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#And most importantly: answered all of the asks because man those 28 people need some answers :')
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I wasn't that pissed with TPN S2 in the beginning and had a lot of faith in it. Then it all started going down and I just let out all the salt I was keeping when ep8 released. I then now decided that I'm going to just re-read the manga and now bought volume 9 and 10. Atleast this circus wreck was able to make me see TPN in a newer perspective from all the ranting people do. And your posts were really helpful with that and I just loved every point you made.
Let's all just join together as one and re-read the manga to relieve ourselves from this pain and enjoy the happy things in life (◡ ω ◡)
Awww thank you so much Anon this was so sweet 🥺🥺🥺
Yeah I totally agree!!! Manga is 184 chapters long, that is still a fair amount of content to enjoy. And then there's fanfictions, and then there's fanarts!!!! Edits and gifsets!!!!! And then there's me who has yet to finish their tons of unlikely AU posts!!! We may not get weekly content anymore, but I believe there still is lot of content to enjoy. There's the repeatedly teased Ayshe chapter!!!!! The novels (like the Gilda and Don novel everyone????)!!!!! I have a feeling the special exhibition chapter will be unofficially made public soon and I can't wait for everyone to see it, and to spam Ray's angelic smile everywhere like for real look forward to it that is the best smile Posuka Demizu has ever drawn and I'm not even exaggerating. Demizu's occasional Twitter sketches!! Plus I hope Shirai will eventually reveal the Lambda escape plot line in some way, I know he has it there somewhere.
What I'm saying is that as long as the series gives you happiness, there's still plenty of ways to enjoy it. Let's all have lots of fun while we're together in the fandom!!
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#I really should reread the manga... I've wanted to do it for the longest time (╥﹏╥)#Can you believe I've read it only once??**I** can't believe it.#In four days the last volume will be available in my country... When I finally get it I shall probably give the whole thing a reread#But actually I'm just waiting for the novels to come out where I live (╥﹏╥)#Today I edited anime Lambda Norman character design to be Lambda Ray and I'm very satisfied with how it turned out!!!!#No I'm not back from the hiatus and I won't be for another while#But I've decided I won't come back to the normal schedule until I've finally written down all my major ideas + done editing what I want!#And most importantly: answered all of the asks because man those 28 people need some answers :')#What I'm trying to say is: I know people are upset with the anime#and the consequences it had on the fandom (like... Pushing away tons of people I guess) and that's extremely valid#But also it doesn't necessarily mean tpn is dead you know? There's still you! And me!#And a bunch of other people who loves the (manga) for what it is!!!!!!#So yeah let's just have a good time :)#I don't really know where I was going with this but Anon left me flattered ahah#I've got quite a bit of followers now and yet every time somebody says they like my posts I'm like “You like???? What????? Wow. ( ꈍᴗꈍ)”#tpn#the promised neverland#people asks me stuff#I'd say something like “let's all do a manga reread together” but also like I'm the kind of person who reads one chapter per day and-#that's it so I don't think I'm the most indicate person to reread the manga with XD
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prettywordsyouleft · 3 years
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Great Lengths
Prompt: “What I did? What about you?!” -- @challengingwords​ prompt #28
Pairing: Bang Chan x female reader
Genre: regency au / fluff
Warnings: none
Word count: 1318
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You dragged Chan to the corner of the ballroom, attempting to keep all attention away from you and remaining on the dance in the middle of the floor with your sister and Lord Booth.
You would not allow tonight to end like this.
Still, no matter how much you had tried, the young man before you refused to follow instructions. Your hands took purchase within the layers of the extravagant fabric of your dress, not even quite making it to your hips from the sheer density.
“What are you doing?!”
“Standing behind a rather peculiar sculpture with you,” Chan responded, staring up at your father’s promiscuous art with some intrigue.
You hastened a hand in front of his eyes, trying to keep him on the matter at hand. “Chan!”
“Yes, Y/N?”
“You are meant to be the one swinging my sister around the floor right now, not Lord Booth!”
“Am I?” he asked, causing your mouth to fall ajar with the impertinence he was expressing. You could tell he was now amused and trying ever so hard to keep his lips straight. “Oh dear. I am not there, however.”
“When the song changes, you must-”
“Do we really need to strive to such lengths?” Chan questioned tersely, and you gaped at him again.
“You and I have gone through this plan how many times now?”
“On so many occasions I feel it is engrained in my mind word for word.”
You nodded impatiently. “So then the issue is?”
“I simply do not wish to dance with her or swing her around anywhere.”
“You’ll allow her to be betrothed to Lord Booth?!”
“What is that of any burden to me?” Chan wondered and you felt the desire to slap your friend.
However, that would certainly cause a scene, and given the last time you had done such a thing made him cry so loudly that the maids came running to his aid thinking a tragedy had occurred. You thought better of it, gripping at your skirt tightly.
Though a catastrophe might occur now if he did not follow with what you had asked of him.
Your sister was your best friend in this entire world and you were scared of losing her. After hearing of her concerns about being married off to some faraway county, you had asked your longest friend, Chan, to help. His family made twelve pounds more than yours in a year and would easily provide prestige of marrying into a good estate and name. Your parents were fond of his and you could not see a better situation for all.
However, Chan was ruining your chances of success.
Huffing with annoyance, you tilted your head to the side. “Burden? Shall I become one to you?!”
“Are you not already?” he grumbled, rolling his eyes in distaste. “I will not do it, Y/N. Not for anything!”
“Why ever not?! You have no maiden you wish to marry and I do not mind having a brother in you.”
“How generous of your heart to care so deeply for me,” he spoke with venom, shaking his head and stepping around you.
Chasing after him, you reached out for his arm, yet Chan gripped at your wrist first, pulling you up close.
Ah, it was another one of these moments. One in which you had no time to consider right now. The ball was almost over and you needed to get your sister and Chan together. Yet your mind muddled with being this close to him and when he took up your waist with his other hand, you relented far too easily.
You could not decide if it was out of years of performing at events such as these or because of the way your heart was beating out of tune. Chan was dancing with you instead. And when he smiled at you, you almost forgot all about your plan for him and your sister.
Almost.
“What are you doing?”
“Dancing,” he answered, swinging you around and making you faint with the suddenness of it all. You gripped to him tighter which brought out another of those deadly smiles of his.
“All of this was meant to happen with my sister!”
“Well, it is happening with you instead.”
“We must stop and stick to the plan.”
Chan leaned in closer and shook his head, the tip of his nose nudging yours. “This is my plan.”
“Your plan? How does this help her in any way?”
“Well, it does not. But it helps us, yes?”
“We do not need-”
“On the contrary, this is the only way I can make you see some sense in it all!” Chan exclaimed, and you blinked several times before realisation hit.
Yanking away from your friend and the heady situation, you dashed for the doors, your heels clanking upon the marble floor. Your heart was thudding too fast. You clutched at it, feeling restricted by the amount of layers you had upon your body.
However, you continued to run through the pain in your heart and the heaviness of your dress until you reached the library, entering with such a force that you worried you would disturb all of the peaceful books that rested within the room.
And before you could barricade the door with the chair next to it, Chan rushed through himself, running a hand through his hair as he rocked to a standstill.
The silence was deafening.
“Look at what you did,” you accused in a whisper, still grabbing at your heart in attempts to make it stop hurting.
“What I did? What about you?! You were auctioning me off like I was some farmyard animal that held no place in your world anymore.”
“I wished to help my sister!”
“And I had hoped you would pick up as to why I was against this far sooner than now, Y/N.”
“I am not the one being put up for marriage,” you pointed out and Chan nodded.
“No, but could you truly feel at ease knowing your sister would be laying with me each night when your heart is evidently full of feelings you do not want to admit to?”
You hadn’t stopped to think of it like that. Lowering your head to will away your rising emotions, you groaned. “You are simply my most favourite people. I thought if I put you together then you would both remain at my side.”
“Naïve little thing,” Chan breathed as he stepped closer, hooking a finger under your chin. “How could I remain at your side like this if your sister were at mine? I have no romantic interest in her at all.”
“However, with me?” you prompted and Chan smiled delicately, as if not to scare this rare chance of confessing away.
“With you I could imagine an entire lifetime together.”
“Really?”
“Ardently,” he assured, pressing his lips softly to yours. Flutters erupted in your stomach as you kissed him back, wondering why it had taken so long to ever do such a thing.
More importantly, you tried to gauge when you could kiss Chan again. The moment ended too soon for you to have more than a mere taste of his lips.
“New plan,” you expressed, standing up on the top of your toes to reach his mouth that had retreated away from yours. You kissed him briefly before smiling. “What of your cousin Changbin? Perhaps he is of interest for my sister?”
“Changbin?” Chan repeated, a boyish grin spreading his lips out a moment later. “He did dance with her earlier this evening.”
“You work on convincing him of her agreeable nature then.”
“And what of your efforts?” he wondered with a frown.
Pecking his lips again, you giggled. “I will reward you with a lifetime of those if you succeed.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Y/N,” Chan announced, leaning in to capture your mouth in a dizzying embrace once more.
_________________
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spiralingsights · 3 years
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11 and 28? I would give an f/o but idk who these would fit
[ ohoho fake dating + enemies to lovers i can’t resist ]
[ “Please just pretend to be my date.” (11) and “Please tell me this is a joke.” (28) ]
[ Characters: William Afton, Keegs Arrowood ]
[ warnings: pining and repressed feelings lol ]
“Please just pretend to be my date.”
Keegs stared at his boss, processing what the man just said to him. Did he seriously just ask for Keegs, arguably his worst enemy, to be his date? For a fucking office party that Fazbear Entertainment was holding for restaurant owners? Why couldn’t he just ask Henry???
“Please tell me this is a joke,” the mechanic finally replied, his answer gaining a groan from William. Apparently, it was not.
“We both know I don’t joke with you,” William responded, confirming Keegs’s fears. What kind of stupid, fruity hell had he descended into? What did he do to deserve this? Well, he probably knew.
Keegs let out a long sigh, about to tell him to fuck off before William spoke again. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re my last hope. Henry said no, Scrap would have killed me if I asked, not even your idiot friend Wrath wanted to go.”
Of course he didn’t want to go, Wrath was in love with Splice and would have considered it cheating even if he still hadn’t told the animatronic his feelings.
“I hate you...” Keegs muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t you just go alone? No one will judge you for it, if you even care about that. And the rumour that you’re dating your employee would be worse!”
That seemed to make William think for a moment, opening his mouth for a rebuttal but closing it soon after. His gaze even drifted away- he clearly hadn’t thought about those consequences. After a moment, he shook his head.
“Being alone is more embarrassing.” Keegs let out a loud groan at this, running his hands over his hand and clasping them behind his neck as he turned away from that british fuck.
What made it worse is that he actually kinda wanted to go. Not because he wanted to go with William, but because he hadn’t had an excuse to dress up the entire time he’d been active. A big office party like this? It would be perfect. And it would give him the chance to scope out the other restaurant owners, and test their animatronic knowledge.
He finally turned to face William again, surprised to find the brunette still standing there. He had to admit, it was amusing to see him so desperate. He let out a huff a breath, giving in to the desire to wear a suit.
“Fine,” he said, not missing how his boss immediately lit up (while also somehow seeming disappointed- probably because he officially had to take his most hated employee to a function with him). “One condition.”
Of course he had a fucking condition. William just nodded, not wanting to push his luck. “Do not send anybody my way so they can talk to your “partner”. Tell them I’m socially anxious if you have to, but I will straight up tell them the horrors of this place.”
William’s face scrunched up in discomfort, but relaxed when he realized this was the best he was gonna get. “Deal.”
And so, it was set in stone.
---
Keegs straightened his jacket for what seemed like the hundredth time as he looked in the mirror in his bedroom. He’d have to leave soon; he didn���t want William to know where he lived, so they’d agreed that they’d meet at the Afton house instead.
The suit he wore fit perfectly, and was the same pink shade as his hair. Well, the jacket and slack were. His shoes were black, his shirt a light shade of lavender (to match William’s inevitably purple suit), and the little bowtie he wore was a rainbow eyesore.
With a quick glance at the clock, he ran a hand over his hair, said goodbye to Vanny, and headed out.
William’s house actually wasn’t too far from the apartment Keegs shared with Vanny, but he only came over at midnight and 2am, so it wasn’t like he could be tracked back there, so he never worried. This was the first time he’d ever driven there though, usually just walking.
He paused upon reaching the doorway. Did he really want to do this? And, more importantly, why was he excited to do it? He knew it was more than just a chance to dress up or interrogate some assholes. He didn’t like the metaphorical butterflies in his... well, he doesn’t really have a stomach. His intake?
....
He didn’t like the flutter in his chest when knocked on the door, and heard a familiar voice call out, “coming!” from inside. He especially didn’t like the extra flutter in his chest when the door opened and revealed William, dressed in a purple suit like he thought he’d be, but still surprising him nonetheless.
Apparently, Afton had the same idea Keegs did and was wearing a light pink dress shirt under his dark purple suit jacket, a shade that went perfect with the shade of Keegs’s own jacket.
Neither of them said anything about it, but Keegs couldn’t help but notice the pleased, and surprised, smile on his boss’s face.
“Let’s go,” he quickly said, turning on his heel and heading right back to his car.
---
William looked hilarious with his long limbs folded into Keegs’s volkswagen beetle, the car clearly not built for men as tall as him. It was a sight Keegs would treasure for the rest of his robotic life.
“Comfortable?” Keegs teased, snickering at the glare William shot at him. Thank god they were back to bullying each other, he wasn’t going to acknowledge whatever the fuck happened earlier without dying first.
“Laugh it up Arrowood, I doubt you’ll feel the same way when you’re out of your element,” William replied, narrowing his eyes at Keegs.
Unfortunately, and he’d never admit this, the bastard was right. Social functions weren’t Keegs’s thing. He’d never been good at feigning interest, and that was pretty important at shit like this.
But he just rolled his eyes. At least they’d be out of the car soon.
---
It wasn’t better out of the car.
The building the party was being held in was... crowded. Uncomfortable. Keegs ended up having to stick far closer to William that he’d planned, and whatever fucked up reaction his false human heart was having never let him forget it.
The only up side was that William seemed just as uncomfortable as he was. Not with the people around them, he spoke to them just fine and even seemed to forget about his fake date. That is, until Keegs bumped into him.
Of course he noticed that Afton’s face turned red whenever they touched, but he had no idea why. At first he thought he was angry, but William didn’t look like that when he got angry. Unfortunately, Keegs hadn’t reached the “human bodily reactions” part of his research yet, so it merely served to confuse him.
Finally, after three or four hours, he grabbed William’s arm to get his attention, ignoring the red on the man’s face. “I need a break. I’ll be out back. I probably won’t run.” 
There was a short pause, before William took Keegs’s car keys and pocketed them. “You won’t escape me that easily,” the man joked, only because there were people watching. He even threw in a wink for effect.
Keegs just rolled his eyes, and escaped to through the backdoor. He was quick to pull his jacket off, relishing the cool breeze. Once realizing he wouldn’t be going back in for a while, he also untied his tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt.
Once satisfied, he sat down on the bottom step of the little stairs, holding his palm against his forehead to cool it down to help with his headache. It wasn’t long before he heard the backdoor open and close.
There was a pause, before the man (undoubtedly William, based on the footsteps) made his way down the stairs and sat down next to Keegs. The android looked over at him, not at all surprised to find he’d also taken off his own jacket, and loosened his tie.
“Getting too much for even you? I’m glad I left when I did,” Keegs said, returning to his goal of soothing his brain. He heard William chuckle. It was a soft sound, clearly from his chest. But it was also... not rude? It was actually kind of sweet.
And then he sighed, and the sound brought that flutter back. “I would seem so, yes. I forgot how draining it is to talk to idiots.” He meant people who weren’t handy with animatronics, something Keegs had learned from observation (eavesdropping).
Keegs just nodded. He understood. Animatronics were his whole life, it was hard to talk about anything but them.
“Thank you for coming with me,” William spoke up after a while, making Keegs look up at him again. “I know we don’t always get along, but I’ve... enjoyed it. Getting along, I mean.”
The mechanic just stared at him, surprised. He opened his mouth to presumably reply, but William leaned forward quickly and caught him in a gentle, cautious kiss.
Keegs shocked himself by returning it.
William’s lips were soft, and easy to lean into. Keegs suddenly understood how this man had ended up with a wife. He felt a hand in his hair, and leaned into it without breaking the kiss, unwilling to break the moment.
He’d noticed the tinge of alcohol on Afton’s lips the second they’d connected with his own, but he didn’t care all that much. 
Finally, William broke it by leaning back, looking down at Keegs with slightly pink lips. “Between us?” he asked, his voice low and quiet, a small smile on his face. ‘Between us’ was a fun little thing they’d started the first time Keegs found the man covered in blood.
But this one was different. This one meant a lot more, and couldn’t be used at evidence against the man Keegs was supposed to eventually kill.
“Between us,” Keegs replied just as softly, and this time... he meant it.
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Diabolik Twitter ー Azusa Mukami [2019 compilation]
–> This post includes all tweets posted on the official Rejet Twitter account for Azusa Mukami (@DiaLoverAzusaM) in 2019.
Shuu l Reiji l Ayato l Kanato l Laito l Subaru l Ruki l Kou l Yuma l Carla l Shin l Kino
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January 4, 2019
> Gathering together and...having a meal is...fun
> Best wishes for the new year (@Ruki, @Kou, @Yuma)
February 14, 2019
> You’re giving this chocolate...to me? T-Thank you...! I’m very...happy... But the thing that makes me the most happy is...the thought that you did something for my sake. I’ll treasure you forever, okay...? Let’s be together always?
February 21, 2019
> Ruki isn’t a...dictionary, you know? (@Kou, @Yuma)
March 4, 2019
> Time for school...
> Off we go
March 14, 2019
> I’m...not sure either. Because there...aren’t that many things I can do. I wonder what would be good... (@Kou)
> Really? ...Got it (@Kou)
> I see...I hope she’ll like it...
March 15, 2019
> Kou...? Aren’t you gonna be on TV soon? Can you reply to messages now...? (@Kou)
> I see. Thank god... (@Azusa)
> Right...I’ll watch closely as well (@Ruki)
March 28, 2019
> Uhm...Laito went outside. Subaru is...in his own room. Kou and myself are...eating dinner... (@Carla)
> Okay... (@Carla)
> There was nothing underneath Carla’s bed... (@Laito)
April 1, 2019
> With this knife, I’ll cut everyone here to shreds
> It’s me. I think I did a pretty good job.
--> It should be pretty obvious from the previous tweet, but the one tweeting from Azusa’s account was Kanato. It’s a little more difficult to tell in English, but in Japanese it says 僕 or ‘boku’ and as far as I can remember right now, I believe Kanato and Laito are the only two characters who refer to themselves as well.
May 14, 2019
> Tonight’s dinner had...green peppers in it but...
> I still ate it
> So tomorrow...I’ll ask for lots of mustard...
June 27, 2019
> You’re in trouble...? (@Richter)
> I see. You must have it rough as well, oji-san... (@Richter)
--> おじさん or ‘oji-san’ is a common way to refer to middle-aged man. It literally means ‘uncle’, but children and young people will use it regardless of actually being related or not.
> Uhm, I’m not sure...I used a lot of bandages yesterday so I’m all out, so I guess I’ll ask for those. I’m sure I’ll need them in the future, so having them prepared puts me at ease. Yeah, I’d like bandages... (@Richter)
> Wait...I like mustard as well...I’d like to get some shichimi and put...lots of it on my food. In the soup and on the fried shrimp as well. But bandages are nice too...Uu, mister, what should I do...?
> Yes, that works. Thank you (@Richter)
June 28, 2019
> Amazing! There’s tons of bandages and...shichimi spice...!
> I’ll go to the troubled mister’s place and answer his questions, okay?
> Delicious. The inside of my mouth is tingling...
July 7, 2019
> I wish to remain close with everyone forever #TanabataWishes
July 24, 2019
> I’m looking forward to seeing you
> I want to pin you to the wall and put you on display already. I’m sure you’d look beautiful lined up next to my collection. Besides, if I were to pierce your body with something this large, I’m sure it’d hurt so much, the pain would be unbearable. Of course, you like that, don’t you?
> Say? Let’s do something painful?
> This afternoon...I didn’t tweet out
> Who did this?
> Ah, more importantly, do you have time now, Eve?
> I’m gonna run an errand and I thought...it would be nice if you could come with me. Ruki asked me. It’s...over at the Demon world though
> I’m sorry for having you tag along with me...I wish I could have invited you on a proper date
> But you know, when you’re with me, any place is fun for me
> So, will you come with me?
August 7, 2019
> Uhm
> There’s this...festival celebrating death...If I get invited, will you come with me...? I’d be happy if you do.
> I’m so...flattered to be your partner. ...Please take care of me, okay?
