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imonthinice · 3 years

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The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 12/?

Word Count: 4.4k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name, A/N - Any Name (Your Best friend’s name)

God idk what i’m doing with this but i’m liking it lmao

next one might honestly be smut idk

Warnings: Violence, Swearing, Description of Blood, Gets heated, hints at trauma, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Y/N walked through the streets of Gotham, which were once bustling with people, but now were quiet with the occasional hooker, she had caught the city as an unlively hour, where it seemed to sleep the night away while the vigilantes of the area watched it like their lives depended on it. In some ways it did, the stories they would tell when being interviewed were horrific sometimes, but Y/N figured a decent amount of it was for dramatization, to keep the people of Gotham off of the streets to protect them all from it.

The question was always protect them from what, and they never answered. So, it never kept the people of Gotham at bay from the streets at night, and had Y/N’s car not been towed, she would have been driving home in the safe, secluded area of her car, not the vast wilderness of the streets of Gotham.

She looked up at the sky to see one of the virgate boys using a grappling hook to fly to the other building, which was such a sight to behold for someone who never witnessed a superhero beyond Superman at home. She wished and longed to know more about the vigilante, but didn’t dwell or dote on that man, because she didn’t need to.

Something told her that he was watching though, tracing every step she made to make sure she got home in one piece. She thought she was crazy, her life didnt matter more than anyone else in Gotham. He’s not following me, why would he? she thought, Even though I’m dating Jason Todd, they probably don’t know Jason, so my life doesn’t mean much more to them than any one of the hookers along this street. I’m overthinking it.

The walk home took two hours, she left Jason’s at 4am just to find herself back home at 6am, bright and early as the sun rose, ready to greet the day and all it had in store for everyone. But the things it had in store for Y/N was a class and if she was lucky, cuddling with Jason. Nothing more, nothing less.

She would open her front door, unscathed from the journey home, except maybe for a few callouses on her feet, it was the last time she wouldn't pay for more than a day of parking, that’s for sure. Heels were not the shoes you wanted for a two-hour walk home in the Autumn cold, but they were what she had.

She thought about what she was going to do next, and the first thought she had was to shower. Not because she needed to, but because she wanted to nurse the terrible headache she had and to think some things through. What she normally did in the shower.

She wanted so much more from so much of her life. the main offender of seemingly not being enough for her was Jason. Not because she didn’t want more, but because she craved more from him. He was injured, so she wouldn’t get much more rom him for the time being, and it stung a little for her. She just wanted him, maybe sexually, maybe in a more romantic setting or maybe just on her couch on a Thursday afternoon. It was all three of those options and she knew it.

She pulled out of the shower and looked at the time, 6:50am. Okay, she thought, little more time than I wanted to spend in the shower, but I guess the universe had different plans for me today. What else do you have for me, universe? And how much of you plan involves Jason?

She would open her phone after quickly getting dressed. While she still cared for her appearance, she didn’t want to dress like she owned a law firm every day, so she didn’t. Just black jeans and a black top and she felt like a million bucks.

Just some quick outfit inspo. I like doing these a lot. I think fashion is funky :))

Artemis had sent her a message asking where she was at around 4am, she wondered why the time, but she then remembered that Artemis’ boyfriend worked with Dick Grayson, who was Jason’s brother, who worked most nights until radical hours of the night. The chances that he saw her on her two-hour walk home was high, but the chances that that had also made it back to Jason was higher. She knew she was in for it.

Hey sorry, I was at Jason’s. Fell asleep in his arms the whole shebang. And yeah, that was me who screamed the yo momma joke at the press. It was super childish, I know, but I don’t care. Those fucks are sucking my life force out of me and harassing my boyfriend, even your boyfriend.

She would then look at the articles calling her a gold digger and worth-nothing childish insulter of the press. She laughed. If the press wanted a fight from her, she was more than willing to oblige and load the canons.

She didn’t know how to fight back that well, since it was a mainly verbal fight, and she barely even knew how to fight physically, hence all the running and non-confrontational arguments she had had to the press.

And like fucking clockwork, Jason texted her.

Did you walk home alone or are my brothers lying bastards?

I walked. I knew someone saw me, fuck.

Why did you walk home? I thought you drove here?

I did, but we spent more than 12 hours together Jason. I didn’t buy enough hours, suddenly my car was being towed.

You could have asked for a ride home from Alfred! He would have in a heartbeat.

I was going to! But I got distracted and it all became a blur and suddenly I was part of the way home in the dark by myself!

What if you had gotten hurt?

Well, I saw one of the vigilantes of the city on the rooftops, I’m sure if I screamed they would have seen me. They always do see that stuff.

So, your car got towed huh?

Yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay it off. It’s not exactly like money my parents give me should go to my car getting towed because I got fucked over by seeing my boyfriend.

You’ll figure it out. Sorry about the car, that’s got to suck fucking ass.

You think? I’m stuck taking the fuckin’ subway till I get my car back. I hate the subway, too many people. Far too many people. Too many eyes. It gets stressful really quickly. Might just walk every where honestly, I can’t deal with the eyes of strangers.

But you’re a C-list celebrity.

Internet is different. I can just block the bad eyes and move on with my life, you should see my block list now that some people are connecting my name to the girl who flipped off the press, thank god Twitter has a fuckin block feature.

You should really just meet my family so you don’t have to run away before they get home, would probably cause you a lot less financial stress, Y/N.

I’ll think about it.

You should think a little harder about it. I don’t want you to get your car impounded ‘cause you’re seeing me, why did you even park in pay-to-park?

Did you not see the massive mob trying to get to you? It was impossible for me to even try to pull into the driveway. Hence why I’m being insulted, you know, ‘cause I yelled at the press to get them to leave me alone. I fucking hate the press, you’re stabbed, severely injured last time they got information, and they’re harassing me, asking me what I like to do on the weekends.

Fucking vultures. Yeah, I’ve seen that. I’ve read the articles. But that’s the press for you, absolute trash and spitting bullshit in everyway.

Fucking hate the press, that’s for damn sure. Despise them. I won’t ever change that, even if, knock on wood, we break up.

Praying we don’t break up so I can see you lose your shit at the press when you’re bored.

She would get up to go make some coffee, since it was closer to 7:20am and if her roommate woke up, she could just tell her to get up anyway.

The press can suck my dick. she said.

You have a dick?

Oh yeah. Massive. 20ft long. It probably won’t even fit all the vultures.

Oh my god, that’s not as big as mine.

lmfao is it now?

Oh yeah.

Nice.

Anyway, my brothers are staying home from school today, I think they’re making me play Resident Evil 8 with them? You know that game?

Of course. Everyone in that game is infinitely hot.

Are you bi?

I don’t know. Haven't thought that far ahead to actually label myself. I just like people. Sometimes it’s men, sometimes it’s women. But you have to agree when you see them all. That game came out when I was still in high school, so I’ve played the entire thing. My phone background is actually one of the characters.

Which one?

I’ll show you if I come over tonight.

My brothers might be in my room, though.

Okay, but, RE8 is an amazing game. So, worth it.

You won’t meet them normally but I pull out a game you love and you’re down?

I’m very easy to convince.

You still have notes to write when you come over though.

Oh yeah, I was probably going to have to come over both ways, just because I need those notes and you do too.

Do you not own a printer?

I barely even own a laptop, I’m waiting for my old one to come in the mail.

How do you even manage?

With a whole lot of will and spite, anything is possible.

And that’s when her discord group chat @’ed her. She was on Do Not Disturb because she was Jason, and apparently they missed her.

Y/N! C’mere. One said.

Yes? Whatduhya want nerds?

We’ve decided to hold a fake internet wedding between you and Christopher. Another said.

A what.

We’re getting married!

Sometimes I wish I never left Metropolis and then I remember you fucks live there. Why are we doing this? You do know I have a boyfriend right? She asked them.

