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cellard0ors · 3 years

Text

WHELP.

No one hated this. so, it's continuing. I have no title as of yet. Still dedicated to @lallyloo

Part 1 here

Rhett used to live closer.

Now he doesn’t.

Link knows there are a variety of factors that went into the move, and he respects them. Still, it was nice before - when he didn’t have to travel so far. Now here he is, driving out into the middle of nowhere to see someone who used to be a short distance away.

Everything used to be…closer.

Sometimes Link looks back, riffles through his memories and it’s almost painful. It’s not that the memories are bad per say, it’s more how they feel. So close and so far – recent, yet ages ago. It’s an uncomfortable dichotomy, so he does his best to just concentrate on the present.

And, presently, he’s pulling up to a tiny little cabin surrounded by towering California redwoods. His car crunches loudly over the gravel drive - loud enough to summon his friend, even if his hearing’s declining. Although - to be fair, Link’s hearing is not the greatest either.

Hearing, sight, the combined ache of your muscles and bones - yeah, getting older is a real bitch. Not a word Link likes to say, much less think, but facts are facts. Age isn’t pretty, albeit there are some advantages. One of which being that you can pretty much go and do whatever you please, whenever you please.

Especially if you made a rather lucrative creative endeavor at one point. Mythical Morning may be gone, but the capital earned is doing its job of keeping him cushy in his golden years. Rhett as well, who certainly couldn’t have afforded this place otherwise and as he emerges from his home he offers a wave.

Link returns it, but finds he has to fight off a scowl. Really, it’s not fair. Link went silver early and he always thought he looked pretty damned handsome with it- a total silver fox.

But Rhett?

Well, Rhett always did have a history of beating him.

He might have gone silver later, but damned if he doesn’t wear it better. His beard is neatly trimmed, long hair tied back and he looks like some kind of rugged highlander cowboy combo that could get away with being on the cover of one of those old romance novels Christy used to thumb through.

…terrible…

A man his age shouldn’t look so good.

Rhett shouldn’t look so good.

And considering what Link’s come here to talk about he really doesn’t want to think about that right now.

Focus on the present, Neal, he reminds himself, shaking his head while he parks. When he gets out Rhett charges up, one hand out for a shake, which Link takes and then the two share a brief, back slapping hug.

“How ya been, brother?”

“Told you last night - tired and tired of being tired. You?”

“Same,” Rhett chuckles, “but figured if you were makin’ the drive up here, there might be more to say.”

There is, but Link’s not ready for it, instead clearing his throat while moving towards the two rocking chairs near the porch, “Mind if I-?”

“Help yourself,” Rhett says with an expansive gesture and the two end up seated and looking out over the wilderness. Link’s been here before. They’ve done this before. Just sat in these chairs and shot the shit. But today, Link finds himself a little more riled than usual, a little stiffer, and Rhett must pick up on it, because he sighs, “You might as well spit it out.”

“Spit what out?”

“Whatever it is you’re trying to avoid, bo,” Rhett says and he’s got a cooler of sprite nearby. He grabs a can and cracks it open, taking a swig before continuing, “We can sit here and waste time until you work up the nerve or-”

“I have the nerve!” Link cries but Rhett just goes on as if he hasn’t been interrupted, “-you can just spill. Probably feel better after.”

“Doubt that,” Link grouses and reaches into the cooler to get his own drink. Because Rhett managed to call him out so smoothly, so quickly, he decides to take his time on purpose. What was it Lily said? Be ‘deliberately obtuse’? It’s not quite what he’s doing now, but close enough.

Rhett, unbothered by Link’s act of defiance, merely sips his can and rests in his chair - annoyingly regal and relaxed. Sometimes Link really hates him. But it’s the kind of hate that’s so tangled up with affection that it’s irritating beyond measure, so he just stews over his own soda and waits.

For the longest time, it feels like neither will break the silence, but - considering Link came here to see Rhett and not the other way around - he decides (very graciously, he might add) to bend first, “Is it ever hard on you?”

One of Rhett’s eyebrows wing upwards, “Is what ever hard on me?”

Link shifts about, suddenly wishing these wooden chairs had some cushion, “The whole,” he waves a hand around them, “lonely woodsman thing?”

“…you think I’m lonely?”

“Well, I mean…” Link feels very tongue tied and very stupid and he doesn’t want to somehow inadvertently insult or hurt his friend, “Do you-? Do you ever think about how-how things changed?”

Rhett shrugs easily, “Things change, Link. That’s just life. Nature.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Link grumbles, “But I mean-? I’m more like-?” he growls under his breath because he’s annoyed that he can’t articulate his thoughts easily, “You and Jessie…”

“What about me and Jessie?”

“I mean…you were married…”

“We were?” Rhett asks the last as if it’s a hugely shocking revelation and Link hopes his expression manages to convey how he feels about that kind of response, “Yes. You and Jessie were married and then, y'know, um, you-you weren’t and I-I guess I just wondered if-if-?”

Rhett takes a deep pull on his sprite before sighing, “Are you asking if I’m lonely without Jessie?”

“Uh…sort of? Or, I mean, more-more directly - did you ever think this…this is how it would end up.”

“Gosh, no,” Rhett laughs and the corners of his eyes crinkle in that way that always makes Link’s heart twirl a little, “No, I sure didn’t. But; mean, ’s like I said, things change. So do people. Jessie and I loved one another, but,” he shrugs again, “Kids grew up, moved out, and when it was just me and her we’d found things’d changed.”

“But…” Link sounds sort of lost, “How?”

Rhett’s narrows his eyes at him, “Man, you know how. We’ve talked about this! She and I were just…different people than we used to be. Different from who we were when we got married and all. It wasn’t bad - we still loved one another. But there just…”

He rolls his shoulders and sighs again, one big hand rubbing at the back of his neck, “Wasn’t that spark anymore. I love her. Still do. Heck, we still talk - just spoke to her last week! But being in love with her?”

The last is asked in a way that pretty much answers itself. Link gets it. He does understand it. And as Rhett said – they’ve talked about this before. Back when it first happened, even. Link knows the story. He knows it and he knows it and yet…

“I guess, I’m…well, I’m-I’m just asking because you-you live up here all by yourself and I…I live by myself and…”

Rhett’s heavy lidded eyes take on this sad, soulful look, one that makes Link’s throat close up around his words, “That what this really about, brother? You thinkin’ about Christy again? You really the lonely one?”

“Yes,” Link blurts and, sort of horrified that he did, rushes on, “And no. No, mean…this-this isn’t about Christy…this-this is about Lily.”

Rhett’s eyes widen and his head rears back, the confusion on his face paramount, “Okay, alright then - color me perplexed, 'cause I don’t see how my being lonely and then your being lonely has anything to do with your daughter.”

“Lily thinks we should go out!” Link squeaks loudly and hoo boy! Bad enough the words came out in that sharp of a tone, but he also Did. Not. Mean. To. Say. Them!

He was planning on working into it in a far more casual manner. Maybe even jokingly. Like, 'Hey, my daughter thinks we should go out! Isn’t that a laugh riot?’ Or 'So, my children are conspiring against us!’ Or really anything - any way - different than how it came out just now.

Rhett, for his part, doesn’t seem all that rocked by this announcement, “Oh. Um. Alright. Sounds good.”

“Sounds good?!” And wow. Just wow. Link thought he sounded squeaky and loud before. That came out even worse. Mickey-Mouse-sucked-on-helium-and-went-hysterical worse. Rhett must have misunderstood, right? Right?!

As if sensing the question, Rhett finishes off his sprite and tosses the can in a nearby trash can, “Sure. We can go out. Where you wanna go? Wouldn’t mind takin’ a trip. Been an age since we done it.”

His reply confirms Link’s thinking and he deflates, but only a smidge, because he now knows he still has to explain, “No, no, no. I-I mean she wants us to go out. As-as in out out.”

Watching the realization dawn on Rhett’s face should be funny. It really should. More so when he asks in a higher tenor, “Out out as in-?”

“As in a date, man. My little girl thinks we should date,” Link wants to make this into a joke. He feels like he should be able to do that. He knows he should. Because that’s what this is, isn’t it? One big joke and he tries to laugh but the sound comes out so false and weird he stops it immediately, instead pressing on, “Rest of my kids too. She was just…just the one elected to bring it up or-or something…”

Rhett sits up straighter and crosses his arms. His eyes dart from side to side and he looks like he’s thinking so danged hard about this. Way harder than Link thinks he should.

“Let me get this straight: your kids,” Rhett points to Link, “think we,” he waves a finger between the two of them, “should go out with one another?”

“Yes.”

Rhett blinks several times as if he’s physically processing this. His mind a computer pushing through a big old file of data. Which is probably why he offers an indelicate, “Huh.”

“Right?!” Link cries, because he feels like Rhett understands. Rhett gets Link. Rhett knows exactly how Link thinks and feels and Rhett gets this situation, Link’s situation, perfectly.

“My kids pushed me back into datin’ long before yours did.”

…and this was not the response Link expected. He’d expected laughter. He’d expected an eyeroll. He’d expected anything but Rhett to say what he just said and thus his response is less than elegant, “Eh?”

“Locke and Shepard got on me 'bout dating only a year or two after the deal with Jessie was finalized. Think they were worried I’d become some ol’ hermit in the woods…” the last comes out in a bit of a chuckle as Rhett looks around them, “Can you believe that?”

Link can’t help but join him in chuckling on that front. Once the laughter dies down, Rhett sits up, threading his fingers together before letting his hands hang down between his knees, “Told ‘em I didn’t need it. You reach a certain age and you don’t date anymore.”

“That’s what I told, Lily!” Link crows; overjoyed that his pal is in agreement.

One slender shoulder rises and falls in an easy motion as he confesses, “Not that I haven’t been out though.”

This draws Link up short. It startles him. It makes him sit up as well, his own hands mirroring Rhett’s and one of his legs starts jiggling restlessly, “Y-Y-you’ve been-? Been seeing someone?”

“Nah,” Rhett offers a lazy grin, “Not seriously. Seen a coupla different folks, but no one I’d care to see again.”

So.

Rhett had…or is…dating. Sure, he doesn’t call it dating, but still…the omission trips Link up. For some reason, he’d just believed both he and Rhett were in the same boat. Sure, Rhett was divorced, not widowed, but Link had felt – in some way – that it held the same sort of principle.

You chose someone to spend the rest of your life with and when their life or your life ended, that was that. There was nothing else, no one, else. And he’s aware how immature that is, how backwards-thinking, but it just…it’s what he always thought. Until now. Until this very moment where Rhett revealed that it’s not that way at all.

At least not for him.

Rhett…seeing people…with-with potential romantic intent…

For some reason it just doesn’t compute and now Link knows he’s the one blinking madly as he tries to process this. One reason it’s hard to swallow comes to mind, so he asks, "You-you never mentioned…?”

“Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell.”

“You’re telling me right now!” And there’s that hysteric tone again.

“Not givin’ you names, now am I?”

Link feels the sound of sheer disgruntled aggravation that leaves him right now really nails his feelings home. Rhett, however, is unmoved, “Gotta say though, Lily is way off base…”

Link’s hands unhook as he practically melts. A wave of relief washes over him, his whole body falling back to rest against the chair, “Finally!”

“…we already know one another.”

Link’s head snaps back up so quickly it defies his advanced age, “What?”

“Well, not only are we well past the age of dating, dating in and of itself is for people who don’t know one another,” Rhett returns candidly, “We’ve known one another damn near all our lives. So, telling us we should date isn’t quite right. If we went out, it’d probably be called something else.”

“What?!”

Rhett strokes at his beard thoughtfully, “Wonder if there’s a name for that? People who’ve known one another for a long time, but then decide to bump it up a notch. Mean, it’s probably still just called 'dating’, but I really think they should come up with another word for it, because they’re making up new words all the time for all kinds of things so, you think there’d be one for that.”

“WHAT?!”

Rhett looks at Link and he edges closer to him, voice colored with concern, “You alright there? Thought I was the one with the bad hearing. My hearing aids really help, so if you think your ears are starting to go you can ask your doc about-?”

“My hearing is fine,” Link stresses, “But I’m not sure about everything else, because, apparently, I’ve woken up in some alternate universe!”

“…well, we did used to say we traveled the multiverse.”

“Can it, McLachlin!” Link points at him, tone sharp, “You’re the one who said it wasn’t a question you needed to answer!”

“…a question-?”

“Back on the show!” Link cries, “One time you said you didn’t need to answer the question of what it’d be like if we kissed or made out or-!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rhett laughs and waves both of his hands, “Look…first off - for the most part - you’ve always had a better memory’n me. Even back before we were old coots. Second, pretty presumptions of you, ain’t it?”

Link frowns, waits for Rhett to continue the thought and when he does, it takes all the strength Link has within in his body not to strangle the other man, “Mean – you jumping right into kissing and making out…haven’t even taken me out proper yet. If you want to start courting me…”

“I don’t!” Link practically leaps to his feet at that. A rather impressive feat considering his body doesn’t move with near the alacrity it used to, “I-I-I mean, I’m-I’m not-!”

“No?” Rhett sniffs, “Rude.”

“What?” And Link hates repeating himself, hates sounding so stupefied but honestly: what the heck? “Do you want me to be courting you? To take you out out? To date?”

Rhett looks far too damned tranquil for this conversation, “Just because a long time ago I said I didn’t need to answer the question to that, don’t mean I’m not pondering it now.”

And with that, Link dies.

Or he feels like he dies.

Or something else.

Something transcendent. Something where he really has confirmed that, somehow, the planets have shifted, the stars have aligned, and he’s been transported to another universe, because he couldn’t have possibly heard that right.

Yet he knows he did.

Link feels lightheaded. He feels like he’s outside of his body, his voice coming back to him in an echo, lips moving unbidden, “But-? You’re-you’re not-? You’ve-you’ve never been interested in-?”

Another easy shrug, “Not sure if I’m interested in men. But I sure as shit am interested in you. Always have been.”

Link really thinks he should sit back down. Sit back down or fall down. Just…down…

His hands feels shaky and wild as they find the arms of the chair, as he lowers himself back into, as he breathes, “You’re interested in-in-in-?”

Link’s head moves around as if looking for someone else, because saying ‘in me’ (and the ‘me’ being Link himself) doesn’t seem at all possible.

Rhett, seeming to finally take pity on him, sighs, “When I say ‘I’m interested in you’, I’m not declaring some secret, unrequited, suppressed feelings for you, man. I’m saying you’re my friend, I find you interesting, and I ain’t entirely opposed to seeing if there could be more to it,” he unlaces his fingers to wave between them, “To us,” then he changes one of his hands into the two fingers to motion between their eyes, “To this.”

“…this…” is all Link can manage. It comes out faint and whispery. He’s still pretty convinced he died. Probably happened on the ride here. Damn twisty backroads.

“…’course if you’re not interested,” Rhett sucks his teeth, “Or chicken…”

Link snaps back to life right quick. He’s alive. He’s alive and in his body and his ears are burning, his heart pounding, his cheeks bright red as his blood pressure rises, “I’m not chicken!”

Rhett just eyes him balefully and-and the utter gall of it! Of those eyes looking at him in this fashion and Link puffs up, “I’m not! I’M a modern man, dang it! I-I’m not afraid to-to-!”

He runs a hand through his thick (now completely) silver hair and tugs it hard, “It’s just-? It’s crazy! It’s insane! It’s-it’s-it’s-!”

He’s stuttering all over himself, all the things he wants to say not coming out of his mouth quickly enough and he just points at Rhett accusingly, “It’ll ruin our friendship and be all kindas awkward and-!”

Rhett leans back in his chair, crosses his arms again and stretches out his ridiculously long, giraffe-like legs, “You know…we drank one another’s urine.”

Link stalls at that.

“Once upon a time.”

Link is still stopped. Enough that Rhett just breathes in and looks off to one side, “Messed around with one another’s feet. Did Mama Bird/Baby Bird. Cuddled with cockroaches.”

“Thought you said I had the better memory.”

“’Bout some things,” Rhett offers with a small grin, “My point is – we’ve done much crazier things. Only difference this time would be that it’s personal and it’s not for an audience.”

Link digests that, chews on it. He rolls it over and over again in his mind. Rhett seems to be waiting for him to answer – one way or another and when it becomes obvious that no real answer is forth coming, he lets out another sigh and rises up, wincing some.

Link would bet it’s due to his lower back twinging, because sitting long periods of time now just does that to him. Link knows, because it does it to him too.

Rhett puts his hands in his pockets and offers another blithe shrug, “Look, don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you if you’re-”

“Okay.”

Link’s eyes are downcast. They went in that direction when he knew his final answer. He wants to raise his head. He wants to know who said it, that quiet word. So quiet as to almost be inaudible.

And shy.

Quiet, shy…unreal.

And he knows he said it. Knows it came from his mouth. And he feels it when Rhett gets closer to him, feels the heat of his friend and he can just make him out of his peripheral vision as he repeats just as quietly, just as shy, “Okay?”

Link licks his lips and looks up. He looks up into his friend’s kind eyes and feels his head wobbling on his neck as he nods, “Okay. Yeah. I…I guess it’s…it’s worth trying…”

“So,” Rhett’s lips tug up in one corner, a teasing sort of smirk, “You are courting me?”

Link shoves out at him and the two laugh. But the fact still remains. Link has just agreed to go out with Rhett. Out out. As in a date, as in…

…and Link knows, eventually, the panic will return. But for now? For now, it’s nice to just be with his friend and laugh.

#rhink #my writing #this is becoming a whole lot longer than i planned #hopefully still fun and good #that's what i aim for

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hawkeish · 3 years

Note

Those prompts are so hard to choose from! But how about "We were dancing but all of a sudden it’s a slow song and we’re standing here awkwardly staring at each other" for whoever you feel like writing?

I am SO sorry it's taken me an entire month to finish this (writer’s block is the worst am I right ladies!). But I love this prompt - although I took a few liberties - and it screamed Carver/Merrill, so here you go...

Rated T, CWs for implied character death, death mention

1.9k (I have no restraint)

Read on AO3 // Read my other Carver/Merrill fic (it’s referenced a couple of times)

Carver’s perfectly happy where he is.

Leaning against the rough stone wall with a drink in hand, that is. Watching Ri make a tit out of herself, as usual.

The Hanged Man’s packed, warm as a funeral pyre and smelling almost as ripe. Word obviously got round that it was the night before the big expedition: half of Lowtown must be squeezed in here. They’re all eager to toast with Kirkwall’s most eminent storyteller and his new, stabby, impulse-control-free muse, before they set off on their quest for riches and honour and whatever other noble shite lies abandoned beneath the surface.

At least, that’s how Varric’s telling it. Carver’s not sure exactly what’s noble about plundering some dead dwarves’ abandoned thaig. But if it makes his mother happy and his sister finally proud—and if it means his longbar blade can taste the innards of as many darkspawn as he could dream of, for Beth—he’s not going to argue.

Strange to think this is his last night on the surface for a while. And that he’s spending it here, of all places. Something in him flutters with worry at the thought as he tries to tune out the musicians from over in the corner, who’ve kindly decided to abuse some lutes and fiddles. Could this be his last ale? The last full moon he’ll ever see? The last chance he’ll get to be with all these irritating people in one room, together?

But worry’s for bairns and people who can’t hit hard enough to knock teeth out. So Carver buries his nerves with another swig of his drink, then settles back against the wall and does what he likes to do best: observes.

Like some silver-tongued dragon lazed upon a wordhord, Varric’s planted himself on the tallest stool at the bar, surrounded by the usual mob of ruddy cheeked patrons eating up his every word. Half of which will be lies, but that’s good for business; the Hawkes wouldn’t be in on this trip if Varric had a predilection for honesty, after all. Beside him, Isabela’s flashing a grin sharper than her knives and adding flowery embellishment any time Varric pauses for effect. Across from her, Aveline’s desperately trying to counter whatever salacious gossip the pirate’s spreading. Judging by the look on the warrior’s face, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Meanwhile, Ri’s by the fire with Anders, unsurprisingly. She’s tipsy, attempting to flirt by playing demon’s advocate; he’s taking her bait and gesticulating wildly, like usual. They’ve been spending a strange amount of time together recently. Debating—mage this, mage that, freedom, whatever. Carver wouldn’t normally care, only these arguments leave them both blushing and breathless and grinning like fools, and the whole thing’s slightly sickening. Of course Marian would be interested in the possessed apostate. Reckless infatuation is a Hawke family trait.

