#probably there’ll be a drop for xmas

[dreamings-free]

oh tomorrow’s the 28th 👀

[lucidpantone]

The Almanac: Visitations Chap 2 pt. 1

Okay so here is where the story really begins and I open by dropping you into one of the most important scenes of this entire story. This scene is one of those scenes you will probably reread 20 plus times because there will be so many hidden plot points and layers inside of it. Let's try to unravel the main ones.

The Hospital Scene

This is basically their big reunion scene but of course we don’t know that yet at the time. We actually have very little context at this point as to what happened before this scene occurs. We don’t know that before Robbe walks through the door Sander has been on a literal death spiral for over a year(Chap 4). We know that Robbe left Belgium and moved away for about 9/10 months after Sander’s Chernobyl and so we can estimate that if he left right before xmas break that's a whole year(plus another ⅔ months) of time that has passed in the timeline(the longest they were ever apart in the stories canon).

The scene is super melancholy and as a reader you're probably confused as to why? or where this is all coming from. You know Sander is down but you should feel like something feels unsaid here. You get a bit more background that explains Robbe’s behavior at the end of chapter 1. It seems like over the years Robbe spent a lot of time advocating for Sander’s and his mother’s well being against people that viewed them as just diagnoses. Robbe has developed a very protective instinct.

Easter Egg: You know the yellow hazard lights and the symbolism. Well this is actually the first time you see the yellow wash of rescue. It's the color that floods Sander’s room when Robbe opens the door to Sander’s hospital room(an easter egg within another easter egg: doors closing/opening).

This is the first time we hear “their” story. This is their anchor or their roadmap back to one another when they get lost. It allows them passage to their safe place (This is why Sander narrates it to Robbe in Chap 3 and Robbe freaks out).There is also a parallel when Robbe is holding Sander in his arms completely distraught. Sander does the same thing for Robbe when he spirals into sadness after the Luc breakup (chap 5).

Another parallel: Sander is waiting in Robbe’s Lobby when Luc’s hazard lights flood the room in a wash of yellow and then the door opens and it's Robbe. That scene is in juxtaposition with this one here. In this scene Robbe saves Sander in that one Sander catches Robbe in his arms and saves him (chap 4).

The question: Sander asks Robbe in this scene “If they make it?” and implicitly states if the “If the skater boy could forgive the artist” but we know ultimately the person that will need forgiveness is Robbe. Forgiveness is basically a moving entity between these two which leads to the main arc of this story overall “Do they make it?” or more importantly “Should they make it?”. We see so much pain, toxicity, denial at times I think at points we all think there is too much water under the bridge. Just cut the cord. However, at the same time we see so much love, respect and sheer devotion so it's a tough call.

Also Bowie, this is the scene where Sander hands off Bowie to Robbe for safe keeping. Who is he though? He is a cat but he is also a sentient being so he has the capacity to feel a range of emotions. Sander is very particular on how he should be nourished. Robbe actively chooses to go against his wishes but Robbe forms a bond with him and learns about him and ultimately ends up feeling like the cat belongs to him more than Sander in the end. Also in chapter 1 Sander makes a point of checking up on Bowie’s well-being/health. I am never going to explicitly tell you what Bowie represents in this story but I think you all know he has a very deep meaning.

Things to note in this scene: We see the Casio watch and its on Robbe in the scene and most importantly it's working (this is a clue). In Elk Universum is tattooed on Sander body(another clue). There is also a major clue in this scene which I can’t disclose yet because its part of the ending but yes there is a huge clue written in this scene about the ending.

Sander’s Therapy Scene (August 15th)

We learn a ton about his mental state here. He is managing but he isn’t doing great. Sander’s cynicism has really hit an all time high. At times Sander's state of mind really makes the reader uncomfortable; he makes remarks about himself that in all honesty are a little scary.

However we learn how he has coped over the years he has been drawing memories over his body. He has been storing lots and lots of memories on his person. I am going to drop a clue here. When you finish reading the ending of Visitations come back to this exact memory and read it again it will be very important to the ending.

Sander questions the act of how does one identify a good memory from a bad one? How does one choose what criteria makes one black or white? Even though he positions himself in the grey. All this is important, make a note of it. We also learn that Robbe is Sander’s emergency contact which makes the hospital scene make sense.

“What about when he is with you? Is he good then too?”

This particular line really hits home on what the journey of Visitations is about for these two. As I said come back here once you finish the fic because it is very important you answer this question concerning Robbe & Sander. What kind of person is Robbe when he is with Sander? or vice versus and what kind of person is Sander with Robbe?

Parallel: Sander says “We haven’t been together in a long time” in the present day. This is what he says to Robbe in the past in the finale chapter “There hasn’t been for a long time….and there’ll never be again.”

