#at one point i was gifted a thimble because i mentioned it was on my bucket list. but the situation wasnt right and it secretly upset me

[headphonemouse]

#i am thinking about thimbles again #having a thimble was on my bucket list #but the thimble wasnt important. it was the situation leading up to owning a thimble. of having clothes that were too loved to be discarded #of having the skill and time to fix things. to mend tears and make things new #of having someone to mend clothes for because i loved them #at one point i was gifted a thimble because i mentioned it was on my bucket list. but the situation wasnt right and it secretly upset me #instead of throwing it away i just kept it. stored it and tried to forget about it #years later i lived with a friend. they brought me food and clothes to mend #the food was payment for my services‚ they said #while mending the clothes i remembered the thimble. i didnt have it with me. but i had everything else #and now it seems like i have none of that #and i can't? won't? don't know how? don't know if im allowed to fix it #i just hope i can store it away and try to forget about it #art tag

[thecandywrites]

Blood For Gold Chapter 21

Oh but we aren’t done, let’s unravel this spiderweb completely shall we? All the aces that everyone thought they had are pulled out, and what they thought were aces, just might end up being jokers instead. Also this picture of this dagger? That’s Kushi, before and after it turned to platinum, before it disintergrated into black ash. 

@punkhorse96​ this is where we come right to the brink of losing everything and this story ALMOST becomes a tragedy only for LOVE TO CONQUER ALL. And save the day and bring it back from the brink of destruction and taking the highroad keeps you from being involved in the tragic “accidents” on the low roads from the head on collisions between the other players in the game. Enjoy Darling, one more chapter to tie all this up in a neat little bow. 

Also I would like to make a note- because this mentions pregnancy and in a sense, abortion too- I want to make something clear. I am pro choice. I believe that children can be a blessing, but they above all else, are people and they deserve to be wanted, deserve to be cared for by loving and caring parents who want them and parents who are ready and willing to have them. And not be viewed as the bad consequence for having sex. 

Blood For Gold

Chapter 21

“What’s going on now?” Demsey asked you. 

“Something between Benny and Sierge that they need to work out.” You answered him. 

“Demsey, do remember that favor I asked of you? How you would help me escape the Palace of Windsor?” You prompted, as your tears welled in your eyes because having Demsey so close but knowing that the best thing to do for him was going to be to get worlds apart from him was breaking your heart just thinking about. 

“Yes, I have not forgotten.” Demsey reassured you. 

“I need to call it in. The moment we return, I need you to bring that trunk down to the stables, I was given Charlico as a gift, and I’m leaving with Heavencrest and Charlico. Because the moment we get back and can get packed, everyone is leaving the Palace of Windsor and my family is going to be going to Mirador to help sort things out.” You informed him. 

“Absolutely, I will ride back immediately and meet you in the stables.” Demsey reassured you. 

“Thank you.” You thanked him before your parents came and pulled you back to them as they insisted on having a family meeting to discuss what they were going to do as once again, urged them all to go to Mirador and formulate a plan there and that you would have room in Mirador’s stables for everyone’s rides and plenty of rooms for them to stay in even though they weren’t as lavish as the rooms at the Palace of Windsor but your family insisted that even if they had to share beds and roll out bed rolls on the floor, they were going to stay together but in this moment, you just wanted to be free and have space from everyone. 

Demsey rode the fastest horse he could rent and immediately went up to his room and hastily packed his own things into his own trunk and put them with yours and waited anxiously in the stables as your family came back as you hurriedly packed everything you could not live without and put them in a separate trunk and instructed the servants to take the first trunk to the stables and all the others to go back to Mirador with your parents since they would be taking carriages back to Mirador before you got dressed in a simple, comfortable shirt and pants along with your flying leathers and practically ran towards the stables once Yalin gave you Charlico’s papers of ownership and breeding lines and a note to the stable hands that Charlico’s saddle and whatever other tack you wanted would be leaving with him. 

“So what happened in there?” Demsey asked as he tried to help you get Charlico and Heavencrest saddled up to be loaded up. 

“My case against the Morrigans got dismissed from every court in England.” You told him. 

“How in the world did the Morrigans get your case dismissed?!” Demsey demanded. 

“Because it wasn’t them that did it, it was the Dowager Queen who was the one who dismissed both my case against the Morrigans and the Morrigan’s case against me in both the public and private courts and barred us from ever going to court to protect the Crown from any damage that this case would bring to it through Gregori, Yalin and Ramsey and she herself got to see and hear all of the evidence and acted as judge and jury and ruled in my favor. The original contract I had with Edward Senior was upheld. And the Dowager Queen awarded me everything that the Morrigans have as recompense for the hurt they caused me in their conspiracy and attempt to murder me and they were branded as mad and insane for trying to murder me via mourakatili and were sent to the asylum to be fed poison to make them honestly insane.” You answered. 

“Oh, but that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Isn’t that more or less the outcome you wanted?” Demsey asked in confusion because you were still manically trying to saddle and load both animals up and you were still crying and clearly in distress. 

“Factually, yes, but at the same time, no, not at all, because I finally found out why they tried to kill me to begin with and it’s so much worse than anything I could have imagined. The day I married Edward Senior, Ramsey, in a panic said only minutes after I married Edward, told his father that I was his perfect bride but because I was just then married, I was unavailable because his parents had threatened him that if he had not found a bride that season, he would be cut off in every conceivable way and sent into the army and have the rake beaten out of him one way or another. But he just thought I would marry Edward and live out the rest of his natural life with him and in five to ten years when Edward would die naturally of old age, then he would be ready by then. But what no one realized was Gregori’s desperation to see Ramsey married and father to a legitimate heir as soon as possible was so great, he conspired to murder Edward Senior so that I could be Ramsey’s wife that much quicker. Because it was Gregori who bribed Edward’s doctor- Dr. Rickets, to poison Edward Senior with Wolf’s Eye which when you take it, it makes you delirious within a couple months, and within a few more months, it will put into a further delirious rage to the point your heart beats so hard so fast, your heart beats itself apart, causing your heart to fail, and that led to Edward’s own madness and in his madness, he abused me. The entire Royal Family including Charlotte, Yalin, Ramsey and myself were completely unaware of Gregori’s involvement and plotting and all of them were mortified to learn of this news and as recompense, they gave me Charlico for free, although I still feel I paid for him with my own blood, but none of that seems to matter to anyone else so the real murderer is walking free because he’s the King’s brother and heaven forbid he face any punishment for his actions.” You hissed as you wiped your angry tears away as you did your best to get Heavencrest’s saddle cinched correctly as your tears blurred your vision. 

“The Morrigan's thought I had poisoned Edward Senior, wanting to get out of the marriage which of course wasn’t true because before the poisoning- Edward Senior had been nothing but good to me and I was happy and content with him and I had no reason or motive or cause for such a thing but they thought I was a typical moura, who just wanted the highest payout as quickly as possible and in retaliation and wanting to avenge Edward Senior, hired the same doctor, Dr. Rickets, to obtain mourkatili and poison me with it so that I would be buried right next to Edward Senior. Dr. Rickets tried telling Gregori but Gregori was already on holiday with his family in Dorierra trying to find another “me” for Ramsey and didn’t get his letter in time for Gregori to step in and Dr. Rickets added Jade’s Crown to the mourkatili to make it less lethal but more addictive and told the Morrigans all they needed to do was put a thimble full of it into a pot of hibiscus tea to hide the color and once I would have a sip, I would become addicted and would request to drink it more and would choose to drink myself to death, which that plot very narrowly succeeded.” You revealed with a bitter laugh. 

“But because it was Gregori who is guilty of the conspiracy, it’s being covered up, buried and dismissed and all evidence of Gregori’s guilt, once it was made aware by the Morrigans and myself and my family, it was then quickly destroyed and Dr. Rickets ended up going to the asylum with the Morrigans and has the same fate as them.” You revealed as Demsey was half tempted to try to burn the palace down himself as rage almost blinded him but your hurt kept his mind with you in the moment.  

“However, the complication was that Richard’s mistress, Myra, her children by Richard were brought up in Broadcove as servants because Agnes insisted that only the children she bore to Richard should be his heirs and treated them as such because she was the one who had control of a good portion of the wealth since a lot of it was in her name, that term was agreed on so that Agnes would continue go along with everything like a good wife and Richard of course had to agree because Myra has no nobility at all herself, just her beauty and personality to recommend her and Agnes had the breeding, nobility, connections and dowry to boot. So, of course Richard married Agnes but kept Myra as his mistress and it is those connections and that dowry that enabled Edward Senior and Richard to invest it and multiply it and turn it into the massive wealth they did and with Agnes working her own contacts like a concierto does an orchestra, that’s why they have as much power and influence as they do. But Agnes was always resentful on account of Myra so she abused those poor innocent children because she hated how Richard loved them more than the children she bore to him and even though they were his bastards, they were made in more love than Jane and little Edward ever were and she demanded that if they remain in the house that they were to earn their place as servants or be put out into the street because she could not bear the humiliation of Edward’s infidelity made public and she would turn all of her connections on Richard if she didn’t get her way so he had no choice but to agree and Myra was lucky she got a room, much less a suite of rooms at Broadcove in the opposite end of the house from Agnes, Jane and little Edward.” You explained. 

“And if that wasn’t bad enough Agnes even sent one of them to their early death, the eldest son Myra bore to Richard, the second time I was served mourkatili in tea form, she insisted that to “prove” it wasn’t dangerous, for the poor boy who served it to me, she insisted that he taste it to prove it wasn’t poisonous, I tried to stop it but he did as she commanded and dropped dead the moment that poison touched his lips and she tried to pin it on me to Myra saying that I insisted he drink it. So of course Myra came to me and demanded to know what the poor boy had done to me that I should be so cruel as to kill him and when Richard found out, of course he believed Agnes at first and came at me and had me tied down so he could beat me and I couldn’t fight back, I was too drunk on mourkatili to fight back anyway before Jane intervened and told them the truth and Jane had to show them the truth that had been caught via her own messengerari that was in the room and when Myra saw it, she apologized profusely and did everything she could to heal the hurt that Richard had inflicted but when Richard saw it, he never did apologize to me but instead turned on Agnes, her bruises and cuts were twice as bad as my own. But that didn’t stop Agnes because the third time Agnes did it, it was Myra’s youngest boy who was only six.” You broke down crying as Demsey came and tried to hold you but you resisted him, because you wanted to leave as soon as you got this all off your chest because you wanted and needed him to know the truth. 

The whole truth.  

“And I of course drank down every drop of it to keep him from having any to protect him and Jane, once again had to intervene, so she and her father decided that only she would serve me the mourkatili because I would not make her drink it and that all of Richard’s other children by Myra would be kept to her apartments in the north wing and would only be let out when they were in the company of Myra or Richard, so they became like caged animals, just like me and must like Myra.” You revealed as Demsey stared in horror. 

“And Jane, sweet Jane, she got her ladies maid to go to the market for her to get me ipecac and she would try to dilute the mourkatili and try to add what she had heard would help lessen the impact of it or help to try to neutralize it. And she purposefully “tripped” and crashed onto the floor when she couldn’t dilute the tea and it of course stained the rugs and the floorboards underneath but she couldn’t do it too often for fear her parents would get suspicious but she did everything she could in those limited, forced circumstances to try to do what she could to save me, so even though the fact of the matter is she did serve me poison, she isn’t responsible for it. And I hold no grudge against her or blame. And of course, when I got to leave Broadcove, Myra pleaded with me to take her children as my own servants because she knew I would be good to them and treat them with kindness, much more than they were being given at home and I could not refuse her. But of course, they are their father’s children and they of course, kept reporting on everything I did to their father. So even when I left Broadcove, I couldn’t escape the Morrigans.” You divulged. 

“But why not dismiss them entirely then?” Demsey asked. 

“Because they have been good to me despite that and I couldn’t fault them for their loyalty, nor can I find fault in their service, they have always been respectful and obedient and they did everything they could to be courteous and cater to me and it was only three months into my widowhood when they saw for themselves what kind of person I was that they switched their loyalties to me and told their father to “fuck off” because if he really did love them like he claimed, then he would not have put up with their indentured servitude or mistreatment at Agnes’ hands and refused to spy on me after that and it’s because of those circumstances that in an effort to mend things with me, the King made Myra a Maquise, a station higher than a Count or Countess and basically told everyone the cover for this whole fucking fiasco was ‘that Agnes and Richard went on holiday, got sick with something to make them go mad while Jane and I have been at Windsor and that they bribed Dr. Rickets to poison me with mourkatili and thankfully my brother’s dragon was here to cure me and that they are all guilty of madness and attempted murder and have since been sent to the asylum. And that Marquise Myra Bellafont, moved with pity, has taken in Jane and little Edward and is now their loving caregiver’.” You informed him. 

“So that’s why I am leaving Broadcove to Myra and all of her children as heirs of it because while Agnes has always treated them with animosity, they have never treated Jane or little Edward that way or even Myra, let alone me. So they will leave Mirador as my servants and enter Broadcove as masters and I have been awarded everything that the Morrigans had, all wealth and property and I am leaving a business or two to Myra and her children to run so that they can keep up Broadcove and care for their needs and anyone who says otherwise or attempts to reveal the truth will be promptly killed or sent to the asylum themselves.” You explained. 

“But if that wasn’t enough, Richard did hire a mage to cast a spell over all of Mirador so that no messengerari would work and send any message out and bribed four of the post masters in the Royal Mail Service to destroy every piece of mail going in or out to me and Mage Bellfast had to conjure them all up because they had all been burned in an effort to be destroyed. That’s why that table was covered in mail from my friends and family. Not even your letter to me a few days before the ball to warn me about who was going to be there and who meant me harm could reach me.” You explained. 

“And that was the other reason why the Royal Family couldn’t let this go to court because to prove that their Royal Mail Service had been corrupted, couldn’t be tolerated.” You answered. 

“And what’s even worse is now I can’t go home to Dorierra either because I got the classification of tavnit, which means “no master”. And even if I were to go back to Dorierra, I can’t stand to go back into the bride system. But I also can’t stand to go home to Mirador where my whole family now has dollar signs in their eyes and now they are all clamoring for a piece of the giant money pie I’ve just been handed and the temptation to just let your sister inherit all that I have so that you can assist her in how to run it all so I can be free of even all of that is too tempting for me right now and so the only place that leaves that I can go and be truly free in every sense, is a colony because justice is a joke and loyalty is fickle at best in this country and the less people around me who can use me for their own benefit, spy on me to others who would use that information as blackmail against me and betray me, the better.” You insisted bitterly.  

“Do you think I would ever do those things to you?” Demsey asked. 

“No, never, because you’re actually a very good man, with upstanding character and morals but you deserve a highborn lady at your side to be the perfect wife to you and help you and stand by you. And as much as I want to do that, I can’t.” You cried as you put your bags onto the saddles and tied them down. 

“Why not? I told you, I don’t need an heir and a spare, all I want is you to be happy. And if a colony is where you think you’ll find that then let me go with you. Where you go, I go. To hell with England.” Demsey insisted. 

“No, England is still your home though, and Whydah I’m sure has no equal. You have everything here, you have your business which should be booming with the new soap recipes which Leumeni has offered to share if he could have the chance to court Kiera properly. You have your title as Duke, you have your family and friends, and I’m not worth giving all of that up for.” You argued. 

“Yes you are! To me, you are worth more than anything this world has to offer me.” Demsey argued further as he once again tried to reach for you to pull you into the comfort of his embrace as you desperately put your hands on his chest and shoved him away with what was left of your strength in that moment. 

“Demsey please! You can’t love me without knowing the truth about me! I am a murderer! I’m the one who gave Edward his fatal blow!” You cried out as Demsey was dumbstruck by such a revelation as he subconsciously took a step back as your heart broke to see such a reaction from him before you grabbed your last bag and tied it to Charlico’s saddle.  

