#so incredibly offsetting to see the bench today

[chai-lemonade]

Tw: child death

I’m currently fucking ugly sobbing because my neighbor just got a bench outside their house on the bike path

I hadn’t spoken to her in years; she was a few years older than me and lived three houses down, but we shared three years in elementary school together; she was the cool older kid at the bus stop who organized games together for the rest of us and always had a tennis ball in her pocket, and we always ended up coming outside like 20 whole minutes before the bus actually came. After that, we didn’t overlap any years in middle school or high school, and she graduated a year before I entered the high school. The only time past elementary school I ever saw her was when she ding ding ditched our house two halloweens ago with her friends, and they ran as my dad tried to scold them, typical teen stuff

I hadn’t thought about her in a long time despite always being in the same grade as her brother, we never really talked despite living near together. One day, there was the news that a previous graduate was hit by a stray bullet in the big city where she was attending college, right to the head and had died, that was circulating around the school. I didn’t hear a name for a while until I googled it, and found that it had been her.

It’s been strange watching things around her old house when I happen to pass; Her brother didn’t come to school for a while, you can see a shrine to her in the front window if you look in, and with their house situated on the side of the bike path, there were candles and lights and photos for a long while.

I hadn’t seen anything in a while, but when I passed the back of their house on the bike path today, there was a new bench along their fence, right by the parks and fields that everyone goes to. It had her name and there were some patterns in the new sidewalk, and it felt so strange to see a new bench alongside the path, as there hasn’t been any new ones in years, even if it’s wonderful for the community to honor her with something so beautiful.

The level of sadness I have with her feels absurd for how much I knew her. We hadn’t talked in over five years. I saw her nearly every day for three years when we were young. I only knew her when we were kids. She was still just a kid. I know absolutely nothing about her. I still carry a tennis ball and things in my jacket to be like her and the other older kids at the bus stop. I never spoke to her brother. I acutely noticed his absence after her death. I hadn’t thought of her in years. I felt sick for the rest of the day when I learned it was her that had died. I have no idea who she had become. I knew that she was incredibly kind when she was in fifth grade. How do you mourn someone you knew so much and so little about at the same time?

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

Royal Growing Pains - Chapter Seventeen

Warnings: Homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, sympathetic Deceit

Royal Growing Pains Tag

Roman walked outside, watching Damien and another man circle each other. Roman couldn’t see the man’s face, but he figured it was Virgil after their conversation this morning. Damien looked up and saw Roman, and Roman smiled. Damien paused and stared, and in a flash the other man had slammed Damien roughly into the ground. “You must focus, Your Highness, or else you’ll die in battle faster than you can say ‘oops,’” the man said.

“You’re right, Virgil,” Damien gasped, “But how can I stay focused when I see such a beautiful smile as the one I just saw?”

Roman laughed as he walked over, and Virgil’s eyes widened, before smirking. “Well, I think that concludes our lesson for this afternoon,” he snickered. “If you need me, Your Highness, I will be working with the guards. I’ll leave the two of you alone.”

Damien nodded and waved Virgil away as he stood, smiling softly at Roman. “How are you?” he asked softly. “Is your mother driving you up the wall?”

“Only a little,” Roman laughed. “It’s better knowing that you accept me, at least.”

Damien offered Roman a genuine grin, and Roman smiled back, a little shy but still happy. “I’m glad to hear that I can make everything a little more bearable,” Damien said.

“How are you?” Roman asked. “Patton said you weren’t leaving your room this morning.”

“Ah,” Damien said. “I spent most of the morning before I was rulely dragged out of my room by Logan considering what you said last night. And if you truly feel that your identity doesn’t suit you, I sincerely apologize for trying to force you into a mold the same as your mother was doing—”

“Damien, no!” Roman rushed to say. “No. Not only are you not my mother, I was lying last night. Just to placate my mother. I still think I’m a man. I know I’m a man. You were right. We’re still going to have to pretend you weren’t in front of my mother but—”

“—I can lie to your mother,” Damien finished for him. “My dear, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. To be uncertain in your identity is not a pleasant feeling. I, for one, am relieved that you are still sure, even if it does cause you pain in the meantime.”

Roman was more than a little taken aback. “You were genuinely worried for me,” he said, sounding somewhat mystified.

“I...yes,” Damien said, brows furrowing. “Darling, I care greatly about you.”

“I mean...yeah, I know that,” Roman said, crossing his arms and cringing when he could feel his breasts. “That doesn’t mean that everyone who cares about me does what you do.”

“In my opinion, my dear, anyone who doesn’t care about your wellbeing or your identity simply does not care about you,” Damien said firmly. “Believe me when I say that you deserve better.”

Roman’s lips quirked upward. “Aw, you’re protective of me, how cute.”

“Shut up,” Damien said with a scowl, but with no heat behind his words. “Wanting you to be treated properly is something any decent human being would want from those around you.”

“Still, I don’t have a lot of decent human beings around me. Or I didn’t, until I moved here,” Roman said with a shrug. “Did your parents really have a talk with you last night?”

“I...yes, they did,” Damien said, glancing behind Roman. “Let’s move away from prying eyes and ears, however, before we get into that.”

Roman’s heart leapt into his throat but he nodded, and Damien led him further away from the castle, towards a small-sized garden at the edge of the top of the mountain that ran a considerable way down the steep hill, covered entirely in flowers. “I was never allowed to run around the garden when I was younger,” Damien said with a laugh. “With my track record for balance, my mother was worried I’d split my head open falling halfway down the hill. But it’s good for privacy nowadays.” Damien gestured to a bench by the edge of the flowers. “By all means, please, sit.”

Roman did so and Damien joined him. “My parents did have a talk with me,” he began. “It wasn’t as bad as what your mother was probably led to believe, however. They mostly spoke about endangering your safety, and that I needed to keep quiet about your being trans in order to maintain your status as a guest here. I argued a little, saying that if your mother could just understand where you were coming from, this whole ordeal might be a little more manageable. But my parents were adamant that the risk didn’t outweigh the reward.”

“Your mother might have reconsidered,” Roman said. “She tried to get my mother to listen to my side of the story today.”

“Did she?” Damien asked, perking up. “How did it go?”

Roman laughed awkwardly. “Believe me when I say you don’t want to know.”

Damien’s face fell, before his eyes moved from Roman’s eyes to a spot on his cheek. “You’re cut,” he said, reaching out a hand to gently run over Roman’s cheekbone. “How did that happen?”

“Ah...” Roman paused. He hadn’t even realized he might have gotten cut by his mother’s hand. “I imagine it was...uh...my mother’s ring.”

Damien’s face turned completely impassive in half a second. “She...slapped you?”

“Only once,” Roman said, cringing because he knew how pathetic that was. “But yes.”

“I’m going. To kill her. Consequences be damned, I will kill her!” Damien growled.

Roman grabbed Damien’s hands and pleaded, “Your Highness, I know this looks bad, and yeah, it is a little, but I can’t have you killing her yet. I need her in order to get out from under her and my father’s grasp. Please.”

“I never said it would be immediate,” Damien said, a feral fire alight in his eyes. “But I will kill them both. Ruthlessly. Efficiently. I would even go so far as to say I might enjoy it.”

Roman swallowed. “Damien, you’re scaring me.”

Damien closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “My apologies, my dear. That was not my intention. I merely want to make sure that you are safe. And your parents are not conducive to that.”

“I know,” Roman said, swallowing. “I wish it weren’t true, but unfortunately, I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I’m in danger whenever I try to be myself around them.”

“Fortunately, you won’t be around them much longer,” Damien said. “But four days still feels like entirely too long a time.”

“I know,” Roman said. “It’s far too long to get to safety, and far too short to plan the wedding itself.”

“Indeed,” Damien hummed. “Now, I do believe we will probably need to return to the castle in the next few moments, unless we want a feral Logan chasing us around the grounds. He told me he was going to be monitoring our dance practice this afternoon.”

Roman sighed. “Yeah, I bet he will be. Will our mothers?”

“I don’t know,” Damien admitted. “That probably depends on whether or not your mother was incensed enough this morning to require a talk alone with my mother.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Roman admitted quietly. “And I hate to say that, but it’s true.”

Damien tutted and stood, and Roman stood with him. “Well, the one perk of her going toe-to-toe with my mother is that we won’t need to worry about her being in the room, so I don’t have to deadname you.”

“True,” Roman said with a tiny smile. “That is a plus.”

“So, aside from assaulting you, what did your mother do this morning?”

“She demanded I convince you I was wrong about being transgender,” Roman said. “And honestly, she might interrogate you to figure out whatever I said. And I have no idea how to plan for that.”

“I do,” Damien said. “I would simply tell her it was a personal, private matter that I’m not comfortable sharing with her without your explicit permission.”

“Ooh, that’s good,” Roman said. “It’s not demeaning anyone, it’s diplomatic, and it means I can give any details I want to at a later date without anyone calling bullshit.”

Damien looked rather pleased with himself. “I’m glad you think it’s effective,” he said. “It’s my go-to whenever I don’t have the time to corroborate lies with anyone else.”

Roman laughed. “My whole life at the moment is one huge lie. I don’t think we have time to corroborate that entire thing. Maybe just enough for vows, but everything would take quite a while.”

“Oh, God, the vows,” Damien laughed, opening the door to the side of the castle and letting Roman inside. “I really don’t want to think about the vows right now, my dear.”

“You have four days, you have to address it at some point,” Roman pointed out.

“True, but right now I’d rather address the fact that you consider your entire life a lie,” Damien said. “That, in my mind, is more concerning.”

Roman groaned. “Oh, do we have to do this?” he sighed. “I’m trans and in the closet. Of course my entire life will be a lie.”

“I...my dear, I know I am not trans myself, so I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that is not the case. You still enjoy art, and you have fun with me when we dance or get up to shenanigans. That is not a lie, is it?”

“Of course not!” Roman scoffed. “I do enjoy my time with you. And I like getting to create. But my name, my pronouns, a majority of my opinions? They’re all lies, just part of this performance I’ve concocted in order to feel a little better about myself and distance myself from the deadnaming and the misgendering. Really...I can only be so much of my authentic self even with you, because other people may overhear.”

“My dear...that is...” Damien struggled for words, if the furrowing of his brows was anything to go by as they walked through the halls. “That is incredibly depressing.”

Roman sighed. “I know. And this morning I did something incredibly stupid, and I tried to be myself around my mother. The actual confidence, the fed-up-ness about everything she’s been doing to me, and all. And it felt good to be myself, somewhat, but it was offset by the fact that I couldn’t very well be my full authentic self without being sent home. And the deadnaming didn’t help either.”

Damien hummed. “Roman, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah?” Roman asked, heart skipping a beat.

“Would you be your authentic self if your mother weren’t around? And by that I mean if she weren’t a threat? If she couldn’t take you away, would you feel free to be yourself? You wouldn’t lie about who you are?”

“I mean, yeah, I guess,” Roman said with a shrug. “It wouldn’t be easy, and there might be some false starts as I try and figure out who I really am, but I would want to be my authentic self if at all possible, you know?”

“Indeed,” Damien said. “And that’s what I thought in the first place. But I wanted to make sure that was actually the case before I started what I want to do to remedy this problem.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Roman said.

Damien glanced around the halls before murmuring, “I’m going to try and keep your mother away every spare moment we have so I can get to know the real you better.”

Roman laughed. “You severely doubt how pervasive my mother can be.”

Damien shrugged. “Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s simply that you doubt how much you can get away with if you know how to spin it right.”

“Well, you have the unfair advantage in that my mother can’t read your tells,” Roman said with an eye-roll. “She can tell I’m lying when it comes to everything except my happiness. And I think that’s more willful ignorance than anything else.”

Damien shook his head as the two of them walked into the ballroom. “My dear, I really hate your mother.”

“Everyone does,” Roman said with a bitter smile.

Damien looked around. “Did we beat Logan to the classroom for once?” he asked.

“No, you did not, Your Highness,” a voice said from behind them, and Roman turned to see Logan standing there with a small stereo. “I’ve been here, I was merely grabbing something to allow the both of you to hear the music.”

Damien tutted. “Shame. I was actually hoping that perhaps I had finally beaten you at your own game.”

Logan smirked. “Your Highness, you could never beat me.”

“That sounds like a challenge,” Roman said with a grin.

“One which I would lose,” Damien sighed.

“Oh, who cares if you’d lose, half the fun is in trying, anyway,” Roman said. “Remus would absolutely love the chance to beat a professor at his own game.”

“Remus being...?” Logan asked.

“My brother,” Roman filled in. “You might get to talk to him during the wedding. I think the two of you would get on, in that sort of ‘instant rivals’ kind of way.”

“Oh, what a visual,” Damien laughed. “Logan? Rivals with anyone?”

“I do have some capacity for rivalry,” Logan said with a shrug. “While emotions are somewhat...annoying, I do appreciate a rivalry, as it pushes both parties to better themselves. It is only when that rivalry borders obsession that it becomes a problem.”

“True,” Roman said. “But I still think you two would get on.”

“Will he be at the wedding?” Logan asked.

Roman blinked. “Duh? He’s my brother!”

“Then you can find out at the wedding. For now, the two of you must practice dancing again,” Logan said.

“Oh, that’s no fun!” Roman complained, but he laughed as Damien pulled him close and started to dance all the same.

“So, what do you imagine Logan and Remus would do? Out of curiosity,” Damien asked.

“Well, I imagine the very first thing that would happen is a prolonged staring contest,” Roman said. “Remus scrutinizing Logan, while Logan just kinda...stands there and lets Remus look him over? One of them says something snarky, the other cracks a grin or rolls their eyes, and they start to talk. Probably. Seems in character for both of them, at the very least.”

“Based on what I’ve heard of Remus Ayer, I imagine he is quite the handful,” Damien said, mischief in his eyes.

“Wait. Remus Ayer?” Logan asked. “How did I not connect the dots? He asked for a tutor a year or so ago. I declined because I was moving here to work with Damien full-time, but he had a very promising application!”

“Oh, you could teach Remus a thing or two!” Roman said, eyes lighting up as he turned to look at Logan. “I’m sure he’d love to know any sort of gruesome fact about the human body. Sharing gritty knowledge is practically how he flirts.”

“Noted,” Logan said. “I will refrain from the macabre when he is around to prevent him thinking I am trying to woo him.”

Roman cackled and Damien was snickering. “I’d love to see the two of you go head-to-head,” Damien said. “If Remus is anything like Roman, that would be a sight to see.”

“It really would be,” Roman agreed, and they continued to dance, Damien twirling Roman for a brief second, causing Roman to squeak and laugh. “You are the worst!” he exclaimed, taking one of his hands to whack Damien in the chest.

“Oh, come on! You know you love me!” Damien said, a teasing smile at his lips.

“I will...I will kill you,” Roman said, his face deathly serious. “You, sir, do not get to say things like that when we’re about to be married!”

“When else am I supposed to say it?” Damien asked, biting back his grin.

“How about when we actually fall in love?” Roman shot back.

Damien paused in the dance and Roman’s face turned horrified as he realized what he said. “That seems a bit presumptuous, doesn’t it?” Damien asked, voice sounding somewhat strained.

Oh, god. Roman realized with a sinking feeling that Damien must not feel the same way. His voice said it all. He was uncomfortable with that implication. “Sorry,” Roman said. “That did not come out the way it was supposed to...”

“Clearly,” Damien said, looking like he had just swallowed a frog.

Tears were coming to Roman’s eyes as their hands dropped and Roman shrank in on himself. “I really didn’t mean for that to come out that way,” he choked out. “I...I meant like, if we were to ever fall in love. I didn’t mean it as a definite thing...”

“I would assume not,” Damien said. “One never wants to tell someone else where their attraction lies, especially without proof.”

Roman was scarlet and crying by this point, and Damien refused to look him in the eye. “I’m really, really sorry,” Roman whispered.

“I know,” Damien said. “And...my reaction was not exactly...stellar.”

