#small bat big bard

[dailydccomics]

Batgirl and Big Barda by David Nakayama

[druizard]

Alright so, I'm going through my thousands of BG3 screenshots. I tend to snap pics of conversations and dialogue that I like or find interesting and then ultimately forget about them cuz my brain is mashed potatoes half the time.

ANYWAYS, the scene in act 2 when you save Rolan and he has a breakdown has a lot of lines that I adore but also they break my heart because not only do I love Rolan, but I also relate to him in a few ways. At least on the self loathing part.

Right off the bat, this is what he says after you rescue him. There are so many things he has done right, but he cannot see them, not past his failures, no matter how small.

I particularly LOVE how Larian wrote extra lines for different classes in conversations!! I don't have lines from all of the classes I've played (I'll probably add more to this post later if I end up grabbing more screenshots of em) but I do have a few of my favorites. Here we have my origin Gale, telling Rolan, "A good wizard knows when to ask for guidance - for help." To which, Rolan replies.

Heart-wrenching. And if you ask him, "Should I have left you to die?"

(excuse me while I cry)

My Druid/Bard, Aislyn, in another play-through, tells him, "If it helps, when I re-tell this story, I could say you killed all the monsters?" His response:

While he is speaking to you in this scene, he starts off angry and venomous but very quickly his tone shifts and his voice begins to quiver as if holding back tears. (Bravo, George Taylor) He talks a big talk in Act 1 at the grove, but he really did mean it when he said "I care about our lives, our futures!" He says his greatest ambition is to become the greatest wizard in all of Faerûn, but it all means nothing if Cal & Lia aren't there to share his future with him.

Their family bond is so important to all three of them and I only wish we had more backstory. I want to know what happened to them and what happened specifically to Rolan in his past that made him feel this way about himself. I love seeing everyone's headcanons, but I'd love to know what the writers had in mind when they wrote him into the game.

Anyways, I love Rolan, Cal and Lia, maybe more than anything else in the entire game, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[hypostatic-oath]

I'm so happy you like my ask (this is long overdue).

I bet that the people of Fontaine are very happy because i have been doing nothing but hanging out with the Melusine instead of doing the archon quest(though that will eventually come to an end soon). I also bet that new laws/regulations are being proposed because the amount of wacky stuffs the Traveler and their companions is up to all the time. Imagine you just joined the Traveler's team and your first experience is watching a forest watcher beat up some of Fontaine's local legends lmao (and after your recent post, Childe is seething if he learned of this).

Can i be 🚬 anon?(unless you don't do that here)

Named anons? On my blog? Omg I feel honored - of course you can be 🚬 anon! Welcome :D

New laws being proposed because of the traveler is amazing. It has the same vibe as that gliding law in Mondstadt about taking off using anemo slimes (yes, it works, no, it is not very useful as far as I know. I don't even remember if you get an achievement), because you KNOW there's a story behind it, someone must have tried it and it must've gone very, very wrong, and the wacky circumstances that lead to the creation of new laws would be hilarious to witness.

However, on a more serious note, Wriothesley and Neuvillette would be grappling with the issue of teleportation - how do you arrest someone who can simply just... leave? It doesn't matter how secure a prison is if a bored entity can just take control of one of the prisoners and whisk them away on a whim? Worse yet, since Wriothesley is officially a Vessel, what would happen if an Overseer decided to take control of him and sign official pardons? New rules in the Fortress of Meropide have been implemented - any orders given by the Duke while he is on the team are automatically overruled unless it can be proven that he is acting of his own accord.

I can only imagine how confusing it feels for the newcomers to suddenly join the team and find themselves in the kind of situations the Traveler faces daily... and for the onlookers, of course. "Oh, I wonder who that newcomer is... such a distingushed gentleman, perhaps he's here on business?" "Guys, not to scare you or anything, but that 'distinguished gentleman' dropped a meteor on a crab." "Oh, yes, that huge crab in the-" "No. A regular crab. On the smaller side, even. He just threw a huge meteor at it - didn't even bat an eye. The crab practically disintegrated." "What the hell."

And for those that don't know their teammates - any of the knights of Favonius being placed on a team with Klee know exactly what she's capable of, but someone less familiar with her is about to be shocked. "What in Celestia's name is the Overseer thinking? This is a child, she'll get hu- oh. Oh no."

On the other hand, imagine being a nun-turned-idol, looking to the side to check who your teammates are, and there's the Raiden Shogun standing there as if it's no big deal. A little bird lands on her fingers. She watches it with a wistful expression as it flies away. You look to the other side and see the Dendro Archon chatting with that kind but often drunk bard as if they're old friends. You find yourself in what looks like a domain but soon realise, with no small amount of dread, that you're in the Abyss. At least you have two Archons beside you... Barbatos help you, the challenge has started and there are more monsters than you thought. You're doing your best to keep all your teammates alive - you wouldn't forgive yourself if you were the indirect cause for the fall of a god. So you sing your song and put the hydro circle around your team, but there's just too many enemies, coming from all sides... And then you hear a faint "ehe", and the specters are pulled into a vortex of wind. The Shogun doesn't even need to pull out her signature move, just the swirl reaction the bard has caused is enough. You see him shoot down one of the things with a single Anemo-infused arrow. It dies immediately. He's dealing damage on par with the two Archons on the team. Just what is this bard capable of? Suddenly those rumors about him being Barbatos are starting to seem a little less nonsensical. Surely, it couldn't be true, right? You have half a mind to ask him about it once the four of you exit the Abyss, but as soon as you find yourself outside and able to regain your breath he just gives you a "whoops, gotta go!" and floats away on a wind current you're pretty sure he just created.

Now that I think of it, it'd be fun to imagine how different team dynamics would work - I'll make a separate post for this, but if you've read this far and want to send in asks with your team comps... 👀

[sm0lprism]

Bite-Sized (9) - A G/t BG3 fanfic

This contains g/t (giant/tiny content) so if that isn't your thing, then I suggest you stop reading. Thank you!

Read on ao3

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Summary: Astarion brings Ria along with him to the heart of the Goblin Camp without the rest of the group knowing. However, before they can even get inside, things take a very unfortunate turn. In other words, this is the beginning of Ria's VERY bad day.

Pairing: Astarion x f!borrower!oc (Tav/oc) (slow-burn)

Warnings: MOUTHPLAY WARNING!!! If you are uncomfortable with mouthplay or vore-ish themes, then DO NOT read this chapter! No actual vore occurs but mouthplay is VERY prominent. Don't worry, Ria will be completely fine, I promise. Swearing/course language, mentions of blood drinking, vampire stuff.

Word count: 2.4k

The smell of burning meat and alcohol hit Astarion’s nostrils well before he had even stepped foot into the Goblin Camp. While he preferred more refined company, he did relish in the chaos that goblins often brought with them – and it was clearly abundant in the stronghold of the camp as he followed behind Gale, Wyll, and Karlach. Lae’zel and Shadowheart had reluctantly been nominated to look after the camp while the others were away, much to both the half elf’s and gith’s dismay. He wondered if they would kill each other while he and the others were gone.

His stomach grumbled as dozens of goblins flitted around a roasting spit, cooking what smelled like dwarf meat, as they downed pints of alcohol. Seeing this many exposed necks and pulses made the never-ending ache in his stomach worsen. Soon enough he would be able to feed – thanks to Ria persuading the group, he could drink all the goblins dry if he wished once they were done with the leaders.

Ah, yes, the little snack in my pocket…

He was so swept up in the moment that he almost forgot about the tiny passenger that he was carrying. She hadn’t stirred since they had left camp and he wondered if she had in fact fallen asleep. Her small heartbeat had slowed down considerably as well.

His hand hovered over his breast pocket where Ria was concealed inside, and he gave the pocket a little tap to alert her that they had arrived. Almost immediately the borrower inside began to stir, her tiny heartbeat increasing as he felt her squirm against his chest.

Scanning the area, he noticed that everyone else had gathered towards the centre of the camp. Karlach, Gale, and Wyll were standing near a small stage where Volo, a poor bard that he and the others had met in the Emerald Grove some time ago, was performing some terrible rendition of Dror Ragzlin. They seemed completely enthralled by Volo’s presentation as they didn’t even bat an eyelid towards Astarion’s direction.

“Oi! You smell funny, mister.”

Astarion blinked and swiftly turned his gaze downwards to see a female goblin standing directly in front of him.

“How polite of you to say,” Astarion sneered, sharpening his gaze at the little goblin. “And you smell utterly dreadful. Is that all you wanted to say to me or can I be on my way?”

The goblin chose to ignore his statement and instead took a deep inhale of air through her nose. Her eyes grew as big as saucers as she inhaled and she stared at him intently.

Shit. She can smell Ria.

“There’s something in your pocket, isn’t there?” The goblin said, folding her arms across her chest. “I can’t quite make it out, but it’s different to whatever poxy perfume you have on, and the smell of blood in yer mouth.”

“That’s not for you to know,” Astarion hissed, flashing his fangs at the goblin. “Why don’t you mind your own business. Unless you want my fangs to meet that green neck of yours, you best move along.”

The female goblin nearly jumped out of her skin upon seeing Astarion’s perfectly white fangs flash in the sunlight and she immediately backed away from him.

“S-shit, sorry!” she exclaimed, panic evident in her voice. “I didn’t think a blooming blood-sucker could walk in the sun…you must be some freak or somethin’.” The goblin quickly scampered off, not daring to look behind her as she vanished into the hazy crowd.

The sudden outburst seemed to garner some attention as a few goblins had stopped what they were doing and eyed him up curiously. There was no doubt that they could also partially smell Ria’s scent to some extent, too. It seemed that his own scent wasn’t quite enough to mask the borrowers unfortunately. If any of the goblins stopped to really smell him, then he would be in trouble.

He had to get out of there. And fast.

Astarion wasted no time in melding into the shadows, something that came very naturally to him as a vampire spawn, and quickly vanished from sight. Ria was still safe inside his pocket for now, but he knew if the goblins were made aware of a borrower in their midst, it could end very badly for her. Perhaps it would be a good idea if they could mask her scent somehow. He snuck behind a large stone pillar, now out of sight from the masses of goblins and his own companions.

“Astarion?” Ria’s small voice chimed from inside his pocket.

He opened the lip of the pocket and glanced downwards at the tiny passenger he was carrying. He would never say it aloud, but as her little face stared up at him, he couldn’t help but to admit she did look rather cute. She was so tiny, so vulnerable, so fragile – it would be so easy for her to become injured if he wasn’t careful.

Not that he cared if she got hurt. She was just a borrower after all, nothing more.

So…why was he feeling a sudden urge of protectiveness when he looked at her?

He shook his head, dismissing the thought from his brain.  

“Are you just going to stare at me or will you tell me what’s going on?” Ria asked, bringing Astarion back to the present.

He blinked and flashed her a grin. “Well, I was just thinking that it might be a good idea to disguise your scent, darling.”

Ria’s eyes widened in realisation. “Oh…right. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that…” Her voice trailed off as her brain tried to think of a solution. “Maybe I should’ve thought about that before we left.”

“Perhaps that would’ve been a good idea,” Astarion commented. “It’s just fortunate that the goblin from earlier didn’t press me further. I thought my scent would be enough to mask yours, but it seems that you just smell so…” He paused as a grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

Appetising. That’s what he was going to say, but he held his tongue. He knew that teasing her like this when she was only just starting to trust him a little was a bad move, especially after she had asked him not to call her things like that from now on. Still, he couldn’t deny that she did smell delicious. Even with the masses of goblins around him – who significantly had plentiful more blood – her blood sung to him the loudest out of everyone there.  

“So…what?” Ria said, her tiny brow furrowed as she craned her neck up at him.

“Never mind,” Astarion chuckled lightly, attempting to shake the growing thoughts of hunger out of his brain. “Well, you know what I mean, anyway. I’m sure you heard the conversation with the goblin. We really do need to hide your scent somehow.”

“You do have a point.” Ria pursued her lips in thought. “I need to have a better look at what’s going on outside.”

He watched the borrower as she wriggled around until her tiny head just barely managed to peak out from the lip of the pocket. He imagined she must’ve been standing on tip toes just to reach that high.

Ria’s gaze searched the Goblin Camp, concentration hardened her facial features as she tried to think of what to do. After a few moments, her eyes finally settled on a large tub where some goblins were collecting alcohol from.

“That’s it!” Ria exclaimed, pointing towards the tub full of booze on the other side of the camp.

Astarion glanced down at the borrower and then his gaze flicked to the giant tub of booze she was pointing at. Multiple goblins were walking up to the tub to take a swig of alcohol in large mugs, some of them downing their drinks as if it were only water.

“Hm, the pungent alcohol would most certainly cover up your scent,” Astarion said. “But getting you in the alcohol, however, seems like a risky move. Are you sure about this?”

“You’re a rogue! Use some of that dexterity of yours!” She flashed him a small smirk. “Just dip me in the booze quickly and then I’ll be out in a second. I’m sure a vampire spawn can handle that.”   

Astarion arched an eyebrow, wondering just where the sudden burst of confidence that she had was coming from. Not long ago she had been deathly afraid of letting him hold her, now she was placing even more of her trust in him to pull off a stunt that could backfire badly if he didn’t do it carefully. Still, he wasn’t going to let a borrower downplay him like that.

“If you insist,” he replied. “And I suggest we do it quickly. We really don’t want to attract any more attention to ourselves.”

Ria gave him a small nod in reply before she vanished into the inside of his pocket again to conceal herself. With their new goal in the forefront of his mind, he clung to the shadows of the camp to pass by unseen until he reached the large tub. Very swiftly he reached into his shirt pocket and plucked Ria in between his index finger and thumb and leaned towards the large tub of booze.

“Do it!” Ria whispered fiercely.

Before Astarion could do anything, a strong force collided into the back of his legs, causing Ria to fall out of his fingers as he was knocked forwards. All he could do was watch as the little borrower fell out of his grasp, followed by a small plop as she disappeared into the liquid.  

Shit!

Seething with anger, he whipped his neck around to see who the culprit was and his gaze fell on a goblin who looked like they were on the verge of passing out.

“Oh man, I could go for another-HIC!” The goblin spluttered, the smell of beer radiating from his mouth as he wobbled around to gain his footing before passing out on the floor.

Astarion rolled his eyes and hastily returned his attention back to Ria, who was now, quite literally, swimming in the tub of alcohol.

“Hey, you’re holding up the line!” A raspy voice hissed to his left, and he noticed yet another goblin standing close to him. “Hurry up and grab a drink, we all want some!”

Growing somewhat stressed now, Astarion snatched up a nearby cup before returning his attention back to the tub. Ria had fortunately resurfaced, looking rather dishevelled and shaken up, but otherwise she was alright. He wasted no time and scooped her into his cup, keeping it close to his chest as he attempted to sneak away from the masses of goblins that were starting to cluster around them.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” The same goblin with the raspy voice from earlier tugged on his armour, stopping him in his tracks.

Astarion immediately grimaced.

This can’t be good.

“Don’t mind me,” Astarion replied through gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than to turn invisible. “I’m just passing through.”

“Not without having a drink you’re not!” The goblin persisted, clearly somewhat drunk, and clung on stubbornly to his light armour. “You look as pale as a bloody ghost. I’m not letting you go until you’ve drunk every drop from your cup!”

The commotion had now brought even more attention to him, as Astarion quickly realised that multiple sets of eyes were glued to his frame and watching his every move. No matter how he looked at it, there was no getting out of this.

He tentatively gazed down into his cup, and saw Ria’s little face staring up at him with pleading eyes. She could obviously hear everything that was going on, and judging by the petrified look that was painted across her face, she knew exactly what he was going to do.

“Go on!” The goblin pulled on his armour once more, and Astarion had to restrain himself from biting the creature’s head off with how hard they pulled at the fine fabric. “You could do with some colour in your cheeks.”

He pulled his lip into a thin line as his gaze flicked back down to where Ria was sitting in his cup. All the colour had drained from her face as she stared at him with watery eyes, she looked as if she had been crying. Knots twisted in his stomach as he felt a wave of dread wash over him as he tried to rack his brain to think of an alternative. If he pretended to drink, there would be the chance of Ria falling out of the cup and to her death, which he wasn’t going to risk.

The only other option was to drink.

He gave her a wink before mouthing the words ‘I’m sorry,’ silently to her, and her eyes widened in response as he brought the cup towards his lips. The beer hit his tongue and he immediately had to force himself not to spit out the liquid as he took a forceful gulp. He had never been one for beer, wine, on the other hand, or better yet, blood, was more to his liking, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice in the matter. His attention on the beverage was soon replaced as he felt something soft and warm press up against his lips.

Ria.

Her tiny hands were pushing against his lips, her body squirming as gravity pushed her rather forcefully towards his mouth. He was very careful not to swallow her, and rather gingerly he used the tip of his tongue to push her tiny body away from the inside of his mouth so that she wouldn’t fall in.

He pulled the cup away from his lips and glanced downwards at the goblin. The goblin was still stubbornly standing beside him with narrowed eyes, very clearly not impressed with his half empty cup.

“I said drink all of it you elf pansy!” The goblin exclaimed. “That was merely a sip! Come on, you aren’t leaving until all of that is completely gone, and I’m going to look at your cup afterwards, so make sure you guzzle it all down!”