Note: At the end of this scene the door slams shut symbolizing an end to something.

Enter Luc (The other love story)

No one caught this but the entire first section of the Luc memory is a parallel to his and Robbe’s relationship. The entire scene where Luc is doing all those crazy tricks to impress Robbe. He is twirling and flying through the air is a depiction of the whirlwind romance(9mons) they end up having but that final rail slide trick that Luc ends up clipping and bailing on is a parallel to the Amsterdam move in which Robbe ends up back tracking on and basically crushing Luc.

**Also finale parallel here thats yet to be seen**

Their chemistry is really awesome here. I really enjoy them as a pair. You can tell they are fun and sassy and have such good rapport with one another. It's easy to understand why Robbe falls so hard and so fast with Luc.

However there is a huge red flag in this memory that you only realize later(chap 5). When Robbe reasons as to why his setup with Sander wasn’t really working for him he states that it's Sander coming in and out of his life but we know from later on that that's not entirely true. Robbe very much goes in and out of Sander life just as frequently. I mean he will do it a few weeks after this scene occurs when he makes Sander drive to Brussels for sushi. Also interesting that the Luc flirting is occurring simultaneously as Robbe is reasoning to himself that his relationship with Sander needed a change. Conclude what you want from that. However, take in mind that at the end of Chap 3 you will come to realize Robbe is not a reliable narrator. He too has an agenda in this story and he isn’t always being fair or honest with himself or others.

Gonna do the last 2 memories of this chapter as a pt.2....

[rikacain]

careful of the curse that falls on your lover [1/?]

A very happy holidays to @ineverhadadoubt, who requested anything goes  an added preference for mutual pining, hurt/comfort, graphic violence being very welcome, fluff, and, if angst, angst with a happy ending  in the Benthan Xmas Exchange organised by @lady-johnlocked-moriarity. I apologise for the delay, because exams season, flu season and work emergencies all converged on Christmas and it’s been a hectic year.

There’ll be two or three more chapters to this, but for now please take the first chapter as my assurance that you definitely have a Christmas gift. I hope when you said anything goes, you like fantasy AUs.

Title from Howl by Florence + The Machine. Crossposted to Ao3.

It takes the entirety of five seconds.

The first, Benji's running after Ethan and the sorcerer they've been hunting for the past week. Nasty piece of work, that - born with magic powers and using them to curse normal folk for no other reason than because he could andbecause it's funny. It's not Benji's first time dealing with a sorcerer and not Ethan's either, but it's the first time they had to chase one into the forest. They usually prefer castles or some highly elevated monument; all the better to look down on the rest of the world with.

The second, he bursts into the clearing with one hand on his slingshot and the other on his sack of inscribed stones. Ethan's got the blighter pinned to the ground, but his hands are still glowing, still free, thumping away at Ethan’s back and leaving ashy handprints on the grey vest. Probably trying to leave a nasty burn to get Ethan off him, but Benji reckons it’s a task for even a sorcerer to conjure a flame or two if someone’s bearing their full weight down on you and hitting you back. Life’s hard like that.

The third, the sorcerer’s eyes widen when he spots Benji. Maybe he thought that he could have taken Ethan by himself, or maybe he thought that a one-on-one was more favorable odds compared to two-on-one - but it doesn’t matter. The fact is, his hands stop flickering orange and instead turns an ugly green, the color of rotting artichokes, and that’s not good. That’s not good -

The fourth - Benji’s opening his mouth, trying to warn Ethan, trying to shoutwatch out, trying to grab a stone out of his sack so he can hurl it at the sorcerer’s face. The sorcerer pulls his hands back, the intense concentration of energy blocking his fingers from view, and Ethan is quickly realizing that the sorcerer isn’t trying to make him into a bonfire anymore and is attempting something else -

The fifth. Benji watches as the sorcerer slams his hands onto Ethan’s chest, the energy latching onto and seeping into Ethan’s body at an alarming rate, watches as Ethan pulls out his knife at the exact same time and shoves it through the sorcerer’s heart. It's frankly only a preference to take bounty targets alive, to let the people do to them as they would according to the local laws and customs - but it’s also a necessity to kill their targets if their lives are in danger.

It’s a necessity now.

The sorcerer blinks slowly, before slumping away and onto the ground - but the damage is done. Benji rushes over to Ethan as he writhes on the ground, dark green tendrils wrapping around him and sinking into his skin, over and over again. Ethan moans, low and pained, and the magic should have dissipated with the sorcerer’s death, so why -so why-

A dying curse, Benji realizes, cold rushing through his body all at once.

