#the next one is the next portal baby which should be going up today/tomorrow

[quartergremlin]

Casey Jones Jr. has never had his own room before.

follow-up

[thesoftanon]

Cold nose, warm heart (platonic mango & purple)

I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FIRST POST

guys I was so proud of this fic and it just went- *poof*

well, anyways here's the fic

Mango didn't have a good day today. Usually, he would manage through the day with only his grumpy self, but given the… special dates he was currently close to, he spaced out a lot in the memories —which resulted in lots of small accidents, nothing serious but pretty annoying— and somewhere in the way he ended up there, lost in a winter forest in the middle of a snow storm. 

"Ah fuck, just my luck" he cursed under his breath, feeling his body tremble from the cold breeze that blew against him, normally he would just use a portal to the nether and travel through there back to his shared residence (he always preferred the heat anyways) but the moment he tried to cross the portal–

…

Shivering from the cold, mango clumsily opened the door and got inside, rushing beside the fireplace and starting a fire to warm himself up.

"Jesus, what happened to you?" Purpled asked, coming from the kitchen with some nether wart tea "did you go out in the storm?"

"The fuck does it look like prick?" Mango answered while starting to heat up and stopping the shivers.

"God… what got you so mad lately? You've been acting weird all month" purple mumbled, going back to the kitchen "you should probably take a shower and rest for the night, I'll make you some tea and-"

"No." Mango suddenly got up, no longer caring for the cold and going to his room "don't you fucking baby me, I'm a grown ass stick and I can take care of myself"

"Excuse me?" Purple rubbed their temples at the sudden attitude "I am not babying you,  I'm merely being a decent stick figure" but by the time they were done talking Mango had already locked himself in his room "dramatic bitch… don't come crying tomorrow when you feel like shit and you need someone to take care of you" but purple knew that was a lie, and they would help anyway the older needed him.

Just as they predicted, next morning Mango woke up to a killer headache and an extreme fever, taking a second to get up but instantly getting nausea from it and sprinting towards the bathroom to vomit.

"...are you okay?" Purple wanted to say 'I told you' and rub it into mango’s face before helping, but knowing the mood of the man in front of them they knew this wasn’t the occasion for it “I’m gonna call blue, they probably got some potions that can help with this”

Mango raised his hand while still puking to stop purple from talking, purple got on their knees and rubbed circles in mango’s back as he kept going on. When mango finally stopped, his sore voice spoke again “I’m not that bad, didn’t you have plans for today?” he wiped the spit out of his chin, awkwardly getting up to hear loud, exasperated sigh from purple

“your health is more important than just a random hangout, now stop being a bitch and let me take care of you” 

“I don’t need nor want your fucking pity” with lot of less force than he usually would, mango pushed purple aside “go away with your stupid friends and let me alone”

“ugh, what the hell got into you?! I’m just trying to help!” purple’s patience started running thin “Look, you’re getting into bed and letting me take care of you whether you like it or not”

“Make me!”

…

Tucked on bed while being tied to it, mango glared at the shorter stick figure with tired eyes “Fuck you purple, you’re the worst” he struggled to get out but it was no use, the ties were too strong 

“Uh-uh, sure I am” they shook their head as they walked out, hearing the doorbell “that must be red, blue send him with the medicine… stay here, I’ll be back with some soup” 

mango just stood silently glaring as purple left the room, and once alone he kicked the covers off, used his feet to grab a golden dagger he kept hidden under his bed and cut the ropes (what? did you really think our king couldn’t get out of this one?). Quickly he changed into warm clothes with intentions of going out, he moved as stealthy as he could with his current state.

Lucky him the door that connected the kitchen with the main entrance was closed, so no one would see him as he left. He was so close to his objective when a single sound made him stop dead in his tracks.

A sob, a sob he could identify as from purple’s voice.

Mango looked at the door of the kitchen undecided, well, just a glance to make sure everything was in order wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? So silently opening the door just enough to peek inside and get to know what was happening.

Purple sat there while a pot started to boil, leaning both elbows on the table as his hands covered his face, red sitting beside them and rubbing soothing forms on their back “C’mon purple, it can’t be that bad…”

“You really don’t get it” purple’s voice came out as a whisper but progressively got louder “I have tried everything, I thought we were getting somewhere, I thought he was starting to open up to me but… it always comes to this” and while mango couldn’t exactly see purple’s face, he could see how red wiped something off their face, he assumed those were tears “Am I just that bad? If he disliked me that much, why did he accept to live with me? I-I don’t… I don’t get it. I thought he was getting better, I thought we were getting better”

Mango couldn’t keep hearing that any longer, so he closed the door and took a step back. So that really happened, mango wasn’t a moron to not know he could damage purple with his attitudes, but he never expected it to be that bad, to see them cry. Guilt taking over him, he decided that just for this once he would make things differently. For purple.

…

Once the soup was done and red left, purple got upstairs with a plate –fully expecting mango to not be there– and opened the door.

“What took you so long?” mango asked, putting down a book he was reading and sitting properly to eat.

“you… you’re still here? untied?” 

“I’m sick, where else could I be? and I don’t like being tied, duh” mango answered, getting the soup and starting to eat -it helped a lot to his aching throat- “this doesn’t taste like shit, what did you put in it?” mango tried to subtly compliment

“nether wart and chicken- mango, the fuck is going on?” 

“...” mango knew this was out of character for him, but whatever, he can blame the ferver on this. Deep breaths mango, deep breaths “...ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ” just a mumble, hard to understand but purple managed to hear it.

Silence.

“...what?”

“ah, you heard me so don’t make me repeat myself-”

“no, not that, why are you apologizing?” purple looked confused, mango swallowed his pride… a bit.

“Because I’ve been a pain in the ass and you just wanted to help, so… yeah” mango finished his soup faster than ever, god he was hungry and– wait, no, this is not the time for food “Purple, I might be one of the biggest pricks you’ll ever meet, but you- urgh, this is gonna be one of the cheesiest things I’ll ever say, be grateful I’m this sick” he already felt embarrassed by merely thinking it, but mango still remembered victim telling him how important is to communicate both positive and negative things “I do love you, I do see you as my annoying little sibling and I– H-hey! don’t cry! why are you crying?!” Did he mess up again?

“You are a prick mango tango” purpled jumped to hug him close “I thought- ugh, doesn’t matter, I’m just happy things are turning out alright”

“hey, keep the distance or you might get sick” 

“Don’t care, hug me right now bitch” and mango did.

Maybe there were still things left to talk about, maybe this wouldn’t be their last fight, maybe things wouldn’t be so nice between the two of them all of the time, but who cares? all the siblings fight every once in a while. That wouldn’t break their bond.

[amor-immortalem]

Can I Stay Up Here With You Forever ch.8

Previous

Warning(s): Nothing just fluff

If you want to be tagged or if you’re already tagged and wish not to be, please let me know.

Tag list @mediocredetective @it-hurts-when-i-blink @ima-simp-uwu @luckyauthorlampknight

The pair of brothers spent the rest of the night in Mammon’s room. Around dinner time they were joined by the twins who had brought tonight’s dinner. They had decided to eat with their second eldest brother, having heard from Satan who had heard from Lucifer that Mammon had had a particularly rough day at school and figured sharing a hot meal together would be a good way to comfort him. Even Levi stopped by after they had finished eating, bringing plenty of games that he and Mammon enjoyed playing together -along with the appropriate console- after they had first fallen so Levi wouldn’t go feral from his self-isolation.

It felt like they were a proper family once more- light teasing and proper brotherly bickering occurring between the five of them, making sure to keep things at a level that was normal for siblings and a far cry from the vicious words they would throw Mammon’s way. They had all spent so long playing that eventually they had all fallen asleep together on or around Mammon’s couch with Belphie being the first to conk out for the night.

When they all awoke in the morning, Asmo told their brothers about the plan to help Mammon escape to the human world and about how they were going to be uncles.

“Let me go with you,” Beel responded eagerly, “If Lucifer finds out before you guys can get away, my strength will come in handy to buy you all a little time.”

“Beel, as much as I appreciate it, I can’t let you do that ta yourself.” Mammon says, a worried look in his blue and gold eyes. “Ya know what happens if ya stand against our brother’s authority. I mean look at what he did to Belphie when he went against Lucifer and Lord Diavolo over the exchange programme.”

“Yeah, locking me in the attic was a shitty move on his part but still, Lucifer is acting like a fucking tyrant.” Belphegor agreed. “I mean we’re all pretty scared of the monster he’s turning into, but what he’s doing to you is wrong. And we heard about the gaslighting incident at school yesterday. That was really fucked up- and you’re the favorite. Imagine what will happen to us after he finds out.”

The brothers all nodded at that.

“An’ that’s why I don’t want y’all doin’ it.” Mammon said sternly. “You two’re the youngest an’ while yer both strong in yer own right, the two of ya can’t hold a candle ta our brother.”

“What if Satan and I went along with you?” Levi asked, “Sure, Lucifer’s power output is over 9000 but Asmo, Satan, and I should be enough to at least match that for enough time for you and Solomon to get through the portal...”

“That would work.” Asmo nodded as they had a contemplative look on their face. “Actually, we’d stand a better chance if the twins go too.”

“You guys would really do this for me?” The Avatar of Greed looks around the room at all of his brothers before letting out a soft chuckle, “Guess Lucifer was right ‘bout one thing... you guys really do care.” He can’t help the tearful smile that creeps its way onto his features.

“Of course we do. We always did but we never showed it in the way we should have,” the fifth-born threw their arms around their older brother and was soon joined by their other brothers. “I mean we’re the ones who promised we’d change and we went back on that almost immediately.”

“We’re a family and you’re an important part of that too.” The Avatar of Envy says as they all press their foreheads together like they did back in the Celestial Realm before they went to war. “You keep things lively for us.”

“So it’s decided, right?” Beel asks, “We’re really going to do this? Together?”

“Together.” A sixth voice echoes from the upper level as the five of them pull away and turn their attention to Satan. He has a genuine smile on his face as he slides down on the railing of Mammon’s staircase like he used to do as a toddler. “Lucifer’s gone, by the way. Went up to the Demon Lord’s castle for a weekend meeting with Diavolo. If we’re going to make our move, it has to be tomorrow. So, everyone, get packed. I already booked four of us a hotel to stay at so Arella doesn’t have to put us up for however many months it is before the baby’s born. Asmo, you said you’d be staying with Solomon, right?”

“Right,” The Avatar of Lust nods. “Alright everyone, get ready.”

And just like that, the siblings dispersed to go about their packing.

-------------------------------------------------

Arella can’t wait. After hearing of the news from Solomon a few days ago, the excitement started to grow. What she didn’t know was if Mammon had found out if she was pregnant yet. What would his reaction be? Surprise? Excitement? Something else? Anxiety filled her as it had been doing over these past few months so she picks up her D.D.D. that no longer has service and opened up her photo gallery which also had little videos of her and Mammon together.

The sound of his voice is comforting to her. It makes things feel much less lonely in the silent house- even with Aubrie visiting- but it also has the added effect of helping their baby recognize his father’s voice. With the little one showing signs of being able to hear the outside world earlier than expected and hijacking her magic to protect them when he felt frightened, the last thing she needed was the sound of a voice he didn’t recognize setting off one of the many protective spells in her repertoire. His favourite thing to do was erect a magical barrier around them to keep a threat away. Thank heavens normal humans weren’t able to see things like that.

As she selected a video- one of all the brothers and her together at Diavolo’s birthday party last year- she set it on top of the small bump that she had started showing a couple weeks ago. She could feel her son’s powerful little kicks to the side of her womb.

“Easy now, little one. You’re going to cause bruising with kicks like that.” Arella says as she rubs a hand over the front of her belly and she feels a turning sensation shortly after. “You certainly are active this evening. Your Daddy’s coming back to us tomorrow, okay? And five of your uncles as well so don’t be scared when you hear their voices. They won’t hurt you or me. They may be demons but deep down they’re a good lot.”

As the video playing on the D.D.D ended, Arella picked up a children's book and began reading aloud to her unborn child.

“Rells, I’m going to go back to my hotel. Do you need anything before I go?” Aubrie asked as she leaned against the door frame. “I’ll be back tomorrow to help you out before the boys get here- tomorrow is the day, right?”

“I don’t need anything but yes, tomorrow’s the day.” Arella smiles.

“Oh, I bet you’re excited.” The ginger smiles. “Alright, I’ll get going. See you tomorrow.”

Arella only nodded as she watched Aubrie go.

-------------------------------------------------

The House of Lamentation held a slight air of chaos to it this morning due to the brothers running around for last minute packing. They barely had time for breakfast but since Mammon had the least number of items to pack, he was voted for breakfast duty while Satan covered dish duty. Today’s breakfast: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. As everyone sat down to eat, there was constant chatter about things they would do while up in the mortal realm during the months they would be staying.

While they were cleaning up, Solomon made his appearance. Asmo welcomed him with a hug as they quickly pulled the sorcerer along to Mammon’s room to get him so they could go. They both watch as he doesn’t react to their entrance instead seeming lost in his thoughts as he runs his thumb over an old, worn piece of grimm. Not even calling his name was enough to pull him from his zoned-out state. It wasn’t until Solomon placed a careful hand on the second-born's shoulder that Mammon looked up at them.

“Are you ready to go?” Solomon asks with a smile.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” The demon returns the smile, “Whenever everyone else is ready...”

Soon the rest of the brothers join them and it's time to go. Everyone grabs their bags or suitcases and load them up in the van that had been rented for them. Solomon was in charge of driving them to their destination.

-------------------------------------------------

Next

Find more on my Masterlist

[winterreader-nowwriter]

Burn Out

I finally finished the ending! Since the ending was pretty short, I decided to just combine the two. I bolded part two so you can just scroll down to there if you want. So here’s the finished piece:

Details: Teen reader has fire magic, she gets hurt and then recovery.

We got a mission call early in the morning. Wizards were attacking New York City. Flying up to the top of a building, I turned around, looking for a wizard. You’d think a few wizards wouldn’t need the whole Avengers, but these wizards were strong. My senses start going off and I see one of the wizards behind me. Before I can move, my body stiffens and I can’t move. He’s started a spell. His clothes are a darker version of Doctor Strange’s. As he finishes, the spell I gasp as all the fire in my body disappears. I start gasping for air as he starts another spell. As black spots start blinking across my vision, I see Mjolnir fly across the sky and hit him squarely in the face. Air floods my body and I start falling. Panicking slightly, I push my magic trying to remain in the air, but it’s gone and with that thought, blackness closes in.

Coming out of the blackness, I feel rough concrete underneath me and I feel a hand on my shoulder, Mom’s. When I manage to open my eyes, I see a pair of crystal blue eyes and then my power starts surging inside of me along with something else. I can’t stop it so I push it far away from us so it doesn’t hurt Mom and Doctor Strange. In the distance, I hear an explosion. Then magic flares in my body and I feel like I’m on fire.

Doctor Strange yells, “The spell is taking over her magic. She needs cold water now!” I feel the spinning sensation accompanied with a portal, then ice, cold water. I start thrashing the thing taking over my power trying to get out of the cold water. Doctor Strange puts a hand on my forehead and I drop into a dreamless sleep.

3rd Person

Doctor Strange pulls his hand back and looks up at the ceiling, “F.R.I.D.A.Y., get Bruce in here.”

Natasha stands right by the medical tub, worriedly looking at her daughter and asks, “What the hell happened?”

Doctor Strange answers, “The wizard, as you call him, cast a spell on her to subdue her magic. The spell he started but did not get to finish was a killing spell. Her magic was drained and she’s fighting it, which caused the flare-up.”

Nat swallowed, “Okay. What about physically? And will her magic be fine when she wakes up?”

Strange replies just as Bruce runs in, “I’ll have to see when she wakes up, but it is probable that she will be drained for a few weeks and then have a lot of training in front of her.”

Bruce heads to the tub, “Is she safe to pick up now?”

Strange answered, “Yes, but I do not know her physical injuries.”

After the examination, Bruce replies, “Nothing major, thankfully Sam caught her. Her body is exhausted though. She’ll need a lot of rest.”

Back to Y/N

When I regain consciousness, my body feels like it’s made of solid ice. Prying my eyes open I blink against the harsh light. Blankets are piled on top of me and the heater is on high. I try and move, but I feel like I’ve run a marathon. Using most of my energy I push myself up, my head spinning slightly. Bruce walks in and his eyes widen slightly, “Y/N, I’m surprised to see you up. How are you feeling?”

Just then, I notice the Moon is out, it’s night time. “How long was I out?” I rasp.

“You’ve been out for four days.”

My arms buckle and Bruce gently pushes me back down, “Easy, your body’s still recovering. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve run a marathon.”

“And your magic?”

I push my fire, but nothing happens. I push harder and blue fire coats my hand. Black spots float across my vision and the fire goes out. I’m breathing heavily and notice that my body is covered in a light sheen of sweat.

“You shouldn’t be touching your magic. Not for a week at least.” I look up and see Doctor Strange in the doorway.

I try and sit back up again, but fail and fall back down to the bed. Thinking back, my thoughts are all jumbled and I’m still exhausted. I blink heavily and my eyes start to close against my will. I push against it, I need answers. I force my eyes back open, “Why? What happened? Where’s Mom?”

Doctor Strange replies more gently, “Clint just told her to get some rest. Which you should also do. We can talk more when you wake up.”

Bruce gives a small smile, “Get some rest, kiddo.”

They both leave and I fall back asleep. Waking up the next time, the memories come right back to me. I open my eyes and see the light streaming through the windows and I try to sit up but Mom pushes me back down. She runs her hand through my hair, “Glad to see your awake. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up last night. Speaking of that, no magic for a few days.”

I sigh, ‘Can I train at least?”

She laughs, “Probably not, maybe you try and eat something first. On the bright side, you get to miss school for a few days.”

“Fine, I am hungry and no school sounds like fun. Can MJ and Peter come over?”

“Maybe tomorrow, you’re on bed rest for the rest of the day and probably tomorrow. Wanda is here for the rest of the week, then she and Vision will go back to Europe.”

I sit up and Mom frowns but doesn’t tell me to lay back down. I continue, “Yay, I’ve been meaning to spar with Wanda for ages!”

Mom shakes her head, “Nice try, no. I’ll get breakfast.”

When she comes back, I eat breakfast and she turns on the TV and puts on The Force Awakens. Whenever I’m injured, we have a tradition of watching the last trilogy in Star Wars. I think both of us could probably say the movies by memory… probably not a good thing.

Two weeks later….

I head down to the training room. Because of all the superpowers, Tony made a fireproof, lightning-proof, and probably bomb-proof area of the room.

I move to the section of training dummies. They’re spread out around the room, mostly for target practice. I take a deep breath, spread my feet wider apart, and aim for the training dummies. My fire hits the first two dummies squarely in the chest, the next two in the head, and as I aim for the next two, my magic starts flickering. I ignore it, and push through and hit the dummies. As I aim for the next ones, blue fire explodes across all the dummies and flickers out. Doctor Strange walks over and hands me a bottle of water, “You know you can ask for help, right?”

“I don’t need the water, I shouldn’t be losing control--” I cut off with a wince, as my fire flares up internally. Doctor Strange gives me a pointed glance, I roll my eyes and drink the water, and the burning goes away. “Better?”

I ignore the question, “What do you think I should do then?”

“First, when your magic is getting tired, stop. Then you’ll heal faster and be able to do more the next day. Bruce scanned your fire levels last night. You know your magic is just returning.”

I sigh, “I know, but if I would have been faster then I wouldn’t be so weak now.”

“If Thor had not thrown his hammer, you would have been dead.”

I wince at that. Doctor Strange continues, “You’re done practicing for today. You can try again tomorrow.”

I nod knowing he’s right...

(here’s part two!)

It’s been almost a month and my magic is back to normal, except when I use it for extended periods of time, or when my fire burns the most intensely, my body continues to flare up. Doctor Strange stated it was just a lingering effect of the spell, I just wish he could get rid of it or better yet find the wizard who placed it. I know; patience. Everyone keeps telling me. Maybe if patience worked, I would use it more.

“Mom, I’ve been patient, I’ve waited a month. I can control my fire and levitation and Doctor Strange said I could start going back on missions.”

My mom sighs and turns to face me on the couch, “Y/N, I’m just worried that it’s too soon. You’re rushing to get back to the field.”

I counter back, “Should I just wait casually then?”

She smiles at that, “No, I don’t expect that... I guess you can return to missions. But you’re going to start slow.”

“Yay! Thank you!” I squeal, hugging her. She smiles, “I’ll tell Steve and Tony tonight.”

I step off the Quinjet and walk towards Mom sitting on a crate. She stands up when I get close and looks me up and down, “How do you feel?”

“I’m good Mom. My flying and fire were good.”

She lets out a breath at that, “I’m glad you’re almost back to normal. There’s a mission tomorrow if you’re up for it?”

I smile, “Absolutely!”

I walk into the briefing room and Tony stops talking with Rhodey when he sees me, “Glad to have you back, Sparkles!”

Clint lets out a whoop and Sam cheers. Steve smiles, “I’m glad you’re healed, but let’s focus on the mission.”

“First wizards, now aliens. This city sure is popular,” I joke.

Clint grumbled, “I’d be happy if it was less popular.”

“But then we’d be bored!” I say while killing one of the aliens.

“Hey kid, leave some for the rest of us!” Clint jokes.

I retort, “Learn how to fly, and then you’d be able to get more!”

Tony cuts in, “As much as I love the banter--Kid, get to the ground now!”

I bank down quickly, landing next to Thor, who’s battling aliens on the ground next to a Shawarma place. Thor responds, “Young Lady Romanoff has landed, she is beside me.”

As I blast an alien, my magic starts flickering and dread courses through and I realize why just as Tony says, “I see Dr. Doomsday over here.” 

I grab a sword lying on the ground and resume fighting the aliens, Thor casts a worried glance at me but continued fighting. A few seconds later, Clint shouts, “No!”

Mom hissed, “Is Y/N okay?”

Then Bucky laughs smugly, “Yeah, he’s just being a baby because I took his shot. The wizard is gone.”

As he’s talking, I feel my powers coming back to me. Not weak, but as they were last month. Back to normal at last.

Taglist:

@snarky--starky

[ice-the-creator-destroyer]

Minecraft story: Days 4-7

Days 1-3

Day 4:

At the suggestion of a friend, I turned off the auto-save feature and moved Chocolate Milk and Tess back into my house and closed off their access to the porch and Arnold’s Enclosure; this will restrict their movement to under 20 blocks in any direction so that they will not despawn. It has worked perfectly, but I still will not save my game when they are not both in my direct line of sight.

While I held what I think was a stack of two eggs, one from Tess and one from a chicken I had in my ranch outside, I tried and failed to eat a slice of cake, throwing the egg into the wall, hatching a small baby chicken. I had not intended on hatching these eggs; I had not really set in stone any plans for them, but they probably would have been made into a cake. I had full intentions of hatching Tess’s eggs, but only once I could assure they were all her eggs. I immediately fell in love with this baby chicken, and named him Lelo (it’s pronounced exactly like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, but when I thought of the name, I visualized it with an e, so- yeah. It’s not like some thing to make him unique, it’s just how I visualized it.). I do not know whether or not Lelo is Tess’s biological child or if they were another chicken’s egg, but it does not matter now, because Tess has adopted him as her own, Lelo is Tess’s child and nobody can say otherwise. Of course, there was a bit of panic, as once Lelo grew up I would not be able to differentiate between him and Tess. I built a boat and placed Tess inside, and Chocolate Milk placed herself in the boat because that’s what Chocolate Milk does. Of course because my house was so small that the boat ended up blocking the front door, so now I have to leave my house through the back.

I added a storage room to my house after much frustration on what to keep and throw out due to inventory space.

I found an underwater ravine in the ocean beside the desert out behind my home. I have mined a lot here and it wielded lots of materials.

I HAVE ACQUIRED DIAMONDS! After literal hours of mining and searching, I finally found a pocket of 5 diamonds. I mined all around each diamond to ensure there was no lava around it that would burn it. I used three of the diamonds to make a diamond pickaxe, and then mined a sufficient amount of obsidian to assemble a Nether portal. I hope to go to the Nether and find a Nether fortress to find name tags inside the fortress. I have exited the game for the night, and will venture into the Nether tomorrow.

Day 5:

As YOGSCAST Lewis & Simon once said, Screw the Nether.

After a few minutes of prep, I began my journey into the Nether and was immediately attacked by a Ghast, who damaged me and put out my nether portal. I was able to re-light the portal and flee through it as I saw another shot coming towards me. Something interesting to note was that when I went back into the Nether, it was as if no time had passed, and the charge was still coming towards me.

Ghasts have been the bane of my existence. From the moment I stepped into the Nether they have harassed me at every turn. I tracked my progress and marked my way by the stone walls and hides I had scrambled together across the hellscape. I actually grew quite talented in fighting them, having stacks of cobblestone, able to craft a protective wall out of them in seconds, darting out from behind the wall and firing arrows, and surveying the area before dashing to the next protective wall of cobblestone I had built.

Fighting Ghasts requires a significant amount of arrows however, and there is only one way I know of acquiring feathers...

The chickens in the ranch outside my home are brought into the world and are often showered with seeds to help them grow big and strong quickly and then are paired off with a loving companion with whom they have lovely little children. What happens after that I try not to think about too much...

In order to feed the chickens and grow enough wheat to sustain the rapid consumption of bread in the Nether, I expanded my farm. It is not as neat and orderly as it was before, but it is more efficient.

I discovered that in the Nether, a short distance from the portal, was the end of the Nether, a large bedrock wall as rough and uneven as the bedrock at the bottom of the world. It is truly a sight to behold.

It is a well-known rule in Minecraft that a person should never dig straight down, but today, digging straight down saved my life. As I was fighting two ghasts behind a cobblestone wall, a third appeared behind me where I had no wall to protect myself, and fired at me. As someone who had been hiding behind stone walls for the past few hours, I guess I was in no position to judge the third Ghast’s tactics, like my own, it’s tactics sure as Nether were a lethal pain in the ass. I ran out into the open in my panic, and was now being fired upon by three Ghasts. Low on health, my body set ablaze and charing by the second, with terrifying beasts attacking me from both sides, I had no time to build an efficient cobblestone shelter, so in an attempt to save myself, I pulled one last desperate move: I dug a hole. Switching to my Iron Pickaxe, I looked straight below myself and dug. My body falling each block I removed, I quickly was out of the line of sight of the Ghasts. When I dug into a pocket of magma blocks and was damaged, I kept digging, knowing I would break through the pocket soon enough, and I did, emerging safely onto netherrack flooring. Safe away from the Ghasts, the fire charing my body fizzled out while I was at half a heart, leaving me severely injured, but alive. I placed a block of cobblestone above my head, and laughed at the absurdity of the situation and my luck.

When I returned home low on cobblestone, I built a cobblestone generator, with both water and lava flowing to meet and make cobblestone. I am ashamed to admit that I died to this contraption. Placing myself at the edge of the waterflow to more efficiently get the cobblestone before it was swallowed up by the lava, the water pushed me into the molten rock, setting my body ablaze. In a moment of sheer stupidity, I forgot that there was water right behind me as part of the contraption, and dashed to the ocean not far from the generator. Unfortunately, I had taken too much damage already, and the fire killed me while I was one block away from the water, scattering my inventory into the water, which I had to swim out for. I regained 7 of the 23-25 levels I had, a significant drop. After this I gave up on the cobblestone generator, and went out to the pathetic excuse for a cave not far from my home to mine cobblestone. During my mining, I found a large cave very similar to a small ravine. The only thing that differentiated it from a ravine was that the high ceiling did not open up to the sky. The single waterfall that led down all the way from the ceiling might have led to an ocean, making it an underwater ravine, but I did not check. I found 19 pieces of iron ore in this pseudo-ravine, and sufficient cobblestone from it and the cave I had come in from.

