#but yeah. eleanor remains one of my
Happy Holidays (Kate Bishop x Romanoff!Reader) - Epilogue
Series Masterlist
Main Masterlist
A/N: I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. I've been occupied with all of my classes in college, but I figured I'd try to get some things updated as quick as I could for you guys.
I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this story.
Also, please send in requests so I can get a lot better about keeping up with stories and fics :)
Thank you guys!
(Y/n) staggers towards Fisk and Kate, pain radiating all throughout her body.
"Please, not her," (Y/n) rasps, putting herself between Kate and Fisk.
"Kill the little Widow," Fisk says thoughtfully. "Sounds good to me."
And he strikes.
"Get the fuck away from my kid!" Natasha shoots at the arrows with her handgun.
(Y/n) grunts in pain as Kate pulls her down, covering (Y/n)'s head with her arms.
The arrows all activate at once, and all the reactions create a small explosion, knocking Fisk into the farthest wall.
Kate pulls (Y/n) more into herself, turning to protect (Y/n)'s already battered body from the explosion.
. . .
(Y/n) lies limply in her mother's arms – yes Natasha's muscles had softened in her retirement, but she could still support the weight of her daughter.
"Is this what heroes do?" Eleanor asks as an officer pushes her head down to get her into the police car. "Arrest their mothers on Christmas?"
"I'm sorry," Kate says through gritted teeth. "I love you, mom."
The police car drives away, and Kate turns to where Natasha is carrying (Y/n) towards an ambulance.
Kate glances at Clint. "C'mon," Clint says. Yelena remains behind, and Clint turns to her. "You too, kid."
. . .
Kate leans against the doorframe of (Y/n)'s hospital room. She both didn't want to interrupt, but also wanted to be at (Y/n)'s side.
"You don't have to stand in the doorway, Bishop," Natasha says softly from (Y/n)'s bedside, not wanting to wake her daughter.
Kate pads softly into the room, sinking into one of the chairs and taking one of (Y/n)'s hands and playing with her girlfriend's fingers.
"It's nice to meet you," Natasha says, looking over at the young archer.
"You as well, Miss Romanoff," Kate pulls her eyes off (Y/n)'s face.
"Please, Natasha," Natasha replies. Kate doesn't reply, her gaze falling back down to (Y/n)'s face. "She'll be alright," Natasha reassures the young archer. "It's just a sprained ankle and bruising around her neck."
"I–" Kate's voice falters. "She's here because of me."
Natasha snorts. "Yeah, don't think that's right, kid," she says.
"But like -" Kate says.
"Shut up, Bishop," (Y/n) rasps, her throat sore from bruising. "Mama?" her gaze falls onto her mother, sitting beside Kate. "Так приятно тебя видеть!" It's so good to see you! (Y/n) says. "Мне жаль, что я заставил тебя выйти из пенсии" I'm sorry for making you come out of retirement.
"Don't worry about that, honey," Natasha tells her daughter. "It was time for me to come out of the shadows."
"You deserve quiet," (Y/n) rasps.
"You too, kiddo," Natasha replies, studying her daughter's face.
(Y/n) lets her gaze fall on Kate once more, studying the scratches and bruising on her face and neck.
Natasha pats her daughter's hand before she gets up, leaving Kate and (Y/n) alone.
"Hi," Kate whispers, studying (Y/n)'s face.
"Hi," (Y/n) rasps.
"I'm sorry," Kate wails softly, keeping her eyes on (Y/n)'s cut face.
"I'm just glad you're safe, Katie," (Y/n) murmurs, reaching over to take Kate's hand.
"But you're hurt," Kate protests.
"But I'm alive, and you're safe," (Y/n) replies, looking into Kate's shattered blue gaze. "What happened with your Mom?" (Y/n) asks, and Kate seems to deflate even more.
"Um, I reported her to the police," Kate mutters, playing with (Y/n)'s fingers again.
"I'm sorry, Kate," (Y/n) replies, her expression softening even more. "You could come home with me," (Y/n) says. "I already know that my mom approves of you."
Kate looks utterly surprised, but she nods. "Okay," she murmurs.
. . .
Clint, Natasha, Yelena, Kate, and (Y/n) get out of Barton's car, letting Bolt, Fanny, and Lucky out of their places at (Y/n)'s, Kate's, and Yelena's feet.
Bolt's tongue lolls out of his mouse, bouncing excitedly in place at the familiar sight of his home.
"Boltie, you excited to be home?" (Y/n) kneels down and scratches behind the dog's ears.
"His paws are probably cold," Yelena says, studying her 'new' niece.
"Pfft," (Y/n) grins at her dog. "Could never be that, huh?" she asks, her voice raising an octave.
"Yelena's right," Natasha says out of the corner of her mouth. "My paws are freezing."
(Y/n) breathes out a laugh, moving over to help Clint grabs a few duffle bags and bags of gifts.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Kate asks, grabbing one of (Y/n)'s bags, and Lucky's leash.
"Oh, I'm telling you, they're very excited to meet you," Clint replies, glancing mischievously at (Y/n), and then at Kate.
"Daddy!" Nathaniel shrieks. "(Y/n)!"
"Hey, there he is!" Clint says, kneeling down to hug his son. "Hey, buddy, Merry Christmas."
"You made it," Lila appears in the doorway. "You kept your promise."
"Here, take something," Clint says, handing both Nate and Lila a bag and some gifts.
"What's your names?" Nate asks, looking between Kate and Yelena.
"This is Kate," Clint gestures at Kate, who was looking down at Nate and Lila over (Y/n)'s shoulder.
"And this is my sister, Yelena," Natasha ruffles her sister's hair with a free hand.
"Come on in, let's go," Clint herds his children into the house, gesturing for the others to follow.
Laura hugs her husband as he enters the kitchen of their home.
"I missed you," Clint murmurs.
"I missed you too," Laura replies.
"Ah! The dogs are so cute!" Nate exclaims as Kate stumbles in the doorway. "What are their names?"
"That's Lucky," Nate and Lila crowd around the golden retriever.
Cooper looks at Fanny, and then up at Yelena. "That's Fanny. She, uh, likes being scratched behind the ears."
Cooper, taking that as permission, scratches behind Fanny's ears.
"Right, yeah," Clint gestures to Kate and then Yelena. "Brought home a couple of strays."
Kate turns around from where she'd closed the door.
"Hi," Kate says shyly.
"This is Kate," Clint says.
"Welcome, Kate. So good to have you," Laura says.
Kate flushes, moving to stand at (Y/n)'s side.
Laura chuckles, moving over to hug the young raven-haired woman.
"And this is my sister, Yelena," Natasha rests a hand on her sister's shoulder.
Yelena smiles shyly. "Uh, hello." And Laura smiles widely at the blonde woman.
. . .
"No way! I've always wanted one of these!" Nate exclaims as (Y/n) sits down, handing Kate a mug of hot chocolate.
Kate smiles slightly, pressing a quick kiss to (Y/n)'s cheek.
Yelena sits next to Natasha at the dining table with Clint and Laura, just watching the kids and (Y/n).
"Kate. Hey, will you help me with somethin' real quick?" Clint asks, and she looks over.
"Yeah, sure," Kate replies after exchanging a look with (Y/n).
. . .
Kate returns to the Barton's living room a few minutes later, trying to hide a grin, but failing miserably.
"What's got you so smiley?" (Y/n) leans backwards, against Kate's legs once she'd settled down on the couch again.
"Oh, nothing," Kate replies. "I'll tell you later." (Y/n) chuckles.
"Maybe you'll feel better after you open my Christmas present?" (Y/n)'s eyes twinkle.
"What?" Kate asks.
"Here," (Y/n) reaches over, pulling a gift over by the purple ribbon she'd tied around the gift in black paper.
"What is this?" Kate asks.
"Open it and you'll find out," (Y/n) replies, and Kate rolls her eyes fondly.
Kate carefully unties the bow and drapes it across (Y/n)'s shoulders like a scarf.
(Y/n) lets out a 'pfft' sound, and Natasha watches her daughter and Kate fondly from the dining table.
(Y/n) rests her head on the side of the couch as Kate carefully pulls the black paper off the small box.
"What in the world?" Kate looks confusedly at the contents of the box. "A key? To what?"
(Y/n) blinks, looking amused. "It's a spare key. To my apartment. Because I figured you didn't really have anywhere to stay," her tone shifts to one of concern.
Kate blinks, but then her expression softens. "Thank you," she says.
"And I think Lucky and Bolt are too attached to separate," (Y/n) comments, looking over at the dogs cuddled together on the floor below the Christmas tree.
"I feel like you're also talking about two others," Kate says, winking at (Y/n).
"You could say that," (Y/n) replies.
The End!
95 notes
·
View notes
(Tales of Berseria) Velvet, Eleanor, and Magilou's S/O becoming a Daemon
Velvet had known S/O to be quite the klutz back then.
They were scarily efficient at hunting and fighting, but other than that? (Y/N) was an absolute catastrophe and quite the airhead.
When Velvet had met them three years later after the village was attacked, she expected a massive personality shift like hers, or some of the others she had met.
When they turned around, getting ready for a fight, Velvet steeled herself to put down a familiar face.
Only for them to drop their weapons and almost tackle Velvet in a hug.
(S/O) "VELVET! YOU'RE OKAY!"
And even though Velvet had grown far stronger than the last time they met, the force of the hug threatened to snap Velvet in half.
(Velvet) "S-S/O...! CAN'T...BREATHE!"
Releasing her from their death grip, they quickly moved to help her up.
(S/O) "S-Sorry! I just go so excited, I can't believe you're okay!"
(Velvet) "I...I see you haven't changed at all. That's...surprising."
As far as she knew, people became Daemons due to an overflow of malevolence. Someone as gentle as S/O becoming one was almost inconcievable.
Especially compared to herself.
Despite that fact, she was honestly glad that something from her old life managed to keep intact, reminding her of why she was out to kill Artorias.
Upon hearing their plan to get revenge for Laphicet, S/O joined without hesitation. And the two even managed to rekindle their old relationship, even if it was a bit...rocky.
Velvet and S/O tore apart anything that got in their path, the way they fought was almost as vicious as herself.
But when it came to outside of combat...
(S/O) "I think I'll cook today Ve-"
(Velvet) "Not happening."
(S/O) "Huh? Why?"
(Velvet) "Have your skills improved any these past three years?"
(S/O) "I would think so!...At least, I hope!"
(Laphicet) "Isn't that mean to S/O, Velvet?"
(Velvet) "Trust me, it's for the good of everyone present. Honestly, what they cook could probably make me taste again."
(S/O) "I-Is that why you can eat my food now?!"
Velvet looked sorry for S/O, seeing their distraught expression.
Which completely shocked everyone.
(Velvet) "...I should have mentioned that sooner."
Every Daemon was an abomination that had to be taken down, that was what the Abbey taught Eleanor.
Until meeting Velvet, Rokurou, and even her own S/O.
She was completely heartbroken, learning the fact S/O had become what she swore to destroy.
But during her travels, she began to learn the truth of daemonblight, and that sometimes humans were worse than them.
One thing that confused her greatly, was the fact S/O had remained largely unchanged, minus their red eyes and the markings over their body.
They were still the airhead she fell in love with, which conflicted her to no end.
As time went on and her attitude towards the Abbey changed, she was so happy that she could continue to be with someone she loved, even if they were going to live longer than her.
During combat, Eleanor could rely on S/O the most, watching as they dashed around the field with startling speed, dispatching of every last enemy with blinding ease with their needles.
However, she was the one to reign them whenever it was outside of combat.
...
Rokurou crashed through the wooden wall, scaring Eleanor as she leapt back, readying her spear in retaliation.
Only to find S/O rushing through the hole they made with him, apologizing profusely.
(S/O) "OH GODS! I-I AM SO SORRY!"
(Rokurou) "O-Ow..."
(Eleanor) "What the heck is going on!?"
(S/O) "T-THEY JUST SCARED ME AS A JOKE AND...A-and um, I may have...punched him."
He slowly rose up, hand on his head and he began chuckling, albeit injured.
(Rokurou) "Yeah, that was my fault, honestly. Thought it'd be a funny idea, even though I've seen how hard they hit."
(Eleanor) "S/O, you can't just be punching people!"
(S/O) "I-It wasn't on purpose!"
Eleanor just sighed and helped Rokurou up, continuing to scold S/O. She had done this many times back when they were growing up, and nothing had changed.
Except their strength, that was definitely new.
Magilou wasn't that shocked to see her S/O that unaffected.
(Magilou) "There's no thoughts in that pretty head of theirs, I honestly would have been more surprised if they actually changed!"
(S/O) "H-Hey...!"
She knew of their incredible strength and questionable skills outside of anything that required killing. But Magilou didn't care about that.
She cared more about the goofball that laid inside the boulder-kicking body. And she weaponizes it.
(Magilou) "S/O, I'M BEING ATTACKED!"
Eizen watches as the concrete wall next to them suddenly bursts with S/O, weapons drawn and absolutely ready to tear the throat out of someone.
(S/O) "WHERE ARE TH-...Eizen? Magilou?"
(Magilou) "See? Told you it worked!"
(Eizen) "Huh, two seconds, exactly like you said. I don't know if that's impressive or concerning."
(S/O) "Magilou!"
They began pouting as Magilou dramatically flailed her arms and wrapped it around them.
(Magilou) "I'm so sorry, my dear! I just had to prove how reliable you are!"
(S/O) "You're making me sound more like a dog than your partner..."
(Magilou) "Perish the thought! I would not dare to think of you so low! Besides, that's what Bienfu is for."
(Eizen) "Magilou here just said that if she called for you, you'd answer. Even faster if she sounded like she was in danger. Loyalty is not something to be ashamed of...Though your taste is questionable."
Eizen stared at Magilou.
(S/O) "Don't say something so rude!"
Eizen just shrugged as S/O picked up Magilou, the witch sticking her tongue in defiance.
75 notes
·
View notes
It makes my heart soft for Arthur to treat Zee so gently not because she's his daughter but because she's a woman in a time where it was particularly awful to be a woman. He tried his best to respect her as a person and as his child without making her feel she's 'just' a woman. I'm curious how Lord Father would react to some poor bastard coming to ask him permission to court his daughter. I imagine it's that best laugh he's had in a long time, straight up doubled-over with tears in his eyes. Let's him know he'd have a better chance asking her directly but considering this start he's going to have a hell of a time. To quote Thedore Roosevelt: "I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both."
ALL of this. It's not like the man isn't sexist because he is, but in a way that isn't purely Victorian. He's lived a long life; the first British person we know much about is Boadicea. He is the last son of a goddess who ruled with blood, sacrifice, fear and cunning. Brighid and he will have a testy relationship, but she was the high-status centre of the Celtic Christianity he will draw upon again and again. England's wealth before the empire was caught up in cloth. Women's work created him, and he knows that. As a child in the world of late antiquity, he sat at his mother's and Brighid's feet as they worked the loom. Disrespecting women's work disrespects most of his own history. Plus, if you read Anglo-Saxon poetry, there are these tantalizing hints that women's work was seen as more important to civilization than men's. He isn't a fantastic father, but he does view her as a person if nothing else. The sheer amount of regnant queens he's had.
And I do feel like he and Zee did direct any potential suiters to him first because very late Victorian/Early Edwardian courtship and society meant that his rejections on her behalf would pull any social blame of her being a bit haughty or potentially deviant and redirect it to him where it was fine. After all, a daughter's marriage is still much the father's prerogative. It was socially acceptable for her to remain unmarried as widowed men or even just men fond of their daughters often gave them the choice of staying home if they so wished. It could be a better setup, but it maximizes her freedom. Answering a question about why she is unwed with "because I'm a lesbian and I don't bloody want to be" is unacceptable and degenerate. But "Oh, I could never leave my poor dear Papa; he utterly depends on me" makes her ultra respectable and dutiful even if she hasn't seen the old fart since Christmas. It's also a way for Arthur to keep an eye on her. If people are writing to him about courting Dearest Eleanor, it's intel.
But the first time it happened? Oh, good lord, the man lost his absolute shit. Partially because she's his baby and just absolutely not, that's his last child. She's not even a century old; he does not care. She is a teenager now she is a baby. Two, the audacity some of these potatoes have. Whenever Zee puts effort into playing the part of being the beautiful young socialite in just the prettiest clothes, putting on her best manners, and utilizing all that intelligence for social purposes, he's got a line out the door. When Zee is cranky with him, she puts on a particularly flattering blue or green dress and goes to a dinner party and just fucks up the old man's week lmao. She goes on a social campaign to get her way about something, and Matt might end up taking a nap in a coffin on the dining room table to shut it all down if he's particularly irate with her because no one can come courting to a house in mourning lol. But man yeah, there is a reason her slightly anti-social ass wears so much mourning black to keep off.
40 notes
·
View notes
What are your thoughts about the PoTC cast in Back Sails?
AHAHAHAHHA! I kept meaning to do this!
this ended up INCREDIBLY long...
Elizabeth is either killed early on, or makes it to the end, there's no in between. I imagine she would be good friends with eleanor but eventually they'd see they're in this game on different sides and there's a dramatic moment where Elizabeth betrays her. Its framed as a "see she's not purely good either" moment, meant to reflect that everyone here is technically a criminal, but the fandom hated Eleanor enough by then that Lizzie becomes part of a bunch of annoying Girl Boss memes .
I'm gay, so I want a scene where Anne teaches Elizabeth how to use a knife. Also a scene of her and Will sparring, since we're told he taught her how to sword fight, but NEVER SAW IT...
Will does okay! He survives most of the way through, and really would have gone longer, but gets killed off for Elizabeth's character development. Most of his involvement was with finding the treasure and assisting in the defense of Nassau. OR he ends up opening a blacksmith shop on the island. There's an emotional moment where Flint applauds his fine work, but tells him it's all fucking worthless. They need strength and quantity, not high art. Will doesn't get to show off his artistry again for a while. Billy and Will remain the Token Straight Men of the series, and even though they never speak and only share one frame, there are hundreds of fics about them.
Jack...depends on which one. The guy who played comic relief and court jester throughout the other films? He's shot in a brawl he didn't even start his first time in Nassau. The guy who carried around a pistol with one shot on a mission of cold revenge? The guy who didn't even flinch at the idea of trading souls for his own? The guy that laughed at his own hanging? Yeah, he would make it at least as far as Charles Vane did. He gets killed, naturally, because he ends up a fan favorite. He gets on Silver's nerves immensely, despite the fact that they have a weird chemistry. Flint only exchanges a few words with him, one of them being essentially "Get the fuck off my ship and if I see you on it again I will shoot you."
Either that, or they end up with a Picard/Q dynaimic.
Tia Dalma kicks ass and takes names. She's given a weapon. If she has supernatural powers in this, that becomes a major plot point to convince her onto their side. She outright (violently, graphically) gets people killed by some kind of magic trap trying to get to her island, or else we just see their bodies mangled on display leading up to her cabin. Madi becomes the person to suggest going in from behind the main entrance to the island where the traps are, and gets in alone, and convinces her to assist--but only if they can deliver to her the heart of Davy Jones, which becomes the main collateral of the series instead of the Urca gold. Idk, Jones buried instructions for her release in it or something.
Barbossa does extremely well, and while he's at the forefront of most of the battles, he somehow survives to the end, he, like Anne & Rackham, sails under the black still despite the supposed end of piracy on Nassau OR his epilogue piece is him sitting in an office above the tavern on Tortuga, establishing a second pirate base there. He doesn't get the Pearl in this version, but manages to sail off with The Fucking Warship. He, Flint, and Blackbeard hate each other, deeply, but also have the most experience and end up collaborating throughout the show for a few of the major battles.
Anna-Maria almost gets involved with Anne, but doesn't. She doesn't like how much they have in common, a rough past, a shaky relationship with a Jack (I assume we unfortunately have to see pretty much everyone fucking someone at some point, since it's Starz, and there's no way the writers wouldn't have gone the easy route of her and Jack), but she does save Anne's life at one point. Max thanks for her it, upset that she wasn't there, and post break up with Anne, Max finds her again, offers her a position on the new Nassau which she says she'll consider. In typical fashion of the show, we're never given a definite as to whether or not the two women ever get together. She survives but only because I said so, otherwise she's a minor character and therefore easy cannon-fodder (possibly literally) for an early series death.
Norrington ends up playing a major role in the early season, betrays the English at one point for Elizabeth's protection (he tells them that he's doing it to doublecross her, he tells her he's double crossing them, he doesn't know what he's doing). Will and Elizabeth were fighting Because Drama and This is Starz, so at some point she marries him, but it cements him onto their side (opposite of Eleanor and Woodes in the later seasons). He's good with strategy until it's personal (remember in his own canon he's the one who chased Jack around the world, got his crew killed), but a personal stake in things is what makes Elizabeth hone in on her best ideas, and they level each other out.
Season two finale he's killed by a random English spy on the island who was sent to be sure Norrington was doing what he said he would. With Eleanor's approval, Elizabeth tortures the spy for information, but after he gives up with little useless nonsense he knows, she still kills him, dumps the body, lies and says their information source escaped. When he washes in with the tide, Will claims it was his actions. He and Norrington were not close, but they were from the same town, and (he lies) he respected him. He knows Elizabeth did it, but also knows that he'll get much less flack for it, if any; and Elizabeth nods a thank you. It's the start of them communicating again.
Gibbs, as a storyteller, is given protection by the narrative, as it knows that it needs him alive to exist, and therefore he lives.
63 notes
·
View notes
through the hourglass 205. brb x oc
a/n: I HAD TO OK I LOVE THEM(comments and reblogs are super welcome and encouraged!)
pairing: plus size!oc x rooster
warnings: none uwu
goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)
chapter
1/
/164/165/166/167/168/169/170/171/172/173/174/175/176/177/178/179/180/181/182/183/184/185/186/187/188/189/190/191/192/193/194/195/196/197/198/199/200/201/202/203/204
(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )
taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix @lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls
@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2
@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @booklover2sblog @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12
@caitsymichelle13 @becks-things @caatheeriinee07 @fanboyswhore9 @jesfreedark @katiemcrae @lilmonstrjedi @hobiismyhopeu @teacupsandtopgun @insominac23 @gh0stsgoodgirl @mygyn @chavivaelisheva @kmc1989 @enchantingharmonyalpaca
-
Nicole wasn’t that far from them at the park, she was sitting on the grass with Jack lying behind her like a giant dog shaped body pillow that she could lean against while Eleanor was running around like a blur of white from left to right in absolute crazy speed.
