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sergeantsporks · 4 days

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Gilded Family

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

Ch 39/39: Closure

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6 , Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36, Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 38.5

An alternate universe in which Evelyn managed to save Caleb after his confrontation with Phillip. The two of them escaped to present day through time pools, and have been using time pools to secretly rescue grimwalkers just after Belos attempts to kill them. The story follows Darius' mentor as he adjusts to his new life, as well as changes to the course of canon.

Ao3

Xxx

“I don’t know about this.”

Cyrus tried to turn around, but A.T. caught his shoulders, turning him around, and Phoenix gave him a push towards the townspeople cleaning up wreckage and graffiti. Most importantly, towards the blue demon boy stabilizing a broken wall.

“Do you like him, or no?”

“I mean, yes,” Cyrus replied, “But we went on one sort-of date ages ago, before everything went screwy! What if he doesn’t like me anymore? What if he doesn’t even remember it?”

“You were halfway through a date before you were suddenly interrupted and dragged off by your family, and then a wild witch showed up and was chased through the streets,” A.T. reminded him, “How could he forget that date?”

“Yes, but what if the whole concealment stone thing drives him away? What if—if—”

“What if he’s got terrible amnesia?” A.T. suggested, “What if he’s got a new boyfriend? What if I unhinge my jaw and swallow him whole before you have the chance to speak to him?”

“What?” Phoenix and Cyrus asked in unison.

“Exactly, it’s all impossible. Go talk to him.”

Cyrus didn’t look too convinced, but he also seemed too startled by A.T.’s statement to protest, and made his way towards his one-time date. He waved awkwardly, saying something Phoenix couldn’t hear. The demon left his work, dusting his hands off, and tilting his head in a question. Cyrus pulled out his concealment stone, put it on, transformed, then took it off when his partner’s eyes lit up with recognition. He put the stone back in his pocket, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I’m actually super terrible for lying and you should never even look at me again,” A.T. mimed in a terrible imitation of Cyrus—a truly impressive feat, given how much his natural voice already sounded like their sibling. “I don’t think I’m worth it, even though I totally deserve a spectacular boyfriend!” He switched his voice to a lower pitch when the demon spoke up. A.T. even imitated his tentative hand one Cyrus’ arm.

“Wow, you look so much better without the concealment stone! Let’s get married forever!”

“I don’t think that’s what he’s saying.”

“Could be. You don’t know.”

Cyrus said something else, glancing back at A.T. and Phoenix. A.T. waved when the demon looked over, but the demon barely seemed to see him, his eyes latching onto Phoenix and sparking with something that was almost recognition, but fogged over by confusion.

Right. I ran into him when he was a puppet.

Phoenix wondered how many other former puppets would look at him with that unease, that sense of not quite remembering why he made them uncomfortable, but knowing somewhere in their unconscious mind that he’d played with the Collector, stood by while they were paraded around helplessly.

But Cyrus’ date shook himself, waved back at A.T., and turned back to Cyrus, enthusiastically explaining the work he was doing with a lot of arm waving. Cyrus went along with him, a small, happy smile blooming on his face.

“Aw, well, that’s sweet.” A.T. tugged his hair. “Boy, this place looks different. I hope they don’t rebuild it the exact same. I’d like to see something new.”

“Well, for one thing, there won’t be specialized cells for wild witches,” someone said behind them, “Thank the titan for that.”

A short witch grinned at them. She looked familiar, but Phoenix couldn’t quite place why until she nodded at an alleyway. “Seems like just yesterday you lot helped me out of here, and now, well, I’m back! This time without the chasing, hopefully. Where’s your little friend, the one with the jokes? And the older one?”

“Oh!” Phoenix blurted out. “The witch at the coven day—hey! You made it past the day of unity?”

“Mhm. One of the Collector’s little spies picked me up later, but I’m back now. You would not believe all the apologies I’ve been getting. It’s going to go to my head if I’m not careful. Maybe I should set some scaffolding on fire and give them a new reason to chase me out of town, for old times’ sake. Or at the least to test how far their ‘we’re so sorry, wild witches were right’ sentiments go.”

A.T. reached into his pocket and wordlessly held out a box of matches.

“Did you just have those on you?” Phoenix asked.

“You never know when you’ll have to light a fire,” A.T. remarked serenely, “Just ask Frank.”

The wild witch barked a laugh. “I like you. I’m Annette Thompson; what do they put on your wanted posters?”

A.T.’s face burst into a wide grin. “Matching initials!”

“What’s yours stand for, then?”

“I’ve been told not to ask,” Phoenix told her.

“Oh, a mystery?”

A.T. wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “One that is unlocked after we light enough fires together.”

Annette laughed again. “I suppose we better start, then.”

“Please don’t light anything too important on fire,” Phoenix called desperately after them, “Or better yet—no fires!”

Cyrus jogged over just as A.T. and Annette disappeared into the construction. “I think I need to quit distracting Raphael right now, but he told me when he gets off of construction work, and… where’s A.T. gone off to?”

“To light a fire? I think? He’s made a friend. Or… partner in crime? Possibly both.”

Alarm flashed across Cyrus’ face. “We should be worried, right? We should stop them? They’re just rebuilding.”

Phoenix waved a hand. “I’m sure it’s… fine. Ish.”

“Mm.” Cyrus squinted at the bustling streets. “I guess as long as he doesn’t light anything huge on fire in the middle of my second date.”

“On second thought, I think I’ll go find them.”

Xxx

“I’m leaving.”

Caleb glanced up at Joseph’s declaration, still mostly-engrossed in kneading bread dough for dinner. “Thanks for letting me know. What time do you think you’ll be back?”

“No, I mean, I’m leaving. To go do something else. I won’t be around for… I don’t know how long.”

Phoenix and Frank glanced at each other, but quietly kept chopping up vegetables, pretending they weren’t listening to every word.

“Oh.” Caleb struggled for words, finally managing a simple “I see.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong!” Joseph said quickly. Despite the confidence he’d originally announced himself with, he brimmed with nervous energy, turning a loose griffin feather over and over in his hands, “I love you, and I love the family, and I’ll definitely come back to visit, I just think…” He took a deep breath. “I want to go somewhere else. I’ve been in the same place for so long—and before that, I was with Belos. Now that our home is gone, and we’re rebuilding, and everything is changing anyway… I want to go up to the hand.”

He waved his hands, his nervous energy transforming into excitement. “I mean—the arm is sticking straight up! It’s taller than the Knee now—there’s no telling how the ecosystem up there is going to shift. Plants are going to change to fit the new shape, and the animals are going to have to adapt—and I want to see it. I want to see all the new creatures this brings, I want to see how the old creatures adapt or move somewhere new, or just fail… and I just want to get out and see everything the Isles has. I want to study beasts where they are, out in their natural environments, and I can’t do that if I stay here. I need to go. Please.”

“Okay,” Caleb said slowly. He wiped flour off his hands. “You don’t need my permission, you know that, right?” A wobbly smile appeared on his face. “I gave all of you the choice to leave or stay, remember? I never said that choice had to be permanent.”

Joseph’s shoulders visibly sank in relief. “Thank you.”

“What about the griffins?” Frank asked, finally breaking the unspoken treaty of silence between he and Phoenix.

“I thought—” Joseph rubbed the back of his neck. “—that is—if it’s alright—I thought I’d take Lucy. That’ll make the space restraints with moving closer to town less of an issue. The other griffins I think will be alright as long as they’re fed and exercised, but Lucy… anyway, this—it means the world to me.”

Caleb gave him a small, sad smile. “Permission to…?”

Joseph grabbed Caleb in a bear hug, squeezing so tightly that Phoenix thought he heard Caleb’s back pop. “Thank you, Dad,” he mumbled, his voice thick, “Thank you for everything.”

Caleb hugged back just as tightly. “I’m going to miss you. But I hope wherever you go—I hope you’re happy. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope… I hope…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, instead giving Joseph one last squeeze and letting go.

“Say goodbye to your mom, too, okay?”

“Of course. And everyone—I wouldn’t just disappear. Of course not.”

Joseph wandered out of the kitchen, searching for Evelyn, and Caleb sat down with a whump.

“Are you okay?” Phoenix asked quietly.

He managed a tired smile. “Of course, of course. I always knew that someday… I mean, I hoped that one day the world would be safe enough for you. I think I always sort of knew that the house was too small, and that one day some of you might want to leave.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t believe any amount of time would have actually prepared me for it.”

Phoenix thought of the first time he’d seen Darius after Belos’ attack—how he’d suddenly looked so grown up, how the realization that he didn’t need a mentor anymore had punched him in the gut. “No,” he agreed, “I don’t think it would.”

Caleb took a deep breath. “Things are changing right now,” he admitted, “We’ve been… living in a bubble. The only surprises were when one of you would join the house. But now… now the world’s opened up to us, and nothing will be the same.” He gave Phoenix and Frank a tired smile. “At risk of sounding like my brother, I’m not quite sure I’m ready for the change.”

Frank chuckled. “Now you know how we felt when we woke up in a different century.” He shrugged and chopped furiously at the vegetables on the board. “Things are going to be different. But some things are going to be the same, like—” he yanked back from the cutting board with a short scream.

Phoenix dropped his knife, and Caleb jumped up immediately. “Are you okay?! Did you cut yourself?!”

“My arm!” Frank yelped, “I’ve chopped it in with the vegetables! I didn’t even notice! The whole thing’s gone!”

“Terrible,” Phoenix told him, picking his knife back up, “You are just awful.”

Frank grinned, cheerfully resuming his chopping. “And that is something you can count on never changing.

Xxx

The front of Darius’ house buzzed with activity. Lake and Locke even managed to drag Sam out, although he still fidgeted with that strange box Ghost had found. Joseph paced nervously back and forth, and Lucy eyed him like she might be on the verge of sitting on him. But despite the nervousness, the saddlebags on Lucy and the backpack on Joseph looked natural. Right, even. Even his clothes—he’d bundled up for the likely lower temperatures—seemed to fit him better. His eyes shone with a healthy, excited glow.

“I’ll miss you.”

Joseph tousled Jason’s hair, grinning when Jason pushed his hand away. “Don’t get too mopey over me, or Lucy might turn around midair just to squash you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come back soon, okay? I want to read about all the new things you find up there.”

“You’ll be the first to see the notes,” Joseph promised. He glanced over Jason’s head at Cherry. “Take care of them, yeah? Especially keep your eye on this one. He’s trouble. He’ll get another concussion if he can manage it.”

Jason stuck his tongue out.

“Always.” Cherry’s one eye flicked back and forth nervously, glancing up at the sky like he was hoping for some sudden terrible weather to appear and delay Joseph just a little longer. “Stay safe.

“Always,” Joseph echoed, “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.” He turned to Evelyn and Caleb. “Thank you.”

“You’ll always have a room with us,” Caleb told him, “You know that?”

“I know.”

Evelyn straightened his scarf. “Go find some new wild things. I just know you’ll figure out some way to befriend them.”

“Will do, ma’am.”

Joseph hugged Evelyn and Caleb, climbed on Lucy’s back, and clicked his tongue. The griffin sprang up into the air, her huge wings beating massive gusts of wind onto their heads. Soon, the two of them were just a speck in the sky, sailing towards the raised arm of the titan.

Xxx

“I can’t do it.”

Evelyn gave Auric a gentle shove towards Hexside’s doors. “Yes, you can.”

Auric scratched at the scars on his neck, balking. “I’m too old. Hexside stops at eighteen, and I’m twenty. They won’t let me.”

“I talked to Bump,” Phoenix reassured him, “He and I go back—and Darius talked to him about it, too. You’re not going to be a regular student, no, but the healing teacher agreed to take you on after school, and help you transition into healing-specific schools for graduates. Like an apprenticeship.”

“I don’t have magic,” Auric replied, changing tack, “I can’t do the kinds of… I can’t do it. I’m never going to be as good as them, so—”

“Hey,” Evelyn said sharply, “Who kept Caleb and I from bleeding out?”

“You would have died without the pain sharing spell, I—”

“Who patched up all the refugees when I couldn’t heal anyone?” Evelyn demanded.

“Those weren’t life-threatening injuries, it wasn’t even—”

“You splinted and casted Clara’s broken bone and kept her cheerful,” Phoenix offered, “You were the first one to realize something was wrong with my arms.”

“You stitched Matt up when he came home injured,” Evelyn added, “Face it, Auric—you’re as good a healer as anyone. Magic or no. Magic healers have it easy—we draw a circle, and the wound disappears. But you? You have to put so much thought into what you’re doing, and you have to do it quick. You are incredible, Auric.”

Auric scratched at his neck again. “I’m just not sure.”

“If you really don’t want to do this, then we can go back home,” Evelyn said softly, “But I want you to look me in the eye and tell me with absolute certainty, that going to healing school is something you don’t want.”

Auric took a step back, then a step forward, hovering between Evelyn and the door. “You think I’ll really be able to do it?”

“Would I have put my life in your hands if I wasn’t absolutely certain?”

Auric took a deep breath, taking a decisive step towards Hexside’s doors. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Xxx

“Hey! Over here!”

A hand closed around Phoenix’s arm, pulling him into the empty kitchen. “Phoenix.” Matt laced his fingers together. “You were part of the emperor’s coven when it was actually, you know, a coven.”

Phoenix winced at the reminder. What was this about? “Yes?”

“So you were around a lot of people.”

Where was he going with this? “Yeeessss?”

“Do you know how to plan a party.”

Phoenix stared at him. “What.”

“A party. Do you know how to plan one? Cyrus and I were in town, and his boyfriend invited him to a housewarming party for one of the newly rebuilt houses—well, he invited me, too, but that was just to be polite, I’m not going. Anyway, the point is, I think a housewarming party sounds nice. We could have one for our house, once we’ve actually built it. It would be…” Matt waved a hand. “You know. A normal thing.”

“A normal thing,” Phoenix echoed.

“Something other people do. I think it might help us settle into the town better, you know? Break some of the tension.”

“Have you run this by Caleb and Evelyn yet?”

“I sort of wanted to surprise them. I’ll warn everyone else, of course, but if we’re going to get anywhere with this, first I need someone who can actually plan a party.”

“A party?” Like the word had summoned him, Darius seemed to materialize behind Phoenix. He arched one eyebrow at Matt. “And you asked Phoenix to help plan it?”

“Hey, I planned social functions.”

“The very fact that you just called a party a social function is proof that you aren’t up to the task. What party?”

Matt explained his plan, and Darius nodded slowly. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Who would you invite?”

“You, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Um… Cyrus’ boyfriend Raphael? Maybe that woman A.T. started hanging out with… I bet Jason will want to invite the kids. I guess we could invite the refugees who stayed with us, if anyone knows where they went.” Matt scratched the back of his head. “Do we know anyone else??

“Oh, titan,” Darius murmured under his breath.

“Eda and Lilith,” Phoenix volunteered, “Eber. I think that’s everyone.”

“Small party,” Darius commented.

“There’s over twenty of us, any party we host is already huge.”

“Fair enough.” Darius twirled a finger in the air. “If you’re after goodwill from the townsfolk, shouldn’t you invite some of them? Other than Cyrus’ boyfriend, that is.”

Matt winced. “Inviting strangers isn’t the best plan. I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but most of us aren’t exactly the trusting, openly friendly type.”

“I had noticed something of the sort, believe it or not,” Darius said dryly, “Why don’t you go people watch? Pick guests you don’t find threatening. People who aren’t likely to cause friction, accidentally or on purpose.”

“Reconnaissance. We can do that.”

Darius squeezed his eyes shut. “Reconnaissance. Oh, heavens. Please take Jason with you.”

Xxx

“Not that one. Not that one. Ooo, that one gave me an apology basket, let’s invite him.”

Phoenix glanced over at Annette. “You don’t have to help us.”

“Hey, if they’re not friendly towards a wild witch, they won’t be friendly towards your lively bunch either. My insight is incredibly valuable.”

“Hm.”

“Now might be a good time to test that elixir,” Jason commented mildly.

Phoenix glanced down at his arms. Matt had chosen the top a construction crane, of all places, to people-watch from. It had been a miracle—and Annette’s magic—that he’d gotten up here in the first place. And being out in the town without a concealment stone… it made his skin itch. The curse shifted uneasily, reacting to the stress. It was so ridiculous it almost made him laugh; he’d gotten through the Collector’s “games, the apocalypse, and attempted possession, but being up a little too high and getting a little stressed was making the curse react?

“Here goes nothing.” Phoenix tilted the golden bottle back. Eda had warned him not to let it sit in his mouth, but she hadn’t prepared him for the explosion of terrible flavors that washed over his tongue. He swallowed with a gag. “Tastes like burned animal hair,” he said with a grimace.

“But look.” Jason pointed at his arms. The curse settled back into his normal flesh. He could still feel it curled up inside of him, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, but it seemed… passive. Dormant. Almost like it was taking a nap. Some of the bone-weary exhaustion that seemed to stay no matter how long he slept faded into a background numbness.

“Huh. I guess… I’ll be asking Lilith for her recipe.”

“You think it’ll help long-term?”

Phoenix shrugged. “I know the curse has been useful sometimes, but… it’s a little hard on my arms.” He flexed his fingers, wondering at the difference that slight lift from exhaustion had made. “And I’m starting to think it might have been taking up a little more of my energy than I realized.”

Jason nudged his shoulder. “Sam could have told you that.”

“Yeah, yeah. He’d probably love to run a thousand tests on my day-to-day fatigue levels with and without elixirs.”

“Nah, he’s too busy with that box. Potion-brewing lessons for Phoenix, then. Mom will be ecstatic.” Jason kicked his legs aimlessly, watching the people down below. “You guys ever think about what you want to do now that we’re not on the run?”

“Mix as many kinds of magic together as I can,” Annette answered immediately, “Let’s test the ‘wild magic is dangerous’ theory. I bet some of it could be.”

“Oh, wow, you and A.T. really are perfect for each other. Matt?”

“Something normal.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know. I just want to live a normal life. Make some friends. Get a job. Maybe fall in love, start a family. Do something stupid and young.” Matt shrugged. “I lost my childhood and my teen years to Belos. Everything was one nonstop, horrifying adventure. Everything was some grand purpose. I kind of want to just have a boring life now.”