“Ethan,” Benji says, dropping to his knees, because what form could this curse take? There are stories, stories he heard where a dying curse left a man to slowly petrify over the years, a woman to walk eastwards and never stop until she reached the sorcerer’s homeland to bear the news and consequences of their death, a child barred from physically leaving the village despite that being their dearest wish. He desperately wants to touch Ethan, wants to ground him through whatever happens next - but if the curse decides that Benji is an equally deserving target then he won’t be of any use. If he could be of any use. “Ethan, hold on, Luther’s on his way, Ethan - “

“Benji,” Ethan chokes out, his bright eyes feverishly finding Benji’s own. “Benji - “

He breaks off into a moan again, guttural and rasping, and turns away from Benji. It gives him a full view of the hair - no, fur, dark fur growing at an alarming rate on Ethan’s arm. Ethan moans again and the moan turns lower, rougher -

Like a growl.

There’s the sound of bones and cartilage cracking and snapping, and he watches in horror as Ethan turns back to him, mindless from the pain. There's nothing Benji can do as Ethan's face elongates, as his nails turn yellow and curved and as his legs shrink upwards at an unnatural angle, nothing he can say as Ethan's ears disappear into his skin, quickly covered under a coat of midnight fur. His clothes tear apart through the expansion of his torso, and the protusion of a tail, bushy and wild.

There's nothing human about the sounds Ethan's making, not anymore.

"Ethan," Benji says again, his voice cracking as he grabs onto Ethan, curse be damned. If they're going to be cursed then at least they're going to be wolves together, he thinks wildly - but miracle of miracles, the curse doesn't take Benji. He holds onto Ethan as his limbs crack themselves into their newly assigned places, as fur sprouts dark and thick all over Ethan's body, as Ethan snarls and snaps his teeth dangerously near to Benji's face.

"I'm here, Ethan," Benji repeats, hoping that Ethan can hear him, can understand him. He hopes the curse leaves him that much. "I'm here."

The green hue finally dissipates, dissolving into thin air - and Benji is left only with the cooling corpse of a sorcerer, the unconscious body of his friend-turned-wolf, and himself, all alone.

It takes only minutes for Will and Luther to reach the clearing. To Benji, it feels like an eternity.

He's gathered all of the belongings Ethan had on him, scattered across the clearing in the wake of his transformation. The clothes are beyond repair, but the hunting knife and his crossbow feature only the slightest of scuff marks from where they've been thrown. Benji cleans the knife, wiping it onto the unstained parts of the sorceror's robe, and wraps the weapons together with a piece of twine he had on him. He'll keep them for Ethan - he can have it back when they break the curse.

Luther would know what to do. He must have encountered dying curses and the ways to break them, in his time as an enchanter. This is what Benjj tells himself repeatedly, drowning out the voice at the back of his head, reminding him of all the curses that were never broken. That could not be broken.

He has nothing left to distract him from his crushing failure to do anything, so it’s nothing short of a relief when his friends finally steps into the clearing.

It becomes less of a relief when the paladin's hand goes straight to his pommel, unsheathing his sword.

“No,” Benji shouts as Will takes a step towards Ethan’s unconscious form, ready to defend Benji from what he perceived as a threat. He should have gone to meet Will before he got to the clearing; Ethan as a wolf is as huge as the ones up in the mountains, and appears to be no less dangerous. A sleeping wolf is no reason to feel safe - as the saying goes, the only good wolf is a dead one.

Will blinks at him in surprise. “Benji - "

“That’s Ethan,” Benji interrupts him. “The sorcerer, he - a dying curse -  - “

“On Ethan,” Luther repeats, lowering his elderwood staff and putting the flame gathering at its tip out. Bless Luther, who has become incredibly adept in deciphering Benji’s babbling. Will, however, does not put his sword down.  

“It’s Ethan,” Benji repeats again, because maybe Will was processing this but he needs Will to process faster. “Will, it’s Ethan.”

“I get it, Benji,” the paladin says not unkindly, readjusting his grip on his sword. “It was Ethan then. We don’t know if he’s still Ethan now.”

“Of course he’s still Ethan, I saw him turn.” Benji splutters, but Will looks at him without a word, and he understands, he does. Benji may have seen the transformation, but he doesn’t know whether it touched Ethan’s mind.

He doesn’t know what he’ll do if it touched Ethan’s mind.

"Luther," he says, beseeching.

"I'm afraid Will's right on this one," Luther says grimly. Luther, Ethan's friend when no one else was back when he was exiled from his land. "We'll have to see."

And perhaps this is why turning into an animal is a curse, Benji reflects hopelessly - because if Benji came into the clearing and saw a wolf, he would have turned tail and ran. When Will came into the clearing, he would have killed the wolf even if it was defenseless. With no way to communicate, and with your friends either fleeing or fighting you…

“Behind me, Benji,” Will says sharply.