“A millenia ago, when mouras first touched down on the ground, the reason we knew we could turn things into gold was because at a banquet, a drunken man tried to rape a moura woman. The moment his touches grew desperate and violent, just touching her, her body, in an act of self defense, turned him into a statue of gold. That’s how we found out we had that power. Once she touched him again, he turned back to flesh and blood but the act of being a solid gold statue killed him and he dropped dead. Then we learned to master that defense mechanism and learned to control it. It was our blessing and our curse. From there, moura women were hunted like game, like trophies and when mouras grew cloaks, when you took a moura’s cloak you were considered bonded with them. And men of all kinds hunted us, and once we turned their enemies into statues of gold, to be melted down into bricks and bars of it and once that is done once it stays gold for a year, touching it again will never let it revert back to it’s original flesh, so the gold was kept in the ground for a year and a half just to be safe while the person was considered “gone missing”, or the women turned their own body weight of mud and rock and bricks into gold, then they were released. But that meant that no moura would ever have rape or any abuse attempted on them because the perpratrator would be turned to gold themselves. But when the gold plague came, that power died with it. And suddenly we didn’t have that protection, or that curse. Until only recently, and I mean recently as in only the last one hundred years. There have been only four mouras born in the whole world, who can now touch that moura gold and turn it into moura platinum. That’s what I am. I’m a platinum moura. The moment Edward’s flesh touched mine as he tried to rape me, he dropped dead as a platinum statue, he broke the bed and the crash was heard through the whole house and I had to have the bed burned and bribed Dr. Rickets to say he died of a heart attack, which having a heart that needs to be beating for you to stay alive, if it stops, you’re dead, still kind of happened. But because of the mourkatili, it means that that very platinum is poisonous and lethal if you touch it but when I touch it again, it turns to black ash, the same black ash from the Gold Plague that killed billions of heavenly moura, that’s why my hands were black when you came in and why there was so much ash on the floor because Mage Bellfast, as payment for conjuring up my mail asked me to turn a brick of moura gold into moura platinum. I tried and failed because Grevu cured me. And when Mage Altissia informed Mage Bellfast of that, he cast a spell on me and pulled the mourkatili that was in my hair back into my body and re-poisoned me so that I could have that power back. I tried stabbing him after he put that spell on me and I tried stabbing him with Kushi and Kushi turned from gold to platinum in my hands but the mourkatili made me weak again and I collapsed onto the floor and when I stood back up and picked up that gold bar and the moment I touched it, it turned from gold to platinum and I gave it to him and he at the time had the good sense of wearing gloves and when he got to hold it, he kissed it. And when he kissed it, his body instantly dissolved into a heap of ash with the bar of platinum falling onto a heap of his clothes and ash and it killed him and when I went to pick up Kushi, the moment I touched it, it turned back to gold but also into ash as well and it disintegrated into my hands and all the jewels that were imbedded into it, fell through my fingers like pebbled sand at the beach. I destroyed Kushi because it had been made with moura gold and when I touched that brick of moura platinum, it did the same thing. And now I can’t touch anything made out of moura gold or else the same thing will happen to it and for all I know the ash is just as poisonous now as it was when it first appeared in the Gold Plague. That’s why I have the tavnit status and that’s why I’m not welcome back in Dorierra because I have no use for the stable masters and once again, I am a lost cause.” You confessed. 

“Do you still love me now? Knowing that I can kill you if you touch me? That I can turn everything that happens to be moura gold and turn it into poisonous platinum that will kill everything and anything it touches?” You asked rhetorically. 

“That’s why as soon as I’m packed, I am going to go back down to Grevu so he can heal me yet again so that I am free of this curse too and then I’m leaving for the farthest colony I can find from here because the more space between me and this whole horrible situation and circumstances, the better.” You told him. 

“But I know you would never do such things to me, at least on purpose. I promise to remove everything gold from Whydah so that you can’t possibly…” Demsey tried to offer. 

“Demsey, that is not the only reason I can’t marry you and that you can not come with me. You deserve a wife who is faithful and honest with you in all things. Demsey I am pregnant. I am with child as we speak. I’m a month along already and even if we got married today, the baby will come too soon after the wedding and your reputation as well as my own would probably be ruined beyond repair and I can’t do that to you, I won’t do that to you, I refuse to do that to you. It’s not right and I refuse to do anything that can be in any way harmful to you. That’s why Grevu cured me the first time, he could tell I was falling pregnant and cured me to protect me and the baby, but because of the pregnancy and because of Grevu’s magic, protecting the baby from all harm, even now with the mourkatili in me, the baby is fine, it remains unharmed and the rest of my womb is being protected from reabsorbing it’s poison and this babe was made in love and passion and I refuse to harm it either. It’s an innocent in this situation too and it’s not only my responsibility and obligation to take on the consequences of my own actions and I have no one to blame for my state but myself and I am ready and willing to take it on and the only saving grace I have is that the baby is in no way the offspring of the Morrigans. And I love you too much to try to push onto you a baby that isn’t yours. It wouldn’t be honest or right. And I can’t ask you to take me and this baby on, knowing that.” You insisted as you finished then went over everything to make sure everything was attached and secure and wouldn’t come flying off when you would fly to the colonies in just a few moments. 

“And the father of the baby has completely disappeared, no one can find him. And what’s worse is he was a whore in a whorehouse, that’s who the father of this baby is. Two months ago, when you gave me that note back that Calla was able to sneak to me. I went to The Gold Finch, that is where I met Yalin, she told me about The Red Velvet Rope and she told me which days to go and which days to avoid the place because that was Ramsey’s favorite whorehouse and at the time she didn’t want us to meet because she knew Rasmey would use me, then ruin me. I met the manwhore there and I got to be with him three times, that first time, a second time right before the ball at Havenfield and the third at the Masquerade Ball at The Midnight Peacock. That’s who I was with right before you found me at the bar, he was why I didn’t feel like dancing because we had both told the other that we were going to be pursuing other people and that never again would The Red Velvet Rope be in our lives and then the bastard made an enormous bet on me on Kamoba and apparently won a small fortune and as always, he took the money and ran because since then, he has vanished into thin air and no one has even heard of him, let alone knows of him and of course The Red Velvet Rope absolutely insists that no one by his name or appearance has ever worked for them, ever. But the place wouldn’t be a good whorehouse if it didn’t serve it’s lady clientele pregnancy warding tea to counteract the consequences of it’s use which I made sure to drink both before and after each trip to The Red Velvet Rope. Except for the night of the Masquerade Ball, I was too heartbroken over losing him that I forgot to drink any and that one time was all it took, even with the mourkatili in my system which mourkatili is supposed to kill fetus’ but thanks to Grevu’s magic, the baby is perfectly fine and healthy and shows no signs of being disformed or anything. And I would never do you the dishonor of trying to pass off a baby that isn’t yours to your very face and I would hate myself for trying to live that lie and that guilt would eat me alive, more than mourkatili ever could. That’s what I meant by you deserve better. Do you still love me now? Don't these truths kill every ounce of love you thought you had for me? Don’t..don’t answer those questions. Hopefully all these truths will help you dismantle any affection you’ve built for me and hopefully you can find someone worthy of your love and affection who will do right by you, who isn’t a whoring murderer.” You offered as you finished with the last of it before you went back to Grevu and asked him to heal you again as Demsey sat on the now empty trunk as his own sack of clothes and personal items laid down at his feet and processed everything as he watched you get into Grevu’s tent with him as you hugged Grevu tight and tried to tell him goodbye as he wrapped his neck and wing around you protectively as you cried into his chest but thanked him for intervening and trying to protect you and save you and the baby before he seemed to glare at Demsey. 

“It’s not his fault. He’s not the one to cause my hurt.” You tried to excuse to Grevu. 

“Just, please, heal me, one last time, so I can carry the baby safely ok? Thank you, thank you for preserving this little miracle of life.” You pleaded with Grevu who put his nose into the neck of your flying leathers and snorted softly before you had to let him go and go to a corner and throw up again and just the sound of you being sick and in agony as once again, the mourkatili colored your hair, but just the ends of your hair this time instead of all of your hair as you readily grabbed it and cut the colored ends off and laid them on the ground for Grevu to burst into flames to destroy for good and it was enough to break Demsey out of his stupor and move him to action as he knelt next to you and once you were done, he handed you his handkerchief to wipe off your mouth. 

“Audra, my love for you transcends everything you’ve told me and will transcend a million things more. I don’t care if you were working at The Red Velvet Rope as a whore yourself, and I don’t care if you couldn’t know who or what was the father of the child you’re carrying and I don’t care if you don’t even have a penny to your name. I love you. I will always love you. And I will happily love the child you’re carrying as if it were my own. You speak like you’re the only one to have ever sinned. I’m imperfect too and I don’t want the perfect wife. How boring would that be? I want you as my partner in life, no matter how or what kind of name you want to attach to it, I want you, any part of you or all of you if you’re willing to give it to me as perfectly imperfect as you are right now and forever.” Demsey professed. 

“You want to hear my deepest darkest secret? Shortly after seeing you on the train, I used The Red Velvet Rope too because I could not get you off of my mind and I thought at the time that if I rutted with a moura, that would help me be less distracted and then I met another moura, with the same first name and the same looks as you. And my fantasy was that I was actually being intimate with you instead of her and I met with her three times as well, that first time shortly after returning the note to you from Calla, the second, right before the ball at Havenfield and then again at the Masquerade Ball. I went to that ball and I immediately rented a change of clothes so that no one would recognize me in my own clothes in an attempt that you would not recognize me but that she might and sure enough, like moth to a flame, she found me again and it both broke my heart but filled me with relief that she was going on the straight and narrow and she confessed that she was going after an orc in the gentry and I feared it was my brother because shortly after just giving Sierge the smallest, most miniscule of details about her, he has been looking for her ever since and he claimed he found her and agreed that her resemblance to you was uncanny and I tried to kiss her goodbye and cut things off clean with her at the ball, but it was like she was a drug that I was addicted to and I went one last round with her and I haven’t seen her since. She also bet on me for the Kamoba and apparently won a small fortune in turn but again, she, just took the money and ran and not even Sierge has been able to find her since, even with his almost super powerful sense of smell, and that was also why I was in no mood to dance at the Masquerade Ball and why after that, I found you at the bar and why it wasn’t fair to you at all that I was in your presence but yet it was her that was on my mind. So I’m just as much of a whore as her and I have been just as unfaithful and just as secretive and deceitful and I’m sorry that we live in a society where such things are like a death sentence to a woman and her honor but are expected from most men and it’s not fair and it isn’t right. But I swear- on my life, I would never, ever, hold such things against you and I would keep these revelations just between us and take them to my grave and I will do anything you ask of me, except for leaving your side. I want to help you, I want to love you and care for you if only you would let me. You are not the only one with sin or fault, I’m just as guilty as you, I’m just as imperfect and flawed. But she is nothing compared to you and is a sad counterfeit of the real you and I would much rather have you than a hundred of hers. You will always be infinitely more precious to me. Please, if you must insist on going to a colony, then let me go too. You don’t even have to marry me if you don’t want to, I don’t have to be a Duke, Sierge or even Tzane can take the title and the business for all I care. Just...let me love you and care for you the best way I can. I know how to make soap anywhere, with my own two hands, it doesn’t have to be England or Europa, I don’t care where we are or where we go, as long as we are together. That’s all that matters to me, we’ll find a way to keep each other. I swear.” Demsey offered before you took your small canteen on your hip and swished your mouth out real quick before you finally kissed him, climbing into his lap and wrapped yourself around him and held him tight as you both cried tears of happiness and relief as an overwhelming flood of emotion overtook you both. 

Then as if you both seemed to realize it at the same time, that each other’s taste was...really familiar.Not in a way that it was familiar from the night before but much farther back than that. Almost too familiar in an uncanny way. 

“Wait, this, other Audra, the first time you met her, did you try to call her Audrey and she corrected you by saying it’s Audra- Draft?” You questioned him as suddenly, something clicked in your head.  

“And I replied, ‘call me Demsey’.” Demsey answered as he gave you the most bizarre look before you both started laughing. 

“Oh my gods, we are so stupid! Ugh! The Abbess at the Red Velvet Rope, told me I was going to be seeing a guy named Draft. That’s why I said “Draft”, not as my last name, but that was to address you, who I thought was named Draft.” You confessed. 

“And it was on the 12th. At like, 3 o’clock in the afternoon? I told my abbess on my side of the place that I just wanted a rut with a moura and she offered an Audrey and so that’s why I called you Audrey and I thought the Draft thing was you saying your name was Audra Draft, Miss Draft.” Demsey confessed with a sigh of relief as he held you as finally your own personal scent was so wonderful and comforting and familiar! How had he not made the connection before now?

“And then we both returned on the 23rd at about the same time and met again, you were wearing that gorgeous navy suit jacket with the cream pants and that vest with cream and navy paisley.” You realized. 

“And you wore that sexy as sin black lace dress that had me nearly losing my load just from the looks of it. Which, you do still have that right?” Demsey asked.  

“Yeah, it’s back at Mirador.” You confirmed with another laugh. 

“And that was you? At the Masquerade Ball, and it was me that you were quitting Mr. Draft for?” Demsey asked as he just couldn’t stop laughing as all of a sudden everything clicked into place as to why he was so outrageously attracted to you as he tightened his hold on you. 

“Yeah, and obviously it was me that you were quitting Miss Draft for?” You asked with a laugh of  your own. 

“Yeah.” Demsey confirmed. 

“So this is actually my child you’re carrying, this is my babe that Grevu has used his magic in protecting this whole time?” Demsey asked in awed astonishment and wonder and gratuity that even when you thought it was the child of a manwhore, you would would bear it and cause no harm to it and you’d be juast as loving and doting and safeguarding it which pleased him greatly and really proved to him the exceptional character you had as you nodded yes before he happily grabbed your face and kissed you with so much passion and so much feeling it was almost overpowering.

“Ok, new change of plans, I am marrying you as soon as I possibly can, I have a ring for you actually here, in my pocket, when you had that attendant hand the journal that I had written in back to me and that one line that you loved me back was all I needed to know, I figured you would be a while and I immediately rode to the closest jewelry store and bought you a ring and raced back and I barely made it back before we came inside the throne room. I am taking you home to Whydah and only keep whatever servants you’re really attached to back at Mirador but otherwise, leave the rest to whoever you want and I will never leave your side again and I pledge my heart, mind, soul and absolute fidelity to you from this day on.” Demsey vowed as he got the ring from his pocket and slipped it onto your finger.  

“Likewise. Although I would like to make one small suggestion.” You offered as you wiped the last of your tears away. 

“Name it, it’s yours.” Demsey answered back. 

“If we ever get to the point where we need a break from being Duke and Duchess Voyambi, we can take breaks and go out on the town and Mr and Mrs. Draft.” You proposed which got him to smile wide and laugh. 

“That sounds perfect. And we can continue to make bets in Kamoba, as Mr. and Mrs. Draft.” Demsey suggested. 

“Perfect. Now, get what you need, load it onto Charlico because right now, he is yours, because it is only right that a mated pair of griffins be owned by a mated pair of people and fly Charlico home to Whydah.” You ordered as you looked at the aquamarine teal stoned ring with a halo of diamonds around it with so much pride and happiness and now that you knew that it was actually Demsey to save you from everything and that you had no more reasons to try to escape anything, because what you wanted and what you needed was already yours and already in your embrace and being married to Demsey and carrying his children was all you wanted and it made the sting of all the revelations earlier today melt away and you felt strengthened and fortified and so supremely happy because you were happily and freely choosing Demsey just as much as he was happily and freely choosing you, as “complicated” as the circumstances were. 

“Yes Ma’am.” Demsey giggled as he kissed you again. 

“Good dragon, very good dragon. I owe you everything. Thank you so much.” Demsey happily cooed to Grevu who happily wrapped his head and neck around you both and happily soaked up your affectionate petting and scratching just as a servant came into the barn. 

“Is Duke Demsey Voyambi in here?” He called out. 

“Yeah, I’m here,” Demsey said as you untangled from him as Grevu lifted his head to reveal you both and together you walked hand in hand to the servant who looked relieved to see you. 

“And Sultana Saharazat! Oh good, I’ve found you too. Your bets on the Kamoba battles, they have returned along with their payouts.” He said as he handed Demsey a thick letter full of bills and then handed you a large parcel of bills too as you noticed the letters on top as addressed to Mr. Draft and Miss Draft. 

“So who did you bet on?” You asked him. 

“You, you beat out Benny, I bet on you to win the battle and you did.” Demsey said as he took the letter and showed you before you took the letter and showed him. 

“You bet on me too?” He cooed to you as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kissed the crown of your head as he read it. 

“And with the pay out being one in 20 that you would win your class, I now have at least 2000 pounds here.” You giggled as you opened it to reveal the stacks of pound notes before you put those into the saddle bag with Heavencrest but kept the note and put it into your pocket. 

