#rotating the gay little band around in my brain

[sunbratz]

ok google: how to make friends in a fandom for an underrated show thats been off air for 10 years

[prince-of-moths]

For the fanfic writer ask game: 🎁🦋🍬?

🦋: I was gonna say Sun but looking at my FNAF wips I write Moon a lot more... I think I just smell angst and go a runin

🍬: I haven't actually uploaded all of my fics, but I have written for FNAF, voltron, Minecraft, DHMIS, and Stardew valley. As for favs I think FNAFs would be the merm fic, I had a good vld fic revolving around Lance going under a sort of curse that transfered his consciousness to a cat, Minecraft and DHMIS technically only have one fic a piece (hello mc ocs, you are in hell. Don't hug me is just a in depth snip of Yellow digging up Ducks grave). Stardew has a few but I have a sort of apocalypse werewolf fic I keep rotating in my brain lmao

🎁: less of a wip more of a drabble, but fresh off the grill I present: Classic ball before a heist scene but with a disaster party two of which keep saying they hate each other but insist on playing what can only be described as gay chicken! No warnings apply, just a lot of dancing and a mild innuendo. Enjoy!

Moon was stronger than he looked- well he had to be to be frank or else a baby could overtake him. It lended well to dancing though, even if he did use his lead to twist you this way and that.

“Arch your back more.” He murmured, a finger lightly trailing up your spine as he leaned you over him. You leaned closer to get away from the ticklish sensation, allowing him to dip you. He spun you out before you could think to “accidentally” step on his foot.

“Stop showing off.” You hissed, trying not to flush and chicken away as his face stayed close to your own.

“It’s working isn’t it?” He was right, anyone not making goo-goo eyes at their dance partner was focused on you, including the mark. The music slowed down and a few watchers gave some light courtesy claps as you bowed, moving close to the hors d'oeuvres table with a slow steady walk. You didn’t look back, but you could hear the mark pushing through the crowd. He slowed as you turned to lean against the pillar, briefly mourning the loss of your portion of rich people snacks.

“May I have a dance?” You did your best “oh me? Oh wow!” smile and nod, letting him drag you to the center of the dance floor. You saw him motion to the band- likely a demand to play the only song he could confidently dance to- before you were pressed against his starchy suit.

“I feel like I’ve seen you from somewhere…” He led, steps ever so slightly off the beat.

“Hmm, doubtful. I’m from across the mountains, and I’m fairly certain if I had met you before I would remember.”

“What takes you and your… companion to this side then?” You trailed a leg to slow the spin, giving enough leeway that he was back on beat when you returned.

“Sightseeing.” You sighed, glancing around at the tapestries on the walls. “I grew bored of the views at my estate.” He raised a brow, a hopeful glint in his eye.

“Yours? Then I suppose the automaton is…”

“As you said, merely companionship. He’s nice to have around.” He laughed at this.

“I suppose it dances well, but they haven’t the first clue how to be a man.” His grin grew as you dipped, held there for slightly too long that it bordered on cramping.

“And I suppose…” Your fingers curled into the edge of his vest, using his intent focus on your lips to curl a finger into the hidden pocket. “You do?” He swallowed as he pulled you up, stumbling lightly over the familiar steps. Bingo. He straightened with false confidence as you asked about his many estates, giving you enough leeway to tuck the keys into one of your many fancy little pockets. They were the only good part about these stuffy dress codes. His breath smelt like overpriced cigars and foreign cologne, by the time you allowed him to kiss your hand and step off your eyes were near watering. You took a few steps towards the snack table again- you were going to eat your weight in crab rangoons you swore- but this time Sun stepped in front of your path. He took one of your hands before you could palm the keys, bowing politely before asking for a dance. Again pulled away from the comforting corners you were pulled onto the now nearing dirty floor. This one was a bit slower than the others, allowing Sun to lead you without the jerky spins and dips that Moon’s dance required.

