#well ma'am

[lith-myathar]

.

[heze-lavirgo]

I'm so damn pissed with school right now. I have to do a research on Massachusetts. Or however you spell the damned name.

Why. Why did my teacher think it was necessary knowing about >Massachusetts<. I'll literally forget everything about it when I finish the work. Because like, why would I remember that apparently they plant Cranberry? What even is that. I'm not from the US, I'm pretty sure I never had that fruit. Why would I need to learn about Massachusettes. I'm angry. I hate Massachusetts. The only thing I will remember is that Harvard is located there and that apparent lots of celebrities are Massachusettian? I have no idea what to call someone from Massachusetts.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are plottinggggg

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[bacchuschucklefuck]

species medley ft. gorgug and riz

[serpentface]

WARDI TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

emense [ɛmɛnse] (eh-mehn-say)

Has meaning close to 'beloved' or 'darling'. "Ya emense" (meaning 'my beloved'/'my darling') is often contracted "y'mense".

bubuch [bubuk] (boo-bookh)

Somewhat of a nonsense word, basically ‘big-big’. Tends to either be used for small children or flirtatiously between adults (kind in between 'baby' and 'big boy' in functionality, though without gendered implications of the latter). Sometimes instead used as a form of intense condescension.

ya mache mes [ja mɑke mes] (yah mah-kay mace)

Functionally means "my other face", using the figurative word for face describing a concept of fundamental nature rather than anatomy. Very intense term of endearment, expresses the recipient as a core part of one's identity. Kind of equivalent to 'my other half' but not exclusively romantic.

ya tsitsima [ja ͡tsi͡tsimə] (yah tsee-tsee-muh)

Means "my blood". This term is used more broadly to denote familial relations, and is more of a term of endearment when used outside of actual biological relationship (calling your sister 'my blood' is just an intense way of saying 'my [relative]', calling a non-relative 'my blood' is VERY pointedly affectionate).

ya ungande [ja ungɑnde] (yah oon-gahn-day)

Often contracted to y'ungande, dead literally means "my liver" as in the organ. Ungande alone is also used as a food-based term of endearment, similar to 'honey' except instead with delicious organ meat.

anuje [ɑnudʒe] (ah-noo-jay)

Food based term of endearment, referring to a tree sap that is the most commonly used form of sweetener. Functionally identical to 'honey' in usage.

anu tlansekoma [ɑnu tlɑnsekoʊmə] (ah-noo tlahn-say-koh-muh)

This one actually means 'honey' (dead literally 'bee sweet'). Less common than 'anuje' as a term of endearment due to general cultural preference for anuje as a sweetener and the relative rarity of beekeeping.

inyagit [injəgit] (een-yah-geet)

Diminutive form of 'sun'. 'Ya inya' (my sun) occurs as well, but is less common.

y'mit agai [j'mit ɑgaɪ] (yuh-meet ah-gai)

Contraction of 'ya amit agai', 'my blue moon'. This specification is more common than a general 'my moon(s)' and is fairly loaded, given this particular moon is the site of the afterlife for the most honored dead. The phrase both suggests a sort of celestial beauty and a sense of being honored and finding rest in the recipient. This is a VERY intense and almost exclusively romantic term of endearment.

coutomara [koʊtoʊmɑrə] (koh-to-mahr-uh)

Means 'handsome' or 'beautiful', implies masculine attractiveness. (Dead literally closer to 'strong face'/'strong featured').

jaimara [dʒaɪmɑrə] (jaim-mahr-uh)

Means 'pretty' or 'beautiful', implies feminine attractiveness (dead literally close to 'beautiful face'/'beautifully featured').

katsuy [kɑtsui] [kaht-soo'ee]

Sexually charged description of physical attractiveness, basically calling someone 'sexy'.

ya katsuymen [ja kɑtsuimɛn] (yah koht-soo'ee-mehn)

