#like. trent getting to a place where he feels safe enough to be open and silly

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

and just.... trent's little 'woof'........ will never ever ever ever ever be over this. ever. and every single time this happens i want to combust (positive) but especially that one tiny little woof. almost self conscious in how quiet it is, kinda small, but also deeply sincere and goofy. just this adorable helpless little Woof like he can't quite bring himself to join in properly in case he isn't welcome but also can't quite resist. the little smile after. someone kiss that man immediately

[formulalfc]

could you please make the request about trent and uni student reader where she’s struggling a long fic x (sorry forgot to specify before lol)

I'm Here Now

Trent Alexander Arnold x Reader

tw- none really, exam stress

The last few weeks of university were really hard for every student, tests, essays, quizzes, you name it. But you were really determined to do well on your upcoming exams having studied so hard over the year.

You spent every day sitting in your boyfriend's office, typing away trying to get all your work done so that you could finally relax after a long year.

But as your final week got closer, your routine went out the window and you were now pulling all-nighters to try and get everything done. You allowed yourself maybe an hour sleep, curled up on the sofa in Trent's office, and then you were up again going through notes.

Trent had been away on international duty for the past few days but was due back today and yet you hadn't even remembered. So engrossed in your work and so out of sorts with what day it is you had no idea your boyfriend was coming home today.

You were currently really struggling with this particular essay you were doing, it was a hard topic and your lack or rest was starting to catch up with you.

The words on the screen started to look jumbled and like they ddint make sense, you screwed your eyes in an attempt to make things clear again but you just couldn't focus.

Tears of frustration started pooling in your eyes, fuelled also by your lack of sleep. You were so close to finishing everything being able to relax and now you just couldn't concentrate.

What started as a few tears were starting to turn into steams of them, sobs racking through your body as you cursed yourself for not looking after yourself better as you were now paying the price.

Due to your uncontrollable tears, you hadn't heard your front door open and close as your boyfriend came in and you hadn't heard him call out your name.

Trent was confused at your lack of response and assumed that you were studying with headphones on or something but when he opened the study door he see you there crying and his heart near enough broke.

As you caught sight of your boyfriend its like you were finally ready to let it all out, now finding it hard to breathe as you cried.

Trent rushed over to you and lifted you from your chair, gently sitting down on the sofa with you cradled in his lap.

You had stuck your head into his neck and were sobbing into him as he cooed down at you telling you, "You're okay baby, you're okay. I'm here now, I'm gonna make it all better okay?"

Your cries eventually died down as you snuggled further into him, finally feeling content in his arms. And soon enough you had fallen asleep in the arms of your boyfriend, who stared down at you in worry.

He could tell from your face that you had worn yourself down, and he felt bad knowing that he wasn't here to stop you from beating yourself up over silly exams.

But he felt better now knowing that you were here, safe in his arms, where you always should be.

Your boyfriend carried you down the hallway to your shared room, slowly managing to peel the covers back before he placed you onto the bed and tucked you in.

He left for a moment to get you a glass of water and some paracetamol for when you woke up, knowing that you would have a headache after all those hours you spent at your computer.

When he got back you seemed to be tossing and turning restlessly without him by your side. And so he quickly dumped the things on the side and stripped down to his boxers, turning off the hallway lights before moving into bed behind you.

You lay still as Trent pulled you close to him and wrapped his arms around you, knowing you could rest now and that you could worry about your essays in the morning.

[snootlestheangel]

☠️

Death Doesn't Want Me Snippet

*Ghoap zombie apocalypse au ft. Soap's family*

The fic will be mostly the generic descriptions of action and scenery of an apocalypse story, but there will also be "reflection" sections where it focuses on a specific character (mostly Ghost) and their inner thoughts and feelings with the whole situation they're in. This is an example of what that'll look like.

Haunted.

It's how Sarah describes the feeling she gets from their group's newest edition. She feels haunted.

The man in question has yet to say a word to any of them, even despite the fact he broke up an argument waiting to turn into a fight. His mere presence was intimidating enough to Trent and his friends, as they had quickly quieted and allowed Sarah to speak her mind. She's still not sure if the skull mask was the reason the mystery man was able to silence those idiots, but it's what they are claiming. Personally, she thinks they were all a bit intimidated by the massive sniper rifle resting comfortably across the man's back. She believes the weapon indicated he had more hidden elsewhere on his person, and that it would be safest if he were left alone.

In all honesty, Sarah isn't scared of their new shadow. Sure, he's rather large in stature, and the full skull face accented by a dark hood is intimidating, but she just doesn't have any fear of this man. It could be that he had stepped in to allow Sarah to tell those daft bastards the right plan, or maybe that the others had finally stopped belittling her and her family all for being Scottish.

Or maybe it's because she watched her youngest daughter hand him a thistle she had picked, and the fact he took it gently and stowed it in the open pocket of his duffel.

Either way, Sarah MacTavish can say with complete confidence that this phantom is not a threat to her and her family.

In fact, she feels comforted at the same time as feeling haunted. Haunted because this enigmatic figure tends to stay several meters behind the main group. Haunted because he's often spotted just out of the corner of her eye, giving her a start until she remembers the unspoken peace treaty they have with this physical manifestation of Death itself.

But comforted because at least one person here has a weapon and seems competent. Comforted because he very easily could have killed anyone he wanted and taken advantage of the others. But he hadn't. In fact, he expressed a gentleness that Sarah knew to be a quickly dying trait in this world of ruin. She has started to take for granted their unconventional guardian, and has grown rather fond of his presence. She almost wonders if the man has found himself in a situation he didn't expect to be in, almost like he's in too deep. She wonders if he's committed to playing a role as a guardian all because of that first interaction, where he came to Sarah's defense and supported her plan to head north towards a potential safe place.

She finds herself making jokes with her husband Daniel about how their girls are probably driving him insane with all the little gifts, but he's too chivalrous to act anything other than grateful each time. She makes jokes with her sister-in-law Eleanor about the man's almost supernatural existence. She jokes with her older brother Oliver about how their group is so unlucky they're being haunted during an apocalypse.

Sarah becomes so comfortable with being haunted that she's rather humbled one night. Humbled when she realizes they aren't the ones that are haunted.

It's a rather disturbing feeling Sarah gets as she watches the phantom one night. He's staring into the fire, brown eyes dancing with the flames, yet they were empty, devoid of emotion.

Haunted.

What's most disturbing about that look is how familiar it feels. How close it is to the same look her youngest brother gets from time to time. The same look everyone would ignore until John became himself again.

The empty stare of a soldier.

Sarah knew from the moment they met this man that he had a career similar to that of her brother John, but she had never quite faced that reality until now. She decides to do something about it.

And maybe it's because that look reminds her so much of her baby brother. And maybe it's because her motherly instincts start taking over. Either way, she decides she's going to make their spectral companion take a nap.

"Why don't yeh get some rest? We'll be fine till morning." Sarah whispers after quietly making her way over to the fire. He blinks slowly before looking up at her, the blank aspect of his expression not disappearing but the stare no longer holding a distance to it. He's grounded now, that she can tell, but what is visible of his face gives no indication to what he might be thinking. Or feeling. If he does such a thing, Sarah finds herself thinking. The man's eyes dart around their makeshift camp as he thinks, and Sarah feels a bit frustrated by his lack of a response.

"We'll be fine, I promise. A wee rest isnae gonna hurt anythin'." This makes him look at her again, and this time she can gather a bit of emotion coming from those amber eyes. He nods in agreement before quietly getting up and moving towards the edge of the group, just in the darkest part and nearly disappearing into the shadows.

But Sarah is left confused. He had looked back to her with an almost mournful look, like he knew something she didn't.

She didn't dwell on it. She couldn't afford to.

Instead, she trusted him. Trusted that haunted feeling as she put out the fire, and bathed them all in darkness.

[so-long-soldier28]

very random warbler headcanons

✨ sebastian smythe ✨

- played lacrosse in france and was liked by his teammates, but wasn’t necessarily popular in school

- scandals bar habits came directly from nights in paris

- neither of his parents are homophobic, but he’s heard the horror stories and fears losing his relationship with them

- his maman knows about his late night habits, but doesn’t question him about them. she’s always known he was gay, but he never directly told her. she fears if she brings it up, he’ll clam up 

- still, she looks out for him in ways she can. teaches him how to be safe outside at night, shows him ways to defend himself if he ever has to. sneaks extra condoms in his nightstand drawer

- takes him a while, but eventually realizes his mom knows, but isn’t trying to stop or control him. awkward about it at first - doesn’t go out for some time and definitely doesn’t bring anyone home. but when their relationship doesn’t change, he goes back into his old ways. does make an effort to be safer (and even a bit more open about it), though, for his maman’s sake

- something about the smythes: love preparing for social gatherings; hate social gatherings. their house is always the place to be during the holidays bc it’s huge and gorgeous. mrs. smythe loves decorating for christmas, and all three of them love to cook and bake for it. but then throughout the night, they all just want their company to go home so they can sleep

- both parents taught sebastian to cook and bake, and he has a book of their favorite recipes that he pulls out during late nights at dalton

- charcuterie board connoisseur 🧀🍷

✨ nick duval ✨

- from michigan but at dalton on a scholarship (i read a fic where it was a soccer scholarship, and my brain adopted it)

- childhood best friends with jeff

- not good with directions. can’t really tell left and right apart. on road trips, he’s not the driver, nor the navigator, but a secret third thing (in the backseat, wondering where the nearest rest stop is)

✨ jeff sterling ✨

- second child of four siblings + has a twin sister

- also from michigan, but siblings are scattered all around states (has an older brother in florida, too)

- loves his family, but they have their issues. grateful for nick’s support throughout his life, otherwise he’d be pretty lost

- when nick got accepted to dalton, he begged his parents to go, since most of his siblings were separated anyway. they let him go mostly to have one less child to monitor 

✨ hunter clarington ✨

- doesn’t believe he can be liked, so he settles for being feared

- this works for coaching the warblers, but he quickly learns he’s not accepted nor respected by them

- left out on lima bean study dates and movie nights and other warbler group activities. hurts him, but he doesn’t show it

- canonically: acts out with steroids until the boys plant enough evidence that blaine and sam find out to get him expelled

- noncanonically: after one strenuous practice, he loses his cool and shares his insecurities. very slowly, the boys open up and forgive him, like the did to sebastian after the slushie. eventually, he’s brought into the group as a friend, instead of just being on the outside as a leader

✨ thad hardwood ✨

- always first to forgive

- giant goof that makes everyone smile, even on the worst days

- has a theory that kurt killed pavarotti for blaine’s attention. wes thinks he’s crazy for it

✨ trent nixon ✨

- public school bullying brought him to dalton

- lives closer to cincinnati, ohio. wishes he was in westerville, though. doesn’t feel safe in his hometown

- parents aren’t divorced, but they don’t love each other. very close with his mom, not at all with his dad. has to talk to his dad once a year, though, bc he pays for his schooling. this usually happens around christmas-time. unless his dad drinks too much the night before and forgets

- queer. every so often wonders if he’s bi, but has never been in a relationship with anyone so he doesn’t know. curious about girls, but at the same time, can’t imagine dating one. doesn’t feel a need to figure it out ~ he likes who he likes

- has the biggest crush on blaine. relates to him, wants to protect him, and thinks he’s absolutely adorable

- was the one to kick sebastian out of the group after the slushie. all were mad, but he shouted at him for almost an hour, and even pushed him once

- last to forgive sebastian, but did eventually. also apologized for pushing him. he’d never physically touched anyone like that before and he felt bad since it happened, but not bad enough to apologize right away

✨ david thompson ✨

- aroace

- best friends with wes. they went on a date once, but both decided they were better as friends

- the warblers call them their dads (no one knows about the secret date, but their parent-like protectiveness over the group brought on the gag)

✨ dalton academy ✨

- students are allowed to use the kitchen as long as they keep it clean and know basic safety rules

- there are three fire drills a year. one is during classes, one is at night, and the last is unannounced and random

- lots of begging resulted in the warblers all being put on the same floor. all freshman students and transfers are randomly placed, but going into their sophomore year (or next year up), they can request roommates

- the school’s no-bullying policy extends to having emergency buttons in all of the dorm rooms and hallways, in case anyone ever feels unsafe

[legaciestold]

thread: the prismya incident tuesday, july 25th-friday july 28th, 2006 @everythingheard (chris)

-

tuesday, july 25, 2006 | around 4:38am (stateside local) mild rain, gray morning skies, humid

when jill had half-awoken to the phone ringing on the nightstand in the middle of the night, the woman had allowed a groan to emit from her lips, burying herself further into the blankets she'd already managed to hog. nevermind the fact it was fairly hot in the room-- she'd been one of those people that pumped the air and wanted two sheets and a down quilt even in the height of summer. however, jill had made due with a heavy blanket and chris. she mused more than once that it was an acceptable trade. chris always had felt warm and safe, understanding of those nights she dreamed of tyrants and hunters and everything in-between. understanding of why she had a gun under her pillow even all these years later because they both kept weapons at the ready.

always vigilant. always strong and prepared. but also always accepting of the other.

they hadn't needed to voice these things, they just were. it was natural. they could feel safe from all the horror that was outside the walls of their home, that was on every mission they conducted for the bsaa, because when it was them, it was them.

safe. comfortable. understanding.

jill expects to feel his arms around her after a few minutes, him either telling her that she could stay in her cocoon or that he was going to have to drag her out of bed because they were being called in. when neither happens after a full minute or two and instead she begins to hear the tone of his voice shift, she opens her eyes so that they focus on the clock before she shifts, moving into a sitting position as the covers slide to her waist and she looks at him, a phone attached to his ear. the look she sees sends a chill down her spine and bursts forth such an influx of chaotic memories that she has to take a steadying breath. then she's moving, starting to pull out clothes from the closet and dressers. she doesn't have to ask what kind. she knows. they were going in, they'd be changing into their official gear once they got there.

she only catches bits and pieces of one side of the conversation but it's enough to make her pause when claire's name comes up and it's as if she's back eight years prior. tension in the air, threats abound. racoon city. nemesis. trent sending them on wild missions. claire taken by umbrella. does leon know? jill's always wondered about that. claire and leon. sometimes she wondered if it'd take them another eight years before they realized what they already were. she shakes the thought away when chris hangs up. what he tells her shakes her to the core because it's something new.

it's something terrifying. it's something so much more than bioweapons created by humans. it shakes the fabric of everything she's ever believed to be true.

because it means that monsters, real monsters are real. not just the zombies umbrella or any of the others buying off the black market were creating. it meant true horror was being mixed with existing man-made horror. and with the horrific things she had already been witness to, jill wasn't sure she could even fathom the scope of what this would mean. of what she might see.

and claire..

claire was in the middle of it. where the fuck did this agency get off waiting to tell them she was missing? waiting to tell chris because of some bureaucratic bullshit about clearance? he was claire's brother. and when the hell did claire leave terrasave? jill liked to think her and claire were pretty close but her and chris had had constant missions the last few months and claire had been reeling from whatever had happened between her and leon that jill could never get a straight answer about. maybe they'd all been a little caught up in their own worlds lately.

now they might all pay the price for it.

there's a number of briefings that take place, quickly, somewhat rushed at headquarters. jill and chris' aren't part of the one that the others are. instead the conversation that started on the phone is completed in an office as soon as they gear up. the other bsaa agent's that are going with them have a group briefing and all of them are required to sign nda's that were more detailed than the standard 'don't talk about the details of work outside of work' deal. jill doesn't like it but she can't let herself care about that right now. not when god knew what was happening to claire and she had to focus on chris. on helping him find her. on making sure they kept focus and didn't let their emotions cloud their path.

everyone leaving on the transport is aware of the nature of what they could be walking into even if fathoming it beyond what they'd seen in a dracula movie was difficult. it was hard to know what they might land into, no one knew what this new virus could do. what mixing horrors would birth. but jill and chris know a bit more, have a bigger mission. establish the ground forces, take their alpha team to stop the release of something worse. find claire. find mara. find information about a vaccine if there was one. apparently mara might have knowledge of it.

mara.

jill had thought more than once that the universe had a strange sense of humor in how many coincidences it'd thrown at her over the years. it'd even been almost amusing when her and leon had actually seen each other as adults that day in paris and not just a few words on the phone as they all attempted to form plans against umbrella. however, jill was getting pretty tired of the universe's shit right now. claire was missing, being experimented on and now leon's fucking cousin was in the middle of it too. it meant emotions were going to be high with all the key players in this mission because leon was going to meet them on the ground. his mission priority was apparently going to be finding claire and mara. their mission was that but more multi-faceted.

get some form of control over the ground. find and stop who wanted to release more of the virus. that likely would be one and the same with finding claire and mara as they seemed to be being held by the same people.

but jill knew from experience that this was going to be a hell of a lot more complicated once they hit the ground running. and she could still hear claire on that video her and chris had been shown even hours later when they are still in the air, most of the teams in the other part of the transport and jill finding chris in one of the only isolated spots of the plane.

"we're going to find her, chris." she states, moving to stand next to him and letting her hand find the side of his face. a comforting gesture but also one to focus him. focus him on her words, on her faith in him, them. they weren't big on pda around other agents. their business wasn't other people's and no matter how much they trusted the people they went on missions with there was always something of themselves they kept back with so much betrayal abound in recent years. the other agents weren't becca or barry. they weren't like family to them. they hadn't been through what they had together. but this moment, at least for a few minutes was just them.

"she'll be okay. she's strong. you know that. and you know as well as i do that leon isn't going to stop until he finds her and mara either. the rest.. whatever we're going to deal with on the ground, we'll get through like we always do. all of us are going to get through this. we always do."

[xhopelesslyromanticx]

Faking it - Trent Alexander Arnold x Reader

Masterlist

Warnings: sexual references, alcohol, cursing

summary: In which Trent has a hilarious reaction when he finds out his girlfriend has been faking it.

„Fuck me.“ you heard Trent curse from the living room after the sound of yet another christmas ornament being shattered on the ground.

You chuckled, wiping your hands on your aprin as you closed the oven. Finally done with all the baking, the kitchen now looking like an absolute nightmare. Covered in flour from head to toe you made your way to what only could be described as a crime scene.

Trent was standing in the middle of the living room, boxes ripped open all around him, ornaments laying around everywhere and the christmas tree looking rather sad. Only about three ornaments hanging and the twinkly lights oddly wrapped around it.

„Honey…“ you sighed, leaning against the doorframe as you looked at your stressed out boyfriend.

„It‘s impossible…“ he looked at you, a golden ornament in his hand „I hate this tree and I hate the stupid glass ornaments. Why couldn’t you have just bought plastic ones?“

You chuckled, knowing he was just frustrated with himself „Because I thought we were old enough for real ornaments Trent.“

Trent made his way over to you, his face now only inches away from yours. You could see glitter was all over his face and had to krep from laughing. Oh boy, that was gonna be hard to get off.

„I’m not old enough, you see…“ he chuckled, pointing at the shattered glass on the ground.

You giggled, shaking your head before giving Trent a quick peck on the lips. Pulling away his eyes where closed and he was pouting, signaling he had wanted the kiss to be a real one. You rolled your eyes, removing his grasp from your waist.

„Come on Trent, your friends are gonna be here soon.“ you sighed, walking out the living room backwards.

„Ah, fuck them…“ Trent sighed and you could still hear his cursing all the way in the kitchen.

It felt like a relief when the guests finally arrived, having cleaned, decorated and cooked the entire day.

Trent was wearing all black while you choose to be a little more daring in a red dress. All the lights and candles where lit and your living room looked quite festive. There was jazz playing quietly in the background and the whole house smelled like cookies. Trent and you actually did a pretty decent job.

You were handing out glasses of champagne to Trents teammates and friends and their girlfriends while Trent was showing of his christmas tree to Robertson and Hendo.

„Everything looks so nice Y/N!“ Perrie complimented you as you were handing her and Ox a glass of wine.

„Thank you honey…“ you smiled, looking at the gorgeous blonde „You look lovely Perrie.“

The two of you went on to small talk as the guys were discussing something football related. Rachel, who was Robertsons wife, soon joined you. You asked them about their kids as they both were mothers. Sadly Hendersons wife hadn’t been able to join as she had caught the flu and was at home with the kids.

After long conversations and a nice and super delicious dinner everyone gathered in the living room once again. Drinks in their hands as they all snuggled up under the blankets, appreciating the christmas tree. Looking at it a little longer you noticed it was a little crooked but you kept that to yourself as Trent was so proud of it

You rested your head against Trents chest as you could feel it goingup and down. Inhaling his scent, that you loved so much. His arms wrapped around you as he held you close. This truly was your safe place.

You were way too full from all the delicious food and the alcohol was making you a little drowsy when the guys suddenly made an announcement.

„I have an idea.“ Robertson then spoke up as he took out his phone „Let’s play a game.“

Hendo and Ox both cheered on the idea as you sighed. You were way too tired.

„You wanna go to bed?“ Trent whispered into your ear before planting a kiss on the temple of your cheek as he caressed your upper arm.

You looked up at him, a slight smile forming on your lips „No it’s fine honey.“

Trent smiled before placing his lips onto yours. You relaxed into the kiss shortly before hearing the guys uproar from behind you.

„Oh, come on Trent and Y/n!“ Robertson yelled and Ox added „You can get busy later!“

Perrie hitting him in the shoulder in a joking manner „Stop it.“

You pulled away from Trent, rolling your eyes as you snuggled up against him again. What a bunch of mood killers.

„So what do you wanna play?“ Trent cleared his throat as he shifted around the couch a little,trying to get comfortable with you on him.

„Never have I ever.“

Hendo and Ox had made the strongest drinks you had ever had as you all passed eachother the phone reading the stupid and mostly sexual statements. You did have a good laugh though and after a short while everyone was at least a little tipsy.

„Never have I ever recieved nudes.“ Perrie read from the phone as she giggled, playing with the ends of her hair.

„What kind of question ist that.“ Hendo rolled his eyes before taking a sip „I mean I unwillingly recieve them all day over on instagram.“

The guys all laughed as they each took a sip of their drinks. So did all the girls, including you. It was the modern age, what could you say.

Perrie handed over the phone to you as you read the next question. Widening your eyes as you wanted to swipe to the next one but Trents hand abruptly grabbed yours, stopping you from doing so.