Bradley and Pete were on a bench, watching the whole thing while leaning back against it. Rooster had his hands behind his head with a little smile - every now and again Nicole turned her head to face the two, then waved only to go back to her little world. “...she’s so big already.” Maverick comments, crossing his arms as the two of them keep a watch on Nikki, “She looks much bigger than a one year old.”
“Yeah, she got our tall genes.” he chuckles, inhaling quietly before looking at Maverick, ‘...can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“You never wanted kids?”
Maverick sputtered a laugh, the soon evolved to a hearty chuckle that then turned into Pete trying not to choke on his spit, coughing against his hand. Once he was available to speak, he turned to Rooster with his brows furrowed, smiling at his nephew with a confused look on his face, “You serious?” Rooster just nodded, arching his brow, “...I’m not parent material,Rooster. I don’t think I���d be a good dad.”
Rooster opened his mouth, the inhale before he starts to speak makes Maverick turn to him, only to close his mouth and look ahead with his jaw clenched as he focused on Nicole, “...I mean…you…were there for me.”
“That still doesn’t qualify me as parent material.” and it was obvious Maverick didn’t want to continue with this conversation, considering he sighed and then pulled his sunglasses to his hair, “I’m okay being the cool uncle, and the even cooler granduncle, but not a dad. Come on,Brad.”
He knew Maverick had his issues,they never talked about his own father. Maybe because neither of them wanted to work on the pain that connected them like that…he wondered if somehow, Maverick saw himself in Bradley when he grew up. “What was your dad like?”
“...what?”
“...your dad,I don’t think we talked about him before.”
Maverick turned his head towards Rooster, slowly, his eyes appearing darker as he looked towards his nephew who in turn focused back on him. Both of them were silent,both of them remained silent for a few minutes until Maverick’s back expanded with a breath, “My dad,” he repeats, them hums a soft chuckle, rubbing his chin, “Ah…my dad,well…” he taps his jacket a bit until he finds what he’s looking for, “Here.”
He shows Rooster a picture, one he had never seen before. Bradley cautiously picks it up from Pete’s hand, looking down at the picture with his brows furrowed. There is a mustached man, he appears bulkier than Pete was right now with a little boy on his shoulders, standing in front of a fighter jet smiling. He stares at it for a few seconds, unsure how to reply because that image just sent a jolt over him, “He died in Vietnam.” his uncle then replies, looking ahead to where Nicole was “KIA.”
“How old were you then?”
Maverick inhales “Two years old.”
And Bradley feels like he’s been slapped because they were the same age when both of them lost their father. He had no idea, he had absolutely no idea that’s what happened to Maverick’s dad. His uncle plays with his own hands for a bit, chewing his cheek before he looks up, “I stayed with my grandma for a while, until I was old enough to join the Navy…then I was denied admission.”
“What?”
Maverick smirks, “I was denied admission.” he says softly, “Your dad knew about it…I managed to join in the end but,” he leans back on the bench, sliding his hands in his jeans’ pockets, “You know, it goes how it goes.”
Bradley only stared for a few minutes, then looked back to where Nicole was, this time trying to grab a butterfly that was fluttering around her and Jack. He…didn’t know. Any of it. And he felt guilty because of how things progressed over time, if he knew–
“Now, don’t get into your head so much.’ Maverick says, smirking at him and elbowing his arm, “We both messed up our own ways,Rooster and I’m glad we made up,I don’t want you to blame yourself for my problems like that.”
“But…I–”
“I didn’t want to be that person to you.” he whispers, “When Goose died I…was very lost. I lost my friend, I lost my best friend…I lost my brother and I felt I was alone in the world again. My whole life has been like that,I didn’t want you to go through the same things I did.” he sighs, running his hand through his hair, “When I saw you,I saw Goose and Carol,I saw my friends and I saw…me in some way. I guess in the end I was..protecting young Pete, when no one could.”
And Bradley felt his heart clench. Maverick’s emotional moments were rare, but they were never misplaced. Seeing his uncle looking ahead, looking at Nikki the same way he used to look at him growing up…made him figure out that so much they went through was just the reflections of what he had to go through. They weren’t right, no, but Rooster couldn’t blame Maverick like that.
“You have to be there for them,Rooster.” his uncle whispers, arching his brow and flicking his gaze towards him, “All the time you can give them, do it. You got a promotion now, you know things will get harder and harder, but don’t be like…certain people. Nicole will grow up knowing what you do, but she won’t be mad because of it.” the toddler in front of them suddenly stood up using Jack’s massive furry body as support as she tried to grab the butterfly again, “Because you are going to break a lot of generational trauma. Both you and Bea.”
Rooster's gaze shifted to Nicole, who was now laughing as she chased after the elusive butterfly, her giggles filling the air. It was a simple moment, yet it held so much meaning. He felt a surge of determination within him, a renewed sense of purpose. Maverick was right – he didn't have to repeat the mistakes of the past. He could be there for his family, break the cycle, and create a better future.
"That’s a pretty big word." Rooster finally replied, his voice steady and a smirk slowly forming on his face when he said that. Even if it was a joke, he was thankful for his uncle’s words.
Maverick turned to him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I am reading a lot.”
Rooster grinned back at his uncle, a newfound sense of understanding passing between them. They sat in companionable silence, Rooster’s thumb and forefinger rubbing against his wedding ring as he sighs softly, “...I wouldn’t be able to do anything without her.” he whispers, “Without Bea…she changed me- no,she’d hate if I said that…she helped me see my better self.” he explains with a twirl of his hand, “But she made me better. More understanding, more open to express my feelings and opinions.”
“And now you have three kids together.”
“And now we have three kids together.” Rooster chuckles, “Did you ever think I’d get there?”
Rooster's heart swelled at Maverick's words. It was a simple statement, but it held so much truth. He had indeed found his footing, his purpose, and his happiness with Beatrice by his side. His life turned to the better when she appeared,that’s for sure.
"Thanks, Mav," Rooster said, his voice genuine and full of appreciation. "For everything."
Maverick clapped a hand on Rooster's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Anytime, kid. We're family, after all."
“You are a bit annoying still.”
“Eh,well,” he claps him harder, “Won’t get rid of me that easily.”
Both shared a chuckle before Nicole waddled her way over to them, she was getting better every day and was able to walk without losing her balance so much. Jack was right behind her while his sister still zoomed around the park as if there was no tomorrow, making sure Nicole wouldn’t fall back on the grass.
Once Nikki was close, she placed both of her hands on Rooster’s knees and tried to push herself onto his lap. Rooster just picked her up and held her under the armpits as she stood on top of his thighs, babbling cutely to him before ‘nomming’ his cheek, “Ow,okay,listen, you have teeth now.”
But then, Nicole's attention shifted, her wide eyes locking onto Maverick who was sitting beside them. Her little arms reached out, fingers curling as if she was eager to be held by her granduncle.
Maverick leaned forward, a warm smile gracing his features as he extended his arms. "Well, hello there, princess. C’mere you." Nicole squealed with delight and squirmed in Rooster's hold, clearly wanting to be with Maverick. Rooster chuckled and carefully transferred her into Maverick's waiting arms, making sure she was secure.
Maverick kissed the top of her head, allowing his grand-niece to possibly use him as a tree and try to climb on him, giving Rooster a look, “She’s doing this often,huh?”
“Yep.”
“Good,ow.” Nicole tugs his hair a bit then immediately lets go, choosing to lie on her great-uncle’s shoulder like a fancy fur while holding on the back of the bench for support, “I got you Nikki, it’s okay.”
As this was going on,an idea darted in Bradley’s mind and he smiled to himself. He was going to talk to Bea once he gets home.
-
Bradley walks alongside Maverick to his front door, opening it so the dogs walk in first before he stops,hearing Beatrice’s laugh from the kitchen, “Babe?”
“In here! With Shells!”
“Heyy Rooster.”
Bradley steps in so Mav does the same right behind him before closing the door. “You want some water or something?”
“I can do water, yeah.”
The two of them walk to the kitchen where the laughter turned into giggles - like two teenagers trying to hide their conversation from the adults. As he walks past the threshold he sees Beatrice holding her head up with a fist and Shells relaxed posture on the other chair, giggling like the gremlin she was, “Hey Shells.” the blonde waves at him and he turns his attention to Bea, eyes softening, “Hey gorgeous.”
“Hi,” she meets his lips when he leans down to peck her, smiling widely as Nicole reaches for her, “Hi sweetie pie,Hi Mav.” the older pilot offers the two a small wave, “I didn’t know you were with Brad.”
Bradley chuckled as he walked over to the kitchen counter, opening a cabinet to retrieve a glass. "Yeah, he joined in last minute. Didn’t know you two were having a party in here."
Shells leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms casually. "You know us, always the life of the party."
Beatrice grinned at Shells' playful remark then adjusted Nicole on her grasp, “We were just sharing some information, you know, the good kind.” her husband hums as he fills the glass for Maverick, handing it off to his uncle before leaning against the counter, “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“And,” Bradley’s eyes drop to the box of pastries,”Having snacks.”
“Hey,” Shells points an accusatory finger at him, “They are from Rizzo’s, they aren’t just snacks.”
Bradley hums while drinking water himself, looking back at Maverick when his uncle announced he should go back home now…which prompted Shells to go ‘You know what, me too.” she stands up quickly, chair scraping - startling the dogs and Nicole a bit but they didn’t cry out or complain- and leaning down to hug Bea and whisper something in her ear.
Something her husband just narrowed his eyes to when her cheeks went red. Shells stood up after saying goodbye to Nicole, patting his cheek as she walks past him with a ‘bye bye Chanticleer!’ and then playfully punching Maverick’s shoulder until she was at the door. Maverick just flicked his gaze to Bradley, arching his brows, “Well,see you next week then.” he says, adjusting his jacket and turning his foot to the door with Rooster right behind him.
“Yeah,” Rooster says, opening it for him, “You’ll be there during the training too?”
“Course I will, I won't miss it for the world.”
“Sounds good.” he smiles sweetly, his eyes shining. “...thanks Mav.”
“What for?”
And Rooster shrugs, “Everything.” his uncle stops fixing his collar to allow a small smile to spread over his face. He gives his nephew a side hug,patting his back then ruffling his hair like he used to do when Brad was a kid, “Hey!”
“Just because you are taller doesn’t mean I can’t do that.” he smiles, dropping his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose, “See you Brad.” Bradley huffs while running his hand through the bronze colored locks, trying to brush them back into place as he watches Maverick walk to his motorcycle.
He waits until his uncle - and Shells - are no longer in front of the house to close the door and wander back inside. He sighs deeply, sliding his hands into his pockets while leisurely making his way to the kitchen, where Beatrice was still sitting down, holding Nicole to her chest. Her smile brightened the second he stepped in, “Hey, how was the day out?”
“It was…” he purses his lips, as if in thought, “...really good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep,” he smirks, walking to the chair that Shells once sat on, “Me and Mav had a talk.”
Beatrice's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she adjusted Nicole on her lap. "Oh, a talk? About what?"
He leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Oh, you know, just life stuff. Family, past, future, the whole package."
She raised an eyebrow, her intrigue growing. "Sounds deep. Do I get to know the details?"
Bradley chuckled, reaching out to take one of her hands in his. "Maybe someday. But for now, let's just say that it was... enlightening. It made me appreciate certain things a bit more."
"Yeah?"
He glanced at her, his gaze softening. "Like how lucky I am to have you by my side. You've helped me become a better person, Bea. More open, more caring. And I want you to know that I'm fully committed to being the best husband and father I can be."
Her heart swelled at his words, and she squeezed his hand affectionately. "You already are, Bradley. You've been amazing."
He grinned, that lopsided smile that always made her heart skip a beat. "Well, I aim to keep that up."
She chuckles softly, cupping his cheek while her eyes soften towards him, “You are too sweet.I can’t stand you.” but she does give him a kiss in the end, one he hums into it and gives her a warm look again, “Stop it.” she holds his chin and taps his lips with her finger, only to kiss him again, “Stop it, you are too cute.”
“Only if you stop being cute too.” he chuckles, kissing her lips soundly, “...I was thinking about something.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah…I think I have…a middle name for Gavin.” he smiles, holding his head up with his hand, “I think you’ll like it.”
“Well,do share.”
Bradley’s voice softened before he continued, “Pete.”
41 notes
·
View notes
The Princess & the Football Player | Chapter 35
Author’s note: First of the last four chapters...
Previous chapter | Next chapter
Masterlist
"May I come in?" I ask after knocking on the door.
"Yes, of course" Charles replies. "It's good to see you again, Eleanor."
"Yeah, you too" I smile.
"Please, have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you."
"So…" he says, nervously playing with his hands. "You wanted to talk, right?"
"Yes. I… I owe you an apology, Charles."
"What for?"
"What for?" I chuckle. "Charles, you asked me to marry you in front of a hundred guests and I said no and ran away!"
"You did. And?"
"And? Aren't you mad at me?"
"Not really" he shrugs.
"What?"
"I mean, I was when you left. But now I'm just… sad."
"And it is all my fault. That's why I must apologize."
"It isn't all your fault. I am the one who fell in love with you despite knowing that you loved someone else."
"I… I…"
"It's ok, Eleanor" he says, taking my hand on his.
"I'm sorry, Charles. I truly am. I really tried to make things work, to love you the way you love me. But I…"
"You are in love with Declan."
"I am, yes. I tried to forget him, but I couldn't. I just couldn't."
"That usually happens when you meet the one, yes" he chuckles.
"Do you think he is the one?"
"Definitely" Charles smiles. "You've never looked at me or any other guy the way you look at him. Never smiled or laughed with me the way you have with him. And I've always been so jealous… Because I could see that it was true love, the one many people wish to find one day. And you should see the way he looks at you too, Eleanor… Heart eyes emoji."
"What?" I laugh.
"It is the only way to describe it" he shrugs again. "You are destined to be together, and one way or another, it was bound to happen."
"I just wish it would have happened differently. That I hadn't broken your heart in the process and made the press harass everyone Declan and I know because of it."
"Has it been that bad?"
"He's been living at West Ham's training center since Christmas because there are paps outside his house day and night. David still has people keeping an eye on his family because they've also bothered them. And from time to time they also follow Roberta and Mason."
"That sucks. I'm so sorry" Charles says, giving my hand a little squeeze.
"Thank you" I smile. "That's one of the reasons why I wanted to see you. To apologize, but also to tell you that I'm planning on talking with the press. I want to try and answer all their questions so they will leave everyone alone."
"What are you going to tell them?"
"That I said no to marrying you because I wasn't ready to take that step yet. That we discussed it, realized that we wanted different things, and decided to end our relationship."
"And when they ask if it was because you still love Declan? Because they will ask about him."
"I'll tell them that all these years we've remained as friends, and that it still stands, that nothing has changed between us. And then of course I'll ask them to please stop harassing him and his family."
"Will they stop, tho?"
"Knowing them they won't, no" I sigh. "But I have to try."
"Is that a wise idea, tho? Talking to the press like that? You know they will push you to say more, to doubt and give them what they want" Charles says.
"David says it isn't. Grandmama says that it is the best option, to make things clear and that they hear me saying it. And my parents think the best idea is to release a statement."
"How did they take the news? Your mum must have been pissed."
"She's actually been very supportive, you know how our relationship has changed these past few years. The one who still is a bit confused is my dad. He didn't see it coming."
"Him? The man who knew you liked Declan since the moment you met? C'mon" Charles chuckles.
"That's what we've told him!" I laugh. "But he just says that he didn't notice because he is getting old."
"Could he be thinking about passing on the crown?"
"Nah, not yet."
"But you should start thinking about it…"
"Charles, I have enough problems and things to worry about right now. I don't need more."
"Ok, ok" he laughs. "But one day you are gonna be an amazing queen."
"You think so?"
"I'm sure of it."
"When I'm queen… Will I still have you as one of my best friends?"
"You will. I promise" Charles smiles, showing his dimples.
"Everything good between us, then?"
"Everything good."
"I love you, Charles. Even if it isn't the way you would like me to."
"I love you too, Eleanor" he says before hugging me. "Though one last thing."
"What" I say, moving to look at him.
"Tell Mr. Rice that if he dares to hurt you, I myself am sending MI6 after him."
"Oh, don't worry about that. My family already warned him."
"Good, good" Charles chuckles. "But now, since you've come all the way down to Monaco and the weather is pretty good keeping in mind it is January… Would you like to go for a boat ride? As friends, of course."
"I would love that."
"On y va, your royal Highness" Charles says, standing up and offering me his hand.
"On y va" I smile as I take it.
21 notes
·
View notes
Scattered Screams Deleted Scenes
Eleanor, consider this a little reward for you to read through after you’ve finished your final exams today! I hope they went well for you!
Now, as I’ve done with most of my longer series in the past, I have compiled a list of all of the ideas I had from way back in November when I started thinking up ideas for Scattered Screams. There are a handful that aren’t organized by what part they would be in as they had no part at all, but the ones that would have been in a part, are labeled with where they belong. Here is my list of deleted scenes!
The earliest version of this story was vastly different. I never let it go public, but I had a full, well-organized Pinterest board for this alternate version. I had just come out of writing Through the Valley and it really shows as things are entirely different right from the start. Originally, the arena was going to be a flooded, overgrown city where muttations ruled over the land and the only way to escape them was to stay in high-rise skyscrapers, crossing from building to building on old, rickety sky bridges and collecting supplies from whatever was left in the buildings. The only solid thing I had written out for this before I scrapped it was the ending, so here is my original ending:
“Vivien and Royce make it to the end like Katniss and Peeta. After arguing for a while about who they think should go home to their families, Vivien suggests they just wait it out. Royce agrees and they go to sleep in a skyscraper. While Royce sleeps, Vivien goes up to the roof with the plan of jumping off, leaving Royce the winner. The gamemakers make it morning which wakes Royce and when he finds her gone, he runs up to the roof to check if she’s there. He gets there just in time to see her standing by the edge and tries to talk her down, pulling a “you jump, I jump” kind of moment. Instead, they fight for it like Hawkeye and Black Widow and it ends the same way or they both decide to jump and the capitol saves them.”
So, yeah, my intention was to make everyone, including you ✨suffer✨
A few things remained the same from the early version of Scattered Screams - Jade, Erica, and Lexi being a big part of this. In my initial version, they were a team of five and Lexi ended up betraying them to the Careers before getting herself killed. I didn’t think of Riven until I started working on my list of characters for each district and he was supposed to be just a throwaway character for Scattered Screams. Once I started writing him more and liking his character, I threw him into my Christmas stories in order to form a sort of connection with him before killing him off in Scattered Screams. Initially, he was going to die early on or go off on his own in the arena, using the billboards around the city to send messages to not only the Capitol, but also the other tributes. In the end, I liked him a lot and, when I changed the arena to the cruise ship, I went through all that I had written and rewrote it all to fit his personality, his character, and his bond with Vivien.
In one of my early drafts, I wrote out some little ideas for Bentley being the one in the arena, not Royce. It was going to be a volunteering situation where Royce was reaped and Bentley stepped in out of instinct, but I didn’t really care for it as much. Obviously, it didn’t last long, but the idea was there all the same. In the arena, it was going to feel more like a Katniss and Rue situation than a Katniss and Peeta situation. In the end, Vivien would have willingly killed herself to let Bentley go home to his brothers as she is the oldest of her siblings and knows how much it would hurt his brothers if he was to die, especially by her hand.
Almost everything until the arena has remained the same since the get-go, but this was something I wrote really early on that I only partially kept:
Vivien doesn’t want to get close to anyone because she remembers what happened with Mick and Miles the year before. Despite Viv’s best efforts, Royce weasels his way into Vivien’s little circle. He falls first, she falls harder. In the end, the only reason they’re sticking together is that their teammates asked them to. Royce gets poisoned by Serena and gets really sick, fast. Vivien reluctantly decides to help him because he’s Mick’s friend’s brother. She doesn’t care about him (or so she claims) and wants to help him so her conscious is clear, but ends up falling for him as they work together on a cure.
A couple of things I tried to incorporate early on were some basic themes that call back to other stories or films. A few quotes in the story are lines from Marvel movies, The Last of Us, Harry Potter, or shows I’ve seen clips of on TikTok. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet played a good part in this story, but so did Titanic. Not only does the story take place on a literal cruise ship, but I also used a few direct quotes from the movie. Early on, when they’re on the roof, Royce asks Vivien if she’s scared of being on the roof and she tells him, “I’ll jump if you do.” This is something they call back to a few times in the series and it’s something Jack and Rose say in the movie - “You jump, I jump.” They were devoted to each other early on and it shows. Another thing I was going to do was pull an actual Titanic and sink the ship when they got to the wheelhouse, but it didn’t make sense in the long run and I had to discard it.
Something I never really touched on was the location of the arena, but I did sort of hint at it in the epilogue when Vivien mentions the bridge she saw from the hovercraft being in District 4. That bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge in California, meaning that the arena was somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. I'd say that, since they were close enough to see a crow (once again, another easter egg) that they were most likely near the Farallon Islands. They would be far enough from the mainland, yet close enough to the islands to see the bird.
Now, of course, the bird. Yes, the crow had significance. Crows, like ravens, are considered to be bad omens. One crow signifies death and a flock of crows is called a murder. One crow on the railing + the explosion + Lexi's tracker removal = Riven's death. Yeah... I thought I was so clever with that one, but I figured it out while I was half asleep and I doubt it came across as anything clever haha.