He starts, only just realizing that the sound of rustling fur was coming from Ethan’s direction. Benji doesn’t want to leave nothing between Ethan and Will’s blade, but Will would be more likely to resort to more drastic measures if Benji doesn’t do as he say. Reluctantly, he steps behind the bulk of Will’s armor, shining dully in the evening light, and next to Luther, who's raised his staff again.

They all watch with bated breath, as Ethan rolls over and rouses himself, getting up slowly on all four legs. Fur rustles and ripples all over his body as he shakes, and his teeth show as he unhinges his jaw in a wide yawn. There's nothing human about the movements Ethan's making, nothing to convince Will to put down his sword.

"Ethan?" Benji finally calls out, because he'll rather know sooner than later. The wolf turns to face them, wary, and Benji feels Will tensing in front of him, ready to either defend or attack if Ethan decides to bare his fangs at them instead. "Ethan, buddy, it's us. It's Benji. You understand us, right?"

Ethan blinks at them, once, twice. There's a stillness as they both assess each other, humans and wolf, before finally, finally Ethan moves his snout up and down in what was most certainly a nod.

Will relaxes. He sheathes his sword in one fluid motion, after which Benji finds it safe to slap him lightly on his shoulderplate.

"I told you," Benji says, with no real heat behind his voice, and Will rolls his eyes good-naturedly back.

"Nasty curse you got hit with," he says to Ethan, his form of an apology.

"Dying curse too," Luther notes, nodding towards the sorcerer. "Always finding yourself in the worst of troubles."

Ethan jerks his head to the side in a motion Benji thinks might be a shrug - as best as a shrug might be when you lack the movement to shrug your shoulders with. There is an attempt at vocalisation of some kind, a series of huffs and aborted growls, and a sad howl that sounds more hilarious than terrifying.

"Looks like speaking's out of the question for you," Luther says, half amused. Will stifles a chuckle; Benji doesn't bother.

"We'll break the curse though," he reassures Ethan, who looks grumpy more than affronted with his drooped ears and upturned snout. "Luther, you know what to do right?"

"About that."

“You’re kidding."

"Eh." Luther drags a hand across his face, rubbing at his eyes. "What do you know of dying curses, you two."

"You need to appease the sorcerer's dying wish," Will says immediately. Benji supposes  that it made sense, somewhat - but the sorcerer's as dead as a doornail and Luther probably doesn't dabble in necromancy. Nothing against necromancers, of course - lovely lot, awfully helpful to their community. The dead acts less like a united army and more like people who just want to be with their loved ones again, after all.

"My mentor would be proud of that answer," Luther says. Will nods at Luther, serious and satisfied - but then Luther turns and says, "Benji?"

"Uh - " Dying curse, dying curse, why is he asking Benji - "A true love's kiss?"

"Bingo."

“What, you're serious?" Benji says incredulously. "How does that even work?"

“Dying curses is magic made vengeful. You either have to avenge it, or you have to prove you don’t deserve this vengeance.” Luther shrugs. “Best way to do that is to prove that you’re capable of being loved and loving others in return.”

“Isn’t that kind of too easy?”

“Is it really?” Luther fixes Benji with a stare. “If you got hit by a dying curse right now, and you need a true love’s kiss - who would you go to, Benji?”

Ethan, the thought immediately comes, unbidden, to the front of his mind. Benji flushes and looks away, because love is a term he doesn’t want to use when it comes to Ethan, not when Ethan doesn’t feel the same way about him. Not when Ethan has someone else.

Someone else, Benji realizes with a pang in his heart.

“Julia,” he blurts out. Will squints at him in surprise. “No, not for me - for Ethan.”

“Julia,” Luther muses. “Last I heard of her, she was up in the North. Some town called Mehad. That’s easily a month away.”

“Two,” Will interrupts. He nods at Ethan, who tilts his head in the universal expression of confusion. “He can’t take the portals looking like that. No boat’s going to take him either.”

“We can say he’s a really huge dog,” Benji suggests. Ethan snorts at him, and Benji shrugs back at him. “Or a really well-trained wolf."

“Up until some noble decides he looks better as a hunting trophy,” Will mutters darkly.

“Two months,” Luther affirms.

“Wait, what about Jane?” Benji asks.

They were supposed to make their way down to Canaan to rendezvous with her, before Ethan was turned into a wolf. Apparently there's an alchemy conference scheduled in a month’s time, and whenever there's an alchemy conference there are bound to be people inordinately interested in explosive materials of the non-academical kind. While the conference warrants its own mercenaries and guards as security, Jane must have found something to necessitate her request to bring Ethan and the rest of them in to help.