--> よろしく or ‘yoroshiku’ is such a basic phrase in Japanese but it’s so hard to translate to English at times because it can have many different meanings. When you use it in a context of meeting someone, it means ‘nice to meet you’, but in this case, Azusa is kind of entrusting himself to the MC, hoping she’d enjoy his company at the Death Parade. 
August 15, 2019
> I’ll...help hold an umbrella over your shoulder (@Yuma)
> It’s okay...I always carry an umbrella with me (@Yuma)
August 30, 2019
> Amazing...This parade, there’s...flowers everywhere
> They’re pretty but...In the end, I think you’re still the most beautiful...
September 19, 2019
> I helped out Yuma...at the field this morning
> I watered the crops. They were...sparkling...
> Now all of us are about to...eat. Ruki made it for us
> Kou’s here too. He’s working the evening shift today
> Thanks for the meal
October 28, 2019
> It’s really strange how...I can feel grateful for being wished a happy birthday...I only started feeling this way after meeting you...Eve. You taught me many things. Whether it’s how to love, or how liking someone can also cause a great deal of pain...Because you’re so precious to me, I’ll protect you no matter what, okay?
October 29, 2019
> Hey
> Why are you running? I love you, so please don’t run...? I want to suck your blood more, I want to feel you close to me...
> So...Please? Don’t run away...Don’t leave me alone...I love you, I really do. Eve, I love you...I’ll say it as many times as I need to. I love you, so don’t leave me. Don’t stray away from my side...I’m begging you...
October 31, 2019
> Did you guys...know...?
> On Halloween...you actually have to...hand out sweets yourself...
> The Zombie which dropped by...our place earlier...Told me...
> That’s why I’ll go and distribute Ruki’s sweets...in town, okay...?
November 5, 2019
> Ah. Chesire Cat. Welcome... (@Kou)
–> They are doing a Parody of Alice in Wonderland on this day because of a Dark Wonderland event which was going on during the beginning of November.
> I had the cook...prepare it...I helped with the seasoning. It wasn’t spicy enough so...I added more pepper... (@Kou)
> Yeah (@Kou)
November 8, 2019
> You know
> I got my hands on a really nice mustard so...I put them inside the sweets I gave to the Queen...
> I hope they like them...
November 21, 2019
> Oh no
> Kou and Ruki got into a fight...
> Kou didn’t...throw away the carton after drinking all the juice so Ruki called him out on it
> Then Kou ran away from home
> What should I do...?
> Ah, thank god...He was over at the Sakamaki’s
> Thank you, Subaru-san. I’ll come pick him up...
December 13, 2019
> Aah...Poor Eve. Both your hands and cheeks are...this frozen cold. I doubt it’ll warm you up much but I’ll hug you, okay?
December 24, 2019
> Merry Christmas
> I’m blessed…To be able to spend this special night together with my much beloved Eve like this. You too…Look all the more like a wonderful lady…
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rainny-rose · 3 years
Text
Chapter 2: the unexpected encounter
I think the best solution for now is to find those “god”, And as I Remeber I should be able to find the tone deaf bard at mondstadt neither in the bar or just some place he can sing around there. Also before I fell into this game I remembered people saying that Zhongli may possible be the Geo god, so I should find him too.
But this is hard then I thought because I don’t remember much of the stories. “I shouldn’t skip the story” yeah mubbling with regrets from every inch of my heart
Besides, in order to find the way to go to mondstadt, at least now I need know where I am first, since I only wonder in the wood for weeks now.
Everyday only goes with the liquid from the river and picking up some fruits, I might turn to be vegetarian very soon too if this goes on. Please don’t ask me why not go hunting~ it’s complicate as hell I’d say.
Because the complicated things in this “world” is the boars are amazing aggressive, the first time i woke up here and did try to catch it once just like in the game, shoot the bird and kill the boar should be a click of my finger but nahhhhh Noo! Ah-ah!!, from the time being the boar just chased after me for hours and what I could do was only climbing up to the tree and wait until it gave up. What a miserable life of mine. Also When I was playing this game the map didn’t look so broad like this I can easily walk cross mondstadt to Liyue really fast even without using the warp; but in reality like right now I still couldn’t find the way out of this wood, by living here for weeks already gave me despair so I hope by meeting any of the gods should be able to help me more or less. Hopefully though.
I’m so confused, in order to get out of this game do I need to pass or complete the whole story? Should I find my ‘brother’ or what? This is going to be my doom ‘cause I just start playing and the game new patch 1.1 hasn’t even released it out yet so how am I suppose to know!!! also my adventure rank was only 28 so I can desperate saying that I still missing a lot of information I should know, and that not even mention about my habit of skipping stories in the game. Yep I’m so doomed.
While I was concentrating with my despair I suddenly heard some screams and roaring from behind me, I automatically lay low on the ground before steady move upfront peeking through the bush and what my eyes meet was the group of people and to be exact is a group of men and one man that are debating on something, but most importantly is the person in the middle of them.
The tall handsome man with golden copper hair and blue eyes just like the 7 oceans gathering.
‘Childe’! That’s exactly the guy I was thinking to whale him in this coming gacha, wow never thought I could see him in real life... well kindda. While I was thinking nonesense and admiring his beautiful face suddenly his face turns to my hideout.
“Get rid of the rat” that deep voice ordered, I couldn’t believe what I just hear, how did He know I was here! Come on! And what’s getting rid of the rat!!!? Since the order is made a group of men with mask covered their faces all run towards me. By not knowing what to do I suddenly jumped out and said something so ridiculous that even surprise myself.
“Wow!! Wait!!” Yeah just like that, for a slower thinker of this type of situation, what I really can do is just to say wait? OMG I wanna cry T^T
But unfortunately no one seems to listen to my word. (Of course!!!)
“Childe!” I unintentionally call his name out, I even don’t know why did I do that, he actually was the one who told his subordinates to get rid of the rat like me. But I was hoping that he could help me, well he is in the banner for us to roll him out though so I think deep down he could be a good person right, and according to the information from the developer he even help the traveller (which in story of liyue that I haven’t played T^T); so I really do hope he should at least have that little beam of life savior.
And who knows by calling his name instantly tends to freez everyone action including childe himself too. Childe turns his head to face me with that cleared blue eyes, rolling his eyes up abit and then give me the most beautiful smile I even seen in my whole life.
“Kill her” he said with smily face; wait what!!!!?? A life savior my ass!!! Fuck you, if I could get back You won’t get a single premogems from me! I won’t ever roll you out!! Even one day I accidently get you I will just freeze you with no level up, you will stay there as a useless character forever!!!
I scream inside out, after his order all the people immediately grab me pushing me to kneel down, one person even drag the knife out of the bag. With the fear plus panicking the words slipped out of my mouth, something that will be so regretful in the future.
“Childe you can’t let them kill me for real?!” I shout to him. And childe just turn his head and look at me curiously
“So could you please tell me why can’t I?”
He smile, just like a blade that cover with honey, is he always like this before slaughter people’s head.
I bit my lip for out of words, how could I answer him?!! This is so random, I can’t come up with anything anymore!
I pause my breathing abit before looking into childe’s eyes.
“Because I LIKE you childe!!” Kyaaaaaa!!! What on earth did I just say??!! What the fuck with ‘I like you?’ What kind of excuse is this this!?? It’s so nonesense! Whose gonna believe this bullshit, I’m really doomed! After saying it out loud, I can feel the dead air surrounded us, and when I look up to see his face, childe also looks blanked and confused before turning into a satisfied look; wait! Why satisfied? He smile and walk towards me and kneel down, lift my chin up to make our eyes meet at the same level
“Oujo Chan! Do you think I would believe this?” Childe said with smile; I know it!! He wouldn’t buy it, I too wouldn’t buy it. I’m such a moron!!! Wahhh
And before I said anything; he stood up and made some sigh to his subodinate before everything turns dark.
..........“ this is amusing” with the sound of giggling from above.
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carewyncromwell · 3 years
Note
How about 28 and 29?
28. …Olivia Green is a teacher or teacher’s assistant while your MC is at school?
After Duncan’s death and Jacob’s expulsion and disappearance, Olivia was desperate to continue what she and her friends started, not just to protect the school from the Vaults’ curses, but to find her missing friend and keep R from getting their mitts on the Vaults’ “treasure.” And so, somewhat reluctantly, she put her dreams of joining the Wizarding Wireless Network on hold and took a job at Hogwarts as a Care of Magical Creatures Teacher’s Assistant under Professor Kettleburn. When Carewyn arrived at school, Olivia didn’t immediately seek her out or mention her connection to her brother, as she had a feeling (from what Jacob had always told her about Carewyn) that she’d sacrifice anything she had to in order to take care of others...and sure enough, Olivia found that was indeed true when Carewyn and her friends went behind the teachers’ backs and successfully broke the curse on the Ice Vault. Dumbledore was pleased by Carewyn’s efforts and pleasantly refused to punish her for it since “there was no proof that she and her friends were ever actually there,” but Olivia was much less pleased. She pulled the three students suspected of going into the Vault (Carewyn, Ben, and Bill) aside separately, warning all of them that seeking out the Vaults would only put them and the ones they cared about most in danger and assuring them that she’d take care of the Vaults so they didn’t have to. Ben was initially prepared to take Olivia at her word, but both Bill and Carewyn were a bit less sure, a sentiment echoed by both Rowan and Penny when they learned about it. Carewyn of course was not the sort of person to trust anyone else to rescue Jacob, so she stubbornly persisted regardless of Olivia’s warning. She, Bill, Barnaby, and Tulip dealt with the Fear Vault, only to be confronted by Olivia in the hallway afterwards. Olivia again told Carewyn to stay away from the Vaults -- her voice was never harsh or cruel, but very somber and grim.
“I know you want to save your sibling, Carewyn. I don’t doubt he would too, if your positions were switched. But your involvement with the Vaults has caught the eye of some very dangerous people...some of which are on their way to Hogwarts as we speak. Trust me...as good as it is that you want to save Hogwarts and the ones you love...the Cursed Vaults are like Charybdis -- a monstrous whirlpool. Once you swim into it...there’s no escape for you, or for those you care for most. Jacob wouldn’t want you to end up in the same trap that ensnared him. ...For your brother’s sake, Carewyn...stay away from the Vaults. Keep your head down. And beware the witch called Rakepick.”
The following year brought Patricia Rakepick to the school. Instantly there was a sharp tension between philosophical, soft-spoken Olivia and the blunt, methodical Rakepick, and it didn’t take long for Carewyn’s friends to be split down the middle about who Carewyn should trust. People like Tulip and Ben were more likely to trust Olivia since her temperament was more level and she seemed less morally dodgy, while others like Merula and Bill were more likely to trust Rakepick since she was a professional Cursebreaker and both more active and willing to let them help her in dealing with the Vaults. Others like Rowan thought they both wanted to be helpful, but might not know how best to do so. Carewyn herself didn’t trust either woman because she could sense they both had information about what had happened to Jacob that they weren’t sharing with her, which the young Cromwell greatly resented. Her opinion was changed ever-so-slightly when Olivia actually helped Carewyn, Bill, Charlie, Torvus, and Hagrid deal with the Forest Vault, and Torvus greeted Olivia like an old friend. It was this that proved to Carewyn that Olivia had indeed been hiding something about Jacob -- namely, that they had been friends.
The following school year, Rakepick became and thrived as the DADA professor and Olivia introduced Carewyn to Duncan Ashe, who she’d remained friends with even after he became a ghost. Carewyn continued to distrust both Rakepick and Olivia the entire year, but as time went by, she found that each of them were more than how they appeared. Olivia in a lot of ways was like her mother, Lane -- patient, modest, and wise beyond her years, but always a bit out-of-step with the world and people around her and detached and self-sufficient to a fault, to the extent that she had difficulty taking charge or inspiring confidence. Rakepick, meanwhile, was a lot like Carewyn herself, inspiring her students with a lot of the same traits that Carewyn’s friends admired in her. It was in the Portrait Vault when it became crystal clear who was truly trustworthy -- both witches had R’s scarlet mark on their cheek during that final confrontation, when their physical contact made the marks visible...but only one had followed the group to the Vault with the help of Pitts Apparating with her after them and protected them from the other when she attacked her students.
“After going on a mission with you, Patricia, Jacob disappeared without a trace,” said Olivia, her normally level, misty voice rippling with an odd amount of ice. “If you think I’m going to let you take Carewyn away from her friends the way you did Jacob...then you’re wrong.”
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29. …Your MC is involved with R before attending Hogwarts and decides to rebel against them?
I think this scenario would fit best in a world where Lane was killed and grandfather Charles Cromwell raised Jacob and Carewyn instead. In that situation, Jacob would’ve been old enough to remember his mother and so always would’ve nurtured some rebellion against Charles and R, even while being among their ranks. After he tried and failed to escape the Cromwell mansion with Carewyn in tow, Charles took measures to ensure that Jacob and Carewyn were kept apart and that Jacob was properly punished. The Cromwell patriarch deliberately sent Jacob to the Portrait Vault knowing he’d likely be imprisoned in one of the Portraits, and then set about magically modifying Carewyn’s memory so as to remove all of her memories of Jacob.
From that point on, Carewyn was raised in the same suffocating kind of home as her mother Lane was, without any memory of the brother who’d always tried to protect her. She did everything she could to do what was best for herself, which ended up being what Charles wanted her to be. Carewyn received her scarlet “R” mark (invisible on one’s cheek unless touched by another member of R) before even attending Hogwarts, not just because of her great magical potential but as a reminder that she belonged to R, the Cromwells, and most importantly Charles.
Despite Carewyn finding some small satisfaction in her unpleasant life, however, her dreams were haunted by the face of a young man with dark curls and eyes just like hers...someone she’d never seen in her life, and yet spoke to her with such desperation and affection as if he knew her. The young man was a thorn in Carewyn’s side even as she set about breaking the Vaults’ curses on R’s orders, even sometimes enlisting the support of fellow students like Rowan Khanna, Ben Copper, and Bill Weasley. Eventually it got to the point that Carewyn confided in Rowan about her dreams. Rowan couldn’t find any information about dream symbolism or Divination that could answer Carewyn’s questions, but as Carewyn pursued the Vaults, the young man’s voice and face became clearer and her need to understand what or who he was grew stronger.
Then, in her fifth year, Carewyn stumbled upon a ghost called Duncan Ashe in the Prefects’ Bathroom, who spoke with such resentment about “her brother, Jacob.” Carewyn was bewildered, since as far as she knew, she didn’t have a brother -- but Bill and Charlie, who were both with Carewyn that day, did some investigation on their own and found out from Madame Rosmerta that, yes, indeed, there was once a Hogwarts student named Jacob Cromwell, who’d been expelled and disappeared under unusual circumstances seven years previously. All pictures of him and nearly all mention of him, however, had been ripped out of every Hogwarts yearbook in the library. Carewyn begged Rosmerta if she knew of anyone who might have a picture of Jacob, and learned that Professor Flitwick had been his Head of House. Miraculously, the once-Dueling Champion was able to track down one picture of him at the Hogwarts Dueling Club. Sure enough...this “Jacob” was the boy Carewyn had seen in her dreams as long as she could remember...the one who said he was trapped in the Portrait Vault.
It was this point that made Carewyn decide that she’d have to take matters into her own hands. Knowing Rakepick was involved with R, Carewyn decided to subvert R’s orders, steal the Portrait, and go to the Vault without her, taking only Bill, Merula, Charlie, and Ben with her. After they took down the dragon, Carewyn used her Legilimency to open the Vault and rescue Jacob. Jacob threw his arms around his little sister, tears of relief and pain streaming down his face, as he apologized over and over for failing her and tried to explain everything. Bill, Ben, Charlie, and Merula were horrified by what they heard, but decided to stand by Carewyn. Bill immediately proposed that they go straight to Dumbledore and tell him everything -- although Carewyn and Jacob were both uncertain, he eventually convinced them, and the group returned to school. As soon as they arrived, Rakepick was there to confront them, with a small mob of scarlet-robed R members accompanying her. The students were outnumbered ten to one...and yet Carewyn, for once in her life, decided not to look just after herself. Jacob -- Bill -- Charlie -- Ben -- even Merula -- in that moment, she was surrounded by people who cared about her...even after all of the lies she’d told them, even with how scared they were. Now it was her turn to care about them.
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HPHM AU Ask!
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jiminwreckedme · 4 years
Text
The Beautiful Deception.
Chapter 2
| Masterlist | Trailer | Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Memeber - Bts OT7
Genre - Thriller, Mystery, Angst, (Smut)
Word count - 5K
Summary - When your ex-boyfriend’s wife goes missing, you are the only one who can help him find her. But in a world where everyone is a friend and everyone is a culprit, where lies are decorated with the best ornaments of facade, where everybody and nobody is right, how will you find out what happened to the woman he loves?
Without falling for him all over again?
Warnings - Mentions of kidnapping and accidents.
Rating - NC17 for mature themes of the whole series.
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15th February 2017 
10:14
“Do you want to....order a coffee or something?”
“I’m good. I only drink one coffee a day now, at 10.”
You subtly glance at your watch. 
10:15
“How have you been?”
You somehow find the need to clear your throat. “Uh-good, I’m yeah-good.”
10:16
10:17
“I didn’t think you’d come.” He confesses.  
“I didn’t either.”
“Why did you then?”
You sip on your coffee to avoid answering him but how long could you ignore it? 
“I don’t know.”
10:18
10:19
10:20
“I’m glad you came Y/n, thank you.”
You nod.
10:21
10:22
“Why did you call me? You said you needed help.”
“I’m not sure how to explain this….or even ask you to help.”
Why, because there was a time you left me helpless?
“But you asked me, and now I’m here, halfway across the globe. You might as well tell me.”
“I’m really sorry Y/n. I know you left a lot behind to come here for me-”
“No you don’t.” Yoongi looks up at you surprised. Was it because of the tone of your voice? Did it sound more bitter than you intended it to?
“I can understand why you’d think like that, and maybe I really don’t but…..” He takes a deep breath. “I’m desperate. I don’t know anyone else who will help me or even believe me-.”
“You thought I would believe you?”
“Will you not?”
10:23
10:24
“What do you need help with….Yoongi?”
It’s so hard to even take his name.
“She’s missing Y/n. I’ve been going crazy trying to find out how and why and-”
“Who? Who is missing Yoongi?”
“My wife.”
10:25
“To me, marriage is an insult to what we share. I will do whatever, and I mean it Y/n, I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you, and as long as I make you happy, I will be there for you but….. a legal document to join our identities slapped onto the faces of our society? That’s not one of them. Ours is not a relationship that can be forged or ended with two signatures on a paper. That is a disgrace to what’s between us. For me it’s enough if you know what I feel for you, I don’t need anyone else to understand, I have nothing to prove to the world.”
10:26
10:27
“You-you’re married?”
Yoongi slowly nods “About 2 years ago.”
10:28
“Wow, I...I didn’t know- congratulations- I mean it’s been 2 years but it’s the first time I’m meeting you since the- I mean, your wedding so…..”
Stuttering so helplessly. What a fool.
10:29
“I’m sorry Y/n.”
You don’t say anything. What should you even say to that?
“I didn’t know how to tell you about it, it all happened so fast and you were…..”
“I know.” You don’t want to hear anymore, don’t want to know anymore. “It’s fine.... I can understand.”
Could you really? A man who never believed in the institution of marriage yet promised to be with you all his life, left you when it was most important to be by your side and as if that wasn’t enough, he was sitting here talking about a woman he married and was living with happily-
Then you realize what he said.
“D-did you say she’s missing?”
He nods. “11th April 2016. That was the last time I saw her.”
“What happened?”
“We had an argument that day about something. I don’t remember exactly what but it was trivial, I’m sure. We aren’t really the kind who fight.” I don’t need the details of your relationship with her. I really don’t. “She left the house after that, to go to work but she didn’t come back home the time she usually returns. I thought she was angry, taking her time to cool so she was going to come late. But she didn’t come home that night, nor did she return next morning. That’s when I started to panic and so I lodged a missing complainant and went around looking for her but I couldn’t find her and neither could the police. Not that day, not the next. The third day after she disappeared, that’s when I……”
He lets out shaky breath, “There’s a huge lake by her workplace. Three days later, the police fished out a car from there…..her car.”
Your lips part in shock.
“They…..” Yoongi struggles to speak. It hurts just looking at him like that. “It was apparently an accident, some sort of brake malfunction. The driver seemed to have lost control and just….”
He trails off, eyes shut tight.
“I’m so sorry Yoongi, I didn’t know-”
He shakes his head.
“They didn’t find her body though.” Oh. “They only found the drivers. She wasn’t there.”
You find yourself letting out a held breath. “So then she’s ok-”
“Missing.” He corrects. “Since the day she left, I don’t know where she is or how she is, what happened to her, if she’s even okay? I have answers for not one of those questions and I need to find out. Y/n,” He looks at you, the pain so stark in his eyes. “I need to find her. And for that, I need your help and more importantly, I need you to trust me.”  