“You’re well within your rights to be uncomfortable, I really didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”

“Uncomfortable?” Damien repeated dumbly. “My dear, I—”

Roman shook his head and Damien grew quiet. “No, it’s fine, Damien, you don’t have to try and make me feel better. That was uncalled for, and I know it. I won’t bring it up again, we can just forget about it.”

“If that’s what you wish,” Damien said, brows furrowed and a slight frown on his face.

“That would be preferable,” Roman agreed. “Let’s just dance, shall we?”

Damien nodded and they started dancing again. Roman stumbled several times, and he couldn’t shake Logan’s stare at the two of them for the rest of the circle around the ballroom. Roman’s face was on fire and a few tears were still falling intermittently. When they had stopped dancing, Damien used the pad of his thumb to swipe away Roman’s tears. “Roman, there’s no need for tears,” he said. “It was a simple slip of the tongue. I’m not offended.”

“I feel like an idiot,” Roman half-laughed, voice thick with his tears.

“You’re not,” Damien said. “You simply made a joke. That’s what it was supposed to be, yes? Just a little bit of banter?”

“Yeah,” Roman said, even as he felt a part of him die inside. He wanted it to be a love confession. He wanted Damien to like him back. But no. Damien clearly wasn’t interested in him like that.

And why would he be? Sure, Roman was a man, and Damien had said as much. But Roman’s body was undeniably “female.” What gay man would want him? His body would betray him for the rest of time. Even with hormones, even with surgery, there would be parts of him that simply weren’t...masculine. And he couldn’t understand how anyone could get past that.

And so his tears kept falling. Damien lightly hugged him and Roman hugged him back desperately, wishing for the contact to never end. Because then maybe he could fool himself into hoping. Hoping that Damien could one day see past his body. That Damien could love him. Or at least, tolerate him. But if Roman made jokes about them falling in love, how could Damien ever feel comfortable around him again, let alone fall in love with him?

They broke the hug as Logan cleared his throat. “You two need to practice your dancing more,” he said simply.

Roman sniffled and nodded. “All right,” he said, getting into position and letting Damien fall into line with him.

They resumed dancing, and Damien turned to Logan, asking, “Can you put the song on the stereo?”

Logan nodded and pressed a few buttons, and their first dance filled the space of the ballroom. Damien sang softly, but with just as much heart as he had the first time they danced. Roman laughed. Despite it all, Damien could charm him into forgetting about everything he had just done. Or, not forgetting...but not worrying. No matter what, love or not, Damien would be one of Roman’s friends. And if friends were the closest they ever got, well, Roman could live with that. He would settle for friends.

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[tysonrunningfox]

Ripped: Part 28

All that’s left is an epilogue, my dudes, my pals, and I’m so incredibly happy that anyone has hung in until now.  

AO3

“What exactly happened?”  Snotlout asks, looking more alive than Hiccup feels, leaning his elbows on a surprisingly clean table at what still claims to be Gruff’s bar. 

“We’ve told you like ten times,” Hiccup leans his head on his hand, swirling the glass of the clear alcohol he doesn’t really trust and wishing he were somewhere else. 

“Since when have you denied an excuse to tell some long-winded story?”  Snotlout rolls his eyes and Astrid nods, quietly agreeing even though her eyes are worried. 

“It’s not a long story.”  Hiccup understands the impulse to celebrate, but given that he’s the one who just got out of jail, shouldn’t he get to dictate what constitutes that celebration?  Shouldn’t his so-called friends have realized that his idea of a celebration might be less ‘bar’ and more ‘shower and nap and food that wasn’t squeezed out of a tube by someone with a face tattoo wearing a hairnet’?

 “I want to hear it again,” Snotlout clasps his hands together in a pleading, annoying way that makes Hiccup roll his eyes. 

“I hit Grisly,” Astrid tries and fails to bite back an almost shy, self-congratulatory smile, “in the face, with an umbrella.  I think I broke his nose.” 

“I think you broke his nose when you kneed him in the face.”  As much as he wants to go home, Hiccup will tell his half of the story all day if it keeps making Astrid smile like that, buoyant in a way he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her.  Flashes of it maybe, under his sheets on that night he can’t think of without aching, but never this constant, like the weight she’s had on her shoulders has been banished to a cell where he belongs. 

“Right, I hit him with an umbrella, then kneed him in the face, then shoved him into a wall.”  She nods, scooting closer on the booth bench when Ruffnut slides in beside her.  

Her leg is warm against his and her hand is casual on his thigh, thumb tracing the seam of the shitty, too-big jeans they gave him when they took the jumpsuit back.  He shivers at the contact, barely resisting the urge to lean his cheek against the top of her head.  He doesn’t think she’d stop him or anything, it just feels like something he wants to be private. 

Everything about her makes him want to be alone, to have her all to himself instead of sharing her with everyone while he paces an anxious victory lap in his tour de force of keeping his face straight for over a week.   As lonely as he was in jail, he doesn’t want to show it yet, not when everything is still so fresh and chaotic and unbelievable.  But he wouldn’t have to act around Astrid, couldn’t even choose to.  There’s no debate about letting her in because she’s already there, behind his defenses, holding them up even when he crumbles. 

“I bet he can pull off the broken nose though,” Ruffnut’s assertion pulls him back into the conversation and he turns slightly to see her better, his arm sliding around Astrid’s shoulders.  “What?  Why are you all looking at me like that?” 

“He was going to kill us, Ruff, I don’t care what his nose looks like,” Astrid scoffs. 

“I’m not saying I care, I’m just saying I don’t mind a guy who looks a little dangerous.” 

“Well he is that, if your definition of ‘a little dangerous’ means someone who killed at least four people, including your cousin, and tried to kill three others.”  Hiccup can’t believe the last few months fit in a sentence. 

Well.  Two sentences.  One compound and twisting and the other short and to the point.  The very big, life changing point, but it’s a straight three word shot to get there. 

Three words that he said, out loud, that Astrid didn’t ever respond to, because a sociopathic soon-to-be punching bag interrupted the moment.  And every moment since has been filled with questioning and paperwork and friends who he just doesn’t want to perform for right now when all the tension is melting out of his back and leaving it a sore mess of frayed nerves. 

“This is why we didn’t work out, Hiccup,” Ruffnut tuts and shakes her head, patting Hiccup’s hand on Astrid’s shoulder, “you’re too literal.” 

“You married Mr. Benson for his money and it’s about time you admit that to yourself. It’s not my fault that we were lying, and I don’t have any money.” Hiccup snorts, glad to talk about something other than jail, even if Grisly’s face flits through the story like he’ll surely do in Hiccup’s nightmares.

“At least I didn’t have to drag out the divorce by milking you for alimony,” Ruff says, “the annulment because you wouldn’t put out is much quicker.” 

“Too bad, I know a good lawyer.  Maybe I could have ended up with alimony.”  Hiccup smiles when Astrid looks up at him, ponytail tickling his arm.  “Don’t worry, the marriage was a fraud anyway, I only made Mr. Benson up to launder money.” 

“Yeah, and it was just my attempt to burn through Snotlout’s precious friend-group,” Ruffnut laughs as she elbows Astrid in the ribs, “you could be next, babe, I like a girl with a bludgeon.” 

“Probably not the day to get under Astrid’s skin, Ruff, she’s not pulling her punches,” Snotlout warns, “I think there’s an umbrella rack by the door.” 

“I’ll go hide it,” Ruffnut leaves but Astrid doesn’t move except to lean forward and pluck Hiccup’s glass from his hand, continuing his mindless swirling. 

“That’s not entirely true,” Astrid teases Snotlout, eyebrow raised, “I’m currently holding what?  Sixty-five punches for a later date.” 

“Sixty-eight,” he corrects, unusually solemn.  “Precisely, I could check Heather’s tally, if you want—”

“That’s fine, I guess I’ll trust you.”  She takes a sip of Hiccup’s drink before turning to look at him, “do you not trust Tuffnut’s sudden moonshine making abilities?”  She asks, mischievous enough to offset the tired circles under her eyes. 

“I’m confused enough about today without the help of any mind-altering substances.”  He’s struck again with the urge to leave, to go somewhere quiet where things make sense and he can hug her until the room stops spinning.  Maybe longer, if she doesn’t have anywhere to be. 

“What part are you confused about?”  Snotlout’s eyes brighten.  “Because we could go through it again, piece it together, I’d be happy to help.” 

“You just want to hear about how I hit Grisly again.”  Astrid’s fake flippant tone fails when she smiles, victorious like the night she took over his tour, his too big hat tipped sideways on her head. 

“What would happen to my psych profile if I admitted that it was kind of hot?”  Hiccup’s filter slips ever so slightly, exhausted from its constant engagement, and Astrid shakes her head and laughs, looking at him like she’s wondering if he hit his head. 

“Nothing good,” a tired British voice answers and Eretson appears, sitting heavily on the booth bench beside Snotlout and setting a familiar hat on the table, “don’t worry though, it’s shredded.  Grisly did his best to clean up before he went to see you.” 

“Is that…”  Hiccup reaches for the hat but pauses, remembering the last place he saw it and curling his hand into a fist.  “Isn’t it evidence?” 

“Even Berk PD doesn’t need it with the way Grisly’s talking,” Eretson takes Snotlout’s glass and pounds it back in one long gulp.  He’s not wearing his usual tie and his sleeves are pushed up, and Hiccup wonders if he’s finally going to catch a glimpse of the man off duty. 

“Hey!”  Snotlout protests but Eretson ignores him, pointing at Hiccup’s barely touched drink in Astrid’s hand. 

“Um, be my guest.” 

“Why is it that serial killers always want to tell you what they do to the bodies?”  Eretson asks the room at large before taking a slightly more measured sip.  “It’s never good.” 

Hiccup is almost as shocked by the authenticity of his laugh as Astrid is, pulling away from his side enough to look up at him with obvious relief, “What?  No stories of respectful funeral services?  I always pictured Grisly as a ‘be the undertaker you wish to see in the world’ type.” 

“We’re just ignoring the fact that Eret stole evidence?  If that’s even your real name,” Snotlout narrows his eyes and Eretson does his best to ignore him, nudging the hat in Hiccup’s direction. 

“I thought you might want it back, seems like it has history.” 

“A gory history,” Hiccup frowns but Astrid takes the hat carefully by its brim and slides it to him. 

“Well, so do we.”  She nudges him with her elbow and everyone else’s eyes bore into him like more invasive searches while ‘I love you’ pounds on the gate, hatching another escape plan. 

“You’re right.  Again.”  He clears his throat and if she gets the reference, she doesn’t show it, “I’ll get it disinfected.  And dry cleaned.  And sterilized.” 

“You know, I think I spent all this time being jealous of you because you’re tall and a detective and you have abs and talk like you’re on Downton Abbey, but you’ve actually just been a klepto waiting to steal evidence.”  Snotlout laughs to himself, sitting up a little straighter. 

“And to think, if you hadn’t gotten shot, I’d still be following the rules.” 

“You’re blaming me?”  Snotlout looks at Eretson a too long second, his eyes darting down to the open button where the other man’s tie usually is.  “Well that’s typical.” 

“Can I steal you another drink?”  Eretson picks up both empty glasses and Snotlout crosses his arms, suddenly flustered. 

“Uh yeah, you better, since you drank my other one.”  He brushes Eretson off and then calls after him, “also, you can’t steal them, they’re free because the bartender is an idiot.” 

“I prefer guru!”  Tuffnut jumps away from the still, which is suddenly emitting an alarming amount of steam, “or alchemist.” 

“It’s really just a chemical reaction…” Fishlegs explains as he pours a jar into the two glasses. 

Everyone else is having fun.  Maybe they wouldn’t notice if Hiccup just slipped out and looked into whether he could bribe an Uber Eats driver to deliver the food directly to his bedroom door.  It’s not like there’s a serial killer out there anymore, Berk isn’t exactly California in the seventies.  Grisly was a rare occurrence. 

“I’ll get the fire extinguisher,” Tuffnut disappears into the back room and Fishlegs walks over to lean on the edge of the table, thinking for a second before holding out his hand. 

Hiccup stares at it before shaking it, awkward with the realization that he was so used to being surrounded by fellow inmates and guards who hated him that he forgot that Fishlegs’ dislike was an exception. 

“Not to be a downer,” Fishlegs starts and Astrid glares at him. 

“Then don’t.” 

“I’m just wondering what comes next,” he looks at Astrid like a worried older brother she didn’t ask for, moustache radiating concern, “a trial for impersonating a police officer to break into a jail.”  He flicks the side of Hiccup’s hat and his tone turns judgmental, “a tour of the compiled murderous history of the city.” 

“No, I—I’ve had enough murder for multiple lifetimes,” Hiccup insists, wondering randomly if anyone has ever told Fishlegs that he has the uncanny aura of a high school guidance counselor. 

Hiccup’s high school guidance counselor didn’t like him either.  He should be glad that Fishlegs doesn’t get to see his shredded psych evaluation. 

“And no one talked to me about the off-label badge use,” Astrid shrugs at Eretson when he sits back down, “they seemed pretty happy to get us out of there, honestly.” 

“That’s an understatement,” Eretson’s chuckle is cynical, free of any veneer, “they spent all their quarterly budget hiring civilian security guards and their serial killing commander, they couldn’t afford for you to sue them.” 

“I can’t afford to sue them,” Hiccup waves off what he assumes is Eretson’s offer as soon as he opens his mouth, “mentally.  I can’t believe that somehow this is over, but I need it to be over.  I know I’ll have to be a witness later but I just…” 

Running out of words is an uncomfortable feeling that he has no interest in getting used to.  It’s not even that he’s out of words, he can see himself finishing the sentence in his head and the end of it adds nothing.  It’s nothing he hasn’t said before, it’s nothing he’s not communicating now with his slumped shoulders and surely exhausted expression. 

Astrid finds his hand and squeezes it, “I think it’s fitting.  Sometimes modern bureaucratic problems require medieval solutions.” 

He loves her.  Those are words he wants to say a thousand times and he doesn’t doubt that every time he does, they’ll mean something different.  More.  Building on each other in ways he doesn’t even understand yet. 

“While there is evidence of umbrellas existing prior to the middle ages, the steel ribbed model that did so much damage wasn’t invented until the seventeen-hundreds at the earliest,” Fishlegs says it like a joke and Snotlout groans. 

“I can’t do it, I can’t spend anymore time with nerds.”  He catches himself, “not that Astrid is a nerd.  I’m only calling Fishlegs a nerd, for the tally.” 

“I would have used a sword if I had one,” Astrid thinks seriously on the problem for a second, forehead furrowed as she taps her finger on her chin, “a battle axe, maybe.” 

“I think a sword is customary for the knight in shining armor rescuing the damsel in distress from the tower,” Eretson smirks and takes a self-congratulatory sip of his drink when Hiccup’s mouth falls open. 

“Now, you decide to be funny?  I tried to get you to lighten up for days while I was in jail, but now that everything is miraculously going to be ok, you reveal that you’re funny?”  Hiccup shakes his head, “Snotlout, maybe you were right about this guy.” 

“Right that he’s an asshole or right that he’s a tall detective with abs who talks like he’s on Downton Abbey?”  Snotlout checks and Eretson can’t quite hide his blush this time, which only makes Snotlout smile wider. 

“First one.” 

“You’ve been Princess Hiccup for two seconds and you’re already making decrees that people are assholes,” Snotlout grins at the new nickname and Hiccup wants to hide under the table, “that took no time at all to go to your head.” 

“When you’re a princess, you have to cling to the power that you can,” Hiccup tightens his arm around Astrid, resolving to take her with him if the urge to flee entirely overwhelms, “now I’ve got to hope that my knight in shining armor doesn’t lock me in another tower to ravish me, or something.” 

“My tower,” Astrid’s face falls, eyes suddenly wide and serious as she folds her hands on the table, expression frozen like she just got very bad news. 