“We’ll have to tell her we can’t make it to the rendezvous,” Will says. “She’ll understand.”

“It’s Jane,” Benji shakes his head. “You know she doesn’t ask for help unless she really needs it.”

“What do you suggest we do then, bring Ethan there?” Will gestures at the wolf in question. "He’s going to stick out like a sore thumb, and he’s even less use to her as a wolf.”

Ethan stares balefully at Will, eyes wide and expressively sad. It looks remarkably like the expression Benji’s seen on his dog when he’s denied scraps from the table, and is also incredibly adorable - but he’s not going to tell Ethan either of that.

"No offense,” Will says belatedly, apparently not impervious to Ethan’s new-found power of puppy eyes.

“Gentlemen,” Luther says as the sole voice of reason within their group. “We’re four people, and we’re not bound to hold each other’s hands at all times. The obvious solution is to split up.”

“Split up,” Will repeats incredulously.

“Two hands to help Jane is better than none,” Luther points out. “And someone needs to be translator for Ethan, because as lovely as Julia is I don’t think she’ll take well to seeing a wolf show up on her doorstep.”

Benji’s torn - on one hand, he really wants to go with Ethan because it’s his fault Ethan’s turned into a wolf and for other reasons he’s trying not to look hard at. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to see Julia. Call him selfish, call him jealous - this is the fairytale ending for Ethan - a kiss from Julia, his true love, and Ethan would turn back into a man, proven worthy of love.

It’s the only ending, and Benji, as flawed as he is, hates that it is so.

“Right,” Will agrees. “Benji and I can go and meet Jane - “

“Actually,” Luther interrupts, “I’m thinking you and me go meet Ms. Carter, and Benji can bring Ethan up to Mehad.”

“Wait, why,” Benji splutters, because he swears that Luther knows of his feelings towards Ethan even if he’s never told him. Benji knows he’s terribly obvious at times, but as long as Ethan doesn’t notice it’s all fine and dandy. “Why not you? You know where Mehad is.”

“Because it doesn’t take magic for you to read a map,” Luther says patiently. “And it takes magic to recognize magic in a place full of alchemists.” His tone softens. “You’re bright at magic, Benji, but you’re still learning.”

I’ll be able to help Jane more, is what he’s saying, and Benji can’t really begrudge him that. Luther’s his kind-of mentor in the whole can-I-put-runes-on-this and yes-no-it’ll-be-better-if-you routine, and he’s right. Benji might have an aptitude for magic more than he ever thought he might have, but he’s no master.

As for Will, well. It may take magic to recognize magic, but it takes a paladin to recognize killing intent before the would-be assassins can get to their targets. Besides, with the history behind Will and Ethan and Julia, Will probably doesn’t want to meet Julia just yet. The blemish of an otherwise spotless record of successfully defending his wards probably isn't something you like to look at.

There’s something wet on his hand, and Benji realizes that Ethan’s pushing his snout into Benji’s hand, nudging him. He looks down at Ethan, who stares back at him questioningly.

He knows if he says no firmly enough, no one would push him to explain why, Ethan least of all. But he also knows that it’ll make Ethan wonder why Benji won’t go with him, and Ethan might think he had ever done something to upset Benji and beat himself up over it.

“Of course I’ll go with you,” he says to Ethan. “Better than sitting with dusty old academics any day.”

“It’s settled then.” Luther pokes at the dead sorcerer with his staff. The body rises and floats after Luther, bumping slightly into the trees. “I’ll bring him in and collect our bounty. You two'd best get a move on. We’ll meet you in two months, wherever Jane brings us.”

“Try to stick to the main routes if you can, but hiding Ethan comes first.” Will advises. “We’ll send a message ahead to Ruthen if anything comes up, so give us a check in when you reach there. Maybe Luther can get Julia to come down and save you both some time.”

“Ruthen, got it,” Benji nods. “Anything else?”

“Don’t forget to bundle up,” Will smiles wryly. “Safe travels.”

“Safe travels.” Benji watches Will trudge after Luther and out of sight, before looking at Ethan. “Well, buddy, looks like it’s just you and me now."

Ethan huffs at him.

“I have no idea what you said, buddy.” Benji says. He has the feeling he’ll learn by the end of the week. “After you."

They settle quickly on a mode of communication. Apparently moving his snout up and down is too taxing for a wolf - so a bark is taken as yes. Growls would be taken as no, or as a general warning. The sound of a wolf’s growl so close to him unnerves Benji more than not, and he considers it sufficient incentive to not do whatever he was doing for Ethan to say no.

