#maybe I’ll draw sam and tara stuff too

[doctorwhoarchive]

was debating if I should post this or not bc I don’t love how it turned out.. but screw it here’s my Melissa drawing

[arjaandsimoni]

The Dark Ride

The sun shone down on the Smith family ranch, burning away the remains of what had happened last night.

Inside Tex, Tara, Stephy, and Sammi were sitting on the couch as the rest of the family sat across from them. Nelen and company had retired to a nearby town to seek lodgings (the ranch was big, but not that big) and… well…

“Okay sis, one more time?” asked Elizabeth Smith, her father standing next to her. Raul and the two kids were seeing to the cows. Some of them were still panicked after last night, being near a vampire does terrible things to some animals.

Tara sighed, “I know it sounds freakin’ nuts, but Stephy ‘n his kin saved us from this mad monster girl a bit ago ‘n have been watchin’ out fer us ever since. After his daddy got killed, ‘n good riddance man was a real bastard…” she explained, Stephy nodding in agreement there as Tex gave his hand a squeeze. Sammi sat looking away from them, his legs crossed and an annoyed look on his face. “… anyway… a bit later some other crazy stuff happened… ‘n Stephy’s daddy bit the big one, so we took ‘im in…” she said, glancing at Sammi, “’n then ya’ll invited us down ‘ere… as for the thing last night… well… dunno where the heck they came from.” she shrugged.

“I don’t think they were after us Tara.” said Stephy, “… Clan Fullmoon wouldn’t work with vampires or any supernaturals. Not willingly.”

Elizabeth looked at him, “Hang on, ya’ll think those… things… were after us?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sammi spoke up at this point, “Yes! By oak and ash YES! We’ve said that several times now!” he huffed, “That Maroon person probably called them.” he frowned at them, waving his hand dramatically.

At this Joshua spoke up, “Hmph… sounds like somethin’ that little shit McCall would pull.” he grunted, then looked at Elizabeth. “Oh I know ya’ll think I’m just bein’ a crazy ol’ coot again gel, but that Henry McCall is one of th’ most powerful landowners around. Ya’ll don’t get THAT powerful without pullin’ some really dirty tricks, ‘n now we know he can call in a whole packa Draculas?” he snorted, “It’d explain what happened back five years ago.”

Stephy cocked his head, looking at Tara questioningly, who nodded, “Yeah, bunch of conservationists were protesting McCall building another casino near th’ coastline. Said it was a wildlife preserve… but their car crashed on th’ way back from the protest, killed ‘em all. Corner ruled it ‘freak accident of nature.’” she said.

Stephy nodded, “Vampire attack.” he said, then looked around. “Any corner or mortician or autopsy surgeon learns pretty fast not all corpses stay corpses, and they learn that if they draw attention to that then the ones making them will come after them. ‘Freak Accident of Nature’ is code for ‘Killed by Something Unnatural.’” he explained.

Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head, “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into dad? Maybe we shoulda taken Maroon’s offer…” she frowned.

“THE HELL WE SHOULDA!” he snapped, “This land is no good for McCall, which means if he wants it then he’s up ta No GOOD! I ain’t gonna allow him to do no wickedness on Smith land!” he snapped waving his cane around.

Sammi smirked, “I like your father Tara, lets keep him.” he giggled, “So rare to see someone so passionate these days without a bible shoved up their arse.”

Elizabeth tutted at Sammi, but Stephy suppressed a giggle. "(Dammit,)" he thought, "(I do NOT like him… okay, so he did risk himself to save us last night from Coyote and his men, but they would have attacked him too!)"

Joshua nodded, “Damn right Sam! This is my family’s legacy! Its our’s! I ain’t gonna give it away for a big ol’ wad o’ cityman wonga! We’ve been ranchers since the civil war ‘n I’ll see to it this ranch stays in the family ‘till the day I die!” he snapped.

Elizabeth shook her head, “Dammit dad, that day was almost last night! Maybe we should just take the money! I’d like to send Tim and Jessie to a proper school in Houston yanno.” she frowned.

Tara sighed as the two began bickering, glancing at Stephy, “You three should ‘prolly skedaddle, they’ll be at this fer a while.” she nodded. Seemed this was an old argument.

The three of them nodded, though Sammi took a deep breath as they went and whispered ‘Spicy…’ before they made their way to the kitchen. Tim and Jessie smith were already there with Raul, taking a break from wrangling the cows.

“Hey ya’ll! C’mon over, nice tall glass o’ lemonade fer the vampire slayers.” grinned Tim, getting out three extra glasses and filling them up, then spreading them out. They each took a glass and Stephy remarked on how refreshing it was, even Sammi finding nothing to complain about.

“So, whatdya think that mess was all about last night?” asked Tim over his own glass, the boy nodding as he listened to Sammi and Stephy’s theory. “Hm… ya’ll think Henry McCall sent those things… but how’d he get somethin’ like that on his payroll?” he asked.

At this Raul snorted, “Pretty damn easily hijo.” he replied with a frown and a slight accent to his voice. He spoke English well, but there was a hint in his voice that he likely grew up speaking Spanish originally, “Joshua is right, I don’t care how much Liz says otherwise.” he shook his head, “McCall is el diablo, the devil in the flesh. People go into his main casino in Downtown Houston… they don’t always come back out eh?” he nodded firmly.

Stephy frowned, “He’s killing people in there?” he asked, looking at Raul.

“Si pequeña nina.” he replied, “My cousin, Raphael. He was really scared, said he had a huge debt there and that McCall had offered him a way out before sending the debt collectors, private high stakes poker game.” he shook his head, “… they found Raphael in an alleyway ten blocks away from the casino two days later.” he sighed.

Stephy frowned, “What state was he in? Do you remember? Did it look like someone had drained his blood or attacked him somehow?” he asked. Both Tim and Jessie shifted uncomfortably at how casually Stephy had said that.

Raul however nodded, “No… is the weirdest part. He had no marks on him, no injuries, the coroner said he was not poisoned or drugged or nothing… he just…” he shrugged, his eyes wide, “… dead!”

They all looked away, then Jessie spoke up. She was a small thing, about eight years old, and said, “… he wound up taking a trip on the Dark Ride…” she whispered.

All heads turned to her and Tim shook his head, “Jessie, c’mon, that’s just an old ghost story gramps tells…” he sighed, then turned to the others. "Its supposed to be some sort of ghost train or something. Appears only at night." he nodded.

Raul shook his head, “Is no story Timothy. The Dark Ride is real. My papa saw it with his own eyes when I was just a boy. Said it went in a tunnel that wasn’t there before…”

Stephy looked at him, “… does he know where it goes?” he asked.

Raul nodded, “Si… it goes to Xibalba… the land of the dead.”

Later that night, at a nearby bed and breakfast.

Nelen scratched at his chin, “So you think that this train might have something to do with McCall’s reasons for wanting to get Tex’s ranch?” he asked.

Stephy shrugged, “Its all we have so far. Apparently McCall’s customers are turning up dead somehow, yet the casino keeps going.” he nodded.

Nelen frowned, “Yeah… lemme see…” he took out his smartphone, bringing up the Wulfshead BBS, which had its own wiki. “Texas… trains… huh, well how about that. Its in here. Yeah, a phantom locomotive that appears at midnight, riding an eternal trip to nowhere. Doesn’t say if it does go to Xibalba though…” he nodded.

“Should we look into it Nelen?” asked Simoni, sitting on a nearby bed with Arja, both of them keeping their eyes on Sammi.

“I say its worth investigating.” commented the fae princeling. “As my newly christened sibling stated, it is truly our only lead.” he shrugged dramatically, shaking his head, “Personally I’m not exactly thrilled with the prospect of waiting to see what else gets thrown at us.”

Arja stared, then grumbled under her breath, “Dammit… he’s not wrong…” she muttered.

Nelen nodded, “Yeah, but… we can’t go in blind… kids, I’m going to try to get back to the Wulfshead and ask around. There’s a few of us in Texas I can get in touch with. The Sunshine Kid, Captain Fabulous, The Walker of the Wilds, we can figure out something…” he said, standing up.

“Nelen wait, I think… I think we should at least look into it!” nodded Stephy firmly.

Tex frowned, “Darlin'… I get it, but yer cousin is right. Headin’ inta a cave before ya know if it’s a rattler nest is a good way ta get bit.” he said, putting a hand on Stephy’s shoulder.

Simoni looked around, “Maybe… we could just check it out tonight? Make sure that its actually real?” she suggested. “Stephy and I can fly two people with us out to where it appears on our backs.” she nodded, “We look around, and if we see the train we come back, easy right?” she asked.

Tex opened his mouth, but Sammi’s hand darted infront of it, “Pledge. Remember? If Stephy goes so too must I.” he smirked, “Besides, this sounds devilishly entertaining…” he chuckled, striking a dramatic pose, “Fear not good friends! Prince Samuel shall be your sword and shield on your little adventure!”

Tex frowned and opened his mouth again, but Sammi cut him off once more. “One, I am a fae princeling old enough to be your grandfather at least with powerful ties to Arcadia. You are a young man with a length of sharped iron and a deck of cards you barely know how to use.” he said, “TWO, the pledge, again. If Stephy goes I am FORCED to go with him.”

Tex glared, but leaned in, “If ya’ll get any funny ideas…” he warned.

Sammi sighed and rolled his eyes, looking at the ceiling, “I know, I know… cut off my ears with your iron dagger… your mother made that abundantly clear before we came out to this oven of a state.”

Nelen glared around, but it was clear even if he told them not to that they’d do it anyways. “Fine… go ahead but reconnaissance ONLY.” he warned, “Not one step on that train.”

Arja nodded, “It’ll be fine Nelen, just the four of us…” she began.

“FIVE!” grinned Dawn, and with an inrushing of air she was suddenly an ordinary looking cat again, “I can just sit on someone’s lap.” she nodded.

… then from next to the bed came a voice, “Six.”

Natasha stood up, stretching, “I am vampyr, I can fly as well and it is very difficult for most to harm me… and if this Dark Ride truly does go to one of the realms of the underworld then someone like myself may prove most useful.” she smiled, showing her canines. “I will join them.”

Lupe sat up and wagged her tail at that, the werewolf still in her wolf form, but Natasha shook her head, “Lupe, you shall stay and guard Nelen. If they know that he aided the Smith family he may be attacked as well.”

Lupe whimpered at her, the vampire stroking her head, “I am sorry darling, but I cannot fly and carry you…” she nodded.

“Hey, that reminds me. Where’s Drusilla?” asked Stephy, looking around.

Nelen nodded, “Back in Jaipur, we decided one of us should stay behind incase Clan Fullmoon sent another attack team and she’s the strongest fighter we have right now.”

Simoni nodded, “Yeah, though she’s probably just drinking Rajesh’s bar dry, as well as every bar in the city.” she giggled.

