"Camhlaidh!" Eilidh poked her head through the door with a cheery smile. "You called?" The king's head rose from where he sat on the settee to the side in his office, the first time she could ever actually recall him sitting there. He normally sat at his desk, if he would sit at all.
"Eilidh," he called out and patted the spot next to him. "Thank you for answering my summons, please take a seat."
Okay...weird. She did think it a little odd when the messenger arrived at her home to summon her for a meeting with the king, but the other's temperament made the situation all the more odd. It definitely gave off the feeling that he wanted to discuss something gravely important with her. His expression was the same as always, solemn, and nothing in it hinted at what could have been going through his head.
"Okayyy..." Trailing off, she took the offered seat. Their legs nearly touched, and she couldn't recall the last time, if ever, she had been in such close proximity to the king. Camhlaidh was usually not the touchy sort, and he often kept a fixed distance between himself and others. "You're starting to freak me out you know."
He looked surprised by the accusation, as if he'd been totally unaware of how weird he was coming across, and laughed. "Am I? My apologies, I did not mean to. I only wanted to treat this conversation with the gravity that it required."
"That isn't helping."
"My apologies again. I suppose I should get to it then." Not meeting her eyes, he cleared his throat, and it struck her that he was nervous. "Iomhar's recent engagement has been a reminder that I should not be shirking my duties. Though my reign has not been long, it has been long enough. It would be...selfish of me to let Seelie continue on without a sense of stability. So I wanted to ask," he took a quiet breath, "if you would become my queen."
Eilidh stared at him, then burst into laughter. "Camhlaidh, don't joke with me! Be for real, why did you call me here?" At her laughter, the king winced, and it was the sight of that that caused her laughter to die in her throat.
"...You're serious?"
"I would not joke about a matter like this, Eilidh."
"Um, but why me?"
"Why would it not be you? You are vibrant, you capture the hearts of those around you with ease. You are practically overflowing with charm. And besides," his hands began to fidget, twisting the signet ring around his finger, "I feel comfortable with you. Out of the gentry, I enjoy your company the most. I do not mean any insult, but it would make sense to find a spouse that one liked."
"That sounds like a very logical way of thinking of it," Eilidh dryly commented, and he gave her a helpless look.
"How else am I supposed to think of it?"
Okay. She sighed. "You know our generation hasn't had the greatest track record with marriage so far, right? Between me and Aodh, and then the things happening with Iomhar right now."
"Another problem I do not wish to dwell on at the moment." Camhlaidh's head fell in his hands, and he was silent for a long moment before speaking once more. "You know the rumors surrounding the royal family's connection with Seelie, yes? Rumors that speculate that, if the last member of the Moireasdan family were to die without an heir to carry the blessing of the land, it would mean the destruction of Seelie entirely. I have still not found my parents' killer. My life could be in danger at any moment, and I have no heirs. If I were to die then this duty, this burden, would fall squarely onto her shoulders. She would be the last line of defense between us and possible destruction. I cannot do that to her." His head lifted from his hands as he mournfully spoke. "I can at least try to be a good brother to her in that small way."
"Camhlaidh." Reaching out, she took hold of his hand. "I was acting not for myself but for my parents when I agreed to marry Aodh. I put my happiness second, and it was doing that that ultimately caused the most issues. I can't put duty over my own happiness again, and being queen, having to be in the eye of the entirety of Seelie and beyond like that, it wouldn't make me happy."
The king's red and gold eyes lowered. "I understand." Eilidh watched him quietly.
"The most I can offer you is helping you sire an heir, for the princess' sake. But even then I want you to actually think on it and be completely certain it's what you want to do." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Okay?"
"...Okay."
"Perfect." The woman leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek and stood. "And I want you to think on what I said about happiness as well. Promise? Not an oath," she thought to add, "but your word."
His gaze slid away, a myriad of thoughts whirling within his eyes. Where once only moments ago she had found him difficult to read, the conflict within him was now as clear as day. "I will."
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So I'm at my in-laws for Easter, and while we're in the kitchen getting food ready, my 87 year old father in law needed help in the living room. I, as the lowest ranking chef in the kitchen, was sent to see what needed doing.
And that's how I found out that, even though he only listens to classic country on the radio, this man born in 1937 is a devoted swiftie.
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Do you think high infidelity is abt Tom or Joe. she always makes references to stars/the sky in regard to joe hence the “constellation in his eyes” but Tom is the getaway carrrrr 🤔
it’s about joe, she very clearly states she used tom as a means to escape that relationship which is why getaway car is a sort of explanation about the whole thing. but high infidelity is about joe because i don’t think she’d be saying “do i really need to tell you how he brought me back to life” about a guy she dated for a few months and dumped to go be with someone else.
but also rip tom cause that guy was so into taylor only for her to release song after song about how she wanted to know joe biblically from their first meeting
EDIT: i just thought that since taylor used tom as a reason to get out of her relationship with calcium that she could’ve been saying all these things about joe but just substituting in tom cause he was more famous and well known (he is loki and marvel was peak then).
but with stuff about taylor worried about the media affecting theyre relationship methinks that taylor was using tom cause she knew he was a big named celebrity and would handle her fishbowl world while she didn’t know if joe would take or handle it
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random nine headcanon bc why not
nine just doesnt sleep
cant remember which but in one of the books (rise of nine i think), nine and john share a vision, and nine gets thrown off of a cliff with his legacies not working. i feel like after that he wouldnt wanna sleep as he wouldnt want to have another vision.
this is made worse by eights death- its technically nines fault. nine provokes five, who goes to attack him, but eight teleports in and dies instead. nine would probably be like 'oh shit i just got someone killed'.
the fight with setrakus ra and getting his arm cut off would probably be traumatising. i feel like nine would just relive that moment a lot at night. (like when you think of things at night when you try to sleep if that explains it)
he does a lot in generation one that would take a lot of work, and most likely at night as its secretive. nine and malcolm would probably do things at night, but nine would just stay up all night doing his best to help.
havent read the novella but im pretty sure nine kills sandor
tldr: nine doesnt sleep bc of all the shit hes been through
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