for elite festivities.”

“Sure,” Miles returned, “Yeah, no problem.” He finished off the rest of the pastrami fries and then wiped his fingers clean with a napkin. Since people seemed to be slowly filtering out, Miles glanced at his watch and did see that it was getting late. “I got to go, babygirl,” he said to Bella. “Are you going to come over later?”

“Makes sense, yeah. Mr. Savin’s got plenty of nobility stuff and scholar stuff to attend to.” In truth, Ephram didn’t know much about Fane other than his scant (and largely unpleasant) interactions with the man. And it was good to have Freddie with him for the conversation, so Ephram could demand his husband’s interpretations later, in private. Ephram valued Freddie’s perspective on these things very highly.

Bella worried she had upset him, taking one of his hands in hers once he had wiped it off, squeezing it gently. “I /want/ to meet them, I promise,” she assured him. “You working tomorrow?” she asked of him leaving. “Yeah, I will probably head back to work for a bit to make sure everything closes okay but I’m definitely staying over.”

Miles pressed a reassuring kiss to her lips before he scooted out from the booth, “Yeah I work tomorrow. I’ll see you later then.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek and whisper lowly into her ear – though likely others with heightened hearing would still be able to hear him, “Love you, babygirl.”

For his part, Freddie thought being too busy with the trappings of nobility and his sense of his own importance seemed like Fane Savin in a nutshell, and he wasn’t surprised in the slightest - in fact, what had always surprised him the most about Fane was that his child was as lovely as they were - but he stayed quiet, choosing to only smile politely along with Ephram’s assessment, popping the last tot into his mouth. “Not quite so nice cold,” he mused after he’d swallowed.

Bella kissed him back simply, knowing he wasn’t into anything intense so publicly. “Love you,” she said back, watching as he left and said goodbye to everyone else. If he was upset then she knew that when they talked all would be well so she didn’t worry. Instead she began finishing off her food before heading over to Ephram. She knew he was a bit busy with Freddie and stuff but she didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, moving behind his seat she kissed the top of his head. “I’m headed back to work. Stop by before you miss all the fun. Maybe arrest anyone who has vandalized the place.”

Miles waved and nodded a few quick goodbyes to the rest of the people.

“Thankfully we don’t have to deal too much with it anymore.” Dani waved their hand as a gesture. “Occasionally something will come up– an invite to a party or a hopeful suitor, which I no longer have to bother with either.” As Bella and Miles headed out, Dani waved their hand goodbye. “See you. I know I’m likely to stop back in at some point, so long as the party’s still going.”

Freddie glanced up at Bellamy, expression inscrutable, gaze level, and shifted just slightly in his seat; his body language just a bit more noticeably possessive and protective, though he didn’t say a word. Waiting until Ephram had said his goodbyes before leaning closer to his darling’s ear to murmur, “What about us, love? Nearly time for bed do you think?”

Ephram leaned his head back when Bellamy came over, demanding another kiss on the forehead. “I would say you’re workin’ too hard, but I know you don’t need sleep.” He laughed at the idea of arresting anybody, and said, “If anybody insults the venue, maybe. Goodnight, sweetpea.” He petted Freddie’s back, forking the poutine over like he was pitchforking a field, and suggested, “Try that one. It’s like, molten hot forever.” Going back to Dani’s reply, Ephram said, “Heh – a benefit of gettin’ older. You don’t gotta do things you don’t have to. Or like.” His husband stirred, suggesting that they retire, and feeling tiredness seep back into his bones Ephram wasn’t inclined to argue.

Bella kissed his forehead as requested by his movements and smirked at his comments. “Night,” she happily said as he moved back to Freddie. It felt like a fairly successful interaction with Ephram while Freddie was around. Not perfect by any means but it didn’t seem like either of them had done anything to make Ephram feel put out which was what she presumed each wanted. Now to just see what had happened with the black light event.

