#mcdreary

[lady-harrowhark]

hello, can you explain to me in more clarity your “waxen” theory regarding Ianthe? I’m not picking up on what this implies but it’s making my brain itch.

Sort of! Totally fair question, I just don't have a lot of clarity myself in that I don't have a fully formed theory lol. There's definitely some links and parallels in verbiage that are pinging on my radar, so I do think something's funky, but I wouldn't say I'm fully on board with this yet. I'm just playing in the sandbox Tamsyn has provided us, tossing out ideas and thinking out loud. But I can go into some more detail, and add some more thoughts that have occurred to me since I posted that last night.

(Here's a link to the post in question, for context)

Anyway! So let's first lay out all the times we get someone described as some type of wax. At various points in HtN, we get the descriptions "a shoddy wax cast of some more beautiful sculpture," a "wax figure in a pink dolly dress," a "wax figure in pale purple chiffon," and "waxen face" for Ianthe. We also see that descriptor used a few other times for other people throughout the series. In GtN, Harrow's parents' bodies are called "waxy" and the first introduction of Protesilaus (as the beguiling corpse) says he was "waxen looking in the sunlight." In NtN, Kiriona's skin is said to have a "weird, waxy quality," then Naberius's skin is called "waxen" when they first meet up with Ianthe, and again a few pages later it again references the "waxen, handsome face". What I'm getting at here is that every time this sort of description is deployed, it's in reference to a dead body that's been preserved, manipulated, and is essentially masquerading as a living person... except for Ianthe.

We also know there are a multitude of times that she's described as looking like a poor copy of Coronabeth. There's that "shoddy wax cast of some more beautiful sculpture" line, her first introduction calls her a "starved shadow" of her sister ("or the first an illuminated reflection [of Ianthe]," and actually, off the top of my head I don't know that we ever see their descriptions framed that way again... I'd have to investigate this more later, but this might be the only time that Corona is described as a "better" version of Ianthe, rather than Ianthe being a "worse" version of Corona, which is interesting), there's a point where it says "The second twin was as though the first had been taken to pieces and put back together without any genius. She wore a robe of the same cloth and colour, but on her it was a beautiful shroud on a mummy," etc etc etc. I know there's more, but I'm too lazy to go pull the rest of the quotes and you get the picture by this point I'm sure. So nearly all of these situate her, at least visually, as a copy or approximation of Coronabeth, and one that doesn't quite live up to original at that.

So now let's pick apart this snippet of conversation we overhear between Silas and Ianthe at Magnus and Abigail's dinner party a bit. Ianthe says she was born via "surgical means," which I'm assuming is referring to a C-section delivery (or whatever the necromantic equivalent is) and notes that Corona is a few minutes older. Silas seems surprised (or perhaps concerned?) that they "risked intervention" and Ianthe says Corona had "removed [her] source of oxygen". At this point Silas says, "A wasted opportunity, I'd think." I had always taken this for him just being a dick and implying he wished she'd died in the womb, but coming back to it with this new angle... well. She says "Corona's birth put my survivability somewhere around definite nil." And I'm wondering if that doesn't tie to Harrow's comment about infant deaths generating "enough thanergy to take out the entire planet." Basically, could Silas have been implying that the Tridentarii's parents wasted an opportunity to use the thanergy from baby Ianthe's death to power up Corona?

Harrow says that twins are an ill omen, but the text hasn't come back to that as of yet. Given the difficulty necromancers experience with pregnancy, I'd imagine twins would could be especially dangerous and that in and of itself could be considered an ill omen. Ianthe's comments certainly suggest that their mother carried the pregnancy, although I don't think we know for certain whether she was a necromancer. I am so intensely curious about the Tridentarii's childhood and their parents; we get so many gestures towards some really twisted family dynamics, but very little in the way of concrete explanations. Particularly relevant here, I'd love to know more about their father wanting a "matched set" and how that came about. Did they intentionally plan for twins from the start? Was it only once they knew they were having twins that that became a factor? What's the significance there?