“I mean you don’t have to ravish me, if you don’t want, I was just pointing out that I’m not familiar with the existence of any Distressed Damsel consent laws or—”

“I can’t lock you in a tower because someone got murdered at my apartment.  Shit.  I was so focused on,” she waves at him in a distracted, distressed way, “that I forgot I don’t have anywhere to live that’s not a recent crime scene.  I bet my stuff is covered in blood—”

“It is.”  Hiccup mumbles, wincing at the memory. 

“I’m never going to get my deposit back.”  She leans her head on her hands and Hiccup rubs the sudden, stressed knot in her shoulder. 

“I’ll talk to Gobber for you.” 

“You can move in with us,” Snotlout offers, too blunt to be anything but sincere.  Almost annoyed, like he’s frustrated that he has to be the one to suggest such obvious things. 

“What?”  Hiccup and Astrid ask simultaneously and Fishlegs coughs. 

“I mean if you still need my guest room—”

“She doesn’t need the guest room, Fishface,” Snotlout brushes him off, “she can move in with us.  We have a three-bedroom place, if she doesn’t want to stay with Hiccup, he can sleep on his weird desk.”  He elbows Eretson to bring him into a joke, “she’d probably join him though—”

“Sixty-nine!”  Astrid shouts, face red and glare sharper than the sword she wished for. 

“Do you need the pants back?”  Tuffnut asks from the back room and Snotlout snickers. 

Hiccup’s whiplash is feeling more and more like a stroke. 

“I wasn’t asking for details…” 

“No, I’m going to hit you sixty-nine times—you planned that.”  She crosses her arms, “that’s why you were so nice—that’s why you asked me about football—”

“Yeah,” he holds his hand up to Eretson for a high five and Astrid clears her throat.  “The Pats are the best, by the way.  God, not saying that was so hard, but worth it.” 

“If you’re good enough for high fives, I can probably start knocking that tally down…”  She rolls up her sleeves and threatens and Hiccup remembers waking up with his head on Astrid’s lap, casual banter bouncing around and making the hospital room feel like home. 

And he loves her, and it’d be perfect in a way that could almost make up for everything that’s happened.  And he loves her, and she didn’t have a chance to respond. 

“Can I talk to you for a second?”  He blurts at Snotlout and points behind him towards the front door, “alone?” 

“Why can’t she move in with us?  I love her.”  He says it so easily and Hiccup feels like his eyes might bug out of his head. 

“Now?  Can I talk to you alone, now?” 

Something about his tone, probably the fact he sounds crazy, keeps anyone from saying anything as they all unload from the booth to let him and Snotlout out.  The cool evening breeze is wonderful against the back of Hiccup’s neck, even now when he’s in the middle of freaking out, and he takes a deep breath, trying to let the freedom quell the panic. 

“What’s your problem?”  Snotlout throws his arms up and Hiccup glares at him. 

“What’s my problem?”  He shakes his head, “you can’t just ask my—” Girlfriend?  They haven’t agreed on that.  Savior?  As much as he wants her to ravish him, he’s not actually her princess and this is the twenty-first century.  Reason he’s alive?  That’s doesn’t have anything to do with their living situation.  “You can’t just ask Astrid to move in with you like—”

“Us, I said us,” Snotlout corrects. 

“That’s supposed to be my job and I would have asked you first and—”

“Do you not want her to?”  Snotlout frowns, holding his hands up in a tentative surrender, “dude, I legitimately thought it was going that direction, you can’t go two seconds without staring at her with stupid lovey-dovey eyes, so I just figured—”

“I want her to.  I—more than—I was thinking about it before the whole jail thing but—” He exhales, letting himself remember that morning, how right it felt, “and you can’t just go around telling her that you love her—”

“Uh, I do love her, cuz,” Snotlout points at his shoulder, “some creepy asshole tried to kill me, and she broke his face.  And she saved your idiot life in the process.”  He backhands Hiccup’s chest a little too hard and Hiccup realizes he hasn’t even considered that Snotlout might feel the same about losing him as he did about losing Snotlout, “so yeah, I kind of love her.  I think she should probably get a medal or a plaque or something.” 

Hiccup sighs and rubs his hand over his face, “I love you too.  And I love her—”

“Different ways, I hope.” 

“Couldn’t be more different.” He tries to shove his jumbled brain into some kind of order, before the door opens behind Snotlout and Astrid steps out, halfway through putting his borrowed jacket on. 

She’s wearing his hat. 

“Tuff helped me spray it down with one-hundred-eighty-seven proof alcohol.  The inside too.  I think that counts as disinfecting it.” 

“Good.”  He swallows hard, wondering for the thousandth time today if he’s dreaming and he’s going to wake up uncomfortable on that cot in his cell.  Or worse, wake up at four in the afternoon at home, only to realize that none of this happened and he never met her. 

“Do you want to get out of here?” She asks, magical words in her magic voice, laced with that magic understanding she seems to have of his brain and soul, and he nods so fast that his back twinges. 

“I’ll see you at home,” Snotlout points at Astrid, “and maybe you also, potential roomie, guard my boy on the way there?” 

“That was the plan,” her lips twitch, “I’ll have to do without my umbrella, but I think I’ll manage.” 

“You don’t have to decide now,” Hiccup placates as soon as Snotlout is back inside, but Astrid seems relatively unperturbed.  Maybe after all of this, she’s just imperturbable. 

He wishes he felt that way.  At all.  He feels like he could be disrupted by an unexpected pebble in his path. 

“Where to?”  She takes a couple of backwards steps ahead of him, like she’s giving him a tour that makes him use fresh eyes to take in a street he’s seen a hundred times before. 

Home.  He wants to go home.  He wants his bed and his sheets and her and he wants it to be her home too.  It won’t feel like home without her and he loves her, and he needs to make sure she knows that before he makes any plans. 

If he has another serious conversation today, he’ll scream.

“I don’t know.”  He shoves his hands in too big pockets, Fishlegs’ question rattling around his head.  What comes next? 

It was easy to think about the next few months when they’d been taken from him, but now, looking at Astrid starting some tour to the future wearing their past on her head, ears sticking out under the weight of the brim, he can’t make himself focus on anything but her.  Even if he’s lost, he’s not adrift, because his anchor is safely held in her competent, decisive grip. 

“You seemed a little…antsy in there.” 

“You caught that, huh?” 

“Do you want to talk about it?”  She falls back into step beside him, looking up from under the black brim with endlessly deep blue eyes and his heart thuds out of rhythm. 

“No, not at all.”  He runs his hand through his hair and can smell the anti-septic of cheap jail shampoo, “I want a shower and I’m so tired that I want a nap, but I’m way too keyed up to take one.  I really want pizza, but I don’t want to have to talk to anyone to get it.  I want to be alone, but I want you to be there—” He pulls up short, “Princess Hiccup is demanding, apparently.” 

“Not particularly,” she grabs his hand to get him walking again, her fingers warm steel and comfort, “your place then.  I think that the people making minimum wage at Pizza Hut wouldn’t be too happy if you showered in the sink while not talking to them.” 

His place.  Like she’s willing to be there, like she understands how he needs to be alone, but he’d be miserable if she wasn’t there.  Even if she is there, it still counts as being alone, and he’s never felt like that about anyone. 

“Astrid, I…”  There’s so much he wants to say and so much he wants to say later, so he settles on a question, squeezing her hand so she’ll look at him. “How does Snotlout know about um, well, my desk?” 

“Well,” she starts, then her face falls, instantly distraught in a way he knows instinctively means that Grisly flitted across her thoughts. 

“I’m sorry—”

“It’s a valid question—”

“I wish I hadn’t asked,” he rubs his face again, “or I wish I hadn’t asked now, because I’ve been in jail and I don’t want to think about it, or about what I missed, or about what happened.  Not right now.” 

“I don’t want to think about how Snotlout knows about your desk.”  She wrinkles her nose, flushing when she says ‘desk’ and he doesn’t think about it, his feet follow a path that goes with the hat, dragging her with him into an alley between two planes of century old brick.  “What are you doing?” 

“Shortcut.” 

“Wait,” she stops just within the shadow of the buildings, yanking on his arm with all that unexpected strength, and when he turns around, she’s astonished and half smiling. 

“What?”  The hat is crooked, and he can’t be conflicted how he feels about it when she’s laughing and pressing an intentional finger against his chest.

“You almost went to jail for being the Grimborn copycat, but you’re not—”

“I know that,” he catches the hand she’s poking him with, folding in her pointer finger before kissing her knuckles. 

“You’re the prostitute.” 

“You lost me.” 

“If Grisly was the Grimborn copycat, and you’re the one lured into dark creepy alleys for the promise of a few bucks to pay your bills, then you aren’t the damsel in distress, you’re the prostitute taken advantage of by the dastardly fiend.”  She whispers the last few words and it’s perfect, it’s Grisly reduced to an anecdote or a setup. 

“What does that make you?”  He lets go of her hand to brush her hair behind her ear, and he hasn’t kissed her because of cops and audiences and neither of those are here now, in an alley so like the one where she first stood on a grate and refused to enjoy his tour.  “No, no, I’ve got it.  You solved it.” 

“Solved what?”  She cocks her head, cheek pressing into his palm, and his other hand finds her waist as her back meets the wall and the hat tips forward over her eyes.  She takes it off and sets it in place on his head, nudging it straight with a satisfied smile as his thumb drags across the corner of her mouth.  “Please get to the point.” 

She relaxes when he kisses her, arms wrapping around his neck, simple and charged when his knuckles scrape against kiln-fired brick.  It’s the right kind of distraction, the jumble in his head pushed aside for something better and more important.  More permanent. 

“You solved Grimborn,” he mumbles against her cheek, kissing down her jaw and shuddering when her warm hand slides under the back of his itchy prison lost and found tee-shirt. 

“What?”  She pushes him back an inch with a hand on his chest and frowns, eyes too focused behind the daze.  When he tries to kiss her again, she repeats the question, eyes flicking to his hat as she hooks her heel around his. 

“As you said, I’m the prostitute, easily lured and cornered.  You caught the murderer.”  He’s too close not to kiss her again, especially when the brim of his hat nudges against her forehead and she smiles, momentarily content in the victory.  It’s about time this happened in one of the alleys that still center him, even when the Grimborn lure is dissolved.  “You solved it.” 

“I didn’t…” She trails off when he runs a hand down her thigh, tugging it against his as he kisses her pulse, “it’s not solving—”

“It’s good enough for me,” he pulls back enough to brush his nose across hers before meeting her eyes, the weight of the last serious thing he can’t ignore sitting heavy in his chest, “your apartment sucked.” 

“What?” 

“Condo of eighteen-eighty-three, mass-produced, no character, remodeled by a renegade arcade enthusiast on a budget in the early nineties,” he pauses to rebuild his drive, lips pressed against hers as his hand cradles the back of her head, “my place on the other hand…” He gets distracted by soft hair tickling his forehead and the way her fingers curl in his hair, displacing the hat, “original hardwood floors.  Towel warmer.  Crown molding.” 

“Are you asking me to move in with you?”  She rakes her fingernails through is beard when she gets him far enough away to read his face.  She has hat-head. 

He can’t breathe. 

“I meant what I said,” he swallows, “in jail before—I love you.” 

The weight off his chest lands on his foot and he freezes, feeling her heavy breathing against his front and her fingers frozen in his hair at the nape of his neck. 

“It’s too soon.”  She says it like she’s reading it off of a quiz on a website that didn’t give her the answer she wanted.  “You can’t say that this soon.” 

“I just did,” he tries to smile, “what rule am I breaking this time?” 

His experience in evading conviction makes him hope it’s closer to trespassing than murder. 

“You don’t know?”  She tries for chastising but it’s hard to take her seriously when her warm hand finds his side as she stands up straight, putting some space between her back and the wall even if she doesn’t expand the space between them.  “You don’t ask someone to move in with you after what?  One date?” 

“Wait, all those times you saved my life or my sanity don’t count as dates?”  He fakes shock, taking her hand and starting towards his apartment again. 

“I’ve saved your life once,” she allows, bumping her shoulder against his, “doesn’t exactly increase the total that much.” 

“Oh no, you’ve saved it at least twice, probably more.  What do you think would have happened to me if you weren’t there when Fishlegs caught me with a broken copier for a second time?” 

“You wouldn’t have broken the copier without my help.” 

“You don’t know that.”  He pulls her onto the sidewalk through a small gap around a dumpster, his front door half a block down the road pulling him towards it like a gravitational beacon.  Shower.  Astrid.  Food.  Astrid.  Bed.  Astrid.  “You don’t have to decide now, I just…wanted you to know how I felt about it.” 

“Which, just to make sure we’re on the same page, you feel that I’m personally offending you by living in a place without crown molding.”  She jokes even as her eyes scan his face, probably looking for some sign that he’s offended by her response, as impossible as that would be with her holding his hand.  “I feel like…it’s too soon but if you can afford it on your meager prostitution income, I could definitely afford it.”

“That’s how it is?”  He laughs, refusing to let go of her as his key slides into the front door and turns with a click that resonates in his bones. “You’re not wrong, but do you have to rub it in now?” 

“And I feel like if I look away from you for a second, you’re going to disappear, and I don’t even want to think about going through that again.” 

“I don’t want to think either,” he opens the second door and his dad’s old, dusty chair greets him like an envoy promising safety.  When Astrid locks the door, he can breathe again fully, the quiet making room for him to feel how empty his chest has been, how his hands burn when he looks at her.  “I don’t know the rules behind the knight locking the damsel back in their own tower.” 

“Already looking for more rules to break?”  She takes the hat off of his head and hangs it on the rack by the door, exactly where it goes, like she’s belonged here all along. 

“Mostly wondering who retains ravishing privileges in this situation,” he helps her shrug out of his borrowed jacket and tosses it onto the couch, clutter the last thing on his mind. 

“Where does that even fit in the shower, nap, not nap, pizza schedule?” 

“Now,” his voice surprises him, deeper than he expected, and he clears his throat as he pulls her to him, hands sliding down to her hips, “ideally, if you think we can squeeze it in.” 

“Are you on a tight schedule I don’t know about?”  She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek, cocking her head when he nods.

Before, when a package sent him skidding off kilter, he wasn’t ready to move forward, to clutch at the happiness he could instead of dwelling on the possible bad.  But holding on so tight is what got him in trouble, it’s what led him further and further into someone’s trap, away from the path he wants to be on.  He could talk all night about the last week in hell, but it wouldn’t make him feel better the way that taking a break from the obstacle course inside his head would. 

“Very tight schedule,” he starts walking backwards, tripping over the edge of the rug and catching himself on the arm of the couch.  “Might have to multi-task.” 

“Hiccup,” she laughs, taking a step away from him to rely on her own obviously better balance, “it’s been a long day—”

“It’s been a long week, stuck in my head all day with all my worst-case scenarios.”  He continues to pull her with him towards the bathroom, “right now I just want you to help me stop smelling like jail and to start out this new leaf on the right foot.” 

“How else would you do it?”  She relaxes, all trepidation gone as she tugs his too big, itchy shirt up his chest, getting it over his head as he fumbles the door open. 

“Funny—”

She cuts off his not quite complaint with a kiss, her hands dragging up and down his chest in a pattern like she’s assessing him for damage.  Her fingers practically shock him with warmth after so long in practical isolation and he pulls her shirt up, sighing at more of her skin against his.  She laughs into his mouth as she tugs on the waistband of his jeans against the cheap belt bunching them across his hips. 

“Whose pants did you steal?” 

“It was all they had,” he takes off his own belt and the oversized pants fall to his knees before he realizes he’s still in his shoes and sits back on the toilet to deal with his leg. 

“I figured you’d be done with communal showers,” she locks the bathroom door before taking her own shoes off and stripping easily, curious eyes flicking only once to the red marks on his shin when his leg drops to the floor. 

“I’m not really ready to take my eyes off you either,” he shrugs, grinning when the words make her blush even as she looks around the bathroom, efficient even in her embarrassment. 

“How do we do this?”  She asks after a second, gesturing simply at his leg as she opens the shower door and turns on the water, steam billowing towards the ceiling. 

