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queen-scribbles · 3 years

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The Long Burning Torch ch 3

Oh, look, another chapter for the 20s AU I started for the @shepherds-of-haven Summer Event, which has taken on a life of its own. In this chapter: A couple new (but familiar!) faces, and the plot thickens.

----

Five minutes into Ashtown proper, Xaeryn was exceedingly grateful for the directions Mr. Syndran had provided. He hadn’t been wrong comparing the place to a warren.

“You look lost, doll.”

Her head snapped up from the paper in her hand to meet the gaze of a lanky man lounging against a wall, a soft cap slouched down over his forehead. His--very familiar--green eyes were much more vivid in person than they had been in her scry.

Xaeryn arched a brow coolly. “And what led you to that conclusion?”

He smirked and pushed away from the wall. “The way you keep checking that paper for one, Sunshine.” His hands slid in his pockets. “Also, we don’t get dames that look like you here all that often. Anything I can help you find?”

“You’re awfully helpful,” Xaeryn said, resisting the urge to run a hand down her outfit.

He doffed his cap and sketched an exaggerated bow, giving her a wink when he righted. “Consider me the Ashtown welcoming committee.”

“And what a charming first impression you make.” Xaeryn regarded him for a moment or two more, then decided to see how things would play out. “I’m trying to find Chase Trinaeste.”

The man’s eyes twinkled, bright as the scarf tossed ‘round his neck. “I think I can help with that. Right this was, Sunshine,” he said blithely, as if he wasn’t the aforementioned Trinaeste himself.

A large part of Mr. Syndran’s adamant belief Thieves guild had been involved in the theft rode on Trinaeste’s presence in her scryed vision. “He trusts his lieutenants with the vast majority of their... jobs,” Mr. Syndran had explained, nose wrinkling slightly in distaste. “His being there shows it was a heist of high importance to their gang, fitting the theft of an artefact.”

Xaeryn had no reason to doubt his logic. But she’d be a fool to show all the cards she held at the outset.

“My name is not ‘sunshine’,” she said briskly instead.

“Well, then, doll, what am I calling ya?” Trinaeste asked, unruffled by her tone.

“Miss Shrike will do for now, I think. And what do I call you?”

“Who says you need to call me anything?” he returned as he led her down several new streets in quick succession.

“It might come in handy if I want to commend your hospitality to Mr. Trinaeste,” she countered, trying her best to memorize their route. Left, left, right...

“I’ll get by, Miss Shrike,” Trinaeste said with a light laugh.

He was very good at dodging, she did have to give him that. “For politeness’ sake, then. Perhaps I’d feel better about following you into the depths of Ashtown if I at least knew your name.”

He laughed again, pausing by a wall decorated with a... creative interpretation of a cat’s head. “Well, then. I have a confession to make, in that case.”

“Oh?” Xaeryn marked the two brunos nearby--one down an alley, the other lounging by a door--despite their affected nonchalance. “And what would that be?”

“Chase Trinaeste at your service.” He skipped the exaggerated bow this time, instead shoving his hands in his pockets, elbows akimbo, and grinning at her cheekily. “Now that you’ve found me, what do you plan to do with me?”

“First thing that comes to mind is ask why we couldn’t have the introductions back where we first spoke?”

“Let’s say I feel safer on home turf, doll. Just in case your reason for wanting me is less fun than I’m hoping.”

She glanced significantly at one of the toughs. “And if this arrangement doesn’t thrill me?”

“You can leave,” Trinaeste said with a shrug. “We ain’t going to stop you.” His grin widened, cat-like. “But you seem the type who doesn’t like leaving empty-handed, Miss Shrike.” He gestured toward the door next to one member of their small audience. “Whatever it is you’re after, I think we’ll be more comfortable in my office, don’t you?”

She doubted he cared between the two locations as strongly as she doubted it was an actual office, but Xaeryn did have to admit some privacy for this conversation would be a good thing. “Do I strike you as the type to just follow strange men into unfamiliar buildings, Mr. Trinaeste?”

He laughed. “A dangerous question, doll. You strike strike me as the type who enjoys a good mystery.”

(Or even a bad one, Xaeryn finished wryly to herself.)

Trinaeste raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. “On my honor as head of the guild, I promise you will leave in the same condition and carrying the same things as when you got here, so long as you don’t threaten me or mine.”

“A fair deal,” she said in assent, and nodded toward the door. “After you.”

Red would have a heart attack if he knew what she was doing. She swallowed a laugh at the thought; less than a week reconnected and his reaction was one of the first things to cross her mind. Her gut said it would be a worthwhile risk. While Trinaeste was indisputably a dangerous man, there was a clear sense of ‘only when necessary’ to his skill that gave her confidence she would be fine.

“One more condition,” Trinaeste said as he led the way into the building. “Call me Chase. No idea who ‘Mr. Trinaeste’ is, but he sounds too high-class to be me.”

He’d kowtowed to her chosen address easily enough, and she did want him amenable to talking. She could grin and bear the informality for one conversation. “Very well.”

They didn’t go far from the outer door before Chase swung to the side through another doorway. Xaeryn almost tripped over the abruptness as she followed. There was no desk, or any other typical office furniture save chairs. There were five of those; loosely grouped on one side of the room. Opposite them a stack of shipping crates were shoved against a tapestry-hung wall. It was eclectic and flamboyant and (she’d just bet) full of secrets. A perfect match for the man now flopped in one of the fairly-comfortable looking chairs and grinning at her again.

“So, Miss Shrike, what did you want from me?”

(From the way his eyes twinkled, that phrasing was very much on purpose.)

Xaeryn chose her seat and her reply with equal care; the former so she could see both her host and the door, the latter to convey intent without accusing. Yet. “I’m investigating a theft and have reason to believe you may have seen something helpful.”

Chase laughed. “You think I did it.”

“You do helm the Thieves guild, Chase,” she said lightly, crossing her legs and flicking dust off her hem. So much for trying to be subtle.

“Fair point,” he conceded with another laugh, before leaning forward to brace his elbows on his knees and his chin on his palms with still-twinkling eyes. “So, what is it you think we stole?”

“An artefact.”

She was interrupted before giving a description as Chase’s grin went cat-like gain and the twinkle in his eyes shifted to a hard glitter. “Syndran set you on us, didn’t he? What did he lose?”

“Mr. Syndran didn’t lose anything. Transit is a possibility for when a piece was stolen,” Xaeryn said primly. “And while, yes, he may have pointed me in your direction as an avenue of investigation, I wouldn’t be much of a detective if I followed accusations that lacked supporting evidence.”

“Ah, you’re a private dick,” Chase smirked, eyes once again twinkling in amusement. “Tell you what, Miss Shrike, since you bein’ here is bountiful evidence Riel’s people not only dropped the ball, but bad enough he doesn’t want to involve the cops, I’ll tell you whatever you need to help. That being the best news I’ve had this week and all.”

She arched a brow. “Whatever I need?”

He spread his hands. “I’m an open book, doll.”

“Chase!” a new voice scolded. The owner, a slender brunette, paused in the doorway to scowl along with her critique. “You know better than to offer open season on guild secrets like that!”

“Calm down, Ari.” Chase slouched back, waving one hand in Xaeryn’s direction. “Our guest seems a smart enough dame to not ask for more than she needs.” That glimpse of danger was back under the last word.

“I’m not after your secrets,” Xaeryn promised. “Just trying to find a missing artefact.”

“And what artefact would that be?” Ari asked, still wary, and still poised in the doorway. Xaeryn noted but didn’t comment on the jangling stack of bracelets that sheathed a good three inches of the other woman’s wrist.

“A pendent, this big.” she indicated the size. “Black stone and bronze.”

“Wasn’t us,” Chase said easily.

“You were witnessed along the transport caravan’ route.”

“Oh, we were casing it,” he acknowledged with a wink.

“Chase!”

He just grinned at Ari’s beratement. “We didn’t steal anything, though. Couldn’t get a good shot at what we were supposed to nick.”

“Supposed to?” Xaeryn interjected. “So this is something you were contracted to steal rather than...” She waffled a moment over word choice, “...personal?”

“Yeah. Like I said, though, we didn’t get anything.” Chase shrugged. “Just as well; our butter and egg man never showed his face after.”

“Hm.” Xaeryn made a mental note to look into how popular a target the caravan had become. “Did you notice anyone else who seemed to be casing it? Aside from your people?”

“N-” Chase’s brow furrowed and he stopped mid-negative reply. “There was that one mug Kato saw right before the trucks made the museum lot. Don’t have anything more than ‘foreign-looking’ and green hair, and he didn’t see where he went, just was a little too casual in his loitering, gave Kato an odd impression.”

It wasn’t a lead solid enough for her to really follow, but it did seem confirmation multiple parties were interested in the caravan. “I see. And what was your... client after?”

“That’s not something you need to know,” Ari said firmly.

“Knowing what else was and might yet be targeted will help my investigation, so I would have to disagree,” Xaeryn said just as firmly. “I’m not going to rat you out, in fact I plan to tell Mr. Syndran you were not responsible. But this information could be useful. Please.”

“A necklace. Gold, rubies, opals; sounded worth a pretty lyss,” Chase said, turning to flash a grin at Ari. “She did say please.”

Ari sighed but didn’t protest.

“Alright I’ll be getting out of your hair, then.” Xaeryn stood, smoothing her skirt. “I appreciate your talking to me, It was enlightening.”

She held out a hand to shake, and Chase kissed the back of it instead, shooting her a wink as she rolled her eyes. “Not a problem, Miss Shrike. Good luck catching your bad guys.”

Xaeryn couldn’t help a small chuckle at the comment as she withdrew her hand and headed for the door. She half-expected to be blocked from exiting, but that proved unfounded. She retraced the route to the edge of the Ashtown district, then headed for her office to call Mr. Syndran just as it started to rain.

---

Her call to update Mr. Syndran went about as well as it could; he was disappointed Thieves guild hadn’t panned out as a lead--Xaeryn detected some personal disappointment as well as professional they weren’t responsible. “Do you have anything beyond their word they didn’t do it?”

“No,” Xaeryn said, leaning forward over her desk to skim her notes as they talked. “Well... their word and a gut feeling they were being level.” Which is all I really have that you aren’t responsible. She was polite--and wise--enough to not make the comparison. “They were hardly going to let me search their warehouse.”

“So what’s your next step? There’s not long until the exhibit opens, and I dislike the number of dead ends you’ve encountered.”

“Oh, I’m not happy about them, either, believe me.” Xaeryn pursed her lips and fought to keep a sharp note out of her voice at his implied censure. “Next is talking to the curator at the Hall. They may have seen this green-haired foreigner Thieves guild mentioned, or something else suspicious that didn’t show when I scryed. Either way, I can get more information about the exhibit and the pendent’s owner.”

Mr. Syndran sighed. “I highly doubt this convenient and vague ‘foreigner’ exists as anything other than a red herring to lead you away from the Thieves guild, but your other goals are sound. Let me know what you learn, if anything.”

“Of course.” They exchanged farewells and hung up. Rain still pattered against the window, and a quiet growl from her stomach reminded Xaeryn she was overdue for lunch, so she bumped back calling the Hall in favor of a quick bite to eat.

And it was quick; she loved mysteries but hated being stymied at every turn like this case had done. She wanted a workable lead. While she agreed with Mr. Syndran the ‘foreigner’ was too vague to pursue on his own, green hair was far from common in Haven, even in the Mage community. If someone else made mention or he was spotted later, it wouldn’t be hard to connect the sightings. For now, she’d call the museum, speak to the curator. Hopefully that would get her somewhere.

The secretary who answered her call sounded both bored and frazzled, which Xaeryn found impressive. “Haven Hall of History and Culture, how may I help you?”

“My name’s Xaeryn Shrike, I wanted to speak to the curator about-”

“Ms. Acquell is very busy,” the receptionist cut her off. “We have an exhibit opening in just over a week, she doesn’t have time for meetings with random curiosity seekers or history aficionados right now.”

Xaeryn let a bit of edge color her voice. “I’m a private detective Mr. Syndran hired in regard to the artefact caravan.”

A long pause, the line crackling with silence, then, “Can you be here in half an hour? I’m sure she can clear some space in her schedule, though there may be bit of a wait.”

I thought you might say that. “I can. Thank you.”

“Very well.” The secretary hung up.

Xaeryn arched a brow at the receiver before she placed it back in the cradle. “See you shortly,” she muttered. Wonderful attitude for someone in such a socially involved position. She glanced out the window and was gratified to find the rain slacking off. She’d still drive, of course, but it would be less of a headache.

Xaeryn cleaned up from her lunch, gave her outfit a quick check to ensure it was still presentable after her visit to Ashtown and the Merchants Guild garage, and tucked her notepad back in her handbag before tugging on a hat and heading out the door.

The drive to the museum was uneventful aside from a couple pot holes and a pedestrian chasing his umbrella into the street with nary a regard for traffic. Still, Xaeryn did arrive in one piece. A determined breeze tugged at her as she made her way up the steps, and she almost dropped her handbag in her instinctive grab to hold her hat on.

It’s pinned, you silly goose, she chided herself ruefully, and brushed drizzle off her clothes as she stepped inside. She exchanged a brief conversation--light on pleasantries--with the receptionist,and was waved toward one of the long cultural wings to wait for when Curator Acquell found a moment to speak with her. She perched on a bench that sat between a statue of the first High Augar and a glass case displaying a map of the known world at the time. At this hour and with this weather, there weren’t many other people, and the gallery was mostly quiet.

Ample opportunity for Xaeryn to ruminate on the irony her chosen seat appeared to be smack in the middle of an exhibit on the Castigation, or one of the uprisings that followed. At least, if the painting across from her was anything to go by; a group of determined Norms gripping pistols as they surrounded a cluster of bloodied but unyielding Hunters whose hands glowed with grace as they clung to their weapons...

Xaeryn shook her head and very deliberately focused on reading her notes.

---

It took half an hour--closer to three-quarters--and Xaeryn had switched to roaming the gallery to take in the sights before a short, bespectacled blonde approached.

She hesitated briefly but noticeably before clearing her throat. “Are you... Miss Shrike?”

Xaeryn nodded and held out a hand to shake. “And you would be the curator?”

The blonde bobbed her head as she shook her hand. “Shery Acquell. I’m so very sorry about the wait.” She smoothed a hand down her rumpled brown and pink dress. “We’re terribly busy trying to get the new exhibit together.” She bit her lip. “Or, as together as we can get it, at least.”

“That’s actually what I’m here to talk to you about,” Xaeryn said. “But I think it’s something better discussed away from potential prying eyes and ears.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Miss Acquell briefly clasped her hands in front of her and bit her lip. “This way.” She gestured to a door. “We can speak in the Cultures of Blest wing if you don’t mind dodging crates and museum staff?”

“Not at all,” Xaeryn said as she followed the other woman through the indicated door. Getting to see behind the scenes of a museum exhibit was the opposite of an inconvenience, to her mind.

“It’s not terribly exciting, I’m afraid; lots of boxes and dust and swapping things around until you find the right arrangement. But I think we can find somewhere to talk. My office is a mess right now, or we could just go there.”

“It’s fine,” Xaeryn assured her. “A little dust won’t kill me. I dress practical for that very reason; no telling where an investigation will take me.”

“OH, that’s... smart.” Miss Acquell fiddled with her glasses and inclined her head toward an empty display pedestal. “That’s where the pendent will go, assuming it’s back before the exhibit opens.” Her face went red and she winced apologetically. “N-Not that I doubt your skill as a detective, Miss Shrike, it just seems to have vanished into thin air, and, well....” She half shrugged and let the words trail off.

“I’ve definitely hit enough dead ends for the comparison to be apt,” Xaeryn said, swallowing the spike of defensiveness to keep her tone level as she peeked at the other artefacts in the case. A belt with a snake-head buckle, a silver circlet set with a single moonstone, an ornately carved hair comb, a silver ring that resembled a basilisk eating its own tail. At least one item hummed quietly with magic of some kind, but enchantment and binding weren’t her forte, so Xaeryn couldn’t tell which. “So, to confirm, how long did the shipment sit before you and your staff started opening crates?”

“Oh, an hour?” Miss Acquell bit her lip. “Maybe two, at most? There was a... small kerfuffle in the art wing; some unruly children, and we didn’t get to the crates until that was settled. But there was a watchman outside and one in the museum, neither of them reported seeing anyone.” She played with her necklace. “As well as a Whitestone Couriers representative. Pink-haired young lady, very irate by the time I spoke to her, though that is understandable, with how long we kept her waiting.”

“Did you not have enough staff for someone to take care of the artefacts while others handled the... disturbance?”

“Normally we would have.” Miss Acquell stepped into a small alcove to move their conversation out of the way for the six or so staffers busily yet carefully removing things from crates to arrange in various displays. “But it was a lightly staffed day--Thursdays are usually slow--and I had a couple people who didn’t come in. We weren’t able to find anyone who could cover their shifts, so we were running a bit short.”

With Ms. Aerin keeping an eye on the artefacts once they reached the museum, it was no wonder Mr. Syndran was so convinced a potential theft would have occurred during transit. “What do you know about the pendent, Solimer’s torch? I’ve learn some things of its history, but what of more recent years? The last century or so?”

“A little,” Miss Acquell said, flicking a nervous glance to the side as a pair of workers fumbled the statue they were shifting. “The last century is a bit... muddy for that pendent. It’s changed hands several times, several people have made claims, few have been able to back them up. The current owner, Ms. Aescar, has the strongest claim. She can trace ancestry to the last known owner of the pendent.”

“Prior to the cheiftain of debated identity with whom it was rediscovered?”

She nodded. “Yes. The others who have tried to stake ownership claim ties to the debated chieftain, or the original tribe, or the first to conquer them, but none have ever clearly proven a connection like Ms. Aescar. And if they could, it turns into a debate predicated largely on the intricacies of right of conquest for who has the strongest claim.” She hesitated, wrung her hands. “There are some in the historical community--niche as this piece may be--who... feel it would almost be better if no further claims are validated. I-If someone can contest Ms. Aescar’s ownership, the pendent has to go in a vault until true provenance can be determined. Which means no one can display it....”

“And that process can take a very long time,” Xaeryn finished for her. It was an issue she’d run into a couple times during her years at Solhadur; an artefact she was researching was hard to get clear information about because three people had equally strong claims and it was tied up in the arbitration.

“Yes, it can.” Miss Acquell pursed her lips and looked back at the intended display. “For now, though, Ms. Aescar has a very open policy for lending it out. Far fewer requested protective measures than most. It’s as if...” she paused, brow furrowing for a moment, “as if she doesn’t really care what happens to it.”