“You know I could’ve just handed it to you.” You murmured, letting him sway you to the strings.

“Mm, didn’t want anyone to see. They’re all still looking at you y'know.” He let you step away, eyes soft as they drifted over your outfit.

“Can’t say I blame them.” He seemed to get even closer, your hand nearly trapped between your chest and his own. You were starting to dare to think they might be more than just good liars.

“There’s a pocket in my waistcoat.” He reminded you softly, giving you enough time to struggle and slip the golden key from its ring. The material of his white and golden suit were softer than the marks, well worn in a way none of his clothes would ever get to be. You gave him a little nod with your bow, letting out a breath you hadn’t noticed you were holding. A light chime went off over the speakers.

“Esteemed guests, please make your way to the gardens for our Saturnalia feast.” You didn’t have time to spare Sun a glance as the mark- seriously you needed to catch his name before he got too familiar- took you by the waist and moved up the stairs. You merely bit your tongue and thought of the pile of gold that would be lining your pockets soon. Gold could buy many crab rangoons, but just to be safe you would eat a few at the dinner table. Or more than a few, if he was as in your lap as he seemed he probably wouldn’t give two thoughts to your other hand stuffing bread into your many many pockets.

[sunevial]

Moving Day

This is once again another case of ‘not exactly a commission, but someone chucking money at me to eventually write about space and magic gays’, except this time, it’s from @hewhowalksbehind. 

Continuation of this.

---

Of all the things Venny missed most about Ylxret at nine thirty in the goddamn morning, it was automated coffee makers. Blearily pouring water down the little spout and pushing entirely too many shiny buttons, she eventually got the machine to start blinking. With a grumble, she slotted a floral patterned mug under the funnel and slumped against the counter. 

Water was boiling, oatmeal was in the new saucepan, spoon was in the sink, bowls were…

She forgot to buy bowls. 

Fuck a duck. 

Groaning, she pressed her hands to her eyes and let out a long sigh. After a shopping trip that must’ve lasted an eternity, she had been running on fumes by the time she had a chance to pass out last night, but apparently even that wasn’t enough to calm her adrenaline addled brain. Her best guess was that she hadn’t fallen asleep until three, and even that was a generous estimate. To add insult to injury, her first night in her new apartment was plagued by restless dreams, fitful tossing and turning, and a blanket that was neither warm or cool enough.

At least the air mattress was comfortable. 

The air mattress was comfortable, and her new plush corgi was cuddly.

A steady drip of liquid gold splashed into the mug, the warm coffee revealing heat activated yellow and white circuitry lines weaving through the painted-on flowers. Not even bothering with milk or sugar, she downed the coffee fast enough to get away with only minor tongue burns and shoveled down instant oatmeal straight from the pot. Throwing both into the sink to wash up later, she scrambled into the shower just long enough to wash off yesterday’s sweat and rub away the smell of what felt like seven layers of deodorant. A fresh change of clothes later, a practical t-shirt and legging combo, and she felt half-way to being a functioning person again.

Which was really convenient considering that things would start arriving in approximately now.

Grabbing both wallet and keys, she quietly slipped out of her room and padded downstairs to the front lobby. Today was Internet access, a ‘do it yourself’ table and chair set, and the cushions for her couch. The couch itself was tomorrow, along with the bedframe and mattress, and the nightstand and dresser wouldn’t be for another week yet. Thankfully, unlike her very much not present bowls, she had remembered to buy a toolkit, so at the very least she would have somewhere else to sit by the end of today.

A quick peek outside confirmed that the Internet people hadn’t arrived yet, so Venny plopped down on one of the lobby couches and quickly scanned for any available wireless hotspots. It would’ve been laughably easy to tap into a password protected connection with a couple waves of her hand, but she knew better than to bum off someone. It was also probably very illegal. 