Outside of those "waxy" descriptors, Ianthe tends to be described as much more sickly looking than even other necromancers. We know that necromancers on the whole tend towards a phenotype of physical weakness, but even still, there's an emphasis on this with Ianthe beyond that. This might be due in part to narrator bias (coughGideoncough) or the direct juxtaposition between her and Coronabeth's vivaciousness, but what really jumps out at me as contributing to this effect is how frequently she's described as being colorless, pale, washed out, bloodless, pallid, anemic, etc etc etc. It very much makes me think of the way the color drains away from Colum (and even the rest of the room and the others in it) when Silas is siphoning. Silas himself is also often described as colorless ("mayonnaise uncle," "milk man") but not so much in a way that implies frailty as much as I read it as implying a stark coldness, in line with the very black-and-white moral authority he presumes to wield, a purported "purity", much different than Ianthe's colorlessness. With Ianthe, you get a sense that her palette ought to have been or perhaps was closer to Corona's, but the color's been drained away; where Corona's hair is described as golden, Ianthe's is "canned butter", for example. Almost like the life's been siphoned out, one might say.

So to kind of circle back around, do I actually think Ianthe is dead or a corpse like the other "wax" figures we've seen? Nah. Between Harrow and Palamedes, and especially Palamedes's medical necromancy, I think we would have heard about it by now if that were the case. But I do think it's entirely plausible that she's had a bit of a brush with death and that perhaps she's never quite fully come back from, and I do think she's being intentionally positioned as somewhat adjacent to death. If their parents were wanting twins from the outset, perhaps they used necromantic means to encourage the conception. Or if the pregnancy was as high-risk as I suspect it was, perhaps she'd died or nearly died at birth and been resuscitated. Their parents may have gone to extremes to keep her alive, to maintain their matched set. Given the themes of this series, I do feel it's necessary to draw a distinction between "resuscitation" and "resurrection" although they are curiously adjacent to one another. For all the text has grappled with dying and staying dead, dying and coming back, dying and choosing whether or not to return... we haven't touched on what something like a "near death experience" would look like. I'd imagine having that sort of experience, even at an incredibly young age, might lead one to be fascinated with, to use Ianthe's own words, "the place between death and life... the place between release and disappearance."

[stardustsea]

Tagged by @spruceoutoffive thanks!!!

This both is and isn't surprising... it all makes sense though

Tagging @soleadita @dauntingday @mcdreary @honeyclementines @drysdaales, participate if you want!

[5ammi90]

If/Then is like the most never gonna happen situation ever.

Callie and Owen never in a million billion years. The hell. Addison and Derek would have crashed and burned eventually with or without Meredith.

Poor Miranda. April is Meredith’s person. Way too bright and cheerful. Where are Christina’s curls. Alex is suddenly blind and wearing polos.

Meredith your brain is broken.

EW SHE’S KISSING ALEX. NO NO NO NO NO. THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE. I NEED BRAIN BLEACH. 🤢🤢 icky icky.

Lexi is covered in tattoos and piercings and she has dreads. She overdosed, dang Lex. Alex just called Bailey Mandy. This man is giving me the ick. Jackson save us.

Christina. Those bangs. Giving Courtney Cox vibes. So cause Mer and Derek and all the other things didn’t happen the shooting didn’t happen and Charles is here.

Oh yay the Shepherds are arguing. Balance has been restored.

Meredith is wearing pink eyeshadow. EW. Stop kissing Alex. At least George is alive. Callie and Miranda are at least still friends. Ellis is the reason Callie isn’t in orthopaedics. Wow.

Lexie looks really pretty with tattoos and piercings. Jackson you made her cry.

Lol. Alex and April are sneaking behind Meredith’s back. Christina would never. Derek would never. April you are the worst person. Alex, honestly doesn’t surprise me. Christina is so gonna tell.

Derek still has the trailer and land. Even though they have kids he still hasn’t built them a house yet. Shows the difference.

Ellis is about to kill a man with her arrogance.

Whoops. Owen just punch a window and fucked his hand. He hit an intern. Dang Owen.

She hugged you Jackson. She played you.