„Why would you swipe that?“ Trent asked with furrowed brows as you nervously shrugged your shoulders. Trying to act nonchalant as your boyfriend looked rather suspicious.

You cleared your throat to get everyone’s attention, feeling Trent study you from the side.

„Okay.“ you started, pressing your drink close to your chest „Never have I ever faked an orgasm…with my current partner.“

There was a minute of silence as Perrie started awkwardly laughing. You could still feel Trent stare at you.

„With Ox…“ Perrie sighed, nibbling on the rim of her glass „I don’t think so actually.“

„Me neither.“ Rachel shrugged and Robertson looked like he was just declared king of the world.

„Well, I think the answer is clear for us guys.“ Hendo laughed, shaking his head „It‘s kind of impossible.“

And just when you thought all eyes were on him, you took a quick sip from your drink. You thought you had been careful but just a moment later you could hear Trent gasp next to you. Oh, damn it!

Then his arm was abruptly removed from your shoulder and when you faced him you could only describe it as looking in the eyes of a lost puppy.

„You faked it?“ he asked, sounding truly hurt as you shifted around the couch uncomfortably. Putting on an awkward smile, feeling everyone look at you.

„Trent…“ you whispered, not wanting to have this conversation infront of everybody „It’s not that big a deal.“

„Yes it is!“ Trent squealed as you put your hand on his knee. Your boyfriend removing it shortly after, in a rather sassy manner.

„No it’s not…“ you sighed, he was cleary drunk or else he‘d never cause a scene like this. He was a shy guy and rarely talked about sex infront of his friends. „It’s just a lot more complicated for women. There are a lot of factors that have to be just right…“

„Then what factor am I not reaching?“ he slurred and you rolled your eyes. It wasn’t like that „I mean I know where everything is right? I do take my time for you and you always say you like it!“

You could hear the guys burst out into laughter as you felt yourself blushing. God this was so embarrassing, you couldn’t even look at them. Obviously they thought it was funny that the younger guy was taking this so personally.

„Yes I do like it honey…“ you whispered, closing your eyes to calm down „I was probably just tired those times…“

„Those? You faked it more than once?“ Trent squealed and by now everyone in the room was laughing. Well, everyone expect you.

„Trent, you’re drunk.“ you said, grabbing his shoulder but he shrugged it off once again. You slowly got frustrated, not wanting him to share anything else.

„What?“ he furrowed his eyebrows, looking at you disappointed „I mean if you were too tired, you could have just told me! You know we don’t have to have sex if you aren’t in the mood…“

And before he could say anything else you put your hand over his mouth. In a way it was sweet. Yes, Trent was an incredible gentleman but this was just absolutely humiliating. His friends would tease him forever about this and right now they were laughing their asses off.

„I really think you‘ve said enough now Trent.“ you whispered, getting serious as you looked him in the eyes.

Trent mumbled something against your hand, his voice obviously muffled so you couldn’t understand a single word he said. You just sat there staring in the eyes of your very tired and very drunk looking boyfriend.

It hurt you to see him like this but then again, he himself had made a big deal out of nothing and embarrassed the two of you in front of all his friend.

„I can’t cope with this guy.“ Hendo laughed as he shook his head before hitting Robertson shoulder.

Trent now realized that he had an audience. His drunken brain working a little slower than normal. He removed your hand from his mouth as he stared at his friends, who all tried their hardest not to laugh. All of them as red as a tomato covering their mouths with their hands.

Expect the girls of course, they just looked Trent worriedly. Feeling bad for the younger lad ad he wa in for the teasing of a lifetime.

„I’ll…“ Trent mumbled, freeing himself from the blanket wrapped around his legs „I‘m gonna go.“

With that your boyfriend stood up before stumbling out the living room, eyes glued onto the ground.

You sighed looking at all the guys „Great job guys.“

„What?“ Hendo squealed, putting his hands up in a defending manner „You’re the one that just broke his heart.“

He was right in a way. Maybe you should have just lied but somehow the alcohol made you wanna be too honest for your own good.

„Fine.“ Perrie sighed, getting up from the couch „I think we’ll leave now anyways.“

„Yeah, us too.“ Rachel smiled at you in a apologetic manner before also getting up „It’s getting kinda late anyways.“

After you said goodbye to your guest you did the bare minimum in the kitchen and living room. Loading the dishwasher, blowing out all the candles and putting away any leftover food being your priority.

Then you turned of all the lights before walking up the stairs. Face buried in your hands; it had been a long day.

You could hear noise from the bathroom, Trent was probably getting ready to go to bed as well. So you walked into the closet first and started taking off your jewlery. When it came to unzip your dress you soon realized it was impossible.

The zip had gotten stuck and no matter how your tried to bend you just couldn’t reach it. Frustration built up. And soon enough you had tears streaming down your face as you were a crying mess.

„God damn it!“ you yelled, tears rolling down your cheek as you started to rip at your dress.

But nothing worked, so you just sat ontohe floor in front of your mirror sobbing. It was silly but it was just a combination of everything that was overwhelming you.

„Honey?“ the door was burst open and in walked a shirtless Trent. He had probably heard your sobs all the way to the bathroom.

When he saw you crying on the ground he immediately looked worried as he hurried over to you. Kneeling down next to you.

„What happened?“ he asked, trying to calm you down as he caressed your back „Why are you crying?“

You leaned your head against his chest, inhaling the familiar scent as you tried to catch your breath.

„I… I… can’t…“ you chocked as Trent pulled you into his embrace. Holding you close to him and caressing your hair. „I can’t unzip my dress.“

There was a moment of silence before Trent started giggling. You looked up at him, your vision all blurry.

„Hey!“ you pouted, wiping away your tears „That’s not funny!“

„Yes…“ Trent giggled, looking at your probably smudged face „I’m so sorry.“

You couldn’t help but also start to laugh. Which made Trent laugh even more.

„Oh God…“ you said in between laughter „I love you so much.“

„I love you too.“ Trent giggled, kissing your cheek „Just promise me…“

He took a deep breath, looking you in the eyes „Next time… When you’re too tired to you know. You can just tell me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to fake it.“

You smiled weakly before nodding „You’re a really great guy you know that?“

„Well…“ Trent shrugged, looking down at you with a frown „Apparently not that great in bed though.“

You punched Trents shoulder, making him chuckle again as you cuddled up against his chest.

„You’re also really really great in bed. Believe me.“

[footballffbarbiex]

Baby daddy Trent taking the munchkin to see his teammates for the first time. Please?

Not me now realising the carnage that would happen especially with uncle Robbo lol. 😂

Player: Trent Alexander Arnold (but features the other lads too) Words: 1097

_

Always the careful driver, Trent manoeuvres the car with ease through the traffic until pulling off into the training ground. 

“Hey lil man, it’s not Melwood but it’s got some amazing people in there y’know,” Trent says as he kills the engine, removes the key and pulls off his seatbelt. “And it looks like a lot of your uncles are already here mate.”

At 4 weeks, Trent decided it was safe enough to venture out to meet such a big group of people. He’s posted snaps on insta of the pram, or him holding the baby with only his back on show and head of hair, but so far, not many people have met their son but Hendo did pop round a couple of weeks in to drop off some gifts for both you and the little one. 

“He’s gorgeous, so he obviously doesn’t look like his dad, does he,” he’d joked and had Jordan not been holding the baby, Trent would have thrown a pillow at him. 

You follow suit, getting out of the car as Trent begins to unclip the car seat and you head around to the boot and retrieve the rest of the pram. Pulling it open and making sure it’s secure, Trent pops the seat into place, waits for the click-clack of it snapping into lock mode before handing you the stroller so he can grab the bags and the baby changing bag. You begin to push him towards the entrance, leaning forward slightly as you do to tuck the blanket a little more comfortably around him. His tiny but adorable pout works, his tongue flicking out as he dreams and his hands open and fist again. He really was beautiful. Dark hair with the natural dark blue baby eyes which were starting to turn to a shade of brown which were framed by thick long lashes. Or at least it looked that when he was able to keep them open longer than five minutes.

Trent catches up with the two of you within what feels like seconds, two bags flung over his shoulder before he bumps you out of the way to take the stroller. Had it been anyone else, you’d have been mad, demanding your baby back but watching him be the proudest and most supportive daddy was everything. You couldn’t be annoyed when he was like this. 

“I am going to have to feed him soon though Trent. My boobs are killing.” You say, feeling as though your chest was the same weight as the rest of your body. 

“That’s fine. If you wanna feed him before we go through, I can take you to one of the rooms?”

“And he might be awake afterwards,” you say, nodding in agreement. 

-

With him having a nice full tum and your chest now lighter, you walk at the side of Trent as he heads out through the training doors towards the pitch. The small bundle lays against his daddy’s chest, head on his shoulder but he looks tinier than ever. 

“Ah! It’s the youngest recruit.” Jurgen calls out after catching sight of the three of you, hands clapping together before he adjusts his cap, his trademark broad smile beaming at you as he strides towards you. You watch as the rest of his teammates copy, abandoning their warm ups, their conversations and fooling around to come over slowly. “Oh, he is wonderful. Look at those cheeks. Absolutely wonderful.” he comments in a quiet tone, eyes fixed on the little boy with a soft expression. 

“Has he got his eyes open at the minute?” Trent tries to tilt his head to look but can’t from that angle. 

“For now. He keeps trying to go back to sleep though.” you say, reaching forward, adjusting his little hat before you stroke his cheek. The instinct to hold him close and just breathe in his baby scent is overwhelming but you resist.

“This is the easy stage,” Mo says, tilting his head from where he stands, a big grin on his face as he takes in the little one's features. “They just sleep a lot. The night feeds aren’t so fun but they just poop and eat and sleep.”

“It’s when they can move around and stuff,” Virgil agrees, placing his hands on his knees as he bends a little to get on eye level, “you need eyes everywhere. It feels like if you blink, they’re out of the room.”

“They’re so fast,” Bobby takes his place at Virgil’s side, with each of the lads trying not to crowd around you but the little one doesn’t seem too bothered - he’s more focused on sucking on his fist. “You don’t think they are because they’re so small, but it’s as though it helps.” 

“Are you talking about anything other than poo, and feeding slash sleeping routines yet?” Thiago asks, directing a question to you and you release a nervous breath that you weren’t aware you were holding and force yourself to stop wringing your hands. 

“Nope,” Trent laughs, making sure his hand is fixed over the baby’s back to steady him.

“Still a hot topic right now.” you chuckle and grin up at Trent who grimaces when he knows where this is going. “And arguing over who has changed the most nappies so it’s the other’s turn.”

“She gave birth though,” Virgil looks at Trent as though he’s crazy, “this is your turn to step it up.”

“Yeah Trent.”

“So selfish.”

“Do you take care of some of the night feeds?”

“She’s breastfeeding though. It’s not like I can.” He replies in a small voice. You watch as they burst into laughter, some hiding behind their fist to their mouth as they laugh. 

“Leave him babe, yeah?” Alex shakes his head and stands near you. “He’s a cop out. You deserve better.” he gives you a little elbow and you nudge him back, unable to keep the smile from your face now. 

“Takes a decent corner but can he take a night shift?” Robbo shakes his head as a chorus of no in several variations is called out. “Appalling. Shocking.”

“They’re not gonna let me live this down now.” he says when Andy reaches forward and begins speaking in a childlike tone, “come ‘ere to uncle Robbo.” 

“But I get the feeling tonight, I’ll be sleeping through.”

“If he doesn’t, you let me know. I’ll take care of him.” Jurgen slaps him on the shoulder and gives you a wink. “I want two laps of this field from you before the others join you. Get going.”

_

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Trent Alexander-Arnold: @petitharicot

[dunkzillla]

New Tricks for an Old Dog (1/?)

William Regal x Wheeler Yuta, Chuck Taylor x Wheeler Yuta

A little later than I was hoping, but @slapofhonor asked for Chuck/Yuta, and @di0brando asked for Regal/Yuta, and I knew I could (somewhat, I hope) deliver with this. Updates will be sporadic but I hope you enjoy regardless!

Title: New Tricks for an Old Dog

Pairings: Wheeler Yuta/William Regal, Wheeler Yuta/Chuck Taylor

Rating/Warnings: Explicit — Sexual Content, Language, mentions of Disordered Eating.

Word Count: 4553

Summary: Barista by day, sex worker by night, Wheeler Yuta is burning the candle at both ends trying to make ends meet. Businessman and Lord by day, lonely old man by night, William Regal desperately searches for something to make him feel alive.

“Fuck sake Trent you prick! I told you to go around the back!”

Wheeler’s eyes flutter open, woken by the loud shouting, and fall on the old, blinking alarm clock on the bedside table. Four thirty am.

Wheeler sighs. He could spend the next half an hour laying here in bed listening to Chuck yell at Trent and Orange over Fortnite or he could get up and have hot lemon water and a few wheat thins while sitting next to his boyfriend before heading off to work. He throws the thin covers off himself and grabs Chuck’s sweats and hoodie from the floor and slips them on. They’re far too big, Chuck’s much bigger than him, stockier, taller, but they make him feel warm and safe and they smell like him.

“Piece of shit can you not just listen to me for one second?” Chuck yells again, and when Wheeler steps into the living room he can hear the sounds of gunfire on the screen, the tap tap tap of Chuck’s thumbs on his controller. He must hear Wheeler step into the room, because he turns and looks up at him, sheepish. “Shit, sorry babe, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Wheeler stands behind him on the couch and presses a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t worry, needed to get up for work anyway. You want breakfast?”

“No thanks babe, I had toast when I got up.” He says, turning his face so he can kiss Wheeler, chaste and quick before turning back to his game.

Wheeler sighs a little. He doesn’t know how Chuck can spend so long staring at the screen, playing the same game day in day out. He barely sleeps, less than Wheeler does with two jobs, moving only to use the bathroom and shower, make himself microwave pizzas and burgers if Wheeler’s not there to do it for him. Which, he isn’t a lot of the time because of his two jobs.

Times have been hard for them since they moved out into their new place. Chuck lost his job a few months after they signed the lease, and then decided that instead of getting another job, he was going to focus on his video game career. The trouble is, there really is no video game career, Chuck’s simply not good enough to be a professional gamer, nor does he have the money to spend on the kind of equipment that professional gamers have which allow them to easily win tournaments and spend all of their days gaming. So Chuck spends all day ‘practicing’ and then enters tournaments on the weekends, coming so far down leaderboards that he doesn’t even make any money. He’s unemployed, playing video games all day, while Wheeler works two jobs to try and pull them both out of the mountain of debt they’re buried under.

Wheeler works at Starbucks during the day, making just above minimum wage and whatever meger tips get put in the jar, and by night, Wheeler walks the streets and sells his body to men that drive by.

He never intended to become a sex worker. He never intended to get into strange cars with strange men and let them do what they wanted with him for fifty to a hundred bucks, but he met Daniel Garcia in a YMCA queue waiting for free condoms and heard all about the little spot where he and a few others go to make a little extra money. Wheeler had been in debt enough to know that his paycheck this month wasn’t going to cover all of the bills, so he’d gone down that night — telling Chuck he was going to do a trial shift at a gas station — and worked the street with Daniel. He gave out four blowjobs, one hand job, and got fucked by a man twice his age. He made three hundred and fifty dollars in four hours, more than he makes in a week at Starbucks.

He’d felt sick when he got home, seeing Chuck curled up on the couch, waiting for him to get home. But they needed the money, Chuck’s gaming skyrocketed the electricity bill and with only him making any money, he needed more than just a minimum wage job or two to keep the roof over their head and a bit of food on the table. So Wheeler set his guilt aside and went out the next night too, making even more than he did the first time, and went out the night after that and the night after that, and he hasn’t stopped since. He misses a couple of nights here and there, Wednesdays are the slowest days and sometimes it’s hardly worth standing out waiting for someone to drive by, and on Chuck’s birthday, he doesn’t go then. But every other night Wheeler stands with Daniel and waits for men to pull up so he can say, “You looking for something hot stuff?”, before getting into their car.

But even with the sex work, Wheeler doesn’t make enough for them to live comfortably. He doesn’t always get great hours at Starbucks, reducing the amount he earns, and when it rains, Johns don’t want to pick up soggy and damp sex workers. So he goes without a lot, the groceries he buys tend to be things that can go in the cupboard or freezer, non perishables, and even then he lets Chuck eat most of them, microwave pizzas, microwave burgers and hot dogs, pizza pockets and bags of chips, he’s bigger than Wheeler and needs more, and he gets to eat the leftover pastries and sandwiches at work, so he doesn’t mind. His shoes are falling apart, and he wears the same cycle of clothes so that he can keep a good few pairs of jeans and shirts for special occasions. Not that there are many of them, these days.

Daniel gave him some stuff to work the street with. Told him that men, particularly the ones that frequent their street, like them in skirts and sparkly tops. He went to Goodwill and found himself a second set of clothes, and he alternates them every night, wearing one sparkly top with one skirt, swapping it the next. He’s got a trusty pair of knee high boots with a chunky heel that keeps his feet warm when it’s cold.

Chuck still doesn’t know what he does at night. He told him he got the job at the gas station and works nights. When he gets home, usually around three in the morning, later if it’s a good night, he’s already changed out of his skirt and boots in Daniel’s car and he wears one of Chuck’s hoodies everywhere to mask any leftover scent of another man’s cologne.

Wheeler makes himself a mug of hot water with a squeeze of bottled lemon juice in and roots in the cupboard for his wheat thins and takes out two, holding them in his palm and going over to sit next to Chuck on the couch. He leans against his arm and sips on his water, nibbles on his cracker and watches Chuck and his friends get absolutely decimated by teens at Fortnite.

“You got work tonight baby?” Chuck asks when the game ends and the loading screen flickers.

Guilt gnaws at Wheeler’s belly like hunger does, and he swallows down the dry cracker as he nods. “Mhm. Not sure what time I’ll finish, depends if Jade can get a babysitter to come in the middle of the night.”

Jade Cargill isn’t exactly a made up person, she’s the wonderful woman who gives him his free condoms at the YMCA and helps him sort out his sexual health check ups, she just isn’t his colleague at the gas station like he’s told Chuck.

“Remember to eat, yeah?”

“I’ll have something at work. And gas station snacks.” That’s not completely a lie, either. He does get food on his break at Starbucks, and gas station snacks are the chips he and Danny share when there’s a quiet hour and no Johns.

Chuck puts an arm around his shoulder and pulls him in to kiss his temple, “Make sure you do. You work too hard, my little Yuta bear.”

A little bitterly, Wheeler thinks ‘and who’s fault is that?’, but it’s unfair, really, because he hasn’t asked Chuck to get a job, he’s letting him live out his dream for as long as he can until he realises it’s not going anywhere. When he does, Chuck will get a new job and there’ll be two incomes and things will settle down again. Wheeler can stop working the streets and he’ll be able to make a proper dinner for the two of them.

“I have to get ready, kick their asses babe.” He murmurs softly, finishing off his water and licking the crumbs of the crackers from the palm.

“Don’t I always?” Chuck says like it’s true, and Wheeler just laughs as he makes his way into the bathroom and jumps into the shower. He’s in and out, using as little hot water as he can but making sure he’s clean, brushes his teeth by scraping out the toothpaste tube, refusing to buy another one until there isn’t even a drop left in this one.

He comes back out into the living room wearing his beige chinos and black Starbucks shirt and Chuck wolf whistles at him like he does every morning.

“Boy do I love me a man in uniform.” He grins, and the screen is loading again, so it’s not really a surprise when he leans over the side of the couch and tugs Wheeler in by his belt loops, pulling him onto his lap.

“Chuckie, I gotta go to work.” Wheeler says quietly, but he’s smiling, warmth spreading through him with the way Chuck looks at him, hands sliding over his body and down to rest on his ass.

“I know I know, just wanna give my boy a little goodbye kiss.” He says, and he tips his face up until Wheeler takes pity on him and leans down to kiss him.

Chuck's kisses light him up from the inside, the way his big arms feel wrapped around his small waist, the way he dominates his mouth with his tongue.

“Chuckie I mean it, I gotta go or I’ll be late.” Wheeler breathes out as Chuck deepens the kiss, grinding up into him like he’s trying to start something.

“You know I can make it super quick, baby.”

Wheeler huffs out a laugh, and manages to de-tangle himself from Chuck’s grasp. “Later babe, promise. But I can’t be late.”

Chuck lets out a long, sexually frustrated sigh. “You prance around in those tight little trousers and expect me not to do anything.” He whines like a teenager, and Wheeler rolls his eyes, kissing his cheek.

“I love you, see you later.”

“Love you too baby, have a good day.”

Wheeler heads out, tucking his hands into his hoodie pockets as he gets out into the cold fall air.

He works a ten hour shift, thankful for it despite his aching feet because it’s way better than the five hour shifts he was getting offered last week, and gets home at five, eleven hours after he left the apartment this morning.

Chuck is in the exact same position as he was when Wheeler left at six am, except the apartments got a bit messier. There’s an empty cup noodles pot tipped over onto the coffee table, leaking the last of the sauce out after being toppled over by the weight of the fork.

“Hey baby, good day?”

Wheeler dumps his things by the couch and drops onto it, his aching, throbbing feet finally getting the weight off them. He can feel the hole in his shoe having gotten bigger. No matter how much money he makes tonight, he’s going to have to use a little of it to get him a new pair from Goodwill. Well. A newish pair.

“As good as anyone can have with entitled middle class people screaming at you for having made their coffee too hot or too cold,” He says, watching the tv screen show Chuck’s character ducking behind doors trying not to get shot. “What about yours?”

“Got accepted into a mini tournament today, won two hundred dollars.”

Wheeler sits up a little, he can see the pride on Chuck’s face, his little flushed cheeks and patchy stubble. “Baby that’s amazing, well done.” Wheeler says, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Just a little more practice and I’ll be getting those big cash prizes in the big leagues.”

Chuck says it with such reverence, such confidence, that Wheeler really wants to believe him. He really does, it’s just, he knows that no matter how much Chuck practices, he’s never going to be as good as those guys in the professional leagues. Chucks been jobless for months now, almost a full year, and he doesn’t seem any better than he was when he started. Wheeler doesn’t know how much more their landlord will forgive when it comes to late and not the full amount rent payments.

