#One Word Sunday

[carylbeach]

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#empty #emptynest #One Word Sunday #onewordsunday july23

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My entry for One Word Sunday

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#One Word Sunday #aeroplane #fly #one word photo challenge #sky

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#Jensen Ackles #JIBCon #JIB13 #Sunday Panel #Rach Photos #Twitter #The perfect profile #He is like a work of art #I love this man beyond words #Beyond measure #I'm so in awe of him #Hopefully one day I will get to meet him #One day...

[hephaestuscrew]

"Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…": Minkowski's love of musical theatre and what it reveals about her characterisation and her relationships

TL;DR: Renée Minkowski's love of musicals, while it might seem just like a mundane character detail, is used to give depth to her character because it contrasts with expectations of her from both the listening audience and the other characters. Her willingness or unwillingness to share this interest in different circumstances reveals her relationships with other characters at various points. Since this is a long one, if you'd rather read it as a document, you can view it here: Google Doc version.

"She actually really cares about these talent shows": Episode 8 (Box 953)

In the early episodes of Season 1, Minkowski is presented (largely through Eiffel's unreliable perspective) purely as a strict no-nonsense authority figure without much emotional depth, the kind of person who only likes things that are useful, purposeful, or mandated by Command. In contrast, musical theatre is a creative pursuit that has nothing to do with the mission of the Hephaestus and is viewed by many people as fairly frivolous or silly. The gradual exploration of Minkowski's passion for musicals is one of the many ways that the show expands and challenges our understanding of her as a character. 

The first indication that we get of her interest in musicals is through her entry into the infamous talent show, something that is required as part of the mission. Minkowski really cares about 'crew morale' activities in general, even when they actually have a negative effect on morale and even before she's friends with any of her crew (for example, the Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the earlier stage of the mission), perhaps partly because doing things in the "right way" is important to her. 

But Eiffel senses that the talent shows aren't just about rules for her: "it’s bad enough when she makes us do something just because it’s military protocol, but I think that she actually really cares about these talent shows". This might be the first indication that we get of Minkowski caring deeply about anything that isn't inherently part of her role as a Commander. Moments like this are part of the gradual process of giving us insight into her character beyond the Commander archetype that she tries to embody. And yet, she only indulges her theatrical passion because something mandatory gives her permission, or an excuse, to let another part of herself out.

Of course, to satisfy the needs of a talent show, she'd only need to provide a performance of a few minutes. But Eiffel mentions "the second act of the play" - which along with Hera's comment that "Isabel isn't the biggest role in the play" - implies that Minkowski was intending to put on the whole of Pirates of Penzance as her talent show act, rather than a few of the songs or some kind of medley. (I suppose that Eiffel could be exaggerating or Minkowski might have been planning to do extracts from different parts of the play, but I prefer the interpretation in which Minkowski gets to be more ridiculous.) 

Even though no one else would be willing to be in her production of Pirates of Penzance, Minkowski casts Hera as Isabel, a role with two lines and no solo singing. I found some audition notes for this play which said "The traditional staging gives [Isabel] more prominence than the solo opportunities of the part suggest, so she must be a good actress" which does make me sad in relation to Hera's inability to have a more significant role by being physically present on stage. 

It’s sweet that Hera still wants to take part though. She tells Eiffel "Pirates of Penzance is a classic of 19th century comic opera", so either she’s absorbed what Minkowski has told her about the show, or she’s done her own research and formed her own opinions. I enjoy the fact that Hera is the one Hephaestus crew member who shows potential to share Minkowski's musical theatre appreciation; I like to think that this is something they could explore together post-canon.

Anyway, I'm obsessed with the idea that Minkowski was planning to play every character except one in Pirates of Penzance, a show which is designed to have 10 principal characters and a chorus of 14 men. It seems that her contribution to the talent show was supposed to be an entire two-hour two-act musical, with costumes and props, in which she would play almost all of the parts. This is very funny to me as the perhaps predictable consequence of giving an ambitious and frustrated grown-up theatre kid a position of authority and asking them to arrange a talent show. Minkowski knows that the audience will be made up of her subordinates who are theoretically obliged by the chain of command to watch and listen, so she absolutely tries to make the most of that opportunity. There's probably also a degree to which she limits other people's involvement in her musical because - as with her other endeavors - she wants the outcome to be almost entirely within her control (something that is usually pretty much impossible in as collaborative a medium as musical theatre).

Of course, Minkowski's behaviour in most of the talent show episode is affected by her being drugged by Hilbert. This creates an exaggerated situation which is the first real opportunity for Minkowski to be something other than the strict sensible authoritarian Commander and the foil to Eiffel's jokey laid-back attitude. I don't agree with ideas that being intoxicated brings out anyone's true self (especially in the absence of consent for the intoxication), but it seems pretty clear that being under the influence of whatever was in Hilbert's concoction caused Minkowski to fully commit to a level of manic enthusiasm for her musical production that might have otherwise been obscured by her professionalism. It's a particular kind of person who belts showtunes when drunk, and Minkowski is that kind of person, even if that's not how she wants to present herself. (As a sidenote, I seem to remember that they took Emma Sherr-Ziarko's script off her to help her sound more drunk. It's an excellent performance.)

Minkowski wants interval ice cream. She wants "pirate costumes" (and she'll threaten to shoot a man to get them). She wants "swashes and buckles". She wants whatever props she can get her hands on (including a real cannon). This show is important to her, even though only three other people will witness it and two of them actively don't want to be there. It’s important to her for its own sake.

Eiffel says Minkowski wants "a second pair of eyes to tell her if the prop sabre for her Major-General costume was a bit much…"  While I certainly wouldn't put it past Goddard Futuristics to have a prop sabre on the station for no apparent reason, it feels more likely that she might have made it or adapted some existing item. Which suggests that maybe she was that passionate about the props even before Hilbert drugged her. 

Even so, it does feel significant that Minkowski's love of musicals is only revealed in the episode in which she is drugged, exhibiting lowered inhibitions, exaggerated behaviour, and an "impaired euphoric effect". Her love of musical theatre is initially revealed through a professional structure that provides permission, and then further emphasised by a forced intoxication that exaggerates some impulses that perhaps she already had.

"Some hobbies other than making trains run on time": Episode 17 (Bach to the Future)

After Eiffel tells to find Minkowski to find something else to do while her work duties have quietened down, they have the following exchange:

EIFFEL: You must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time. Something to do with friends? Boyfriends? MINKOWSKI: Of course I do, but, well, there aren't really a lot of opportunities for rock climbing or trail hiking in the immediate vicinity. 

Even though this quote doesn't mention musicals, I've included it here for two reasons. Firstly, it's very funny to me that, even after the talent show debacle, Eiffel acts like he's never had any evidence of Minkowski's hobbies. She tried to perform a whole play almost single-handedly and it didn't occur to him that this might indicate an interest of hers outside of work. I think this reflects the fairly two-dimensional view that Eiffel has previously had of Minkowski, which her interest in musical theatre didn't fit into. 

Secondly, it feels notable that Minkowski doesn't mention musical theatre here. She wants to show that she has non-work interests, but without undermining her own authoritative image. Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking - while it may be genuine - fits with how she wants to be seen as a Commander. These are hobbies which portray her as physically capable, with a high degree of stamina and a willingness to adapt to perhaps less hospitable surroundings. Of course, Minkowski does have these traits and they serve her well on the Hephaestus. But there's not really anything particularly surprising about her expressing these interests. The surprise in this scene comes from the reveal that she has a husband, a character detail which - like her love of musicals - isn't something we'd necessarily expect from the archetype-based view of her we are initially presented with. 

Her interest in rock climbing and trail hiking never come up again, because these details don't really deepen her characterisation (or at least, they aren't really used to deepen her characterisation beyond proving that she isn't entirely all-work-and-no-play). In contrast, Minkowski's love of musicals is brought up over and over because it shows another side of her that she struggles to reveal on the Hephaestus, and that allows more interesting things to be done with her characterisation.

"You wanted to write showtunes": Episode 35 (Need to Know)

Alongside the more high stakes discoveries prompted by the leak from Kepler's files, we also learn that Minkowski applied to - and was rejected from - the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program.

Up until this point, we've only had evidence that Minkowski enjoys performing in musicals. But here we learn that Minkowski doesn't just love watching or performing in musicals - she wanted to write them too. This suggests a creative side to her that we never see her fully express.

The course

The Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program claims to be the only course of its kind in the world and it accepts just 30 students each year. The current application process requires applicants to: upload play scripts or recordings of songs they've written; answer a large number of extended response questions about their creative process and views on musical theatre; write a 'statement of purpose' which has to talk about why they are applying and include 3 original ideas for musicals; provide a professional resume and a digital portfolio; complete an exercise of writing in response to a prompt; and undergo an interview. The process might have changed somewhat since Minkowski would have been applying (which, if it was soon after she finished college, might have been around the early 2000s) or it might be different in Wolf 359's alternate universe, but I think we can safely assume that applying to this course was a serious undertaking that required an intense amount of commitment and work. 

Applying to a course like that isn't something you do half-heartedly or on a whim. You couldn't apply to this course if you hadn't done a fair amount of musical theatre writing already. (The course requires applicants to choose to apply as bookwriters, lyricists, or composers, but I'm not going to make a guess here as to which of these Minkowski went for.) The fact that Minkowski wanted to study this course suggests that she was seriously considering trying to make a career out of musical theatre writing. In Once In A Lifetime, she tells Cutter that commanding a space station has always been her dream job, but we've got evidence here that it wasn't her only dream job. There's something kind of funny and kind of sad about the idea that writing musicals was her back-up / fall-back career path. She does not like to make life easy for herself.

The revelation 

This information is revealed against Minkowski's will. It's not something she wanted people to find out, and she isn't happy about them knowing:

JACOBI: "Dear Renée, thank you for your interest in the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program..." MINKOWSKI: Oh, come on!  JACOBI: (pressing on) "We are sorry to say, we will not be able to offer you a spot in this year's blah blah blah." Oh this is too good. You wanted to write showtunes?  MINKOWSKI: Number one? Shut up. Number two, why are my personal records on there?! [...] How is it in any way relevant?! JACOBI: Oh, I think it's very relevant. I mean, if you're sending someone to pilot ships in deep space, you want to make sure that they can, you know... paint with all the colors of the wind.  Jacobi CRACKS UP - and, although to a lesser degree, so does Lovelace. Minkowski looks at her: really?  LOVELACE: Sorry, Minkowski. It's... it's a little funny.  MINKOWKSI: No, it isn't!

Minkowski seems defensive and embarrassed here. She obviously doesn't trust everyone there with this revelation (Jacobi, Maxwell, Lovelace, and Hera are all present). She considers this information to be "personal" and irrelevant and not even "a little funny". She's used to reactions like Jacobi's (and to a lesser extent Lovelace's); in Ep41 Memoria, she says "most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" (see below for more thoughts about this quote). But the fact that these mocking reactions are expected doesn't mean that they don't bother her. She wants so badly to be taken seriously and, in this scene, her interest in musical theatre seems to be incompatible with that. Jacobi reacts the way that he does because of the idea that I've already expressed, that a passion for musical theatre does not fit with the serious authoritative image that Minkowski has often presented. It's not the typical hobby of a soldier, especially not a Commander.

To me, the way Lovelace laughs suggests that she might not have previously known about Minkowski's love of musicals, or at least perhaps not the full extent of it. At any rate, it's definitely news to Jacobi. And Minkowski clearly hasn't talked about it enough for it not to feel like a big reveal for her.

The rejection 

It's notable that this reveal is not just that she wanted to write for the stage, but also that she failed to get into a course that might have helped her work towards that goal. This of course compounds Minkowski's discomfort at having this information revealed. Not only did she want to write showtunes, but she encountered rejection in her attempts to do so. This detail implies that perhaps it wasn't just the appeal of her spacefaring dream that stopped her going down a theatrical career path. 

I'm about to move more into headcanon territory rather than just straightforward analysis, but I personally believe that, while Minkowski auditioned for a lot of musicals (particularly as a child / young person), she was never cast as the main role. She seems embarrassed about her interest in musical theatre in a way that (at least judging by people I've encountered) people who were always the lead in their school / college productions don't tend to be. 

We don't have much evidence about her actual level of singing/acting ability, given that she is inebriated during the only time we hear her sing in the podcast. However, it resonates with other aspects of her characterisation to imagine that Minkowski was generally good enough to get an ensemble part but never quite good enough to be cast as a main part. I think she might see only ever being cast as part of the ensemble, and failing to get into the Tisch Musical Theatre Writing programme, as slightly more down-to-earth examples of the same pattern as her repeated rejections from NASA. She is desperate to prove herself. She is "someone who very much wants to matter. To do something important." When she casts herself as almost every part in Pirates of Penzance, she is finally taking the opportunity to be a main character, an opportunity which I imagine had been denied to her over and over in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

"It's just from a play I saw once": Episode 41 (Memoria)

The next scene I want to talk about is from a memory of Hera's, which took place on Day 57 of the Hephaestus mission and in which Minkowski appears to be talking about the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George:

MINKOWSKI: Oh, it's just from a play I saw once. It doesn't matter. (BEAT) The guy who sings it is this famous French painter. And his entire life is kinda falling apart. But he can always turn what's happening around him into these beautiful paintings.  HERA: And? MINKOWSKI: And... That's, I don't know. Reassuring, maybe? (BEAT) I don't know why I'm going on about this. You don't care.  HERA: I think it's interesting.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah? Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals.  HERA: I don't see what's funny about it.  MINKOWSKI: Well, thank you Hera, but you're not exactly... you know.  HERA: I'm not... what? 