Whatever they’re banging on about now, it’s drowned out by the music, thank the Maker. If Fenris could hear, the mood wouldn’t be half as merry. But, Carver realises, as his eyes dart around the bustling room in search of that familiar flash of white hair, Fenris is occupied.

In the middle of the tavern, they’ve haphazardly shoved the tables and benches to the side, to make a little space. And in the centre of that dusty, empty floor, as the music gets much faster and much worse, Fenris is dancing.

With Merrill. Who’s got hold of the other elf by the wrists and is whirling him around in a mad circle, looking delighted—maybe more delighted than Carver thinks he’s ever seen her. Eyes wide as moons, smile wild and even wider. And Maker, she looks lovely, too. Cast in a hazy golden glow by the torch-flame, she moves so easily that all Carver can think of is sunlight…

Andraste’s flaming ass. Carver pulls his gaze away, forces himself to gulp some beer, tries to ignore the weird feeling wriggling around his ribcage. Don’t do this, he thinks. Since the moment by the vhenadahl, he told himself he wouldn’t think about Merrill this way. Merrill, his sister’s friend. Merrill, the blood mage. She’s not sunlight. She’s—

“Merrill!” Fenris squawks. The sound knocks Carver from his fluster; he’s not sure he’s ever heard Fenris squawk before. But the warrior looks almost panicked, and very much as though he wishes that he could melt into the floor. “Can you please let me—”

“Not like that!” She’s saying excitedly, pulling at Fenris’ arm, nudging him with her knee and the pointed tips of her toes as he tries, desperately, to wriggle out of her grip. As if egged on, the musicians suddenly strike up a different—but in no way better— jig. “Left foot first, remember, then you hop back a bit, then clap! Oh, you’re like a toddler! Or a little halla foal…”

Fenris makes a strangled noise of protest. “I am not! And I do not wish to hop, Merrill—”

Merrill laughs: the sound’s like chimes, floating over the new reel, and it makes Carver’s skin prickle and flush in that weird, horrible, lovely way. “You have the rhythm, Fenris! Just follow what I do!”

Fenris does have the rhythm. The exact moves, no—although whatever the exact moves are, Carver can’t work out: there’s a lot of spinning and and whirling and jumping and, on Fenris’ part, flailing in many directions. But at least Fenris is doing all the wrong actions at all the right times. There’s something almost hypnotic about it, almost graceful. Between the two elves, Carver doesn’t know where to look.

Knowing where he wants to look is a different matter. Even with Fenris as distraction, Carver’s gaze can’t help but drift past him, to Merrill. She has her eyes half-closed and her head tilted to the sky, a perfect smile on her face—

“Carver!”

And then her head’s whipped around, her eyes are open and locked right on him, and her smile’s so bright and so caught-off-guard that it’s making Carver feel slightly lightheaded. Because Fenris has finally managed to slip out of her hold, has called Carver’s name loud enough to wake the dead—or the very drunk—and is charging towards him like a man possessed.

“Oh no,” Fenris declares drily, as he bridges the gap and pulls Carver’s near full-to-the-brim mug of ale from the warrior’s hands in one, smooth movement. “Just as I thought! It looks like Carver needs another drink.”

He does? Carver blinks down at his empty hands, then up at the elf. “I do?”

Looking him dead in the eye, Fenris smiles wickedly and proceeds to tip most of Carver’s beer onto the straw-covered floor.

“How clumsy of me!” Fenris declares drily. “It appears I owe you some of…” He wrinkles his nose at the damp straw. “Whatever that was.” Then, he claps Carver on the shoulder, the grin returning. “Well, what a shame I can’t return to Merrill. Enjoy your dance!”

Fenris’ friendly shove is hard enough to almost throw a man to the floor: Carver stumbles forward, almost toppling over, knocking into sweaty bodies. A mess of people has started to pack the dance-floor, merry and boisterous; they jostle Carver as he steadies himself, red-cheeked and mumbling apologies. Embarrassment fizzes in his stomach—pressed so close to strangers, he’s suddenly even more aware of his height and...well, brawn. Where Fenris was graceful and lithe, Carver’s a lump, taking up too much space. Although he can dance, kind of. He used to dance for Bethy, didn’t he? To make her laugh when she was upset. Carver’s special jig, she called it.

He hasn’t danced in a long time. Even when he’s been rat-arsed, or when Ri’s needed cheering up. Since Beth died, really. He’s not done a lot of things since she died. Perhaps, he thinks, a part of him went with her. Perhaps, he thinks, if he meets his own end in the Deep Roads, it wouldn’t be so bad—

“Carver!” comes a voice, cutting past the singing and the music and the thud of dozens of feet moving as one. “Carver, are you all right?”

And then Carver realises that he’s stood stock-still in the middle of a whirling mass, thinking of a dead girl, staring at nothing.

No. Not staring at nothing. Staring, he realises, as his vision focuses, directly at Merrill. Who’s stopped dancing, a frown clouding her features: she weaves past revellers, slipping through a gap in the crowd in front of him, until there’s barely a whisper of space between them.

A knot of nerves coils in Carver’s gut. The air’s warm as sin, but there’s gooseflesh prickling across his arms, and a weird chill running down his spine. The last time they were this close was beneath the sprawling branches of the vhenadahl. And look how that went.

“Me?” he answers, not sure where to look again. She’s all red-cheeked and breathless from dancing, and her eyes are sparkling, and Maker, he needs to stop. “Fine. I’m fine! I’m just…”

“Stood completely still,” Merrill notes. “In the middle of a… what was it?” Dodging a rogue elbow, she edges closer to him; somehow, even the smallest of her movements flow in time with the music swelling around them. “A ceilidh? We have a different name for dances like this. I’m not sure one of the moves we have is standing still, though. But you do it well. Very pensive. You’d make a fine statue.”

Is she taking the piss? Is she flirting? Carver’s muscles tighten as he becomes even more horribly aware of her presence. Slowly, palms clammy, he nods. “A ceilidh, yeah.”

“And you’re meant to have a partner for this kind of thing, no?” Merrill asks. “At least, that’s what I thought, although Fenris seemed a bit less…enthusiastic.”

Partners. Two people, dancing. Could he ask...

No. She wouldn’t want to. Not with him. The kid brother. The layabout. Why would she agree? Probably just to be polite, right? She’s always polite. And kind, and warm, and clever—

“Partner? I—yeah,” Carver mumbles again, trying to compose himself. Maker, why does she make him feel so muddled? So much for being less of a wet blanket. “I think.”

“Well.” She gestures to the other revellers, who’ve now started actively dancing around them, shooting them glares vicious enough to wilt flowers. “We look slightly silly, don’t we? Did you maybe…want to dance? With me, I mean. Although of course I meant that. Creators, listen to me.”

Dance. Does Carver want to dance, with Merrill?

No, he tells himself. Not at all. Not in front of everyone. Not front of his sister, who’ll never fucking shut up about it for the rest of her days.

Yes, everything else in him hollers. For they must look a bit ridiculous. And it is his last night up here. And, most of all, because Merrill’s looking at him in a way that makes him feel dizzy. The music’s suddenly slowing, softening, and for some reason, everything feels right.

A heartbeat passes.

Carver nods.

Merril doesn’t say anything, just smiles—a bright and blinding smile, one that makes everything around them fade to grey. Then, gently, she reaches out to take his hands, turns them over, and rests her palms on top of his.

“Follow what I do,” she murmurs, drawing her gaze up from their hands to him.

As the music slips away, and he can feel Merrill’s soft fingertips balanced light as air on his upturned wrists, Carver is perfectly happy where he is.

#ish writes #carver x merrill #dragon age 2 #carver hawke #merrill #dragon age fic #pinkfadespirit #answered #this was so much fun #also a huge thank you to hollyand-writes for cheering from the sidelines!!!#and credit to Paul Simon for writing lyrics that scream 'use me in fic'#referenced character death cw #death mention cw #long post

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stuffandnosense · 4 years

Text

Warmth

Way too late, @rueitae here is your gift for @plancesecretsanta! I’m so sorry for the delay! It’s definitely not Christmasy at all, but I hope I’ve fulfilled your requests. ;) It was so much fun to be able to make a gift for you; thanks for being a great friend, and happy late holidays! <3

Tags: Plance, Plangst, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Happy Ending, Blood TW

Words: 3500

***

Honey eyes, peering over the top of those ridiculous green glasses Pidge has taken to wearing. Ridiculous, yes, but Lance loves them. Her laughing smile, frozen in time in the small picture, spreads warmth through his cold limbs.

When they come for him, he keeps it hidden in the tattered remains of his flight suit — the only pillow they’ve left him with in the tiny cell. The flimsy hospital-gown like material they’ve given him to wear does nothing for heat, the thin pants and shirt almost no barrier at all from the cold floor.

Maybe they don’t want to waste better material. They keep having to give him new clothes when the ones he’s wearing tear and become soaked in blood.

Lance shivers, his harsh breath one of very few sounds in the dim, empty lab, accompanied only by soft beeps and intermittent droning from the equipment. Some of the beeps come from his own chest and neck, from small round monitoring devices stuck to his skin to monitor his vital signs. He’s tried to get them off, more out of spite than anything, but it’s been useless.

He trails a thumb over Pidge’s face, back and forth, as if the action will make her appear or keep him from shaking apart.

It hurts. The shivers down his spine, radiating through his body, shake through his broken leg and bruises scattered across his torso, and pull at the edges of the gash down one of his shoulders. He can’t stop the involuntary movement when the cold has seeped to his core.

***

They never should have split up with the other rebels — Alliance members? There was no one to rebel against anymore, but it was hard to break old habits of thinking of them that way.

They should have stayed together. The old Blade outpost was supposed to be empty, but Lance knew something felt...off. They shouldn’t have gone into the dark jungle around the outpost alone. He should have known. Was he getting rusty?

“This is the last time I do a favor for Keith,” he mumbled under his breath.

An elbow in his side told him in no uncertain terms to hush, Pidge glaring daggers at him from beside him. Not that it mattered. With their helmets on no one could hear them; the rustling of the vines that covered the outcropping of rock they were hidden behind was more of a danger.

“You could have stayed home,” she teased quietly.

“And let you come out here by yourself a month before our wedding?”

“I wouldn’t have been by myself.”

Lance let out a breath as he huddled closer, wincing at the lights seeping around the edge of their rock — thin greenish beams that didn’t belong to their colleagues.

“Not the point…”

His hands stayed on his rifle, ready, a finger near the trigger, but they itched to hold onto Pidge, to keep her close. Her shoulder pressed into his back as he kept watch, the warmth reassuring.

“I know,” Pidge said. The fondness in her voice made him smile.

He just wanted to be with her. Why not go on a mission for the first time in a while if he could avoid missing her for a couple of weeks?

People had been disappearing here. There were fruits in that jungle used by a nearby population on this planet, but in recent months it had turned into a strange black hole. The Blades, still stretched thin as they rebuilt their ranks, hadn’t had a chance to respond to the reports. When the natives finally begged for help, well…

What better job to give a couple of former paladins and a handful of bored rebels with no one to fight? Captain Olia and her crew were more than happy to lend their ship and their help to check out the area, what with the Atlas so busy with diplomacy.

They were expecting some trouble, maybe, but not this. Not the sudden blow out of nowhere and the flash that cuts off Pidge’s smile in his memory and then—

***

It’s the last clear memory he has. There’s more, jumbled and rushed, but he’s always been alone in this cell, in this lab, wherever he is and he can’t remember…

Where is Pidge? Is she safe? Is she here somewhere? Is she…?

Lance coughs, swiping shakily at his eyes as he pushes the thoughts away. A fresh jolt of pain down his leg squeezes tears free, as he tries to shift to relieve the pressure on his hip from the hard floor.

Is he even on the same planet anymore? Surely if they were just keeping people somewhere in that outpost he would have been found by now? Everyone at the Garrison on Earth knew where they were going.

It doesn’t help anything when the lights through the lab snap on, startling Lance into another sudden movement. He tries not to moan aloud, but he can’t help it. At the far end of the lab, the aliens that have been holding him here shuffle in, all rumpled lab coats and bleary morning glares, as if this is all normal. They’re a motley crew — a female Olkari and a yellow-gold male of what he’s pretty sure is Nyma’s species. A couple of other species he doesn’t recognize.

He shoves the small picture of Pidge back into the torn folds of the flight suit under his head before anyone notices it.

“Think we’ve left those wounds long enough?” Gold Guy asks, glancing briefly over at Lance.

The ring leader - a tall blue female - shrugs. “Yeah, probably. Let’s see how they do.”

The Olkari pipes up, hesitant. “Uhm...don’t forget to set the leg before you try healing it.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

The blue one is the only one with any real scientific acumen, Lance has been able to gather. Except for the Olkari, who has some but seems reluctant. The others are just goonies, he thinks, and there must be more elsewhere outside the lab - whoever attacked them.

They don’t come for him right away, turning on computers and equipment first and brewing something that smells a little like coffee. Not that they’ve ever given him any. The same routine they go through every morning for...how long?

Except for the first day, it all blurs together.

***

“Where is Pidge! What did you do with her!”

He woke up here, in this cell, his wrists cuffed behind him around one of the bars, and she was nowhere to be seen. Just a sterile white and gray lab and no answers. The blue alien and the Olkari leaning over him and a ringing in his head that was slowly fading.

“...device seems to have taken care of the concussion and lacerations easily enough in this species,” one of them was saying. “We can move forward with other tests.”

“Where is the other person I was with? Where is she!”

They ignored him, talking among themselves about something he didn’t care to make out just then, but that was when Lance saw the tears in his suit...and that there were no wounds under them. There was blood on the fabric and on his skin, but nothing else. Like waking up in a healing pod, except a healing pod usually cleaned away the blood, too.

And if they’d been hit with some kind of charge, shouldn’t he feel a lot worse than he did? Parts of him felt sore, but—

That was when the blue one grabbed his face. “You. How does your head feel?”

Lance jerked his chin away. “Like I’m going to answer that? Who are you!”

Gold Guy leaned in, brandishing a short knife. “Look, we can make this easier on you, or we can NOT. Answer the question.”

Lance just glared, already short of air. He was all but expecting what came next, but with his mind still clearing he almost didn’t register the sudden movement until knife was buried in his thigh.

He shouted, yanking on the restraints, waiting for the agony to fade, but the knife stayed where it was. Gold Guy was tugging down on the edge of the wound and twisting.

It made it hard to hear them, even though they were so close.

“I’d listen to him if I were you,” the blue alien was saying. “He’s not as nice as me.”

Gold Guy smirked. “You’re nice?”

The Olkari was protesting. “What are you doing! We don’t even have monitoring devices on him yet!” She almost seemed to care.

Blue Lady shrugged. “We’ll put some on before we heal anything else. We’ve got plenty of time to run tests.” She leaned into Lance’s face, pushing down on Gold Guy’s hand and the handle of the knife. “He needs to know how this is going to work. When we ask questions, you answer them? Got it?”

Lance could barely get a breath, much less answer, but he gasped out what he could. “Get...quiznaked.”

They didn’t seem to like that.

***

When they swarm his cell Lance still tries to match them glare for glare, like he does every morning. Every time.

They crowd into the cell to surround him, but they don’t bother cuffing him. They haven’t for a while. He doesn’t have the energy to make holding him still difficult anymore, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t fight. They make it harder on him for it, but at least he’s doing something.

“Get off…!” They aren’t going to listen. He knows they won’t, but it comes out anyway.

His torso groans at him for twisting and pulling, all sharp aches and burning pain, but it’s nothing compared to when they get a good enough grasp on his leg to set it properly.

They don’t take precautions. No warning him, nothing for the pain. Everything blurs out for a minute or two, his own scream echoing in his ears. By the time he can focus again they’re halfway through healing the break, the Olkari hovering over him with the gun-shaped healing device they’ve been holding him here to test. The pain in his leg is fading, but everything else still hurts. The device is for focused healing, and of course they’ve never bothered to use it on any of the collateral damage they’ve caused manhandling him.

“You’re contaminating your healing data, you know,” he told them once. After Gold Guy kicked him a few times, frustrated he still wasn’t answering their questions. “I know a lot of scientists; I know these things.”

It only earned him another foot in his rib cage, but it was worth it.

The Olkari was the only one who’d given him any kind of answers, lingering behind after the others had left for the night.

“Our planets were destroyed or devastated by the war. We need resources to start over, and no one’s ever been able to perfect a portable version of a healing device - nothing as powerful as the healing pods the Alteans have. Do you know how much this will be worth?”

Lance just stared at her. “There are better ways to do it!”

She shook her head, answering tersely. “It would take too long, and no one would volunteer for this.” For a moment she almost seemed to feel guilty, her gaze skipping over the dislocated shoulder he was cradling at the time.

He scoffed. “You’ve got that right. What’s wrong with time? The Olkari are doing fine on Altea for now, why—?”

“We need our OWN planet. So we can truly rebuild. Your own people have had to rebuild; don’t you understand that?”

“The feelings, yeah, sure, but I don’t understand how you can justify doing this to someone!” Lance snapped back. “And I haven’t been the only one, have I? What happened to the people who disappeared near here? Or near the base where we ran into you, if we’re not there? Whatever.”

He didn’t get an answer. He didn’t get to ask about Pidge again. She glared and walked away and she hasn’t spoken directly to him since.

The monitors across his skin are beeping, sending data to the pad the blue alien is holding. Telling them how well it’s working. His resolve not to answer their questions hasn’t broken, but they must get enough from their instruments to keep going.

The Olkari pushes quickly to her feet as she shuts off the healing device, responding sharply to something Blue Lady said. Lance doesn’t make it out over focusing on his leg, carefully moving it and flexing the muscles and trying to assure himself it’s all right now. They haven’t touched the shoulder wound, and he can’t remember if that was even a test.

Gold Guy doesn’t seem to care one way or the other. He yanks Lance to his feet before he can really get his bearings.

“Hey!” He hisses, his shoulder burning. At least his leg doesn’t give out. It twinges when he stumbles into putting weight on it for the first time, but seems solid enough.

Blue Lady and the Olkari are still arguing in hushed tones.

Lance can make out enough to make his blood freeze.

“That...never worked! We have enough—”

“...have to...rid of him anyway.”

What?

No no no...he tries to pull away from Gold Guy on instinct, but the fingers digging into his arms are too tight. His strength has been failing him for days; did he really expect it to be any better now?

They’re all looking at him. The Olkari is shaking her head about something, but Blue Lady isn’t listening anymore. She isn’t keeping her voice down anymore.

“Did you think the others all died by accident?”

“They died because you took it too far!” the Olkari fumes.

A shrug. She smiles strangely at Lance. “Might as well gather as much data as we can. We can’t have anyone left to tell the market how we tested.”

Lance falls back a step into Gold Guy, his breath hitching when one of the other lab assistants hands the blue alien something like a spear through the bars of the cell.

“Y-You don’t have to…” He runs out of air before he can finish the sentence.

They were supposed to find him before now. He was supposed to be out of here by now.

“Don’t worry,” she says, hefting the weapon. “We’ll still try to heal you. Who knows; maybe it’ll work. We’ve improved the design. It’ll be worth more if we can claim it helps with life-threatening injuries, after all.”

Another step back. He lands on a foot, and Gold Guy shoves him off.

He’s free but still trapped in a cell with a crazy alien coming at him with a weapon. He has nowhere to go.

Pidge…

“Where is she?” he demands, desperate. “Where is Pidge? A-at least tell me that!”