“Yeah Chuckie, just a little more,” He smiles softly, lying too easily to him these days. “I’m gonna’ go for a nap before work, I’ll see you in a little bit.” He says, giving him a quick kiss before dragging his already exhausted body into the bedroom and flopping down onto the bed, not even bothering to change out of his Starbucks uniform.

He sleeps for a couple of hours, waking up feeling less exhausted but not at all rested, before getting up and taking another quick shower. Wheeler’s just got time for a quick lemon water once he’s put on some clothes and brushes his hair before he hears Daniel’s car horn blasting from outside.

“See you later on babe, make sure you get some sleep.” He calls to Chuck as he makes his way out of the apartment, leaving him in the same place for the second time in one day, and knowing that he’ll return later, at about four am, to find him exactly where he left him. Chuck’s “I will, I love you.” back to him gets lost in the sound of the door closing behind him and his feet pattering down the stairs towards Daniel’s car outside.

It’s a rusty old heap of junk, but Wheeler’s thankful that Daniel has it, because it gets them too and from the street they work when it’s cold and raining, keeps their belongings safe, and gives Yuta a place to change into his skirt and boots that are tucked into his bag.

“Took your time, Yoots.” Daniel grumbles when he gets in, but there’s no heat to it.

“I overslept a little, long day at work.”

“Has—“

“No, Chuck still doesn’t have a job. You don’t need to ask every time.”

“I was going to say did he win any tournaments, actually.”

Wheeler rolls his eyes and shakes his head, “No you weren’t. And yeah, he did, actually, two hundred dollars.” He says as he shimmies into his skirt. It’s a short little black thing, with the sides cut out but pulled together with a silver string detail. It’s not the type of skirt you wear underwear with, so he doesn’t.

“Wow, that’s really going to put a dent in the thousands of dollars of rent arrears you’re in.” Daniel says, one arm slung out of the window and the other one on the wheel. It’s not that far to the street they frequent, so Wheeler works himself quickly into the halter neck silver top, and slides on his boots. Daniel’s already dressed, though they both always put on their shimmery lipstick together.

“Every little bit helps, Danny.” Wheeler says, taking the lipstick from Daniel and applying it to his lips. Daniel looks at him sympathetically but doesn’t say anything else, just gets out of the car and adjusts his purple mini dress.

It’s a slow kind of night to start with, they only get a couple of cars swing through, Hook across the street taking one of them, Daniel taking another, and then one of them asking for both him and Daniel, which, isn’t entirely unusual, though it does make for a very cramped double-team blowjob in the back of the Johns Ford Mondeo.

It’s around midnight when the black Rolls Royce turns the corner. It drives by once, then comes around again.

“What the fuck is a Rolls doing around here?” Wheeler says, and Daniel’s already hiking his dress up a little further and looking down at himself to make sure he looks okay.

“Hey, no, this one’s mine. You’ve already got Bryan in the Mercedes.” Wheeler whines, stepping away from Daniel a little, like he’ll be able to sprint to the flashy car and get there first. He won’t, he’d die in these heels doing that.

“I recognise the plate, he knows Bryan.”

“So I should take him! Bryan will get jealous.”

“Wheeler—“

“Please? You can take him next time if he comes around again. I need this.”

Daniel actually smiles at him, one of those ‘you’re something else but I love you,’ smiles and steps back to lean against the wall. “Go on then, don’t keep him waiting.” He says.

“Thank you!” Wheeler says quietly, before turning and heading over to the Rolls, the window sliding down the closer Wheeler gets.

“Looking for some fun, hot stuff?” He says in his softest, sweetest voice.

“Most certainly with you, pet. Jump in.”

The man is British, and for once he’s actually good looking. He’s older, Wheeler thinks maybe he’s in his fifties, with mousy hair striped white and gray in some places, a soft face with smile lines and crow's feet. He’s rakishly handsome, and Wheeler finds himself on the verge of aroused as the man drives them a little further down the street to park up.

“What’s your name petal?” He asks when they park up.

“Yuta, sir.” Wheeler says. He’s always used his last name, it’s personal enough that he can connect, not intimate enough that it feels too close to home.

The man smiles when he says sir, and a rough hand settles on Wheeler’s thigh, stroking the smooth, bare skin. “One with many friends,” He hums softly. “What a beautiful name for a beautiful flower such as yourself.” He says. The words make Wheeler blush, which doesn't happen when he’s with Johns. He feels hot all over, the way this man is looking at him is doing something to him, the way his accent settles in his ears and over his skin. It’s nothing like he’s ever experienced before.

“My name is William Regal, but you can keep calling me sir, if you’d like, it sounds so wonderful coming from that pretty mouth.” He says, squeezing at Wheeler’s thigh again, inching just a little higher, his pinky finger dipping under the hem of the skirt. Wheeler can feel himself getting hard under his skirt. It usually doesn’t happen this quickly, only when he’s touched himself on the build up to getting fucked or on the rare occasion that John’s want to go down on him. This time though, he’s got arousal shooting all over his body and he’s barely been touched.

Wheeler spreads his legs invitingly, biting his lip and tugging his skirt just a little higher. “How would you like me, sir? Oral is—“

“Don’t fret yourself with your rates, petal, I’ve more than enough money that I don’t need to know. Why don’t you come take a seat here? I’d like to get a closer look at that pretty face.” Regal taps his lap, and Wheeler feels a little thrill run through him as he climbs over the centre console of the car to slip into the man’s lap.

“There you go, look at you. Pretty little flower. Bryan told me you were.”

“You came here looking for me?” The thought makes Wheeler shiver, though he's not sure whether it’s good or bad.

“I guess you could say I did, petal. Bryan uses Master Garcia’s services, and he told me that he had a friend who was simply wonderful. I thought I would come see for myself.”

Wheeler can’t help but preen at that, there’s something about a man, someone clearly well off and important, being told about little old Wheeler, standing on a street corner waiting for Johns to pay him for sex and coming to see him. Because he was told he was pretty. Wheeler knows he’s been doing this too long, that he thinks that’s a good thing.

“Do I live up to your expectations, sir?” He purrs.

Regal lifts a hand and runs it down the seam of his top, fingertips just barely touching his skin. “I think you might just be the prettiest thing I have ever seen, little Yuta. But I think I’m going to have to see a little more, just to be sure.”

Wheeler shifts in his lap, and he can feel the man hardening underneath him. And because this man is clearly well off, Wheeler decides to push his luck, just a little. “Taking my clothes off costs you extra.” He grins with a cheeky look in his eye. And it’s true, really, Wheeler doesn’t take his clothes off very often. It’s more intimate than he’d normally like, but he’ll do it on occasions.

Regal reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. It’s thick, bills are stuffed into the pocket and the little slits are all occupied with cards. He pulls one out, turns it in his long fingers a few times, before sliding it right into Wheeler’s mouth, like he’s about to draw money from an ATM.

“7381. Take. Them. Off.”

Wheeler shivers, slipping out of his slinky little top and dropping it into the footwell of the car. He takes the card out of his mouth and looks at it. It’s a Black American Express card. Wheeler knows that they only give these out to people who spend a certain amount of money. An obscene amount of money. And this man just gave him his card, with the PIN number. Just to take his clothes off. He puts the card on the empty seat, and he pulls his skirt above his hips and up his chest and off, he’s lost enough weight lately that it slides right off. Wheeler drops the skirt with the top into the footwell, leaving him naked in Regal’s slap, wearing only his boots.

“Oh pet, you really are the prettiest thing I have ever seen.” Regal says, fingers moving across Wheeler’s skin, making goosebumps erupt all over his arms.

William Regal fucks him in the car just like that. He pushes his chair back, kisses Wheeler as he stretches him open with his fingers, using his own, premium brand lube and condoms rather than the shitty, cheap brand Wheeler gets for free from the YMCA. Regal kisses across his chest as Wheeler rides him likes he’s never ridden a John before, using the back of the chair as leverage to fuck himself down, letting Regal’s fingers press bruises into his hips. He comes harder than he has for a long time, even with Chuck, crying out until his throat is sore as the orgasm rips through him.

They’re both a panting mess by the end of it, the car windows steamed up and Wheeler’s skin sweaty and balmy as Regal continues to run his hands all over him, like he can’t get enough of him. Truth be told, Wheeler doesn’t know if he can get enough of William Regal, either. His cock is long and thick inside of him, his hands rough and skilled, his mouth sweet and addictive.

When they’ve caught their breath, Wheeler reaches back and plucks his top and skirt from the floor, shifts out of Regal’s lap and into the passenger chair again so he can redress. His thighs are sticky with lube, and his lipstick is nearly all gone. He’s going to have to clean himself up in Daniel’s car.

“I trust this should cover our hour of fun, petal?” Regal says, handing him the thickest wad of notes Wheeler has ever seen.

“Sir, that is far too much.”

“Not at all. You’re beautiful, and you are more than wonderful company. Take it, flower.”

Wheeler’s not even sure how much is there, but the stack is topped with crisp one hundred dollar bills, so he knows it’s way more than he charges for intercourse usually. He doesn’t argue anymore, because he does need the money, and if this man is generous enough to tip really well, then who is he to question him? He does, however, pick up the black AMEX card and hold it out to him.

“Take it, petal. 7381.” Regal says, reminding him of the PIN code. Wheeler stares at him, mouth agape.

“Sir, I couldn’t possibly—“

“Oh hush, darling. You think I don’t know someone down on their luck? Not many do this line of work for fun, and I would like to help.”

“I still can’t accept—“

“Yes you can. In fact, I’m asking you, as part of your services, to take my card with you. I know you probably don’t have a set charge for that kind of thing but, you can just charge it to the card at a later date, hm?” Regal smiles, and he takes Wheeler’s hand, kissing his knuckles before pushing his hand with the card in away from him.

“Thank you, sir.”

“No, thank you, petal. Will I see you around here again?”

Wheeler nods, slipping the money and credit card into his little bag. “I’m here every night, excerpt for Wednesdays.”

“Prior engagements?” Regal muses with a smile.

“Slow day, not much fun in standing around waiting for nothing.”

Regal hums, “I suppose you're right, flower. I will be back on a day that is not a Wednesday.” He says.

Wheeler smiles, and for the first time, he feels happy and excited about a John returning. He’s never really had a bad experience with one, some can be rude and a little rough, but he’s never had to call for help or been hurt by someone. Though that doesn’t mean that he actively wants any of them to come back, that he’s excited when they do. They’re just random men, faceless, money makers. William Regal feels different.

“I’ll look forward to it, sir.” He says, and he leans over, pressing a kiss to his cheek and surprising them both as he does so, before he slips out of the car, feeling an ache between his legs.

“Goodnight, little Yuta.” Regal says, the window sliding down once again. Wheeler turns to look over his shoulder as he starts to cross the road to walk back to the street corner.

“Goodnight Mr Regal.”

[lynkhart]

MAJOR spoilers for the C2 finale of Critical Role so read at your own risk of you haven’t caught up!

I have so many feelings regarding Caleb and Essek’s intertwining character arcs I needed to explore, so strap in folks, you’re in for a bit of a ride! (But seriously though, this is like 4000 words long, I basically wrote an essay 😂)

At the start of the campaign, Caleb Widogast was dripping in guilt and self loathing and refused to believe he could ever absolve himself of his sins. Essek Thelyss was a cold, aloof individual who betrayed his people for selfish goals, and their differing yet mirrored narratives have been an absolute delight to watch unfold.

In the beginning Caleb truly hated himself. He shot down any attempt at a compliment, described himself as a ‘disgusting person’, outright rejected the idea that he was worthy of love, and never let the blame shift from him for what he’d done. When Beauregard and Veth/Nott pointed out that he was coerced and manipulated into killing his parents, he reacts in an incredibly visceral way, and I’ve seen several comments likening it to a victim of child abuse who was groomed into believing they were as responsible as their abuser, and I think that’s exactly how it was meant to be read. He doesn’t see himself as a victim, only a murderer, and punishes himself for it every day. We see this in the way he presents himself, dirty and unkempt because in his mind he doesn’t deserve to feel good about himself in any way. Other than Nott/Veth and Beau to a certain degree, he purposefully isolates himself from the rest of the group and it’s a long time until he feels relaxed enough in their company to drop his defences a little.

(Speaking from a purely meta point of view, Liam did an absolutely phenomenal job of showing this through body language and I’d love to see someone do a compilation video of it. He starts off very hunched and guarded, leaning his body away from the closest person to him and avoiding eye contact and physical touch; but by the end stands tall and sure of himself.)

Early on there were a few moments where he had the option to do some pretty dark shit, and I’m sure there’s a possible timeline where he gave into his desire for revenge and really lost his way, but I’m glad he stuck it out and worked through his trauma in the way he did. His PTSD and disassociation when casting with fire was tragic, but over time he was able to work through it thanks to the constant love and support of his friends who kept him from going off at the deep end.

Molly’s death was the catalyst for change in a lot of the party, and Caleb is no exception. On the verge of leaving the group prior to his death, the grief they shared, combined with their frantic attempt to rescue the other half of their party put things in perspective and gradually he learned how to be a person again, to care.

Altering time to save his family had been Caleb’s only goal in life, and so when Essek and by extension, dunamancy was introduced, you could see his eyes light up at the possibilities.

A huge turning point for him is aligned so closely with Essek’s redemption arc which feels quite apt I think. When Essek confesses to his crimes, Caleb delivers a beautifully iconic piece of dialogue where he acknowledges their similarities and how much he himself has changed as a person since meeting the Mighty Nein. (Source - CR wiki)

‘You listen to me. I know what you are talking about. I know. And the difference between you and I is thinner than a razor. I know what it means to have other people complicate your desires and wishes. And I was like you. Was. I know what a fool I have been for years. You didn't account for us. Good. That is life. Shit hits you sideways in life and no one is prepared. No one is ready. These people changed me. These people can change you. You were not born with venom in your veins. You learned it. You learned it. You have a rare opportunity here, Thelyss. One chance to save yourself, and we are offering it.’

This is not the same Caleb we met back in the Nestled Nook inn way back in the first episode. While not yet fulfilled or entirely convinced of his own worth, he knows he’s on the right path. That alone is progress enough, but that he uses his own experiences to help another escape those same chains of guilt says such a lot for his development. When he tells Essek that his ‘venom’ was learned, he’s also talking about himself and his own history of being manipulated and gaslit, with the implication being that it can be un-learned just as efficiently.

Caleb Widogast is selfish no more, or at the very least, doesn’t let his goals undermine anyone else’s anymore. Contrary to what he himself might still think, he is in no way a bad person. He loves fiercely and cannot abide seeing those he cares about in pain.

Early game Essek is what Caleb could have been if he’d rejected his friends and focused solely on his own selfish goal to undo his mistakes. Both are impassive at first and see the Mighty Nein as means to an end...until they get to know them and then their fate is sealed. The Power of Friendship wins once again!

At the beginning Caleb said he wanted to ‘bend reality to my will’ (sic) and in the end he does just that, though not in the way he originally intended. Destroying the T-Dock, and by extension the one thing he’d been building towards from the start, the chance to go back and change time, for me personally was the absolute peak of his journey. I rewatched the scene where Caleb revealed the truth about his parents death today, and it was really jarring to see just how far he’d come since then. It made me oddly proud actually.

I always felt like his plan to save his parents was the one thing holding him back from truly accepting their deaths, which is why the final scene of him in the cemetery with the letters for them hit so hard. He never truly gave up hope that they’d be reunited, but ultimately he realised he was merely postponing the inevitable and never allowing himself to live his own life. While time travel shenanigans would have been incredibly interesting to explore in game, choosing to let the past lie and not go back for them finally allows him to grieve and move on, and perhaps most importantly of all, to forgive himself at last.

I know some people were annoyed by Caleb’s decision in the finale to spend the rest of his life teaching rather than continuing to adventure, but I see it as the natural conclusion to his whole arc and his own personal victory.

He looked Trent Ikithon in the eyes, a man who he’d spent years wanting to kill and run from in equal measure, stripped him of his power and his voice (and ultimately his ability to harm anyone else) and finally spared his life so he had to live with the indignity of his defeat for the rest of his miserable existence. You couldn’t have asked for a more damning rejection of everything he’d been brainwashed into believing as a child. His dismissal of Trent’s position in the Assembly played into that as well. He never really wanted power for the sake of it; he had no desire for politics, he just wanted his family back, and while he didn’t get the one he started with, he made a new one for himself in the end.

As Caduceus once very wisely said:

‘Pain doesn’t make people; it's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential; it's love that saves them.’

Caleb gets to break the cycle of abuse and teach a new generation of mages the way he should have been, with kindness and respect, and I’m pretty sure he’d have introduced a handsome drow as a guest lecturer from time to time. 😉

Speaking of...

Essek described himself as selfish and as a coward, forever putting his own wants and desires first, yet over the course of his journey with the Nein we see his priorities change drastically.

Having friends gives him people to care about, something he’s never had before, and it changes his outlook on life completely. For me, the first time we really see this is when he joins them for dinner in the Xorhaus and stops levitating. It’s a subtle thing, but meaningful. He explains that it had become an expectation of him, a quirk he’s known for, and so to feel comfortable enough around the Nein to drop that pretence is quite bold I think.

Much later, when he chooses to destroy the mini beacon they discover in Aeor in order to give everyone a long rest before the final confrontation with Lucian, he’s essentially giving up everything he betrayed his people for, just to keep his friends safe. The existence and context of that single artefact could have had an earthshattering impact on the Dynasty’s entire culture, forcing them to reevaluate their entire belief system and attitude to the Luxon, something he’d wanted from the start, something he helped start a war for, but he offered it up as a sacrifice without a second thought.

I’d say that’s a pretty big morality shift, and I’m super interested to see if Matt reveals if his alignment changed in the post campaign Q&A. I have a feeling he set him up as a potential BBEG but the party was like ‘no, you can’t have him, he’s ours now’ and that was the end of that. 😂

I think it says so much about the other characters too, that they befriended this person they barely knew, and when he was revealed to have done such terrible things, their first reaction was to give him comfort and an opportunity to atone. Jester held his hand while he confessed, and afterwards, while they didn’t immediately forgive him, they saw the good in him and wanted him to be better, which ultimately feels like what the entire campaign was about, leaving places (and people) better than they found them. It’s obvious that he’s never really had many friends before and has therefore never had the opportunity to be emotionally open with anyone, so seeing him gradually warm up to the Nein and allow himself to soften around them was really lovely to watch.

(Obviously, from a realistic moral perspective, he still fucked up big time. He’s still a godsdamned war criminal and really should have been put on trial for what he did, but I think from a narrative and personal point of view, his redemption arc was far more satisfying, so I’m glad it happened the way it did. (And not to derail but the rest of the gang have done some pretty horrific stuff as well, though perhaps not quite on the same scale)

He has a few moments towards the end that I absolutely love because they show that beneath the guilt and anguish, there’s an incredibly sweet and sensitive soul in there, just wanting acceptance. His dry jokes which often don’t quite hit, (the ‘I will punish the bakery’ line is such an under-appreciated one 😂) his simple joy at learning to garden in the Blooming Grove, and realising that he’d never been asked what his favourite food was before was actually kind of heartbreaking, because it highlighted how lonely his life must have been until that time. There was a moment pretty early on I think when he cast disguise on the party and Jester asked if he could cast it again to change the look of her outfit a bit and while he seemed to find it amusing, he refused, not wanting to waste a spell on such a frivolous request. Cut to their time in Aeor where he burns a fly spell just so he and Caleb can flirtatiously swoop around each other for a couple of minutes, all the while trying to beat Lucian to the city.

His breakdown when Molly’s resurrection failed really cemented to me how much he’d grown as a character. He never met Molly, his only knowledge of him was secondhand, through the eyes of his friends, but seeing it fail just broke him because he knew how much it hurt them to go through it all over again.

His comment to Caleb about not admitting defeat and wishing he could do more did get me wondering at the time if he was going to try and do something crazy, perhaps sacrificing himself via the Temporal Dock to make amends or somehow forcing another reroll, but I’m glad he didn’t. The conversation following that with Fjord was one of my favourites- he shows him acceptance and belief in his potential for the future, something he’s lacked for a long time, and when Caleb bluntly affirms afterwards that he is indeed an official member of the Mighty Nein, it’s the start of the rest of his life, and something he’s exceptionally grateful for.

It all leads to that final moment in Aeor with Caleb, when, presented with the opportunity to alter time and undo everything, he chooses to accept his decisions and carry the weight of his sins for the rest of his long life. That’s...huge.

He’s essentially choosing to live the rest of his existence as a fugitive, forever on the run, with no guaranteed peace or safety. He chooses to spend his life making up for his deeds, rather than looking for an easy way out.

I think that may have had a big impact on why Caleb ultimately made the same decision, as if Essek had been up for altering his timeline I think he’d have struggled to resist it himself. The conversation they had earlier in Aeor about their priorities and resisting temptation really comes to mind as well.

Now, to the relationship.

It was subtle, and not as ‘in your face’ obvious as the other characters, but I’ve been watching and hoping for a long time and I must say, it feels good to be vindicated.

(And if you have any doubt, both Matt and Liam confirmed on Twitter that their post finale relationship was 100% romantic)

I’d been hoping that Shadowgast would be a canon endgame relationship for a while, so the finale, and the aforementioned T-Dock scene in particular had me quite literally shaking with emotion as I watched live. Here you have two men, both damaged and guilt-stricken in their own ways, who find in each other a kindred spirit and a path to redemption.

They’re both very guarded and closed off people, but Essek in particular has a definite shift in the last arc of the campaign especially when it came to his interactions with Caleb. At the start he was quite aloof and stoic, though charming, and they had an instant connection through their shared love of the arcane, (anyone who couldn’t see them making heart eyes at each other when Essek was describing the different types of magic he could teach Caleb was clearly blind) but by the end he was incredibly open to showing his vulnerabilities and that takes a lot, especially for someone whose primary focus was to stay in control of every aspect of his life. The ‘Caleb, I’m scared’ moment during the Trent fight in particular made my heart ache.