After many trips back and forth from the Overworld and the Nether for arrows, bread, and once cobblestone, I finally found a Nether Fortress. After one more trip back to the Overworld for sufficient preparations, I entered the fortress. I got all the way to the blaze spawners, but as I tried to destroy one of the spawners, I was killed by a blaze. After staring at the death screen for a moment, I turned off the PS3 and promptly gave up. The most valuable item I found in the chests leading up to that point was iron horse armor, and I don’t even have a horse.

I chose to raid the Nether Fortress for Name Tags instead of choosing the much easier fishing method is to reduce the kill count; I didn’t want to end so many fish’s lives just for Name Tags when I could go and get them in some chests in a fortress, but look at what has happened: I’ve had to kill so many chickens for feathers to make weapons used to kill other creatures. I cannot bring back the creatures I have killed, but I can choose to stop killing them. Screw the Nether, I’m goin’ fishin’.

Day 6:

At the suggestion of a friend I have rethought my decision to ditch the Nether. They reminded me that placing torches around a spawner will deactivate them, and suggested a more humane way of getting arrows: skeletons. Thank you friend, this world would be much bleaker without your advice.

I still took up fishing, knowing I could get name tags from there. I took nine fish, and after that, threw the rest back. I’ve gone fishing in real life before, there was no way that the fish could have died that soon after being caught. They’re not dead; shush.

I fished by day and hunted monsters by night. While fighting monsters at night, I encountered a Husk giving a Baby Zombie a piggy-back ride on it’s shoulders, though there is significant evidence to suggest that the Baby Zombie was controlling the Husk. I acquired sufficient arrows from the skeletons to venture into the Nether again, and acquired a saddle from fishing, but no Name Tags. Seeking to enchant my fishing rod with the Luck of the Sea enchantment to increase my chances of getting Name Tags, I went out to mine and found diamonds rather quickly, enough to craft an enchanting table, as I had used the previous 2 diamonds to craft a diamond sword in a moment of forgetfulness. I added another room to my house: a crafting room. Inside the room I placed a crafting table, an anvil, and an enchanting table. I remembered that I needed Bookshelves to increase the power of the enchanting table, but I was hesitant to acquire the leather required to craft books by killing cows. A quick internet search left me with another option: Fishing. Of course. I continued doing what I was doing: fishing by day and hunting Skeletons by night. As tools and armor naturally broke, I realized I was running low on iron, and that it would be smart to mine more iron now before my iron tools ran out rather than screwing myself over by not having any backups when they eventually broke. I went to a cave and began to mine, and found more caves and lots of iron.

One of the Zombie’s I was forced to kill in the cave dropped a potato?? I thought I would have to find a village to acquire potatoes but I guess not. I am growing potatoes now in my farm.

After being satisfied by the amount of iron I acquired, I tried to exit the cave, but discovered that I couldn’t find the way I had come in, running around in circles. I dug through the wall and my own exit, and emerged in a swamp. I spent the next chunk of my time lost in those swamps. I’m glad I got lost there of all places though, as I ended up finding slimes that I killed in self defense and got slimeballs that I later made leads out of. I made a 64 block tower of dirt with a torch atop it when I first got out of the cave to mark such a good mine; I used that tower to help find my way. I found a witch’s hut, but did not enter, knowing it was very dangerous. Night approached as I first saw the house, and I had my first encounter with Phantoms, as I had not slept in several days.

I eventually found my way back home, and might have kissed the ground if I had a button to do so. I am so happy to finally be home.

Day 7:

I returned to the Nether and entered the Fortress. I ran up the blaze spawners and blocked them all off with a wall of cobble, and placed torches around one which didn’t work. I soon realized that the spawners had no chests around them. I looked through what as far as I could tell was the rest of the Fortress, and none of the chests had Name Tags in them. I promptly left the Nether. Until I choose to go to the End, I will not be returning. Screw the Nether, everything I’ve done in the Nether has been an egregious waste of time, resources, effort, and life.

I went back to fishing. I crafted a boat and swam out a bit so no monsters could get me and set up shop. While fishing I caught a rod with Luck of the Sea II, Lure II, and Unbreaking III. No, I’m not kidding. It was on low durability so I went home, and merged it with my current fishing rod using my anvil.

I HAVE ACQUIRED NAME TAGS!!! I acquired them all through fishing. The first one I got I saw it as I reeled it in, and then it flew over my head. I scrambled around and out of the boat, swimming around until I found it. I named Tess first, as I needed to differentiate her from Lelo first and I wanted to let her out of the boat. She had been flapping her wings ever since she was put in the boat, and I know she was happy to finally be out. I accidentally hit Chocolate Milk while trying to break the boat; I’m sorry Chocolate Milk. They have now all been named, minus the dogs as they don’t despawn, and I opened up the way to Arnold’s Enclosure, before I remembered that wolves had spawned in there. I quickly blocked the enclosure back up. There was only one wolf in the enclosure, though before there had been four in there; I didn’t think wolves could despawn but apparently they can (Or they were killed by monsters.) I went to get bones, and then back into the enclosure and tamed the wolf inside. Welcome to the family Bernard.

I kinda don’t know what to do now. For the past few days the entirety of my time was dedicated to getting Name Tags for my companions. Almost everything I’ve done has been for them. I think I will just enjoy them for a while. I wasn’t there much while Lelo was growing up, and I’ve been on a mission since day 3; it’s day 7 now; I’ve been going in and out of the house without paying them as much attention as they deserve for longer than I have been paying them the attention they deserve. I gave them treats when I happened to have wheat or seeds in my inventory, but other than that they have sadly been neglected. I was so focused on keeping them safe and from despawning, I neglected their happiness. Well no more. From now on I’ll be showering them with the attention they deserve. Everything I’ve done so far has been for them, and it will continue to be. Chocolate Milk, Tess, Lelo, Norman, Betwood, Bernard, I love you all. Happy New Year.

[meraki-sunset]

Hiveswap! My complete theory of what I think is happening and what I think will happen

To commemorate this 413 I want to share my ideas of what I think is coming up for the next video game, as how I believe the timeline of homestuck and hiveswap are entwined and how hiveswap prelude all homestuck events

 And everything starts in Friendsim (Have in mind that this are just my ideas and i could be wrong. but theorizing it’s fun and i want to share this)

The M.C  begins his story as a human who fell in alternia, finds himself alone and wants to make friends. This raises the questions

1- where did he came from? 2- Is he really human?

and for this i had several theories, of which, at the end of the game one proved to maybe be true.

The M.C could be:

- a human taken from earth, his life story it’s real

so his story of how he came to the planet is true and he is no more than an ordinary human with really bad luck

- a human created by ectobiology, his life story it’s still real

karkat mentioned that if a baby/grub was created wrong in some way, it is discarded and can it not be the player. He could have been a defective human who ended up on earth anyway.

- a human created by ectobiology but his life is not real, his memories are fake

Same scenario than before but It could have been a defective human that doc scratch took

(it's would not the first time) maybe it accelerated its growth on the lab like they do with the beings created for the chess war like carapacians. his memories were implanted by doc scratch and then he sent him to alternia (this one it’s really improbable, because it has been stated in numerous occasions that any being created by ectobiology needs to be placed on a planet to grow and then fulfill their intended role, no matter what that is. Like how Doc had no choice but to raise Damara)

 - He is not human, his life is not real, his memories are fake (this seems to be canon)

he is something else but he doesn’t know it and his memories were implanted by doc scratch right before he sent him to alternia

Homestuck plays a lot with the representation of its characters (how the art style changes depending on the mood) and the simple way of representing the m.c  caused many to overlook that he is a Carapacian, and has always been not only the reader of the webcomic from the beginning but an actual character and not an abstract representation of “us the fans”

(As a side note, than explains why ardata was able to control Reader, he was never human to begin with. That chapter was written by Andrew Hussie, that had to be intentional)

the Carapacians may be different from eachother, but in the end they are all the same species, and like the mayor and the rest of the exiles who were the ones who introduced the commands for the beta children, it was an illusion that the one reading the comic (all of us) was the one who controlled the actions, since in reality there was a character behind the command selections (Wayward Vagabond, Peregrine Mendicant, Aimless Renegade and Windswept Questant)

The same goes for the character of reader and it was an illusion as well that the character we saw should be representing us in an abstract way because he was already someone with a role on the comic

Now that we stablished he is a Carapacian. Where did he came from?

My initial theories were.

- A Carapacian could have been created by doc scratch with the cloning machine of the the veil, where all the pawns are made for the battle

- A Carapacian who already lived in prospit or who was already in battle and his memories were erased

But i don’t think Doc scratch really has a way to go in and out of sburb (the condesse went from earthA to earthB through sburb portals tho) in the end the most reasonable for me is

- A Carapacian who would live as an exile many years in the future in alternia, after the desolation and Carapacian repopulation on the planet, so Doc only have to jump in time with the handmaid or a window portal in time after the apocalypse , take someone at random from the Caparacian society, return to the time where alternia was still populated and the rebellion was beginning to resonate and drop him there (the only problem with this it’s that it’s always the looser kingdom the one who becomes exiled, and alternia had black dersite exiles. But on earth where the exiles where the prospitians there where still some derse carapacians, so I think it’s still possible, they may be just  way less in comparison)

- he should have the tattoo on his wrist to prove it, like the mayor, jack noir and his crew, and everybody who isn’t royalty. But if he could ignore all the signs of not being human, he may have ignored the tattoo too. Or maybe Doc put an excuse in his head to ignore it, which brings us to the next point 

One way or another, doc scratch convinced this Carapacian that he was a human, that he came from the earth, where he had always lived, that he was an orphan (so he would have no memories of having a family, which is why at some point I though he could have been an ecto children) and a thief with no friends (no memories of meeting anybody on earth) who had stolen a spaceship (that looks like junk and there is no way that thing could have gotten anybody out of earth) and who had crashed landed in alternia. (the Carapacians are created in laboratories in the veil to fight in the war, so it makes sense that his broken bones healed much faster than human ones, wich would have taken months) Filled with an insatiable desire to make friends with whoever he crossed paths with. (and by the way, there is no possible way to travel from earth to alternia, because those exist in diferent dimentions, billions of years apart in time from eachother and the only way to cross apparently it’s with cherub technology. Because they can jump through dimentions, just saying)

Why a human?

- because if he had any memory of being "Carapacian" he would have to be able to remember skaia, prospit  and the troll’s session. And maybe the post-apocalyptic world in alternia in which he probably used to live. He would have connected the dots and that would have been an inconvenience for Scratch.

He needed a pacifist creature filled with an alien culture, that no one could doubt after listening to him that he definitely came from a diferent planet and culture.

His ship impacted on the planet, not from space, but thrown from doc scratch’s green moon

BOLDIR must have seen this and that's why she knew that reader was on a mission and that it was about to end. She must have seen him fall, because of the constant vigilance she has towards the moon, she knows there is something there. (also she knows stuff)

when he was almost kidnapped along with konyyl by an adult troll, the ship began to shake and could not move forward, and he says he remembers that it was the same thing that happened to him. This was the power of doc scratch, he recognized it from when he dropped him on alternia

Happy late 413 and 10 year annyversary of homestuck!! This theory will continue

This is part 1 of a three part theory, i’ll be posting the next 2 parts today and  tomorrow!

Part 1 (youre here) - Part 2 - Part 3

[cristinablackthornkingson]

Shadowhunters Short Story #59. Kit and Dru become Parabatia.

It is a cool October morning in LA in 2015 when 15 year old Drusilla Blackthorn finally plucks up the courage to ask her best friend something very important. 

Kit had reunited with The Blackthorns last year during Emma and Julian’s engagement party in LA. Since then Kit and Ty had begun dating and Kit and Dru had become best friends and the three of them were pretty inseparable. Ty and Dru spent a lot of time in Devon with Kit and Kit spent a lot of time with them in LA. 

Right now the three of them have just finished training and are trying to find the motivation to get up off the training room floor, Kit promised Jem he’d be home early today so they could celebrate Tessa’s birthday, but after training all morning he can barely move, he’s stretched out on one of the training mats with his head in Ty’s lap, becoming more and more relaxed the more Ty plays with his hair. Dru is sitting up against a wall next to her brother and best friend, working up the courage to ask Kit a very important question. 

“When do you have to go back to the Scholomance Ty-Ty?” Kit asks, linking his hand with Ty’s and lacing his fingers through his. 

“I hate it when you call me that, I have to be back in two days.” Ty quietly says with a scowl on his face. He is not at all fond of his childhood nickname and only lets Helen, Mark, Julian and Emma call him Ty-Ty, and Livvy of course. Mina also calls him Ty-Ty, he’s been trying to get her out of the habit but she just thinks it’s hilarious when he insists he doesn’t like being called Ty-Ty.

“But I want to give you a cute nickname, I could call you Holmes?” Kit teasingly suggests. 

“Don’t you dare, Watson. If you do I’ll start calling you Christopher, I’ll teach Mina to call you Chris.” Ty shoots back, knowing how much his boyfriend hates being called by his full name. 

“Alright alright, truce.” Kit says, holding his hands up in mock surrender. 

“Idiot.” Ty laughs. 

“Yeah but I’m your idiot.” 

“Barf.” Dru says in a flat tone, as Kit rolls of Ty’s lap and onto his stomach.

“I’m going for a shower, meet you guys in the living room?” Ty asks, getting up from the mat. 

“Sounds good.” Kit replies. 

“Hey Kit, can I ask you something?” Dru quietly asks, as Ty leaves the room.

“No I can’t lend you money.” Kit smiles at her. Dru scoffs and rolls her eyes. 

“Dickhead, that’s not what I was going to ask. I was going to ask if... if you would be my parabatia.” Dru blurts out.

“I... you want me to be your parabatia?” Kit asks in a high pitched tone of surprise. Dru nods. “I-I thought you’d ask Jaime.” Kit stammers, trying to wrap his head around what’s just happened. 

“Jaime’s too old.” Dru says in a quiet tone, looking down at her hands, unprepared to look at Kit if he says no. 

“D-Dru, I-I’d be honored.” Kit fumbles over his words, shocked at Dru’s question but also delighted. 

“Really?” Dru asks in a surprised tone, her head snapping up in shock. She hadn’t been expecting Kit to agree to be her parabatia, she’s always thought that secretly he thinks she’s just his boyfriends’ annoying little sister who he puts up with because he’s a nice person. He’s always treated her the same way he treats Emma, Jules, Helen and Mark and the way he treated Livvy when she was alive, but Dru has always thought he was just being nice.

“Absolutely, Dru you’re my closest and best friend, you’re like a sister to me, you’re just as much my sister as Mina is, I would love to be your parabatia.” Kit softly says, reaching out to squeeze Dru’s hand. 

Holding back her tears of joy, Dru throws herself at Kit, pulling him into a tight embrace. “I can’t promise I won’t mess up the parabatia vows though, despite what Ty thinks I am not as clever as John Watson.” Kit says in an amused tone. Dru laughs and lightly shoves his shoulder while wiping at her tears. 

“I love you, you dumb ass.” Dru says as they pull apart. 

“I love you too, when I go home later on I’ll talk to my dad about arranging the ceremony and stuff, when do you want to do it?” Kit asks, helping Dru up off the mat so they can go meet Ty downstairs. 

“As soon as possible?” Dru asks. 

“Sounds good to me.” 

Later that evening in Devon, after dinner, Kit, Tessa, Jem and Mina are all gathered in the living room. Tessa is re-organizing the bookshelf in the living room, Jem is sorting through Mina’s clothes, while Kit is sprawled out on the other sofa with Mina curled up against his chest, both of them watching something on his phone. 

“Hey, dad?” Kit asks, letting Mina takes his phone and sitting up straight, pulling her into his lap. 

“Yes?” Jem asks, looking up and smiling at Kit. 

“How do I go about arranging a parabatia ceremony?” 

“Well, firstly you would put the request forward to The Silent Brothers. Then they’ll take a while to deliberate and consider, they might want to observe you and the person you want to be parabatia with, to make sure you’re a right match for such an intense and strong bond. Once they decide that you’re a good match, you start to plan the ceremony, you and your future parabatia choose your witnesses, you learn the oath, and set a date.” Jem explains 

“Are you thinking of asking someone to be your parabatia Kit?” Tessa asks,turning to look at her son. Having a parabatia would be great for Kit, he needs a friend, someone who will always have his back. Of course he has Ty, but romantic relationships are so different to platonic ones.

“No not me, I... Dru asked me to be her parabatia and I said yes.” Kit quietly says, hoping Tessa and Jem will approve of his choice, especially Jem, who had such an incredible, strong bond with his own parabatia. 

“Oh sweetheart that’s wonderful!” Tessa exclaims in delight. She’s always approved of Dru’s friendship with her son, Tessa is extremely protective of Kit and there’s not many others she trusts to keep him safe, but she trusts Dru and knows that she’ll keep her Kit safe in battle and always have his back. 

“Your mum’s right, it’s wonderful news, congratulations Kit.” Jem softly says, glad that his son will have someone as wonderful by his side for the rest of his life, like he had Will. Now he only hopes that Mina will find a parabatia one day too, perhaps a Herondale, if Clary and Jace have children. 

“We can go to The Silent City to put it forward to The Brothers tomorrow, if that suits Drusilla of course. Jem can help you put your case together in the morning and we can go in the afternoon if you like.” Tessa says, putting her book down and sitting next to Kit and Mina.

“It sounds good to me, I’ll text Dru to see if it suits her too, when Mina eventually gives me my phone back, little thief already, I’m so proud.” Kit says in a joking tone, ruffling his sister’s hair. Mina smiles up at him, and reaches up to pat his face, which is a very affectionate gesture to her.

“Have you thought about who you’ll ask to be your witness?” Jem curiously asks, thinking Kit will probably choose Jace or Emma. 

“Yeah I... I was hoping you’d my witness, dad.” Kit shyly says, avoiding eye contact with Jem, terrified of rejection. 

“Oh, Oh Kit I’d be honored.” Jem softly says, setting one of Mina’s old baby grows down and walking over to Kit, pulling him into a tight embrace, now that Tessa has Mina. 

“Dad, you’re suffocating me.” Kit says in a raspy tone, patting Jem’s arm. Jem laughs as he pulls back and ruffles Kit’s hair. 

“You’re being dramatic, I barely touched you.” He says in an amused tone. 

“You’re trying to distract us, so we won’t make a fuss out of you, you hate when we fuss over you.” Tessa says, though she knows that Kit secretly loves it when Jem and Tessa fuss over him. A few weeks ago he had come down with the cold and clearly enjoyed being fretted over, with Jem sending for The Silent Brothers every time he coughed, and Tessa burying him in blankets and hot water bottles, bringing him lots of hot soup and tea, taking his Xbox up to his room and setting it up there so he wouldn’t be bored all day, and Mina making him get well soon cards and bringing him tissues and vapo rub and cuddling with him to make him feel better. 

“No I’m not, I don’t have feelings.” Kit insists. 

“Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good Mina mine, does it? Should we summon The Silent Brothers do you think, or is your brother just being silly?” Jem says in a light tone, taking Mina from Tessa and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Mina giggles and pushes his face away, not enjoying the tickling sensation she’s getting from his stubble. 

“Kitty silly.” She determines, looping her arms around the back of Jem’s neck. 

“Hey you’re meant to be on my side you little traitor, Dru would never betray me like this!” Kit says in a mock hurt tone, frowning at Mina, which just makes her laugh harder. 

“I didn’t expect the arguing to start this early.” Tessa says in an amused tone. “Lucie made it to three before she really started annoying James.” She adds with a smile. 

“I think we should get you to bed Mina mine, before you and your brother kill each other.” Jem says, ruffling his daughter’s hair. “I’ll tell you a story about your Uncle Will if you like, before you go to sleep.” Jem adds, lifting Mina up and settling her on his hip. 

“No! Want Kitty tell story!” Mina exclaims, reaching out for Kit. 

Kit happily takes Mina upstairs and tells her a story about Livvy, before finally managing to get his phone back from her to text Dru, who agrees to portal to Devon tomorrow morning so they can put their case for being parabatia together, with Jem, before going to The Silent City and presenting it to The Silent Brothers.

Meanwhile in The LA Institute, Dru has gone in search of Mark, to ask him something important. Last she saw him, he had been in the drawing room with Cristina and Kieran, saying goodbye to Kieran before he left for Faerie for the next few days. Though they have their little cottage between the mortal world and Faerie, Kieran still sometimes comes to visit them both in LA, and to visit Mark’s family, and Cristina’s family in Mexico. 

Dru quietly opens the door to the drawing room, where she sees Mark sitting on the sofa next to Cristina, his hand intertwined with hers, both of them talking quietly as Mark plays with a lock of her hair. Dru is hesitant to interrupt the moment, but since she and Kit will be presenting their case to The Silent Brothers tomorrow, she can only talk with Mark now.

“Mark.” Dru says, pushing the door open further and stepping into the room. “Can I talk to you alone for a bit?” Mark smiles brightly at her, though there is worry in his eyes. 

“Of course, come in, don’t linger in the doorway you’re making me nervous!” Mark says, gesturing for her to sit next to him. Cristina pecks Mark on the cheek and affectionately ruffles Dru’s hair on her way out.

“I wasn’t interrupting anything important, was I?” Dru tentatively asks, as she takes a seat next to her brother on the sofa. 

“No not at all, we were just talking. What do you want to talk to me about? Is everything okay?” Mark asks in a concerned tone, examining Dru’s face for any trace of pain and hurt.

“Everything’s fine Mark, nothing to worry about. I just... well this afternoon, after training, Kit asked me to be his parabatia, and I said yes, and... well I want you to be my witness.” Dru blurts out in hopeful tone. 

“Really? You wouldn’t prefer to ask Julian or perhaps Helen or even Ty?” Mark softly asks.

“No, I want you to be my witness, I love Helen and Jules and Ty, and even Tavvy’s okay but I only want you to be my witness and if you say no... well then I’ll refuse to become parabatia with Kit.” Dru says in a firm tone, lifting her chin and crossing her arms across her chest. Mark laughs and gently tugs on a lock of his sister’s hair. 

“Oh Dru, you’re just like mom with how stubborn you are. Of course I’ll be your witness, you don’t need to blackmail me you silly thing.” Dru’s lips twitch up into a smile and she leans in to embrace her brother. 

“Do you really think I’m like mom?” She quietly asks, laying her head on Mark’s shoulder. 

“Yes, so much. You and Jules remind me of her the most, Jules gets his artistic talent from her, and his ferocious love for his family, mom was so protective of us, especially me and Helen because we’re half Fae, and Ty because of his autism, and like I said you’re stubborn as hell like her, but also gentle and loving, and brave, and you look just like her, it’s like you have none of dad’s genetics, just moms, it’s quiet eerie.” Dru laughs and wipes at her tears. 

“I love you.” She quietly says. Mark drops a kiss to the top of her head, hardly able to believe it’s been 15 years since he held her for the first time and fell totally in love with his new baby sister. 

“I love you too Dru, so much.”

The next day just after Dru arrives in Devon, while Tessa and Mina are at a playgroup for Mina, Jem, Dru and Kit sit down at the kitchen table and start to put together Dru and Kit’s case. 

“I think The Silent Brothers may be particularity interested in why you two want to be parabatia after only knowing each other for two years, it’s not unknown for parabatia to have only know each other a few years before taking the oath, but typically cases are more like Emma and Julian or Alec and Jace, where two parabatia have known each other practically their whole lives.” Jem explains to Kit and Dru. 

“Well Dru and I fought in a war together, and I’m dating her brother, she could my sister-in-law one day, and when Livvy died we were eachother’s main comforts really, that’s what brought us close I think, well more so Ty’s plan to resurrect Livvy but I can’t exactly tell the Silent Brothers that, can I?” Kit asks, leaning back in his chair. 

“Not unless you want to get Ty thrown in The Guard, but you did make a very good point about fighting a war together and grieving a loved one together, Kit. Drusilla is there anything you’d like to add?” Jem asks, turning to look at her.

“Well I totally agree with what Kit said, he also helped me learn a lot of useful skills, I mean it’s basically thanks to him that Jaime and Diego didn’t die in The Guard when The Cohort threw them in there, Kit taught me to pick locks and so I picked the lock on their cell, we saved lives together.” Dru says, fighting to keep the emotion from her voice. She and Jaime are close friends and the thought of him dying almost reduces her to tears, after loosing her mother, then her father being turned Endarkened, then Mark being taken by The Wild Hunt, Helen being exiled and Livvy being killed, Dru simply can’t take any more losses. 

“That’s an excellent point Drusilla. So you’ve established why you think you’re suited to be parabatia, but why do you want to be parabatia?” Jem asks.

“Pretty much the same reasons we think we’d be suited to be parabatia, we worked well together in the battle against the Cohort, Dru always has my back and I always have hers.” Kit says. Dru nods and says 

“I agree, Kit’s like a brother to me, he was there for me when the others couldn’t be, when Jules and Emma were in Faerie, and everyone else was dealing with The Cohort and grieving for Livvy, I don’t think me or Ty would have gotten through that all without Kit, those couple of months when he weren’t in touch were awful.” Kit flushes, feeling extremely guilty for avoiding Dru and Ty after he moved to Devon, even though they understand he was grieving his birth parents as well as Livvy and trying to figure himself out. 

“Have you chosen a witness Dru? That’s a very important aspect of it all.” Jem asks. 

“Yeah, I asked Mark last night, he was delighted and agreed, it is okay for him to be my witness right? Even though he’s half Faerie?” Dru asks, concern lacing her tone. 

“Of course, he’s half Faerie but he’s also half Shadowhunter and he has fought with The Clave before and I’m sure he will again, there’s no reason he would be rejected as your witness.” Jem assures her. 

“Good.” Dru quietly says to herself. 

“So, do you two think you’re ready to present your case to The Silent Brothers?” Jem asks, closing over the notepad he had been taking notes on, just in case Dru or Kit wanted to look over what they had said. 

“Will you be there dad?” Kit asks in a nervous tone, looking at Jem. He hates the idea of being in The Silent City with just The Silent Brothers and Dru, he still doesn’t entirely trust them or many other Shadowhunters yet, his birth father had drilled that distrust and hatred of Nephilim into him from birth. 

“Since you’re both underage, yes I can be present if you want me to be.” Jem gently says, seeing the fear on his son’s face. 

“Okay, then I’m ready.” Kit says, his shoulders relaxing slightly. 

“Me too.” Dru agrees. 

“Alright, lets go then.” 

Just a week later, The Silent Brothers approve Dru and Kit’s request to become parabatia, and they are set to take the vows and perform the ceremony in a month, giving them enough time to learn the vows and organize everything. 

Currently it is the week before  the ceremony and Kit is still struggling to learn the vows, he had never been good at academic stuff like this, he had always learned by doing, not by reading from a textbook. Jem, Tessa, Emma and Jace are all doing their best to help him, but he’s still really struggling. 

Right now he is sitting in his room in Devon, the paper with the vows printed on them in front of him, his head in his hands as he tries desperately to take in the words. 

As he tries to absorb the first line again, he hears a knock on the door, and Jem steps in with Mina on his hip.

“Hey, your mum’s with a client for the next few hours, how are you getting on?” he asks, coming to stand beside his son. 

“Not good, I just can’t learn it.” Kit says in a dry tone, running his hands through his hair.

“Maybe I should write them out on cardboard signs and hold them up for you during The Ceremony.” Jem jokes. 

“Dad that’s a great idea!” Kit exclaims, a smile lighting up his face. 

“Kit, I was kidding, I can’t actually do that.”Jem says in an amused tone. 

“Why not? There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t.” Kit argues. 

“Not officially but it’s not something you do, like how it doesn’t officially say you can’t cheat in exams, but you know you can’t.” Jem says, patting Kit’s shoulder. 

“It’s stupid, why can’t I read it from the page?” Kit grumbles. 