You frown confused.
“If you do help me then most people who you come across will only discourage you but despite all that, I need you to trust me and whatever I say from now on.” You see his Adam's apple move as he swallows something. “Because Y/n, I think she’s kidnapped.”
Your eyes widen in shock, a strange fear gripping you.
“Nobody believes me when I tell them this but I’ve been trying to find out what happened and this is the only conclusion I could come to. The reason why her body wasn’t found was because she wasn’t in the car and she wasn’t in the car because she was kidnapped.” He states matter-of-factly. “But everyone I told this to, every one of them said that there was no evidence of her being abducted and that I was making up stories.”
His voice turned so bitter, frustrated as he runs his fingers through his hair.
“They showed me her credit card statement and said that transactions in a department store would not have been possible if she was really kidnapped.” He scoffs. “They said she left me and ran away. They said I couldn’t accept that my wife left me over the fight we had and so I was…...I was going mad. B-but trust me Y/n” He almost reaches for your hand on the table, stopping himself just in time. “I know her, she wouldn’t do that. She would’ve come back home that night itself, I’m sure she would’ve and the fact that she didn’t…...I’m sure something bad happened to her.”
He looks at you pleadingly. “That’s why I need your help, that’s why I need you to trust me and help me find her. No one else will Y/n, no one else is helping. The police, the media, organizations I’ve contacted,” He lists. “All of them say there’s no evidence, but honestly, I don’t think they tried to find any.”
All this, this was so much to process. You are still wrapping your mind around all the information when he continues.
Slowly nodding, you think of the right way to tell him what you felt about this without hurting him. But before you can open your mouth and tell him, Yoongi shakes his head.
“What? Are you going to tell me that if so many people are saying she was not kidnapped then maybe she’s not?”
Even after so many years, he still knew what you thought. 
“Fine,” For a second there it seemed like he agreed. “Let’s say she wasn’t then…..Prove it to me. Prove it to me that she really wanted to leave me and that she wasn’t kidnapped. I asked so many people to prove that she was alright, but no one could do it Y/n. It’s been about 10 months now and no one knows where she is.”
You swallow on nothing. Nobody knew where she was? Not even her family?
“I’m all the family she has. I’m the only one she has Y/n. I know she didn’t leave me. The only reason she’s not back is because she’s not able to come back to me, to come back home.”
You blink, once, twice, then again and again.
“What do you want me to do Yoongi?” You speak for the first time in very long.  “Why call me here for….this?”
“If you believe me and you help me, we can find her. 10 months Y/n, do you know how long that is to be away from someone you love?” What? “Every moment feels like-”
“Hell.”
And this is the moment everything changes. The sympathy you were feeling for him, the thoughts that were running through your head about how you can help him, the fact that you were so lost in his pain that you forgot yours. 
Everything changes.
Everything stops. 
“It feels like hell.” Your voice leaves you ever so softly, hands on your lap shaking, hidden from sight. “It feels like you've fallen into hell’s dreaded pit of thorns and your heart has been punctured a million times over by those tiny pricks. And it stings at first, it hurts and hurts and hurts until you feel numb - so numb, you begin to lose sense of everything around you. You think the numbness will go and let you feel again if you just let those wounds heal and you so slowly start to pull those thorns out, one by one, but it only makes more blood gush out. And it hurts all over again.”
Thanks to you Yoongi, I know exactly how it feels to be away from people you love for so long.
Yoongi nods like every word hits home.
“Help me Y/n, I’m tired of being so hurt, I need help and I don’t have anyone but you....”
As you look away from his intense gaze, hands tightly gripping your knees, this is what you want to say to him -
“I didn’t too Yoongi. That day when I left my house, my family, my whole world behind to come to you, I didn’t have anyone but you. I threw away everything for you and what did you do? You left me. I knew you were scared, I knew you weren’t ready but you should have said so. You didn’t say a thing and you just left. You broke me Yoongi. You broke me in ways I cannot even explain. I was in so much pain, I cried, I was hurt, I was angry, I blamed you, I blamed myself, I tried to move on, I tried to forgive myself and a part of me even managed to. When a man came along and said he would hold the broken pieces of me, I decided to let him. I should have been his wife today for god’s sake, but look at me. Once again, like an idiot, I threw everything away to come to you and what did you do? How did you think it was fair to sit in front of me without even offering me an apology and ask me to find the woman you now love? The woman who took my place? So many years Yoongi, we’ve known each other for so long but you didn’t value me enough to think that I deserved an explanation back then. And even now, you still don’t respect me enough to think I deserve an apology? Why Yoongi? How could you?”
You want to tell him all this but you can’t bring yourself to. 
Maybe because you have enough self respect to not beg him for an apology just to heal your ailing heart. Or because you have the dignity to handle your own pain and did not need to explain your wounds to your culprit who ignorantly sits before you. Or because you were shattered all over again by this man and needed to pick up the pieces of you once again. For whatever reason, you can’t say any of that.
“I’m sorry.” That’s what you say instead as you stand up. “I’m so so sorry. But I can’t do this Yoongi. I......I really can’t.”
With that you leave, walking away, avoiding looking at the hurt so evident on his face to protect the your own fragile heart. There was a time you had let Yoongi in there because of his pain. That was the first and last time. 
You were not going to make that mistake again.
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18th February 2017
You: Usual place. 19:45.
“Y/n!”
You look up from the message you sent him to see Yoongi, skidding to a stop a few feet away from you. His chest is heaving up and down, mouth open desperately drinking the air, as his cheeks get redder and redder. He looks at the clock tower, far away down the street. He’s a few minutes too late but you’re still here. Relief floods his face. Till he spots the suitcase right next to you, your hand tightly holding on to it.
“Y-you’re-” He grips the sides of his stomach, wincing in pain. “You’re l-leaving Seoul?”
Abandoning your luggage right where you are standing, you turn wordlessly and push the cafe door, walking in. Yoongi’s eyes try to follow you but they fail, simply shutting as he bends over, resting his hands on his knees, as he tries to catch his breath. It’s only when your shadow falls over him that he looks up at you and the bottle of water in your outstretched hand.
Taking it he straightens out, nodding in gratitude, “I-I need a moment.”
“You ran?”
“I thought I was going t-to be late.” He pants audibly but they are getting less heavy by the minute. “I thought you’ll leave if I didn’t....”
Unlike you, I don’t run from those who need me.
He doubles over coughing and you quickly take the bottle from his hand and twist it open before handing it to him again. He drinks it this time, water spilling from the corner of his mouth, down his jaw and then his neck. You look away.
“Thank you.” His voice leaves him softly as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. As you hand him the bottle cap, once again his eyes fall on your suitcase, but before he can ask you about it, you answer him.
“I’ll help you.”
Holed up almost all the time in that hotel room of yours, you thought for two whole days. You thought and wondered and pondered about what should do but no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t reach a convincing conclusion. 
Until yesterday evening, when you decided to finally leave the suffocation of the room to get some air and somehow found yourself walking by that same cafe. As you reminiscently glanced through the large glass windows, you remember how Yoongi looked when turned to see him one last time. The way his shoulders slumped, the way he just kept staring at nothing on the table, the way the hurt on his face deepened with every passing second. You couldn’t bear to look him. As the mirage of him slowly disappears, all those hundreds of thoughts in you head dissolve into one. I shouldn’t have left him like that. 
How did that make you any different from him? He left you when you needed him and you were doing the same now, you too left him without any explanation. This wasn’t some sort of revenge plot and you weren’t here to play tit for tat, you couldn’t even imagine doing something like that. In fact if not for that one thing he said you were certain you’d have offered to help him right there and then. But his words, they momentarily overpowered the pain you felt for him, they fueled your own agony making you walk away. 
But you shouldn’t have walked away. You should have stayed and been the bigger person. He called you because he trusted you to help him, he believed you would stay and deep down you knew, if you had called Yoongi in a situation like this, he would have stayed.  Because even though he fell out of love with you, even though you had moved on, even though the dynamic between you two was no longer the same, one thing didn’t change - the foundation of the relationship you once shared. It was so strong that even after so long, the two of you could still stand on it, unafraid that it would break.  
So no matter what Yoongi did to you, no matter what you went through because of him, regardless of whether he acknowledged it or regretted it, you should have stayed out respect for the past. And who knew? Maybe this was your chance to finally get what you want. Maybe during this time Yoongi might give you that answer and apology you so badly want to hear coming from the bottom of his heart. Maybe by the end of this you can finally leave him behind in your past and truly move on. 
I shouldn’t walk away. I should stay. 
“I’ll help you in whatever way I can Yoongi, but I want something in return.”
“What?”
“Let this be the last time you and I have anything to do with each other.” You tighten you grip on the handle. “Let’s never see each other again after this and I’ll do whatever I can to help you. ”
Letting out a soft breath, he searches as though there’s a hidden answer on your face. “Is that how much you hate me Y/n?”
“Hate?” You shake your head slowly. “Hate is still an emotion, something that establishes a relationship between two people. After this, I don’t think it’s right for us to have anything to do with each other anymore.”
He looks at you, long and hard, till the chime of the bell tower snaps the eye contact between you two.
“Fine,” He nods, sliding a hand into his pocket. Was he crushing the bottle in his other hand? “As you wish. When all of this is over, whatever you want will be done, I promise.”
Your promises don’t hold any value for me anymore Yoongi.
Silence.
It was the silence between two people who didn’t know what to say to each other anymore. There was nothing left to say-
“If you’re not leaving then…..” He points the bottle towards your suitcase.
“I don’t know how long I will need to be in Seoul and I’m not really comfortable living in a hotel so I’m going home.”
“Home?”  
Did he really already forget everything about me?
“I have a house in this city, Yoongi. My family owns a place here.”
“That house? That place has been abandoned for years Y/n,” Yoongi scoffs. “There’s no butlers, no chefs. How will you stay there? You don’t even know how to cook. And not to mention, it's probably drowning in dust and cobwebs and-.”
“You forget how long it’s been since you haven’t been a part of my life Yoongi.” You smile sadly. “I cook now and I am capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know.” He nods. “I know but you don’t have to. You’re here in this city to help me, it’s not right of me to leave you to manage on your own. You are my responsibility now, I can’t let you go there.”
You let out a soft incredulous laugh. “Then where should I stay?”
“With me.” He lets out casually. “In my house.”
You look at him, eyes slightly widen, lips parting.
“I know, I might be out of place suggesting it and I’m sorry but.... It’s for your comfort and most importantly, your safety. If you stay in your house, your family will know you are here, I’m sure you don’t want that”
“Why?” You frown. “What makes you think my family doesn’t know I’m here?”
“The fact that you came here just a day before your wedding?” What? “I don’t think you would be here had you informed anyone about coming to Seoul. And the fact that you came to help me?” Yoongi lets out a mocking laugh. “You grandfather would have locked you in the room till-”
“Yoongi.” You are still fixated on the first thing he said. “How do you know about my wedding?”
“Tabloids?” He shrugs.
“But how do you know that I left just before my wedding? No one but close family knew when the ceremony was going to happen. You couldn’t have read that anywhere.”
Yoongi looks at you but he’s not at a loss of words
“We are high society people Y/n. Our world is different from what the rest of the world sees. Our stories can be created, destroyed, altered, hidden, everything in a matter of seconds. They can also be found just as easily. Nothing is hidden among the elites.”
“That doesn’t answer how-”
“Doesn’t matter.” He waves away your concern. “The point now is that it’s not safe for you to go to your house.”
You rack your brains to find reasons to say no, but you can’t seem to find any. He had valid points. If your family knew you were in Seoul, all hell would break loose. Knowing very well you will regret this decision, you hesitatingly nod.
Yoongi lets out the breath he was holding and points a thumb at the road, “I’ll hail a cab.” 
It takes about 15 minutes for you to finally find yourself being led by him to the halted car down the street. All this while you just thoughtlessly watched him a few feet away from you trying to flag a cab in the darkening, busy street. It’s a familiar sight that now feels distant. 
Refusing his help, you lift your suitcase into the boot of the car before clambering into the backseat, only flinch slightly upon noticing him sitting almost right next to you when you shut the door. Of course. He had motion sickness just like you, he never calls shotgun. That meant this was how you were to journey today......And the car zooms into the night.
Seoul is always well lit at night. Despite the colorful lights of the LED screens lighting up the cab from time to time, you can barely see his face. For the most part, he’s looking out of the window, hands tucked into the pocket on his bikers jacket. You don’t know for what reason but you find yourself occasionally glancing at him. The both of you were sharing such a close space with each other after so long. It stings you in the chest to feel how much things have changed. You would’ve never imagined sitting like this with Yoongi three years ago. Yes there were times silence was the dominant thing, but that silence with him was always comforting. This silence is ice cold.
You shiver, not at the thought, but because the taxi driver lowers his window, letting the wind and its coldness in, cutting your skin.
“Got a lighter?”
Shaking your head you reply to the questioning eyes of the old man looking at you through his rear view mirror. But before he could get disappointed, Yoongi pulls out a lighter from his pocket, handing it over the shoulder of the now much happier man. As you watch him click the lighters flames to life, your mind wanders elsewhere.
You extend the umbrella in your hand over an already drenched Yoongi as he looks at you, face stoic as ever, eyes fixed on you in a way that said he applauded your audacity. Though he stopped leaning against the lamp post which held the ‘no smoking’ sign when you walked up to him, he stubbornly maintained everything else. The cigarette is still held in place in his mouth, the blackened matchstick still tightly wrapped in his fist. The rain continues to pour fearlessly, as though just moments ago, it did not just wipe the smirk off Yoongi’s face or blow out the flames he had lit for himself.
Bringing up the lighter in your hand, your fingers roll on the spark wheel and you light his cigarette carefully.
“I don’t know what it is but there’s something in there,” You point straight at his chest. “Some kind of pain, something which is the reason you find the need to rebel, the reason you don’t care for anything, the reason you're hurting and you choose to hurt those around you......Yes smoking kills but that pain?” You smile at him pitifully. “That will kill you much faster.”
You reach for his hand, bringing it up and unclamping his fist and flick the burnt matchstick out of his hand, replacing it with the lighter in yours.
“So I can only hope you find what takes that pain away.” You take a step, baring him to the rain again. “I hope you find what helps you live.”
A very long time after that day, Yoongi held your hand under that very lamp post as he permanently handed you his favorite lighter, the one with his initials on it. 
“I found what helps me live.” 
As you wrapped your fingers around it his eyes told you what he couldn’t say.
He found you.
Your gaze follows the lighter as Yoongi takes it, stuffing it into his pocket, where it belonged. So he was smoking again, a habit he detested, a habit he had acquired only to rebel against what life threw at him, a habit you thought he had left in the past because he was no longer hurting. Seeing that lighter in his hands again, your heart aches. It aches to be reminded that he had returned to grieving so painfully once more.
Yoongi notices you looking intently at the hand in his pocket. Before he can say anything, you turn away, choosing to see the fast moving scenery of the estates over conversing with him. A wise choice. If you hadn’t glanced out, you would’ve probably missed the large sign that held the name of the enormous structure that loomed over. 
Min Manor.
You rack your brain for memories of this house. You remember it very vaguely because you had been here perhaps once in all the years you had known Yoongi. The reason was simple. Yoongi never lived here. Though it was his house, though his family lived here for generations together, though he loved every inch of this place, Yoongi never stayed here-
The door opens, jolting you out of your thoughts. 
You turn to see Yoongi who had already gotten off the halted car, holding out the door for you. You uncertainly step out as you recollect where Yoongi stayed almost all his life. In that camper-van that was always parked behind this house, the one his mother had gifted him years ago. Why didn’t you think about where Yoongi was living when he asked you to stay with him? Why didn’t you think that Yoongi might still be living there? Did he expect you to stay in that tiny space along with him-
“Of course not.” You’re not surprised he answers your unspoken questions anymore as he rolls his eyes ever so slightly. “I don’t live there now and if I was, I wouldn’t have expected you to stay there with me. I moved into the Min Mansion a few years ago.”
“Oh.” Something as normal as Yoongi living in his own house shocks you more than him staying in that camper-van. Why did he live here now? Did he sort out everything? But how? “I’m sorry I thought-”
“I don’t blame you.” He closes the door behind you, signaling the man standing by the huge doors with his fingers and a nod. The old butler stops staring at you and hurriedly descends the few stairs to open the boot of the taxi, pulling your luggage out as Yoongi sighs, looking at the house with a strange expression. “I never thought I would live here again either.”
Then why do you live here? 
As the taxi zooms away, you keep your question to yourself as you follow Yoongi not so closely behind. The butler pushes open the large oak doors of the house revealing barely any details of the dimly lit corridor that extends from the entrance. As you step in, you picture your last memory here - your younger self being escorted out by this very butler, Yoongi’s father’s voice the only audible thing as you left.
“How dare you Min Yoongi? Was it not enough that you love the same woman as your brother? Now you have the audacity to bring her into this house? Are you trying to rip apart what’s left of this family?!”
“Y/n.” You break out of your flashback at Yoongi’s voice, turning to see him still by the door. “Welcome home.”
Home.
The word pricks you like a thorn. There was a time I thought this would be home.
“Grace here will help you.” Yoongi points at the middle aged, short woman who you didn’t even notice standing there, as she gives you a bow when you spot her. “Lead her to the guest room and make sure she has everything she needs.”
“Rest Y/n, we have a long mission ahead of us” He takes a step back giving you one final look before he walks into the darkness outside the house. “We will start tomorrow by meeting Officer Jeon Jungkook.” 
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mikotyzini · 6 years
Text
What Defines Us - Ch. 28
Link to ff.net.  I’ll work on setting up AO3 eventually...not really feeling the writing/posting vibe at the moment.
It was showtime!  
Well, not yet, but it would be showtime in just a few days!  Crunch time!  Whatever time!  
The Beacon Invite was right around the corner!  Training hours and practice times would be cranked up by a factor of ten.  All non-essential hobbies were now non-essential!  Sleeping in?  Non-essential.  Watching TV?  Non-essential.  Walking?  Non-essential!!
Especially that last one.  Walking sucked.
To avoid making a fool of herself in front of a huge crowd of strangers (and the television audience), Ruby needed to buckle down and focus on getting as good as possible in the next couple days.  Sure, it was only a couple of days, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t improve by leaps and bounds if she tried hard enough.  She realized people said ‘Vale wasn’t built in a day’ or whatever, but she wasn’t trying to build all of Vale - just a tiny portion of it!
With her current level of determination through the roof, she was back to the grind of early mornings and late nights stuffed with training.  Waking up earlier, going to bed later, and spending every moment in between figuring out how to make herself better.  There was going to be pain - and lots of it - but it’d be pain that came from a hard day’s work - not the lingering pain from nearly severed hands.  And one of those things was clearly better than the other.
Her new schedule was to wake up, train, train, train, train, and then temporarily get distracted whenever Weiss sent a message.  Not that there was any problem with that.  Weiss had already been deemed a very essential part of the day.  The most essential, in fact!
But the second most essential was training, which Ruby started bright and early this morning.  Well, technically it wasn’t bright at all since she was already outside with Thorn and Crescent Rose by the time the sun woke up.
Her morning training went well, but she had lots of time to regret the missed opportunities she’d had at dinner to ask if Weiss liked anyone.  Seriously, she’d chickened out big time - more than once, too!  There’d been so many chances to bring it up, but each time she ended up sputtering like a tugboat before asking a different question instead.  It was horrible!  It was like...knowing exactly what question you wanted to ask, but asking a different one instead.
Ok, maybe Ruby hadn’t asked what she wanted to ask...and she hadn’t brought up anything remotely close to the topic...but she had asked Weiss to come to the Beacon Invite!  And Weiss said yes!  
As an extra-added, cherry-on-top bonus, she was also coming over soon to help Ruby practice.
Essential + essential = essential squared!  
Essential x essential = …she was a huntress, not a mathematician!  
Either way, there were a lot of essential things happening at once.  Ruby was going to train hard, and she was going to ask Weiss today.  She was definitely going to.  That was her daily goal, and she hated not reaching her goals.  If she chickened out again...then she would voluntarily ask Yang to explain the plot of whatever show she currently loved watching.  That was like five hours of punishment, minimum.
Wait, did Ruby really want to enforce a punishment that could potentially be everlasting?
Yes, she would because there was no way she wanted to listen to that!  So she had to ask Weiss today.  It would be easy! ‘Hey, do you happen to like anyone?’  It was only like...six words.  Six little words that would reveal so much information.  Like, most importantly, whether or not Ruby even had a shot.  
But if Weiss replied with ‘oh yeah, this guy at my office…’ or something like that, Ruby was going to knock her head against the nearest wall to put herself back into the hospital.
Just kidding.  Kind of...
‘Hey, do you happen to like anyone?’
The answer would either lead to very happy Ruby or really bummed Ruby.