No, we didn’t get a dramatic declaration of love or a cinematic mid-battle kiss, but I’d argue that their relationship was just as, if not more intimate than any of the other main characters were. They understood each other in a way the others didn’t, their shared guilt, feelings of inadequacy and their obsession with magic forged a deep connection from the get-go. Neither of them are big fans of PDA I think, though Caleb is tactile as hell (forehead touches and kisses, oh man, I’m so weak for those 😩👌) and some of their most iconic moments have them putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the other. Essek shaking off his forced guilt trip immediately after the now infamous forehead touch in ep140 was beautifully poetic, as was using his fortune’s favour to pull Caleb out of the rubble moments before. Caleb trying to include him in his Sphere of Invulnerability in the finale and Essek staying close to him the whole fight despite being obviously terrified of Trent was the icing on the cake. It’s clear that they care for each other a great deal; whether by the finale they’d consider it love is up for debate, but we know that’s eventually where it ended up and honestly, I love that. I deeply appreciated the fact Matt and Liam both emphasised that they took their time with their relationship, letting each other heal in their own way before they took the next step. All too often in media, and real life too sadly, a romantic relationship is seen as some kind of quick fix, and that a lover will somehow complete you or make all your problems vanish. They knew this wasn’t the case here, and that made it all the better.

While I would have *loved* to have seen them together as a couple right to the very end, the change in their relationship felt right, if bittersweet. I doubt they ever stopped loving each other, and if anything, choosing to shift to a deep and lifelong friendship over a romance that would cause them both so much pain is one of the kindest things you could do for someone you love. After all, friendship isn’t a downgrade, just another way of experiencing that same love, and it wasn’t as though they broke up and never saw each other again, it was pretty strongly implied that they remained a major feature in each other’s lives, they just changed their label slightly. Caleb would hate to have forced Essek to watch him wither away, and although his eventual passing would hurt Essek regardless, incompatible lifespans being what they are, having a period of time to adjust to it, to give them a buffer between the inevitable heartbreak was actually really sweet.

Their romance was no accident, they knew going in that it had a time limit, that it wasn’t going to be forever for one of them, and the fact they did it anyway says so much. They began their adventure wholeheartedly believing that they were both, in their own way incapable of love, only to later find it with each other. Whether their relationship lasted for a couple of years or multiple decades is irrelevant, what matters is that while it did they had a happy and fulfilled life together.

I know some folk wanted Caleb to use the transmogrification spell on himself so he could live on with Essek as another elf, or make him human instead, but that would have been way out of character for both I think. If they could have backwards engineered one of the rejuvenation stations in Aeor and used it to extend Caleb’s life by a hundred years or so, so he’d have a similar lifespan to Veth, now, I could have seen him possibly doing that, so he could spend more time with his best friend too, but nothing further I think. He longed to be reunited with his parents too much to postpone death unnaturally like that.

That both Caleb and Essek ultimately chose to live with their mistakes and make peace with themselves was incredibly cathartic, and I couldn’t imagine it playing out any better.

The fact Matt has explicitly stated Essek is Demi too means so much to me personally because the latter is a label I’ve been identifying with a lot recently, and it’s so rare for aspec relationships to get any representation! It has honestly given me a lot to think about over the last few days, and I really appreciate it.

To conclude, here’s a bit of shameless self promotion. I wrote this after watching the finale and honestly feel like it sums up my feelings on the nature of their relationship pretty well.

‘A casual hand on a shoulder, a waist, a wrist; a gentle kiss placed on a forehead is common between them now, an intimacy born of trust and mutual affection. Over time it grows, like a fire born of seasoned timber; gradual and steady, no spluttering kindling that flares and sparks, but a slow burn, one which lasts.

Their love is embroidered into every aspect of their lives together. Acts of service, of comfort, of understanding.

Sometimes a kiss leads to more than a kiss, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way they are content.‘

So yeah, I love these two wizard boys so very much and I couldn’t be happier with the conclusion of their stories. ❤️

[the-volume-is-astronomical]

The Crown, The Sword, and The Gay

Meant To Be Good News

A/N: ... heyyyyy- its been a bit. I got rapped up in exams and i felt like being productive today so u get a chapterrrr and i wrote another one so u have about two chapters guaranteed ill try to be more consistent lol (also long chapter as compensation)

(also let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist!)

First | Previous| Next

words: 2286

summary: Virgil doesn't want to deal with this mess but he was sent to deliver a message so, theres not much he can do

pairings: eventual prinxiety, eventual intrulogical, eventual moceit, Remile

warnings: some potty language (not much), stress, anxiety, negative self talk, food mention, worried for a characters safety

(let me know if there's any other)

They went up the steps in silence.

As they entered through the door, Roman grabbed the basket that was abandoned during the argument. He left it on a table near the entrance, he headed towards the corner with shelves, grabbed a brown book, nothing interesting in the cover, just a plain brown book and headed towards the window seat to read.

Virgil was struggling to decide if he should try to speak or not, he absolutely despised small talk but if he didn't talk he didn't want it to get awkward. He looked over to Roman because if he did decide to talk to the prince, what in the hell would he even talk about?! Virgil saw the royal glance up from his book to look at the small table near all the shelves that had a single red book, it was simple like the one he was holding, it just had a title, yet it caused more intrigue than the other.

When Virgil took a good look at Roman he looked somehow defeated, like he had lost- no, given up on a 100 year long fight. The monarch glanced once more at the table with the red book, this time however, he caught a glimpse of the stormy knight, “ You should sit down, the trip back alone takes a few hours, it's gonna be some time before you get to go back.” Virgil looked up at the prince who had resumed his reading, “Uh… yeah” he took a seat near the desk Roman kept glancing at.

Virgil decided to take a glance at the book. It seemed to be a fictional adventure book...seems interesting. Roman looked at the table again and spotted the tall knight carefully opening the book. “It’s an adventure book. Just a fairytale.” Roman’s voice seemed to startle Virgil as he immediately slammed the book shut.

“Y-yeah sorry, I didn't mean to open it without permission, that was so rude of me and-” Roman stopped him mid rant “It's alright, you can read it. One of my personal favorite books.” The prince smiled at him to show he didn't mind “I’m not much of a reader. I just uh… got curious, I guess?” Virgil didn't seem sure of his answer. “Well, I can give you a small summary! If you’d like me to, of course.” Roman backtracked pretty quickly, snide comments about how excited he got over meaningless things forcing themselves into his head. But Virgil’s “Sure, Why not?” Made him a little less apprehensive.

“Ok! So, the story is focused on this boy named Aaron. He is a poor farm boy living with his family in a village that was overthrown by the guards, they became corrupted and betrayed the royal family and took control for themselves.” Virgil just nodded along.

”They treated the least wealthy of the kingdom the worst, they didn't have money to bribe them with so to them they were useless, it got to the point where they were becoming the robbers, they would never steal from people with money because they were cruel people. Aaron and his father wanted to make a change but his mother didn't want them to, she wanted to play it safe and just gather enough money to leave for a better place.”

Roman rambling about the story not realizing how little of a summary it actually was since he definitely wasn't being concise, “I agree with the mom. Her plan sounds safe and effective.” Virgil didn't really mind, at least he wasn't going to be bored while he waited, “Maybe so! But where's the fun in that, dear knight?” Roman didn't really get the knights perspective “May not be fun but at least they'll get outta there without a problem” Virgil thought he was in the right and that the main character would make stupid reckless decisions for the drama and suspense.

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

“Aha! They went back to the mom’s plan anyway! There was literally no need to try and do all that heroic shit.” Virgil was now fully invested in the story, he probably wouldn't have been if Roman wasn’t such a good storyteller.

“Well yeah... But it was worth it! If they didn't try they would have never known the outcome of that situation.” Roman was happy the knight seemed invested, he was mostly happy because he finally got to discuss the book with someone, and that someone had very different opinions than himself.

There was a knock on the door.

They both looked at each other, It didn't feel like they had been talking for that long. So, who in the hell was at the door?

Virgil stood up, hand fidgeting with the hilt of his sword. Roman stood as well, they both walked towards the door. Virgil opened the door, only to find Ruth on the other end of the door. “Oh, it's the lady from earlier.” Virgil turned to Roman as he let her in.

“Nurse, how did you get back so quickly?” Roman spoke up. “I wouldn't say it was that quick, it's been a few hours. But we found someone along the way so that did speed up the process.” Ruth talked as she noticed the untouched basket and started nearing it.

Roman and Virgil on the other hand looked at each other with confusion. It didn't feel like they had been talking for more than half an hour. “I'm sorry, I must have been talking your ear off.” The royal felt a need to apologize, “Hey, at least you made the wait entertaining.” the knight did not deem it necessary.

Ruth turned and glared at Roman. “So, you haven't eaten?” Roman glanced at the untouched basket and cursed under his breath, he completely forgot. “ Well…” Ruth was not having it “You brat.” She walked behind him and started pushing him towards the table.

“I had an excuse!” Ruth stopped pushing him “And what is it?” Roman turned to meet her eye and said, “I get nauseous when I eat too early.” Ruth looked unimpressed “I'm fully aware Roman. But it's almost noon.” Roman’s brain scrambled for another excuse “I was reading and I lost track of time.” She was still very much unimpressed. “As long as it wasn't the book you always read, fine by me”

As Roman’s nurse made sure Roman ate she noticed Virgil standing a few feet behind them. “I wasn't able to introduce myself earlier. I am Ruth, the brat’s nurse.” She extended her hand with a smile. Virgil shook her hand while he chuckled, which was interrupted by Roman’s overdramatic offended noises. “Nurse! You’re making him think I'll be a nightmare to care for!”

Ruth turned to him “Was I supposed to lie to him and tell him you’re a delight? My apologies, sire” Roman put a hand on his chest and gasped. “Now I understand why Trent called you a witch!” Ruth laughed, “You’re just basically proving my point.” Roman could only grumble and go back to eating.

Ruth took a look around the tower and spotted the red book on a table. “I see you've decided to become a liar huh?” Roman turned to her “Whatever do you mean?” She walked towards the table and picked up the book “Seems like someone was reading the same book they always read, I don't understand why they read it if they've memorized the whole book!” Roman knew Ruth was only joking but he didn't appreciate being called a liar “I wasn't reading it this time it was just out in the open! You can ask him!”

Roman pointed at Virgil, Ruth just looked at Virgil expecting an answer, “He wasn't reading that book, he was reading the one by the window” it wasn't a lie. “You better not be covering for that devil.” Virgil noticed there wasn't any malice behind her voice, her words portrayed something different. “Are you accusing me of being a liar? I thought that was reserved for the prince.” Ruth started laughing “Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Virgil just chuckled.

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

Roman’s nurse sat next to the window, looking out worriedly. Roman knew his nurse fairly well, “Has Remy not gotten back yet?” Ruth sighed and turned “My son and his tardiness again”.

Roman went over to his nurse, giving her a hug “I’m sure he’s just a little late..” Ruth tried to smile at Roman “I know Roman. I'm just a worried old hag.” Roman rolled his eyes and sat by the window

Ruth looked out the window one last time and took a deep breath. “Well I have to get going so we get there some time before sunrise” Roman stood up to say a proper goodbye to his nurse. “See you in a few days…” Roman really didn’t want to let go but he didn't have much of a choice.

Ruth started packing what she had brought in silence, once she neared the door she spoke “Roman, his and her majesty will have to be informed about this incident..” Roman was obviously not content because this would surely somehow be put partially on him. “Yes, I understand.” Ruth smiled sympathetically and turned to the storm eyed knight only a few feet away.

“Virgil, you’ll have to stay with Roman for a while longer. Commander Arlott sure didn't expect the need to find a replacement for Trent and truly not a day after being stationed here.” Virgil just nodded, he understood the circumstances and was glad to be able to witness such a sight. “The Commander insisted it would take quite some time to take someone off their post, he insisted he wasn't worried.” Ruth opened the door ready to leave, while Virgil was just trying for the pressure to not get to him.

Ruth said her final goodbyes and exited the tower.

Virgil then turned to the Royal, who went back to the same spot he had been before Ruth arrived, and just stared out the window as his nurse left.

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As Roman sat near the big window just looking out he started wondering why Virgil had even come here in the first place. He vaguely remembered Trent mentioning him being a messenger but that could just be some Knightly insult he was unaware of. So… he asked “Virgil, if you don't mind me asking...why exactly did you come here?” Virgil looked alarmed for a second as he had just zoned out for about 20 minutes “Commander Arlott, wanted me to deliver a message to Trent” Roman just responded with a simple “Oh” and resumed his staring out the window.

“So… how did the book end?” Virgil felt a little embarrassed to interrupt the silence to ask but he got extremely invested, to the point that if the Prince refused to share the information he might just read it himself. Roman just laughed, he knew how intriguing the book was “Well… In the middle of the mother’s plan being in motion they actually got word of a rebel group that had been inspired by their attempts to take the crown back.” Virgil sat down right across from the Royal nodding for him to go on.

Roman continued speaking but he kept getting distracted by a tapping sound. At first it was nothing, but then it got so prominent he couldn't ignore it anymore. Mid-rant he stopped himself and started looking around to see where the sound could possibly be coming from.

Virgil was confused as to why the heir had stopped speaking but then he started to hear taps. They didn’t sound like just a regular forest sound and they would surely not hear minuscule noises from such a height.

“Dear knight, are you hearing that?” Virgil nodded and stood up to see what could possibly be causing the ticks, Roman stood right along with him and then suddenly pointed towards the balcony doors. “Virgil, it's coming from the balcony.”

Virgil stopped to listen carefully “Yeah, but what's causing it?” They then saw a little pebble hit the glass doors of the balcony and make the tapping they had been hearing.

Roman went to the balcony with no hesitation and opened the doors.

Virgil started having his thoughts race a mile a minute, what if this was to lure the prince out to assassinate him? If the prince died on his watch he would be hung no doubt.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, he moved forward to follow the prince. He then quickly realized the prince was leaning over the balcony having a casual conversation with his possible murderer.

“Remy, what are you doing here? Ruth is going to kill you if you don't get there by sunrise!” Roman screamed down to the man in a black cape with dark tinted glasses covering his eyes. “Well yeah! But I had to make a stop here! I have something for you!” That made Roman start jumping with anticipation as to what Remy could have brought him from his trip

“What is it Rem? Is it something fancy? Is it food? Is it a book?” Though his eyes couldn't be spotted, not only because of his glasses but due to the height, it was very apparent he rolled his eyes. “No! It's a letter.” That got Roman even more excited. Could it actually be him? Roman haven't received anything but it could actually be! Finally some good news!

“Who’s it from?!” Remy looked down at the letter as if inspecting it “I don't know.” That caused Roman’s excitement to dull immensely. He would have surely marked it. There’s still a chance it could be him, right? Roman’s anticipation quickly turned into more of an anxious feeling.

taglist:

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@pattonsmile

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@mychemically-imbalanced-romance

@innerpostturtle

@queenof-hell

@joyrose-fandomer

@vpow

[iatethepomegranate]

Just a post-Aeor fic where Caleb buys a house with Beau and Yasha in Rexxentrum, becomes a professor, and learns how to be a person and protect people from what he has endured.

Content warnings: Caleb's backstory (a lot of it)

Chapter summary: Caleb's mind was in overdrive. There were so many calls to make, so many spells to prepare, so many things that could go wrong at every stage of this delicate operation, so many plans and backup plans and backup plans for backup plans. He could not let the past repeat itself.

Chapter notes: Say hello to a major plot arc. Also, I did my best to figure out a vague layout of the relevant parts of Rexxentrum but I am bad with directions, so *finger guns*

Chapter title from Eight by Sleeping At Last.

****

Chapter 6: I’m just a kid who grew up scared enough to hold the door shut and bury my innocence

Caleb’s scars itched as he headed home from the Academy, mind buzzing uncomfortably. His hands were somehow steady as he messaged Beauregard.

“Beauregard. I had an unsettling conversation with Astrid and Wulf. Two Volstrucker students are missing. Felix and Nicolaus. Evocation wizards. May have self-orphan orders.” He realised belatedly that he had forgotten to ask Astrid for a description. Also, he hoped Beauregard never told anyone he had used the term self-orphan. He’d made himself a little queasy in his haste to keep to the word limit.

“I’ll make sure the Soul keeps an eye out. And I’ll get a description from Astrid in the morning. Get over here. Dinner’s ready.”

Beau and Yasha kept the conversation flowing over dinner, absolving Caleb of that social responsibility. He felt useless, sitting here while there were two boys out there somewhere, who were possibly in the process of deciding whether or not to kill their parents based on an implanted memory of treason. If they weren’t found in time, Caleb wasn’t sure he could ever forgive himself.

The two women hugged him goodnight after dinner, and he shook so hard he feared he would collapse. Yasha held onto him a little longer than she had probably planned, while Beauregard stepped back to take a look at him.

“Caleb.” She had that tone, the one what told him he looked like shit but she was trying not to freak him out. “Maybe you should take a spare room on this side tonight.”

“I’m all right, Beauregard.” He knew he sounded ridiculous. “Hear me out. Please.” Beauregard tilted her head in a silent challenge. “I need to think. I need to process this. I need to come up with plans for every possible outcome. And I may need to make some calls.”

“Do you want to talk it out?”

“I would like to be alone. Just for tonight. We will talk tomorrow.”

Beauregard looked for a moment like she was going to argue, and then she quite intentionally relaxed her shoulders. “Okay. You’ll tell us if you need anything, right?”

“Ja, of course.”

Yasha gave him one last squeeze. “We mean it. Anything.”

“I know. Danke.”

Caleb escaped to his bedroom. He forced himself to slow down a bit, take deep breaths, and get dressed for bed. He settled under the covers, slowly circling his palm over the quilt and feeling the different animal patterns. He’d already committed them to memory. But, on a night like this, it helped to know that what he thought was reality before was still reality now.

What a fucking mess. Before he could get too deep into his head, he messaged Caduceus.

“Hallo, Caduceus. Two of Trent’s students are missing. We suspect memories may have been modified. If we locate them, are you available to help us?”

There was a short pause; Caduceus was probably weighing his response, aware that he would not be able to track the wordcount once he began to speak. “Of course. Let me know when I’m needed. If you could spare a teleport, that would be great.”

Caleb cast the spell again. “I will give you a head’s up when I need you and then grab you from the Grove. Danke. Today has been… a lot.”

“Get some rest, Caleb. I left some sleepy tea in your kitchen if you need it. I’ll be here when you need me.”

That was one problem handled. Caleb burned through another Sending.

“Astrid, Caduceus is on call to correct any memory modification. Beauregard will be in touch with you tomorrow to get their descriptions.”

“Danke. I will ensure the Cobalt Soul is adequately informed. Now go to bed.”

Caleb let him feel her unspoken concern for him, just for a moment. Maybe one day they could be friends again. He curled up beneath the covers and closed his eyes. He would have to ensure he packed Counterspell and Sending every day. Perhaps Hold Person would also be useful. Control Flames would also not go amiss, just in case. And Expeditious Retreat or Fly would be useful in case time was of the essence at any point. Suggestion could be useful if they had the chance to talk. Running through spells he should prepare made him feel a bit better about how little control he had over this.

He was still losing his mind a little bit.

“Caleb,” came Essek’s voice, pumping air into Caleb's lungs. “Apologies. I meant to message earlier. I’m safe. Saved a child’s pet cat from a tree. He hugged me. Strange. How was your day?”

“Intense.” Caleb wasn’t sure how much to say, and he would definitely have to burn more spells to go into any detail. “Astrid promised to find a venue for the ex-Volstrucker support group. Two boys are unaccounted for. We are concerned. They are… almost graduates.”

Before Caleb could decide whether to say more, Essek Sent again. “Are you all right? Can I help with anything?”

“Not right now. We will… see how this pans out. They’re from Blumenthal, and I didn’t hear anything when I was there. May have time.” Caleb burnt another of his own spells before Essek did. “I have Caduceus on standby and Beauregard will talk to the Soul tomorrow. We may have a chance. I hope.”

“I will come in a heartbeat if you need me. Keep me updated. Get some rest if you can. Goodnight. You are in my thoughts.”

It helped, just a bit. Caleb still tossed and turned for a while, unable to turn his brain off. But things were… maybe they were manageable. He had half a mind to take himself to Blumenthal tomorrow, find out where the boys’ parents lived and get them somewhere safe. Or maybe he could… no, they would not handle a stranger showing up at their door in the dead of the night very well.

****

Astrid came to the house the following morning, with sketches for Beauregard to distribute to the Cobalt Soul. It was odd to sit on the couch with her. Like friends would.

“Eadwulf is in the city with the Volstrucker we could mobilise,” she said. “If either of them come to Rexxentrum, between us and the monks, we will find them. I spoke to my guard contact; the families are okay.”

“Have we considered evacuating them?” asked Caleb. The thought had kept him up for a long time last night. Maybe it was the best option.

There was a flicker of discomfort across Astrid’s face for the barest of seconds. “I don’t trust the Crownsguard to handle a delicate mission like that. It would be up to us. Or perhaps the Soul, but I’m already stretching our relationship with them.”

“Yudala Fon knows the stakes,” said Caleb. “If you are not comfortable visiting Blumenthal yourself…”

“Are you?”

“I have been once. I can bear it again to save half a dozen lives.”

They both knew it wasn’t just the parents whose lives were in danger. If Felix and Nicolaus followed through on this and were not stopped…

Well, Caleb had lost eleven years, and then another six running and running and running. Astrid and Wulf had lost their freedom as well. And Caleb could not even begin to comprehend the special kind of pain it would bring these boys if they murdered their parents only to discover Trent had been in prison for weeks, his crimes exposed, his orders no longer in effect. Caleb wasn’t sure he could have survived that.

Astrid must have understood what Caleb was feeling, because she spoke gently. “It is an option. We could also leave them in place under guard to draw the boys out.”

“I would rather not.” Caleb could already conjure a dozen scenarios in which that could go horribly wrong. “Astrid, we cannot fuck this up. You and I both know these boys could overpower a Crownsguard, or sneak past a security detail. No risks. We have to move the families.”

Astrid opened her mouth to respond, and then paused, eyes drifting upwards in concentration. “Thanks, Wulf. Do not engage. Herd him towards us if you can. We will be there shortly.” She focused back on Caleb. “Felix is in the city. Eadwulf is trailing him. They are approaching from the south.” She hopped to her feet, and helped Caleb up. “Shall we?”