Ellis. It’s your fault. If you had let Miranda do her surgery instead of stealing it from her none of this would have happened.

Addison’s career would be stifled if she had stayed in Seattle.

Wow throw Burke in Christina’s face and she won’t hold back.

Oh great. Here comes mother of the year. Ellis should know all about being the other woman. You humiliated Miranda in the first place. She never made a mistake. You did.

Oh there’s Mark. I was wondering. Oops he ran over Lexie.

Yesssssss Mer grow that spine.

Derek it isn’t your kid and the relationship died a while ago.

Hey Mer. Meet your sister. You can’t fire Miranda she is the freaking live blood of this hospital. Suffer Alex. Yeah Miranda tell that idiot.

Yay you saved Lexie and now you can bond over alcohol. Mer is becoming twisted. Whatever you do Mer don’t sleep with Derek. Oop, there he is. Resist Mer resist. What’s Derek nickname in bizarro world, McDreary. Wow.

We done with that madness. Thank fuck.

[ithisatanytime]

(mcdreary)

[misaverawrites]

Someone To Rely On (Derek Shepherd x Reader)

warning(s): description and mentions of death, der cries, and you comfort him, MEGA ANGST, child death mention.

Summary: Derek lost Meredith a few years back, today is the day they met and he's not in a good mood, you comfort him the best you can.

a/n: this is an AU where Mer dies instead of Derek back in March/April 2015 and you’ve been friends for a while.

March was a bad month for Grey-Sloan Memorial.

It was the month that Meredith had died in a car crash coming to see Derek in Washington D.C.

There was a generally sad feeling from many of your co-workers and the energy felt low for a while after.

You and Derek had been long-time friends after he'd been transferred from his practice in New York to Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital.

You remembered meeting him on his first day as an attending, he was so confused by the hospital layout and his case that day.

You remember seeing him and Meredith flirting at the bar and when he told you about how he was dating her.

You remember his anguish and pain after receiving the call that his wife of four years was dead, her car had been hit and had been knocked off of a guard rail.

Today was March 26.

This was the worst day for Derek, it was the day they met in Joe's Bar after the hospital mixer, the day they had they had sex for the first time.

He was aggravated and testy with everyone, interns especially.

"...Dr. Shepherd..?" A young intern timidly approached him in the hallway, after Meredith died, 'McDreamy' became 'McDreary' to all of the interns and residents, anyone who had an interest in neuro either transferred to a new program or developed an incredibly thick skin.

"What is it?" He snapped, the intern trembled a bit.

"I have the CT for Esme Richards. She has..."

"You can go, doctor, I can read a CT scan."

The intern nodded and nervously ran away from Derek.

You sighed and looked at Derek, he turned to you.

"Yes, Dr. (L/N)?" He says in a tone you aren't fond of, but you know it's nothing against you.

"You shouldn't talk to them like that. You'll get a reputation."

He shakes his head, "I don't care about getting a bad reputation, (Y/N), it doesn't matter anymore, no one's opinion matters much anymore."

He looks sad with these words, hopeless and desperate, you knew that he missed his wife more than anything in the world and you wish that you could help him more and more.

"Derek, come with me." You grab his shoulder and drag him into a nearby stairwell.

"What the hell is it, (Y/N)!?" Derek spits out with venom.

You place your hand back on his shoulder, only this time in comfort.

"Derek, look at me," You wait for a minute until his eyes are directly staring into yours, "I know nothing that I say is going to help you right now. I just need you to know that I am here for you, for whatever you need. If you need me to take Zola, Bailey, or Ellis. I am here."

He nods slowly at first and then pulls you into a hug. He shakes a bit, you rub his back and give him a small kiss on the shoulder.

"I just... I miss her so much... There's so much we had left to do together. I'm never going to have that back!"

You nod, just listening as he talks.

"I feel like everyone is just walking around me on eggshells and is waiting for me to stop grieving when it feels like the grieving will never end."

"But, I promise, one day it will. I lost my daughter when she was three, and I was right where you are now. Everything is going to get better, Derek, you just need to remember I am always here for you."