I don’t know, we’re bored and we miss you. We can have a bachelorette party in Gotham, if you want.

I’m this close to going back on DND.

The group chat was made way back when they had all first met in grade 9 and had been active ever since. They all had stayed in the city when they graduated though, but since Y/N received a scholarship, fully paid for, she took the opportunity and jumped.

They were some of her closest friends, even if they lived in a different city to her now, even if they were all busy with school, even if she was busy with school and a boyfriend, A lot of her life wouldn’t be complete without her crack friends in her hometown.

They had all ben partying like crazy while she was gone, and if she wasn’t so hung up in her own life, she’d probably be down there with them.

Before you do, can you please explain why you’re screaming at the press, lmao.

Because fuck the press, dude. Why else?

What did they do to you?

Have you seen the recent articles?

That’s true.

She laughed and finished her coffee. Jason had not responded yet, she assumed his brothers were either checking on him or they had started the game. It was around 8am when A/N finally left her room.

“I thought you were staying with Jason?”

“I was, but then I remembered he has like 9 siblings and I’m not about to meet them all. Then I walked home.”

“You walked?”

“Car got towed.”

“Fuck, can you afford the bill? I can’t.”

“Nope.”

“Guess we’re going to take the subway for a while, huh.”

She sighed and put her cup in the sink, “At least you don’t have school to go to and your lover comes to meet you, I have shit to do and places to be,” she frowned, “Inconvenient.”

“Could you borrow money from Jason’s dad?”

“I don’t borrow money from family, it’s hard enough for me to accept the money my parents send me.”

“I know it is, when’s your class?”

“3pm, I’ll be leaving at 12pm though, because the subway is unreliable.”

“This is going to be a hard hit for us.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s fucking your credit. Mine’s tanking.”

“You’ll pull through it.”

-------------------------------------------

She got onto the subway at 12:30pm. She really hated the way it was running. The people, the faces, the staring eyes of unwanted attention. People knew who she was and she hated it. She didn’t like the attention, she just liked the fucking with people. She wanted to get off the subway the minute she got on.

She eventually couldn’t take it and got off a few stops away, there was still a substantial walk towards the college, but she knew it would be. She even brought a leather jacket with her so that she could walk if she couldn’t take it anymore.

And there she was, in the busy streets of Gotham, walking to her college. Barely aware of the people who did stare at her, because she just kept walking, lost in her thought but aware of the people in her trail, the cross walks and the lights she was waiting for occasionally. She just kept walking until Artemis met up with her,

“Hey! I didn’t know you were walking to school today,” Artemis said.

“Oh! I didn’t want to, my car got towed though.”

“Your car got towed? That sucks so much. Well, we’re going the same way, so I’ve decided I’m going to walk with you, you get no say.”

“Of course. I was going to ask if you wanted to,” she laughed, “It’s more fun with a friend anyway, Art.”

“So, how are things with you and Jason, I’m legally obliged to ask as one of his friends.”

“Well, we made it official if that’s the kind of thing you want to hear,” she laughed again, “I’m sure it’s the answer Dick will eat up.”

“You’re right about that one. Dick’s a sucker for a romantic story, you should write one, since you write. He’d probably read it all.”

“Well, that would be fun, but I still don’t have my laptop.”

“You could use Jason’s?” Artemis suggested..

“Nah. It’ll be fine,” she said, “I’ll manage.”

“Aren’t you collecting notes for him for your psychology class?”

“I am, it’s not like he can go anywhere. I actually told him he’d need to walk eventually so that it’s not a learning curve when he’s healed.”

“That’s what all of us are telling him too, he’s a stubborn man, good luck with that one,” Artemis laughed, “He’s always been the stubborn friend. Worse than Will, actually, and Will is really bad with being stubborn.”

“It’s fine,” she laughed, “If you asked any of my Metropolis friends they’d say the same about me.”

“I bet you were quite the wild child in your heyday back in your city,” Artemis laughed, “I hate Metropolis.”

“Who doesn’t? It’s so crowded.”

“Uh, Clark doesn’t. He thrives there, no idea why, he grew up in Smallville. If anyone should be uncomfortable with Metropolis it should be the small-city country boy, but I guess it’s his thing.”

“I forget you know everyone.”

“We know a lot of people, are you’re slowly being let into our massive circle of very well-known people. Welcome to the group, I guess,” she laughed, “You'll either hate or love the fame that comes from this.”

“Well, if its paparazzi and press, I think I’ll hate it.”

“I can promise you right now that it’s not all paparazzi and press, we haven’t been bothered today, probably because we are on the move.”

“You shouldn’t say that, you’ll jinx it.”

“I know a lot about not jinxing it, but that’s a story for another time,” Y/N noticed that when Artemis said this her eyes glazed over and she looked upset.

“You don’t ever have to talk to me about something you’re not ready to talk about,” Y/N reassured her.

“Hey, the trauma makes me funny.”

“Two can play that game.”

They would ramble on for the rest of the walk to their college. Nothing really of substance, just getting to know each other further. She was glad she found a friend in Artemis, it would have sucked if the two of them didn’t get along, but with each word they exchanged, they had so much fun.

She even told Artemis about that time she played Katherine Howard in her school’s budget play of Six - The Musical. She was proud of the riffs she was able to do, but she didn’t talk about it often. She was never the type of brag about her achievements, no matter how amazing they were.

But Artemis and Y/N parted ways and Y/N went to her class and wrote the same, boring, scribbly and barely legible notes. She figured eventually she’d need nicer handwriting, but did she want to work on it? No.

When she finished, she saw Artemis and who she could only assume to be Wally, at Artemis’ class doors. She waved to Artemis, before Artemis called her over.

“Y/N! Hey, I would ask how class is, but this is Wally,” she gestured to the red-head boy beside her, and Y/N held out her hand to shake Wally’s.

“Hi, Wally.”

“Y/N. It’s nice to meet you since Jason can’t shut up about you and my girlfriend likes you a lot.”

“Well that's sweet of you Artemis. You’re just so in love with me,” Y/N joked.

“Girl. You know it,” Artemis joked back.

“You two already have a close bond? That’s impressive,” Wally said, “Never seen anyone win over any of my friends this quickly,” he muttered.

They joked for a little while longer, just getting to know Wally before she had to go, she had to get to Jason’s.

The walk was a while away, so she went and sat on a park bench for a minute to check her phone, Jason had texted her.

Hey baby, are you coming over?

I am, yes. I actually just met Wally.

You met Wally and I wasn’t there to see it? C’mon.

Artemis introduced us! Go yell at her.

Oh. Never mind. I won’t do that.

Ha! Scared of her?

Maybe a little, she can be scary, okay?

You can’t tell but I’m laughing at you.

Dhmu.

That’s fine, I’ll just go hang out with Alfred and not you. He seems like he would be spiteful like me.

That’s unfair.

I thought you said don’t hit me up?

Fuck.

Checkmate.

I am upset.

No you’re not.

No I’m not.

She would walk down the street further, maybe within a couple steps to reach the Manor, when a man dragged her into an alleyway. She yelped.

“Uh, hello? Can I help you?” she asked, pretending she wasn’t terrified.

“How much would Bruce give me for you?” the attacker mumbled before he tried to knock her to the ground, but she had another plan.

He grabbed her, put his face close to hers, and she head-butted him, he would stumble back, and she started running to the Manor.

“Come here you fucking bitch!” he screamed. She could feel her nose bleeding as she ran and ran, the security saw her and pulled her into the gateway before drawing their guns and urging her to run to the steps of the Manor.

And she ran. The security at the door saw her and let her in, and yelled for Alfred.

“What is this nonsense, oh,” Alfred paused when he saw the blood running out of Y/N’s nose, “Miss Y/N, what happened to you?” he asked before grabbing her hand and pulling her into the entry-way bathroom and opening a first-aid kit.