Related and also sexually charged, close in meaning to 'my desire'.

at akmatse yachouy [ɑt ɑkmɑtse jɑtʃɔɪ] (aht ahk-mat-say yah-choi )

Sexually explicit term of endearment. The dead literal translation is "one who makes me flower". The word "flower" here is not as euphemistic in context and is rather the nicest sounding possible way to say "makes me cum (HARD)". Not considered vulgar, rather cloyingly romantic if anything.

gan(ne) ama [gɑn(e) ɑmə] (gah(-nay) ahm-uh)

Means 'bull'. When used affectionately, implies masculine strength. Usually used in conjunction with an adjective (ie 'handsome bull') or more teasingly gannit ama (little/baby bull))

jaimeti [dʒaɪmɛti] (jai-meh-tee)

Means 'gazelle' (the name for the animal itself is close in meaning to 'beautiful horn'), heavily associated with grace and beauty. Also tends to be used with adjectives ('lovely gazelle' 'handsome gazelle' etc) or with a diminutive.

ansiba [ɑnsibɑ] (ahn-see-bah) or ansibit [ɑnsibit] (ahn-see-beet)

Means 'duck' and 'duckling' respectively, specifically refers to the animal and implies cuteness. Ansibit is a very common term of endearment for children.

"Wannaukoma such datse anmo" [wɑnaʊkoʊmə suk dɑtse ɑnmoʊ] (wahn-now-koh-muh sookh daht-say ahn-moh)

Means 'an ant could swallow you', implies cuteness (ie the recipient is so small and tiny an Ant could devour them whole). Usually used on children, occasionally used on adult women (in a way that feels intensely patronizing to many). 'Datse' (you) may be replaced by the recipients surname or honorific in the rare case that someone would dare calling someone this without being on first name basis with them.

wannaukomit [wɑnaʊkoʊmit] (wahn-now-koh-meet)

Means 'little ant', a term of endearment that borders on insulting even to babies.

OTHER:

-it [it] (eet)

This is a diminutive modifier, which can be added to a name or other word/term of endearment to denote affection (can also be condescending). It lacks internal meaning in everyday use and is closer to the English -y or -ie (billy johnny rosie susie puppy kitty ducky etc).

hippe [hipɛ] (heep-peh) (some dialects drop the h sound entirely)

Means 'small' or 'little', can be spoken with other words/names as an affectionate diminutive.

Other epithets-

Various epithets used in the language are not exclusively used as terms of endearment, but can be contextually. Most commonly, this will be the -machen epithet of the recipients zodiac birthsign (particularly those considered auspicious). Someone with the lion birthsign could be respectfully and/or affectionately called 'odomachen', or VERY affectionately called 'ya odo' ('my lion'). There's also a good variety of poetic epithets that have worked their way into common language as affectionate compliments/descriptors- ie ganatoche (dead literally 'cow-eye', more prettily 'ox-eyed') is a complimentary descriptor for brown eyes, anaemaitsa (dead literally 'river-haired', more prettily 'flowing-haired') compliments wavy hair.

Given name basis-

In Wardi culture, full names are spoken with the family name preceding the given name. When respectfully speaking to a stranger, peer, or authority figure, you refer to them by their family name, title, and/or an honorific. Being on an accepted given name basis with someone is generally indicative of closeness and affection.

datse [dɑtse] (dah-tsay)

This is the word for "you". Similarly to the use of a given name, actually referring to someone as 'you' (rather than a surname, title, or honorific in place of the pronoun) expresses familiarity and intimacy.

[lonelyzarquon]

DOCTOR WHO | Death in Heaven

[aroaceleovaldez]

in your most recent tyson post, you said something about leo being distinctly autistic-coded and I was wondering if you could elaborate on that? it sounds really interesting (sorry if you've already posted something on this, I couldn't find anything though)

Of course! I do have a specific tag for talking about Leo's autistic-coding/traits - [here], and [one for Nico as well].