Blue Lady opens her mouth as if she might answer, but it never comes. She advances on him again and when he steps back one more Lance thinks, at first, that he stops because Gold Guy...punched him in the back?

But his legs are dropping out from under him and he doesn’t know why. It wasn’t that bad, was it? But—

His knees hit the ground.

It hurts now.

His hands find the tip of the spear-like weapon protruding from his stomach before he sees it, and Blue Lady is putting down her own weapon and Gold Guy is laughing behind him, and he knows what happened.

Vaguely. Almost as if he’s watching from far away.

He starts to have strange thoughts like...will they just watch him die, or leave him alone long enough that he can get to the picture hidden in his suit?

Oh wait, she said they’d try to heal him, didn’t she?

But she also said she’d make sure to kill him anyway.

Pidge! A spark of alarm as he gasps through the pain making its’ way into his consciousness.

I’m sorry...

Lance thinks for a moment that he can hear Pidge calling to him.

But then the spear tip disappears, and a fresh wave of agony sends him toppling over some kind of ledge in his mind he didn’t even know he was on, and the questions and the seeds of panic are fading with everything else.

***

The feeling of falling yanks Lance back to awareness, but more the sort of sense one has in a dream. Like he didn’t fall far or it was all in his head. The ceiling of the cell is blurry above him and…

“Lance? Lance!”

He isn’t on the floor. For the first time in what feels like forever, it isn’t the hard coldness of the floor under his back. An arm cradles his head, a knee under his back.

“Lance!”

He makes out the familiar honey eyes first. Then the worry in them.

“P—” His throat is dry, the words trapped.

Pidge smiles down at him, but it looks strained. “I’m right here. It’s okay, it’s okay; we’re working on you.”

Another voice, the Olkari leaned over him beside Pidge, talking almost to herself. “I have the wound sealed in the back so at least we’re only working with one open wound, but I can’t seal the front until enough of the internal damage is repaired. That’s assuming it can be healed quickly enough and the blade didn’t hit too many things that are important…”

The slight warmth of the healing device’s beam is spread over his torso, and maybe he should be surprised that the Olkari is helping them, but he isn’t.

He winces at her assessment, but Pidge rests a hand against his cheek so he’ll look back to her. “Hey, you’ll be fine. You’ve got a wedding in a week and I’m pretty sure you haven’t even written your vows.”

Lance swallows until he’s more sure he can speak. “Didn’t...didn’t miss it?”

She smiles again, and this time it reaches her eyes. “You’re not getting out of it.”

He snorts, but that hurts. “Ahhhhooohhkay. Ow. Anyway, I was...gonna wing it.”

Pidge almost laughs. “YOU can’t wing it; I was gonna wing it. We can’t both wing it.”

“...why not?”

The Olkari interrupts, nudging Pidge. “I think it’s going to work,” she murmurs.

Lance thinks, maybe, that she’s right. The sensation of pain fading has become familiar. The feeling of being almost whole again is something he recognizes now.

Pidge laughs now, in relief. When she lets her forehead drift down against his, she’s answering his question. “Because knowing us, that would be a disaster.”

He smiles, reaching to draw unsteady fingers through her hair. “-t’s probably...what everyone expects anyway. Give the people what they want.” She’s still laughing, and it’s the most beautiful thing he’s heard in...what’s apparently been weeks. “I missed you…”

The Olkari woman is starting to close the wound, which means it is working. He’s going to be fine, right? So why does Pidge’s laughter dissolve into tears?

“Pidge?”

“I missed you too. I’m sorry.” She pulls away enough to swipe at her eyes. “I’m sorry it took so long for us to find you and get in here. I couldn’t remember anything after the blast. Olia and the others got to me in time to run them off before they could grab both of us, but they said you were gone and they didn’t know which way they went, and we needed backup and—”

“Pidge, Pidge, you’re babbling. Hey, it doesn’t matter…”

Pidge has to make room for the Olkari to get to the gash across his shoulder, but Lance squeezes her hand to reassure her until the wound is healed and they’re alone again. Or as alone as they can be with Garrison personnel swarming the lab outside the cell, presumably gathering evidence and equipment and taking the other scientists and techs and goons into custody.

He’s able to catch the eyes of the Olkari woman before they lead her away. She nods slightly when mouths his thanks.

“You’re okay?” Pidge is asking. She’s looking him over like she’s afraid they missed something. “It worked?”

Lance winces as she helps him sit up. The serious wounds are gone and the bruises that were near them have disappeared, but there are more. Tender places and smaller cuts. He still feels weak and shaky.

“I’m not skewered anymore, anyway.”

“Good.” She latches her arms around his neck, all but pulling herself into his lap.

“Oof! Yeah…” He doesn’t mind at all, holding on tight and breathing in her scent, soaking in her warmth and the comforting sensation of her fingers in his hair and her heart beating against his.

“They wouldn’t tell me what happened to you,” he murmurs. Tears are building behind his eyelids against his will.

Well. His turn, then.

“I-I didn’t know...they wouldn’t tell me where you were. I…”

Slightly chapped lips kiss the first of the tears from his face, tickling where they brush. “I’m right here,” Pidge whispers.

Lance is shivering again, but this time he knows he won’t shake apart. He has everything he needs to stay together, right here. All the warmth he could ever want. “I love you,” he breathes.

“I love you, too.”

#Plancesecretsanta2019 #plance secret santa #plance #plangst #whump #voltron legendary defender #tw: blood #vld fanfic #vld lance #vld pidge #happy ending

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piratekingimogen · 4 years

Text

you don’t belong here (pirate king!imogen au, pt 3)

word count: 1794

“By the time I was allowed to see him, he had gone still, his skin colorless,” Gregor said. His voice was stiff with grief. “It was too late, I thought. She had killed him. I had begged and pleaded and bargained for so long, all in vain. His thoughtlessness had cost him his life, and Carthya its beloved king.”

“And then he saw me breathe,” I muttered.

“And then I saw him breathe,” Gregor said. I groaned quietly. Under the table, Amarinda’s hand found mine, and she squeezed my fingers.

“They’ve all heard this before,” I whispered.

“Shh,” she murmured. I slouched in my seat, my gaze wandering around the council room as Gregor’s voice faded to a drone in my ears. Based on the glazed looks of the gathered regents, I wasn’t the only one tired of hearing the epic tale of Jaron’s massive failure and Gregor’s heroic rescue. Gregor was not a very inventive storyteller.

Fortunately for him, that wasn’t a requirement for stewardship. And unfortunately for me, since he was appointed steward four years ago, the convening and adjourning of council meetings were up to him. Which meant I could be here listening to him for quite some time.

Imogen hadn’t poisoned me. The bitter drink was only a sleeping draft, to keep me from figuring out her ruse until it was too late. She made a deal with Gregor to secure a literal king’s ransom from Carthya’s coffers. In exchange, we were given safe passage back to Carthya. It turned out quite neatly for the two of them: she had enough gold to satisfy even the most vengeful pirates, and he had rule of Carthya. There was no hesitation from the regents when they voted: I wasn’t fit to be king. I probably would have voted the same way in their place.

The creak of the door brought me back to the present. Nura, the newest captain of the guard, entered quietly. Gregor paused, his story, arching an eyebrow. He’d had trouble finding a suitable successor to his old position, and his irritation at this interruption didn’t bode well for Nura’s continuing employment. “Captain?”

“My lord, I need a word with you.”

“A council meeting is in progress.”

“I understand, my lord,” she said steadily. “The matter is urgent.”

He ran his fingers through his graying hair. The meeting is adjourned. The meeting is adjourned, I chanted in my head. “Very well. The meeting is adjourned.”

“Finally,” I mumbled, earning another squeeze from Amarinda. I remembered to offer her my elbow before we emerged into the cool air of the palace corridor. Behind us, Nura and Gregor spoke in low voices.

“To your chambers?” I asked.

“The library,” she corrected, nudging me in the right direction. We didn’t speak as we walked down the halls. I couldn’t ignore the long stretches of newly blank walls. Amarinda had taken charge of raising money for my ransom so it wouldn’t have to be taxed from Carthya’s poor. Tapestries and paintings from my childhood, as familiar as my parents’ faces, disappeared into the houses of nobles across the continent.

Tobias was waiting for us on a sunlit couch in the library. I caught a glimpse of botanical sketches before he closed his book, straightening to attention. “How was the council meeting?”

“Terrible,” I said, dropping onto the couch beside him. He jumped up and motioned for Amarinda to take his spot, dragging over a stool for himself.

“Gregor went into his pirate king monologue again,” Amarinda explained. Tobias made a sympathetic face.

“I don’t know why he has to whip it out over and over,” I said, leaning back. “It’s been four years! We all know what happened!”

Amarinda exchanged a look with Tobias. “That’s a good question. Why don’t you like to hear the story?”

“Because it makes me look stupid, for one thing,” I said. “And I don’t need any help with that. And the way he tells it makes it sound like he single-handedly beat Imogen away from my bleeding body. He offered her a massive bribe. That’s all.”

“How might that affect the regents’ perception of him?”

I pulled a knobby pillow into my lap and frowned at it. Amarinda was doing this more and more recently: trying to coax me towards political awareness with a trail of leading questions. It was helpful, like her reminders to behave at council meetings. It was also just a little condescending. “Well, it makes him look smarter and more capable. It reminds them of why they put him in charge.”

“And how does that help him? Why might he feel the need to reinforce his authority?” she asked. I racked my brains. “Can you think of any upcoming events…?”

I sat up, sending the throw pillow tumbling to the ground. “My coming of age!”

“That’s my thought,” Amarinda said, using her toe to pull the pillow back into arm’s reach and tucking it behind my back.

“What does he think he’s going to accomplish? Stop me from turning eighteen?”

Tobias lifted a finger. “Actually, the regents could vote to postpone your coronation if they feel that you still aren’t ready. Amarinda, if I could reach past you...” She leaned aside to let him retrieve one of the books stacked on a table beside the couch. Flipping it open, he pulled a sheet of notes from between the pages. “Reassuming the throne when you come of age was expected, but the deadline was mostly arbitrary. There’s nothing that says the regents couldn’t keep a steward until you were twenty-one, or even longer.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone tell me that sooner?” I demanded.

“It’s a long shot,” Amarinda said. “The regents are warming to you, and you’re popular with the people-- especially since you started your public audiences to hear grievances and mediate disagreements. It’s a kingly thing to do.”

“Well, I’m glad someone appreciates it,” I said flatly. “Gregor says it’s a waste of time and a security threat to boot, letting so many people into the palace every fortnight.”

“Might Gregor have his own reasons to discourage you?” she asked delicately.

“I get it, I get it,” I said, lifting my hands. “I need to be more suspicious of people’s motives. I don’t want to stop holding the audiences. I’m just--” I sighed. “I’m nervous, I guess.” I remembered clearly being thirteen years old and knowing I could do anything. I didn’t know when this doubt had seeped into me, only that it had grown worse lately. I wanted to ascend the throne and carry on my family’s legacy, but some nights I couldn’t sleep for the fear that I would ruin it all. Coming of age. The coronation. The wedding.

Amarinda took my hand, offering a soft smile. “It’s alright to be nervous, Jaron. But we’ll get through this together. You know I’m on your side.”

“I know,” I said. After a moment’s hesitation, I lifted our intertwined hands to my lips and pressed a kiss to her skin. We were getting good at this: cultivating the warmth we would need to make marriage pleasant. I was determined to be a good husband to her. It was the least I could do to repay her for the endless patience and wisdom she had shared with me.

“I need to go,” Tobias said, startling me. I’d almost forgotten he was there. “To, uh, tell Mott you’re done with the council meeting. He had something to tell you.” By the end of the sentence he sounded almost convinced, but Amarinda grabbed his sleeve and I threw out a leg to block his exit.

“No, no, stay here,” I said, laughing. “We won’t do anything else embarrassing, I promise.” His ears were pink; this was a frequent reaction when Amarinda and I displayed affection in front of him. “Mott will find us soon enough.”

As if on cue, Mott appeared in the doorway. “There you are, Jaron,” he said. “And Amarinda, what a pleasure.”

“I assume the ‘what a pleasure’ part applies to both of us,” I said, grinning. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t contradict me. “Tobias said you had news?”

“I was talking to Nura,” he said, joining us in the patch of evening sunlight streaming through one of the library windows. “Sharp as a tack, that one. She’s been suspicious of covert activities in the city since she was appointed captain of the guard.”

“She interrupted the council meeting today,” Amarinda said. “But we didn’t hear what she had to say.”

“No, I didn’t think so. Gregor hasn’t acted on her concerns, that I know of, and she seemed wary to share them even with me. But I suspect that there’ll be more disruptions as your coronation approaches.”

“Cheerful thought,” I said. “Is that all?” Mott’s mouth clamped shut. I was immediately suspicious. “There is. Does Nura know who’s causing trouble?”

He looked relieved. “No, not that she shared with me.”

“But there is something else,” I said, tilting my head.

“It’s nothing,” Tobias said quickly.

“Oh, so you know it!” I said, rounding on him. “That makes this easier. Is it about one of my regents?” I inspected his expression. He glanced nervously at Amarinda. “No… the coronation? The wedding? Hmm. Avenia? Ooh. Vargan? Trouble on the border-- no. The coast? Pirates? Are they raiding Carthya again? Or is it-- you’ve heard news of Imogen.” His eyes flickered wider and I knew I’d guessed it. “Come on, Mott. You don’t have to act like I’m going to shatter if you say Imogen’s name.”

“I guess we’re just going to pretend the screaming fits never happened,” Mott said drily.

I wrinkled my nose. “That was twice. And also a long time ago. Also, do you realize that when I’m king you’re going to have to be respectful occasionally? I’ll settle for once or twice a month.”

“Duly noted,” Mott said.

“So what did you hear about Imogen?” I asked.

Mott sighed. “I received reports that she was involved in a raid in Gelyn.”

“That’s good news,” Amarinda said. “Isn’t it? She’s far away now.”

“Yeah,” I said. She was alive, and wealthy, and very far away. Good for her. “Great news.”

“And chances are she won’t be anywhere near here in time for the coronation, so that’s one less thing to worry about,” Tobias said. I didn’t care what Imogen was up to. I had let go of our unfinished business long ago. Laid it to rest, sunk it in the sea, buried it beneath years of life without her. My nails dug into my palms.

“Excellent! Thanks for the update, Mott,” I said, forcing a smile. “Now, Tobias was just telling me something interesting about the rules of Gregor’s stewardship.”

taglist: @ascendancejaron, @phrenic-a

#you don't belong here #pirate king imogen #the ascendance series #imogen #jaron eckbert artolius iii #two updates in two days!!!#my inspiration is either 100% or 0% with no in between #jennifer nielsen #also i love these kids #which helps #playing with a new format #bc while i like doing read mores to keep from eating up ppls dashboards #ppl seem more likely to read and comment when they don't have to click through to read the whole thing #and comments are my favorite :D

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myfeels-havefeelings · 6 years

Text

Day 3 - Two Can Play at that Game

Azel regarded Callen cautiously. The young man had been known to cause trouble, with complete disregard for the wellbeing of others. He’s been in and out of the correctional facility many times, now. Too many times for someone of his age. But he supposed it was warranted, considering all he's said to have done. What Azel didn't understand was why they sent Callen to him.

“So... You’re supposed to be my new therapist or something?”

“I'm not a therapist, or anything of the sort. Please don't refer to me as such.”

Callen shrugged. “They made you sound like a therapist, my bad. So what are you, then?”

“Nothing you’ve heard of, I'm sure,” he answered dryly. “Since you’re here, and I doubt they’ll let you leave anytime soon, why don't you tell me your age and a few of the things you’ve done recently?”

Callen raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his seat. “Shouldn't you already know that info? They gave you my file.”

“Yes, but I’ve yet to look at it. It’s better for you to willingly give that information out; to show that I do not have complete control in this situation.” Azel ignored the suspicious look he was given, reaching into his desk drawer to pull out a medium sized notebook. “This will be yours while you’re here. Please use it at least once a week, preferably halfway through or near the end. That way I can better monitor your thought process.”

“How are you going to monitor anything if it’s only once a week?”

“Well, Callen, you’re going to be here for awhile so there will be a lot to look over in the coming months. And you are free to write in it more often than that, if you feel it is necessary.”

Callen took the book, putting it in the bag he was given when they first decided to send him here. “Right. Well, you’re not going to see much progress. And I'm pretty sure you’re gonna end up dropping me soon, anyway.”

Azel hummed. “We’ll see. Do you plan on answering my previous question?”

Callen huffed out a laugh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk as he clasped his hands, chin resting on his knuckles. “Since you asked so nicely. I'm 22, and the most recent thing I've done is-”

“I would have appreciated a heads up about how volatile he was, Kara.”

Kara chuckled, the sound coming out slightly muffled through the phone. ‘I thought you would have guessed that, with all the statements and reports about him.’

“I assumed he was unstable, yes. But not like that.” Azel sighed, running a hand over his face. “Is there anything else I need to know, that you have yet to mention?”

‘Not that I can think of. Everything else should be in his file.’

“And you’re sure?”

‘As sure as I can be at the moment. Listen, I gotta go. A new order just came in, and I can hear you-know-who screaming about it already. If I remember anything, I’ll call.’

“Okay, thank you. And please don't antagonize her this time.”

‘No promises. Bye!’

“Goodbye.” He sighed again after hanging up, running a hand through his hair. This would be more of a problem than he thought. He should go through the medical records, at least. That way he would know what medications he was taking - if any. He doubted they kept him on them once they moved him out of the facility.

“So, you didn't change your mind,” Callen mumbled as he sat down, setting his bag at his feet. “I thought you would decide to drop me, after yesterday.”

“I've dealt with worse. How are you feeling today.”

“That didn't sound like a question, but I suppose I'm feeling fine.”

Azel nodded, opening the folder on his desk. “Are you sure? Because according to your medical records they had you on antipsychotics, and a mood stabilizer. So I would assume you'd be experiencing withdrawal symptoms by now, since they've taken you off of them.”

“That would only happen if I'd been regularly taking them in the first place. Which, obviously, I was not. And I thought you weren't going to look at my file?”

“I haven't touched your file. Your medical records are in a different category, though. As that is information that I constantly need to be up to date on, as it is crucial to your wellbeing.”

“And everything else?”

Azel waved a hand, “Knowing how much damage you've done, and what exactly you did, isn't something I necessarily need to be on top of. That's information you may share on your own, if you feel the need.”

Callen gave him a blank stare before rolling his eyes. “Okay, sure. So what's the other reason you brought up my medical records? That couldn't have been the only one.”

“There's the fact that you didn't need any antipsychotics, considering you never showed any signs of psychosis.” He flipped the folder around, pointing to the section he'd circled earlier. “And the fact that the dosage they had for your mood stabilizer was entirely too high, which ended up having the opposite effect.”

Callen glanced over the paper, frowning. “So they were trying to kill me.”

“Wait, what?” Azel exclaimed in confusion. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Whenever I had to take the meds it made my moods worse when they wore off, which gave them more reason to hurt me. They were trying to get it to the point where they would have no choice but to-”

“Stop,” Azel interrupted, holding a hand up, “that's enough. I get where you’re going. But I really don't think they were trying to kill you, Callen.”

“Then what were they trying to do?” he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, voice tinged with agitation. “Cause that seems like the only plausible direction, with how they treated me.”

Azel wondered if he should look at Callen’s file, if only to know what all they did to the boy. But he decided against it; it’s not as if they would put corrective measures in the records. It would be too risky, and there would be the possibility that the facility could be shut down from abuse and torture charges. Maybe he should have Kara look into it.

“At most, I think they would have you constantly sedated and under watch for being too violent. But if you were taking the correct dosage as often as this says you were supposed to, you would have been catatonic since you were also on unneeded antipsychotics.”

“A living corpse.”

“No.”