Oh dear.

If the goblin was going to investigate his cup afterwards, he had to ensure that it was completely empty.

Ria wasn’t going to like this.

Very slowly the cup was brought to his mouth once more, and this time he took a hungrier gulp than before. He could smell the overwhelming fear from Ria as she was once again pressed against his mouth, her tiny hands scrambling across his lips, and this time, he didn’t stop her from falling inside. With a final gulp, the borrower disappeared into his mouth and he sealed his jaws shut.

[firefly-ghoul]

WHAT HOBBIES I THINK THE GHOULS HAVE

This is my first time writing head-canons so be nice to me please! Anyway let’s get on with the hobbies!(if you see grammar errors no you don’t:3)

Aether

I think aether bakes but he takes it SO seriously. He has a journal of carefully curated recipes that he has spent YEARS perfecting. Aether has a special spot in his recipe journal for all the ghouls favorite type of cake and he makes them birthday cakes every year. Aethers favorite thing to bake is cookies. He makes big batches of cookies and gives them to his band mates on designated movie nights. He loves decorating cakes with the sisters of sin who work in the kitchen.

Sodo

Sodo dose glass work as a job and hobby. he helps make and maintain all of the stain glass around the ministry with a small group of sisters. He hand picked each sister both experienced and inexperienced with glass work. He teaches them everything he knows and enjoys helping them with learning curves and the difficult parts. He’s glass making studio is located directly underneath the abbey. But hobby wise sodo loves making glass sun catchers. Sodo also enjoys makes little glass figures and gives them to the siblings and older children. Since sodo is a fire ghoul when he works on glass he heats up his hands and is able to work without a blow torch. I personally headcanon he can breathe fire so he definitely uses that to help him.

Mountain

Mountain is soo obviously a plant dad but this man also does pottery! No one can tell me otherwise! His favorite things to make are cute pots for all his plants! He also makes vases for all the flowers he collects from the garden. He takes a day off every week and goes into to Forrest surrounding the ministry and forages for clay. He comes back completely covered in mud and grinning like a mad man. He makes everyone mugs for special occasions like birthdays and holidays. The thing he is most proud of is a pomegranate tea set that took him months to make. He very proudly drinks tea out of it every morning before heading out to work in the gardens

Phantom

PHANTOM IS A DND NERD! He and a group of siblings play dnd together every week. He plays as a vampire elf bard and is very proud of his character. He was very nervous when he first started playing dnd but the more he started playing the more confident he got with the siblings encouragement. He totally hasn’t almost tpk his party because he tried to fight a family of yetis by himself. (Totally not based on personal experiences) He loves dice! He is a dice goblin and has hundreds of dice. He is vary superstitious about his dice. His favorite set of dice are a set Swiss got him that are purple with bat on the 20.

rain

Rain obviously does water colors. Rains favorite thing to paint is landscapes he especially loves painting beaches. He also loves painting flowers. he sometimes going to the ministry gardens and painting all the flowers he sees. Rain like to take a day and hike to the middle of the woods and paints what he sees. He doesn’t paint people a lot but when he does he likes to have a live reference so he will ask some of the ghouls to pose for him. He likes when mountain model for him because he doesn’t move around like some (cough cough Aurora and Swiss cough) of the the ghouls. Rain gets very shy and blushes bright blue when anyone compliments is art.

Swiss

this kreecher (affectionately) explores abandon places and grave yards. He sometimes tries and finds cryptids (As if he isn’t one.) and ghosts. Swiss will bring ghost hunting equipment with him when he goes to places he’s already explored to spice things up. Swiss’s favorite tool is the spirit box. He finds the response’s form the ghost so funny. One time swiss took aurora with him to an abandoned hospital to hang out. He challenged aurora to stay in a room by herself for five minutes with the spirit box. She absolutely freaked when it started to talk to her (he didn’t tell her what it was meant for) and booked it back to where Swiss was. Aurora never never went ghost hunting again.

aurora

Speaking of aurora I think aurora embroiders. cirrus originality taught her simple things she aurora ran with it. Aurora has a lot of energy so she sometimes have a hard time focusing when something doesn’t grab her attention or when she doesn’t have anything to do with her fidgeting hands. So when she first started embroidering she was like “this something that takes my focus AND i have something to do with my hands…THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!” She makes the most beautiful beaded plants. She will embroider a plant on every pare of pants she has. Also enjoys making embroidered patches for everyone. Makes all her friends pride flag patches.

Sunshine

My girl sunshine rollerblades! She has a pare of bright orange skates with light up wheels. She has gotten told of by sister imperator many times for rolling around the ministry to fast but she never listen. She sets a day off every week to put wd40 on her wheel bearings. She is very serious about taking care of her skates she treats them like they’re her babies. She knows so many tricks and definitely will teaches anyone who asks her how to skate and do tricks. Her favorite trick is skating backwards because is makes sister imperator nervous that she’s gonna bump into someone or something.

Cumulus

Cumulus loves puzzles so much. She challenges her self to start a new puzzle every month. her favorite types of puzzles are ones that have cute animals on them. Her comfort puzzle is a 900 piece puzzle with all kinds of kittens on them. She hosts a puzzle night in the library that everyone is invited to. She brings a 1000 piece puzzle and some snacks and she and everyone there works on the puzzle together. One time for her birthday all the ghouls got together and each got her a puzzle. She cried happy tears because she felt so loved. When she finished all of those puzzles she mogpoged framed them and hung them on her walls. they make her smile every time she sees them.

Cirrus

I think cirrus does photograph. She enjoys more dark and macabre themes so she often goes to the gave yards to take pictures. Cirrus joins Swiss on his explorations to capture the dark beauty of abandoned places. On the rare occasion she will photograph people but cirrus prefers taking pictures of places rather than people. One of her favorite things to photograph is the stained glass windows all over the ministry. Gets up before sunrise to get the best photos of the morning light shining through the glass.

[dyxtd21]

Chrysocolla X Gender Neutral Reader (Part 1)

The night was dark and cold. It had just started to rain about 10 minutes ago. The awakened citizens of Newport City were all in a hurry to get back to their homes. Taxis, Ubers and Bolts were all picking up their customers to drive them to their designated locations but not for Chrysocolla, the ‘esteemed’ writer and geek of the city, who everyone knew of him. Some due to his scripts for movies and whatnot and some due to his…child-like wonder and imagination aka a pathetic nerd and geek.

Currently, Chrysocolla was seated at a large table filled with the board, figurines and dices of the famous known board game, called ‘Dungeons and Dragons.’

For those who didn't know Chrysocolla so well, Chrysocolla was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, not just because of the way it looked but because of the tactical and strategic thinking for the game. It enthralled Chrysocolla so much that whenever he felt stressful, he would return to his basement where his ongoing Dungeons and Dragons game was setup.

As for his character, Chrysocolla decided to be a Human Bard called “Fabian the Flamboyant,” with the reason being that Chrysocolla was never the public-speaker and was always introverted and reserved. 

As for his co-players companions, one was none other then Smoky Quartz, the tall, anthropomorphic wolf, bounty hunter and mercenary. Smoky Quartz and Chrysocolla were considered as ‘brothers’ but not by blood but by same creator. 

A side note is that, Chrysocolla and Smoky Quartz were both gemstones, sentient, living and talking gemstones. Unlike humankind, their coloration and appearance were completely different from the standards, even more so with their gemstones visible to everybody to see. 

His third companion was Blue Zebra Jasper, a female gemstone with the appearance of a seductive succubus. Her stature tall, with a busty and curvaceous figure and with the additional features of long curved horns, small bat-like wings and a tail. Her coloration was a blue with light brown zebra-like stripes and she wore a short and skimpy dress with high heels. 

She agreed to come to the nightly sessions just because she thought it would be fun and…sensual.

Their fourth and final player, a newbie, was going to arrive late, much to the dismay of Smoky Quartz. 

“So, tell me, Chry, where's the newbie?” Smoky Quartz inquired.

“I'm sure they'll be arriving in no time…” Replied Chrysocolla, a bit quietly and composed. 

“Is that so, then, tell me, dear Chrysocolla, why are we in the dark?” Asked Blue Zebra Jasper, with a flutter of her small demon-like wings. 

The basement was dark and dulled. It was no problem for all of them, but it would be a problem once the newbie was going to arrive. 

“Yeah, I was just about to ask that, dear. I feel like a Kobold, which is fine by me.” Spoke Smoky Quartz, winking at Blue Zebra Jasper, in the process, a flirtatious act. 

Smoky Quartz was both ruthless, menacing but also playful, to those who saw deep past his dangerous lifestyle and personality. In addition, he immensely treated women of any kind with respect, like princesses and queens. 

“Yeah, I don't mind the dark but…it will be troubling, for the newbie.” Blue Zebra Jasper agreed with Smoky Quartz but brushed his flirtatious act away. 

Despite being or rather taking the appearance of a succubus, Chrysocolla knew deep down that Blue Zebra Jasper wasn't looking for anything serious. From what he saw during their sessions and out of sessions, Chrysocolla witnessed countless times of Blue Zebra Jasper flirting with random men, and women, staying with them for a night, but then breaking their hearts or playing hard to get with them. 

But, Chrysocolla reminded him that it wasn't very wise to get onto Blue Zebra Jasper's bad side, otherwise…things tended to get horrible real quick.

“Fine, I'll turn on the lights.” Chrysocolla replied as he stood up and made his way to the light switch, flicking it up.

The basement illuminated right away with a yellow hue, a colour Chrysocolla thought it was nice and pleasant to look at. 

It took a couple of minutes for Smoky Quartz's eyesight to register. Being an anthropomorphic wolf also meant excellent night vision. 

He wasn't kidding. He is a Kobold! Chrysocolla thought to himself, mentally laughing at his own joke about Smoky Quartz.

Suddenly, a knock was heard upstairs. 

“That must be our new player.” Blue Zebra Jasper announced, mainly to herself.

“Yes, it is. I'll go and greet them.” Chrysocolla didn't like interacting with new and strange people, he was convinced that he had social anxiety, which he did. 

Chrysocolla climbed the stairs upwards and entered his hallway. He then walked down the hallway and up to the front door.

With a deep breath and a moment hesitation, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it, opening the front door. 

“Hey there. Chrysocolla, right? It's nice to meet.” 

Chrysocolla looked at the stranger in front of him, their soon-to-be fourth player.

A beat of silence happened as Chrysocolla struggled to speak. This…person in front of him was…attractive. 

“Y-yes. T-that's me…” Chrysocolla replied with a stutter.

“Great. I'm Y/N, and I'm here to play that…Dungeons and Dragons board game. Is this the correct place?” Y/N asked, with a smile on their face. 

Chrysocolla nodded in confirmation.

“Awesome. So may I come in?” Y/N asked.

Chrysocolla nodded again and side-stepped, letting Y/N inside his home.

“J-just down t-those stairs.” Chrysocolla pointed to a set of stairs which led downstairs in the basement. 

Y/N nodded and walked downstairs with Chrysocolla following them suite. 

After descending down the last step, Chrysocolla led Y/N to sit down next to Blue Zebra Jasper, who turned to look at them.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?~ Blue Zebra Jasper, a deep pleasure~” 

Chrysocolla and Smoky Quartz have each other a knowing look. Whenever Blue Zebra Jasper met someone worth her time, she would activate her flirtatious act. 

But Y/N didn't seem to mind. They thought Blue Zebra Jasper's appearance was merely a costume but an exotic one at that. 

“I'm Y/N, it's nice to meet you. I really love your costume. Was this a costume or cosplaying event? Should I have worn something to match the theme of the board game?” Y/N asked with a lot of questions. 

“Well, you could have dressed up as a court jester, it would have fit you well.” Smoky Quartz replied with a nonchalant attitude, a quirk he had and did whenever he met with annoying individuals.

Y/N didn't say anything since they were stunned by Smoky Quartz's anthropomorphic wolf appearance but Blue Zebra Jasper was the one to call out Smoky Quartz's joke and attitude.

“Smoky Quartz! Be nice to them!” Exclaimed Blue Zebra Jasper. 

Smoky Quartz didn't say anything after that.

Chrysocolla coughed. “So, let's start.” 

“Yep, let's start. So, what are the rules of the game?” Inquired Y/N.

Chrysocolla began to explain the rules of the board game of how there are different races, classes, objectives, Dragons, the dice mechanic, the Dungeon Master (Whose Blue Zebra Jasper) and so on. 

Afterwards, a beat of silence as Y/N contemplates everything. Then, they confirm they're understanding. 

“I understand but what class and race should I be?” Asked Y/N, politely.

“Glad that you asked. I made you a character sheet. You'll be an Elf.” Replied Chrysocolla, with a serious tone.

“An Elf? They sound…mystical, right?” Asked Y/N, hoping that the Elf race was good.

“You could say that.” Confirmed Blue Zebra Jasper. “Now, let's begin.” She clears her throat as she begins to read as the Dungeon Master: 

“You all find yourselves lost deep into a forest, however, you all hear some noises past some bushes. What do you all do?” Blue Zebra Jasper stops reading for a moment, waiting for a reply.

“Easy, I slowly make my way towards the source of the sound, with my daggers ready in hand, in case of any threats.” Smoky Quartz replies as his character is an assassin. 

“We follow Wulve suite.” Chrysocolla replies for both his character, Fabian the Flamboyant, and for Y/N's character, Eldwin. 

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the 20-sided dice. It lands on a 5. 

“Bad luck. The noises that you all heard were the sounds of a pair of Lizardfolks. They spotted Wulve and are heading your way, looking suspicious. They inquire about your business on their land. How do you all reply?” 

Y/N tilt their heads sideways. They notice that they have a high enough ‘Charisma’ state of 6, so they answer. 

“I simply tell them that we're on a quest, having to cross their territory in order to stop the evil Red Dragon from causing more chaos in its quake.” 

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the dice again. This time, it lands on a 15.

“Nice work. The Lizardfolks believe you, and they let you through their territory but still keep a close eye on all of you. You all continue on your journey.” 

Chrysocolla rubs his hands together due to the anxious feeling of looking at Y/N. Chrysocolla felt so many…unwanted feelings at the same time, mainly anxiety but also…a feeling of harboring a crush, on Y/N, nonetheless.

Blue Zebra Jasper continues: 

“You all have arrived at the city of ‘Blackburn’, a city known for its market but also shady deals and trouble. You all enter a tavern which is filled with an assortment of races. What do you all do here?” 

This time, Chrysocolla is the one to reply, with a stutter: “W-we try t-to find o-ourselves a s-seat, first and f-foremost.”

Blue Zebra Jasper nods and rolls the dice. It comes up as 2. 

Blue Zebra Jasper shakes her head.

“As much as you try to find a seat, there are none. They are all occupied. However, one seat is free, across from a female human, who looks down in the dumps. What shall all of you do?” 

Chrysocolla replies, with a stutter: “I-I try t-to cheer her u-up, with a s-song.” 

Blue Zebra Jasper tilts her head at Chrysocolla's stutter but rolls the dice. It comes up as 9.

Blue Zebra Jasper shakes her head: “No matter how much you sing and play, she is not feeling any better. She thanks you for trying to cheer her up, though.” 

Smoky Quartz speaks up towards Chrysocolla, quietly. “Bummer, dude.” 

Chrysocolla quietly looks down at his lap, twisting his fingers this way and that due to anxiety and the upsetting feeling starting to appear within him.

Y/N senses the upsetting and anxious feeling surrounding Chrysocolla and tries his turn. 

“I walk up to the lady and…promise her a night she'll never forget.” As Y/N said the latter half, they look over at Chrysocolla for a moment but then back at Blue Zebra Jasper, slightly blushing but composing themselves.

Blue Zebra Jasper slyly smiles and rolls the dice. It comes up as 18.

“She agrees to come along and you both rent a room. The night passes with full bliss and…pleasure~” 

Smoky Quartz clears his throat. “What about me? What happened to me in the meantime?” 

Blue Zebra Jasper turned to look at Smoky Quartz. 

“In the meantime, you, Wulve, got the map of the underground cave from the shady figure who beckoned to you to meet them, in private.” 

Smoky Quartz smiled at the outcome. “Sweet.” 

Chrysocolla looks up from his lap and back at Smoky Quartz, nodding in agreement.

Smoky Quartz looks at the clock on the wall and realizes that it's already 12 O'clock, midnight. He stands up, showcasing his intimidating and tall stature. “Anyway, we can stop here. I need to get going. Later guys and my princess~” 

Smoky Quartz got up and gave a flirtatious wink at Blue Zebra Jasper, who frowned at his action. 

“Oh, go and stab someone.” Blue Zebra Jasper said, bitterly. 

Smoky Quartz smirked. “Already there, my dear.” 

Afterwards, Smoky Quartz began to climb upstairs and headed out through the front door. 

Blue Zebra Jasper said goodbye to both Chrysocolla and Y/N. Afterwards, she headed upstairs and out of through the door as well. 

Now, it was only Chrysocolla and Y/N alone, together and the ever presence of silence blossoming between them.

[darkmatter-nebula]

Good morning, my dear fellas! 😘

You voted for it, and you are gonna get it! The "Lost But Now Found" AU story where the US Government catches Colli! Let's get ready to rumble!!!!!!

