open post 2017

[marching]

prompts, lyrics, starters, texts.
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U KNOW WHO.

[parkerette]

( this isn't a romcom. she's past the point in her life that meet cutes were charming. wait, were they ever charming? no, actually, they weren't. or she's managed to so thoroughly convince herself that just because she needs to be a hero more than she needs people in her life, that she is no longer affected by things she might have once found cute.

so the hand that presses at her spine as someone nearly walks into her with a tray of coffee doesn't affect her in the slightest. the fact she's getting saved for once does not really do anything to sway her attentions one way or another. the reality that she totally had the reflexes to avoid that (and not to avoid being swept up in someone trying to protect her sweater from at least three different pumpkin spice lattes?) means it's not as romantic as it might look to passerby.

she's still stunned enough by the moment that she gapes, for a moment.

she gapes longer when she realizes who it is. ) MJ? From Midtown? ( you don't forget a face like that, and god damnit, recognizing the hottie she'd chewed through pens daydreaming about doesn't add anything to this moment, either. She Refuses. and... god, she's still just standing there, in his arms, isn't she? she scrambles back with absolutely no elegance, trying to push up glasses she's not even wearing right now. well, this is going super great. ) Ah. Thanks. I guess. ( she shrugs, as if her heart isn't beating a little faster, and her cheeks aren't suddenly a little brighter.

nope. didn't affect her at all. )

if they had a boy it would've been kirk, so.

[sheriffing]

[ It's just Emma's luck; knocked up by the godlike equivalent of a golden retriever, and the kid has to take after her. Of course she does, because how else would she get to experience all of the miserable sleepless nights she missed out on the first time by giving up Henry? (And even then, she had plenty of sleepless nights out of sheer guilt, so it's not like she missed all that much.) Seems like the little girl screaming in her arms is determined to give them more than their share of new parent memories, and that would be easier to take if she wasn't running on two hours of sleep to begin with.

To no one's surprise, Thor's been handling all of this better than she does. He's approached fatherhood with bright-eyed enthusiasm instead of crippling fear, and maybe, to their daughter, that makes all the difference. Her cries get a little softer when he takes the baby in an effort to try to soothe the child's mother, and it's not lost on an incredibly exhausted Emma that their daughter seems impossibly smaller in the arms of a man who could practically balance their kid in his palm.

She should be nicer to him, she knows she should. Thor's seen the best and the very worst of her during the year he's spent in Storybrooke, but they were only together a handful of times before she was sending her mother to the drug store to buy her a pregnancy test so that the rest of the town wouldn't find out before he did. When telling him she was pregnant didn't end with a disappearance or an eleven month sentence, she took that for what it was worth and tried to convince herself that she'd be fine no matter what Thor decided he wanted to do.

Over the last few months Emma has tested him, argued with him, let her moods take her in nearly every direction, and ended up a tearful mess of I don't know if I can do this again when he saw right through it. Maybe they can do this after all, because no matter how hard she's tried to push him away, he's still here. Smiling. At three in the morning.

And their grumpy, nameless new daughter is about ready to fall asleep in his arms.] You can stop making this look easy at any time.

omg it could have been sam he's decent

[worthyofmjolnir]

[It's really not as hard as she makes it out to be. Babies like to be near things warm and safe and familiar, everything Emma is whether she realizes it or not. Thor just has the added perks of being a little larger and a little warmer. Children are a blessing where he comes from, and she's so very tiny. How scary could she really be?

Ask him that question again, when she's fifteen years older and finding an interest in boys and how Not Fond of that he'll be.

Thor smiles at her, even when she practically tells him to stop. He's happy here. He's found a good woman, had a beautiful daughter with her, nobody's actively trying to kill them, and his brother hasn't managed to reach this place and ruin everything. It's practically Valhalla. He shifts the baby to his shoulder, running a large hand along her back.]

She knows you're afraid. [Like he's a baby whisperer.] You know more than you think. You should trust your instincts.

charming~ /storybrooke angst from s1 yo

[appleallergy]

[ Resigning from the hospital was difficult since Matthew enjoyed being able to help people, even bring smiles to their faces when possible. But it was too difficult to keep seeing David there. Too... painful. And Emma was right in warning him against getting involved. David was a married man. That's all there was to it. He would eventually remember what he needed to and Matthew couldn't interfere with that.

He had seen the lights for David's welcome home party as he walked back home and tried to busy himself as best he could, not wanting to think about the other man. Reading wasn't working neither was watching anything on tv so hanging up new bird houses at night it was.