Interesting. “Do you have her contact information? I’d like to speak with her if I could,”

“I do.” Miss Acquell nodded vigorously. “It’s in my office, so I’ll need a minute to dig it out.”

“No hurry,” Xaeryn said. “Are those watchmen here today by any chance? Accommodating as your staff has been with my other earlier inquiries, I haven’t gotten to talk to them yet.”

The curator, who had started for a nearby hall, paused and bit her lip again as she thought. “Theo is,” she finally said. “He was watching the outside lot that day. Today I think he’s in the exhibit on Norm innovation? But I can’t remember for sure. The schedule’s also in my office, I can check while I’m getting Ms. Aescar’s information.”

“Alright, I can wait.”

“Feel free to look around.” Miss Acquell waved a hand toward the progressing displays. “Just don’t touch anything? Some things would survive, but others are too fragile.”

“I generally avoid disturbing museum exhibits,” Xaeryn assured her. “I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

With a final nod and small nervous smile, Miss Acquell scurried off down the hall. From the way she’d talked about her office, Xaeryn gathered this might take more than a few minutes. She wandered through the half-assembled exhibits and display cases, careful to keep enough distance she didn’t disturb the staff or risk damaging anything.

A small smile curved her lips when she caught sight of a necklace--complete with matching cuff bracelets and a diadem--that fit the description of what Chase claimed his guild had been hired to steal. That backed his story up, at least. There was a placard declaring they had belonged to a Queen-Consort from Karzai once upon a time.

Xaeryn was engrossed in reading a Kettish tablet when Miss Acquell returned, and it took a moment to register her presence. In fact, it wasn’t until the curator cleared her throat timidly that Xaeryn’s focus was broken and she swung around.

“Sorry. This sort of thing is a passion of mine,” she explained. “Very easy to slip off to my own little world when I get a chance to indulge.”

“I understand,” Miss Acquell said with a faint smile. “I can be the same, when I get lost in my work. Here’s Ms. Aescar’s information” --she held out a small piece of note paper--”though I should warn you it’s for her estate out near the Jalis desert and she’s apparently not home much? Bit of an adventuress, away for weeks at a time without word of how long she’ll be gone. I’m honestly not sure if we’ve managed to contact her yet to tell her the pendent’s missing.”

“Thanks for the warning, both of them.” Xaeryn slipped the paper in her handbag after checking the legibility. “I’ll keep them in mind.”

“Theo is up in the innovations exhibit, if you want to speak with him.”

“Oh, I very much do. And if something comes up and I need to talk to you again, do you have daily office hours?”

Miss Acquell nodded, then blushed. “Oh, except... except Sunday,” she amended. “I-I have church.”

“Won’t be a problem, so do I.” Normally not a detail Xaeryn shared with strangers, but the woman seemed braced for blowback to the statement.

Her face lit up with the revelation, so it was apparently a good call. “Oh, really? Where do you go?”

“The Whitestone Cathedral,” Xaeryn said. She liked the crowds, the ability to simply sit in the back, worship, and slip out before too many people even noticed she was there and tried to be chummy.

“Oh, that one’s too big for me,” Miss Acquell blurted with a bashful laugh. “I go to the chapel over by the docks.”

“I know it,” Xaeryn said with a nod. She’d had a couple cases over that way. “Thank you very much for all your help, Miss Acquell. This visit has been very informative.”

“I’m glad to have been of help, and you can just call me Shery.” She held out a hand to shake farewell.

“Goodbye, then, Shery. And good luck setting up your exhibit.” Xaeryn shook her hand then headed off following signage toward the exhibit where this guard Theo was posted. She had some rather burning questions to ask him.

---

Her conversation with Theo held mixed success. His memory was fuzzy, which Xaeryn had expected after the time that had passed. He did remember some loiterers, but they were all far enough away from the lot he couldn’t discern features. One or two may have come across as “too casual” with hindsight, but he hadn’t clocked them as suspicious and thus hadn’t paid much mind in the moment. No accounting for street hooligans and how they spent their time, right? One might have had green hair, but they were wearing hats, and “like I said, I wasn’t payin’ much heed, Miss Lady Detective,” so he couldn’t swear by it.

With that tenuous connection possibly made slightly less tenuous, and a much-increased desire to speak with the elusive Ms. Aescar, Xaeryn wandered the museum a bit--might as well; she was here and it would help her think--before heading back out to her car.

“Ladies first,” a dark haired gentleman said, holding the front door open for her and allowing her to precede him down the steps.

Xaeryn nodded and flashed a brief smile of courteous thanks for his chivalry, noting he headed for a gleaming, high-end motorcar, black with red accents, that made hers look dingy. Bet it’s a nightmare to keep that fancy, she thought, paying the man no further mind. She started her car and flicked on the headlights to counter the settling dim of evening as she pulled away.

With her thoughts split between the road and mulling over the case, it took a few turns for her to notice a pair of headlights that appeared to be following the same route she was. That wasn’t terribly unusual, but the fact they were deliberately keeping back was. Tricky as surreptitious glances in a motorcar could be, Xaeryn managed one the next time she had to stop for traffic. Just as her... friend passed under a streetlight.

Black car, with red accents.

Gooseflesh prickled up her arms, and she shifted her planned route home to one with sparse enough traffic covert pursuit would be impossible. Two turns into the new path, her tail must have picked up on her plan and lammed off down a side street. Xaeryn wondered if he thought he was being subtle, and kept a careful eye out the rest of the way back. Despite not seeing any further tails, she remained on guard until she turned the key in her office door, slipped in, and locked it behind her.

“Intriguing development,” she murmured to the empty room as she unpinned her hat. And an interesting end to a very full day. Xaeryn sat wearily at her desk and kicked off her shoes. Even choosing comfort over style, her feet were sore from all the walking. Merchants’ Guild, Ashtown, the Hall... and barely a chance to sit all day. She returned her notepad to the desk drawer and locked it again, but left the stiletto blade in her handbag. She’d likely need it tomorrow anyway. Particularly if it was anywhere near as busy as today.

Busy enough to have missed any telephone calls that came while I was gadding about. Normally while already on a case, that would bother her less, but Red had said he’d call if he learned anything new. She’d hate to be missing information that could help the case, she mused, flicking a glance from the telephone to the clock on her wall. Hopefully this wasn’t too late for her to call him. She dug her notepad back out and flipped through the pages until she reached the section in Red’s sprawling shorthand. There, on the back of a previous page, tucked in the corner like a random doodle, was his office telephone number. Xaeryn smiled at the close resemblance of his eights and zeroes, but knew her own ones and sevens weren’t much better.

After only a brief moment of further hesitation, she pulled the telephone closer and started dialing. It wasn’t that late.

It was answered on the third ring, a slightly breathless, “Hello?”

“Liefred?”

“Xaeryn.” There was a note of surprise in his voice.

“Got it in one, smart man.” But I knew that.

He laughed. “Not that hard; you’re just about the only one who insists on calling me that, even if you don’t need to.” There was a small creak that conjured mental images of him leaning against the desk or slouched in his chair. “Everything alright? Did you need something?”

“Other way ‘round, actually.” Xaeryn fiddled with her notepad. “I’ve had a busy day and it occurred I wasn’t here much if you’d called, so I thought I’d check.”

“There are these people called secretaries, Xaeryn,” Red teased. “You might look into hiring one of them.”

“I know, I know.” She snorted softly. “Especially since most people don’t have your genial reaction to me missing their calls...”

“Most people haven’t known you since you were a gangly fourteen year old trying to cram yourself in the library loft to read in peace, either,” he said warmly. “I know how focused you get. And nothing new, I’m afraid. I got stuck lecturing first-years all day.”

“And you survived,” Xaeryn laughed, curling her toes in and out when they started to cramp.

“Barely,” Red said with a rueful laugh(she’d bet he was running a hand through his hair). “And that despite their best efforts.”

“See, this is why I didn’t want to stick around,” she said, only half-joking.

“Smart woman,” he deadpanned. “But I knew that already.”

Flatterer. It sounded coy and thus stayed in her head, replaced with an equally joking, “I won’t guest lecture, before you ask.”

“Damn,” he said lightly, “At any rate, I’m sorry I don’t have more yet-”

“Don’t apologize,” she cut him off. “I wasn’t expecting anything. Only checking. Just in case. Your responsibilities come first and they kept you busy today. I had plenty of other leads to chase today.”

“Where did they take you?” Red asked. “You mentioned being busy...”

“Merchants’ Guild to start. Then Ashtown-”

“Xaeryn.” His voice was already bristling worry.

“--to talk to Thieves’ guild.”

“Alone?! Ryn-” Red huffed a sigh of exasperated, retroactive concern and she bit back a laugh at how well she’d pegged his reaction. “Do you... take risks like that often?”

“Only when I need to,” she said carefully. Wouldn’t be mentioning the tail on her way home, then. “I know how to handle myself, Liefred. I was polite, we talked, I left. It was fine.”

A long moment of silence. “If you say so.” He didn’t sound completely convinced. (She decided not to tell him her office-apartment sat right by the boundary between Astown and Smoketown) “What else?”

“Just the Hall of History and Culture to speak with the curator.” She shifted in her chair. “That one took a while, but I got some good information to follow up tomorrow.”

“Best of luck with that, and... be careful?”

Xaeryn smiled fondly, unsure whether or not to hope it carried into her voice. “As I can be.” A beat, then she added lightly, “I’d hate to wind up a cautionary tale in one of your lectures, Headmaster.”

“Xaeryn.” She could practically see him trying to glower at her(and failing; Red couldn’t be that mean) through the telephone. “I’m serious.”

“I know.” And I appreciate it. She sobered her tone to match his. “But my line of work comes with risks sometimes.The best I can do is promise not to exacerbate them.”

“I’ll take it,” Red said softly, then was quiet a long moment. “I should let you go; it sounds like you have another busy day tomorrow?”

“I do.” She’d still stay up til midnight talking to him in a heartbeat, but, “and you probably need to recover from this one.”

“Mm. I get to do it again tomorrow, too,” he said glibly.

Xaeryn laughed. “I’ll keep you in my thoughts,” she said with mock solemnity “Good luck to you, as well, in that case.”

“Thank you, I’ll need it,” Red chuckled softly. “Goodnight, Xaeryn.”

“Goodnight, Liefred.”

She stared at the telephone a long moment after hanging up, smile curling her lips, before pushing out of the chair. After a day like this, she needed dinner, a hot bath, and a good night’s sleep. In that order.

She still double checked the door was locked before turning in.

----

(what you don’t see, bc I stuck with Ryn POV, is Pan was in Red’s office with him when she called. :3 Cue Pan promptly batting his eyelashes, making exaggerated lovestruck faces, and generally being a little shit bc He Knows, while Red’s gesturing for Pan to GET OUT of his office. and trying to get him to listen without actually talking so Ryn doesn’t know someone’s there(he doesn’t know why he doesn’t want her knowing that, he just doesn’t). Pan finally relents but hangs in the hallway til they’re done and comes back in with the biggest shit-eating grin “You’re still stuck on her, aren’t you?” Red, groaning and burying his face in his hands: “Pan, close your head, PLEASE. yes”)

#queens fic #shoh #xaeryn shrike #red antiqua #chase trinaeste #shery acquell #tlbt #ryn/red

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ginkgomoon · 3 years

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Shaw's Birth Chart- An Astrological Study

Late second birthday gift to Shaw. I haven't done any heavy analyses/studies in a while but I felt happy that I also completed some good solid Shaw content! Please enjoy. *Cries because it's finally done and before June is over.*

What is Astrology?

Astrology is the study of stars- the placements and movements of different celestial bodies to correlate what’s happening on Earth. It comes from the early Latin word astrologia.

There’s a rule that we live by-

As above so below

This means whatever happens within our solar system will ultimately affect us here on Earth. For example, the moon governs our emotions, and since our body is approximately 70% water, why wouldn’t the moon affect us too? But it’s not just us, it's the moon’s gravitational pull on the oceans, in the same sense, it’s also the moodiness you may feel during full moons!

There’s many aspects to Astrology, and that would normally be too much for a single post so I’ll be elaborating on the major contributions to one’s birth chart. This will include the planets and the signs.

There’s the inner planets, consisting of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus, moving quickly within the chart. Then there’s the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, the slower moving planets. And of course, the different signs of the zodiac with different personalities. They follow the order beginning with Aries, then Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and finally Pisces.

Shaw's Placements

Sun ☉ The Sun represents our character, personal identity and ego. Your star sign is also known as your Sun sign. It is the “you”. The “Self”. It shows your creative force, confidence, focus and our will to live. It’s the driving force of our charts in many ways, like how it is centred in our solar system. It’s the part of us that is the “adult”, censoring the “inner child”, and overall provides information on our vitality, and what we came to do.

Shaw's Sun is in Gemini ♊︎ The air sign of Gemini is famous for their self-expression and communication. Geminis are witty, clever and flexible people. They can easily gain social contacts just as they can easily adapt in various situations and communicate through intellectual conversations. Geminis love to collect and share all sorts of information and are rather seen to be “geniuses”.

Although, they can be easily bored if they’re not getting enough mental stimulation. Geminis with their abilities to detach themselves make them excellent observers, but this can make them very difficult to be close to and be intimate with. People note them to be confusing and hard to understand, but this is because their mind is always active and switching from one topic to another (as they are represented by “the Twins”). Geminis enjoy seeing the “lighter” side of life, making them more fun and pleasing to be around. It’s guaranteed that there is never a dull moment when you’re with a Gemini!

Shaw holds a good representation as a Gemini. He always has a witty remark to say to MC, has a way with words, is shown by how he reacts to “fight or flight” situations, and stresses the usage of his favourite word, “bored”. Shaw, by having this placement of the Sun in Gemini also gives much strength to his Mercury (the planet of communication) which is also in Gemini (more on this later).

Shaw: “What do people usually do during dates?”

MC: “Uh, it’s usually eating, shopping and watching movies.”

Shaw: “That’s too boring, isn’t it? Since it’s a date with you, I’d like to get your feedback. What would you like to do?”

MC: “Nothing else.”

Shaw: “Then, what do you want to do?”

He thought for a couple of seconds and raised his eyebrows slowly, with a hint of glimmer of dark light in his eyes.

“You'll agree to anything that I do…?” -One Day Date

MC: “Why did you suddenly take an interest in reading?”

Shaw: “For the final exam.”

Despite his concentration, he flipped the pages with incredible speed- it seemed as if he didn't like what he read. -Summer Night Birthday Date

Shaw values all forms of communication and self-expression, whether it would be through music, writing, and teaching others about ancient relics. Additionally, it appears that he enjoys a range of hobbies, such as playing the bass, skateboarding and spray-painting, due to his interest in the wide variety of passions he developed. MC notices this on one of her earliest dates with him.

MC: “Hey, you seem to have a wide range of hobbies.” -One Day Date

Moon ☾ The Moon in our charts shows what your home is like, your upbringing, the relationship between your mother, the unconscious, your instincts and what you need. It tells us a lot about a person’s emotions, how they deal with it and how they express it to others.

Shaw's Moon is in Capricorn ♑︎ Productivity, work, and feeling useful and respected are the basic need for Lunar Caps. They like to keep their emotions in check, as they want to maintain being the cool-headed, practical and steady person of any group and in any project. Moon in Capricorn suggests that they have clear boundaries and realistic kinds of goals, looking for reassurance and security in what they do. They value and respect tradition and all things tangible and real. Moon Caps look forward to working towards their distant future goals, planning one step at a time. When feeling moody, their emotions will emphasise the pressure they had already put on themselves. Additionally, this is why letting their guard down to be comforted and to be reminded that they are not alone is very beneficial. Capricorns are unwilling to stand down, especially when it comes to emotionally “letting go”, hiding their sensitivity under a sarcastic manner. Wherever Capricorn is found in the chart, there is a desire for control, structure, and organisation. Emotions are well dealt with and handled in an efficient and practical manner.

There is a certain mysteriousness and sadness behind Shaw that can be subtly detected and yet to further explore deeply. This might have come from past trauma, possibly related to family relations. He has realistic expectations and justifications for his emotions, and when it comes to his goals, he will utilise these to help him slowly achieve them. Shaw is slowly letting his guard around MC, and gradually allowing him to love.

MC: “How can you draw so well?” I murmured quietly, envying his skills which require much talent.

Shaw: “Is it good? In a few months, it will fade into obscure and worthless trash."

He glanced at the wall with an undisguised contempt, as if it was not his own work that he was judging.

“It’s a failure.” He shook a spray can and started spraying it on the wall.

MC: “Wait! Why are you doing this?”

Shaw did not avert his eyes, and stood with his arms folded, refusing to give in.

Shaw: “But it's flawed now.” -One-Day Date

After a few seconds of silence, he frowned and put everything in his arms back on the table except for a can of coke. “Don’t act like you know me so well.” -Exciting Moments Date

Perhaps it was because I didn't believe that Shaw would appear so calm or so still, or because I wanted to explore why he looked so focused, I also looked at him in silence.

Shaw: “You really like to immerse yourself in your past.”

MC: “Find strength through the memories, then grow and become stronger.” I suddenly recalled a line from a TV series, and read it out.

A flicker of doubt flashed through his eyes, and eventually condensed into a dismissive look.

Shaw: “Who told you that we can only become stronger with memories?”

MC: “Why are you so dismissive?”

Speaking of which, what made Shaw so strong if it’s not finding strength from his “memory” or “past”?

Shaw: Why are you telling me this? Reminiscing every day means you’re getting old.”

Rain started to shower from the gloomy sky. I looked up, and found that the dark clouds were only above this small area of filming location. It was actually very sunny over at the antique market.

Fortunately, the rain was not heavy, and was even getting lighter as he predicted. He pulled at his hair, shaking off the scattering beads of rain. Such serenity did not match my impression of him, yet it was unexpectedly harmonious and natural.

MC: “Are you the rain god? Why does it always rain when I'm out with you?”

Shaw: “It’s because I can control the weather.”

At this point, the rain, which had stopped just a short while, suddenly fell again, but more densely. The smirk on his face was not gone yet. The rain seemed to be getting heavier. I felt more saddened as he spoke, yet Shaw just laughed. -Seeking Date

As a Capricorn Moon, his value and respect for tradition, and in all things tangible is very much obvious, and is highlighted with his display of knowledge about historic relics in Loveland’s museum shown in various dates, being the only student in the Department of Archeology of in Loveland University, as well in this scene from Season 2 that I couldn’t bear to leave out.