Arja grinned, “Alright! Lets go see what this thing is, c’mon everyone!” she nodded, rushing downstairs as Simoni got up and followed, Stephy and Sammi following along with Dawn and Natasha bringing up the rear.

A few minutes later three shapes rose above the small town into the nights sky, heading north.

The town once had a name, it was long forgotten however.

It was built when a lucky prospector came across gold, creating a sort of miniature gold rush in the area, even getting a train station built. However, the gold dried up quickly and the town dried up soon after, people moving onto greener pastures.

The old train station still stood there, empty and silent, the glass from the windows having long since crumbled in the Texas heat… as five shapes walked towards it.

Natasha scanned the area, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t… sense anything odd.” she murmured.

Dawn gazed around as well, her eyes shining in the darkness. “Yeah… but… something is making my tail twitch. That’s… usually a sign of something, when my tail does the thing.” she warned.

Sammi strode into the station and tutted, “Hmph, this had better not have been a wild goose cha-EEK!” he jumped as a loud shrill whistle suddenly sounded.

There was something coming up the tracks, to a train station that had clearly not seen any patrons in quite some time.

“Its real…” whispered Stephy, taking a step back as the train drew nearer. It was a massive jet black engine, its cars the same black as well, lit with oil lamps that seemed to burn with a blue flame… and then Sammi shivered.

“Oh… oh wow, suddenly it feels like there’s people all around us. I can feel emotions everywhere! Regret, sorrow, loss, suffering… mnn…” he bit his lip, “… I could eat I suppose but now is really not the time…”

The train hissed to a stop, the doors sliding open. The inside was dark, as if it seemed to swallow the light.

Sammi looked at it, then glanced back, “… look, I know we said we wouldn’t, but this really is our only lead…” he nodded.

Simoni hesitated, “Something about it…” she muttered.

Arja blinked slowly, “Yeah… its like a sort of gravity… like its trying to pull…” she trailed off, and slowly, one by one, they found their feet carrying them in… and then the doors snapped shut, and they were plunged into darkness.

A moment later the train’s whistle blew and it began moving again.

At once the six knew they had made a serious error.

“OH SHIT!” gasped Stephy, “Guys we got on!” he stammered, looking around.

Arja blinked, “I… I dunno… I just, my legs just moved on their own! I couldn’t stop myself!” she exclamed.

Simoni looked around whimpering, a train was a bad place for her to fight whatever she called herself. Garuda or Fullmoon witch, she was at her best with open skies.

Dawn’s tail was a mass of puffed out fur, the Cheshire’s head darting back and forth, “Guuuuuuys? We’re not alooooooone…” she warned, and then the lights came on, and five of the six cried out in alarm.

Only Natasha remained calm, but she was a vampire. It was easy to keep her composure here. Being surrounded by the dead was normal for her.

Ghosts, that what they were. The spirits of the dead, seated calm as anything. Many were elderly men and women, still in their hospital gowns or bedclothes. A few were younger and seemed to have died under suspicious circumstances. A young woman had a bullet wound in her chest, while one had rope burns around their throat. A few hid their wrists, which seemed to be dripping something dark onto the floor of the train car, but whatever was dripping faded before it landed.

“They’re all dead. Raul was right…” whispered Stephy, “This really is a train to the world of the dead! Guys we gotta get off here fast!” he shouted.

Simoni nodded, “Yeah, the Underworld is dangerous for anyone who’s still alive. We don’t belong there…” she whined.

Arja ran to the train door, shifting into her monkey form, and kicking it hard, then gripping the handle and pulling with all her Vanara might! “SHIT! Its… its locked or something!” she growled, “Everyone get back! Especially the fae and Natasha!” she shouted, standing back as they all ran further down the compartment.

Arja took a deep breath, and then her jaw disdended like a snake’s and a massive gout of flame erupted from between her teeth! She sustained it for a full half minute, lighting up the compartment like the sun itself!

The door wasn’t even singed.

“… seriously?!” she stared at the door, “This is bad… I’ve used that to fry tigers before!”

Natasha looked around, “… we are slowing…” she warned, and then suddenly the group all stumbled save for her.

Simoni coughed, “What… does the air feel heavier to you guys?” she asked.

Dawn shook her head a bit, “I dunno… I feel kinda weird…” she mrowled, teleporting up onto Simoni’s shoulders.

Sammi shook his head, rubbing his temples, “I… feel a chill? That shouldn’t be possible, I am a chill! I am Winter incarnate!” he frowned.

Then finally, the train slowed to a stop, and with a hiss the doors opened…

Natasha strode to the exit. “Are you coming?” she asked.

The other five hesitated, then nodded, filing out after her. Slowly, the ghosts began to rise and exit the train as well.

A massive cavern greeted them. A subterranean train station with a huge clock hanging from the ceiling, with literal skeleton arms for arms. All around them ghostly flames flickered in skull like lanterns, and all around them their fellow passengers filed away into the caverns ahead.

“It really is Xibalba…” whispered Stephy, “Well… maybe not specifically Xibalba… but the Underworld…”

Arja looked around, “… why are they here, shouldn’t they be rejoining the cycle?” she asked, looking confused.

Natasha looked around, then saw a sign hanging nearby like a train schedule. The vampire pursed her lips, then went over to inspect it curiously.

Simoni shrugged, “Nelen has been looking into the nature of death for years now and even he’s totally at a loss Arja. But yeah… this… wait…” she stared into the crowd. One of the ghosts wasn’t going away from them.

Dawn hissed, her back arching. “Someone’s coming!” she warned.

The group readied themselves, but the newcomer let out a soft rattling chuckle.

"Calm yerself wee ‘uns… ah mean ye no harm…" came the voice of an elderly woman. They didn’t really hear it with their ears, it seemed to resonate in their bones.

Simoni glanced around at the others, then said, “Uh… sorry, who are you?” she asked, the woman drawing nearer.

She was dead, they could all see she was just as much a specter as the others. She wore a long green dress with a cloak of black feathers pulled over her, a circlet with a Celtic knot design resting on her head. She held a gnarled rowan staff in her hand, using it to walk.

"Tsk… ye dunnae know? That boy really tore me page outta th’ family history eh?" she sighed. "Me own great grandchildren dunnae recognize me…"

Stephy paused at her words, “… great grand… wait…” he stared, “You’re…”

She smiled and nodded, "Aye, that I am." her voice echoed as she lifted her arm, and stood straighter, showing a gaping sword wound in her middle. "Eliza Fullmoon, former Matriarch o’ Clan Fullmoon… ‘n Franklin’s mum… much to me shame."

Arja stared, “That wound… the men of your Clan use swords…” she looked at the ghost’s face.

Eliza nodded, "Aye ye we monkey… Franklin did this. Ran me through afore he usurped control o’ th’ Clan, but I got him back…" she smirked widely at her. "‘n you two are how…" she nodded, pointing to Arja and Simoni.

Simoni blinked, pointing to herself and looking at Arja, “Sorry… us?” she asked.

Eliza nodded, then frowned, "Would that I not have ta do it this way… but in th’ world o’ th’ living I be nae more than a voice on th’ wind…" she shook her head, "It has ta fall ta ye gels ‘n yer friends."

Arja frowned, “Sorry, WHAT does?” she asked, “Speak plainly!”

Eliza nodded, "Aye aye… when I was bleedin’ out on th’ floor infront of ol’ Franklin th’ Maven spoke through me. Told the little shit ‘is future. ‘When a daughter o’ Clan Fullmoon rejoins her cousins in th’ East, there will come a reckonin’. Its gluttony will be his undoin’, the legacy of Franklin Fullmoon will be nae more, burnt ta ash ‘n scattered on th’ wind.’ she nodded, "‘n you two lasses are th’ key."

Arja and Simoni stared, feeling the other’s eyes on them. Finally, Simoni spoke, “… that’s why…” she whispered, then she looked angry! “THAT’S WHY HE’S TRYING TO KILL ME?!” she shouted, “Because you told him that Arja and I would come after him and overthrow the leader of Clan Fullmoon?!”

Arja stared at the spectral woman, her face showing nothing but shock. This woman was the reason Franklin was so mad to kill Simoni, why he sent kill teams to Jaipur, why he bribed the Rahu’s Fangs gangsters… all because of this?!

Eliza glanced between them, "Ye doubt it. I cannae blame ye, but tis as true as ye breathe ‘n I don’t." she nodded firmly, then pointed to Simoni, "A daughter o’ Clan Fullmoon has rejoined her cousins in th’ east… tis no co-incidence yer feathers turned green gel." she nodded, then chuckled, "The Maven used ta get around…"

Simoni blushed as Arja grinned, “HAH! I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason!” she smirked, then paused, “That’s still freaking insane lady. Your son is trying to kill us and has banned your whole family from using magic…” she frowned at Eliza.

Eliza nodded, "Aye, and that’s th’ big part… y’see…" she began, "I saw you two facin’ down Franklin on th’ battlements o’ Castle Fullmoon, ‘n it was definitely both o’ ye. Somehow you two are gonna overthrow th’ usurper. The thing is…" she explained, then paused suddenly and looked behind her.

A voice was coming up one of the tunnels, singling a janky arrhythmic tune.

“Dollies dollies dollies… I get my jollies from breakin’ dollies…” it giggled.

Dawn’s eyes went huge, her tail floofing, “No way…” she whispered.

A man walked into view, with long gray hair and a thin almost skeletal form, twirling a large sharp needle in his fingers. “Dollies dollies…” he sang to himself, then paused as he saw the group, “… dollies…” he giggled, grinning wider. “Well well well… seems today is my lucky day!” he laughed. He was no ghost either, this man was still alive!

Dawn hissed, shrinking back behind Simoni. “No freaking way! I saw you die! A freaking DROOD got you! You don’t come back if one of them gets you!”

Simoni and Stephy looked at Dawn, “WHAT?!” the shouted, then looked back at the newcomer.

“You saw a Drood get… oh no no… that’s not…” whispered Simoni, taking a step back. Nelen had told them of his encounter with one of the infamous Droods.

Dawn hissed, “Yeah, Patrick Sampson… Pale, the Sin-Eater… DON’T HOLD BACK GUYS! THIS ONE IS A REAL MONSTER!”  she yowled.

They didn’t need more than that, Arja shapeshifted as Sammi held his hand up, conjuring a large ice spear. Stephy and Simoni whistled sharply, the wind swirling around them…

Then suddenly Stephy and Simoni coughed and stumbled, their heads pounding.

Sammi frowned, sweat beading on his head as his icicle began to slowly melt.

Even Arja seemed to be having trouble, the monkey girl’s legs shaking, “W-what… why can’t we…” she gasped.

Eliza looked back, "Ye cannae fight here! Th’ Underworld air is poison fer th’ living!" she shouted, "Get back on th’ bloody train ‘n flee! I’ll hold ‘im back!"