He certainly didn't expect to hear David's voice nearby, nearly making him fall off the ladder in his jerking from surprise. Head whipping over to see and yep. There he was. On the other side of the fence. Matt feels blindly for the bark of the tree with one hand. ]

David.

cracks knuckles

[wilby]

[Everything has felt so wrong since he woke up. The only thing that's made any sense has been the attractive volunteer from the hospital. Maybe it was because his was the first face that he saw or he remembers him speaking to him while he was in the coma. Or because he still can't remember anything from his life before the coma.

They tell him he's married to Kristopher but he doesn't feel anything for him. David thinks that even if he can't remember him, something in his soul should recognize the person he's supposed to love. He shouldn't be standing in the middle of a party meant for him and nothing clicks in his head. They all seem very nice and friendly and understanding.

David doesn't want to talk to a single one of them.

He slips out after he finishes the dishes. It was just meant to be a walk, to clear his head and he doesn't realize where he's headed until he spots him. Matthew. Doing something in a tree. Probably not smart to startle him, he realizes after the school teacher nearly falls off the ladder.]

Do you often do yard work in the dark?

i hate myself

[unpirated]

You are not supposed to be in here.

( it's just facts. it's after hours, the factory is cold and dark and silent, and yes, perhaps a little creepy. he doesn't quite understand why teenagers find it so alluring to break into, it seems to be some rite of passage over at the high school, and it just makes James think the teenagers of Storybrooke need better coming of age traditions.

the girl startles, and that's fair. the whole sneak into the brewery thing is supposed to come with nobody there to notice. sorry to disappoint there, blondie, he is indeed still here. he clicks a torch on, illumuniating her in her absolute lack of stealth, looking less angry and bothered and more ... tired? disinterested? hey, at least catching an errant teenager is some distraction from his mind-numbing routine. )

What's it you're here for again? A six pack, isn't it?

( seriously. they needed a cooler coming of age tradition. )

its ok i love you enough for us both

[totius]

[Look. She's just bored. It's not a dare, you have to have friends to get dared to anything and Emma gets along with them ok in class but it's pretty obvious there's a big difference between them and her. As in, she has a brain. There's two stoplights in this town, and everyone has a stepford feel to them and she doesn't hate it like she thought she would but old habits die hard and Granny's already busted her stealing from the grocery store twice.

Emma weighs her options for a moment and then turns around with her hands up. She's expecting some old man, fat and full of the beer they make here and what she gets is someone young and well. Hot. Suddenly, it's totally worth it. David will ground her and she will have spent a few minutes ogling a hot boy.]

If I say yes, will you give me one?

i offer no explanation or apology.

[advena]

[ in the spirit of scientific inquiries, let's review a logical puzzle. lois lane can't have superman's babies because her body can't handle the supersperm. kara can't get sick because her superbody has a ridiculously talented immune system. so, dear reader, we ask you this: how can kara have a baby?

the answer, funnily enough, comes from pink kryptonite. it's synthetic, most likely a mistake; "douchebag of the year" award winner maxwell lord's experimental castoff found floating in the local waterways in unreasonably high quantities. local police had been alerted by the university's environmental watchdog groups, and when it couldn't be identified, the deo had been called in.

really, it was all clearly just an excellent opportunity to expose supergirl to a metric fuck-ton (winn's words, obviously scientifically accurate measuring) of baby-crazy-inducing synthetic space rock. which would explain why, at three in the morning, kara danvers can be found sitting in front of her computer, teary-eyed, watching a documentary on baby animals in the wild. ]

Ollie!

[ oh no. here come the waterworks. ]

[greenarrowed]

[It's just karma, plain and simple. For all the times that Oliver has been the Worst Human Alive, it only seems logical that he knock up the only person who's capable of breaking him if he doesn't do his part. It's even further karma that she's waking up crying in the middle of the night and no one's life is threatened. Old habits die hard, he reaches under his pillow like he's reaching for a knife like he's still on the island like he's still got to defend his life at every turn like murder is just something that happens and not something to think about.

But no-- no it's just Kara. She sounds upset but Kara is also perfectly capable of defending herself.

Oliver pads into the main room, shirtless and confused because crying women are hard.]