“Kit, it shows you aren’t dedicated, that’s what The Silent Brothers will think anyway, I know you have trouble learning things this way and if I could get you out of it, I would, but I’m afraid I can’t. What I can do however, is be here to help you, I’ll sit here with you all night to help you learn it if you want, whatever you need me to do, just ask.” 

“Dad... were you nervous before you and Uncle Will became parabatia?” Kit quietly asks, looking up at Jem. 

“Absolutely, I was nervous the idiot would set me on fire.” Jem jokes, drawing a laugh from Kit. “I really was nervous though, it’s such a huge commitment and I thought I would only live another couple of years, I was afraid of how much more painful the bond would make my death for Will, it’s completely normal to be nervous before you become parabatia, it’s more un-usual not to be nervous.” 

“I need a break from studying, can you tell me about your parabatia ceremony? Who was your witness?” Kit hopefully asks. 

“Charlotte was my witness, and Henry was Will’s.” Jem says. He hadn’t asked Charlotte to be his witness, he had been afraid of bothering her, but she had volunteered and he was delighted, he looked up to Charlotte, loved her and idolized her, it meant a lot to him to have her as his witness. 

“How did you cope knowing that eventually you would die and hurt Will? People are still after me, The Lost Heir, and I’m afraid of the consequences that will have for Dru when she’s my parabatia.” Kit anxiously asks, picking Mina up and settling her in his lap.

“I didn't really, I tried not to think about it, like I tried not to think about my illness and my parents death. I knew Will was strong and he would be alright, especially after we met Tessa, I wasn’t so worried about leaving Will because I knew Tessa would take care of him, of course I didn’t want to leave either of them, but I was happy knowing they had each other.” Jem softly says, his heart aching for his parabatia.

“Does being parabatia mean Ty and I are going to have name any daughter we have after Dru, and she’ll have to name any son she has, after me?” Kit asks, trying to lighten the mood. “Because Uncle Will named Jamie after you and you named Mina after Uncle Will.” Jem laughs and ruffles Kit’s hair, his heart warming at the fact that Kit tried to distract him and make him laugh. 

“Well no it’s not a rule, Alec didn’t name his first child after Jace, and I doubt Jace will name his first child after Alec. When James was born I tried to get your mother and Will to change his name, I thought he should have a name all of his own, but they refused, and then tricked me for weeks into believing they were going to name Lucie Jemma, after me again, even as a Silent Brother I fell for Will’s pranks.” Jem laughs, remembering Will’s laugh and the look on Tessa’s face when they finally told him they weren’t actually going to name their daughter Jemma.

“Dad, do you think you could test me on the oath, see what I know and don’t know?” Kit hopefully asks, holding the sheet of paper out to Jem. 

“Of course, if this doesn’t work maybe you could try recording yourself reading it and then listening back, that works for some people, though I would say you’re more of a kinetic learner.” Jem says, taking the sheet from Kit, who looks at him blankly. “Never mind, I’ll explain latter.” 

For the next few hours Jem helps Kit to learn the oath, testing him again and again until they’re both certain he knows it. 

The next week flies by and soon Kit is standing at the entrance to The Silent City with Jem and Tessa on either side of him, and Mina on his back. She’s not looking forward to going down into The Silent City and has insisted on riding on Kit’s back while Jem leads the way forward with a witch light. Dru and her family are already down there, Kit had seen Mark and Cristina going down, just as he and Jem, Tessa and Mina arrived. 

“Ready?” Jem asks, placing a hand on Kit’s shoulder. Shifting Mina higher up onto his back so she won’t slip, Kit nods. 

“Yeah, what about you Min-Min, you ready?” He asks, squeezing her leg gently. Her arms tighten around his neck before she says 

“Uh-uh, but go slow!” 

“I will, I promise.” Jem starts forward with his witchlight, illuminating the dark, damp passageway, followed by Kit and Mina, and then Tessa. 

When they reach the place where the ceremony will take place, Tessa takes Mina while Kit looks around for Dru. 

“Looking for Dru?” Kit hears a familiar voice at his shoulder. He turns to see Emma standing next to him, grinning at him. 

“Memma!” Mina squeals, reaching for her. Mina adores Emma, she’s like a cousin, aunt and sister all rolled into one, and Mina thinks she is one of the most amazing people in world, and she’s certainly one of her favorites, along with Jem and Kit. 

“Hey Min-Min, look at you being down here, brave girl!” Emma exclaims, taking Mina from Tessa and settling her on her hip. 

“Uh-hu! Kitty carry me!” Mina says in an enthusiastic tone. 

“Well you have the most wonderful big brother, I wish I had a brother growing up! By the way Kit, Dru’s over there with Mark, they’re ready to start at any minute.” Emma says pointing across the room, where Kit catches a glimpse of Mark’s white hair, standing out in the sea of black gear. 

“Will you come with me dad?” Kit asks, turning to look at Jem. 

“Of course, you’ll be alright with mummy and Emma, won’t you Mina mine?” Jem softly says, brushing his daughter’s hair back, knowing how spooked she is down here, usually when she gets unsettled and spooked she clings to him, and won’t even go to Kit or Tessa, she just wants her dad. Hopefully she’ll be alright now though, since Emma is here and so are so many of her other favorite people.

“Uh-uh!” Mina says, nodding enthusiastically. 

Kit and Jem make their way over to Dru and Mark, where the two teenagers greet each other with an embrace. 

“Nervous?” Dru asks, pulling back and squeezing Kit’s hand. 

“Pft, no I don’t have feelings, you know that.” Dru laughs and lightly shoves Kit by the shoulder. Kit gasps in mock outrage. “She just tried to kill me! Brother Enoch did you see that? We’ve not even exchanged the oath and she’s trying to kill me already!” Kit exclaims in a exasperated tone. 

Indeed, though it seems you provoked her, are you quiet sure you’re suited to be parabatia, when you’re accusing her of attempted murder just before the ceremony? Brother Enoch asks in his cool, emotionless voice. Kit rolls his eyes. 

“You guys don’t have a great sense of humor do you?” He asks. 

I don’t see an accusation of attempted murder as humorous. Brother Enoch dryly says.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” Kit asks. 

Indeed. Now are you ready to begin?  Dru and Kit nod.

Before Kit knows it, he is standing in the middle of the floor, in a ring fire, opposite Dru, reciting the oath perfectly, drawing the rune on her arm and letting her draw the rune on his back. It is all over in what feels like a matter of minutes, and soon the two of them are standing side by side with their families, Mina pulling at Kit’s shirt, Ty holding his hand, Tessa fussing over him, Jem congratulating him and telling him how proud he is of him, The rest of the Blackthorns beaming at him while they fuss over Dru. 

A few minutes later Kit and Dru merge from the Silent City side by side, just behind their families. 

“Hey.” Kit says, lightly bumping Dru’s shoulder with his. “I love you parabatia.” Dru grins and bumps him back. 

“I love you too dummy.” 

[writethehousedown]

Bottled Up Feelings, Chapter Two (Cheryl/Blu) - Zyan

a/n: chapter two is here! this time, we’re seeing things from blu’s perspective. The POV will change with each chapter :) again, thanks to Frey for beta-ing. You can find me over at @chachkisalpaca ~

Chapter Two: Playing Cupid

Being a genie wasn’t the easiest job out there, nor was it as amazing as Disney had made it seem in Aladdin. Blu would know - she’d been one for quite a long time now.

She wasn’t really sure how she ended up being a genie, though; like most things in her life, it just happened. She had very few memories of her life as a human, the main one being that she was from somewhere in Ireland and that her name wasn’t actually Blu, but she couldn’t remember it, so she’d given herself a new one.

When she wasn’t granting wishes, she usually hung out with genies from all around the world. Humans would be surprised to know the lamps were actually portals to their realm, where they lived in peace, and language barriers didn’t exist.

It was a normal day for Blu, she was having lunch with some of her friends, telling them about this couple that acquired her newest lamp, but they hadn’t summoned her yet, which she found really weird, but it wasn’t as if she was complaining.

“It’s been so long since anyone summoned me, I don’t think I can go back to dealing with humans,” she commented, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Oh, I totally get you,” Dearis replied, “Last time I was out of my lamp a wish I granted got me suspended. How was I supposed to know they’d added wishing for a baby to the Don’t List? It literally happened while I was out!” She complained, folding her arms.

“Well, at least y’all have the opportunity to be found. My lamp’s been lost since the Titanic drowned, and I can’t reclaim a change until two more years. I’m tired of training new genies,” Scarlet added with a scoff.

Blu was about to reply when she disappeared from the table and transported to her home, the distinctive signal that someone had summoned her. How convenient. She looked at the portal and sighed as she crossed it, praying this time she wouldn’t have to grant any wishes that could harm her owner or herself.

The portal made her fall on a table, landing on her butt. She coughed a little when she tried to breathe and inhaled smoke instead.

“Shit, I forgot this was part of the deal,” she complained, trying to dissipate the smoke.

Once it cleared out, she looked around to face her new client, only to find, possibly, one of the prettiest women she’d seen in her very long life.

“Who are you?” She asked, clearly afraid. Blu hopped off the table and offered her a smile.

“My name’s Blu without an E, and I’m the genie of the lamp. I’m here to grant you three wishes,” she introduced herself and the woman blinked repeteadly.

“I think that tea Vinegar gave me had something on it, ‘cause I must be hallucinating,” she replied, stretching an arm with the intention of reaching for her. Blu stood where she was without moving an inch. The woman poked her arm, and that was enough to make her look absolutely terrified within a second. “Oh my God, you’re real, aren’t you?”

Blu snorted - she hadn’t gotten that reaction in years; majority of people screamed in happiness, jumped all over the place, or said their first wish right away, without thinking on it much.

“I mean, I will disappear once you run out of wishes, but for now, I’m very much real.” She shrugged, there was an awkward silence for a few moments.

“I can’t think of anything to wish for right now,” she confessed, scratching the back of her neck. “Maybe just eating dinner without another stranger arriving un-invited to my home.”

“Hey! You invited me the moment you bought my lamp, so, really, you set yourself up for that,” Blu pointed out, wandering off to the living room, the blonde coming right behind her.

“That makes sense, I guess? No. Nothing about this makes sense,” she said, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. “Please, don’t break anything while I have dinner; I don’t wanna go back to Vinegar’s shop and end up buying yet another genie lamp or something.”

“Fair enough, we can use anything to hide in, to be honest,” Blu commented while she looked at the woman’s pictures. She stumbled across a frame with a photo of her wearing a graduation robe that read “Cheryl”. She read it out loud and she poked her head from the kitchen. “You have a lovely name.”

Cheryl’s cheeks got a slight rosy tone. She gave a small smile and mouthed a ‘thank you.’.

*

About an hour had passed since Blu had appeared in Cheryl’s home, and she hadn’t wished for anything yet. It was weird, but then again - she could be thinking about what to wish for. Every other decade Blu would get someone like her - someone that thought well on their wishes. After all, three wasn’t nearly as enough to wish for everything they wanted.

Cheryl was taking a shower after having explained Blu how to use the remote of the TV, only for her to deadpan, “I was already an adult when these were invented, I know how to use a remote.” Cheryl had cocked a sceptical brow and left in silence, though Blu was pretty sure she heard her say something along the lines of 'Okay, boomer’.

She was watching a weird show called The Bachelor, when Cheryl sat next to her, wearing pyjamas, and trying to untangle her wet hair.

“Let me see if I understand correctly,” she said, while still battling with her hair. “I can wish for anything, without any conditions?”

“Well, there are some rules, like - you can’t wish for someone’s death, nor to have a baby, you can’t wish for someone to love you, huge amounts of money, or winning a competition unfairly…” Blu listed and Cheryl listened carefully to each word she spoke. “I think that’s basically it — unless The Council is redacting new laws as we speak, it has happened before.”

Cheryl’s interest seemed to spark when she heard the latter, but didn’t ask about it.

“So, exceptions aside, I can wish anything without any consequences?” She asked again and Blu nodded. “I wish some of the mothers of my junior students would stop acting as if they’re on fucking Dance Moms — like, goddamn Nancy, why can’t you understand that if your child didn’t get the main role was because someone is better than them?” Cheryl complained, making Blu laugh loudly.

Well, she certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“Okay, um, you should definitely word that better if you want Nancy to stop being such a pain in the arse,” she suggested making Cheryl laugh.

“Oh, God, no. Even if I want that, that’s not my wish. Can you imagine? It’d be such a waste; no amount of magic can change Nancy, she’s just the worst,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Let me think of what I actually want and then I’ll come back to you.”

Blu pursed her lips and knitted her brows together in a frown.

“You do realize that I have to follow you around until you make your final wish, right?” Cheryl’s eyes widened in fear.

“Oh no, I can’t have you over at the studio, I’m already incredibly busy with the Valentine’s Day show!” She rubbed her eyelids, feeling tired and in need of a good sleep. “Ugh, listen, it’s been a long day and I have no energy left to try to understand you and your genie quirks. I’ll bring you a blanket and some pillows, and tomorrow we’ll sort out that following me around thing. All right?”

Blu wanted to tell her that there wasn’t any need for the pillows and blanket, she could just go back to the lamp and sleep there, but Cheryl was out of the room before she could open her mouth.

She sighed. Cheryl seemed to be one of the strangest clients she ever had the pleasure to have, but at least she was a charming woman.

*

“Miss Cheryl, who is her?” Cheryl gave the kids a nervous smile and Blu was already having the time of her life.

After waking up and nearly having another heart attack because she forgot for a moment Blu was sleeping on the couch, Cheryl had made breakfast for them and asked every single question that had to be asked.

Was it really necessary for Blu to accompany her throughout the day? Yes, it was a strict rule made to avoid anything bad happening to their clients; countless times there had been a genie stuck in the human world because their human had unexpectedly died before running out of wishes. It was to be safe.

Did Blu know anything about ballet? No, she didn’t. But what was magic for?

So there she was, at Cheryl’s studio, wearing one of Cheryl’s ballet attires, ready to help her out with today’s class. The moment she noticed the kids wouldn’t stop staring at her hair, Blu knew this was going to be the funniest thing she’d done in a while.

“Kids, this is Miss Blu, she’s going to help me prepare all of you for the Valentine’s Day show. Be good to her,” she said, and immediately all the kids surrounded Blu, saying hi and asking why she had orange hair. “Oh Lord, I’m already regretting this,” she whispered.

On Blu’s side, she was over the moon with all the attention she was getting from the kids; she had always loved them, thinking they were the purest thing in the world.

“Alright, that’s enough, give Miss Blu some space. We’re gonna start in five minutes. Get ready, please,” Cheryl announced, the kids obeyed a bit reluctantly, but soon scattered around. “I’d say they’re like this ‘cause you’re new, but they’re like this every day. You get used to it at some point.” She shrugged, looking at them with a smile.

“Oh, don’t worry, I actually don’t mind. I love kids, I think they’re adorable.” Cheryl turned to see her with the same pretty smile she’d been giving the kids.

“Good, now let’s see if your magic can get the boys to line up and be en pointe when they get their cue.”

The class passed by in the blink of an eye; the kids absolutely adored Blu, laughing at all of her witty comments and obeying her quite easily. To say Cheryl was impressed was an understatement - she was completely blown away by the fact that even her feistiest student behaved well this time.

Perhaps Cheryl could wish her kids behaved that well on the daily; it would be like a dream come true.

The students were entertained by Blu’s funny stories as Cheryl talked with their parents about the show, the cost of the costumes, and whatnot.

“Miss Blu, how did you meet Miss Cheryl?” One of the kids asked, Blu chewed the inside of her cheek.

“That’s a good question,” she said, thinking of a somewhat believable story. “I was looking for a job, she needed help, and we just agreed to help each other out. We’re basically living together now.” All of the kids gave a collective gasp, though Blu didn’t know why.

“Are you Miss Cheryl’s girlfriend? My mommy told me only couples are allowed to live together,” a little girl piped up and Blu froze.

“Goddamn, Nancy,” she thought.

“No, we’re not girlfriends exactly—”

“You’re wives?” Another one asked, followed by a gasp. Blu’s cheeks got as red as a tomato.

“No!” She exclaimed, the kids around snickering. “We’re neither wives nor girlfriends, we’re just friends. That’s all.”

The kids were about to go on with their cheesy questions, when they heard Miss Cheryl calling for several of them and they finally left Blu alone. She sighed in relief, never in all her years as a serious genie she’d let a bunch of kids get to her her like that.

“Hey, you okay over there? Your cheeks are really red, is it possible you have a fever?” Cheryl asked, coming closer. “Let me see.” She placed a hand over Blu’s forehead. Blu thought her hands were as soft as they looked. “You’re hot.”

“Thank you,” she replied without missing a beat. Cheryl rolled her eyes, withdrawing her hand. “I don’t have fever, that’s not possible. It’s just that those students of yours were asking me some weird questions,” she explained, an amused smile spread across Cheryl’s face.

“What have they done now?” She asked between giggles. Blu was about to tell her that her students might think they’re dating now, when a girl tugged on Cheryl’s skirt to catch her attention.

“Miss Cheryl, my aunt’s here.” She pointed at the entrance and Blu could tell something changed in Cheryl’s expression upon seeing the girl’s aunt.

“Of course, love, stay here with Miss Blu while I talk to her,” she said, leaving shortly after.

Blu looked at the women for a moment and she could tell there was tension of all kinds between them.

“You got nice hair, Miss Blu,” the girl complimented, Blu looked back at her with a smile.

“Aw, thank you, love! Your hair is really pretty too,” she said, “What’s your name, honey?”

“Lily West.”

Blu chatted with Lily for a bit, learning in the process that she was seven years old, had been doing ballet since she was five, and she liked Miss Cheryl so much she wished she was her auntie too.

“I’ve asked my auntie Vivienne if she wouldn’t like to go on a date with Miss Cheryl so she can be my aunt too, but she said it’s not that simple. Do you know why it’s not simple, Miss Blu?” Blu looked over at the pair. She was ninety nine per cent sure they hadn’t just “had a date.”

“Sometimes people just don’t have the time to date someone. You can’t force your aunt to date Miss Cheryl if she doesn’t want to.” She shrugged. Lily seemed to think about it for a moment, until she ultimately sighed overdramatically in defeat.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Lily! C’mere, love, we’re going home,” Lily’s aunt called, and the little girl immediately said goodbye to Blu with a smile, saying she’d see her the next class.

Blu was probably leaving by the end of the weekend back to her lamp, but of course she couldn’t say that out loud.

“So, what’s the deal between you and Lily’s aunt?” Blu inquired, once they were walking back to Cheryl’s apartment.

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Blu as if she’d just offended her mother.

“Nothing worth remembering,” she simply said, resuming with her walk. Blu cocked a brow.

“Was she that bad in bed?” Cheryl almost snapped her neck with the speed she turned to see Blu.

“Fuck you, Blu,” she replied with her cheeks getting red. Blu let out a loud laugh.

“Oh, c’mon, you can vent to me, I won’t judge, I’ve seen it all.” And it was true; aside from being a genie, sometimes she served as a therapist for her heartbroken clients.

Cheryl bit her bottom lip, unsure if she should tell her or not. In the end, she gave in with a sigh and proceeded to tell her the story of her relationship with Vivienne.

For starters, it wasn’t even a relationship. They just hooked up once, and later it turned out to be that Cheryl was Vivienne niece’s ballet teacher, making it a little awkward when she went to pick up Lily for the first time since they slept together.

After that, they just kept bumping into each other wherever they went, their interactions awkward until Vivienne got tired of it and brought Cheryl home again. And again, and again, and again. They kept hooking up, and at some point Cheryl caught feelings.

But Vivienne clearly did not. She’d made that very clear when on New Year’s Day Cheryl had asked if she wanted to go on a date, like a real date, after roughly six months of sleeping around. Vivienne said she’d think about it, and she had yet to give Cheryl an answer.

“… And that’s how I kicked off the year by losing my dignity,” she concluded, causing Blu to whistle in amazement.

“Honestly, your life sounds like a soap opera, or a bad cliché novel written by a teenager. Whichever you prefer, but it’s bad.” Blu shrugged, making Cheryl laugh softly.

“Yeah, I know, my friends have already told me. Vinegar once said to me 'Your favourite song is New Rules, then why can’t you apply it to your life?'” She mocked, imitating her friend’s voice. Blu had no clue what New Rules was, but she laughed either way.

“It’s a shame I can’t make people fall in love, I think you’d benefit from that,” Blu commented, but Cheryl wrinkled her nose.

“I could, but I don’t think I’d want it. I want someone to love me for me, not because of a magic trick a genie pulled on them,” she admitted, and Blu thought it made sense; she wouldn’t want that either.

Suddenly, an idea hit Blu. Well, more like last night she’d seen a movie close to what Cheryl was going through and the way the protagonist had solved her problems was genius.

“But, you know, there’s nothing written about helping your clients with their love lives,” she suggested, but Cheryl didn’t look one bit excited about it.

“Blu, I appreciate that, but I’m a twentyeight going on twenty nine years old lady, I’m past the age of wanting that kinda rom-com nonsense.” Cheryl rolled her eyes, but Blu didn’t lose her optimism.

“Well, but it’s not as if my help counts as a wish, and you still have time to think on what you want in the meantime.”

Cheryl narrowed her eyes, thinking about Blu’s words. She was too old for this nonsense, but then again - she had nothing to lose; she’d already lost what was left of her dignity on New Year’s Day.

She massaged her temples before agreeing, knowing she’d very much regret this in the near future.

“It’s been a long time since I played Cupid, this is gonna be so much fun!” She exclaimed, linking arms with Cheryl as they changed their destination.

“Lord, please have mercy.”

[prplzorua]

Sleep it Off

I've got a helluva head cold, so instead of y'know sleeping, I decided, why not write a sick fic with Remy? With the premise my fogged mind decided to give me. "Like what if he tries to hide it at first but then it gets worse and the entire mindscape starts to get slow and feel sluggish until the others find him?" Sooo ye, this the product if that lol. Sned halp I'm dying. ---------

It started off with a headache. A small thing that was easily ignored. It's not like it was the first time he had a headache, he could deal. Nothing was going to stop him from doing his job, no ma'am! Not today bitch.

Not tomorrow either.

...

Or the next day.

...

Or the next- look man, he had shit to do, places to see and people to be and all that...

Remy frowned, that phrase didn't sound right... places to see and people to be-wasn't it the other way around?

Remy raised a manicured hand and rubbed his tired eyes, but continued to stare forward into the Sand screens, sighing as he had to rewind them back for the few seconds that he had missed when is eyes were closed. He been at it for days, constantly searching. Searching for something, a disturbance, what that disturbance was he didn't know and that unnerved him.

He kept sensing it from beyond the gate, at best it could be a stray Nightmare at worst a particularly gruesome intrusive thought.

Turns out...

It was both.

-------

Fighting off the Nightmare was child's play compared to the fight the Intrusive thought was giving him, and that's wild to say, considering that the Nightmare had been the 12 foot version of Mothman and Godzilla's love baby.

Thankfully a perfectly timed Sand Spear to its heart downed the creature effectively, but that of course was after he got tossed around like a freaking ragdoll-

Hissing Remy dodged the shadowed claw aiming for his throat. That was the annoying this about Intrusive thoughts. Once they snuck their claws into you, once their shadowy bodies clinged and coiled around you, once they whispered in your ears...you were practically done for. Unless of course, you had strong will power, but that could only take you so far.

Crouching into a side roll, Sleep narrowly dodged again. The thing's shadowy form could stretch, allowing its claws to jab at him at any distance. It made things a little bit difficult- not that his job was ever easy.

Rolling once more Remy then pushed himself up, jumping to his feet and then bending back to avoid a swipe to his head-even though the movement was quick, the Guardian saw the swirling claw pass over the lenses of his sunglasses in slow motion- huffing he quickly threw his hands over his head, pushing on the grass below him to basically complete a backflip.

Once upright and now a slight distance away from the enemy, Remy smirked, lifted a finger and beckoned it closer.

The Intrusive thought, angered, rushed forward- only for Sleep to take a single step back- it ran into a wall of sand. Confused the Thought tried to go around in an attempt to rip the Guardian into pieces- except it ran into another wall...and then another...and another. And before it could even think to have climbed up, another wall was placed above it.

It was completely surrounded.

"What you thought I was rolling around for nothin'? Please, this jacket is too goddessdamn expensive for that. Everytime I rolled, I had my Sand spread out, enough to lift up into a cage. Nice trick don'tcha think?"

The Intrusive thought howled throwing itself against the walls of its Sandy prison.

"Thought so too", Smirked Remy, "alright then, lights out buddy!"

Sleep clapped his palms together- the Sand walls moved, closing shut and completely crushing the being it once held.

"Welp, that's all folks", mumbled the Guardian to himself. The annoying buzzing had finally stopped, but his head still ached something rude.

Wincing a bit, he headed back to the Dream Tower.

-----

Remy groaned.

He fixed the problem, so why does his head still feel like he got run over by the mob at Sb's when Pumpkin Spice first gets out?

Speaking of Starbucks, when was the last time he actually went there? Last week? Week before? Why can't he remember??

He'd been functioning on the castle's brew, which wasn't bad, just...not good.

Eh, fuck it.

Shower, coffee then a power nap, yeah- that's a good idea, it'll probably get rid of his stupid headache too.

One cold shower, a trip to Starbies and an iced coffee later...he was now on his bed with an even worse headache.

Grumbling to himself about 'stupid fuckin headaches', Remy downed the rest of his drink, tossed his cup in the bin by his door and proceeded to flop down face first into his pillow.

Maybe the nap would help?

------

It did not help.

He woke up, not even a half hour later, with his head pounding so hard he could feel his pulse though his eyes.

Placing a hand to his temple Remy winced and then groaned, "what-the-ever-loving-fuck?!"

To make matters worse, his phone began to ring.

The sound was so loud it made him jump and scramble to shut it up.

It was the ringtone he used for Thomas but he honestly couldn't bring himself to answer his Host. His body had near automatically curled up, hands pressed against his ears and his eyes squeezed shut. Remy honestly felt like his head was trying to explode, even the sound of his own breathing was too loud-

The phone rang again, Roman's ringtone this time. A louder, much more bass heavy song.

The sound echoed, the reverb practically shaking his brain into pained mush, tears pricked at his eyes and he could do nothing more than whimper-

Remy's sand then rose up immediately and just...ate?? the offending piece of technology.

Sleep found that oddly funny, the sand covered the phone...and then the phone was gone, like a magic trick...or like something getting swallowed up by waves off the beach. Funny, the sand was the wave this time. He wanted to laugh or cry or something! He didn't know, everything...everything just freakin hurt.

----

Roman frowned.

"He's not answering my calls either"

"Of course" mumbles Thomas, flopping down on his bed and throwing a pillow over his face. "Uggh! I'm so tirrreed!!

"Um, We could always go look for him for you sport?" Tried Patton, a sympathetic look on his face.

"You could do that?"

"Well, considering that we can't really summon him since he's an Aspect and not a Side, that would be the best possible way of bringing him here", piped Logan from the Host's door frame.

Virgil, who was on the floor, shrugged. "I mean, I guess, we probably should check the nearest SB's first though"

Thomas chuckles "true"

The Manifestor removes the pillow from his face just in time to watch his sides sink down, hopefully they can find Sleep so he could actually get some decent sleep for once.

-----

The Personalities pop up in the Commons before climbing up the stairs towards Roman's room.

"Soo", whistles Virgil, falling into step with the prince, "where exactly are we going to find him?"

"The gate, first"

"But its day? I thought he only guarded it at night?"

"No, he guards it at all times, he's the Guardian of the Subconscious not a freaking night guard!"

"Woah easy Princey, go off on him not me-"

"No, no sorry, I just- he never ignores my calls, if he misses it, he calls me back immediately, we made a deal about it in case of emergencies...I think- I think something's wrong"

The other three exchange a glance at each other.