Eventually, she got ahold of a weak signal from the coffee shop next door, and her com link lit up with a happy beep. Her eyes flashed back and forth as she redirected the electrical signals within the device, ensuring that this much weaker and simpler form of wireless communication would end up being compatible. When she was fairly certain that it wouldn’t be running at a snail’s pace, she pulled and weaved the software code until the screen lit up and the holoprojector displayed a rotating band of images. Smiling triumphantly, she tapped on her email, she still had a hard time believing Toven still used email, and sifted through the various messages she had gotten over the past day or so.

Confirmation from her Internet provider, spam, start day and paperwork for work, coupon for shampoo, more spam…updated delivery day for her larger furniture?

“Due to upgrades in processing time, your order will instead be delivered today around ten AM, we hope to see you then,” she muttered under her breath, suppressing a loud groan and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. On the one hand, she’d have an actual bed by the end of the day if everything went right. On the other hand, this was one more group of people to talk with and one more group of things to do, and she was not convinced that all of the coffee in the world would make either of those things easier. Not much she could reasonably do about that, though, because her damn couch was coming whether she was awake enough to realize it or not. 

Whatever happened next didn’t seem to follow the proper passage of time. Sometimes it moved breathtakingly fast, other times painstakingly slow. All Venny could register through her brain-addled eyes was a never ending blur of paper signing, hauling packages, and telling people she had never met to put things down wherever they could find open space. By the time the last person was out of her apartment, and she could actually gauge the passage of time, it was exactly eleven twenty-four in the morning. She collapsed onto one of the new cushions, a nice olive green that she definitely didn’t remember picking out, and got to thinking.

Assets: She had Internet access that wasn’t siphoned off the coffeeshop.

Consequences: Her apartment was no longer able to accommodate carpet angels. 

Priority one: Bed needed to be set up. She’d like an actual bed.

Priority two: Get the couch out of the center of the living room.

Priority three: Actually build the table so she could eat without standing up.

Problem: She had the energy to do maybe half of the bed set up. 

Slowly getting back onto her feet, she shuffled towards the bedroom, though not before noticing her front door still propped wide open from all of the deliveries. She went to close it, getting about halfway there before the door across the hall opened, revealing Sol’s relatively incredulous face. 

“Morning,” she said, leaning against the doorframe and stifling a yawn. “Lot of noise over there for a weekend morning.”

“That makes two of us,” Venny replied, trying to put on as apologetic an expression as she could muster. “I didn’t wake either of you up, did I?”

She shook her head, lavender curls bouncing a little. “Nah, I’ve been up for a bit, and Clarissa could sleep through a hurricane if you let her.”

“Still gonna apologize,” Venny said, breathing a sigh of relief and laughing a touch. “You know, I didn’t think most furniture places delivered on weekends.”

“Learn something new everyday.” Her eyes glanced towards Venny’s now incredibly messy apartment for a moment. “You settling in okay?”

Venny chuckled, tapping the ground absentmindedly with a foot. Well, she could answer truthfully, she could answer in the socially acceptable way, or she could split it down the middle and hope for the best. “I think so, just need to get used to...all of this.”

“It’s not easy moving somewhere new, even harder when you’re all alone,” Sol said with a sympathetic smile, nodding her head and crossing her arms over her chest. “If you need help getting set up, I’m not really doing anything today.”

Venny blinked a couple of times, shaking her head even as every fiber of her being was saying ‘take up the offer’. As much as she’d love another pair of hands helping out, she’d already taken up enough of Sol’s time between the reading interruption and the grocery care package. Best not to take advantage of her kindness this many times in such a short period of time. Or maybe Sol didn’t care, that she just actually wanted to help and didn’t resent her for it, and this was just a combination of sleep deprivation and anxiety talking. Maybe it was both. It was probably both. “I think I’ve got it handled,” she replied, twirling a twist between her fingers. “Thanks for the offer though.”

All she got in return was an incredulously raised eyebrow.

“Or maybe I’m saying that because I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness again and seem really needy in a time of upheaval and stress,” Venny said with a defeated sigh.