The main aspects with Leo being autistic-coded actually have a lot to do with Nico being autistic-coded, because it's the comparisons between the two that most clearly indicate Leo is autistic-coded rather than it just being his ADHD or etc.

So with Nico being autistic-coded, it's very clear in the Titan's Curse that he's intended to be autistic. First, the first series has a repeating pattern of secondary characters being very distinctly neurodivergent-coded in different ways (Annabeth's adhd/dyslexia, Tyson's down syndrome-coding, Nico's autism-coding). With Nico's introduction, he's pretty stereotypically autistic and we're given a lot of descriptors about him that are notably not attributed to him being ADHD, like it would be for other demigod characters. He doesn't register social cues such as people getting annoyed at him, he's asking/making inappropriate or impolite questions/comments, he gets particularly upset about change (such as Bianca joining the Hunt) and generally gets emotional, and one of his most notable traits he's introduced with is the fact that he has a special interest (MythoMagic) - and we're shown that this special interest particularly colors how Nico navigates the world. While ADHD has hyperfixations, we don't really get much acknowledgement of hyperfixations with demigods usually - Annabeth gets a little, but most others don't and it's not nearly as focused-in on as Nico's is.

Then as the series continues we see these traits stick with him and him start to show or voice more traits that similarly indicate he's autistic: He regularly mentions how he doesn't understand living people and prefers the company of the dead (social issues). He has more notable stims than other demigods (twisting his ring, fiddling with bones, etc). He's indicated to have strong sensory preferences (usually wearing mostly black/aversion to bright colors, usually wearing layers/his coat, multiple times he's described as wearing loose/baggy clothing or clothes too big for him). He has specific comfort items (his ring, likely his jacket(s) as well). We later get even more information about his special interests (Mythomagic/mythology/history and an older interest in pirates - the latter he specifically notes likely heavily influenced his feelings towards Percy). He struggles with emotions and facial expressions and tone. He struggles particularly with ostracism and feeling like he doesn't fit in and has something distinctly different about him from the people around him (who notably, all have ADHD, which indicates it isn't the ADHD that's making him feel that way), and other characters regularly describe him as being off-putting because of his strange behaviors - again, different from specific ADHD traits they recognize. And that last point is kind of notable because we have Hazel and Bianca for comparison - we know people are off-put by both Nico and Hazel because of being children of Hades/Pluto and their powers/aura, but other characters get past that general feeling of discomfort way faster with Hazel. And even after characters get past the death stuff with Nico, there's a second thing that they aren't moving past that isn't a factor with Hazel (Nico's autism).

So that brings us to Leo - Leo is paralleled to Nico a lot. And there's some very specific traits about him that we know are autistic-coding because of how they're used with Nico: He similarly struggles with social cues/etc, and in a very similar parallel to Nico describes how he prefers the company of machines to people because machines make more sense to him. He has similar types of clothing/sensory preferences (again some stuff with layers but also - pockets! He likes having pockets and things to put stuff in! He's even introduced as having a jacket with lots of pockets), and he has a distinct special interest (machinery) that we specifically know heavily influences how he views and navigates the world (constantly comparing things to machinery, describing things with machinery metaphors/terminology, etc etc). He even describes his entire general worldview to Hazel and it's a machine metaphor. He also similarly struggles with ostracization like Nico does, the only difference being that Leo specifically puts on a persona to compensate for areas he knows he's lacking in and very explicitly describes it as a means to make people like him, because without it he normally struggles to fit in (He's masking!). We also see notes of characters describing that similar discomfort with Leo's behaviors that they do with Nico, except without the aura of death this time. And when we're in Leo's POVs we see a very stark difference between his masking and his actual personality/behaviors such as his internal dialogues or how he behaves when he's alone. Also, like Nico, he stims more than other demigods, though for Leo it's more attributed to his ADHD. Leo also, more often than most, similarly struggles with tone and reading the room, such as making misplaced jokes/comments or etc.