The group stumbled backwards towards the train as Eliza flexed her arms, "I may be dead… but I’m still a Matriarch o' Clan Fullmoon!" she snarled as Pale’s form swelled, the sin eater taking on the same monstrous aspect that he had when he fought Nelen in London!

“Out of my way old bitch! I. WANNA. PLAY!” he snarled, rushing forward as Eliza’s arms shot forward! A second later the air was full of spectral ravens, half skeletal most of them, diving towards Pale!

Inside the train the five living members of the group collapsed into the chairs, Simoni gasping for breath. “I… I can’t…” she managed, coughing. Even Dawn was looking ill, the feline laying across her lap as her chest rose and fell.

Sammi took a deep breath, then let out a long hacking cough. “Dammit, get this bloody train moving…” he grumbled… then smirked as he felt it lurch into motion, “Well… ask and… ye shall receive…” he chuckled as it began to roll out of the station.

A few moments later Pale ripped the roof off the car.

As the train began to pull out into the caverns Pale grinned down at them, his face looking like a demented jack-o-lantern as he clung to the roof of the car with spider-like limbs, the sin-eater's body having stretched like some insane caricature of a human and stick bug. “Dooooooolliiiiiieeees…” he giggled. He sported wounds from Eliza’s attack, but clearly he had managed to evade her.

Arja stumbled to her feet, then tried to conjure a flame, but only managed a small spark that soon burnt out… “Dammit… this is bad…” she snarled, sweat rolling down her face as Pale reached in. Suddenly one of the shadows on the wall detached and slashed at his wrist! The sin-eater hissed angrily and pulled back as Natasha stood in the center of the train car.

“Begone, monster.” she warned, “The living cannot fight in the depths of the Underworld… but I am not alive!” she hissed, her eyes glowing red as she bared her fangs.

Pale snarled, “UGLY DOLLY! I DON’T WANNA PLAY WITH YOU!” he shouted, some sort of white milky substance leaking from his fangs and shaping itself into a storm of needle-like objects, the sin eater pointing them down at the group, then letting fly!

Natasha flexed her hand, and the shadows under the tables flowed together and shot upwards, blocking the rain of metal as easily as an umbrella blocked rain. “Mortals…” she tsked, “You gain a tiny bit of power and suddenly think yourselves invincible. I have been vampyr since before the Americas were colonized little necromancer…” she snarled. “What did you do to Eliza?”

Pale giggled, “The old rotten dolly?” he giggled, “NEEDLES! ALL OVER!” he cackled as Simoni and Stephy gasped weakly.

Natasha smirked, “Oh? That is bad... for you. I know of the Underworld and its guardians little necromancer, and I saw the rules posted when we arrived…” she grinned, and it was not a nice grin, “… the living shall not harm the ghosts of the Station of Lost Souls…” she quoted.

The others just looked confused but Pale’s eyes widened, “… no…” he whispered, then suddenly a chain lashed out and wrapped firmly around his throat, his body shrinking back down into his human form as he struggled against it. “NO NO NO!” he screamed.

Standing at the end of the car was a man in a conductor’s uniform, carrying a lantern with a pale blue flickering flame, his other hand holding the chain, which had a watch on the end. His face was a skull devoid of any skin or musculature at all, he loomed over the others, looking bigger than he should be, and something about him seemed horribly wrong. This thing was no ghost, it had never been alive in the first place!

“Passenger Patrick Sampson.” it spoke, the words ringing in their ears. “You have violated the rules of the train. Come with me.” it nodded, the door opening behind it as he gave the chain a hard tug. Pale flew screaming through the air, landing roughly on the floor past Natasha as he glared and clawed at the carpet as the chain was reeled in, the conductor grabbing him and shoving him through the door.

“NOOOO! NOT THAT! LET ME GO! LET ME GOOOOO!” he screamed, trying to hold onto the doorframe.

“Passengers who do not heed the rules of the train will be punished.” it said impassively as several ghostly hands reached out of the darkness from the next compartment, grabbing his wrists and head. Pale let out one last cry, then was suddenly pulled backwards into the depths of the train as the door slammed shut!

The monstrous conductor turned to the others and tapped his hat brim, “We will be arriving in the Living Realm shortly. Please observe the rules of the train or you will meet a similar fate.” he warned, opening the carriage door once more, walking through, and closing it again.

They all stared, even Sammi seemed shocked by that. “… what…” asked Arja weakly.

“Kerberos. The guardians of the Underworld. Violate the rules, and they come for you.” she tutted, shaking her head. “I did some work with a necromancer under Prince Micahel during the eighteenth century. We discovered many interesting things about the realms of the dead.” she smirked, “You would think one such as him would know better…” she smirked.

Later, back in the Realm of the Living

Slowly, the train pulled into the station and the group disembarked, five of the six collapsing in a heap.

Simoni gulped down the fresh air of the living realm, “Oh gods I thought we were really going to die down there…” she gasped.

Arja nodded, “Yeah… we didn’t even find anything out about that McCall guy though…” she grumbled, wiping her forehead. She ached all over.

Stephy held up a finger from where he lay, “… but… we did find THAT out… at least now we know why grandpa is so hell-bent on killing Simoni…” he muttered.

Simoni frowned, “Yeah… if that really was a prophecy from Morrigan to her though… then… it had to be accurate… but, it sounded like there was more… should we try to go back and hear the rest?” she asked.

The six of them thought… for about ten seconds.

“No.” said Arja.

“No way.” commented Simoni.

“I feel like I’m gonna puke a hairball…” whined Dawn.

“Lovely mental image there, thank you for that…” grumbled Sammi.

Stephy lay there face up, his chest heaving as he swallowed down clean air, “… we should head back.” he managed.

“I would love to Stephy… but I can’t move.” muttered Simoni.

“I admit I am rather spent myself… very unpleasant place that…” wheezed Sammi.

Arja grumbled, fishing out her phone, then dialing Nelen’s number and putting it on Speaker. “… Nelen… hey… um… can you come pick us up? We… kinda ran into someone you know.” she managed, “Sorry, tired… gonna hang up and snooze now.” she muttered, then ended the call. Within a few minutes everyone living was unconscious.

Natasha looked them over, licking her lips, then squatted down and gently examined Simoni’s throat, then looked at Arja and thought better of it. “I shall wait until we return to town.” she nodded, carefully brushing Simoni’s hair back into place, then standing in the shadows as she watched for the headlights from Nelen’s car.

After a while, a mournful wail came across the deserted train station on the wind, the cry of someone who broke rules many many times over, and finally received his just desserts…

Next Story

Previous Story

[eyesfixedonthesun22]

Ruin Me

Summary: How do you get your Captain’s attention? Act up..like the little brat that you are. Pairing: Steve x Female Reader Warning(s): 100% pure, grade A smut with minimal plot, 18+, mild degradation, dom!Steve, butt stuff ;) Word Count: 2,259 Beta Reader: My darling honey bun, @supersoldiersruined-me Notes: This is my entry to @moonbeambucky’s 5K writing challenge. My prompt was “ruin me” and it’s bolded. Thank you so much for hosting this, Tara!

The two of you had danced around these emotions and lust filled looks long enough to annoy nearly everyone on the team. Now that you’re a whining needy mess, taken apart underneeth the heft of his body, you could kill yourself for waiting so long. Who would have thought it was an offhand comment and a spilled bit of water that broke the camel's back?

Steve had flung you over his shoulder in near rage and stalked away from the party. He hadn’t gone down to the residential floors in the tower, instead choosing the small pool shed. It was only a handful of paces away, but by far the most private thing on the rooftop deck. You’d begged him to reconsider. You knew damn well the walls were thin and everyone could hear. All worries flew out the window sometime after the second pulsing orgasm Steve pulled from your core; his lips buried deep in your dampness.

He flips you over, back arched against his unyielding chest. The warmth of his skin against your back adds to the heated fire dancing across your skin. Your chest is pressed against the door of the shed. If you crane your neck, you can see the rest of your teammates gathered around the pool.

Steve presses and kneads the flesh of your ass with each grind of his hips. You’re livid he’s got you soaked and doe-legged and he hasn’t taken off a scrap of clothing. You’re well past coherent sentences. You attempt to turn to undo his swim shorts but he presses you roughly back against the door, caging you in with his arms around you. The slap he delivers to the exposed skin stings. You’re certain the mark will last well into tomorrow.

“You have been such a goddamn brat for weeks now,” he huffed before spanking the other cheek so they both burn equally.

You truly had.

Sitting in Steve's lap during movie nights while squirming just the right amount until you felt his cock twitch and grow below you; then you went off to your room chipper as can be. The last mission you’d been on, you had squeezed yourself into the same broom closet as your Captain. Your hand wandered south, tracing the lines of his stealth suit while he tried to do his reconnaissance. Two days ago in the gym, you’d accidentally gotten cleaned up in the men's locker room. Steve walked out of the shower to you slathering yourself in lotion with your legs spread obscenely wide.

He’d tried to hold out; knowing full well he, as your Captain and you the subordinate, shouldn’t consider a tenth of the filth which was a constant scroll line in his head. You couldn’t find it in you to give a fuck. Worst case scenario you got to see Steve blushing and flustered. Best case- he’d crack and show you the side he’d only shown glimpses of.

You knew he was rough and dominant in bed. A couple drinking games with Asgardian mead had Natasha and you pressing him for answers. That night he let slip he’s not interested in anyone from the team for professional reasons. But he was struggling to find someone who could handle his unorthodox needs in bed.

“Being dominant is fun when you know all you’ll leave is bruises instead of broken arms”. he’d said.

With your arms pinned in an uncomfortable angle behind your back you now understood why. If it wasn’t for your similarly reinforced anatomy and superstrength, Steve would have already split you in half. It was thrilling to know he probably still could despite your enhanced abilities.

Tonight had gone similar to so many other team get togethers. Joking, teasing, food and drinks. Things had taken a turn when Sam had mentioned he had seen on the news there was an Avengers themed wet t-shirt contest to be held this weekend.

“Yeah, legal asked me if I had any interest in shutting it down. But I figured it’s a public service...in its own way.” Tony chimed in, pairing his words with his signature eyebrow waggle.

“You’re disgusting.” Natasha joked.

“Thoughts, Cap?” Sam prompted. “The girl who’s wearing your t-shirt looks like she could easily take home the prize. If you know what I mean.”

“What’s a wet t-shirt contest?”

Sam and Tony quickly explained the concept. Steve had still looked moderately perplexed. “I still don't get the objective.”

“Here Stevie. It’s like this” You grabbed a pitcher of ice water from the picnic table. “Pretend I’m a contestant.”

You dump the ice cold water across your white shirt in slow, chilling rivulets. You can feel your nipples pebbling from how brazen you were being. The lack of a bra certainly didn’t help the matter. The entire pitcher of water had reduced your top to a thin, transparent, gauze-like  imitation of the garment. Each swell and curve of your skin below was on display to your Captain and teammates.