One-Shot: The Government

Jacob Hopkins, local witch hunter and idiot, was about to make a big mistake. He contacted the US Government, with the intention to give them informations about a certain small starboy with otherwordly fluffy lavender hair and a heart of gold.

"Immortal, you say? Maybe we can use him for experiments! Or... we could use him as a weapon. You mentioned earlier that the little boy from the stars is blessed with godlike magic. We'll find a good use for him."

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A few hours later, Colli and Hunter were on a stroll through Gravesfield. Little did Hunter know that his beloved little brother was going to endure some terrible things soon. Colli was happily floating next to the young Grimwalker.

Out of a sudden, Colli was hit with a tranquilizer dart. The kindhearted eternal little boy immediately fell unconcious. "COLLI!" Before Hunter could do something, he was knocked out. The blonde boy was left behind, while Colli was taken away...

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Hunter woke up with a terrible headache. But he didn't care. Colli's whereabouts were more important to him. "They're going to cut him open, I'm sure about that!" Jacob, who suddenly showed up, grinned.

"Who are you talking about, Jerkob?! And tell me, WHERE IS MY LITTLE BROTHER?!" Hunter felt his blood boil. No one was allowed to harm a single hair on Colli's head! His beautiful little Sunshine was worth protecting! "Well, the US Government, of course!"

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At the same time, Colli woke up and was surrounded by a lot of people. "Our special guest is awake, now let's see if the rumors about him are true." A man in a nice suit said as he pointed his gun at Colli's head.

Colli knew what the man was about to do. "Sir, please don't-" Colli was interrupted as the man pulled the trigger and shot right between the cosmic little boy's eyes. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A woman, a young scientist, screamed as she was covered in Colli's dark blue blood.

The bullet fell out of Colli's forehead and the injury healed up. "It's true! He is immortal!" The man who gave Colli the headshot, said wide eyed. Colli couldn't hold back his tears, though. "I'm immortal, but I still feel pain! That'd hurt so much!" Colli said between sobs.

"Suzie, bring him to your lab. We going to study him!" "Y-yes, Sir." Suzie, the young scientist who was still covered in Colli's blood, picked up Colli and carried him into her lab. Colli couldn't move, due to the fact that the effect of the tranquilizer dart wasn't completely gone yet.

Suzie didn't fail to notice that Colli was as light as a feather. 'Fascinating!' She thought. She hoped that she didn't have to hurt him too much. She couldn't deny that she felt some sympathy for him. He was an innocent child!

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"THE GOVERNMENT HAS MY PRECIOUS LITTLE STAR??!!" Eda was so livid that she turned into her Harpy form. Same for Lilith, who was determined to save her precious little nephew. Colli's whole family was ready to kick some butts!

Hunter swore to end anyone who dared to hurt his greatest treasure! King was furious too. The young Titan was so angry, that his appearance became a bit more feral. Colli was his little brother as well! No one was allowed to harm him!

King's red eyes were glowing in a ominous shade of purple. "I have a bad feeling! I bet that they're already hurting him..." Vee was concerned about her beloved little brother Colli too. Same for Luz. "Let's go! Let us save Colli!" She said.

Darius turned into his Abomination form. Camila took her baseball bat. Raine prepared their violin. The Owl Lady, the vet, the Abomination Coven Head and the Bard Coven Head were determined to save their son!

To find out about Colli's location, Lilith used the spy potion. She, Eda, Camila, Darius, Raine, Eberwolf, Hunter, Luz, King, Vee and Hooty were on their way to rescue Colli.

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Suzie undressed Colli and put her eyes on his naked body. "If you wouldn't have your multi-colored skin and unusual eyes, red eyes with yellow sclera, you would look like a normal human boy. Around the age of five or six years."

She took a pen and drew a Y on Colli's tiny chest. Colli knew what was going to happen next. "I wish I could put you to sleep, but I was ordered to have you awake while I'm vivisecting you. I'm sorry, little guy." She truly felt sorry as he screamed as she cut him open.

"Your organs look so human! Well, aside from the fact that they're blue, not unlike your blood. Despite your blood loss, your heartbeat is very strong! Your immortality truly is a blessing, and-" Suzie noticed that Colli passed out from the pain.

She put her hand on the blue side of Colli's adorable multi-colored face and caressed his freckled cheek. "It's okay, sweetie. You did very good and I'm going to close you up!" As she said this, Colli's natural regeneration kicked in.

"Incredible! You have a healing factor!" Suzie immediately made some notes. Then, she dressed Colli and carried him into a room, where the man from earlier was already waiting. He gestured to Suzie to leave.

"You are a very fascinating little thing. My next plan for you involves you using your magic. Maybe we can clone you and make an army of immortal child soldiers!" The man, General Waters, smiled sadistically before leaving the room.

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Hunter sensed that something was wrong. He sensed that Colli already was hurt badly. "Blondie, did you feel it too?" Eda asked. "Yes... they dared to harm him! I'm going to make them pay for this!" The former Golden Guard spoke up.

"You aren't the only one, mijo! My baseball bat thirsts for some blood!" Camila said dangerously calm. Raine was clutching their violin tightly in their hand. They were ready to play a deadly requiem! Darius had the urge to get violent when he encountered the people who had hurt Colli.

Eberwolf, in his feral form, was just as mad as anyone else. Colli was loved dearly by his family. He was everyones precious little baby boy. Lilith and Hooty were just as ready to avenge the immortal celestial boy.

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As Colli woke up, he finally could move again. But he noticed the collar around his neck. "This, boy, is a shock collar! If you don't do what I say, you will be punished with electroshocks!" General Waters spoke up. Then, he gestured to a massive metallic wall. "Destroy it, boy."

Colli knew that he should obey. He used his powerful magic to desintigrate the wall. "Incredible! Okay. Now use your magic to do the same to him!" General Waters said as a scared looking man entered the room.

"NO! I'm a pacifist! I would never use my magic to hurt anyone! I'm not going to harm a single hair on his head, and- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!" Colli screamed as electroshocks shot through his delicate body.

"Sir, a group of weird people arrived! They say they want to save him!" A guard, who rushed into the room, pointed at Colli. Colli was, thanks to the pain, barely awake as his family finally showed up to save him. "Colli! Can you hear me, my beautiful little Sunshine?" Hunter asked softly as he cradled his beloved little brother onto his lap.

Colli fell unconcious again. He didn't see as his family had a lot of bones to pick. After finishing off some idiots, Hunter picked up Colli and carried him out of the facility. Hunter kissed lovingly Colli's freckled cheek.

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Back home, Colli woke up in Hunter's loving embrace. He couldn't hold back his tears of joy! He finally was safe and sound! "My Love, what have they done to you?" Hunter asked carefully. Colli took a deep breath and told his family everything he had gone through in the facility of the US Government.

His family's protectiveness towards Colli increased even more! The tiny starboy was showered with lots of love and affection by his loved ones. Especially Hunter hoped that his sweet Little Angel wouldn't have too many nightmares about this horrible experiences.

The End

[lovebiteshard]

okay im posting my writing be nice… nice and kindness i havent written in a while and half of it was done at 4 am so i apologize for any bumps

was very inspired by the fact that bards can polymorph and i was also very gay

There are times when the strain of the world is more than Arcangelo wants to deal with. The average person may choose to take a walk, but vampires tend to draw wandering eyes no matter where they go. It’s much easier to be someone- or something- else. Perhaps a bat? No, he’s not too keen on echolocation. When the world becomes weary, Arcangelo most prefers to spend some time as a cat.

The freshly-feline boy sets off into the forest. It’s a quiet autumn afternoon, the only sound being the pitter-pats of his paws against the dirt- and the occasional crunch of a dried leaf left in his wake.

The place isn’t so foreign, he’s done this before, but he has to admit a different perspective can drastically alter the way one experiences things. The small stream he stepped over the other day becomes a minor hurdle for him now, and the mossy log he didn’t pay much mind to becomes his new solution. Despite all of nature’s splendor, Arcangelo can’t help but feel a little.. well, lonely. He’s grown rather accustomed to the silly chatter of his companions. He turned fluffy tail, headed back for camp. Surely there’s got to be someone there for him to pester.

He ducks under a fern, surveying his options as he gets closer to his friends. Shadowheart looks busy, and Lae’zel looks.. A little miffed. Gale looks to be rather into the book he’s reading- or maybe he’s considering taking a bite out of it- and Astarion… hm.

The vampire spawn is sitting down, leaning against a tree. To anyone else he’d look care-free and relaxed, but he’s got a look in his eyes that suggests he’s centuries deep in thought- making him the perfect person to pester- Arcangelo decides. No one needs to wallow this early in the day. He makes his way over to him, rubbing against his leg in hopes of getting his attention.

“Oh?” Astarion looks down at his companion, who chirps expectantly at him. Even as a cat, Arcangelo demands a proper hello. “Hello darling…” A pause, and then a smug smile. “Little love, did you perhaps lose some weight?” He receives a rather sore meow in reply. “...Mm. Well, I thought it was funny. Perhaps you’re just a spoilsp- Darling, be sweet. Don’t bite me.”

Arcangelo closes his mouth. Looking up at the vampire spawn with big ruby eyes, he musters the sweetest mewl he could possibly produce. If a cat could smile, he would have. “Yes, yes. You’d never do such a thing. How could I be so foolish.” Astarion nods, grinning. “Who in their right mind could ever believe that you’d ever bite a soul. A vampire biting someone. Unheard of-” His playful teasing is interrupted by slight pressure on his leg.

Arcangelo prods him with his paw, meowing as if to inquire. Another gentle prod, and Astarion nods in understanding. “Of course, dove. Absolutely.” He pats his thigh gently, and Arcangelo hops up, curling up comfortably in the other man’s lap. “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing…” Astarion coos, slender fingers tracing shapes in Arcangelo’s fur. The vampire-turned-feline only purrs in response, his tail slightly curled in contentment.”...such a beautiful boy- even when you’ve got paws.”

[solazu1]

What's the storyline behind the Clawthorne sisters and Wittebane brothers in your au?

Clawthorne sisters story is swapped with the wittebane brothers story so it technically played out the exact same way without going too deep into details bc I would 100% type a whole fuckin novel and I don’t rlly have the time rn but perhaps later. If you would like to know Raine and evelyn Are also swapped so evelyn is Head of the bard coven while Raine has been placed as a very musical witch that Eda fell in love with. Philip is put in the place of lilith but he still cursed caleb, like that detail did not change. That mf very much did that shit when they were kids. Like really there is not much deviation plot wise but the small details are different. One big change though is Caleb is not like Eda. Yes, he is a wanted criminal and possibly one of the best witches on the isles but he really didn’t do anything “Illegal” if you don’t count other things. He literally just wants the empress’s coven to stop fucking stealing palismen which technically I GUESS is stealing from the government so that’s why he’s realllly really wanted. He works with the bat queen :3 idk who to swap the bat queen with so as of rn she remains as she is

[southernswampmamma]

Magic Man: Chapter 6

Original! Male Character x Original! Black Female Character

Chapter Warnings: Slow Burn, Age Gap

Summary: Yolana Humphry spent her entire life stuck in Tapioca, Alabama, under the thumb of her controlling Aunt Freda. That is, until a stranger comes along and swoops her off her feet. A charming man, that everyone but herself seems to know; who easily bypasses her fragile walls and embeds himself in her heart. Escape, however, doesn’t seem to be the end of Yolana’s journey. With her newfound freedom, she now has the opportunity to pursue something she never thought she could obtain.

Chapter Summary: Nathan goes back to his nosey small town roots to get to the bottom of why Freda is the way that she is.

I try to be very inclusive with my stories, even if I write in an original female character. So, though she has a name, the only characteristic known is that she is black.

There was a mistake with Elijah's last name. He is not Elijah Bard, but Elijah Morish. Elijah is Nathan's grandfather from his mother's side.

Chapter Six

A Beautiful Aura

Tuesday morning Nathan decided to skip out on his morning run, instead deciding to sleep in, then take Yolana to work. She greeted him with a yawn; her face covered in a sleepy smile. He smiled down at her before helping her up into the truck. She was in good spirits, and so was he. He slept really well last night. It was almost as if his soul was at peace, knowing that Yolana was happy again. When Nathan got into the truck, Yolana turned on her phone and showed him her new lock screen. She took it last night when the moon was shining through her bedroom window. She only saw the view when she returned from using the restroom and took the beautiful shot of her new pot of flowers. It surprised Yolana that she could get such an excellent shot with the old smartphone, but when she looked at the result, she loved it. Yolana informed Nathan that the pot was sitting safe and sound on her desk. She was going to move them closer to the window when she found something for them to sit on.

When Nathan dropped her off, Yolana walked a few steps towards the building before spinning around and heading back to the truck. She approached the driver’s side window and Nathan rolled it down to see what she wanted. He dipped his head down near her right as she lifted so she could be heard. The closeness made her pause. To someone passing by, it could appear like he was reaching down to give her a kiss. It made Yolana’s face heat. Nathan looked down at her expectantly. So she snapped out of it.

“Brooks is having a sale this afternoon. The paper said their textured watercolor paper was going down about 5 dollars. Would really like to see what else they got.”

“Are you asking me to take you to Brooks?” Nathan teased. He really liked her shy moments.

Yolana looked at him sweetly, batting her eyes. “I guess you could say that.”

“I guess we’re going to Brooks, then.” Nathan said. He basked in the excitement Yolana displayed before she turned around, heading inside the blood bank. Nathan reversed out of the parking lot and headed back home, but he wasn’t going to stay in for too long. He had an appointment with Chief Friday.

There was a medium-sized building that sat directly in-between the fire station and the police department. 3 minutes from the police department and 3 minutes from the fire station. It served the purpose of a museum. It was the Tapioca Museum of Service, a museum to showcase both histories of the Tapioca fire and police departments. Today was the day the fire chief volunteered to take tours around the building. As fire chief, it was Belvin’s responsibility to lead the tours every once in a while. Showing children from kindergarten to highschool the history of the town they live in. That day, his visitor was Nathan. Belvin was happy to see the big man walk through the door and pay for a tour. It was slow as it always was and Belvin wasn’t doing anything but sitting down, snoring in the security guard’s ear.

Belvin happily showed Nathan around the various pictures and statues on display. He taught him the significance of the old-timey tools that firemen used to use. He tested Nathan’s strength by making the man lift an old fire pump vehicle by himself. It was his favorite thing to do with the visitors since most of them underestimate the weight of the pump. Watching over confident adults and teenagers try to lift one of those things was the highlight of the tour. Belvin even showed Nathan the placard that was made for Belvin himself as the first African American fire chief of Tapioca, Alabama. Nathan looked at it impressed. Belvin’s placard had been the only new thing he’s seen since going in. Nathan’s been through the museum plenty of times years ago. None of the information was new to him, but Belvin didn’t need to know that.

As the two rounded a corner to enter the second half of the museum, the police department side, Nathan decided then would be a good time to mention the real reason he took the tour that day. They began walking through a hall of official photos. On the wall were headshots of different men and women, mostly men, who served as the town’s chief of police. Nathan stopped at a particular photo along the next wall. It was a picture of a woman and man in their wedding clothes. They were bright faced, being married by the chief of police. Nathan looked at the info that sat beside it.

  17224 Police Unit Drive, Tapioca, Alabama Frig King Jr. marries Ladybird Briggom at the Tapioca Police Department on August 28th, 1942. The happy couple were married by Chief of Police Larry George Howard on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon. The wedding was attended by both families and the couple’s dog, Peanut.

Nathan looked down at the blurry black and white foxhound, too fat to actually catch a fox.

“Whatever happened to your engagement to that girl?”

Nathan turned around towards Belvin. He was surprised that Belvin even knew about his engagement, considering it was after he left Tapioca.

“Facebook.” Belvin answered, simply after noticing Nathan’s surprise.

“Elijah?” Nathan asked. Belvin nodded his head. “I told him not to post anything.” Nathan said to the ceiling.

Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at his boots. “Well, we obviously didn’t go through with it.” Nathan scratched at his beard while thinking. “She said she was looking for something else; someone else. 6 months after I propose she sat me down and said she didn’t want to spend our lives together.” Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “She fell in love with another guy, she said. She didn’t know how to tell me when I proposed and she felt overwhelmed.”

Belvin’s face scrunched in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Son.”

“It’s all right. It took a while, but I eventually let her go. We’re on speaking terms, so it’s not like I shut her out or anything.” Back then, Nathan thought he would never get over it. He thought he found the one. A woman to love for the rest of his life and have his children. It hurt getting over her. A physical pain that Nathan didn’t expect, but time heals all wounds, as they say.

 Nathan rocked on his heels. His eyes peered at Belvin’s hands where one still held his wedding band. “What about you, Chief?”

Belvin’s eyes shot down to his wedding ring. He covered it with his right hand as if he was ashamed it was still there.

“I guess it’s taking me a little longer to let it go,” he confessed sadly. Nathan asked what happened, but recanted when he noticed Belvin’s hesitation. “No, no. It’s fine.”

“It had been a long time coming. We were having problems for years. It was fine, but we had our differences when it came to things like her mother and sister; even Yolana. We spent more time fighting than trying to fix things.” Belvin sighed and looked up to the ceiling. “She was tired, I could tell, and her attitude was changing because of it.”

