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dopescotlandwarrior · 4 years

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Bluegrass-Chapter 21

My thanks to @statell for all your help

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter Twenty-One

There she is. Sitting at the table in the morning light writin her letters and gazin out the window at the bluegrass that surrounds her. What are ye thinkin about love? Yer face is serene and beautiful so it must be somethin nice. Do you see unicorns running in the fields? Are there rainbows in yer view? What keeps yer heart open and full of love after years of struggle to just be who ye are? An orphan, a student, a veterinarian, a jockey, and kissed by some kind of magic that no one believes. I listen carefully and I watch ye closely because I want to know every ounce of what makes ye Claire Beauchamp. I am yer lover and yer champion. If you let me, I will end yer struggle and give you peace to live in yer moment for the rest of yer days.

“Good morning and why are you staring at me?”

Jamie snapped out of his head and smiled at her. “I couldna find ye through all these flowers, love.”

Claire walked toward him and looked into his eyes. He didn’t fall back on his Scottish bur and contractions unless he was deep in his thoughts or drunk. It was too early for drunk, so she pulled him to the table through the myriad of bouquets that were sent by friends and associates to congratulate her on winning the crown. She busied herself with Jamie’s breakfast as they discussed the day.

“Are ye in agreement to hire and train Jason to manage Runner at stud? I need to start planning the improvements and if he will be managing that end then he can help me and stop playin with the horses all day.”

“Will you be taking over his chores?”

“He can do both, easily.”

“I am in total agreement.”

“I’ll find one of the stud farms he can train at for a month in February. It will cost us a bit to lose a month but he’ll be ready to handle everything when he returns.”

Jamie pulled Claire up for a deep kiss and was off to start his day, wondering how to kindly fire Lulu now that the phone was returning to normal. At least he hoped it was.

Jamie opened Runner’s stall and gave his morning hug and sugar cube. He could feel Jason’s eyes burning holes in him and decided it was time to see how much Jason wanted this responsibility.

“Mornin Jason. I talked to Claire and we both agreed you should take over the stud business starting in February. Actually, ye train in February and start the business in March. Oh, and ye get no pay in trainin because I have to pay the stud farm for takin ye on. Okay?”

“Hell ya! Jamie, woo-hoo, hell ya. Thank you so much.”

Before he could continue, Jason ran past him, no doubt on the way to Lulu to share his news. Well, Jamie thought, he’s willin to take no pay and work his ass off, that is a very good sign. On the way to his office, he heard his phone ringing non-stop and wondered where Lulu was. When he charged into the office Lulu was just picking up the phone with a rosy glow in her cheeks as she waved at a retreating Jason. As soon as she hung up, the phone rang again and Jamie slipped away deciding another week with Lulu would be great. In fact, maybe another month with Lulu, Jason, Angus, and Rupert, would give him and Claire the confidence to take two weeks off and honeymoon. He was heading for the dam’s wing but took a sharp turn to his truck. It was time to choose a date to marry his sweetheart.

Claire stared at her new signature created on the computer. She was doing a mass email to her clients letting them know she was returning to her practice. Claire Beauchamp, DVM and under that, Equine Medicine. Under that, 2019 Triple Crown Winner/Highland Brother Farms. She liked it. Not too gaudy and she wasn’t about to lose the racing credential. She chose her favorite picture of Runner and created a watermark from it. It was barely there so it wouldn’t interfere with the text. She loved it and shoved the printout and thumb drive into a manila envelope to take to the printer. She grabbed her purse and turned around slamming into Jamie’s chest. He caught her, thankfully, and chuckled a bit at her startled face.

“That chest is some kind of steal wall, mister. How do you manage to sneak up on me like that?”

“It is very easy when yer in yer head, love. I have come home to ask about marrying me and takin a trip for ten days.”

“Ten…days?”

Her smile was so sweet and happy it melted his heart. He looked into her eyes, hopeful this would end with a date. Before he could press her for a plan he grabbed his ringing cell phone.

“Okay, Lulu. Okay. Yes, I am coming back. Lulu, I promise I am on the way.”

“What was that all about?”

“Apparently, I have been remiss in returning calls and now there’s a rep from Newsweek in my office. I believe it’s you they want to interview, care to take a ride with me?”

Claire sat down with the rep from the magazine and agreed to a date for them to photograph Runner and interview her and Jamie. Before she could walk back home, Lulu stuffed a wad of messages into her hand. Time magazine and Sports Illustrated were also making multiple requests to feature Runner on the cover. She and Jamie each took one and agreed to a photo session with Runner and an interview. Before the weekend, they would host three major magazines who would feature Runner on their covers.

“Can we table our discussion until this madness is over?”

“I will surely pout for the rest of the week, but yes, we certainly can.”

Runner could hear Claire coming toward his wing and he banged his hoof on the corral bars so it reverberated throughout the barn. He was rested and ready to race.

Claire put her hands on his cheeks and saw the obvious images in her mind of Runner flying across the finish line of some imagined race. Then she saw images of Sham laying down on the track exhausted and she laughed. It was becoming clear that Runner cared little about being the most famous horse in the world, if it didn’t lead to a race it was meaningless to him.

“What are we going to do with you handsome. Your stud season is months away and you're bored out of your mind. Poor baby. I’ll think of something fun, I promise. For now, let’s get you and Porcelain outside for the day.”

Claire closed the pasture gate and watched the horses race up and down the hills, swinging their heads and calling to each other. Runner was so fast and easily outran porcelain side by side, then he did something that gave Claire an idea. He would run alongside Porcelain for a while and then engage his power and blow past her. Then he circled around to run alongside a bit more before doing it again. He was winning mini races and having a great time. Maybe he should be turned out with the yearlings that would start their race training in a few months. It might do them all good to test their speed and Runner could race them all, over and over again. She smiled and went to find Jamie.

Jamie was in favor of Claire’s idea to turn the horses out together but the obligations of the week imposed on their time. Each magazine, Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated, dominated their days with photoshoots of Midnight Runner and sit down interviews with Claire. The pace was head spinning as neither of them knew there would be a full staff of photographers and reporters.

On the day reserved for Sports Illustrated, Nosh greeted Claire and Jamie with a big smile, and Claire hugged him. She was so happy he would be writing the story because he had been such a big fan of Runner since his early races. When they were finished with the interview Claire renewed her promise to tell Nosh the rest of her story and asked him not to forget them.

“Not likely Claire, I feel I’ve lived my life just waiting for you and Midnight Runner to win big on the world stage.” He looked into her eyes with an open heart, “the story I write about Runner will be my legacy. I know it.”

When Nosh drove away from the complex Claire dropped into the couch in Jamie’s office with a deep sigh. She was exhausted from the week, as was Jamie, but they both felt the tingling of excitement deep in their stomach. It was time for the big event and after that, it was party time.

Claire gave Jamie a knowing smile that pulled him to her. He touched her cheek where the smile creased the skin and felt his heart race with anticipation.

“I’m loadin into the gate lass, ready for the biggest race of my life. The prize is the wife I have dreamed about since I first kissed a girl. I knew ye were out there somewhere, one special woman who would turn my life upside down with love and adventure, and ye’ve certainly done that, love. I’m favored to win, but I need to know if yer all-in, or hedgin your bet.”

Claire felt her heart in her throat. The way he looked at her spoke volumes about true love, commitment, a promise of a champion, and a beloved friend to walk the pastures until they both turned old and gray. She fought the tears that were stinging her eyes and just gave in, sitting up quickly to hold him close.

“I broke my piggy bank and put my life savings on you to win sweetheart.”

He kissed her deeply wishing he could put her in his truck and drive until they found a quiet place to say their vows so she would be his forever.

“Suppose ye tell me yer idea of the perfect weddin lass.”

“I would rather show you. Can you leave soon and drive me home?”

“How about now sweetheart.”

Claire handed Jamie a whisky and they sat on the patio watching the horses in the pasture that extended behind their backyard. Claire sat next to Jamie and laid a large heavy book on his lap. He touched the front cover lovingly, and his eyes softened as he read the title.

“Scotland.”

Claire opened the huge book of beautiful pictures and they looked at the lowlands, commenting on famous cities and historical monuments. When they got to the highland pictures Jamie’s voice was soft and reverent. He ran his hand over landmarks he knew well and told her stories of when he was there.

“I absolutely loved the slide show you put together for the bridal shower. They are beautiful resorts and surely lots of fun. Or we could marry in Scotland, at Lallybroch, in the home of your parents and sister. “ Claire blurted it out and watched his face. “I want to be married at Lallybroch, Jamie.”

Seeing his crystal blue eyes well up with tears was her answer. She was never so sure of anything in her life and it was her honor to lead him home. She had never seen him put himself first because it wasn’t his way. Claire knew their lifestyle would require all of his attention for years to come so if they had ten days to honeymoon, she would pull him back to the country he loved, and the sister he missed. They were going to Scotland.

Jamie hardly touched his dinner. Claire felt his forehead and took his pulse until they had cleared the dishes and cleaned up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at his happy eyes. We need to call Jenny and warn her, right? Then we book the soonest flight we can get and figure out the rest when we get there. Okay?

He looked down at her and kissed her breathless, picking her up to carry her upstairs where he would love her slowly, and with every touch, thank her.

Jamie touched her face softly and whispered in her ear, “wake up mo leannan, look at the beauty below, Scotland.”

He had put Claire against the window for this very moment. When she looked out at the landmass below her breath caught and she struggled for words.

“Green…I’ve never seen it’s equal, Jamie. And the turquoise sea around the land is breathtaking, like a million diamonds shimmering in the sun. My God, I can’t wait to get down. Will Jenny and Ian be waiting for us?”

“Aye.”

Claire twisted in her seat and pressed her lips against Jamie’s, holding his face against hers.

Claire was on emotion overload as they walked toward the luggage carousel. So nervous about meeting his sister and her husband that her hands shook. Jamie had a feeling this would be important for Claire who hadn’t a family of her own for most of her life. He was counting on Jenny and Ian to pull her in and make her feel her place, right next to them.

They watched for the suitcases to tumble off the conveyor belt and Claire’s nerves were building, making her shake with anticipation.

“Jamie! Claire!”

A young, attractive woman grabbed Claire suddenly in a bear hug and held her close while she talked rapidly about her joy to meet her finally. She held Claire at arm's length and looked at her approvingly.

“Yer just a slip of a girl, are ye nae? Canna wait to ken how ye stayed on that horse. Yer a celebrity in these parts Claire.”

Jenny kissed her cheek with the power of family welcoming her into the fold. Ian grabbed her next and squeezed the stuffing out of her making her laugh and relax. When she looked at Jamie, locked in his sister’s embrace the emotion on his face almost choked her. It was all a bit overwhelming to Claire who had only dreamed of such an occasion. She tingled inside with happiness.

Jamie shook Ian’s hand with a blinding smile. She watched his face grow happier with every moment and said a silent prayer of thanks she had been inspired to make this trip.

Jenny held onto Claire until they all piled into the car and made their way out of the city. Claire considered their home in Kentucky was about as rural as it gets. When Ian turned onto the dirt road of their ancient home, she watched the rolling landscape, jutting stone outcroppings, fields of wild Heather swaying in the breeze, all surrounded and draped in every shade of green. She could not look away until a large ancient home could be seen in the distance and it stole her heart away.

Jamie watched his future bride stare at Lallybroch with wide eyes and an enchanted smile. Jenny watched her too and was so thrilled with her reaction. When they stepped out of the car, Claire looked up at the three -hundred-year-old home and let Jenny lead her inside like she was entranced.

“The house was build in the early seventeen hundreds by the Laird of these parts and is new wife. Other than plumbing and central heat, the house remains the same. Claire touched the mantel of the enormous fireplace and whispered, “has this been here the whole time?”