There's a couple of different things I want to pick out from this exchange. Firstly, the line "Most people think it's hilarious that I like musicals" makes me sad. I don't think she's talking about people on the Hephaestus there. Judging by the quote I talked about from Bach to the Future, Eiffel definitely wouldn't have registered Minkowski's love of musicals at this stage, and I doubt Hilbert cares at all about the hobbies of his fellow crew members. So Minkowski is talking about experiences that she's had on Earth, of people mocking her interest in musicals and thinking it doesn't fit with who she is. You can hear the impact of those experiences in Minkowski's reluctance to elaborate, in the way she says that something she obviously cares about doesn't matter, in her assumption that Hera doesn't care.

Secondly, this scene is a complicated one for Minkowski and Hera's relationship. On the one hand, Minkowski freely talks to Hera about something she's passionate about, and Hera listens and expresses interest. Hera validates Minkowski's interest in musical theatre without making a thing of it being weird and Minkowski thanks her. Again, it’s shown as an interest they could could potentially share.

But on the other hand, it seems like part of the reason Minkowski feels able to open up to Hera is because at this point Minkowski doesn't see opening up to Hera as fully equivalent to opening up to a fellow human. She doesn't just accept Hera not making fun of her interest; instead it seems Minkowski is about to imply that this lack of judgment indicates Hera's difference from humans (although she does have the decency not to say it outright). Minkowski's expectation of judgment from others contributes to her saying something very hurtful to Hera here. (This kind of potential consequence of negative self-attitude is explored a lot with Eiffel, so it's interesting that Minkowski can sometimes have a similar issue.)

Minkowski and Hera's conversation is interrupted when:

The DOOR OPENS.  EIFFEL: Hey, Minkowski, we've - What are you guys talking about?  MINKOWSKI: We were just discussing how I'm going to take away your hot water privileges if you don't reset the long-range scan.

Eiffel can obviously tell that he's walked in on a conversation that is about something other than work, or he wouldn't have asked. But Minkowski actively chooses not to tell him that she was talking to Hera about musicals. Perhaps she doesn't know how to open up to a human subordinate about it. Perhaps she doesn't trust him not to make fun of her. Perhaps she just doesn't have any impulse to talk about her interests with him. Either way, if Minkowski's love of musicals is something which reflects a side of her personality outside of her Commander role, this is a moment where she chooses not to take an opportunity to share that side of herself with Eiffel. This reflects the emotional distance between them three months into the mission, which forms a nice contrast with the next couple of quotes I'm going to talk about.

"Composition. Balance. Harmony.": Episode 54 (The Watchtower)

When Eiffel comes directly face to face with alien life, he discovers that music is the human invention that fascinates the Dear Listeners:

EIFFEL: You haven't figured out music?  BOB: ORDER. DESIGN. TENSION. COMPOSITION. BALANCE. HARMONY.  EIFFEL: (low, to himself) Minkowski's been talking about Sondheim again…

I only learned in the course of writing this post that in this moment the Dear Listeners are almost exactly quoting a repeated phrase used throughout Sunday in the Park with George. The titular protagonist lists various combinations of these qualities in multiple songs in reference to his art. In the closing song, the lyrics are "Order. Design. Tension. Composition. Balance. Light. [...] Harmony." It's not only Eiffel's references that the Dear Listeners are incorporating into their speech - they've picked this one up from Minkowski. This also suggests that some element of her appreciation for musicals and the way she talks about them has fed into the Dear Listeners' understanding of the human phenomenon of music. The Dear Listeners aren't just parroting - they understood the quote enough that they left out the word "light", arguably the only quality in that phrase which isn't a big part of music as well as visual art. Eiffel likes music too, but I don't think that this is how he'd talk about his favourite songs.

This is a refrain about finding order and beauty out of the chaos and uncertainty of life, which was also the aspect of Sunday in the Park with George that Minkowski focused on when talking about it in Memoria. It suggests that art/music could be something governed by rules and principles, which is potentially something that appeals both to Minkowski and to the Dear Listeners.

Eiffel's response to this reference is one of those little hints that reminds us that Eiffel and Minkowski have spent a lot of time together and that not all of that time has involved them being at each others' throats or actively in a life-or-death situation. Some of it has just been Minkowski going on about a musical she loves and Eiffel (willingly or not) paying enough attention that he recognises this phrase as a Sondheim quote that Minkowski has talked about. I suppose that this quote might have been in Eiffel's pop-culture-brain anyway, but judging from Eiffel's general tastes and the fact that I don't think Sunday in the Park with George is one of the more commonly known Sondheim musicals among non-musical fans, it seems more likely that this quote is something he only knows because Minkowski has talked about it. 

Eiffel sounds exasperated at the mention, like he's heard Minkowski talk about Sondheim far too much. But I'd argue that this still says something positive about their relationship, when we contrast it with a couple of other moments I've already mentioned. Firstly, when her previous musical theatre ambitions are revealed to Jacobi, Maxwell, and Lovelace in Need to Know, Minkowski seems embarrassed and defensive. Secondly, in the memory from Memoria, she avoids telling Eiffel that she was talking about this same musical. Yet, by the time The Watchtower takes place, Eiffel is sick of hearing Minkowski talk about Sondheim. She doesn't have the same barriers up in sharing her interests with him, even though he doesn't have the same interests. I think this is a demonstration of how comfortable she feels with him. It's a hint at the kind of easy downtime that they've sometimes shared.

"One day more": Episode 61 (Brave New World)

Eiffel recognises another musical reference of Minkowski’s in the finale. As the crew are preparing for their final confrontation with Cutter and co., Minkowski quotes Les Misérables, mostly to herself - but Eiffel recognises the lyrics and joins in:

EIFFEL: Hey - chin up, soldier. We're almost through. Just one more day, and then we're done.  MINKOWSKI: Yeah, one more day. (more to herself) The time is now, the place is here - one day more.  EIFFEL: - one day more.  They both stop, dead in their tracks. MINKOWSKI: Did you just - ?  EIFFEL: Was that what I - ?  They look at each other: No way. And BURST INTO LAUGHTER.  EIFFEL: Man... this is really it, huh? The end of everything. 

It feels really important that Minkowski and Eiffel share this moment of togetherness before she tries to send him back to Earth and before the rest of the action goes down. I think there’s some nice symbolism about them finding a way to communicate that they both understand. Making references is Eiffel's thing, and musicals are Minkowski's thing, so this is a synthesis of their two approaches. Again, there's a contrast with Minkowski's previous unwillingness to share her musical theatre passions with Eiffel (at least without the mitigating circumstances of a mandatory talent show and some kind of intoxicating substance).

I talked about the significance of the fact that they reference this particular musical in this post from ages ago. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler for Les Misérables to say that the revolution that the song One Day More is building up to does not end well for the revolutionaries. When Eiffel says "Just one more day, and then we're done", it encompasses both the possibility that the crew will escape to travel back to Earth and the possibility that they will all die. Minkowski's reference to a famously tragic musical suggests that it's the latter possibility that's at the forefront of her mind (right before she tries to send Eiffel away from the danger). But Les Misérables is also a story about people standing together in solidarity against powerful oppressive forces, which gives particular resonance to the way that this reference brings Eiffel and Minkowski together in a moment of being completely on the same wavelength as they prepare to fight Cutter and Pryce's plan.

When they laugh here, it's not about the 'hilariousness' of Minkowski's interest in musicals, it's about their unexpected unison - Eiffel's recognition of Minkowski's reference and Minkowski's surprise at the fact he joined in. It's a laugh of togetherness, of shared understanding, of friendship. It's a moment of lightness in dark times. And that moment is provided by Minkowski's pop culture interests, not Eiffel's. In spite of all they've been through, she's not lost that part of herself, and in fact, she's more open about it, at least to Eiffel.

I'll finish by highlighting what Eiffel says when he's trying to get into character to impersonate Minkowski so he can turn the Sol around:

EIFFEL: Umm... yes, this is Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski. I'm... uh... well I sure love schedules, and, uh, musicals. And that man, who I married…

I just think this is a nice example of Eiffel not defining Minkowski solely by her professional Commander role. Sure, she likes schedules (probably in a personal as well a professional capacity to be fair), but she also loves musicals, and her husband. It is a fairly reductive overview of her as a person, but it feels reductive in a fond way, like these things are part of Minkowski's brand to Eiffel in a way that he might affectionately tease her about. (Credit to @commsroom for this thought.) His view of Minkowski has come a long way from "our resident Statsi agent" or even just "you must have some hobbies other than making trains run on time." He doesn't see any contradiction or inherent humour in Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski's appreciation of musicals.

Conclusion

Minkowski's love of musical theatre is used to deepen her characterisation and is one of the ways in which we gradually begin to see her complexity beyond the strict Commander archetype. The degree to which she is prepared to share this interest at various points is used to illustrate the nature of her relationships with other characters: a general unwillingness to show a less serious side of herself; a complicated potential shared interest with Hera; and the growing understanding between her and Eiffel.

If you read this whole thing, well done / thank you 😄 It wasn't meant to be this long - it just happened… Feel free to share your thoughts!

#It's Minkowski Essay Time again! #This is over 4700 words and still doesn't cover it all... #I hadn't quite realised there was so much to say! #Wolf 359 #w359 #If anyone is more familiar with 'Sunday in the Park with George' and has thoughts on why it might particularly appeal to Minkowski #I'd be interested to hear #I listened to the soundtrack and read the Wikipedia plot summary #but I don't think I really got it #My other significant bit of research was that #in order to see what applying to the Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program involves #I had to create an account as if I was actually applying #which might be the oddest thing I've done for character analysis #If it interests anyone I could do a post with more detail about that application process #cos it looks insanely intense #Renée Minkowski #Renee Minkowski #the empty man posteth #I hope no one takes things I have said here as critical of musical theatre people btw #I'm just talking about general perceptions #In general I do enjoy musicals myself from an audience perspective

[thewolvesof1998]

Saw the prompts post and I'm very curious about the 'pulling them on their lap' one. I feel like Buddie barely does that in fics unless it's sexual meanwhile I love it when ships casually sit on each other's laps :)

Doesn't matter if they're established or pre-relationship

Only if it sparks joy of course! No pressure ❤️

HI! Thanks for your ask!!! <3

So yeah this made me actually feral because you are so right we need more casual lap sitting!!!

I wrote over 1000 words thinking it would work for my No-Nut-November fic but it just doesn't work -which I would have realised if I just read my notes- anyways so it's now a one-shot!

let me cradle your body (be a safe place to rest)

“Seat theif,” Buck pouts, “Where am I supposed to sit?” He asks and look, if he purposely makes his eyes all big and puts a little whine in his voice in a deadly combination that usually has Eddie folding to his whims that it’s between him and the universe okay? “Here,” Eddie says, patting his thigh and it shortcircuits Buck’s brain for longer than it probably should’ve. Eddie doesn’t actually mean that, he’s just messing with Buck right? Because as much as they’ve been accused of practically sitting on each other, they’ve never actually sat in each other’s laps. Buck opens and closes his mouth a few times before deciding that if Eddie is pulling his chain then he’s going to regret it and if it’s being earnest then it probably is comfier than the floor and better than being squeezed into a too-tight spot. “Okay,” Buck says, Eddie offers him a smile and his hand, as if daring him to do it. Buck takes the offered hand and Eddie pulls Buck onto his lap.

Read on ao3

I'm using this as my Seven Sentence Sunday!

So thanks for the tags: @disasterbuckdiaz mwah!

Tagging: @wikiangela @wildlife4life ​ @eddiebabygirldiaz  @spotsandsocks @try-set-me-on-fire @jesuisici33​ @bekkachaos @buddierights @spagheddiediaz @911-on-abc @hippolotamus @shitouttabuck @911onabc @exhuastedpigeon @malewifediaz @your-catfish-friend @loserdiaz @ladydorian05 @watchyourbuck @king-buckley @chaoticgremlinwholikescheese @daffi-990 @fortheloveofbuddie @steadfastsaturnsrings @mangacat201 @theotherbuckley @hoodie-buck @eowon @rainbow-nerdss @nmcggg @pirrusstuff @evanbegins @giddyupbuck @sammysouffle @smilingbuckley @jamespearce9-1-1 @carrierofthepaperclips @jeeyuns @callmenewbie @thosetwofirefighters

make 'em swoon prompts

#so I got distracted from my secret fic but its so close to being done- so finger crossed it will be done this week #I also wrote like 1500 words for another fic so that one is almost done too- this ones filthy and I can't wait for you to read it #9-1-1 #buddie #eddie diaz #thewolvesof1998 writes #buddie fic #ao3 #fic: let me cradle your body (be a safe place to rest) #seven sentence sunday

[hippolotamus]

Sunday Sentences

Well, here we are then at the final not even remotely 7SS of 2023. Because I'm great at ignoring rules, I'm offering two POVs of come close (let me be home) from the same section today. Follows this snippet (all prev snippets here)

Buck

Not that Evan was specifically looking for him.   He should focus on Maddie, but he’s unable to tear his gaze away from Viscount Diaz and his, frankly, rather clumsy partner. The poor girl seems to be counting her steps under her breath, trying and failing to dance without tripping them both up. She resembles a newborn fawn using her legs for the first time. Evan chuckles to himself, noting the tight, annoyed sort of grimace on the Viscount’s face and the way he occasionally glances skyward as if some heavenly being might suddenly decide to help. His patience is admirable at least.   For one startling moment, Viscount Diaz ignores the ceiling and the fumbling girl, locking eyes with Evan across the sea of people. The expression is both spontaneous and intentional, filled with curiosity and an innate recognition. It makes his heart flutter and do something complicated in his chest, daring him to ask if he could cut in and relieve the young hopeful from making a bigger fool of herself. It makes him feel seen.  A voice in the back of his mind whispers about etiquette and rules and things that shouldn’t be meddled with. He ignores it in favor of taking a tentative step, feeling drawn toward the center of the room where honey brown irises stay trained on him as much as possible between turns and spins.