Nathan contemplated Belvin’s words. He vaguely remembered an old lady that lived with the fire chief. He assumed that was the mother he was referring to. Nathan knew the sister from what his grandfather had informed him.

Belvin sighed again. “We still argue, though her mother and sister are gone.”

“So, it’s just Yolana?” Nathan asked.

“Yeah.” Belvin answered, sadness coating his tone.

“Do they get along? I see them together all the time.” There was a bit of guilt inside Nathan for asking such pointed questions, especially since it was family business. However, he knew he couldn’t just come out and ask Belvin what he really wanted to know. Coming out and asking if his ex-wife verbally and mentally abuses his niece would not only cause suspicion, but it will also be fruitless. He wouldn’t get any answers by being so blunt.

Nathan could tell that Belvin was hesitant to say anything, but the pain overpowered the man, and he took an opportunity to vent.

“Freda and Yolana’s relationship has always been rocky. Ever since the girl was born. Melinda, her mother, was hard to deal with after coming back home from California, and it took a toll on Freda. She is still mad at her sister and is punishing Yolana for it.”

Belvin continued. “I told her to let it go and leave that girl alone, but Freda isn’t the type to let things go. She would much rather sit and let it simmer until it boils over.”

“What did her sister do?”

“Well, her mother was sick and Melinda, being addicted to dope-“ Belvin stopped to look at Nathan like he suddenly remembered where he was. “I’m sorry, Son, I was just-a talking. It’s a private matter.” He finished.

Nathan looked at him sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I was prying.”

Belvin accepted his apology and offered to continue the tour. Nathan accepted, but wasn’t paying as much attention as he was before. He didn’t get a lot of new information, but he had an idea of what was going on. The reason Freda was the way that she was had something to do with whatever Melinda did to their mother. Nathan didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it would have to had been pretty bad to warrant the mistreatment of Yolana, who had nothing to do with it. Nathan wasn’t trying to come up with an entire timeline of events, but just the answer to what was going on, but he had to admit the story was interesting.

Yolana’s day went by pretty smoothly. Candice did catch up to her, unfortunately, but fortunately, she didn’t mention whatever happened with her and Nathan. She just held a moderately normal conversation. Yolana’s anxiety was present the entire time. When is she going to mention it? Yolana thought over and over. However, it never passed her lips, and Yolana felt that she might not have to avoid Candace later.

2:00 came quickly and Yolana happily met Nathan at the truck. When he rounded it to get in himself, Yolana watched as he locked eyes with Candace when the woman neared her own ride. She flirtatiously waved at him, but he returned nothing but a pinched nod and hopped inside the vehicle. Yolana decided not to dwell on the feelings of triumph when she saw Nathan ignore Candace’s advances. Instead, she inquired about what their meal was for that evening.

“Quick, stop at the Mexican spot before we head off to Brooks. Then we’re heading to the outlet.” He dipped down to tap on his shoes. “Daddy needs some new boots.”

Wednesday morning Yolana sat in the truck smiling an ache to her face. Nathan snuck a country song in their morning mix of music. At first, Yolana side-eyed him when she heard the thick country accent come through the stereo, but Nathan ignored her and turned the volume up. “Just listen,” he said. Nathan found the perfect song to introduce Yolana to a broader spectrum of country music. He thought about it when she called him “Hoity-toity” last Friday night.

The song was a live performance of “It’s Hard To Be Humble” by Mac Davis. A song that sounds serious at first, but soon becomes comical. The smile on Yolana’s face was instant as soon as she heard the first few words of the verse. Halfway through the song, she took out her phone and began typing, holding it up to Nathan’s face afterwards.

“He’s kind of handsome.” She had brought up a picture of the singer that showed a young Mac Davis. He was smiling while leaning on an old-style Ford, head full of curls topped by a cowboy hat. He had a pleasant smile, and though he sported a ‘70s curly afro, it fit his face well.

“You think so?” Nathan said, taking a moment to look at the phone.

Yolana nodded and turned the phone back towards herself. She smirked as she looked down at the picture. “Don’t see a lot of men like him around here.”

“Is he your type?”

“Oh! Yes!” Yolana smiled, not taking her eyes away from the phone. “Look at those pretty blue eyes of his! Oh my God, Nathan. I found a picture of him with a damn beard.”

“So, your type of man has blue eyes and a beard?” Nathan chuckled.

“Mmm hmm,” Yolana responded, very distracted at finding more pictures of the singer with his beard.

“Well, ain’t that something?” Nathan said cheekily.

Noticing the haughty tone coming from Nathan, Yolana looked up at him. When he looked back with a grin stretching a mile across his face, she realized what she had just admitted. Yolana just told Nathan that blue eyed bearded country men were her type. She just told Nathan that he was her type. Yolana was finding it really hard to shut her mouth lately.

Yolana rolled her eyes, more at herself than Nathan’s dumb look. “Oh my God.”

Nathan laughed. “Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble.” he sung.

“Shut up!”

“When you’re perfect in every way!” he continued, putting the truck in park. When Yolana reached for the door handle to get out, she heard the locks click, keeping her in.

“Stop.” She spoke. It was a combination of a whine of distress and laughter.

“I can’t wait to look in the mirror, ‘cause I get better lookin’ each day!“

“I can’t stand you!” She manually unlocked the door to hop out. Before she could close the door, Nathan stopped her. He turned down the music so she could hear him better.

“Pops and I are thinking on coming down to the church for service this evening. I was wondering if I could sneak a seat next to you. I haven’t been to church in a bit and sitting next to you might make it a little less awkward.” He licked his bottom lip before biting it, a little nervous at her answer. Yolana stared at it.

“I’ll probably be sitting in the pews behind the pastor.”

“With your aunt,” Nathan said, matter of fact.

“With my aunt.” Yolana confirmed.

Nathan sighed. “Well, just seeing you should ease my troubles.” He smiled. “I’ll see you at 2:00.”

Yolana sweetly smiled and waved Nathan goodbye before turning towards the building.

Nathan didn’t know what it was about 11:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, but it seemed as if everyone and their mamma were shopping. He scanned through his memory for any holidays he might have forgotten about that would warrant so many bodies in the Walmart. He came up with nothing and assumed that the business of the store was just chance. Nathan didn’t have much to buy, just two cases of beer and a gallon of milk, but it seemed like he would be in line for a long time, regardless.

He strolled up to the checkout lanes, noticing there were barely any open. There were mostly self-service machines and Nathan thought it would be better to use one of those than try to wait in the three lanes that were open. He queued behind the shortest one he could see while holding the two cases in each hand and the milk with his pinky finger. Soon though, his hands were getting numb, and his pinky was feeling frozen, so he sat the beer down on the ground, topped with the milk. Once he stood back up, he noticed a familiar face standing at the very front of the lines, wearing a bright yellow vest.

Freda stood there overlooking the crowd with a concentrated glower pressed upon her face. “What luck.” Nathan thought. He was meaning to talk to Freda, but he was waiting until the church service later, but look at that. She was right there. He didn’t know that she worked at the Walmart.

He waited patiently as the line slowly proceeded scooting his items with his foot as he moved. It took 15 minutes, but Nathan eventually made it to the front. He locked eyes with Freda and gave her a pleasant smile and a nod. She nodded in return, acknowledging him, but the smile she left out. He turned back and lifted his items onto the scanner and waited as it beeped for Freda to come to his aid. Right as he took out his wallet, Freda approached the self-checkout. He gave her another charming smile that she eventually halfheartedly returned, and tapped on the screen a few times. She looked at him expectedly.

“Oh! Here you go,” Nathan said, handing her his ID. He didn’t expect to have to give it to her. Nathan wasn’t old, but he definitely looked over the age of 21. The facial hair helped. “How’s your day going” he asked.

“It’s going well,” Freda responded without looking his way.

“It’s pretty busy, huh?” Nathan continued.

“Yep.”

Freda seemed as if she was in a sour mood. Usually, Nathan would back off and leave people alone, but he wondered things about Freda that he could get answered at that moment. So, he pressed on, trying to stall so he could hold her longer.

“I meant to speak to you at Belvin��s barbecue party at the station, but you seem sort of busy.” Nathan said. Freda handed his license back and clicked her nails against the screen.

“Yes, I was trying to do some business. It was nice seeing you.” She turned to walk away, not saying another word.

“That’s okay. I got to speak to Yolana. She’s a pretty nice gal. How is she doing, by the way?”

Freda stopped in her tracks, half turned. Her sharp eyes shot to Nathan’s. There it was. The reaction to hearing Yolana’s name made her body tense, defensive.

“She’s fine.”

“That’s good. I remember we had a conversation about her art. Does all her work look so good?” Nathan feigned friendliness. He would do what he did with Belvin and not let it slip that he and Yolana already knew each other.

Freda pursed her lips and stiffly nodded her head. Nathan continued.

“You think she would be open to developing some commissions? I would love to sit down with her and talk about it.”

Freda started shaking her head before Nathan could finish his sentence. “I don’t believe Yolana is interested in anything like that,” she answered tersely.

Nathan knew that to be untrue. He knew straight from Yolana’s mouth that making money from her craft would be a dream come true. Nathan produced a card with his name and information from his wallet. “Well, maybe she could give me a call and we can set a date to meet.” Nathan’s choice of words didn’t sit right with Freda and it made her eye twitch.

“Yolana’s not interested Mr. Bard.” Freda said, firmly insisting.

Nathan looked down at the woman. “Oh, what a shame. She really is a very talented woman. She can make good money with a gift like that.” Though Freda rejected his offer, she still took his information, and Nathan didn’t know how to feel about that.

Freda took the business card and put it in the front pocket of her work vest. “It’s just a little hobby of hers. Yolana has no plans to do anything with it. There’s not much money to make around here doing art anyways.” Freda spoke. She highly doubted that her niece’s little hobby could bring in “good” money. Things like that aren’t needed nor appreciated enough to get a good job.

“Yeah, you’re right about that one. But she could go somewhere that she could. Like up north; definitely out of Tapioca.” Nathan suggested.

Freda snorted, finding it quite funny that he thought Yolana had the capacity to leave Tapioca. She relied on Freda far too much to even move down the street. She doesn’t own anything but the stuff in her room. Also, where would she even go in the first place?

Nathan heard the quiet laugh but ignored it.

Freda folded her arms over her chest and looked at Nathan while he retreated his wallet back to his back pocket. Something didn’t sit right about him. He was too friendly towards Yolana, and his conversation with her contrasted with the information Yolana gave her. Yolana said that he only stopped to say hello.

“You know, I’m a part of the lady’s group in my church and a few of them live in my neighborhood. One of them; I’m really close with. We were sisters in our high school Abstinence for God group. She noticed that your truck comes through the cul-de-sac every day.” Freda said expectantly. As far as she knew, there were no relatives or friends of Nathan in her neighborhood. So why would he be coming through every day?

Nathan smiled down at the woman. Small town gossip. Everyone knew everyone and everyone knew what everyone drove. Also, the fact that Freda was a part of a high school abstinence group could explain why she was such a tight ass.

“I have a friend in the area,” he stated simply.

A venomous smile showed on Freda’s face. “Twice a day?” She said an obvious gotcha question.

“Twice a day.” Nathan dead panned, but smiled at the end to let her know he wasn’t stupid. However, he wouldn’t at all be surprised if she came out with time stamps and video footage provided by her church friend. She didn’t, however, and kept her eyes on Nathan with an obvious challenge. When he didn’t avoid her gaze, she retreated, though with an attitude and distrust.

“You must be really close friends.” Freda said. “Have a blessed evening Mr. Bard.” Her words were dripping with sarcasm.

He returned the sentiment before scanning his last item. When he paid and gathered his items, he gave Freda a quick nod before exiting the grocery chain. His first time speaking to Freda didn’t go at all that smoothly, but Nathan didn’t expect much to begin with. He knew there would be some static between the two, especially since he mentioned Yolana. That’s what he was expecting; her walls to go up. To just blatantly speak on Yolana’s behalf about her intentions. To diminish her hard work and say it was and would continue to be nothing but a hobby didn’t sound like something a supportive loved one would say. It humored her to think of it even. That might have something to do with how much Yolana doubted her work. Though her eyes lit up when he mentioned her doing art professionally, he could tell she didn’t truly believe it was possible. Maybe she would have if she had some support around her. The only confidence there was, was how confident Freda was in Yolana’s failure.

Nathan leisurely drove towards Yolana’s home as he half listened to her describe all that had gone on during her day. She was on the phone with Mrs. Henderson, who called right when Yolana got into the truck. The conversation started with the two discussing their next meet up or escape plan the upcoming Saturday. It turned into Yolana, spitting all the drama that happened in the past week or two at her job. For such a simple and small place of work, it surprised Nathan how much drama there was and the amount of pregnant women that work there. He counted 5 in one story alone. By the time Yolana ended the call, he was already pulling into her driveway. Yolana put her phone back into her bag and sat back with a huff. Nathan knew from being around his mother and sister that Yolana just used a shit ton of energy to describe her day and, most likely, she hadn’t even scratched the surface.

As Yolana began to exit the vehicle, Nathan stopped her by taking a hold of her hand.

“Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?” Nathan asked out of the blue.

“No.”

“How about we ride mine tomorrow? It’s going to be a bright day. A great day for a motorcycle ride.” Nathan said, amused at her reaction. “It’ll be fun experiencing something new.”

Yolana was hesitant, but after taking a second to think about it and reveling in the slow heat that was rising from the hand he held, she agreed with a nod.

“Is it safe? Because we have some bumpy roads and if I fall off, I’m going-“

Nathan held up his other hand to placate her. He waved her worries away.

“I’m a safe driver. Never even been in an accident, even when I was learning. You’re in safe, capable manly hands,” he said, adding in the joke to ease her spirits. She could definitely feel how manly his hands were.

“Okay, but you better be real careful with me.”

“I will, I promise.” Yolana watched as he slowly noticed he was still holding her hand, as she couldn’t leave without him letting it go. He sheepishly smiled, throwing that same hand through his brown locks. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Yolana stood in front of her full-length mirror that hung on the outside of her closet door. It was a little dressy, but the dress she wore wasn’t too over the top for a midweek service. It was the level of dressy Freda was mostly known for, a casual dressy. Though mid-week services were the nights you could get away with wearing a simple T-shirt and jean skirt. The men were even more casual since they were allowed to wear jean pants and the boys could wear shorts. No pants or shorts were allowed for the women and girls. Freda always wore a dress, no matter what. She wore church appropriate heels and a light makeup every church service, though Sundays, she ramped it up.

Yolana never cared too much for overdressing for church services. She kept it simple most of the time, liking the “simple and put together” look. No flashy dresses with bells and whistles attached and gaudy colors. She liked simple colors with a minimalistic design that still showed her young beauty. It made her feel fresh. She only got super dressed up for holidays like Easter and church anniversaries. However, tonight she left her jean skirt in the closet and instead put on a true-blue dress. Near to the colors of her flowers that sat gorgeously on her desk. When she saw the almost near match, she knew she had to put it on. She had to convince herself, though, that the change was for herself and not the man that was going to attend the sermon. The man that slept with her coworker.

“Stop it, Yolana.” She stared into the eyes of her reflection when she said it. She instead busied herself with the half up, half down look that she was going for with her hair. Convincing herself was getting harder and harder the more she fussed with her looks in the mirror. She hated herself for it, but she couldn’t seem to stop, that is, until her aunt came busting into her room unannounced.

Yolana remembered many times having a discussion with Freda about knocking, instead of barging in like Kramer from Seinfeld. She even suggested having a lock for her door. That conversation went about as well as every other conversation concerning Yolana’s privacy. The older woman went in the room quietly, looking Yolana up and down. She appeared behind her in the reflection of the mirror. She seemed pleased.

“You look pretty.” Freda said.

Yolana smiled, genuinely delighted about the appraisal. “Thank you.”

“You should look like this every service. It would do you some good.”

And there she goes. “What do you mean?” Yolana knew to let it go, but she opened her mouth anyway.

“The ladies of the church,” Freda started. Oh my God, Yolana thought. “Should always look appropriate during church. Not only do we represent women of God, we also represent the pastor and the church.”

“I’m not one of the ladies.” Yolana said with an attitude.

“Well, you might as well be. You don’t do anything else. What else do you contribute?”

Yolana flinched. What else did she contribute? To the church or to society? Well. Absolutely nothing. Yolana’s considered to be a part of the lady’s group, but she’s not and she told Freda that. She didn’t devote herself to anything else in the church because she knew Freda would display her like a trophy that she designed and molded herself. She refused the first lady’s offer to help run the after-school program, run the thrift shop, and 5 more other things. Yolana knew Freda would shove her way into those, too. Yolana didn’t contribute anything to society because she wasn’t even allowed 10 ft away from the house without Freda’s permission.

Yolana smoothed down her dress one more time before turning to get a jacket.

“I’ll be in the car.” She said with finality. She left Freda standing there staring at her.

Nathan stood at the entrance of the church with his grandfather beside him. He felt out of place as he let his grandfather take on most of the conversation in the small cluster of people that flocked to them. Thomas was there as well, but as soon as they arrived, the caretaker made a beeline for a very appealing blonde-haired woman standing by herself. Thomas, not being a man of faith, volunteered to drive the two men that night. It surprise Nathan that he would come to a church with him being a non-believer, but he found his answer to why. He just hoped that the young woman was open to his views and Thomas wasn’t leading her to any false pretenses.