Mercury ☿ Mercury is the communication planet. When you write, speak, absorb information and how rational we are, you’re using your Mercury. It refines our Sun sign and helps define how we take in and give out information. It also talks about short distance travelling, governing your thirst for knowledge, your wit and negotiating skills. If someone is an excellent talker, it’s thanks to their Mercury placements.

Shaw's Mercury in Gemini ♊︎ Since Mercury is already ruled by Gemini, which makes it a favourable placement for quick-witted communication. Gemini Mercury placements may come across as being scattered and restless, but this is because of their different interests, seemingly knowing a little bit about everything. They easily gain knowledge where all sorts of facts and figures are up their alley, however generally have too many interests to deeply delve all into one. They can thrive in a stimulating environment as they are fast adapters who effortlessly learn and multitask at lightning speed.

This overlaps with Shaw’s Gemini Sun Placement. He may confuse MC sometimes with his personality and wit, but it’s nice to see MC adapt to it as well, because they have a lot to learn and grow from each other. He encourages MC to live life more boldly, while she teaches him to take things slower and be more aware of how his emotions and thoughts should work in harmony under special circumstances.

“He has no problem with the noise from rehearsals, and yet he can't stop criticising me for being noisy. He gets easily bored by things and yet he never gets tired on aimless strolls. Moreover, he always disagrees with me…” -Exciting Moment Date

MC: “Are you doing something illegal?”

Shaw: “What do you think?” Shaw looked at me playfully, and I could not help taking a step back vigilantly.

MC: “I'm a good law-abiding citizen and I won't be your accomplice!”

Shaw: “That's not up to you.”

MC: “Oh no! What should we do, what if we get caught!”

Shaw: “Nothing. Having a date at the police station should be a good experience.” -One-Day Date

Additionally, those reoccurring moments when he says that he had changed his mind also stems from the “twinning” aspect of Gemini in his thought process.

Shaw: “Give the cake and forks to me.”

MC: “Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?”

Shaw: “I changed my mind.” -Exciting Moments Date

Venus ♀︎ The planet Venus is ultimately the planet of love, beauty, wealth, our material things and what we do with all that sort of jazz. It’s the pleasures, our sentiments, what we do for leisure and what we value. Grace, charm, creativity, and entertainment are ruled by Venus. We can use this planet to see how we approach relationships of the heart, investigate our ability to attract and the attraction to others (or things).

Shaw's Venus is in Cancer ♋︎ These kinds of people are quite sensitive and insecure when it comes to love, with egos perhaps said to be a little bit undeveloped but have so much love, comfort, security, and care to offer. These aspects are emphasised for Cancers, who pay more attention to your feelings rather than said words. All they want is a safe, solid and secure relationship. They can be moody when it comes to love, though they are not afraid of emotional confrontations and to put their emotions on display when feeling it’s safe.

But once they are hurt, they will have a hard time forgiving. Pleasing them will involve a lot of sentimentality, as recognising their influences and attachments are from the family and home. When fearful of being rejected, they can resort to some frustrating tactics to find out how loved they are. Venus Cancers will want to be cared for, and in return their partner will be rewarded with a loving, dependable and patient lover.

Shaw puts up a front with his teasing and seemingly lack of interest to attend events with MC, though we can tell that he’s a very thoughtful and intuitive lover. Once he has allowed himself to internally address his feelings, he will use straightforward methods in how he communicates it to MC, again, strengthened by his Gemini placements. Additionally, Cancers will cling onto something or someone that is of value to them, because it evokes memories and emotions. In the same sense, if there is someone that Shaw has his eye on, he will inch closer to them, and will be unwilling to give them up once he has them.

I tried to reach out and pull him down while watching out for him, but he just took me by surprise and grabbed my hand instead. I quickly pressed down my skirt with the other hand. Probably realising something, his amber eyes widened slightly, then let go of me, with a low “tsk”. -Seeking Date

Shaw: “Why can’t you let that go?”

MC: Because I'm sick of you treating me like this. One time, you waited for me to get to the Live House to tell me that there was a change in venue, and there was also this one time when you- achoo!”

I pulled my jacket tighter around myself. Suddenly there was a rustle above my head and I found myself covered in a warm coat. Shaw stood up without a word as if he didn't hear me. Clad in a white shirt, he looked at once familiar and strange from behind.

Then I noticed his hand in the pocket. I was expecting him to conjure something for me like he did last time with the Dragonfly Eye. Before I could react, Shaw suddenly grabbed me by hand. With no gloves on, he tightly wrapped his slender fingers around my palm. I felt an unexpectedly soft and warm sensation.

MC: “Let go of me!”

Shaw: “No, I don’t want to.”

Shaw: “You've been asking questions about me all day. Do you really want to get to know me? Bring your ear closer. I can tell you all about myself.”

-Exciting Moments Date

His hand flew past my face and landed on the back of my head. With a slight jerk, he pulled me toward him. Our foreheads were then pressed together, and I felt the warmth of his forehead resting on mine, my breath on my skin, his unintentional touch, and his body pressed against mine. -Summer Night Birthday Date

“Do you like me? Yes or no?” -Unanswered Phone Call

Mars ♂︎ Mars is the go-getter planet. Full of fire and passion, nothing would be done without it. It can give insights on how we can chase our goals and what our desires and our plans of attack are. Aggressive behaviour, lust and anger fall under this planet.

Shaw's Mars is in Libra ♎︎ Mars Libras often reflect about the things they do before they act, needing to weigh out all the decisions first. They also can get easily caught up in defending themselves and others, as well as charming others to win others’ favour if needed. They wish to not be disturbed in their life or how they “operate”, going about with the desire to balance everything, with almost having a seemingly passive-aggressive approach to situations. Mars Libras know when to compromise and manage conflict, as well as predicting problems and discord well in advance. Libras will question themselves on how they can make the playing field more fair, intervening when necessary and when things aren’t. Shaw demonstrates this during his bus stop intervention when he first meets MC, on his dates with her, as well as his confrontation with Gavin.

“Don’t hesitate if you have already thought it through.”

MC: “What’s the matter?”

Shaw shrugged, lifted the corner of his lip, and looked at me, saying this firmly word by word.

Shaw: “Don’t forget that this is our punishment. Be a good loser.” -One-Day Date

“What are you laughing at? Stop it.” he reached out his hand, trying to mess up my hair. I quickly dodged backward and started laughing harder.

“Hey.”

A stunned look flashed Shaw’s eyes. Before he finished his sentence, I slipped and fell heavily backwards. He looked at me before a hint of schadenfreude appeared in his eyes. Then he said in a raised tone, “that's what you get for laughing too hard.”

He then sat down with me. I turned to him in confusion.

MC: “Why did you sit down when you’re supposed to help me up?”

Shaw: “Because I wanted to.” -Exciting Moments Date

Brutal gales whipped up gravel and rocked trees. A bolt of lightning split the sly, illuminating the two people locked in a standoff.

Gavin’s face was completely devoid of its former calm, and in its place was wrath. The man opposite Gavin squinted his eyes ever so slightly. He went wild with laughter, and an arrogant expression swept back over his face.

Shaw: “Well, we’re finally starting to get serious. It’s about time.”

Gavin: “I warned you! She’s off-limits.”

Shaw: “Are you threatening me?”

Gavin: “You aren’t worthy.”

The man lifted his eyebrow and slowed his speech purposefully.

Shaw: “Anyway, my objective has been reached. I don’t mind toying with you. But I don't know how long this girl you’re obsessed with has long to live...”

The two fought with increasing ferocity. The man was slowly losing ground. Then, the sky roared, and a white flame connected heaven and earth. The man was gone without a trace. -Chapter 11-24

Jupiter ♃ Jupiter is the largest planet, a gas giant, known to expand as the “benefactor” of our solar system. Everything it touches is basically blessed. It’s the good luck, confidence, joy, freedom and adventure that it gives to one’s being that it’s so well known for. Jupiter is where you seize your opportunities, take a leap of faith and count your blessings.

Shaw’s Jupiter is in Aquarius ♒︎ Shaw attracts the most good fortune when he’s tolerant and fair, cooperative and inventive, being different from society’s norms and standards. He values technology, people and personal freedom the most, desiring to display his unique skills and talents. He is open to new methods and eccentric ways to progress. We see this as he’s willing to share his knowledge with others, shown in the CN Creative Date and Summer Solstice Date, and when Shaw offers a hand to help MC by making her alias “Mary Sue” to help her successfully break into STF in later chapters. He also shows her the electricity firework he makes with his Evol, which fascinates MC enough for her to reach out and touch it.

I looked at Shaw's on the other side of the wall. The flaunting design was imposing, as if it was about to jump out at me the next second. Then I looked at my grinning rabbit, which seemed to be the clumsy work of a child.

In the gold and purple pattern, “SHAW” could be faintly recognised while a grinning rabbit stood at the top of the world. They actually seemed… quite in harmony? -One-Day Date

MC: “Is that the same MP4 player you had on the bus?”

Shaw: “Yes, someone gifted it to me a long time ago.” Emboldened by his straightforwardness, I couldn't help but move slower. -Exciting Moments Date

Floating on his palm was a sizzling firework giving off dazzling sparks. I was stunned by the sight. I couldn’t believe that Evol could do that. I reached out to touch it, but Shaw stopped me.

“Are you out of your mind? It’s charged with electricity.” -Summer Night Birthday Date

Saturn ♄ Saturn is the planet of karma, restrictions, life lessons, hard facts and the challenges in life. It governs structure, our fears, work and self-discipline. Saturn is cold and calculating, however once the challenges and lessons Saturn have been mastered, great wisdom with great rewards can be obtained.

Shaw's Saturn is in Aries ♈︎ Aries Saturns are highly resourceful coming up with fresh ideas for our goals. They don’t like showing weakness and need to be careful when limiting themselves due to fear of failure or making a poor decision. They’re very self- reliant because they rarely ask for help. They need to be shown that not “being first” is okay.

It’s proven that Shaw has a competitive side to him, seen in the CN Summer Solstice Date and his Rumours and Secrets, where Shaw refuses to give up and ends up doing dolphin flips on his skateboard in a match against a senior and wins after his first loss. In Accompanying Date, he acknowledges his embarrassing moments when he got caught skipping class, then reflects on them. We also see this as he flees his battle with Gavin when he almost loses.

Shaw: "I just remember winning. Don’t people at ten years old want to get swept away, win against everyone, and leave them far behind?" -CN Summer Solstice Date

Shaw: "The fence of the school was disagreed with by the elementary students. Back then, my skills weren’t refined yet. I got discovered by a teacher when I fell from it." While reminiscing, Shaw pouts unhappily. -CN Accompanying Date

The two fought with increasing ferocity. The man was slowly losing ground. Then, the sky roared, and a white flame connected heaven and earth. The man was gone without a trace. -Chapter 11-24

Uranus ♅ Wherever Uranus is in the chart, it’s where we want to break free, where we want to do things our own way, when you don’t care what everyone else is doing or thinking about. It’s where we express our ideals on freedom, innovation and experience great epiphanies. We strive for independence with the influence of the Uranus character. As a result, we learn to rebel, break traditions and authority. It shakes things up from our past and into the modern future. It is often associated with unpredictability, chaos and anarchy.

Shaw's Uranus is in Aquarius ♒︎ These people are interested in innovating, changing and updating traditions related to technology, community and individuality. They see freedom through or in these areas, and are ready to rebel if needed. Aquarius Uranus people are open to new ideas and free thought.

Shaw is no stranger to the concept of rebellion. He sneaks into places he shouldn’t be in, spray-paints graffiti, and helps MC access top-secret information in STF. His comments on history further outlines the unique outlook that he challenges with traditional views.

I looked around nervously, remembering that last time, we were chased by city police for street graffiti.

Shaw: “Don’t you want to come? Hurry up.”

MC: “Do you just do anything you like? Do you abide by no rules?” -One-Day Date

Shaw: “What do you think history is?” Student: Those historical relics you told us about just then!”

- Student: “If everything is history, how does one learn it?” Shaw: “There’s no need for an intention. It’s everywhere.” -CN Summer Solstice Date

Neptune ♆ Neptune is the inspirational planet of dreams, inspirations, soulmates, enlightenment and sacrifice. It’s all about connection with the universe and the world around you, however can have the polar effect of deception and illusion, along with disappearances of sorts. It can also govern your music tastes and influence on how you can inspire others.

Shaw’s Neptune is in Capricorn ♑︎ With this placement, his idealistic world will be based around realism, morality, and responsibility. He has to believe in the ground foundations of realisability of his dreams- enough so that it usually has a realistic thread about them. General optimism and faith will be lacking if he’s not doing something that he is passionate about and finds inspiration in. However, he has the capacity to change his practical dreams into reality the most. His influences and contributions come from his connection with Dark/MC, again with Mars in Libra, and is seen as a guide and spectator, though less passive than a Time Observer. It’s also clear that Shaw cares a lot for his music and his band. He even recognises a plagiarised song in one of his Rumours and Secrets.

“Playing with the band is just a hobby, so Shaw rarely creates something from scratch. He must have hidden things he wanted to say in his music, but never mentioned it to anyone.” -Summer Night birthday Date

Shaw: "No wonder these people didn’t realise it, they copied an unpopular song from the 80s. You should also improve your musical literacy so you wouldn’t be confused by these things." -CN Glacier Navigation Rumours and Secrets

My phone started buzzing in my outer coat pocket. I took it out and saw an unfamiliar number. A few moments of hesitation, I answered it. An unfamiliar voice came from the other end.

“Long time, no see. I’m sure you’re trying to guess who I am right now.” There was something in his voice that gave me a sense of déjà vu.

MC: “May I ask, what this is about?”

“I can’t just call you for no reason? Everyone has already forgotten you. You are officially someone who shouldn’t exist in this world.

MC: “Impossible! Just who are you, anyway?”

“Go see for yourself. For instance, at the place where it all started.” -Chapter 19-1

Outside the floor to ceiling window, a tall man with light purple hair was looking at me in the eye, an unmistakable smile on his lips. Who is this person? He waved at me and strove in the diner.

“Oh, here you are.” He greeted me with such familiarity, a few loose strands of hair fell over his forehead, softening his sharp eyes. His actions were swift and sure, giving me no time to interrupt. His face seemed so familiar but I can’t remember where I’ve seen it before.

MC: “Who are you?”

Hearing this, the young man’s brow raised, and the look of amusement flashed over his eyes.

“You don’t remember? You bumped my skateboard.”

MC: “Oh! We met on the bus. But how is it that you remember me?”

He didn’t answer me straight away. He just observed my expression with great interest, seemingly enjoying watching my reaction.

“I’m the one who called you. It’s me. The dream world has no effect on me.”

Pluto ♇ Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld, and is not to be messed around with. It’s responsible for great destructible transformations and corresponds to the life, death and rebirth cycle. It’s the detoxing planet, for you to awaken and be reborn. It shows us where we can change the world, alongside right where we can go into the abyss of the cunning and controlling energies of Pluto. Its powers can be ever so subtle, however it can have the forces to trash you with the realisations of what you need to let go in order to transform. Think of it as the “healing crisis” moments that you can thank Pluto for.

Shaw's Pluto is in Sagittarius ♐︎ They take beliefs and philosophy of life very seriously, more than most. They believe deeply in personal freedom and expression, questioning ideologies in place. They often watch for a tendency to move from one project to another, perhaps due to inhuman expectations. They are motivated and driven by the vision of a better world, therefore their faith in humanity is strong.

Shaw helps MC multiple times when she is in need, additionally supporting her beliefs and vision to save the world and everyone in it, like when she first entered the Winter World and helped her rescue the kidnapped children against her battle with Leto in the Chapter 34. He even gives her his necklace- the Dragonfly Eye in the end of Season 1 and wishes her well once they meet again.

Shaw: “Oh yeah, the other you is really funny. Today, she saved someone on the street. Did you use to do stuff like that too?”

Dark MC: “I’m not like her. I don’t do meaningless things like that. Stick to the plan.”

Shaw: “Oh? I’d thought you’d like this scene. What are you planning to do, anyway?”

Dark MC: “Why of course, I’m going to accept my place as QUEEN.” -Behind the Curtain Chapter 5

MC: “Shaw, what are you doing here? Where’s Leto?”

Another thunder flashes, Shaw’s face was reflected clearly and I saw him lift his eyebrow slightly.

Shaw: “You are so slow. Did you bring the notebook? Keep it and give it to me later.”

MC: “You haven’t answered why you are here.”

Shaw: “And I thought you were starting to get smarter. None of us can stay out of it now. If I don’t intervene, this world is finished.”

I would love to see more about Shaw’s background character and his upbringing as to why he had appeared a bit defensive in some dates. Poor Shaw :( Hopefully this study allowed you all to gain a deeper understanding of Shaw and his character, and to why he’s important in the main storyline and other events alike.

#happy birthday Shaw #brain is fried but let's continue making more content #mlqc #love and producer #mr love queens choice #恋与制作人 #mlqc analysis #mlqc en #mlqc cn #mlqc shaw #mlqc ling xiao #birth chart #astrology

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whocalledhimannux · 3 years

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@peregrer the What. 👀👀👀 *insert John Mulaney gif of "say more right now"*

ok so when I say "the extent to which I've fleshed out the QT GBBO AU in my head is getting to be embarrassing," I truly and deeply mean it, please enjoy 1,900 words of utter ridiculousness.

first, our competitors:

Legarus - performs so poorly that viewers are a bit confused how he got on the show in the first place, a la Jamie (series 10) or that one guy who made a lime and chocolate cake in the first week.

Chloe - nice flavors and good ideas for decorations, but pretty sloppy. was up for elimination in the first week but came back with a great showstopper.

Melheret - good but not as good as he thinks he is (hence his bread week elimination because of sloppy technique), heavy-handed with the alcohol flavoring

Agape - solid competitor, not flashy but tasty + pretty results. I haven't worked out exact week-by-week themes (that would indeed be Too Much) but I imagine this is something like "Dairy" or "Caramel" or "Vegan," some particular element she just happens to not be strong on. viewers are disappointed by her early elimination

Teleus - Dad contestant. brings in a bunch of weird pans and gadgets he made up himself, does pretty well until it comes to Fiddly Foreign Foods he doesn't know (probably eliminated in French or Patisserie week)

Laela - typically has good flavors and pretty designs but technical knowledge is a bit lacking, so there are usually some flaws in the execution and she's often in the bottom half of technicals

Phresine - Grandma contestant. nails the classics but ultimately isn't creative enough to make it further.