He slumps calmly against you, exhausted from his crying, "Do you promise?"

"I promise, Derek. I promise."

[jarel-dot-thepoet]

Rapid fire guesses like my fingers doing double texting next in line I'm next in rhyme line reason for seasoning a sea son for me son we gotta see sum'n like tubthumping wit chumbawumba bubble gum ya chew you up blow a bub pop that suka then spit it out in public get down dirty done wit it run over tire spinnin shit like the swishinin of a toilet or the sizzlin of the boilin egg water you niggas aint nuthin but egg water good for boilin me up hot hard boiled eggin crack shells heads n tails n no more incubatin this my escape em room for changin see me on the camera like a pornhub cable TV what's your category cannot filter me I'm unparallelled I'll go for the longest duration curation Keurig shin put the mug against pour the water in coffee cafe proud like pennay CIEN like Andrade come off of rebound like I'm Rodman new hair 'zolved problem distant (dissolved) memory forget about me? Blemish B. On your faces. See. Son Free Daughters From Slavery.

Black Lives MATTeR just like ALL iNgRedieNTs of a cake batter. Flitter flatter. Ditter datter. Pitter patter. Actress actor. Push a quarterback like a sacker. X Factor Facin Fears like Joe Rogan wit too many beers or too many jeers queers to hear ears niggas appear FUCK FEAR! Adhere to hear a weer peer pear wear where here hear appear apparel is sterile ferrell callin swat cause someone won a tournament duke to win march madness cause I'm not in the Philippines makin things happen. Crappin on the beat like a spinner jack swagger style can't jack my style my style never die multiplies bebe kids cousins n nem friend till the end could be the end but i told you no dating before your married scary to be wary but dreary mcdreary conspiracy for quizzin the mind study in time train behind knows where to sit. Upfront n personal business to take care of you. It ain't easy to write a book n it n'aint easy reedin 1 eitha. Pipes of a believer. Phone gripped, hands of a receiver. The boy Golden. Retriever. Say it again. The Boy Golden. Harry Retriever styles like Jill Scott stoppin by Golden spots. Glamour n Glitz'n. Fishin four houses Dasher, Cupid, Blitzen, Vixen Winter Wonderland Wishin that's 4 x 4 on 4 different house kitchens quick cookies n bullets mathematician jars still far from empty fuck forgive me 2 thousand n 22nd reasons for reparations restorations no hesitation government pay me pay us for savin you from going broke hungry n crazy cannibalism insanely white right not write for left rights scribble scrabble different rights switch tiles like a different right write a wrong like I'm different right? Sharpshooter 2 Chainz tooth'll'ya HitMans Bret Hart Owen swingin from the left heart broke my heart. Different start. Reignition. Back in the kitchen switchin demons like we le monstrate sliced on the plate for an hour or late r gay tour scopin bodies i c u o n my radar Reptar Rugrats runnin round tyrannosaur Rex whats your head good for? Usin it.

Not abusin it. Different view in it. Beef the stew n sip. The broth n coff in. Dead nails droppin on ur coughin cousin covid huggin no taste buddin joe pumpin stomach cause its fun huh'n n yea ima get me a hun in the phili ppines n its gonna be too sweet like smoke n cocoa beans.

My dog n cat. Go thru measures drast ic. Walk around Mr. Fantastic for Owlin wise nudist scowlin foolin around n this wOrDPLAY game of lyricism like I was the one holdin a convention in it. Microsoft Surface sinnin touch me from the beginnin for that the world was spinnin bottle playin n kissin n g at the endin. Cause ima G. No 1NE can Grade me except Him.

The ENd.

WoRdPLAY by Ryan Jarel Harris

[niceminipotato]

Meredith went into the cafeteria, which was unnaturally empty aside from a few miscellaneous people, and grabbed a small pint of vanilla ice cream. She was going to leave with Cristina when she spotted a certain redhead. Cristina noticed when her friend stopped and nudged her.

“Are you finally going to do something?” Cristina asked. “It’s been months since you left McDreary because you were falling for her. Plus Alex said last night that she didn’t want anything with him or any man here.”