“Aye, lass.” Jenny pulled Claire by the hand through the house, attic, and basement, pointing out pieces of furniture that were built by the first family. Two four-post beds, the desk in the study, a long hand-carved bench against the hall wall upstairs, a secretary in the living room, the dining room hutch and table, had been impeccability maintained by the generations and glowed with warm hues from the years of hand rubbing.

When they got to the upstairs paintings Jamie had joined them and gave input on the stories surrounding each painting. It was a walk through the history of Lallybroch and Claire was thrilled.

“Jamie, ye, and Claire will stay in da’s room while yer here. I’m sure ye will be verra comfy in there.”

Jenny and Ian used that room and Jamie was touched she would go to the trouble to move their belongings out. The rooms were large by today’s standards and over the years, walls were added to allow for closets and bathrooms. Not the Laird’s room. It was unchanged with a grand fireplace and armoires for hanging clothes. The original Laird’s coat of arms still hung on the wall to match the same, carved into the stonework at the entrance to the old dooryard.

“The two of ye rest a bit while I get supper started. Surely yer done-in from the long trip.”

Jamie looked around the room noticing the bottle of whisky and two glasses on the side table near the bed. He sat down on the huge bed and poured two glasses, handing one to Claire and pulling her next to him. He was lost in his memories of jumping into bed as a wee one to cuddle with his parents on cold mornings.

“I can see how special this room is to you Jamie, it’s lovely.”

“Aye, many great memories here. Sorry about no private bath and shower. Seems every generation had the same idea not to modernize this room.”

“I don’t mind, I prefer it this way.”

Claire yawned and rested against Jamie feeling her eyes close from the whisky.

“One rule ye must know about sweetheart. Jenny is the commander and chief of this dwelling so there’s no arguing with her. When she says it’s time to rest, we rest.” He was pulling Claire down to the large over-stuffed pillows and heard a moan escape her lips. We have no responsibilities, nowhere to be, no one to call.” He wrapped her into his embrace and in moments heard her rhythmic breathing allowing him to get lost in his memories of the most extraordinary childhood.

When Claire opened her eyes the light had changed in the room, getting dimmer with the waning day. Jamie was still in his dreams so she slipped off the bed and followed the aroma of cooking food. Jenny and Ian had both taken the afternoon off for this momentous visit and it touched Claire how much love they had for each other and Jamie. Walking into the kitchen she found Jenny on Ian’s lap pouring two glasses of whisky.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Come here lassie, dinna go. This is Jenny’s favorite chair it would seem because she’s always fillin it,” Ian laughed. Jenny poured her a glass and the three of them chatted while super cooked. Claire wanted to know everything about Lallybroch and Jenny was eager to answer her questions. When a sleepy Jamie walked into the kitchen, the whisky bottle was tipped again.

The conversation turned to horse racing and how Claire taught the colt how to race and love winning. Jamie’s laughter was contagious when he described Claire running beside him and acting thoroughly pissed off she didn’t win. The description of Runner trotting around Claire, gloating that he was the winner made the group suddenly quiet. Jenny held her hand up for a time out.

“The colt was just barely two but he understood enough to know he won? How is that possible?”

“I explained the race to him and then goaded him into wanting to beat me. It was like playing with a two-year-old toddler.” Claire was laughing at the memory until she realized the kitchen had gone quiet and the eyes of Jenny and Ian were boring holes in her. Her head snapped up at them and she saw the disbelief and mind closure she had become so familiar with.

Jamie was trying to explain Claire’s gift to a deaf and dumb Jenny and Ian. They, like all people, were processing the intelligent woman, veterinarian, triple crown winner, in front of them, lie through her teeth.

Claire walked over to their dog lying in the corner of the kitchen and she asked him kindly to sit in front of Jenny and bark three times. The old Basset Hound seemed more than happy to oblige.

“Jenny, please let your dog come to you, sit, and bark three times.”

Jenny looked at Claire like she was speaking in tongues but saw the dog stand up, walk to her, sit, and then bark three times before going back to his corner. She looked at Claire, white-faced, and shook her head side to side. She was stunned.

“So Claire,” Ian started diplomatically, “how long have you had this gift?”

It was said so matter of factly that Jenny looked at him like he had grown another head.

Claire felt such kindness toward him for accepting her word, with some help from the Basset Hound. She smiled at him with relief.

Ian laughed, “we havna heard that dog bark in about five years. Even when he hunts with me he’s silent. What a miracle!”

Jenny was still sitting like a statue trying to process this information when Jamie stood up and hugged her from behind.

“How could I not fall in love with such a special woman Jen?”

More whisky was poured and the conversation went to safer topics while supper was served. Once they had the kitchen cleaned up Claire excused herself to shower and prepare for a long night’s sleep while the others talked. The minute the hot water touched her she started yawning and hurried to wash her hair and get into bed. She was deep in her dreams when she felt a warm large hand caress her from shoulder to feet and a nose nuzzling her neck, asking for attention.

“Are ye alright lass? I’m sorry for the interrogation. They believe ye, and they love ye, but I know it’s hard each time ye face the disbelief. I’m sorry love.”

She reached for Jamie’s neck and pulled him down to her lips. He loved her slowly, playing with her mouth and coaxing her heat until she slipped under him and asked for a one way trip to her favorite planet. They went together.

The days were an endless adventure of climbing the secret places Jamie discovered as a child, laying on a huge rock reading to each other in the sun, hiking to ancient buildings around the estate, and bumping into neighbors that were thrilled to see Jamie again. Once the word got out that Claire was a veterinarian her services were called upon three different times by neighbors with a sick cow, a lame horse, and a cat who refused to stop eating grasshoppers which were vomited up hours later when he came inside.

“The poor cat was quite surprised when I told him the bugs were not food. I thought he was convinced but he went right back to eating them as we walked away.”

Everyone laughed at her description of the cat looking back at her with a giant grasshopper safely held between his teeth. Jamie looked at Claire laughing and talking with Ian and Jenny and knew she was enjoying the visit and her new friends.

Jenny took some time off work midway through the week to take Claire shopping for a wedding dress. Neither of them felt confident they would find something perfect on such short notice but they bravely hit the two bridal shops in town, the second of which is where Claire lost her heart.

Claire held her breath as the saleswoman fastened the single button at her waist. When she opened her eyes her face was full of wonder as she moved closer to the mirror. It was extraordinary in design. A swooping neck, open half sleeves, a deep V that exposed her back, and a modest short train. Jenny gasped when she entered the lavish dressing room and stared like her eyes would pop out of her head.

Jenny held the lace fabric, amazed at how soft it was and how well it fit her almost sister-in-law.

“That’s the most beautiful dress I’ve er seen Claire,” she whispered. “It fits ye off the rack for heaven’s sake.”

Jenny turned to the saleswoman, “she’ll take it, and some shoe’s, stockins, and somethin to hold her hair up that matches.”

“Jenny! I don’t know how much it is!”

“Neither do I,” said a smiling saleswoman. It’s an orphan dress that was put in with our order by mistake. Let me call the shop owner and see if we can get a price for what was clearly made just for you.”

Claire felt the tear run down her cheek. An orphan dress, she thought. One of the few memories she had of her mother was when she read the same story every night. Claire only wanted that story read to her about a common girl who married a prince. “and the prince looked at her, dressed all in lace…” she remembered her mother’s voice reading that line in the story and felt another tear roll down her other cheek. She looked at her reflection…dressed all in lace.

Jenny dabbed her cheeks with a tissue thinking Claire was overwhelmed with marrying her brother. He walked on water, after all, what girl wouldn’t be.

The graceful clerk came back to the dressing room and chuckled at the price of one-hundred dollars. “I have a feeling this dress is from one of the designer collections and probably costs ten times that much. Consider it a wedding present my dear. Let’s find ye some shoes.

Two happy but exhausted women dropped into cafe chairs at a nearby coffee shop and ordered the largest size on the menu. The sugar and caffeine made their cheeks rosy again and stoked their energy for the last task on the list. Ordering flowers.

“Jenny!”

Jenny looked in the direction of the voice and instantly looked at Claire. “Sorry, darlin.”

The woman swooped into an empty chair, all smiles, long black hair, and a beautiful face. She took Claire’s breath away with her perfect…everything.

“Hello,” she held her hand out to Claire, “I’m Geneva.”

Jenny jumped into action, “this is my friend Claire.”

Claire watched Jenny’s mounting discomfort and tried to remember hearing such an unusual first name, and then it clicked.

“Geneva, how nice to meet you after all I’ve heard, all good of course. I am here with my fiance, Jamie Fraser. Jenny has been kind enough to let us marry at Lallybroch.”

It looked like Geneva’s face fell off and the blood drained into the sidewalk. She said nothing as she got to her feet and walked rapidly away.

“Jenny, I’m sorry, maybe that was a bit harsh, I’m really sorry.”

“If I had known ye could hold yer own like that I would have introduced ye as the woman who stole Jamie away from Isobel. Kiddin, lass!”

Jenny’s laughter seemed to break the tension and the women made their way to the flower shop. When they emerged Jenny pointed at a gorgeous black BMW parked at the curb.

“Ah, that would be Ian’s fantasy car and I canna say I’m of a different mind." She rattled off the standard features with a look bordering on automobile orgasm and Claire giggled at her.

Finding their ten-year-old Toyota, Jenny got in first and kicked the passenger door until it creaked open and Claire dropped into her seat with a tired sigh.

“Since we’re dreaming, what is the model of that BMW Jenny.”

“It’s the model M8 with leather interior, 12-speaker sound system, dinna forget the 4.4-liter Performance TwinPower Turbo V-8, 32-valve 523-hp engine. Two turbochargers with variable valve control, and high-precision direct injection.”

Claire was laughing, “Jesus, you sound like a race car driver.”

Jenny’s cheeks were pink as she described the interior technology and heads up display that showed you every important fact, like air pressure in the tires, just by looking straight ahead through the windshield. This was obviously the fantasy car for both of them and Jenny happily continued to list features, paint, colors, wheels, and more, until Claire rammed her shoulder into the door so it would open and let her escape.

When she held Jamie in her arms that night she told him about the orphan dress and her mother’s voice reading the story. Jamie held her tightly and listened to the five-year-old living inside Claire talk about her mother.

Just as Jamie was drifting off to sleep he heard, “Jamie? Jenny told the most extraordinary thing this afternoon…”

Jenny tried to control her laughing so she didn’t accidentally drop the hair she secured behind Claire’s earlobe. She loved hearing about the conversations between Claire and Runner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby races. She grew silent as the side ponytail was twisted into curls to fall down the front of Claire’s shoulder.

“I am gonna miss ye sister.”

Claire looked up at Jenny’s reflection in the mirror and felt her eyes well up with tears. Jenny grabbed a tissue and pressed it into the tear that was falling from her lower lid.

“Dinna get teary-eyed lass, I willna be missin ye that much.”

A pretty girl stuck her head around the bedroom door and looked at them before entering. “Here you are, I’ve been lookin everywhere for ye. Hi, my name's Laoghaire.” She stuck her hand out for Claire to shake.

“Is yer auntie comin today?”

“Oops, she was right behind me.” The girl opened the door to usher in a red-faced lady who was panting from climbing the stairs. “This is my aunt, Claire, everybody calls her Misses Fitz.”

Claire smiled at the breathless woman who was making helpful suggestions to Jenny about Claire’s hair. Soon there were two more women entering, hugging Jenny and meeting Claire. The room was full of women by the time Jenny pushed them out the door so Claire could dress.

Jenny held her dress while she stepped into it and pulled her side pony in front of her shoulder. Jenny held her at arm's length with approving eyes. “Yer a beautiful bride ye are. Pity ye spend yer honeymoon on a plane goin home.”