Nathan looked around. There were mostly familiar faces at the church that evening. There was barely a person there he didn’t know. While standing outside, he had already caught up with at least 6 people he hadn’t yet seen since his arrival. One thing was for sure: Greater Mount Calvary Pentecostal Orthodox Missionary Baptist Church was going to be well stocked full of people. He didn’t remember there being so many members since his last attendance. Nathan hoped they got their air conditioning fixed at least.

Nathan was in the middle of listening to the group talk when a burnt orange Nissan Murano pulled up to the special parking right at the church entrance. After a minute or two, 2 people exited the vehicle. One Freda Friday and the other Yolana Humphry. Nathan chuckled. The gall of that woman. Freda parked in one of the “special” parking spots that sat right beside the one handicap spot that was right next to the pastor and the assistant pastor spots. Nathan seriously doubted that Freda was given a parking spot just for her being the head of the ladies’ group. Freda approached wearing a simple black two-piece women’s suit with glitter trimming. Her feet were wearing simple black heels, and she wore a matching purse on her shoulder. Her hair was down and fanning her shoulders. A few strands were tucked behind one ear to show off her glittering earrings. Yolana was a step behind her, as usual.

Nathan locked eyes with Yolana as she walked up the steps towards the group. She wore a pretty knee-length blue dress that looked like it was simply wrapped around her and tied at the waist. The deep neckline was a wide frill that matched the bottom where it tapered at her knees. It was sleeveless and the deep neckline that would have shown her cleavage otherwise, was pinned together to hide it. It still did its job, however. Her bust was accentuated alongside the column of her throat that was on display, with most of her braids being atop her head. She wore flats on her feet. They were more comfortable for Yolana, and she only owned two pairs of heels and they were for special occasions only.

Nathan looked Yolana up and down. She noticed, and she felt her face heat, as well as her neck and hands. Her heart began to beat faster. The longer he took to make it back to her eyes, the faster her heart beat. The dress wasn’t that remarkable, but the way his eyes coasted over her form, maybe it was. She hadn’t worn it in a while, so it might be a little tighter than when Yolana originally bought it. But in the mirror earlier, she didn’t look like she was busting out of the thing, but it showed more of her curves. It couldn’t have been too tight if Freda let her out the house with it on.

Nathan’s appreciative blues eventually made it back to Yolana’s face. He had never seen her in anything other than scrubs. He knew she had a shape on her, but the dress showed her off very well. Nathan especially liked the look of her legs and her collarbone that held a simple gold cross against it. He wished he matched her effort. Knowing it wasn’t a Sunday service, Nathan simply wore a moss green sweatshirt and khaki pants. He wore his new boots that Yolana helped pick out, though.

As Freda got distracted by the members, Yolana made her way over to Elijah and Nathan. Just like that, the surrounding group disappeared towards Freda and freed up space for Yolana to approach the men. Nathan kept his eyes on her as she got closer and even as she looked away to greet Elijah. Yolana felt his heavy gaze and, though she knew better, she welcomed it.

“It’s nice to see y’all again.” Yolana said.

“It’s nice to see you too, Miss Yolana. You look very beautiful in that dress, I might say.” Elijah said, smiling down at the young woman.

“Well, as soon as I heard you were coming, Elijah, I had to dress up for you. Especially since you canceled two clinic appointments in a row, and I haven’t been able to see you.”

The warm smile fell from Elijah’s face and was followed by a pinched look of guilt. For the first time since Yolana showed up, Nathan took his eyes off her and accusingly looked at his grandfather.

“Elijah Morish! What is she talking about?” Nathan asked.

“Just calm down.”

“I am calm.”

“You know what? I suddenly remember I need to speak to your aunt about something, Yolana. She’s coming this way as we speak.”

Yolana turned around to see her aunt walking towards the threesome. She froze, not too excited about Freda joining the conversation. However, she relaxed her body when Elijah passed her and stopped Freda in her tracks, distracting the woman and setting her off course. Yolana turned back to Nathan, who was still looking down at her. She quickly glanced away, but she felt like a schoolgirl. Yolana convinced herself to look up to him and stop avoiding eye contact. Act your age, she thought. When she moved her eyes back up to Nathan’s, they were there, patiently waiting.

“You do look pretty, Yolana.” Nathan reiterated his grandfather’s compliment.

“Thank you, Nathan.”

“You match your flowers,” he noted. Yolana nodded, pleased that he even noticed. She didn’t think he would, considering he was a man, and learning from her Uncle Belvin, men don’t really pay attention to things like that. It seemed that Nathan did, however. He’s very attentive.

“So, what did you do with yourself since we didn’t go anywhere this afternoon?”

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing really. I did most of what I needed before I picked you up. I went to the store and saw Freda.” Nathan said, nodding towards Yolana’s aunt.

“You did?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, we talked for a bit.”

Yolana’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. “About what? Why didn’t you tell me?” The last thing she needed was Freda getting suspicious of Nathan.

“Nothing much, just you.” He said it so simply, like it was nothing. “She doesn’t support you that much, does she?” he asked. “I don’t think she believes you will get anywhere with your art, either.”

“What’s new, really?” Yolana already knew that. “You should have told me that you saw her today. She reads way too much into things.”

Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not worried about your aunt, Lana.”

He said it’s so confidently, and Yolana instantly believed him. It made her heartbeat accelerate. She wished she could be like him. She wished she could always feel the calm she felt when she was around him. Butterflies flooded her stomach, but they were the result of anxiety. She was really going to miss him.

“So, you going to sing a solo tonight or what?” Nathan said mischievously.

The anxiety that Yolana felt was swept under the rug and replaced with playful impetus.

“Only if you sing first.”

“Oh no, I sound like a horse, but I’m sure your voice is as angelic as your charm.”

“What-ever. You didn’t sound that bad when you were singing this morning. I might be in the choir stand tonight, but singing ain’t coming from me.” Yolana will leave that to Freda.

“I’ve heard you in the truck a few times. It was quiet, but I heard it. You can carry a tune.”

Yolana shook her head. “There will absolutely be no singing coming from these lips.” She tapped at said lips and Nathan brought his eyes down to them. When Yolana noticed, she licked them, and a fierce set of cerulean eyes met her own.

Freda stood not too far, but far enough from Yolana that she couldn’t hear what she was talking about, but how that boy was looking at her niece, it couldn’t be good. They stood close to each other, their feet almost touching. Yolana looked as if she was enjoying herself a little too much. If the girl wasn’t careful, she was going to end up in some kind of trap. To Freda, that man cannot be trusted. Yolana should be ashamed of herself for being so close to a man on church grounds. They were practically chest to chest. Why was she being so senseless? If Elijah hadn’t stopped her, Freda would have gotten Yolana and brought her inside the church. Of course, though Elijah had to stop her to talk about something she couldn’t care less about. The church looked pristine and clean, with a bare lawn. Why clutter things up with flowers everywhere? Freda could understand a few potted plants here and there, but a garden. Really?

Her eyes slid back and forth between Elijah and Yolana with Nathan. She continued to look over them suspiciously until Nathan reached for one of Yolana’s braids, twirling it around his fingers. That put Freda on high alert.

“Excuse me, Elijah. The church would not benefit at all with a garden. At least I can’t see why it would. Allergy season is already horrible with the trees around. The flowers would just make it worse, and they bring bugs. But thank you for the suggestion.” She said before walking away towards the couple.

Elijah looked after her, dumbfounded. He was making no suggestions. He merely made a statement about how the church would look.

Freda’s heels clicked across the flooring towards Yolana and Nathan. He saw Freda before Yolana did and almost rolled his eyes. There was a salty smile on Frieda’s lips when she approached the two. Her hand immediately wrapped around Yolana’s arm.

“Hello Mr. Bard. It’s nice seeing you again. Yolana, it’s time to go inside.” With that, Freda yanked Yolana away.

Nathan didn’t like that one bit and opened his mouth to say something, but his grandfather was there to stop him. The old man put a hand to Nathan’s shoulder, stilling him.

“Let’s go inside.”

13 years. It had been 13 years, and Pastor Macklemore still hadn’t fixed the damn air conditioner. Lord, forgive me for cursing in your house, Nathan thought. He decided to wear a sweatshirt, but the ceiling fan and the elderly woman fanning herself cooled him enough. He was barely paying attention. Instead of listening to what the minister had to say, Nathan was having a telepathic conversation with Yolana across the building. He ignored the heated glare that Freda would send his way every few minutes to instead compel her to be even more upset. Like a continuous loop, Freda would give him an indignant scowl, then she would look at Yolana until she was paying attention again. The two would listen to the word for a good two minutes before getting distracted by each other once again.

They both toned it down, however, not wanting Freda to get too upset. Yolana eventually brought her full attention to the pulpit and Nathan did as well. His eyes found her features repeatedly throughout the congregation, though, and he sat there wondering what had changed. Ever since he woke up that morning, Yolana looked different to Nathan and he couldn’t think of the reason why. The aura surrounding her seemed brighter, more beautiful. He found himself soaking in that revelation more than the words of the preacher.

Service ended quickly and most of the people left, but a few stayed to chat and cluster around each other. Nathan thought he had seen the last of Yolana when church dismissed, but he was wrong. She snuck away from Freda while she was being held up by her Uncle Belvin and met Nathan and Elijah at their vehicle. She bid Elijah goodbye and demanded him to keep his next appointment. Then she looked up at Nathan.

“About tomorrow. Do I need to wear anything in particular? I don’t have a helmet or anything like that.”

“I’ll bring everything you need. Just bring a second set of clothes for after work.”

Yolana nodded. “Okay. See you tomorrow. Good night.”

“Good night, sweet dreams.”

Nathan rounded the truck and got in the driver’s side before cranking it to start.

“Romantic motorcycle ride tomorrow?” Elijah asked once the truck started moving.

“Shut up.” Nathan said.

Freda was very quiet in the car on their way back home. Yolana was afraid that maybe she pushed it a little too far that night during church. She was becoming more and more careless the more she hung around Nathan. She noticed that last week. Freda was early quiet, but she didn’t mention anything, and by the time they’d made it home, Yolana thought she would be fine. Until Freda opened her bedroom door, right before Yolana was getting inside her comforter.

Freda was dressed in her nightgown with a matching robe on her shoulders. Her hair was neatly wrapped for the night. Even when she was sleeping, she was well put together. Freda meandered over to Yolana’s desk and sat down in the chair, pulling it towards her niece. Yolana sat on her bed getting ready for the talking to. Yet as they sat eye to eye, Yolana felt like a dwarf across from Freda. She wondered if Belvin felt that way when they were married. Or her mother, when she was still living there in that very room. Did she sit her mother down? Did Melinda ever sit on that bed and get a talking to from her older sister Freda? Most likely, yes. At least Yolana assumed from all the times Freda complained about how Melinda used to act.

“What’s going on with you and Elijah’s grandson?” Freda started.

“Nothing.” Yolana lied. She had been doing that more and more in the past 2 weeks.

“Y’all two a little too chummy for there to be nothing going on. Last, I remember y’all only met once. At Belvin’s BBQ.” Freda said.

“Speaking of. Did you know I talked to Nathan at the store earlier? He was there to buy some beer. Then had the audacity to come to church. He probably drunk a few before driving down there.”

There she goes again, Yolana thought. Judging and jumping to conclusions about people.

“He told me that y’all had a pretty long conversation at the barbecue. Long enough for you to show him your pictures. That is the complete opposite of what you told me. You told me he just said hello.”

Yolana looked off to the side. “I didn’t want you to think too much of it. It was an innocent conversation, and it didn’t even matter.” Yolana explained.

“But you lied. You still lied. I’ve been hearing rumors about him coming through this neighborhood every day.”

“That has nothing to do with me. That’s probably just a coincidence.” Yolana refused to let her put two and two together. She refused to let Freda ruin what she only had two more days of keeping. “The only other time I saw him was when he attended Elijah during his appointment. That’s the reason we seemed so friendly. But that’s it!” Yolana thought that if she made Freda feel like she was admitting a truth to her, that she might back down. That Yolana had confessed to something, and she won.

Freda continued to look at Yolana like she was a disgrace to her.

“Is that it?”

“Yes.” Yolana responded greatly. Freda stayed silent, and after a minute, Yolana continued. “What does it matter, anyway?” She looked down at her intertwined fingers.

Freda took a minute before responding.

“There are some dangerous people out there, Yolana. I should know since your mother introduced me to a lot of them and I’m sorry to say, she was one of them. So was your father.”

Yolana kept her head down. She hated it when Freda brought up her mother. She does it all the time, but when she goes into the specifics, it always makes Yolana emotional.

“You never know who is dangerous until something happens. I didn’t know your mother was dangerous until she held you upside down on top of the stairs and threatened to drop you. It took me and your uncle 10 entire minutes to get through her drug addled mind and convince Melinda to put you down.”

Freda told Yolana that story plenty of times. It was her way of telling Yolana, if it wasn’t for her, Yolana would be dead.

“I saved your life. Nathan is a big man. He is twice your size, and he’s what? 12 years older than you. I can’t save you from someone like him. A big white man with money. He could probably buy his way out of trouble, just like Elijah did when Nathan was a child. Did you know that? He’s been arrested multiple times, and he hangs around that delinquent Booboo. So, it would be smart not to talk to him anymore.”

Freda slowly got up from the seat and made her way to the door. She stopped at the entrance and turned around.

“Don’t be dumb like your mother was and let a man lead you to lose yourself. Honestly, Yolana, I don’t have the patience to save you again.”

With that, Freda left, slamming the door behind her. With her absence, Yolana let the tears she had been holding slide down her face and land on her hands.

She cried for a while, then she took a breath and cried some more. Eventually she stopped and her puffy red eyes landed on her flowers. Some more tears fell before she reached down to the underside of her mattress and retrieved an old glossy magazine. She turned it right side up and stared at the person on the cover. It was the only physical image she had of her mother. All glammed up in rhinestones and lace with bold makeup that was popular back then in the ‘90s. Yolana looked to that magazine whenever Freda took it upon herself to feel righteous by dragging others through the mud. Yolana looked at that magazine with eyes full of tears until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

It didn’t matter what Freda said about her mother or what she did to her grandmother. Melinda Humphry chased her dreams and didn’t let Freda drag her down, unlike Yolana. She was too weak and scared to even tell the truth and seek out a man she was interested in.

[ms-communication]

Of love and silent melodies (not the final title) 1/?

This is nothing but a silly attempt at a romance that’s been plaguing my mind for a while. I’ll be posting here for no special reason other than my own vanity. Kinda beta read, but feel free to point any mistakes. I’m open to criticism but I may also cry. I wish any one who reads this a great day. Hope you enjoy.

An unexpected encounter

The wind was unrelenting as Finch dawdled through the streets of Armada. His long pearly white hair flowed way past his waist. The tanned skin looked paler under the moonlight and the black eyes seemed to contain night's darkness itself. The silence in the village was so dense one could slice through it with a knife. The houses lining the short street were immersed in shadows. The only life present were drunks and barkeepers, the latters having already kicked Finch from quite a few establishments. 

After all, his outstanding charisma, divine voice and stunning looks were enchanting the public to a point that they even forgot to actually spend money on the tavern. Well, that's also courtesy of Finch's actual enchantment, learnt many lives ago from his elf mother. Being half-elf and half-human had its perks. 

Although small, the town had many taverns, always waiting for a bard to perform. It was that which called Finch to this place. After all, he was a musician in desperate need of money. 

Not long had he been walking when a faint light reached his eyes. A few steps ahead, a decrepit establishment was brimming with voices and sounds of the most varied type. Above the bar, a sign read: Cranky Keeper. Holding his lute closer, Finch hurried to the entrance of the tavern. 

As the door flung open, he felt his nose being assaulted by the nauseating smell of warm beer, body fluids and cold stew. The place seemed nowhere near as reputable as the places he's played at before, but as the saying goes: beggars can’t be choosers. Having located the owner behind the bar, he walked towards him and bowed dramatically. 

– Goldfinch Dawn, at your service. – he said, voice thick with reverence. – May I provide some entertainment in exchange for a few golden coins? –

The question was met with a simple huff from the tavern keeper. – No golden coins from me, only whatever they give you. – murmured the tall man. 

"Fine, it's better than nothing, I guess…", Finch thought to himself. With things settled, he walked to the beaten down stage and pulled his lute. His fingers began dancing on the strings and producing an enticing and melancholic melody. Soon as the song started to gain strength, the voices died down and everyone was all ears to the musician. 

Finch lost himself in the music and then there was nothing else in the world but him and his lute. 

Not long after, the whole place shook with joyous singing and enthusiastic yells. Every soul within reach was enchanted by the melodies resounding from the bard as well as hypnotized by his exquisite beauty. Men, women and everyone in between were enamored with Finch at that moment. 

The song ended with applause and cheers. Coins piled in the sac in front of the bard. Most of them were bronze and silver, but the amount was good enough. He traveled his eyes through the faces. They all had glossy eyes, plastered smiles and were eager to give every last coin they had. All of them, except for a silhouette in the back. Intrigued, Finch grabbed the coin sac and skipped his way to the shadow by the wall. The fingers skillfully danced on the chords of the lute as he swayed and batted his long e pearly eyelashes to the figure. 