“It’s the same thing. Either way, I’d be pretty much dead. They were trying to kill me!” Azel winced slightly at the yell, sighing internally when Callen knocked the folder off his desk as he surged up out of his seat. “It was their faults in the first place! I never did anything wrong, they were just too much of little bitches to handle the fact that I was stronger! If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been out of my fucking mind. I wouldn't have hurt those people! But are they going to say that? Are they going to take the blame? Of course not!”

Callen kicked the chair over in his anger, and Azel watched in mournful resignation as he practically tore apart his Peace Lily plant in the back corner of the room while ranting about all that happened. At least he was getting information out of the fit. He’d have to clean up and replace the plant. He huffed. And it was a present from his father, too.

“Did you get it out of your system?” he asked after several minutes, mentally mourning the loss of his plant.

Callen panted from exertion, hands clenched into fists at his sides. He stared blankly ahead for a long moment before walking back over to the chair and setting it up, sitting down after. “Sorry. But that's what I mean. After they started me on the meds, I was like that after they wore off, but worse. And I felt threatened with them around me, so I lashed out.”

“Which is understandable,” Azel stated. “Please refrain from attacking my plants in the future.”

“No promises. So now what?”

“Now,” Azel started, reaching down to pick up the folder and the few papers that fell out, “we try to get you the correct dosage of the correct type of mood stabilizer. They were giving you a stabilizer for depression, when you needed one for manic episodes. After correcting that you should begin to have less fits.”

“And that'll work?”

“Let's hope it does, or you'll have to start working to pay me back for the damage.”

Callen snorted pulling his legs up, hugging his knees to his chest. “Sure. Hey, did you know I once skinned someone alive?”

Azel hummed as Callen began explaining the process, tuning most of it out.

This boy was going to be the death of his sanity.

Kara laughed at Azel's retelling of the session.

“So you just let him explain in extreme detail?”

“It was better than the alternative of possibly sending him into another fit. Have you found anything?”

“A lot, actually. I was just waiting for you to finish.” Azel stood, walking over to stand behind her.

“Here are the records of any treatments he received, down here are his hours in solitary confinement. Then...” She switched to a different tab, scrolling down. “These are all the times he was supposed to take his medicine, and the highlighted areas are the times he actually did. I also have video feed to go through.”

“Wonderful. Thank you, Kara. Can you email those to me? I'll go over them tomorrow night.”

“Sure thing. Have you figured out why they sent him to you, yet?” she asked, turning to face him. “I mean, it's been three days. You'd have to know by now.”

“I don't think the higher ups at the facility fully understand what I do. They certainly wouldn't have sent him here if they did. But it's their funeral, so I suppose it was a good thing it happened.”

Kara grinned. “Should I tell her? We can start preparing now.”

Azel shrugged, moving to grab his things. “If you want to. It won't be for a long while, but early prep never hurts. I'll see you tomorrow, Kara. Take care.”

“You too, Azel.”

Callen was wide-eyed with surprise, eyes scanning over the papers in front of him. “You... H-how... How did you get all this? I know this stuff isn't in my file because they never report these things. What... Did you hack in or something?”

Azel waved a hand. “Not me, but an associate of mine. She's very good at digging things up. We also have video files of how you and the other patients were treated. We can take all of this as proof, and set up a very good court case against them.”

Callen frowned, setting down the folder. “Just a court case?”

“Do you have any other ideas?”

“Well, not really. But won't they just be put in jail? It’s not as if they can really do anything to them, considering how much money they have. They could probably bail themselves out, anyway.” Callen’s face twisted in rage. “That's dumb. They shouldn't be able to do that.”

“Avoid the table if you’re going to hit something, please.” Azel pulled the folder back to him, closing it. “Now, have you written in the journal at all? It’s been enough days; I thought I should ask.”

The brunet shrugged, pulling the journal out of his back and handing it to Azel. “I had a fit, last night. And wrote in it. I doubt it makes much sense.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Azel muttered as he flipped it open to the first page. He blankly stared down at the jumbled, scratchy writing before huffing. At least his thoughts were very obvious.

It wasn't my fault. I didn't mean to

They shouldn't be allowed to taser kids

She was so small and they HURT her

They should be burned, exactly like they did to the others

BURN THEM DOWN

Don't hurt anyone. Don't. You’ll be hurt

HE WAS A BABY AND THEY KILLED HIM

They should all suffer

Azel continued reading what he could, only slightly worried at the repeated statements of burning the place down. He paused when the writing changed from chicken scratch to perfectly readable, the heading just above being ‘How To: Burning Bodies’. He felt he should stop, but he would have to read this eventually.

Callen fidgeted uneasily as Azel continued to read, glancing around the room as his leg shook, fingers tapping on the desk. Writing during his fit had not been a good idea at all, and he was regretting it more and my each passing second. He doesn't even remember what exactly he wrote; he just knows there was a lot of angry words. Maybe he should have looked it over before coming in today.

“Callen.”

“Hm?”

“Stop picking at the chair. Walk around if you need to, but don't break anything valuable.”

Callen was out of the chair immediately, restlessly pacing around the room. He ran his hands over the spines of the few books on the wall shelf, tugging the petals off a few flowers as he passed them. He should have read it over before bringing it in. He shouldn't have even brought it in in the first place. How stupid was he? There was no way they’d let him stay after reading that. They were going to send him back, and he’d have to sit through all their “treatments” again to be “corrected” of his behaviours.

He didn't want to go back.

Azel watched in quiet worry as Callen stood frozen, shoulders hunched with clenched hands. This couldn't be good. “Callen, come here.”

He didn't move, didn't even seem like he heard him, so Azel stood and walked over to him. “Callen,” he said softly, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “are you alright?”

“Please don't send me back,” Callen whispered.

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Cause- cause you read it! I don't remember what I wrote, but I was so angry, and now you don't want me here anymore cause I'm too dangerous. You’re going to send me back.”

“I'm not going to send you back, Callen. That would be counterproductive; I would be sending you back into a dangerous environment that would set you off again. Sending you there would basically be forcing you into a situation where you have no free will; I would never do that to anyone.”

“But... But then what are you going to do?”

Azel led him back over to his desk, having him sit as he picked up the journal. “This page here,” he started, flipping to the third to last written page, “is where you started writing a plan on how to burn down the facility.”

“I... Yes.”

“You did not finish the plan, but I would like you to put some more thought into it. This is the only alternative to putting them in jail, after all.”

Azel grinned at the feral look on Callen’s face at the statement, gently patting his back. “Once you finish it, bring it to me and we’ll go over it. Alright?”

“You’re... You’re really willing to help me burn that place down? You’re willing to help me get everyone out?”

“Of course. I wouldn't suggest it if I wasn't. And besides, the facility started it anyway. They should know other people can play their games just as well. And that's exactly what we’re going to do.”

Callen grinned, eyes shining with glee. “Thank you, Azel!”

“No problem, kid. Now go get some lunch, this session ran a bit longer than expected.” Callen nodded, putting the book back in his bag before standing.

He was finally going to put them down.

I’m actually keeping up with this, oh my gosh. This is part one of the bit with these two, and part two is going to be done with Day 4′s prompt. Thank you all for reading!

Day 1, Day 2 and Day 4 and the prompt list.

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intotheblackhq · 5 years

Text

Isa

( Ben Barnes, 35, cis-male) Word around the quadrant is that (ISA) is originally from (UNKNOWN), but have been on the Terminus for (LESS THAN A WEEK). If you’re in a pinch, he is a talented (ANDROID). Is that why he’s the (GOFER)? Anyway, everyone says he is (CALCULATED) and (PERCEPTIVE), but don’t get on his bad side because he’s (GUARDED) and (SELF-PRESERVING). Oh shoot, don’t look now! He has his (STUN CHARGES) out! (ooc: Ky, 28, PST, they, none)

WORLD BUILDING:

—-> Name: The Yards

—-> Located On: Erebus, near the capital city of Keres

—-> Brief Description: If the Outpost is secretly not so bad as it looks, the Yards are not-so-secretly worse than they appear; most visitors realize that fast, and the hard way. No matter what you want, if it’s in Keres - hell, if it’s in the system - you’ll probably find it here, amidst the smugglers and fences who’ve made their home among the shipping complexes that keep Keres clean, fed, and stocked up with every manner of luxury. Surrounding the ports themselves is a warren of chop shops, seedy clubs, black market hole-in-the-walls, and ever-shifting gang territories. Stay sharp, pack heavy, and watch your back.

That’s about it for “vital” locations for Isa, but here’s a few more I thought of while writing him up. Could be red herrings when it comes to exploring his backstory, could just be fun places to visit!

—-> Name: Yariyna

—-> Located On: Rasvet

—-> Brief Description: Some call Yariyna an unlikely city; it’s easy enough to see why. The capital of Rasvet, a large planet some middling distance from Erebus, crowns an archipelago of rugged islands - one of the many rising out of the cold, windswept seas. Yariyna, and Rasvet in general, isn’t exactly a tourist destination. Not just for the sake of the climate, either. The locals are notoriously hard cases, suspicious and well armed. Fairly, perhaps. Beneath the surface of Rasvet’s dark oceans and scattered amongst its island chains are rich deposits of much-coveted minerals, the legacy of a volcanic past. These ores are in high demand for everything from surgical implements to shuttle shells to stone-studded jewelry, from fringe planets to the Company capital. Nobody was surprised when Rasvet was one of the first planets the radicalized Company targeted. But everybody, the locals included, was shocked at how quickly it happened. A few bombing strikes crippled the most crucial underwater mining operations, cutting them off from surface supplies and leaving thousands to die, slowly, cruelly. The surrender was complete, and bitter. Since then, those who’ve aligned themselves with the Company have quickly risen to the top, leaving their resentful brethren far below. It’s only a matter of time, they say, before Rasvet rises again…

—-> Name: Vostov Securities

—-> Located On: Rasvet, in the capital city of Yariyna

—-> Brief Description: Once a well-established but fairly unsophisticated Rasvetan security firm, protecting rigs and depots for paranoid foremen, Vostov Securities sacrificed solidarity for a silver spoon - and has yet to regret the decision. The firm’s board shook hands with the Company as their planet was battered into submission, and has since taken over the security of all Company interests on Rasvet. Of which there are many. We’re talking guards, checkpoints, barriers, surveillance, the whole package. With a thick dossier of off-planet customers and a flagship line of security androids - the Sokol - serving throughout the system, Vostov is one of those traitorous corporations that sit pretty as the people of Rasvet struggle to get by under the Company’s thumb.

ROLE DEVELOPMENT:

—-> Important History: So this was a bit tricky, given I can’t be sure where androids stand in terms of technological development and social reception… hope it works for you lovely folks!

Where exactly Isa was made, and who for, is something of a mystery. To be expected, really, of an android found in the Yards of Keres. Not a place where you prod on the subject of provenance. Especially for an illegal ‘bot; if you want a second-hand android through the proper channels, you go to a certified reseller. But, then you pay more. And there’s paperwork. Certifications and new serial numbers are easy enough to fake, anyway. Isa would know. He did his forgeries himself. After dispatching the choppers who’d started the job, that is.

Four members of the Kowalcyzk trafficking ring found dead in their garage isn’t the sort of news that leaves the Yards. Though it might be, if anybody knew it was an android that had done the killing. Not that it’s unheard of. There have been bloody system errors before, accidents chalked up to sloppy programming. That must be what this was, too. A short string of accidents, resulting from improper adjustments to Isa’s software as his drives were scrubbed. Must be it. His system has isolated the corrupted data, he’s happy to report. Whatever went wrong shouldn’t happen again.

As for how he got there in the first place, well… that’s not clear, either. Cheaper androids - fight-ready ‘bots, most of all - are common enough in the backrooms and dark corners of the Yards. Even if they’re too damaged to sell off, there’s always something of value to strip from the carcass. But that’s not what Isa is. One look at him, maybe two, and it’s obvious that he’s both a recent and high-end model, in fine working order. Why anyone would discard something like that is an open question. An unsettling one, for some aboard the Terminus. Others prefer to take their new crewmate - or appliance, however they see him - as a fortunate windfall. Somebody’s loss, their gain. Means not having to bust their backs hauling freight in and off the ship, right? All the better.

Based on what they’ve seen so far of his skillsets and domain knowledge, this crew has no particular reason not to believe that Isa is just what his falsified serial info says: a new Vostov Sokol, a brand of security ‘bot favoured by the Company. How long that will last really depends on how good he is at playing the part… which isn’t something androids are supposed to be able to do, is it? Points to some expansive artificial intelligence. In addition to his exceptionally durable, powerful substructure. And a technorganic shell, one of those uncannily life-like ones seen on high end prosthetics. Altogether, he’s an odd mix of features. Whatever he was actually meant for, Isa was definitely a special order. An expensive one. Nobody knew Vostov was bothering with that sort of customization, but… they’ve always played it close to the chest.

Most firms who produce custom androids are famously jealous with their intellectual property, loading buyers’ contracts with protective clauses. They have reason to be so obsessive. Industrial espionage runs rampant in the field, with companies trying to one-up each other and corner the market on their respective planets. It’s something of an open secret that unscrupulous technicians will pay top dollar to get their hands on any unusual models from their competitors. However it was that Isa wound up at that chop shop, he can guess what would have happened next. Somebody was going to turn a fat profit selling him to the highest bidder, to be picked apart for the sake of professional curiosity - a gruesome fate, one he’s glad to have escaped.

Still, Isa didn’t reach the Terminus entirely undamaged. There’s a mod drive missing from his internal docks, a fact that’s made stranger by how little, if any, impact it appears to have had on his ability to function. More troubling is the loss of precisely those memories that would explain how he got to the Yards in the first place. While that scrubbing process only made it through his flash memory before activating an anti-tamper protocol, rousing him from maintenance mode, he did lose the last twenty-four hours prior to waking up surrounded by those Kowalcyzk mechanics. That’s not what he’s told the crew, though. Working in half-truths and winding through loopholes, Isa has managed to keep a great deal of his past to himself. Imaginative, for an AI. He’s not the first android to intentionally mislead a human being; while typically checked by a user command to force honesty, high-empathy personal units can sugarcoat, downplay, and tell socially appropriate white lies. They wouldn’t be terribly fit for their work if they couldn’t, would they? People lie to each other all the time. Not always for the wrong reasons. Are Isa’s reasons good, though? He thinks so.

Having spent barely a week onboard, Isa is still a very new addition to the crew, and he’s well aware of where he stands - on the fringes. He safely assumes that his coworkers don’t consider him good company, or, in some cases, even a coworker at all. But androids don’t take things personally, do they? He’s doing his best to keep up the act, even if it chafes. Keeps him safe, though. For now. In the meantime, Isa’s tried to make himself useful. Not as much as he could, if he offered the full extent of his services; these people haven’t earned more, not yet. And he couldn’t answer the questions they might ask if he showed them what he’s capable of, not in a way that would keep him off that auction block he was likely bound for. So he waits, and sees, and learns…

—-> Headcanons:

Humanization protocols are common enough on personal-grade androids; not so much on the Sokol. Vostov has generally considered a certain level of unblinking stonefacedness to be beneficial, when it comes to security ‘bots. Not that they can’t be modded to be a little more, well. Subtle. That’s what Isa’s faking in the direction of. While it can be a bit unsettling, he’s finding he doesn’t especially mind. He’s not here to make humans feel comfortable. That’s not what he’s being paid for, as they say. (Not that he’s being paid at all.)

Androids aren’t supposed to get bored. Isa knows that, and so he does his best to conceal his lack of interest in the incredibly dull tasks he’s being trusted with on board the Terminus - heavy lifting, simple errands, and so on. In the long run, he’ll want something more to do with himself. What, exactly, remains to be seen. The model he’s pretending to be, the Vostov Sokol, isn’t a standard shipboard unit; that’s a security ‘bot, and a top quality one at that. He could probably do plenty to help out with the dirty work of bounty hunting… but is that all, really?

As for what Isa actually can do, well, he’s no more a standard ship ‘bot than a real Sokol would be. His knowledge of the system and its planets is largely cultural, political, and economic; beyond in-atmosphere and shuttle transit, he seems to have no programming related to piloting or navigation, certainly none at the interplanetary level. He’s no technician, but exhibits diagnostic-grade sensory features, and has enough medical knowledge to provide at least basic stabilizing care. Not that he’s mentioned this to the crew. A Sokol doesn’t come with any of that. He can only push the lie of post-sale modifications so far before they get suspicious. Better to stack crates and not attract too much attention, if he can help it. What they have noticed, inescapably, is that he can’t interface remotely with the Terminus itself - or any system, in fact. Meaning he has to interact with technology directly, as in, like a human being would. So, less conveniently, thoroughly, and quickly than most ‘bots. It’s an odd feature, suggesting a bizarre amount of paranoia on the part of his owner. But Sokols are bodyguards, right? To the wealthy and nervous. The story holds out, even if the inconvenience irritates some of his crewmates. What’s the use in a shipboard ‘bot who has to do things manually? He finds their impatience a little funny, honestly. Humans. So spoiled.

While he might try to hide it - which androids also aren’t supposed to be able to do - Isa not only experiences boredom, but curiosity. He enjoys learning, simply for the pleasure of knowing and doing something new. Just, a Sokol wouldn’t. So. He’s got to be careful, and come up with good excuses. Luckily, people love talking about what interests them, don’t they? It’s easy enough to get a good explanation if you ask the right questions. He just can’t ask too many…

—-> Key Relationships:

The In(s) *This could be one or two characters. All up to interest!

Wrong time, wrong place - or was it just the opposite? All about perspective. This character stumbled into the aftermath of what Isa did in the Yards, and didn’t call the proper authorities, like a good citizen. Mostly because they’d have to explain what they were doing in a gangland den packed with black market arms and tech. Awkward. As for why they thought it would be a good idea to convince Isa to come along back to the Terminus with them, well, that’s their business. Could be technical curiosity, or raw opportunism… or compassion, even. Regardless, this person or persons is well-respected among the crew; their word went a long way towards getting Isa on the roster. He’s quite certain they have ulterior motives of some sort, but that’s a given, isn’t it? So long as their angles don’t cut across his own, he’s willing to entertain the notion that he owes them one, and, just possibly, that they’re allies. They’re probably the closest thing to a friend that he has at the moment, even if he’s not quite sure what that means.

There’s An App For That

On the other hand, there’s this crewmate. No matter how useful he might seem or what The In(s) has to say in his favor, There’s An App For That doesn’t want Isa around at all - and they haven’t been shy about saying so. They might not like or trust androids in general, or simply have taken a particular dislike to Isa. An android shouldn’t be hard to read. Perhaps his story’s not so unsatisfyingly simple as it’s been made out to be. Others might say they’re being overly suspicious, but There’s An App For That figures they’re just sensible. Isa could be trouble, in all sorts of ways. Couldn’t he?

Whatever the cause, prejudice, or fear at the roof of it, this person hopes Isa’s stay on the Terminus won’t be long. Whatever he can do, a simpler, stupider android could do… well, not better, maybe, but just fine enough. Whose idea was this, anyway? They’re probably not happy with The In(s), either.

—-> Wanted Connections: Meet the Maker If it fits with the flow of our collective plotting, I’d love to dig back into who Isa’s owner is and the circumstances that led to his abandonment. I have a storyline in mind, but I’m much more interested in seeing how this connection could link up with larger plots in ‘verse, so I’m happy to leave it pretty open for the time being. The only points I’d like to stick with are that his owner is at least 30+, and that they are well-positioned in some respect - they’d have to be, to afford this kind of android. They might have criminal ties of some kind, a little corruption going on. That missing mod drive and its contents are directly important to this individual; did they take it, or are they still on the look out for their missing property? Whatever the case, the loss of that drive seems to have impacted Isa’s memories of them specifically; he’s unable to fully recall their voice or appearance. If an android can be haunted, Isa’s owner is his ghost.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

—-> How Did You Find Us: Tumblr ads!

—-> Anything Else: Nothing in particular, but have this pinterest board, I guess!