“We wanted to spend every minute with you and Ian, Jenny.” The look on Jenny’s face was a smile she was trying to hide. Claire noticed but said nothing about it.

There was a soft knock on the door and Jenny answered it with a beaming smile. An older man entered and looked at Claire like he was meeting a princess for the first time. His eyes were misty as he nodded his head at the image before him.

“I will be walking you down the aisle as it were, my name is Ned Gowan, Jamie’s father was my closest friend. And you, my dear, are stunning.”

Claire shook his warm hand and felt her heart melt from the way he looked at her.

Jenny suggested they sit and chat while she got dressed. Claire wished for more time with Ned when Jenny came back and instructed them to use the back stairs. Ned was smitten with Claire and pulled her hand into the crook of his elbow before leading her to what looked like a linen closet. He opened the door and they descended the steep back stairs originally built to access the root cellars. He guided her in pitch darkness and they emerged in the kitchen to await the music of the wedding march.

Claire was brimming with emotion that was unexpected. She wanted a minute to cry her eyes out and discovered it was the same overwhelming emotion she felt after winning a race…times one hundred.

“I’m sorry to stare at you lass, but you’re a rare beauty, you’ve quite taken my breath away.”

Before she could speak, the music changed and Ned’s arm gripped her tighter. She walked in sync with him and did not look up until she was only feet from Jamie. There he was, in a creased tuxedo with his hair slicked back and his crystal blue eyes shooting sparkles at her. Ned handed her to Jamie and melted backward but she didn’t notice. Jamie’s eyes were like a tractor beam that stole her ability to think. She gazed at him and smiled while the priest rambled on about the sanctity of marriage. Their eyes were locked on the other until someone said: “you may kiss the bride.” Jamie held her cheek and kissed her forehead before pressing his cheek against hers for a brief moment.

The Lallybroch living room was packed with people who had known Jamie for most of his life. Each person witnessed the intimate exchange between the two of them pledging themselves to each other.

Claire felt Jamie’s smooth cheek against hers and knew he was giving her time to rally her heart and mind before the kiss that would seal their lives together forever. He felt her take a steady breath and turned his head toward her slightly, waiting. Claire turned her head to him and their mouths found each other for a long soft kiss.

Jenny felt dizzy suddenly and wiped at unexpected tears as Ian pulled her close. When the kiss ended, Claire raised her eyes to look into Jamie’s. Their lips were a mere inch apart when he looked right into her soul, at the girl who wanted love and protection while she dazzled the world with her brilliance.

“Now and forever, love.”

He touched her cheek wanting to remember this moment for the rest of his life. For that moment, it was just him and Claire until the bubble burst and the world crashed in with applause, scooting chairs,, slaps on the shoulder, kisses to the cheek, and volumes of noise expected at such events. Every few minutes, Claire would look up at Jamie and meet his gaze, and for a few seconds, they were back in the bubble.

Highland weddings were highly regarded for the party that would follow the kiss. The group of well-wishers was no exception and before long the living room was full of loud, drunk, friends, enjoying some time together. Claire felt a little lost by herself as Jamie made the rounds of lifelong friends, thanking them and graciously accepting the congratulations and love.

Claire looked to her side at a beautiful flower arrangement of white roses, chrysanthemums, greenery, and baby’s breath. There was a card so it wasn’t something she and Jenny purchased. She pulled the card and could hardly breathe after reading it.

“To my beautiful daughter on her wedding day. We love you so much.”

Claire’s eyes were wide and her face pale as she read the card which was rimmed in lace. As her lips came together to say, "Mom", she was lifted from her seat and carried upstairs to a jeering crowd and raucous laughter. Jamie climbed the stairs and whisked Claire to the bed pressing his forehead against hers.

“Are ye alright, love?” His hands held her shoulders and moved down her arms. “It’s time to make ready to leave Sassenach. Jenny has yer clothes right here.”

Claire looked down at her comfortable jeans and a soft sweatshirt. She moved her hand across the fabric and smiled, lost in her own world of miracles.

Jamie helped her out of her dress as her mind was clearing. He kissed her soundly and changed his clothes keeping his eye on her the whole time. When they emerged and descended the staircase, the crowd wished them well until they were heading toward Ned’s Cadillac waiting in the driveway. Jenny was crying holding them both in a final hug. She pressed a wrapped gift in Claire’s hands as they walked out the door. Claire looked back at Jenny and mouthed “I will miss you, sister.”

Claire reached for the door handle for the backseat and heard Ned insist she sit in the middle of the front seat, right next to him. The conversation was full of love and familial connection on the way to the airport. Claire continued to dab her tearing eyes and Jamie continued to smile at her. His Sassenach. She gripped Ned’s shoulders and kissed him squarely on the cheek as they left, wishing him well and inviting him to visit Kentucky. She took a deep breath when the airport doors opened and felt her mind clearing immediately.

“Open yer gift Sassenach.”

Claire had opened so many gifts already she hardly felt excited about this small box, afraid there would be a note inside to start her tears again. Lifting the lid she stared down at a very fashionable bikini and looked up at Jamie confused.

Jamie laughed and hugged his wife, “yer gonna need that for the next four days, love.”

The old skipper dozed on his boat while the bright sun seemed to beam right down on him. In his dream, he heard people calling his name and the sound of their voices made him happy. Suddenly, he jerked awake and pushed the hat back onto the top of his head as he opened his eyes. He looked at the young attractive couple waving as they walked to his boat. He stood smiling, ready to catch the luggage Jamie tossed to him, then helping the lady step into his craft.

Claire had hours to get over the shock of visiting their favorite private island and turned her energy to the skipper who had shuttled them on their previous trip. The older man’s eyes sparkled as he smiled hearing the news of their wedding. Jamie pressed a one-hundred-dollar bill in his hand and mentioned the date and time they would need a ride back.

Claire looked out at the clear blue water as far as the eye could see and ran toward the sand. She laughed at the deer sprinting away in front of her as she ripped her clothes off and ran into the surf. The new bikini fit perfectly so she wore her clothes over it anticipating the excitement of seeing the water.

The second she dove under the water she felt the excitement of endless possibilities ahead of them. She had never been so happy in her life and looked for Jamie to lavish him with kisses. They had flown through the night, jostled by turbulence, woken by a screaming baby, and snapped at by grouchy stewards but none of that mattered as she threw her arms around her husband and kissed him senseless. He reached for her happiness as she dove deep making him chase her.

Ian opened one eye and listened to the pounding on the front door. Jenny groaned beside him, still wearing her dress from the party, and promptly fell back into her hangover coma. The pounding didn’t stop so Ian pushed himself out of bed and staggered down the stairs. His sandpaper eyes were closed as he opened the door, wanting to kill the person on the other side.

“Sir? Sir! I am here for you to take delivery on your car. May I come in?”

Both eyes opened this time and Ian looked around the man feeling his heart almost shatter his rib cage at the sight.

“Jen! No, ye have the wrong house friend. Jenny! We didna buy a car…such a beautiful car. Jenny!!”

The man handed Ian a handful of keys and asked for his signature on several papers. Ian figured out he was just dreaming and called to his wife one more time.

Jenny’s head jerked up at the weird sound of Ian’s voice. She tore her dress off and jumped into jeans as she ran down the stairs full of fear at what awaited her. She came to a screeching halt behind Ian just as he stepped outside, trance-like, walking toward the breathtaking BMW M8 with black metallic paint bouncing sunlight off its hood and chrome wheels.

The delivery driver’s ire gave way to fascination when he realized they were completely surprised by the car, paid for by someone named Jamie Fraser. He never knew of such a gift and gave the rumpled couple some time to let it sink in. The driver cleared his throat when he saw his ride coming down the dirt road to take him back to the dealership. He almost felt bad about pulling the couple back to the house to explain how they came to own such an amazing vehicle.

When they were alone again, Ian asked Jenny about such an expensive gift and how could Jamie afford it.

“The purse for each race she won is published so I added them up. She won a bit over eight million dollars Ian. He’s a breeder and she’s a vet, so with that bein said, it’s time to drive!” she giggled as she ran back outside catching the keys in midair.

An afternoon playing in the sun and surf was too much for Jamie so he picked his wife up and walked her to the huge hammock on their porch. He remembered Claire finding the strings and knots an added benefit for making love in the most pleasurable positions. He would surely die attempting such a thing at the moment so he held her down until they both gave up to their exhaustion.

Claire’s eyes opened slowly at the colorful sunset across the water. She felt better, rested, and smiled at Jamie who was still very deep. She ran her hand up his stomach and felt her heat seize her with an erotic grip that screamed orders to bring about a release of this energy that had built up over the last three days.

Jamie felt the stimulation of a wet and hungry mouth on his already hard cock. He smiled and moaned as her mouth moved up and down him twisting at the head making him want to pump himself down her throat. He went from zero to almost-done in under a minute and pulled her off just in time.

Claire’s eyes were just slits as she looked at him, a murderous need was obvious by her pounding chest, panting, and growl.

“Let me go.”

I’m sorry, love,” he smiled, “I canna do that but I will help ye Sassenach if ye do what I say.”

Claire’s brain was nearly shut down save for the most primordial domain where lust resides. She dropped her head back and moaned with complaint. Jamie pulled her hands far up on the strings that attached the hammock and then slid down to the region of her pain. She was swollen and dripping when he assaulted her with his tongue. It nearly overcame his decision to tease her with one orgasm and a long sumptuous meal. He pushed back hard on the desire to flip her and drive himself into her wet heat. This was too easy, he thought as she climaxed right away and dropped onto his chest, panting for her life. He barely let her return to earth before hoisting her out of the hammock and into the shower, proclaiming his need for food would have to come first.

Claire looked at her suitcase full of clothing for the cool highlands and tried to find something lightweight for the eighty-degree evening. Jamie laid her dresses next to her suitcase and smiled.

“I wanted to surprise ye so they were the bottom layer in my case. We can hit the boutique after dinner but I beg for food before I pass out Sassenach.”

Claire was thrilled and dressed quickly pulling Jamie toward the restaurant at a brisk clip. The bread basket was empty before the waiter came back for their order. He watched Jamie swallow hard and decided this would be a rush order.

Claire smiled at her husband’s face as the color came back to his cheeks. His plate was empty and he stared at the lobster she hadn’t finished. She passed him her plate and watched him close his eyes as he chewed. Such a fine man, she thought, and now my husband. What mountains lay ahead for us to conquer, she wondered, undaunted and unafraid.

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sebeth · 5 years

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Young Justice: “Infiltrator”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Episode 6: “Infiltrator”

August 7, Infinity Island - Roy sneaks into a fortress to rescue a scientist.

The opening scene is a nice testament to Roy’s skill.

Back at the fortress, Sensei/Silver Monkey is informed “She finished. We are good to go.”

Can someone please call this man by name? He’s appeared in both the Young Justice cartoon and comic books and he is never identified. I know he’s either Sensei or Silver Monkey but can we please get a definite answer.

I paused for some quick visual research. I’m leaning towards Sensei.

Let’s detour for a quick recap of the tangled family history of the House of Al Ghul.

Ra’s al Ghul and Talia debuted in the1970s. Ra’s is “the Demon’s Head” and the founder/leader of the League of Assassins/Shadows. Ra’s was born over 700 years ago and uses the Lazarus Pits to extend his lifestyle. Talia is torn between her duty to her father and her love of Batman.

Simple so far but that never lasts in comics.

Sensei was introduced later. Despite earlier claims of Ra’s discovering the Lazarus Pits and founding the League of Assassins it is revealed that Sensei was the original leader of the League. Sensei is also the father of Ra’s al Ghul and has been driven insane by centuries-long use of the Lazarus Pits.

