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strawberrysunrisewitches · 4 years

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Lucia Profile

Identity

Name: Lucia Mirabelle Firahel

Gender:Female

Birth Date: February 23 1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Sexuality: Lesbian

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality:English-Italian

Residence: Leeds, England

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ENFP-A The Campaigner

The Mage

1st Wand:

Pear wood

13 1/4″

Slightly flexible

Horned serpent horn

Animagus: Lucia’s animagus form is a common genet with a black heart pattern on the chest

Misc Magical Abilities:

Lucia is an occlumens which she learnt from her uncle

She is also an animagus and is registered. She was able to become an animagus due to Cirilo saying she’d become a unicorn

Boggart Form: All of her family and Cassie dead and blaming her for it

Riddikulus Form: Her big brother wearing a tiger onesie chasing her

Amortentia: (What do they smell like?) Someone smelling her in Amortentia would smell sunflowers, honey, chocolates and mint

Amortentia: (What do they smell?) She would smell Strawberries, watermelon, licorice, roasted almonds and chocolates

Patronus: A saber tooth tiger

Patronus Memory: Making chocolate with Cassie on the day they began dating

Mirror of Erised: Herself as an adult married to Cassie with kids

Specialized/Favourite Spells:

Glacius (Cause sometimes you gotta make ice cream faster)

Bombarda (Her go to fuck someone up spell, she’s very destructive)

Expelliarmus(Cause No wand means she can beat the shit out of ya )

Ventus (Kites and watching people slowly get blown into a lake is always fun)

Tempest Jinx(This is the spell that she uses when she is extremely angry and murderous)

Appearance

Faceclaim:

Height: 6′0

Weight: 156 Lbs

Physique: Toned AF and curvaceous

Eye Colour: Green

Hair Colour: Dirty blonde

Skin Tone: Peach

Body Modifications:She has a tattoo on her chest of a pale orange flower with a bright orange dragonfly resting on it, On her right arm she has a multi flower tattoo which has a sunflower and a moon flower at the top followed by a pink hyacinth then a star flower, a dragon’s head gladiolus and finally a pink carnation

In year 7 she added a streak of red hair to her hair

Scarring: She has a scar going from the middle of her left cheek to just below her mouth,A scar on her right side of her waist, a scar just below her chest on the left side she has two x shape scars on her hands and a larger cross shaped scar on her left shoulder.

Inventory: She usually has on her: her wand, a large amount of licorice wands, a charm bracelet that Cassie gave her, large bladed piece of Bladed Wroewolfeite that glows the colour of sunflowers, her orange and purple scarf and a pair of intricately designed magic gauntlets that she keeps under an invisibility charm.

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Ilvermorny House: Pukwudgie

Affiliations/Organizations:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Head Girl

Italy

The Dark Suns Assassin Organization

The Tower of The Regal Sunset Sea

Professions:

Wand Maker(Briefly)

Magizoologist(Formerly)

Baker

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies:OWLS

Astronomy: 4/10 (P)

Charms: 3/10 (D)

DADA: 9/10 (O)

Flying: 2/10 (D)

Herbology: 8/10 (O)

History of Magic: 4/10 (P)

Potions: 7/10 (E)

Transfiguration: 8/10 (O)

Electives:

CoMC: 8/10 (O)

Magical Theory: 9/10 (O)

Muggle Art: 8/10 (O)

Alchemy: 6/10 (E)

Quidditch: Never in a million years

Extra Curricular:

Dueling club

Magical creatures club

Favourite Professors:

Silvanus Kettleburn: He helped ignite her initial path to be a magizoologist and she will always thank him for that until the end of her time

Least Favourite Professors:

Binns: Lucia is extremely confused about how Hogwarts lets him teach to this day despite the fact that everyone sleeps in his class and he is literally the most boring teacher you could ever meet and wishes he would be fired so a professor who can actually teach History of Magic and help any would historians start early

Relationships

Brother: Cirilo Sebastian Firahel (6 Years older)

Halfblood

Ravenclaw

short blonde hair, green eyes, Man mountain of muscle and handsome, well groomed beard

St Bernard animagus

Cirilo is very sweet and charismatic if he has no reason to be angry at you otherwise, he will break your neck, the reasons why is usually related to people hurting his family or abusing kids

He becomes an auror that specializes in investigating and dealing with cases of child abuse and neglect once Rakepick and R are dealt with

He and Lucia are very close and share the same drive to protect their loved ones no matter the costs to others, which is part of the reason why he got involved with R to protect his family, once he learned that R is not to be trusted he breaks all ties with them which officially happens once he is freed

Misc Siblings:

Sonia Firahel(4 years younger)

Enzio Firahel (7 years younger)

Nicoletta Firahel(10 years younger)

Father: Simon Graham Firahel

Muggle

short blonde hair, blue eyes, fit as fuck and tallest in his family(6′6)

Simon is very compassionate, loving and very calm in day to day life but when he gets angry, he gets angry

He is the sensei of a karate dojo which he has run for most of his life and ensured that all of his kids know self defence just in case magic fails them

Lucia is his little sunflower that he will protect until his last breath, while CIrilo’s disappearance did hurt him, he did not let it impact him raising his kids who still needed their father to be there for them

Mother:Bianca Natalia Firahel

Pureblood

Long voluminous blonde hair, green eyes, curvy and kinda tall but not too noticeable of a height(6′0)

Bianca is extremely sweet to everyone she meets unless they want to talk about Ollivander wands and is very intuitive to her kids secrets but will let them tell her in their own time

Bianca is a international wand maker who refuses to only use the big three wand materials and believes there is no such thing as inferior wand materials only inferior wand makers

Love Interest: Cassandra Cresswood

Best Friends:

Rowan Khanna

Penny Haywood

Rival: Ben Copper (From 1-5)

Enemy:

Rakepick

Death Eaters

Voldemort

Dormmates: (Who’s in your MC’s dorm with them?)

Rowan Khanna

Penny Haywood

Nymphadora Tonks

Chiara Lobosca

Rebecca Lord

Pets:

Her family owns a a ragdoll cat named Sara

She has a long-eared owl named Artemis

Her entire family owns a black owl that has red eyes called Ares

When she moves out into her own house, she gets a samoyed named Mayhem and three ragdoll cats named Cassia, Yuki and Pixel

Closest Canon Friends:

Talbott Winger

Chiara Lobosca

Penny Haywood

Rowan Khanna

Closest MC Friends:

Rebecca Lord @cursed-ice-spirits

Jason Novak @death-or-sleep

The O’Donnell Quadruplets @unfortunate-arrow

Sara

Cara

Ryan

Conor

She needs more please feel free to ask for your MC to be her friend

Background/History

Lucia was born in Ariccia, Italy to Bianca and Simon, she is the second oldest. She spent much of her life in Italy until three of her grandparents were killed by death eaters and then her family moved to Britain hence her heavy accent

Lucia’s father taught her everything she knows about fighting which led to her physique and fueled her laser focused aim of protecting her family which is why she was so distraught when Cirilo went missing. For months she was basically inconsolable

This changed when Lucia realized she can try get Cirilo back by learning everything he did in his investigations of the cursed vaults when she starts Hogwarts.

In her second year, she met Cassandra Cresswood when she decided to search the library on her own for information on the Vaults

She took Cassie to the Celestial Ball but much to Cassie’s disappointment as friends (Lucia didn’t want to jeopardize their friendship despite her having a crush on Cassie)

But later in the year, Cassie got fed up with Lucia and full out asked her out though they tried to keep it secretive

Year 5 was bittersweet for Lucia, on one hand she got her brother back and he decided to not abandon her but on the other hand Rakepick escaped after torturing Merula.

During her fifth year, Lucia also forged her magic gauntlets at The Tower of The Regal Sunset Sea which is also her family’s ancestral home. Her gauntlets increase her speed and strength

Time for a lot of canon divergence Lucia gave up on the cursed vault hunt, leaving it to Cirilo and everyone else but just in case she hired the Dark Sun Assassins, which is led by her extended family, to kill Rakepick just in case to calm her worries

In her sixth year, she very reluctantly came along with Ben and Merula to investigate rumours of an R meeting in the forbidden forest, this is where Rakepick tried to kill Ben and when Rowan tried to get in the way of Rakepick’s killing curse. Lucia pulled Rowan out of the way just in time and anger welled up inside her due to her remembering her helplessness when her grandparents died causing her to use the full power of her gauntlets ending up with Rakepick’s left arm being obliterated.

After this is when she got her tattoo, it represents Cassie

It is also in her sixth year that her relationship with Cassie is found out by the school when they are caught kissing before a quidditch match

In the final battle of the cursed Vaults when all of R tried to get the treasure of the final battle, Lucia joined in the battle and was the one who ended up killing Rakepick

After she graduates, she briefly becomes a wand maker and magizoologist before finally becoming a baker with Cassie

Three years after she graduates, she and Cassie get married

Four years after she graduates, she has her first kids, Alissa and Selene though they are carried by Cassie

When Voldemort returned she was openly defiant of him and joined the Order of the Phoenix. She also sheltered Muggleborns where she could and commonly was found dueling Death Eaters sent after her and her family alongside Cassie

She had Aurea a year before the battle of Hogwarts, this time she was the one who was pregnant

She was absent from the Battle of Hogwarts as she stayed behind to protect her family from any would be attackers while Cassie went to fight in the battle which she survived much to Lucia’s relief and the two were able to live their lives in peace

Personality

Lucia most of the time is very happy, always smiling in some way but this hides her extremely protective side for her loved ones and the anger that follows when her loved ones are hurt. She will never give up on anyone and will always do her best to help them.

However if anyone she cares about is hurt and she can’t get revenge either because the perpetrator is gone or whoever or whatever did it did so out of fear, she will be very distraught and blame herself even if she quite literally couldn’t have done anything and will shut herself away for days but if the perpetrator is not gone then she will be merciless and will kill them if they hurt her loved ones badly enough(Before Year 5, she would not readily kill).

She for the most part cannot handle people who are seemingly grumpy all the time and will intentionally avoid people like that.

She is very empathetic and tries to do her best to help her friends out when they are in bad places but she fails to take the same advice and apply it to herself and will fall into dark places easily if the signs aren’t noticed quick enough.

Misc

She is very resistant to sleeping potions and charms to such an extent that by the time she’s in year 7 she is basically immune and requires extremely potent versions used on her for it to take proper effect

All her scars came from a magical accident when a spell she was trying to create backfired injuring her and Cassie

She is very proud of her heritage and will fight people if they insult it in her presence

She has Norse ancestors on her father’s side of the family though most of the traditions and practices from them have been lost in time

She is fluent in Italian, English and Scottish Gaelic, the latter of which she learned from Cassie

She for most of her life had a huge fear of heights which came from her fall, she overcame it with the help of her friends when she decided to watch Cassie’s quidditch matches

She is very physically affectionate and will hug all her friends without a thought and will always make it known that she cares about them

When she first started Hogwarts her italian accent was very strong but over time it began to fade and once she graduates and moves in with Cassie, she starts unwittingly adopting a slight scottish accent which is tinged with her remaining italian accent

She is a very good singer, she taught herself and was naturally good from the onset. She knows many italian songs and lullabies

She is a black belt in Karate and despite her much less chaotic life after Hogwarts and the Second Wizarding War she maintains her strong AF physique

The scarf she wears was made by her late grandmother and she is rarely seen without it unless she is dueling seriously

She is named after her strongest ancestor Lucia Altera, a name which she lives up to.

She is capable of casting two of the unforgivable curses except for the killing curse

The names of her five daughters are; Alissa Dawn, Selene Abigail, Aurea Amara, Roxanna Amber, Rebecca Ciana and Hannah Chiara Firahel

Format made by @hogwartsmysterystory

#hphm #Harry Potter Hogwarts mystery #hp hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #lucia firahel #lucia firahel hphm #character profile

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homeforchristmas-au · 4 years

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Character bios/descriptions

Here’s some descriptions of the sides in this au cos i wanna talk about them like all day lol

Patton Sanders (formerly Shepard):

Age: 29

Pronouns: he/him

Height: 5’6”

Straight chestnut brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, hint of a tan but nothing too extreme, rectangular glasses with black frames, usually wears clothes that are comfortable (especially oversized jumpers), loves wearing beanies (often steals Logan’s, who hesitantly allows it) (mostly cos he’s really freaking cute in them)

Really good with kids (ofc) and is such a people person, but can get shy around older people (specifically men old enough to be his dad)

Very good at reading emotions and knowing what people need, whether it’s a hug or alone time

Has asthma, but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be

Is an only child to a mother and father, but ended up running away cos his dad became really overly aggressive

His uncle on his mothers side is Emile, who is married to Thomas, and they both took Patton in once it became clear that emiles sister and her husband were unfit parents (although Patton’s mom was much better with Patton and actually helped him run away) which was when he had his last name changed to Sanders

He met Logan when he ran away and they both went to emile and Thomas’s house together (I actually wrote the story of how they met for 25 Days of Ficmas on my main blog uwu)

They started out as friends for a long time until Patton found himself falling for Logan, who revealed that he had been crushing on Patton for quite some time

Their relationship started out rocky as neither of them knew exactly how to date (theyd dated other people before, they were just remarkably bad at it) but they made it through in the end

Logan Sanders (formerly Adams):

Age: 28

Pronouns: he/him

Height: 5’11”

Curly, light brown hair, amber eyes, moderately fair skinned, a lot of freckles on his face and arms, round glasses with silver frames, dresses much differently depending on if he’s home or in public - at home he’ll wear T-shirts and casual lounge pants and beanies and stuff, but in public typically sticks with a polo shirt and jeans, sometimes with a necktie depending on the setting

Has a tendency to put up a cold exterior around strangers or when in a public setting, but around loved ones he’s much more relaxed and casual, but still usually struggles to express his feelings.