Kara? What's wrong?

u know what i want

[webdesigned]

[nextdoors]

[This is very, very unusual for her. Lucy is out past curfew, having borrowed her sister's car after blackmailing her to even use it in the first place and keep the older girl from telling their parents. But then the last two months have been odd, ever since she agreed to tutor the Baker kid. That's where she went wrong. That's when it all started going down hill. That's when he started wriggling his way into her life with his surprisingly charming smile and she should have just walked away after that night at Granny's. Told his foster parents that she was too busy and here's their money back and she's sorry but she knows several other people who could use the pocket cash.

She didn't. And she doesn't know exactly when they started hanging out like friends but she does remember the moment he kissed her for the first time because that's the same night that led to this.

She's pregnant. She took the test two days ago. And despite what people think about her and her boyfriend, he's not the father. There's only one boy in town that gets to claim that title. Lucy is parked outside his house, has been for the last half hour before she texts him.]

We need to talk.

[thegrim]

[ Thor has spent rather a lot of time on Midgard lately, so the Warriors Three sent Hogun to go check up on him. He arrived outside the dwelling where Thor has been staying, and a man named Darryl allowed him entry and told him to wait for Thor to arrive home.

So there is a large, armored Asgardian sitting in the living room, flipping a throwing knife idly while he waits. ]

[worthyofmjolnir]

[He's so not prepared for what greets him when he comes home from riding his bike around the town. Just to look at things. It's nice sometimes to see what it looks like for mortals who can't fly with their magic hammer. He should really get a part time job in between saving the world.

Or he can hang out with his bro!]

Hogun!

[Mjolnir drops to the ground with a solid thunk and he is coming in for the hug.]

My friend! You should have told me you were coming!

[levitating]

[ the bad: the avengers are no more and wanda is in hiding again.
the good: thor has come to visit.

obviously the majority of the time spent together in the early stages of knowing each other involved wanda trying to..... destroy his squad. but she's bettering herself now! atoning for her sins, etc. plus, she has taken a real shine to the big guy, especially as the both of them navigate the ins and outs of american culture while incognito in true avengers style ( most of them in sunglasses and hats ).

scott had the wild idea to visit this storybook theme park while incognito, mostly because he wanted to bring something home to his daughter. wanda, the secret softie, can't protest that, which leaves her and thor standing at the entrance.

so. how to begin. ]

Where do you want to go first?

[worthyofmjolnir]

[serious question: do you think the rides will break when an immortal god who probably weighs the same amount as a small car sits in one?

One way to find out!

Thor has his hair pulled back into a man pony and a normal shirt on, so he's totally unrecognizable. Clearly.]

The ferris wheel?

pick one.

[sheriffing]

1 2 3 4

[worthyofmjolnir]

[He's done this before, spent the night under the stairs with a beautiful woman and one might accuse him of using it as one of his dating "tricks" but really, Thor just likes the view of the universe from Midgard. Besides, he's been in this funny little town in Maine for over a year now and there's really not many places to take your woman on a date around here that are uh--private.

Not that he's planning on taking her on the beach, nor would he stop it if it came to that. But they get so little time together just the two of them that he wants date night to be as far from the rest of the town as possible. Her parents volunteered for babysitting duty and they should take advantage of it.

Armed with a blanket and a thermos and the natural body heat of a god who runs warmer than mere mortals, Thor has his lady love in his lap and no desire to move.]

Over there is where Asgard is.

[He's pointing at a part in the sky where it could be a dozen little spots. It's a little far his home world.]

tap dances in

[assailed]

[ BRING ON BODY GUARD EMMA. ]

[saviorcomplexing]

[Some little girls dream about being a princess or famous singer or getting married and settling down to be a housewife for the rest of their days. She's not one of those girls. Emma Swan gets a gun and a red leather jacket and a reputation for being one of the very best at what she does. Some clients balk at her, because she's too brash and the jacket really isn't subtle but they're alive at the end of the day, which is really the only thing that matters to her.

She's got a mouth to feed at home and a college fund to start saving for because unlike her, her kid is going to college. He's too smart for anything else. He's not getting pregnant at seventeen either. Henry doesn't have a home or a future if she lets someone die on her watch and really, despite the attitude she gives off, she wouldn't just let someone die without a fight.

Though she's tempted to tell Killian Jones that he's on his fucking own and walk away.

She's starting to question that he actually needs personal security and didn't just hire her on a whim because this has really been one of the more boring assignments she's taken. Security wise, anyway. Jones keeps making comments that make her fingers itch and make her wish she was a personal assassin instead if only to just shut him up. Henry would have a good life living with her brother and his wife. David and Mary Margaret would take great care of him if mommy went back to jail because she murdered a shipping magnate who she suspects doesn't always dabble on the right side of the law.