Eddie

Agitation builds in his chest with each partner, filling him up until he’s not sure he can breathe properly. One by one Eddie mentally crosses them off, deeming them inadequate. Dull blue eyes, too brunette, can’t waltz properly, reminds him of his mother, stepped on his toes, doesn’t speak latin, prefers having daughters over sons.   Some time near the fifth or sixth partner is when he notices. The sensation of being tracked. A familiar prickling that crawls up his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Between twirls he attempts to locate the source and finds piercing blue eyes staring at him. Flashes of a mischievous smirk, a strawberry pink mark and cool breeze against his face invade Eddie’s memory. He still doesn’t know the man’s name or what his business is. Maybe tonight he can find out.   Eddie’s daydreams are interrupted by stumbling feet and a too small hand grasping his in an attempt to stay upright.   “Oh, my! I’m so sorry,” the young woman — Miss Clark or Martin, whatever her name is — apologizes.   “No harm done," He lies. "Are you alright?” Other than needing more dance lessons?  “Yes, Viscount, thank you.”  The song ends and he gratefully takes the opportunity to excuse himself. He needs air. The crowd, and the idea of spinning around one more husband-seeking idiot, is too much for him to bear at the moment.

tagged by the always lovely and talented @your-catfish-friend (go check their update to in my head btw) @thewolvesof1998 @daffi-990 @jamespearce9-1-1 @wikiangela (posted a new Christmas fic today) @spotsandsocks @honestlydarkprincess @buckaroosheart @underwater-ninja-13 thank you loves 😘

no pressure tagging @callmenewbie (who just posted yesterday!) @malewifediaz @steadfastsaturnsrings mi amore @disasterbuckdiaz @stereopticons @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz (who posted a fic earlier today) @hoodie-buck @rmd-writes @apothecarose @welcometololaland @lizzie-bennetdarcy @jesuisici33 @giddyupbuck (who posted this fabulous 12 Days of edging fic) @exhuastedpigeon @lemonzestywrites @weewootruck @thekristen999 @loserdiaz @heartshapedvows @fortheloveofbuddie @messyhairdiaz @eowon @watchyourbuck @monsterrae1 @elvensorceress @spagheddiediaz @chaosandwolves @wildlife4life @buddierights @911onabc @the-likesofus @spaceprincessem @fionaswhvre @barbiediaz @pirrusstuff @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @statueinthestone and anyone else who wants to share 💖

#nope these two are not interested in each other *at all* #not one bit #also #there's a section of eddie's pov that i didn't post #but it contains the words 'predatory debutantes' #and i just needed you to be aware of that #because i'm very proud of myself about it #happy 2024 and all that #mwah <3 #seven sentence sunday #but not seven at all #hippo writes #fic: come close (let me be home) bridgerton #buddie wip #bridgerton au

[freneticfloetry]

The Thing continues. At a pace, I'll admit, that I haven't seen in some time. Frankly, as long as it goes up before this week's 9-1-1 ep, I'll be a happy camper.

Thanks to @heartstringsduet, @paperstorm, @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad, @strandnreyes, @three-drink-amy, @alrightbuckaroo, @lemonlyman-dotcom, and @liminalmemories21 (who is still utterly responsible for this, but has also already seen this snippet) for the tags. And look, this one's actually seven sentences for once!

TK steps through the front door to the sight of his husband standing at the stove and the smell of something heavenly wafting from the oven, and he doesn’t know which one seems more delicious. Then Carlos looks up and smiles and the customary Hey, babe that rolls off his tongue is nearly drowned out by the sound of an empty stomach growling, so TK supposes that’s answer enough. “Sorry,” he groans, “I’m starving.” Carlos’ snort is undercut by his smile as he lifts the lid of a pot on the back burner. “You don’t say.” “Shut up. You try surviving the twelve-hour shift from hell on two granola bars and girl dinner.”

@never-blooms, @ambiguouspenny, @orchidscript, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @carlos-in-glasses, @whatsintheboxmh, @herefortarlos, @reyesstrand, @rmd-writes, @ladytessa74, and @welcometololaland, tag, you're it.

#seven sentence sunday #tag games #my fic #words to get off his chest #because this one's moving at the speed of light #(for me anyway) #in other news #i have never been so salty that i'm not a buddie shipper #because buck is unparalleled levels of delightful to write

[onthewaytosomewhere]

Seven Sentence Sunday

ok so i think it's only eight this sunday - and this is like the 2nd sunday in a row i've actually counted (that's really kinda throwing me lolz)

so more smuttiness from the first of the one night stand fics - cuz so far on that one smut is all i've written lolz but soon i'll have some funny bits for it - but really who doesn't want smut on a sunday lol

ok so i have a few tags already today so thanks ever so much @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @theprinceandagcd @stellarm @tailsbeth-writes @sophie1973

@cha-melodius @cricketnationrise & guess i'm stealing @kiwiana-writes open tag cuz i can lolz

so smut-adjacent words and tags below the cut and of course open tag to anyone who sees this and wants to play too

He doesn’t know if the moans echoing off the walls are from him, Alex, or some combination of the two. Henry is almost sad that no one is around to hear them. He’s never really been an exhibitionist before, but he wants the world to know that he can bring this man over the edge, cock untouched this time, and make him lose his mind and all sense of his surroundings. He works them both through their orgasms, slowing to a gentle rock until they are too sensitive for anything. He gently pulls out, and the moan Alex lets out at the loss makes him want to fill him again. He’s never wanted to fuck a man as much as he does Alex. He could probably spend the rest of his days doing so and never tire of it. As much as he loves fucking Alex, he knows that if there by some miracle is yet another time, he wants to feel Alex in him again. He wants to feel Alex pressing into him, his weight over him, as he grasps at Alex’s back, marking him as Henry’s for just a bit longer.

alright so a no-pressure tag you're it to @adreamareads @agame-writes @agostobuwan @anincompletelist

@bitbybitwrites @dragonflylady77 @duchessdepolignaca03 @england-would-fall

@firenati0n @firstsprinces @forever-fixating @getmehighonmagic

@heysweetheart-writes @inexplicablymine @itsmaybitheway @jellibuns

@jmagnabo92 @junebugclaremontdiaz @littlemisskittentoes @lizzie-bennetdarcy

@magicandarchery @mikibwrites @msmarvelouswinchester @nocoastposts

@piratefalls @priincebutt @suseagull04 @taste-thewaste

@thedramasummer @thesleepyskipper @thinkof-england @tinyarmedtrex

@typicalopposite @wordsofhoneydew @yrsacdfox @captainjunglegym

@eusuntgratie @bigassbowlingballhead @violetbaudelaire-quagmire

as always if ya did this and i missed it well - i guess i'm just skipping through the tulips and caught ya in the fairy dust i sprinkled along the way lol

#seven sentence sunday #rwrb wip #not so much one night stands #rwrb fic #firstprince #words and stuff

[valiantstarlights]

[Priest Hob AU sequel] Some Months Later, December 24, Evening.

Tagging @alexxuun because they deserve credit for the AU. 😊 I can't tag the anon who requested a sequel in an ask, but here you go! I hope you like it. 🖤

--

"I don't...I don't understand." Hob clutches at Dream's arm when he realizes where Dream has transported them. "Why are we here?"

'Here' was the corridor they got married in, months ago by now. Nothing has changed. The fourth window left of the door was still cracked, and the tile near the first pillar was still placed unevenly. Time has passed, surely, but Hob doesn't know the time difference between Hell and Earth. For all he knows, only a few minutes have passed since he was last here with Dream.

"To pray, I suppose," Dream replies, sounding amused at his question. "Is this what being in my presence does to you, Father Robert? Have you forgotten the purpose of churches?"

Panic flared bright in his chest. "No, please, don't call me that. You know I'm not...I'm not that person anymore. I'm your husband now. Right? Dream?" His heart was suddenly beating so quickly. Dream was looking at him strangely, all traces of humor gone from his handsome face. "Why are we here? Have you...have you grown tired of me? Is this you returning me to my old life?"

No. No. Anything but that. Anything but the crushing loneliness, the prayers that ring hollow when he recites them, the misguided belief that suffering brings you closer to heaven. That it is worth being miserable your entire life, giving and giving until you have nothing left, for the sake of having a place in God's kingdom where it would be more of the same: worshipping an absent, indifferent being, the air filled with songs of zealous, nauseating praise, fake beatific smiles on the face of everyone you meet.

Hob would rather die than live that life again. He would rather starve in the streets and die a peasant's death than leave Dream's side. If his husband has fallen out of love with him--

"Hush, my love," Dream says, and then Hob is enfolded in his strong arms, Dream's dark wings also moving to shelter him. Hob immediately clings tight. If Dream wants him to let go, he's going to have to break Hob's arms first. "I am here. I will not leave you. You are mine until the end of time."

"Then why?" Hob asks against the rich fabric of Dream's robes. He still sounds panicked, short breath coming in gasps. "Why are we here? I don't want to be here."

Dream rubs Hob's back comfortingly, up and down and up again, sometimes brushing his long fingers through Hob's hair, until Hob calms down. Until he can breathe normally again. Hob doesn't know how much time has passed, but their surroundings are undisturbed and not a single person walks by them.

And then Dream asks, "Are you sure?"

What?

Dream sighs but continues his soothing gestures. "I know you miss it. I hear you hum sometimes, when your mind is focused on a task. Religious melodies. Christmas songs, of late. I don't think you notice it, but some of the staff do. Lucienne tells me you must have wanted to visit, but are too afraid to ask me." He leans away from Hob so Hob could see how sincere he looks, but all Hob reads in Dream's face is the sadness in his eyes at the thought of Hob not trusting him enough to tell him his wishes.

"I do not want you to think that you can never visit again," Dream tells him, soft and a little vulnerable. "I do not want you to think that by marrying me, you have lost your freedom." He looks around them, at the high ceilings and the tall windows. "And so here we are."

"Dream," Hob says as earnestly as he could. "It's just a habit. I hum when I feel like it's too quiet. It just so happens that the songs I pick are...well. But if you enchant a violin to play by itself and follow me around, I assure you the humming will cease, or if it persists, then it would be to the tune of Mozart or Bach or whichever composer you pick."

He places his hand against his husband's cheek and watches as Dream leans against it before turning his head to kiss his palm. Hob's heart breaks at the tender movement. How long had Dream been worried about this?

"As for my freedom," Hob says, "You did not clip my wings. You unbound them. And since you have, I have never felt happier. With you by my side, I feel like I can achieve anything. You opened my eyes and taught me better. Helped me unlearn all the false teachings I grew up believing to be true. You have made me into the best version of myself I could ever hope to be, and I would not have anyone else by my side. I'm glad I'm spending my eternity with you."

Dream's eyelashes flutter in pleasure at his words before he leans in and gives Hob a soft kiss on the lips. Hob returns it with a passion, wanting Dream to understand that Hob has already decided his fate, and that he has chosen Dream. Will always choose him. Each and every time. Hob needs him to understand that. But how..?

An idea forms in his mind, and as soon as their kiss reached its natural conclusion, he pulls Dream towards the church proper.

"Hob?"

"Come, husband," he says, still filled with a giddy kind of joy whenever he says the title. "I want to make something clear to you."

Dream follows him.

A few moments later, the two of them stand in front of the door that would open to the main hall of the church.

"Is it empty?" Hob asks.

"Yes," Dream says. "The midnight mass won't be starting until later this evening."

"The midnight mass?" Hob repeats in shock. "Is it already Christmas Eve?"

Dream nods.

"Good," Hob says firmly. "Even better." He opens the door, and indeed, there was no one inside.

Hob marches them past the rows of votive stands, past the carved wooden pedestal holding the lit advent candles nestled upon a wreath of evergreen, and right up to the altar. Then, with only a moment's worth of hesitation, Hob shoves everything on the altar crashing down on the ground: the book stand, the large Bible it's holding open, candelabras with unlit candles, and a couple of flower vases. He winces as the objects make a dreadful amount of noise, the water from the vases seeping onto the pages of the Bible, the heavy book stand crushing the flowers, the candelabras dented in a couple of places, the candles placed upon them rolling across the floor.

"Is there a point to this destruction?" Dream asks behind him, sounding adorably confused as to why his usually mild-mannered husband is acting this way.

"No," Hob says, then turns back to Dream. He wants to see his husband's face for this. "I just wanted to clear the altar for my offering."

"Your offering?"

Hob starts to strip, and Dream immediately shuts his mouth, eyes darkening as he understands what Hob is trying to do.

"I am offering myself to you," Hob says, and starts reciting Dream's many titles. "--King of Dreams and Nightmares, One of the Seven Rulers of Hell, and my beloved husband. I would have you stake your claim on me in front of all the angels and saints, right at the altar of the god I used to worship."

Dream stares at him, now fully naked and slightly shivering from the cold air, his nipples pebbling. "You do not know what you're asking for, Robert Gadling," he says, though if the echo of Nightmare's voice tainting his is any indication, then Hob knows exactly what he's trying to do. "This would be unlike our marriage. Offering yourself to me in this way..."

"Can I be any more owned by you?" Hob asks, genuinely curious. "Am I not offering you myself, body and soul, so in the future you will not do stupid things like think I would want to be away from your side? Away from our home?"

"You would be offering yourself body and soul to me, Hob, this is true," Dream says. "But you must know that in offering yourself to me the way you are planning, naked and willing upon an altar, you are also offering to bear my children."