“Would you come to Mirador with me today though? I still wish to have your input and sensibilities on how to handle all of the wealth and businesses and how I should alot what I’ve just inherited and who it should go to, but I do have one thing clear in mind, all businesses need to have unions for the workers, everything has a union back in Dorierra and when Jane told me that you were pro union, it of course makes the best sense, earning money is of course the goal but not at the price of the lives of your workers.” You suggested sweetly as he simply pocketed his own winnings but put the actual letter in a bet into his pocket where your ring had once occupied. 

“Of course, I would be delighted to, and I’m honestly happy and relieved we agree on this.” He reassured you before Benny came rushing in with Sierge carrying a whole bag full of money since his bets were structured in such a way that they compounded so he just won over a hundred thousand pounds for Benny beating The Saharan Viper and The Copper Cobra along with your heir father, his wife and his mother. 

“Grevu! Lift this curse off of me right now!” Benny demanded of Grevu as you and Demsey watched her pass you curiously as you snickered a laugh. 

“Shut up Audra! You just won the world! You have no right to laugh at me!” Benny spat angrily as Grevu growled at her before he got up and balled himself up, like a cat curling up on a rug before a fire and turned away from her as your family was coming into the barn to leave too. 

“Aw, does “the happy heart beat” not make you so happy Benny?” You asked her in a teasing, almost taunting tone. 

“Don’t you dare say those words to me, there is nothing happy about this situation at all!” Benny said. 

“Happy heart beat?” Demsey repeated. 

“In the far east- in the emperors harem, that’s how pregnancy is diagnosed and what is said when it’s discovered. It’s a way of diagnosing pregnancy. Dr. Chu told me, that’s why I told Sierge to follow Benny and stay with her.” You revealed. 

“And thats...” Demsey began as he looked at you questioningly. 

“Yup.”  You eagerly nodded with a bright smile. 

“Oh good you have not left yet.” Your mother blew out a breath of relief at seeing you as all of them were carrying small packets of money, won from them betting on you for winning the Kamoba tournament. 

“No, Demsey is coming to Mirador with us, since he’s been running his businesses with great success in the English market, I want his input to help me decide what I should do with all of the Morrigan’s businesses and help me decide who should get what.” You explained as you happily stood with your arm around his waist as he stood with his arm around your shoulders and happily held the other to your side as Benny just rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

“Axal! Get your ass down here and have Grevu take this curse off of me this instant! He cursed me last night before the night Kamoba games and I refuse to live another moment under it!” Benny screamed down the barn which got everyone to stare at her in confusion except for you and Demsey who were content to just stand back and see how this was going to play out. 

“How did he curse you?” Axal asked with a barely contained grin. 

“He just...did! I just need him to lift it!” Benny hotly demanded. 

“Right. I don’t believe you. Unless you can give me solid proof and evidence that he did and show me how he cursed you, I’m not getting involved at all.” Axal dismissed as he waived her off and began to walk away. 

“He got me pregnant!” Benny desperately confessed as everyone gasped and stared at Benny in shock as you couldn’t help it, you snorted and snickered a laugh which soon infected Demsey too and the others around you. 

“Wow! You had sex with Grevu? By heaven above, Sierge’s dick isn’t enough for you that you had to fuck my dragon?! How did he even fit…?” Axal began to ask.

“No! I didn’t fuck your dragon, his cock would split me in half! No, I...he made the seed that was already in me take root and now his magic is protecting that root and I need him to lift his protection of that root so I can remove it!” Benny finally confessed. 

“And whose “root” is it?” Axal asked. 

“Who knows, it could be mine, it could be Viscount Whiteales or any of the other orc gentlemen  you were schmoozing with at the Kamoba lunch and dinner feasts, it’s hard to tell with a whoring slut like her.” Sierge said as everyone ‘ooooh’ed’ with another snickering laugh as Anavia and Loreiris tsked and shook their heads. 

“Your mother will be so disappointed in you. You knew penilie- vaginal sex was forbidden for this very reason, is this why you couldn’t get the dowager status?” Loreiris asked. 

“Yes, it’s cost me everything! Now Grevu, take it back!” Benny demanded. 

“But what about that leverage you were going to use against Audra when and if she could not get you that Dowager status? Surely you can’t fault her- for you- not getting it, because we were all there to hear how she wanted all of us to have that status and didn’t single you out to not have it.” Loreiris pointed out. 

“You were going to betray Audra after everything she did for you?” Your mother scuffed in disgust. 

“No, I wasn’t, I swear!” Benny said as real fear came back into her eyes. 

“But you told me that you were going to.” Loreiris insisted. 

“And me,” your heir father insisted. 

“And me,” his wife Maradiem added. 

“And me,” his mother Anavia added. 

“It was just something to say for the Kamoba, I didn’t mean it!” Benny pleaded as your whole family began coming towards her and began to surround her as everyone was glaring at her before she was pushed back so that her back hit the wall. 

“What is going on now?” Yalin and her children asked as they came into the stables to see your family off and saw Benny as she ducked and dodged through your family to get to her. 

“Please Mama Yalin, you have to help me! Grevu cursed me so that seed took root in my womb and his magic is protecting the root and I need it removed before I could ever go back to Dorierra!” Benny pleaded. 

“Well whose seed was it?” Yalin asked. 

“Sierge’s.” Benny finally confessed. 

“Are you sure? You were seen practically hanging all over all the other orc families yesterday, it could have been any of theirs, after all, you were offering all of them the leverage you had collected for Gregori against Audra and Demsey so Audra could be with Ramsey, but obviously, you see how that didn’t go so well.” Loreiris said as she gestured to you and Demsey as well as to Ramsey who was between Axal and Octavia. 

“So you were going to try to sell that leverage to the highest bidder?” Yalin asked Benny as she pulled away from Benny and fixed her with a disapproving glare. 

“No!” Benny shook her head no. 

“That’s not what she told everyone else, I specifically overheard her tell Kate Whitesale and her brother that she would give that leverage to them so that Kate would be the next Duchess Voyambi and that Benny would be the next Viscountess Whitesale since Sierge was the second son and heir to nothing and had no power or wealth to his name because it all rested with Demsey and how getting that leverage came with ‘the unfortunate side effect of Sierge’s attentions and affections which you did not at all return’.” Loreiris paraphrased. 

“I overheard those exact sentiments too, you offered the same thing to the other orc families that day too and swore up and down how you had Sierge’s unwanted and unreciprocated attentions and affections and how you needed “saving from him”.” Axal insisted. 

“Oh dear, did you get caught in your own web?” Yalin asked Benny as she shook her head and looked so profoundly disappointed. 

“Well, unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t help you. Because the right thing to do was once you saw that whatever leverage you got by whatever means you used, was no longer wanted or needed, you should have been a good friend to Audra and forgotten all about it. Because I never asked you to get that leverage and I never wanted it used against Audra. Who has clearly already had enough horrible tactics used on her.” Yalin offered. 

“And I never asked you to get leverage on her either. So your leverage was and is completely useless to me.” Ramsey insisted. 

“Nor I.” Charlotte chimed in. 

“No but your father did!” Benny insisted to Ramsey and Charlotte. 

“Right, the same one who hired a doctor to poison an old man to death, how did that turn out by the way?” Ramsey sarcastically mocked her before turned to his mother. 

“Horribly. I fear your father faces some intense discipline and will be forced to pay recompense with interest for years and years to come.” Yalin answered. 

“And once it is known that you are with child, that classifies you as “fallen” and no man in nobility in any country either here or anywhere else in Europa wants a fallen lady, no one will want to claim you. I suppose if you have anyone at Dorierra will take you on- in such a condition, that would be what’s best but for fallen ladies, there are few choices. Maybe the father might be induced to take you, if he will have you but only if you had not betrayed him or tried to cast him off before hand. But with the fortune Sierge just won from the Kamoba, he could have any number of ladies.” Yalin said as she gestured to him. 

“And with that fortune he could buy any number of the businesses I just inherited, so it’s not like he’s left with nothing, no fortune or income or power or influence, he could be a man of industry and wealth that might even exceed his brother and he could always claim his own title of nobility, it might not be as high as a Duke but it’s better than nothing, after all we are all Maquis now right?” You pointed out to everyone else who had agreed on staying in England. 

“But he’s the one who gave me the leverage against you in the first place!” Benny said as she pointed at Sierge accusingly as everyone then looked at Sierge. 

“Look, you and your hands and mouth were very persuasive but I only told you what you wanted to hear. It’s not like anything that I told you was necessarily completely true or at all accurate or even current. Because what’s that saying? Something only ten percent true is still 100% misleading? You’re not the only one who knows how to work other people and you weren’t subtle about the fact that you were working me, but thanks for the inside info to bet on you against the Saharan Viper, even as dirty as you played her, I now have enough money to buy any bride I wanted from Dorierra if I ever wanted one, or I could just as easily court and marry any eligible lady here in England. So, all in all, thanks Benny for doing me the backhanded favor.” Sierge winked at Demsey with a smug smile himself a shrug from his shoulders. 

“But the fact that you’re not just willing, but desperately wanting to kill my unborn child because it just happens to inconvenience you and puts your treachery on display and exposes you for who and what you really are. I don’t know if I want you as a wife. I can’t trust that you wouldn’t hurt any other children I could ever give to you if I were to take you as my wife, for any number of reasons. So go ahead, let Grevu lift his protection from you and “uproot” the little sapling and destroy it before it can sprout any further as you so chose to phrase it. You’re free of my attentions and affections as of this moment and every moment to come, exactly how you wanted to be, right?” Sierge questioned rhetorically as even you could see the beginning of tears start to make his eyes glassy as he tried to remain composed as even you could feel how profoundly hurt he was by this betrayal too. 

“Yes, you know why? Because you never once respected me! Or women in general. You treated me like a pet, a toy, you feel a woman’s place is in the home, birthing heirs and too stupid for anything else, helpless and weak and completely dependant. I am so much more than you could ever comprehend, let alone appreciate. And being forced to be bonded, much less married to a stupid, honorless, pig headed, stubborn, egotistical, selfish, much less completely incompetent, lackluster lover, who is as reckless with honor as he is money. You are ruination itself! And you will lose all of that wealth as quickly as you got it!” Benny roared angrily as everyone blinked in surprise. 

“Wow, been holding that in for a while now huh?” Calla asked Benny. 

“Yes, and I’m done, Leumeni, Coravien, come on, we’re leaving. we are going home to Dorierra, we can still catch the train.” Benny barked at her brothers. 

“I’m not leaving with you. I’m free, remember? Unlike you, I got dowager status, so I don’t answer to you. Besides, everything I could ever want and need is right here with me in England. Not in Dorierra.” Leumeni answered back calmly as he looked to Kiera who happily took his hand and held it tight. 

“And you’re more than welcome to stay at Mirador while you find a fine house of your own.” You offered to him. 

“Thanks, I’ll take you up on that.” Leumeni smiled happily. 

“Me too, if Demsey will take me on as a partner in his soap business, I’ll give him every soap recipe I know and we can have the same soaps and things here that we do at home. Besides, I’m a Marquis here in England and the King offered me a living of ten thousand pounds a year, which I understand is a lot and the other orc ladies here are actually really pretty. So I’m staying too.” Coravien answered his sister back too. 

“Yeah can I get in on that soap thing too?” Leumeni asked. 

“Absolutely. I’d be happy to have you on board.” Demsey readily agreed as you smiled happily at him as you squeezed him into your side and being so proud to have such a wonderful man as your fiance. 

“And London needs a proper moura restaurant,” Storren pointed out. 

“Yeah, I ain't going back either, I’d love to open a good moura restaurant. Give that Savoy I keep hearing about a good run for its money.” Brima grinned. 

“And my place is with Tzane, I ain’t going back either, not until I marry Tzane and we go back together to gather all of my things from Dorrierra so I can fully move here, Whydah is from what I hear a large home, big enough for more than one couple.” Calla shrugged. 

“Mama Yalin?” You called out. 

“Yes Audra Dear?” Yalin asked, happy and elated that you were still speaking to her in such an affectionate way, having feared that Gregori had completely destroyed your relationships with their entire family. 

“Would it be possible to get a marriage license for Demsey and I to get married sooner than later, he has asked me to marry him and I’ve accepted, and I would like to get married within the week at least so that all the members of my family who wish to return to Dorierra can see me get married in the moura tradition before they leave to go home to Dorierra?” You asked her hopefully as you raised your left hand and turned it so she could see it as everyone gasped excitedly and cheered to see it before offering their congratulations to both of you. 

“Surely you can postpone your departure from England for a day or two can’t you Benny? You could still go back with my family when they want to go back.” You offered rather sweetly, if not just a tad smugly because what you had told her in the Kamoba battle was coming true, just the way the gods and goddesses had told you it would. 

“Only if Grevu will lift this curse off of me first.” Benny decided. 

“Grevu, go ahead, do as she asks. Lift the protection.” Axal decided before Benny marched down and kneeled in front of Grevu who blew a red smoke over her and then inhaled it all back in a moment later. 

“Thank you, you overgrown rat with wings.” Benny snipped as she turned away from him before Grevu spitefully growled and knocked her down onto the floor on her way out with his snout as Benny cursed in pain before she felt the pain seep and radiate from her lower belly as she clutched it as everyone else just shook their heads and carried on with business of getting ready to leave as Siege simply walked out of the barn and towards the carriage with his other siblings and their partners since his parents had left Buckingham palace to their London home right after the “court” was ajourned. 

“You ready Demsey Darling?” You asked Demsey as you both got into Heavencrest’s and Charlico’s saddles respectfully. 

“Absolutely Audra Dearest.” Demsey grinned before he put the helmet on before Heavencrest and Charlico raced to reach to the skies as Demsey and yourself flew to Mirador to discuss business with your family and friends, including Marquise Bellafont because you wanted her to tell her children herself of their own freedom and rise to nobility since the King and Queen had quickly signed off on her nobility so she could show it to her children herself. 

Once you arrived home, Rose, Myra’s eldest daughter, was the first to greet you. 

“My Lady, you would not believe what the papers have been saying about you.” Rose began. 

“Rose, I love you dearly, but I need you to go back inside and get dressed in your Sunday best, your mother is coming with really fantastic, exciting news, and get all of your siblings and tell them to do the same.” You excitedly told her. 

“Really?” Rose asked you. 

“Yes really, and after today, you and your siblings are servants to no one, not even me.” You hinted as she gasped as she looked from you to Duke Demsey who was nodding in confirmation with you, wearing a similar smile. 

“Excuse me then,” Rose happily excused herself as she rushed back into the house and called all of her siblings together and repeated what you told them as they all quickly left and got dressed in their Sunday best and packed everything they owned before their mother arrived and eagerly embraced her children and revealed the truth and then repeated what the King and Queen had told her what the story should be as they all agreed to the story before they came back to you as all of them hugged you tight before you presented them with your winnings. 

“Now, this is all I was able to win in the Kamoba battle, take this money, go to a really good dress shop or even a few of them, put this down as a down payment on your new wardrobes. I want every member of your family to dress and appear as lofty as your station permits. I have some jewelry I wish to bestow upon all of you. Although I will insist that all of Agnes’ jewelry be given to Jane along with anything else Jane has any sentimental attachments to and I understand if Jane would like to inherit her mother’s connections and will use them how she sees fit.” You insisted. 

“Oh of course, of course.” Myra readily agreed. 

“Now it will take time to save up some money for decent dowries for the ladies. But once everyone else gets here, and we all discuss together how we are going to divide everything. I’m sure by the end of tonight, all of us will be satisfied with the outcomes.” You reassured them. 

“Thank you Audra, you’ve been so good to us, is there anything we can do to repay you?” Rose asked as she hugged you again. 

“Just stick to the story that the King proclaimed, be kind and good to Jane and especially little Edward. He will miss his parents, but hopefully when he grows up, he will learn to accept things. And I want all of you to have the same freedom I’m going to enjoy, and that is to choose for yourselves what your lives will be, who you marry and marry for love if you can at all possible, if you even want to get married that is. But choose happiness, whatever that may be and I will do my best to find some kind of tutor, so that all of you get the same education and same learning and gain understanding of business so that you handle your new acquisitions well and not squander it or let anyone take advantage of you either. You are neither servant or slave to anyone’s will but your own from this moment on.” You urged them before everyone seemed to arrive as you introduced your family to Myra’s children. 