At the very least, her kid's getting tucked in by someone else tonight because she's stuck in a little pub with an Irish ass who apparently is immune to rum because he's been drinking all day and he seems just as sober as he did in the morning.]

Any chance you're going to call it a night?

taketheswanandrun.au

[alwaysaswan]

[ it's hard to believe in something good. Emma knows, because she's tried. she listened to her friend who told her not to give up on finding a better home than her last one, but sometimes she thinks they're all the same. she's eight years old now, and eight years is long enough to know that she's getting too old to find a family who might want to adopt her. this is her third group home and it's just like her first (but maybe slightly better than her second), maybe they're all the same. maybe this is her life now, and she just needs to get used to it.

she's glad it's quiet for now, while the other kids are at the park. Emma decided to stay here and read instead, since it's the only time there's any silence to be found here. most of the time it takes a pair of headphones and a tape recorder to block out the noise of everyone else fighting, so she has an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get through as many chapters as she can. she probably won't finish the book, but it's due back at the library in a few days and she's set her mind to getting through it.

for a while everything is the way she expects it to be, while works her way through the pages of Andersen's Fairytales. no one bothers to check on her when it's quiet, so she does her best to make herself comfortable on a bed that's a little too hard for her liking. it's better than sleeping on the ground, especially when it's cold out, and it's not like she's gonna complain. she's been on her best behavior here, trying to change; wanting to transform the way her friend told her to.

in the end, it's her closet that transforms instead of Emma. one moment her room is silent, and the next there's a crash and the shuffle of a person moving through the clothes in her closet. her headphones fly off and she swings her feet over the edge of the bed, staring up at the space with her mouth hanging open. not a person, people. two voices first, and then they step forward and she jumps up, hands up defensively - like she's the one who's gotten caught instead of them.]

How the hell did you do that?

[ honestly, Emma knows better. they've talked to her about language before - about how it doesn't sound good, and the little kids might learn it, but she's scared and she'd rather sound tough than terrified, so a word that's not too bad might just cover the fact that her eyes are as big as saucers and she looks ready to run or scream or both.]

is it kidnapping if she's theirs asking for a friend

[wilby]

[Charming doesn't--can't answer right away because he can't stop staring at her. That's Emma. That's his little girl. That's half him and half Snow and gods, Snow, look what they made. Look at her, she's so beautiful and blonde and for a half second, he wishes his mother had lived to see her because he thinks it would've made Ruth very, very happy to see her too.

Maybe it's selfish. Maybe Snow is right and they did condemn everyone they ever met to a fate worse than death. He's willing to take that chance. The same way they took the chance with Emma when he put her in the wardrobe. She made it to this world, she survived and now, with the help of her parents she'll grow up to save everyone they left behind. No, he has no idea how that will happen but they have time to make a plan.

They have time with their daughter to break Regina's curse.]

Emma, [he's actually chiding her because that's right, watch your language young lady and apparently he's that kind of dad and that fact makes him so happy he wants to cry. He looks ready to cry anyway but it's mostly because he's here, he's in the same room as his baby girl and they all have the chance to be a family together.]

I mean, we're-- [He looks at Snow like help. Sorry, honey, he got them this far, you have any ideas on how to explain this to their daughter without sounding like total nutjobs.]

arrangedmarriagesarecool.au

[princessemma]

[ her parents would hate this. the idea of her marrying for anything other than love would make both of them so disappointed in her. it's everything her father told her not to do; a sign of complete and total desperation. if there was any other way then she would still be at home in the Enchanted Forest, but Regina's made it so that the entire realm isn't safe for her anymore. she needs an alliance, something stronger than a prince from a neighboring kingdom or a wizard from another land.

all of that works out well for Asgard, because they happen to be in need of a savior, and from what she's heard, she's it. she'll marry their prince - a god - in exchange for their support in defeating the Evil Queen. he's the heir to the kingdom, a warrior named Thor - she's never seen him before in her life, but she looks a little incredulous when he steps into the room where they've agreed to meet. it doesn't seem like this guy would have any trouble finding a wife, but what does she know? she's not all that interested in having a husband.

at least Odin's given them some time to speak by themselves. she'd like to have a little more optimism for their agreement, but this isn't the marriage she wants or how she'd like to achieve one in general. he's not the first suitor she's wanted to roll her eyes at upon arrival, just the first she'll say yes to, because she's out of options and her people need her.

she's silent as he approaches the table, taking in everything from the way he walks to the sound of his boots hitting the marble. he makes an entrance, some women might appreciate that. all Emma does is make sure that she greets him the way she's expected to, with a curtsy and a smile that passes as polite. she'd like to know what she's gotten herself into before she makes any judgements, but right now she feels like she's screwed and tall, blonde, and cheerful over here isn't helping.]