“Would you vote for me?” You brave a glance up to his face, eyelids fluttering. His eyes are hard and cold. His jaw is set and ticks with each passing second. You lay on another thick layer of sweetness. “Does this turn you on enough for me to win?”

Someone in the background whistles low. Steve’s chest heaves with a calculated deep breath.

“Maybe I’ll ask Sam and Bucky what they think.”

Before you can act, Steve had thrown you over his shoulder. He set you down on the floor of the pool shed roughly.

“What the hell was that?”

You contemplate the truth but decide to keep up the game. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Captain. Just a bit of fun.”

The sound that erupts from his chest would be closer to an animalistic growl than any human sound. He backs you up against the small sink in the shed. His large hand cups you between your legs.

“Just a bit of fun?” He mocks. “So if I check right now, you wouldn’t be wet?”

It’s as much of an exciting promise as it is him asking for your consent.

“Why don’t you get down there and see for yourself.”

He’d pulled the first orgasm from you with his thick fingers and the other two with his mouth latched onto your core. Had anyone walked in, they would have seen your legs spread wide and Steve’s golden locks nestled in the middle, lapping you up like a man possessed.

You’d thought that would be the end of it. Steve had clearly proven his point. You’d been a teasing brat and he’d thoroughly punished you with each shuttering release gushing against his mouth. But he was far from done with you. Pressed against the door, your muscles strain. If he hadn’t been holding you up and bracing your arms you’re certain you’d fall to the floor.

“Have you learned your lesson, little one?

Words fail you. All you can manage are pathetic whimpers while he ghosts his lips along your neck. He nudges your legs apart roughly with a kick from his feet.

“Or should I help the message sink in? That is, if you can handle it?”

Something jogs in your brain. His question was one to which an answer was mandatory if this is to proceed further. Even when he’s taking you apart in such a rough, sensual way he finds a way to be a gentleman and check in with you.

“Ruin me, Captain.”

You’re surprised at the clarity in your words but it's nevertheless exactly what Steve needed to hear. He rips his bottoms off and runs his length against your wetness. Your bodies are nestled like spoons; curves meeting curves while he slides and ruts against your sensitive slick.

The buildup of months of teasing and foreplay has you drenched. You hear the sounds of your wet skin against his. It should be embarrassing. What little dignity you had has been thrown out the window. You never wanted this feeling to stop.

Steve’s drenched his cock in your wetness and stops. A pathetic whimper bubbles up from your throat but is choked off by a press of his cockhead against your opening. It’s not where you expect it to be. He stills.

“You thought your wet tits were what pushed me over the edge, huh? Little did you know, your Captain has always been more of an ass man.”

Your core clenches at the thought. It feels left out knowing what he’s asking. Instead answering him directly, you push your hips back against his ever so slightly. The soft head of his cock slips into your tight ring.

“You stretch me so good, Captain.” You attempt to push back further but his strong hands prevent you.

“You like feeling my cock in your tight asshole; knowing our friends are just outside this door?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“I thought so. You seem to be enjoying this a bit too much for someone who was being a little brat.” You mentally slap yourself. “I’m not so sure you deserve this.”

Without warning, his fingers are on your core again. He draws slow lazy circles around your clit never touching you exactly where you need. The overstimulation from his previous actions have you ringing like a tuning fork. Every so often, the circles stop and he swipes up the center of your lips; giving your your clit the friction it needs. Your core flutters and clenches and his cock slips a tiny bit further into you.

That’s how he tortures you. You aren’t sure how long it’s been since your wet t-shirt ploy. Minutes or hours. It doesn’t matter. The only thing you can think about is the pulsing need coming from your cunt and the dizzyingly slow stretch of Steve’s cock in your ass.

Bit by bit he enters your. His level of control is impressive and infuriating. One hand plays in your wetness with expertise and the other doing it’s job of locking your hips into place. You’re his. Completely.

“Steve,” you pant. It’s the only word that’s broken through the chorus of curses and pleads. “Steve!”

The second one has more urgency. He’s edged you so painfully close to your release only to move his hands off your sensitive clit and back to your surrounding wetness. This time though, his fingers press heavier pressure against the nub.

“Are you sorry?”

“Yes Steve!”

You gulp air but the moaning has your throat parched.

“I’m sorry! I need to cum.”

“Sorry for what?”

He growls the words into the shell of your ear. If it wasn’t shameful enough that you’re putty in his hands simply with his fingers and his stiff cock only halfway in your ass, the fact he’s forcing you to speak now was too much.

“You know why.” The pads of his fingers press harder against you.

“Say it.”

You’ve never heard his voice this low. A fresh gush of wetness floods his fingers.

“Say it now. Or I’ll walk out of here; leaving you gaping and needy.”

“I’m sorry for being a tease.”

“You must have forgotten who you’re talking to, little one,” he tutts.

His fingers dig into the flesh of your hips. You can feel the smirk of his lips against your skin.

He’s pushing your resolve further than you thought possible.

“I’m sorry for being a tease, Captain.”

“There you go, little one.” With a kiss far to gentle for the mood, he praises you. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”

You whimper and twitch as his hand still works it’s unyielding rhythm against you. His cock stands in stark contrast as it’s never made a full thrust inside you.

“Let’s get you to cum, little one.”

He kisses your neck once and presses two of his thick digits into your cunt. The hand on your hips pulls you flush to him and seats the full length of him inside you. The jump from being teased to long to being fully filled nearly has your legs give out.

“How does it feel to be so full, little one? You like my cock inside you?”

They’re questions he can’t possibly expect you to answer unless it’s with moans. His fingers massage steady pressure against the spot you need him most inside you. He’s still unmoving inside your ass. His voice is strained and his breathing seems to quicken. Both of your holes flutter and clench around him.

“Cum, sweetheart. I wanna feel you.”

A damn breaks inside you and tingles erupt across your skin. Warmth radiates from your core outwards as your orgams rocks through you with an intensity you couldn’t have expected. When the first wave calms, you feel Steve’s warmth flood you from behind. The aftershocks of your release have you twitch and clench around him. He’s filled you so deeply there’s nowhere for it to go. It drips like honey down your thighs.

It’s a long while before either of you move. When you’re disentangled, he turns you to face him. You’re ready for him to brush this away. After all, you know he’s your superior officer. He places a palm on each side of your face. The gentle press of his lips on your forehead first, then your nose, and finally your lips has you surprised.

“For the record, I love it when you’re a brat.” You smile and meet his lips once more, savoring the taste of him.

“Maybe I’ll act up again sometime.”

“I’d like that, sweetheart.”

[colbybrocksmolder]

Blue - Colby Brock x Reader - Part 2/3

Part 1...

*** end of last chapter ***

“How’s it going so far?” Jake quietly asked, sitting on the coffee table facing Colby. 

“Terrifyingly easy.” Colby answered, looking down and finding Ivy fast asleep. 

“Well that’s a good thing, right?”, Jake said. “Y/n seems to fit right in. Her and Tara are bonding over SpongeBob memes as we speak.” 

“That’s the terrifying part.” Colby said, gently brushing Ivy’s hair out of her face. “They’re here for a month. They’ve only been here for like 7 hours and I’m already sad that they’re going to leave.” 

Jake watched Colby gazing down at the tiny sleeping figure in his arms. “I don’t know, brother. You’re usually a loner that likes his space. You might be happy when you’ve got your apartment back”, Jake laughed. 

Colby just sighed. *what the fuck am I getting myself into?* he thought to himself. 

*** start of new chapter ***

“All done!” Tara said, her and Y/n walking out of the spare room.

“I knew she was going to crash soon.” Y/n laughed, seeing Ivy once again asleep on Colby.

“This girl has endless energy.” Colby laughed, holding her tight against him while he sat up, making room for the girls on the couch.

“I told you. Having a kid is a lot of work.” Y/n replied, taking a seat next to Colby.

“Mike is the one that ran around playing tag with her for over an hour”, he laughed. “I got the easy job. We took naps and watched movies.”

“Well I, for one, am exhausted.” Y/n said, reaching to grab Ivy. “Us two are going to head to bed.”

Colby shifted Ivy from his arms to Y/n’s. “If you guys need anything at all, come get me. I don’t even care if I’m asleep.”

“He’s a deep sleeper.” Tara laughed. “Make sure you bring something to hit him with if you need to wake him up.”

Colby nodded, “She’s not wrong.”

“I think we have everything we need”, Y/n laughed. She turned to Colby. “Thank you again for making this so easy. All of you guys have gone out of your way to make us feel welcome.”

“You ARE welcome, Y/n. Both of you.” He could see her getting choked up again. “I’m going to walk these two out while you two get settled in your room.”

“It was so nice meeting you guys.” Y/n said, waving to Tara and Jake as she made her way to her bedroom.

“Same. I’m looking forward to hanging out again.” Tara replied while Jake waved.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Colby said, walking them to the door so he could lock it after they left. Once the door was locked, Colby walked the apartment making sure everything was turned off or put away. He hesitated at the spare bedroom door before lightly knocking.

“Come in.” Y/n called, throwing her hair up in a messy bun as Colby opened the door.

“Hey, I just wanted to check in one more time.” He said, standing in the doorway.

She looked over at him. “I’m sorry I got emotional a minute ago.” y/n apologized, looking away from Colby. “I’m exhausted and the trip was stressful….” She rambled.

Colby walked towards y/n, interrupting her with a hand on her shoulder. “Y/n. While I have no doubt that road tripping with an almost 3-year-old is stressful…I know there’s something else bugging you”, he said, pulling her into a tight hug. “I don’t know if something happened or if maybe someONE made you feel like you don’t deserve to be treated well, but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m literally only a room away.”

Y/n nodded, her face hidden against Colby. “I’m just…I’m realizing a lot being around you guys for even just a short time.”

“I mean, we ARE kind of awesome.” Colby teased, trying to break the tension. He smiled hearing her laugh. “Get some sleep. You’ve got a few more people to meet tomorrow.”  

Colby woke up the next morning to loads of noise coming from his living room. When he turned over and checked his phone he realized why. It was almost 1pm. “Oh fuck.” He croaked out, slipping a clean hoodie on before noticing something on his bedside table. There was a piece of computer paper with a crayon drawing on it. A stick figure in blue and a heart in red.

He walked out to the living room with the drawing in his hand. “Good morning, sleepy head.” Mike teased him, “Did my baby sleep well?”

“I slept like a rock, sweet cheeks”, Colby replied, blowing Mike a kiss.

Mike moved to “catch” the kiss Colby blew him before turning and pretending to wipe it all over Sam’s face.

“Noooo. No!” Sam dramatically wiped his hands on his face.

Ivy was cracking up watching the whole exchange. “Iiiiivyyyy” Colby drew out her name, holding up the drawing he had found by his bed. “Is this mine?” he asked, squatting down next to where she was coloring at the coffee table.

She looked up at him, nodding yes. “Thank you, sweetheart. I’m going to hang it up over here.” He took the drawing and hung it on his fridge. “Why didn’t anyone wake me up?” Colby asked, turning back to the room.