Magus - the "Ian (series 6)" flavor of Dad contestant, often brings in foraged ingredients or eggs from his own chickens or whatnot and revives old recipes/flavor combinations no one else knows about. one week, some of those turn out to just be too weird, leading to his elimination.

Sophos - pretty elaborate decorations and good flavors (on the border of classic and new), but he tends to try a million different embellishments on everything and struggles with timing, occasionally to the detriment of technique.

Kamet - always has really interesting and different flavors and tends to do well in technicals especially, assuming he doesn't get overwhelmed. which is... an assumption (Finalist)

Costis - leans towards classic and indulgent flavors, although sometimes a bit sloppy--the kind of contestant where the judges look at his dishes and say "it's a bit of a mess" and then Paul Hollywood starts laughing because it still tastes delicious (Finalist)

Irene - absolutely stunning visually, queen of the technicals, occasionally gets the "style over substance" warning (Winner)

more details below the cut

I've gone back and forth on whether Eugenides should be in it but ultimately I decided no because I wanted to maintain a pre-show relationship between Laela + Kamet (I thought otherwise at first but then I realized I hadn't left Kamet any longterm friends or family for his finalist video and that's depressing af) and Irene and Sophos which to my knowledge hasn't happened once on the show so far? so having a married couple on top of that seems like it would be a stretch, and also then I think I'd need to make Eugenides the winner on principle and you know what? he can stand to be second fiddle to his wife for a little bit. My alternate backstory for him is that he was actually the winner of MasterChef one year (good with knives), so in the first episode Irene's first little chat to camera is something like "my husband's been bugging me for years to try out and I keep telling him he's got a skewed perspective on cooking competitions, finally I applied just to shut him up... and here we are." Her little video introduction is about how baking is a stress relief from her bigshot job. Her decorations tend to be abstract and gorgeous rather than cutesy.

Kamet, likewise, was nagged into applying by Laela, but she very cleverly framed it as she wanted to apply and wanted him to do it to for moral support. both were confident the other would get in and surprised that they did themselves. This is one of those series where everyone's friendships are immediate and obvious and super adorable (cast of series 10 my beloved...), and in particular these two are holding hands in episode 1. Laela's deep blue robe from TaT sticks in my head for whatever reason so I imagine her making an elaborate blue peacock cake or something one week that wins her star baker. somebody always does a peacock something and it's always impressiev.

Phresine is cool as a cucumber under pressure, always has lovely things to say about everyone else's bakes, and is the go-to last-minute helper because she usually comes in under the time. Irene starts out similar but as the weeks go by she starts to feel the pressure a bit more and cuts it a bit close. Sophos is the worst on timings, and mentions his wife at least once an episode. (I also played with him being single on the show and meeting Helen later through Irene and Eugenides, but this idea is too cute to pass up tbh.) Teleus lives with Relius, a fact that isn't mentioned until a few weeks in when he comments that Relius likes a recipe or gave him an idea for a flavor or something (Relius does not bake himself but will happily sample practice bakes), to the surprised delight of every viewer whose favorite contestant is the oldest gay in any given series (me, me, that person is me).

Costis tends to use a lot of chocolate and, as I said, pretty "classic" flavors--one of those people who makes a full English savory bake at some point. He's usually in the top half of the competition but doesn't get the top until one of the later weeks in the competition, which is a Honey themed week, and he absolutely nails it. The delicate decorations of his honey nut cakes and his use of honeycomb are particularly praised and that's the week he gets star baker. One of those bakers who flirts with elimination the first few weeks but noticeably improves over the course of the show.

My most, like, plot-y ideas are about Kamet (SHOCKER). I imagine he was born in Setra (I usually make Setra a non-autonomous region in my AUs) but arrived in Britain as a child due to [Unspecified Crisis] and ended up with foster dad Jeffa, who was roughly from the same region but not Setra itself; whenever Kamet wanted Setran food as a kid, Jeffa would take him to the library to find recipes and that was what sparked his love of baking. He's well-read on the subject and knows about foods from a lot of different cultures, so he's usually heard of the technical challenges even if he hasn't made or eaten them. He does a lot of fusion flavors, and is ALL ABOUT bread week.

I don't usually make the his-relationship-with-Nahuseresh-is-romantic leap in modern AUs but I think it works for this one because of the nature of the format--Nahuseresh doesn't actually appear on camera but is alluded to once or twice, ends up being Very Displeased that Kamet is doing something for himself, and during the week following Laela's elimination they have the fight that makes Kamet realizes this is actually a terrible relationship and he needs to leave now. He calls Laela to let her know what's up and mentions that, since he'll need to stay in a motel and has presumbly lost his job as a secretary (yeah working for your boyfriend is Bad, he's realized that now), he's going to have to drop out of the show. Laela, despite living in a studio flat without room to host him, immediately thinks "um fuck that" and calls Costis, and within an hour Costis and Aris and a few rugby buddies have moved all of Kamet's things into Costis and Aris's flat, where Costis insists that he'll squeeze into Aris's room (they've shared before, it's fine) and that Kamet gets first dibs on the kitchen for all bake off practices.

None of them actually reveal any of this to the show's producers. Kamet gets a little overwhelmed the following week and nearly walks away from the tent, but Costis jumps in to keep his bake from being ruined, and some soothing words from Irene + the hosts calm him down and he returns to finish. The only mention of the Drama comes in the finale, during the longer video clips they do on each of the contestants. Kamet is deliberately vague about the details of the situation, but Aris shows up in both Costis's and Kamet's videos and references the fact that having TWO flatmates in the bake off is a bit difficult because they only have a standard size kitchen, so he hasn't cooked for himself in a month and has been living off cake and savory breads. one of the hosts talks to Kamet in the tent after that clip is shown and he still won't talk about it in more detail, but says that he wanted to tell people so they could appreciate why Costis hasn't practiced as much the last few weeks (the judges scolded him for winging it a couple of times), and admits that he totally copied some of Costis's techniques for honey week based on watching him at home.

I imagine the finale task is something like an illusion cake--probably with a bunch of additional required elements because the show has been going bonkers with the finale showstoppers in the newer seasons--and Irene wins with a jewelry box containing, among other things, ruby earrings made out of candy. Kamet does a stepwell, and Costis does something architectural (I was thinking castle but something visibly Greek-ish so maybe a temple or a megaron? idk). Irene wins but they're all BFFs and that's obvious, so everyone's delighted for her. The little montage at the end reveals that Irene + Gen are expecting twins, that everybody hangs out all the time, and that Costis + co recently helped Kamet move into his own flat where he's now working on a novel (Immakuk and Ennikar inspired, obvi, leaning heavily on the honey-shared-on-the-road thing and including some recipes that actually work in the narration, albeit still written in an ancient-novel-like-way).

[Obviously not part of the show, but when Kamet mentions that it's time for him to look for his own place, Costis tries to v awkwardly invite him to stay forever and Kamet is like "nope I've got to try this on my own but yes we will go on a date once I've moved out and see how it goes from there."]

[This is so far beyond the scope of the show but also several of them go on to have more baking-related careers and have active social media presences and at one point they're all hanging out and Eugenides pulls out a camera and demands they all produce baking pick-up lines. Teleus refuses and also doesn't believe anyone knows baking pick-up lines off the top of their head or could make them up on the spot. Sophos sort of proves him right by coming up with "you're the apple of my pie," which Eugenides instantly mocks because Sophos's three greatest loves are baking, Helen, and poetry, and that's the best he can do? Helen comes up with "I like my cake the way I like my men--rich, sweet, and bright red," to which Sophos blushes on cue. Irene's is "when I'm with you, I feel like chocolate heated to 50 degrees--I struggle to maintain my temper." Eugenides protests this is more like an anti-pickup line. Irene insists this is the most accurate marriage-related baking pun anyone could ever come up with.

[Laela's is "You and I are like custard--I hope we never split." Kamet's is "You remind me of bread, because I knead you." Costis freezes for a minute and finally comes up with "Fancy a cream horn?" which produces a lot of giggling and makes Kamet slap his arm in such a way that, hen Eugenides posts this video to instagram, fans of the show all go WAIT ARE THEY DATING NOW] [by this point, yes they are] [I didn't even have to google baking pickup lines for this, guys, I legit came up with them on my own, please clap.]

am I obsessed? I might be obsessed

#queen's thief #attolia irene #kamet #costis ormentiedes #sophos #eugenides #teleus #eddis helen #laela #oh dear I bet her tag is virtually unsearchable #sorry laela

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seafoamreadings · 3 years

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week of april 18th, 2021

aries: the ending of aries season for this year arrives in the midst of a busy week. in some respects you may be too busy to even notice the shift. but meanwhile, your ruler mars is moving into the sign of the crab, and taking on a lunar, soft tone. focus your attentions on your home and your heart.

taurus: this week brings on taurus season which makes for a change of pace you’ll probably appreciate. on the other hand, it brings on a bunch of uranian activity with it. uranus has at least been in your sign so long that it’s not such a foreign concept to you anymore. but don’t forget that saturn square uranus is the overarching theme of this year. so while all these conjunctions occur to uranus in your sign, compensate for the way saturn might be feeling in this strange wrestling match by embracing responsibility and taking good care of your skeletal system.

gemini: your ruler mercury is one of the busiest planets this week. it is a busy week with or without him, but he is up to much. early on in the week he moves into taurus, your 12th house by sign, and so he operates almost in the background. this can result in spiritual jitters for you, though, so just be prepared to remind yourself that all things are temporary.

cancer: it has been said that cancer is the sign you want on your side in the event of a crisis situation, due to your calm demeanor and ability to handle any unruly atmosphere, not that you’re a fan of doing so. this week is not necessarily a time of crisis, but it will feel like it to some of your friends. do be there for them.

leo: people often mistakenly assume all leos must be extroverts. many are, but obviously such generalizations are never completely correct. nevertheless this week’s astrology makes it a good time to at least pretend to be an extrovert and/or embrace your extrovert side. while introspection is often extremely beneficial to you, this week is meant for experiencing external stimuli.

virgo: while such a busy mercury would often frazzle a virgoan, this week you actually fare much better than the average gemini (your fellow mercurial sign) due to the heavy support from both earth and water. actually, it may make you feel over-grounded. if you find that’s the case, keep the fire element around you when your energy ebbs - light a candle or soak up the (now earthy taurus) sun outside.

libra: there is a venusian quality to this week which will suit you nicely, in spite of the almost-stifling lack of air element. fragrance does magic this week. a particularly auspicious action is bringing in some flowers, especially if you pick them yourself and especially if they have a strong aroma. but floral perfumes or simply good home cooking can do the trick as well.

scorpio: the recent plutonic activity dies down this week and gives way to a saturnine quality. in some ways that will work nicely for you since last week was characterized by so many pluto squares. but you’re likely not a very saturnine creature, so some adjustment is required. have a big stretch from time to time as this is good for your physical body, now even more so than normally.

sagittarius: in all of this week’s hubbub there is not a single major aspect to your jovial ruler. in a sense this can give you almost a free pass to slip under the radar of most of the activity. but don’t forget that every aspect this week does happen *somewhere* in your chart and if you are too careless (or careful), the universe can notice that too. live therefore with authenticity and integrity.

capricorn: no capricorn would be foolish enough to think that saturn moving into aquarius meant they were getting away with something. you know you just have new types of lessons to integrate now. how are those going? take stock this week as saturn and uranus, the main themes of 2021, toil away with the other planets now.

aquarius: your modern ruler uranus is busy toward the beginning/middle of the week, and your ancient ruler saturn is squared twice in the later part of the week. they are almost conflicting energies, and yet this year they learn to operate gracefully in tandem. we are several months into the process now - can you reconcile saturn themes with uranus themes within yourself?

pisces: jupiter in pisces is yet a little ways off. but he’s close enough to your sign that, subconsciously, you can feel the time approaching, like rumblings deep under the ocean of atlantis preparing to resurface. watch your dreams for prophecy.

#horoscopes #weekly horoscope #astrology #transits #zodiac #signs #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces

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sweetea-rosey · 3 years

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Orange Theories (This is a lot of Series analysis explaining the theories)

Part 1

Name- Thomas and the other seem to go with names based off of Roman mythology. Logan and Patton being an exception, being based off of the greek Logos and Pathos.

So- the greek god of war is Aries and the Roman god of war is Mars. So, my two top name theories are 'Marshal' and 'Aaron.'

Alternately, the Greek goddess of rage Lyssa/Lytta- which leaves room for names such as Lyle or Lyon (which would be a cool route to go- it sounds like Lion, an animal known for pride. And ignoring this being Roman's trait, those who have the sin of pride over taking them often lash out when that's threatened.)

As to his relationship with the others...I feel that he would be Logan's opposite. Logan wouldn't like him much, at least. Anger is irrational and has the ability to blind someone- to block out logic.

You could argue that Virgil would be like this, too, but if you think about it, fear has the ability to be calmed down with logic- Virgil never blocked him out. In the debate they had, Virgil didn't want to participate, and granted, his views were irrational. But even Logan admitted that Virgil followed some logical forms of thinking- he had reasons for his doubts. And, even then, if he, himself, didn't listen to Logan, he never stopped Thomas from doing so. He let Logan say his piece and calm Thomas down. He and Logan worked together.

Another piece, is that Remus would be Logan's opposite. He's chaotic and random, he doesn't follow a line of logic and he's irrational...or is he? Remus spouts random nonsense half the time, but he's never very wrong, is he?

"I didn't make him throw the baby, I merely gave him a baby...and a large... sharp knife..."

Doesn't that make sense? Yes, he's random, "ERECT! Remember that... erection medicine?"

But, that was because Logan said "Erect."

He works based off of word association (it's not the time for word association games.)

Certain words trigger Remus' train of thought. We do it all the time, just because it's not clean doesn't make it illogical. If someone says "red" you think if the the color or something you know that has the word associated with it.

When Remus hears "erect" he thinks "erection" and something that has the word associated with it.

Logan likes word association games because they're logical and make sense.

Not to mention, he's technically everyone's opposite. He's immoral, brutally honest, brave and extroverted, chaotic.

He's not even Roman's opposite. Roman's opposite is Virgil; fear.

So, Remus is a wild card. He identifies as "Intrusive thoughts" and "Dark Creativity". But even Roman admitted that Creativity follows some form of Logic, otherwise they would be random and that's never funny (demonstrated by Patton.) And the twins are just two sides of the same coin.

Furthermore, if you look at the series, so far, the Light Sides have an arch of having to learn how to deal with and accept their opposites.

The series can be broken up into two seasons; Anxiety and Deceit.

Anxiety: Roman has to learn Virgil's importance to the group and accept him as a helpful part of Thomas.

Confidence;Doubt Bravery;Fear

Deceit; Patton has to learn that being selfish is okay, sometimes, and that Deceit does, have some beneficial contributions.

Honesty;Lying Generosity;Selfishness

Remus never got such an arch, he was thrown into the middle of Janus' as a result of Thomas not taking care of himself. Remus is a result of deminishing mental health. I imagine he's more of a wild card, just showing up every now and then to mess with the others.

Logan had no problem with Remus. He never recognized him as a threat and he just camly dealt with him.

So, that makes the next step or "season" to be about Logan's rival.

Rage blocks out Logic. It often doesn't make sense, especially in the heat of the moment. It only makes things worse and you causes people to often forget why they're so angry. They forget logic, only registering rage at something.

I predict that the next normal SS episode will be the beginning of season 3; Rage.

Irrational;Reasonable Passionate;Cool

Energy;Calm

Patton's gonna not like him. He'll believe that he ruins relationships and causes Thomas to be mean. (I.e. when he got upset because Thomas deamed his friends as effable.)

Janus is gonna try to convince them that anger can be okay. That it's important to let yourself be angry at others, seeing as it's recognizing your own worth and importance and recognizing and validating how you were hurt and allows yourself to work through that pain; because you acknowledge its presence and impact.

Logan would try to help, but Rage would make nonsensical arguments that Logan doesn't know how to logically dispute. Y'know those times when you know something is wrong, but they say it in a way they sounds viable and you don't know where to start unwinding it? Yeah.

Rage would probably support Roman (my poor boy- the dark sides keep picking on him-)

He'd tell Roman that his anger at the others is justified and that he deserves an apology. This is getting into Pride!Roman territory. But, I don't think Thomas and the team would do that. It would be more like- Roman is hurt, tired, and confused. At the beginning of Rage's arch, he'd be fed up with feeling like he can't do anything right by the lightsides. And then having to be friends with someone who was only using him. So, he'd side with the anger who'd be telling him that he's valid and that his feelings matter, too.

And, I think Rage would believe it. He wouldn't just be using Roman, he'd really be friends with him, because he knows/thinks that Roman's anger is justified.

And, again, Remus is a wild card. All the side will probably have their ups and down with him.

Virgil would probably side with Patton and be bitter at Roman for backing him.

I think this would be the last of the dark sides, and then it would shift into working on personal issues.

Roman's insecurity and relationship with Remus. Logan's emotional isolation, Janus and Virgil's trust issues and violent relationship and Virgil's life with them, Patton's emotional suppression, ect.

#sanders sides #roman sanders #roman angst #logan sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #orange side theory #orange side #Rage!Orange #sanders sides theory #Thomas Sanders

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wrxn-blxkely · 3 years

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Wren Blakely; MARCH HOROSCOPES ↳ Star Seer issue #1

To those who’ve asked and to the others that didn’t there will be a three page booklet, handmade by Wren, tapped to the doorways of each house here at camp. It is a simple black aesthetics with hand doodles of constellations along with with the moon cycle of the month. You open the first page to read---

“Greeting demigods, creatures, man or beast I welcome you to your first step towards the cosmic light and the introduction to what the stars whisper about above. I know after what feels like a year of retrogrades and eclipses we get to usher in this season with a gentle cleansing of our fishly sister, Pisces. As Pisces is now in command, the sign of spirituality, gentleness, forgiveness, and compassion. She’s ready to help us mend our hearts and smooth our jagged edges and feel less quilty about that midnight pint of icecream we had. Are you willing to heal? Do you need a hug this month? Now is a time to take a second and process the powerful changes that has happened at the start of this year and exhale...This month is a month to be reminded of our compassions as the new and full moons activate loving Venus, dreamy Neptune, and healing Chiron. Look up to the sky and open your arms...you’ll be surprised who’s there to embrace you if you do. “

ARIES: This month begins with the sun in a spiritual and reflective zone until your day in march. Last month was fairly hectic, but the coming weeks bring a chance to mull over all that has happened, come to some conclusions, find some answers, and tie up loose ends. Maybe big news about your birthright has shaken you up or maybe you’ve been searching for other answers and they are on the tip of your tongue. This month as Mars your ruler passes through Gemini, take a page from their book and meditate on the questions you seek. Journaling might not be your pace but reflection can stick longer if you spend the time to write it down.