You must be my future husband.

[ she'd introduce herself, but what's the point? he knows. besides, she's not entirely sure if she should go by princess or queen these days. one is the title she had when she left the enchanted forest, and the other is the one she intends to take when she returns. it is, after all, rightfully hers now.]

[worthyofmjolnir]

[To be perfectly honest, Thor would have helped the wayward princess reclaim her throne without a marriage contract. That's his father's doing, and he sees through it for what it really is. A sign that he needs to start settling down. To think about the kingdom instead of the number of trophies he can collect. That he's going to be king sooner rather than later and he needs a queen to rule by his side like his mother has ruled by his father's.

Why Odin can't just say this is beyond everyone's comprehension. That's just how the Allfather is.

Thor stops maybe a few feet from her, and bows to her. She is after all, technically the Queen of Misthaven and he is still a Prince of Asgard even though she has no throne to sit on. That's where he's supposed to come in. He's heard tales of her parents, the brave Prince Charming and noble Snow White. He's heard other, horrible stories of the Evil Queen. What he doesn't know is what sort of woman the princess is. Is she her parent daughter? Or someone else entirely?

She's pretty but Thor knows that beauty and grace don't always go hand in hand.]

I think you can just call me Thor.

but who could i want

[fleetweek]

[fairestofthem]

welcome to the future...

[desolations]

[seven years.

its been seven years, and yet somehow, he's still here. still alive, in the loosest sense of the word. forced to make his way through life with a piece of his soul missing. without a drive there to have him do anything more than make it through each day. he has no goal, nothing to be heading towards. all possibility of a future died along with her, and there's nothing he can do to change that.

(they were meant to get married. to settle down. to have children, grandchildren, a family. they were meant to grow old together--)

he's in the time vault when the alarm sounds. the cortex may not be the hub of activity that it once was, but there's enough running in the background to keep him informed of any changes within the grounds of the lab. he may not be the flash anymore, but that doesn't mean he's prepared to ignore whatever this newest interruption is.

but despite how immediate the threat could very well be, he still takes the time to shut down gideon first. to lock away those memories, at least for the time being. they aren't ones he wants to share with anybody else. ones that he has to keep covered up until his own weakness sets in and he has to give in. again.

one last look at the now sealed wall of the time vault, and barry speeds off to the basement. to the anomaly forming. to the--

breach?]

[bloggings]

[The last thing she remembers is Savitar's cold hand on her shoulder and Barry's agonized no! and there's pain and a roaring in her ears and that's it.

That's all there is.

Then it's just the storm and the roaring takes over until she can't even hear herself think. She doesn't know if she can think or if this is what death is really like. If It's actually loud and chaotic and there are no pearly gates nor is there fire and brimstone. It's cold and dark and grey. That's all there is. She doesn't see anyone else, not her Grandmother Esther or Eddie or Ronnie or even her mother. Death is lonely and enough to drive someone mad if that's even possible.

(one of you will suffer a fate worse than death)

Then she's shoved out, stumbling to her knees with a soft cry. Doesn't know where she is or how she got there but the roaring has stopped, the storm has subsided and she can breathe for the first time in what feels like forever. It's so wonderful that all she can do is kneel there and enjoy it, in and out, in and out. And she may startle like a feral cat if someone were to approach her at the moment. Hopefully he still heals quick.]

hubby~~~

[powerfulhope]

[ Let it be said that they gathered at Granny's and nothing exploded, nothing came out of a portal, no one tried to murder them. For the first time in their lives, it's calm and as Snow looks around at this group of people who are her family, she can feel it in her heart, spreading like sunshine: they're all going to be okay. Days do pass, then weeks and loft life just isn't cutting it anymore. She knows it; she knows where David would rather be and she knows exactly what she wants.