Making Ra’s a lying liar who lies about his history. But that wouldn’t surprise anyone so it’s easy to handwave away the discrepancy.

Ra’s first wife (pre-transformation into the Demon’s Head) was named Sora. No children resulted from this union. Sora’s death would start Ra’s on his world domination quest.

Ra’s has one son. Dusan, aka the White Ghost, was an albino so Ra’s down-graded his son to “servant” level. We’re never told Dusan’s age or mother. Dusan would later sacrifice himself to extend Ra’s life. Read the “Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul” for Dusan’s story.

Ra’s eldest daughter is Nyssa. She was born in the 18th century. Nyssa has a livid hatred for Ra’s after he left her family to die in concentration camps in World War II. Read “Batman: Death And The Maidens” for Nyssa’s story and quest for vengeance. Nyssa has appeared in the “Arrow” show but I am way behind on the series so I can’t give you the details.

The youngest member of the Al Ghul clan is Damian/Ibn. Damian’s been all over the place in the comic books and animation so I’m not going into his backstory. I will recommend Kingdom Come and the Kingdom for anyone curious about Ibn. He doesn’t play a big part but Alex Ross does an excellent job portraying the first meeting between an adult Ibn and Bruce. You can feel Ibn’s desire to meet and curiousity about his father just from the art.

If you want to read more of Damian or the details of his conception, the following series are a good start: “Batman: Son of the Demon”, “Batman and Son”, “The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul”, Batman and Robin (both volumes), Kingdom Come, the Kingdom, and Super Sons.

There is also the Heretic – a rapidly-aged clone of Damian. He killed Damian only to be executed by Talia. Read “Batman Incorporated” for the Damian-Heretic story.

Back to the cartoon…

August 8: The Young Justice gang – minus Wally – are having some fun in the sun at Mount Justice. Wally, a Mid-Western boy, has started school earlier than the others.

Dick declares “First a moment of silence for our absent comrade.”

We switch to Wally who is suffering through “the first day of sophomore year”.

The opening montage nicely demonstrates the frustration a speedster would endure at a normal human-pace day.

An X-Factor issue from the 1990’s had Quicksilver demonstrate the same frustration. It was an excellent insight into Pietro’s head.

DC and Marvel speedsters have the same dilemma but Marvel’s turn out snarky and sarcastic and DC’s become sweet and lovable.

The YJ gang swim, cook out, and play volleyball while Wally suffers various indignities and frustrations.

Finally, the school day is over! Wally yells “Woo-hoo!” and tears out of the building. Whether it’s work or school, we’ve all been there.

Wally, in beach attire, zooms over to Mount Justice. Unfortunately, the beach party is over and everyone’s in costume.

“The Wallman is here.”

Wally meets the love of his life but it’s not love at first sight.

“The Wallman, huh? Love the uniform. What exactly are your powers? – Artemis, so sassy.

Green Arrow introduces Artemis as his new protégé.

Wally demands “What happened to your old one?”

Speedy chooses that moment to enter Young Justice.

“For starters, he doesn’t go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow.”

Roy and Oliver waste no time going at each other. In Oliver’s defense, Roy started it. Artemis enters the argument to defend her skills.

Wally: “Who are you?”

Oliver and Artemis both repeat the “niece” line.

Dick interjects “Another niece?”

That comment could go two ways. The first way is Dick realizes the story is a sham and is causing trouble. Even though Batman is five feet away from Dick!

The second interpretation…well, Oliver has as many kids as Bruce. The majority of Bruce’s children resulting from adoption. The majority of Ollie’s did not. Especially if you believe Ollie to be the father of Arrowette. Does Dick feel that this is another illegitimate child of Oliver – one that he’s passing off as a niece?

Kaldur reassures Roy: “But she is not your replacement. We have always wanted you on the team and we have no quota on archers.”

Wally: “And if we did, you know who we’d pick.”

Artemis doesn’t back down: “Whatever, Baywatch. I’m here to stay.”

Artemis puts on a tough façade but you know she had to be insecure in this moment. She’s very concerned about her teammates discovering her parentage and then the original Green Arrow protégé waltzes into the room? The much more experienced and accomplished one? The protégé that Dick, Wally, and Kaldur consider a good friend? Talk about a nightmare!

Roy tells the team about Dr. Serling Roquette, a nano-robotics expert and claytronics expert aka the scientist Roy rescued earlier in the episode.

Serling was abducted from Star City two weeks ago by the League of Shadows.

Dick’s excited: “You want us to rescue her from the League of Shadows?”

I can see Batman shaking his head from across the room: “No, Robin, you don’t get to storm the League of Shadow’s headquarters. Young Justice is about “training wheels” missions not “put your big boy pants on” missions.

Roy admits he already rescued Serling. The problem is Serling had finished her work on “the Fog” – a weapon “comprised of millions of microscopic robots, nanotech infiltrators, capable of disintergrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But its true purpose isn’t mere destruction. It’s theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows. Providing them access to strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech.”

Artemis pipes in with “It sounds like the Shadows”.

Wally counters “Like you know anything about the Shadows.”

Artemis smirks at Wally. You’d be surprised, Wally, at the depth of knowledge Artemis has on criminal organizations.

Wally doesn’t like the smirk: “Who are you?!”

Roy informs the group that Serling is working on creating a virus that renders the Fog inert.

Dick quickly realizes that would put Serling’s life in danger.

Oliver offers to help Roy keep Serling safe. Roy bitterly rejects the offer. Batman lays a hand on Oliver’s shoulder to stop the impending argument.

The cartoon’s creators inverted the typical Ollie-Roy positions. In the comics, it’s Ollie who’s causing/escalating the divide. In the cartoon, Ollie is much more level-headed and attempting to mend difference. Roy rejects and peace offering and escalates their confrontations.

Roy proclaims his job is done and leaves the team. Wally glares at Artemis.

Miss Martian telepathically links us the team and Serling at Happy Harbor High School.

Wally and Artemis continue to bicker. Wally informs Artemis that he “does not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team”.

Dick tells Wally to cut Artemis some slack as she is the one who saved him in the battle against Amazo.

Serling, at Aqualad’s urging, goes online to track the Fog’s location. Tracking goes both ways and the League of Shadows quickly discovers Serling’s location. Sensei orders the closest operative to assassinate Serling.

Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis are patrolling the outside of the school. Artemis is very appreciative of Superboy’s physique: “Hmm, that boy.”

Megan does not want anyone intruding on her obsessive crush: “He can hear you. We all can hear you.”

Artemis replies “Oh, I know.”

I love the Artemis/Wally pairing but I’m Team Artemis in this encounter. Artemis is simply appreciating Superboy’s appearance in a teenager-like way. Megan’s pursuit of Conner is an attempt to mold and then slot him into this fantasy life she has created for herself. Megan may love Conner but it’s not a healthy relationship.

Serling has located the Fog. Kaldur orders Superboy and Robin to pursue in the bio-ship.

This is the second episode in a row where Robin and Superboy have been partnered up. It’s almost an homage to the close friendship in the comic books. Except the Robin is Tim Drake.

Cheshire makes her first appearance, skulking in the bushes.

Megan confronts Artemis: “You embarrassed Superboy.”

Artemis: “Didn’t hear him say that.”

Honestly, Megan you might as well declare “Get away from my man!”

Cheshire infiltrates the school and quickly takes out Kid Flash.

Cheshire has a harder time with Kaldur – Atlantean skin is quite dense and he’s mostly immune to the jellyfish toxin she has on her shuriken.

Cheshire retreats when she has to face the entire team.

Wally blames Artemis for Cheshire gaining entrance into the school. Megan defends Artemis.

Robin and Superboy arrive in Philadelphia. STAR Labs has been completely destroyed.

Kaldur and Megan patrol the outside of the school while Wally and Artemis guard the doctor.

Wally and Artemis glare at each other. Kaldur orders the duo: “Stop it. Both of you. I can hear you glaring.”

Cheshire has called in reinforcements – Black Spider and the Hook. The trio make quick work of Kaldur.

The trio storm the room and attack Wally and Artemis. Readers of the comic book know that this is the second time Wally has fought the Hook and Black Spider.

Cheshire attempts to land a killing blow on Serling only to realize she’s a disguised Miss Martian.

Serling is at the Sandbox Internet Café, guarded by Kaldur, and she has discovered the Fog’s next target: WayneTech.

Robin has an “Oh, crap” moment as he realizes the Fog would end up accessing the Batcave.

Cheshire orders her comrades to keep Young Justice busy while she pursues Serling.

Artemis storms after Cheshire and orders Wally to “take the rest down”.

Wally tells Artemis “You are so not the boss of me”.

“Just do it!”

Superboy and Robin arrive at WayneTech. Superboy attacks the League minions while Robin enters the building. A security guard attempts to lock down the building due to Robin’s unauthorized entry but Dick overrides the lockdown: “Waynetech override. Archie four.” Possible shout-out to Archie Goodwin, a writer on the Batman series. Or Dick is fan of the Riverdale gang.

Cheshire and Artemis fight. Cheshire wins. Megan and Wally take out the Hook and Black Spider.

Cheshire decides against killing Serling as the anti-Fog virus has been completed: “After all, the Shadows may have another use for you.”

Dick’s quick hacking saves Wayne Tech.

Superboy battles Ojo and makes quick work of him.

Cheshire and Artemis have a short fight. Artemis realizes Cheshire is Jade, her older sister.

Cheshire escapes. The rest of the team arrives. Wally claims the Cheshire mask as a souvenir.

Artemis returns to Gotham City. She is immediately confronted by Roy. He warns her “do not hurt my friends” but assures her that “her cover is safe” as he feels Oliver and Bruce have a “good reason for lying”.

Sensei is informed of the mission’s failure but states it’s good that they “have an operative on the inside”.

The first hint of the long-running traitor storyline of season 1.

I mentioned earlier Artemis recognized Cheshire as her sister. I should clarify that wasn’t made explicit in the episode. Cheshire simply hinted that she had information on Artemis that would weaken her position in Young Justice. The cartoon hasn’t mentioned Artemis’s criminal parents at this point either.

Adding Cheshire into the Crock family is an interesting choice. Jade has no connection in the main DC universe. I can’t recall a time Cheshire has even met Artemis in the DC universe.

Jade was a half-French/half-Vietnamese child who was sold into slavery in the Middle East. She later escaped and became a mercenary/assassin. Jade married and later became the widow of Spitting Cobra, an African assassin.

Roy Harper went undercover for the United States government. He met and fell in love with Cheshire. Roy left Jade because he was unwilling to finish his assignment and capture her. Roy didn’t realize Jade was pregnant.

The former lovers encountered one another on a mountain top. The Titans were attempting to prevent Cheshire from assassinating diplomats unaware she was setting up the team to take the blame for the failed diplomatic teams. Cheshire informed Roy that she had given birth to their child but that he would never meet said child.

Roy later tracked down Jade and begged to meet his child. Jade relented and Roy met Lian.

The 1990s were not kind to Cheshire – she went from a scheming mercenary/assassin to a genocidal nutcase. The highlight of Jade’s insanity was unleashing a nuclear bomb on a country, killing every inhabitant.

Needless to say, Roy won full custody.

Cheshire’s portrayal improved significantly under Gail Simone. Jade had a rivalry with Black Canary over Dinah’s role in Lian’s life. Cheshire also played a significant role in Villains United/Secret Six. She became pregnant- and later gave birth – to Thomas “Catman” Blake’s son.

Jade would suffer enormous tragedy when both her children were killed. If I remember correctly, the Blake child’s death was faked in order to keep him from both Jade and Thomas’s enemies. I could be wrong – it’s been a while since I read the issues.

Lian’s death, unfortunately, wasn’t faked.