I had to do some extensive research on modern cruise ships for this story as my sole interest has, for the longest time, been on Titanic. The cruise ship I not only modeled the fictional one off of, but also named it after, is Norwegian Cruise Line’s Viva. I changed around some of the deck plans as there wasn’t much for me to work with image-wise, but some things like the Cornucopia and raceway are easy to see from the pictures online. There is a place on board called the Haven. It’s a set of luxury suites that I intended to use as a place for the victors to stay until the ship could reach port and there is a mention of it in part 8, but I never used it. The theatre, slides, casino, various restaurants, and atrium are all real locations on board, but sadly, there is no library. That is something I constructed all on my own.
(Part 8) Vivien’s first days in the arena were going to be spent on her own, looking for the others. This entire part was going to cover the first three days in the arena with Vivien hiding out, avoiding other tributes, gathering supplies, and eventually running into Lexi, who had ventured off on her own to find a bathroom. The two of them would have teamed up to fight off tributes from District 2 before cleaning up in the bathroom, bandaging each other, discussing their plans, and getting to know each other. In the end, Lexi would reunite Vivien with Royce as they had run into each other before and it was going to be a sort of bonding moment to really drive home their alliance/friendship before shit hit the fan.
(Part 9) As Vivien’s reunion with Riven would have been moved to this part, a lot more was going to be added to fill the gap. The reunion itself was going to be a lot longer and more intense, the pair finding each other while Riven was busy fighting of the guy from District 1. The thermal goggles would have had more purpose, the wheelhouse as a whole would have been used more, and I had an actual plan to use both of those tools to take out all of the cameras and electricity on the ship, forcing the Capitol to go searching for the ship which would have been floating aimlessly in the Pacific Ocean. With no rules and no cameras, what would the tributes do? Would they put down their weapons and let things go for the time being or would they simply kill each other off with no remorse while our little trio simply relaxes in the wheelhouse, watching the chaos unfold down below? Honestly, I wasn’t sure of it myself, but I still had to scrap the idea as I would have been dragging things way out and making everything more complicated for myself. The only quote I still have from this idea is a single sentence of Vivien’s thoughts on the wheelhouse, but it’s small, so here you go:
When Royce first showed me the keycard for the wheelhouse, I had been worried about the possibility of District 4 finding it before us since they, of all people, should know how to operate a ship, but with the only one old enough to work on a ship being dead and the other one being a whiny little bitch, I suppose the odds were in our favor after all.
(Part 9) Before I settled on the wheelhouse exploding due to our trio helping Jade, Lexi, and Erica, it was going to be a sort of safe zone that they would have used a lot more, like I mentioned in the last bullet point. Sadly, once I scrapped most of what I’d written, I never saved it to another folder, so I was left with practically nothing but a short quote. This would have happened early the same morning the wheelhouse exploded in the actual story. Before waking the boys, Vivien would have warned the girls about the Careers coming to kill them and, once the boys were awake, this conversation would have ensued:
“Are you guys thinking of going out for supplies this morning?” I ask as Riven lets out a yawn and digs into his backpack for some food to cook.
“Maybe,” Royce shrugs. “Why, what’s up?”
“Well, if you are, you should probably steer clear of the theatre.”
“Why?” Riven asks.
“The Careers decided to hunt Jade, Erica, and Lexi down and I warned them earlier about it,” I reply with a shrug. “I’m betting that they’re probably playing an intense game of hide and seek right now.”
Royce chuckles, “If the girls know that theatre really well, they could probably kill all of them off in one day.”
“They seemed to think they had it under control,” I tell them. “With any luck, the Careers will be out of the picture sooner rather than later.”
(Part 10) When Riven goes off on his own and Royce and Vivien overhear his conversation, the original conversation and the confrontation they have afterward were going to be very different. I had multiple versions of them, actually. I changed the mystery person multiple times. At first, it was Mick, then it was Carrie, then it was Butchy and Kona, then Mack and Brady, and I went back and forth between trying to pick someone for ages. My first edition of the talk they overheard was going to make it very obvious who he was talking to, so I struggled on that scene for a long time. Then, when I settled on making it a bit of a mystery, I had to get through the aftermath. Initially, it was a big blowout that resulted in the trio going their separate ways for the rest of the day, being brought back together by muttations since the Capitol citizens liked them better together. Then, I wanted it to be a sort of thing Royce and Vivien kept to themselves. The conversation I have for it isn’t very far off of what I ended up using, but it sort of shows how Royce takes Vivien’s statement about Riven not putting them in danger and keeps his desire to interrogate Riven to himself.
Once he adjusts to being benched for the rest of the day, Riven asks, “Did you two finish that book of yours while I was gone?”
I have to laugh, “I doubt either of us could read that fast, Riv.”
“Besides, we got sidetracked,” Royce adds as he begins pulling out the food we can make for dinner.
I try to send him a look telling him to shut up about what we heard, but it goes unnoticed as Riven asks, “Oh yeah? What happened?”
Royce turns, meeting my gaze for a brief moment before locking eyes with Riven and smirking, “Vivien was too worried about you being alone to focus on the book, so we stopped reading and I tried to talk her out of following you until you told us you were on your way back.”
Riven laughs as he reaches over the back of the couch to nudge my arm, “You were worried about me, huh?”
I force a chuckle out as I roll my eyes his way, “Yeah, like a hangnail I’m afraid to peel.”
Riven laughs and Royce smiles as he shakes his head, returning to the food at hand. I wonder why he didn’t say something. He looked as though he wanted to, yet he held his tongue… Why? Once Riven relaxes back into the couch cushions, I get to work helping Royce cook dinner. I catch his eyes and send him a confused look which he smiles at, whispering, “You told me to trust him, didn’t you?”
“I did,” I mutter, “but I thought-”
“That I was upset and willing to argue?” Royce offers as he places some meat on a plate. I give a hesitant nod and he shakes his head, chuckling, “I trust your judgement. Besides, he’s injured. It makes no sense to stress him out even more.”
I feel a smile tugging at my lips and, just when I’m about to thank him, the couch creaks and Riven pushes himself to sit up, turning to us with his signature grin, “What are you two whispering about?”
Royce takes over checking and flipping the meat while I stand with Riven’s plate of food and cross the space between the grill and Riven, holding his plate out for him to take as I smirk and reply, “Debating how hard it would be to shove you off the side of the ship.”
(Part 10) Instead of the scene with Volt and Elektra, there was going to be a scene where either, during the night, Royce falls asleep on watch duty and is taken as a hostage by Volt and Elektra so they can get something from Riven and Vivien in return or there would’ve been this scene with Serena where she takes something the trio need (medicine or something similar). She leaves them a note on the library door and they agree to meet with her. Vivien has an inkling that Serena will have someone nearby watching to make sure things go as planned, so she climbs onto the Cornucopia to get a better view and takes out the sniper Serena had on standby (probably the guy from District 4 as, when I wrote the idea down, he wasn’t killed off in the first day in the arena). on a rooftop and takes over, shooting someone the second they touch Royce. Royce leads the meeting as he’s the only one Serena listens to, but it’s clear Serena intends on killing Riven and Vivien when she gets the chance. The second Serena makes a grab for Royce, Vivien fires a crossbow bolt into her shoulder, giving Royce and Riven enough time to grab the supplies and run for cover.
(Part 10) Once I got around to figuring out the whole situation with Volt and Elektra, I got a bit carried away with it. The entire section with them was going to be a lot longer and more intense, but I had to cut it as, in the end, it made little sense. At this point, in my notes, they still would have had the thermal goggles and, with the laser tag place being a sort of maze, they would have played cat and mouse with the pair before eventually catching them when Vivien climbs to a higher vantage point and guides them on where to go. Instead of sparing them, there would have been a bit of a struggle before Elektra brought out a knife in her fight against Riven and Vivien would have shot her without hesitation. In return, either Royce or Riven would have taken out Volt and, upon their return to the library, they would have had to suffer through the knowledge that they killed two people. It would have been a lot heavier and the impact would have been pretty intense, especially on the Victory Tour, but I can’t see any of the three willingly killing them as they were already pretty weak and had little going for them. In the end, I took the pacifist route.
(Part 11) Part 11 is probably the one with the most changes to two certain parts and I’m sure you can guess which ones! I’ll start off easy by saying that I wasn’t entirely sure who would die in the end. At first, it was going to be Royce. Then, it was going to be a fake death like in the last story where Kona’s tracker drained. In that case, it would have been Vivien. Then, I’d played with the idea of Riven being the sole victor, but that didn’t work out, so I went with it being Vivien as she is the person telling the story, after all. Ultimately, I went with the decision I felt worked out the best, but I had a lot of things that changed as I went. These are a few of the options I went through
(Option 1) If both Vivien and Royce were to die and Riven were to come out as the victor, it would’ve happened in one of two ways. The first one is a Romeo-and-Juliet-style death. Vivien and Riven would’ve been knocked unconscious in the explosion and, when Royce sees his friend and girlfriend covered in blood, unresponsive, he takes matters into his own hands and kills himself beside them. When she awakens, Vivien sees the aftermath of Royce’s choice and follows him, leaving Riven on his own. Not wanting to let their deaths be in vain, Riven goes on a rampage, killing the others and coming out on top. The other possibility would have been a Titanic ending. The ship sinks and the three of them stick things out together until the end, but they underestimate the power Serena has in the ocean. She drowns Royce and Vivien in the frenzy as Riven swims toward them from where the pull of the sinking ship carried him. In the end, Riven kills Serena and is crowned as victor despite wanting to go out alongside his friends.
(Option 2) In the scenario where Royce dies, it would most likely have been during a reluctant fight between them and the theatre girls. Vivien is heartbroken and wants nothing more than to go out with him, but Riven still has the drive to help her make it out of the arena and back to her family, so they take out the other remaining tributes and try to find a way out together. The ending is similar to the original, with them being rescued after attempting to eat berries together. They go on to become the only siblings to simultaneously win a Hunger Games.
(Option 3) With Vivien as their “camera ghost”, the boys would work to find a way out of the arena, using her as a way to block out footage of them sneaking around. Eventually, they would find a way into the catacombs through the Cornucopia and escape using a submersible that brings them back to shore. Finding themselves on the outskirts of District 4, they work to find their way through the ruins of what had once been cities and towns, eventually making their way back home where everyone presumes they died in the arena.
(Part 11) Riven’s death/”death” was going to result in some far more gruesome scenes and I want to warn you about that before I go into detail. I want to go over how the entire thing almost went down as there are two versions I absolutely loved and was close to writing, but just know, this would be far gorier than what I wrote in the actual story. Also, the detail I used when I had written out for some of these in full made me have to stop in the process and take a break because it was just that intense for me.
(Version 1) After being separated by a fire that was set up by the Gamemakers, Vivien and Royce have to find their way through the ship’s interior to find Riven. Using the thermal goggles, Vivien would have guided them around the fire to a long hallway with multiple branches. Seeing faint traces of footprints on the carpets, they follow the path until it splits - one set of feet heading to the left and another set heading to the right. Deciding they need to find Riven regardless of whoever took the other path, Royce and Vivien split up, each armed with an axe and some other knives as Riven has the more impressive weaponry with him. Vivien trails off to the left path and watches as the traces of heat become more vivid with the goggles. Eventually, she stumbles upon a restaurant of sorts where she comes face to face with something out of her worst nightmare: Riven unconscious with Lexi above him, both of them covered in blood. Seeing nothing but red, Vivien’s grasp on her weapon tightens as she runs toward them swinging her axe into Lexi’s arm and tackling her to the floor before bringing her axe into Lexi’s skull, ending the battle right then and there as a pair of cannons blast. In a panic, Vivien scrambles over to Riven who, according to the Capitol, is dead. She brings him to her in a hug, not caring about the blood now soaking both of them in a shade of thick crimson, holding him close to listen to his heartbeat, but finding none as a relentless stream of tears flow from her. Royce enters the room, finding the aftermath of what went down and tries to coax Vivien away from Riven, to no avail. Vivien screams at Royce when he tries to pull her away after the Gamemakers tell them they need to vacate the area, telling him she won’t leave Riven and muttering things about promises they made. Eventually, after Vivien passes out from exhaustion because of the stress and overwhelming emotions, Royce moves Vivien out to the hallway before going back for their supplies, kneeling beside Riven and promising him that he will take care of Vivien in his stead before leaving to bring Vivien somewhere safe. In this version, he is actually dead.
(Version 2) This version takes place in the same strain as the previous one; they get separated in the same manner and have to find their way back to each other. Instead, who Vivien stumbles upon is Riven and Serena. Serena hears Vivien enter the restaurant just as a cannon, presumably Riven’s, goes off and, once Vivien chucks her axe at Serea, the two engage in a game of cat and mouse, both hiding and hunting the other. In the midst of the fight, Serena grabs a burning stick from the fireplace near the front of the restaurant and throws it at Vivien, who ducks out of the way, allowing it to catch the curtains of a nearby window on fire. The intricately designed, wooden interior of the restaurant begins to burn as fire spreads through it. Eventually, Vivien corners Serena, throwing a wine glass at her as a distraction before driving one of her knives into Serena’s shoulder from behind. The two struggle briefly, Serena pinning Vivien to the edge of a table before reaching over her shoulder with her good arm, grabbing Vivien by the shirt, and throwing her to the floor. Serena examines the damage to her shoulder as a winded Vivien catches Riven’s eye, the barely conscious man guiding her gaze toward the machete he had dropped earlier. Gathering her strength, Vivien crawls forward only a few feet before Serena lands a swift kick to Vivien’s side, sending her crumbling to the floor again. Serena taunts her, telling her that it’s alright to give up and that she can join her friend in the afterlife if she does. Instead of giving in, Vivien pushes herself to move again, making it another few feet before Serena kicks her again. This time, Serena crouches, taking Vivien’s hair in her grasp and lifting her head from the floor before taunting her some more, “Why don’t you try begging? I might just kill you quicker if you do.” When Vivien responds with a simple, hissed, “Fuck you,” Serena pulls Vivien by her hair onto her back before bringing her hands to the brunette’s throat. With the machete within reach, Vivien stretches under a nearby chair for it as Serena chokes her. Her fingers enclose on the thick hilt and Vivien uses what strength she has to swing the blade into the forearm of a shocked Serena. The roles flip as Vivien climbs on top of Serena, swinging Riven’s blade into Serena’s face until a pair of arms come around her waist and pull her off, leaving the blade still lodged in the redhead’s skull. Vivien tries to fight off the person who grabbed her, only to find it was Riven. He holds her for a while until Royce stumbles upon the room, coughing as the fire blankets the room in thick, black smoke. The boys escort Vivien away from the scene and comfort her as she relives the experience. Riven’s picture illuminates the sky that night and it’s then that the trio decide to try to think of ways to escape the arena with Riven as their cover from all of the cameras. As you can tell, this ending is similar to the “camera ghost” ending I mentioned before, but with Riven as the ghost instead of Vivien. There is another version of this exact scenario where Riven is, in fact, dead. In that version, Vivien sees the machete under a chair near his body and it’s Royce who pulls her off. However, I liked the “happy ending” of Riven being alive the way Kona was in Glory and Gore.
(Part 12) This part was originally going to be immensely long and, out of all the parts I had written, this one had the most deleted ideas, by far. I mean, I was going to cover the end of the Games, the crowning ceremony, and the train ride home as well as the months leading up to the Victory Tour, the tour itself, and the aftermath. It would’ve been well over 100 pages by the time I was done, especially if you take into account that the part ended up being 52 pages and the epilogue was 47. Obviously, I have no intention of writing out every scene I deleted, but I have a list of almost everything and where they would’ve gone, and you’re going to get that list in no particular order.
In the arena:
1 - After everyone else in the arena is dead, Royce and Vivien break into the Haven Suite, declaring themselves the victors despite the Capitol not allowing them both to be. During a sleepless night, Vivien leaves the safety of their room and heads for the front of the ship. A worried Royce wakes to find himself alone in their room and searches the back of the ship, screaming for her to not jump as he knows she’s been upset over Riven’s passing. Vivien hears him and runs to him, finding him hauling himself over the railings to jump in after her after seeing a muttation of her in the water, calling for him to join her. The real Vivien talks him down and tells him she was looking at the dolphins at the front of the boat. She walks him back to the front and he tells her he was worried she’d killed himself. Vivien smiles and tells him, “A few days ago, I would’ve. But now, I realize I have something to live for.” Royce watches her curiously before asking, “Oh, yeah? What would that be?” With a roll of her eyes, Vivien brings her arms around his shoulders and replies, “Some idiot who would willingly jump into the middle of the ocean to save me.”
2 - A scene that I almost wrote was the theatre fight between Jade, Erica, Lexi, and the Careers. I never really played out the whole thing as it would’ve been sort of awkward to write it from Vivien’s POV as she’s watching the cameras in the wheelhouse. Regardless, I knew that it was going to end with Jade killing off the other tribute from her district in order to save Erica’s life. In my head, when I was trying to write this out, it was always Jade killing Onyx, her fellow tribute from District 1.
3 - One of my absolute favorite deleted scenes was something I called “Paper Rings” (yes, it was named after the Taylor Swift song lol). This would have been laced through the other parts before coming to a head at the end. It would have started simply enough back around the time they admitted their feelings for each other on the roof with Royce taking a wrapper from a piece of candy on the rooftop and turning it into a ring for Vivien. Once they were together in the library, Vivien would have done the same with a piece of paper from a notepad, this time having written a short message on the outside for him to read. In return, he would take the wrapper from a straw in a restaurant and make her one after the wheelhouse fire. This would have been a sort of back-and-forth between the two of them before culminating in one of two endings. The first would have been a moment in the jewelry shop after everyone else is dead and they decide to give each other rings as a sign of their love being so deep they would rather live on the ship for the rest of their lives than kill each other. The second ending would have been a near-copy of Katniss and Peeta where they both bring out rings in the interview after the Victory Tour - showing that they both wanted to propose to each other. In the end, I decided against it as I felt like it would copy the original source material too closely and I wanted things to feel more realistic in that moment.
4 - At one point, I was teetering on the edge of Riven being fully dead and, around that time, I had the idea of there being a muttation of him that would be connected with Vivien’s tracker, making it so that she is the only person capable of seeing him. This, of course, would have had an immense impact on her and Royce would have had to deal with her simply wandering off, chasing after someone who simply isn’t there. Depending on a variety of variables, this ghost of Riven could have easily convinced her to harm others or herself as she slips further and further into insanity. I was fully prepared to go deep into this psychological torture timeline, but figured it would be too much for me to handle emotionally as it would have dealt with a lot of emotional and mental manipulation, especially seeing as we’re seeing everything from her perspective. I think it would’ve been a bit much.
In the Capitol:
1 - After their time in the arena, I would have prolonged the time Royce and Vivien spent in the Capitol, allowing Carrie and Juliet to take them on little excursions through the city before returning to the Training Center. I know this isn’t accurate to the books, but I was so ready to write out full trips to the apartment Carrie and Juliet share, glittering shopping areas, and fancy restaurants with food so expensive that Royce and Vivien have no clue what to do with. Honestly, I just really wanted to make them feel out of place and a bit more reliant on their stylists who make sure to help them feel at home in their home city.
2 - One of the things I wanted to work with the most in this extended stay in the Capitol was a long scene where Royce and Vivien find out that, to save them from the hordes of crazy Capitol residents trying to buy the chance for a night with either (or both) of them, Carrie and Juliet bought them from the president. This would have been during a visit to the girls’ apartment where they decide to sit the teens down and have an honest conversation, approaching the topic with gentle, yet direct honesty. I think it would have been a moment of realization for them that the victors that had won under the previous president’s reign, had been forced into prostitution or something similar and that they had been saved from a somewhat similar fate by their stylists. This is where I could see Royce and Carrie’s relationship really blossoming as he realizes just how much she must care for not only him, but also Vivien. I feel like that would mean the world to him and allow him to see more of the Carrie that he tries so hard to push away. It also gives a bit of insight into the reason why everyone is so protective of the two of them after they leave the arena. Now, I think this goes without saying, but I highly doubt Juliet’s dad would have kept up the whole prostitution thing that President Snow had. It makes even less sense when you take into account that he seems to treat the victors like the children they are. This is the biggest reason as to why I scrapped it.
3 - In multiple different places, I was planning on making a little nod to Vivien’s culture by utilizing her braids. Now, in Native American culture, braids are important. Across almost all tribes, there is a statement that the three strands represent the mind, body, and soul of the person. In some tribes, people only cut their hair for certain reasons - marriage being one of them. There was going to be a place in the arena where Vivien explains this as a tradition to Royce and they decide to cut a piece of their hair off and tie them together into a knot to signify their love. In another part, Vivien was going to have a thick, six-stranded braid with specific colors woven into each strand to signify someone she loves - her parents, siblings, Mick, Riven, her co-workers, and Royce.
4 - The only other thing I have for this area is a deleted conversation that would have taken place after the meeting with the president, presumably in the car or on the train when they were alone. Keep in mind that, in this segment, I thought Royce was going to be injured for some reason - a broken arm at the most.
“That was so fucking bizarre,” I mutter.
“Which part?” Royce scoffs. “Watching ourselves on television, being smothered to death by sponsors and other rich people, or having a private meeting with the president?”
“All of the above,” I sigh, leaning my head on his shoulder. “I just want to go home, work myself to exhaustion, and act like none of this happened.”
“None of it?”
Lifting my head, I meet Royce’s caramel eyes and shake my head, “Alright, maybe not all of it. Just… most of it.”
Royce’s uninjured arm pulls me close around me as he softly asks, “Still nothing on Riven?”
I shake my head against his shoulder and sigh, “As I said, it’ll be like when Mick died. I’ll go home, work myself to exhaustion, and try to act like everything is normal. The only difference is, Riven won’t be there to carry me home this time.”
Silence clings to the air for a moment before Royce chuckles and I ask him what was funny. “I was going to offer to do it in his stead, but I don’t think that would work out so well.”
I lean back in the embrace with a snort, “Yeah, let’s not try it.”