Yet, he was met with a stare as cold and hard as stone. As the distance shortened, the figure became distinguishable and so did his appearance. The man was tall but also large and strong, like an ancient oak tree. Each arm of his was as big as both of Finch's. His skin was so pale it was almost white, except for the black ink of his many tattoos. 

His features were surprisingly delicate, contrasting with his size and strength. Delicate nose, small pouty lips pressed in annoyance and curly red hair, cut a bit above his shoulders. He was dressed humbly in mercenary's attire. White linen shirt, brown vest, partial chainmail over his left chest. Turning on the charm, the bard gave a toothy smile with one raised eyebrow. 

– Is my performance not to your liking, my good sir? – he asked, while bowing in front of the man. 

Suddenly, the man shot his gaze up and directly into the bard's eyes. Shocked, Finch was met with a pair of the warmest brown eyes he'd ever seen. He was still recovering from the impact that it caused him when the man rose to his feet, standing a good head taller than Finch. He raised his hand, which was easily bigger than the bard's head, to his right ear, forming a conch. 

– Sorry, I can't understand you – he said, a heavy accent scratching on the back of his throat. 

"No wonder he's unaffected by my songs, he's hard of hearing", thought Finch to himself. Smiling apologetically, he gestured to his lute and spoke calmly and well enunciated, so the other could read his lips. 

– I was asking if you liked the show, but I suppose not. – he said dismissively, hoping to get away from this fruitless conversation and back to more prosperous endeavors. But, contrary to his expectations, the man touched his shoulder in an attempt to stop him from leaving the conversation.

– Have we met before? – he asked, a deep crease of confusion on his forehead. "Great, his interest may prove useful", pondered Finch. 

– I don't believe we have, but that can be easily remedied. My name is Goldfinch Dawn, at your services. And what would your name be? – the bard questioned, extending his hand for a handshake. 

The other man grabbed and completely enveloped the bard's hand, squeezing a tad more than it'd be comfortable. With a small wince, Finch regretted having started the interaction, a cold and somber feeling creeping its way into his brain. He tried retracting his hands, but it was useless. The grip slipped around his wrists and held his hand down even more. Swallowing his panic, Finch kept his charming smile, even if his eyes tried to betray him. 

– My name is not important. You've been requested to the Kingdom and I'm in charge of taking you there, safe and sound. - he finally said. Finch gave a humorless laugh. 

– You'll have to be way more charming than that to take me with you. How about we start with you buying me an ale? – he joked, still trying to free his hand from the grip, to no avail.

"I gotta get rid of him as soon as possible", he thought with anxiety coursing through his veins. Not a single person in the tavern paid attention to them. 

– Oh, come on, this is no way to treat a gentleman such as myself. – he said playfully, but the smile never reached his eyes. Those dark eyes were hard and tempestuous as he analyzed the other as a threat. The mercenary was unreadable, a certain apathy smoothing the hardness of his actions and words. 

– Unfortunately it's not up to me to decide how to treat you. I've been given strict directions to take you to the Queen alive and healthy, but the use of force is allowed, even encouraged a little. – he answered in a monotone voice.

Masking the fear and defiance in his eyes, Finch slid closer to his captor, standing mere inches apart. Confused, the man arched an eyebrow, his grip faltering for a second. That was enough for the bard to twist and kneel, freeing his hand and himself in the process. In a matter of seconds, he was halfway across the bar. 

– Sorry love, but I'm not that easy! – Finch yelled from the door, a quick wave and kiss thrown in the redhead's direction. With that, the bard started swiftly running through the night, dissolving as mist in the wind.

[faveficarchive]

Queen's Gambit

by Silent Bard

April 2002

The episode Endgame opened a lot of story possibilities (then promptly destroyed them with a reset) of what happened on Voyager the 16 years we didn't see. This is one such story.

Big thank yous to Bat Morda and Penumbra for help with the editing. You guys rock!

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

Captain Kathryn Janeway, Seven of Nine, Chakotay and all other characters who have appeared in the series Star Trek: Voyager, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of Viacom and Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

And when I wake you're never there

But when I sleep you're everywhere

You're everywhere

'Cause you're everywhere to me

And when I close my eyes it's you I see

You're everything I know that makes me believe

I'm not alone

I'm not alone

                  --Michelle Branch

Seven of Nine entered the quarters to find them bathed in candlelight. She looked around, confused. Captain Kathryn Janeway, the owner of the quarters was standing by the couch two champagne glasses in her hands.

"What is this?" Seven asked.

"Happy anniversary, Seven," Janeway's voice was warm and rich and it tickled Seven in ways she was unable to process. The captain handed Seven a champagne glass.

"Captain?" confusion and wonder filled her tone. Perhaps this evening was going to progress differently than she had first imagined.

"It was five years ago today that you became part of our family. I know it has been a difficult road, but I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. Sometimes I think your humanity surpasses even mine," Janeway smiled as she raised her glass in a toast. "Happy anniversary, Seven. Voyager is richer by your presence."

Tears began to form in Kathryn's eyes so she quickly took a drink of the champagne. Seven followed suit.

"I know you still dislike being the center of attention, so I kept the celebration small. I hope you don't mind?" the captain ushered Seven to a seat at the table where a small feast was laid out. Seven was touched yet again when she realized that the captain had gone out of her way to replicate all of her favorite foods.

"This is wonderful, Captain. Thank you very much. I don't mind celebrating with just you. It has been some time since we have had shared a meal together, just the two of us."

Janeway smiled in relief. She had been a little worried that Seven would be offended at such an intimate display. But Janeway had ignored her fears and gone ahead with her plans. She was glad she had followed her instincts. "It has been awhile, hasn't it? We should work on that."

The smile that graced Seven's face at that comment could only be described as radiant. "I concur, Captain."

"Please, we've been together for five years now Seven. I think you can call me Kathryn when we are off duty." Janeway instantly regretted the wording of her sentence. 'Oh god, I hope she doesn't think I meant anything by saying we've been together,' she fretted internally.

Feeling as if she was dreaming Seven of Nine could barely find her voice. "I would like that, Kathryn," she replied tremulously. This was definitely an evening to remember for the former Borg.

Dinner was spent sharing stories and reminiscing about adventures from the past five years. Janeway couldn't remember a recent evening where she felt so relaxed and comfortable. If she were honest she would have to admit that she never felt as relaxed and comfortable as she did when she was with Seven. There was something about the blonde that made Janeway feel like she was home. They had retired to the couch after dinner and both women seemed reluctant to end the evening. The topics had shifted from past adventures to planning future ones.

"That sounds like a truly fascinating planet. I would love to visit it with you," Seven smiled shyly at Janeway. She had consumed three glasses of champagne over the course of the evening and she was definitely feeling the effect of the synthehol. Her inhibitions were lowered and she found herself saying things she would normally keep to herself.

Janeway's heart clenched. The evening had been perfect but it was beginning to get out of hand. After 5 glasses of wine the iron band of control that she normally kept her emotions behind was showing definite signs of wear and tear. It was time for a graceful retreat. Fantasies were nice for an evening, but it was time for reality to supercede.

"I would think that visiting Risa would best be left for you and Chakotay. It is quite a romantic planet. Couples come from across the Alpha Quadrant to visit. I hear it is the number one honeymoon spot for humans looking to get away from Earth," Kathryn was too busy averting her eyes as she spoke to notice the crestfallen look Seven's face.

Seven had been avoiding the topic of Chakotay all evening, but since the Captain had brought it up she figured she might as well take the segue offered to her. "Speaking of Commander Chakotay, I have something I wish to tell you."

Janeway felt a burning sensation in her chest and her dinner threatened to come back up. She knew exactly what Seven was going to say and she knew she didn't want to hear it. Not tonight, not with her control so weak. She took a deep breath and retreated behind her command mask to get through the rest of this conversation. "Yes, Seven?" trying to sound interested she didn't notice that her voice was as monotone as a Borg.

Seven was too distracted to notice Janeway's shift in mood. She had been meaning to tell Janeway all night but she hadn't wanted to ruin the wonderful evening. Kathryn had given her a gift with this anniversary and she didn't want the memories spoiled. It looked like she wasn't going to get her wish. "Commander Chakotay has asked me to marry him."

Even though she knew this was coming, it still felt like a bomb had exploded in her heart. 'No, god. Please god. Anything but this,' Janeway moaned internally. "That's wonderful, Seven. I suppose this really was a night to celebrate," she raised her wine and finished the almost full glass in one draught.

"I haven't decided if I should accept his offer yet." The silence was deafening. Neither woman looked at the other as both were lost in their thoughts. 'This is it, Katie. She's giving you the perfect opening. Tell her not to do it. Tell her he's no good for her. Tell her they aren't well suited for each other. Tell her the truth--that you love her and he could never give her what you could,' Janeway's inner voice begged.

"Commander Chakotay is a good man. You could do much worse than marrying him," Kathryn offered diplomatically. 'But she could do better! Tell her Katie! This could be your last hope!'

"Commander Chakotay *is* a good man. And I know that he loves me very much." Kathryn was too busy ignoring her inner voice to notice the glaring omission that this statement revealed.

"You two have been dating for quite awhile now. I'm surprised that he didn't ask you sooner," Kathryn's mouth kept talking but her brain was shutting down. All she could think about was Seven marrying someone else. She was losing her hold on her control so she let the captain take over while the woman retreated to lick her wounds.

"We have been dating one year, four months, 2 weeks, and three days. When we began dating I had made it clear to him that I wanted to 'take it slow.' I believe this was as long as he could wait. He is quite anxious to hold the ceremony."

"Really? When were you thinking of holding it?" Janeway moved to the replicator and recycled her empty wine glass, then requested a whiskey and soda. She moved back to the couch and sat at the opposite end from Seven, further away than they had been earlier in the evening.

"He would like to have the ceremony next month," Seven found herself answering the captain's questions automatically. It felt as if her world, so carefully constructed, was falling apart. She realized that she was about to cry, and didn't want to show so much emotion to Captain Janeway. It was obvious that Janeway wasn't going to say anything against Chakotay's proposal like Seven had been wishing for.

It wasn't that she didn't like Chakotay. He was a good man, and he did love her. She cared for him in return, but just not as much as she should. Over the course of their relationship she had come to realize that the feelings she felt for him were not as strong as the ones she experienced for her captain. Part of her believed that those feelings were returned and she had hoped that this conversation would bring about confessions. Unfortunately, this looked not to be the case. Either Kathryn did not feel love for Seven, or she was too stubborn to admit it. Seven felt a door close around her heart. She knew that she could tell the captain that she was experiencing doubt because she loved another but somehow she instinctively knew that the only way things would work out between her and Kathryn would be if Janeway expressed her feelings first.

Abruptly Seven stood up, suddenly unable to be in the same room as Kathryn any longer. "I should be going, Captain. It is late and we both have duty in the morning."

"Good night Seven," Janeway called, having the foreboding sense that Seven was not only walking out of her quarter's, but out of her life forever. Feeling disgusted with herself and angry at her First Officer she threw the empty glass against the wall that separated her quarters from the man in question. "Die, Chakotay, die," she murmured incoherently.

*****************

It's funny how quickly time passes when you are dreading something. The month between Seven telling Janeway about Chakotay's proposal and the actual ceremony passed by in what felt like the blink of an eye. At least to Kathryn. It hadn't helped that the entire ship had been ecstatic at the news. There had been weddings over the years on Voyager, but most, like Tom and B'Elanna's, had been small affairs. The crew had decided that a huge wedding was in store for the ship's First Officer and Astrometrics Officer.

As she stood at the altar in her dress uniform Kathryn looked on at what seemed to be her entire crew. There was a skeleton crew on the bridge and in engineering, but everyone else was here ready to celebrate the union of Seven and Chakotay. Everyone was smiling and happy, eager to share in the joy of this event. Everyone but Kathryn. It had taken three whiskey and sodas just to get her nerves calm enough to put her uniform on. It was bad enough that Seven was actually going to marry Chakotay. What made it even worse was that she would have to perform the ceremony. Not for the first time she wished she was not captain. Things would be so much easier and perhaps this would be her wedding'

As the music started she felt one more piece of her heart fall away. 'You can still stop this, Katie,' her inner voice started but even it seemed lifeless. There was no other way. She was the captain. She would do her duty. She would marry the woman she loved to one of her best friends, sit through as much of the reception as she could handle then go back to her quarters and drown her sorrow in synthehol. If she could just make it through the ceremony she'd be fine. She finally flashed a smile at the groom who had been standing in front of her for the last few minutes. She knew it was her imagination but the smile he returned seemed smug to her.

Naomi Wildman started down the aisle. She had been so excited to have been included in the ceremony. B'Elanna and Seven had mended fences and could be considered friends, but the relationship between Naomi and Seven was special and Seven would have no one else as her Maid of Honor. Besides, Chakotay had bucked tradition by asking B'Elanna to be his Best Man.

The music switched to the wedding march. Seven had done copious amounts of research and had insisted on a traditional earth ceremony. Chakotay could deny his bride-to-be nothing, so a traditional earth wedding it was.

Kathryn gasped as she got her first sight of the bride. No one heard the captain; the entire room made similar noises as Seven approached the altar on the arm of the Doctor. Seven was a vision in white. Her dress was a floor length, sleeveless number with a long train. A veil covered her face obscuring the look of horror that was etched on her features.

'I can not go through with this, this is wrong, I can not go through with this,' reverberated through Seven's head while she slowly glided down the aisle to meet her groom. Instead of looking at him, Seven's eyes were latched on Janeway's. She could see the attraction Janeway felt for her in the captain's eyes as she looked at Seven; the look slowly morphed into one of dread as the reality of the situation registered with Janeway. For a moment Seven almost bolted. 'It wouldn't be so bad, leaving Chakotay at the altar. Better that, than marrying a man I really don't love.' She looked over at the man in question. He smiled at her so gently and with so much love, she knew she couldn't hurt him. Her life with him would never be filled with passion and intensity, but it would be filled with love and comfort. She turned her gaze back to Kathryn in time to see all her emotions fall behind the command mask as Captain Janeway took over. 'This is the correct decision. This is the only decision. Kathryn will never admit her feelings. Better a life with Chakotay than one alone.'

Kathryn felt as if she were standing on quicksand. This was too much. How much torture could one woman bear? It took all the command training she had not to burst into tears or throw up. As she had been doing a lot lately, Kathryn allowed the captain to take over. She started the ceremony on auto-pilot, barely paying attention to the words coming out of her mouth. She was staring at a spot just above the couple's heads so she wouldn't have to look at either of them.

"If anyone has a reason why these two people should not be wed they should speak now or forever hold their peace." In the silence, Kathryn finally looked at Seven who was looking back at her. What she saw in the younger woman's eyes took her breath away. Attraction, desire, and love were being radiated to her. The captain took a deep breath as the rest of the holodeck melted away and all that existed were Seven's eyes. Taking a chance, she let all of her attraction, desire and love for Seven visible in her eyes as well. Seven smiled as the connection between the two women grew tighter. Janeway heard a noise coming from her left, but she ignored it, refusing to look away from Seven's eyes.

'Why have I been fighting this?' she asked herself as she slowly drowned in the love Seven's eyes contained. The noise to her left grew louder and she finally looked away to see what it was. The rest of the holodeck came racing back to her perception and she realized that the noise was Chakotay clearing his throat to get her attention. She was in the middle of performing a wedding. Seven's wedding. How long she and Seven had been staring into each other's eyes, she wasn't sure. But it was enough for people to have noticed that something was amiss. The crew were shifting in their seats unsure what the hold up was.

'It's now or never Katie, and after seeing what you just saw you'd better make the right decision,' Janeway's little voice demanded. Captain Kathryn Janeway cleared her throat, then opened her mouth to speak.

"Red Alert. All crew, please report to battle stations," the business-like tone of Commander Tuvok's voice came over the communications system. For a moment the room held its breath, confused by the interruption. Then controlled chaos broke out as everyone rushed off to man their posts.

Janeway, Chakotay and Seven ended up sharing a turbolift on their way to the bridge. "It wouldn't be a Delta Quadrant wedding without a red alert," the First Officer joked. "I suppose I should be happy it wasn't the honeymoon that got interrupted," he continued. "Well, my darling wife, are you ready to take on the bad guys?" he smiled at Seven affectionately.

"Technically, she isn't your wife yet," Kathryn tried to keep the tone light and humorous, but there was a hint of something darker there.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I never did declare you husband and wife. The ceremony was interrupted," she really wasn't sure why she was saying these things but for some reason she wanted to make it clear to her First Officer that he hadn't won yet. It might be late in the game, but Kathryn Janeway wasn't going down without a fight.

"Oh, come on Kathryn. That's just a formality," he chuckled a bit and saw that she wasn't laughing. "You're serious!" he was incredulous.

Kathryn realized that she was coming on a bit harsh. Things needed to get sorted out, but in the turbolift on the way to battle was neither the time nor the place. "I just think that it would be wise to have all the legalities in place for when we get back to the Alpha Quadrant. We wouldn't want there to be any problems with your marriage to a Borg."