“I wouldn’t be offering it if I didn’t wanna help.” Sol smirked just a touch. “I know my boundaries better than that.”

Venny could physically feel the tension in her muscles drain away as she slumped against her own door frame. “I promise I’m not this pathetic all of the time.”

“You said it yourself, a lot of upheaval and stress, and from what it sounds like, absolutely no sleep either,” she replied with a shrug, popping back into her own apartment long enough to grab her keys and phone. “Alright, where are we starting?”

 “Bedroom, cause I need a bed.”

The two of them quickly made their way to the chaotic bedroom, surveying the bed frame in its various parts and the mattress propped up against the window. Cracking open the new tool box, Sol set to work screwing everything into place while Venny sorted through a veritable hoard of metal rods and support beams. While she had no reason to doubt that Sol could wield a hammer and screwdriver, watching her work was, in a word, beautiful. Sol took to the various tools with a clear familiarity, handling them with delicacy and certainty as she aligned the wooden frame. Venny knew nothing about art, but she knew an artist’s touch.

“You’re pretty good at this,” Venny said, holding a level against the wood to see if any holes needed a quick re-drill or if something had been screwed in the wrong place.

“I’d hope so, I make things for a living,” Sol replied, wiping a little sweat off her brow.

“What kind of things?”

Sol returned with a playful smile. “You get three guesses.”

She allowed thirty seconds to come up with her answers, no small feat with how slow her brain was chugging along. “Artisanal woodworking.”

“Nope.”

“Artisanal metalworking.”

“Nope.”

“Designing prototypes for this exact style of bed frame,” Venny said with a shit eating grin that was probably more of a result of her being half way to slap happy. 

Sol rolled her eyes, closing one as she carefully twisted the last screw into place. “Okay, I’ll admit, second one was closer.”

“So what is it?”

“You’re not gonna believe me,” Sol said flatly, tapping the frame twice for good measure.

Venny pouted, planting her elbows on the footboard and resting her chin on her fists. “Come on, it can’t be that out there.”

“I promise I’m not joking.”

“You could say you build rocket ships and I’m so tired I’d believe you.”

Sol paused for almost ten full seconds. “Funny you mention that…”

“Get out, you make spaceships?” Venny’s head poked over the frame with eyes wide and excitement clear as day on her lips. “You’re with the Wisteria Space Program?”

“Technically I’m in the rocketry department, not the spaceship program, but same idea,” Sol said with a shrug, jumping to her feet and whistling. Similar to yesterday, the wind kicked up, swirling around the room almost as if it was having fun. The mattress slowly but surely floated off the ground, providing just enough lift for the two of them to set it on the frame without straining muscles or having to worry about wingspans. 

“Still, that’s so cool,” Venny continued, grabbing the sheets off of her air mattress and throwing them onto the bed. “I don’t even think I know anyone back home who does that. What do you even do there?”

Sol laughed, grabbing the sheet and stretching it over a corner. “I’d tell you, but that’s classified.”

“Is that a joke or is that actually classified?”

“‘I might actually get arrested for treason’ classified,” Sol said in a completely serious deadpan.

“Anything you can tell me?” Venny asked, head tilted as her hands quickly smoothed out her blue and white comforter over the bed.

Sol thought for a full minute, arranging pillows and plushies absentmindedly as she paced around the small room. The wind followed her, catching her shirt and blowing it in every direction imaginable, almost as if it was thinking alongside her. “Physics. Lots of physics.”

“Dang.”

A knock sounded at the door, and for the second day in a row, Venny opened it to find Clarissa standing there with a large smile on her face. She had no gifts in hand this time around, but she was scrolling through her phone. “Sol texted me she was here helping out, you done stealing my roommate? I need her for something of vital importance.”

“I offered,” Sol called as she emerged from the bedroom.

“She still stole you!” Clarissa shouted back, though with a laugh and smile on her face. 

Venny returned with a grin of her own. “We should be done pretty soon. Though if it’s really that important, I can take care of the rest.”