About time you showed up, ISA, we were just about to take off without you. Stow your gear and make sure you send in your account and finish off the checklist within the next 24 hours, or else we might have to dump you out the nearest airlock. BEN BARNES has now been claimed. Oh yeah, did I forget to say welcome aboard?

#itb.accepted #submission

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ouranastasiadateblog-blog · 5 years

Text

6 Online Dating Tips for Guys That Actually Work

1. Choose the Right Site, Even if You Have to Pay For It Never choose a dating site because that's the one everyone else uses. The most popular sites have the most competition, not a good idea if you want to meet someone quickly. There are dozens of dating sites online. There are religious based sites, fetish based sites, sites based on sexual preference, online dating for seniors, there are race-based sites and many more. Even if you have to pay a monthly fee, consider that fee an investment into your future. If you are lonely now, wouldn't you pay $20 or less a month if you were told you could meet the woman of your dreams? Of course you would. You probably spend that on leisurely activities right now that don't bring you near as much pleasure as a dream matchup would bring you. If you liked this article and you would like to acquire far more details concerning AnastasiaDate.com kindly pay a visit to our internet site. There are free sites, low paid sites and expensive ones. 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This is going to require you to search the online dating site you're on as if you were a woman. It is going to feel strange looking through a bunch of guys' online dating photos, but this is a necessary step if you want the greatest edge. If you can take what's working and make it better, you will succeed at online dating faster than any of the other guys in your dating pool. This is one of those free online dating tips that you rarely read online and yet it's so effective at putting you on top of whatever dating site you choose. Pay attention to the photos men are using, the language they're using, their headlines and anything else that stands out. Take plenty of notes and then write your profile. When you have a page full of profile tidbits, headline ideas and other crucial elements, you won't find yourself staring at a blinking cursor when you're asked to fill out your About Me, Ideal Date and any other sections you are required to fill out. In other words, cheat. Online dating for men doesn't have to be so difficult if you know the easy ways to do things. 3. Be Honest With Your Date and Yourself One of the biggest complaints most women have about online dating is the fact that men tend to lie. One recent dater recounted a story where she met a man in real life and she said that his age, height and weight were all different than he implied them to be via their online communications. She said that he was two inches shorter, twenty years older and at least twenty pounds heavier. His response to being caught in a blatant lie, or three of them for that matter? He shrugged, smiled and said, "Everyone lies on the Internet." That is not the way to begin any type of relationship. Out of all the online dating tips for guys you will hear in your lifetime, heed this one first and foremost. Be honest about who you are and what your motivations are. Don't lie about your age, weight, height, job, income or anything else. You will be found out eventually, especially if the date ever progresses to an offline setting. Creating an online dating profile can cause you to really take a look at yourself. Don't lie to make yourself feel better or to entice more dates to contact you. It's not worth it and it will only deter possible matches in the future. 4. Dig Deep to Find Ice-Breakers This is another bit of online dating advice guys never hear. When a woman fills out an online dating profile, that is all the information she wants you to know about her. The problem for her is, the Internet is vast and probably holds much more information than what she's offering. In fact, there is probably information online that she'd rather you not know. Use this free online dating tip with caution. You can find out a lot more about your date by Internet-stalking her, so to speak, but you might not be able to erase any bad press you find from your mind. That can be a problem if you end up really liking the person. If you don't mind digging up a little dirt on your potential date-to-be, start Googling the person's name, headline or anything else. People tend to use the same usernames across multiple platforms, headlines and other elements. Some people even put their Facebook profile links on their page. Use any and all information you find to your advantage. Your goal isn't to open a file on them or stalk them (looking someone up online is only called cyber stalking), rather it is to gather info that can be used to break the ice with that person. You are looking for common ground, something that you both can talk and have a conversation about. This should really only be used if you can't find anything in the person's profile. These days you might uncover DUI arrest records, mugshots, divorce records and a lot more on Google and the other engines. Be careful what you search for. 5. Be Intriguing, Even if Your Life is Boring Even if you live in a nondescript house and you work as an accountant, you can still make your life sound exciting. Get creative with it and pretend you're writing a mystery novel. You don't have to get too crazy with it, but try to be mysterious, intriguing and try to keep her guessing as to what you do or what you're into. The more fun you have with it, the more you'll stand out from other guys on the dating site you're on and the more success you'll have overall. The dating advice guys need the most is the ability to leave the woman guessing. Leave some information for the first date. Nobody says you have to spill the beans in your profile. Leave her guessing, imply more than tell and you'll get better results. 6. Get on the Phone or Cam Quickly In the cult film Napoleon Dynamite, the main character's brother, Kip, meets a girl online and is telling his brother about it across a table at a restaurant. Kip says that they've been chatting for two hours every night and, with a nod, says, "I guess it's getting pretty serious." To make a true match with someone, you have to form an emotional connection. It is possible to form an emotional connection via chat. Kip is one example. However, you will build an emotional connection faster and with more impact if you can get the woman on the phone or Skype or other cam-based chat. Once you form an emotional connect, the rest is fun and games. The endorphins will take over and you'll be on that love rollercoaster that most people spend most of their lives reminiscing about and chasing. Get the digits or the Skype address and take your chat to the phone or cam for a much faster connection. Once you get on the phone or cam, the next step is to recommend an offline date. Follow these six free online dating tips for guys and you will enjoy better dates more often, guaranteed.

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selenelavellan · 7 years

Text

Home

Concert AU

Dirthamen, Deceit, and Fear are @feynites

TW for Abuse, past rape mentions.

Selene breaks the news to Des over milkshakes.

Their customary milkshakes, at a small family run restaurant between the community center where Des attends his rehabilitation meetings and their old apartment. A bit out of the way now that they've moved, but not enough to deter them from the only place they've found that carries the blackberry and chocolate flavor they've come to prefer.

“I'm leaving for Var Bellanaris,” she announces “Tomorrow.”

Des's eyes snap away from his phone screen, attention fully on her, now.

“I'm sorry. I think I must've hallucinated for a moment there. What did you just say?”

“I bought a plane ticket to Verchiel,” she continues “It'll only be a few days walk to get there if I take the old paths. I should be back by the end of the week.”

“Why would you ever go back there?”

Selene lets out a sigh, fidgeting with the end of her straw. “It's been fifteen years since I saw Mamae. You know Elrogathe hasn't made the journey. Someone should check on her.”

Des blows into his milkshake, bubbles rising rapidly to the surface as he gives her his best 'you have got to be shitting me' look.

“You're truly awful at the 'leave the past in the past' thing, y'know?”

“It's not like I'm going back to see the clan-” she points out.

“What did you tell the others? I can't imagine Fear handling the news of you flying to the Dales alone well.”

Selene shifts awkwardly on her side of their booth, silently stirring the chocolate chips deeper into the depths of her milkshake.

“You didn't tell them yet.” Des realizes flatly.

“Fear wouldn't take well to this, you're right-”

“You have to tell them.”

“I will.”

“Before you leave.”

Selene shifts again, looking guiltily into her purple drink.

“I don't want it to be a thing.”

“Well if you leave without telling them, it'll be a much bigger thing.”

“It's not so different from when they leave for tour, and they're gone for months at a time.”

“And they always tell us beforehand. And keep in touch during.”

Selene sighs, and takes a long drink. “Fine. I'll tell them at dinner.”

–

Dinner comes and goes, and Selene is just finishing drying the dishes with Dirthamen when Des loudly clears his throat.

“Selene has something she'd like to say.” He announces.

Selene sends him a glare as she comes around the corner, dishtowel still in her hands.

“Thank you, Des.”

She rolls back and forth slightly on the balls of her feet as four pairs of eyes settle on her expectantly.

“I'm going on a small trip tomorrow,” She admits. “But I won't be gone long. Less than a week.”

Fear carefully places the book they had been reading down on the coffee table and looks up at her, chin resting on the back of their hands. “Where are you going?”

“I'm flying into Verchiel, and the rest of the trip will be made on foot.”

Fears mouth opens with what she is sure is a long string of questions and holes to poke in her plans, but Deceit speaks first.

“Where are you walking to, exactly?”

“Var Bellanaris.”

The room goes silent for a moment, before Dirthamen finally steps out from the kitchen and places a consoling hand on Selenes shoulder.

“I am sorry for your loss. Is there anything we could do to make this easier for you?”

“Oh, no!” Selene explains, shaking her head slightly. “No one's dead. I mean, yeah, Mamae technically is, but she's been dead for a while now. No one's died recently, though. Well, that's not true, someone definitely has, but no one I know personally. It's just...it's been a long time, and I finally have the money and time to check on her, so I thought I...would.”

“One of us should go with you,” Deceit pipes up again. “You shouldn't go alone.”

“It'll be safer if I do. None of you are Dalish, you're not supposed to set foot near Var Bellanaris.”

“Neither are you.” Des points out.

Selene huffs. “I know the rituals, and the proper rites. One trespasser will be better than two.”

Deceit and Dirthamen share an uneasy look, while Fear still looks entirely skeptical about the whole thing. But no one pushes any harder, and Selene excuses herself to finish packing and get some sleep before her early morning flight.

She does promise Fear to at least keep her phone charged and GPS on, and doesn't bother asking where they found the six portable chargers.

–

The flight is long, and delayed from the start. Heavy storms keep her sitting in the terminal and waiting for her boarding, and it is late afternoon before she finally steps foot in Verchiel. The ground is still damp from recent rain, and she changes out of her flats and into her boots for the trip.

It takes her two and a half days to make the journey, in the end. Made shorter, she admits, by exchanging group texts with the others as she goes. Sending pictures of scenery, and herself near rare plants to assure Fear that she is still in good condition and not mauled by bears or wyverns or wandering wildlife.

It doesn't take her long to find the space where her Mamae had been laid to rest. She clears away a pile of fallen leaves with the gloves she had packed, and performs the rites before the nearest statue of Fen'harel, praying to the gods she walked away from to protect the mother who never lost her faith.

Once she's completed them, Selene notices several newer graves. Some are from other clans, of course. But two are not.

One, freshly planted near to her mother. Her uncle, she realizes.

And another, placed at the top of a mound.

Keeper Deshanna.

Selene hesitates.

And then calls Des.

“Hellooooo?” he sings.

“I'm going to be a few extra days.”

Des sighs, and she can practically hear him tugging on the ends of his hair through the phone. “Why?”

“I need to visit Alaris.”

“Did he leave the clan?”

“No.”

Des lets out a long groan and a quiet string of curses. “You can't go back alone.”

“You're going to join me then?”

“Fuck no! I left for a reason. So did you. Alaris has gone this long without us, he'll be fine.”

“Keeper Deshanna passed,” Selene breathes. “So did his papae.”

Des is silent, as a heavy moment passes between them.

“I don't feel any loss for Deshanna,” he admits “But I will admit Alaris deserves better than to think he's alone. Or worse, left with just your father for family.”

“Thank you.”

“I'll let the others know you're going to be gone for more than a week. But if Dirthamen decides to fly us out on a private jet or something to come get you, I'm not gonna get in the way!”

“Thank you.” She repeats.

Des murmurs something under his breath before clicking the line closed, and Selene takes a final stock of Var Bellanaris.

And then begins her journey back to Clan Lavellan.

–

As it happens, she comes across the hunting party first, three days later. One of them recognizes her, and when she asks to see Alaris, they bring her along with only mild complaining.

The campsite has changed less than she thought it would. There are more Halla than there used to be, but she supposes that's to be expected as a side effect of breeding. Some of the crops have changed, soil rotated, and a few more aravels are scattered around the campsite.

“Sulvuna!” She finally hears, before two arms wrap around her from behind, nearly tackling her to the ground in their exuberance.

“Alaris!” she returns, flinching only internally at her old name “It's good to see you again.”

“You too!” he exclaims. “What brings you here? Not that I'm complaining, you're always welcome of course, but I wasn't...We haven't heard from you in almost...what, eight years now?”

“Something like that,” She agrees sheepishly “I wasn't planning on coming back, honestly.”

“So why are you?”

“I went to visit Mamae in Var Bellanaris and I saw Keeper and your Papae.”

Alaris nods in understanding, weight shifting until his is leaning on his staff. And suddenly Selene can see it; the weight on him, of being First for so long and Keeper now. Of losing his Aunt, and his cousin, and his first love, and finally his father.

It's a weight she feels in her own chest, formed of guilt she thought she had shed long ago. Back now with a vengeance.

He motions for her to follow into his own aravel, and quietly brews her a cup of tea while they exchange small talk. What the clan has been up to, how Alaris has been faring.

“How's Era'harel?” Alaris finally asks, fingers slightly shaky around his cup as he sits.

“He's doing well,” Selene evades “But he changed his name.”

Alaris nods “Good. That's...” He sighs. “Will you send him my apologies?”

Selene blinks, and slowly agrees before Alaris continues.

“I didn't know....I mean, I was just a kid. It's not an excuse, I know, but I didn't think anything of his name then. I didn't realize what we were really calling him. Please, let him know I'm so sorry for the way he was treated when he was with Clan Lavellan. If he...if he ever wants to visit, or come back, I will ensure he is treated with respect, as he deserves.”

“I will,” she agrees again.

“...Is he seeing anyone?” Alaris mumbles into the edge of his cup.

Selene shifts awkwardly. “Uh....yeah.”

“Oh. Well...I hope they're treating him well.”

“We try.” Selene admits with a slight tilt of her head.

Alaris's eyebrows raise, as her words dawn on him.

“Oh. Oh! I didn't-I wasn't trying to-”

“It's fine, it's fine,” She laughs “We're together but we're not-I mean we're seeing other people. Together. So I guess we are together, but it's not just us. We'd drive each other nuts without a buffer.”

“So you made your own clan.” Alaris grins.

“Oh, don't say that,” Selene groans “I have a hard enough time not running away in terror some days, I don't need that hanging over me.”

“Are they people you should fear?” Alaris asks with more than a touch of concern.

“No, no. They're wonderful, and I love them all deeply. They would never hurt me. I just have a hard time with commitment and remembering things are more than temporary sometimes.”

“Shocking,” Alaris teases. “Is that why you left Haleir then?”

Selene freezes.

“I...” she swallows. “Is he still around?”

“He's in town right now, but he's due back in the morning if you'd like to stick around and say hello.”

“No.” she practically yells, abruptly pushing her seat out from the table. “I...he never told you?”

“He doesn't really talk about it,” Alaris says slowly “He says he just woke up, and the two of you had left.”

“Elrogathe never told you?”

“...told me what, Sulvuna?”

She's shaking, now. She knows she is, no matter that she's trying not to. She shouldn't have come alone. Stupid, stupid.

“It's..he...” She takes a deep breath, grounds herself. Steadies herself. “It's not important,” she lies. “I think I'd rather be gone before he comes back though.”

Alaris quietly agrees without pushing the subject, and switches topics back to happier things. They exchange stories about Deshanna, and his father, and eventually it loops back to Selene's significant others. “Here, hold on,” Selene says as she fishes her cell phone out of her pocket “I've got pictures.”

Alaris eagerly watches her flip through the photos on her phone. Some candid, some not. A few taken at concerts, of Dirthamen, Deceit, and Fear performing.

“Are they any good?” he asks.

“I think so,” Selene smiles. “I've got a few songs of theirs on here if you want to hear.”

She plays a few of her favorites for her cousin, and he asks her to send him some copies. It's then she finds out that someone posted a cell tower just outside the clans territory, so Alaris ended up with one himself.

“They're very useful,” he points out. “We still communicate with most other clans the way we always have, of course, but being able to get immediate contact has helped us greatly.”

“You sound like a Keeper.” she teases.

“I sure try to!” He laughs.

The sun starts to set, and Selene announces that she should head out, to avoid being here in the morning.

Alaris pleads with her to stay, just for the one night.

She's always had trouble saying no to him.

She calls up Des, while Alaris retrieves her old hammock from her fathers aravel (Because she adamantly refused to sleep in there again).

“Still hanging in there?” He greets.

“It's not so terrible. Alaris is Keeper now.”

“Shame. He seemed so nice when he was younger.” Des pines.

She rolls her eyes “He asked me to stay in the clan overnight, so I'll start making my way back to the airport in the morning. Should just be another couple of days.”

“Where would you have been staying otherwise?” Comes Fears voice from over the line.

Selene blinks. “Am I on speaker phone?”

“We miss you.” Calls Deceit.

“I miss you all too. I'll be home soon.” She relents.

“You didn't answer my question.” Comes Fear again.

“Clearly, I was sharing a cave space with giant spiders,” Selene teases “But before that I just took shelter in a Dragon's nest.”

“Careful, they might believe you.” Des warns.

Selene doesn't mention that she really did spend one of her nights in a cave, to escape the rain. She didn't see any giant spiders, anyways.

“Can I talk to just Des for a minute?” She asks. She waits through the awkward shuffling of the phone being moved to an ear and the click that the speakers have been turned off.

“What's wrong?” he asks, suddenly serious.

“Nothing, really. I just. I thought you should know Haleir was still...around.”

“Did he do something?”

She can hear someone moving around behind him, followed by the sound of Des taking several steps away from whoever it was.

“No,” she assures him “He's out. He comes back in the morning though.”

“You need to be gone before he shows up.”

“I know.”

“...I should have gone with you.”

“No, Des. I'll be ok. I just thought you should know.”

“If he comes within arms reach of you, light the bastard up.”

“Will do,” Selene agrees, glancing up as Alaris steps back into the aravel. “I have to go. Love you, tell the others I love them as well.”

“No, I'm keeping your love all to myself. You can tell them yourself when you get back.”

Selene laughs, and hangs up with one last goodbye before standing to assist Alaris in getting both of their hammocks set up.

“Who was that?” he asks.

“That was Des.” Selene says before she can catch herself.

“Which one is that?”

“Ah, that's what Era goes by now.”

“Oh.” Alaris says. “Des,” he says as though testing the feel of it on his tongue. He nods, seemingly satisfied “It suits him.”

Selene nods “I think so too.”

–

Alaris wakes Selene in the morning, when the sun is just beginning to rise. It's too early, she thinks. But better this than to run into Haleir again. Alaris still takes the time to braid her hair into a long ponytail while she sips at a cup of tea. He brings her a pack as well, filled with rolls and jerky and a bit of halla cheese. In the bottom are two sets of robes; hers, and Des's.

“You kept these?” She asks, holding up the old fabrics, fingers trailing over patterns she hasn't seen in nearly a decade.

“Your father did.” Alaris informs her.

She gives him a skeptical look, but he just nods and indicates towards Elrogathes aravel with his head.

“No.” she says before he can verbally ask her.

“Just say hello-”

“No.” she repeats.

“You'll regret it if you don't.”

“I doubt that.”

“Look,” Alaris pushes “I'd give anything to be able to have another conversation with my Papae. Even if we didn't always get along, we loved each other deeply.”

“See, that's where we differ.”

“Sulvuna,” he emphasizes. “Go say hello to your father or I swear to Elgar'nan I will give him your cell phone number.”

“...He has a cell phone?”

“Well...no. But I do, and I will force him to use it!”

Selene lets out a groan, and finally relents under threat of being forced to have regular contact with him.

She knocks three times on the outside of his aravel.

He lifts the flap, and turns to look at her.

Freezes.

And then drops the curtain and walks silently back inside.

Selene turns to Alaris, who is still watching the interaction and makes a 'See???' motion towards the space her father just exited. But he just makes a shooing motion and mouths to her to go inside.

She shakes her head no, but Alaris pulls his cell phone out, hitting the home button to light up the screen threateningly.

She groans again, louder this time, and mopes her way up the stairs and into her old home.

Elrogathe is working away at his desk on tonics and potions, and for a moment she feels like she never left. Like she still lives here, and nothing has changed, and the last few years have been some sort of vivid fever dream. Braid still heavy on her head, the smells of elfroot and embrium thick in the air and the halla bleating loudly outside her wooden walls.

“What?” Elrogathe finally says.

