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lightshadowverisimilitude · 5 years ago

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Temeraire ABO Prologue/?

I am 82,000 words into this one, so, it is safe to say that I will be able to post consistently for a little while at least.

Laurence has spent the entirety of his adult life hiding his orientation. His worst nightmare is that someone will discover he is an omega.

As requested, tagging @tamaras-random-little-corner @whenflowersfade @memprime

Watch out for the cut, ducklings.

~*~

Laurence stood at the rail and watched England disappear beyond the horizon. Somewhere ahead of him was China. Below his feet was Yongxing and the whole of his embassy with seven or eight months in close quarters and nothing else to do with their time but try to separate him from Temeraire.

The part of his heart that had always been drawn to the sea was relaxed in a way it had not been in the months since he and Temeraire had been set ashore in Dover, but he was surprised to realize that it no longer quite felt like home to him. He had been at sea for eighteen years and had always felt a little ill-at-ease on solid land before.

His first brief trip on a ship had been his uncle’s merchant vessel when he'd been about nine. At the time, he’d thought it a real marvel, though in reality it was quite a small vessel with a crew of only fifteen. They had traveled far enough away from the shore that Laurence could see nothing but endless ocean in all directions. He had felt a swelling sense of wonder, at once both alone in all the world and connected to it in a way that he couldn’t explain. His heart had been for the sea from that moment on. At least until Temeraire.

Laurence reached out and set a hand on Temeraire’s forearm. He wanted nothing more in that moment than their clearing at Loch Laggan, but he could only be grateful for their reunion, even if that reunion lasted only as long as the journey to China. He pulled himself up into the comfortable crook of Temeraire’s arm to enjoy the warmth of the sun and the cool salt breeze. If staying onshore wouldn’t have risked the Admiralty changing their minds about sending him and his whole crew with Temeraire, Laurence would have preferred to remain on land for another two or three weeks to get through his cycle before being confined to the ship.

It did not matter. He had gone through dozens of cycles onboard and could manage another. It would not be as comfortable or easy to hide as when he had been in command of the ship, but that, too, he had done before. A five-day fever would not be uncommon or unexpected on a long sea voyage, though he did not like that it would come so soon when Temeraire was intent on playing the nursemaid and concerned over his health. Laurence could already feel the prickly sense of discomfort of the cycle, and guessed that he had maybe two or three days until he was in the thick of it. He looked up at Temeraire. From the angle, he could really only see the underside of Temeraire’s chin and the thin tendrils dangling over the side of his jaw.

Laurence would have to try to endure as long as he could to stay at Temeraire’s side and alleviate his concerns as much as possible. If he was lucky, the exhaustion brought on by his recent injury would work in his favor, and he would sleep through the first part of it, though he would need to isolate himself in his cabin once the fever came on or risk discovery.

Over the years, he had grown accustomed to laying the groundwork for his periods of isolation, and coughed into his fist.

“Laurence?” Temeraire asked immediately, alarmed. “Oh, it is too cold. Roland! Do bring another blanket!” he ordered before Laurence could even get his fist down from his face.

“My dear, no, I am quite well. Please do not concern yourself.”

He needn’t have bothered to protest. Roland had jumped up and was already gone belowdecks, though he did manage to put a stop to it before Keynes was summoned, and immediately felt guilty for the ruse. He had never liked it, play acting at being ill, but a convenient fever was the only means he could reliably use to lock himself in his cabin and trust that his crew would not bother him for fear of spreading the sickness. If any of his crews had ever suspected the cause of his illness, no one had let on.

Roland reappeared with the second blanket, and Laurence withheld his frustration at the treatment as she was directed by his overgrown mother hen to wrap it around his shoulders. She had also taken the initiative of bringing a cushion, and tucked this between his neck and Temeriare’s arm.

“Thank you, Roland,” Laurence said dryly. She gave him an impish grin and danced back to her play with the other runners.

It was going to be a long week.

~*~

Laurence was practiced at hiding the initial onset of his cycle, but that had been easier when he’d had actual duties and could blame the vagaries and stresses of command for any shortness in his tone. It was different when he had a very attentive dragon who had little to do with his time other than hover over Laurence. He watched Riley and Purbeck on deck with a growing sense of jealousy and irritation. Every order built up the annoyance under his skin until it was all he could do to tuck himself in between Temeraire’s arms and feign sleep. Even then, sleep came rarely, so he had to just clench his teeth and try to block out the sounds and scents around him.