They move onto their farm just after Neal turns one and it's like a dream finally coming true. They had to fight for it for so long, and now here it is, including Wilby, and it's perfect. Neal's never seen so much space and to watch him take those awkward toddler baby steps and run toward David with arms outstretched across their yard is amazing. Waking up every day to birds singing and going off to school is the most perfectly normal thing she could ever think of. She could have been in the Enchanted Forest, rebuilding with David by her side and that would have been fine, but this is so much better than ruling a kingdom.

During her summer break, she gets up just as early as her husband to help with the chores, and it's so early that more often than not they're done before their son is even awake. On this particular morning, Snow takes the eggs they've gathered and begins to make breakfast for her family all while humming softly before looking at David. ]

Charming, I have a question for you.

[ She says that with a small smile as she beats eggs, looking down at what she's doing before meeting his gaze again. ]

How would you feel about turning one of these empty rooms into another nursery?

[wilby]

[Charming won't admit it, definitely not to Snow and barely to himself but he kind of forgot how to be a farmer. But in his defense, it has been over thirty years since he last lived on his family farm and sometimes it takes him longer to finish a task but Snow's usually at work and the only witness is their toddler who can't talk yet and the dog. He doesn't know what he'll do when Neal does start talking but at least Wilby will always have his back.

They're getting the time with Neal that they never got with Emma. It carries a hint of bittersweetness still and it probably always will even if they've all made their peace with it. It's time they never would have gotten if the curse had never existed and they'd all stayed in the Enchanted Forest. He and Snow would have had a kingdom to run and defend and as much as they would want to, they couldn't have stayed home with their children all the time. So if he tears up a little when their baby boy takes his first wobbly steps then Snow won't tell on him either.

It feels like they deserve this. Emma deserves her happiness with her own little family. And after everything they've had to sacrifice and every storm they've had to weather, it's a soft epilogue.

On this particular morning, Snow is making eggs and he's mixing his famous pancakes and Neal will probably start waking up in the next few minutes but then she poses that question and perfect pancakes don't matter so much.]

You don't mean-- [Charming can't finish the thought but that's probably because he's smiling so much at the hint.]

Are you--?

[Babies make him dumb.]

hello, husband.

[barakati]

( idk pick your fave, throw something at me. bonus options: a, b, or c. )

the charmings first father's day

[wilby]

[Most mornings, Charming is the first one up in the loft and that means that he makes breakfast for the whole lot of them most every morning too. Some days he makes a little less because Henry is staying at Regina's. Or Snow wakes up earlier than her alarm and comes out to help him. Once or twice, Henry skips down the stairs and stirs the pancakes.

Not once has Emma been the first one up but that's just part of his daughter's charm.

So imagine his surprise when he's barely started getting the ingredients down from the cabinets when Emma bounds down the stairs and no. She isn't dressed for heading into the station at the crack of dawn, which is good because he might be upset at not being informed they had work to do before now.]

Emma?

[sheriffing]

[ look, it's fine, David was a farmer. it makes sense that he's up at the crack of dawn on any given day, and ninety-nine percent of the time, Emma is grateful to come downstairs and find breakfast already made. she's not much of a morning person herself, but that's not entirely her fault. it used to be, but now there's Storybrooke with all its problems, and a job at the station that takes her attention at all hours. there are late nights and early mornings, so given the chance to sleep in, she always takes it.

except today, which Emma has proudly marked on her calendar with a red circle and set her alarm an hour early for.

the alarm goes off and she only lingers for a moment or two before forcing herself up. she stops into the bathroom to brush her teeth and grabs a robe off of the back of the door and wanders down to the kitchen still dressed in her pajamas, only to find that - of course - David is already awake and starting breakfast.

so much for a father's day surprise.]

You're up?

[ said as if it's not presently the most disappointing thing in the world to his adult daughter ( who seems to possess the emotional maturity of your average seven year old).]

[missedherchance]

[ so this new place, with the new school, and the entire life do-over? Emma isn't a fan. her new school sucks, she doesn't have any friends, and she's still waiting for Neal to show up and make things interesting. somehow, life is more boring in Boston than it was in the last place she actually called home, but it's freed her up to take on a few special projects.

since it's father's day, she went for a do-it-yourself puzzle picture block, complete with the earliest picture of the two of them that she could find. she also sprung for a card, and has started making dinner without consulting him first. hopefully he likes spaghetti and meatballs, it's one of the few things she can make on her own without a visit from the fire department.]