“It’s not important, she’s just trying to get me to set up a dating app,” Sol said with a sigh and an accusatory finger. “Because my roommate is a nosy bitch who insists on setting me up with every girl she happens to meet.”

“It’s not every girl.” Clarissa huffed indignantly.

Sol’s face told a much different story with how frustrated those eyebrows looked. “You’ve specifically set me up with three of your exes, a girl from your class, and the florist down the street.”

“All I’m saying is that she’s got a great personality and an even better ass.”

“Then why don’t you ask her out?!” Sol exclaimed, throwing up her hands.

“Because I’m already seeing two people!”

It might have just been Venny’s ears, but she swore she heard laughing from somewhere else in the apartment. 

“Alright, alright, you can have your roommate back,” Venny said, holding back a belly laugh as best as she could. Never in her life had she’d been so grateful to hear two women loudly arguing about female love interests. Her family had been concerned with her moving to Toven, knowing that not every place was as accepting of non-heterosexual identities as Ylxret. New Haven had a better track record than most, though, and conditions were certainly getting better as time went on. If nothing else, seeing her two neighbors argue about sapphic love affairs in the hallway was a good indicator that she had nothing to worry about here. “Hope the app set up goes well.” 

“I’m not setting up the app,” Sol declared with a flat tone, going over to the boxed up table and cutting away tape like a woman scorned. “I’ll get a date on my own damn time.”

“I mean, if you’re looking for someone else to add to the list, I’m into women,” Venny joked, smiling at Clarissa. She watched the pink haired woman’s eyes light up, and hastily threw up her hands. “Not that I’m looking for a relationship, I’ve just moved and I think that might’ve been me not having normal social barriers up due to lack of sleep.”

Sol audibly groaned in the background. “Damn it, you’ve given her ideas.”

“Well that’s even better! You’re new in town and need to see the sights, and I know a great little place Sol could take you for lunch,” Clarissa said, pulling out her phone and rapidly texting. “I’m sending you the directions now.”

Venny blinked a couple of times, finally just realizing the full ramifications of what she had just done. At least she knew now never to open her mouth when she was this sleep deprived, or at least, not do so when possible romantic relationships were involved. Feeling the heat rapidly rising to her face, she shot a glance to Sol, desperately trying to find a way out of this increasingly awkward situation. 

With a sigh, Sol pulled out her phone and rubbed her temples. “I’m really sorry about this.”

“Don’t be, it’s my fault,” Venny said, smiling sheepishly. “I’m really not in the place to be thinking about that anyways.”

“Then think of it like a friendly social,” Clarissa said with a large, not at all innocent smile, eyes darting first to Venny. “You need to meet people-” Her eyes flashed towards her roommate. “-and you need to get out more. Win-win situation!”

Sol’s eyes narrowed in challenge. “Clarissa-”

“Venny, what do you think?” she asked, smiling wide and oh so sweet. So this was a game for them both, a sort of give and take war between them, and this is the moment where she was supposed to choose a side. Her next move decided the winner of this match between these two equally stubborn individuals. 

She was already on the edge of the diving board, might as well take the jump.

“What’s the food like?” Venny asked, putting on her best innocent smile. 

Sol sighed in defeat, grumbling and pulling out her phone. “Stir fry and dumplings. Let me know when you’re free.”

Clarissa grinned with a smile that could split the sea. “It’s a date!”