TAURUS: The sun and friendly Venus in your social sector bring opportunities for greater connection and linking up with kindred spirits. The weeks until the twentieth are perfect for reaching out to others who share your ideas and morals, their good sign that it’s your time to step out and make connections. There’s a new moon on the 13th that speaks of harmony, maybe this is a chance to take those first steps towards those big dreams of yours. You don’t need to do it alone! (even if you normally want to) Pisces is the time to lean on those who you call your family or friends, let some gentleness in compared to your stubborn style.

GEMINI: This month is your month to sieze what you want and try not to pussyfoot around it, this is your chance to showcase your best assets and let others see you in action. Both Mercury and Mars are pulling strongly in your sign this month; mercury in Pisces on the 15th,you’ll have more of a platform to share your ideas and opinions & Mars on the 3rd giving you a bit more energy in your various interest. Don’t waste that, let all the thoughts and ideas and concerns be let loos this month. Pisces is the sign of forgiveness so don’t worry if that tongue of yours steps on a few toes (better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?)

CANCER: You might be ready to try something new. This month encourages you to be bold and step out of your comfort zone. If you feel limited by your beliefs, this is the time to think outside the box. Mars & Venus heavily influence this month, this blend of energies can gift you with the charm and people skills to take things to the next level. In addition, reaching out to those on your wavelength might strike up new connections you weren’t expecting.

LEO: You’re on a roll, and it looks like being around other people is helping you get your act together. “The more the merrier” may have been your motto last month. However, this month, you might need some quiet time to reflect on all that has happened and draw a few conclusions. This month the sun is influencing your more private zones of you Leo, Mercury and Mars are both in opposite elements of you. Learn from Pisces this month and embrace the quiet, meditate, take a moment to reflect. Life isn’t always a party sometimes you’ll need to spend time cleaning up to look forward to the next.

VIRGO: Slow moving sun and a sultry Venus, is an opportunity to iron out any wrinkles in your life right now. If you and your partner, friend, or lovers have had any issues, this is a good time to look more deeply into them and find a compromise that works for both of you. Likwise, with a focus on the dreamy sign of Pisces this month, it can also be about defining the relationship and your role within it. Ask your what are we, where am I going, who do I want to be this month. You might be surprised by the answers but you can’t control anything until you can define it...isn’t that right Virgo?

LIBRA: Are you ready to learn something new, Libra? Assertive Mars moves into lively Gemini on March 3, so your curiosity could ramp up. You might find training that are relevant to your current needs and be eager to enroll. You might also be drawn to join new hobbies or be taught by someone who interests you. New information can be your fix and you could get hooked, so be careful with casting too wide of a net. This month is less about being a jack of all trade but more of a devout student to a new craft. Now learning something new doesn’t always need to have a purpose, reminder that Venus is strong this month and shines brightly on you Libra. Perhaps this month you can learn a few things more intimately if you care to....

SCORPIO: Scorpio, the coming weeks are perfect for enjoying life whenever you have the opportunity. And if you have creative talents, this period is helpful for making the most of them. Your water sister Pisces influences dreams and creativity, take a moment to tap into that and let yourself benefit from it. This month is the calm before the storm, as the follow month will intensify affecting your finances, deep-seated emotions, or patterns that are hidden from view. Armed with this information, you can begin to make changes and prepare.

SAGITTARIUS: The month begins with the sun, lovely Venus, and ethereal Neptune in shinning in your chart. You may find yourself in a contemplative mood, and it would pay to take time out to enjoy some nurturing. This could be on a physical as well as a mental and emotional level. If you are searching for specific nurturing pay attention to the a full moon on March 28, feelings could surface, and you and others may be edgier than usual. But there is also the potential to clear the air and perhaps share more romantic feelings if you’re ready. Pisces allows everyone to search the depths of themselves, I encourage you to explore those depths with someone else beside you.

CAPRICORN: Venus is harmonious with you this month over speech and thought. Which means this is a good time for all kinds of negotiations, meetings, and connecting with others who share your goals and interests. Be thorough this month, more than you naturally are, as Pisces being such a dreamy sign, it would pay to examine the fine print in some depth. Don’t leave anything to chance. Use this month to seize what you want and not to leave anything to chance.

AQUARIUS: There continues to be a strong emphasis on your sign this month since the start of this year was a coming of an age...and with that come plenty of opportunities to kick-start your favorite plans and projects. However, with the sun in poking around in your wealth along with sweet Venus and dreamy Neptune, your thoughts may be on how you can better manage your money. You might have the urge to give it away or spend it on pampering treats, and both are fine as long as you can still pay the bills and have enough left over for unexpected expenses. Money can buy you dreams but be wise and remind yourself of your future this month.

PISCES: As the month gets underway, the sun continues in your sign along with luscious Venus and dreamy Neptune. The first three weeks could find you eager to express yourself and focus on those plans and projects that resonate with your nature and purpose. The more you do what you love to do, the happier you can be. Like many signs the first full moon of this month screams new beginnings...so be sure to use this opportunity for a fresh start. This lunar phase is the best of the year for you. It’s a good time to set your intentions for the coming months, begin wholesome habits, and get moving on your biggest plans.

#;{ astrology }#;{ astrology!shit }#;{ camp!horoscope }#;{ mine }

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drakesroyalromance · 4 years

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I’m the Bad Guy (duh)

Summary: Emma has an accident the morning after her engagement to Drake in the safehouse that turns everyone’s world upside down. Nothing will be the same, no matter how hard Drake tries.

Catch up here!

Pairing: Drake x MC (Emma Barnes), Liam x MC

Rating: Let’s say R.

Author’s note: Firstly, even though this isn’t related to the fic per se, @mind-reader1 and I wanted to tell you guys that we are currently not playing Choices. Neither of us are okay with the way they’ve been acting in regards to BLM and how they treat characters of colour in general. Both of us have also messaged Choices in-app and told them that we want concrete action or we stop supporting them. We encourage you to do the same. Here’s a post that can help. You can also message either of us if you want some help on deciding what to say. Here are the links to a few people who’re doing great work by providing art in exchange for donations - x, x, x. Please tag me in any art you commission by donating, especially if it includes Drake lol. Additionally, if you want to be a better ally, then do yourself a favour and message @mind-reader1. She’ll provide you with some excellent resources. And she’s a trained counsellor, so trust me when I say she knows what she’s talking about.

Secondly, a reminder that this fic deals with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI.) If this is triggering for you, please don’t read this fic. This is the last time there’s going to be a TW for this.

If you’re just here for the fic and had to skim through all of that, I’m sorry. Without further ado:

Tag list: Drake x MC: @aries-light

@notoriouscs

This fic: @marshmallowsandfire @twinkle-320 @ravenpuff02 @ac27dj @silverofdreams @katedrakeohd

Chapter 5, part 1: Bad reputation

Drake really didn’t want to ask Maxwell for help, he felt terrible, emotionally and physically, and Maxwell was a lot to handle at times. Drake wasn’t sure when the last time he had eaten was. Not that it mattered - he’d thrown it all up at the hospital and palace. He was determined to do something though and Maxwell felt like the best option.

They approached his door and heard Maxwell singing along to a collection of sad ballads, apparently Emma had crushed him when she didn’t like his welcome home balloons. Drake had warned him that Emma wasn’t the same, but Maxwell was ever optimistic and hopeful, and got his heart crushed.

“Maxwell?” Liam knocked and cautiously opened the door. Maxwell was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, a wad of tissues surrounding him.

“Emma hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you Maxwell, you’re one of her best friends.” Drake tried to reassure him but it felt like a lie. Emma very well could hate Maxwell now, he had no idea.

“I think she was just overwhelmed, Maxwell.” Liam also made an attempt to comfort him. Maxwell sniffled.

[[MORE]]

“Listen, Maxwell, I, um. I need your help.”

Maxwell sniffled again, sitting up to look at Drake.

“Why? She’ll think anything I come up with is stupid and childish!”

“Maxwell, this isn’t you. The Maxwell I know would do anything to help his best friends be happy again. You were Emma’s first friend here, you were her biggest supporter during the social season. You even made Drake, the biggest grump of them all, one of your best friends. The Maxwell I know wouldn’t give up so easily.” Liam offered a small smile to accompany his words and Maxwell nodded, jumping off the bed.

“You’re right! I’m Maxwell Beaumont! What do you need help with Drake?”

Drake was relieved Maxwell bounced back so quickly, he truly had high hopes for Maxwell’s ideas.

“Emma..she doesn’t love me anymore.” He felt his throat closing up, he was choking on the words, they felt acrid on his tongue. He could see Maxwell trying to contain his emotions, he appreciated it.

“What?”

“When she hit her head, the doctor said there might be changes. It’s like I told you before we got here. I guess that’s one of the..changes.” Drake cleared his throat, watching Liam as he awkwardly looked at the floor.

“Okay,” Maxwell paused, looking pensive. Then suddenly his face lit up. “The Vow!”

“The what?”

“Have you ever seen The Vow?” Both Liam and Drake shake their heads.

“How are we friends? We’re having a movie night and watching it ASAP.”

“Maxwell, focus.” Drake says impatiently.

“Right. Okay, so, this couple is in a car accident. When his wife wakes up, she doesn’t remember anything about him.”

Drake interrupts, “Emma remembers everything, Maxwell. She just doesn’t care!”

He wished that she didn’t remember, the idea that she had forgotten felt less painful than Emma changing her mind, then Emma falling in love with his best friend just hours after agreeing to marry him.

“Okay.” Maxwell kept his voice even and soft, “It’s the same idea though, right? In The Vow, Channing Tatum makes Rachel McAdams fall in love with him all over again.”

Drake groaned and dragged a hand down his face. “This isn’t Hollywood Maxwell, this is our real lives!”

“The Vow is based off of a true story! It has to work, Drake! You and Emma have a beautiful love story, it’s gonna work. You just have to make her fall in love with you again. Let’s recreate some of your best romantic moments! Start thinking! When did you really begin to fall for Emma?”

Maxwell’s idea actually had some merit. Despite pushing Emma away, she’d managed to fall in love with him, so it should be easier when he’s actually trying. Right?

“What do you need from us Drake?” Liam broke him out of his thoughts. He was looking Drake right in the eye. He could see how much it hurt Liam too, but here he was, willing to help.

“Well, the first moment I can think of happened in the Beaumont study.” Drake didn’t want to share more details, he didn’t want to make Liam uncomfortable, but Maxwell probed, “what? In our house? What happened there?”

“We had our first kiss there,” Drake reluctantly shared.

“You had your first kiss the same day I took her on our first date?” Liam asked. Drake awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“We can’t get her to the estate without it seeming suspicious, would Liam’s study work?” Maxwell suggested, changing the topic for which Drake felt grateful. Drake could see Liam repress a flinch, probably imagining worst case scenarios. Neither Emma nor Drake had the heart to tell him just how long their..affair had been going on behind his back, but the cat was out of the bag now.

“I couldn’t.”

“It’s fine with me. Will it work, Drake?” Liam’s voice was strained, his jaw tight. Drake just nodded.

“Then let’s get to work!” Maxwell grinned.

Emma was getting ready for the day when there was a knock on the door, followed by Maxwell poking his head in.

“Oh, good, you’re already up, little blossom. This dress somehow accidentally found its way to my room. It was the one you wore to the Beaumont Bash. You should wear it today!”

Emma raised her eyebrow at him, something about his behavior felt off. Besides, Maxwell never suggested Emma re-wear a dress.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I was just feeling nostalgic is all.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but took the dress and decided to wear it, Maxwell did have great taste.

“Thanks.” She was expecting him to leave but she could sense him hovering in the doorway. “Is there something else?” she snapped.

“I think there was something about paperwork that needed to be signed for your duchy. It’s probably in Liam’s office if you want to see.”

She nodded and Maxwell slipped out.

Drake paced back and forth in Liam’s study, waiting for Emma to arrive. He was terrified, his stomach twisting and turning in knots. There was no reason Emma wouldn’t show up. Whether she would stay or not, however, was debatable.

Minutes felt like hours. Maxwell promised he would send Emma over. Their plan was pretty hard to screw up, but it was Maxwell.

Just as he had this thought, he heard her soft knock on the door and mentally apologized to Maxwell. He sucked in a breath. She was here. He needed to calm down, he couldn’t look like a blubbering idiot, she’d tear him apart. Breathe.

“Come in.”

She swept into the room and Drake lost his breath again. She was wearing the same dress as that night. No doubt Maxwell’s doing. Drake wasn’t prepared for that though, he could feel himself being wrenched back in time.

“I thought I was here to sign papers? What is this?” Her voice was cold and just like that, Drake was back in the present. He cleared his throat.

“Um, yeah, right here. Liam’s busy.”

She walked over to the desk and Drake came up behind her, his breath hot on her neck as he leaned over to show her where to sign. He could see the goosebumps rise on her skin, at least she still had some kind of a reaction to him.

“Do you remember that night in the Beaumont study together?”

She turned to face him, her lips just inches from his. His body trembled, aching to touch her.

“We found the money for Savannah.” She whispered.

“And I had a hand on your waist like this.” He slowly placed his hand on her waist, giving her time to move away if she wanted to. Pressing her body to his, he prayed she couldn’t feel the tremble. Drake could see her chest stop rising and falling. She was holding her breath, so he continued.

“Then I tangled my hand in your hair and you did the same.” He did just that, tilting her head back so all he needed to do was close the distance between them. Her hands snaked into his hair and Drake’s heart soared. It was working.

“You told me that it was a bad idea. That there was no us.” She breathed out.

“And then you said ‘what about what I want?’ That was it, I was done for, before our lips even touched.” He whispered against her lips before committing to it. He tightened his grip on her waist, adjusting his hand in her hair so his lips fit perfectly against hers. He moaned as she tightened her grip on his hair, but then it was rough, too rough.

She yanked his head back by his hair, forcing him away from her. He involuntarily twisted to loosen her grip on him. She let go and smoothed out her dress. Crossing her arms and popping out her hip, she stared at him. If looks could kill, Drake would be dead right then and there. It was somehow scarier than any look Olivia had ever given him.

“Was this your big idea? Try to seduce me with memories of us? Hope that true love’s kiss would somehow make me fall madly in love with you and we’d live happily ever after?” She mocked.

“You said it yourself that night, there is no us. You had it right the first time, Drake,” she continued.

Drake could have sworn he saw the venom leave her lips with every word. She’d played him for a fool, a lovesick fool.

#drake x mc #drake walker #the royal romance #the royal romance fanfic #trr #trr fanfic #choices #choices fanfic #playchoices #pixelberry #pb #my writing

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snarkywrites · 3 years

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December Horoscopes: Game Changer

We have made it to the last round of 2020, a time to put everything that was learned to the test because Saturn is about to exit Capricorn and enter its two year transit in the sign of Aquarius. For many of us, 2020 has been a tough year and we have been put through trials with all of these transits. Now as we get closer to the end, we are deep into eclipse season in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius, the beginning of more eclipses to come with this Mutable duo. The month begins with the Lunar Eclipse in Gemini from November 30th, impacting us for the next several weeks (or months). The Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on the 14th will have us all wanting to pursue some spiritual topics. We will be in touch with our higher mind and be motivated to learn. Sagittarius is the teacher for some and philosopher to others. It can be a jester at heart, but it is a sign that is inclined to pursue the realm of philosophy. Expect a month of reflection, even when Venus enters Sagittarius on the 15th. What we value will be analyzed as well as how we view our own self-worth. On the 17th, Saturn leaves Capricorn and begins its reign in Aquarius. Cardinal signs will rejoice while Fixed signs prepare. Things get slightly more interesting when Jupiter enters Aquarius on the 19th and both planets will conjoin on the 21st. This conjunction is a transit filled with growth, optimism, and enthusiasm for succeeding; an excellent energy needed to enter the year 2021. The Sun enters Capricorn on the 21st as well, giving a serious tone to the end of the month. Everything will close out with the Full Moon in Cancer on the 29th. It will be an intense period, but it is appropriate to have the peaceful, nurturing and caring energy of the Moon in Cancer ready to bid adieu to this intense and challenging 2020.

Aries – As a Cardinal sign, you are most likely excited that we have made it this far. With Mercury moving into Sagittarius on December 1st, you are ready to let the world know just how you feel and with the energy of the Full Moon in Gemini still in play, there is no biting of the tongue for you. Remember not to be too blunt, even if you are in the right. This month is about patience. The Empress appears in your reading for the month, reminder to not be afraid to tap into that divine feminine energy that you might have neglected. This is a period of healing and devoting time to forgive yourself. The Solar Eclipse on the 14th in Sagittarius will leave you feeling quite inspired to pursue your goals and dreams. As a fellow fire sign, you resonate with the lessons here as you set off to plan what new things you feel like learning for the upcoming new year. Venus enters Sagittarius on the 15th, making you fall in love with ideas, education, and new philosophies. This is a spiritual energy that is all about bringing the peace with hints of optimism. On the 17th, Saturn leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius, alleviating those tough times for you as you can now focus on transforming your personal connections and friendships for the next several years. Jupiter will also be changing signs on the 19th, allowing an easier flow when it comes to your view and general outlook. Finally, a major event will be the Full Moon in Cancer on the 29th. This is a time to meditate, focus on what is to come and bringing more harmony to the home. That Empress energy will follow you through the New Year.

Taurus – December will have you reflecting and analyzing your next steps. A lot will happen this month that will impact you for the next several years. One of the major shifts for Fixed signs is the transit of Saturn and Jupiter both entering Aquarius on the 17th and 19th. As a Fixed sign, this upcoming Saturn transit will be one that will help you evolve. With Uranus already in your sign, you are in for a lot of changes that lie ahead for the next several years. The Solar eclipse on the 14th is going to set the tone for what you will be focused on in the next few years. Your work ethic will be tested but this will not be stopping you as long as you understand your limits. On the following day, the 15th, Venus enters the sign of Sagittarius also moving your focus on self-care and changes in your health routine. 2021 will have you driven and in top shape. On the 20th and 21st, Mercury and the Sun enter the sign of Capricorn, which is an enlightening transit for you as you prepare to take a course you have been interested in or learn more about subjects in school. Either way, you are in it for some growth and understanding. In December, you are The Star, a very Aquarian card that can also relate to the changes currently happening to your sign. All your work and effort will be taken into account. Things might be shifting quickly but you should just take things as slow and steady and remember to breathe in when things are beyond your control.