Roman pushes open the door a bright light depicting the portal to his Kingdom, the Mindscape itself. With a bit of concentration the light disperses, showing the image of the Dream Tower's entrance.

-----

The moment they step in, Roman freezes.

Everything feels off.

The air feels slow and sluggish and no one is moving around. As a matter of fact, no one was there at all.

Frowning, he climbs up the stairs towards Remy's room. Something was definitely wrong, the Dream Tower was always bustling with, Aspects, Figments and Emotions.

The others follow behind Roman as he picks up the pace-he almost trips.

There's a tugging, he looks down...sand, Gold sand is wrapped around his ankle.

"Shit!"

-------

"The Sand's not gonna attack us right? I've never seen it like this before"

"That's because it's worried about him, aren't your shadows the same way?"

"Uh, sometimes? I think? There a hell of a lot less sentient than this sand is, that's for sure"

Remy's room...would make the Sahara Desert cry.

Everything, everything was covered in sand. Well it was more like wrapped in sand? The glittering, gold dust didn't drown anything under it, the individual shapes of everything were clearly visible but it was a lot of sand.

"Will you two stop ogling at it and help us get him out of it. The infernal thing doesn't seem to realize the more it covers him the less of him we can actually hold-" huffs Logan, as he keeps trying to brush the sand off of Remy. Every time he did so more sand would crawl over it master, hissing at the Teacher as it did so.

Patton places a hand on his shoulder.

"Logan wait- I think the Sand doesn't want us to touch him"

"But that would defeat the purpose of it asking us to help!?"

"No I think it's for a different reason. I have an idea-"

"Patton we-"

"Hear him out L, none of us know what's going on-"

"Thank you Virge, Roman can you conjure me a thermometer?"

"Um, ok?" The prince holds out his hand and after a brief second of concentration, a new prepackaged thermometer appears.

Patton wastes no time in grabbing it and tearing pack open. Gently he turns Sleep's head- the Sand hisses at him for this.

"Shh, I'm just trying to help ok"

If sand could look sceptical...though it quiets and let's the Prominent personality slip the thermometer between Remy's parted lips.

It's kept under his tongue until it beeped-

"104.6°F"

-------

Bonus:

"Sleep"

"Ngh, where-?"

"Hey Sleep!"

"Mnh?"

Remy blinked his eyes open. His vision was blurry and his head pounded. Honestly he was consider going right back to-

"Sleep!"

Remy sat up with a gasp. Wincing as a cold rag fell into his lap. He picked it up. "What?"

"You ok there pal?"

Remy tensed, only just realizing that someone was in front of him, that someone being a very worried-

"Thomas?"

"Yeah it's me-"

"Where-?"

"You're in my room, and you kinda brought the Sides here too"

Ever confused, Remy could only squint and mumble. "Wha?"

Thomas simply pointed down.

From the bed that they were on, Remy could indeed see Thomas' main sides in all degrees of sprawled asleep on the floor. They did look quite peaceful though.

"Um?"

"Yeah...that was my reaction too-"

"You said I brought them here?"

"Uh, ye, about that...what do you remember?"

Sleep placed a hand to his head, wincing... "Um, your- your phone call I think and ...Roman's? But other than that, I have no clue"

"I-uh, I guess I could tell you what they told me?"

"Better than nothing, go for it"

-------

"Pat said you had a high fever and according to him, the others were helping to lower it, but-"

"but?"

"But you...kinda woke up? Roman said you were out of it, mumbling something about protecting me and a fence-"

"Gate"

"What?"

"It's a Gate, huge ass Golden gate that separates the conciousness from the unconsciousness, the literal division and final protection of your subconscious"

"...ok wow, I didn't, um"

"I still can't believe that you've been inside the subconscious, the damn Dream Tower itself and still haven't seen the Gate"

"In my defense, I almost died"

"Fair. Now continue, what did my apparently fever drunk ass do next?"

"Um, well Virgil said you turned into a zombie, you like stood up and were trying to get outside, Roman had to hold you back but you kept shuffling forward-"

"Oof. Yeah...been there done that-"

"What? This happened before?"

"Ohh yeah. One time I was sick and my girls at the Tower had to legit lock me in my room so I wouldn't keep working"

"And here I thought you were lazy?"

"I'm far from lazy hun, I'm just always late. I don't like hard work, doesn't mean I won't do it, I just don't like it. Besides I'm cool do you think anyone this fine could look like this by being lazy? Please gurl, my work schedule could put Logan to shame"

"And yet-"

"And yet I'm always late, yeah- yeah. Look my sense of time and direction, are like, complete shit babes, but at the end of the day, I get my shit done and it gets done well. Quality over quantity and all that."

Both Aspect and Host paused and then instantly started laughing.

"Ok,ok, what happened next? How did we all end up in here?" Asked Remy as he gained his breath back.

"Uh, yeah, um apparently while you were struggling against Roman, Logan had asked Patton how he thought this would have affected me-"

"And let me guess, I heard him mention your name and just popped everyone here huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much, basically"

Remy shook his head at himself.

"Alright, why are they all sprawled out? I doubt that Roman of all people volunteered to sleep on the floor"

"Yeah...about that. When you brought everyone here, you kinda passed back out. The others were trying to explain something about the sand in your room, when this Gold sand just appeared from nowhere and Moana-Ocean-style came up to each of them in like the shape of a finger and just.. shushed them. Like literally went "Shhh"

"Oh, God-"

"And then before we could question it, it retracted, like it crawled back over you and turned into your bag- wait! Is that why you always have this bag with you?!"

"No duh? It's my sand, just easier to carry it around in bag form-"

"H-how, how does it change color like that?"

"It doesn't, that's just the color it takes when it's dormant and bright Gold when awake-"

"Cool, and what about your shades and Jacket?"

"That...is whole 'nother story, one I have absolutely no energy to tell tbh"

"Oh. Ok, well the guys kinda just drifted right off after your Sand became your bag, so yeah, that's the whole story I guess"

"A mess, but good to know-" Remy chuckled only to cut himself off with a wince. His head was still hurting like hell, even throughout Thomas' recounting- but now it just felt worse.

Watching Sleep in pain made the Host's stomach coil. He didn't like seeing anyone hurt, especially his Sides or Aspects in this case.

Gently he grabbed Sleep's shoulders and helped lower him back onto a pillow.

"Ok, why don't you lay back down-"

"Yeah, ok"

------

Remy lays back, settling himself on the bed...and then he pouts.

Thomas chuckles, already knowing the reason for that pout. He easily pulls Remy onto his chest, patting his back gently. The Aspect practically melts into it.

"And you call me clingy"

"Shhh!"

-----

Thomas is woken up early next morning, by the sounds of hissing and mumbled cursing.

Sitting up, he bites his tongue so as not to laugh at the sight before him.

A disheveled Roman was carrying a very much asleep...Sleep, bridal style. The Aspect had his face burrowed in the crook of the Prince's neck, seemingly relaxed, completely unperturbed by the events. Right next to Roman was Patton, who was holding Virgil quite similarly. Every second or so, the Emo's foot or arm would twitch before he resettled. Honestly between Virgil and Remy, Thomas couldn't tell who was snoring harder. The kicker though, was Logan, sleepily holding onto Patton's cat hoodie,slightly swaying as he rubbed his eyes. The Logical side was obviously not a morning person.

Patton waved at his Host, while Roman gave him a nod, Logan mumbled something, but Thomas could not decipher any of the other's sleepy jargon.

The Manifestor simply waved as they sunk down.

Once gone, Thomas flopped right back down curling up comfortably- what? He was sleepy.

------

AN:// Hi guys, I did a thing! I should probably take a nap tho XD. The Innerworks update is still coming, I've just been busy and tired, but it's coming, just hang in there. But you can consider this lil ficlet a part of the Innerworks universe, it just takes place after the events in Innerworks....so canon lol.

[ace-jug]

Richie and The Rabbit Hole (5)

Summary: When everyone goes back to their lives after Pennywise, Richie doesn’t. He stays in Derry and finds a portal that leads back to 1989, only a few months after the loser club “defeated” Pennywise the first time.Using the help of the younger losers, adult Richie goes back in time to fix all the wrong that Pennywise caused when he came back the second time.

Rated: M

Relationship: Eddie/Richie

Current Word Count: 28,322

Read on Archive: (x)

Tumblr Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Chapter 5: The new future (for now)

“Hello?” Eddie says over the phone as Richie drops it. He looks wide eyed out to open space, shocked, because Eddie is alive! The whole thing worked and he almost completely spaces out, but Eddie is yelling really loudly over the phone to get Richie's attention.

“HELLO?” Eddie yells and Richie grabs the phone from its spot on the ground. His hands are trembling and he tries his best to keep calm.

“Sorry, sorry, I just uh, wasn’t expecting you to be calling me.”

“Are you fucking serious Rich? You knew we had plans and you’re dropping your phone again? Please don’t tell me you cracked the screen again, that’d be your third one this year and I understand you’re famous yada yada, but that doesn’t mean you can be throwing your phone around like it’s garbage!”

“What plans?” Richie asks, because he genuinely doesn’t know, and also, he really would like to see Eddie now that he knows he’s alive. He kinda feels like he’s floating on air and he feels like he may go crazy, if he hasn’t already that is.

“God, I swear, you make over 6 figures and you’re the smartest guy I know, but sometimes I have no idea where the hell your head is at. Where are you? We’ve been waiting forever for you.”

“I’m the smartest guy you know?” Richie says and Eddie huffs. “I never said that! Also, that isn’t the point, where the hell are you?”

“Oh, uh, I’m at Al’s diner in Libson falls,” Richie says and Eddie snaps.

"You knew we were getting food and you went out? What the hell Richie?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. When I came here, everyone had already gone home."

Eddie doesn't say anything, it takes him a moment, but then he talks soft, his anger seems to have vanished.

“Oh my god. Today is the day, isn’t it?”

“What day?”

“The day you went back in time“,” Eddie says, it’s a whisper, and Richie can barely hear it, but it’s easy enough to make out. The events of the day are replaying itself in his head and his headache is soaring. He really needs some advil.

“Oh, yeah, that day, mhmmm. Yeah, that was today. Oh my god, please don’t tell me you all are waiting for me at that fucking house, because we never killed Pennywise.”

“No, we did,” Eddie says, pausing. “Do you remember anything? Like, do you remember the last 27 years?”

“It depends,” Richie says, trying to think of any possible changes in the future on his life, but it comes blank. “Did everything happen the way it did last time?”

“Holy fuck. You really remember nothing? Not even getting married?” Eddie asks and Richie looks confusingly down at his hands, and sure enough, a big gold wedding band was sitting on his ring finger.

“Holy shit!” Richie yells. “You’re fucking with me. You have to be. This cannot be real. I’m fucking married!?”

Briefly he sees a clip play in his mind of another hand putting a ring on his finger. It's hard to see, but it happened like he was there. He can feel the ring be slipped on his finger and he hears the static noise, like he was way too focused to hear anything. It barely lasts a second, like it was nothing at all, and Richie discards the thought.

“Okay, maybe over the phone isn’t the best place to explain everything, just come to the The Jade of the Orient, we already got our food,” Eddie says.

"Yeah, okay, bye," Richie says, shaking his head, it's been a weird day, that's for sure. He doesn't even look back, he just makes his way to his car and drives.

He tries to come up with anything from his past, but without talking to anyone or being able to look at his phone, it's not like he can come up with much. He speeds the entire ride back to Derry and as the anxiety fills, he does his best to breathe.

.....

When he arrives at the restaurant, a boy, roughly around the age of 4 latches on to him as soon as he gets close to the table.

"Daddy," the boy says, grabbing Richie's leg and crying. "Melissa is being mean to me and I don't wanna sit at the kids table, I wanna sit by you," he whines, putting his arms up and staring at Richie, waiting to be picked up.

Richie nervously chuckles. The kid is cute, real cute, that's for sure, but it's weird. The kid looks slightly like him, especially when he was 4, the kid had the same nose and mouth.

He looks at the other losers for a second, confused and making sure this kid was actually his, because sure, he killed Pennywise, but what in the future could change so drastically that he'd have a kid?

He's not sure, and when the other losers just stare at him and Beverly gestures at him to pick the kid up, that's what he does and the kid wraps his arms around him, sighing contently.

He's sees another scene for a few moments. A glimpse of watching the kid be born, holding him in his arms for the first time, and teaching him to speak. It's sweet and it makes Richie let out a few tears.

This is weird. This is really weird. What the fuck is going on?

He sits down to the only spot left, which is between Stan and Eddie.

It looks like they've all brought their significant others with, because next to Stan, Bill, and Mike are woman he's never seen before. There is also a table close by that's filled with kids. There are almost as many kids as there were adults and he's pretty sure that they belong to his friends, because one comes up to Beverly for a second to whisper in her ear before running back to the table.

"So, uh, what did I miss this last 27 years guys?" Richie asks and Beverly goes to say something, but shuts it, and he's not sure why, until she gestures to what seems to be Stanley's wife, who wasn't looking.

That’s when he realized that right, there are others besides the losers here and they don’t know about the demonic space clown or time travel. So, talking about that here was just not an option.  

It seems like he won't be getting answers right now, but that's okay, he's starving.

"Don’t joke like that Richie, we saw you in May! We just sat down and Mike was about to give us some news," Beverly said and Mike goes wide eyed.

"Right, well, me and Jennifer," he gestures to the woman next to him. She's smiling brightly at him and he does the same, looking at her with admiration in his eyes for a few moments before taking her hand and looking at the rest of the losers. "Are having twins!"

"Oh my god, twins, congrats Mike and Jenny!" Beverly says and the rest of the losers go into a small chatter, asking Jennifer a bunch of questions. “When is the baby due?”, “how long have you known?”, “do you have names picked out?” Richie is confused the entire time, but he tries to think and figure out the missing puzzle pieces, because there are a lot of them.

Number one, who the hell is his wife? I mean, he's married, that's apparent and he has a kid. He remembers being in the hospital to carry the newborn in his arms for the first time and he's assuming that blurry woman in his flashback was his wife, it had to be.

"I'm sorry, but where is my wife?" Richie whispers to Eddie and he nearly spit takes.

"Excuse me?" Eddie asks, choking on his water and wiping his mouth from the water that leaked through.

"I mean, I'm obviously married, but I don't see her. Is she at home or something?" Richie asks and Eddie shakes his head. His kid pinches him.

"Don't joke with Dad like that. You know he doesn't like it," his kid says and Richie looks at the kid confusingly then back to Eddie.

"Why the hell is he calling you Dad? I thought I was his Dad, what the fuck is going on?" Richie whisper yells at Eddie. His heart starts pounding loudly then and he hears it in his ears. This was a joke, right? Or, maybe, was Eddie his husband? That couldn't be possible right? That's stupid. Eddie was straight and Richie has a kid. It would be impossible for them to have a kid, he had a vision. He-.

The kid pinches him again.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Dad told me to do that when you say those words."

Right, he swore. He deserved that.

"I'm sorry buddy, I won't do it again, I promise."

"You're such a bad liar," Eddie says.

Richie huffs, waits a second, looking at Eddie for answers and when he doesn't say anything, Richie puts a hand on his shoulder and whispers again, quiet enough that the kid won’t hear him this time.  

"Can you please just tell me what's going on with this," He says gesturing to his ring, then also to his kid.

"Can you just wait until lunch is over? There is a lot to explain," Eddie says and Richie knows that, but it doesn't stop him from being really nervous. His life has dramatically changed and he's not sure how to even act because well, he has a kid now and he’s married. He still seems to be famous though, so his job is at least the same.

Oh, right. His manager had called him. He'd call back, but that seems like a bad idea considering there is a high chance that he won't know what the hell is manager is talking about. So, he looked at his phone to see if he had any texts.

From The Boss Man:

Richie, answer your phone. I know you're on vacation right now, but Christina needs to know if you can do that surprise show in Maine tomorrow considering you're already there?

From The Boss Man:

We need to know if we can sell tickets asshole. Answer me. Now.

From The Boss Man:

We're talking about a lot of money here Rich. We only have an hour to secure our spot or we give it up.

From The Boss Man:

Richie, I swear to god. You've never toured in Maine and there is a high demand for you there right now.

Okay, maybe Richie should call back. His manager seemed pretty upset. So, he excuses himself and tries to get his kid to sit down.

"I have to make an important phone call, I'll be right back, okay buddy?"

The kid shook his head. "I don't wanna sit here."

Richie sighs and thinks for a second before handing the kid to Eddie.

"Here, just sit with Eddie and I'll be right back. I promise."

The kid huffs, but he wraps his arms around Eddie anyways and Richie is surprised on how easily the kid just lets himself be around Eddie like that when it was Richie’s kid, but he dismisses the thought, he has something else to worry about right now.

He walks towards the back and calls his manager.

"Richie, you better have a good explanation for this!"

"My phone died," he lied and the thing is, he didn’t wait that long to call. When he opened his phone at Al’s diner, his manager had only called him a minute ago; and sure, he did ignore the next call in the car, but he was still flustered. Still is, but at least in this moment, he can distract himself from the bigger problem. Push a problem with another problem seemed like a good idea in Richie’s mind a minute ago.

His manager sighed, for some reason believing him. Richie is just glad that the voice is familiar and the same manager as before.

"Okay, well, can you do it or not?"

"What, the show? I don't know. What routine would I be doing?"

"The most recent one. This will be the first show to hear it. Remember, we stayed up until like 3am five weeks in a row trying to perfect it? This will be the perfect place to see how people feel about it."

Richie wants to say yes, but knows that he has no idea what his new routine is or what he'd say.

"I don't remember it all. I'll mess it up. It's too soon."

"Dude, it's been like over a month. You've practiced it dozens of times. You know, you don't have to be nervous. Everyone knows you’re gay already and it might be nice for people to see you there, you know, considering the trial.”

"I'm gay?" Richie questions, like it's not true and his manager huffs.

"Dude, you're not funny. You're lucky that you're saying that to me and not Eddie. He'd kick your ass. Anyways, if you really are nervous, you know you can look at the routine on your phone on Google docs. I'm going to say you can, okay?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Also, why would Eddie be kicking my ass?"

"You're insufferable. How he married you, I will never understand. Now I have to go and book your show before it becomes unavailable. Turn your volume on and answer me next time. Bye."

Married. Gay. Holy shit. Married to Eddie Kaspbrack. This is impossible. This is not happening. Eddie is straight. He married a woman and now, he's just married to me? Richie thinks and he shakes, breathing heavily.

It happens again, a flashback he assumes. It's similar to before with a hand putting a ring on his finger, but it's Eddie and he's younger, closer to 30 rather than 40. They're smiling at each other and tears are trickling both their faces. He's never seen Eddie look so happy and when the priest tells them to kiss, they do, and Richie can almost feel Eddie's lips on his, but its only an image, Eddie pulls back, then the flashback ends.

That's weird. This weird. He's married to Eddie. Is he dreaming? It has to be a dream and soon he'll wake up.

He pinches himself waiting to be awoken, but he doesn't and he shakes his head, brushing a hand through his hair.

It takes him awhile to gather himself and he almost goes back to the other losers, but instead he decides to walk over to the bathroom and lock himself in a stall. The first thing he does is checks his messages with Eddie, which was the second to the top of messages.

The most recent ones said stuff along the line of ‘where the hell are you?’ and ‘Richie, this isn’t funny, where did you go this morning???’, but as he scrolls up, he sees more texts like ‘when are you getting home tonight?’, ‘Braxton won’t go to bed until you tuck him in’, ‘I need to get to work, will you be home or do I need to call the babysitter?”.

That seems to imply that maybe, just maybe, he was married to Eddie as weird as that sounded.

The texts even got more domestic, some containing ‘I love you’ and mostly ‘when are you coming home?’ But really, what does the cherry on top is a message from Eds reading ‘I need your cock’.

He almost drops his phone again. It’s quite embarrassing and he has to take another moment to contain himself, shaking his head. This could not be fucking real.

Another clip plays in his mind again, he’s looking at the same text, about to do a show, and he smiles, shaking his head, before replying ‘and I need that ass.’ After the clip plays, he looks down at his phone, seeing the exact text sent from him. There is no more texts like that afterwards and their “sexting” doesn’t continue, left there, like maybe it was a joke.

He stares at the stall door for a moment, lost in thought, before his phone buzzed and he looks down at his new text from Eddie.

From: Eds

Where the fuck did you go? I saw you on the phone and now you're gone. Everyone is done eating and wants to meet back at the hotel.

To: Eds

Don't worry. I just had to go to the bathroom.

From: Eds

For like 15 minutes?

To: Eds

I had to poo

From: Eds

Can you just hurry up? Your kid is making my arm numb.

Richie sighed, getting up and looking at himself in the mirror. He looks better then he thought he would. It seems that with him being in the future and probably having a normal sleep schedule, he actually looks good. His hair is shorter, not by much, but it looks more tamed, like he's been putting in the effort. His clothes are notably clean and he has at least showered today, unlike the last timeline. He still feels tired though and he still has a headache. He wonders how he can look this good, the best he's ever looked and still feel like his head is about to pop. He doesn't think more of it though, remembering his friends back at the table, and makes his way out of the bathroom, then towards their table.

Eddie is still sitting, all the other losers are gone, and the kid- Braxton, is laying on his shoulder, sleeping, which explains the text he just got from Eddie.

He walks over and Eddie sighs, standing up, trying carefully to keep the child asleep. Luckily he does and Eddie starts walking towards the door.

When they get outside, Eddie puts the kid in the car seat.

How the hell did I not notice that before?  Richie thinks, trying to remember if he did or not, but he assumes that maybe he missed it because of how tired he is.

He does it carefully, Eddie strapping the kid like he’s a newborn. He’s careful and luckily, the kid doesn’t wake up. Eddie gets in the drivers side and Richie in the passenger, driving towards the hotel.

They’re alone now and it’s weirdly silent. Richie has so many questions and he’s not sure what to even ask. Luckily, Eddie can read Richie like a book, so he speaks first.

“Yes, we’re married and yes, that’s your kid. Most importantly it’s our kid, but it has your DNA. We had a surrogate and it was also your idea. You were obsessed with the movie Baby Mama so badly that you wouldn’t shut up about doing it. I even waited four years to make sure you weren’t fucking with me and literally four years on the dot, you booked an appointment.”

He gets another jolt of memory then, watching the movie, going to the office, meeting the surrogate mother, and lastly, watching Braxton be born again. This time the picture is a little more vivid and with all this added information, the first thought that comes to Richie’s mind is oh, that movie!

“Baby Mama, like that movie with Tina Fey that all those middle aged women are obsessed with?” Richie asks and Eddie chuckles.

“Of course that’s the first thing that comes to your mind, jeez. Yes. You’ve watched it over like 100 times. After Braxton was born, you literally cry every time you watch it.”

“I am a middle aged woman,” Richie says next and he starts to space out, but then Eddie is talking again.

“I mean kinda, but not really. If you were, I wouldn’t have married you.”

“You’re gay?” Richie asks and Eddie laughs again.

“Well, duh. I thought that was obvious after I told you I married you.”

“But, you-”

“Yeah, I know, I can’t tell you why I did what I did in the first timeline, but I mean, I didn’t tell anyone I was gay until I was 18, and that was only because I was crushing on you so bad that it was honestly annoying.”

“Wait, you had a crush on me?”

Eddie rolls his eyes and snorts. “Are you kidding me?”

“I don’t know,” Richie exclaimed, raising his hands in the air. “I thought you were straight my whole life. I never even came out in my timeline, so hearing I’m married to a man is a huge shocker to me.”

“You never came out?”

“No,” Richie said, biting his lip. “How long have we, uh, been married?”

“8 years and we’ve been dating for 22.”

“Holy shit,” is the only thing that Richie can get out, because 22 years, 22 years he’s been with Eddie. He’s never even been with anyone longer than 2 and now he was married with a kid.

“Braxton, our kid, he’s 4. We got married in 2008 and you proposed to me, which was really dumb, because I was going to purpose to you first. Literally had it planned for just two weeks later, so fuck you for that. Oh and you also came out on Ellen.”

“I came out on Ellen?” Richie asked and what is the most surprising about that statement is that it's Ellen. He was not famous enough to be on Ellen or cool enough either.

“Yes? We finished our honeymoon like 2 days prior and the first thing you said to her and I kid you not was “hey, Ellen, I’m gay how are you?” then you showed her a picture of me holding our dog.”

Richie sees it, Ellen inviting him onto the show, telling her he’s gay, and his dog. He loved his little Pomeranian. What was the name? What was the name?

“Our dog’s name is Daisy, she’s very cute,” Eddie adds, as Richie parks into the hotel parking lot. He stays still, he doesn’t know what to say or think, because all of this was so good, but also so weird, that Richie didn’t know how to process it.

Eddie can tell though, because he sighs, before he pats Richie’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go. The other losers are waiting for us. We can talk more about this later. I think you uh, need time to process.

“Process, yeah, that seems good,” Richie says, unmoving and Eddie opens his car door, walking around the door to take a sleeping 4 year old in his arm, and looking in Richie's door.

“Are you coming?” Eddie asks and Richie just shakes his head. “Yeah, of course,” he says, getting out of the car and closing the door shut.

“Do you have any advil?” Richie asks as Eddie shuts the door behind him, handing Richie their kid.

“Yeah, hold on,” Eddie says, reaching into his pocket and taking out a small bottle, opening it, then hands the pill to Richie.

“Thanks,” Richie says, walking into the hotel and swallowing, meeting the other losers at the bar.

It’s weird, the way everything is. Without fear, without uncertainty. All of them had their lives together, no one looked like they were sad or upset. He could tell that everything was the way it should be, smiling couples and no problems of demonic clowns or being alone forever. They had kids, something they couldn’t do before, and they all looked to be in love, which, that in itself was pretty impossible for a group of 7. However, it looks like they did it and it makes Richie smile.

He doesn’t want to go back. He wants this to be real so badly, that he feels like at any moment that it’ll be ripped from right underneath him like some sick joke; because that’s how his life has always felt like, a joke.

His stomach churns then and he feels like maybe he’s about to have a panic attack, which is weird. He should be happy right now, but he can’t. It’s about to be ripped away. He can feel it and before he knows it, he’s excusing himself and getting out of the hotel.

He sits in his car, trying to steady his breathing, thinking about everything, yet nothing at all and he's in there for a long time, that he forgets that it’s possible that people were waiting for him inside.

Beverly is the one who ends up coming to check on him. She walks to the side of the car and knocks on the window, waiting for Richie to put it down, which he does.

“Hey,” she says. “Are you okay? You seemed kind of sick when you were in there.” She's worried, Richie can tell and he doesn't want her to, that's why he excused himself in the first place. He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

“I’m fine,” he says. “I just-. I don’t know. I think that maybe I’m missing something, that my future is about to crumble beneath me," Richie confesses and he's not sure why he says it, but Richie has always had trouble keeping quiet. Probably the reason why being bisexual scared him so much, he was always afraid of letting himself slip. He talks without thinking, it's a natural talent, and also a natural pain in the ass sometimes too, but it's who he is and he has to bite his lip from swearing at himself.

“It’s not. I can promise you Richie, it isn’t, You’re just confused. Just come inside and let Eddie explain, alright? I know it’s some getting used to, but you’re still the same, right? We’ll wait for you to remember, you do remember, right?”

“Not really,” Richie says, staring at his windshield as he talks. “I mean, I’ve been having these mini flashbacks every time someone says or does something that triggers it, but that’s it.”

Beverly frowns and she’s unsure of what to say, but she gives Richie the most she can.

“I can’t say that everything is going to be perfect and you’ll remember everything, but give it time okay? The more time you give it, the better, I promise.”

“Yeah, okay,” Richie says, but he still feels unsure. Still has the crushing feeling that something was about to happen and everything would go back to the way it was. He’s not even sure why. His chest tightens and he has the sudden urge to cry again. He thinks about Eddie’s death again. It’s vivid in his mind and he wants to scream, wants to check on Stanley to make sure he’s okay, that he hasn’t harmed himself. It all gets way too much and all he knows is that he needs to do something about it, but he's not sure what.