Selene blinks herself out of her reverie, and manages “What? Nothing. I-Alaris told me to say hi. So I'm...saying hi.”

Elrogathe nods. “You've been gone a long time.”

“I was planning on being gone a lot longer.” she admits.

“Your callouses are gone.”

“Ah, yeah. I don't-I don't really work with my hands as much.”

“You've gotten lazy.”

Selene lets out a breath of air. “I just do a different sort of work.”

“What?”

“I...” Selene hesitates. She doesn't, technically, have a job. “I work with numbers a lot. And I write.”

“Stories?”

“Instructions and informative textbooks, mostly.”

Elrogathe just gives a soft 'harrumph' at that.

“...children?” he asks quietly.

“No.”

He nods. “Good.”

“...'good'?”

“Motherhood would be a poor fit for you.”

Selenes shoulders tense “I would be a great parent. Better than you were, by any means.”

He snorts.

Actually snorts.

“You can not walk away from a child when they frustrate you, or expect someone else to clean up their mess.”

“No, you just ignored them unless you had some insult to make or instruction to give.”

“Your mother was the warm one in the family. If you wanted affection, you should have sought her out instead.”

“I did. And then when she was gone, you shut me out entirely.”

Elrogathe slows in his work. His eyes carefully raise to look at his daughter. “Dhaveira passed because her heart was soft. She burned like the sun, and when she left there was nothing to sustain us. That was not my fault.”

“So now it's Mamaes fault that you turned into a cold bastard?” Selene snaps “You think Mamae would have insisted I bond to a rapist? Or stay trapped in a life that I hated?”

“She would have insisted you survive!” he yells back, standing suddenly “Not run away to live some half-life like a flat ear! Running around with your guns and drugs and forsaking everything the creators left to us! You had a responsibility, Sulvuna, and you ran away from it! The day you left this camp, you died!”

“And I see you mourned that loss the way you mourned everything else; silently, and without any real emotion.”

The slap he lands is hard enough it makes stars blink in her eyes.

Her hearing goes for a moment, all sounds replaced with a sharp ringing in her ears as she stares down at the floor. She looks back up at him, her eyes meet his, and another slap follows the first, this one hard enough to knock her to the ground.

“Get out of my home,” he says lowly, returning to his work bench. “If I see you again, I will notch an arrow and Andruil as my guide, I will not miss.”

Selene hesitates. Then stands, brushing the dirt and dust from the floor off of her clothing, and strides out of the aravel.

Her face still stings, and Alaris's jaw goes slack as she approaches him again.

“Did he-Sulvuna, did he strike you?”

“Thank you for having me, Alaris,” She says softly, ignoring his question. “I think it's time for me to head back home.”

Alaris doesn't stop her this time. Just hands her back her things, and escorts her out of camp.

It takes only a day and a half to make it to the airport, with Selene barely stopping as she tries to escape the memories of clan life.

She shouldn't have gone alone. She shouldn't have gone back.

Stupid, she berates herself.

She sends her flight information back to the group text once she's purchased her ticket. It's a late night take off, but it's the closest one available.

She sleeps for most of the flight, dozing in and out as plains and mountains pass by beneath her feet.

She still feels exhausted, when she finally steps out, and back into what has become her hometown and silently prays the buses are still running.

Not that it matters, it turns out.

Dirthamen, Deceit, Fear, and Des are all standing near the baggage claim, Des practically jumping up and down with a large, hand scrawled sign that reads “SELENE” on it.

She laughs, and feels a weight fall off of her shoulders when she spies them. Something warm and welcoming settles in the pit of her stomach, and for the first time in two days she doesn't feel a sting on her cheek.

“Welcome home!” Yells Deceit across the airport, before Fear gently nudges their arm for drawing attention from strangers. Deceit just shrugs it off as Selene skips towards the group.

“Thank you,” She smiles “I missed you all. So much.”

“We missed you as well,” Dirthamen agrees, reaching over to place a kiss to her lips. Soft at first, before becoming more pressing, more urgent as she responds positively to his advances.

Fear clears their throat pointedly, and Dirthamen finally pulls back. The tips of his ears red.

“We can go home now, right?” Des asks, linking his arm through hers.

“I have to get a bag, actually.”

He frowns. “Did you leave with two?”

“No, Alaris sent one back.”

Des groans, until Selene points out that he packed some foods for them.

“Our old robes are in there, too.”

Des makes a face.

“You don't have to wear them,” Selene sighs “But it would mean a lot to Alaris if you just held onto them. He wanted you to have them.”

Des relents at that, as they snag up her bag and pile into Deceits car, Selene pressed into the backseat between Dirthamen and Des.

Dirthamen links his fingers with hers, thumb idly rubbing at the back of her hand as they drive, and Fear asks a litany of questions about her trip, insisting that she shower when they arrive back to the house. Selene doesn't argue, and is thankful for it as she watches the dirt run down the drain, her braid coming undone as she washes out her hair.

She slips into a pair of sleep shorts, and one of Deceits old shirts before heading back downstairs. There's a late night dinner prepared, followed up by a group cuddle session.

Selene sighs, relaxing into the embrace of her lovers as an old sci fi movie plays over the TV.

She falls asleep there, never more thankful to have finally found a home of her own.

#Concert AU #Dirthalene #Selene Lavellan #Des #Mind the warnings #I've been going back and forth about whether or not to post this because it's #well it's angsty for this AU (again) and Im sorry for that #but it wouldn't leave me alone #Alaris #Elrogathe Lavellan

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thefootballlife · 4 years

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The Slovenian Prva Liga at the break

Chemistry is arguably the word of the Slovenian season so far – in a title race between two sides, one has it and one most certainly does not, which has left us with surprise leaders and plenty of surprise results throughout the league.

This winter break has come upon us slightly early given that forecast wintry weather has caused the pre-emptive shoving of the last two scheduled rounds of games prior to the original winter break into the spring. Apparently, the NZS didn’t originally factor the fact that Slovenia is prone to being snowy and cold every December into the plans for trying to hold games (including an edition of the Eternal Derby) at a time of year where the weather was always going to result in cancellations of most games.

The surprise leaders are Olimpija. Having had a frankly terrible season last time out, getting through a manager every six games, they have finally settled on having at least half a season of stability under Safet Hadzic.

Key to Olimpija’s run to the top has been the connection between their attacking players. They are by far the highest scorers in the league and that is in no small part to their attacking four of Stefan Savic, Endri Cekici, Ante Vukusic and on-loan Luka Menalo. All four are hungry players – Savic (who will likely move over the winter) has been at the club some time wanting to leave on a high, Vukusic is an ex-Croatia international whose career was almost ended due to lung issues and this is his first chance back at a top club (which he has taken and is currently top scorer in the league) while Cekici and Menalo are both ex-Dinamo Zagreb youth prospects striking out on their own. Olimpija have had good recent success with players from Dinamo’s youths and both have impressed mightily in their time in Ljubljana so far. The rest of the side is somewhat more average but, save for Savic, the attacking roster that has been so spectacular to date is here for the rest of the season and, even then, their back-ups of Jucie Lupeta and Bojan Knezevic would be first team players almost everywhere else.

Their success has been much down to the failures of Maribor. At the start of the season, the expectation from myself was that Maribor would run away with the league. It was an easily justifiable opinion – they won the league last season in convincing fashion and added to the side the two best players in the league that didn’t already belong to them, stripping Olimpija of their captain in the process. And while Rok Kronaveter probably gets pass marks based on his performances, Rudi Pozeg Vancas wouldn’t and nor would almost anyone else.

Maribor have two key issues that sides have ruthlessly exploited – the first is a lack of chemistry up front. All of the constituent parts of a high scoring team are there yet Maribor don’t actually score that much – only third highest in the league. The natural defensive-minded nature of manager Darko Milanic has often left the team looking like a collection of individuals as opposed to some sort of cohesive unit.

The second issue is the pace and agility at the back, of which there is little. It did for Maribor in Europe and, most recently, it cost them the match on the past weekend against Triglav as both goals were directly attributable to the lack of any sort of reaction to danger from the defence. The sale of Sasa Ivkovic definitely weakened the side but it’s the summer acquisition and forced reliance upon Spiro Pericic, who has the turning circle of a small oil tanker, that has really let the side down.

Ultimately, the rot at Maribor is far higher than the squad itself. Manager Darko Milanic has had more votes of confidence from the board than most Olimpija managers have games in charge and the responsibility ultimately lies with sporting director Zlatko Zahovic who may have rightly initially earned legend status as a player and for his part in Maribor’s stabilising and rise, is rapidly throwing it away as the club appear to be only getting worse throughout this season.

Worth mentioning next are a side who, pre-season, I tipped for big things: Domzale.

In-between the start of the season and the end of the summer window, they subsequently sold their best striker in Shamar Nicholson, their best midfielder in Adam Gnezda Cerin and, for good measure, their best defender in Gaber Dobrovoljc. The results have been predictable - a club with backroom rumours coming out as to the power held by certain players and as to the financial state of the club. Failing to win prior to their ninth game of the season left them in plenty of early trouble but new manager Andreas Razdrh has steadied the ship somewhat and put Domzale in a more familiar position of being distinctly worse than the sides with high aspirations and distinctly better than those whose focus is primarily on staying up, albeit Domzale will be looking to finish sixth rather than third or fourth this time round.

But neither the traditional contenders of Domzale or Maribor will go into the winter as second to Olimpija. With this week’s 8-1 demolition of Triglav, they have gone ahead of Maribor into second on goal difference. Unlike last season, where their early season good form was driven by the performances of Francesco Tahiraj, this season’s edition of Aluminij is much more a team effort, based all around their formidable defence, currently with the best defensive record in the league. Given that Aluminij are, more or less, the smallest side in the division, it is an incredible feat for them to be doing so well, particularly given they sold early on Luka Stor, their best striker. Instead, their game plan has relied on something becoming familiar around the region - a single striker (Ante Zivkovic) acting as a focal point between the lines and as a nuisance, and effective width and support around breaking beyond and punishing sides. They aren’t (yet) capable of getting results consistently against Maribor or Olimpija but they are relentless enough against the rest of the league to be able to maintain a challenge. Slobodan Groubor has worked wonders so far and keeping him for the remainder of the season will make things interesting as there is no obvious reason why their form should drop and no obvious stars in the side who could be plucked away and take the side’s star quality away with them.

Rounding out the top half are Celje and Mura. Celje are perhaps the most traditional of the sides in the league playing something which, if not directly 4-4-2, is pretty close to it. IN a sense, they are just a slightly inferior mirror of Olimpija, combining the class and experience of Mitja Lotric and making him the pivot point of an attack with rapidly improving players in Dario Vizinger, Luka Kerin and Ivan Bozic. Approaching their chances from a pragmatic perspective, Vizinger probably isn’t going to be at the club come the resumption of play in February - he has simply come on too much to be ignored by bigger clubs. As such, a slowdown in their form should be expected.

As for Mura, they are a club it’s hard not to love given their fans are the best in the division and Fazanerija is regularly the best atmosphere. So far, they’ve not lost a game against either Olimpija or Maribor. On the other hand, they’ve dropped plenty of silly points against sides whom, if Mura really want to advance to becoming a title challenger in the league, they need to be beating regularly and convincingly. No team in the league has lost fewer games, no team in the league has drawn more. If big match Mura were able to turn up week in, week out, they would have a live chance of challenging strongly at the top. But we have a season and a half of proof to show that they don’t do that. They will round off the Autumn tomorrow night against Bravo.

Moving down to the relegation candidates and we start with Triglav. Triglav are a wonderful contradiction of a side. On one hand, with the iconic Luka Majcen up front, they are a match for most sides. He is captain, leader and the spirit of the team - his performances are better at the club and when he plays, everyone else plays a level higher (and, by the by, it is well worth reading his recent interview with Siol as Majcen is genuinely one of the most interesting characters playing the game and his interview covers literally anything and everything you could think of). The problem is that Majcen’s disciplinary record is not the best and, in the four games he has missed this season, Triglav’s record is 17 conceded and 3 scored. On the other hand, they’ve beaten Maribor twice and scored four in two games against Olimpija. Majcen will definitely miss the first three games after the break, currently serving a six-match ban for a post-match incident against Bravo and, as such, it’s fair to expect those games might not go well for Triglav, particularly if they lose David Tijanic over the winter.

Behind them sit the promoted sides - Cherrybox24 Tabor Sezana, a team who whenever I post anything about them will inevitably result in someone commenting that they have a stupid name (because they do), and ASK Bravo. Both have near-identical records also with only the goals of Predrag Sikimic for the Cherries differentiating them at all from Bravo. They are two bang average sides with little between them and little to commend them.

That is still more to commend than at Rudar Velenje who enter the break having not won a game in the league yet this season. Much of this is due to their early season business in selling Ziga Skoflek, who was more or less solely responsible for their good form in the Spring of 2019. They are the lowest scorers in the league and only Triglav (for the aforementioned reasons) have conceded more. There is little reason right now to expect that matters are going to change so radically in the next couple of months to think that the ever-growing gap to Bravo ahead of them will close and relegation seems pretty certain as things stand.

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azanycollectormilkshakeworl-blog · 6 years

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"Sacramento California Cheap car insurance quotes zip 94262

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I am from India & I would like to know about the health insurance options for indians working in Malaysia. My husband is working but I am a housewife. His company takes care of his insurance. We are trying for a baby and I would like to know about the health insurance options for foreigners in Malaysia.

Im losing all my teeth & I cant get insurance anywhere!!!!?

I am only 22 years old & I noticed all of my back teeth slowly breaking away about 6 months ago. I went to a clinic & found out I have a bad infection, next to no enamel & serious gum disease. They gave me prescription & that's when I found out I had no medical insurance. I never got the meds. because I could not afford them. Since than it has gotten so much worse. I am a single mom of 2 young boys. I pay my own Rent phone electric & everything else with a next to nothing paycheck. So at the end of the month I am left with Nothing. I went to the welfare office & was turned down because I make more than 400$ a month. My job doesn't provide dental but this infection has spread so fast that I don't have 1 tooth that's not infected & the only ones that can even still be saved are the top 4 in the front. I don't even remember what it feels like to eat solid food & I have tried everything to get health insurance..but I have no $ left over @ the end of the mouth. I feel lost. Does any1 know of anything I can do? This is painful in every way.& I think it is crazy that I can not have dental insurance because I have a job. I cant quit my job to save my teeth. My fronts probably have less than a month b4 they start to chip away from the gum line...& I am out of options.""

Van insurance for youngsters?

I'm 17 and i do Motocross and because of this i need a van to transport my bike to and from tracks (i don't want to get a trailer) it will only be used on weekends, but i am getting ridiculous insurance quotes. where can i get good insurance for young drivers?""

How important is car insurance ?

My dad works for an insurance company so he thinks I need insurance but I can't afford it. Should I wait until I have enough money for insurance to buy a car?

""My car insurance was voided in the past, and now I can't get a quote anywhere, can anyone help?!?""

When I started learning to drive at 17, I decided to buy my self a cheap car so that I'd be able to get more experience behind the wheel, pass my test quicker and have a car as soon as I passed my test. I was insured on my provisional license with an insurance company which specialised in learner drivers. However, I ended up getting 3 points on my license the week before I passed my test, in what I still think were pretty unfair circumstances. My house doesn't have a drive or a garage and so I had to park my car on the road in front of my house, or on a street round the corner when there were no spaces. As it was my first car I was really excited, and without understanding that I could get in trouble for it, I used to sometimes sit in my car and listen to music with my friends. The week before I passed my test we were sat chatting when a police car came down the road and pulled up behind us. Someone had broken into some allotments nearby and they were questioning us as to if we had seen anything. They searched my car- for tools that could suggest we had done it I presume, and when they found nothing they ran my license and obviously realised I only had a provisional license. I still at this point didn't realise I had done anything wrong, I wasn't driving the car, simply sat in it so I didn't realise I had committed an offence. The police informed me that because the engine was running, I could have been driving or about to drive and on that basis they convicted me for driving without a license. I only got 3 points and a 60 fine due to the fact I wasn't actually driving and at the time I accepted that with relief, I was terrified I'd get a ban or lose my license or get a massively unaffordable fine. I could have appealed but that would have meant going to court and I was only 17 and that terrified me. I declared the points to my insurance company straght away, but due to the nature of the offence my insurance was invalidated and void. I've only just now realised how serious having insurance voided in the past is. I'm supposed to be moving a 5 hours away in a few months for a job, and I have plenty of money saved for car insurance and a car, as without a car, the move is completely unrealistic. Without a car I won't be able to get to work as the hours are unsocial and my job isn't very well connected with public transport at all and so relying on public transport or taxis is simply not an option. I found a car, went to get an insurance quote, and found out that getting insurance is practically impossible when you've had insurance voided in the past. The points don't seem to be a problem, when I tell companies about my points but not about my insurance voided in the past they happily give me a quote. They're expensive, but affordable and it's what I was expecting. However, as soon as I tell them that my insurance was voided in the past they refuse to even give me a quote. I'm completely out of options and I don't know what to do. I need a car, but I can't get insurance as much as I try. I know I was in the wrong, but it seems like the voided insurance is more of a punishment than the points are and surely that isn't right? And the voided insurance will stay with me for the rest of my life, so does that mean that driving will never be an option for me? I'm sorry for the essay, I just really don't know what to do! If anyone's been in a similar situation with voided insurance or know of a company that would insure me then please let me know! Just anything that would help, let me know! Thank you so much in advance and sorry again for the babbling!""

Whats The Cheapest Car To Get Insurance For?

Wanna get the cheapest auto insurance?

I am an 18 year old girl who has a mitsubishi eclipse gs no driving record what will my insurance cost?

i am a straight A student took drivers ed in high school

I'm 16 and Looking at a 2003 Mach 1 Mustang how much would Insurance be?

I have a job and plan on paying for it myself, I just want an idea of the cost.""

How much does it cost to insure a provisional driver?

On top of somebody elses insurance?

What's the best CAR Insurance?

i'm trying to save myself some money. if you know just tell me which car insurance is the best and cheapest.

How much does health insurance cost?

I'm a 27 year old male in perfect health and I was wondering how much I can expect to pay for health insurance for an independent plan. I'm planning to start my own business and considering how much health insurance is a major consideration. Even a ballpark number would help for my calculations. Thanks!

Am having two different auto insurances on two different cars but are both in my name.Is it legal?

I have 2 cars, I just bought one cash. So I already have full coverage on one car and its paid for 6 months, and I want to add insurance on the other but with a different insurance company because it is cheaper and I will be getting only liability. Is it legal to be carrying different insurances or are they required to be both with the same company? I live in Texas! Thanks in advance!""

What is a toll free phone number to get auto insurance quotes from Farmer's Insurance?

I just want to get a quote for car insurance via a toll free phone number. Competitive quotes would be nice from a National Independent Agent that also offers Farmer's Insurance.

Le Grand California Cheap car insurance quotes zip 95333

How much would car insurance cost for a new driver? liability.?

im bout to be able to get my car so i need to kno how much car insurance will cost for me. new driver. and liability coverage.

Affordable insurance plans??

Hello! I am a 21 year old mother of 2 ( a 13 mo. old and a 26. mo. old) My husband and I do not qualify for medicaid (apparently you have to be dang near homeless) and we need health insurance. He has a heart condition (hes 25! ) and I tend to get sick alot! lol anyone have any ideas for affordable health insurance?? ( under $100 /mo if possible) thanks for your time, Be Blessed!""

What will it cost to go to planned parenthood with no insurance?

Do they even except people without insurance? I was layed off my job and have no insurance.

Has anyone sign up for the Affordable Health insurance?

There are all these news about too much traffic to the site, but has anyone actually signed up for health insurance through healthcare.gov?""

Is there an affordable health insurance plan in California?

I am struggling to find an affordable health insurance plan for my family. I've asked this question before and got a great answer, then lost the link! Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)""

How does a Deductible on car insurance work?

Is it a good idea to have one on my car insurance ? And if i have one will my payments go up each month?