“I’ll see you roundabout the place, Dani,” Ephram said, standing with Freddie bundled against him and grabbing the poutine container with one hand so they could tote it home with them. “Right now I better take the love of my life home and tuck his tipsy but cute ass into bed.”

Dani chuckled at Ephram and nodded. “That you will.” They smiled at the pair, stepping out from the table themself. “Sounds like a plan. I might stop home briefly as well… If I don’t show up, just expect I’ve been dragged into bed by a grouchy florist.”

“Oh no,” Freddie interjected, smiling as he cuddled into Ephram’s side, “-not tonight. This one’s coming to bed with me. But tell Sam hello, love, yeah?”

“By expect you mean imagine, right?” Ephram snickered, giving Dani a one-armed snug before they parted ways.

Dani laughed and returned Ephram’s squeeze. “Whatever you fancy, I suppose.” To Freddie, they gave a peck on the cheek and nodded. “I’ll pass it along. Good night to you both.”

Ephram ended up eating the poutine on the way home. But in a way that was all right, since the warm food got him hungry for something else, too.

[cutiecrates]

Gacha Gacha Crate April 21

Sanrio and Rilakkuma Capchara

We got not 1, but 2 Capchara figures this month!

“Capchara“ (capsule characters I assume) are figurines that make up the capsule they come in, usually its the head. You open them up and use the inside pieces to assemble. They’re not usually difficult, but on occasion i get one with really loose pieces.

Each series consisted of 4 possible characters to get, and ironically I got both of those shown in the booklet.

Pomeranian Figure

I’m obsessed with Pomeranian x3 they have been my favorite doggies for the past handful of years, and someday I’d really like to get one. I want to name it chestnut... or Sebastian/Yumihiko (from Ace Attorney Investigations 2), because his hair makes me think of a Pomeranian and I like him. In honor of Pomeranian, the booklet included some fun trivia; but for the sake of my sore wrist and fingers, I’m going to skip them.

There was 8 Pomeranian in total to get, once again I got the one from the booklet picture. Not a big deal, but I thought it was funny- it also happens again with the next item. 

Pokemon Slots

We’ve gotten one of these before, do you remember? In fact, I think my last one was either the same color, or one very close to it. There was 5 possible slots to get, each featuring its own Pokemon x3 I love this version of Ponyta, and this color of pink, so I’m very happy to have gotten it!

Anyway these are cute little fun devices. You insert some of these gold coins into the slot on top, then pull the handle on the side. If you get the 3 matching, you push the first button on the front to disperse the money! Isn’t that cute?

Hitman Reborn! Rings

This was a series my friend managed to semi-get me into years back. We could get 1 of 7 possible rings from the series, each coming on a ball-chain so you could either use it like a keychain, or you could take it off and wear it, re-string it, put it on display.

I’m sorry the image is kinda blurry here DX I have an old phone and sometimes that just happens. On this ring there was a cloud, 3 spades or clubs, and a fleur-de-lis on each side.

Cuphead Figure

(This figure oddly enough goes well with the terrible blur I didn’t notice originally...)

Our last item for this month is an adorable Cuphead figurine. I was a little surprised to see this of all things, I thought that game came out a few years ago, but maybe it’s still popular? I wanted to try it, but after watching a Youtuber I like play it, I thought it’d be too hard for me <3< especially since I don’t usually play those types of games.

Besides Cuphead, we could also get Mugman, both of them in their airplanes, and the figure I got, of when you lose a life.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Honestly, after seeing this box I felt bad over how I complained about last month’s box. I compared it to the February box, which I really liked and it fell short for me- but it was actually kind of fun compared to this one. Don’t get me wrong, the figures/items we got were nicely made. Basic but I didn’t really notice any issues or anything, but we actually got a bit more to do with the prior box; a stamp, a jewelry case, and the mini Shodo set which included a real usable brush and was so cute~

But to be fair, I think I might just be expecting too much. I only say that though because I’ve seen what other Gachapon series Japan has to offer, and they have some really fun ones- like figures you can use for other items, accessories, clay or slime kits, other DIY’s. I don’t know how expensive they are though, and given how much pricier other boxes became, it might be for the best we don’t get those ones very often.