The first thing that comes to mind is to drive, to get away, and before he knows it, he tells Beverly he’s sorry, then drives away.

[team-free-winchester]

Am I Dreaming? Chapter 8

Summary: The boys learn what Castiel said about a Nephilim is true, except it isn’t y/n who carries the child. While trying to help the girl the book y/n left goes unnoticed until the extreme happens.

Pairing: Castiel x reader

Warnings: none

A week after y/n was sent back Castiel felt the surge of energy that could only be caused by a nephilim, but it was too strong to be just any nephilim so it had to be Lucifer. They already had their hands tied with Lucifer, now that had to add a woman pregnant with his baby to the list. They had no chance to sit down and relax, which the boys were thankful for since that meant they didn’t have to stop to think about the girl they sent back. All of the boys cared for y/n and when she left they were more than happy to throw themselves into their work, the bunker didn’t even feel the same anymore so whenever the boys could leave they did. Castiel wasn’t like them though, no matter how much he threw himself into his work like the boys he could still think of her, he could still hear her laugh echo in his brain.

Some days he even found himself forgetting she was no longer with them, there would be days he’d appear in her room only to be reminded it was just another empty room now. He longed for her to be here again, for her to yell at him for scaring her since no matter how many times he just showed up over the few months she never got used to it. Most nights he found himself in her bed, just laying there even though he can’t sleep. He found peace in all things that reminded him of her but he also found heartache in it, that was why he was grateful for the fact that Lucifer was having a child. Though the situation wasn’t the best it was a welcomed distraction that would keep him from thinking of her and what they could have been.

Castiel spent most of his time with the girl who held Lucifer's spawn while the boys stayed back at the bunker researching what they could about the whole ordeal. That was when Sam found the book sticky note still intact and all, he had never seen it so he was more than confused when he seen it but he cracked it open nonetheless. Reading the first sentence he realized who's book it was, but instead of stopping he was interested and decided to do as the note asked and kept going until he read the whole journal.

Entry 1: Castiel gave me this as a way to write when I feel the urge to since I let him in on my little secret about fanfiction. I don't plan to tell either of the boys though, I don't need them thinking I'm another becky. I'm shocked I even told Castiel, but I feel like I'm close to him already. Living in this world is weird and takes getting used to but I feel more welcomed here in this week than I ever had at home.

Entry 2: The boys took me on my first hunt and it went nothing like I thought it would. Seeing them gank monsters on tv is nothing like trying to do it, but it seems like since the hunt I've gotten nightmares. I'm not going to tell the boys though, or even Castiel since I love the experience the nightmares are just a slight issue that I'll work past.

Entry 3: They all know about my issue since the hunt, now I have to stay in the bunker. It should be more of a relief than it really is, eventually the boys will get annoyed. And even if they don't Cas is still going to, be is an angel of the lord he shouldn't have to babysit me because I can't handle monsters when I watch them do it all the time.

Entry 4: Spending time alone with Gas is anything but boring, we always find a new first for him to complete or just watching something on tv that he hasn't seen before. Sure we help the boys when they need it with research but that was rare since Sam takes most of the lore he'll need with him. The more time I spend with him the more I fall for him, my crush on the angel is growing though I still get the feeling this means more to me than to him. The moment the boys return home he is gone, he never stays to just hang out so what else do I have to believe than that he's just my celestial babysitter.

Entry 5: Cas ended up confronting me over avoiding him the other day  and requesting that we watch tv together like we always did after I spilled my guts, I ended up falling asleep on him without even realizing it. But he was still there when I woke up even though the boys were home. We spent the day cuddled up on to watch the season finale of our most recent show, as well as half of the next season.

Entry 6: Most of my days lately have been spent wandering the bunker alone, Cas was here when he could be but he has other things to handle. I’m starting to get tired of not having anything to do when I’m not with Castiel. I had to find a way to bring up to the boys that I want to try hunting again. I know more than last time, I’m way more prepared than I was a while ago I’ve even been training with each of them when I get the chance to.

Entry 7: After mentioning my extensive training I’ve had from the three of them the boys agreed. Their only conditions were that I had to keep my word sticking to small hunts and I couldn't tell Cas at all. Both boys swear that he would be mad if he found out but I can’t seem to understand why and I’m not going to stress over it either, instead I’m going to focus on pack for the hunt before they can change their minds.

Entry 8: The witch hunt backfired and now I am stuck as the one version of myself that I hate more than my actual self. The teenage me barely talked, or ate and when she did do either of those things she always did too much. It’s only been a day and I can feel everything already creeping in, but i'm not going to say anything about it just to show how weak I really am.

Entry 9: Two days, that’s all it’s been since this damn curse was put on me and it was a fight for me to even get out of bed each day. Most days I didn’t either, the boys have been bringing me food to my room but I don’t eat much of it either. It’s been a struggle from the start on and I knew the boys could tell but I don’t have the energy to even care anymore.

Entry 10: I have barely slept more than two hours or so since everything has happened and sleep exhaustion was taking as much of a toll on me as the depression was. Earlier today I seen Cas for the first time since it all happened as well, I feel like missing him was adding to every other feeling I had going on. He was trying to talk to me and I didn’t even hear him standing there behind me asking if I was okay as I was battling with myself to reach out for help. The moment he asked I instantly started crying, I couldn’t even find my voice to speak up what my issues were. That day I had the best much need rest thanks to Cas’ grace.

Entry 11: Cas ended up telling the boys about our encounter the day before  so when I woke up they were both waiting for me looking less than happy. They revealed that not only did he tell them how I was feeling but I slept the whole fifth day of the curse away without even realizing it. After we had a talk the boys decided we would spend our day together since I only had two left they swore I’d be able to get through it with them by my side. At first I was reluctant because I don’t want them thinking I’m weak but eventually things were going great, well as great as it could go with a depressed girl, Cas even showed up and spent the rest of the day with us.

Entry 12: Cas spent the day after that with me just the two of us, it was a very welcome distraction full of cuddling and Stranger Things. And the day after that was spent with the boys as they prepared for whatever case the found next. But when my spell officially wore off and the boys had a hunt to head out to Cas never answered our calls which worried me like no tomorrow.

Entry 13: He finally showed up once I cleaned the bunker and decided to watch a movie though he was tense and shifting the whole time. When I longed for him to kiss me in my mind he visibly stiffened even more. Things have been tense since the day Cas spent with me cuddled in my bed before the curse wore off, he sensed how I feel about him but I brushed it off as an effects of the curse but that couldn’t be my excuse this time since I was fine now. And when I brought it up to him the only response I received was “Things changed after the other day,” it hurt when he said it, I ended up in a ball against my door sobbing because I lost someone else I grew attached to.

My Final Entry: Castiel left after telling me that I was right about one of the things going through my head on repeat and I keep sitting here trying to figure out which of the options his answer is. I don’t really want to know at the same time because two out of three will just hurt me even more, but when the boys came in informing me that I was leaving when he came back I knew that I would rather imagine than know the answer and be hurt. As scary as it is to say or write I know I love Castiel and no answer or dimension can change that.

Sam and Dean are almost like brothers to me but they want me to leave as well, after the last week and everything they still just want me to jump through some sort of a portal without thinking twice. I plan on doing it to make them happy since they have made me happy this whole time, but it is going to hurt like hell since I’ve grown attached. This place was more like a house to me than my actual house is, there has never been a place I’ve felt more needed and loved, all good things must come to an end though so I’m not surprised.

I forgot about the fact that I wasn’t from here for a while, and when I remembered again my heart shattered a little. I didn’t even know a way to properly say goodbye to the three of you which it why I am writing this now as all three of you wait for me to be ready, I love all of you more than I love my blood family I hope you remember that. I may be leaving now but the moment one of you needs me me in any way come and get me I will always be there.

Sam knew he had to show Cas as well as Dean so he headed towards his brother first passing the book to his brother with the same hurt look he held when y/n walked through the kitchen cupboard home. Dean excepted the book but he shot Sam a questioning glance in the process to which Sam replies, “It’s y/n’s just read it and give it to Cas when you’re done,” before he turned to walk away and actually do his research.

Dean was hesitant to read it at first, but then he seen the handrwiting he came to know as y/n’s and he couldn’t seem to stop just like his brother. The moment that he finished he called to Cas who appeared faster than he expected him to.

“You called?” Castiel asked grufly from behind Dean causing the hunter to turn and look at him book in hand. Castiel’s eyes landed on the book he reconized in an instant because it was y/n’s and he bought it for her himself, “Where did you find that?” he asks reaching out for it as his heart clenches.

“Sam gave it to me to read, I don’t know where he found it all I know is there was a note on top saying ‘read me’ in her handwriting and I was told to pass it on to you once I read it,” Dean replies truthfully as he hands it over, “She wrote some stuff in there that none of us would know if she didn’t tell us.”

Cas nods stiffly holding the book in his hands as though it will turn to ash if he’s not gentle before he goes to turn away, “Oh and Cas, you keep it you were closer to her than any of us,” Dean adds in before Cas vanishes to read the book alone in the room that will always be yours.

[yukiwrites]

Clumsy Family Time

Thank you so much for commissioning me again, @arod7293! :D This was so much fun to write, I hope you like it as much as I did ;D

Summary: As the seasons changed, Azura and Felicia decide to take Linnea and Shigure to the beach so they all can spend quality family time together. Ah, so many glistering memories to be made at the beach! They can’t wait!

Commission info HERE and HERE!

With each passing day, Linnea and Shigure grew more and more; happiness, eagerness and longing washed Felicia and Azura's hearts with pride.  The twins were over one year old and were already able to stumble around on their own! Ah, how fast they grew!

Azura never thought that she would enjoy spending her days simply in the company of her children, without wars to worry about or councils to attend to. She was simply a mother very much in love with her children.

And their mother, of course.

"My, it's become rather hot lately, has it not, Shigure?" The princess commented one morning, as she changed the babies' sleeping gowns to something more comfortable. Perhaps because of their ice tribe ancestry, the two of them felt the heat more than Azura herself did. "If only the castle had a refreshing place so you could rest- oh!" As though remembering something, she looked back to the bedside table. "If I remember correctly, it should be around here..."

Azura looked for the DeepRealm catalogue -- courtesy of their friendly merchant Anna for continuous years of business. It had an extensive list of DeepRealms and how to reach them; it was in such catalogue that she and Felicia found the perfect DR for her to undergo her pregnancy.

"Babuh..." Linnea cooed from her crib, standing over the mattress to watch how her mother gracefully moved the pages.

"Heehee, I am certain that you both will absolutely love this." She giggled, taking the catalogue so as to read it next to the crib. "Dear Felicia's off day is approaching, and I've just the place!"

Hours later, Felicia arrived as dusk fell, excitedly wanting to give her children a big kiss. "I'm back! I missed you all so much!" She opened both arms and ran to the crib, drowning each baby with a torrent of kisses, doing it even faster as they laughed loudly in return.

"Welcome back, sweet Felicia." Azura waited for her turn to be kissed, smiling softly as her wife blushed faintly before their lips met. "How was work today?"

The maid perked up, her eyes widening in glee. "I managed to NOT trip AT ALL today! Isn't that amazing?! I think motherhood really did make me more mindful of my surroundings!" She held her wife's hand,  swinging it in excitement.

"I knew you could do it, love."

Blushing, Felicia giggled awkwardly. "Heehee, thank you, Azura. I couldn't have done it without you!" She stole a peck, congratulating herself for not bonking their heads this time.

Azura took her wife by the hand to sit on the bed, "to celebrate, why don't we go somewhere with the twins on your next day off? I was planning to ask you tonight because the twins were feeling the heat, but now we MUST go to celebrate." She smiled softly, caressing the catalogue with a longing gaze.

It was such an important thing for her -- the information that allowed her to have a peaceful pregnancy alongside the one she loved the most was right there, after all. Unaware of her wife's thoughts, Felicia smiled widely.

"That's- Oh! A beach DeepRealm?! Oh my gosh, I want to go!"

"I thought you would agree." She brought Felicia's hand to her chest.  "There are no beaches here in Valla nor are there any in Nohr, so it must be your first time going to one to play, correct?"

The maid nodded vehemently. "Yes! But this DR is in Valla, right? So there are beaches here, after all?"

Azura looked to the window, as though she could see the past. "There were, long ago. Before the destruction made by Anankos. Luckily, the DeepRealms were unaffected, so we can still have a taste of my homeworld's natural beauty."

Worried, Felicia gripped at her wife's hands. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad."

Blinking, the princess turned her gaze to Felicia. "Sad, my sweet? Whyever for? I couldn't be happier!" She rested her forehead on her wife's, cupping the maid's face with her hands. "I am about to fully experience what it is to have a family day on a beach. I never thought I would look forward to it so much as I am at this moment."

Just spending time with her and their children made Azura that happy? Whoa, Felicia actually felt a bit proud for a moment there. "Thanks for inviting me, Azura... I can't wait for our beach day!"

The princess pulled away just enough so their eyes could meet. "Neither can I, my darling wife. Neither can I!" She smiled, locking their promise with a sweet and loving kiss.

The following day, Azura took the twins to go shopping. Accompanied by a milkmaid, she found the most adorable set of matching swimsuits for children and couldn't help but buy it. Linnea and Shigure would be the cutest children of that entire beach!

Something else caught her eye, however -- an alluring two-piece swimsuit colored in white and gold. She blinked, looking behind her to check if the milkmaid was looking.

Her wife would oh so adore to see her in that! She had to buy it, but couldn't let anyone find out about it. It was... rather showy, after all.

"Oh, these are perfect!" She mused as she browsed, finding the perfect tank top and skirt to hide her swimsuit. Quickly wrapping them into a ball, she finished her purchase, hiding everything inside a large bag.

Unbeknownst to her, Felicia had been sent to an errand that same day to buy some ingredients for Lady Corrin's favorite dessert. Although they walked different paths and never actually met each other, they both had the same mindset: to surprise one another with a bomb swimsuit.

In a store far from where Azura was, Felicia also found the perfect two-piece for her; it was black and had white frills, reminding the onlooker of her own maid uniform.

However, since she wore it for work, seeing something so much smaller and sexier in the same fashion brought her embarrassment, so she, too, found the perfect turtleneck top and pink long skirt to hide her true purchase under and quickly went back home to try everything on.

Later, she was scolded for returning without the ingredients she was sent to buy, so she had to go back to the market to finish her errand; though she did so with a smile. Azura would love that!

Felicia could barely sleep the night before of their outing, so excited about everything Azura had to sing her a lullaby so the both of them could sleep (since Azura loved to sleep in Felicia's arms, hearing the maid's loud heartbeat was also keeping her awake). "Silly girl," she whispered to the now-slumbering Felicia. "I'm the one who is the most excited for this, despite how I look."

The princess could hear Linnea cooing, responding to her mothers' bond and keeping awake. However, she soon fell asleep alongside Felicia, making Azura close her eyes and embrace the drowsiness.

The next day, despite going to sleep after her wife, Azura woke up first, too anxious to go back to sleep. She wanted to surprise her wife with her new outfit, but she also needed to be there to open the portal to the DR.

Oh! She could leave written instructions leading to the place she chose to open the portal, leave it open and change! Then, they could meet at the beach and surprise each other with their eagerness, love and outfits.

"Mhm," she hummed happily, kissing her wife's forehead before getting up. "I cannot wait to spend today with you, my love."

"Buhbuh." Linnea woke up at the same time, as though Azura's feelings had resonated with hers. "Bah-mah!" She eagerly threw both hands up.

"Shh, sweet Linnea." Azura giggled. "Let us meet back with your Mommy and brother at the beach, hm? I'll feed you on the way."

Linnea slowly disentangled herself from the blanket, clumsily trying to put herself on her chubby feet so as to watch what her mother was doing -- Azura put herself to write the directions on a piece of paper, humming happily.

The baby girl threw her hips from one side to the other, as though dancing to her mother's rhythm in a very extravagant way. Back at the bed, Felicia started rocking her head at a slower rhythm, lazily waking up right after.

"Mh...? Azura?" She blinked, finding no one on the bed beside her.

"Good morning, my sweet Felicia. No need to get up now." Azura leaned on the bed to give her wife yet another kiss. "As we spoke before, I wrote down the location I'll have the portal open. I cannot wait to meet you there, my darling wife!"

Immediately awake, Felicia jumped, fiercely bonking her head on Azura's. Both of them cowered in pain, massaging their foreheads like there was no tomorrow. "Hahaha! What a way to start the day!"

"T-this is about that outfit you've been wanting to show me, right? What do I do... I'm so excited..." Felicia squeezed her eyes in pain, the afflicted area reddening by the second.

The princess got up, the large red mark on her forehead doing nothing to sway her smile. "Then meet me there quickly! I'm taking Linnea with me, so take care of Shigure after he wakes up, hm? See you soon, my love."

Felicia protruded her lips, wanting a proper goodbye kiss, making Azura smile through her nose and comply, putting a tuft of hair behind her ear to do so. "See you soon!"

The princess never lost her smile, picking up the bag which contained her and Linnea's clothes before taking the baby out of the crib and leaving. She couldn't wait to meet her wife again!

At the easternmost changing room, Azura placed Linnea over the bed, humming the whole time she stripped her clothes to put on the swimsuit. "How do I look, my dear?" She twirled around herself, her long, flowy hair following suit.

"Bah-mah!" Linnea laughed loudly, holding her feet with both hands and falling back on the mattress.

"Heehee, I simply cannot wait to spend this day with the three most important people of my life." Azura whispered as she put on the tank top and skirt, once again checking herself out in the mirror.

Seeing her happy expression, her lively complexion and her own choice of clothes brought such warmth to her heart. Even she herself could see how much she had changed the past few years -- for the better, of course! In the past, she always wore tired dark circles under her eyes and her expression was always somber.

Sure, she still wasn't as expressive as what was considered 'normal', and she wagered she never would be, but the subtleties of her own face and feelings... They changed so much;

She could scarcely believe it.

A family day at the beach! With her wife and children! Ah, such a simple thing and it brought her so much happiness!

She changed her daughter with a smile, not forgetting to bring baby necessities along once she left the room. Her heart thundered by her chest, wanting to quickly meet her wife, embrace her and tell her she was everything she loved in the world.

Felicia's routine was the very same as Azura's, though she got a bit tangled in her own swimsuit for a good 10 minutes before finally managing to tie it up properly. Shigure shared her panic and cried for a bit, but soon stopped once she set herself free.

"Oh, boy, I wonder what Azura's gonna surprise me with! I never went to this DR either, so I'm sure it's gonna be a blast! Right, Shigure?"

"Mh-guh!" The baby cooed, drooling on his mother's white turtleneck.

"Oh noo! I forgot your bandana! The drool's gonna stick... But now's too late to go back, I'm already at the portal- oh!" She closed one eye due to the blinding light of the DR as she crossed the portal. "Oh, wooooow! Look at that, Shigure! Blue skies! Blue seas! It's pipping hot, but the breeze's sooo cool!"

"DaaaDAH!" The baby boy laughed maniacally, sharing his mother's excitement through their bond.

"Hahah! Oh, Azura, please come quickly!" She twirled around herself, looking up at the immense blur of bright colors around her.

"Ah, but my sweet Felicia, I'm already here." The princess said in her ever so melodious voice, making the maid stop on her tracks, trip and fall on her behind under Shigure's laughter.

"W-whoa! A-Azura, that's such a pretty skirt...! I never saw you wearing something so casual before..."

Linnea laughed alongside her brother, bathing the wives' reunion in happiness.

"I could say the same about you, my love." Azura extended her hand for Felicia, who still stared, now at the swimsuit's strings over her wife's shoulders and hips. "Seeing you in a long skirt is a sight for sore eyes indeed."

"Sh-Shigure drooled on my top earlier, so don't look too much..." Felicia looked down, her face flushed from embarrassment -- what was Azura wearing under all that? She could see some strings, but her imagination..."

"Dadadadah!" Linnea and Shigure yelled in unison, feeling their mother's silent excitement inside their tiny hearts. Maid and princess didn't know where to look -- Azura, too, saw the black strings of Felicia's swimsuit, and it took the princess a moment to recover her breath from seeing her wife with her hair naturally down.

How lucky they were to have married each other! They couldn't get enough of simply staring at one another's beauty.

Noticing how her wife's eyes wandered from her hips to her shoulders, Azura licked her lips before whispering, "what's under this is for your eyes only, my love."

"F-f-f-for m-me..." Felicia gulped, unabashedly staring at her wife's chest. "I-I also have something o-only for you..." She looked down to her own chest, feeling Azura's gaze follow.

At that moment, the twins started kicking their feet and screaming in excitement, not knowing how to handle such strong emotions their mothers were throwing back and forth.

They exchanged glances and laughed, taking each other's hands. "Let us go, my love. The beach awaits us."

"Yeah!" Felicia adjusted Shigure on her arm, intertwining her fingers around Azura's.

Their first stop was a nearby shack -- Azura had planned the entire day in her head, which was why she told Felicia not to bother with packing. They would buy everything they needed in loco.

"Welcome, welcome! This is your neighbour friendly SummerAnna! How can I help you today? Oooh, what a happy family! I have just the thing for you! Oof!"

Like a storm, the bikini-wearing redhead greeted the couple at the entrance, shook the babies hands, ran back to the counter, took a large bag with beach necessities and two fishie plushies before they could even say 'hi' back.

"I'm sure you won't find a better deal than here, so you can rest assured and invest your gold here without worries!" The merchant winked, leaving the wives to simply stare in awe. Felicia opened and closed her mouth, wanting to speak but not knowing which words to choose. Say hi back? Ask what was inside the bag? Why was there a big beach umbrella tucked inside it? And the fish plushies? They were even a pair of blue and pink! How could have she taken everything so fast?

Less fazed by the display, Azura approached the merchant and paid for the goods, giving Linnea the blue fish as Shigure got the pink one -- to match their respective mothers.

"That... that was amazing in more ways than one..." Still surprised, Felicia babbled on after they left, carrying the bag and the beach umbrella as Azura took the babies.

"Mhm," Azura hummed, lifting the babies so as to rub her cheeks on theirs. "She's simply used to this kind of work. Now, why don't we find a nice spot close to the water and build sand castles? I'm sure the twins will love to fiddle with the sand!"

"Ohh, can I play, too? I've only ever played with snow..."

"Hah! Of course you can, my love! You're allowed to to anything."

"Alright!" Felicia quickly shoved the beach umbrella on the sand, opening it with difficulty. She set everything up so they could sit and play to their heart's content!

Since the babies were still very young, they couldn't make much with their tiny hands and little to no coordination, so they mostly splashed their hands on the muddy water, throwing wet sand around.

"Dear customers! I see that you are having such a great family time, and I come here to invite you to have even a greater time!" Another swim-suited Anna showed up out of nowhere, surely smelling business from Azura's bearing. Contrary to the previous Anna, her swimsuit was of a bright green, making the task of spotting her at that sea of blue and light brown very easy indeed. "We've just opened up a family fishing spot at a nearby natural pool! Would you like to check it out?"

"A natural pool?" Felicia tilted her head in confusion, holding Shigure so he wouldn't fall (again) face first into the mud.

"It is a small area at the sea that's safe for swimming -- it has shallow ground and crystal clear water. I've only read about them myself..."

"Wonderful!" Anna clapped in excitement. "Then, shall we go? We'll provide floaties for the babies and proper fishing equipment for you two, of course!"

The wives exchanged glances, then smiled. "That sounds like a deal!" Felicia laughed, getting up so as to put everything away.

"Oh, please, don't worry about your things!" Once again the merchant clapped, and, from seemingly nowhere, three large-built men showed up. They started taking Azura's and Felicia's things, neatly putting them away inside the bag like before, as well as folding the beach umbrella and holding it beside them. "Shall we go, then? The natural pool awaits!"

Once again amazed by the merchant's efficiency, Felicia held hands with Azura. "They're so fast, aren't they?" She bended closer to whisper, stealing a snort from her wife.

"I-indeed they are. I wonder where they are taking us! So many surprised, today."

"Tell me about it, right, guys?"

"Dadah!" Linnea cooed. "Buh-muh!" Shigure replied, covered in mud.

Once there, they were yet again amazed at the natural beauty: the fishing spot was located at a secluded spot at the beach, in a round patch of crystalline seawater. They weren't the only customers, but it wasn't a crowded place either.

So calming, yet so exciting!

At the dressing room, they placed the objects called 'floaties' around the babies arms and waist, wondering how they would work. The pool itself was as shallow as Azura's chest, so they wouldn't need the floaties as long as they knew how to swim.

Then, they were given scooping nets -- they would be used to try and get the glistering rainbow-colored, finger-sized fishes that illuminated the waters. The time limit was one hour! The one who caught the more fishes by then, would be the winner.

With Linnea and Shigure floating beside them, the wives set to work -- and a hard one at that! The more they swung the nets, the faster the fishes swam on the opposite direction. And even after catching some, they would quickly swim out of the nets before they were brought to the surface.

"T-they're slimy- wowowowhoa!!" Felicia focused so hard in trying to catch the fishes that her net started freezing from the handle all the way to the fishes themselves. "Oh noo! I'm so so so sorry, fishies! They're all frozen solid, Azuraaaa!" She cried.

Linnea laughed loudly as Shigure sniffled, each one mirroring one mother's emotions.

"Heehee, hahaha! I'm certain that it's fine, sweet Felicia! Let us find another net for you so we can keep on playing."

"Buh-but, I froze them..." She picked a frozen fish, watching how the ice orb it was in gleamed with the color of the rainbow.

"It will make a fine souvenir, will it not?" Azura teased, pulling her wife and children back to the shore.

"Poor fishies..." Felicia pouted, but held the orb close to her chest. It was actually a good idea -- and the orb was pretty to boot!

After exchanging the nets, they didn't have much time to settle the score, and soon their time of fishing was up. Surprisingly, Felicia was the one who won, since the frozen fish actually counted for her final score.

"Congratulations to the couple!" A thundering voice came from a nearby seashell, making the maid jump out of her skin. Also startled, but less expressive, Azura looked at the shell in amusement. "If the winning couple would please come to the counter, we have a wonderful prize for you!"

"A prize? We didn't hear anything about a prize, did we?" Felicia got out of the water first, her drenched skirt marking her body as her white top became see-through enough to let Azura take a peek at Felicia's swimsuit.

She wondered if her own tank top was see-through, but the thought didn't linger for long -- she pulled her children out of the water, giggling as they refused to leave, despite already yawning of exhaustion.

"We did not, but let us not complain, hm? I'm rather curious, now."

"Me too! C'mon, let's go!" Felicia took Azura's hand, each one holding one drowsy baby.

"Welcome, welcome!" A third Anna greeted them, her bright orange bikini standing out in the quiet shore. "Since we could see how well you two wives get along with each other, we handpicked your prize for you! Ta-dah!" With a sleight of hand, she pointed to two flowery hairpins that seemingly materialized over the counter.

One was bright pink while the other was deep blue.

The wives gasped softly, each one reacting differently, though feeling the same. Azura smiled and glanced at her wife as Felicia took one hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Exxcuse me," Anna quickly placed the pink flower on Felicia's hair, promptly placing the blue one over Azura's. "How is it?" After she was done, she held a round mirror in front of her, allowing the wives to look at themselves.

Azura placed a tuft of hair behind her ear, her eyes unamused. Felicia twisted her lips, ultimately looking at her wife. "Hmmm, I don't think it looks good like this, buut..."

"If we do it this way, then..." Azura completed, turning to her wife. They both took their own hairpins and placed on the other's hair -- pink for Azura, blue for Felicia. "Perfect." They said in unison.

Wearing one another's colors truly suited them best, after all. Inadvertently, they looked at their own rings, then adjusted their hair with that same hand, the pink and blue stones glittering with the strong sun, matching with the pins.