[wilby]

[Boston has a lot more people than Charming would care for, actually but the schools are better for Emma here. He makes better money too but that's never really mattered to him much. It matters that Emma is safe and happy and if she can't always be the latter, then at least the former is enough.

He comes in from doing some yard work, and stills because it smells like something is cooking and that's not always good news when it comes to Emma. He loves her, he does. She just cooks like her mother did.]

What're you up to?

For Jon

[theneedle]

[She'd been impatient to see her half-brother ever since arriving back home, after hearing he had claimed as King of the North. But he'd been off dealing with the undead, with that Daenerys woman and her dragons or something. Whatever it was, she hoped he'd be back soon.

In the meantime, Arya had enough to distract her with. Keeping up her training with her sword, reminiscing to Bran and Sansa about things that seem like they happened to someone else, about their lives before....before everything changed when King Robert showed up.

But when Jon does return, she's to be found near the Godswood, sitting cross-legged and speaking softly, as if their father could actually hear her as she recounts some of her adventures since she left King's Landing. How much she misses him, how she and Sansa were getting along better now, that she imagined he'd be proud of them for that much.

She's so preoccupied, feeling so....safe, being back home, that she doesn't seem to hear footsteps approaching.]

[snownotstark]

[There's a thousand and one things demanding his attention when he returns to Winterfell. Some of the men are displeased that he's been gone for so long, and he understands it even if he isn't apologetic for it. Suddenly things need to be decided by him instead of the lady who had been running everything in his absence. A stupid notion that he dismisses after the third request put before him. He trusts Lady Sansa's judgement and until the time when they have the chance to speak properly, and for him to be filled in on everything that happened in his absence, then her judgement will continue to do. There is also finding accommodation for several thousand Dothraki and Unsullied soldiers that followed him and Danaerys to Winterfell. Not to mention her dragons and the queen herself.

For now, he has her wait in his chambers and they can sort it all out later. For something else needs to be seen to now and that is a long overdue reunion with his youngest sister. A servant points him in the direction of the godswood, and that's where he finds her. He spends several moments just staring at the back of her head in stunned silence. Her hair is different but it suits her so much better, he decides. She carries her shoulders differently. She's grown.

He thought her dead for so long. He can't imagine what she's been through.]

When you're done speaking, I think I deserve a hug.

For Sansa

[theneedle]

[Honestly? There is still a lot to work through. They've all been through a lot, through so much since the last time they saw each other. It taking time, to slowly get the details of what happened to each of her siblings. Some being harder to talk about than others, understandably.

So it's hardly a surprise that sometimes information might come slowly, from comments here and there that help fill in the gaps, so to speak. It's a work in progress, really. Even if Arya thinks she gets the basics, some of which she heard even across the sea.

Really, it's taken a long time, but the Stark children, the sisters in particular, are finally taking on board what Ned used to try tell them. That they were stronger together. That they could fight and hate each other all they wanted, but at the end of the day, they were family. They were siblings and that would never change.

Arya knocks on Sansa's door. The door that used to be their parent's room. She's still adjusting to that, not going to Sansa's old room to find her sister.]

Sansa?

[Because, yes, Sansa may be the Lady of Winterfell now. But she's still Sansa. Still her sister, who Arya remembers flicking dinner at from across the table and all.]

@clodpole

[witwanton]

[Merlin's had a pretty decent time of it in uni so far. He's made a few friends, gotten good grades-- he really enjoys all his pre-med classes, which is a good sign he's studying the right thing.

Only problem is, all his friends paired up for room assignments or had gone to live off-campus, so he'd been left to the roommate-matching whims of the university, with no idea if fate would give him some complete arsehole to live with for at least the next semester, if not two.

He'd hoped to get to the room first so he could stake out the best side of the room, but fate, that fickle bitch, threw everything she possibly could at him to make move-in day as much of a hassle as possible for him.

He had car trouble, it took them ten minutes to find his dorm room key at registration, one of his packed bags had simply burst open, spilling clothes all over the sidewalk, on the way up to the dorm building, he'd wasted another ten minutes trying to find the bloody elevator...

It's been a rough sort of day. He no longer cares about getting the best side of the room, he just wants to shove all his things in the vague direction of where they're supposed to go and collapse onto his bed with his laptop until he's ready to properly pass out.

He shoulders open the door, sending a last prayer to whoever was listening that his dorm mate wouldn't be too much of a jerk.]

Hullo, hi! I'm Merlin. Yes, I know it's a weird name. Moving day's hell, yeah?