“Okay so, what happened was I was walking to the Manor because my car got towed right? And this fucking bastard dude pops out from an alleyway and pulls me into it, asks some bullshit about how much Bruce would pay for me, when he grabbed me and tried to knock me down, when I head-butted him and started running,” she said, completely unphased.

Alfred didn’t respond to her and started to stop the bleeding when Bruce called for him, “In the entry-way bathroom, Master Wayne!” he answered.

Bruce came around the corner and saw Alfred was already tending to Y/N, “Well, this is the event where I meet my son’s girlfriend, when she is bleeding and running from a strange man in an alleyway.”

“Heh, sorry,” she said and outstretched her hand to shake his, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Bruce.”

“I can tell you’re going to be quite the addition to this household,” he said as he took her hand and shook it, “As long as you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“That’s good. I guess you can’t get mad at Jase for being a reckless man now.”

“I really can’t.”

“Alright, you should be good, Miss Y/N.”

“Thank you, Alfred. But you really didn’t have to.”

“I’ve been taking care of 5 boys and 3 girls since most of them were little, Miss Y/N. A little blood is really no big deal for me to handle.”

“That’s obvious.”

“You can go see the boys now, they’re going to ask you though,” Bruce said.

“I know.”

She walked to Jason’s room, hoping that he wouldn’t have all of his siblings in the room, he did though.

“Hey, Y/N- what the fuck happened to you?” Jason exclaimed when she opened the door.

“Oh great, all your siblings are here. Anyway, I guess,” she paused, taking in a big breath so she could run through the events quickly, “So I was walking here ‘cause my car got towed, right? When some fucking bastard man grabs me and yanks me into an alleyway and starts going off about how much Bruce will pay him to get me back or something,” she paused again, “And when he tried to knock me down by getting really close and personal to my face, like an idiot I should add, I head-butted him.”

“You did what?’

“I’m not done yet, met your dad when I actually had blood running out of my nose because that's just my fucking luck. Okay, now you can be disappointed in me,” she joked.

“I will say again, you did what?”

“Something stupid?” she said.

“You could say that again, my god, what went through your head?”

“Uh, nothing. Just survival. Fight or flight but I head-butted a man, and hi, everyone.”

“Hi, Y/N, I’m Dick,” Dick said, “You clearly are meant for Jason,” he joked, “That's something he would do.”

“Don’t encourage her, Dick!”

Stephanie got up and greeted her, “You know, Y/N, I always wanted a crazy sister,” she joked, “I’m Stephanie, the black-haired girl is Cass, and the red-head is Barbara.”

“Me too,” Cass hopped onto the joke.

“It’s something else when you meet the girl your brother is dating after she head-butted a man, apparently,” Y/N laughed, “I know it’s far-fetched-”

“Not really,” Tim cut her off, “You know Jason protected Will when they were attacked?”

“That’s Tim, by the way,” Dick said.

“So you can’t yell at me for head-butting a man!” Y/N joked at Jason while going to sit beside him, he slinged an arm around her shoulder and leant his head into her head.

“Well, you seem like a nice enough girl,” Barbara said, “Take away the reckless behavior, and you are lovely.”

“That is valid, to be honest. Not exactly the way you want to meet your brother’s girlfriend.”

“You think?” Jason asked, sarcastically.

“Ha ha.”

“See, she thinks I’m funny, why can’t you fucks?”

Y/N laughed and then asked Dick, who was playing RE8 at the time, staring at the photo of Donna Bentiveno, “She’s cute, isn’t she, Dick?”

“Have I been staring?”

“Let’s just say Angie is probably very pissed at you.”

“Oh! Whoops. There’s a point to this, I forgot.”

“I don’t blame you, I remember forgetting there was a point and the little bitch devil doll would attack you.”

“Language.”

“Oh no, you’re lame. Gross.”

“Excuse me?” Dick asked as the rest of the room erupted in laughter.

“Do you guys see why I like her now?” Jason asked.

“Uh no, she’s mean,” Dick said.

“You’re going to die if you don’t start paying attention, Dick,” Y/N said.

“Oh!” and he died.

“And that kids, is why we listen to the person who’s 100%’ed the game.”

------------------------------

Y/N and Jason would spend hours with his brothers and sisters until the sun started to set and they all scattered to their own rooms to do their own things. you can’t keep a lot of kids in one room for so long.

Once everyone left, Y/N placed her hands on Jason and kissed him, she was actually able to be laid on his pillow, he was able to pin her to the bed. And they did just that. He was on top of her, using his one arm to prop himself up and using his other hand to touch her face.

Her hands found their way into his hair like they always did, she found a lot of joy in playing with his hair. Their tongues danced together, they never fought or anything, they just enjoyed each other when Jason let out a small moan and she let out a small laugh.

“Keep it in your pants, Tiger,” she joked, “You’re not fully healed.”

“You literally smashed your face into another man but I can’t moan when I kiss you?”

“Because I know you want more.”

“Hell yeah I do,” he said as he went back for more, actually using his strength to keep her to the bed, but she didn’t protest this time.

33 notes · View notes

kindofwriter · 3 years

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Hey there! My group of friends have been hardcore considering turning a passion project of ours into a real podcast, and I was wondering if you had any advice for newbies putting together a show. We’re a small, young team, but we have a lot of passion for our concept and some writing/sound experience under our belts. Do you have any tips regarding finding actors, the process of plotting, sensitivity readers, or anything else you’ve had experience with in your projects? Thanks for reading!

Ok, finally ready with this! Thank you so much for the question, I will try to share my ~wisdom~ in the following post, but feel free to ask any further questions!

How to start a podcast: 1. when you’re new and/or 2. when you have money!

1. It’s easier than you think! My first advice is to just go for it! Even if it doesn’t quite go as planned you’ll have fun, and it’ll give you great experience for whatever you want to work on next!

Casting:

I’m going to assume this is an unpaid project (hence the former part of this advice being for free podcasting!) but if that’s not the case please skip to section two!

When I can’t offer any form of payment for a project I like to use friends as a cast. Not because my friends deserve any less payment! But because I can pay them in free chips and credentials for their portfolios, and it makes me feel slightly less bad!

Ways to go about deciding which friends to cast: I was lucky enough to do a lot of theatre work in my first year of uni, so I already knew a lot of people who were interested in both acting and production work. You’ll probably come across several actors who think voice acting is beneath them, but who wants to be friends with those people? What I’m trying to say is: if you have friends who are interested in theatre they’ll probably be interested in this! Especially given the past year.

I also poached people from my DnD group, because I could already gauge their acting specialities from that, and I knew what kinds of things they were interested in based on which DnD campaigns they enjoyed best.

If you know anyone who is interested in public speaking, whatever you all those reading awards where you read aloud dramatically, or something like radio and TV presenting then they’ll probably also be interested and do a great job! The great thing about podcasts is that all you really need is someone with a good voice - they’re free to do whatever they like with the rest of their face as long as they’re reading the lines!

You can, of course, also put out a casting call. It’s very important that you make it clear that it would be unpaid work. Even if you plan to set up a kofi, patreon, or kickstarter (info in the money section!), if you don’t have the money to begin with you shouldn’t promise it to people.

There are up and downsides to both. Casting people you know means you’re more likely to be comfortable working with them, there’s less pressure to offer payment, and your cast are more likely to have free time specifically for this project. However, you won’t have the draw of casting known industry voices, and (like I found!) your cast may not have any social media engagement whatsoever!

If you put out a casting call you’re more likely to get a pool of diverse voices, it will likely be people invested (even if not plugged in) to the industry, and you can request that they have their own equipment! However, you then have to work with people you don’t know, a level of professionalism that isn’t usually present on first time projects may be expected, and unpaid casting calls are not wildly well received.

Personally, for your first show, I’d try to use as many friends, or even friends-of-friends as possible. That being said, if you want advice on putting together an audition pack let me know!