Anna mumbled an 'oh my' and took a step back to give them privacy, making a mental note to tell her sisters about the princess and the maid's color preferences.

Azura stared at her wife in awe, never getting enough of how her own personal color suited Felicia so much.

Felicia stared at her wife in awe, never getting enough of how her own personal color suited Azura so much.

"Gods, you’re so beautiful." They blurted out in unison, their hearts so warm they could rival the sun.

"Oh, my," Azura placed one finger over her lips in surprise, not used to letting her emotions take over like that. "Only with you am I able to express myself so, my love."

Blushing, Felicia let out a bright smile. "I'm the one who's overjoyed here, you know!"

"Uwahh..." Linnea and Shigure yawn in unison, making their mothers' attention shift from each other to them.

"Let's find a good place to rest, hm? You've been up and playing since morning." Azura adjusted Linnea on her arms, looking around for the muscly guy who carried their stuff. As if on a cue, he showed up to lead them back to the changing room so they could dry the children and put them in warmer clothes. The day was more than half over and the wind was starting to get cold, after all.

The man led them to a forested spot not so far from the natural pool, making both Felicia and Azura remember their spot at the Astral Realm.

"It looks so much like our spot, I'm already feeling at ease..." Felicia lied down on the extended blanket over the sand, enjoying the nice breeze under the trees.

"Indeed," still standing, Azura looked to the horizon far, far away from them and walked towards the water. Only her feet touched the warm sea, making her take everything in.

The flow of the waves, the faraway cry of the birds, the ruffling of the leaves... all of that coupled with the presence of her wife and children.

What a perfect day.

Azura was enjoying the perfect life she's only seen in her dreams and never realized -- living happily with her beloved, tending for their children and finally looking at the small wonderful details of life.

That was happiness.

She walked back to her wife only to find her asleep with a twin under each arm. "I love you, my sweet Felicia." Azura whispered under her breath, sitting beside her beloved.

Having said that, she slowly lied down beside her wife, never taking her eyes off of her. Time passed slowly, but she didn't mind -- as long as she could watch them, watch over them, she wouldn't mind the passing of time. Not anymore.

She wouldn't be able to tell how long had passed -- long enough for the sky to be painted in a beautiful mix of orange and red, that was for sure -- until Felicia woke up, drowsy.

"Oh... good morning, Azura." Felicia gives a goofy and sleepy smile, not remembering very well where they were yet.

Ah, such deep happiness!

Azura couldn't help but cry, her emotions of such a wonderful day and family overflowing.

"A-Azura? W-what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Felicia gasped, slowly placing each twin over the blanket before sitting up to hold her wife by the shoulders. She didn't realize she'd noticed they were back at the beach, her mind too preoccupied with her sobbing wife.

"I'm... I'm simply so happy, my love. To be here, with you. With our children. To share such," she sobbed, "such wonderful moments with all of you..."

"A-Azura... D-don't cry, or you'll set me off, too..." Felicia sniffled, her eyes already welling up with tears. "I've been holding back all day, but I almost cried every time I looked at you, today! I love you so much! Waaah!" She sobbed, squeezing her wife in a passionate hug.

Sniffling, the princess giggled, reciprocating the hug as more tears fell. How could someone bear such happiness? Ah, she wouldn't mind living her entire life alongside her wife to find out the answer!

Soon enough, however, the twins woke up with a loud cry, resonating with their mothers' emotions. "Awawawa! D-don't cry, babies! We're happy, see? See?" Felicia smiled widely under her tears, stealing a laugh out of her wife.

Linnea started giggling while Shigure still sniffled, both of them hugging their own feet.

"Ah, my love! This is happiness!" Azura got up, taking her wife by the hand and twirling her up in the air. "I love you so much, my dear Felicia!"

"Aww! I love you too, my sweet Azura!" Startled from being so suddenly thrown in her wife's arms, but not about to deny them, Felicia cupped her Azura's face with her hands and sealed their confession with a kiss.

The twins immediately stopped sniffling and giggled instead, their mothers emotions filling their small hearts with warmth and safety. May every single day after this be as happy and fulfilling!

[celestial-amnesia]

Baby News

Karno x Scarlet (oc)

The moon shined brightly in the heavens without a cloud in sight. Most of the gods were doing there work as usual but of course some of the others were doing anything but that. Karno was finishing up his portion of papers occasionally glancing at the goddess of time and war, Scarlet, who was currently sleeping in his bed. She had already finished her work for the day and didn't want to leave to their home without him. Sending his papers over to his minister Leon he went over to the goddess shaking her gently, "Scarlet, I'm done. We can go home now." Her eyes were one of the many things he loved about her. Seeing them always made him smile. Scarlet makes a slight humming sound reaching out for the god, "Carry me?" she asked with a tired expression that Karno could only chuckle at as he picked her up and snapped his fingers sending them home. He takes Scarlet to a bath playing with her hair as she lays on him. "Can you have an off day tomorrow?" Karno looks down at her with surprise and she explains that he's been working harder than usual and though she is well aware that gods don't tire easily or at all but he still needs to have a break every once in awhile. They were finishing up getting dressed and he slightly nods getting into bed and kissing Scarlet on the forehead while she cuddles up to him, "I believe I can. Thank you for your concern love." They both fall asleep in each other's arms. It was early morning when Scarlet woke up to her pet wolf, Wolfe, sniffing her making her giggle, "Why are you sniffing me I don't have food." He stopped for a moment then started jumping on and off the bed excitedly at the mention of food. Getting up Scarlet heads down stairs to feed him accidentally waking the two fairies in the process. Fluttering over the counter they yawn waiting for instructions. "Sorry guys didn't mean to wake y'all. Here." She places a bowl of fruit and flowers for them in the living room then sits on the couch waiting for the sunrise and begins dozing off. As she does a series of images appear of a small dark figure that she couldn't really make out but Scarlet felt her body being shaken and awakens to find Karno over her. "If you are going to sleep down here please have a blanket." Wrapping one around her he goes to kitchen to make some coffee and tea, "What do you have planned for today?" Scarlet asked. Karno thought for a moment bringing the drinks, "Since I have a day off we can do whatever it is you want." Her face brightens up to the idea, "Really?! Yay!" He laughed at his wife's excitement and handed her the tea before the start of their day. Going to the city first they head to clothing stores though Scarlet knew she probably didn't need more clothes. They were going for Karno and the others but it was also a just for fun thing and he would give honest opinions knowing she likes challenges, "What about this or this? Ohhh this cute!" Many outfits later they head to the heavens and are greeted to the familiar sound of angry yelling. "Ichthys quit playing around and do your work!" The yelling was from none other than the strict Zyglavis. The youngest god was running away when he noticed the two. "Heya guys whatcha up too!" Karno gives a timid smile while Scarlet voices his expression, "I think we should be asking you that Ikky. You know if you actually did more of your work the less the others would have to yell at you." Ichthys laughs and shrugs, "But what would be the fun in that!" Clearly seeing that barely anything would change his mind she holds the bags out. "We went shopping today and got y'all some more clothes give them out." Ichthys makes a salute action followed by a yes ma'am running off.

As they went to Karno's room to put up his clothes and Scarlet felt the need to lay down but wasn't sure why nevertheless she let her eyes close. A white figure this time was there waving at her. Scarlet tried to talk but couldn't. Waking up she slightly smiles as she finds herself tucked into Karno's bed and even finds a drink next to her. Snapping Scarlet makes a note saying she would be in the garden then makes her way over there. Walking around mindlessly for awhile she eventually tripped over something but moreover someone. She turns to find the sleepyhead of a god, "Aigonorus! Again with sleeping in the flower beds!" Sitting next to him Aigo lazily looks at her, "So loud." Scarlet scoffed, "You're just now figuring this out? Come on." Grabbing on to his arm she pulls him up taking him to a shader place of the garden. "Not soft enough but whatever." Aigonorus makes lethargic face of displeasure. Scarlet thought for a moment then stood and whistled. A portal open, Wolfe and the fairies, emerged from it. "Sweetie, would you mind letting Aigo lay on you. I don't want him out in the sun while it's this hot." She gets a bark and he walks to the god. Scarlet goes back inside and decides to go visit the Lion in his den. Knocking on the door Scarlet pokes her head in seeing Leon at his desk. He smirks at seeing her, "Gotten bored of your love?" returning the smile she shakes her head, "Never." Leon didn't mind her presence even if nothing else was being said between them but sometimes he enjoyed testing her. "Good. Thanks for the clothes." She nods then they talk for a bit then hears her name. Saying bye to she goes to the front of the castle. Scarlet is greeted by her mother, Clarissa, whom she hugs tightly, "Mom, what are you doing here?" They walk around and sit at one of the tables in the garden. Her mother leans in "I wanted to ask if you have been feeling…different lately?" Scarlet shrugs, "Not really just tired." Humming, Clarissa looks to see Wolfe walking over to her daughter and begins to sniff her stomach. "Wolfe what is wrong. There is nothing there." Even at the scolding he wouldn't stop till she had to gently push him away. Her mother places her hand on where the wolf sniffed, "I'm sorry just bear with me." she states in an almost begging manner. Her hand emits a glow. At first nothing happened then a quiet thump, like a heart beat, was heard and it kept going till Scarlet suddenly stood up with eyes widened holding her stomach. "Scarlet." Her mother calls for her but she shakes her head in denial, "N-no way! Nonono, it can't be. There's no way! I'm not ready! I don’t even-!" Scarlet is silenced by her mother's comforting embrace. "I promise you are but for right now I believe he or she wants to finally speak to you." Eyes getting heavy Scarlet falls asleep. Scarlet walks through a forest of cherry blossom trees till she finds a batch with a small child like figure sitting there laughing. Scarlet calls out to the child to which it responded by running up to her, "Hi!" The voice sounded like a girl so she went with it. Not much was said but Scarlet let the child lay on her, "So you are her huh?” She lets out a sigh “What a day this turned out to be." The girl giggles at the remark. Scarlet felt sad atmosphere “I-I sorry.” The girl now sounded choked up. “For what?” Sitting the child up more in her lap so she hear better. “I made you mad and ruined your day with pa-…” she stopped as though it was forbidden to call Karno papa. Scarlet holds the child close to comfort “No, I’m not mad. I’m just shocked. I’m not very used to kids. But I’ll be even happier when we meet in person.” The girl holds on tight, “Really and what about papa?” Scarlet giggles and looks to the sky, “I’m sure he will be more than happy to see you. Just you wait.”

Karno saw Scarlet being carried by a guard and nearly panicked. Her mother had to calm him down before anything was said. "It's a little hotter than she had anticipated and passed out. She should be waking up soon." Nodding he took his goddess sending them home along with the wolf and fairies. Once there he places her in bed right as she woke up, "Hon, why are we back at home?" Karno could tell she was pretty dazed and brought her a lighter shirt to wear. He helps with undressing and dressing her then lays her back down. "It's still your off day. I don't wanna ruin it for you." He give a gentle but stern smile, "We are home because you passed out from heat. I am also aware that it’s my off day and I would like to spend it with someone I love." Scarlet clutches her chest, "Ow, my heart! That's sweet!" Karno takes her hand kissing it then snaps for cold treats, drinks and towels. As they spend to rest of the day together a thought kept reoccurring in her mind, how is she gonna tell Karno about this child?

A few days had passed since Scarlet had found out the news and she was wracking her head around for ideas. Karno was at work so she was left home alone with her thoughts which she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Go on a date!" A little shadow appears but Scarlet was now able to fully register who it is. "A date huh?" She nods jumping and floating around. Though Scarlet couldn't see her physically yet she imagined an excited smile on the child's face. "Alright I'll see." Hearing her agree the shadow vanishes right as Karno walks in. "I'm home." He comes over with a greeting kiss that she happily accepts, "Welcome back, how was work?" She takes his coat putting it on the coat hanger. "It wasn't bad, though I had to get Leon and some of the others to do theirs." Scarlet snickers then laughs when he hugs her from behind, "I get through the days knowing my loving goddess waits for me." Turning her head in embarrassment of his words, cheeks red, words mange to form "W-wanna go out tonight?" She hears him chuckle, "Of course. I'll wait." The goddess gasps, "Hey, you're making it sound like I take forever to get ready!" Karno laugh walking off. "Hey, I don't take that long! At least not as long as Partheno! Stupid! Get back here!" Scarlet jumps on his back playfully and in slight aggravation making him carry her to their room. The couple went out deciding to get some snacks along the way to the public garden. It was clear night. Karno, of course, had his various spicy foods that he loves with him which Scarlet couldn't comprehend but always laughs, "Hon, how are you able to handle all that heat? It's hot and humid out here!" Even just trying to talk was wearing her out. "I don't find this food to be hot but then again you prefer sweet over spicy and vice versa for me. I do agree though it is pretty hot out." He places his hand on her forehead to make sure she wouldn't pass out again. "Do you feel ok?" Though the heat was an additional reason as to why she falls asleep or passes out it was really the little child wanting to talk but Scarlet didn't feel ready to tell him just yet so she only nods with a "I'm fine." During the few of hours of walking, Scarlet starts spacing out thinking about the what ifs. What if he doesn't want a child, what if he gets mad, if he hates her and leaves for all she knew he may not even want a family like that but what if it's the opposite and he's happy and wants that. Scarlet was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice Karno was calling for her or how far ahead she was to the point he had her by the arm. His face showed a look of concern and just before she could ask what was wrong he wiped a tear that had fallen down her face, "Scarlet?" She couldn't really state why she was crying. She knew she could be honest but with this type of news she just couldn't bring herself to do it with so many negative thoughts. Escaping from his grasp Scarlet runs away with Karno following after her. When it looked like no one could see she took flight. She was able to put some distance between them and it didn’t look like he followed that far. While miserably failing to wipe the tears away Karno flies in front of her taking her by the wrist to keep her in place which that within itself was a stupidly dangerous move. She is a warrior that can control chaos after all so it's not impossible for her to defend herself or kill him. Even with that in mind Karno knew she wouldn't do anything deadly or harmful. She was not the type to hurt people dear to her unless absolute necessary and there are no other options.

Karno pulls his crying goddess back to the ground sitting them down into his embrace. Karno gives her a moment to calm down. He lifts her head and snaps for tissues then hugs her tightly. She mumbled something in his shoulder, "What was that?" Scarlet looks up tears falling again, "Promise me you won't hate me or leave me no matter what!" Completely caught off guard Karno stares in disbelief, "Isn't getting married the purpose of keeping that promise?" She shrugs, "Probably, I'm just…scared." His face turns more serious, "Why would I ever hate or want to leave you. I would have to be possessed or the dark king trying to act as me." Scarlet thinks of a way to answer the question. "Ok, I will answer your question with a question." She takes a deep breath, "H-How do” she was continuously stuttering but she just couldn’t say it. Softening his expression he holds her hands, “It’s ok. Take it slow. How do I?” She looked at his shirt to keep from looking at his face. “H-h-how do y-you.” She begins shaking at this point and it getting quite frustrated at why she can’t do it. Voice broken she just needs him to reassure her once more, “Just promise me you won’t hate me.” Karno, seeing that actions speak better than words, leans in giving a gentle yet passionate kiss then bumping his forehead with hers “I swear on my life.” Breathing in and out she tries again, “H-how do you…feel a-about...kids?” The expression went from confusion to processing to shocked. Lifting her head he asked, "Scarlet, are you-? Are we going to-?" He kept breaking off and not saying the entire question. When Scarlet nodded timidly he picked her up spinning her around, "K-Karno?!" Her feet were placed back on the ground but he was still holding her tight, "Karno?" Nuzzling her neck he swayed slightly, "I am beyond happy right now. No words can describe how happy I am." Those words put all of Scarlet's worries of "if" to rest. Karno suddenly separated from her, "Wait, if that’s the case then you should be at home resting!" Snapping his fingers he sends them home carrying her to the bath. “You’ve been doing a lot of carrying.”she points out. “Yeah? Well expect more.” In the bath Scarlet asks, "Love, are you gonna mess with my stomach from now on or somethin'?” She couldn’t help but giggle as she watched him touch where their baby is, "Sorry, tell me if I do to much. It's just, we’re having a child!" Scarlet leans on him with a content sigh, "Yes, we are and she is excited to see you." He looks to her "You already know?" Humming she explained where she's from only the royal family get to ability to talk to the child if he or she wants to. Her passing out and her sleeping was just the child's way of wanting to talk. Even the father can talk to the child but it can sometimes tire the mother. "That's impressive but I think I'll wait. We still got to tell the others." He laughed but sigh thinking about that. Once out the bath and in bed Karno placed one hand on her stomach as Scarlet explained the last few days laughing, "So Wolfe figured it out first. Well good boy I'll give him treats tomorrow. As for our child do you have a name yet?" Scarlet thought for a moment and nodded "Kamaria I read some where it means the moon or something along those lines." Karno smiles, "I like that name. Also back to that promise you wanted.” Taking her hand he states “I love you more that anything in the world and I will love Kamaria just as much. I will never leave or hate either of you." He finishes with kissing her hand.They end the conversation at that close to one another.

A few more days pass, Scarlet and Karno gathered all the gods in the living room in the heavens. "Come on guys what is the news?!" Ichthys and Teorus were bouncing in anticipation. "I would like to continue my work so do hurry." Zyglavis still was the worker bee he always is and didn't sound that interested but Scarlet knew otherwise. Leon smirks "Maybe the goddess has gotten bored and wants to play." Rolling her eyes she shakes her head, "In your dreams Lion!" Karno stood near her smiling at the scene, "Alright guys the reason you're all here." Scarlet nodded smiling, "Right! So how do you guys feel about being uncles?" A unison 'huh' rings throughout the room and they all look at the couple till Tauxolouve asked, "Little Lady are you gonna have a little-?!" she nods,"Lady? Yes!" Some of the gods stares in disbelief while other jumped hugging the two saying their congrats. Scarlet whispers to the child, “You’re gonna have a lot of bodyguards, goodness gracious!”

ᎬNᎠ

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #213

“The Coronation, The Uninvited Guest...”

-HerobrineCP has entered the server-

[Doc] Ah, Cp's back. Hopefully with the food.

[Ruby] Is hanging out at the bar with Sam, the two of them are playing cards because it's quiet.

[CP] Arrives in the bar- Hey, I got the stuff you asked for, just wanted to go over it with you before I took it over to my server

[Sam] in his native tongue-  Oh! Is it almost time for the coronation? I know it's been a while.

[Ruby] So do I need to throw some bones around?

[CP] - We'll find out when we get there...  He starts tossing a large amount of food onto the bar counter

[Sam] Pulls up a chest and starts organizing and stowing it.

[Ruby] Are we going now?

[CP] - No, it may still take a couple days before everyone is ready, I have to let them know as well

[Ruby] I'll be around.

[Sam] Makes a smart little salute.

[CP] - Sam, is everything to your standards?

[Sam] Yes. I'll add a bit here and there. I have some spices to dress up the blander dishes and do you want finger food type stuff as well?

[CP] - Wouldn't hurt

[Herabrine] Walks in - There you are! I need a real world expert here! What is this? - holds up a bucket with a lot of little things swimming in it. The resolution is low but they're pink and mostly tail.

[CP] Frowns- Looks like shrimp

[Herabrine] They're breeding like bugs!

[CP] Thinks about it- Must have happened when we let Basil in...

[Herabrine] Basil?

[CP] - The monster Doc and I let in that's been swimming around

[Herabrine] Stares at him - It's name is fucking Basil...? Whatever. Are they good for anything?

[CP] - Eating

[Herabrine] Good I'll bring lots. The fucking things are everywhere.

[Sam] How do I prepare them?

[CP] - You can boil em like the lobsters. or fry them

[Sam] Boiling I can do.

[Ruby] Do you drop them in live? - a little too eager

[CP] - No

[Ruby] Looks slightly disappointed

[CP] Over chat- Oi!  Coronation, two days assholes!

[Herabrine] I'm going fishing. BBL

[Doc] WOOO party time!

[gem] yay party

-the next day-

[Steve] Knocks on Lies door a bit urgently-

[CP] With a grumble opens the door- What?

[Steve] Oh! Hey, is lie home? Or maybe Endrea?

[CP] - Endrea is up in her room with her kids, why?

[Steve] nervous- I thought I could help out somehow?

[CP] - Do what you want, I have to go smooth out the area today since this things happening tomorrow

[TLOT] Comes whistling up the path, there's a foggyness around his form.

[Steve] NOOOOO - With a tortured squeal Steve squeezes past Cp and darts into the house-

[CP] - The fuck?

[Lie] Is down in the work room making some food-

[Steve] Darts into the room - Quick Lie, run while you can!

[Lie] - What?  Why?  What's going on?

[TLOT] Gives a bit of a chuckle as he comes closer

[CP] - Fuck off asshole!

[TLOT] Oh, don't be like that. My husband doesn't like my newest experiment. It's more geared towards brines then humans...

[Steve] If you value your nostrils run! - Darts out the back door-

[Lie] - Really Steve, I deal with literal poop from my animals, how bad can it be?

[Steve] I warned you! - door slam

[Lie] Shakes her head and makes her way to where CP is-

[TLOT] Pulls out a rather odd block, it's a pale yellow and dotted with tiny glimmers of gold, it smells so strongly there's waves coming off of it like heat-

[CP] - Sniffs- Huh...

[Lie] Backs away quickly- The hell is that!?

[TLOT] My newest work, I call it Steelton Gold. Isn't it exquisite?

[CP] - Eh

[Lie] - NO!  It smells revolting!

[TLOT] Not you too! It's wonderful! - He pulls off a morsel and holds it out to her-

[Lie] Sneezes because the smell is so strong and teleports away-

[TLOT] Holds it out to Cp instead. - Everyone's a critic....

[CP] - Takes it- I would try it but judging by my wifes reaction to the smell, she may just try to murder me for it...

[TLOT] Come on, just a bite. It has alcohol in it too. Kinda like... Sam called it Goldschlager?

[CP] Takes a small amount and pops it in his mouth- Not bad

[TLOT] Great! I was feeling a bit put upon. It smells wonderful to me. I crushed it myself with a bedrock weight. Really good milk too. I used some of the rennet Doc brought in to make it.

[CP] - Hands the rest of the cheese back- Good for you, now I should probably go find my wife

[TLOT] mischevious smile - Should I bring some to the party? And some crackers?

[CP] - Again, my wife may try to murder you if that happens

[TLOT] Just offering. I presume you don't want a block yourself? You can always seal it up in a chest.

[CP] - Fine, give me a copy

[TLOT] Hands him a couple of blocks. - Have fun! See you at the party- departs cheerfully

[CP] Tosses them in a chest and then heads off to find his wife, which he does...  In a tree-

-The next day-

[CP] Is pacing around outside his home, waiting for others to arrive so he can open the way to his server-

[Doc] arrives first in hir dragon shape with Yaunfen and Deerheart on hir back-

[TLOT] Is walking with Steve, who still looks annoyed from the cheese incident.

[gem] - arrives with her guardians eddy and Edward who how little bow ties on for a change-

[Deer] Slides off in a gown inspired by a few different styles-

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[BEN] Rides up with Aven and Hyrule-

[Mix] -Walks up to the group, fixing her hair quietly and humming-

[Yaunfen] - BURP! BURP!- Wiggles excitedly

[Doc] Turns to nuzzle Yaunfen, the little dragon is wearing a tiny bowtie in a pastel purple-

[Endrea] Comes around the side of the house in her dragon form with her children as well-

[GK] Flaps down from above with a big grin - is it party time?

[Ashe] - Uncle GG!

[Endrea] - I suppose it is

[Flux] Inside Notch's place with him- Are you sure you don't wish to go?

[Notch] He said no, and I don't want to push it.... I know he's already having trouble with his mobs. I feel like.. part of being a father is knowing when to let them be grown -ups, you know?

[Flux] - Not entirely, but I trust your judgment

[CP] - Is this everyone?  The skeletons are already on the other server

[Doc] Prances in place a bit-

[TLOT] I think so?

[willow and oak] -try go over to yanfen-

[Doc] Mix? Is Flowey still grounded? NK might like to go too.

[Endrea] - GK?  If you don't mind herding Willow and Oak for a few moments, there's something I'll have to do

[Yaunfen] Jumps playfully at his fellow baby dragons-

[Gk] Sure! - He scoots over to the babies and nuzzles them a bit-

[willow] -boops gk snout with her foot-

[Gk] Snuff!

[Mix] Nk said no, because he doesn't really know either well. Flowey's not very social either, so I doubt he'll come. -plays with the silk like part of her dress a bit-  Firebird wanted to, but didn't know if he could. -Gestures at the circling bird far above-

[CP] - Honestly at this point I don't care

[Doc] I didn't know he was a NOTCH. Can anyone else here tell?

[Endrea] - No, I cannot

[TLOT] Nope.

[Ashe] Is kinda playing with GK's tail-

[GK] Just bring the featherball! Let's go!

[Mix] Alright! -Gives a wave of her hand and Firebird swoops down and lands delicately on her shoulder, resting his head ontop of hers-

[CP] Get's a malicious look as he opens a portal- Endrea, go ahead

[Endrea] Reaches over to TLOT and grabs him by the cloak, picking him up and carrying him through the portal, into CP's office in the Nether-

[TLOT] Feels the heat and freezes, his eyes go wide with panic-

[Steve] Races after them, not understanding what the problem is-

[Doc] Charges in after them with hir passengers-

[Yaunfen] Sniffs the air curiously-

[TLOT] Has basiclly balled up in her paws and is rocking back and forth-

[gem] -notices everyone leaving and follows-

[Mix] -Follows them in-

[Steve] WHY?!

[Ashe] Follows after his mom-

[willow and oak] -follow ashe-

[GK] Ushers the rest of the little ones in-

[CP] - What?  You two were the ones who wanted to come

[TLOT] Isn't seeing anyone-

[Steve] YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT!

[CP] - I don't think we could have gotten the two of you in any other way

[aven] -is amongst the others-

[Steve] YOU ASSHOLE-

[BEN] Carries Hyrule through-

[TLOT] Is making a low whine as if he's in pain-

[CP] Once sure everyone is through he closes the portal and Endrea puts TLOT down-

[BEN] - Ah, higher resolution

[TLOT] Stays where he's put-

[Steve] HE'S FUCKING CATAONIC IN THE NETHER-

[Doc] I think you might have to send them back Cp....

[GK] Fucks sake, I thought he'd calm down now that his NOTCH is dead...

[CP] - I figured he'd freak out some, there's some of Lie's calming flowers in the desk drawer

[eddy and Edward] -look more like stuffed animals in this resolution-

[Mix] -Marvelling at the higher resolution and how Firebird looks in it. She's already been at a higher resolution so it's nothing special-

[Firebird] -adjusts on Mix's shoulder and watches the freak out-

[Steve] Is just rubbing his back trying to get his attention, it's not working at all- YOU'RE PSYCHIC! CAN'T YOU SEE WHATS GOING ON IN HIS HEAD?!

[gem] -is trying to keep her hoofs off the ground- I have ice would that grab his attention?

[CP] Grabs some of the calming flowers and throws them at Steve- Maybe if he were to calm down a little

[TLOT] Is breathing very hard, as if trying to get as much of the flowers scent in as possible-

[CP] Reaches out mentally for TLOT-

[TLOT] Immediatly sucks Cp into the painful vision that's playing over and over in his head like a looping nightmare. Cp feels himself torn apart, barely a ghost, trying to sustain himself on scraps of fear from the scary stories passed on Testificate lips. He's dragged away from the light and air down into a sucking darkness that steals his very will to exist. He looks down and cannot move, everything he needs to heal is just out of reach and he's pinned like a flitter with ruined golden swords through his arms, his life's blood forever creeping away, but not hurt enough to die. Drained of hope and forgotten.