Plus the one time we got slime, mine was a melty, sticky mess.

[jojen-hewitt]

Here's my @aftgexchange summer gift for @boydsten , who asked for Andreil with kids!

I hope you like it!

I've included some personal headcanons about this particular Minyard-Josten child under the cut, but I will also recommend these two amazing kidfics; A Legacy of Two by ninaalegre and Noah Minyard-Josten by Aleekae, if you haven't read them yet. Admittedly a few of my headcanons are borrowed or inspired by them so.. Yeah.

Happy Summer! :D

I have a lot of headcanons about Andreil and this kid, and sweet heavens this became really long and rambley, but I think I got the important stuff covered, so enjoy at your leisure. 

His name is was Kyle Wicker (now Minyard-Josten) and he was brought to them when he was seven after he was abandoned by his adoptive parents at Renee's church.

She lives a couple cities over and when she realizes her two former teammates actually live closer to Kyle's old school, she gets it cleared with all authorities to have him reside there until other arrangements can be made.

Andrew tells her not to get any clever ideas, it's just temporary (he gets one look at how scared, scarred, and young he is, Andrew and Neil's inner Wymacks kick in, and rather suddenly he turns back on his statement to Renee)

Kyle is freaked out by people bigger than him, (when he first meets Kevin he actually cries, but Matt went smoother just because Matt is ... Matt) so the rather short heights work in their favour; although it takes a while for him to open up or trust them.

He first does with Andrew after he has a nightmare a few days in and Andrew just makes him a hot chocolate and they don't really talk in detail about anything, but they kind of reach an understanding that Andrew gets him and he's safe here. He knows not to touch Andrew and Andrew returns that in kind until they just naturally accept casual contact from each other. He understands Andrews blank nature and doesn't take the apathy personally as he gets older.

With Neil, the bonding is a bit easier (despite Neil's discomfort with kids for the most part) since they automatically connect through the Exy thing ("Good Christ, not another one.") and their similar burn scars (not going into detail, but his old foster parents' extremely sick sense of humour and his last name Wicker lead to some pretty permanent reminders of those years with them). The two share stories and Neil feels like he's playing the Truth game all over again, but it fits nicely.

Once Kyle learns partially how Neil got his scars/his past, the kid just embraces Neil as his own personal Batman or James Bond, fighting the evil mob bosses and surviving to roast someone on tv the next day. Neil is a little proud of this (at least he doesn’t scare the kid).

Neil and Andrew have a rocky start taking him in and adjusting; something that would have been much worse if they didn't already have some experience babysitting the other Fox kids. They both are relatively new to the whole idea of "happy" or "safe" or "family" so providing that to another, smaller, more easily affected human being with his own personal baggage (that may or may not bring back up their personal baggage) is, to put it simply, tough. It's not the easiest ride for any of them, but they find a way to adjust and live together in relative peace and comfort.

Also Kyle loves the cats. Like LOVES them! He accepted himself as one of them the minute they first came into his new/then guest room to cuddle. When he's older he tells people that the cats raised him (to which Andrew says than the cats can buy him his new fucking racquet next time, but he only half means it).

He calls Neil Dad (and Neil at first and for a long time kinda freaks out inside and with Andrew about it, but he's fine now... seriously fine too, not Neil fine) and he calls Andrew Vati (because papa and the like just sounded off directed at Andrew, but so did just calling him Andrew, so when he learnt from Nicky that Vati or Vater is dad in German, they all collective decided that worked)

When they adopt him, and he opens up a bit more, they find he grows up to be like a scary combination of Neil's snark (Exy gods help the press that harass this boy; they already call him Josten 2.0), Andrew's immovable patience and blunt honesty, and Matt's carefree smiles and kindness - towards people he likes at least ("How did he come out so nice?" "I don't know, Aaron. Almost like he grew up in a decent place and has the genetic material of other people, huh?")