He heaved a sigh. “I had a choice, you know? Belos just sort of ditched me in the middle of the boiling sea, so when Caleb found me, I was dehydrated and exhausted, but not… dying. I chose to go with Caleb forward in time. I thought if Belos was already destined to be alive for centuries, there wouldn’t be any escaping him in my time. Now that we’ve actually finally gotten away from him… I just want to leave all that behind.”

Matt gave them all a quick smile. “Not that I’d leave the family behind, of course! I still want to be with you guys, I just…” He fell into a pensive silence, staring out at the people below. “I don’t know. I guess Joseph wasn’t the only one with an itch to get out there. This party, getting our foot in the door and helping Mom and Dad get back in the social life of the Isles… it just feels like the right thing to do before going. Not that I’d leave right after. I still don’t have any solid plans. But someday.”

Phoenix didn’t respond. He didn’t know how. It had been enough of a shock when Joseph had left. He’d known, of course, that things would change. Phoenix himself wouldn’t even be at the house on weekends anymore. But between Joseph leaving, Matt’s plan, Auric’s apprenticeship, and the appearance of new people in Cyrus and A.T.’s lives… everything was moving so fast. Maybe they’d stopped running for their lives, but their lives still kept running. He’d barely had the time to get used to the quiet life in the woods before it was completely overturned.

“Wow,” Jason said finally, “Have you told Mom or Dad yet? What about Ash?”

“I don’t want to spring this on them right now. I mean, with the house building, and everyone still healing, and Joseph just leaving… it’s not right. I don’t have a solid plan, and even if I left right after the party, that’s still months of house-building away.” Matt brushed his hair out of his face. “So… don’t tell anyone just yet, yeah?

“My lips are sealed,” Jason promised. He pointed down at the street. “That one, Annette, they stopped to feed a stray, put them on the list.” He sighed. “Wish I had a plan.”

Phoenix ruffled his hair. “You’re eighteen. Give yourself a minute.”

Jason pushed at his hand. “Hunter has it all figured out, and he’s only sixteen! He already knows he’s going to be a palisman carver!”

“You’re not Hunter. Most of us don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t. Eda offered the idea of mentoring, but I don’t know if I’ll take it.”

Jason looked up at him with big, sparkling eyes. “Awwwwwwwww, but you’d be so good at it!”

“We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. Nice try.”

“Hey, I meant it. I wasn’t just trying to distract you.”

“Sure. Anyway, take it slow. Joseph knew what he wanted. Matt kind of knows what he wants. But you don’t have to have your whole life figured out just yet. I mean, everyone on the Isles is a bit displaced right now. There are tons of scouts who have no idea what they’re going to do with their lives now. Everyone’s shaken by what happened and wondering what we’ll do without the covens. So just… take it easy. Forget your entire future, let’s plan small. What do you want to do in the next few weeks?”

“Hm. I sort of want to go back to the human realm. Visit Camila. Maybe go back to the library there. Oh—and I want to take Novus. Phoenix, they have so much mechanical stuff there. I think he’ll explode. And I want to help look for where we’ll build the new house. Of course I’m going to help Matt with his guest list and party planning. And… why are you grinning like that?”

“No reason,” Phoenix said lightly, “It just sounds to me like you’ve got plenty of plans for the future.”

Jason wrinkled his nose at Phoenix. “Alright, point taken. But hey, there goes my point. You’re a great mentor.”

“Thanks.” Phoenix tousled Jason’s hair again. This time, he let him.

Xxx

Caleb eyed Phoenix critically. “You’re supposed to be resting your leg.”

He was, in fact, supposed to be sitting back at Darius’ house doing nothing, but Darius had left to deal with some Terra sighting, and almost everyone else was out close to their old home scouting for a new place to build. The whole place had been quiet, except for occasional mutterings from Sam while he fruitlessly searched for a way to open that stone box.

Phoenix sighed. “If I’m stuck sitting around resting my leg for five more minutes, the curse is going to take over from boredom and I’m going to run back into the woods.”

Caleb blinked twice. “Could that actually happen? Your curse activating from boredom, I mean?”

“I doubt it. Besides, I took an elixir today, it should be fine. I won’t move too much, I promise. I’ll find a spot to sit around out here. I just needed to get out.”

“Did you tell Sam you were leaving?”

“He’s not going to look up from that box for at least another twelve hours. He won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“He should just pour some explosive potion on that box and be done with it,” Novus suggested as he walked by, arms full of levels and angle-measurers, “Or cut into it. That’s the pragmatic thing to do.”

Caleb laughed. “It’s not about getting what’s inside for him, it’s about solving the puzzle. If he gives up, then I’ll let you at it with your tools.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“Anyway—you’re probably right, Phoenix, but still.”

“If Sam figures out I’m gone, he’ll probably just shrug and go back to the box. I don’t think he’s desperate to always have someone around. Unless he solves the box, in which case, he’ll tear over here immediately and demand to know why I wasn’t there to witness his moment of triumph.” Phoenix sat down on a log with a sigh. “I messaged Darius to tell him where I was going. Hopefully that’s enough.”

“Hopefully.”

Caleb wandered off, apparently satisfied that Phoenix wouldn’t rebreak his ankle. Phoenix sat on the stump watching his family. Novus kept laying out string where the house would be, testing different spots with his tools, while Lake casually picked the rope up and moved it just a couple inches to the left whenever he wasn’t looking. Matt wrote furiously in a small notebook—party plans, if Phoenix had to guess. Evelyn drew small circles, testing out her construction magic. Everywhere bustled with movement. If someone wasn’t actively making house plans, they were transporting construction materials, or overseeing everyone else.

“They don’t know how to sit still, do they?” Alex plopped down next to Phoenix. “Neither do you.” They shrugged. “I guess it’s good when we’re trying to build a house. What do you think they’ll find to do afterwards?”

“What do you mean?”

Alex gestured at the busy family. “When the house is finished, what do you think they’ll do? What will you do? None of us are good at stopping and staying still for a moment. We just keep going and going and going. So what are we supposed to do once we finish building the new house?”

“We just… live in it, I guess,” Phoenix answered slowly.

“Hm.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Alex shrugged. “Keep my feet on the ground, that’s the only thing I know for sure. Stay away from heights.”

“Seconded. How are the falling dreams? Have they gotten any better?”

“Careful, you sound like Dad.”

“Sorry, I just… you know, I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

“When you told me where you died—that’s how we found Ghost. So… thank you.”

“Oh. You’re welcome.” Alex went very still, staring pointedly at anything but Phoenix. “Hey, can I ask you something? And… do you promise not to tell anyone what I said?”

“Sure. But, uh… why me?” Surely there were other grimwalkers Alex was closer to. Phoenix had only ever spoken to them the once.

Alex eyed him critically. “Because you’re the only one who backed off, no questions asked, when I told you I just wanted space to process. I don’t know, I feel like I can trust you to understand. Um. Do you think it would be weird if I moved out of the house really soon?”

The question shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Joseph had already left, and Matt was planning on it—the moving fever was contagious. But still, Phoenix flinched at the idea of one more grimwalker leaving. “Well,” he said carefully, “I don’t think it would be… I mean, Joseph already broke the ice on that one.”

“I know.” Alex combed their fingers through their hair. “But Joseph was… Joseph. He was big. He was determined. He was capable of wrestling beasts and winning. He… well, he didn’t have a panic attack every time he tripped. What if Mom and Dad don’t think I’m ready?”

“They’ll let you anyway.”

“Right. But would it be weird? I mean, we’re building this house together, and then I… I wouldn’t be in it. They’d build a room for me, for what? For me to leave right after? I don’t want them to think I’ve wanted to leave this whole time and was just waiting for the all-clear.”

“Well, why do you want to leave?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you want to leave? Because you want space?”

“Oh. Yes. Something like that.” Alex twisted their hair and let it go. “Time. And space. And I love Mom and Dad and everyone, don’t get me wrong, they’re just… sometimes a little much. So. Um.” Alex gestured towards the town. “You know. Maybe I’ll leave. But I don’t want it to be…”

“Awkward?”

“Yes.”

“You should talk to them about it. I know that’s not your strong suit, but… give it a shot?”

“They’re busy right now.”

Phoenix watched as Novus gestured to Evelyn. She drew one glowing finger in a wide circle, and huge stone walls rose out of the ground where he’d laid out string, her eyes on his blueprints. Her free hand directed another circle, and abominations sludged their way towards the neat piles of tiles, shingles, glass panes, scooping them up and using the stone walls as a base to build windows and roofs.

“Not for long.”

Xxx

“Wow.” Phoenix’s voice echoed in the empty space. He hadn’t realized how everything in the old house had muffled sound until he stood in the empty rooms Evelyn had built. “This took two days?”

“And Evelyn will be passed out for about five,” Caleb said disapprovingly, “I wish she’d taken it slower.”

Lake bounced down a set of stairs, each footstep echoing off the walls and turning into a marching army. “Is Sam getting two rooms again? Because he’s already claimed one of the empty ones up there for his lab.”

“Oh, no,” Novus said casually, “I gave the house a couple of extra rooms for Ghost and Hunter, but I’m taking over the lab space for my work. Machinery will be far more useful than the glyphs now.” He laughed at Caleb’s stricken face. “I’m joking. There’s enough rooms for both. He can have a lab.”

Lake tilted their head. “Seems kinda… bare.”

“We’ll paint the walls,” Caleb promised. He moved through the space with a twinkle in his eye. “The kitchen will be here. Dining room right next to it, of course. What do you guys think of getting a family picture? I’ve always wanted one.”

“What about Achsah’s room?”

Caleb froze.

Lake scratched the back of their neck. “I mean… we saved some of her stuff. Some of the photographs were okay. We could try to set it all up again. But it won’t really be her room anymore. We’ll just be recreating it. Is that something you and Mom want?”

It was like in the absence of Locke, or Sam to bother, Lake had lost their usual goofy demeanor. Phoenix had never seen them be serious for more than two seconds—to drop this reminder on Caleb shocked Phoenix almost as much as it did their ortet.

“Um,” Caleb said in a strangled whisper, “I don’t know. I don’t…”

The kitchen and dining room area held a startling similarity to the old house—Novus had probably designed it that way on purpose. Caleb turned and wandered, half dazed, into the room that would have been Achsah’s back at home.

Lake watched him go passively. “That went well. Do you want to check out the rest of the house? Novus put a state of the art hidden room behind the dining room. The wall slides out and everything.”

“You’re not going to go check on him?”

“Nah, he needs a second by himself.”

Lake wandered through the empty halls, and Phoenix followed. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?”

Phoenix struggled for a moment to find the right words. “Why you?” he said finally.

“Because Cherry already took one for the team and yelled at Dad for sacrificing himself.”

“Really? That’s it?”

Lake shrugged. “Locke and I overheard Cherry and Novus talk about it when they first showed us the plans—you know how we like to lurk. Lurking is our favorite. Anyway, Cherry told Novus to just leave it in the plans, and we’d get there later, but, well, like I said, Cherry already did the lecture. Someone else’s turn to be the bearer of unwanted news.” Lake blew a strand of hair out of their face. “Would have loved for it to be Sam, Mr. Logic of Logics, but, well.”

They opened a door. Sure enough, Sam had claimed a space for a lab. Right now, he sat on the floor, twisting pieces of the box. He looked up.

“The box is a gridded cube!” he called excitedly, “Jason has compared it to something in the human realm called a ‘rubik’s cube’ and promised to find me one whenever he next visits. I just have to find the right combination…”

Lake closed the door. “You see the problem. Anyway, Locke and I rock-paper-scissors over it, which he ALWAYS wins, you would not BELIEVE how effective it is when he yells out his choice after I’ve already put my hand out. So I was Mr. Logic of Logics today.” They scratched the back of their head. “Not my favorite of jobs. I tried to channel Sam energy, how’d I do?”

Phoenix shook his head. “How do you do that?”

“What, channel Sam energy? It’s very easy, I just think ‘books, books, books’ in my head over and over again until I’m sufficiently stuffy and sneezing out big words.”

“No, I mean you and Locke—how do you stay so…”

“Charming?”

“…upbeat,” Phoenix finished.

Lake shook their head sadly. “It’s all a coping mechanism, we’re so sad and we cover it up with jokes so that no one will see the empty pit of despair welling up inside.” They grinned, immediately dispelling any thought Phoenix might have had that they were being serious. “Look, Phoenix. You just have to stop taking everything so seriously. We beat Belos! We survived! You’re on track for managing your curse! We’re building a great big house! We fought hard. Now enjoy the spoils.”

Loud banging echoed through the house, metal on wood. Lake glanced at an imaginary watch. “It appears to be checking on Dad o’clock.”

Caleb had left “Achsah’s” room. Instead, he sat in the empty place where the kitchen would be, building a table. He gave Phoenix a cheerful grin. “Been a while since I’ve done any woodworking.”

“You seem… chipper,” Phoenix said cautiously.

“Oh, for Titan’s sake, I can’t do this,” Lake whispered under their breath. They disappeared, and came back with Sam. “Go,” they ordered, pointing him towards Caleb.

Sam blinked, as if disoriented by how fast Lake had separated him from the cube and dragged him here. “Nice table. Avoiding our problems again?”

“I’m not avoiding anything. We need furniture if we’re going to live in this house. I’m solving problems.”

“Very reasonable,” Sam agreed, “How about that problem of Achsah’s room?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Phoenix sighed. This was going nowhere. “Are you okay?” he asked Caleb, “I know this can’t be easy. I know how much keeping her room meant to you.”

Caleb’s hand shook on his hammer. “I knew she wasn’t coming back. I mean, Eda and Lilith existing made that painfully clear. I guess I just hoped… But Lake’s right, aren’t they? It’s not her room anymore. The room’s gone, she’s gone…”

“It’s not wrong to want a reminder,” Phoenix said quietly, “You don’t have to forget her.”

“I don’t think I ever could.”

“You don’t have to decide now,” Sam chimed in, “You can leave the room empty for now. Leave it for last. Besides, you should probably talk to Mom before making a decision.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Caleb gave the three of them a wan smile. “Thank you.”

“Except Lake for bringing it up,” Sam added.

“No. Lake, too.” Caleb took a deep breath. “I’ll think about it.”

He turned back to the table, but the hammering seemed less desperate now. Phoenix swung out at the obvious dismissal, followed closely by Lake.

“Nice handling,” Lake told him, “Next time, I’m leaving the hard discussions to you.”

“No, thanks. I’ve had enough difficult discussions recently, and I don’t need one more.”

Lake gave him a lopsided grin. “Loosen up, remember? Makes the hard stuff easier.”

They disappeared back up the stairs, leaving nothing behind but the echo of their footsteps.

Enjoy the spoils.

Phoenix took a deep breath, looking around the new house with a small smile. They still had plenty to worry about—making this place home, what to do about Achsah’s room, Matt’s upcoming plans—but for now… maybe Lake was right. Maybe it was time to let go.

Days blurred into weeks of painting and building, moving one room at a time. Kitchen and dining room first, so that they’d have somewhere to cook and eat. Caleb set chairs and tables he’d built in the dining room, beaming with pride. Then came the bathrooms, and the common rooms, and finally, Evelyn declared that they’d picked over the ruins enough, and they wouldn’t find anything else, so they might as well start on their rooms. Phoenix still made the commute back to Bonesborough every weekend to see Darius and catch up on the Isles-wide reconstruction efforts.

Phoenix stared at the blank canvas of his wall. While Jason lined his room with books, and Mole lovingly set potted plants, Phoenix sat on his bed, wishing he could do something besides paint. Even before the house had been destroyed, he hadn’t been there long enough to make the room his own—and the time he did get was so hectic, he wasn’t even sure he’d had anything in the house to salvage.

“Going for the minimalistic approach, are we?” Darius asked from the door.

“Darius!” Phoenix jumped up from the bed. The cast had been cut off yesterday, but his ankle was so weak it almost folded underneath him immediately. “Hey—what are you doing here?”

“Getting all the stuff out of my living room. And having a top secret meeting with Matt about his party. You know, I’m not entirely certain he’s separated the idea of a party from coven work.”

“That sounds right.” Phoenix waved a hand at the walls. “What do you think? Bright purple for the walls?”

“Don’t you dare.” Darius looked around the room. “I know just about everything of yours was confiscated when you… disappeared… so I thought… ah, just take it.”

He handed Phoenix a photograph in a simple wooden frame, a photo of he and Darius during the mentorship. Phoenix gently brushed one hand over his photographed face. He’d gotten so used to the scars from Belos’ attack that seeing this photograph without them now felt strange and foreign. His face looked so… young. But even with the great grin plastered across his face in the photo while he headlocked Darius, a tired sadness seemed etched in his face.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, “I don’t remember this being taken—where did you find it?”

“My memories,” Darius replied casually, “I had a copy made.” He sighed. “I know things weren’t rosy perfect back then. I know so much happened to you that I never saw. And I know—or at least I hope—we’re headed towards a better chapter of our life now. But don’t forget the last chapter, eh?”

Phoenix set the photograph up on the dresser, sweeping elixir bottles to the side. “Never. And—Darius? Thank you. For the photo. For letting us stay with you. For… everything.”

“Anytime. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a top secret party meeting I must attend. I believe we are discussing snacks.”

Xxx

“I see someone—wait, no, that’s just someone’s abomination that’s gotten loose.” Jason all-but had his face pressed against the glass of the front window, watching out for incoming guests. “They’ll come, right? I mean, of course our friends will show, but given that half the point is to get the townspeople used to the look-alike family that wandered out of the woods, we really need some people we don’t know.”

“I’m sure they will,” Phoenix assured him, but he watched equally carefully.

“Oh!” Jason yanked back from the window, opening the door and sprinting down the careful garden path, currently devoid of an actual garden. “Willow! Gus! Amity! Luz!” He bowed to Willow with a flourish. “Lord of Bats.”

She returned his over-the-top bow with one of her own. “House of Crows. How lovely to see you again.”

“It’s been three days,” Amity reminded them.

They both laughed, and Jason led the kids towards the door.

“Eda and Lilith are on their way with King,” Luz told Phoenix, “They’ll be here soon. I might take King home at some point, though. Don’t want him up too late and all.”