Plotting:

It depends on what kind of show you’re aiming to write, but in general plotting a podcast is kind of like plotting a TV show. First of all you should plot out what’s going to happen in a season. Then plot out what’s going to happen in each episode. Ideally each episode will have its own arc, but things don’t always work out like that.

I like to plan things out in a fair amount of detail beforehand (this is especially helpful if you’re writing collaboratively.) Start with what’s going to happen in each episode. Once I know that, I then like to write how it starts and finishes, then the content in bullet points. If you ever can’t think of anything then don’t worry! A lot of things really come together when you’re actually writing.

The most important thing is to not worry at all about the first draft. Just get it down, editing is much easier and more fun once you have something to work with!

There are definitely much more qualified people than me out there giving advice about writing and plotting though; even if it’s directed at prose and script writers it’s still more than applicable!

Sensitivity readers:

If you have the option of sensitivity readers they’re always a great idea! But asking someone to read your work (usually for free) is both time consuming and potentially risky if you don’t know and trust them.

Tumblr, the writeblr community specifically, is a good place to find a sensitivity reader. A lot of people want the practise and are willing to do it for free if you put a call out.

One of the best ways to get feedback on your work is to cast/find people who are appropriate for the roles and then ask for feedback. Obviously they don’t have to, but you’ll find that usually they want to. You can aid in this by giving them some way to give feedback anonymously - maybe a google form - as no matter how chill and friendly you are as the prod team you will always be seen as In Charge.

If you don’t feel right asking someone, especially from a marginalised group, to read and comment on your work for free, you can always just ask general questions in forums or on social media. This isn’t as reliable, as people can lie online, but if you find the right communities and explain you just want to portray characters as accurately as possible there will always be people willing to offer some help. Reddit, for all its flaws, builds great communities, though remember to check the rules to make sure people outside of whatever group they’re aiming to support are allowed to post.

Of course, the first step to writing anything outside of your own experience is a tonne of research. The sensitivity reader should be picking up on small things, not telling you the basics of their experiences. And everyone’s experiences are different, which makes this even tougher! You can get things so spot on for a handful of people whilst inadvertently offending others. Be prepared to be adaptable and take on criticism, but also remember that you don’t have to bend to everyone’s whim; one person saying ‘but this wasn’t my experience!!’ doesn’t mean you’ve done a bad job.

Equipment:

I know you didn’t ask, but this was what I found scariest when I was Brand New.

If you have the money and you’re very serious about this I haven’t encountered a single person who wouldn’t recommend a Blue Yeti mic. However when you’re just starting out, and especially if you’re not planning to have all of your cast together record together/separately but with the same mic, blowing over $100 on a mic is huge, scary, and not always feasible.

I have three small desk mics that I loan out to my cast when needed. They cost ~£30 ($40) from (ew, I know) Amazon. You don’t need a mic for each cast member - you don’t even need a mic for the max number of character speaking in a scene at once. You could probably do it all with one mic, but the time that would take and the affect it would have on scenes may be worth the extra cost! These obviously don’t produce the crisp quality a professional recording mic would, but they have a pop filter and a windscreen and seem to do a good job at reducing background static.

Further noise reduction: Mr Alexander Jalexander Newall, when starting his podcast empire half a decade ago, got it in one: blanket forts.

If you can build a little fabric den for your cast to record in: perfect! If not, tell them just to stick a duvet over their head. This increases the risk of moving duvet sounds, but reduces everything else! And if they shift under the blanket you can always ask them to get comfortable then read the lines again.

And, info courtesy of the McElroys: you can also record in a wardrobe or a room with plenty of bookshelves if you don’t want to build the world’s most bangin’ blanket fort.

The most important advice you will ever receive:

Don’t be scared to ask for help! Join Facebook groups and ask questions! Join discord servers! Message people on Twitter and ask for advice (certain ppl are much more amenable to this than others, but this is pretty clear from their Vibe)! Heck, you can message me on Twitter (or here. Or send another anon. And if I don’t know the answer I’ll ask someone who does!) Everyone just wants to help everyone else, and if they don’t they’re probably not the kind of people you want to associate with. Good luck! And let me know once you socials are up, so I can follow and get excited!

Now, onto 2. Money stuff!

A lot of the info stays the same, but money kind of raises the stakes. Once money’s involved, especially once money and people you don’t know so well are involved, suddenly you have to operate like a business.

Casting:

If you’re planning to pay actors proper wages from the get-go you probably want to put out a casting call. Paid work will attract professionals, and professionals will not only do a great job, but will also help you gain an audience (and have their own equipment!)

You get to decide what the hourly rate is, but usually, depending on where you’re from, there is an average hourly rate voice actors get paid, and if you’re nowhere close to that people will be put off.

You should also make clear what the hourly rate includes: whether it is just recorded audio hours, or includes table reads and directorial time. A lot of people just have every actor record their lines separately, sometimes without direction, then edit them all together. This certainly saves on cost, and makes for a quick turnaround, but it’s no fun, and sometimes makes the show kind of soulless.

Kickstarters:

You can run a kickstarter on an unpaid project, in the hopes of eventually paying the cast and maybe funding future seasons. But I’m going to assume this is advice for ‘I can pay the cast, but what is a kickstarter for?’

Well, that’s up to you! It can be for equipment, for better editing, for podcast music, for podcast art, for a pay rise for the team, for bonus content. Depending on how many stretch goals you have, it can be for all of these things!

In short: backers give money, and get things in return, for example $5 might get you a pin badge, while $100 might get you a signed poster. When the kickstarter reaches a certain goal, maybe $5,000, then the team may then have enough money to produce a holiday special, for example. At $10,000 everyone on the team may get a 10% pay rise.

This is a great way to get people invested in the show, and a great way to make money! But if you want a really great kickstarter you’ll probably want to hire someone with experience in this area.

Contracts:

Money means contracts! Usually two will suffice, they just need edited for each individual team member:

An NDA, to prevent people from discussing the show in any inappropriate situations.

And a literal workplace contract.

You’ll be able to search how to draft these online, but it’s useful to have the help of a lawyer. There are people who do this specifically for podcasts who’ll be able to help you out, but again: you have to pay them!

Equipment:

As I said, actors will probably have their own equipment, but if you want them all recording together: you can rent a studio! They’ll already have all the equipment for you, which is The Dream!

Or you can convert a room into your own studio! Get some soundproof panelling on the walls and invest in a good mixer. I’m afraid I don’t have much advice on this, as I cannot afford anything close to a good mixer! But there are plenty of articles online with helpful information.

I wouldn’t recommend making a paid podcast as your first project, as it’s a lot of pressure, and would almost definitely mean bringing new people onto even the production side of things. There’s always the option to work on another project first, something smaller-scale, to work out any roadblocks you may run into during the paid show. But I’m not telling anyone what to do: if you’re ready, go for it!

Anyway, this was very long and quite rambly, and is probably filled with things you don't actually need to know! But I hope at least some of it was useful! Please feel free to ask any other questions - now or in future, PM or anon - and again: best of luck! I'm so excited for you!

#audio drama #writing advice #writeblr #podcast #anon

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appolojustice · 6 years

Text

HOO BOY

So as my DnD group and anyone who follows me on twitter probably already knows, I’ve been working on this fic for pretty much every spare moment I’ve had for. A while now.

And I am. Very happy with how it came out. And very emotional about our kids.

There’s about 6k under the cut in which Silas and Riley try to go partying together and instead end up talking about some tough subjects, barely avoiding bar fights, star gazing, realizing they may have more in common than they thought, growing even closer, and all in all just being sweethearts.

Huge shout-out to @chromochaotic who plays Riley and who helped me make sure I got her character right and who like. Is always down to talk about our kids.

I hope you all enjoy!!

@thestatuspoe @finngodwetrust @coroarchenland @sickburnsides @rhetoricgrimes

Silas wasn’t expecting a knock on his door.