"Your chil--" Hob gapes at him and looks down at himself, at his own body, which is still very hairy and very male. "You can get me pregnant?" He asks, only sounding slightly hysterical.

Dream nods gravely. "And now you see why offering yourself this way to me would be unwise. However, I have noted your intention, and will try not to do...foolish things in the future."

"And if I want it?" Hob asks, unwilling to leave just yet without being fucked here, in the place where he went through life like a ghost, upon the very altar he stood behind and spoke words of faith while having none in his heart. He feels his cock growing hard under Dream's eyes, the hunger in them barely restrained. "If I want to become pregnant with your child?"

Dreams eyes are turning so dark, it was like the stars in them have started to go out one by one. The end of multiple universes. "Hob."

"I am willing," Hob says. "And while I am no longer a virgin, I had been when you first--"

"You should not say these things," Dream says in Nightmare's voice, stepping forward into Hob's space. The shadows were gathering around him and slithering around Hob's feet like snakes. "Not unless you want me to fuck you pregnant in the house of your god."

Hob steps closer until his naked body is flush against his husband, precome staining Dream's dark robes, then leans upwards so he could kiss Dream's and Nightmare's fanged mouth. They nip at his lips and push him back against the altar, the stone cold and hard against his back. Hob moans and twines his arms around their neck, letting them lift him so he could sit on the altar. "Haven't you heard, my husband?" Hob murmurs against their lips. "I worship a different god now."

--

"More," Hob begs, an indeterminate amount time later. Dream's cum drips from his hole and onto the altar, but still Hob spreads himself open. "Again."

Dream kisses him lovingly and obeys. Half of his face is Nightmare and the other half is Dream. He only gets this way when he's feeling so much pleasure that both sides of himself come out to play. Hob loves him like this. Dream is generally a gentle lover while Nightmare prefers a hard fuck. But both of them at the same time means petal soft kisses from Dream while Nightmare chokes him with a hand around his throat as his cock jackhammers into Hob.

"Insatiable," Dream says in Nightmare's voice as he thrusts hard into Hob. It's good that the altar is made of stone or else it would have broken under their vigorous fucking. "Do you really intend for me to breed you here? Are you not going to be satisfied until my seed takes?"

Hob moans. Yes. That would, in fact, be the ideal outcome. He spreads his legs wider.

"And to think you had been a virgin when I married you," Nightmare says in Dream's voice, possessive and fond at the same time. "Your hole was so tight I had to spend hours with my tongue between your legs to loosen you up. And now your body knows my cock so well you can take me with minimal preparation."

Hob squeezes him as much as he could in retaliation, though it was a weak little thing, his hole already fucked sloppy and loose.

"What a slutty husband I have," they tell him. "Uncaring that at any point now, the deacons and the sacristans will be arriving to do last minute preparations. I doubt they'll have anything to say about the mess you made on the floor, not when they see a former priest of this church getting fucked like a whore right on top of their sacred altar."

Hob mewls at that, aroused beyond belief. He knows he probably shouldn't feel that way. How he should instead feel humiliation flooding his veins at the thought of being found in such a position by the people who used to respect him.

But oh, to be found pleasing his eternal husband, undeniably marked with his teeth and claimed by his large cock...

"Want it," he gasps. It was so hard to speak and his thoughts are a scattered mess. "Show. I'm yours."

"You want me to continue fucking you in front of them?" Nightmare asks, delighted. "You want me to laugh in their faces as they wield their wooden crosses at me when they try to banish me? Shall I bathe them in flame and watch them burn alive when they do?"

Hob doesn't care. He could barely remember them anyway.

"It is tempting," Dream admits. "I want to see the look on their faces when they realize that Father Robert didn't just disappear mysteriously, but was instead granted a better life. However," and here he grinds harder to emphasize his point. Hob keens, toes curling and legs shaking. He has lost count of how many times he came, but he could feel the pressure building in his stomach once more. He'll probably cum dry this time. Or totally lose control of his body and squirt all over Dream. It's already happened once. "I do not want anyone else to see you like this. Only I should have that privilege. Don't you agree?"

Hob nods frantically. Whatever his husband wants. Fuck, his cock feels so good. Hob wants him to fill him up more until he grows round with his cum.

"No, I think we'll just leave them a nice little Christmas present." And with that, Dream wraps his hand around Hob's cock and starts stroking him to the rhythm of his thrusts. Hob practically seizes, wailing, cumming dry, as Dream pounds him harder through his orgasm before shooting another batch of cum straight into Hob's newly formed womb.

--

When the first group of deacons arrive to make the final preparations for the Midnight Mass, the mess on the floor that Hob created is not the first thing they see. Nor do they notice that the altar was desecrated by a truly overflowing amount of both human and demon cum.

They would have noticed these things, but Dream kept his promise and left them his Christmas present, to help make the church look more festive at such an important time in their liturgical calendar.

He did this by covering every interior surface of the church, from ceiling to floor, and not missing a single statue, with fresh, bright red blood.

#Priest Hob AU #CW: blasphemy #i'm not joking or being cute about this #the blasphemy level in this is so high that I the author herself am warning you about it #CW: altar sex #CW: nightmare!dream #honestly just assume that things are gonna be unhinged whenever he's present #am I intentionally posting this on a Sunday? N-no #if this were a vine it would be the 'you're all going to hell 😊 goodbye 👋' one #if this were doctor who this would be the christmas episode #I'm gonna end up calling it that aren't I #2000 plus words wtf #good job my thumbs #dreamling #the sandman #my writing

[thedo0zyslider]

Hidden In The Orchard (My Lover Waits For Me) - 12k Words

Jimmy is a prince of a kingdom, Fwhip is just the son of a poor potato farmer. Yet somehow, they still meet, and fall head over heels in what seems to be an instant.

A03 Link

Jimmy walks by his parents, shifting uncomfortably in the layered outfit he had been forced to adorn that day, as he normally wore rather light clothing. But they’d been heading north, where it was colder, and merfolk, unused to any cold, often couldn’t handle it, or whatever. His father had given some stupid reason like that, and had forced his son into the outfit regardless. Jimmy would be taking the coat off as soon as he got out of his parents' sights, and he would not be putting it back on. (They weren’t even in the mountains yet, but parents had to parent he supposed.)

His sister trails in front of him, happily wavering to any villagers they pass. The only water source this one town has is a river, despite being under the merfolks wide jurisdiction, so it’s not often the people get to see their rulers. As a result, more than a few people were ogling them, especially Jimmy and his mother, the two codfolk of the family, A species of merfolk that didn’t venture out of the swamps much, resulting in some people thinking they had gone extinct entirely. Well, until the future king had married one that was.

Jimmy does his best to wave as well, but cannot help but feel uncomfortable. He should be used to it. Codfolk got stared at whenever they weren’t in a swamp, but he still wasn’t. Even if some of the people around the place did much nastier things than stare at him. (Never in front of his parents, or Lizzie, not when all three had much more influence than he did. Though Jimmy had influence, he was just too nice and tended to fold like wet paper. As Joel had put it once.)

Though a few of the people do catch his eye, even despite all the staring. The village they’ve taken a pitstop in seems to be a rather mixed one, full of more rare hybrids, especially for an empire founded and made mostly of his people. There is one boy in particular, one who looks about his age, that really catches the young prince’s eye.

The boy seems to be a dragon hybrid of sorts, a more rare type of hybrid to see around, one bright ginger hair. And quite the nice looking face, if Jimmy does say so himself. He’s tall, lanky, and looks to be around the prince’s age. Beside him is a girl, one that looks so similar to him, Jimmy determines the two must be siblings. Maybe even twins, for how their facial structures seem to be near mirrors of each other. They are each carrying a small basket, one full of potatoes, Jimmy finds upon closer inspection. The two must belong to a farmer family then, to be carrying such a large load of crops in. 

As he watches, Jimmy sees the boy stumble over a small patch of uneven ground. A few potatoes tumble to the floor, since the basket is full and loaded to the brim. Yet the young farmer seems to not notice, focusing on further keeping his balance and yelling something back to his sister up ahead. 

Jimmy stops in his tracks, the action thankfully unnoticed by his family. The prince walks over to the dropped crops, feeling as if he can’t just let the poor things he left there to rot. Especially if these people are farmers, and the potatoes are their source of income. When one his parents or Lizzie's voice doesn't call him back after a few more seconds, the cod feels safe enough to go through with helping this villager. 

“Here, you dropped this.” Jimmy calls out, picking up the stray potatoes from the ground. The boy looks between him and the misplaced crops in surprise, before the metaphorical light bulb goes off in his head, and he reaches forward to take them back, being careful of his still very full basket. One that is now clutched in one arm, much to the young codfolks' slight anxiety, but the other seems to have a secure hold on it, thankfully.

“Oh! Thank you!” He flashes a smile at the prince, and their hands brush briefly as he takes the potatoes back. Jimmy has to stop his breath from hitching, and feels the sparks at even the tiniest touch with this pretty stranger.

“No problem!” He smiles in return, catching a good look of the boy's bright blue eyes. Jimmy decides that they're rather pretty, like the rest of him. He watches the young farmer carefully place the crops back in the basket, happy no more are spilled. And he wants to say more, the prince really really does, but he is sadly interrupted before he can do so. 

His father's finally voice calls from a few feet ahead, and Jimmy has to stop his tail from flicking in annoyance. He would like to stay here and chat some more, this guy is really pretty! And probably really interesting too! But disobedience like that isn't really an option, and that is a fact Jimmy has come to know well. 

He gives the farmer boy once last smile and wave, his heart dropped as he does so. The ginger returns it, something glistening in his gaze. Maybe he also shares disappointment at how short their meeting was, maybe he also wants to talk to the prince more. But that is only a hope, for he cannot know for certain, and maybe the dragon is just happy to be finally left alone. 

Jimmy walks back, only sparring a small glance behind his shoulder. He tries not to make his tail droop, especially when Lizzie starts talking to him. The prince is told how nice of an act that was, but to please stay with his family and the few guards lingering around as they walk. In case he gets lost or something happens to him. The young cod nods, shifting uncomfortably in his clothes once again, and knows that information will be forgotten as soon as his family shuts their mouths. 

An hour or two later, the prince had managed to sneak off again. The family finally had some free time to spare, and instead of exploring the local shops with his family, Jimmy had started back down their path from earlier. He was sure all the stores up ahead were lovely, really he was, but his mind was set on a certain someone from earlier. His mind was set on that pretty looking farmer boy, and the blonde knew he had to go back and see him again. It was a feeling he had, that the two of them needed to meet for more than a brief second, something about the ginger drawing him in even when the two weren't anywhere near each other. 

After somewhere between ten to twenty minutes of walking and backtracking, he sees the young dragon hybrid again. The boy’s back is too him, his ginger hair alight in the afternoon sun. His sister from earlier had disappeared, presumably going inside for the day, maybe to handle that basket of fresh crops from earlier. That leaves her twin outside, herding in two dogs to the backdoor of his house. The prince has to fight back a smile as he approaches, watching the other with intrigue, though he doesn’t think he controls his expression very well.

“Ah, it’s you again!” Jimmy says, caching sight of that pretty farmer boy from earlier as he walks. The other jumps, and his face lights up with surprise once he turns and sees who it was that had called for him. If the cod is not mistaken, the boy seems decently intimidated as well. Which is fair, he supposes, because he is the prince of the whole kingdom after all.

“Oh um, hello your highness!” The boy from earlier jumps, his tail flicking in surprise. “Nice to see you again!” The ginger flashes a smile at him, one resembling the one he'd given before. Jimmy decided he rather likes this guy, and maybe he likes that dazzling little smile just as much if not a bit more. 

“No need for the formalites.” The blonde says with a slight shake of his head. He doesn't really like when people get all formal and serious with him, especially when it's someone he just met. Especially when it's someone he would rather like to be friends with. 

“Right okay, um,” The boy says, seeming to trip over his own words out of nervousness. “Your name's Jimmy, right?” He asks, likely having heard the name of all four royals at one point before in his life. Well hopefully he knew the names of the people ruling his kingdom, because Jimmy had concerningly run into some people who didn't. 

“Yes! It is! What's yours?” He smiles, making a pleased clapping motion with his hands. His tail flicks behind him happily, which the boy seems to notice. He smiles at the movement, before his eyes move back to Jimmy’s face. 

“Fwhip!” He nods, any earlier nervousness seeming to fade just a bit. “My name's Fwhip!” The cod next to him smiles at that, and gives his own nod in return. That was quite the unique name, if he had to say so himself. It's certainly not something he'd ever heard before, and probably wouldn't hear anything like it again. It just made the ginger more alluring to him, really. 

"How old are you?" Fwhip asks, giving the taller boy a curious glance over. It was natural for people to be uncertain about a merfolks age, for their species could get rather tall and was known for their sudden growth spurts. It was a question Jimmy had gotten before, and would probably get again until he'd left those awkward teenage growing years. Which would be soon hopefully, since he was nearing adulthood and all. 

"Seventeen." He answers, now wanting to know the others out of pure curiosity. Fwhip looks to be about his age, maybe older, if the slight stubble starting to form on his chin says anything. They're definitely in the same age range though, which is fun. Jimmy never meets a lot of people his age, and the ones he does he can't really talk casually too. They're all either way too formal with him, or they are sadly other royals themselves 

"Sixteen, but my birthday's tomorrow. So I'm technically seventeen." Fwhip says with a nonchalant shrug, his own tail flicking from side to side, just like the cod's had started too a few minutes before. Their tails bump slightly, and the two boys exchange a laugh, before continuing their conversation.

Jimmy hums in response. "Well I'll still be in town tomorrow, so I must stop by and get you something!" He exclaims, the smile that had formed before widening ever so slightly. The cod was already brainstorming a way to get said gift, which mainly included a way to sneak away from his family once again. A task that sounded tricker than it truly was, probably, hopefully. 