Speaking of, Aaron and Matt are tied for favourite uncle (Aaron sneaking by because he's most like Andrew, personality wise, and also he gets him cool books for Christmases and birthdays)

He likes Nicky too, since Nicky helped him learn some important facts and phrases about Germany for a school project and Kyle agrees to rat to him whenever he catches Vati smile, so fast friends 

(even though there was that brief stunt where Andrew and Aaron -with Neil's help, the traitor- had straight face convinced Kyle Nicky preferred to only be referred to as Uncle Pavo... which is rude, and Nicky rightfully would've bitched at his cousins if Kyle didn't look so happy and confidant saying it when they meet).

Obviously he loves the girls (and he would be pressed to argue who his favourite Aunt is, but it would probably be Renee because she gave him this life to begin with technically. Plus she died his hair orange and white when he was 16 for his school championships -and to help grease the wheels for Aunt Dan, but more on that later-)

(Also, as pictured above, Andrew knew and was chill with it till he saw the colour... Damn orange will haunt him for life. Neil didn't know, but loved the colours. They're a balanced family, you see.)

Grandpa Wymack and Grandma Abby take a while to earn those titles just because he's still rather nervous around older, taller, and in Wymack's case, tougher looking people when they meet the first few times (and they don't Skype like the rest of the Fox family, so it takes a while for him to accumulate to them), but they eventually become the go to confidants about anything he doesn't want to bother Andrew and Neil with (from secret gifts for the dads to "I'm scared I'm making the wrong choice in courses" to "oh my god I don't know how to ask this person out and Vati said just threaten to shove them off a roof, help!")

and they have the couch to crash on when he's in South Carolina

Jean and Jeremy are the cool family friends who send nice cards and sometimes French hot chocolate and strangely, but rather full heartedly, encourage the "cats raised you" mentality (Jeremy because he thinks it's adorable and Jean because he laughs at how indignant Neil gets when he hears it).

He's cool with Kevin (despite the crying and the vague starstruck attitude he first had with him), but - and maybe this is the Andrew influence talking - he sometimes finds the constant Exy talk to get too overwhelming. He's known to just call it Stickball around Kevin's family with all seriousness just to annoy them (Andrew sneaks him extra dessert when he does) He gets along with Kevin's offspring too, even if he has also adapted his dads' tolerance for being bossed around the Exy court (or backyard court) by a Day; see: none.

Speaking of Exy, Kyle loves it (in the 7 year old way of he loves the sport, likes his favourite team, but has no clue who any player is but Kevin and Kayleigh Day, so was shocked and kinda in love with the fact that Neil used to play for said favourite team), but he never played himself until he moved in with Andreil.

He started his first couple years of little league as a striker - he's great at it and this makes Neil smile more than he thought it would (damn Kevin for being right, it is kinda great watching a future champion grow up) - but switches to goalkeeper when he's 10/11.

(which Neil complains about only a couple of times ("But he was so good, Andrew." "Yeah, so? You were a backliner in little league. The kid changed his mind, accept it." "You're right you're right... Just he's so fast." "Ugh!") but he accepts that it's still Exy and at least Kyle and Andrew can bond more.)

Plus even if it wasn't Exy, they would've been cool with it.

Plus plus, he's an even better goalkeeper than striker, as a mix of Minyard tactics with Josten Exy enthusiasm. 

Foxes are Kyle's favourite animal aside from cats (even before he meet the team, but it definitely amplified once he did).

He stole his dads old fox merch (mainly Neil's) when they officially adopted him, even when it was too big for him.

He painted his room orange and white. He had a bunch of stuffed foxes (all unofficially named after former team members).

He watched almost every Fox game of his dads' years, especially the ones against the Trojans and the Ravens.

He almost chose to have Fox as a middle name when they gave him the option during the adoption (he went with Robin though; 1) Aunt Robin is awesome 2) He's kinda a not so secret Batman nerd and when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up the answer was "An Exy player or Nightwing" and 3) because like hell Andrew was allowing the obsession to go that far).