In the districts:
1 - I had a few plans for this that were scrapped as I realized that I wanted to emphasize the fact that Royce and Vivien hadn’t spent any time together since the end of the Games. Most of these little ideas were simple and would’ve been quick snippets Vivien mentions experiencing as time goes by - figure skating in late December, meeting Miles and Bentley, visiting District 6, the Murphy brothers spending a week in District 3 for Vivien’s birthday, them experiencing a wedding for one of Vivien’s work friends (spawning the idea of them sitting and talking about getting married and discussing their traditions), and, finally, the funerals for Riven and Lotus.
Deleted Quotes (all parts, not in order)
(the president at some point in the epilogue) “They say it’s the things we love most that destroy us. However, I like to think of it in a different way. If you are lucky enough to find someone or something to love more than anything, make sure you treasure them.”
(in training, at some point) “Aren’t you like some damsel in distress?” “I’m a damsel. I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day.”
(Vivien overhears Royce say this to Erica and Jade while she’s recovering in bed after she killed either Lexi or Serena) “She’s not dangerous, she’s traumatized!”
(a deleted scene where the ship is sinking) “If you try to pull me down, I’ll make sure you go with me.”
(Vivien reluctantly admitting her feelings for Royce after trying so hard to fight them) “You make me feel… you make me feel,” she whispered fiercely into the wind, the cool air carrying her words to Royce’s ears, “and I don’t like it. I want it to stop… But, at the same time, I only want more.”
(Serena to the other Careers) “I don’t need people to help me get ahead in life. In already leagues ahead of all of you.”
(in the theatre battle) “Now, which of you wants to die first?”
(I can’t remember where this came from or where it was going, but it’s here) “We’re all the villains in someone’s story. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the villain in mine.”
(during a deleted argument between Riven and Vivien) “Your moral compass is so fucked up that I’ll be surprised if you can find your way back to the library.”
(Vivien, after Riven dies) “My good side died with him, Royce. How do you expect me to bring her back?”
(not sure where this was or who said it, but it was a quote from Markiplier that I heard on TikTok and wanted to incorporate at some point) “What if I didn’t run? What if I’m not a coward? What if I want them to kill me? What if I want them to try?”
(this conversation would have been at the beginning of part 12 and would have been while Vivien was in the medical center)
“She slit his wrists and was choking him when I found them. If I hadn’t grabbed Riven’s machete, I would’ve been next,” Vivien admits. Royce's grip tightens on her hand and she sends him a small grin. Turning toward Erica and Jade, Vivien breathes, “You didn’t see the look in her eyes.”
Erica shakes her head, “From the very beginning, I didn’t trust Lexi. There was just something about her that set off all the alarms in my head. Looking back on it now, I wonder if she had a list of people she wanted dead.”
Jade takes Erica’s hand and they meet gazes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You trusted her,” Erica sighs. “To be fair, I was still wary of you both until we fought off the Careers, but you trusted us both so I thought I’d get over it as more time went on. I guess I should’ve trusted my instincts.”
(finally, this conversation is in part 12, but this is the original version)
“The way I see it, we’ve got two options.”
“We do?”
Royce nods, “Option one, we take the easy way out. It’s quick and painless.” He holds out the berries and sighs, “I’m not a big fan of option one.”
“Me neither,” Vivien breathes. “Option two?”
“We fight.”
“Fight for what?”
Royce smiles as stares out at the vast ocean surrounding them, “There are a million ways we could’ve died before today and a million ways we could die before tomorrow… but I say we fight. We fight for every second that we get to spend with each other. Whether it’s two minutes or two days… we don’t give that up. I don’t want to give that up. My vote? Let’s just wait it out. You know, we can be all poetic and just live out our lives together on this ship.”
Hesitantly, Vivien mutters, “What’s option three? What’s the option to get us both out of here so we can live in the districts together and grow old together?”
Turning to meet Vivien’s eyes, Royce takes her hand and softly says, “I’m sorry.”
Opening Quotes
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
“Romeo was full of shit and Juliet fell for it, but I am not an idiot.”
“I can make it quick or I can make it so much worse.”
“They should be terrified of you.”
“History repeats itself on an endless loop of meaningless deaths and destruction.”
“If, for some reason, I got a second chance at that moment, I would do it all over again.”
“If I ever were to lose you, I’d surely lose myself.”
“I was supposed to either die with him or survive with him. She didn’t deserve to make that choice for me.”
“Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about and, in this world, that sort of shit's good for one thing: getting you killed.”
“Haven’t I given enough?”
“Don’t blame me for what you made me do.”
“A woman’s heart is a deep ocean full of secrets.”
“Don't you do that, don't say your goodbyes. Not yet, do you understand me?”
"I would take a bullet for you just to show my love, only to find out you are the one holding the gun."
“Can you be in denial of your own death?” (You’ll see where this one would’ve been in a minute 😜)
(Epilogue) Perhaps this is the part that changed the most overall and I’m sure you can understand why. So many things changed over the course of the month it took me to write the epilogue. I mean, I went from writing out everything from another person’s perspective to changing my mind after 13 pages - probably the biggest change I’ve ever made to something like this. I had most of the original plot written out on paper and I kept the original 13 pages. Although I know that this is already the longest deleted scene post I've made this far, I figured I would use this spot to let you read through the 13 pages of the original epilogue as well as 2 scenes I felt needed to be written out to make everything fall together nicely.
Working in District 3 labs, you don’t experience many dangers. The occasional fire, tech malfunction, and, sure, you may have to dodge a stray keyboard or two that has been thrown in a rage by one of your coworkers, but most of that is fairly harmless. The only real threat to a person’s life is when the Hunger Games rolls around with its annual bullshit and that only happens until the Capitol decides you’re too old to be killed off. My last year of reaping was supposed to be easy. I live by myself and work almost every day so I have no need for tessera and have fewer entries and less of a chance of being sent into the arena. Then, the night before the reaping, I get a knock on my door from none other than my lab’s boss, Brady Birch.
He sits with me on the porch for quite some time, telling me about how he and his wife have been worried that the Capitol will take their daughter’s escape from the arena out on someone he knows I care deeply for: Vivien O’Brian. Though they aren’t related by blood, Vivien is like a daughter to Brady and his wife, Mack, and is like a sister to their daughter, Makana. I understand their frustration better than most as I had taken Vivien in like she was my family the day I met her. She walked into our lab as this pipsqueak of a child, scared of the big bad teenagers who towered over her at the time, but that soon dissipated and was replaced with the girl I now call Pip; the headstrong, sarcastic fifteen-year-old who matches my colorful remarks with ones of her own, jab for jab. She handles anything thrown her way with logical ease and grace, though we all seem to have our doubts that she would handle the Hunger Games well.
Near the end of our conversation, Brady asks if I can think of anyone who would be willing to take the place of whoever is reaped so that Vivien wouldn’t have to compete and, while my answer is affirmative, I doubt he realizes my meaning. He asks that I talk with whoever it is and see if they would be willing, and I say that I will, but once he leaves, I simply stay home, making myself something to eat and waiting out the night. When the reaping comes and Vivien is reaped, nobody volunteers. I find Brady’s eyes in the crowd once the female tribute can no longer be replaced and the look of betrayal in them is strong, but it doesn’t last long.
Vivien’s younger brother - a kid named Oliver that had come to our lab more than once to bring Vivien the lunch she had forgotten - is reaped as the male tribute and, as I push him toward the stage, I tell him, “Just breathe, kid. I’ll take your place when I can.” He seems a hair less tense, almost as though he doesn’t fully believe my words, but takes to the stage all the same. As promised, I volunteer in his place and watch as a vivid array of emotions flash across Vivien’s face. We listen to the mayor drone on about things nobody cares about anymore before we’re ushered away and split up. I have no biological family to visit me, but my friends from work come by and it feels just like family. Vivien’s family is the next group to stop by and Oliver thanks me repeatedly for filling his spot. Though I know they’ll all be hoping for Vivien’s victory, I make sure to show them that I’m grateful for their visit before they’re pulled away by Peacekeepers.
Once visitation is over, we’re brought to the train station and I make sure to make Vivien laugh for the cameras that await our arrival. Once we’re allowed to explore the train, I spend a while in my room by myself, sorting through the thoughts that have filled my head for the last, well, I don’t even know how long. Death is inevitable for everyone on the planet, however, it also happens to be the one thing I fear most. I suppose it is for Vivien, though. As long as she wins the Hunger Games, I don’t care if I end up dead by the end of it. Of course, I doubt she will want to hear that, but the truth still stands all the same.
It isn’t long before Mack and Brady come to visit me, telling me that they’ll work with the mentors from District 6 to figure out a way to get us out of the arena like they did last year for Mick and her friend. I tell them that I’ll do whatever they need me to for us to get out, but that if their plan fails, I’d be willing to sacrifice myself to help Vivien. They tell me that it wouldn’t be necessary, but I can tell that they both will take it into consideration.
They lead me out to the dining compartment and Vivien joins us after a while. The meal passes quickly and we sit to watch the other reapings. I find the other tributes disappointing, but I make note of what few attributes each of them displays. Most of my time is spent gauging Vivien’s reactions and I can’t help but smirk as she takes a particular interest in the boy from District 6. I’m not exactly surprised when she suggests teaming up with him and shrug off her offer by saying the choice is up to her. After all, I’ve sworn to protect her already, who she chooses to befriend has little to do with me. Vivien, on the other hand, seems perturbed by my nonchalance and corners me in the hallway between our rooms, questioning my behavior. I make the effort to appear as relaxed as possible, even going so far as to flick her concerns away by stating that my actions are just what family does for each other.
I hardly get any sleep that night as I spend most of my time worrying about my surrogate sister in the next room, but the morning comes faster than I anticipated and I find that I wasn’t the only one to suffer through a sleepless night on the train. Vivien’s actions are robotic and she appears to be in a daze as she eats breakfast, only picking up her fork when I lightly kick her shin to remind her. Once Mack decides to end Vivien’s mindless eating, I take her by the hand and bring her with me to the room we watched the other reapings in, bringing an arm around her to show her that I’m there for her if she needs me. I start off the conversation easily, telling her that I know we’re both worried about the Games, but that I’m determined to make sure we both stay alive for as long as possible.
“If it comes down to the two of us as the last tributes standing,” I begin, “I’ll find a way to die so that you won’t kill me.”
For the first time since I began speaking, Vivien’s grip on my hand tightens and she mutters, “If it comes to the two of us, The Capitol will just have to take both of us as the victors, Riv. I’m not going to let you go that easily.”
I try to smile at her comment, but we both must know that the Hunger Games ending with two victors has never happened before and that, after last year, the Gamemakers will make that practically impossible. I’m incapable of telling her anything more as our escort and mentors enter the room, filling us in on all that will happen once we arrive in the Capitol. Vivien clings to my hand until we’re separated in the Remake Center and brought to different rooms. The prep team that I don’t bother paying much attention to, works on me for a few hours, scrubbing me clean of anything they would deem ‘imperfect’ before ditching me so that I have time with my stylist, a rainbow-haired person named Topaz.
By the time I leave my room, Vivien is standing with the boy from District 6, a smile on her face as the boy tells her something. I watch fondly for a while before being ushered toward the elevator, but I make sure to tease Vivien about her little encounter at the first chance I get. Once we arrive at the giant stables where they keep all of the horses for the parade, I try to keep Vivien distracted with the horses while I scope out the competition, but the results of my efforts seem to be the reverse of my intentions. The girl from District 1 keeps an eye on the two of us while the other Careers chatter about some nonsense nearby and I catch her nod our way before returning her attention to the animal before her. Typically, Careers don’t care much for the people outside of their circle, but this one just might have potential. Time will tell, I suppose.
Thankfully, Vivien finds the large animals just as enthralling as I do and takes to petting them with me, teasing me about the horses in return for my remark in the elevator. However, my response seems to trigger something in her as I say, “I’ve never seen one so well-trained. The ones I’ve seen back home are wild and don’t normally go up to people, but these are so relaxed and well-behaved.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I watch Vivien’s emerald eyes dim as she glances between me and the horse, pain flooding her eyes as her eyebrows scrunch together. She takes in a deep breath and fights her emotions down before feeding one of the horses an apple, forcing a smile, and saying, “When we get home, we’ll get you a proper horse.”
I turn to her and, despite her no longer looking my way, I can tell there are a million thoughts and emotions tugging at her. She doesn’t need me to tell her that only one of us will be making it home. She doesn’t need me to tell her to be realistic and focus on what could possibly happen. She needs me to be there for her, even if that means allowing her to live in her fantasy world for at least a moment. So, with a sigh, I bring an arm around Vivien’s shoulders and pull her to me, resting my head on hers before telling her, “We’ll get two horses.” I can almost feel the confusion radiating from her as she slowly allows her head to rest against my chest. “One for you and one for me. They’ll have plenty of space to run around in Victor’s Village.”
The smile she gives me lets me know that I made the right choice and I press a kiss to her forehead before squeezing her to my side once more and letting her go. The boy from 6 makes an appearance once again and the three of us converse until it’s time to get into the chariots. A smirk appears on my face as I bring out the teasing older brother act, making sure there is a smile on Vivien’s face before our chariots begin to move into the city. Our stylists turn on our glowing outfits and I have to laugh as Vivien’s hair lights up like one of the computers back home, a luminous rainbow of colors that fits her personality all too well. Vivien catches a glimpse of herself in the reflective plastic I’ve been made to wear just as the chariot begins to move and I’m quick to latch onto her so that she doesn’t fall as we’re brought throughout the city.
I try not to let my true feelings about the Games show as we’re shown off to all of the Capitol’s wealthiest sponsors, the urge to scream to the rooftops about everything is covered behind a smile as I raise the hand I’ve latched with Vivien into the air. Before I know it, we’re being brought into the Training Center and the horses come to a stop. The adrenaline in my veins wears off quickly as the glowing brunette beside me collides with the floor of the chariot. Vivien rattles off some quick excuse that, for her sake, I allow as I help her to her feet, bringing an arm around her to keep her steady as we board the elevator and ride up to our floor. She leans against me in a hug as we rise high above the Capitol and, once we arrive on our floor, I bring my arms around her, lift her off of the ground, and chant our district number in the hopes that it will relieve some of the tension she’s under.
Once we’re changed out of our parade costumes and free of the Capitol’s signature glitter and glamour, I meet up with Vivien in the hallway between our rooms and we head to the dining room together. Our brainless escort comes in before the meal is served, shrieking about losing the tributes before realizing that we’re sitting at the table with our mentors, waiting for the food to arrive. After the meal is done, we’re made to watch the parade and a sense of pride floods my veins as the commentators and spectators alike shower us in praises we don’t deserve. The recap ends and I invite Vivien to the rooftop before ducking into my room to change into something warmer. Before I can make my way to the door, our escort tells me that I should get some sleep before training and I tell her I need some fresh air, which she accepts and soon disappears into her room. I make my way to the rooftop only to find Vivien and the boy from District 6 throwing something at the forcefield around the building and catching it in their mouths while laughing and talking about things I can’t hear over the wind.
With a smile, I disappear back inside the building and bump into a small blonde girl who eyes me curiously. We stand on the landing, watching each other in silence almost as though we’re investigating the other person. Then, with a direct, matter-of-fact tone, the girl says, “You’re the big guy from Three, right? Riven?”
I’ve seen this child before and I know that I have, but it’s hard to picture where. Of all of the people I saw in the other reapings and the parade, I know she isn’t a tribute and she’s certainly too comfortably dressed to be a Capitol escort, narrowing down the options to one. She must be a mentor of some sort. “I am,” I reply.
She looks me up and down before holding a hand out for me to shake and saying, “I’m Kona, District Six. My tribute likes your friend.”
This must be the mentor girl who won last year. “Are you talking about Vivien?” I ask, latching onto her hand and shaking it before letting it drop.
Kona nods, rolling her eyes, “That’s all Royce has talked about since we watched the reapings on the train.”
A chuckle escapes me before I can even think of stopping it, “I could say the same about Viv.”
Mischief gleams in the girl’s pale eyes as she smirks, “Does she know he likes her?”
“Does he know that she likes him?” I offer in response.
Kona’s smile spreads as she asks, “Are they on the roof?”
I give her a nod and watch her pass me on her way up the next flight of stairs before calling out to her, “Do you always meddle in people’s personal lives?”
Kona peers over the metal bar with a smile and proudly claims, “I only meddle when I’m right and, so far, I’ve always been right.”
With a shrug and a shake of my head, I sigh, “Well, good luck, then.”
“Thanks!” she chirps before bounding her way up to the rooftop.
It’s a while before I hear Vivien arriving back in our apartment, but she doesn’t question my lack of appearance until the next morning before training. Until training begins, I stand near Royce and Vivien, sending glares at anyone who so much as glances their way. Royce asks me if I’d be willing to form an alliance with him, which I do, and Vivien sends me a glare when I bring up how much she spoke about Royce that morning before I allow them to go off and do as they please. Our first day of training is spent separated and, while I do keep an eye on the younger pair, I mostly keep to myself. My alone time is interrupted by the girls from Districts 1 and 7, who I later find out are named Jade and Lexi. Jade’s emerald hair glitters in the fluorescent lights above us while the other girl’s curls have been pulled back into a makeshift bun.
They aren’t speaking directly to me, but I’m close enough to hear their conversation as the curly-haired one claims that she would be dead soon anyway. When the green-haired girl asks her what she means, Lexi replies with, “You can’t tell anyone, but I have this medical issue that I can’t afford the treatment for. I’ll be dead within a year, if that. Winning the Hunger Games isn’t going to do me much good.”
Jade takes a breath and says, “Well, why don’t you join us, then? We can get you far in the Games so that it doesn’t hurt your friends or family back home and you can still go out when you feel the time is right.”
Lexi takes in a slow, deep breath and sighs, “Can I at least have until lunch to think on it?”
“Of course, take all the time you need,” Jade says. “You’ll know where to find me.”
As Jade scurries off and leaves Lexi alone to throw axes at training dummies, I leave the area to get a better view of Vivien and Royce at a different station. Lunch comes and I find that the curly-haired Lexi has joined Jade and a blue-haired girl at their lunch table. If the three of them have formed a group outside of the Careers as I have with Vivien and Royce, that could make them more dangerous. Especially if you take into consideration that one of them is ready to die anyway. Still, when they approach us on the roof that night, I can’t help but feel overprotective of my little group, pulling them away from the girls until we get the chance to think over their proposition of another alliance.
Once we return to our apartment for the night, I speak with our mentors about the situation and they talk me through how they see things working out. In the end, they advise me that an alliance with them could be beneficial, but to be wary of them just in case something happens between the girls and their rage turns on us. The conversation switches on a dime as Vivien joins us and, once she retires for the night, they bring up the idea of getting us out of the arena safely, telling me what they did the year before to help their daughter and her friend from District 6 out. They give me the idea of finding a way to drain our trackers, giving the Capitol the impression that we had died, but tell me that, if that doesn’t work, cutting out our trackers might be the only option we have of making it out as a trio. By the end of the conversation, I’m fighting to keep my hands from shaking and they tell me that it’s only a suggestion if it comes down to the three of us, but that it most likely won’t be necessary. After talking me down from my mild panic, they shoo me off to bed and tell me to try to get as much rest as possible. The next morning, Vivien asks them about the girls and what to do about them and they tell her something similar to what they had told me, which we relay to Royce once we arrive in the training rooms. Once the girls arrive, we tell them that we accept their offer and they seem genuinely pleased with the idea.
The three of us train together at first before splitting off to impress the Gamemakers, but I use my free time to get to know our new allies. The first person on my list is the one who has already admitted defeat - Lexi. Our conversation is short, but I glean a lot from it. When I press her about the disease she claims to have, she admits it and claims that she wants to go down on her own terms. I tell her that, if I can think of a way to help her in the arena, I will, and she thanks me for it, but dismisses me fairly quickly before walking off. Erica is next and, while she is very energetic and loud about her interest in the weapons available to us, she mostly talks of her interest in Jade, the girl from District 1. Her eyes are glued to the green-haired girl and she takes little interest in my conversation, but comments that she’s glad to be on our side all the same. Jade is every bit the ringleader of the group; direct, calm, and organized. She’s thorough in everything she does and never misses a single target when I join her at the archery station. Whilst even I will admit she is deadly, she has a calm, collected manner about her that gives me the impression she couldn’t be bothered to care much about the Hunger Games at all.
That night, we join District 6 on the rooftop for a while and I spend some of my time talking with Vivien, reassuring her that, regardless of what she does in her private session with the Gamemakers, she’ll be fine. Eventually, the girl I met on the stairs tells me that Mack wants to see me, and I leave Vivien in her care as I make my way over to where my mentors and Vivien’s stylist are standing. Before I can say a word, the blonde girl holds out a hand and introduces herself as Juliet, Vivien’s stylist and the president’s daughter. The three of them bring me away from the others enough that they wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation before Brady hands us each a small container. Inside is a simple, black watch with two dials - one red and one blue - on one side and a small, almost unnoticeable hole on the other.
“A watch?” I wonder aloud.
“Why a watch?” Juliet asks.
Mack smiles, “We’ve talked about ways to help these three get out of the arena, right?”
Juliet nods and I have to wonder why the president’s daughter would be willing to help a few tributes escape. She sighs, “If getting them out of the arena will help push my dad to stop the Hunger Games altogether, I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
As though he’s answering my unasked question, Brady explains, “Last year, Juliet’s tribute and boyfriend, Xander, was killed in the arena, furthering her interest in ending the Games.”
Juliet gives a sharp nod and says, “When I reached out to Carrie, she suggested I take District Three this year so that our districts could work together to end this nonsense.”
“So these will help us get out of the arena?” I ask, holding up my watch. My mentors nod. “How?”