[shadowdianne]

I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AM SO FUCKING EXCITED. YOU DID IT!!! SDIKFGDSAFKJSA LOOK AT THEM BEING SO PRETTY AND STUPID. I LOVE Valanthe by tw, sexy gay vampire is so done (like me bb, i got you) and i really really whant to know more about mini Cassandra and Argia...but but but what about my other idea? do you like it? will you pretty please write it for lil old me? I know i'm your fave, don't listen to the other one, he aint sht _ Love, T

Hello there T. You see, there’s something that you should know about me; I hoard stories and ideas like a dragon Xd Peeps here can back me up on this. I liked your idea, a LOT, but for that one to happen I still need to smooth a few things before getting to it canon-wise with what is happening and will happen on the story. I’ll do it tho, no fret, but, for now, I was talking to M the other day with some details regarding Freya that made me go: uhm, maybe I can write something out of this. And since last time I wrote for H I thought… why not. Let’s keep the chaos going :P

So, I truly hope you like this. Which is not what you asked but, oh well, I’m a troll Xd

Ah, I’m working under the impression that M sent you or at least talked about both her ring and how did it feel for Freya to feel them all die. If she hasn’t, let me know and I’ll share that one with you.

PS: Love ya, don’t hesitate on coming to scream at me. You really make my day.

PS2: Dan, I’m so sorry Xd

-.-

She couldn’t quite place what had woken her up, mid-nightmare and a dull pain at her side, just where one of the galaxies she has made it her own, painted over her body, emitted a soft glow that bled through her fingers as she checked on it. She only could remember her own voice as she had gasped and stumbled while she freed herself from the sheets that covered her body, memories of the distant sound of cawing crows shadowing her thoughts as she had glanced at her side, recognizing not only the room but the person that rested next to her, naked form covered, fingers splayed millimeters away from where her hand had been up until a second ago.

Her thoughts had been sluggish, her breathing erratic, but she had managed to pull the strength to move to the window, just below the lover’s seat that spread from it. Muscles sore from spams she didn’t quite remember having, she grabbed one of the smaller cushions the seat had and covered enough of herself as she looked beyond the titillating lights of the city below.

It had been some time, she had thought as she grazed her side once more, flinching as if expecting for blood to pour even if the skin was as flawless as the skin of an adventurer could be since she last had a nightmare so real it had almost felt as if true. She had had them, of course, every other night after the first time, when she had considered them all dead, gloom, and twisted sorrow clouding her every step. As years passed, the nightmares and visions hadn’t become softer, but she had known when they would come if they did happen to attack her while awake.

Unless it came from combat. Unless it came from memories she couldn’t quite bottle and throw away.

She was not egocentric enough to believe herself above such nightmares now and yet, as she kept on looking at the mountains, the snow that could be glimpsed in lighter grays than the rest of the rocks that guarded the valley that led up to Whitestone, she pushed the very tip of her tongue against the velum, trying to get her heartbeat to slow down once again as snores kept on creeping from her companion.

Cassie had tended to have deep sleep when she had been younger only to transform into a lighter type of one later on in life. Now, however, as they kept on trying and trading as softly as possible into something neither of them could have ever expected to happen, that ability to wake up with the mere change of air pressure, was gone and Freya knew how much the human actually needed to rest. If it weren’t for those moments, those in where the brunette got to relax, the half-elf doubted Cassie would ever keep her sanity for much longer. Plenty of things to decide, plenty more to get right for not only herself but the town itself and what laid beyond.

She had always hated, and looked with contempt, the chains her title had meant back home, and she could feel the restlessness on Cassie’s own brow. They both needed the other, balance the everyday decisions so they didn’t feel as threatening as one direct blow against one’s lungs would mean back in battle. And, sadly, they both knew what that actually felt like. And, there was the fact that they worked well together, the companionship, the inner and outer moments in where Freya eyed Cassie and knew herself safe.

Freya sighed once more while rising her free hand and glanced at the ring that was fastened around her middle finger through the contraption the silver chain usually at her neck -now hot to the touch- managed to create. The sigils written around the band of the ring itself glowed faintly as she eyed them, the magic within the metal soft and quiet in the middle of the night. Unscrewing the chain that hugged her wrist, she saw each link of the metal dissolve and reform while, in a practiced movement, she let the ring fall from her finger as she opened it, the different bands that hugged the main one opening and creating the astrolabe she had gotten to love.

