#straight up what is tristans last name how did i forget | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years ago

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Tell Me Everything

Follows Found Out, Akio, Chris Sees, and I’m Here

CW: References to murder, suicide, grief, pet whump, abduction, whump of a minor, ableism, Oliver Branch manages to be creepy even now in brief reference

He’s shorter than Ben thought he would be.

Ben sees him first, but, like of course he does - Akio Nakamura isn’t exactly famous but he has his own youtube channel and is like an Olympic-level athlete, so he’s pretty fucking recognizable... if you’ve spent two days scrolling through every Instagram photo of him on three different accounts that you can find.

Ben showed up thirty minutes early, because Ben has never been late to a fucking thing in his life and something tells him this is maybe one of the most important things he’ll ever do, even though he doesn’t quite know why.

Something about it keeps picking at his mind, taking it apart, unraveling him with the reality that someone fucking cared about Chris, before whatever happened. Chris doesn’t remember much, and Ben and Laken had done the googling and searching and shit, trying to get some idea of what the hell could have happened to make someone like Chris - bouncy and full of sunshine optimism even on his bad days - end up at a place like WRU.

They’d found nothing a first. But Ben hadn’t known what he was looking for, then. Now that he knows what to look for, he can’t stop finding things. He feels like a detective or someone who has lost his mind, desperately piecing together a life that was interrupted, like someone disappearing mid-sentence, and Ben is following a trail of the words he said before.

He finds human-interest stories from ten years ago, digitized articles from old community newspapers. He finds more photos from the gym, photos where the redheaded boy is in the background, or in the front always looking slightly off to one side, rarely smiling for the camera but happy to smile as long as he didn’t have to look right at it.

He finds out Veronica Higgs, murdered in the double-homicide that had destroyed the life of Tristan Higgs, had a facebook page, and it’s marked as In Memorial. So is her husband’s, but Paul Higgs’s page is private and his profile photo is a meme that hasn’t been a thing since…

Since they died.

Something about that makes his throat close up as he scrolls Ronnie’s last few public updates, the scattering of people who have left comments saying they miss her, they’re thinking of her, they hope she’s in a better place. Comments are left on the last post like clockwork, once a year, by the same few people.

Thinking of you today, Ronnie.

Saw your favorite bird today!

Hope you and Tris and Paul are happy wherever you are now, Ronnie. I take comfort in knowing you’re still together.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Ronnie!

Left flowers for you today, Ronnie. Jennifer did a routine this year that uses some of Tristan’s music, we’re always thinking of you!

Thinking of you

Miss you

Hope you three are happy together

Miss you, big sister, always.

One day I’ll stop leaving comments like you’re still here. I was watching the old videos and gosh, I couldn’t help but think how proud we were of our boys back then! Rest in peace. Give Tris a kiss for me. That’s Aimi Nakamura, that’s Akio’s mom. Her profile photo is her with her arms around Akio himself, wearing his leotard and holding up a medal with a bright smile, and a younger teenager who must be his little sister - she’s just wearing regular clothes. Feeling like a stalker, Ben opens the mom’s facebook page in a new tab. He absolutely does not look at the photos of Akio she’s posted. He does not do that at all.

He might do that later.

For now he goes back to Ronnie’s page, sees that her last post was brief, something about looking for a recipe, crowd-sourcing. Tris asked to try baked oysters, isn’t that funny? Only my kid, I swear. He’d said seafood is ‘slime’ except for tuna since toddlerhood, but no, this week he wants oysters. He said he wanted to try something new for once and he might as well go as far from the usual as he could get. I

One of the joys of all of this is how when he gets something in his head, I just go with him, and we see what’s on the other side of the jump, right? Watch him spit it right back out.

It’s fucking ordinary.

She posted it a couple days before she was murdered.

That doesn’t seem fair, does it? He just can’t wrap his head around it. She was a good mom taking care of her kid, she got some recipe ideas... but then she never cooked any of them because she just… died?

She died, and Tristan’s - Chris’s - dad died, and then there just wasn’t anybody? There wasn’t anybody to take care of a kid who couldn’t take care of himself yet? Nobody at-fucking-all, to keep Tristan safe and loved when the people who loved him the most were gone?

How the hell did he go from placed in the care of relatives to just... gone? How did he go from gone to a rescued runaway pet with a new name and a new life? What happened in all that gray space in-between?

Ben blinks back tears.

Whatever it was... could that happen to Jamey? Ben’s whole family has built their existence on holding his little brother together through the ways the world wants to shred everything about him. He’s spent nearly all the life he remembers with his brother’s hand closed in the fabric of his shirt, shadowing him through the world, reminding him that you can’t trust everybody, not everyone has good intentions.

Ben doesn’t even have to think before he’s moving in front of him to block out the noise and chaos of the world that Jamey just can't filter the way Ben can. He knows that when - hopefully forever from now - their parents die, Jamey’s going to move in with Ben.

It’s never been a question. He doesn’t want it to be a question.

But... what if Ben wasn’t there? What would happen to Jamey if his Mom and Dad were gone, and nobody was there who wanted to keep Jamey safe? He can’t stop thinking about it. He cycles around and around, and Laken called him yesterday and said not to talk to Chris for a few days, that he saw the video and he’s not okay, and Ben’s not fucking okay, either, is he?

This could happen to Jamey.

Someone could see him, alone and vulnerable, and think, no one will stop me and he can’t stop me either, and then Jamey could disappear and then just not be Jamey anymore, and there wouldn’t be anyone to save him-

Ben looks up from his phone without focusing on anything, sniffing back the pain, the tight feeling in his chest at the idea of his little brother, disappearing into some dark hallway and never coming back. Just some photos on Instagram, a video of two, some mentions on somebody’s In Memorial Facebook page, that’s all that’s left of his silly, serious, annoying, funny little brother?

Like someone turned out the light on Jamey’s life and the world just forgets him, because his family isn’t there to keep him safe and Jamey can’t always tell who you can trust and who you can’t, and… and Chris can’t either, can he?

He just wants to think the best of everyone, he forgives everyone who hurts him so easily, so quickly, like it’s second-nature, like...

Did Tristan Higgs want to think good things about whoever did this, whoever had him erased, whoever handed him off to be turned into one of those blank empty-eyed dolls celebrities and rich people drag around? Did Tristan Higgs trust the person who gave him away to be erased, because he didn’t know not to?

Who the fuck bought him?

How did it all fucking happen?

The bell chimes. Akio Nakamura is right on time.

And he’s short.

He’s got a natural almost-smile on his face at all times, a hint of tan to his skin even now in the early spring, wearing a thin gray hoodie, unzipped over a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. His muscles aren’t visible, like this, but Ben has seen the videos and knows they’re there, the body of a trained athlete hidden under casual clothing. His hair isn’t as short as it is when he competes, in the videos Ben has already watched over and over entirely for research purposes. It’s a little longer, starting to flop over his forehead.

Dark eyes scan the interior of the store, and Ben raises one hand to catch his attention.

The smile brightens, briefly, with a quick nod - like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, Ben feels that smile as a physical warmth in his chest - and he pushes the rest of the way inside, walking straight over.

“Hey,” Akio says, and his voice is a little deeper than it seems in the youtube videos where he narrates, and Ben, for one shining moment, completely forgets how to speak his own fucking native language.

His mouth opens and nothing comes out - except maybe kind of a croak, which, please let that not have been audible - and he clears his throat, waiting for his brain and his body to remember how to work together. “Uh… um, h-hey,” He says, finally, and shifts uncomfortably. “You’re-... right. I’m, um. I’m Ben.”

“Yeah. I, I figured, you look just like your profile photo.” Akio laughs a little, dropping into a seat cross from him, sitting casually and letting his eyes roam over the mostly-empty interior of the shop, painted with bright colors and lined with posters about ice cream.

Ben could not possibly have picked a worse place for a professional athlete to go to… meet and talk about his dead friend, could he? Oh, God. Oh he’s a fucking moron. “Right. Uh, sorry, I couldn’t-... when you asked to meet on the phone, I kind of blanked and this was the only place I could think of-”

“Hey, that’s all right. I like coming here, when I’m off from competing. It’s been a while. Hope you don’t mind if I stick with an iced coffee today, though, I’m not feeling ice cream.” Akio grins at him, and Ben’s knees might buckle if he wasn’t sitting down already. The smile takes over his entire face, lights it up, and it reminds him so much of Chris when he’s really happy, the way Chris smiles with his entire fucking body, not just his mouth.

“Yeah, it’s… no problem, I’ll order, I picked here, anyway. Just the iced coffee?”

“Yeah, please. Also, I should warn you - my mom is lurking across the street faking an interest in whatever they sell at Paisley Poses and she’ll probably stop pretending she’s not here and show up before we’re done. She’s… uh. Well, get the stuff, and then I’ll, um, I’ll explain.”

“Right. Got it.” Ben’s grip on his phone is white-knuckled as he stands up, aware of every movement of his body as he walks - and he walks normally, right? Not, like weird? It’s not like Akio is watching him walk anyway, probably - over to the cash register. The cashier, whose hair is dyed a pale faded sort of seafoam green, almost the color of those weird mint shakes you can buy from McDonald’s in April, takes his order with a flat affect, unbothered, uncaring.

Ben doesn’t know what he orders for himself. His mouth moves and words come out and then he realizes he doesn’t know what he just said.

Whatever it is, he pays for it.

He takes the little number-on-a-stick, and carries it back to the table to wait.

“Iced coffee it is,” He says a little breathlessly. “Um, it’ll be just a sec. They’ll bring it out with my… with mine.”

Shit, what the fuck did he even order for himself?

“No problem.” Akio’s eyes move over his face, considering. He’s sitting slouched a little, but it doesn’t look quite natural - like his posture is usually so much better and he’s trying to look like everyone else. Ben’s eyes are drawn to his hands, folded over his stomach, over wrinkled white shirt fabric. He has a blood-bruise under one thumbnail.

What a weird fucking thing to notice about someone.

“I-I don’t really know where to start,” Ben admits, slouching himself. He runs his fingers over the textured case of his phone, a charcoal-black with rough edges. Jamey likes the texture on his phone, will just sit and rub the pads of his fingers on it over and over and over again, smiling in a distant way, sitting next to Ben on the couch while Ben watches TV and Jamey, who can go days without speaking and is currently one hundred percent all about how they film movies and tv shows, explains every fucking cinematic trick every camera is using at any given moment.

It’s nice.

It’s how Jamey says he loves you, by sharing what’s up in his head whenever he can, and Ben - when he’s home - always tries to listen.

“Yeah.” Akio laughs again, and Ben decides it’s a good laugh - strong, and not overly loud, and a little infectious. “Yeah, me neither. I don’t-... how do you even begin a conversation like this? Hello, nice to meet you, what do you know about my dead best friend? I don’t know what to say, just… we don’t even know they’re the same person, do we? Maybe they just look alike. Fuck.” Akio laughs once more, but this time it’s shaky, breathier. “I genuinely can’t decide if I want him to dead or not, I just-...”

Ben takes a breath, thinking of Laken’s voice on the phone yesterday morning, exhausted and rambling after a night of not sleeping, their fear and grief and love for Chris, telling Ben to go ahead with this meeting, but Chris needed time. “They’re definitely the same person,” He says, voice low and quiet. “We, um. He saw the video you posted, and he kind of-... freaked out.”

“Freaked out?” Akio blinks, sitting up a little straighter. His eyes are focused completely on Ben’s face, which would make him blush if he weren’t trying not to look directly at him. “What do you mean?”

Ben swallows. “Um. Just. He’s-... he doesn’t remember. Or… he didn’t. Seeing the video might have… brought some stuff up. Like, a lot of... bad stuff.”

Fuck, I’ve never heard him scream like that. Laken’s voice, rough-edged, laced with their tears. I can’t believe… he needs a few days, he can’t go with you to see this guy, Ben. He’s-... he’s super fucked up right now. I’m so glad his brothers know what’s happening to him because I-I don’t know what to do and he won’t let me anywhere near him.

Akio nods, slowly, and his hands worry at each other under the table, the smile faded and replaced with seriousness, uncertainty. “Yeah, when you said-... anyway, I looked the company up, and it’s-... it’s weird, I knew about pets, but I guess… I mean, he wasn’t old enough to…”

“Um… yeah. So, um. I know, but they-... clearly they still did...”

They sit there in an awkward silence, and then Akio pulls his own phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. “Let me show you something. Tris and I shared our passwords for Instagram, way back, and when he-... went… when his aunt took his phone away-”

Ben’s eyebrows furrow. Something about that pricks at him. Miss you, big sister, always.

“He went to live with his aunt?” Ben asks. The cashier reappears, setting a plain iced coffee down on the table, and Ben discovers he apparently ordered iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream for himself, and that’s not bad, good for him. It’s even his favorite ice cream, vanilla with almond and chocolate chips.

“Yeah, his Aunt Jo, his mom’s sister.” Akio shrugs one shoulder. “I never met her, she never came to meets or anything. Tris always said she was kind of a shit to him and his dad.” Something in his jaw is tightening - and the line of his jaw is catching Ben’s eyes entirely too much for the seriousness of this conversation. He can’t stop himself from looking. “She’s who he went to live with, after. She took his phone away because he was complaining to, um, to my mom and I - my mom and Ronnie, Mrs. Higgs, were… you know, team moms.” He shrugs, and Ben doesn’t know, but he nods anyway. “He was complaining about how she took him out of therapy, and… uh, you know, Tris needed therapy, just-... it helped him to, um-”

Ben swallows. “Self-regulate,” He says, softly. “Redirect potentially harmful stims. Figure out how to filter.”

“Right.” Akio smiles, a little shamefaced. “Sorry, it’s been… fucking years since I had to think about this so much. It’s… I would show my mom his messages, and my mom would call Jo and tell her to get him back in therapy and back to practice, but… you know, the social workers said there was nothing we could do about it. We weren’t family. We made complaints, but...” Akio slumps, closing his eyes briefly. "God, I don't even know if they did a home visit."

Ben closes his eyes. Jamey, trapped with someone who didn’t let him go to his own therapy. Jamey, nonverbal on hard days, trapped with someone who didn’t learn signing to talk to him during meltdowns like Ben’s family did.

Jamey, trying to say he needed help with his hands again and again but no one’s listening, no one’s even trying anymore-

“Yeah,” Ben says, voice hoarse, and uses a thin plastic spoon with a long handle to get a bite of ice cream soaked in cold coffee taste, letting it dissolve on his tongue to buy himself some time for his throat to open back up. It’s fear in his chest, yeah, but beneath that is a bubbling, simmering fury, a distant anger for a hypothetical that he understands was Chris’s reality. “Yeah. My brother’s-... um, autistic, so I know… I know about it.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”

Ben blinks, caught off-guard. “What?”

Akio flushes, reddening along his cheekbones, and rolls his eyes at himself, slumping back down. “Okay, so, I promise I’m not a stalker, but when you messaged me I looked at your profile to see if you were just a creep. I saw the autism banner, so I looked and you wrote this really sweet thing about your brother-... how old is he?”

Ben almost forgets how to speak again. “He’s-... fifteen. Just turned fifteen. Jamey’s, um, his name is Jamey.”

“Cool. Yeah. So. I’m not a stalker. But, I’m just… listen, Tris and I started training at the gym together when we were like… seven. And I was seventeen when he, when she said… when she said he died.”

Ben’s breath catches. “Shit. She did?”

“Um. Yeah. A month after she took his phone away - we were calling her all the time asking to speak with him and stuff, my mom had kind of threatened to get social services involved again - she called my mom and said he-... um. Sorry if suicide is a thing for you, but…”

“No, I-I’m okay, I just…”

“Yeah. She told us he killed himself. We thought she was lying - oh fuck, she was lying, wasn’t she? - but so... but then you know, she had him cremated, and... I fucking-... I lost my shit, Ben. I didn’t compete, I didn’t train, I just, I just sat in my room for like six months bawling my eyes out and I told my mom it was just like she killed him, taking him away from everything when, you know, he was so sad and scared without them.”

Ben nods, quiet, watching Akio’s face as he speaks.

“My mom offered to take him, have him live with us, but… you know, she said no, and then he-... but he didn’t.” Akio drinks his coffee, absently, and Ben realizes his eyes are red around the edges. “Oh, god, he probably thought nobody cared about him anymore. Oh, shit. He probably thought we stopped giving a fuck. That h-he was al-... alone-”

He’s been crying. He’s maybe going to cry again.

Akio takes in a deep, shuddering breath. “He didn’t know-... shit. He probably just thought, no one’s coming, nobody cares, and… shit. I don’t know what to even think right now, just...” Akio slides his phone across the table. “Look at this. I locked it, when I thought-... but I kept it, anyway. I kept everything, I couldn’t-... I mean it’s just a box of stuff under my bed, but… I couldn’t throw any of it out, because… I don’t know. Somebody needed to, to r-remember him, and she wouldn’t have-... that fucking bitch told us he was dead. And she threw out all his stuff, so I’m... I guess I’m the only one who still has anything, so I just... kept it. Everything. And... this.”

There’s a moment where they both pretend Akio’s voice isn’t trembling.

“What is this?” Ben knows before the question is fully out of his mouth, but he looks anyway. Akio’s phone is still warm from his hand.

“Tristan’s Instagram account. We, uh, we took pictures of stupid shit a lot back then, and Instagram was, like, super new and all filters all the time, so you just-... but this is his. His mom encouraged him to use it because, you know, sometimes he could show stuff better than he could say it.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Ben tilts his head, scrolling through the images. Most of the photos are just nothing - a cloud, books on a bookshelf, a tree leaf. Ben kind of quirks a smile at all the old Instagram filters right there, like looking in a fucking time capsule. Sometimes there are gymnastics photos, of the gym or of someone training. Sometimes Tristan himself appears in the photo, a blur of constant motion, photos taken by someone else. Photos of dinosaur bones at a museum, seemingly every fucking skeleton or fossil in the place.

“That’s our trip to DC, the team went,” Akio says, and points to a photo of Tristan and Akio, gangly awkward teenagers, standing in front of the Lincoln monument. Akio is smiling, and Tristan is looking up at the sky instead of the camera. “I like to look at this stuff sometimes? I know it’s been… it’s funny, we were talking a few weeks ago about how it’ll be a couple more years when he’s been dead longer than how long I knew him, but he’s not-... he was never dead.” Akio swallows, and his voice catches. When he speaks again, he sounds strained, forcing his voice to stay calm around the emotion that threatens to overtake it. “He was never dead. I keep getting caught up on that, because-... because how did we not know? How did we never… find him?”

Ben pushes the phone back to Akio. “You didn’t know to look,” He says, softly. “How were you supposed to find him if you didn’t know anyone needed to be looking?”

“I guess. My mom feels like shit, she’s been crying since we spoke to you. Well, I have, too. But my mom feels like she… she should have showed up at Joanne’s door and just taken Tristan by force, but, you know, the cops would’ve taken him right back, probably? That’s fucking kidnapping? And I keep telling her not to feel guilty, but she-”

“Yeah,” Ben says, thinking of Laken’s voice on the phone.

I didn’t know he’d come home early. I keep saying I’m sorry but... He wasn’t-... he wasn’t ready for this and he’s so… he’s so fucked up. He won’t even talk to me. Every time Jake leaves the room we’re scared he’ll hurt himself again. He keeps telling me to find someone else, somebody easier, but I don’t want anyone else, god damn it, I want him!

“She’s taking it really hard,” Akio says, finally, breaking into Ben’s thoughts. “I mean. We both are. But, you know, I keep thinking I can’t do this but then I think… I want to see him again. I want to see this guy in person, not just in those photos and videos you had. I want to see how he’s doing, he looks-... he looks so good.” Akio coughs, like he’s trying to cover up a sob, not quite managing it. “He looks really good.”

“He is, he’s doing… he’s good. Um, he’s having a hard time with remembering some stuff, but overall... he’s good.” Ben picks his own phone back up, pops back to Ronnie’s page. “What did you say the aunt’s name was?”

“Jo, um, Joanne… something. Sorry, I don’t really remember her last name, my mom would-”

“Botham?” Ben looks up, and god, he kind of wants to hug Akio until there aren’t tears in his eyes anymore. But also that’s a stupid thing to think, isn’t it? But he wants to, anyway.

“Oh, that sounds right.”

“She left a comment on his mom’s-... I’ve been looking for everything I could find. I’m sorry, I know that’s creepy. But Joanne Botham left like a comment about missing-... hold on.” Ben clicks to open up Joanne Botham’s profile. A woman smiling in a profile photo, with dark hair. Something about the shape of her mouth is similar to Chris’s, but that doesn’t mean much, really. He scrolls down.

Name, stupid quote from a stupider movie, current city is a while away from this one, like a couple states away, but she could’ve moved… There it is.

The answer to his questions, all of them, all at once, right out in the open.

“Joanne Botham,” He says out loud, “works at WRU.”

“What?” Akio looks up at him.

“His aunt. The mom’s sister, she works for WRU. That’s where Chris was-... where they hurt him. Where they make pets.”

Where they erase people. Where they take someone like Jamey and destroy him and how many versions of my brother are there who weren’t rescued by somebody like Chris’s big brother?

“WRU?” Akio’s face twists, an ugly pain written across it. “They’re one of our team’s sponsors. I’ve never thought about how… oh my god. I, I never liked… I mean, none of us are, like, political about it because you can’t be if you want an Olympic career, not really, but we all kind of hated taking the money. My coach thinks it’s good because it gets people off the street, which is super fucked up, but…” His iced coffee thunks down on the table.

“What?”

“Oh shit. Oh holy fuck. They’ve been sponsoring us since we met with the old governor - he’s the one who hooked our coach up with their marketing team, and… oh my god. I’m gonna be fucking sick. WRU’s been my sponsor since like… a year after Tristan died-... didn’t die, I guess...”

“You didn’t know,” Ben whispers, staring down at Joanne Botham’s profile photo, scrolling through the profile picture photo album. He’s not maybe the smartest person on earth, but he can put two and two together for four. Tristan Higgs’s parents died, he goes to his aunt - who works for a human pet company - and he’s dead, supposedly, four months later.

Time passes. No sign of supposed dead boy.

Then Chris, identical in every way, appears with no memory of his life and a thousand traumas to heal from, rescued from something that Ben doesn’t know the details of, but he doesn’t have to.

Life as a pet, a life that made him terrified of bad weather and scared of people who raise their hands too quickly, unable to say no to anything when he gets scared, nervous about big vans with no windows, someone who says stupid fucking bullshit like silence is better than stammering when he’s upset, who sometimes has screaming nightmares that Laken has to wake him from that he refuses to explain to them...

Meanwhile, Aunt Joanne is putting up photos of herself traveling internationally, buying a new house, a new car, stuff she couldn’t afford to do before.

The math does itself.

It’s fucking true crime textbook, and it’s right in front of his eyes.

Akio’s jaw is working, and his eyes are glimmering again. He looks at Ben, and he looks weirdly lost and young, and Ben reaches out without thinking and grabs onto his hand. Akio grips on tight. His hand is warm, almost too warm, but also it’s the perfect amount of warm. “Do you think-... do you think she-”

Ben thinks about Jamey, scared and alone. He thinks about Jamey - and Tristan, the two of them mixing together in his mind - being dragged away, to be lost and overwritten, because no one was there to stop it.

Because someone did it on purpose.

Because no one stopped it.

“I think maybe she was lying to you because she didn’t want you to take Tristan,” Ben says, softly. “I think maybe she wanted to-... make money on him.”

Akio chokes, and leans forward, and Ben holds his hand as tightly as he can, feeling the other man’s fingers tremble in his grip. “I can't-... I can't even begin to deal with that, I just… So h-how did he end up in college? Pets don’t-... go to school, they’re not capable… are they?"

"Um. It depends, apparently?" Ben doesn’t know how much of this is something Chris would ever allow him to share. But Akio’s eyes raise, and catch his again, and Ben smiles, just a little, in an attempt to comfort. “He was rescued,” He says, softly. “I don’t know how, or when. He’d have to tell you that himself. But he’s, um. He’s just Chris now.”

“He’s just Chris, now.” Akio groans resting his head on his hand. “But not Tristan. So he really is dead, his body’s still just-.. walking around.”

“No,” Ben says, and leans in, getting Akio to look at him again. “He’s not gone. Not, like, the core of him, I think. We knew him as soon as we saw him on your video. We knew the smile, and how he moves, all of it. Everybody in the room knew him as soon as we saw him smile at you. He’s still there, he’s still him. I promise.”

“I knew it was him on your stuff as soon as I saw him dancing,” Akio says, brokenly. “H-he always did get obsessed with those fuh-fucking musicals and we used to make up routines to th-them-” His head drops, shoulders shaking, and Ben puts his other hand on Akio’s shoulder, moves around the edge of the little circular table, so he can put an arm around him.

“It’s okay,” He whispers. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Akio says, muffled. “It’s not okay. We should have saved him, w-we didn’t know, we didn’t know she would… he probably th-thought we didn’t care... the social worker said it was fine, we’re not re-relatives, we didn’t know he wasn’t dead, we didn’t know he wasn’t gone, I thought I l-lost him and he probably thinks I didn’t even give a fuck-”

“I’m sure he never thought that,” Ben says, softly, and Akio’s hair brushes a little against the side of his face and he tries not to think too hard about how nice that feels, this is not the time or place, Benjamin, stop thinking about his hair stop it stop it stop it.

“We thought... “

“I know. But… you found him, now. He’s found.”

Akio sniffs back tears, mumbling, “Can I see him?”

Ben hesitates. “He needs-... he might need some time.”

Akio nods without looking up, but he leans a little on Ben. “I’m sorry, I’m being a fucking moron about this, making you comfort me and you don’t even know me, but I just-... missed him, and mourned him, and we go to see is parents wh-where they’re buried every year on the day that his aunt said he-... Is he h-happy? Now?”

Ben closes his eyes. That’s what I’d want to know, isn’t it, if it was Jamey. Is he happy now? Does his new family sign, do they know how to calm him down when it’s too much, do they know, do they care, if I’m not there does someone love him as much as we did?

I’d claw my way out of the fucking grave to make sure someone loves Jamey as much as he deserves.

“He’s happy,” Ben says, softly. “He was adopted by the guy who saved him, I think. There’s a whole lot I don’t know, you know, it’s not really my-... my story to, um, to tell. I just know some of it. He’s, um, he’s with someone, and… he’s… he’s happy.”

“Good. I just-... I want to see him.”

“I know. I’ll ask. But his partner... I’m friends with them, and they, um, he’s n-not... not okay right now, so...”

“I can wait.” Akio looks at him, intense, intent, eyes so dark Ben could fall in. “I’ve waited this long, I can-... I can wait a little longer, I just... I just want to see him, when he can see me.”

The bell over the door chimes again, and the two of them turn and look to see a woman who could not be more obviously Akio’s mother entering, looking at them, her eyebrows furrowed in immediate worry when she sees the tears on Akio’s face. “Aki?”

“It’s him, Mom,” Akio says, and she moves to him as if drawn, and Ben fights himself to pull back and away, to watch mother and son. Tristan had this, and lost it, but Chris has it, too. Life, interrupted at the second act, begun again with new actors around the main character. “It’s definitely-... it’s Tristan. But, she-... I have to tell you what happened to him. He, they-they made him a, um, a pet-”

She hitches in a breath, pulls a chair with a loud scrape from another table, and sits, looking Ben over, expression serious. “Tell me,” She says, softly, but fiercely.

“It’s, um, it’s a lot…”

“I’ve got time.” Ben is reminded of his own mother, in the simple steel flashing under her perfectly styled hair and carefully done makeup. Her eyes are red around the edges, too. She lays a cool, dry hand over Ben’s, and her dark eyes bore into him with focused intensity. “Tell me what happened to our Tris. I want to know what happened to-... I want to know what I didn’t stop.”

Akio looks sidelong at his mother, putting an arm around her, and he’s shorter than his mom but she seems to sag against him, and he can see how Akio takes after his mom, with the same wide mouth that normally seems always on the verge of a smile, the same dark eyes flashing with anger and guilt. “M-Mom, you couldn’t have known, we couldn’t do anything-”

“I could have gone to that woman’s… house, or wherever she was, and taken Tristan right out the door, and I didn’t,” Aimi says, and her voice doesn’t shake, but her face is bright red and her eyes are overbright and glittering. “I could have called lawyers, or the cops, I could have tried to fight for him and I didn’t. Ronnie deserved-” Her voice catches and her hand is over her mouth. Ben watches her eyes well up, her struggle to calm herself, throat working as she swallows and leans into her son’s embrace. “Ronnie… would have wanted someone to fight for him. I want to know what happened because I did the normal thing and not the right thing, because I didn’t let myself see it. I want to know what exactly it is that I didn’t stop when I had the chance.”

Ben sits back, takes a breath.

“He, um. His name is… Chris now,” Ben starts, slowly. “Christopher Stanton. He’s, um, he’s a sophomore in college, and… he was a human pet, for a while. We don’t know how long, nobody knows for sure, or who had him. I mean, I guess he knows and I think his brother knows, but h-he, won’t… won’t tell anyone who it was.”

Aimi’s whole body shudders, but her face doesn’t change, and her eyes don’t leave Ben’s. “H-how-”

Akio licks at his lips, and hesitantly says, “Ben thinks maybe that aunt they sent him to sold him. She works for WRU.”

Aimi’s eyes slowly close, and her breathing is slow but trembling. The two young men watch her. Akio’s knee bumps his under the table, and he doesn’t think about that, either, except it’s all he’s going to think about for the rest of the day.

“Okay,” Aimi says, after a long pause, and her eyes open again. A kind of perfect calm settles itself across the pain in her expression.