"Oh no, your highness, you don't need to!" Fwhip stumbled over his words, struggling to get his response out. "Really it's fine " He sounded genuine, and maybe a little embarrassed that someone of such high status would even think to get him a gift, even though it was his birthday!

"I insist!” Jimmy said, not having it any other way. It was gonna be his birthday! He couldn't just not get Fwhip anything on his birthday! That was the whole point of birthdays! "I'd feel bad if I knew it was your birthday and didn't get anything." He explained, hoping his clear passion for the occasion game through in his voice as well as his expression. 

Apparently, it did, because Fwhip just blinked at him. "Oh." The farmer boy muttered, seeming a bit caught off guard by the prince's insistence. And if the blonde wasn’t mistaken, there was even a slight blush starting to dust his freckled cheeks. (Which was adorable, really, in Jimmy’s entirely humble and totally unbiased opinion.) 

"And drop the your highness stuff please? I hate that." He once again reminds Fwhip to be less formal with him, though Jimmy doesn't blame him for forgetting. It will not be the first or last time he has to do so, and the cod has expected that he will be doing that correction until the day he dies. Not that he minds, if it gets people to stop being so formal around him and start being more friendly. 

Fwhip’s shoulders seem to sag in relief, and he flashes a dazzling smile up at the cod prince. "I hate saying it." He admits, and somehow their already friendly conversation gets even more friendly. Maybe because now, for one of the first times ever, Jimmy feels like he’s being talked too as his own person, not just some prince. Not just some guy who was important for what he himself felt was no good reason. He was a person, talking to another person the same age as him, and that feeling was something the blonde found he greatly enjoyed. 

"Now, what kinda stuff do you like?" Jimmy asks, maybe a bit too early. But he cannot help it, because he is so curious about this guy. He wants to know everything about this little farmer kid, he finds. He wants to know him better than he knows his sister and his parents, better than the prince knows even himself.

"Why?" Fwhip tilts his head to the side, as if puzzled, and his tail swishes curiously. It seems he had forgotten what they were literally just talking about, which was rather silly of him. And maybe it was also a little endearing of him as well, to the codfolk anyways.

"For your birthday present." Jimmy cannot help but smile as he gives the simple explanation, and cannot help how the look widens a monet later. Fwhip blushes a little, still surprised that a guy he would just met would get a gift for him. Even though its going to be his birthday.

"Oh, um," The farmer starts out uncertainly, then eventually devolves into a minutes long rant about all his interest and hobbies, stuff he’s very clearly passionate about; and also clearly has no one to really talk with it about either. Fwhip’s very into engineering and tinkering, as he tells Jimmy. It’s honestly adorable, how passionate he is about the subject. The prince thinks he could listen to this guy ramble and talk for hours and hours and would never tire of it, truly he does. And, this whole conversation gives him a pretty good idea for a birthday gift, on top of getting to listen to this guy's wonderful sounding voice.

Though eventually, after around an hour of just hanging around and talking, Jimmy knows he will have to leave. His family's allotted free time is coming to an end, meaning the prince will have to head back soon. Lest his parents finally realize he’s missing and start a panic over it. So with a slightly heavy heart, he parts his new dragon friend goodbye. But not before something secret is given to him, something that’s going to make the night ahead a whole lot better than it was originally going to be.

Fwhip slips him a note as they part, one Jimmy can only read when he is finally free of his family's presence once again. One that reads to meet him in the nearby orchard, two hours after the sun goes down. The prince can't help the buzz of excitement that follows through him when he reads it, and cannot wait until the sun finally disappears from the sky. 

Two hours after the sunset, just as he was directed, Jimmy is jumping out of his guest window, the one at the place his family was staying at for the night. It’s quite a nice place, and the prince laments that he won’t get to spend much time in the rather comfortable bed it possesses. But he has somewhere more important to go, someone far more important to see. Fwhip is already waiting for him probably, and he needs to get there before he goes back in, or thinks that the cod will not be coming and they never see each other again. 

He makes his way through the now dark little village, keeping to the shadows just in case he is spotted. He makes a correct guess, that the orchard is near Fwhip’s house. Though even if it wasn’t the place wouldn;t have been too hard to find in the end, considering this village is on the smaller side. And the fact that orchards tend to be quite big places, especially if they want to make any profit at all. 

  The prince reaches the aforementioned orchard, and starts to weave his way uneasily through the trees. The blonde does so until he has to be about halfway through the maze of apple trees, and then he sees a light. Instantly, he picks up the pace, beeling for what seems to be the low light of a lantern. And when he reaches his destination, Fwhip there waiting for him, his wings folded in on themselves as the ginger leans against one of the apple trees. 

Once both boys spot each other, their faces light up brighter than the light from the lantern ever could. Jimmy is by Fwhip’s side at an instant, in his personal space without even a thought or a care in the world, for all that matters now is the boy in front of him. The farmer says nothing, just flashes that dazzling smile from before back up at him, and the cod prince thinks he’s going to melt and die, it’s so cute on him; that smile is.

"Why'd you want to meet me here?" Jimmy asks, not noticing how he shuffles closer to the other boy, doing so almost on instinct. Fwhip doesn’t seem to care that they’re so close, close enough for their shoulders to brush. He seems to relish it actually, and the blonde can't deny that he feels similarly about it.

Fwhip shrugged casually, piercing him with those pretty blue eyes once again. "I feel like I should. Like I shouldn't just let you leave." He mumbled, sounding a little embarrassed by the fact. Jimmy felt a sudden surprise color his face at the words, and he shuffled closer to the other once more.

"Yeah, yeah I get that too." He said in response, his tone quiet just like the dragon hybrid’s was, to match the mood. They would probably want to be quiet in the orchard too, since there were houses of sleeping people decently nearby. "This feels too important to just let go, somehow." 

"Besides," Fwhip smirks ever so slightly, Jimmy getting to see his mischievous looks for the first time. He thinks that kind of look looks right on this guy. "You're rather pretty. I'd hate to let a pretty guy slip away without at least flirting with him." The farmer boy leans in as he speaks, teasingly, enticingly. Jimmy can’t help but smirk at him in return, and lean in further as well.

"You're not so bad yourself."  He purrs, feelings his tail flick around Fwhip’s legs. The other glances down for just a second, before his eyes flick back to meet Jimmy’s. The look his new friend has is dangerous, and maybe the cod wants to lose himself in it just a little bit. 

Glad you think so~" Fwhip flirts further, leaning back as fast as he had leaned forward. Jimmy has to hold back a frown at that, though it is a frown that wouldn’t have stayed for long. Medium sized wings puff out, hiding them a little bit more from the world. The prince feels a thrill of something go through him, and has to stop himself from leaning in and chasing the other and all his fleeting flirts.

"Is that all you're going to do, charm me?" Jimmy can't help but giggle, Fwhip’s wings managing to cover most of the area around them. The two, along with the lantern, haven been entirely enclosed in their own little world. A world neither of the boys will want to be leaving anytime soon, and certainly aren't planning on doing so. Not for a few hours, at least.

The ginger lets out a giggle, leaning in slightly again as another tease. "I planned to get to know you a little more, then I'd charm you." He moves back quickly, just as Jimmy thought he would, and he wonders what would happen if neither of them pulled away. 

"Well, we have all night." The prince says with a cheeky grin, folding his hands behind his back. Something lights up in Fwhip's eyes, as he returns the look he's given in full force, his face prettier and brighter than even the morning sun. 

And it was all night they spent together, in the darkness of that little apple orchard. They chatted and talked, with even more flirts sprinkled in there, for hours upon hours. The two were there even though both of them had to be deathly tired, the only thing keeping them alert and awake being the other person beside them. It was everything to the prince, it was wonderful, and he wouldn't trade it for the world. 

The two of them start walking back, the flirts now having advanced into hesitant touch. In one hand, Fwhip carries the lantern, holding it out ahead of them. In his other he holds Jimmy’s hand, their fingers interlocking. The prince thinks about it again, and has to stop his breath from hitching and his face flushing red. The dragon's wings are also spread still, one comfortably wrapped around Jimmy. The cod finds this whole thing rather sweet, and it adds to Fwhip's charm factor. Which isn't exactly hard , everything the ginger does is charming to him. 

After a minute or so of thinking, Jimmy stops, remembering something the farmer boy had said earlier. Fwhip looks puzzled as he stops beside him, all while a sly smile forms on the cod's face. "You said you were going to flirt with me at least. So what's the most you're going to do?" He asks, and brings himself closer to the other. The dragon's eyes light up with something, and a shiver involuntary runs down the prince's spine. 

Fwhip smirks, and leans forward for what has to be the hundredth time that night. "Kiss you, maybe. If you're up for it." He mutters, their noses starting to bump ever so slightly. Neither of them have pulled away, and this is what happens. Jimmy holds back an amused giggle, feeling a hand come to cup his chin. 

"I'm more than up for it." He says in response, lowering his voice to a low murmur, almost a whisper. His own hands find purchase on the gingers waist, resting comfortably against the fabric of his rather worn clothes. Fwhip smirks again, clearly pleased with himself. 

"Good." The dragon hybrid whispers against his lips, before closing the gap between them. It's a wonderful first kiss, a chaste one. Fwhip’s lips are warm against his, and taste heavenly sweet. The hand on his cheek tilts the prince's head further, deepening the kiss in the process, and Jimmy feels his knees go a little weak. He's died and gone to heaven, he has to have, to be experiencing something this amazing. 

They pull away after a few moments, both of their faces flushed a decent amount of red. Fwhip can't help it, and lets a small giggle slip past his lips. A happy laugh, one full of all the joy in the world. Soon enough, Jimmy is laughing along with him, their hands becoming intertwined once again. He felt like he was floating, like he was on cloud nine. Fwhip grips his hand tighter, squeezing it affectionately, and he leans in until their foreheads bump together, both of them still laughing.

After that, the two of them have to pull away once again, and continue their walk home. Once they reach the main road it is nearing sunset, within the next hour and a half at least. Their parting is supposed to be sad, maybe even bittersweet, and the last time they see each other. But before he goes, Jimmy leans in and whispers to Fwhip. He tells the ginger to stay up for a little while longer, for he has a surprise in store. Before the other cab protest, he is gone and disappearing down the road, determined like he never has been before. 

Jimmy is only in his guest room for maybe ten minutes, getting no sleep in that really comfortable bed. By early morning he is sneaking out again, birthday gift in hand as he heads towards Fwhip’s house. He said he was getting this kid a birthday gift, and he meant it!

He'd bought the gift earlier, on his way back to their guest house that evening. It was something he was sure Fwhip would like, based on what the dragon had told him anyways. The gift was wrapped the best it could, that being only a small white box with no ribbon or tissue paper. It was all the prince could grab on such short notice really, and he prayed Fwhip wouldn’t mind too much. 

Before the prince knows it, he's reached the ginger's house. There is an open window on the side, on the second story, and Jimmy hopes that Fwhip left it open for him. Because that's the way he's getting in. Even if it is technically illegal. 

He uses his extra height to his advantage, grabbing onto the window sill with some difficulty. The codfolk hauls himself up, keeping the present tightly pressed to his chest, so it doesn't fall. And when the blonde finally gets most of him  through the window, with maybe a few parts of his clothes now dirtied and torn, he is face to face with the one person he had hoped to see the most. 

“Hi.” He whispers, staring into Fwhip’s pretty blue eyes once again. Despite the slight shock displayed on his face, the dragon hybrid smiles back at him, and warmth floods through every inch of Jimmy’s being. 

“Hello there.” Fwhip mutters, fondness undeniable in his voice. He tugs the cod a little, helping him get through the window properly. The farmer doesn't let go, not until Jimmy has his balance properly again, and the two of them are standing face to face once more. 

The prince smiles, feeling the slightest blush start to form on his face. “Happy birthday.” He hands the box out to Fwhip, averting his eyes bashfully as he does so. A hand brushes the blonde's, and his friend takes the box slowly, as if in some kind of shock. 

“You actually got me something.” Fwhip mutters quietly, sounding astonished as he turns the gift box in his hands. Jimmy moves his gaze away from the floor, just in time to watch his friend unbox it. The dragon holds it so delicately, like it's the most precious thing he's ever seen. Like it's something that needs to be persevered in a museum. 

“Well, go on,” Jimmy says, unable to hold back the smallest of smiles. “Open it.” Fwhip nods in favor of a verbal response, seemingly far too touched to speak anymore. He moves to the side a little, so he can place the lid of the box onto his nightstand after he removes it. Though Fwhip soon has to stop from dropping the whole box in surprise, fumbling with it in his hands. 

Inside the box is a pair of goggles, ones with red lenses. They had been rather expensive, but Jimmy had the money (being rich had its perks, ya know). And once he saw them in that ship window, he'd thought of Fwhip instantly, and knew he had to get them for the ginger. They were gonna be the perfect birthday gift, he'd just known it. And to his delight, it seems his hunch was right. If Fwhip’s utter joy and disbelief was anything to go off of, anyways. 

“Oh Jimmy….you shouldn't have!” The ginger says, taking the gift out of its box. He turns them around in his hands in awe, such a wide smile beginning to form on his face. He places them on his head for a brief second, to see if they fit okay. And they do, from what Jimmy can tell, and even if they didn’t, he would happily buy a better fitting pair, no matter the amount of money he would have to spend.

“But I did.” The prince responds after a moment, having been distracted by just watching the other. The sight was that memoizing to him, it so happened. “Just for you.” His small smile from earlier had gotten earlier, and it is then he realizes he’s basically been grinning the entire night, for Fwhip made him so happy. The thought made him smile more, and he watched the dragon carefully remove the goggles, and place them back in the box they’d been brought in. He smiles still, even as Fwhip hides the box hastily under his bed, likely to keep the now dear possession safe.