“Laurence, are you quite sure you are well? The wound is not bothering you?” Temeraire asked when Laurence woke in overheated agitation, already struggling out of his nest of blankets before he was even fully aware.

Laurence blinked rapidly, trying to place himself. The sky was dark above him, stars wheeling ahead. For a panicky moment, he thought he’d fallen asleep on watch, but finally registered Temeraire’s chest at his back and remembered where he was and why. He was parched, and the hand he dragged across his forehead came away slick with sweat. His leg also ached in dull fire of complaint, dragging the memory of the skirmish with the French and subsequent confusion of the harness straps tangled around his leg, the later horror of his crew standing with weapons raised opposite Marines.

Shaking his head to dislodge the spiral of memory before it dragged him under to waking nightmares, Laurence patted at Temeraire’s chest.

“I think, perhaps I am not feeling well after all,” he said finally, struggling to his feet.

“I will call for Keynes immediately -!”

“No, Temeraire, please do not disturb anyone on my account. I will just go below and get some sleep. I am certain that I shall be well again soon.” He patted at Temeraire’s hide and stood, but kept one hand on the smooth black scales as he walked around Temeraire’s outstretched arm to the stairs leading off the dragon deck.

Temeraire called after him in some concern, but Laurence feigned not to have heard and made his way down the hatch, clutching unsteadily at the rail as he went. He felt faint and dizzy, his stomach twisting and chest aching. He did not run into anyone en route to his quarters and bolted the door firmly behind him. Laurence drained the tankard of water on the cabin’s small table, and then crawled into his hammock and closed his eyes against the prickling burn.

The sway of his hammock was familiar, but the motion was not pleasant with his stomach squirming with nausea and his head throbbing. He reached out blindly to put one hand on the bulkhead, but it didn’t help to stabilize him. Heat was already building under his skin, and he guessed that the next morning would see his cycle take hold in earnest.

~*~

Part way through the next day, Riley came to see him. Laurence thought that if anyone had guessed the truth about him, it would be Riley. Laurence had made something of a name for himself by taking young officers under his wing and then recommending them to other captains after a year or so of service. As a result, he had developed an odd reputation as both a fighting captain and something like a school master. Other captains were always happy to take his young officers, already well-trained, while Laurence would accept a new batch of fresh faces at the onset of the following voyage.

Riley, though, had come up under him from midshipman, and had been his longest-serving officer. It was as much at Riley’s fervent insistence as for the growing friendship between them, but it had been dangerous for him as well. The frequent change over of his officers meant that very few of them had ever seen him through more than one cycle, while Riley had likely witnessed a dozen or more. Surely, enough to do the math.

Despite this, Riley had never so much as hinted at a suspicion. When he called through the door, Laurence hesitated only a moment before cracking it open.

“My apologies, Captain Riley. I appear to have a bit of a fever. It is probably best if I do not accept visitors for the time being.”

Riley did not try to push into the cabin, but nodded to him. “Of course, Captain. Your dragon has been asking for you, and I would like to prevent any … anxiety. Might I carry word to him?”

Laurence considered straightening his clothing and going up topside, but he was in no condition to be around people for anything less than an emergency. As his cycle progressed, he would become increasingly more unstable and have less self control. The damage of being on deck with potentially hundreds of witnesses could not be easily understated.

“Please tell him I am well enough, just tired. If I am feeling better this evening, I will come up.”

Riley gave him a critical once over, but nodded. He handed a bell through the hand’s breadth of space Laurence had left open. “If you need anything, please ring for it. I have made it a general order to keep this corridor clear during the day where possible, though there will be men at the far end if you have need of anything.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Laurence said sincerely. His eyes fastened briefly to the cut of Riley’s jaw, the soft space just behind the ear. He shook himself to break the spell and accepted the bell, keeping his fingers well away from Riley’s in the exchange. He closed the door firmly and leaned forward to rest his forehead against it to listen to Riley’s steps as they retreated.

The pressure low in his pelvis built up so quickly that it made him gag. He doubled over, knees hitting the deck. He tore at the ties of his trousers and shoved his hand inside, but it took nothing more than pushing his fingers against the warmth just behind his balls to come, blinding fast and so hard that it was more pain than pleasure.

He toppled sideways and gasped for breath, the heat and urgency momentarily abated, though the customary anger took its place. It was a useless anger. Outside of his cycle, he could discipline himself to dismiss it. This was biology, and it was not a thing that had been done to him out of spite, though he had railed against God enough in his youth. In the grips of it, he could barely see past the rage that the majority of the population was never held in this miserable prison, and society would be more than happy to punish him for it if anyone ever learned the truth.