"Ex-Borg," he replied automatically. Something was going on here, something he didn't understand or like. First there had been the weird pause in the ceremony and now Kathryn was being a strange stickler for details.

"The captain is correct, Chakotay. We don't want any surprises when we return to the Alpha Quadrant," Seven refused to look at the commander as she sided with Janeway.

"Fine. Pronounce us husband and wife."

The turbolift doors slid open, but for a moment no one aboard it moved. Janeway felt the challenge in his tone. She looked over at Seven. The other woman was giving away nothing. It was up to Janeway to make a decision. She took a deep breath and exited the turbolift. "Report!" she barked at Tuvok as she took her seat back from him. Chakotay plopped down in his seat, anger emanating from him in waves. She ignored him and got lost in the situation at hand.

*****************

Janeway stared at the glass in her hand confused. It was empty, that was what the problem was. She weaved to the replicator and requested another drink. Taking a sip, a small part of her recognized that somewhere along the line the soda in her whiskey and soda had been done away with. She had lost count of how many drinks she had consumed. What did it matter. She could still feel' too many things.

This was the first night in weeks that Janeway felt she was able to let herself get drunk. There had been too much to do before. Voyager had managed to barely escape destruction in their battle with the Flortridians, the aliens that had interrupted Seven and Chakotay's wedding. Limping away from the battle they had been lucky to escape as well off as they had. Only fifteen people had been killed.

Sitting on her couch, Kathryn allowed herself to remember the last few weeks. The Flortridians had swooped in out of nowhere and attacked Voyager with little to no reason. They weren't even in their area of space. Tuvok said that they just started attacking. No warning, nothing. Voyager had managed to repel the first battle ship with little problem. However, they had retreated only to return with four of their friends in tow, with lethal results: Voyager had seen its first casualties in months. Ten of the casualties were immediate. The other five had died in sickbay, three of them never waking up from the comas they had fallen into. Kathryn took each death as a personal affront.

Turning her mind away from this path she tried to think of more pleasant things. She couldn't find any. Kathryn took another long swig of whiskey. She knew she was avoiding the subject she both needed to think about, and needed to avoid. She had buried her best friend today. She snorted at this thought. Her best friend. Her last memory of him was her betraying him. How hard would it have been to just go ahead and say what he wanted to hear that day?

No. She wasn't going to go over this again. It was in the past. No one but Seven knew about it. The rest of the ship just assumed that Chakotay and Seven were husband and wife. They treated Seven as the grieving widow. No one needed to know the truth. It didn't matter now anyway.

But it ate at her. Chakotay had died'not married, and it was all her fault. She had done that to him, his Captain, his friend'full of spite, and for reasons that she could barely remember now. All she could remember was that she had betrayed the man who had helped hold this crew together for eight long years. She finished the drink in a gulp and tossed the glass. It bounced impotently against the wall.

A ringing sound echoed loudly in the room. Janeway blinked, unsure what the noise was. It rang again sounding more urgent to Janeway's ears. Realizing it was her door chime and who must be on the other side of the door she ignored it. Finally the person gave up. Janeway sighed in relief.

Her relief was not long lasting. The door opened admitting Seven of Nine to the Captain's Quarters. Neither spoke immediately. Janeway was surprised that Seven had the gall to override the security seal on her door. She realized that she shouldn't have been. Seven had been trying to speak with her for days now.

"You have been avoiding me," Seven's tone was accusatory.

Janeway refused to look at the former Borg. She had consumed too much synthehol, she was not in control of her emotions. She could not have this conversation.

"You certainly have a way of stating the obvious."

Seven was taken aback. She had been expecting an argument, but the captain had conceded without a fight. For a moment, Seven was unsure how to continue.

"Why?"

Janeway snorted. Perhaps this conversation wouldn't be as bad as she thought. She might just get out of it unscathed. Trying to pull as many of her wits together as she could find she sat up straighter on the couch.

"It's late. I'm tired. I really don't think we need to have this conversation right now."

This was more like it. This is what Seven had been expecting. She would not allow Janeway to get the upper hand. She decided to skip ahead. "Why did you not pronounce Chakotay and I husband and wife?"

Janeway was not expecting this question. She finally looked at Seven, her mouth hanging slightly open in shock. The shock gave way to anger. Who did this woman think she was; violating her privacy, demanding answers to questions that should never be asked? Especially now.

"How dare you! How dare you barge in here, today of all days and ask me that question," Kathryn seethed with anger.

Seven took a deep breath, her chest heaving. "I will leave you alone," she watched as Janeway visibly relaxed at this statement, "as soon as you answer my question."

Kathryn realized that her anger was misplaced; she wasn't upset with Seven, but herself. It was perfectly reasonable for Seven to question her motivation. Janeway's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I can't answer you, Seven. Not now. Especially not today," for once she allowed her emotions to show through as she spoke.

Seven came over to the couch and kneeled in front of Kathryn. "Kathryn, please. If not today then when? You will always find an excuse why you can't discuss this. Your reasons are no longer relevant. Please, I must know," she knew she was begging but she no longer cared. This conversation should have been held years ago.

Kathryn continued to avoid looking at Seven. It was obvious Seven wasn't going to go anywhere until Janeway confessed her sins. And that was something she simply could not do. There was a time she might have been able to; now, it was impossible. Seven should realize that. After five years of arguing, Kathryn knew the patterns the two of them usually fell into. Seven was expecting Kathryn to get angry, while she would remain cool and collected arguing from a point of logic. Kathryn wasn't going to fall into that trap tonight. She decided to turn the tables on the Borg.

"Why did you agree to marry Chakotay?"

Seven was certainly not expecting this question. She swallowed convulsively. The room was dark and smelled of alcohol. Her throat constricted and it felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't know what to say. After five years of playing cat and mouse with Kathryn Janeway she was finally the mouse. It was not a pleasant feeling. She had promised herself that she would not open herself up to this woman, not until Janeway opened up first. That seemed pointless now. She took another deep breath and decided to do what she had been avoiding for years. Tell the truth.

"Because he loved me. Because I was afraid of being alone. Because I knew that you would never admit how you felt. That you loved me just as much," she paused as her voice broke, "just as much as I love you."

Kathryn finally looked at Seven; tears were coursing down the younger woman's face. Janeway felt as if she were drowning as her own sobs overcame her.

"Oh Seven," she grabbed for the Borg, holding on to her as if she were the only thing keeping Kathryn afloat. She sobbed for what felt like hours and Seven continued to just hold her. Finally, her sobs receded. "Everything is such a mess," Kathryn muttered into Seven's hair.

"Now who has a way of stating the obvious?" Seven whispered.

Janeway drew back in surprise and couldn't suppress the giggle that emerged at Seven's comment. "Was that' was that a joke?"

Seven smiled sadly. "As you said, it is very late and you are tired. I will tuck you into bed and we will talk about it all tomorrow, okay?"

Now that a tentative understanding had been reached, Janeway was reluctant to let Seven go. "Only if you come to bed with me." Seven raised her eyebrow in surprise and Kathryn felt the need to clarify. "Just to sleep. Please, I ' I don't want to be alone. Not anymore."

"As you wish, Kathryn." With that statement Seven scooped up Janeway and carried her into the captain's bedroom carefully tucking her into bed. The blonde removed her footwear and climbed next to the captain who was already half asleep. She curled her body around the older woman.

As she was drifting off to sleep, Kathryn could hear Seven whisper in her ear, "Believe me, you will never be alone again."

*****************

Kathryn Janeway woke up, unsure of what exactly had awakened her. She reached a hand over to the other pillow and found it empty. She called out to the darkened room, "Seven?" The sound of her voice combined with her increasing ability to see in the dimness of the room helped her realize where she was.

Admiral Janeway sat up and sighed. It was just a dream. Again.

She got out of bed and walked softly to the kitchen to make herself some tea. She knew from experience that she would be unable to get back to sleep tonight.

Moving over to her computer console she checked her messages. There was one from Ensign Paris. According to Miral, the mission was proceeding as planned. She had a meeting with Korath tomorrow and would contact Janeway then. Kathryn smiled. "Things will be different soon," she spoke to herself. Grabbing her tea she went to the living room and curled up on the couch to reflect upon her dream. Staring out the window overlooking the San Francisco bay she called back images of the dream. The anniversary dinner. Seven's wedding. Chakotay's death.

She wasn't surprised where her mind had taken her. It had been a difficult day. She had buried one of her oldest and dearest friends today. Chakotay had been a broken man for so many years, his death was almost a blessing. He had never been the same since Seven's death.

Seven's death. It was so long ago, almost twenty-three years. Despite the fact that Seven had been out of her life almost four times as long as she had been in it, she still managed to affect Janeway. All Kathryn had to do was close her eyes and she was immediately transported back to sickbay on that fateful day. Seven was lying on a biobed, blood everywhere. The Doctor was unable to do anything and Chakotay was holding Seven in his arms, silent tears running down his face. Kathryn had felt like she was intruding and had wanted to leave but couldn't. As Seven was taking her dying breaths she turned her head and gazed directly at Kathryn, their eyes locking. In Seven's eyes Kathryn saw regret and longing. Longing for her.

It was a vision that haunted Janeway. Not a day went by that Kathryn didn't think of Seven, and her nights were filled with dreams of the other woman. But every morning she awoke – alone.

But Kathryn was about to fix that. She had a plan that would change everything. And if she was lucky, she'd never be alone again.

FINIS

[secretly-of-course]

ATTENTION

HAVE YOU SEEN HER?

NOW YOU HAVE

[image ID: Amber from The Owl House. She is a pink skinned demon with big blue eyes, wide bat-like ears, freckles on her cheeks, pale pink nearly white hair, and small bat wings on her back. She wears a typical Bard Coven uniform.]

[thecreaturecodex]

Ebigane

Image © @a-book-of-creatures, accessed at their site here

[The Creature Codex World Tour now arrives in Africa! Africa is perhaps the continent with the least representation in RPGs as far as the folklore and mythology of its people. Mythology about it from the outside is much more common, with colonialist impressions of vengeful mummies and living dinosaurs. I will be covering some of these tropes in the next two months, but I wanted to start with a properly African African monster.

The ebigane comes from the oral tradition of the Fang people, which is barely collected, and not at all in English (I am eternally grateful that ABOC can read French). So this is very much one version of the monster, and may not represent all of the different interpretations. But a giant, bloodthirsty chimera being represented as a good guy, serving the hero of the story like some sort of Pokémon, is a pretty cool image.]

Ebigane CR 10 NG Magical Beast This creature is a chimera of different animals, some ferocious, others less so. It has the head and tail of a rat, the horns of a buffalo and the wings of a bat. It is enormous, about the size of an elephant, and its jaws are packed with close-set fangs.

An ebigane is a carnivorous monster notable for its enthusiastic support of good causes. They follow heroes, celestials and goodly monsters such as couatls and ki-rin around like puppies, eagerly helping them in their adventures. Ebigane seek immortality in story and song, and are especially fond helping groups with a bard, in the hopes of being added to the tale.

Ebiganes understand that their natural forms are frightening, and so often make their pitch to join an adventuring party while disguised. They can assume the form of humans, albeit somewhat sloppily, and are good at taking the appearance of small, harmless animals like mice, bats and songbirds.  An ebigane may keep their true form under wraps for a while, assuming their natural appearance at the most dramatic moment to save the day. Their combat strategies are fairly straightforward: grab enemies in their jaws, tear them apart with horns, teeth and claws, make hit and run attacks against enemies too large or too slippery to grapple with.

Between adventures, an ebigane acts as a top predator in jungle and savannah ecosystems. They especially enjoy challenging themselves with big game, hunting elephants, pythons and other large and muscular prey items. Each ebigane maintains a large territory, which usually border those of a few other ebigane. Ebigane come together to gossip and trade stories, as well as to mate and raise offspring. An ebigane is considered an adult only once it has gone on a great adventure with another creature. Although ebigane do not strongly value treasure, they typically keep mementos of these exploits.  

Ebigane              CR 10 XP 9,600 NG Huge magical beast (shapechanger) Init +2; Senses blindsight 40 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +9 Defense AC 24, touch 10, flat-footed 22 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +14 natural) hp 123 (13d10+52) Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +7 DR 10/silver; SR 21 Defensive Abilities enthusiastic; Weakness vulnerability to sonic Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (good) Melee bite +17 (2d6+6 plus grab), gore +17 (2d8+6), 2 wings +15 (1d6+3) Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks rake (2 claws +17, 1d8+6) Statistics Str 22, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 8, Wis 17, Cha 8 Base Atk +13; CMB +21 (+25 grapple); CMD 33 Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Flyby Attack, Great Cleave, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Power Attack Skills Disguise +2 (+10 when using change shape), Fly +9, Perception +9, Stealth +0; Racial Modifiers +8 Disguise when using change shape Languages Common SQ change shape (humanoid, alter self, or Tiny or Diminutive animal, beast shape III), startling shift Ecology Environment warm land Organization solitary or pair Treasure incidental Special Abilities Blindsight (Ex) An ebigane’s blindsight is based on its hearing. Its blindsight doesn’t function if it is deaf. Enthusiastic (Ex) An ebigane gains an additional bonus or penalty whenever its dice rolls are modified by a morale effect. If the morale effect grants a bonus, it gains an additional +1 bonus; if the morale effect grants a penalty, it gains an additional -1 penalty. Startling Shift (Su) An ebigane in an alternate form can use its change shape ability as part of the action to roll initiative, in order to return to its normal shape. When it does so, it gains an additional +5 bonus on the initiative check.

[samstree]

A Study in Blushing

In which Jaskier makes a surprising discovery and decides to test it out.

(tooth rotting fluff, blushing geralt, soft jaskier, love confessions, kissing, winter at kaer morhen, rated teen, 3000 words)

Also, I know witchers can't blush in canon but seriously we should all know better.

read on AO3

“Gods damn it, bard! I know Geralt tolerates all your shit because he’s in love with you, but you gotta put things back where they belong!”

Lambert grumbles something more all the while putting the training swords back on the shelf, and Jaskier’s mind stops.

The world zeroes in on the words he’s in love with you and suddenly Jaskier can’t form words.

“W...What did you—”

“I said—” Lambert throws down the last one with a clunk. “—the swords go back on the shelf!”

“Geralt...is in love with me?” Jaskier breathes, unbelieving.

Lambert pauses, “Don’t you know?”

“No...?”

“Fuck. Pretty boy can’t get his head out of his ass and now I have to suffer.”

With that, Lambert tries to shoulder past Jaskier but the bard is having none of it. “No!” he puts a hand on Lambert’s chest. “Don’t even think about it. How? Since when? And how do you know?”

Lambert mumbles something unintelligible, before sighing long-sufferingly. “It’s too obvious, Buttercup.”

“How is it obvious? Does Geralt walk around with the words ‘I’m smitten with my bard and all the grumpy face is faked’ written on his forehead? How, pray tell, is it obvious?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Lambert, the bastard, raises an eyebrow in amusement. “Did you truly not know?”

“No!”

Jaskier is so close to grabbing Lambert by the collar just to shake some answers out of him, and finally, the youngest wolf takes pity on him.

“He looks at you differently when he thinks you are doing something cute. He trips over his words after you call him sweet names. The worst of it all—he blushes any time you are close. Blushes, like a fucking maiden. Urgh, I’m gonna throw up.”

“Oh,” Jaskier deflates, “Witchers blush?”

“See for yourself.” Lambert rolls his eyes, walking past Jaskier with a few long strides. “And put the swords back!”

 ~~

Jaskier decides to test it out, because there’s no way Geralt is in love with him.

Loving him as a friend, sure, why not? Despite what ignorant folks claim about witchers, Jaskier knows by experience that Geralt has a heart bigger and more capable of love than most. But Geralt being in love with Jaskier? Like, he-wants-to-kiss-him in love with him? No way.

Blushing because of him? Ha! More like in Jaskier’s wildest dreams.

Although that would be really cute.

“Pass me the salt, honey?” Jaskier reaches out a hand to the other end of the table, and Geralt passes the salt without thinking.

Hmm.

No tripping over words.

“Thank you, dear heart.”

He’s putting as much sweetness in his voice as possible and Geralt is…normal. His eyebrows are raised to the roof, and there’s a faint smile by the corners of his eyes. But that’s just how Geralt is…right? He’s home and he’s relaxed, he smiles with his eyes rather than his lips, and it’s got nothing to do with Jaskier.

Jaskier chews, staring at Geralt subtly.

Not subtle enough.

“Something on my face?”

“No—” Jaskier chokes, hacking like a fool and tipping sideways. “Just—too much salt.”

Geralt scoffs, the faint smile turning into a brief grin, and hands over a cup of water.

Jaskier wants the ground to swallow him whole.

 ~~

The snow is terrible.

The whole keep is freezing like an ice cube, and Jaskier has to blow on his hands from time to time just to function in the library. He’s the lucky one, in the grand scheme of things. The witchers still need to go outside to fix up the walls and tend to the animals.

Geralt hasn’t been back in a while.

Jaskier puts down the quill he’s been chewing anxiously and rushes out the door—

And bumps right into Geralt’s chest.

“Sweet Melitele, that’s a lot of snow!” Jaskier spits out the snow knocked into his mouth, before looking at Geralt properly. “Oh, you’re hurt.”