Gemini – Geminis will be in awe as the Full Moon eclipse on the 30th of November does some numbers on your sign. This is not a bad thing; eclipse season is transformative and enlightening. It can even feel spiritual during this season, especially with Mercury entering Sagittarius on the 1st. It is a time of introspection and analysis for you. Letting for of the past will also be in your plans. You are seeing the opportunities that are presented in your horizon, especially when the Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius happens on the 14th and Venus enters the same sign on the 15th. Lots of potential and growth, lots of romance and exploration. This is a month that will surely keep you on your toes. Saturn and Jupiter change signs on the 17th and 19th. Another major moment as you see fellow Air Signs taking the helm now with this major transit. This period is going to make you question your beliefs, ambitions, and goals. It is a challenge, but it will be worth it as you set your sights for greater things once it is over. Six of Pentacles appears in your reading, a sign you will be imparting some valuable pieces of knowledge to those around you. Sagittarius season will be a time for learning and discoveries, so it is only fair you share your wisdom with others.

Cancer – The King of Wands Reversed is in your reading for the month, a sign you need to keep your eyes on the prize. The last two years have probably worn you down, but you have grown and felt more empowered by it, like your other fellow Cardinal signs. On the 30th of November, the Full Moon in Gemini will serve as a reminder that you need to recharge your batteries and if that didn’t settle in the first time, the Solar Eclipse on the 14th, in Sagittarius will be another reminder to take things easy and make changes to your habits. On the 17th and 19th, Saturn and Jupiter will finally leave the Cardinal grip and enter the Fixed sign Aquarius. You will probably be feeling the excitement around that time because these planets are no longer in Capricorn and they will not be in aspect to your sun, moon or rising. Your focus now will be on working through letting go of the past, but you have the mindset to continue to fight and succeed in what you set your sights on. Mercury and the Sun enter Capricorn on the 20th and 21st, making you feel more relationship focused on this time. You might want to reconnect with friends, an ex-lover or start a new romance. One transit that will keep you on your toes will be the Full Moon in your sign on the 29th. This will be a closing of a chapter that was probably initiated a few years back or earlier in the Summer. Either way, it is a reflective period where you will see how much you have changed and who you have become.

Leo – It is eclipse season and this upcoming one on the 14th in Sagittarius will be a beautiful one for you. It will be a time for reconnecting or initiating some new romances if you are single. On the 15th, magic will be in the air for you as Venus also enters the sign of Sagittarius and it would not hurt to have a little fun by either treating yourself or just doing Venus related things like a spa day or just resting. The King of Pentacles is your card for this month, in command and in control. Fixed signs will be looking forward to the 17th and 19th of December, as Saturn finally changes back into the sign of Aquarius. You have already experienced a bit of what Aquarius had in store for you back in the Spring. We will now be experiencing this transit full time until 2023, so expect the next couple of years to be very crucial for you. This is the evolutionary period for your fellow fixed signs. The Sun enters Capricorn on the 21st, a time that will briefly echo the Saturn in Capricorn transit. You will be focused on work and taking care of yourself and might even think back to what you have gone through in the last few years. The nostalgic period is amplified when the Full Moon in Cancer graces us on the 29th of December. A perfect way to close the year with this beautiful water sign, giving us a calming peaceful energy that is needed as we enter the new year.

Virgo – With the Page of Cups as your card for the month, you are entering an exciting phase. Saturn in Capricorn has brought things down a bit for you when it comes to your romantic life. If you are single, this will be the time where you can start to meet new people. Saturn and Jupiter move into Aquarius on the 17th and 19th and will meet up for an epic conjunction on the 21st the same day the Sun enters Capricorn. You might feel starry eyed and ready to take the plunge because everything will be rosy colored for you now that you are free from the ties of Saturn in Capricorn. The Solar Eclipse on the 14th will be pivotal for you, as you will experience changes in your immediate environment as well as school or work. No need to be afraid, changes are needed to help us evolve into our next kick ass form. The last year has been a challenge for everyone and you have worked through it all with patience that has made you stand out to those in charge. Keep up the good work. If you have slacked, this will be a good time to redeem yourself. Overall, the month is filled with many opportunities for work and success especially now that Saturn will be in Aquarius. On the 29th, the Full Moon in Cancer will bring you a happy vibe as you can spend time with friends and family over zoom or if you are already living with them, you can experience a joyful time together this holiday season.

Libra – The Full Moon in Gemini on November 30th will be a doozy for you and fellow air signs. You can feel the changes in the air as we all get ready for the big planet Saturn, to move into new waters. With Justice Reversed as your card for the month, you are ready to experience those karmic conclusions and this Full Moon will be eye opening for you. The Solar eclipse on the 14th will make you more communicative, allowing you to reach out to people and being in your chatty element. This is a great time for creatives to set new goals and begin some fun projects for the next six months. On the 15th, Venus enters the sign of Sagittarius as well, giving you more of an imaginative boost, masked in romance. You will be able to charm anyone during this time. Major changes with Saturn and Jupiter will begin on the 17th and 19th when the giants change signs into Aquarius. You will be dancing with joy since things will no longer feel as stressful compared with the Capricorn transit. This can be a period where you might begin to feel a bit more relaxed. The Jupiter and Saturn conjunction on the 21st, will have you feeling emotional about the people and relationships in your life, in a good way. Expect to feel appreciative and just an overwhelming sense of content. The month ends with the Full Moon in Cancer, illuminating your career house and you will see the results of your efforts around this time.

Scorpio – A momentous time for you will be the Full Moon eclipse in the sign of Cancer on the 29th which will serve as an empowering time where you get ready to make choices that will transform you for the next several years. With the Knight of Cups in your reading for the month, it will be a time for lighthearted moments and romance. You are in a very relaxed state, even with the Full Moon Eclipse in the sign of Gemini on November 30th, making you wonder how to make more empowering moves that will benefit you financially. This energy follows through towards the next Full Moon transit at the end of the month. Mercury entering Sagittarius on the 1st has you thinking about making money moves and you will not be afraid to jump into terrain you were not accustomed to before when it comes to learning new things. The Solar eclipse on the 14th in Sagittarius will also provide that sense of empowerment as you set your intentions now for a more prosperous New Year. On the 15th, Venus enters the fire sign Sagittarius as well, boosting your confidence and making you carry that boss energy. The big shifts will happen on the 17th and 19th when Saturn and Jupiter enter Aquarius, respectively. This will affect your sign because these two planets are no longer in Cardinal but Fixed territory. Expect your shift in values and home for the next several years as Saturn will restructure everything around you.

Sagittarius – So close! You can feel Saturn slowly leaving the sign of Capricorn because you might have felt your finances suffering a bit. Good news is that Mercury will be entering your sign on the 1st, giving you the mental prowess to solve problems, be charming and stress people out with your words. Remember not to be too harsh and to practice a little diplomacy. Luckily, Venus enters your sign on the 15th, adding that charm and passion into your demeanor, making your words feel like honey. The Five of Cups appears in your reading, showing that you need to stop being a downer and focus on the good times. Of course, you would never let others see just how much anxiety you can have since you give off the nonchalant vibes. This New Moon Eclipse on the 14th continues your evolutionary stage, so chill out and do not let that Full Moon in Gemini keep you nervous, just continue to focus and handle your business. On the 17th, Saturn enters Aquarius, and you might feel a sigh of relief. Your focus now for the next couple of years will change to other things pertaining more to communication and not your wallet. Jupiter will be in Aquarius on the 19th, initiating a very enlightening period for you, as you will most likely tap into your higher mind and spiritual pursuits for most of 2021. You will be right in your element.

Capricorn – This is a huge month for you since we enter your birthday season. Your ruler will also be leaving your sign later this month. It begins with Mercury in Sagittarius on the 1st, an interesting counterpart to the Full Moon in Gemini on the 30th. The themes with these two revolve around you taking care of yourself if you have been neglecting it. With the Five of Swords as your card for the month, you might feel drained by conflict, so this would be the perfect time to focus on creating peace and practicing diplomacy. Saturn enters the sign of Aquarius on the 17th, a time where the pressure starts to slowly leave you. Now you can focus more on restructuring yourself atter this Saturn transit in your sign for the last several years. On the 20th, Mercury enters Capricorn, and you will be inspired and motivated to take charge with what you say and do. The Sun will also enter your sign the following day, reenergizing you after what might have felt like a brief slumber. Finally, the month closes with the Full Moon in Cancer on the 29th, where you will devote your energies to your partnerships and appreciating the people in your life who are there for you. Rest up and Happy December!

Aquarius – One of the major events this month will be Saturn entering your sign on the 17th and Jupiter will follow right behind it on the 19th. This month will be transformative for everyone and you will begin your new journey for the next few years. You already got a taste of what Saturn in your sign has to offer earlier in the year and now you get to experience it. Seeking answers, learning about yourself and finding some new philosophies will be major themes for your sign in the next few years as shown with the Page of Wands Reversed. You will have to search deep inside to learn and truly understand yourself. Luckily, Jupiter will provide some healing qualities for most of 2021. Other notable events this month for you will be the New Moon in Sagittarius on the 14th. This is another eclipse that will open your eyes on how you view the collective. Venus will also enter the sign of Sagittarius on the 15th, a time where you can feel extremely passionate for a cause or you might just want to fall in love. This holiday season will be packed with fun and notable moments that will make you appreciate the circle of friends you have. This eclipse will let you know who has your back and who does not.

Pisces – Your card for the month is the Six of Swords, depicting that this is a transitional phase for you as 2021 approaches. Saturn will now apply some pressure since it will be in your house of dreams and secrets for the next few years. 2021 will begin your period of patience and focus. This is a meditative and contemplative time and 2020 has strengthened you up just for this moment in time. The Full Moon in Gemini was on November 30th, but the energies will still be felt through this month. Topics pertaining to your home will pop up, you might feel inspired to make changes around your immediate environment by decorating and making some home improvement changes. On the 14th, the New Moon will be in the sign of Sagittarius and Venus also changes to Sagittarius on the 15th. During this time, all eyes will be on you, so make the best of it as you capture the attention of mentors, teachers and/or bosses. This can be a time where you receive praise for the work you have done so far. Something we have all been looking forward to is Saturn entering Aquarius once more on the 17th and Jupiter changing signs on the 19th. With Jupiter in Aquarius, you can feel a healing and spiritual vibe that will set the tone for 2021. Remember, you are ready for this, just before Saturn enters your sign in 2023. You should feel the excitement towards the end of the month with the Full Moon in Cancer, bringing some life to your house of creativity and adding depth and joy to the end of the year.

#Horoscopes #Astrology #Aries #Taurus #Gemini #Cancer #Leo #Virgo #Libra #Scorpio #Sagittarius #Capricorn #Aquarius #Pisces #Monthly Horoscopes #My text

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lunaleetarot · 3 years

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Pisces Season 2021 Tarot Readings- Cancer ♋

Use your head and not your heart when it comes to business and budget. Don’t settle for abuse or mistreatment in your romantic life- if addiction is an issue it needs to be faced head on. There may be conflicts with friends but overall I feel like they will be there for you when the going gets tough. Your family life may be difficult, you may discover someone has been gossiping or creating drama for you. However there will be time to get to the bottom of it and mend fences. Make sure you aren’t coasting this month and expecting a lavish lifestyle to fall into your lap.

Career: King of Swords

This season you’re going to want to think with your head instead of your heart when it comes to business and your finances. I feel this will be more challenging for you Cancer as you are a water sign that often leads with their heart. Advice, you may be dealing with someone born on the Capricorn-Aquarius cusp (January 17-22). Make sure data backs up the career moves you want to make. Use your reasoning skills when making your career decisions, budget and dealing with stocks. Seek help from a financial or career advisor if you have the opportunity.

Love: The Devil

There is abuse going on from either you or your partner. This bad behavior is usually more mental than physical. So it will take the form of mind games or other mental or verbal abuse. The abusive partner wants to tell the other how to think, feel, speak etc. This can also mean issues with addiction. This could be a sign that your lover is struggling with some kind of dependency. Advice, you may be dealing with a Capricorn, Gemini also got this card so you could be dealing with this sign also. Don’t mistreat others or allow anyone else to disrespect you. If your loved one is dealing with addiction, you’ll have to accept that their recovery will be a lifelong battle or leave now.

Friends: Strength

You will need to use your inner power to get over difficulties you are having in your friendships. You may need to be firm with them. However I feel like your friends are going to be there for you when you need them. Advice, you may be dealing with a Leo here. You must remain strong and vigilant. Stick up for yourself if you're in the right, Cancer! Don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Your bond is strong and based on empathy and compassion, so there’s no need for you to go it alone.

Family: Ace of Swords

The start of a great conflict is beginning in your family this season. You will find out where all the drama in your life has originated. Although this sounds pretty bad- there will be an opportunity to turn things around. However there may be an ending of some sort coming up even if it’s only temporary- it’s going to be painful for all involved. This card is common with divorce within the family, or a beloved family member moving far away. However this could be a minor conflict that will end as we move into Aries season. Advice, Remain calm and keep in mind that all is not lost, even if it feels that way. Give your family members time to cool down, and it’s likely they will come back.

Self: Nine of Cups

Your wants and needs will be fulfilled this month, Cancer. However you may be overindulging in the finer things in life. You're thinking about your desires more than what truly matters in life. Advice, you may be dealing with a second decan Pisces here (March 3-10). Keep in mind the key to happiness is maintaining what you have. Good things come to those you are willing to hustle. You should aim for a more balanced lifestyle. Don’t settle for a quick fix. If you want the high life you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

#pisces season #tarot #tarot reader #cancer #water signs #zodiac #astrology #luna lee tarot

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aswallowssong · 4 years

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Second Child, Restless Child

Chapter 4 - Quick to Recognize

@valkyrie-5583

Read on AO3

The first part of a gap fill for 1x13, Poison. TW for illness, hospitals, and drug mentions.

When Reid won't stop sniffling in the office, Kit thinks she might lose her mind. Instead, she find some footing as the team is called to New Jersey. People are being poisoned, and the medicinal side of this case falls right up Kit's ally. Maybe Gideon won't find her a problem if she can use her expertise to help them solve this case. Maybe she can help the team's favorite, stubborn genius in the meantime, too.

Sniff.

“Táim chun m’intinn a chailleadh.”

“Sorry?”

Kit’s head snapped up, meeting Morgan’s quirked eyebrow without a moment’s hesitation.

“Huh?” She said without ceremony, reaching up to rub at her eyes. She was river deep and mountain high into a stack of paperwork for which there was no end in sight. The last case they’d done was one she’d not been required on, and when the team came back, she’d been required to do their post-takedown physicals. Considering she wasn’t there and they could have easily been looked over by the EMTs on site, she was feeling a little bitter.

Plus, they’d hauled her up from the clinic, scrubs and all, into prime stiff-ville to do said physicals instead of having the team just stay on the first floor and meet her at the clinic. She tried to tell this to Hotch, but he said it wasn’t his call, and if looks could kill, the one she got from Section Chief Strauss as she eavesdropped on their conversation would have put the head nurse six feet under.

That was Friday.

It was definitely Monday. Despite their best effort, there was a lack of enthusiasm floating around the office, and the weekend already seemed like a memory.

A beautiful, wonderful, tragically-ended memory where paperwork was nowhere to be seen and the coffee wasn’t tepid at best. Kit had learned in her two weeks on the sixth floor to lean into the slow days at the BAU, especially when they’d left her behind. It had been a super quiet couple of days, and while she was glad not to be practically alone in the bullpen, it was decidedly better than listening to the persistent sniffling coming from her right.

Morgan chuckled at the woman sitting at the desk across from him, gesturing vaguely around the room in a show of his amusement at her confusion.

“Oh nothing, just usually we speak English in here.”

She groaned, running a hand down her face. Kit hadn’t even realized she’d spoken aloud, let alone spoken in anything but English. Down in the clinic no one noticed if someone was mumbling to themselves. There was privacy in the constant flurry of activity, and Kit found herself missing it desperately.

“Right, I didn’t notice.” She stopped and pulled her eyebrows together. “I mean. I did notice. That you speak English. Up here, I mean. I-”

Kit cut herself off with a disgruntled groan, worrying the end of her braids with her hands. She tugged gently, the action always grounding her back to the task at hand as her brain attempted to spiral away.

“Can I try again?”

Morgan was laughing now. They’d found a sort-of-friendship in the time they trained around the track. Kit had started going earlier so that she could go even on the mornings that she was in stiff-ville. Morgan was always there, and while they didn’t always partner up, Kit had decided it was better to train with someone else on occasion than train alone every day. She’d missed the comradery, and honestly, Morgan was a cool guy.

“Sure, Lep,” he responded easily, a teasing smirk on his lips.

Lep. Short for Leprechaun. While she didn’t love it, it was better than him butchering her last name every time he addressed her.

“I meant that I didn’t notice I wasn’t speaking English.”

“Figured, I sort of just wanted to watch you stumble through it.”

She threw a ball of paper at him, having been previously ripped out of her notebook and snowballed until it was unrecognizable. She didn’t think that trying to keep all the notes for their “Fun Friday Health Meetings” would be such a chore, but scheduling was starting to be the most hated part of her new position. Easily.

“That’s-”

Sniff.

Her hand came down and smacked on the desk, eyes darting to the offender.

Supervisory Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid.

She was going to kill him.

Morgan would assure Elle later that the lasers in the nurse’s glare were assuredly deadly, and that maybe Gideon had been onto something when he’d mentioned on the plane that he “wasn’t sure about that Colghain girl,” and that “there’s trouble in her eyes, Hotch. You can’t tell me you didn’t see it in Wilmington.”

Morgan wasn’t sure about all of that. Kit was, for the most part, quiet and passive. But when Kit’s eyes flashed towards Reid in a frustration he didn’t understand, he thought he might have seen a little bit of what Gideon meant.

“What?” He asked quickly, “What happened?”

“Reid,” she said quietly, trying to even out her frustration and match Morgan’s confusion instead.

Morgan glanced over at the younger agent with a raised eyebrow. Reid was his friend, Kit knew that, and that they’d worked together almost two years. He clearly didn’t want to see the kid in the firing line. The younger man hadn’t even noticed that Kit had said his name, eyes scanning quickly over the page of a book, then the next, the page turning in a fraction of the time it would take any other member of their team. Or any other member of the human race, for that matter.