Meredith looked at her and smiled her evilly plotting smile. Winking at Cristina, who smirked at her and went to sit a ways away so she could at least see, she made her way towards the redhead.

Without uttering a single word she sat next to Addison who was startled by her sudden appearance. The redhead eyed her suspiciously before speaking.

“Something you need, Dr. Grey?” Addison asked taking off her glasses.

“Nope. I’m just here eating my ice cream.” Meredith said merrily, scooping some more ice cream and smearing a bit of it on her lips before eating it.

Addison followed her movements and subconsciously licked her own lips.

“Why are you sitting here, though?” She asked.

“You seemed lonely.” Meredith shrugged and took another spoonful of ice cream repeating the motions from before. She could see Addison’s reaction and decided to just go for it. “So do you want some?” She asked with a smirk.

“Huh?” Addison’s eyes returned to hers.

“Would you like some, Addison?” Meredith asked again.

“No, thank you.” She replied taking a shuddering breath.

“Really? That’s too bad. It makes my lips taste fantastic.” Meredith ate some more ice cream the same way as before.

“Yeah?” Addison’s had a slight quiver, which made her blush.

“Wanna try?” Meredith asked inching forwards.

By now the only people there were them two and Cristina who had blended in so perfectly that people may think her a statue.

Addison stayed quiet and just looked at her.

“God I’m really hoping you wanna.” Meredith said as she smiled at her.

[yuqiyah]

he gets annoyed every time someone calls him while doing paperwork—

here we have david shepherd for my camp camp greys anatomy au. he is the attending neurosurgeon at campbell general hospital.

he left new york city for oregon after catching his wife sleeping with his best friend. getting hired at campbell general hospital, they labeled him ‘mcdreary’ due to his depressive attitude. he is known as the strict attending with a soft side.

meeting jasper changed his outlook on life. becoming more positive, he was relabeled: ‘mcdreamy’.

before he became chief of surgery, cameron campbell was chief of surgery. he quit out of nowhere one day and made david chief of surgery. needless to say, david was very unhappy with how he became chief.

max is his son in this au. david and jasper adopt him and raise him.

this au still a work in progress but I’ll post jasper and the rest of them soon.

[choicesaddict5]

I was watching greys today and does anyone remember the AU episode where derek and addison are married,alex and meredith are engaged,richard and ellis are also married?

I dont know why everytime i watch that episodr it gives me major ethan and mc canon and non-canon vibes where u know ethan is married to the med school ex and she cheats on him with tobias and mc is meredith!! At the end u know like meredith and derek they meet somehow and realise they are actually u know likable as meredith and derek were always fighting in that episode and derek is Mcdreary 😅🤣🤣😂 and u know the rest is history😁😆

Does any one felt that or is it only me and my stupid brain who tries to relate everything that happened in greys with open heart😅🤣🤣?

[stardustsea]

@mcdreary not being online when I finish nona after yelling at me for days to keep reading it... lol

[williamdeanmartin]

[hakurasakura]

MCDREARY

I CANT

[its-moopoint]

Can just imagine Catalina sitting there proudly at a table at the Oscars with all those big HW names, and Mr McDreary by her side, playing with his phone. He's sure to impress.

One hopes if there's a cinnamon bun in the oven he starts paying her a little bit more attention. Just a little.

[florida3exclamationpoints]

It was actually cute!! And funny!!! It was fun!!!

McDreary skehskdhsdhjs

[hypatiamoser]

Pride of the day.

[cha0ticmimzy]

Chapter IV: Work

Author’s Notes: A little reprieve, and a peek into Propmto’s personal life. Plus, a small shock, and a connection is made. Word Count: 2391 Warnings: None for this chapter. Rating: Teen for this chapter.