You all crammed in around your table as several ladies had to take on the laps of their partners as your steward from Broadcove, Mr. Chattingham, who was so happy to hear of your own victory and in a way, Myra’s victory over his own former masters was key in knowing all the businesses that Edward Senior, Richard and Agnes had, and doubted much had changed in the year since his service to them ended and had incredible insights on what businesses would be best for each of your brothers as well as Myra’s sons as you and Demsey insisted that each business would have a union to protect it’s workers as Mr. Chattingham named who Richard had hired to specifically root out union organizers within his businesses as you knew already who you were going to be immediately firing before you hand them over since your parents had gotten word before they left that a messenger from the King along with Scotland Yard had been dispatched to all of the banks and other businesses and was in the process of having it all turned over to you and put into your name as it was immediately a prerequisite that the unions would be brought in and stay in place or you would not hand any of them over because even in Dorierra, every Dorrieran man was in his own union with the stables so such a thing was not new to you or anyone from your family as even Sierge offered to buy a business himself so that he had something other than his family’s soap business and his soon to be brother in law’s restaurant, but something to call all his own before there was a knock on the door. 

“Hi, I’m Mage Amaryllis, Mage Altissia informed me that there was a spell on this house to disable the messengeraries? And she asked me to come and lift it.” She offered. 

“Yes, thank you so much for coming, please, do whatever you can.” You invited her. 

“Thank you.” She said before she found the absolute center point of the house and closed her eyes before moving and gesturing around herself as you saw what looked like magic shackles begin to break around the messengeraris in each room before she did a pulling down motion from the ceiling and all of a sudden it felt like a fresh breeze flowed through the house as the very air felt lighter and less stuffy or still or smothering. 

“There, much better, things should be working much better and much smoother from now on.” Mage Amaryllis smiled. 

“Thank you so much, how much do I owe you?” You asked. 

“Nothing, the King and Queen have already paid me and I just came from Broadcove and have already lifted this same spell from there. But if you ever do need anything else, either magically or otherwise, here’s my messengerari address as well as my own home address here in London, write or call any time.” She said as she handed you a card with her name and contact information written on it as she had another one for Myra before everyone else also took a card from her before she saw herself out before Myra and all of her children did the same as you assured them that they were all definately invited to your wedding whenever you got a chance to plan it and execute it. 

“Ok, I need to try something.” You told your family as you left the dining room and went to the living room took the keypad on the messengerari in the livingroom and punched in the address to your other friends back in Dorierra and smiled excitedly as your friends faces then began to fill the surface as they were equally surprised and happy and excited to see you. 

“Demsey!” You called as he came in before you took his hand and introduced him to your friends. 

“This is Duke Demsey Voyambi, I’m marrying him as soon as our marriage license comes through and it will be a love match this time.” You informed them proudly as they all gasped and gushed and squealed and offered you their congratulations. 

“So like, how soon is soon?” Jenniverre asked. 

“Probably a few days,” Demsey answered. 

“Oh that’s more than enough time, who wants to fly to London with me?” Jenniverre asked everyone who was on the group call. 

“Oh give me an hour to get packed, do you have a room where we could stay?” Jenniverre asked. 

“Yes. Is there any way you guys can bring some figs? Like bushel baskets full or even saplings?” You asked hopefully. 

“Yeah, why?” They asked. 

“Pregnancy cravings.” You answered in Marinai with a bashful blush and smile. 

“And? Was it at least good?” They eagerly asked. 

“Oh, how divine is the god’s blessing!” You said as you waived your hand above your head which was a marinai euphemism for meaning ‘sex so good it’s as if you were having actual sex with the gods’ which got them all to giggle and laugh salaciously. 

“Oooh, of course of course, yeah, you got it, we’ll stop by the greenhouses.” Adrilody confirmed. 

“We’ll be there as soon as we can get packed and saddled up, we’re flying in, see you soon! I can’t wait!” Jenniverre squealed as she and the others quickly got off the call. 

“As if this house wasn’t full enough.” You chuckled to Demsey. 

 “Well Whydah is huge, they are just as welcome there too, any friend of yours is a friend of mine, just as any enemy of yours is an enemy of mine too.” Demsey offered. 

“Thank you.” You thanked him appreciatively as you stood on tip toe as he ducked down to kiss you easier as he couldn’t help but palm your lower belly reverently. 

“What does ‘savacia’ mean?” Demsey asked.

“Pregnancy cravings.” You answered. 

“Wow, this early?” Demsey asked. 

“Oh yeah, moura’s can tell almost instantaneously when we get pregnant, morning sickness hits early but really only lasts a week at the most, usually only a few days, Grevu hid my morning sickness by making you and Axal start throwing up and I was so distracted with the mourkatili poisoning and Dr. Chu did say that I would have cravings but what’s usually the go to thing that those who have been cured from mourkatili is actually- vegetables, like celery, usually rhubarb. So for me, the figs were a surprise and I didn’t think anything of it.” You murmured.

“Who said “savacia”?” Your mother asked as she came into the living room from having walked down the hallway from the bathroom that was in the hallway. 

“I didn’t. Calla?” Benny asked her as she came down from claiming a room of her own upstairs. 

“Nope, I did.” You volunteered. 

“The figs! Figs are your savacia?!” Your mother exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I really wanted to get married, rather quickly, to the father.” You answered as you nodded over to Demsey as everyone came rushing in and congratulating you again. 

“So I was right?! You are pregnant!” Benny gasped as a smug smile threatened to overtake her face. 

“Yes I am, about three and a half weeks along.” You confirmed. 

“So I was right about you getting pregnant at the Masquerade Ball.” Benny beamed, feeling vindicated that she her hunch was right. 

“Yup, but not by any manwhore as you so claimed, but by him, he just changed his clothes and went under our assumed names we gave each other so as not to cause any suspicion and we’ve been secretly courting for say, the last two months would you say? Keeping it so secret and hidden away was especially hard on both of us, especially when I was being pursued by the Raymonds, wasn’t it?” You readily supplied your family as Demsey didn’t dare disagree with you because that sounded like the perfect explanation for everything as he found himself smiling brightly because that should have been the truth because he had every intention of telling you he wanted to court you at the ball at Havenfield but he got interrupted by Ramsey in the art gallery. 

“So hi, I’m Audra Draft, pleasure to meet you.” You said to Benny as you offered your hand to shake hers as she looked both disgusted and disappointed by the fact that her “leverage” wasn’t even real leverage at all as she crossed her arms under her bountiful bosom and scowled at you before you let your hand drop. 

“You! You lied to me!” Benny accused Sierge who was just grinning smugly himself, proud of his brother for finally connecting the dots so to speak but he wasn’t about to disagree with those sentiments. 

“Yup, it’s true, I did lie to you, because what kind of brother would I be if I actually gave my brother up for something as meaningless as what you talked up our exchange to be? Demsey only gave me Audra’s assumed name, to protect her and her honor and I respected him enough to respect his wishes in protecting her and her honor. Something which you’ve been hell bent on destroying since the beginning. And I wasn’t going to let you actually have anything capable of destroying me and my family.” Sierge tossed back as Benny narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. 

“But since she’s pregnant, she’s not “fallen” too?” Benny demanded. 

“No, absolutely not, I’m the one that got her that way and I have every intention of making her an honorable and upstanding lady and no one would dare question me or my word about the matter and it’s still early enough that when we take our honeymoon to anywhere she wants to go, it’s not uncommon for new brides to come home pregnant from their honeymoon.” Demsey reasoned. 

“Just think, the same could have been for you, if you hadn’t insisted on “uprooting my seed” as you so “delicately” put it.” Sierge murmured from his corner across the room. 

“So? How was it? Was it good at least?” Axal murmured in your ear. 

“Oh how divine is the gods blessing!” You repeated with the same way you did before which got your whole family to cheer and laugh as Benny scuffed in disgust. 

“You know, maybe you should go back to Dorierra, you’ve beaten The Saharan Viper in Kamoba of all things, surely any man would think twice before harassing you on the train.” Your mother suggested with a forced polite smile.

“You will have to hurry, the last train leaves in an hour and a half.” Tzane suggested as he looked at the time from the clock in the room. 

“Fine, I will.” Benny said as she went back upstairs and got repacked as you called your carriage around and got Benny’s things loaded up as she used her remaining fee she had been paid just for coming as Leumeni and Coravien saw her off. 

“Well now, shall we go out to dinner? To the Savoy perhaps?” You suggested to everyone else once Benny rode away in the carriage. 

“But I’ll need you to help me get dressed,” you urged Demsey before taking him by the hand and leading him upstairs to your bedroom to finally strip out of your pant suit since you had long since peeled yourself out of your riding leathers and the moment the door was shut Demsey’s hands were already all over you, practically ripping these clothes off of you.  

“So what does “ah-shamala-show-in” mean?” Demsey asked as you helped him get undressed to a degree too as you walked him towards a chair for a quick sex session before dinner. 

“It means ‘oh how divine is the gods blessing’ in the literal translation. But it’s a euphemism in marinai that means ‘sex so good it’s like having sex with a god’.” You giggled as you got him into the chair and readily seated yourself on your now familiar friend and began to ride him with gusto. 

“Ah, that makes everyone’s reactions much more understandable. And may I just say- the feeling is very much mutual.” Demsey happily replied as he drove up into you with equal passion as he held you so close and looked up at you like you were a goddess he would be devoutly worshiping for the rest of his life as you welcomed his affections with open arms, literally, as your moura marks were lighting up the room brighter than any candle or fire could. 

“Gods I just should have told you sooner, I should have been able to tell you at the ball at Havenfield that I wanted to court you.” Demsey confessed as nipped at your ear after kissing up the column of your graceful neck. 

“I have a feeling you were about to before Ramsey cut you off.” You smiled as your fingers carded through his hair and scratched deliciously at his scalp while his own fingernails raked down your back as his cock was exactly what your body had been craving this whole time as you were almost beside yourself in happiness that you actually sexually craved your soon to be husband and were almost helplessly attracted to him on every level. 

“I should have been rude and insisted on saying it anyway.” Demsey confided. 

“Well in my mind and heart, you did and obviously, you have my answer.” You giggled before you kissed him soundly. 

“You can say that you wanted to keep it quiet out of respect for Ramsey and of course Gregori and Yalin and you wanted to make sure that I had my choice of any bachelor of my choosing but seeing me being openly courted by another just cemented our feelings for each other and simply as a ruse you pretended to be interested in your other options.” You reassured him just before you found your release and, for the sake of the others in the house, you kept your keening cry of bliss down by biting down on the juncture of his neck and shoulder and whimpering while your body shuddered in delight which only spurned Demsey to finally release his precious seed into the only “field” it belonged in as he held you so tight. 

“I am never, ever- letting you go.” Demsey professed as he nuzzled the crux of your neck and shoulder and breathed in deeply, cementing this wonderful smell of you in his mind and was so relieved that the woman who he had fallen in love with and the woman he had fallen into lust with- were the same woman and supremely relieved that any stigma or jealousy you may have felt when you found out about the “other Audra” was now done and over with and any he had felt had melted into nothingness. This was so much better than he could have ever hoped, or imagined or even feared and once you both recovered he, very patiently and lovingly helped you get dressed in a gown that you insisted matched what he was wearing so that you looked like a proper couple before simply putting your hair up in a simple bun to hide it’s rather shortened nature.

You returned downstairs to where your family had gathered and had to take a few carriages to the restaurant before they happily got one big table put together as Demsey invited his parents back for the meal to see for themselves  and they were so happy and overjoyed to have you in the family even if they were disappointed that Benny had chosen not to stay with Sierge but they were relieved and pleasantly surprised to hear the news of your “secret” courting of their son and realized that was why you were polite with Ramsey but were not returning his efforts and realized that Demsey had actually played that circumstance cleverly and were thrilled to have Leumeni and Coravien added to the family soap business as well as Leumeni, Calla and Storren added to their family and eagerly talked to Brima and Coravien about the other orc ladies that were in the gentry before as they of course had their own ideas about the wedding as Demsey made sure to insist that it should be as soon as your friends could arrive and that it should be rather small, with only family and close friends because your wedding to Edward had been so big and such a huge ordeal that you didn’t need or want that big of a wedding which you readily agreed with which his parents could not argue with as it was readily agreed that the London home would be better equipped to handle such an affair then since the majority of the guests would be at your own home as Amara and Storren also announced their courting, along with Kiera and Leumeni and Calla and Tzane as their weddings would be much more planned and prepared because Calla, Kiera and Amara wanted the bigger, grander weddings which you and Demsey did confirm you would be back from your honeymoon in time to attend and you were all relieved when Demesy’s parents gladly accepted the cover that the King had insisted on, especially with you and Jane especially providing off the cuff “details” that added more “authenticity” to it and made it sound closer to the gospel truth as it was accepted as such as Jane was given the most sincerest sympathies for the sudden loss of her parents and their sanity but the fact that she was protected because of her being at the Palace of Windsor as you continued to eat dinner with Demsey on one side of you and Jane on the other, just as it should be. 

#Blood For Gold #Blood For Gold Chapter 21 #regency era orc period drama #regency orcs #orcs #orc love story #orc romance #Mouras

[fangirleaconmigo]

The Amazing Devil Favorite Lyrics

The Horror and the Wild

I am finally posting my long ass treatise on my favorite lyrics from each song on this album.  Like any overly obsessed (detail oriented?) nerd, I understand no one may read it and I also understand that doesn’t matter. It’s putting love out into the wild that matters.

So, here are my favorite lyrics from each song and why. Some are for small reasons, some for big.  My only caveat is that every lyric is good and this was like choosing between children. Wait. Second caveat. These songs talk about loss, illness, trauma, so if you don’t want to have that conversation, maybe skip the post.

The Rockrose and the Thistle

And I find you with a thimble weeping May I, I ask, may I?

These lyrics punch me in the heart.  And maybe I read into it but that’s what art is for right? It seems that this song is about loving a person with trauma.  It mentions a mother and father, so it’s childhood trauma, maybe abuse.

And this lyric.

I find you with a thimble.  That part. The person with trauma is trying. And when you have PTSD from childhood trauma (raises hand) it’s easy to forget you’re trying. It’s easy to feel you are just broken and fucking up. But you aren’t! Every day that you get up and try to be kind to yourself and to others, you’re working hard on healing. You’re trying. YOU JUST DON’T KNOW HOW.  And it’s hard. The imagery of fumbling with a thimble and knotted thread. Jesus tap dancing Christ I don’t know why but it gets me.

May I, I ask, may I? Aughhh. The way this is phrased.  This person considers it an honor to help. They don’t consider you a burden. They aren’t telling you how to fix things. They’re asking what you need. That’s two of the hardest things about living with the effects of trauma.  Feeling like a burden, and having people treat you like you’re stupid and just not trying the correct thing yet.

It’s so powerful to me I can feel it in my chest and the way Joey sings it so spare and plain.  I feel this song was written to murder me specifically.

This would be why I wrote an entire 60k Geraskier fic about this song.  It ruined me but in a good way?

The Horror and the Wild

Give me back my heart you wingless thing.

That, kids, is what we call worldbuilding.  You see, some of the songs on this album are more literal. Others are lush fantasy novels set to music.  And that line.  Why is it of note that the thing is wingless?  Is the person singing winged?  Are most people winged in this world? Are they angels? Winged hellbeasts?  Graceful birds? And what does it mean to be wingless? Does it mean you are more dangerous? Sinister? Addictive? Tempting? Who knows!! It sets my imagination soaring and I think that fantastic.  When someone makes my imagination wander off, that’s a gift.

Wild Blue Yonder

I LOVE belting this song. The socks off a bank lock. Burning the place to the ground. I’m lost I’m found. My neighbors might hate me for all the belting. Today I’ll be discussing:

We don’t know what’s out there Could be ghosts or monsters or a robot vampire I dunno

Yes. Robot vampires are fun to think about. But that’s not why I chose it.  It’s because they have already speculated that it could be wolves out there.  It could be all our demons.  And when you have a different explanation every time, you’re lying, you don’t actually know, or it’s beside the point.  It’s the ‘I dunno’ that does it for me in this line. In other words, it was never about what was out there. It was about what is in here.  The thing we’re holding onto so tight we’re bruising. Everything out there, whatever it is, can just go fuck itself. Goddamnit don’t you just want to hide under the covers sometimes?

Of course you do.  You’re a human. 

(I assume you’re human. Wait. Are you winged?)

Welly Boots

Fuck. I’m crying just reading this fuckin song again.  I’m choosing three lines.

‘You were supposed to be my light And keep me safe against them all How could you leave me here' you’ll scream

Grief. Man. When an artist strikes exactly in that grief place, and captures something about what it feels like to me personally, it takes me back and it hurts.  Yet the fact that someone made me feel that, means other people feel it, which means I’m not alone.  And isn’t that the entire goddamn point of art?