A loud gasp sounded from the path, and a witch from town clutched her chest. “I—I just thought I was meeting the new neighbors,” she stammered, “I didn’t know that Luz the human would be here—and did you say the owl lady was coming?”

“Yesssss?” Luz said uncertainly, as if unsure whether this information would scare the witch off or not.

“Oh. Oh, my. Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

She dashed off back towards town, and Luz winced. “I think your guest list might have just gotten a bit bigger.”

That didn’t bode well. They’d kept the invitations small on purpose—not that anyone but Matt and Darius really knew who was coming, but still, Phoenix thought some of the others might notice if too many people showed up.

Eda, Lilith, and King arrived in a rush of feathers and a bag of elixirs pushed into Phoenix’s arms. He answered Lilith’s seemingly endless questions on their effects, wondering vaguely if anyone had warned Caleb and Evelyn they were coming, but mostly focused on the steady trickle of strangers now coming towards the house.

Caleb and Evelyn wandered into the living room, stopping dead when they spotted Lilith and Eda. Phoenix winced. Caleb didn’t look much like his descendants, but their resemblance to Evelyn was impossible to deny. He could practically see the wheels ticking in Eda’s head. But before she could say anything, the other guests reached the house and she was swept away in a tide of questions and admirations. Luz looked similarly swamped.

“Well, this wasn’t in the plans.” Matt stood on the stairs, chewing thoughtfully on a pen. “I should have guessed something would go wrong. I need to warn Silver.”

The mobs around Eda and Luz split into a third group, buzzing around Darius the moment he walked through the door. He arched one eyebrow at Matt, who winced and shrugged.

“Well, we’re getting a reputation for being well-connected,” Locke said at Phoenix’s elbow, “Fantastic, I’m sure this will hold no negative consequences.” He grinned. “We should invite celebrities over more often.”

Babble surrounded Phoenix as people slowly got over their star-struck awe and spread out. They stuck in small packs, townsfolk interacting with their neighbors, and grimwalkers talking to other grimwalkers. Both groups eyed each other uneasily, skirting around each other and only occasionally exchanging brief hellos and ‘excuse me’s.

“Ah, yes,” Locke deadpanned, “I can feel the house warming up already.” He stuck his nose into the air, shaking his head back and forth. “Can you feel that, Lake?”

As if summoned, Lake seemed to materialize at Phoenix’s other side. “No, Locke, what is it?”

“The tension! It’s so thick it’s starting to physically manife—”

Thump.

Muffled murmurs. Evelyn’s immediate sprint, pushing through guests and grimwalkers alike. “Give him space,” she ordered.

“Steven,” Jason breathed, “He’s having a seizure—we need to move everyone away, there’s not enough space.”

More murmurs and exclamations. Across the room, Silver’s face was as white as a sheet, and they beelined for the nearest window, opening it and oh-so-casually leaning against the sill, prepared to leap out, if Phoenix had to guess.

This is bad.

It didn’t take Darius, party expert extraordinaire, to know that. People flocked naturally to a disaster—they’d crowd Steven, stress Silver, and probably panic themselves, which would only—

“Well, I think it’s time to move this party outside!” Locke hopped up on the stairs, raising their voice, “Do we have any plant witches in attendance tonight?”

Willow raised her hand, and a few others tentatively joined her.

“Who feels like a seed race?”

“What’s that?” someone called.

“Only the best way for a plant witch to show off their magical prowess! Winner gets to take home a rare human realm plant known as ‘mint,’ proven to thrive even in the Isles!”

A few ‘ooo’s rose up, and witches started to wander outdoors. Cherry had quickly assembled a circle of grimwalkers around Steven and Evelyn, blocking them from view while guests went outside.

Willow hung back, raising one eyebrow at Locke. “A seed race, huh? How come I’ve never heard of that before?”

“Because I made it up just now. Mole, you’ve got some seeds, right? Where did you want some of the plants in the garden to go? I’ll make it look natural.”

Caleb slumped against the banister. “Thank you, Locke.” Behind him, Steven slowly sat up, watched by Evelyn like a hawk.

“Hey, it’s what I do. Be a loud and annoying distraction. Just ask Sam!” Locke grinned, bouncing out the door. “Alright, three categories: speed, size, and healthiness! Line up!”

Caleb sighed, joining Evelyn and Steven.

Eda nudged Phoenix. “Hey, introduce me to your planner. We’ve been scheming up a quinceañera party for Luz, and so far, this party’s been a riot.”

“Wish it was less of one.”

She grinned and held out an elixir. “Bottoms up, kid.”

Phoenix glanced down. He hadn’t even noticed his arms had started to drip. Great. Another thing for the townsfolk to take home as a story. He gulped the elixir with a grimace. “Does the taste ever get better?”

“If anything, it gets worse. Ah, well, necessary evils and all that. Not to suddenly change the subject or anything, but do you mind explaining her?” Eda waved an accusing hand towards Evelyn.

“I think you’d better ask her. And Caleb.”

“Yeah, I kind of thought that would be your answer. Well, can’t blame me for trying the easy route.” Eda grabbed Lilith’s arm. “C’mon.”

“What? Where are we going?”

“Answer-hunting.”

Before they could approach Evelyn, Sam thumped down the stairs, puzzle box tucked under his arm. “Oh, is the party over already? Excellent, I didn’t actually want to go.”

Lilith gasped. “Ooo!” She pulled herself from Eda’s grip, reaching for the box. “May I? I love a good puzzle.”

“Be my guest.”

“Aaaaand I’ve lost her,” Eda muttered under her breath, “Right, just me then.” She squared her shoulders, and marched towards Caleb and Evelyn. Steven waved the two of them off with a tired smile, and the two nervously gestured towards Achsah’s room, still untouched.

“They are definitely going to botch the explanation,” Sam said cheerfully, “They always do.”

“Yeah…” Phoenix looked back at Steven to check if he was still upright. He was with Darius now, and the two of them spoke in low voices, occasionally glancing down at Steven’s burned-off sigil. Cherry stood only a few feet away, looking like he was desperately trying not to listen in and at the same time, straining to hear what was being said.

“You’re my WHAT?!” Eda’s voice squawked from Achsah’s room.

“Got it!” Lilith said triumphantly at the same time, “You were so close. I barely had to do anything.” She looked up. “What happened to Eda?”

Phoenix hurried to Achsah’s room, Darius and Steven forgotten. Eda jabbed a finger at him the moment he entered.

“You are not allowed to be my great uncle,” she told him, “Not allowed, do you hear me?”

“Sorry. I’ll try not to be.”

Lilith came in on Phoenix’s heels. “What’s going on?”

“They’re our ancestors, Lili. Our ancestors.”

“Oh,” Lilith said thoughtfully, “That makes sense. Fascinating.” She held out the box. “This is for you two, by the way. Someone called Achsah went great lengths to make sure it reached you through time.”

Caleb all-but snatched the opened box from her, his face pale. “Achsah?!”

Evelyn delicately lifted out a letter. Phoenix caught sight of a bracelet inside, hand-woven leather and beads. Evelyn scanned the letter, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Get Mole, please,” she whispered, and Sam was off. Mole arrived moments later, and Evelyn held up the letter. “Caleb, would you…?”

Caleb took the paper from her, his eyes devouring it like a starving man. “Dear Mom and Dad,” he read out loud, “I’ve buried this letter in a puzzle box under where the kitchen will be someday. I hope you finally get to work on that root cellar you always wanted, or else you won’t find it. Dad—” he choked up, and Evelyn took the letter.

“Dad, I know exactly what you’ve probably been doing since the moment the time pool washed away, and I want you to stop it. What happened wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s. For a while, I was sad, and lost, and wanted nothing more than for you to pop out of another pool and bring me back home.” Evelyn took a deep breath. “But since then, I’ve met some beautiful people, including my partner.”

Caleb took the letter back. “You two would love them, just as much as I love them. I wish the three of you could meet. While I write this, your grandkid is tearing through the house like a tiny terror. He’s got your nose, Dad, and Mom’s eyes. And the healer tells me I’ve got twins coming—isn’t that crazy? I’d do anything to protect them, and I know if you could have come back for me, you would have. But I want you to know that I’m happy here and now. I miss you every day, but I don’t regret the people I’ve met since. Please don’t be sad I’m gone.”

Caleb smiled at Mole. “This next part is for you. Say hi to your lookalike for me, Dad. If he’s anything like you, the ‘don’t blame yourself’ bit goes for him, too. I don’t regret rescuing him. I only wish I’d gotten to know him. Bet he’s awesome. I made a bracelet for him. I know he was passed out, so he probably didn’t see me at all, but it’s just something to remember me by. His younger/older sister.”

Mole sniffed, delicately lifting the bracelet out of the box and slipping it onto his wrist.

“I know we were hiding. I didn’t realize it first, but now that I’ve spent my life here trying to pretend I’ve always lived in this time, I can see it’s the same. Mom. Dad. I don’t want you to keep hiding. Whatever happens, get out there. Show the world who you are. All the love in both dimensions, Achsah.”

Caleb folded up the letter, and they all stood there for a long moment, no one saying anything. Finally, Evelyn took Caleb’s hand. “No more hiding,” she said softly.

“No more hiding,” Caleb echoed, “No more grieving.”

“Are you ready to show the world who we are?”

“If you are.”

Evelyn smiled, and together, she and Caleb walked out to meet the Isles.

Xxx

“Latissa.” Evelyn said the word carefully, like it might shatter in her mouth. “That’s an interesting choice. Any reason?”

Steven rubbed his arm where his sigil used to be. “Darius mentioned something—I know it’s gone, but…”

“The sigil experiments,” Phoenix breathed. That had to be what Darius and Steven had been talking about at the housewarming party. He touched his own mark. The Day of Unity was over, and with it, the danger of the draining spell. The sigils didn’t affect him, but countless witches couldn’t access all their magic—Alador led the way in sigil removal research, and Darius was right there with him.

Steven nodded. “The sigil experiments. I don’t think mine is the same as the modern sigils, since it almost killed me instantly, but Darius said getting a look at the earlier attempts might help them understand the ones we have now.”

“But you said it: you don’t have yours anymore,” Evelyn replied, “How are they going to study it?”

“Questions. Anecdotes. And… the seizures. Darius thinks they’re related.”

“We knew that.”

“Well, yes, but this might be—I mean, if what I know can help them, and if their research can stop the seizures entirely… even if they can’t, I want to help.” Steven shook his head. “I used that glove on other people, even knowing what it would do to them. I can’t change that, but… maybe I can make up for it by helping witches suffering from those sigils now.”

Evelyn chewed on her lip. “Latissa is a bit of a commute without a palisman,” she said finally, “What’s your plan?”

“I’d be staying there.” Steven shrugged, as if trying to make it seem like nothing. “There’s space—they converted the old police station into their center. I’m sure we can fit a bed.”

“I see. Do you—do you know how long you’d be there?” Evelyn’s voice held a sort of desperate casualness to it, like she was trying not to scare Steven off, but also didn’t quite want to let him go.

“Not forever.” Steven’s voice matched Evelyn’s, somehow both intensely normal and strained at the same time. “I’ll be back. Um. I mean, how long could it take, really?”

“How much is Alador like Sam?” Evelyn joked. She rubbed her arm. “Will you be okay? I should go with you.”

“What? Mom, they need you here.”

“But the seizures—if one happens—will Alador know what to do?”

“I’ll tell him,” Steven promised, “And I’m almost certain healers will be involved—I’ll be in the best possible place if something does go wrong. Besides home.”

“Hm.”

Steven took her hands. “Mom, I’ll be safe. I promise. This could be… it could be huge for me.”

“It could be.” Evelyn sighed, wrapping him in a hug. “Oh, I knew you all would grow up. I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Phoenix thought uneasily of Matt and Alex. Neither of them had announced their plans to leave yet, but maybe Evelyn suspected. Or maybe with Jason always off with the kids, and Auric always off at his new apprenticeship, and Phoenix gone every weekend, she just felt… lonely.

“I won’t be gone for long. Promise.”

Xxx

“Where was that you said? The wreckage of the keep? Again?” Darius pinched his nose, nodding along to the conversation on the other end of the raven phone. “I know—yes. No, we’ll look into it. I said we’ll look into it! Yes, lovely day to you too, goodbye.”

Phoenix winced, setting his weekend bag on the floor with a thump. “Bad time?”

Darius tossed the phone to the side, letting it fly to its perch. “It’s fine. Just Terra rearing her head again. Most of the scouts and coven heads settled in peacefully enough, but every couple of months…”

Phoenix shuddered. He doubted she’d come after him specifically, but part of him was tempted to start checking his drinks for poison. “Is it safe to leave her on the loose?”

“Unlikely. If anyone’s going to cause havoc, it’s going to be her. But the…” Darius heaved a sigh. “…CATs… are spread too thin. Between guarding the new palistrom tree, rebuilding what Belos and the Collector destroyed, and keeping the peace between disoriented and disillusioned citizens, we haven’t had a lot of time or manpower to spare towards tracking her down. And I don’t want to assign someone inexperienced to the job—we need someone who’s used to handling threats. Big ones. People who can corner her, and…” he tilted his head. “You have a thinking face on. You know someone, don’t you? One of your siblings?”

“Yes,” Phoenix said slowly, “Or—at least, I think so. Let me see that phone again?”

One short phone call and a griffin-flight later, Meleager, Horus, Hamlet, and Venari sat in Darius’ living room, studying pictures of Terra with matching frowns.

“Plant magic…” Meleager mused, “Fire and ice, then. I think I still have some leftover frost potions.”

“We need to get her off the ground,” Venari added, “The further she is from seeds and dirt, the harder it’ll be for her to get away.”

Hamlet scratched his head. “Coven head, though, so it’ll be tricky to separate her entirely—any capture method like nets or rope can’t be made of plant fibers, because she might be able to manipulate those.”

“Once we get her hands and feet immobilized, that won’t be as big of an issue,” Horus declared, “Focus on the capture—containment after should be comparatively easy.”

“Sounds like they’ve got this under control,” Darius murmured to Phoenix.

“They’ve been bored,” Phoenix replied equally quietly, “Oh, just—make sure you prioritize capturing Terra alive.”

Darius chuckled, then glanced at Phoenix and stopped abruptly. “Oh, you’re not kidding. They’ll—”

“Without hesitation.”

“Huh. Well, would it really be that much of a loss? Kidding,” he added quickly, “I’ll be sure to tell them.”

Phoenix shrugged. “I’ve got no love lost for Terra. But I don’t want them killing anyone, for sure. I don’t think that’s a path anyone wants them taking.”

“Hey.” Darius gave Phoenix a small smile. “Give them a little trust. They met Petro—I don’t think they’re in any hurry to go down the killing spree path.”

“Hm. I hope you’re right. They still might engage in some light torture, though.”

Darius squeezed his eyes shut. “Why do I feel like you handed me a bigger problem than the one you’ve solved?”

“They’ll be fine. Just…”

“Reiterate the capturing her alive part, yes, understood.”

“We’re going,” Venari declared, “We’ll see you in… what, 3 days at the worst?”

“We’re staking out the keep. We might come back to steal Dagger,” Meleager explained, “We got this, Phoenix, she’ll never poison anyone again.”

“Alive,” Darius warned, “Capture her alive!”

Horus gave him a thumbs-up, and the four of them disappeared out the door. Darius watched them go, the worry on his face shifting to a pensive, planning expression. “You know, if this goes well, I might have a few other hunts for them. Terra’s not the only one who’s clinging to her old power.”

Phoenix grinned. “I’m sure they’d like that very much.”

Xxx

“Oop—watch the root—”

Phoenix caught Mole’s arm at Jason’s warning, keeping him upright when he stumbled. “Maybe we should take off the blindfold?” he suggested, “The footing’s getting a little treacherous.”

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise!” Jason protested, “Maybe you could carry him?”

Mole’s nose scrunched up at the suggestion, and Phoenix shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think he wants that.”

“Well, we’re almost there anyway. Come on.”

Phoenix didn’t pick Mole up, but he held his arm out for Mole to cling to and guided him slowly over the forest floor. Mole gave him a brief grateful smile, jabbing one finger at the blindfold and heaving a fond sigh.

“He’s a bit excited,” Phoenix agreed, “He’s been taking trips out here with Hunter and Willow an awful lot, but they’ve been tight-lipped about it to me, too.”

“Okay, Phoenix, now you have to close your eyes, too!”

“I thought this was a surprise for Mole?” Phoenix protested.

“It is,” Hunter agreed, appearing at Phoenix’s elbow with Flapjack in his staff form, “But it’s a surprise for everyone. Don’t worry, I’ve got you two.”

Phoenix closed his eyes. Hunter’s hand closed over his arm, and he heard the tell-tale sound of a flash-step, his balance just ever-so-slightly thrown off at the sudden change in placement.

“Okay, open them,” Jason ordered.

Phoenix opened his eyes, and beside him, Mole took off the blindfold.

A massive blue tree towered over them, blooming with blue leaves and flowers. Phoenix had never seen a tree like this, but something about it seemed… familiar. His skin crawled with that feeling of just knowing something, deep inside, like how his curse recognized Belos, but more positive.

“Is that… palistrom?” he asked.

Mole stepped forward as if in a trance, putting one hand on the massive blue trunk. He nodded in answer to Phoenix’s question, pressing his forehead to the bark like it was an old friend. Silent tears streamed down his face, and Phoenix remembered just how long ago Mole had technically been born. He must have been used to seeing palistrom forests peppering the Isles, and had woken up suddenly in a world without them.

“The palisman this tree could make,” Phoenix murmured, “It grew so big so fast!”

“Willow had a lot to do with that part,” Hunter explained, “But, well, there’s a reason there was a shortage for so long.”

“Palistrom were kept strictly monitored by Belos,” Phoenix remembered, “You think he kept them small on purpose? Of course he did,” he answered his own question, “Why wouldn’t he? The more magic stifled, the better.”

Hunter fidgeted, twisting his hands around each other. Jason nudged him. “Go on,” he whispered, “Tell them.”

“Tell us what?”