It was late afternoon, and Silas had slept most of the day, recovering from the group’s recent trip to the Temple of Naldya. He still felt sore, and a little queasy, a consequence of….well. He wasn’t exactly sure. Just like the last time they had faced this foe, the fight was a blur. None of them could remember anything about the creature they had fought- and that was almost as unnerving as Silas was sure the creatures themselves had been.

More significantly, he still had a hollow feeling in his chest, deep and persistent and aching.

He knew what had caused that. He knew what the temple had asked of him. What he had willingly given up.

In his mind, it now felt like one day his mother had been there, and the next she’d been gone. He already remembered so little about her, clung to so few snatches of moments they shared, and now one of those moments was just gone, and he knew it had existed, that she had left him with something…

It was already growing harder to believe, and that terrified him.

He wasn’t feeling his best. He’d been planning on finding some food before immediately falling back asleep.

But someone had definitely just knocked on his door, and that threw his plans a bit to the wind.

For a moment, he debated whether he should ignore it, pretend like he was already back asleep. But he soon realized it might be an emergency, so he opened the door.

He was immediately glad he had.

“Come with me,” Riley said, grinning.

Silas blinked, his excitement at seeing his friend briefly overtaken by confusion. “What?”

“Oh,” Riley said. “Sorry. Hi, Silas.”

“Hi,” Silas said. “What’s wrong?”

Riley shook her head. “No, nothing’s wrong! Everything’s fine.”

“But…we’re going somewhere?” Silas asked. He still didn’t quite get where this was going.

Riley looked a little sheepish now.

“Well,” she said, “Only if you want to. I found this Tavern nearby- The Lying Loch- it looked like a fun time. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to check it out with me?”

Silas didn’t answer at first, unsure how to.

“You don’t have to,” Riley added, quickly. “I know you don’t usually go to taverns, but-“

“Why are you asking me?” he asked.

Seren was the better bet for a fun night out drinking. Rhogar, too, at least moreso than Silas was.

Riley paused, now looking as confused as Silas was.

“Because I want to spend time with you,” she said.

Silas didn’t often blush. He was a bit annoyed at himself for doing it now.

“Oh,” he mumbled.

Riley, at least, didn’t say anything about his reaction. “So, what do you think? I mean, we don’t have to go today. I can give you time to think-“

“It sounds fun,” Silas said. “I’ll go. Why not?”

It was true, taverns weren’t usually his first choice for fun. But that had traditionally had more to do with the need to preserve his money than it did with his personal feelings for them. Besides, he wasn’t about to turn down a chance to spend time with Riley.

Riley’s face lit up, and Silas felt the heat creeping back into his face.

“Great!” she said. “Great. We can go now! Do you want to go now?”

“Hang on,” Silas said, unable to suppress a smile. “Let me pack a bit first.”

Riley laughed. “Right. I’ll meet you downstairs, okay?”

Once Riley had left, Silas began to pack for the impromptu trip. He packed light. But then, he always did. Just a couple changes of clothes and some spending money. It still felt odd to have spending money. Money meant for fun, and not for survival.

He couldn’t bring himself to take more than a few gold with him.

When he came down the stairs of the inn a few minutes later, he didn’t see Riley, but he did see another familiar face, sitting at a table with a half-eaten plate of food and a very strong looking drink.

“Evening,” Silas said, approaching Seren’s table. He didn’t sit- he wasn’t sure how Seren would feel about that breach of personal space. “Have you seen Riley?”

“Not since we got back,” Seren said. “There a problem?”

“No, I’m just meeting her,” Silas said. “We’re going out to a tavern- The Lying Loch.”

“A tavern? Interesting.”

The look Seren was giving Silas was a little too knowing. He narrowed his eyes, but before he could reply, Riley walked up to the table.

“Found her,” Seren said, taking a sip from her drink. “You’re welcome.”

Riley looked for a moment like she was going to ask, but thought better of it.

“You ready?” she asked, turning to Silas.

He nodded, gesturing to his small pack.

“Have fun,” Seren said, as the two began to head for the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Doesn’t narrow our options much,” Silas sent back, cheerfully.

If he hadn’t known any better, he would have sworn he heard Seren laugh as he and Riley disappeared out the door.

* * *

“Oh,” Riley said. surveying their room. “I think we may have made a mistake.”

Their mistake had been buying a cheap room without checking what the room consisted of. Now they found themselves in possession of a single bed in the corner of the room.

“It’s alright,” Silas said. “I’ll take the floor.”

“No, you don’t have to do that, I can take the floor,” Riley replied.

Silas paused at this before smiling. “Maybe we should both take the floor.”

It was meant as a joke, but Riley’s eyes lit up.

“I know what to do,” she said, heading for the small closet. “Hang on a second.”

The next few minutes were a blur of Riley rushing around the room, grabbing whatever linens and sheets she could find, moving furniture around the room, and telling Silas how he could help.

At the end of it, in the middle of the room, several chairs had been pushed together with sheets draped over it, forming a little hollow that they had stuffed more blankets and pillows into.

“There,” she said. “A pillow fort! Now we both have a spot. This is more fun, anyway.”

Silas glanced inside.

“Looks pretty cozy,” he said. “Glad you thought of that.?”

Riley smiled, looking very pleased with herself.

“Let’s go back downstairs,” she said. “I’ll buy the first drink.”

Several minutes later they were siting at a table together, two drinks and dinner in front of them. Riley was drinking her mead more enthusiastically than Silas was. She kept glancing over at him, but so far neither of them had spoken much.

Silas was studying the inside of his glass, watching the drink swirl around inside. He’d wanted so badly to spend time with Riley, but now that it was just the two of them his nerves were definitely getting the best of him.

“Hey,” Riley’s voice said. “You okay?”

Silas looked up, his thoughts interrupted. “Yeah. ‘Course I am.”

Riley still looked a little concerned.

“It’s just,” she said, “Are you having fun? Because you look kind of sad.”

Silas shrugged. “That’s just what my face looks like.”

Riley smiled, but she didn’t seem too convinced.

“Sorry,” he added, “I’m just…not very used to this, and…”

He stopped short, frowning.

And what, stupid? he thought. I’m nervous because I really want you to like me? Yeah, that’ll make things less awkward.

Riley, thankfully, didn’t seem to notice his sudden pause.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “You can’t do this sort of thing wrong, really.”

Her smile faltered for a second.

“I don’t have a ton of experience, either,” she said. “I mean, we didn’t do this sort of thing back home. But the circus crew liked to, after a big show.”

“And what would they do, when they did this?” Silas asked.

Riley grinned. “Drink a lot. Talk about things. Just have fun, really.”

Silas felt himself relax, just a little bit.

“I guess that doesn’t sound too hard,” he said. “It’ll be nice to just…talk, you know? We don’t get to do that much.”

“Yeah,” Riley said, “We’re usually too busy fighting…nightmare abominations.”

“And saving magic,” Silas added. “We do end up doing that quite a bit, huh?”

“It’s odd,” Riley said. “What do you think those…things were? What do they want?”

“It’s hard to say when we can’t remember them one minute to the next,” Silas said. “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them, though.”

Riley hummed and looked deep in thought for a second. “That whole temple was something else, huh? With the heartfelt speeches, and the sacrifices…”

“Yeah,” Silas said, quietly. He’d spent a lot of time thinking about what Riley had told him outside the temple. About how he might be one of the amazing things her sister had told her she needed to find.

Silas was pretty sure someone like him wouldn’t be what Val was talking about, but the sentiment still made his heart skip every time he thought about it.

“You gave up some of your life in the temple,” Silas said, trying to distract himself with a new topic. “Are you…doing okay? I remember getting aged up that one time. It wasn’t fun.”

“It’s…really not,” Riley admitted. “But I’m doing okay. I’ll just have…older, creakier bones from now on. You’ll have to help me with things.”