The ring fell a few inches, still secured by the now reformed chain on her wrist, the metal sizzling as she moved it until it hit the moonlight that, as pale as silver, tinted the edges of the window’s glass. Pain still irradiating from her body, she focused on the rings of metal as she forced her breathing to even out with each spin the now dangling ring created, the sound of Cassie’s breathing another one she focused herself on while she tried to keep her mind trained on every other aspect that wasn’t the wound that should have been hers to bear.

It was difficult, she thought, hair falling around her face, devoid of her usual braids, its tips tickling her naked shoulders, to relinquish to the usual self-deprecating point of view in where she blamed herself for the death of those who now rested a few stories below, under the castle’s gallows. She had come to enjoy, to love, the moments she now had, she had created, beyond the loss and fear those very moments had once built on her heart, but there were still points of quiet darkness that made her swallow as she felt a spike on her heart, a tremor she tried to calm down as the ring spun quicker and quicker with each passing second.

She could have been better, she should…

The pain on her side started to become stronger once more, her breathing labored, cold kissing her skin as heat began to radiate from her neck, choking her in the meantime. She couldn’t quite speak now, anxious anger clouding her mind. She heard her name being called, however, at the very back of her brain in an almost sleep-like tone that turned more urgent as she was called once again. Cassie’s scent, familiar now in a way that made her focus on its very sweetness, enveloped her while the brunette came into her vision field, face masked by shadows as the woman approached her, hands up, fingers circling the point in where her veins met with her wrist.

They had talked about this, about the nightmares, about the anger and loss and defeat. Cassie’s own screams similar in form whenever those hit. Yet there was always the point of exposure that made Freya want to react against it as she had done with Jericho and Ireena so many times before. Cassie, however, white and brown locks mixing in patterns Freya’s frozen eyes focused on as her breathing grew ragged,  didn’t step down and, silently, she nodded at her with the cobwebs of sleep disappearing from her eyes the longer they kept at being half-seated at the lover’s seat, the ring between them, spinning, spinning, halting.

“The tree is glowing so strong that even I can see it.” Cassie’s voice was almost conversational as if she was expecting Freya to comment on it, and the half-elf emitted a soft laugh that didn’t quite reach beyond the back of her throat. The human’s lips, however, curved and she moved her fingers up, closer now to Freya’s inner part of the elbow, as she pressed in and out of her skin. Subconsciously, Freya started to match her breathing to the movement, remembering when she had pulled a similar trick back when she had been Argia, as Cassie protested of how she felt seasick on the little boat the half-elf had managed to get for them all. Mind still cloudy, she focused on the words, on how Cassie began to describe the vein-like patterns of the tree as the mountain breeze rattled the window’s glass, as the rugged feel of the cushion on her upper thighs grounded her. What had it been what she had told Cassie then? Something about pressure points.

Time lost its meaning until she looked up, muscles easing up with each passing second, and Cassie tilted her head in answer. She wasn’t able to see in the dark as she did but enough time had passed for the human to be able to zero on her, no rush on her pupils as she nodded and waited, strong grip around her while the ring began to spin once more.

She could see how Cassie glanced up quickly at it, at the metal, the sigils, the magic, but she remained in the same position as Freya unclenched her muscles, wishing for the chain to shorten once more as, carefully and rotating within Cassie’s hold, she turned her hand, palm up, so the ring could now rest between the soft, plush meat of her fingers. Feeling Cassie’s fingers moving down once again, writing words on her skin, Freya closed her eyes and willed for not the crow but the stale taste of dead to backtrack enough for her to blink back to what stood in front of her.

She couldn’t quite place if her body moved but Cassie smiled at her the second she opened her eyes once more, voice quieter now, a barely-there whisper as she moved forward and placed her other hand at the base of her neck, three fingers pressing against her skin, trading through the hair as a kiss was deposited on her forehead.

“Hi.”

There was still a long way to go but Freya felt her body relax, moonlight gentle as she craned her neck enough to peck her way into Cassie’s cheek.

“Hey.”