But yeah! It's really interesting. Also it's just a fun thing that ADHD/dyslexia and autism have comorbidity, so it makes sense that we see demigods who are also autistic. It's also really fun to look at how other characters are coded in the series, what coding looks like in the riordanverse specifically (usually it's tied into the mythological stuff - like Chiron being in a wheelchair but he's actually a centaur, Grover being introduced as having a muscular disease but he's actually a satyr, demigods having adhd/dyslexia, Tyson being coded as having down syndrome but he's a cyclops, etc etc - it's a lot of specific metaphor stuff that I've talked about a bit before), and to look at how characters are compared to one another.

[eliteseven]

have you seen the new shadowheart voice lines in patch 7 when she pets the owlbear and scratch. they are too damn cute.

(If not, there on dragondream youtube)

........ ?!?!?!?! 🥹

[sekaithemystic]

You and me, Rook. Maybe that's what scares me.

NEVE ROMANCE ALERT I REPEAT NEVE ROMANCE ALERT

[b4kuch1n]

What is this for, love? Home, or glory?

[thebirdandhersong]

???? something something deep discomfort with body image is it generational?????????

[zeeckz]

do u think Kaz ever got jouzu'd when he went back to Japan as an adult with that strongly USAmericanized look he has

[ceilidho]

ghost always pocket your panties whenever you’re done fucking, doesn’t matter if you whine that his cum is sliding down your legs and smearing at your thighs. will clean you up if you keep huffing and puffing about it.

he's real smug about it too :\\ it's hidden behind the mask, but you can tell from his general demeanour and the way he doesn't hide the way he pockets them on his way out.

this would be…..THE BEST in a situationship fic with simon "ill run away at the first sign of commitment but i'll stab anyone else you try to sleep with" "ghost" riley. he keeps nicking your panties, but if you so much as confront him about it, he'll just buy you a bunch of new ones :\\\ so why are you still complaining?

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: WHEN AMONG CROWS by Veronica Roth.

I finished this last night! It's a shortie (only 166 pages!), and the first thing I've read by Roth since DIVERGENT. Since I didn't vibe with that one, I tried not to be overly optimistic about this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it--it was a great little bite-sized modern urban fantasy set in Chicago that draws on Polish folklore.

Cool magic system(s), cool monsters, cool underground boxing ring featuring said cool monsters and cool magic, thoughtfully drawn characters (Dymitr and Ala and Niko, my beloveds,), complicated Sibling and Family Relationships, a little bit gay, VERY bloody (featuring ah. fingernails. and. spines.), an emotional gut punch at the end, and y'know the more I list here the more I think I like it?? She (Roth) also acknowledges Witcher in her post-book shout-outs, which. yeah. If you like Witcher, I think this is worth checking out!

[wexhappyxfew]

the waiting game

(a/n): HELLO FRIENDS!!!!! how is everyone?!?!?! it has been a minute since i've been able to put writing out but! i finished my summer internship and took a vacay too and i'm back to do some more writing! :) i have one more prompt to put out that is taking me some time to rewrite/edit, but i wanted to start with putting out a piece for annie x brady for AGES AGO!!!! i wrote it maybe back in march/april and it never got posted so, i cleaned it up and wanted to put it out!! PLUS it features annie x brady being adorable beans and some cameos from other Silver Bullets members just being their normal, chaotic selves haha. so please enjoy that!!!! :D

Algeria was hot as fuck.

The belly of Silver Bullets could only provide so much shade as they waited for the 12th to show up.

Too hot inside the fort, too hot outside the fort, the strip of shade providing what it could, especially with the sun moving from east to west and the atmosphere simply being one thing - hot.