Ben thinks that this woman is probably fucking terrifying if it’s you she’s angry with and not herself.

“Mom, if we need to stop, that’s okay-”

“We don’t. Ben-... that’s your name? Ben?”

“Uh, yeah… Benjamin Prentiss, but-... call me Ben.”

Prentiss, Akio mouths to himself, and Ben hopes, in another weird moment, that Akio likes his last name.

“Got it.” Aimi leans forward, smacks the table with one hand. Ben flinches. Her jaw sets. She’s definitely terrifying. Like his own mother when they tried to kick Jamey out of school, this is a woman who could stare down the sun itself unblinking and walk away undamaged, if the sun was a threat to her children. “Ben?”

“Yes, um, Mrs. Nakamura?”

“Keep talking. Tell me everything about Tristan-”

“Chris.” He clears his throat. “He’s, um, his name is Chris.”

“... tell me everything about Chris.”

Tagging: @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings, @endless-whump, @whumpfigure, @slaintetowhump, @astrobly @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @boxboysandotherwhump , @oops-its-whump @moose-teeth , @cubeswhump , @cupcakes-and-pain @whump-tr0pes @whumpiary @orchidscript

#whump #suicide reference #brief self-injury reference #pet whump #bbu #box boy universe #chris the strawberry blond romantic #ben is a good bean #akio nakamura #abduction ref #grief tw #parental death tw #ableism tw #guilt #survivor's guilt #murder mystery #sort of #jesus joanne #wru

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steve0discusses · 4 years ago

Text

S5 Ep8: The Saga of Grandpa Muto’s Mysterious Broken Ass

Getting ready to eat some Devlin eggs this Easter Sunday, feeling festive, and I figured it’s time to post this one a little earlier. Also, because it’s done, which I wasn’t expecting. It’s a slightly longer episode this time, but still, eh, pretty short.

We’ve come off of the very predictable, but still kind of disappointing downfall of Joey Wheeler, and onto a Rebecca arc. Which I’m sure won’t be annoying at all.

The lesser Roland--who’s name I do not know, but the one that wears the weirder sunglasses and seems way smarter than Roland, but clearly isn’t the favorite--lets us know that Zigfried has been going by an alternate identity for years and years. Which like...who cares? It’s not like the Kaibas have always been Kaibas. This is old hat to them.

So Seto sets him off on a quick bribe run, opening a list of different politicians and saying “Oh, this one’s super easy, go for it--he’s in my ass pocket, this guy. Hate this guy.” and it was...that easy for Seto to glide right into that Gozaburo lifestyle that he insists he totally doesn't do anymore. But youknow, with Seto Kaiba there really isn’t any good or bad just win or lose.

On the other end of the park, the choo-choo blue eyes white dragon train pulls in from death mountain, and once again the seating arrangement was really mystifying. Yugi in the very front, all alone. Tea sitting next to Tristan for some reason. Duke sitting next to Joey Wheeler, when I’m pretty sure Duke is probably the least comforting person in this entire group.

In fact all Duke had to say to comfort Joey was “you lost because you went up against a professional duelist!” and it’s like...at what point do you become a “professional duelist?” The game is fake. How many times do you have to save the world before you’re a “professional duelist,” Duke?

Course...maybe he has to get a high school diploma first...

Anyway, Joey spent the last part of this ride sobbing into the seats next to Duke Devlin while everyone else went “weee!” around the...molten pools of lava in this literal volcano that the Kaibas are pretty sure are a really good idea.

(read more under the cut)

Speaking of loss.

Grandpa Hawkins runs over to inform us that not only is no one watching his Grandaughter, but also, he lost a grown ass man because he decided to look for a doctor, couldn’t find a doctor, did watch Rebeccas match for a little while, listened to the part where she was like “I dedicate this match to my true love and boyfriend Yugi Muto with this sonnet I just wrote” and was like “normal thing to say!” and then finally found a doctor, who was like “well he’s not here so clearly he’s cured!” and charged Hawkins a bill despite Grandpa being no where to be found.

I can’t imagine the review that Hawkins is going to leave on Yelp.

Stepping away from thinking that Grandpa ditched his date with Hawkins to go on another date with some random theme park hussie, Yugi decides to ditch Rebecca, because he has way too many fake relationship plotlines in this group to juggle in his already double-stuffed brain.

And Rebecca takes it as if she kind of assumed this would happen.

Also in the actual canon of the show, Hawkins did not tell her that Grandpa was missing, or that Yugi would probably not be coming. Man these people love lying out their ass.

Speaking of being just completely flat on your ass, which happens so much this episode, they stumble upon Leon, who once again kind of comes out of the last place you expect and goes “Hello guys, I regret to inform you I still exist and I really need you to start noticing me already. I swear I will become plot relevant any day now. Please don’t forget I exist.”

...The Kaibas sure did make a tiny town. That sure is the only thing here.

Straight up, the Kaibas don’t know what fun is, and that is canon. And when I look across this landscape, I can only think of that one scene in Arrested Development where they made a very tiny city to convince investors that their housing development was actually legit and very real. And like I feel like the Kaibas would absolutely do that, too.

It’d be good for the gram...but this was before social media was a thing so what is this for?

I mean Leon sure the hell doesn’t know.

Local sad boy genius, Leon, here to get ignored by Rebecca despite being exactly her age, just like other local sad boy genius, Mokuba.

I really called it when I gave him Mai’s font color, huh? Good that even when Mai isn’t here, we can still have a chronically friendless character. But he is like...a lot more adorable than Mai was. Leon is just a lot more likeable. And again--really good hair color. Helps that he doesn’t want to constantly murder Joey Wheeler for no reason.

These kids came out of nowhere and can I just say it’s a really good thing someone woke Leon the hell up before the cameras arrived because that would have been SHOCKING if they all thought he was dead.

I love this boat.

Also Joey makes this observation and it was really funny the way he said it:

The sign that hangs above the park entrance that says “no one kidnapped in 1 days” flips back to 0.

I mean, we all know it’s Vivian, because it’s this global tournament where everyone is defined by stereotypes. But, I want to know how she got the panda stationary. That’s pretty good. There’s a side of me from my 11 yo self that never got over my sanrio phase collecting cute stationary with matching stickers and jelly pens to write 1 (one) letter and stuff it into a friend’s locker (and then have them say they cannot read my handwriting) and that part of me loves panda stationary.

Like if I got matching stationary with like...the matching stickers on it...in my ransom letter...damn that’s like seriously sentimental stuff. I’d feel a little ambiguous about that.

This town is the exact size that California was last season where you could just leap skip from Death Valley to San Fransisco.

And later we are...one step closer to Vivian. And if it’s not, and it’s actually like Bandit Keith on the other side of this door, I will be very happily surprised and this will be my favorite arc.

Also...please note that Joey is still wearing this duel disk after he’s completely done dueling.

Joey, please. It’s over, Joey. You live that Duke Devlin life now, retire the disk.

Anyway, until next time, this is the link to read these from the first to the latest:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#yugioh #yu gi oh #ygo #episode recap #photo recap #S5 #Ep8 #joey wheeler #yugi muto #rebecca hawkins #leon wilson #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #grandpa muto #is abducted again #arthur hawkins #tristan taylor #duke devlin #tea gardner

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zelenacat · 4 years ago

Text

When We Were Young- Chapter 9- An Obitine Story

The fourteen and a half years that had passed since Duchess Satine had heard the name Obi-Wan Kenobi had been semi-peaceful. Korkie was sixteen now, and attended the Royal Academy of Government, Satine couldn’t be more proud of him. Satine had also kept tabs on Tyra, at sixteen, she was a padawan learner to Quinlan Vos and was known to be an acquired taste, like her master. Tristan Wren, a blonde boy of fourteen had great skill in martial combat and was interested in the sciences. Mara had been harder to find at first, but Parna arranged a meeting between Kamrari and his apprentice a few weeks ago. She was very clever for a fourteen-year-old, and had figured out who Satine was.

“Yes, Mara,” she’d whispered, “I am the Duchess.”

“I have a pin with your emblem on it.”

Despite herself, Satine had smiled, “I’m glad you haven’t lost it.”

Mara looked the Duchess straight in the eye, “I would never lose the only gift my mother gave me.”

Those words kept Satine calm when she realized that she didn’t really like the people her children were becoming. However, she couldn’t have raised them herself, and they had their lives, that was the most important thing.

“Your Grace?”

Satine looked up, Parna was standing at the door to her personal parlor.

“The guards have informed me that the Jedi is here.”

The Duchess felt the atmosphere change when she walked into the room. Testing her old love while trying to keep her voice neutral, Satine spoke to him.

“Master Kenobi, my shining Jedi knight to the rescue once again.”

“After all these years, you’re even more beautiful than ever.”

Satine forced herself to stay composed, “Kind words from a man who accuses me of treachery.”

“I would never accuse you of personal wrongdoing, Duchess.” Obi-Wan commented seriously, “however-”

As Obi-Wan launched into some story, Satine was only half listening. That beard, he hadn’t had a beard last time they’d met.

“Everyone of my people is as trustworthy as I am.” the Duchess concluded.

“I know we sound defensive but-”

“Clearly,” Satine huffed, “your investigation was ordered because the senate is eager to intervene in our affairs.”

“My investigation was ordered by the Jedi Council.” Obi-Wan said calmly.

Satine frowned, “I stand corrected.”

After a moment of silence, Satine held out her hand.

“General Kenobi, perhaps you’d like to join me on a walk through the city.”

With grace, Obi-Wan took Satine’s hand and offered her his arm. The Duchess gestured to her lady.

“It’s so good to see you again, Obi-Wan,” Satine confessed when they arrived at the park, “despite the circumstances.”

“Your peaceful ways have paid off,” complimented the Jedi, “Mandalore has prospered since the last time I was here.”

“Not everyone on Mandalore is convinced that our commitment to peace is a sign of progress.” Satine divulged, launching into a speech on Death Watch.

“I hope you’re right, Duchess.”

Satine smirked, remembering the first time Obi-Wan admitted she was right about something. It was Draboon.

“Something amusing, Duchess?”

Satine strut forward, “Your choice of words pleases me is all, Master Jedi.”

Obi-Wan made a noise in his throat, likely a guttural reaction to the word “please.” She’d left it open, clever She-Wolf that Satine was, he could answer that any way he wished.

Rushing to catch up with her, Obi-Wan answered, “I wasn’t aware that I was entertaining, Satine.”

“You aren’t aware of many things, Ben.”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at her, this was getting dangerously close to their old ways.

“Do tell me, Master Jedi,” the Duchess switched tactics, “do you fancy yourself a peacekeeper?”

This thread of conversation lasted until the monument in front of them exploded.

“Are you alright?”

It was the emotion in Obi-Wan’s words that made her breath hitch.

“I’m fine.”

Running into the fray, Satine let herself help those struggling to stand. She had a soft soul deep down, really, she knew that about herself.

“I want to interview everyone here,” Obi-Wan announced, “no one is to leave this scene.”

No sooner had he said this than a rogue pedestrian ran from the crime.

“You there!”

What followed next were a shocking chain of events. At the end of it all, Satine couldn’t believe that one of her people would give up his own life to give ground to a cause that hated her.

“I didn’t kill him.”

“I know,” Satine said cooly, “that’s why I’m still talking to you.”

When they arrived back at the palace for their journey to Concordia, Parna brought out a new outfit for her lady.

“The Master Jedi’s arrival seems to have upset you.” she commented.

Satine sighed, “I never let my emotions get such control of me.”

“If I may, your Grace,” Parna ventured closer, “you called the Master Jedi Ben.”

“Yes, I did.”

Parna raised an eyebrow, “Many years ago you told me that the father of your children was named Ben.”

Satine went red, realizing what she’d done.

“You needn’t worry, Your Grace,” Parna took Satine’s hands in hers, “he doesn’t seem to know.”

“It’s myself I’m worried about Parna,” the Duchess confessed, “I never got over him.”

“You’ll be alright, Satine,” assured her lady, “you’re strong.”

“Thank you, Parna, I surely hope I am.”

When Satine saw Obi-Wan again, she thought she caught his eyes lingering on her pale collarbone, which her salmon-colored dress exposed. Hiding her hopefulness with a smile, Satine let Obi-Wan lead her onto the ship.

They talked about Concordia’s history on the ride over, but what they did not mention was how Obi-Wan knew such information. How Satine used to tell him about Mandalorian history while bandaging his wounds.

“Duchess Satine,” began the Governor, “you are most welcome.”

The Duchess replied gracefully, remembering on her part to introduce Obi-Wan, which actually, she was quite proud of.

“Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of,” Satine continued, “he’s been working to find the members of Death Watch.”

After a brief discussion, the Governor went to attend to the body of the bomber, in which Obi-Wan took the opportunity to gently graze the Duchess’ arm.

“Satine, I need a favor from you.”

It took a moment to recover her wits, but eventually the Duchess realized what the Jedi would be doing.

“Remember, you are here under my protection,” Satine warned, “please try not to cause problems where none yet exist.”

“Think of me as,” Obi-Wan grinned, “searching for solutions.”

“I have to tell you,” Satine yelled over the rumbling of his speeder, “I’m opposed to all of this!”

The Jedi Knight had the audacity to wink, “I’d be disappointed if you weren’t!”

After lying to the Governor, Satine retreated to the quarters that were set up for her, where Parna was reading Satine’s toilette.

“The Jedi?” she asked, without turning her head.

“Meditating.” the Duchess answered.

Parna snorted.

Smiling like a fool, Satine threw herself onto the couch and sighed, “This is going to be awful.”

“On the contrary, Your Grace,” Parna crossed her arms, “I think you are most certainly going to enjoy this.”

“That’s for certain,” Satine agreed, then, melting slightly, “he winked at me.”

“He winked at you?” Satine bit her lower lip, “Yes.”

Parna sighed, “Just a wink and you’re already like this.”

“You should’ve seen us when we were younger.” Satine’s eyes went far away.

“You forget, Your Grace,” Parna moved to stare down her lady, “I was the one who cleaned your room after his visits.”

Satine grimaced and turned a nasy shade of scarlet. Parna laughed.

“This,” Parna stated, “is going to be the highlight of my career.”

“Do ready me for dinner, Parna.” Satine huffed.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After fixing her hair, the Duchess went to drinks with the Governor, where they discussed the Death Watch problem. For some reason, the shadows cast on the official’s face unnerved Satine.

“Take it as a compliment,” Governor Vizsla toasted, “someone very powerful is working towards your downfall.”

Satine frowned, mulling over her thoughts. Who could possibly want her gone?

“Duchess, please acknowledge.” Obi-Wan’s voice echoed in her ear.

This was an awkward spot to be in. Using all the political skill she had learned in the last seventeen or so years, Satine maneuvered out of her situation with the Governor and grabbed a speeder.

“Where exactly are you?” the Duchess whispered when she arrived.

“Listen for the loud, metallic, clanging sound,” Obi-Wan snapped, “that would be the machine about to chop me into bits.”

Ignoring Obi-Wan’s snark, Satine followed the loud, metallic, clanging sound after triggering an alarm at the entrance. She barely made it under the conveyor before the guards in Mandalorian armor clamored away.

“It certainly took you long enough!” huffed Obi-Wan.

“You know, I haven’t saved you yet!” Satine remarked.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, “no need to remind me of that.”

“Be patient.” Satine scoffed.

“I happen to be a bit short on patience right now!” Obi-Wan countered.

Muttering to herself and ignoring her Jedi, Satine fiddled with the control panel.

“Satine, turn the machine off!” yelled Obi-Wan.

“I’m trying!” Satine remarked hotly.

“Satine!”

The Duchess pushed the right button, she grinned.

“Look out!”

As Satine was grabbed from behind, she kicked a barrel into the machine perfectly enabling one of Obi-Wan’s grand escapes. Then, with a few kicks and grunts, the Jedi had freed her.

Straightening her shoulders, the Duchess commented, “For a man sworn to peace, you take an unseemly pleasure in the injuries of others.”

“For a woman sworn to non-violence you don’t seem troubled that I could’ve been killed back there.” came Obi-Wan’s snarky retort.

“But you werent,” Satine insisted, “and yet I still haven’t heard any thanks.”

“Well,” Obi-Wan sighed, “you certainly haven’t changed much.”

Covering her eyes, the Duchess pretended not to notice as Obi-Wan punched a Death Watch member.

“This is not the way we came in.” observed the Jedi.

“Look,” came a far off cry, “it’s the Jedi!”

Pulling Satine behind the safety of a rock, Obi-Wan grinned. Satine scoffed.

“We’ll have to stand and fight, or in your case, just stand.”

The Duchess of Mandalore was offended. Still, she tried not to gape as Obi-Wan got up to his old tricks, or look at his muscles while doing so, definitely not that. Inhaling sharply as her Ben was knocked down, Satine threw a rock at the soldier.

“You there!”

Then, she ran being a rock, being useless in a fight as she was.

“Satine!”

“I’m alright.” she responded, feeling soft at the concern in Obi-Wan’s voice.

Obi-Wan searched her face, his blue eyes she knew so well lingering on her jaw. Their moment was cut short however, when Obi-Wan abruptly stood and faced a new enemy.

“Governor?” Satine gasped.

“For generations my ancestors fought bravely as warriors against the Jedi-”

“Save the history lesson, Pre,” Satine shouted, “you’re a traitor!”

“You tarnish the name Mandalorian,” Vizsla spat, then, turning to Obi-Wan “defend her if you will.”

Satine was shocked on many fronts, she had never been betrayed before, yet Obi-Wan, it seemed, was going to defend her. They fought, Satine began to tremble, cursing herself for getting accustomed to safety.

“Satine!”

Then, she saw it. Having been by Obi-Wan’s side in imminent danger before, Satine knew exactly what to do, jump into the Jedi’s arms. The landing was rough, somehow, she landed on the cold stone, Obi-Wan’s body as her shield from the debris above.

There was an awkward moment when neither of them moved, remembering what they used to do when pressed so close together. Then, stiffly, Obi-Wan stood.

“Your Grace-”

“I’m fine,” Satine turned to the Jedi, “but you are not.”

Obi-Wan winced.

“Give me your arm.” Satine said gently.

Obi-Wan shook his head.

“I’m not going to wound your pride, Ben,” the Duchess sighed, genly taking Obi-Wan’s arm around her shoulder, “please just lean on me.”

The Jedi did, but Satine didn’t need the force to know he was uncomfortable. When did he get so rigid, so formal? The Duchess supposed she had changed to then. Maybe, Obi-Wan didn’t want to resume their relationship where it was abruptly cut off? That thought cut Satine to the core as they approached the speeders, and gingerly, she lent Obi-Wan some of his dignity back.

“I suppose we’re even now.” she concluded.

“How so?” grunted the Jedi.

“I saved your life,” Satine explained, “you saved mine.”

“Yes, well,” Obi-Wan grinned, “mine was the more daring of the two rescues.”

When they arrived back at the Governor's House, Satine decided against cleaning up Obi-Wan’s wounds like she used to, and bid the Jedi a chilly goodnight. Parna however, noticed some bruises would form by morning.

“The enemy grappled me,” Satine explained sadly, “I fear this problem is more widespread than we thought.”

“Satine, your safety is of the utmost importance.” Parna said, breaking formalities.

Sighing, Satine pulled on her nightdress.

“I hope this distraction won’t let you forget that.” continued the lady.

“I hope so too,” Satine agreed, climbing into bed, “thank you for our help, Parna.”

In the morning, breakfast was polite and the flight back to Sundari was silent. Satine was grateful when Senator Merrick and Prime Minister Almec exchanged pleasantries with the Jedi so she didn't have to. If things continued this way, it would turn out awful.

After a quick scuffle over who was supporting the Death Watch, Satine left Obi-Wan on the loading platform, not expecting to see him for some time. Unfortunately, he was on the same ship she was, so there wouldn't be many places to hide.

After a quick brush up with Parna, Satine made her way to the ship’s parlor-like room and sat herself upon a cushioned dias. Having already sent for Obi-Wan, Satine began to inform her peers of the current terrible affront on life itself, the Republic’s newest war.

“And yet some would argue,” Obi-Wan crossed his arms, “the safest defense is a swift and decisive offense.”

Satine raised her eyebrow at the Jed.

“You are quite the general now, aren't you, Master Kenobi?” she asked.

“Forgive me for interrupting, Your Highness,” Obi-Wan paused, “I meant no disrespect.��

“Really,” Satine turned to address her peers, “Senators, I assume you are all acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperbole known as Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

The Jedi grimaced, Satine smiled.

“Your Highness is,” Obi-Wan frowned, “too kind.”

“You’re right,” Satine frowned, momentarily lost in thought, “I am.”

Had the Duchess scanned the room, she would’ve seen the inquisitive looked of Senator Robb and Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker.

“Allow me to introduce my fellow Jedi,” Obi-Wan gestured, penetrating the silence, “Anakin Skywalker.”

Satine smirked, “I remember a time when Jedi were not generals, but peacekeepers.”

“We are protectors, Highness,” Anakin shifted, “yours at the moment, we fight for peace.”

The Duchess huffed, fully herself once more, “ What an amusing contradiction.”

“What Master Skywalker means is we are acting at the behest of Your Highness, to protect you from the Death Watch and the Separatists who don’t share your neutral point of view.”

“I ask for no such thing.” Satine stated plainly.

“That may be so,” Obi-Wan stepped forward, “but a majority of your court did.”

Satine gave Obi-Wan a pointed look, “I do not remember you as one tot hide behind excuses.”

“I do not remember you as one to shrink from responsibilities.” Obi-Wan countered calmly.

If it wasn’t for Senator Orn Free Ta, Satine would have argued with Obi-Wan all night. She’d put her finger on it now, what made her so mad. He was stiff, the years had made him so, he was formal and changed, nothing like her Ben, the father of her children.

“Your Grace, In regard to the senate vote, we think-”

“I think a multitude makes discord, not good council.” Satine concluded.

“You are right, My Lady.”

Trying to ignore Obi-Wan, Satine engaged Senator Robb in pleasant conversation, her musical laugh being distracting enough.

“A republic military offensive is the only sure defense against the Separatists.” Obi-Wan interrupted.

Satine threw her glass at Obi-Wan, who dodged it with ease.

Standing with a calm smile, Satine stated, “Even extremists can be reasoned with.”

“Perhaps, if one can be heard over the clanking of their battle droids!”

The Duchess scoffed, “The sarcasm of a soldier.”

“The delusion of a dreamer.” the Jedi countered.

“Duchess, Master Jedi,” Senator Marrick turned between the two, “itt’s been a long trip, I think we can all use a little rest and refreshment.”

Satine stared Obi-Wan down, how dare he call her that!

“Fine!”

Shoving Obi-Wan out of the way, Satine left the room to cool off.

“Oh, Parna,” Satine huffed as she opened her quarter doors, “I hate him!”

Parna turned, gaping with a tilted head.

“That’s quite the interesting tale, Your Grace.”

“I can’t stand him now,” the Duchess threw herself onto the couch, “it’s just like, it’s just like when we were young.”

“You’re not old, Your Grace.”

“Younger.” Satine corrected.

“If I can remember correctly, Satine,” Parna grinned, “he had to erase your guards’ memories because-”

“Before that, Parna,” Satine waved, “I meant before that.”

Eventually, the Duchess returned to the foyer for dinner, which, pleasantly, she found was free of Master Kenobi.

“I beg your pardon, Senators-”

Or maybe she spoke too soon.

“Our men are investigating a situation below decks, I respectfully ask you to wait here till it’s settled.”

Satine frowned, someone really wanted to kill her. Obi-Wan’s comm beeped.

The Jedi had the audacity to smile, “Please excuse me.”

Becoming a slave to her own thoughts, Satine didn’t hear anything else until Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber.

“Secure the lifts!” he shouted with urgency.

It did no good, a nasty spider droid nearly got to Satine, fortunately for her, Obi-Wan did his duty as always, and protected her. She cursed her wild heart for fluctuating so fast at his valiant efforts.

Senator Orn Free Ta screamed and ran backwards. Satine looked down, miniature versions of the spider droid scattered around the room. Fleeing to a remote corner, Satine was surprised to find Obi-Wan following her.

“Why-”

“My duty is to protect you, Duchess.” Obi-Wan replied, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Satine pulled out a deactivator and shot at the droids. Now she was back to back with Obi-Wan, fighting off enemies like had occurred a decade and a half before.

“Do you always carry a deactivator? Obi-Wan yelled, slightly agitated.

“Just because I’m a pacifist doesn’t mean I won’t defend myself.” Satine responded.

Obi-Wan huffed, “Now you sound like a Jedi.”

As the chaos faded, Obi-Wan bent down and picked up one of the disabled droids.

“Just like that swarm of venemites on Draboon, remember?”

A smile pricked Staine’s lips, “How could I forget, I still have the scar.”

“Begging your pardon, Duchess,” Obi-Wan began, falling for Satine’s trap, “I distinctly remember carrying you to safety.”

Satine turned, her expression gleeful, “I meant the scar I got after you fell, and dropped me.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan looked down, “yes.”

Satine couldn’t help herself, she giggled, which caused Obi-Wan to raise his head and try to discern what was so funny.

“Why don’t you go to your quarters, Duchess,” Obi-Wan suggested, “this must’ve been very trying for your nerves.”

“Are you contradicting yourself, Master Jedi,” Satine raised an eyebrow, “should I be safe without your protection?”

“We’ve swept the area, Satine,” Obi-Wan sighed, using the Duchess’ name, “you'll be fine.”

Parna was relieved to see her lady.

“Oh, Satine,” she sighed, “we were ordered to stay where we were-”

“I know,” the Duchess took her lady’s hands in hers, “but you’re alright?”

“Me, of course, yes, and yourself?”

“I’m fine,” Satine lowered her eyes, “but I hate that I am the target of these attempts.”

“You are strong, Your Grace,” Parna looked Satine dead in the eye, “you will survive this.”

Nodding, the Duchess allowed Parna to recomb her hair.

“Your Highness,” a droid beeped, “the party is gathering in the foyer.”

“I must be off,” Satine stood, “thank you for your help, Parna.”

“Of course, My Lady.”

At dinner once again, Satine was surprised to find everything in order.

“Duchess,” observed Senator Ta, “you are not eating?”

“I have no appetite.” Satine confessed.

She was still mulling over the fact that someone very powerful wanted her dead, and her people were willing to betray their own Duchess to help assassinate her.

The door opened, Satine felt Obi-Wan’s energy, not in the literal force sense, but she knew his mannerisms. The Duchess focused her eyes on her wine glass, they only rose when the last spider droid was revealed.

“My theory, is that our little friend will attack the Duchess and anyone who defends her,” the Jedi paused, “anyone that is, except the traitor who programmed it.”

“Obi-Wan, this line of questioning borders on torture!” Satine stood.

“Oh, I assure our pacifist Duchess that all is under control,” Obi-Wan’s tone was calm and inquisitive, but Satine felt there was an eagerness there.

Why, she dared not guess.

“But it seems to like you, Senator Marrick.” Obi-Wan observed.

“Really, General Kenobi,” the Senator paused, “you’re quite clever.”

Satine stayed still, perfectly in shock. An elected representative of the people, turning on her? Marrick smacked the droid out of Obi-Wan’s hands and, unmoving, the Duchess watched itt approach her. At the last moment, she jumped backward.

For a second, she breathed easy, seeing her shining Jedi knight jump to her rescue, but as a yank jerked her backwards, Satine felt that ease of being diminish. The Duchess felt a pang in her heart at being separated from Obi-Wan who she had just been reunited with. Satine was certain she was going to die.

“Monster,” she cried as Tal Marrick shot the crewmen, “you’re a horrid monster.”

“Get used to it.” was his smug response.

The Duchess’ jaw dropped when the Senator contacted Death Watch command. Was she so easily betrayed?

“Reinforcements are on their way.”

Satine’s blood went cold. What would she tell Korkie, Tyra Satine, Tristan, and Mara? Only one out of the four children knew there were hers, and that was based on only an inkling. Would she die without saying goodbye to her children?

“Come in, Kenobi,” drawled Marrick, “you’re expected.”

“Tal Marrick, you are under arrest, release the Duchess!”

Satine’s heart palpitated wildly, Obi-Wan was going to rescue her again. The Mandalorian part of her was stubborn and wanted to say he didn’t need to save her, but the reasonable half of her brain knew that she was being held hostage.

“I took the precaution of wiring this ship’s engine, I press this red button,” Marrick smiled, “and we all will die.”

“Obi,” Satine pleaded, “if you have any respect for me, you will not take such risks with so many lives at stake.”

“Satine,” Obi-Wan’s eyes widened as Marrick pulled her away, “don’t!”

The Duchess was a mess, her emotions in a storm, she had so much left to say. What if Obi-Wan never found out? As Satine watched the Jedi follow in his crouched fighting stance, Satine decided on what to tell him.

“This is Marrick, stand by to disengage,” the Senator grinned, ‘say farewell, Duchess.”

“Obi-Wan,” Satine bit her lip, “it looks like I may never see you again, I don’t know quite how to say this but: I’ve loved you, from the moment you came to my aid all those years ago.”

Marrick groaned, “I don’t believe this.”

“Satine, this is hardly the time or place for-”

Satine whimpered.

“Alright, had you said the word, I would’ve left the Jedi order.”

Those words brought tears to Satine’s eyes.

“That is touching, truly it is, but it’s making me sick, and we really must be going.”

“Ugh,” Satine coughed, “you have the romantic soul of a slug, Marrick, and slugs are often trod upon.” Grabbing the gun, Satine held it at arm’s length, aiming at the Senator as he explained his plan to kill everyone on the coronet.

“I will not allow that.” Satine spat.

“And what will you do,” Marrick asked, “if you shoot me, you condemn yourself a hypocrite to all the pacifist ideals you hold so dear.”