“I was going to when Ivy went to put the drawing in your room, but she shushed me and pointed towards the door.” Jake laughed, “I wasn’t going to argue with her.”

Colby sat cross legged on the floor by the coffee table, pulling the little girl into his lap so she sat a little higher. “You can always wake me up, Ivy.” He told her, watching her draw.

“No get in trouble.” She mumbled, reaching for another crayon.

“I promise you’ll never get in trouble for waking me up.” He said, kissing the top of her head. “Where are the girls?”

“They’re picking up lunch. Kevin and some of the others are going to head over here soon, too.” Mike answered.

The next few days were a crazy hectic blur. Y/n and Mike had shared some of their half-written songs and lyric ideas with each other to get their creative juices flowing. Kat and Y/n filmed a “Singing on street corners” video and before they even posted their video, clips of them had practically gone viral. Each of the guys and a few of the girls all filmed group videos. Y/n was in most of them and Ivy was in a few too. And after an already long day, Colby still needed to film his video.

“uuuughh”, Colby groaned, staring blankly at the wall.

“You good?” Sam asked, his laptop out with research for their next series location on the screen.

“I have to film my video tonight and I have no idea what to film.” Colby replied.

“Film something that always bangs.” Sam said. “Let’s do a truth or strip.”

“Ahem.” Colby cleared his throat, pointing towards the little girl sleeping on the couch cushion next to him.

“Yeaaaaaah, let’s not.” Sam laughed. “Wait, do it the way Kat and I did! We put something on every time we didn’t want to answer a question.”

“Could do.” Colby said, thinking it over. “Just no swearing or sexual stuff.”

“Who would have thought Colby Brock would turn his channel PG.” Sam teased, going to set up the camera. “Go grab a bunch of hoodies and stuff. I’ll start writing down questions.”

“Aight, I’ll be back.” Colby replied. He stopped by the spare room to see if Y/n would ask the questions for the video.

“Of course.” y/n replied.

So far, the video was pretty funny. Even with keeping it fairly cleaner than Sam and Colby’s usual content. “Next question. Have either of you ever skinny dipped?” Y/n asked.

Sam and Colby looked at each other, Sam reaching out and grabbing another sweater.

“Brother, putting on another shirt is basically just saying yes.” Colby laughed, blushing a bit, “So yes. I have gone skinny dipping.”

“I think everyone should at least once.” Y/n added, saying “Next question” before either of the boys could say anything back. “Who are your YouTube crushes?”

“Katrina Stuart”, Sam smirked into the camera.

“Not fair.” Colby shoved Sam.

“I mean, Kat’s hot. I get it.” Y/n pointed out.

“Don’t I know it”, Sam made kissy faces at the camera.

“I’m keeping that whole thing in the video” Colby laughed. “Ignore me while I throw on ANOTHER friggen hoodie.”

“You cold?” they heard Ivy ask. She had woken up sometime during the last question. Colby finally popped his head through the hoodie and he made a face a her. She burst out in giggles.

“Are you laughing at me?” Colby asked, slowly creeping towards the little girl.

Sam stood up, taking the camera off the tripod. “I think she was.” He added.

“Nooooo” she squealed, backing up off of the couch.

“I think you were.” Colby said, wiggling his fingers towards her like he was going to tickle her.

She ran around the coffee table, uncontrollably laughing before trying to hide behind y/n’s legs.

“Oh no you don’t”, Colby crouched down on the other side of y/n, reaching around her legs and tickling Ivy.

“Hey, how did I get in the middle of this?” Y/n laughed.

“Moooom”, Ivy squealed between fits of laughter.

“Run Ivy!” Y/n pushed Colby off balance, so he fell back on his butt. The girl went to hide on the side of the couch.

“Not fair! I can barely move in all these hoodies!” Colby laughed laying on his back, pretending like he couldn’t get up. “Ivy, come help me!”

The girl peeked around the side of the couch. “I don’t know if I’d trust him.” Sam said, still filming the whole thing.

“I can’t get up!” Colby continued.

Ivy started slowly walking towards Colby, leaning over to see what he was doing. Colby laid there with his eyes closed not moving an inch. “Blue?” Ivy said, reaching down to poke him.

“Got you!” Colby half shouted, sitting up and pulling Ivy to his lap. He tickled her again, laughing quite a bit himself.

“You fibbed” she squealed out between laughs.

Colby chuckled and stopped tickling her. “I’m sorry”, he said, pulling her into a hug. He looked up at Sam and remembered they had been filming a video. “I think that’s all we’re going to get done for this one, guys” Colby laughed, addressing his audience. “Make sure to like and subscribe. Hit up all my social media pages. I’ll make sure to link Y/n and Sam down below so make sure you check them out too.” Colby looked down at Ivy. “Wave bye to the camera, Ivy”

“Byyyye” she waved, laughing when Colby tickled her again.

“Alright, guys. See you next week!” Colby waved to the camera.

“I am sweating to death” Sam said, starting to take the hoodies off.

“You think you’re sweating? I’ve got on twice as many, brother.” Colby whined, struggling to get them off of himself. “I’m going to shower and edit, so I probably won’t see you guys again tonight”, he said, looking up at Y/n.

“I have to be at Mike’s early tomorrow anyways” Y/n replied, looking at the time.

“You look nervous”, Colby chuckled, shedding the last of the hoodies.

“It’s always nerve-wracking working with someone new. I’m equal parts excited and nervous.” She explained.

“You’re going to do great.” Colby said, standing up and looking at her fondly. “Seriously. You write amazing music and your voice…come on. Your voice is killer.”

Y/n blushed. “Thank you. I think I needed that.” She said, turning to head to her bedroom. “Come on, Ivy!”

Ivy ran to Colby, reaching up for him to pick her up. “You have to get to bed, kiddo.” He said, picking her up.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Night, blue.”

Colby couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Goodnight, sweetheart”, he replied, putting her down so she could head to her mom. He was up editing for a few hours and when he checked the living room, all of the lights were off. He made sure the front door was locked and headed to bed.

“Ivy, you need to eat your breakfast so we can start our day.” Y/n quietly told her daughter for the 3rd time. Ivy laid her head down on the coffee table with her hand to her other cheek. “Aww, baby. Your teeth?” Y/n realized why her daughter had woken up in a mood.

Ivy nodded as a few tears fell down her cheeks. Y/n grabbed her ice pack and picked ivy up, cradling her in her arms with the ice pack against her cheek.

Colby was up the second he heard Ivy crying. He shot out of bed and hurried into the living room in just his sweatpants ready to tackle whatever made that little girl cry. “What’s going on?” he said, looking around until he saw the two girls on the couch. “What happened?” he asked, kneeling down in front of them.

“Nothing happened. I’m sorry she woke you up.” Y/n apologized, “She’s got a few more baby teeth coming in.”

“Stop apologizing”, Colby said, his voice still thick with sleep. He grabbed Ivy’s hand “I’m sorry you’re hurting.” Looking up at Y/n he asked, “Is there any medicine we can give her to help?”

“Yeah, actually. It’s in my room.” She answered, going to stand up.

“Here.” Colby said, putting his arms out for Ivy to come to him. “Why don’t you go grab the medicine and I’ll take this one.”

Ivy clung on to Colby, tucking her face in his neck. “Oooo your cheek is cold”, Colby laughed. “Do you want the ice?” he asked her, feeling her shake her head no.

“Here you go, baby.” Y/n walked into the kitchen to grab a spoon. “This will help you.” Ivy lifted her head to take her medicine and quickly tucked her face back in Colby’s neck. “This stuff always makes her so sleepy.”

“You’ll feel better soon.” Colby said, lightly bouncing her in his arms.

“I’ll go grab her a comfy outfit so she can sleep in her car-seat.” Y/n said, turning to head to her room.

“Y/n, you can just leave her here”, Colby suggested, continuing to bounce the little girl in his arms.

“I’m going to be gone all day, though.” Y/n replied, putting her hand on Ivy’s back.

“So? We can go back to bed for a while, I’ll make sure she gets something to eat in a little bit, and you won’t be stressing about her on your first writing day with Mike.” Colby reassured her.

Y/n thought about it. “Maybe I can come home for lunch.” She said, “I’d feel bad if you had to watch her all day.”

“Y/n, I don’t HAVE to do anything. I’m volunteering. And if you install her car-seat in my car, I can bring her to visit you guys if she’s feeling better when she wakes up.” He offered.

Y/n took in the scene in front of her. Colby was standing there shirtless, gently bouncing her daughter, rubbing soothing circles into her back. His hair was a mess and his eyes were closed as he mumbled little ‘you’re okays’ to Ivy. *I could get used to this* she thought to herself, finally warming up to the fact that maybe some people really do care. Not everyone wants something from you.  “You’re a hard man to argue with.” Y/n smiled up at him.

“Then don’t argue with me.” Colby smirked.

Y/n reached up and pressed a kiss to Colby’s cheek. “I’m going to go get dressed”, she said, looking down at Ivy. “And this one is already half asleep so you two are good to go back to bed.”

“Does she have like a blanket she likes or a stuffed animal or something?” He asked, following Y/n.

“She’s never liked stuffed animals, actually.” Y/n answered. “Here’s her little security blanket.”

"I’ll grab that, we’re going to go nap, and you have a great day.” Colby said, sleepily wandering back to his room. He left his door open so Y/n could stop by if she wanted to before she left. “Let go, sweetheart.” Colby whispered to Ivy, laying her down on his bed and handing her her little blanket. He made sure she was on the side that was against the wall so that she didn’t roll off. “Your mom said you didn’t like stuffed animals, but this guy here is special.” He said, grabbing his stuffed koala.

Ivy sniffled, little remnants of her crying finally fading. “Thank you”

“Get some sleep.” He said, crawling into bed “You’ll feel better soon.”

When Y/n finished getting ready about an hour later, she quietly tiptoed into Colby’s room. She immediately grabbed her phone, taking a picture of the precious sight before her. Colby was on his side and Ivy was the cutest little spoon you’ve ever seen. In her arms was the stuffed Koala and Colby’s arm was draped over both of them, snoring.

Over the next week or so, it became a habit that when Y/n would wake up early to go write with Mike, Ivy would just crawl into bed with Colby. He would wake up hours later to tiny cuddles. They’d get dressed, go sit at some restaurant for lunch, and then bring food to Mike and Y/n. In fact, Colby’s video this week was just vlog footage of him and Ivy. They had gone to the zoo, gotten ice cream or food a dozen times, and gone to the park to swing. Today, Brennen brought Kobe over to the apartment so Colby and him could film a video for Brennen’s channel.

“I never thought I’d think something was cuter than my dog, but damn.” Brennen laughed, watching Ivy and Kobe play fetch.

Colby laughed, reminding Ivy not to throw the toy in the kitchen. He didn’t want her to get hurt on the corners of the counter. “She’s something”, he said, hearing Ivy call out an “I’m sorry.”