As they raced out the door, Caleb messaged Beauregard. “Felix has been spotted. Approaching The Tangles from the south. Wulf is trailing. We are headed to intercept. Could use a hand.”

“I’m in the Court of Colours, southwest of your position. I’ll link up with Eadwulf. Will get the monks to surround. We got this.”

“Beauregard is southwest of us,” Caleb told Astrid. “She’ll try to find Wulf and have the monks form a perimeter.”

“We only have one shot with Felix,” Astrid muttered. “This could make or break everything. No fuckups?”

“No fuckups.”

They ran.

As they drew closer to the suspected middle point, Caleb shot a quick message to Wulf. “We are close to the midpoint. Turning invisible now.” He grabbed Astrid’s hand, hiding them both from view.

Wulf’s response was a whisper. “Slowing down. I think he knows I’m here, but hasn’t done anything yet.”

Caleb was grateful most seventeen-year-old wizards had not yet figured out teleportation. He and Astrid also slowed, still hand-in-hand.

“We try to talk to him before we do anything aggressive,” Astrid whispered. “Get us close.”

“Worst case scenario, Beauregard stuns him and Wulf carries him somewhere we can have a secure conversation. I can try casting Suggestion if necessary, before we do anything to freak him out.”

They turned a corner and Caleb spotted the boy in a crowd of people carrying baskets and cloths and the like, probably headed to market. Felix was slim and blonde, and looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days. His shoulders were tight. The pair stayed ahead of him. Caleb spotted the instant Felix started getting a little too nervous, his eyes darting backwards for the barest of moments, towards Eadwulf, buried even as he was in the crowd.

Caleb tugged Astrid’s hand towards an alley before letting go and stepping into it, hoping he had read this right. Felix also turned into the alley, putting his back to the wall of a nearby inn, raising a hand to prepare a spell. Caleb recognised the somatic components of Scorching Ray. He prepared to counter it.

As soon as Wulf emerged, Felix tried to release the spell, and Caleb counterspelled, losing his invisibility.

Felix shook out his hands, still focused on Wulf. “Why are you following me, Eadwulf?”

Wulf raised an eyebrow. “Did you consider asking that before trying to set me on fire?”

Felix’s eyes narrowed, and Caleb wondered if Trent had tried to drive a wedge between the Volstruck, and Astrid and Wulf.

Astrid dropped her invisibility, appearing next to Wulf. “Felix, what’s the matter? Are you well?”

Her emergence did not calm Felix in the slightest. “Am I--” He scoffed. “Are you kidding?”

“We have been looking for you for weeks,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I have a mission to complete.”

Caleb considered recasting his invisibility, but the spell required verbal and somatic components. He just had to hold still and hope Astrid and Wulf commanded Felix’s attention until Caleb figured out what to do.

“Felix, you have been gone from the city for a long time,” said Astrid, and Caleb slowly reached for his component pouch. “Things have changed. Your mission, whatever it is, may no longer be viable.”

“We need to take you back to the Candles,” said Wulf.

Caleb felt his snake’s tongue and a piece of honeycomb, and began to slowly extract them from his pouch.

Felix didn’t move. “Why?”

Astrid glanced at Wulf, before evidently deciding on a course of action. “Trent has been arrested. We are trying to gather the Volstrucker so we can explain the charges against him.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Felix, what did he ask you to do?”

“It’s confidential.”

Caleb had the materials in his hand, so he rubbed the honeycomb against his lip, and spoke. “Felix, we are here to help you, but we need you to help us. Could we please have an honest conversation with each other?”

There was a moment where Caleb feared Felix would resist the Suggestion spell, and that Beauregard would have to swoop in and stun him. Felix turned to him, head cocked.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “You are Bren, right? Trent talks about you a lot.” He glanced at Astrid and Wulf. “He seemed worried the three of you were scheming behind his back.”

“Let’s head to his old office, ja? We have a lot to talk about. We will answer your questions, if you answer ours.”

“All right. Lead on.”

Caleb could not fucking believe that had worked. Judging from Astrid and Eadwulf’s brief but clearly shocked glances in his direction, they couldn’t believe it either.

****

Caleb couldn’t risk sending a message to Beauregard explaining what had happened, but she seemed to get the sense she shouldn’t reveal herself. Caleb led Felix through the city to the Academy, and up to Astrid’s office. They sat him in front of the fireplace.

Caleb crouched in front of him while Astrid stood by the fire, and Wulf leaned by the door. “Thank you for cooperating, Felix. Give me one moment. I need to message a friend who is going to help us.” He cast Sending. “Caduceus. We will need you in a moment.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“I’ll go,” said Eadwulf. “Be right back.” With a muttered incantation, he had vanished.

“Where is he going?” asked Felix.

“To fetch a cleric friend of mine,” Caleb replied. “You look tired. Are you well?”

“Had a lot on my mind, I guess. Sleeping has been difficult.”

“I know the feeling.” Caleb looked to Astrid. “We should explain the situation, ja?”

“Why was Trent arrested?” asked Felix.

“A number of Volstrucker spoke with the Cobalt Soul about his training methods,” Astrid replied. “They documented it and took him to court. He’s in prison for life.”

Felix frowned. “I’m confused.”

Caleb should have expected Felix probably wouldn’t understand Trent’s behaviour as abuse; Caleb hadn’t either. “Felix, I would like you to listen to me.” He rolled up his sleeves so Felix could see the scars, which he was certain Felix shared. “A good teacher does not force his students to endure what we have.”

“We will face worse every day in our work,” Felix replied. “The pain… it makes us stronger.”

“And the residuum experiments? With no pain mitigation? I know people who have passed out in the process. Has that happened to you?”

“Once or twice,” Felix muttered, evidently still under the effects of the spell. “Puked more often.”

“Me too,” said Caleb, resisting the urge to scratch his itching scars. “It made me very ill most of the time. Astrid and Eadwulf had to force me to eat.”

“Why are you telling me this? Why are you asking me these questions?”

Astrid was gazing into the flames. “Felix, how old were you when Trent first hurt you?”

“Sixteen.”

Astrid managed to look at Caleb, just for a moment. “The same for him.” Astrid was a year older so it made sense to invoke Caleb instead, and maybe it was easier for her to project these things onto him.

Wulf popped back into the office, with the very welcome form of Caduceus beside him. Felix jumped, but Caleb had told him what was happening, and that seemed to be enough to stop him from bolting.

“Hallo, Caduceus,” said Caleb. “Can you give us just one more moment?” He turned back to Felix. “I’m going to have my friend Caduceus take a look at you and make sure you are well, but I would like to ask you a question first.”

“Fine.”

“What has Trent ordered you to do?”

Felix dropped his gaze to his lap. “My mother and father are plotting to betray the Empire. I have been asked to stop them.”

“That must have been weeks ago,” said Caleb. “What’s the matter?”

Felix scowled, and tried several times to supply an answer, as he was required to be honest while under the effects of Caleb’s specifically-worded spell. “I don’t know. They are not the people I thought they were. They are traitors. But. It’s not… I don’t know what to do. I’ve been waiting for Trent to give me more information, but I haven’t heard anything. I guess I was trying to figure out if there was a way I could convince them to…” He shook his head. “No. There is no mercy for traitors to the Empire.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” said Caleb. “It must be very difficult. May Caduceus take a look at you? You have clearly been under a great deal of stress.”

Felix had probably never seen a firbolg before, and he eyed Caduceus with trepidation. “What is he going to do?”

“It’s all right,” said Astrid. “He is a healer. The three of us have spent time in his family’s garden.”

“I… suppose…”

Caduceus approached slowly. “This will be quick, I promise. Just a healing spell to make you feel a bit better.” He already had the diamond dust for Greater Restoration in his palm. He touched Felix’s shoulder. It took a second for the spell to sink in, during which Caleb couldn’t breathe.

Then Felix slid to the floor, head in his hands. Astrid knelt beside him, whispering too quietly for Caleb to hear.

“One down,” Caduceus said softly, smiling at Caleb. “One to go.”

Caleb couldn’t speak. He watched Felix curl up on the floor, muttering to Astrid. She looked up at him, beckoned him over. Caleb knelt by her side.

“I don’t understand,” Felix said. “Why? Why? I don’t…” He shoved his fist against his mouth and screamed into it, eyes squeezed shut. “Why would he do this?”

There were a lot of things Caleb could say; he was not convinced any of them were right. But he had to say something. “He’s done this to all of us. Every Volstrucker went through this to graduate.”

“He does it for a few reasons,” Astrid said, quiet but somewhat detached. “It eliminates any family connections, leaving us reliant on Trent. And then, we’ve done the worst thing we thought we could do. Anything Trent has us do after that means very little. And those who break…” She looked at Caleb. “They are held up as an example of failure that we are measured against. We all know Bren’s name for a reason. First, as an example of failure, of weakness. Later, an example of endurance, of admirable but problematic stubbornness. A cautionary tale nonetheless.”

Felix looked to Caleb as well. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information?”

Caleb wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know what Felix would tolerate, and there was a pressing matter. “First things first, we need to find Nicolaus.”

Felix drew his knees up to his chest and hid his face against them. “I don’t know where he is. We argued and then we went our separate ways.”

“What did you argue about?”

“I wanted to come here and find Trent. Ask about the order. See if there was anything we could… I don’t know.”

“And what did he want?”

“Nico doesn’t know what he wants. He was always more scared of Trent than I am.”

“Okay, we have ways to track him down. Caduceus, can you scry today?”

“I can,” Caduceus said slowly. “Might I also recommend, if Mr Felix knows the spell, that he should try Sending to him.”

“I don’t know that spell,” Felix said thickly. Caleb would just make out the side of his face, to see it was screwed up as if in pain.

“I can teach you,” said Caleb, “but I suspect it will take more time than we have right now.” Sending was an Evocation spell, so it would probably only take Felix three hours instead of six to copy it into his spellbook and practice it until he could do it, but that was still too long.

Caduceus sat cross-legged on the floor. “Do you have anything of his? Or a likeness?”

Wulf handed him a sketch. “Does this help?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Caduceus closed his eyes and began the ritual.

“I can try messaging Nico,” Astrid said, gripping her copper wire. “Nicolaus. It’s Astrid. I must meet with you in Trent’s office. It’s an urgent matter.” She waited, scowled. “Nothing.”

Caleb refused to panic, no matter how bad that sounded. “Okay. Good to know.”

Felix lifted his head. “What if we’re too late?”

“We don’t know that yet,” said Caleb. “Whatever happens, we will deal with it.”

Felix frowned at the floor. “What happens to me now?”

“We can take you home to your parents once we’ve got an idea of Nico’s situation,” said Caleb. “Unless you need more time.”

“Just a bit. I think. But I’d like to see them. Not today.”

“There is plenty of dormitory space for however long you need,” said Astrid. “Bren will visit you regularly once you are with your parents, to check in.” Felix nodded. That had not been discussed, but it was something that Caleb would want to do, so he let it slide.

The ten minutes it took for Caduceus to complete the spell were some of the longest of Caleb’s life. But then Caduceus’s eyes went white, and it seemed to be working.

Caduceus began to narrate what I saw. “I see your boy. He’s in a field. The clouds are pretty dark. It’s hard to see much. I think I see some buildings ahead of him. I’ll follow him for a bit.”

There was a sick feeling in the pit of Caleb’s stomach. “We should be ready, just in case.”

Astrid’s fingers weaved around the wire. “Expositor, are you close by? We may need your assistance. Come to my office on the--ugh, just ask for directions.” She listened. “Expositor Lionett is outside the Academy. She will be here soon.”

Caduceus spoke again. “He is approaching the village. Not many people in the streets. Probably the incoming storm. He looks like he has a goal.”

“What can you see of the buildings?” asked Caleb. “Any signs?”

“The signs are Zemnian,” said Caduceus. “The buildings look like farmhouses, mostly. I think I saw an orchard.”

“Blumenthal is a farming town,” Caleb muttered. “Fuck.”

Beauregard burst through the door, gasping for breath. “I’m here!” She doubled over, hands on her knees, as she sucked in air.

“Get ready to move,” said Wulf, stony-faced. “It looks bad.”

“Shit.” She gulped in another breath. “Okay.”

Caleb felt a little better now that she was here, but he was wound too tight to process it. “Caduceus. Is there anything else?”

“He’s picking up speed. Turned a corner. Looking at a house in the distance, I think.”

Caleb did not let himself feel anything. He turned to Felix. “Felix, do you know where Nico’s parents live?”

“On the northeastern edge of town.” Felix’s voice was as tense as Caleb. “Look for the cabbages.”

“Danke.” He squeezed Felix’s shoulder and pushed himself to his feet. “We need to go.”

Caduceus was still in the vision. “Go on ahead. I’ll stay here with Felix. If I see anything I think is useful, I will Send. But it will break the scry.”

Caleb gathered Astrid, Wulf and Beauregard around him and cast teleport, aiming for the northeastern end of Blumenthal. He knew it well, once.

Caleb’s scars itched as he headed home from the Academy, mind buzzing uncomfortably. His hands were somehow steady as he messaged Beauregard.

“Beauregard. I had an unsettling conversation with Astrid and Wulf. Two Volstrucker students are missing. Felix and Nicolaus. Evocation wizards. May have self-orphan orders.” He realised belatedly that he had forgotten to ask Astrid for a description. Also, he hoped Beauregard never told anyone he had used the term self-orphan. He’d made himself a little queasy in his haste to keep to the word limit.

“I’ll make sure the Soul keeps an eye out. And I’ll get a description from Astrid in the morning. Get over here. Dinner’s ready.”

Beau and Yasha kept the conversation flowing over dinner, absolving Caleb of that social responsibility. He felt useless, sitting here while there were two boys out there somewhere, who were possibly in the process of deciding whether or not to kill their parents based on an implanted memory of treason. If they weren’t found in time, Caleb wasn’t sure he could ever forgive himself.

The two women hugged him goodnight after dinner, and he shook so hard he feared he would collapse. Yasha held onto him a little longer than she had probably planned, while Beauregard stepped back to take a look at him.

“Caleb.” She had that tone, the one what told him he looked like shit but she was trying not to freak him out. “Maybe you should take a spare room on this side tonight.”

“I’m all right, Beauregard.” He knew he sounded ridiculous. “Hear me out. Please.” Beauregard tilted her head in a silent challenge. “I need to think. I need to process this. I need to come up with plans for every possible outcome. And I may need to make some calls.”

“Do you want to talk it out?”

“I would like to be alone. Just for tonight. We will talk tomorrow.”

Beauregard looked for a moment like she was going to argue, and then she quite intentionally relaxed her shoulders. “Okay. You’ll tell us if you need anything, right?”

“Ja, of course.”

Yasha gave him one last squeeze. “We mean it. Anything.”

“I know. Danke.”

Caleb escaped to his bedroom. He forced himself to slow down a bit, take deep breaths, and get dressed for bed. He settled under the covers, slowly circling his palm over the quilt and feeling the different animal patterns. He’d already committed them to memory. But, on a night like this, it helped to know that what he thought was reality before was still reality now.

What a fucking mess. Before he could get too deep into his head, he messaged Caduceus.

“Hallo, Caduceus. Two of Trent’s students are missing. We suspect memories may have been modified. If we locate them, are you available to help us?”

There was a short pause; Caduceus was probably weighing his response, aware that he would not be able to track the wordcount once he began to speak. “Of course. Let me know when I’m needed. If you could spare a teleport, that would be great.”

Caleb cast the spell again. “I will give you a head’s up when I need you and then grab you from the Grove. Danke. Today has been… a lot.”

“Get some rest, Caleb. I left some sleepy tea in your kitchen if you need it. I’ll be here when you need me.”

That was one problem handled. Caleb burned through another Sending.

“Astrid, Caduceus is on call to correct any memory modification. Beauregard will be in touch with you tomorrow to get their descriptions.”

“Danke. I will ensure the Cobalt Soul is adequately informed. Now go to bed.”

Caleb let him feel her unspoken concern for him, just for a moment. Maybe one day they could be friends again. He curled up beneath the covers and closed his eyes. He would have to ensure he packed Counterspell and Sending every day. Perhaps Hold Person would also be useful. Control Flames would also not go amiss, just in case. And Expeditious Retreat or Fly would be useful in case time was of the essence at any point. Suggestion could be useful if they had the chance to talk. Running through spells he should prepare made him feel a bit better about how little control he had over this.

He was still losing his mind a little bit.

“Caleb,” came Essek’s voice, pumping air into Caleb's lungs. “Apologies. I meant to message earlier. I’m safe. Saved a child’s pet cat from a tree. He hugged me. Strange. How was your day?”

“Intense.” Caleb wasn’t sure how much to say, and he would definitely have to burn more spells to go into any detail. “Astrid promised to find a venue for the ex-Volstrucker support group. Two boys are unaccounted for. We are concerned. They are… almost graduates.”

Before Caleb could decide whether to say more, Essek Sent again. “Are you all right? Can I help with anything?”

“Not right now. We will… see how this pans out. They’re from Blumenthal, and I didn’t hear anything when I was there. May have time.” Caleb burnt another of his own spells before Essek did. “I have Caduceus on standby and Beauregard will talk to the Soul tomorrow. We may have a chance. I hope.”

“I will come in a heartbeat if you need me. Keep me updated. Get some rest if you can. Goodnight. You are in my thoughts.”

It helped, just a bit. Caleb still tossed and turned for a while, unable to turn his brain off. But things were… maybe they were manageable. He had half a mind to take himself to Blumenthal tomorrow, find out where the boys’ parents lived and get them somewhere safe. Or maybe he could… no, they would not handle a stranger showing up at their door in the dead of the night very well.

****

Astrid came to the house the following morning, with sketches for Beauregard to distribute to the Cobalt Soul. It was odd to sit on the couch with her. Like friends would.

“Eadwulf is in the city with the Volstrucker we could mobilise,” she said. “If either of them come to Rexxentrum, between us and the monks, we will find them. I spoke to my guard contact; the families are okay.”

“Have we considered evacuating them?” asked Caleb. The thought had kept him up for a long time last night. Maybe it was the best option.

There was a flicker of discomfort across Astrid’s face for the barest of seconds. “I don’t trust the Crownsguard to handle a delicate mission like that. It would be up to us. Or perhaps the Soul, but I’m already stretching our relationship with them.”

“Yudala Fon knows the stakes,” said Caleb. “If you are not comfortable visiting Blumenthal yourself…”

“Are you?”

“I have been once. I can bear it again to save half a dozen lives.”

They both knew it wasn’t just the parents whose lives were in danger. If Felix and Nicolaus followed through on this and were not stopped…

Well, Caleb had lost eleven years, and then another six running and running and running. Astrid and Wulf had lost their freedom as well. And Caleb could not even begin to comprehend the special kind of pain it would bring these boys if they murdered their parents only to discover Trent had been in prison for weeks, his crimes exposed, his orders no longer in effect. Caleb wasn’t sure he could have survived that.

Astrid must have understood what Caleb was feeling, because she spoke gently. “It is an option. We could also leave them in place under guard to draw the boys out.”

“I would rather not.” Caleb could already conjure a dozen scenarios in which that could go horribly wrong. “Astrid, we cannot fuck this up. You and I both know these boys could overpower a Crownsguard, or sneak past a security detail. No risks. We have to move the families.”

Astrid opened her mouth to respond, and then paused, eyes drifting upwards in concentration. “Thanks, Wulf. Do not engage. Herd him towards us if you can. We will be there shortly.” She focused back on Caleb. “Felix is in the city. Eadwulf is trailing him. They are approaching from the south.” She hopped to her feet, and helped Caleb up. “Shall we?”

As they raced out the door, Caleb messaged Beauregard. “Felix has been spotted. Approaching The Tangles from the south. Wulf is trailing. We are headed to intercept. Could use a hand.”

“I’m in the Court of Colours, southwest of your position. I’ll link up with Eadwulf. Will get the monks to surround. We got this.”

“Beauregard is southwest of us,” Caleb told Astrid. “She’ll try to find Wulf and have the monks form a perimeter.”

“We only have one shot with Felix,” Astrid muttered. “This could make or break everything. No fuckups?”

“No fuckups.”

They ran.

As they drew closer to the suspected middle point, Caleb shot a quick message to Wulf. “We are close to the midpoint. Turning invisible now.” He grabbed Astrid’s hand, hiding them both from view.

Wulf’s response was a whisper. “Slowing down. I think he knows I’m here, but hasn’t done anything yet.”

Caleb was grateful most seventeen-year-old wizards had not yet figured out teleportation. He and Astrid also slowed, still hand-in-hand.

“We try to talk to him before we do anything aggressive,” Astrid whispered. “Get us close.”

“Worst case scenario, Beauregard stuns him and Wulf carries him somewhere we can have a secure conversation. I can try casting Suggestion if necessary, before we do anything to freak him out.”

They turned a corner and Caleb spotted the boy in a crowd of people carrying baskets and cloths and the like, probably headed to market. Felix was slim and blonde, and looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days. His shoulders were tight. The pair stayed ahead of him. Caleb spotted the instant Felix started getting a little too nervous, his eyes darting backwards for the barest of moments, towards Eadwulf, buried even as he was in the crowd.

Caleb tugged Astrid’s hand towards an alley before letting go and stepping into it, hoping he had read this right. Felix also turned into the alley, putting his back to the wall of a nearby inn, raising a hand to prepare a spell. Caleb recognised the somatic components of Scorching Ray. He prepared to counter it.

As soon as Wulf emerged, Felix tried to release the spell, and Caleb counterspelled, losing his invisibility.

Felix shook out his hands, still focused on Wulf. “Why are you following me, Eadwulf?”

Wulf raised an eyebrow. “Did you consider asking that before trying to set me on fire?”

Felix’s eyes narrowed, and Caleb wondered if Trent had tried to drive a wedge between the Volstruck, and Astrid and Wulf.

Astrid dropped her invisibility, appearing next to Wulf. “Felix, what’s the matter? Are you well?”

Her emergence did not calm Felix in the slightest. “Am I--” He scoffed. “Are you kidding?”

“We have been looking for you for weeks,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I have a mission to complete.”