“And you, Kenobi, you are no stranger to violence, you’d be hailed as a hero by everyone on this ship,” Marrick shifted his eyes to Satine and giggled, “almost everyone.”

“Come on then,” the Senator gestured, “who will strike first and brand themselves a cold-blooded killer.”

Within the next second, Tal Marrick was dead and Satine realized she was holding a gun. Distraught, she threw it away.

“Anakin.”

Satine stepped forward, “Obi-Wan, I-”

“General Skywalker, sir, the last of the droids have been defeated.”

The Duchess straightened, “I must get back to the business of diplomacy.”

Instead what she did was run to Parna and cry.

#obitine #satine kryze #duchess satine #satine x obiwan #obiwan #obi wan kenobi #korkie kryze #korkie kenobi

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bellakitse · 5 years ago

Text

I was born Thursday's Child

“It’s Carlos, sir,” Judd gets out quickly, and TK feels an ice-cold fear run up his spine at the urgency he hears in his friend’s voice. “He was a step behind me, the floor caved, and he went through into the basement.”

Carlos gets hurt on a call.

30 days of Tarlos - Day 18

Part Three of Firefighter Carlos! AU, Part One, Part Two

It’s eight pm on a Thursday, TK is rolling up the water hoses they used on their last call with Carlos’ help while the rest of the team details the truck as they try to guess what the letters of his name stand for. It’s become something of a game to the crew when they have downtime. His dad walked away as soon as the game started. He can never keep a straight face at all the ridiculous combinations his crew comes up with and instead headed to his office to do some paperwork.

“Thomas Kayden,” Paul shouts out from the top of the truck, rolling his eyes when he shakes his head.

“Tristan Kristopher,” Mateo points at him with a grin. “Christopher with a K, that feels very ‘city boy.’”

“Tanner,” Marjan starts, smirking at him when he makes a face. “Kingston.”

TK scowls at his friend, and then turns it on Carlos when he hears him snort quietly next to him. He tells his stomach to quit it with the butterflies it gets from Carlos’ beautiful unapologetic smile.

“No, Marjan,” he says dryly, rolling his eyes again. “My initials don’t stand for Tanner Kingston. Did you really have to pick the douchiest name ever?”

Marjan lifts a slim shoulder, shrugging as she sweeps the floor. “If you would just tell us, we’d stop.”

“Let me think about that,” he says, bringing a finger up to his face, tapping his cheek as he pretends to give the suggestion some serious thought. “Nope, I don’t think so. Request denied.”

TK grins as more than one of them scoffs or shakes their heads at him. Judd being the loudest.

“This is ridiculous,” the cowboy grumbles as he turns his sight on Carlos. “Reyes, what’s your boyfriend’s real name?”

Carlos looks up from the water hose, his eyes going wide as he finds them all staring at him. “What?” he asks, shaking his head. “He hasn’t told me.”

“Please,” Judd scoffs again.

“I’m serious,” Carlos says standing up straight, he throws him an accusing look, and this time it’s his turn to smile at him unapologetically. “I have been trying to get it out of him for months now; he won’t tell me, and trust me, I have tried everything.”

“He has,” TK pipes in with a shameless grin. “And I have enjoyed every attempt he’s made.”

TK laughs at the team’s collective groan as they go back to work, he turns towards Carlos, his laughter turning into a soft chuckle as he spots the sweet pink blush on his face.

“Brat,” Carlos scolds him when he sees his grin. “Stay where you are.”

TK shakes his head, dropping the hose to close the small distance between them. He smiles as he places his hands on Carlos’ hips, and he lets him.

They’ve been dating for four months now, they told his dad and the team after their first date, surprising absolutely no one.

The team has been nothing but supportive, but it still took a while for Carlos to be completely comfortable with displays of affection in the workplace, the old habit of keeping this part of himself on the DL at his old station lingering. Now when TK places his hands on his hips, Carlos wraps his around his neck.

“That’s a cute blush you got there, baby,” he whispers teasingly, loving how it makes Carlos turn pinker.

“You are a brat,” Carlos repeats but doesn’t pull away. “You’re lucky you’re also adorable.”

“And hot,” he adds, laughing when Carlos rolls his eyes at him.

“And humble,” he retorts sarcastically.

“Mmhmm,” TK nods, pressing his lips into a firm line to keep from smiling like an idiot. It doesn’t help; he can’t not smile when he’s in the presence of his boyfriend.

Carlos shakes his head softly at him; the look he gives him is tender and fond. “Are you ever going to tell me what the letters stand for?” he asks curiously.

“Does it bother you that I haven’t yet?” TK asks, his brow creasing in the middle with sudden worry. He’s never really considered that it might upset Carlos not to know what his initials stand for. He’s been called TK for as long as he can remember, that sometimes even he forgets the letters stand for something. It’s only when he has to fill out a form and sees his name in full that he remembers with a roll of his eyes. It’s not that he hates his name, it’s just that it’s so pretentious that he can’t help but groan when he hears it out loud.

“No,” Carlos says, shaking his head again. The hands on his shoulders now give the back of his neck a reassuring squeeze. “I mean, I’m curious as hell, obviously, and you keeping it a secret makes me think it’s something hilarious like Thacker Kale.”

“Thacker?” he questions incredulously. “Kale?”

“Hey, the Captain loves kale,” Carlos argues. “He totally could have named you after it.”

TK opens his mouth to answer only for the alarms of the firehouse to go off over their heads.

“To be continued,” Carlos says with a half-smile as he lets go of him.

TK gives him a nod, before turning to get ready. It takes them minutes to get into their gear and into the truck, his father in the front speaks to them through their headsets.

“Alright, we got a two-story house fire,” he starts. “Neighbors called it in, said they heard screams from inside, from what they told dispatch it’s a family of five. Two adults and three kids, it’s after nine, we have to assume they’re all home.”

TK looks around the truck; the crew is quiet and serious as they do last minute checks on their gear. Everyone's expression turns more severe as they turn into the street; the flames in the house are high; they seem to lick the sky.

They jump out of the truck before it completely rolls to a stop, right behind them is Captain Blake and her EMTs.

TK watches as his father assesses the situation quickly before giving them a sharp nod.

“Okay, I want Reyes, Ryder, and Strickland to start making their way inside the house,” his father says looking at the three men in question, they all nod back to him before going for their axes. “Strand, Marwani, Chavez, you’re on the hoses. We need to start controlling this now.”

TK looks at the house, the smoke is getting darker by the second, never a good sign and he feels a moment of trepidation. As Carlos starts to walk by him, he grabs at his turnout coat tightly.

“Be careful,” he says quickly, swallowing hard. It’s not the first time he’s told Carlos this. Usually, one of them says it if the other is going in, and it’s always met with a cocky grin. TK can see the beginnings of it on Carlos’ lips, but he must read the fear in his face because instead of a smile, Carlos gives him a serious look.

“Of course, baby,” he says softly, he gives the hand holding his coat a squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”

TK nods, reluctantly letting go of him, getting to work himself. He, Marjan, and Mateo handle the hoses with his dad; he focuses on the flames that are blessedly diminishing and not on the fact that the rest of his team is still inside.

Over the radio, he hears them as they go through the house and starts to breathe easier as they bring out members of the family. Once Paul has gotten the last civilian out – the father, Michelle and her team already treating the rest of the family – his dad calls out for everyone to evacuate.

“Reyes, Ryder, time to pull out, we got all of them,” he speaks into the radio, it takes a moment for the receiver to static back.

“Roger that, Cap,” Judd's voice rings out through all their sets. “We’re – shit!”

“Judd, report,” Owen says sharply as they hear a crash, the house, now fire-free, creeks ominously.

TK is moving towards the house before Judd is even done explaining the situation; he’s halfway across the lawn when a hand comes down hard on his shoulder, holding him in place. He swirls around, ready to curse whoever is daring to stop him, only to find his father giving him an unshakeable look that tells him before his father even speaks that he’s not going to let him go in.

“Dad – “ he tries anyway, pleading, letting out something between a scream and a sob when his father shakes his head at him remorsefully.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, still shaking his head. “You’re too close, TK; it can’t be you.”

TK wants to argue, but he sees that his father is already nodding towards Paul and Mateo.

“Get him out,” he tells them, his voice cracking as his eyes sting. “Please.”

Mateo and Paul look at him, worried but resolved. “You got it, brother,” Paul says softly as they head back inside.

“I’m climbing down, Cap,” Judd’s voice comes through again.

Judd keeps his radio on as he works, and TK can hear every grunt and huff as he moves, for a moment, that, and Paul and Mateo reporting in is all they hear. Carlos’ radio is silent even as his father keeps trying to call him.

“I can see him,” Judd shouts, it’s followed by more heavy breathing before he speaks again. “Carlos, bud, come on man, I need you to open your eyes for me now.”

TK covers his mouth; it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from screaming. He feels someone behind him, and then a small hand on his shoulder, he knows it belongs to Marjan without turning around. Her hand on him is the only thing that keeps him up when he hears a low groan come through the radio.

“That’s it, man, keep your eyes open,” Judd speaks, and then another pained filled groan follows it.

“T – “

TK grabs his radio quickly, bringing it to his mouth. “Carlos, sweetheart, can you hear me?” he asks, his heart races as he waits for an answer.

“TK,” Carlos gets out, his voice rough from the pain. “It hurts.”

“I know, babe,” he sniffs, not being able to stop the tears now. “Paul and Mateo are coming; they’re going to help Judd get you out, just hold on.”

Carlos doesn’t answer right away, when he does, what he says strikes TK with fear. “Tired.”

“No, Carlos,” he growls. “Don’t go to sleep; stay awake.”

“T-tell me,” Carlos starts, it’s obviously a struggle for him to stay alert. “S-something.”

TK lets out a choked sob at his words; they remind him of when they first got together, of Carlos being there for him when he needed comfort and a distraction from his own pain.

“Tyler Kennedy,” he says into the radio, not caring that everyone is listening. “That’s what TK stands for.”

֍֍֍

Waiting at the hospital is a nightmare, waiting for the man you love to wake up while in a hospital bed is hell on earth.

Paul, Judd, and Mateo had carried out an unconscious Carlos straight to Michelle and her team. TK had watched frozen as they worked on Carlos enough to get him conscious before they were speeding away in the ambulance.

It took everything to keep from climbing in with him, but he knew they still had a job to finish.

Now at the hospital, everyone lingers around the waiting room while he sits with Carlos waiting for him to wake up.

“Your mom and sisters are here,” he says softly. “I finally met Lola, she’s intense, and has decided she and I are going to be best friends and annoy you together. Be ready for that.”

He reaches out, touching Carlos’ face softly, making sure not to touch the bandage on his head. The doctors had run down the list of injuries, concussion, cracked ribs, and a ruptured spleen. The fall Carlos had taken was a rough one; the debris falling on him didn’t make it any better.

“I’m here, baby,” he whispers, squeezing his hand. “We’re all here.”

TK closes his eyes when his words are met with silence. Carlos is the quieter one of the two, while TK is the one with restless energy. Usually, it’s a calming force for TK as Carlos will listen until he tires himself out, now the quietness was driving him crazy.

“I love you,” he continues. “I know you know that, but I don’t say it nearly enough. I love you so much. I’m grateful every day that Judd recommended you to us. You walked into the 126 and became my teammate, my best friend, and the love of my life.”

He runs his fingertips down Carlos’ cheek, over his neck, and then lets it rest lightly over his heart, letting out a breath as he feels the steady beat.

“Can you open your eyes now for me, baby?” he asks pleadingly. “I told you my name, it’s not Thacker Kale, but it’s still ridiculous. I’m sure you have thoughts. I’ll let you make all the fun you want if you open those pretty brown eyes of yours for me right now,” he continues hopefully.

He lets his head drop on the bed next to Carlos’ hip when his request is again met with silence. He’s taking deep breaths to keep from crying when he feels a hand move over his hair.

“I think Tyler Kennedy is beautiful.”

TK lifts his head quickly, taking hold of the hand that is touching him as he finds Carlos looking at him with tired eyes.

He opens his mouth to speak only for a choked sob to come out, pressing his mouth into a firm line, he breathes deeply again until he can talk without breaking down.

“It’s pretentious,” he says shakily, as Carlos gives him a loving look.

“It’s beautiful,” Carlos repeats softly. “Just like you.”

TK lets out a wet laugh; he can’t stop the tears now as he stands to hover over Carlos.

“Hi,” he whispers with a watery smile on his face. “You scared me.”

“Hi,” Carlos whispers back, looking up at him remorsefully. “I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” he assures him, leaning down he touches the tip of his nose against Carlos’. “Please try not to do it again though. It turns out that I love you more than anything in this world and don’t handle you getting hurt very well.”

Carlos closes his eyes as he smiles, a tear running down his face. “Okay, Tyler,” he whispers.

TK pulls back to look at him, pouting when Carlos grins. “I’m going to regret that.”

#911 lone star #tarlos #tarlos fic #30 days of tarlos #my writing #tk x carlos #firefighter Carlos! au #soooo this is now going to be a 4 part series #ending tomorrow cause i have no self-control

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coinofstone · 4 years ago

Text

5x12 The Diamond of the Day pt 1

Final two episodes! Big finale! Why am I making myself cry in the middle of the afternoon! Both eps in this post.

I do love that they made Arthur a sore loser

Enter treacherous white woman #2. Srsly it was lazy writing when they did it for Mordred, it's worse now with Gwaine.

I do love the actual Round Table war room discussion but a) why isn't Merlin seated at the round table and b) why does Leon have so much goddamn faith in Camelot's walls? Like??? You literally said the same thing last year and yet Camelot *did* fall when Agravaine brought an army through the tunnels!

Poor Aithusa. Kid's had a rough life.

I do love Arthur responding to Merlin presenting him with all his supplies ready - which he prepared without his magic mind you - with suspicion 😂

But then he calls Merlin a coward and it's sad

Katie has such a great voice. That entire thing in the cave from her taunting to her laughter to the spell, it just just beautifully played.

Whole ass battle to prepare for and Arthur is just walking around moping cuz Merlin isn't there

So, Merlin's father-vision telling him he's magic itself and he just needs to believe in himself to get his magic going again, does this mean he *didn't* need to go to the cave to get it back? Cuz it seems like he needed to recharge in the cave itself, his injuries were healed when he woke up. That seems like magic cave stuff to me.

Also that "always have been and always will be" - I'm taking to mean 'always have been' in the sense that since he's 'magic itself' even before he was born, his magic existed in other, intangible forms, like we are all stardust etc. But now that he is, he will always be, aka he will not die.

Arthur waking up with his wife in his arms and Merlin's name on his lips, jumping out of bed to act on dream-info.

Balinor telling Merlin to trust in what will be.... like bitch that is literally not how this ends.

5x13 The Diamond of the day pt 2

You know that gif of the cat knocking everything off the table? That's literally Merlin shooting lightning at everyone from his perch on the ridge.

I have a lot of snarky things to say about Merlin coming out of the cave in full Dragoon gear and riding a horse instead of teleporting like the other witches but I'ma keep that to myself.

Mordred is a bitch and Aithusa has terrible aim. At least Aithusa's loyalty to Morgana makes sense.

Arthur said oh shit I'm magic - oh wait no it's that old man again

He also straight up "No! Bad dragon!"-ed Aithusa

Y'know, for all I've watched this episode and screamed about Arthur's death, I don't think I've ever focused on the exact moment he gets stabbed before.

Mordred catches him from behind and he meets it, no fault there. But as soon as he realizes his assailant is the knight who turned on him and joined Morgana, what does he do? HE LOWERS HIS FUCKING SWORD

He leaves himself wide fucking open and vulnerable and Mordred seizes the opportunity. I understand wanting the moment of recognition for Arthur, but on what planet is a trained warrior going to drop his sword mid-attack because he recognizes his attacker as a dude who only just recently decided to forsake him? It's soooooo dumb

There was a whole sequence a few episodes back where Mordred and Arthur are sparring, the point of it was to show that Mordred has become a skilled swordsman. So what exactly was the point in having Mordred run Arthur through as soon as Arthur idiotically lets his guard down? This should've been a meticulously choreographed sword fight, with Mordred getting the upper hand and sticking Arthur properly. Not this nonsense. Look at Arthur's FACE! Oh, Mordred... 👉👈 do you maybe wanna be friends again- STAB ... guess not

Uther's been rolling in his grave but he's taking an extra tumble watching Arthur forget all his skills and training in that moment.

I do appreciate Arthur getting Mordred back though. Like that moment of merciless anger followed by the hurt and regret playing on Arthur's face, warring with surety and responsibility. It was good.

I've rewatched the big confession scene about 16 times just now.

I don't quite understand why Merlin took Arthur to the woods to begin with. Instead of bringing him to the med tent in the battlefield or back to Camelot. What was the reason?

Merlin saying it feels strange (to use magic freely in front of Arthur) and him just going 'yeah' completely deadpan makes me laugh every time.

I really feel like Arthur's head should be elevated at a further incline if he's going to be fed.

Gaius refusing to outright expose Merlin as the sorcerer but nonetheless letting Gwen figure it out on her own warms my heart.

My God Arthur is sitting there dying, feeling betrayed about his best friend 'lying' to him, and still he can't stop himself from looking at Merlin's mouth.

Percival summoned MUSCLE POWER

Hey um random but why does Gwaine even know where Merlin and Arthur are headed? Why would Gaius tell him?

Arthur looks at Merlin so lovingly after he's killed Morgana 😭😭

And now he's literally grabbing at the man's hand 😭 "just hold me, please"

That's gotta be the gayest death scene in television history. If you can watch that without thinking Arthur puts his hand on the back of Merlin's head because some part of him wants to bring him down for a kiss, or that "just hold me, please" is in any way shape or form a 'bros' thing, and certainly not at all an intentional mirror/callback to Isolde dying in Tristan's arms, then I'm afraid you are what we professionals refer to as a dumb-as-nails fucknugget, more commonly phrased as 'willfully ignorant'.

"All that you have dreamt of building has come to pass" yeah except for the whole, y'know, magic still being illegal thing.

I've said this before, but, while I'm sure there was a determined intention to have Arthur die in his armor, probably in some kind of attempt to make sure the audience knows he's died a warrior's death, I *really* think it was kinda stupid that Merlin never removed it, despite Arthur being weak, despite the fact that there was something like five days between him getting stabbed and him actually dying, despite that for the duration of that time they were traveling or hiding out. Merlin managed to produce a cloak to put on Arthur, why did he need the full armor on that whole time? Like even if they left the chainmail on, those plates on his shoulder were just getting in the way, and it looked quite uncomfortable.

Also not for nothing but Lancelot got like, every flower in the forest surrounding lush verdant greens in his death boat, Arthur gets a bunch of sticks.

It suddenly occurs to me, watching this now, that the reason Leon/Percival is such a common side pairing in Merthur fics, is because these two motherfuckers are the only original Knights of the Round Table to survive the series. 🤦‍♀️ I dunno how I failed to notice that before now. My stupidity amazes me.

I'm *really* glad they decided to do this scene with Gwen wearing the Pendragon red dress instead of the black mourning dress. Yes she looks fabulous in it but it's more the symbolism than the 'reality' - with Gwen wearing her house's colors it represents a continuation rather than a finality. Camelot will go on, Gwen will undoubtedly end the war on magic and with Morgana dead (and frankly, I think by now she already brought about the death of all the angry incel type rulers in Albion) there stands to reason her reign will begin with a period of peace, possibly longer than Arthur's. We kind of have to assume that the 'time the poets speak of' is, inevitably, Gwen's reign - which only came about through Arthur's death. It's a little bit toooo subtle in my opinion, but at the same time, I understand the need for the focus on Merlin and Arthur - after all, this show was their journey - not leaving much time to focus on Gwen and Camelot in the aftermath of Arthur's death.

I will just say, the first time I watched this that fucking truck scared the ever living shit out of me. I also just immediately, viscerally hated that scene and declared it invalid - but I think it was because the truck made me jump out of my skin. It has since grown on me, particularly once I started reading 'Arthur Returns' fic.

Everything beyond this point is post-series spec and headcanon, so if that's not your jam you can exit safe in the knowledge that as usual, if there's anything worth commenting on in the S5 extras, I will create a separate post!

For those interested, my go-to post-series fic is We Begin Again by katherynefromphilly I fully headcanon this series as the continuation of the series.

I have a lot of thoughts about Gwen and Merlin post-Camlann.

For one, poor fucking Gwen. She's lost her father, her brother, and her husband, all by what, age 30? That's rough. And who knows what happened to her mom, that was pre-series and I don't think it was ever mentioned.

Merlin, dear god poor Merlin. First of all, I just wanna say straight off that my instinctive headcanon about Merlin was that he never returned to Camelot. I couldn't really say why exactly. I just don't think he could stand being there after Arthur's death. But practically speaking, Merlin's still got Aithusa to deal with, that dragon needs some godsdamned house training asap. He's still the last Dragonlord, it's reasonable to assume he'd immediately take that on considering Aithusa is partially responsible for Arthur's death (the sword Mordred killed Arthur with, only succeeded in killing Arthur because it had been forged in Aithusa's fire-breath) so he's either going to attempt to train the bad behaviors out of Aithusa, or...well...

The only thing is, I do not believe Merlin would abandon Gwen, or Gaius. So my hc is inherently flawed. I do think Merlin probably spend a couple months with his mum, and I do think he ultimately settled near lake Avalon waiting for Arthur's return.

But I do wonder, what must their relationship have been like? Gwen, surely, would've sought his guidance in establishing laws governing the use of magic. And surely, peace cannot last indefinitely, so Merlin absolutely would've defended Camelot and protected Gwen. There's just no way he could've completely turned his back on them, but I doubt he could bear living in Camelot. And Gwen is both strong and practical enough to get on without him there 24/7, even though I'm sure she'd miss him.

I also think she would've found love again. Whether with Leon, as many people hc, or someone else not in the series.

ANYWAY.

Thanks to everyone who came on this journey with me. I will post comments on the extras if I have anything worth saying - and I think I'll do a master post linking all these episode posts after I clean them up once I get time to sit at a computer and do so. Until then! 💙💚

(Gif source) (h/t @shut-up-merlin)

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #onceandfuturerewatch #5x12 #5x13 #5x12 the diamond of the day pt 1 #5x13 the diamond of the day pt 2 #bbc merlin 5x12 #bbc merlin 5x13 #merlin 5x12 #merlin 5x13 #the diamond of the day #the diamond of the day pt1 #the diamond of the day pt2 #for the love of Camelot

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casualcatte · 4 years ago

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RP Journal: 08/07/2020

Ah, all it takes is a nice trip out to the Night Raid Bounty Call to set the world to rights and remind you that the thrill of the hunt is one of the best things in life. As I stood in line to turn in my reward token, I was surprised to see Loksia put in an appearance. I know I invited her out and all, but I hadn’t really expected anything. She offered for us to take up a bounty together, so I let her peruse the bounty board while I waited in line.

[ Courtesy cut for another LONG one, folks! ]

Not long after that, R’zunh and Yihmu’ra came stumbling in with a mylodon head between them. Oschon’s Compass, it was enormous! I hadn’t realized they’d taken on something so formidable. The two of them looked downright thrashed. Nan’to quickly took care of them, so I stayed in line to get my turn-in done. There would be plenty of time to see them after they’d been tended to.

By the time I got back to Loksia, she’d picked out a coral-fetching assignment for us that seemed fairly easy. For my own part, I picked up the bounty for a mated pair of birds out in Yanxia that needed to be taken alive. That should be a good indicator of Edgard’s skill. After all, killing a hunt is an easy enough matter, but bringing one in alive is a whole new level of complexity, especially when these birds need to be harmed as little as possible.

More waiting in line as we posted our bounties with the Bounty Officers, after which I decided to take a few minutes to check on Zunh and Mu’ra. For all that we may be new friends, I grew up around hunters in Tailfeather. Hunters, near and far, are family by extension to me. I couldn’t /not/ check on them and make sure they were okay. It would’ve gone against my entire upbringing.

By the time I got there, Nan’to was done patching them up, so all they really needed was help getting to the common room. I helped with that and, once they were seated, I brought out the bottles of kumis. Injured or not, I wasn’t about to let the two of them welch on a deal! They promised, so they must perform! Besides, maybe this alcohol was strong enough to make them forget their pain for a while.

Each of us took turns drinking, including a new friend in Z’rhun Tia. Yes, journal, that’s right. There is now a Zuhn and a Rhun in my life. Like I didn’t have enough trouble keeping Edmond and Edgard straight at the time, now I have these two. At least they don’t /look/ alike, for pity’s sake! One last victi--hunter joined in our shenanigans, an elezen by name of Zanshin Kutabare. Somehow, Loksia convinced him to drink an /entire/ jug of kumis on his own and that elezen was tra-a-a-ashed. He literally threw himself over the balustrade and fell down the stairs to the bar room, simply because he had to pee. Man, kumis is some pretty strong stuff. And nasty. I’m never drinking it again. I saved the last bottle to give to Nan’to, since he apparently likes the stuff. I considered ita thank you for all that he’d done for Zuhn and Mu’ra.

The night wore on and it was clear that Mu’ra had way too much to drink, so it fell to me and Rhun to get both of those silly cattes to bed. I even had to go so far as to take off Zunh’s boots and tuck him in. I did tell him if he asked for a glass of water or a nightlight that I’d sock him in the nose. Immediately after those two, Rhun and I had to put the elezen /back/ to bed, only then were we able to call it quits.

We stopped over in the lobby for a bit and had the opportunity to talk to Tetsuyo Wulf and Nan’to for a bit. Tetsuyo seems really easy to talk to once you get him going. We chatted about common things for a bit and he told us of a big feast and festival they’ll be throwing next week, I think. Of course I plan on being there. What crazy catte says no to free food? Rhun seemed to have the same idea. But it was closing time, so it really wouldn’t have been polite to linger.

Rhun and I shared a boat back to Kugane and that’s where we parted ways. I carried my batch of wool back to Bokairo, then took myself down to the Kogane Dori to see if I could haggle some decent prices to sell it. I wasn’t about to mail twenty skeins of wool to Lorrendor in Ul’dah.

Speaking of Lorrendor, he snuck up on me while I was in the market. He came all the way from Ul’dah simply to visit me, he said. We sat in the garden near the embassies again, since it’s one of my favorite places in the city. But all that seemed to concern Lorrendor was Edgard. Edgard, Edgard, Edgard. Why was I taking Edgard hunting? Why was I testing Edgard’s ability? Edgard was probably such a better hunting partner. For Twelve’s sake, what is it about Edgard that concerns him so?

He brought up the hunt again, how we “nearly died.” Gods be good and grant me patience, we didn’t almost die. Yes, I got hurt, but that was through my own stupidity and ill-preparation. The bara was critically wounded and bleeding out. It wouldn’t have had the strength to kill either one of us! I’m a seasoned enough hunter to see that, so why couldn’t he?

It’s so INFURIATING how he treats me like a child and this isn’t for the first time. Why can’t he simply let me be who I am without trying to stifle me at every opportunity? I’m not his responsibility, I don’t want to be. Friend or not, caring or not, I am who I am. He either accepts this or he doesn’t.

Then he had to mention Tristane. He had to /use/ Tristane against me, like his over-protectiveness was the same. It’s not. It never could be. Tristane’s came from a place of love, a place of hope for our future together, of the dreams we hoped to weave. This is nothing close to the same.

I struck him. I know that it was wrong. My temper gets the better of me. I was just so angry, that he’d even try to put himself in the same league as Tris. Angry that he would try to use Tris as leverage for his overprotective nature. I couldn’t believe it. He went on to say I don’t want or need his manner of caring. I sure as /hell/ don’t if it means stifling me at every opportunity and trying to shelter me like I’m some defenseless waif.

Edgard. He kept mentioning Edgard. As if Edgard were as important to me as Tris. Surprise! He’s not either. Neither of them is Tris. Neither of them could be. We’re all three of us broken. And broken things can’t put one another back together.

It was after all this that Lorrendor decided to tell me he has feelings for me as “more than a friend.” /Gods./ WHY. What could he possibly have feelings about? He doesn’t know me, he’s barely known me a fortnight! I can’t imagine what I’ve done or said that’s so earth-shattering as to inspire these feelings. I’m strong-willed, independent, with all the manners of a cave coeurl. I don’t get it. I don’t.

I don’t have feelings for him OR for Edgard beyond friendship. I like them both for my own reasons, but both of them have a lot of baggage that they need to deal with first before they’d be good relationship fodder for /anyone/, not just me.

Lorrendor says that it’s simply the man he is, like I’m supposed to accept that and be fine with it. Yet, on the same token, he can’t accept that I am the way I am. If we can’t accept such major parts of each other, how on Eorzea can we be anything other than friends? Even as friends I get annoyed when Lor smothers me. I don’t want it. I don’t want to be protected. I don’t want to be left behind while he goes to fight the big bad alone in order to keep me out of harm’s way. He can’t seem to understand that.

He went on to say that he cares about me. If he cared about me, then he wouldn’t have brought up Tristane. Certainly not in the /way/ he brought him up. Why do men have to be so /stupid/ and muck up a perfectly good friendship? I never should have taken him on that hunt. That seemed to be where everything went sideways. Or maybe it was his whole trip to Kugane, after that first night, something in him began to shift and by the end of it, I hardly knew him as the same Lorrendor I’d met in the Quicksand.

He finally gave it up as a lost cause and left, presumably to go back to Ul’dah. Gods be good, let him go find some other woman to swoon and sigh and want to be protected by him. It’s never going to be me.