“You’re okay, sweetheart. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Colby smiled.

“You’re in full dad mode, bro.” Brennen said, smirking over at one of his best friends.

Colby looked at him with his eyebrows furrowed together. “Am not.”

“My dude, it’s obvious you care about her. And you haven’t shut up about Y/n.” Brennen laughed, hitting Colby’s chest with the back of his hand. “You haven’t come out partying once since they got here.”

“First, y/n obviously doesn’t like me like that. She’s been here for 2 weeks and absolutely nothing has happened. No real flirting, no nothing. So, I can pine all I want, but I’m going to have to accept it when they leave.” Colby said, trying not to sound sad about that fact.

“I disagree”, Brennen tried to sneak in, but Colby continued talking, giving him a look.

“And second, I do care about Ivy.” Colby said, hearing her break out in a fit of laughter as Kobe licked her face. “I have this feeling that her dad was a dirtbag.”

“Yeah?” Brennen asked.

“Y/n would fight back tears the whole first week she was here whenever we were nice to her. Like, just our normal friends group level of nice.” Colby said, thinking back on how Y/n had reacted. “And Ivy apologized for everything. She accidentally spilled water on the coffee table and kept asking me if I was sure she wasn’t in trouble. Like, who the fuck would get mad over spilling water? Especially at their own daughter?”

“Have you talked to Y/n about it?” Bren asked.

“No. I kind of let her know I knew something was going on. That I was here. That she could talk to me whenever she was ready, I just…They don’t deserve that, dude. They deserve all the love in the world.” Colby continued watching Ivy and Kobe play.

“I gotta head out, but I’m going to say something to you first.” Brennen said, waiting for Colby to look at him. “I know you’re young. I know. #Brolby. We’re wild boys that like to have fun and do stupid shit so I know I’m not who you expected this to come from…but you’ve got a lot of love to give, brother. My dad didn’t give two shits about what happened to my siblings or my mom. It’s fucking obvious you care. A LOT. So don’t NOT take your chance because your palms get sweaty around your crush. There’s a lot more riding on this than whether or not a girl rejects you. No one’s going to love that little girl as much as you already do.”

Brennen stood up, putting his phone in his pocket and grabbing his camera. “Preciosa mío, come say bye to uncle Brennen.” He called out, picking Ivy up when she ran to him. “I promise I’ll bring Kobe back to play soon.” He kissed her on the cheek and put her down.

“Hey Ivy, if you go put on your jacket, we can go see mommy and Mike.” Colby stood up, following Brennen to the door.

Ivy ran to her room squealing about getting to play with more dogs.

“Brennen.” Colby said, pulling him into their usual bro hug when he turned around. When Brennen went to pull away, Colby held him tight for a second. “Thanks, man.”

Brennen clapped him on the back, “Anytime, brother.”

part 3...

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x07: Details

Okay, let's talk about details.

***As always, spoilers abound for 9x07. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!!!***

Rosita/Eugene

I talked yesterday about Rosita running out in the woods alone about how we didn't see where she left Eugene behind. I'll talk about this more tomorrow because I'm going to do a predictions post, but this whole situation is still super suspicious to me.

We also saw her try to drink from empty water bottle. We've seen a lot of water bottles over the seasons that were all similar. I still have been wanting to do a post about all of them, but haven't gotten around to it. But remember that we did see a lot of all-around death. At the very least.

Jesus and Aaron find Rosita and she tells them she left Eugene in the barn. I think this is super-significant guys, but I will talk more about tomorrow in my predictions post. For now, just know that the barn reference and everything about Eugene being there is important.

Hilltop:

Hilltop is thriving under Tara and Jesus’s leadership. I don't know why Tara just doesn't take over as leader. I get that Jesus might be a figurehead for people because he was Maggie's right-hand guy, but Tara is obviously better at logistical aspects and the day-to-day running of things, so she might as well just take over that part of it.

At one point, she said they had a noise complaint from trailer seven. This is a very minor detail, but the noise came from a kazoo which is technically a musical instrument or noisemaker and seven, in terms of biblical numerology, also caught my attention.

Aaron and Jesus training out in the woods together, which I think is kind of cool. I noticed at one point, one of them said "Same boat, my friend." So, another boat reference, but also a call back to episode 6x13, which was called The Same Boat. It was one about Carol and Maggie being kidnapped by the saviors. Not sure what to make of this reference, but it's interesting. (I actually have some theories, but this is such a minor point, I’m gonna wait to see what happens next episode first.)

Tara tells Jesus that Rosita will be okay. She was just dehydrated and on IV. They said almost the exact same thing about Yumiko last episode when she got hurt, and I compared it to Beth. Just feels like more Grady parallels to me. Also in this part, Tara says of Maggie, "She's not here. You are." We could relate that to the “here” symbolism and especially Morgan's Here’s Not Here episode. I won't say too much more about that except that we’ve seen these themes before.

Music/Magna’s Group:

Michonne breaks the violin while guarding Magna's group. I do still think that the musical instrument could represent Beth being shot, and I’ll talk about possible implications of that tomorrow.

The musical discussion the group has is really interesting. It’s kind of a rehash of the discussion Beth and Edwards had at Grady, but more detailed. Edwards says art is transcendent and not about survival, and Beth suggests it’s something they can and should still do. (“I still sing.”) So this was the first suggestion of this idea that, despite needing to put survival first in this world, art and transcendence are still important for the survival of the human race.

Luke says the same thing here. “They came together as an answer to defeat. They sat around a campfire. They shared their stories with each other in the form of music, and paintings. And they created a common identity. And then they, you know, built communities. And then, as thy grew, Neanderthal retreated, and then after a while they just died out…this is the one thing that separates us from the animals. For better or for worse, it brings us together. And if we’re trying to rebuild something, you can’t ignore that.” So we have a major parallel between this and episode and Slabtown.

At one point on the road with Magna’s group, we heard frogs. So just frog symbolism and more callbacks to Them.

Daryl/Carol/Henry

 By far most of the details I saw came from Daryl’s scenes. (Naturally 😉)

Daryl’s camp is pockmarked with walker traps. Many of them are pits in the ground that the walkers step in and get caught. That reminded me a lot of the fire pit the Beth dug in Still.

Carol says, "You haven't fixed the boat since last time?" We’ve ever seen Daryl with a boat before, so I'm thinking this has something to do with the 6 year time jump that we don't entirely understand. But, I also can't help but remember the boats that were so prevalent in 5b at Alexandria. Sam played with one, there was one on the water with a red balloon when Rick stood beside the pond. I always thought that was a Beth thing, having to do with all the water and ship symbolism we seen around her, though we don't quite know what it means yet.

I mean, if nothing else, Daryl is pretty much living on a boat, now. Given all the boat/ocean/sailor/water imagery we’ve seen, that’s super-important.

We also saw a “wrecked” boat in 7x15 near Oceanside. There was definitely some Beth symbolism going on there, so if Daryl’s boat is “broken” it could be the same symbolism.

I said yesterday that pretty much everything I said in my dog post was confirmed here, right? Well, it occurred to me when Carol asked Daryl when he’d eaten last, and Daryl replied, "the dog ate yesterday," that was him associating himself with the dog. She asked when he ate, and he answered by talking about the dog. So, very similar to Buttons, Daryl pretty much named himself the dog. So, everything I said before, (black dog equals Daryl, white dog equals Beth) is definitely true.

Daryl shot a snake! Yep, an actual snake. I thought this was a combination of two things from Still. In Still, he tried to shoot a squirrel on a tree and missed, breaking one of his arrows. Later, he kills the snake slithering on the ground with his knife. In this case, he actually did kill the animal on the tree, but it was the snake. Then he cut its head off with his knife, similar to what he did in Still. So, I'm wondering if we should be reading into the differences as well as the similarities. Maybe Daryl missing squirrel in Still in some way foreshadowed his and Beth's arc. Like that he would lose her in some way, so the squirrel escaped. Something like that. But in this case, he hits it dead on, maybe because things will be better for him this time around. I don’t know. Just throwing out ideas.

I also noticed that Daryl specifically doesn’t bury walkers. He kills one of them and Carol asked if he’s just going to leave it there. He says yes, because it keeps animals away. So this is completely the opposite of what he was in 4B. Remember Beth taught him that it was important to bury people, even walkers and people they didn't know. This started out with the Rich Bitch lady, and he helped Beth cover her. We saw it extended after Lenny was killed by the Claimers. But now, he doesn't care at all. He’s just leaving walkers where they fall.

He also refuses to protect people. At least at the beginning. Carol asks him to go protect Henry and he flat out refuses. In a lot of ways, Henry is very similar to how Beth was when she and Daryl left the prison. He’s strong and can take care of himself, but he's also very young and very new to being outside the walls. So was Beth. So, this would be very similar to if, when the prison went down, Daryl simply refused to watch over Beth. I think that's only important to show that he's sort of in the opposite place he was in S4.

Daryl also skins the snake, just like Still. We haven't seen him do this since 4x12 so this is very significant. Also, kind of a fun reversal of 7x10, when Carol cooked for him. I’m sure they were calling back to that here a little bit as well.

Then we have Carol cutting his hair with a knife. Okay, a couple of important things to recognize here. I thought it was really significant that they specifically did not have her use scissors. We know they had scissors in Alexandria because Jesse used them to cut hair and killed kill a she-wolf. And I'm sure the Kingdom has them as well. Maybe Carol just decided on the spur of the moment to cut Daryl's hair, but even so, they could have her pull out a pair scissors or even had Daryl have one in his camp and it wouldn't have been unrealistic. But they specifically have her use a knife rather than scissors to cut his hair.

Why is that important? I think it's because scissors are Beth symbol. Tptb use them very specifically in the show for stuff about Beth and Grady, and they very specifically did not want to put that symbol in here because it was not applicable to the situation. If we’re totally crazy and reading into the symbolism way too much, Carol would've just used a pair of scissors. She didn't, which means the scissors are important and specifically could not be used in the scene.

@frangipanilove also made an amazing observation about this scene. Certain shippers are freaking out because Carol touched Daryl’s hair and face and their misconstruing that as romantic. But 

1) we talked in our group about how that was very much about his scar. The show is trying to draw attention to it, and Carol playing with the hair right over it gave us an excellent look. 

2) @frangipanilove pointed out that this is a PERFECT parallel to the scene in Them (5x10) where Carol gives Daryl Beth’s knife. Think about it. That was a tender moment between them too. She played his hair. And there was a knife present. That’s awesome! Not only is it a callback to a Beth scene, but I’ll talk in a minute about Henry/Beth parallels, so this works well with those as well. And then there’s my predictions post tomorrow. It works well as evidence for all three. Go @frangipanilove!

 We also found out that Daryl originally went out there to look for Rick's body. That's a super-tragic development because it means that when Daryl walked away at the end of 9x05, he was already going out to look for Rick's body. That makes my heart hurt.