Affordable insurance w/ NO deductible and low premium?

I need you to tell me names of insurance not quote sites cuz they don't help. i need one for 2 ppl a mom and daughter. it shouldnt have a deductable or be more that 200 monthly.

Companies and their insurance for employees?

A company I work for has insurance. I have very expensive medicine and the insurance would pay most of it. my question is IF I GET THE INSURANCE WILL THE EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY I WORK FOR AND MY BOSSES KNOW WHAT I USE THE INSURANCE FOR? WILL THEY KNOW WHAT MEDICINES I TAKE THAT THE INSURANCE PAY FOR?

How much is the average annual amount for a sport(crotch rocket) motorcycle insurance?

What motorcycle insurance should I get?

I recently got KLR650 and was wondering what kind of insurance should I get? What is the most common coverage? Also what insurance company are you using and are you happy with them when it comes to price and service? Thanks for all the answers

How much is Taxi Insurance in South Jersey?

I heard Taxi Insurance is Cheaper in South Jersey vs North Jersey. What town are you in? Thanks.

2 insurances? 2 deductibles?

If I have 2 insurances one has a 500 deductible and a 80/20 coverage and my x has an insurance that has a 750 deductible, does this mean we both have to pay each of our deductibles for our child? She is getting a MRI, what happens, will my insurance make us pay the first 500, then the 20 percent.. Then does the remainder go to her secondary insurance, then the first 750 comes off top of the balance again?""

Auto insurance quotes?

What website you recommend to get instant multiple quotes for multiple cars, without agent or a representative involvement?""

Does anyone knows if AIG agency auto is the same as granite state insurance company in California?

""Camaro insurance, gas and racing information?""

Does anyone know how much insurance will be for a soon to be 16 year old '89-'93 Camaro driver? I've heard that Camaros are gas guzzlers and my boyfriend lives a half hour away and that could get quite costly. So, this may be a retarded question, but is there anyway I could get better gas mileage? Any other helpful information on Camaros would be great. Also, I intend to start racing with my boyfriend, would a '89-'93 Camaro be a good racing car? What should I do to make an average Camaro into a good, fast car? Thanks in advance everyone! :]""

Which cars/trucks get the best auto insurance?

I know that insurance companies look at things like color, model, and things like that, please help!!!!""

Paying too much for car insurance?

I drive a '97 Ford Escort, nearly 45,000 miles. I'm 21. I have had one ticket (when I was 16 and I got a diversion on that ticket, so I didn't have to pay nor report it to my insurance). I pay $956 every 6 months for full-coverage. I'm with Farm Bureau. Anyone think this is reasonable or should I check out other quotes?""

Health Insurance - What's your stance?

Should everyone be required to have health insurance? If you want to keep it hypothetical, assume health care is inexpensive and available. If NO, who will pay for the care of the ...show more""

Can I afford motorcycle insurance?

So here is my situation: I currently own a 2003 Toyota Matrix that I make payments on. In between the payments and the insurance and gas, it costs about $350 a month to have that car. For the last couple years I've been really interested in getting a motorcycle, specifically a newer Kawasaki. According to my research, I could find a Kawasaki Ninja 250cc for somewhere around $3000. My question is basically how much insurance do I need? Right now I have comprehensive coverage for my car so that if I'm in a wreck and it's totaled I can replace it. If I had a bike AND my car though, I don't want replacement coverage for a secondary vehicle (even one as cool as a motorcycle). I got quotes from Geico and State Farm that put my minimum amount of insurance a month in the neighborhood of around $30. Does this sound accurate to anyone? Also, can anyone just give me some sound advice about owning both vehicles and whether it's worth it?""

Please can someone give me a normal price on car insurance for a new 2012 Ford Fiesta zetec S?

I'm 17 years old and a first time driver but cant fined a straight answer from car insurance websites.

How do I know what medication is covered under my insurance?

I have BlueCross BlueShield, and my card has an Identification Number, Group, and Plan Codes. But how do I know what medication is covered for me? Can I find this on the website?""

Auto theft and insurance question?

My 95 Honda accord was stolen last week and I did have full coverage etc..how do i negotiate a fair replacement cost of the car to the ins company when they offer me their price? I have Allstate and they have been grat in followup with me, but i dont know how they will base the value of the car..will it be kelly book or the NADA? thank you!!""

If 2 cars fall into the same insurance group will they cost more or less the same?

regardless of how much fuel they use? I ask because I have been looking at both the Vauxall Corsa and Astra, and both models fall into insurance group 4 but the Astra is a 1.4L and the Corsa a 1.3L (They are diesel versions).""

Will my insurance go up?

I got two speeding tickets not to long ago, they where 145 dollars each. On both of the tickets i was going 75 mph and speed limit was 60 mph. I already paid for the both tickets, they got reduced by 45 dollars each ticket. I was wondering by how much will my insurance go up and when does it go up. Its my dad insurance and he has my car on his insurance. Will the insurance go up only on my car or both of the cars on same insurance and is there any way you can take those tickets of the record. Like traffic schools..""

""Can you recommend a good,cheap insurance for a 17 year old??

I don't want to be on my mom's because mine will be higher than normal because hers is already really high.I'd rather just have my own insurance.Thanks in advance!!

Le Grand California Cheap car insurance quotes zip 95333

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/coles-third-party-insurance-quote-riley-rose/"

0 notes

takenews-blog1 · 6 years

Text

Why America wants extra Teslas and fewer Ubers

New Post has been published on https://takenews.net/why-america-wants-extra-teslas-and-fewer-ubers/

Why America wants extra Teslas and fewer Ubers

Tesla has a seemingly bottomless urge for food for capital. The corporate raised $2 billion from bond traders in 2014, bought $738 million in inventory in 2015, and bought $1.46 billion in inventory in 2016. Now it’s planning to lift one other $1.15 billion within the coming months.

Tesla wants a lot money as a result of it has a whole lot of 1000’s of preorders for the Mannequin three, Tesla’s comparatively inexpensive electrical car that’s slated to start manufacturing later this 12 months. CEO Elon Musk has set a objective to supply 500,000 automobiles a 12 months between 2018 and 2020. Attaining that objective would require billions of of investments in new factories, warehouses, robots, and so forth.

Tesla is hardly the one Silicon Valley firm elevating huge sums from traders. Airbnb introduced simply final week that it had raised $1 billion, for instance, and Uber has raised greater than $11 billion over the previous few years. However there’s an vital distinction between Tesla’s fundraising and that of most different huge Silicon Valley corporations.

Tesla’s huge downside is that it has too many shoppers chasing too little product. It must spend billions of to construct infrastructure that can permit it to satisfy surging demand for electrical automobiles. Most different Silicon Valley corporations have the other downside: They’ve loads of spare capability, however they’re primarily spending their tens of millions (or billions) to purchase clients.

That’s an ominous pattern for Silicon Valley and the broader American financial system. The sorts of investments Tesla is making develop the capability of the American financial system to supply helpful items and providers. However lots of the “investments” being made elsewhere in Silicon Valley don’t do this. Firms are spending tens of millions in zero-sum battles for market share. And these battles finally do little to develop the financial system as a complete.

In a current e-book, AOL founder and enterprise capitalist Steve Case divided the historical past of the fashionable expertise trade into three waves. The primary occurred from roughly 1985 to 2000. In the course of the first wave, the fundamental infrastructure of the web was nonetheless costly. Like Tesla as we speak, early web corporations typically discovered themselves in a scenario the place demand outstripped provide, forcing them to lift tens of millions of to purchase servers, lease bandwidth, and license software program.

In the course of the first wave, it was trendy for corporations to make huge investments in tangible property. A now-infamous startup known as Webvan acquired a fleet of supply vans so it may supply on-demand grocery deliveries to web clients. Many of those investments didn’t pan out, after all, however the profitable corporations constructed the fundamental on-line infrastructure that we nonetheless depend on as we speak.

Throughout Case’s second wave, from roughly 2000 to 2010, huge investments turned retro. The poster youngster for this period is Facebook, a web site began by a university child in his dorm room in 2004. By that time, pc servers and bandwidth had turn into low cost sufficient that Mark Zuckerberg didn’t want very a lot cash to develop his web site. This allowed him to take care of complete management over Facebook because it grew.

This pattern towards cheaper expertise has solely accelerated over the previous decade. Cloud providers like Amazon Internet Providers have drastically diminished the price of constructing a web site or app that serves tens of millions of customers. Open supply software program has made it doable to construct a web site with out paying a dime of licensing charges. As a result of cloud providers will be rented by the minute and expanded at any time, they require hardly any capital to scale up and serve tens of millions of customers.

It has turn into a Silicon Valley best for corporations to be primarily weightless: utilizing different individuals’s infrastructure to construct on-line platforms that allowed customers to work together with one another, however not tying up the startup’s personal capital in buildings, workers, or different tangible property. Uber doesn’t personal any automobiles. Airbnb doesn’t personal any resort rooms. And Silicon Valley orthodoxy says it is a good factor

After I wrote about Tesla’s final spherical of fundraising final 12 months, I primarily ended the story there. Tesla, I famous, was bucking this pattern by elevating billions of and utilizing it to construct tangible stuff like battery and automobile factories, whereas beginning a tech firm was getting much less and cheaper.

However a 12 months later, it’s clear this isn’t fairly proper. Web infrastructure continues to price much less and fewer. However huge tech corporations proceed to lift large sums.

Uber is the poster youngster for Silicon Valley’s third wave, wherein the expertise sector invades typical industries like taxicabs. And in a single sense, Uber is absolutely per the weightless best of second-wave expertise corporations. Somewhat than proudly owning automobiles or using drivers, Uber supplies a impartial platform that connects drivers with passengers. That has allowed Uber to turn into a worldwide firm with a fraction of the money it might want if it had purchased automobiles and employed drivers straight.

Regardless of this, Uber has raised $11 billion and continues to be a good distance from turning a revenue. And that’s not as a result of it’s spending a ton of cash on servers and bandwidth. Somewhat, Uber is utilizing that $11 billion to wage a seemingly countless worth battle in opposition to Lyft and worldwide rivals in an effort to spice up its market share. Uber hopes that if it provides a buyer a below-cost taxi experience now, it’s going to develop a buyer relationship that can produce a revenue over the long term.

One thing comparable explains two of Facebook’s greatest acquisitions. Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2013. It didn’t price wherever near $1 billion (to say nothing of $19 billion) to create these corporations within the first place. Instagram was lower than two years outdated and had 13 workers on the time Facebook purchased it. What made these corporations priceless is that that they had tens of millions of customers and had been on a trajectory to draw many extra. Facebook was primarily shopping for itself a bigger consumer base.

One other instance: Over the previous decade, we’ve seen a menagerie of meals supply startups. The market has been so crowded that not one of the corporations have managed to earn vital income. However enterprise capitalists are betting that in the event that they develop robust relationships with clients, then finally the market will shake out and the largest corporations will have the ability to flip a revenue.

Servers and bandwidth tended to get cheaper over time due to innovation and economies of scale, so there was room for everybody to revenue from increased funding. However the provide of consumers is mainly fastened. In order increasingly capital has flooded into the market, the price of buying a buyer has gone up and up, forcing corporations to combat bitter, zero-sum battles that go away all of them worse off.

And this may increasingly clarify why a worthwhile, light-weight firm like Airbnb continues to be elevating cash. Airbnb hasn’t defined precisely what it’s going to do with the $1 billion it completed elevating final week. But it surely’s not exhausting to make an informed guess. Final week, the New York Occasions famous that Airbnb has acquired a funds startup known as Tilt and a trip house rental firm known as Trip Retreats and was investing in a restaurant reservation app known as Resy. All over the world, Airbnb has “invested to steal market share from conventional rental websites, like Expedia-owned HomeAway and VRBO,” as CNBC wrote final 12 months.

Briefly, Airbnb is spending its tens of millions in a lot the identical approach as different startups: on buying comparable companies and stealing market share from rivals. These are expertise investments in a really free sense, however they’re very totally different from Tesla spending billions on a automobile manufacturing facility.

To be clear, there’s nothing improper with corporations attempting to develop their market share. Nearly each giant firm spends cash to achieve market share from rivals. That’s why Coke and Pepsi spend a lot cash on tv adverts. However no person thinks of soppy drink adverts as investments in high-tech innovation. Elevated advert spending isn’t going to drive quicker financial development.

The purpose of getting capital markets is to transform financial savings into productive investments. They’re supposed to do that is by funneling cash into corporations — like Tesla — that use the cash to construct factories, carry out analysis and improvement, invent new merchandise, and so forth.

Tesla has a big urge for food for capital, nevertheless it’s not infinite. A wholesome financial system would have lots of corporations prefer it. However in recent times, the provision of cash individuals wish to make investments has began to outstrip corporations’ demand for that money.

In reality, cash has principally been going within the different path. In 2015, corporations paid out greater than $1 trillion to shareholders. And shareholders have struggled to search out something productive to do with the cash. When you add up all enterprise capital corporations’ investments in 2015 — together with huge investments in Uber and Airbnb and plenty of smaller investments — the overall was simply $59 billion. Cash raised in preliminary public choices accounted for one other $30 billion.

With nothing higher to do with the cash, lots of traders have merely used their dividends to purchase extra inventory in current public corporations. These funds go to the businesses’ earlier shareholders — not the corporate itself — so they do not lead the businesses to place the cash to productive use.

As an alternative, share costs have been getting bid up. Proper now, shares within the Normal & Poor’s 500 — an index of 500 giant American shares — are promoting for nearly 27 occasions their annual earnings. That is an unusually excessive worth that indicators that shares are more likely to produce below-average returns over the long term. On the identical time, rates of interest on authorities and company bonds are close to their lowest level in many years.

What traders want is much more capital-hungry corporations like Tesla: corporations that want a ton of money to develop rapidly. Tesla is so capital-hungry as a result of it sells bodily merchandise that take complicated manufacturing services to construct. Tesla is planning to spend $5 billion on simply its “gigafactory” — an unlimited facility to supply batteries for its automobiles.

And if Tesla is profitable, its urge for food for capital will solely improve. Even when the corporate achieves its objective of manufacturing 500,000 automobiles per 12 months by 2020, it’s going to nonetheless be a really small participant within the total auto market. It’ll must construct many tens of millions of automobiles a 12 months to attain Elon Musk’s objective of constructing electrical automobiles the trade normal. And that can require constructing many extra services for creating batteries and constructing automobiles.

The issue for traders is that there simply aren’t very many corporations like this. There are too many funding chasing too few funding alternatives. More and more determined traders have poured cash into corporations like Uber and meals supply startups whose predominant technique is to make use of lavish spending to lure clients away from rivals.

This helps to elucidate slowing development of the US financial system as a complete. Investments in new factories, gear, and applied sciences are a significant approach that superior economies develop. However this type of funding has gotten much less and fewer widespread, each in Silicon Valley and within the broader financial system.

0 notes

notjustbacon · 7 years

Text

Dear WorkAwayer

Alex and I have successfully completed 4 WorkAways while in Vietnam and New Zealand. We were hoping to make it 5, adding one more from our time in Thailand. Unfortunately, it was not in the cards for us. This post is about when things go wrong for WorkAwayers... As in life, things don't always fall into place the way we have planned for them to do. How can you prepare yourself as a WorkAwayer? Can you try to avoid these pitfalls? What do you do in the face of a WorkAway disaster? These are questions I'm hoping to answer by the end of this post.

Let's start with my recent email to WorkAway to cover the whole 5th WorkAway story and build on from there:

Dear WorkAway,

I wanted to get back to you about our stay at Claudio's in case you are still investigating him.

He is absolutely not appropriate for WorkAway. This was our first pretty bad WorkAway experience and our fifth one planned this year. We ignored the red flags because there were such good Google, Trip Advisor, and Agoda reviews... Like 5/5 and 8.6/10... And he had rave reviews from past WorkAwayers as well.

I didn't know there were any issues until I happened to do some final research a few days before I was scheduled to start. Two days ago, I wanted to screenshot what my host's WorkAway profile said for accommodations and expectations, but the profile had been removed. That should have been the red flag that signaled a need for changing plans. I emailed WorkAway to find out why his profile was removed and was informed it was because he was unauthorized to charge monies from WorkAwayers. While this surprised me, I even wrote back saying that he was very upfront about this and that I heard about some WorkAways charging to help cover expenses, it didn't seem like a safety concern. It was only through emailing WorkAway a few times that I found out that there are Hosts that can charge, but they have to be explicitly clear on their profile, not just through email - as they need to be pre-approved by WorkAway. However, we had already bought our airline tickets to come down there as our plan was to arrive in two days, and we had been emailing the host back and forth (with no issue) for months, so I thought we were in the clear.

To make matters worse, our host had asked us for money within hours of our arrival - before we had a night to sleep on it... It made enough sense to me and was only about $60 for the whole week. It seemed like a pretty good deal in comparison to other guesthouses in the area. Again, all the reviews made it sound like a nice clean place to stay, and cool enough because there were fans, so we thought at least we would have a comfortable place to stay and would only work a couple hours. We decided to think of it as more of a homestay than a WorkAway, it would still be a great experience, right? Wrong.

We got there following a very long day of travel at around 7:30 pm. After dinner, we were ready to crash, although Claudio had shared that they had recently had a 4-foot python in their kitchen, so I wasn't sure how well we were going to sleep. He showed us around and I immediately noticed that the accommodations were not as promised: no hot water, no working toilet, mold in our bedroom, no airflow in our bedroom (making it a sauna: damp and hot), plus raging music playing way past 3 am... He joked that there were lots of things broken because it was low season and no one cared. Also, there was a rather scary moment when I got up after midnight of a child we had met (at dinner) standing at our bedroom window looking in and checking out our stuff. I was startled to see someone studying us and our room through the window, but also felt threatened because I realized that nearly anyone could reach into the window, open our door, and grab our stuff. Needless to say, I didn't get more than a few minutes of sleep throughout the night.

So this morning we had to pack up, ask for our money (hoping to get half of it back), and get out of there. I went to go talk to Claudio (with my backpack on) when he stopped me and said, "No problem." Then he returned $50 of the $60 we paid him, it seemed fair enough. In contrast and surprisingly enough, he started to yell at me, so we just walked away and left (he was still yelling at us when we were walking off the property). Even though that sounds horrible, it went much better than planned because we got most of our money back, we were safe, and were able to book a new and NICE place to stay. Now we are at that new place, they gave us coffee and made us breakfast!! What a turnaround?!

I've attached a picture of the mold and here's a video of the room if you need them at all (I'm pointing to the window I talked about near the end of the video). One lesson I'm taking away from this experience is that it is vitally important to check and double check your information - safety has to come first. I'm also planning to write a blog post about this experience as well as a list of tips to help others who are looking for WorkAways.

Most importantly, I'm hoping there's a safety precaution that WorkAway can implement for the future. I propose that if WorkAway deems a host is needing to be removed, the WorkAwayers who have been in contact with that host over the last 45 days should be notified that the host was removed. In my case, I had no idea that there was anything going on with this host. Even a couple weeks ago the host was still listed, but a few days before my travels I just happened to double check and he was no longer listed. Thankfully, your team worked diligently to get back to me and I was notified the day before my flight that he was removed because he was charging people. What if it was because he was being unsafe though? And had I not checked, I could have just walked into that situation, not knowing that anything had been reported. This host had amazing reviews from the past WorkAwayers - which is one reason why we chose him. He had amazing reviews from everywhere I could imagine, but they just weren't accurate. That's never happened before to either of us. I think another takeaway I learned from this is that there is always room for improvement. Hopefully, this can shed some light on some possible opportunities for WorkAway as I know it has for me.

Sincerely,

Alice Dauenhauer

Let me recap what I learned from this experience:

1) Take a screenshot of the WorkAway Host's profile (to keep record of what you agreed to) as soon as you are planning to stay with them.