When Morgan looked back to his occasional training partner and saw that she still had fire in her eyes, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Woah, Lep, what’d he do?”

“He won’t stop sniffling ,” she said through clenched teeth.

Morgan looked over at Reid, then at Kit, and then shrugged a bit.

“Sniffling?”

“Yes, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” she reasoned, coming down a bit. She’d evened her eyes, but there was obviously still tension in her shoulders.

“I haven’t. Maybe it’s allergies,” he suggested, not giving her time to tell him that Reid didn’t have seasonal allergies before he called, “Yo, Reid?”

Reid looked up at his name being said louder, eyes snapping to Morgan. They turned quickly to Kit, then back to Morgan again, as if he was trying to piece together the reason he was being called into the conversation. Neither of them gave much to go off of.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have allergies?”

Reid looked puzzled by the question, looking again from Morgan, to Kit, and back again. Slowly, he shook his head, as if the question had thrown him completely. Kit knew what he was probably thinking. First of all, it was winter in DC. What could he be allergic to if nothing was blooming? Secondly, Kit would have known that. She’d read all their medical files.

“No,” he looked at Kit, deadpanning, “You know that.”

Kit’s eyes narrowed slightly, a bit of tension coming back to her. She'd seen that coming, and there was nothing challenging about Reid’s tone. It was obvious that he didn’t mean any harm. He was confused.

And Kit did know that, of course, as she’d read their files so many times through she could probably recite them backwards. That didn’t make his lack of social grace any more tactful.

If anything, his blunt statement just pissed her off all over again.

“We were just wondering, kid,” Morgan assured quickly, glancing when Kit shifted in posture. She didn’t need him to back her up, not if she was willing to stand up to Gideon, and he didn’t know her that well.

The confusion flooding from both men was enough to make her swallow back her frustration and take a breath. If Reid was a habitual sniffler, she could get over it. Some people just did that. And the social grace, or lack-there-of? She could get over that too.

It’s not a big deal, Dakota, cut him some slack. Ever since that night at the metro station you’ve been so paranoid and on edge. You aren’t like that. You’ve dealt with loads of people way less tactful than this. Leave him be and get a grip of yourself. What would Ari say?

Reid, strangely enough, didn’t respond. He waited a moment, then shrugged and gave a wary look Kit’s way before picking his book back up and burying his nose in it once again.

Things were quiet a moment before Morgan leaned forward in his desk, setting his eyes on the red head with her face in her hands.

She’d deflated, relenting to the confusion and the frustration internally, rather than pushing it outward.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?”

Morgan’s voice was quiet and passive, not wanting to pry.

Kit sighed just as softly, taking a second before looking up at him and giving a half-hearted shrug. She could stay calm. Morgan was being nice despite her weird mood swing, and she wasn’t going to freak out.

Save the big feelings for home. When you see Ari tonight, you can lose it.

“It’s really distracting,” she offered, “I need to finish these notes if we’re going to have that health meeting on Wednesday, and the meeting has to happen so I can turn in the paperwork to Ramos. Plus, this paperwork from the case I wasn’t even on is taking forever. I don’t want to get in trouble. I want to fly under the radar.”

Morgan seemed to consider that for a moment before he dropped his voice.

“You’re fine, Kit.”

She focused fully on his words. Morgan hadn’t used her name in days, opting for “Lep” over either of her names.

“Trust me, Hotch would sign off that we did it even if we didn’t. He hates those things even more than we do.”

“Not reassuring,” she said dryly, shaking her head not to disagree, but almost as if to shake the idea off. “And no way. This is a pilot position for the whole bureau. I’m not looking to get in trouble with like, the Director or something. I’m fine, I’ll ignore it.”

Morgan didn’t look quite convinced, his mind obviously flashing the image of her smacking her desk not five minutes ago, but she nodded at him. After taking a breath, she let a small smile cross her lips.

“I’m fine.”

-----

Morgan left her alone after that, turning to his own stack of files. Thankfully, after purposefully blocking Reid out, Kit was able to focus on her notes. She actually was able to focus so well that she nearly jumped out of her chair when a light hand gave her a bit of a shake on the shoulder.

She’d never admit to it, but she might have yelped. Just a little.

“Sorry,” came a rasp that Kit couldn’t pair with one of the BAU team members immediately.

When she looked up and around for her attacker she was surprised. Reid was standing there looking sheepish, his hands twisting gently around each other in front of him.

“Hotch called for us… twice. I figured you didn’t hear him. You know, since you’re reading.”

Kit stared at him for a moment, her eyebrows coming together as she looked at him closely.

He was sort of… pale? Except his cheeks, and the tip of his nose, which were more than a barely noticeable red. Unfortunately for him, Kit was trained to notice. He was also giving off wave after wave of exhaustion, and judging by the dark circles under his eyes, it went bone deep. Everything about him, including the scarf draped around his neck in the not-super-cold bullpen screamed “I feel like garbage, please take me out,” and despite her almost outburst earlier that morning, she was a nurse first. She could be a person with pet peeves and frustrations later.

She’d been shaken out of her hyperfocus, but she was zoned back in now, quick to recognize the failing health of the youngest member of the team. Everything in her settled easily into her calm, gentle professionalism. Whatever the BAU was doing to her was exactly what she’d worked so hard to push down and away, and whatever Gideon had seen was something she was determined not to let him see again.

This, the stillness she suddenly possessed, was how others would describe her. In the clinic, this was who she was. Calm. Quiet. Focused. If there was something she was good at, this was it.

But before she could even begin to speak, Reid narrowed his eyes, physically pulling away from her.

“We don’t profile each other,” he said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest and looking anywhere but her eyes. He cleared his throat in a way that was trying to be inconspicuous, but didn’t get past Kit in the slightest.

“I’m not a profiler,” she said gently, as if she hadn’t been glaring daggers at him a few hours before. Everything about this second interaction was different. She would have pressed again, but any chance of that was dashed when Hotch leaned out of the conference room, a wave of frustration hitting Kit as if she’d been punched in the chest.

“Reid. Colghain. Now.”

It wasn’t half a second before they were both moving towards the stairs, Reid getting there significantly faster. He had at least ten inches on Kit, she guessed, and a lot of it was leg.

Once they were seated, Reid settled by JJ, and Kit in between Hotch and Elle, a video started on the screen. Kit glanced down at the file in her space and sighed before her eyes flicked back up, watching as a man, Mr. Fisher, answered questions from a detective.

“State trooper took this before the paramedics showed up. He's unconscious, has four broken bones. He's gonna be in the hospital for a month,” the detective was saying once Kit finally got her focus on his words. Her breath caught as she very quickly realized that she’d be going with them. The file should have been the tip, but Hotch’s urgency made sense now.

“I didn't hurt my son,” Mr. Fisher answered.

“You remember removing the tire iron from the trunk?”

“No! No!”

“What's the last thing you remember?”

“I picked Eric up from school. Friday, for the weekend. What day is this?”

Shit.

Hotch paused the video, starting to speak in the even voice he always took when addressing a new case.

“This happened two days ago in Beachwood, New Jersey. Mr. Fisher had ingested LSD one afternoon and didn't come down until eighteen hours later.”

“The hospital reported six other patients who ingested LSD in the last twenty four hours. The hospital called the CDC, the CDC called us,” JJ continued, turning towards the rest of the team as she spoke.

Morgan sat up straighter, leaning a bit into the table. “So, a bunch of people got spiked. What makes it a BAU case?”

“They each received 10 to 20 times the normal dose,” Hotch said, tone never wavering.

Kit felt the breath she’d been holding leave her in a bit too loud of an exhale, causing everyone to turn their eyes her way. She looked around a moment before her leg started to bounce under the table. She didn't speak in the conference room, not during the two other briefings she'd been a part of, but she found the words leaving her mouth before she could stop them.

“We used to see a lot of LSD trips when I was doing my clinicals, but nothing even close to that high. That’s-”

“It's enough to kill a small child.” Reid inserted himself into her sentence. She didn’t seem to notice, clearly deep in thought.

“Or,” Elle added, “cause a grown man to kill him with a tire iron.”

JJ looked up from her file, turning back to the screen and playing a separate video.

“Of the seven victims, there was one death and one coma. This is from the hospital's security footage the same night Fisher lost it.”

The screen flooded with the image of an ER hallway. There were nurses everywhere, and patients taking up the space they weren’t. People were in wheelchairs and there was a man on a gurney. It was chaos.

Kit hummed quietly. It wasn’t the first overrun ER she’d seen. She’d worked in an ER that was busy, often more busy than they were ready for at any given moment. Still, she didn’t know if she’d seen a hallway packed that full, or that many doctors and nurses working towards one event.

“That kind of environment is... panic,” she said. She felt Hotch shift next to her, but she didn’t stop her thought. She looked around the table, seeing that all eyes were back on her. All except Gideon. She took a moment before shrugging. While her voice was small, she wasn’t going to shy away from sharing what she knew. Serial killers were the team's specialty. Drugs and comas and hospitals? Those were her’s.

“There isn’t much space for anything else. Look at the nurses, their body language. They don’t know what they’re looking at, and it’s chaos around them. They’re as scared as those people are.”

There was a moment when everyone was quiet again, but it didn’t last long. Gideon leaned on the back of the chair next to Reid, which he had yet to occupy, and looked up towards the center of the table.

“These people didn't get spiked,” he said simply. “These people were poisoned.”

“Morgan?” Kit called as they left the conference room, her file clutched in her hand. They were grabbing their go bags and heading to the air strip as quickly as they could, but she wanted to make sure she spoke to him. “Hey, Morgan!”

He turned, his gobag in his hand, and responded quickly. “Lep, we’ve gotta go.”

“I know, I know, here, let me just-” She grabbed her coat and threw it over her cardigan before slinging her backpack around her shoulders. With her free hand she grabbed her gobag, hustling the few steps to where Morgan stood. “I wanted to talk to you before we get on the jet.”

“Alright,” he said, walking to the glass doors at a pace she scrambled to match. He was nearly as tall as Reid, and both Elle and JJ were fairly tall. Not to mention Hotch. Gideon was only a bit shorter than the other men, and standing at five-foot-three-inches had never bothered her until she’d started working with giants.

When they’d loaded into the elevator they were the only ones. The others had gone ahead, and Reid had been still grabbing his bag and pulling his scarf back around his neck. Kit hadn’t even noticed that he’d shed it before they’d raced in for the briefing.

“I, um,” Kit started haphazardly, “I wanted to apologize.”

Morgan turned to look at her as her ears started to burn, the entirety of her face and neck bright red. He was confused, she could feel it, which made it worse.

She’d waited way too long.

“Apologize for what?”

“For when I snapped at you. On the jet on the way to Wilmington,” she started talking rapidly, needing to explain her apology and get the anxiety off her chest. She had thought about it every morning when she saw him at the track, but it never seemed like the appropriate time to bring up her slightly explosive outburst.

As they headed to board the jet again, she knew it had to be right then. She didn’t have a free hand to worry at her braids, but her knee bounced where they stood in the elevator.

“It was incredibly unprofessional, and rude, especially because you were just being polite. I get really weird about attention and I try to fly under the radar as much as I can, especially now, and I should have thanked you but instead I snapped at you. Which wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I should have been focused on the team but I was focused on the file, and I know I shouldn’t do that because I can’t hear when I read and-”

“Woah, woah, hey. Hey.”

Morgan’s free hand was up, concern flooding off of him. His eyebrows were pulled tightly together, the worry evident as she started to spiral out of control. Kit had kept pretty quiet, other than her apparent tiff with Gideon, so other than that one time, he hadn't seen her lose control before. She didn't want him to again, but she was starting to go further than she'd accounted for when she started her very-rambly apology.

“You’re fine, Kit. You already apologized when we were on the jet," Morgan assured.

Bless the patience of this man.

“I know,” she said quickly, shifting the file in her hand so it couldn’t slip to the floor as her bouncing knee jostled her top half. “But it was only half an apology. My mam always said that half an apology might as well be no apology at all. So… I’m sorry.”

She was clearly really worked up over the whole event, and the last thing she needed was to board the jet as a shambled mess. The numbered days since she'd first met Morgan accidentally at the track had been nice, and if she showed up a wreck it would only give Gideon more ammunition against her, anyway.

They stood in silence for a moment before Morgan let himself nod.

“I accept your apology, and I forgive you,” he said simply.

The relief that spread across Kit’s face was immediate. The tension seemed to leave her shoulders, if just for a moment, and as the elevator dinged on the bottom floor and they stepped out, she knew Morgan didn’t miss her wistful glance towards the hallway that would lead back to the clinic.

Kit sat next to Morgan on the jet, deciding not to hide away from the team as she had on the first case. Reid had already been sitting in the seat across from her when she sat down, and she didn’t miss the hesitant look in his eyes when she peered a little too closely.

He was sick, there was no doubt in her mind about that, but she could tell by the wariness he was giving off that she shouldn't push it. He’d already made it obvious he didn’t appreciate her clinical stare. It was her job to worry about the health of the team, and according to her list of responsibilities, it was also her job to fix them.

She wasn’t sure Reid was going to even get close to admitting anything to her. They weren’t even sort of friends, like she was with Morgan. She didn’t think anyone on the team would consider her a friend, and she didn’t consider them that way either, but of the six team members she’d met she’d spoken the least to Reid. The metro interaction at the red line stop had really thrown her. Ari had suggested she just ask him about it, like she would do easily if it was one of her clinic nurses, but she’d insisted that he didn’t understand.

Spencer Reid was, in her eyes, an enigma. While his medical file had boasted an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory, she hadn’t really grasped what that meant until he was rattling off statistic after statistic during the Billie Copeland case. He was awkward and unassuming and could read faster than she thought possible. He rambled unceasingly and had an obvious attachment to Gideon.

Kit didn’t want to get within ten feet of it. He had probably already figured out her ADHD if he watched at all the way she either fidgeted and bounced, or was locked in like a homing beacon. She didn’t need to have him give Gideon any other reasons not to trust her.

Because he didn’t. He’d seen trouble in her eyes, and she knew it was going to be almost impossible to change his mind.

JJ brought her out of her own head, reaching over top of her to deposit a picture of an elderly woman onto the table between them all.

“Of the seven victims, Gail Norman was the only death. She was seventy eight. Ran out into the middle of the road, and she was hit by a car. She was DOA.”

Hotch set down another photo on their table, this one of a young girl. Kit’s heart ached as she figured out the gist before he even spoke.

“The other potentially fatal case is nine year old Brittany Canon. She fell out of a tree house and fractured her skull. She's in a coma and the doctors don't know if she's going to come out of it.”

“How do you wanna handle the press?” Gideon asked JJ.

“We still don't even know how these people got dosed. I think it would be irresponsible to issue a warning without specifics. It'll just cause panic. I did notify the local PD, though, to be discreet.

“How is it possible that none of these people knew how they got poisoned?” Morgan asked, and his body turned slightly towards Kit.

She was glad Hotch spoke up, because if he was looking for her to answer him, she hadn’t had an answer.

“None of them remembers anything about the day it happened.”

“These people were so messed up, it's made it difficult for local PD to retrace the victim's steps,” JJ supplied.

Messed up would be the lightest possible way to say it. Those people could easily be dead.

“So, we need to go on precedent,” Gideon said, causing the table to shift and face him. “We know there are four types of poisoners who target multiple victims.”

“There's the True Believer, the political terrorist-slash-religious cult,” Hotch said.

“There's the Extortionist,” Morgan added, “The product tamperer holds the business hostage in exchange for money.”

“Or the Prankster,” Elle offered, “Usually a younger offender who doesn't mean any harm, and it's basically just a big practical joke.”

“And the Avenger,” Hotch finished, “someone with a personal vendetta who chooses poison as their weapon.”

“We need to find out as quickly as possible which type he is, because with the exception of the prankster, all these types commonly test their poison on a small scale before appearing at a larger attack,” Gideon said, seeming to sum it all up.

Kit was pretty sure that the rest of the team knew that, but knew he was doing it for her sake. That also meant the team knew he was doing it for her sake, and the thought was embarrassing. She could hold her own. She was smart. She definitely didn’t need Gideon treating her like everything had to be explained.

“Then, let's hope this one was just a prank,” she said quietly, flipping her file open and gazing at the medical records of the victims. There were several, and for a moment she wished she’d ignored their talk of Extortionists and Avengers in favor of busying herself to read them in the walled off silence her mind created.

“I would suggest we split up the victims, see if there's a pattern in the victimology,” Gideon said.

“Most of them are still in the hospital,” Hotch offered, “I'll call local PD to meet us there.”

“I'll check the lab reports. Maybe there's a clue to the unsub's motive in the specific nature of the poison he used,” Reid said, his words directed mostly towards Hotch.

Hotch sighed before saying, “I can't imagine anybody could want this to happen.” There was a moment before he added. “Take Colghain with you.”

Reid’s reaction was raspy and immediate.

“Sir?”

“Me?” Kit said, the shaking of her leg stilling for a moment in surprise.

Hotch looked between the two and nodded, gesturing to Kit and the files in her hands.

“There could be something in the chemical makeup that reacted differently in different victims. Plus, Colghain’s expertise is exactly why she’s on this case. We’re using everything we have.”

There was silence for a moment, the air thick with tension as emotions started to scramble. Kit took a breath, sorting them and not allowing them to break her calm, but she was surprised herself. Of course, lab reports, chemical readings, all those things were second nature to her. Hotch calling anything her “expertise” in front of the rest of the team? That was what had surprised her. It helped to settle the feelings of inadequacy that bubbled when they were profiling, and she couldn't have been more grateful.

She was valuable. Hotch said that she was the right person for this job.

“Have you read a toxicology report before?” Reid asked her. His tone was straightforward, and Kit had to bite her lip to not react sarcastically.

“Yes, I’ve read plenty.”

“And you understand the slight differences in the compounds used in different strains of LSD?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And-”

“Reid,” Hotch said firmly. The doctor looked over, and Hotch’s still face gave no room for disagreement. “Agent Colghain is equipped for this case.”

It was only a moment of awkward silence before Reid slumped back in his chair, arms crossed over his frame again. It was another entirely awkward forty minutes until they touched down in New Jersey.

Great, this is going well. Gideon is wary of me, Reid doesn’t think I’m capable, and Hotch has had to come to my rescue on the only two cases I’ve been on. What else could this position hold?

-----

“This can’t be right,” Kit said quietly. She and Reid were looking over the lab reports, as ordered, and up to that point they had barely spoken to one another. As Kit put one report behind another and scanned again, she worried her lip between her teeth.