Fwhip turns back to the cod, and before he knows what happens, the other is right in front of him once again. Warm arms wrap around his neck, and the farmer boy pulls Jimmy into a hug. Their first hug, one that is warm, warmer than any the prince had ever received before. “Thank you.” Fwhip mutters, burying his face into the crook of the cod’s neck, his breath landing right near his gills. Jimmy tries not to shudder at the feeling, and lets his own arms embrace the other in return. 

“You're welcome.” He responds, feeling himself start to melt into Fwhip’s never ending warmth. “I just thought you could need some protection, especially if you're pursuing engineering more.” The cod explains his thought process behind the gift, going to idly rest his chin on top of the others head. The gesture is always something Lizzie does to him, so once Jimmy has an opportunity to do so as well, he takes it without any thought at all. Thankfully, Fwhip doesn’t seem to mind at all. He seems to enjoy it, in fact, keening into the touch like he was starving for it his whole life.

“Thank you.” The dragon hybrid repeats his earlier words, pulling back a bit, just so they were able to look at each other's faces again. Arms still stayed wrapped around his neck, which Jimmy was grateful for, because he didn’t want this moment to end, not yet anyways. “I'd been wanting these for months, but could never find the money to get them.”

“Well, that makes me all the more happy I got them for you.” Jimmy said, reaching down so he could press a fleeting kiss into his friend’s auburn locks. Fwhip giggles at that, and places a return peck on his cheek, the contact burning like a small fire against his scales. 

“What did I do to deserve you.” The farmer boy says, his gaze now being filled with something. It’s that fond look again, one Jimmy knows he has already given to the other a million times over. A look he is getting used too, and a look he is learning to love seeing. He wants to see it a thousand times more, for the rest of his life even, it is that spectacular. 

“Be your wonderful self, that's what.” The prince mutters back in earnest, finding that their faces are now close once again. Too close to be anything friendly. Once he notices, Jimmy has to try and keep his gaze locked with Fwhip’s, instead of flicking it down to his lips instead. He doesnt think he does a good job of it, but the effort is what counts.

“.....You're wonderful too, you know that?” The other doesn’t seem to notice, only leaning in closer, seeming to be drawn in by an unseen magnetic field that laid between them. They both hold back another giggle at their noses bump, staring into each other’s eyes with an emotion so warm and full, it can only be one thing.

“I think I'm in love with you.” It’s Jimmy who breathes the words out, the realization coming to him as actually as breathing, instead of that large, shell shocking one all those romance novels would describe. 

Fwhip smiles up at him, and mutters back, he mutters back some of the best words Jimmy thinks he’s ever heard. “I think I am too, somehow.” Joy fills the cod from head to toe once he hears that, but he can only bask in that feeling for a moment, for their wonderful night is about to be brought to an unfortunate close.

There is a sudden shuffling in another room, shuffling that indicates a person. It has to be, the creature making it sounds far too big to be the dogs Jimmy had seen that afternoon. Both of them jump in near unison, drawn out of their own little world by the noise, and having to wonder if they had woken someone up by accident. “I gotta leave.” The codfolk hisses through gritted teeth, turning to look out the window. The sun is starting to rise, a light purple already beginning to dust the horizon. He stalks back, taking long and hurried strides. Jimmy knows he needs to go, before someone catches them, before they both get in deep trouble.

“Will you ever come back?” Fwhips asks, following him to the window. At the question, the prince stops, sitting halfway out the window, and goes to get what is possibly one of his last looks at the boy in front of him. The dragon’s gaze is hopeful, desperate, full of pain. The blonde thinks he’s going to shatter right then and there, it hurts him so much to see.

“I don't know.” Jimmy looks at him, uncertain at how to answer that. He and his family have quite the long trip ahead of them, and many more towns to visit. It is entirely possible they will not use this path for their return journey, and he will never see this person again. He knows that’s what's probably going to happen, as much as it breaks his heart, he will never see this wonderful village again, and the boy in front of him will vanish with it in less than an hour. 

“Kiss me again? Before you go?” Fwhip asks, reaching out and tugging on his sleeve; maybe doing so more than a little desperately. It’s funny, how attached they are to each other after just one single day, but that is something to ponder over later.

Jimmy smiles down at him, feeling his heart soften further for this boy. “I was already planning on it.” The prince mutters, and can see the way Fwhip lights up in joy. He leans down, careful from where he sits on the window, and the dragon hybrid meets him halfway. Their final kiss is as long as they dare to make it, sweet and fleeting and never enough. They pull away at the sound of more stirring in another room, just as their breaths start to run out. Jimmy wants to go back in for another, yet he knows he has to go. Lest his parents find them before Fwhip’s do.

He gives the ginger one last look, one that he hopes says everything he cannot right now, and then continues his descent out the window. Jimmy lands on the grass below, barely managing to regain his balance again before slipping off into the receding darkness of the early morning. He does not look behind him, because Jimmy knows that if he does, he will never be able to leave this place. The prince does not look back, but can feel Fwhip’s gaze, one just as torn as his own, following him the whole way back and then some.

____________________

The years go by fast, and Jimmy gets older. He turns twenty, finally becoming old enough to do something other than sit there and listen to his parents' orders on how to be a good prince. Though doing something is not much, considering Lizzie is the oldest, and therefore set to become the ruler of their kingdom one day. But even as his duties pile up, the prince still thinks about being seventeen again. He still thinks about that red haired boy he;d left in the village, and his heart longs to return to that wonderful night they’d shared together. 

His parents offer him suitors, other princesses from other kingdoms. And Jimmy is not interested. He wouldn't have if they were princes, either. His heart is still with the boy from the village, even three years later. His heart is still with those shining blue eyes, soft lips and warm smiles in the darkness of an apple orchard. 

Yet one day, three long years later, those warm blue eyes return to him. They return to the prince in the most unconventional, yet perfect way possible. They return to him with the sound of his study’s window being pried open, and the greeting of a wonderful and familiar voice, one that makes his whole being ache with long buried longing.

The prince turns around, surprised by the voice. A voice he'd never thought he'd  hear again, but is all the more delighted to. “Fwhip!?" Jimmy exclaims, not believing what he sees. There, standing before him, is Fwhip, having climbed in through his window; much like the prince himself had done all those years before on his seventeenth birthday. 

 "Yeah, it's me!" The man says, and even though he is a little older, it is still Fwhip, clear as day. His hair has gotten longer, now held in a ponytail, and his face was more defined than it had been. The stubble that had been on his chin before had grown into a full beard as well. Yet despite all those changes, his shining blue eyes were still recognizable, still the same, still him.

"What are you doing here!? How are you here!?" The prince takes a few steps forward, reaching out. But he doesn't grab onto the other person, stopping before he does so. It's been three years, and he feels hesitant to be so forward again. 

"My mom got another job, closer to the capital." Fwhip explains with a smile, grabbing Jimmy’s outstretched hands. He holds them in his own, and the cod feels himself lean into the touch he's been starving for for so long. "I couldn't just not see you!"

"Did you sneak in?" The prince asks a rather obvious question, earning a fond snicker from the dragon hybrid. The answer was quite obvious, and he should already know, considering the earlier sound of an unlocking window and all.

"Maybe~" He teases, giving him a little bit of a flirty look. Despite himself and all the worry he has for Fwhip’s safety, Jimmy giggles at that. He’s just so damn charming, this guy is. And captivating, entirely and utterly captivating. Did he ever mention that before? Captivating? Because it's what Fwhip is, to him at least.

"How!?" The cod asks, tightening his grasp on the other’s hands. He thinks a smile is starting to form on his face, a rather wide one, since its starting to hurt so much. Jimmy hopes its a wide smile, so he can show the dragon all the joy he feels at finally seeing him again, after all this time.

"I have my ways." The other lets a small purr slip out, but the sound is a bit unsure. It must be something about Jimmy’s face, or his expression, that is setting the other off. Something about this interaction is upsetting the other, something the blonde can;t quite place his finger on, much to his own frustration. 

Fwhip's confident gaze falters for a second, and he frowns. He lets go of Jimmy’s hands, and the prince feels a mirroring frown start to appear on his own face, his thoughts spiraling and wondering what he had done wrong. "Do you…not want me here? I know it's been three years-"

"No! No." His protest is instant, panic starting to settle into the prince’s bones as soon as the words process. "I want you here." The codfolk goes to reach out again, and ends up grasping desperately at nothing, for the ginger is too far away despite being so close to him. Once again, Jimmy cannot reach for him, and the thoughts have to pain him more than anything else ever has, except maybe their previous parting. 

Fwhip looks uncertain, despite the prince’s devastation. He backs away a bit, still hesitant and uncertain, and Jimmy wants to do nothing more but pull him back and never let go. "There's not.….someone else? I thought you royal people all got married off." The dragon asks, his tail dropping against the floor with a small thunk. Jimmy thinks part of him just shattered a tiny bit, fearful that Fwhip will turn heel and leave and they will never see each other again, not for another three miserable years.

"No, there's no one else." Jimmy shakes his head, and reaches out for a second time. He grasps Fwhip’s hands in his, maybe clinging on harder than he should. But he can’t help it, the prince needs him to stay. "They — my parents — they tried to give me a suitor. But I never wanted one."

"O-oh…" The ginger stammers, his gaze becoming momentarily transfixed on their hands, their hands that are now joined together, fingers interlocking. He looks back up at Jimmy when he keeps talking, a slight shade of red starting to dust his pretty freckled cheeks.

"Everytime they tried to get me to court someone, all I could think about was you." The cod explains. that old and indescribable fondness for this man finding its way into every crevice of his brain for what has to be the millionth time. Fwhip looks up at him, wearing a look that has to be adoration and wonder. Jimmy thinks he’s melting, he’s so in love.

"Would you court me? If given the chance?" The dragon hybrid asks, his own grip on the cod’s hands tightening. Jimmy’s unyielding wave fondness is momentarily interrupted by pleasant surprise, not having expected such a question. A question he did not expect, but is not entirely opposed to. 

"In a heartbeat." His answer is genuine, immediate, and said without a thought. The prince knows in his bones that he would date this man, even if he wasn’t even supposed to see him, let alone doing anything more. He would court him, date him, no matter what the world has to say about it. 

"So court me, please." Fwhip breathes, his hand going to clutch Jimmy’s arm. The prince feels his breath hitch, looking down at the ginger. He can tell, by the look in Fwhip’s eyes, that this is a genuine request. That the dragon would like to go through the whole courting and dating process, with him of all people. 

Even then, he still can’t believe it. Can’t believe the miracle that has practically been placed in his lap. "Really!?" The blonde whispers, astounded. But it's a happy kind of astonishment, the best kind.

"All I could think about for the past three years was you." Fwhip says, his whole expression going soft and warm. And then Jimmy laughs, and laughs even when warm hands come to cup his face, and they both end up laughing into yet another kiss. The first kiss they’ve had in three long years. A kiss that says yes, they were going to be a thing now. This was them, and would be them, for as long as Fwhip would have him.  

When the two of them pull away again, they’re both laughing still, though it comes out more breathless than before. Suddenly, in what has to be a moment of pure exhilaration, Fwhip wraps his arms around the prince's waist, and picks him up with startling strength. Jimmy feels himself turn red, laughing still as he is spun around in the air for a second. 

The dragon hybrid puts him back down, and the cod bumps their foreheads together with a final giggle. Fwhip meets his gaze, and stares back lovingly, and a million wonderful new possibilities start to run through Jimmy;s head at the sight. "Courting does imply marriage…." He murmured after a moment of thought, giving the other an expectant look.

"You'd marry me?" Fwhip asks, having that same surprise Jimmy had held just a few wonderful minutes before, when he’d first broken into the prince's bedroom. This whole thing felt like they were in a fairytale or something, they had to be, for it all to be this perfect and amazing. 

Jimmy speaks again, and hopes all the love he feels for this guy is shown clearly in his eyes, his voice, the way he holds him, in everything that he is able to show it with. "Yes, I think so. I'm pretty sure I would."

"But you barely know me." Fwhip protests, but it comes out weak and in vain, especially when the rest of his being seems to be buzzing with excitement at the mere idea that he is dating the man in front of him, let alone marrying him. 

"Then let me start knowing you." Jimmy says it simply, like its the most obvious thing in the world. Because to him it is, he wants to date Fwhip, to know him wholly and entirely, to be his, and to be the others. He thinks it's all he’s been wanting since they first met those three fateful years ago.

Fwhip cracks a lopsided grin, looking up at the cod with what has to be pure adoration, his gaze is warm and lovely and full of a million other things that Jimmy cannot even try and describe. “Sure. Okay. You can start knowing me.”

“Where do we start with that, then.” He asks, curiosity starting to flicker inside him. The prince has a few ideas, a few ways of getting to know the dragon better that he would like to try. But for now, he is more than happy to let his frie —his boyfriend set the pace. Just for a little while though, just for now, at the start of this all, until they are both more comfortable in their roles in each other's lives.

“Maybe….like this?” Fwhip murmurs, and captures the prince’s lips in his again. Jimmy kisses him back, smiling as a hand goes to tangle in his hair. Even after all this time, their kisses are still sweet tasting and warm, like they had been all those years before. They taste like the apples, like the ones in that very orchard on that fateful night, during what felt like a lifetime ago.

“Yeah, this is a good way to start knowing you.” The ginger agrees once they pull away, already starting to pant as he begins to finally catch his breath. He was already panting, when Jimmy had a sneaking suspicion this was far from the last kiss they were going to exchange that day. They’d missed far too many opportunities to do so before, and now was the moment to make up for all that lost time. 