He’s an amazing father, although sometimes he doubts this despite how much his kids absolutely adore him (he also has a tendency to doubt his own intelligence, even though he’s incredibly smart)

Is autistic, on the high functioning end of the spectrum, and has worked with professionals for basically his whole life to work on reading social cues and such, which he’s much better at now

Has three younger sisters - from oldest to youngest, Ellen, Renae, and Ashley. Logan being the oldest sibling, he’s always felt quite protective of his sisters. Can and will physically fight the whole planet for them

Their father died when Logan was 16. He was completely distraught over this and ran away from home. It was the most reckless, impulsive thing he’d ever done, but he doesn’t regret it for a single second, because that was how he met the love of his life

He did end up going back home to his family, because he knew they needed him

Virgil Sanders:

Age: 4 (birthday December 19)

Pronouns: he/him

Height: idk however tall four year olds are

Floppy black hair, gunmetal blue eyes, about as pale as a vampire, always wearing something purple (most notably the light purple polo shirt Logan couldn’t resist getting him, as well as his dark purple jumper that’s a size too big)

He’s fairly shy, though Patton and Logan tend to avoid calling him as such (they typically say introverted), but once he warms up to new people he’s a delight (it took him quite some time to fully trust Janus, but even from day one it was clear they connected on some level). He adores insects and arachnids, and much to Patton’s dismay, his favourite is spiders. He wants to be an entomologist when he grows up, but he can never remember the word for it, so he says “bug scientist”

Is suspected to be autistic but has yet to be tested for it

He was adopted by Patton and Logan when he was an infant. His mother was sixteen years old and had to give the baby up, due to her parents insistence, plus she knew she was unfit anyway, and it didn’t help that the father completely abandoned her. Patton and Logan matched with her in the adoption process when she was three months pregnant and it was quite the journey from start to finish

Roman & Remus Sanders:

Age: 8 (birthday June 14)

Pronouns: both he/him

Height: uh average

Both fairly tanned having spent over half their childhood in the sunlight, Roman has short dark mahogany brown hair and forest green eyes, Remus has longer, curly dark mahogany brown hair with jade green eyes, they both have dark freckles, Roman’s mostly on his cheeks while Remus’s are basically all over his body, and Remus has a gap in his extremely crooked teeth as well as green braces. Roman has all manner of Disney apparel, but he especially loves wearing his white Mickey Mouse shirt with the long red sleeves, and he’s also unafraid to wear traditionally “feminine” clothes like dresses and skirts. Remus... prefers not wearing clothes at all honestly but Logan and Patton insist on it, so he tries to wear as few clothes as possible, usually his neon green tank top and dark brown cargo shorts

They’re very different from each other but they do have similarities and can work well together. They pretty much never admit it but they do love each other despite their differences and near constant bickering.

They’re both dramatic, but in somewhat different ways. Roman is dramatic in that way that’s like “I’m literally tinkerbell because you have to give me attention or I’ll die”, while Remus is more like “this little tiny thing inconvenienced me so I’m gonna overreact and formulate murder plans against whoever/whatever dare make my life unbearably difficult”. They’re also both very creative, but of course they have different views on creativity (I doubt I need to get into specifics). They also both love Disney, but roman is more into classic Disney while Remus prefers Pixar

They both seem to exhibit traits of ADHD but haven’t been tested for it yet

They were around three years old when their mom and dad both died in a car accident. It was two years after that that Patton and Logan decided to adopt them both, despite only planning on adopting one child. Virgil was a year old at this time, and they wanted an older kid, and they ended up with two. And really that was fine by them, they just knew that this was it; no more kids, at least for a little while

Janus REDACTED

Age: 15 (birthday February 3)

Pronouns: he/him/they/them

Height: 5’7”

Medium length light golden brown hair, two different coloured eyes (right - cognac, left - chartreuse), fair skinned with a red birthmark taking up most of the left side of his face, missing right leg where he had to get an above-the-knee amputation, which causes him to need forearm crutches, he usually wears clothes that cover as much of his body as possible, and he oftentimes - if not constantly - wears foundation and concealer to hide his birthmark, although Patton and Logan insist it’s not necessary

He tends to avoid people when possible, since he’s developed quite the trust issues over the years. Going from foster home to foster home has made it difficult to allow himself to get close with anyone. In spite of this, he always seems to find himself bonding with the kids in his foster families. Especially the Sanders family when they first took him in (their original plan was to simply foster him... that plan fell through as they very quickly decided they wanted him to be part of their family)

Overall they’re a sarcastic cynic with a knack for storytelling, and while they seem cold and reserved on the outside, completely uncaring about the world around them, really deep down they just want to feel loved by someone, they want to feel accepted and like they’re really part of a family, like they’re actually wanted

They developed a bit of trauma from their birth family situation but a lot of it has been worked out, although they still have issues to work through even after all this time

They were ten when their dad got blackout drunk, forced them and their mom into the car, and started driving. Janus still has no idea where he was trying to go, but they never made it. They got into a monumental car accident, and Janus was lucky they made it out alive, although it costed them their leg. Their mother died unfortunately and their father was on life support last they heard. They never found out if he woke up or if he was taken off of it, so they have no idea if their dad is dead or alive. They tell themself they don’t care, they don’t wanna know either way, but they do. They feel like they shouldn’t, since their dad hurt them and got their mom killed, but they did have fond memories of their dad, which made the entire situation that much worse

So yeah on the happiest of notes there’s the main fam-ILY!!! :,)

I might continue this post with descriptions of the entire extended family, who knows!!!! :D (let me know if I missed anything in the tags btw, although I reached the limit so oof if I did)

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jtownraindancer · 5 years

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Sam Winchester x Reader: Books

Every town had some little quirk that made it stand out.

There was the small town in Idaho with the Farmer's Market that still had the best blueberries he had ever tasted, the one place in Georgia that looked like it fell from the pages of a storybook, that place in Arizona with the best running paths he had yet to explore.

This town was similar to so many others- small police force, volunteer fire departments, one newspaper covering hundreds of miles, and the nearest city an hour's drive away.

But the one thing he could say for this town was that it had, undoubtedly, the most beautiful library he had ever seen.

The plaque gave a brief history of the place, originally a mansion belonging to one of the town's founders, later donated as a community centre, until finally it was revamped to its current purpose.

It had been ages since his passing interest in architecture, but he also knew well enough that this would have been a marvel back in her heyday. Even now, against a backdrop of grey and khaki buildings with their vibrant splashes of colour, the bright purple uniformity of the exterior, the marble steps, and the stained glass windows were breathtaking.

The inside was just as extravagant, most of the original woodworking and some of the original decor still proudly displayed. The small elevator still boasted hints of its Edwardian predecessor, and the stained glass inlay of the former ballroom ceiling provided plenty of natural light, nixing the necessity of the crystal chandelier.

Every room seemed to be overflowing with warmth and light and knowledge, an entire floor of the building dedicated to fiction, another to children's literature, yet another two to nonfiction.

In comparison to some of the libraries he had seen, it was still fairly small, with some rooms dedicated to meetings and studying, others to magazines, newspapers, and media, various oak tables set up between shelves, a play area, and at least ten different computers.

But for a town this small, he was still pleasantly surprised by just how much it had to offer.

He took a few moments to wander, simply enjoying his surroundings- the detailing in the plastered ceilings, the stuffed peacock, the ancient astrologically thematic grandfather clock- before making his way to the local history section.

The ghosts they were chasing down were proving to be far more a pain than either he or Dean could have anticipated, and they were both getting mildly irate about it.

He wanted to go home for a few days and crash. But they had to finish this case first.

"'It's just a quick salt-and-burn, Sammy,' he says. 'We'll be done before you know it,' he says." Sam scowled at an empty bookcase, with only a nearby portrait serving witness to his annoyance. "Dammit, Dean."

Much to his continuing dismay, most of the books he was looking for were not on their shelves, despite still being checked in on the database.

With an annoyed sigh, he made his way back downstairs, approaching Circulation as politely as possible, and learning quickly that the books were most likely being hoarded at one of the many tables upstairs. Fortunately, the librarian's assistant decided to guide him herself, chit-chatting the whole way about who he was, his favourite author, what brought him to town, and any other detail she was able to tug out of his fake identity.

The hoarder was soon located, at least one dozen history texts scattered in front of you, each opened to different pages, your fingers typing quickly on their laptop, one index lifting temporarily before you finished your sentence.

Your tired eyes met his over the laptop lid, a warm smile soon following as your attention shifted to his guide. "'Sup, Anne?"

Introductions were soon made, his situation explained, and you freed up the remaining chair, gesturing at the pile of literature as Anna returned to her post. "Have at 'em. But you lose any of my bookmarks, and you're dead."

He fought a smirk, only to force it away at the completely sober expression on formerly jovial lips.

"I'm not joking. I've spent too many hours trying to get this damn chapter written, and so-help-me-God, you ruin my flow, Pretty Boy-" You followed your proclamation with a slow trace of your fingers across your neck, steady and certain.

He offered mock surrender, trying and failing to hide his smile when you beamed at him.

"Cool, cool, cool. Cookie?"

In a surreal way, it almost reminded him of his college days, as many decades ago as they were for him. Finals Week often had him camping out in the library, sharing snacks and a study room with other students as they all frantically tried to finish essays and memorize hundreds of pages of text they had understood the week before.

Every once in a while, during a small lull in your writing and another dead-end in his research, the pair of you would take a short break, exchanging small talk, gradually shifting into more personal details.

He found it easy to be honest with you, to the extent he was able, anyway. It helped that you had some core common interests, bonding through book references and your combined fascination with serial killers.

At one point, when he had been suspicious about how on-target your one guess was in regards to "the chip on his shoulder," he had slipped in a "Christo," earning nothing but a vaguely concerned, slightly amused "Gesundheit," in response.

He was quick to turn back to his work, blaming the changing light and the late hour and internalizing his panic at how much he had already confided in you.

Too much more, and he'd surely be putting a target on your back.

With any luck, he'd find the gravesite before sunset, and they could wrap the case up tonight, head out tomorrow, and he'd never have to worry about coming back to this town again.

You turned back to your own work, and quite some time passed before he started to grow aware of how little writing or reading you were doing, and how much staring you had taken up instead.

Your gaze was heavy on him, and soon enough it was the only thing he could think about.

"Can I help you," he finally snapped, turning his focus over to his fellow patron, who had blatantly given up on work for the night, laptop put away and bag resting on the table.

You seemed surprised to see him addressing you, eyebrows shooting up and lips parting slightly. But then a soft smile was fast replacing the shock.

"Not really. Just-" Your head turned slightly, reminding him of Cas. "I guess I'm just trying to figure you out."

The lighthearted reply had all of his frustration drifting away, a small scoff riding the wave. "Good luck."

Something in your expression shifted, something he couldn't quite read. "Is that an invitation?"

He was about to reply, ready to offer a denial, but-

Sam took a moment to trace over your slightly mussed hair, the tired, playful eyes, the pencil behind your ear, the soft glow of the lamp framing your entire face in gentle light.

You were peaceful company with a warm heart, good humour, and a quick mind.

Fuck it.

Maybe it was time to try again.

"Not really, but um-" He frowned, feigned fatigue. "I could go for a coffee. You?"

Your smile did more to brighten the dim room than any megawatt bulb could have ever hoped to dream.

"I know just the place."

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am0re-in-polvere · 4 years

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Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana, and attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word.

One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in these words: “You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond of—reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to speak first.”

This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the chase upon the mountains. She loved him and followed his footsteps. O how she longed to address him in the softest accents, and win him to converse! but it was not in her power.

She waited with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready. One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted aloud, “Who’s here?” Echo replied, “Here.” Narcissus looked around, but seeing no one, called out, “Come.” Echo answered, “Come.” As no one came, Narcissus called again, “Why do you shun me?” Echo asked the same question. “Let us join one another,” said the youth.

The maid answered with all her heart in the same words, and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck. He started back, exclaiming, “Hands off! I would rather die than you should have me!” “Have me,” said she; but it was all in vain. He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods.

From that time forth she lived in caves and among mountain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.

Narcissus’s cruelty in this case was not the only instance. He shunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done poor Echo. One day a maiden who had in vain endeavoured to attract him uttered a prayer that he might some time or other feel what it was to love and meet no return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and granted the prayer.

There was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the shepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats resorted, nor any of the beasts of the forests; neither was it defaced with fallen leaves or branches, but the grass grew fresh around it, and the rocks sheltered it from the sun. Hither came one day the youth, fatigued with hunting, heated and thirsty.

He stooped down to drink, and saw his own image in the water; he thought it was some beautiful water-spirit living in the fountain. He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes, those locks curled like the locks of Bacchus or Apollo, the rounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of health and exercise over all. He fell in love with himself. He brought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to embrace the beloved object. It fled at the touch, but returned again after a moment and renewed the fascination.

He could not tear himself away; he lost all thought of food or rest, while he hovered over the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image. He talked with the supposed spirit: “Why, beautiful being, do you shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my beckonings with the like.”

His tears fell into the water and disturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, “Stay, I entreat you! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch you.” With this, and much more of the same kind, he cherished the flame that consumed him, so that by degrees he lost his colour, his vigour, and the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph Echo.

She kept near him, however, and when he exclaimed, “Alas! alas!” she answered him with the same words. He pined away and died; and when his shade passed the Stygian river, it leaned over the boat to catch a look of itself in the waters. The nymphs mourned for him, especially the water-nymphs; and when they smote their breasts Echo smote hers also. They prepared a funeral pile and would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be found; but in its place a flower, purple within, and surrounded with white leaves, which bears the name and preserves the memory of Narcissus.

#art #art aesthetic #ancient greek #greek mythology #greek gods #red aesthetic #gold aesthetic

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wholeinformation-blog · 4 years

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Select the Best Mobile Website Design Company

Website design trends are updating almost each year. It is because users expect so. Folks get bored when things start becoming too old and usual. This is why innovation take place. Web design business follows it well and comes up with new ideas. Here are top web design tendencies which are part of the websites in year 2019.

Web designers are choosing the vibrant colors. Some common colours which are attracting people on websites are golden yellow, purple, green and red and so forth. Companies are opting for websites which are bright and of high contrast. There are chances to see bolder coloured sites in the year 2019.

More and more businesses are opting for videos to present their brands as web designers think that videos are more product focused and can deliver a message in a clear & interesting manner. You can also try it. Transactions are also making headlines with a great effects. Web designers use horizontal and vertical transactions.

Though keep your transactions simple and they should not distract users from the main content. Micro-interactions are more in use nowadays. These are part of buttons and navigation. Although these can be used on a number of other places as well is dependent upon the experience of a designer. This creates pleasant user-experience.

They keep users engaged for a longer period and increase endurance. Formerly web designer used to emphasize on using text, fonts and line spacing. They now understand that text isn't likely to impress the visitors. There was a need to change and now there's much effective approach. Nowadays they are more into using animations and visuals.

Curated visuals are becoming popular in this year. These visuals have many benefits. These make a website look unique as well as authentic. These provide convenient to understand the technical or tough concepts on a site. They're great at expressing powerful emotions effectively. Plus, they remove the need for gender-based illustrations. Colourful shapes are a part of website design tendencies of 2019.

These are being used to draw attention and display messages in a better way. These shapes are circles, rotating squares and triangles etc. Consider using shapes which represent a brand effectively. Thus, these are the top trends in web design in 2019. Some of these seem so much effective according to modern folks. Others may be replaced by something new. But it doesn't mean that if something is trendy, it will go nicely with any business site. Web designers need to choose wisely that represents what business site nicely.

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riversidetoughts-blog · 4 years

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Website Design : Key Elements

Website design trends are updating almost each year. Users expect websites to appear new and trendy. Folks get bored when things start becoming too old and usual. This is the reason why innovation take place. Same manner, the web design business also comes with new trends every year. Here are top web design tendencies that are a part of the sites in year 2019. Web designers are choosing the vibrant colours. Users want to find out more and more vivid colours like golden yellow, purple, red and green etc.. Firms want bright coloured and higher contrast websites nowadays.