“The bench should work.”  He doesn’t know where his crutch is, doesn’t know anything except it feels right when she touches him, fingers sure against his back as she helps him to the bench and sits unceremoniously across his lap. 

And seeing her through bars and across fraught tables covered in paperwork, after being surrounded by their friends and curbed by outside world, she’s finally close enough to feel real.  She kisses him, combing her fingers through his hair and letting the shower water soak into it as he pulls her impossibly closer, one hand on her hip and the other sliding up her stomach to trace the curve under her breast. 

She shivers even though the water is on the cusp of too hot and he hums into the kiss before breaking it, mumbling against her wet jaw. 

“Something’s different.” 

“You’ve had even less sleep this time?”  She swipes a gentle thumb under his eye and stands just long enough to straddle him, knees squeezing his hips as his back slips down slightly against the wet wall. 

“That’s not it,” he groans when she grinds against him, hand darting down to wrap around him.  And after so long in his head, ignoring uncomfortable situations to the best of his ability, it’s almost too much, his head falling back against the tile as his fingers dig into her hips. 

“Is this it?”  She kisses his neck, hand moving slowly, teeth grazing his earlobe when he catches her wrist to stop her.  “I thought you were in a hurry,” she teases, breath hitching when he slides his hand around to her inner thigh, fingers brushing between her legs. 

“No, it’s just that I don’t have any old books in my bathroom for you.”  He kisses down to her collarbone as he touches her, and her sound of exasperation is half-hearted as she clings to his shoulders.  “Can we still do this, or do I need to install a humidity-controlled bookcase under the sink?” 

“The respect for climate control,” she stutters, biting her lip when his finger slips inside, “is kind of hot.” 

“Yeah?”  He laughs into her neck, pulling her closer with a hand between her shoulder-blades and adding a second finger to the first.  “Oh wait, that’s not true either, there’s a soggy magazine in here somewhere to read when my phone dies.” 

“What magazine?”  She asks, grinding down against his fingers, breath cool on his forehead. 

“Highlights.”  He twists his fingers, thumb searching for her clit. 

“That works.” She moans under her breath when he finds it and he focuses on the sound to keep from shaking, this much good after all that bad making him lightheaded. 

“I already did the maze though.” 

“No,” she fakes miserable as best she can while rocking against his hand, fingers wrapping around him again and stroking, “that ruins it.” 

The door rattles and they both jump, his arms wrapping around her back and pulling her as close as he can, like he could somehow protect her, one-legged and tractionless.  As if she needs his protection, she’d probably bludgeon the intruder with the toilet tank lid, or something, and he’d be stuck helpless again. 

“Oh, are you guys in there?”  Snotlout’s voice is muffled through the door and Astrid hides in Hiccup’s shoulder, arms crossed self-conscious across her chest. 

“Uh, can you go away?”  Hiccup tries, rubbing her back and repositioning in an attempt to wake up an ass-cheek that he hadn’t realized had fallen asleep. 

“It’s just you?” Snotlout yanks at the door again, “let me in, I have to pee.” 

“No?”  It comes out as a question and he clears his throat, trying again as Astrid shifts, the water suddenly hitting his thigh instead of her back.  “No.”

“Come on, I just have to pee, I’ll pee in the sink—”

“If you’re planning on peeing in the sink, just pee in the kitchen sink,” Hiccup growls back and Astrid sits up straight, hands on his shoulders for stability as she looks disgusted between him and the door. 

“No!  Just hold it, no one is peeing in any sink!” 

“Astrid’s in there?”  Snotlout snickers, but she’s too indignant to be embarrassed now, eyes on fire as she responds. 

“I’m moving in with people who pee in the sink?” 

“It all goes down the same drain,” Snotlout’s justification barely registers as Hiccup looks wide-eyed at her. 

“You’re moving in?”  He whispers, not trusting the words to be louder. 

“You offered,” she pushes a strand of wet hair away from her face and he kisses her, hands on her face, fingers curling in wet hair and holding her close. 

Snotlout says something he doesn’t hear, an unwelcome grunt from an outside world he doesn’t care about and he breaks the kiss just long enough to bark back. 

“Go away!” 

“He’s going to pee in the kitchen sink,” Astrid grimaces and he kisses her wrinkled nose, heart thudding. 

“I don’t care.” 

“I—”

“Move in,” he rests his forehead against hers, “please.  Just—please, I will never pee in the sink.  I swear on my life, which I already owe to you.  I promise.” 

“But Snotlout—”

“Don’t talk about Snotlout right now,” he touches every part of her he can reach, memorizing her again, this time knowing he doesn’t have to let her go, “please, I have to focus on giving you another reason to move in.” 

“Another?”  She looks at him like he’s a reason, like he’s reason enough, and it feels like he’s going to burst out of his skin. 

“Besides the old books,” he kisses her chin, “and the hat.”  And the lack of on-site murders.  “And the crown molding.” 

She slicks his hair back from his face, “and you.” 

“And me.” 

“I’m convinced.” 

[geminicblue]

20 Galaxies: Legend in the Sky Chapter 13

There were too many crowds in the park in October, too many ghost hunters and students and festivals. Kestrel had to take all sorts of precautions in meeting his allies. Even in the dead of night he was bound to run into someone with a camera. He'd grown a little too efficient at breaking them. No one felt the matter was worth pursuing once they found themselves at the sharp end of his blade, even those impaired by sleeplessness or alcohol, but he was starting to become a legend himself.

In truth, part of the blame rested on him. He visited the park far more often than he should. Tanager Park had a haunting beauty to it in the fall. These were the days a thin mist erased the bottoms of the trees in the shallow valley. Chilled breezes blew clouds of burning foliage from the shivering branches, leaving crows and hawks with nowhere to hide. The fading grass glistened with dew and silvery spider webs, and the lakes were placid even with geese crowding the waters. The world was settling in before a big sleep, the first bright flickers of dreams to come.

Nighttime was less impressive. Places with light pollution always were. Quarterhill was too close to Chicago to see the open stars. Some of Kestrel's acquaintances actually preferred the city, Shryke, for one. It was nearly four in the morning when Shryke appeared at the edge of the park. He leaned against a sign under a trail map shelter, his hands resting in his pockets and his dark eyes dreaming. The air around him reeked of stale smoke. He was ruffled, his inky hair mussed, silk shirt wrinkled. His feet were invisible under the river of fog that had crested the valley and now flooded Cardinal Street. "How's it going?" he said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Kestrel's words cracked with a warning, thin ice under a pair of heavy boots. "You're late."

"Relax." Shryke gave a half-smile to offset the shudder than rippled through him. "The sun isn't up for another couple hours."

"Where were you?"

"Show ran long, then the freeway was clogged." Shryke looked away, but clearly felt Kestrel's level, bullet-like stare. "Dude, what was I supposed to do? I was in a van with the rest of the band. I can't just zap away from them."

At last, Kestrel answered, "You are not a resident here. Remember that."

Shryke's voice raised. "Do you understand the complexities of this society at all?"

"These people work to believe the deception that rules their lives every day, and you mean to tell me you cannot play to it?" Kestrel interrupted. "There will always be someone to offer a rational explanation if you cannot. Did you see them?"

Shryke relaxed slightly at the change of subject. "Yeah. Find something new?"

"Sylph's initial report indicated they are only children."

Shryke snorted. "They are. I saw two of them at an arcade downtown. It's supposed to be an insult, right? That's what I take it as."

Kestrel turned away, his long hair concealing his face from Shryke. He waded through the fog, boots soundless on the gritty concrete. A few seconds later he heard Shryke's clumsier, scratching footsteps as he hurried to catch up. "They would never take such measures merely to insult us. It is either desperation or a distraction."

"But seriously, they were ten years old." Shryke arched an eyebrow. "I didn't notice anything special about the two I saw. There would have to be something incredible about them to be a distraction. How many of us are there? A million?"

"Fifty seven billion, three hundred thousand and eighty-four," Kestrel corrected automatically. It was one of his jobs to know, down to the very last one. "You have a point. It would be ludicrous to try and lure us with such small bait. Nevertheless, in case this is a trap, I want you to assist Sylph in this matter."

"How?"

"Bring them to me."

Shryke looked both concerned and annoyed. "What for? They ain't any good to us."

"If we can convince them to support our cause, we will spring no traps. We can at the very least force them to give up their talismans. However," Kestrel looked Shryke dead in the eye, "It is absolutely essential that the children are brought to me before they are informed of their true nature. Afterwards our choices are severely limited."

"Or we could just kill them."

Kestrel glared. Shryke shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He quickened his pace and veered off towards a side street. Kestrel watched impassively. "Shryke."

Shryke sighed and turned around. His eyes were like charcoal under drooping eyelids, dull even under the streetlights.

"You are to return to base and accompany Karacara until Sylph is prepared."

"What?" Shryke's eyes bulged, outraged. "No!"

"She specifically requested you." Anyone but Kestrel would have sounded smug.

"That doesn't mean you have to say yes!"

Shryke waited with his arms flung wide open, as if he expected Kestrel to admit to a joke. "Find a better way to escape your entourage next time," Kestrel told him.

Muttering and no doubt cursing Kestrel under his breath, Shryke snapped his fingers. False light flowed from the ground in spiraling tendrils, turning the serene blue of the street a sickly yellow. Shryke vanished along with the light.

A thought hitched in Kestrel's mind. The sleeping neighborhood was bathed in pure azure, yet the streetlights here were orange. His hands crept under his coat and gripped his sword handles before it occurred to him that weapons would be useless. His voice split the silence, calm and clear. "These woods are a bit shallow for you to be here, aren't they?"

The fog burned away under the Star as it drifted into sight, its own glittering mist trailing behind. The white fire at the Star's core was blinding. Kestrel released the swords, but his mind was armed. "Clearly our meeting was not coincidental. What is it you seek, Caere?"

A loud rumble answered him. Kestrel dived for the ground. Before he landed, the Star unleashed a massive beam of solid blue-light white. The heat of it seared through his overcoat. His eyes watered and vision blurred as the force of the beam rattled his skull. He caught the trembling concrete with one hand and rolled nimbly into a crouch. On one knee, he pressed his hand harder into the ground and closed his eyes. He had decades of practice, but the energy the Star was releasing forced him to use all the focus he could muster. The electricity resisted his commands, threatened to shred him as it poured into his arm, shook his bones as it protested being confined. Sparks glimmered over his fingertips. He waited for what seemed like an eternity, with only a fierce determination keeping his body and mind from being ground away by the raging forces around him.

The beam vanished, leaving a dazzling afterimage. Kestrel reacted instantly. This would be the Star's weakest point. He sprang up and jabbed his hand towards the Star. Lightning exploded from his fingers, deafening thunder ripped through the still air and echoed for miles. As the electrical barrage hit home, the star wavered and scattered like a reflection on a pond. His throat clenched as it quickly began to reassemble.

Was this part of a trap? Kestrel was always at a disadvantage here, but the Star normally didn't go on the offensive. He sensed there was indeed a sort of desperation behind this attack. He was tempted to stay and find out more, but the memory of Crowe seized him. The Star should not have the power to reduce Crowe to a simple bird, yet it had done so.

The others had to be warned. Kestrel resigned the battle in a whorl of negative light.

--

By lunchtime, Randy's story about the man with lightning in his hands was all over school. Ru guessed he found telling the story worth being grounded further over. Misty wasn't as angry as Ru expected, but she was still sullen about returning to Breckenridge. She was also strangely meek, as if she'd been caught. Colleen said that no one had noticed Misty's absence. Not even Colleen herself had known her own roommate was missing. "I thought she was with the other girls," she said.

"The other girls thought I was with you," Misty told her.

Misty was starting to replace Nathan in Ru and Colleen's group. It wasn't as if Nathan minded. He and Kenna were rarely seen apart these days. The rumors said they were dating. But Ru found Misty to be somewhat uneasy company; her cynicism rivaled Jayson's, and there was still something about her Ru couldn't put her finger on. For Colleen's sake, though, Ru was welcoming.

Unfortunately, Ru was often left alone to explore the park, as Breckenridge girls had to return home straight after school. She'd had second thoughts about not going with Jayson and Randy the instant she'd turned to follow Misty out of the woods. It could have been a prank, and Jayson shrugged it off as some kind of publicity stunt, but once a teacher took Jayson aside and confirmed what he had seen, Ru really started to believe. Jayson denied most of what Randy said, but he was insistent he'd seen a man with a sword. That was of enough interest to draw a crowd around him while he walked down the halls. Suddenly everyone was making plans to go to the park after school, but no one Ru really knew.

It wasn't fair that she never got to see anything weird like that. She was the one that was looking for it. Jayson didn't believe in it at all.

She opted to walk home, to spend an hour or two in the park. She'd settle on a picnic bench or swing and wait to see if anyone familiar showed up. It was unlikely. She didn't have a significant number of friends like her brother, and most of the time she recognized no one.

The sky today, as she'd predicted, was a cloudless and hazy bland blue. She walked to the edge of the street and shaded her eyes against the sun. Figures of Tanager Park legend rarely made an appearance in the daylight, and there were many people still around. The baseball diamonds were full. Tourists lugged carts full of camera equipment, coolers, and layers of clothes along the pathways. And then there was --

"Hey!"

Ru's first instinct was to ignore the man. There he was again, leaning over the rail of his porch as she had seen him so many times before. She was surprised she hadn't heard his usual tirade halfway down Cardinal Street.

"Hey kid, wait! You, little girl in the yellow shirt!"

Startled, Ru pointed to herself. The man nodded and motioned for her to come closer. Ru was halfway up his driveway before she remembered she had no idea who he was, and he seemed like an especially volatile stranger at that. "Come here," he ordered.

Ru didn't budge. She spared a glance behind her. Good, there were other people within earshot. "No. What do you want?"

The man didn't press her. His deep scowl seemed normal, but there was a strange, distinct sadness in his eyes. "Oh no," he murmured, shaking his head. "Listen to me. If someone asks you to follow them into the woods, don't do it."

"OK," Ru replied. "Everyone says that."

"If I were you," he continued, in a soft voice unlike anything she'd ever heard from him, "I'd take that necklace back to the woods and bury it. Leave it. Never look back."

Her mouth dropped open and her fingers flew to the eagle pendant, which hung openly around her neck. No one had said anything about it yet, nor had their been any advertisements for it. Even her own mother had overlooked it. "How -- how did you know I found this in the woods? Is it yours?"

"No, it's yours," he said reluctantly.

"Oh no," Ru quickly removed it and held it out to him. "I can't --"

"NO!" he shrieked, jerking back. He flattened himself against the front door, his wrinkled hands scrabbling for the knob. "Keep it away from me! Get rid of it, I said!"

Before Ru realized it, she had dashed away. His horrified expression was burned into her mind like a nightmare, his shrill words sent chills through her. She'd never heard a grown man scream like that. She glanced down at the pendant, which bobbled against her collar as she ran. It was just a piece of jewelry, wasn't it? It must have been his, but he didn't want it. He was afraid of it. Why?

She stopped at a corner away from the park to catch her breath. The pendant was cold in her hand, smooth and shining. He wanted her to throw it away, but then said it was hers? It made no sense. Part of her was honestly scared into thinking that ridding herself of the pendant was a good idea. An overwhelming majority of her, however, felt like the pendant was right where it belonged.