“We live in an age where everything is staged.”-Jon Bellion, Woke The F*ck Up

“So, listen…” Dino began, making Prompto freeze and look down at his keyboard, suddenly overwhelm with guilt. “Look, I ain’t mad at ya or anythin’, but… I gotta know, did ya manage to get any pictures? I know you were all cooped up in a hospital room an’ all but…” Dino trailed off, leaning his hip against Prompto’s desk. Dino wasn’t a really imposing man, not really, but he could be unnerving when he wanted to be. Especially with how light his eyes were. They were almost unearthly, if he were being honest.

Oh, right. Photographs.

“Yeah! Yeah, I got some- hang on…” Pushing his glasses up his nose, he quickly turned his attention to his computer, pulling up the file with a nervous grin. He hadn’t even had the time to look through the photographs yet, let alone retouch any of them. In fact, ever since his accidental meeting with Regis and then being threatened by Gladiolus, all he’d done was sleep. Then again, considering how he had still been healing, that wasn’t very shocking.

“Lemme just…” Tongue poking out from between his lips, he double clicked and brought up the first picture of the cars arriving before the Citadel. The next was a close-up shot of the bodyguard whose name he knew now to be Nyx Ulric- actually, the next few shots were of him. He could hear Dino whistling softly in surprise behind him, making him sit up straighter, pride swelling up within his chest. “Told ya I’d get them,” he teased, looking up at his boss as the next picture came up, this one of Sylva, Lunafreya, Ravus, and his fiancée, Aurora. “The girl’s name is Aurora; family’s upper class Tenebraen, fiancée to Ravus Nox Fleuret.”

“Ya did good, kid. I’m impressed. Go in and retouch some of ‘em, and then send t’me.” Dino praised with a grin, reaching down to ruffle Prompto’s hair before leaving Prompto’s office, pulling his phone out. Prompto leaned back in his chair, a bright grin on his face as he nodded to himself.

“Hell yes I did good. There ain’t a better photographer in Insomnia than me!” He whispered, doing a little dance in his chair before accidentally pushing his chair back, prompting a squeak to escape him as he spun quickly. “NONONONO- Aw, man. I just got those magazines organized!” He whined, watching as the pile fell to the floor.

“Aurora’s her name. Didn’t get much else outta him, but I’ve got pictures. That is, if you got money…”

“Don’t you worry, you’ll get your money. As soon as I have those pictures…”

“Right, right. Whattya want wit’ him anyways? He ain’t no one, not that I can tell. Family ain’t rich and he ain’t a looker…”

“Don’t worry yourself with what I want. You just send those images along to me, pet.”

“Yessir.” Dino sighed, ending the call with a frown as he pocketed his phone. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking over his shoulder at the blond. Oh, well. It wasn’t his problem. Not now, anyways. Maybe later. Maybe not. He’d decide when he got his money.

“So, then I sort of… Fumbled my words? And it was just- they were so intense, Cindy! So. Fricken. Intense.” Prompto whined, collapsing down onto the red leather couch beside the mechanic, who let out a soft laugh.

“Well, whaddya expect? They ain’t your run of the mill folk, now.” She replied with a shrug as she reached over, grabbing a container of fried rice. “But I’on want you t’go near ‘em anymore, y’hear? Vamps and shifters- they ain’t good news, Prom.” Sighing, she shrugged, reaching over Prompto’s leg to grab hold of a separate container containing lamb in black pepper sauce. “I’m jus’ tryin’ ta look out for you, you know that.”

“I know, I know…” Prompto muttered, grabbing a container of Chow Fun and dumping the contents of his own General Tsao’s Chicken and ginger beef into, quickly mixing the contents together. “But- Cindy, you wouldn’t believe the way these guys look! Like, ho my god. Noctis’ eyes are so… Pretty? And the girl- Aurora- was so nice and gentle! She even petted my head, Cindy!” He whined, leaning over to all but rest majority of his weight on the blond.

“Buddy, I ain’t gonna argue with you. They are very pretty, even I can’t deny that. But I still want you t’be careful.” Sighing, she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his temple, making Prompto freeze up, cheeks flushing as he quickly sat up and reached for the remote. “Oh, oh! My favorite show is on! Amber’s Anatomy!” She squealed, hunkering down into the couch with a bright grin. “I wanna know if Amber White is gonna go with McDreary or if she gonna leave him behind!”