“I’m going to be a palisman carver,” Hunter burst out, “Caleb’s taught me some, and I’ve been talking to Eda’s dad, Dell—he was a professional carver, you know—and he’s going to take me on as an apprentice.” He looked up at the tree, eyes shining. “With the way this tree’s been growing and flowering, we should be able to repopulate the Isles with palistrom in no time. Luckily, the palistrom is a self-pollinating plant. And even just a solid branch from this tree—anyone can have a palisman. Everyone can.” He scratched the back of his neck shyly. “I was thinking… I was thinking I could carve one for Caleb first. Since… you know. He carved my palisman.”

Phoenix smiled warmly. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“And… I could carve one for everyone in the family. Or you could adopt!” he added quickly, “The Bat Queen has dozens of palisman looking for a home. But yes. I could carve one. Hypothetically. No promises yet, I’m still learning, but—oh, okay, you hate the idea.”

“What?” Phoenix reached up to find tears running from his eyes. “No—no, Hunter, I don’t hate the idea, I…” he searched for the right words to describe how he felt. A palisman? For him? He’d never even considered it, not with the life he’d lived. The curse curled up inside him rumbled at the idea, but he couldn’t tell if it was the remnants of Belos protesting, the palisman eager for a palisman of their own outside of him, or something hungrier. “Is that a good idea?” he said finally, “I mean, with…” he gestured to his arms.

“Do you want one?” Jason asked.

“Yes.” The word slipped out of Phoenix’s mouth almost without a thought. He hadn’t realized he wanted one until now, but he knew it deep inside, watching Flapjack and Hunter. “I do.”

“Then we’ll find a way to make it work,” Jason said firmly, “Whatever that means.”

Mole nodded joining them. He pointed to himself, tilting his head in a question.

“Yeah, of course I can make one for you,” Hunter interpreted, “Any idea what you’d want? We can always go the egg route if not. Sounds pretty easy to carve, too.”

A mischievous grin crept over Mole’s face, and he pointed to himself again. Hunter frowned.

“I don’t know what you’re asking—sorry, we’ll figure it ou—”

Jason groaned. “Oh, no. You want a mole for a palisman, don’t you?”

Mole nodded vigorously, breaking off into peals of laughter. Phoenix groaned with Jason, but Mole’s laughter was infectious, and a smile took over his face despite himself.

Palisman for us. It didn’t seem right—not after all the palisman he’d handed over to Belos. Maybe Mole or Jason deserved one—after all, Belos had tried to kill Jason for protecting the little creatures. Phoenix? He’d never even considered another option besides giving them to their doom.

But Flapjack sat scarred and proud on Hunter’s shoulder despite everything, like a beacon saying it’s possible; you just have to want it enough, and the tree loomed over them, big, and beautiful, and strong despite what Belos had tried to do to its species, and right here, in this forest, Phoenix did want it.

We’ll find a way to make it work.

Xxx

Phoenix climbed out an attic hatch onto the roof—another holdover from the old house’s design. He didn’t quite join Cherry where he sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over, but he sat down close.

“I thought this was Jason’s brooding spot. Enjoying the view?”

Cherry glanced back at him. “It’s quieter than I thought it would be.”

“Hm?”

Cherry waved a hand at the town sprawling in the near distance. “I thought it would be noisy, living so much closer to other people. But in the evening, if I close my eyes, it’s almost like nothing’s changed. It’s like we’re still back in the forest, and we’re all together. No one’s left and gone where I can’t protect them. And then I open my eyes, and… it’s all so different now.”

“It’s not a bad thing. They’ll be okay.”

“Mm.” Cherry stared out over the town again, his hair almost red in the light of the setting sun. “You ever think it was strange, how close to Belos we were hiding? I mean, the third rib? We might as well have been on his doorstep. But we weren’t discovered. Somehow, we were never discovered. Somehow, Mom and Dad managed to save every one of us, no matter how badly we were injured. Isn’t that odd? We didn’t lose a single person.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Belos always said loss was so necessary, and I believed him. I saw it firsthand, how sometimes people had to be sacrificed. We were some of those people. But somehow, no one died. None of us—despite how many people we killed, not one of us went down. Why did we get to survive when so many people didn’t?” He chuckled, a low, humorless sound. “Doesn’t that seem so improbable, when you think about it? Belos might have been lying about the titan having plans for us, but sometimes it almost does feel like there’s some higher power out there who’s decided to keep us alive.”

“Or one determined human and witch.” Phoenix scooted closer to Cherry, eying the edge of the roof. “It does seem improbable,” he admitted, “People died—and we were responsible some of the time. But we all made it. Against the odds. I think this family is good at that.”

Cherry heaved a sigh. “But what’s the point, if we’re not going to stick together? What’s the point, if after everything, everyone goes their separate ways? We got so far, only to fall apart at the end.”

“We’re not falling apart.” Phoenix looked up at the moon and stars slowly replacing the sun as the brightest things in the sky. “You know… I used to see Darius every day. I’d take him with me on missions. I’d test his skills, but I was always there to protect him if something happened. But when I first woke up with Caleb and Evelyn… he’d grown. He was a capable adult who could handle himself. And that was a hard thing to accept. If he didn’t need me to protect him, if he didn’t need a mentor, then what use was I to him?”

Phoenix smiled. “But we haven’t fallen apart yet. Maybe he doesn’t need a mentor anymore. Maybe he doesn’t need my protection. But I think he still needs me. Just me, because I’m me and that’s enough of a reason.” Phoenix nudged Cherry’s shoulder. “It’s not going to be the same. They’re not going to be as close. They won’t always need your protection anymore. And that’s going to be difficult to get used to. But I don’t think they’ll ever stop needing you.”

Cherry watched the sun finally disappear completely over the horizon, silent until it was gone. “I don’t want our lives to change,” he said finally, “I think I’m glad for the others finding what they want, but I’m not sure who I am without them. I’ve been looking after them for so long, trying to forget the past for so long… I don’t want to be left alone with myself.”

“Hm.” Phoenix leaned back, finally kicking his legs over the edge of the roof and sitting fully next to Cherry. “Well. I can tell you some good news about that.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. Even if they all leave, even if we all go our separate ways, you aren’t going to be alone, Cherry. We will always have your back. We’ll only be one raven call away.”

A smile flashed across Cherry’s face. “You’re going to have to teach me how to use one.”

“Oh. Right.”

“But… thanks, Phoenix. For having my back.”

Xxx

Despite Phoenix’s late start, his room filled up over months of living. Mole commandeered his window space with new plants, human realm varieties that Camila shared. Light blue walls were quickly covered over with scribbles that Ghost had presented him, and photos Willow shared. She always seemed to be dropping by, picking up Hunter or Jason or both of them. Sometimes, even Mole went along to visit the palistrom tree. Little practice wood carvings that Hunter made with Caleb and Dell surrounded the photograph Darius had given to him. Hunter hadn’t carved any palisman for the family besides Mole’s mole, but one day, Jason came back from the human realm library with a massive book full of animal pictures that he and Phoenix pored over for hours, looking for a creature that felt right.

Jason tapped one foot. “We’re going to be late. Hunter and Willow are outside waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah, give me a second. We’ll have at least half an hour while Caleb and Flapjack catch up.” Phoenix drank an elixir. Today had been a good day for the curse, but he didn’t want to push it staying up late.

Jason wandered over to the window, peering into the garden. “He’s gotten taller than me,” he grumbled, “Traitor. I’ll be inconsolable if Ghost gets big like that. I cannot be the shortest in the family.”

Phoenix ruffled his hair, his arm braces clicking gently at the movement. “Aw, don’t you want to stay the baby forever? You don’t want to be Evelyn’s little snuggle buddy?”

“I will always be Mom’s little snuggle buddy, thank you very much, but that doesn’t mean I have to be the shortest. Ghost has to be shorter. They have to.”

“Do not.” Ghost wrinkled their nose at Jason from the doorway. “I’m gonna be so big. Gonna eat griffins. In one bite.”

“Don’t let Joseph hear you say that,” Phoenix joked, “He’ll disown you.”

Ghost squeaked, tugging on Phoenix’s arm. “Nee-Nee, it’s time to go,” they said impatiently, “I wanna see King.”

“Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Phoenix followed Ghost downstairs. Hunter chattered excitedly to Caleb about the palisman he was working on, and Willow gave Jason their customary bow and exchange of royal titles.

“I can just walk, right?” Phoenix asked Hunter.

“Low and slow,” Hunter promised.

“You never actually mean that,” Phoenix grumbled, but he sat behind Hunter anyway, picking Ghost up and holding them tightly in his lap.

Hunter did fly too fast and too high for Phoenix’s taste, but Willow and Jason still beat them by a mile, so he supposed Hunter had been taking it easy on him.

Ghost squirmed out of Phoenix’s lap almost before they’d completely landed, bolting to tackle King in a hug. The titan fell in mock defeat.

“Curses! You’ve defeated the king of the demons this time, little Ghost!”

“She’s coming!” Eda called, “Everyone ready?”

Luz walked through the door, and the quinceañera passed by in a blur of well-wishes and laughter. Phoenix exchanged smiles and hellos with what seemed like everyone on the Isles.

“You thought any more about the mentoring offer? The university’s really taking off.”

Phoenix smiled tiredly in response to Eda. “I’d need a way to get there. Getting Ghost to Hexside is going to be tricky enough.”

“Man. Get a palisman already, would ya?”

Eda’s grin dispelled any bite to the words, but Phoenix’s attention hung fully on the portal door hanging wide open behind her. He glanced around to make sure Ghost was safe—they chased happily after Flapjack, who Phoenix was relatively certain was one of the more responsible people here—and quickly pushed through into the human realm before he could convince himself not to.

Creak.

Phoenix’s eyes darted over furniture that formed monsters and familiar specters in the dark. Wait a minute…

“Petro?” he called, just in case.

“No,” Jason’s voice called from the basement, “Just me.”

Phoenix creaked his way down the stairs to the basement, wincing at every sound. He sat on the bottom of the stairs next to Jason. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jason gestured out towards the mound where Phoenix knew Belos’ remains lay. “Do you ever wake up and just… forget for a minute that he’s gone?”

Phoenix rubbed his arms. A part of Belos would always live in him, in the curse—for him the problem was more remembering that he was gone at all. “Sometimes,” he admitted, “I’m guessing you do.”

Jason sighed. “I know it’s been years, but… sometimes it just doesn’t feel real. Sometimes I feel like he’s still coming for me. I mean, after all he’s survived, how can I even truly be sure he’s gone?” He rested his chin on his knees. “I don’t know if I’ll ever really believe it.”

Phoenix chuckled dryly. “Can you imagine how furious he’d be if he was still alive?”

Jason cracked a smile at that. “A university of wild magic?” he joked, “He’s probably spinning in his grave fast enough to generate the electricity needed to power this whole neighborhood. Not to mention us.”

“Not to mention us,” Phoenix echoed, “He’d be devastated if he knew we were happy.”

“Guess we better keep being happy, then. Just to spite him.” Jason’s smile faded, and he went back to looking over Belos’ grave.

Phoenix nudged his shoulder. “Hey,” he said quietly, “He’s dead. For real this time. He’s not coming back. But when it feels like he might, when it feels like he’s going to jump out of nowhere and sink his claws into you… you know where to find me. Or Cherry. Or Caleb, or Evelyn, or Mole, or anyone else. You’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah. I think I am.”

Jason got up, stretching and offering his hand to Phoenix. “Let’s get out of here.”

Phoenix happily obeyed, following Jason back into light and laughter. Ghost wandered over, their eyelids drooping. Flapjack chirped an admonishment, tugging affectionately on their hair.

“Hey, Ghost,” Phoenix said quietly, crouching down next to them, “You all tired out?”

They rubbed their eyes. “I’m not sleepy,” they said stubbornly, in spite of their giant yawn, “I just… want to go to bed and rest my eyes.”

“Fair enough.” Phoenix scooped Ghost up, holding them as easily as if they were still a toddler. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

#YAY WE FINISHED IT IN TIME FOR GILDED'S BIRTHDAY!!!! BARELY BUT WE DID IT!!!#toh #the owl house #gilded family au #toh fanfiction #my writing #caleb wittebane #golden guard oc #evelyn clawthorne #willow park #hunter wittebane

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aeor-is-for-reccing · 1 year

Text

Shadowgast Recs: Featuring Astrid or Eadwulf

This week we have nine recs for fics that feature Astrid and/or Eadwulf behind the cut! Don't forget to comment or kudos on the stories!

Hard Mouth by road_rhythm (216254,Explicit) Warnings: Generally dark, torture, author chose not to warn.

While the Nein are in Aeor, Trent uses the dream spell to invade Caleb's mind. Things get worse from there.

Reccer says: The writing is extremely vivid and the story engrossing, but I also adore this version of Astrid

More Things than Heaven and Earth by kaeda (76998,Mature) Warnings: None

Caleb and Essek find themselves transported to what appears to be the plot of Tusk Love.

Reccer says: The fic starts off as a romp but consistently chooses to allow all of the characters a surprising amount of depth. Features a great Astrid and Eadwulf

Neighborhood Watch by timbrene (2800,Teen) Warnings: None!

Astrid notices a disguised Essek has set up residence at Caleb's home and sets out to investigate what he could be plotting.

Reccer says: Astrid and Eadwulf are both perfect in this, especially Astrid; her certainty that "Bren" is getting manipulated by this Dynasty elf who's definitely a threat to national security is such a funny messed-up Volstrecker twist on being concerned for your friend. It's heartwarming and will put a smile on your face.

look forward lest the past catch up by iniquiticity (11328,Explicit) Warnings: None

Astrid saves Essek from an assassination attempt, leaving him with a newfound appreciation for his own life.

Reccer says: There's just something about a near death experience that makes you want to go desperately make out with your sort of boyfriend, and this fic really captured that.

do you have enough love in your heart, to go and get your hands dirty? by SaltCore (4355,Mature) Warnings: Graphic descriptions of violence (offensive dunamancy), mentions of torture

Getting Bren out of a tight spot forced you into uncomfortable company, Astrid. As his friend heals him, take a little time to think about one member of the Mighty Nein, the one who helped, the one you trust the least.

Reccer says: This is a beautiful example of the "Astrid and Essek hissing at each other like angry cats because they're both concerned about Caleb" genre. The prose is gorgeous and very vivid, Astrid's POV is cutting and feels so much like her. All the characters are perfect. Highly recommend it.

you are what we could've been by vagabondfirelilly (2744,General) Warnings: None

Caleb lets it slip that he is married to Essek, while in the presence of his former lovers.

Reccer says: Very bittersweet, it's lovely to think about Caleb and Essek being married, but between the fic being written from Eadwulf's perspective, and the reaction this revelation illicits from Astrid, there's a real sense of pain and loss from what could've been.

The Annual Rexxentrum Cat Show by hanap (776,Teen) Warnings: None

Four wizards engage in many shenanigans to try winning the prestigious Annual Rexxentrum Cat Show.

Reccer says: It's fun! All four of this group really show off their wizardly competitive spirit in this fic, and it's a delight to read.

Cultivate a space for the things that hurt you most by PryingBlackbird (102212,Mature) Warnings: Main-character death (gets resurrected), Trent Ikithon, Blumenkids backstory

Astrid, Caleb, Eadwulf and Essek are complicated people who each battle their own demons. Their pahths keep crossing during this alternate retelling of late C2.

Reccer says: It creates a narrative of late C2 that features Astrid and Wulf more heavily and also has some nice Shadowgast slowburn. Also so much angst. The ending is a good one and a bit different from the campaign.

I'd hate to put us up against yesterday by joldiego (1485,Teen) Warnings: Feeblemind

Caleb and Essek show up at Astrid's place badly hurt; Essek under feeblemind

Reccer says: It's a very promising start, and I love the Astrid point of view

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast.Have any questions about what this is?

Check out the FAQ! Next week’s theme is Wild Magic!

#Critical Role #Shadowgast #essek thelyss #Caleb Widogast #astrid beck #Eadwulf Grieve #CR fic #Critical Role Fic #Fanfic Recs #CR Fic recs

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bookfangeek · 2 months

Note

Could you please provide a list of each one of the power pills friends/ other important people from their part of the webcomic? i keep getting confused between each character friends….😭

OC INFORMATION REQUESTED

Okay this is gonna be a long one strap in.

Also, have a little key for how important to the plot all the characters are

MAIN CHARACTER/VILLAIN | MAJOR PLAYER | MEDIUM PLAYER | MINOR PLAYER | JUST THERE TO GIVE A CHARACTER A FRIEND

TEAM SOUL SEER

CALEB BUDDE | SOUL SEER

The first member of the Power Pills. He's shy, awkward, and is somehow the unofficial leader of the Power Pills. Mostly everyone looks to him to make the final call on stuff because he's been around the longest.

GUY FOUST

Caleb's roommate and best friend. Went with Caleb during his first superhero mission and got physically shot while there.

KATE DHANANI

A friend of Guy's who eventually became a friend of Caleb's. She's the martial arts trainer for the Power Pills.

AVERY RODRIGUEZ

The first supervillain created by Future Tech. He's 16 years old and was given to Future Tech as an experiment by his parents in exchange for promotions.

TRAVIS BIRMAN

Guy's childhood friend and Merri's boyfriend. He's just the only friend character who doesn't know that his friend is a superhero.

TEAM WAX GUISE

DAN WIRSCH | WAX GUISE

The second member of the Power Pills. He's the literal embodiment of a theater kid. Despite his energetic and carefree attitude, he's one of the smartest members of the team.

JASON KENDI

Jason is Dan's roommate and the go-to costume designer for the Power Pills. He's a MASSIVE nerd and loves doing closet cosplay. He seems to have some kind of connection to Lightbringer.

LUCY CIPHER

The manager (and drum player) of Dan's band. She matches him in energy and personality.

NICO HYLAND

Lucy's fiancee and the keyboardist for Dan's band. He's the type to sit back and listen to Lucy's energetic ramblings for hours.

MAX ARMIJO

Dan's second roommate and lead guitarist for Dan's band. He's a more successful actor than Dan and does his best to help Dan get roles.

TEAM BULLETPROOF

MERRI BODKIN | BULLETPROOF

The third member of the Power Pills. She's a sweet-hearted individual with boundless optimism. She's the heart of the group. However a lot of her personality DOES come from the fact that she's a Catholic and her suppressed frustration tends to come out when she's fighting as Bulletproof in the form of a SUPER brutal fighting style.

AMBER LUPE

One of Merri's best friends. She is just as kind and sweet as Merri, but much less energetic.