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[lillaxtrigger]

Young hope: Chapter 7

Walking through the street, Chloe was digging around in her purse. “I wonder if Serena could use this with her potions.”. She pulls out a sealed bottle of toenail clipping. “It’s about time dad got rid of his disgusting toenail collection anyway. Weather he wants to or not.” Walking up to Serena’s house, Chloe knocks at the door. She patiently waits for her friend to open up and let her in. The door opens. “Hey girl. Thought you might like something for your-”. She stops talking once she sees that it wasn’t her friend, but rather a blonde middle aged woman that opened the door. “Oh, hey Serena’s mom. Is Serena home? I kinda wanted to give her something.”. “I’m sorry. Serena isn’t home right now.” the woman said in a soft spoken voice. “You know where she is?”. “She had to go to the forest to gather ingredients for her potions. I don’t think she’ll be back until tomorrow.”. “Oh...Well, if you see her, can you tell her I dropped this off?” Chloe says as she hands the mother the bottle. The mother gives a strange look to the jar of clippings before heading back inside. Walking off from Serena’s house, she says to herself: “Well, there goes the afternoon.”. She pulls out her phone and scrolls over to Ryu’s number. “I’m just gonna see what Ryu’s up to. See if he’s got time for a little date.”. She taps on his icon and awaits the dial. Hearing it ring, her hopes soar. “Hey there.” Ryu says on the other line. “Hey Ryu. Listen I was wondering if-”. “Sorry, you reach my voicemail. Leave a message after the beep.”. The phone beeps prompting Chloe to hang up. “Mmm. Bet that bitch Opal has him in her clutches. No worries, I’ll bide my time until she loosens her grip.”. She scrolled through her other numbers and stopped at Alex’s. “Hmm...wonder what Alex wants to do.”. She was about to tap the dial, when something popped in her head. “Wait, doesn’t he have practice today? Yeah, he practicing with that one new kid...Ray? I don’t know.”. Sitting on a bench in the city, Chloe was scrolling through her contacts, only to find nobody she wanted to hang out with was available. “Nearly all of my friends are busy, doing something with their time...except for me.”. She puts away her phone and sighs as she looks down. “Now what?...”. “How tragic.” she hears a voice, smooth as honey, ring out to her. Looking up, she saw a shadow emerge in above her own. She turns around and sees a figure upon the roof of the building behind her, darkened by the sun behind him. The figure jumps from the roof and gracefully lands right in front of the teenager. “A single rose left alone at the mercy of this urban jungle. No one else to tend to it.” the figure said as he got up. Chloe began to feel weirded out, this guy suddenly appearing on the roof of a building and jumped before her. All that changed when the stranger turned to her, looking at her with his inviting, green snake like eyes. Garbed in a red sleeveless gi, he steps forward in his light olive boots and reaches out to the girl with gauntlets of the same color. Chloe was enchanted by the strangers dashing looks, his black wavy hair offset by the dark green streak aside the front of his face. “Greetings.”. “H...H-Hi.” Chloe stutters, her face blushing as the cautious feelings melting away. “Allow me to introduce myself. You may simply refer to me as Drake.”. Drake sat down on the bench with her. “I couldn’t help but overhear that all your friends are busy. A shame really. No one to keep a lovely girl like you company.”. When she heard that, she began to tense up, the wary emotions returning. “Has this guy been spying on me?” she thinks. “Of course, this might mean you have some free time on your hands.”. Drake saw that Chloe began to slowly inch away from him. “I know how you might feel. You thinking of running. Running as far as you can from me.”. Drake smoothly and gently holds Chloe’s hand and says to her: “Let me bring you worries to rest, that I mean to you no harm.”. The young man looks at Chloe, gazing her with his charming stare painted with a faint smile. The mans gaze sends the girl into a charmed lull, the alarms buzzing in her head calming down. “O...O-Okay.” she says, her face bright red. Letting go of her hand, Drake stares up into the sky. “Allow me, if you may, to skip to my point. I’ve been sent on a very important mission to retrieve a very important item. However, certain restrictions disallow me to continue with this mission. I need the help of somebody a very unique set of skills.”. He turns towards Chloe and says: “A set of skills you have.”. Drake snaps his fingers in the air, making a limousine drive up from around the corner. Opening the door for the girl, he asks her: “Will you help me?”. With those alarms in her head silenced, she nods her head and say: “S-sure.”. She gets into the limo, Drake shutting the door behind her. Inside, Chloe saw the interior of the fancy car was velvet red. The surface of the seat felt very soft to touch. “This feels very different from our limo.” she thinks. The girl sees Drake entering the limousine through the doors in front of her. The charming young man takes the seat in front of her. He knocks on the window behind him, sliding down to reveal the limo driver. “Barkley.” Drake calls. “What can I do for you Mr. You-”. Before the man could finish, Drake turns to him, glaring with a piercing gaze. “I-I mean..Drake.”. “Take us to our destination.”. “Of course.”. The limo starts to move, heading out of the lonely street. Sitting on the comfortable velvet, it temps Chloe to relax, being as comfortable as a soft bed, but a thorn of worry sticks to her mind, keeping her senses. “What am I doing? I’m in a limousine with thos admittedly handsome stranger, taking me to who knows where.”. “By the way. I did not catch you’re name.” Drake asks. “It’s...Chloe.”. “Chloe? How fitting.”. She takes a deep breath and boldly asks: “Alright, fess up! What did you mean when you said that you needed skills that only I have? Have you been spying on me?”. “Hm...I sadly admit, that I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time.”. With that, Chloe began to feel uneasy, looking towards the doors. “However, I did mean it when I said that you are very unique.”. This makes her stop looking around and gaze towards Drake. “Really?”. “Yes. I’ve never really seen anyone else with such elegant skills before. Believe me when I say that you are the only one who can help me.”. “Well...what if I don’t want to?”. Drake lightly chuckles and says: “That’s quite alright. I can simply drop you of at you’re home. This will all go away and I’ll promise that you’ll never see me again.”. Chloe thought to herself for a moment before her phone started to to ring. She saw that her mom was calling. Turning to Drake, he says to her: “Go on. Answer it.”. She answers her phone, and hears her mothers voice on the line. “Hey mom.”. “Hi Chloe, sweetie. I was just wondering if while you’re out, you can get me a couple things.”. “Like…?” “Oh stuff like olives and burrito wraps. I wanna try my hands at making enchiladas.”. “Um...”. Chloe looks over to Drake, who simply nods to her. “I...can’t right now. I’m busy helping a friend out with something important, and I don’t know how long it’ll take.”. “Oh, okay. Sorry to bother you then. I’ll just get Kingsley to pick them up. Bye sweetie.”. Hanging up, she groans as she puts away her phone. “I can’t thank you enough. Ms. Chloe.”. “Mind I ask what we’re doing, exactly?” she impatiently demanded. “Of course.”. “We will be paying a visit to the ancient museum Cainwest in the dead of night. This museum houses some of the worlds greatest treasures, and thus is heavily guarded. Our prize is the Orb of Blood, said to be the hardened blood of several deities. The orb is housed right in the middle of the museum. We must find a way past the countless guards, all of which possess incredible, almost mystic strength. The layout of the museum is almost labyrinth like in design, several watchmen on guard. Luckily, I’ve sent in an agent in to map out the area. Once we have the orb, the alarm will no doubt go off, to then we must make our swift escape. Any questions?”. Chloe nervously stares at Drake the entire time he explained the mission at hand. “Wow...That, uh...That sounds like a lot. I’m actually a little...nervous. I don’t know if I can fight of an entire museum of strong guards.” she says as she looks away. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”. Chloe looks back at the young man, who says to her: “I’ll be with you the whole time. I promise that no harm will come to you, so long as you follow my instructions.”. “Okay...How-how long will it be until we get there?”. “It may take awhile. It would be best to relax before we arrive. Perhaps get some sleep.”. “Alright.” Chloe said as she rested her head down on the comfortable seating. The redhead drifts off into a relaxed slumber as she awaits her mission. Drakes phone then lightly rang, quickly picking up so not to wake his guest. On the other line a familiar voice asked Drake: “So, you find out what she’s made off yet?”. “Not yet. But all in due time.”. Hours later, the limo stops out in the middle of the forest, the sudden halt snapping Chloe awake. “What happened? Where are we?” she says as she gets up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “We’ve arrived at Cainwest.” Drake announced. “A-already!? How long have I slept?”. “About 4 and a half hours.”. “4 and a half-!...God damn, time when by fast.”. Drake got out and opened the door for Chloe, saying: “After you, m’lady.”. Chloe got out of the fancy limousine and saw a giant museum before her. The exterior was constructed out of shining marble, with glass pillars that had a pink energy flowing upward like pipes that reflected off the surface. The pink energy mesmerized the girl. It looked like the energy that came out of her Amazon crystal. “This is Cainwest? It’s huge! What kind of museum is built out here in the middle of the woods?”. “A magical museum. Housing items and artifacts of great sorcery and witchcraft. Some of the best names of magic are proudly displayed in it’s halls.”. “Wow. I can’t wait to see what’s inside.” Chloe wondered aloud as she started to walked towards the museum. Drake stops her by saying: “Before we go any further, perhaps you should take a look near the front.”. Chloe scanned the front of the museum and saw that in between the glowing pillars was a large, almost ape like guard with glowing tattoos along its body. “What is that?” she asks. “Those are the guards.”. “Them!? They look more like gorilla’s then people.”. “Quite. So how do you suppose we deal with them?” Drake asked. “You’re asking me? Why?”. “I’ve took note that you’re quite crafty when it comes to tactics. Something like this should be simple for you.” Chloe stared a the watch gorilla for a moment before saying: “Maybe we can try knocking him out from behind?”. “A sneak attack. Could be effective.”. The ape guard was staring out towards the woods, watching in case something catches its eye. Those eyes however were starting to drag down as the guard began to feel tired. The ape quickly awoke when it felt something blast his back. The guard turns around and sees Chloe and Drake behind it, Chloe’s hand smoking form the beam she shot out. The beasts tattoos start to glow as it jumps straight for them, prompting the two to dodge out of the way. Chloe tries to snag the ape with her pink whip, but it grab the whip and jerk it back, making Chloe fly towards the gorilla. The ape wound up its fist, getting ready to smash Chloe in, but Drake struck the beast from under its arm, making it real back and shake its arm. Chloe crashed to the ground near one of the pink columns. She turned around and saw the ape guard try and swipe Drake away, but was dodging every attempt, with him counter by jumping and kicking it the gorilla in the chin. The ape jumped back and hanged on one of the glass pillars, looking at Chloe. It then jumped straight at her, Chloe putting up a shield in an effort to block the gorillas attack. When the beast lands on her, it instantly breaks her defense. The impact makes her fly back just before the ape lands. The hulking gorilla slams down on the floor, breaking the hard stone floor beneath it. Drake jumps over to Chloe to help her up. “Do you perhaps have another plan?” he asks her. “Um...Gimme a minute.”. “I don’t think our opponent will even give us a second.”. Both of them see the ape charging straight for them. While Drake dodges to the side, Chloe flies straight up. The girl sees the ape climbs straight for her, jumping from pillar to pillar to ascend. It leaps straight for towards her, Chloe barely being able to dodge as the ape lodges its fist to the roof. Chloe flies back, try to give herself as much space from the beast as possible. She then back up into one of the glass pillars with pink energy flowing through them. She knocks on the glass, noticing it making a hollow noise, making an idea pop into her head. She flies over to Drake, who says to him: “We need to aggravate it. I have an idea.”. The ape gets itself of the roof and crash to the ground. “Let hope this one works this time.”. Drake dashes over to the ape and punches it square in the gut. After reeling back, the gorilla then charges straight at Drake, who jumps on the beasts head. The gorilla tries to grab Drake while in the air, but the young man proves too slippery to grasp. When landing behind the beast, Drake kicks the beast in its side. The gorilla swings it mighty arms at him once more, Drake dodging into the beast and ending up behind it. He then strikes the softest part of it’s back, making the ape stumble forward. “There’s a funny thing about strength. You can amass all the physical power you want. However, if you can never it your opponent, what’s the point of it all?” The gorilla turned over to Drake, as if it understood him. Then again, what hope does a beast like you have of understanding that?”. Reacting at the last remark, it started to growl at the young man. It slams down into the ground, breaking apart the stone floor. The gorilla grabs the pieces of broken floor and chucks them at Drake. The young man weaves out of the way of the oncoming debris. He then grabs one of the pieces and spins it back around to its sender, hitting the ape in the face. The gorilla then covers it face, shouting out in pain. Chloe then shoots out another beam out to the primate, the ape turning to her with its bloodshot eyes. “Right here, you overgrown monkey! Come get me.” she taunted as she waved at the beast. The gorilla charged at Chloe, the girl awaiting as the beast drew closer. “Wait for it...Wait for it.”. The ape was winding up for another punch, closing in on her. Right when it was about to strike, Chloe flies up out of the way, making the ape punch through the glass pillar. The pink energy inside shocked the gorilla, making it drop to the ground. Chloe lands beside Drake, taking a sigh of relief. “Phew! For a moment there, I thought I wasn’t gonna make it.”. “Although we should be grateful that your second plan worked, I’d advise you to approach situations like this more carefully.” Drake started to walk towards the limp ape and carried him over his shoulder. “We’re extremely lucky he didn’t alert any others or set of an alarm of sorts. Not to mention the countless guards inside that could overwhelm us in numbers.”. Drake began to walk down into the woods, with Chloe following him. “Hm. Well, I’m sorry I’m not perfect for you.” Chloe huffed. “It’s alright, how about we try again. Where do you think we should enter from?” Drake asks as he hides the body in some shrubs. Chloe thinks for a moment before saying: “Obviously not the front door. Maybe the side?...No...How about the roof?”. Chloe flew Drake up to the roof, and found the building to be much larger then initially thought. “This place is bigger then it looks at the front.” she says in awe. “I did say that it was constructed like a labyrinth.”. “You also said that this orb were trying to find is in the middle of the museum, right?” “Yes. Another plan I presume?”. Chloe flew over quite far, Drake following, stopping in the middle of the roof. “All we have to do is blast a hole in the ceiling and we can zip in and out with the orb in no time flat.”. Chloe cracked her knuckles and warned: “Stand back.”. She then shoots out a ball of pink energy down on the marble roof. When the smoke clears, both of them see the roof still in one piece “Huh?”. “Perhaps we should find another way in.” Drake suggested. “No, gimme a second.”. The girl flew above the museum and shot a laser down that covered the whole roof in smoke. Descending as the dust clears, she finds the roof still intact. “Nng! Come on! What’s this roof made of?” she exclaimed in frustration. Her hands glowing once more, she says: “I’ll blow this whole damn roof of if I have to.”. “No. It’s clear you can’t break through. Anymore attempts will simply make unwanted noise.”. Calming down, the glow on the girls hands fade as she says: “Alright, fine. Maybe there’s another way in.”. Chloe looked around, only being able to spot a dome shaped window. “Ah ha!” Looking down inside, they saw a hall with giant statues of famous magic figures, ape guards patrolling around the room. Chloe carefully opens the window and flies both of them down on top of one of the statues where none of the patrols could see them. “Wait here.” Chloe asks Drake. She flies back to the dome when no guards were looking and gently shuts the window. Flying back to Drake, he compliments her, saying: “Covering up your track. Good thinking.”. “Thanks. I used to steal cookies from the jar when I was like 5 and figured out that my parents kept catching me because I left the lid off. Basically the same case here.”. When the patrol wasn’t looking, Chloe flew over to the next statue with Drake on her back. With the ape on guard distracted by his Game boy, both of them flew out of the room. Out of the room and into the hall, both of them flew out of earshot and landed on the floor, Chloe, whispering: “Yes, made it!”. She looks at Drake, who was staring at her. “I-I mean...Glad we didn’t get caught. Where to next? The young man pulls out a tablet and shows it to Chloe. On screen is what looked to be a big map. “This is the map of the building my agent made.”. He points to the middle of the map and says: “This is where the orb is being kept.”. He slides over to the left, with his finger stopping at a certain point. “Judging from our position, we are right...here.”. “Chloe saw that the path to the middle was winding and long.”. “It seems a little long, isn’t it.”. “I say you chose well. Look.”. Drake slides his finger over to the bottom of the screen, with a bunch of open areas near. “This is the front of Cainwest. Notice that there is a lot of wide rooms nearby. Not very great for stealth.” He then takes his finger over to the top of the map, with long stretches of halls, some looping back into themselves. “The back has much longer passageways and many choke points, some of which loop back into one another. A confusing layout, certainly a much more lengthy one. I would guess that it would have roughly taken us about 20 minutes to reach this point. Going through the roof was a great option. A good thief plans out the most optimal route to their prize if possible. “Eh, thanks.” Chloe said as she blushed. Putting the map away, Drake says: “Now, from here, we need to head south. The path to the orb should be straight forward.”. “Alright. Let’s go get that orb.” Chloe said as she headed down the hall. Drake clears his throat and mention: “Chloe…South is that way.”. He points to the opposite direction, making Chloe turn around and nervously say: “Right, right. Of-Of course that’s south. I-I was just messing with you is all.”. She turned around as she laughs and whispered under her breath: “God, I’m so fucking stupid.”. Coming to a straight corridor, both of them saw countless stone tablets depicting past and future prophecies that decorated the walls of the hallway. “This should be easy.” Chloe boasted as she started to walk through the hall. “Halt!” Drake exclaimed. Chloe immediately stopped and hastely asked: “What! What is it!?”. “A thief must always watch out for traps. We must watch our step. Look around and find anything that stands out.”. Chloe looked around the corridor and noticed a set of squares lined up on the roof. “What about those square things?”. “Hmm...” Drake pondered. He takes out a plastic ball from a hidden pocket and tosses it towards Chloe. The ball passes right beside her and disintegrates right before her eyes, making her back up nervously. “Disintegration rays. You’re quite lucky you stopped when you did.”. “Uh, yeah. Thanks. So how are we gonna get past them.”. “We need something that can uncover them so we can traverse safely.”. Chloe began to think, then pulled out a can of hair spray. Using the spray, she uncovers the light of the square. The spotlight in the middle of their path was wide, but navigable. “Good thinking.” Drake complimented. “Oh thanks, it’s nothing. I just saw that in a movie and thought it might work. It seemed really cool.”. “I hope you have enough in there for the rest.”. After they side stepped around the dangerous spotlight, Chloe used more of spray to uncover the next and went from there. Right when she was at the last spotlight, she ran out. “Dammit. Think we might be in trouble.” Chloe remarked. “All out?”. She looks at the spray can and starts slowly inch it forward. As soon as the bottom of the can starts to dissolve, she begins to move it over to the side, watching as the ray eats the can up. She traces the ray and carefully walks around the spotlight, Drake follows her footsteps. Making it around the last light, the can was down to its spray button. As soon as they were both on the other side of the hall, Chloe jumped for joy. “Hell yeah!” she quietly exclaims. “Did you see that from a movie as well?” Drake asks. “Actually, I came up with that on the fly. I thought might as well, it was empty anyway.”. “I see. Your resourceful thinking is quite amazing. Well done, Ms. Chloe.”. Chloe smiled when she heard the young man compliment her. “Now, let not waste anymore time. The night is fleeting.”. In a large hallway, with skeletons of large, mythical creatures on display, Chloe and Drake peeked out to see some gorilla guards, walking around, talking to one another, one of them eating its lunch on a bench. “Traversing through this hall would be the fastest route to the orb. However, moving through here would bring more risks. What do you say, Chloe? Should we proceed.”. “Hmm…Maybe.”