This may sound weird but that Buffy episode The Body made me feel this too. It captured something about grief that resonated with me and just laid me out. And this song does too.

You were supposed to be my light, (this can’t be happening) And keep me safe against them all (I needed you god fucking damnit) How could you leave me here' you’ll scream (it’s not fucking fair)

I lost my older brother to suicide and I’m telling you I can’t listen to this song unless I want to sit and cry. I skip it most of the time. But that’s a compliment.

Farewell Wanderlust

Every time that you fumble, I’m the laugh from the back When you think about him, my wings start to flap When you make a mistake, my feet lift from the floor And when you lie there awake every night love, I soar

Yes, I picked a whole verse but too bad. The first time I heard this song I was like ok, I’m going to be listening to this song on a loop for the foreseeable future. It is D E L I C I O U S.  Madeleine is MAGICAL in how she sings it.  And these lyrics…I turn into the physical embodiment of that Antonio Banderas gif. You know the one.

It’s just OH MY GOD.  It’s evocative of imagery, of a feeling, of a person, it’s like character, worldbuilding, emotional impact, conflict. Who gives him the right to write this well? IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?

Every time that you fumble, I’m the laugh from the back (I don’t even bother coming up front to laugh at you.  You can’t even quite see who is laughing at you so that makes you powerless to even understand why it’s happening. Also, hahaha, you fumbling dumbfuck)

When you think about him, my wings start to flap (the wings imagery again. I LIVE FOR IT I mean I’m a fantasy fan so this is my shit.  Also, this person can read your fucking mind! They are so powerful they can read your mind yet they take the time to feel sheer joy when your fumbling moronic dumbass is in misery. THE PETTINESS I LIVE)

When you make a mistake, my feet lift from the floor (Your mistakes are even more delicious, you piece of crap. Also, just the imagery of feet lifting from the floor after the wings flapping. MY GOD.)

And when you lie there awake every night love, I soar (Again, you can’t even see this person and they know everything about you. THEY ARE IN YOUR ROOM AND YOU’RE OBLIVIOUS Yet nothing makes them so overjoyed as your misery. THIS IS SO FUCKING GOOD THE STORY IT TELLS)

Fair

I could easily pick every word of this song. Every one. It squeezes my heart. But…

It’s not fair cos you make me ache you bastard

Choosing that one because the way Joey’s voice is so raw there it’s a stab in the heart that is so delicious. I’ve also put that in a fic. Because I steal from brilliance.

Also, ‘So much fuckin hair’ is evocative.  And no one appreciates a good ‘that’s what she said’ joke like I do. My mortified son can attest to that.

Unwanted Animal

‘Be good to me,’ I whisper. And you say ‘what’. And I said ‘nothing dear.’

Again, I would like to choose every word of this song. Also, the way Madeleine just stalks in, chews up the whole thing, wails, whispers, growls, sets the whole fucking place on fire and you thank her for it. I mean this woman can tell a story. Keep you in the palm of her hand and toy with you. She’s a goddamn goddess. Ok the lyric.

It’s hidden vulnerability but also a little menacing given the rest of the song. I’m not sharing my vulnerability with you but it’s there. Why aren’t you sharing it? This is multi layered character and world building. And you feel a stab of something because it’s evocative of an emotion everyone understands. BRILLIANCE. *chef’s kiss

Marbles

Cos now I get to meet you for the first time every single day

This is the song that made me pledge my lifetime of undying loyalty to this band.  See, it may not seem obvious from my passionate rantings, but I have never thought of myself as a romantic person. Most romcoms, and most love songs are some variation of people just meeting and falling in love or wanting to bang. And hey. That’s exciting. But I also don’t care. I’m not invested. I don’t believe it matters all that much who you date. I mean you choose from the pool of however many single people just happen to live in your vicinity. Like who is in driving distance who is an attractive person and also a good person. Honestly, it’s not that mystical or earth shattering.  

I don’t believe in love at first sight. I don’t believe in soul mates. So. Not romantic. But I do believe in the power of making a decision every day to build something with someone.  That’s what impresses me. It is what touches me.  It’s where I find the magic. Deciding to be family for one another and building something that didn’t exist before. Deciding every day to offer someone love in an unloving world.

And that brings me to Marbles.  

Cos now I get to meet you for the first time every single day.

This couple spent an entire life together, through good and bad, and still considers it an honor to endure the soul crushing grief of losing your life partner to dementia or Alzheimers.  The grief is an honor because it is a part of the love. I need you to sit with and understand how powerful of a message that is. If you’ve had to watch someone you love deteriorate and die then you know the power to make you cherish it is almost unthinkable. But it exists.  It’s called love, motherfuckers.

And also, the fact that someone doesn’t remember you but you still consider yourself lucky to have them, shows that your love is not at all connected to what that person can do for you. It’s a love that’s a gift.  Giving it is the reward. The sheer humility and kindness of that takes my breath.

I also have to skip Marbles most of the time, because when it gets to that line I can’t cope or go about my day normally.  The power of that kind of love, the tragedy and the beauty of the human condition. This is my favorite song on the album.

Battle Cries

And as I walk away I know I’ve been through the wars, But that creaking you hear in my bones is not pain, it’s applause

Again, most songs or movies about love are just fun to me. Not really affecting. They seem to think love only matters, or is only successful if it lasts forever. I don’t believe that and you can’t make me.  The only thing that matters is what you are doing with your moments today. And all those moments you spend loving, aren’t less than simply because the relationship ended.  If things didn’t matter because they ended, then childhood wouldn’t matter. Life itself wouldn’t matter. That’s just FALSE. What you put into the world, what you give each other, it matters.  Even if it doesn’t end like a Disney movie. (Spoken like a woman who’s been through a divorce, yes?)

That’s what this song means to me. There’s beauty and value in trying. In fighting. There is value in things that end. Otherwise none of us would be worth a shit. We end, don’t we?

And as I walk away I know I’ve been through the wars, (You fought for love. What could possibly be more noble than that.)

But that creaking you hear in my bones is not pain, it’s applause (it’s all in how you look at it and in what you choose to value. Also, according to Unwanted Animal, prayer sounds like applause. I love this album)

IN CONCLUSION

That’s why this whole album matters to me. First, it sees magic where I see it. In ordinary people. In ordinary moments. Also, it doesn’t deny there are horrors.  Let no one tell you that grief, death, illness, or trauma are not horrors. They are.  But what I get from this album is that we are all choosing to live. And part of the condition of life, of being a human is the horror.  It’s inextricably a part of love, of joy, of everything else. So, if you love, you grieve.  We try to separate them out and put them into their own corners. But does it work? No. Not really. Grief is the price you pay for love. And it’s worth it.

So maybe there is nobility in enduring the horrors. Of feeling them. Of suffering along with everyone else stuck in these meat suits, and continuing to love. Maybe that’s what makes us human in the first place. And maybe we’ll get through it if we do it together.

#the amazing devil #joey batey #madeleine hyland #thinking about the amazing devil yet again

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

Bright Smiles and Tired Eyes ~ Part 6

(((it’s never ending. i’m suffering. but i’m suffering for you guys!!!! hahaha! just a bunch of fluff this time guys! enjoy!!!!)))

Ao3 - Chapter 6

Summary: Modern Au, Punk!Jaskier, Creature!Jaskier. Geralt needs a new roommate to help him pay rent. Jaskier answers his ad. Through a handful of circumstances and series of events… there’s bed sharing. And some angst. …And so much more.

Word Count: 4581

Jaskier had replaced his instruments easily. Apparently guitars were easy to get, and the record shop he works at also sells gently used pre-owned instruments, and they’d given him a discount on a keyboard. He’d sighed when Geralt asked him about it, it wasn’t as good as his old one, but it was good enough, for now anyway. And Geralt had tried to be happy for him. He really had. But there was a sinking feeling in his gut, because both of his birthday present ideas for Jaskier had just been torn away.

He’d heard Jaskier mention his upcoming birthday to Renfri at the coffee shop. He’d been asking if there was a free muffin or coffee available for birthdays, his whole body drooping when she’d told him no. And since then Geralt had been… planning. He’d been planning… things. Mainly to replace Jaskier’s instruments for him. Granted, he hadn’t really started looking into it. And Jaskier was a musician so he probably should have expected him to replace his own instruments, but he’d been sidetracked. Stuck in his head about finding the perfect gifts and then he’d come home one day and Jaskier had had a new guitar in hand, strumming out an upbeat tune to Roach, who was hopping around on the floor in front of him.

Geralt was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall. Listening to Jaskier’s voice across the hall, he was talking to someone. He’d been video chatting with someone a lot. Laughing with them. Geralt didn’t want to pry, so he hadn’t asked. He’d had to bite his tongue a few times. He knew that if he asked, the jealousy he was feeling would seep into is words and Jaskier would know. He was extremely good at reading people. His shinning blue eyes always seemed to see more than they should. Geralt was used to seeing things himself, not other people seeing things in him.

He sighed and let himself fall backwards, staring up at the ceiling. He had no idea what he was supposed to get him for his birthday now. Renfri kept bragging about how good her and Yen’s present was. And every time she mentioned it, Geralt’s stomach tied itself in knots, he had to find the perfect gift. But what do you get a siren, who’s come into your life and turned it upside down, in the best possible way? He needed the perfect gift. But as far as he was concerned, right at this moment, as he groveled alone on his bed, listening to Jaskier’s laughter through the wall, that present didn’t exist. He threw his arm over his eyes and groaned.

“Geralt?”

Jaskier’s voice pulled him from the light sleep he’d been drifting in. He moved his arm away from his face and looked to his door. Jaskier was standing in the door way, tattered sleeveless band shirt hanging loose over a pair of spiderman pajama pants. He looked… nervous. Both hands fiddling with the fabric on his pants as he looked at Geralt through his lashes.

“You okay?”

He hadn’t been nervous around Geralt since the first week he’d been here. But Geralt could smell it. Could feel it. Jaskier nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m good. I just… can I show you something? Or I mean I guess, would you… wanna listen to something?” He took a few hesitant steps forward, Geralt could see his hands shaking.

“It’s just something I’ve been working on with Mads. My friend from the shelter. She helps me write things and sing things, sometimes, and I just… I wanted to show you…” his voice trailed off, and he grimaced. Geralt pushed himself off the bed, settling his hand on Jaskier’s shoulder, bringing his eyes from the floor to Geralt’s face.

“I’d like that.” He said, Jaskier’s eyes widened, and he could feel those waves of happiness washing over him again. Jaskier took a few steps, his hand moving from his side to Geralt’s wrist. Geralt followed him, automatically, and then stopped, his hand twisting in Jaskier’s and pulling him to a stop.

“Wait. How-“

“Don’t worry I’ve got it all figured out.” Jaskier smiled and took a tentative step back.

“Trust me?” Jaskier asked, giving Geralt’s hand a squeeze, his voice light, having no clue how weighted that question was for Geralt. Geralt looked at him, all open features and curved lips and softness, and felt his stomach flutter.

“Yes.” Geralt said, his chest aching as he let Jaskier pull him across the hall. The room smelled of cinnamon. Geralt looked around and saw at least three candles lit. Jaskier turned him easily and set him down on the edge of his bed. He held his palms out, moving them down once, motioning for Geralt to stay, without saying it, a smirk on his lips when Geralt raised his eyebrows at him. Roach shuffled out from under Jaskier’s bed and jumped up to lay next to Geralt, pressing against his leg like always.

“Okay so we recorded this a bit ago, a few weeks ago maybe. After… after… the thing.” Jaskier’s eyes glazed over for a moment. He shook his head and came back.

“Anyway!” he clapped his hands and pointed to the candles.

“Those are just a precaution. In case there’s any leftover… siren-y… things, going on. I’m pretty sure I managed to not get them on there, Mads was okay when we recorded. And I filtered the hell out of it. Like four times. Just to be sure and-“

“Jaskier.” He cut him off, the sirens cheeks were nearly glowing red, his hands moving faster and faster as he tried to quell a worry that Geralt didn’t even have.

“Yeah?” he bit his lip, holding in the words that had been falling past his lips, eyes wide as he looked at Geralt.

“Just play the song. I trust you.” Geralt nodded. He watched as Jaskier’s teeth dug deeper into his lip before letting go. He took a deep breath, nodded, and moved to his laptop. It was sitting open on top of his keyboard, the screen lighting up some kind of music player. His hand hovered over the keyboard, his fingers wiggling. He looked back to Geralt, his mouth opening and closing a few times, he looked like a worried fish.

“Jaskier!”

“Okay okay here goes!” Jaskier exclaimed, his hands moving in a flourish and then slamming against the keyboard. He crossed his arms and walked away, Geralt watched him and he waved his hand at him, pointing towards the laptop. Geralt moved his eyes back to it, closing his eyes soon after, listening as an eerie sound filled the room. A sound like wind blowing. And another sound, underneath that, some kind of long drawn out musical note, resonating under the howling wind. And then Jaskier’s voice began and Geralt didn’t care what the sound was, or where it was coming from, or what was making it. He let Jaskier’s voice wash over him, his chest swelling with every word.

“When you call to me asleep,

up the ragged cliffs I scramble.

A single thread hangs limply down.

And I breathe not now, not now.”

His voice is haunting, not singing really, more speaking. It sends shivers over Geralt’s skin. He can hear another voice, a woman’s voice, beneath Jaskier’s, matching his tone, a beautiful haunting whisper.

“I’ve run out of my words, my song.

Just let me die, me die.

Coz I’ll darn you back together,

when you think that you’re bereft,

and you’ll wail you’ll scream, but I’ll never stop,

coz it’s all that I have left.”

Geralt can feel Jaskier pacing, the nervous energy coming off of him filling the room and setting Geralt’s own nerves on edge. Geralt opens his eyes, looking at Jaskier as he paces, his own voice filling the air. His eyebrows are furrowed, arms crossed over his chest, one hand raised, fingers pressed to his lips. His eyes stormy, and uncertain, like he isn’t quite sure he likes what he’s hearing or not.

“I wake and hear you calling,

and up those cliffs I climb.

And find you with a thimble weeping.

May I, I ask, may I?”

Geralt opens his eyes again. Something inside him compelling him, he reaches out, his fingers curling around Jaskier’s arm gently. Jaskier jumps, his mouth dropping open a little as Geralt pulls him down beside him. His eyes on Jaskier’s as those haunting voices continue to speak.

“And you gently gift it to me,

coz you’ve no clue how to sew.”

Geralt smiles at him softly, his fingers still pressed to his wrist. He listens to Jaskier’s voice fade out, the other haunting voice taking over as Jaskier stares back at him, his throat bobbing as he swallows heavily, his eyes roaming over Geralt’s face like they can’t decide what to look at.  

“And I know the kindest thing,

I pray to god it’s the kindest thing.

I know the kindest thing, is to never,

leave you alone.”

The wind howls for a moment longer and then they’re sitting in silence, Jaskier’s hands wringing in his lap, his fingers tangled and tugging at each other, his knee bouncing out a chaotic rhythm. His eyes have fallen to the floor. Geralt takes a deep breath and lays his hand over Jaskier’s, he stills beneath his touch and Jaskier’s eyes are on him again. Geralt’s head swims, not because of the song, not because of his voice, but because of him. Just him.

His senses are full of cinnamon, and Jaskier, and Jaskier’s eyes. The thing behind Geralt’s ribs purrs when Jaskier’s hand turns and his fingers curl around Geralt’s wrist again. His eyes move from Geralt’s eyes to his lips, and then back up, and then back down again. He clears his throat and laughs through his nose. Shaking his head and looking back to his lap.

“So did- did you like it?” He asks with a shrug, his shoulders barely moving. He’s trying to play it down, like he doesn’t care. Geralt can feel how much cares. It’s pouring off him in waves, waves that are making Geralt a little dizzy. Jaskier feels things so deeply, they flow out of him constantly, a steady stream of strong emotions assaulting Geralt at all times. He blinks at Jaskier, licks his lips, because he wants to speak, but his throat is so dry.

“It was,” he takes a deep breath, looks around the room, away from Jaskier, trying to clear his head and remember how words work. It doesn’t work. Not really. He’s in Jaskier’s room, surround by the scent and presence of him. He hasn’t been here that long, not really, but this room is so lived in. So full of him that Geralt can’t remember what it looked like before this, before him. He sighs and looks back to him.