Roy and Jade would have a short-lived, extremely toxic reunion in the aftermath of Lian’s death.

Flashpoint happened shortly afterwards and DC was reborn as the New 52. Cheshire’s made a few appearances in Red Hood & The Outlaws, Nightwing, and a few other titles. Jade and Roy are former lovers. Sadly, we didn’t receive a New 52 Lian. Boo!

For more of Cheshire, besides Young Justice (which is the best version of Jade), I would recommend her late 1980s Teen Titans appearances, her appearances in Birds of Prey (Gail Simone version), and Villains United and Secret Six.

#Young Justice #Artemis Crock #Roy Harper #Cheshire #Ra's Al Ghul #Sensei #Wally West #Conner Kent #Miss Martian #Oliver Queen #Bruce Wayne #Superboy #Kid Flash #Robin #Dick Grayson

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fangirl530 · 5 years

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A Camp Camp Oneshot

Funny OTP starters, #1: why the fuck is there a cat in my bed?

Not with an OTP, though. It’s with everyone. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: only the aforementioned cat and other unrecognizable characters are mine. Everyone else belongs to roosterteeth.

...

Max glared down at the intruder, lazily lying on his sleeping bag. It stared right back, looking up at him with a tilt of its head.

“Mrow?” it said, blinking it’s big turquoise eyes. It got up, it’s tail flicked forward and curled around it’s paws as it sat down, and Max’s scowl deepened.

“Neil,” he called to his friend. The ameteur scientist was standing outside their tent, waiting for Max to tell him he’d finished changing.

“Yeah?”

“Why the fuck is there a cat on my bed?”

“There’s a cat on you- oh,” Neil trailed off as he poked his head inside, catching sight of the intruding feline for himself. “There is.”

“I know there is,” Max said irritably, rolling his eyes. “But why?”

“I don’t know,” Neil said, stepping all the way inside. He went to the cat, kneeling close by and holding his hand out cautiously. The cat sniffed at it before rubbing its head against him, making a quiet “mrrp” noise. (thanks edgebug) It closed its eyes in satisfaction as Neil petted it’s back, and he smiled.

“It’s pretty cute.”

“No,” Max interrupted. “No, no, no. Do not get attached to it.”

“Why not?” Neil asked him, scratching the cat behind the ears.

“There is no way David and Gwen will let us keep it, and I am not going on the cliche adventure of hiding a cat we’re not allowed to keep. It’s beneath us. And even if it wasn’t, we don’t have any food for it. We definitely can’t feed it the lousy excuse for food that we get,” he said, crossing his arms.

“We could figure something out! And I’ll bet the other campers would want to help too,” Neil argued. “Even if David and Gwen do find out, they can’t fight all of us- you know they can’t.”

“Okay, but should we really waste an attempt to take over the camp on a cat?” Max raised his eyebrows at the creature as it rolled onto its back. “I don’t thin-”

“Guys!” Nikki yelled, sliding into their tent. Max jumped, glaring at her as the flap slid shut.

“Jesus Nikki, a little warning next time?” he snapped angrily. Nikki ignored him as her eyes fell on the cat.

“I see you found our second camp mascot,” she said, beaming as she joined Neil and petted it’s ears.

“You mean you left this cat here?” Neil said at the same time Max yelled

“Our what?!”

“Our second camp mascot!” she repeated cheerfully. “Isn’t she cute?”

“Yes,” Neil said. “And I do want to keep her here- Max and I were just talking about that. But I don’t think we need a second camp mascot- we have the platypus, and she may not react well to having competition. She did eat her only living child.”

“Finally,” Max said with an eye roll. “You’re starting to see reason.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep her!”

“Spoke too soon. You guys, I’m always up for a chance to mess with Gwen and David, but over a cat? Really?”

“Yes, really.” Nikki picked the cat up and shoved her at Max. “Just hold her for a second, and you’ll see!”

Caught off guard, Max caught her in his arms and held her close. She put her paws on his shoulder and sniffed at his ear, then rested her chin on her paws and began to purr. Max’s eyes widened and he froze, unsure on what he should do.

When the cat didn’t move or scratch at him, he smiled a bit. “Alright,” he said, trying to keep his face nonchalant. “She’s pretty cute.”

Nikki and Neil smirked and slapped high five. “So you’ll help?” the former asked him excitedly.

“Yeah, I’ll help.”

“Woo hoo!”

“But we’re going to need to make some allies. Nikki, you- okay, hang on.” Max handed the cat over to Neil. “I can’t look tough and commanding holding a purring cat. Nikki, you go around camp and tell everyone you think will help us. But keep it subtle, so we don’t alert Gwen and David. Neil, you and I will look around and see if we can find anything suitable for a cat to eat. We’ll zip up the tent to keep her inside while we’re gone.” he clapped his hands. “Let’s move, guys!”

Nikki rushed outside immediately, and Max waited impatiently for Neil to set the cat down before joining Max at the entrance. When he came out, Max zipped up the flap.

While Nikki rushed around camp and got recruits, Max and niel ran to the mess hall.

“Do you see Quartermaster?” Max whispered as they snuck in.

“No,” Neil whispered back. “I don’t think he’s here, but we should hurry- before he comes back.

They moved into the kitchen and made quick work of opening all the cupboards and the refrigerator. They found a bunch of potatoes, some slabs of meat, hot dogs, eggs, and cans of sham. But nothing suitable for a cat.

“No Max, we can’t ‘just give her sham!’” Neil said, closing the cupboard holding the meat.

“Why not? It’s close enough to tuna. They both come in a can.” Neil looked disgusted.

“Let's just keep looking.”

“We’ve looked everywhere,” Max said. “Looks like we’re going to have to buy cat food.”

“How will we do that? We can’t drive into town ourselves!”

“We don’t have to.” Max pulled out David’s phone and credit card and smirked. “Not when we have these. Keep watch- I’m going to see what there is to order.” he opened a tab and typed in best places to order cat food. He clicked on the first link that popped up- a website called chewy.com.

A blue rectangle went across the top, with different options. The first said shop by pet. Max clicked it, bringing up a list of animals. When he tapped cat, several different lists of things for cats popped up. He clicked food, and the page switched to a bunch of different bags. He scrolled for a bit, scanning the different choices. He started to click on a bag called friskies, but a different one caught his eye. It said kitten chow, nurture dry food.

Max realized they didn’t actually know the cat’s age. She had been a little small, and she could always be a big kitten. He went with nurture, to be safe. He did a 6.3 pound bag, and added it to the cart. A notice popped up- free two to three day shipping with an order over $49.

We’d need it tomorrow, Max thought. Maybe they could get away with feeding her people food tonight, but it wouldn’t last three days without possible consequences. He went back to to the cats options, rapidly clicking through them and adding things to the cart. At the end, at $54.19, he had added a litter box, litter, a scoop, a cat bed, two bowls, treats, and a catnip ball. He created an account under David’s name, filled in the shipping information, put in the information on David’s credit card, and placed the order. That was it- everything would come, hopefully, tomorrow.

“Are you done?” Neil asked. Max nodded. “Good- come on, let's get back to the cat. I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. She might get unhappy and start to meow, and get us caught.”

“Calm down,” Max ordered him. “She’s fine. She was sleeping when we left, remember? Cats sleep a lot. I bet she didn’t even notice we were gone.” still, Neil ran through the camp until he got to their tent. He came skidding to a stop in front of it, freezing in shock.

“Max,” he said, panic filling his voice. “The door is unzipped!”

“What?!” Max broke into a jog, arriving at Neil’s side to stare at the tent flap. “That’s impossible! I know we zipped it- I did it myself!”

“You don’t think she unzipped it, do you?”

“No of course not, dumbass,” Max snapped. “She doesn’t have opposable thumbs, and it’s way too high for her to reach with her teeth.”

“Raccoons always get into things. What if one of them got into it? Oh my god, what if it ate her?!”

“Neil!” Max yelled. “First of all, raccoons are nocturnal- they’re all sleeping now. And second, why would they get into the tent when there is clearly no food? That’s their primary reason for getting into shit.”

“Right, right, I knew that,” Neil said, breathing in deeply. “Maybe Nikki?”

“She wouldn’t take her out of the tent and risk getting caught. She’s the one who hid her here.”

“Well maybe-”

“Shh.”

“But Max, we need to-”

“Shut the fuck up! Do you hear that?”

Neil fell silent, and both boys heard quiet cooing noises coming from inside the tent. Carefully, Max moved the flap aside and peered in. when he caught sight of the source of the noise, he began snickered to himself.

“Of course,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I should have figured that.”

“What?” Neil asked, confused. Max smirked.

“Follow my lead, I’ll show you.” he put one hand into his pocket and grabbed the tent flap, shoving aside as he strolled inside.

“Well hello there David,” he said to the counselor, who was currently lying on the floor with the cat on his chest, purring in his face.

“Max!” David yelled. “Neil!” his face split into a beaming smile. “Why didn’t you tell me you found a cat? She’s adorable!”

“Isn’t she?” Neil said, crouching at David’s side to stroke the cat’s head.

“We just love her,” Max said, making his voice syrupy sweet and prompting Neil to look at him in surprise. “Can we keep her David, please? We’ll take care of her, we promise!”

David bit his lip. He wanted to say yes, and he would have, if it wasn’t only up to him. “We should probably ask Gwen…” he started to say. Max put his hand up.

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” he said, dropping the act. “First, I already ordered everything she will need, and it’ll arrive tomorrow. By the way- here’s your phone and credit card.” he set them next to him and continued. “Second, Nikki is going around camp and telling everyone about this cat. We were going to get their help to take care of her and keep her a secret from you. Do you really think you and Gwen can take all of us?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

But David wasn’t listening. His eyes were shining, and he had a huge, ridiculous smile on his face.

“You guys worked together to hide this cat from us?” he asked. He looked like he might cry. “Oh, I’m so proud! Of course you can keep her! Gwen will be so happy to hear you all worked as a team.”

“Will she really?” Neil asked him. “I mean, she hates the platypus…”

“She doesn’t hate her,” David corrected. “She just… has mixed feelings.” Max rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, mixed between loathing and hate. But if you’re in, she can’t really argue.” he smirked. “I think this is the easiest we’ve ever won.”

David stood, cradling the cat in his arms. “Still, I better show her to Gwen. Better she finds out from me rather then finding out on her own.”

“Good point,” Neil said. “She might take it better.”

David smiled at them warmly. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Think of same names, okay?” he left the tent and marched off across the grass, entering the counselors cabin.

“Max! Neil!” Nikki yelled, dashing towards them with the other campers on her heels. “We just saw David with the cat! How did he find her? Do we need to take im’ down?” she cracked her knuckles. “I know a weak spot!”

“Nikki!” Neil looked horrified.

“What? I’m talking about his hands. I’ve already bitten them twice- I bet this time I can break the skin!”

“No,” Max interrupted. “David is on our side- he wants to keep her too. He’s going to tell Gwen now. Actually, he told us to come up with some names.”

“Oh,” Nikki said, sounding disturbingly disappointed. Then she brightened up. “What about cat? We have a platypus named platypus!”

“No, we just haven’t gotten around to naming the platypus yet,” Neil corrected.

“We should name her something cool,” Erid said, flipping her bangs.

“Like Xelanette!” Nerris said excitedly. “That’s a great wizard name!” Harrison rolled his eyes.

“Please. We should call her Misty- she was a famous magician. It’s a name both mysterious and magical!”

“Excuse me,” Nurf cut in. “I think the obvious choice here is Nurf Jr.”

“Junior is only for boys, Nurf!” Preston scoffed, eyes rolling as well. Nurf scowled, and got directly into the theatre kid’s face.