. Looking around the room, she sees a mystic looking pen on one of the open stands. With a devious smile, Chloe says: “Follow me.” then starts to sneak in the hall. They hid themselves from the guard from behind the stands, going from one to the next as they passed. It wasn’t until they ducked under the base of one of the skeleton displays that Chloe Told Drake: “Wait here.”. She sneaks over to the pen and slowly takes it from its stands. Chloe then sneaks behind one of them and stealthily places the pen right between its ears. She quickly sneaks back to Drake, who whispers: “Now what?”. “Just wait.” They then hear one of the apes grunting and look over to see one of them pointing to the stand that had the pen. All of them patrol approach, making curious grunting noises as they looked. One of the gorillas notices the pen between its fellow apes ear and takes it. The gorilla in question turns toward the other to see the ape with the pen pointing to him. Its colleges begin to surround him, giving the pour ape judge mental expressions. It tries to deny stealing the pen, waving its hand in front of him. Chloe and Drake quickly rush out of the room while everyone was distracted. Out of the hall, Drake compliments Chloe, saying: “Pinning stolen evident on one of the guard. Interesting tactic.” “Thanks, I do it to my dad all the time. Really covers my assets.”. In a small room, two gorillas were playing card game. A pile of cards sat in the middle of the table. One of them shows the other a 3 of spades, giving a nodding gesture. The other shakes his head left and right, as if it was saying no. The one ape was shocked, then got really angry, flipping the table and spilling all the cards on the floor before walking off. The other primate slaps his face, upset that his friend is such a sore loser. While it goes back to its post near the door, Chloe and Drake peak out from a rather large exhibit. Chloe thinks for a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out some beads. She throws them towards the opposite end of the room, making short, but loud noises that echo through as they land. The ape guard turns towards the source of the noise and walks out of the room. Both of them use this chance to pass through. They make it to a large door, strange lettering inscribed along the archway. “The hall of deities. Once we pass through here. We must grab the orb and make our swift escape.”. Chloe looks over and sees another hall full of weird looking artifacts. “Before we go in. Can I check something real quick.”. “Why? We’re so close to our goal. It wouldn’t be a wise idea to go of track.”. “You kidding? We’re in a magical museum full of powerful artifacts and all you want is a bloody orb. I ain’t missing this chance to steal something for myself.”. Chloe walks off towards the hall, with Drake giving a watchful, almost critical eye as he quietly groans. Coming to the front of the hall, both of them saw countless mystical items varying shape and size. “Wow. Look at all this cool stuff.”. Chloe walked through the hall and saw something that caught her eye. It was an elegantly designed piece of clothing of refined red silk, the stitching pattern displayed a cluster of golden sparkles, all neatly fitted into the shape of a two interconnecting swirls. The cloth was proudly displayed on a wall covered with glass for all to witness. “This looks so amazing. I bet it would look great on my bed.”. She begins to approach the cloth, but stops and says: “Wait a sec.”. She pulls out a pocket mirror and grabs a handful of blush powder. Chloe blows the powder towards the display and uncovers an invisible laser circle around it. “Knew it.”. She inspects the circle and notices that it was slightly leaning out near the bottom. Chloe tries to lift the glass cover, prying her fingers inside as she lifts. The girl tries to squeeze through the gap, so close to the cloth, but the glass panel was too near the laser circle to lift any higher. She turns to Drake and asks: “Mind lending hand?”. “If you want it so badly, shouldn’t you display the determination to achieve what you desire.”. “Hm. That’s a fancy way of saying no.”. Chloe puts the glass down and digs into her purse. Pulling out a pair of tweezers, she lifts the glass again and slowly grabs the blanket. Chloe pulls out from its display and backs away with cloth in hand. Grabbing her prize, she lightly giggles and said: “Got it.”. She rubs the blanket to her face to feel the comfortable silk along her skin. “Ah, it’s so soft. I’m defiantly using this as a blanket.”. “Just then, the cloth vanishes, along with Chloe’s arms.”. The girl is shocked and starts to panic. “Huh! What happened!? Where are my arms!?”. Drake puts hand over Chloe’s to stop her from scream. “Shh! Calm down.”. He grabs the air beside the girl and pulls on something. The cloak re-materializes along with Chloe’s arms. She rubs her arms together saying: “They’re back! What happened?”. Drake walks over to the glass display and sees the panel with weird lettering. “This says that this artifact is Altara’s chameleon cloak. A magic shroud that turns whatever it covers invisible.” Chloe looks at the cloak and puts it over herself, becoming completely transparent. She giggle and asks: “Can you see me, Drake?”. “Not a trace.”. “Bet you can’t guess where I am.”. Drake chuckles and says: “I may not be able to see you...”. Using his hear, he is able to track Chloe through the sound of her footstep. Grabbing the air beside him, he then says: “But I can clearly hear you.”. He pulls the cloak right off of her, uncovering her for all to see. “Hey! No fair!” Chloe says. “An artifact like this is rather useful. But it cannot mask sound or scent. Like every other tool, you must understand the in and outs of this cloak. Realize its strengths and weaknesses to use it as effectively as possible.”. Drake tosses the cloak back to Chloe. She looks at him and sees him exiting the exhibit. “Now come. If we dawdle any more. We could be caught.”. Opening the door to the hall of deities, they saw a collection of big statues circling the room. Lines etched in the floor swirl around from the statues all the way to the center. “Behold. The hall of deities. Through here are statues of the most famous gods and goddesses in known history. Each of them great and powerful their own right.”. In the far back of the hall, centered among all the statues was a woman in roman robes. As Chloe approach the statue, she feel a sensation of familiarity as she stared at its figure, wondering why she felt such a sense of nostalgia. “And this...is their queen. Ruler of all mystic beings and deities. The amazonian goddess-”. “Hera.” Chloe finishes. “Yes. You’ve heard of her?”. “No. The name just...popped in my head.”. The stares down towards the statue and sees an oval slot underneath. “In order to uncover the Orb of blood, we must place a mystic item of great power into the base of the statue.”. Chloe realized what the shape of the slot reminded her of and pulled out her Amazon Crystal. She was about to put the pink gem in, but stopped as she said: “Wait a minute.”. She pulls back her crystal and turns to Drake. “Did you just want to use my crystal? Is this why you really needed me?” she angrily questioned. Drake simply stares at Chloe, not giving a response to her accusation. “Did you just drag me along her so you could get your precious orb? Was all that stuff you said about me being special a lie?...Well?” Drake take a deep breath and professed: While it’s true that we did need your crystal, I meant every word about your unique abilities.”. If we wanted to, we could have swiped your crystal in the night while you slept. But we wanted to see what you were capable off.”. Chloe begins to calm down as Drake explains. “During this night I have watched as you displayed your stealth and thieving skill beautifully. Strategizing through each situation after the next, utilizing whatever tool you had available in ways that would leave the most cunning of thieves impressed. And it was not due to that crystal. It was all thanks to you.” Drake says, tapping Chloe’s forehead near the end, calming the girl down. “We would have never gotten this far without you, Ms. Chloe. I think that be fair to let you do the honors.”. She turns back to the statue and thinks for moment before inserting her Amazon Crystal in the slot. The crystal fits into place, making the eyes of the statue glow pink, the other statues begin to glow pink in unison. The lines on the floor glow, trailing from the statues to the middle of the hall. Once the pink energy trails to the center, the middle of the floor begins to open up, revealing a red orb infused with pink tracings standing on the end of a pink glass pipe. Both of them approach the stand, with Drake and taking the orb. “The orb of Blood. Infused with the power of the gods.”. He starts to lightly chuckle with the powerful sphere in his grasp, then turns to Chloe. “Ms. Chloe...For not for you, I would not be possess this powerful artifact. You have my most humble gratitude.”. “Hee hee, thanks. You can just call me Chloe, Chloe Spicer. Honestly, Ms. Chloe just sounds a little too formal.”. “Hmm. Very well.” Drake says as he nods his head. Just then, a weird noise starts to blare through the entire museum. “What’s that sound?” Chloe asks. “It the alarm. We must make our escape.”. Chloe runs to the Hera statue and tries to grab her Amazon Crystal from the slot, but it was locked in place. “My crystal is stuck. I can’t get it out.”. “Chloe, we must take leave immediately, else the security will swarm us.” Drake warns. “I’m not leaving without my crystal. It’s a family heirloom.”. They then see the doors slam shut, locking them inside the hall. The floor on the pedestal was on began to rise, Drake jumping of the platform. Turning around, he saw a giant fox dressed in armor. It’s fiery eyes staring at them one would stare at its upcoming prey. Chloe begins to back up, while she sees Drake glare the monster as it growls at him. “Fear not, Chloe Spicer. I will not let this monster bring harm to you. You worry about unhinging your precious crystal from the statues grip and I shall vanquish this beast. Consider it my thanks.” he says as he takes a fighting stance. Chloe turns back to try and get her crystal out, while Drake prepares to face the giant fox before them. The fox swipes at Drake with its sharp claws from the side. He ducks under, the beasts attack missing. It swipes again, this time over head. Drake gets under the fox and strikes under its elbow. The fox retracts its limb and shakes it about. The monster tries to bite at Drake instead. The young man jumps in the air to avoid its gaping maw. The fox looks around, trying to find where its prey went, only finding Chloe trying to pull out her crystal. The girl turns around and sees the fox approaching her, barring its sharp fangs. Before the fox could bite, something pulls it away. Chloe looks up to see Drake grabbing a hold of its ears, pulling the fox away from her. “Your fight is with me, beast.” Drake tells it. The fox yelps out as it tries to shake him off. Drake keeps his footing on the beasts head. It then runs around the hall, trying to make Drake get off. The beast charged towards one of the statues, the young warrior jumps off just before it slams its head. As the oversized dog falls to its side, Drake sees its chest and stomach unprotected by the surrounding armor. Chloe struggles to pull her crystal out form the base, not even moving an inch. After catching her breath, she once again digs into her purse, saying: “Come on. Gotta have something in here that can pry it out.”. She pulls out a set of nail clippers and pulls out the lever. “Close enough.”. Chloe starts to wedge the nail clipper behind the crystal. The fox jumps at Drake in an effort to pounce on the young man. Drake dodges foreword, getting under the beast and delivering a sharp blow to the stomach. The fox jumps back with a yelp and looks back at its opponent, seeing Drake give it a sharp, intimidating look. Not wanting to be beat, the fox growls at him lunges straight at him. Drake gets ready to counter attack, when the fox jumps right over him and head for one of the statues. Stopping at the statue of Ares, the fox pulls the sword from the its hand and holds it into its mouth. “Oh. A change of tactics I see? Perhaps you’re not the mindless animal I took you for.”. The fox charges at him, swinging the 20 foot sword upwards at Drake. Drake dodges to the side and hits the fox in the leg. The fox jumps back, and thrusts at the young man. Drake jumps up and onto the sword, runs up and strikes the beast in the eye. He jumps afar, watching as the fox shakes its head and flails the sword around. Once it regains its composure, the fox jumps up, pointing its sword towards Drake as it descends. Hejumps towards the descending beasts, running across the sword and the foxes back, grabbing its tail. When it lands, the sword sparks across the marble floor as it slides. Drake swings under and strikes another blow to the stomach. Landing on the floor, Drake watches as the fox jumps towards the other side of the hall. After recoiling back, the mighty fox throws its blade into the air. At the apex of the throw, the blade splits apart, turning into a three pronged sword. The fox catches the grip of the blade in its mouth and points it at Drake, him giving an interested look. It dashes towards him, aiming its three blades vertically. The young man sidesteps away from the fox as it charges. He sees the fox turn the blade sideways and quickly swings towards him. Drake jumps just in time to dodge its attack. “A sly fox. Clearly one that’s been trained. But by whom?”. As he lands, Drake sees the fox turning around, getting ready to swing again. The fox swings its blade at, Drake jumping out of the way. “Trained or not, you lack the planning of a real warrior. You can’t possibly hope to match wits with-”. The fox quickly turns its sword vertically and chops at Drake. “What!?”. As Chloe tried to pry her crystal out of the base, she hears a loud crash behind her. She looks back and sees a big cloud of dust in front of the fox, it’s blade piercing through the cloud. The dust clears and she sees Drake, holding back the tip of the sword with his bare hands. She hears Drake laugh and say: “So close…But not close enough.”. He yanks the blade out of the fox’s mouth and tosses it at the door, breaking it into pieces. The fox begins to rush for its blade, jumping over Drake. “No you don’t.”. Drake jumps straight up toward the beast underbelly, striking its already bruised stomach. The beast falls to the ground near its blade. Drake lands and watches as the fox slowly gets up and pick up the blade once more. It limps towards him, breathing heavily as it tries to inch its way towards its opponent. “Hm. You’ve put up quite a fight. Far more then I’ve expected from any animal. For that, I shall give you a swift end.”. Drake dashes toward his animal opponent. The fox gives one last swing in hopes to strike him down, but ultimately misses as Drake delves towards its underbelly and strikes the center of its chest with all his might. The poor fox’s mouth loosens, dropping its three pronged sword before falling to the ground. With that fight done, Drake walks over to Chloe, who was watching the fight. “So, Chloe. Have you retrieved your crystal yet?”. “Ah...I-I...Hang-hang on a second.” the girl says as she turns back to her crystal. Chloe continues to try and pry the gem out of the base. The statues eyes above them dim, as does do the others and line on the floor. With that, Chloe’s Amazon Crystal pops out. “Ha! Got it!”. She turns to Drake with her gem in hand and says: “Okay, now we can go.”. Both of them hear howling near the exit, the sound of gorillas approaching echoing towards the hall. “I’m afraid be might be too late.”. Chloe looks in her bag and says: “I don’t think so.”. A pack of apes storm into the hall, looking around for their intruder. Some of them gather around the fallen fox, trying to awaken it. No matter what they tried, it would not wake. The gorilla’s sadly moan, morning their fallen comrade. One of the apes stands tall and shouts at the pack. It begins to point in all different directions, making all of them spread out. Along the walls and around the statues, they look everywhere through the room, not seeing the bottoms of two pairs of shoes that sneak through the archway and out of the hall of deities. When both of them were out of site, Chloe and Drake lift the Chameleon Cloak. “Good thinking Chloe. You managed to get us out of a tight spot. You might just make a good thief yet.”. “Thanks, but what about you? You took down that giant fox with nothing but your bare hands. I...Just- Just who are you?”. “In time. But first we must quickly take our leave. We are not out of danger just yet.”. “No problem. We’ll just use this cool new blanket all the way out of the museum.”. “No.” Drake denies. “Wwwhy not?”. “It would not be wise to use only one tool in your arsenal. Cainwest might have counter measures for invisibility.”. They began to hear sound of a stamped approaching. “We have no time to waste. We need to move.” Drake says. Both of them run through the halls, trying to stay out of the packs site. Up ahead was a narrow stretch of hall with various items, armors, and magical weapons of various shape and size. “We need to slow them down. Knock everything down in your way.” Chloe said. “On it.”. Drake leaps ahead and kicks down a large heavy set of armor. Chloe puts her amazon crystal back on and uses her whip to knock over a glass case containing a magic artifact. While speeding by, Drake snatched up a set of spears and threw them behind him, scattering and piercing through the walls and floor. Chloe dragged down a bunch of low crystals down to the ground. As she did, the Chameleon cloak that was hanging out of her bag reflected out. They look behind them and see the pack of patrol climbing through the debris. The pack then rushes down the hall, not seeing Chloe and Drake right above. Landing back on the ground, Chloe sighs and says: “Pretty close there, right?”. “We should not relax yet. Not until we’re safely out of the den of beasts. Drake turns around and starts running to the right. Chloe looks over and sees something to the left and says: “Wait, wait! I think I know where we are.”. Drake turns around and sees Chloe running in the opposite direction. He catches up to see Chloe staring down at the hall decorated with stone tablets, the disintegrating beams still shining down. “If we’re here. Then the room we came in through shouldn’t be far.”. “Yes, but we’re in a hurry. It would take too long for us to cross and the guard might surround us any minute.”. “I know, but I have an idea. Rip out a piece of the floor.”. “Why?”. “I noticed that the lights don’t affect the marble. We just need to hold a big piece over ourselves like an umbrella and we’ll be fine.”. “Of course. Stand back.”. Chloe quickly back away, leaving Drake to rip up a big piece of the marble floor. He holds the big tile over head, saying: “Come on!” Both of them run across the hallway, the tile over them shielding them from the rays. After traversing through the hall, they see a pack of gorillas running towards them. Drake throws the slab of marble at them, giving him and Chloe a little time to escape. Both of them run towards the hall with the statues. “We’re almost there.”. When they got to the center of the hall, they saw three packs of ape guards, blocking the other halls and climbing up towards the glass ceiling. They look behind them and see the horde behind them blocking the way back. All four groups of primate begin to slowly approach, Chloe and Drake putting their hands in the air. “Anymore ideas?” Drake asks. Chloe looks around and sees the two giant statues to her sides. “Just one. Get behind me.”. Drake gets behind Chloe as the mob closes in. The girl then shoots a pair of beams to her sides and blasts the bases of the statues. The giant stone figures come tumbling down towards everyone. Chloe quickly turns around and grabs Drake by his back and ascends. She evades the falling statues, sending them down on the ape guard beneath them. The impact makes the gorillas climbing to the ceiling fall and the glass to break. Through shards and primates, both of them fly through the ceiling and out of the Cainwest museum. Back in the limousine, Drake was admiring his newfound blood orb, its red body reflecting off the lights. “Such magnificence.”. He puts the orb down and looks over to Chloe on the other side. “Chloe Spicer. I would like to personally thank you for assisting me in this endeavor. You have my upmost gratitude.”. “Thanks, but I want to know something.” she bold asks. Drake puts the orb to his side and listens. “Oh, and what might that be?”. “Not to sound rude, but you’ve told me very little about who you are and where you came from. Why you were spying on me and why you needed my help of all people. I wants answers, now!”. “Of course…Where to start?...I suppose with myself. My full name...is Drake Young, and I am the leader of an organization composed of youths of varying, but impressive talents.”. “Really?” Chloe responded. She thought that his last name sounded familiar, her dad mentioning somebody with the same sir name. “Whats this organization do, exactly?” she boldly asks. “I’m afraid I can’t leak that information just yet.”. “Oh, come on. You can say it. I promise not to tell.” Chloe says, leaning in and giving him the most cutesy eyes she can. “Try as you might, charm will not persuade me, Ms. Spicer”. The act not working, she sits back in a huff. “As I’ve said before. I’ve had my eye on you for quite a while now. This heist was a test, meant to show case what you are capable of in certain situations.”. “A test?...Did I pass?” Drake lightly chuckles and takes a moment to respond. “With flying colors.”. “Woo hoo, yeah! Does that mean I get to join your club.” Chloe asked with a hopeful smile. “On no. Not yet, I’m afraid.”. The girl smile quickly vanishes, replaced with an upset frown. “We’re still going through a few revisions. This organization is still...relatively new.”. “So when can I join?” Chloe says impatiently. “All in due time, Ms. Spicer...All in due time.”. After dropping off Chloe near her home, the girl waving back as she departs. After bidding farewell Drake pulled out his phone and dialed a contact. The phone rings, on the other side was a familiar voice greeting with: “Yo Drake, how’d the heist go?”. “Splendid. I gave her your pointers and she performed beautifully. You would be really impressed.”. “Great! So you think she might be a good fit.”. “Oh, I have no doubt about that. She will fit in quite well, Alisha.”. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th chapter here. Drake was pretty fun to write. Drake belongs to: PrincessCallyie