Oh, it’s seven words.  Well, whatever - it wasn’t many!  She’d used more than that to greet her toothbrush this morning.  Because who didn’t greet their toothbrush in the morning?  It was only the thing that kept her teeth nice and white and clean.  Wasn’t that deserving of a ‘good morning?’  
Oral hygiene was very essential, which meant that Timmy-Too was a big part of her day!  And he was extra special because Yang had driven around town to find him after his twin brother, Timmy, had grown a bit too old and frazzled.  That had been a sad day...but now Timmy-Too was here, and there were six more Timmy’s in the closet waiting to be opened!
Humming a tune to herself, Ruby dashed into the kitchen to fill up a bottle of water for training (fairly essential - dehydration was no joke).  Hearing a buzz from her pocket, she set down the partially-filled bottle and pulled out her scroll to find a message...from Weiss!  
Wait, why was that surprising?  Weiss was the only one who messaged her besides Yang and sometimes Blake.  
Anyway, the message said...‘Is now be a good time to come over?  I can leave the office in a few minutes.’
Yes!  The best part of the day had finally arrived.  Ruby had only waited alllll day for this very moment.  Typing a happy response filled with exclamation points, she sent it off and stared down at the scroll for a second.  When she saw that the message had been received, she slipped the device back into her pocket and continued her humming, adding in a few whistles to boot.  
Weiss was comin’ over, yeah, yeah, yeah!  Weiss was comin’ over toni-i-iight.
Reaching over the sink to fill her water bottle all the way up - whistling all the while - she glanced over her shoulder when she felt eyes watching her - and found both Yang and Blake staring at her.  Blake was impossible to read, as usual, but Yang had this smile that said she was pleased to see something.
“What?” Ruby asked, shutting off the faucet and screwing the cap back on her bottle.  The question made Yang’s smile turn into an outright grin.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?”
“I’m always in a good mood!”
“Uh huh…” Yang replied in a teasing tone.  “So it wouldn’t be a certain short-tempered heiress that’s got you all chipper?”
“Weiss?” Ruby asked, her cheeks warming just from just the mention of Weiss’ name.  “She’s not short-tempered.”
“Not with you,” Blake remarked before grinning.  “And you dodged the question.”
Ruby grimaced at the accurate observation.  Nothing slipped by Blake.  Once, Ruby had seen the girl grab a fish right out of the water!  Like...if that little bugger couldn’t slip past on its own turf, nothing ever would.
Of course, Ruby was far more cunning than a fish!
“I’m just having a good day,” she stated as nonchalantly as possible, throwing in a high-level shoulder shrug to boot.  “Isn’t that allowed?”
It absolutely was allowed.  It was!  But the question clearly didn’t work.  Instead, Yang and Blake exchanged big smiles before turning back to her.  
“Ruby’s got a crushhhhhh.”
Ruby’s cheeks instantly heated up when Yang said the word in a sing-song voice and reached out to try to tickle her in the ribs.
“Come on, Yang,” Ruby said while wiggling away.  “We’re just friends.  It’s nice to have a friend.”
Yang nodded understandingly.  “You’re right; it’s great to have friends - especially ones you can crush on.”
“We’re friends!” Ruby reiterated.  Technically, she was telling the truth.  She and Weiss were just friends, but that little technicality didn’t keep her cheeks from turning as red as her name.
“Are you feeling ok?” Yang asked, her eyes teasing while she faked concern.  Stepping closer, she tried to press the back of her hand to Ruby’s forehead, but Ruby backed away.  “Because you’re looking a little warm there.”
“It’s really hot in here!”  Lifting her hands to her cheeks, Ruby could feel the heat radiating from them.  It only got worse when Yang laughed and tried to reach out again, only for Ruby to knock her hand away.
“Give her a break, Yang,” Blake finally said, tapping Yang on the shoulder before walking over to the refrigerator.  “Ruby, I made some lemonade this afternoon - your favorite.  Want some?”
“Thank you, Blake,” Ruby replied before sticking her tongue out at her sister.  “And yeah, that’d be awesome!  I didn’t know you made any!”
“Sure did,” Blake replied while pulling a glass from the cupboard.  “Oh, but how would you like your ice?  Cubed or crushed?”
As soon as the word left Blake’s lips, Yang doubled over in laughter.
“Oh man,” she managed to say between laughs, holding up a fist for Blake to tap.  “You really crushed that one.”
They were super pleased with themselves, but Ruby rolled her eyes.
“You guys are dorks.”
“Come on, Ruby!” Yang said between giggles that made Blake beam with pride.  “Admit it - I know you think she’s cute!”
Pursing her lips together, Ruby refused to respond.  But that didn’t stop her cheeks from burning even hotter in embarrassment.  Weiss was one of the most beautiful girls Ruby had ever seen. It was like she’d stepped right out of a fairytale - a princess who was born to be pretty.  
But Weiss wasn’t just a princess, and she wasn’t just pretty.  She was super smart with a great sense of humor.  She was generous and thoughtful and whenever she smiled, Ruby’s heart cartwheeled in her chest.
No way Ruby was ever telling Yang that though!
“I mean, I guess she’s pretty.”  Ruby shrugged one shoulder and felt her blush darken.  “Anyone would think that though.”
“Anyone?” Yang repeated with a grin while Ruby nodded.
“Yeah, anyone!  So no need to make a huge deal about it, gosh…”
“You should know, Ruby, that your blush might as well be a signed confession,” Blake commented as she put the empty glass back into the cupboard.
“You didn’t even make lemonade??” Ruby gasped in shock.  “You lied so that you could make a crappy joke?”
Blake returned Ruby’s consternation with what was probably supposed to be an innocent expression, but it was anything but.    
“Hey now,” Yang cut in as she predictably came to Blake’s aid.  “I’m the master of crappy jokes around here and that was not a bad one.  A bad one would be something like - Ruby, your cheeks are as red as crushed tomatoes right now.”
While both of them laughed, Ruby raised her hands to feel her warm cheeks.  Yup, they were definitely redder than red.
“So you think she’s cute!  That’s adorable,” Yang said, wrapping an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and giving her a little shake.  “I guess that means you’re finally old enough to have the talk.”
Blake let out a small snort of laughter before waving at Yang to continue.  Turning her head, Ruby looked at her sister curiously.
“What talk?”
“You know...the birds and the bees.”
“Aw Yang!” she immediately whined, pushing Yang off of her.
“I believe it would be the birds and birds?” Blake asked, the question causing Yang’s brow to crease in thought before she grinned.
“Either way, I gotta give you the talk.  It’s a rite of passage!”
“That’s not a thing!” Ruby protested.
“Yeah, it is!  Everyone has to go through it!”
“Who gave you the talk then?” Ruby demanded.  The smile dropped right off of Yang’s face as she glanced a Blake then shivered in fake horror.
“Dad did...and believe me - you’d much rather I did this than him.”
The idea of their dad giving any kind of serious talk made Ruby laugh, especially seeing Yang’s expression.  Dad sucked with that type of stuff!  He always used the worst things for comparison. Once, he tried to explain how rainbows worked using a teaspoon.  Ruby had listened to the entire made-up spiel before Yang interrupted with the much more understandable version she’d just learned in school.
So yes - if Ruby actually wanted to learn something, Yang was the better option.  But not in this case!
“I don't need any talk!” Ruby insisted instead.  “I’m old enough to figure this out on my own!”
“Oh really?  Ok, Miss Independent, then tell the truth - do you wanna kiss her?”
“Yang!” she shouted, her cheeks growing about a hundred times warmer in under a second.
“Oh she does,” Blake said with a grin.
“You’re blushingggg!” Yang added, gleefully poking at Ruby’s cheek.
“No, I’m - that’s not - this conversation is non-essential!” Ruby finally yelled, only succeeding in making both of her dumb housemates burst into more laughter before she rushed off to her room to find her boots.  Weiss would be here any minute, and Ruby didn’t want to be stuck with those two dumb-dumbs any longer.
If blushing was an admission of how she felt...then she’d just admitted a whole heck of a lot.  Curse her cheeks for giving away her feelings!  And curse Yang for seeing right through her!  Was it that obvious?  Sure, she might have an itty, bitty, little crush.  And yeah, maybe that also meant that sometimes she wanted to - yeah, Yang was just right about everything.
“But she’s a big stupid-head,” Ruby muttered to herself while pulling on one of her boots and tightening the laces.
“Ohhh guess who’s here!” Yang’s voice called out a few seconds later.
“Yang!” Ruby shouted out of her room while hastily stomping a foot into her second boot and stumbling into the hall.  By the time she made it to the living room, Yang was pulling open the front door to let Weiss inside.
“Hey Weiss!” Yang said - way too cheerfully.
“Hello Yang,” Weiss replied, eyeing the girl suspiciously.
“We were just talking about you!”
Rushing over, Ruby used both hands to shove Yang out of the doorway.  Not at all annoyed, Yang walked away chuckling with Weiss looked after her.
“Don’t listen to her,” Ruby said, sending a glare towards her sister.  “She’s just upset because Blake didn’t make her any lemonade today.”
“Oh don’t worry, Ruby.  Blake makes me lemonade every day,” Yang replied with a wink and grin that didn’t even fade from the look of disbelief Blake gave her.
“How did you manage to make that dirty?”
“I have no idea,” Yang answered with a shrug.  “It’s all in the tone, I guess!”
“Come on, Weiss,” Ruby said, taking Weiss’ hand and heading towards the garage.  “Those two are being super weird right now.”
���Let me know when you wanna have that talk, Ruby!” Yang called after them, her joyful laughter filtering through the garage door even after Ruby closed it with a disgruntled huff.
“They’re teasing you again?” Weiss asked.
“What else is new!”  
When Ruby tried to throw her hands up in defeat, she realized that Weiss’ fingers were still intertwined with her own.  Her mind also chose that moment to remind her of all the thoughts and feelings that had been rushing through her head for what felt like forever now.  And that one other word that began with the letter ‘c’ - a capital one, at that.
If Yang could read Ruby’s mind right now, there’d be no end to the teasing.  It didn’t help that Weiss was so pretty. Somehow she was even prettier today than when they’d gone out to dinner.  Was Weiss getting prettier?  Because that’d be really unfair to the rest of the world.  And bad for Ruby.
When she realized she was staring, she blushed and released Weiss’ hand before moving to the other side of the workbench as if she was searching for something.  Which she was!  Where was Thorn?  He was always a good distraction.
“Uh, so...how have you been?” she asked while opening a few drawers and closing them without looking inside.
Great.  Now she was awkward Ruby.  Well, technically she was always awkward Ruby, but sometimes she hid it better than others.  This was not one of those times...
“I’ve been doing well - how have you been?”
Erg.  Weiss had the most put together answers ever!  How did she talk like that?  Ruby couldn’t even convince her mind to think like that, let alone get her lips to cooperate stringing the words together.
“I’ve been busy!” she answered quickly, a rush of pent-up energy making her words tumble out faster than normal.  “I got up super early this morning and ran like a bazillion miles, then ate breakfast, then trained with Thorn, then ate lunch, then read through a strategy guide on Beowolves, then fiddled with Thorn - and that’s basically it until you showed up!”
While Ruby spoke, she shoved several odds and ends around on the workbench so that Thorn could lay in the middle without anything crowding his space.  Quickly pressing a couple of metal plates back in place on the back of the glove and screwing them in, she pulled it on to show Weiss.
“I added some new features!”
“Did you?  Such as..?” Weiss asked, her eyes trained on the glove as if searching for whatever changes had been made.  And her interest in Thorn was genuine, which made her the most perfect person ever.
“Uh, like...a tracking device!” Ruby answered while pointing to nothing more than a pinprick in one of the knuckles of the glove.  “Cuz ya never know when you might need to be found, right?”
“That would be very useful if you were separated from your scroll.”
“Or if I got kidnapped!” Ruby joked, drawing a horrified expression onto Weiss’ face.
“I...I don’t even know what I’d do if that happened…”
“You’d come to my rescue, of course!”
“Well, I’d try…”
“On a unicorn!” Ruby added, grinning when the word succeeded in making Weiss look less serious about the matter.  Except she still tried to look serious while dutifully nodding and hiding a smile.
“It has been a while since I’ve taken Ignacio out of the stables…”
The answer made Ruby burst into giggles.
“The unicorn stables?” she asked.
“Oh yes.  We breed them, you know.”
“For racing?”
“No, they’re just nice to look at.”
Imagining a field of unicorns whose only purpose was to be looked at, Ruby laughed so hard that Weiss finally broke her serious expression and chuckled too.
“I’d love to see those!” Ruby quipped before turning her hand over and flexing her fingers.  Satisfied with Thorn’s immediate response, she nodded.  It was crazy to think that it hadn’t been too long ago that Thorn had felt like some alien attached to her hand.  Now it was just...Thorn being Thorn!
“It sounds like you’ve had a busy day,” Weiss commented, casually resting her hands on top of the workbench.
Glancing over, Ruby grinned when the painted thorns began to glow from their proximity.  That was so freaking cool.  It was like she and Weiss were connected by these little lines of paint.  Or...uh...Thorn and Weiss’ ring were connected by the paint, but that was essentially the same thing, right?
Subtly moving her gloved hand closer so the lines glowed even brighter, Ruby smiled up at Weiss.  The smile she received in return was warm and friendly - such a big contrast to when they’d first met!  There was still a hint of guardedness, but Weiss had changed a lot.
A lot of things had been changing recently, and they all seemed for the better!
“I, yeah, I was busy,” Ruby answered when she realized staring wasn’t going to advance their conversation.  “But, uh, what’d you do today?”
Apparently, it was a sucky question to ask because it made Weiss’ smile disappear.  Note to self...don’t ask that again!
“I worked all day.  There’s a never-ending stream of approvals that I’m somehow needed for.”  Glancing down at Ruby’s hand, Weiss sighed, her shoulders rising and falling from the weight of it.  “I miss the days when I wasn’t involved in the family business…”
“What did you do before?” Ruby asked curiously, the question drawing Weiss’ eyes back to her.
After studying Ruby for a few seconds, Weiss shrugged and glanced away.  The gesture was so weird!  It was something Ruby did all the time, but for someone so proper it looked strange!
“When I was younger, I wasn’t expected to be involved due to school,” Weiss answered casually.  “Those were the days.”
“I miss being a kid too.  All play, no work!” Pausing for a second, Ruby wrinkled her brow before chuckling.  “Although I guess that’s kinda what I do now…”
“I wouldn’t call training all day ‘play.’  Especially not how you do it.”
“Eh...I guess…”  Ruby wasn’t entirely convinced, but it was nice of Weiss to try to make her feel better about not doing any sort of work.  Her ‘job’ was to get healthy - that’s what Yang always said.  “But soon I can go on hunts again!  Yang said after the Beacon Invite we’d go on another one.  My choice this time!”
Smiling, Weiss remained uncharacteristically silent after Ruby’s words.  And after a few seconds, she glanced down at their hands resting on the workbench, appearing almost uncomfortable with what had just been said.
“You’re totally invited to come, if you want!” Ruby quickly added.  To her, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Weiss could come with them on any hunt, but maybe it wasn’t as clear to Weiss.  That’s why Ruby had asked Weiss to join their team!  Then there wouldn’t be any confusion or uncertainty.
But it made sense that Weiss was a very important person at work and wouldn’t be able to make that type of commitment as easily as someone like Ruby could.  Maybe one day though...that’d be super cool.
“I’d love to come with you, if you still want me to...at that time,” Weiss finally answered with a hopeful smile that made Ruby let out a scoff of disbelief.
“Are you kidding me?  Of course I’ll want you there!  Nothing’s ever gonna change that!”
When Ruby beamed, Weiss only met her eyes for a split second before turning away.  
Weiss was talking like a crazy person though!  They hadn’t known each other that long, but they were already so close.  So close that Ruby was feeling things for Weiss that she’d never felt for another person before.  
Coughing lightly into one hand, Ruby’s cheeks decided to preemptively heat up when she realized that now might be a good time to ask the question.  It was an ok time, right? She could ask - she would ask.  It was only six little words.  No, seven.  How was she going to ask again??
“Hey, so I’ve been kinda wondering…” she managed to say, gaining Weiss’ attention only for crystal blue eyes to make her even more nervous.  But she could do this - she could ask right now.  Right now.  
Seriously, ask now.
“Uh, you know, I’ve been wondering...do you happen to...like anyone?”
Ok, that was way more than seven words.  But yay, she’d done it!  Although from the look on Weiss’ face, that wasn’t at all the question she’d been expecting Ruby to ask.  Not in the slightest. Unless Weiss’ ‘pure shock’ expression was the same as her ‘was totally expecting that’ one.
“I-I mean, it just seems like, you know, you’d have a ton of options - i-if you were interested.”
Ruby sputtering like a fish out of water did little to wipe the shock from Weiss’ gaze.  Maybe Ruby should’ve thought of something to say after she’d asked the question.  Or she should’ve talked to Yang about this first because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
“Well,” Weiss finally responded, pausing for a second to clear her throat before continuing.  “I...like you…”
“Yeah!  Of course.”  Ruby chuckled nervously while her cheeks blushed even harder.  “I mean, I know that cuz we’re friends n’ all.  I was more wondering like...uh, like more than that?”
With each second that passed with Weiss stared in open surprise, Ruby grew more and more embarrassed.  
“You totally don’t have to answer that!” she finally said when she realized that she shouldn’t pry into Weiss’ personal life.  “It’s really none of my business.”
“No, I...Ruby -”
“Ruby!”
At the sound of Ruby’s name, both of them turned towards the house - where Yang poked her head through the garage door a second later.
“Hey Ruby,” Yang said with a smile.  “Can you help me with something real quick?”
Glancing at Weiss, who gave a half smile and nod, Ruby turned back to her sister.
“Uh, yeah!  Sure!”  
Meeting Yang at the door, Ruby looked over her shoulder before they left the garage behind, but Weiss was staring down at the workbench.  
“Sorry, Blake - what did you need?” Yang asked as soon as they walked inside.  Sitting on the sofa with one hand covering her eyes, Blake lowered it slowly and looked at them with a blank expression.
“Oh, nothing...was just trying to get your attention before you went out there…” she muttered before burying her nose in her book.
“As soon as Ruby helps me with this, my attention is all yours - promise!” Yang replied happily, taking Ruby’s shoulder in one hand and guiding her down the hallway towards the backyard.
The two of them navigated down the narrow hallway before Yang pushed open the back door and held it for Ruby to walk through.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Yang said as she hopped off the porch step and grabbed Ember Celica from the ground.  “I’m having a little problem clearing a cartridge and thought I should ask you for help before I blew my good hand off.”
Chuckling, Ruby took one of the gauntlets from her sister and looked it over.  Of course it was the right one having issues again.  The right one had been the problem child for the longest time now...it didn’t make any sense either!  Ruby fixed it all the time, but then it miraculously broke itself again.
“How did this even happen??” she asked, poking at a severely jammed rotating cylinder.
“I was...ya know...trying out those DEBs Weiss gave us.  Blake told me not to put the red ones right after the blue, but I did anyway and mucked it up.”  Running a hand through her hair, Yang let out a big sigh.  “I guess I should’ve learned by now to always listen to her…”
“Probably should,” Ruby mumbled in the midst of her analysis.  “You’d get in trouble less.”
“Yeah...but you know why I can’t?  Because doing that would be admitting that all the years of school we dragged ourselves to was for nothing!  Why did we go through all that torture if we were just gonna let the women in our lives tell us what to do anyway??  If I listen to Blake all the time, I’m admitting I wasted my life!”
“I would listen to Weiss,” Ruby replied.  “She’s way smarter than me!”
“She’s not.  She just thinks she is.”
When Ruby rolled her eyes, Yang continued.
“Ok, ok.  So I’d say that Weiss is right a lot, but Blake is always right.”
“For your safety, I won’t tell either of them you said that,” Ruby joked, making Yang laugh.  Tugging one more time at the gauntlet she was holding, Ruby dropped her arms and sighed.
“I’m gonna need some tools to get this out,” she concluded.  “Won’t take long, but I don’t want to blow my hand off either.”
“Cool.  Thank you!”  When Ruby turned towards the house, Yang’s hand reached out to stop her.  “But hey, before you go...how’s it going in there?”  Nodding in the general direction of the house, Yang grinned.  
“With Weiss?” Ruby asked after following her sister’s nod.
“Yeah - you two having fun?”
The question sounded innocent, but Yang’s expression was a dead giveaway that she wanted to tease Ruby again.  Maybe. Sometimes it was so hard to tell! Maybe Yang wanted to tease, or maybe she was curious because she’d sensed the extreme wave of awkwardness wash over the house when Ruby attempted to find out if Weiss was already interested in someone.
“It’s fun!  I like when Weiss comes over!” Ruby responded truthfully.  “And I’m glad you two aren’t mad at each other anymore.”