Still, I was glad that he went. Bringing up Tristane hurt far more than I thought it would. I cried, for the first time in a long time. I cried so much because Tris deserved a better fate than he got. Tris loved me more than anything and we’d planned to have a Bonding Ceremony right there in Tailfeather where we met. We had our whole lives ahead of us and it was all burned to ash in one stupid moment when he decided to fight the Bandersnatch Alpha on his own, rather than follow the plan we’d made for weeks. All in order to protect me, to keep me out of harm’s way. Is it any wonder that I hate it? It robbed me of the one person who ever thought the world of me, who believed I could do anything, except for that one hunt. Idiot.

I never expect Edgard to show up at the times he does, it’s almost as if the hand of fate is determined to make my life a misery. Naturally, I was still crying from memories of Tris, which won a quip from the Ishgardian about how I actually had emotional reactions to things. Idiot. Of course I have feelings! Just because I don’t show them to /him/ doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

What happened next… I can’t even really explain what happened. I vented, he listened, we traded our usual banter, though my heart wasn’t really in it until near the end. He told me to visualize a target as Lorrendor and throw rocks at it. I chose the bridge across the pond. Admittedly, I’m a pretty good shot with rocks. Bridge-Lorrendor would’ve been rendered unconscious with a pretty serious concussion. Between the banter, the venting, and the rock-throwing, though, I actually felt better. Edgard really can be a good friend when he puts his mind to it. It’s strange.

At the end of the night, he asked me if I was going to brood or if I’d need him there to hold his hand. There was something in the way he said it, something that made it seem like /not/ taking his hand yesterday had bothered him. So, I took it tonight.

He had on those spiky, reticulated gauntlets that dragoons favor, I thought for sure I was about to cut myself on one, but I took his hands in both of mine anyway. I held him like that for a moment and -- maybe it was just my imagination -- he seemed /dumbfounded/ by it. Edgard, the Perpetually Glib and Effervescent with his flirtations and witty rejoinders was rendered /speechless/ by me holding his hand. Gods, if I’d known that was all it took to shut him up, I’d have done it long ago.

Still, I was grateful for the good turn he’d done in cheering me up, whatever small kindness I could give him in that moment… he deserved it.

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clairen45 · 5 years ago

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Reaction to D23 trailer

It’s finally here, and it didn’t disappoint. Worth the hype. This won’t be articulate or in-depth...

I love how it starts with the binary sunsets. Because it has to.

Basically this will remain a story of two.Two sides, twins, a love story, master and apprentice, two. It is also interesting that they chose to show us nostalgic clips not in chronological diegetic order (that is to say in the order of the story as it is supposed to be told, so PT, then OT, then ST), but in the chronological order we have received the story as an audience. I found it kind of weird they did...But anyhow.

The clips highlight the bonds and connections between individuals: brother/sister, lovers, master/apprentice, father/son, husband/wife, mother/son, friends, to emphasize the fact that this is, above all, a saga in the truest sense of the word: the story of a family throughout generations (with the voice over doubling on that idea). The one that got straight to my heart is the one that goes right after “this is your fight”. What is the fight about? Love and family. Right. With, not respecting chronology again, that one first.

Followed by a series of hand touch: Rey/Maz, Han/Kylo, Rey/Finn. Holding out hands to a stranger or to a loved one.

The combination of “this is your fight” and the smut hut hand scene was just delightful...

Moments:

1)Pasaana

That’s what we have got the more so far in terms of scenery. This was heavily featured in the teaser from April with the Tie scene, the skiff chase, and the VF photoshoot, and the prince in the desert leaks... The whole gang seems to be here (minus Rose, where are you my love?). This looks somewhat liek a festive place (think summer festival) rather than a dreary Tusken village or whatever. More festive than Tatooine or Jakku. Pasaana system it is, with locals named Aki Aki, that wear colorful clothes and jewelry. Wonder if we could get some music there... and even some dance, rituals? something that got cut out from TLJ. Wonder if this will happen fairly early in the movie, since rumor has it that is where they could meet Jannah... One thing we could expect: a fight between the gang and the KOR, since they were featured in the same location on the VF photoshoot. And these wonderful shots from Rey and Kylo...

2)Jungle queens

Leia in the jungle, whom we have already scene hugging a crying Rey. Why is this a favorite? Because of the Endor vibe, guys!

Leia was rocking a braid around her head that is a bit like the one we got from TLJ and which is supposed to be a mourning style from her home planet of Alderaan. Mourning for Han in a landscape that is very much like the one from Endor adds on the symbolism. Especially when the planet is also infamously home to baby Ben making... Now, is this Endor or a likewise planet? We have Rey training in a similar landcsape in the trailer, and there were leaked photos of the MF on a lush planet... Oh and by the way what is this red thing on her wrist when she catches the saber boomerang style? Interesting choice of color? Is it foreshadowing? What purpose does it serve?

Forests are the real deal when it comes to secret trysts and taboo love (Guinevere/Lancelot; Tristan/Isolde). Hope we get some of that.

3)Massive battle... This is taking the epic scale to an epic level... WOW

4)Nosferatu C3PO

Raising from his grave (sort of) with evil red eyes... What is going on? Is there such a thing as droid pink eye? Should we be concerned? Is it contagious? Is he controlled by the Sith, possessed as we got from the novel Last Shot from last year, is he rebooting his data and finally accessing previous memories, is everyone just effed up? Creepy-O in teh house... Just at the moment when they tell us the story is “coming to an end”... What we know so far is that he has been featured with Chewbacca’s bowcaster... What’s going on with C3P0? Seriously?

5)Weapon of Mass Destruction... Oh boy here we go again...

6)Forget it THIS IS the Weapon of Mass destruction ...

Step on a crack break your mother’s back... Here comes my Supreme Leader

Note that from there they segue straight into the duel with Rey, which is odd given that this is not the same environment at all. He is not necessarily stomping his way into fighting her, then. Except if this is the rumored psychedelic duel that goes through time and space... The Tie seems in rough shape. Could be the other rumored crashed Tie scene, with Kylo emerging alive from a smoky and trashed Tie fighter...

7)No, no, kiss and make up, kiss and make up!!!!

It looks awesome.

8)The one that has everyone going apeshit...

She looks weird... not even like herself.... Heavily made up, borderline CGI. What I love is that she has the same crackled light as Kylo’s. I would personally go with vision on that one, dreamlike sequence or something... It is quite something to behold though, and I am psyched they went there...

That’s all for now.

#reylo fandom #star wars fandom #rise of skywalker #episode ix trailer #star wars episode 9

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schattenjagd · 5 years ago

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End Of Time Part 1

Author : schattenjagd

Pairing : Elijah Mikaelson x Valerie Augustine (OC)

Word Count : 3.4K

Warnings : Angst, Threats, Violence, my miserable grammar

Author’s Note : A story that haunted me too long to not write it down. Sets place at the beginning of 3x22

It was a cold night in 1918 when I met Elijah Mikaelson for the very first time. As every year, the Mikaelsons held one of their legendary Christmas Balls, for which they were known in New Orleans.

To be honest, I didn’t even want to attend it. But thanks to the stubbornness of my formerly best friend, I was now standing with a glass champaign in my hand by the big staircase, watching the people on the dance floor moving slowly to the sound of the music.

"I can not understand why you did not want to come. It is great here.”

I rolled my eyes and took another sip of champaign. Of course it was great for Charlotte. She was a young, beautiful woman with the world at her feet, especially the world of men. Something, I could not say about myself. I was more the calmer type. Withdrawn, quiet and rather alone than in large groups. So this was definitely not my thing.

Charlotte disappeared to the dance floor and I continued to wish that this night would end soon.

I emptied my glass and started moving, pushing myself through all the people on my way out to get some air.

"Whither goest thou ? Do you already want to go ?”

I stopped, taking a deep breath and looked at the man, who was standing in front of me. He was young, had eyes as brown as his dark hair.

"Just out of here, getting some air.”

"Oh, shall I keep you company ?”

"Thank you, that’s very kind, but not necessary.”

"I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Kol, Kol Mikaelson.”

I held my breath. Great, this intrusive guy was part of the family that was responsible for all this here. I visibly felt unwell in my skin. Kol Mikaelson was unsympathetic to me and something about him made my neck hairs stand up. And I could not even do anything about it.

"Is everything alright ?”

I looked up. Another man came from the left, also a glass champaign in hand and was now looking back and forth between me and Kol.

"Of course, brother. I was just wondering why such a beautiful woman would want to get out of here so fast.”

"Maybe you shouldn’t be so intrusive, Kol. There you have your answer.”

I would never forget the look on his face when he told him that. I tried hard to hide the grin on my lips, as Kol slowly went away.

"I hope he did not bother you. My brother can be, well, he knows how to make a person feel uncomfortable and did not even notice it.”

I slowly nodded. "I know what you mean.”

"I’m Elijah Mikaelson. Nice to meet you.”

He took my hand and placed a light kiss on my knuckles and for the first time this evening I was smiling.

"Valerie Augustine.”

Now it was him, who slowly nodded. "Charlotte told me about her German friend. Wie gefällt Ihnen der Ball, Miss Augustine (Do you enjoy the ball, Miss Augustine ?)”

My face lighted up and I could not do anything about it. I laughed a little bit. "Very good.”

It has been a long time since I last heard someone talking to me in my native language and even with the English accent, it sounded like music in my ears.

"I think, you just made the evening a little better”, I smiled.

That was the first time we met and to be honest, it didn’t take us very long to realize, that we were the missing part of each other. We got married in 1921, I got to know his “big” secret in 1922 and my only reaction has been a laugh and a "What ? That’s your big secret ?”

After I nearly died because of pneumonia, he turned me one year later.

And now I was standing here, in the inner courtyard of the Mikaelson estate, with all of Klaus’ enemies around us.

I swallowed hard. We defeated Tristan and Aurora, we defeated Lucien and now we made another enemy, we created a beast : Marcel Gerard. And something was telling me, that he wouldn’t stop until every one of us would be dead.

"I thought my friend was dead”, Klaus began and I took a quick glance in his direction. "And now here you are. So send these fools away and let’s talk. You and me.”

I swallowed again and looked at Elijah. "Talking won’t work, he knows that, does he ?” I spoke quietly in Elijah's direction, who had already pushed me protectively behind him at the beginning of this upcoming chaos.

"It’s Niklaus.” Was his answer.

"Right.”

"Is that relief that I hear in your voice ? If I hadn’t been one step ahead of you, I would be at the bottom of the river.”

"Marcel, your anger is with me”, Elijah began and I tried to reach for his hand, but he pushed it away, as he took some steps in Marcel's direction. "I am the one who is responsible for this crime against you.”

Elijah’s sight from last night flashed up in my mind. I’ve never seen him like that before, I’ve never seen him so broken how he has been last night. And I know how he must feel now. Marcel lives and now he treats the lives of all of us.

"One thing I learned, sticking around this family, Elijah. We take on one of you, we take on all of you. These guys, Klaus’ sirelinks, they’re here to bear witness today.”

"Are you planning to put on a little show, Marcellus ?”

Kol walked by me and I watched him stand next to Elijah.

"Damn straight, I am. The fall of the Mikaelsons. And guess what ? The show is already starting.”

"I know you’re hurt. I loved Davina, too. And it would break her heart to see you like this.”

"Don’t mention her name. If it weren’t for you, she’d still be alive.”

Kol pushed Marcel's hand away. "But she’s not. This is an insult to her memory.”

I already saw how Marcels raised his hand, right before it landed on Kols chest and he flew back.

I ran between them, raised my hands in each direction to stop them.

"Go away, Valerie”, Marcel's voice was dark and threatening, but it didn’t scare me. There have been times he didn’t even think about raising his hand against me.

"No, I won’t”, I spoke and gave him a sharp look. "I know how you must feel, Marcel. I know how it feels to lose everything. And I am sorry for what happened with Davina. But did you really think we did it voluntary ? Did you really think Kol watched the love of his life die without doing anything ? Don’t you think that it hurt him probably more than it hurt you ? But we do things like that. We do everything for our family. A family you once have been a part of.”

"Yeah, and look how I ended up. Your husband, the one you say you’d love, ripped my heart out of my chest, without hesitating. What do you think would happen to you, if you would become such a treat like I am now ? Do you really believe they would trust you and you wouldn’t end up like me ? Dead and with a torn out heart ?

That was enough. Even for me. I raised my hand and slapped him so hard his head fell to the side and a big red handprint now graced the left side of his face.

"Don’t you dare say that again. I am a Mikaelson. And I protect my family at whatever it costs. Even if it means to tore your heart out as Elijah did.”

I watched how the veins under his eyes became visible, how his eyes grew redder and redder and how his sharp teeth grew over his lips.

And then everything went so fast. Marcel came into my direction and within the blink of an eye, I felt his fist in my stomach and a few seconds later, I bounced hard against the stone wall a few meters away.

I spat the blood in my mouth to the side and tried to get up, but the blackness in my field of vision did not disappear. I didn’t doubt that I broke a few bones. Marcel was stronger. Too strong.

And that was exactly what made Elijah's way overflow. He ran with Klaus to Marcel, attacked him with so much anger and aggressiveness that I haven’t seen on him for a long time. Klaus punched him right in the face, Elijah gave Marcel a hard kick, but nothing seemed to work. It didn’t take Marcel very long until Klaus landed right beside me, also trying to catch his breath. But he recovered quickly from the injuries of the impact. Of course he did. If I were a thousand-year-old hybrid, a small impact wouldn’t turn me off, too.

Now it was only Elijah fighting against the beast. And he was good. He was really good.

"Are you okay ?”

I swallowed and clung to Klaus’ sweater as he helped me up.

And then I heard the sound that I am not gonna drive out of my thoughts even years later.

"Elijah.”

It was only a whisper. I wasn’t able for more. My eyes widened, as did Klaus’. Marcel looked up from Elijah's arm and the bite he made there. His head fell back like he would enjoy every second of this.

Elijah flew through the air, rolled over the floor a few meters away from me.

I let out a furious scream as I started moving, punching Marcel as hard as I could right after Kol did.

I was thrown back. And then another scream.

Kol was the next victim. Right after Marcel bit him in the neck, he broke his neck and threw him against the same wall as me before.

No one hurts my family and lives. No one.

I started for the next shot. Marcel initially avoided me until I kicked him in the pit of his stomach and then a punch to his jaw, where I could feel the bones breaking under my hand.

But I should have seen it coming. Within the blink of an eye, in which I thought I had weakened him and could start with the next stroke, he was behind me as fast as lightning, twisted my arms painfully behind my back and broke them so that I screamed painfully. He roughly pushed my head to one side and released my neck. I could feel his teeth scratching over the tender skin there.

"Stop it, now.” He said threatening.

I swallowed hard and pressed my jaws together. I tried to move, but he just saw it as an invitation to keep twisting my arms behind my back and painfully moved the already broken bones. I groaned in pain.

He laughed. "Are you really that stupid ? I’m like what ? Three, four times your age, little girl ?”

I snorted.

"Do you want to be the next one ?”

I pressed my eyes shut as I felt his sharp teeth against my skin, ready to feel the pain.

"Stop it.”

I opened my eyes, just to see how Elijah approached us. His suit was dirty and torn, the blood from the

wound on his left wrist dripped more with every passing second.

"It is me, you want, Marcellus.”

I shook my head gently. "Elijah, no”, I whispered.

"Am I right ? It was me who is responsible for Davina's death, it was me who tore your heart out, So let her go and I swear : You will get your revenge.”

Marcel paused. I could hear how he held his breath and I could almost feel the scornful grin spreading out on his lips.

He released me, shoved me roughly to the side. Then he made a welcoming gesture, meaning to Klaus and Elijah that they could attack him if they dared.

My view wandered to my best friend and it was the first time in a while that I saw the hybrid inside him. Klaus’ eyes turned in a frighting yellow, his teeth grew and the veins under his eyes became darker than the ones of other vampires.

"Stop !”

"Rebekah.”

Marcel seemed as surprised as I was, as Rebekah suddenly stood between them. Hayley. What would we do without her ?

"Hayley has Hope and Freya. Take Valerie and our brothers and go now.”

I swallowed. She can’t be serious. If she was thinking Marcel wouldn’t hurt her, then she was wrong.

"Marcel will not hurt me. Not if he knows what’s good for him.”

"Rebekah”, I spoke warningly.”

"Trust me. That would cost him dearly.”

I changed glances with Nik and only his small nod and Elijahs grunting in the background made me turn around. Elijah and Klaus took Kol with vampire speed, while I was supporting Elijah. Now I just wanted to get away from here.

"Freya !”

With our last strength, we made it into the elevator and somehow into Lucien's Penthouse, where Freya and Hayley were looking for an antidote.

While Freya helped Klaus putting Kol on the couch, I used the time to take a look at Elijah’s wound.

"Don’t. Please.”

I glanced up at him, as he caught my wrist mid-air.. "Elijah...”

"We’ll deal with it later.”

He gave me one of these looks he always gave me when he wants to say that everything is going to be alright, but I just couldn’t believe him. Not this time. Not now.

"I’m going to die.”

"You’re not going to die”, Klaus talked to Kol, while Freya tried to calm him down.

"That sounds familiar. Isn’t that what you said to Finn ? And Cami ?”

"Look, Lucien engineered his venom from the seven werewolf packs. So maybe that’s the key to a cure.”

The thought came to me already. But it was impossible to find a cure within the few hours the others had left. Freya spoke my thought out loud : "Oh, great. That’s the first piece in a puzzle none of us will be alive to solve. I’m poisoned, Rebekah’s hexed and our brothers are bitten. We need three different cures to three different ailments. Each of which could take years to find and none of us is making it through the day.”

"Valerie’s helping Hayley with Hope, but I can get her for you.”

Klaus stopped a few feet away from the chair where Elijah was sitting exhaustively. He shook his head softly.

"She’s struggling with this. She’s trying to calm down by distracting herself. Not our finest moment, Niklaus”, the older one began to spoke. It was obvious to him how the wound tore at his strength. Sweat beaded his forehead, Klaus noticed a shiver.

"Please, take care of her. She still has her whole life in front of her. I regret having met her so late.”

"I promise”, Klaus answered softly.

"And take care of Rebekah.”

"I will get our sister and I will make Marcel pay”, Klaus spoke and Elijah closed his eyes at the words of his brother to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes. One fell down anyway.

"No brother, no, no, no. This was not...” He tried to sit up and hissed up in a moment of pain. "This was not Marcel. This was me. This was my fault. I did all of this.”

He twisted his face in pain as he finally got up and closed the button of his tattered sleeve. Klaus sighed at his sight and looked down. He knew exactly what was about to come and at this very moment, he would do anything to stop it. The shattering reality seemed to catch up with him every passing second.

"I can’t do this without you, Elijah.

The two of them would never admit it, but this time both felt this miserable feeling that just this one time nothing be alright again. They had only a few hours left and it was deeply painful to have to admit this now.

And then, Klaus hugged his brother for the first time in ages and closed his eyes, afraid that this would be the last moment with his brother.

"You have to be strong”, Elijah spoke urgently after he took a step back. "We need you.”

It was this time that the bond between these two brothers became as visible as it was hasn’t been for a long time. Klaus looked his older brother in the eyes and nodded slowly.

"You like my hair, don’t you ?”

I smiled softly as Hope took a strand of my hair between her tiny fingers and laughed at the felling of it.

I tried to calm myself down, to think of the few possibilities we had left. Three different aliments, three different cures. There must be away to get some time.

My sight fell to Elijah and Klaus, standing in the guest bedroom on the other side of the apartment. I watched as they hugged and heard how Elijah told my best friend to be strong.

Elijah's eyes met mine and I watched as he finally turned away from Nik and slowly came towards me. My eyes flickered quickly back to Hope, who was still playing with a black lock of hair from me.

"How are you ?”

I looked up to him. He was standing just a few centimeters away from me. He seemed weak. I could see how he shuddered with every heavy breath he made. I raised a brow.

"Shouldn’t I ask you that ?”

A weak smile graced his lips. My eyes went to Hayley. "Would you mind ?” I pointed to Hope.

"Of course not.”

"Let’s go to your mum, Süße (German for Cutie)”, I spoke and gave her to Hayley.

I looked at Elijah and nodded to the bedroom to get some distance between us and the others.

"Tell me you have a plan.”

I looked him directly in the eyes, but with every passing second, my hopes shrank. He just avoided my looks and I swallowed hard. "’Lijah...”

I took a deep breath and looked around. Then I took a step in his direction and raised a hand to put it softly on his cheek. "Okay, hey, look at me. We will survive this. We survived your father, we survived Esther and Dhalia. I will be damned if we won’t survive this defiant toddler of Marcel.”

"I do not think that that is how it works this time.”

I shook my head but couldn’t stop tears from forming in my eyes. "No, don’t say that. I refuse to believe that this is the ending.”

"I have been walking on this earth for over a millennium now, Valerie...”

"So what ? How much of that time have we spent together? That cannot be the end. No, that can not ...” My voice broke.

"Shhh”, was the only thing Elijah said as he pulled me to his chest and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I could feel a tear falling on my skin there.

My fingers clung to his dress shirt as if it was a lifebuoy that saved me from drowning. I slowly looked up to him and in his eyes, just to see that they were as filled with tears as mine were. "What about Manosque ? We didn’t make it there.”

He strained a strand of my dark hair behind my ear. "We will. One day.”

I ran my tongue over my dry lips. My throat felt tight and dusty. "Always and forever even after death ?”

"Always and forever.”

I forced myself to smile as I leaned up to him and placed my lips on his. I clung myself to him as if it’d be the last time that we kissed and maybe it was. I could feel his tears on my cheek as he could feel mine and I didn’t want this kiss to end because that would mean to get back into cruel reality and the only thing I wanted right now was to stop time and find a solution for all of this.

But time didn’t love us anymore. And I still refused to believe it.

#Elijah mikaelson #elijah x oc #elijah mikealson imagine #klaus mikaelson #marcel gerard #Angst #Elijah mikaelson oneshot #Oneshot #The originals #Vampires #The Vampire Diaries #To #Tvd #Fluff #New Orleans

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thorsstorms · 5 years ago

Text

Abroad Pt. 13

(Chris Hemsworth x Reader)

Summary: Being the Hemsworth Kids’ Nanny, you were vowed to keep it strictly professional for their sake, but do the stolen glances go unnoticed between you both?

Word count: 4k

Warnings: None

A/N: if you want to be tagged, PLEASE SEND AS AN ASK.

Masterlist

“Okay, I’m going to pick you up after school, and don’t forget your lunch is-” She completely ignored him and went straight to a table with a few other kids and picked out her own coloring sheet from the pile in the middle. He watched confused, almost offended that she was so comfortable with this while his palms were sweaty, drawing against his thighs to dry them.

“Hello! I am Mrs. DeCarlo,” she reached for your hand, and then his next, introducing yourselves. “I have a flyer for you both. It’s just a little bit about me, what is going to be going on in the classroom this year, and all my contact information if need be.”

You retrieve the paper from her manicured fingers, glancing over it seeing a small syllabus along with an email and phone number. You handed him the paper while you called one of the boys back over to you, Tristan was the wanderer.

After some convincing from the teacher that she was going to be fine, regardless of his excuses, you left and headed for some breakfast with the boys. The small breakfast place was enough to remind you of one back home. The classic breakfast bar seating and the cute red leather booths were feeding into your longing. the aroma of the diner was immediatly making you want a stack of pancakes and sweet tea but you knew it would just make you sick.

Breakfast had not been your friend lately, it was a battle you couldn’t win. If you ate, you would throw it up afterwards, and if you didn’t eat, the nausea would still hit with a headache like you were starving yourself. You ordered a bowl of fruit and picked at some oatmeal, but you knew it was coming. Chris noticed your lack of eating but didn’t say anything, just a sorry look hiding behind his mug of coffee. The steaming was just enough to hide his lingering curious stare and a somewhat paled face while you avoided the food you did want.

“Papa can you always take Indy to school, and can I always go eat breakfast?” Tristan dropped his fork back on his plate so he could talk to him. The moment was just enough to drag his attention to the mans twinned blue eyes looking back at him. You were always so fascinated by the sentences that they compose in their minds. Always able to see their little gears turning but never know what is actually going on up there.

Chris turned his head towards him when he started, watching him speak. “How about everytime I come home, we can get breakfast. Deal?”

“Deal,” he said, turning back to his pancakes. “But, how many times are you coming home for?” Chris was able to decipher what he was trying to say while trying to hide a smirk from his grammar, it was too cute to ignore.

“Bubba do you remember when I go to work, and I get to fight the monsters?” Tristan nodded as he continued. “Well I only have to fight the monsters for two more years, and then they will be all gone!”

“You have to make them all dead?” Tristan furrowed his eyebrows seeming sceptical.

“Yeah, now you eat your breakfast so you can get big and fight them with me.”

Back home from breakfast, Chris immediately took to the couch in front of the tv and just sat there with the boys asking to play the Wii. After it was turned on you joined him, pulling a blanket from the back of the couch.

“Scoot over,” you asked him, after he took it upon himself to stretch across the couch. A smirk occupied his face when he didn’t move, not one inch.

“Ok you asked for it,” you pulled the blanket around your shoulders and dipped a knee between his legs to bow down. He was now your bed and he wasn’t allowed to complain.

He opened his arms for you to slide into. “You’re not very comfy,” you complained, but it was half-assed. He stayed silent thinking in his own thoughts. He didn't say anything when you picked up one of his hands and drew it up to your hair for him, but instead moved on autopilot knowing what it meant. His fingers dragging across your hair was the melting point of your own will. He didn't need to think about your actions, well, that action at least.

Into the afternoon, Chris left to go pick her up while the boys were down for a nap, a nap that was getting increasingly harder to maintain. She came in tossing her bag to the floor and talking a million miles an hour about new names you hadn’t heard before, what she did today, how excited she was to go back tomorrow. While you were ecstatic to hear she had a great first day, all it took was one look before she got the gist and picked her bag off the ground where it didn’t belong.

Later that night you got to trail the grocery store by yourself. It may not sound like much, but the silence and calmness of getting to do it alone and not in a rush was almost meditation worthy. Stalking up on lunch things for India, a few items for some yummies that you had pinned, and of course all the basics.

The sound of your ringtone coming from your purse in the basket drew your eyes away from the selection of nausea meds coating the shelves. When you see Bri’s name on screen you almost wanted to mute it and just continue shopping in peace but you knew her too well. She wont stop till you answer or text.

You answered the call and figured you would give her the benefit of the doubt, “Yes?”

“Damn I hope you don’t always answer the phone like that.” You fought the urge to roll your eyes. She says she doesn’t need anything, but she was bored and wanted to see what you were up to. She, of course, likes to get nosey, as always, “So, have you decided to wife him up yet?”

“Bri! Jesus Christ give it a rest would you?” The girl is relentless, she can’t even talk to you lately without needing yes or no answers.

“Yea yea whatever, It’s not like you can have babies for two more years anyway.” Confusion crossed your mind before, oh yeah, she demands you tell her everything, even some super-secret contract details that you guiltily spilled in a moment of weakness about him preparing to leave. Who were you kidding, you can’t hide anything from her. Even though you don’t live together anymore she will prod until there is nothing left to tell, got to love her. Two years till he was able to take a break.

“Well what about you? Actually, I don’t want to know. Just please don’t make me an auntie before he goes to the Major Leagues.” As much as the idea appealed to you, you both knew what Ty’s goals were. A Brewers uniform and nothing less.

“Well the next draft isn’t until June next year, and even then I would have to wait another year.” You stopped to think about it… that doesn’t make sense. Your math skills were never the best.

“Then just don’t use the same birth control,” you said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “When you go next time just don’t get the bar again.”

“No, you airhead, we just got it again. They last three years.” Excusing the name calling that you were about to return, you corrected her.

“They last four years, Bri.”

“No, (y/n), It’s three,” You stopped your steps in the middle of the shampoo aisle. She continues to tell you off to prove her point. Reminding you how you both got them at the same time from the same doctor when you moved to Gold Coast in the first place. She never slowed, always had to be right.

You were listening to her rant about how you better have been using rubbers while you stood frozen in the isle, a look of shock and realization tainted your features.

Her rambling about getting it out asap was almost tuned out while you thought to yourself. When was your last cycle?

You couldn’t remember.

“Bri, I think I’m going to be sick.” You replied to her, telling her about how you haven’t been able to eat breakfast lately, the morning when he came home a few days ago. Listening and agreeing, you found yourself wandering back towards the pharmaceuticals.

“Will you come over?” You asked, while eyeing the stupid three boxes in the basket, opting towards the self checkout.

“Yea, I’ll be out the door in five. Just… wait for me.”

After you pulled in the garage you eyed the one bag you brought up front with you. You fiddled with the boxes for a second, deciding on opening them and stuffing the tests in your pants. You hopped out of the car and took the boxes straight to the dumpster before starting to grab a few paper bags to take inside. At the time it sounded like the best place to keep them till you were by yourself but the immediate uncomfortable poking began.

Chris met you in the kitchen, grabbing the rest of the bags while you started to put them away quickly. He almost trapped you in the kitchen by pulling a bottle of ketchup from your hands, prompting you with sleeping kids and an empty bed, but you swerved from his hands, yelling back that you would be back down.

You hurriedly climbed the stairs in the most uncomfortable fashion, pulling the tests from your pants and aimlessly looking around for where to hide them safely until Bri gets here. Somewhere out of sight so they can’t taunt you for the next hour.

You heard the door at the bottom stairs open and you almost jumped out of your skin, quickly shutting the tests underneath the sink in the kitchenette. Standing straight at attention when he emerged from the stairs with an expectant look.

“Uh, Bri is coming,” you said awkwardly, scratching your head. “I wanted to take a shower before she got here.”