~*~

Sometime around midnight, fucked out on his own hand, oversensitized and shaking with reaction, Laurence nonetheless took the time to clean himself with meticulous care, dress neatly, and make the trip above decks to see Temeraire. The corridor was clear, and the deck was empty but for the officer of the watch, a pair of hands playing cards around a lantern some ways down the deck, and Granby sitting at Temeraire’s elbow with a novel open on his knees, reading aloud by lamplight.

“Laurence!” Temeraire declared loudly enough to pull the sailors’ attention from their game, interrupting Granby mid-sentence.

“Captain,” Granby greeted, obviously not at all offended to be interrupted. If anything, he looked rather relieved.

“Mr. Granby, my apologies for the interruption,” Laurence said anyway. Granby had discarded his coat, and his neckcloth hung open over his shoulders, revealing a strip of skin, sweat slick in the hollow of his throat.

Laurence yanked his eyes forcefully away, already feeling the resurgence of heat below his belt. He cleared his throat and crossed the dragon deck to the rail. Cool spray hit his face and he breathed in the air. He would have liked to have his window open, but, under the right conditions, the water could carry sound for miles. The last thing he needed was Temeraire hearing whatever noises he couldn’t suppress and becoming more worried, or, worse, anyone else hearing him and knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Are you well, Laurence?” Temeraire asked anxiously, leaning down to bring his eye level with Laurence’s face, his chin just hovering above the railing. “Captain Riley was kind enough to let me know he had spoken with you, but I do hope your wound is not troubling you. Perhaps we should return to England, Laurence. At least until you are well. If Prince Yongxing does not wish to wait, he can go on without us. I am quite sure I could make it back to land from here."

“My dear, it is only a fever, and you see that I am much improved already. I am sure in another day or so, you will hardly know that I had ever been ill.” He stroked Temeraire’s soft nose. For the first time, he truly wished he could share this burden with someone else. It felt wrong to hide any part of himself from Temeraire, but he had been keeping this secret for so long that he wasn’t sure he could have made himself say it, even if they were not surrounded by ears. Laurence was not willing to rely on the polite fiction of ignorance for this.

He swayed at another wave of heat boiling up out of his gut and over his chest. He disguised it by leaning against Temeraires’ cheek and resting his forehead on the eye ridge.

“You do feel quite warm,” Temeraire said in obvious concern.

“You are right, my dear. Perhaps I will return to my cabin. I will see you tomorrow. Mr. Granby.” He nodded his head to his first lieutenant, who watched him very carefully, but nodded back as Laurence passed him on the way to the hatch.

~*~

The rest of his cycle passed uneventfully. Once he felt the last of the heat fade and hunger starting to return, he opened his windows to air the cabin out and gathered his linens to be washed. He was greeted warmly at the breakfast table, and reassured those present of his returned health. He was ravenous, but made himself maintain the fiction of having just recently recovered from illness and took his gruel and biscuit without complaint.

Depending on their luck with the winds and how much Riley pushed their speed, he might have one more cycle to withstand aboard. He could not honestly say if he would prefer to weather the potential suspicion or concern of appearing to catch the same brief illness twice in so short a period, or risk being incapacitated in China.

He would endure it either way. He hardly had a choice in the matter.

#temeraire #temeraire fanfic #ABO #laurence/tharkay #eventually #really eventually

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hi-this-is-hollis-renee · 5 years ago

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Thank you @whenflowersfade for being the craftiest& bestest mf i know! I am in love with these masks 💜💜💜

#i have cool friends #covid #mask

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lesbianredpanda · 5 years ago

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@whenflowersfade I finished this up yesterday morning ✨🧁

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copperbadge · 6 years ago

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whenflowersfade reblogged your post and added:

STITCH WITCH MY MAN

aylathebunny replied to your post “thelegendary-nico replied to your post “I broke 35K in NaNo this...”

While I second Stitch Witch, it is totally string XD No matter what it actually is... It is always string...

See, I like stitch witch, but it only ever makes me think of “stitchwitchery” which was the two-sided iron-on adhesive my mum used to use while sewing. :D

#aylathebunny #whenflowersfade

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lightshadowverisimilitude · 4 years ago

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Rules: If you’re tagged, post the last 7 sentences of the last WIP you worked on and tag 7 more people to keep the challenge going, if you’d like.