Carol tells him, “You have to let that go.” And I think that’s super-interesting considering he told Rick to let Carl go just before the bridge blew, and now he hasn’t really stopped looking for Rick’s body. He never let it go, any more than he ever let Beth go. Just proves that even though he was preaching that, he doesn’t let things go himself.

It's also super significant in a TD way. We’ve said for years that Daryl looked for Beth's body and couldn't find it, and eventually Rick made the whole group move on. So, it's yet another parallel between Rick and Beth where Daryl looked for the body and never found it. And, you know, Rick's alive so…

Let's talk about Daryl scars. Henry asked about the scar on his face, and Daryl is very standoffish about it. He refuses to answer and then gets up to look for his dog, sending the message that he'd rather hang with his dog than with Henry.

Later, we see Daryl's back and find that he has several new scars, including a prominent X scar on his top right shoulder, two parallel lines further down, and then another X scar in exactly the same place as Michonne’s. Yeah, that’s weird. The top X may have already been there. Back in S3, he has something similar, and they may have just changed it so it looks more prominent now. But he definitely didn’t have the same X as Michonne or the parallel lines. As I said yesterday, these are way too clean and even to be normal battle scars.

Several people have suggested they might be brands. If that's the case, we have no idea what they are, or where they came from. Who the hell could have branded Michonne and Daryl of all people? It's not like the two of them would have sat still for it. So, we really don't know what this is pointing to, but it’s quite bizarre.

Daryl’s dog (Dog) gets caught in one of his walker traps. This had major callbacks to Alone, not only because it was dark, and the dog was barking with walkers around, but because Henry's foot got caught in the trap, too, just like when Beth’s foot got caught in the small game trap.

Henry moved to kill a walker (just like Beth did) and his foot got caught in the trap like her. We even had Daryl helping Henry pull his foot out, getting him unstuck. 

Which is exactly what he did with Beth. Then he asks if he's okay. Henry says yes, it's just a scratch, which parallels to Daryl asking Beth if she can move it in her saying yes.

We also had some missing foot symbolism in this scene because the walker Henry kills is originally caught in the trap and trying to pull itself out. When it does, it pulls it’s own foot off. That’s why Henry had to jump in and help him. Remember that two of the major times we saw the symbolism, specifically an unattached foot, was in Inmates when Beth saw the unattached foot by the train tracks and then with Rick and Michonne in 7x12, which was also a major retelling of Still.

Then of course Daryl says to Henry, "I told you to stay back," which pretty much everyone in the entire fandom picked up on. These parallels are pretty undeniable at this point.

Henry even shows Beth’s sarcasm. Beth said, “Thanks for the help,” while Henry says, “Yeah, you’re welcome.” Again, the fact that they’re strong and get right back in Daryl’s face makes him respect them more.

This is where things get really interesting with Henry and Daryl. Very much like with Beth, once Daryl goes through an experience with Henry, where they survive together, and especially when he can see that Henry strong, he instantly has more respect for him. The dynamic between Daryl and Henry here was very similar to Beth and Daryl’s in Still and Alone. At first, Daryl is very robotic and closed off to Henry, but after Henry helped save his dog, and Daryl himself, Daryl sat down and opened up to Henry without being prompted, telling to him about how the dog checked walker traps and thanking Henry for his help.

Then, also like Beth, Henry kind of calls Daryl on his crap. When Daryl says that if Carol needs him, she knows where to find him, Henry says she shouldn't have to. Daryl then asks if Henry truly wants Daryl looking over his shoulder all the time.

(Oh, I forgot to mention the whole chaperone thing. The Beth razzed Daryl about being her chaperone at the moonshine shack, and they use the same verbology here with Henry asking Carol if she thinks he needs a chaperone. So yet another parallel there.)

 Henry replies that it's not just about him, which seems to impress Daryl. Henry really doesn't want a chaperone, but he'll do it so Carol has peace of mind, and I think Daryl seems impressed by that. 

So, much like Beth, Henry and his goodness and innocence pulls Daryl out of his robotic survival state and kind of guilts him into being a human being again, which brings them back to civilization. Major, MAJOR parallels here. I’ll talk more about where we think this Daryl/Henry arc may be headed tomorrow.

Another thing to note, though it’s not specifically a TD thing, is that Carol allowed Daryl and Henry to interact on their own. She was always in the background, watching, but didn’t tell them she was there. I think that’s significant for a couple of reasons. 

Carol knows both these guys can handle themselves, but she’s still around, being Mama Carol and making sure they’re okay. But I think she knew going into this that she wouldn’t be able to convince Daryl to go to Hilltop on her own. She’s not the one who changes his mind about stuff. (Think Beth: “What changed your mind.”) But Carol was hoping that Henry could change Daryl’s mind, and he did. This might be an indication of the insight Carol has into Beth and Daryl’s relationship, or if not that, into Daryl himself. She knows the effect people like Beth and Henry have on Daryl and was banking on Henry getting through to him. That’s why she didn’t interfere, and also why she was smiling when Daryl agreed to go at the end of the episode: she was right.

So at the end, we get Daryl and Carol finally getting to hilltop and kind of reuniting with some people. Michonne isn’t actually there yet, but she probably will be by the time Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron get back with Eugene, so we'll have a reunion of sorts.

So the structure of this arc is feeling very much like 4b to me. After the prison fell, everybody was divided into little groups, right? We had the same thing here. Michonne in Alexandria, Carol at the Kingdom, Tara at hilltop, Maggie off with the Commonwealth. And, of course, Daryl out on his own.

So this confirms @thegloriouscollectorlady’s 4 Arcs for 4 Communities theory. I’m also thinking about the fact that in 4x15/4x16, all the little groups reunited at Terminus. Now we’re seeing something of a reunion in 9x08 and a further introduction of a bad group (the Whisperers) to mirror the Termites.

So, we might argue that if 9x07/9x08 mirrors 4x15/16, well, we didn’t actually see Beth until four episodes after that in 5x04. So, maybe they’ll give us something in the MSF, or maybe they’ll make us wait until 9b or the finale to see her. As always we will just have to wait and see.

Okay, I’ll stop there. I have a lot more to say but it’s more about where we think these arcs may be going. I’ll talk about that tomorrow. Anything I missed?

[mypatronusiswadewilson]

Adventures in Louisiana (pt. 1/?)

Eric Northman x Reader

Word Count: 1,749

Warnings: Some swearing, but not much else really. This is mostly story building here before I get to the good stuff in the next chapter.

Summary: You end up finding yourself in the small town of Bon Temps Louisiana, thinking it’s just a nowhere town. But really, you find yourself at home with all these strange things. 

A/N: So this is supposed to kinda glance over stuff on purpose cuz it’s mostly just background for the real plot that’s gonna come next. I do have mild alluding to the reader having high sensitivity/psychic power. Not sure if that’s gonna develop later on or not. We’ll see. Hope you like it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day vampires crawled out of their coffins and showed themselves to the world had been a strange day for you. It was the day you had left your hometown to go explore the world, and it was your first night out on your own. To know that immortal, blood drinking beings from old legends were ACTUALLY real scared you. And now you were out and about with them, completely alone. Granted you were also out and about with human serial killers every day, or so you tried to rationalize with yourself. You had told yourself that it was simply something you were going to have to get used to, even if it was mildly terrifying.

And you did. Vampires became a common occurrence for you over the next couple of years, and, just like regular people, there were some you could get along with and some that you absolutely despised. However, Eric Northman was the kind of vampire that would be in one category for a moment only to switch into the other the next.

You had met Eric completely by accident on your adventures into Louisiana. In fact, you stumbled into Bon Temps by chance as well, if you would call a blown transmission as “chance”.

And that night in Merlotte’s is where we start this story.

~~

You thanked the tow truck driver outside the bar as he parked your car in the lot. “You sure you want me to leave you here? I can get you to Shreveport if you want,” he offered. He seemed like a genuine man, though a little hard to remain in a cramped cab too long with, considering the body odor.

You shook your head “I’m okay, thank you. I’m sure I can get someone to help me out here. Plus I’m starving,” you joked lightly. “Alright, well have a nice night Miss,” he said before driving off.

Turning towards the bar, you stared at the neon sign for a moment. Was it just you or did it feel like something was drawing you in to Bon Temps? You shook the thought away as you headed inside, it must just be you.

Walking in, the smell of burgers and beer wafted into your nose and felt almost comforting, as it was a smell that you had gotten accustomed to over the last two years. From the window to the kitchen you heard a female voice call out to you “Go ahead and find a seat! I’ll be there in a second!” “Okay!” you called back, before finding a booth along the wall and taking a seat.

Moments later, a pony tailed blonde with a smile across her lightly angled face came up to you. “You must be new around here, I’m Sookie and I’ll be servin’ ya. Can I get you something to drink?” she asked you, and you noted how kind her voice and demeanor were.

“Just a sweet tea please,” you responded, returning a smile to her.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” she said, practically bouncing away, which you thought was a little weird but hey, better to have a chipper waitress than a dull one. It didn’t take you long to decide that you wanted a simple burger and fries, so you looked around the bar to survey the people around you; a habit you picked up over time. You noticed that most of the people in here seemed to know each other, so either they all frequented the bar, or it was just that small of a town. Possibly both. You heard names bounce around the room like balloons. Names like Sam, Tara, Jason, Arlene, etc. Eventually you were able to match names to people; like Jason was the dirty blonde hunk of a guy that was trying to flirt with whatever walked, Tara was the bartender with a quickfire mouth, Lafayette was the cook on the other side of the kitchen window, Sam must’ve been the owner of the place, Arlene was the redheaded waitress, and so on and so forth. Of course you couldn’t pick out everyone in the small crowd, but at least it gave you something to do. However, Sookie’s voice snapped you back into the real world

“Sorry that took so long sweetheart, what can I get you to eat?” she asked, setting your glass of tea down in front of you.

“Just a burger please, and some fries. Also, do you know of any motels around here? I seem to be without a ride out for tonight.” you asked

“Oh, yeah, but you’re not gonna want to stay there, it’s kinda… sketchy to say the least,” she said with a light chuckle. “I can let you have my couch for the night, if you like,” she offered, of which you gave her an incredulous look.

“You’d let a complete stranger stay in your home?” you asked. Was she crazy?

“I know, crazy, but my Nana taught me to help those in need, and that us girls gotta stick together. If you’re willing to stay until I get off work, then the couch is all yours,” she replied with a smile.

“Well, thank you so much. I would be nice to not have to worry about bed bugs for once,” you chuckled, receiving a small laugh in reply. “My name’s Y/N by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Y/N. I’ll go put in your order for ya,” she said before going back to the kitchen.