“Actually, Jr. is a term that can be used for both girls and boys, Preston!” Preston put his hands in the air.

“Okay, okay! Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Well now you do.” Nurf crossed his arms and backed away, still scowling.

“I think that could get confusing,” Harrison said. “Having two Nurfs running around.”

“Exactly!” Nerris said. “Which is why we should go with Xelanette! It’s unique, there’s no way any campers with that name will come here.”

“Yes, but that name is stupid,” Harrison said, smirking at her.

Nerris glared. “Well, you-”

“What about Lucky?” a voice asked. All the kids turned to stare at the source, Space Kid. he continued. “It’s lucky that Nikki found her in the first place. And lucky that David is letting us keep her.”

“Huh,” Max said, blinking. “That’s actually not a bad idea, Space Kid. Though maybe a little cliche.” He looked around. “All in favor?” most everyone nodded or gave a thumbs up.

“It’s settled then!” Neil beamed. “Lucky the cat!”

Meanwhile, when the kids were picking a name…

“Gwen!” David sang as he pushed open the door to the counselor’s cabin and marched inside. “I have a surprise for you!”

“What, did the kids suddenly decide to behave for the day?” she asked. She was facing away from him while reading a newspaper, so she didn’t see the cat in his arms. All the better, in David’s opinion.

“No, look! We have a second camp mascot!” Gwen turned, one eyebrow raised and her mouth open to ask a question.

“What do you-” she froze as she caught sight of the cat, her gaze flicking down to the paper and back up again.

“Isn’t she cute? Neil, Nikki, and Max found her and conspired with everyone to keep her a secret!”

“And… you’re happy about that?” Gwen asked warily as she studied the cat.

“Of course! They worked together as a team!” he said, beaming. “I found out when I heard her meowing, and then I told Neil and Max we could keep her. Max already used my credit card to order supplies anyway, so we’re all ready! The campers should be working on names right now!”

Gwen cringed slightly. This was going to be hard. “She is cute, David, but we can’t keep her.”

“Aw, why not? All the campers are already expecting her to stay, we can’t disappoint them! Come on Gwen, please? Do you really want to see all those unhappy faces?”

“No, it’s hard enough dealing with your’s,” she muttered under her breath before looking at him. “What I mean is… I’d love to keep her here, but we can’t. Look.” she held the newspaper up in front of him, revealing a flier for a missing cat. The picture looked exactly like the purring cat in David’s arms.

“Missing cat,” he read. “Answers to the name Firefly. Orange tabby with tur- turquoise eyes,” he choked out, his voice starting to wobble. “Oh, no. Gwen, what am I going to tell the kids? I promised we could keep them!” he looked her hopefully. “We could just not call them…”

“David,” Gwen said warningly. “What kind of example would we be setting for the kids if we didn’t?” David sighed,

“You’re right,” he said, handing Firefly over regretfully. “You better call now, before we get too attached.”

“We?” Gwen raised her eyebrows. “I think it’s more me. You’re already attached. Now go away. I can’t have you in here sobbing while I talk to them. You’d better tell the kids, anyway.”

“Yeah…” he went to the door, then glanced back at her. “Are you sure we can’t-”

“David!”

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” he stepped outside the door and spotted the kids as it closed behind him. He breathed in deeply and forced himself to walk toward him, his regular smile coming to his face, though maybe a bit forced. “Hey kiddos!” he said cheerfully. The looked back eagerly.

“Where’s Lucky?” Nerris asked. “We want to meet her!”

“Lucky?” David asked, confused.

“Space Kid suggested we call her Lucky,” Nurf explained. “On account that it was lucky Nikki found her, and lucky you let us keep her.”

David laughed nervously, and the campers narrowed their eyes. “Yeah, about that! You see, the thing is…”

“Mr. David,” Dolph said, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Max told us you said Lucky could stay. Were you lying to us?”

“No, of course not!” David said, frantically waving his hands back and forth. “I thought she could stay. But when I introduced her to Gwen, she showed me a flier for a missing cat. I’m afraid it’s for… Lucky.”

“What?” Nikki asked him, her voice cracking. “You mean, we have to give Lucky back?”

“Yeah,” David said, sighing. “Gwen is calling the family now.” the kids all looked disappointed, even Max. David bit his lip, feeling guilty. He didn’t want to upset them, but they would have found out eventually. Better they did now, before they could get too attached. But still… they looked so heartbroken.

He knelt and opened his arms wide. “Who needs a hug?” he asked, smiling at them gently. Max rolled his eyes.

“Please. Like anyone wants to hug you. Especially after you an-”

Nikki dashed into his arms and threw hers around his torso, holding on tightly. Space Kid joined her, and Dolph followed after. David held them close, watching in glee as Nurf grabbed Preston and held him tightly, squeezing his eyes closed. After a minute, Preston awkwardly put his arms around the bigger boy and patted his shoulder.

Nerris and Harrison scowled at each other, crossing their arms, before Erid came between them and put her arms around them both. Both magic kids smiled a little, and Nerris held her arm out. Harrison put his out as well, and the both put theirs around the other’s back.

Neil and Max stared at each other, nodded in mutual understanding, and patted each other on the shoulder. Close enough, David thought. After a minute, everyone pulled apart.

“Okay,” he said, clearing his throat. “It’s getting late, campers. Start getting ready to turn in, okay?” he looked around, surprisingly getting no arguments. It must have been the long day they’d had.

After all the kids were safely in their tents, David returned to the counselor’s cabin.

“Hey,” Gwen said, glancing up from her book. “The family is going to come tomorrow to pick up Firefly. Are the kids alright?”

“Yeah, they’re okay. I’m sure they’ll recover.”

“And what about you?”

“Me?” David laughed. “I’m fine! Why would I be-”

“David.”

“Ok,” he said, wilting. “I admit, I am a little disappointed. I really liked the idea of having a cat at camp.”

“Yeah, it would have been cool,” Gwen said shrugging. “Too bad we can’t adopt one.”

“Adopt…?” David stood up straight, beaming. “Gwen, your a genius!” he yelled, throwing his arms around her and spinning her around. He grabbed the keys and headed for the door. “I’ll be right back!”

“Hold it right there,” Gwen said, snatching his arm and causing him to jerk back. “You are not going to the animal shelter to adopt a cat.”

“Why not?” David pouted. “The kids would love a cat! And even if they don’t, you and I would take care of her! And I can take her home at the end of the summer. I’ll do some research, we can make this work!”

“David. Breathe.” Gwen sighed. “You can go to the animals shelter, but do not adopt anything without asking me first! And be back before the kids get up tomorrow. We don’t want to make them suspicious.”

“Of course,” David said, bouncing in his toes, a ridiculous smile on his face. “Thank you, Gwen!” he dashed off the moment she let go, full on sprinting to the car. Gwen watched him, smiling in amusement- just a little.

Maybe a cat wouldn’t be such a bad idea, if it made everyone so happy.

The next day…

“Rise and shine Gwen!” David’s voice said, full of cheeriness. “We’ve got to get the campers breakfast before the family gets here!”

“Fuck off, David,” Gwen grumbled. Still, she sat up and grabbed her clothes and hair brush before heading for the bathroom. When she’d gotten dressed, brushed and put up her hair, and splashed water into her face, she came back out and caught sight of David.

He was smiling wide with his hand behind his back, rocking back and forth on his heels. Gwen narrowed her eyes.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing!” David said. “I went to the shelter, looked at the cats, didn’t adopt anything, talked to the shelter employees, and came back to camp!”

“You didn’t adopt anything, huh? Then what is that rumbling noise?” Gwen crossed her arms and waited, smirking as David avoided her gaze.

“Uh, well, you see… I found the perfect cat at the shelter last night, and…”

“You adopted it.”

“No!” David shook his head. “I didn’t adopt her. I did the rent a cat program. They’ll let you keep the cat for about two months, to see how they fit in with your family. If things don’t work out, you can bring them back. I figured I’d take her back to camp, see how the rest of summer goes, then take her home and see how she adjusts. If everything goes well, then I’ll adopt her!”

Gwen sighed, exasperated, but smiled at him. “Figures you’d find a loophole. Fine, we’ll see how this goes.” she went to the door, then paused, glancing back. “... can I meet her?”

“Of course!” David knelt and brought a kennel out from under his bed, setting it on top. “Gwen, meet Snuggles. Though the shelter said we could change her name, if we don’t like it.”

A cat stepped out and curled up on the bed. It had mixes of orange and brown, and a little gray.

“The people said she likes most everyone, and she’s mostly an indoor cat. But she also likes to go outside occasionally- perfect for the camp.”

“She is cute,” Gwen said. “I guess it can’t hurt to try.” she looked up at him. “How do you want to tell the kids?”

David smiled. “I had an idea…”

…

Max stood with the other campers, watching the silver van drive away with Lucky. He steeled himself against any feelings of sadness, he’d barely had time to bond with Lucky, anyway. It wasn’t like they’d spent weeks together only to lose her.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned away and marched back to his tent. He spotted David running back to the counselor’s cabin. Normally he would have been suspicious- the counselor was head over heels for Lucky. It seemed strange that he would leave. But he just couldn’t muster the motivation to follow him.

He went to the tent and shoved aside the flap, stopping in the entrance. A smile twitched on his face.

A piece of paper was on the back.

A random cat has appeared! Unfortunately, it seems to have no home. Maybe it could stay with you heroes? You all seem like a good fit. But uh- you better ask for help, if you need it. In fact, I strongly suggest it.

“That idiot,” Max said aloud. But he crouched by the bed, stroking his hand over the head of the cat, smiling to himself. David may be an idiot, but he was a good camp counselor. Not that Max would ever tell him that.

...

so yeah, for most of that information, I did research to make sure it was accurate. But please don’t read this and tell someone this is how it works, because it is definitely not. I’m pretty sure the rent-a-cat program is a lot more complicated than this. oh, and snuggles is actually a cat up for adoption on the ARL website. It didn’t tell me any specification about her personality, so I was free to make it up! snuggles might be nothing like how I described her.

#camp camp #fanfiction #David #Gwen #Max #Nikki #Neil #Erid #Dolph #Space Kid #Nurf #Preston #Harrison #Nerris #oc's

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dstrachan · 3 years

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‘VIEWS FROM THE EDGE’ - w/c 18th October 2021

Helefonix ‘Tell Me What You Want’

Anna Renae ‘They Say’

Morph The Cat ‘Shapes’

N-Trance ‘Set You Free (Rob Searle Mix)’

Madonna ‘Swim’

Katie Kittermaster ‘Disaster’

Shakira ‘No Creo’

Sandi Thom ‘Stormy Weather’

Hatcham Social ‘Escape From London’

Puppet Theory ‘Strike Three’

She Drew The Gun ‘Trouble Every Day’

Anna Renae ‘Speaking Her Mind’

Helefonix ‘Out Of My Hair’

The 5, 6, 7, 8s ‘Woo Hoo’

Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs ‘Wooly Bully’

The Trashmen ‘Surfin’ Bird’

Dick Dale ‘Shredded Heat’

Nervous Twitch ‘East Coast Rumble’

Amon Duul II & Robert Calvert ‘Urban Indian’

Auburn ‘Indian Summer’

Midnight Ambulance ‘5 AM’

Midnight Ambulance ‘Rust’

Midnight Ambulance ‘Black Gloves’

Miles Davis ‘In A Silent Way’

Cado Belle ‘Rocked To A Stoney Silence’

#views from the edge #mad wasp radio #td1 radio #vault radio #community radio

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boku-no-meme-academia · 6 years

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Mic does infomercials

SHAM WOO HOO

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markvdrheijden · 4 years

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DJ-set De Staat - 013, vrijdag 22 november

Foals - My Number Primal Scream - Rocks Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way The Black Keys - Gold On The Ceiling The Dandy Warhols - Get Off The Shoes - Time To Dance Madness - Baggy Trousers Blondie - One Way Or Another The Strokes - Hard To Explain

----- Another Sky -----

Fontaines D.C. - Sha Sha Sha Dick Dale - Miserlou Bloc Party - Helicopter Art Brut - My Little Brother The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction Johnny Marr - Easy Money Doe Maar - Pa AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long Nirvana - Love Buzz

----- De Staat -----

Los Lobos - La Bamba The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go Run DMC - Walk This Way Golden Earring - When The Lady Smiles Rafaella Cara - A Far l'Amore Comincia Tu Weezer - Hash Pipe R.E.M. - Losing My Religion Sugababes - Push The Button The 5.6.7.8's - Woo Hoo Michael Jackson - Beat It Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - Wooly Bully Laserkraft 3D - Nein, Mann! (Radio Cut) ABBA - Lay All Your Love on Me Billie Eilish - bad guy The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart Marie Davidson - Work It Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love Boston - More than a Feeling

Luister op Spotify

#013 #De Staat

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we-are-guildmaster · 5 years

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Dreamer Part 7

Parts 1-3 https://we-are-guildmaster.tumblr.com/post/186332090734/original-story-dreamer Part 4 https://we-are-guildmaster.tumblr.com/post/186722752629/dreamer-part-4 Part 5 https://we-are-guildmaster.tumblr.com/post/187124114564/dreamer-part-5 Part 6 https://we-are-guildmaster.tumblr.com/post/187983702944/dreamer-part-6

As Anthony leaves the library to go get the doctor a thought crosses my mind, “Ammi? How far away is the Council? The place where I'll be meeting them I mean.”