PERCY VAN STONE

Merri's foil. She is energetic, she is bold, she loves everything Merri hates.

TEAM QUICKWIT

KRISTY EDA | QUICKWIT

The fourth member of the Power Pills and the resident "basically normal guy but with a bow" of the team. She's an independent artist trying to make it in the art world.

GEMMA VOSS

The sculptor to Kristy's painter. She has almost no shame and has no problems both speaking and acting her mind.

JAKE WESTLAKE

Probably also an artist of some kind but we haven't seen them do any sort of art so I'm not sure. They're relentlessly supportive of their friends.

TEAM STREAMLINE

Hahaaaa oh god sorry, Tate.

TATE PALMER | STREAMLINE

Tate is the fifth member of the Power Pills as well as the most energetic. She's a massive cosplayer and makes her living selling her work online.

TEAM THE WEB

(boy that one doesn't have a ring to it at ALL, does it)

SIBYL DEMIR | THE WEB

Sibyl is the sixth and newest member of the Power Pills. He's the resident scientist, studying biology. He's been through a lot, but once he settles into a network of supporting friends, he reveals that he is a a snarky, strong-willed man.

SEBASTIAN CROWL

A superpowered cult member who saved Sibyl and Caleb's lives when they were captured. He sacrificed himself to help the two of them escape. His status is unknown though he reassured Sibyl that the cult wouldn't kill him.

BENNY O'KEEFE

Benny is Sibyl's biology teacher and is the person who helped Sibyl through the darkest moment of his life.

VINNY RAMONE

Not seen onscreen, but he's Sibyl's ex.

JENNA BEGER

Sibyl's childhood friend who tried to trade away his life in order to join The Cult of Lacrima. Her status is also unknown.

TEAM ███████

MATT NOTTON

The recipient of the Pink Pill who needs to be put on a GODDAMN LEASH. The only pill candidate who decided to use their powers for selfish reasons.

DAMIEN BRIDGES

A man that Matt kidnapped in an attempt to learn how to control his powers. He's... god he's still there.

DALTON RENTFRO

Matt's teammate and a MASSIVE Matt hater.

OTHERS

????? | LIGHTBRINGER

The person who gives out the pills to the candidates. He's stoic but generally friendly.

??????

Only called "Scarecrow Lady" in comic so far, this is the woman who broke into Merri's dressing room in book 3 trying to kidnap her. Caleb erased her memory of their identities but she hinted that she had something "Way better" than her memories.

LONDON KURTZ

A mean girl who peeked in high school. She is obsessed with status.

PHYLLIS WORRALL

One of London's obligatory lackeys. The other of which, Lilith, apparently left London very recently for unknown reasons and has not been seen onscreen.

KRAVEN GREEVES

The owner of the martial arts dojo that the Power Pills train at. He knows what's going on with the superheroes, but he knows it's not his place to say anything.

And I reached the maximum number of images I can put on a post apparently so I have been hard capped here.

Btw if you want to see or ask more about my OCs you should check out @bookfanocs. I don't post much on there but you never know when I'll be inspired.

#Book Ask #Power Pills #Long Post

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markusmarcuswhatevers · 4 months

Note

idk I'm going insane HELP-

1st. Caleb "A Offering..." "He don't know what is gonna HIT him" Basically, he was HITTED by something heavy on HIS head. His body was below his bed, and it was found by Scary Girl, Zee, Ripper and Axel.

Musical reference: A offering... By My chemical romance The music is fully made of just a instrumental. But by the time the music stills plays, it slowly starts playing some Whisper's while the music loses it calm and chill tone. That's how the the day of his death was. It started all chill and calm and then it was ruined by his premonition and death.

2nd. Damien "Come into water" "There's nothing here, just you. Not counting with me and the water of course." Damien was all alone, cuz he was waiting for someone appear. But during this time, the killer found a him. He got killed by having right side of his through cutted, but he fall into the water and drowned cuz he couldn't move. His body was found by Scary girl and Axel

Musical Reference: come into water by mitski. Come into water with me blub blub

3rd. Zee. (SORRY MARK😭😭) "Pork Soda" "I'm sorry for you having HIM as a friend" he was left behind by Chase. Chase said that he didn't noticed Zee, but actually he just ignored him because he wanted to save Ripper (Ripper also didn't noticed, when he tried to look behind Chase forced him to look Infront again) Zee ended up like the IOTS Ezekiel, ya know? His body was Found next to the ferocious trout cabin by Ripper. Ripper went back to where he Last saw Zee because he didn't found him anywhere, the killer noticed him and cutted Ripper's left eye and Ripper was saved Chase

Musical Reference: Pork Soda by Glass animals. Zee was kinda of "faded" while Chase lefted him behind, he didn't even noticed the killer. And until the killer even killed him, he's was pratically numb, felling nothing and not even sure if he was alive.

4th Wayne "Where's you head at?" "If you was selfish you could be alive for Seeing a another day" Wayne and Raj where running from the killer, but Raj fell behind and Wayne went back to save him. Raj could run fast enough, but only him was alive

Musical Reference: Where's your head at by Basement Jaxx WHERE'S YOU HEAD AT?! oh, it is in a plastic bag!... WAIT WHAT?! He body wasn't found, but they found his head. His head was found by Raj in the morning of one day after the tragedy. His head was in a plastic bag, and was Infront of the cafeteria door.

5th Emma "Thank you for the Venom, Chase" "It wasn't me. Maybe was someone else" Emma was feeling really sick during this days, and no one had a medicine or someone to help her cuz they were completely alone without no one else. So Chase convinced them to leave her behind, Emma accepted without begging. Her last words where "thank you for the venom, Chase". The killer found her body, but the unic thing he did was put any flower or plant he could find next to her.

Musical reference: thank you for the venom by My chemical romance SO GIVE ALL YOUR POISON, AND GIVE ME ALL YOUR PILLS, AND GIMME ALL YOUR HOPELESS HEARTS AND MAKE ME ILL. Her body was enside the Frogs of death cabin. She was in her bed, and when the killer found her, she was already dead. He dragged her body to the Florest and putted every plant or flower he could find next to her.

6th Raj "Homecoming" "You'll never come back home" Raj was trying to run from the killer, and almost could. But when he tried to Get in the cafeteria, Julia was at the door making him get outside till the killer gets him. He tried to run again but he falled and failed. He was killed by a rock, a heavy and sharp rock.

Musical reference: Homecoming by Green day "I have a rock n roll boyfriend! Someone get me out of here! Am I getting out of here?! I should have stayed in home, ARE YOU HEARING ME RIGHT NOW?! nobody cares about me?" Raj wanted to stay completely alone after Wayne's death, he keeped all the time with the "nobody like me, everyone left me, they are all out without me having fun. Could you go?" Thoughts, and that annoyed Julia. She makes his words go against him, as could I say. His body was found by Axel.

7th Chase "Till the end" (CHIPPER ALERT😨) Chase: "Ripper... If you could marry me, would you bury me and carry me till the end? No homo tho." Ripper: "Pff, what type of question is that, dude!" Chase: "yeah, edgy right? I've heard that on a emo song!" Chase went back to try to kill the killer, he almost did. But the killer used dirty tricks to end him, Chase was lefted alone to die of blood loss cuz the killer tought that he was a horrible person.

Musical reference: Till the end by My Chemical Romance Chase and Ripper HAD a "colorful friendship", during the entire incident Chase tried to keep Ripper safe while Ripper gets anxious if Chase was doing that because he loves him or that he'll leave him when he thinks it's the time. Ripper have other thoughts than just "friends" with Chase, but he never told him because he: thought it wasn't the time, cuz he thought it was something pathetic of saying, cuz he was anxious of Chase reject him and leave him. Chase thought the same on Ripper, he loved Ripper. but he never said it to him and never will.

8th and 9th Julia and Nichelle "Inferno" "Please don't/let me die" Nichelle was the nicest person in there, Julia was the worse in there. When the Killer could actually kill Julia, Nichelle also appeared. So he killed them both and let them together.

Musical reference: Charlies inferno by That Handsome Devil "I SHOULDN'T BE IN HERE!" "Please don't let me die"

10th Priya "Cálice" "Are you'll demented or are y'all disturbed?" Priya was the last one to die, she went to fight the killer just like how Chase did. She actually was close of doing it, but she got severally hurt during the fight, so she finded a way to put all the place on fire and to her die alone in the woods.

Musical reference: Cálice by Chico Buarque It's a Brazilian music so I'll try in my own way to translate the lyrics "Maybe the world isn't small... (Shut up)" "I want to create my own sin (shut up)" "I want to die by my own poison (shut up)" "I want to finally lose your head (shut up)" "And my head lose your sense (shut up)" "I want to smell diesel gasoline (shut up)" "Get high till someone forgets me (SHUT UP)"

After all the deaths, Chris arrived in the island. He went there to rescue the 6 remaining Campers: Mary Kate (mk) Ripper Millie Lauren (Scary Girl) Bowie Axel But he didn't came back with them, the spirit of all the other 10 campers went to him and drag him to the same hell hole that they ended.

Mk was numb, she was happy of being alive but depressed for the Unic friend she had was a horrible person. Ripper was emotionsless, not knowing if he should cry for the friends he lost or should be happy for being alive. Millie was crying, her heart was completely broken because there still was something inside her saying that Priya was alive. Scary girl was traumatized, during her entire life she said that she was interested in death, but seeing the people that supposed to be her friends dying was too much. She NEVER asked for that. Bowie was miserable. Miserable for losing the guy he most loved, for never loving anyone again, for losing all his friends, for being a victim of a 1 million dollars trap and for being left for death. Axel was anxious, she don't know how to react by the fact that she is scaping. She thought that their tragedy was gonna last forever, but now she's finally going back home... But what now?

HELP-

I ACTUALLY LOVE THIS OMG???

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fraudulent-cheese · 5 months

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MY THOUGHTS ABOUT EPISODES 5 AND 6 OF SEASON 2 OF TD2023!!!

MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

I'll get the ships out of the way - WE DIDNT GET RAJBOW DIVORCE!!!! REJOICE!!! Their conflict wasn't solved well, but at least it's solved man! Rajbow is still alive!

Ripaxel is actually really growing on me? The shipping hasn't overridden their personalities which was a MAJOR concern for me. Glad to see Axel still kicking ass and Ripper being actually funny! ALSO THEY BROKE THE COUPLE'S CURSE! Neither of them have even been at risk of being eliminated which is kind of insane because usually the couples in TD have one partner (or both in gidgette's case) be eliminated right after they're established but THEY DIDNT! YIPPEE!

Priyaleb on the other hand... Yeah i don't care for them, sorry! they are the obligatory straights of the season for me, i REALLY don't care now that Caleb might be returning those feelings (i can STILL hold on to my grey-romantic Caleb headcanons >:D ) and i prefered when they weren't returned! Zee's involvement was funny tho, and Priya's pretty enjoyable in episode 5! They're cute but i DONT CARE.

MKULIA IS STILL IN THE GAME! Love how the only thing that bothered Chris was that MK stole his hair dryer XD that is very in character!!! They were fun in episode 5 and hey! They're still doing the alliance bit since they got a duo confessional in episode 6 so im excited to see where they go next!!!

Damien was fun in episode 6. just got nothing to add i don't really care for this man

i LOVE ZEE AAAAAA HE IS SUCH A SILLY LITTLE NOODLE OF A MAN lowkey might be one of my favs now (in canon) they figured out how to make imaginative jokes that have to do with the soda bit! He is such a vibe man

MK's been great too, i like how the cheating had consequences without those consequences being getting kicked off the game!

i'll mention the challenges before going over the eliminations, the iceberg challenge was pretty nice imo, i think Ripper getting involved with the MKulia cheating is fun and him ripping his shirt off is funny tbh. The snowball fight was really fun too!

The obstacle course is fine, the wall with the boots reminded me of Wipeout (which, fun fact, is called Total Wipeout in french) so that was pretty neat

The kayak challenge had a neat twist, loved Axel just punching Ripper off the boat and the confessional right after was pretty funny. Axel and her stupid ass boyfriend, it's great

OK ELIMINATION TIME!!! CANT SAY I DIDNT CALL THEM BUT I TOTALLY DID!!!!

I did say Nichelle might get eliminated since the writters have done nothing with her, but i... don't like what they did at all. The movie deals should've been real and Julia just snuck them on her bed since they were sent to production and they didn't give them to her yet. it just. sucks that all but one elimination while the teams were active were girls, especially Emma's and Nichelle's. Scary Girl is 100% coming back later tho so we'll see!

ALSO. DID I PREDICT EXACTLY HOW BOWIE'D GET ELIMINATED OR DIDNT I? Ok it wasn't exact but i was right on the money in saying Julia would get him eliminated by telling the others about him supporting the cheating. especially since she did it to save MK, im considering that an MKulia win. For once im actually satisfied with an elimination this season! dang!

My predictions are kinda the same - Scary Girl coming back, MKulia being real, Priya being eliminated soon - but i'll add my specific thoughts on who i think will be next in terms of eliminations next monday i think.

DAMN, this post is LONG wow

#cheese posting #td spoilers #td2023

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thecleverqueer · 1 year

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Random thoughts during Star Wars Rebels “Fire Across the Galaxy”:

-Sabine flipping around dropping bombs and spray painting everything in the first scene of this episode is just great. She’s the master of leaving a mark.

-I love that Sabine, Ezra and Zeb kept that tie fighter against Hera’s orders. I also love that Sabine tagged the shit out of it even more than them just keeping it.

-F*^% the Grand Inquisitor for bringing up Depa Billaba’s death during order 66. That’s a cruel piece of shit move right there. What was little Caleb supposed to do against a battalion of clones other than run? He didn’t really have another choice. It didn’t make him cowardice, and it wasn’t really abandonment. He was a baby.

-Ghost crew is getting in over their heads, but it’s brave... and I love the level of commitment to saving one of the family.

-Ugh. I hate Tarkin… on so many levels. He’s the worst.

-Bridger is always going up into the ventilation shafts. It was such a reoccurring theme in Rebels. I wonder if he’ll continue crawling around in them in live action. It wouldn’t feel like Ezra otherwise.

-I chuckle when Chopper panics and calls Fulcrum… mainly because she specifically said to sacrifice Kanan for the greater cause and they just couldn’t (as if she could just let go of her own attachments). I can imagine the conversation:

Ahsoka: *guzzling caf, planning to blow up garrisons and studying imperial movements when she gets the call* This is Fulcrum. Who is this?

Chopper: We f*^%ed up. We’re in over our heads!

Ahsoka: I’m sorry, what? Who is this?

Chopper: Ghost crew. We’re attached to the side of the Executrix surrounded by multiple star destroyers. We’re trying to rescue Kanan.

Ahsoka: Wait. Tarkin’s ship? What!? I thought I told you guys to…

Chopper: We’re going to need backup!

Ahsoka: Goddammit. *puts down her cup of caf, grabs space keys out of her desk* Stupid f*^%ing kids. Alright. ALRIGHT! *Sigh*

-Love that Kanan lets go of his fear and really digs into the force against the Grand Inquisitor. Rocking a duel wield.

-Grand Inquisitor gives Ezra a gnarly scar.

-Grand Inquisitor is shit-your-pants scared of Vader, I guess… so much so that he jumps into that burning hyperdrive.

-Tarkin is such an arrogant piece of shit.

-Sabine’s tie fighter is bad ass AF. Seriously. I honestly love Sabine and her cool graffiti.

-Chopper always shows up right in the Knick of time.

-Ezra, “We’re a cell? Wait. Did you know we were a cell?” Yes. A terrorist cell… enemies of the state. It’s pretty badass move if you’re trying to usurp a fascist dictatorship.

-Speaking of enemies of the state… I don’t know why, but this was the moment that I completely fell in love with Ahsoka. Like, holy f*^%… not only is she a force god, but she’s fighting fascists AND she’s super hot as an adult. I’m surprised she decided against chiding the Ghost Crew for their recklessness, but whatever.

-Also l find it interesting that Kanan doesn’t completely flip out about Ahsoka descending down those steps, while totally fangirling out (as I did). He acts so nonchalant about it.

-God, I love Ahsoka.

-Kallus really is insufferable… Even if he does ultimately turn coat against the empire in favor of becoming a total bottom for his Lasat boyfriend in the end. Just. Ugh. Fascists.

-Vader. Hmm. I could really get into some Anakin bashing, but I’m not going to for now.

-Overall, this is a great episode. Rebels is surprisingly good. It’s not as gritty as The Clone Wars, but the story telling is fantastic.

#star wars #ahsoka tano #star wars rebels #sw rebels #kanan jarrus #ezra bridger #sabine wren #hera syndulla #zeb orrelios #chopper #the ghost crew #fire across the galaxy #agent kallus #grand inquisitor

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fandomscraziness22 · 4 months

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For the kiss prompt thing, may I suggest 26 and 37 for Adam/Caleb? Please and thank you! You write them so well <3

hi there!!! okay so i *know* the prompt is "on a scar" but i kinda forgot that halfway through so we're just going with "on an injury" in general lol. and thank you for your kind words!!!

this is right after safehouse, when Dr. Bright is bringing the boys home. adam/caleb on a scar (26), as comfort (37)

The car is deathly silent as Adam sits next to Caleb in the backseat. Their knees are pressed together in what Adam hopes is the tiniest bit of help for his boyfriend, who looks shell shocked by the past few hours. Not that Adam blames him—he’s still trying to process everything himself.

Damien finding the safehouse. Trying to kidnap Adam, and the feeling of wanting to go with him, but knowing that it was just the Atypical’s power. Caleb going berserk. The conversations after, when Adam revealed his shameful past. Listening to Mark yell at Dr. Bright about the horrific things Wadsworth—Adam’s aunt—had done to him.

It’s all too much, and Adam’s not even the empath in this relationship, so he can only imagine what Caleb must be going through. He’s going to be strong for Caleb, because his boyfriend is sure to be having a worse time right now.

As if to confirm this, Caleb’s body goes tense beside him, and he gasps.

“Caleb?” Adam questions softly, turning to look at Caleb.

He’s trembling now, biting his lip hard. Adam knows his boyfriend, so he recognizes the signs that Caleb is holding in sobs because he wants to be the tough guy and not let his problems affect the people around him. But Adam also knows that isn’t healthy, or what he wants for Caleb.