He wants to the join the Foxes when he's in college.

But, like the rest of the Foxes, and despite Neil's fears (and Andrew's hesitance in his capabilities as a caretaker), he's turned out to not qualify for a spot on the team.

So of course he tried other tactics like the hair and he once tried to plead to Aunt Dan that in fact the first five years of life that he can remember should be enough reason to allow him to join ("Sorry kiddo, no dice. You're too Kit now to be a Fox.")

Sorta side note, the children of the old Foxes are all called Kits and Allison sends them all handmade "Palmetto State Kits" jerseys with their parents numbers (Kyle got 13 because 10 and 3; a number he carries through all his Exy teams) When he's young, he wears his to school whenever he can and only stops when it needs a wash or he grows out of it.

He's very close with Matt and Dan's family. Their middle child is his age and they talk all the time. When their teams face each other in Exy matches, they always run and talk to each other in the middle of the court between goals and halves. Basically Boyd/Josten Brotp 2.0

Matt usually sits with Neil in the crowd during these games (when they can) and cries every time the game brings them close ("Oh my God!! Neil, did you see your baby block my baby's shot?!” “Yeah Matt! I saw! Beautiful.” “That was beautiful! Holy shit! It happened again! Are you seeing this?! They highfived!!" “KYLE! Hug the competition after the game not when they make a goal!” “That was a great goal though!” “Agreed, but still!”)

they still hug it out whenever one of them does a cool thing. Their teams hate when they play each other because of it.  Not like they don’t try to slaughter each other game wise, but again, they celebrate each other’s badass moments without pause. And when one wins, you would think the other was on their team too with the exuberance they congratulate the other.

He grows up to be about Kevin's height, much to the shock to some who were expecting another tiny Minyard-Josten.

He also inherits Andrew's sweet tooth to the point where Neil's kinda convinced he's never going to win the "should we get ice cream on the way home from practice" debate ever again.

I'll stop there. Again, there is a lot more, but I definitely have already rambled enough. Sorry.

[saintheartwing]