There are opportunities to see bolder coloured sites in the year 2019. Web designers are now shifted to videos to provide brand or product information as they think videos are a more focused way. So if you are designing a website or getting it done from a designer, consider it. Transactions are trendy as well even the simplest can enhance your design. Designers are choosing vertical and horizontal trades and exploring more. Though maintain your transactions simple and they should not divert users from the main content. Micro-interactions are more in use nowadays. They're used in navigation and buttons. However, designers can experiment with them if they are enough knowledgeable. This generates pleasant user-experience.

They keep users engaged for a longer period and increase usability. Formerly web designer used to emphasise on using fonts, text and line spacing. They now understand that only text is not going to impress the visitors. There was a need to change and now there's much effective approach. Nowadays they're more into using animations and visuals. Curated visuals are getting popular in this season. These visuals have many advantages. Curated visuals are good to make a site look unique. Using them can make some technical concepts easier to understand for the convenience of users. They're great at expressing powerful emotions effectively. Another benefit is that there is no gender and race display in illustrations of individuals

Than there are colourful shapes trending in 2019. Web designers are using these shapes to draw user attention and portray messages. These shapes are circles, rotating squares and triangles etc. Consider using shapes which represent a brand effectively. In this way, these are the best web design trends which are going viral in 2019 among web designers. Some of these seem so much effective in accordance with modern people. Others might change in the upcoming years, but web designers are focusing on them. But it does not mean that if something is trendy, it is going to go well with any business site. Web designers will need to choose wisely that represents what company site nicely.

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startupbusinessinfo-blog · 4 years

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Finding Suitable Web Design And Development Company

Web designers keep trying new things to make sites look trendy and attractive. It's because users expect so. Folks get bored when things start becoming too old and usual. This is the reason why innovation take place. Web design business follows it nicely and comes up with new ideas. Here are leading web design trends which are a part of the websites in year 2019. Vibrant colors are everywhere nowadays. Users want to find out more and more vivid colours like gold yellow, purple, red and green etc. Businesses want bright coloured and higher contrast sites nowadays. There are opportunities to see bolder coloured websites in the year 2019.

Web designers are now shifted to videos to provide brand or product information as they think videos are a more concentrated way. So if you're designing a site or getting it done from a designer, consider it. Transactions are trendy as well even the simplest can enhance your design. Web designers use horizontal and vertical transactions. Though keep your transactions simple and they shouldn't distract users from the main content. Micro-interactions are more in use nowadays.

They're used in buttons and navigation. However, designers can experiment with them if they are enough knowledgable. It ultimately leads to better user experience. They keep users engaged for a longer period and increase endurance. Formerly web designer used to highlight on using fonts, text and line spacing. They now understand that only text is not likely to impress the visitors. So the trend was obligated to change and now they have come in various ways. Nowadays they're more into using visuals and animations.

Curated visuals are one more favorite trend of web designers within this year. These visuals have many advantages. These make a website look unique as well as authentic. These provide convenient to understand the technical or tough concepts on a website. They are great at expressing powerful emotions effectively. Plus, they remove the need for gender-based illustrations. Colourful shapes are part of site design tendencies of 2019. These are being used to attract attention and display messages in a more effective way.

These shapes are circles, rotating squares and triangles etc. Use just the shapes which are more suitable according to style than the need to utilize them. In this way, these are the best web design trends that are going viral in 2019 among web designers. A number of them may stay for a longer period. Others might change in the upcoming years, but currently, web development frameworks are focusing on them. But it doesn't mean that if something is cool, it will go nicely with any business website. So web designers should use which are best appropriate for the needs and demands.

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factoriostuff · 5 years

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Science pack changes

Hello everyone, today I'll be talking about the changes to the different science packs in Factorio!

Whether you start a new game for 0.17 or load a former save, the first thing you will notice when opening the tech tree (besides how pretty the new GUI is) will probably be this:

Every science pack besides the most simple red one needs to be unlocked by progressing through the tech tree. You will have to complete the prerequisite research project first, to be able to get the more advanced science packs.

This should help guide new players through the different tiers of technology, which is further helped by the changes to the science pack recipes. First of all, the different colours of science packs have been renamed. The names are now more indicative of what kind of technologies they can be used to unlock.

For example the red science is now called “automation science”, because it's the first type of science you need to get you started with the basic equipment for automating production, like assembly machines. The green science is called “logistic science”, since it's needed to get better belts, the car, better power poles, a train network and so on.

The recipe for these two sciences is still the same is it has been before, so no changes here (there have been some small crafting time tweaks, probably due to the changes to belt transport speed). Here’s what a simple red and green science layout can look like:

The first major change comes when building military science. Crafting them no longer requires gun turrets, which are very resource heavy and in my experience were often a prominent bottleneck candidate. Instead, you now need walls to craft the grey science. I think this is a nice change, since it guides the player towards building proper smelting for stone and setting up an assembly line for wall will come in handy when you have to start defending yourself against those pesky biters (We all know trees are the real enemy of course, but walls aren't very effective against them).

The light blue science pack 3, now called “chemical science”, used to require one advanced electronic circuit, engine unit and electric mining drill each. Similar to military's gun turret, the mining drill was often a problem when it comes this science pack. It has a very short crafting time, but requires a lot of resources. Just getting enough iron, gears and green chips to your drill assemblies could be quite the problem when building a large scale blue science assembly. In the new version, you need solid fuel instead!

Fluid mechanics are notoriously a pretty steep raise in difficulty in Factorio. Getting your chemical plant working and successfully setting up plastic production for your advanced circuits (necessary for advancing to blue science) is a lot of work. Since you do still need red chips, this hasn't changed. I'm not sure if also requiring solid fuel will help with that. But crafting solid fuel is pretty straight forward and at least shouldn't make things more difficult.

At the same time, solid fuel is a good outlet for getting rid of superfluous liquids, which should help prevent your refineries from getting stuck because there's too much of one kind of fluid in your system. Until you get fluid cracking (which requires the blue science packs you're working towards) you could turn all of your heavy and light oil into solid fuel, while using your petroleum for plastic.

There's also some changes to the other ingredients. You now need three red chips and two engines. But in exchange, you get two science packs per craft now, similar to military science! So it's not just more expensive, there’s been some rebalancing. Here’s an example of a simple blue and grey science assembly:

Next up is the purple “production science”. No name change here, but to craft these you can say goodbye to electric engine units and hello to level one productivity modules as well as a whole bunch of rails! Requiring productivity modules for productivity science just makes a lot of sense, while also guiding the player towards using modules and scaling up your production of green and red chips. And if you still haven't started a train network, then building towards purple science is the perfect opportunity to finally get started, since you'll be crafting rails anyways!

The only possible problem here is that you need a lot of rails per craft. Similar to how the high tech science used to require 30 copper cables, just getting all the necessary items to your assemblies can be a challenge!

However, since the new recipe has a pretty long crafting speed the number of items you need to transport per second isn't as high as it was for the 30 copper cables. And don't worry about the increased craft time. In exchange, the tier 3 sciences now give you three science packs per craft, so that's still a net gain!

Which brings me to the last tier 3 science pack, formerly known as high tech science. The yellow “utility science” has been changed the most. No more batteries, no speed module, no buttload of copper cable! You still need processing units (better known as blue chips), but now you also need flying robot frames (the intermediate product for building logistic and construction bots) as well as low density structures! At this point in the game you will probably start using robots anyway, so setting up a large assembly line for robot frames is in your best interest!

A big change however, is the low density structure! Depending on how far into the game you've advanced in the past you may not even recognize this item! It's made from steel, plastic and a whole lot of copper. Along with rocket fuel and rocket control units, the low density structures were used solely for building parts of the rocket you have to launch, if you want to finish the game.

In the new update, all three items can be crafted before unlocking the rocket silo, after researching their own respective tech. This means you can start using rocket fuel much sooner, which might encourage players to actually use it. Unless you're going for a mega base, experimenting with rocket fuel in between unlocking the silo and launching the rocket wasn't really worth it. Now you can use it as soon as you've set up your chemical processing, it doesn't even require blue science packs to unlock!

(If you enjoy getting run over by your trains, try powering them with rocket fuel to make them even more deadly faster!)

At the same time, besides being an ingredient in a lot of different end-game items now, low density structures are required for the yellow utility science. This will probably require setting up dedicated assemblies for building and bussing a new item, that used to be exclusive to the very late end-game, hopefully bringing some new wind to the game by forcing us to rethink the same old main bus we've already build over and over again!

These changes also mean that all types of science can be crafted from a maximum of three input ingredients. Which means you can craft them all with a basic “two lanes coming in, one going out” kind of layout, similar to the example builds I’ve shown so far as well as the one below. But of course, the real challenge is scaling up your production to actually handle the consumption!

I think these changes are for the better and do a good job of guiding players along the game’s progression. I also like the balancing changes, although I haven't started a new base yet. So far, I've been testing things in an old save of mine. So maybe when I get around to actually working my way through the new tech tree from scratch, I will have some more Opinions(tm) on this!

I might make some more in-depth guides on setting up assembly lines for the different types of science packs in the future. Until then, there’s

[Note: I grabbed the crafting recipies from the Factorio Wiki, which is already in 0.17 mode!]

#factorio #gaming #update #science #crafting #science packs #balancing #experimental #0.17 #science!#tech tree

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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THE BOOK OF ESTHER - From The Douay-Rheims Bible - Latin Vulgate

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION.

This Book takes its name from queen Esther; whose history is here recorded. The general opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy Scripture, make Mardochai the writer of it: which also may be collected below from C. ix. 20. Ch. --- He and the queen were certainly authors of the letter, (H.) enjoining the celebration of the feast of Purim, or "lots," which is the ground-work (C.) of the present narration. D. --- The compiler has also had recourse to the archives of the kingdom of Persia: so that his work has all the authority that can be required of a profane historian; and being moreover inspired in all its parts, we cannot refuse to receive it with the utmost respect. Those additions which are not now in Hebrew, (C.) though they were perhaps formerly, (W. Origen. D.) have been carefully preserved by S. Jerom, and were recognized by the ancient Vulg. as they are at present by the Greek, without any distinction. Lysimachus, the Greek translator, was probably the author of them. C. xi. 1. C. --- The objections of Capellus against this "Greek scribbler," as he is pleased to style him, despising the judgment of both Jews and Christians, are in general very unaccountably borrowed (H.) from the Latin version, and are easily refuted. Houbigant. --- Those Jews, who have rejected this work entirely, with Melito, (Eus. Hist. iv. 26. S. Greg. Naz. &c.) ought not to prevail against the consent of the majority, (C.) expressed in the Councils of Laodicea, Carthage, Trent, sess. 4, &c. To read this book according to the order of time, we should begin C. xi. v. 2, &c. C. i. ii. and xii. and iii. to v. 14; then we find the distress of the Jews in the rest of that chapter, and in C. xiii. to v. 8, and their delivery in C. iv. to ix. v. 17, and C. xiii. v. 8, &c. and C. xiv. xv. and xvi. The consequences of these events are recorded C. ix. v. 17, &c. to C. xi. 1. (W.) with which verse the book ends, in the Greek editions. H. --- They vary considerably, as did the copies of the ancient Vulgate, which called forth the complaints of S. Jerom, Pref. But the Church has distinguished what was spurious from the genuine word of God; so that the doubts of Lyran, Sixtus, (Bib. viii.) &c. respecting the fragments at the end of the book being not canonical, ought no longer to be indulged; much less can the boldness of many Lutherans, (C.) and particularly of Le Clerc, (Houbigant) be tolerated, who represent the whole work as a mere fiction. The Jews have a greater respect for it than for any of the prophets; whose works, they say, will perish at the coming of the Messias: whereas this will subsist with the books of Moses, and the feast of Purim will never be abolished. C. ix. 28. Maimon. --- Ben. Gorion (ii. 2.) admits the additions. But Josephus is silent about them, as he probably did not find them in his copy. C. --- He recites, however, both the epistles of Assuerus. Ant. xi. 6. D. --- It is not agreed whether these events happened before or after the captivity. But it is now most commonly supposed, that Esther was married to Darius Hystaspes, A. 3489, about the time of the dedication of the temple. C. xiv. 9. He had been on the throne six years, and reigned other thirty. See Herod. vii. 4. C. --- Josephus thinks that Esther was the queen of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who was a great friend of the Jews. D. --- The Thalmud attributes this work to the great Synagogue, consisting of Esdras, Mardochai, Joachim, &c. and, as various persons might write the same history, the Greek, with the additions, seems to be taken from one copy, and the Hebrew from another rather more concise, (Huet. D.) but equally inspired. H.

The additional Notes in this Edition of the New Testament will be marked with the letter A. Such as are taken from various Interpreters and Commentators, will be marked as in the Old Testament. B. Bristow, C. Calmet, Ch. Challoner, D. Du Hamel, E. Estius, J. Jansenius, M. Menochius, Po. Polus, P. Pastorini, T. Tirinus, V. Bible de Vence, W. Worthington, Wi. Witham. — The names of other authors, who may be occasionally consulted, will be given at full length.

Verses are in English and Latin.

HAYDOCK CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY

This Catholic commentary on the Old Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock's notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Changes made to the original text for this transcription include the following:

Greek letters. The original text sometimes includes Greek expressions spelled out in Greek letters. In this transcription, those expressions have been transliterated from Greek letters to English letters, put in italics, and underlined. The following substitution scheme has been used: A for Alpha; B for Beta; G for Gamma; D for Delta; E for Epsilon; Z for Zeta; E for Eta; Th for Theta; I for Iota; K for Kappa; L for Lamda; M for Mu; N for Nu; X for Xi; O for Omicron; P for Pi; R for Rho; S for Sigma; T for Tau; U for Upsilon; Ph for Phi; Ch for Chi; Ps for Psi; O for Omega. For example, where the name, Jesus, is spelled out in the original text in Greek letters, Iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma, it is transliterated in this transcription as, Iesous. Greek diacritical marks have not been represented in this transcription.

Footnotes. The original text indicates footnotes with special characters, including the astrisk (*) and printers' marks, such as the dagger mark, the double dagger mark, the section mark, the parallels mark, and the paragraph mark. In this transcription all these special characters have been replaced by numbers in square brackets, such as [1], [2], [3], etc.

Accent marks. The original text contains some English letters represented with accent marks. In this transcription, those letters have been rendered in this transcription without their accent marks.

Other special characters.

Solid horizontal lines of various lengths that appear in the original text have been represented as a series of consecutive hyphens of approximately the same length, such as ---.

Ligatures, single characters containing two letters united, in the original text in some Latin expressions have been represented in this transcription as separate letters. The ligature formed by uniting A and E is represented as Ae, that of a and e as ae, that of O and E as Oe, and that of o and e as oe.

Monetary sums in the original text represented with a preceding British pound sterling symbol (a stylized L, transected by a short horizontal line) are represented in this transcription with a following pound symbol, l.

The half symbol (1/2) and three-quarters symbol (3/4) in the original text have been represented in this transcription with their decimal equivalent, (.5) and (.75) respectively.

Unreadable text. Places where the transcriber's copy of the original text is unreadable have been indicated in this transcription by an empty set of square brackets, [].

Chapter 1

King Assuerus maketh a great feast. Queen Vasthi being sent for refuseth to come: for which disobedience she is deposed.