Annie lounged beneath the shaded nose of the plane, leg bent up with her other leg crossed over top, aviators over her eyes as she stared at the smoke from her cigarette, curling upwards towards the bright blue sky, half covered by the nose of the B-17. Her shorts were filled with sand, her tank top a size too big and equally covered in sand and parts of her skin were either dried out or burnt and peeling. A lot of the others were in a much similar or slightly worse state - sun burnt, sweating and coarse sand all over; anywhere you could think and it was there. Something kicked at her foot.

"Hey, you alive?" Annie looked up and found Francis there, aviators and that stupid hat Major Egan was also walking around wearing on his head.

"I am in fact living and breathing," Annie said, and then placed the cigarette on her lip, "you look ridiculous." Francis smirked and then came and settled down on the ground beside Annie and sighed.

"This was all his idea, if I must say," Francis said as Annie passed her the cigarette and she took a puff, "you know as they say, if you wanna look stupid, look stupid together." Annie snorted and glanced over towards Francis.

"So, any update?"

"None. Absolutely nothing. Oh, someone from Brady's crew is trying to train a goat to stand on its hind-legs. Otherwise, no, no news."

"Great." Annie said and glanced back towards the nose of Silver Bullets, her mind drifting briefly to that glance her and Brady had shared a few nights ago after landing, his eyes soft, his face worn with exhaustion, the slight smile on the corners of his cheeks, "Who the hell is training the goat?" Francis let out a snort and sighed, picking up a handful of sand and dropping it to the ground again.

"I don't know, I think one of their waist gunners," Francis said nonchalantly, "Brady's encouraging him. Either way, it was funny as hell trying to see those two trying to tame a goat. It was a treat, that's all I gotta say." Annie chuckled and took back the cigarette and blew out a puff. Her mind wandered - everyone was hot, a little moody, waiting for some fresh water, or a meal that wasn't hot as anything. The waiting game was only fun so many times before you were waiting to lead a horse to water where it wouldn't drink.

"We get water?"

"Yeah, some," Francis said, "I think Mari and Judy are helping Benny to pass some out. Want me to grab you some?"

"Nah, I can get it." Annie said and then slowly sat up, her head swimming a bit from the mixture of sweat and equally, heat exhaustion.

"No you're not," Francis said, "honey, you're burnt up like a fried pepper. Stay here." Annie pulled a face.

"It's just a little bit of sun-burn, I've had worse." Annie said and Francis shot her a look, even from behind the aviators, that told her to stay still.

"Don't start moving around, alright, I'll be back." Annie watched Francis leave, before lying back down on her back and staring up again at the nose of good ole Silver Bullets, before shutting her eyes. A few minutes of shut-eye might be worthwhile.

"Annie." Her eyes shot open and she found Brady standing there above her. Eyes widening rather dramatically, she flushed a bit and shifted.

"John, hey." she said, suddenly realizing her fetal-position-like posture there on the ground and blinked a few times before, slowly sitting up, head swimming and then getting to her feet, to which Brady placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her, which made her hiss, the sun-burn burning a bit from his warm hand.

"Oh, shit," Brady said, immediately removing his hand, "I just wanted to steady you-"

"No, no, thank you, it's okay. You're okay, thank you." Annie said as she glanced towards her shoulder, at the skin beginning to peel up, grimacing a bit as she looked towards him, "Sunburn that's all." Brady looked at her through his own aviators and she suddenly took him in there in front of her - shirtless - not exactly something she was complaining about or should even be thinking too deeply into.

It was hot. The sun was brutal, you basically wanted as little layers on as possible, and they all smelled generally, not too great. But Brady being shirtless was yeah….definitely a sight worth glancing at considering the circumstances where everything was simply draining.

She flushed deeper, and hoped it would pass off as heat exhaustion if anything as she watched Brady cross his arms, the evidently toned muscles of his arms extending far greater into her line of sight than she would've thought.

"You need me to get a bandage for it or something?" Brady asked her, "Some water to pour on it?" Annie stared at him and then wised-up and shook her head.