Howling is for emergencies. Everything else is up to Benji’s interpretation. He supposes that if Ethan's truly desperate, he could scratch out whatever he needs on the ground with his claws.

The discussion takes them right up to the road leading into the next town, grassy meadows rustling in the night wind surrounding them on both sides. Benji stops when he sees the gates from a distance, made visible by the torches lit above. It would be nice to sleep in an inn, or to ask for shelter at one of the farmhouses in the distance, but he can’t bring Ethan into town and into the room with him.

Maybe with some sheep and a shepherd’s crook he could pass himself off as a shepherd with a terrifying sheepdog (more effective at herding sheep, he hears himself say) - but that means Ethan would have to sleep with the sheep and it’ll be more likely to slow them down than afford them the convenience of entering towns. Besides, the portals didn’t allow livestock - at least, not the public ones.

“We’re camping here,” Benji finally decides, only to be met by a low growl.

He frowns at Ethan, who gently but determinedly catches Benji’s sleeve in his mouth and tugs at it. Humoring the wolf, he follows the direction Ethan’s tugging him towards - the town.

“You can’t go in, pal,” Benji says. “I don’t think anyone would buy it if I tell them you’re a really huge dog."

Ethan growls again, shaking his head. He stares at Benji with what Benji can only describe as a determined look on his face, before staring off at the town - and repeats the action, again and again.

“Wait,” Benji says, because this is the very reason they set up their communication system. “You want me to go into the town?”

A bark.

“And you’ll come in with me?” A growl this time, so Benji changes tack. “You’re not coming in with me. You’ll sneak in after.” Another growl, another no. “You’re not coming in at all.”

Another bark, bingo. Benji rubs at the crease between his eyebrows.

"So you want me to stay in the town and you’ll stay out here?”

Ethan sits back onto his haunches and barks once.

“No,” Benji says. “I’m not sleeping in the inn and letting you stay outside here alone. Are you nuts? What happens if you need help?”

Ethan stares at him plainly, his tail moving slowly behind him.

“Right, you’re a wolf - even if you’re a wolf you might need help,” Benji tells him firmly. “Ethan, if you were in my position you wouldn’t let me sleep here alone either. I can take a month of sleeping on the ground."

Ethan growls again, but Benji thinks it sounds slightly half-hearted this time.

“I’m your friend, Ethan,” he sighs. “We’ve got to watch each other’s back, and I can’t do that from in there. We can sleep in all the inns when you turn back, alright?”

There’s an aborted huff - and he thinks that’s probably a laugh at their situation, where sleeping in a bed is a luxury instead of something that they usually do when in close proximity to an inn. They’re no stranger to hardship, with their travels across the land, but they don’t turn up their nose at comfort when there’s money to be spent.

“That’s that, then,” Benji says. There’s the remains of a campfire made by some travelers before them, so all they really need is some dry grass - of which there’s an abundant amount of. He shrugs his rucksack off his back and onto the ground, grabs the flint and his steel knife and sets to work trying to start a fire.

It looks so easy when Ethan does it, Benji thinks wistfully as he tries to shave the flint into the pile of rocks. His hands feel unsteady and the knife unwieldy, but he tries. Ethan watches him intently from the side, his ears pricked and tail swaying gently from side to side.

“You watch, I’ll be an expert by the end of this month,” Benji tells him, injecting false confidence into his words. Instead of a series of huffs like he expects, Ethan barks gently.

Somehow, it feels like Ethan telling him that you will. The thought warms him, and he turns his attention back to the flint. He wants to get this right.

Benji eventually gets a few sparks and finally a fire going. It’s small, and he has to constantly feed it with blades of dry grass, but he’s pretty proud of it. Ethan sniffs at the fire, looks up at Benji and barks twice - before sitting down next to it with a loud thump.

That’s probably approval, Benji thinks as he settles down next to the fire itself. He doesn’t think Ethan would outright tell him he’s doing a shite job at any rate.

“You’re taking being a wolf pretty well,” he comments idly as he sets his bag down and himself next to it. His rucksack would probably serve adequately as a rather hard and bumpy pillow, and his blanket of roughly woven linen would shield him against the wind. If he really wants to, he could gather some grass and leaves and make a makeshift bed - but with the moon inching slowly and steadily upwards into the sky, he doesn’t want to make the effort. “Thought you’d be more upset.”

Who was he kidding - Ethan, lose his cool? The sun would rather be swallowed whole by a lupine god before that would happen.

Ethan does that head-jerk again, which Benji is quite sure is a shrug.

“Don’t tell me,” Benji says. “You’ve been turned into a wolf before.”

The huffing may not tell much else from the laugh that Ethan’s having, but his eyes rolling is a universal indicator of the truth.