No PCP. Nothing that would normally cause violence. The LSD they were dosed with looked, as far as LSD went, relatively normal. But there was something that caught her eye and made her head tilt in consideration.

She looked up to address it with Reid, but stopped dead in her tracks at the look of him.

He had his eyes shut, a hand gently massaging at his temple, though it didn’t seem as if it was helping whatever headache he was willing away. Somehow he looked even more tired, even more pale, and the sniffling hadn’t stopped.

It took her a moment to speak. She and Reid didn’t talk. They weren’t friends. But this was her job.

Here goes nothing.

“How long have you been feeling like that?”

His eyes fluttered open and he blinked at her before his head shook quickly, posture shifting so he stood up straighter.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Right,” she said, though her tone was gentle. “So you aren’t sick, then?”

“I’m fine.”

Kit’s eyes lit up at that, and Reid’s eyebrows drew together. She knew she had him, she just had to present her case perfectly.

She wasn’t a profiler. That didn’t matter to her, though. She could read them all better than they thought. And if she was reading correctly, especially after watching their last poker game on the jet, Reid couldn’t resist.

“Oh,” she said, letting a small smile work onto her face. “That’s my favorite game.”

Confusion overtook exhaustion, and she watched as he couldn’t help himself. She’d guessed correctly. Reid liked games.

“What?”

“My favorite game. ‘I’m fine.’ We play it in the clinic all the time. And you, Doctor Reid, are going to play it with me.”

He shifted his weight, one of his hands rubbing along his misplaced scarf. It wasn’t cold in the lab, yet he was trembling ever so slightly.

“It’s not really the time to play a game. We’ve got people poisoned and-”

Reid cut himself off by coughing into his elbow, turning away from her just a bit. Exhaustion seeped back into the room, and she raised an eyebrow at him when he got his composure back.

“Right,” she said again, “Anyway. This is how you play. If you say ‘I’m fine’ when someone asks if you’re sick, the game starts. The asker,” she nodded, “in this case that’s me, gets to guess five symptoms. If I get more than half, I win, and you have to relent.”

He sniffled and tilted his head. She could feel him weighing his options.

“And if you lose?”

“I relent, and you’re allowed to pretend you’re fine. I won’t say another word, and these tox screens will be my sole focus.”

They were seemingly at a stalemate. Kit held the lab reports in her hands still, and Reid cleared his throat before wincing.

This is going to be so easy.

“More than half?”

“Three out of five,” she assured, keeping her tone casual and gentle and not at all the way it had been this morning when she was seething to Morgan about his sniffling.

She could feel guilty about that later. In that moment, she was focused on winning a very winnable round of ‘I’m fine.’

He crossed his arms a bit tighter over his chest, letting the scarf fall out of his grip and hang to the side.

“Okay, go ahead.”

Reid would later come to realize he should have noted the shift in her eyes as the figurative nail in his figurative coffin.

“I’ll let you know that you shouldn’t lie. I’ll know. I always know.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said evenly, the rasp growing slightly deeper as they spoke.

That was all Kit needed.

“Well then. Let’s play. Sore throat, definitely, unless you suddenly picked up a smoking habit,” she started, feeling as his emotions flooded from annoyed to desperate.

One.

“And you’re congested. The sniffling gave you away. It was driving me crazy earlier, but I was hoping you were just a habitual sniffler.”

“I am,” he said, tugging at his scarf again.

“That’s worse,” she assured, “Because that means when whatever this is runs its course, it won't go away and I’ll still have to listen to it.” She sighed, feeling a bit of her own dread at that, but continued, “But your nose is red and raw looking, so I can assure you that you’re congested.”

She raised an eyebrow at him then, a small smile playing at her lips. The files she was holding were set down in favor of one fiddling with the hem of her cardigan, and the other playing with the end of her right braid.

“How am I doing?”

Reid’s eyebrows pulled together as he gave off a wave of skepticism. She grinned wider.

Two.

“This is pointless,” he said quietly, now avoiding her eyes.

“That means I’m winning. You’ve got a headache. Right behind your temples. Not stemming from the front and spreading like you’re assuming, because that’s the congestion. The actual headache comes from further back.”

No response.

Three.

“I’d bet you’ve got a fever. The flush in your cheeks is really prominent against how pale you are, plus I’m sure you know you’re shaking. And you’re exhausted. The fatigue coming off of you is palpable.”

She didn’t offer anything else, watching for him to respond to her. She’d made her five ‘guesses,’ though she knew all five were true of him. He was probably dizzy too, unless that wasn’t the reason he was grounding himself with his scarf. She had been wrong before, of course. She wasn’t a mind reader.

Reid took a full thirty seconds before his arms dropped, posture slipping slightly.

Four and five.

He looked defeated in a sad sort of way, and for the first time, Kit found herself actually caring about Spencer Reid past the fact that she was sort of responsible for him. He had no social grace, he was a know-it-all, and he was Gideon’s obvious pet project. But now? As he stood in front of her looking young and sad and unwell? She found a soft spot for him.

“So?” she coaxed, tilting her head just so. “How’d I do?”

He let out what sounded suspiciously like a whine before running a hand down his face.

“You know, I always win when we play games as a team.”

“Maybe poker,” she shrugged, “but this is my game. My… what did Hotch call it? My expertise?” It was definitely a light effort at teasing, something she did with academy cadets when they were in the clinic. Still, she might have put a little more meaning behind her words. Reid underestimated her, and now, she was going to have a little bit of a victory.

He rolled his eyes at her before scrunching his nose, sniffling dejectedly.

“Okay, message received. You win.” He ran a hand down his face again, and Kit noted that his hands were shaking a bit. “So what? You pull me off the case? Am I grounded?”

Something in his tone gave way to bitterness, and Kit shook her head slowly, an eyebrow raising.

“No? Has that happened before?”

“Last year,” he said, but didn’t offer anymore. There was hesitation, and while Kit didn’t want to pry, she figured right now was the only time she was really in a position to get any information. They weren’t friends. When was she going to have him this open again?

“And it bothered you?”

“It bothers me when I’m treated like a child that doesn’t know their own limits.” He shifted his feet a bit, and when she didn’t answer right away he pulled his arms across his chest again.

Defensive. He thinks I’m going to treat him like a baby.

“Well I’m not a peds nurse, and I’ve never been one, so as long as you don’t act like a child, I won’t treat you like one.” She watched his face for a moment until he dipped his head, worry seeping from his being. He didn’t believe her, that much was clear. Why would he? They didn’t know each other.

It wasn’t long before Kit was making a choice. Probably not one she was allowed to make, but one she was going to make anyway. She was hired in part for her bedside manor, so the way she treated them was going to be on her terms. If anyone had a problem, she would have no problem defending herself and her decisions.

“I’m not going to tell Hotch, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not worried,” he rasped, his eyes coming up to meet hers. He was squinting, tongue darting over his lips.

“Yes you are,” she said, avoiding his gaze to pull her medical pack off her belt and pull at the zipper. “And I mean it. I’m not going to tell Hotch if you just do what I tell you. I’ll keep it discreet.”

She dug her hand inside, fishing for a moment before pulling out a pack of bright orange capsules. A small hum of victory escaped her, glad that the object of her search was in the pack and not back in the SUV, nestled into her backpack. A small victory is a victory all the same.

“Okay,” she started, “here’s the deal. You’re going to take these, and then,” she pulled out a travel size pack of tissues, “you’re going to keep these in your pocket. And if you feel worse, you’re going to tell me.”

She nodded as she finished, waiting for him to respond.

He squinted at her further. “And?”

“What do you mean, ‘and’? And I'll give you more pills later? I’ve got a bunch in my backpack. I don’t have a whole water bottle in here, but this is a hospital, and I’m a nurse. I’ll find one.”

“Wait,” he said, a certain amount of relief flooding off of him, “You’re really not going to tell Hotch?”

She shook her head seriously, not sure what about her tone or demeanor made her unbelievable.

“I said I wouldn’t.”

“But, why?”

“Because,” she said with sincerity, looking right into his eyes. “I, too, know what it’s like to be treated unfairly because of my age. I’m one of the clinic’s head nurses, and I’m twenty five. Last Thursday I was questioned about my ability to do this job and that one at the same time, and my age was the biggest argument. You're not the only one that hates being treated like a child."

Something shifted a bit in his eyes, the smallest whisper of a grin falling on his lips.

“You’re twenty five?”

“Have been since June. I’m surprised you didn’t assume I was younger. My sister Ginny always says that I could pass for sixteen.”

He shook his head a little too quickly, noticeably wincing.

“You could, I guess I just thought they would have picked someone older, like in their thirties.” There was a moment before he offered, “I’m twenty four.”

“I know. You said it earlier, right? I’ve read your file.”

For the first time maybe ever, his eyes softened at her. Guilt flooded the air, and he worried at his bottom lip.

“Right. Sorry about that. I was trying to-”

“Play it off like you weren’t sick and hope I wouldn’t notice.”

“Yeah.”

She found herself chuckling, shaking her head at the idea that she wouldn’t have noticed. As if it wasn’t her job to notice.

“Well, like I said in the bullpen, I’m not a profiler. I am a nurse, though, so assume I’ll always notice.” She held out the blister pack of pills and the tissues. “Here, I’ll go find my way to a water bottle. Take another look at those tox screenings. I saw something… weird.”

Kit turned and was halfway out the door before she heard him call her name.

“Dakota?”

She blinked for a moment. There were very few people in the world that called her by her first name.

Pick your battles.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

She smiled at him, a real smile too, and nodded.

“Of course. Be right back.” She moved to step out of the door.

“Dakota?”

She took a breath.

“Yes, Spencer?”

“What exactly did you think you saw buried in the tox screen?”

She thought for a moment before giving her braid a tug, mind starting to pull away as she remembered back to the reports.

“I might have been mistaken.”

He nodded her forward, saying, “But what did you think it was?”

She shrugged, feeling her eyebrows pulling together as she looked up at him.

“Rohypnol.”

-----

Kit and Reid walked into the hallway when they heard Gideon passing about an hour later. She’d found a water bottle with the help of one of the women at the nurses’ station, and Reid looked decidedly more with it. He was less pale for sure, and there was an energy he didn’t have before as they trailed behind the rest of the team.

“Well,” Gideon was saying of Mr. Fisher, “he's raw, broken, and seriously pissed off.”

“He didn't hurt the son to get back at the mother?” Hotch asked, and Gideon shook his head.

“Not consciously, no. Rage was real but understandable, and he never apologized. When he lost control, he didn't even say, "Eric, I'm sorry." He said, "Eric, why'd this happen to you?" He never even confessed to hurting the kid.”

Hotch thought about that for a moment.

“So, the drugs tapped into the rage but didn't cause it?”

“That's my guess.”

The two men and Elle slowed to a stop, causing Kit and Reid to swing around the side. Their group formed a sort of circle in the hallway, blocking traffic if any were to come.

Normally Kit would have asked them to move, but the information they had was pressing.

Reid spoke for the pair of them, sounding congested still, and a little rough, but definitely better than before.

“That's consistent with the information we just received from the lab tox screens. They didn't find any trace of PCP or any other drug indicating the unsub was intentionally trying to make people violent. But they did find traces of rohypnol in all the victims.”

“A central nervous system depressant,” Kit filled for the sake of Hotch’s wave of confusion. “Similar to valium, only ten times more potent.”

Elle nodded, adding, “It's commonly known as a "roofie" or a date-rape drug.”

“Right, and one of its side effects is amnesia, which explains why none of the victims remember how they were poisoned,” Reid finished.

“We compared notes on the victims we talked to. So far there doesn't seem to be any pattern as to who got hit. Maybe the drugs themselves could explain what type of offender we're dealing with.” Morgan shrugged a bit as he explained. “A lot of kids are using LSD and rohypnol these days. Fisher is a high school teacher.”

“So it may be a prank after all,” Gideon said, now learning against the wall.

“Yeah, one that went horribly wrong,” was all Hotch offered.

Elle suddenly pulled her coat around herself, nearly knocking Kit in the temple with her elbow as she did so.

“I'm gonna get a list of students from Fisher, I’ll see you later."

Hotch’s phone rang just as she left. He looked disinterested in answering it, but did so as he looked around at them.

“Hotch. Okay, we'll be right there.” He shut the phone without saying goodbye, looking up at them with new interest. “Cops may have figured out where everybody was dosed.”

He started off down the hallway, speaking as he did so.

“Gideon and I will go with JJ to the possible lead. Morgan, do some more digging with Elle on the high school kids. Reid, Colghain, stay here and work victimology again. There has to be something we’re missing.”

The way they moved was fluid, all turning to go to different places without hesitation.

Kit and Reid took off down a hallway, Kit glancing around at placards before she grinned,

“Aha!” she cried, yanking the handle open and coming face to face with a pseudo conference room. She turned to Reid, handing over the tox screen reports she was still holding. “Here’s these. I’ll track down the head nurse on rotation and see if their files have any more information than the ones I was given by JJ.”

He nodded, settling down immediately and starting to fan out the reports into categories she figured only he knew the rhyme or reason for.

Kit took off into the maze of the hospital feeling comfortable and confident. This is what she was good at, and for the moment things weren’t uncomfortable with Reid. And Gideon hadn’t given her a look of annoyance when they were talking about the rohypnol.

Things could be looking up, Dakota. You’re helpful after all.

-----

It was hours later when half the team found themselves in the viewers part of the interrogation room back at the local precinct. Kit had never been on either side of the glass before, and it was strange for her to know that the interviewee couldn’t see them as they all stared inside.

The cafe had proved fruitful in getting the name of a local high school kid, and Elle had been more fruitful in getting the kid himself.

Hotch, Gideon, Reid, Morgan, and Kit were standing and watching Elle and Detective Hanover as they grilled the kid, Danny Wallace, but it wasn’t proving as fruitful as the rest of the day had been.

As he described the fact that he and his girlfriend actually had consensual sex before she was ‘freaking out’ was looking less like he was the unsub, and more like he was consoling a victim in need.

“Look,” Danny said to Elle, “she was on something, and if it was acid or something, I've taken that. You give that to someone without telling them, it doesn't exactly set the mood.”

Morgan spoke from his position in the back of the room, attention pulling away from the other side of the glass.

“Kid is right about that. If he wanted to slip her a date rape drug, why'd he give her LSD, too?”

“This boy seems too scared not to be telling us the truth,” Reid agreed, crossing his arms over himself. He’d taken the scarf off as the pills had taken effect earlier on, but Kit knew he was due for some again soon.

She hadn’t told Hotch, just like she’d promised, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t keeping tabs on Reid the rest of the case.

“So, Samantha was just the eighth victim and the boyfriend working in the cafe was just a coincidence,” Hotch said, discouragement written in the air.

“But, even so, there may be an explanation why the two drugs: LSD to hallucinate and rohypnol to forget,” Gideon said, ever the optimist.

“Forget what?” Kit asked before she could stop herself. Her tone wasn’t challenging like it had been in Curtis’s house, and the look Gideon gave her was searching, but not suspicious.

Morgan responded to her, but in the form of a question himself.

“What they were hallucinating?”

“No,” Gideon said, moving his eyes to Morgan, “how they got dosed.”

“Then, the unsub's covering his tracks. It's much too organized for a high school prank,” Hotch agreed, shifting into the conversation.

“And there still hasn't been any kind of ransom demand,” Morgan said, not following Hotch’s lead, instead choosing to stay in the back of the room.

Kit was officially not helpful anymore, watching as the men went back and forth, whittling down their possible poisoning precedents.

“Which rules out the Extortionist,” Reid said.

“Or any visible political group or cult in the area,” Hotch continued.

Morgan picked up, “Which rules out the True Believer.”

“And leaves us with the Avenger,” Reid finished.

There was a moment in which Kit looked around and felt awe. These men all knew exactly what they were talking about. It seemed as if they had one hive mind, working together to solve as many pieces of the puzzle as quickly as they could.

She wished for a moment she could do the same, but was quick to scold herself.

If you were a profiler, you would work for the BAU. Monty and Ari both told you a million times, Dakota, you’re there because you’re different. Come off the self pity for a moment and let go of your ego.

Hotch looked around at them, even Kit, and nodded.

“We can give them a profile.”

Kit looked down at her watch and raised an eyebrow. It was nearly nine, and while she didn’t want to be the one to ask or challenge, especially with Gideon right there, she said quietly, “Now? It’s almost nine.”

Gideon’s eyes bore into her and he turned towards her as he said, “Do you think the unsub cares what time it is?”

Her subconscious wanted to glance at Reid, knowing he needed to sleep. Knowing they all needed to sleep if they were going to be mentally sharp enough to catch the unsub Gideon was talking about.

She didn’t know why it was so easy for her to challenge Gideon, but she felt the annoyance of his dismissal swirl in her chest.

“No, of course not,” she said evenly, not allowing anything in her tone to indicate her annoyance, “but people are in their homes by now, sleeping, and odds are if he was going to poison someone else today, he would have already done it, right?”

Before Gideon could respond, probably to dismiss her, Hotch spoke in his ‘unit chief’ voice.

“Agreed. We’ll give the profile first thing in the morning. I’ll have Hanover gather his men early. For now, let's go back to the hotel. Gideon, you take Morgan and Elle. I’ll take Reid and Colghain, and we’ll grab JJ on our way out.”

For exactly one moment, Kit thought Gideon was going to disagree. Then, he didn’t. He simply put his hands in his pockets and nodded at Morgan.

“Go get Elle and meet out front in five.”

They moved quickly, Kit and Reid walking behind Gideon and Hotch as they marched through the precinct. Kit could have sworn she heard Gideon say something like “see, right there” and “eyes,” but she couldn’t really tell. Not with Reid mouth-breathing next to her. Either way, it was obvious Gideon was annoyed with her. They’d had such a good day in comparison to the end of the Billie Copeland case, and Kit found herself annoyed by the idea that he was now complaining about her to Hotch. She’d been quick to recognize there was something wrong with Reid, helped him without losing his thin trust, and she’d been helpful in reading the tox screens and identifying the rohypnol. So why was her comment about the time and the probable rest of the unsub taken with such hostility?

She couldn’t sigh aloud, that would probably alert not only Reid, who was right beside her, but Hotch and the man in question. She settled for letting her hands wander a bit, antsy now that her medication had started to wear off. She just hoped they didn’t notice that, either.

So much for things looking up, Dakota. Way to go.

#Brenna writes things #or at least she tries #Second Child Restless Child #SCRC #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #gaelic #OC #female OC #Spencer needs a hug so bad #1x13 Posion #gap fill #TW illness #TW hospitals #TW drug mentions

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