"It's alright, really, no worries," she said, and then cleared her throat, "how's it going? What's up?" Brady smiled and then shook his head.

"That's what I came to ask you, but now you have me considering scrounging bandages." he said, placing his hands on his hips, "Don't mind stepping up to the plate."

"Don't be telling that to Kennedy, she'll start a ball game in this heat and next thing you know we'll all be burnt." Annie said with a smirk and Brady chuckled at her words. She tilted her head to the side and considered his help - he was already standing in her presence, he didn't need to do much else.

"I'm fine really though, save the bandages. For a serious issue." she told him with a small smile and he shook his head.

"It could get worse." he told her, face falling to a pinch of worry that you had to see if you squinted, crossing his arms again - really nice arms, "C'mon, let me find something. Hey…..Stagliano!"

Paulina Stagliano, ever-the-presently-always-pissed person she was, sat under one of the wings of Silver Bullets sat up and lifted her aviators, her curly hair that was out of its usual braids, looking like it'd been just dumped in a bucket of water, sticking to her cheeks, glanced at him.

"What the hell do you possibly want me from me, sir!" she hollered, voice bouncing off the nearby metal of the plane.

"Bandages!" Brady called back, "For your pilot!"

"That was a little unneeded, John," Annie said, giving his shoulder a shove and he turned to her with that wide grin and shook his head, "really, the girls know I'm fine, that's what matters."

"You're their pilot. And also one of the 100ths, I'll look out for ya, alright?" Well, there was no use arguing anymore at this point. Paulina came hauling over with a few packs of bandages she kept at the radio station in the fort and smacked it into Brady's hands with a grumble.

"Why you always gotta say it like that? Because you know I'll come running, sir?" Paulina murmured crossing her arms.

"Because I know you like to carry extra things with ya - bobby pins, bottle caps, postcards and figured you also had bandages."

"Right." Paulina said and then deadpanned, "Sir, why the hell you need bandages."

"Not me," Brady said, "Bradshaw." Paulina looked to Annie and then smirked.

"Right, Mr. Chivalrous." Paulina said, "Lieutenant Brady, when did you become such a softy-schmuck." Brady gave her a look.

"Ask me again during business hours."

"News-flash, Lieutenant, we are on business hours." Brady glanced her way and Paulina raised a brow, "Just make sure you wrap the bandages real nicely, okay? No need getting infections in this hell hole. This is my pilot we're talking about." Paulina sighed and shook her head, squinting into the sun, "For Christ-sake." And with that, Paulina was wading back over to her spot on the ground. Brady turned to look back at Annie and found her looking after Paulina.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Annie said quickly, "just….worried about some of the women. Like usual." Brady chuckled and then flicked through some of the bandages in his grasp.

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore at the minute. Let someone else worry about you for now." he said and she glanced at him, "You need help putting these on?" Annie stared, and then shook her head.

"Nah, I got it." she said and took the bandages, "Really, you didn't have to get these, I'll be fine-"

"Annie, if you say you'll be fine, one more damn time, I'm actually going to lose it." Francis said coming over with two canteens filled with water, "Lieutenant Brady, pleasure to see you here." Francis said glancing at him before looking back at Annie, "You gotta take care of yourself better. I can't be playing co-pilot and single-mother out here."

"I'm fine, Francis, really, I'll throw some bandages and water on to cool the burns down and we'll move on from this. It'll heal." Annie admonished and watched as Francis side-eyed, glancing at Brady before looking back at Annie.

"I will hand-apply those bandages on Annie I swear to-"

"I'll take care of it." Brady said calmly, cutting in and taking the bandages out of Annie's hands and one of the tins of water from Francis' grasp, "Go sit down for a bit, I'll help her out." Francis looked from Annie to Brady and then nodded.

"Alright, then." Francis said and then glanced at Brady and pointed a finger at him, "Wrap it tight, Brady, I don't wanna see exposed bits of sun-burn, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Brady said, snickering as Francis wandered away and lied down beside Bessie on the ground.