“I have no idea what you just said but okay,” Prompto shrugged, stuffing his face with noodles and chicken and beef, groaning at the taste. Gods above, he loved takeout more than anything. Though, Galahdian takeout was far better, he’d settle for classic Insomnian. “Okay, so who’s who?”

“Okay, so, Amber is the lead character, righ’? And she’s a doctor who gets all tangled up in a messy love triangle with Doctor Terrier and this other lady, and her mother was a doctor, too! And then there’s…”

He’d ended up crashing on Cindy’s couch, Cindy falling asleep in the recliner, the sounds of Amber’s Anatomy in the background. By the time morning came, Cindy was already in the shower singing along to some old country song, and Prompto was left to throw out all their trash from the night before. They’d fallen asleep before they could manage to save any of the takeout, sadly.

Humming, he went to work cleaning, picking up the boxes and tossing them into the trash bag. The sound of the bathroom door opening made him look up, only to catch Cindy shuffling out in a bright blue, fuzzy robe, her hair hanging in damp ringlets around her face. Wow, she looked like an angel…

“Aw, shuga! You don’ gotta go an’ clean up all this by yourself!” Cindy cooed, a grin spreading across her lips as she leaned against the bathroom door. “But it is most definitely a welcome gesture.” Yawning, she made her way over to her bedroom the door falling shut behind her. “I can whip us up some grub after I get dressed!” She hollered, making Prompto pause, box of rice almost tipping over.

“Sure, sounds great!” He yelled back, going back to his job of lifting the trash bag out of the trash and tying it closed. Lifting it up with a grunt, he walked over to the trash chute and let it fall down before turning and leaning against the wall with a yawn. Normally, he’d go for a run now, but the promise of Cindy’s cooking kept him here. A skip day wouldn’t hurt, right? Right. At least, that was his reasoning.

“Now, what’re we feelin’ this mornin’? Personally, I wanna scarf down some omlettes…”

Breakfast done, kitchen cleaned, Prompto was about to head out when a knock on the door made him pause. “C’n ya get that?” Cindy called from her bedroom. “I would but I got half a face of makeup on and I don’ wanna scare no ones!” Snorting, the blond rolled his eyes and set his bag down, walking over to the front door. He looked through the peephole, only to be greeted with the sight of a red and black sweater. And a rather… Ample. Chest. Coughing, he quickly unlatched the lock and swung the door open, cornflower blue hues widening at the sight.

“Is Cindy home?” The woman asked, jade hues sizing him up. Prompto suddenly felt incredibly small compared to this woman- her piercing gaze, the silver hair that was tied up in a high pony tail, the menacing motorcycle boots… “Hey, kid. If Cindy isn’t home, just tell me instead of staring at me like you’ve never seen a woman before.”

Startling, Prompto quickly took a step back. “Ye-yeah, she’s in her room…” He trailed off, watching as the woman stepped past him with a smirk, throwing a wink in his direction. Squeaking in a rather unmanly way, he quickly shut the door and watched her poke her head into Cindy’s bedroom, prompting a squeal of delight.

“Aranea! I didn’t know you’d be in today!” Cindy exclaimed, and threw her arms around Aranea’s shoulders. Oh. Oh. So this was Cindy’s girlfriend- the motorcycle girl. The one who worked as a battlefield photographer. The one that Prompto may or may not have been extremely jealous over when he first found out that Cindy wasn’t interested in men at all. “Prompto, c’mere! I wan’ ya t’meet Aranea!” Cindy yelled, and without realizing it, he was moving towards the pair.

“Aranea, meet Prompto! He’s my buddy- I’ve known him for over six years now!” Cindy introduced with a grin, winking at Prompto. “Prompto, meet Aranea. Y’know we’ve been dating for over a year now- the light of my life.” She flushed, leaning into Aranea. “I’ve been wantin’ y’all to meet for a while now! But with Aranea’s crazy schedulin’ and yer crazy schedulin’… At least y’all getta meet now!”