“Oh..” He thought about it, taken back as to why she was coming when it was the night before he was leaving. The night he wanted to spend with you. “In the sink?”

You blinked, not understanding the question, “What?”

“Are you taking a shower in the sink? Why are you there if you want a shower.” He looked from the bathroom and back to you leaning against the counter, sensing your weird mood. You took notice of his tone, it got short.

You felt bad for blowing him off. You stepped towards him, trying to get yourself to calm down. You didn’t know anything yet so ruining his mood along with yours was not the plan.

“Will you shower with me?” You asked, wrapping your arms around his waist, planting a small kiss on his chin.

“Hmm. If you insist,” you smiled, reviving his own. “But we are going down stairs because mine is better.”

Bri came into the house to see you scurrying across the living area and past the kitchen in only a white towel and dripping hair. You grabbed her hand and skipped up the stairs with her quickly, feeling nervous all over again.

“Why? What? Where are your clothes? I could have waited! Did you tell him?” She asked.

“No, are you crazy. And by the way, I am pretty sure he is pissed off that you are here,” you dismissed the fact but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t true. “He leaves in the morning and when I told him you were on your way he got moody.”

“Oh he’ll get over it… Where are they?” You pointed to the cabinet under the sink and walked into the room to find clothing. You emerged in leggings and a t-shirt, watching her pull them out. Standing next to her as she pulled them out felt surreal all over again. A wave of panic surging through you at full force from the sight of them.

The feeling of dread came over, flooding behind your eyes, “Bri.” Her name fell like a whine from your throat. A headache was drawing up, one that you knew was self inflicting from the sudden onslaught of anxious thoughts.

You palmed your eyes, taking a second to pull yourself together. Her voice shook you from your own mind. “You are not taking these until you are in the right mind.” She said strictly. “You are not doing this while you are upset. So go ahead,” she motioned towards you. “Get it out now.” She wrapped her hand around your arm and pulled you to the couch, grabbing the plastic sticks of death with her.

You sat across her trying to keep the floodgates under control, so you didn’t say anything at first. “(Y/n) I’m serious, or I’m going to call him up here.”

“Bri I can’t,” your voice was unreliable, “I can’t do this right now. This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.” You shielded your eyes from her, worried she wouldn’t have the mercy you wanted at the moment. She didn’t say anything, but you felt her wrap her arms around you, tugging you to her.

“I’m not- I can’t do it by myself,” you mumbled into her shoulder taking a shuddering breath.

“What do you mean ‘by yourself’?” The softest voice you had ever come from her was more comforting than you thought.

“He. He’s going to be gone for so much time. It’s my fault. I should have known better. I made him sign the contract Bri. I told him to sign it!” You pulled away from her and drew up the tshirt to try and dry your eyes.

You were officially the person who will ruin his routine repeatedly. How could you have not known that they were only effective for three years before their hormone deposits run out? The answer was that you did know, you were told, it was somewhere in the unknown regions of your mind while your decision making decided that it was four and not three.

“No, this isn’t just you, snap out of that. He knew what he was doing when he signed the contract. Just stop.” You stilled, looking away from her. Whatever form of softness that was previously present is gone from the tone she was using. “Don’t drown yourself in pity. If you really are, and these are positive, then you cant be shoving this stuff on your shoulders. So stop that now,” you nodded, still avoiding her direction when you knew she was staring right at you. “Now what else are you gonna cry about?” The deep breath you took flooded your lungs like a small encouraging hug before you continued.

“I’m so far away from my family. My mom is going to be upset with me. My dad, oh my god my dad.” The calmness you managed to muster for a moment was broken with a shuddering breath. He always wanted the best for you. Someone to be married to that could provide for a family, and protect his family. You are not married. That’s the first check on the list for your dad. Chris cant be with you all the time. There is the second. You were pretty sure the third strike would be the fact that he is divorced and already has children. Why didn’t you think to talk about these things with your parents while you were home? Because this was not in a plan for either of you.

“You are living with him, if your dad expected anything less then he is being unreasonable. And your mom, sure she’ll worry about you doing this so far from her but dont think for a second she won’t be here if you ask. And they know you, they raised you. They know you are more than capable of doing this, if this is even happening. Which we don’t know yet, by the way.” Her words resonated enough for you to fit in another good deep breath, she was right, as always.

“Okay?” You nodded, wiping your face again.

After a moment to think, you were ready to take them. As ready as one could be.

A baby.

You having a baby. Why are you crying?

The reasons to get upset are all so external. It was time you think about the baby that could possibly be your own for once. Not someone else’s. It could be your own little person. Your own to raise, to dress, to teach, and to love. Your own little person to raise without the guidance of other adults telling you what to do. The tears were for the thought of filling the little hole in your heart that was reserved for the child you would one day have of your own.

You nodded to yourself. You could this, you can take them. You can bare the thought of carrying a little baby of your own. Maybe it wasn’t so conventional all the way around, but it would work because it would have to work.

“Yeah?” Bri confirmed your mood, ready. She watched you grab them from the couch and walk into the bathroom, shutting the door behind you.

The bathroom door clicked open, grabbing her attention as you walked out. “I put them on the counter upside down, will you set a timer?” You asked quietly, walking out. She nodded while you sat back down next to her.

Her eyes held a glossy look with your own. It was selfish of you to throw this on her, to not think of how she was taking this. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for you and you knew it. Your entire lives were spent together, if you were going through the pain, she was going to go through it as well.

You leaned into her for comfort and her hand went to your hair, where she knew you liked it. “This almost doesn’t feel weird for me, if feels like I should be asking you why you haven’t had a child sooner.” You gave her a weird look. “I mean, I know the reason but like, do you know how long you have had baby fever? Since you were like... ten.” You let out a sad laugh in her arms knowing it was true.

“Wow,” she sighed, stopping her hand. “A baby. You and a baby, wow.”

“I know.” You both laid in silence until the timer on her phone went off. The air was still between you both, no one making a move to get up.

“Will you look at them?” You whispered. She agreed while you pushed off of her.

You watched as she grabbed them from the counter and walked back towards you. All three tests were still upside down in her hands as she set them down on the coffee table. You pulled the fluffy blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it over you for some sort of comfort while she sat back down.

“Which should I flip first?” You shrugged at her. You didn’t care, just hoping she would do it already. Your eyes were glued to her hands as she reached for one on the far right. “Ok, I’m gonna do it. But if its positive you have to stay calm okay? If it’s negative you are going down there right now to tell him what just happened.”

“Okay! Just do it! My heart is about to beat out of my chest.” Her fingers reached it and picked it up so she could see it. She stared at it, knowing you were watching her expression.

“Negative.”

It was weird to feel your heart drop. To feel a twinge of sadness flow over your shoulders, down to your chest where you could almost feel the little reserved empty hole in your heart be as hollow as ever.

“It’s-it’s negative? Are you sure?” You took it out of her hands and looked at it. It was negative. There was barely any reading on it at all. “Thats, great. Really. I don’t-”

Your hands fell to your lap. It wasn’t meant to be filled right now. The day will come when it is in your plan, when it is supposed to happen. Drawing your eyes back up to her who was holding both the other ones in her hands. Her brow was tweaked looking between them, back to the one in your own hands.

“What?” You asked. A reminisce of annoyance was sprinkling. It’s not like it was her fault that it was negative.

She moved her hand from her mouth to speak, “They are positive.” She shoved them both into your hands. You flipped them next to each other setting eyes on the prominent stripes on them both. Both of them were positive. You picked up the third in your lap looking at the almost non existent line of its own.

“Maybe it’s wrong. It’s a false positive,” your words stuttered out.

“No! There is no such thing as a false positive, only false negatives.” She grabbed them back admiring them. She was entranced by the tests not noticing your spike in breathing.

“I’m pregnant?” The rhetorical notation flew over her head throwing yes’s at you, repeating the words of affirmation.

Chris was down stairs sitting in his bed, ready to send you a passive aggressive text. He wanted you in there with him. To be laying next to him under the blankets like always. With your head sticking out of the top, your hair thrown over the pillow cases.

It had only been maybe half an hour since you hopped out of the shower and ran out and he already missed your presence next to him. The bedroom felt baren without you in it. He didn’t like it.

All it left him with was the faint smell of your favorite body wash that tainted the bedding where you lay night after night, even when he wasn't there for you to feel next to you.

He erased the words he tried to type out three times. He didn’t want to sound rude, or desperate, or irate. The text box was left empty, shutting his phone off and tossing it onto the bedside table. He had an early morning.

Chris tiptoed up the stairs to your room in the early hours, trying to decipher which lump under the blankets was you and which was Bri. The phone flashlight guided him over a pair of shoes and a pillow thrown on the floor. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the blankets back a bit. The motion of the bed moving and the random light was stirring you awake.

The phone was set on the nightstand, the light illuminating the dark room just enough that you could sneak open your eyes without feeling blinded. You pulled the blanket over your head, though it wouldn’t budge with him holding it down.

“Princess,” his hand pushed your hair out of your sleep ridden eyes that weren’t staying open. You hummed in response. “I have to go.” His voice was a whisper in the quiet room. Just barely heard over the sound of the whirring fan in the corner.

You pulled your arms from under the covers lazily reaching for him. He knew it meant for a hug, bending down to brace himself on the mattress while you squeezed him tight. His face tucked in your neck, giving you a small kiss to the soft skin before pulling away and kissing your lips.

“I love you,” he whispered against your lips, “even when you blow me off.”

“Im sorry, I love you,” he gave you another squeeze, letting you know he’d call when he landed, before standing up and heading out.

“That was so cute it’s disgusting.” Bri’s tired voice grumbled next to you. You ignored her, settling back under the plush feathery blanket, ready for the moment to be a dreamy haze in the morning.

“Wait!” She shouted, sitting up in bed. You gasped, knowing what she means by her yelling, throwing the blankets off yourself. You charged out of the room taking the stairs two at a time and throwing open the garage door to see the jeep gone and the door already shut.

“God dammit!” You yelped to yourself.

Why does this kind of shit have to happen to you?

Four weeks till he would be back. Four weeks till your brother got here with Chaz and his girlfriend. Four weeks you were going to keep this to yourself, between you and Bri only. She is now sworn to secrecy.

You trudged up the stairs, shaking your head at her expectant gaze, answering the question she was asking. You didn’t make it in time.

What did you expect? Him to be ecstatic and leave you with a smile on his face right after you tell him the news? Maybe it was for the best to wait.

“I feel like I kind of got the gist over the phone. These are the model bands that I picked out for you.” The soft cloth was littered with different sized bands and several metals. The small clutter of various sized diamonds and a few gems lay still, waiting to be inspected. “These three are a set. Each carry a dainty feel, and together have the most elegant look if you ask me.”

“I like that one too.” Chris’s eyes struggled to keep a gaze long enough on one band, this was a commitment job for his mind that couldn’t pick. He set down the thicker band that was held in his fingertips and reached for her outstretched hand that was sporting the trio. The thin bands were encrusted with the tiniest jewels, enough to catch the eye, but not enough to be obnoxious. “Can the setting be altered if I didn't want the diamond that type of cut?”

The jeweler marveled at his choice of vocabulary, impressed that he actually took time to look over the catalog she sent with him last time. “Of course.”

“Ok, I think this one will work.”

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#chris hemsworth x reader #chris hemsworth #chris hems #chris hemsworth fanfiction #chris x reader #thor #marvel masterlist #marvel fic #avengers masterlist #hemsworth fanfic

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alpacannot · 5 years ago

Text

So, I made some miniscule changes to the first chapter, mainly introducing Tris’s two dogs (Marlow, her Alaskan Malamute, and Blake, her Siberian Husky), working them into the story more, and editing a few things, but here’s the rest of chapter 1 (also unedited)!

“See you tonight!” he called out as he all but skipped through the doors. I sighed as I watched him leave—we’d been inseparable during school, but I felt like I hardly ever saw him anymore. He lived across the hall, but with my hours, I was always working during his free time. By some stroke of luck, he was assigned to me after we both graduated. We had resigned ourselves to the reality that we would basically never see each other again, so we were both overjoyed to discover that we would be working together—of course, that glee was short lived. Aside for the occasional dinner together, work kept us apart.

Thumbing through the background information, I began determining initial judgements for today’s Reapings. Live, Limbo, Heaven, Limbo, Live, Hell, the list went on a on, and I scribbled down a note on the tops of their files. Of course, HR would determine exactly what part of the Afterlife they went to—those in Limbo had the option to work here instead of spending the rest of their lives fading away in the realm in between Heaven and Hell. Depending on your beliefs, sometimes those destined for Heaven had to work off a debt with their deity, and they were sent here as well—usually as Runners. HR sorted the rest into the right parts of Heaven and Hell, where their respective gods and goddesses would take care of the rest. In comparison, my job was easy: if their time was up, I looked at what they’d done in life and decided if they deserved to continue living. After all the office work was done, it was my job to go collect their souls. Sometimes mistakes are made—Reapers are given the wrong file, we’re interrupted, or someone on Earth intervenes. Other complications can arise during someone’s life, but the outcome is always the same: if someone on Earth becomes aware of the Afterlife prematurely, their soul is immediately harvested, and they come to work here. Through some cruel twist of fate, that’s exactly how I ended up in this particular hellish cycle.

Before long, all the necessary paperwork was done, and I began to gather my things in preparation for crossing over to Earth. Grabbing my clipboard, several death certificates, and a pen, I stuffed everything into my bag, snatching up my keycard on my way out. With Blake and Marlow helping me along, I slowly made my way to the exit, waiting for security to check my bag. Scanning my keycard, I glanced at today’s route. I’d be jumping all over the the Mid-Atlantic area today, starting in Pennsylvania. I fastened the buttons of my coat, gritting my teeth as I braced myself for the icy wind. The door in front of me opened, revealing nothing but an empty black abyss. Steeling my nerves, I stepped into the oppressing darkness, feeling the weight on my chest pushing against me. This part is always the worst.

After what seemed like an eternity of fighting against the inky black tar, I forced my way through the veil and onto Earth. The frigid wind bit at my cheeks, and I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. It was always a huge shock to go from the climate-controlled office to the real world. Forcing my frozen fingers to open my bag, I pulled out my clipboard, checking for my first stop. I unhooked Blake and Marlow, letting them run free until work was done—I would need them to support me later. Putting the address into my phone, I began the short walk through downtown Johnstown. The sidewalks were full of people on their way back to work after lunch, and I quietly slipped between the crowds.

It didn’t take me long to find little Bethany Jones, playing happily outside. Her mother bustled in the kitchen, busy fixing lunch for the two of them. My heart clenched. I hate this part. I moved closer to Bethany, reaching out for her. Make it painless. I grabbed her shoulder, pulling her soul out in one fluid motion. Cradling her now limp body, I felt a warm tear run down my cheek. Turning to face the new shade, I forced myself to put on a brave face. “It’s gonna’ be okay. I promise,” I murmured to her. Gently laying her cooling corpse on the grass, I took her hand and led her to the nearest Afterlife office. I drug her away from her old house, trying to block out the wailing of her mother and hold on to the struggling child.

*********

There were so many children today. I’ve never collected that many young souls, I thought. Marlow nuzzled my shoulder, and I buried my face in his thick fur. A sharp knock echoed through my apartment, and Blake ran over to paw and whine at the door. PJ pushed his way through, coming to sit next to me on the couch. “Rough day?” he asked.

“There were so many children,” I moaned. “Almost all of them.” I felt him shift uncomfortably.

“I know,” he sighed. He traced soothing circles around my calf, knowing there was nothing he could say. “I’ll make us something to eat.” I wanted to protest, but he knew as well as I did that today had been one of the worst days I’d had since I’d come here. I hated that suddenly everything was about me, but I couldn’t block out the wailing of those poor kids’ mothers.

“Peej, why were there so many kids today?” He stopped opening the cupboards and turned towards me.

“I don’t know.” He deflated, and I moved towards him, his arms gently cradling me. “We could ask Alex,” he murmured. “He might know more, being so high up.” I weakly nodded. Blake nudged my leg, and I leaned against her warm, stable body. I slumped into a barstool.

“So, tell me about this new prospect of yours. Anyone we know?” I was desperately trying to move on to a more light-hearted subject. PJ lit up like a Christmas tree.

“I’m not sure if you’d know him—I think he might be a transfer from another branch. He came to give me a Summons yesterday, and he was totally flirting with me.”

“Well, what’s his name?”

“Chris Kendall.” I choked.

“Peej, we know Chris. He’s totally straight.”

“What? No way! He was totally coming on to me yesterday—he even winked at me when he passed by this morning. I know queer, and Chris is definitely it.”

“I’m pretty sure your gay-day needs recalibrated. I know he was dating Christine this time last year.” I hated to burst his bubble, but it was better than seeing him get his heart broken again.

“Say what you will, but I don’t believe you. I never saw them together.”

“PJ, they went to your department’s Christmas party together last year.”

“I’m pretty sure I would have noticed him if he’d been there.” I sighed, exasperated, and gave up, putting my hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Just you wait, Tristan Sieghard. Come the next Christmas party, you’ll be seeing him on my arm.”

“Alright, alright. You’re the boss.”

“And don’t you forget it,” he said, sticking his tongue out at me.

*********

By the time PJ and I had finished catching up, I was exhausted. I’d been emotionally drained all day, but I all but collapsed into my bed when we finally called it a night. I curled up under the covers, relishing in their warmth. Marlow and Blake settled in next to me, and I closed my eyes, hoping for a peaceful night’s rest.

I didn’t get it.

The soothing hum of Alistair’s voice lulled in the background of my thoughts. It was a beautiful day, and the walk back home from school with my brother was always a source of joy.

“Do you have any homework?” he asked.

“Not much—just a math worksheet and my cursive practice book.”

“Want to rent a movie? Blockbuster’s right over there.”

“Only if I get to pick.”

“You always do,” he laughed, ruffling my hair. I playfully stuck my tongue out at him, as I started to cross the street.

“Tris, look out!” He shouted, reaching for me. I turned to see what he was yelling about, but the scquealing tires told me everything I needed to know.

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perfectfitmbj · 6 years ago

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C5. No Judgement

Xavier’s Story

October 2014

After Tristan told Ashanti he wasn’t with the whole dating others while they were dating each other, she was heartbroken but not surprised. The lifestyle she wanted to live was different from the norm and she knew that. She had prepared herself to have heartbreak during her journey to find love, just not so soon did she think she’d fall for someone. One thing that Shan did in her spare time was attend a local Open Mic Night where you could sing or spit a little spoken word and poetry was a platform she used to get out her feelings so she wouldn’t keep them bottled in. Ashanti learned at an early age to get out whatever she was feeling because keeping them in only resulted in harm to herself. As she was called to the stage, Shan grabbed her notebook off of the table along with her drink and headed to the stage. Once she was situated and comfortable, she took a few sips from her Long Island Iced Tea and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

When she opened her eyes, she smiled.

“How’s everybody doin’ out there tonight. For some of you, you already know my name and but for those who don’t, I’m Ashanti. I’ll let my words tell you the rest.” She said into the microphone.

Love blossomed

At the intersection of lust, dreams and desire,

Where crowded clouded skies

Yield to chocolate cream sunsets,

Harbors can’t harness the depths

Of passion

So pervasive you can taste it

When you came through

Everything I thought I knew

Was interrupted like

Trojan air by arrows…

Xavier POV

Xavier sat at the bar as this beautiful woman stood on stage. He was caught off guard by how her words just seem to flow like a light stream into a pond. She stood there under the dim lighting with a glow around her.

“What’s a fine ass man like you sittin’ alone at the bar? I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t come keep you company.” The random woman said to Xavier as he watched the beautiful as she took her snaps in and walked off of the stage.

She headed straight to the bar on the opposite side of him. Seeing her up close made him to a double take. Her eyes briefly locked with his as she looked at him and gave him a small smile.

“You wanna buy me a drink?” The random woman asked Xavier to get his attention.

Xavier looked at her and then turned to the bartender who was walking over to the beautiful woman who stood beside him.

“Say, my man! Lemme get a ice water...she thirsty as fuck!” Xavier said as he tilted his head to the left where the random woman sat.

The bartender laughed as did the beautiful woman.

“Fuck you wit yo’ ugly ass!” The random said she walked off.

“I guess she wasn’t that thirsty after all.” The beautiful woman said as she grabbed her drink from the bar.

As she went to pay, Xavier put his hand out to stop her.

“I got it! You good.” He said.

The beautiful woman smiled at him. “Thank you. That’s really sweet. I got you on your next round.” She said.

“Na. Just tell me your name, then we even.”

“Ashanti. And you are?” She asked.

“Well Ashanti, I’m Xavier but you can call me Zay.” Xav told her.

After the two talked for a few minutes and Xav ended up joining Shan at her table for the rest of the night. They hit it off instantly and had tons of things in common. From being the only child to spending their childhood summers in Compton, California.

Ashanti’s vibe was chill and Xavier liked th\at. She reminded him of back home and that made him feel comfortable.

“I’m diggin’ you a lot, I gotta be honest.” Xav told her as they walked down Milwaukee Avenue.

“I’m diggin’ you, too. Your aura is really attractive.” Shan replied.

“Oh, so you one of those, huh? You read auras n’shit?” Xav said with a laugh.

Ashanti looked at him and stopped walking. She turned and looked to her right where a park bench was. She started to walk over and Xavier followed close behind. As they both sat, Ashanti looked over at Xavier and told him what he was curious to know.

“Yes, I can read auras. I’ve been able to do so since I was 13yrs. old thanks to my mom. She thought it was a needed gift in the world, so she made sure she taught me how to feel out the people I’m around. You are a You are very passionate. Sexual is just scratching the surface of you behind closed doors. You’re very competitive and you hate to lose. Bet you didn’t know that you were being covered by angels, did you? I don’t know what happened to you, but whatever it was has you surrounded by a higher power that keeps you safe.” Ashanti told Xav, who was hanging on to every word she said as if his life were depending on it.

He knew exactly what she was talking about when she mentioned something happening to him and it threw him. He had a secret that he never told anyone. He never felt safe enough to, so he didn’t. Yet, here he was sitting with this beautiful soul of a woman and he felt so connected to her as if he could tell each other anything. He had never had that before and he didn’t want to lose it.

“Can I see you again?” Xav asked as the two just sat on the bench looking at each other.

“I would love that.” Sha responded.

Xavier ended up walking Ashanti to he apartment that wasn't too far away and the 61-degree weather wasn’t bad either.

“Thank you! I came out tonight in my feelings about basically getting ready to be dumped and you helped me forget all about it.” Sha told him.

Xavier leaned up against her front door frame as she turned her keys to unlock the door.

“His loss. You on to bigger and better things now.” He said as Sha walked closer to him, closing the space between them.

She looked up at him as he looked down at her. Like two magnets, their lips were drawn to each other and the moment their lips touched, sparks flew.

Xav left Sha’s apartment building with a smile on his face. He wasn’t even going to go out tonight after the day he had had at work, but he was glad he did. As soon as he made it home, he sent her a text asking her if she was free for dinner the next night which Ashanti declined due to having a lot of work to do. Before Xavier could lose his smile, Ashanti asked him if the night after would work instead.

“That would actually be better for me, too! Pick you up around 7:00 p.m.?” Xav asked.

“I’ll be ready!” Sha responded.

The new acquaintances talked on the phone for a bit longer before the call ended.

…………………

The date Xavier and Ashanti went on was the start of steady dating for the two. Nothing had been made official because Ashanti was still in her feelings about her ex-boyfriend. Xavier wasn’t pressed because he had his starting line up and was content with having his choice of who he wanted to spend time with. He was a young, successful engineer with an amazing salary. Settling down with one woman wasn’t what he had on his list of immediate things to do.

When Xavier arrived at Sha’s apartment to pick her up for their date, she was on the phone with someone who clearly was going off on her about something. Sha looked as if she was on the verge of tears as the other person could be heard yelling through the phone. Xav didn’t like seeing her this way but all he could do was sit on her couch and wait for her to end her call. Once she had, she sat excused herself and left the living room. When she came back in, Xavier asked her if she was okay.

“If I need to fuck a nigga up, lemme know who!” He said making Sha smile a little.

“I’m okay. That was my dad. He isn’t too happy with my life decision to be in a polyamorous relationship. Well, let me take that back. He doesn't have a problem with that, he has a problem that I want two husbands and not a husband and a wife.” Sha told him.

Xavier looked at her confused.

“Polyamorous?” He asked for clarification.

Ashanti laughed. “It basically means that I want to be in a relationship with more than one man. I grew up in a polyamorous household and my father was the only man. He feels like me having two men in my life will make me look like a whore and he’s 100% against it. It’s okay to have one husband, but not two.” she said.

“Having two men you're with doesn't make you a whore. If you real about shit wit’ both of ‘em, it’s cool. Do you and what makes you happy. Fuck pleasin’ everybody else.” He told her as he pulled her into his lap.

Sha looked at him. “So, you could see yourself in that type of relationship?”

“If I’m really feelin’ the chic and she straight up wit’ me...maybe. But, let’s be out I’m starvin’” Xavier tells Sha as they both stand to leave her apartment.

When Xav and Sha arrived at their favorite Downtown hangout spot that had strong drinks and good food. They loved to sit by the window and talk about people as they walked past. Xavier was laughing and as he looked up, he saw this guy mean mugging him like he had a problem. Xav had never seen the guy before so he returned the mug right back. Ashanti saw that Xav’s facial expression had changed and didn't know why until she followed his stare to her boyfriend.

“Xav, excuse me for a second.” She tells him as she stood up and walked over to the guy and pulled him to the side.

They had an exchange of words before Ashanti walked back over to the table.

“Sorry about that. That was my boyfriend...or ex-boyfriend at this point.” She told him.

Xav kissed his teeth. “That would explain why he was muggin’ me so hard. Lame ass!” He said as Sha’s boyfriend/ex-boyfriend walked past the table.

Sha and Xav finished their night as if nothing happened. After they had gotten back to Sha’s apartment Xav hung out for a bit until he received a text from one of his starting line asking to see him. He had debated on ignoring the chic but decided to go have one last ride before he ended things with her afterward. The Chic was becoming a bit too clingy for his liking. Xavier told Ashanti he would call her the next day and left with a pit stop at a corner Walgreens for a box of condoms before he made it to his destination.

………………

A few days later, Xavier had gotten a call from Ashanti. He hadn’t spoken to her since he had left her place and it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Every time he would call, she would rush him off of the phone. Even their text message thread was different. Her text responses were short compared to her normal responses. When he pulled into his parking space in the garage, he noticed a figure standing in front of him in the lobby. When he opened the door, the figure turned around and it was Ashanti. Standing there looking as beautiful as always.

“Hey! What you doin’ here?” He asked as he leaned down to kiss her lips.

She turned slightly causing him to catch her cheek instead. Xav frowned his eyebrows.

“Hey. Can we talk?” Sha asked him.

Xavier nodded his head and walked over to the elevator waiting for her to follow. Once they were in his apartment, she sat on the couch as he went into his room to change into more comfortable clothes. Ashanti sat. Nervous for what she was about to tell him. When Xav came back out into the living room, he took a seat next to her.

“Sup?” He asked with a concerned look.

“I’m not one for keeping secrets or holding in my feelings. So, I haven’t been feeling the same between us and I’m sure you can tell. Xavier, I really like you! I tried to stop myself from catching feelings, but I did. Now, I’m in a messed up situation because I know you don’t feel the same way. On top of that, when you left the other day my boyfriend showed up and he told me he wanted to be with me no matter what. We slept together.” She tells him.

Xavier felt his heart start to beat faster and couldn’t understand why. He left her and went to another chic’s place and fucked her three times that night, so how could he be mad at the woman he was seeing who made it clear from the beginning that she was in a messy situation.

“I’m telling you this because….after I slept with him I realized that I...I have feelings for you. I don’t really know how you feel about my lifestyle choice but I want to be with you, too! No one makes me feel like you make me feel and I don’t want to not have that in my life.” Sha said as Xavier looked at her. “I know this is a lot and I will understand if this isn’t something that you want. Can you please think about it and let me know?” She asked as she stood up.

Xavier watched her get up and head for the door. He didn’t know why he didn’t stop her as she walked out and closed the door behind her. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted her to stay. In fact, he wanted to tell her he was down with it. He had felt the same type of connection that she did. He since their second date, he had slowly started cutting off the women he had been dealing with only leaving a couple and those two would be easy to sever ties with because they were in California. Sha was the only woman that he felt the connection with that he had and she was the only woman that he had been able to be himself with. Xavier threw on a pair of his Nike Air Max 95’s and ran out of the door after grabbing his cell and his keys. He jumped into his Range Rover and headed for Ashanti’s place. He had to tell her but he knew he needed to make sure he was clear to really give them a try. No side pieces. No secrets. Xav pulled up just as Sha was getting out of her car. He got out and walked over to her.

Sha stood there and looked at him. She saw the seriousness in his eyes and knew he needed her to go with him for whatever reason. “Okay. Let me go inside so I can book a flig-”

Xav cut her off as she was speaking. “I got that. Just be ready to go at 9:00 a.m. okay. Thank you.” He said to her as he turned and walked back to his Range.

When he pulled out of the parking spot, Tristan pulled in right after him. Ashanti looked down the street at the stop sign where Xavier had stopped. He waited there for a bit before he pulled off as if he was watching her. Ashanti wasn’t surprised. Xavier was an alpha male just like Tristan and neither one played about their territory. If Xavier indeed makes the choice to be with her while she was with Tristan, she knew she was going to have her work cut out for her trying to manage both men but she had her fingers crossed and ready if she needed to be.

“Good morning.” Sha greeted as Xav leaned down and kissed her.

This time, she didn’t turn her lips away.