[CP] Forces a surge of his own energy out so he can find TLOT-

[TLOT] Is nowhere. He's alone in a void of blackness and holding his knees as he cries softly-

[CP] Finds him and nudges him with his shoe- Oi, your being an idiot

[TLOT] Doesn't answer-

[CP] Nudges harder- Are you really this weak?

[Steve] Is trying in vain to use their connection to reach his husband, Cp can hear his voice calling faintly from afar-

[CP] - Are you really going to ignore your mate?  I thought you were stronger than this, being ripped apart at your code is no reason for fear like this

[TLOT] Whispers- Steve...

[CP] - Yeah, your idiot husband is creating a sobbing mess in my office

[TLOT] ....

[Steve] The calls are a little bit closer-

[CP] Sighs- I swear, in this Nether you'll come to no harm, your eyes alone will guarantee that

[TLOT] Blinks a little-

[CP] - Finally coming around?

[TLOT] You saw....?

[CP] - No shit sherlock

[TLOT] I thought you of all people... would understand...

[CP] - I'll admit, it was something similar to what I went through, but unlike you, I did not let it cause fear of an entire section of our world

[TLOT] I can't let it go... and I keep it from him. He freed me the second time, but the first...? I don't want my mate to know that pain.

[CP] - I think it's time for you to get over it

[TLOT] You know it's not that simple...

[CP] - Is anything amongst our peers simple?- Offers TLOT a hand

[TLOT] Hesitates before taking it, as they contact he comes out of his fugue state.

[Steve] Is basicallly crying on him and shaking his shoulders lightly-

[Doc] Just take the calming flowers my friend. Eat them if you need too.

[CP] Steps away and turns towards the door as Winston enters-

[Winston] Is in his much more human form- Master, your mate and her friend are almost ready

[CP] Thanks Winston, will you check on Sam?

[Winston] - I just did sir, they are well into cooking and have only had a few minor disturbances from a few pigmen.  My men have kept most of the others at bay

[gem] -ends up hugging packed ice-

[Doc] I think I can help you Gem, I was worried about this - Xe takes out a pair of diamond boots, they're shimmering with the frostwalker enchantment- try these-

[gem] -put them on and lands- oh thank you doc this is much better

[TLOT] Munches up must of the calming flowers and Steve makes a small crown of the remaining ones to put over his helm and around the wings on the back-

[CP] Turns towards his personal chambers- I'll be right back

[TLOT] Kisses Steve- I'll be right back. - He follows Cp softly-

[CP] Enters his chambers and once alone there's a slight hint of nervousness to the air-

[TLOT] Quietly- Cp...

[CP] Is surprised and quickly turns around- Fuck!

[TLOT] Watches him to guage his emotional state-

[CP] Scowls a little and turns towards the far wall where there's a cleverly hidden button.  Once the button is pressed the wall slides aside to reveal his obsidian armor.  In the higher resolution much greater detail can be seen revealing small patterns and designs on the inky blackness-

[TLOT] Makes a small gasp - It's beautiful...

[CP] - And almost dead, rather disappointing that the last thing it will be used for is a fucking ceremony instead of battle...

[TLOT] A fitting end I suppose... Swords into hoes.

[CP] - I believe I told you before that this was made by one of the only testificates that I respected, correct?

[TLOT] Yes, you did. He must have been a master of the craft.

[CP] - He enjoyed the challenge to, he had to continuously coat his hands in magma cream so the lava wouldn't burn him as he used it to soften the obsidian into something malleable

[TLOT] That's brilliant. I've made things out of lava before, but only crude sculptures. I'm better at assembling then carving.

[CP] Grabs the armor and starts putting it on, leaving the helm behind on the stand-

[TLOT] Thoughtfully takes the helm from the stand and follows after Cp, he has a notion growing in the back of his mind and thankfully it's distracting him from the fear he still feels.

[Lie] Opens the door from the hallway, she's dressed and her hair is in a series of intricate braids done by Enderbro- CP?

[Doc] Hey guys.... I know that cp is going to yell, so I want to show you before he gets back.. oh hi Lie!

[Lie] - Oh, hello- She enters the room- I'm glad all of you could make it

[Herabrine] Is following Lie-

[gem] lie you look great

[Lie] - Thanks

[Mix] You look nice, Lie!

[gem] what do you have doc?

[Herabrine] Bro is suprisingly good with hair. Deft fingers-

[Doc] Giggles mischeviously- Deerheart can you get down with Yaunfen first?

[Deer] - Yes- She gets down, encouraging their child with her

[Doc] Transforms and steps smartly against the office floor with a double click of heels.

[Lie] Barely holds back her laughter- CP is going to be furious

[gem] he will but you look fabulous doc

[Doc] I think it looks nice. Kinda punk to go with my hair. Thank you guys.

[Gk] You are such a dork.

[Ashe] - Why would he be mad?

[Doc] I think he doesn't like it when I'm female...? He's always irritated with me. It's just a premonition.

[Ashe] - Oh, okay

[Steve] You look lovely Lie. You ready for this?

[Lie] - As ready as I'll ever be, I'm...  Really nervous

[CP] Enters, adjusting his gauntlets a little and freezes when he spots Doc- No

[Doc] Looks at Ashe and points at Cp- Told you so.

[Lie] Approaches CP- Hey, it's okay, it isn't for very long

[Doc] Come on, it's too hot to argue.

[CP] Sighs- Endrea?  You should probably join the other generals

[Endrea] - I understand, GG?  Would you like to accompany me?

[Gk] Flaps his wings a little - should I change?

[Endrea] - As you are is fine, there's more than enough space for both of us

[Gk] Lead on then-

[Doc] Offers hir elbow to Deerheart-

[Endrea] Pushes open the doors. herding her children with her wings as she leads GK through the hallways out to where the ceremony will be happening-

[Herabrine] at Cp-  So what's next, tall dark and gruesome?

[TLOT] Is there a crown? Tiara? Whatever?

[CP] - Er...  No?

[gem] should I make one?

[Doc] Flower crown!

[Lie] - I can provide flowers if you need me to...

[Steve] I can do it-

[Mix] -Playing with the silk of her dress while she watches them talk about crowns and tiaras.-

[gem] -makes a planet crown with planets in the shape of flowers with the mix of reds, yellows, and oranges- will this work?

[Lie] Hands Steve a bunch honesty blossoms and lilacs- I think that's a bit too much Gem

[gem] ok -puts away the crown-

[Steve] Twists them up into a circlet-

[TLOT] Goes to add a few blue orchids but looks to Lie first to see if that's okay.

[Lie] - That's fine

[TLOT] Helps his hubby twist everything up -

[Steve] want me to carry it? Or will you just wear it?

[CP] - I don't know...

[Lie] - I'll leave that up to you Steve

[Doc] I know what we need! - Xe runs into Cp's room and comes back with a copy of one of his pillows-

[CP] - WHY ARE YOU STEALING ONE OF MY PILLOWS!?

[TLOT] Mix can I have a few pixels from your shawl? Just to copy?

[Doc] Trust me!

[Mix] Sure, Here. -She bunches some of the fabric in her hand before holding it out to TLOT to take pixels from. It's shimmery. Nice.-

[TLOT] Perfect! He takes a skim from the fabric and forms it into a bag -

[Doc] Takes the bag and slips it over the pillow before passing it to Steve

[Steve] Puts the crown on the shimmery pillow and holds it proudly - Ready!

[CP] Groans- Might as well

[CP] Heads for the hallway- I made sure there was plenty of space for all of you up where my generals will be

[Doc] Reaches for Yaunfen and then remembers - Come on sweetie, stay beside me.

[Yaunfen] - Burp!

[TLOT] Trembles a little but maintains an air of gravitas and holds Steve's hand tightly-

[Lie] Takes a few calming breaths as she goes-

[gem] -is making sure to follow the group-

[Doc] Whispers to Deerheart- you look ravishing my dear...

[Mix] - smiling nervously but seems comforted by Firebird nuzzling her hair-

[Deer] - Perhaps I'll let you strip it off of me later

[Doc] Rowr....

[CP] Approaches a large set of doors and pushes them open, it's a massive balcony where the generals are lined up on either side.  Below and before the balcony are hundreds upon hundreds of mobs from all area's, Nether, Overworld, and End-

[Lie] Hangs back so CP can address the mobs-

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[Mix] - finds place to sit and  does so, letting Firebird move to her lap-

[CP] Takes a moment to look at all his mobs- My loyal mobs, I have gathered you here today to introduce you to someone of great importance and who's standing is equal to my own.  I want all of you to witness her glory as she is my mate, Lilinthia

[gem] -her guardians sit down and she sits on vin's lap to avoided extra heat since they can handle it-

[eddy and Edward] -are on gem's shoulders-

[TLOT] Takes Lie's elbow and steps up smartly beside Cp, His cloak flaps a bit in the blast of heat from the open Nether. He offers Lie, as a father would a bride, to Cp-

,[CP] Takes his wife's hand and his expression softens briefly at the contact with her before .turning back towards his mobs-

[TLOT] Nods and steps back -

[CP] - My mate is of equal standings with me, when she speaks, it is with the same authority as I , disobeying of her commands carry the same consequence,  disrespect of her will bring you nothing but death, to me she is my queen, my world, and I will never allow harm to come to her

[BEN] Bounces Hyrule a little to keep the baby distracted-

[Steve] Steps up next to CP with the pillow and holds it up with the flower crown resting on top-

[CP] Takes the crown and places it on her head gently before having to fight the effects of the honesty blossoms a little- My mate brings with her allies, others of my kind with different powers.  These other brines may occasionally visit and they are to be shown respect as well.  I will ignore any objections to this so I wouldn't bother submitting any complaints about it

[Endrea] Gingerly steps around those before her, urging her children closer towards GK- Sir...

[CP] Turns, confused as to why Endrea of all his generals is stepping forwards- Yes

[Endrea] - I would like to gift your mate something

[CP] Motions for her to go ahead and steps away a bit-

[Gk] Encircles the little ones with his wings and tail-

[Endrea] Faces Lie completely before bowing low before her- I wish to grant you the one thing the Master cannot obtain from me, a contract, and with this contract I will be released from the last of NOTCH's hold over me for you will become my Mistress and you shall hold control over the entirety of the End-

[Lie] - Endrea...

[Endrea] - Do you accept my gift?

[Lie] Can only nod-

[Endrea] Closes her eyes and the swirl of void which enters the area is strong, Lie feels a shift within her own powers-

[Endrea] Pulls back after a moment and returns to her space next to GK-

[CP] returns to Lie's side and address' his mobs one final time- You will spread the word to the others, my mate is not to be harmed and her power is equal to mine- Not really knowing what to say next takes Lie's hand and begins leading her back inside

[TLOT] Picks up on the energy of the crowd and sends a bit of a nudge for the mobs to think about applauding-

-Some mobs hesitantly clap-

[Doc] Does a little queen wave nervously-

[CP] Motions for the others to follow him as he leads them towards the ballroom where the smell of food is wafting from-

[Lie] Smells the air- Seems like Sam outdid himself

[Doc] Well that went decently well.

[Lie] - That was absolutely nerve wracking

[TLOT] Is thinking seriously about turning into an Endermite and just riding in Steve's shirt for a bit-

[gem] even so you did great

[Lie] - Thanks

[CP] - There will be a bit of mingling in the ballroom, in other words, there will be food

[CP] Opens the door to the ballroom, the elegant room is well lit and a set of tables has been set up where Sam is putting out the last of the finished food.  There are already a few mobs in there and the generals are following the group as well

[Ruby] Is standing by the wall keeping an eye on the entrance to the kitchen-

[Doc] Trips a little in hir heels - blast it!

[Deer] - This is why hooves are better~- Immediately trips

[Doc] The points are smaller in this resolution! They were chunkier at home! - sighs- Are you okay?

[Deer] - Oh yes, you know how clumsy I am anyways

[Yaunfen] Is chasing their own tail-

[TLOT] Takes a few steadying breaths and turns a bit to see the generals following them -

-The mobs present are giving weird looks as they notice Steve, they aren't sure whether to attack or not-

[Blake] Has the most sour expression imaginable-

[Herabrine] Takes some cooked shrimps from the buffet and brings some to Lie- Your hubby had a good idea, these actually came from our server.

-A young pigman approaches Gem-

[Lie] - Shrimp?- She tries one- How did they end up on the server?

[eddy and Edward] -wave at the pigman-

[Babypigman] Confused noises, not sure what it's looking at-

[Herabrine] Apparently some washed in with the water when the sea monster was let in from irl-

[Sam] Breaks off for a moment to motion to Eddy and Edward-

[Lie] - Well, at least they're good shrimp

[gem] -see the motion and brings eddy and Edward over worried about there feet getting to hot-

[CP] Is stalking around the room, keeping an eye on everything to make sure that everyone is behaving-

[Sam] Offers each one a huge lollipop and pats their heads in turn-

[eddy and Edward] -take the lollipops and speak in ender- thank you

[Lie] Spots Sam- Excuse me real quick Hera- She approaches Sam- Sam?  Thank you so much for cooking all of this

[Doc] Tries a crumb from a cookie to make sure it's sweet enough before offering the rest to Yaunfen-

[Yaunfen] Eagerly takes it, quickly eating it and then giving Doc puppy dog eyes-

[Sam] Oh! You're welcome Lie! It was an interesting challenge. Though I think i got a bit bossy with Steve's brothers in the kitchen.

[Lie] - I'm sure they'll forgive you

[Doc] Gets more for the baby and feeds them tenderly-

[Yaunfen] Tries standing against Doc as if that will get them the cookies faster-

[Sam] Motions at Gem assuming she can't understand, for her to help herself-

[Ruby] Breaks away to speak to BEN and Aven- She signs asking if they need anything special to feed the baby

[Lie] Is approached by a few mobs-

[gem] -takes some of the cookies-

[BEN] - He could probably use some milk...  Don't you think Aven?

[Doc] Sam? Can I have some of that candy too?

-The mobs are glancing at the baby, wondering if it's CP and Lie's-

[Sam] Produces another striped lollipop for Yaunfen, it's too big to go fully in hir mouth-

[aven] yea it would be good I hope this heat isn't to much for him

[Ruby] Nods and goes off to get some milk-

[Yaunfen] Doesn't stop them from trying to fit the entire thing-

[Endrea] Nudges GK- Are you doing alright GG?

[Sam] Notices Mix standing awkwardly with Firebird and makes up plates for both of them as well-

-The generals are mostly talking amongst themselves-

[Gk] Hmm? Oh yeah! I mean, normally I don't like the Nether, but it's mostly an accomdations issue. And there's food. That's usually lacking as well.

[Endrea] Laughs a little- Yes, CP has always made certain that I could fit in his builds once we came to our agreement

[Gk] Trots delicately around part of the crowd- It's appreciated-

[Ashe] Is running around-

[Sam] Waves to Gk and holds up a bottle of amber liquid-

[Gk] Waves a hoof so it sucks into his inventory- thank you.

[willow] -is trying to get on the food table-

[oak] -is helping-

[Sam] Panics a little and tries to shoo them down

[Endrea] Now now you two...  Here, have some void energy- She offers the substance to her children

[willow] -stops and takes some of the void energy-

[oak] -also has some-

[TLOT] Accidently makes eye contact with Blake-

[Blake] Huffs and turns away in a snotty manner-

[Steve] Mentally- I bet Giselle is pissing him off....

[TLOT] Still not sorry-

[CP] Stops a few mobs who had drawn their weapons upon deciding to attack Steve and tosses the weapons out a window-

[Steve] Notices- Thank you Cp.

[CP] Grumbles-

[Lie] Is starting to get overwhelmed by a few mobs who have decided to bring her complaints-

[CP] - OI! KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!  THAT'S NOT HER JOB!

[Doc] Moves to help Cp shoo them away-

-The mobs disperse-

[Lie] - Thanks

[Eliza] The spider general is passively watching the group of brines, her lower half is the body of a spider while the upper is human-

[TLOT] Notices her - You have really interesting mobs Cp...

[Steve] This resolution is so tiring... Stevie must be strong as an ox. It's like walking through soup-

[CP] - That's Eliza, my spider general.  Only my generals have more human like appearances, makes them easily distinguishable.  They revert to being more mob like on the other seed because it's a lower resolution

[gem] -is eating a lot of sweets-

[Doc] Found the sandwiches and is eating something with a ton of little leaves poking out of it-

[Yaunfen] Has joined in on playing with Ashe-

[Sam] brings Deerheart a plate with a little yellow square on it that's covered with cherry sauce-

[Deer] - Ooh!  This looks so good Sam

[Gk] Loafs by the wall and takes a nip from the bottle, he's just happy to watch the kids play-

[Sam] Takes a little bow-

[TLOT] So do you think they got the message Cp?

[Endrea] Lays near GK-

[CP] - Time will tell...

[TLOT] If you need me again...

[CP] - Yeah yeah, whatever- His shoulders are a bit slumped, and his sarcasm doesn't have it's usual bite

[Samuel] The skeleton general gives Gem a strange look- And just what are you?

[gem] I am both a space angel and a brine

[Samuel] - A space angel?

[TLOT] Takes a ladle and pours a tiny bit of punch in a cup before spiking it with a health potion and swirling it. He presses it into Cp's hand - Here. This isn't the time to look so exhausted-

[gem] yes

[CP] - I'll be fine

[Doc] Scoots over by the two. - Herobrines vary by seed. Nice to see you under better circumstances.

[Samuel] - Same to you, but I'm afraid I'm not aware of what a space angel is

[TLOT] Fine, Be difficult - he bites his thumb and smears the blood on Cp's lips-

[CP] Jumps back- FUCKER!

[Ruby] Comes back with milk and snacks for BEN and Aven-

[TLOT] Shush, you'll make a scene

[BEN] - Thanks- Takes the milk and starts feeding Hyrule

[gem] a species that lives in the void of space in the real world normally identified by the white angel like wings on there back and the hearts of there chest.

[CP] Grumpily licks his lips- I hate you

[hyrule] -happily drinks the milk-

[Samuel] - Ah, so the place the Master will go to then, the real world

[gem] yes I died then ended up in Minecraft before becoming a brine

[Samuel] - A strange set of events then

[Steve] Has wandered close to Eliza, he's just nibbling on a shrimp and has a few in a bowl as well.

[Eliza] - You are not the Master's Steve, are you...

[gem] yea I have died a lot to get to the point I am now

[Samuel] - Your kind is lucky, you can live again once you've died

[Steve] No, I'm Father Steve. I'm from a totally different seed. It's not nearly as detailed as this one.

[Eliza] - You look so much like him though

[gem] I would say luck was involved in it as well a lot of it

[Steve] We're apparently a common spawn. Besides, Stevie is taller then me.

[Eliza] - Yes, now that I think about it he probably is

[Steve] He's a decent guy though. I've talked to him plenty of times. He's had a rocky time of it with his brother. It's kinda sad.

[Eliza] - I came long after their fued started

[Steve] Almost to himself. - Thankfully they've got Notch trying to pull them back together...

[Eliza] Eyes narrow having heard what Steve said- What did you say?

[Steve] His dad. Well, not his actual dad. The real Notch. Markus. The other NOTCHs are a type of AI. Some of them are total bastards.

[Eliza] Is becoming confused- I'm not sure I understand...

[Gk] See's Steve flailing and decides to throw him a bone because he was listening intently-  There's more then one NOTCH.

[Steve] Markus is from the irl. Like Lie. But the NOTCH AI's look like his avatar.

[Eliza] - I see...  I'm sure some of the other generals would try to exploit such information so I will keep it to myself for now until the Master decides to tell us himself

[Steve] It doesn't matter. Our brines will beat them. They're so much stronger when they fight side by side.

[Gk] Kinda wish I got in on the last fight... See the brine in the purple and gold? A group from our server annihilated his NOTCH.

[Eliza] - They can be killed?

[GK} Darkly- Oh yes.... You can rip up their coding with the right kind of assault.

[Steve] My husband sort of, vomits bad code when he's really stressed. It burns them like a flower falling into lava. The brine with the green eyes is Doc, they can do a version of the same trick.

[Eliza] - I see, no wonder the Master introduced his mates ally's along with her...

[Steve] Well you guys met Doc before right?

[GK] I think that was just the Nether generals...

[Eliza] - No, that one came along with the other female brine during one of our meetings

[Steve] Giant yellow dragon? Epic hair?

[Gk] Probably staring at everything and everyone like a fucking tourist?

[Eliza] - Very much so

[Steve] They can also be a dragon-

[Doc] Slips up behind Steve and whispers in his ear to startle him- I hear you talking about me...

[Steve] EEP!

[Endrea] Suddenly stiffens-

[CP] Easily picks up on the malevolent energy which had just entered his server.  It's his NOTCH-

[GK] Sniffs the air and growls- I don't like that energy...

[CP] Turns towards Lie, fearing for her safety-

[TLOT] Picks up on Cp's distress-

[Deer] Notices the others distress- What's going on?

[TLOT] At Cp - Do we fight?

[CP] - No, gotta get Lie to safety...  He can't know about her...

[gem] what's happening?

[CP] Opens several portals as he rushes towards Lie-

[Doc] Um? Is it time to go?

[GK] Glances at Endrea-

[Endrea] - Nods at GK as she stands up- Yes- She gathers her children and makes an opening to the End

[Gk] Got it - He grabs Steve and slings the miner onto his neck-

[Herabrine] Snags Gk's tail As he picks up TLOT as well-

[gem] -grabs mix and is paniced at firebird on his shoulder-

[vin] -grabs ben who is holding hyrule-

[William] -grabs aven-

[BEN] - Hey!

[Doc] Transforms quickly and scoops up Yaunfen and Deerheart. Xe rushes at Cp and knocks him and Lie onto the top of hir head- Grab my hair!

[Lie] Is holding onto CP-

[CP] Grabs tightly-

[Doc] Shoots through the portal with Gk hot on hir heels

[gem] -drags mix and firebird though the portal with her-

[vin and William] -carries ben aven and hyrule though while the rest of the guardians are right behind them-

[Stevie] Yelps in surprise as Gem and the others end up in his house- The Nether!?

[Alexis] Pokes her head out of the bedroom- I'm not cooking for this many people

[gem] we kind of just ate you don't have to

[uncrasimaticbore]

The Princess Comes to Earth

The Princess Comes to Earth

This is it! Star thought as she walked towards the throne room, flanked on either side by guards. It was her 14th birthday, and as per tradition, today was the day she would receive the family’s wand, a very powerful artifact. As she entered the room, the guards on either side of the aisle stood to attention her guards followed her, stopping at the bottom of the steps before the thrones of the king and queen. Star slowly walked up the steps toward her parents who were both standing in front of their thrones and smiling reassuringly toward her. Once she reached the top, her mother spoke. “Star Butterfly, do you promise to keep the wand safe from those who would use it for personal gain, as well as yourself.”

“I do,” Star replied.

“Then I, Moon Butterfly, Queen of Mewni, relinquish the wand into your care.” The queen handed her the wand and a bright light enveloped it as it changed, which didn’t phase Star at all, as she knew this would happen. After the light faded, her mother’s wand was gone, and in its place was Star’s. It was a light purple rod, topped with a sphere of the same color, though blue in the middle with wings on either side, and in the very center was a star shaped crystal. Fitting. Star thought. She turned around and held the wand high above her head and the guards all knelt before her. Her parents stood beside her and her mother spoke. “All hail, Star Butterfly. Future Queen of-”

Suddenly the doors burst opened, and a group of monsters entered the room.“Not so fast, Princess!” a voice said as a small bird-like creature emerged from the crowd, wearing a green cloak and a skull on his head almost like a crown.

    “Ludo! How did you get in here?” Queen Butterfly asked.

    “I have my ways,” Ludo smirked and turned to his forces. “NOW BRING ME THAT WAND!”

    Queen Butterfly jumped in front of her family and dropped into a fighting stance, almost reflexively reaching to grab her wand from her belt, only to find it wasn’t there. She was almost trampled until she gave a hard uppercut to the first monster, causing the others to fall down like dominoes. She turned to her husband and daughter, “Go, I’ll hold them off.”

    “Mom?”

    The king grabbed his daughter’s arm. “We need to leave.”     “But-”

    “There’s no time.” The king pulled his daughter’s arm as they fled. Star, still looking back, saw her mother flash a reassuring smile before she was dog piled by monsters.

    They kept running until they reached the king’s study and barricaded the door.

    “You’re mother should be back in about five minutes, but just in case, we need to get you out of here, at least temporarily,” the king said. He started grabbing things from his desk and threw them into a bag handed it to Star.

    “Take these.”

    “What are they?” She reached into the bag, pulled one of the objects out and examined it. It was a  small card with a picture of her on it and said in a strange language, Echo Creek Academy.

    “You’re mother and I were going to send you to a safer dimension so you could practice your magic in peace. We’ve already made all the proper arrangements and were going to send you tomorrow, but the attack expedited matters. You should have a map of the town, your school ID, and the address of where you’ll be staying. I’ve already met the family, the Diaz's  and they’re quite nice.” He grabbed his dimensional scissors cut open a portal that was a bright blue.

    “Now hurry!”

Star was about to step into the portal and looked back at her father for what could possibly be the last time. “Goodbye, dad.”

“Goodbye, Star.”

“Goodbye, Mewni.” Star sighed as she stepped through the portal.

When she was through she was outside of a large building. There was a sign in front that read, in the same language as the card, “Echo Creek Academy: Home of the Awesome Opossums” with a statue of a strange creature next to it.

“This appears to be the right place.” Star sighed and walked in.

She started wandering aimlessly around the hallways until she came across a short balding man with glasses and went up to him. “Pardon me sir, but I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the headmaster’s office?”

The man laughed. “ That would be me, and it’s actually principal. Principal Skeeves. You must be our new exchange student. Comet, was it?”

“Star, actually.”

“Oh, sorry, I get names confused sometimes. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow, but it’s fine. Are your parents with you, by any chance?”

“No, something came up. That’s why I came early like I did.”

“It’s okay, things happen when you're royalty. Well, Star, follow me to my office and I’ll help you get situated.”

As they walked towards the office, the bell rang and students started filling the halls. One, in a red hoodie, started spray painting something on the side of a wall.

“Marco Diaz! Come with me to my office immediately!”

Diaz?!  That meant… Star thought.

The boy let out a moan in protest. “Ffffffffffine.” He turns around and Star can see his face. He clearly hadn't shaven in a while, and had a bandage on the right side of his face. His hair was all sticking up in the front. Then Star sees his eyes. They were like pools of dark chocolate, and just as bitter, with eyeliner around them. Star didn't particularly like chocolate, especially dark, but there was something odd about this boy.

Marco turned around, caught in the act, yet again, and saw what looked like an angel. She had long soft looking blonde hair that went down to her knees, and a dress like one princesses wore. She had hearts on her cheeks for some reason, and a headband with bows in it. Then Marco saw her eyes. Bright baby blue, and just as innocent. Marco hated innocence, and princesses, and angels, and blue, for that matter, he was more into red, but there was something off about this girl.

    As they walked the all too familiar route, the girl turned to him and held out her hand.

    “I’m Star Butterfly. I’m the new exchange student.”

    Exchange student?! That meant....

    Marco scoffed. “What kind of name is that?”

    “A royal one. What kind of name is Diaz?”

    “A common one.” So she is a princess. Marco thought.

    Oh thank goodness. Star thought.

They reached the principal’s office and went inside.

“Well,” Skeeves began, “This is actually pretty convenient, I was going to have our best student show you around but, unfortunately, Mr. Greeson is home sick with food poisoning.” He glared at Marco. “So it looks like Mr. Diaz here is going to have to show you around instead.”

“What?! I did not agree to this!” Marco retorted.

“Well, once you're done you can go home, seeing as how you're now suspended for vandalism.”

“Ugh! Fine! Let's go, Your Worshipfulness.”

“It’s ’Your Highness’, thank you very much.” the princess replied as they walked out.

“And right there's the gym, where my favorite class is.” Marco said as the tour went on.