Silas laughed. “Then you’re really in trouble. You could probably be an old lady and still be stronger than me.”

“I’m already an old lady,” Riley said, giving a dramatic sigh. “With this poor, tired, old body of mine…”

“Yeah, sure,” Silas said, still grinning. “Don’t go dying on us anytime soon, okay?”

“I’ll try to hold on,” she said, with a grin. “And, you know, I’m going to try to find a way to reverse it! I’ve done it once already.”

Silas nodded. “Gotta be a way, right?”

“Exactly,” she said, and then she grew a bit more serious. “What about you? You had to give up a memory. Are you okay?”

He hesitated before answering.

“Not yet,” he said. “I will be, though. It’ll just take time.”

“Can I ask what it was?” Riley asked.

Silas wasn’t sure how to answer for a long time. Where to even begin?

“It was of my mother,” he said. “The last time I saw her.”

“Oh.” Riley’s voice was subdued now. “What happened to her?”

Silas took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there. She left to go on jobs a lot. One time she didn’t come back.”

“I’m sorry,” Riley said.

Silas looked up in surprise, and saw the genuine sorrow on Riley’s face.

He forced himself to shrug. “It was a long time ago.”

Riley didn’t seem to buy his act of indifference, but thankfully, she didn’t push any farther. Instead, she said, “I’d been meaning to ask you. About your family. What was your mom like?”

“I don’t remember much,” Silas said, then instantly regretted it when he saw Riley’s face fall. It was too easy to slip into being difficult, to avoid talking about things that hurt because no one had ever really cared to hear them.

Riley cared.

“She was funny,” he said. “I used to get into all sorts of trouble- making messes and pulling little pranks. She always just laughed and humored me. She taught me to read and write, in Common and in Elvish, because she knew I liked it. She did everything she could to make me happy. Always. She…she made me feel loved.”

Riley gave him a smile, part sympathetic, part genuine warmth. “She sounds amazing.”

“She was the best,” Silas said. “I still…”

He stopped short of finishing the thought. He couldn’t go into how much he still missed his mother. Not now, anyway.

“Anyway, that’s my family,” he said, forcing a smile. “What little there was to tell about it.”

Riley frowned. “What about your dad?”

Silas took a second to answer. “No idea.”

Riley blinked as this information sunk in. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Silas said. “Like I said. Not a lot to talk about.”

“Well, you have us now,” Riley said. “We’re kind of family, right?”

Silas looked up, surprised, but didn’t answer.

A family.

He’d be lying if he said the thought hadn’t occurred to him, but it wasn’t easy to hope for. Not when he knew how fast things could fall apart.

“What about you?” he asked, suddenly very ready to change the subject. “Did you have a family? You don’t talk much about it, either.”

“Oh, well, it was mostly just my sister and me,” Riley said. “I mean, there was my tribe, But I was only really close to Val.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever really told me about her,” Silas said.

“Really?” Riley said. “Val’s great. I really looked up to her back home. She always…knew what she wanted, you know? She was smart, and brave, and….she meant everything to me.”

“What happened to her?” Silas asked. “I mean…I don’t mean to pry, just…you always talk like she’s not around anymore.”

“She left,” Riley said. “I mean, I think she did. We had this coming of age ceremony in my tribe where you go and survive in the mountains on your own. Val…never came back. Some of the other thought something must have happened, but. I didn’t believe that. Val was too strong for anything like that to happen to her.”

Silas wasn’t sure how to respond. There was a part of him- a part he hated at the moment- that wasn’t entirely sure Riley’s tribe mates had been wrong.

“So you think she left? Just like that?” he asked. “Without saying anything? That doesn’t seem very fair to you.”

Riley shook her head.

“I’m sure she had her reasons,” she said. “She always knew what she was doing. I know she had a plan.”

“Is that why you left?” Silas asked. “To find her?”

“Yeah,” Riley said. “And, well. Find out why she left, I guess. Join her.”

Silas couldn’t help the little flip his stomach did at the thought of Riley leaving their little group. He ignored it. It wasn’t fair of him to do that.

“You know what I think this conversation needs?” Silas asked, as he finished the rest of his drink. “Us, a lot more drunk.”

Riley laughed and got the attention of a barmaid, who brought them two more drinks.

This time, Silas immediately took a large swing, and regretted it when he realized his head was spinning. It was definitely getting to him already.

“Tell me about the Druids,” Riley said. “When did you join them?”

“Few years back,” Silas said. “I was fourteen, I think. I left them a few months before we met.”

“So you were with them a while,” Riley said. “What was it like?”

Silas thought about his answer for a moment.

“Different,” he finally said. “Not in a bad way, just…they have a different way of thinking about things. They care about balance- in everything. And they put the land above everything. Orel kind of reminds me of them, actually.”

Riley looked a little confused. “Huh. How did you end up leaving home and joining up with them?”

Silas hesitated.

“It’s a long story,” he finally said. “Let’s just say I…I didn’t really plan on it. It just sort of…happened. I didn’t fit in very well, but they were nice enough to me anyway.”

“And they taught you your magic?” Riley asked.

“Yeah,” Silas said. “Or, well. They tried their best to, anyway. I was never very good at it.”

“What do you mean?” Riley asked, sounding genuinely confused. “Your magic is amazing.”

Silas felt his cheeks growing hot.

“If you saw the other druids, you wouldn’t say that,” he said. “They were amazing. I saw them grow whole patches of forests overnight. Revive dead rivers in a few minutes. I can barely even make a decent fire.”

Riley frowned.

“You’ve saved my life,” she said. “A bunch of times. I mean, look.”

She pointed to her bracelet, where she had carved three notches into the wood.

“That’s three times you’ve saved me,” she said. “I think that’s pretty incredible, at least.”

Silas stared at the bracelet, breath caught, not quite able to comprehend what it meant.

“You’ve kept track?” he said, very quietly.

Riley nodded. “Well, yeah. I mean…I owe you.”

Silas’ face was so warm now that he was sure Riley must be able to tell.

“How could you owe me?” he said. “You’ve gotten us out of a ton of scrapes. There’s no way I’d be alive without you. I mean, I have my magic, but you…you’re incredible.”

Riley’s eyes widened slightly, and Silas realized what he had said.

“In a fight,” he added, quickly. “You’re incredible in a fight. I mean, not just in a fight, of course, but-“

Silas stopped when he heard Riley laughing. It was a fond laugh, warm and kind.

He looked at Riley and saw that she was smiling. A bright, warm smile that made his heart skip a beat.

If his face had been any hotter, he’d be afraid he might combust.

He finished the rest of his drink in one gulp and stood up.

“Looks like we need refills,” he said. “I’ll go to the bar and get some.”

Riley looked like she wanted to say something, but only nodded with another smile, and Silas quickly retreated from the table.

As he began to walk towards the bar and his embarrassment began to fade, he instead began to notice how unsteady his legs felt.

It was entirely possible he didn’t need a refill.

Still, at the rate at which he was making a fool out of himself, maybe it was for the best.

He continued on his way, taking each step carefully, and almost made it. Almost.

A few steps from the bar, a man stepped in front of him, and Silas couldn’t stop himself before he slammed into him.

The man’s ale spilled everywhere, all over the floor- and all over the man.

Before Silas could apologize, the man- a large half-orc- shoved him. He stumbled back, barely stopping himself from falling over. Anger bubbled up inside him.

“Stupid bastard,” the man grumbled, clearly drunk. “My ale. You’d better have enough coin for another.”

“I’m not paying for the ale you spilled,” Silas said, before turning around to continue on his way.

The man’s hand was on his shoulder then. “It’s the least you owe me,” he said.

Silas sighed and turned back around. “You ran into me,” he said. “At worst, it was an accident. I don’t owe you anything. Not when you’re being an ass about it.”