“Me too, kiddo, me too,” Yang replied with a genuine smile, patting Ruby’s shoulder before turning to head inside.  
Apparently, that hadn’t been meant as an opportunity to tease, but now this might be Ruby’s only chance to ask Yang for some advice.
“Uh, Yang?” Ruby asked, the question causing her sister to turn back to her.  
Did she really want to ask Yang about this?  Her sister might use the knowledge to tease her until the end of time, but Yang was also really good with people, so…
“I was wondering…” Ruby began slowly, her cheeks blushing from merely thinking about the topic.  “If you, like, do you happen to know - or maybe have an idea - or something, uh…”
Yang’s expression grew more amused the longer Ruby stuttered.  But how did she want to ask?  And why were these questions so dang hard to get out??
“How do you know,” she tried again.  “Or how do you guess, or, ya know, have some sort idea if - if another person -”
Groaning, she put her head in her hands.  This was so embarrassing!
“I hope the ends of these questions are good,” Yang finally said with a light chuckle.  “What’s up, Ruby?  What’s got your tongue tied in knots?”
The friendly reaction immediately put Ruby at ease.  Yang always had that way about her - if she sensed that something was difficult for another person to get through, she found a way to make it easier with nothing more than a few short words or a little laugh.  People skills...Yang had gotten all of them.
“Ok,” Ruby attempted a third time, now feeling far more assured in her decision to seek Yang’s advice.  “How do you know if someone...uh...likes you?”
Blinking once in surprise, Yang tried to stop a growing smile - failing miserably, by the way.
“Are you talking about -?”  Pausing, Yang nodded towards the house, and Ruby felt her cheeks grow redder.
“Um...yes?”
Laughing, Yang pulled Ruby in for a big hug.
“Of course Blake likes you!” Yang said while ruffling Ruby’s hair.  “You’re practically her sister!”
“Yangggg!” Ruby whined, shoving her sister away and straightening out her hair.  “You know I mean - you know…”  Looking around as if someone might be watching them, she ducked her head and lowered her voice.  “I mean Weiss.”
“I know.  Just wanted to hear you say it,” Yang replied with a grin.  “Because you like her, don’t you?”
“Maybe…” Ruby muttered, making Yang reach out and tickle at her ribs, forcing her to laugh.
“You do, don’t ya?  Come on, spill, Ruby!  You gotta tell me!”
“Yangggg!” Ruby squealed while wiggling in her sister’s grasp.  “Ok - ok, yes!  I do!”
Letting go, Yang beamed in satisfaction while Ruby straightened her shirt and huffed in indignation.
“There - are you happy now?”
“Yup!” Yang replied, not at all perturbed by Ruby’s pretend agitation.  “Ok, how to tell if someone likes you...well, normally if someone doesn’t like you, they’ll try to punch you.  At least that’s always been the case for me.”
When Ruby rolled her eyes, Yang dropped her grin and kept talking - finally taking on a more serious and thoughtful expression.
“I guess it’s more of a feeling...or a hunch.  It’s kinda hard to describe, but I guess the easiest way to find out is to see if they treat you differently than other people.”
“Differently how?”
“Like...maybe they make eye contact with you more, or they laugh at more of your jokes, or when they’re around you, you can just feel that they like being there.”
“Like how Blake laughs at your jokes even when they’re not funny,” Ruby teased.
“Ha ha - very funny,” Yang replied cheekily.  “I’ll have you know that Blake thinks I’m hilarious.”
“Uh huh…”
“That’s only one part though!” Yang added, quickly changing the subject.  “You can compare how they act with you versus other people.  That’ll tell you most of the story, right?  But honestly, Ruby, the easiest thing is just to tell her how you feel.”
“Just...flat out tell her that I like her??” Ruby asked in surprise.  It had been nearly impossible for her to ask if Weiss liked anyone - how could she ever spill all these feelings out into the open??
“That’s the fastest way.  And then hopefully she’ll tell you how she feels in return.”
Thinking about Yang’s words, which were not as wisdomous as she might’ve hoped, Ruby could already feel her nerves growing second and third cousins.  Yang was wrong - the easiest route was to secretly and slyly figure out if Weiss liked anyone, then figure out who that person might be.  Scratch that.  The easiest route was actually to do nothing, and maybe Weiss would eventually ask Ruby who she liked.  What Yang was suggesting was the opposite of easy.
“But that sounds impossible!” Ruby wailed.
“Yeah, I know,” Yang replied with a reassuring smile and nod of understanding.  “But that’s the best way to know for sure.  Like with Blake...I thought she might like me, but I wasn’t sure until I bit the bullet and asked her out.”
“But you at least had an idea that she might like you first!” Ruby pointed out, which made Yang nod again.  
“Sure, there were hints.  Like how she seemed like a loner, but then she stuck to my side like glue.  She refused to stop reading in the middle of a chapter for anyone, except for me.  Like seriously, if you interrupted her before she got to the end of a page, she could kill you with a glare.  But, for some reason, I got special treatment.  And then the more we got to know each other, the more she opened up about her past - her hopes and dreams and failures and fears...things she’d never told anyone before, she told me.”
Briefly pausing, Yang looked towards the house - where Blake was probably still sitting on the sofa with a book in hand.
“I kept her secrets,” Yang continued in a soft tone.  “I protected them.  Treasured them, even.  That was what made me special - and that was a feeling unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.  For this guarded, mysterious girl to trust her darkest secrets with me, of all people…”
Finally turning back to Ruby, there wasn’t a drop of humor left in Yang’s eyes.
“Do you feel like Weiss treats you differently?”
“I’ve only ever seen her around you and Blake…”
“Yeah, but does she treat you differently than us?  Does she kinda gravitate more towards you?”
Furrowing her brow, Ruby tried to decide if that was true.  Weiss did seem to stay closer to Ruby than Blake or Yang, but that could have more to do with them than with Ruby.  Especially when Yang hadn’t been very welcoming for a while.
“I guess…” Ruby replied, even though she wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Does she trust you with things she hasn’t told anyone else?”
“I think so?  Or she’s tried…” Ruby mumbled, remembering the conversation they’d had in the garage when she’d first looked over Myrtenaster.  Weiss had been guarded, but it seemed like she’d made an effort to open up.  It hadn’t been entirely descriptive or detailed, but she’d allowed Ruby to see a bit of the pain she almost always hid from view.
“And when she turns those pretty blue eyes on you, do shivers go up and down your spine?”
“Yang!” she whined at the unexpected tease.  Still, she couldn’t help but smile when Yang chuckled.
“You know what I see, Ruby?  I see a girl who goes out of her way to make sure you’re happy.  Even if it makes her uncomfortable or if it’s something she doesn’t think she can do, she does it for you.  Everything she does seems to have you in mind.”
“Do you really think so?” Ruby asked, earning a nod in reply.
“You can tell her,” Yang said, setting one hand on Ruby’s shoulder and smiling down at her.  “She’d be crazy not to like you too.”
Yang might be the master of bad jokes, but she was also the queen of pep talks.
“Thanks, Yang,” Ruby replied, relief beginning to swirl through her.  “And, uh, you don’t think it’s weird or anything? Since she’s your friend?”
“Do you think it’s weird to be friends with Blake?” Yang asked in return, causing Ruby to pause for a second before shaking her head.
“No, I guess not...”
“And you know I’m even less likely to be weirded out by that type of thing, so don’t worry!  But...if she says she doesn’t like you or makes you sad, I’m going to beat up on her a bit.”
“Yangggg.”
“Ok, ok, I won’t!  But if you’re crying, no promises.”
After sharing a grin, Ruby leaned into her sister’s shoulder for a firm sideways hug and kiss on the head.
“So when ya gonna tell her?” Yang teased, making Ruby let out a big sigh as they walked back into the house together.
“I have no idea…”
It had taken her an entire day to work up the courage to ask a somewhat related question.  How long would it take her to come right out and tell Weiss how she felt?
‘Hey Weiss, I kinda, sorta, maybe like you.  Like you, like you.’
When they walked into the living room, Ruby saw that Weiss had come in from the garage and was talking to Blake about something.  Maybe it was the sound of footsteps, but something caused both of them to turn towards Ruby and Yang at the same moment.  Leaving Ruby behind, Yang walked right over to Blake and pulled her into a loving hug, burying her face in the crook of Blake’s neck.
“Oh, hey there,” Blake murmured in surprise before lifting a hand to gently run through Yang’s hair.  
Weiss didn’t seem to notice the two.  Instead, her attention was solely for Ruby as she stared with clear blue eyes that seemed to finish the incomplete smile resting on her lips.  Chills ran up and down Ruby’s arms, and her skin tingled with happiness for no other reason than that Weiss was right there - within reach.  The best part was that Weiss looked just as happy to see Ruby too - as if they’d been apart for a really long time even though it was only a few minutes.  
And suddenly...Ruby understood what Yang had been trying to explain.  
Holy Grimm...Weiss might like her.
“I need to fix this!  I’ll be right back!” Ruby said quickly while holding up Ember.  Weiss barely managed to nod in response before Ruby raced into the garage and closed the door behind her.  Taking deep breaths, she braced her back against the door like she might blow away in the nonexistent wind, while her heart threatened the beat out of her chest and run a few marathons unsupervised.
Weiss might like her though!  Her!  Ruby - the awkward one?  Yeah, her.  How had that happened?  Who cared!  If it was true…
If it was true, then Weiss liked her - and Ruby already knew that she liked Weiss - so they liked each other!  Ok, so what was supposed to happen next?  
Ruby needed to tell Weiss how she felt.  Ah, shoot.  Did that mean she should start thinking of some elaborate plan to ask Weiss out - like what Yang had done with Blake?  
Did this mean that Weiss wanted to...kiss Ruby too?
Someone must’ve glued wings to Ruby’s feet because she nearly flew over to the workbench to fix Ember Celica.  Tossing Yang’s weapon down, she found the proper tools to pry it open and started unscrewing some of the parts to fix the jam.  By now, she’d taken the gauntlets apart and put them back together so many times she could probably do it with her eyes closed.  Which was good because her mind was reeling at the moment.
Ok, one thing at a time.  Just one thing at a time.  First, she’d train as hard as possible for the Beacon Invite.  Then, after the Invite was over, she could plan a way to ask Weiss out.  Or to just confess all of these butterfly-y feelings fluttering through her chest.  
What if Weiss asked her first???  
Focus, Ruby!  Beacon Invite first, then Weiss.  Maybe she could invite Weiss to the Invite.
Lame.  She should keep thinking.  And maybe stop smiling like an idiot.
Or just keep thinking.
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darkballsofsight · 5 years
Text
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink
Redglare 01/22/2019
You take a deep breath before you begin to approach the door to his hideout. You wonder if there might any traps or surveillance, but convince yourself that he wouldn't take such measures considering his new wares and reputation. The cold wind catches in your throat, and you finally muster the courage to continue on. Everything you had come up with for potential greeting had already been tossed out of your head. He probably wouldn't respond well to the full of your visit, though the truth really was your desire to see him alive and join the force back in Midnight City. You steel your expression from anything besides an unreadable expression, and knock on the door.
Darkleer 01/23/2019
There's not really an alarm system, besides some old lamp with a motion detector. Don't really have the need for it, with who you are and where you're living. No one really ever comes bothering you - a big part of why you chose this spot. You vaguely take notice of the light going off, but you don't really pay it any mind. The weather trips it often enough, and if not that, then a rare wild animal. The knock though - that is unusual. You pause your work, but barely lift your head as you ponder over whether to answer the door. On one hand, you really don't want to deal with this. On the other hand, if it's  a stranded traveler that ran out of gas, you wouldn't want to be responsible for them freezing to death. A few more moments pass and the looming threat of your failure to act is overwhelming you. What if they had something important for you and leave? What if they really die? What if they think you're rude? Hn. You carefully place the tools down, all neatly lined up, and then get up. You approach the door reluctantly, but hey! You do. When you reach for the doorhandle, you pause. Pull the hand back, wipe them both off on your sweatpants (long dirty and oily from months of use). Then you try again. You freeze. Ice cold wind hits your face, but it's not the temperatures that are the issue. You're not too surprised about seeing another troll - there's been a few showing up around Earth over the years - but you didn't expect to see one that you actually know. "Redglare" you mutter with horse- I mean hoarse voice. Dark and empty cicles stare down at her. URGH. What does she want. You should tell her something like 'nice to see you again', but that really wouldn't be true. Well, maybe a little but. Okay, that moment already passed. She must think you hate her now. you don't, just-- You want to tell her to please leave. But. Hn. No, that would be inappropriate after the long way she made here, and she probably won't be turned away so easily.
You turn away and head back inside. The door keeps open as a wordless invite as you head back inside to your seat. There's certainly a sitting accommodation for Redglare somewhere too, though she will need to find it among many more or less finished projects using up pretty much any free surface in your small hut. Look, it's... not messy... You got a system... Hng, if you knew she would be coming, you could have cleaned up.
Redglare 01/23/2019
The tears nearly well up in your eyes when you see him at last. It must have been centuries at this point. You weren't exactly sure what you expected, but you were absolutely hoping it was him. To see him standing there before you, even for a brief moment, was slightly overwhelming. Whatever had formed at the corners of your eyes froze, and you cursed yourself for becoming more and more human every day. His greeting was... well... mostly expected. He did take great lengths to seclude himself, and here you were, the last person he could have imagined to see. "You're alive." Is all you can manage as he walked away, and you took it as his silent way of welcoming you in. You follow, and close the door behind you to shut out the cold. His place was... well lived in. You don't mind it so much, your own office is littered with belongings and paperwork, but you had to wonder if this was what he lived like on a day to day basis. You also had to wonder how long he'd been here. You tuck away those questions for when you'd say them aloud, and find yourself somewhere to sit. There was something different about him... But Darkleer was alive and that's what mattered. The business end of your visit could wait, you figure he'd want to know how you managed to live as well.
Darkleer 01/23/2019
Her remark goes ignored. Alive? Well, relatively speaking. You stare into the void as you wait for her to get inside and take a seat, and you manage to endure the awkward silence for like a whole... 10 seconds before you grab a piece of a motor before you and start tinkering with it to keep your hands and mind busy. You do want the know everything, because that makes it easier to make an informed choice for... whatever. Though you'd prefer if you didn't have to deal with any of that in the first place. Whatever she is here for though, she'll have to speak up about it though.
Redglare 01/23/2019
You seat yourself, and his silence didn't go unnoticed. His immediate need to return to his work almost made you regret coming all this way, obviously there was a reason he tucked himself so far away. But, perhaps it was the nature of his disappearance, and your own reported death, that made this reunion awkward. "I suppose you'd like to know why I'm here. Maybe how I found you? Or, we could begin with how I managed to survive being hung by the very people I was trying to protect." You swing one leg over the other and fold your hands in your lap. You don't mind his tinkering, but the cold shoulder was unnerving. "I... I also want to know what happened to you."
Darkleer 01/24/2019
The cold shoulder isn't intentional, for the most part. You're just... awkward and don't know how else to deal with the situation. Actually, while she talks you force yourself to put the piece down and give her your full attention, because that's only polite. (Eye contact is something else though.) "And which do we begin with?" you ask. Please, that's too much to unwrap. Just one step at a time. Your hand restlessly rubs over your leg, desperate for something to do that isn't talking. "What do you mean, what happened to me?" This isn't denial. You just need a clear question to give a clear answer, as there's so many ways to approach this one. What happened to you... since you last met? Since you left the Alternian fleet? ..Emotionally? You don't care about the hows so much. They don't feel important right now. Interesting anecdotes for another time maybe, if there is one. But there is something nagging on you that you want to know. "When they tried to... hang you.. did you feel like you deserve it?" Was that tactless? Hn. Probably. Oh well.
Redglare 01/24/2019
You do your best to get as comfortable as possible, but it's difficult to do when the man you had been searching for is incredibly uncomfortable.  His posture and behavior makes him seem so anxious, but his responses to your questions with more questions is both expected and frustrating. "When I cam back to Alternia, I thought you to be dead. No one spoke your name, I had not a clue what happened to you." You take off your glasses and a pained expression shows through a usually unreadable expression. The pause until his next question was tense, and you frown when he asks it. That hurt. That hurt a lot. But you did just come barging into his home. Two ghosts ponder on the other's fake demise, how poetic. "They did hang me, I just didn't die like I led everyone on to believe. And... Well. yes and no." You bring your hand to your neck, soothing the phantom pain that still lingers. "Was my carelessness responsible for it? Yes. I should have been more prepared, more aware of what I was up against. My initial victory left me cocky." "But I was doing my job to bring a villain to justice, and I was doing it for the people. No, I don't think I deserved to die. So I didn't."
Darkleer 01/25/2019
You not only seem anxious, you are. She finishes her story and you acknowledge her answer with a nod. Yeah, Redglare has always been one with stong ideals. Her own, most importantly. "I'm sure they would have prefered me dead." There is more to your answer and your question at her than that, but you stop yourself before you say it. Hn. She probably didn't come here to hear you wallow in your self-pity. "I'm... Good that they failed."
Redglare 01/26/2019
"I am thrilled to see you still live. I cannot stress enough how happy I am that they failed." You relax your posture and drop the hand that rubbed absently at your neck. You blink a few times and let the silence settle before taking in a deep breath. "So. As for my being here and trying to track you down..." You pause a moment so that he can prepare himself before continuing. "I've been made the chief of police in Midnight City on Derse. I've grown fond of my force, but we need more help. I need someone I can trust." You lean forward in your seat and look at him with hope in your eyes. "Will you come back with me?" You're hesitant to reveal all of your cards at once, and would prefer giving him some time to digest the offer before divulging anything else. You wonder if it would be too much of a shock to bring up the Zahhaks in your employment right away, and hold that thought until after his answer.
Darkleer 01/28/2019
"...Derse?" You've heard of it. There's been plenty of Dersites that have come to Earth over the years to seek refuge, and many humans that went there to build a new life. It sounded like a terrible place. You almost ask why there of all places, but obviously she couldn't return to Alternia either. You look up and your eyes briefly meet hers, a thing you immediately regret. "Why me?" What could you possibly do that no one else can?
Redglare 01/30/2019
You lock your gaze with his, filled with determination. You flash a smile and prepare to list off all the reasons you want him to join. The only thing absent was what you had said initially, you needed someone familiar to you. "We were friends, Ixxion. I've seen your skills, I know what you're capable of. I trust you and your abilities. These criminals we deal with? They're in a whole other league than we've ever dealt with. Plus, we could use your tech." You lean back in your chair and decide to drop the small truth bomb you've been holding onto. "Also, your descendants are members of the force. I thought you might like to meet them."
Darkleer 6:35 PM
See, the first few points may have been enough to convince you if given enough time to digest. Being needed - that's a feeling you didn't have in a long time. Having a purpose, doing something of worth, something good. Maybe. The last point absolutely blindsides you though and you stare at her like an eyeless horse in headlights. Descendants. Yours. Of course, you've been vaguely aware that. There. Might be some. Somewhere. Sometime. Meeting them? You'd disappoint them at best, or hurt and ruin them at worst, if you didn't already with the name and heritage you left them. "No," you reply flatly. You shift a little, get up. For what? Doesn't matter. To get out of this. "That's a bad idea." You gesture nervously and turn away.To where. The kitchen in the back. What the hell would you even want in the kitchen. "You can find someone else. Better. That you can rely on."
Redglare 11:59 PM
"You are the better! You are the one I can rely on. Why do you think I made this effort to find you?" You raise your voice at him and clench your fist, wishing he could stop self loathing for even a moment. "Listen, I don't know what part of my offer you don't like, but I can tell you right now, you have nothing to worry about." You relax again and settle back in your seat, sighing in frustration. You wonder what part had failed to convince him. "You would be such a wonderful asset to our team. And it's not just for me. It's not just for your descendants, who I'm sure would love to meet you. It's for our understaffed force. It's for the people of Midnight City who are tired of living in fear of these gangs that rule the place." You didn't have to sugarcoat anything to him. What you were saying was the absolute truth. You had very few contacts left from your past that not only still live, but feel you could entrust with a position on the force. Midnight City needed him, and at this point, you knew that he needed Midnight City. Staying cooped up and hidden away in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly proper living.
Darkleer 12:59 PM
"I don't know why the fuck you'd- Hrn, I'm. Sorry. I'm..." Here's hoping you've been mumbling enough with your back to her that she didn't really hear. She came her with good intentions, she doesn't deserve you getting angry. These are your issues, not hers. You fall quiet for a good minute or so. Her offer sounds nice, in theory. Work with the law, to help and protect people. That's all you ever wanted to Alternia too. In the end, you've done so much worse than any of the alleged criminals you've hunted down. How could you possibly dare to hold the authority over anything or anyone ever again. But.. she came all the way here because they really need you, she says. And you have to admit.. you've been thinking about what you could do different if you could start over. You just never expected to get a chance like that. There's no turning back time. But a new start, on a new planet... You're not sure you deserve that chance, but to attone for some of the hurt you caused, the thought was... nice. You rummage some in the kitchen and return with a kettle of hot water, a cup and four yet unopened boxes of tea of different varieties.  Small courtesies from some people around here that you didn't really have a use for yet. "Would you.. like some?" You return to your seat and give a defeated sigh. "Tell me more about Midnight City, please."