“Hey, look at me,” he asks Caleb, reaching for Caleb’s bandaged hand. It’s a testament to his trust in Adam that Caleb lets him take it without complaint, and Adam cradles them carefully in his own hands.

Caleb sniffles once before finally turning to look at Adam. Adam’s heart breaks all over again for the devastation and fear on the empath’s face. And there’s not much Adam can do to make this better.

But he has to try. So he lifts Caleb’s broken hand to his lips, pressing the lightest of kisses to the bandages.

“It will be okay,” he promises Caleb. “I won’t leave you.”

Caleb’s breath stutters, and he takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. Adam knows just how hard he’s worked to get to this level of control over himself, and lets that pride run through him. He just loves Caleb so much, and knowing how much danger Caleb will throw himself into to save Adam has strengthened that devotion between them.

Adam kisses Caleb’s hand again, then uses it to pull Caleb closer to press a kiss to his lips.

“We’re here,” Dr. Bright says quietly from the front seat. Adam pulls away as she continues. “Caleb, I’ll…I’ll walk you up and explain.”

Adam catches Caleb’s eyes and whispers, “Do you want me to come with you?”

Caleb shakes his head, unbuckling his seat belt. “No, I got this. Text me when you get home, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Adam just hopes he’s done enough.

send a kiss and a ship!

#the bright sessions #tbs #adam hayes #caleb michaels #caleb x adam

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thedo0zyslider · 1 year

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Explosions Across Lifetimes - Chapter Three: Unlikely Alliances (7k words)

I have confidence to paste everything but the making out chapters, apparently

A03 Link

The next few weeks were a little….rocky, to say the least. There were some points where Jimmy didn’t know if this new relationship, whatever it was, could last. The thought sent him into a panic most nights, because he did want it to last. The Codfather didn’t know what he would do if they went back to their song and dance after everything the past two weeks had brought. For one it would be awkward, and it would hurt, a lot.

The first thing he and Fwhip and discussed was how public they wanted to be with their affections. Both of them did want to be openly affectionate to some degree, but to everyone else it would be a rather unexpected turn of events. There was also a political side to their relationship as well, their interactions having always been closely monitored, people looking for any shift in the dynamic, any signs of a war or a fight. Fwhip didn’t have a council, but Jimmy did. The Cod Council was sure to give him hell if he started publicly kissing his sworn enemy. Well everyone but Caleb, which is part of the reason the young cod was there, but the rest of the Council were old and argumentative. They never had faith in Jimmy, or what he was doing, so his newfound relations would cause quite the disruption. Besides, his people still had a healthy fear of Grimlands people, and codfolk’s safety and happiness was always Jimmy’s number one priority.

In the end they’d decide to not go public, if only to save Jimmy some headaches. It also gave them more time to work out kinks in the relationship privately, which god knows they needed. The two continued to meet at each other’s places under the guise of the Codfather’s original trade proposal. It was working pretty well, surprisingly, as long as they didn’t make googly eyes at each other in front of anyone. Except for Clara, that is. The brunette had become sort of their woman on the inside since she already knew, keeping them up to date with the public’s opinion of their meetings. Fwhip was really worried about that part, something about how judgemental his people could be, even to their own Count. And Jimmy could believe it, he had been on the receiving end of some vicious Cod bigotry too many times to count.

Fwhip had also informed his staff member that they were not in fact dating, and that he’d panicked and said something. It made Jimmy feel less awkward around her, because he frankly didn’t know how to act like someone's boyfriend. Clara had also warmed up to him, seemingly no longer scared by the ruler and very openly making fun of Fwhip in his presence, which Jimmy was always happy to join in with. The three had ended up forming a small trio, one just as secret as the two emperors' relationship. It made the whole thing being a secret a little more bearable.

He was proud of the progress they’d managed to make despite all the privacy issues, even if it did include some people getting suspicious, but that was a problem for later. Caleb had grown a little suspicious, as he accompanied Jimmy on some trips to the Grimlands. But the Codfather trusted the other cod the most out of his council members, and Caleb knew how to keep his mouth shut. Jimmy didn’t really see a problem if he guessed what was going on, if anything it made lying to the rest of the council easier. The blonde was never a practically good liar to begin with.

He felt bad when either Clara or Caleb had to witness a rough patch though, their arguments were still just as nasty as before. But the problems had to be sorted out if they wanted this newfound thing to function properly, so the hurt was necessary. If anything, Fwhip’s fuming, Caleb sometimes worriedly at his side, probably helped hide what was really going on, maybe giving them just a little more time before the secret caught up to them.

Every argument tended to come from old wounds, old feuds they had to discuss. Everything that had happened in the past few years had been laid out in the open, leaving both of them vulnerable and defenseless. They’d discussed and argued over everything . How Fwhip had helped Sausage steal his music disc, how Jimmy had attacked him back, how both of them didn’t know when enough was enough, when to stop with all the pranks and harsh words. How Fwhip had stolen his head, and led him on a quest that was the whole reason Xornorth was even free at that very moment.

No matter how vicious the fights got they tried not to hurl actual insults at each other, not anymore. They’d get nowhere if they still kept those old insults and nicknames around, ones that still cut deep and brought back unpleasant thoughts. And Jimmy sometimes thought one bad argument was going to be the end of everything, that he’d wake up the next morning and Fwhip would be stealing the codfathers head for a second time. It scared him, it truly did, scared him right down to his core.

But the end never came, and any harsh words were accompanied by sincere apologies. And Jimmy would know the difference, Fwhip had given him enough fake apologies over the years. His own were genuine as well, letting the half dragon cradle him gently when he was too upset. Everything with them always seemed to end in cuddles, fight or no fight. Now one of Jimmy’s most precious memories was waking up next to Fwhip, his arms wrapped around the others and Fwhip’s head buried into his chest. He always enjoyed how soft and gentle these moments were, and he was pretty sure his partner did as well, if the way he always melted against the Codfather said anything.

It was nice to know how to function outside of the romantic aspects of their relationship as well. They could pass as good friends if they really wanted to, now cracking inside jokes with each other often, bantering like they’d known each other since they were little and naturally bouncing off each other. It was kinda surreal, Jimmy never thought he’d have inside jokes with Fwhip . Life’s funny like that, he supposed.

The whole Xornorth situation was becoming another bump in the road that was their relationship. Arguments over that were less nasty and tended to just be arguments over the corruption currently spreading across the empires. This wasn’t a specifically Fwhip and Jimmy thing though, as every other ruler had their fair share of harsh words exchanged about it. The couple specifically shared a fair bit of guilt about it, they were the whole reason the demon was free in the first place. Both of them had quite a few conversations that were just them arguing over whose fault it really was, even though everyone else would argue the war and subsequent events were a failure on every single emperor's part.

Another topic brought up frequently with Xornorth was Sausage, and by extension Joey’s, concerning behavior about that demon. Neither of them saw much of Joey, but they were still worried for their friend, even if he could be a prick sometimes. Okay, he was a prick most of the time, but that didn’t mean no one cared about him. Shrub especially was worrying up a storm last time the Codfather saw her, the lost emperor being almost all she talked about. He felt bad for the little gnome, and could empathize with her. Fwhip was similarly worried about Sausage, and it was leaking onto Jimmy a bit.

Jimmy and Sausage weren’t on the best of terms, their kingdoms were still official enemies after all and Sausage was never doing anything to help that. But again, he still cared about the guy. They’d been friends at one point, even if it was brief. Sausage was basically Fwhip’s brother, and if something was important to Jimmy’s partner it was equally as important to him.

The half dragon was often pacing around his study, going over any recent events with Sausage in his mind. The ginger was trying to figure out if it was a case of normal demon possession, or something else, because they sure as hell weren't getting answers out of either Sausage or Joey. None of them had seen, heard of, or read about anything like it before, not even Shrub who watched the demon slaughter her homelands. Scott seemed familiar with it, and deeply terrified by it, but wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with the problem. He wouldn't answer anyone's questions either, saying he read about something similar in Rivendell’s vast library when anyone questioned him. Jimmy had been in that library countless times, and he was almost positive nothing like that was in any of those books. But if Scott wouldn’t explain himself they couldn’t force him too, so the issue was left to be handled later. It was one of the many issues that had been left for later over the past month, and the corruption was basically being left to prosper, as far as Jimmy was concerned. Twelve rulers and you think they;d be better at handling life threatening issues.

If Fwhip wasn’t pacing and thinking about Sausage he was working on something to try and stop the red tentacled corruption from spreading. It was impressive, the amount of ideas Fwhip had come up with and just how many brilliant ones had failed. Jimmy had come up with some whenever he visited, the ginger saying he’d rather listen to the codfather’s voice then the silence of the study and his own thoughts. He’d ran out of ideas long ago, as inventing was not his domain, but he’d given Fwhip enough motivation to keep going. And Jimmy was sure when he wasn’t rambling to his partner about it Gem was getting an earful of his ideas as well, including tired rants of how Sausage was getting worse and nothing was working .

The next monthly meeting was where all the Xornorth issues were going to come to a head, the Codfather being certain the infighting between rulers was going to be a topic. Everyone had noticed it, and they knew infighting tended to sink them deeper into their own graves. It saw the whole reason this situation was even happening in the first place. He and Fwhip were also going to have an announcement at the meeting, one they would wanted to happen first. All of them were notified when a shift in alliances happened, one of the two rulers usually mentioning it whenever their next meeting was. Fwhip was going to deliver this one, as Jimmy didn’t think he had the confidence too. They were going to announce a sort of truce between their two kingdoms, spurred on by a trade deal they both needed. Which wasn’t really a lie , this whole thing had started because of a trade proposition. If asked further they would chalk it up to the demon being more important than any petty rivalry, and hopefully drawing the attention away from their personal matters and towards a more pressing one.

The Codfather wanted the whole thing to go smoothly, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t. Nothing ever went well when you wanted it too.

________________________________

Jimmy arrived at the meeting quite early for his standards, landing in House Blossom before any of his allies did. Meetings were held in Katherine’s empire because it was allied with everyone. A foolish idea that backfired most of the time, except for once a month. It kept people from getting tempted and destroying part of an enemy's kingdom during a diplomatic meeting, which had happened before they had a solid meeting area.

He walked through House Blossom’s castle, waving at a few servants he’d grown familiar with over the months. The route to the monthly meeting room was as familiar to him as parts of the codlands, and he made the small trip with no problem, gently opening one of the two great wooden doors to the room once he reached it.

When he entered the room Katherine was sitting in her usual seat in the middle of the table in a conversation with Shrub. The gnome was sitting on the table itself, a habit she developed so she could make eye contact with the rest of them easier. The strategy worked quite well, surprisingly.

Shrub was the first to notice him, ears twitching when he shut the door behind him. “Hi Jimmy!” She greeted, turning her body to face him. Katherine looked away from the gnome, greeting their friend with a friendly smile. “Hi Shrub! Hi Katherine!” He said, a happy clicking sound escaping Jimmy’s throat as he took a temporary seat next to them. His usual assigned seat was on the other side of the table, but he was planning to mingle more before the meeting started.

“You’re never here this early.” Katherine said, raising an eyebrow at the Codfather. “Something wrong?”

“Nah, just got tired of my council bugging me.” He said, which was true. Jimmy’s council was notoriously annoying. They always nagged him for hours before every monthly meeting, and it was one of the few reasons he dreaded these days. He’d also been excited to see Fwhip, wanting to discuss their plan before the meeting formally started. A few extra minutes with his friends certainly wouldn’t hurt either.

“Mmm, I get that.” Katherine said, gaze suddenly full of sympathy. “My advisors get on my nerves at least once a week.” The sheep hybrid glanced around after saying that, making sure one of them hadn’t lingered in the room. It was a little too late for that, but thankfully none were in there at the moment.

“Well I’m annoyance free!” Shrub said teasingly, smirking at them. Jimmy looked up at her, the gnome now almost eye level with him due to her seat on the table. She usually didn’t even reach his shoulder when standing, and Jimmy was slumped a bit in his chair at the moment. He was either freakishly tall, or she was very short. It was probably the latter, since he was only a few inches taller than an average human male. He wouldn’t say that out loud though, Shrub could and would lightheartedly kick his ass for it.

“Mhmm, okay sure. I’m sure the forest wisps never get on your nerves ever.” Kathrine said, giving the gnome a lighthearted glare. Jimmy snickered beside her, shrub letting out a sound of indigent defeat. He listened to the two women chat and tease each other, joining in occasionally with chirps and clicks of laughter, but he was mostly watching the other emperors fill into the room slowly.

Pix was the next to arrive, taking his usual seat at the head of the table. The man took a similar role to Jimmy, watching the conversation unfold in front of them with amusement. He was distracted by Joey when he arrived, unsettling everyone with his arrival. Joey looked more…primal, like there was some sort of bloodthirsty aura around him. He also sat on Katherine’s table like he owned it, earning a scoff from the sheep as he plopped himself next to Shrub. The gnome looked as if she was going to talk to him, a familiar worriedness in her eyes, but Pix quickly pulled Joey into a conversation about their totem business. Katherine quickly drew Shrub back into their original conversation, her and Pix’s attempts to hold off the tension working for now. Jimmy just sat there awkwardly, waiting for a sixth person to show up.

A sixth ruler did show up not long after, excitement, and apprehension, running through the Codfather’s veins when he saw who it was. Wizard Gem was walking into the room, greeting them all with a kind smile and enthusiastic greetings. Her twin was soon to follow her into the room, as he always did at these meetings.

And follow her in he did, the Count of the Grimlands walking it just a few paces behind his sister. Jimmy stiffened upon seeing him, Katherine giving a glance. He hoped she took that as uneasiness at Fwhip, instead of whatever mix of emotions was swimming in his head at the moment.

The ginger seemed to be looking for him, glancing between their friends until his eyes landed on the blonde, still slumped in his seat in front of Shrub, who had remained on the table all this time. He failed to keep his face from lighting up at the sight of Jimmy though, causing Gem to give him a weird side glance before he fully left her side. Fwhip gave his usual greetings, except for a nasty glare at Joey, trying to make his approach on Jimmy seem normal and casual. He stopped right beside Jimmy’s chair, giving Shrub a friendly, yet toothy, grin and arms moving behind his back

“Codboy.” Fwhip greeted him stiffly, a tense smile on his face. Jimmy knew it was all for show, but part of him still internally wilted a bit at the condescending tone of the nickname.

“Fwhip.” He turned in his chair to face Fwhip. His own greeting was just a terse, and he hoped his voice stayed neutral. He’d rather not blow their cover to their friends, because some of them could not keep their mouths shut. A few pairs of eyes being on both of them didn’t help him stay calm either. It was natural for the others to be curious, Fwhip never approached his enemies like this, and if he did it was usually a bad thing.

“Can we have a quick discussion about something?’ The half dragon asked. “In private?” He added, casting a few glances around the room.

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Jimmy said, Fwhip having begun to walk away as soon as he got a syllable of confirmation from the Codfather. He was glad for this actually, as Jimmy didn't really have an idea of how to discuss the plan before now. He was glad Fwhip did though, he just hoped the half dragon had an explanation prepared for their friends. Because again, Jimmy certainly had no idea for one.

He felt a concerned look from Katherine boring into his back, and turned to reminder that he wasn’t helpless and that codfolk had sharp teeth for a reason . His friend seemed to accept this with a shrug, watching with the rest of the room as Fwhip lead him out the door.

They walked side by side, shoulders bumping occasionally as he let Fwhip lead him wherever he deemed private enough. Fwhip moved his hands from behind his pack, one going to flick Jimmy on the forehead lightly, who’s tail had been playfully bumming into his legs for most of their walk. Jimmy giggled quietly, letting Fwhip’s hand slip into his, intertwining their fingers and pulling him along the rest of the way.

The place his partner deemed private enough was apparently a closet, and Jimmy was half tempted to make a being in the closet joke. It would’ve been funny, but he held back, sensing it wasn’t really the moment for it. The closet itself was surprisingly big, Jimmy making a small noise when both of them could stand comfortably in it, with a few feet to spare. Then again, this was a castle, so maybe unnecessarily big closets were standard. He had no idea if it was, since the codfolk didn’t do castles. Jimmy had learned long ago to just accept things like these in other empires as the standard, it made for a lot less questions.

“This is about the..trade deal?” Jimmy asked, keeping his voice low. He didn’t think any House Blossom staff would walk by a random closet, they tended to keep to their quarters when the other emperors were here for privacy, but better safe than sorry.

“Yeah. I assume nothings changed?” Fwhip nodded, watching as Jimmy leaned against a side wall. “Well, other than Gem guessing that I’m seeing someone.” He added, noticing how Jimmy’s eyes widened slightly at the information. “She hasn’t guessed who though! I’m just not subtle about romance stuff, apparently.” He rolled his eyes on the last part, seemingly quoting his sister directly.

Jimmy nodded, momentary panic calming down as quickly as it had come. “Nah, no changes, just wanted to check in on your side of things.” The panic was now slowly giving way to anxiety over the upcoming announcement. Fwhip’s brows furrowed, watching as Jimmy’s face gained a slight frown, the taller fiddling with his hands slightly.

The Count shuffled closer to his partner, making the not so small space feel suddenly tiny. “It’ll be okay, everything’s gonna be fine.” Fwhip muttered soothingly, hands going to hold both of the Codfather’s. Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut, resting his head against Fwhip’s for a moment, the half dragon letting out low, soothing purrs from the back of his throat. It worked like it always did, Jimmy’s shoulder unstiffening bit by bit as the noise of each purr washed over him.

He smiled lightly, feeling Fwhip’s lips press against his own. He kissed the smaller back gently, worries forgotten for a few fleeting moments. The kiss was one of their more chaste ones, ending after only a minute. The cod let Fwhip press more soft kisses to his face, before burying his head into the others shoulder with a soft chirp . He still felt a tad stressed, but this was helping.