The Madam gives me an odd look. “Near the heart of the city, in one of the larger buildings. Why do you ask?”

I clear my throat, I really wish I had something to drink right now, “I had a thought, I haven't been here that long and it took us three hours to get here from the airport. I don't remember the ride, but I remember looking at my watch. I also remember the airport was near the outside of the city. But I've only been here at the mansion about four hours, and had my seizure two hours ago. How long would it have taken Mr. Rackam to get here, and how fast would he have found out about me having my seizure?”

She stares at me blankly for a few moments. Her expression is unreadable and that makes me uneasy. I like knowing what people are thinking, it makes it easier to deal with things as they come up. “He couldn't have gotten here from his offices in less than an hour, longer at this time of day because of heavy traffic, say an hour and one half to two hours. We reported your seizure to the office of the First Lord shortly after the event, let us say a quarter hour. Leaving forty five minutes for the information to pass down to the various members of the Council, and then to decide on a course of action. One would imagine that would take at least half of an hour.” A look of realization dawned in her eyes, “Leaving a mere quarter hour for arrangements of travel and assignment of who would go. Meaning that Steward Rackam was already on his way here when word of your seizure would have filtered down to him.” Her face turned from contemplative to angry very quickly. “Which means they could have had foresight of your seizure and planned for it. You are very observant Dreamer.”

She steps away from the table she had been leaning against and moves to the phone again. After a moment she says, Arjun, find out who in the city has the services of a seer. One who would have at least several hours of foresight. I would start with the Grecian delegates as they are the most likely, but leave no stone unturned.” she listens for a moment and then returns the hand piece to its cradle. “This presents an interesting problem. The use of seers is strictly monitored and regulated to prevent unfair business dealings and limit foresight into events yet to happen. Knowledge of the future is a powerful tool and if it has been turned against the wishes of the Council or First Lord then this is a brazen ploy indeed. I will be occupied for a short time seeing to household matters, there is water and juice available simply lift the phone receiver and the operator will direct you a concierge to bring you whatever you need until Anthony returns.”

I nod and she walks out of the library and I am alone for the first time since I arrived. I undo the breaks on my chain and roll over to the phone and order some juice. While I wait I look around the library at the books. Most of them are printed in languages I can't read, a couple are in French or English but they have titles like, The Birth Line of the Third Family, or The Book of Ceremonies of Marriage, not light reading for sure.

After about ten minutes a woman arrives with a chilled bottle of white cranberry juice and a tall glass. I thank her and she smiles and says something in a foreign language and leaves. As I drink, I keep looking at the shelves, this book or that on family histories, a book of lineages from the fourth to seventh centuries A.D. The one I finally stop on is an old French book called, Common Tribesmen of the Northern Seventh Region.

I pull it down and it turns out to be a folio rather than a book. I go over to one of the tables and spread it open. It's hand inked and has several illustrations on each page. It's written in old French with a lot of heavy pronouns and no contractions at all. As I leaf through the pages it goes over the different types of monsters that are found in what I get by inference is the northeastern portion of North America. I don't understand half of what's written, not because I can't read it, but because it seems like the author assumes the reader has fore knowledge of basic concepts that I don't.

The way the author refers to the different kinds of creatures gives the impression that he's talking about inferior beings, like he's better than them. Phrases like, were they more civilized, or, they are by their nature prone to heavy body odor, and the general tone are what you would expect to hear from some one being condescending.

I must have been reading for a while when Anthony comes in with another man. “Dreamer, may I introduce Doctor Wong Tai Chi, personal physician to the most honored and descendant of Wong Tai Sin.” Anthony bows slightly to the man. I guess that his introduction should mean something to me, but I have no clue as to what, so I just smile and nod.

“You may call me Doctor Wong.” the man says as he sets a wood and leather case on the table, Anthony moves the folio I had been reading aside so as not to be in the way, “Let us have a look at you.” he comes near me and passes his hands across my arms, side, and chest. His hands barely touch me, and I have no idea what he's doing. His eyes dart back and forth across me as he moves his hands and he mumbles in Chinese. “Your Jīngshén, or what you would call your spirit, is very tangled. It is beyond my ability to untangle what is the root of your ailments. But the surface wounds, these I can deal with. You have broken blood vessels in your arm and side and a cracked rib. Please remove your shirt.” He opens the case and begins to remove bottles labeled with Chinese script.

I look to Anthony, who simply nods at me. “I have several allergies Doctor Wong, some which are sever. I am worried about anything new that might change or interact with my medicine or cause me to have problems. I'm sure you understand.”

He huffs at me, “Sir, I have been practicing the healing arts for three and a half centuries. Your Jīngshén tells me all I need to know about what you can and cannot be exposed to safely. Your modern medicine is more guessing game and, lets throw darts at it and see what sticks, than true healing ability. Now remove your shirt and let me get on with my ministrations.”

I slip off the top of the thawb and as I lift my arms the pain in my ribs hits me full force. It's like a hammer against my side and hurts like hell. Once I lower my arms it dies back down to a dull throb that was there before but I hadn't noticed till now. Doctor Wong takes some powders, leaves, and liquids and puts them in a small battery powered blender that he had pulled from his bag. I guess I must have laughed a little because he throws me a sidelong glance.

“What? You expect pestal and mortar? Or some clay bowls and sticks? This is the twenty first century, even an ancient cure can benefit from modern convenience.”

After a minute of blending he looks at the contents of the jar and nods. I really hope he doesn't want me to drink it because it looks like a combination of roofing tar and Drain-o. He opens the jar and the strong smell of pine and oil hit me. It's not unpleasant, but I was expecting something that smelled like shit honestly.

“You will need to lift your arm at least parallel to your shoulder for me to do my work and hold it there for a short time. Are you able or shall I have Anthony hold it up for you?” he asks impatiently.

“No, I think I can manage that sir.” I say. Great I'm going to get lathered with goop and some psychic surgeon is going to pronounce me cured. Woo hoo. When I first got sick when I was a kid my mom took me to every doctor she could find. Every test came back 'nonspecific'. It must have been more than twenty doctors, and all of them couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. After a couple of years mom even tried faith healers. What a bunch of sham artists they were. This ointment, or that goop, this chant, or these crystals. Nothing came of it of course. What was wrong with me was that I was Dreaming. It broke me to make me able to Dream. It's been decades and I'm still bitter about that. I often wonder what kind of life I could have had had I not started Dreaming.

What happens next I'm not sure I actually saw or believed. I lift my arm up and Doctor Wong waves his hands over the jar and a small flame lights over it. A thick blue black smoke wisps up from the flame and he passes his hands through it while speaking Chinese. The smoke bends and move towards me and starts to wind its way across my ribs, chest, and arm kind of like a snake. It really doesn't feel like anything, but watching smoke move like it shouldn't be moving is really weird.

The smoke spirals around the bruised areas on my arm and ribs and masses into small thick clouds that settle against my skin. The whole time the doctor is speaking and waving his hands in complex patterns through the smoke. It's not hokey stuff like his eyes rolled back or some whispered nonsense like I had seen all those fakes do when I was a kid. It was more like he's having a conversation that I can only hear one side of. I feel a light pressure where the bruises are and my skin starts to feel wet. I look over and little droplets of blood are forming on my skin under the smoke and wicking it away. After a minute I hear a little popping noise from my side and the throbbing stops. Doctor Wong starts saying something different and the smoke starts flowing back into the jar. It's taken on a reddish hue now and isn't as dark as it was before. I look at my arm and there is a thin layer of flaky dried blood there and on my ribs. The smoke goes back into the jar and the flame goes out and he screws a lid on it.

“There, good as new. Or at least good as it was before the fall. I've never had the chance to heal a Dreamer before. Your spirit is twisted and tangled in ways I have never seen. Given a few decades of treatment I might be able to figure some of it out, but I doubt it would do you much good by then as you would be a very old man. Wounds I can cure, but age comes for us all at some point.” he packs his things away into his case and makes ready to leave, “Anthony will see to getting you cleaned off, if you are in need of me again, the most honored has given me permission to aid you. Try and avoid falls and eat some iron rich food for the next few days.” he nods his head to me and Anthony and walks out.

Anthony brings a small towel and a bottle of water and starts wiping the dried blood away. “You are very blessed Dreamer, it is very rare for a healer of Doctor Wong's status to work on a human, nearly unheard of. I think the last time I have heard of was one of the English princes some hundred years ago. He is one of the most skilled healers in the world, which is why he attends the most honored.”

The next few minutes consist of Anthony cleaning me up and getting me dressed again. I drink some more of my juice and try and figure out what just happened. “Anthony, what did he do to me? I mean I saw what happened, with the smoke and all that, but I mean, what was that?”

“The doctor used his magic to pull the bruised blood from your body, heal your bones, and mend the damage caused by the fall.” he said like it should be obvious.

“Magic?” I say, “Like honest to God, Merlin's in the house, magic?”

“You do not believe in magic? You see things that happen all across the world in your Dreams. You must have seen things unknown before. Why would you not?” he seemed confused.

“Well, yeah, but those are Dreams. Weird stuff happens all the time, but it's just monster stuff.” I catch myself as I say it and realize I may have just said something wrong, “No offense meant. Tribes stuff I mean, I just always thought it was my brain trying to make sense of a weird situation by putting in this or that to fill in the blanks.”

“As I understand it, Dreamers see things as they truly happen. No blank spots or filler, but things as they truly are. You have witnessed magic many times in your Dreams. It was not filler, but actual magic.” he put the towels and water in a small trash bag from under the counter and set them aside.

“So do you do magic?” I ask, I guess I probably sound like a kid asking for a party trick or something.

“No, I am not blessed with those gifts. I have simply studied, at university, how to be a caregiver. My abilities are mundane.”

I must have lost track of time between reading and my time with the doctor because when I glance down at my watch it's a quarter to twelve. “When am I supposed to have lunch with, um, the most honored?” it's really weird to me to refer to someone with a title like that. I mean First Lord, Councilman, Steward, those I can understand and wrap my head around but 'most honored' is a little more esoteric.