“Mornin’. You ready for this flight? I’m sleepin’ the whole way there, so you on yo’ own.” Xav told her as they both got into the Lyft.

The two had a light conversation up until they boarded the plane. Xavier watched Sha text her boyfriend that she was on the plane. He was fine with it until he read the “I Love You” in her last text where his message popped up returning the words. He was fighting himself from getting jealous. Technically she wasn’t his to be jealous about. He just sat back and closed his eyes as the flight attendant started going over the safety demonstration before the flight took off. Once they had been in the air for a bit, Ashanti put her head on Xavier’s shoulder and went to sleep making him smile at her innocence and drifting off to sleep with her himself. After they landed and got settled into their hotel, Xavier made a few calls and found out one of the females he was out there to end ties with were over in his old stomping grounds.

“You up for meeting some of my people? I need to handle somethin’ real quick before we get to the real reason I wanted you to come wit’ me.” Xavier told her.

Sha nodded. “My aunt still lives in the same house. I could go visit with her while you handle whatever it is you need to do so I won’t be in your way.” She answered.

“That’s cool, too. C’mon. I wanna get over there and done real quick. I got somethin’ planned for us later.” He tells her as they grab their things and head out of their room.

The ride to Xavier’s cousin’s house was quiet. Not many words were said. Once they pulled into the neighborhood, Ashanti noticed the familiarities.

“My aunt stays like two blocks over from here if I remember correctly.” Sha told Xav as he pulled into a driveway.

He gets out of the car and walked to the passenger side to open the door.

“Damn! Nigga opening the door n’shit! Aye, momma! Bam here and he got a girl wit’ em!” His cousin yelled back into the house from the porch.

“Don’t let him bother you. He’s my lil’ cousin.” Xav told Sha as they walked into the house. “Gimme a sec. I’ll be right back.”

Ashanti nodded and sat on the couch quietly and waited. A woman that looked to be around her age, if not older, walked in.

“And she’s cute, too! Yeah, he really likes you if he brought you HERE! Welcome to my home. I’m Rita.” She said as she extended hand which Sha accepted.

“You know, Bam hasn’t brought a girl home since we were little. After what happened, he changed and I’m glad he did because we would have lost him next.”

Ashanti watched Rita as she walked back out of the living room. She had no idea what she was talking about but was curious as to what it was. She had to use the bathroom so she got up and to ask Rita where it was.

“Oh, just go down the hallway and it’s the first door on the right.” Rita said.

Sha went down the hall as told and stopped when she had gotten to the bathroom. She heard Xavier talking with another person.

“Na, I been out the game. After that shit wit ‘Dre, I promised my momma I would make somethin’ of myself and that’s what I did. Ain’t shit we can do to bring him back.” Xav said.

The other voice started cursing loudly. “Fuck that shit! That night killed Dre’ on some dumb shit! We still ain’t take his ass out and he walkin’ ‘round here wit’ like he da shit! Mark ass! You here now so I say we all roll through and blast his bitch ass!” The voice said.

“Na! I listened to you the last time and I ended up shootin’ that kid! I told you I’m out! And don’t be bringin’ that shit over here to my cousin house neither!” Xav said as he turned to leave the room.

Sha has closed the bathroom door just in time so that she wasn’t seen. Once she was finished, she walked back into the living room where Xav and another man sat with his younger cousin.

“Babe, you ready?” Xav asked as he stood.

Sha nodded as she walked over to him.

“Damn Blood! She thick as fuck! Say girl, what’s yo’ na-“

“SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I KNOCK YO’ FUCKIN’ HEAD OFF YO’ SHOULDERS!” Xavier snapped.

The man immediately shut his mouth and sat back in his seat as Xav grabbed She’s hand and pulled her closer to him as they walked out of the house.

“He serious ‘bout that one Blood!” A voice said from behind them.

Ashanti got into the car as did Xavier.

“We don’t have to go to my Aunt’s. We can get away from here if you want.” She asked as Xav backed out of the driveway.

“I’ll bring you by your Aunt’s tomorrow if that’s cool. I jus’ really need to get away from here..I forgot why I stopped comin’ back..now I remember why.” He said as he drove onto Crenshaw.

The car ride back to the hotel was quiet but not awkward. Ashanti kept thinking about what was said on the house and she was itching to ask him what were they talking about. As they pulled into valet at the hotel and went inside back to their shared room, she took a deep breath and asked.

“When I went to the bathroom at your cousin’s house, I overheard you and the other guy talking. Who is Dre’!” She asked.

Xavier sat on the bed and looked straight ahead. The room was silent until he spoke.

“Dre’ was my brother. He was killed by a rival gang. I was into some cold shit when I was younger..so when my big bro joined the Pyrus..I followed right behind him.” Xav said.

“What made you get out? That couldn’t have been easy..” Sha asked.

“After my brother got shot, me and some of our crew went to shoot up the bitch ass nigga that shot Dre’..I’m the one that wanted to pull the trigger..when we found one of ‘em in front of his broads house..I jus’ started firing..ended up hittin’ this little kid..”he told Sha.

She sat next to him as he stared at the wall.

“How long ago was this?” She asked Xav.

“About 10 years ago..shit still fucks wit’..”Xav said.

“My parents stopped letting me come visit my aunt after my baby cousin was killed in a drive by...she was four..” Ashanti said. “My cousin Jamal was a Crip and went around doing stupid stuff all of the time. He took the blame for her getting killed and my family forgave the guy that pulled the trigger. You made a mistake. We all do.” Sha told him.

Ashanti didn’t have to say anything else. Xavier knew that she didn’t want to just come out and say it, but he shot and killed her little cousin in the drive by he pulled the trigger in. He was preparing himself for her to get up and leave, but she didn’t. She moved over closer to him and grabbed his hand.

“Whatever you did in the past is in the past. You changed your life and because the person you were meant to be. There’s no shame in that.”

Xav looked at her as she said those words to him. It was then that he knew what choice he was going to make.

“I brought you out here because I wanted you to be here when I cut ties with a couple females I been dealin’ wit’. When I’m wit’ you..I feel untouchable. You get me and you don’t judge me. I ain’t never had that before and I wanna see where this whole poly shit whatever goes..I wanna meet ol’ boy tho..” Xav told her making her smile.

He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. The rest of the day was spent in their hotel room. As of today, Xavier and Ashanti have been together for a little over four years and married for three.

Wonder how the official meet went between Tristan and Xavier? Stay tuned.

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royal-amberl · 6 years ago

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Red Anniversary

What: James and Izzy’s wedding anniversary Who: Everyone and then some When: October 31, 2018

Izzy clinked her glass, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Thank you everyone for coming to mine and James' anniversary. Only two people so unorthodox as we are would think to get married on Halloween. We didn't want to worry as much with the preparation as enjoying ourselves and the only rule I had for how those in attendance could show up was: nobody could come as a bride. I, myself, was dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein. Of course, this wasn't the wedding that the public saw. Only those who we felt comfortable with. To the world, we didn't get married for another couple of weeks. After we enjoyed our honeymoon. Anyway, James and I met years ago. It actually shocked both of our families that we were in love as being from another world, James was supposed to marry someone from his own world, not little ol' me who grew up in a small house with four sisters and we had to fight over the bathroom. But he did. We fell in love and not long after we even met, we had our first wedding. Between the two weddings, we began our family. When I found out I was going to be a mom--the first time--I was beyond ecstatic, as you can imagine. I was also terrified. I knew James wanted a family, but I was still terrified of telling him. Of course, as soon as the words escaped my lips, he had the biggest grin on his face. He put his hand on my belly, which didn't even have a bump yet, and just held us both. And when Alaska was born, she was the most precious thing in his life. Watching those two was just... amazing. It made me fall even more in love with him. Then we found out not long after that we were expecting, AGAIN. And Ian came along. By this time Alaska had definitely grown into her personality and was the one in charge of the house. Ian, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He was very subdued and laid-back. Then Miles came along and he wanted to take care of everyone. Then the twins popped out, and they were each other's saving grace. They loved their older brothers and sister, but they were it for each other. They didn't do anything without the other. And finally, Sarah, my baby girl surprised us. We thought we were done with the twins, but then she graced us with her presence. My greatest gift in this world is being James' wife and my beautiful, amazing children's mother, including my adopted babies. Eli and Emily, since you two have come into our family; we've been so beyond blessed. I could not have asked for a better life." She looked around the room, smiling at her beautiful family (even Tristan who was dressed so gruesome) and all their friends.

James smiled at the woman by his side-- whom he had loved for the last 33 years. Everyone had wondered why he'd picked a commoner, someone who didn't have the money or title fit for a prince, but none of those things had ever really mattered to him, and they mattered even less when he met Isobel Serrano. James had been completely taken by the woman, and it hadn't taken long for him to ask for her hand in marriage. It was the best decision he'd ever made, still to this day. Raising his glass to his wife, he squeezed her hand affectionately, looking at her the same way he'd always had-- like a lovestruck puppy. In over thirty years, that hadn't changed-- his once black hair was now mostly gray, his face wrinkled from thirty years of smiles-- but the love was constant. "I won't even attempt to top that beautiful speech from my wife. All I will say is: Izzy, my queen, mother of my children, love of my life-- thank you for sharing a life with me. Thank you for giving me six beautiful children, for being a wonderful mother. They're all grown up now, so our work is mostly done, but everything they are, is thanks to you. I couldn't have asked for a better life-- and I can't wait to spend the next thirty years by your side." He brought Izzy's hand to his lips, giving her knuckles a gentle kiss, before turning to the room filled with their kids, family, and friends dressed up for Halloween. "And I want to thank you all for joining us. Enjoy the party, and Happy Halloween."

Phoebe Listening to the King and Queen's declaration of love caused Phoebe's throat to grow thick with emotion. It was so beautiful to see two people still enamored with one another as they were the day they first met. As the speeches continued, the conversations she'd had with Davina and Tristan were bouncing around in her head, echoing off the surface and refusing to shut up. Both of them were right; annoyingly so. The brunette let out a sigh, hoping that it would come off as dreamy rather than frustrated as she took a sip of her champagne. Once she started planning the wedding, then perhaps the niggling feeling would go away.

Will, dressed as Han Solo, watched his parents, envious of how in love they were. Not because he wasn't in love with someone-- he was just in love with someone he couldn't necessarily have. James and Izzy made it look so easy to just pick a person to be happy with, and maybe it could be, but he was conflicted. He was sure that he could have a content life with his fiance, Phoebe, if he wanted. But would they ever love each other? He didn't think so. He glanced around the large ballroom, searching for the blonde who was constantly on his mind, needing to talk to his best friend, but instead, found himself catching sight of Phoebe. He tore his gaze away, still wanting to find Amber, but she hadn't come to the party, apparently. So with a heavy sigh, he forced a smile and walked over to Phoebe. "Hello, Miss Calloway."

Phoebe Upon hearing her name, Phoebe's ears perked up. Before she even turned her head she made a silent wish for it to be Ian trying to get her attention, but quickly found him elsewhere in the crowd. The brunette bit down on her lip. She couldn't continue thinking like this; Phoebe willed herself to put a smile on her face and get it together. Her body did a 180, coming to face Will and although he hadn't been who she was hoping for, she was glad. They had to get to know each other better at some point. "Will," she replied with the same smile. "Call me Phoebe, please. Miss Calloway is so formal. --You parents are so charming. Those were lovely speeches."

Tris gave her baby sister a break before trying to scare her again, and decided to find her other favorite sibling to pester: Ian. She began walking very slowly behind him, allowing herself to go undetected. “Ian, why aren’t you off trying to woo, Phoebe? Especially after such a gooey speech like Mum and Dad made.” She rested her arm on his shoulder and looked over where her twin and the lady in question were conversing. “Never going to win her heart from the sidelines.”

Amber was hesitant on going to the party, she was never good at those kind of things, but Izzy and James were more like her own parents than her actual parents. She owed it to them. She decided to show up, dressed in a long black dress with a masquerade mask on. Her dress was form fitting, but not in a tacky way. She didn’t have time to get a real costume together and remembered her mask from the year before. When she entered the room, she didn’t realize she had been so late and missed the speech. She began looking around for someone to talk to, making sure to note where Zoey was. Even though she was considered off duty at such events, she always wanted to keep an eye on the little girl.

Miles wandered over to Amanda, nodding when he saw Davina grin and tap her friend. “Ladies, are you enjoying the party?” Davina chuckled and nodded in agreement before making some reason to leave them alone. Miles was appreciative of it, and smiled at Amanda. “Are you enjoying yourself? You look very beautiful tonight.” Miles was dressed as a pirate; he was never great at picking out costumes, but he was quite proud of how it had come together.

Davina left Amanda with her prince and as she had expected, she saw Phoebe with Will. She didn’t like being alone at these kinds of things, but she knew going into it that she was more than likely going to have to entertain herself. With a quick turn on her feet, she headed straight for the food table, not even allowing herself to feel self conscious. When she glanced up from the table, she noticed the only other person she really cared to see that night. She quickly put down the utensils in her hand, and made her way across the floor. She cleared her throat and waved at Eli. “Are you having fun?”

Will kept forgetting to call her by her first name-- yes it was formal, but he was so used to speaking to people he didn't know very well more formally and respectfully than he would speak to someone-- and he just didn't know Phoebe, despite being engaged for a few months now. Something just got in the way everytime they attempted to get to know each other better. But he was determined to try to make it work. "I apologize, I still have trouble not calling you that. --They're pretty much always like that. It's a little nauseating at times." He chuckled.

Ian had excused himself from the date he'd been set up with to grab himself a drink, and almost as soon as he took a sip, Tristan came up and began teasing him. As he glanced at her, he flinched, before letting out a groan. "What are you supposed to be? Are you why Sarah keeps shrieking like she's about to die?" He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tristan. I don't want to woo anyone, especially not when I have a date. And the person in question is the girl my brother is going to marry," he reminded her, glancing over to see the pair of them together. Despite what was coming out of his mouth, Ian could not help the pang of jealousy he suddenly felt, and he quickly did his best to hide any sign of it from his sister. "They look very happy together."

"It's really not a problem. I sometimes have to bit my tongue so I don't call you 'Your Highness'." Phoebe offered her fiancee an encouraging smile. She felt jittery around him, although Phoebe wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. They weren't the butterflies of burgeoning feelings that she found herself feeling each time she glanced towards Will's older brother. If anything, it was an aimless anxiety of not knowing what to do or how to act around her betrothed. She didn't know him as well as she wanted to. "I think it's sweet. You don't see two people in love like that nowadays."

Tris smiled. "I'm bloody Mary. Daughter of Henry the Eighth, I am, I am. --Yes, that would be why. It's kind of my job to torture her." She shrugged. As he began talking about all of the reasons she was wrong, she yawned, patting her hand against her mouth. "Blah, blah, blah. You are a terrible liar. Phoebe didn't fight me as much as you are." Tris looked over at the couple and shook her head. "They're trying to be, but failing. Besides, you're especially dense if you don't know that your own brother is already in love with someone else. They're just doing their 'duty'"

Leila didn't know a single person at the party-- her boss had convinced her to come along, to get to know the family they worked for, and Leila, wanting to seem like a trooper, had agreed. She'd put together a quick costume, complete with some cat ears and a mask, and had come along, and was now doing her best to mingle, though she felt like a bit of a wallflower. Needing some liquid courage, she went over to grab a drink, but not before running into a blonde in a mask. "--Oh, I'm so sorry. I haven't even had a drink yet," she murmured with a nervous laugh.

Amber felt someone run into her and turned around to face them. She didn't recognize the person, but that wasn't unusual since she didn't get to mingle very much, except at occasions like this. "No worries," she quickly replied. "I'm quite bad on my own feet as well. I really shouldn't be wearing a long skirt like this and heels, but it didn't seem right to wear any other kind of shoes. --I don't believe we've met before? If we have, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Amber Lucas. I work for the Conroy's." She extended her hand to the girl before her.

Amanda was talking to Davina when Miles came up, and of course she immediately started blushing when Davina pointed him out-- and promptly left Amanda alone with the prince. "I am having a good time, thank you-- are you having a good time?" she asked, turning an even brighter red when he complimented her. "Thank you, Miles. You look very handsome, if you don't mind my saying so. I like your costume, you look awesome." Amanda had decided on the angel costume after all-- her wings were majestic, with white and gold feathers, and her white gown hugged her in all the right places, but kept it appropriate so she felt comfortable. To complete her look was a gold leaf headband-- she thought it looked cooler than a cheap halo.

Elijah was working, but had dressed up for the occasion-- the Conroy's had insisted he be part of the celebration even if he didn't want to take the night off. He was standing off to the side, surveying the room, but he wasn't expecting any danger-- it was an anniversary party, not some big political thing he usually attended. He took a sip of water as his foot tapped along to the music, when he saw Davina come up to him. He immediately straightened up, giving the young woman a smile. "Hi. Well, I'm working, but yes. What about you?"

Miles was so used to being the one who always blushed at the drop of a hat, but when he saw Amanda's cheeks brighten, he noted how cute it was on her. He smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad to hear that." He nodded. "I am. I'm glad to see you here." He looked down and tugged gently on his vest. "Thank you, I tried me best. Arrgh." He did his best attempt at being a pirate, which was laughable. "I love your wings, they're very pretty."

Will nodded in agreement, awkwardly shifting his feet as he glanced around. "Definitely not. Their relationship is kind of one of a kind. No wonder all of us are kind of fucked up and strive for a love like theirs, you know?" He turned over to her, grimacing. "Not that we can't-- I just don't know you-- y'know?"

Phoebe reached out to give Will's hand a reassuring pat. "I get it." She was struggling with the reality of their arrangement, but it was probably much harder to fathom with parents who'd fallen in love against all odds. "It's not fucked up to want that kind of love. I do too. It's a hard thing to wrap your head around, but I'm going through it with you, y'know? I'm just as confused and unsure."

Davina didn't know what the hell she was doing. She was never good when it came to liking someone; in fact, other than one other guy when she was sixteen, she never really liked any guys. She was way out of her comfort zone. She realized he had stopped talking and cleared her throat. "I guess your job is really never over, right? Do you get any days off?" Oh, my gosh, Davina. "It seems like you would be exhausted otherwise. Since I know you also run when you have a chance. Not that I'm keeping tabs on you or anything, I just remember that day... --Anyway, yes, I'm having a good time. A very good time." She smiled and looked away, feeling her cheeks brighten.

Ian let out a laugh. "Ah, now I get it. Pretty cool costume. What about me, do you like my costume? I'm Westley from The Princess Bride." He gestured to his costume, pleased with himself and the costume he'd decided on. Rolling his eyes, Ian started to interrupt and deny, deny, deny again, but when he heard about Phoebe not fighting Tristan-- he stopped, looking at his sister, than over at Phoebe, and back at Tristan again. "What do you mean, she didn't fight you as much as I'm fighting you?" He looked over at the betrothed again, his heart pounding so hard he was starting to hear it in his ears. "Who's Will in love with? How do you even find this crap out?"

Leila chuckled, looking the blonde's costume over. "You look beautiful though, I wish I had come with something a little nicer. I just threw on a pair of ears and a mask, pretty much." Shaking her head, she took Amber's hand. "Nope, we haven't met. I'm Leila Buchanan, it's lovely to meet you, Amber. I'm actually going to be working for the Conroy's as well. Dr. Burke just hired me to join his practice.

Tris took in his costume. "Inconceivable! I like it. I can't give you crap about your costume, since I love that movie." Tristan placed her arms across her chest, pleased with how her little "slip-up" worked. What would these idiots do without her putting little bugs in their ears? "What do you care about what us gals chatted about? There's nothing going on. --Oh my good gravy. How am I the only one that knows anything that's going on? He's in love with Amber, you bonehead. They've been in love for like ever. And I thought I was bad at relationships."

Amanda let out a laugh as he impersonated a pirate. "And what is your name, Pirate? What's a scallywag like you doing at a party like this?" she asked him, playing along. "Thank you-- they're a bit heavy, but I do love how they look." She glanced around, before turning back to him, looking up at the prince. "Would you like to go outside, get some fresh air?"

Amber smiled. "Thank you. I just threw this on as well. I hadn't planned on coming, so I was in my pajamas. It's actually a little tight around my stomach; I probably should've gone with something else, but it's so pretty and the last time I wore it, it was fine. --It's lovely to meet you, too. Welcome to the family, I suppose. Dr. Burke is a lovely individual. I hope you enjoy it here, but I'm sure you will. The Conroy's are a great family."

Eli watched Davina as she rambled on, his lips turning up into a gentle smile. "I'm glad to hear that you're having a good time. And to answer your question: yes, I do get days off. I just like working. I actually wasn't supposed to work tonight, but I'm a bit of a workaholic." He took a sip of water, glancing around the party quickly, before turning back to her. "It sounds a little like you are keeping tabs on me, though. Which is alright. Because I've been keeping tabs on you, too," he murmured casually, taking another sip of water.

Miles grinned. "Shiver me timbers, you be a pirate ye self. I didn't actually give him a name, what do you think his name should be? --Yes, I would love that." He held out his arm for her, and smiled as he escorted her across the room. He was happy to have any time he could manage with her. Though he didn't know her very well, the more that he learned about her, the more he wanted to know.

Will shook his head. "It's a little fucked up, because now we're all expecting some big love story, and in reality, it might not happen." He gave her a sad smile. "I know you are. And I'm sorry I've been a bit.... absent, I guess. It's just hard to be around you, even though I should be doing the opposite and spending time with you to get to know you better."

Phoebe gave Will a sympathetic smile. "It is fucked up. Arranged marriages are archaic and the last thing I thought I'd find myself in." Selfishly, the brunette looked across the way, spotting Tristan talking to Ian. Her stomach dropped, thinking of the last conversation she'd had with her impending sister in law. "You don't have to apologize." If anything, Phoebe was understanding --sometimes too understanding for her own good. "It's kind of like when you're a kid and your parents tell you to do something; it suddenly becomes the last thing you want to do instead."

Davina felt her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she stared at him. "Oh, so you're that bush that keeps following me around. It all makes sense now. I always felt like someone was watching me. --I feel sorry for you, as that must be incredibly boring. I am definitely not the most interesting between me and Phoebe."

Ian "Finally, someone who get it. Someone asked me if I was a ninja. I almost commit murder tonight, Tris. We might have a body to bury by the end of the night." He stared at Tristan, realizing she'd tricked him into admitting he had a thing for his brother's fiance. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to find out, and now someone knew his secret, and he was sure Will would find out. "Tristan......." he stopped, shaking his head. "You're right, there's nothing going on." He watched Will and Phoebe, as she touched her brother's hand as they appeared to have a heart to heart, wishing that was him she was touching. "Amber? Lucas? Obviously I live under a rock because I don't know anything about this. I really don't pay attention to any of this, obviously."

Leila "Oh, really? Well, you look fantastic! You can't even tell it's tight or anything-- but is there anyway to loosen it up? So you don't end up passing out or anything." She smiled, silently thanking Amber for the welcome. "I appreciate that-- and they seem to be pretty great. I'm quite excited to start work on Monday. --What is it you do here at the castle?"

Tris laughed. "Yeah, I can't see you killing someone. You're right next to Miles on that list. The two most innocent Conroy's. I could see Sarah doing it before you." Tristan grinned so big that it only made her costume even more creepy. "I guess you wouldn't care that she told me how she has a crush on someone. I think it's me and she just didn't want to admit it because we were the ones talking. I mean, c'mon," she held out her arms and looked down her own body. "C'mon. I'm clearly the best of this family. I'll have to let her down easy, of course. Our love is forbidden. Taboo." She knocked her shoulder into Ian's. "But in all seriousness, if I would tell the person I like before it's too late. The ring in our world is a lot harder to get off once it's on." She watched him look at their brother and felt bad for him. Honestly, she felt bad for everyone. "Obviously. I guess I should tell you that Alaska is married now," she teased.

Amanda "That I be, but not as good a pirate as... ye?" she laughed, uncertain how to continue but amused with the conversation nonetheless. "Hmm, do how about Blue Eye Miles? Dreamy Blue Eye Miles. It might not be very threatening, but I personally think it's fitting." She was blushing again-- she found it hard not to around him. She took his arm, letting him whisk her away from the party, grateful to get some fresh air. "It looks like it might rain, but I don't mind-- do you?"

Will nodded in agreement with his betrothed. "They are. I didn't want to get engaged, but when you're told you have to marry an heiress, you do that." Will felt bad for the both of them, for the situation they were in-- they were both being forced to do something neither of them wanted-- at least, not with each other. He looked around, finding catching sight of Amber-- even in a mask, he'd know her anywhere. "Yeah, exactly. It makes you want to do the opposite. Like, being told to marry you makes me want to.... not do that," he admitted. "But I don't think we have a choice."

Eli "Yup, that would be me. I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I'm very bad at being a bush, apparently." He grinned cheekily, shaking his head. "On the contrary, I find you extremely interesting. I don't really notice Phoebe. No offense to her. But I've become quite taken with you. I hope that's alright. I know we don't know each other extremely well, but it's the truth."

Phoebe let out a small laugh at Will's bluntness. Luckily, they were both on the same page. Wedding planning would be a distraction, although she wasn't so inclined to think about it being her wedding. "I like to think there's always a choice. --I don't think it would hurt us to at least try, but it's not fair to force anything for the sake of fulfilling a duty. If your parents could fall in love all on their own regardless of social standing, they should extend the same courtesy to you."

Ian "Aren't most serial killers the most unassuming? I could be a killer. Doesn't mean I am, but I could. I am far from innocent. I am bad.... to the bone. Super bad." He snorted. "Sarah would definitely commit murder before either of us, for sure." Ian slapped his hand over his heart, letting out a loud breath. "Tristan. You're killing me here. She has a crush on someone? Who's not Will? --Okay, you're hilarious. Hilarious." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his sister. "I hate you. I love you, but I hate you. I'm not telling anyone anything. I can't. Even if she does have a thing for-- for me..... I could never do that. She's engaged to Will. Even if she doesn't love him.... I couldn't do that to him." He let out a soft laugh. "Ah, so that's why some weird guy has been hanging around her."

Will "They want that for us, of course, but it's a little more complicated. When my dad ascended the throne, it was a different time, less danger. No need for alliances and all the politics that came with the royal title. It's a bit different now. And it's not entirely up to my parents, either, they have advisors, and even if they want us to be happy, we all have to think of the crown, and the country." He shrugged. "So maybe we do have a choice, but what's the right choice?"

Phoebe "That's fair. Although, just to play Devil's Advocate, I'm curious as to what alliance they're seeking by marrying you off to an heiress. My father knows people, but he doesn't hold any power." Phoebe reached up to tuck a stray curl back into her meticulous hairstyle. "If we chose to do right by the country, we make the best of our situation and continue with a smile. If we chose to do right by ourselves, we follow our hearts.

Amber “I don’t think I’m going to pass out or anything, it just doesn’t fit as nicely as it did the last time I wore it.” Although she was not facing him, she had that sensation that someone was watching her. She ignored the feeling, not wanting to know who it was, even though she was sure she knew already. Instead, she turned her attention to Leila even more. “Oh - I am the nanny for Miss Zoey. She is the...” she paused, almost catching herself say ‘grandchild’. “She’s a the niece to the Queen. Her mother died and the Queen couldn’t let anything happen to her, so she has taken her on as though she was like her own.”

Miles was very happy to escape from the party. It wasn’t his kind of scene except when he had to. As Amanda began giving his costume names, he felt his cheeks heat up. Curse the Conroy gene! “Well, thank you. I am definitely not threatening, so it fits.” He looked up at the sky when she mentioned rain and crinkled his nose. “No, I don’t mind. I won’t melt if I get a little wet.” He fell silent for a moment before clearing his throat. “I was wondering, and please feel free to say no if you don’t want to, but I was hoping maybe I could take you on a date one day soon.”

Davina smiled at him, though she was extremely nervous still. “Maybe I’m just very observant or hopeful.” She shrugged, glad she was already wearing some blush on her cheeks so it wasn’t as noticeable when she blushed. She wasn’t sure what to think about his declaration, except giddy. “That’s quite alright with me, as I feel the same towards you.” She didn’t know where her sudden bravery came from, but she was happy it did. “And we should change the whole ‘not knowing each other well’ part.”

Tris laughed. “Oh, yes, you’re sooo bad.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in annoyance. “Look, I’m done now. I told you more than I should have because I want all of you happy and if you don’t want to do anything, fine. I really do hope you guys have just crushes and nothing more, because once that ring is on her finger, you’ll have to see her with him all the time. Hugging, kissing, popping out some babies. And if you have deeper feelings, then that’s going to be hell for you. I don’t want you to feel regret and a longing for the rest of your life, any of you. So I pray it’s just a crush.” She let out a sigh and patted him on the shoulder. She began to say something else when she heard a glass shattering scream that came from behind the closed doors of the ballroom. “What the fuck was that?”

Leila smiled in quiet relief. "Good. I mean, good you're not going to pass out on me, not good that it doesn't fit. But really, you can't even tell." She lifted her mask over her forehead, her cheeks flushed a bit from having her face covered. "Hell, this thing is a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it'd be.... Oh, Zoey, I've heard about her from Dr. Burke. A very lively child, he mentioned. It's great they took her in-- they seem like really caring people. I feel lucky to be here." She reached out as a waiter passed, taking a water from a tray, and quickly downing it.

Amanda watched Miles, noting the way his cheeks flushed, and was grateful she wasn't the only one who's emotions showed on their face. "I think so too. You must be a very kind pirate." Amanda leaned against the balcony, turning to face him, suddenly speechless, caught off guard from his question. Not because she didn't want to go on a date with him, but because she very much did want to and had not been expecting him to ask. She'd been hoping he would, of course. But it was a surprise, nonetheless. "No, no-- I mean, yes. I would very much like to go on a date with you. I want to."