[1] In the days of Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces:

In diebus Assueri, qui regnavit ab India usque Aethiopiam super centum viginti septem provincias :

[2] When he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city Susan was the capital of his kingdom.

quando sedit in solio regni sui, Susan civitas regni ejus exordium fuit.

[3] Now in the third year of his reign he made a great feast for all the princes, and for his servants, for the most mighty of the Persians, and the nobles of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces in his sight,

Tertio igitur anno imperii sui fecit grande convivium cunctis principibus, et pueris suis, fortissimis Persarum, et Medorum inclytis, et praefectis provinciarum coram se,

[4] That he might shew the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness, and boasting of his power, for a long time, to wit, for a hundred and fourscore days.

ut ostenderet divitias gloriae regni sui, ac magnitudinem, atque jactantiam potentiae suae, multo tempore, centum videlicet et octoginta diebus.

[5] And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden, and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king.

Cumque implerentur dies convivii, invitavit omnem populum, qui inventus est in Susan, a maximo usque ad minimum : et jussit septem diebus convivium praeparari in vestibulo horti, et nemoris, quod regio cultu et manu consitum erat.

[6] And there were hung up on every side sky coloured, and green, and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk, and of purple, which were put into rings of ivory, and were held up with marble pillars. The beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with painting of wonderful variety.

Et pendebant ex omni parte tentoria aerii coloris et carbasini ac hyacinthini, sustentata funibus byssinis, atque purpureis, qui eburneis circulis inserti erant, et columnis marmoreis fulciebantur. Lectuli quoque aurei et argentei, super pavimentum smaragdino et pario stratum lapide, dispositi erant : quod mira varietate pictura decorabat.

[7] And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king's magnificence.

Bibebant autem qui invitati erant, aureis poculis, et aliis atque aliis vasis cibi inferebantur. Vinum quoque, ut magnificentia regia dignum erat, abundans, et praecipuum ponebatur.

[8] Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would.

Nec erat qui nolentes cogeret ad bibendum, sed sicut rex statuerat, praeponens mensis singulos de principibus suis ut sumeret unusquisque quod vellet.

[9] Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace, where king Assuerus was used to dwell.

Vasthi quoque regina fecit convivium feminarum in palatio, ubi rex Assuerus manere consueverat.

[10] Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mauman, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charcas, the seven eunuchs that served in his presence,

Itaque die septimo, cum rex esset hilarior, et post nimiam potationem incaluisset mero, praecepit Maumam, et Bazatha, et Harbona, et Bagatha, et Abgatha, et Zethar, et Charchas, septem eunuchis, qui in conspectu ejus ministrabant,

[11] To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set upon her head, to shew her beauty to all the people and the princes: for she was exceeding beautiful.

ut introducerent reginam Vasthi coram rege, posito super caput ejus diademate, ut ostenderet cunctis populis et principibus pulchritudinem illius : erat enim pulchra valde.

[12] But she refused, and would not come at the king's commandment, which he had signified to her by the eunuchs. Whereupon the king, being angry, and inflamed with a very great fury,

Quae renuit, et ad regis imperium, quod per eunuchos mandaverat, venire contempsit. Unde iratus rex, et nimio furore succensus,

[13] Asked the wise men, who according to the custom of the kings, were always near his person, and all he did was by their counsel, who knew the laws, and judgments of their forefathers:

interrogavit sapientes, qui ex more regio semper ei aderant, et illorum faciebat cuncta consilio, scientium leges, ac jura majorum

[14] (Now the chief and nearest him were, Charsena, and Sethar, and Admatha, and Tharsis, and Mares, and Marsana, and Mamuchan, seven princes of the Persians, and of the Medes, who saw the face of the king, and were used to sit first after him:)

( erant autem primi et proximi, Charsena, et Sethar, et Admatha, et Tharsis, et Mares, et Marsana, et Mamuchan, septem duces Persarum, atque Medorum, qui videbant faciem regis, et primi post eum residere soliti erant) :

[15] What sentence ought to pass upon Vasthi the queen, who had refused to obey the commandment of king Assuerus, which he had sent to her by the eunuchs?

cui sententiae Vasthi regina subjaceret, quae Assueri regis imperium, quod per eunuchos mandaverat, facere noluisset.

[16] And Mamuchan answered, in the hearing of the king and the princes: Queen Vasthi hath not only injured the king, but also all the people and princes that are in all the provinces of king Assuerus.

Responditque Mamuchan, audiente rege atque principibus : Non solum regem laesit regina Vasthi, sed et omnes populos, et principes, qui sunt in cunctis provinciis regis Assueri.

[17] For this deed of the queen will go abroad to all women, so that they will despise their husbands, and will say: King Assuerus commanded that queen Vasthi should come in to him, and she would not.

Egredietur enim sermo reginae ad omnes mulieres, ut contemnant viros suos, et dicant : Rex Assuerus jussit ut regina Vasthi intraret ad eum, et illa noluit.

[18] And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians and the Medes will slight the commandments of their husbands: wherefore the king's indignation is just.

Atque hoc exemplo omnes principum conjuges Persarum atque Medorum, parvipendent imperia maritorum : unde regis justa est indignatio.

[19] If it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let it be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes, which must not be altered, that Vasthi come in no more to the king, but another, that is better than her, be made queen in her place.

Si tibi placet, egrediatur edictum a facie tua, et scribatur juxta legem Persarum atque Medorum, quam praeteriri illicitum est, ut nequaquam ultra Vasthi ingrediatur ad regem, sed regnum illius, altera, quae melior est illa, accipiat.

[20] And let this be published through all the provinces of thy empire, (which is very wide,) and let all wives, as well of the greater as of the lesser, give honour to their husbands.

Et hoc in omne ( quod latissimum est) provinciarum tuarum divulgetur imperium, et cunctae uxores, tam majorum quam minorum, deferant maritis suis honorem.

[21] His counsel pleased the king, and the princes: and the king did according to the counsel of Mamuchan.

Placuit consilium ejus regi, et principibus : fecitque rex juxta consilium Mamuchan,

[22] And he sent letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, as every nation could hear and read, in divers languages and characters, that the husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses: and that this should be published to every people.

et misit epistolas ad universas provincias regni sui, ut quaeque gens audire et legere poterat, diversis linguis et litteris, esse viros principes ac majores in domibus suis : et hoc per cunctos populos divulgari.

Commentary:

Ver. 1. In. Heb. "and in." In this manner the books of Scripture are usually connected. Sept. place first the dream of Mardochai. C. xi. 2. C. --- Assuerus. Sept. Artaxerxes; as C. xvi. 1. The former is the title of Median, the latter of the Persian, monarchs. This king reigned over both nations, and was most probably Darius Hystaspes, the third king of the Persians, (T.) who subdued India, &c. Herod. C. T. --- Some understand Cambyses, (1 Esd. iv. Genebrard) or Xerxes (Scalig.) or Artaxerxes Longimanus, (Bellarm. Salien) or Memnon, (Euseb.) or Ochus. Serarius. --- But (C.) the author of 3 Esd. iii. 1. and iv. 43. seems clearly declared for Hystaspes. T. --- Though that work be not canonical, (D.) it may claim some authority, as an ancient history. H. --- This king gave orders for the building of the temple. 1 Esd. vi. 1. 14. --- India. Part had been (C.) subject to Xerxes. Herod. iv. 44. --- Ethiopia, beyond Egypt, paid an acknowledgment. Cambyses had taken possession of this country. C. --- Some understand a part of Arabia to be meant. D. --- Seven: 120 had been regulated by Darius, the Mede. Dan. vi. 1. H. --- The number might vary as the monarch chose. D. --- Herodotus (iii. 89.) only specifies "twenty." But he speaks of large departments, to which he intimates that several others were subordinate. C. --- Provinces. Heb. medina, "seat of judges." H. --- Prefecture. M.

Ver. 2. Captial. Heb. "palace, (Prot. H.) or castle," (C.) may also signify "a capital." Mont. &c. --- Hystaspes founded this ancient royal city of Persia, (Pliny vi. 27.) or he greatly embellished it. C. Ælian, Anim. xiii. 18. T. --- He seems to have resided here almost constantly. The preceding kings (C.) spent the winter in this warm climate, and perhaps the spring. See 2 Esd. i. 1. They spent other parts of the year at Ecbatana and at Babylon. C.

Ver. 3. Reign. When he was solemnly crowned, again, (T.) or removed his court, (C.) and dedicated this new capital, with feasting, &c. H.

Ver. 4. Days, or a full half year, according to their reckoning. Nabuchodonosor, after his victory over Arphaxad, (Judith i.) feasted 120 days; Dionysius of Syrachuse, 90; (Aristot.) Solomon seven; (3 K. viii. 63.) and David three; when he was recognized by all Israel. 1 Par. xii. 39. The Gaul, Ariamnes, gave a fest to all his countrymen for a whole year. Athen. iv. 13. --- The Roman emperors sometimes treated all the citizens of Rome, and Alexander did the like to 9000 of his chief officers for one day. But the magnificence of Assuerus surpasses all the rest. The Persians were famous on this account. --- Persicos odi, puer, apparatus. Hor. i. Ode 38. C.

Ver. 5. Expired, (Feuardent) or in the last week. M. C. --- King. The Persian monarchs delighted in agriculture. Cyrus the younger, planted trees at Sardis, and never ate till he had taken some exercise of this or of a military nature. Xenoph. Memor. Cicero Senect.

Ver. 6. Were. Prot. "where were," white, green, and blue hangings. --- Ivory. Heb. "silver." H. --- Beds, to lie down on at table; though sitting was formerly the fashion. Gen. xliii. 33. The other custom prevailed among the more luxurious nations, and was observed in our Saviour's time, each person reclining upon his left arm, and having his feet behind the next. T. --- These beds were made very low, in Persia; so that Alexander had one put under his feet, when he sat on the throne of Darius, as he was not so tall. Curt. v. 7. --- Their magnificence was surprising. Herod. ix. 81. C. --- Variety, in Mosaic work. T. --- They lay upon sheep skins. Chal. Sept. "and the beds (or coverlets) were transparent, with various flowers, and full-blown roses, all round." H.

Ver. 7. Vessels. When Lysanias had taken the camp of Mardonius, and beheld the rich vessels, he could not help expressing a surprise that people possessing such advantages, should come to molest the Lacedemonians, who lived so poorly. Herod. ix. 79.

Ver. 8. Neither. Heb. "and the drinking was according to the law." Gr. "was not according to the pre-established law;" (H.) as the usual custom was altered, on this occasion; and thus both may be accurate. The Persians had commonly a king of the feast, whose orders all were obliged to obey in drinking. Hor. i. Ode 4. Eccli. xxxii. 1. --- This was an occasion of quarrels, (S. Jer.) and of intoxication. Agesilaus followed the example of Assuerus. Darius, and Cyrus the younger, gloried in being able to drink much wine without being deranged. C.

Reges dicuntur urgere culullis,

Et torquere mero, quem perspexisse laborant,

An sit amicitia dignus. Hor. ad Pison.

Among friends, these "absurd laws" wer laid aside.

Siccat inequales calices conviva, solutus

Legibus insanis. Hor. ii. Sat. 6. C.

This may suggest to Christians, that they ought not to urge any to get drunk, (S. Aug. ser. 231. de Temp.) lest they should be condemned by the very heathens. W. --- Would, and thus prevent disorders as much as possible. Athen. x. 6.

Ver. 9. Vasthi. Sept. Astin. H. --- Serarius suspects she was the king's sister, or daughter, as such marriages were common in Persia. T. --- The name is not very different from that of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, who was married to Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius; to the latter of whom she bore four children. Herod. iii. 68. and vii. 3. --- This prince had other wives, particularly Artistona, (C. our Hadossa, (H.) or Esther) whom he espoused a virgin, and love the most. Herodotus seems to confound her with Atossa. --- Dwell. Some Greek copies have "in her own palaces." Usher. --- It was proper for women to be more retired. M. --- The men feasted in the open air. H.

Ver. 10. Wine. From the king's excess, and the haughtiness of Vasthi, God took occasion to advance Esther, and to deliver his people. C. --- Mauman. Sept. "Aman." T. --- But the names vary. The Persians seem to have had a predilection for the number seven, v. 14. C. Gr. "the seven eunuchs, ministers (deacons) of Artaxerxes."

Ver. 11. Head. But without any other covering. Chal. Sulpitius entertained perhaps the same idea. Stulto rege consultior, pudens, virorum oculis spectaculum corporis præbere jussa, abnuit. H. --- Some Greek copies assert, very improbably, (C.) that she was sent for "to be crowned queen." --- Beautiful. "The Persian ladies were noted for beauty," (Ammian) insomuch that Alexander called them eye-sores, oculorum dolores. Curt. --- Only prostitutes appeared publicly at feasts. Macrob. vii. 1. S. Amb. de Elia. i. 15. --- In effect, Vasthi's refusal conformable to the laws of the country. Josephus. Plut. in Themist. --- Her offence consisted, therefore, rather in her haughty carriage or words. H. --- For the proposal was neither decent nor safe for the king, (Grot.) as the history of Candaules shews. Herod. i. Not. Var. in Sulp.

Ver. 12. Fury. This is the usual consequences of excess. W.

Ver. 13. According. Heb. "knew the times, (for so was the king's custom with those who knew law and judgment.) And the next," &c. H. --- These were the magi, more particularly versed in the constitutions of the country. The Persians commonly held their consultations over wine. Herod. i. 133. --- Sept. "and the king said to his friends, Thus has Astin spoken; do therefore, in this affair, law and judgment. Then came forth to him Arkesaios and Saresthaios, and Malesear, the princes of the Persians and Medes, men near the king, and who sat first after the king. H. --- The old Vulg. places Mardochæus first. These seven counsellors were perhaps styled the king's relations," (Brisson i. p. 171.) and administered justice; as even the kings referred their causes to them. Plut. Artax. &c.

Ver. 16. Mamuchan. Old Vulg. "Mardochæus." Yet the Jews say this was the infamous Aman; and one Greek copy has Bilgaios, (C.) and Arabo, "Mouchaios." C. iii. 1. and xii. 6. He was the youngest, but spoke first, as was sometimes the case.

Ver. 18. Wives. Gr. turannideV, "princesses, or female tyrants." --- Slight. Sept. "dare to slight their husbands. Wherefore if," &c. H. --- Just. Heb. "enough of contempt and indignation." This may be referred either to the king or to the women's husbands. The example will prove a source of continual quarrels. C. --- Brentius approves the decision of this parasite; though S. Amb. &c. think that the queen was justified by the laws, which the king had no right to infringe, to gratify his drunken humour, v. 10. Luther would also wrest this text in favour of adultery, p.ii. Devort. p. 177. W.

Ver. 19. Altered. This regarded the more solemn acts, signed by the counsellors. Dan. vi. 17. Grotius. - Some decrees were neglected or changed. C. viii. 9. 1 Esd. iv. 5. 21. and vi. 1. C.