Fallout is the Bomb

I can't believe I've only brushed over this series before. There was a whole, beautiful, irradiated world to explore within its boundaries that I never knew of! Lemme explain. Fallout is, well, post-apocalyptic. That alone had me worried. I'm not a big fan of the post-apocalyptic setting because of how it essentially gets so misanthropic, and assumes everyone turns into the kinda scumbags you'd see in "Violence Jack". The good news is that Fallout actually has a sort of "out". You see, in all of the series...well, most of it, anyway...you play as a Vault Dweller, someone who was sealed away along with others in big, social experiments set up by the government before a great war between China and the USA over resources that ended in nuclear fire. The Vaults have everything you'd need to survive for decades, even centuries! But not for all of them. You need to leave your Vault eventually, either to get a much needed Water Chip that will ensure your people can survive, or to find the "Garden of Eden Creation Kit", or you're forced to leave because the head of your Vault is a big fat jerk, or you leave because your SON has left the vault long before you while you were essentially frozen in suspended animation, and you've gotta track them down. In New Vegas, it's different, but I'll get to that later. Fallout 1 and 2 introduced the factions that basically dominate the universe. The Brotherhood of Steel, who sealed themselves away and hoard technology, hoping to someday come back up and revive the best of mankind in better days. The Super Mutants, mutated humans infected by a virus made by a lunatic who thought that as long as there were differences of ANY kind in humans, we'd keep tearing each other apart. Hence, why not make a race where everyone looks and sounds basically the same, AND is super strong, AND can easily withstand the radiation-filled wastes that fill America? There's the Enclave, the remnants of the previous government, heads of corporations, the rich and powerful, who helped MAKE the Vaults, and who basically think any life that's out on the Earth at the moment isn't really human because their DNA isn't like the "old world" humans anymore. Even if it just means people just have an extra toe or the like, they think you're a subhuman mutant as bad as the two-headed, skinless cows that now walk around. There's Ghouls, people who are heavily bombed to s--t, their skin burned off, looking like they've been flayed alive and yet linger on, some who are very intelligent and still retain their personality, others who are feral and twisted and evil. And then there's the NCR, the New California Republic, founded by war heroes and remnants of the army who are trying to sort of rebuild America or at least, what it stood for, out primarily on the West Coast. Their leadership's too concerned with bureaucracy and the amount of red tape and incompetence can be a real issue, but you can clearly tell most of them, the soldiers included, are just trying to stick together and do as much good with as many people as possible. In the first two games, it's a sort of isometric perspective. In the third, it switched to a sort of first person shooter mechanic, and the series has kept it like that, with RPG elements throughout. You have "perks", abilities like being able to carry a ton more, being able to avoid fighting with wild animals because they all like you, having a random, mysterious, gun-toting stranger randomly pop up to help...and you can choose how you want your character to look and act, like in most open world games. Now, which one is the best? I'm not sure for everyone, but for me? New Vegas is the best blend of old school and new. You play a courier who's lived out in the Wasteland. It was your job to deliver a "Platinum Chip" to Las Vegas or, as it's now called, New Vegas. But you got caught by some fancy dressed mobsters, shot and left for dead. It didn't stick. Now you wanna find that Chip, find out WHY it's so important, who the hell killed you, and maybe...or rather, most LIKELY...get revenge. There's a problem, though. For one, you don't know where the mobsters went. And you've got to contend with raiders, the NCR who aren't sure if they can trust you, wild mutated animals, and everything in between. AND...a new, Roman-themed faction that's raping and pillaging every town they find, selling the women into slavery and following a mad lunatic named Caesar. And I do mean Roman-themed, they wear Roman armor, have centurions, the whole shebang. The Legion's boss, Caesar, actually gives a damning condemnation of Democracy in the game. After all, it was Democracy and electing the idiots that were in the govt that cared more about the Red Scare than people having fresh water to drink that led to the war. Might makes right. The good news is you can play someone who's both good and bad, someone who's a blend. There's not merely morality, but "reputation". You can have a good reputation with the Brotherood, but be HATED by the NCR. Or idolized by the NCR and despised by the Legion. If you're smart enough, or charming enough, or have the right perks, you can talk your way out of almost anything, or, if you've the skill, blow the beejbus outta anyone you want with a ROCKET LAUNCHER! HAHAHAHA! KIBBLES AND BITS! It's fun watching baddies explode. And there's a lot of funny moments too. Take, for example, a subquest at the Atomic Wrangler, as you try to earn money to gain access to New Vegas, for you need 2000 bottle caps to get in, and that means you need to either sell a lot of highly valuable stuff...which you probably don't have...or you've gotta get dirty and do things like be a pimp for a whorehouse. Which I had to. The boss says we need a ghoul cowboy, a charming older lover, and a sexbot. Then when you tell him you've got the sexbot, he's all giddy like a schoolkid, making it abundantly clear the sexbot was for HIM. Which he tries in vain to pretend isn't true. And of course, the guy who shot you has a talking droid. Because of course he does. His name is Yes Man. When you tell Yes Man you're the Courier his boss shot? Yes Man: Hahaha! I know that's not true, because you still have a head!

Courier: I'm serious. 

Yes Man: Hahaha! That's... not funny... you getting shot in the head. I really shouldn't have taken so much pride in how I set that up, huh? ... I feel really bad right now. Yes Man has a lot of great lines. Oh, and did I mention Elvis Impersonators run a good chunk of the Strip? Because of COURSE they do. Of COURSE they do. Guess what they have to say about their HQ? "Near as I can tell, it was some sort of religious institution. Oh, I know it says "school" out front, but everything in here seems to be related to the worship of some guy from back in the day. People used to come here to learn about him, to dress like him, to move like him. To BE him. If that's not worship, I don't know what is." Hey, if you're gonna imitate ANYBODY, why NOT the King? And yes, in Camp Searchlight...deep breaths... THERE IS...a set of HOLY HAND GRENADES in the Church.  The sign just reads, "Pull pin and count to 3." And the grenades will make a bigger boom when you count to 3. Don't believe me? Look for yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tZUFKe-uYw&feature=youtu.be It's too beautiful for words.  ^_^

hbomberguy on Youtube did a really good analysis of the themes of Fallout. And as he said, “FO1's villain is 'the future', represented by mutations, evolution, technology and so on. The Master embodies this by being a mutated machine-man. The old world is gone, and the future is coming to get you.