“You feel better now?” The engineer asked, hand gently running through blonde locks. Jimmy’s response was a soft, confirming murmur, sighing further into the other. Fwhip google lightly above him, the other beginning to nuzzle his neck. Jimmy smirked against soft skin, an admittedly bad idea popping into his head

Jimmy began to softly press his lips against Fwhip's neck, earning a playful yet serious growl from the other. "Don't you dare. We have a meeting to get to.” Fwhip said, no real threat in his voice. Jimmy giggled against his skin, pulling back at the ginger’s words. “Another time, then?’ He said, stepping away and opening the door to the giant closet. He smirked, not even needed to see Fwhip face’s turn red to know he’d flustered the man. They’d both gotten very good at flustering each other over the past month, it seemed.

The two walked back in silence, practically leaning each other until they reached the meeting room door again. Fwhip gave him one more look, before putting up his mask of disdain again. Jimmy did as well, watching as the wooden door opened in front of him for the second time that day.

While they were gone the rest of their friends had arrived, presumably being informed of where the Count and Codfather were. Most everyone was still mingling, engrossed in their own conversations, and the two were able to slip back into the room almost unnoticed. Scott gave both of them a look though, watching both of them with an air of suspicion as Fwhip walked away from Jimmy and towards his sister.

Jimmy knew Scott was good at reading him specifically, so maybe that's why he always prickeld under his ex’s gaze nowadays. Well, they weren’t really exes, per say, but they had been involved romantically at one point recently. It had been a perfectly fine relationship, but a short lived one where the love seemingly came out of nowhere. Yes, they’d loved each other, and Jimmy had gone on one of the cutest dates in his life, but it wasn’t like what he had now with Fwhip in any way. The affection they had held for each other never felt natural, like it was from long ago. Like you’d regained feelings for an old crush based purely on some misguided nostalgia. Not to suggest that Scott had changed or mistreated his partner in any way, the love just never felt natural. It felt like something from a different lifetime, something they could only have once, and had already had before. What he had with Fwhip felt much more natural, much more real, instead of a fleeting feeling of affection from long ago, from a place neither of them remembered.

The whole demon situation also helped break them apart, Scott doing a complete one eighty because of it. He’d become more reserved, more snappy, and he had begun to drift off from everyone, not just Jimmy, the moment Xornorth made their presence known. It seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of Jimmy and Scott’s already dying affections for each other. Thinking about it with hindsight, Jimmy had probably been unconsciously in love with Fwhip at the time, so he’s glad the relationship had been short lived.

The Codfather was interrupted from his thoughts as he once again felt eyes watching him, and a moment later he heard footsteps approaching him from the other side of the room.

“Hey Jim!” Pearl said, walking towards him. She was smiling, it was a perfectly normal smile, but Jimmy felt his heart sink. He knew what this was about, especially since it was Pearl approaching him. It’s not that the two weren't friends, they were, Pearl was a lovely person to be around. They just weren't the closest, and she’d never randomly come up to him before.

Him and Fwhip had tried to be subtle, and they were for the most part! They only got caught once…out of the two times they’d made out. It was harder to hide a handful of bite marks and hickeys than keep one person quiet, which Jimmy had been doing! There were just a lot of them, and he wasn’t the best at makeup, plus the…puncture wound. Fwhip having spent literal hours in Jimmy’s house, only for the Codfather to be seen with even more, hours old, bite marks as he bid the other ruler farewell certainly hadn’t helped either. Gossip did travel fast, especially when its gossip about the emperors themselves.

“Hi Pearl!” He responded, keeping his tone normal. Pearl glanced around at the other emperors, who were all having their own conversions with each other. The closest group to them was Scott and Katherine, which was unfortunate for what Pearl was probably going to bring up. Scott had crazy good hearing.

“Do you mind if we talk for a moment?” Pearl asked, motioning to an empty corner of the meeting room. “Uh, okay, sure.” Jimmy said, trying to not be suspicious with his words. The farmer smiled, leading him to where she pointed out. Jimmy followed, letting his expression sour once her back was turned to him.

“I think you know what this is about.” Pearl said, leaning against the wall. She had a joyful smile on her face, and Jimmy didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m not sure I do.” He kept his voice steady, narrowing his eyes. “Enlighten me, Pearl.”

“It’s about you and a certain someone…a certain engineer.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about, actually.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Jimmy.” Pearl gave him an unimpressed glare. “It’s about you and Fwhip.”

Jimmy was quite proud of himself, managing to not turn red immediately. “And what about us?” He asked through gritted teeth, voice wavering only a small bit.

Pearl smirked, knowing she had him. “Well, rumor has it you visited his house unprompted, then left with some…intresting..” Pearl made a gesture with her hand, almost unsure how to word it. “Additions to your appearance.” That was when Jimmy began to flush deeply, still able to feel where the old bite wound used to be if he ghosted his fingers over his neck.

“And he was in your empire, with you, for a suspiciously long time, apparently.” Pearl’s smirk widened at Jimmy's reaction. “And?” The blonde asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

“What’s going on there, I thought you two hated each other's guts.” Pearl was still smirking, though her gaze held sincerity. She genuinely wanted to know what changed, which was a fair reaction. Him and Fwhip had literally gone from being worst enemies to...something more than friends in the span of a few weeks. Jimmy glanced over his shoulder before speaking, the large room feeling impossibly small at the moment. Everyone else was still wrapped up in their own conversations, but Scott’s pointed ears were pricked in their direction. Shit.

Well, everyone was going to find out sooner or later, and Scott had most likely heard what Pearl said, so there was no use in lying anymore. He just wished they could’ve announced the truce first.

Jimmy turned to face Pearl, sighing. “I, we’re, it-it’s complicated.” He fumbled over his words, running a hand down his face. Being with Fwhip didn’t feel complicated, it felt like the easiest thing in the world. But if he tried to put that into words it would sound like they were dating, and they weren’t dating. They hadn’t labeled what their relationship was officially yet. And they were still working through all those…old issues. So he’d settled on complicated, which wasn’t exactly a lie. It kind of was complicated, but not really. It would probably sound complicated to anyone but them anyways, so it didn’t matter. His wording was still technically correct.

Pearl nodded, her curiosity seemingly satisfied. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to tease Jimmy about it. “So you admit you two made out?” She giggled.

“Shut up.” He hissed, no real threat behind the noise. Pearl laughed again, waving goodbye to Jimmy as she walked towards Sausage. The farmer was probably about to confirm him and everyone else in the room’s suspicions about the nature of Jimmy and Fwhip’s change in dynamic.

Fwhip gave him a small look from the corner of his eye, curious. Jimmy returned his look with one that side They Know and Help . The half dragon quickly looked away, and even from a distance the Codfather could see the faint blush trying to fight its way onto the other’s skin.

____________________________

The monthly meeting went smoothly, no mentions of Fwhip and Jimmy’s personal affairs being made other than their own announcement, which made Jimmy feel like he was going to explode, by the way. If one mention had been made Pixl probably would’ve shot it down to keep them from being publicly humiliated, and Jimmy probably would've been pulled to the side afterwards and been embarrassed in private as Pix bombarded him with his own questions about the ordeal. But that didn’t happen, thankfully.

He did catch Fwhip looking at him from across the table a few times, and Jimmy was sure he’d been caught doing the same. Some of the others definitely noticed that the looks shared between them had changed, much more fond than they had been at the last meeting and far too gentle to be nothing. Definitely far too affectionate to just be a trade deal. Scott had been side-eyeing both of them at one point, which gave Jimmy a bad feeling for some reason. Joel had also noticed, and if Joel knew Lizzie knew, or would know soon enough. The smaller had kicked his brother-in-law under the table, as if to say stop making googly eyes at another man and pay attention . It had worked, to Joel’s credit. Jimmy had started paying more attention to whoever was speaking, fear of another hard blow to his calves.

Fwhip was being tormented by the people next to him as well, Gem elbowing him at multiple points, then promptly getting one herself. Sausage was being…himself, giving both Fwhip and Jimmy teasing looks. It was then the Codfather remembered he was neighbors with the man, who had a habit of showing up when he wanted to. Jimmy groaned internally at the realization and ignored Sausage for the rest of the meeting. For his own sanity.

Jimmy was expecting to just go home after the meeting ended, but the universe had different plans.

Scott pulled him aside before he could even make it out the door, dragging him to some random hallway in Katherine’s house. Jimmy hoped Fwhip hadn’t seen, because damn did it look suspicious.

He said nothing, letting himself be dragged down another hallway in Katherine’s house until the elf felt they were alone and at a comfortable distance away from everyone else. “We need to talk.” Scott said once they’d stopped moving, arms crossing against his chest.

“About what?” Jimmy asked tentatively, eyeing the elven ruler.

“About…about us.”

“What about us?” He asked, looking at Scott warily. “I thought we were done.”

“Yeah we are…just…” Scott trailed off with a frown. He tore his gaze away from the cod’s, eyes moving to study the white floor beneath their feet instead.

“What is it, Scott?” Jimmy almost snapped. He was growing tired of Scott’s recent aloofness, and the Codfather knew he wasn’t the only one feeling like that. He was certainly not in the mood for him to be vague. Jimmy didn’t want to be an asshole to his ex about the matter, but sometimes Scott did get under his skin a bit, and now was one of those times.

“I just,.. still feel something for you and it’s weird and confusing.” Scott said, almost too fast to understand. Jimmy softened a bit at that, able to understand where the elf was coming from. He knew he felt something for Scott for a while, even after their short involvement had ended. But it wasn’t real, not for him anyways.

“It’s probably not real love, Scott.” He said gently, and the other gave him a look of confusion. It made Jimmy ache a bit, how vulnerable Scott looked. Rivendell’s leader usually didn’t like being so open like this, and he knew how hard their weird affection for each had been to feel sometimes.

“How do you know?” Scott asked, studying him for something, Jimmy didn’t know what though.

“Because if it was real love I’d still be kissing you, not Fwhip.” The Codfather put it bluntly, watching as Scott’s face twisted from confusion, to realization, to contemplation. It felt strange, yet weirdly freeing to straight up say he’d been kissing Grimlands’s ruler. It didn’t really matter if they hid it now, at least from their friends, since all of them had probably found out today. The public would probably be decently aware within the next week, but that was a problem for future Jimmy.

“Sorry, but I’ve got an empire to run.” Jimmy muttered his farewell, turning away and heading back down the hallway. He felt bad about leaving Scott like that, dumbfounded in a random hallway of Katherine’s castle, but he had long been done thinking about their relationship. He’d moved on, and really didn’t have the energy to deal with all those emotions today. So he left the elf there, and went to leave the building. Maybe he could spend some time with Joel for a bit, just crash at his brother-in-law's place and avoid his council for a little longer. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

____________________________

Going back home was a bit miserable for Fwhip, if he had to be honest, Gem and Sausage teasing him all the way. He didn’t mind Sausage though, since it made the other feel like his old self once more, and for now that was worth more than anything to the Count, except maybe Jimmy. He didn’t know if anything could be worth more to him than Jimmy, and he didn’t particularly want to find out what could be.

His sister kept going on about how she was right and that Sausage owed her twenty gold pieces, and Fwhip was very unsuprised they’d been betting on who he was potentially seeing, or that one of them had correctly guessed it was Jimmy. The homoerotic tension was there and was really obvious, according to Sausage. Apparently Mythland’s ruler had betted on Scott, because Gem called dibs on Jimmy before he could.

Fwhip was silent for most of the walk back home, wondering why he decided to walk instead of fly, because now he had to listen to his two annoying siblings celebrate their victory the whole way there. “You were right about Clara being off about Jimmy’s visit!” His ears swiveled backwards at Sausage words, looking back at his twin with suspicion. Gem had extorted information out of his staff before, and he wouldn’t put it past her to do it again.

He sighed, stopping and turning to face the two behind him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Gem said, glancing between him and Sausage. “I just stopped that day Jimmy visited and it looked like something happened with her, so i was curious.”

“Gem, what did you do to Clara?” The engineer repeated his earlier sentence more slowly, tone twisting into something slightly serious. Gem just blinked at him, a little smile of mischief spreading across her features.

“Oh! I just asked her about what she saw, nothing else!” His sister’s tone was laced with a fake innocence, and Fwhip felt annoyance begin to flare up inside him.

“You threatened her, didn’t you!?” He exclaimed, ignoring how Sausage giggled evilly beside them. Fwhip had told Gem not to threaten his employees before, but apparently she needed a reminder.

“She's fine, she's fine! Don’t worry!” Gem reassured, her voice now having a hint of guilt in it instead of fake innocence. She could at least recognize when she’d upset her twin brother.

“She better be.” Fwhip muttered, giving the woman next to him a glare as she and Sausage came to walk on both sides of him.

“All I’ve been saying is to save some of him for me.” Sausage laughed, throwing an arm around Fwhip’s shoulder, sudden motion causing both of them to stumble slightly. The Count felt a sudden wave of possessiveness overtake him at the brunette’s words, ears flatting against the side of his head against his will. Sausage giggled at the equally possessive glare he got, a growl nearly escaping Fwhip throat.

“Did you seriously get possessive because of that!?” Gem exclaimed, her laughing filling the air around the trio. Sausage began laughing along with her, and Fwhip has to stiffen a smile. He was not laughing with them, nope, no he was not. He was frowning and acting exasperated at his family's constant teasing, yep, totally . He was doing that.

Fwhip sighed fondly, letting the sounds of two familiar laughs drown out his thoughts. He considered flying away for a moment, but decided it would be too much effort. Sausage would go whining about being left when the two inevitably used their own elytra to catch up with him.

This was going to be a long walk home.

____________________________

Jimmy's own plan to go home and avoid his council wasn’t going any better than Fwhip’s idea to walk home, but the Codfather didn’t know that, so he hoped his partner was having a better time than him. (He wasn’t)

Joel was with Lizzie when Jimmy eventually found him, the Mezalean King having been nowhere in his own empire. And Jimmy had looked in all of Joel’s favorite places to go after a meeting. He’d flown over to his sister’s empire next door, and found the couple rather quickly, sitting at the top of one of Lizzie’s many quartz towers.

The couple had started questioning him as soon as he landed, both of them very eager to know all the details of his new relationship. They had begun asking about everything, why he’d chosen Fwhip, of all people, how it had started, and what had happened with Scott. The last part wasn’t asked about much though, Lizzie sensing he wasn’t up for that particular topic at the moment.

Lizzie was actually being decent instead of relentlessly teasing him, which the Codfather was grateful for. He didn’t think he could deal with her older sibling bullshit at the moment. Between his earlier anxieties and confrontation with Scott, the cod was emotionally spent. Joel, on the other hand, was never decent. Jimmy loved that man, he really did, but his brother-in-law tended to have no filter on the best of days. The questions the brunette was throwing at him were straight to the point, and Jimmy was struggling to dodge them or lie as a response. Some of them even got a little too personal.

"So was it like, hate sex, or-" Joel said what both him and Lizzie were wondering rather bluntly, leaving both his wife and brother-in-law gaping at him in shock for a second.

It took a moment for Jimmy to regain his voice, and when he did he damn near squeaked out a response. "We didn't have sex, Joel!!" He exclaimed, maybe a little too loud.

Joel raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "So you just let him make out with you and nothing else?"

"We were…interrupted." Jimmy was technically lying, their first make out session had been infamously interrupted, and sure, maybe they would’ve fucked if it hadn’t, but they’d also made an agreement to not do anything like that. No one needed to know that information regardless, especially not Joel.

"He admits it!" Lizzie smirked, and Jimmy flushed a bright red at what he’d just admitted.

"So if you didn't get caught you would've fucked him? You would've fucked Fwhip ?" Joel’s tone held a note of disbelief, despite it being basically confirmed the two were a couple now. It was clearly going to take a few people time to adjust to the information, which seemed fair. The Codfather and Count had gone from mortal enemies to lovers in just a few weeks, hell Jimmy could barely still believe it sometimes.

But for now he was yelling Joel’s name, loud enough for Ocean citizens below to hear him. He could ponder how he got to this point in his life later, and for now Lizzie would usher both her boys inside, hoping to spare Jimmy from any more public embarrassment. The cod had certainly had more than enough of that today, but there was still a ways to go with being embarrassed privately.

Jimmy sunk into the plush chair his sister led him too, face still burning a bright red. He gave Joel a light glare, watching his best friend laugh at him mercilessly. If he had something to throw at Joel’s stupid forehead he would .

Lizzie practically shoved her husband into another nearby chair, saying something about getting them some food to snack on. Jimmy barely heard her, tiredness catching up to him as he leaned into the softness of the chair. Today had been tiring, much more than he thought. It might have also been the sleep lost to anxiety, but Jimmy didn’t care at the moment. He could figure it out when he woke up.

He heard Joel scoot his chair closer, the familiar laugh fading away until a comfortable silence filled the room. Jimmy didn’t know how the brunette maneuvered the chairs so he could lean against the other, but it went into things Jimmy could care about when he woke up. For now he let himself fall into a peaceful sleep, the comforting weight of another person against his side, and the smell of something nice being heated up from the room over.

#explosions acorss lifetimes #fwhimmy #empires smp #empiresblr #esmp fwhip #esmp jimmy #jimmy solidarity #fwhip #empires jimmy #empires fwhip #scott smajor #flower husbands #<-- sort of. in the past. they messy now #esmp

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miss-bluerose · 5 months

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TDI23 Season 2 ep 5 and 6 thoughts and theories. Spoilers ahead.

*I have seen the character spoilers for eps 8-10 but I'll only mention the challenges in this post.*

Ep 5: Running around an ice berg doing either an obstacle course or a maze to collect keys that will open a safe to retrieve a coin and bring it back to the island. This challenge was alright and the angry baby seals were funny. And the Yeti showed up again but didn't do much.

Ep 6: Partner up with someone, grab a canoe, get it to the water, then joust against your partner with a dueling stick to win and advance in the bracket. This is the third reference to Squid Game and I'm a little disappointed with some of the duo's tbh. I would have loved to see Raj vs Wayne and Julia vs MK but at least there was Axel vs Ripper. The final part with the horses on water skis was wack but at least they didn't get hurt.