Ver. 21. Counsel. It was very inconclusive; (M.) and even supposing the queen were guilty of some indiscretion, the punishment was too severe. M. Grotius, v. 11. H.

#book of esther

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homeforchristmas-au · 4 years

Text

Character bios pt 2!!

Decided to continue the bios for the rest of the fam squad, the full extended family!! Might change things around a bit, we’ll see!!! Here’s part one in case you missed it :3

Emile Sanders (formerly Picani):

Age: 46

Pronouns: he/him/they/them

Height: 6’1”

Curly medium golden mahogany brown hair and sky blue eyes, subtly tanned skin covered in freckles, red framed rounded glasses, likes dressing like a cartoon character or just wearing cartoon merch (his prized possession is his Mabel pines jumper) but wears a brown cardigan over a white button down shirt with a pink necktie when he goes to work

A big goofball that has a lot of love to give, but he still knows when to be more subdued and calm and when to activate “serious picani”. He’s always loved helping people work through their issues which is why he’s a therapist

Like patton, he’s excellent at reading emotions, though he’s a bit better at it since he’s a professional

Has ADHD, but has developed the necessary coping skills to help keep his symptoms under control

Has two siblings; Catarina (Patton’s mother) and Leonard (Patton’s other uncle). Emile is the baby of the family while Leonard is the oldest

Emile met Thomas when they were both in college. They shared an ASL class and quickly began getting along, and frequently practiced sign language together and feelings developed from there

It was quite some time before they got married, but it was well worth the wait

Thomas Sanders:

Age: 43

Pronouns: he/him

Height: 5’10”

The standard character Thomas look; floppy medium brown hair, chestnut eyes, fair skinned, wears the same three shirts periodically for five years until he buys three new shirts, the usual stuff

He’s a sweet, down to earth guy. Loves cartoons almost as much as Emile does, has a passion for pizza, theatre, and the cats of the world he’ll never be able to pet without dying. He can be impulsive at times, but his heightened anxiety oftentimes outweighs that

Has three brothers named Christian, Patrick, and Shea, but I won’t describe them in depth cos I don’t wanna get any facts wrong since this is based on Thomas himself oop-

I’m literally just describing the canon character Thomas except slightly older im-

There’s like nothing else to add to make this fun and unique it’s just character Thomas welp

Thomas and Emile’s kids:

Anton Sanders:

Age: 16

Pronouns: any/all

Height: idk uh ??? 5’7” ???

Medium length wavy black hair, electric blue eyes, fair skinned with a beauty mark on his right cheek beneath his eye, usually wears fashionable clothes and declares himself an eleven, often wears scarves and turtlenecks (almost exclusively black) as well as his round mirrored sunglasses

Can and will kill you with a single look. Especially if you mess with his family. He’ll never admit it but he loves them with everything he’s got, even if he never acts like it for even a moment

Especially adores Remy and respects that they’re discovering themself and exploring new possibilities. He knows from experience how tough that is and how much of a challenge it can be

Was adopted at age three after his parents were busted for child abuse and heavy drug addiction. It took quite some time for him to come out of his shell but Emile and Thomas were nothing but patient and loving and kind. He still has a lot of trust issues but he knows he can trust his family

Will never admit it now but became insanely jealous when remy was adopted into the family. He did not want a brother because he knew that meant he was being replaced and he wasn’t loved anymore

Eventually Thomas and Emile sat him down and they all talked through it and assured Anton that he was still loved and he was not being replaced

It still took a very long time for Anton to trust Remy, even if he was only a baby

His heart was won over when Remy said his first word to him

All he said was “no” but Anton admired his defiant spirit

also yes this is the Critic how did u know

Remy Sanders:

Age: 12 (birthday January 16)

Pronouns: he/him/they/them/it/its

Height: damnit how tall are 12 year olds

Shoulder length hair dyed dark purple at the roots that fades into magenta at the ends (hair colour changes periodically depending on what it feels like having), chocolate brown eyes, fairly dark skinned but not heavily so, gender expression changes at the drop of a hat but it often wears leather, skirts, beanies, and a heck ton of earrings (when it turns eighteen it starts getting a lot of different piercings like angel bites, nostril, and industrial piercings, etc) (that’s worth noting)

Almost always sarcastic but that’s its way of showing love really. It’s a helluva punk that can and will fight anyone to the death if they deserve it (or if they hurt someone Remy likes). It’s actually a huge nerd but doesnt usually show that side of itself. It loves reading, watching shows like doctor who, and doing puzzles with Logan

Was diagnosed with adhd after Emile noticed it experienced similar symptoms for quite a while

Was adopted by Thomas and Emile when it was a baby (and Anton was four), having been found by Emile when it was left in a box in an alleyway, which was a long and complicated process but one hundred percent worth it

It has a trio of male rats named Holmes, Watson, and Splinter. Thomas was a bit reluctant to let it adopt rats but they all went to a rat breeder and when Thomas saw them all and even held one he realised it wasn’t so bad and they were actually kinda cute

When it was nine years old, it nearly died in a nasty hit and run. A truck had swerved into it when it was by the side of the road. It was fine after a lengthy recovery except it had to use a wheelchair after some spinal cord damage left it immobilised from the waist down. The driver was never identified

It probably wasn’t a coincidence that this event occurred not long after remy started talking about how much it loved boys just as much as it loved girls, but that teas a bit too hot for this post

Logan’s sisters:

Ellen Adams-Waterson:

Age: 26

Pronouns: she/her

Height: 5’6”

Light auburn hair going just barely past the shoulders, honey eyes, fair skinned though mildly tanned, covered from head to toe with freckles, red framed rectangular glasses, usually wears clothes for comfort and especially likes turtlenecks

She’s a determined, steadfast kinda gal who fights for whats right and gives everything she has for her loved ones, especially her immediate family. Although she can be pretty blunt with her words she’s also kindhearted and wants whats best for everyone

She’s an avid writer, and has actually published a novel. She also dabbles in fanfiction and is unashamed about it

She’s married to a wonderful wife named Elizabeth and they have a daughter named Kaylee (15)

She’s also been trying to quit smoking but so far that has yielded no results

Ashley Fletcher (formerly Adams):

Age: 24

Pronouns: she/her

Height: 5’10”

Long light ash brown hair that reaches her tailbone that she keeps parted to the right, electric blue eyes, fair skinned and a face full of freckles, black rectangular glasses, tries to be fashion forward but mostly just wears T-shirts and denim jackets

She’s a trans woman and has been transitioning for a few years now with lots of support from her family. She’s a nice person but let’s people walk all over her a bit. She doesn’t like confrontation much because of her anxiety disorder, but she’s trying to get better with that

Loves acting and wants to pursue it as a career, but her anxiety makes it difficult to put herself out there

Married to a trans man named warren and they have a son named jack (11) and a daughter named Emma (6)

She met warren at a pride event with Logan and Patton, and it was actually Patton who met him first (although at the time he went by a different name and didnt know he was trans yet) and then introduced him to the others

They actually talked about adopting a child long before even considering marriage. Although they realised it would look better to adoption agencies if they were married, and that was the main reason they even went through all of that

Renae Adams:

Age: 21

Pronouns: she/her/he/him

Height: 6’8”

Short wavy hair dyed bright pink, amber eyes, fair skinned, a black *dabs* styling pair of Warby Parker’s, often wears high neck shirts and suit jackets, basically always business casual because she can, and loves wearing hoop earrings

There are two sides to Renae; either stone cold businessperson or happy go lucky memelord with a heart of gold. She’s a lot like Logan in that regard, although it’s harder to predict what side of her you’ll see at any given moment. She can either be a super soft bean or the scariest person on the planet

Has been dealing with OCD her whole life, and sometimes it gets particularly bad (especially the intrusive thoughts) but she has a therapist and psychiatrist she sees somewhat regularly

She runs her own coffee shop called Real Bean Café and it does fairly well. She’s always thinking about how she can improve her business

She’s aroace so she isn’t in a romantic relationship but she is in a queerplatonic relationship with a beautiful enby named Pigeon

They actually met in her coffeeshop. Renae saw Pigeon’s Attack on Titan T-shirt and was immediately compelled to talk to them

And that is it for part two of the character bios!!! Might make another post talking about Logan’s sisters’ kids and partners but idk we’ll see 👀

I just really like character designs man lmao

Lemme know if I need to tag anything else my brain box isn’t generating the required tags rn lmao

#ts home for christmas #thomas sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides au #thomile #thomas x picani #thomas x emile #emile picani #adhd picani #adhd emile #character thomas #remy sanders #critic sanders #it/its use #car accident mention #hit and run mention #injury mention #ocd mention #long post

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polarishpd · 6 years

Text

A Month of Truth: Narrated by Lance and Pidge (Chapter Five: Finale)

DAY 18: CONTINUED

"Lance-"

"THIS IS WHY I SAID TO FOLLOW HER. BECAUSE I HAD A FEELING SHE WAS GOING TO RUN, WHETHER SHE WANTED TO OR NOT!"

He collapses wearily on the sofa of the recreation room, the rest of Voltron and Coran concernedly pacing the room, quietly debating, trying to analyse Lance.

He looked kind of broken.

"We'll get her back, Lance. She's our family," Keith says softly. Shiro nods in silent agreement.

"I let her go," Lance breathes out quietly, eyes glassy as if in a daze. "I knew she did going to go, and I let her go." He pauses. "I let..Pidge...go."

"It wasn't your fault," Shiro jumps in, like he can practically see and hear the alarms going off all around him. Lance, still holding on to the tension, looks down at the floor.

"I had the chance to stop her, but I didn't. I couldn't. And now Lotor has her."

Allura blanches, stepping up to Lance and placing a hand on his shoulder, pushing his body up, directing his gaze to her.

Its startling, how dead and tired he looks. And worried. And anxious. All for Pidge.

"Listen, Lance. It's not your fault. Even if you had tried to stop her, the spell wouldn't have let her stay," Allura reminds.

Silence hangs in the air.

"I should have gone with her," Lance finally comes to a conclusion. "I could have stopped her. If I could have changed what she really wanted, she wouldn't have gone."

Allura raises her eyebrows.

"How exactly do you have such good knowledge of the spell?"

Lance sighs, huffing out and slamming his hands on his lap, getting up and rubbing his fingers subconsciously.

"I think you'll want to come with me."

The air of the Galra prison is cold, unwelcoming, stale, the showpiece of the dark and emptied room being a tied-up, furious Pidge Gunderson.

Hands bound above her head, legs bound in a spreadeagle, Pidge can already feel her whole body aching and hurting from exhaustion. Her Paladin suit does nothing to help, and her Bayard is unreachable from this position.

Luckily, she's good at hiding things.

Unless it's the truth. Then she has a problem.

"Did you really think infiltrating the Galra prison would be so easy, Pidge?"

Lotor paces the room, cape sweeping behind him, regal hair shining bright in the relative darkness of the purple-black room.

"Not easy, but certainly doable," she answers, not even flinching, not even losing his gaze. "And it's Gunderson to you."

"Okay, I'll respect that, Gunderson. But I'd also like you to tell me something."

No, no, no, no, no, Pidge cannot afford to lose everything, answer to him, give up her secrets and Voltron's secrets just because she...she hadn't been able to break a spell. And because she had been irrational, unable to control herself.

And Lance...

She misses Lance.

Who knew what could happen in one month?

He's really the only good that's come out of this whole scandal. He's the only reason why she'd ever want to tell the truth.

Telling the truth had undeniably brought them closer, and she was grateful for that.

Lotor stares at her.

"Tell me your deepest, darkest secret. The only secret that the spell doesn't compel. I want you to tell me, and I'll drop you happily back at your precious Castle."

Lotor's eyes glint surreptitiously. Hands folded behind back, head tilted downwards, he stops pacing in front of her.

"So?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Pidge questions, cocking an eyebrow.

Lotor laughs, probably the most emotion he's shown throughout the whole interrogation.

"Knowing a person's darkest secret can tell me so much more about them, don't you think?"

He steps closer to her, Pidge able to feel his inhumanly cold breath on the tip of her nose. She growls in a feeble attempt to keep him away, inciting laughter.

He's right, though.

Lotor had always made perfect sense, and this was yet another one of those situations.

Goddamn.

~~~

"It seems that we are in a bit of a predicament," Coran remarks offhandedly as the team eyeball the three leaflets of interconnecting papers.

"Ya think?" Lance sasses, bending down and peering at it.

"Lance."

"I'm under a truth spell. It's a little hard to be 24/7 polite," he responds, making a face at Allura.

Hunk rearranges the papers, arranging them in order, creating a vertical line.

"That's the order of the poem, right?" he asks, glancing at Lance, who answers with a nod.

Hunk tries turning it upside down.

Shiro tries turning it horizontally.

You see, yes, they understand the poem; in other words, he and Pidge were dead if they couldn't confess their deepest secret.

He needs to tell Pidge.

Even if Pidge didn't love him back...he has to tell her.

Coran had the idea of finding some extra information, perhaps hidden in the physical copy of the poem itself.

Allura, Coran, and pretty much everyone else definitely weren't mad that they hadn't been told about the whole poem. Not that they could have helped it, right?

Lance finally grabs the papers out of irritation when he sees Hunk about to tear it ("what if there's something hidden inside the paper?") in half.

Holding it the right order, Lance flips it down, revealing the intricate set of markings spiralling across the surface of the paper.

"Here."

Something clicks.

Suddenly, Lance has a thought. It's an Altean spell right? Maybe all it needs is an Altean. And it doesn't get any more Altean than an Altean princess.

"Allura."

"What?"

"Touch the paper-right here," he directs. Questioningly, she raises an eyebrow, but doesn't end up asking. Her slim fingers tentatively graze the paper.

And it bursts into blinding, blue colour.

~~~ VOICEOVER #CANWESTOPALREADY:

I went missing and you want to name this part of the voice-overs like that??? Not to mention the next part was really pretty terrible?

Issa joke, Pidge

Fine then!

Nononono come back I need my cuddles-

Lanc-! Jesus-

Aww, you don't like it?

Maybe not where it is now.

Hmm, and where would you prefer it?

Oh-okay-fuck how do I turn this off-LANCE

~~~

The only good thing Lotor did was let Eejin and Pidge be prison roommates.

Wow, what has her life sunk to?

"Did he question you?" Pidge asks desperately, straining against the bonds of her handcuffs and leg bondages.

"Did he hurt you? Did he do something to you?"

Pidge gets no answer, not even a sound in reply.

Pidge is so lonely that she's resorted to talking to an unconscious princess.

Eejin.

Please wake up.

There's time.

There's hope.

~~~

Much like the time that Allura had introduced the lions, the room fills with a vibrant, blue glow, shimmering with transitioning images. Allura looks awed, her hand still touching the aged parchment paper, her eyes bright and wide as she stares.

"Seems like you have found an ancient archival record, Lance," Coran states, peering at the ever-shifting images. "How exactly did you come around this? We haven't found an archived book so old since we woke up."

Lance honestly doesn't know. The mystic appearance of the papers whenever he and Pidge were together was a mystery that he-they-would probably never solve.