They explain how the watch works as a communication device. The red and blue dials work as a transmitter and receiver respectively, allowing us to talk with each other while I’m in the arena. Juliet’s watch fits more with her Capitol style, a simple, silver and crimson watch so small I wonder if she can even read the time on it, but it suits her all the same. As long as Juliet can give me updates from the outside and I can send her messages asking for specific things in the arena, it doesn’t matter. Mack explains that she and Brady won’t be able to use them as there will be a lot of eyes on them, but since Juliet is a stylist, she won’t have to worry as much. We test them out briefly when Juliet brings Mack to the edge of the roof to show her the mansion she grew up in and Brady seems to puff up proudly as we prove that his invention works. Once they return, Brady explains that they work like a walkie-talkie, only allowing us to hear each other when we press the blue dial. Mack explains that, while I’m in the arena, it might be a good idea to share the watch with Vivien or Royce during their turns to keep watch if I want to avoid suspicion and I have to agree. When Juliet questions why we shouldn’t tell the kids about the watch being a communication device, Brady explains that, when we escape the arena, we will most likely be taken out by a hovercraft and brought back to the Capitol, meaning that we would be questioned by the people in charge and they need our reactions to be as genuine as possible.
I spend most of the rest of my evening speaking with Juliet, trying to come up with a plan for the Games. She explains that she has the ability to come and go from the president’s mansion as she pleases, collecting information from right under their noses. I have to give Juliet credit, she’s smarter than she looks. She explains that, if I can get the three of us through the bloodbath and close to the top ten, making it out of the arena will be easy, but that, if we make it too close to the end, things will only be more complicated. If we’re close to the end, the cameras will be on us all hours of the day, making it nearly impossible for us to find a way to drain our trackers or cut them out without someone else there to take the fall and cut them out for us. An idea forms as I lie in bed that night and I wonder if I could entrust one of the other tributes to do the deed if it comes down to it. There’s only one person I could think of who would be willing to put their life on the line for us, but I would have to wait until training to ask.
In the morning, I make my way toward the dining room only to find that Vivien is nowhere to be found. Assuming she must still be in her room, I find myself at her door, knocking before simply entering and sitting by her side as she stares up at the ceiling. Her face lacks its normal color and her irises are rimmed with red, making me wonder if she had been crying. Taking a deep breath, her gaze turns to me and she softly claims, “It’s a cruise ship.”
My eyebrow raises and I have to ask, “What is?”
“The arena,” she whispers, swallowing thickly before adding, “It’s going to be a cruise ship.”
When I ask her how she knows, her answer is simple - her stylist. It makes sense that her stylist would know given she is the president’s daughter, but I can’t see how that would make Vivien upset. Maybe the anxiety of the day kept her awake. She is the type to overthink everything while I try to keep things simple. I could understand her fears winning over. Trying to keep her in a good state of mind, I nod and offer, “I guess it’s a good thing we swim in the lake back home.”
Vivien hums and I try to suggest breakfast, but she declines as the impending dread of our private sessions and the Hunger Games themselves loom over our heads. Eventually, I manage to coax her into eating something before training and, while her plate of scrambled eggs and toast isn’t much compared to her usual platefuls of everything on the table, I’m at least grateful she has something in her system. Her trembling hand finds a home in mine until we begin the morning training session and she glues herself to Royce while I work on conversing with my target for the morning - Lexi Warren. I manage to corner her by the axe-throwing station and, for once, she doesn’t seem bothered by my presence.
“So, let me get this straight,” she begins quietly, readying another axe to be thrown, “You want me to help you, Vivien, and that other boy out of the arena if we make it close to the end of the Games?” I nod and she scoffs a laugh, shaking her head as she reels back her arm, “What makes you think I’d do such a thing?”
“I see the way you look at her.” For the first time since I stepped up to the station, Lexi’s weapon lodges in the wall beside her target, missing its intended mark as she freezes. Opposingly, my axe wedges deep into the center of the target as I choose to continue, “You watch her during lunch, you never stray too far from whatever station she’s at, and for some reason, you managed to convince the other girls to trust us, trust her. Whether you notice it or not, you want Vivien alive as much as I do, but for a completely different reason.”
Lexi’s eyes flit between our targets as the information settles in before taking in a sharp breath and calmly asking, “And if I choose to only save her in that scenario?”
A smirk settles on my face, but I force it away as I state, “She would never forgive you. I helped her through the loss of her sister last year and assumed the role of her older brother during that time. On top of that, I know I’m not the only one who can see how she looks at Royce. If you were to cut out her tracker and become the victor, leaving the two of us to die in the arena, she would be out for your blood.”
Lexi’s gaze turns to me and I feel her examine my expression before slowly turning her gaze to where Royce and Vivien have begun shooting arrows at targets. I follow her gaze and watch as Vivien adjusts Royce’s hold on his weapon before allowing him to shoot and, as the arrow drives deep into the bull’s eye, we watch as she excitedly bounces, cheering Royce on as he beams at her. From the corner of my eye, I watch as Lexi’s shoulders sink and a reluctant grin crosses her features. “Just cut out the trackers and wait for the cannons?”
I give a sharp nod, “That’s it.”
With a hum, Lexi nods, “Alright. Just tell me when.”
She doesn’t give me the chance to respond as she moves away from her favorite station and joins Erica at the ropes course. Lexi’s quick agreement gives me pause, but I try to accept it as an honest statement for the time being. Almost hesitantly, I cross the room and spend the rest of my morning following Vivien and Royce around to different stations, helping them when they ask for it, and learning which skills they particularly excel at before lunch is called and we’re told where to sit. Vivien’s grip on my hand is unrelenting, though I don’t voice my discomfort as she scans the room, sparing glimpses of Royce when she finds the chance. More than once, I find Lexi’s eyes on Vivien and she meets my gaze, giving me a small, barely noticeable nod before turning away. All too soon, I’m summoned from the room and I have to give Vivien a smile of reassurance before she allows me to take my hand back from her grasp.
Mack and Brady instructed me to think like a Career for my private sessions so that I'll be scored high enough to gain some favor, but I doubt my performance is what they had in mind. As soon as I’m allowed to, I throw weights around, slice open training dummies, and show off the skills I’ve worked on the hardest over the last few days to get the Gamemakers’ attention. Then, once I have it, I make a statement that’s all my own. A statement of revenge that they’ll have to work hard to cover. The camouflage station is my last stop and I take what bloody, berry juice they’ve left out to write my message on the concrete floor, claiming my performance in the arena will be for Mick and Miles, mine and Vivien’s friend and Royce’s brother. The Gamemakers must know that my friendship with Royce is strong enough for me to include the name of someone who isn’t from my district and they practically rush me out of the room, hastily thanking me for my time before ordering some Avoxes to clean the mess I’ve made. It isn’t until Vivien comes back upstairs that I find out they simply covered my mess with a sparring mat.
Vivien regales us with her tale of impaling the Gamemakers’ wine bottle, which seems to surprise our mentors, but they explain that the only thing the Gamemakers can do to her now is make her time in the arena more difficult. I don’t doubt that they’ll try to make things harder for Vivien, but with me - and presumably Royce - by her side, it would be immensely difficult for them to target her on her own. After a while, we’re told to wash up before dinner and I change into something more comfortable before returning to the living room to talk with my mentors. When I bring up the topic of getting Lexi to cut the trackers out if we need her to, they seem hesitant, but come to accept that as an option if we require it. By the time the stylists arrive, it’s nearly time for our scores to be revealed, so Juliet saunters off down the hall to fetch Vivien while Mack and Brady tell me to entrust my watch to my stylist, Topaz. My hesitance to do so is met with a short explanation that Topaz was Mick’s stylist in her Games and was someone I could trust to keep care of the watch until we were in the catacombs. Eventually, I pull the watch from my hoodie and pass it over before Vivien comes out and the food is served.
Once the food is done, we gather on the couch in the living area and wait for our scores to be announced. Each of the tributes receives a long-winded spiel about them before their scores are announced and, for the first time in a long time, three of the first four Careers end up with meager scores compared to normal years. By the time my spot on the screen arrives, my leg is bouncing and the rising panic I’d been trying so desperately to shove aside makes itself present. Vivien takes my hand in hers and, as my score is revealed, she brings me into a tight squeeze that eases the tension from me. Her score of nine is just one point below mine and, although we’re all very excited about it, I notice Vivien taking a moment away from the excitement to watch Royce’s identical score flash across the screen.
We bring the party up to the roof after everything is over and District 6 joins us after a while. Royce and Vivien are soon by each other’s side and I join them in case Vivien needs a quick escape from her own, babbled words. As the stylists join our little trio, I notice every glance Vivien and Royce take, watching the other with soft smiles the other will never know existed. Celebratory drinks are handed out and, once I start a roof-wide chant of our district numbers, I make my way behind the two lovebirds and make them hold hands before raising them into the air. The rest of the time we spend on the roof, Vivien is latched to Royce’s side and vice versa, but there’s a shimmer of something in her eyes when Royce has to leave that makes me wonder if she’s come to terms with her feelings for him. On the way back to our floor, I tease her about the situation so that nobody can hear and take joy in watching her face burn a shade of tomato. I duck off to my room to evade Vivien’s ire and wait until morning to ask her about how things went with Royce.
In the morning, I find Vivien still fast asleep and ask her how she slept once I’ve woken her. My intention of teasing her some more evaporates as she pleads for me not to before she has to spend the rest of the day with Royce, acting as though they’re both in love. Though I can see that Royce cares for Vivien the same way she cares for him, I don’t push the topic any further and we eventually settle next to each other. She relaxes against the headboard of her bed and I wonder how she could be so relaxed with everything else going on around us. With the Hunger Games looming just ahead of us and the weight of everything I know resting on my shoulders, I can’t bring myself to the same state of calm that Vivien can. If she knew what I was planning, if she knew how much weighed on our every move in the arena and how many eyes would be on us for the rest of our lives once we got out, would she be so trusting? Would her trust in me go out the window? Would she still come to me for help or for comfort the way she has in the past?
My usual confidence is long gone and, as I spare a glimpse of Vivien’s relaxed grin, I ask, “You know I care about you, right, Pip?”
“Of course, Riv.” Vivien’s gentle smile and how quickly she responds feel like a punch to the gut. Her trust in me is so strong; will it still be that way once everything is said and done? “You know I care about you too, right?”
Wrapping my mind around her question is easy as I knew the answer long before she asked. “I do.” A sighed chuckle falls from me as I shake my head slightly and add, “Far more than I deserve most of the time.”
Vivien is quick to shake her head, an adamant tone in her voice as she presses, “That’s not true. We’re family and family loves without it needing to be earned or deserved.”
Her confusion is evident underneath the stubborn smile that never seems to disappear and I feel a small grin tug at my lips as I breathe, “Good.”
Although Vivien’s confusion takes over, she leans her head against my shoulder and softly asks, “What brought that on?”
I rest my head against hers and try to relax against the headboard as I squeeze the hand she’s tucked into mine, “Just making sure.”
Our moment of peace is broken as our day begins and Vivien leaves to take a shower while I find my way to the dining room where our mentors are talking. When I join them, they fill me in on how many sponsors have already spoken to them about wanting to help us. They claim that, after last year, people want to help the previously reaped tributes win this year and that, with all the money we should get, they should have no problem sending us gifts when we ask for them. When Juliet joins the conversation, the talk becomes more serious and we discuss the plan of getting us out of the arena and what will happen once we’re out.
Juliet claims that all dead tributes are brought back to the Training Center to be cleaned, get their tracker removed, and be made to look good until the Games end. After the tribute looks alright, the mentors of the tribute will be sent in to make confirmation that the tribute is the same one they sent into the arena so that the families can’t argue that the body isn’t that of their relative. Once the arena is free of tributes and the victor leaves the Capitol, they’ll send the bodies to their home districts so their families can bury whatever is left of them. Juliet claims that our best chance of getting us out of there is either when everyone’s focus is on the victor once they return to the Capitol or when we’re on the train back home. If we’re out of the Capitol, they can’t take us back. Mack and Brady make the plan sound effortless when they lay it out in three simple steps - fake our deaths in the arena, wait out the train ride home, and arrive in District 3 as free tributes - however, it feels like anything but. I guess, on their side of things, the plan is simple, but Vivien, Royce, and I still have a lot to do. We still have to endure the interviews, survive the bloodbath, and avoid being killed by the other tributes.
The conversation dies down once Vivien joins us for breakfast and, once we’re done eating, Juliet pulls Vivien back to her room to try on some clothes for their practice interviews. I wait with the others for the group from District 6 to arrive and listen to them jabber about sponsors and things I can’t bring myself to care about, but once Royce and his group arrive, I break off from the group and find my way to Juliet’s room. Inside, Vivien has been shoved into a dress I can tell she wants to rid herself of while her stylist looks on from her spot on the bed. In an effort to lighten the mood, I lean against the door frame and chuckle, “You look like one of those cake toppers at that ritzy bakery in Pixel Square.”
Vivien flips me off and calls me the nickname she chose long ago, but when I tell her that Royce has arrived, I see panic flood her eyes. Her stylist brushes me off and tells me to have fun, but my focus is on Vivien who I can tell is trying to force herself to calm down. Eventually, she finds my gaze and I send her a small, encouraging smile before leaving the room and telling Royce where to find them. His stylist, Carrie, moves past him with her arms loaded down with items she thinks they’ll need for the day, eager to find her friend while Royce simply shakes his head and trails behind her. Once they’re behind closed doors, I’m brought to Topaz’s room and made to try on a sample of my interview outfit before being allowed back into more comfortable clothing. My interview training begins once I’m back in the living room with the three mentors, but it doesn’t last long as the four mentors decide that, as long as I relax and let my answers come naturally, I should be fine. My natural protectiveness over Vivien and, by extension, Royce will serve me well in front of the Capitol and the ease I have speaking with the others makes it feel as though the interviews will go well, but I have a hard time holding my tongue when it comes to quick remarks or snarky comments about the Capitol.
We spend the rest of our time explaining the plan to Royce’s mentor, Butchy, who seems to take to it easily. His advice is simple: watch for cameras, draw attention to the other tributes, and, if necessary, find an alternative route to victory. He theorizes that, if we play our cards right and make it to the final three left alive, they could use Juliet and Carrie’s popularity to convince the Capitol citizens to want to call off the Games, effectively cutting it short and letting us out without the need for us to worry about the trackers. While the thought is nice, the idea of leaving the arena before it gets that far is much more appealing. In my opinion, the sooner we're out of the arena, the better, but I still take his idea into consideration all the same.
The others join us for lunch after a while and, once the stylists leave to tailor our interview outfits, we’re asked about things we could use in the arena and we fill the others in on the fact that the arena will be a cruise ship. After a while, the stylists return and drag us off to have our clothes altered while Royce and his team leave and, by the time we find ourselves around the table again, exhaustion has set in. I retire to my room early and allow sleep to carry me into the next day. The day breezes by so quickly I have a hard time registering half of what’s happening around me, but I’m eventually dressed in an emerald suit, placed in front of a mirror, and praised by the prep team and stylists before being brought to the living room to wait for Vivien.
Vivien’s entrance is like something out of a Capitol-made movie and I have to wonder if she feels comfortable in her emerald gown. She looks scared and I can’t blame her; I am too. We both don’t do well in front of others like this as both of us have a hard time keeping our mouths shut. If we say or do something the Capitol audience doesn’t like, we could very well sign our death warrants. Vivien’s eyes find me fairly quickly and I watch her smile broaden as she scans my suit. We match and, although I can tell she likes it just as much as I do, the mirth in her gaze is hard to miss. I feel the need to comment on her clothing, giving a teasing, “Look what someone scrubbed off the shower wall.”
Her taunt of, “Says the walking green bean,” is said with a beaming smile as I pull her close, allowing her some sort of refuge from the chaos we’re about to endure. We ride down to the waiting area and Mick’s parents give us hugs of encouragement before leaving us there. We’re met by the girls we chose to team up with and they give us some advice about the pair from District 5 and the Careers before leaving to line up with the others.
Sadly, that’s all I had written out for the epilogue, but I do have two extra scenes for later on in the epilogue that I worked on to fill things out a bit more and get them out of my head haha.
1 - Riven’s first + second-ish days in the arena
With Topaz’s advice in mind, I keep my eyes closed until my podium latches into place, allowing my eyes to adjust fairly quickly to the light that burns from above. The heat is unlike anything we get back in District 3, but I try to push away the wave of heat that washes over me as I take in my surroundings. Vivien is close to the mouth of the Cornucopia - that’s good. If she can grab some supplies and make a run for it, she can get to safety faster than most of the other tributes. The countdown begins as I find that Royce isn’t far from Vivien, standing just four podiums away. If he can run, he should. Take something and run, let Vivien do the rest. She’s close to the Cornucopia and I know she’s fast, she can take something bigger and run, meeting with me and Royce someplace else. Vivien glances my way and directs her gaze toward a set of backpacks I just barely make out through the rolling waves of heat. One is accented with red and the other with green. If what Juliet told me the other day is true, she’ll have medical supplies and some kind of tech with her. I give her the smallest nod I can manage and watch as her gaze settles on the packs once more. She’ll be running for them, no doubt.
Royce looks worried, but has his gaze focused on something near the mouth of the Cornucopia. From what I can see, it’s either a rolled-up black bag or a small, silver backpack. Silver is good. Silver is enough food to last someone a few days if they use it sparingly. He could do well with that. Black is, typically, something for small weapons - knives, multi-tools, throwing stars, and things of that nature. If Royce can grab both of those and run, he’ll be fine. Looking around, I find a large, tightly packed, purple-striped bag that I know must contain some sort of luxury item. Whatever it is, it must be huge if it fills the bag so much that it appears as though the zippers will burst open at the slightest touch. In case the bag chooses to explode, I look around and spot a lighter, yellow bag near a set of stairs on my right that I can grab if I want to get out of the area as soon as possible. Yellow is a wild card, if Juliet is right. It could be something useful like food or water or it could be something completely useless like an empty pouch or a pair of socks. Either way, I could take it and run if everything goes well.
The cannon blast echoes through the arena, signaling the beginning of the Games, and I launch into a sprint, grabbing the purple bag on my way through the fray. The asshole from District 1 swings a nearby sword in my direction, but I roll under it and kick his legs out from under him. As he falls, I catch a glimpse of Vivien colliding with the ground, but as I stand to run toward her, someone slams into me from behind and I turn to see Jade holding a backpack as a shield in front of her, her back facing me. The blade lodged into the bag is a clear sign that she’s protected me and the nod we share cements the idea of our alliance. Turning toward the stairwell once more, I run for them, grabbing a machete and yellow backpack from near the bloodied body of the boy from District 4 along the way. The inside of the stairwell is lined with bloody footprints that I hope don’t belong to either of the kids in my care as I follow them two decks down. There, the prints split off - one heading further into the ship and another set heading outside through a large metal door. One set of footprints must lead to Vivien, but which one? I don’t bother trying to spend much time thinking and decide to descend further into the ship, taking the steps as far down as they allow before finding my way inside.
The first room I investigate on the floor I arrive on has the word “casino” on the wall in large letters and I quickly find that I’m not the only person in the area. The girl from District 8 - I discover from Royce later on that her name is Jeyveera - shrieks at my intrusion and swings wildly at me with her backpack. Using her momentum against her, I take a step back and watch the bag pull her toward the floor in a heap. She’s injured already, most likely gaining the slash in her abdomen from the bloodbath. Although she’s trying desperately to fend me off, I can see in her eyes that she just wants to run. Her fight isn’t with me, it’s with staying alive. Peering up at me from the floor, Jeyveera shakes her head and looks away.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asks.
“No,” I reply. “But you should probably move. The further you are from the stairwell, the better.”
“I’ll bleed to death,” she scoffs.
“Maybe, but it shows you’re still trying to fight.”
Lifting her gaze from the floor, I find her dark, almost black eyes filled with a hint of determination. She nods and, with a hand pressed firmly to the steadily leaking gash in her side, rises from the floor, taking her backpack and inching her way toward the door I’d entered through. I don’t spend much longer in the casino and find my way to another set of stairs and find a layout of the ship on a map. Scanning over the map is easy and I try to take note of where things are before I continue onward. The sky outside darkens as I make my way to a place called The Two Whales - a restaurant on the far end of the ship. I barricade myself in the kitchen in the back of the restaurant, snagging cans of vegetables after making sure that nobody could come in from any point in the room. I have no way of knowing who is alive or where the others are, but I know I’m safe in my kitchen, surrounded by weapons that are typically used for cooking.
Rifling through my backpacks rewards me kindly and I find myself with a sleeping bag, a portable grill, and some thick packages of meat. I set up camp inside a series of cabinets that have no walls to separate them and stay up only long enough to see the flashes of tributes' faces in the sky. Once I’m sure that none of my allies have been killed off, I make myself comfortable and try to get some sleep. To my dismay, sleep doesn’t come easily as I still worry about Vivien and Royce. They’re still somewhere on the ship, wandering around or hunkered down in a location I have yet to explore. When I turn onto my side after some hours of trying to find some semblance of peace, my arm shoved under my head as a pillow, I finally get some kind of answer.
“They’re safe,” a voice whispers from my watch. The voice is barely audible, but I don’t have to guess who it is. Juliet’s Capitol accent is thick, but her words are comforting all the same. “They’re separated, but they’re safe. Just try to sleep. The sun will rise soon if the Gamemakers are following the time right now.”
Eventually, my eyes close and, when I finally open them again, I can see the faintest hint of the sun between the cracks of the cabinet doors. Gathering all of my belongings, I decide to continue with the plan Royce, Vivien, and I made before the Games started. I deposit my belongings in a stateroom on Deck 12 and begin my trek up to the Cornucopia with an empty backpack and the machete I snagged from the bloodbath.
2 - The aftermath of Riven’s “death” + his time in the Capitol
The feeling of being limply lifted from the deck into the hovercraft is surreal. I’ve seen it time and time again over the years on television, but living it is something else. From under my eyelashes, I can just barely see that the hovercraft is filled with people in white coats and a pair of Peacekeepers, but the white-coated doctors are instructed to leave by a simple wave of the Peacekeeper's hand after they haul me and Lexi’s dead body onto separate gurneys. Once everyone else has left the room and the door slides into place, the Peacekeepers reach up to their helmets and remove them, revealing Juliet and her friend, Carrie - the stylist in charge of Royce’s outfits.
Carrie looks around before nodding to Juliet, “We’re clear.”
I close my eyes as Juliet reaches for my bloodied arm and swipes a nearby towel across it, cleaning it of blood before pressing a gloved hand to the skin. She feels around for a while as blood begins to pool around the open wound again and I hear her whisper, “It’s gone.”