“Then we'll just keep doing it.” He murmured, bumping their noses together. It is the best way, the only way he really knows how to be a tease about this; to communicate just what he exactly desires in the moment. Thankfully, his partner gets the hint. 

“Hm, good.” Fwhip whispers against his lips, and leans down to take more. Jimmy smiles as the other pushes him down further, and gladly lets him take and take as many kisses as he would like. Their lips connect again, and the prince is in bliss once more. WIth the dragon held in his arms, kissing him stupid, he is finally home again.

____________________

The years go by, and the two keep seeing each other. It's as often as they can, since Jimmy tends to get so busy. And Fwhip can't exactly sneak in every day, even if they would both like to do that. But when he does show up, it makes the occasion all the more special, and lights up the prince's day. And that doesn't change, even after two or so years of being together. Every day with his partner brings him undescribable joy, one that he wouldn’t change for the world. 

"Mind if I…see your wings?" Jimmy asks one day, doing so during a quiet moment. The two had managed to get a quiet moment together, hidden the way in the darkness of the cod’s bedroom; with the door being locked for extra measure. Fwhip is curled up in his arms, buried snuggly into his warmth. Before he had spoken, Jimmy had been playing with his partners hair, and humming rather contentedly.

That wasn’t a question he asked lightly, for he knew how personal wings were to a dragon hybrid. Fwhip had told him so himself once, and Jimmy was keen to respect that. If his boyfriend were to decline the offer, he wouldn’t complain, just go back to what he had been doing before. He had only asked due to a sudden curiosity, and was more than comfortable to back away from his offer if necessary.

He only got small glances at his partners wings when they were spread, though normally the limbs were folded and sometimes even restrained to his back, covered by a shirt at most times. All he’d ever known about them was that they were red and black, and that dragon hybrids were very sensitive about who touched them, the action being a quite personal thing reserved for only family, close friends, and lovers. 

Under him, Fwhip stiffens ever so slightly. But Jimmy says nothing on it, and keeps running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. He knows how big of a question this is, how big of a moment this is for the dragon, for the both of them. So he will give him all the time in the world to think, even if that means giving him a couple of days or more. 

After a few long moments, Fwhip makes a murmur of what has to be agreement. Jimmy lets his partner go, touched that the dragon would be so open with him, especially when he could decline so easily. Fwhip shuffles out of his grasp, until he is sitting cross legged in front of the cod. The prince sits up properly himself, and watches as the other unveils the limbs attached to his back, raising his shirt to do so. He decides to get this over with quickly, as he can sense the lingering discomfort hanging around the ginger still. 

Jimmy softly ghosts his fingers along the edge of his partners wings, more than a little mesmerized at the sight. Fwhip lets out an involuntary shiver at the touch, and the prince pulls his hand back, fearful he did something wrong. 

Fwhip mutters out something, his voice gentle and kind despite everything. “You didn't do anything wrong, dear. This just….never happens much. I think the only one who's touched these is my family.” At that reassurance, Jimmy nods, moving his hand back. He is still cautious, but manages to rest his fingers along the ridge of it. The ginger shudders again, but his partner does not pull away. He just steadies himself and keeps his hand there, so Fwhip can get used to the sensation. 

The prince runs his hands over the limbs for only a few more minutes, a little in awe of the sight of them. Eventually, to what is probably the tinkerer’s own embarrassment, Fwhip even starts to lean into the touch, and has to stifle a happy purr and the sensation of someone’s warm hand ghosting over them. He’s like a cat, Jimmy;s boyfriend is, the most adorable one out there.

"They're beautiful, darling."  The cod murmurs, placing a delicate kiss to one of the wings. Under him, Fwhip shudders again, and a flush starts to travel from his face all the way to his neck and the tips of his ears, right where his partner could see it.

“....Thank you.” The ginger huffs, deciding he is done with the moment. Jimmy pulls back, sensing that fact, and watches as his partner gets his wings back in order to how they normally are. Hidden underneath his shirt, and sometimes bound. He hopes that one day, fwhip will feel comfortable enough around Jimmy, that he will not feel much need to hide such beautiful parts of him. But if that day takes a few more years, and a few more personal hurdles to jump over, then the cod is more than comfortable to wait for that day. However long his boyfriend needs, he will wait.

“No problem, my little dragon.” He says, and Fwhip flops back against him, still blushing like a madman. He is in Jimmy’s hold again, shifting until he is once again comfortable and content. The prince hums as they resume their earlier positions, going to play with the others' hair as if nothing had ever happened. He thinks Fwhip prefers it that way.

"I love you." Is what’s muttered against his shirt a moment later, slightly muffled. But despite that the cod can tell that it is genuine. Those words have never been anything but, coming from the man under him.

"Love you, too." Jimmy smiles, and peppers a few kisses into his boyfriend’s hair, more than content to spend the rest of his day and then some like this. The previous moment only stays in his mind for a second, before being stored away as one of his favorite memories with Fwhip, though they are probably plenty more of those to come.

____________________

One of the couple’s meetings, near five years into their relationship, is outside once again. And also once again, a certain someone catches an unexpecting prince by total surprise, a habit Jimmy is starting to think his boyfriend enjoys. Especially since, after scaring him near half to death, the Fwhip laughs and giggles to himself like he’s that mischievous little seventeen year old again.

“Fwhip!” Jimmy exclaims, surprised by the others' sudden appearance. “You’re not supposed to be here!” He feels like he says that a lot with this guy, who likes to sneak in whenever he has any sort of opportunity. It's sweet, really, and Jimmy wouldn't trade it for the world. Though this time he really isn't supposed to be here, as the gardens are far too open for the prince's liking. But Fwhip has never cared for such details, much to his partners utter exasperation. 

“I know,” The ginger smiles, reaching out to grab the prince’s hands, and to hold them in his. “But I missed you.” They do that a lot, Jimmy finds, holding each other's hands like that. It’s one of those things about Fwhip that comes naturally to do, like how breathing and blinking does.

"You sap." He teases, leaning closer to his partner. Maybe the cod is trying to steal a kiss already, within maybe a minute or two of seeing each other. Though Fwhip won’t humor him, not just yet anyways. The dragon sees what he;s trying to do, and decides to be cheeky about it, leaning his back every time Jimmy tries to do the opposite. 

"You know you missed me too!" Fwhip purrs, moving so he can wrap his arms around Jimmy’s neck. He doesn’t kiss him, not yet, nor properly, but a sweet peck is pressed into the cod’s cheek, and another placed right next to it. And maybe a few more after that, dotting his face.

Jimmy giggles at the feeling of the slow, peppered kisses, trying to lean in further still. "I did." He let his body relax, and his arms went to rest casually on his partner’s waist, keeping the two of them in position. Like they were going to be moving anytime soon. 

“Well, now that you're here, what do you want to do?” He continues, feeling both of their bodies start to swag a bit, like there was an invisible rhythm they both knew to follow, and to follow it without instinct. Maybe it wasn’t there, only in Jimmy’s mind, or maybe it was the natural rhythm that came from the two just being together, around each other again.

“Is just standing here not enough for you?” Fwhip says with a fond roll of his eyes. He leans in a bit more as he speaks, just to tease him. If Jimmy didn’t love him so much, he would consider breaking apart and punching him for being so mean. 

“No.” He said, shooting the other a look, one that said he knew exactly what he was doing. Fwhip just laughed, no longer able to hold it in. But Jimmy was determined, and would not give up on his one very simple goal, even if his boyfriend was currently laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, he would not relent!

“....Kiss me? And then we can go to the gardens?” He suggests hopefully, once the other’s little giggle fit had calmed down in full, and maybe after sharing a few snickers of his own. The prince couldn’t help it, his partner's laugh was just so beautiful, so infectious. 

Fwhip’s tone is curious when he next speaks, his eyes shining with the same emotion. Jimmy loves that look on him, and makes sure to mention it later, even if he already has at least five times before. “And do what in there?”

“Make flower crowns, if you’re into that.” The prince pitches his idea a little sheepishly, knowing how….silly it might sound. How some people would giggle and call him some kind of hopeless romantic, or even childish or girlish for wanting to do such a thing. However, he knows the dragon hybrid probably won’t do such a thing, but still gets all embarrassed over it nonetheless.

“That's an adorable idea, actually.” Fwhip’s eyes widen, and his expression twists into something so fond and soft, it makes the blonde’s heart ache with something fierce. “I’d be delighted.” Once those words are said, the inventor finally leans in, finally closing the decently small gap between them. Jimmy smiles into it, and his one wish for that day is finally fulfilled.

____________________

One day, after five years of officially being together, Jimmy is brought something by one of the palace workers. One of his personal servants, the little parrot avian that goes by the name of Grian. The prince has grown particularly close with this servant after all these years, nearly a decade, of working and living alongside each other. The bird hybrid is like a brother too him. So as soon as he sees the rather grim and worried look on Grian’s face, one his friend does not sport often, the blonde’s heart drops to the pit of his stomach. 

He takes what the servant brings him, the smaller man not being able to meet his gaze. Something;s gone wrong, horribly wrong, and the prince is scared to even try and imagine what that something could be, a million horrible possibilities all running through his head at once. 

Jimmy looks at what Grian had brought him with a nervous gulp, and thinks he's going to throw up. It's the latest newspaper, and right on the front page is an article. An article about him and Fwhip being together. They'd even got a picture of it as well. The two must not have been as well hidden as they thought that day, on Fwhip’s last visit, they must've been too out in the open. Stupid, that's what they were, they were stupid-

The cod takes a breath, and steadies himself. He can’t let his thoughts spiral, he can’t go on a self blaming rant right now. Right now, he needs to get to Fwhip, before any other person can. Jimmy needs to get to his partner, before anyone in this castle, save Grian, gets to the prince himself first.

He stands from where he’d been sitting, newspaper forgotten, and leaves his room. The prince speedwalks through the castle, like a man on a mission, because he is one. He’s a man on a very important mission, to find his boyfriend ASAP.  Jimmy starts to beeline for their usual meeting spots, those being his room, the gardens, and the library’s balcony, oddly enough. Or any balcony really, or any other place that Fwhip can easily unlock. If his partner is not in the castle yet, well he will just have to sneak out and find him himself. He thinks the dragon hybrid had given him his address anyway and that he remembered it, probably. Hopefully.

He checks the gardens first, and gets a lucky guess. There, moving between some of the plants, is a very frantic Fwhip. Their eyes meet for one small second, each man sharing the same panicked expression, and Jimmy wastes no time near running across the garden until he is buy Fwhip’s side once more, for what could possible be the last time. God knows what’s going to become of him, once the rest of the kingdom finds out. (Jimmy had never really considered it before, the danger of what they’ve been doing, but now it is hitting him smack in the face, and it's truly terrifying for the both of them.)

Before either of them knows what's happening, he is crashing into Fwhip’s arms, and they are holding onto each other tightly. Like they are the other man's lifeline, like the other is the only thing keeping them upright. His partner's hold has never felt so comforting yet horrifying all at once. "They found out." Jimmy breathes, looking into his boyfriend’s wide eyes, fear clearly reflected in them. The prince’s heart twists itself into knots.

"I know. I don't care." Fwhip says, going to cup both of his cheeks in his hands. Jimmy leans into the touch, the warmth, extremely aware for the first time that he should not even be doing so, let alone enjoying it. "I won't stop seeing you."

"What would your family think-" Jimmy starts, and is quickly cut off as soon as he does so. The hold on his face tightens, and he places his own hands ontop of the ones holding him so lovingly, despite everything crashing around them.

"Gem won't care, and my parents can fuck right off. I won't stop seeing you, not for anything.” Fwhips snarls, sounding more sure than he ever had of anything in his life, More sure than he ever had about any of the inventions or ideas he rambled about, more sure than anything in the whole wide world. "What about yours?" The ginger asks, clearly and predictably more concerned about his partner's safety than he is his own. Like his boyfriend doesn;t have plot armor in the form of being literal royalty.

"I don't know what they're gonna say. I'm too scared." Jimmy admits, after a quiet moment of thought. His first and only one until that point had been finding Fwhip, but now that he had done so, the prince had to face the other problems that came with that damn newspaper article. And once he took a second to think about all the other consequences and reactions to this, he found that he didn’t want to go and face any of them.

"Wasn't your mom from a village? Like I am?" Fwhips asks, recalling all the information he learned of the royal family through the years. He’d learned it all somehow, either through word of mouth of Jimmy himself talking about it, and now seemed like a damn good time to finally make all that knowledge useful. 

Jimmy mumbles out his response, getting cut off by a stubbornly persistent dragon hybrid, the one still clutching onto his face like he’ll die without doing so. "Yeah but-"

"They can't say anything then, or they're hypocrites!" Fwhip exclaims, his brows furrowing. He sounds like he’s just found the loophole, the solution to everything. But he is not a noble, the dragon hybrid does not know how high class society tends to work. He does not know the life Jimmy lives and all its details, he does not know the cod’s parents. But the prince does, he knows all that better than he would like, and knows that what his boyfriend had said is not a solution, but more likely to be another problem more than anything. 

"They can't say anything publicly, but privately... " He points out, well aware of all the words his parents, and maybe even Lizzie, could be slinging at him in less than an hour. “And you're not a merfolk, you're a dragon. You know how some people feel about that stuff…”

"Shit." Fwhip breathes out softly, the horrible reality of this all hitting him for the second time that day. They had no good way around this, no way out. Both of them would be in deep trouble, to varying degrees of course, but still in trouble. All with the lingering possibility they would never be allowed to meet again, or maybe something worse, if Jimmy’s father is a crueler man than he was raised to believe he was. 