Lance settles for shrugging. Coran returns the motion, focusing his attention back on the lights.

Now, Altean characters swirl around the lights, and Coran jumps.

"I recognise this! Oh, it makes so much sense now-I thought it was a Galran spell, but it's not-My grandfather used to tell me stories of this spell!"

Allura jolts.

"Your grandfather also handled the royal prisons and executions?!"

Hunk, Shiro, Keith and Lance jump.

"What?!"

Coran's eye glint, fingers tousling his moustache to perfection.

Story time!

"This spell was engineered for interrogations; criminals only. Only Alteans can concote it, so we could control the circulation. I mean, look what happens when it gets out of hand!"

"Hey, at least I didn't grow myself a moustache or mullet!"

"Hey, what do you-!"

"Continuing on, the spell would cause the prisoner to reveal everything, but it was not only a spell: it was also a test. My grandfather said the spell gave the prisoner the chance to willingly tell the truth and redeem themselves."

Lance arches an eyebrow.

"The spell gave them the time-a month of moon-to tell their deepest secret."

Something clicks.

Did Lotor spell them specifically? Target them because he knew a secret between them might break them apart?

Maybe he did.

As Allura finds out more details, the other Paladins engrossed in the extra majestic details of the magical truth spell that had tormented Lance for days now, Lance's brain goes elsewhere.

He needs to talk to Pidge. He needs to tell her.

She's the only secret that he's had yet to reveal.

"-if the truth isn't revealed by the end of the month, the prisoner would be stuck telling the truth forever-or, at least until their execution."

"You sound a bit too excited about that," Lance remarks, folded arms and raised eyebrows. Yes, he's going to end up being a dick 99% of the time now. Controlling himself isn't exactly an option.

"So you're saying that we need to get Lance to confess his deepest secret in practically nine days?" Shiro questions. Coran nods.

"It seems so!"

Lance sees Hunk and Allura's eyes gleam, and he knows he is so freaking dead.

~~~

VOICEOVER #IGIVEUP:

Aww, were you really that stressed about me?

Yeah, where else was I going to get my headphones and electronics from?

...wow, I feel loved.

Mmm, okay then...guess you don't want this...

CRAP YOU, I WANT IT BACK!

nuH-UH, Pidgeon, what's mine is yours!

That doesn't-doesn't make sense in this situation-

Ah-sorry, English phrases always get the best of me-but YEAH, BYE-

LANCE-

DAY 19:

She's so incomprehensibly tired that she doesn't notice a certain princess waking up beside her.

"Where-where am I?" a quiet voice mutters. Pidge nearly jumped, jerking against the bonds.

"Ee-eejin?!"

Pidge jolts up, looking at a bedraggled and bloodied girl, her formerly-pristine lacey gown ripped to shreds, nothing given to her in replacement. It hangs off her unceremoniously, a disrespect for the princess.

"Who-who are you?"

Pidge's jaw hangs open in disbelief.

"You're joking right, Eejin?"

But the look on the Princess' face tells Pidge otherwise. Furrowed eyebrows, a blur expression.

Has...has Eejin forgotten her?

"It's me, Pidge, green paladin, I sat next to you at the ball, got fuckin' drunk-"

Pidge bursts into laughter akin to Veronica Sawyer, stupid and inappropriate, but there nonetheless.

Eejin raises her eyebrows.

"-danced with the blue paladin?" she ends it like a question, hoping it could jog her memory. Eejin isn't dumb, she doesn't just forget things. But yet she shakes her head, her matted hair flying around.

"What ball?"

Lotor got to her.

Pidge can't even claim to be very good friends with the princess. But they had formed a friendship, a female friendship that she hasn't had for a long time. Allura was great, but the fact that she was authority did take a little away from it.

And now it's all gone.

Eejin.

He must have wiped at least a week or two from her head completely. But why? To get to Pidge? Or for Galaxor?

"What do you remember?"

Eejin frowns, as if struggling for a while, shaking her head with frustration.

"I don't even remember who I am!" she shouts, suddenly becoming extremely hysterical. Struggle after struggle, Eejin forces her arms against her bounds, kicking at her tattered skirt, releasing an overdue scream and falling limp again.

"I don't remember anything!"

Pidge looks at Eejin, with sallow face and body, so different from her beautiful and full self that Pidge had first met, her face more haggard and aged in only a few days of war.

Her eyes did it.

Her eyes, pleading and desperate, prompt Pidge to proactivity.

"Okay. I'll fill you in, but you're going to need to trust me. Maybe if you recover something, we can get out of here," Pidge declares, looking around the room. Literally bare, save for a few threatening torture devices in the corner. God, how primitive.

"Tell me everything," Eejin nearly begs, sounding more resolute, eyes pleading.

Pidge nearly wants to cry. Gone is the Eejin, bubbly alien princess, sweet and kind but also fucking intimidating when need be (something Pidge highly, highly respects), Eejin that she only knew for a day, Eejin who helped her with...Lance.

"Okay. So..."

~~~

"This looks so NSFW."

Damn straight it does.

Lance fights the urge to break out of the leather bonds tying him to a pole, unable to move.

"Well, you could let me out of here, and then we're back to G-rated goodness!" Lance sasses.

He's not pretending that the team acts differently towards him now. Now that he has a more sharp than flirtatious tongue, more raw and honest.

"You know what happens if we let you go, Lance," Keith reminds, "the last time we let you, you almost managed to pummel me to the ground and break for the Red Lion. We can't have that."

"Almost managed?" Lance scoffs, grinning mischievously. "Bitch, I pummelled your ass faster than you can say-"

"Lance!" Allura exclaims.

Why is Allura his freaking alarm clock now?

"Also, that sounded really wrong, so..." Hunk trails off, not looking at an infuriated Lance and Keith.

"But anyway, " Shiro cuts in, shooting glares at both Lance and Keith, "Lance, you either stay on the pole, on the chair, or you get locked up on your room. We didn't want to do this, but you've got to confess."

Something boils under Lance's skin, anger, annoyance, frustration. No, he can't fucking confess. He can't. He doesn't have-no, Pidge isn't here with him. He can't do it.

He doesn't know what's holding him back, but it sure as hell isn't the truth spell.

Lance huffs, wriggling uncomfortably.

"Can't we go rescue Matt? And Eejin? And King Andreas? And Pidge?!"

"Lance, the cycle of planets is completely impenetrable right now: look, see," Allura points at her screen, displaying some kind of barrier between Lotor and Voltron. "It's created a barrier between us that Pidge only got through by jumping on Lotor's jetship."

"Yeah, so let's do that too!" Lance happily suggests.

. . .

"What?"

"Lance, we really need to get you fixed up," Shiro sighs. "You and Pidge both."

Lance already knows he's a lil inferior to the rest, that there's something that sets him apart, perhaps not in the good way. But to hear Pidge's name mentioned like that? It's strange.

"So I take that we can't break into Lotor's jetship?"

"NO."

~~~

DAY 23:

Pidge aches. Everywhere.

They definitely didn't tighten her bounds by fifty inches after yet another refusal to divulge information. Yep.

Wait.

Quiet voices?

"He's escaped? Off the ship? How exactly did this happen?"

"-intelligent, clever, untraceable."

Pidge hears a few loud thumps and screams, followed by the sound of running and panicked soldiers.

Interesting.

Pidge knows that Lotor isn't going all out. He definitely isn't. Simple verbal abuse and the bounds is nowhere near torture tactics.

He'd asked her about Voltron's plan, maybe yesterday? Pidge hadn't talked too much, mostly because Allura had kept Lance and her out of the know (which really, really pissed her off despite the sense that Allura had to do that).

Lotor had taken it as rebellion. Chained her tighter, shoved her back in the room with Eejin.

She's getting better. Remembering a bit. Still doesn't remember the night of the ball, but it's a start, going back to talking about food, dresses, favourite way to kill someone, and boys. It helps them both, really. Takes the mind of things. And that's the only thing Lotor has done right, make them prison roommates.

"Pidge, what do you think-what's his name again-ah, Lance," Eejin starts inquisitively, "how do you think he felt when you ran away from him?

Lance?

Oh.

"Upset, irritated at me, maybe? You see, I had just nearly kissed him like really romantic and all and confessed all my long-held and denied feelings for him but then we left to go protect Galaxor, which we lost anyway, and then I got pissed at everyone including him and just ran away to get Matt, who I might probably never see again because of my recklessness and Lance will think my last actions were to leave him, he won't ever know that I-"

Pidge chokes up, the words jamming in her throat, a loud cough and sudden tears in her eyes appearing despite herself. And then, everything starts rushing out, tears, pain, terror, hopelessness.

She might not make it out alive. Lotor won't want her alive once he finds out she really does know nothing.

She might not see Matt ever again, who's impossibly close and impossibly far at the same time.

She may not see her team again, because she had failed to think straight. No, it wasn't the truth spell's fault, it wasn't; she truly believed she had to go, the spell had simply helped her leave.

She may not see Lance again. Never tell him that she loves him, something she's denied and harboured for too long, never hug him ever again.

And even, on the small chance that she makes it out alive, she'd be stuck living truth for the rest of her life. Probably would never tell Lance, who knows?

Tears flow down her face, hot and heavy.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen," Eejin says softly. "If it makes you feel better, I'm sure that this Lance boy loves you very much."

"How do you know?" Pidge chokes out. "How do you know? You don't-dont remember him, you don't know how much he talks about Allura, as if she's the light of his life-I think she's his secret, the one that will set him free-and I'll be alone and unable to free myself-I'm not supposed to be so dependant on a man!" she screams. Pidge hears sudden footsteps pattering down the hallway, the rigid and clock-work like motion of the Galra sentients. Her words turn angry, with an air of something she can't quite place; hopelessness, sadness, faithless behaviour?

"I loved my brother, depended on him, and he disappeared. I loved my father, depended so much on him, and he disappeared. I-I can't afford to fall into the trap anymore, Eejin, I don't know how to fix this-"

"Pidge!"

The sentient's hand crushes down on Pidge's skull.

DAY 26:

It's like this for the rest of the week, and the few days after. The days blur incomprehensibly...

Lance doesn't know when he'll be set free, when he can be liberated from the confinement of his room or the watchful eyes of one of his friends at any given time. He's just trapped. All. The. Time.

With all the spare time, he-and the rest of the team-work on finding a way to break through the planetary barrier; simply waltzing through it wasn't exactly an option. Would you rather vaporise on the spot or be captured by the Galra for probably life?

Lance would go through either if it meant he could save Pidge.

Pidge.

How is she doing? Is she healthy? Safe?

A little voice questions if he's even alive, and Lance fills with dread.

Is that why Lotor didn't Skype-call them and demand something to return Pidge? Because she's-she's dead? Is the prince playing mind games with them?

Lance furiously storms in futile circles around the room. He needs to get out, he needs to find her! Honestly, he just wants to make sure she's safe; Pidge is the most capable and intelligent girl he's ever met, but she's also an intelligent girl under a spell that she can't control.

Pidge...he misses Pidge so much. Who knew what she meant in his life?

Maybe that small, genius techie from the Garrison had taught him some important lessons.

Sure, he had looked at Allura first. He admits that.

But maybe what he wanted wasn't what he needed? Who knew that he would want the smart one? Pidge, who deserves so much better than his shallow self, Pidge, who makes him smile, Pidge that he loves?

Lance isn't sure.

Can she return? Or does he have to fly out to find her? Has she confessed her secret, broken the spell, or is she unintionally feeding Lotor pivotal information?

Lance doesn't care what she tells them, if he has to give up his lion, Voltron, as long as she can return safe. Run back into his arms, where he'd hug her so tight and never let go. Tell her how he feels, for real, and save both of them.

It's a dream right now.

Lance needs to get out, and soon.

Before it's too late.

~~~

DAY 27:

Quiet whispers, murmurs, the air in the room deathly still.

There's no space in this room.

Pidge shakes.

It's not a room.

Pidge's eyes fly open with a jolt, and suddenly she feels something stabbing into her arm.

"Shit-!"

With the small light at the top of the room, Pidge tries her best to look around the not-room she was in.

A closet.

Lotor stuck her in a fucking closet.

Lotor stuck her in a fucking closet because she'd ranted. She ranted.

Is that even a valid reason to stick someone in a closet?!

A torture closet???

God, it's about time to get out of the closet...

Pidge glances down at herself. She's stripped of the little bits of Paladin armour that Lotor hadn't cared enough to remove, and the Bayard that she had so carefully hidden, the little bits that might have protected her from each puncture.

Pidge can't really feel the pain now. It's not much compared to some other things she's been subjected to.

Okay Pidge, don't panic, don't panic...

Just do what you normally do. Be the computer. The brain of Voltron.

Pidge looks around, scanning the little area. One wall seems dotted with sharp, small spikes, the ones that had caused the river of blood now trailing out of her arm. The wall next to that has one rung on it around the back-level, which Pidge curiously touches.

Bam, bad decision, she flies back-first into the opposite wall, decorated with a nice (and jagged, and sharp, and possibly poisonous for all she knows) Galra rock mosaic.

And her world goes black.

Again.

~~~

Day of the mission. Save Galaxor and save Pidge. And Eejin, and Matt.

"Let's go, Lance."

The simple words sounded like fucking heaven to a guy trapped in occasional-solitary-confinement, and Hunk the angel delivering his prophecy. Beautiful.

Hunk smiles, bouncing on his toes.

"You know I can guess what your secret is, right?"

Impossible.

"No way-okay, maybe it's possible, I'm not exactly the most subtle guy," Lance rescinds, making a face to further emphasize the pure impossibility of the scenario that switches to a bashful grin.

Hunk scoffs, giving him a small knowing grin. Lance picks up his jacket, swinging it on and walking out of his prison alongisde Hunk. And for the first time in days, maybe a week, Lance doesn't feel the desire to run away. Ironic.

And he smiles.

"You haven't been cooped up in your room, I don't occasionally hear you scream Pidge's name, I haven't seen you infinitely more depressed because of a lack of Green Paladin," Hunk lists off, looking as if he could go with more. "But yes, I think you get my subliminal point."

"Gee, Hunk, when did you become so socially-intelligent?" Lance quips. The control room slowly comes into view, Allura helming the castle, the rest of the paladins already geared up.

"Since the Garrison, where you two were already probably the most shipped pair in class? #Plance trended, if you remember."

Wait, what? Lance does a double take, and Keith starts laughing, having overheard Hunk, giving him a simple low five.

"Even me, 'standoffish' outsider, got fifty thousand messages about it at one point-I think that was the day that you two were seen-"

"-Okay, that's enough!"

"Is this some kind of Earth tradition? Embarrassing friends? What is this shipping thing?" Allura blasts Shiro with a thousand questions a minute, which Shiro is surprisingly adept at answering at the same rapid-fire.

It takes Lance a while to notice what they're doing, all kind and happy and welcoming. Not cutting him off, not talking about work. Maybe they noticed the insecurity. The worry. Maybe they pity him.

For once, Lance has given up on caring about shit like that.

He feels comfortable among them. Like an equal. Like he isn't 'a boy from Cuba' among a princess, a hero, a prodigy, a genius. They're friends.

They are friends, close ones, equals, but they're missing someone very important, and they're going to get her back.

The mission begins now.

Of course, Lance had immediately volunteered to go on the rescue mission, solo. His first solo mission. Keith was due for a mission with the Blade of Marmora, working on researching Lotor's newest tactics, like the Galaxorian technology he had invaded the planet for. Allura, Shiro and Hunk were going to work on sourcing out the sentients controlling Galaxor. Hopefully take them out in the process.

And as Lance gets into his Lion for the first time in days (totally without some fun pickup lines thrown around), he makes one promise to himself. Honestly.

The end is coming, Lance...tell...end...secret...

That he's going to get his Pidge back, no matter what.

Beware...

Lance's hands grip tightly onto the controls of his Lion, speeding out into space, aiming right for the thin membrane stretched between a ring of planets.

...the end.

Deadly.