Caleb considered recasting his invisibility, but the spell required verbal and somatic components. He just had to hold still and hope Astrid and Wulf commanded Felix’s attention until Caleb figured out what to do.

“Felix, you have been gone from the city for a long time,” said Astrid, and Caleb slowly reached for his component pouch. “Things have changed. Your mission, whatever it is, may no longer be viable.”

“We need to take you back to the Candles,” said Wulf.

Caleb felt his snake’s tongue and a piece of honeycomb, and began to slowly extract them from his pouch.

Felix didn’t move. “Why?”

Astrid glanced at Wulf, before evidently deciding on a course of action. “Trent has been arrested. We are trying to gather the Volstrucker so we can explain the charges against him.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Felix, what did he ask you to do?”

“It’s confidential.”

Caleb had the materials in his hand, so he rubbed the honeycomb against his lip, and spoke. “Felix, we are here to help you, but we need you to help us. Could we please have an honest conversation with each other?”

There was a moment where Caleb feared Felix would resist the Suggestion spell, and that Beauregard would have to swoop in and stun him. Felix turned to him, head cocked.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “You are Bren, right? Trent talks about you a lot.” He glanced at Astrid and Wulf. “He seemed worried the three of you were scheming behind his back.”

“Let’s head to his old office, ja? We have a lot to talk about. We will answer your questions, if you answer ours.”

“All right. Lead on.”

Caleb could not fucking believe that had worked. Judging from Astrid and Eadwulf’s brief but clearly shocked glances in his direction, they couldn’t believe it either.

****

Caleb couldn’t risk sending a message to Beauregard explaining what had happened, but she seemed to get the sense she shouldn’t reveal herself. Caleb led Felix through the city to the Academy, and up to Astrid’s office. They sat him in front of the fireplace.

Caleb crouched in front of him while Astrid stood by the fire, and Wulf leaned by the door. “Thank you for cooperating, Felix. Give me one moment. I need to message a friend who is going to help us.” He cast Sending. “Caduceus. We will need you in a moment.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“I’ll go,” said Eadwulf. “Be right back.” With a muttered incantation, he had vanished.

“Where is he going?” asked Felix.

“To fetch a cleric friend of mine,” Caleb replied. “You look tired. Are you well?”

“Had a lot on my mind, I guess. Sleeping has been difficult.”

“I know the feeling.” Caleb looked to Astrid. “We should explain the situation, ja?”

“Why was Trent arrested?” asked Felix.

“A number of Volstrucker spoke with the Cobalt Soul about his training methods,” Astrid replied. “They documented it and took him to court. He’s in prison for life.”

Felix frowned. “I’m confused.”

Caleb should have expected Felix probably wouldn’t understand Trent’s behaviour as abuse; Caleb hadn’t either. “Felix, I would like you to listen to me.” He rolled up his sleeves so Felix could see the scars, which he was certain Felix shared. “A good teacher does not force his students to endure what we have.”

“We will face worse every day in our work,” Felix replied. “The pain… it makes us stronger.”

“And the residuum experiments? With no pain mitigation? I know people who have passed out in the process. Has that happened to you?”

“Once or twice,” Felix muttered, evidently still under the effects of the spell. “Puked more often.”

“Me too,” said Caleb, resisting the urge to scratch his itching scars. “It made me very ill most of the time. Astrid and Eadwulf had to force me to eat.”

“Why are you telling me this? Why are you asking me these questions?”

Astrid was gazing into the flames. “Felix, how old were you when Trent first hurt you?”

“Sixteen.”

Astrid managed to look at Caleb, just for a moment. “The same for him.” Astrid was a year older so it made sense to invoke Caleb instead, and maybe it was easier for her to project these things onto him.

Wulf popped back into the office, with the very welcome form of Caduceus beside him. Felix jumped, but Caleb had told him what was happening, and that seemed to be enough to stop him from bolting.

“Hallo, Caduceus,” said Caleb. “Can you give us just one more moment?” He turned back to Felix. “I’m going to have my friend Caduceus take a look at you and make sure you are well, but I would like to ask you a question first.”

“Fine.”

“What has Trent ordered you to do?”

Felix dropped his gaze to his lap. “My mother and father are plotting to betray the Empire. I have been asked to stop them.”

“That must have been weeks ago,” said Caleb. “What’s the matter?”

Felix scowled, and tried several times to supply an answer, as he was required to be honest while under the effects of Caleb’s specifically-worded spell. “I don’t know. They are not the people I thought they were. They are traitors. But. It’s not… I don’t know what to do. I’ve been waiting for Trent to give me more information, but I haven’t heard anything. I guess I was trying to figure out if there was a way I could convince them to…” He shook his head. “No. There is no mercy for traitors to the Empire.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” said Caleb. “It must be very difficult. May Caduceus take a look at you? You have clearly been under a great deal of stress.”

Felix had probably never seen a firbolg before, and he eyed Caduceus with trepidation. “What is he going to do?”

“It’s all right,” said Astrid. “He is a healer. The three of us have spent time in his family’s garden.”

“I… suppose…”

Caduceus approached slowly. “This will be quick, I promise. Just a healing spell to make you feel a bit better.” He already had the diamond dust for Greater Restoration in his palm. He touched Felix’s shoulder. It took a second for the spell to sink in, during which Caleb couldn’t breathe.

Then Felix slid to the floor, head in his hands. Astrid knelt beside him, whispering too quietly for Caleb to hear.

“One down,” Caduceus said softly, smiling at Caleb. “One to go.”

Caleb couldn’t speak. He watched Felix curl up on the floor, muttering to Astrid. She looked up at him, beckoned him over. Caleb knelt by her side.

“I don’t understand,” Felix said. “Why? Why? I don’t…” He shoved his fist against his mouth and screamed into it, eyes squeezed shut. “Why would he do this?”

There were a lot of things Caleb could say; he was not convinced any of them were right. But he had to say something. “He’s done this to all of us. Every Volstrucker went through this to graduate.”

“He does it for a few reasons,” Astrid said, quiet but somewhat detached. “It eliminates any family connections, leaving us reliant on Trent. And then, we’ve done the worst thing we thought we could do. Anything Trent has us do after that means very little. And those who break…” She looked at Caleb. “They are held up as an example of failure that we are measured against. We all know Bren’s name for a reason. First, as an example of failure, of weakness. Later, an example of endurance, of admirable but problematic stubbornness. A cautionary tale nonetheless.”

Felix looked to Caleb as well. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information?”

Caleb wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know what Felix would tolerate, and there was a pressing matter. “First things first, we need to find Nicolaus.”

Felix drew his knees up to his chest and hid his face against them. “I don’t know where he is. We argued and then we went our separate ways.”

“What did you argue about?”

“I wanted to come here and find Trent. Ask about the order. See if there was anything we could… I don’t know.”

“And what did he want?”

“Nico doesn’t know what he wants. He was always more scared of Trent than I am.”

“Okay, we have ways to track him down. Caduceus, can you scry today?”

“I can,” Caduceus said slowly. “Might I also recommend, if Mr Felix knows the spell, that he should try Sending to him.”

“I don’t know that spell,” Felix said thickly. Caleb would just make out the side of his face, to see it was screwed up as if in pain.

“I can teach you,” said Caleb, “but I suspect it will take more time than we have right now.” Sending was an Evocation spell, so it would probably only take Felix three hours instead of six to copy it into his spellbook and practice it until he could do it, but that was still too long.

Caduceus sat cross-legged on the floor. “Do you have anything of his? Or a likeness?”

Wulf handed him a sketch. “Does this help?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Caduceus closed his eyes and began the ritual.

“I can try messaging Nico,” Astrid said, gripping her copper wire. “Nicolaus. It’s Astrid. I must meet with you in Trent’s office. It’s an urgent matter.” She waited, scowled. “Nothing.”

Caleb refused to panic, no matter how bad that sounded. “Okay. Good to know.”

Felix lifted his head. “What if we’re too late?”

“We don’t know that yet,” said Caleb. “Whatever happens, we will deal with it.”

Felix frowned at the floor. “What happens to me now?”

“We can take you home to your parents once we’ve got an idea of Nico’s situation,” said Caleb. “Unless you need more time.”

“Just a bit. I think. But I’d like to see them. Not today.”

“There is plenty of dormitory space for however long you need,” said Astrid. “Bren will visit you regularly once you are with your parents, to check in.” Felix nodded. That had not been discussed, but it was something that Caleb would want to do, so he let it slide.

The ten minutes it took for Caduceus to complete the spell were some of the longest of Caleb’s life. But then Caduceus’s eyes went white, and it seemed to be working.

Caduceus began to narrate what I saw. “I see your boy. He’s in a field. The clouds are pretty dark. It’s hard to see much. I think I see some buildings ahead of him. I’ll follow him for a bit.”

There was a sick feeling in the pit of Caleb’s stomach. “We should be ready, just in case.”

Astrid’s fingers weaved around the wire. “Expositor, are you close by? We may need your assistance. Come to my office on the--ugh, just ask for directions.” She listened. “Expositor Lionett is outside the Academy. She will be here soon.”

Caduceus spoke again. “He is approaching the village. Not many people in the streets. Probably the incoming storm. He looks like he has a goal.”

“What can you see of the buildings?” asked Caleb. “Any signs?”

“The signs are Zemnian,” said Caduceus. “The buildings look like farmhouses, mostly. I think I saw an orchard.”

“Blumenthal is a farming town,” Caleb muttered. “Fuck.”

Beauregard burst through the door, gasping for breath. “I’m here!” She doubled over, hands on her knees, as she sucked in air.

“Get ready to move,” said Wulf, stony-faced. “It looks bad.”

“Shit.” She gulped in another breath. “Okay.”

Caleb felt a little better now that she was here, but he was wound too tight to process it. “Caduceus. Is there anything else?”

“He’s picking up speed. Turned a corner. Looking at a house in the distance, I think.”

Caleb did not let himself feel anything. He turned to Felix. “Felix, do you know where Nico’s parents live?”

“On the northeastern edge of town.” Felix’s voice was as tense as Caleb. “Look for the cabbages.”

“Danke.” He squeezed Felix’s shoulder and pushed himself to his feet. “We need to go.”

Caduceus was still in the vision. “Go on ahead. I’ll stay here with Felix. If I see anything I think is useful, I will Send. But it will break the scry.”

Caleb gathered Astrid, Wulf and Beauregard around him and cast teleport, aiming for the northeastern end of Blumenthal. He knew it well, once.

[utilitycaster]

what moment are you talking about? I must have missed it

Hi anon,

I’m referring to Caduceus’s response to Caleb showing them the rooms, around 2:16:00-ish in Twitch VOD and how he doesn’t think Caleb is using them correctly.

I’m about to talk a lot below as I am wont to do because the mood here is pretty much always Time for My Opinion but in short, Caduceus, while insightful, often has very specific ideas of the correct way to deal with problems, and often they’re understandable from his own experiences, upbringing, and philosophy, but they’re not actually good for the person he’s talking to, and also he has a dangerous combination of insight and a disinclination towards probing further, even when that would be beneficial (such as here; I’m no expert on trauma but I am generally aware that most modern therapies involve some degree of exposure to elements of said trauma, in that it’s difficult to truly avoid everything that might potentially be a trigger and so it’s crucial to develop lifelong healthy coping mechanisms and ways to process. We also know as viewers, though Caduceus doesn’t necessarily, that Caleb’s original goal was to undo the past; having a safe place he controls to just exist in past settings and think of both the good and bad seems positive to me).

So this seemed particularly egregious - telling someone who you know is traumatized that they’re doing it wrong without getting the full picture - but it’s not a new pattern of behavior. I think, however, it might be the first time the whole party saw it and the first time it’s been turned full force on Caleb, which is why I wonder what will happen there.

(here ends the initial answer; below is a long and slightly low-on-sleep ramble about this being an ongoing theme with Caduceus).

Okay so Caduceus would in fact make a terrible therapist and not even because he answers a lot of questions in vague portentous analogies (I love me a vague portentous analogy), or because cast references to Freud aside this is a world that doesn’t have the same language about mental illness and trauma.

When Caduceus gets it right he really gets it right, but he’s gotten it really wrong with some frequency. He is a man of limited and specific experiences and often carries over those experiences into areas where they no longer apply. I should note: I love this as a character choice. It’s one Taliesin has arguably made with all of his major characters, in some form. I think it stands out for Caduceus so much specifically because he is mechanically very wise and incredibly insightful and because he has such limited experience, and because his limited experience includes a lot of advice-giving and ministering but under highly specific circumstances that no longer are his entire world.

Insight is about knowing what a person intends or is feeling, but it does not equal knowing what to say to them. Insight doesn’t erase the very human or I guess in this case sentient being tendency to overlay one’s own biases. In fact, being very insightful can worsen that, since someone who isn’t good at reading people but is aware of that fact will stop and listen to the person they’re talking to instead of relying on the insight over the literal words someone is saying (insert my philosophy here; yeah people lie and deflect, but also there is a reason they are lying and deflecting and often playing along while taking precautions to care for them in a way they will receive it is more effective than ignoring them). When I say Fjord, Yasha, and to an extent Veth are often the best listeners in the party I’m not joking: all of them have mediocre wisdom at best, but that means they tend to ask questions and keep a relatively open mind. I don’t think that most of the Nein really get what Caleb’s doing with these rooms, and that’s fine! But I think most of the others at least realized that they don’t have the full picture, or that this wasn’t the time to bring it up.

Ultimately, Caduceus has experience with three broad groups of people: the recently bereft (which has some applications towards people currently in crisis), run-of-the-mill criminals, and family. When experiences can’t be extrapolated from those groups, he often struggles. We saw this with Trent; I said at the time and I still strongly maintain that his speech probably did little or nothing to Trent. Trent probably went to bed that night thinking “Ha! That bumpkin firbolg called me, a high-level wizard, a fool!” and forgot it by morning. Which doesn’t make the speech useless; I think even if it didn’t land the mere act of someone being wholly unimpressed by Trent is extremely valuable for Astrid and Eodwulf - and Caleb, for that matter - to see. But I don’t think it was a mic drop moment.

Caduceus has rigid ideas of the correct way to be, and it’s not a bad ideal but it’s a narrow one. He tends to value family and respect and responsibility, and he has an eye on the big picture and consequences in a way many people do not, and those are great. Within his scope of experience he’s often good - Gustav and The Gentleman, for example, are both solidly in the “Shady Creek Run types” category and Caduceus was able to speak with them very effectively. But outside of that and not only does he not get it, but he often is unwilling to hear it because he already has what he believes to be the right answer.

In a way, Caduceus is often good at telling people they are enough and that they will be okay and get through this, which is exactly what most mourners need to hear, but sometimes you need to hear “I don’t get what you’re doing but I’m here if you need me,” and sometimes you even need to hear “that was fucking stupid but I still love you” (note: Caleb falls into the former in this scenario). He’s got a good strategy for the life he lived for upwards of 80 years but he needs to change if he’s going to continue to be a person who is good at advising, and he really struggles with that! As said, it’s a great character choice even as I’m screaming “pretty sure this is the wrong way to deal with someone’s trauma!” because it’s so indicative of what Caduceus himself is going through.

I’m not asking for a judgement-free zone - lord knows anywhere I exist will not be one - but like, in a nod to a whole other tangent about religion I cut out because this is ridiculously long already, Caduceus could stand to internalize “who is wise? One who learns from everyone.” Or even just “know what you don’t know.” 

[disasterfandoms]

After Action Argument, Part One|| A Trent Sawyer and Full-Metal Oneshot

Co-wrote with @bravo-four-seal-team

A/N: So this was formed while headcanoning about Full-Metal and Trent’s friendship and their crazy asses with @bravo-four-seal-team​ and it eventually became writing a fic on how we thought this would go. This is long, so I divided it up into 2 parts.

Summary: Missing scenes from 2x21 and 2x22 encasing Metal’s concern for his brother’s mental health and sanity. Aka Metal and Trent argue for eternity with some fluff at the end.

This is the first piece of work in a series I’m working on on AO3 called “The Medic and The Rambunctious Brothers.” There are two OC’s in this, but one is only explicitly in the story.

TW: Talks of death, talks of a land mine, war, deployment, blood, being in an explosion, talks of suicidal thoughts, talks of therapy, arguments

Taglist: @himbohondo, @a-kate3, @rebelwrites, @thegirlwhoisalwayswriting, @supervalcsi, @jayhalsteadfan-2417, @mrsmarvelous1995​, @chibsytelford​

Of course, of all missions, this was the mission he would step on a landmine. The mission where they were busting ass to save Ray, to get the guy who was responsible for the bombings that took out Clay. 

He stood still as soon as he felt something underneath his foot. Dammit. Jason walked a couple more steps ahead of him before realizing he was frozen. “What?” he asked, staring at Trent.

“Felt something under my right foot,” Trent paused, taking a deep breath, “I’m pretty sure it’s a landmine,” he finished, looking at Jason as his eyes grew wide. He imagined that everyone else was also feeling the dread flowing freely through their veins when he said it, but Brock and Metal was behind him. 

Of course Metal was on this mission with him. Amelia was going to kill him if he killed her brother because he stepped on a landmine. Of course, Amelia might kill him for stepping on a landmine anyways if she ever hears about it. He mentally makes a note to talk to Metal about not telling this story to her later.

“That’s no bueno, boys,” Sonny said, crouching down to see the mine below him and snapping Trent back to reality, “Landmines are the sharks of the dirt.”

Full Metal has carefully made his way to stand in front of Trent, boring his eyes into Trent’s, looking for any sign of where Trent’s head is at. He didn’t like the look he saw, though, it generally means Trent’s made a decision he was going to regret.

“Don’t have time for this, I’ll figure it out.You guys keep going.” Trent said, and Metal immediately glared at him. Like hell he was leaving his brother behind. 

Luckily, Jason read his mind. “Not gonna happen Trent,” he immediately shot down Trent’s idiocy, but god his friend was stubborn.

“Go, I’ll make it safe myself.” Trent tries again, adamant that they all needed to get out of there, to go get Ray and finish the mission. He wasn’t going to leave Ray stranded because he was the idiot who’s most likely going to get blown-up in India.

“Like hell you will, Trent. I’ve seen you open a beer bottle before. Now, letting you do surgery on a bomb, probably gonna turn us into wolf food,” Sonny stated, while both him and Jason squat down to the ground to figure out a plan.

“Don’t make me laugh Sonny, I’m literally on a mine,” Trent said quickly, with an edge in his voice. Metal glared at him, still not believing his friend would be so stupid to actually think they’d leave him behind, and angry at Sonny for making jokes about it.

“T we’re not going anywhere, don’t even think about trying it again,” Metal said with the most menancing voice he could muster, but worry seeped through with every word. Jason was working with Brock to figure out a way to save Trent, so Metal focused on Trent and whatever the hell is going on in his head.

“Metal, if I die in this fiel-”

“No. we’re not doing that,” Metal interrupted him, stopping him in his tracks,”You’re going to be fine, T. We’re gonna get you off the mine safely, go get Ray, and then go home and you can tell Mellie anything you want,” 

“You all should be going and getting Ray anyways, Metal. You have time to get him and still get the HVT.” Trent insisted, not understanding why they don’t see that Ray is going to be easier to save than him at this point. He’s made his peace, though Amelia would be pissed, with dying in this field. Metal shook his head and started to speak, but was interrupted:

“Guys we got an incoming!” Sonny yelled from his spot as security. Brock and Jason continued to work on saving Trent, while Metal got down and focused on the enemy at-hand.

“Boss I’m sticking out like a hooker in Church here,” Trent quickly stated, starting to panic about being the reason they’re gonna be spotted. Jason quietly counted down, then both him and Trent laid on the ground, keeping themselves hidden and not being blown up at the same time. 

Once the enemy had driven away, They all stood up carefully, Trent nodding a thank you to Jason and Brock. They then continued their mission to get their brother and bring him home.

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They eventually found Ray, and were rescued by Indian forces. Tension between Trent and Full-Metal was thick, and the guys had decided to go to a place to drink some beer and relax before going to bed. Full-Metal had pulled Trent to the side, to their barracks in the compound, a room one door over from where Bravo was.

Metal was pissed, but he was also worried for his friend. Once he got Trent alone, he began to tear into him about the decision he made out there. Trent stood across from him, with his arms wrapped across his own body.

 "What the fuck was that Trent?! Telling us to go? You'll make it safe?! Tell me exactly how the fuck you would make it safe" Metal loudly lashed out, his feelings his bottled up spilling over.

Trent sighed, “Metal will you shut up, it all worked out fine"

"Trent! It ain't fine! We coulda been burying you! I don't want to give a damn death notice to your family, to my sister! Because my death would be next!"

“You’re exaggerating."

Metal threw his hands up in the air, his volume growing increasingly louder with every reply, “Trent, take this seriously! Can you just stop for one minute to think about how your death would affect your damn team? Ray probably wouldn’t forgive himself because you were there for him, Jase would blame himself because he lead you into that minefield, and who the fuck are they gonna trust with their bullshit? The new medic?”

Trent chuckled a little bit, now sitting on his bunk and shook his head, “Metal I am alive with only scrapes, bruises and sore muscles. And so are the guys! We’re okay, Metal.” He attempted to reassure the Master Chief, but it only seemed to make him angrier.

"We are okay because of a slim chance of luck! Trent, luck runs out! It's scrapes, bruises and sore muscles now, but what about next time? I never want to hear that self sacrificing Bullshit again! Ok?" He tried, desperately to get his friend and one of the most talented medics he knew to understand where he was coming from.

"You’re taking this out of proportion, Metal.”

“I’m taking this out of proportion?!”

“Yes!”

“For the love of god Trent!”

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Brock, Jason, and Sonny were sitting in the common room, listening to the argument in the next room, each of them incredibly confused as to why Full-Metal is yelling at their medic, especially given the circumstances.

“You know, I didn’t even realize just how close Full-Metal and Trent were,” Jason commented, trying to converse with their team as if they were spectators of a football game.

“Who is that yelling, and what happened to Full Metal?” Sonny jokes, and they all chuckled.

“Metal called him T at the minefield. Trent doesn’t let anyone call him by anything other than Trent,” Brock piped up, and they all looked at each other, trying to figure out what that meant.