The rest on the night was a small bustle of people coming up to meet you, and you guessed that Sookie must’ve said something about letting a stranger stay the night, and people got concerned enough to want to check you out and make sure you weren’t a serial killer or a thief. This amused you a little, and also warmed your heart knowing that little Bon Temps was such a close-knit community. It was when a dark haired vampire with high cheekbones walked into the bar, only to sit across from you that you felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Can I help you?” you asked the man, eyeing him with suspicion.

“Who are you?” he asked, ignoring your question.

“I’m sorry?”

“Who are you?” he repeated.

“Y/N. Who the fuck are you?” you asked, starting to get defensive.

“Bill, what’re you doing? Stop trying to interrogate her!” Sookie said, obviously upset at his sudden and unprovoked barrage of questions.

You waved her down “It’s okay, I’m fine,” you said to her before looking back at Bill “I’m assuming you’re trying to make sure I’m not a murderer like everyone else has? Well I’m not, if that helps any.”

Bill seemed to regain his composure “I apologize, that was... uncouth of me,” he said, his tone very ‘old southerner proper’.

You shook your head “Nothing to apologize for. Though if I’d known staying in Bon Temps for the night was gonna be so tedious, I’d have taken the tow truck driver’s offer and gone to Shreveport,” you joked with a smile.

“Oh hush now. Come on Y/N, my shift’s over so let’s go,” Sookie said with a roll of her eyes.

~~~~~

Over the next few days, while your car was getting fixed, you had decided that maybe you would stick around for a while longer even after the transmission was back into running shape again. Sookie and yourself had become pretty good friends since that night, and you even came to like Bill. After insisting to Sookie that you had overstayed your welcome at her house, you were able to rent one of the tiny houses from Sam; your down payment being that you cleaned the house yourself since he didn’t exactly have time to. Soon a week or two stretched into a month, and Sam even offered you a job at Merlotte’s. It was good, and you felt like you finally found your little niche in the world.

It didn’t take you long to figure out about Sookie’s Telepathy, what with her always seeming to know stuff about you that you didn’t remember ever saying out loud. And Sam being a shifter was out of the bag when you were at the bar late one night finishing up when he came in through the back as a dog and then shifted back to himself in the middle of the kitchen, not knowing you were still there. Basically, you you caught up on most supernatural things at this point, though in reality it all seemed shoved on you at once.

One day, you and Sookie decided on a girl’s day out in Shreveport, enjoying a nice summer day in the sun. However, that wonderful day seemed to go by faster than expected.

“Oh man, what time is it? I could’ve sworn it was noon just a few minutes ago,” you joked, seeing that the sun had gone down and that night was setting in. Sookie checked her phone

“It’s nearly 8,” she replied “We better get going,” she said, not quite as lighthearted as yourself. You gave her a look.

“Is everything okay? You seem-” you started, but were cut off by a gust of air hitting your face.

“I had a sneaking suspicion you were in Shreveport, Sookie,” said a gravelly voice as you turned to look at who it belonged to. “Who’s your friend?” asked the blonde. Jesus, you expected a handsome voice to pair with an equally handsome face, but you were still surprised when you saw him. Sharp jawline, piercing blue eyes, and a “I’m the best person in the vicinity” smirk.

Sook was visibly annoyed. “Go the fuck away Eric,” she grumbled.

“Aren’t you going to answer my question? That’s awfully rude of you Sookie,” he said, thick with sarcasm.

“Or, you know, you could just ask me like a normal person? The name’s Y/N,” you butted in with a roll of your eyes. He smirked at your chutzpah.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Y/N.”

“And I gather you’re Eric “The Asshole” Northman?” you asked sassily. Eric grinned and looked over at Sookie.

“Aww, you’ve been talking about me, Sookie? I’m flattered.”

“Go to hell.”

He sighed “Tsk. You’re no fun. Alright I see I interrupted your fun, but-” he turned to look at you “I’ll be seeing you later,” he said with a wink before another gust of wind told you he left.

“The hell was that about?” You asked and Sookie shrugged.

“I dunno, but it can’t be good.”

[faynotfaye]

It just dawned on me that I didn’t write recaps for the succeeding #romanceclass events after #AllTheFeels. I’ve been away from this blog for so long, and now that I’m back for a blog post, I’m at a loss for words.

Mostly because so many things happened. So many great things that led to this one.

Maybe I can start with something from my last recap of a #romanceclass event:

In my recap for #AllTheFeels, I shared my dream of being a #romanceclass author, of having my book featured in the live readings, and of having Miguel Almendras as the guy reading from my book.

April 30, 2017, Summer Feels book launch: My dream of being a #romanceclass author came true.

July 15, 2017: I received the email from Ms. Mina asking for permission to read an excerpt from All about That Bass, my story from Summer Feels. (I screamed. A LOT.)

October 14, 2017, #FeelsFest2017: Miguel Almendras (!!!) and Vanya Castor became Liam Lorenzo and Erika Torres-

AND I’M STILL SHOOK.

It’s been a week (more than a week, actually) since the day when it all became real, but I still feel like I’m dreaming…and wow.

My anticipation for this event is no secret to the #romanceclass family, and the support I received is just overwhelming. I feel so grateful to everyone who cheered for me and got excited for the moment my dreams came true. Thank you for making this day extra special. ❤

I went to #FeelsFest2017 with my two sisters. The last time we were complete at a #romanceclass event was the first Feels Fest in 2016, and wow, how fast time flies.

Sebastian sisters complete at #FeelsFest2017!

#romanceclass buddies!

You have no idea how it feels like to see my name over there.

Below are some photos during the live readings: (Click to see bigger versions!)

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Kuya Migs and Ate Sam (Poetry Reading)

Kuya Fred and Ate Rachel (Chasing Waves)

Ate Sam and Kuya Migs (Just for the Summer)

Ate Rachel and Kuya Gio (Rules of Non-Attraction)

Kuya Gio and Ate Sam (Once Upon a Bully)

Kuya Fred and Ate Vanya (My Imaginary Ex)

Ate Sam and Kuya Fred (The Queen’s Game)

Ate Rachel and Kuya Gio (Fairy Tale Fail – No script!)

I didn’t have photos of Kuya Migs and Ate Vanya as Liam and Erika, so I grabbed these from Ms. Tara, the Instagram story of romanceclassbooks, and my sister Eliana:

Not sure if they were Liam and Erika at this particular moment, but this was during rehearsal and they were together so my feels are there!

From romanceclassbooks on IG!

From Eliana 🙂

MY HEART MY SOUL

IT’S LIAM AND ERIKA and Claire, and Ciara, and Kuya Jun. Thank you for the different voices, Kuya Migs and Ate Vanya. 🙂

A playlist of all the live readings from #FeelsFest2017 can be found here. (Thank you, Ate Gela!)

New ~things at #FeelsFest2017:

Poetry reading! Kuya Migs and Ate Sam read poems by Dawn Lanuza and Layla Tanjutco.

Live reading – not really a.k.a. THE GAHOATES KISS! *we’re still screaming, TBH*

Singing! Ate Vanya and Kuya Fred sang Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen. ❤

There were also messages from international romance authors and a surprise birthday video for Ms. Mina! 🙂

I wasn’t able to submit a video, but I do have a message for Ms. Mina! (Let’s wait for October 31, okay?) ❤

One of the messages for Ms. Mina is a silent greeting from Ate Six – and it pretty much sums up how I feel for #romanceclass. I seriously had to hold back tears because I didn’t want to ugly-cry at a #romanceclass event.

You see, for years I felt like I didn’t belong. I was that girl who would sleep during vacant periods at school because I had no one to talk to about what I like and what I love doing. It was so hard for me to have “no friends” and high school became the saddest part of my life because of that.

Then I met #romancelass, and I realized that I actually have a place to belong to. This community – and I always say this every time I describe #romanceclass – is family to me. Trying to express how much I love #romanceclass is like trying to measure infinity. And now I’m thinking, maybe I had to go through high school alone because I had to start writing. My first stories were inspired by my real-life experiences, and I met #romanceclass at the time when I was ready to grow as a writer.

Look where I am now, living my dream and finally calling myself a #romanceclass author. (That nametag made me feel more legit, so thank youuuu!)

I also say this a lot but I just love you all, okay? I met very special people because of the #romanceclass family, and I am forever grateful. ❤

FEELS DUMP

Can I just say how adorable Ate Vanya is? I love her voice and she is soooo cute! The live reading of All about That Bass wouldn’t be as special without her. I just feel so light whenever she’s around. She even tweeted a message for me and I am fangirling. ❤

https://twitter.com/vanyacastor/status/919884671667683328

Kuya Gio is a legend. His one-man show during the technical difficulties was iconic. And he’s so close to #romanceclass I almost feel like he’s my brother. Plus, he kinda knows everyone. I was surprised to find out he actually knows my name, considering that I have a bias for a ~certain live reader that is not him. (But seriously Kuya Gio, you’re a legend and I love you. I hope you know that I’m always in awe of what you do for #romanceclass.)

Kuya Fred is a true prince. He transformed #FeelsFest2017 to a book cover photoshoot, and the results are so swoonworthy you’d actually want the photos as book covers. I love his voice, and I also appreciate that he felt at home with #romanceclass right away. It was only his first time at #AprilFeelsDay2017, but he already stole a lot of hearts. I know he’ll steal a lot more. 🙂

It was mesmerizing to hear Ate Sam reading the poems. Her voice just draws you in to feel what needs to be felt. On the other hand, Ate Rachel starred in another unforgettable performance with Kuya Gio. Their chemistry is just something else, we all know it. #Gahoates is still the original ship. But Ate Rachel and Ate Sam are magic. They didn’t have to read together for me to feel that. ❤

Kuya Migs. You know how special you are and how much I believe in you. Meeting you at #AllTheFeels was life-changing, and now, you’re the dream come true. Thank you for all the things. ❤

Ate Six. You have to be in this post for ~reasons. I don’t even have to enumerate them anymore. You’re the closest I have to an older sister in #romanceclass, and you’re one of the strongest people I know. Thank you for being brave. You know the rest. ❤

Ms. Mina, Fairy Godmother/Mother Bear/Goddess with Magical Hair/#romanceclass Wonder Woman. I still remember the first time I met you in person. I was writing the information on the logbook at Robinsons Cybergate Tower 3 when I saw you and I was starstruck. Two years later, you still light up every room you enter. You’re a gift to our lives, and I love you. ❤

Can’t Get Enough: MORE PHOTOS!

Erika and Erika. HAHA.

All about That Bass Squad: me, Ate Vanya, Kuya Migs, and the penguins!

Can this hug photo be a tradition? I like it too much. ❤❤

ATE SIX! ❤

8/23 of Summer Feels! ❤

Signed stuff! My heart is happy. ❤

I don’t think I’ll ever move on from #FeelsFest2017, but my #romanceclassYA project is waiting for me, so I guess I’ll just live with the hangover.

October 14, 2017 will forever be in my heart. ❤

Dreams Do Come True: #FeelsFest2017 Recap It just dawned on me that I didn't write recaps for the succeeding #romanceclass events after #AllTheFeels.