FO2's villain is 'the past', in the sense that the largest threat to the world is the stuff that destroyed it the first time. People are trying to move on, inventing new money, but the real threat is that we haven't changed enough, and are still doomed to destroy each other. Hence the theme of newly-invented drugs, money troubles and so on. You're chasing an artifact of the past to survive, but that past killed the world. How much of the past is it good to dig up? The Enclave dream of a return to the prelapsarian america that already had its chance and got blown up.

Horrigan (the main villain) embodies this. He 'is' the ideology of the past, personified. He wants to kill you because mutants must die, and you must be a mutant because he's been ordered to kill you. Symbolically we're seeing that humans have a thirst for purity, and this thirst is itself our greatest flaw. You also HAVE to kill him with violence. It's not possible to talk him down, and the real challenge is how you deal with that fact. It's a nice final twist. Your first proper conversation allows you to claim you believe peace is always possible - and the last one is a counterpoint, saying - but the other person has to be willing to try this too.

The game criticisms mankind's inner violence, but then points out that to escape this, violence becomes necessary - it just has to be used differently from before. Being able to recruit some Enclave soldiers AGAINST the main Enclave soldier is a fun moment. The military industrial complex is bad but can be wielded against itself.All FO's main villains and central characters are rendered 'faceless' by masks or armor or mutations, because they represent something prevalent in humanity itself, more so than any one person. it makes them larger than life, like you're battling a concept. The Master is a monstrous creature-machine, Horrigan is always behind a mask, as is Lanius, and the burned man and Ulysses are similar too. This is one reason why making the villain of 3 just 'some guy in a jacket' really annoys me. Make me contend with the faceless monster that is the darkness in man. Don't make me shoot some southern-talkin' dude.Even then, I can see that being a really cool twist on the formula. But it's so badly done. Poor Autumn.”

Indeed. The main “villains” of New Vegas are sort of “faceless” and represent greater concepts. Mr. House is, in many ways, a refusal to let go of the past. He wants all of Las Vegas to be like his snowglobes: perfectly pristine and preserved under a glass bubble, unchanging. Caesar’s idea,, the LEGION’S idea of the “future” is a take from the past as well, a sick, dark past, the ROMAN heritage, embracing the past’s more cruel elements in the name of a greater organization and unity. Sort of similar to the Master’s Unity, but this time not coming from looking to the future, but to the past. The NCR is the present, and they are, in a way, a problem as well, something to contend with. Because people are suffering here and NOW, and they’re stretched so thin and so tied up with red tape that people slip through the cracks easily, or they just use outright violence instead of better, smarter solutions. They can’t see ahead properly, and aren’t learning from the mistakes of the past. Cassandra Moore, in particular, is a good example: every solution she has involves killing someone or a group of people. She refuses to open up to the idea of diplomacy. She’s as closeminded and narrowminded as the idiots who helped cause the bombs to fall to begin with. By only seeing other factions as enemies and never considering they could be allies or friends, or dealt with more kindly, you close yourself off to better, more moral, or smarter solutions.

The Brotherhood of Steel are similar: they want to preserve the elements of the Past, but they can’t see that their refusal to really help those in the present is dooming them. They’re well-meaning, they CARE, but...they’re wrong. They’ll just die out if they just stay inside their bunkers. They need to take a more active role in the world outside.

So what I'm saying is...play Fallout: New Vegas when you get the chance. Check out the Fallout series. There's a lot to love in there that might surprise you. I know it surprised ME.