The cut on Geralt’s eyebrow is a small one, but Jaskier worries nonetheless. Geralt doesn’t look impressed, only walks straight towards the small medkit sitting on a shelf.

“Repairment has to wait. The wind is bad.” Geralt grunts, trying to touch the wound and missing by a mile.

“Here, let me.”

Jaskier takes the salve from Geralt’s slightly shaking hands and pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket. Geralt is frowning so hard he can crack a walnut with those eyebrows.

“Relax,” Jaskier murmurs, blowing gently at the cut while dabbing at the blood. Upon deeming it clean enough, he applies a scoop of the salve that smells of celandine and mint. “Don’t move. It’ll only hurt a bit.”

Geralt keeps shying away from Jaskier’s ministration so he has no choice but to wrap his other hand around Geralt’s jaw, which manages to still him instantly.

“There,” Jaskier smiles. “Shouldn’t need anything more. Your witcher healing will kick in soon.”

Geralt tilts his head with that soft look in his eyes. “My thanks. Wouldn’t have survived without you.”

“No shit! Who goes out in a storm like this one? If you ask me, Vesemir is too tough on you. Look at you…” Jaskier coos, taking Geralt’s hands. “You are like a popsicle, dear heart.”

He tries to rub some heat back into Geralt’s freezing hands, his skin dry and rough. There’s still some hand cream left in Jaskier’s room. Maybe he can fetch it later. Geralt needs to take care of his hands better when his living depends on them.

Geralt groans, looking away. The frames of his ears are beet red too; he must have been outside without a hat for all this time. Jaskier wants to cover them with his warm palms, only to have his hands batted away.

“No, there’s—I’m fine,” Geralt mumbles. If Jaskier didn’t know better, he’d think the way Geralt avoids his eyes is a result of shyness. The bard can snort at the ridiculous idea and stubbornly presses his hands over Geralt’s ears.

Oh.

His ears are red because they are so warm, not cold

Now that they are standing so close, only a hand’s breadth away, Geralt looks stunned, his eyes dilating, only leaving a ring of gold around those dark pupils. There’s even a layer of pink dusting over his pale cheeks.

A blushing witcher.

Oh, this is interesting.

“Geralt, sweetie?” Jaskier husks, lowering his voice especially on the pet name. “Are you warm enough?”

“Um, sure…not cold.”

And he watches as Geralt’s mind ceases to work in front of his eyes, the blush deepening. It’s still a subtle thing. No wonder Jaskier has missed it all this time. Calloused hands wrap around Jaskier’s wrists, and the bard finally relents, letting go.

If he spends the rest of the day sitting at the desk with a quill in hand, thinking about the way Geralt’s skin feels against his and the warmth of his cheeks, nobody needs to know.

 ~~

Jaskier doesn’t know what to do with this piece of new information.

Geralt does blush.

Because of him.

He tries to repeat the experiment. Just to be sure, he tells himself. And every time it yields the same results. As soon as he gets into Geralt’s space, the witcher either stumbles through his words or gets all flustered all over. The fondness is there too, just in a very Geralt and very unnoticeable manner, soft and almost smiling.

Jaskier is so drunk on power.

The only thing left is to tell Geralt that he loves him too. That he’s also in love in love with him, as in an I-also-want-to-kiss-you kind of way, and then… they can finally kiss!

Oh, just inwardly rehearsing the scene makes Jaskier dizzy, and somehow he ends up smiling to himself when he’s so deep in thoughts planning the conversation, once even in front of company.

Lambert throws him a side-eye and a disgusted grunt, but Jaskier can’t care less.

He finds the perfect night, and even takes a sip of White Gull from Eskel’s cup just to calm his nerves.

And he realizes too late that, perhaps, the strongest witcher brew might be a mistake.

The effect is stronger than he anticipated, and Jaskier is giggling through the fog in his mind within mimutes, somehow ending up on Geralt’s lap, draped over his shoulder in a heap of soft, pliant mess.

He rests his temple against Geralt’s and nearly tips backward if not for the strong arm that catches him by the waist.

“Oops, thank the gods I have my big witcher here!” Jaskier runs the tips of his fingers across Geralt’s stubbles. It tickles, and the blush is back, unmistakably, since Geralt is as sober as the day. “I’d fall over on my butt without you! And falling over doesn’t look good before saying important things, does it?”

Huh, he’s said it out loud.

“Saying what things?”

Well, if it’s out there…

“Where do I start again? Right of course, with how beautiful you look when you’re like this!”

His fingers move to tuck the curtain of white hair behind Geralt’s ears. No matter how much Jaskier loves it when Geralt wears his hair down, he needs to look into those amber eyes without obstruction. The molten gold gleams with surprise and Jaskier wants to drown in it.

“I’m not…” Geralt splutters, before closing his mouth with a pop. The flush is stretching down his neck now, and Jaskier chases it with a hand.

“You are!” he insists petulantly. “You are blushing and it’s beautiful. Adorable too! I wouldn’t know if Lambert hadn’t told me—” he burps. “—um, everything.”

“Told you what?”

The alarm in Geralt’s voice should wake Jaskier up immediately, but alas, the White Gull is no joke.

“Shh!” he stage-whispers, “It’s a secret! Don’t tell Geralt! I need to do it right!”

Jaskier lets out a happy sound and leans into the comforting embrace that he loves so much. Under his fingers, he can feel heat still gather under Geralt’s skin, making him look equally annoyed and fond.

“You are not making sense, Jask.”

“Nothing about you makes sense either, but I’m here. And ready.” Jaskier smiles and presses a chaste kiss on Geralt’s cheekbone, humming another happy sound.

Kissing Geralt is nice, gives Jaskier all the fuzzy feelings.

But somehow, that was also the wrong thing to do, because Geralt has gone stiff under Jaskier’s body. The next thing he knows, the witcher is struggling to untangle their limbs and leaving him empty and cold.

“Don’t…do this,” he murmurs, upset. “Just…don’t.”

The anguish the seeps through Geralt’s voice somehow manages to get through the muddy cloud in Jaskier’s mind.

“Wait, what?” Jaskier rights himself on unsteady feet, but his witcher is long gone. Eskel and Lambert are still nursing their tankards by the fire, and Jaskier wobbles past them without a care. He needs to find Geralt, who apparently charged right out of the great hall and into the cold night.

The heavy wooden doors open and Jaskier is hit with the unrelenting wind. The snow has stopped and partially melted, and frozen all over again. It’s the worst kind. Jaskier takes his steps with caution but still, it’s too slippery.

Okay. Mind. Clear. He needs it to be.

“Geralt?” he calls out, churning with anxiety. “Geralt, where are you?”

Damn his witcher speed. Now Jaskier is walking in the dark and freezing his balls off without an ounce of idea where Geralt might be. Oh, the stalls. Roach must be the first thought Geralt has when he needs to talk. Jaskier shudders, hugging his doublet tighter to fend off the wind and searches for the stalls blindly.

“Geralt, are you—ow!”

He walks right into a pillar and falls on his butt. Before Jaskier can register the pain, a pair of hands are picking him up by the armpits and he stumbles into Geralt’s embrace.

There’s a familiar sizzle of Igni, and the torch by the stalls is roaring with life.

“What are you doing out here?” A coat is tossed over Jaskier’s shoulders and he’s ushered back towards the building.

“Looking for you, you idiot!” Jaskier squawks, albeit grateful for the thick fur coat. A few more minutes he would lose all feelings in his toes. “Running into the night like this, who knows what can happen to you!”

“So you followed me out drunk and with no coat and I’m the idiot? Gods, I don’t know why I even…”

The doors creak open and there’s light and warmth and the smell of mead, but Jaskier’s heart sinks.

“I don’t know why you even bother too,” Jaskier muses, suddenly feeling like a scolded child.

Geralt steers Jaskier past the other wolf witchers and straight into his room, where the heat feels like a furnace on Jaskier’s frozen fingers—Geralt has been secretly tending to Jaskier’s fire for weeks after the human came down with a cold upon arrival at the keep. He’s too good to Jaskier.

“You are too good to me.”

“And you are a pain in the ass.”

Geralt sits Jaskier down in front of the fire rather grumpily, before joining him and pulling the coat even tighter. He’s still mad, just a smidge, but the droop of his eyes speaks more of sadness.

“Hey, talk to me,” Jaskier coaxes, squeezing Geralt’s knee in reassurance. Whatever argument coming their way, he can’t stand Geralt being sad.

“How drunk are you?”

“Not very.” If Geralt walking out hadn’t put Jaskier out of his daze, the wind sure finished the job. “White gull passes quickly. Hmm, who would have thought…”

“I need to tell you something.”

“But I need to tell you something too! It’s important.”

“Let me go first?”

The plead comes out in a whisper, and who is Jaskier to reject Geralt like this, wide-eyed and earnest?

“I never meant for you to know, and certainly not on a night like this, but Jaskier…” Geralt heaves out a breath, determined and so so brave. Jaskier is drawn closer to Geralt’s body like a magnet, ready to soothe, to meet him halfway. “I am in love with you.”

“Geralt.”

“I know you don’t feel the same, and it’s okay. You make a living singing about loving. Hell, you make a living simply by loving. Music, adventures, people, so many people. It’s okay that your heart is too big for me. But, Jask, I can’t take it anymore.”

“I don’t…not…”

“You flirt with people. You…touch them and kiss them and praise them. It’s okay. It’s the way you are. I understand that when you do the same with me it doesn’t mean anything more, but, Jaskier, I need you to stop.”

“Oh,” Jaskier breathes. “Do you hate it? I thought…differently.”

The smile that tugs at Geralt’s lips can only be described as crestfallen.

“The opposite. I love it too much. I’ll always want more. Always. I’m greedy like this.”

The guilt weighing down on Geralt’s shoulders is not a good sight, a personal offense to Jaskier. His hand reaches out on its own volition, tilting Geralt’s chin up so their gazes meet. The blush is back.

What did Jaskier do in his past life to deserve this man?

“That’s what I was going to say.”

“That you are greedy?”

The frown remains on Geralt’s face, and Jaskier smooths it with the pad of his thumb.

“No. That I am in love with you. Gods, for someone who’s not a bard, you sure know how to steal someone’s line from the beginning,” Jaskier chuckles. “I’ve been trying to tell you that I return your feelings. But alas, you know the coward that I am.”

“You are…not,” he protests, blinking.

The way Geralt defends him on instinct only makes Jaskier’s insides melt into a pool of fuzziness.

“In this, yes. How I fucked up so bad is a mystery. That’s just me I guess, trying to love you but ending up hurting you, making you feel like I’m stringing you along like anyone else.”

“I’m not?”

“No, you oaf.” Jaskier bops his nose. “You are the most important person in the world for me. This is the most important thing in the world to me! I love you and I love it when you blush. Also, I’d very much like to kiss you, if you want it too.”

Jaskier bites into his lips and watches as Geralt’s gaze drops to them, the pink of his cheeks spreading into the most gorgeous crimson. “I want to. Kiss you, that is.”

“Good.”

Jaskier wets his lips with a peak of the tongue and watches the same gesture returned. Even if the alcohol has left his system, the intoxication remains, only this time because of Geralt’s slightly dilated pupils and quickened breathing. He leans in, not being able to resist—

“Did you say ‘return my feelings’?” Geralt dodges away, looking incredulous. “Jaskier, did you know? And what was that about blushing?”

“Um…” Now Jaskier is the one to splutter. Luckily, he has a trick up his sleeves or two that can make sure Geralt forgets about every last thought there is.

Jaskier lunges forward and tackles his witcher onto the soft rug and kisses him within an inch of his life, deepening it like there’s no tomorrow. Judging by the dazed look on Geralt’s face as he comes up for air, the method is working.

Cupping Geralt’s rosy cheeks, Jaskier croaks proudly, “Tell you later?”

“We have all the later we need.” Geralt’s smile is blinding, and equally mischievous. Without a moment of pause, Jaskier ends up the one flipped onto his back and being kissed until he shudders with pleasure.

Jaskier has to thank Lambert properly one day, considering Geralt will certainly go after him with a vengeance.

For now, having Geralt on top of him and slowly melting into a contented mess should be enough. If he’s allowed, Jaskier vows silently, he would really like to make Geralt blush for him for the rest of his life.

~~

Jaskier will totally make it his life's mission to tease Geralt endlessly and see his beautiful blush. 🥰🥰

On another note, I challenged myself to write 2000 words exactly, and this ended up, um, 3000 words exactly. I’ll count it as a win anyway ;)

Tagging: @wanderlust-t @rockysstupidity @flowercrown-bard @alllthequeenshorses @mothmanismyuncle @percy-jackson-is-sexy- @constantlytiredpigeon @behonesthowsmysinging @kitcatkim3 @endless-whump @rey-a-nonbinary-bisexual @llamasdumpsterfire @dapandapod

Please feel free to tell me if you want to be removed or added to the list <3

[amielxxxangel]

Ghost boys + finney + Gwen in a fantasy AU (random hcs and probably some shipping🤭)

So I’m using DND and rpg classes for this fantasy AU (but mainly rpg cuz I play that more and I don’t know much about dnd and when I mean ships I mainly mean finbin but it could also be a poly scenario minus Gwen😙)

Finn would be a mage especially if it’s an astral one which his moves would be more astrology based, his character would wear a robe filled with stars and constellations. He would be using a staff rather than wands because he feels more powerful with it. He’s also the main cleric of the group using magic to heal the others (aka robin and vance)

Robin would be a brawler having iron gauntlets on his arms and legs and still have his bandana around his head. He would also have a open vest to not restrict his movement which flusters finney while bruce and vance take it as a challenge on who’s the most fit

Vance without a question would be a berserk just running into enemies with a huge axe slashing through them with ease. He would be wearing just leather straps what connect to spiky shoulder pads and black leather pants with muddy boots over it.

Bruce would be a warrior/paladin. He’d be the protector of the group (and probably the most armored one). He would be wearing a white tunic with metal chest plate and metal bracelets on his arms he would be wearing grey trousers with metal boots (he would also have normal ones because he considers the metal ones bothersome.

Billy would be a bard and have his golden as his companion, he’d be the most aware in the news and goons on in their realm because of him being approachable. He would be wearing a red tunic with blue embroidery ,white pants and brown shoes.

Griffin would be a rouge being the most quite and smallest all of them it’s really easy for him sneak up on his enemies, he’s also good at archery with both skills combined he’s usually able to sneak past enemies and attack from behind. He would be wearing a dark grey hooded coat with a white tunic underneath and black pants and shoes perfect for being stealthy.

Gwen would also be a wizard but unlike finney who uses his magic to temporarily knock his opponent out she uses her magic to completely decimate them. Big or small it does not matter to her she will blow her enemies up. She would also be wearing a robe but it has more random pattern vibrant colors. She would also use a staff but unlike finney she would physically use her staff to beat her enemies up.

Now that’s done onto actual head cannons

Being the only girl in the group it a pain for her especially having to see her brother be all lovey dovey with 6 other boys, especially robin.

Even though finney and gwen are equally strong Gwen uses more “practical” ways of her magic like using her surroundings and casting elements to her foes, finney uses his to summon creatures and LITERALLY CREATE HUGE STARS AND SLAM THEM AT THE ENEMY to temporarily knock them out.

Finney and Gwen have a drastic difference with how they use their staffs to use their magic. Gwen uses her stall more like a blunt object slamming it to the ground to bring rocks up and swinging it like a bat bruce taught her that. While finney uses his staff like baton twirling it to summon a swarm of wasps, or twirling around his magic circle to creat a volley or shooting stars.

And every time finney does a summon or just does the things he does with his magic it always leaves the boys mesmerized and just end up staring at his beautiful he looks.

Gwen and finney have their own magic circles. It changes depending on what element Gwen is using while finney’s only changes when he’s summoning.

Finney does master a new magic circle when he finally becomes the “healer” of the group and uses his magic to treat the others.

Even though robin is the second smallest he is probably the most physically strongest .He can literally pull a tree out it’s roots and throw that thing like it’s nothing

Every time robin does it the the other guys are both amazed and intimidated and weirdly attracted to it

Robins also really fast probably the second fastest to griffin

Vance just goes into enemy fights head on, which usually end up with most of the actual threats dead

Vance would be very injured tho and immediately go to finney to get taken care of.

Vance would be able to creat quakes in the ground, just one smash of his ace and the next thing you know a earthquake erupts in their area

Bruce would act all stoic and chivalrous because he’s a knight and the rest would just bully him on it

He teaches Gwen how to fight that’s why Gwen uses her staff like it’s meant for actual combat

Finney summons a horse for Bruce even if he’s against it. Finney finds it fitting for “the knight to have his steed”.

Bruce is able to conjure up large gusts of wind with his sword. One good swing and you’ll be dealing with a tornado

Even if Billy’s a bard he can fight (even if it meant damaging his lute)

He’s the most approachable thats why he gets the most info when their in towns

His lute has the ability to make its music affect his enemies emotion making them feel overwhelming sadness or doubt or making the others feel a rush of Adrenaline

Griffin, being the most quiet always ends up scaring the others by accident. He’d be right beside them and nobody would notice until he’d say something sometimes startling the rest

It’s easy for him to become invisible making it easy for him to get behind enemies or gather information in places the rest can’t go in

I’m gonna say this one isn’t the best I’ll definitely make a part 2