Redglare 10:44 PM
You let out a relieved sigh to combat his defeated one, and nod your head while extending your hand. You've convinced him to return with you after all, and nothing makes you happier to hear. The ordeal was exhausting, but you hope he comes to feel that this was the right decision, for himself, and for those he'd be joining on the force. Especially for the innocent lives he'd be protecting. "Yes, please. Let's see... Where to begin..."
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carmineclock · 5 years
Text
Dead Man Blues
Doc Scratch 4:28 PM
Its been an hour or so since your big meeting with the others, hopefully things have cooled down somewhat since then. You'd like to think you kept it quite calm and tasteful, despite your overall annoyance. Most of this time you spent updating your journal. You really have to do something about all these journals, its not safe to keep so many. And yet... With a sigh you set your pen aside. Time to do yet more damage control. You still think theres a chance you can get through to Trace, though perhaps you might be as bad as Clover in taht regard. Hoping is one thing, some men just dont change. Still, you make your way down to the holding cells. Perhaps your chat with Trace just needed a more dire backdrop. A broken arm and a cold concrete room with metal bars could be just what the Doctor ordered. Hoo hoo.
Trace 9:01 PM
Dire backdrop is an understatement. Your arm is long swollen, wrapped carefully in your shirt to give it some stability. You know a bit of first aid, but that is surprisingly difficult when it's your own arm and the only means you got available are what you have on your person. The new wound on your chest is just as aching, red and bloody with a hint of gold. You may have managed to pass out for a few hours, but you could hardly call that sleep, especially with that nightmare. Her body, stabbed and strung up - not Aradia's, but Nepeta's. A message to the one closest to her - Fin, angryy setting fire to your very self. The images linger, even long after you finally come to. And then the nightmare after you wake up - Snowman and how she dragged Fin in for your mutual punishment. How she used your wedding rings to violently erase the tattoo on your chest marking your love and relationships. When Scratch enters, you're wide awake, as much as you loathe it. Your mind still feels foggy and worlds away, definitely not prepared for a talk with him.
Doc Scratch 2:28 AM
You study him as you walk in, taking note of the remnants of Snowmans lesson. As graceful as she is deadly, as always. The gold makes a nice addition in your opinion. You take a chair from the nearby table and move it to in front of the bars in silence. After you moment you sit backwards with your arms resting over the back of the chair sit down normally, like a gentleman. This isnt an interrogation, or a call for confession, its just a conversation. "So, lets have it out, Trace. Whats this Droog business really all about. Dont you realize what youve cost yourself?"
Trace 9:51 AM
It never not feels like an interrogation with Scratch. You look up and watch him as he gets comfortable, then stare off to the side when he speaks. The muscles in your jaw tense, and when you reply, your hoarse and cracking voice clearly shows your exhaustion and pain. "Sir.. Do we really need to do this now? I'm not exactly the best for a talk right now and I'm really not too keen on netting me another scar for mouthing off..." Of course, you're aware he wouldn't have it any other time then when you're broken and at your wit's end.
Doc Scratch 11:27 AM
"If you're worried about your mouth, then I suggest you keep a civil tongue. I'm not concerned, though. Theres a kind of freeing honesty that cement walls and metal bars bring that can be found nowhere else. At this point, I would rather you speak freely, its just us now." Just the two of you. Man to man, or whatever Trace can be considered. Its an interesting thought, his classification may change as his DNA did. You'll have to look into that later. For now, your eyes are solely on him. His broken body, his pain. "Tell me true, Trace. I want to hear it. All of it. I wont punish you for speaking truthfully when asked. Its lies I hate the most."
Trace 3:03 PM
You give him a sour smile. You'll believe it when you see it. "What this is about, you really gotta ask?" Feels like you already talked plenty enough about this, and you doubt you got anything else to say that could placate him. Only plenty of frustration that has built up over everything, and you're way too tired to filter your words. Lets see who of the two of you is going to regret that more. "I.. am sorry that any of this ever reflected back on you, Nepeta or any of the Felt. It should never have been anything but personal. Which, I realize...  there's not really a personal in this outfit, is there?" you begin, actually honestly. "This... it was nothing more than a brawl between two guys heated up on a little too much emotion. But then this bastard.. abducted Nepeta, tortured and abused her, and then me. Cause he was pissed he got decked in the face. And he kept going, provoking us again and again, paralyzing her, seducing another, hurting us, as a whole, again and again. How could you expect me to do just nothing? You've been sending a signal, to them and to us, that they can just pick members of this very house off the street and do with us what they want." You try to sit up properly to face him better, wincing from the pain shooting through your arm again. "How has this not been a war yet for fuck's sake? How come Snowman can take the god damn white queen hostage, but we sit idle when the Crew come to pick us apart bit by bit? How come Snowman can take the god damn white queen hostage, but we sit idle when the Crew come to pick us apart, bit by bit?"
Doc Scratch 6:17 PM
You sit in silence, letting him say what hes going to say. You dont blame him for his views, and if anything, this lashing out may prove beneficial to you. No matter what happens from now on, Droog will have the reminder in the back of his mind. Certainly he wont forget it. Idly, you pull at the edge of your gloves, nodding every so often through his heated speech. Well, hes partially right on certain fronts. It really should have been war by now, whether you wanted it to be or not. The crew have gotten bolder and bolder, could it be your fault? Through inaction, have you allowed the crew more purchase on this slippery slope than you'd intended? "To start off, I'll answer your question. The reason it has not been war yet is because we did not have the numbers to win a war." You let out a silent sigh. "In truth, I'd hoped to collect our full set before provoking the Crew into an all out battle. I dont know how many wars you've seen, Trace, but I've seen enough to know that as much as you and all the others may want to go to war, young men that you are, we are not in a favored position for it. The Crew will always have the love of the common people, they built this city, and those that reside here are their kin. They have the better defenses, and most importantly, they have magic. True magic, the likes of which I cant begin to match." You pause to stand, arms folded behind your back as you pace, speaking more to the open air than to Trace now.
"Snowman is an army in her own right, its folly to compare anything or anyone to her. This little brawl you've had with Diamonds, its beyond reason and a waste of resources besides. If you were provoked into action, then you're a fool, because thats what Diamonds wanted from you. But more than that, you've allowed him to take the higher ground. The city is going to bleed now, I'll see to that, but you've allowed Diamonds to make it personal. And a man on a revenge mission doesnt care for the ruin he causes. I did not take what I've taken of this city for the last fourty years just to see it burned by some self righteous bastard in an Armani tuxedo." Another sigh, louder this time. You rub your temple, pausing in your pacing to look back at him. "Provoking. Abusing. Hurting us. All of us. You're right on that front. What one of us suffers, we all suffer. It was my mistake. I took this for play, the usual violence between men at odds, petty revenge for the sake of sleeping better." “But no, this has gotten well and truly out of hand. And its too late to go back. You’ve signed us up for a a war we were not prepared for, against an enemy whose eyes you’ve spit in, and now you say it should have been sooner. Hmph. Maybe you’re right. I dont hear the heckling of those underneath me, but it would only make sense that you do. So, then, its to be war. Do you have any plans for this war you’ve longed for, Trace? Any soldiers for the army? Connections to supplies and trades? Or did you expect that all you had to do was start it, and that I would finish it?”
Trace 8:05 PM
Well, obviously, you don't have any of these. You didn't plan for a war, let alone prepare for it. This was a selfish and careless act of revenge and he knows that. You're slowly starting to realize that you feel more bewildered about Nepeta's reaction than the prospect of war. This life has already been hell and you're tired of playing along. How little you care about Scratch's achievements and goals. Still, that is not an answer to give your boss and, unfortunately, owner. You close your eyes and think. The least you owe the others is to try  And if you've doomed all of you to die and burn, maybe you can at least rip a big hole into the crew. "..How much longer is he gonna have the favor of the common people if he's burning them? If he lashes out without remose and care, use it against them. With fires burning purple, it's not hard to besmirch their name. You have sucked the people dry under threat of violence and torture if they don't pay up. If you lack manpower, offer then alternatives. The crew is torching Felt warehouses. If it's supplies we lack, take theirs. We may be lacking time to prepare, but so do they. It's not too late to gain the upper hand."
Doc Scratch 1:40 PM
You stand and listen as he rattles off his ideas. Theyre not all without merit, but theyre naive, blunt, though its something you've come to expect. How could he possibly have known what he was getting himself, and the rest of the Felt, into. "Hes not burning them, he's burning us. True, it was careless, but Droog wont stay careless. Hes distraught over his daughters death, but he wont stay that way forever. He has as at least as much of a tactical mind as I do, he was built for war." You run a hand over your head, eyes closed in thought, trying not to imagine plumes of purple smoke eating their way through the Felt manor. Purple and green clash too much, it would be hideous. "I have ways of retaking the people, though its not the dregs of society that I'm worried about. All  I need is a shiny coin and a loaf of bread to win their loyalty back. We need to spread out. We need bases of operation throughout the city, safe places that arent glaring green mansions on a hilltop. If the Crew want war, we have to play their game." Yes, this is sounding more like a plan every passing second. You almost get carried away, before remembering where you are. This is no time to get caught up in nostalgia. "You know, it would be much easier planning if we had our trackers back. You and Fin have skills that will be of paramount importance coming very soon. Yet, I hesitate to bring you into the fold. Why should I trust that you can stay your hand? That your loyalty to this organization will trump your lust for revenge? You've proven the exact opposite is the case. Give me a reason why I shouldn't just let you sit down here and rot until the war is over with."
Trace 7:47 PM
Hey, can't blame you for trying, considering your situation. The night in here didn't exactly allow you to do your homework. Neither does it help with the next question. You look at him, tired as you are, trying to muster up the energy to defend yourself. Can't say you're, heh, dying to prove your loyalty to him, but wasting away down here in this cell doesn't seem like a solution either. "I... can't live without this organization. And neither can those that I care about. I know that my actions didn't exactly show it, but I want to do what I can to help it succeed and keep us all safe where possible." You'd like to assure him that your thirst for revenge is well-quenched - and for now it is. But should anything happen to Nepeta and Fin in this war you've apparently summoned, things could get ugly really fast. You won't tell him that. He's probably well aware. You'd like to not have to come to that though. "You gave the reason yourself. We're good at what we can do, and without us, this is gonna be much harder to deal with. Sure, it's a risk for you, but I'd be the one out there, risking my neck. It's my blood they're after. I'm not expecting your trust. I'm sure if you send me out there again, you'll be keeping a close eye on me, until I'll maybe have proven myself someday. Not sure what else I can give you besides my word, and I don't think that's much worth to you right now."
Doc Scratch 1:35 PM
"Hmm, its true enough." You sit back down, leaning back as you think. If you were a lesser man, you might consider handing him over to the crew and suing for peace. That would only be a short term fix, though, and probably cause more problems than itd solve. Not to mention youre loathe to lose one piece of the set. "In truth, Trace, I dont blame you for your actions. Not fully. Droog brought his suffering upon himself. We're just lucky he was good enough to burn all the  evidence." "At the very least you'll be going back to work soon, though as far away from Fin as possible. Perhaps Crowbar can take up the handle of your keeper. I cant have a mad dog running around doling out a childs version of vigilante justice." "For now, though, youll enjoy these accommodations. Im just having your room prepared."
Trace 1:48 PM
You should probably feel relieved at that response, could have gone much worse, after all. But the feeling of anxiety and dread keeps lingering. "I guess that's only fair." You lean back as well, which sends another pain shooting through your arm. A quiet hiss escapes you. Cursed thing. "Before you leave.. with all due respect, not trying to tell you what to do, but I don't think you'd find having me lose my arm or my life to an infection practical..."
Doc Scratch 1:55 PM
You were aleady on your way out when he makes his request. Now you pause, and turn slightly. "Does it hurt? Good. Its supposed to. Someone will be down soon to tend to it. Think on your mistakes, and how you can do better in the future." With that, you take your leave, closing and locking the door behind you.
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pope-francis-quotes · 6 years
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31st July >> (@zenitenglish) Pope Francis Welcomes and talks with 70,000 Altar Servers to St. Peter’s Square for the 12th International Pilgrimage of Altar Boys and Girls. (Jim Fair @zenitenglish) Pope Francis tends to draw a positive reaction from young people and the July 31, 2018, crowd in St. Peter’s Square was no exception. It was a joyful and sometimes noisy group of some 70,000 youth age 13-23, visiting from 19 nations. They came to Rome for the 12th International Pilgrimage of Altar Boys and Girls, running from July 28 – August 4. The event is sponsored by Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium (C.I.M.). C.I.M. is an international association for altar boys and girls C.I.M. that unites diocesan and national referents for this pastoral task in the Roman-Catholic Church. The most important activity of C.I.M. is the organization of the international pilgrimage of altar boys and girls that takes place every four or five years in Rome. In such occasions, there is the possibility to meet altar boys and girls coming from all over the world. Pope Francis welcomed the young people and said he admired them for coming despite the hot weather (it was in the 90s F). “I am happy to see you in such great numbers here in Saint Peter’s Square, adorned with your colorful banners,” the Holy Father said. “Thank you very much for giving me the emblems of your pilgrimage! “I am a pilgrim with you. You have come from many countries throughout the world, yet all of us are united by our faith in Jesus Christ. We are journeying together with him who is our peace. I thank your President, Bishop Nemet, for his kind greeting on your behalf. And now, I give the word to you, for a moment of conversation.” The Pope then had a question-answer session with the altar servers, responding to questions submitted in different languages from different countries. Following is the Vatican-Provided Translation of the Q/A Session: From Luxembourg Saint-Père, en tant que servants d’autel et aussi comme croyants, nous nous donnons la paix par le signe de la paix durant la Sainte Messe. Comment pouvons-nous contribuer à faire sortir cette paix également hors des murs de nos églises et être des bâtisseurs de paix dans nos familles, dans nos pays et dans le monde? Holy Father Thank you! You put it very well: peace and Holy Mass go together. Just before the sign of peace, we ask the Lord to grant peace and unity to the Church community. Peace is his gift; it transforms us, so that, as members of Jesus’ body, we can share in his sentiments, think as he thinks, and love as he loves. At the end of Mass, we are sent forth with the words: “Go in peace”. Concrete commitment to peace is proof of the fact that we are truly Christ’s disciples. Making peace begins with little things. For example, at home after a quarrel, do I go off by myself and act hurt, or do I make an effort to go back and reach out? Am I willing to ask myself in every situation: “What would Jesus do in my place?” If we can do this, if we really put it into practice, we will bring Christ’s peace to our everyday lives. Then we will be peacemakers and channels of God’s peace. From Portugal Santo Padre, somos acólitos. Servimos o Senhor junto do altar e contemplamo-Lo na Eucaristia. Como poderemos viver a contemplação espiritual a exemplo de Maria e o serviço prático a exemplo de Marta, procurando reconhecer concretamente, na nossa vida, aquilo que Jesus quer de nós? Holy Father In a real way, as altar servers, you share in the experience of Martha and Mary. It would be wonderful if, alongside your service to the liturgy, you could become more involved in the life of your parish and also spend some time in silence in the Lord’s presence. In this interplay of action and contemplation, we come to realize God’s plan for us. We see the talents and interests God has given us and how best to develop them. Even more importantly, we place ourselves humbly before God, just as we are, with our good qualities and our limitations, and ask him how we can best serve him and our neighbor. Don’t be afraid to ask for a word of helpful advice when you are wondering how to serve God and all those people throughout the world who need our help. Remember: the more you give yourself to others, the more you will get back in personal fulfillment and true happiness! From Antigua and Barbuda Holy Father, as altar servers it makes us sad to see how few of our own age group come to Mass or take part in the life of our parishes. In some countries, for a variety of reasons, the Church is rapidly losing many young people. How can we, and our communities, reach out to these people and bring them back to Christ and to the family of the Church? Holy Father Even now, as young people, you can be apostles, capable of drawing others to Jesus. This will happen if you are full of enthusiasm for him, if you have encountered him if you have come to know him personally, and been yourselves “won over” by him. So here is what I would I say. Try to know and love the Lord Jesus more and more, encountering him in prayer, at Mass, in the reading of the Gospel, in the faces of the lowly and the poor. Try also to be friends, with no strings attached, to all those around you, so that a ray of Jesus’ light can shine on them through your own heart in love with him. There is no need for lots of words; more important are your actions, your closeness, your desire to serve. Young people – and everyone else for that matter – need friends who can give a good example, who are ready to act without expecting anything in return. In this way, you will also help others to see how beautiful is the community of believers because the Lord dwells in its midst. And to see how beautiful it is to be part of the family of the Church. From Germany Heiliger Vater, viele Menschen sagen, sie brauchen Gott, Religion und Kirche nicht in ihrem Leben. Warum sollte man sich gerade für den katholischen Glauben entscheiden, was ist das wichtigste dabei? Und warum ist der Glaube für Sie so wichtig? Holy Father Faith is essential; it gives me life. I would say that faith is like the air we breathe. We don’t think, with every breath we take, how necessary air is, but when it isn’t there, or it isn’t clean, we realize right away how important it is! Faith helps us to grasp the meaning of life: that there is Someone who loves us infinitely and that Someone is God. We can recognize God as our Creator and our Saviour; we can love God and accept that our life is his gift. God wants to enter into a living relationship with us. He wants to build relationships, and we are called to do the same. A person cannot believe in God and then think that he or she is an only child! All of us are children of God. We are called to make up God’s family, the Church, the community of brothers and sisters in Christ. As Saint Paul says (Eph 2:19), we are “members of the household of God”. And in this family of the Church, the Lord nourishes his sons and daughters with his word and with his sacraments. From Serbia Szentatya, a mi ministránsi szolgálatunk szép, nagyon szeretjük. Szolgálni akarjuk az Urat és felebarátunkat. De jót tenni nem mindig könnyű, nem vagyunk még szentek. Hogyan fordíthatnánk át szolgálatunkat a mindennapi életben a szeretet konkrét tetteire az életszentség felé vezető úton? Holy Father Yes, it does take effort to keep doing good and to become saints… I see that you servers are committed to taking this path. The Lord Jesus gave us a simple plan for advancing in the way of holiness: the commandment of love of God and of neighbor. Let us make an effort to deepen our friendship with God, to be grateful for his love and to want to serve him in all things. In this way, we cannot help but share the gift of his love with others. To make the commandment of love all the more concrete, Jesus gave us the works of mercy. They are demanding yet within the reach of all. We have only to start asking ourselves: “What can I do today to meet the needs of my neighbor?” It makes no difference whether it is a friend or a stranger, a countryman or a foreigner. Believe me, by doing this, you can become real saints, men, and woman who transform the world by living the love of Christ. Thank you for this conversation! [01194-EN.01] [Original text: Plurilingual] © Libreria Editrice Vatican 31st July 2018 18:55EDUCATION AND YOUTH
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dfroza · 3 years
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Today’s message from The Temple Institute in Jerusalem:
"And Moshe went!"
(Deuteronomy 31:1)
Tishrei 4, 5782/September 10, 2021
"Vayelech Moshe - And Moshe went, and he spoke the following words to all Israel." (Deuteronomy 31:1) Thus begins this week's Torah reading of Vayelech, the shortest Torah reading of the entire year. The Torah goes on to share with us all the words that Moshe spoke to Israel on the eve of his own passing from this world. He begins by explaining that "Today I am one hundred and twenty years old. I can no longer go or come..." (ibid 31:2) Following this announcement that he is at the end of his days Moshe goes on to describe to Israel what awaits them in the days and years and centuries and millennia that will follow after he is long gone. It's not a pretty picture. After rallying the people to have courage and to follow Joshua into the land which has patiently been awaiting their arrival for forty years, Moshe, in G-d's name, declares unequivocally that once settled in the land Israel will become sated with their blessings, grow weary and derisive of their covenant with HaShem and, in their spiritual indolence, turn away from HaShem and turn to the gods of their idolatrous neighbors. The crisis will reach its climax when G-d says "I will... hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will befall them." (ibid 31:17) Man has been playing hide-and seek with G-d from the day of man's creation when Adam, ashamed of his nakedness sought to hide from G-d. Is G-d now giving man a taste of his own medicine?
When we turn from G-d, when we act with disdain for the covenant of Torah which enables our lives to flourish in the bright light of G-d's presence, we are, in fact, shamefully hiding our faces from G-d. When we hide our faces from G-d we can no longer see G-d. It is as if G-d is hiding His face from us, creating a lonely universe in which man is all alone - alone and terrified.