“Well, I mean, Full-Metal did give us the keys to Trent’s house so we’re able to check in on him and go there if we needed, that should have been our first clue.” Sonny commented, trying to make what they were hearing make sense.

“But who’s Mellie, and why would Trent want to tell her anything?” Jason asked, still confused as to what the hell was going on.

“Maybe his daughter? I thought he’d tell us he had a kid before Full-Metal, though.” Brock supplied, suddenly wanting popcorn as if they were watching a soap opera unfold.

“I wish we could hear Trent’s arguments back to him, though. It’s like trying to piece a puzzle together without all the pieces,” Sonny tried to make the expression work. The two other men just laughed at him, and shook their heads.

At this rate, they’ll be surprised at just about anything they learn about Trent.

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“I get this is war Trent, but there’s a difference between casualty of war and being a damn martyr. You and I have both seen it. Hell, Adam acted like a damn martyr when he tackled a guy with an S-Vest!” Metal’s pacing at this point, getting frustrated at how stubborn his best friend was.

“Adam was doing what he thought he needed to to save us, Metal. And I was doing the same, if we had all been blown up no one would have gotten to Ray.” Trent pointed out, trying to stay calm. He knows his friend is just worried about him, he’s used to his rough ways of being a good friend by now.

"Adam did the one thing he told everyone not to do! Trent, we had enough people; Jason and Sonny could have continued while Brock and I got you out that situation. That's the only other option, all stay or split off. Get it through that thick skull of yours!”

"You’re taking this too far Metal," Trent warned, getting frustrated that his friend brought up Adam.

"I have seen enough friends die, T. I don’t need to lose another.” Metal said, desperately hoping his friend understood that he was scared for him.

“Scott, you didn’t lose me! I’m fine! In that moment it was my problem to fix, the team needed to focus on Ray because he was in a lot more trouble than I was.” He felt his voice getting louder, but at this point he didn’t care that he was yelling at his friend, who just so happen to be a Master Chief, and could technically reprimand him.

“Bullshit, Trent. We go home as one or we don’t go home at all. You know that, asking any one of us to leave you behind is self-sacrificial nonsense.”

"One life is better than two, you and I both know that"

"That's bullshit! When you have the option to save someone you do that! There's no other options!" Metal was just angry now, angry at Trent for acting like this, angry at Jason for whatever he’s teaching his team, and angry at himself for not realizing Trent really thought anyone would be okay with sacrificing himself.

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“Are they ever gonna be done fighting?” Jason asks, starting to get exhausted and incredibly sore from the op. He was cuddled up on the couch now, trying to drown out their teammates yelling at each other in the next room. He was interested earlier, but he didn’t know how long those two will argue.

“I’m gonna go see if they can shut up so we can get some shut-eye” Sonny announces, slowly trying to stand-up, making painful knows as his body protested.

“Good luck buddy, Metal’s scary when he’s angry,” Brock drowsily spoke, falling asleep with Cerberus on top of him.

Sonny goes into the next room and popped his head through the door opening, “You two done with this pissing contest you got goin’ on here? Some of us need our beauty sleep before Mandy inevitably finds a target package for us to go after the 24 hours before we leave the island from hell,”

Full-Metal turns to him and gives him the look that Sonny imagines is what Metal’s victims see when they have nightmares in the eighth circle of hell. Sonny quickly left, and briskly walked out of the line of fire.

“Get ready boys, we’re gonna sleep in here tonight,” he told them, and they groaned.

This is not how they imagined tonight going.

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

“Metal, if we had all been blown up by the mine then all 6 of Bravo, and yes I’m counting you as bravo so deal with it, would have died in that field. Sending you all away at least gave us a fighting chance. And Ray has a family back home that can’t afford to lose him.” Trent reasoned for the millionth time. Neither of them were getting anywhere, and both of them just wanted to resolve this and go to sleep. Trent was lying in his bed at this point, while Metal was still pacing.

“Newsflash, Trent, you have a family and a girlfriend who would be crushed by you dying too.”

"My family would be fine! Ray has a wife and two kids at home!"

"Trent will you listen to yourself! Go out there and ask them all if they would leave you to die! I guarantee you that they will say the same as I have. They’re your brothers, they don’t want to be here without you.”

“Metal, it was the only decision that made sense! You mean to tell me that Blackburn wouldn’t have told us to ‘work the problem’?”

“That’s a suicide mission, you idiot, not working the problem!”

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

Ray and Blackburn walk by the common room, hearing the arguing still occurring through the walls. He then sees three of his operators all asleep in chairs, and decide to order, Ray to wake them, while he dealt with those two idiots inside to call it quits for the night.

He entered, and made his arrival clear by a raising his voice and saying, “Hey! Both of you, quit arguing. It’s too late for this, you need sleep before Mandy finds the HVT so you’re prepared.”

They both nodded, and everyone piled in to sleep in their beds, and Cerberus in his cage.

They sleep, hoping this is all over, but oh how wrong they were.

[bluenet13]

A Bloody Mess

Written for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: SEAL Team.

Characters: Sonny Quinn, Lisa Davis, Clay Spenser, Stella Baxter.

Prompt: Bloodstained Clothes.

Summary:  Lisa and Clay are always a phone call away. Especially when his relationship is on the rocks again and Sonny ends up in the middle of a fight after trying to drown his sorrows at a bar.

Links: ff.net - AO3

When Lisa's phone rang, her first thought was Sonny. But then she remembered the night before, how her application to join Echo Team had been denied, and the conversation that had followed. Her heart aching as she realized that Sonny wouldn't be calling her anymore, at least for things not related to national security.

Letting it ring, Lisa figured if it was important enough they would call again. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with anyone and it was her day off.

After a few minutes of silence, Lisa sighed, thinking that it was probably a spam call or one of the Bravo boys taking the hint that she wasn't available. But, not three minutes later, the phone rang again so Lisa ran to the kitchen counter where she had left it charging.

Instinctually, Lisa almost grabbed her work bag at the same time as she finally decided to pick the call, but ended up just frowning, hand falling to her side, as she saw the name pop up on her screen. It wasn't the base that's for sure.

"Hi, Stella," Lisa greeted the woman on the other end of the line, grateful that this was just a phone call so she didn't have to fake a smile, along with her cheerful tone. "Is everything okay? Clay alright?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Hi, Lisa… Yeah, Clay's okay. Well, most of him anyways," a nervous laugh escaped Stella and Lisa's frown deepened. "But, it's Sonny, I'm calling about…"

Taking in a deep breath, Lisa drew her hand down her face, because of course it had to be Sonny.

"Have you seen him?" Stella asked nervously as Lisa failed to say anything to her previous comment.

"Not since yesterday," Lisa explained, "when I left Ray's house, the boys were still there, and I don't know what happened afterwards. We haven't spoken since."

"Umm, okay, okay," Stella sounded nervous, and Lisa desperately needed to know what had happened, but she also knew she needed to get some distance from Sonny, regardless of how much it hurt. "Well, thanks anyways. Let us know if you hear from him."

"Wait, Stella," Lisa practically shouted. But then fell quiet. Things with Sonny were complicated, as complicated as they had ever been, but she couldn't just turn off her feelings for him. Sonny had her heart, and deep down she knew whatever happened, she would never be able to stop caring about him. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Stella didn't answer right away, instead Lisa could hear shuffling and whispering, or more like hissing, coming from the other side.

"Davis," another voice said after a few minutes. Clay. Of course he was there.

"Spencer," Lisa muttered, not surprised that whatever trouble Sonny was in, Clay was involved too. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry to call you, I know this might not be what you wanted," Clay said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I was about to head to Sonny's apartment but Stella suggested we check in with you first."

"Okay," Lisa said simply. Not really surprised that Clay already seemed to know what had happened between her and Sonny the day before. But as much was obvious from his tone. "Clay, what happened?"

"Um, well…"

"Clay! Get on it with it," Lisa hissed.

"Okay, okay, sorry. It's just… Sonny called me last night, like an hour after the rest of us left Ray's house. He didn't sound okay and there were too many voices around for him to be at home, so I asked where he was. He was at a bar. Not one we had been to before. I could hear shouting too. But anyhow, I met him there. And there might have been a fight at some point after that…" Clay's voice cut abruptly, and more angry whispering could be heard on the line.

"Give me the phone, you're taking too long," Stella chided, before she obviously took the phone from Clay. "Sorry, Lisa. The point is Clay went to meet Sonny at the bar, and they ended up in a fight." Stella was trying to sound casual, but her voice was too tight to sound fully natural, and it only told Lisa that she didn't yet know the specifics of said fight. "Afterwards Clay tried to get Sonny to come to the apartment with him, but he refused. They just got an Uber together instead and Clay asked the driver to drop Sonny off first. So we know he made it home, but now we can reach him."

"I've been trying to talk to him all morning, but he's not picking up," Clay resumed the explanation, practically giving Lisa whiplash from all the jumping between the two. "We just thought maybe you had heard from him. But you haven't. So I will just go to his apartment. Thanks and, again, sorry for calling."

"Clay, I'll go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I live closer to him anyways."

"Okay," Clay agreed easily, his tone betraying that he didn't believe for one second that was the only reason why Lisa wanted to be the one to check up on Sonny.

"Keep us posted, please," Stella added, to which Lisa promised to call back when she knew more, before ending the call.

Sighing, Lisa closed her eyes for a second as she tried to tamper down her emotions. God knows she was really making an effort to respect the rules and get away from Sonny on a personal level, but he just kept reeling her in. She couldn't really say she minded, but Bravo was already under the microscope, and they couldn't further jeopardize all their careers.

But, Sonny was in trouble, so none of that was important now. So, grabbing her purse and keys, Lisa wasted no time in going to his aid, because regardless of the status of their relationship, she would always move heaven and earth to save him; and whether that be from Tangos in foreign lands, or from his own self-destructive tendencies at home, didn't really matter.

-x-x-x-

Not fifteen minutes later, having broken more than a few speed limits in the process, Lisa reached Sonny's apartment and the first thing she noticed was the door being unlocked. Getting closer, Lisa tentatively pushed it open and stepped inside. Feeling a small amount of relief when she found the living room seemingly undisturbed. But her worry returning as soon as she realized Sonny was nowhere in sight.

"Sonny?" Lisa asked, walking further into the familiar apartment.

Getting no answer, Lisa went to Sonny's room but found the bed not slept in, which she was sure of because Sonny was not the type to make his bed before first getting breakfast, and the kitchen had been similarly unused. "Sonny?" She called again, louder this time. But she met only silence.

Moving to Sonny's bathroom Lisa found it empty too and her worry began to increase as she realized that so far she hadn't seen his keys or wallet either. For a brief moment she wondered if maybe Sonny had contacted another member of the team, like Trent since he was the medic. But all further questions flew out of her mind as soon as she noticed the first droplets of blood on the living room floor. Following the path, Lisa reached the last place she had not searched yet.

"Sonny?" Lisa asked again, as she got close to the guest bathroom. The door was slightly ajar but the sight didn't look inviting at all. Lisa couldn't really explain why, until she saw what looked suspiciously like a bloody handprint on the otherwise white wood.

Her mind in overdrive, Lisa pushed the door open and gasped as soon as she saw Sonny collapsed on the bathroom floor, blood soaking the tile and pooling under him. His clothes were so bloody that Lisa wondered how she hadn't seen a blood trail as soon as she came into the apartment, or maybe she had, and her mind had just tried to protect her by blocking the sight until it just couldn't do it anymore.

"Hey, Sonny, wake up," Lisa said as soon as she was kneeling next to him, doing her best to avoid all the blood on the floor. But Sonny didn't answer or even stir.

Running back to Sonny's room, Lisa grabbed the medkit that he kept in his bathroom before she again kneeled next to him. Slowly, she lifted Sonny's hand from where it was pressed to his side, quickly having noticed this was the bloodiest spot on his shirt, and instantly cursed when she noticed the very obvious stab wound.

"Damn it, Sonny," she said to herself. "And damn you, Clay." Because how could he not have realized this would need stitches and probably antibiotics too, just to be safe.

Trying to be careful but effective, Lisa grabbed gauze and pushed down on the gushing wound, attempting to halt the flow of blood, because seeing how much of it was currently on the floor and on Sonny's jeans and shirt, Lisa knew he couldn't afford to lose any more of it.

Lisa's movements must have been careful enough because Sonny didn't wake through it all, but as soon as she began packing the wound, he began to stir and grunt. His eyes flying open as soon as Lisa pushed the gauze further in.

"Stay there, don't move," Lisa said through gritted teeth as soon as Sonny tried to move away. She hated to cause Sonny pain, of the physical kind at least, because she knew the day before she had caused him a lot of emotional ache. But she knew enough of first aid, from her own training and also Trent, to recognize she needed to pack the wound to stop further hemorrhaging.

"Lisa?" Sonny asked, eyes now at half-mast, his breathing coming in small puffs of air, except when he gasped every time Lisa pushed more gauze into the wound. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that question, Sonny," Lisa argued, barely able to suppress her anger, "you should be in a hospital!"

"No need, I took care of it," Sonny explained, a sad imitation of a grin on his face.

"Does this look taken care of?" Lisa hissed, lifting a bloody towel to show Sonny how not taken care of this really was. "You're lucky you didn't bleed out! Of all the stupid things… I swear I will kill you myself if you ever pull a stunt like this again." Lisa continued to rant, even as she never stopped working, finishing packing the wound before taping the gauze in place and moving to check the rest of Sonny.

"Okay, maybe not taken care of," Sonny admitted softly, letting out a nervous chuckle. "But, don't be mad," he whined, looking up at Lisa as his eyes began to flutter shut. "I don't like it when you're mad with me."

"Don't you dare pass out on me, Sonny Quinn," Lisa threatened, "and if you don't want me to be mad, then stop doing stupid shit like this!"

"I'm sorry," Sonny said with a pained exhale, "didn't mean to get into the fight, just wanted a drink…"

"Didn't you have enough drinks at Ray's?" Lisa asked incredulously, even as she knew she was the reason he needed more.

At that, Sonny just shrugged, letting his eyes finally close.

"Sonny!" Lisa shouted, shaking him awake, and gently slapping his cheeks.

Opening his eyes, Sonny tried to focus on Lisa, throwing her his best apologetic look, but his eyes began to flutter again. "Sorry, tired," he mumbled.

"Come on, please Sonny you got to stay awake," Lisa begged.

Finally convinced that the worst of the wounds was treated for now, and Sonny wouldn't bleed out in front of her, Lisa took her phone out of her pocket and searched her favorites list for Trent's number. But a weak hand on her arm stopped her so she looked down.

"What are you doing?" Sonny asked weakly.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm calling Trent, then I'm calling 9-1-1," Lisa snapped.

"No, don't call Trent. I'm okay. And, the team can't know about this." Sonny explained weekly, using his remaining strength to try to lift himself from the floor, but he only made it a few inches before he collapsed again, ending up slumped in between the sink and wall.

"Sonny how do you expect to hide this?" Lisa asked, gesturing to his body.

"And this," a voice said from the door, and both Sonny and Lisa turned to find Stella pointing at Clay's black eye, and split lip.

"How can we help?" Clay said at the same time as Stella spoke, his key to Sonny's apartment still held tightly on his hand.

"I think you already helped enough," Lisa quipped, looking at Clay with accusatory eyes.

"I, um…" Clay ran his hand through his hair, wincing when he got too far down and bumped the bruise on his eye. The explanation of what had happened was something for Sonny to share with Lisa, so with nothing to say, Clay just ignored her and moved forward, kneeling on Sonny's other side and beginning to pack and wrap a smaller wound.

"It's not his fault," Sonny said.

"The hell it's not!" Lisa all but shouted, "why is it you two always end up in trouble together?"

Clay and Sonny shared a brief look at the question, both shrugging because they didn't have a good answer.

"Clay was only helping," Sonny explained, his voice barely above a whisper. "I got into a fight at this bar, and even I have self-preservation enough to know I wouldn't get far against seven. They were blocking the exit so I hid in the bathroom and called Clay."

"And you just showed up, just like that?" Lisa couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," Stella said simply.

"Of course," Clay said at the same time, his tone basically asking how could he not.

"So, yeah, Clay showed up and I was still locked inside the bathroom," Sonny stopped as he began to stumble on his words, "he tried to get the men to back down and leave us alone. Apologized for whatever had happened. But then I heard a crash and Clay grunting. I got out, and well, a fight broke out. And one of them must have had a knife." He ended the explanation with a hopeless shrug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening," Clay said sincerely, looking at Lisa, "but this is the first time I'm hearing anything about knives. My guys were all fists," he explains, pointing to his black eye.

"A lot of fists apparently," Stella added, stepping close to Clay, and lifting his shirt to show various hand-shaped bruises on his abdomen.

Uncomfortable with the attention, Clay pushed his shirt back down and continued working on Sonny's injuries. Now gently prodding the bruising on his friend's stomach, trying to determine if they should also be worried about internal injuries or broken ribs.

"Lisa, did you already call Trent or should I?" Stella asked with a wince, needing to feel useful but also feeling sympathetic towards her boyfriend and his best friend, because Trent wouldn't be a happy man when he set his eyes on them.

"No Trent," Sonny said again.

"Come on, Sonny. Even you must be smart enough to know we can hide this from the team. They will find out eventually," Clay retorted.

"Bravo is already in hot water. Can't make it worse," Sonny tried to argue.

"Okay, we can figure out what to do about the team later, but I'm calling 9-1-1 now," Lisa said, stopping any further discussion and already beginning to dial.

"Can you just put in some stitches? I don't care if the scar is pretty," Sonny begged.

"Maybe last night, but now you also need a transfusion and antibiotics. Too bad you didn't think it important enough to ask for help when this happened," Lisa pointed out.

Grunting, Sonny let his head fall into his chest, knowing that he wasn't winning this argument.

"I'll go make the call. Stella, keep an eye on these two and make sure they don't make any more dumb choices," Lisa said, even as she sent a grateful look Clay's way. Because even with Stella back in the picture, Clay had dropped everything and got himself into a fight just to help Sonny. And Lisa was sincerely thankful knowing that Clay would always be the one standing alongside her on Sonny's self-destructive corner.

Stella just nodded but said nothing, and as Lisa walked out, she had the decency to silently wonder if maybe she should have asked the other woman to call instead. Stella was looking a little green, and her stomach must have been queasy at the sight and smell of all the blood. Another reminder that this world she had chosen was really different to hers, but showing this time she was fully committed to making it work because her love for Clay was greater than her fears.

"Ambulance should be here soon," Lisa said as soon as she stepped back into the room, instantly going back to the floor and sitting next to Sonny. And, against her better judgment, intertwining their fingers together.

"Thank you," Sonny whispered, squeezing her hand weakly.

"Anytime, Sonny, anytime," Lisa promised. And even if the previous day had again shaken their dreams and thrown new hurdles their way, Lisa was certain those words would always be nothing but the truth.

A knock on the door broke the moment, as everyone moved back into action. Stella going to open the door for the paramedics, and Clay moving to Sonny's room to grab his go bag and some clean clothes so he could later change out of the bloodstained ones, while Lisa stayed right by Sonny's side.

With the two stab wounds already packed and their patient stable enough, the paramedics made quick work of loading Sonny into a stretcher and wheeling him down to the waiting ambulance. Lisa, Clay and Stella following close behind.

As they reached the parking lot, Clay and Stella stood to the side while Sonny was moved into the ambulance, Lisa jumping in after him, her posture and scowl daring the paramedics to object. Both Clay and Stella ready to get in her car and follow them to the hospital.

Just before the double doors to the ambulance closed, Lisa looked back at Clay and mouthed a silent thank you. Because as it turned out she wasn't the only one ready to move heaven and earth to keep Sonny safe.

Silently, Clay nodded nonchalantly, moving closer to Stella and drawing her to him. Holding his girlfriend's hand, Clay nodded again, a smile on his face. His eyes telling Lisa all that his words weren't. There was a lot to figure out and Lisa still needed to learn the specifics of what had happened at the bar and to remind Sonny that he needed to take better care of himself, not only for them, but also for his unborn child. But at that moment, Lisa truly believed that in the end everything would be okay. All the proof she needed was standing right in front of her, because just a year ago Clay and Stella seemed impossible, but here they were. And someday in the future, Sonny and Lisa would be too.

[readbythestarlight]

c2e128

On hi Gale!

"Boyfriend? Ugh!" xD

I NEED THE SHIRT IMMEDIATELY

Oh lord here we go.........

Oh Jesus okay here we go

I’m worried about Caleb here. Just, being faced with Trent like this, in this place especially, and being back in a corner

[[MORE]]

Goddddddddd

SHIT

god I’m shaking

Counterspell counterspell

God RUN YOU FOUR RUN

Someone hug him

FUCK OFF IKATHON

HOW IS HE DOING THIS

Using message?

"I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to you yet"

No babes he’s not talking to you

Fuck you Trent

Veth being surprised they actually succeeded Lol

Give one to Essek plz

Attunment sigh

Veth honey do you not have a key to the house

Fuck OFF TRENT

I’m going to crawl through my screen and tear him apart

Oh no

Now the assembly is gonna be after them for sure

Carrots are immune to scrying it’s canon

Also fuck they shouldn’t have gone to Veth’s house

Caleb... babe......

Fuck now he knows about the

Oh no

"I have my theories about where you might have learned" don’t TOUCH my other boy Trent I WILL personally fuck you up

And he knows about Vess too great

YES be worried for Essek

Please check on him

Caleb is shaking so bad

Babe

And now if something happens to Essek Caleb will blame himself for that this is NOT what I want

Okay good, good, reassure him

"I am responsible for your family. And yours. And you."

"And I worry... that I am... the very thing he told me I was."

"Not yet. Not yet."

"You did good. You got what we needed."

Good, reassure him.

Oh no she did talk about her mom to the guard fuck

"He was looking at you with puppy dog eyes?"

"Oh my god Fjord he loved me so much."

Jester is gonna send her to the Gentleman xD

"I think we’ve done enough damage today." Taliesin xD

Okay seriously huh Caleb please

Also I’m Shadowgast trash so I hope something comes from this

One to all family members and then one for Essek good

Hn I get Fjord’s point tho being near the ocean isn’t good for him personally

Veth and Yeza are literally just so wholesome and cute

Divine Intervention okayyyy

Artagan left her on read lol

Awww Yasha talking to the Stormlord

Whatcha so nervous about, babe?