Brady turned to Annie and then poured water on his hands before opening up the bandages. Annie suddenly took in the fact it was the two of them; it always ended up being the two of them somehow - like back at base, when the night got long, and it was the last of the group at the bar; it was the two of them. The one night the group had gone out to look at the stars, sharing cigarettes, stories and drinks, the last of the group had simply been the two of them, a few glances that had Annie second-guessing a bit too much for her liking. It was always the two of them.

Annie caught a glance at his bare chest in the golden, honey sun again and looked away, her cheeks, if they weren't already burning from heat exhaustion or sunburn, flaming red.

"So, liking Algeria?" Annie asked him as he began to work. Brady chuckled and glanced up at her, overtop the Aviators and smirked.

"It's hot as anything, so….not my favorite, but…I'm not dying so, can't complain." Annie laughed.

"Got that right." Annie said quietly and she watched him smile as he gently placed the bandages on the sunburn and then continued to do the same until the majority of the sunburn was mostly covered, and then pressed down the edges before looking at her. He was standing so close to her, and she was sure she must've smelled like sweat, metal and blood and almost wished she was still lying on the ground, in fetal-position with Francis bugging her about the water.

"Handy-work, huh?" he said softly, "You need some water?"

"Thanks." she said as she took the canteen from him and took down some water, before pulling down the canteen and then looking at Brady, who was staring her down from her angle.

"I appreciate the concern over my sunburn," she said with a small smile as she screwed the canteen lid on, and Brady offered a quick smile, "but, your boys okay?"

"Yeah," Brady said, "Jacobs was trying to train a goat." Annie laughed.

"I heard."

"Francis?"

"Yeah." Annie said with a laugh, "So, how's that going?"

"Eh, could be going better," Brady said with a laugh, "funny though to watch a grown man chase around a goat with a piece of bread, trying to get the goat to stand on its hind legs." Annie laughed, before looking at him with a smile. That look, it made it her stomach twist.

"You managed to get any rest?" she asked him quietly; no one could really sleep it seemed just because of the circumstances, so when someone did, it was a small victory for the 100th it seemed altogether.

"A bit." Brady said, "Keep ending up with sand all up my nose when I get up though, you?"

"Here and there," Annie said, "it's why I was so surprised to see you, to be honest. I was half-asleep."

"Sorry 'bout that." Brady said quickly, with a grin and Annie laughed.

"It's fine, really, it's….it's nice to see you." she said and they fell quiet for a brief moment, Brady smiling at her with one of those closed-lipped grins he usually wore. Something seemed to shift between them. Brady took a small step closer and dropped his voice to the point only she could hear.

"Saw your plane take some hits flying out here….everyone okay?" Are you okay? His eyes begged the question.

"For the most part." Annie said managed quietly back, "I just think we're all glad to have made it. Thought at first we'd be going down somewhere over Italy - one of the engines….it's that stubborn third engine is always crapping out but…." Brady watched her, as the two fell quiet, the tension in the air between them overwhelming and suffocating. She couldn't help but take in a few shaky breaths, watching as he stared at her, their aviators suddenly the only thing between them it felt.

"Listen, Annie, I've been meaning to ask you-"

"Hey! Guys, it's the 12th!" Annie and Brady looked around the front of Silver Bullets, and there they were - the 12th. Coming in, like rolling thunder, dust kicking up all over the place in the far distance.

"Well, looks like we'll be heading home." Annie said, glancing over towards Brady with a small smile. The look on his face was hidden with something else she couldn't quite decipher, but instead he smiled and crossed his arms.

"Heading home." he echoed.

Heading home - wherever that seemed to be these days.

[miss-kitty-fantastic]

Just watched a YouTube video where Armand and Lestat were referred to as "fabulously dressed, needy vampires" and I've been laughing about it ever since