“It was… magical.” He breathes the word, like a prayer, the only word he can think of, the only word he’s ever felt. And he feels it constantly now, always when he’s with Jaskier. Everything about him. Everything he does. Magical. He opens his mouth to try and tell Jaskier this, not sure how he’d even begin to describe it but determined to try. He doesn’t get the chance. He opens his mouth, lips parting just enough for words to escape, and then his lips are sealed again, Jaskier’s own lips a gentle pressure against his own.

Geralt’s eyes refuse to close. They stare forward, at Jaskier, so close, pressing into him. His eyes are closed, his hand moves up Geralt’s arm, over his shoulder, to rest on his neck. Geralt’s skin burns and his eyes still refuse to close. He hasn’t moved. He doesn’t know how long it’s been, but he hasn’t moved, he’s frozen, and Jaskier has noticed now. His eyes open instantly, and he’s gone from Geralt’s space just as fast. Backing away from him across the room, one hand held out toward Geralt, the other wrapped around himself tightly. And he’s shrinking in on himself, the way he does, and Geralt’s heart breaks. But he still hasn’t moved why hasn’t he moved?

“Fuck. Geralt I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean- I shouldn’t have- I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again I just-“

Geralt forces himself off the bed, Jaskier’s words and the fear and embarrassment rolling off him pulling Geralt forward. He moves to Jaskier quickly, and then slows, his hands moving to his hips gently, pressing Jaskier back against the wall. He moves one finger to his lips, stopping the torrent of words he can see wanting to overflow. Jaskier’s eyes are wide, and full of guilt, and Geralt can’t have that. Refuses to look at that any longer. He presses forward, his lips pressing into Jaskier’s, the startled sound it pulls from the siren making him smile. And then Jaskier is smiling, their teeth click together, as their lips pull apart.

Jaskier’s hands move fast. One pushed up into his hair, and one wrapped around his waist. His fingers curl in Geralt’s hair, nails moving over his scalp and he presses forward involuntarily, melting into the touch, into Jaskier. The hand on his waist pulls him closer, their bodies flush now. Geralt hums and pulls back, looking at him. His eyes are shinning, the slightly washed away eyeliner there not helping Geralt keep himself in control. He dips forward, brushing his nose against Jaskier and the laugh that bubbles out of him cements the idea in Geralt’s head that that was the best decision he’s ever made.

“Not mad?” he asks, his voice low, just above a whisper. Geralt shakes his head before letting it fall forward onto Jaskier’s shoulder. Jaskier’s fingers move in his hair again, tracing gentle circles on his scalp.

“I didn’t misread that then? You definitely were staring at my mouth?” he gives Geralt’s hip a squeeze and Geralt pulls back, looking at him with furrowed brows.

“Yes.” His voice sounds wrecked, rough, and stuck in his throat. Jaskier’s eyes darken, a look that Geralt has only seen in the few blessed good dreams he’s been granted of late, and he nods. The grip on Geralt’s waist tightens, the fingers in his hair move down to his neck and then Jaskier is kissing him again.

Geralt gasps into the kiss, his arms wrapping around Jaskier. Jaskier’s arm snakes further around him, his hand moves from his neck to Geralt’s shoulder and then Geralt’s back is against the wall, his head swimming after being spun around so effortlessly. Jaskier grins at him, his eyebrows twitch on his forehead, Geralt has only a second to think about how Jaskier’s teeth have that sharp edge to them again and then he’s moaning into Jaskier’s mouth. Jaskier’s tongue moves across his teeth, presses deeper as Jaskier moves himself just so between Geralt’s legs and Geralt thinks he might pass out. His hands grab at Jaskier where ever they can reach, they settle on his ass and pull him forward, he smiles against Jaskier’s lips when he groans into Geralt’s mouth, hips rolling into him when Geralt pulls his lip between his teeth. They pull back panting at the same time. Jaskier’s hands settling on his shoulders, petting at his shirt absentmindedly as Geralt moves his fingers over his swollen lips. Geralt dips, brushes their noses again, and grins at the laugh Jaskier chokes out.

“Fuck that was overdue.” Jaskier breathes, pressing forward quickly, his lips a gentle press and then gone again as he looks at Geralt. Geralt sighs, lets his head fall back against the wall. Jaskier hums and moves his fingers over Geralt’s throat, his thumb resting against Geralt’s pulse. He smiles, wolfish, when he feels Geralt’s heart pounding.

“Kinda like me huh?” he teases, fingers squeezing, a barely there pressure that makes Geralt’s hips jump. He bites his lip when Jaskier’s eyes fall between them, noting the movement, and then rise back to Geralt’s face. Geralt can feel the heat crawling over his cheeks, his face burning under Jaskier’s scrutiny.

“Kinda liked that too.” He whispers, pressing close, his lips brushing Geralt’s ear. He presses a kiss to his neck, slow and deliberate, and then he pulls back, away from Geralt completely. He bites into his lip harder to keep the whine that threatens at bay. Jaskier grabs his hand as he sidles backwards, toward the bed. Roach is gone, probably having hopped out into the living room, into her own bed.  

“Hit the light.” He says, a cheeky smile on his lips as he nods toward the switch next to Geralt. Geralt slaps his hand into it, the over head light goes off, leaving them in the low light of the candles Jaskier had lit. Jaskier laughs when Geralt blinks his eyes a few times, trying to adjust. Jaskier walks backwards, pulling Geralt forward, his hand warm in Geralt’s. His legs hit the bed and he stops, pulling Geralt close, lacing their fingers together.

“Would you stay here with me tonight?” he asks, dipping forward like Geralt had done to him, bumping their noses. Geralt smiles.

“You know I will.” He says, his heart pounding as Jaskier moves his hands up Geralt’s arms, slowly. So. Fucking. Slowly.

“I know you will. But do you want to?” he presses, asking for clarification in a way no one ever has for Geralt. Jaskier’s hand settles on his shoulder, fingers brushing against his neck gently. Geralt sighs at the touch, letting his eyes fall closed as he presses his head to Jaskier’s.

“I always want to.” He sighs, smiling in the dark when Jaskier pulled back and pressed his lips to Geralt’s forehead. Like he’d done all those nights ago on the couch.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He whispered, his hands moving back to Geralt’s as he crawled back onto the bed. Geralt followed him gladly, curling up beside him and letting Jaskier drape himself over him, head resting on his chest, his fingers tracing patterns onto his shirt. Geralt smiled to himself in the low light, Jaskier never stopped moving. Not while he was awake. And he moved a lot in his sleep as well, flailing and tossing and turning. Geralt didn’t mind it. Because no matter how much he tossed, and turned, he always ended up curled around Geralt, breathing deep and even as he slept peacefully.

“That friend of yours. She’s not human either is she?” Geralt asks, his fingers moving up and down Jaskier’s arm as he wiggles next to him, trying to get settled. He snorts into Geralt’s chest.

“No. She isn’t.” He can feel Jaskier’s smile, the way his cheek presses harder into his chest.

“Is she like you?” Geralt knows he sounds cautious, and he knows Jaskier is most likely picking up on the jealousy he’s forcing down inside. Jaskier shakes his head.

“Naw, she’s part fae. On her dad’s side. He’s pretty nice. A little intense. But nice.” Geralt smiles, he can picture the way Jaskier’s eyes widen as he describes his friends’ father.

“Is he around a lot?” Geralt bites his lip, hopes Jaskier doesn’t think he’s prying into his non-human friend’s life for nefarious reasons.

“Not really. He’s sort of a loner. He helped her buy the shelter, which was nice, though we’re still trying to decide if he did that for her, or so he could lurk in the woods on the land behind it.” Geralt’s fingers falter on his arm and Jaskier starts laughing, his chest shaking where it’s pressed to Geralt’s. Jaskier braces his hand on Geralt’s chest and moves to look at him.

“I’m just kidding.” He says, wiggling his eyes brows and then settling again.

“Hmm.” Geralt hums, trying to sound as unamused as possible.

“Yeah he likes the woods on the edge of town much better any- Ah!” Geralt pokes him in the ribs and has him laughing again. He laughs into a sigh and then there’s silence as they lay in the warm glow of the candles. Time passes, the candles burn, and Geralt’s mind races.

“Can I ask you something?” Geralt was surprised by the sound of his own voice, loud in the quiet room. Jaskier’s fingers pause and then resume their idle movements.

“Of course.” Jaskier sighs.

“Your teeth. They… sometimes they look…”

“Sharp.” Jaskier supplies, his hand pressing flat against Geralt’s chest.

“Yes. Is that how they really look? Without the magic?” Geralt moves his hand to Jaskier’s head, burying his fingers into Jaskier’s hair, his mohawk is soft from his shower, it was a pretty greenish blue today, Geralt’s favorite so far.

“Yeah.  Siren genes are strong. It takes strong magic to hide the… lingering features.” His fingers are moving again, nervously tapping over Geralt’s heart. Geralt moves his hand to Jaskier’s, holding it still. He moves, doing his best to look at Jaskier as he lays on his chest. Jaskier moves to lean on his elbow and looks down at him.

“What?” He asks after a long moment of Geralt just looking at him.

“Can I see?” he moves his fingers between Jaskier’s, his thumb soothing circles into his skin. He sees Jaskier blanch, watches him swallow, his eyes going wide and then looking at their hands.

“I don’t know if that-“ he starts, voice quiet, and shaking.

“Jaskier. I’m not going anywhere.” He squeezes Jaskier’s hand and then moves his hand to Jaskier’s cheek, his thumb pressed to the corner of Jaskier’s mouth.

“You can show me.” He moves his thumb across Jaskier’s lips, smiling when Jaskier presses into it, kissing his thumb as it passes.

“You can trust me.” Geralt soothes, his other hand moving to Jaskier’s on his chest. Jaskier looks at him, for a long time, his eyes roaming over Geralt’s face in the candlelight. He watches as Jaskier takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

The glamour that covers him fades slowly, his skin begins to shimmer, the way it had in the warehouse, the faintest outline of what look like scales dance across his skin. They don’t cover his face, they shine on his cheeks and down his neck, Geralt can see his arms shimmer as well. He opens his eyes finally, and Geralt gasps, they’re black, solid black, no white to be seen. Geralt moves his fingertips under Jaskier’s eyes, across the dark circles he’s been longing to touch since they’d met, and looks closer. There is color there. Thin lines of blue running through the inky darkness like lightning. Jaskier sighs at Geralt’s touch, his fingers curling in his shirt.

“You’re beautiful.” Geralt breathes, his fingers never leaving Jaskier’s face. Jaskier smiles then, and a mouthful of pointed teeth greet Geralt. The smile is sheepish, not at all a match for the teeth lurking behind it. Geralt knows he should say more, knows he should say something. But he can’t. His mouth is dry again, and there are no words in his head that could possibly do this justice.

“Are you just gonna stare at me forever?” Jaskier asks, a breathy laugh escaping him as he moves his hand up to hold onto Geralt’s where it’s still caressing his face.

“If you’ll let me. Yes.” Geralt says, finally managing to speak. Jaskier laughs again, ducks his head onto Geralt’s chest, and settles down onto him again.

“You were afraid to show me.” The silence that follows tells Geralt he’s right.

“Why? You know I wouldn’t hurt you.” His hand is back in Jaskier’s hair, he knows he likes it, knows it calms him.

“I do. But I also know you’re a witcher. And I look human. And I know you know I’m not. But… sometimes… in my experience. Seeing the human parts slip away, seeing the monster underneath. It can… change how people feel. It can change their stance on how exactly they feel about monsters.” He pushes himself up again, looks down at Geralt, skin shimmering.

“No matter how much someone claims to love you, monster and all, that can always change when the glamour falls. Usually does. Trust me.” He huffs, looking at Geralt with sad eyes and a smile to match.

“And you’re a witcher. It’s your…job. To kill monsters. Just a lingering fear I suppose. From all those scary stories that monster mommies tell their retched little children at night.” He smiles again, mischief dancing in his eyes as sharp teeth sink into his lip. Geralt tilts his head.

“Was I a scary story your mother used to make you behave?” his fingers move in Jaskier’s hair, he leans into the touch, humming happily as Geralt smiles up at him. Jaskier drops himself back down, settling back into Geralt.

“Of course you were.”

“And did it work?” Geralt is grinning now, knowing the answer before Jaskier gives it.

“Oh absolutely not.” He laughs, the happy sound sending shivers through Geralt.

“It peeked my curiosity if anything. I mean look at me. I’ve never run from a witcher. Hell, I answered an ad and moved in with one.” His body shakes against Geralt as he keeps laughing.

“Would your mother really be surprised?” Geralt asks, hoping afterward, realizing what he’s asked, that the question wouldn’t hurt Jaskier.

“No. She’d probably say it was fitting that I’ve fallen in love with a witcher. I was always a contradictory little creature.” He laughs again and then goes rigid. Geralt can hear his heart begin to pound in his chest as he realizes what he’s said. Geralt breathes deeply, his heart beat matching the frantic beats of the man beside him. His fingers had stopped moving when Jaskier spoke. He willed them to move again, slow circles, trying to sooth him. But Jaskier’s body stays still, and stiff, next to him. He’s barely breathing and Geralt doesn’t now what to do. There is one thing, his brain supplies, the thing behind his chest rumbling at the idea. To have out with it, once and for all.

“I love you too Jaskier.”

He whispers the words. Presses them into Jaskier’s hair with a kiss, and feels him melt into him. His body relaxes again and he wraps his arm around Geralt, pulling him closer. He moves his head again, his lips find Geralt’s neck and he peppers kisses there, moving his way up Geralt’s jaw until Geralt is sure he’s going to faint. His skin is burning again, Jaskier’s kisses and touches searing him in the best way as he makes his way to his mouth. Jaskier licks into him with a purpose, Geralt moans and clings to him, his eyes falling shut as he moves his mouth against Jaskier’s, doing his best to keep up with that wicked tongue. Jaskier pulls back again, looking down at him, panting against his mouth in the flickering light. He presses forward quickly, a chaste kiss pressed to Geralt’s lips with a laugh, and then he’s laying on his chest again. Geralt takes a deep breath and lets it out with a sigh. He hears, and feels, Jaskier snort.

“Sorry. I just… I had to.” He says, his fingers digging deep into Geralt’s ribs, holding him close, making Geralt squirm closer. He presses another kiss into Jaskier’s shower soft hair, and sighs.

“I’m not complaining.” He mumbles, smiling at the ceiling as Jaskier’s musical laugh fills the room.

#bright smiles and tired eyes #bright smiles and tired eyes part 6 #bsate part 6 #bsate #geraskier #geraskier fic #punk!jaskier #modern au #the witcher fic #the witcher netflix fic #my writing #siren!jaskier

[itsbrindleybinch]

Time of the Year (MotY)

Summary: It’s the most wonderful time of the year and Ayla is determined to make sure that Stephanie has the best and happiest day possible. Christmas Day Fluff!

Word Count: 2,059

Book: Mother of the Year

Author Note: Happy Holidays @choicesbyjade! Thank you so much for your letter! This was so much fun to write and I really hope you enjoy it. Lots of love, your Choices Secret Santa!

And to @andi-the-cat​, thank you so much for organising such a lovely event!

“Mom! Mom!” There was a quick shuffle of slippered feet and a split second of silence before…

“Oof!”

It was a truth universally acknowledged that having a child launch themselves on top of your (pretending to be) still sleeping form was exactly how every parent wanted to wake up. Ayla suppressed a smirk before giving a theatrical grown and burrowing further under the covers.

“Nooo… lemme sleep...”

“Mom, wake up!” Stephanie giggled, kneeling up and poking the lump in the covers before pulling the sheets back with a flourish. “It’s Chriiistmaaas!”

Ayla cracked an eye open, frowning a little. Stephanie was still in her red pyjamas, sprinkled with small white snowflakes but there was a headband nestled among her curls that boasted an impressive set of antlers.

“Christmas?” Ayla gave a sceptical hum. “Are you sure?”

Stephanie beamed. “Double sure!”

“You’re not messing with me?”

“Nope!”

“Checked the calendar?”

“Uh huh!”

“Well then what are you waiting for, sleepyhead?” Ayla sat bold upright, tugging her own red snowflake pyjamas straight and grinning at her daughter’s giggles. “Get out of bed, it’s Chriiistmaas!”

Stephanie scrambled off the bed and sprinted for the living room. “Can we have hot chocolate for breakfast?” she called over her shoulder.

“Now hold on, what’s the rule?”

“No rules on Christmas!”