“The tracker is gone?” Carrie questions softly. I hear Juliet hum in agreement. “Then shouldn’t that mean he’s alive?”
“He is,” Juliet whispers. “I can feel his pulse.”
Opening my eyes, I find Juliet and Carrie above me, examining my face so closely that I have to wonder what they were going to do to make me reveal that I was conscious. Instead of following through with whatever devious plans they’d concocted, I watch as their faces split into brilliant, pearly smiles. Giving them a smile of my own, I greet them, “Well, hello to you too.”
Juliet gives me a hug and they both congratulate me before deciding to follow through with whatever protocol they have to do as fake Peacekeepers. Lexi’s body is pulled into a room to one side and I’m brought to another. They leave me alone for a moment, pulling their helmets back into place before leaving the room and, when they return, they bring a single doctor to clean my wounds. My arm is sewn back together with clear threads and, before the doctor leaves, Juliet slips them something I have to assume is a thick fold of money intended to keep them quiet. The two of them question me briefly in private before reassuring me that they’ll make sure to keep an eye on Vivien and Royce for me while I wait for the Games to end. When the hovercraft lands atop the Training Center, Carrie leaves the room to bring Lexi’s body inside and I’m instructed by Juliet to keep as still as possible until she tells me otherwise. When I nod, she smiles and slides her Peacekeeper helmet into place once again before taking hold of my gurney and guiding it to an elevator. The ride down to the medical suite is quiet and, upon our arrival, Juliet brings a pouch out of her uniform and sets it into some man’s hand before telling him to do what he can to clean me up before instructing him to leave us alone.
For the remainder of the Hunger Games, I’m kept in the apartment Juliet and Carrie share. The room I’m given is an offensive shade of pink and the curtains remain closed at all times, however, the television mounted on the wall allows me to keep an eye on what’s happening in the arena, so I don’t complain. Vivien’s reaction to my death is gut-wrenching and I want nothing more than to reach through the screen and comfort her myself, but Royce does a good job at being there for her, never leaving her side. The two stay together until the end of the Hunger Games, eventually tempting fate by drinking a wine that they mixed with nightlock berries and securing them both a victory.
I’m forced to move into the president’s mansion after he discovers that Juliet and Carrie had been aiding and abetting me. It doesn’t surprise me nearly as much that he figured things out, but it takes me a while to adjust to seeing the man every day. On my first day in the mansion, I’m escorted by a flock of Peacekeepers to a large, circular room that I later find out is his meeting room. He sits me down and slides a book into my hands, telling me that he wishes for Vivien and Royce to solve a little puzzle for him in order to secure my safety and that he hopes they’ll have it solved by the end of the Victory Tour. When I tell him that it will be easy and that they’ll solve anything he throws their way, he smiles, but it isn’t nearly as sadistic as I thought it would be. Instead, he looks pleased with my answer; almost as though he’d come to that same conclusion already and simply wanted to hear me confirm it. That night, I lie awake wondering if I made the right decision in telling him how confident I was.
Thankfully, the room I’m housed in inside the president’s mansion actually feels like a home, not some bubblegum pink, retina-burning eyesore. The warm lighting, comfortable furniture, and occasional visits from Juliet and Carrie make me feel somewhat relaxed as I spend every day within the same set of walls. Then, when the Victory Banquet comes around, I am forced to watch from afar as Vivien and Royce are escorted around in a daze. More than once, I wish for one of them to simply look up at the balcony on which I’m perched and catch my gaze, but neither of them does. Instead, as they’re guided toward the door, one of the peacekeepers takes my arm and leads me back to my room through winding hallways I would have easily gotten lost in. From my room, I watch as their car pulls away from the mansion and I feel an ache in my chest as they disappear into the crowded Capitol streets.
The first few weeks I spend in the mansion, I spend reading the book the president claims will hold the key to my release. At first, I don’t see the puzzle he wants Vviien and Royce to find, but I figure it out in time. I am escorted by Peacekeeper guards to dinner in the almost oddly small dining room I’ve had to eat every meal in with the president himself. It’s there that I question him on the book, asking if I’d solved his puzzle. With a smile, he tells me that I have and that he hopes my friends have done the same. As the days go on, the guards that guide me from one room to another shift from being in full, Peacekeeper regalia to standing around in comfortable-looking, Capitol clothing and simply waving to me as I pass on the almost familiar path to the dining room. Most nights, I sit around the small, square table with Juliet on my right and her father to my left. Every meal, I am treated as though I am nothing more than a guest despite being a prisoner of some sort.
Although Juliet doesn’t live full-time with her father in the mansion, she seems particularly upset with the idea of me being kept on the premises, confiding in me that she wishes I could return home. I’ve overheard her pleading with her father to let me go more than once, but to no avail. Instead, she makes it a point to call Vivien’s house while I am with her, letting me listen to Vivien ramble on to the blonde about her daily life and some of the difficulties she’s faced in recent times. Eventually, the calls fade from a few hours to maybe a half-hour, if we’re lucky. In every call, I can hear the pain and feigned happiness in Vivien’s voice with every word, only serving to drive the knife further into my chest. Despite my desire to say something or make a noise in the background to show her that I’m there and can hear her, Juliet reminds me that her father made me promise to let them solve the puzzle themselves and I force myself to remain silent. The president could easily have one of his guards kill me or have his kitchen staff poison my food - I don’t wish to end up actually dead.
At the end of the third month, I’m given some freedom. I’m allowed to wander the grounds unattended and, more than once, Carrie and Juliet invite me to their apartment for dinner. Of course, to keep my anonymity, they dress me in some of the latest trends and keep me in disguise until I’m back inside the mansion, but getting outside and being able to feel some semblance of freedom is nice. As time goes by, I hardly even care about the ridiculous outfits they shove me into.
By the time five months have passed, I’m almost used to the everyday life inside the mansion. I’ve befriended some of the guards and joined in on some of their late-night card games. They no longer greet me with curt nods and stiff waves, instead greeting me the same way my friends back home would. I have access to almost every room and spend most of my time reading some of the books in the mansion’s library, occasionally taking a book out to the garden when the rain has cleared and reading with the occasional birds or rabbits that come up to me almost expectantly. I learn from a brief encounter with the president in the greenhouse that the animals expect food every time someone steps outside and, from then on, I keep a pouch of seeds and a handful of sliced carrots on me everytime I step out to the garden.
Carrie and Juliet visit me before the Victory Tour is set to begin, giving me final embraces before their departure. As the cameras and prep teams will be with them the entire time, I’m disallowed from joining them at the train station, but their visit is enough for me to hope that they will aid Vivien and Royce with the puzzle if they haven’t solved it already. Once Carrie leaves my room, Juliet takes a small box from her pocket and tucks it into my hand with a wink before following her friend out. The box contains the watch I wore in the arena, the glass no longer broken and the time finally functional once more. Once Juliet boards the train, I hear the voice I’ve grown used to hearing come over the watch’s miniscule speaker, telling me that she’ll keep me updated on everything and let me hear as much as she does once she arrives in District 6.
Juliet keeps to her word and I hear almost every conversation she has once she steps off of the train. I hear the conversations she has with the mayor and some of the people who have gathered at the train station, her idle chatter with the prep teams, and, most interestingly, Royce and his family. It seems as though they have plans to surprise Vivien, something I sincerely hope works out for them. They spend a while talking and preparing Royce for the journey and, just as they’re about to file into the car, I hear him exclaim about something he forgot inside his house. A few minutes later, he returns, sliding into the car alongside Carrie, who asks, “Sherlock Holmes, huh?”
“Yeah,” he replies. “President Harmon gave it to me.”
It’s then that I wonder if he’s solved it. I mean, by now, I would hope that he and Vivien have worked together to answer the puzzle, but there’s no telling. The train ride to District 3 is mostly silent, but that gives me time to try to think of something to say if I’m able to see Vivien and Royce again. A few days into the Victory Tour, when the group is stationed in District 7, I go to the president in search of a certain book I enjoyed in the arena. I try not to look as disappointed as I feel when he tells me that he doesn’t have a copy of the book, but to my surprise, he finds me later that evening in the garden and hands me a set of books by Will Livingston - volumes one and two of my joke book, No Pun Intended.
I thank him and, before he leaves, he asks, “What is the downside to eating a clock?”
My eyes widen at the prospect of the president cracking a joke from one of the books and I try to think of an answer before shrugging, “I don’t know.”
With a smirk rivaling that of my own, President Harmon replies, “It’s time consuming.”
We share a laugh and the president wishes me a good night before heading back inside, leaving me in the garden with my jokebooks and my thoughts. I spend a few days poring over the books in search of the perfect joke to use and, while I find many that are hilarious, none of them have the impact that I’m looking for. Then, when the Victory Tour is stopped in District 2, I find the perfect joke - one about ghosts. I mean, how fitting is that? I’m supposedly a ghost right now, so it works out perfectly, in my opinion.
For the next few days, I anxiously await the arrival of my friends, thinking of ways they could react to my sudden appearance after all this time. However, nothing could have prepared me for the real deal. I first see them from the same balcony I’d stood on six months prior, Vivien latched onto Royce’s arm as they’re guided through the party by Carrie and Juliet. More than once, I have the urge to vault over the railing and join them, but President Harmon had two of the guards - Hermes and Silas - escort me there for a reason, so I keep myself in check. As the party nears its end, I’m brought back to my room and told to wait there for further instruction When Carrie and Juliet come barging into my room after the party is over, the door bouncing off the wall from slamming it so hard, I have to jump. Then, the glittering excitement in their eyes makes it obvious that the time has come for me to make an appearance.
A million thoughts race through my head as the girls lead me to the circular office the president is waiting in. I hear Vivien and Royce before I see them and their voices alone are enough to make my eyes burn and my chest tighten. The doors slide open silently and Juliet pulls me to a spot just a few paces behind Vivien and Royce and gestures for me to stay silent as the president asks, “How does this coincide with the changes you would like to make?”
I hear Vivien take in a sharp breath, ready to snap back at an instant, but it’s Royce who speaks first, an impressively assertive tone clinging to every word, “If Riven is still alive, here in the Capitol, we would like to bring him home.”
Almost too meekly to sound like my Pip, Vivien utters, “Please. I just want to bring him home.” She takes in another breath and releases her thoughts to the room, “It’s not the same without him. Without him there, I have nobody back home who will tease me relentlessly or sing dumb songs on the walk home from work or will go out on the lake with me in the winter and goof off or-” Vivien’s voice stops and I fight the urge to reach out and comfort her as Royce wraps an arm around her shoulders. With a shaky, almost wet sounding voice, she adds, “Nobody to make me listen to his absolutely terrible jokes.”
I meet the president’s gaze in the silence that follows and, as he rises from the table and takes a book from the other side of it, I wonder if my time has come. “I understand how difficult it is to lose someone, Vivien,” he tells them. “My wife died just a few years ago. Memories like you have are hard to let go of, but there will always be more memories to make with the people you love.”
President Harmon returns to the side everyone hass gathered on and holds a book out for them to see. My joke book. I know my copies are still in the room I’ve been kept in, so I know he must have gotten an extra copy for himself. Vivien reaches out for the book and he pulls it out from near her grasp, leaving her sputtering as he holds it out once more, this time, glancing my way. Carrie nudges me closer and I quickly take the book, saying a quick, “Sorry, Pip,” as I latch onto it. “I know you love books and all, but I believe that’s actually mine.”
Royce is the first to move, breathing out a soft, “No fucking way,” once he sees me. I can feel the burn in my eyes as they begin to blur.
Royce smiles at me and urges Vivien to turn my way as I try to clal back on any of the times I had prepared for this moment. “I have a joke for you two,” I offer as Vivien turns and I try to keep my emotions in check as she keeps her gaze from mine.
Eventually, she meets my eyes and I find she’s already crying, her tears lining her cheeks with faint tracks of whatever makeup has been layered on her skin. “Riven?” she mutters.
As much as I want to launch forward and take both of them in, I still want to get my greeting joke across as I ask, “Why are ghosts terrible liars?”
Vivien looks confused while Royce simply barks a laugh and slams into my chest, berating me with a laugh of, “Six months apart and you decide to greet us with a shitty joke?”
“Shitty?” I laugh as I bring my arms around Royce’s shoulders. “But you haven’t even heard the punchline!”
Royce slides away a step and, as he hastily swipes a hand under his eyes, I turn my attention back to Vivien who looks as though she’s seen a ghost. Her skin, despite the makeup, looks pale and, as she wobbles on her feet, I ask her if she’s alright, but receive no answer. Carrie reaches out and places a hand on her arm, asking a simple, “Vivien?”
In return, Vivien jumps and, all at once, her eyes roll back and I lurch forward, catching her before she has the chance to hit the floor. The others crowd around us as we wait for Vivien to rouse, but it takes a few minutes. Her eyes flutter open and she looks around before muttering a soft, “Tired,” in response to Juliet’s question of if she was alright and falling asleep once again. Despite Royce and the stylists claiming Vivien had been overwhelmed for most of the party and insisting that she must have collapsed due to exhaustion, President Harmon calls for one of his guards who retrieves the President’s personal medic. The doctor examines Vivien, checking her over before simply restating the assumptions passed on by Royce and the girls. In the end, I carry her to the car that has been waiting for us and we ride to the train station in relative silence so as to not wake Vivien. Royce chooses to stay the night with her in case she wakes up confused with being in a new location and I lie awake for most of the night, glad to finally be going home.
Sadly, that's all I've got for you, but I certainly hope that you enjoyed reading through all of the deleted scenes I've compiled over the last few months. This story was such an adventure and I had so much fun working on it, but hopefully, I'll be working on some one-shots soon to fill up the summer with writing and prepare me for my novel version of this fantastic little world we've created with these characters!
20 notes
·
View notes
Previously on The Non-Canon Just Because I Feel Like It Bachelor Challenge...
Seven contestants answered the casting call to join a Bachelor Challenge reality show. Once they arrived to the filming location, however, they were rendered unconscious by an unseen force while signing the standard reality show waiver, then abducted into parts unknown of OUTER SPACE!!! where they regained consciousness and were forced to sign a new waiver they weren't allowed to read.
Despite the fact that this show was now taking a decidedly different format than the one they signed up for, the girls decided to remain calm and proceed as if everything was perfectly normal. Well, some of them.
Eleanor: Am I the only one weirded out by this?
Their mission was to compete in challenges to win the heart of Aiden Ayy, our alien bachelor. Unlike the contestants, Aiden never signed up for a reality show in the first place. Instead, he was abducted from his Earth home where he had been stranded for 18 years, and held captive in a separate pod from the women. Why was he chosen to be the bachelor in this reality show? Because...uh...because of rational non-petty reasons unrelated to any sort of deep-seated desire to see this particular man suffer.
It's simply because he...uh...he looks good on camera. Yeah, that's it.
See? The camera loves him.
Anyway. *cough*
The first challenge, a waffle-making contest, was held and the apparently-duplicitous Rose was the failure of the week.
She was ejected from the house, but not before she could reveal her true colors as a spiteful sore loser who vowed to return and do whatever it took to win.
Why does she want to win so badly? Does she care about Aiden at all or is defeating the competition and being declared the victor the only thing that matters to her?
Bailey, the challenge winner, became the first contestant to go on a one-on-one date with Aiden. The two, though awkward at first, began to hit it off with one another.
That's when Bailey dropped the bombshell that she was still in love with her ex-boyfriend who she had been forbidden to see by her father. Bailey then tried to forfeit the competition but I, the all-powerful Watcher, refused to let her leave of her own volition. If anyone leaves this house, it's because I said they can, understand? That's how this show works, and don't any of you forget it!
Bailey moped for a bit.
Viridia slapped the shit out of Kitty.
The two events were unrelated, mind you, but it was hilarious. I just had to see it again. Sometimes, I just replay that part over and over again just to see the stupid look on her face.
The next challenge began *cough* shortly afterwards, but there was something decidedly off about this one.
It soon became apparent that Rose, the thorn in my side she is, had somehow managed to evade my security measures and sneaked her way into my control room during my lunch break, locking me out in the process. For whatever lame-brained reason, she forced the contestants to ride a bull to prove their commitment to Aiden which is just so incredibly stupid to me. I mean what does riding a bull have to do with dating someone? Is this a sex thing? Is this a metaphor about taking charge in a relationship? Did any thought go into this whatsoever?
Predictably, Kitty, the contestant with the largest proverbial stick lodged firmly up her proverbial ass, lost. Even though this challenge was not my idea, after valiantly wresting control of the competition from Rose (entirely off screen so you'll have to imagine how that went down) I decided that Kitty's loss was canon. Honestly, I just wanted to get rid of her. Her constant lectures on propriety were bringing down the whole vibe.
Bailey attempted to throw the competition yet again, but it was Kitty who was ultimately ejected from the house much to the delight of me, Viridia, and the viewing public at large.
Speaking of Viridia, she was the winner of the challenge, and just as soon as I get this jerry-rigged satellite back into position to continue my pirate broadca--I mean, completely legitimate broadcast --she will be going on a one-on-one date with Aiden.
Where will the competition go from here? It's anyone's guess! Will the growing alliance between Eleanor and Bailey become an issue for me maintaining control of the house? Will Rose return to wreak havoc once again? Will Viridia blow out Aiden's eardrums when it's just the two of them in close proximity with each other? Will my devious machinations be revealed? Will the various intergalactic law enforcement agencies who have been keeping a keen eye on this completely legitimate broadcast finally locate the planet the hostages--I mean contestants are being held on? Will Tumblr stop messing up the format of my posts so the pictures are in the body of text instead of all clumped together at the top of the post?
Find out soon on...
The Non-Canon Just Because I Feel Like It Bachelor Challenge!
[Beginning] [Previous] [Next]
18 notes
·
View notes
THESE ASK CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE FAMILY PLUM TREE!
I know, its heartbreaking 😭😭 Just when you thought Willanor and their family live happily ever after - the rug gets pulled out from us 🤧
Yes, and you can choose that ending nonnie! Officially, that’s where the story ends for me. I’m not exploring what happens after, so if you want to pretend all these tragedies don’t happen, that’s okay!
Yes, she gets away from her cheating husband! She is FREE!!!!! with her doggies ofc! I mean if in your mind you think they end together, I’m not fighting it! Tamsin’s ending is open for interpretation!
😭😭 yeah, Ingrid dies and it was so freaking hard to write! she was the last one I worked on cause I kept postponing it 🥺 and Laurie honors both his siblings! Milian and Ingrid!
@time-to-hit-the-clouds OMG!!! I can totally imagine that! I would watch each and every single one of those documentaries!
@wa-royal-tea it’s almost like they are cursed 🤔 AND WHAT??!!! i swear I have written proof you knew about Emi!! I shall give it to my lawyer 😋
they can’t 😭😭 but at least one good thing happens 🥺 Chriszola ending up together ❤❤❤
I’ll tell you, they both hurt! I remember when I first learned Daria was considering killing Emi off in a car accident. She was just a kid in her story by then 😭😭 and Ingrid my sweet baby Ingrid! That truly made me cry cause it was just so unexpected for her family and they had just lost Eleanor the year before!
@utamuse My heart hurts too! Why do you think it took me so long to work on it? I was breaking my heart left and right!
His Grimalldi side really did come out! But, he had to exile her. It was expected. With Helene out of Monaca, it gave the people the chance to see Leonora as their Crown Princess.
EYE - 😳😳😳😳 You are so right nonnie! 😅
Same. It would have been too hard on her and even Max to see their family handle all that tragedy 😥
@nadhirahhamidun me to hun! me too! Bttersweet is the right word for sure.
Eleanor became Queen 😭😭
He was a bit disappointed, but respected her decision. The dynamic between Milian and Elora changed a lot! Their marriage was never the same, but they remained married. Elora supported her daughter.
William was completely heartbroken about his baby girl but he had to push aside his grief for Leonora.
Zola and Chris reunite romantically YEARS after Emi’s death. Amelia didn’t have anything to say about it - and Zola worked really hard to help repair Chris and his kids relationships.
Yes, the Grimalldis were hit really hard back to back. First Eleanor and then her sweet Ingrid 😭😭 That was the hardest thing to write. Her and Jacob leaving Leonora an orphan.
Milian and Laurie grew closer after the plane crash, They both loved their sister.
Yes, I knew Ingrid was going to have a short life. I didn’t know until recently that her daughter would one day be Queen. It just felt right.
🥺🥺🥺💔💔💔
yeah, i was shocked when I first learned Daria planned on emi having a short life 🤧 though it could change if she ever comes back but from what I remember Emi was going to die young. Chris growing distant from the kiddos because he felt guilty he survived while their mother did not was also something she was toying with and I decided to go with it because that would be the one thing he could never imagine doing. Being an absent father like his own was. Yet, his grief got in the way.
Surprise!!! 😳😳😳
20 notes
·
View notes
I finally finished making the refs for all of my scarlet hollow mc's so here they are (+ some info about them and the choices I made during their playthroughs)
Wesley Scarlet:
(first off his ref looks different from the rest of them because it's the first one I made and I was too lazy to go back and make it match with the rest)
Wesley was basically the character that I made specifically so that I could chose the meaner dialogue choices- so naturally he isn't very nice to people (he's very blunt/low key an asshole to everyone (at least in the earlier episodes)) and he's a lawyer/works at a law firm
(he also did the thing where you can puke in front of everyone in the dinner so yeah-)
He saved Duke in the woods and went directly back to the estate instead of going to see Sybil with Stella, didn't tell Tabitha about the kids sneaking into the mines, was able to get all of the kids safely out of the mines before it collapsed, (didn't invite Tabitha or avery to hunt ghosts) was able to lawyer his way out of giving up years of his life to the ghost and in turn cleared oscar's house of the ghost, didn't have tea with Sybil, Reese was able to kill his mom (cause wesley didn't grab the tranquilizers), and he wasn't able to find Stella.