[jeremystrele]

How To Do ‘Country Style’ With A Contemporary Edge

How To Do ‘Country Style’ With A Contemporary Edge

Interiors

Lauren Li

The incredible country kitchen at Wombat Barn in Daylesford. Photo – Eve Wilson. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The ‘country’ look is familiar, warm and above all, it’s comfortable. After all, regional and rural homes are often spaces that invite us to slow down, embrace a change of pace, and reconnect with what’s really important.

But country style needn’t be old fashioned. Today, we’re embracing a cool, clean, more refined version of country living. We’ve pulled together an edit of carefully curated spaces, designed for contemporary rural life. They are bright and inviting, often with an element of the unexpected.

I’m inclined to think that the current popularity of contemporary country interiors represents a craving for familiarity and authenticity. There’s a real emphasis on ‘honest’ materials, such as solid timber surfaces and real stone benchtops, and evidence of time-honoured craftsmanship. Imperfections are totally okay in these spaces – in fact, they’re to be embraced.

EVERYTHING is on display in the home of Kara Rosenlund and Timothy O in Brisbane! Photo – Eve Wilson. Styling – Lucy Feagins.

By keeping the kitchen all white, the gorgeous objects collected by vintage queen Lynda Gardener are the hero. Photo – Marnie Hawson.

An open shelf made of marble elevates humble kitchen objects in the Palm Beach Home by Alexander and Co. Photo – Felix Forest.

This isn’t a ‘display kitchen’ – it’s a kitchen to cook up a storm in. Treasured vintage kitchen pieces and handmade ceramics are on display, giving this space soul and personality. Photo – Beth Kirby.

Kitchens On Show

Unlike minimalist contemporary kitchens that aim to hide everything ‘kitcheney’ behind cupboard doors, country kitchens are about having everything on show. At the same time, the contemporary country kitchen is a little more refined than traditional ‘Hamptons’ style.

These kitchens are designed to be used and loved. Here, the very ‘things’ a kitchen needs to be functional are displayed. We see open shelves with functional ceramic pieces on show, and under bench storage open, with pots and pans within easy reach.

Even the appliances are often on show, rather than integrated, with large free-standing ovens taking centre stage, often with an equally large feature rangehood.

Amazing texture in Emma Lane’s home, with rendered walls, buttery leather chairs and a divine fluffy rug! Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Natural textures combine for a harmonious room; shearing upholstered armchairs sit on a vintage silk rug with wood floors and an antique wood buffet. Project by Amber Interiors. Photo– Tessa Neustadt.

The rough, rustic timber in this kitchen is balanced with elegant marble and fresh white walls. Byron Bay Abode, The Lodge. Photo – Jessie Prince.

Beautiful contemporary textures, with a hint of rustic glam in the kitchen at The Barn at Ross Farm. Photo – Eve Wilson.

Texture, Naturally

In the contemporary country home, finishes are designed to develop a beautifully worn patina over time; think soft buttery leathers, characterful dining table tops and hand-scraped timber floors. These finishes tell stories, they have history and are beautiful just as they are. We’re not looking for that ‘fresh out of the box’ feel, instead, we want an ‘already lived-in’ look.

Look for ways to combine texture, rather than applying colour; a vintage silk rug laid over tumbled limestone; a plump linen sofa with a chunky undyed wool blanket.

They key to pulling off this modern country look, as opposed to an overstuffed country style, is balancing rustic finishes with clean, crisp details. So – blending rustic timber with sleek marble in the kitchen, or offsetting textured surfaces with white walls.

Whatever you do, aim for comfort. A space should never feel so perfect and precious that you can’t make yourself comfortable.

The wonderfully eclectic home of stylist Lynda Gardener. Photo – Eve Wilson.

Lynda ‘Queen of Vintage’ Gardener always hits the mark without looking too fussy. This space is layered with Armadillo rugs and a sofa piled with cushions. Photo – Marnie Hawson.

Who wouldn���t love to rummage through the vintage ‘out-takes’ of Lynda Gardeners collection? This artwork is perfection on this dado height painted wall, combined with the Major Minor bedlinen. Photo – Marnie Hawson.

The home of Melissa Harris nails the ‘contemporary country’ look (in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs!). Green Pendant lights by Freedom, recycled elm timber table from Provincial Home Living, leather chairs from West Elm, and vintage chair with linen seat from Hunted Antiques. Vintage church pew from Violets with Patina stall at The Vintage Shed. Photo – Caitlin Mills. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Vintage Is Key

Incorporating antique pieces instantly gives a space soul, and is key to contemporary country style. We’re looking for a rustic console table at the entry, a sweet side table with turned legs, or a dining table that bears the marks of many dinners past. We’re looking at simple shaker-style or farmhouse pieces that can be picked up from antique dealers, or if you’re lucky enough, an op shop. The odd mid-century piece works well to tighten up the look, but steer clear of anything post-1970s. Look for worn leather armchairs, armoires and milking stools, and avoid chrome, acrylics and bright colours.

I can hardly think of another person that incorporates vintage pieces into interiors better than Lynda Gardener. This isn’t a passing trend, rather, vintage style is at the core of Lynda’s design aesthetic, and remains as relevant as ever.

A contemporary wall lamp elevates an otherwise pared back space at The Dairy on Ross Farm. Photo – Eve Wilson.

What a way to make an entrance! This house in Malibu by Amber Lewis is exactly why she leads the way with this look. It has the elements we know true to ‘country style’; the hand-scraped wood floors, vintage floor rug and antique pieces, but when combined with the Lindsey Adelman light, this space takes on a whole new feeling. Project by Amber Interiors. Photo– Tessa Neustadt.

An innovative way to incorporate modern lighting. Photo – Jessie Prince.

The mountain house in LA designed by Emily Henderson (in collaboration with the loyal readers of her blog) aimed for ‘rustic-modern-Scandinavian-contemporary-minimalist-kitchen.’ vibes, in her words. The striking light fitting by Katy Skelton does a lot of the heavy lifting here! Photo – Sara Ligorria-Tramp.

These simple pendant lights add to the clean lines in this kitchen by Adelaide-based Enoki Design. Photo – Jenah Piwanski.

Lighting Is Lit

Another major factor in creating a cool modern country style (and avoiding out-dated ‘grandma’ vibes), is lighting. Lighting needs to be contemporary to elevate this look, and tighten up the room.

Choose lighting that presents a contemporary contrast to the textured materials and vintage furniture in your space. It’s best to avoid traditional, ‘old world’ style lighting. Look for the unexpected; metallic fittings give an elegant feel to a room, and an asymmetrical form makes the space feel dynamic.

Living area featuring sofa from Scout House, chairs, stool and rugs from markets and auctions, rope light from the Netherlands. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

This loft bedroom is the definition of contemporary comfort. I just want to lie on that bed and roll off onto that lush rug! Project by Emily Henderson. Photo – courtesy of Emily Henderson.

This has got to be the dreamiest, cosiest bedroom EVER! Jersey Ice Cream Co has created a room that is humble and at the same time luxurious. Photo – Nicole Franzen.

A Word on Comfort

Creating true comfort in our homes seems obvious, but comfort can be overlooked, as there are so many other requirements we’re considering.

When creating a contemporary country look, comfort is at the core. Bring it on, with plush sofas and banquette seating, fluffy or textured rugs underfoot, *extra* cushions wherever you can squish them, and, in the bedroom, a grand (perhaps four-poster!?) bed!

Not only do we want to feel comfortable, we also want comfort on the eye. That’s why these spaces are harmonious, the colours are natural and tonal, not contrasty or jarring – everything just makes sense.

[bojk87]

Day 26 - Dumbo

I wake up slightly earlier than normal, but then again it is Monday here and I realise that I will be back at work in thirteen days. Yup, in less than a fortnight I will be facing reality yet again, so I figure I should start to align my schedule somewhat. Dim and his better half are back to work today which sees them leave the house by about 7:30am, and leaves me with my usual morning of dialling back home to see how everyone is doing.

Satisfied that everything is going well at home and that everyone misses me sufficiently, I decide to take myself out for breakfast at a local cafe which was started by the late and great Heath Ledger and goes by the name of Five Leaves. A short ten minute stroll on a yet another wonderful and sunny NY spring day sees me seated at the cafe and I am surprised at how busy it is on a Monday morning at 10am. I decide to go against the advice that was given to me which was to have the pancakes that come with fresh ricotta and maple syrup, and I instead opt for my truly missed and quite standard breakfast of scrambled eggs, though this time they come with a side of toasted seven grains bread, smashed avocado and radishes. A truly delicious mix of flavours from the crunchy and grainy bread to the smooth avocado offset by the zesty lemon juice poured over it and the perfectly creamy and smooth scrambled eggs. I spend a good half hour enjoying myself at this bar and listening to my podcast before I head back home.

I’ve seen people out and about today going for runs around the streets and the parks, so I felt inspired and somewhat self shamed into following suit given just how much I have been indulging during this trip. And so it begins. A slow steady pace running around the park and the streets that I am now somewhat familiar with in an attempt to kickstart my fitness again. I see all kinds of people enjoying the sunshine in the park, from those that have just sat down on a bench to enjoy the scenery and listen to music, to those who are also doing the fitness thing and running, and others who are taking their post winter hyperactive dogs out for a play in the park. I power past streets which seem to exclusively belong to the Polish community where I am tempted by all manner of sweets and cakes displayed in the window, but I just keep powering through. Given how long it has been since I have gone for a run, I knew I wouldn’t be incredibly fast, but I did manage to knock over 5.5 kilometres in a smidge under 40 minutes which I am ok with for a first attempt, before my competitive nature kicks into gear.