“Wrong! On Christmas Day, hot chocolate comes with extra marshmallows. It’s the law.” Ayla slipped on her matching fuzzy slippers and followed her daughter out of the bedroom.

“I’m gonna check that with Thomas later.”

“Are you questioning my knowledge of marshmallow legalities? Because I’m an expert.”

Ayla stepped into the living room and paused, waiting for just a moment in the doorway. The tree – a bigger one than they’d ever been able to have before and one that had taken four of them to pivot up the stairs to the flat under Alma’s imperious supervision – was aglow with ornaments and a thousand twinkling lights. Once the rest of the tree had been decorated, Levi had hoisted Stephanie up onto his shoulders to get the star placed at the very top and both had been so focused in getting it just so with the help of Levi’s best spirit level that they hadn’t noticed Ayla snapping her new phone wallpaper.

“I’ll allow extra marshmallows,” Stephanie said with a decisive nod. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement as she settled cross-legged in the middle of the floor.

“Hot chocolate for breakfast it is then,” Ayla said, saluting. “Then we’ll do your stocking, ok?”

Stephanie had such a broad grin on her face that Ayla was worried her cheeks would ache. “Ok. And yours.”

Ayla frowned. “Mine? I don’t have a stocking, sweetie.”

Rather than reply, Stephanie pointed beneath the tree. The stocking that Ayla had filled at a stupidly late time last night once she’d been sure her daughter was sound asleep was still there, but next to it was another stocking, one that was stuffed with small, neatly wrapped presents and had a tag attached that read ‘Mom’ in large glittery letters.

“Where did that come from?” Ayla blurted out in surprise.

She didn’t think she had ever seen her daughter look so smug. “Santa,” Stephanie said in a sing-song voice.

The problem with having a genius for a child was that the myth of Santa didn’t last long. Stephanie made it through just four Christmases before she started asking the difficult questions and an answer of ‘he’s magic’ hadn’t convinced her for long.

Ayla had woken up one morning in an early December when Stephanie was six to be presented with a page of neat sums showing that if there were 2 billion children in the world there just wasn’t time, not to mention the number of cookies he’d have to eat. A reminder that not every child celebrated Christmas hadn’t deterred her.

“That’s still hundreds of millions. He’d be sick, even if they’re not all chocolate chip,” Stephanie had declared. “And the air pressure and oxygen levels would be all wrong for reindeer at that altitude.”A startled laugh slipped from Ayla’s lips and she pressed a hand to her mouth as her eyes misted over. Without a word she crossed the room and bundled her daughter in her arms. “Tell Santa I said thanks,” she whispered.

“And the elves,” Stephanie whispered back, squeezing her around the middle.

***

One mountain of marshmallows with a thimbleful of hot chocolate later, the two of them sat amid a sea of wrapping paper exclaiming their delight at their gifts.

Stephanie was already wearing a leather jacket that was a perfect miniature replica of Eiko’s and leafing through a book about Jupiter with wide eyes while Ayla watched, a fond smile on her face and a wonderfully soft burgundy scarf around her neck. Outside, the sun was just up, filtering through the blinds and mingling with the light from the tree.

There had never been a Christmas like this, where Ayla had known in advance that she’d be able to make Christmas morning a good one for Stephanie, that there would be no arguments, that the heating wouldn’t go out in the middle of December.

“Right,” Ayla said after a few moments. “Let’s get ready then. Stephanie, please could you pick up the wrapping paper whilst I get started on cooking? Then I’ll need my sous chef.”

“Ok.”

As she set the oven to preheat and started to prepare the turkey, Ayla glanced over her shoulder and had to swallow a chuckle when she saw Stephanie wandering slowly around the room, occasionally pausing to pick up a piece of wrapping paper with her gaze never once leaving her book. As Ayla watched, Stephanie turned, bumped the couch and started, her head snapping up as she blinked as though dazed.

“Good present, that one?”

“Yeah...” Stephanie gave her a sheepish smile. “It talks about all the moons!”

“Yeah? What about the aliens?”

“Mom!”

***

“Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh...”

Before Ayla could say a word Stephanie had bolted to the front door and tugged it open.

“Levi! Alma!”

“… over fields we go laughing all the way HA HA HA!”

Stephanie joined in with a booming laugh that dissolved into giggles as the two of them swept her into a hug.

“Happy Christmas, Rocket.”

“Happy Christmas, Alma! Chag Sameach, Levi! We made latkes and your presents are under the tree!”

Levi blinked in surprise, then his face split into a huge grin. “Latkes, huh? Did someone tell you they’re my favourite?”

“Yep! Mom! Just like she told you my favourite Christmas song!”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yeah, but you did awesome. Now come on, come look at what I made!”

***

“We’re here!” Luz bounded into the flat, breathing heavily and almost as red in the face as the Santa hat perched on the top of her head. Its bobble swung in front of her eyes as she launched herself at Stephanie, who squealed and hugged her. “You’re a reindeer! You gotta be Comet!”

“Comet’s the best one! Come look at our tree!”

Grinning, Ayla left them to it, heading to the front door and sticking her head out.

The corridor was empty.

“Erm, Luz?” she called over her shoulder. “Is your dad -”

“Approaching middle age, slow and exhausted?” she heard him call from the staircase. “All of the above.”

“I told you I can get you a good deal on a heart monitor.” Eiko’s voice was further away, but she sounded like she was trying very hard not to laugh.

Before long they both appeared, Thomas a little out of breath in a terrible jumper and Eiko grinning in an even worse one.

“I let her have sugar,” Thomas was muttering to himself, swiping a hand across his forehead and staring into the middle distance in disbelief as he caught his breath. “Before noon. On Christmas Day. What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Christmas spirit. There’s no cure.” Eiko stepped past him to give Ayla a warm hug before they all made their way into the flat.

Ayla giggled. “And now all my elves are here I can say a proper thank you!”

“She told you?”

“As good as.” Ayla’s expression softened, looking fondly at the group. “Really. Thank you so much. It… Christmas hasn’t been an easy time for… well, years. I’ve always tried to make it fun and happy for Stephanie because it’s what she deserves, especially while she’s young, but…”

“She knew,” Eiko said gently. “And you know what? It made it even more important to her that Christmas was special for you this year too.”

Ayla took a deep breath, blinking rapidly. “Hey, are we going to eat or what?” she said, her voice thick as she swiped away the beginnings of a couple of tears. “I’m starving! Girls, time for food!”

As the rest of the group crowded the table, Thomas stepped close to Ayla slipped a small box tied with a silver ribbon into her hand with a wink. Frowning a little, she unfastened it to find a tiny card printed with the words ‘A star for a star’. Nestled beneath was a brooch covered in so many small crystals that they sent tiny dots of light across the wall as Ayla tilted it.

“Thomas...” She looked up, only to find his eyes already on her and a small smile on his face. Warmth rose unbidden in her cheeks. “I...”

“Mom, I put you next to Alma!”

“Right. Yes.” Ayla blinked and made her way to the table, fastening the brooch to her sweater, but she couldn’t help but glance back with a soft smile that was returned tenfold.

***

It was hours later, once everyone had eaten more food than they could handle and played so many games that they’d lost track of the rules and laughed so much that their sides ached that they all sat slumped and quiet and content in the living room. Stephanie was snuggled up against Ayla’s side, her eyes drooping despite her best efforts, while Luz was snoring sprawled across Thomas’ lap.

“We should go,” came a whisper in her ear and Ayla lifted her head to see Alma beside her, smiling broadly. “Or I’ll keep drinking and they’ll give me a WUI.”

“Can’t be having that.” Ayla grinned. Behind Alma, Eiko and Levi reluctantly started to gather their things to leave too, while Thomas did his best to pick up Luz without waking her. “Thank you. It’s been...”

“Magical?” Alma tapped her on the head with her wand. “The Christmas fairy says you’re welcome.”

Ayla laughed, trying not to jostle a dozy Stephanie. “Thank you, all of you.”

“Thank you.” Eiko leaned over for a warm, one-armed hug. “For letting us all descend on you like this.”

“If you’re all going to have an efficient washing up production line like that again, you can come over every day.”

***

Stephanie barely stirred as she was carried to bed, but as Ayla set her down her eyes fluttered open and she gave a tired smile, rubbing blearily at her eyes.

“I’ve still got my antlers on.”

“I’ve got them, Comet.” Ayla set the antlers on Stephanie’s bedside table before  leaning over and dropping a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head. “Happy Christmas?” she murmured.

“Happy Christmas,” she heard back, mumbled and muffled by a yawn. Stephanie’s eyes were closed before Ayla had even shut the door.

Ayla paused in the living room, looking up at the Christmas tree. There was bauble with Stephanie’s baby handprint on, the clay snowman ornament she had made in kindergarten, now missing half its glitter, the paper stocking. Memories of Christmases past; of arguments, of stress, of her little girl’s disappointment that her dad hadn’t shown up at the front door as the holiday surprise she’d been secretly hoping for…

Chewing her lip, Ayla picked up the ribbon from Thomas’ gift and unfastened her star brooch from her jumper. Looping the ribbon through the clasp, she tied a neat bow before hanging it on a bare branch where it swayed slowly, catching the light and casting sparks of colour across the room.

Stepping back, Ayla allowed herself a small smile and a quick nod before leaving the room, letting the day’s happy memory sit among the rest, the brightest and most vivid of them all.

#playchoices #mother of the year #levi schuler #thomas mendez #eiko matsunaga #choices moty #moty #playchoices fics #moty fics #tally's fics #choices secret santa

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Acorn Symbolism: Romance, Promises, and Peter Pan!

Morning Everyone! Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this posted. As I keep saying, cray week. So, I said before that I thought they represented romantic love And I stand by that. For one thing, there are both a male and female component in the germination of acorn seeds. Hence, the romantic love symbol.

But let me mention a few other important acorn references as well.

@frangipanilove​ pointed out Daryl’s line to Carol last season about Ezekiel being “corny.” A play on the word acorn, perhaps? Now, maybe that’s a silly word play, but given the Serious/Sirius references and “Del Arno Foods,” it’s obvious that the TWD writers don’t mind silly word plays.

Now, @frangipanilove is working on a “nut” theory that will probably be much more comprehensive than this one. She has other “corn” references that are specifically around Ezekiel. I’ll leave that to her. But I suppose you could argue that this is a Carzekiel thing, rather than a Bethyl thing.

Or is it?

I would argue that it might simply be…a romantic love thing. After all, people in love tend to wax a little corny, right?

But there’s something else @wdway​ thought of that kinda proves the acorn reference is tied to Beth. I’d completely forgotten about this acorn reference in the show, so kudos to her for her awesome memory.

Do you remember there being acorns in the show before? Think about it for a minute. I will say it’s pretty subtle.

Okay, so take a stroll down memory lane to 5x11, The Distance. That’s two episodes after Coda and the one directly after 5x10, where the music box woke up. TF brings Aaron into the barn, Rick knocks him out, and they spend the episode trying to figure out whether he’s trustworthy or not, and also driving to Alexandria for the first time.

At one point, Rick sends everyone out of the barn to hide in various places and keep watch in case Aaron is part of a larger group that might be a threat to them. Then Judith starts crying because she’s hungry, and Aaron offers the applesauce in his bag, right?

But just before that, Rick tries to mash up acorns for her to eat. Voila! Acorn reference!

Why is that important? Because this scene has almost every major TD symbol in it, sitting in that barn. We have the flare gun (fire), a bottle of water with "Greendale springs” written on it, the music box itself, bullets, toilet paper, the applesauce, and even a dog reference (Fido) on top of the applesauce jar.

And this is the barn from 5x10, outside of which the music box has just awakened.

So, the acorns are most definitely a Beth reference.

Where do we take it from there? I’m not sure. I do think it’s significant that we saw acorns around Aaron right after the music box woke up, and we’re seeing them again now, right when something is happening with Aaron and the Whisperers. To me, that says Beth is about to appear.

Also, I won’t go into all the details now, but 5x11, The Distance, is another episode you should go back and watch if you can. There are SO many amazing references in that episode that we had no way of identifying the first time through. Eugene makes a “copulating dogs” reference. Rosita says, “we’re halfway there,” which I can’t help but see as S5 being half way to S10, suggesting the “dog” will return in S10. Tons of stuff like that all through it. Go watch! 😝

If you look up acorn symbolism, they can represent strength, much like the oak tree (which I’ll talk about in a minute). But that could also represent Beth’s strength. They can tell the future, so yes, they definitely portend something Daryl’s future, and are kind of the ultimate foreshadowing symbol. They suggest looking deep within ourselves (Daryl feelings for Beth) and that if something is nurtured in the right way, it can become powerful. Again, Beth nurtured Daryl like no one ever has.

@frangipanilove​ and I researched the phrase Carol uses, “double capper.” It doesn’t seem to be a real thing. I just figured it was slang, but it’s not coming up in online searches as even that. So I don’t think it means anything by itself. It’s just something mean to draw our attention to the acorn and its symbolism.

Also, the “double” part (2) might represent that we’ve hit the second phase. This hearkens back to retellings and the fact that carrots take two seasons to grow into maturity. It’s something I haven’t mentioned for a while, but we always figured there would be, symbolically, two stages or two times around for Beth and Daryl. The first was S4/S5, and they, as characters, hadn’t matured all the way at that point. We always saw it as Beth returning as stronger, more mature in her character and survival skills, etc. But it’s true of Daryl as well, at least emotionally. This is something I have touched on recently, about how he does understand his own feelings now and will be able to communicate them. So again, the “double” part might represent that we’ve entered phase 2, which is just a fancy way of saying we’re in the part where Beth will return.

Oak Trees

Let’s talk about oak trees, which produce acorns. You might even call acorns the offspring of the oak tree.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what kind of trees we’re seeing, because we don’t get close up shots of the leaves. But we think all the trees in Fear, on which we’ve seen ladders painted, and Alicia is now painting Phoenixes, are oak trees. (Ladder Theory, Phoenix Theory).

We also talked about the tree in the opening credits—the one the plate glass windows hang from—and whether it might be an oak or not. We also looked up biblical symbolism because we all know biblical symbols are big in TWD, and they’re a big deal in the bible as well.

There are several cases of the holy men of the bible (including Abraham, Jacob, and Joshua) making sacred vows under oak trees. Sometimes they bury things in token of these oaths. Jacob’s is very significant, especially as it is entangled with the story of Jacob’s ladder, and remember that in FTWD, we’ve seen ladders painted on oak trees.

One story that stood out to me was that of Joshua. Reading it, I became convinced that the tree we see in the opening credits is, indeed, an oak tree. Let me explain.

In the story, Joshua utters the famous line, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He then asks if the people will do the same. They make a solemn oath to always serve the Lord, and they do it under an oak tree. Joshua puts a rock under the tree (which represents Christ, btw) and says if they break their promise, the rock will testify against them in judgement.

So, the oak tree = a solemn promise. It occurred to me that’s pretty much what Rick did under the tree with the plate glass pictures hanging on it at the end of S8. He made an oath to honor Carl’s last wishes and not kill Negan. (“My mercy overcame my wrath.) And if that was an oak, then the one in the opening credits must be as well. (Bc of the plate glass pictures.)

And the more I think about it, the more significant that becomes. I don’t want to go into all the details of this today (because this post is about acorns), but I’ve said before that I think Negan will lead to Beth in some way (hence all the bats we saw around her). And the only reason Negan is still alive is because of Rick’s “oath” to let him live in order to honor Carl’s last wishes.

Remember the Phoenix near Carl at his death? (Alicia is painting phoenixes on trees in FTWD.) Well, if Carl hadn’t died, I absolutely think Rick would have simply executed him at the end of AOW. And if Negan is as instrumental in Beth’s return as I think he’ll be, then that’s super important. You could argue that but for Carl’s death, Beth wouldn’t have ever returned. Which explains the phoenix we saw just before Carl’s death.

Also, these new opening credits that start and kind of center around the oak tree began in S9, after AOW ended. Which says to me that Rick’s oath (keeping Negan alive, etc) is what’s driving this part of the story, now. So, this really is all beautifully and intricately connected.

And how do we go from the oath under the oak tree to an acorn symbol? How should we interpret that?

Well, this may become more specific as we learn more, but for now, here’s how I think of it. Just as the acorn is the offspring—or offshoot, if you will—of the oak tree, so Beth’s return (and Daryl’s happiness) will be a result or offshoot of Carl’s death and Rick’s oath.