Anthony looks at his watch, “Soon. I would have expected the Madam to have returned by now to fetch us, but it seems we will have to go on our own. We will leave shortly so as to arrive very near the time declared by the most honored. One does their best to be prompt with matters such as these.”

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leftleftleftrightlefts-blog · 7 years

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& by the way , The Place (& the Plates -- woo hoo) -- Are a fuckin Sham .

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1upmushrooms · 7 years

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Wanna Play a Game? (1up Dead Fic)

Here’s a VERY old spongebob fanfic I wrote back in high school, like freshman year. I’ll probably never get back to it but I think what’s here is a fun read for those who actually to check this blog on Saturday for a new story.

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The Krusty Krab was known for many things. One, the food was great. Two, everything was overpriced. Three, it was better than the Chum Bucket! And four, the freezer had supposedly taken someone to the future. However, the thing many people did NOT know about the Krusty Krab was that it was the lair of SpongeBob's annual board game marathon. This was a day that many people dreaded because since SpongeBob was always playing with friends on this day, Squidward was the one cooking the patties which pretty much defeated any purpose of going the Krusty Krab. However, most of the undersea citizens merely shrugged and often participated in at least one game. Of course, since people would often play the games instead of order, Mr. Krabs started charging a fee of $5.00 a game, much to the player's dismay. Today's marathon started with a nice little game of Eels and Escalators, a fun but simple game where one tries to avoid the eels and ride up the escalators. SpongeBob had already set up the table, chairs and of course the board game; all he needed were a couple of players. "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, for winning!" SpongeBob said excitedly, wearing his usual wide grin. However, no one had come up to join in. For about six minutes, the yellow guy just sat there, waiting for someone else to join but it was apparent no one was interested in. He then sighed sadly as he began to put things up until a monotone, bored voice had said: "Finally, he's done!" SpongeBob looked behind himself to see a burnt Squidward taking off a dirty apron. "SQUIDWARD!" SpongeBob yelled happily, "What do you want?" "Hey Squidward," SpongeBob said, "Do you mind if-" However Squidward already knew what SpongeBob was going to ask so he quickly said out loud: "Yes as a matter of fact I do." SpongeBob's smile turned into a disappointed frown. "But Squidward-" Squidward went to the cash register and sat down. "No buts! There is no way I'm going to waste my time playing dumb board games with you!" "Come on Squid-" But Squidward just ignored him and was already reading a dancing magazine. SpongeBob almost gave up but then an idea that always worked formed in his brain. SpongeBob smiled mischievously as he casually said, "That's ok Squid. It's understandable that you don't want to….lose to me!" This instantly caught Squidward's attention, he threw the magazine down and said, "Do you mind going by that again buddy?" SpongeBob put the board back on the table. "Oh, I was just saying the reason you don't want to play is because you're afraid of…losing. That's nothing to be ashamed of, of course-" Squidward took great offense to this as he yelled, "I would not lose to you!" SpongeBob just grinned as he said, "Oh really? Then why don't you play with me?" Squidward's bubble was about to burst as he still said, "Because I don't want to!" SpongeBob (clearly not knowing when to stop) delivered the final blow when he said, "That or the fact that your gaming skills are as good as rocks." Squidward could take it no more, with his face that was redder than a tomato he yelled in frustration as he ran to the board game! "THAT'S IT BARNACLE BRAINS!" Squidward yelled, "I ACCEPT YOUR STUPID CHALLENGE AND WHEN I'VE WON YOU'RE GONNA BE VERY SORRY!" "Great!" Spongebob said as he set up all the things on the game board. After picking out a yellow pawn piece, SpongeBob then got out the dice. Squidward just got out a green pawn and stared angrily out into space. "Alright Squidward," SpongeBob said, "Here's how the first game works-" "Wha-wha-First game," Squidward said, "Yeah, we're playing tons of games. That's why it's called a marathon." Squidward took a deep breath and said, "Continue." "Ok, so the object of Eels and Escalators is to get to the escalators and not the Eels. You have two die, if you get two Escalator icons you go to an Escalator, you get two Eel icons and, well you ride the Eels. But if you get an Escalator AND an Eels icon you can roll the Eel one to make it into an escalator, however if you still get an Eel on two rolls you have to ride the Eels. If you ride the Escalators about 10 times in a round you win, if you ride the Eels 5 times however you lose, it's pretty simple." Squidward just nodded, hoping to get this one over with. "Alright, alright let's just start the game already", he said while picking up the die when SpongeBob stopped him. "Wait Squid, we have to roll to see who goes first!" Squidward sighed, "It doesn't matter SpongeBob, just roll the die!" SpongeBob merely shrugged and, with a quick lump of breath he rolled the dice onto the board! "WAIT A MINUTE!" At that moment, Mr. Krabs literally came out of nowhere and grabbed the die before they hit the board. "Grr, what is it now?" Mr. Krabs turned to Squidward and opened his hand. "That'll be 5 bucks," "5 BUCKS," "You aren't exempt from the price Mr. Squidward, now pay up!" Squidward angrily got out the 5 bucks and begrudgingly handed them to Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs sniffed his newly found treasure, handed SpongeBob the die, and then sat on a chair nearby. "Ok boys, you can continue." SpongeBob shrugged and then threw the die again. On his first roll he'd already gotten Escalators. "WOO HOO!" SpongeBob grabbed his pawn and put it on top of the escalators. Squidward just laughed. "I got Escalators!" "Ha, you got lucky!" Squidward said as he rolled the die. When they landed on the board, Squidward had gotten Eels. The look on Squidward's face surprised even SpongeBob. "I got Eels? ON MY FIRST TRY?" Squidward muttered something indecent as he put his pawn on the Eel. SpongeBob nervously took the die because of Squidward's sudden rise of anger. With a mighty roll of the die, SpongeBob had gotten Escalators again. "WOOO!" He yelled in excitement, "ESCALATORS." "Grr, stupid yellow" Squidward muttered as he rolled the die again, resulting in another Eels. Squidward got even angrier until he had an idea, "Oh no!" Squidward said unrealistically, "The first time I got the Eels space, and I was doing so well! I guess-" "Actually that'd be the second time you got the Eels space Squidward." Squidward stopped in shock and yelled, "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW, YOU WEREN'T EVEN KEEPING SCORE!" SpongeBob raised up a note pad that had SpongeBob: Escalators: 2 Eels: 0 and Squidward: Escalators: 0, Eels: 2. Squidward grumbled and angrily dragged his pawn to an Eel space. SpongeBob proceeded to roll Escalators while Squidward kept rolling Eels. Finally it came to a point where SpongeBob had rolled 4 Escalators while Squidward had rolled 4 Eels. "Ooh, last chance Squidward, if you don't-" "I KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN!" Squidward was desperate, but then another idea had formed in his head. "Uh SpongeBob can we take a break please?" "Why? We're having so much fun!" "Please SpongeBob?" SpongeBob thought about it for a moment before finally saying, "Why not?" "Oh thank you SpongeBob," Squidward said extra nicely before running into Mr. Krabs's office. 'If I let that yellow idiot win, it'll be the death of my sanity!' Squidward thought before he looked at Mr. Krabs's black filing cabinet that had the sign "Special Dice"! "It looks like I'm gonna have to make a little repairs to this game," Squidward said aloud, "Heh, heh heh, repairs, heh heh heh, as in fix, HEH heh heh heh heh!" Squidward walked to the cabinet, however when he opened it, Mr. Krabs's head popped out. Squidward yelled so loud he almost broke all the glass! "So, me instinct was right!" Mr. Krabs said before he got out of the cabinet, "I thought smelled foul-play when you pulled the ol' 'break time' sham!" "M-M-Mr. Krabs!" Squidward stuttered, "It' not what you think!" "Aye? It seemed as though you were about to use-" Squidward stopped being dramatic "No not that part! What I mean Mr. Krabs is," Squidward broke down, "I just can't lose to SpongeBob! I just can't! You don't know how embarrassing it'd be!" Mr. Krabs just took a deep breath, "You know the old saying Mr. Squidward," "The only thing a cheater wins is emptiness?" "No," Mr. Krabs said before he rose out his hand, "The only way to get what you want is to pay for it!" Squidward's anger rose highly as he said, "You're telling me the only reason you weren't gonna give me the dice was be-CAUSE I WASN'T GONNA PAY?" "That'll be $5.00 bucks Mr. Squidward." Squidward shelled out another 5 bucks and Mr. Krabs opened the cabinet while getting out the necessary dice. Squidward quickly put them in his pocket and almost left the office until Mr. Krabs pointed out: "You'd probably be interested in a set of die that would guarantee a bad roll," Mr. Krabs said, Squidward thought about that, "Yeah, I probably would, thanks Mr. Krabs-" "That'll be another $5 bucks Mr. Squidward." Squidward grumbled as he handed Mr. Krabs another $ 5 bucks. Mr. Krabs then gave Squidward the losing set of die and watched as Squidward eagerly went outside. "Arr, arr, arr, arr, arr, arr, arr, what a buffoon!" Mr. Krabs said as he folded his money like a pack of cards. Squidward entered the board game area again, this time with full confidence. SpongeBob was ready as always, but maybe not for what was coming to him. Squidward was patient when SpongeBob got another escalators. As soon as the die were given to him, Squidward pretended to drop them. On the floor, Squidward got out the loaded die and quickly threw the real die in the trash. Squidward rolled with a burning passion and when he let them go…...he still got eels. Squidward's eye almost bulged out of their sockets! Squidward fell down and when he got the other dice out, he rolled 4 times and each time they were eels! Squidward was sweating when he looked up at Mr. Krabs who was laughing while he was folding his money! "You know another old saying Mr. Squidward?" Mr. Krabs said, "Only fools make deals with the Devil boy! ARR arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr arr!" Squidward still kept his cool as he sat down and almost cried. "Well," he said, "I lost." SpongeBob touched Squidward's shoulder, "We can go another round if you want." Squidward flicked SpongeBob's hand off and said, "No, no, let's just get to another game before I cry!" "O…K!" SpongeBob set up another game with the cards and pawn intact, the game this time being "The Flying Dutchman's Treasure Hunt!" "Now this game is a bit more complicated. First of all the goal is to get the treasure, of course you do this by moving your pawn with the roll of the dice. But in the middle of your journey you collect cards that basically dictate where you go whenever you stop moving. There are 8 types of cards, a "Go two steps card", a "Go five steps card", a "Go to jail card", a "Go ten steps card", a "Go to the seaweed with two leaves card", a "Switch places card", and a "Go to start card", all these cards are designed to make you lose." "What about the go whatever number steps card?" "I'm getting to that, anyway the last and rarest card is "Go to Treasure card", however even if you get there you have wait until it's your turn again, because I can also get to the treasure with a couple of lucky rolls. If we both get to the treasure before it's digged up we both dig the treasure and whoever gets it first wins. Also if you're right near the treasure by like one step you can't roll a ten or a five, it has to be a one." "A bit complicated for a stupid board game-" SpongeBob gasped, "SQUIDWARD! This isn't some ordinary dumb board game, it's based on an actual treasure map, right Mr. Krabs? " Mr. Krabs angrily glared at a little plastic treasure as he said, "Arrgh" "Anyway Squidward, since I went first last time I figured I might as well let you go first this time." Squidward just shrugged and grabbed the dice (it was a single one this time); he hoped he'd get a nice roll this time, something he could just shout for. He rolled the dice and he got a 6. "Woo hoo!" Squidward cheered as he moved his pawn ten steps. Squidward then happily grabbed a card as he wondered what kind he'd get. His head was sweaty, his mind was filled with excitement. Squidward raised the car in the air and proudly read: Arrgh, you scurvy dog! Switch with one of your ship mates!

#1up Dead Fic

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