~~~

DAY 28:

Thump.

Pidge is vaguely aware of the blood trail she's painting behind her as she wearily walks. Blood trickles from the tips of her fingers, little stabs in her chest, cuts covering her legs. She even looked a little...burnt. Probably from the multiple electric shocks. A blackened, peeling right foot.

She's pathetic. Dragging herself along the corridor as discreetly as she can.

Death would be easy now. The easy way out.

But she has to fight on. It's not just her that she's escaping for. She's fighting for Voltron, for Galaxor, for Eejin, for Matt...for Lance. She's the only one free to save them now.

Her eyes cloud over.

It had been no easy task escaping the the closet, the closet that she found had a trapdoor in the ceiling.

Swinging one bare foot to grip the electric ring, the other gripping it's best on the rock wall. Hands snatched out to push the trapdoor out and clamber onto the top.

It's impossible to describe the pain she felt. Electrifying, like needles ripping into her skin. Doesn't hurt now...she's gotten used to the pain.

But now she's tired, drained, and looking for her brother. Where could he be?

It was worth it, enduring the pain if only to see her brother again for even a minute. Matt.

Why does she feel so tired? Maybe it's the red liquid that will give her away in seconds, the drain from being repeatedly electrocuted, the likely poison flowing through her veins.

Pidge nearly collapses to the ground.

"Ka-Katie? Katie!" A panicked voice whispers tentatively, then screams.

Katie. Someone called her Katie. No one calls her Katie except...

Pidge isn't sure if she's imagining it when she sees a blurred image of Matt Holt running towards her.

And again, for the THOUSANDTH TIME, Pidge blacks out.

God freaking damnit.

~~~

The minute that Allura sets down on Galaxor, it's obvious that something is very, very wrong.

She's used to being greeted by King Andreas, by Princess Eejin running down the hall of the brightly lit, glittering castle to throttle her with an amazing hug.

There's none of that here.

Allura steps in the castle, whip at the ready, Shiro and Hunk following closely behind her.

There's a quiet echo of a song, ghostly emanating throughout the ghostly castle.

A dance turned evil.

Suddenly, something pierces into Allura's side, slams into her head, and the whole room breaks into chaos. Allura yells, jerks to the side.

Hundreds of thousands of sentient Galra, once hidden, emerge out of their hiding spots.

Ready to kill.

They're cornered. From every angle there is a Galra waiting to attack.

Allura feels stupid. It was obviously going to be a trap.

Now they're stuck in the centre of a room, surrounded by bloodthirsty robots, and only two fighters beside her and no way to the lions that they had parked outside.

Her heart thumps.

One.

Two.

One.

Two.

Allura breathes in. Readies herself.

With the power of a hurricane, Allura slams her whip on the rock hard ground, causing the whole floor to freeze, shatter and erupt, piercing the armour of and perfectly killing hundreds of rows of soldiers in droves.

Chaos ensues, and the battle begins.

~~~

Pidge is a little tired of randomly waking up in rooms. What's it been, five rooms, fifty blackouts?

But this time, she doesn't mind so much.

Turns out that she wasn't so drunk and high and kind of poisoned when she'd been stumbling in the hallway.

Matt, surprisingly tidy and neat, stands at the counter with back facing Pidge, casually cleaning a knife with a rag, a few bloodstains blooming on the cloth. He's taller than Pidge remembers, more bulked up and muscly than the nerd she remembers from home.

Matt.

Matt!

With surprising strength, Pidge launches herself on Matt, hugging him from behind. Matt jolts, yelps, quickly swinging around to face her and realising that Pidge, Pidge his baby sister, is alive, throwing his arms around her.

"Ah, shit!" she winces, the bones of her back suddenly hurting again. Then she remembers the blood, the shock, the pain, and she crumples to the ground.

"Pidge!" Matt quickly supports her back, checking her like a medic. "Sit back down."

"I would say I'm okay, but I'm not," she groans. But she's not even thinking of the pain. She's thinking of how Matt is safe, healthy, strong. Alive, most importantly. Pidge nearly starts crying out of happiness, relief, thankfulness. Thank whatever gods there are in this universe for keeping him safe.

Pidge suddenly remembers the voices outside her cell. Talking about an intelligent, very clever prisoner who escaped the ship. And she takes on a stupid grin, realizing what her amazing brother had done.

"You're going to need more polyethan-"

"-They think you're off the ship," she breathes out, cutting Matt off. "You cloned your prisoner tag, hacked a ship-"

"-disabled the tag and learned the sentient's schedule to send the ship off and live here," Matt and Pidge finish in unison, making them chuckle. Just like old times.

"Why didn't you just leave? You had the opportunity to leave."

"I was going to leave, but then while I was accessing ship records I found records of the Green Paladin of Voltron. I mean, being a rebel officer comes with knowing these things-"

"-wait, you're a rebel officer?"

"-yes-"

"-that's so cool!"

"-you're a Paladin of Voltron, sis, that's even cooler!"

"That was completely coincidental, but thank you," Pidge answers. Matt simply grins with a doofus face.

"I knew you were going to make it someday, sis. But I guess that now that we're on a time crunch, we better get that Princess and get off this ship. But if you feel tired, hurt, if your wounds start hurting again, you must tell me."

"I can't, Matt. I have a mission. Even if I get hurt, I'm still going through with it."

Pidge curses the truth for appearing again. But she probably never would have answered Matt truthfully.

How did this happen? Genius siblings with a happy family turned galactic officers and paladins in an intergalactic war against a crazy purple alien species.

Matt helps her with her wounds, suits her up with what he has. Apparently her Bayard is still in her old room where Eejin is still locked up.

Step one: Find Eejin, and the Bayard.

Step two: Hack the ship, figure out how they're controlling Galaxor

Step three: Escape to the Castle.

Simple plan, easy plan. No problem.

Matt high-fives Pidge as they run out of the room, the legendary Holt duo reunited again.

~~~

"In position, Lance?"

Lance, with a steady grip on his Lion, nods resolutely. Keith jabbers something that he isn't really listening to.

"Boarding the ship now."

~~~

It doesn't take long for the Holt duo to navigate back to the original prison, hidden away in a secluded area of the ship. Two geniuses = no problems.

Looking around, Lotor seems a lot weaker than he was previously. Runs the ships on sentients, probably does the same for Galaxor, low on manpower and airpower. Hell, his defence had been an interplanetary cycle.

Katie Holt...Pidge Gunderson...The end is near...

"W-what?" Pidge stammers, The voice dissipates.

"You okay?" Matt asks, quickly walking up to her, machine gun bouncing on his hip.

"I'm good," Pidge answers, trying not to wince when she accidentally puts a little too much weight on her right foot.

"Don't go doing crazy stunts, you're nowhere near healed from Lotor's torture chamber. I was in there at one point."

Pidge notices the punctures on his arms. The little burns that don't want to go away.

"This should be the one." Pidge points the door, looking different on the outside. But she's sure it's hers.

Matt, with the power of god and anime on his side, effortlessly blasts the door open.

"Hyaiiiiiah!" he screams, as way of a battle cry. In that moment, Pidge doesn't understand how exactly her brother survived for so long.

Without hesitating, Pidge claps her hand on the mouth of her doofus brother, effectively shutting him up.

She pushes forward into the room.

And there's no Eejin, the bounds devoid of people. All Pidge sees is a dead body lying on the ground, the body of a Galra guard, stripped of armour. And this one was no sentient.

Her heart stops.

Shit.

"Where's the princess?"

Pidge frantically searches the room for her Bayard, turning up with nothing. Nothing.

The little glimmer of hope she had when Matt appeared flickers out.

Pidge...your time is up...coming...

Wait.

"Pidge? Pidge!" a voice hisses from around the corner. Spinning around, Pidge instinctively whips out her blade, right into the face of Princess Eejin, wide-eyed as ever.

"Woah, woah, you can put that away now!" she exclaims, putting her hands up defensively. Pidge, stunned, lowers the blade. Then, she throws her arms around Eejin, hugging her tightly. So many reunions in one day.

Pidge lets go, noticing the slightly too-large armour hanging on her body. Eejin notices her gaze.

"Well, I escaped by getting that Galra soldier to release me. Guess I still have some good flirting left in here, those soldiers really will do anything for a snog," she chuckles. "Then I knocked him out using your weapon thing-Bayard, is it?" she checks, twisting around to pull something out from behind her. "Ah, yes, here you go."

"Thanks, Eejin." Pidge accepts the Bayard, firing it up and savouring the familiar feel of the grip in her hand. It takes her a while to realise that Matt hasn't said anything. Pidge whips around, finding Matt with his jaw hanging open, arms hanging open.

Pidge facepalms.

Now she remembers who Lance reminds her of.

Eejin smiles brightly at Matt, which makes him burn red.

"Hello, duplicate Pidge!"

Pidge bursts into laughter, barely able to contain herself.

"Pidge, she's so pretty what the hell-and squishable? And badass?" he mutters into her ear, with an air of astoundment. Pidge swats Matt away with a chuckle.

"It's good that we're getting to know each other well, but we really have to go now."

Matt and Pidge turn to leave, beckoning Eejin to join, but she grabs Pidge's wrist.

"Wait."

With a sense of urgency, she yanks them behind the very corner they'd been in. The three crouch together like a team huddle.

"I figured out how Lotor's controlling Galaxor, and why he wants my-MY planet so badly," she starts. "I've been getting some of my memory back, but I think Pidge filled up the gaps quite nicely. Lotor's using Galaxor's-the planet's natural ability-to implant memories or knowledge as if from thin air."

The ball.

Pidge in her dress. Lance dancing with her. The both of them magically-just magically knowing how to dance. Something clicks.

Pidge...your time is coming...

"I think he wants to harness that power. After all, Lotor is kind of a baby right now compared to Zarkon." She shrugs so cutely that it's funny, the way she says it.

God, she's missed Eejin.

"I hate to break up the reunion, but we have to go now," Matt calls, looking from around the corner with a hand readying itself on his gun. Footsteps, perfectly synchronized, sound from a distance.

Eejin grabs Pidge's hand.

And they're off, running.

Matt, the resourceful and brilliant brother Pidge always remembered, sources the main ship records. Connections to the Galaxor records.

Upon encountering small groups of Galra, often in threes, they had no problem.

Matt whacks one over the head with his new-found staff, Eejin uses her deceptively great martial arts skills, and Pidge happily goes wild with her Bayard.

A high-five shared, and the small group enters the control room.

Eejin is by no, no means dumb, so she crouches down with Matt in front of the computer, brilliantly lit-up diagrams and images lighting up the large screen.

They quietly mumble like a bunch of pretentious philosophers. Pidge isn't used to being a defense mechanism rather than a thought machine, but native Eejin would undoubtedly be better for the job.

Pidge, standing at the sealed front entrance with two guns at the ready like a Texan cowboy and her Bayard slung on her waist, looks over her shoulder at the screen.

Dots and dots represnting the population.

White lines slowly, but surely becoming corrupted by dirty purple.

Pidge...He's near...

"Shut up!" she screams, shaking her head. Lance is a distraction right now.

Suddenly, she hears more footsteps, louder, unsynchronised, messy and frantic. These were real Galra. Real, live, terrifying Galra.

For a moment, she flashes back to Sendak, to his malicious grin. A memory she's always wanted to forget.

Hanging off the edge of an endless drop.

"Find the prisoners!" Pidge wakes up to the voice of Prince Lotor emanate intimidatingly throughout the corridor.

And they start coming. Throes of them, running in bunches. Pidge sees it all through the cameras, and they're headed straight for her.

All straight for her.

"Pidge!" Matt yells, turning around. Eejin continues to plow away at the computer, fingers flying, so focused that she does not seem annoyed by the disturbances. "Come on, I'll help you-"

She can't risk the mission. They're so close.

The purple bars nearly corrupt the entire screen.

Matt starts to head towards her, abandoning the computer. Eejin slows down.

Pidge has to make a split second decision.

Not like she really has the choice.

The truth spell will make it for her.

She glances back at the screen.

Wait.

Is that a flash of blue?

No way.

Lance?!

That's enough.

She pushes Matt away, to which he howls angrily, screaming at him to finish the job.

Quickly, she launches herself out of the room, completely sealing off the door to the control room.

Sorry, Matt.

And then she looks up, straight into the eyes of Prince Lotor.

~~~

They hadn't even won that battle. More like they were lucky to have even made it out alive.

The rubble that was the Castle glitters a macabre gold. A reminder of all they'd lost. Their failures.

It's disgusting.

Allura, clutching her arm, staggers out of the Castle with one mission on her mind. Get to the Lions. Shiro and Hunk, similarly ailing, follow behind her, talking about something that she's not listening to.

That's not even the full summary of their problems.

Lance and Pidge stuck on the ship, Keith stuck on a solo mission with the Blade, the team down a Lion, and those two aforemented idiots stupidly still refusing the confess the secret.

Maybe Lance is up to something. She doesn't know.

Where are the lions again?

She walks into the clearing where she remembers parking them. Yellow and Black waiting for her.

"Uh...Allura..."

"Wait."

Hunk stands nervously beside her, Shiro standing on guard on her other side. The three of them together.

The lions are there, majestic and proud, standing out clearly in the clearing of porcelain walls and white grasses.

But there's something amazingly off.

Hundreds, thousands of Galaxorians, their friends, bloody, cut up bodies and hollow faces, surrounding the Lions in droves like an undead army risen again. Ghostly, skinny, faces with bone showing through and a macabre smile.

We are coming for you...

All of them point out their finger, aimed right at the Princess, at Hunk, at Shiro. They don't move. Not even an inch.

What do we do? Allura can basically hear Hunk saying. Something tells her that they can't exactly just talk to them.

Lotor, the destructive bastard...Allura made a mental note to break his nose the next time they met.

Allura takes one tentative step forward.

And suddenly, brilliant blasts of light and laser start flying towards her, the Galaxorians growling hungrily, all moving forward two steps each. Allura slides down to her knees to avoid the onslaught, spinning her whip around her.

She wants to fight. Get back to the Lions.

But it would mean harming the Galaxorians, injured, possessed, likely already close to death.

And the whole time they stand on the field, tense, terrified, the same quiet tune plays like a loudspeaker over the planet.

The haunting melody of the Ballroom, twisted, warped. Playing over, and over, and over again.

We are coming for you...