“Show some respect,” the man said. “I’m a General. Fifth in my family.”

“Oh,” Silas said, “Was it Dad or Grandad that got you that title, then?”

He’d known it was a mistake the minute the words had begun to leave his mouth, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Now, he ducked as the man threw the remnants of his drink at him.

The glass sailed harmlessly over his head, but the way it shattered on the floor behind him told him with just how much force it had been thrown.

“Talen,” one of the man’s friends said, “He’s not worth it.”

Silas glanced behind him, and then turned back to Talen.

He’d been in enough scrapes in his life to recognize a point of no return. And Talen was twice his size- if not in height than in width. Still, that sort of thing had definitely never stopped him before.

He couldn’t resist.

“Nice throw,” he said. “You could try aiming next time.”

“I’ll show you aim,” Talen snarled, before lunging for Silas.

Silas was quicker, and ducked just in time. When Talen’s arms sailed over his head, Silas drove his weight into Talen’s stomach. He wasn’t strong enough to knock the man over, but he heard him gasp as the breath was knocked out of him.

Talen tried to grab for him, and Silas ducked lower, scrambling between the man’s legs and popping up behind him. He kicked out at the back of Talen’s knee, connecting with as much force as he could muster.

He was hoping this would finally stagger the man, make him fall, but Talen only stumbled before he turned with fury in his eyes. This time, Silas wasn’t quick enough to duck before Talen had him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground.

Silas flailed his legs, but Talen managed to avoid the kicks. Silas knew he should be worried now, that this wouldn’t end well for him, but all he could feel was a seething rage.

And then, someone was putting a hand on Talen’s shoulder, and they both simultaneously remembered that there were other people in the tavern.

“Hey,” Riley’s voice said. “Please put him down.”

Talen turned to look over his shoulder, and Silas saw him freeze.

As formidable as Talen was, Riley was moreso. Her words had been polite, but Silas knew her well enough to see the glint of anger in her eyes. He wondered if Talen could tell as well. Her grip on his shoulder did seem to be rather tight.

Whether Talen could tell how precarious his position was or not, Silas knew he was currently mentally deciding whether this fight, which had just become infinitely more complicated, was still worth it.

Eventually, he decided it was not.

He unceremoniously dropped Silas, who fell, still glaring, to the floor.

“I won’t forget this,” Talen said. “I swear…someday you’ll pay for this.”

“I’ll hold my breath,” Silas said.

Talen stormed off then. and the rest of the bar went back to their business.

Riley was at Silas’ side then, helping him to his feet.

“Are you okay?” she asked, the worry in her voice obvious.

“Yeah,” Silas said. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. Remember what I was saying about you saving my life?”

“This doesn’t count,” Riley said.

“Pretty sure it does,” Silas said. “I owe you one. He probably would’ve smashed my head in.”

“That’s not funny,” Riley said, though her expression said otherwise. “What happened?”

Silas sighed and began walking up to the bar. “Just someone being an ass who didn’t like being stood up to. That’s all.”

He ordered two more drinks, and when they came, he handed on the Riley.

She looked down at it, briefly, before looking back up at him, half disbelief, half wonder. “Silas. He was huge.”

“All the more reason to stand up to him,” Silas said. “Guys like him are used to getting their way just because they’re big and mean. He was a bully, Riley.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt, though,” she said. “I mean, he could’ve…If I hadn’t…”

Silas smiled, a bit rueful. “You sound like Pip.”

He didn’t realize what he’d said until Riley didn’t answer.

“Want to go sit back down?” Silas said. “I think my adrenaline is wearing off and I don’t trust my legs at the moment.”

When they got back to the table, Riley was quiet for a moment, looking between Silas and her drink. Eventually, she said, “Pip was your friend, right? The one you grew up with.”

Silas took a deep breath and let it out before he answered. “Yeah. Yeah, he was my best friend. Brother, kind of. In a way.”

“You don’t talk about him much,” Riley pointed out.

“I know,” Silas said, nodding. “I just…I feel like I really messed things up with him when I left home, you know? It was…it was hard, is all.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“I know how you feel,” Riley said. “Leaving the circus was really hard, too.”

“Yeah?” Silas said, with a small smile. “What was it like, the circus? Seems like you enjoyed it.”

“Oh, it was great,” Riley said. “Everyone was great. I joined up to help pay off a debt I owed them, but…everyone was so nice to me. There was one lady, Rose- she taught me how to play the drums. They were just like…a big family.”

Silas thought about this for a moment before he spoke. “How’d you know you did the right thing, when you left?”

Riley gave Silas a sad smile.

“I don’t,” she said. “I loved the circus. But…I hadn’t found Val. And as long as I hadn’t, a piece of me was still missing. And as long as piece of me was missing…the circus…it was never going to be home.”

She paused for a second before she added, “Does that make sense?”

Silas found it took him a long time to answer.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think it does.”

Riley looked like she wanted to say something more, but before she could, the music in the Tavern got a little more lively. A bard in the corner was playing a jig, and several patrons cheered and began to gather round him to dance.

Riley looked over at the crowd, then back over at Silas, he eyes shining.

Silas’ heart skipped a beat, already knowing what was coming. “Riley-“

“Let’s dance,” Riley said, smile broad. “Come on!”

“Hang on,” Silas said. “In front of people?”

“Well, yeah. That’s half the fun. Please, Silas?”

Silas raised an eyebrow, still apprehensive. Riley gave him a fake pout.

“Oh, come on,” she said. “I’m old now, remember? I only have so many dancing years left.”

Silas finally laughed, relenting. “Alright, alright. You’re lucky I’m very drunk.”

As if to accentuate his point, Silas took one last, long swig from his drink before he stood up. Riley grabbed his hand as he did so and led him over to the crowd.

Dancing with Riley wasn’t anything like he expected. He thought he would be awkward. uncomfortable. He was sure he’d embarrass himself.

But then they were both dancing in tune with the music, hand in hand, and Riley was smiling at him, and the world swirled around until it was just them, and Silas was laughing again, and his heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.

It was quite a while after the song ended that he realized he and Riley were still holding hands.

He felt heat creep into his cheeks, but he didn’t pull his hand out of Riley’s. Instead, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Riley looked down at their hands, then gave Silas a beaming smile that made his heart stutter for a moment.

“I have one more idea,” she said. “If you’re up for it.”

“I might be,” Silas said.

“I want to get on the roof,” Riley said, “So we can watch the stars. I bet they look amazing out here. What do you think?”

“I think,” Silas said, “They’ll throw us out of here if they catch us doing that.”

Riley thought about this for a moment.

“Well,” she said, “We’d better not get caught, then.”

Silas felt himself beginning to smile again.

“Alright,” he said. “I’m usually pretty good at that. Lead the way.”

They left the barfront together and headed towards the stairs up to the rooms.

“There has to be a window we can climb out of,” Riley said. “We can get to the roof from there.”

“Yeah, okay, just remember that climbing isn’t exactly my forte,” Silas said.

Riley laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you up.”

They made their way up to the top level of the little tavern, and as they rounded the corner into the hallway, Riley pointed ahead of them. There was a window set into the opposite wall.

Riley made a triumphant noise and quickly crossed the hallway to the window, Silas close behind. When she reached it, she opened it and stuck her head through.

“I can reach the roof from here!” she said. “Give me a sec and I’ll pull you up.”

“What in Creation are you doing?” A new voice said.

Riley pulled her head back inside as Silas turned towards the voice.

An elderly housekeeper had just exited one of the rooms and was looking at them with a glare, hands on her hips. She must have heard the noise and come outside to see what the source was.

“Oh,” Riley said, clearly struggling. “We, uh…”

The words came to Silas before he really knew what he was doing.

“We’re new hires,” he said. “Just started tonight. Barkeep sent us up because some customers were complaining of a draft. We’re just making sure the windows are closing right.”

The old woman sniffed.