"I won't stop seeing you. Never. You mean the world to me." Jimmy reassures him. He takes Fwhip’s hands off his face, so he can hold them in his own, like the two of them always do. He interlocks their fingers, and can only hope the familiar action is starting to bring his partner the same comfort it is starting to bring him. "I love you." He says, and prays it's not the last time he’ll do so.

"I know." Fwhip responds quickly, simply. He doesn’t need to say the full phrase back, those two words are enough to get everything across and then some. Small phrases have been able to mean that for a while now, able to carry such emotion without even saying much in the first place.

"Remember, when I said courting implies marriage?" Jimmy says, after allowing himself a fleeting second to think, his eyes lighting up with something. Something he doesn’t quite dare call hope just yet. But maybe…just maybe…he’s found the solution. Get married, legally, before anyone else had a chance to intervene, despite all the uproar it was sure to cause. Though everything after this would cause an uproar of some kind, so the one that got the prince the husband he wanted really sounded like the only good option at this point. 

"Yeah?" Fwhip says, sounding a little hesitant. But there is a slight, new hope starting to form under all that unsureness, and it buzzes around the both of them like a wave of electricity. Their electricity, their hope for something better.

"Do we want to go ahead and do that? Finish our courting? Now that everyone knows?" The prince pitches his idea, letting that hope rear its wonderful, wonderful head for the first time since he’d gotten it, even if that had only been a minute before. Fwhip’s grip on his hand tightens, and he already knows the other feels the same way about all this.

The ginger smiles up at him, fond, earnest, and like he can’t believe what he just heard. "I'd love that." He breathes, and cracks the first smile Jimmy had seen from him in their short time together that day. Hopefully, a few more are to follow from both of them. 

"So you'll marry me?" The blonde asks. It’s a stupid question, one he should already know the answer to. Jimmy does that a lot, so the man in front of him says, asks stupid questions he should already know the answer too. Apparently it makes him all the more endearing.

"In a heartbeat." Fwhip’s response is small, smile, and two words again. One of those small phrases that had come to mean something, while never having said much in the first place. He squeezes the cod’s hands together in his, the action being a lot more hopeful than it had been just a minute or so before.

They lapse into a momentary silence, until Jimmy speaks again. He could tell both of them were processing, unsure what to say, the realization of what they;d just agreed to, hitting both of them like a wave. They’d both agreed to one of the biggest things you could agree too, and they hadn;t even had a ring or a plan or anything. Bunch of idiots, the two of them where. "...Is that it? Are we engaged?" Fwhip asks, his tone having to be full of absolute bewilderment. But a good kind, if that made any sense.

"I guess so. Unless you want me to do a proper proposal?" Jimmy shrugs, the last words meant to be entirely unserious. Doing a proper proposal would blow, like, the whole plan they just made to get secretly married. Which was pretty counterproductive, and not at all helping his still lingering paranoia of what that news article was going to do to their lives.

"Oh the journalists would love that." Fwhip exclaims with a giggle. "Upcoming prince proposes to a poor boy!" He draws out the last words, exaggerating them as best as he could. The prince has to hold back a snort, for this isn't really a time for giggles.

"It wouldn't have to be public -" He mutters, finding himself a little embarrassed and blushing red. Fwhip, ever one for the dramatic, isn’t having any of that. The cod briefly wonders if he;s using all the jokes and joy as a distraction from thoughts of whatever horrible thing might soon befall the two of them. Like Jimmy himself might slightly be doing already.

"But then it would just be silly, because we already know we're getting married. If it was public we could make a show out of it!" The dragon says, his wings fluttering from where they are bound under his shirt. Jimmy knows he has to agree here, and holds back a sigh. That would, indeed, be quite the show for the people. 

"Mm, you have a point." He mumbled, finally feeling a proper smile start to form on his face. It’s the first one he’s cracked all day, and it's because of his boyfriend, surprise, surprise. A lot of his smiles are because of this guy, even on the worst day for their relationship yet.

"Why're you smiling like that?" Fwhip asks, bemused, and like a similar smile isn’t mirroring itself on his face at that very moment, likely for the same reason the prince is flashing his own. They had just gotten engaged on the spot, after all.

"Because you're gonna be my husband, idiot." The prince rolls his eyes fondly, before continuing what else had been on his mind, and had been since his proposal just minutes before. “How are we doing this marriage thing anyways?” They had the idea down, but now the two needed to actually execute it, which was always a lot harder done than said, in Jimmy’s experience so far.

Fwhip makes an on the spot plan, something the blonde has found he;s quite good at doing. And usually, the plans are good and work out, like all his sneaking in, so Jimmy had learned to not mind that tendency of his over the years. “We could always run and get eloped in the woods? That would save a lot of headache.”

Jimmy beams upon hearing the idea, his tail starting to flick excitedly behind him. “Just several days of seeing you? All the time? And we get married in the end? I like that idea.” He is on board immediately, because of course he is. It’s for all the reasons he just listed above, but also because a wedding in the woods sounds adorable, genuinely. And also the most perfect thing he’s ever heard in his whole life.

“What about when we come back?” Fwhip, a smile still stayed etched onto his face, asks one last question, voicing what seems to be the last of his uncertainties. Well, the last ones for now at least. There are certainly a few more of those to come in the nearing days. But it is nothing the two of them can’t handle, not if they are together.

“We'll cross the bridge when we get to it.” Jimmy says, promises it. Fwhip smiles at him for what has to be the billionth time since their first meeting, what has to be going on eight years ago now, and the prince smiles back like he always does. For the first time, he knows that everything with them is going to be okay, because nothing in the world could tear him from this man. From his boyfriend, his soon to be husband.

And speaking of that, the two of them better start moving, and fast. They have a little marriage in the woods to plan, and what has to be a hell of a lot of preparations for it. But it will be worth it, Jimmy knows it in his soul, if he gets to see this guy everyday after this. It will all have been worth it.

He thinks maybe, that instead of the middle of the woods, they should be married in an apple orchard instead, and turns to pitch the idea to his finance.

#ron.fic #ron.writing #jimmy solidarity #fwhimmy #empires smp s1 #empiresshipping #This is one of my favorites hehe #I WAS SUPOSSED TO POST THIS SUNDAY....UMMMM #hi guys take ur 12k word fwhimmy 2 days late. im going to bed (lying) #fwhip

[carylbeach]

Space

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#Debbies one word sunday #One Word Sunday #OWS OneWordSunday #sea #sky #space

[linscreations]

Staircase

My entry for Steps at One Word Sunday The steps are at Nunnington Hall

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#One Word Sunday #Nunnington Hall #staircase #steps

[martyrbat]

[ID: an uncoloured drawing for a panel next to the publicized version. They're both from the comic Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #194. In them, Batman is shown from the waist up. He's looking at Jim Gordon, who's off panel, with a penitent expression after being accused of something he secretly did do. He has his palm pressed against his chest and is blocking the bat emblem as his other hand is clasped ontop of it. In the initial drawing, there's a halo floating above his head as well as several tiny hearts mixed in with the lights that surround him. In the publicized panel, the hearts and halo has been removed and two speech bubbles have been added. He's in front of a terra rose background and is starting to say, “Jim, I don't even know what you're...” But Jim cuts him off, saying, “Stop it. I'm tired of this.”

The third photo is a description of the drawing from the artist's (Seth Fisher) website. It reads: This is another page that the DC editors changed: no halos or hearts around Batman, no matter how (disingenuously) contrite he is. In the final edition, the halo and heart in the center bottom frame have been excised.]

#happy sad boy sunday !!! #this counts because he's getting broken up with and because im sad bc they removed the halo and hearts #included the link to the website on the word too :3 in case any of u wanted to see his unpublished work too #deleting a big ol rant that no one cares about but basically: #hate seeing how much creativity and personality gets edited and removed despite it being the artist's job & how you have rememberable #and remarkable art. i get the editors got an important job but at the same time at what point do you allow art and personality to exist #just to make comics more fun to read/look at instead of basing everything on a capitalistic stoic reputation that #youre responsible for creating?? turning batman into a symbol of unwavering compassion and empathy and the reminder theres always stars #even on the darkest night if you remember to look up. him going from being a symbol of hope and humanity to being a character #that cant fucking have a heart or visual compassion out of fear they cant market him more or ruin that fragile reputation. #they make editing decisions based on it as a product instead of it as a character/story or an artform and god does it show. #happy sad boy sunday bc shutting down artistic freedom and expressionism for capitalistic reasonings is making me want to shoot myself 🥰🥰 #c: batman: legends of the dark knight | i: 194 #crypt's panels #batman #posts from the crypt

[the-converse-high-top]

Would love to hear about potential parallel stories/lore in judaism 👁👁👁👁💞

i realized that i actually havent thought very in depth about parallels and themes in the bible in a LONG time but let me think...

one that jumped to the forefront of my mind is something that idk if its a theme/parallel or not, but it has to do with moses. in the torah (really in the talmud i think which is a bunch of rabbi's headcanons about the torah that were then accepted as canon later on), when moses was taken in by pharaoh a test was performed to see whether moses would overthrow him, and by extension whether he was safe to keep and raise. that test was to show baby moses two pots: one of gold and riches and one of hot coals, and whichever he grabbed would be indicative as to what kind of son he'd be. so obviously, being a baby, moses starts to go for the shiny stuff. but (so the story goes) since moses has plot armor an angel (of death [?]) reached out and moved his hand to the hot coals. this is important because not only did it secure his safety to grow up under pharaoh's watch, but it burned his hand, which he then put in his mouth which permanantly burned his tongue and gave him a lisp. now the lisp isnt really talked about much more until later on, and its kind of minor so i get why its often left out, but it changes the whole feeling of the story! because of the lisp, moses gets nervous to speak in front of pharaoh's mages, and so it's aaron who does the talking when they turn their staffs into snakes. it's aaron (iirc) who speaks to the hebrews and tells them the word of god. moses is the one who speaks directly to god and does his bidding in the stories, but aaron is the one who conveys the information. and AND i just remembered this continues!! it continues to be true that moses doesnt always tell his own story!! in the scientific world it is generally accepted that there are a few different authors/compilers of the torah, but in judaism there is one main accepted truth of how it was written with two endings: moses wrote the whole thing up until the last chapter when he was on mount sinai, writing down word for word what god told him to. the ending, though, changes because at the end of the bible moses dies there is a debate over whether moses wrote his own death before it happened (since god is omnipresent blah blah blah) or whether joshua took over for him after he died. if the latter is true, that would be the second time someone tells moses' story for him!! first aaron tells the mages and the hebrews who moses is and why he was sent to save them, and then joshua tells the story of his death and his exile from the holy land! there are THEMES and MOTIFS i can SEE THEM

i have no idea if this is what you were asking for but thank you for inviting me to infodump XD <3

#theres other stuff about moses too now that i think about it #i think this was just at the front of my mind since i just watched the prince of egypt last sunday lol #or whenever it was #i almost talked about something else and now i legitimately cant remember what it was #but if i flipped through im sure id remember more #oh i remember now it was how moses wasnt allowed to get into the holy land #even though he was the one chosen to deliver the hebrews #and even though the hebrews were forgiven time and time again #moses fucks up once when god was having a bad day or something #and boom exiled from the holy land #like my dude wanders the desert for 40 fucking years #cant you give him a break #themes and motifs my beloved <3 #im sorry this is so long this is kind of my word vomit #ty for asking <3 #id also love to talk on the server if thats easier just so you and me and jed can all talk at the same time lol (no pressure tho for real) #asks #alistair my beloved <3

[bi-bats]

But Tim fought hard for his Mochaccino. He will get his prize. He earned this. 

He’s so worked up by the time he’s turning to leave, his blessed coffee in his hand, that he doesn’t even notice the person in his way until he’s slamming into his chest. 

Tim’s hand grips tighter on the coffee, more determined to keep his hold on that than his phone or keys, and thank god, he doesn’t drop the drink. But his phone and keys slip through his fingers, and the guy he just slammed into snatches them both out of the air.

“Oh, god, sorry—” Tim starts to say as the guy straightens up, and then he stops. The guy is smirking, a set of amused green eyes looking down at him.

You’ve got to be kidding, Tim thinks.

“Got somewhere to be, sweetheart? Oh, now that’s a pretty shade of red you’re turning—”

“I’m late,” Tim snaps, grabbing his keys and phone from Jason’s hand. “I got lost four fucking times on my way here. If this city was a person, I would throttle it.”

#jaytim #snippet sunday #are you all ready for jaytimweek???? #NEXT SUNDAY THERE SHALL BE MORE THAN JUST A SNIPPET #NEXT SUNDAY THERE SHALL BE A FULL FIC #IT'S ALREADY QUEUED UP!! #ALSO I HATE THAT WORD!!! #QUEUE!! #HOW MANY Us AND Es DO YOU NEED #OVERDRAMATIC #EXCESSIVE #THERE ARE TWO Us AND TWO Es AND YOU DON'T NEED ANY OF THEM #I CAN ACCOMPLISH THE SAME THING WITH ONE LETTER #WATCH: Q #IT'S THE SAME FUCKING THING #okay I'll stop being insane about the word queue now #bibatrambles #batwrites

[qrevo]

howling at the moon should be more socially acceptable ithink

#qrevo.txt #when your pet Peanit Butter does it it's cool and funny and cute. but when i do it suddenly it's ''unstable behaviour'' #we should normalize barking and howling. and meowing and purring. and noises in general #i don't want words i want to convey my emotions in an array of animal noises #also screaming at the ocean we should normalize this one actually #this one's not even because i'm a furry i just think people should be allowed to go to the sea and scream their lungs out #people should be allowed to be loud to release stress. and also for enrichment. at least for one day a week. like Scream At Anything Sunday