Prompto shifted, flashing a small smile before holding his hand out. “Nice to meet you!” He managed to get out before Aranea took hold of his hand in a strong grip.

“Like wise.” She replied in a smooth voice that sent chills across his skin. Something seemed… Familiar about her. He couldn’t place it, though. Oh, well. It wasn’t important. “Anyway, I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by to see my favorite girl.” She explained, leaning over to peck Cindy’s cheek.

Clearing his throat, Prompto rubbed the back of his head and began backing away. “I’ll just leave you guys alone…” With that, he quickly grabbed his bag and quickly left the apartment, the sound of Cindy hollering ‘bye’ echoing in the hallway. He couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity from his conscience- that woman, Aranea… He knew he had seen her before. Her voice, her eyes… They were so familiar.

Maybe he was just imagining things. Maybe he’d seen her in a crowd once, or maybe at a party. Yeah, that was it.

… Hopefully.

­­­­­­­­­­­The rest of his day was uneventful, what with it being Saturday and all, he hadn’t needed to go into work. Though, he could have spent it going through all the pictures he’d taken before the accident, but… Nah. Instead, he’d gone out and treated himself to a sushi dinner, making sure to stop by the market on the way home to pick up food for breakfast (and some spare fish for the cats at the apartment complex).

Being home now, with Insolo curled up against him, was comforting. To be surrounded with familiarity. He was warm, and comfortable, and his bed was comfortable and the rain hitting against the glass of his window was perfect…

He fell asleep.

Or, at least, he thought he was asleep. But he was… Outside? And there was snow on the ground, and all around him. This wasn’t the park- or, well, anywhere he was familiar with. At least, not personally. Was this Niflheim? The layout looked the same form the pictures he’d seen in high school. But he wasn’t cold- shouldn’t he be cold? It was snowy, the wind was blowing- he could hear it howling.

Wait…

That wasn’t the wind.

Spinning around, he came face to face with a large black wolf, eyes as black as it’s fur. He tried to scream, but no noise came out. No noise, even as the light began to fade and the wolf began to lurk closer and closer. He fell to his knees, ready to accept his fate when a new sound ripped through the air. A cry. A baby’s cry. He pushed himself up, spinning around, looking for the wolf but not finding him. Brows furrowing, he turned, and stilled. Two babies, swaddled up, were left on a large flat stone.

He walked closer to them, snow crunching beneath his feet, a hand outstretched. But something wasn’t right- they weren’t moving. They weren’t making any noise. It wasn’t right. When he reached them, he leaned closer, and quickly moved back, eyes widening in surprise. They were babies, yes- but their throats were… Their throats were ripped out. Blood stained their blankets, and the stone around them. A growl sounded over his shoulder, making him turn. “You were never supposed to leave.” The jaws came down, closing around his throat-

Prompto jolted awake, sitting up in bed with the remnants of a yell leaving his lips. He quickly slipped from his head and ran to the bathroom, doubling over the toilet to dry heave. His heart was pounding in his chest- was he having a heart attack? Or just an anxiety attack? He didn’t know, he didn’t care. But it hurt.

Pushing up from the toilet, he stepped over to the sink and ran the tap cold, cupping the water in his hands and splashing his face with it. Looking up at his reflection, he startled, surprised at the… Lilac? Hues that stared back at him. Blinking, he leaned forward, only to see that his eyes were back to their normal blue…

Shaking his head, he shuffled back to his bed, calling Insolo back to cuddle. Maybe he was just… Sleep deprived. Yeah. That would make sense- people started to hallucinate when they were sleep deprived! That’s what was wrong.

“It’s him. I’m certain of it.” The woman spoke into the phone quietly, black coat pulled tight around her, cloaking her in the shadows. “Blond hair, blue eyes, freckles… What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. Do nothing. Raise no suspicion. We got what we wanted.” The voice replied, sounding relieved and stressed at the same time. The woman nodded and ended the call, slipping her phone back into a pocket in her coat.

“Come back to bed,” the voice of her lover called, pulling her back into the apartment with a smile curling her lips, jade hues dancing in amusement.