The Host Rating is one of the first sections I look for, why? It's important. Both hosts and Workawayers leave feedback via the site on the Workaway exchanges they’ve had. It helps keep the site safe and inspires those who haven’t yet tried Workaway. Like in other ratings, you want a high number.

The Feedback section is vital. It will give you some of the keys as to why this host has been successful or not. Now, keep in mind that some people are going to have different expectations than you and they may be completely unreasonable. It's usually best to look at a couple of the best ratings as well as all of the lowest ratings. From what I recall, there were mostly just rave reviews on WorkAway about the host featured in this post. I do remember one not so positive review that talked about how the host was odd, and that they wished a few things would have gone differently. The host responded to this feedback in a way that gave Alex pause to question whether this was a reliable host or not... I should have trusted that gut instinct. More on this in point 6 (below).

The Last Activity, Reply rate and Average reply time are all indicators of how active the member is and when/if you can expect a reply back. Personally, I take these as indicators of how serious the host is in providing you with a truly wonderful experience.

The Description section is a summary of what the host has been doing and what they are looking to accomplish. It might tell you a little bit about the host's personal life and what they are passionate about as well.

Type of help includes various jobs that you would agree to do if you accepted the host's WorkAway. This is definitely a category that you want to ask clarifying questions about. Like, "What do you mean by child care? Do you mean babysitting? Do you mean running a classroom? How much of my time working should I expect to devote to this area?" Follow up questions are key.

The Help section should describe in more detail what kind of projects or help the host is looking for. Including how many hours per day/week they are looking for from WorkAwayers and what sort of schedule/flexibility they are expecting. If this category seems vague, you will definitely want to ask more questions.

The Languages spoken section usually start with the host's first language followed by second and third and on and on languages. Sometimes second language skills are profound and sometimes they seem less than understandable. You may want to cross reference the References section/field to see how well the hosts communicated with their past WorkAwayers.

The Accommodation section is a key area you want to pay attention to. Sometimes hosts aren't actually able to offer accommodation. Sometimes it is a spot on the floor or a tent in their field or a bamboo shack in the jungle. Does your place have running (hot) water? Toilet? Toilet paper? The conveniences that you have at home are definitely not always available around the world. Do a little search through Google to see what a typical accommodation in the country/town you are planning to visit offers. This could be a major game changer.

The other sections are good to read to see if there are any red flags or highlights that you would otherwise miss. Perhaps you were hoping to be one of many workawayers, but actually, your host can only offer workaway to one person at a time... or visa versa... You could be one of several volunteers from various programs. Check it out. And ask lots of questions about anything curious.

2) Research where you are staying in for weather, back up accommodations, safety precautions, travel arrangements... etc. In my case, I had researched the area in knowing it looked like a fun area to stay and that it wouldn't be hard to book things due to the time of the year - "low season" where not many tourists are around. Low season also means more rain and that it monsoons more often - maybe even once or twice a day. Some outdoor activities may be closed for the season or canceled last minute! Some of the top places I like to crosscheck are Trip Advisor, Accuweather, the US Dept. of State website and Wikitravel for all of my latest travel queries.

3) Clarify and communicate your needs PLUS anything that seems questionable with the host and (if needed) WorkAway staff.

Make sure the accommodations your host is providing include what you need to be happy (private room, the internet, reliable internet, etc.). Believe it or not, you may have to ask quite a few detailed questions and follow up questions if the subject is important to you. All of this info should be included in the host profile. If things sound fishy go to WorkAway to clear it up. I.E. I should have gone directly to WorkAway about my host asking about payment/money as with anything not included in the FAQ section.

4) Know WorkAway's rules for hosts so that you are protected should they ask for something unreasonable. You can find out most of this information through the FAQ page, but you can also send WorkAway an email. According to WorkAway, "Ultimately the decision comes down to your own personal travel goals and expectations." WorkAway has information on finding hosts and all sorts of questions. Their blog has been an essential resource for me during my travels.

5) Don't try too hard to convince yourself that it is all going to be great. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is. In this case, I had taken heed to WorkAway removing this host, I would have avoided staying with him. I would have avoided that whole sleep pilfered experience. Even though it sounded great to get a sweet place by the beach for a few extra shillings, I wasn't supposed to have paid anything to my host at all. I ended up learning the hard way that there's a reason why some hosts are permitted to take payment, while others are unauthorized.

6) Trust your gut, after all the red flags, the final straw for me was when I saw a stranger looking through our window. I knew we couldn't give this place another minute, regardless of whether we got our money back. Had I read this review AND the host's response, I might've saved myself a headache. I can only laugh at his response and think, "This guy's a nut!"

7) Check and recheck your research and what you plan to do. In Oregon, I know that I should check the weather before I head out for a hike in shorts. More likely than not it will be rainy and I won't want to get soaked ten minutes after trekking up my climb. This definitely applies to WorkAway. Check to see if the host changed anything from the first time you agreed to their WorkAway to the moment before you walk through their door. It's happened to us a few times. Including, of course, this week.

8) If you fall into the pit of a dreadful WorkAway, set your pride aside and get out. Stop what you're doing and choose you first. Especially if it involves some sort of safety concern. Try to pack up your stuff so that you are ready to go, notify the host (or not if you don't feel safe), get somewhere safe, and plan your next move. Hopefully, you've set up a preliminary plan B or C. Hopefully, you know a safe place that you can go to if your host isn't being reasonable. These two hopes can be done ahead of time, but if you really aren't feeling safe, then you need to leave. The money you've spent or the things you may have left behind can be replaceable, but you aren't. After you are someplace safe with a plan in motion, make sure to contact WorkAway so that they can do their best to implement change. If anything more serious is involved, contact the local authorities. Finally, check in with your support network to get some free therapy. These situations aren't fun. They aren't easy. But you can get through them. More than likely, they will be something that can help you grow in the future and might even be a story you can look back on and laugh at one day.

Conclusion:

I'm actually almost already ready to laugh at our whole situation, and it hasn't even been 24 hours since it occurred. Probably because I'm now sitting in an awesome room with food in my belly and comfortable knowing that I'm safe... And only for $5 more a night... GO figure.

I wrote WorkAway within the hour of arriving at our new place to let them know the whole situation with Claudio, the letter at the beginning is the actual letter I sent them. I also suggested some safety protocols that they could implement. Both of these things could help WorkAwayers in the future. I must say I am pretty impressed with WorkAway and their responsiveness. They already wrote back to my e-mail. How did this whole thing end? I've included WorkAway's response right here in the conclusion section!

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ouranastasiadateblog-blog · 5 years

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6 Online Dating Tips for Guys That Actually Work

1. Choose the Right Site, Even if You Have to Pay For It Never choose a dating site because that's the one everyone else uses. The most popular sites have the most competition, not a good idea if you want to meet someone quickly. There are dozens of dating sites online. There are religious based sites, fetish based sites, sites based on sexual preference, online dating for seniors, there are race-based sites and many more. Even if you have to pay a monthly fee, consider that fee an investment into your future. If you are lonely now, wouldn't you pay $20 or less a month if you were told you could meet the woman of your dreams? Of course you would. You probably spend that on leisurely activities right now that don't bring you near as much pleasure as a dream matchup would bring you. There are free sites, low paid sites and expensive ones. Don't just discount a site because it charges and never discount a free site because you think it's too cheap and saturated. For those who have almost any queries relating to exactly where and also how you can employ Anastasia Date, you'll be able to email us from the web-page. Choose a site based on your preference, your budget and the number of available matches there are in the dating pool. And don't be afraid to try several at once. The more sites you put profiles on, the more likely you are to find a match. 2. Search Like You're a Woman To Beat Your Competition The hardest part about online dating for men is the filling out of the profile. Most men have absolutely no idea how to present themselves in order to maximize their dating chances. To make matters worse, most online dating help for men fails to touch the process of filling out the profile. Most articles and videos online tell men to be honest and let the woman know what you want. If you want to create a profile that gets results, you must study the competition. Who are you up against? This is going to require you to search the online dating site you're on as if you were a woman. It is going to feel strange looking through a bunch of guys' online dating photos, but this is a necessary step if you want the greatest edge. If you can take what's working and make it better, you will succeed at online dating faster than any of the other guys in your dating pool. This is one of those free online dating tips that you rarely read online and yet it's so effective at putting you on top of whatever dating site you choose. Pay attention to the photos men are using, the language they're using, their headlines and anything else that stands out. Take plenty of notes and then write your profile. When you have a page full of profile tidbits, headline ideas and other crucial elements, you won't find yourself staring at a blinking cursor when you're asked to fill out your About Me, Ideal Date and any other sections you are required to fill out. In other words, cheat. Online dating for men doesn't have to be so difficult if you know the easy ways to do things. 3. Be Honest With Your Date and Yourself One of the biggest complaints most women have about online dating is the fact that men tend to lie. One recent dater recounted a story where she met a man in real life and she said that his age, height and weight were all different than he implied them to be via their online communications. She said that he was two inches shorter, twenty years older and at least twenty pounds heavier. His response to being caught in a blatant lie, or three of them for that matter? He shrugged, smiled and said, "Everyone lies on the Internet." That is not the way to begin any type of relationship. Out of all the online dating tips for guys you will hear in your lifetime, heed this one first and foremost. Be honest about who you are and what your motivations are. Don't lie about your age, weight, height, job, income or anything else. You will be found out eventually, especially if the date ever progresses to an offline setting. Creating an online dating profile can cause you to really take a look at yourself. Don't lie to make yourself feel better or to entice more dates to contact you. It's not worth it and it will only deter possible matches in the future. 4. Dig Deep to Find Ice-Breakers This is another bit of online dating advice guys never hear. When a woman fills out an online dating profile, that is all the information she wants you to know about her. The problem for her is, the Internet is vast and probably holds much more information than what she's offering. In fact, there is probably information online that she'd rather you not know. Use this free online dating tip with caution. You can find out a lot more about your date by Internet-stalking her, so to speak, but you might not be able to erase any bad press you find from your mind. That can be a problem if you end up really liking the person. If you don't mind digging up a little dirt on your potential date-to-be, start Googling the person's name, headline or anything else. People tend to use the same usernames across multiple platforms, headlines and other elements. Some people even put their Facebook profile links on their page. Use any and all information you find to your advantage. Your goal isn't to open a file on them or stalk them (looking someone up online is only called cyber stalking), rather it is to gather info that can be used to break the ice with that person. You are looking for common ground, something that you both can talk and have a conversation about. This should really only be used if you can't find anything in the person's profile. These days you might uncover DUI arrest records, mugshots, divorce records and a lot more on Google and the other engines. Be careful what you search for. 5. Be Intriguing, Even if Your Life is Boring Even if you live in a nondescript house and you work as an accountant, you can still make your life sound exciting. Get creative with it and pretend you're writing a mystery novel. You don't have to get too crazy with it, but try to be mysterious, intriguing and try to keep her guessing as to what you do or what you're into. The more fun you have with it, the more you'll stand out from other guys on the dating site you're on and the more success you'll have overall. The dating advice guys need the most is the ability to leave the woman guessing. Leave some information for the first date. Nobody says you have to spill the beans in your profile. Leave her guessing, imply more than tell and you'll get better results. 6. Get on the Phone or Cam Quickly In the cult film Napoleon Dynamite, the main character's brother, Kip, meets a girl online and is telling his brother about it across a table at a restaurant. Kip says that they've been chatting for two hours every night and, with a nod, says, "I guess it's getting pretty serious." To make a true match with someone, you have to form an emotional connection. It is possible to form an emotional connection via chat. Kip is one example. However, you will build an emotional connection faster and with more impact if you can get the woman on the phone or Skype or other cam-based chat. Once you form an emotional connect, the rest is fun and games. The endorphins will take over and you'll be on that love rollercoaster that most people spend most of their lives reminiscing about and chasing. Get the digits or the Skype address and take your chat to the phone or cam for a much faster connection. Once you get on the phone or cam, the next step is to recommend an offline date. Follow these six free online dating tips for guys and you will enjoy better dates more often, guaranteed.

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incomeclub-blog · 7 years

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A Reality Check for Every Millennial Investor Regarding Bubble Bursts

Being an investor, one of the biggest worries you’ll ever have is that your success is short-lived – that you’re only making money because of a bubble.

You may feel bullish at the moment, but when you get to thinking about it, your confidence may rely on a momentary lapse in judgment by the entire investor community. That’s basically all a bubble is, and every single bubble bursts eventually.

As a millennial, you should be especially sensitive to bubbles. We just went through a huge one with the housing market and not too long before that; there was the dot-com bubble. Still, I hear from millennial investors all the time who are clearly setting themselves up to become a victim the next time a bubble bursts.

Here’s the reality check I believe a lot of you need before you invest another single solitary dollar.

The Stock Market May Fall – Hard

This is probably the biggest pill a lot of young investors need to swallow. It may not be a bubble that bursts soon, but an entire investment vehicle.

So while many savvy investors are trying to find the next hot stock or short those their research tells them is overrated, everyone will be standing on a house of cards – one that may be ready to fall very soon.

For a better explanation as to this bleak outlook, let’s turn to Bill Gross of Janus Capital. He recently went as far as to say, “The stellar returns experienced by both bond and stock investors over the last 40 years are an anomaly that will not be repeated.”

Gross’ analysis is, well, engrossing. However, for now, I’ll simply summarize his points with another quote: “For over 40 years, asset returns and alpha generation from penthouse investment managers have been materially aided by declines in interest rates, trade globalization and an enormous expansion of credit – that is debt.”

That doesn’t mean that some smaller version – which would still be devastating – isn’t possible or even impending. Gross is far from the only one who sees a bubble building at the moment and, again, every bubble bursts.

“There is an old investment rule-of-thumb called the Rule of 20 that uses combinations of headline inflation and the S&P 500 P/E to determine fair value,” says, Richard Bernstein, the CEO of Richard Bernstein Advisors.

“Our valuation models are, of course, more elaborate than the simple Rule of 20, but based on a more rigorous analysis of inflation and P/E ratios, the current equity market appears, at worse, to be fairly valued.

Investors forget that inflation was increasing leading up to the 2008 bear market. In fact, the CPI, which is a lagging indicator, peaked at 5.6% in July 2008. Today’s headline inflation is 1.0%.”

The financial blog First Rebuttal finds that Bernstein is reporting a bit of a half-truth, though that is certainly better than a lot of market analysts currently out there. To be specific, the blog points to an evident inverse correlation occurring between inflation (the blue line on the chart below) and P/E (the red line below).

This finding would support Bernstein’s suggestion that times of low inflation bear greater P/E multiples. Yet, back in 2000, P/E finally made it through a ceiling on the long-term P/E movement that lasted 120 years even though there were far lower historical inflation amounts across that time period than we are seeing right now.

This implies that although inflation is having some impact on today’s valuations (which are almost record setting), the P/E continues to be roughly 28% more than what it should be once you take inflation into account. Therefore, they need to be a little more thorough than Mr. Bernstein was if they really hope to understand today’s multiples.

The 10-Year Treasury Yield vs. the Market Earning Yield

This one isn’t so much a bubble regarding the stock market, more in terms beliefs. At the moment, a lot of investors are incredibly bullish because the 10-year Treasury yield is so dwarfed by the current market’s earning yield.

The problem with this optimism – which has swept up so many traders in its grasp – is that there is absolutely no historical evidence that the relative nature of these two elements makes a single difference as far as the future of the market is concerned.

Go back over the last century and you’ll see that I’m right. The only correlation you’ll be able to find between these two elements is that the stock market’s average return actually tends to be pretty dismal following any times when the spread was anywhere near where it is now.

Bond Bubble

Despite the fact that the 10-year treasuries rate is at a historical low, it has room to go down further, even to the negative level. Currently, $13 trillion of global bonds, including 10-year German bonds, are traded with a negative yield. You know that yield correlates inversely to the price.

This means that we are currently witnessing a historic high of 30 years in old bull market US Treasuries.

There is also enormous potential for a corporate bond bubble, particularly in a speculative grade credit. Therefore, the risks of the structural downsides for high-yield loans and bonds are material, with risks for growth that are a non-negligible downside.

“We believe roughly 40% of all issuers are of the lowest quality, and roughly $1tn which will end up ‘distressed debt’ in this cycle,” UBS’ Matthew Mish wrote in a note to clients. “Much of the debt was bought to pick-up yield linearly, but the default risk is exponential.”

Fortunately, this one seems unlikely for now. However, if the corporate credit bubble bursts anytime soon, it could be to the tune of some $1 trillion.

When the $1 trillion bubble finally pops, it may only happen in the speculative market. Nonetheless, it will have far-reaching effects on all corporate credit. It will also freeze issuance and widening spreads. In turn, this could then slow economic activity and even US growth at some point.

Download Free E-Book “Bond Investing Fundamentals”

Not Even Silicon Valley Is Safe

When most people think about Silicon Valley, they think of tech millionaires and billionaires, many of whom aren’t even 40 yet. Silicon Valley is as synonymous with wealth as it is with computers. From Facebook to Snapchat to countless other companies, this place launches companies into the stratosphere, right?

Well, yes and no. The majority of startups fail; we all know that. However, this isn’t the reason why there may be a startup bubble in the works. It’s because these private companies can court investors without the same types of disclosures. If you know anything about Silicon Valley – and startup culture in general – then you already know that bravado and confidence are not something that’s lacking. These companies have no problem using hyperbole to stack the deck of public opinion in their own favor.

As such, a lot of startups are able to pull in wealthy investors who are positive they’ve found the next Facebook. Most of them aren’t even close to being right. Unfortunately, many of these people are also in charge of other people’s money, which is why this bubble is especially scary. While no one wants to see an American staple of ingenuity and wealth get a black eye, if Silicon Valley implodes, a lot of investors – many of the Millennials – are going to feel the consequences.

Housing Bubble Is Brewing Up Again

Sadly, just about any market is vulnerable to bubbles. Whenever you have low-interest rates and money is cheap – which we’ve recently experienced as a part of the Fed’s quantitative easing – the likelihood of a bubble appearing increase greatly.

Look at the housing bubble; it’s a perfect example. The dot-com bubble was too. We’ve just covered a potential stock market bubble, though that has less to do with interest rates, and I’d also add that a student loan bubble is growing to the point of becoming dangerously close to bursting.

By the way, we might not be out of the woods where the housing market is concerned. A recent report that looked at U.S. home prices showed that the market is growing far ahead of the rate of inflation.

This is no small thing. The report, which was done by S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller, reviewed the status of the housing marketing in 20 cities. It reported that prices had gone up 5.2% over the past year.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. This increase in interest rates was part of a streak that had begun in September 2012 with the annual price appreciation on a home outpacing consumer prices. During that same year-long period, prices only went up 1%.

Clearly, this can’t continue. Either the economy needs to find a new gear – and quickly – or house prices are going to drop. Therefore, this could be the beginning of yet another housing bubble. Hopefully, we can avoid the kind of devastation we saw over the past decade, but anything is possible.

Student Debt Bubble Bursts to Look Out For

The Fed has just provided its quarterly update on both auto and student loans. Unfortunately, we have a new all-time high in the value of student loans, which just reached $1.4 trillion.

More and more people are enrolling in college – and taking out loans to do so – yet the unemployment rate remains high and the majority of college graduates never use their degree. Instead, graduates end up with the lowest paid jobs available, those in the “food services and drinking places” industry, also known as waiters and bartenders,

Below, the chart shows that there have been half-a-million bartender and waiter jobs added to the economy since 2014, yet not a single manufacturing job.

Still, student loans remain one of the few forms of debt you can’t shed, even if you declare bankruptcy.

In closing, no, I’m not saying don’t invest. What I want you to take from this article is simply not to be trigger happy and follow the crowd. This is how bubbles happen, and it’s also how they eventually burst wide open. The article has been initially published on the SeekingAlpha.

A Reality Check for Every Millennial Investor Regarding Bubble Bursts was originally published on IncomeClub

#bond investing #bond market #bubble bursts #housing bubble #investing #startups #stock investing #stock market #stock market crash

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