Andy Scarlet:
They're a teacher! They are also psychic- and they will literally just blurt out anything that comes to their mind because of their psychic-ness (has probably gotten in trouble for telling kids that they're going to get into a car accident or something like that)
They don't really know how to talk to other people that well so they mostly come off as weird (or even creepy) in most cases
They saved Duke and went to see Sybil with Stella before returning to the estate, got caught by Tabitha while talking to the miners, called Tabitha and waited outside for her when the kids snuck into the mines, all of the kids were safely taken from the mines before it collapsed, they hung out with Tabitha and invited her ghost hunting (they also invited Avery), wanted to give up years of their life to the ghost but tabitha stepped in and did it herself so that they wouldn't have to, they called tabitha when reese was going kill his mom and she shot him but Andy didn't let her kill him and they just locked him up, and they were able to find stella with the help of tabitha and was able to rekindle their relationship.
(also they have a crush on Avery)
Eleanor Scarlet:
This is Eleanor and she works as an art streamer! She's also basically a Disney princess cause she can talk to animals and everyone loves her-
Saves Gretchen and goes to see Sybil with Stella and stays the night at Stella's house, tells Tabitha about the kids sneaking into the mines but doesn't wait for her, the kids are all able to get out but Rosalina's foot is crushed, she invites Tabitha to go ghost hunting (along with Avery) but they leave without getting rid of the ghost, Eleanor is able to calm Reese down so he leaves without killing doctor kelly, and she is able to find Stella (with the help of the gang of dogs) and stays the night with her again (she romances Stella)
Raymond Scarlet:
He's still in college and is majoring in psychology- he also chooses violence most of the time-
He was able to save both duke and Gretchen, went to see Sybil with Stella and then went back to the estate, didn't tell Tabitha about the kids in the mine, rosalina lost her foot when the mine collapsed, he didn't invite Tabitha ghost hunting (but did invite Avery), didn't want to give up years of his life and the ghost remained in the house/library, had the talk with Sybil but didn't drink the tea, let Reese kill dr. Kelly, and found Stella with the help of Gretchen
(he also romanced kaneeka)
12 notes
·
View notes
Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter
Something's wrong with Wainwright and Skies wants to find out what.
*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*
--
Guns, Love, and Tentacles Part 4
Skies awakens with a start and tries to shoot up but an explosive pain through her chest forces her back down as she writhes, trying to gasp for breath.
“Take it easy,” she hears Moze say, gripping her shoulder. “Try to breathe.”
“But...that’s what hurts,” Skies croaks, arms wrapped around her chest.
“Hit her again.”
She feels the short sting in her neck of an insta-health and the pain subsides slightly, just enough for her to breathe. She gasps with relief and takes deep breaths as she looks up at Moze and Amara kneeling over her.
“What...what happened?” Skies rasps. “Where are we?”
“Back at the Lodge,” Amara replies, “that Eleanor really did a number on you. Knocked you right out.”
“Knocked me out?” Skies scoffs as she struggles to sit up. “What am I, eighty?”
“We got you and Wainwright back here,” Moze adds.
“Wainwright!” she gasps and starts coughing. “Where...where is he?”
She tries to stand up, but fresh pain shoots through her ribs and she doubles over.
“Are you alright?” Moze asks worriedly.
“Yeah, just...old wounds,” Skies replies, steadying herself on Amara. “That damned cult witch had to hit me in my weak spot.”
Once she’s on her feet, Moze and Amara point her to the fireplace. Hammerlock, Gaige, Zane, and FL4K are gathered there around one of the chairs. Slumped over in it is Wainwright, muttering feverishly. Skies hobbles closer and leans against Zane as she pants for breath that she just can’t catch. She sees Wainwright’s eyes are glowing pink.
“What’s happened to him?” Skies asks.
“That’s what I would like to know,” Hammerlock demands.
“It must’ve been those cult freaks,” she growls, “nothing good ever comes from messing with a cult.”
“He’ll be fine,” Zane insists. “...right?”
Skies groans noncommittally.
“Look, he’s coming around,” Hammerlock says with relief. “Winny! Are you alright?”
“The heart still beats...” Wainwright croaks.
“Winny! Wake up!”
“Hmmm...Oh!” he gasps awake, sitting up in the chair, but his eyes remain pink and his hands are fiercely trembling. “Vault Hunters! Skies! There you are. I must have dozed off for a moment. Must’ve been the whiskey. Skies, take my shotgun. Can’t trust my hands right this moment.”
“Sure, I’ll hold onto it for you,” Skies says as she takes the weapon.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way to start the celebration,” Hammerlock says, “but now, thanks to Gaige, Skies, and the Vault Hunters it seems everything has settled down. We’re back on track and I’m sure nothing else will go wrong!”
“Famous last words,” Skies mutters.
As Wainwright and Hammerlock settle back down, Skies hears a whisper from the bar. “My esteemed guests. Might I have a word at...the counter.”
Skies and the Vault Hunters glance at each other before approaching Mancubus. “I’m afraid the young groom-to-be isn’t out of danger,” he warns, “he brought something back with him into the Lodge. You should attempt to remove that ring from his finger. Without alarming the...happy couple.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely something up with that ring,” Skies grunts.
“What makes you say that?” FL4K asks.
“Ignoring the fact that Wainwright’s eyes are pink,” she replies, “I know a cursed object when I see it. I am the best treasure hunter in the galaxy after all. I’ll get it.”
She approaches Wainwright gently, as if he were a baby skag. “Hey, Wainwright, buddy. Can I see that ring please?”
“Oh, sure, of course,” he replies and holds out his hand.
Skies grabs the ring with her robot hand and tries to pull it off. It remains still, as if spot-welded, and wispy pink tendrils travel up and around her arm until they reach her face and plunge into her skin. Her left eye turns pink and she gasps before yanking herself away, collapsing into the adjacent chair.
“Son of a taint,” she hisses, clutching her chest.
“What the heck was that?” Gaige exclaims.
“The vessel has been chosen,” Wainwright says with a voice that’s mostly not his. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“Winny, what are you saying?” Hammerlock asks worriedly.
“What? I-I don’t...I don’t know,” Wainwright replies with confusion, back to his normal voice. “But I do feel a but...uh sideways.”
“It is as I feared,” Mancubus says, “another moment of your time, if you would? At...the counter.”
Skies lifts herself out of the chair, wincing in pain, before joining the Vault Hunters back at the bar.
“That ring on his finger has powers beyond mortal comprehension,” Mancubus explains, “the Lodge is slowing the effect to a degree, but the outcome...is inevitable. You must find a way to remove it, or I’m afraid he will miss the ceremony...entirely.”
“What can we do?” Skies asks.
“There is a man known as Burton Briggs who is proficient at uncovering...secrets,” he replies, “a detective, of sorts. He can help you learn more about this ring, and its origins. Look for him at his agency, The Eye Witness.”
“Do be careful,” he adds, “your actions this night have stirred the Bonded into quite the frenzy. The streets will be rather hazardous. You could always stay here...The Lodge wants you to be...comfortable.”
“Wainwright needs our help,” Skies says, “we can’t stay. Let’s head into town and find this detective.”
She starts to go to the door but hesitates slightly as another wave of pain washes through her chest.
“Uh, Skies,” Moze says gently, “maybe you should...stay here.”
“What?” she snaps.
“Acha, you can hardly move right now,” Amara points out, “just take it easy until you can breathe properly.”
“They’re right,” Zane agrees, “not good to keep pushing yourself when you’re injured, you know.”
“Ah, but...” Skies sighs unable to argue.
“You should stay back and keep any eye on Wainwright,” FL4K insists, “we shan’t be long.”
The Vault Hunters head for the door, leaving Skies to stare after them miserably. She groans loudly and sits at the bar, head in her hands.
“You got rakk ale here?” she asks.
“Alas, I do not have that particular vintage,” Mancubus replies, “but perhaps this will suit your...tastes.”
He rests a tall glass of black liquid in front of her. Skies winces with disgust, dabs a finger into it, and cautiously licks it off.
“Eh, not the worst I’ve ever had,” she shrugs and takes a swig.
She looks over at the fireplace. Wainwright is still in his chair, rubbing his head and twitching every so often. Hammerlock hovers around him with concern, constantly asking if he’s alright.
“Uh, listen, Mancubus,” Skies says, “I think I owe you an apology. When we first got here, I thought for sure you were gonna turn out to be some kind of cult-y weirdo. But now I see you’re the only one who can protect us from the cult-y weirdos. So...sorry and thank you for your help.”
“It is my absolute pleasure,” Mancubus replies, “as well as my duty to ensure esteemed guests of the Lodge are kept safe while...on its grounds.”
“Right,” she grunts, “well, if you need anything, just let me know.”
“All I desire is the comfort of guests...such as yourself.”
“Man, it is hard to like you when you’re so creepy.”
As Skies takes another sip of her drink, Gaige sidles up next to her. “So. I didn’t know you had a weak spot.”
Skies sighs and lifts her shirt just enough to reveal the long, jagged scars over her rib cage. “From when I fought Tyreen...or more accurately, when I got my ass beat by Tyreen. Usually it’s not such a problem. They might get sore sometimes, like if I run too much or something. But I guess that Eleanor blasted me in just the perfect spot to really mess me up.”
She sighs again. “The Vault Hunters are right though. I should be fine after a bit of rest.”
“Well, you can relax with us,” Gaige chimes, “let the Vault Hunters do all the hard work. That’s what they’re best at. You should just enjoy your holiday.”
“Aw, but I enjoy myself by hunting for treasure,” Skies whines, “or killing people. Usually they go hand-in-hand. Point is, I don’t do well with...recuperating. Even after the whole COV debacle, I tried to rest on Sanctuary but only lasted about two days before I felt like I was gonna lose my mind. I gotta stay on the move, you know.”
“Alright, alright, take it easy,” Gaige says, “have a margarita. Deathtrap!”
Her robot hovers over and shudders a bit before a hatch on its chest opens up to a margarita.
“Huh, that’s handy,” Skies comments as she grabs the glass and takes a sip. Gaige takes a margarita of her own and does the same.
As they drink, Hammerlock walks up to them. “Just between us,” he says quietly, “I had feared this weekend wouldn’t have enough excitement, but...now we are embroiled in occult secrets, diabolical curses, and great big monsters! It’s the wedding I’ve always dreamed of!”
“Well, at least one of us is having fun,” Skies smiles then sighs. “Alright. Maybe I’m not much help for fighting off cult freaks right now, but I can still figure out what’s happening. That Eleanor is the cause of all this. She leads the cult- the Bonded. I saw her statue in the village square, along with a man- Vincent? But it didn’t look like the Vincent we fought. Mancubus, do you know anything?’
“Eleanor does indeed lead the Bonded,” he replies, “they are a cult that worships Gythian.”
“The giant monster corpse,” Skies says.
“Correct.”
“How’d you know?” Gaige asks.
“It’s literally hovering over us,” Skies replies, “there’s no way it doesn’t have some kind of influence over these people. But why do they worship it exactly? And what’s the deal with Vincent? And what’s up with that ring?”
“I’m afraid my knowledge on the subject is...limited,” Mancubus replies, “however, there is a library in town that might provide some illumination to your queries.”
“A library!” Skies cheers, “I love libraries. They’re a literal treasure trove of knowledge. I’ll go check it out.”
“Wait, the Vault Hunters told you to stay put,” Gaige points out as Skies heads for the door.
“Don’t worry, the alcohol has helped numb the pain,” Skies says as she pats her chest, gently. “And besides, I’m just going to a library. I won’t get into much trouble.”
Before anyone can stop her, she hurries out the door and to the gondola.
7 notes
·
View notes
Happy Holidays! - Chapter 14
Series Masterlist
Main Masterlist
Jack steps around the corner, the sword still held level with the Avenger’s throat. “Stay exactly where you are,” the man says.
“Jack, no!” Kate runs down the hall to stop her soon-to-be stepfather, (Y/n) just behind the archer.
“What the hell is going on?” Eleanor steps around another corner from the kitchen. Then she stops. “And why is there an Avenger in my dining room?”
“Hi,” Clint says, meeting Jack’s gaze, before his eyes flick back down to the sword.
Kate shifts slightly, her gaze flying from Clint to (Y/n) to her own mother.
“Oh, my god,” Jack says, lowering the sword. “You’re . . . you’re Archer.”
“Hawkeye,” Kate corrects.
“Clint,” Clint interjects, glancing over at the younger archer.
“It’s the branding issue, I’m telling you,” Kate says and (Y/n)’s lips twitch.
“Yeah, sure,” Clint replies.
Jack chuckles, glancing back at his fiance.
. . .
Kate, Clint, and (Y/n) are sitting across from Jack and Eleanor.
Kate’s knee bounces nervously and (Y/n) rests a hand gently on her thigh - she couldn’t reach Kate’s knee due to how far away the chairs were.
“Hawkeye, (Y/n), and I are working on a case, and we needed to use the bathroom,” Kate tells her mother. “He did. So, we were by the house, we dropped in. No big deal.”
“Working on a case together?” Eleanor asks.
“How terrific,” Jack says at the same time.
“They’re my partners,” Kate replies. Though I hope my partnership with (Y/n) is different than work partners.
“We’re not partners,” Clint replies.
“Brutal,” (Y/n) mutters and Jack meets her gaze, looking amused.
“Well, we’re friends-slash-partners,” Kate says.
“I wouldn’t really describe us as friends,” Clint corrects.
Kate’s mother’s phone chimes on the table and she picks it up.
“Someone used my laptop to sign onto my work account ten minutes ago,” Eleanor says, looking up and meeting her daughter’s gaze. “Any thoughts, Kate?”
“Hawkeye?” Kate says, looking over at the archer. “Haha. You’ll never get anything outta him. See, CB-One has trouble opening up.”
“Nobody calls me CB-One,” Clint replies.
“I should start calling you that now,” (Y/n) jokes, leaning forward slightly in her seat to meet her uncle’s unamused gaze.
“I’m just tryin’ it out for a second,” Kate says, meeting the Avenger’s gaze. “Probably some early childhood thing. He thinks he doesn’t tell me much, but he ends up telling me all of it.”
“I tell her nothing,” Clint replies.
(Y/n) had turned fully in her seat to watch the archers bicker.
“I think it’s ‘cause I’m generally pretty chill. I’m not like ‘Oh, my God, Hawkeye!’” Kate goes on.
Jack’s gaze falls onto (Y/n), who was watching Kate, her expression soft with affection for the young Bishop.
Clint shakes his head. “Definitely not chill.”
Jack and Eleanor look between the two archers.
“By the way, thank you . . . for saving the world,” Jack says, looking at Clint.
Clint smiles and Kate shifts uncomfortably, reaching over - not trying to be inconspicuous at all - and taking (Y/n)’s hand.
“Don’t mention it,” Clint replies.
“I would like my daughter to start telling the truth,” Eleanor says as (Y/n) fixes herself in the seat.
Kate begins to nervously fiddle with (Y/n)’s fingers.
“I logged into your account because I needed information on an actual case with actual people who are in actual danger,” Kate says.
“So, Kate is helping you with an Avengers-level threat?” Eleanor asks Clint.
(Y/n) is the one who replies, and Kate wonders how her girlfriend(?) could remain so calm and collected. “It’s not an Avengers-level threat. It just happens that we ran into an Avenger in the middle of the street.”
“My niece is correct,” Clint says.
Eleanor’s eyebrow raises, “But you are working together?”
Clint swallows thickly and Kate turns to look at the archer.
“Yes,” Clint replies. “Sounds weird, ‘cause it is.”
Eleanor looks at Clint, and then looks over at his fiance. “Okay,” Eleanor says, looking as though she didn’t believe what the Avenger was saying. “Well, I guess I’m just gonna have to trust everyone at this table to do what’s right.”
Clint catches sight of Jack’s liberated Ronin sword and he hums in agreement.
“Cool. It was great bumpin’ into you guys,” Kate says, she, Clint, and (Y/n) stand up.
“Please stay,” Eleanor says, looking between Kate and (Y/n), who sit back down.
“We should get . . .” Kate tries.
“Can I see you out?” Eleanor looks at Clint.
“I’ll get my coat,” Clint says, he and Eleanor walking to the door.
Jack, (Y/n), and Kate sit at the table. Jack smiles at his future step-daughter as he takes a sip of coffee.
Kate gets up from the table, and (Y/n) follows, both girls calling their dogs to them.
. . .
Kate shifts uncomfortably on the couch as she hears her mother talking to Jack.
“Kate has always been confident, never had to worry about her on that front,” Eleanor says.
Lucky the Pizza Dog is lying on the couch above Kate’s head while (Y/n) is sitting on the floor, Bolt’s head in her lap.
Looking over, Kate meets her mother’s gaze; Lucky the Pizza Dog lifts his head.
“You’re getting that pre-headache look, darling. Let me get you some tea,” Jack says, placing a gentle hand on his fiance’s shoulder. “Would you like something, Kate? (Y/n)?”
(Y/n) smiles slightly and politely refuses, but Jack studies her for a moment.
“You look like you could use a coffee,” Jack says.
“I’ll come help,” (Y/n) gets to her feet easily. “Two creams and a sugar?” (Y/n) looks down at Kate.
Kate nods, smiling slightly.
Once (Y/n) and Jack leave for the kitchen, Kate sits up. “Mom, I really need to talk to you about Jack.” Kate says.
“Hey, could we . . . Um . . . Could we change the subject,” Eleanor says, shifting uncomfortably. “You need to give him a break. Come on. I . . . I need your help with a few decisions on the Bishop holiday party.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t think I’m in the mood,” Kate replies.
Bolt lifts his head, before rising to his paws and resting his head on Kate’s knee.
“Come on, Kate,” Eleanor says. “You’re great at this sort of thing. The party’s non-denominational, encourages company camaraderie with a festive spirit.”
“Sounds like a blast already,” Kate replies through a clenched jaw.
“Did someone say parties?” Jack asks, walking back into the room holding his fiance’s tea.
(Y/n) follows, handing Kate a mug of coffee before sitting down beside Kate.
Kate smiles over at (Y/n) before she takes a sip of the coffee.
“So,” Eleanor says, taking the tea from her fiance, “Clint said that you’re his niece.”
(Y/n) looks up from her coffee.
“Not by blood,” (Y/n) replies. “He and my mom were best friends.”
Eleanor meets (Y/n)’s emerald green gaze. “You’re Natasha’s daughter,” Eleanor says finally and (Y/n) nods, taking another sip of coffee. “I’m sorry for -”
(Y/n) shakes her head. “It’s fine,” is her reply and Kate could tell how uncomfortable her friend was. Bolt removes his head from Kate’s knee to hop up onto the couch, nudging (Y/n)’s cheek with his nose.
(Y/n)’s expression softens, and she scratches affectionately behind the dog’s ears.
“Well, I hope there’ll be plenty of dancing at this party,” Jack says.
“Well, my mother doesn't dance,” Kate replies.
“Really?” Jack asks, his eyes twinkling. “I beg to differ. Darling?”
Kate and (Y/n) watch, rather awkwardly, as Jack serenades Eleanor with ‘Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire’ and at the end, Jack dips Eleanor.
After a moment, both Jack and Eleanor return to their seats across from Kate and (Y/n).
“Wow!” Eleanor says. “A superhero house call and a serenade, all in one day.”
“Well, you know what they say . . . life is short. You never know what you’re gonna get,” Jack says and the other three women laugh. “What? What’d I say? Did I say something wrong or . . .”
“Jack, everytime you use one of those aphorisms, you use it wrong,” Kate says, smiling slightly.
“What? No. That can’t be right, is it?” Jack looks over at his fiance. “Darling. Please.”
Eleanor lets out a snort of laughter, “The other day, you said, ‘Absence makes the heart grow older.’”
“Because that’s what it does,” Jack replies.
Eleanor laughs again. “Yeah. Honey. Come here,” she says.
“No. Really?” Jack asks, leaning over so his fiance could kiss him.
“You’re makin’ my heart grow older,” Eleanor says.
“I guess getting laughed at by family,” Jack says, “is better than being alone for the holidays, right?”
(Y/n)’s smile slides off her face and she turns to Bolt, letting her fingers run through his fur.
“What’s better than being with family?” Eleanor asks. “I’m so glad you’re both here.”
Kate glances over and (Y/n), sensing her dropping mood. Kate blinks, feeling guilty. She could be home with her mom right now, but she and Clint are stuck taking care of my mess.
“You know, we should play a board game,” Jack offers.
“That’s a cute idea,” Eleanor replies.
“I’ll leave y’all to it,” (Y/n) says, rising to her feet and smiling slightly. “You want me to take Lucky,” she looks down at Kate.
“If you’d like,” is Kate’s reply, and (Y/n) can see the guilt gleaming in the archer’s eyes.
“Come Lucky,” (Y/n) says, picking up the dog’s leash and hooking Lucky to it before snapping on Bolt’s leash. “It’s was great to see y’all again.”
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Kate offer, standing up.
When the two young women are out of earshot, Jack turns to his fiance. “I like her,” he says and Eleanor meets his gaze. “I think she’s good for Kate.”
. . .
(Y/n) enters the ‘safe-house’ leading Lucky and Bolt inside.
“Hi, Uncle Clint,” she greets him.
“I thought you were with Kate,” Clint says, as (Y/n) unclips the dog’s leashes.
“She’s spending time with her family,” (Y/n) replies and Clint can see the sadness reflected in her eyes. “I thought I’d come over and we could hang out.”
Clint nods, making his way to the freezer and grabbing a few frozen smoothies and wrapping them around his arms and knees.
. . .
The two settle down in the living room, Lucky and Bolt curled up together in a chair, but then the buzzer rings.
(Y/n) goes to get up, but Clint had beat her to it, walking over.
“It’s me. I come bearing pizza and holiday cheer. Let me in,” Kate’s voice comes from the tiny speaker, and Clint lets the young archer inside.
But the time Kate had made her way to the apartment, Clint had settled back down in his chair, his smoothies still taped to him.
“All right, this is the classic Hawkeye costume we’ve been waitin’ for,” Kate says and (Y/n) laughs.
“What is all this?” Clint asks.
“This,” Kate sets down all of her grocery bags beside (Y/n) on the couch, “is me saving the holidays.”