“Be sure to check carefully,” she said. “I’ve been complaining about the draft for months.”

And she turned and made her way down the hallway, then down the stairs.

Silas let out a breath. “That could have ended badly.”

“Silas,” Riley said, with a laugh. “How did you know that would work?”

Silas shrugged. “Saw the hiring poster downstairs. Just gambled that she wouldn’t know who had or hadn’t been recently hired.”

Riley still looked amazed, so Silas added, with a small smile, “You always need a story when you’re up to no good.”

She grinned. “Is Seren a bad influence on you?”

Silas laughed. “No, more like Pip was. Come on, let’s go before she realizes no one actually sent us up here.”

As she turned and began to climb out of the window, Riley said, “Well, we’re definitely even for earlier.”

“I don’t know about that,” Silas said. “She didn’t look like the head smashing type, to be honest.”

“You never know,” Riley said, cheerfully. “Almost got it…there!”

Riley’s feet disappeared through the window as she climbed up onto the roof. Silas approached and stuck his head through the window, looking up at Riley.

Riley grinned and gave him a wave. “Ready?”

Silas reached up and offered his hand, and Riley pulled him up onto the roof. He’d been ready for it, but it still surprised him how easily Riley lifted him. His stomach dropped momentarily as his feet left the ground, but before he could panic, Riley was setting him down again beside her.

He took a deep breath as his stomach settled, and pulled his knees up to his chest. The night air was chilly, and it felt refreshing in contrast with the heat from the day.

Riley nudged him after a second and he glanced over at her. She pointed above them at the sky.

“See?” she said. “That’s why we’re up here.”

Silas looked up, and his breath caught for a moment as he took in the stars above him.

With so little cloud cover, all of the heavens were out for them to see. Shining and vast and a hundred different colors, sparking like winking eyes in the night.

“Whoa,” he said,

“Yeah,” Riley said, a bit wistful. “Almost as good as the mountains. That’s worth a little danger, right?”

“Pretty sure we’ve faced worse for less,” Silas said, and Riley laughed.

It was quiet for a moment, both of them taking in the night.

“Hey, Riley?” Silas said, voice quiet. “Thanks. For inviting me out here.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” she said. “I wanted you to come.”

Silas felt himself blushing again. “Well. Still. Thanks for wanting me along. I think…I think I really needed this.

Riley gave him a smile.

“I’m always here,” she said. “If you ever need this again. Or, well. Anything, for that matter.”

Silas was quiet as he processed this. It was a long while before he spoke.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Riley said. “Of course you can.”

Silas took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he’d talked to anyone about this.

“I didn’t tell the whole truth,” he said, “When I said I didn’t know anything about my dad. I know his name is Aedan. I know he was a druid who went back to his Grove before I was born.”

Riley looked over at him, surprised, but didn’t answer.

“He’s the reason I left home,” Silas went on. “I want to find him. The Grove I joined was his, but by the time I got there, he’d left again. I know it’s a long-shot at this point, actually finding him, but…I mean, there’s so much I don’t know about him. He’s the only family I have left.”

He rested his chin on his knees.

“I don’t want to give up on the chance of that,” he said. “I just. I want a chance to know.”

“So all your traveling,” Riley said, “Leaving Pip, and then the Grove…”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve been chasing him. Or trying to, anyway.”

“It must have been hard,” Riley said.

“It was,” Silas said. “It is. I loved Pip. Leaving him…it was the hardest choice I ever made. And the Grove treated me like family. They would have taken care of me. But…I don’t know. As long as my dad’s out there somewhere, and I don’t know him, I…I don’t think I could’ve bared staying put.”

He glanced over at her and saw the question in her face.

He shrugged. “They were never going to be home.”

Riley didn’t answer, but the question disappeared.

It was quiet for a long time after that.

Riley broke the silence. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything,” Silas said.

She hesitated before going on. “I’m…kind of nervous about seeing my sister again.”

“Really?” Silas asked. “Why?”

“I…” Riley started, then trailed off. “I don’t really know. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. Yeah. Never mind.”

Silas studied Riley’s expression for a second, concerned. But the moment had passed, the temporary uncertainty gone from her face.

“You sure?” Silas asked. “Because, you know…I’m here if you need me, too.”

“I know,” Riley said. “Really, I’m okay. Just thinking too much, I guess.”

this didn’t do much to reassure Silas, but he let the issue drop. He didn’t want to push Riley too much.

“Do you really think we’ll find them?” he asked instead.

Riley nodded, fervently. “Of course I do. Don’t you?”

“It’s just hard sometimes,” he said. “I mean. All I have is a name. I don’t know what my dad looks like, or if he’s even still alive…”

Riley paused before she answered.

“You’ll find him,” she said. “And if you don’t…you’ll still have us, right? And me, too. You’ll still have me. That might not be quite as good, but…”

She trailed off, but her point was made. Silas stared at her for a moment, a funny feeling in his chest. He felt like he wanted to say something, like he should say something, but he couldn’t find the words.

He wasn’t sure what gave him the courage to lay his head against Riley’s arm then. Maybe it was the drinking, or Riley’s kindness, or his own sense of calm, or a strange mix of the three. But Riley didn’t pull away, and neither did he. He closed his eyes.

“I’m really glad I met you,” he said.

There was more he wanted to say. You’re wonderful, maybe. Or, How do you always make me feel like the world isn’t ending? Or Hey, I think I really, really like you. Is that okay?

But the evening hadn’t given him quite that much courage.

There were a few seconds of silence before he heard Riley answer.

“Me, too.”

Silas didn’t say anything else. He sat with his eyes closed and his head against Riley’s arm, listening to the sounds of the night.

It had been a long time since he’d felt this at-peace. This happy.

He wasn’t sure he wanted the night to end.

He woke up in the pillow fort he and Riley had built, his head pounding and light streaming through the gaps in the sheets.

He sat up, looking around.

He’d fallen asleep? On the roof, of all places. On Riley.

She must have carried him inside and helped him get into bed.

A strange mix of fondness and embarrassment settled into his stomach.

He slowly got up and left the fort. Riley wasn’t in the room. He figured she had gone down to breakfast, so he changed into some fresh clothes and followed her. Sure enough, he found her at a table downstairs, with several plates of food and another familiar face.

“Morning,” he said, as he sat down across from Riley and Mara.

“Hey,” Riley said, giving him a smile as she pushed one of the plates his way. “Sorry, I wanted to let you sleep.”

“How do you feel?” Mara asked.

“I’ve felt worse,” he said. “Just a headache. You here to cure our hangovers?”

“That was the idea,” they said. “Seren told me I should come over. But it looks like you two are okay.”

Silas raised an eyebrow. “Seren told you to check on us?”

Mara smiled sheepishly. “Well, not in as many words. I think her exact words at breakfast were, ‘Riley and Silas were at the Lying Loch last night. Bet they’re regretting their choices right now.’ Then she gave me a look and left the table.”

Silas shrugged and took a bite of his toast. “Close enough.”

Mara laughed. “I’ll get going then,” they said. “I’m supposed to go into town with Rhogar soon. Don’t overdo it, okay?”

“We won’t,” Riley said. “Thanks, Mara.”

When it was just the two of them again, Silas said, “Sorry about last night. Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you. Literally.”

Riley smiled. “Oh, it’s fine! I’m just glad I got you back without waking you up.”

“That really was some night, huh?” Silas said.

“I had fun,” Riley said. “Did you?”

“Yeah, Silas said, smiling now too. “A lot of fun.”

“Well,” Riley said, “We do have our room for two more nights. Think they’ll be as eventful?”

Silas’ smile grew, a warmth growing in him at the prospect. Once again the future didn’t seem quite as scary. And once again, he had Riley to thank for that.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But there’s only one way to find out.”

#Dungeons and Dragons #DnD #Kallende DnD Adventures #My Writing

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