“You have a whole class period dedicated to physical activity? That's… interesting.”

“What? Are you afraid you’ll break a nail?”

“Quite the contrary, I just thought that it would make more sense for people to do so on there own time.”

    “Well, some do, some don't. I always try to get plenty of exercise, myself.” Marco said as he flexed and Star rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Is that so?”

Suddenly there was a flash of light and a strange giant moth creature appeared and let out a deafening shriek.

“Stand back, princess.” Marco said, dropping into a fighting stance ready to whoop some rear, but the creature simply flew away.

“What was that?”

“What? Are you telling me that your daily workout regiment doesn’t involve fighting monsters?” Star asked.

“But how did you…?”

“I don’t think you would understand.”

“Tell me.”

“Well, you see, I’m a magical princess from another dimension.”

“Right… And that brings us to the end of our tour. I’m going to go home now and take a nice long cold shower.” Marco turned around and took off running

Star yelled. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Diaz!” Some people are just so rude. She opened the bag and dug through to find the map of the town with the school and the Diaz residence circled on it. “I suppose it’s time to start walking.” And so, Star Butterfly began her journey to her new home.

Marco, instead of going home, knowing he still had a few hours until he had to, decided to hit the mall for a bit to meet up with some friends in the food court. All he had to do to find them was follow the trail of dropped french fries and disgusted girls. When he reached the end, he saw them and walked over to them. “Alfonzo! Ferguson! What’s up?”

One of them, a slightly overweight ginger looked up and smirked. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, Ferg, I had to play tour guide due to poor old Oskar getting sick.”

“Don’t worry about it. So, you’re suspended tomorrow just like we planned, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think my parents will let me leave the house. Remember when we tried this last time?”

“Fair enough, I can always get someone else to do it if you’re too chicken.”

“It’s not just that, Ferg, the person I had to tour around was the new exchange student.”

“So?”

“You know my parents, they always take these kids in, so that means she’ll be settling in tomorrow. And, you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but, she’s apparently some magic alien princess or something who fights monsters daily.”

“Y’know, you could just say you didn’t want to do it.”

“You know what, we came this far. Let’s do it tonight.” Marco looked at his watch. “Ah shoot, I gotta go. If I’m late again my parents will literally kill me.”

Ferguson handed him a small device. “This should have all you need, let’s plan for around nine?”

“Godspeed, Marco.” the other boy at the table said.

“Thanks Alfonzo.” Marco said as he ran off.

It was almost sunset when Star reached the house that matched the address on her map. It was two stories, but seemed a little small to Star. She got a feeling that she was being watched and looked around. Seeing nothing, she double checked the address, not wanting an awkward encounter, and knocked on the door. It opened with a tall burly man on the other side who looked skeptically at Star. “You know, Halloween isn’t for another couple months.”

“I’m Star Butterfly, the exchange student. Is this the Diaz residence, by any chance?”

The man smiled brightly. “Why, yes it is. Come in, come in. Make yourself at home.”

He ran over to the stairs. “Angie!” Mr. Diaz yelled. “The princess is here!”

“Already? I’ll prepare her room while you stall.” a voice yelled back.

Star made her way over to the living room and sat down on a green couch as Mr. Diaz entered and held out his hand. “Pleasure to finally meet you, Star. We weren’t planning on you arriving so soon. How are you parents?”

“They’re fine. Something came up so they couldn’t be here.”

“That’s a shame, they’re very nice people. So, you’re in our son’s class, right? He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s a good kid. You’d be a good influence on him.”

“I don’t believe I’ve met him yet.” That doesn’t sound like the Diaz I met.

“Really? Well, he should be home soon. I hope you two become great friends.” Nevermind.

A woman came down the stairs and smiled at Star. “Hi Star. I’m Mrs. Diaz, your room’s already been prepared, but if you’d like, you can wait until Marco gets home and we can get you introduced.”

“That would be lovely, Mrs. Diaz.”

“Great!” Mrs. Diaz said as the door opened. “I think that’s him right now.” The Diaz’s went to the door to greet their son.

“Hey, mom and dad.”

“We have a little surprise for you.” Mr Diaz said.

    Marco smirked. “Really? Whatever could it be?”

    Mrs. Diaz beamed. “Well, you know how we always take in foreign exchange students.”

    Marco frowned. “You didn’t.”

    “We sure did! Come here Star.” Star got up and walked towards them. “Star, this is our son Marco. Marco, this is Star Butterfly. She’s a-

“Magical princess from another dimension,” Marco interrupted.  “Yeah, I know. I had to show her around school today.”

“Well, I’m glad you two have already met, then you can show her her room.”

Marco started up the stairs. “Let’s go, your highness.”

“Aw, you remembered. How sweet.” Star smirked as she followed Marco up the stairs.

Outside, hiding in a tree, a humanoid frog creature watched what had transpired. He chuckled to himself and pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors. He cut open a portal and stepped through to enter his master’s throne room, his throne facing away from him. He saluted his master and croaked before giving his report. “Ludo, master, I've tracked down Star Butterfly. They've hidden her in the Earth dimension. Unguarded.”

“Excellent. I knew they couldn’t hide that brat from me forever.” Ludo turned around, sitting on top of several pillows, due to not being big enough to sit in his father’s old throne. “Soon the wand shall be mine. And then, the universe. And then… Actually, I think the universe will be plenty.” He then began laughing maniacally.

“And here’s your room.” Marco said as he opened the door to the Star’s room. It was very small and had several large pieces of luggage inside and a bed.

“I think I can work with this.” Star said. She began looking through one of the suitcases and dug out a giant book and flipped through it and stopped on a page. “Here we are. SPARKLE GLITTER BOMB EXPAND!” Suddenly, the wood on the walls turned to stone and what looked like a castle tower grew out of the side of the house.

“Okay, I’m going to let you get situated. I’ll be in my room for the next couple hours. Please, if you value your life, knock.”

When Marco got to his room, he closed the door tightly, turned on his laptop, and plugged in the device Ferguson gave him. It was just about nine. Alright. Let’s do this.

After unpacking all of her things and organizing them, Star looked at the time. It was almost one in the morning. Thank goodness I don’t need to go in. She realized she was hungry and decided to go get a snack, thinking the Diaz’s wouldn’t mind. As she walked past Marco’s room, she noticed a faint glow coming from inside and heard strange noises she believed to be Marco. She knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds. She slowly opened the door and crept in. She could here him muttering while he was almost hunched over a computer, wearing headphones, and she could barely see what was on it, but as she got closer until she was right behind him, she realized what it was and quietly gasped. On the bottom of the screen, in the middle was what looked like some kind of wizard in some weird dungeon. Away from the wizard were two elves and a dwarf all swarming around a giant monster. The characters had names above the, the elves being named Lbow-Greese and Jayco, and the dwarf was Ferg-the-win. As soon as the monster died, she could hear three voices come from the headphones as Marco leaned back and accidentally elbowed her.

“YAH- Wait a minute guys.” Marco said as he took of his headphones and turned around. When he saw Star, his eyes went wide with fear, then he gave her a death glare. “Don’t tell anyone. Got it?”     Star simply laughed. “What, that the school’s biggest bad boy is actually a nerd?”

Marco’s face went red and he ran out of the room.

Star grabbed his headset and put it on. “Hello, this is Star, Marco’s new roommate. He just left. I’m going to collect his loot for him and I will be out of here shortly.”

“He’ll probably be at the convenience store down the street, north. You should go talk to him.” a girl said over the headset.

“Thank you. How do you know this?”

“Oh, I know a lot of things about Marco. The name’s Jackie, by the way.”

“Well, thank you, Jackie.” Star got the loot, logged Marco out, turned off his computer, and headed north.

Star reached a small building and, seeing Marco standing out front, approached him. Marco sighed. “Here to make fun of me?”

“Quite the contrary, actually, I’m just worried about you and so is your girlfriend.”

“Who?”

“Jackie, I thought you two were.”

“Naw, she’s just obsessed with me, and though I’m flattered, I don’t really feel the same way. She knows, and is a vital member of my guild, so I keep her around.” Star found that a relief... for some reason. Why?

“Look, I’m sorry about spying on you. I won’t tell anyone about your little secret. Promise. I just can’t leave you like this.”

“Ok, I was actually going to come back in a few minutes anyways. Thanks for… coming.” Marco stopped as he saw something behind Star. It looked like some sort of dark portal from which several monsters emerged, led by a small bird like creature with some weird skull crown.

“Ludo! How did you find me?” Star asked the creature.

“Oh, come on, Princess, we’ve already been through this. I have my ways.” Ludo turned to his henchmen. “You know the drill, boys, get me that wand.

Marco instinctively pushed Star behind him and dropped into a fighting stance. “Stand back, princess.”

“Thank you, but I can take care of myself.” Star said, standing beside Marco, getting into a fighting stance herself. This is not the same girl I met this morning. Marco thought

“I thought you said she was unguarded!” Ludo asked what looked like a giant frog.

“I did not know he was protection.” the frog replied.

The monsters all charged. Marco and Star looked at each other and Star could have sworn she saw Marco give her an actual smile, not a smirk. They looked at the oncoming monsters and took them on.

    After an intense battle, thanks to Marco’s boxing skills and Star’s magic, the monsters and narwhals were strewn about the parking lot. Star walked up to Ludo, who was somehow unscathed by the fight and smirked at him, tossing her wand in her hands. “Did you really think that would work?”

Ludo sighed, “It almost did.” He pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors to open a portal and called out to his cronies, “Come on boys, let’s go home.” All of the monsters got up and started walking towards the portal. “This is what happens when you don’t work out!” Ludo complained. “You’re muscles turn to jelly!” The last to enter before Ludo was the giant frog who was still hallucinating, thanks to one of Star’s spells. Ludo then entered the portal, poking his head out. “I’ll get you next time Star Butterfly! Mark my words, I will have my reven-” Ludo was cut off due to the portal closing around his throat, but he eventually squeezed his head through to the other side.

“That was awesome!” Marco shouted and went up and hugged Star. “I was awesome! You were...” Marco stopped himself and backed away, blushing. “You were okay, I guess.”

Star smiled at him. “We do make a fairly formidable team. I suppose I wouldn’t mind having you around.”

Marco smiled back. “Let’s go home then. I make some mean nachos.”

“I’ve never had those before. I suppose it’s time to try some earth cuisine.”

The two laughed and headed home.

[unfolded73]

Another New York City Serenade (3/7)

Summary: With the visitors from Arendelle gone and Gold banished, Emma and Killian’s relationship continues to deepen, especially when an excuse for a road trip away from Storybrooke falls into their laps. (A S4 hiatus story).

Beta: @j-philly-b

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3800 this chapter

CHAPTER 1 |  CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

Emma’s evening took an unexpected turn.

She’d gone back to the loft to freshen up after a long day of work, and found herself walking into a war zone. The baby was crying in her father’s arms, the place was an absolute mess, and she caught a glimpse of her mother rushing to the bathroom and slamming the door.

“Whoa, what the hell? Have we been robbed?” Emma asked, taking in the chaos as she pulled her coat and gloves off.

David bounced Neal up and down, clearly not amused. “Your mother came down with a stomach bug this afternoon. Would you mind watching Neal for a while so that I can clean up a little bit?”

Emma thought longingly of her boyfriend and their dinner plans. “Sure, no problem.” She held her arms out and accepted the fussing infant.

She walked a well-worn circle in the loft, singing softly to her brother until his cries faded to hiccupping little sobs, and then finally to silence as he fell asleep in her arms. Her father had the kitchen organized by that point and had offered to heat up some leftovers for them both, which Emma agreed to with a sigh. She continued walking with the same bouncy cadence, afraid that any change would wake Neal up, but she did carefully shift him so that she could pull her phone out of her pocket and call Killian.

“Hey.”

“Swan.” She could hear his pleased grin over the phone. “Ready for dinner?”

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t. My mom’s sick, and they need my help with the baby tonight. I’ve gotta stay here.”

“I’m sorry about your mother; is there anything I can do to help?”

She wanted to say yes, but mostly just because she wanted to see him. “I don’t think so. We seem to have it under control.”

“Perhaps we can reschedule for tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah, that would be good. Although I’ll have Henry tomorrow night.”

“No reason he can’t join us. You know I enjoy spending time with your boy.”

“I know.” She lowered her voice, even though David didn’t seem to be paying her any attention. “It just won’t be… you know. Like a date. And we definitely can’t… If Henry’s spending the night here, then I can’t spend the night there.”

“I assumed as much.”

“Well, you could sound a little more disappointed,” she said with a pout that was only half-joking.

“I just didn’t want you to feel bad about putting your family first. Believe me, every moment that I must wait to have you in my bed again will be the worst kind of torture.” The way he emphasized ‘have you’ made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“That’s more like it.”

He chuckled. “So I will talk to you tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah.” Emma hesitated, unsure how to end the call. “Bye, Killian.”

“Goodbye, love.”

She slipped her phone back in her pocket and looked up to see David giving her a slightly accusatory look. “You had a date.”

“And you needed my help,” Emma said, finally deciding to risk putting Neal down in his bassinet to give her arms a break. “Killian will still be there tomorrow.”

“Yes, I’ve come to grips with that fact,” he responded with an eye roll as he set the table with place settings for the two of them, but his warm smile showed that it was a protest more out of habit than actual ill will. “Anyway, thank you.”

Emma shrugged, sitting down at the table. “What are daughters for?”

~*~

If it was possible to spontaneously combust in a diner booth, Emma was going to do it.

First, there had been the way Killian had brushed his lips across her cheek as he joined her and Henry for dinner, his mouth lingering slightly longer than required. Just the scent of him made her want to jerk him out of the booth by the collar of his stupid leather jacket and drag him up to his room. Throughout dinner, she couldn’t focus on the conversation, getting distracted by the hairs on the back of his hand, or the way he licked his lips after taking a drink of beer. Watching him interact with her son and show genuine interest in his schoolwork shouldn’t have been a turn-on, but today it definitely was.

You’ve got it bad, Emma Swan, she thought, as Henry excused himself and went to the bathroom.

Granny dropped the check on their table, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Do you know what I did last night?”

“No, milady, what did you do?” Killian asked.

“Had an uninterrupted night of sleep. Unlike the night before. I don’t care what you get up to in my rooms, but do it silently.” With a dismissive wave of her hand, she walked away, leaving Killian chuckling as Emma covered her face and hoped for a portal to open up underneath their booth to swallow her whole.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “She did hear us.”

“Aye.”

Emma hurried to pay, rushing Henry out without dessert by promising him some ice cream back at the loft. Killian walked them to the door, saying goodnight to Henry as he dashed inside.

“Thank you for a lovely evening.” He took her hand and kissed it, his lips lingering again, his eyes full of promises that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill tonight.

No way was she going to settle for a kiss on the hand, not the way she was feeling. Grasping the lapels of his jacket, she pulled Killian in, and as he dropped her hand to wrap his arms around her, Emma dove in for a deep kiss.

Not that kissing him before had been innocent, but now it was all wrapped up in her head with fucking him, and she couldn’t taste his mouth without thinking about how harsh his breathing had been as he moved inside her, or how his wet mouth had felt on her breast. When they finally stopped kissing to breathe into each other, he seemed equally overcome.

“I really don’t want to say goodnight,” she whispered.

“Nor I.”

Emma sighed, slowly extracting herself from his arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” With one more regretful glance, he told her to sleep well and left her at the door.

She was able to take out some of her frustrations by shooting aliens with Henry on his Xbox for the rest of the evening, but when everyone went to bed, Henry in his usual place on the pull-out sofa downstairs, Emma was still keyed up and not at all tired. She sat cross-legged on her bed in her pajamas, picking up her phone and putting it back down again. Finally resolved, she grabbed it up for the last time and placed a call.

He answered after the third ring. “Hello, Swan.”

“You weren’t asleep, were you?”

“No, just reading.” She heard Killian settling – back into bed, perhaps. “Or rather, rereading the same paragraph over and over, distracted by thoughts of you.”

Emma lay back on her pillow, grinning to herself. It felt too ridiculous to say she missed him; she’d just seen him. “Everyone here is asleep, but I’m not sleepy.” She spoke softly so as not to be heard by anyone else in the loft, should they wake up.

“You could sneak out and join me here.”

“Yeah, because I’m in the running for the worst mother ever award.”

Killian laughed. “Well, your competition cursed everyone in town for twenty-eight years, so I think your chances of winning are slim. Nonetheless, I understand. I will just have to lie here alone and imagine you.”

“Imagining anything good?”

She could picture his eyebrow rising. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Maybe I would, why don’t you tell me?” Emma screwed up her face in embarrassment. This was why she had called him, right?

There was a pause. “And what will you be doing while I tell you of all the things that have been occupying my mind?”

“I’ll…” She felt her cheeks flush. “This is a thing people do, you know,” she suddenly felt the need to explain.

“Talk about having sex over the phone?”

“I mean, people… you know. Get themselves off while talking about having sex over the phone. It’s called phone sex. I mean, people also do it by text, but you wouldn’t be able–”

“I can hardly hold onto this infernal device and my manhood at the same time, can I?”

She struggled not to laugh at ‘manhood’. “Press the speakerphone button. Remember, I showed it to you.”

After a bit of fumbling, he spoke again, the quality of his voice different. “Did that work?”

“Yep.” Emma got under the covers, curled up on her side, and pulled one of her pillows over her head. Was she really going to do this? “Just keep your voice down; don’t wake up Granny.”

“What about Henry and your parents?”

“I’ll be quiet.”

He chuckled. “If you’re going to be touching yourself, I don’t want you to be quiet. I want to hear every gasp from your lovely mouth.”

He is going to be amazing at this, she thought, sliding her hand under her pajama pants and underwear. “Next time, maybe.”

Killian cleared his throat, and she thought she could barely make out the sound of him stroking himself. “So what would you like to hear? That since the night you spent with me, I’ve hardly been able to think of anything else but what it was like to be inside you? That my mind wanders all the time to the way you looked that night in my bed, your skin flushed pink with desire? That I cannot wait until I can be with you again, until I can make you come apart under my tongue?”

She did not whimper. Definitely not.

Gathering moisture with her fingers as she rubbed herself, Emma swallowed. “How would you make me come? Tell… tell me more about that.”

“My only regret about that night, darling, is that I didn’t take any time to explore you with my mouth.” There was a pause, and she heard the bed squeak and covers rustling as he perhaps got more comfortable. “Is that something you would enjoy?”

“Yes.”

“Then the next time we can be together, I’m going bury my head between your thighs. Do you know how badly I want to taste you, Emma? I used to think about it, long before you and I were together, lying here and touching myself just like this and imagining the way you would taste in that most secret of places. I’m going to spread you open and use my tongue to pleasure you. I’ll find all the ways that you like it, the perfect pressure and rhythm, the perfect spot to lick at you. My tongue and lips on you and my fingers filling you up until you cannot bear it, until you scream out for me, until your legs tremble and you climax so hard that you forget your own name.”

“Jesus fuck, Killian.” Emma slid two of her fingers inside herself, the heel of her hand grinding down on her pelvic bone. “I’d want to return the favor then.”

He sucked in a breath. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath of her own. Emma didn’t have a lot of experience with dirty talk, but part of being a good bail bondsperson was pretending confidence, and she drew on that now. “I’m gonna get on my knees and take your… cock in my mouth.” She hesitated on the term, but once she was past it, she started to warm to her narrative. “Run my tongue up the underside, over and over until you beg me to suck you.” Some distant part of her brain was shocked at the things she was saying, but she was too aroused to care.

“Yes,” he panted. She could hear his rhythmic strokes speed up. She matched the pace with her own hand.

“And then I’ll suck you like you want me to. Long, slow sucks in and out of my mouth, teasing you, and then harder and harder, taking you deeper. You’ll want to grab hold of my hair and fuck my mouth, it’ll feel so good, and then when you–”

The sound of him coming was unmistakable, even though he was very quiet. Still, she could hear him stifling his groans, could make out the skin-on-skin sound of him stroking his way through it, slowing down fractionally each time. Imagining it nudged Emma that much closer to her own orgasm.

“Did you–?”

“Aye. You?”

“Not yet,” she gritted out. “I’m close.”

“Fuck, I would give anything to see you right now, Swan. I want to watch you make yourself come. I want to see the way you like to touch yourself. I want to see your fingers disappear inside. I want to see the way you touch your hidden pearl until you fall apart. And I want to suck your fingers into my mouth afterwards and taste you. But I will settle for the sound of it. Think about the things my tongue and my cock will do to you when next we can be together, and come for me, love.”

It was the gravely lust in his voice that did it, and Emma’s inner muscles convulsed around her fingers; deep pulses that she felt everywhere. Her attempt to muffle her voice resulted in a rather undignified squeak, and she squeezed her eyes shut in a combination of embarrassment and relief.

They were both quiet for a few seconds as Emma took her hand out and wiped her fingers off on her pajama pants. She threw the pillow off of her sweaty face and sighed. “So…” she finally said. “Was it good for you?”

“Not as good as being with you, but a diverting way to spend the evening.” She heard him shift in the bed again. “But if the goal was to slake my desire, I fear you have failed. Hearing you describe… I desperately want to experience the real thing as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, me too.” Emma laughed softly. “At least maybe I’ll be able to sleep now.”

“Sleep well, love.”

“You too.”

~*~

“Shh, just hurry.” The bright sunlight through the window in his room reflected off on the mirror, blinding her temporarily.

His gravelly chuckle vibrated against the skin of her neck. “I made a promise, Swan, that the next time we were able to be alone together–”

“I have ten minutes, Killian.” Emma tried to push his jacket from his shoulders, almost ready to scream with frustration. “I still need to grab lunch; we don’t have time for all that.” She gave up on the jacket, as he didn’t seem inclined to help her, and zeroed in on his belt buckle. “I need–”

At last, he seemed to get with the program, jerking her leggings down with his hook and hand. As she kicked her boots off, he pulled open the drawer to his bedside table and pulled out a strip of condoms. There was more fumbling, with only the minimum of clothing removed before he entered her with a forceful push of his hips.

“Yes,” she hissed, wrapping her legs around him, the belt from his jeans pressing into her thighs. Finally. The next few minutes were a haze of grasping hands and scraping teeth, panting breaths and thrusting hips. Emma’s fingernails dug into the fabric of his shirt as she came, keeping as quiet as she could, even though she knew Granny would be busy in the diner with the lunch rush.

It felt sheepish, the way they pulled their clothes back on afterwards. “Sorry,” Emma said, “I know that wasn’t–”

Killian laughed. “Did you truly apologize for that?” His hand went through his hair, disheveling it in a way that made her want to push him back onto the bed, and Jesus, get a hold of yourself, she thought furiously.

“I know. But it wasn’t the way you wanted it to be.”

He cupped her face with his hand, and she kind of hated how into that she was, the way his hand felt so large when it spanned her cheek. “There will be time enough for all of that, Swan. Worry not. Come, I’ll buy you lunch.”

The diner was crowded, most of the dwarves clustered at the counter and several other residents that Emma only knew well enough to say hello to filling the booths. Standing there near the register, she felt like everyone was looking at them, and that it was painfully obvious that they’d just had sex. She straightened her ponytail self-consciously. “Let’s get food to go and take it back to the sheriff’s station.”

Killian glanced around at the full diner. “Good idea.”

~*~

He tapped on the door to the loft with his hook, hand absently fiddling with this belt. Killian Jones considered himself to be a brave man, able to face down superior foes with a flourish of his sword and a humorous quip from his lips, but tonight, faced with a dinner in the home of Emma’s parents, he did not feel particularly brave.

Snow opened the door, baby Neal on her hip, and smiled. “Killian, glad you could make it. Come on in.”

He nodded his head in a small bow and followed her into the warm apartment. Henry was sitting on the sofa, doing something with the television, and Emma was over at the stove with her father, tasting from a large spoon and offering her opinion. It was a cozy family scene, and he felt very out-of-place. It was this, he thought, even more than Emma’s affection, that he felt like he didn’t deserve.

“You can hang your coat by the door,” Snow was saying as she put Neal into a swinging contraption he’d noticed her using before. “I’m going to help get dinner on the table. Make yourself comfortable.”

Obeying her directions, Killian ambled over to Henry and sat down next to him. Henry’s hands moved quickly over the device in his hand, while on the television, flashes of images Killian could hardly decipher assaulted his eyes. Infernal monsters exploded into a cascade of numbers, seemingly from a weapon that occupied the foreground of the screen.

“Hey, Killian, give me just a second,” Henry said, his eyes never wavering from their focus. The enter screen went red then, and Henry threw up his hands, groaning in frustration.

“Was that bad?” Killian asked him.

“Yeah, I died.” He reached over and turned off his electronic devices. “What’s up? I heard you’ve been researching the wizard’s hat with Belle.”

“Aye, our work is occupying most of my days. We haven’t found anything useful yet, though.” Guilt flared in his chest, and he grimaced at Henry.

“I’m sure you will. I wish the weather would warm up so that we could go sailing again. I miss our lessons.”

Killian was touched that Henry felt that way. “So do I.”

“Dinner is served, everybody,” David called.

The meal was a pleasant one, and any apprehension that Killian had felt melted away in the face of the family’s laughter and comfortable conversation. For the moment he could forget his guilt and enjoy himself. A few times he caught Emma watching him, and saw her blush and reach for her wine. It added a small tingle of excitement to his happiness to see his own affection reflected back in his love’s eyes.

They were lingering over their wine when there was a knock at the door. Henry went to answer it, opening the door to reveal Belle.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt your dinner, but Killian mentioned he would be here,” she said.

“Don’t be silly, Belle, you’re always welcome.” Snow got up from the table and gestured to her. “Come sit with us. Would you like a glass of wine?”

“No, thank you. I actually found something, and I didn’t want it to wait until morning.” She had a thick, leather-bound book clutched in her arms, and she opened it on the table in front of Killian and pointed to a section. “See this?”

He skimmed the words she was referring to; unfortunately they seemed all too familiar. “Right, ‘no potion may free one thusly trapped’,” he read aloud. “We’ve seen those words before.”

“Yes, and doesn’t it seem weird that they keep emphasizing that it’s not a potion? They don’t say it couldn’t be an incantation, or another type of magical object,” Belle said, her voice filled with restrained excitement; whether or not they were able to free the fairies, Killian was thrilled to see her looking happy for once. “So I read on, and found this.” She flipped over several pages and pointed to an engraving of a crystal.

Killian read the caption. “‘A crystal specifically cut to counteract entrapment spells involving magical objects’.” He looked up at her. “Sounds very promising, but how would we ever find it?”

“That’s the thing: I think it might be in New York.”

Emma perked up. “New York? How do you know that?”

Belle grinned. “I googled it. I found an old web site that seemed to indicate it was being held in the archives at the main branch of the New York Public Library, although that was at least a decade ago.”

“It might still be there,” David mused. “Can you call them?”

“I did, but they weren’t able to give me any details over the phone. They said for the archive I was interested in, they would only handle in-person requests.”

“Well, I could go,” Emma murmured, and then jolted out of her chair, her eyes widening. “Killian and I could go. There’s nothing stopping us from coming and going from Storybrooke as we please now that the ice wall is down.” She paced across the room, seemingly too excited to sit still.

“To New York City?” Killian asked, remembering the crushing disappointment of an Emma who didn’t know him and the taste of a cold bologna sandwich in a jail cell. “Not exactly my favorite locale in this realm,” he said as he joined her over by the sofa.

“Think about it for a minute,” she murmured as Henry asked Belle a question about something in the book she’d brought. “Just you and me, away from Storybrooke for a few days, in a hotel room nowhere near any innkeepers with insanely good hearing, or nosy family members, or anyone to bother us.”

“I take it back, Swan. My favorite locale in this realm is anywhere that you happen to be.” Killian felt his mouth stretch into a wide smile. “Let’s sail away.”

CHAPTER 4