But, of course, the moment we reopen our eyes and turn once again to fully face G-d, we will see that He was there all along. Our struggle to see G-d in our lives is self imposed. G-d is truly too big to hide from us. His presence animates all existence. He is always here. Only man has the ability to shut his eyes and his heart and to erase G-d, as it were, from his life. And only man has the ability to open his eyes and his heart and return to G-d's embrace. This is what is called in Hebrew teshuvah, a word commonly translated as repentance, but which literally means returning, returning to G-d. It is as easy as opening our eyes. This final message from Moshe to his people, while coming in dark and threatening terms, is really a message of tremendous import and hope: man always has the ability to return to G-d, every moment, any moment. And G-d will always take man back. This message of good tiding could not come at a more opportune time as we continue to prepare ourselves for Yom Kippur, which occurs next week, the Day of Atonement, the Day of Return. Our sages told us that Yom Kippur is the most joyful day of the year, and this is the reason why.
One question which our parasha does not answer is the question implied in our opening verse: "Vayelech Moshe - And Moshe went..." We are never told from where Moshe was coming and to where he was going. Some sages opine that Moshe went from Israelite encampment to Israelite encampment to say a final farewell to every soul in Israel. Others venture that Moshe made a brief visit to the World to Come in order to prepare himself for life's next phase. Still others note that the word vayelech - and he went - echoes an earlier use of the word: "Vayelech ish mibeit Levi - A man of the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw him that he was good, she hid him for three months." (Exodus 2:1-2) The man, of course, was Amram, the father of Moshe, and the good son born to him was none other than Moshe. Thusly, the Torah very poetically and poignantly presents the final moments of Moshe's life in the same terms as the very first moments of Moshe's life.
Vayelech is also the same word employed by G-d when He instructed Avraham "Lech lecha - Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and you shall be a blessing." (Genesis 12:1-2) To go - to be on the move - to walk with G-d - is to live a righteous life, a life blessed by G-d's presence.
But the fact that Torah itself does not answer our question, and does not tell us to where Moshe went is perhaps the deepest message behind the seemingly unfinished verse. Our question really should not be to where Moshe was going. Moshe knew very well to where he was going. Our question should be to where we are going. Where is life leading us? Or, more importantly, to where are we leading our lives? Only we can can answer this question. We owe it to ourselves to ponder this question and to strive for an answer. G-d only hides His face from those who hide from G-d. If we are going in G-d's direction, His arms are open wide.
This Shabbat, the Shabbat which falls between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, is known as Shabbat Shuva - the Shabbat of Return. It is not a slogan, but an opportunity. Shabbat Shalom!
followed by a post by John Parsons that illumines the Son:
From our Torah reading this week (i.e., Vayeilech) the LORD foretold Moses' death and the people's subsequent apostasy from the faith: "This people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them" (Deut. 31:16). The Lord then continued: "And then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured.... And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods" (Deut. 31:17-18).
The phrase "hester panim" (הֶסְתֵר פָּנִים) means "hiding of the face." It is often used when discussing the Book of Esther, where God’s Name isn’t mentioned even once, yet the hidden Presence is realized in the outcome of the story. In this sense of the term, hester panim is like the sun on an overcast day: Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. God’s providential care for us is at work at all times, whether we perceive it or not...
Although hester panim may refer to God’s hidden providence for good, in some cases it may refer to the terrifying prospect of the withdrawal of the Divine Presence itself... God "hides His face" from us because our own desire for evil blinds us to the truth of His Presence. Hester panim therefore is not only "absence of Divine Presence," but "presence of Divine Absence." In other words, sin and selfishness can cause consciousness of the Divine Presence to be removed from us, but that is precisely because we have chosen to remove ourselves from Him. "I will hide... because you have turned..." The distance is therefore reciprocal: Selfishness turns us away from God which turns God away from us.
In difficult moments, many people cynically ask, "Where’s God?" and yet they have no intention of sincerely turning from sin to seek the Divine Presence. They are quick to judge the Divine Absence as an excuse for the return to their selfishness and despair. This "hardening of the heart" leads to ever-increasing spiritual darkness and confusion... Finally the line is crossed and they become unable to turn away, unable not to sin ("non posse non peccare"). They are consigned to a frightful state: "God gave them up to a debased mind (αδοκιμον νουν) to do what ought not to be done" (Rom. 1:28). In some tragic cases, the disease "reaches term" and the person actually dies. The "hiding of face" is then forever sealed. Since we have hidden our face from Him, God has hidden His face from us. God forbid that this should be anyone’s ultimate spiritual destiny....
Is there a redemptive side to all of this? Yes of course. In some cases God "turns away" from us in order to afflict us and understand our need to return to Him, as it is written: "It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statues" (Psalm 119:71). The sense of "Divine Absence" can be a gift that helps us seek the Divine Presence: "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8). The "dark night of the soul" can be a means of leading us to godly sorrow that leads to life (2 Cor. 7:10).
In keeping with the Days of Awe and the call to do teshuvah shelmah (a complete repentance), then, let us "wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and hope in him" (Isa. 8:17). Wishing you teshuvah shlemah b’ahavat Yeshua - "A complete turning to the love of Jesus." Amen. [Hebrew for Christians]
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9.10.21 • Facebook
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gduncan969 · 3 years
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Practical Love
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John 21: 15 -17 15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”  He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”  He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”  
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”  He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”  And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”  Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
Two weeks ago I officiated at my granddaughter, Gillian’s marriage to her fiancé, Mark, joining them in the “holy bond of matrimony” as my minister’s service book describes it.  The essential part of any wedding service—“Do you take this woman/this man...repeat after me, I take thee...I now pronounce you husband and wife”—takes all of about ten minutes so there’s ample time for the minister to spend a few moments speaking to everyone in attendance about what a Christian marriage is and more importantly, the gospel message that is its foundation.  Wedding services are typically attended by some who may never have heard the gospel or may have become lukewarm to its life-changing message, so it presents a welcome opportunity to tell them how God loves them and has made provision for them to become His through the death and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  But how do you fit that into a marriage ceremony that can be completed in under ten minutes?  The mother of the bride (my daughter) told me I had ten minutes to preach but no more.  My reaction was that “sermonettes” are for “Christianettes” and I have no time for either so I spent some time pondering what I would say and how short I would take to say it.  Here are some of my thoughts.
God’s Reason For Marriage
Christian marriage is a commitment before God to love another person so intently and so intensely that you become one with them for the rest of your life.  Both Matthew and Mark record the words of Jesus who said about marriage: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:7).  Most Christians, whether married or single, are familiar with this scripture but if you ask them what’s the reason Jesus is referring to i.e. what’s the reason a man will leave his father and mother, they are uncertain how to answer and that uncertainty is one of the reasons why so many married Christians end up in the divorce courts today.  Marriage in this “enlightened” society we now live in has been degraded to an agreement between two people of the same or opposite sex to live together as long as they both shall love and the promises they make to each other are to be kept as long as they both agree to keep them.  Is it any wonder that more than half of all couples live together before marriage and most of those never get around to marrying anyway because it is an institution that binds people legally to each other for no purpose other than to make it expensive to separate, so why bother. The “reason” Jesus was referring to in Matthew and Mark is found right at the beginning of the bible in Genesis 2: 21 -24.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore (FOR THIS REASON—added) a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
My guess is that Adam took one look at Eve and immediately said, “Wow! She’s mine.  She was taken out of me and I want her back where she belongs.”   I’m also sure Eve was googly-eyed by what she heard him say and how he said it.   (A Christian medical doctor once explained to me that men are aroused by what they see and women by what they hear—a lesson husbands and wives should pay attention to.  It also explains why the current pandemic of pornography affects almost entirely men).   Now, there’s much more to Christian marriage than physical attraction so what do you tell a young couple about to be married about how to love each other?  The apostle Paul puts it this way: (Ephesians 2:25-28, 33)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Practical Love
The above verses instruct all married couples to love one another but what does that mean in practical terms.  The English word “love” is so broad in meaning that it has to be connected to the object to be loved before we can get a sense of what it means to say I love something or someone.  I love bananas; I love golf; I love my dog; I love my cottage by the lake; I love my wife and kids; in every case the object being loved is needed to explain what kind of love we are talking about but this is where things get can get tricky for newlyweds (and a lot of oldweds too)!  When we describe the love young couples have for each other, we think in terms of Romance—a word rooted in the days of chivalry when knights of old treated the ladies with all the respect and decorum they deserve. Romantic love is brim-full of the affection each has for the other but there’s a lot more to practical (biblical) love than affection and the difference is found in the conversation Jesus had with Peter after He had been raised from the dead.
The verses from John 21:15-17 at the beginning of this article show Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you Love me?” but it doesn’t explain why he asks. Considering that Jesus had just risen from the dead and appeared to the disciples a few times, we might guess the first time Jesus appeared to Peter (John 20:19) it must surely have caused Peter some very anxious moments. Here was Jesus alive in the flesh a few days after he had denied Him three times in the garden (John 18: 17, 25, 26) and worse still, it says in Matthew 26:72, Peter denied him with cursing!  I’m sure when Jesus appeared in their midst the first time, Peter looked around for a hole to crawl into.  So, it is understandable that Peter would be feeling very awkward when Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love me?”.  “Is Jesus still angry with me for denying Him with curses, does He still doubt that I love Him?” he must have thought, so three times he reassures Jesus that he loves Him while struggling with why Jesus was questioning him.  Was Jesus being a little sadistic and cruel, maybe trying to get His own back on the traitor who cursed Him?  Of course not!  That’s as far as the east is from the west in Jesus’ nature.  
Jesus was teaching Peter a lesson about practical love and it’s a lesson for all young newlyweds and the rest of us too.  To explain this, we need to get around the vagueness of the English word “Love”.  The first time Jesus asked Peter (verse 15), “Do you love me..” he uses the Greek word Agape—“Peter, do you agape me?”  Agape love is sacrificial love where you love someone enough to lay down your life for them even when they don’t deserve it and it expects no reward for doing so!  Agape love is always associated with action.  Peter doesn’t get the message and responds with, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” but his word for love is phileo—meaning great affection.  “Yes, Lord, you know that you are very dear to me and I have the greatest affection for you,” to which Jesus responds “Feed my lambs”, a response which seems somehow disconnected from the matter in hand—does Peter love Jesus?  Verse 16 repeats the whole process and Peter still doesn’t get the message because he’s still thinking Jesus doubts what great affection Peter has for Him.  Once again, the Lord responds with “Feed my sheep”.  Verse 17 repeats the whole process for the third time but with one important change: Jesus asks the third time, “Peter do you Phileo me?” (essentially asking “Peter are we still friends?”) and Peter responds as before but now he’s really upset because it’s becoming obvious to him that Jesus doesn’t believe him.  But once again, Jesus responds with His seemingly disconnected request, ”Feed my sheep”.
What’s going on here and what does it say to newlyweds and the rest of us?  It is this: JESUS IS VERY PLEASED THAT WE HAVE GREAT AFFECTION FOR HIM BUT IF WE REALLY WANT TO LOVE HIM, GET OUT THERE IN THE DIRT AND SQUALOR AND DAILY GRIND AND FEED HIS SHEEP!  Feeling great affection for Him is not enough unless it motivates us to do the work he has called us to do.  For newlyweds, having great affection for each other won’t be enough later on when the baby’s diaper is full and it’s not your turn to change it but you’re the only one around!  Great affection may not cover a husband who won’t lower the toilet seat and it won’t cover a cheating husband who is found out and repentant.  Our affections are very much tied to our emotions and emotions can be very fickle when crises come—and come they will!  Jesus wanted Peter (and the rest of us) to understand that we can only really love Him by feeding His sheep and doing that means living for others no matter how we feel.  As a pastor, I was once asked what’s the worst thing about being a pastor? With tongue in cheek I answered: “having to work with Christians!”  On some days, my tongue would not have been in my cheek because Christians as a group can be some of the most cantankerous you will ever meet but then again, they are also the most loving.  For all those who say they love Jesus, who say they believe in Him, who sing His praises and read his bible but fail to ACT on His behalf, they are among those of whom the Lord speaks in Matthew 15:8 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.”  Remember the ten lepers Jesus healed and how only one returned to give thanks.  Ten were healed but only one was saved.  The other nine no doubt thought very highly of Him and perhaps had great affection for Him but it didn’t produce any works for Him.  James puts it more succinctly in James 2:20 “..faith without works is dead”.  
All of us who seek to follow the Lord Jesus because we love Him must accept the challenge that loving Him brings.  There is a great malaise in the western Church today, beautifully explained in the book by Mark Buchanan “Your Church Is Too Safe” (Zondervan 2012) where he details how we have slid into the morass of self-interest and a “feel-good” mentality which largely excludes sacrificial (agape) love and stays clear of the dirt and squalor in much of modern life.  Our churches are, indeed, too safe but that makes them only more lifeless. Another pastor friend once explained that a church can either be a morgue where everything is neat and tidy and in place but dead or it can be an emergency ward where the floor and walls are blood-spattered but the room is full of action, full of life. Which one do you belong to?
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imjustthemechanic · 6 years
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The Stone Knight
Part 1/? - Two Statues Part 2/? - A Curious Interview Part 3/? - John Doe Part 4/? - Escape Attempt Part 5/? - Making the News Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - More Impossible Part 8/? - The Shield Thieves Part 9/? - Reality Sinks In Part 10/? - Preparing a Quest Part 11/? - The Marvelous History of Sir Stephen Part 12/? - Uninvited Guests Part 13/? - So That’s What It Does Part 14/? - The What and the Where Part 15/? - Gearing Up Part 16/? - Just Passing Through Part 17/? - Dinner with Druids Part 18/? - Kracness Henge Part 19/? - A Task Interrupted Part 20/? - The Red Death Part 21/? - Aphelion Part 22/? - The Stone Giants Part 23/? - Nat the Giant Killer Part 24/? - An Interrogation Part 25/? - Guilt Part 26/? - Rushman’s Brilliant Idea Part 27/? - Hunter in Hiding Part 28/? - Ridiculous Part 29/? - The Guy from Barton Part 30/? - Sherwood Forest Part 31/? - Buckeye’s Fall Part 32/? - Robin Hood Part 33/? - Fantasies and Consequences Part 34/? - Swords of Damocles Part 35/? - The Road to London
Sir Stephen is confused by democracy, Nat does more worrying, and Robin Hood thinks skyscrapers are cool.
           They stopped for lunch in Leicester, and then Sharon took over driving while Nat moved to the back of the van, next to Robin, to eat a take-out sandwich.  Robin Hood had been talkative before they’d stopped in Barton-in-Fabis, but now he was quiet, looking out the window at the countryside rolling by and chewing thoughtfully.  Nat wondered what he was thinking.  Was he imagining the life he could have with Marian?  Wondering what had possessed his alternate self to abandon it?  Pondering the nature of reality?  She didn’t want to interrupt by asking him.
           Besides, she had thoughts of her own to get lost in. Natasha had escaped the secret agent business and gone into hiding as a nobody academic at a university that wasn’t known for the field she’d chosen, because she wanted to be a normal person.  It was a lie, of course – she had never been and would never be normal… but ‘truth’ and ‘lies’ were no longer meaningful categories.  If she really wanted it, that kind of life was within her grasp.  All she needed was another Grail fragment, and she could be Natalie Rushman or any other identity she wished to assume.  
           Really, Natalie Rushman would not be a bad person to be.  She’d grown up in a suburb with parents who loved her and usually had enough money to get by. She had, as Allen had said, danced in ballet recitals and built snowmen and angsted over career choices.  She’d probably done things she’d later regretted, because everybody did that at some point, but she was mostly pretty happy with her life – and, most importantly, she’d never tortured or killed anybody, or been locked up in the cold or forced to abandon a friend on the tundra.  That had been the whole point of creating her: Natalie Allyson Rushman was perfectly, beautifully ordinary.
           But she also wasn’t Natasha Romanov.  The terrible things that Natasha had seen and done in her past had brought her to where she was today, and had taught her lessons that Natalie Rushman would never have had the opportunity to learn. Natalie Rushman wouldn’t have been able to fight her way through the mooks on Flotta, or knock out Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, or work out how to destroy the Red Death’s golems.  The situation Nat was in now needed Natasha Romanov.
           Even after this was over, though… no, the thought of re-writing her past in such a literal fashion made Nat recoil as if she’d just found a tarantula crawling up her arm.  There was a lot of ugly truth in her past, and she had told a lot of lies to cover it.  In the future she would continue to tell lies, because it was the only way she could avoid being thrown in prison, but she preferred to remember the truth, even if nobody else did.  Maybe that was another of the reasons she’d chosen archaeology – because you could learn from the truth.  The ugly parts of it told you the worst that could happen, and you could look back on them and decide to do better in the future.  Lies could not teach, they could only disguise, hiding the painful lessons so that you couldn’t learn or grow from them. They stuck you right back where you started and forced you to make the same mistakes all over again
           “Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it,” she murmured.
           “Hmm?” Robin asked around his mouthful of sandwich.
           “Nothing,” said Nat quickly.  “I probably ought to warn you guys about London.”  Robin Hood and Sir Stephen would have thought of the London of their own centuries as a teeming metropolis.  They’d been absolutely astonished by the size of Inverness and Nottingham, but that wasn’t enough to prepare them.  “The government doesn’t move around anymore, like it did in the Middle Ages.  It stays in London.  Sometimes the Queen stays in other places, but Parliament, which actually rules the country, is in London, and it’s also the economic centre of the country.  It’s one of the biggest cities in the world, with a population of… I think eight million?”  She was pretty sure she’d read that somewhere, but couldn’t recall where.
           “Million?” asked Sir Stephen.
           “Yes, million,” said Natasha.  She took another bite of her sandwich, which she’d almost forgotten about as she pondered.
           “How many is that?” he wanted to know.
           Nat hadn’t realized he didn’t know what the word meant – she’d assumed he just didn’t believe the figure.  She quickly chewed and swallowed so she could explain.  “Oh.  A million is a thousand thousands.”
           Sir Stephen, sitting in the seat directly in front of her, didn’t answer.
           “Do you know how many a thousand is?” asked Nat.
           “Of course I do,” said Sir Stephen.  “So if you were to divide all the inhabitants of London into cohorts of a thousand men…”
           “Men, women, and children,” Nat said.  “We count heads nowadays, not families.”
           “A thousand people,” Sir Stephen corrected himself.  “You could do so eight thousand times?”
           Poor man, he probably thought a thousand was a large number – William had conquered England with only ten thousand men, and at the time that had been an almost unimaginably large army.  As it turned out, an army was exactly what Sir Stephen was thinking about.
           “If half of them are male,” he mused, “and a mere quarter of fighting age, your Queen could call up a force the like of which has never been seen on earth.  That, from London alone!”
           Nat shook her head.  “It doesn’t work that way,” she said.  “These people aren’t soldiers.  The Queen can’t just order them to fight for her.  If there were a battle in London, they would have to be evacuated.”  She hadn’t thought of that yet, but if worst came to worst and the Red Death showed up to take the Grail by force, he would have no end of people to stab or buildings to knock down.  Not to mention the unbelievable carnage if something like the golems got loose in a densely populated area.
           “If she had enough weapons to arm them,” Sir Stephen insisted, “or even just asked them to take up their pitchforks and axes…”
           “They don’t have pitchforks and axes, because they’re not farmers either!” said Nat.  “They’re… they’re merchants and tradespeople and scholars and… and other things you won’t know what they are.  The Queen can’t force people to fight when they’re not trained for it.”
           “If your Queen cannot pardon a criminal nor raise an army, what can she do?” Sir Stephen asked, exasperated.
           “She cuts a lot of ribbons,” said Sam.
           “Shakes a lot of hands,” Sharon agreed.  “Waves at crowds.”
           “She’s on your money,” said Allen.
           “Who makes the laws?” asked Sir Stephen.  “Who leads you in battle?”
           “We vote on that,” Nat explained.  “Like the Romans did, but with less bribery.”
           “But…” Sir Stephen began.
           Sharon interrupted him.  “We haven’t seen any sign of the bad guys in a while, have we?” she asked in a louder voice than necessary, to make the point that she was changing the subject on purpose.
           “No, we haven’t,” Nat agreed – which was odd, now that she thought of it.  Up until they’d left Inverness, Zola and the Red Death had been in step with them the whole time.  They’d gotten to Dr. Hughes and stolen the map, they’d arrived at the henge on Flotta at about the same time, and they’d terrified Darren O’Herlihy.  Now, however, Natasha and the others had been to Barton, to Sherwood Forest, and were on their way to London, and hadn’t encountered any opposition even once.  “What do you think that means?” she asked.  Should they be worried?
           “Perhaps it only means that the ivy and horseshoes are working,” Sir Stephen suggested.  “I never thought I would say such a thing, but bless the witches who sold them to us. Clearly they know their work well.”