Will chuckled. "I'm pretty far down the line to the throne, so I don't think it really matters as much. You're wealthy enough to matter, despite not holding a title. Sometimes that's even better than power, to these people." He shrugged, offering a small smile. "What do you want to do, Phoebe?"

Eli's smile widened as he watched Davina, his heart beating rapidly despite appearing cool, calm, and collected. "You do? I'm very pleased to hear that. I was worried it might be one-sided. And I would very much like that. To change that, I mean. To get to know you better." He glanced around out of habit, before settling back at Davina in her devil costume. "After the party, would you like to go somewhere? We can leave the castle, or-- take a walk, or something."

Ian "That's the thing, Tris. It's already been hell for me, and I don't think I've seen them do any of those things, yet. I don't know if it's just a crush. What if it is, though? What if I break them up, and it just turns out to be a crush? Something we're just feeling because it's not okay, because we can't have each other, and then we act on it, and it turns out it was nothing? I would've broken them up for nothing. I don't know if I could risk that. And I don't know if I could do that to mom and dad, and definitely not to Will." Ian sighed heavily, confused and conflicted as he thought about the situation, and what they were supposed to do. He was noble, and wanted to do the right thing, and stealing away his brother's fiance, didn't seem like the right thing. His thoughts were interrupted by Tristan's outburst, and he realized he heard the screaming too, and turned to see Emily Donahue rush in, covered in blood, screaming before collapsing in the middle of the party.

Emily had to go to the bathroom and disappeared from the party, when she was washing her hands, she heard a lot of commotion from the other side of the door. She finished washing her hands and began walking to the door. As she approached, something fell against the door. She jumped back, barely missing being smacked in the face with the door and had a body fall on her. The older woman had been shot in the chest and was bleeding everywhere. Emily let out a scream and frantically moved out from under the woman. She ran as fast as she could down the hall, her feet sliding out from under her and causing her to fall on her hands. Quickly, she caught herself and launched herself at the door, yanking it open and appearing back in the ballroom. Her beautiful white dress was stained with the woman’s blood. “Th-There’s a lady. Sh-She d-died.” Although she hadn’t been harmed herself, Emily collapsed on the floor, passing out from what she had witnessed.

Phoebe felt conflicted. The majority of her wanted to follow her heart. However, she wasn't exactly all too sure if what she felt was remotely reciprocated by the other party. It was too much of a risk, and though she was okay with failing, the consequences and fall out would be incredibly great. "I--" Her decision was cut short by a blood curdling scream, followed by a small blonde covered in what Phoebe hoped was merely fake blood as part of a Halloween prank.

Amber started to reply to Leila when suddenly Emily collapsed near them. “What the heck?” Davina nodded, excitedly at his proposal and as she began to reply, she was cut off by the sound of a scream. Miles was grinning ear-to-ear and felt like he was on cloud nine, but before he could respond, he heard a loud commotion coming from inside. “Can you excuse me for a second? I want to finish this conversation, but it sounds like something happened. Stay right here.” He quickly ran back in, shocked by what he saw. Tris understood why her brother was having issues, but she knew it was more than just a crush even if they didn’t. Before she could reply, she saw the youngest Donahue fall down and quickly ran to her side.

Izzy heard all of the commotion and quickly made her way through the crowd. When she spotted Emily on the ground, she turned around to face the crowd. “Everyone, please remain calm. We will get to the bottom of this.” She made her way out of the room and quickly spotted the body of the woman Emily was speaking about. When she looked down the hall, she saw a person dressed in all black walking hastily towards her. She made her way back to the ballroom and shut the door, alerting the guards at the door to barricade the door. “Please remain calm, but try to stay away from any of the windows and doors until we have this all resolved!”

Will was going to ask Phoebe again, urge her to make a decision, when he heard the scream, and saw Emily run into the ballroom, covered in blood. His own blood drained from his face, as he looked around in shock, wondering if this was some elaborate joke, meant to be a prank. But as Emily collapsed, something told him it was not. And his mother rushing back into the ballroom confirmed it. He took Phoebe's hand and began tugging her away from the crowd-- but stopped when he caught sight of Amber not too far from where Emily had collapsed. "Phoebe, I need you to find somewhere to hide, okay? I'll be back." He didn't wait for a response, he pulled away and made his way to Amber, trying to push his way through everyone. Eli saw as his sister collapsed, and wanted to rush over to her, but he also wanted to protect Davina. He also had a duty to protect his king and queen. He pushed Davina into a corner. "Wait here, okay?" Ian watched as Tristan ran off to check on Emily, his love troubles far from his mind now-- he went to his mother's side, looking around. "Mom, where's Dad? You have to get out of here." He glanced around the room, watching as Will left Phoebe, and saw Miles come into the room from outside on the balcony. He didn't see Alaska, but she was probably off with Charles somewhere, and Sarah-- where had he seen Sarah last? When had he last seen his dad? "Mom????"

Amanda waited for Miles to reply, her stomach aflutter as she nervously looked up at him, wanting to cross the short distance between them and touch him. And she almost did, but was interrupted by a ruckus from inside the ballroom. Brows furrowing, she glanced back to Miles, nodding as he excused himself. She waited a moment, before deciding to go after him, entering the ballroom-- her mouth immediately dropping, her eyes widening as she saw what was going on. Leila looked over her shoulder as Emily collapsed, gasping in shock before immediately falling to her knees beside her and checking her vitals. "--She's breathing, she's alive-- I don't think this is her blood, Amber." She looked up, at the chaos around her, her heart beating so hard, she was sure she was going to keel over next. "What's going on?!"

Phoebe felt panic begin to rise in the center of her chest. Whatever was going on, it wasn't some practical joke in time for Halloween. Her breathing grew staggered as Will tugged her away from the scene to get her towards safety. "I... Yeah. Okay." The brunette's eyes frantically searched the space, attempting to seek out Ian, Amanda... Davina. Where was Davina? Luckily, she spotted her younger sister huddled in a corner. Gathering the elaborate skirts of her costume she rushed over to her younger sister and wrapped her up in her arms. "Thank god you're safe."

James was dancing with his granddaughter Zoey, or his niece, as most people knew her. His wife was off being the life of the party-- his blue eyes found her over and over again, smiling as he watched the love of his wife entertain their guests and spend time with their children. It was a wonderful night-- and he couldn't wait for it to end so he'd be alone again with his wife, and they could go off and have another honeymoon the next morning. "I can barely keep up with you, sweetheart," he told Zoey, chuckling as his granddaughter squealed as he twirled her around. He twirled her around again, and again, pausing when the doors of the ballroom swung open and his adopted daughter, Emily came in screaming, covered in blood. He glanced around, confused, watching as she collapsed. Izzy went out the door, then promptly came back in, and he watched her signal the guards frantically. "My love, find Miss Amber, and don't leave her side, understand?" he murmured softly as he kneeled at Zoey's height, watching her nod with wide eyes. "Go on, it'll be fine."

Amber nodded in agreement. “I don’t think it is, either. I have to find Zoey!” Amber began looking around frantically, trying to find the little girl in the middle of the crowd. If the people had actually listened to the Queen, then she would be able to find her. She spotted Will and pushed through to him. “Have you seen Zoey?! I can’t find her!” Davina nodded, her head still reeling as Eli pushed her in a corner. She didn’t know what to do, but she was afraid to move. She was so relieved when Phoebe found her; she buried her face into her sister’s shoulder and began crying. “What’s going on? Are we going to die here tonight?” Izzy “He was dancing with Zoey the last time I saw him, Ian. You have to go. I don’t know what’s going on, but I saw somebody out there, they killed someone. You have to make sure everyone is safe. Get them out of here. I’m not leaving until I know everyone is okay.” Quickly, she hugged her son, cradling his face in her hands. “You have to go, now,” she demanded.

Tris glanced up when she heard someone talking about the blood not being Emily’s. “No, and she wouldn’t do some kind of prank. My only guess is we’re under attack right now. We need to get her moved. Help me carry her?” She asked the woman before her. Miles spotted his dad and ran to his side. “Dad, what’s going on? Is someone really dead? We need to get you out of here!”

Will reached Amber, grateful to see she was okay-- he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her and never let anyone or anything get to her-- but he'd have to wait until later. "I saw her with my dad a minute ago-- there she is!" He waved his niece over, grasping her hand. "Hey, Zoe-bug, we're going to play hide and seek, okay? You have to find the best hiding place with Amber, close your eyes, and don't come out until I find you, okay?" Elijah, as soon as Davina was out of the way, lined up with the other guards at the door of the ballroom, gun pointed, ready to protect everyone from whoever was outside the door. Ian stared at his mom, not quite registering what she was saying. "W-What?" He wrapped his arms around her, eyes clenching shut as he tightened his arms around her. "Mom, I am not leaving you." James, as soon as he saw Zoey had made it to Amber, was trying to get to his wife in the midst of all the chaos-- he could see her and Ian together, but he somehow kept getting further away, as if he was floating in the ocean, further and further away from land. His eyes wild with confusion, he saw his son Miles. "Son, we need to help everyone get out-- I need to get to your mother-- it's madness right now--"

Leila nodded, not recognizing that she was speaking to one of the princesses. "Yes, otherwise she might get trampled, and get really hurt," she replied. "You grab her legs, I'll take her arms-- carefully, we don't know if it's something internal, we could do more damage," she ordered. Amanda didn't understand what was happening-- but she saw Davina and Phoebe, and immediately started going towards them, and by some miracle, got to them. "What the hell's going on?!" She was usually calm and quiet, but the panic had immediately set in and she was scared.

Phoebe clung to her sister, stroking the back of her head as she began to cry. "I have no idea what's happening. But we sure as hell aren't going to die here tonight." Though she was visibly shaken, the brunette easily slipped into her role of older sister. She had to be strong for Davina, for their family, and ensure that the both of them got out of the ballroom in one piece. "We're going to find a way out."

Amber was so relieved when she saw Zoey. She sighed in relief and grabbed her hand, holding as tight as she could without hurting her. “Let’s find the best hiding spot!” She was trying so hard to keep her fear hidden and how scared she was to leave Will, but right now Zoey was her top priority. Before leaving, she hugged Will tight. “Please be careful. I love you.” She whispered before pulling out of the hug and runnning off with Zoey. Izzy looked at her son. “Ian, that is not a request. I’m telling you to make sure your siblings are okay. Get them out of here.” She didn’t want anything to happen to any of her babies, but she also had to do what she could to make sure everyone else would get out of there alive. “Do not worry about me, Ian. Just do what I tell you and get everyone to safety. I’ll be okay. I promise.” Miles didn’t know what was going on but he nodded. “Okay. I’ll take some people around the back. Mom’s up at the front.” He grabbed his dad’s hand and pulled him through the crowd until he could see a clearing near his mom. “Ian, I’m going to get some people out around the back.” Tris nodded and carefully picked up Emily’s legs. “Get out of our way, assholes!” She shouted when people were scrambling around them, not caring about keeping up a good representation. “You lead.” Davina nodded at her sister’s words, praying that she was right. She hated how she was crying as though that was going to help anything. When she saw Amanda, she quickly held out her free arm and hugged both of them so tight, not saying a word, just grateful they were both okay. She felt herself jump and squeal when she heard what sounded like a gunshot. “We need to get out of here, NOW.”

Phoebe almost immediately grabbed onto Amanda, holding both her and Davina tight. They were her family --and she was going to do whatever it took to protect them. The sound of a gun shot made her whole body jolt, her head perking up ever so slightly to try and see what was going on. Chaos seemed to be unfolding around them, so much so that her vision was blurry. Rather than dwell and worry, she took the initiative to try and get them to a safer spot. "Follow me." She squeezed both of them tight once more, then linked their arms in an attempt to navigate them towards a somewhat hidden door to get outside of the palace.

Will held Amber close, taking in the smell of her, the feel of her-- not knowing if it would be the last time. He nearly broke down then, but quickly hid any sign of emotion from his face as he pulled away. "I love you too, Bambi. And I love you, Zoey. I'll start counting, okay?" He watched as the pair went, and turned back to the madness around him, unsure of what to do. He had to find his family, first. Ian shook his head. "I can't leave you on your own. What kind of son would I be if I did?" He turned to see his brother, Miles, and sighed in relief to see their father was close behind. "Okay-- I'll stay with here with Mom and Dad-- have you seen Sarah?" James immediately went to Izzy, grasping her hand in his own, smiling despite the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry it took so long to get to you, love. Our granddaughter is quite the dancer," he murmured with a sad smile. "Ian, Miles-- protect your sisters and help our guests-- I'll stay with your mother, we'll be fine."

Leila lifted Emily's limp body, grimacing from the weight-- she was a tiny thing, but Leila wasn't the strongest, either. But somehow, she managed, with Tristan's help. She led Tristan over to one side of the room, somehow holding up Emily's body with all the strength she had with one arm around the blonde, while she cleared a table off, glasses and food crashing to the ground around her feet-- but she didn't have time to think about that right now. "Here-- I can examine her better here--" She set Emily's head down immediately checked her pulse again, then her pupils, and surveyed her body for a source for blood, but as she had said earlier, the blood wasn't hers. "She's fine, she must've passed out from the fright she had." Amanda buried her face against Davina's shoulder as she grasped both sisters in her arms, grateful that they were okay. When she heard the gunshot, she yelped, clenching her eyes shut, not wanting to see who had been hurt-- she didn't think she could bear it. "I don't want to die," she mumbled tearfully, barely registering as she got up and began to follow her friends to an escape-- but she stopped, refusing to move another inch. "I can't-- Miles-- what if he's hurt???" she shook her head, pulling away from them. "Go on, I'll be right there, okay??" She turned around and ran right back into the chaos.

Davina nodded as her sister took charge. She followed behind, trying her best to keep from getting disconnected due to the people moving frantically around them. She saw the door her sister was heading for and felt a bit of relief. Maybe things would be okay after all. When Amanda pulled away from them, she tried to grab her. "Amanda, you can't!" She reached to take her hand, but Amanda was already out of reach. "No!" Izzy "Ian, you have to listen to me. I will not let anything happen to you. I won't let you be hurt in any way and the only way for me to do that is to get you out of here. We will be fine." She smiled sadly at James, wrapping her arm around his waist once he was in her grasp. Her eyes flickered back to Miles and Ian. "I love you both, so much. Please, go before anything happens. Make sure you find everyone. We'll find you as soon as we can." Although she said the words, she, herself did not believe them. She felt as though this was going to be the last time she saw them, but she would happily die in the place of them. She put one hand on each of their cheeks. "I'm not telling you again. Go." She gave Miles a warning look and he nodded, pulling Ian along with him. Once she saw them disappear, she looked back at James and hugged him tight. Miles pulled Ian away from their parents, hating to do it but knowing they had to do what they were told. "I haven't seen Sarah or Alaska." As they walked through the crowd, he saw Will and pulled Ian to him. "We have to find Sarah and Alaska, and make sure they're safe and out of here. He looked around and saw Tristan. "Tristan is over there with Emily. One of you needs to go over there and see if they need help." Tris carefully set Emily down and watched as Leila examined her. She felt a little relief when she said nothing was wrong, that she was just passed out. At least nobody else had died... yet. "Okay, anything I can do for her?"

Amanda looked around, trying to see Miles-- and she caught sight of him with his brother Ian, and their parents, the King and Queen. She was relieved to see they were all okay, but she was especially relieved that the prince wasn't hurt. She started to go to him, to tell him that Davina and Phoebe had found a way out, but before she could call out his name, she felt someone grab her from behind, holding her around her waist with one arm as they covered her mouth. She began fighting against whoever was holding her, feeling them drag her away from the party, further away from Miles and his family. She clawed at her abductor's hands, punched and kicked, all the while yelling at the top of her lungs despite them covering any sound she was making. And then, everything went black. Ian listened to his mother, watching her with wide, scared eyes-- because somehow, he knew they wouldn't be fine. "Mom...." He managed to gasp out, holding onto her hand as she caressed his cheek. He looked from her, to his dad, who was smiling at his sons through tear-filled eyes. Ian steeled himself, taking a deep breath, and willed himself to be strong, for his parents, and for his siblings. "Okay. Okay. We're going." He started to follow Miles, who was pulling him away from their parents. "I love you, Mom. And I love you, Dad. Everything is going to be fine. Stay safe." He forced a smile as the tears fell, taking a deep breath as he turned away from them. "I don't think I've seen Alaska in hours-- she must be with Charles." Will sighed in relief when he saw his brothers, throwing his arms around them and hugging them tight. "Amber has Zoey, they're hiding-- I'll go help Tris," he mumbled, pulling away from his siblings. "You guys look for Alaska and Sarah. Last I saw Alaska, she and Charles were heading outside-- maybe they went upstairs?" He left Ian and Miles to go his twin's side, seeing that she and a woman he didn't know were looking after Emily. "We need to get her out of her-- her brother's will freak if anything happens to her." Leila shook her head at Tristan, wiping off some blood she'd gotten on her hands. "If you have some smelling salts on you, that would help, but there's not much else-- unless you can grab something to cover her with, in case she goes into shock." She glanced up as a male approached them. "You could probably carry her out without dropping her, if you know a way out."

Phoebe's feet felt as if they were flying as she attempted to move herself, Davina and Amanda closer towards safety. Her hazel eyes, wet with tears of fright, held a laser focus on the door that was just close enough, but each step felt like it was taking a year. "Amanda, we can't... You can't... Amanda!" Her fearful words hissed out as a tear dripped down her cheek. Her friend was too far gone both she and Davina were too close to safety. "Dav, you go. I'm going to go get her." She gave her sister a nudge to keep going. "I'll be right there."

Miles looked around, trying to spot one of his sisters, but instead spotted another brunette being attacked. "Amanda," he screamed as he tried to push his way to her. Even as they pulled her away, he fought to get to her. "Amanda!" He ran to where he had seen her but she was gone. He stopped and looked around, frantic as he tried to find her. Calling her name but not finding her. Davina stared at her sister, had it been a normal situation she would've laughed at the idea. "Phoebe, I'm not going anywhere without you and Amanda." She took hold of her sister and clung to her, but refused to stay behind. Tris looked at her brother. "You carry her. I'll clear the way." She began shoving her way through the room, making a path for them. Until the room went black. Someone had shut off the power and more gunshots began. The only light was from the bullets leaving the barrels for a quick second. Tristan let out a groan, feeling pain in her back, making her fall to the ground. Izzy held tight to James' arm when the lights went out. She wasn't fearful for what was going to happen to her, but her kids. She began silently crying. Then the moment she knew was coming happened. She felt a something against the back of her head and took a deep breath. There was a moment of pain followed by nothing. When the lights came back on, only a few minutes after they were cut, Izzy was laying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood.

Will gathered Emily up in his arms, charging after Tristan as she cleared a path for them-- but then the lights went out and they were clothed in darkness-- he stumbled, holding onto the unconscious young woman in his arms as he tried to find an exit. He heard his twin sister groan out in pain, and immediately began to yell for her. "TRISTAN!!!" he called out to her, but unable to see or hear her. The sound of gunshots filled the room, one hitting Will in the shoulder-- he gasped in pain, but forced himself to stay standing, to not drop Emily. "I'm gonna get you out of here, Em," he groaned out, promising her even though she couldn't hear him. James held onto his wife, struggling to see in the dark-- all he could see were the sparks from the gunshots, while the room was abuzz with screams. He could feel his wife began to shake as she silently cried, and he held on tighter to her, kissing her forehead. "I love you, Izzy," he murmured softly, feeling the force of someone hitting her from behind. He cried out, falling with his wife as she fell, holding onto her body as he felt her weaken. "Izzy," he cried softly, blindly reaching for her face in the dark, gently caressing her face. "What have they done?" he murmured, his heart breaking. But at least his attackers were kind enough to put him out of his misery; he felt the gun they held against his back, and the bullet that ripped through his heart, or what was left of it. He fell, holding his wife in his arms, struggling to breath. They were still covered in darkness, but he smiled as he looked up to see Izzy holding her hand out to him. "I couldn't let even death come between us, my love." he managed to murmur. He took her hand, his eyes closing as his body went limp beside his wife.

Phoebe Just as she took a step in the direction of Amanda, they room went black. She held onto Davina for dear life, pulling them both to the ground the moment she heard gun shots. The brunette did her best not to scream, although her throat grew tight and her eyes welled up with tears. "Love you, Dav," she murmured, hoping that in the darkness nobody could detect them. When the lights flickered back on, she felt frozen and unable to move, despite being close to their exit route. "We've got to... But Amanda..."

Tris was unable to move, even when the lights came back on. She tried, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. She began gnawing on her lip to keep from screaming out loud and despite her best attempt, tears rolled down her cheek. She finally couldn't help it any longer and yelped once more. Davina hugged her sister when she was finally able to see her, so thankful to still have her. "We'll find her." She sounded the most confident saying those few words than she had the entire night. "I promise, Phoebe. We'll find her."

#para:red anniversary

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steve0discusses · 5 years ago

Text

Yugioh S4 Ep 14 Pt1: Rex and Weevils Ultimate Betrayal No One Gave a Damn About

Just finished watching the Superbowl, which I never ever do, and it was VERY confusing and I thought I remembered this sport but I did not. I don’t know what’s happening. I do not understand how Kansas City got that field goal on San Fransisco when their feet never touched the goal line. So, I’m just gonna...change gears completely and wrap up this long post about a VERY complicated anime that came out before some of y’all were born, instead. Today I just really wanted to feel lost.

Last episode, Yugi (the main character of the show, the one this show is named after) hella died, and Rex and Weevil decided to leave the party very, very quickly.

You’d think that the one event (Yugi’s dead) would have to do with the other event (getting the hellllll away), considering how rude and judgy Yami is, but they actually left for cards. They accidentally did a very wise decision in order to do something incredibly stupid and cancel out any wisdom they showed in pedaling as fast as they could possibly pedal away from the reincarnated ghost who just very suddenly achieved full control of a human body.

They accidentally pedaled away from every Mummy movie super villain and somehow ended up with a much more worse villain.

Like I say that this whole season is about Yugi’s crazy commute, but Rex and Weevil’s commute has just been so much more. They are just clinging to whatever vehicle is near them in order to find these legendary cards sitting somewhere in American Soil. They are so ambivalent to all the very real world terrible problems around them because they’re PRETTY SURE they’re gonna get rich. It’s like the Gold Rush but with helicopters.

Also the 49ers never rode tandem bikes, but you know they would’ve if they could’ve.

And for some, weird reason, Rafeal decides not to pick them up under his arms and toss them directly onto an unsuspecting Joey Wheeler like he just did with Yugi. Rafael and Alister decided...nah...I’ll keep these strange small manchildren.

It seems really off brand for Rafael and Alister but maybe they just got too tired to deal with it right now.

Speaking of tired--this horse.

I mean I’ll do the math eventually--not this post but maybe the next one I just did a lot of math trying to remember why the hell it’s 6 points for a goal in football--but this horse that we estimated would take over 20 days to ride to Death Valley just rode all the way back in the same day. Congratulations horse, the strongest force in all of Yugioh, (second to Yugi’s neck, holding that 70 lb necklace at all hours of the day.)

The girls seem to think that everything is OK initially, mostly because Yugi doesn’t really lose games that often, since the list of ways to beat Yugi in a card game up until now didn’t include “trick Yami into murdering the hell out of Yugi Muto.” Crazy that that actually worked, but Yami isn’t that bright.

PS please admire how chubby this horse appears in this scene.

OK I’m glad we all acknowledged the elephant in the room that was a horse last shot.

Also...maybe he didn’t hug her back because she just shoved a very sharp pyramid necklace straight into his small intestines?

(more under the cut)

I’ll spare you Transatlantacism this time.

Tea is concerned but more surprised than straight up angry. An anger which is more honed by Rebecca because Yami just killed her only friend (other than this horse) and possibly her only future husband that would ever put up with her (other than this horse.)

Like it seems kind of rude in the show out of context that everyone took a moment to lay a big dump on Yami Muto, but can you imagine if you straight up killed your twin (by accident but only by like 75% accident, lets be real) and this was your only punishment?

Like getting punched out is just how Yami treats himself every single day, so I don’t think Joey made too much of a difference in the situation. But you know, it’s Yugioh, so getting punched does is somehow the correct answer.

It was very lucky for Yami that Tea was too busy trying to console Rebecca to punch Yami before Joey got to him first because hot damn that would have sent him straight back to Death Valley.

And then I think this next exchange between Duke and Tristan was somewhat lost in translation. Please admire the censorship here. Safe for kids now.

I say this like a joke but have you seen Equinox? I live in the Bay, so trust me. Equinox is absolutely reviving the Great Leviathan. No doubt in my mind.

Anyway, Rafael and Alister hear Rex and Weevil’s plea to join the evil task force and they’re like...

...yeah, I guess you can apply, why not? No need to interview your or anything before we harass Darts with you.

Like Rafael and Alister were completely bonkers children that were driven to insanity by very extreme circumstances, and then there’s Rex and Weevil. They’re just...kind of middling at cards and that’s it.

But sure, yeah, I’m sure they’ll fit right into the completely maniacal card corporate atmosphere here at DartsCorp. I’m sure Rex and Weevil will jump out of a plane on a motorcycle and then do stunts all the way towards Atlantis Island.

Sure.

(course, now that I think of it, they did introduce themselves to Alister and Rafael by accidentally doing a stunt over a canyon onto a helicopter so...maybe they accidentally think Rex and Weevil are cool?)

Which, in hindsight, makes Mai make a hell of a lot more sense because y’all, they should be SO distracted right now, and shouldn’t let anyone in here who isn’t insane or insanely good at cards. But instead they’re like...I guess you have a duel disk, you’ll work. It’s not like there’s a line of people at the door.

Anyway, because the show has to acknowledge that there might be new viewers, they do their best to try and explain this very lengthy Yugi mechanic as if we’ve never heard it before and honestly, it just sounded like everyone was very frustrated.

Like for reals what is he wearing?

Why are there so few normal ass suits in Yugioh? Why is KAIBA the only person who knows what colors belong on a fitted suit? (And he just wears white, which isn’t a color and is always very safe but youknow it still boggles my mind that the power suit people are so into very friendly soft pastels from Gozaburo, to Pegasus, to Noah, to Darts.)

I would wear this suit to Easter Sunday. Darts just wears it every day.

And so then we get a little insight into what it takes to become an Orichalcos card champion.

While before, Darts just kinda poked Mai in the forehead and she was instantly imbued with Aqua Green Evilness, he decided to do a weird test on Rex and Weevil. Just to make sure they realllllly wanted to be here.

As if they didn’t stow away in a 18 hour flight stuffed into a handbag, hold in their piss for said 18 hours, then get shipped by accident to the Tenderloin, where they were mugged twice, and then get shoved into the trunk of Duke’s car, and then took a broken tandem bike to the hottest desert in America, where they then rode said bike off of a cliff in order to hang onto a flying helicopter.

Like I think this test was unnecessary, I think they want to be here.

But youknow, I think Darts just wanted to torture em for kicks.

And then Rex and Weevil have to grab two of these Oricalchos stones that were farting special effects and were very, very opposed to being owned by Rex and Weevil. But they managed to do it.

And uh congrats--their betrayal has begun!

And I don’t think anyone else on this show even recognized that they freakin left. Like they just kinda disappeared in Death Valley and then Duke was like “eh. They’ll find their way home.”

Kind of incredible that Joey and friends left these two stranded in Death Valley, That alone should have killed Rex and Weevil and like...Wow. Wow is Joey and co such a freakin asshole.

So don’t leave people stranded in Death Valley, they will join a card cult and freakin kill you. If the insane heat doesn’t kill them first.

And then because...I don’t know...I don’t know why, after sending his best and brightest fighters, Darts decided to downgrade and do this:

(based on a true story where a friend of mine worked as an intern in the city, and because they couldn’t pay him a living wage, he lived in a closet at said startup for nearly 2 years. Start-up culture is pretty real, folks, it’s PRETTY REAL. But, on the bright side, at least they had a shower in-house.)

So, I’m gonna go remove my contacts and try to forget how much queso I ate at that Superbowl party.

It was a lot of queso.

and if you just got here, this is a handy link to read these from the start.

PS anyone else pull the Yugioh fest in PAD? Because I have played this game...a lot over the course of 5 years and saved up over 300 free stones for several months in anticipation for this collab and then I pulled Kuriboh about 15 times. Most of you have no idea what that means, but for some of you out there, your heart just broke for me 15 times. (I did get 2 Yugis so I’m fine, but damn it) Then, bro saved up his stones and pulled Seto Kaiba, Marik, and Bakura all in a row. Freakin gotcha games, man. Freakin gotcha games.

#Yugioh #ygo #photo recap #episode recap #yami #yami muto #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #darts #rex and weevil #alister #rafael #duke devlin #tea gardner #S4 #Ep14 #rebecca hawkins #copernicus the horse

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rue-me-nations · 7 years ago

Photo

People are like windows, they show me landscapes and terrains that I could never have conjured up with my own imagination. When windows are shut, I just want to paint a picture of what I saw through them that moved me.

I will miss

Oliver who would go into a mood at times when he couldn’t play the way he’d hoped, when I could see that he was frustrated after having put in effort. When he was happy with his own progress you couldn’t stop him from playing. We shared so many hours with laughter, friendly bickering, working through music, learning together, and even tears, when he was disappointed and plagued with lack of motivation to continue. It was an obstacle I was happy to plough through with him each week.

Ophelia his sister, who was so excited to start learning piano like her brother had been doing. She was always eager to learn and had that enthusiastic energy when talking to me about the things she liked, which included playing the piano. She was the only one who touched me by saying that she wanted to be a piano teacher like me when she grows up. I will never forget the lessons when we had where we would sing Que Sera Sera together while she did her theory work.