Peter Pan:

All right, I’m going to switch gears and talk about one more possibility for this acorn reference that the lovely @weapon13whitefang​.

She said between the acorn in this scene with Carol and Daryl, and the “kiss” reference, she was immediately reminded of Peter Pan. In Peter Pan, there are tokens of kisses exchanged. Like thimbles. Peter didn’t know what a kiss was, so Wendy gave him a thimble, which was a token of a kiss. 

In return, Peter actually gives Wendy an acorn button. Now, technically, this is not an actual acorn (though many PP interpretations use actual acorns). Rather this was a term for a button made of wood, which in slang, was known as an “acorn button.” (Source) In symbol of their friendship, Peter and Wendy wore their gifts for one another around their necks on necklaces. Wendy’s acorn button even saved her life when the Lost Boys (on Tinkerbell’s angry lie) shot her out of the sky. The button stopped the arrow from piercing her heart and killing her.

This has SO many promising implications.

But first thing’s first. My first thought was about what this meant for the question of romance. You all know I don’t think this signifies romance between Carol and Daryl—I know it doesn’t—but I need to be able to explain why.

So, Wendy and Peter exchanged tokens, much like Carol giving Daryl an acorn in this past episode. The question is, was there ever romance between Wendy and Peter?

Meh…a little bit. Wendy was definitely crushing on Peter when she first met him, though it was as much the prospect of adventure as anything else. (Which might have also been true of Carol early on, especially as Daryl helped her search for Sophia.) 

But think about it in the long term. Things don’t work out romantically between Wendy and Peter. Wendy leaves Neverland, grows up, gets married and has kids, where Peter doesn’t. They always have a deep and abiding friendship—and even love—for one another. They wear their token necklaces for decades after their adventures together. But romance? No, it’s not really part of the story.

In fact, if you want to get REALLY detailed, why did Wendy first become disillusioned with Neverland? Because she came to understand that Peter brought her there, not as a girlfriend or companion, but to be a MOTHER to the Lost Boys. (Daryl and Carol have a mother/son relationship, as confirmed by Norman in S7.)

You could also argue that Carol finally putting the tragedy of Sophia behind her and marrying Ezekiel and finding happiness represents Wendy moving on from Neverland and getting married and having kids. Daryl is still Peter Pan in Neverland who’s never sustained a real relationship before. Of course, we think he will, when Beth returns. But for now, the Peter and Wendy analogy is very apt.

And it opens up a lot of possibilities for me. I’m super intrigued as to what will happen with this acorn. He put it in the pocket of his vest. Will it save his life? Deflect a bullet or something? Or is this less literal than that? If it represents Beth or his relationship with her, maybe it foreshadows that she’ll save his life in some way. (Something we’ve all theorized about for a LONG time.)

I also think it’s interesting that Wendy was flying when she was shot out of the sky and the acorn button saved her. They even called her the Wendy-Bird. Now, granted, in this analogy, Carol, more than Beth is Wendy. But still. 

1) We saw a plane crash this past season on FTWD, and we’ve seen several helicopter crashes, including one on the roof of Big Spot in 4x01 (Beth) and one when Merle returned in 3x01 (resurrection of character). 

These are representations of birds falling out of the sky. You MIGHT even be able to lump the satellite in with that. I don’t know if satellites are ever referred to as birds, but it did fall out of the sky, after all. 

2) How many birds have been used around Beth as symbolism? Blue Heron. Yellow Wagtail. Phoenix. Songbird.

3) And of course there’s a major precedent for the writers using children’s stories as symbolic templates in the show. The Wizard of Oz. Little Red Riding Hood. The Little Prince (FTWD). Why not Peter Pan?

So yeah. I gotta stop now, but let’s just say I’m still loving the acorn symbol and the acorn scene. They portend great things for TD and Bethyl. 🎉

Which acorn interpretation is your favorite and why?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[farbeyondtheuniversethings-blog]

The Only Date Where You Can Make Money

AHHH I Wrote a thing!!! Okay quick story quick story: So I was sitting in the library working on homework and my dear friend starts laughing. Apparently they’ve been looking through a list of cute date ideas to get some inspo for a fic they’re gonna write (not VLD related... someday i will convert them) and apparently number 113 or something like that on this list of 130+ is “Panning for Gold: it’s the only date where you can make money” and we’re dying because lol it’s 1) a great date idea and 2) super stupid and silly also. BUT they challenged me to write it into a Klance fic and me, having wanted to write a Keith birthday fic but not having an idea for a cute date for them to go on and also having missed his birthday had jsut let the idea go, was all for it. AND SO HERE WE GO:

“Keith… Keeeeiiiith,” Lance hissed.

Keith turned over and glanced at the time. He hadn’t even been sleeping for three hours so he ignored his boyfriend and pulled the covers up to keep the light out of his eyes.

“Keeeeiiiith I know you’re awake,” Lance leaned into him and started tickling.

“Ugh, Lance,” Keith sleepily pushed his boyfriend away. Normally he liked having Lance’s face close to his but at five in the morning it wasn’t really the view he wanted. He’d much rather be looking at the back of his eyelids and dead asleep.

“Happy birthday, Keith. Wake up!”

“Lance, my birthday… Did you actually forget?” This wakes him up because Lance forgetting his birthday is so out of character. His boyfriend remembered pretty much every little detail especially when it came to sentimental things like birthdays.

“Of course not, silly, I just wanted to be the first to celebrate it with you.”

“So… we’re celebrating a day early?” And now Keith is sitting up.

Lance’s smile is as wide and as bright as the moon. “Everyone wanted to surprise you and show up in your room at midnight tomorrow—pretend you’re still surprised, please—with gifts and such but I really wanted to gift you an experience—and no, I know that look, I’m not talking about birthday sex—and I wanted to give it to you before anyone else could give you anything.”

Keith blinked. And blinked again. He wasn’t sure if it was endearing what Lance was doing or not, but, hell, it was definitely cute. “So, no birthday sex?”

Lance punched him in the shoulder gently, “Of course there will be birthday sex but I figure we’d save that until after cake tomorrow. Besides! We need to get going now if we’re going to make it in time.”

“In time?” But Keith let Lance pull him out of bed.

“Get dressed and meet me in the hanger.” Lance scurried out and then ducked his head back in through the door, “And be stealthy about it, my plan is to be back before anyone misses us.”

…

Lance ushered Keith into one of the smaller ships they kept for recon. It fit two people snugly and Lance had apparently padded the insides with blankets and pillows. It was incredibly comfortable and Keith lowered himself into a particularly plush corner, yawning. He might actually fall asleep on the ship…

“How long have you been awake?”

Lance looked up from the dashboard where he was plugging their coordinates in. “Hmmm. To be honest? I haven’t actually gone to sleep yet.”

“Ugh,” Keith gurgled. He’d never been one for all-nighters. “But doesn’t it seem so much better to come over here and nap?” He held his arms out for Lance to climb into.

Lance chuckled, finished what he was doing, and let the ship boot up auto pilot and begin their journey. “I’m too excited to sleep,” but he crawled into Keith’s warmth anyways. “Besides, we’re not going far at all.”

Keith pulled Lance close to his chest, arms around his waist. Lance’s hands were cold and he slipped them under the back of Keith’s shirt. Neither of them moved, content to just sit and cuddle, and Keith felt himself drifting off to the sound of his boyfriend’s heartbeat.

And then Lance was waking him up again, shaking Keith gently by the shoulders.

“Wha—what time is it?” Keith wasn’t really ready to let Lance go yet but he was extricating himself from the cuddle-sphere.

“It hasn’t even been half an hour. Now, come on, we’re here. Come on, babe,” Lance was helping Keith to his feet. “I promise, when we get back after your gift we can cuddle all day if you want. This is basically your birthday 0.5 so the day is all for you.”

“If it was all for me we wouldn’t be awake at this hour.”

“I love you too, now, come on,” Lance opened the door and pulled Keith out.

The sun was rising at that very moment and Keith was blinded. He covered his eyes with his free hand—Lance was happily holding his other—and when he finally lowered them he saw that they appeared to be at the base of some mountains. Desert stretched off into one direction, though the sand was much lighter than earth sand; on the other end the mountain range rose up, peaked with what appeared to be snow. And weaving down the mountain, running right past them, was a rushing stream.

Except instead of clear blue like water tended to be, this was a dazzling silver, which was perhaps by Keith had been so blinded upon entering the alien planet.

They weren’t in their paladin armor so the air was clearly safe to breath and it was fresh. In fact, it felt a lot like breathing in earth air. Besides the subtle difference in the sand and the silver water the planet was one of the closest to earth in appearance that they had been to.

“Do you like it?” Lance asked carefully, judging his boyfriend’s reaction with caution.

Keith smiled and squeezed Lance’s hand, pulling them closer together. “It’s beautiful.”

And really, it was such a comfort to be here. It reminded him of living in the desert, which, while it had been a lonely time, had also been incredibly peaceful. He’d never felt comfortable around a lot of people, and while he didn’t miss earth the way that Lance and Hunk did, there was something innately comfortable about his home planet.

“Alright time for your present!” Lance ducked back into the ship quickly and came out again with two green pans about the size of frisbees.

“I thought this planet was my gift?”

“I told you I wanted to gift you an experience. And while this planet is absolutely gorgeous, and I was hoping you would really like it, Allura mentioned that in this river there’s a special type of mineral that, apparently, can be found the same way that people pan for gold.”

Keith laughed, “Wait, you’re serious? There’s gold in this river?”

“Not gold; it’s called Heleorite. And it’s actually pretty cool. Apparently it lights up and glows under certain circumstances.” Lance handed Keith one of the pans.

“Okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve never panned for gold in my life,” Keith admitted.

“It’s pretty easy; there’s this amusement park near where my brother lives and sometimes I take my niece and nephew. It’s wild west themed so one of the attractions is panning for gold.”

Keith knelt next to Lance by the river. Where the water hit the sides of the bank it splashed up and chilled his skin. But as the sun continued to rise he assumed it would get pretty warm. Which, speaking of, the sun was rising fairly quickly.

Lance seemed to read his mind: “The days here are really short and it can get pretty dangerous at night, so I wanted to maximize our time. We have about a varga and a half before we need to go.”

Keith was a fast learner and Lance was a surprisingly good teacher. Fill your pan with gravel and sand and bedrock from the bottom of the stream. Keep the pan slightly under the water and shake vigorously and carefully so that nothing is washed out. Now shake in a gentle circular motion so that the water slips in and out, taking the lighter pieces with it and causing the gravel and such to swirl in the light current—Keith had to practice this a few times before getting the hang of it. Now, back to shaking, but this time with the addition of pulling out the larger rocks. Then, after a few doboshes of patience, carefully letting the water pout over the sides, leaving the debris behind.

“That’s Heleorite!” Lance said, pulling out a miniscule piece of rock. It was silver like the water but when he put it into Keith’s hand it started to glow as if from the inside. It was a warm light washing out from it and Keith smiled.

“Bet I could find more than you,” Lance challenged and dived into the stream, standing knee deep in it and getting splashed so much by the water that he was quickly soaked.

“Not on my birthday!” Keith followed him into the river.

The Heleorite panning quickly devolved into the two of them splashing each other and getting into a water fight, the pans lost as they floated down the stream. A small pile of the Heleorite they found had been formed on the bank; it was maybe enough to fill two thimbles.

But in the water Keith had finally pinned Lance against the bottom of one of the shallower areas. He wasn’t worried about his boyfriend accidentally drowning but it was deep enough to go over his shoulders and leak onto his chest. Keith’s arms were pinning Lance’s down and their bodies were pressed flush together, legs tangled up in each other. The water continued around them, a Zen rustling that blanketed them.

Keith leaned down, closing the distance between their mouths, and kissed Lance deeply. Lance kissed back and Keith smiled into the other boy’s mouth.

“Happy birthday, Keith,” Lance said, voice heavy with desire, when they broke for air for a moment.

After kissing for a bit more they both realized it was getting close to time for them to leave. They climbed out of the stream soaked through and smiling and definitely more than a little horny. Lance stooped down to pick up the Heleorite they had collected. Inside the ship Lance pointed to the towels and then started tinkering with something in his hands.

Keith rubbed one of the towels through his hair and did his best to dry his body off while keeping his clothes on—it wouldn’t do to get an impromptu video call from the Castle Ship while they were both naked.

As the ship took off and Keith was tucking himself back amongst the blankets—they would dry eventually they were just blankets—he asked what Lance was doing.

Lance sat next to him on the blankets and showed him; it was a little bottle on a leather cord and inside the bottle, filling it up about three-fourths of the way, was the Heleorite. Lance handed it to Keith and as soon as it touched Keith’s hands it lit up like his own, personal, little sunset. It had all the colors of a desert sunset and he couldn’t help but pull the necklace up to his eye.

“Do you like it?” Lance repeated his question from earlier.

“I love it,” Keith breathed, looping it over his head and pulling it against his heart. He kissed Lance again, as a thank you. “What makes it glow like that? You said it was only in certain circumstances.”

“Well, it’s actually pretty cool. First, it has to be given to a person by someone they love,” and Lance smiled widely at this, “and, second, any time after that exchange, when the owner is near that person, the Heleorite will glow to let them know.”

Keith pulled him in again for another deep kiss. Lance tried to pull away—damn breathing—and Keith hooked his fingers into the wet shirt, keeping them together.

Eventually, because it was already a dizzying kiss and they didn’t need one of them fainting, they did pull apart.

“Happy birthday, Keith.”

“I love you Lance.”

They piled into their cuddle position again.

“Can we go to sleep now?” Keith asked, carding his fingers through Lance’s hair.

“Anything for you, birthday boy.”

And so they did.

#klance #klance fic #klance fanfiction #keith #lance #vld #voltron #voltron: legendary defender #cute date #soft klance #cuddle klance #cute klance #happy birthday keith #birthday keith #i wrote this #woohoo #one-shot #one-shot klance #established boyfriends #boyfriends klance #laith #in-universe

[fuck-customers]

Museum gift shop girl again, with a customer who just irritated me and was kinda weird. So this past Saturday I was in the shop and one of the normal shop employees was in the box office. This woman comes in the shop and goes "Excuse me, where the heck is the entrance to the museum?" I explain to her where the entrance is and she goes "OH Okay! I didn't think we could go in there because the girl at the counter didn't hand us any tickets or told us where to go! She's obviously new and still needs to be trained!" This made me mad because a) the girl working in the box office has been working there for two months longer than I have b) unless the ticket printer is broken we always hand the customers tickets when they buy them (plus shop employees don't always know how to quickly fix the printer so it takes us a moment) and c) we always tell paying customers where to enter. So something told me this woman didn't even bother paying or the ticket printer goofed up and she walked away before it could be fixed and jumped to some pretty brash conclusions. So I politely said to the lady "if you paid you're supposed to get a ticket. Unless the ticket printer jammed up or something. I'd go back and ask her for your tickets, I'm sure she's fixed the printer by now." "Okay okay, you're great at customer service, she should take notes from you!" The lady walked back to the box office. I didn't say anything because at the moment the comment seemed to come out of nowhere. She comes back a couple hours later and shops, and when she comes up to buy her stuff she asks me about thimbles. My other coworker points her to our collectors thimbles but she sneers and goes "No, I want a thimble I can actually use to sew." And turns back to me and repeats her question. I walked her to our other selection of collector thimbles that can be used, and she starts gushing over how good an employee I am. "I can tell you've been here at least five years!" She says as she literally slaps my back. I awkwardly laughed and mentioned I've only been working here for almost one. She goes "Well everyone around here should still take notes from you!" I didn't say anything else as I finished ringing her up, aside from my normal checkout spiels. While her receipt was printing my coworker, who had bagged this ladys items, held the bag out to her but the lady wouldn't take it - instead she kinda leaned away. So my coworker set the bag down and walked to the back to take care of something. I dropped the receipt in the bag and held it to the lady, who finally decided it was worth taking and went "You're a great employee, that other girl should take notes from you! Everyone should take notes from you!" At this point im annoyed with this lady, but I smiled and wished her a good day and turned my attention to the next customer in line and that seemed to get her to leave me alone. I don't know WHAT this lady's obsession with me was for, but she really just rubbed me the wrong way - especially with how she treated and talked about my coworkers. And as far as I know I was the only one she interacted with the most out of the staff that was there that day, because everyone else either didn't run into her or she didn't bother asking them for help. Here's hoping she doesn't make a beeline for me if she ever comes back again.

#submissions #fuck customers #cashier problems #submission