Tagged by @onemuseleft

This is from my up-coming Untamed/CQL/MDZS Big Bang fic!

“I fear that there is some strategy behind it,” Lan Xichen agreed. He looked back uncertainly at Wen Chao, who was loudly demanding wine and treatment for his injuries, despite being in no immediate danger while many of the men around him were grievously wounded. “Wen Ruohan has always doted on his youngest child,” he said.

“All the more tempting a trap,” Lan Wangji said. He had no doubt that Wen Ruohan would sacrifice anyone or anything to achieve his goals, even the son he adored.

“We proceed with caution,” Nie Mingjue decided. He called one of his disciples over and ordered, “Send a dispatch to the Jiang immediately, let them know what happened here.”

I’m not 100% sure who is writing at the moment, so no pressure tagging + if you are not a writer/not writing at present, feel free to pass the tag onto someone who is (or post artwork! Or 7 sentences of Random!)

@eak1mouse @arukou-arukou @elvenavari @sharkbeneaththelotus @whenflowersfade @veteratorianvillainy @snoozingcat

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elsewhereuniversity · 8 years ago

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ASKS- Campus Life

Asks sent to my main and answered here. Theme - social life/architecture/etc. of Elsewhere University.

cracksandcraters said: what about brother/sister/otherhoods of more arcane nature? seems it would be a fertile ground for secret societies, magic circles, and dark cabals to do their recruiting. or do the kind ones not brook such organizations poaching on their territory?

Frankly the Gentry don’t really give a damn about anything that doesn’t involve them; there’s the usual assortment of weird student shit. In terms of outside societies recruiting – I think they’d also have about the amount of success they’d have on any other campus, which is to say it’s a mob of disaffected millennial who’re trying desperately to graduate with minimum debt and joke about wanting to die a lot. Success would be limited.

harbringerofdoom said: In terms of Elsewhere University, do students sometimes come with dormant magic in their blood that is brought out either by being in the place or one of the Gentry playing around. Like "oops, it turns out you have some werewolf way back in your bloodline, time to mark the full moon on your calendar" if so, is there a club/support group for the poor students who are now more magical than when they started school?

Yeah the Elsewhere really tends to bring any latent weirdness to the surface! The unofficial student group for people trying to deal with this shit calls itself the Mallwalking Club in an effort to keep outsiders from joining; it’s strictly word of mouth and you’ve got to be vouched for. It’s also not for people who wind up fae-touched through their own doing; it’s for ‘legacy’ students who are discovering that somewhere up the family tree someone wasn’t entirely honest about who the co-parent was.

whenflowersfade said: In regards to the 'annual events vs the fair folk' thing, imagine a Jail'n'Bail happening. Some people would not come back.

Hahaha I had to look that up and I’ve got no idea how that would translate my guy

valravna said: Honestly I love the idea of Elsewhere University. Is it considered fae realm or human realm though? Since it technically IS called Elsewhere Uni, and that is what you named the Faen realm. Is it like a gateway of sorts? A place where the veil, so to speak, is thin and the pull of the moon strong?

It’s both – a place where two distinct locations in the real world and the Elsewhere mesh together (not without issues, hence the places where space is weird). The Elsewhere bleeding through to the real world gives Elsewhere U it’s unreality; the real world seeping into the Elsewhere means that Fair Folk around the campus find themselves following certain belief-shaped patterns of interactions and rules with more rigidity than they are used to in the Deep Else.

A note on the name – When it was founded, it was under the last name of the old 1800s guy who founded it; it wasn’t named Elsewhere University right off the bat because at the time it was a perfectly normal school. (And more informally, I called it Elsewhere University bc it sounded cool and I didn’t think it would get this big; I’ve since been informed that without a grad program it is in fact a college, but it’s a bit late to change it now.) Still, someone brought up an interesting point (and one day I’ll find that ask again!) – if true names have power, what could you do with the true name of the entire school?

ridafi14 said: You mention in the comic that there are places where time is Different. But what about times where places are distorted ? EU students give themselves plenty of time to get where they're going. Especially at dawn or dusk. It might just be tired eyes, but sometimes, after dark, the main hall of the library seems to stretch on at least ten times as long as it should, and some students swear that they've walked out the door from a noon lecture and onto a part of campus nowhere near the classroom.

Happens upsettingly often.

Anon said: What's the librarian like? Have they seen the most wierd stuff or are they completely oblivious to it all?