Ethan who’s relatively new and was quiet but focused when he first started. He started to open up to me in such a way that he couldn’t stop asking me questions both relating to music and personal and in fact became rather distracted that I had to stop him and point him back to work. He’s such an intelligent boy and seemed to enjoy music.

Lecia who fell in love with playing instruments during her trial lesson. She faced difficulty when things got tougher and lacks motivation in practising. Even so, we found a pace that matched her comfortably and we found enjoyment in learning again.

Hsuen Kai who inspired me by writing that little song about pentominoes, only a few months into our sessions together, getting all the notations entirely wrong in the most adorable way. To him, playing the piano is another one of his many interests, like the books and toys he brings to lessons which I have to keep him from being distracted by.

Caroline who was always excited and happy to come for piano, and insisted on wearing pretty dresses when she did because the people in the videos she saw who played the piano were always dressed nicely. She was only with me for such a short time because her family moved to Vienna, where I’m sure she’ll find really good piano teachers. Her parents were so kind and genuinely cared about her education. I will hold closely to my heart the memory of her trying to invite me to her house to play with her one day.

Gwyneth and Zoe who both found it difficult to find interest in playing the piano, but who humbled me and reminded me how important it is to keep trying and changing pace to perhaps change their perspectives about learning.

Sarah and Trevor, my two teen students who also found no motivation in practising. The thought will always haunt me that perhaps I did not possess the right skills to make them more interested despite having the intention and I was mortified when they both gave up trying.

Benji, whose parents also put a lot of heart into making sure he learned well. He was I think the only four-year-old I know who managed to complete book one of Poco, and so quickly at that. He also left after a short time to go back to the US, and his father sent me such a sweet video of him performing at his first recital, and being the youngest performer too.

Leia who was so inquisitive about everything including how the piano was invented and why it was designed the way it was, who was more interested in having conversations with me than actually playing and practising that I had to constantly try to bring her focus back even though I enjoyed every minute of her sharing her life with me and telling me her intelligent thoughts.

River who lacked confidence and focus at the beginning but began to gain momentum when we tried different ways of communicating and found activities that worked for us. Her personality matched her name in that her consciousness flowed so easily and firmly the way she liked, which was beautiful but I had to steer her in the right path to be productive during lessons. She was always fun even though it meant I had to work on trying to get her focused. Her mother was also very much involved in her learning and saw value in having fun during lessons.

Natalie who was always mischievous and fun during lessons and loved playing tunes by ear. She clearly loves music although she threatened to stop learning because she wasn’t motivated to be disciplined in terms of practice. Despite that I know that she enjoyed our lessons together, the times we sang together and I tried to teach her to play the melody for her favourite pop songs, and when she would write “I love you teacher Ruth” almost weekly on every page of her piano book.

Joey who did not seem to be motivated when I first took over from her previous teacher, but eventually sort of gained momentum finding pieces that she truly enjoyed playing once she mastered them, and began learning at a much faster pace which gave me joy. She was always such a shy girl and seemed reserved in expressing her thoughts, a characteristic common to so many students I encountered at Tampines, perhaps because of their age and also the less privileged backgrounds from which they come, as compared to the ones at Tiong Bahru.

Zhao Kai who was always playful and rebellious by nature so sessions with him were interesting but sometimes also tiring. When he did focus he learned so quickly so it made up for the time he spent being distracted. The shock I felt when he peed in class was memorable, along with the thought of how funny it was because he only realised he needed to go to the toilet when it was too late, too busy having fun trying to distract me from our lesson.

Thea who sometimes frustrated me with her complacent attitude in learning. I constantly felt the need to stir her curiosity and inspire more independent thinking despite the fact that she did enjoy playing the piano – but only the things she was already good at playing. It was hard to make her pay attention to certain technical parts of the syllabus and I had to get creative.

Matthias the teenager who likes playing the piano but has trouble being musical – he would do alright with the notes but found it hard to be emotive or expressive in his playing. He was also extremely quiet and shy and said very little about his life.

Crystabelle who is such a darling. Her mother sent me a voice recording just recently of her saying hi and asking me to come back and teach her which broke my heart.

Kevin who is the most obedient and patient little boy ever, who practices weekly and makes such good progress although we only had half an hour per week. He never complained even when things got difficult, though he was also awfully quiet and difficult to get out of his shell.

WeiBo who is playful and has difficulty focusing. He finds it difficult to understand rhythms and I had to get creative with helping him to understand and drilling him note by note during lessons to make sure he makes real progress.

Nicholas who was the perfect student – he is lively and talkative and loves singing but stays focused and was genuinely interested in learning. He definitely loves music judging by the way he would continue to sing even while doing worksheets.

Avril who was such a ball of energy that it was hard to control her at the start. She demonstrated the ability to listen later on and slowly took pride in being obedient and accomplishing more each week. Her questions and the things she says were always completely adorable and I would gladly allow her to have all the fun she wanted if not for the fact that we had learning to do.

Giselle who was so intelligent but also rebellious at times, who cared so much about how nicely she drew her notes and would ask me which note I liked better, who took so much care in her colouring and tried to make everything colourful and pretty. She tended to be lazy with learning new songs but would relent with a bit of pushing.

Rachael for whom I was so worried when I took over from her previous teacher to prepare for her exam within a few months when she was so unprepared. The relief and joy I felt when she received a Merit was memorable although I disagreed strongly with her competitive and results-oriented values and her parents’ as well.

Aahil who showed great interest in music and was always excited when I told him about composers, something which no other student has demonstrated to me. I loved showing him music to inspire him. His parents also taught him the importance of practising every week, which he did diligently, sometimes upset and frustrated when he encountered difficulties. We always found joy in what he achieved despite that.

Also Anshika, GuoZhe, Vedant, Elyse and Evelle, Xavier, Hsiao Chen, Deborah, Tristan, Shima, Natalie and Noah Mah, Seerat and Ranbeir, Esther.

Last but not least Charis, bless her, who showed me vulnerability when she asked me about my leaving to study abroad. She was the only one who was eloquent and willing to show me she was sad that I was leaving, and asked me why I had to go. “Will I forget you?” she asked, contemplative and looking straight ahead. Notice she worries about her own memory of me fading instead of mine. I saw in her a reflection of myself – the way we all struggle to come to terms with parting and the idea that we will never see a person again, the contemplation of what memory is and what it means to us. It exists in childhood and I don’t believe we ever grow out of feeling that way, we just learn to allow it to happen to us. That moment of connection that we had was truly special and thinking about it now still makes me want to cry. Aside from that, Charis also has a great attitude for learning. She was always saying intelligent things and willing to put in effort. She also has a great way of making learning fun for herself – making words out of the note names and forming sentences with them. This made learning humorous and enjoyable, and I don’t want those memories to fade, either.

This picture is what she drew for me, just one of the little niceties I have been blessed with in the last two years being a teacher. I can’t say I did well as a teacher because there is so much that I could have done better, but it was a real privilege to have been able to witness growth in these people and to have been a part of it.

I am writing this as a final farewell for myself, this part of me that I am leaving behind to step into the future. Teaching wasn’t the only thing that made these two years good, but it sure gave me a real sense of purpose. There were also connections I made with people that I never imagined would happen. Unlike the last time when I left Singapore for Melbourne, I am not leaving with frustration or bitterness. I have memories here that are meaningful and beautiful which I can hold onto like an emblem for all the things I believe in. Amidst the melancholia that I tend towards being submerged in, I have this light that I can keep handy in my pocket.

And now, I can step forward with curiosity and an appetite for adventure.

2 notes · View notes

spellcastersjudgement · 5 years ago

Note

For the number thing, possible 1 and 44 for Joey and Kaiba...? O-or 11 and 14 for Ryou and Kaiba, of course you don’t have too

OKAY SO first of all thank you for this!!! second, the reason this took so gosh darn long is because i am a long winded person and though this was supposed to be a drabble/ficlet ask thingy but i think im physically, spiritually, and emotionally incapable of writing anything thats short. please enjoy this 4500 word fluff bomb because i know i sure as hell enjoyed writing it

#1: chocolate + #44: puppy love

This was a load of horseshit if Seto Kaiba had ever seen it. He’d lived through whatever the fuck happened to his Battle City tournament, that fucker Dartz highjacking his company, the existence of Maximillian Pegasus, and hallucinations of an ancient version of himself subservient to the Pharoah that supposedly lived in Yugi Moto’s necklace, but this—this was what brought him to his knees.

“Seto, I know you’ve got nothing better to do tonight.” Mokuba had said, and if it weren’t a phone call Seto had no doubt his little brother would be fixing him with the trademark Kaiba stare, the one he reserved for board meetings and press conferences and had inadvertently passed on to his sibling. “You’re gonna come and you’re gonna be polite and you’re gonna have a drink and you will leave no earlier than ten.”

“I have no interest in hanging out with the dweeb patrol.”

“Seto Kaiba I know where you keep your deck and if you think I won’t hold your cards hostage you are sorely mistaken.”

The CEO stopped typing his reply to the millionth email of the day at that. “Is that a threat, little brother?”

“It’s a promise. You need human interaction and if I have to be the one to socialize you, I will.”

The serious tone of his voice plus firsthand knowledge of how crafty Mokuba could be when he wanted (Seto would never forget the pancake batter in his shampoo incident) made Seto wary to call his bluff. Taking his hands off the computer leaning back in his chair, he breathed out as loudly as possible to communicate that he was not a fan of Mokuba’s demands but that he would do it anyway.

“Good, it’s settled. Remember, you don’t have to be nice, just polite.” There was too much satisfaction in his little brother’s voice and Seto could feel the smug smile through the phone.

“If you’re lucky I might be cordial.” He huffed as Mokuba hung up, his last words to not be late and for the love of god don’t wear that trenchcoat.

Presently, Seto was replaying the conversation as the car slowed to the front of Yugi’s apartment complex. In hindsight, he should’ve just moved his deck and maybe left the country until Mokuba’s annoyance wore off to avoid any pranks that would ensue, changed his phone number so no one could contact him, then reappear in a Blue-Eyes themed blaze of glory with a new tournament or the schematics for a new virtual reality game that would prove his solitude was an asset rather than a detriment.

Socialization. Mokuba and Roland were enough socialization for him, plus there were the other executives and his assistant and he answered all his emails personally. He was very well-adjusted and had plenty of human contact, the fact that most of it was through technological means notwithstanding.

“Call if you need anything, Mr. Kaiba.” Roland waved as Seto stepped out of the car.

“I need you to take me home.” Seto adjusted his tie, looking at his scowling reflection in the car window. He may have not worn the trenchcoat, but he would be damned if he didn’t go out looking like he was ready to crush whatever mere mortal dared speak to him.

“Not until ten.” Roland laughed as Seto glared. Of course he and Mokuba were co-conspirators. Fondly, Seto remembered a time when Roland would shatter under his anger. “It’s three hours, Seto. If you can last through a conference call with Pegasus you can make nice with the nerd herd—” here Roland took his hands off the wheel to emphatically do air-quotes “—long enough to appease Mokuba and maybe even enjoy yourself.”

Scandalized, Seto slammed the car door as loud as he could and whipped around, ignoring the muffled from the car. “You’re fired!” he yelled as Roland drove away, causing a woman walking her dog across the street to turn her head and fix him with a raised eyebrow.

He hadn’t even made it into the party or whatever the fuck this thing was before he felt like strangling the next person that spoke to him. This was a prime example as to why Mokuba’s plan to socialize him like a feral cat fresh from the shelter was ill-conceived and probably a torture method banned by the Genera Convention.

Why hadn’t he just moved his deck and left the country?

Thinking of how this torture would most likely buy him another sixty days of Mokuba not plotting to kill him via friendship, he squared his shoulders and steadied his breathing. Polite. Mokuba said he had to be polite, not nice or friendly and his little brother had certainly not demanded he enjoyed himself. Roland had only said that to get a rise out of him and god damn had it worked.

Apartment B23—god when was the last time he’d even set foot in an apartment? Probably when he visited Mokuba a few months ago. Seto had taken about five steps into the dorm room and promptly decided that the cramped space and plastic mattresses and general lack of anything that would provide privacy deemed it unlivable. How Mokuba lived with a roommate he would never begin to understand.

It wasn’t difficult to find Yugi’s apartment, the too-loud music a veritable death omen. Steeling himself and forcing his face into a neutral expression, he rapped on the door and waited with bated breath.

The door swung open, and Seto saw the spiky, obscenely gelled hair of his sworn rival. “Kaiba!” Yugi’s voice was so cheery and genuinely happy that Seto almost felt bad for writing off this evening as a waste of time.

Almost.

“Come on in!” Stepping out of the way so Seto could enter, Yugi hollered his arrival over the music. “Kaiba’s here, everyone!”

Seto was afraid of who “everyone” was.

“It’s so great that you could come,” Yugi was smiling and Seto found it in him to politely smile back, not a real smile but enough to appease the shorter man. “Mokuba’s already here—let’s get you a drink and join the party!”

“I’m not drinking nasty cheap beer.”

Fuck. That was not polite or cordial.

Maybe it was because he hadn’t seen Yugi in a while since Mokuba was the one who was unironically friends with their little group, but he expected the other to give him a disappointed look and lecture him on how he should be nicer and open to friendship and all that. Instead, Yugi simply laughed and beckoned Seto to follow him to the kitchen.

Well alright.

The unmistakable voices of Tristan and Duke grew louder as he ventured deeper into the apartment, which certainly meant Wheeler was lurking around some corner ready to nip at his heels like the annoying mutt he was. He had already been rude to Yugi, and though that had been met with laughter (why were all of his scathing remarks not landing today he wondered) Wheeler would certainly try and fight him—physically and/or verbally. Mokuba would not be happy with him if he couldn’t resist the temptation and Seto knew his little brother would be watching him the whole night.

He couldn’t believe his little brother now doubled as his babysitter.

“Okay, so,” Yugi opened the fridge. “There’s beer in here—obviously Tristan brought the Natty but there’s a variety in there if you want. There’s white wine too, just don’t touch the Riesling, that’s Téa’s. Mai bought some really fancy stuff I can’t pronounce—basically we have everything.”

“Thanks.” Seto said. If Mai was here then there would be at least one person he could tolerate. “You went all out, I see.”

“I had to, it’s Téa and Joey’s welcome back party.” Yugi beamed. “They flew in from New York yesterday and we haven’t seen them in person in so long we had to celebrate.”

A welcome back party? Mokuba had mentioned that Wheeler had left for whatever reason, but Seto had assumed it was a permanent situation. Why on earth would Mokuba require he go to a party in Wheeler’s honor?

“I’ll be in the living room!” Yugi made his exit, leaving Seto alone in the kitchen.

Grabbing a plastic wine glass, which is something he’d never though he’d do ever in his life, Seto went straight for the wine Mai brought as she had an above average taste in pretty much everything. Maybe if he started with the quality alcohol he could stomach drinking the shitty stuff when he got buzzed.

Pouring himself a generous glass, Seto stared at the buttery yellow color of the wine and immediately decided that if he were going to get through this night he needed to get a head start.

He would never admit this even on pain of death, but he shotgunned that wine like a frat boy during hell week, not even bothering to enjoy the taste. He then poured another, more reasonable glass and took great comfort in the fact no one would be the wiser.

“—and then—shut the fuck up Duke you don’t get to tell the story—then this shithead tells me that no open containers in the pit and I’m all ‘if you give me two fucking seconds this drink will be gone’ and he threw me out!”

Seto took a long sip of wine.

“Hey, look who’s here!” Duke cut off a very inebriated Tristan who was still trying to continue the story. “Look at that, Seto Kaiba himself drinking out a plastic glass.”

“Take a picture, Devlin.” Seto quipped.

“I just might—I’ll even tag you in it.” Duke laughed and Seto felt like he’d been robbed once again of engaging in verbal fisticuffs. “Scoot over, asshole—Kaiba you can sit here.”

“So you can spill your drink on him?” Mai said, and Kaiba was relieved to see that there was a spot next to her on the loveseat. “I saved you a spot, Seto.”

“Thank you,” he said, and he truly did mean it.

“Why do you get to call him by his first name?” Tristan took a long sip of that nasty canned shit that was closer to cat piss than beer.

“Because I don’t test his patience like you do,” Mai returned, smiling over the edge of her glass. “And I beta test all the VR technology.”

Seto surveyed the room as they traded banter over who could call him what. Mokuba wasn’t in the room, which was surprising given that there wasn’t a lot of other places to be. It did seem that there was a balcony, and Wheeler’s little sister—god rest that child’s soul for having to share genetic material with that dog—was standing out there, talking to someone he couldn’t see. Tristan, Duke, Yugi, and Bakura were all crammed onto the couch, meaning that Wheeler, Téa, and Mokuba were the only ones unaccounted for.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one that dressed up.” Mai held out her own plastic wine glass for a toast. “Yugi said it was casual but I never learned the meaning of that word.”

Seto tapped his glass against hers, the toast not as satisfying since there was no clink but he wouldn’t say no to drinking more. That first glass he’d downed was starting to make his cheeks heat up but he was not nearly buzzed enough to take the edge off.

“Téa!” Tristan called, and Seto looked over his shoulder to see her emerging from the bathroom. “Can you get me another beer pretty please?”

“I thought this was supposed to be my party.” Téa rolled her eyes in a manner Seto was actually impressed by. He remembered her as the annoying little cheerleader on the sidelines at their duels, somehow getting into every tournament despite never being invited. Maybe her time in New York had shaped her into more than a megaphone for friendship speeches.

“It is, that’s why I need more beer.” Tristan countered, pointing finger guns at her and earning him a laugh. “Thank you Téa, I love you!”

Gross. Seto drank again.

The conversation and music blended into white noise around him. Tristan and Duke were telling another story, cutting each other off every other word and being generally loud. If Seto were inclined to such things he might find it amusing. Yugi and Bakura were laughing and asking questions like their story wasn’t just a retelling of some boneheaded drunken scheme and needed elaboration and explanation. Téa came back with the beer and her own drink before settling down next to Yugi on the already cramped couch, the two of them sharing a smile before Yugi laid his arm around her shoulders and kissed her.

Oh. Gross. Seto finished his wine and tried to forget he’d witnessed that.

“Where’s our other guest of honor?” Seto asked Mai. He wasn’t sure why he was even interested in knowing. He blamed it on the alcohol.

“Outside with Mokuba and Serenity.”

Serenity. That was the sister’s name. Seto tried to remember that in case he had to talk to her later.

As if on cue, the door to the balcony slid open. Mokuba and Serenity came through first, followed by the faint smell of cigarette smoke and then Wheeler.

Holy shit. Was that really Wheeler?

“Kaiba took your spot, Joey.” Tristan said.

“Guess I’m gonna hafta sit on your lap then.” Joey was still loud as ever, with his stupid accent and stupid hair and stupid face.

What was definitely not stupid was how he looked—Seto remembered him as this gangly little fucker that was the only person in the room the same height as him and never knew his place, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and knockoff sneakers making it look like he’d rolled out of bed seconds before leaving the house. Now, Wheeler was even taller—probably taller than Seto though he was loathe to even think about it—and he was tanned like he’d spent day after day working outside (here Seto glanced down at his hands and was smacked in the face by how pale he was), and his shoulders were broader and his he was much more muscular, the sleeves of his halfway unbuttoned gaudy Hawaiian shirt looking like they could barely contain his biceps.

The fashion could use some work. Wheeler looked like a white suburban dad in his Hawaiian shirt and jeans.

“Mai, you want anythin’ from th’ kitchen?” When the fuck had Wheeler crossed the room? Seto buried his nose in his cup and tried not to think of how he’d been appraising the mutt’s body.

“If you’re offering, you can grab the bottle I brought.” Mai held her cup out to him. “Try it, you might like it.”

“This what you and moneybags are drinkin’?”

Moneybags. Those were fighting words. Seto couldn’t help himself.

“What? Did you expect me to drink the same swill as you, mutt?”

God damn it. Now Mokuba, who had pulled up two chairs for Serenity and him to sit in, would know he’d not been “polite” or “cordial” or any variant thereupon.

The whole room interrupted in cheers and Seto was absolutely fucking floored.

“Take a drink!” Wheeler held up Mai’s wine and downed the rest of the glass, as did everyone else in the room, even Mokuba who looked like he could barely contain his laughter. “’Dere he is, same ol’ Kaiba.”

“What the fuck just happened?” Seto turned to Mai.

“When Joey found out you were coming he said we all drink whenever you call him a dog-themed insult.” Mai didn’t even try to hide her amusement. “So unless you want all of us to be absolutely hammered I would get creative.”

Slumping back into the cushions, Seto was inclined to throw a tantrum. Wheeler was supposed to return fire, not take their verbal sparring and make it into a goddamn drinking game.

Was he in the twilight zone? He had to be. This had to be a hallucination.

When Wheeler returned, he handed the bottle to Mai and made good on his promise to sit on Tristan’s lap. Seto’s head was still spinning as Mai poured him another glass so he didn’t even get to relish in Tristan pushing him onto the floor and pouncing on him, the two of them roughhousing like elementary schoolers.

“Let’s play a game!” Yugi turned down the music.

“Not Duel Monsters, a game we can all play together.” Téa added as Wheeler perked up from where he was pinned under Tristan. “This is my party too, Joey, don’t give me that look.”

“A’right, a’right. What’d you have in mind, T?” Wheeler shoved Tristan off of him and Seto tried not to think of muscles.

He couldn’t decide if he needed to drink more or stop drinking for the rest of his life.

Seto missed the discussion of what game they would play. He vaguely heard their voices but he was mostly focused on his wine and how he would never be able to show his face in public again if he kept these thoughts about Wheeler and his dumb broad shoulders and his dumb biceps and how his dumb hands looked so rough and strong and so unlike his own lily-white smooth ones.

Fuck. Seto drained his wine and set the cup firmly down. He needed to take a break and regain control over himself.

The nerd herd had decided they would play Monopoly. Seto had never played but it surely couldn’t be that difficult. Wheeler was positioned directly across from him, as if purposefully tempting Seto with the exposed skin of his chest—what had possessed that mutt to not button all the way up? Mere minutes after it had started, Seto broke his prohibition on drinking and poured himself another glass.

It was eight now. He only had to survive until ten, then he could call Roland and be spirited away.

Monopoly, as Seto soon discovered, was hell.

“I don’t understand how I’m supposed to win.” He groused. Mai’s wine was long since gone and they’d both had to move on to subpar red wine that only went down because Seto was riding the line between a strong buzz and drunk. “Anyone who gets Boardwalk is guaranteed victory.”

Bakura was the proud owner of a Boardwalk hotel. “Oh surely you can afford it, Kaiba.”

“If this were real money, then yeah, ‘course.” Seto begrudgingly handed over the money and crossed his arms tightly over his chest, well aware he resembled a child rather than the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company.

“C’mon moneybags, you can pull off the upset.” Wheeler chided him, laughing as he drank his Blue Moon, which was weirdly high quality for him. “If ya’ can’t what’ll ya’ shareholders think?”

“It’s not the same, Wheeler.” Seto had wisely refrained from dog-themed insults.

“Okay, I seriously have to pee.” Duke interrupted. “Let’s take five and then we can go back to humiliating Kaiba.”

A break sounded like a good idea. Seto regretted wearing business casual, as between the alcohol and the long sleeves he was sweltering. Extricating himself from the loveseat and gingerly stepping over Yugi and Téa, who were sitting next to each other and holding hands under the coffee table and being generally gross and affectionate, he made his way to the balcony. His legs were a bit wobbly from sitting down so long, the alcohol not helping, but he kept himself relatively composed as he slid the door open and stepped out.

It was blessedly cool outside. He closed the door behind him and stepped to the railing, leaning on it and enjoying the feeling of the night air. The last time he’d looked at the clock it was eight, and as he pulled out his phone to check it he was surprised it was a quarter to ten.

Huh. That hadn’t felt like almost two hours.

Behind him, the door opened and shut. Seto turned around to see Wheeler holding two plates, an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Oh god.

“Yain’t eaten all night, rich boy. Here, have some cake.” Wheeler put a plate on the railing in front of him and pulled out a lighter.

“What the hell is this?”

“Never seen cake before?” Wheeler puffed on his cigarette and stabbed the cake with a plastic fork. Did Yugi not believe in real flatware?

“Of course I’ve seen cake before.” Seto contained the mutt at the end of his sentence. “Why did you bring me some? And since when the hell did you smoke?”

“I only smoke when I drink. Nothin’ compliments a night of drinkin’ like a nicotine buzz.” Wheeler smiled though a mouthful of cake and Seto wanted to reprimand him for being so uncouth but his alcohol-addled mind could only think of how disgustingly cute he looked with frosting on the corner of his mouth. “An’ to answer ya’ other question, I brought ya’ some because you and Mai been guzzling drinks all night and neither one of ya’s eaten. I ain’t cleanin’ up vomit at my own party, moneybags. Plus, Téa makes the best chocolate cake.”

Seto looked down at the confection precariously placed on the railing, eyeing it with suspicion. Had Wheeler actually done something nice for him? Now that he was looking at food, he realized he actually hadn’t eaten since breakfast this morning and it would be a good idea to eat. No other reason.

Silence fell over the balcony as Wheeler smoked his cancer stick and they ate their cake. Seto was pleasantly surprised. Wheeler hadn’t been lying about Téa’s baking abilities. Unlike Wheeler, who had shoveled in the cake like he was a prisoner on death row and it was his last meal, Seto exercised some restraint, eating in neat, careful bites.

It was strange how quiet Wheeler was being. Seto had never been within a hundred feet of the guy without the two of them berating each other, which would culminate in a duel that Seto would win and Wheeler would vow to win the next one. It was their ritual and Seto didn’t know what to make of this amicable silence between them.

Just as Seto was beginning to feel comfortable with the silence, Wheeler spoke.

“Would ya’ believe me if I said I missed ya’?”

Seto choked.

“’M gonna take that as a no.” Wheeler thumped his back and Seto tried not to think of how big the mutt’s hands were as they rested between his shoulder blades. “’Das my fault rich boy, didn’t mean t’ make ya’ choke.”

“Then what did you mean to do? Give me a heart attack perhaps?” Seto spat, violently ignoring how heat, blush heat not alcohol heat, was in his cheeks and how Wheeler’s big dumb stupid warm hand was still on his back.

“I apologized, Kaiba. Didn’t know ya’d react like that.” Wheeler was smiling, his eyes holding an indiscernible look. Seto remembered there used to be only anger when Wheeler looked his way and desperately wished this was all a cosmic joke because there were too many new variables. Seto Kaiba had two emotions: disappointment and rage. When it came to Mokuba there were more, but Wheeler was not Mokuba and he didn’t get the benefit of Seto’s emotional range. Wheeler wasn’t angry though. If Seto had to put a name to what he saw in Wheeler’s eyes it would have to be fondness.

Disgusting. The mutt couldn’t just look at him like that.

Seto thought back to how this party was a violation of the Geneva Convention.

“It’s true, though.” Wheeler continued, moving his hand to Seto’s shoulder and suddenly the night air wasn’t so cool anymore. “I did miss ya’ Kaiba.”

Did Wheeler think this was some Nicolas Sparks novel? Did Wheeler expect him to say he missed him too?

“Why are you telling me this?” Seto asked, his gut twisting, the chocolate cake threatening to come back up. What. The. Fuck. He hadn’t seen Wheeler in forever and now because he’d come back with sunkissed skin and broad shoulders and thick muscles and Seto’s emotions were threatening to get the better of him? Un-fucking-believable. It had to the be the alcohol.

“I dunno actually. I just wanted ya’ to know. Back in th’ day we’d be at each other’s throats and I missed you and ya’ snarky attitude and ya’ dumbass trenchcoat and that godawful dragon jet. There ain’t nobody quite like you Seto Kaiba.” Wheeler squeezed his shoulder and smiled and Seto felt like he was staring into the sun. Seto fought to keep his face neutral and thought about how he was going to shave Mokuba’s head in his sleep for making him come to this stupid party and making him see stupid Wheeler and have stupid fucking emotions he never should’ve had in the first place.

“Ya’ don’ have to say anythin’ back. Just wanted ya’ to know that and that I’m glad ya’ could come tonight. You’re a sight for sore eyes, Kaiba.” Wheeler dropped his hand from Seto’s shoulder and Seto desperately wished that he didn’t want to grab it and put it back. The mutt gathered their empty plates and fixed Seto with another smile. “C’mon, we got a game to finish.”

“I’ll be inside in a minute.” Seto said, angry he lacked the normal acerbic edge to his voice.

Wheeler closed the door behind him and Seto could hear muffled voices welcoming his return. What the ever loving fuck had just happened?

His phone buzzing shocked him out of his reverie. Roland was calling.

Placing the phone to his ear and leaning heavily on the balcony, Seto answered. “What?” he spat, still not happy with the man from his earlier quip.

“It’s five past ten Mr. Kaiba. You ready for me to come pick you up?”

Retrospectively, Seto should’ve known that’s what Roland was calling about. He looked over his shoulder into Yugi’s apartment, and could see they were all talking and laughing and Wheeler had Yugi in a headlock and they all looked happy. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, maybe because there seemed to be no more bad blood from days long past, maybe it was because Seto Kaiba really had nothing better to do tonight, but he wanted to go back in to Yugi’s quaint little apartment and maybe have a few more drinks and maybe try to win that godforsaken Monopoly game.

“Actually, Roland, I think I’ll stay a bit longer. You might say I’m enjoying myself.”

#anon #asks #ygodm #this was so much fun #thank u for sending this in #i had so many feelings near the end i almost fuckin shed a tear #i love puppyshipping so much

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