“Hm, then you were raised by a wolf,” Benji guesses, even if he knows fully well which house and which land Ethan hails from - an illustrious lineage with generations before him serving as Masters of the Hunt to their king. He’s fairly sure Ethan has a claim to the throne in some indirect way, if he ever fancies ruling. He doubts Ethan ever will.

Ethan huffs even more as if he’s saying, do I look like Romulus to you?

“Oh - I’ve got it,” Benji says. “You were actually a wolf who got cursed into a man - and now you got cursed back into a wolf. What serendipity. What a miracle. You’ve journeyed so far for a way back to the wild, only to have it delivered by some snot-nosed sorcerer.  Amazing.”

The huffs become interspersed with bouts of hacking and coughing, but Ethan doesn’t seem to be in too much pain. Benji politely waits for the coughs to subside and Ethan to stare balefully at him.

“So which one is it,” Benji grins at him, because Ethan is Ethan whether he is a man or a wolf, and Benji’s not going to get his face chewed off if he teases him. “You didn’t say yes or no.”

A snort, this time. Ethan gets up, turns around and curls up next to the fire, putting his head down and closing his eyes.

“Fine, fine,” Benji says, settling down and drawing his own blanket over him. “Good night, Ethan.”

Ethan cracks open one eye, flicks his ears, and closes them again. There’s a noise that sounds less like a growl and more like a rumble, which Benji takes to mean good night, Benji. He watches the rhythm of Ethan's breathing slow into a steady rise and fall of a slumbering wolf, the light of the crackling fire casting an orange hue over the mass of fur, before rolling over to stare up at the night sky.

They’ll be fine. Two months would go by quickly if they don’t run into any situation where someone requires help from a man and a wolf. They’ll meet up with Julia, Benji will explain what happened, and then step outside to let Julia kiss Ethan. Then Ethan would be a man again, and they’d head back down south to meet up with Luther and the rest, and things would go on as normal - Ethan brilliant and beautiful and Benji pining after him in the shadows.

He could try kissing Ethan now while he’s asleep and unaware, his traitorous heart whispers - and maybe Ethan would turn back into a man now, and they’d save so much time. He knows he loves Ethan, and he’ll know that Ethan loves him back. Practically a fantasy come true, validated by magic and its recognition of the innate essence of the people it touches. Benji would be so incredibly happy.

But if Ethan remains a wolf...

Benji doesn’t think his heart could take that. The risk is too great for him to bear.

So he continues looking up at the constellations, the brilliance of their stars far closer to Benji than Ethan ever would be, and falls asleep to passing notions of his lips hovering only slightly above Ethan’s forehead, never to touch them.

[aspiestvmusings]

More quintis headcanons for when they're finally parents!

Hi, anon. 

Thank you for your submission, But Im a bit confused here. 

Did you  mean to send this message to this blog or some other blog? 

Cause the “more headcanons, please” confuses me, as I’ve not made any actual “Quintis (baby/family) headcanons” posts… At least not recently.

I have “wish lists” and “theories” and other kind of posts in the past that I have posted, where I share my thoughts on what I want the story to do for the Quintis baby storyline, and all that, but…  

I’m sorry…I’m confused right now about what you mean by your ask. I truly think you meant so send it to someone else. ?

As for posting more headcanons or wishes for the BABY QUINTIS plot… I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I’m not comfortable posting something unfinished, and as you’ve probably noticed this blog basically has no original content this year… so I do not think there will be much more besides the weekly “quintis moments” vids coming. Maybe I’ll write something before the finale, maybe not. 

I would like to ask anyone reading this to make their own post on this, and let’s tag it all the same way #BabyQuintis #QuitnisBaby #QuintisHeadcanons so they’d be easy to fid!

My Headcanons: 

Quintis Baby gender: Girl…with a slight chance of boy (I’ll decide after I watch 418 & 422)

Quintis Baby “neurotype”: genius… with a sligh chance of normal 

Quintis Baby name: Grace or Alex …with  a slight chance of other names 

Quintis Baby looks: asian/half-asian 

Quintis Baby origins: bio, bio with help from science/med, non-bio? #youknowtheanswer the only thing I’ll say about this is: if a bio kid will happen now, then adoption later/end of the series & vice versa: if an adoption will happen now, then a bio kid later/end of the series. That is my guess. 

Quintis Baby arrival time: season 5 (depending on possible timejumps & use of time and how things work… in a realitic/non realitic way…etc…): Nov sweeps, Xmas ep, Feb sweeps, S5 Finale (TV characters, whose pregnancy is revealed in season fianle, often give birth in the next season finale..having an impossible 52+ week pregnancy)

Quintis as parents: Happy will be the more serious mom, who’ll teach their kid to fix cars & Toby’ll be the more fun dad, who’ll play silly princess tea party games with their kid. 