~~~

"Pidge. Nice to see you," Lotor drawls, smiling.

"It's Gunderson."

"My mistake," he apologises sardonically, giving her a mocking bow.

Pidge takes the opportunity to kick him in the nose. Hard.

Lotor slowly gets up, laughing, commanding his soldiers to stay back. But the laugh turns to something more sinister within a matter of seconds.

Pidge sees someone dressed in white flash beside her out of the corner of her eye.

"My name is Prince Lotor. You broke my nose. Prepare to die."

With a scream, the battle begins.

~~~

Meanwhile, Princess Allura is fighting for her life.

It would be easier if she were fighting opponents she could kill, strike down, defend against without a second thought. But now, she is being swarmed by thousands, tens of thousands of Galaxorians, their slow approach suddenly becoming a speedy onslaught.

One of them pulls at her bunned-up hair. It's a child. A child. Beaten up face, blood cuts on her arms and legs, the child laughs mercilessly, eyes devoid of emotion, of childlike wonder and happiness. A child. Lotor has never seemed worse than now. Taking the lives, consciousness of the innocent, the children, the elderly, all for himself.

Allura cannot fight. She wants to, so, so badly, whack Lotor on his arrogant ass, but Lotor's up there in the air, and she's down here on the ground.

There are so many that she can't even see Shiro and Hunk anymore.

She endures hits, at best able to deflect with her arm or her shield. But whatever damage she deals now will stay when they wake. Allura takes every hit with honor and bravery; better it be her than them.

She doesn't know what to do.

The Lions move further and further from her sight.

Pidge...please...Lance...

~~~

Pidge has to slide under legs, slashing her Bayard as she quickly navigates as a small person under tall legs, screams and shouts and sounds of confusion filling the air.

It's satisfying to watch them fall.

Pidge doesn't hold back, moving so fast and dodging blows and kicking Galra in the nose.

Should be her signature move.

"Pidge!"

Lance. Lance!

"Lance!" she screams, frantically abandoning her earlier task to scan the crowd for Lance. Nowhere to be seen. Lotor seems to have disappeared, the arrogant,cowardly bastard, so Pidge settles for angrily slapping (actually bitch slapping) a soldier in the face followed up with a solid punch to the gut.

Her only advantage here is her agility, her size.

"Pidge!"

Close...end is near...almost there...

"Shut up!" Pidge yells, clutching at her head, nearly losing her grip on the Bayard. The voices in her head...they hurt, they haunt.

She's so close.

But if she doesn't fight her way out of this, she'll have that voice in her head telling her what to do, and Pidge is scared that she'll always obey, like she doesn't have a mind of her own.

Pidge has to pull herself together.

Even if she can't see Lance...she can imagine him. Fight with him like they always do.

Pidge spins around, judging from her position, totally surrounded, that fighting is actually the worst option here.

What choice does she have?

She barrels through, that's what. Pure instinct, no brain necessary, Pidge jumps back into the battle.

The sheer number of now-gleeful Galra soldiers keeps her from Lance, on the other side.

So what will she do?

Fight her way through.

For a moment, she almost sees Lance fighting by her side. She imagines the soldier that's coming for her is struck down by his sharpshooting from the side, which he is. Pidge ducks, wrapping a bunch of their legs together using her Bayard, neatly tying them in a bundle.

Then, with a grin that scares the shit out of the soldiers, Pidge electrocutes them all in one clean shot.

"I would say I didn't want to do that, but I did want to, and I can't lie," Pidge snarls savagely. A soldier sticks out a knife at her.

She shocks him again.

Blowing her hair out of her face as if she were the badass girl in the superhero spy movie, Pidge scans the room, the scene of the battlr. How is it humanly possible that she got most of the soldiers with her Bayard, the other group all taken down by clean headshots?

Most importantly, where the hell is Lance?!

Suddenly, in her distraction, she's kicked by a soldier in the side, making her fall, pushing her with immense speed to her side. And with that, Pidge lets go of the Bayard.

And in impossible time, the soldiers begin to all attack her. All at the same time.

A whack there.

A hit on the chest.

Reopening the old wounds.

Pidge hears screaming, tentative gunshots, the soldiers dropping one by one.

The ones that don't die run away.

Cowards.

If they came for her, surely that means Matt and Eejin did their job?

Or they don't care anymore.

Maybe they're like Pidge. All instinct, no brain.

Ow.

Does her head hurt now? Pidge is so numb from everything. Vaguely, she registers a presence rushing to her side, with eyes rapidly fluttering shut. Familiar hands, now beaten up and scratched, hold her side gently, whispering in her ear.

Everything is painful.

She sees Matt and Eejin run out of the room, screaming bloody murder, how Lotor had remotely stopped their hacking from another room, how they need an amazingly large energy outburst, or something like that.

Pidge...wake up, Pidge...

"Lance! Have you gotten them out yet?"

Who's voice is that?

Wait.

Lance?

Lance!

Pidge opens her eyes blearily.

There he is, illuminated only by the neon lights, breathing heavily.

She stares at Lance, tired, beat-up, but still Lance.

"Pidge!" he exclaims, mildly startled. Her mouth drops open, his hand dropping his gun. "Are you-"

She's running.

And all of a sudden, Pidge is kissing Lance, wrapping her arms around him, and Lance cradles her, carrying her up, kissing her in return.

Pidge gets lost in the moment, in the daze of the feeling. How nice, great it feels, finally having her Lance. His lips are soft, surprisingly so, her hands entangling in his hair, his hands moving slightly on her waist as if never wanting to let her go. And he shows it too, the desperation of the kiss, the feeling of finality. Day twenty eight. She forgets all about the fact that they're on a dangerous ship, they've got an invaded alien planet to save, and they could he killed at any moment. She kisses him.

She feels only him, only him.

Finally, they break off, now much more alert, awake, and actually motivated to live. Both of them definitely red, still in each other's arms, Pidge breathlessly speaks, a little dizzy, a little stunned, very happy. Lance bashfully grins, and that little smile strikes Pidge in the heart so hard.

"I think there's something we better confess? Now?"

"Yeah-yeah, well..."

Lance seems to find it difficult to speak, choose the right words. Pidge supposes that it's been a while since they've both had to actually thinking about what to say : she's used to the spell doing the work. But now, for this momentous secret, they finally get some freedom of choice back for themselves.

Pidge coughs, and Lance looks up from his feet to look at her.

"If you don't mind, I'll go first."

Pidge coughs, twiddling her feet a bit, adjusting the ill-fitting glasses that Matt had provided, mannerisms akin to delivering a speech..

"The first day I met you, I thought you were arrogant. Lovesick. An idiot, to summarise." Lance noticeably falls at this less-than-stellar beginning, but Pidge moved to hold his face, her thumb gently stroking his cheek, Lance's eyes following her every little movement. "But I was also ignorant, close-minded, and prejudiced. Prejudiced because I thought I'd met guys like you before. But you were nothing like them. You surprised me. You changed to a guy that I'd never be into, into, well, a guy that I'd kinda be into. Suddenly, you were smart, clever, kind, caring, supportive, generous, and always there for me. Even when I tried to push you away at the Garrison, you didn't let me. Thank you for that." Pidge coughs, clearing her throat again, oblivious to the fact that Lance looks like he's either going to cry or kiss her again. "I think, I think what I'm trying to say is that I care for you very much...almost to the point where I can say I love you."

Pidge huffs out nervously, finished. Lance doesn't respond except with a glittering stare, parted lips, and a stunned expression.

She's terrified of confessions.

Lance doesn't hesitate, letting go of Pidge (a little saddening for her, frankly) , taking her hands in his, slowly turning them over, giving them a gentle and reassuring squeeze. He looks her over, every damaged, broken bit of her. Pidge holds her breath, preparing for disappointment.

Lance has always looked for the pretty, the hot. She's not on that parameter right now.

"You're beautiful, do you know that?" he says slowly, getting started.

What?

Pidge flushes, looking up at Lance, stunned. He chuckles a bit at her expression. "See, this scar here shows how you fought your way to your brother. This bruise here shows how you endured the torture of the Galra. The little marks here show how you just near-singlehandedly destroyed a group of oversized purple aliens." Lance slowly traces up her arm as he goes. "You're beautiful, Pidge Gunderson, in the best ways possible, even if you don't believe it. I know I used to believe only in the beauty of appearances...you made me appreciate, love the beauty on the inside and the outside. You're beautiful for both, holy shit." Pidge gapes a little bit at the confession. She's never heard Lance speaking like this before. "You're brilliant, resilient, amazing..." Lance's tone changes, quieter, more wistful. "and that's why I have to tell you how godawfully bad I have it for you right now. I never thought I'd say this to anyone but God, Pidge, I love you, so much."

Pidge is nearly crying, Lance is smiling like a lovesick doofus, and Pidge can't hold it back anymore.

She's kissing Lance again, differently this time, gently and slow, less like the passion-filled reunion. It's a kiss filled with love, and nothing else, with truth, honesty, baring themselves to each other.

I love you.

Suddenly, a blinding white light flashes from in between them, forcing them apart, a brilliant blue and green streak spiralling up into the top of the ship.

Truth.

The brilliant light fills the room.

I love you.

Pidge grabs on to Lance's hand, Eejin taking hold of Matt, and together they run towards the Lions as fast as they can.

She hears screams in the distance. Lotor screams, yells, growls, barking orders at his men, half of whom were now dead.

I love you.

Lance and Pidge watch the ship burst into a blinding, beautiful, star of light.

~~~

It all goes quiet.

Suddenly, they all drop one by one. Purple bodies start to fill the green grassy grounds, eyes glazing over and body falling limp with each one.

Are they dead, asleep, conscious?

And then, like the mystical rebirth, Allura, Shiro and Hunk watch as they all awake one by one, like dazed characters in a film. Watch as they stroke at their now-matted and torn and ripped skin, some in wonder and curiosity, others in horror and terror; what they did do, they think?

But if there's one thing for them all to be grateful for...

It's that they're alive.

~~~

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me a truth. Willingly."

"Eejin is threatening to cut my balls off if I hurt you right now. What a weird backseat driver."

"You're the worst."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

~DAY 28: ONE MONTH:END~

Eejin drops one final bomb on them. Team Voltron, save for Allura who stands beside Eejin in all her Altean royalty glory, stands beside her in the castle on Galaxor, half the front wall obliterated.

The Galaxorians, all in lines, stand facing their new Queen.

Eejin gives Pidge and Lance (totally not holding hands) a knowing wink before she takes in a deep breath.

"Galaxor can never return to what it was. We don't have our technologies, ruthlessly corrupted by the Galra to the point of no return. My planet is damaged, broken, plundered. My people...I do not want to talk about what unspeakable horrors he did to them. Even I am no longer the person I used to be; Lotor managed to rob even that. But mostly, I am so, so sorry that you had to suffer the way you did."

She stumbles a little, her words catching in her throat.

Allura grips Eejin's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. They share a look that it seems that only they can understand; maybe it's the feeling of a lost nation, planet, father.

Maybe it's something more.

Pidge lets her head fall on Lance's shoulder, Lance letting his hands gently rest on her waist. They pretend not to notice the eyebrow wiggles and implying smiles on the faces of the team.

"My father didn't make it out of the ship alive. My memories of him, what was not robbed from me, was of his greatness of a leader, his kindness to the people, his love towards me. I hope I can become a leader like him for you in the future, beginning with our alliance with Voltron, our saviour."

"She's going to make a great queen, don't you think?" Lance whispers in Pidge's ear. The crowd applauds raucously, Team Voltron joining in.

"Yeah."

~~~

FINAL NARRATION: HERE YOU GODDAMN GO ALLURA, YOU BETTER MAKE A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY OUT OF THIS MASTERPIECE

Wasn't that a rollercoaster?

You're telling me.

Hey, in one month, we attended a ball, learnt about magical Galaxorian mind-intelligence transfer, fought for the safety of a high-risk planet, beat the shit out of Lotor's soldiers, got beat the shit out of, then we vaporized his ship-and hopefully Lotor too, that bastard.

That was a lot of word vomit. Don't forget the actual vomit-

-shut up-

-Hey, you were really cute alien-drunk. Like flirty and hot and really cute-not that you're not always these things anyway-

Mmhhmm, you're too sweet, Lance.

You know, I've got to admit, these narrations kind of helped. It's like reliving the whole torturous, terrible, terrifying, tormenting-

-okay, that's enough poetic alliteration. But you're right. We've reflected. And I now know that I can never again look Keith in the face without him rubbing that whole 'he was like an idol' thing IN MY FACE-

-Just come here, Lance, I think we're done with this recording. Thanks for listening to our random and rather terrible narration, we hope you enjoyed the experience!

-yeah, I'm totally not about to get hickeys in T-minus five minutes-

-shut up!-

-you're red, Pidgey, but I bet I can make you redder-

-okay OKAY STOP FOR A MOMENT I'M DISTRACTED NOW-Thank you again for listening, and if there's one thing to learn; honesty is the best policy, especially if you ever have to deal with revealing some terrible, hidden truths when drugged by a purple alien prince. Okay, we're out!

-----------END OF NARRATION---------

The camera clicks off, and the final tape is labelled and packed away. Allura better be happy.

The room is quiet, mostly, save for some quiet noises and whispers.

"God, Lance, we actually need to go for that mission on Galaxor," Pidge reminds, laughing as she dodges her boyfriend's weak attempts at getting kisses as she darts out of her chair in the vlog room. "Allura's going to barf when she hears the audio clips."

"Well," Lance starts, giggling when he accidentally boops noses with Pidge, "she always wanted us to get together." Lance kisses her on the neck, finally successful for once, and Pidge just melts, a goofy smile appearing on her face. God, how did she get so lucky?

She finally gives in, pushing him off her and returning the kiss.

"C'mon, Pidge, can't we just skip the mission?" he whines, chokes out. At this point, Lance is still in his chair with an annoyed Pidge straddling his lap, wondering how he got so lucky. He laughs, tickling her before she gets too feral. "It's only a diplomatic mission..."

Pidge licks her lips, parched from the multiple hickeys she'd given Lance just to be funny, and Lance presses a kiss to her forehead, nuzzling his face in her neck. She's so comfortable to hug, gosh, like they're a perfect fit.

They are, aren't they?

"To be honest, I'd love that. But we have a job to do."

Pidge stands up, offering her hand to Lance, smiling.

She's the only one in his eyes, illuminated by the camera light even in the darkly-lit room where they've had one too many 'adventures' in, like an angel offering her hand.

Who knew what the truth would bring, huh?

Lance doesn't hesitate, gripping her hand tight, pulling her in for one last kiss.

And they're off, running.

"Truth or dare, Pidge?"

Pidge never hesitates to answer that question now.

"Truth."

"Do you love me?"

"No doubt. And you?"

"What do you think?"

"Yes?"

"Honestly, yes."

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Reblog, like, I’m happy!

@voltronrarepairbang

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