*Ep 7: cake baking and a special guest judge

*Ep 8: human pinball

*Ep 9: tearing apart large objects

*Ep 10: memory game

*Ep 11: hunted by attack dogs and a pug

*Ep 12: fishhook challenge involving their worst fears

*Ep 13: final episode of the season

Merging the teams with 11 people left is crazy to me but I guess Chris just wanted to make MK suffer right away after she stole his hairdryer. There is also an immunity idol hidden somewhere and I hope Zee finds it, I'm still rooting for him to win! 💪

Chris:

I enjoyed him suffering through a bad hair day and loved how Chef kept giving him funny styles. So he did know about the cheating but didn't do anything about it until MK crossed him personally which doesn't shock me at all tbh. I'm glad he made her suffer though but Julia still needs to get her own dose of karma too. 🙏

Chef:

Owned a hair salon in the 80s and it shows lol. I laughed at his medieval outfit and his small moment in the confessional.

Eliminated contestants:

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - still no sightings but ep 12 is going to involve the contestants worst fears so maybe she'll show up then? 🤞

15th: Chase

14th: Millie

13th: Emma

12th: Nichelle - She did pretty well in the challenge and I loved her sass towards Julia at the beginning but then she gets hired for a movie trilogy and quits the show just like that??? I feel bad for her since the contract is fake but she did save Zee from probably being eliminated but damn, what a way to end a character arc if there isn't a season 3. Hopefully she'll get taken back by Hollywood anyway now that she's a badass.

11th: Bowie - He let the girls + Ripper cheat in the ice challenge but put his foot down when they went too far in front of Raj and Wayne which was great to see. He didn't have too much angst with his boyfriend and they are staying together. His elimination was complete crap and no one can convince me that the Rat Faces dislike him more than Julia or MK.

Merge

Priya:

I still don't like her crush on Caleb and now that the teams are merged it's only going to get more annoying I fear. Her kissing her pillow was weird and telling her secret to Zee was a bad move. They both have controlling/strict parents and are starting to bond more than they were before but drama is likely on the horizon.

Caleb:

He really is as dense as plywood. Of course he's started to develop feelings for Priya right after he told Zee that he's only spending time with her to make an alliance with her. 🙄 The drama is coming, I can smell it.

Damien:

I laughed at him sassing Chris about being a bad person. He picked up on Priya's and Caleb's closeness, plays DND and he won the jousting challenge somehow, good for him! Ep 12 is the fear challenge so I can see him sticking around to face off against Lauren which would be really great to see. 👀

Axel:

She's just making out with Ripper a lot and not much else, super disappointing to see. 😔

Zee:

He found out about Priya's crush but is terrible at keeping secrets. I thought it was funny how the soda cans kept multiplying every time he was in the confessional. Pee isn't strong enough to melt that much snow/ice at once. He barely avoided elimination thanks to Nichelle quitting but I'm really worried about him. He thinks that Caleb just wants an alliance with Priya and doesn't know that he's started developing feelings for her which will most definitely lead to him spilling the beans and possibly being targeted for elimination. I really hope he finds the immunity idol to stay in the game longer or wins immunity when he needs to. I'm not ready for him to go home yet! I also want to know what he was going to ask Priya when he walked in on her kissing her pillow. 👀👀👀

Raj:

It was great to see him angry about his team cheating again but I'm glad that he didn't break up with Bowie. I hope he gets back at Julia for getting him eliminated somehow.

Wayne:

He was angry about the cheating too but it came off as more comical than Raj's anger. Him looking in two different directions freaked me out and apparently he has a really thick skull that got him included in a medical journal. I laughed at him annoying Julia and I hope he helps Raj get back at her.

Julia:

She is an absolute savage and has no qualms about being as underhanded as she needs to as long as she gets what she wants. She also has mile-thick plot armor to not get eliminated in the first episode of the merge. I'm beginning to think that she'll be the one to betray MK first before the reverse can happen. I can't wait for her to get what's coming to her.

MK:

Cheating has consequences, especially when you screw over Chris. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her suffer for everything that she's done but she didn't get eliminated which means that there could be more karma to come her way.

Ripper:

He's just making out with Axel a lot and is apparently fine with cheating in challenges. Not sure when he'll get eliminated but hopefully soon. I think he's the pain magnet for the season.

Each week I get more stressed out about what will happen next and I think that is a pretty impressive feat for a cartoon show meant for a younger audience or I'm just weird like that. 🤪 Excited for tomorrow, thanks for reading!

#total drama #spoilers #total drama 2023 #total drama spoilers #td spoilers #post

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writingwithciara · 2 years

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Saving Grace (Part 1/2) ~Joe Keery~

summary: after joe saves his best friend from her abusive and stalker ex-boyfriend, she begins to rely on him for everything. This not only drives a wedge between them, but between joe and maika as well

word count: 2.9k

pairings: joe keery x reader

warnings: abu$e is mentioned but not described, dr*g mention, fluff, angst, joe being in an established relationship with someone who is not the reader (if that counts), cute little caleb mention

a/n: I have grown so attached to joe (and even steve) recently, it’s not fair. Also, I love maika, so this is no hate to her. She is fantastic. there will be a part 2 to this, due to the word count i had & it will be shorter than this one

masterlist

“Please leave me alone, Jake.” y/n tried to pull her arm out of the grasp of her ex-boyfriend. “We broke up 6 months ago.”

“Um, I think I’d recall if you broke up with me.” Jake held tighter and looked down at her. She hated how he made her feel so small, not only physically, but emotionally as well.

“Obviously not because it happened. You probably don’t remember because you were so fucked up on drugs to even put together a coherent sentence.”

“Why on Earth would you even think about leaving me? Alright? I own you.”

“You own me? Are you on fucking crack or something? You can’t own a person and you most certainly cannot own me!” y/n raised her voice and yanked roughly. Her arm came free, and she rubbed the spot he was holding, a large purple bruise already beginning to form.

“Will you keep your voice down? You’re attracting unwanted attention.”

“If you didn’t want all this attention, maybe you should’ve thought about that before you tried to harass me in public, dumbass.”

“What did you just call me, bitch?” The look on his face only meant that she was about to be in trouble.

“You heard her the first time, dumbass.” Joe came out of the coffee shop and handed y/n her favorite drink. “Now why don’t you do what the lady asked, and just leave her alone?”

“Why don’t you make me, huh?” he looked at Joe and shook his head. “Who’s this asshole?”

Joe looked down at y/n. “This the guy you were telling me about?” y/n nodded, and Joe placed his own drink in her hand, stepping closer to Jake. “You are in no position to be demanding anything from anyone, buddy. Especially not after what you did to y/n.”

“Whatever this bitch told you is a lie, believe me. That’s all she does is lie and manipulate people.”

“Oh, she’s the liar? Really? That’s the story you’re sticking with?” Joe laughed dryly and cracked his knuckles. “Also, she’s not a bitch. Her name is y/n, so I suggest you start using her name properly. She is my best friend and she’s shown me all the bruises you’ve given her and all the messages you’ve sent. You’ve been stalking her for months and she has all the proof she needs to get you arrested. So, I suggest you back the fuck up and leave her alone or I will see to it, with every fiber of my being, that you get locked up and stay that way. Is that clear?”

“You think I’m afraid of you? You’re nothing but a bitch, just like y/n. You don’t have the-“ Jake was almost done his sentence when Joe’s fist collided with his chin. That was all it took for Jake to tumble to the ground. At this point, a crowd was beginning to gather.

“Joe, let’s go. He’s not worth it.” y/n grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back. But he just leaned down to look Jake in the eye.

“Stay away from y/n! You got that?” Joe’s face was full of rage and if it hadn’t been for the constant tugging on his arm, he would’ve continued beating Jake to a senseless pulp. When Jake nodded, Joe turned back to face y/n. “Come on, love. Let’s go.” He walked past her and out of the mall.

Y/n looked over her shoulder and sighed before following Joe out to his car. She climbed in the passenger seat and handed him his coffee. “Thank you for that. I honestly didn’t think he was ever going to let go of me.”

“That’s what best friends are for, right?” he chuckled and sipped his drink before pulling out of the parking lot. The drive back to set was filled with nothing but silence. When Joe parked in his spot, he turned to face y/n. “Let me see your arm.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine.” She tucked it farther into her sleeve and reached for the door. Joe clicked the lock button and gently touched her elbow.

“Please? I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” He looked at her with pleading eyes. “I’m nothing like Jake.”

“I know. It’s just that…I don’t know.” y/n shook her head. “I don’t like people seeing the effects he ever had on me.”

“You’ve showed me multiple times though. I’ve cleaned up your cuts whenever he got a little too violent. I’ve seen it all. So will you please let me see the damage this time?” Joe pleaded one last time before y/n slid her sleeve up to her elbow. His eyes widened when he saw the bruise. “I’m gonna kill him.”

“Joe, I already told you I’m fine. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“The hell it’s not! He’s not going to get away with this, I promise.”

“Joe, I love you. I really do, but I think you scared him enough today.” y/n smiled. “Thank you.”

“I’m just trying to be the greatest friend in the world. No need to thank me.”

“You’re already the greatest, Joe. You just don’t get the appreciation you deserve for it.”

“I want you to know that I’m always going to be here to help you, no matter what. And I promise to never tell your story to anyone.”

“Thanks, Joe. That means a lot to me.”

Joe smiled as the two of them walked to the set, completely prepared to film their scenes. The secret of abuse would stay between them, for now.

A few weeks later, Joe’s phone never stopped ringing & he had found that he could never get any alone time with his girlfriend, Maika because y/n was always in need of something. While he didn’t really notice, Maika couldn’t help but get annoyed.

She didn’t mind it at first. She knew that Joe just wanted to be a good friend. It wasn’t until y/n started interrupting their special date nights with the tiniest problems that Maika spoke up about it.

“Joe, this is getting way out of hand. We never have a minute alone anymore without y/n constantly calling you or just showing up here. When are you going to tell her to stop?”

“I can’t just stop helping her. She’s my best friend and I made a promise.”

“What happened that was so bad you had to make a promise to help her with everything?”

“She um….I can’t say anything. I promised not to.”

“Why do you keep making these promises for her? Don’t you see that she’s taking advantage of you?”

“What are you going on about? She is definitely not taking advantage of me.”

“Yes she is, Joe. You drop everything whenever she calls. And lately, that’s been every single hour.”

“It’s called being a good friend, babe. I can’t just ignore her. She’s my best friend.”

“I know, but it really feels like you’re dropping me for her. Please tell me that’s not what’s happening.”

“Of course it’s not.” Joe walked closer to his girlfriend and held her. “If it makes you feel better, I won’t go help her every time she calls.”

“Okay. Good.” Maika stood on her toes to place a kiss to her boyfriends lips. Just as he returned the favor, his phone began to ring. They didn’t need to check the ID to know it was y/n, since Joe had assigned her a personalized ringtone. “Let it go to voicemail.”

“I plan on it.” Joe kissed her again and smiled when the phone stopped ringing. “Finally, some alone time.”

For the next week, being on set wasn’t easy for Joe or y/n. Joe was just trying to make his girlfriend happy but to y/n, it felt like he didn’t want her in his life anymore, so he stayed away as much as she could and was coming to work late every day.

The next Saturday happened to be the hardest for Joe. Y/n was running extremely late, and it started to worry him.

“We’re gonna have to start without her. Let’s just film the scenes she isn’t in.” Matt looked at Ross, who was looking at Joe. “Come on, Joe. It’s time to film.”

“But y/n isn’t here yet.”

“It’s okay. The scene we’re going to film doesn’t need her yet.”

“What if something bad happened to her? Has anyone been able to contact her?” Joe looked at his costars frantically. “Caleb, she talks to you the most. When’s the last time you spoke to her?”

“Last night when she told me that she’d be here on time today.” Caleb checked his phone just to make sure. “Yeah. The last message was at 9:45 last night.”

“Damn it. How about you, Gaten? Sadie?”

“Sorry, dude. Nothing new for a few days.” Gaten shrugged. Sadie, on the other hand, was staring at her phone as if she was deciding how to respond to a certain text.

“What is it?”

“Um, she says she’s not coming in today. Female problems.” Sadie quickly typed something in response and shoved her phone in her backpack.

“How many scenes do I have to film today?” Joe looked at Ross.

“7. But they’re short scenes and should be able to be shot quickly. Why?”

“I gotta check on y/n.”

“Won’t Maika get pissed?” Gaten questioned as he followed Joe to their marks.

“She’ll get over it.”

The two boys began their scene and remarkably, Joe only messed up twice, so it was easy to film. But for the rest of the day, he could barely focus on his lines. Y/n was all he could think of and because of that, he was stuck on set until it was dark outside. He checked his phone when he could and noticed multiple missed calls from y/n.

As soon as he was allowed to leave, he hopped in his car and drove to y/n’s apartment quickly. He tried calling her, but she wasn’t answering her phone, causing even more panic to flow through his body.

When he got to her building, he rushed to her door and walked in. All the lights were off, and he became more worried.

“y/n, are you home?”

“I’m in here.” He heard her voice and followed it, finally locating her in the corner of her living room.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“Jake came back so I didn’t want him to know I was home.” She tried to look at his face but failed, due to the darkness. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

“I was on set all day. I’m so sorry.” He sighed. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

“I meant last week. You just stopped answering me altogether and you were avoiding me on set. Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Well, not really. It’s just that Maika-“

“Of course it has something to do with her.” y/n stood up from her spot on the floor and clicked on a lamp. “Did she tell you to stop talking to me or something?”

“No. She just asked me to stop letting you take advantage of me.”

“I was not taking advantage of you! I needed your help.”

“Yeah, with small problems. That’s not exactly what I meant when I said I’d be there to help.”

“You said you’d always be here to help me, no matter what.” y/n threw her hands up in frustration. “And it wasn’t a small problem. Jake came back and you know how horrible he is. I was terrified, and even more so because I didn’t have my ‘best friend’ to talk to. I was completely alone.”

“A ‘best friend’ isn’t someone who constantly calls on the other person to fix every little problem, y/n.” He chuckled coldly while shaking his head. “This is starting to get ridiculous.”

“Yes, I agree.” y/n sighed and took a seat on the couch. “Maybe we should just stop hanging out with each other for a while.”

“What? That’s not what I meant.”

“Joe, it’s really for the best. I mean, that way I’ll stop bothering you and getting on yours and your girlfriends nerves.”

“No, wait. I take it back. I don’t want that. Your calls don’t bother me. I’m sorry.”

“Look, Joe. You already said it. It’s out there. And it’ll be better for your relationship if I’m not always butting in. Maybe then you guys can move forward with your relationship.”

“Y/n, I-“ Joe tried to form a coherent sentence, but nothing came out for a minute. “What about the show?”

“That’s the only place I’ll see you and talk to you. Our relationship is no longer friendly. It’ll be strictly professional from here on out.” y/n got up and walked to the door. “You can go now, Joe.”

Joe looked at her sadly but left without a word. Once the door was closed, y/n turned off all the lights in her apartment and cried herself to sleep. Losing Joe left a big hole in her heart that she knew nothing would fill.

The sun wasn’t even up the next day when y/n woke up to her phone ringing loudly. She rubbed her eyes and answered her phone sluggishly.

“Ugh, Caleb. What do you want? It’s too early.”

“Are you gonna be coming to set today? You still got a few scenes to shoot. And I feel like I’ve barely seen you all week.”

“Is Joe going to be there?” she sighed and swung her legs off the side of her bed.

“He’s here right now. Why? Are you guys okay?”

“I’ll tell you more when I see you.” She checked the clock on her bedside table. “I’ll be there in 20.”

“Okay, great.” Caleb hung up and looked over at Joe. He was pacing while studying his lines. “She’s coming today. Are you sure everything is fine between you? She didn’t sound very happy.”

“It’s a long story. One that I promised not to tell.”

“Alright. I’m gonna take that as a no, but I’m not going to pry.”

“Thanks, Caleb.” Joe sighed and looked down at his phone. The last text he sent to y/n still said it was undelivered, meaning that she either had crappy service or she had his number blocked. Joe had a bad feeling it was the latter.

When she finally showed up on-set, most of the cast had filmed their only scene and were just hanging around to see how the rest of the day would go. There was also a handful of people who wanted to see what was really going on with y/n and Joe. The second the two of them made eye contact, the tension in the air became thicker. Anyone standing near them could feel the intensity. Gaten was the first one to attempt to break the tension.

“The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can all go out for a celebration.”

“Okay.” y/n smiled and turned to Joe. “You ready to do this?”

“Always.” He returned the smile and followed her to their marks. When the director called action, it was like all their problems were forgotten. Y/n felt like herself again and Joe was happy they were talking again, even if it was only just professionally.

After their scene, Caleb, Gaten and Sadie approached them.

“And I thought you guys were having issues.” Gaten smiled & Sadie nodded.

“Just because we’re no longer friends, doesn’t mean we aren’t going to be professional.” Joe looked at his friend and pulled out his phone. As y/n walked away with Sadie, Joe sat in his chair. “Honestly, it’s hard to do this, guys.”

“I know you can’t tell me exactly what happened, because you promised, but maybe there’s a way you can tell me without giving too much detail.”

“Sorry, but I can’t. It’s not just my story to tell. And besides, a promise is a promise. I can’t go back on it.” Joe thought back to what happened the night before and sighed. “I’m an idiot. I’ll be right back.”

Gaten & Caleb watched as Joe walked out of the studio. Y/n and Sadie gave Gaten a look and he shrugged, prompting them to walk back over to him.

“What was that all about?” y/n questioned while sipping on her coffee.

“Not totally sure. We were talking about promises and he mentioned that he promised you he wouldn’t say what happened and how he couldn’t go back on that promise. Then he just got up and walked out. Mentioned something about being an idiot.”

“He’s a big idiot.” y/n sighed. “He used to be my best idiot.”

“Are you going to tell us what actually went down?”

“I did promise you, didn’t I?” y/n set her cup down and proceeded to tell her costars what happened. She even went all the way to the beginning of her friendship with Joe.

Joe, on the other hand, was currently on the phone with Maika.

“Babe, I know I said I’d get her to leave us alone, but I made a promise, and I don’t go back on those. Especially not ones that I’ve made with y/n.”

“Well I’m your girlfriend. Shouldn’t my needs be more important right now?”

“They are important, trust me. But Y/n is important to me too. You can’t just expect me to drop her because it’s what would please you.”

“You’re never focused on this relationship anymore, Joe. You have to pick.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Look, I love you, but you’re being ridiculous.”

“It’s either her or me, Joe. Who are you going to pick?”

#joe keery x reader #joe x reader #joe keery

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