Team Scorpion & Quintis Baby: it takes a village/Team Scorpion to raise a Quintis Baby! 

Quintis in S4: What I do love about it that though they’ve now added the infertility to the list…there has been no hint at Happy wanting a kid with 50% her and 50% not-Toby genes. It’s all or nothing for her…. that was made clear at the end of 416 already/again. And I also love that Toby is 100% supportive of her, and her decisions… regarding their future kid. I kinda think he actually had read her mind… a bit… during the 403 end scene… and he knew/knows what she wants (even before she speaks the words)… so despite how the scene might look… I think he was waiting for her to say… all …that… and we might be lucky and hear him reveal…in a future scene… that he actually knew all along…and just waited for her to be the one to start the conversation. #ImBeingCryptic

INSTEAD OF “HEADCANONS”, I HAVE A RANT, SPOILERY RANT: 

I have had many wishes for the QUINTIS FAMILY PLOT #BabyQuintis #QuintisBaby (that I have shared in my many past post regarding this storyline) and I love that it does look as if we’ll get to meet the newest, smallest TeamScorpion member in S5/next year and I love that we & Happy/Quintis get their forever dream/wish granted, but… I also have major issues with the shows handling of the plot (this has been going on since mid-S2, ep 2x13…basically..with season 2B hinting at the coming plot, then the S3 Cd-baby plot, and the ongoing S4 actual road to their family of more than two. And though we only have time for “it’s gonna happen” news this season… with meeting the kid having to wait til next season… we’re close now.) because they’ve used so many not good tropes on the way...

But despite how much I’ve wanted this plot, I must stand by my words, and say I still think the same way as I did in S2, and early S3…when I first posted my thoughts on the storyline and plot idea and all that. And despite loving many things about the plot (how, etc), I also have huge issues with it. And certain things about it. (about how some things were done). And I cannot say yet what exactly, cause that’d give away details about what happens in 418…and the eps after that. (meaning: how exactly this plot is resolved...after all this time)

Most importantly: this show is like any other network show… not brave. (I do not know if the “stalling” decision came from the studio, network, or writers/creative team, but whoever decided that it’s too soon in S3, because “babies mean end of crime shows” is the opposite of brave. #IveDetectedaWimp 

Because as much as that plot was amazing (S3: Happy’s journey to becoming a mom & S4: Toby’s journey to becoming a dad), and needed for Happy’s EQ development & for more..., then to use every single “bump on the road” to their desire for a family… doesn’t make a good story IMO. Too many cry-stories (mom died at childbirth, horrible childhood years with no parents/absent parents, false-positive and “losing the bay that never was”, decision to have a baby…with no continuity -- mention of the S3 emotional experiences, their/teams financial situation, the different options, the prep for this step) and worrying after just a few unseccuful months of trying, to fertility issues, and IVF treatment ... with yet another case almost ruining the important day of the procedure)… 

Just like the shows dedication to follow through with Paige’s/Ralphs Pilot-ep created rule “Scorpion saves everyone” makes the cases boring, and predictable, and not interesing to follow (cause it’s too predictable, too network TV style checking all the boxes, and following the same structure too much)... it’s same with this plot...for me.

And we all just know that either the 1st try won’t work and/or there’ll be pregnancy and/or birth complications, and/or issues with the babies health. Cause somehow there is a need to use every single plot idea for this. And that’s an issue with TV.. they try to do too many things (instead of using just some of the ideas/roadblocks...but make it good)…all at once…and there’s not enough time for all the plots, and most of the ideas get dropped/not finished properly…and same with this plot… and so…as much as I love it…and that it’s happening… it’s not that great. 

I can now say: I have issues with it (yes, I know how it ends/how it is resolved… though I don’t know what’s waiting in s5...still) Even with the happy ending..that was obvious… I’m not giving a “A+” grade for the plot as a whole. For each individual ep/part of the plot… yeah…but not to it as a whole. It’s finally time for everything I wanted..from the start (and it kinda feels like reading fanfic… cause I’m certain I’ve read the same scene in some fic…almost word-to-word…) & I can’t believe it’s gonna be canon..soon, but… I honestly can say that I didn’t really want it like this… 

I’ll end with a quote from Toby/the show: “We love each other. We’re gonna have a family. You’re gonna wait outside a school and you’re gonna build a crib and you’re gonna share tools with whatever baby is lucky enough to have you as their mom. It’ll happen when the time is right. It is gonna happen.“ - Toby to Happy, Scorpion 3x07 Quintis end scenes #itishappening