           “Or it could mean they’re doing something important while we’re distracted by things they figure are irrelevant,” Nat said.  “If they already knew that Francis had used up his fragment, they might have gone to America or the Continent to look for some that are still active.  Or even directly to the druids, who knows?”
           “Or they know that we’re going directly to the Grail, and they’re following us on the down-low,” said Sam.
           “They don’t seem like down-low types of people,” Sharon observed.
           Having been raised in Russia and worked mostly in America, Natasha was still occasionally startled by just how small Britain was.  Driving the length of a country sounded like something that ought to take a long time, but a determined person could go from Durness to Dover within twenty-four hours.  It had been around ten in the morning when they’d left Barton, and they reached the suburbs of London before two.
           It took the two time travellers a while to realize they were already in the city, and then, as Nat had predicted, they were absolutely astonished by this urban landscape that seemed to go on forever in all directions.
           “A man could live his whole life within the confines of such a city,” Sir Stephen said quietly, “and never know anything existed beyond it.”
           “I think a lot of people do,” Nat said.
           Driving through London, where traffic was thick, almost seemed to take longer than driving to it, especially when they got into the city centre near the Thames.  Natasha started to feel a little shaky when she spotted the outline of the White Tower above the buildings ahead of them.  This was it – they were about to find out whether her theory were correct, or whether she’d wasted everybody’s time.
           At the time it was built, the Tower keep had been the tallest building in London, and it had stayed that way for centuries. It would probably still be impressive to Robin and Sir Stephen if they saw it up close, but for the moment they didn’t even seem to notice it.  Instead, their eyes went past it and up, to something that towered over it by nearly a thousand feet.
           “What is that?” asked Sir Stephen.
           “That’s the Shard,” said Sharon.  “It’s the tallest building in the United Kingdom.”
           “The Tower of London is coming up on our right,” Nat added.  “That’s where I think William the Conqueror hid the Grail.”  It did look rather insignificant with downtown Southwark all around it.  Even the Tower Bridge was over a hundred feet taller.  Time had rendered it nearly impossible to imagine the impact this giant stone keep would have had on a Saxon world, used to timber buildings and defensive ditches.  William’s ambitions now seemed modest indeed.
           Robin and Sir Stephen, however, were still focused on the Shard.  “Do they let people climb it?” Robin asked.  He’d figured out how the windows worked, and now rolled his down so he could stick his head out like a dog for a better look.  “From up there you’d be able to shoot almost anyone in the city!”
           “There’s glass in the windows,” said Sam.
           “Actually, they’ve got an open-air platform at the top, I think,” Sharon said.
           “But they wouldn’t let you take your bow up there anyway,” Nat added.  She was starting to think… Zola couldn’t see or hear what they were doing in the van because of the ivy they’d sellotaped around the windows, but if he were following them he’d definitely know where they stopped.  Why clue him in before absolutely necessary.  “But yeah, you can pay admission and go up, like in the Willis Tower.” Not that they knew what that was.
           “Can we do that?” asked Robin eagerly.
           “We’re not here to sightsee,” said Sharon.
           “Actually…” Nat glanced up at the building again, then shut off her turn signal and headed for the Tower Bridge instead of turning off to the castle itself.  “He’s right – that’s a good vantage point.  If we get some binoculars, we can scope out the whole castle grounds without ever setting foot in them.  It’ll keep the Red Death in the dark a few hours longer.”
           The Shard was even more impressive standing at the base of it looking up.  Everybody craned their necks to see if they could make out the top of it, which was almost lost in the low fog.  They must look, Nat thought, like a bunch of gawking tourists.
           “It looks as if it were built out of air,” said Sir Stephen, taking in the shining steel and glass of the structure.  “I’m not sure I trust it not to fall out from under me.”
           “It’s stayed up so far,” said Nat.  “Let’s see what we can see.”
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Awake and Alive - Chapter 1 (1/?)
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Summary: While Emma and the other Nevengers are leaving Storybrooke for Neverland to search for Henry, a misterious and unkown woman comes in Storybrooke, looking for a long lost man and some answers about herself. Meanwhile in Neverland Emma and Hook descover something about themselves that is going to change their lives forever.
Type: AU
Rating: M (for future chapters)
Words: 1761 
AO3 | FF.Net
Author Note: I am finally able to start posting this story! I've been writing it for the last two months and so far it has 16 chapters and more than 55k words! I am planning on writing four more chapters and then be done with it.
 I love this story and I hope you will at least like it because it's my little monster (as I like to call it) and I put my everything in it.
Many many thanks to @ultraluckycatnd for being an amazing beta for this story! Darling, I love you and I hope you know how grateful I am for all your help!
I will update the story every Saturday and during the week I will post one or two sneak peeks from the next chapter.
More notes at the end!
Tagging @cinnamonduckling and @epetebball. Let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters!
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Storybrooke
The people of Storybrooke watched the portal closing in the middle of the sea. Their Savior, their Prince and Princess, together with three of the worst villains Storybrooke had ever seen were disappearing as the portal became smaller and smaller. On the docks, Ruby, Granny, Belle, Archie, and the dwarves were waiting. For what? Even they didn’t know.
“Now what?” Ruby asked, still staring at the water.
“Rumple gave me this,” Belle said, turning to face them and showing the scroll of paper she was holding with both of her hands.
“What is that?” Ruby asked her new friend.
“It’s a spell. Rumple said others will try to come to the city now that Greg and Tamara are gone, and this spell won’t let them,” Belle explained.
“Should we trust any spell that comes from the Dark One?” Grumpy asked them with a frown; his eyebrows were down and close together and his lips were set in a straight line.
“We shouldn’t, but right now this spell is our only protection against anyone who might come into the city with bad intentions,” Archie tried to explain not just to Grumpy, but to all of them.
“But who could enact it?” Belle asked him. “The only people who use magic are gone now.”
“There are the fairies. They can help!” Happy said out of nowhere.
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Everyone agreed that right now the fairies, especially Blue, would be their best chance to enact the spell. Together, they started to walk towards the convent without another look at the sea that was calm again. Almost as if a portal hadn’t opened there just a few minutes ago.
While the protection spell was covering Storybrooke bit by bit, no one knew that exactly at that same moment, on the other side of the town, a black Mustang was crossing the town line and was entering Storybrooke.
The car didn’t stop when it passed by the 'Welcome to Storybrooke’  sign, nor when the magic touched the town line, making the town invisible for anyone who wasn’t from Storybrooke. The car continued on its way to the center of town, passed by the library and stopped in front of Granny’s.  If someone saw the new car in town, they all decided to ignore it.
When the car’s door opened, a woman stepped out. She was tall and her step was gentle when she started to walk toward the entrance of Granny’s Bed and Breakfast. She stepped inside and the first person she saw was Ruby, who was at the front office.
“Hello,” the woman started to talk to her.
Ruby raised her head from the book she was reading and looked at the person who spoke to her. She was stunned to see a new face in Storybrooke and, at the same time, she was frightened. They enacted the protection spell less than thirty minutes ago; there was no way someone already found a way back into town.
“Hello?” Ruby said with an eyebrow raised. “May I help you?”
“Yes,” the woman took off her sunglasses and looked straight at Ruby with big, bright, and brown eyes. “I am looking for a room.”
“We have a few here. Are you new in town?”
“Oh yes, I just arrived,” the woman said, smiling at her.
“Okay,” Ruby said suspiciously. “I can help you with a room. I just need to know how long you will be here.” Ruby took out the notebook they were using to keep track of the occupants of the rooms.
“I-I don’t really know that. I am looking for a person, so I guess I’ll stay til I find him. Is that a problem? The fact that I can’t tell you for how long I’ll be here?” the woman asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Oh no, I just need to know how long I need to save the room for.”
“I guess a few weeks should be enough.”
“Okay,” Ruby wrote down the information. “Oh, and I will also need your name.”
“It’s Milah Spinner,” the woman, Milah, said smiling at Ruby.
“Here is your room key,” Ruby said, giving Milah a key. “Enjoy your stay!” Ruby said with a fake smile. She watched Milah leave when she realised that she had to find out one more important thing.
“Hey!” Ruby yelled after Milah. When she turned to face her, Ruby started to talk. “Do you, by any chance, know Greg Mendell or his girlfriend, Tamara?”
“Uh, no. Never heard of them.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I have a really good memory. I think I would remember one of them.”
Ruby wasn’t as good as Emma when it come to spotting a lie. She didn’t have any superpower, but she could tell when a person was lying and Milah was not lying. She told Ruby the truth. She didn’t know Greg or Tamara and for the moment, that was a relief.
“Okay, thanks.”
Milah left with a smile on her face while Ruby was still wondering about her. She was curious about how this woman came into the city. Who was she, what did she want, and most importantly, who was she looking for? Ruby had questions and she needed answers to those questions. Emma, Snow, and Charming were counting on her, on them, the ones who were left in Storybrooke, to keep the town safe, with or without the protection spell. And if no one was going to help her, then she would do everything by herself.
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The next day, Ruby was at the diner behind the counter when Milah entered. No one noticed her, even though it was obvious to everyone with two eyes that she hadn’t been in the town from the beginning.
“These people were smarter in the Enchanted Forest before they discovered technology” Ruby thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
“Back to work Ruby!” Granny said behind her.
“Granny! Just the person I needed!” Ruby said turning to her grandma.
“Oh?”
“Come here.” Ruby signaled to her to come closer. “That woman is new in town,” she said, pointing her head towards Milah.
“How?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find out.”
“You have her name?”
“Yes, she’s staying at the inn. Her name is Milah Spinner and she said that she’s looking for a man. She doesn’t know Greg or Tamara though. I asked her.”
“Let me,” Granny said, putting her apron on the counter.
Ruby watched as her granny walked towards Milah.
“Hello, honey.” Granny started with a sweet smile.
“Hello?”
“I’m Granny Lucas, the owner of both this diner and the inn. You might also call me the welcoming committee of the town,” Ruby heard Granny saying.
“Oh, hi! My name is Milah.”
“Welcome to town Milah. I heard from my grand-daughter, Ruby, that you are looking for a man. I was wondering if I can help you since I know everyone from this town.”
“Oh, that would be amazing.” Ruby watched as a smile spread on Milah’s face. “I am looking for Killian Jones. He is tall, dark hair, blue eyes. It’s been… a while since I’ve seen him, but I know for sure that he is here. Or he should be here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry darling, but I don’t know anyone with that name… Maybe you are in the wrong town.”
“No, I’m sure I’m in the right town. He should be here. Maybe you just missed him. He’s good at… hiding.”
“For 28 years? Sure, darling,” Ruby said to herself, rolling her eyes again.
Even she didn’t know anyone by that name, and she knew every man in Storybrooke.
“Well, maybe you just have to search harder.” Granny said without any trace of a smile. “Enjoy your meal, Milah.”
Granny came back behind the counter and made a sign to Ruby to follow her to the kitchen.
“So?” Ruby asked when she entered the kitchen.
“You heard what she said. Do you know that person?”
“I don’t. There are many people that are tall with black hair and blue eyes in Storybrooke, but I don’t know anyone with that name.”
“Then we have to find him before she does. God knows who he is and who he was in the Enchanted Forest.”
“I wish Emma, Snow, and Charming were here.”
“I wish that too, but there is nothing we can do about that. They have to find Henry. Hopefully they won’t kill each other in the meantime.”
“Why would they?”
“Don’t forget, Regina is there with them. And from what I understand, Gold and Hook aren’t on good terms, either.”
“Hook shot Belle after all.” Ruby agreed with Granny.
“Before that. They hated each other in the Enchanted Forest. They hated each other here, and I am sure they hate each other where they are right now.”
“Where do you think they are?”
“I don’t know, but we have other problems here to take care of,” Granny said, looking at Milah again.
____________________________
Neverland
Somewhere in Neverland, in the middle of the sea there was a ship. In the sky, the clouds of a storm were starting to disappear while on the ship everyone was worried for the life of Emma Swan, who almost drowned that night.
Below deck in his room, Killian Jones was in shock after Emma Swan almost gave up her life on his ship. He didn’t know what shocked him the most; the fact that Emma was so insane that she actually jumped off of the ship in the middle of a storm just to make them stop fighting, or that she almost died in front of him. After a few more minutes of thinking and more rum, he realized what shocked him the most: the idea of Emma dying, right there and then in the middle of the deck, on the same spot another woman that was important to him gave her life, so many years ago.
Hook’s mind flew to another time, a time where he was another person. There was a woman he loved, a woman who loved him back and he was known to the world as Captain Killian Jones, not Captain Hook. The idea of Emma almost dying there reminded him of the moment Milah died on his ship. Another thing that scared him even more were the feelings he had in that moment. Because the feelings Killian Jones had when Emma Swan almost died were the same feelings he had when Milah died and he didn’t know what that could mean. And if he was completely honest with himself, he was afraid to know.
____________________________
Okay, so this is the first chapter. I feel like I need to say that this is and will be a Captain Swan story! Milah being alive will not intervene in their relationship in any way! You will find out more about her in the future chapters and also Emma and Killian will appear more in the next one!
I am also NOT rewriting the Neverland arc in any way! I'd like to believe this is an original story and I did not seen something like this in the fandom so far.
So yes... That's it. 
Please let me know what you think? It would mean the world to me.
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gravitascivics · 4 years
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A NATURAL RIGHTS CURRICULAR DIRECTION
[Note:  If the reader has taken up reading this blog with this posting, he/she is helped by knowing that this posting is the next one in a series of postings.  The series begins with the posting, “The Natural Rights’ View of Morality” (February 25, 2020, https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-natural-rights-view-of-morality.html). Overall, the series addresses how the study of political science has affected the civics curriculum of the nation’s secondary schools.]
 This posting picks right up from the last one. That posting observed that civics education in US schools has been guided by the natural rights view of governance and politics.  In terms of values, they place in priority natural liberty[1] above all other values and that leads to many concrete consequences.  The consequences range from ignoring serious challenges to the political society of the US to resulting in an instructional approach devoid of the very humanness politics entails.
To illustrate with a simple example, a teacher who might be guided by an alternative construct, federation theory, might on the first day of classes begin by having students reflect on how the government is an extension of who they are as a people. The discussion would be general, and the teacher might want to just get a handle on how students think and feel about government.  
A look at the first recommended activity in the Magruder book, a popular high school textbook, suggests the following:
As students get settled, ask them to answer the following question:  What have you done recently that involved government that affected you or someone you know?  (Sample responses:  rode on a public bus; obeyed street signs; attended a public school)
Then have each student describe at least four useful things government does for its citizens.  Have students share their ideas.[2]
Right off, the student is defined as a consumer of government services.  As such, that mindset encourages the view that the government is something apart from citizens, not an extension of them.  
Yes, too much can be made of this example.  This questioning that is suggested could be one in which the author of the textbook believes it is initially important to establish government’s relevancy to some practical concern – riding a public bus.  But in reviewing this and the other popular textbooks, one can analyze their content to see if this initial tone reflects what they contain – this blog will proceed to do so for the Magruder book and one other popular textbook.  
And that tone communicates that the government is merely a service dispenser – services rendered in exchange for tax dollars spent.  Or stated another way, what the Constitution establishes is a marketplace for public services not the protector of a societal partnership.
In addition, this message places the emphasis on individualism – as contained in the natural rights construct in which students are encouraged to develop their own values and goals.  Consequently, it will have students relate to society from self-centered points of references.  There is nothing inherently wrong with asking students to hold their interests as being important or of value.  But to impart those interests within a federated arrangement, the questioning needs to be contextualized in how those interests relate to justice and civility.
Without that context, the natural tendency is for the young student to be introduced to the subject without a concern for what constitutes good citizenship.  In that void, natural tendencies take hold and those tendencies easily legitimize self-centered biases.  
This is so not because of a logical necessity for them to be so judged, but because of human nature.  An absence of any direction toward responsible civic posturing will give license to students to see social conditions as only opportunities to promote self-serving values and goals.[3] He or she will see civic issues from a “what's in it for me?” angle.  People need to be taught a level of civic responsibility; it doesn’t come naturally.[4]  
There are many levels of intensity in which civic oriented pedagogical objectives can be sought.  But whatever level one sees as a reasonable counterweight to total self-indulgence, that level needs to be taught and encouraged in young citizens if we expect a corresponding level of civil behavior to manifest itself.
For the sake of discussion, in terms of even the staunchest believers in the natural rights construct, they still believe that citizens, no matter what their personal values are, must be responsible enough to obey the laws.  If limited to a concern over law abiding behavior, then what is the purpose of government?  
The only positive role that government would have is to provide sought after services and if this perspective prevails, it encourages the citizen to take on the role of a consumer.  Government, as has been pointed out in describing the natural rights' view, is pictured as this large overarching institution that exists to render services. Under this view the citizens are the consumers.  By paying their taxes, they are portrayed as entitled to those services in much the same way as shoppers are entitled to the services of a private vendor.  
Under this approach, government loses a lot of its “of the people” and “by the people” qualities and maintains only its “for the people” reason for existence.  This message, while not explicitly expressed in civics instruction, is assumed in the presentation that textbooks provide.
Since the overwhelming number of teachers relies on the given textbook to define what the content of their instruction is, then how a textbook approaches a subject is central to what is taught.  The entailed strategy, therefore, tends to ignore communal concerns and the promotion of a citizenry aligned to mutual responsibilities and obligations.
There is also evidence that in addition to textbook writers, the federal Department of Education has favored, through its funding practices, this bias.  It funds organizations in the field that, more or less, utilize this natural rights construct as their theoretical base.  This has been the expressed preference of the federal government until an apparent shift of late.  This shift will be described shortly in this blog.
But until that recent effort, the federal government, in the language it uses to describe grant related funding (either in its directives or in the products those grants have produced) assuages the more virulent individualistic forms of the construct.  But, even in its apparent shift, it has not promoted another organizing ideal or concept to challenge or replace this prevalent perspective.[5]  
For example, significant federal funding has gone to the Center for Civic Education and to the Educational Testing Service to produce the National Assessment Educational Progress (NAEP) testing program known as the Nation's Report Card.  As part of its testing, NAEP includes civics. That testing in large measure is based on standards developed by the Center for Civic Education.  
The language of that organization has adopted more concern for civic engagement and related duties.  But success is still based on the ability to do well on tests that in turn rely on information contained in utilized textbooks.  That testing reflects the point being made here and will be reviewed in this blog in an upcoming posting.
This posting will stop here in its lead up to analyzing two of the earlier cited textbooks.  This blog will review the content of the above cited textbook, the Magruder book,[6] and also the Clencoe book.[7]  Between them, they account for most of the reading material distributed to high school students for the course, American government.  By doing so, that will basically define the civics curriculum that American school districts implement.
[1] Natural liberty is was captured by the following citation:  “[John] Winthrop identifies ‘natural liberty’ as the liberty ‘common to man with beasts and other creatures.” It is, in other words, the “liberty to do what he lists; it is a liberty to evil as well as to good.’ Importantly, this type of liberty resists all authority and ultimately, is the source of moral evil.”  See “The First ‘On Liberty,’” Intercollegiate Studies Institute:  Educating for Liberty, October 28, 2011, accessed on July 1, 2018, https://faculty.isi.org/blog/post/view/id/686/.  Emphasis added.  A more common account of this concept is a liberty in which everyone has the right to decide his/her values and the rights to live accordingly as long as he/she does not prohibit others of the same options..
[2] Daniel M. Shea, Magruder’s American Government – Teacher’s Edition, 4.
[3] A whole rationale for capitalism centers on this notion.  Capitalism works because it in effect targets and gives incentives for people, within certain parameters to seek their self-interests.  Jonah Goldberg calls the success of market economies to harness individual self-interest as “The Miracle.”  See Jonah Goldberg, Suicide of the West:  How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy (New York, NY:  Crown Forum, 2018).
[4] Natural tendencies do encourage social ties especially with those seen as members of one’s group.  A person naturally wants approval by those deemed important, but that sense of linkage does not override tendencies to manipulate situations to garner sought after desires.  This is especially true for most young people during adolescence.  Therefore, such “attachment” drives do not inhibit opportunistic behaviors that tread on other’s interests or rights.  This blog has addressed the challenges of adolescence (see “Stages in Hegel’s Maturing Process,” Gravitas:  A Voice for Civics – a blog, November 16, 2018, accessed April 28, 2020, https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2018/11/stages-in-hegels-maturing-process.html.)  Also see Philip Selznick’s reporting of Hegel’s maturation model in Philip Selznick, The Moral Commonwealth:  Social Theory and the Promise of Community (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992).
[5] See Robert Gutierrez, Toward a Federated Nation:  Implementing National Civics Standards (Tallahassee, FL: Gravitas/Civics Books, 2020).  Of particular interest see Chapter 1, “C3 Framework of Standards.’’
[6] Daniel M. Shea, Magruder’s American Government (Boston, MA:  Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2019).
[7] Glencoe United States Government:  Democracy in Action (New York, NY:  McGraw-Hill/Glencoe, 2010).
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