“Is that right?” Clint asks.
“I’ll get you guys home in time for the big day,” Kate says, rounding the couch and (Y/n)’s stomach erupts into butterflies when she sees the Santa hat on Kate’s head. “Figured in the meantime, we could celebrate,” Kate says, removing her jacket and plopping down between (Y/n) and her grocery bags. “It’s movie marathon night, right?” Kate asks. “Check this out. I got movies.”
Clint genuinely smiles at the young archer. “That’s really thoughtful of you. Thanks. But yeah, can we put a pause on that and talk about Sword Boy for a minute?” Kate looks up from her stack of movies. “You got good instincts, kid,” Clint says.
“What do you mean?” Kate asks.
“So, I did a little digging and it turns out, Sloan’s a shell company that loungers money for the Tracksuits. And Jack Duquesne is the CEO.”
“You sure?” Kate asks, her eye wide.
“Mhmmm,” Clint replies, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Okay, well, we’re just gonna have to come up with a plan to take down my mom’s fiance’s organized crime ring while simultaneously having a heartwarming holiday celebration.”
Kate reaches into her shopping bag and pulls out three Christmas sweaters. She tosses Clint his, which has a ginger cat sewn into it. Then, Kate hands (Y/n) hers, which has a few white german shepherds on it, and finally, her own, with golden retrievers sown into the fabric.
“Got anymore of that slushy stuff?” Kate asks Clint, getting to her feet and pulling a blender out from under a counter.
“In the freezer,” the Avenger replies.
Clint smiles slightly as (Y/n) steals Kate’s golden retriever sweater, pulling it on.
. . .
“Okay, cops,” Kate says, holding a marker and standing in front of a photo. “We need to get the cops off my back. TSM, we need to get them to leave us alone.” She makes ‘x’s’ over the words she’d written. “And we need to figure out why and how Jack is connected to it all.”
“Yeah, right,” Clint replies, looking up from where he was feeding Lucky a few pieces of sausage.
“This is the part where you finish my sentence with a plan,” Kate says and (Y/n) laughs.
“Planning’s not really my thing,” Clint replies. “Are you sure that’s dry erase?” he asks.
“Yeah,” Kate lifts her arm and runs it across the glass. The marker doesn’t move or erase.
Kate looks exasperated and (Y/n) laughs again, clutching her stomach.
. . .
“How do we get more trick arrows?” Kate asks as the three are watching a movie.
“Well, there are no more trick arrows,” Clint replies.
“Like, in the world,” Kate questions.
“Basically,” Clint answers. “I have a few more trick arrowheads. But you can’t just put ‘em on any shaft.”
“So we really need to get these back.”
. . .
“What’re you doing?” Clint asks as he flips through the selection of movies.
“See?” Kate says, she and (Y/n) decorating the small Christmas tree. “Tree covers the parts that won’t come off.”
“Well, now you’re problem solving,” Clint says and (Y/n)’s eyes gleam with amusement.
. . .
“Have you ever heard of boomerang arrows?” Kate asks.
“What?” Clint turns to look at the young archer. “Why would I ever want to use a boomerang arrow?”
“Because they come back,” Kate says, and (Y/n)’s attention is pulled from the movie.
“Exactly,” Clint says.
“Yeah, well, if all trick arrows were boomerangs, then we’d have them all,” Kate says, seeming to come up with viable reasoning for her previous question.
“Coming back at us,” Clint says.
“We’d have to dodge a little,” Kate says meekly and (Y/n) giggles, burying her face in Kate’s shoulder.
. . .
“So, best shot you ever took?” Kate asks, (Y/n)’s head resting sleepily on her shoulder.
“Uh, the one I didn’t take,” Clint replies, sitting down and sipping on his smoothie.
“What does that mean?” Kate asks.
“Uh, it means . . .” Clint begins. “Never mind, shouldn’t have said it.”
“Oh, come on, you can’t do that,” Kate argues.
“Never mind, it’s nothin’,” Clint replies.
“What? Come on, consider it my Christmas present,” Kate pushes.
“No, it’s not the right time,” Clint says.
“Yes,” Kate insists.
“Come on, Uncle Clint,” (Y/n) replies sleepily.
“It’s . . . about the time I met someone,” Clint obliges. “I was sent to take her out.” (Y/n) shakes the sleep from her eyes, sitting up to hear the story. “And when I got there, when it was time . . . Um . . . I couldn’t do it. I just had this feeling that she needed out. Turns out, I was right.”
“You mean Natasha,” Kate guesses.
Clint nods. “She’s the best there is,” Clint says. “Retired now.”
“Mom’s never told me that story before,” (Y/n) says, straightening, though leaving her weight on Kate, not that the young archer minded.
“She didn’t think you were old enough to know,” Clint tells his niece. He straightens in his seat and turns to look at the television that was playing It’s a Wonderful Life.
“You lost your family in the Blip?” Kate asks the Avenger.
Clint nods, “Yeah. Like half the world.”
“God, that must have been devastating,” Kate murmurs.
“Yeah, there are no words,” Clint replies.
“Is that where you met the Ronin?” (Y/n) asks her uncle. When he doesn’t respond, (Y/n) sighs softly, “It’s you, isn’t it?”
“Everybody dealt with the Blip in their own way,” Clint replies, not meeting his niece’s gaze. “I continued doing what I was trained to do.”
“Protect people,” Kate says, meeting the Avenger’s gaze.
“Hurting people. Investigating first, but in the end, my job has always been to hurt people,” Clint corrects.
“You were a hero,” Kate says.
“A weapon,” Clint corrects one more. “I was aimed by the right people at the right person, so . . .”
“Look, you made mistakes, but those are behind you,” Kate tells the archer.
“No, it’s tied to me,” Clint replies. “Tied to my family,” he glances at (Y/n), who’s expression had softened. “That’s why I’m here. And I can’t go home ‘till I fix it. I really appreciate what you did tonight,” Clint tells Kate. “It means a lot.”
“You know, you two should get some rest,” Clint tells the two. “You got a big day tomorrow.”
(Y/n) obliges, holding out a hand to Kate, who takes it. “Come, Lucky, Bolt,” (Y/n) calls to the dogs, and they follow the young women into the bedroom.
(Y/n) grabs a change of clothes and moves into the bathroom to change.
When she comes out, (Y/n) stares at the mistletoe hanging from the door frame.
“Kate Bishop,” (Y/n) says, meeting the young archer’s face - she was sitting on the edge of the bed. “You did not.”
Kate shrugs, trying to look inconspicuous, but it doesn’t work, and (Y/n) laughs, walking over and pulling Kate to her feet.
Kate’s eyes drop down to (Y/n)’s lips before they snap up to (Y/n)’s emerald green gaze.
“My eyes are up here, Bishop,” (Y/n) says, resting her arms on Kate’s shoulder and linking her fingers.
Kate blushes, and keeps her eyes fixed on (Y/n)’s.
(Y/n)’s gaze drops down to Kate’s lips.
“Hey, Romanoff,” Kate says, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “My eyes are up here.”
Both Kate and (Y/n) lean forward and (Y/n)’s phone rings.
(Y/n) groans softly, her head tipping forward to rest against Kate’s chest.
(Y/n)’s phone rings again.
“I think you should get that,” Kate says.
“I don’t wanna,” (Y/n) complains, moving her arms down to wrap around Kate’s waist and pull in in for a closer hug.
Leaning over, Kate can see the caller ID. “It’s your mom,” Kate says.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” (Y/n) pulls away from Kate, grabbing her phone, and jumping up onto the bed and accepting the FaceTime.
“You took a long time to answer,” Natasha Romanoff says, looking at her daughter suspiciously.
“I was in the bathroom,” (Y/n) says, though it wasn’t a lie, she had been in the bathroom. She definitely wasn’t about to tell her mother that she was about to kiss her uncle’s protege.
(Y/n) sees her mother visibly relax through the phone and she glances over as Kate plops down onto the bed.
“How are you?” (Y/n) asks her mother.
“Missing you,” Natasha replies, and (Y/n)’s expression softens.
“I miss you too,” (Y/n) says.
Bolt jumps up onto the bed, sniffing at the phone excitedly at the sound of Natasha’s voice.
“Hi, boy,” Natasha says, her eyes softening at the sight of the dog. “I hope you’ve been good.”
“You know he has,” (Y/n) replies.
A weight hits (Y/n)’s shoulder, and she looks over, her eyes softening with affection. Natasha smiles slightly, watching her daughter’s interaction with the asleep archer.
“You like her,” Natasha says and (Y/n) directs her attention back to the FaceTime. When (Y/n) doesn’t automatically reply, Natasha says, “I’m not upset. She seems like a sweet girl.”
(Y/n)’s eyes brighten. “She really is. She knew Clint and I were upset that we couldn’t be home for movie night, so she bought some movies and we decorated the safe house. And we had pizza and we played games.”
(Y/n) pauses when she realizes she’s rambling, her cheeks darkening. Natasha smiles at her daughter through the phone.
“You better be inviting her for Christmas,” Natasha says. “I’d like to meet this Kate Bishop in person.”
“I’ll ask,” (Y/n) promises. “I’m not sure if she’s spending Christmas with her mom and step-dad or not.”
“You keep me updated on your relationship status,” Nataha says and (Y/n) laughs.
“I will, Mom,” (Y/n) replies.
“I’m going to let you go, you probably have a big day of ass-kicking tomorrow,” Natasha says.
“Well, Kate and I are going on a fun journey to collect Trick Arrows, so,” (Y/n) replies, “yes, ass-kicking.”
“Hey, language,” Natasha says, her eyes gleaming.
“Hey, you just said the same thing,” (Y/n) replies.
“But I’m your mother, I say what I like,” Natasha says, and (Y/n) raises an eyebrow.
“Okay,” (Y/n) chuckles. “I love you.”
“Love you too. I’ll see you soon,” Natasha replies.
(Y/n) hangs up the phone, her head tilting over to rest against Kate’s. “What’ve you done to me, Kate Bishop?” she asks, lying Kate down slowly so as not to wake her.
Kate lets out an unconscious murmur, scooching over to wrap her arms around (Y/n)’s waist.
Word Count: 3646 words
Happy Holidays Taglist:
@imapotatao
@starscouffaine
@crazydefendortrash
@harleyswanda
@neverylee
@gay-vet-student
@sofi898
@simsrecs
@Dxnnx04
@xxxtwilightaxelxxx
@suestormswife
@randomhoex
@spider-thot0115
@distinguishedtacostrawberry
@hehehehannahthings
@wildwarcat
@mystic7-7
@lostremind
102 notes
·
View notes
Chapter - 1
My name is Eleanor Grace. People who are close to me call me Nora.
I'm twelve...& if your wondering, yes I'm a demigod, the daughter of the Almightly Zeus to be specific.
I have ADHD & dyslexia...Oh joy!(Note the sarcasm...) like all demigods do.
I love to sing & play the guitar. I even love archery as well as sword fighting.
Don't get too excited about being a demigod. I mean don't get me wrong, it's cool and having powers is totally awesome, but...add a few dangerous monsters who wanna to kill you every five seconds & your excitement levels might just drop to zero...
It was currently the last day of school more specifically my last day at the sixth school in four years (that's a story for another time..) when my best friend Grover Underwood burst into my history class out of breath.
He was panting and sweat beaded his forehead.
I had no idea what he was doing here...I mean wasn't he supposed to be watching a new demigod kid at Yancy Academy?....had something happened?...
The students gave him strange looks.
One since he's a satyr, a half goat-half human...he walks with crutches as a disguise to cover his limping because he has hooves instead of feet.
But people didn't know that because of the mist...which veils them from seeing stuff that we demigods can.
The other reason was because they never saw him at our school (and...he didn't have a bag, which made kids realise he wasn't a newbie either).
Lucky for him the teacher was out to take care of something.
The moment his eyes caught mine in the swarm of students, he rushed over and said,
"Nora, you need to come with me right now."
I gave him a confused look because I wasn't supposed to be at camp until this afternoon... but before I could ask him where, he dragged me by the hand right outside the class.
Once we were out in the corridor I gave him a questioning look and said,
"Grover, did something go wrong?". He remained silent.
I could tell he was nervous because he kept wringing his hands & his chin quivered.
We have been best friends for the past four years now since he was my first friend at camp. I could read him like an open book.
He absolutely loves enchiladas & tin cans(since he's a vegetarian)...and he also cares a lot about nature.
When he didn't reply I asked him,
"Did something happen to the new demigod?"
"Yeah...about that..." he trailed off.
That's when I knew something was wrong. I grabbed his hand & pulled him along.
"Fine..let's go. We'll take care of.. whatever it is...just...tell me everything." I said.
"Okay...." he said.
I looked back at my school once more. Little did I know then that this would be the last time I would be seeing it.
Cause I was going to experience a journey of a lifetime....
(A/N): So there you go folks. This is the first chapter. Let me know what you think and if u find any errors. This story is on wattpad too.
The link for chapter 2 is here.
Comment, like & share.
Take care my lovely readers.❤
Alice signing off.
XOXO.
11 notes
·
View notes
wip exercpt
uuh so this is like a weird part in the middle of a much longer thing that I’m writing, but i really like it and want validation now so here. hob talking to immortal child.
-
“How do you do it?” she asks quietly, “how do you keep wanting to live when everything is so awful?”
Hob gestures for her to shift over on the bed and slides in next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She goes willingly, resting her head on his chest and leaving it at the perfect height for him to run his fingers through her hair.
She relaxes slightly at the motion, further into his chest and Hob hums as he contemplates where to start.
“I was born in the 14th century. You’d think I should know which year, but nobody really paid attention to that back then, you only really mattered if you survived to be able to crawl and move alone. Everyone back then was told not to get attached to their babies because they might not survive too long—”
“This is not very happy.” Grace mumbles into his chest.
Hob laughs, “I’m getting there. Shh.”
“mm.”
“But, telling humans not to get attached to things? You might as well tell the Earth itself not to spin, we can’t help it, we’ve never been able to help it and we would love those children, no matter how fleetingly they remained with us, we would mourn their short lives and we would name them regardless.” He sighs, runs a hand through her hair. “Part of the human condition, I suppose, to love, to bond,”
“’S that why you kept me?”
“Partially, I guess, because we bonded. Someone told me once that I was the pinnacle of the human condition – although I don’t think those are the exact words that were used – and I guess I kind of am.” He glances down at her. “I’ve always remembered the things the midwives would say, that you shouldn’t get attached until you know they’re going to survive and I think I’ve always ignored them. You and me? Everyone is going to die, so based on their advice we shouldn’t get attached to anyone.”
“Except each other.”
“Maybe. But it would be so easy to fall into that trap of not caring, of seeing other people like ants, you know? Fleeting and so small in comparison. But what’s the point in living if you don’t love? Right? That’s not living, that’s just surviving, yeah?”
She wriggles slightly, shifting so she can tilt her head back and look up at him as he speaks.
“And, you know, some people say that you die twice, once when you stop breathing and again when someone speaks your name for the last time. Maybe everyone we love can’t stay alive in the first sense, but we can keep them alive in the second.”
He pauses to let Grace take that in.
“My wife was called Eleanor. My son was called Robyn. I had a second child who didn’t make it, we never named them, but I remember none the less.”
“I had a brother called Charlie.” Grace whispers. “He died when he was just a baby. No one talks about him, no one ever talked about him.”
“But you haven’t forgotten him, and through that you can keep him alive.”
“Yeah.”
He presses a kiss to her forehead. “Does that help?”
“A little.”
“Do you want to hear about chimneys?”
She frowns up at him, confused, and he laughs.
“When I was a boy, we just lit fires inside. Sometimes people would have a hole in the ceiling to let the smoke out, but mostly that would just let the rain and cold in, so we tended not to, and then in… oh, I don’t know, the 1400s some time, people started adding chimneys to houses, a place to let the smoke out that was designed to not let the rain back in.”
Grace is watching him, a slight line between her eyebrows, but otherwise unfathomable. If he’d met her only once, he isn’t sure he would have walked away thinking that she was fully human, there was something almost other about her.
“And then we could light fires indoors, and we didn’t have to worry about choking on the smoke. It was revolutionary.” He grins. “I mean, they’re pretty commonplace now, but back then? Woo. It was something else.”
“What else?” She asks, and the way she watches him, interested in his experiences, in what he has to say, reminds him of those once-a-century meetings with his stranger.
“Hmm, handkerchiefs, those were a big one – fabric specifically for wiping your nose, didn’t have to use a sleeve anymore.”
She screws her nose up in disgust and he bites back a laugh.
“Different foods, different clothes, oh, I loved 19th century clothes, shame we don’t wear those anymore.”
“You could.”
“I think that would be playing a little too much into the eccentric history professor stereotype.”
Grace doesn’t laugh, but she does grace him with a tiny smile, the first he’s gotten out of her since he came home.
“Ok, your turn.”
She stops smiling abruptly. “What?”
“If you had died, what things would you have missed out on that you love?”
They’re silent for a moment as she thinks. “You.”
Hob is painfully touched. “Me?”
“I would never have met you, or Jay, or Joanna, or any of the staff at the New Inn.”
“That’s true.”
She frowns again, thinking. “Sugar waffles.”
“Ooh, good one. I think ice cream as well, that got real big during the Edwardian period.”
“Painting my room.” She pauses again. “I think… painting, generally. And playing the violin.”
Hob double takes. “You play the violin?”
She shrugs. “My social worker made me take up a hobby and that was the one I liked the most. The violin belonged to the school, so I… I could not take it with me.”
“Ok, well when we’re released from here, the first thing we’re gonna do is go to that music shop at the back of the high street and you can pick a violin, how’s that?”
She smiles again, a little bigger. “I would like that.”
11 notes
·
View notes
📸 from Ellie (@sarcaasmic)
📸 Send me a picture of your muse, for my muse to react to!
“This is not commercial.”
Rafe Cameron, CEO of OBX Records, looked at the picture and frowned. Danny had been babbling about some new talent he had discovered, but he always had. So Rafe hadn’t paid much attention to what his creative director had said about the kind of music this singer-songwriter was supposed to make and why it was so special that Danny had come up with it to him. Danny always came up with something and it was always some bullshit that wouldn’t sell. Rafe hadn't been appointed CEO of the label because he was one of the artsy minds of the industry looking for new groundbreaking shit. He had been hired to make the hard decisions, to get the company out of the red. And he was good at that. The creatives might not have liked it and might never tire of pointing out that his predecessor always left the creative decisions to them, was always open for new talent – yeah, but his predecessor was the reason why they were in the red – according to the board anyways. So that guy had been fired and Rafe was the one sitting in the chair in the office on the top floor now. Anyone who had a problem with his style of management could just leave. – Oh, and he had made quite a few of those pretentious artsy folk leave. Fired about a dozen in his first week as head of the label.
Danny had stayed and remained a nuisance.
Rafe was still holding the picture. Still looking at it, frowning – either considering something or dismissing it, you could never tell.
There was something about this girl. The way she looked at the camera. No, it wasn’t about the grainy vintage look of the photo. It was her. ‘Ethereal’ popped into his mind and he frowned some more.
Rafe’s tongue flicked out, wetting his lips. He reclined in his chair, scratched his chin.
Danny had started talking about the next potential talent in his pile, some wannabe Ed Sheeran.
“Send her in.”
Danny stopped talking, clearly confused, because that never happened. He wriggled about in his chair in front of Rafe’s giant desk.
“Send her in, I said.” He was waving with the picture impatiently, and Danny hurried to get out his phone, calling the front desk assistant to send Miss Eleanor Owens up to Mr. Rafe Cameron’s office. Immediately.
4 notes
·
View notes
Peices of media that I was obsessed with for a long amount of time: a comprehensive list
Most of these were MAJOR hyperfixations, so I was stuck on them for months, sometimes even years. I mostly just wanted to make a list for the sake of research. Like, fandom trends and stuff like that.
My little Pony 2017-2018
Ooh boy I was a huge pony fan. I watched the show at least six or seven consecutive times, watched the movie in theaters, wrote my first fanfiction (though its unpublished and will always remain so), as well as just being a major annoyance to my parents. I didn’t own many toys, but i did own rocks that kind of looked like them, so I played with those. I remember the Twilight Sparkle rock went missing for a few days, and I made missing posters for it and everything.
The Dreamworks Trolls movie 2016-2017
Yes. I am being serious. I had a Trolls movie blanket, poster, and everything. I was seriously crazy about this movie. Like I remember buying the novelized version from like Micheals or something.
Harry Potter 2018-2021
I am extremely ashamed of this phase. Mostly because the author turned out to be a big stinky poo poo head. I literally knitted scarves and hats in house colors for my family (they’re actually quite comfy I intend to keep them but fuck you JKR) So long story short I want to burn this part of my history and never look back, while my family urges me to stare at the cringiest time in my life and say that I one day will return to it. And I want to say “No, Mother, I wish not to give more money to the TERF lady” but I doubt she’d get it.
Vocaloid 2022-
It took me a while to become a Vocaloid fan. It started with this cover of Chug Jug with you. I only tipped over the edge when I discovered Synth V’s Eleanor Forte through, you’ll never guess it, a Minecraft Revenge cover, and i swore to only listen to English songs. I then discovered Rishie-P’s cover of 4BLODD, which led me down the hole of English Vocaloid songs. Eventually I found myself listening to the Japanese ones. Now I’m a fully fledged miku fan who has a shrine to her above my bed.
SPY x FAMILY 2022-
10 PM on an October night, I just said “Fuck it” and watched Spy x family. It was honestly for the better. I was always used to asking for approval, making people tell me if I’m allowed to like something. As most of my followers know, this was how I really made it online. I wrote a 48k word Spy x family fic and all of a sudden I’m known for being the crazy one in the fandom.
Splatoon 2022-
This game, this FUCKIGN game. It gets me man, they gay people get me. My friend first introduced this game to me in July, and I’ve been hooked playing it ever since. I am an avid Pearlina Shipper, and well as an Agent 24 (3x8) enthusiast. I want more of these gay cephalopods on my dash. NOW!
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s funny how my media consumption has changed over the years lmao.
5 notes
·
View notes