The Librarians aren’t Gentry, but they aren’t human (anymore?) either. As far as anyone can tell they don’t really exist beyond the limits of the Library. They’re more or less entirely neutral forces, so long as you’re quite and don’t hurt the books. They don’t engage in the favortrade. They’re not quite people at all, really; they’re something less, or something more. Or just Other, perhaps. If you ask them politely they will tell you exactly how much time one hour in the Deep Library costs you in the real world, depending on how far you’ve gone. This is tremendously useful if you don’t want to guess wrong and miss a week of realtime.

Anon said: Whats wierd about knowing the librarians by name

For starters, they don’t seem to have them.

Anon said: Do you think people as Elsewhere University have ways of secretly communicating that the fairies don't understand so they can do things like conspire against them without fear? What do you think the fairies would do if they found about said way of communication?

Texting is generally fine provided nothing is looking over your shoulder.

#cracksandcraters #greek life #harbringerofdoom #mallwalking club #whenflowersfade #valravna #location #ridafi14 #student life #anon #the library #electronics #asks #legacies

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hi-this-is-hollis-renee · 6 years ago

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@everyonehasbeatenmetotheusername @whenflowersfade @brokenpyjamas I see y'all every day guaranteed! Ily

tumblr notifs: Mutual™ has liked your post

me: *clicks on the button to see which post* I must know which of my humble offerings have pleased my dearest.

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copperbadge · 7 years ago

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Answers About Cats Part 3, Where I Am Almost Murdered

tienriu replied to your photoset “They’ve figured out...”

Dear Sam, please tell us how you chose them and why today (or was this planned for today)!

Well, the turnover at the shelter is pretty high (a good thing!) but it was evident that most of the adoptions happened on the weekend, and then the new cats came in on Tuesday or Wednesday. So Thursday or Friday, I’d get more or less my pick before the weekend came, and I really wanted it to be this weekend because I’d have that extra day on Monday (we get Monday off for Memorial Day) to bond with them before leaving for work. Thursday just worked out.

I had a couple of cats I wanted to look at, and Dearborn was among them. I thought she didn’t have any littermates, so I wanted to adopt her and another cat that had no littermates, but it turns out she had a sister. And when I arrived they were both sleeping curled up together in their litterbox like GOOBERS.

Dearborn was timid, which I had anticipated from her photos, but Polk was very playful and got Dearborn to play as well, and they seemed like such a good pair I knew they’d be fun.

The process you go through is you meet the cats, you make your choice, and they take the cards off the cats’ display cage but leave them in the cage while you fill out the paperwork. Then they process the paperwork while you shop for anything you might need (they give you coupons for free food and the like). After you’re done shopping and they’re done with the paperwork, you come back and they bring out a carrier, take the cats out of the display cage, and put them in the carrier for you, and off you go.

So I’ve got this backpack full of cat food and we get to the display cages and there’s this woman there like “Oh good, an attendant! I want THIS ONE” and points to either Dearborn or Polk, I think Dearborn.

And the attendant gave her a bit of sass because like, there is a process and a screening, and also that cat is spoken for. So then the lady turns to me and is like YOU TOOK MY CAT, and not in a funny way exactly, in that kind of “Haha this is a joke but I might follow you home and murder you for this cat” kind of a way.

Fortunately the shelter folks distracted her while I ducked out with my cat carrier, but all the way home I was looking over my shoulder.

tomboyluce replied to your photoset “They’ve figured out...”

you did not call one of you cats Dearborn... btw, have you read the Unadulterated Cat?

I have not! I’ll have to take a look at it.

dignitywhatdignity replied to your post “annechen-melo replied to your post...”

*Does* Dearborn run into Polk?

It does, it actually dead-ends into Polk at the old train station :D

whenflowersfade reblogged your photoset and added:

I feel like you still need a feathers dangling...

You can’t see it from that angle, but there is a little catnip mouse that dangles down on an elastic cord! Given how much they like the mouse I suspect it is not long for this world.

blairprovence replied to your photo “Update from last night:...”

If you want to entertain them without taking up floor space catastrophic creations has amazing wall shelving that could turn Murder wall into Kitten Murder wall in a very entertaining way. I got my cat 6 shelves to go up to the top of my built ins and she loves it! And you can DIY some of it.

Oh, thanks for the recommendation! I do need some kind of jungle gym for them eventually, though I’m finding mounting anything heavier than a picture frame on the wall is being a bit problematic. I’ll keep an eye on it though!

#dearborn and polk #blairprovence #whenflowersfade #dignitywhatdignity #tomboyluce #tienriu

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