Jester trying to help Yasha out is so sweeeeeet

Artagan is SUCH a dork I love him

Oh no

It’s THOSE crystals

Caleb is fucked UP right now y’all need to take care of this boy

God this is fucked up fucking fuck

Genuinely when is it going to be time to kill Trent

Taliesin xD

I miss whispers pandemic will be over WHEN

Awwwww god I love their reunions

Oh god poor Marion

I hate this

"What have you done?"

Noooooo

"I’m not angry I’m just—I just worry about you."

I’m crying it’s fine

We stan supportive family members

Uncle Caleb

Fjord you dork xD

Be careful Blud buddy

Oh Fjord, what have you done you goober

Anyway I’m nervous about those two

I need to sleep ugh

Anyway can we briefly talk about how Veth is apparently planning to leave the group after Aeor

Not that I can blame her but that’s gonna be SAD

Anyway I’m glad they’re gonna take a calm "let’s talk to them" approach

"Making’ my way downthestairs" I love how they always burst into that song

Ooooo Jester going in disguise as mom, that could be risky

Stop fucking calling him Bren

Wait

Astrid??

Is it Astrid and Wulf??

Holy shit and they’re WARNING him??

Oh god oh god oh fuck

This is bad

"Trent is, um... frustrated" Trent can choke

"And I hope we don’t meet again."

They’re helping him and I’m baffled yet glad

Oh man... poor Jester, she’s gonna be so upset with herself for mentioning her mom

I know Cad doesn’t go for it, but I’m gonna forever believe Wulf has a bit of a crush on Cad

They’re helping Caleb specifically which is giving me some hardcore feelings

Blud should go with them too if he wants, he can help keep Marion safe

Also god I can’t wait for the Gentleman to open the door and see all this happen

Who is it who is

Oh another one?? How are Astrid and Wulf going to lie about being there if there’s a

Mother FUCKER I KNEW IT

Veth honey be careful

Don’t go in don’t go in they WILL catch you

Okay good

Time to GO

I hate the idea of splitting up but time to go time to GO

God I’m so fucking stressed

I hope Yussah is willing to help them

And NOW we go to break

L: "we’ve played this game for years! It’s make believe! I’m so scared!!"

They can track Yeza, and also probably Marion

Please Yussah be willing to help them I’m begging

Wentsworth is a good boy at least I like him

How is Marion?? Is she okay?

Oh sweetie

Hardcore agoraphobia poor dear

Caduceus you’re such a sweetheart

Also Cad is scared too he sounds so tense

He’s in the

He’s out of town?

HE’S GONE DRAGON HASNT HE

He

He went to the WHAT

I love that he’s trying to help I guess but that makes me vaguely nervous

Aw not dragon, what a shame

Oh sure Jester there’s no way THAT could go wrong

If y’all get Yussah’s tower fucked up he’s gonna be so pissed

Using unknown magic is probably not your smartest choice rn

Wait can’t Beau just read any language? I thought that was a monk thing

Okay okay okay

I really wanted Blud to come with them :(

Plane shift oh dear

Y’all don’t need to plane shift how will you get back again??

Can y’all then get back after resting?

And it’s not even big enough for all of them

And also like they could just end up getting stuck fighting things they don’t have spells for

Caleb shut the fuck up

Thank you for putting that down immediately, Cad and Veth

Sewers gross

Why don’t you all just go to the sewers and hide out and get to a ship and go

I don’t like splitting up I don’t like splitting up I don’t like splitting up!!

Like they’d be split up for at least a few days right? And I don’t like it

Hide them in the ball???

I was thinking that, Veth! Not that it’s a good idea but I just so hate splitting up

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck I’m so STRESSED

oh fuck

FUCK

NO

Who is at the DOOR

Right it’s like reverse Narnia

No Matt now you’re backwards xD

They’ve all confused themselves now with the time ball

So you’re gonna send the family to the fire plane instead??

Fuck fuck fuck GO

Yussah’s gonna be so pissed if someone breaks into his tower because of them while he’s looking for answers for him

Aw Fjord’s and Jester’s little goodbye “be safe” moment

Fuckfuckfuck

I’m so fucking stressed

Can y’all believe the happy fun ball has become such a useful thing?

FUCKING NO

NOOOOO

NOOOOOOO BITCH

Goddddddd

I can’t breathe

“It’s like Rolf in Sound of Music” except Rolf betrayed them

I’m SCARED y’all god like I’m literally so stressed out

Is it Thursday yet??

God I hope Yussah is safe and that the Assembly doesn’t hurt him or steal any of his stuff

And Wentsworth too

[aussiearrow]

Who's Got Your Love? - Chapter 14

Tag List : @daddyslittlevillain , @hotyeehawman , and @bitterendbrutalizer

If you would like to be added please message me or comment.

Who's Got Your Love? - Chapter 14

Week 4 Chapter 5

Briana

The girls all sat around and watched as each of the new guys filed out and stood by each other followed by Ariana who smiled as she saw all the girls.

"Hey ladies, I hope that you had a lovely week with the new guys. But now it's time to make some decisions. As you know you guys were told that you have the chance to bring one of these handsome fellas into the villa. So it goes as follows if you decide you want to recouple now, if you were in a couple the guy would now be single and vice versa. However if either you or him come back single you risk being dumped from the island.. Now if you both decide not to recouple you guys are safe for now. Briana? Do you want to start us off?" Ariana smiled.

"Oddly enough I much rather would have not wanted to go first. After seeing the video package yesterday I went from being so sure to not being sure at all what I wanted to do. I didn't make connections in time like some of us did. I feel like whatever choice I make may or may not be the wrong one. But even after everything I still really like James and I would kick myself if I decided to recouple right now." Briana said as she sat down, Alex and Kat gave both of her arms a little squeeze.

"Layla?" Ariana said," It's your turn."

Layla stood up as she looked around at all the girls before she looked at all the guys," This week I learned a lot. I think I got a lot closer to some of the girls in the house but I also was able to meet some new really great guys." Layla said with a smile, " I know there was a side of Nick that really none of us knew that was showed. A side that I don't know if I really liked. If anything this week showed that if he was that quick to act like that the first time I wasn't around and we aren't together yet. Than how would it be if we do get together and he goes somewhere alone?"

As some of the girls and even Ariana nodded in agreement," So Layla with all of that being said. Do you wish to recouple or do you want to see where things go with Nick?"

"At this time I think it's best that I stay with Nick and take that risk." Layla said as she sat back down with a sigh.

"Don't worry, we'll kick his ass when we see him." Callie said with a laugh as the girls agreed.

"Kat, you're up." Ariana said as Kat took a moment before she stood up.

"I kept thinking to myself all the ways this could go but now when I stand here about to make the decision everything is totally different. First I just have to say that I loved all the time I got to spend with Preston over the last week and he made me realize that this experience isn't only for finding love but also to have fun while doing it. I know my luck hasn't exactly been the greatest before casa amor but at the same time I look at it like did I just take advantage of it to not face the reality that I have too now. " Briana could see that Kat was nervous. As she looked at Preston too.

"Right now I think it's best if I stay where I am and figure that out first without confusing myself even more."

"Do you think Jay is going to come back single?" Ariana asked her.

" Parts of me know that it's done between me and him. So." Kat shrugged as she sat down.

Ariana didn't continue on as she just nodded," Callie, would you like to go next?"

Callie nodded her head as she stood up," Yes cause okay wow. This week has honestly been a lot. Coming in I figured something like this would happen so I've been trying to prepare myself and keep myself open in doing that I met some great people. I can't say recouple cause I'm not in one," The girls laughed remembering how the beginning of all this played out," So I am going to bring someone new in the villa that being Cash." Callie said as everyone smiled happy that Callie actually was able to make a connection and actually be in a couple.

Briana sighed, it was getting closer and closer to the guys turn and she was not ready at all for what was about to possibly happen.

As Cash walked over and wrapped his arms around Callie," Now the real fun starts." He said as they sat down.

"Alex? It's time for you to bring it home for us." Ariana said as Briana started to get nervous. It was almost time for them all to see the boys again for the first time in a week.

Alex stood up," I can't believe I have to go last considering right now I feel like I'm one of if not the most confused person here. I guess I should start by saying that Pete is one of the greatest guys I met but seeing the video clips made me even more confused. On one hand I was hoping Pete would make my decision easy but than on the other hand I was being introduced to Kenny, a sweet guy who never overstepped even though he clearly wanted too more than once. And than Ethan who everyone believes has quite the ego but showed me a side that I can only hope more people can see." Alex said as Ethan smiled.

"So Alex, do you want to recouple or hopefully get reunited with Pete?"

" I think right now it'll be best if I recouple and the guy I would be bringing in is Ethan." As Ethan walked over to Alex and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Finally I've been waiting forever to do that without interruption." Ethan said with a laugh.

" I can tell." Alex said as the two sat down.

With that Briana sighed knowing exactly what this meant now. She watched as Ethan whispered something in Alex's ear that made her laugh. As Layla looked completely nervous that Nick was going to walk in here with someone new leaving her alone, as Kat who sat next to her reached her hand out so they both can go through this next part together. As Callie sat there talking to Cash but she could see the nerves show on her face.

"Ladies? Are you ready to see the boys?" No, not at all Briana wanted to say.

Alex

"Ladies? Are you ready to see the boys?" Alex took a deep breath, not only was she worried about whether Pete was bringing a new girl in , she was also worried about what would happen if he didn't.

Than there was James and how that would be once he came back too. Alex knew there was a lot to think about over these next two weeks. And it was starting now as she saw Trent walk down the stairs alone, she didn't get to talk to Trent much but when they did she could see why Kat had fun whenever she was around him.

It didn't surprise anyone when he walked down alone, and Kat looked up at him when his face went from worry to complete shock. Maybe that Kat was sitting there alone, but than it went back to worry most likely thinking of Jay also coming back. As he sat down next to Kat either way. Next to come down alone was Adam, once again it was a surprise to no one. But it also meant that Adam was still single unlike Trent though his facial expression showed little to no signs of how he felt that Cash was sitting next to Callie.

Alex was starting to feel nerves that she had never felt before as it was getting closer to James and Pete's turn but as Nick walked down the stairs with a new girl. Of course the whispering started almost immediately as Trent shook his head.

"Nick? I see you decided to recouple. Why don't you introduce us to her?" Ariana said.

"I did, everyone this is May, May this is everyone." Nick said he brought her over to the couch. It was almost like he didn't notice the fact that Layla was sitting alone on the couch until he had no choice but to sit next to her with his new girl May.

"Can we talk later?" Nick had asked her.

"Don't" Layla said simply.

Next up to walk down the stairs was James and to no one's surprise besides Briana's he was alone. Briana let out a sigh of relief as the rest of the girls smiled at her, Alex on the other hand was trying to read his expressions but like Adam there was little to no signs of how he was feeling. James made his way over as Briana hugged him but out of the corner of her eye Alex saw him look over in her direction there wasn't going to be much avoidance much longer.

"I just want to get this over with already." Kat said as Alex nodded not being able to agree anymore than the next.

Just as Kat finished talking and Alex finished agreeing. Jay began to walk down the stairs and at first it looked like he was alone that shocked most of the girls as Kat stayed expressionless, Trent choosing to watch her not really paying attention the fact that Jay had turned and held his hand out as a girl began to walk down the stairs and take his hand. He watched as Kat's face changed to something he couldn't quite put his finger on as he finally turned to look at the scene.

As the couch was filled with everyone not being so quiet about Jay's current action, Alex looked at Kat who now had many expressions on her face and while her hand was now on her own lap, Trent actually made a move to grab it and squeeze it as she looked at him but didn't say anything. Alex turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.

"Jay, care to introduce us to your new girl?"

"This lovely lady is named Alison. I would introduce everyone one by one but by the looks on their faces it seems words aren't going to be their strong suit right now so I'll save all of that for later." Jay said and there was that smirk that Alex could have gone without seeing for another few weeks.

Jay tried to walk over to the couch and sit between Jay and Kat but once he realized that Trent hasn't let go of her hand he picked a different spot far away from them as possible. As Alex's attention turned back to the stairs there was only one more person left, Pete. And he wasted no time in walking down the steps but what got Alex the most of out of all of that was that Pete wasn't alone.

Alex let out a breath she didn't know she was holding until he now stood in front of her holding hands with a girl who wasn't her, as Ethan grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Pete, would you like to introduce this lovely lady to everyone?" Ariana said.

Alex could care less about what her name was, it sounded like Kaylie? Bailey? She didn't truly know.

As the two took their seat Ariana turned to the group," Okay you're current couples are as follows Karly and Pete, Alex and Ethan, Alison and Jay, Briana and James, Callie and Cash, and May and Nick. Meanwhile Kat, Layla, Trent, and Adam are now officially single and at risk of being dumped from the island. Please take the rest of the night to relax and get to know each other and I'll see you guys soon." Ariana said as she walked out.

You know it's always much easier to do certain things when you don't have to come face to face with certain people. It's easier to say get to know one another when you don't actually know the person sitting next to you it's the new person sitting next to them that you have to get to know and boy does that suck.

" I'll be right back." Alex said as she gave Ethan's hand a squeeze and hurried off back into the villa what she didn't know was that someone was hot on her tail.

"Ethan, I said I just need a moment I'll be right back out." Alex said.

"Ouch I know it's been a week but you forgot my name that quick?" Alex's eyes went wide as she turned around to see James standing there sheepishly.

"James - I know you know that I heard everything but can we please not - "

"Talk about it right now? I get it, I don't want to either. I just want to make sure you're okay after everything."

"Define okay?" Alex said as she tried to hold it together as she looked at James, like really truly looked at him. But it was a shame that she couldn't see much of him of her vision began to get blurry.

"Well not about to cry certainly isn't one of the definitions of being okay." James said as he wrapped his arms around Alex," I know this whole thing absolutely sucks. I don't know why this week had to even happen."

"I don't even know what I'm crying over at this point." Alex said.

"Do you think you made a mistake picking Ethan?" James asked.

"No." Alex said as James nodded not that she could see anyway.

"Is it Pete bringing someone new in?" James asked.

"I think that's part of it."

"Only part of it?" James asked as he looked down at Alex with a confused expression on his face.

"I think you know the other reason." Alex said.

"Ah, well sorry for contributing I uh I really didn't think you would see that at least not until way after the show was over and that things were hopefully more clear for you."

"You weren't going to tell me?"

"I didn't think you'd want to hear it if we're being honest." James said.

"Of course I want to know. What makes you think I don't?"

" I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to telling you things." James said as Alex nodded understanding where he was coming from.

"We should really get back to everyone." Alex said as she pulled away from the hug.

"We should be, are you doing better?" James said.

"Yes, a little. But I can assure you I will be soon enough though."

"Okay than let's go, but when we get out there, remember to stay on your side." James said as they both laughed and headed out.

Kat

Once everything ended and Alex ran off with James following suit it was quiet. Kat really didn't want to break the silence but Jay certainly didn't have that in mind.

"Well there's certainly more new guys than I thought there would be." Jay said as he looked at Ethan and Cash.

"Guess that's what happens when people get treated wrong and they find better." Ethan said with a shrug as Kat looked at him with wide eyes as Trent said he couldn't agree more.

Kat didn't necessarily like when things like that were said cause than it just created more drama that she quite frankly don't have the energy for at least not today.

"Let's go get a drink." Adam said as Kat nodded her head happy that someone wanted to get away from this just as much as she did.

"Man, if you have something to say you can just say it." Jay said to Trent.

Trent looked over at Kat and Adam briefly and it was almost like he was going to decide to go with her when Jay made another comment and Trent's glance went from her back to Jay.

Kat sighed and decided that it was no use and walked over to the bar as Adam poured her a drink that she accepted cause lord knows she's going to need it for the time being. As she opened the fridge and brought out the bottle and put it by them.

" Just in case." Kat said as Adam laughed and sat down. " I don't think we ever got to talk before."

" Yeah, I don't think so either. You were always busy in that Jay mess."

Kat nodded," Yeah the Jay mess that just seemingly won't go away yet somehow gradually gets worse."

Adam nodded," I get that. Other than that how was it getting away from most of us?"

"You're still talking about Jay without mentioning his name." Kat said as Adam raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry." Adam laughed," But yes I'm talking about Jay for the most part, I'm sure there were others too. We saw the videos and you looked really happy like you were actually being yourself. I'm surprised Preston wasn't here with you."

"I think I surprised myself on that one too if we're being honest. Part of me wished that it could have stayed the same so I could have gotten the conversation out of the way already because even when I was having fun at the end of the day there was always still some sort of reminder that Jay was still going to be around come next week. Than seeing him come down the stairs alone at first it gave me false hope. Now him and Trent are having their little dude moment of trying to prove things hence why I hope this little helper." Kat said as she raised her drink.

"I'm more than happy with being your drinking buddy." Adam said as he raised his glass to her as they clinked them together," I mean it's no body shot but I'm sure we can make it work."

Kat laughed," I still can't believe I let that happen."

"Was it fun though?"

"We yeah duh of course."

"Than what's the problem?"

"Maybe that my mom was most likely watching that go down." Kat said as they both laughed.

"So what I'm hearing is I can't offer?" Trent said as Kat looked over her shoulder as she shook her head laughing.

" How was your time away from the villa? It looked pretty fun from what we were all able to see." Kat said as she changed the subject.

" It had it's moments. But honestly I couldn't wait to get back here. I feel like we left things off how they shouldn't of been." Trent said.

"I know we didn't get to talk or anything before everything changed. But we're here now." Kat said

"To new beginnings." Trent said as he raised his own glass except there wasn't 3 anymore as Adam had seemingly found his way away from the two as Kat clinked her glass to his.

"Yeah to new beginnings." Kat said as they both took a drink.

Layla

"Way to go Jay you came back and literally everyone walked away." Layla said with a laugh.

"Ha ha, like that's my fault." Jay said.

"It kind of is, you're the one who had to have that whose manly thing with Trent after this whole thing happened."

"He started it." Jay said.

"So you really had to finish it?"

"Listen it doesn't matter, he's gone now and he won't be lasting that much longer here in the villa. Next time it'll be the same thing over and over again."

"Are you going to talk to Kat about anything that happened?" Layla asked.

"Are you talking about me and you?"

"Well yeah, I mean I know there's a lot of other stuff you have to talk about as well." Layla said as she looked over at Alison and than at Kat and Trent.

"I know but right now, I'm just going to sit back and observe. I'll let things play out and settle down first. But I'll talk to her about everything soon." Jay said as Layla nodded as Nick made his way over.

"Hey." Nick said.

"Hi, how was your time away?" Layla asked seemingly cutting right to the point.

"It was good for the most part. Weird more than anything."

"But I see you got used to it pretty quickly seeming that you have met someone." Layla said.

"Yeah, she's uh she's great. I think you guys would get along."

"Not interested. Seeing the way you guys acted I got pretty close to the other girls finally. And I remember her from some moments in the videos that we seen. Lots of drama that I don't want to be apart of."

"There's not going to be any drama with May. She barely knows any of you guys." Nick said as Layla laughed and gave him a pointed look.

She was going to say more when her phone went off as she looked down at it.

"I got a text!" Layla called out.

"Already?" Alison said.

"Yeah, that's how it goes around here. Maybe you'll catch on but probably not." Layla said as Kat and Trent walked over to the group followed by everyone else.

“ What’s up what did the text say?” Pete asked.

Layla looked down at the phone,” Islanders I really hope you’re enjoying being back together again,” Layla slightly rolled her eyes,” But tomorrow things start to get real. Over the next few days the boys and girls will be participating in challenges all to figure out who gets their choice during the recoupling. All while having a challenge within and the guy or girl with the most points get to pick first as long as their group wins #teamingupforlove .” Layla said as she put her phone down and looked at everyone.

“ Well things definitely just got interesting.” Kay said.

“Yeah I guess you can say that.” Briana said as she played with her hands.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m excited to be back in my own bed. The other villa’s beds weren’t that comfortable.”

“Oh great now these ex couples have to figure out who gets to keep the bed and who gets the boot.” Layla said with a laugh.

“ Well, well, well, Kat?” Jay said.

“ It was mine first but I’ll give it up. If I’m starting new it might as well stay that well starting with the bed.” Kat said.

“ I’ve been single this whole time so no changes here.”

Callie

“ I’ve been single this whole time so no changes here.” Trent said.

“Hey same here.” Adam said with a laugh.

“ Shouldn’t we figure out how many beds first before we go through all of this?” Callie said as

James turned around and looked inside the room,” There’s 8 beds meaning singles have to share or find somewhere else to sleep.” James said,” Or however everyone wants to do this.”

“ Well I think couples got this figured out.” Cash said as he looked at Callie who nodded.

“ Layla? Trent?” Kat said.

“ Adam? Kat?” Layla said right back.

“ It’s nice out I can take the couch thing out here.” Adam said.

“ I’ll take the one bed, Kat? Trent?” Layla said.

“ I’ll stay on the other couch.” Trent said with a hint of not being so sure in his tone.

Kat looked at him with a nod,” Than I’ll take the other bed.”

“ There all settled. Looking forward to our first full day in the villa tomorrow.” Ethan said as everyone slowly began to clear out and get ready for bed.

Before Callie knew it all that was left was her, Cash, Trent, Kat, and Adam who was off to the side.

“ I can’t believe we only have 2 weeks left.” Callie said.

“I’m not surprised, I just wish I had more time could have saved you from a lot of losers.” Cash said as he wrapped his arm around Callie’s waist.

Adam laughed,” I’m not sure where you think that’s going but I never got my chance.”

“ Not my problem.” Cash said as he looked at Adam.

Kat and Trent both walked away to go get ready for bed seemingly knowing that it was time and that this was something that had nothing to do with the two of them.

“Not saying it is.” Adam said.

“ Than what are you trying to say?” Cash said.

Adam began to walk away towards the guys room,” That I’ll see you around Callie.” He said as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“ What just happened?” Cash said as Callie shrugged even though part of her knew what it was.

It was Adam stepping up to fight for her and she was in a lot of trouble.