With that out of the way, I grab a quick shower and do a load of laundry. While the laundry is being done I indulge my creative self in a way that I haven’t done since I was a knee high to a grasshopper. My mate has bought a huge wall drawing of NY, probably about three A1 sheets worth, and the idea is that in their spare time they and any of their friends that come to visit or stay will spend some time colouring in. After a year, possibly about a quarter of the entire thing has been completed, so now it is time for the artist known as Boj to put his mark on the masterpiece. I start of with a tiny section unaware of just how good or bad I might be, and as my confidence with the colours builds I start to tackle the larger pieces. It is a seriously relaxing activity to just colour in, which I remember a friend of mine telling me about a few years ago and me thinking that it was crazy for an adult to even consider that. It certainly makes the laundry time pass by a lot quicker, and before I know it I am ready to head out.

A grab an Uber and a lovely gentleman by the name of Jose picks me up and takes me to Dumbo. Yup, there is an area in NY called Dumbo, and its not just me being silly because it actually stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Once I arrive, there is a functioning pier where all the local ferries turn up to take people across the river, but it is also a place from which you can see both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.

Also, if you search around for a bit, there is a street where if you stand at just the right angle, you can see the Empire State Building through the pillars of the Manhattan Bridge, which is one of the iconic shots of NY. I get myself a quick bite at Starbucks and then an ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory where I end up choosing the butter pecan flavour. It is smooth and creamy, but doesn’t really taste like either butter or pecan which leaves me slightly confused but no less happy given that I have just had happiness in a cone.

I spend the next half an hour wandering through the old cobblestone streets, surrounded by typical NY brick buildings and old factories, catching glimpses of both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge and taking many photos along the way, along with the iconic and very touristy shot of the Empire State Building which is visible through the pillars of the Manhattan Bridge.

With my touristing done, I sit down on a grassy patch nearby where every other NY has plonked themselves down and spend about fifteen minutes just enjoying the sites before I move on and head towards the nearest train station that will take me into Manhattan. There I decide to do some shopping at a department store which to my surprise turns out to be quite affordable and goes by the name of Century 21. It has five levels of all kinds of goodies which makes it quite fun to hang around and easily get what I was after. With my loot gathered, I head back home to wait for my friends before we head out for dinner, which tonight will be a pizza at a place that goes by the name of Best Pizza.

An hour or so spent at home before everyone is gathered and ready to go, we walk a couple of blocks, which is a couple of streets to you and me, and end up at a relatively small place where rap music rules, the heat from the pizza oven offers a kind and inviting welcome, and the few people that are already there are eagerly waiting for their food. All three of us agree that a cheese pizza with pepperoni and anchovies is the way to go, so we spend the next half an hour chatting away until the 20 inch pizza arrives. There must have been a first date going on next to us given the awkward and stilted conversation that I was overhearing, which wasn’t hard given how closely everyone is seated. It was then that the guy took a napkin and patted down the pizza to remove excess oil, and at this moment I knew that this date wasn’t going to go much further than the doorway, especially given the very confused look on this girl’s face.

We had our very delicious pizza and we all ate it with gusto, being one of the best pizzas I have had in NY.

Feeling glad that their name, and my mate’s recommendation have lived up to expectation, we retired back to the apartment to watch some more comedy shows on Netflix, though we didn’t last very long as we were all in bed and asleep shortly after 10pm. That’s it for another day of exploring and food, a run around the park and then offsetting it all with delicious pizza. Such is life, so until tomorrow’s adventures, your pizza addicted adventurer,

Boj

[drewebowden66]

Dramatic Marble Accents in 3 Modern Homes by Shexia Space Design

Few materials create an immediate sense of luxury quite like marble. This material has been admired since antiquity, used in both sculpture and architecture alike. Marble – and marble lookalikes – are making a grand resurgence within modern interior design. This post tours three homes designed and visualized by Shexia Space Design, each one featuring tremendous marble accents as a unifying theme. You will see marble used for a variety of applications, from furniture and accessories all the way to major interior treatments. Use these images as inspiration for fresh ways to use marble details within your own home.

This first tour begins with a stunning modern living space punctuated by one of the most classic decorative elements of all – a slab of Calacatta marble with rich grey veining. Throughout these homes you might notice that Calacatta marble is favored. Calacatta is from the same region of Italy as the ever-popular Carrara but Calacatta tends to feature whiter marble with darker and more defined veins. The beautiful table features a marble effect in pink with rich white veins that mimics the look of something like Rojo Alicante.

Furniture draws from a variety of styles. The modern sofa is a sleek 2004 design by Francesco Binfaré – its name, On the Rocks, is a nod to its original stone-like upholstery but this example boasts a smoother more contemporary treatment. The suspended modern fireplace is the Domofocus model from Focus, a smaller and more streamlined version of the iconic 1968 Gyrofocus design.

While marble is a luxurious feature on its own, this interior also incorporates a few other opulent features like this elegant accent chair with its sleek metallic finish.

Modern meets classic in the dining area. Intricately carved boiserie doors hang from ceiling to floor, a traditional touch that feels right at home with the marble tabletop. Geometric dining room pendant lights provide a contemporary offset to match the glass table pedestals and the rounded chairs.

Color accents are used sparingly. The effect of this decorative vase is so much more powerful in the absence of competing elements.

Minimalism defines the separate media and entertainment room, allowing the interior elements to take center stage. Each piece of furniture is a sculptural work of art and the room itself is a blank canvas.

In a room populated with such unique and dissimilar color accents, carefully chosen artwork can tie the theme together.

A large home bar sits opposite the entertainment area. Marble serves as a backdrop to the wineglasses. Beveled marble slabs form a bar counter. Above, a twisting ribbon of metal echoes the twisting bands of gold that glimmer within the veins of some dazzling marble selections.

The expansive wine cellar is enough to make any oenophile envious.

Grey marble is often more affordable than the pristine milky white options. The floors here could be a Grey Emperador, Isparta Grey, or other lightly veined variety.

The bedrooms are more subdued. While the rest of the home is dominated by marble, the bedrooms take a more welcoming approach with warm textiles and soft textures.

Of course, these spaces are not completely separated from the home thematically. This bedside table lamp features a base in dark green marble as a nod to the home’s material palette.

Metallic accents like the bedroom pendant lights and the side table ensure the master bedroom maintains that spark of luxury despite its comfort-centric styling.

Strong, simple geometry is another recurring theme throughout this space. Smooth cylinders like the vase and divan pillow stand in contrast to the blocky profiles of the bedroom chair and gold table.

An interesting alternative to the walk-in closet, this walk-through closet features spacious cabinets on each side and leads directly to the master bathroom.

Marble makes a grand reappearance in this space. Rougher stone gives the shower a more natural aesthetic.

This bedroom has a more youthful energy. Unconventional geometry adds a playful touch – the loops of the bench, the curves of the modern chandelier, the folded shapes of the wall sconce.

Arched cabinetry completes the whimsical aesthetic.

This second home takes a completely different approach to decorating with marble. Instead of large swaths of the material, this space uses marble elements sparingly. By using bold colors, this design makes more a visual impact using less of the material. This approach feels less formal and more adventurously modern.

A round coffee table centers the living area. Its marble-like appearance takes on the tone of popular stones like Elazig Cherry and Rosso Levanto.

The dining room table enjoys a similar style, this time in a bright white with delicate yet distinct grey veining. Above, a modern take on the retro sputnik chandelier concept.

Unique geometry plays a role from the rounded table set to the artwork, from the lighting to the arched doorway.

A striped decorative vase underscores the artistic geometry of its surroundings.

In this incredible white kitchen, a green marble island sink stands out. Coloration like this can be found in the Verde Alpi slabs quarried in Italy, or in other premium green marble varieties.

Notice the distinctive lighting element worked into the niche between cabinets – a lovely ethereal addition.

A bright master bedroom adopts a simpler aesthetic, decorated in greys and reds with a few hints of greenery.

Through the semi-transparent panels, a wide arch provides access to a spacious closet area.

More dramatic green marble cladding brings color and elegance to the shower.

This luxury bathroom is open, airy, and makes fantastic use of natural stone.

The third and final home uses marble in both conventional and unconventional ways, conservatively in each case. Unlike the other two homes, this space does not center around any major marble elements in the living room. Instead, you see smooth contemporary furniture with distinctive curves – the round table, the sweeping floor lamp.

Each color choice exemplifies the trends of today, especially the pale dogwood accents – also known as millennial pink. This millennial pink chair is from the Prince line by Rodolfo Dordoni.

Bold marble centers the kitchen. These veins are especially defined, creating a bigger impression with less material. The same millennial pink color recurs at the dining table built into the kitchen island. This model is the Beetle Dining Chair from GUBI.

In the bedroom, more millennial pink and metallic accents create a modern and welcoming look.

A large dressing area contains a glass-walled bathroom. While marble may be expected in a luxury bathroom, the continuation of marble near the vanity area is a delightful surprise.

The gorgeous vanity chair and vanity mirror use that striking color combination that makes this home feel fresh.

Marble graces the floors, the sink vanity, and the shower walls.

In wet environments like the bathroom, marble can be exceptionally high maintenance. Many high-quality lookalikes exist – from ceramic tile to cultured marble and beyond.

Recommended Reading:  36 Marvellous Marble Kitchens That Spell Luxury Interior Design Using Marble And Wood Combinations

Related Posts:

51 Luscious Luxury Dining Rooms Plus Tips And Accessories For Decorating Yours

Interior Design Using Marble And Wood Combinations

3 Luxe Home Interiors With White Marble & Gold Accents

Luxury Modern Home Interior With A Sense Of Fun

Luxury Modern Moroccan Interior Design

Large Wall Art For Living Rooms: Ideas & Inspiration

[toniahastings66-blog]

Articles, Tagged With "Top quality Home furniture"

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[jeremystrele]

Dramatic Marble Accents in 3 Modern Homes by Shexia Space Design

Few materials create an immediate sense of luxury quite like marble. This material has been admired since antiquity, used in both sculpture and architecture alike. Marble – and marble lookalikes – are making a grand resurgence within modern interior design. This post tours three homes designed and visualized by Shexia Space Design, each one featuring tremendous marble accents as a unifying theme. You will see marble used for a variety of applications, from furniture and accessories all the way to major interior treatments. Use these images as inspiration for fresh ways to use marble details within your own home.

This first tour begins with a stunning modern living space punctuated by one of the most classic decorative elements of all – a slab of Calacatta marble with rich grey veining. Throughout these homes you might notice that Calacatta marble is favored. Calacatta is from the same region of Italy as the ever-popular Carrara but Calacatta tends to feature whiter marble with darker and more defined veins. The beautiful table features a marble effect in pink with rich white veins that mimics the look of something like Rojo Alicante.

Furniture draws from a variety of styles. The modern sofa is a sleek 2004 design by Francesco Binfaré – its name, On the Rocks, is a nod to its original stone-like upholstery but this example boasts a smoother more contemporary treatment. The suspended modern fireplace is the Domofocus model from Focus, a smaller and more streamlined version of the iconic 1968 Gyrofocus design.

While marble is a luxurious feature on its own, this interior also incorporates a few other opulent features like this elegant accent chair with its sleek metallic finish.

Modern meets classic in the dining area. Intricately carved boiserie doors hang from ceiling to floor, a traditional touch that feels right at home with the marble tabletop. Geometric dining room pendant lights provide a contemporary offset to match the glass table pedestals and the rounded chairs.

Color accents are used sparingly. The effect of this decorative vase is so much more powerful in the absence of competing elements.

Minimalism defines the separate media and entertainment room, allowing the interior elements to take center stage. Each piece of furniture is a sculptural work of art and the room itself is a blank canvas.

In a room populated with such unique and dissimilar color accents, carefully chosen artwork can tie the theme together.

A large home bar sits opposite the entertainment area. Marble serves as a backdrop to the wineglasses. Beveled marble slabs form a bar counter. Above, a twisting ribbon of metal echoes the twisting bands of gold that glimmer within the veins of some dazzling marble selections.

The expansive wine cellar is enough to make any oenophile envious.

Grey marble is often more affordable than the pristine milky white options. The floors here could be a Grey Emperador, Isparta Grey, or other lightly veined variety.

The bedrooms are more subdued. While the rest of the home is dominated by marble, the bedrooms take a more welcoming approach with warm textiles and soft textures.

Of course, these spaces are not completely separated from the home thematically. This bedside table lamp features a base in dark green marble as a nod to the home’s material palette.

Metallic accents like the bedroom pendant lights and the side table ensure the master bedroom maintains that spark of luxury despite its comfort-centric styling.

Strong, simple geometry is another recurring theme throughout this space. Smooth cylinders like the vase and divan pillow stand in contrast to the blocky profiles of the bedroom chair and gold table.

An interesting alternative to the walk-in closet, this walk-through closet features spacious cabinets on each side and leads directly to the master bathroom.

Marble makes a grand reappearance in this space. Rougher stone gives the shower a more natural aesthetic.

This bedroom has a more youthful energy. Unconventional geometry adds a playful touch – the loops of the bench, the curves of the modern chandelier, the folded shapes of the wall sconce.

Arched cabinetry completes the whimsical aesthetic.

This second home takes a completely different approach to decorating with marble. Instead of large swaths of the material, this space uses marble elements sparingly. By using bold colors, this design makes more a visual impact using less of the material. This approach feels less formal and more adventurously modern.

A round coffee table centers the living area. Its marble-like appearance takes on the tone of popular stones like Elazig Cherry and Rosso Levanto.

The dining room table enjoys a similar style, this time in a bright white with delicate yet distinct grey veining. Above, a modern take on the retro sputnik chandelier concept.

Unique geometry plays a role from the rounded table set to the artwork, from the lighting to the arched doorway.

A striped decorative vase underscores the artistic geometry of its surroundings.

In this incredible white kitchen, a green marble island sink stands out. Coloration like this can be found in the Verde Alpi slabs quarried in Italy, or in other premium green marble varieties.

Notice the distinctive lighting element worked into the niche between cabinets – a lovely ethereal addition.

A bright master bedroom adopts a simpler aesthetic, decorated in greys and reds with a few hints of greenery.

Through the semi-transparent panels, a wide arch provides access to a spacious closet area.

More dramatic green marble cladding brings color and elegance to the shower.

This luxury bathroom is open, airy, and makes fantastic use of natural stone.

The third and final home uses marble in both conventional and unconventional ways, conservatively in each case. Unlike the other two homes, this space does not center around any major marble elements in the living room. Instead, you see smooth contemporary furniture with distinctive curves – the round table, the sweeping floor lamp.

Each color choice exemplifies the trends of today, especially the pale dogwood accents – also known as millennial pink. This millennial pink chair is from the Prince line by Rodolfo Dordoni.

Bold marble centers the kitchen. These veins are especially defined, creating a bigger impression with less material. The same millennial pink color recurs at the dining table built into the kitchen island. This model is the Beetle Dining Chair from GUBI.

In the bedroom, more millennial pink and metallic accents create a modern and welcoming look.

A large dressing area contains a glass-walled bathroom. While marble may be expected in a luxury bathroom, the continuation of marble near the vanity area is a delightful surprise.

The gorgeous vanity chair and vanity mirror use that striking color combination that makes this home feel fresh.

Marble graces the floors, the sink vanity, and the shower walls.

In wet environments like the bathroom, marble can be exceptionally high maintenance. Many high-quality lookalikes exist – from ceramic tile to cultured marble and beyond.

Recommended Reading:  36 Marvellous Marble Kitchens That Spell Luxury Interior Design Using Marble And Wood Combinations

Related Posts:

51 Luscious Luxury Dining Rooms Plus Tips And Accessories For Decorating Yours

Interior Design Using Marble And Wood Combinations

3 Luxe Home Interiors With White Marble & Gold Accents

Luxury Modern Home Interior With A Sense Of Fun

Luxury Modern Moroccan Interior Design

Large Wall Art For Living Rooms: Ideas & Inspiration